Richard Teichmann, Punching Bag of Champions

     Everybody has heard of Richard Teichmann (December 24, 1868 - June 15, 1925). It is said he said, "Chess is 99% Tactics," but I was unable to locate the source of where or when he said said quote. Also, it it hard to believe he said that seeing as how it was said of him, "His personality is calm, quiet, and thoughtful, so is his play, which persistently and surely follows a thought out plan, and he seldom endangers himself though precipitancy." Having said that, let us move on. 

     Richard Teichmann (24 December 1868 – 15 June 1925) was a German master known as Richard the Fifth because he often finished in fifth place in tournaments. The major exception was Carlsbad 1911, where he finished first a full point ahead of Akiba Rubinstein and Carl Schlechter both of whom he defeated. Capablanca called him one of the finest players in the world. 

     Perhaps it was because of the fact that Teichmann was on the receiving end of his share of brilliant combinations that he coined his famous maxim. Still, even though he had minus scores against Emmanuel Lasker (+0-4=0) and Capablanca (+0-2=1), against the greatest tactician of them all, Alexander Alekhine, Teichmann scored a credible result: three wins, five losses and five draws.

     When World War I broke out it coincided with the peak of Teichmann's power and he was forced go take a 7-year hiatus from 1914 to 1921. Between August 1906 and May 1912 the Chessmetrics site estimates his rating to have been over 2700 and on 19 different months between those dates he was ranked 5th a total of 19 times. Richard the Fifth all over! 

     Upon his resumption of tournament play he managed only a few more events before passing away in 1925 due to kidney and heart problems. At the time of his death Chessmetrics puts his rating at a respectable 2574 ranking him 17th in the world. 

     Teichmann was born in Lehnitzsch Sachsen-Altenburg, Germany. He was a student of languages and was fluent in several of them. He moved to England in 1892 as a language teacher and resided there for a number of years. 

     At London 1899 (won by Lasker ahead of Maroczy, Pillsbury and Janowsky who all tied for second), Teichmann had defeated Samuel Tinsley, lost to Chigorin and drawn with Pillsbury and Blackburne when an eye infection forced him to withdraw. He lost the use of his right eye and thereafter wore his signature eye patch. 

     His opponent in the following game was Rudolf Loman (1861-1932, 71 years old) of The Netherlands. On July 31, 1893 a match (the best out of nine games) between Loman and Teichmann was commenced at Simpson's Divan in London. 

     The first game was a draw, but the second and third were wins for Teichmann. At that point Loman left for a vacation in Holland and to take part in the Dutch National Tournament at Amsterdam. As a result, the match was to be resumed in the middle of September. Upon resumption Teichmann scored +5 -0 =1. 

     In this game Teichmann was the puncher and succeeded in landing heavy blows on the hapless Loman.

Richard Teichmann - Rudolf Loman

Result: 1-0

Site: Match, London

Date: 1893.08.01

Vienna Gambit

[...] 1.e4 e5 2.♘c3 As far back as 1888 a New York Times book reviewer wrote that "since Morphy only one new opening has been introduced, the Vienna." The original idea was to play a delayed King's Gambit with f4 as in this game. Weaver Adams claimed the Vienna led to a forced win for white. In th emodern view, GM Nick de Firmian wrote that it leads to equality. 2...♘f6 3.f4 The quieter 3.Nf3 is preferred today. Of course, in that case black can transpose intot he Four Knights Game with 3...Nc6.

3.♘f3 ♘c6 4.d4 This, the Scotch Four Knights Game leads to a more open position than the usual 4.Bb5 4...exd4 5.♘d5 This is the Belgrade Gambit; it's not all that bad and can be a lot of fun to play.

5.♘xd4 This solid variation is not for the fainthearted. 5...♗b4 6.♘xc6 bxc6 7.♗d3 d5 8.exd5 cxd5 9.O-O

5...♘xe4 Usual and slightly better is 5...Be7. 6.♕e2 f5 7.♘g5 More solid is 7.Nd2 7...d3 8.cxd3 ♘d4 9.♕h5+ g6 10.♕h4 Black is better.

3...d5 Other moves are likely to result in white getting the advantage. AT lower levels black may be unaware that this is the best move and so white has good chances of gaining an advantage in this line.

