Fine vs. Horowitz Match of 1934

20-year old Reuben Fine

    In 1934, a significant event in US chess was the founding of the American Chess Federation which evolved from the Western Chess Association. It was also the year the first women's tournament, hosted by the Marshall Chess Club, was played. It was won by Marjorie Luce, also known as Mrs. William Seaman, with a perfect score of 11-0. 

    The Manhattan Chess Club won the Metropolitan Chess League with a perfect 11-0 score, and Robert Willman won the club championship. 

     According to Chess metrics in 1934, 20-year old Reuben Fine (1914-1993) was ranked #25 in the world with a 2604 rating. Israel A. Hororwitz (1907-1993), age ge 27, was ranked #92 with a 2469 rating. 

    In their natch that year, as the ratings suggest, Fine won by the score of +4 -1 =3. Since appearing on the chess scene a few years earlier Fine quickly developed the steadiness of a seasoned veteran as the match score indicates and he was already recognized as one of the country’s leading players.

 

[Event "Match"] [Site ""] [Date "1934.06.??"] [Round "2"] [White "Reuben Fine"] [Black "Israel A. Horowitz"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D18"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "1934.??.??"] {D16: Slav Defense} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. a4 {Best. This move serves a double purpose. It prevents black from protecting the P on c4 and, also, limits black's counterplay in the Q-side.} Bf5 6. e3 Na6 {Black has never had very good results with this move. Better was the routing 6...e6} 7. Bxc4 Nb4 8. O-O e6 9. Qe2 Be7 10. Rd1 {Usual, but not necessarily better, is 10.Ne5/ White has had excellent results with 10.e4} O-O 11. e4 Bg4 12. Bb3 { An excellent move! It's odd looking, but it prevents ...Bxf3 and ...Nc2xd5. In the ensuing middlegame whitehas contro; of the center and better mobility and he is in a position to initiate a K-side attack. Black, on the other hand has no definite objective and his pieces are not very active. As a result, all he can do is matr time while hoping that Fine mishandles the attack.} Qa5 13. h3 Bxf3 14. Qxf3 Rad8 15. Be3 Rd7 {The advance ...c5 is the move black would like to play, but white can always meet it with the advance of the P to d5. Ni\or can he safely play ...e5 because it opens up a path for white's B to the potentially vulnerable f7.} 16. g4 Rfd8 {Black does not want to voluntarily make a P move on the K-side, but holding up the advance of white's g-Pawn with 16...h6 weas actually a better line.} (16... h6 17. Rd2 Nh7 18. Rad1 {Even here white has a very active position with pressure both in the center and on the K-side.}) 17. g5 Ne8 18. h4 c5 {Horowitz likely felt he had to do something because playing defensively with ...g6 and ...Ng7 looks gloomy,} 19. d5 e5 20. h5 Bd6 21. Kg2 a6 22. Rh1 Nd3 23. g6 {Black cannot afford to capture the this P nor can he afford to advance either one of his K-side Ps, but he has a decent defensive try with 13...c4 followed by ...Nf4} c4 (23... hxg6 24. hxg6 Nf6 25. Bg5 Nf4+ 26. Bxf4 exf4 27. e5) (23... fxg6 24. hxg6 Nf6 25. Bg5 Nf4+ 26. Bxf4 exf4 27. e5) (23... h6 24. Bxh6 gxh6 25. Qxd3) (23... f6 24. Ne2 Qb4 25. Bc2 Nf4+ 26. Bxf4 exf4 27. Qc3 Qxc3 28. bxc3 h6 29. Kf3 {White has a decisive advantage.}) 24. Bc2 Nf4+ 25. Bxf4 exf4 26. e5 {This nifty P sacrifice make room for his light squared B to get into the action.} Bxe5 27. Bf5 Re7 28. gxf7+ Kxf7 29. Rae1 Bxc3 30. Be6+ Kf8 31. bxc3 Nf6 {It looks like Horowitz has weathered the storm, but white has a decisive advantage. However.. .after Fine’s next move Horowitz though his position was defenseless, but 32. Rh4 was, in fact, a mistake.} 32. Rh4 (32. Qxf4 {secures the win, The best line is} Rxd5 33. Bxd5 Qxd5+ 34. f3 Rxe1 35. Rxe1 {and white has a decisive advantage.}) 32... Rxd5 {Capturing on d5 is correct, but not with the R!} ( 32... Nxd5 33. Re5 Qb6 34. Rf5+ Nf6 35. Bxc4 Ke8 36. Rfxf4 Rd6 {incredible as it seems, black has survived and is right back in the game.}) 33. Rxf4 Rg5+ 34. Kf1 Ke8 35. Rxf6 gxf6 36. Qxf6 Rgg7 {This results in the R getting trapped, but there was nothing better.} 37. h6 {Black resigned, Except for his hiccup on move 32, a smooth performance by Fine.} 1-0

Komodo 14 Beginner...Hardly!

    Friday dawned dark and dreary with a temperature of 42 degree and rain showers. There was nothing to do so I tested Komodo 14’s Beginner engine to see how it played; I lost three games. 

    I have a lot of engines on my laptop, but only use Stockfish. It’s the strongest engine and it’s only “disadvantage”, if you can call it that, is that it nitpicks even Grand master games. 

     Supposedly, you can adjust the Beginner skill level using the "Skill" setting found in the engine's parameters, but my Fritz program does not offer that option. I had to use the old Fritz 12 program and select the Komodo Beginner engine. Using Fritz 17 and 19 will only allow me to play against the Fritz engine.

 

    As you can see from the chart generated by Fritz 19 using Stockfish for analysis, the Komodo engine’s play was hardly at the beginner level. 

     In any case, for those who like to tinker with engines and are interested, you can download older versions of the Komodo and Dragon engines for free on their site HERE. 

 

