
Index (~ means "not")


1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 ~exd4                       C24u 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.~Nf3                 C24u

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nf3
 4...various 
 4...Bb4+                                          C24u
 4...d5                                            C24u
 4...Nxe4 5.Qxd4 (Urusov Accepted)                 C24u
 

Biographical and Historical Material

Prince Sergei S Urusov (Urusov = Son of Russia) (3.VIII.1827 - 20.XI.1897)
-a muscovite- was, in the last century, one of the premier Russian players.
In addition to his analysis on the Gambit that bears his name he contributed
to the theory of the Center Game, Scottish Opening, and Allgaier Gambit.
The variation of the Giuoco Piano known inaccurately in the west as the
"Cracow Variation" was also his invention:

[Event "?"]
[Site "Petersburg"]
[Date "1853"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Urusov S"]
[Black "Petrov A"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Kf1 d5 8.exd5
Nxd5 9.Nc3 Bxc3?! 10.bxc3 O-O 11.Qc2?! h6 12.h4 Be6 13.Bd3 Nf6 14.Ng5 Qd5
15.c4 Qxd4 16.Bb2 Qd8 17.a3 Nd4 18.Bxd4 Qxd4 19.Rd1 Qc5 20.Nxe6 fxe6 21.Qe2
e5 22.Bf5 Rad8 23.Rb1 Rfe8 24.Rh3 Rd4 25.Rxb7 Rxc4 26.Kg1 e4 27.Rb1 Rc2
28.Rb5 Qc6 0-1

Although no confirming games survive, the Urusov Gambit was named for him
in recognition of the publication of his analysis on this opening in 1853.
The following Center Game cum Giuoco Piano comes close:

[Event "?"]
[Site "Petersburg"]
[Date "1854"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Urusov S"]
[Black "Petrov A"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.Nf3 Bc5 5.c3 Nf6 6.Bg5? h6 7.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.e5
Qg6 9.O-O dxc3 10.Nxc3 O-O 11.Re1 d6 12.Nd5 Bg4 13.Bb5 Bxf3 14.Qxf3 dxe5 
15.Bxc6 bxc6 16.Nxc7 Rac8 17.Na6 Bd6 18.Rac1 Rfe8 19.Rxc6 e4 20.Rxc8 Rxc8 
21.Qh3 Rc6 22.g3 f5 23.Qf1 Bxg3 24.fxg3 Rxa6 25.Qc4+ Kh7 26.b4 Qe6 27.Qxe6
Rxe6 28.Re3 g5 29.Rc3 Kg6 30.Kf2 f4 31.a4 e3+ 32.Ke1 Kf5 33.b5 f3 34.a5 g4
35.Rc5+ Kf6 36.Rc7 e2 37.Rc1 Ke5 38.Rb1 Re7 39.b6 axb6 40.axb6 Rb7 41.Rb5+
Kd4 42.Kf2 Kc4 43.Rb1 Kc5 44.Rc1+ Kxb6 45.Rc4 Re7 46.Rc1 e1=Q+ 47.Rxe1 Rxe1
48.Kxe1 Kc5 49.Kd1 Kd4 50.Kd2 Ke4 51.Kd1 Ke3 52.Ke1 f2+ 53.Kf1 Kf3 0-1

Prince Urusov lost matches to Alexander Petrov (+0 =2 -2) in 1853 and
(+7 =1 -11) in 1859 and drew Kolish (+2 -2) in 1862. The following match
games are from PERVI RUSSKIE MASTERA.

[Event "Match"]
[Site "Warsaw"]
[Date "1859"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Urusov S"]
[Black "Petrov A"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.O-O Nf6 6.e5 d5 7.exf6 dxc4 8.Re1+
Be6 9.fxg7 Rg8 10.Ng5 Rxg7 11.Rxe6+ fxe6 12.Nxe6 Qe7 13.Nxg7+ Qxg7 14.Qh5+
Qg6 15.Qxc5 O-O-O 16.Qxc4 Ne5 17.Qb3 d3 18.cxd3 Rxd3 19.Nc3 Nf3+ 20.Kh1 Nh4
21.Bg5 Qxg5 22.Qe6+ Kb8 23.g3 Nf3 24.Rd1 Rxd1+ 25.Nxd1 a6 26.Qe8+ Ka7
27.Qe3+ Qxe3 28.Nxe3 c5 29.Kg2 Ne1+ 30.Kf1 Nd3 31.Nd1 b5 32.a3 Kb6
33.Ke2 c4 34.Kd2 Kc5 35.Kc3 a5 36.f4 b4+ 37.axb4+ axb4+ 38.Kd2 Kd4
39.f5 Ke5 40.b3 Kxf5 41.bxc4 Ke4 42.Kc2 Nc5 43.Nb2 Kd4 44.Kd2 b3
45.g4 Ne4+ 46.Kc1 Nf2 47.g5 Nh3 48.g6 hxg6 0-1

