Palmer - Jaeger, Correspondence 1877

On October 6, 1877, the New York Clipper printed a couple of correspondence games in the Philidor Counter Gambit between W. H. Palmer and Daniel Jaeger. Here are the games, both won by Black.





Despite the favorable outcome for Black, his 7th move is inferior to 7...c6, as played by Paul Morphy in a celebrated consultation game against Howard Staunton. Surprisingly, Palmer missed the best 10th move in both games. Instead of 10.Bd2 or 10.Qxd5, White gets a big advantage after 10.e7+. Obviously, 10...Kxe7?? loses at once to 11.Bg5. And on 10...Bxe7 or 10...Qxe7, White simply plays 11.Nxh8 with much the better game.