[Event "Game 10"] [Site "?"] [Date "2025.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Tartajubow"] [Black "Komodo 14 Beginner"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E81"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "104"] [EventDate "2025.??.??"] {E81: King's Indian: Saemisch Variation} 1. e4 g6 {A surprise! I was expecting 1...e5} 2. d4 Bg7 3. c4 d6 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. f3 {Planning on a P-storming attack against by beginning opponent's K; it didn't come close to happening.} O-O 6. Be3 c5 7. d5 {Statistically the idea of closing the center and P-storming black does not work out thjat well and so the preferred move here is 7.Nge2} e6 8. Bd3 {Better is 8.Qd2} (8. Qd2 {It's important to note that Bh6 isn't going to work.} exd5 9. cxd5 a6 10. a4 (10. Bh6 {runs into} Nxe4 11. Nxe4 Qh4+ 12. g3 Qxh6 {Black has snagged a P.}) 10... Re8 {and black cn meet Bh6 with ...Bh8 so white has to try something else. My database offers 8 reasonable choices.}) 8... exd5 9. exd5 {I was thinking this keeps an line to the K-side for my B, but it's the wrong recaoture. Black now gets more pressure on the e-file than I anticipated.} (9. cxd5 Re8 10. Qd2 a6 11. a4 Nbd7 12. Nge2 Ne5 13. O-O Rb8 { us the main book line.}) 9... Re8 10. Qd2 Bh6 {While this takes advantage of the pin on the e-file black would to better to simply play 10...Nbd7} 11. Nd1 { At this point I was disgusted with my play; I an clealy on the defensive and the hope of a K-side P-storm is gone.} b5 {Not exactly a beginner's move. It's Stockfish's top choice and the auto-analysis gave it a "!"} 12. Ne2 (12. b3 { looks like a waste of time...black continues} Qe7 13. Kf2 Bg7 {The defense of 33 has succeeded, but not there is a threat on the long diagonal.} 14. Rc1 Nbd7 {White has nothing constructive.}) 12... bxc4 {Now my d-Pawn is weak.} 13. Bxc4 Bxe3 {Exchanges only help white, so 13...Bg7 as in the note above was better.} 14. Nxe3 {The position is equal, but all white can to is twiddle his thumbs and react to whatever black undertakes.} Nbd7 15. O-O {It's hard to be critical of castling, but a more active idea was 15.Nc3 and 16.Bb6} Qe7 16. Kf2 {This exposes the K a bit, but the N had no decent square to which it could retreat. tockfish evaluates this position as only very slightly in black's favor, but I had the feeling that I was losing.} Qe5 17. b3 Nb6 (17... Qxh2 { is quite safe.} 18. Rh1 Qe5 19. Rae1 {The position is equal...white can dream of getting the Q to h6 and some play on the h-file.}) 18. Bb5 Bd7 19. Bxd7 Nfxd7 {The exchanges have eased white's defensive burden.} 20. h3 {This represents a change of mind about offering the h-Pawn, but it's a poor decision!} (20. Nc3 Qxh2 21. Ng4 (21. Rh1 Qf4 22. g3 Qg5 23. Rad1 Re7 24. Nb5 Rae8 25. Rhe1 Nc8 {is good for nlack.}) 21... Qh4+ 22. g3 Qd8 23. Nh6+ Kf8 24. Ne4 {and white is right back in the game.}) 20... a5 {[%mdl 2048] Black is more active and with white defending e3, black switches opertions to the Q-side.} 21. Nc3 a4 22. Rfe1 axb3 23. axb3 Rxa1 24. Rxa1 Qd4 {The position is equal, but defending the still weak e3 plus two isolated Ps is a heavy defensive birden.} 25. Rd1 {Of course the Q can't be taken because of the P fork on the Ns.} Qh4+ 26. Kf1 {Retreating to g1 was correct.} Qb4 {I missed this.} 27. Kf2 f5 {Prevents Ne4} (27... Qxb3 {This is what I expected, but didn't notice tht after} 28. Rb1 Nc4 29. Qe1 (29. Qc1 Nde5 30. Rxb3 Nd3+) 29... Nb2 30. Qd2 Nc4 {the position is back to equal, or black can deaw by repeating moves.}) 28. Re1 Nf6 29. Rd1 Re5 (29... Qxb3 {is out of the question now.} 30. Rb1 Nc4 31. Qc1 {Black loses material.}) 30. Na4 {Hoping to exchange another piece.} Qf4 {Threatening a N fork on e4} 31. Nc3 Nh5 32. Ne2 {Covers g3} Qh4+ 33. Kf1 Qe7 34. Kf2 {Hoping black will take a draw by repeating moves.} Qg5 35. Qd3 f4 {Winning the d-Pawn} 36. Ng4 Rxd5 37. Qb1 {In spite of his horribly passive position white is still equal!} Nf6 (37... Rxd1 38. Qxd1 {and white has play because of black's weak d-Pawn,}) 38. Nxf6+ Qxf6 39. Rxd5 { Eliminating Rs was the wrong decision because the ending ow favors black} (39. Qa1 Qxa1 40. Rxa1 g5 41. Ra6 Nd7 {Would probably be a draw. B;acl is hindered by having his R in front of the d-(awn.}) 39... Nxd5 {[%mdl 4096] I felt pretty confodent that I could draw this Q ending.} 40. Qa2 {Qa8+ is the strong threat.} Qe6 41. Qa8+ Kg7 42. Qa7+ Kh6 43. Qb8 {Hoping to get some checks in, but this loses.} (43. Qa8 {Attacking the N is the only way to save the game/} Qe3+ 44. Kf1 Qd3 45. Qf8+ Kh5 46. Ke1 Qe3 47. Qf7 Nb4 48. Qxh7+ Kg5 49. Qh8 Nd3+ 50. Kd1 {Neither side can win from this position/}) 43... Qe3+ 44. Kf1 Qe5 45. Qf8+ Kh5 {The K has avoided further checks, but with 46.Kf2 white would still be in the game.} 46. Qf7 {[%mdl 8192] Of course the threat is Qxh7+, but it's black to play and win.} Ne3+ 47. Kf2 Nxg2 {[%mdl 576]} 48. Qxh7+ Kg5 49. Qc7 Qe3+ 50. Kxg2 Qxe2+ 51. Kg1 Qe1+ 52. Kg2 Qg3+ {[%mdl 64] White resigned. Thankfully beginners do not play like black did!} 0-1

Staggering Endgame Complications

    Everybody loves to study openings and tactics and as much as they love to study those they hate to study endings. In the days of yesteryear I had Fine’s Basic Chess Endings, an endgame book by Euwe in German and what was probably the most helpful, The Endings in Modern Theory and Practice by R.C. Griffiths. I spent a lot of time studying K+P and R+P endings. It was pretty much a waste of time because few of my blunderfests ever got to that point. For the record there is an Endgame Frequency Table that appears on thechessworl site. 

    Endings are hard as the following game shows. At one time Isaac Kashdan was one of the best players in the world and he knew endgames. So did Al Horowitz who, himself, was at one time a world class player. Yet the complications of this ending were too much for Kashdan and in his annotation Horowitz missed a lot. The ending was something only Stockfish can calculate; it just couldn’t be done over the board. You have to feel sorry for Lasker; he really didn’t deserve to lose this game! 

 

 

    The game was played in the 1944 New York Metropolitan Chgess League which was won by the Manhattan Chess Club. When all adjourned games were finished, the final score was an overwhelming 62.5-5.5 score for Manhattan. 

    The individual match between long time rivals, Manhattan and Marshall, was much closer than anticipated. On paper Manhattan should have won by a large margin as their team was much stronger, particularly on the lower boards. 

 

