My most horrible recollection of seeing ghosts dates back to sometime in the 1970s when I was playing a 2500-plus rated IM. Somewhere around move 10 or 12 he made a move that appeared to lose a Knight, but players of that ilk don't make mistakes like that!
Still, after a couple of minutes I couldn't see anything wrong with playing to win the N so went for it.
As soon as I made my move I could tell by the look on his face that he realized he was losing a piece. I thought he might resign, but with his hand shaking like a leaf, he moved.
After I had the N safely sitting on the table beside the board he began throwing everything he had at my King. That's when I started seeing ghosts and eventually lost the piece back! Then not only was the material equal, but I was facing a withering attack and soon it was I who resigned.
After the game he asked, "You wanna look at the game?" My answer was "No" to which he replied, "Neither do I." As he left the room he waded up his scoresheet and threw it into the wastebasket. In disgust, I did the same thing so I can't show you the game.
Another common problem that sometimes plagues both inexperienced players and GMs is the retained image...when calculating one forgets that a piece you thought was there has moved or been exchanged off. The result is usually disastrous!
Back in the days when we played correspondence chess using post cards and you had to actually set up the board and shuffle pieces around during your analysis there were a few times when confusion about the actual position resulted in the wrong move being sent. If you were lucky you got a message back from your opponent that you sent an impossible move. If you weren't so lucky you got a post card back bearing a move by your opponent that won a piece or announced that you had been mated.
Don't be surprised if you never heard of the tournament at Fortaleza, Brazil in 1975. The city is the state capital of Ceara, located in Northeastern Brazil. It's an important industrial and commercial center and a populate tourist destination. It was the site of the South American Zonal tournament.
The following game was played between Argentins's GM Oscar Panno and Hector Bravo Sedamanos (born June 17, 1956) who is an FM and was the Peruvian champion in 1975 and 1976.
Another frequent error everybody makes from time to time is the failure to follow Lasker's Law: when you see a good move, look for a better one. It sounds a little trite, but it's good advice.
Another bit of advice comes from the great Hungarian GM Laszlo Szabo who recalled that his calculating ability improved when he learned that when he was done calculating to look one move further.
In this game Bravo, rather than ignoring the advice of Lasker and Szabo, actually paid heed before making his 28th move and pulled off a spectacular finish!
Oscar Panno - Hector Bravo Sedamanos
Result: 0-1
Site: Fortaleza
Date: 1975
Sicilian: Maroczy Bind
[...] 1.♘f3 ♘f6 2.c4 c5 3.♘c3 ♘c6 4.d4 cxd4 5.♘xd4 g6 6.♘c2 ♗g7 7.e4 The opening has morphed into the Sicilian Maroczy Bind. It is characterized by Ps on c4 and e4, with white's d-pawn having been exchanged for black's c-Pawn. The Bind makes it difficult for black to free his position with ...d5 and so he often employs a Hedgehog formation and occasionally, as here, the Dragon setup. 7...O-O 8.♗e2 d6 9.O-O ♗d7 10.♖b1 White usually plays 10.Be3, but here he chooses to place the B on b2 to oppose black's B. Statistically both methods are effective. 10...♖c8 11.b3 ♘e8
11...♕a5 12.♗b2 ♘h5 13.b4 ♕g5 14.♗xh5 gxh5 15.f4 and white is slightly better. Hoensch,M (2325)-Mann,C (2440)/GER 1991
11...a6 This interesting move leads to complications. 12.h3 b5 13.cxb5 axb5 14.♗xb5 ♘e5 15.♗xd7 ♖xc3 A highly unbalanced position where chances are equal. Azis,A (2191)-Vragoteris,A (2168)/ Patras GRE 2019
12.♘d5
12.♗b2 ♘c7 13.♕d2 ♘e6 14.♘d5 ♗xb2 15.♖xb2 with equality. Pascoal,E (2071)-Tocklin,T (1916)/Turin 2006
12...f5 Aggressive!
12...e6 13.♘de3 ♕a5 14.♗b2 Now taking the a-Pawn would be too risky. 14...♗xb2 (14...♕xa2 15.♗xg7 ♔xg7 16.b4 wiht the initiative.) 15.♖xb2 ♘f6 and the position is equal.
13.exf5 ♗xf5 14.♗d3 ♕d7 15.♗b2 ♗xd3 16.♕xd3 ♕f5 17.♕d2 ♗xb2 18.♖xb2 There's not much going on here, but in the long tun white's P-formation looks better for the ending. 18...♖f7 19.♖e1 ♘f6 20.♘ce3 ♕d7 21.♘xf6+ ♖xf6 22.♘d5 ♖f7 23.♕c3 ♖cf8 24.♖be2 e5 25.♖d2 ♘d4 Panno's next move is an attempt to undermine black's N. 26.f4 ♕g4 27.♕g3
27.c5 seems more consistent with the idea of undermining the Ns support. 27...dxc5 28.♖xe5 b6 29.b4 White continues to peck away at the Ns support. A possible continuation might be 29...♖b8 30.bxc5 bxc5 31.h3 (31.♕xc5 loses to 31...♘f3+) 31...♕h4 32.♕c1 ♕g3 33.♖e3 and white is better.
27...♕h5 28.fxe5 Continuing to shi away at the Ns support, but this is a losing blunder. Now 28...Ne2+ looks inviting, but there is a better move.
28.♕e3 would have kept the position equal after 28...♘c6 29.fxe5 ♘xe5
28...♕e2 A spectacular finish. The Q can't be taken because of mate on f1.
28...♘e2+ Looks natural because the fork of the Q and K appears to win the exchange. 29.♖dxe2 ♕xe2 and now not 30.♖xe2 ♖f1#
28...♘e2+ in fact throws away the advantage. 29.♖dxe2 ♕xe2 is met by 30.♘e7+ ♔h8 and white is helpless against the threat of ...Rf1+ (30...♖xe7 31.♖xe2 wins) 31.♘xg6+ hxg6 32.h3 ♖f1+ 33.♖xf1 ♖xf1+ 34.♔h2 ♕xe5 and wins
28...♘e2+ The correct way to meet this is... 29.♖dxe2 ♕xe2 30.♘f6+ The refutation of 28...Ne2+ 30...♖xf6 31.exf6 and white has the advantage after, say. .. 31...♕xa2 32.♕g5 ♕b2 33.♕d5+ ♔h8 34.♕xb7 ♕d4+ 35.♔h1 ♕xf6 36.♕xa7
29.♖dd1 (29.♖dxe2 ♖f1+ 30.♖xf1 ♘xe2+ 31.♔h1 ♖xf1#) 29...♕xd1 Bravo, Bravo! Panno resigned. (29...♕xd1 30.♘f6+ ♖xf6 31.exf6 ♘e2+ 32.♔f2 ♕xe1+ 33.♔xe1 ♘xg3 34.hxg3 ♖xf6) Powered by Aquarium
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