That evening somewhere around Akron, Ohio there was a deluge that resulted in several people pulling off the interstate waiting for it to pass. We saw one motorcyclist caught in the downpour, but a good Samaritan in a pickup truck stopped to give him shelter.
All players are aware of the opening advice given to beginners about not moving the same piece twice in the opening...within reason of course. Obviously in the Ruy Lopez, for example, after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 white has to move the B again.
In defiance of the rule, back in 1927 at the tournament in Semmering/Baden, in his game against Erich Elsikases, Paul Keres must have set some kind of record when he moved the same Knight eight times in the first 15 moves and won.
In the following game in the 1948 Australian Correspondence Championship in his game against Maurice Goldstein, Cecil Purdy nearly matched Keres' feat when he moved the same Knight six times in the first 15 moves and won.
Cecil John Seddon Purdy (March 27, 1906 - November 6, 1979), an Australian player and writer is well known. He was awarded the IM title in 1951 and the Correspondence GM title in 1959. He was the inaugural world correspondence champion (1950-1953). He was also an influential chess magazine writer, editor and publisher.
Despite his modest high rating of 2346 on the Chessmetrics June 1980 rating list, there is no doubt that Purdy was a strong player, but it's his writings that were his main contribution because they contain priceless instruction.
For example (see the note after black's 12th move), Purdy offered the sage advice that maxims are valuable labor saving devices for avoiding bad moves, but not for finding good ones.
At the same time, when it comes to specifics, the analysis given by even world champions can often be punched full of holes by Stockfish and Komodo. It doesn't matter that some of Purdy's notes were incorrect because his win in the following game is still instructive. His opponent, Maurice Goldstein (April 6, 1901 - October 12, 1966) was New Zealand champion in 1932-33.
Cecil Purdy–Maurice Goldstein1–0Australian Correspondence Championship1948Stockfish 15
Evans Gambit Accepted 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.c4 c5 4.b4 The idea behind
the Evans Gambit is that white sacrifices a P in order to achieve a lead in
development and quickly control the center. Often, white gets the P back with
an advantage or gets good compensation. xb4 Declining the gambit with
4...Bb6 is not very ambitious plus it allows white a wide variety of replies. 5.c3 a5 6.d4 6.0-0 This the way Captain Evans continued, but then d6 7.d4 b6 Lasker's Defense fully equalizes for black. 6...b5 Usual is 6...
exd5. This is the rarely played Leonhardt Countergambit which at the time
appeared in the Chessplayers' Bible, Modern Chesss Opening, or MCO as it was
called. MCO's conclusion was that it favored black. After careful examination
of the lines given Purdy concluded that improvements were available. 7.d5
MCO gave this as the weaker alternative to 7.Bxb5 and in his published
analysis Olaf Ulvestad actually give it as a win for white. After careful
analysis Purdy correctly assumed that both were wrong and that 7.Bd5 was the
better move. Actually, there is little difference between the two moves. exd4 8.xd4 8.b3 This was the only move considered by MCO, but the book line
ended in disaster for white and Purdy was of the opinion that there was no
need for white to be so rash. With correct play the result should be equality..
f6 9.0-0 dxc3 10.g5 g6 11.xc3 equals. 8...f6 9.0-0 ge7
The players had now left MCO and Purdy considered this the critical position.
Actually Leonhardt had analyzed this position back in 1906 (!), a fact both
players were aware of. Also, as both players knew, Leonahrdt's analysis had a
glaring error! Both players analyzed this position and Purdy came to the
conclusion that the drab 10.Nxb5 was best. Everybody was wrong! Leonhardt's 10.