[Event "Metropolitan League Match, New York"] [Site ""] [Date "1944.03.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Edward Lasker (Marshall CC)"] [Black "Isaac Kashdan (Manhattan CC)"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D19"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "142"] [EventDate "1944.??.??"] [Source "Chess Review, Ma"] {D18: Slav Defense} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 d5 {Rgusm the Slav, isoreferred by some because it does not shut in the light squared B.} 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. a4 { This move constrains black;s Q-side Ps and is by far the most popularm bur it's not the only option...white has played just about every plausible move.} Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8. O-O O-O 9. Ne5 {At the time the "Chessplayer's Bible" (i.e. Modern Chess Openings) recommended 9.Qe2, but it has been supplanted by the text becuse it affords white better attacking chances.} Nbd7 10. f4 (10. Nxd7 Qxd7 11. f3 Rfd8 12. Qb3 a5 13. Rd1 Bg6 14. e4 {with equal chances. Pashikian,A (2614)-Mikaelyan,A (2350) Yerevan 2015}) 10... Nb6 { Also good was 10...c5} 11. Bd3 {On one hand this move eliminates black's well placed B, but on the other hand ot violates a general principle that when you want to attack you should avoid the exchange of pieces. 11.Be2 also supports his intended g4 and so is preferable.} Nbd5 {Black is not comcerned about doubled f-Pawns becsuse they would constrain white's activity.} (11... Bxd3 12. Nxd3 Be7 13. Kh1 Nbd5 14. Re1 Nxc3 15. bxc3 Ne4 {with a solid position. Colpe, M (1962)-Schubert,S (1788) Willingen 2005}) 12. g4 {Aggressive play!} Bxd3 13. Qxd3 c5 14. Na2 {Also good was 14.g5 going all out for an attack, but Lasker apparently changes his mind and takes a different course.} a5 15. e4 {This is actually better than advancing the g-Pawn. Lasker avoided playing g5 because he believed that 15.e4 would yield better results. Afyer the game he thoughtm as did Al Horowitz, that 15.g5 was better. It's not.} (15. g5 Nd7 16. Nxd7 Qxd7 17. e4 {White still needs to play this.} Ne7 {and there is no K-side attack and the position offers equal chances.}) 15... Nb6 16. Nxb4 axb4 17. dxc5 Qxd3 $1 18. Nxd3 Nxa4 19. Re1 Rfd8 {There was no reason to avoid 19...Nxg4. The text allows a surprising response.} 20. c6 bxc6 (20... Rxd3 21. cxb7 Rb8 22. Rxa4 Nxg4 23. Ra8 Rdd8 24. Rxb8 Rxb8 25. Rd1 Kf8 26. Rd7 {White's position looks much more dangerous than it is; the R on the 7th rank, usually a potent weapon. turn out to be impotent here.} Nf6 27. Rc7 Ne8 28. Rd7 Nf6 {etc. If the R leaves the 7th rank the position is drawn.}) 21. Nxb4 Nc5 {[%mdl 2048]} 22. Rxa8 Rxa8 23. Nxc6 Nxg4 24. b4 {Fortunately for Kashdanm he has enough resources to cope with this passed P.} Nd3 25. Rd1 Ngf2 26. Rd2 {[%mdl 8192] This is a tactical error that loses the f-Pawn and gives black what turns out to be a winning P-majority on the K-side. White's passed b-Pawn can be dealt with.} (26. Rf1 {also costs a P, but after} Nxe4 27. b5 Ndc5 {there is just no way to make any progress against black's Ns.}) 26... Nh3+ 27. Kg2 Nhxf4+ 28. Kf3 Ra1 (28... g5 {Mobilizing his Ps should win, but the road to victory is much too complicated to visualize over the board! For example...} 29. b5 Nxc1 30. b6 Ra3+ 31. Kg4 f6 32. Rd8+ Kg7 33. Rd7+ Kh6 34. b7 Ncd3 35. Kf3 (35. b8=Q Nf2#) 35... Ne5+ 36. Kf2 Nxd7 {wins easily.}) 29. Bb2 Rb1 30. Ne5 {[%mdl 8192] Thus ius a losing move...or it should have been.} (30. b5 {This leads to enormous complications with n uncertain outcome. Perfect play would likely lead to a draw. With less than perfect play the game could go either way.} g5 ( 30... Nxb2 31. Rd8#) (30... Rxb2 31. Rxb2 Nxb2 32. b6 {wins}) 31. b6 Nxb2 32. Rd8+ Kg7 33. b7 Nc4 34. b8=Q Rxb8 35. Rxb8 Nd2+ 36. Ke3 Nf1+ 37. Kf2 Nxh2 38. Kg3 Nf1+ 39. Kf2 Nd2 {The position is equal, but if anybody has winning chances it's black.}) 30... Rxb2 31. Rxb2 {This position is amazing, astonishing, incredible and sensational! Who wouldn't play Kashdan's next move?!} Nxb2 {...probably everybody, but taking the R throws away the win.} ( 31... Nxe5+ 32. Kg3 (32. Kxf4 Nd3+) 32... Nh5+ 33. Kg2 Nf6 34. b5 Nc4 35. Rb4 Nb6 {Analysis demonstrated the win which too nearly a hundred moves.}) 32. Kxf4 {[%mdl 4096] Needless to say the ending favors black, but that's not to say that white is lost. There is a lot of play in the position, but it's white who has the harder task.} f6 33. Nc6 Kf7 34. Ke3 {Somewhat better would have been 34.e4} e5 35. Na5 Ke6 36. Kd2 Na4 37. Nc4 Kd7 38. Kc2 Kc6 39. Kb3 $2 {This reasonable looking move should have lost.} (39. Ne3 Nb6 40. Kc3 Kb5 41. Nf5 g6 42. Nd6+ Kc6 43. Ne8 Nd7 44. Kc4 Nb6+ 45. Kc3 Nd7 {Neither side can maker any progress.}) 39... Nb6 40. Na5+ Kb5 41. Nb7 g6 {This one last bit of preparation before the final phase shou;d have allowed white to eqalize.} ( 41... Nc4 {Threatens to win the e-Pawn with ...Nd2+, so...} 42. Nc5 Nd6 43. Kc3 h5 {The idea is to get a passed P in the K-side.} 44. h3 g5 {Now white's K must hurry to the K-sdie ans his P falls.} 45. Kd2 Kxb4 46. Nd3+ Kb3 47. Ke3 Kc4 48. Nf2 Kc3 49. Nd3 Nc4+ 50. Ke2 Kd4 {wins}) 42. Nd6+ {Excellent! Black has to withdraw to defend his Ps.} Kc6 43. Ne8 $1 Nd7 44. Kc4 f5 45. exf5 gxf5 {This ending is now a draw.} 46. b5+ Kb6 {aiming for ...f4.} 47. Nd6 f4 48. Kd5 {[%mdl 8192] This gives black bew chances. Correct was 48.Ne4} (48. Ne4 Ka5 49. Nd2 Ka4 50. Ne4) 48... f3 {Now white loses his one asset...the b-Pawn.} 49. Nc4+ Kxb5 50. Ne3 f2 51. Ke4 Kc5 52. Nf1 Kc4 {Black's f-Pawn is dooned, but white is in no hurry to capture it. Instead, he tries to maintain the good position of his K.} 53. Ne3+ Kb3 54. Kf3 Kc3 55. Kxf2 Kd3 56. Nd5 {Lasker must have thought he had a draw here because he called this the decisive mistake. He believed the correct procedure would have been to go after the h-Pawn with his K and sacrifice his N for the e-Pawn.} (56. Kf3 e4+ {is much stronger.} ( 56... Nf6 {Lasker and Horowitz} 57. Nf5 e4+ 58. Kf4 h6 {To keep white's K from approaching. Horowitz ended his analysis here, but black is winning.} 59. Ke5 Ng4+ 60. Kf4 e3 61. Nxe3 Nxe3 {This ending is a win for black/}) 57. Kf4 Ne5 58. Ng2 Ng6+ 59. Kf5 e3 60. Kf6 e2 61. Kg5 Kd2 62. h4 Ne7 63. Kh6 (63. h5 Nd5 64. Nh4 Ke3 65. Ng2+ Kf2 66. Kh6 Kxg2 67. Kxh7 Nf6+) 63... Nf5+ 64. Kxh7 Ne3 { and the P queens}) 56... e4 {The rest is, as they say, a matter of technique... for the big boys. For the rest of us , well...} 57. Ke1 Kd4 58. Nf4 Ke3 59. Ng2+ Kf3 60. Kf1 Ne5 61. Nh4+ Ke3 62. Nf5+ Kd3 63. h3 e3 64. Ng3 Nf3 65. Ne2 Kd2 66. Nf4 h5 {[%mdl 512]} 67. Ng2 h4 68. Nf4 Ng5 69. Ng2 e2+ 70. Kg1 Nxh3+ 71. Kh2 Ng5 {White resigned, It's mate in 8} (71... Ng5 72. Kh1 h3 73. Ne1 Kxe1 74. Kg1 h2+ 75. Kg2 h1=Q+ 76. Kxh1 Kf2 77. Kh2 {Don't play 77...e1Q Stalemate!} Kf3 78. Kh1 Kg3 (78... e1=Q+ 79. Kh2 Qg3+ 80. Kh1 Qg2#) 79. Kg1 e1=R#) 0-1

Destroying a Forgacs Brilliancy...Technically

 

Leo Forgacs

      Chess engines first reached Grandmaster strength in 1988 when Deep Thought shared first place with GM Tony Miles in the Software Toolworks Open in Los Angeles. Deep Thought had a 2745 performance rating. By the early 2000s engines running on our home computers were playing at the Master level. 

    Prior to that time we average players had to rely on annotations by ordinary Master and up, and sometimes even notes by GMs contained glaring error. Refer to my Capablanca Dodges a Bullet post HERE. 

    In that game, one that was highly acclaimed as a Capablanca brilliancy, Stockfish spotted the refutation (23.Ra6) instantly. Today’s game suffers a similar fate. It’s been presented as a brilliant win by Forgacs, but Stockfish pointed out some flaws in his play as well as Tartakower's defense and those flaws were not discovered in the old books. 

    None of that really matters though because as one introduction to the game put it, “Some games retain their capacity to thrill us no matter how often we play them over.” That’s true no matter how flawed they are! Stockfish offers several suggestions that are better than the moves Forgacs played, but the game is still a delight to play over. 

 

 

    Savielly Tartakower (1887-1956) was born in Russia and moved to Vienna at age 17. He became a doctor of law in 1909, but he never practiced law. In 1918, at the end of World War I he became a Polish citizen and moved to Paris and became a French citizen after World War II. During World War II, he served in the Free French Army under General Charles de Gaulle under the name of o Lieutenant Dr. Georges Cartier. He was both a prolific tournament player and author. 

    The winner, Leo Fprgas (1881-1930) played in tournaments under the name Fleischmann prior to 1908. He was born in Budapest and had a very short career. At the age of 21 he won the German master title in the Hauppturnier B at Hanover in 1902. He was Hungarian champion in 1907. He finished third at San Remo 1911, Budapest 1912 and Budapest 1913 then gave up competitive chess.

 

 

[Event "St. Petersburg"] [Site ""] [Date "1909.03.11"] [Round "18"] [White "Leo Fleischmann Forgacs"] [Black "Savielly Tartakower"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C14"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "1909.02.15"] {C14: French: Classical System} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Ne4 6. Nxe4 Bxg5 7. Nxg5 Qxg5 8. g3 c5 9. c3 Nc6 10. f4 Qe7 11. Nf3 Bd7 12. Qd2 O-O 13. Bd3 {Because of his greater space and aggressively placed B, white has the potential for a strong attack especially because black does not have a single piece defending the K.} (13. Be2 cxd4 14. Nxd4 Rac8 15. O-O Nxd4 16. cxd4 {is completely equal. Scholl,E-De Ruiter,T Leeuwarden 1969}) 13... c4 { As it soon becomes apparent, black's advance on the Q-side is nowhere near as formidable as white's on the K-side.} (13... cxd4 14. Nxd4 Nxd4 15. cxd4 a6 { is a safer alternative because white's N, an important attacking piece, has been eliminated.}) 14. Bc2 {Of course he keeps the B on thw b1-h7 diagonal.} b5 15. O-O a5 16. Rae1 b4 {Here Tartakower was expecting 17.g4 which he would meet with 17...f5.} 17. f5 {White's idea is to open the f-file and force black to move a P in front of his K thereby creating weakness.} (17. g4 f5 18. exf6 Qxf6 19. Qg2 {with a promising position.}) 17... exf5 {The only real choice, but black has adequate defensive resources.} 18. g4 fxg4 19. Ng5 {White's P moves have given him open lines for attack. It's interesting that in the pre-engine days a note to the g. The comclusion that white is better was obviously based on the rame says that a successful defense is impossible. Today even weaker engines disagree...black is actually equal. However, as is often the case, there is a difference between the theoretical and the practical. Attacking is easier than defending.} g6 {Maintaining equality is contingent on playing the correct defense to the attack on h7 and the plausible text nove is not it because it creayes a weakness at f6.} (19... h6 { This looks wrong, but it is the only way black can successfully defend himself. In fact, in his otherwise excellent book, The Middlegame in Chess, Eugene Znosko-Borovsky stated that this move is inadequate.} 20. Nh7 {Znosko-Borovsky ended his analysis here stating that one of white's pieces gets to f6; the comment makes no sense.} Qh4 {Now pacing a pice on f6 would simply lose material and the game.} 21. Nxf8 (21. e6 Bxe6 22. Qf4 Qe7 23. Nxf8 Rxf8 24. Bf5 Nd8 25. Qxg4 Qd6 {and black has achieved complete equality/})) 20. Rf6 { [%mdl 1024] An excellent move cutting off black's defenses and giving white free reign on the K-side.} Kg7 {There is nothing black can do to save the game. } (20... Nd8 21. Ref1 Ne6 22. Nxf7 {wraps it up.}) 21. Ref1 {[%mdl 32]} Be8 22. Qf4 {White has a number of ways to win, but this sets up a nice finish.} Nd8 23. e6 {Offering a third P, but it cannot be taken.} Ra6 (23... Nxe6 24. Nxe6+ fxe6 25. Rxf8) 24. Qe5 Kh6 (24... Kg8 25. exf7+ Rxf7 26. Nxf7 Qxe5 27. Nxe5 { White has won a R.}) 25. R1f5 fxe6 26. Nf7+ {[%mdl 512] White mates in 3} Qxf7 (26... Nxf7 27. Rh5+ Kg7 28. Rxg6# {mate next move.}) 27. Rh5+ Kg7 28. Rxg6# { Black resigned} 1-0

