Francois-Andre Philidor is one of the first chess players to earn the title of worldchampion. He is known for his maxim “pawns are the soul of chess” and for hisbest-selling book Analysis of Chess.
He was born on September 7, 1726 in Dreux, France. He camefrom well-known musical family. At the age of ten, he was part of the choir ofthe Royal Chapel of Versailles and this is when he discovered chess. The bestplayer in France at the time, Legall de Kermeur, taught him. At first, Legallcould give Philidor rook odds, a handicap in which the stronger player startswithout one of his rooks, but in only three years, Philidor equaled and thensurpassed him.
Philidor joined the royal choir of Louis XV in 1732 at theage of 6, and made his first attempt at the composition of a song at the age of11. He was among the leading opera composers in France, and during his musicalcareer produced over 20 opéras comiques and two tragédies-lyriques and more.
Philidor visited England in 1747 and decisively beat theSyrian Phillip Stamma in a match +8−1=1. He played also with Abraham Janssen,who was then the best player in England and won three for every four games. In1755, a match was arranged between the pupil and his master M. De Legal, whowas still at the height of his strength, the result placed the crown firmly andindisputably upon the head of Philidor.
In England, Philidor astounded his peers by playing threeblindfold chess games simultaneously in the chess club of St. James Street on 9May 1783. In December 1792, however, when he was 65, Philidor was forced toleave France for England. He fled the French Revolution (1789–1799) because hisname was on the Revolutionary banishment list, established by the Conventionnationale in view of the traditional attachment of his family to the King'sfamily service.
Andrew Soltis writes that Philidor "was the best playerin the world for 50 years. In fact, he was probably about 200 rating pointsbetter than anyone else yet alive—set apart by the mysteries of the game he hadsolved.
In August 24, 1795, he died and buried at St. James in Londonat the age of 69.
Probably, he playedthousands of games but only 66 were ever recorded. These were played in thelast eight years before he died.
Let’s look one of his best games.