Wild Nezhmetdinov Game

    Do people still buy chess books? If so, and you like attacking chess, then Super Nezh, Rashid Nezhmetdinov, Chess Assassan by Alex Pishkin is a book worth having, but not at the $40-50 I saw it advertised for on the Internet! I bought my copy years ago for a fraction of that price. 

    The Greatest Attacker in Chess: The Enigmatic Rashid Nezhmetdino by Cyrus Lakdawala is available for half that price, but I have not seen it reviewed. 

    Rashid Nezhmetdinov (December 15, 1912–June 3, 1974) was a Soviet player whoe hold the IM title and writer as well as a checker champion. Nezhmetdinov was a fierce, imaginative, attacking player, capable of beating anyone in the world. 

    Nezhmetdinov probably should have had the GM title, but unfortunately the only time he played outside the Soviet Union was at Bucharest in 1954 where he finished 2nd behind Korchnoi. He had a lifetime plus score against Tahl and Spassky but his weakness was that given a position where there were few attacking chances he would often try and complicate in the hopes of attacking even if it was not justified. He served as Tahl’s trainer in the latter’s championship matches against Botvinnik. 

 

      

 

    Vladas Mikėnas (1910 - 1992) was a Lithuanian International Master, an Honorary Grandmaster, and journalist. He was one of the most outstanding players from the Baltic's prior to World War II. After Lithuania was annexed by the USSR in 1940, he continued to play in many Soviet Championships as well. 

    He played for Lithuania at first board in five official and one unofficial Chess Olympiad. In 1930, he won the Estonian Championship and in 1931 tied for 2nd-5th place in the Baltic Championship. In the same year Mikenas emigrated from Estonia to Lithuania. In 1948 he drew a match against Nezhmetdinov with a 7-7 score. The game below was played in that match. I would suggest playing over this game on an actual board so you can better visualize the lines of attack and defense.

 

[Event "Match for Soviet Master Title"] [Site "Kazan URS"] [Date "1948.03.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Rashid Nezhmetdino"] [Black "Vladas Mikenas"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B02"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "43"] [EventDate "1948.??.??"] {B02: Alekhine's Defense} 1. e4 Nf6 {A Mikenas specialty.} 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nb6 4. c5 {An interesting alternative to the usual 4.d4} Nd5 5. Bc4 e6 6. Nc3 d6 7. Nxd5 (7. Qb3 {Theis was the move Mikenas feared, but after} Nxc3 8. dxc3 dxe5 9. Be3 Nd7 {Black has asatisfactory, if somewaht passive, positiom.}) 7... exd5 8. Bxd5 c6 {This move was Mikenas’ invention because he thought 8...exd5 was bad.} (8... dxe5 9. Qb3 {Black should now play 9...Bxc5} Qf6 10. Bxb7 Bxb7 11. Qxb7 Qc6 12. Qc8+ Ke7 {White is better. Roeder,F (2275)-Ruehrig,V (2300) Germany 1982}) 9. Bxf7+ {At the time this game was played this sacrifice was unexpected; today it is the norm.} Kxf7 10. cxd6 Qe8 {In an earlier game in the match 10...B36 was played. Mikenas avoided it here because in the post-game analysis, Nezhmetdinov came up with) 11. Nh3 and obtained the advantage.} 11. Qe2 (11. Qf3+ {is equally good.} Kg8 12. Qe3 Be6 {White is only very slightly better}) 11... c5 12. Nf3 Bxd6 {Excellent! Nezhmetdinov wrote, "A timely sacrifice which can’t be accepted." Actually, it can, but doing so allows black easy euqality.} 13. Ng5+ (13. exd6 Qxe2+ 14. Kxe2 Re8+ 15. Kd1 Bg4 16. d4 Bxf3+ 17. gxf3 cxd4 18. Bf4) 13... Kg6 {Black's K is surprisingly safe here. 13...Kg8 would only gum up his development.} (13... Kg8 14. exd6 Qxe2+ 15. Kxe2 {and white is considerably better.}) 14. Qd3+ {[%mdl 8192] This check is very alluring, but white doesn't have enough attacking pieces left and so the King is surprisingly safe wat out on g4.} (14. f4 Be7 15. e6 Bxg5 16. Qe4+ Kf6 17. fxg5+ Ke7 {This is the only move that avoids mate, but it leaves his K safe plus he has a material advantage.} (17... Kxg5 18. d4+ Kf6 19. O-O+ Ke7 20. Bg5+ Kd6 21. Qe5+ Kc6 22. Qxc5#)) 14... Kxg5 {It looks like the Black K is going on a dangerous journey, but in fact, this move is the best and it is black who has a significant advantage!} 15. Qxd6 Qd8 { This offer to trade Qs is correct, but it's too passive. The more aggressive 15...Qc6 attacking the g-Pawn was much better.} (15... Qc6 16. d4+ Kh5 { It's remaekable, but there is no way white can take advantage of the K's position.} 17. Be3 Qxd6 18. exd6 cxd4 19. Bxd4 Re8+ {Black has a decisive advantage.}) 16. d4+ {A critical position. To what square should the K retreat? There is only one move that avoids loss.} Kf5 {[%mdl 8192] and this is not it!} (16... Kh5 17. Qxc5 Be6 18. O-O Nc6 19. Be3 Ne7 20. f4 Nf5 { The engine's yop three moves (21.Qc3, 21.Bf2 and 21.Qa3 all are evaluated at 0. 00.}) (16... Kh5 17. g4+ {as in the game fails to} Bxg4 18. Qxc5 Qf8 {Black is winning.}) 17. g4+ {[%mdl 512] This wins because with the K on f5 he cannot play ...Bxg4} Ke4 (17... Kxg4 18. Qxc5 Nc6 19. Rg1+ Kf5 20. Qc4 Rf8 21. Rg5+ Ke4 22. f3+ {If 22...Kxf3 then 23.Qe2#} Rxf3 23. Qe2+ Kxd4 24. Qxf3 {Black will get mated.}) 18. Qxc5 Rf8 19. O-O Kf3 20. h3 {White mates.} b6 21. Qc3+ Ke4 22. Qc4 {Black resigned . Mate is unavoidable.} (22. Qc4 Bxg4 23. hxg4 Rxf2 24. Re1+ Kf3 25. Qd3+ Kxg4 26. Qe4+ Kh5 27. Qxh7+ Kg4 28. Re4+ Kg3 29. Qxg7+ Qg5 30. Qxg5+ Kh3 31. Qg4#) 1-0

Blunderfest!

    Today’s game is somewhat akin to the Znosko_Borovsky vs. Euwe game in the previous post. The game has so many mistakes that it’s simply insane! It’s hard to believe that the two players were really quite strong! 

    Pindar got a won position in which the engine assigned him a near 5 Pawn advantage, but he blew it and a seesaw of blunders ensued. At the end, he still had an advantage, albeit a much smaller one of a Pawn and in the final position it was probably not enough to win. Like Znosko-Borovsky, Pindar appears to have also lost on time. 

    Hardman Philips (Phil) Montgomery (September 25,1834 – January 22,1870, 35 years old) was the youngest son of the Postmaster of Phildelphia. After entering the University of Pennsylvania as a Sophomore in 1851, Montgomery's talent for chess and mathematics was soon spotted by one of the professors.

    From 1852 onward, Montgomery quickly rose among the ranks of players at the local chess club. His play was described as brilliant, but nervous and fast. He was a member of the successful Philadelphia team beating New York in two correspondence games in 1855-1856. Montgomery was the sole Philadelphia representative in the 1st American Chess Congress (1857) in New York, beating William S Allison before succumbing to Louis Paulsen. After having lost two games to Paulsen, Montgomery was summoned to Philadelphia, before he could finish the match. 

    When the Philadelphia Chess Club was founded Montgomery was its first president. In 1861, Montgomery lost a match to New York's Theodore Lichtenhein by a score of +2 -7 =1. After that he practically retired from serious chess. After retiring from play, Montgomery practiced law in Philadelphia and New York before moving to Marysville, California where he died. He was stricken with paralysis first on Christmas day and then a second stroke proved fatal. 

    His opponent in this game was Edward Pindar (1828-1892, 63 years old) appears to have been something of a vagabond. He was born in Russia, grew up in what is now Estonia and returned there in later life. 

    A strong, but not very well known player, from 1856, Pindar was a force in the Manchester Chess Club where won the club's championship in 1861, defeating Bernhard Horwitz 3.5-1.5. 

    It's not clear at what time he was living in New York/ Pindar was not very well known but he was a strong player who was active in the mid 19th century. Pindar was a language teacher and in 1877, while acting in that capacity, he attacked and seriously injured a female student who rebuffed his offer of marriage. He was sentenced to five years, and upon release faded into obscurity. 