[Event "Match"]
[Site "Warsaw"]
[Date "1859"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Urusov S"]
[Black "Petrov A"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.O-O Nf6 6.e5 d5 7.exf6 dxc4 8.Re1+
Be6 9.fxg7 Rg8 10.Ng5 Rxg7 11.Rxe6+ fxe6 12.Nxe6 Qe7 13.Nxg7+ Qxg7 14.Qh5+
Qg6 15.Qxc5 O-O-O 16.Qxc4 Ne5 17.Qb3 d3 18.cxd3 Rxd3 19.Nc3 Nf3+ 20.Kh1 Nh4
21.Bg5 Qxg5 22.Qe6+ Kb8 23.g3 Nf3 24.Rd1 Rxd1+ 25.Nxd1 a6 26.Qe8+ Ka7
27.Qe3+ Qxe3 28.Nxe3 c5 29.Kg2 Ne1+ 30.Kf1 Nd3 31.Nd1 b5 32.a3 Kb6 33.Ke2
c4 34.Kd2 Kc5 35.Kc3 a5 36.f4 b4+ 37.axb4+ axb4+ 38.Kd2 Kd4 39.f5 Ke5 40.b3
Kxf5 41.bxc4 Ke4 42.Kc2 Nc5 43.Nb2 Kd4 44.Kd2 b3 45.g4 Ne4+ 46.Kc1 Nf2 47.g5
Nh3 48.g6 hxg6 0-1

[Event "Match"]
[Site "Petersburg"]
[Date "1862"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Urusov S"]
[Black "Kolisch"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.d4 exd4 7.e5 Ne4 8.Nxd4
Nxd4 9.Qxd4 Nc5 10.Nc3 O-O 11.Be3 d6 12.Rad1 Nxa4 13.Qxa4 Bd7 14.Qd4 Bc6
15.Nd5 dxe5 16.Qxe5 Bd6 17.Qh5 Re8 18.c4 Re4 19.Rd4 Re5 20.Qf3 Bc5 21.Rg4
Bxe3 22.fxe3 Bxd5 23.Qg3 Qe7 24.Rxg7+ Kh8 25.cxd5 Rxe3 26.R7xf7 Rxg3
27.Rxe7 Rg7 28.R1f7 R8g8 29.Rxg7 Rxg7 30.Re8+ Rg8 31.Rxg8+ Kxg8 32.Kf2 1-0

Prince Urusov participated in some of the tournaments of the period but few
games of his have survived. The following is from Moscow 1852:

[Event "t"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1862"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Urusov S"]
[Black "Ben"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 exd4 7.O-O Nf6 8.e5 d5 
9.exd6ep cxd6 10.Re1+ Ne7 11.Qe2 d3 12.Bxd3 Be6 13.Bb5+ Kf8 14.Ng5 Bd7 
15.Bc4 d5 16.Ba3 Ng8 17.Bxd5 f6 18.Qh5 g6 19.Rxe7 gxh5 20.Rf7+ Ke8 21.Rf8++
1-0

Sergei was a good friend of author Leo Tolstoi, also a good chessplayer.
In a letter dating from 1899 Tolstoi described the prince, with whom he
served at the siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War, 'as a courageous
officer and one of Europe's best chessplayers'. Tolstoi describes an episode
in which the prince submitted a proposal to his superior, General Saken, the
gist of which was to settle occupation of a trench that had cost many lives
- by a game of chess. General Saken turned him down. Urusov was considered a
hero of the defense of Sevastopol and was awarded the St. George Cross- the
highest Russian Order.

Sergei had a brother Dmitri, also a strong player, known for his defense
and counterattacks. There was third Urusov (Nikolai - from Nizny Novgorod).
According to Dmitri Oleinikov (a professor of Russian History) Sergei Urusov
played no chess after 1870 and, in fact, gave his chess books to Tolstoy's
son, Sergei. Thus the games listed below as being played by S Urusov versus
Apolonov may have been played by N Urusov. More information can be found in
the book "Pervi Russkie Mastera", I Linder, Moscow 1979.

