In 1957 the US Open was played in Cleveland, Ohio from August 5-17 and drew 117 players. The big story was the triumph of 13-year-old Bobby Fischer in what was to be his last US Open.
1953 US Open Champion Donald Byrne was leading until he lost to Fischer in round 9 and dropped into a tie with brother, Robert. He overtook Fischer the next round though, with Robert Byrne and Arthur Bisguier a half-point behind.
Both Fischer and Donald Byrne won in round 11; Donald defeating his brother. Bisguier was a half-point behind going into the last round where he defeated Donald Byrne while Fischer was only able to draw with Walter Shipman, thus Fischer and Bisguier tied for first with Bisguier being awarded the title on tiebreaks. But that wasn't the end of it! Bisguier was driving back to New York with the first place trophy when a recalculation of the tiebreaks gave the title to Fischer. Bisguier later wrote an article for Chess Review magazine where he tried to put forth his usual gentlemanly and sportmanslike demeanor and praise Fischer’s play, but his bitterness with the tournament officials (the event was directed by Georges Koltanowski) was apparent. What got Bisguier so riled up?
After the tournament, one unidentified player claimed that his 8th round opponent had cheated by taking back a move. Even though he had won the game, he insisted that it be scored a forfeit! He found two witnesses who backed him up and the organizers were unable to talk him out of changing his result from a win to a win by forfeit and gave in. This caused the tiebreaks to have to be recalculated and as a result, the title was awarded to Fischer who, by the way, had won his first round game on a forfeit when his opponent did not show up. This sounds incredulous, but there was a precedent!
In the 1955 US Open held in Long Beach, California, Nicolas Rossolimo and Samuel Reshevsky tied for first with Rossolimo being awarded first prize, a new car, on tiebreaks. NM James Bolton defeated NM Ronald Gross in their 7th round game and then afterwards was informed by a spectator that, while he was away from the board, Gross had made a move, taken it back, and substituted another one.
This upset Bolton who then went to the tournament director and demanded that he be awarded a win on forfeit, even though he had won over the board. The directors, the Senior TD was a fellow named Orlo M. Rolo, decided to let Bolton have his way. So, what was the problem?
Bolton played Reshevsky in round 2, so by counting the game with Gross as a forfeit win it lowered Bolton's adjusted score which lowered Reshevsky's tiebreak score, which gave Rossolimo the car. At least that’s the way the story went, but Kenneth Harkness wrote a report for Chess Life proving that Bolton's action did not cost Reshevsky the car. Had the game been scored as a regular win, the first two tiebreak systems would have wound up tied, but Rossolimo would have been awarded the title and the car on the third tiebreaking system.
Top scores in the 1955 event: 1-2-Robert Fischer and Arthur Bisguier (10), 3-Donald Byrne (9.5), 4-7-Robert Byrne, Edmar Mednis, Anthony Santasiere, Walter Shipman (9), 8-12-Gilbert Ramirez, Ivan Theodorovich, Paul Brandts, Anthony Saidy and Saul Wanetick (8.5)
1957 was the year I learned to play chess. Smyslov was World Champion and Reshevsky was the US Champion although later in the year he would lose it to the same 14-year-old kid who had captured first in the US Open that year. For how Bobby Fischer won the US Open see my post Hey Art! Give Back That Trophy! The USSR Champ was Tahl. Of all the events that escaped notice that year one of the least noticed was Hafnarfirdi in Iceland. Few games survive and the order of finish is not known, but the participants were Pal Benko, Fridrik Olafsson, Herman Pilnik, Jon Palsson, Sigurgeir Gislason and A. Finsson.
Benko
Benko was born in Amiens, France on July 14, 1928, but was raised in Hungary and at the age of 20 won the Hungarian Championship. He emigrated to the United States in 1958 after defecting following the World Student Team Championship in Reykjavík 1957. FIDE awarded him the GM title in 1958. His opponent, Sigurgeir Gislason (June 17, 1925 – April 9, 2003), was an Icelandic Master. It has always amazed me at the huge gap in ability that exists even in the chess elite, IMs and GMs.
Gislason
In this game Benko, even though he didn't actually have the GM title until the next year, makes winning against his opponent look so easy! What is the difference between an IM and a GM? According to Jeremy Silman the answer is, quite simply, tactical ability.
