That evening somewhere around Akron, Ohio there was a deluge that resulted in several people pulling off the interstate waiting for it to pass. We saw one motorcyclist caught in the downpour, but a good Samaritan in a pickup truck stopped to give him shelter.
All players are aware of the opening advice given to beginners about not moving the same piece twice in the opening...within reason of course. Obviously in the Ruy Lopez, for example, after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 white has to move the B again.
In defiance of the rule, back in 1927 at the tournament in Semmering/Baden, in his game against Erich Elsikases, Paul Keres must have set some kind of record when he moved the same Knight eight times in the first 15 moves and won.
In the following game in the 1948 Australian Correspondence Championship in his game against Maurice Goldstein, Cecil Purdy nearly matched Keres' feat when he moved the same Knight six times in the first 15 moves and won.
Cecil John Seddon Purdy (March 27, 1906 - November 6, 1979), an Australian player and writer is well known. He was awarded the IM title in 1951 and the Correspondence GM title in 1959. He was the inaugural world correspondence champion (1950-1953). He was also an influential chess magazine writer, editor and publisher.
Despite his modest high rating of 2346 on the Chessmetrics June 1980 rating list, there is no doubt that Purdy was a strong player, but it's his writings that were his main contribution because they contain priceless instruction.
For example (see the note after black's 12th move), Purdy offered the sage advice that maxims are valuable labor saving devices for avoiding bad moves, but not for finding good ones.
At the same time, when it comes to specifics, the analysis given by even world champions can often be punched full of holes by Stockfish and Komodo. It doesn't matter that some of Purdy's notes were incorrect because his win in the following game is still instructive. His opponent, Maurice Goldstein (April 6, 1901 - October 12, 1966) was New Zealand champion in 1932-33.
[Event "Australian Correspondence Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1948.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Cecil Purdy"]
[Black "Maurice Goldstein"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 15"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.08.28"]
{Evans Gambit Accepted} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 {The idea behind
the Evans Gambit is that white sacrifices a P in order to achieve a lead in
development and quickly control the center. Often, white gets the P back with
an advantage or gets good compensation.} Bxb4 {Declining the gambit with
4...Bb6 is not very ambitious plus it allows white a wide variety of replies.}
5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 (6. O-O {This the way Captain Evans continued, but then} d6 7.
d4 Bb6 {Lasker's Defense fully equalizes for black.}) 6... b5 {Usual is 6...
exd5. This is the rarely played Leonhardt Countergambit which at the time
appeared in the Chessplayers' Bible, Modern Chesss Opening, or MCO as it was
called. MCO's conclusion was that it favored black. After careful examination
of the lines given Purdy concluded that improvements were available.} 7. Bd5 {
MCO gave this as the weaker alternative to 7.Bxb5 and in his published
analysis Olaf Ulvestad actually give it as a win for white. After careful
analysis Purdy correctly assumed that both were wrong and that 7.Bd5 was the
better move. Actually, there is little difference between the two moves.} exd4
8. Nxd4 (8. Qb3 {This was the only move considered by MCO, but the book line
ended in disaster for white and Purdy was of the opinion that there was no
need for white to be so rash. With correct play the result should be equality..
} Qf6 9. O-O dxc3 10. Bg5 Qg6 11. Nxc3 {equals.}) 8... Qf6 9. O-O Nge7 {
The players had now left MCO and Purdy considered this the critical position.
Actually Leonhardt had analyzed this position back in 1906 (!), a fact both
players were aware of. Also, as both players knew, Leonahrdt's analysis had a
glaring error! Both players analyzed this position and Purdy came to the
conclusion that the drab 10.Nxb5 was best. Everybody was wrong! Leonhardt's 10.
e5 is white's best even though it slightly favors black!} 10. Nxb5 (10. e5 {
As recommended by Leonhardt and many years later by Stockfish.} Qg6 (10... Qxe5
{This loses according to Purdy, but it actually results in equality after} 11.
Nxc6 dxc6 12. Bxc6+ Nxc6 13. Re1 {True, black's Q comes off the board, but
after} Be6 14. Rxe5 Nxe5 15. Qe2 Nc4 {with a Q vs R+B+P, but a position in
which black has enough compensation in the form of piece activity. In
Shootouts 5 games were drawn.}) 11. Bf3 {This move was not considered by any
of the analyst.} (11. f4 {This was Leonhardt's analysis for illustrative
purposes, but white is lost outright after} Nxd4 12. Bxa8 Nc2 13. Nd2 Nxa1 14.
