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Wednesday, November 4, 2020

Boekdrukker Bamboozles Alekhine

     If you never heard of Bussum, a town of about 33,000 near Hilversum in The Netherlands, or Nardus M. Boekdrukker (May 25, 1888 - August 15, 1940, 52 years old) don't feel bad; few people have. 
     Back in 1933 Alekhine traveled far and wide giving simultaneous exhibitions. On one trip he visited Shanghai, Canton, Hong Kong, Manila, Singapore and the Netherland Indies (now known as now Indonesia) giving simuls in what was called Alekhine's Magical Mystery Tour. 
     Old music lovers may remember a made-for-television musical film directed by and starring an English group known as the Beatles that was released in 1967 that was titled Magical Mystery Tour. It depicted a group of people on a coach tour who experienced strange happenings caused by magicians. It had nothing to do with either Alekhine or chess as far as I know. 
     In July 1933, Alekhine set a new world record when he gave a 32-game blindfold simultaneous exhibition in Chicago and scored +19 -4 =9. Back in Europe by the end of the year he was in Bussum and on November 1, 1933, he scored +30 -4 =5 in a simul. One of his opponents was the aforementioned Nardus M. Boekdrukker. 
     I don't think I have ever given a simul or odds game, but this one is impressive because it's an example of desperado and overloading tactics. For those that don't know, a desperado is a piece that is en prise or trapped and because it's going to be lost anyway it tries to do as much damage as possible by capturing an enemy piece. An overloaded (or overworked) piece occurs when a piece is coping with two defensive tasks at the same time and is unable to handle the job. 
     The situation that arose at move 15 makes this game interesting. But wait! There's more! Boekdrukker weaseled out of his precarious situation with a three move desperado tactic, but the tactical sequence wasn't over. At the end of the desperado sequence he had an overloaded Q that Alekhine tried to take advantage of, but to his surprise, Boekdrukker had a counter surprise that lead to mate.

Alexander Alekhine - Nardus Boekdrukker

Result: 0-1

Site: Simultaneous Bussum NED

Date: 1933.11.01

B45: Sicilian Four Knights

[...] 1.e4 c5 2.♘f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.♘xd4 ♘f6 5.♘c3 ♘c6 For a long time the Sicilian Four Knights was considered to be slightly dubious, but recent practice has proven that not otbe the case. Black immediately puts pressure on e4 and d4 and plans to increase the pressure by playing ...Bb4 on the next move. This line is considered to be a good practical choice because black is going for an active play immediately. White's choice is limited and by just playing solid natural moves he won't get anything. 6.♗e2 White's main moves are by far 6.Ndb5 and 6.Nxc6, but with this move he invites black to play the Scheveningen with 6...d6. 6...d5 This is a rare, but very sharp sideline. In my database 75 percent of the games are decisive and are evenly divided between white and black wins. 7.exd5 exd5
7...♘xd5 8.♘xc6 bxc6 9.♘e4 f5!10.♘g5 ♗e7 11.h4 O-O with equal chances. Abul,Q (2043) -Rodriguez Yuste,M (2243)/Parla 2008.
8.O-O ♗e7 9.♗e3
9.♗f4 O-O 10.♗f3 a6 11.♖e1 ♖e8 12.h3 ♘xd4 13.♕xd4 favors white. Areshchenko,A (2647)-Safarli,E (2463)/Dresden 2007
9...O-O 10.♘b3 ♗e6 11.♘b5 a6 12.♘5d4 ♖e8 13.c3 Consolidates b4
13.♘xe6 can be met by 13...fxe6 14.♖e1 e5 with a solid position.
13...♕c7 14.h3 ♗d6 15.♘c5 This move serves no real purpose and is, in fact, a serious mistake. He should simply play 15.Nxe6 which at least gains the two Bs, but black even then black would have full equality. 15...♗xh3 After 15...Bxc5 black would be quite equal. Now if white takes the B then ...Bxc5. So, since the N is going to be lost, Alekhine makes a desperado move that seems to keep the material even. (15...♗xc5 16.♘xe6 ♖xe6 17.♗xc5 ♖ae8 is about equal.) (15...♗xc5 16.♘xe6 fxe6 17.♗xc5 e5 is also about equal.) 16.♘xa6 Apparently avoiding the loss of a P. With the N attacking the Q the assumption is that it has to be taken after which white captures the B. Even if black does take the N he still gets the better of it, but he has an even better, and surprising, move. (16.gxh3 ♗xc5 leaves white a P down with a shattered K-side.) 16...♗h2
16...bxa6 17.gxh3 ♖ab8 and black has better prospects owing to white's weakened Ks position.
16...♖xa6 is less good. After 17.gxh3 ♖a5 18.♘b5 ♗h2 19.♔h1 ♕e5 but here, too, black's position is preferable.
17.♔h1 ♗xg2 18.♔xg2 bxa6 Black has won a P, but Alekhine takes advantage of the fact that black's Q appears to be overloaded... it defends the N on c6 and the B on h2.
18...♖xa6 is not so good because after 19.♗xa6 bxa6 20.♘xc6 ♖xe3 Here the likely outcome would be a draw; white's best like is 21.♖e1 ♖xe1 22.♕xe1 ♗d6 23.♘d4
19.♘xc6 Here Boekdrukker has noticed that 1) captures (19...Qxc6) are not forced and 2) white's f-Pawn is overloaded because it defends the B and at the same time prevents the deadly ...Qg3+ 19...♖xe3 (19...♕xc6 20.♔xh2 and white is better.) 20.fxe3 After this the game is over.
20.♗d3 This is about the best he has. After 20...♖ae8 21.♘d4 ♖3e5 22.♖h1 ♖h5 23.♔f1 White has avoided immediate disaster, but black still stands much better.
20...♕g3 21.♔h1 ♗g1 Forcing white to give up a R after which black wins easily. 22.♖f2 (22.♖xg1 ♕h3#) 22...♗xf2 23.♕f1 ♖e8
23...♕h4 was more precise. 24.♔g2 ♘e4 25.♗f3 ♕g5 26.♔h1 ♘g3
24.♕g2 ♕xe3 25.♗f3 (25.♘d4 ♕h6 26.♕h2 ♕xh2 27.♔xh2 ♗xd4 28.cxd4 ♖xe2 wraps it up.) 25...♘e4 26.♘d4 ♖e5 27.♕h2 ♗g3 28.♕e2
28.♕g1 is not much help 28...♕f4 29.♔g2 ♖g5 30.♔f1 ♗h4 31.♖d1 ♖xg1 32.♔xg1 ♕g3 33.♗g2 ♕e3 34.♔h1 ♘f2 35.♔g1 ♘xd1 36.♔h1 ♘f2 37.♔g1 ♘g4 38.♔h1 ♕c1 39.♗f1 ♕xf1#
28...♘f2
28...♕h6 29.♔g1 ♗f2 30.♕xf2 ♘xf2 31.♔xf2 ♕e3 32.♔f1 ♖g5 33.♗g2 ♕d3 34.♔f2 ♕g3 35.♔e2 ♕xg2 36.♔d3 ♕e4 37.♔d2 ♖g2 38.♔d1 ♕d3 39.♔e1 ♕e3 40.♔d1 ♕g1#
29.♔g2 ♕h6 30.♕c2 ♕h3 31.♔g1 ♗h2 32.♔xf2 ♕g3 33.♔f1 ♕g1# A great game by the unknown Boekdrukker!
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