Silman explains that Experts (2000-2199) calculate badly and have a very poor understanding of positional chess. He also wrote that among Masters (2200-2399) some are just a tad better than experts while others possess reasonable calculation skills and positional understanding. According to Silman, they aren't really good, but can play well enough that they stand out. Strong Masters around the 2400 level have added other things such as a better understanding of positions and their openings a better, but there are still major flaws in their play.
IMs and GMs have mastered tens of thousands of chess patterns and it might take them only a glace to instantly know the essence of a position. I can confirm this from personal observation and have blogged anecdotes about watching guys like Jim Tarjan, Miguel Quinteros and Tony Miles analyzing. Weaker GMs are not far above some IMs while elite GMs have great positional skills, super calculation abilities and a knowledge of openings and endings that others don't possess. Not to offend his readers, Silman added that some people in any rating group are better than their rating and a Class A rating (1800 – 1999) is a high rating and players in this group are very strong, adding that it’s a big accomplishment to earn such a rating. If we are being honest most of us believe, whatever our rating is, we are better than our rating would indicate. US Senior Master Eliot Hearst once defined the term “Master” as every player's secret appraisal of his own ability. In this game Benko, as mentioned, makes it look easy. The position after 30.Nd2 in the notes is a good one to set up on a board and try to see your way through all the lines.
I can’t resist posting this photo from the October 7, 1957 issue of Life magazine.
Life was published weekly until 1972, as an intermittent "special" until 1978, and as a monthly from 1978 to 2000. During its golden age from 1936 to 1972, Life was a wide-ranging weekly general interest magazine known for the quality of its photography. The photo was part of a brief article on Fischer who at the time was making news news as the youngest Master in the U.S.
The book Fischer is reading is Chess in Russia : the players and their games (annotated) by P. Romanovsky with forewords by Mikhail Botvinnik and C.H.O'D. Alexander. The 53 page booklet was published by Soviet News, London in 1946.
The caption reads: MATERNAL SUMMONS to dinner in their Brooklyn apartment interrupt a problem Fischer is working out on his chessboard. Mrs. Fischer is completely certain that he can someday become world champion. “The sooner the better,” she says. “Then he can get over all this and get down to some real work.”
On the rating list published on May 20, 1956, Fischer's rating was only 1726. In July of 1956, Fischer won the US Junior Championship at Philadelphia with a score of 8.5-1.5 to become the youngest-ever Junior Champion at the age of 13. At the 1956 US Open Championship in Oklahoma City, he scored 8.5-3.5 to tie for 4th–8th places. In the Canadian Open at Montreal he scored 7.0-3.0 to tie for 8th–12th places. In November, Fischer played in the Eastern Open in Washington, D.C. and tied for second with William Lombardy, Nicholas Rossolimo, and Arthur Feuerstein. Although Fischer's rating didn’t put him among the top 12, he received special consideration when he was invited to the 1956 Rosenwald Trophy tournament, a premier tournament of 12 players considered the best in the country. The 13-year-old Fischer could only score 4.5-6.5 and tie for 8th–9th place. That was the tournament in which he played the Game of the Century when he sacrificed his Queen against Donald Byrne. In March of 1957, Fischer played a two-game match against former World Champion Max Euwe at New York and lost 0.5-1.5. On the USCF rating list, published on May 5, 1957, Fischer was rated 2231; he had gained over 500 points in a year and was the country's youngest ever master up to that point. In July,1957, he defended his US Junior title, scoring an impressive 8.5-0.5 at San Francisco. That victory put his rating at 2298, making him among the top ten players in the country. Yes, there’s been some rating inflation over the years! By this time the fourteen-year-old Fischer was the latest prodigy in the chess world and created another sensation when he tied