Staunton Throws

Dear Readers,

Imagine the scene.  The year is 1843, the place is London, and you are Howard Staunton, the greatest player in the world, a player so great that people hundreds of years from now will demand to play only on sets named after you.  You are a Big Deal, and you are facing off against the most fearsome adversary the world can yet throw against you - big ole Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint Amant.  The match score is 2.5 - 1.5 and there's two games left, so all you need is a draw to make sure this french poser goes back to Le Scrubville with nuthin' on you.  Because you're Howard Freaking Staunton.

Let's begin.

OK, for a game played over 175 years ago this is some surprisingly cromulent chess. In
fact, this opening reappeared in 2016 in a game between Magnus Carlsen and
Fabiano Caruana and is presently known as the "Kramnik Variation" due to Big
Bad Vlad beating Kasparov with it in 1994.  But back to the game:

Just to reiterate at this point, you're Howard Staunton.  How-town.  The big Ho.   Staunton the Staunt.  Howard the I Don't Give a Duck.   When the going gets tough the tough get going and, here, you're definitely going.

....

Going to blunder.

According to modern computers, Saint-Amant is now up 66 pawns in this position, but against Howard Freaking Staunton you really need to be up at least 67 to be safe...

Man, this is a crazy game.  But you're Howard Staunton, and everything is now under control.  White's Queen can't leave her King without allowing ...Rh8+, so all that remains is to run the Amant-meister out of moves....