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

Church and Chess

    Texas Chicken, formerly known as Church's Fried Chicken, is a fast-food chain specializing in Southern style fried chicken with headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The name was changed for international marketing reasons in the 1980s to appeal to customers in countries where the "Church's" name carried a religious connotation. 

 George William “Bill” Church, Jr., who guided the growth of Church's Fried Chicken beyond San Antonio, Texas and transformed it into one of the largest chicken fast food chains in the country, died February 7, 2014 at age 81 in Austin, Texas from a lingering illness after breaking his hip the previous year. 

    His father opened his first restaurant in San Antonio, Texas in 1952. After he passed away in 1956, family members took over and in 1962, when the chain ran eight San Antonio restaurants, son Bill Church Jr. became the top executive, eventually building the company into a national Fortune 500 company. 

     In 1980, he resigned and was replaced by a childhood friend. Starting in 1989, there was a lot of corporate wheeling and dealing, bankruptcies, etc. which are not important to our story. 

    After leaving the company, Bill Church Jr., who enjoyed the study of physics, invested in alternative energy research and pursued his hobbies. He was an accomplished and passionate golfer and a self-taught chess player with a Class A (Elo 1800-1999) rating. 

    In 1972, Church sponsored an international tournament in San Antonio that included European and Soviet grandmasters pitted against grandmasters and masters from the Americas. To view the tournament crosstable see Wikipedia HERE. 

    While Fischer did not play, he did visit it. Also present was an Expert (Elo 2000-2199) named William Scott, a well-known Atlanta, Georgia publisher and important figure in Atlanta chess. 

 When Fischer was signing autographs Scott handed him a program and asked him to sign it. As Fischer was signing, Scott told him that they had both played in the US Open in 1956 where Scott had finished ahead of him. Fischer handed the signed program back then got snarky and said, “Oh yeah. Well, what’s your rating now?” Scott mumbled something about being only an Expert and Fischer replied, “Um huh”, turned and walk away. 

 The loser of this game was Kenneth Smith, the man who advocated 1.e4 c5 2.d4 for amateur players when facing the Sicilian. When it comes to amateurs the truth is that one opening is probably as good as another, but that’s not the point. On the 1972 USCF rating list Ken Smith had a hefty 2398 rating which placed him at #28 in the country, yet Larry Evans, an International Grand master (2520, #7 in the country) handled him with ease. It’s hard to imagine how incredibly strong Grandmasters really are! 

    By the way, today’s ratings are greatly inflated compared to 1972. The #2 ranked Samuel Reshevsky was rated 2566. Bobby Fischer? He was #1 with an astronomical rating of 2824...he truly was that much better than everybody else! 

 

[Event "Church's Fried Chicken, San Antonio"] [Site ""] [Date "1972.11.30"] [Round "?"] [White "Kenneth Smith"] [Black "Larry Evans"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B21"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "1972.11.19"] {B21: Sicilian: 2 f4 and Morra Gambit} 1. e4 c5 2. d4 {Smith advocated that amateurs play gambits and this was the one he espoused against the Sicilian.} cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 {Good for Evans! He wrote that the only way to refute a gambit is to accept it and here he follows his own advice.} 4. Nxc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 d6 { Evans plays the most popular move.} 6. Bc4 a6 {Black develops as if playing a Najdorf. 6...e6 is usually seen.} 7. O-O Nf6 8. Bg5 {This natural move is not so good because black gains a lot of time by harassing the B. Either 8.Bf4 or, possibly, 8.h3 seems better. But...would you believe Bobby Fischer actually reached this position once? Yes, Fischer once played the Smith-Mora and it was against no less a figure than Viktor Korchnoi in what was, for readons not associated with chess, Fischer's worst tournamet result ever.} e6 9. Qe2 h6 ( 9... Be7 10. Rfd1 Qc7 11. Rac1 O-O 12. Bb3 h6 13. Bf4 e5 14. Be3 Qd8 15. Nd5 Nxd5 16. Bxd5 Bd7 {The position is equal and was soon drawn. Bobby Fischer, R-Viktor Kortschnoj Buenos Aires 1960}) 10. Bh4 {After this white's game starts a downhill slide that there is no stopping. Black would have have only a slight advantage after 10.Bf4} g5 {This may seem like a bad move becase it loosens the K-side and black has not yet castle and his K remains in the center. It also looks like black's d-Pawn could become a target. However, black's next move highlights the true situation.} 11. Bg3 Nh5 {By eliminating white’s dark squared B Evans has eliminated Smith’s attacking chances. Even though white has a nice looking setup it's hollow.} 12. Rfd1 (12. Rad1 Nxg3 13. hxg3 Qf6 14. Nh2 Be7 15. f4 gxf4 16. gxf4 Qg7 {was played in Lendwai, R (2410) -Lutz,C (2550) Graz 1993. White lost that game, too.}) 12... Nxg3 13. hxg3 g4 14. Ne1 {After this it's evident that white doesn’t have any real prospects.} (14. Nd4 {Even after this white only lasted a handful of moves.} Ne5 15. Rac1 Bd7 16. Bb3 Rc8 17. Nc2 Qg5 18. Ne3 h5 19. Na4 Rxc1 20. Rxc1 Bc6 21. Rd1 h4 22. Nb6 h3 {0-1 (22) Sanchez Maya,S (2203)-Arenas,D (2266) Medellin 2009}) 14... Ne5 15. Bb3 h5 {Note how smoothly Evans has acquired an attack and a decisive advantage!} 16. Nd3 Bg7 17. Nf4 h4 {Destroying the residence of white's K.} 18. Qd2 hxg3 19. fxg3 {It's imstructive to see how Evans brings his Q into the attack.} Qb6+ 20. Kf1 Bd7 {Evans calmly completes his development and passes up the inviting, but weaker, check on h1.} 21. Rac1 Rd8 22. Ke2 {Smith hopes to ease the pressure by trading R’s on the h-file.} Nf3 {[%mdl 512] Alert play...watch this N which can't be raken because of ...Rh2+} 23. Qd3 Nd4+ 24. Kd2 Nxb3+ 25. axb3 Qf2+ {Now that the N has done its job, the Q invades.} 26. Nce2 Bb5 27. Qe3 Qxe3+ 28. Kxe3 e5 29. Nd5 Bh6+ {The Q did its job and now the B takes over.} 30. Kf2 Bxc1 31. Rxc1 Bc6 32. Nec3 Kd7 {Even the K is going to enter the action.} 33. Nf6+ Ke6 34. Nxg4 f5 35. exf5+ Kxf5 36. Ne3+ Ke6 37. g4 d5 38. Ne2 d4 39. Nc4 Rdg8 40. Kg3 Rg5 {With the time control having been reached, Smith resigned.} 0-1