The Old Warrior Still Had It

    As mentioned in the previous post, Bobby Fischer unexpectedly lost two games in the 1966 US Championship, one of them to Samuel Reshevsky. Even so, except for a draw with William Addison, Fischer mow down the rest of his opponents with ease. Reshevsky wrote that this tournament shattered the myth of Fischer’s invincibility, but that turned out not to be the case. 

    Reshevsky’s game against Fischer was interesting. Playing black, Fischer attempted to simplify by exchanges, but found himself in the unpleasant situation of having to defend a cramped position for the entire game. Reshevsky inexorably improved his position never giving Fischer a chance. Even so, wrapping up the game still required considerable technical skill and Reshevsky still had it.

 

 

 

[Event "US Championship, New York"] [Site ""] [Date "1965.12.25"] [Round "9"] [White "Samuel Reshevsky"] [Black "Robert Fischer"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E43"] [Annotator "Reshevsky/Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "121"] [EventDate "1965.??.??"] {E43: Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O Bxc3 8. bxc3 {Here's an interesting situation. Fischer could now expose Reshevsky's K with 8.Bxf3, but to do so would open the g-file which would afford white more than ample compensation. In the 380 games in my database that reached this position nobody has played it.} Be4 9. Qc2 Bxd3 ( 9... Bxf3 {What happens after this? Here is Stockfish's top line after about 5 minutes.} 10. gxf3 c5 11. Kh1 Nc6 12. Rg1 Rc8 13. Rg3 g6 14. d5 Ne7 15. e4 Nh5 16. Rh3 e5 17. Bh6 {A complicated position that will require precise defense by black.}) 10. Qxd3 d6 11. e4 e5 {Risky. Reshevsky suggested 11...h6 to preve nt white's next move.} 12. Bg5 (12. dxe5 {fails to gain any advantage.} dxe5 13. Nxe5 Qxd3 14. Nxd3 Rd8 15. Nf4 Nxe4 {Black is at least equal.}) ({Better is } 12. Nh4 $16) 12... Nbd7 (12... h6 13. Bh4 Qe7 14. Nd2 Nbd7 15. Rae1 Rfe8 { with equal chances. Petersons,A-Nikolaevsky,Y Soviet Union 1967}) 13. Nh4 { Reshevsky' ro pst his N on f5 and open up lline by advancing his f-Pawn. It's instructive to watch him accomplaih this.} h6 14. Bd2 {An excellent move. This B will prove more valuable than the N.} Re8 15. Rae1 Nf8 16. Nf5 $18 Ng6 17. f4 exd4 (17... exf4 18. Bxf4 {White will now double Rs on the f-file after which his attacking chances would be greatly enhanced.}) 18. cxd4 c6 {Attempting to obtain counterplay in the center with ...d5, but Reshevsky's next move prevents it.} 19. d5 cxd5 20. cxd5 Ne7 {He simply wants the well placed N to vacate f5.} 21. Ng3 {Reshevsky stated that the spectators were expecting him to sacrifice the N, but with best play the game would be drawn.} (21. Nxg7 Kxg7 {and the best line runs} 22. Bc3 Rc8 23. g4 Rxc3 24. Qxc3 Qc8 25. Qb2 Qxg4+ 26. Kh1 Qh4 27. e5 dxe5 28. d6 Nf5 29. fxe5 Ng3+ 30. Kg1 Nxf1 31. exf6+ Kf8 32. Rxe8+ Kxe8 33. Qe5+ Kd7 34. Qe7+ Kc6 35. Qc7+ Kb5 36. Qxf7 Qg4+ 37. Kxf1 Qf4+ 38. Ke2 Qe5+ 39. Kf3 Qf5+ {Draws}) 21... Rc8 22. Bc3 Ng6 23. Bd4 Kh7 {Because there is nothing to do to improve his position nor is there is there any way to generate counterplay Fischer is reduced to making noncommittal moves. It's odd that his K will eventually be trapped on the h-file.} 24. Nf5 Rc7 25. Kh1 Rg8 26. Re3 Nh5 27. Ref3 Nf6 28. Rh3 b5 29. g4 {White has maximized the effectiveness of his pieces and now moves in for the kill.} Nxg4 30. Qg3 Qe8 { Retreat of the N would have lost immediately.} (30... Nf6 31. Qg5 Rh8 32. Nxh6 gxh6 33. Rxh6+ Kg7 34. Rxh8 Qxh8 35. Bxf6+) 31. Nxd6 (31. Qxg4 Qxe4+ 32. Rhf3 Ne7 33. Nxe7 Rxe7 34. Bc3 Qxd5 {and black can possibly put up a successful defense.}) 31... Qe7 32. e5 Nf6 {Here Reshevsky refuses to get sidetracked by the capture of a meaningless P with 33.Nxb5 nor does he fall for 33.exf6 which allows black to equalize with 33...Qxd6} 33. f5 ({Don't do} 33. Nxb5 Nxd5 34. f5 Rc2 $18) 33... Nxd5 34. fxg6+ fxg6 35. Nf7 (35. Rf7 {Threatening mate with Rxh6+ and even though it wins the Q black can struggle on.} Qxf7 36. Nxf7 Rxf7 37. Qb3 Rd8 38. Rd3 Rf5 39. e6 Nf4 40. Rd1 Nxe6 41. Qxe6 Rfd5 42. Qe3 {White has consolidated his position and is winning though it will take some time.}) 35... Qxf7 {Fischer misses his last chances of offering meaningful resistance.} (35... Rgc8 36. Ng5+ Kg8 37. Qg2 Nb4 {White is winning, but there is no immediate forced win and he can look forward to a lengthy struggle.}) 36. Rxf7 Rxf7 37. e6 Rf1+ 38. Kg2 Rf5 39. Rh4 Re8 40. Qd6 Ref8 41. h3 Rc8 42. Re4 Rc2+ 43. Kg3 Rd2 {Excellent defense.} (43... Nc3 44. Re1 Rg5+ 45. Kf3 Rf5+ 46. Ke3 Nd5+ (46... Nxa2 47. Qe7 {and black gets mated.}) 47. Ke4 Nf6+ 48. Bxf6 Rxf6 49. Qd7 {wins}) 44. e7 Rg5+ 45. Rg4 Nxe7 46. Rxg5 hxg5 47. Qxe7 Rxd4 48. Qxa7 { [%mdl 4096]} Rf4 {This position is mot as simple as it looks! White has a Q vs R+3Ps, but he still has to find the way to exploit it! The only way to do that is to transfer the K to the Q-side then eliminated black’s b-Pawn even if it means sacrificing the Q for the R. But there is another problem...he has to keep black's K out of play. Reshevsky is up to the task and the following play is very instructive.} 49. Qe7 Rf5 50. Qe8 {Black is now forced to allow white's K to reach the Q-side.} Rc5 {The R is the only piece that has a move and it must defend the b-Pawn, but this allows white's K to get to where it needs to be.} 51. Kf3 Rc2 52. Qe6 Rc1 53. Qb3 Rc5 54. Ke4 Rf5 55. Kd4 Kh8 56. Kc3 Kh7 57. Kb4 Re5 58. a3 Kh6 (58... Rf5 59. Qd3 Kg8 60. Qxb5 Rf4+ (60... Rxb5+ 61. Kxb5 Kf8 62. Kc6 Ke8 63. Kc7 {etc.}) 61. Qc4+ Kf8 62. a4 Ke7 63. Kb5 Rxc4 64. Kxc4 Kd6 65. Kd4 Kc6 66. Ke4 Kb6 67. Kf3 Ka5 68. Kg4 Kxa4 {Black's K is too far away.} 69. Kxg5 Kb5 70. Kxg6 Kc5 71. Kxg7 Kd5 72. h4 Ke5 73. h5 Kf5 74. h6) 59. Qg8 {Threatening mate.} g4 60. h4 {Renewing the threat.} g5 61. h5 {[%mdl 512] Black resigned. A brilliant finish...if he takes the P Qh7# and if he doesn't Qh8#} 1-0

Fischer’s Worst Blunder Ever

    The tournament that was designated as the 1966 U.S. Championship actually ended on December 30, 1965; it was Bobby Fischer’s seventh title. In contrast to his perfect 11-0 score in the 1963/64, this year’s event saw him stumble and lose to Robert Byrne and Samuel Reshevsky plus get nicked for a draw by William Addison.