e5 is white's best even though it slightly favors black! 10.xb5 10.e5
As recommended by Leonhardt and many years later by Stockfish. g6 10...xe5 This loses according to Purdy, but it actually results in equality after 11.xc6 dxc6 12.xc6+ xc6 13.e1 True, black's Q comes off the board, but
after e6 14.xe5 xe5 15.e2 c4 with a Q vs R+B+P, but a position in
which black has enough compensation in the form of piece activity. In
Shootouts 5 games were drawn. 11.f3 This move was not considered by any
of the analyst. 11.f4 This was Leonhardt's analysis for illustrative
purposes, but white is lost outright after xd4 12.xa8 c2 13.d2 xa1 14.e4 f5 11...xd4 12.xd4 c6 13.h4 b8 with equal chances. 10...0-0 10...a6 in order to regain the P was the move Purdy was hoping for, but after
11.5a3 0-0 Not Purdy's 11...Bxc3 11...xc3 12.xc3 xc3 13.b1 b8 14.xb8 xb8 15.b3 d6 16.c4 white has an active position. 12.c4 b8
with equal chances. 11.e3 Purdy noted that by painstaking analysis he
wanted to make sure that there was always a reason that discouraged black from
gaining the two Bs by playing ...Nxd5. In fact, there are no reasons that
would prevent black from making the exchange leaving him with the better
position. However, by avoiding the exchange black remains no worse than equal. a6 12.d4 b6 The natural move here would be 13.Bb3 (favored by Stockfish)
preserving the two Bs, but instead Purdy plays the mysterious 12.Nc2 moving a
piece that has already moved four times. His reasoning was that he wants to
play the N to e3 establishing control of the vital sqaure d5. Purdy adds that
maxims in chess are valuable labor saving devices for avoiding bad moves, but
not finding good ones. The engine's evaluation of the difference between the
two moves is negligible. 13.c2 b8 This was black's last change to
maintain a slim advantage with 13...Nxd5 14.xb6 xb6 15.e3 d6 16.c2 e6 After the game Goldstein believed this was a mistake (it is not really) and
thought ...Rb8 and ...Bb7 was better. There are two better ways to maintain
equality. Either 16...Ng6 and 17...Nce5 or he can try 16...a5 and 17...Ba3.
Note that capturing on d5 is no longer playable because of the fork. 17.d2 fb8 17...xd5 18.exd5 e5 19.f4 d7 20.e4 and white is slightly better.
18.f4 White space advantage gives him a slight advantage. b2 19.d3 a5 20.f5 Here white should have challenged black's control of the b-file. 20.ab1 xb1 21.xb1 ac6 22.f1 Now that the doubled Rs are gone black has no
play on the b-file and white is left with the initiative in the center and on
the K-side. 20...xd5 Again, this move is playable and this time is a
necessity if black wants to maintain equality. 21.exd5 allows black to
gain the upper hand after 21.fxe6 xc3 22.exf7+ f8 23.xc3 xc3 with the
slightly better position. 21...c8 In his notes Purdy was
completely wrong when he wrote that 21...Bd7 was a losing move. In fact, it's
the other way around! This is the losing move while after 21...Bd7 black is OK.
21...d7 22.ab1 xb1 23.xb1 e8 is completely equal. 22.ae1
Not really bad, but not worthy of the ! that Purdy gave it. He should have
played the much stronger 22.Ne4! Stockfish 15: 22.e4 h4 23.f3 d7 24.h3 d8 25.f1 b5 26.c4 xc4 26...d7 27.c3 h8 28.f6 g6 29.g5
with a winning attack. 27.xc4 f6 28.c3 d7 29.xb5 2xb5 and wins. 22...d8 Black's position is lost against precise play. 22...xa2 23.g4 d8 24.g3 with a winning attack. 22...d7 is tougher. 23.f2 h4 24.g3 h5 25.f3 2b6 26.d4 White is better. 23.c2 This move
incorrectly gets an exclamation mark and high praise from Purdy. The idea is
to maneuver the N to the K-side and at the same time prevent black from
establishing two Rs on the second rank. 23.f6 g6 24.d1 2b7 25.d4 c6 26.h4 h5 27.e3 was a better way of accomplishing the task. Here, depending on
what black plays, white can proceed with either 28.g4 or 28.Ne4 with a winning
attack. 23...xa2 To quote Purdy, "Just what the N wants." 23...f6
was his best hope. 24.d4 but even here white's position should prove
decisive. 24.b4 Again, 24.f6 would have been even stronger. b2 25.c4
An excellent move. It may look like a bad idea to exchange off black's
miserably placed N, but Purdy has a tactical shot. xc4 26.c6 f8 aiming
for ...Ne5! 27.xc4 d7 27...8b6 and the N continues its tour... 28.e7+ h8 29.xc7 b8 30.xd6 and white is winning. 28.xb8 xb8 29.xa6 b5 29...h6 30.d3 a7+ 31.h1 a2 and black's position only looks
dangerous as after 32.e4 f6 33.h3 f2 34.g1 xf1+ 35.xf1 white wins
the ending. 30.a3 d2 31.c4 d7 32.e7 d8 Black is lost, but this
allows a noce finishing touch. 33.xd7 Black resigned 33.xd7 xd7 34.a8+ mate next move. 1–0
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