Beating a Dead Elephant

 

    The first time the Elephant Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5) appeared in print was in the late 1600s. It’s considered unsound because black is unable to get any compensation for the sacrificed Pawn. It might be OK for Blitz games and amateurs, but at the GM level it’s probably best not to play it. The following game is proof. Lilienthal went really wrong on move 3 (!) and never had a chance. 

    The loser was the strong Soviet GM Andor Lilientha (1911-2010m 99 years old). He was born in Moscow to Hungarian parents and was taken to Hungary at the age of two, but emigrated to the Soviet Union in 1935. He retired in 1976, returned to Hungary and remained well liked and respected. 

    The winner was another strong GM, Isaac Boleslavsky (1919-1099, 57 years old). He learned to play chess at the age of nine, but it was not until after World War II that he really made a name for himself and become one of the top Soviet players. He died in Minsk after a fall on an icy sidewalk. He suffering a broken hip that got infected during his hospitalization. 

    The game was played in the 1941 Soviet championship which took place in Leningrad and Moscow. The winner was going to be the challenger for Alekhine's world title, but WWII put the kibosh on that plan. 

 

     Boleslavsky’s play was not only brilliant, it was perfect! The game was analyzed with the Fritz program and Stockfish at 30 seconds per move and Boleslavsky’s play was assigned an accuracy rating of 100% meaning that the engine could not improve on a single one of his moves. After analyzing hundreds of games I have never seen this happen. 

[Event "Soviet Absolute Championship"] [Site "Leningrad/Moscow"] [Date "1941.??.??"] [Round "2"] [White "Isaak Boleslavsky"] [Black "Andor Lilienthal"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C40"] [Annotator "James Massie"] [PlyCount "33"] [EventDate "1941.03.23"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "20"] [EventCountry "URS"] [SourceTitle "HCL"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceVersion "2"] [SourceQuality "1"] {C40: Elephant Gambits} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nxe5 {The main alternative 3. dxe5 is only slightly better. With the text white pressures f6.} Qe7 {A very poor move that gives white a significant advantage.} ({Best Line:} 3... dxe4 4. Bc4 Nh6 5. d4 Nd7 6. O-O Nxe5 7. dxe5 Qxd1 8. Rxd1 Ng4 9. Nc3 Nxe5 10. Nb5 Bd6 11. Nxd6+ cxd6 12. Bd5 {White is slightly better.}) ({Line 2:} 3... Bd6 { Line 2:} 4. d4 dxe4 5. Bc4 Bxe5 6. Qh5 Qe7 7. Qxe5 Qxe5 8. dxe5 Nc6 9. Nc3 Bf5 10. Bf4 {White is slightly better.}) 4. d4 f6 {This reply coming from such a strong GM as Lilienthal ,ight be shocking...it looks like a beginner's move, but it's actually the best in the position which is an indicator that black's opening is a bust.} (4... dxe4 {dared no better in Gharibyan,M (2486)-Hirneise, J (2273) chess.com INT 2023} 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 g5 8. Bg3 Bg7 9. Bc4 { and black was inable to overcome his weakened K-side and lag in development/}) 5. Nd3 dxe4 {White now faces an important decision...where to place the N.} 6. Nf4 {This is the correct decision...the N will find a purpose on the K-side. If instead 6.Nc5 it won't accomplish much on the Q-side.He had two better, but that's not to say good, alternatives: 6...f5 pr 6...Bf5} Qf7 {This leaves him totally lost, but it is understandable. Sitting on e7 the Q gums up the development of his K-side pieces. Unfortunately, like so many advertisements you see for medicines on television, the side effects are worse than the dosease.} 7. Nd2 $146 (7. Be2 {is not bad, just less effective.} Bd6 8. Nc3 f5 9. Nb5 Ne7 10. Be3 {White is better. Ljubisic,Z-Sestovic,B (2111) Belgrade 2003 }) 7... Bf5 {A casual glance at the position may not reveal the fact that black is completely lose, but it's true.} 8. g4 Bg6 (8... Bd7 {might look better because it keeps white's N off e6, but it turns out to be even worse.} 9. Bc4 Qe7 10. Nd5 Qd8 11. Nxe4 {White is going to play Qe2 and black does not have a single reasonable move.}) 9. Bc4 Qd7 10. Qe2 Qxd4 {Black suffers a total debacle after this, but the better 10///Nc6 would only manage to hold out longer.} 11. Ne6 Qb6 {It might be that 11...Qe5 defending thee-Pawn would be better, but white plays qw.Bb3 clearing the way for his other B to come into play.} 12. Nxe4 Nd7 13. Bf4 Ne5 14. O-O-O Bf7 {Black appears to have consolidated a bit and this move aoms to get rid of the annoying N on e6, but Boleslavsky has a stunning reply.} 15. N4g5 {[%mdl 512] Brilliant.} fxg5 (15... Bxe6 16. Nxe6 Bd6 17. Nxg7+ Ke7 18. Bxe5 fxe5 19. Nf5+ Ke8 {White's attack has not stalled.} 20. f4 Ne7 21. fxe5 Nxf5 22. gxf5 Bc5 23. Qh5+ {Black can only delay, but not avoid, mate.}) 16. Bxe5 Bxe6 {Now comes a problem-like finish.} 17. Bxc7 {[%mdl 512] Black resigned. Fritz' tactical analyis assigns Boleslavsy an accuracy rating of 100%...perfect play!} 1-0