Legall's checkmate, or Legall's pseudo-sacrifice, takes its name from a game played in Paris 1750. The moves in this historic game are uncertain, but the conclusion is not. Georges Renaud and Victor Kahn, in their classic text The Art of the Checkmate (1953), explain that they use the term pseudo-sacrifice "because it is rather more an attacking maneuver than an actual mate" (11).
De Legall,François Antoine -- St Brié [C41]
Cafe de la Regence, Paris 1750
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 d6 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.Nc3 g6 5.Nxe5
5...Bxd1 6.Bxf7+ Ke7 7.Nd5#
The version of the game that I present here is published in the online encyclopedia Heritage des Echecs Francais: Dominique Thimognier, "DE LEGALL François Antoine (sire de Kermeur)" http://heritageechecsfra.free.fr/legall.htm. Thimognier located the baptismal records for Legall, which are reproduced in the article, and also offers comments regarding the many spellings of his surname. For other variations, see Variations of Legall -- St Brié below.
This game is well-known, and may be the oldest recorded instance of the checkmate pattern that now bears the player's name. Knowing this motif made it possible to resist my first impulse to capture the queen in this tactics problem that came up in Tactic Trainer yesterday.
White to move
Variations of Legall -- St Brié
a) Renaud and Kahn offer:
Kermur de Legal -- N.N.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Bg4 4.Nc3 g6 5.Nxe5 Bxd1 6.Bxf7+ Ke7 7.Nd5#
They give White's name at De Kermur, Sire de Legal, and do not offer Black's name.
b) George Walker published this version:
Legalle -- M. de St. B***
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 d6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Nc3 Bg4 5.Nxe5 Bxd1 6.Bxf7+ Ke7 7.Nd5#
Walker gives White's name as Monsieur de Legalle, and Black's as M. de St. B***, evidently knowing but omitting the identity of the victim. Walker's text is A Selection of Games at Chess (London: Gilbert and Rivington, 1835), 91. Google offers a digitized version of Walker. See Edward Winter, Chess Notes 5720 (18 August 2008) for a discussion of variations and an image taken from a page of Walker's book. C.N. 5734 (29 August 2008) offers additional information.
c) Hooper and Whyld offer:
Legall -- St Brie
Paris 1750
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 d6 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.Nc3 g6 5.Nxe5 Bxd1 6.Bxf7+ Ke7 7.Nd5#
In correspondence with Edward Winter, they explained how they determined the spelling of Legall's name. See C.N. 5720. David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld, The Oxford Companion to Chess (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), 221.
d) ChessBase Big Database 2011 has:
De Kemur, Sire de Legal -- Saint Brie
Cafe de la Regence, Paris 1750
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Bg4 4.Nc3 g6 5.Nxe5 Bxd1 6.Bxf7+ Ke7 7.Nd5#
ChessBase databases do not offer documentation and are known to be full of errors.
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