One of my favorite books is an old, old copy of Al Horowitz’ Golden Treasury of Chess which first came out in 1943. I got my copy around 1958.
It has over 300 games (in Descriptive Notation, of course) divided into Favorite Games, The Pre-Morphy Period, The Morphy Period, The Age of Steinitz, Modern Chess, Moderns, Hypermoderns an
Eclectics and The Period of Russian Hegemony.
There is a brief introduction to each game, zero to very short notes and an occasional diagram. They are just games to play over for enjoyment and I suspect that quite a few don’t appear in any database.
There is a controversy over the book about who was the true author. Chess historian Edward Winter wrote that the collection was originally published by Francis J. Wellmuth in 1943 and it was revised and printed many times by Horowitz. The 2009 edition was further revised and printed by Sam Sloan.
The size of the book and the games appearing in it have changed over the years.
Recently I’ve been going through the Favorites section. Horowitz (or whoever) wrote in the introduction to the Favorites section, “In the course of the decades which I have devoted to the preparation of this volume, I have had occasion to examine thousands upon thousands of scores. Those that have pleased me most are included in (this book). But even among these favorites, there are some which I have enjoyed so much that I have set them aside in order to attract the reader's attention to these games.”
Let’s take a look at one of them. The game was played between Pillsbiry and Lasker in the St, Petersburg event mentioned in the previous post. At the end, Lasker sacrifices a Rook, then a Pawn and then forces mate with his Queen and Bishop. In the book the game shows Pillsbury getting mated on move 32, but I suspect that the database score where he resigned on move 30 is correct.
The game’s introduction eloquently reads, “There are many attractive settings for a brilliant game; but what is more impressive than an immortal game between two Titans? The man who was able to beat the great Pillsbury in this wonderful game was truly worthy of his title. It is no exaggeration to say that Lasker's combination is one of the greatest feats of the human imagination.” Horowitz did exaggerate a bit, but, it’s still a great game.
Harry N. Pillsbury–Emanuel Lasker0–1D50St. Petersburg 1895/96St. Petersburg RUE04.01.1896Stockfish 17
D50: Queen's Gambit Declined 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.c3 f6 4.f3 c5 5.g5 cxd4 6.xd4 c6 7.h4 e7 8.0-0-0 A risky decision that will require careful play. 8.cxd5 xd5 9.xe7 xe7 10.xe7+ xe7 11.c1 xc3 12.xc3 With complete ewuality. Seidemann,U (2075)-Wolf,S (2075) Germany 1998 8...a5 9.e3 9.cxd5 exchanging some material is safer. xd5 10.xd5 exd5 11.xe7 xe7 12.b1 with equality. 9...d7 10.b1 h6 11.cxd5 exd5 12.d4 0-0 13.xf6 xf6 14.h5 xd4 15.exd4 e6 The calm before the storm. 16.f4 ac8 Black's position look innocent enough, but Pillsbury suspects there is danger lurking. Unfortunately, his defense is not quite up to par. ...Rxc3 is in the air. 17.f5 Active defense. 17.c1 would lose to xd4 18.d3 xc3 19.bxc3 xc3 20.xc3 xc3 21.d1 c8 Black is winning. For example... 22.b3 f6 23.g3 c3 24.d1 xd3 25.xd3 f5 17...xc3 A move worthy of a World Champion! 18.fxe6 18.bxc3 c8 19.d3 b6+ 20.c2 d7 21.e2 a4+ The K is caught in a crossfire. 22.d2 g5+ 23.e1 b1+ 18...a3 Nice move! Pillsbury now selects the least satisfactory defense. Either way though black's position has excellent prospects. 19.exf7+ 19.bxa3+- b6+ 20.b5 xb5+ 21.a1 fxe6 ...and white has the possibilty of surviving. 22.h3 19...xf7 Black now has what amounts tp a decisive advantage. 20.bxa3 b6+ 21.b5 21.c2 is no better. c7+ 22.d2 xd4+ 23.e1 c3+ 24.f2 d4+ 21...xb5+ 22.a1 c7 Bringing the R into play looks devastating, but it is flawed in that white now equalizes... a fact that annotators in pre-engine days missed. 22...c4 23.g4 Black could maintain a huge advantage with ...Re7-e2, but there is a fancier way. e5 24.e6 xd4+ 25.xd4 xd4+ 26.b1 d3+ 27.a1 d2 28.c8+ h7 29.c1 xg2 with the clearly better position. 23.d2 c4 23...c2 would also result in equality after 24.b1 24.xc2 xd4+ 25.c3 xc3# 24...c4 25.xc2 xd4+ 26.cb2 xb2+ 27.xb2 and it's doubtful that black can make any progress. 24.hd1 A perfectly logical move defending the d-Pawn, but it gives black a decisive advantage. 24.e1 A sruprising hidden resource! f8 24...xd4+ is met by 25.xd4 xd4 26.e8+ and it is white who wins. h7 27.f5+ g6 28.f7# 25.ed1 c5 26.f3 g8 27.b1 xd4 28.d3 with equal chances! 24...c3 Another innacurate move by Lasker. 24...c6 Threatens ...Bxd4+ and white cannot capture the B. 25.b1 25.h3 xd4+ 26.xd4 xd4 27.f3 xd1+ 28.xd1 f6+ 29.b1 g6+ with a won ending. 25...g5 26.e2 26.e2 c1+ mates 26...xd2 27.xd2 g6+ 28.b2 b6+ 29.a1 c7 picks up the h-Pawn and leaves black wityh a won ending. 25.f5 c4 26.b2 A tactical mistake that loses the game. 26.b1 b5+ 26...xa3 is met by 27.c1 b5+ 28.b2 d3+ 29.xd3 xd3 30.xb7 and white is superior. 27.b2 c6 with the better chances. 28.b3 26...xa3 White has no satisfactory answer to the threat is mate with ...Rxa2+ 27.e6+ 27.xa3 gets mated. c3+ 28.a4 b5+! 29.xb5 c4+ 30.a5 d8# 27...h7 28.xa3 28.f5+ g8 29.b1 xd4 30.c2 b4+ 31.c1 c3 28...c3+ 29.a4 b5+ 30.xb5 c4+! White resigned. 30...c4+ 31.a5 d8+ 32.b6 axb6# 0–1
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