for first with Arthur Bisguier in the US Open held in Cleveland, Ohio, both scored 10-2. Bisguier was originally proclaimed the winner and was driving back to New York with the first place trophy before a recalculation gave the title to Fischer instead. Bisguier later wrote an article for Chess Review in which he did his best to be sportsman like and praise Fischer copiously, but his bitterness with the tournament officials and tiebreaking systems in general was apparent. See my post Hey, Art. Give Back That Trophy! There were 176 entries, but Horst Kemper didn’t show to meet his first round opponent who won on forfeit. His opponent was Bobby Fischer. Fischer scored wins against Edward D. Stepans, John Rinaldo, Charles Witte, Igor Garais, Edmar Mednis, Donald Byrne and William Addison. He drew with Rudolf Pitschak, Arthur Bisguier, Robert Byrne and Walter Shipman. Fischer won the New Jersey Open with a score of 6.5-0.5 and his next success was defeating the young Filipino master Rodolfo Tan Cardoso 6–2 in a New York match sponsored by Pepsi-Cola. Based on his rating and results, the USCF invited him to play in the 1957–58 US Championship. Arthur Bisguier predicted Fischer would score slightly over fifty percent; he was wrong. Fischer scored and undefeated 10.5-2.5 and finished first thus becoming the youngest ever US Champion. The victory earned him the IM title and qualified him to participate in the Portoroz Interzonal to be August of 1958. Fischer was also invited to be one of the ten distinguished players to participate in the highly regarded Hastings Christmas tournament, but he either didn't or couldn't accept. Keres won ahead of Gligoric and Filip. Leonard Barden was the top English player, finishing fifth. Fischer had been hounding his mother about making a trip to Moscow and his mother wrote directly to the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, requesting an invitation for Bobby to participate in the World Youth and Student Festival, but the reply came too late for him to make the trip. In 1958, his mother finagled him an appearance on the game show I've Got a Secret and the producers arranged two round-trip tickets to the Soviet Union. View on Youtube Fischer was invited to Moscow and Lev Abramov served as a guide to Bobby and his sister, Joan. Once in Moscow, Fischer immediately demanded that he be taken to the Moscow Central Chess Club, where he played speed chess with two young Soviet masters, Evgeni Vasiukov and Alexander Nikitin. Fischer mopped up, winning all the games. Fischer also defeated veteran Master Vladimir Alatortsev 3-zip in blitz prompting Alatortsev to tell his wife that Fischer was going to be world champion. Fischer wasn’t done with his demands. He demanded to play World Champ Mikhail Botvinnik and when informed that was impossible, Fischer asked to play Keres who also was not available. Finally, Tigran Petrosian was summoned to play Fischer; Petrosian won most of the games. When it became clear to Fischer that the Russians weren’t going to play anything but blitz games against him, he flew into a rage saying he was fed up "with these Russian pigs." Needless to say, coming from an honored guest, it offended and angered the Russians.
Oddly, in a 1960 interview with Roman Toran during the Olympiad in Leipzig, Fischer stated, “Before the [1958] Interzonal I was invited by the USSR Chess Federation to visit Moscow, and I played some interesting training games there with notable young stars like Vasiukov, who was then champion of Moscow. Yes, the trip was very useful.” After Fischer’s tirade against his Moscow hosts, the Yugoslav chess officials stepped in and offered to take in Fischer and Joan as early guests to the Interzonal. Fischer took them up on the offer, arriving in Yugoslavia to play two short training matches against Dragoljub Janosevic and Milan Matulovic. He drew with Janosevic and defeated Matulovic. At the Interzonal at Portoroz in1958, most doubted that a 15-year-old with no international experience could finish among the six qualifiers. Fischer had a different opinion. He told journalist Miro Radoicic, "I can draw with the GMs and there are half-a-dozen patzers in the tournament I reckon to beat." He scored +6−2=12, tied for 5th–6th and qualified for the 1959 Bled-Zagreb-Belgrade Candidates tournament.