 

[Event "possibly Philadelphia"] [Site "USA"] [Date "1854.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Edward Pindar"] [Black "H. Philips Montgomery"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C01"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "1854.??.??"] [Source "The Chess Handbo"] {C10: French Defense} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 {The Exchange Variation makes no effort to achieve more than equality and is sometimes played with the hopes of obtaining an early draw. Black usually prefers the more solid 3...exd5, but the text, while riskier, is not as drawish.} Qxd5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Bd3 c5 {This is risky; 6...b6 is usual.} (6... b6 7. O-O Bxc3 8. bxc3 O-O 9. Re1 Nbd7 10. Bg5 Bb7 {Ziatdinov,R (2460)-Rogers,I (2565) Biel 1992. White is only very slightly better.}) 7. Bd2 Bxc3 8. Bxc3 c4 9. Be2 Ne4 10. O-O Nxc3 11. bxc3 Nd7 12. Nd2 Nb6 13. a4 a5 14. Rb1 {White can claim a modest advantage here owing to black's weakened c-Pawm and his difficulty in getting his remaining pieces into play as well as his bad B.} Qc6 15. Bf3 Qc7 16. Ne4 {This P offer is not bad because white gets active piece play. There is no harm in black's taking it. but 14...O_o was probably more prudent.} Nxa4 17. Qd2 O-O 18. Rb5 f5 19. Ng3 Rb8 {In returning the a-Pawn, black hopes to generate play on the b-file by the advance of his b-Pawn.} 20. d5 Qd7 21. Rxa5 b5 {This is understandable as it isolates the R, but it allowsd white a free hand to generate play on the K-side/} (21... b6 {keeps things equal.} 22. Rb1 bxa5 23. Rxb8 Bb7 24. Rxf8+ Kxf8) 22. Qf4 Qb7 {[%mdl 8192] Placing his Q on the B's diagonal is an obvious mistake. 22...Rb6 was est.} 23. dxe6 Qb6 24. e7 { White has a huge advantage, even winning according to Stockfiss, but it's not so simple for humans.} Re8 25. Re1 Be6 26. Rxa4 {There was absolutely no reason to play this as it loses all of his advantage.} (26. Nxf5 Bxf5 27. Bd5+ Kh8 28. Qxf5 {is winning. Black has to play 28...Qf6, but not} Qxa5 29. Be4 Kg8 (29... g6 30. Qf6+ Kg8 31. Bd5#) 30. Qxh7+ Kf7 31. Qg6+ Kxe7 32. Bc6+ Kd8 ( 32... Kf8 33. Rxe8+ Rxe8 34. Qxe8#) 33. Qd6+ Kc8 34. Qd7#) 26... Rxe7 {[%mdl 8192] A huge counter-blunder! The P is not worth more than the R!} (26... bxa4 {leads to a draw after} 27. Kf1 (27. Nxf5 Bxf5 28. Qxf5 Rxe7 {favors black.}) 27... a3 28. Nxf5 Bxf5 29. Qxf5 a2 30. Be4 Rxe7 (30... Qh6 {avoids the draw and offers equal chances after} 31. Qa5 Qxh2 32. Qxa2) 31. Qxh7+ Kf8 32. Qh8+ Kf7 33. Qh5+ {draws}) 27. Nxf5 Rf7 {This pin in the N looks powerful, but white can establish a wimnning position if he funds 28.Rxe8 or 28.Ra6 or even 28.Qxb8} 28. Nd6 {[%mdl 8192] A gross blunder that hands black the win.} (28. Ra6 Qc7 (28... Qxa6 29. Qxb8+ Rf8 30. Ne7+ Kf7 31. Qc7 {White is winning.}) 29. Qxc7 Rxc7 30. Raxe6) (28. Rxe6 Qd8 (28... Qc7 29. Ra8 Qxf4 30. Re8+ Rf8 31. Bd5+ Kh8 32. Rxf8+ Rxf8 33. Rxf8#) 29. Bd5 Kh8 30. Qxb8 Qxb8 31. Ra8) (28. Qxb8+ Qxb8 29. Ra8) 28... Rf6 {...but black didn't find it and now it's back to equal chances!} (28... Rxf4 {What kind of hallucination caused black (and probably white) to miss this?!} 29. Nxb5 Qxb5 30. Rb4 Rxf3 31. Rxb5 (31. gxf3 Qg5+) 31... Rxb5 32. gxf3 Rg5+ 33. Kh1 Bh3 {is hopeless for white.}) 29. Ne4 { [%mdl 8192] What? Again? Both players have missed that ...Rxf4 wins.} Rf5 { The only possible explanations for both players missing ...Rxf4 is severe time pressure ot some kind of he idée fixe that it can't be played.} 30. Qg3 { Yet another bad move!} (30. Qxb8+ Qxb8 31. Ra8 Qxa8 32. Nf6+ Rxf6 33. Bxa8 { equals}) 30... Rd8 {[%mdl 8192] Guess what? This is a game losing blunder.} ( 30... bxa4 31. Nd6 Rf6 {and white simply does not have any compensation so black should win.}) 31. Ng5 {Very weak...retreating the R to any safe square keeps the win in hand.} Bd5 {Slap a question mark on this move, too. 21...Rxg5 probably would not save the game, but it was better that the text.} (31... Rxg5 32. Ra6 (32. Qxg5 {gives black some play after} bxa4 33. h4 Bf7 34. Re7 Re8) 32... Qxa6 33. Qxg5 Rf8 34. h4 {with a strong initiative.}) 32. Bxd5+ Rdxd5 33. Ne6 {Question mark!} (33. Ra8+ Rd8 34. Re8+ {AS familiar pattern, see the note to move 28} Rf8 35. Qf3 Rdxe8 36. Rxe8 Qf6 37. Qd5+ Kh8 38. Nf7+ Qxf7 39. Qxf7) 33... Qxe6 {[%mdl 32768] Loss on time!?} (33... Qxe6 34. Ra8+ Rf8 35. Rxf8+ Kxf8 36. Qf3+ Qf5 {It;s unlikely that white's extra P will be enough to win/}) 0-1

Ever Had a Bad Position?

    If so, what can you do about it? Not all inferior positions are lost. In many cases the position might be bad enough that defeat is assured and it’s safe to resign, but sometimes a disadvantage does not spell defeat. 

    In the following game Znosko-Borovsky has a dangerous K-side attack looming and Euwe’s 21...Bc5? lead to a lost position. But, then on move 28 Znosko-Borovsky tried to squeeze more out of his position than it was worth and in doing so his advantage completely disappeared. As part of his plan to do better, on move 31 it was his turn to make a game losing blunder and Euwe didn’t let the opportunity get away.

    White lost the game on time and according to engine output he was clearly lost with an almost fivr Pawn disadvantage, so you would think that Euwe would have an easy win. However, when I looked at the position it wasn't so clear how black would accomplish it. After letting Stockfish analyze the final position for about 30 minutes it took another 30 moves to reach a clear win. Exceeding the time control was an unfortunate happening for Znosko-Borovsky because in those 30 moves anything could have happened.

 

 

[Event "Broadstairs"] [Site ""] [Date "1921.03.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Eugene Znosko-Borovsky"] [Black "Max Euwe"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C83"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "1921.??.??"] {C83: Open Ruy Lopez: 9 c3 Be7} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 {The Open Ruy Lopez was a favorite of Euwe. Black tries to make use of the time white will take to regain the Pawn to gain a foothold in the center.} 6. d4 b5 {Euwe has no interest in the risky Riga Variation (6...exd4)} 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Be7 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Qe2 Nc5 12. Nd4 Nxd4 13. cxd4 Nd7 { By eschewing the usual 13...Nxb3 black concedes the advantage to his opponent. In 1921, the 20 year old Euwe was good, but not the mighty player and great opening theoretician he was to become.} 14. f4 {Seizing his chance.} f5 { He cannot prevent the advance of white's f-Pawn.} 15. exf6 Rxf6 16. f5 Bf7 17. g4 c5 18. g5 {[%mdl 2048] Obviously white has a very dangerous attack.} Rc6 19. Nf3 {Bringing up another attacker.} cxd4 20. Qg2 d3 21. Kh1 {This excellent move brings about an important moment for black. He is facing numerous threats from white, the most dangerous being the advance of the g-Pawn. He could parry this attack by giving up the exchange with 21...Rc5, but this sacrifice would only cause a delay in whites's attack and still leave black in dire straits.} Bc5 {This is no help at all. Offering to sacrifice the exchange is still his best option.} (21... Rc4 22. Bxc4 {Taking the bait only allows black to equalize.} dxc4 23. f6 Bd6 24. g6 hxg6 25. Ng5 Nxf6 26. Nxf7 Kxf7 {White's attack is over with no damage to black.}) (21... Rc4 22. Bd2 {In order to bring the other R into play.} Rac8 23. Rae1 {Black has a number of defensive tries, but nothing that manages to equalize' all he can do is just try to hold on.}) 22. g6 {[%mdl 512] Well playted! This breaks up black's K-side.} hxg6 23. Ng5 Nf6 24. Nxf7 Kxf7 25. fxg6+ Kg8 26. Rxf6 $1 {[%mdl 512]} Rxf6 27. Bxd5+ Kf8 {How good is white's position? Engines put his advantage at 5 Pawns and a clear win after the obvious 28.Bxa8} 28. Bg5 {After this white's advantage disappears. Znosko-Borovsky hopes to do better by a direct attack on black's K, but Euwe defense is sufficient to hold off the attack.} (28. Bxa8 Rf2 29. Bg5 Rxg2 30. Rf1+ Kg8 31. Bxd8 Rxg6 32. Bd5+ Kh8 33. Be4) 28... Ra7 {The idea of this clever move is not to save the R, but that it commands the second rank and prevents white from playing g7 (after 29.Bxf6 gxf6).} 29. Bxf6 gxf6 { The defence has succeeded brilliantly and it's now a whole new game.} 30. Re1 { Even though this brings the R into play it is a tiny slip works to black's advantage.} (30. Qf3 {keeps things even after} Kg7 31. Qh5 Qh8 32. Qxh8+ Kxh8 33. Rd1 Re7) 30... Re7 {White should exchange Rs when Qs and Bs of the opposite color make a draw highly likely/ As is often the case, it's hard for the former attacker to adjust psychologocally to the changes circumstances.} 31. Rf1 Kg7 32. Qf3 Re5 {Active defense of the f-Pawn.} 33. Be4 d2 {A little tactical finrssr; the threat is ...Rxe4!} 34. Qh3 {White threatens Qh7+ and mate. When black defends against that threat the Q will go to d7 with check and pick off the P onm d2. Hiw clever is that?!} Qh8 35. Qd7+ Re7 36. Qxd2 Rxe4 {Now white has a Q fork.} 37. Qd5 Re5 {Both pieces are defended.} 38. Qf7+ Kh6 {The only move and here white lost on time. Does he have anything that saves the game? The answer is no, but black's win is going toi be quite laborious! The ending given here is after about 30 minutes analysis by Stockfish.} (38... Kh6 39. Qh7+ Qxh7 40. gxh7 Kxh7 41. Rxf6 Re1+ 42. Kg2 Rg1+ 43. Kh3 Rg6 44. Rf7+ Kh6 {Black has some worl to do, but the ending is won...} 45. b3 Kg5 46. Kg3 Bd6+ 47. Kg2 Rf6 48. h4+ Kf5 49. Ra7 Bc5 50. Rc7 Bb6 51. Rg7 Bd4 52. Rd7 Ke4 53. Re7+ Be5 54. Kh3 Rf2 55. h5 b4 56. Kg4 Rg2+ 57. Kh4 Rxa2 58. h6 Rh2+ 59. Kg5 Rg2+ 60. Kh4 Rh2+ 61. Kg5 a5 62. Rf7 Bc3 63. Kg6 Kd3 64. Rf5 Kc2 65. Rxa5 Kxb3 66. Ra8 Kb2 67. Rb8 Kc2 68. Kf7 b3 69. Rb6 b2 {The win is obvious.}) 0-1

