Taking a Gander At An Alekhine Classic

     Everybody has seen the game Alekhine considered to be his best, Reti vs. Alekhine, Baden-Baden, 1925. 

     There are some questions about the game though. How many moves ahead did he see? How accurate was his analysis and, finally, did he doctor the moves? 

     As for the last question, I refer you to Edward Winter's article HERE. Everybody knows Alekhine was famous for altering moves and he often tried to give readers the impression that he saw everything from the beginning to the end. 

     Remember that in 1927 when Alekhine published My Best Games of Chess 1908-1923 he was trying to drum up backers for a world championship match. Hence, the urge to embellish a bit was just too much. 

     In any case, the game still remains one of Alekhine's best and even if you have seen it before, it's always enjoyable to take another gander at it! After all, it is the game about which Alekhine wrote, "I consider this and the game versus Bogoljubow at Hastings 1922 the most brilliant tournament games of my chess career. And...they both remained undistinguished as there were no brilliancy prizes awarded in either of these contests!"  NOTE: Thanks to an alert reader a typo was corrected...it was Hastings 1922, not 1925,

     In the game Alekhine countered Reti's excellent positional play by launching a sudden and surprising attack against Reti's King. Reti was instantly on defensive and Alekhine finished him off with a long series of beautiful moves. According to Garry Kasparov, the game is one of the most beautiful history. 

     Back in the 1980s, West German GM Robert Huebner, who at one time was one of the world's best players, produced Weltmeister Aljechin, a CD in which he took a critical look at 1,745 of Alekhine's games. Huebner, a world championship candidate at that time, would play over a few of Alekhine's games every day and try to refute his analysis. As one of the best modern analysts, Huebner concluded that Alekhine's notes to his games are overrated. 

     The game against Reti was played in the great tournament held at Baden-Baden in 1925. After World War I there were no great tournaments held in Germany and so Tarrasch approached the city authorities of the spa town of Baden Baden which had hosted a tournament in 1870 about holding another big tournament. 

     After receiving a favorable response, Tarrasch proceeded to organize the tournament. Lasker and Capablanca were invited, but thinking very highly of themselves, they both demanded appearance fees that were too large to met. Vidmar and Maroczy were also invited, but they were unable to attend because of their work.

Richard Reti - Alexander Alekhine

Result: 0-1

Site: Baden-Baden

Date: 1925.04.25

Irregular Opening

[...] 1.g3 e5 2.♘f3 This is an attempt to play the Alekhine's Defense with the colors reversed and white has an extra tempo. It was the last time Reti ever tried this experiment, but it's been played a few times since this game and the results for white have not been unfavorable. 2...e4 3.♘d4 d5

was suggested as better by Alekhine. 3...c5 4.♘b3 c4 5.♘d4 ♘c6 Alekhine suggested 5...Bc5. In either case white's position is satisfactory. 6.c3 ♗c5 7.♗g2 ♘f6 8.O-O ♘xd4 9.cxd4 ♗xd4 10.♕a4 O-O was played in Wohl,A (2415) -Hamdouchi,H (2615)/Catalan Bay 2003. Black is slightly better.

4.d3 exd3 5.♕xd3

5.cxd3 ♘f6 6.♗g2 ♗e7 7.O-O O-O 8.♘c3 is equal. Zacurdajev,M (2374) -Serov,M (2275)/St Petersburg 2007

5...♘f6 6.♗g2 ♗b4 Alekhine commented that he was trying to develop as rapidly as possible, but it would have been better to retain this B so as to guard his dark squares.

6...c5 was a good alternative. 7.♕b5 ♕d7 8.♕xd7 ♗xd7 9.♘b3 ♘c6 would leave white with a not too promising position.

7.♗d2 ♗xd2 8.♘xd2 O-O 9.c4 Alekhine gives Reti credit for having played the opening very well. That is apart from his eccentric first move which we know today is not eccentric at all. 9...♘a6 After this white gets good play on the c-file.

9...c5 Alekhine stated this would not be especially good because of... 10.♘4b3 which he says threatens both Nxc5 and cxd5. However, after 10...♘a6 11.cxd5 ♘b4 black has a fully equal position.