    After drawing with Addison in the first round, he looked to be back on track, winning the next six in a row which gained him a big lead. But then Fischer made what was probably the worst blunder of his career when he list to Robert Byrne in round 8. But wait! There’s nore! In round 9 he went down to defeat against Samuel Reshevsky. At that point it looked like it might be possible that Fischer would not repeat as champion. Fischer kept his cool though and defeated Nicolas Rossolimo and Dr. Karl Burger in the final two rounds to end up a full point ahead of his rivals.

 

    Two young players made their debut. Duncan Suttles who went on to become a Canadian citizen and Bernard Zuckerman. Suttles, with his highly original style, was not afraid of anybody and Zuckerman, a walking opening encyclopedia, was about a half an hour late for every game. Arthur Bisguier had an exceptionally bad tournament due to the fact that he was plagued by an illness in his family. 

 

[Event "US Championship, New York"] [Site ""] [Date "1965.12.23"] [Round "8"] [White "Bobby Fischer"] [Black "Robert Byrne"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C03"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "1965.??.??"] {C04: French Tarrasch: 3...Nc6} 1. e4 e6 {This was probably the best defense to play against Fischer.} 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 {Fischer avoids the Winawer (3.Nc3 Bb4), a defense against which he always had difficulty and which Edmar Mednis famouslt used to defeat him in the 1962 US Championship.} Nc6 4. c3 e5 5. exd5 Qxd5 6. Ngf3 exd4 7. Bc4 Qh5 8. O-O {Certainly Fischer did not expect Byrne to play 8...cxc3 after which black would have a difficult position to defend.} Nf6 {The usual plan is 8...Be6 followed by castling Q-side, but Byrne's straightforward development is also satisfactory.} (8... dxc3 {White now obtains a strong attack against black's K which is caught in the center.} 9. Re1+ Be7 10. bxc3 Nh6 11. Rxe7+ Nxe7 12. Ba3 Nhf5 13. Qb3 O-O 14. Re1 {White has sufficient compensation for his sacrificed material.}) 9. Qe1+ {The R would have been a better piece to place on this square.} Be7 10. Nxd4 O-O { Certainly Fischer saw that 11.Nxc6 does not win a piece.} 11. Be2 (11. Nxc6 Bd6 (11... bxc6 12. Qxe7 {wins a piece.}) 12. f4 bxc6 {and black stands well..}) 11... Bg4 12. Nxc6 {[%mdl 8192] Brain flatulence! Fischer could have resigned after this, but he played on hopiong for a miracle.} (12. h3 {Equally good is 12.Bxg4} Bxe2 13. Qxe2 Qxe2 14. Nxe2 Ne5 15. Nd4 c5 16. Nf5 Rfe8 17. Nb3 Bf8 18. Rd1 {Draw agreed. Goncalves,J-Van den Broeck,H Munich 1958}) 12... Bd6 13. h3 Bxe2 14. Nd4 Bxf1 15. Qxf1 {White is the exchange down with no compensation and the win is a matter of technique which Byrne certainly had.} Rfe8 16. N2f3 a6 17. Bg5 Qg6 18. Rd1 Re4 19. Be3 Nd5 20. Bc1 Rae8 21. Nd2 R4e7 22. Nc4 Bf4 23. Nf3 c6 24. Nb6 Bxc1 {Black is clearly winning.} 25. Nxd5 cxd5 26. Rxc1 Re2 27. Rb1 Qc2 28. Rc1 Qxb2 29. Rb1 Qxc3 30. Rxb7 Rxa2 31. Kh2 h6 32. Qb1 Rxf2 33. Qf5 Qxf3 34. Qxf3 Rxf3 35. gxf3 Rd8 36. Rb6 d4 {White resigned.} (36... d4 37. Rxa6 d3 38. Ra1 d2 39. Rd1 Kh7 40. Kg2 Kg6 41. Kf2 Kf5 42. Ke3 {Now all black has to do is run white out of moves.} Rd6 43. f4 Rd8 44. Kf3 g6 45. Ke3 h5 46. h4 f6 47. Kf3 Rd3+ 48. Ke2 Ke4 49. f5 gxf5 50. Kf2 f4 51. Ke2 f3+ 52. Kf2 Rd4 53. Kg1 Ke3 {etc.}) 0-1

Reshevsky Wins At Margate

    In 1935, Britains were enjoying Alfred Hitchcock's mystery thriller movie, The 39 Steps. While on vacation in London, a Canadian, became embroiled in an international spy ring related to the mysterious "39 steps." The title refers to steps leading to a secret meeting place in the book by John Buchan, and a clandestine spy organization in Alfred Hitchcock's film adaptation. 

    Henry Hall and his BBC Dance Orchestra and Lew Stone and His Band were prominent. You can enjoy a Harry Hall tune HERE and Lew Stone HERE 

    The year 1935 ushered in the first time beer came in a can. Men were wearing loose fitting boxer shorts, but in 1935 briefs were becoming popular. They were a more fitted, snug alternative that gained popularity in part due to the invention of the elastic waistband and marketing. 

     It wasn’t all good news though. Tensions and war between Italy and Ethiopia divided the League of Nations. In Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler began bringing in new laws to marginalise and oppress Jews. 

    In 1935, Margate, a popular seaside resort, saw the opening of the Art Deco Dreamland Super Cinema (it closed in 2007). The town was also the recipient of a new road, George V Avenue, created to commemorate King George V's Silver Jubilee. It also hosted an international chess tournament. 

 

    The tournament was significant because it was the first time that Reshevskym the former boy wonder, had the opportunity to test his mettle against formidable foreign opposition. 

    Samuel Reshevsky (1911-1992) was one of my favorite players and the highlight of my "career" was drawing a game against him in 1979. His opponent in today’s game was English International Master William Fairhurst (1903-1982). In 1931 he lived in Scotland and won the Scottish Championship 11 times. He also won the British Championship in 1937 and was unofficial Commonwealth Champion in 1950. In 1970 he was invited to play in the New Zealand Championship as a guest and after it was over he decided to retire there. He passed away in Auckland in 1982.n It’s instructive to watch how easily Reshevsky could hanle a “mere” IM in those days.

[Event "Margate"] [Site ""] [Date "1935.04.29"] [Round "?"] [White "William Fairhurst"] [Black "Samuel Reshevsky"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D47"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "1935.04.24"] {D47: Semi-Slav: Meran System} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bb3 {Hor whatever reason Fairhurts prefers to avoids the Meran Varian which arises after 8.Bd3.} Be7 9. O-O Bb7 10. e4 { Here’s a conundrum! This move has been criticized as being premature and in practice it has yielded poor result. However, it is the first choice of Stockfish, Dragon by Kmodo likes the equally popular 10.Qe2 and Lc) gives the nod to 10.a3. All three moves are of nearly qual status though. As for 10.e4, if white can successfully carry out the advance e5 black's position will be very cramped.} b4 {Seemingly forcing the next reply, but not really.} 11. e5 ( 11. Na4 {Placing the N on the edge of the board and sacrificing the e-Pawn looks bad, but it is playable!} Nxe4 12. Re1 Nef6 13. Qe2 Nd5 (13... O-O { runs into complications favoring white.} 14. Bxe6 {Now after 14...Bd6 15.Bb3 chances are about even, but not...} fxe6 15. Qxe6+ Kh8 16. Qxe7 {and white is clearly better.}) 14. Ne5 Nxe5 15. Qxe5 O-O 16. Nc5 {and white has sufficient play for the P, but this position is unlikely to appeal to humans.}) 11... bxc3 12. exf6 Nxf6 13. bxc3 O-O 14. Rb1 c5 {An excellent move.} 15. Bb2 {This pointless move is difficult to understand because the B, blocked by its own Ps, has no future on b2. Simply 15.Bc2 would have been satisfactory.} (15. Bxe6 { is no threat.} Bxf3 {wins a piece.} (15... fxe6 16. Rxb7 {White is better.}) 16. Bxf7+ Rxf7 17. Qxf3) 15... Be4 16. Rc1 {A better alternative was 16.Bc2 even though the exchange of Bs would leave white with his inferior B on b2. The move played has the disadvantage of placing the R on a square from which it is completely ineffective.} Qb6 {Another good move. His Rs are now connected and ready to be effectively placed.} 17. dxc5 {Another poor move.} ( 17. Nd2 Bb7 18. Ba3 {at least gets a bit of scope fot the buried B}) 17... Bxc5 18. Qe2 Rad8 19. Rcd1 Bb7 {Retreating back to a8 would have been slightly more accurate. Reshevsky's basic ide is to create mating threats and also to make e4 available for the N.} 20. Ne5 Ba8 {An admission that his last move stopped short. Was it a finger slip?} 21. c4 {This opens the diagonal for one B, but hampers the other one. It's still his best mvoe though.} Qb7 {The aforementioned mate threat.} 22. Nf3 Ne4 {Occupying the aforementioned N outpost. White now has to guard f2.} 23. Ba1 {Apparently Fairhusrt did now want to play 23.Rxd8 Rxd8 when black has control of the d-file.} (23. Rxd8 { This is still his best bet.} Rxd8 24. Bc1 h6 25. Be3 {and, at least, the pressure on his f-Pawn is relieved.}) 23... Rxd1 24. Bxd1 Rd8 {Black still has gained control of the d-file and white's position is now, theoretically at least, lost.} 25. Bc2 Qc6 {A wily move, provoking white's plausible, but losing. reply!} 26. Ne5 {The decisive error. The N is the wrong piece to put on e5. At least after 26.Be5 the N couldn't go to g3.} Ng3 {[%mdl 512] There is no answer to this. If the B was on e5 it could simply take the N.} 27. Nxc6 (27. hxg3 Qxg2#) (27. Qf3 Qxf3 28. Nxf3 Nxf1 29. Kxf1 Bxf3 30. gxf3 {Black is the exchange ahead with a routine win.}) 27... Nxe2+ 28. Kh1 Bxc6 {White resigned. He has lost a N.} 0-1