Umansky’s King Takes a Walk

 

    Mikhail Umansky (1952 - 2010) was a Soviet Master and a Correspondence Grandmaster. He was the 13th ICCF World Corrrespondence Champion between 1989 and 1998. He was also USSR Correspondence Champion in 1978. He was living in Germany at the time of his death due to heart disease. 

    In over the board play he placed 2nd in the Russian Junior Championships of 1965 and 1966 and in 1968 was awarded the title of National Master. In 1997 he was awarded the IM title. 

    He placed first in the ICCF 50 Years World Champion Jubilee, a special invitational correspondence tournament involving all living former ICCF World Champions. It was this result that made him one of the most respected correspondence World champions. 

    When this game was played in 1977, a major advancement in chess computers was developed by IBM; its computer defeating the world champion, Garry Kasparov. It’s victory was viewed as a sign of the rise of chess programs. 

    In 1978, SARGON won the first tournament for microcomputers, held in San Jose, California and IM David Levy of Scotland collected his 10 year bet by defeating CHESS 4.7 in Toronto with the score of 3 wins and one draw. The drawn game was the first time a computer drew an IM. While commercially available chess computers were beginning to fles their muscles, they could not defeat strong players, so it’s safe to assume that computers played little part in this game. 

    What drew my attention to this game was Umansky’s King walk. When white resigned it looks pretty obvious that black has an easy win, but when I started analyzing, things weren’t so clear! Black has a huge advantage when it comes to Centipawns, but reaching a forced win is a long way off! Because humans don’t plat at Stickfish’s level it’s clear that white’s resignation was premature!

 

[Event "USSR Correspondence Championship"] [Site ""] [Date "1977.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Lev Aronson"] [Black "Mikhail Umansky"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C51"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "1977.??.??"] {C51: Evans Gambit: Declined} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 {Yes, this game was played in 1977, not 1877! White offers a P to divert the black B. If Black accepts, white can follow up with c3 and d4 establishing a strong center. } Bxb4 {The usual response although statistically black does ever so slightly better by declining the P with 4... Bb6} 5. c3 Be7 {The main alternative is 6.. .Ba4, but in my database it doesn;t make much difference in the outcome which move blavk chooses.} 6. Qb3 Nh6 {This counter-intuitive move is the main line and is definitely best.} 7. d4 Na5 8. Qa4 Nxc4 9. Qxc4 {Black's main options are 9...exd4, 9...Ng4 and 9...d6} d5 {There appears to be no known examples of this move, but it is not at all bad. White has a bewildering array of possible capture and chooses the only one that maintains equality.} (9... Ng4 {is the most interesting move.} 10. h3 Nf6 {White has two ways to capture on e5 when in either case black stands well.}) 10. exd5 e4 11. Ne5 {Oddly, playing Bxh6 does not yield any advantage.} (11. Bxh6 exf3 12. Bxg7 Rg8 13. Be5 fxg2 14. Rg1 Bf5 {Black stands very well.}) 11... f6 12. Bxh6 gxh6 {The N has no retreat.} 13. d6 (13. Nc6 bxc6 14. Qxc6+ Bd7 15. Qa6 Rg8 {and white is facing serious difficulties.} 16. g3 Kf7 17. O-O Bh3 18. Re1 Qxd5 19. Re3 f5 {Black has a winning attack.}) 13... fxe5 14. dxe7 Qxe7 15. Qb5+ c6 16. Qxe5 Qxe5 {The series of exchanges have resulted in an ending in which the chances are equal. Five Shootouts from this position were drawn.} 17. dxe5 Rg8 18. Nd2 Bf5 19. Rg1 Rd8 20. Nc4 {The N will be strongly posted at d6} Ke7 {The beginning of an amazing journey.} 21. Nd6 Ke6 22. Nxb7 (22. Nxf5 Kxf5 {and after the white's e-Pawn goes black will have the advantage.}) 22... Rd5 23. Rb1 {This slip results in the loss of the game.} (23. c4 Rd4 {Black wants to keep control of the d-file so not 23...Rxe5} 24. Rc1 Rb8 25. Nc5+ Kxe5 26. Nb3 Rd3 {Black has only a small advantage, but in Shootoutd he scored two wins and three draws.}) 23... Kxe5 24. c4 {Black's centralized pieces are more active than white's who has to get his N back into play and, also, get the R on h1 into play.} Rd3 25. Na5 c5 26. Rb5 Bg4 27. Rxc5+ {White picks up a P, but at the same time black;s K gets to see some action.} Kd4 {White is still facing a mate threat with ... Rd1} 28. Rd5+ Kc3 29. f3 {In his rush to eliminate black's e-Pawnb white makes an elementary tactical mistake...surprising from a strong player in correspondence play.} (29. Nb3 Kxc4 30. Rxd3 Kxd3 {Capturing with the P actually slightly favors white.} 31. Nc5+ Kd4 32. Nb3+ Kc3 33. f3 {Now is the time for this.} Bxf3 34. Kf2 Kb2 {Black is slightly better after 35.h3, but NOT } 35. gxf3 e3+ 36. Kf1 e2+ {and black wins.}) 29... Bxf3 {Black bow has a decisive advantage.} 30. Kf2 Bg4 31. Rc1+ Kb2 32. Re1 {Black is winning, but only if he finds the right move!} e3+ {[%mdl 512] ...which he does. This move drives the K back where it's can;t be of any assistance.} 33. Kg1 (33. Rxe3 Rf8+ {wins material.} 34. Kg3 (34. Rf3 Bxf3 35. Rxd3 Be4+ 36. Ke3 Bxd3 37. Kxd3 ) 34... Rxe3+ 35. Kxg4 Re2 {etc.}) 33... Kc2 34. Nb3 {Black must prevent Rc1+.} Rxd5 35. cxd5 Kd3 {White resigned. He probably shouldn't have. Engines piut black's advantage at nearly four Ps, but the win still looks tedious and very long. Stockfish's solution after about 15 minutes of calculation...} (35... Kd3 36. d6 e2 37. Kf2 Rf8+ 38. Kg3 Bh5 39. Kh4 Bg6 40. Nc1+ Kd2 41. Rxe2+ Kxc1 42. Re7 a5 43. Ra7 Rf4+ 44. g4 a4 45. d7 Rd4 46. Rxa4 Rxd7 47. h3 Kc2 48. Rc4+ Kd3 49. Ra4 Kd2 50. Ra6 Rd3 51. a4 Ra3 52. a5 Kd3 53. Rd6+ Kc3 54. Rc6+ Kb4 55. Rb6+ Kc5 56. Ra6 Kb5 57. Ra8 Rxa5 {...and the evaluation remains about the same. How much longer it woulf take Stockfish to force the win I did not bother with. Between humans the result does not seem at all obvious.}) 0-1

Nimzovich on Centralization

    One of the old books in my possession is Nimzovich’s Chess Praxis which, I confess, I had never read. With the abominable weather we have been having of late it’s been a good opportunity to check it out. I don’t like it! 

    It is loaded with examples (109 Nimzo games) and explanations for different themes: breakthrough, centralization, discovered checks, files, firm and loose formations, isolated Pawns, etc. It’s all good stuff, but I just do not like Nizovich’s writing style which I find difficult to understand sometimes. I liked the games, but not the writing style. 