In 1959, Fischer was a sophomore at Erasmus High School where he was no better than average in his studies, displaying little interest in most of the subjects taught and being restless in class. His teachers were amazed when they heard of his chess victories because they hadn’t suspected that he would be able to sit still long enough to play five hours for a tournament game. The school’s student council awarded him a gold medal for his chess achievements, but he dropped out of high school when he turned 16, the earliest he could legally do so. His reason, as he was later to explain to Ralph Ginzburg, "You don't learn anything in school." At home chess set as always beside his bed and from the moment he woke up he studied, even during meals and while watching television. While his mother was proud of his success, she was by no means convinced that his devotion to chess was a good thing. For four years she tried everything she knew to discourage him, but it was hopeless. During the summer vacation Fischer’s evenings were spent at the Manhattan Chess Club and sometimes his mother have to go over there at midnight to haul him out. After dropping out of high school, Fischer taught himself several foreign languages so he could read foreign chess periodicals. At one time Tal and Alexander Koblencs were amazed at Fischer’s familiarity with the games of female Latvian players. The games of one in particular interested him, the almost unknown Flora Dmitrieva. It had never occurred to them to study the games of their women players. Until late 1959, Fischer’s signature dress had been sweaters and corduroys, but Pal Benko encouraged him to dress better and so Fischer began buying hand-tailored suits, shirts and shoes from all over the world. When Fischer was 16, his mother moved out of their apartment to pursue medical training. A friend named Joan Rodker, who had met Fischer’s mother when they living in Moscow in the 1930s, believes that Fischer resented his mother for being mostly absent, a communist activist and an admirer of the Soviet Union. She also believed this was what led to his hatred for the “Russians.” In letters to Rodker, Fischer's mother wrote about her desire to pursue her own obsession of training in medicine meant that Bobby would have to live in their Brooklyn apartment without her, but that he was probably happier that way. The apartment, by the way, was on the edge of Bedford-Stuyvesant, a neighborhood that had one of the highest homicide and crime rates in New York City. When the 1959 Candidates tournament came around, unlike Portoroz, there weren’t any “patzers.” The tournament was won by Tal ahead of Keres, Petrosian and Smyslov. Fischer tied for 5th-6th with Glicoric ahead of Olafsson and Benko and had to wait until 1972 to fulfill Alatortsev’s prediction. Despite their alienation, in 1960, Fischer’s mother protested the practices of the American Chess Foundation and staged a five-hour protest in front of the White House, urging President Eisenhower to send an American team to that year's chess Olympiad in Leipzig, East Germany and to help support the team financially. The American Chess Foundation was founded in the 1950s to help Samuel Reshevsky battle the Soviets, adopted a new name to better reflect its primary activity. Since May 29, 1996, it has been known as Chess-in-the-Schools. In the end, the US sent a team which was made up of Fischer, Lombardy, Robert Byrne, Bisguier, Rossolimo and Weinstein and they finished second behind the Soviet Union. It was t this event where Fischer played his only game ever against Botvinnik; it was a draw. Fischer’s opponent in the following game was the well known Oklahoma player Dale Ruth who was rated about 1970 at the time. If memory serves, I think Ruth eventually reached the Master level.
%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
{B92: Sicilian Najdorf: 6 Be2} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5.
Nc3 a6 6. Be2 {Nowadays 6.Bg5 is considered the main line. This, the
Opocensky (or Classical) line which leads to a quieter positional game. Black
can now transpose into a Scheveningen with 6...e6 or keep the game in Najdorf
lines by playing 6...e5.} 6... e5 7. Nf3 {The main line is 7.Nb3 which offers
white slightly better chnace of success. Interesting but largely untested is
7.Nf5?!} 7... Be7 { Pachman recommended 7...h6 preventing 8.Bg5. The idea is
a struggle to control d5.} 8. O-O O-O 9. h3 Nbd7 {More logical is 9...h6
10.Re1 e6. Black's strategic goal should be to play ...d5 and white will try
to prevent it.} 10. Re1 b5 {As a result of his 7th move white has gotten a
rather passive position. Rather than play 11.a3 Ruth opts to allow ...b5 and a
change in the P-formation.} 11. a4 b4 12. Nd5 {Tricky play. If 12...Nxe4
13.Nxe7+ Qx37 14. Qd5 Nec5! white can't take the R because he will lose his
Q, but after 15.Bg5 white has plenty of compensation for the P.} 12... Nxd5
13. Qxd5 Qc7 {Can white take the R?! Of course doing so loses the Q, but it's
interesting that Stockfish thinks he gets adequate compensation after 14.Qxa8
Nb6 (The Q slips away after 14...Bb7 15.Qa7) 15.Qxa6 Bxa6 16.Bxa6. White has
a R,B and P for his Q, but not many players would like to play white's