Arturo Quiroga's Missed Brilliancy

    Exorbitant food prices and cool weather (frost to low 60s) put a bit of a damper on the last few days spent in Niagra Falls, New York. Previously, we rode the Maid of the Mist in hot weather and it was awesome, but this time it was a bit too chilly to get drenched. 

    I doubt anybody has ever heard of Arturo Quiroga, but according to an article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle back in 1922, when a team of masters from the Manhattan Chess Club contested the first Pan-American cable match against a team from the Argentine Chess Club in Buenos Aires on April 23rd, Quiroga was on fifth board. 

    The Manhattan Chess Club's home was in the Hotel Sherman Square where a cable operator sat near the players and a teller would relay the moves which were then sent to the main office from where they were cabled to far away (8,600 miles) Buenos Aires. 

    The match was terminated at two o'clock in the morning after fourteen and a half hours play and the time didn't include a break of an hour and a half for supper! Club officials in New York finally stepped in and proposed that the match be called to a halt even though only two games of the six board match had been completed. Those two games had been drawn. The four remaining game were all adjourned in complicated positions and they were to be sent to Capablanca who was the official adjudicator, but at the time he was in Paris. However, it was generally agreed that the New York team would be victorious by a final score of 4-2.

 

    The first game on the match to actually reached a conclusion happened when Albert Marder agreed to a draw against Rolando Illa, ex-champion of Buenoes Aires after 26 moves. 

    The game between Oscar Chajes, former Manhattan club champion against Julio Lynch, was agreed drawn in 38 moves. Roy T. Black, former New York state champion who had traveled all the way from Syracuse, New York for the match, opened with the Ruy Lopez and succeeded in breaking up his opponent's K-side Pawns and at move 28 won one of them which gave him a decisive advantage. 

    Rosenthal, another former state champion, was playing Arnoldo Ellerman, a famous problem composer and one of the best players in Buenos Aires. For a long time they maneuvered cautiously behind their own lines and the outcome looked drawish. But, Rosenthal had two Bs against two Ns and thought that adjudication should result in his being awarded the point. At midnight Ellerman cabled that he had to stop play and Rosenthal agreed. The game was adjudicated as a draw. 

    Harold Phillips, president of the Intercollegiate Chess League, met Belgrano Rawson's Caro-Kann with aggressive play and by advancing his h-Pawn had managed to break up Rawson's K-side. Their game was one of the two that continued all the way to two o'clock I n the morning. Phillips had not yet managed to score the point, but it was believed he was very close to doing so; the game was adjudicated as a win for Phillips. 

    After play had stopped Robert Raubitschek, chairman of the Manhattan's tournament committee that was in charge of the match, made an effort to come to an understanding with the captain of the Buenos Aires team to reach an agreement on the results of the unfinished games without sending them to Capablanca, but the Buenos Aires team was unwilling to accept the conclusions of the Manhattan team. It was expected that Capablanca's reply would take 4-5 weeks, but the Manhattan team was confident that they would win 4-2. 

    Eventually a post card was received from Capablanca and he had awarded wins to Black and Phillips for Manhattan and Quiroga for Buenos Aires. Capa singled out Phillips' game for his interesting and well-played game. As for Capablnca’s awarding the win to Quiroga, that decision might be questionable, but perhaps he did deserve the win. After all, he did play well for most of the game! 

 

[Event "Match Manhattan CC vs, Buenis Aires CC"] [Site "?"] [Date "1922.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Arturo Quiroga"] [Black "Alfred Schroeder"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A48"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "71"] {A48: QP Opening} 1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 g6 4. b3 Bg7 5. Bb2 Nbd7 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. c4 Re8 8. Qc2 e5 {Both sides have played very flexible moves that could result in a wide variey of formations.} 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Nxe5 dxe5 11. Be2 c6 { Although this move is not really bad (it gives black's Q some mobility) it has the disadvantage of creating a weakness on d6 which cause black some problems later on. He might have been better off playing ...Qe7 and...Bd7} 12. O-O { Castling Q-side was suggested by Schroeder as being more aggressive. Stockfish does not like the idea though because white's Pawn setup on the Q-side leaved his K exposed.} Bf5 {This is not really bad, but black played it along with his next move under a misapprehension. Better would have been 13... Be6.} 13. e4 Bh6 {Retreating to e6 was better.} 14. Rad1 (14. exf5 {is met by} Qxd2 { with complete equality.}) 14... Bd7 {Black has wasted time as he now realized his intended 14...Bxd2 loses a piece.} (14... Bxd2 15. exf5 {leaves the B on d2 pinned and lost.}) 15. c5 {Zeroing in on the weak spot in black's position, the d6 square.} b5 16. Nf3 Qc7 17. Rd6 {Not only does white have a dominating position, but black is going to lose his e-Pawn.} Bf8 {This loses a piece, but even the better 17...Re6 was not that much better!} (17... Re6 18. Bxe5 Rxd6 19. cxd6 Qd8 20. Bb2 {White's position is overwhelming.}) 18. Rxf6 Kg7 19. Rf5 {White still has a considerable advantage after this, but he missed a brilliancy.} (19. Nxe5 {[%mdl 512]} Rxe5 (19... Kxf6 20. Ng4+ Kg5 21. Bf6+ Kh5 22. Ne5+ Bg4 23. Bxg4+ Kh6 24. Qd2+ g5 25. Qxg5#) 20. f4 Rae8 21. Bxe5 Rxe5 22. fxe5 Be6 23. Rxe6 fxe6 {with a hige material advantage.}) 19... f6 {Missing his best defense.} (19... gxf5 {is a better defense.} 20. exf5 f6 21. g4 { Black is up the exchangem bit his K is dangerously exposed. Play might run} Kh8 22. Nd2 Rad8 23. Ne4 Bg7 24. Rd1 Bc8 25. Nd6 Rf8 26. h4 {with a promising attack.}) 20. Rxf6 {This excellent move forces the exposure of black's K.} Kxf6 21. Nxe5 Ke7 22. Rd1 Red8 23. Qc1 (23. Qc3 $142 {Threatening mate with Nxg6+! was even stronger.} Ke8 24. Nxg6 hxg6 25. Qf6 Bf5 26. exf5 Rxd1+ 27. Bxd1 Qd7 28. Bf3 Rc8 29. fxg6 Qe7 30. Bxc6+ Rxc6 31. Qxc6+ Qd7 32. Qxd7+ Kxd7 33. g7) 23... Be6 24. Qg5+ {White still has the advantage after this, but he missed a really strong move in 24.Rd6!! Not surprising since it requires seeing even more brilliant followup moves.} (24. Rd6 Rxd6 25. cxd6+ Kxd6 26. Bxb5 Qb6 ( 26... cxb5 27. Ba3+) 27. Bc4 Rd8 28. Bxe6 Kxe6 29. Nxc6 Rd7 30. Qc4+ Rd5 31. Qxd5#) 24... Ke8 25. Bd4 Bg7 26. f4 Bxe5 27. Qxe5 Qxe5 28. Bxe5 Rxd1+ 29. Bxd1 {[%mdl 4096]} a5 30. a3 $1 a4 31. b4 Bb3 32. Be2 Kf7 33. Kf2 Rd8 34. Bd6 $1 Re8 35. Ke3 Be6 36. Kd4 {Unlike the engines, I have not nitpicked over the last several moves by both sides. Bith players missed slightly better moves on a number of occasions. However, this final move of the game is not the best becaue almost all of white's advantage disappears. Capablanca adjudicated the game as a win for white, but that conclusion is debatable. Stickfish evaluates the final position as about one Pawn in white’s favor. In Shootouts using Stockfish white scored +1 -0 =4. That saidm White deserved the win...he played much better!} (36. g4 {is the winning move. Blacj is reduced to markinh time while white penetrates with his K. A sample line...} Bd7 37. Kd4 Rh8 38. Bf3 Rc8 39. h4 h6 40. f5 h5 41. g5 Re8 42. Be5 Rc8 43. Bf6 Rc7 44. Ke5 Bc8 45. Kd6 Rd7+ 46. Kxc6 Rd3 47. fxg6+ Kxg6 48. Be2 Rxa3 49. Bxb5 Ra2 50. Kd6 a3 51. Be8+ Kh7 52. g6+ Kh6 53. g7) 1-0