    The following game that appeared under the heading Centralization in a good example. He devotes on a little over two columns to the subject, but there are 23 games given as examples. Here is an example that was given by one reviewer:

 

“The mechanics of centralization can be seen in the way that, after the necessary restraint of a possibly mobile opposing pawn center, we draw the noose tighter and tighter around the central squares...But if we manage to make this long-range action effective and establish some of our pieces in the center, then we should be really pleased with the success of our policy of centralization.” 

 

    In his brief discussion of the subject, Nimzovich pointed out that centralization of one’s pieces leads to excellent results most of the time because control of the center squares is a strategic necessity. Even so, sometimes even experienced players do not adhere to the correct strategy as will be seen in the following game. 

    Nimzovich’s opponent, Carl Ahues (1883-1968, 85 years old), was born in Bremen, a city in northwestern Germany. He was awarded the IM title in 1950 at the age of 66. He was on the German Olympiad team in 1930, 1931 and 1936. His son Herbert (1922-2015) was a Grandmaster of Chess Composition. 

 

    This game shows how neglect of the center can lead to quick punishment. When Ahues neglected this elementary principle, Nimzovich was able to launch a quick and decisive attack on his King. Even so, Nimzovich pointed out that having one’s pieces centralized is not necessarily free from all danger. For example, the opponent might dissolve the center by exchanges or he might be able to launch a dangerous counterattack on the wing. In this game Ahues neglected the center and managed to get a lost game by move 9!

 

[Event "Berlin"] [Site ""] [Date "1928.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Aron Nimzovich"] [Black "Carl Ahues"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A16"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "1928.??.??"] {A16: English Opening} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 c6 3. e4 d5 4. e5 d4 5. exf6 dxc3 { White is faced with a confusing array of P captures. Which is best?! Stockfish does not think it matters much as all lead to equality.} 6. bxc3 gxf6 { Nimzovich was skeptical of this saying that blavk gets a "proud" P-center, but he thought "it is doubtful whether there is a good reason to be proud of this Pawn center at all." Statistics indicate that he was correct because black gets more draws and fewer losses after 6...exf6 because the P mask helps defend his K.} 7. Nf3 (7. d4 e5 {Another try is 7...Bf5} 8. Nf3 Bg4 9. Be2 Rg8 10. Rb1 Qc7 11. Nh4 Be6 {Wgite is better. Vitiugov,N (2709)-Bromberger,S (2530) Germany 2011}) 7... c5 {Nimzovich though 7...eб was positionally more correct, but it was worth considering the more challenging 7...e5} 8. d4 Nc6 9. Be2 f5 { This is a serious positional mistake because surrenders contril over the dark squares on the K-side...watch what happens. Either 9...Bg7 or 9...e5 were correct.} 10. d5 {Forcing the N away from guarding e5.} Na5 11. Ne5 {This decides matters. (Nimzovich)} Bd7 {[%mdl 8192] This, however, is where black actually loses the game. 11...Bg7 would have at least given him a fighting chance.} (11... Bg7 12. Qa4+ Kf8 13. f4 h5 14. Qc2 b6 15. Bd3 e6 {White is clearly better, but black can, at least, play on with some faint hope.}) 12. Bh5 {This would not have been possible had black played 11...Bg7 because the N would be hanging.} Bg7 13. Nxf7 Qb6 14. Nxh8+ Kf8 15. Nf7 {Now Nimzovich returns his extra material, but obtains a very powerful N on e6. As Nimzovich observed, sometines hanging onto extra naterial is not the best option..} Be8 16. Ng5 (16. Qd3 Bxf7 17. Bxf7 Kxf7 18. Qxf5+ Qf6 19. Qxf6+ Bxf6 {is an equally good, if not better, route to victory for white.}) 16... Bxc3+ 17. Kf1 Bxa1 18. Ne6+ Kg8 19. Bxe8 Rxe8 20. Qh5 Ra8 {It matters not where the R goes.} 21. Qxf5 Qb4 22. g3 Qxc4+ {Material is now completely equal, but it doesn't matter; white has a completely won position.} 23. Kg2 Qe2 24. Bd2 {[%mdl 512] Clever, but 24.Re1 was even stronger.} Nc4 (24... Qxd2 25. Ng5 {There is no way to meet the threat of Qxh7}) 25. Re1 Qxd2 26. Ng5 {[%mdl 512]} Nd6 { It's mate in 9} 27. Qxh7+ Kf8 28. Qxe7+ {He mates a move sooner with 28.Ne6+} Kg8 29. Qh7+ Kf8 30. Qh6+ {Again, Ne6+ is a move quicker.} Kg8 31. Qg6+ Bg7 32. Qh7+ Kf8 33. Ne6+ Ke8 34. Nxg7+ Kd8 35. Ne6+ Ke8 36. Re5 {Black resigned.} (36. Re5 Qb2 37. Nc7+ Kd8 38. Qe7+ Kc8 39. Nxa8 Qb6 40. Nxb6+ axb6 41. Qxd6 b5 42. Re8#) 1-0

Castling On Opposite Sides

    One advantage of castling on opposite sides is that the attacker does not expose his own King when advancing Pawns against the enemy’s King. Even so, there are dangers. If your opponent, as is often the case, does not castle on the opposite side immediately your own King may find itself exposed. Your own King may come under attack or your opponent may initiate a successful counterattack in the center. 

     Anyone familiar with the writings of Nimzovich will recall that he called castling on opposite sides and attacking on th other flank "an amateurish conception.” Nevertheless, such games can be exciting as the following game shows. Curiously, I recently made a couple of posts on the Lolli Theme and this game also ends with the theme. 

[Event "London"] [Site ""] [Date "1932.02.04"] [Round "?"] [White "Vera Menchik"] [Black "George Thomas"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E85"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "47"] [EventDate "1932.02.01"] {[%evp 12,47,79,51,115,103,111,123,136,128,190,134,164,156,206,178,204,205,236, 232,313,184,242,241,274,253,287,281,29991,29992,29992,29993,29993,29994,29994, 29995,29997,29998] E85: King's Indian: Saemisch} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 {At the time this game was played the K-Indian did not enjoy great popularity. Until the mid-1930s, it was generally regarded as highly suspec, but after strong Soviet players begam analyzing and playing it things changed and it became very popular. Then in the early 2000s its popularity took a nose dive when Kramnik began scoring well against it.} 4. e4 d6 {Although the K-Indian was not generally popular, in England F.D. Yates had played it with success and so many English players followed suit.} 5. f3 {The Saemisch Sämisch is the prelude to a sharp K-side attack by white. Saemisch developed the system in the 1920s. With 5.f3 white fortifies the e-Pawn and prepares a K-side P advance.} O-O 6. Be3 e5 7. Nge2 b6 {This is not an especially effective strategy. Normal is 7...c6 directing his attention toward the center.} 8. Qd2 { A natural move that prepares O-O-O and to eliminate black's B on g7.} Nc6 { This looks rather awkward. 8...Ba6 or 8...Nbd7 seem better.} 9. d5 {An excellent move closing the center which black has deliberately allowed, but it was a strategic error. With 9.d5 white prepares for a K-dsie advance. Note that black's setup on the Q-side does not allow for an equally easy advance there.} Ne7 {Strategically white has a significant advantage.} 10. g4 {White will castle Q side with little danger and then proceed to overrun black's K.} Nd7 11. Rg1 a5 {Black is not well placed for Q-side operations and truthfully they have little chance of success. Therefore, perhaps he should be thinking about how to shore up his K-side defenses.} (11... f5 12. gxf5 gxf5 13. Bh6 Ng6 14. Bg5 (14. exf5 Qh4+) (14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. exf5 Rxf5 {Black has some hope of defending himself.}) 14... Nf6 15. exf5 Bxf5 {Here, too,with all his pieces defending his K survival is a poossibility although a remote one. In Shootouts white score +4 -0 =1.}) 12. O-O-O Nc5 13. Ng3 Bd7 14. h4 a4 15. h5 Qb8 { Both players have been following thier plans for attack, but black is way behind in the race to see who can, as Frank Marsahll put it, get there the fastest with the mostest.} 16. Bh6 {This is more than good enough, but 16.Nf5 would have been a great shot!} (16. Nf5 gxf5 {os completely out as a defense!} (16... Bxf5 17. gxf5 Qd8 18. Bh6 {This is black's best line, but white has a deisive advantage.}) 17. gxf5 Re8 18. Rxg7+ Kxg7 19. Bh6+ Kh8 20. Qg5 {mates}) 16... Qa7 {Black's position is beyond saving.} 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Nf5+ {[%mdl 512] Menchik doesn't miss it this time! The g-file is opened.} Nxf5 (18... Kf6 {trying to keep the g-file closed runs into an unusual mate by a P.} 19. g5#) 19. gxf5 a3 {Black was dead lost, but this move forcing open a file on the Q-side comes way too late not to mention that white has a mate in 9.} 20. f6+ $1 {Setting up a Lolli theme.White mates.} Kh8 21. Qh6 axb2+ 22. Kb1 Rg8 23. hxg6 fxg6 24. Qxh7+ {[%mdl 512] Nice! Black resigned.} (24. Qxh7+ Kxh7 25. Rh1+ Bh3 26. Rxh3#) 1-0

Robin Smith Talks About Intuition

    Robin Smith (1952-2009) is largely unknown, but he was an American correspondence player who held the ICCF title of Correspondence Grandmaster and was a two-time US Correspondence Champion (1995 and 1999). His last ICCF rating was 2642, which he achieved in only 64 games from 1997 to 2008. He also authored the book Modern Chess Analysis which was published in 2004. 