Be4 f5) 11... Nxd4 12. Qxd4 Nc6 13. Qh4 Rb8 {with equal chances.}) 10... O-O (
10... a6 {in order to regain the P was the move Purdy was hoping for, but after
} 11. N5a3 O-O {Not Purdy's 11...Bxc3} (11... Bxc3 12. Nxc3 Qxc3 13. Rb1 Rb8
14. Rxb8 Nxb8 15. Bb3 d6 16. Nc4 {white has an active position.}) 12. Nc4 Rb8 {
with equal chances.}) 11. Be3 {Purdy noted that by painstaking analysis he
wanted to make sure that there was always a reason that discouraged black from
gaining the two Bs by playing ...Nxd5. In fact, there are no reasons that
would prevent black from making the exchange leaving him with the better
position. However, by avoiding the exchange black remains no worse than equal.}
a6 12. Nd4 Bb6 {The natural move here would be 13.Bb3 (favored by Stockfish)
preserving the two Bs, but instead Purdy plays the mysterious 12.Nc2 moving a
piece that has already moved four times. His reasoning was that he wants to
play the N to e3 establishing control of the vital sqaure d5. Purdy adds that
maxims in chess are valuable labor saving devices for avoiding bad moves, but
not finding good ones. The engine's evaluation of the difference between the
two moves is negligible.} 13. Nc2 Rb8 {This was black's last change to
maintain a slim advantage with 13...Nxd5} 14. Bxb6 Rxb6 15. Ne3 d6 16. Qc2 Be6
{After the game Goldstein believed this was a mistake (it is not really) and
thought ...Rb8 and ...Bb7 was better. There are two better ways to maintain
equality. Either 16...Ng6 and 17...Nce5 or he can try 16...a5 and 17...Ba3.
Note that capturing on d5 is no longer playable because of the fork.} 17. Nd2
Rfb8 (17... Bxd5 18. exd5 Ne5 19. f4 Nd7 20. Ne4 {and white is slightly better.
}) 18. f4 {White space advantage gives him a slight advantage.} Rb2 19. Qd3 Na5
20. f5 {Here white should have challenged black's control of the b-file.} (20.
Rab1 Rxb1 21. Rxb1 Nac6 22. Rf1 {Now that the doubled Rs are gone black has no
play on the b-file and white is left with the initiative in the center and on
the K-side.}) 20... Nxd5 {Again, this move is playable and this time is a
necessity if black wants to maintain equality.} 21. exd5 ({allows black to
gain the upper hand after} 21. fxe6 Qxc3 22. exf7+ Kf8 23. Qxc3 Nxc3 {with the
slightly better position.}) 21... Bc8 {[%mdl 8192] In his notes Purdy was
completely wrong when he wrote that 21...Bd7 was a losing move. In fact, it's
the other way around! This is the losing move while after 21...Bd7 black is OK.
} (21... Bd7 22. Rab1 Rxb1 23. Rxb1 Re8 {is completely equal.}) 22. Rae1 {
Not really bad, but not worthy of the ! that Purdy gave it. He should have
played the much stronger 22.Ne4!} ({Stockfish 15:} 22. Ne4 Qh4 23. Rf3 Bd7 24.
Rh3 Qd8 25. Rf1 Bb5 26. c4 Nxc4 (26... Bd7 27. Qc3 Kh8 28. f6 g6 29. Ng5 {
with a winning attack.}) 27. Nxc4 f6 28. Nc3 Qd7 29. Nxb5 R2xb5 {and wins.})
22... Qd8 {[%mdl 8192] Black's position is lost against precise play.} (22...
Rxa2 23. Ng4 Qd8 24. Qg3 {with a winning attack.}) (22... Bd7 {is tougher.} 23.
Rf2 Qh4 24. g3 Qh5 25. Nf3 R2b6 26. Qd4 {White is better.}) 23. Nc2 {This move
incorrectly gets an exclamation mark and high praise from Purdy. The idea is
to maneuver the N to the K-side and at the same time prevent black from
establishing two Rs on the second rank.} (23. f6 g6 24. Nd1 R2b7 25. Qd4 c6 26.
Qh4 h5 27. Ne3 {was a better way of accomplishing the task. Here, depending on
what black plays, white can proceed with either 28.g4 or 28.Ne4 with a winning
attack.}) 23... Rxa2 {To quote Purdy, "Just what the N wants."} (23... f6 {
was his best hope.} 24. Nd4 {but even here white's position should prove
decisive.}) 24. Nb4 {Again, 24.f6 would have been even stronger.} Rb2 25. Nc4 {
An excellent move. It may look like a bad idea to exchange off black's
miserably placed N, but Purdy has a tactical shot.} Nxc4 26. Nc6 Qf8 {aiming
for ...Ne5!} 27. Qxc4 Bd7 (27... R8b6 {and the N continues its tour...} 28.
Ne7+ Kh8 29. Qxc7 Rb8 30. Qxd6 {and white is winning.}) 28. Nxb8 Qxb8 29. Qxa6
Bb5 (29... h6 30. Qd3 Qa7+ 31. Kh1 Qa2 {and black's position only looks
dangerous as after} 32. Qe4 f6 33. h3 Rf2 34. Kg1 Rxf1+ 35. Rxf1 {white wins
the ending.}) 30. Qa3 Rd2 31. c4 Bd7 32. Re7 Qd8 {Black is lost, but this
allows a noce finishing touch.} 33. Rxd7 {[%mdl 512] Black resigned} (33. Rxd7
Qxd7 34. Qa8+ {mate next move.}) 1-0
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