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

GM Edmar Mednis on Openings

    I have Edmar Mednis' old book How to Play Good Opening Moves on my bookshelf, but I have never really read it. I have read some of Mednis' books in the past and found them very good because he had a knack for explaining things in plain language. I should mention that I met Mednis back in the 1970s and found him extremely pleasant and one of those people everybody just likes! 

    The book generally received good reviews, but it is badly marred by typos. I think it’s not one of Mednis’ better books, but then I have never been a big fan of opening books anyway. 

    How important is a good opening? It depends! Mednis said there is a German expression to the effect that a good opening means the game is half won. That's really true in high level play, but for most of us it’s probably not. I sometimes play 10 minute games online and in those games you can get away with openings that wouldn't stand a chance in serious play.  

    In OTB play how important are openings for those of us who are rating-challenged? Obviously, coming out of the opening with a good position is better than coming out of it with a bad one, plus it does give us a psychological boost to know we stand better. More important though is having a good grasp of strategy and tactics and...endings. 

    Capablanca considered the main opening principle to be rapid and efficient development. That sounds simple enough, but he also added that the pieces have to be put in the right places. That last little point, put in the right places, probably means that most of us are going to play the opening like we play the rest of the game. 

    The great Hungarian GM Lajos Portisch probably gave the best advice for non-masters when he said the only task in the opening is to reach a playable middlegame. 

    Mednis was of the opinion that non-masters don't have to play the latest theoretical lines and advised playing whatever opening one likes and understands. He also gave good advice when he said it's foolhardy to voluntarily choose a line where, if your opponent plays correctly, you hand over the advantage. That would eliminate a lot of openings and gambits known to be unsound. 

 

    There are three areas of significance in opening play: 

    1) King safety 

    2) piece development 

    3) control of the center. 

 

    The first two areas are self-evident, but the value and importance of the center is not sufficiently appreciated. The importance of center control has been known to average players since the days of Steinitz. The Hypermoderns deepened our understanding of center control when they showed that it can be done without occupying it.

 

     What are the best moves according to Mednis? White has five: 1.e4, 1.d4, 1.c4, 1.Nf3 and 1.g3. 

     What if you don't want to play any of them? Mednis recommends playing any of the three "mediocre" moves. These are moves that have positive features, but also have inherent deficiencies. These are:  

    1) 1.b4 with the plan of 2.Bb2 aiming at d4 and e5. 

    2) Nc3 which influences the center, but precludes utilizing the c-Pawn. 

    3) 1.f4 which does nothing for development and slightly weakens the K-side, but it does control e4. Don't play anything else! 

 

    As black, good moves against 1.e4 are: 1...e5, 1...c5, 1...c6, 1...d6, 1...Nf6, 1...g6 and 1...e6. Against 1.d4 you can play: 1...d5, 1...c5, 1...c6, 1...d6, 1...d5, 1...Nf6 and 1...g6. 

 

     If you want to take your opponent out of the book, and probably yourself along with him, you can play mediocre moves: Against 1.e4 you can play: 1...Nc6 and 1...d5. Against 1.d4 you can play 1...Nc6 and 1...f5. 

 

    Mednis believed that if you play according to opening principles you should be fine, but as play develops the position gets more complicated and move selection requires concrete thinking.  Just remember most opening moves that are unmindful of opening principles are probably inferior. 

    The following is an interesting game between Karpov and Korchnoi that was played in their 1974 match involving the Yugoslav Attack was instructive. 

    It was well known that Karpov had excellent results against the Dragon, so why did Korchnoi play it? Possibly because the previous year Korchnoi had defeated Karpov in a Dragon and believed he might not be up on latest theory. That wasn't the case though and after the game Korchnoi didn't want to talk about it, saying it wasn't a real game, but a result of home preparation. Sour grapes! Korchnoi had as much opportunity to do his homework as Karpov. I am giving the game with an abridged version of Mednis' explanatory notes plus a few observations by Stockfish. Karpove had an amazing 100% accuracy rating when his moves were compared to Stockfish at 15 seconds per move!  

 

[Event "Candidates Final Match, Moscow"] [Site "Moscow URS"] [Date "1974.09.18"] [Round "2"] [White "Anatoly Karpov"] [Black "Viktor Korchnoi"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B77"] [Annotator "Edmar Mednis/Stockfish"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "1974.09.16"] {B78: Sicilian Dragon: Yugoslav Attack} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 {The center P-formation is in white’s favor because his P on e4 controls more space. It’s generally true in the Sicilian that if black can play ...d5 without any disadvantage he will have equalized. The move 5... g6 has slightly, but fundamentally, weakened the K-side since the g-Pawn can now be attacked by h4-h5 and the opening of the h-file. White has the option of castling on either side and doing so on the Q-side is reasonably safe. The main idea is to open the h-file and trade off black’s B.} 6. Be3 Bg7 (6... Ng4 {No reasonably strong player would ever fall into this trap of attacking the B with this move.} 7. Bb5+ Nc6 (7... Bd7 8. Qxg4) 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. Bxc6+) 7. f3 {The Yugoslav Attack. White plans on Qd2 and O-O-O. With the move 7.f3 black’s annoying ...Ng4 is prevented, the e-Pawn is protected and Pg4 is prepared. There is nothing wrong with the old 7.Be2.} Nc6 {Black develops this N to its best square) 8. Qd2 (Preparing to castle Q-side.} 8. Qd2 O-O {Even though white is preparing a K-side attack this is the safest place for the K plus it brings his R into play and increases his chances of playing ...d5. Castling Q-side is not a viable option because the K would not be safe because the c-Pawn is missing. Also on the Q-side, the K would interfere with his counterplay.} 9. Bc4 {This is most common. On c4 the B is aggressively placed to attack f7 and black’s freeing move ...d5 is inhibited. The disadvantage is that because the B is unprotected here black can gain a move or two for his own development.} Bd7 {Logical. Black develops his last minor piece and is ready to start play along the c-file with...Rc8. Still, it took master play a long time to figure this out because at one time the fear of white’s B on c4 was so great that it was believed black had to take immediate steps to neutralize it.} 10. h4 {White’s strategy here is to castle Q-side and open the h-file, so it probably does not matter is he castles first or plays this. The reasoning behind playing this first is that it is sharper as it entails no disadvantage and immediately subjects black to attack. Note that even though the B on c4 is undefended there is no reason to voluntarily lose a tempo by retreating it to b3.} Rc8 {Jere black has two basic options. 1) Start an immediate counterattack as Korchnoi does here, or 2) try and combining attack and defense with 10...h5.} (10... h5 {Beginning in the 1980s black began playing this in an attempt to slow down white’s attack. This move does that but at the cost of fundamentally weakening black’s K-side, plus he will be a move behind with his counterplay.} 11. O-O-O Rc8 12. Bb3 Ne5 {with equal chances.}) 11. Bb3 {Black threatened to win the B with 11...Nxd4} Ne5 {Aiming for immediate counterplay along the c-file.} 12. O-O-O Nc4 13. Bxc4 {The fact that white has made two moves with this B and is now forced to make this capture on a square that it controlled just as well from either f1 or e2 demonstrates the strategic disadvantage of 9.Bc4} Rxc4 14. h5 {This is a well known line in the Dragon, which was a favorite defense of Korchnoi. Here white sacrifices a P for an attack. Korchnoi almost always accepted Ps because he had great confidence in his defensive ability. White does not waste any time with a move like 14.Kb1 nor does he bother preparing this advance with 14.g4, which is not bad. It’s just that 15.h5 is more forceful.} Nxh5 15. g4 Nf6 16. Nde2 {This is a nice multipurpose move: 1) it overprotects the N on c3 from a potential exchange sacrifice, 2) the N can go to g3 or f4 from where it can join the attack and 3) it threatens 16.Bh6.} Qa5 {Black continues with his counterattack.} 17. Bh6 {Eliminating the dark squared B is a part of white’s overall strategy. Note that black’s B is valuable for both offensive and defensive purposes.} Bxh6 {Engines prefer 17...Bh8, but even then black's position is theoretically lost.} 18. Qxh6 Rfc8 19. Rd3 {Safety first. Karpov wants to make sure his opponent has no chance to play a thematic sacrifice of the exchange on c3.} (19. Rd5 {This is a more direct approach and it's also quite good.} Qd8 20. e5 dxe5 21. Rd2 Qe8 {Losing. Correct was 21...Qf8 when white is better, but not winning.} 22. Nd5 {White gas a decisive advantage. Prandstetter,E (2365)-Spiridonov,N (2490) Agard 1976}) 19... R4c5 {[%mdl 8192] Black's position is already very poor, but this move results in the loss of the game.} (19... Be6 {is his best chance,} 20. g5 Nh5 21. Nf4 Qe5 22. Nxh5 gxh5 23. Qxh5 Qg7 {White has a modest advantage but in Brikov,I (2401)-Kurilin, A (2294) Tula RUS 2014 the defense proved to be too much for black.}) 20. g5 { [%mdl 512] ...and wins} Rxg5 {This meets with a surorising refutation, but there was nothing better.} (20... Nh5 21. Rxh5 {This attempt to get fancy throws away the win.} gxh5 22. Nf4 Rxc3 23. bxc3 Rc5 24. g6 hxg6 25. Nxg6 fxg6 26. Qxg6+ Kf8 27. Qh6+ {Draws. Note that black's K can;t flee the checks...} Ke8 28. Qh8+ Kf7 29. Qh7+) 21. Rd5 {[%mdl 512] Very pretty.} Rxd5 (21... Nxd5 22. Qxh7+ Kf8 23. Qh8#) 22. Nxd5 Re8 23. Nef4 (23. Nxf6+ {would be a horrible mistake ruining all white's previous play.} exf6 24. Qxh7+ Kf8 {White's attack is gone and black is a P up.}) 23... Bc6 24. e5 {[%mdl 512] Another sledgehammer blow.} Bxd5 (24... dxe5 25. Nxf6+ exf6 26. Nh5 {Black cannot avoid mate.}) 25. exf6 exf6 26. Qxh7+ Kf8 27. Qh8+ {Black resigned. A perfect game by Karpov! His moves matched Stockfish's 100%.} 1-0