3...exf4 4.e5 and the N has to return to g8 leaving white with a strong center, more space and a lead in development.

3...d6 4.♘f3 ♗g4 5.h3 ♗xf3 6.♕xf3 ♗e7 7.♗c4 O-O 8.O-O White is slightly better.

4.fxe5 ♘xe4 5.♕f3 f5 6.♘ge2

6.d3 ♘xc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.♕g3 ♘c6 9.♘f3 g6 10.♗e2 ♗g7 11.O-O White stands well. Barskij,V (2386)-Ozgibcev,A (2376)/Sochi 2017

6...c6 7.♘f4 ♕c7

7...g6 was somewhat better. 8.d3 ♘c5 9.d4 ♘e4 10.♘xe4 fxe4 11.♕b3 ♕b6 12.♕xb6 axb6 13.c4 ♗b4+ 14.♔d1 dxc4 15.♗xc4 White is slightly better, but in the game could make no progress and drew. Antal,G (2405)-Lukacs,P (2488)/Budapest 2000

8.d4 ♗b4 9.♗e2 O-O 10.O-O ♗xc3 11.bxc3 b5 A better defense was moving the Q to the K-side with 11. ..Qf7. 12.a4 ♕a5 After this move white has much the better of it because the Q is out of play here. Best was 12...bxa4, but white would still have the better position. 13.♗a3 ♘d2 This only makes matters worse, but his position was already extremely difficult.

13...♖d8 14.♗b4 ♕c7 15.axb5 ♕f7 (15...cxb5 16.♗a5) 16.♕d3 Now that black's Q has come to the aid of the K white switches operations to the weakened Q-side. 16...a6 17.b6 white has a winning position.

14.♕h5 ♕xc3

14...♘xf1 15.♗xf8 ♔xf8 16.e6 and the only way to stop mate on f7 is to play 16...Bxf6 16...♗xe6 17.♘xe6+ ♔e7 18.♕xf5 ♘d7 (18...♘e3 19.♕f8+ leads to mate) 19.♖xf1 and wins

14...♖f7 15.e6 ♗xe6 16.♗b4 ♕b6 17.♘xe6 g6 18.a5 ♕b7 19.♕g5 ♕c8 20.♕xd2 wins

15.♗xf8 ♕xd4+ 16.♔h1 ♘xf1 16...Qxe5 was marginally better, but the text sets a wily trap.

16...♔xf8 17.♕xh7 ♘e4 18.♕h8+ ♔e7 19.♘g6+ ♔f7 20.c3 ♕c5 21.♕xc8 ♘f2+ 22.♖xf2 ♕xf2 23.♗h5 The black K is in a mating net.

17.♕e8

17.♗xf1 loses after 17...♕xa1 18.♗c5 ♕xe5

18...♕xf1+ 19.♗g1 g6 (19...♘d7 20.e6 wins) 20.♕g5 ♘d7 21.e6 ♘f8 22.e7 ♗d7 23.exf8=♕+ ♖xf8 24.♘xg6 hxg6 25.♕xg6+ white has been forced to take the draw.

19.♘d3 ♕e6 Black is left with a winning material advantage.

17.♗d6 is also good. 17...♗d7 (17...♕xa1 18.♕e8#) 18.♖xf1 is winning for white.

17.♖xf1 is yet another winning move. 17...♕xe5 18.axb5 ♔xf8 (18...♘d7 19.♗xg7 ♕xg7 20.bxc6 ♘f8 21.♗f3 ♔h8 22.♗xd5 with a won ending.) 19.♕xh7 Threat: Ng6+ 19...♔e8 20.c4 dxc4 21.♕g8+ ♔d7 22.♖d1+ ♔c7 23.♕d8+ ♔b7 24.bxc6+ ♘xc6 25.♖b1+ black can only delay mate.

17...♘g3+ 18.hxg3 ♕xa1+ 19.♔h2 White has a mate in 9 19...♗d7 20.♕e7 ♕xe5 21.♕xe5 ♔xf8 22.♘h5 Black resigned.

22.♗h5 leads to mate after 22...g6 23.♕f6+ ♔g8 24.♗xg6 hxg6 25.♘xg6 ♔h7 26.♘e7 mates in 2

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