10.cxd5±10...♘b4 11.♕c4 ♘bxd5 12.♘2b3 c6 13.O-O ♖e8 14.♖fd1 ♗g4 15.♖d2 ♕c8 16.♘c5 ♗h3 Offering a P which white cannot accept. 17.♗f3

17.♗xh3 Alekhine's analysis runs as follows. 17...♕xh3 Now is white plays 18.Nf3 black would only have a nominal advantage. but Alekhine is quite correct in that taking the P loses. 18.♘xb7 ♘g4 19.♘f3 ♘de3 20.fxe3 ♘xe3 21.♕xf7 ♔h8 22.♘h4 ♖f8 and wins.

(17.♗f3 ♗g4 18.♗g2 ♗h3 19.♗f3 ♗g4 20.♗g2) 17...♗g4 According to Alekhine this gives white three choices: exchange his B, acquiesce to a draw by repetition, or place it on an inferior square (h1). 18.♗g2 ♗h3 19.♗f3 ♗g4 Supposedly at this point Alekhine incorrectly claimed a draw by repitition, but the TD quickly ascertained it to be incorrect. The draw would come about only if Reti now plays 20.Bg2 20.♗h1 In truth this square is not inferior because on h1 the Bs range on the lonf diagonal is not compromised and it still defends the light squares around the K. 20...h5 Alekhine's intention id to exchange on g3 so as to weaken white's K. 21.b4 a6 First he plays a safety precaution against intrusion on b5. 22.♖c1 h4 23.a4 For his part Reti is preparing to play b4-b5. 23...hxg3 24.hxg3 ♕c7 25.b5 Alekhine called this consistent, but very risky and recommended 25.e4

25.e4 Alekhine wrote that white could meet the immediate threats against his K with this move, but the obstruction of the B's diagonal would at the same time end his hopes on the Q-side. He gave the following analysis to prove his point... 25...♘b6 26.♕d3 ♘bd7 This agrees with Stockfish, but black has no advantage; the position is equal after... 27.♘xd7 ♘xd7

25...axb5 26.axb5 Concerning his next move Alekhine wrote: "It seems almost incredible that this spectacular move not only stops white's attack but even brings him serious trouble." Purdy subjected this position to considerable analysis because he wanted to disprove the theory of Steinitz and Lasker that for a combination to be possible one must first have a considerable advantage. Stockfish is in complete agreement with Purdy...neither side can claim a considerable advantage and the chances are quite evenly balanced. 26...♖e3 The recommended engine move! The threat is 27. ..Rxg3+ with a winning attack. A Shootout from this position resulted in white scoring +1 -0 =4 so it's a reasonable conclusion that the position is pretty even. Every brilliancy requires the losers cooperation and that is exactly what Reti does with his next move. 27.♘f3 This loses. White has a couple of ways of keeping the chances even: 27.Bf3, 27.Kh2 which Alekhine incorrectly asserted loses, and 27.Rd3

27.bxc6 shows how black wins after 27...♖xg3 28.♗g2 ♘e3 This works here, too. 29.fxe3 ♗h3 30.♘f3 ♖xg2 31.♔h1 ♕g3 and black mates in at most 5 moves.

27.♔h2 ♖aa3 Alekhine gives this a ! and claims a win, but after 28.♘d3 ♗h5 29.♗xd5 ♘g4 30.♔g2 ♖xg3 31.fxg3 ♘e3 32.♔f2 ♘xc4 33.♗xc4 ♕d8 34.♘f4 In this extremely complicated position white has a slight advantage, but in five Shootouts scored +2 -0 =3 in some very long games. In human play the game could go either way.

27.♖d3 This is also a satisfactory defense for white. A likely continuation might be 27...♖xe2 28.♘xe2 ♗xe2 29.bxc6 bxc6 30.♗f3 ♗xd3 31.♘xd3 with equal chances.

27.♗f3 Everyone agrees that this is the best continuation, but Alekhine tried to convince his readers that black is better which is simply balderdash. The position is quite even. 27...♗xf3 28.exf3 cxb5 29.♘xb5 ♕a5 30.♖cd1 with equal chances. All five Shootouts were drawn. So, it seems that at best after 26... Re3 black has at best a draw against correct play. It's that last statement "against correct play" that is the key. Tal made a living out of introducing complications that might not have been successful against correct play!