[Event "?"]
[Site "Paris"]
[Date "1852.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Urusov D"]
[Black "Schulten J"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.Nf3 Bb4+ 5.c3 dxc3 6.bxc3 Ba5 7.O-O h6 8.e5
N8e7 9.Ba3 O-O 10.Qd3 Kh8 11.N1d2 f6 12.exf6 Rxf6 13.Ne4 Rf8 14.N4g5 g6
15.Nf7+ Rxf7 16.Bxf7 Kg7 17.Bxe7 Nxe7 18.Ne5 d6 19.Nxg6 Bf5 20.Qd4+ Kxf7
21.Nxe7 Be6 22.Nd5 Qg5 23.Nf4 Rg8 24.g3 Bb6 25.Nxe6 Kxe6 26.Qe4+ Kd7 27.Rfe1
h5 28.Qa4+ c6 29.Qe4 Bc5 30.Rab1 b6 31.Qe6+ Kd8 32.Rbd1 Rg7 33.Rxd6+ 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "Paris"]
[Date "1852.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Petrov A"]
[Black "Urusov D"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.O-O Nxe4 6.Bd5 Nf6 7.Bxc6 dxc6
8.Nxe5 O-O 9.d4 Bb6 10.Bg5 Be6 11.Nd2 c5 12.N2f3 cxd4 13.cxd4 c5 14.dxc5
Bxc5 15.Qxd8 Raxd8 16.Rac1 Bb6 17.Nc4 Bxc4 18.Rxc4 Rd6 19.Bxf6 Rxf6 20.Re1
Rd6 21.g3 Rd7 22.b4 f6 23.a4 a6 24.a5 Ba7 25.Kg2 Kf7 26.R1c1 R8d8 27.Rc7
Bb8 28.Rxd7+ Rxd7 29.Rc4 Bd6 30.Nd4 Rc7 31.Nf5 Be5 32.Rxc7+ Bxc7 33.Kf3 g6
34.Ne3 Bd6 35.Nd5 f5 36.Ke3 Ke6 37.Kd4 g5 38.Kc4 h6 39.Nb6 Bc7 40.Na4 Kd6
41.Nc5 Kc6 42.Ne6 b5+ 43.axb6ep Bxb6 44.f4 Kd7 45.Nc5+ Bxc5 46.Kxc5 Kc7
47.h4 gxh4 48.gxh4 h5 49.Kd5 Kb6 50.Ke5 Kb5 51.Kxf5 Kxb4 52.Kg6 a5 53.f5
a4 54.f6 a3 55.f7 a2 56.f8=Q+ Kb3 57.Qf6 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "Petersburg"]
[Date "1853"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Urusov D"]
[Black "Jaenish K"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 d5 5.Bxd5 Nxb4 6.Bb3 Qe7 7.a3 Nc6 8.Bb2
Bd7 9.d3 O-O-O 10.Bd5 f5 11.Bxc6 Bxc6 12.Nxe5 Bxe4 13.O-O Qg5 14.Nf3 Bxf3 
15.Qxf3 Nf6 16.Nc3 h5 17.Na4 Bd6 18.Rab1 c6 19.Bc1 f4 20.Bd2 Ng4 21.d4 Nh6
22.Nc3 Qf5 23.Ne4 g5 24.Rb3 Bb8 25.Qd3 g4 26.R1b1 Rh7 27.Rxb7 Rxb7 28.Qa6
Qf7 29.Nc5 Rd7 30.Nxb7 Rxb7 31.Qxc6+ Rc7 32.Qxh6 Rb7 33.Qh8+ Kc7 34.Bxf4+
Qxf4 35.Qh7+ 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "Petersburg"]
[Date "1853"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Shumov E"]
[Black "Urusov D"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 g5 8.Bg3 a6 
9.b4 Ba7 10.a4 Ne7 11.Qb3 Rh7 12.N1d2 Ng6 13.d4 g4 14.Nh4 Nxh4 
15.Bxh4 exd4 16.e5 dxc3 17.Ne4 Nxe4 18.Bxd8 Bxf2+ 19.Ke2 g3 20.h3 Kxd8 
21.Bxf7 Bf5 22.Bd5 Re7 23.e6 c6 24.Bxe4 Rxe6 25.Rad1 Rxe4+ 26.Kf1 c2 
27.Rxd6+ Ke7 28.Rd2 Be6 29.Qxc2 Bc4+ 30.Rd3 Rf8 31.Qxc4 Rxc4 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "cr"]
[Date "1883.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Apolonov"]
[Black "Urusov S?"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 g6 7.h3 Bg7 8.Nbd2 Qe7
9.Nf1 h6 10.Be3 Be6 11.Qd2 b5 12.Bc2 d5 13.Ng3 Rd8 14.Qc1 d4 15.cxd4 Nxd4
16.Nxe5 Nxe4 17.Nxe4 Bxe5 18.Bxd4 Bxd4 19.O-O f5 20.Ng3 Qg5 21.Qxg5 hxg5
22.Rfe1 Kf7 23.Rab1 Rh4 24.Kf1 Bxa2 25.Ra1 Bd5 26.Rxa6 Bxb2 27.Rb1 Rb4
28.Ne2 Re8 29.f3 g4 30.hxg4 fxg4 31.d4 c6 32.Be4 gxf3 33.gxf3 Rxe4
34.fxe4 Bxe4 35.Rd1 Ra4 36.Rxa4 bxa4 37.Nc1 a3 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "cr"]
[Date "1883.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Urusov S?"]
[Black "Apolonov"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 exf4 4.d4 Qh4+ 5.Ke2 b6 6.Nb5 Ba6 7.a4 f3+ 8.gxf3
O-O-O 9.Nh3 h6 10.Be3 Qh5 11.Nf4 Qh4 12.c3 g5 13.Ng2 Qh5 14.h4 Bg7 15.Kd2
Bb7 16.d5 a6 17.Bd3 Ne5 18.Nd4 Nxd3 19.hxg5 Nxb2 20.Qb3 Qg6 21.Nf4 Qxg5
22.Rag1 Qe5 23.Rh5 f5 24.Rxf5 Qe7 25.d6 Qxd6 26.Rxg7 Ne7 27.Rff7 Nc6
28.Kc2 Ne5 29.Kxb2 Nxf7 30.Nf5 Qe5 31.Rxf7 Kb8 32.Ng6 Qe6 33.Nxh8 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "Petersburg"]
[Date "1881.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "baron Krudner"]
[Black "prince Dadian de Mingrelia"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 Nc6 4.d5 Ne7 5.Nc3 Ng6 6.Bg5 Bc5 7.Nf3 d6 8.O-O Bg4
9.h3 Bh5 10.g4 h6 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.gxh5 Qd7 13.hxg6 Qxh3 14.Ne2 Rg8
15.Ng3 Rxg6 0-1