    In the book he told how to use engines to analyze. In those days strong players could still defeat engines. in fact, Smith called them “stupid.” 

    In those days engine use was allowed on some sites and not on others. On those where they weren’t, more than a few prominent players got kicked off after they were caught using engines. 

    Needless to say, the book (and most of Smith’s advice) is badly outdated today, but it still has some usable advice. I was astonished to read one review of the book where the reviewer gave it only one star calling the book a joke and claiming that using engines is cheating. He added that just because the International Correspondence Chess Federation allows their use it is still unethical and cheating. He then belittled Smith’s skill as a player. 

    First of all, if engine use is NOT against the rules then it is not cheating if you use one. Second of all, top level correspondence players, while they may not be Grandmasters over the board, they do have a good understanding of chess plus they know the limitations of engines. 

    One interesting chapter is on intuition. He wrote, “the more complex the position, the more you will need to rely on intuition to make a decision.” While that was true of correspondence play using engine in 2004, it’s not so much the case today because engines like Stockfish are pretty much unbeatable. The advice probably holds true in OTB play though. 

    What about intuition? Smith wrote that after playing and observing enough games one develops a feel for which moves are good, which plans might work and which ideas should be investigated further. 

    Regarding intuition and engines he added that some people had proposed the idea of using “exotic" neural network engines, but at that time they had not worked very well because in most chess positions exact calculation is more important than intuition. 

    Smith was quick to point out that intuition is not a substitute for analysis even though in OTB play intuition might work. In the following game against the Spanish player Francisco Bisquert, a Senior Correspondence Master, Smith describes how he used both intuition and an engine to his advantage. Of course the ancient Fritz engine he used doesn’t even remotely compare to the output of today’s engines and what took Smith many hours of analysis both on his own and with Fritz we can get in seconds today...plus the output from the engine is much more accurate. Let’s take a look

.

[Event "World Correspi\ondence Champ (via e-mail)"] [Site "ICCF"] [Date "2000.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Robin Smith"] [Black "Francisco Bisquert"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C10"] [Annotator "Robin Smith/Stockfish"] [PlyCount "41"] [EventDate "2000.03.30"] {C10: French Defense} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Nxf6+ Nxf6 7. c3 Be7 8. Bd3 O-O 9. Bf4 b6 10. Qe2 Bb7 11. O-O-O Qc8 (11... Nh5 {turned out poorly in Kobalia,M (2632)-Stupak,K (2567) Moscow RUS 2015} 12. Be3 Nf6 13. h4 Qd5 14. Kb1 Qh5 15. Rh3 {with the better gane.}) 12. h4 c5 13. h5 { Smith did not comment on this move, probably because it has been played befpre, but engines find it neither better nor worse than their preferred 13.Be5 or 13. Kb1 forst.} h6 {Smith gave this a ? stating that black has entered a line that ECO gives as +/-, buthe did not think black's position is probably not quite that bad. He did ask the question why would black want to ply this line considering books evaluate white as beong better? His answer was that most engones (of the day, of course) evaluated black's position as fully equal. Smith's opinion was, " In reality it just creates a target - either for a g4-g5 P push or for a B sacrifice on h6." That's what happens in the game, but Stockfish says white is only slightly better (his initial slight starting advantage). Stockfish actually likes 13...h6 or perhaps 13...Rd8 first.} (13... cxd4 {is a reasonable move that has been played before.} 14. Nxd4 {Blacs two good replies: 14...Rd8 and 14...Nd5}) 14. Kb1 Rd8 {Stockfish now prefers the routine 15.Rhe1 or the neutral 15.Kb1 with about a half a P advantage. After his next move Smith discusses how he made his intuitive decision to play it.} 15. Rhg1 {Engines fond no fault with this evaluating it at about 1/4 of a P in white's favor instead of the half P after 15.Rhe1. When it comes to intuition Smith commented that in many ways this move is obvious. The point is that white supporst the advance of his g-Pawn and at the same time gets his R off the long diagonal and unpins the N on f3. The question is what if black just tales the h-Pawn? At the time the game was played no engine liked 15. Rhg1 thinking that it just lost the h-Pawn. He added that wen he analyzed the position after 15...Nxh45 black seemed to br equal.} Nxh5 {Smith comments that after this black not only picks up a P, but gains a crucial tempo by by attacking the B. Smith stated that every retreat he looked at allowed black to survive, but at this point he was looking for a quick win. His intuition told him that instead of retreating the B the position must offer something more. However, he observed tha when examing a position objectively intuition is often wrong. So he set up the position and let Fritz think for a day and it came up with the interesting 16.Bxh6 and evaluated the position as equal. Still. he decided to analyze the position more deeply and the more he did, the more he liked 16.Bxh6. That's the way it was 25 years ago, but what about today? The oldest engine I have is Fritz 5.32 and it favors black by about 3/4 of a P and thinks white should now play 16.Be5. What does Stockfish think? It see white's next move instantly and puts white's advantage at a bit over two Ps, so Smith's intuition was correct. Dragon by Komodo, Fritz 19 and Berserk 13 all like the B sacrifice.} (15... cxd4 {is Stockfish's equalizing suggestion.} 16. Nxd4 Nd5 17. Bc1 Bf6 {equals.}) 16. Bxh6 {[%mdl 512] Smith points out that this is the other point of 15.Rhg1 and it's the best way to secure an advantage because the opening of the h-file and in some lines also the g-file create big problems for black. As far as Fritz 5.32 is concerned there isn't much difference between 16.Be4 and this sacrifice.} Nf6 {Smith gave this a ? Black is better off taking the B. Now his podition quickly deteriorates.} (16... gxh6 {was no better defense.} 17. Qe3 {Black has no good answer to this.}) 17. Rh1 {This move was rightly given a ! by Smith. According to Smith, 16.Bg1!? was also possibly good enough to give white a winning advantage, but the text move is more forcing and thus easier to analyze. nTo quote Stockfish,white is clearly winning.} cxd4 {Now it's too lte to take the B.} (17... gxh6 18. Rxh6 Bf8 19. Rxf6 Bg7 20. Rf4 Bxf3 21. Qxf3 Qd7 22. Rg4 { is utterly hopeless for black. Here's the best line after a couple of minutes thinking time by the engine...} f5 23. Rg6 Qf7 24. Qh5 cxd4 25. Rh1 Kf8 26. Qg5 Rd7 27. c4 Rc8 28. a3 Re8 29. Rh7 Qg8 30. Qh4 Ree7 31. Rgxg7 Rxg7 32. Rh8 { Even after winning the Q white has no forced win and it will take some technique to sevure the win. Whote's advantager is 5.5 Ps.}) 18. Bxg7 {[%mdl 512] White would still have a winning position if he recaptured on d4, but the B sacrifice leaves black;s K completely naked.} Kxg7 19. Qd2 {The Q joins the attack.} Ng8 20. Rh7+ Kf8 21. Ne5 {Black resigned. He has to give up a huge amounbt of material to avoid mate.} 1-0

An (Almost) Perfect Botvinnik Game

    After the miniatures of the recent posts it’s time to get serious. The following game, Botvinnik vs. Portisch, Monte Carlo, 1968, is interesting. Portisch miscalculated when he laid a trap. Botvinnik fell for it, but he had seen the flaw and finished up the game in brilliant fashion. 

     The game appears with light notes in Andrew Soltis’ excellent book, Mikhail Botvinnik, The Life and Games of a World Chess Champion. When I looked at it with Stockfish it turned out to be a lot more complicated than it appeared during a casual play through! As you can see from Fritz 19’s “Blunder Chart” Botvinnik’s play was nearly perfect.

    The game was played in Monte Carlo in 1968 which was one of Botvinnik’s last good performances.. The event was organized by the French chess magazine Europe Echecs. British player/writer Harry Golombek complained about the inclusion of the two untitled French players, calling it as absurd and a waste of valuable places. 

    Fischer, the previous year’s winner, was invited, but due to his outrageous demands the organizers were adamant...his demands would not be met and he could stay home. Fischer, the previous year’s winner, was invited, but due to his outrageous demands the organizers were adamant...his demands would not be met and he could stay home. 

    The name of the Hungaroan GM Lajos Portisch (born 1937) may not be familiar to younger readers, but he was a nine time Hungarian champion and played in every Interzonal from 1962 to 1993, twelve in total and he qualified for the next stage, the Candidates Tournament, eight times. 