27...cxb5 28.♕xb5 (28.♕d4 ♖a4 29.♘xa4 ♕xc1 30.♖d1 ♕c7 is also winning for black.) 28...♘c3 29.♕xb7 (29.♕c4 fails against 29...♖a4 30.♖xc3 ♖xc4 31.♖xc4 b6) 29...♕xb7 30.♘xb7 ♘xe2 31.♔h2 ♘e4 The beginning of a new combination, which, however, is the absolutely logical consequence of the previous maneuvers, aiming, after a series of 12 practically forced moves, at the capture of the N on b7 . (Alekhine) Sounds like malarkey. Black adds another piece to the attack and he is clearly winning, but it's doubtful Alekhine saw everything, move for move, through to the end. 32.♖c4 ♘xf2 This is the only correct move.

32...♗xf3 would be a mistake because after 33.♖xe4 (33.♗xf3 loses! 33...♘xd2 34.fxe3 ♘xc4 35.♘d6 ♖a4 36.♗xe2 ♘xd6) 33...♗xe4 34.fxe3 ♗xh1 35.♔xh1 ♘xg3 with a likely drawn ending.

32...♘xd2 also throws away the advantage. 33.♘xd2 ♖d3 34.♘c5 ♖xd2 35.♗xa8 only draws.

33.♗g2 (33.♘g5 does not help much 33...♘xh1 34.♖xg4 ♘hxg3) 33...♗e6

33...♗xf3 is still wrong. 34.♗xf3 ♖xf3 35.♖xe2 ♘d1 And, again, a draw is likely.

33...♘e4 would win another P, but it's pretty dull. 34.♖d8 ♖xd8 35.♘xd8 ♗xf3 36.♗xf3 ♘2xg3

34.♖cc2 In this complicated position Alekhine keeps finding the only moves that keep the win in hand. 34...♘g4 35.♔h3 He gets mated in 8 after 35.Kh1 Ra1+ 35...♘e5 36.♔h2 ♖xf3 37.♖xe2 (37.♗xf3 ♘xf3 38.♔g2 ♘xd2 39.♖xd2 ♗g4 wins.) 37...♘g4 38.♔h3 ♘e3 39.♔h2 Here 39...Nxc2, 39... Ng4+ and 39...Nxg2 all win easily. 39...♘xc2 40.♗xf3 ♘d4 Reti resigned and so ending an amazing game.

40...♘d4 41.♘d6 (41.♖f2 ♘xf3 42.♖xf3 ♖a2 43.♔g1 ♗d5 wins) 41...♘xf3 42.♔g2 ♘g5 with a won ending

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Yankton International Tournament 1946

     Yankton, South Dakota is a city with a population of about 14,000 that is located on the Missouri River in SE South Dakota. 

     Yankton facts: It's named after the Yankton tribe of Western Dakota people and it was the first capital of Dakota Territory. The Human Services Center was established as a psychiatric hospital there in 1882. Yankton is commonly referred to as the River City due to its proximity to the Missouri River It earned the nickname Mother City of the Dakotas due to the early important role it played in the creation and development of the Dakota Territory. And, its cement was used in the construction of the Panama Canal, so at one time it was also known as Cement City. 

     Another Yankton fact: there was a small "international" tournament held there in 1946. It came about when the newly organized South Dakota State Chess Association was inaugurated and held some small tournaments from September 15th to the 22nd at the Hotel Charles Gurney. Also included was a day long tour of the Black Hills. 

     The hotel was the site of some drama including the trial of Jack McCall, who achieved infamy when he murdered Wild Bill Hickok in Deadwood in 1876. Read more HERE 

     By the way, on the afternoon of August 2, 1876, in the Number Ten Saloon of Deadwood, Dakota Territory, Wild Bill Hickok was shot in the back and killed while playing cards. Jack McCall was charged with the murder and found innocent at first. In 1877, however, he was re-arrested, re-tried found guilty and hung. There are a number of unanswered questions and mysterious circumstances surrounding Hickok's murder. I found THIS book quite interesting.

     The State Championship was run on the Swiss system and went to M.F. Anderson of Rapid City on tiebreaks over Dr. H.H. Savage of Yankton when they both scored 6.0. 

