Philidor: When Music Meets Chess at Cafe La Régence in Paris

The article was written by Yoel Tamanlis and Zvi Hazanov

The 18th century gave us some of the most fascinating figures in French history, such as the Lady of the Spirit Madame de Châtelet Or Casanova's rival, the Duke of Marseilles, whoAlso responsible for the invention of mayonnaiseBut how many of you know François-André Danican Philidor, who was born in France in 1726 and died in London in 1795? My guess is that, apart from perhaps a few chess enthusiasts, no one else has heard the name of one of the most diverse and fascinating people who ever lived.Paris of the Enlightenment And it's time to tell his story.

Philidor the Composer

François Philidor was born into a family of musicians who had served the kings of France since the 17th century. The two most famous musicians in this family were François' father, André Danican Philidor (1652-1730), a composer at the court of Louis XIV, and François' brother Anne Danican Philidor (14-1681), the father of the first public concerts, which were called Le Concert Sprituel and were played inThe Tutelary Gardens Between the years 1725-1791. If you look at the dates of birth and death of the hero of our story and compare them with those of his father and brother, you will probably think that there has been a mistake here and that we are talking about the grandfather and uncle of François Philidor. However, this is not a mistake. André Dénican was widowed when he was 72 years old and decided that the status of a widower did not suit him very well. Therefore, he ran away and married a 19-year-old girl, who gave him Françoise when he himself was 74 years old…

From an early age, Philidor showed considerable musical talent and by the age of 11 he had already composed his first work. During his childhood, Philidor sang in the children's choir of Louis XV and because the king was very fond of the children's singing, he demanded to hear them every day. While the children waited for the king to arrive, they passed the time playing chess and Philidor was thus exposed to the game that would later make him famous. However, we are getting ahead of ourselves, so let's go back to the 15s, when Philidor began working as an opera composer in Paris and later in London. Over the years that followed, Philidor would gain fame thanks to a number of operas he wrote, most notably the opera "Tom Jones" based on the story of Henry Fielding (an interesting subject for an opera if we remember that most operas at that time were based on distant history or mythology).

Another recommended opera is “Sancho Panza,” a light comic opera in one act.

These operas join about 20 other operas and musical works that he wrote during his lifetime and that made him an important composer of his time. Although his musical works are somewhat forgotten today, during the 19th century he was considered an important enough composer that Charles Garnier decided to have his head located on the site of his famous French opera building.

Philidor the Chessman

Despite being, as mentioned, a successful musician during his lifetime, Philidor's name entered history precisely because of his involvement in chess and being the first chess champion in history (although he did not officially win the title and was not crowned in an organized competition). A significant part of his life was spent in the famous Parisian cafe "De la Régence" - the cafe, which was located on the Place du Theatre Francais, served for about 200 years as a meeting place for the world's chess greats and enthusiastic enthusiasts, including famous figures such as: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, Richelieu, Benjamin Franklin, Robespierre and Napoleon himself. In the cafe, Philidor met his chess teacher, Legel de Cramer, a senior chess player France At that time. Three years after the beginning of this acquaintance, the student surpassed his master and defeated him again and again. During the second half of the 18th century, he became the strongest chess player in the world and was declared invincible in Paris and London, the two main chess centers of his time.

Philidor was not only a cunning and excellent offensive player, he was the first chess player in history to dare to perform “simultaneous blind” games – a situation in which a chess master plays against several opponents at the same time, all with his back to the board and pieces. Today, many chess masters are able to do this, but at the time it was considered an extraordinary feat that was defined in the press as an exceptional example of the power of memory and imagination. Philidor left his mark on the game of kings in both the field of endings and openings. Rook endings are used to this day in his research, methods and analyses. One of the most famous and useful endings to this day is called the “Philidor Position”. While in the openings, the “Philidor Defense” (1.e4 e5 2.no3 d6) is known – although this defense appears rarely in competitions of grandmasters today, it is strong and exists and can be studied in contemporary professional literature.

In 1749, at the age of 23, Philidor published a book entitled “Analysis of the Game of Chess.” This book is considered the first thorough and in-depth textbook in the history of the chess world. At the center of the thesis in his book, Philidor argued that the living spirit of the game of chess is precisely the footman (the common soldier) and that his vigorous and precise progress often leads to breaking through the opponent’s positions and deciding the game. According to Philidor’s method, the art of playing with the feet determines the fate of the battle, both in attack and defense. Philidor’s style and his special analyses of chess positions influenced thousands of chess players of his time. Today, in the age of computers, these theories and methods proposed by Philidor seem a bit naive, but in the 18th and 19th centuries they were a hit and his excellent book was printed in no less than 70 editions and translated into many languages.

Finally, let us return for a moment to the atmosphere of the Café de la Régence, which functioned as the most powerful chess club in the world at the time, where Philidor played on chess tables made of luxurious marble, with dozens of chess players and enthusiasts around him maintaining complete silence, so that the only noise heard in the large gaming hall was the movement of the chess pieces on the boards. One of the spectators of the games was an old chess enthusiast who used to visit the place for 30 years and stay there for more than 10 hours a day, but never dared to play himself. One day, the chess enthusiasts in the café discovered that the man did not even know the basic rules of the game. They asked him: “If you don’t know how to play chess, why do you show up here every day and stay for so many hours?” The old man’s answer was not long in coming: “If you knew my wife, you would not ask me that question.”

A few words about the writers

Yoel Tamanlis is a Francophile and chess master who has participated in quite a few competitions, most of which were held in Paris for some reason. He is not only a journalist but also a photographer and you are invited to visit his Facebook page Paris via Zoom In order to enjoy his photographs. Zvi Chazanov He owns the website Francophiles Anonymous.