 

 

[Event "Monte Carlo"] [Site ""] [Date "1968.04.10"] [Round "?"] [White "Mikhail Botvinnik"] [Black "Lajos Portisch"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A22"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "1968.04.03"] {A29: English Opening: Four Knights Variation} 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Be6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O Nb6 8. d3 Be7 9. a3 a5 10. Be3 O-O 11. Na4 {This move results in a position with colors reversed as seen in the Sicilian Dragon, something with which Botvinnik was very familiar. 11.Rc1 is the most frequently seem ,ove.} Nxa4 12. Qxa4 Bd5 13. Rfc1 Re8 14. Rc2 Bf8 { Black needs to start thinking about how he will defend his b- and c-Pawns.} ( 14... Bd6 {This move was suggested by Smyslov in the post-mortem and all roads seem to lead to equality.} 15. Ng5 Be7 16. Nf3 {would draw.}) 15. Rac1 Nb8 { As he prepares the defense of his Q-side Ps with ...c6 at the same time Portisch sets a trap, but he has miscalculated and instead of being a good defense, 15...Nb8 loses the game.} (15... h6 16. Bc5 e4 17. dxe4 Bxe4 {White has slightly the better position. Lombaers,P (2255)-Kenney,D (2000) Caleta ENG 2014}) (15... Rb8 {This is also a reasonable move. After} 16. Qb5 g6 (16... e4 17. Ng5 {favors white.}) 17. Bg5 Qd6 {White is only slightly better.}) 16. Rxc7 {Appraently Portisch did not think this was possible because of...} Bc6 { ...and the R is trapped. But, Botvinnik has a surprise.} 17. R1xc6 {Botvinnik wrote that Portisch had seen this move, but underestimated it.} (17. R7xc6 { This would be the wrong capture because he needs the R to be on the 7th rank.} Nxc6 18. Rc4 {followed by 19.h4 black's disadvantage is only very slight.}) 17... bxc6 (17... Nxc6 {fails miserably.} 18. Rxf7 Kxf7 (18... Re7 19. Qc4 Kh8 20. Ng5 {leaves black in a heap of trouble.}) 19. Qc4+ Ke7 20. Bg5+) 18. Rxf7 { [%mdl 512] This is just as good as if black had played 17...Nxc6} h6 (18... Kxf7 {This results in, as one annotator put it, "a 19th century finish."} 19. Qc4+ Kg6 20. Qg4+ Kf7 21. Ng5+ Kg8 {Capturing he N only avoids immediate disaster.} 22. Qc4+ Kh8 23. Nf7+ Kg8 24. Nh6+ Kh8 25. Qg8#) 19. Rb7 Qc8 20. Qc4+ Kh8 {Botvinnik didn't think 20. ... Qe6 was worth analyzing. White would wim another P..} (20... Qe6 21. Nxe5 Qxc4 22. Nxc4) 21. Nh4 Qxb7 {Botvinnik now finished up forcefully.} 22. Ng6+ {This position is much more complicated than it might look. This is the only winning move he has!} (22. f4 {...for example.} g5 23. Ng6+ Kg7 24. Nxe5 Bd6 25. Ng4 Rxe3 26. Qd4+ Kf7 27. Qf6+ (27. Qxe3 Qe7 {Black is up a R.}) 27... Ke8 28. Qxd6 Rxe2 29. Bf3 Qe7 (29... Rxb2 30. Nf6+ Kf7 31. Bh5+ Kg7 32. Ne8+ Kh7 33. Qg6+ Kh8 34. Qxh6+ Qh7 35. Qf6+ Kg8 36. Qxg5+ Kf8 37. Qc5+ Qe7 38. Qf5+ Kg8 39. Nf6+ Kh8 40. Qc8+ Qd8 41. Qxd8+ Kg7 42. Qe7+ {mate next move.}) 30. Bxc6+ Kf7 31. Qd5+ Kf8 {The position is very complicated with a material imbalance where white has a B+3Ps vs. 2Rs, but theoretically at least neither side can win! Five Shootouts ended in draws.}) 22... Kh7 23. Be4 Bd6 24. Nxe5+ g6 25. Bxg6+ Kg7 {Of course 26.Bxe8 would win, but there is a flasky finish to be had...} 26. Bxh6+ $1 {[%mdl 512] Black resigned} (26. Bxh6+ Kxh6 (26... Kf6 27. Qf4+ Ke7 28. Bg5+ Ke6 29. Qc4+ Kxe5 30. d4#) (26... Kh8 27. Nf7+ Kg8 28. Nxd6+ Kh8 {There is a mate in 4 with either 29.Qd4+ or 29.Nxb7}) 27. Qh4+ Kg7 28. Qh7+ {wins the Q}) 1-0

A Chess Hors d'oeuvre

    In 1947, the major chess activity in California included ia match between Reuben Fine and Herman Steiner who played six game at the homes of sponsors and the Hollywood Chess Group headquarters. Fine won 5-1.George Koltanowski, a chess journalist, moved to Santa Rosa and established the California Chess News magazine. That was the major news coming out of California that year. Today’s game, just an hors d'oeuvre, was played in the finals of the Capitol City Chess Club in Sacramento. 

 

 

[Event "Capitol City CCC, Sacramento"] [Site "?"] [Date "1947.04.??"] [Round "?"] [White "J.T. Marianos"] [Black "S.W. Applegate"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B01"] [Annotator "Stickfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "34"] [EventDate "1947.??.??"] {B01: Scandinavian Defense} 1. e4 d5 {One of the oldest defenses, it was deemed playable in the late 19th century and has been used by such players as Tarrasch, Spielmann, Tartakower and Alekhine.A regular user in the 1950s was Yugoslav IM Nikola Karaklajic and in the 1960s it ws used by Bronstein, women's world champion Nona Gaprindashvili, Larsen, Danish GM Curt Hansen, Australian GM Ian Rogers and even Viswanathan Anand. Magnus Carlsen has also given it a try.} 2. exd5 {This is the usual reply. Black has two main replies: 2...Qxd5 (Mieses–Kotrc Variation) and 2...Nf6 (Modern Vriation). The rare 2.. .c6 (Blackburne–Kloosterboer Gambit is thought to be (perhaps wrongly) unsound and is almost never seen.} Nf6 (2... c6 {Black does get some slight compensation for the P.} 3. dxc6 Nxc6 4. Nf3 e5 5. Nc3 Nf6 {White 's position is evaluated as slightly better.}) 3. c4 {This has been played frequently, but white would do better with 3.d4} c6 {It's odd, but while 2...c6 is evaluated as slightly better for white, jere it's the recommended move ny engines. Why? White's last move left him with a poor P-structure; the d-Pawn never moves.} 4. dxc6 Nxc6 {[%mdl 32]} 5. Nf3 e5 6. Nc3 Bc5 (6... e4 {At once was much better.} 7. Ng5 Bf5 {Black has an excellent position.}) 7. h3 (7. d3 O-O 8. Bg5 Qb6 9. Qd2 Nh5 10. Na4 Bb4 11. Nxb6 Bxd2+ 12. Kxd2 axb6 {Black is better and eventually won in Matschewsky,J (1235)-Plotkin,A (1060) Willingen 2005}) (7. Be2 O-O 8. d3 Bf5 9. O-O Nb4 10. Nxe5 Re8 11. Bf4 Qd4 12. a3 Nxd3 13. Nxd3 Bxd3 14. Qxd3 Qxf4 15. Qf3 Qd2 16. Rab1 b6 {½-½ Sieberg,R-Ueffing,H Dortmund 1987} ) 7... e4 (7... Qb6 {attacking f2 is not so effective. After} 8. Na4 Bxf2+ 9. Ke2 Nd4+ 10. Kxf2 Ne4+ 11. Ke1 Qg6 {an interesting position has been reached. It's tricky because white has only one move that keeps the chances equal!} 12. g4 (12. Nxd4 {is met by} Qg3+ 13. Ke2 exd4 14. Qe1 O-O {and white has to trade Qs allowing the fork.} 15. Kd1 {runs into} Nf2+ 16. Kc2 Bf5+ 17. d3 Bxd3+ 18. Kb3 Bxf1+ 19. Nc3 Bxc4+ 20. Kxc4 Rfe8 {which is just awful for white.}) 12... O-O 13. d3 {with equal chances.}) 8. Qe2 {[%mdl 8192] Thius plausible looking move loses.} (8. d4 {An absolute must! At keast now black's advantage is only a modest one.} Bb6 9. c5 exf3 10. cxb6 Qxb6 11. Qxf3 O-O {with sufficient compensation for the P.}) 8... O-O $19 9. Nh2 {Black is clearly winning.} Nb4 10. Qd1 Re8 {It's surprising how quickly white's position has collapsed after his 8th move.} 11. Be2 Nd3+ 12. Bxd3 exd3+ 13. Kf1 Qd4 14. Qf3 Bd7 {aiming for ...Bc6.} 15. Nb5 Bxb5 16. cxb5 Re2 17. Qxb7 Qxf2# 0-1

Tribute to Pierre Rolland

    Pierre Auguste Marie Rolland (September 9, 1926 — February 10, 1967, 40 years old), a professor of philosophy, was the 1955 Paris city champion. He competed in several French championships, finishing 3rd in 1959, 2nd in 1961 and 1962, =3rd in 1963, =2nd in 1965 and in 1966 he tied for first, but lost the title on tiebreakjs.

    After his 1966 championship appearance he transferred to Algeria for his work and omly played occasionally on his holidays. His only international appearance came in 1966 at the Le Harve e Chess Festival in which defeating GMs Aleksandar Matanovic and Milko Bobotsov and his performance was good enough to earn him an IM norm. As a result, he was invited to play in the Monaco 1967 tournament along side Bobby Fischer, Vasily Smyslov, Efim Geller and other leading players. Unfortunately, two months before it began he tragically died in an automobile accident on a road in southwestern France. 