     Mrs. Nancy Gurney won the women's championship with a perfect score 3.0 score ahead of Mrs.Savage, Mrs. Powers and Mrs. Margolis whose husbands were playing in the state championship. 

     There was also an open tournament that ended in a 3-way tie between L. Gladstone (Boulder City, Colorado), William Streeter (Cleveland, Ohio) and J. Spence (Omaha, Nebraska). 

     The main attraction was the "international" tournament which consisted of a few Latin American players and some promising masters and near-masters. Unfortunately three top US invitees didn't play: Fred Reinfeld, Olaf Ulvestad and a promising young player by the name of Sol Rubinow. 

     In the following game Berliner knocked Colon, the Puerto Rican champion, out of first place.

Hans Berliner - Miguel Colon

Result: 1-0

Site: Int'l Tmt Yankton, South Dakota

Date: 1946

Sicilian Dragon

[...] 1.e4 c5 2.♘f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.♘xd4 ♘f6 5.♘c3 g6 6.♗e3 ♗g7 7.h3 This old move was a favorite of Weaver Adams. 7...♗d7

7...♘c6 8.♕d2 O-O 9.O-O-O ♘xd4 10.♗xd4 ♗e6 was the "book" line of the day having been played in Adams-Reshevsky at the Hollywood Pan-Am in 1945. In that game black weathered a violent attack and eventually won.

7...O-O 8.♗c4 a6 9.a4 ♘c6 10.♘b3 ♘a5 11.♘xa5 ♕xa5 12.O-O with equaliry. Ghaem Maghami,E (2591) -Mirzoev,A (2553)/Tehran IRI 2014

8.♕d2

8.♗c4 a6 9.♗b3 ♘c6 10.O-O b5 11.a3 with equal chances. Nestorovic,L (2234)-Antonic,D (1978)/Belgrade 2008

8...♗c6 Better was either 8...Nc6 or 8...O-O 9.f3 ♘bd7 10.♗h6 Black has wasted a considerable amount of time in the opening and as a result Berliner seizes the initiative with this move which weakens black's K-side. 10...O-O Natural, but black needs to be hyper-aggressive here.

10...♗xh6 11.♕xh6 ♕a5 12.O-O-O ♘b6 Preventing Bc4. White is better, but black at least has some counterplay.

11.O-O-O ♘h5 This move only loses more time and thereby strengthens white's attack, bt black's chances have been compromised by his passive play.

11...♗xh6 12.♕xh6 ♖c8 13.h4 e5 14.♘db5 ♗xb5 15.♘xb5 d5 is better, but not by much.

11...♕a5 Is probably black's best. 12.h4 ♗xh6 13.♕xh6 ♕e5 14.g4 with a strong attack.

12.g4 ♘g3 13.♖h2 ♘xf1 14.♖xf1 ♘c5 15.h4 ♕b6 This leads to a quick end.

15...e5 is his last chance at getting some kind of play. 16.♗xg7 ♔xg7 17.♘db5 ♕d7 18.♘xd6 ♖fd8 19.♖d1 but here, too, white is better, but is it enough to win? Apparently because white scored +4 -0 =1 in Shootouts from this position.

16.♗xg7 ♔xg7 17.h5 ♘a4 This "attack" is too little too late, buyt there is nothing better. 18.♘xa4 ♗xa4 19.hxg6 fxg6 20.♘e6

20.♘f5 Is also crushing. 20...♖xf5 21.exf5 ♖h8 22.♖e1 e5 23.fxe6 and wins.

20...♔g8 (20...♔f7 is no better. 21.♘xf8 ♖xf8 22.♖xh7) 21.♕h6

21.♖xh7 was quicker. 21...♖f7 (21...♔xh7 22.♕h6 ♔xh6 23.♖h1#) 22.♖h6 ♖g7 23.♖fh1 and eventually black will get mated.

21...♖f7 22.♖fh1 Black can only delay, but not avoid, mate. 22...♖c8 23.♕xg6 After this nice move forcing mate in two, black resigned.. A nice crush by Berliner. (23.♕xg6 ♔h8 24.♖xh7 ♖xh7 25.♕xh7#)

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1974 US Championship

     Walter Browne was looking forward to excellent conditions for the US Championship, but on his first glimpse of the playing site in the historic LaSalle Hotel in the Loop area of Chicago, he voiced, as he often did, his dissatisfaction with it. The one difference is that this time most of the players agreed with him!

