Half a Dozen Passed Pawns!!!

     Awesome, fascinating, unbelievable and marvelous are a few words that spring to mind when describing the following game in which Denis Victor Mardle (August 9, 1929 - July 31, 2000, 70 years old), a well known British player, amassed an array of six (!) passed Pawns in his defeat of British stalwart Robert Wade. 

     Mardel contracted polio at the age of 15 and was badly disabled for the rest of his life, walking with crutches and leg braces. 

     He took part in several British Championships from 1951 to 1965, with a best finish of =7th in 1957. Some of his best performances were in the Stevenson Memorial tournament held at Bognor Regis where he shared first place with Gereben in 1959, ahead of Karaklaic, Wade, Cafferty and Pritchard. 

     In 1964, he finished clear first ahead of a strong field that included Golombek, Karaklaic, Mestrovic, Rellstab, Hartston, Keene and Basman with the excellent score of 9.5-1.5. He participated in the Hastings Premier in 1964-65, but managed only two draws out of nine games. After playing in the 1965 British Championship in which he scored +4 -4 =3 he gave up major OTB activity but still played some correspondence chess. 

     Mardle had a distinguished career as a cryptanalyst after he was recruited during WWII by British master C. H. O'D. Alexander at an Oxford-Cambridge match. At the time Alexander was head of the cryptanalysis division of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), an intelligence and security organization responsible for providing intelligence information to the government and armed forces of the United Kingdom In 1969, Mardle directed the Mathematics Research Group before being promoted to chief mathematician in 1973. In 1982 he was appointed head of the cryptanalysis division, and was awarded the CBE in 1988. 

     During the 1953 British Championship Mardle met Barbara Lally (1920-1972), who was taking part in that year's British Ladies' Championship and they were married in 1954. After her death he married again. His second wife's daughter wrote an account of the last years of his life which was published in The Lincolnshire Post-Polio Information Newsletter in 2000. You can read the article HERE.