 

    His opponent in the following game was Sylvan Zinsr (1936-2013, 76 years old), a well-known writer for the French chess magazine Europe Echecs.  Chessmetrics estimates Rolland's performance rating for this tournament to have been 2568 and his highest ever rating to have been 2510 in 1967, placing him at #173 in the world.

 

 

[Event "Le Havre"] [Site ""] [Date "1966.04.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Pierre Rolland"] [Black "Sylvain Zinser"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C94"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "1966.??.??"] {C94: Closed Ruy Lopez: Breyer Variation} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {Whenever I play online lower rated opponents invariably play 3.Bc4, but then sometimes go to rediculous lengths to attack f7. It's true that for lower rated players the Giuoco Piano is a good recommendation because it is easier to understand and learn due to its more straightforward nature. The Ruy Lopez is much more complex.} a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 {This introduces the Closed Ruy Lopez. Black threatens to win a P.} 5. O-O Be7 {This is the Closed Ruy Lopez. The main option is the somewhat risky Open Defense (5...Nxe4) which leads to an entirely different type of play.} 6. Re1 {White's threat is to play 7.Bxc6 and 8.Nxe5} b5 7. Bb3 d6 {The Marshall Attack (7...d4) is very aggressive, but lines have been discovered that allow white to neutralize it.} 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 {This prepares to play d4 without allowing the pin ...Bg4. At this point black has multiple options.} Nb8 {[%mdl 32] This is the rather quiet Breyer Variation, an old personal favorite from my correspondence days in the 70s. By returning the N, the B can now go to b7 attacking the e-Pawn.} 10. d3 {The brash 10.d4 is equally good.} (10. d4 Nbd7 11. c4 c6 12. Nc3 {with equal chances.}) 10... Nbd7 11. Nbd2 {[%mdl 32] The beginning of a long journey that culminates in an attack of f7!} Bb7 12. Nf1 Nc5 13. Bc2 Re8 14. Ne3 g6 (14... Bf8 15. b4 Ne6 16. c4 g6 17. Bb2 Bg7 18. a4 bxc4 19. Nxc4 Nf4 20. Bb3 N6h5 {with equal chances. Tal,M (2625)-Furman,S (2520) Baku 1972}) 15. Ng4 {Engines suggest that white should operte on the Q-side, but Rolland is going all out for a K-side attack which seems quite feasible!} (15. b4 Ne6 16. Bb3 Bf8 17. c4 Nd4 {with full equality.}) 15... h5 {White's strategy pays immediate dividends as this move fatally weakens his K's position.} (15... Nxg4 {is correct and leads to equal chances after} 16. hxg4 Bf8 {White has no prospects on the K-sdie and so is forced to switch to Q-side operations anyway.} 17. b4 Ne6 18. a4 {and black can equalize with either 18...Bg7 or 18...c5}) 16. Nh6+ {White has a decisive advantage as Rolland now flawlessly demonstrates.} Kg7 (16... Kf8 17. Ng5 Kg7 18. Nhxf7 Qc8 19. Qd2 Ng8 20. f4 {Black is going to get his guts ripped out. Here's Stockfish's top line after 5 minutes...} Ne6 21. fxe5 dxe5 22. Bb3 Nxg5 23. Nxg5 Qd7 24. Qf2 Rf8 25. Ne6+ Qxe6 26. Bxe6 Rxf2 27. Kxf2) 17. Ng5 $1 Rf8 18. b4 Ne6 {Rolland now finishes strongly.} 19. Nhxf7 Qd7 (19... Rxf7 20. Nxe6+ {wins the Q.}) 20. Nxe6+ Qxe6 21. Ng5 Qd7 22. d4 Bc8 23. Bb3 Qe8 24. a4 (24. Qd2 {is more straightforward.} c6 25. dxe5 dxe5 26. Nf7 {Threatening Qh6+} Ng8 27. Nxe5 {Whote is winning/}) 24... Bd7 25. dxe5 dxe5 26. axb5 axb5 27. Rxa8 Qxa8 28. Qd2 Bd6 29. Nf7 {[%mdl 512] The knockout punch. Black resigned} (29. Nf7 Ng8 30. Nxd6 cxd6 31. Qxd6 Qc6 32. Qxe5+ {wins easily.}) 1-0

An Opening Novelty on Move 20

    A few days ago it was dark and it drizzled rain off and on all day, so it was a good day to play around with my seldom used ChessBase 16 program. Let me reiterate that this is a truly outstanding program, but it's way more than an amateur who no longer plays tournament chess nor is interested (or even capable of) improving needs. For me the simpler Fritz program is perfect.

    While looking through the database of My Games I stumbled across the following long forgotten game I played in 1984. 

    There were a few notes to the game, but I did not remember my opponent and could not find his name when I Googled it and chess. It was played on a long defunct site called Flying Knights Postal Chess Club which I suspect was actually an e-mail club, and the game was published in a magazine named Chess Express, whatever that was. It was annotated in my database by a program called Virtual Chess, but I do not remember anything about the program. 

    What was interesting was that the opening was, at the time, a popular line in the Najdorf Sicilian. A note in the game said that the only analysis I had was Albrec O'Kelly's "Sicilian Flank Game” which was published in 1969 and an article by Gligoric that had appeared in a recent issue of Chess Life. There was also a note stating the two sources gave completely different evaluations of the line. Needless to say, today Stockfish renders most of the published analysis of those days obsolete. 

    Up until white’s move 13 we were following a famous Fischer-Geller game that was played in Monte Carlo in 1967 that was theoretically important. I was a little surprised to see that the moves we played were following a Grandmaster game up to move 20 that was played in 1981. My notes didn't mention it, so it was unknown to me at the time. My opponent’s 20...Be7 was both a novelty and a game losing blunder. 

 

[Event "Flying Knights Postal Chess Club"] [Site ""] [Date "1984.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Tartajuboe"] [Black "Opponent"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B97"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "45"] [EventDate "1984.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "England"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "ENG"] {B97: Sicilian Najdorf: Poisoned Pawn} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd2 Qxb2 {The Poisoned Pawn Variation. One of the pioneers was David Bronstrin who playing it with great success.It was most famously played in two games in the 1972 World Championship match between Fischer, as black, and Spassky.} 9. Rb1 Qa3 {White now has two main ways to to continue. He can try to open as many lines as quickly as possible against black K with either 10.f5 or 10.e5. Earlier tries were 10.Bxf6 and 10. Be2} 10. f5 Nc6 {The main line. 10...e5 has been played in the past, but now it is considered positionally unsound.} (10... b5 {was another popular line at one time, but it was evaluated by the books as too risky. When this gane was player it was evaluated by Virtual Chess it as playable and today Stockfish gives white only a slight advantage.}) 11. fxe6 fxe6 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. e5 { This is a major part of white's plan to open lines. After 13.Bxf6 gxf6 white would have no good followup.} dxe5 {In the mid-60's this move was given a ?? by all the analyst, saying that 13....Nd5 was correct, but in a famious Fischer - Geller game, Monte Carlo, 1967, it was shown that the move ....Nd5 was unsound even though Fischer lost the game. Today 13...dxe5 is preferred by engines and has cecome the main line.} (13... Nd5 14. Nxd5 cxd5 15. Be2 dxe5 16. O-O Bc5+ 17. Kh1 Rf8 18. c4 Rxf1+ 19. Rxf1 Bb7 20. Bg4 dxc4 21. Bxe6 Qd3 22. Qe1 Be4 23. Bg4 Rb8 24. Bd1 Kd7 25. Rf7+ Ke6 {0-1 Robert Fischer-Efim Geller Monte Carlo 1967}) 14. Bxf6 {Eliminating Black's developed piece.} gxf6 15. Ne4 {Black, whose main disadvantage in this position is his displaced Q, gets it back into play after 15.Be2 Qd6!} Be7 {This is about the only move that is played today, but in his Chess Life article Gligoric drew attention to the fact that by 15....Qxa2 black can get his Q back into play and that practice had not yet refuted that move.} (15... Qxa2 {does, indeed, lead to full equality.} 16. Rd1 Be7 17. Be2 O-O {The majority of game played from this position have been drawn.}) {The engine's preferred move.} 16. Be2 h5 {The correct choice!} (16... O-O {This routine move is a serious mistake.} 17. Rb3 Qa5 18. c4 Kh8 19. O-O Ra7 20. Qh6 f5 21. Rg3 Bb4 22. Nf6 {1-0 Black resigned. Gipslis-Korchnoi, 31st Soviet Championship, 1963}) (16... Qxa2 {I's interesting that my old Virtual Chess gave a continuation that lead to a very favorable position for white, but it missed the mate in 9 that Stockfish spotted instantly!} 17. Bh5+ Kf8 18. Qh6+ Kg8 19. O-O Qxb1 20. Rxb1 Ra7 21. Rb8 Bc5+ 22. Kh1 Rf7 23. Nxf6+ Rxf6 24. Qxf6 Be7 25. Qf7#) 17. Rb3 {At the time this was a controversial move. O'Kelly's book gave 17.c4 stating that 17.Rb3 is of no use. Gligoric's article claimed 17.Rb3 is the only move and Stockfish concurs.. 17.Bf3 has been tried without success.} (17. c4 {somewhat favors black after} f5 18. Rb3 Qa4 19. Nd6+ Bxd6 20. Qxd6 Qa5+ 21. Kf2 Ra7 22. c5 Qc7 23. Rd1 Qxd6 24. Rxd6 Ke7) 17... Qa4 {White can now play 18.c4 which leads to complications and is it is quite playable. At the time I had analysis by O'Kelly, Gligoric and the Soviet Master Alvis Vitolinsch and threading my way through the analysis was quite a task. It was done using a book and magazine and shuffling pieces on a real chessboard.} 18. Nxf6+ Bxf6 19. c4 {This is another critical point. White is a piece down, but his pieces coordinate well. Black, on the other hand, has his Q out of play and his K is vulnerable. 19.c4 is necessary because, if at once, 10.O-O Qd4+ exchanging Qs and elimiating white's attacking chances while leaving black with the better ending. From Black's point of view, he can either get his QR into play by 19....Ra7 and 20.. .Rd7, or he can play as in the game to bring his Q back into play as quickly as possible.} (19. Rf1 {is a losing movr.} Be7 20. c4 Ra7 21. Rb8 Rc7 {Black is winning. Linford,C (2142)-Gibbs,D (1956) Coulsdon 2007}) (19. O-O Qd4+ { see note above....This why white has to play 19.c4 before castling/} 20. Qxd4 exd4 21. Rxf6 Ke7 {Black is slightly better.}) 19... c5 {At the time there was a lot of analysis available which is, no doubt, obsolete now. My opening book offers 5 possible moves for black. Seen most often are 19...Ra7 and 19...Bh4+ whicj is Stockfish's choice. 19...c5 is evaluated as equal.} (19... Ra7 20. O-O Rf7 21. Qd6 Be7 {with full equality.}) (19... Bh4+ 20. g3 Be7 21. O-O h4 { also with full equality.}) 20. O-O {Black should now return the material by 20. ...Qd7, when probably best for White is 21.Qxd7+ followed by Rxf6} Be7 { [%mdl 8192] A routine and natural looking move, but a fatal error. By a series of Q moves white manages to fork black's Rs.} (20... Qd7 {equalizes.} 21. Qxd7+ Bxd7 22. Rxf6 Ke7 23. Rg6 Rad8 24. Re3 Be8 25. Rg5 Rd2 26. Rgxe5 Rh6 27. Ra3 Bc6 28. Rxa6 {is equal, but in Beliavsky,A (2620)-Mikhalchishin,A (2535) Moscow 1981 black soon blundered and lost quickly.}) 21. Qd3 $18 Rh6 {He could not allow 22.Qg6+} 22. Qe3 Rh7 (22... Rf6 {offers a little hope after} 23. Bxh5+ Kd8 24. Rd3+ Bd7 25. Rxf6 e4 (25... Bxf6 26. Qh6 Be7 27. Qh8+ Kc7 28. Qxa8) 26. Qxe4 Bxf6 27. Qxa8+ {White is much better.}) 23. Qe4 {Black resigned. } 1-0