     The playing hall was too cramped and, again, as usual, the lighting was very dim. Beside that, there was no analysis room which meant that after the games the players had to sit on the floor outside the playing room! Near the end of the tournament Bisguier and Evans managed to procure a table and chairs. Finally, there was no closing banquet and awards ceremony. 

     During the early 1970s young West Coast masters like Walter Browne, John Grefe and Jim Tarjan had been attracting attention, but Chicago, too, had crop of strong young players: William Martz, Greg DeFotis, Andrew Karklins and Craig Chellstorp. DeFotis gave up chess for contract bridge and Chellstorp gave it up for backgammon. 

     The 1974 championship was without big guns Fischer (no surprise there), Robert Byrne and Lumbomil Kavalek, but Samuel Reshevsky and Larry Evans were expected to put up stiff resistance against the young players. In the end though it turned out to be the first (and easiest) of Browne's three successive championship victories. One wonders why Pal Benko, who had been dividing his time between his homes in New Jersey and Budapest, even bothered to play. He was undefeated, but drew most of his games in about 20 moves. 

     A major turning point in the tournament came in the fifth round when Browne, who had black against Reshevsky, felt his current tournament situation warranted taking a quick draw. He offered Reshevsky a draw, which was refused, at move 15. Reshevsky proceeded to to get an endgame advantage, but both were in time pressure with only seconds left on their clocks when, with five moves to play, Reshevsky lost on time. 

  

   Browne also had an adjourned game to play off against Anthony Saidy and it, too, ended in a time scramble where Browne managed to draw when the position was repeated three times. According to the rules in effect at the time, a player had to claim the draw and the claim had to be verified while the player's clock was running. That meant that if Browne was wrong, he might end up forfeiting. In the heat of the moment Browne started shouting at the assistant TD (Tim Redman), "I gotta know now. Is it a draw or isn't it?" It was. 

     The rest of the tournament was pretty much uneventful and after his last round game was over Browne had the championship sewed up. Meanwhile, Benko finally decided to put an effort into a game and managed to grind down Evans which left the two tied for second place. While that was happening Browne had departed the venue to take in a Kung Fu movie starring Brice Lee. 

 

     The usually exciting Bisguier played but one interesting game. His opponent was Chicago legend Andrew Karklins and it featured Bisguier's two Bs against Karklins two Ns. Bisguier figured that was enough of an imbalance (to use Jeremy Silman's term) that he should win, but he didn't reckon on Karklin's fierce attack.

     Karklins went after Bisguier with his Ps, sacrificed a B, doubled Rs on the f-file and then closed in for the kill and even threatened mate in one. But, before he could deliver the mate Bisguier had a B check that won the game! 

     I analyzed this game with the old Fritz 5.32, Stockfish 12 and Komodo 10 and it contains complications galore. In his book The Art of Bisguier (1961-2003), Bisguier annotated this game rather poorly. He had only a few comments and little in the way of concrete variations. It's hard to fault him because he was assisted by the old Fritz engine which wasn't quite up to the GM level and the game was enormously complicated. As I looked at the game with the three engines and even ran several Shootouts with Stockfish, some of the positions that occurred weren't all that clear cut. You might want to run your own analysis...have fun and good luck!

Arthur Bisguier - Andrew Karklins

Result: 1-0

Site: US Championship, Chicago

Date: 1974

Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein

[...] 1.d4 ♘f6 2.c4 e6 3.♘c3 ♗b4 4.♘f3 d6 5.e3 ♘c6 6.♗d2 ♕e7 Karklins was never much on opening theory, but this move doesn't do much to alleviate his cramped position.

6...O-O This is the usual move. 7.♕c2 e5 8.d5 ♘e7 9.♗d3 c6 10.dxc6 ♘xc6 with equality. Milov,V (2602) -Yermolinsky,A (2577)/Moscow 2001

6...♗xc3 7.♗xc3 ♘e4 8.♕c2 f5 9.d5 ♘e7 10.♗xg7 ♖g8 11.♗c3 e5 and white went on to win in Sanguinetti, R-Reinhardt, E/Buenos Aires 1955.