position.} 14. Qb3 {This is to be too passive. 14.a5 isolating black's d-Pawn
would have been better.} 14... Nc5 { Black has a better chance of securing an
advantage with 14...Rb8.} 15. Qxb4 { Now with 15...Bb7 he has a solid position
that offers roughly equal chances. Instead, Fischer goes for complications.}
15... d5 {This move is not without risks.} 16. exd5 {Black's next move should
have resulted in white getting the upper hand. Better was 16...Nd3! 17.Qc3
Qxc3 18.bxc3 Ne1 with unclear complications. } 16... e4 {With his next move,
which is far too passive, Ruth fails to take advantage of Fischer's risky
play. 17.Ng5! eliminates the possibility of 17... Nd3?? 18.Qe4 Bxg5 19.Bxd3
and white is winning rather easily. So, after 17. Ng5! Bf5 white is a solid
two Ps up.} 17. Nd2 Nd3 18. Qxe4 Nxe1 {Clearly, this N is going to be lost and
it will take a P with it, so in the end, materially white will have a N+2Ps
against a R and good practical chances in such an unbalanced position. Now
either 19.Bd1 Nxg2! or 19.Bc4 Bxh3! are white's best choices.} 19. d6 {Winning
the R is inviting, but it's not enough to salvage the game.} 19... Bxd6 {Black
saves the N after 20.Bd1 Bh2+ and 21...Qe5, but that was white's best
option.} 20. Qxa8 Bb7 {Ruth probably realized that 21.Qa7 loses the Q after
21...Bh2+ 22.Kf1 Bxg2+} 21. Qxf8+ Kxf8 22. Kf1 Nxc2 23. Rb1 Nd4 24. Bd3 Bb4
{With only a R for the Q and black's threat of ...Qe5 white's position is
beyond hope.} 0-1
Held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin July 2-5, 1964, the Western Open had a prestigious list of previous winners: Donald Byrne (1957), Pal Benko (1958 and '59), Stephan Popel (1960), Robert Byrne (1961 and '62) and Robert J. Fischer (1963).
The entry fee was, by 1964 standards, a pretty hefty $10 (about $89 today), but the first prize of $400 (over $3,500 today) was attractive seeing that in those days you could pull into a gas station and buy a dollar's worth of gas and have enough that you could actually get somewhere. In those days I was in the military and was raking in $99.27 a month.
Additionally, the prize fund included $200 for second and $100 for third. Plus, there were two cash prizes for top women and juniors ($25 and $15) and, if you were a class player, A, B and C (the lowest class in those days), or unrated, you could win a (crappy) trophy. They also offered "merit" prizes. If you scored over 4.5 points, you got $30 for each full point and $15 for each half point.
The '64 tournament turned out to be all Albert Sandrin because the veteran Chicago Master, rated 2326, made almost a clean sweep and finished a full point ahead of a 10-way tie for second place which was shared by Stephen Popel, Curt Brasket, Paul Poschel, RichardVerber, Brian Owens, Edward Formanek, Charles Weldon, William Martz, Dr. Alex Angos, and the winner's brother Angelo Sandrin, who received the lone half-point given up by the winner. These second place winners shared prize money that came to $54.00 each ($481.80 today).
The strong field had no outstanding favorites at the start and there were more than the usual number of upsets early in the upper ranks of the 114 player field.
There was some excitement on July 4th, when the "beer that made Milwaukee famous", Schlitz, put on their parade which lasted almost four hours and passed the site of the tournament, the Plankinton House.
The morning round of the tournament was scheduled for 8 a.m. and the second round for 6 p.m.,so players could watch it.
Phil LeCornu of Chicago and Gregory Nowak of West Allis, Wisconsin were still playing their morning game when the parade started and were still at it when it finished. The game was adjourned at 6 p.m. for the next round, in which both lost, and was resumed at 11:30 p.m. Finally, after 129 moves the players agreed to a draw. Incredible!
Kate Sillars (3.5-3.5), rated 1828, and Adele Goddard (2.5-4.5), rated 1729, finished first and second and took the women's prizes. Ralph Tobler and Andrew Karklins were the top junior players while the trophies for the top Class A, B, C and unrated went respectively to Samuel Greenlaw, Larry Manter, Gary Sauer, and Larry Leuallen.
The top scores
Albert Sandrin (April 25, 1923 - February 12, 2004, 80 years old) suffered damage to his vision in the summer of 1929 when, while playing outside the family home in Chicago, he stared directly into the sun for a long period of time. As a result, his eyesight deteriorated very slowly over the following years.
In 1952 he entered the Marshall School for the Blind and studied piano tuning. After learning how to tune pianos, he advertised in the telephone book for customers and soon found himself tuning pianos all over the Chicago area. He was totally blind by 1968.
Sandrin played a small part in US airline history when he was a passenger aboard the first PanAm 747 flight from Chicago to London in 1970.
His opponent was then 2262 rated William Martz (March 21, 1945 – January 17, 1983) who was later awarded the IM title (1975) and remained active until his premature death from cancer at the age of 37. Born in Detroit, Martz lived and worked in the Milwaukee area most of his life and for 20 years as the highest ranked Wisconsin player, Martz was something of a living legend.