Bobby in 1986

 

    In 1986 you could buy the Miphisto Modular chess computer for the “low price of $300” which amounts to over $875 in today’s purchasing power. The cheapest model was only $199 (0ver $290 today). In 1986, chess computers were starting to become quite strong and top of the line computers were playing at the strong amateur level of, say, 2000-2100 or even a Master level. 

    The Fifth World Computer Chess Championship took place as part of the Cologne Trade Fair in Cologne, West Germany in June of 1986. Four programs finished with four out of five, and the winner was determined by sum of opponent scores. That is why the tournament was also decided by games from the bottom half. 

     The program Rebel was close to become the champion against the mainframe programs, but didn't manage to win a won game in the last round against Bebe. T Cray Blitz lost the second round against Bobby, but managed to win the last round against HiTech, which had a perfect score up until then. 

 

    A protest by Hans Berliner, suspicious by a move of Cray Blitz was declined by the arbiter after inspecting Blitz's log-files. Lucky for Cray Blitz was the adjudicated win against Schach 2.7 because years later, Rex’s co-author Sam Sloan started a campaign and claimed cheating by various sides. 

    Here’s an interesting game by Bobby, program by Hans-Joachim Kraas and Gunther Schrufer. In 1993, Bobby II won the 3rd International Paderborn Computer Championship. 

    The development of Bobby started in 1982 and was written in Pascal on an IBM computer. In 1987 Bobby II was complete[y redesign in C on an Atari ST microcomputer. Bobby had a sophisticated evaluation with respect to King safety and passed Pawns. The inclusion of certain non-tactical moves helped its play.

    Mephisto was a family of dedicated chess computers, produced and sold by Hegener & Glaser since 1980, starting with Mephisto I-III. In 1985 Richard Lang became primary Mephisto programmer and his programs competed in various World computer championships from 1985 until 1993. In 1994, Saitek Ltd., acquired the Mephisto trademark. 

    There is some interesting material on old engines and programs on Zarkov Fischer’s old site HERE. 

    I have a copy of Correspondence GM Robin Smith’s book Modern Chess Analysis which was published in 2004 and at that time engines were significantly stronger than in the past, and they were able to defeat strong humans, but they still had some major weaknesses and Snith showed how to takle advantage of thise weaknesses. 

    The February, 2004, edition of Chess Life’s cover story was that Garry Kasparov made history in a battle against X3D Fritz which resulted in a bi draw. In 2004, Saitek Industries “and Garry Kasparov” offered the Master Chess Computer, that was “super strong” and “ideally suited for the advanced club player.” It was “great for problem solving, training and speed chess.” It came with an AC adaptor, but could also run on 6 AA batteries. Cost: $249.95 which is about $495 today.

 

 

[Event "Fifth World Computer Champ, Cologne"] [Site "?"] [Date "1986.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Bobby"] [Black "Mephisto X"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A70"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "93"] [SourceVersionDate ""] {B03: Alekhine's Defense} 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. exd6 exd6 6. Nc3 Be7 7. h3 O-O 8. Nf3 Nc6 9. Be2 Bf5 10. O-O Qd7 {The end of my program's book; usual is 10...Bf6} 11. Bf4 {Hardly bad, but 11.d5 was sharper.} (11. d5 {Stockfish 17.1:} Nb4 12. a3 Na6 13. b4 Bf6 14. Nd4 Bg6 15. Be3 { White is better by about 1.5 Ps.}) 11... Rae8 12. a4 {Agian, 12.d5 secures a plus.} Bf6 {Mephisto should have prevented Bobby's next move with 12...a5} 13. a5 $16 Nc8 14. a6 {Nothing comes from this so connecting his Rs with 14.Qd2 was indicated.} b6 15. g4 {Like the real Bobby, the engine Bobby is aggressive. } Bxg4 {Moving the attacked B either to e5 or g6 was correct. The sacrifice is completely unsound and today's engines give white a winning 3 Pawn advantage.} 16. hxg4 Qxg4+ 17. Bg3 {The threat is 18.Ne5.} Nxd4 18. Nxd4 Qxd4 19. Qc2 (19. Qxd4 {is just a bit weaker. e.g.} Bxd4 20. Rae1 Bxc3 21. bxc3 {but why accept doubled Ps?}) 19... h6 20. Rfd1 Qc5 21. Nb5 Be5 {With the transparent threat of ...Bxg3} 22. Rd5 Qc6 23. Bxe5 Rxe5 24. Rxe5 dxe5 25. Bg4 {There is no way for black to save a P.} Nd6 (25... Qa8 26. Nxc7 Qb8 27. Nd5) (25... e4 26. Bf5 (26. Bxc8 {is mot quite as good.} Rxc8 27. Nxa7 Qg6+ 28. Kf1 Rd8 29. Rd1 Ra8 30. Nb5 Rxa6 31. Nxc7 {White is still winning, but is advantage is not as great as it is after the tet.}) 26... Re8 27. Re1 Nd6 28. Nxd6 Qxd6 29. Bxe4 { here white's advantage is about 2 Pawns.}) 26. Nxa7 Qc5 27. Bd7 e4 28. Nb5 Nxb5 29. Bxb5 Qg5+ 30. Kf1 Qh4 {Time for a bit of tactics!} 31. Rd1 Qh1+ 32. Ke2 Qf3+ 33. Ke1 Qh1+ (33... c6 {No doubt Bobby would have the trap and played} 34. Qe2 (34. Bxc6 Qh1+ 35. Kd2 e3+ 36. fxe3 Qxc6 {with a likely draw.}) 34... cxb5 35. Qxf3 exf3 36. cxb5 {White has a won R+P ending.}) 34. Kd2 Qg2 {If Black can now play ...c6 this consolidates a bit.} 35. Kc1 {Stockfish puts white's advantage at 4-5 Ps. The ancient (circa 1998) Fritz 5.32 puts it at slightly less than 2 Ps.} Qg6 36. Qb3 c6 37. Ba4 c5 38. Qg3 Ra8 39. Qxg6 fxg6 {[%mdl 4096]} 40. Bb5 g5 41. Rd7 h5 42. a7 e3 43. fxe3 Rf8 44. Bc6 h4 45. a8=Q Rxa8 46. Bxa8 h3 47. Rd5 {Black resigned. Compared to Stockfish 17.1, Bobby's accuracy rating was a decent 72%. Mephisto's was an unspectacular 37%.} 1-0