7.d5 Forcing black to part with the B. 7...♗xc3 (7...♘b8 8.♕a4 winning the B.) 8.♗xc3 Already Bisguier was happy because he has provoked ...Bxc3 without having to bother playing a3. Additionally, he doesn't have doubled c-Pawns and black is left with a cramped position. 8...♘d8 9.♗d3 e5

9...exd5 This does not win a P. 10.cxd5 ♘xd5 11.♗b5 c6 12.♕xd5 cxb5 13.♕xb5 ♘c6 and white stands well.

10.♕c2 O-O

10...e4 This looks inviting, but white is winning after 11.♗xf6 ♕xf6 12.♗xe4

11.O-O g6 A bad move to have to make (it blunts the scope of white's B) seeing that his dark squared B is missing. It might have been safer to have played 11...h6. (11...h6) 12.♘d2 ♘h5 13.f4 Clever! 13...f5 Another point to 11...g6. Karklins is going all out for a K-side attack.

13...exf4 This is a losing blunder! 14.exf4 ♕e3 15.♔h1 ♘xf4 16.♖f3 wins.

14.fxe5 dxe5 15.e4 f4 16.b4 ♘f7 17.c5 Are the Ns better than the Bs, both of which are limited in scope by the P-formation? 17...g5 18.♘c4 g4 19.♖ad1

19.♕b2 would have forced black to pause and defend his e-Pawn. 19...♖e8 20.♖ad1 ♕g5 21.d6 g3 with a sharp position that should favor white.

19...g3 Karklin's attack look unstoppable, but with the correct defense white should come out of the complications with the better game. 20.h3 The right (only) move. He can't allow the N to land on g3. 20...♗xh3 This looks far more dangerous than it really is, but it's the best practical choice.

20...♗g4 was technically somewhat better. 21.♗e2

21.hxg4 ♕h4 22.♖f3 ♘f6 23.♘xe5 ♕h2 24.♔f1 ♘xe5 25.♗xe5 ♕h1 26.♔e2 ♕xg2 27.♔e1 ♕xf3 and black wins.

21...♗xe2 22.♕xe2 Black's attack is over and white is better.

21.gxh3 It's interesting that when commenting on this game Bisguier was silent on this move. For his book The Art of Bisguier (1961-2003) he used Fritz (version 5.32?) which evaluates white being better by 1.5 Ps after 21.gxh3. Stockfish 12 disagrees and puts the evaluation at 0.00 after both 21...f3 and 21...Ng5.

21.♕e2 and Stockfish likes white by about 2.5 Ps whereas Fritz 5.32 says white is better by a little over a half a Pawn. 21...♕h4 22.gxh3 ♕xh3 23.♕g2 White is winning (Stockfish). White is slightly better (Fritz 5.32). This position is extremely complicated and unbalanced. In Shootouts Stockfish sored +4 -0 =1 for white, but the games involved some very complicated positions which for humans playing OTB would have no doubt been far from being so clear.

21...♘g5 22.♘xe5 f3 In spite of appearances, black is quite lost here. In his book Bisguier makes the inane comment that this looks like a mating attack adding that he must open the diagonals for his Bs. Actually, it takes an engine as powerful as Stockfish or Komodo to recognize than after the correct 22...Nxh3+ the chances would be nearly equal!

22...♘xh3 23.♔g2 f3 24.♔xh3 loses after 24...♕g5 The only move. 25.♘g4 ♖f4 26.♘h6 ♕xh6 27.♖xf3 ♖xf3 28.♔g2 ♖f2 and wins

(22...♘xh3 23.♔g2 f3 24.♘xf3 ♘3f4 25.♔g1 ♘h3 draws)

22...♘xh3 23.♔g2 f3 24.♖xf3 ♘5f4 25.♔xg3 ♕g5 26.♔h2 ♕h4 27.♖df1 ♘f2 28.♔g1 ♘2h3 draws

23.♘xf3 This horrible move allows black to equalize. Even Bisguier's old Fritz engine recognized that, but he makes no comment on it. 23...♖xf3

23...♘xf3 24.♖xf3 ♖xf3 25.♕e2 ♕f7 26.d6 ♖f2 27.♕e3 cxd6 28.cxd6 ♕xa2 29.♕g5 ♔f8 30.♗f1 leaves white with a won ending as the attack is over and the Ps will prove decisive.