Between the two of them they managed to produce a game that was full of spills and thrills thanks to Matz' old fashioned opening dating back to the days of cavemen!
William Martz - Albert Sandrin
Result: 0-1
Site: Western Open, Milwaukee
Date: 1964
Danish Gambit
[...]1.e4e52.d4exd43.c3 Cheers to Martz for playing the Danish gambit in which he hopes to sacrifice a Pawn or two for the sake of rapid development and an attack. It was popular with Alekhine, Marshall, Blackburne and Mieses, but it had already lost favor over 40 years before this game was played. 3...dxc3 Cheers to Sandrin for accepting the gambit. 4.♗c4cxb2 Even more cheers to Sandrin for accepting the second Pawn. 5.♗xb2d66.♘f3
6.♘c3♗e67.♗xe6fxe68.♕h5+♔d79.O-O-O and white does not have enough compensation. Knudsen,J-Meyer,F/Baden 1993
6.♕b3 has also been tried. After 6...♕d77.♘c3♘c68.♘d5♘a59.♕g3 Things get a bit tricky, but chances are about equal after 9...♘xc410.♗xg7♗xg711.♕xg7♕g412.♕xh8♕xg213.♘f6+♔f814.♖c1♗e615.♕xg8+♕xg816.♘xg8♔xg817.♘e2 with an unclear position. In Shootouts 5 games were drawn.
6...c6 Black chooses a rather slow system of development, but his position is still solid.
6...♘f67.O-O♗e68.♗d5♘c69.♕b3♕c810.♘g5♘d811.f4♗e712.♗xe6fxe6 In spite of black's rather convoluted defense he has managed to equalize. Mieses,J-Marco,G/ Monte Carlo 1903
7.O-O Does white's lead in development make up for his two Pawn minus? Stockfish thinks so, Komodo is not quite so sure. 7...♘d78.♘d4 This move wastes time, something white cannot afford. Better was 8.Nbd2 8...♘gf69.♘c3g610.♔h1 Again, there is no time for this.
10.f4 Would make black think twice about playing ...Bg7 10...♗g711.e5dxe512.♗xf7+♔xf713.♕b3+♔e814.♖ae1♕b615.♕e6+ with equal chances.
10.f4 and black's best reply seems to be 10...♗e711.♕e2O-O12.e5d513.♗b3♗c5 and black stands well.
10...♗g711.f4O-O Black has a solid position and white has slim prospects of launching any kind of an attack. 12.♗b3♖e8 This should have allowed white to get back into the game. Correct was 12...Nc5!
12...♘c5 and white could not play 13.e5 13.e5dxe514.fxe5♘g415.e6♘xe616.♕xg4♘xd4
13.♕f3 Martz fails to take advantage of the opportunity black's last move presented him.
13.e5dxe514.♗xf7+♔xf715.♕b3+♔f816.♗a3+c517.fxe5♖xe518.♖ae1 and white is back in the game. Here are the results of a Shootout at 17 plies... 18...♕e719.♖xe5♘xe520.♘d5♕f721.♗xc5+♔g822.♘xf6+♔h823.♕xf7♘xf724.♘e8b625.♖xf7bxc526.♘f3 and the ending was eventually drawn as were the other four Shootout games.
13...♘c5 Black is back on track now. 14.♗c2d5
14...♗g4 would have been very difficult for white to meet. 15.♕g3♘fxe416.♘xe4♘xe417.♕xg4♕b618.♗xe4♖xe419.♖ab1♗xd420.♗xd4♕xd421.♖xb7♖ae8 and black is two Ps up.
15.e5♘fd716.♘ce2♘f817.g4 I can imagine white thinking that he now has a very strong K-side attack. His pieces are aimed at black's K plus he can now begin advancing his K-side Ps. In this era of powerful engines that can see through all the complications and quickly find the way to avoid disaster, we are informed that black has about a 2.5 P advantage, or a won game. For the players sitting at the board it's a different matter! 17...♘ce6 This should have allowed white to equalize with the same N offer.
17...♕h4 Keeps the advantage says Komodo. 18.♘f5gxf519.gxf5♘e420.♗xe4dxe421.♕xe4♕h3 Black's defenses will prove to be sufficient.