Play the Wing Gambit

    The Wing Gambit against the Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.b4) may not be theoretically correct and Grandmasters consider it weak, but it can lead to complicated positions. 

    It’s idea is simple: white wants to divert black's c-Pawn so he can play d4 and build up a strong center. After 2...cxb4 white does not have to play 3.d4 immediately though; he can play 3.3.a3, the Marshall Variation or 3.Bb2, the Abrahams Variation, or 3.c4, the Santasiere Variation. 

    Today’s game features the Santasiere Variation which is the worst of the three possibilities, but it’s intriguing! It’s sharp and tactical and requires both players to be well-prepared and alert because it can leads to dynamic and complicated positions. This game is an example! 

    The 2002 Nassau Championship was won by IM Jay Bonin (7-2) ahead of GM Igor Novikov (6-3). Chipkin scored 3.5-5.5 (tied for 12th) and Kreitner scored 3-6 (tied for 15th). There were 21 players.

 

[Event "Nassau Champ, Mineola"] [Site "?"] [Date "2002.10.01"] [Round "?"] [White "Leonard Chipkin"] [Black "Ilan Kreitner"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B20"] [WhiteElo "2023"] [BlackElo "2200"] [Annotator "Stockfish `7.1"] [PlyCount "81"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.10.01"] {B20: Sicilian Wing Gambit, Santasiere Variation} 1. e4 c5 2. b4 cxb4 3. c4 e5 {This is the correct way to meet the Sanatsiere Variation. Capturring the P only facilitates white's development and give him compensation for the P.} ( 3... bxc3 4. Nxc3 e5 {This gives white too many good options.} 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Bc4 Be7 7. O-O Nf6 8. d4 {with equal chances.}) (3... bxc3 4. Nxc3 e5 5. Bc4 Nc6 6. Nf3 Be7 7. O-O {equals.}) (3... bxc3 4. Nxc3 e5 5. f4 exf4 6. Bc4 (6. d4 Bb4 {Black is much better.}) 6... Nf6 (6... Bb4 7. Nd5 {favors white.}) 7. Nf3 Nc6 8. O-O Bb4 9. e5 d5 {with equal chances.}) 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bb2 (5. a3 { is not worth considering.} Nf6 6. d3 bxa3 7. Bxa3 Bxa3 8. Nxa3 d6 {Black is a solid P up.}) 5... Qc7 {Engines prefer 5...Bc5, but after 6.Nxe5 the complications are head whirling.} 6. d4 d6 {It is a mistake to close the position as white is now equal. For black to have any advantage he must accept the complications that result from keeping the position open. Therefore 6,,, exd4 is correct.} (6... exd4 7. Be2 (7. Nxd4 Qe5 {and white is in a difficult situation.}) 7... Nf6 8. O-O Bc5 9. a3 O-O {Best.} 10. e5 Ne4 {Black is better. }) 7. d5 {It is a mistake to close the position as white is now equal. For white to have any advantage he must accept the complications that result from keeping the position open.} Nce7 8. Qa4+ Bd7 9. Qxb4 {White has regained his P and black's pieces are all tangled up maling his development difficult. However, white's weak c-Pawn is a target.} Ng6 10. Nc3 Nf6 11. g3 Be7 12. Ba3 O-O 13. Rb1 b6 14. Bd3 Ne8 {Now white should castle.} 15. Qb3 Bh3 16. Bf1 { Eliminating hos hab B.} Bxf1 17. Kxf1 Rc8 18. Nd2 Qd7 (18... Bg5 {Attacking the N picks up the c-Pawn. Even so, the complications are enormous.} 19. Nf3 Bh6 20. Kg2 {Connecting his Rs.} Qxc4 21. Qxc4 Rxc4 22. Nb5 Rxe4 23. Nxa7 Re2 { and black has an active position.} 24. Rhe1 (24. Rxb6 {This should lose, but the refutation is hard to calculate! The best line for both sides is} { Stockfish 17.1:} Be3 25. Rb2 Rxb2 26. Bxb2 Bxa7 {Black has won a picei, but the game is far from over.}) 24... Rxa2 25. Nb5 {Theoretically at least black gas a small adcantage, but for practical purposes the position can be considered equal despite black's two P plus!}) 19. Kg2 {Better was 19.h4 preventing black's next move.} Bg5 {With this move black acquires a small advantage, but it's not clear that he can get more than a draw.} 20. Nf3 Bh6 ( 20... Nf4+ {gives black a strong attack as the N cannot be taken.} 21. Kg1 (21. gxf4 Qg4+ 22. Kf1 Qxf3 23. Rg1 Bxf4 {with clearly the better position.}) 21... Qh3 (21... Nh3+ {yields a draw.} 22. Kg2 Nf4+ 23. Kg1 Nh3+ 24. Kg2 Nf4+ {draw}) 22. Ne1 Ng6 23. Nd1 Bd2 24. Nf3 Bh6 25. Ne1 {White has successfully defended his K. Here, again, black can draw by repesting moves or he can try to squeeze something out of his position with 25...Qd7 followed by ...f5}) 21. Bc1 { Black's best line is to take on c1 then play ,,,f5} Nf4+ 22. Bxf4 {Now neither a B or a P in f4 is near as troublesome to white as a N would have been.} exf4 23. e5 Qf5 {More energetic would have been 23...g5} 24. Nd4 {[%mdl 2048] White's strong center and space advantage now begin to make themselves felt.} f3+ 25. Nxf3 dxe5 26. Rbe1 {Black should niw defend his e-Pawn with 26...f6. Instead he tries an attack that looks dangerous, but is doomed to failure.} Bf4 27. Ne4 {Black's best chance is to retreat the B to h6 and then play ...g6.} g5 28. Nexg5 Nd6 29. gxf4 e4 30. Nh4 Qxf4 31. Qg3 {Black likely overlooked this move which saves his Ns and now black is just a piece down.} Qxg3+ 32. hxg3 Rxc4 33. Nxh7 Rfc8 (33... Kxh7 34. Nf5+ {regains the piece.}) 34. Ng5 f5 { Now instead of the prosaic 35.Ng6 white gets fancy. Either way he is winning.} 35. Nxf5 Nxf5 36. Nxe4 Rc2 37. d6 Rd8 38. d7 Kg7 39. Rh5 Nh6 40. Rg5+ Kh8 41. Nf6 {Black resigned.} (41. Nf6 Rf8 42. Re8 {mates}) 1-0