Board 5 of the Birmingham blindfold display; a King's Gambit declined by Mr. Rhodes.
4.fxe5We consider B. to Q. Kt's 5th also to be a good move at this juncture.
4…d5The sacrifice of the Knight here is not advisable, as the variation we append will prove:— 4. Kt. takes P.; 5. Kt. takes Kt., Q. to R's 5th (ch.); 6. P. to Kt's 3rd, Q. takes K's P. (ch.); 7. Q. to K's 2nd, Q. takes R.; 8. P. to Q's 4th, B. to K's 2nd; 9. Kt. to K. B's 3rd, P. to Q's 3rd; 10. B. to K's 3rd, B. to Kt's 5th; 11. Q. Kt. to Q's 2nd, and we prefer the position of the first player.
11.Qe2From the diagram above it will be noticed that if White had taken the Knight with Pawn, Black would have answered with B. takes Kt. (ch.), &c., and obtained at least a safe, even game.
13…Kf8When Mr. Rhodes sacrificed the piece, he no doubt thought that after moving his King to Bishop's sq., he should be enabled to bring his Q. R. to K's sq. with great effect, or he would scarcely have dared to give up so much to so formidable an opponent.
24…Qxa2White now gave mate in three moves, the conclusion running 25. Q. to K's 8th (ch.), K. to Kt's 2nd, &c.
J. Löwenthal, Morphy's Games of Chess (1860) · Public domain · source