18.♖ae1 This slow move lets the wind out of his sails.
18.♘f5gxf519.gxf5 The difference here is that there is no N to go to e4. 19...♘c5 (19...c520.fxe6♘xe621.♖g1 with about equal chances.) 20.f6♘g621.♖g1♘e422.f5 Again, both sides seem to have their chances in this unclear position which Komodo evaluates as equal, but in Shootouts Stockfish scored 5 wins for white. Indeed, Stockfish evaluates this position as white have about a 2 P advantage. That's why it's rated number one, I guess!
18...♘xd419.♘xd4f6 A weak move that ruins his winning position because it opens up lines of attack for white.
19...c5 was the correct move and while technically white's best move may be 20.Nb5, the best practical chance remains 20.Nf5. 20.♘f5gxf521.gxf5d422.♖g1♗d723.f6♘g624.fxg7 White's own P blocks the g-file and so helps defend the black K! 24...♗c625.♗e4♘h426.♕d3♗xe4+27.♕xe4 There is no attack left and black has a won game.
20.exf6 This looks good as it opens lines, but in fact it results in a position where black still has good defensive possibilities. If you guessed that 20.Nf5 was the best move give yourself a pat on the back.
20.♘f5gxf521.gxf5fxe522.fxe5♕h423.♖g1 How should black best meet the threat of 24.f6? 23...♗xf5 By returning a piece! 24.♗xf5♘g6 However, here black's K is too exposed and he must lose the game. 25.e6♗xb226.♗xg6hxg627.♖xg6+♔h828.♖g3♖f829.♕d3 There is no defense against Rh3.
20...♖xe121.f7+ Better was the immediate capture on e1. (21.♖xe1♗xf622.f5 with a dangerous attack.) 21...♔xf722.♖xe1♕h423.♖g1♗d724.f5 It's amazing! Black's K appears to be even more exposed that it was previously. 24...♔g8 Stepping back to safety and leaving white with not quite enough of an attack.
24...gxf525.♘xf5♗xf526.♕xf5+♔g827.♗xg7♔xg728.g5♕d4 Otherwise Qf6+ wins. 29.♖e1♘g6 Black looks to be winning, but white can save the game. 30.♕d7+♔h831.♗xg6hxg632.♕h3+♔g733.♖e7+♔f834.♖e3♔g7
34...c5 This attempt to win allows a mate in 9! 35.♖f3+♔g836.♕e6+♔h837.♖h3+♔g738.♕e7+♔g839.♕h7+♔f840.♖f3+♔e841.♕xg6+♔d742.♖f7+ mates next move.
35.♕d7+♔g836.♕e6+♔g737.♕d7+ White is forced to take the draw because he cannot allow Qd1+...for example 37...♔g838.♖h3♕e4+39.♔g1♕b1+40.♔g2♕xa2+41.♔g1♕b1+42.♔g2♕e4+43.♔g1♖e844.♕h7+♔f845.♕h8+♔e746.♕f6+♔d747.♖h7+♖e748.♖g7♖xg749.♕xg7+♕e7 with a won ending.
25.fxg6 There was nothing better. 25...hxg626.♖f1♕e727.♗a3♕e828.♗b2c529.♕xd5+♘e630.♘xe6♗xe6 This is a horrible move that should have allowed white right back in the game! That said, finding the correct line was very, very difficult.
30...♗c6 The win of the Q is only temporary. 31.♗e4♗xd532.♗xd5♕d733.♘c7+♔h734.♖f7♕xf735.♗xf7♖c836.♘e6♗xb2 with a won ending.
31.♕xb7 A reasonable looking move, but also a losing one.
31.♕g5 Keeps white in the game after 31...♕b532.♔g2♕xb233.♕xg6♗d5+34.♔h3 The reason for 32.Kg2! The K is safe here and white is winning. 34...♕c3+35.♗d3 The threat is mate on h7 so... 35...♗g2+36.♔xg2♕d2+37.♔g3♕e3+38.♔h4♕h6+39.♕xh6♗xh6 White has a won ending. Just one sample lien... 40.♗c4+♔h741.♔h5♗g742.♖f7♖b843.♖c7b544.♗d3+♔g845.♖xc5
31...♗xb232.♕xb2 Black now has a forced mate.
32.♗xg6♕xg633.♕xa8+♔h734.♕b7+ Without going into details, black scored 5 wins in Shootouts.