23...♘xh3 Fritz 5.32 believes white is winning here, but better engines know better. 24.♔h1 ♖xf3 25.♖xf3 Fritz. This loses.

25.d6 This holds the draw. 25...♘f2 26.♔g2 ♖xd3 27.dxe7 ♘f4 28.♔g1 ♘4h3 draws

25...♕h4 26.♖f5 ♘5f4 27.♖xf4 ♘xf4 28.♔g1 ♘h3 29.♔g2 ♘f2 30.♗f6 ♕xf6 31.♖e1 ♖f8 and black is winning.

24.♕g2 Bisguier commented that instead of a P promoting itself to a Q, his "exhulted royal lady assumes the front line duties of a lowly P." I am not sure what to make of that foolishness. Even the old Fritz recognizes this move as a mistake.

24.d6 is the only correct move here. 24...♕f7 25.♗d4 Threatening Bc4 pinning the Q and K. 25...♖f2 26.♖xf2 gxf2 27.♗xf2 ♘xh3 28.♔f1 ♕f3 29.♔e1 ♘5f4 30.♗c4 ♔g7 31.♗d4 ♔h6 32.dxc7 and wins.

24...♖af8 Logical, but wrong. Bisguier pointed out that the best move was 24...Nf4, but he gives a faulty line showing that white wins.

24...♘f4 25.♖xf3 ♘xg2 26.♖xg3 ♘f4 Better than Bisguier's 26...Nh4 which is met by 27.d6!

26...♘h4 27.d6 ♘hf3 28.♔h1 cxd6 (28...♕e6 29.♗e2 cxd6 30.♗xf3 h6 31.h4 wins.) 29.cxd6 ♕f7 30.♖f1 ♔f8 31.♖xg5 ♘xg5 32.♖xf7 ♔xf7 favors white, but the position remains quite complicated.

27.h4

27.d6 and it's not clear that this is more than a draw after 27...♘fxh3 28.♔h1 ♕e6 29.♖f1 ♕xa2 30.♖f6 cxd6 31.♗f1 ♕b1 32.♔h2 ♕c2 33.♔h1 ♕xe4 34.♗g2 Things are not clear at all. A likely line is 34...♕b1 35.♖f1 ♕xf1 36.♗xf1 ♘f2 37.♔g2 ♘fe4 38.♗c4 ♔f8 39.♖g4 dxc5 40.bxc5 ♖d8 A draw seems a reasonable outcome.

27...♘fh3 28.♔h2 ♖f8 29.d6 (29.hxg5 ♖f2 30.♔h1 ♘f4 favors black.) 29...♖f2 30.♔h1 cxd6 31.cxd6 ♕d7 32.hxg5 with great complications in which both sides have their chances.

25.d6 This move is important because it opens up a diagonal for the B and nor both of white's Bs working side by side assure him of what amounts to a winning advantage. 25...♕e6 Bisguier commented that this seizes control of the a2-g8 diagonal before his B can.

25...♕f7 is no help. 26.♗c2 ♘f4 (26...♖xc3 27.♗b3) 27.♗b3 ♕xb3 28.axb3 ♘xg2 29.♖xf3 ♖xf3 30.♔xg2 ♖f2 31.♔xg3 ♘xe4 32.♔h4 ♖f4 33.♔h5 cxd6 34.cxd6 ♖f5 35.♔g4 ♖f8 and white scored 4 wins and a draw in Shootouts from this position.

26.dxc7 ♘xh3 Bisguier gives this a ? and suggests the better move 26...Rf2, but that, too, is insufficient.

26...♖f2 27.♖xf2 ♘xh3 28.♕xh3 gxf2 29.♔h2 ♕xh3 30.♔xh3 ♘f4 31.♔g3 ♘xd3 32.♔g2 and white wins.

27.♕xh3 ♕xh3 White looks to be mated except for... 28.♗c4 which delives mate in four so Karklins resigned. What a game! (28.♗c4 ♕e6 29.♗xe6 ♖3f7 30.♗xf7 ♖xf7 31.♖d8 ♖f8 32.♖fxf8#)

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