terrific article and good examples.

well i know iv never done a smothered mate but i do love hugzz to anyone males or females lol

Well, while they may seem similar to an odds-game, there are several openings in which a flagrant piece(s) sac is thematic- the Muzio, the double-Muzio and the Fegatello are a few off the top of my head. They aren't so much sacrifices as they are the trading of serious material for a serious attack which generally requires the return of the sacrificed material - or more.   Odds givers don't usually obtain any advantage for the initial loss of material (if the a material odds game, that is).

However, I do look forward to viewing your game vs. the most tournament-loving person I know of, Pistoleer.  I love wild games.

Many thanks, batgirl.  It's an impressive article that I'll take pleasure in reading at leisure.

I actually played a game at odds on chess.com recently.  Pistoleer (who has the kind of attributes that make you love and fear him both at the same time) made an outrageous piece sacrifice about move 5 in a standard position.    I relaxed and thought, "There's no way he can get away with that." 

Yes, well. . .

If I can stand the embarrassment of publicising such bad play on my part I might post it on my blog in a day or two.

Never played through a game at odds??

Now, I find that amazing!

   Since the internet offered basically nothing comprehensive on odds games, for a couple of years I had been trying to cojole an acquaintance of mine, who had a keen interest in odds games, into writing a treatise on the subject. Though he kept promising to do that, he never did.  As a result, I tried to research the subject and write my own article from a historical perspective.  I think if you read it, you might look at odd games in a different light - I called the article The Romance of Chess.  You'll find great games of Philidor, M'Donnell, Morphy, Staunton, Tarrasch, Lange, Kasparov, even Rybka . . . all giving odds of various sorts.  You'll find the rules, customs, rankings and of course, the history.

batgirl, that was an amazing game.  i've never played through a game at odds and it was remarkable to me how both players were able to keep up so much pressure.

years ago i taught a wealthy guy how to play chess and once, when he was talking about a property deal, i said, "it scares me just to talk about that much money."  his reply was, "it's like working with small amounts, but you add zeroes."

that's how i felt about that game.  the level of play was so far above my normal chess understanding that i would quickly have become lost in it.

Such a nice mate - even if got somebody that is a pleasure! Surely Kovács didn't think so. His name is very common in our language. He is the Smith. He wasn't a master smith only a journeyman smith. What you described it was a good idea. Congrats for the Legal mate!

Also very kind from Batgirl to demonstrate this Ehrmann game. Morphy had patiente of an ant when moved 55 against his host. Batgirl had assiduity describe this long game. Thanks for it!   

Hi Csaba, I considered putting an example of Legal's Mate in but decided against it.  I've only twice had the opportunity to play it in a tournament game and the most recent was the Under 1600 division of the NSW Open in 2005.  My opponent, I'm sorry to say, was a Hungarian.  He had apparently not seen Legal's Mate before.

Since he had played 3...Nc6 the pure formula for Legal doesn't work so I nudged his bishop out to h5 before playing 6. Nxe5.  The expected continuation was 6...Nxe5 7.Qxh5 Nxc4 8. Qb5+ regaining the piece and remaining a pawn up with an angry queen dominating the board.

However, as in the diagram, he snatched the queen and Legal's Mate played itself from there.  When my knight performed the coup de grace he sat there for a couple of minutes trying to find an escape square.  He didn't realise, until I folded the score sheet and put it in my pocket, that the game was over.

This man was not a weak player.  His ACF rating in the high 1500s would be equivalent of a chess.com rating of 1750-1850.  I assume he was trying a new opening for the tournament and hadn't sufficiently familiarised himself with it.

Off-course with nothing to do with hugs, pretty girls or smothered mates, but just to complete a thought ---- 

August Ehrmann is thought to have been Morphy's very last opponent in Paris. The only recorded game between the two has Morphy giving Pawn & Two and the  nicely played game ending in a draw:

Legal-mate as we know the smothered mate. Philidor was the student of Legal M. de Kermuy. But the Legal-mate was well-known by Arabians in the middle age. I wrote about this in my article: Arabian chess in Medina. This mate you can find in the Legal - Saint Brie game (Paris, 1750). Short: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Bg4 4.Nc3 h6? 5.Nxe5 Bxd1 6.Bxf7+ Ke7 7.Nd5#.

In the last example Morphy's opponent would have play better with 18...Ne7. The game was played in an evening party of August Ehrmann, for honour of Morphy.

Dave, thanks for the selected examples! 

Pretty girls always smother me with hugs, sometimes I'd rather be smothered on the board.  I need my personal bubble!

batgirl, thanks for the additional info.  your knowledge is amazing.  if you don't have a ph.d in chess history we should certainly award you one.

like yourself, i enjoy smothered mates -- especially on the rare occasions i manage to pull one off myself.  it doesn't happen often.

Thanks. I greatly enjoy smothered mates.

The final game - by Paul Morphy - was played in Paris, France on March 31, 1859 and possibly one of Morphy's last games played in continental Europe (he left for England on April 6 on his way home to the USA).

Oddly, Macon A Shibut in his book, Paul Morphy and the Evolution of Chess, describes this as one of two examples of "Morphy's Mate" when, in fact, it is "Philidor's Legacy."