New York, Dimock tournament, OCT-NOV 1924

Thematic opening: 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4


                        1    2    3    4    5    6    7
                       ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---
1. Marshall, Frank     * *  1 0  1 d  1 1  1 1  1 1  1 1  10.5
2. Torre, Carlos       0 1  * *  1 d  1 0  1 1  1 1  1 +   9
3. Santasiere, Anthony 0 d  0 d  * *  0 1  1 ?  1 1  d +   6.5 + ?
4. Tholfsen, Erling    0 0  0 1  1 0  * *  0 0  d 1  1 +   5.5
5. Smirka, Rudolph     0 0  0 0  0 ?  1 1  * *  1 d  0 d   4  + ?
6. Bigelow, Horace     0 0  0 0  0 0  0 d  d 0  * *  1 1   3
7. Forsberg, Bruno     0 0  d -  d -  0 -  1 d  0 0  * *   2.5

+ forfeit win; - forfeit loss; ? game probably left unplayed


Bibliography:

3 Double King Pawn Openings, Y Estrin & I Glazkov
  Chess Enterprises 1982 (English AN)
Bishops Opening, T Harding
  The Chess Player 1973 (English DN)
Chess Openings-Ancient & Modern 2nd ED, E Freeborough and C Ranken
  David McKay 1893? (English DN)
Dreispringerspiel bis Konigsgambit, P Keres
  Sportverlag Berlin 1974 (German AN)
Encyclopedia of Chess Openings Volume C 1st ED, various authors
  Beograd 1974 (Informant AN)
Encyclopedia of Chess Openings Volume C 2nd ED, various authors
  Beograd 1981 (Informant AN)
Gambits, Y Estrin
  Chess Enterprises 1982 (English AN)
Modern Chess Openings 7th ED, RC Griffith & PW Sergeant
  David McKay 1946 (English DN)
Modern Chess Openings 8th ED, W Korn
  Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons 1952 (English DN)
"Pervi Russkie Mastera", I Linder
  Moscow 1979 (Russian cyrillic LAN)
Theorie der Schacheroffnungen II Teil, P Keres
  Sportverlag Berlin 1953 (German LAN)
Urusoff Gambit, S Galberg-Lund
  Self-published (WWW) 1993 (English AN)
Urusovuv Gambit, S Galberg-Lund (paper copy of the above title)
  Brno 1995 (Czech AN)

Contributors:

Andy Ansel	aansel@msn.com           
Eduardo Bauza	ebauza@pipeline.com
Dimitri Oleinikov  oleinik@online.ru
David Oppedal      oppedald@crl.com
Han Schut		hanschut@pi.net
Max Burkett	maxburkett@marsweb.com
		msburkett@aol.com


Max Burkett        April 20, 1997