[Event "Stevenson Memorial, Bognor Regis"] [Site "?"] [Date "1959.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Robert G. Wade"] [Black "Denis V. Mardle"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E97"] [Annotator "Stockfiah 15"] [PlyCount "96"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.08.16"] {King's Indian: Classical Main Line} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d6 3. c4 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. e4 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. b4 a5 10. Ba3 axb4 11. Bxb4 Nd7 12. Nd2 {So far this is all book, but here white usually continues 12.a4} f5 13. Nb3 b6 14. a4 Nc5 15. Bxc5 bxc5 16. f3 Bh6 17. Qd3 Kh8 18. Nb5 (18. a5 Ra6 19. Nb5 Ng8 20. g3 Nf6 21. Rf2 Kg7 22. Nc3 fxe4 23. fxe4 Bh3 {with equal chances. Kaabi,M (2365)-Kahn,E (2350) Budapest 1995}) 18... Bd7 19. a5 Ra6 20. Ra2 Ng8 21. Qc3 Bf4 22. g3 {So far black has had a clear initiative, but is next move should have allowed white to gain the advantage.} Qg5 {The simple retreat 22... Bh6 was correct.} 23. Kh1 {Forcing black to sacrifice the B.} (23. Nxc7 { is not nearly as good because after} Bxg3 24. hxg3 Qxg3+ 25. Kh1 Ra7 {black has equalized.}) 23... Bxg3 (23... Be3 {is forcefully met by} 24. f4 Bd4 25. Qxd4 cxd4 26. fxg5 {and white is a piece ahead.}) 24. hxg3 {Not bad, but 24. Rg1 was even better.} (24. Rg1 f4 25. Nxc7 Ra7 26. Nb5 Qh5 {Threatening ...Qh2# } 27. Bd1 Bxb5 28. cxb5 {and white has a decisive advantage.}) 24... Qxg3 ( 24... f4 {was somewhat better.} 25. Bd1 fxg3 26. Kg2 Rf4 27. Rh1 {etc.}) 25. f4 {25.Nxc7 would be a mistake because after 25...Qh3+ black gets a threefold repitition.} Qh4+ 26. Kg2 Nf6 {[%mdl 32] White has a nearly won position here after 27.Qe1 beating back black's attack. Instead, he makes a move that looks plausible, but turns out to be a serious error. At least that's the way Stockfish looks at it. From the human standpoint things are not nearly so clear!} 27. Rh1 (27. Qe1 Qh6 28. fxe5 Nxe4 29. Bf3 dxe5 {and white is "clearly winning." Indeed, in Shootouts white scored 5 out of 5, but here's is the winning procedure at 21 plies...it wouldn't be so easy for a human.} 30. Bxe4 fxe4 31. Rxf8+ Qxf8 32. Nd2 c6 33. Nc3 cxd5 34. Nxd5 Qf5 35. Nxe4 Qg4+ 36. Ng3 Qg5 37. Qe3 Qxe3 38. Nxe3 h5 39. Ne4 Bc6 40. Nd5 Ba8 41. Kg1 Kg7 42. Nxc5 Ra7 43. Ne6+ Kh7 44. a6 Kh6 45. Nec7 Bc6 46. Nb5 Rd7 47. a7 h4 48. a8=Q Bxa8 49. Rxa8 e4 50. Nbc3 e3 51. Nxe3 Rc7 52. Ncd5 Rc6 53. Kf2 h3 54. Ra1 h2 55. Rh1 Ra6 56. Kg2 Kh5 57. Kg3 g5 {[%eval 734,21] [%wdl 1000,0,0]} 58. Rxh2+ Kg6 59. c5 Kf7 60. Rf2+ Kg7 61. Nf5+ Kf7 62. c6 Ra1 63. Nfe3+ Ke6 64. Rc2 Rg1+ 65. Kh2 Ra1 66. c7 Ra8 67. c8=Q+ Rxc8 68. Rxc8 Kd6 69. Rc4 Ke6 70. Kg3 Kd6 71. Rc7 Ke5 72. Kf3 Kd4 73. Rc4+ Ke5 74. Kg4 Kd6 75. Kxg5 Ke6 76. Rc6+ Ke5 77. Nf4 {Stockfish 15:} Ke4 78. Nf5 Kf3 79. Rc2 Ke4 80. Rf2 Ke5 81. Re2#) 27... Qxf4 28. Qf3 (28. Nxc7 {is still unsatisfactory.} Ra7 29. Nb5 Nxe4 {with the advantage.}) (28. Qc1 {offering a draw was a good idea.} fxe4 (28... Qxc1 29. Rxc1 Rc8 {was acceptable if black wants to play on although here white is slightly better.}) 29. Rf1 Qh4 30. Rh1 {draws}) 28... Qg5+ 29. Qg3 Qxg3+ 30. Kxg3 Nxe4+ 31. Kg2 { A truly unique position. Amazing! Black's best move is now 31...Rc8} c6 { This looks good. but it should have allowed whit to salvage the game.} 32. dxc6 (32. Nxd6 {was better.} Nxd6 33. Nxc5 Ra7 34. Nxd7 Rxd7 35. dxc6 Rc7 36. Rb1 Rxc6 37. a6 Ra8 38. a7 Rcc8 39. Ra5 Re8 40. c5 Nc8 {This position offers equal chances.} 41. Rb8 Nxa7 42. Rxe8+ Rxe8 43. Rxa7 Rc8 44. Ra5 Rc7 45. Bc4 { The position is evaluated at 0.00, but that is not the same thing as a draw... at least not in this position!}) 32... Bxc6 33. Bf3 Rb8 34. Nd2 {[%mdl 8192] This gets a big thumbs down from Stockfish.} (34. Rha1 Kg7 35. Kg1 Nc3 36. Nxc3 Bxf3 37. Nd2 Bc6 38. Rb1 {And this position is also evaluated at 0.00!}) 34... Nxd2 35. Bxc6 Nxc4 {This is the only correct move. 35...Rxc6 36.Rxd2 is allegedly equal.} 36. Bd7 d5 {[%mdl 32] Six passed Ps...they can't be stopped, but Wade gives it a try. The rest of the game received some minor tweaking by Stockfish, but the outcome is not in doubt.} 37. Nc3 Ne3+ 38. Kf3 d4 39. Bb5 Ra7 40. Rb1 g5 41. Bc6 e4+ 42. Ke2 Rxb1 43. Nxb1 Nc4 44. a6 Ne5 45. Nd2 { [%mdl 8192]} c4 {[%mdl 32]} 46. Ra4 d3+ {Black is clearly winning.} 47. Ke3 c3 48. Nc4 f4+ {Wade resigned.} 0-1