A Spielmann Classic

 

`In his book The Art of Sacrifice in Chgess, Rudolf Spielmann wrote that sacrifices made for material gain can leaves the opponent still able to show fight or at least put up some resistance while the object of the mating sacrifice is to terminate the game immediately. 

    He also noted that in the case of mating sacrifices the attacker must have a vastly superior position either in position or development or often in both. The cases are rare in which the mate can actually be delivered if those factors are not present.     

    More often than not the defender can ward off mate by incurring heavy material losses. Faced with the mate or heavy loss no sensible player will continue the game. This is a pet peeve of mine when playing on line. It seems many weak players never heard of resigning and many will just abandon the game rather than simply resign and move on.  Even worse are those disgusting people who refuse to move and let their time run out. Don’t be one of those doltish, rude players! 

    The following game was played in Vienna in 1929 and its notable feature is Spielmann’sa spectacular mate from a sacrifice. The game began with the Caro-Kann, but soon transitioned into a sharp, aggressive attacking game and ends with a vacating sacrifice to allow a ,ating sacrifice involving the Queen. 

    Rudolf Spielmann (188301942) was born in Vienna and was known as a friendly, pleasant and sensitive man, but as a player he was famous for his love of complicated positions with lots of tactical opportunites and sacrifices. 

 Being Jewish, Spielmann fled Nazi Germany, first for the Netherlands in 1934, then to Prague in 1938 and in 1939 he escaped to Sweden where according to relatives he locked himself in his room and was later found starved to death. Another version is that he suffered from a Parkinson's disease-like illness, which rapidly got worse and he died in a hospital. His opponent, Baldur Hoenlinger (1905-1990) was an Austrian master who participated in tournaments from the 1920s to the 1950s. 

 

[Event "Vienna Masters"] [Site ""] [Date "1929.02.01"] [Round "?"] [White "Rudolf Spielmann"] [Black "Baldur Hoenlinger"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B15"] [Annotator "Spielmann/Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "1929.??.??"] {B15: Caro-Kann} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Ng3 {The usual 5. Nxf6+ offers white better chances of success, bit Spielmann prefers tp keep Ns on in hopes of increasing his attacking chances.} e6 6. Nf3 c5 7. Bd3 Nc6 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. a3 {A truly excellent move that is also Stockfish's top choice. Many players would simply castle here, but Spielmann plays 9.a3 to preserve his Bishop on its attacking diagonal by preventing ...Nb4.} O-O 10. O-O b6 11. b4 {[%mdl 32]} Be7 12. Bb2 Qc7 {Somewat better was 12...Bb7, bit white already has a position with attacking potential.} 13. b5 Na5 14. Ne5 Bb7 15. Ng4 { White would do better to continue inproving his position with 15.Qe2 followed by 16,Rae1m but Spielmann prefers to generate an attack by playing this with the intention of breaking up black's K-side,} Qd8 16. Ne3 {Now exchanging on f6 would not accomplish anything.} Nd5 {This logical looking move is a mistake! In this position Spielmann explains why. White has by far the better development. While it’s true that only the minor pieces are mobilized, but they are trained at black’s K. Additionlly, black’s pieces are ineffectually or even badly placed, particularly to the N on a5. Positional speaking, black is very well placed, as white's c-Pawn is backward. However, black's last move is a premature attempt to emphasize his positional superioroty. He would have excellent chances if he could find time for ...Bf6. Quick and energetic action by 16...Qc7 eyeing the c-(awn was required on black’s part. 16...Nd5 gives white his opportunity.} 17. Qh5 g6 18. Ng4 { This offer of the Q for a mate was the point of 17.Qg5. Spielmann notes that the Q offer is passive in the sense that it can be declined, but it leads to putting considerable strain on the defender.} Bf6 {The only defense against the threat of 19.Nh6#} (18... gxh5 19. Nh6#) (18... f6 19. Bxg6 hxg6 20. Qxg6+ Kh8 21. Rae1 Qc7 22. Rxe6 {White is winning.}) 19. Nxf6+ {[%mdl 128] White is clearly better, but there is no clear win if black defends correctly.} Nxf6 { Which he does not!} (19... Qxf6 20. Bxf6 gxh5 21. Nxh5 Nxf6 22. Nxf6+ Kg7 { and black can at least play on.}) 20. Qh6 {Black's K is now in hospice because he is fatally weak on the dark sdquares.} Rc8 21. Rad1 Qe7 22. Rfe1 {Preparing Nf5} Ne8 23. Nf5 {[%mdl 512] The long dormant N now plays a decisive role.} Qc5 24. Re5 Bd5 25. Ne7+ {[%mdl 512] This is a vacating sacrifice that make it possible for the R to reach h5} (25. Ne7+ Qxe7 26. Qxh7+ Kxh7 27. Rh5+ Kg8 28. Rh8#) 1-0