Averbakh’s 1950 Brilliancy

 

    When Soviet Grand master Yuri Averbakhpassed away in Moscow on May 7, 2022 at the age of 100 the chess world lost a rare, if underappreciated gem. Chess metrics estimates his highest ever rating to have been 2715 in 1952, placing him at #8 in the world (Smyslov was #1 at 2783). Douglas Griffin has written an excellent biography on Averbakh HERE. 

    The year 1950 saw a lot of brilliant games played. For example, the inaugural Candidates Tournament that was played in Budapest was made up up of a group (Bronstein, Boleslavsjy, Smyslov, Keres, Najdorf, Kotov, Stahlberg, Szabo, Flohr and Lilientahl) of the best players in the world, so you know they played some brilliant games. 

    Today’s game was played in the 1950 USSR Championship and you just know that group must also have played some great games and Yuri Averbakh's victory over Alexey Suetin was one of them. The game is notable for its brilliant concluding sequence where Averbakh’s pieces overwhelm his opponent. 

Averbakh was born in Kaluga, a city in western Russia. He was awarded the GM title in 1952. and played in the Zurich Candidates (1953). Averbakh won the USSR Championship in 1954 and tied for first first in the 1956 championship, but lost in the playoff. He published more than 100 endgame studies and was known as an opening and endgame theorist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he co-edited a five-volume anthology on the endgame, Shakhmatnye okonchaniya. In addition to authoring numerous chess books he also edited a couple of major Soviet chess magazines.

 

    Alexey Suetin (1926-2001, 74 years old) was awarded the GM the in 1965 and became World Senior Champion in 1996. His best tournament results were in the mid-1960's. He was also an author of note. 

 

[Event "USSR Championship, Moscow"] [Site ""] [Date "1950.11.13"] [Round "?"] [White "Yuri Averbakh"] [Black "Alexey Suetin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B62"] [Annotator "Stockffish 17.1"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "1950.??.??"] {B66: Sicilian: Richter-Rauzer: 7...a6 8 0-0-0 h6} 1. e4 c5 2. Ne2 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O h6 9. Bf4 Bd7 10. Bg3 Be7 11. Be2 b5 {So far all of these moves have been played many times and it's possible that Averbalh's move may have been a novelty at the time.} 12. Bxd6 { Excellent! White wins the d-Pawn and establishes control of the file.} (12. Nxc6 Bxc6 13. Bf3 b4 14. Ne2 Bxe4 15. Bxd6 Bxf3 16. gxf3 Bxd6 17. Qxd6 Qxd6 18. Rxd6 {Gioscio,M-Dimuro,M (2248) Mar del Plata 2009. Black is slightly better/}) 12... b4 {A well played counter.} (12... Bxd6 13. Nxc6 Bxc6 14. Qxd6 Qxd6 15. Rxd6 Rc8 16. f3 {and white has the advantage.}) 13. Nxc6 Bxc6 14. Bxe7 Qxe7 15. Qd6 Qb7 {It's advantageous to black to keep the Qs on otherwise his position would be too passive.} 16. Nd5 {[%mdl 128] This move sets a clever trap.} exd5 17. exd5 Bd7 {Suetin avoids the trap.} (17... Nxd5 {This loses outright.} 18. Rhe1 Ne7 19. Bxa6 {The B cannot be captured because of mate on either d8 or e7. } O-O 20. Bxb7 {and wins}) 18. Rhe1 {The Bxa6 idea is still a threat.} Kd8 { nother well played defensive move that gets the K off the e-file. Amazingly black's K is safe in the center.} 19. Bf3 {Threatens to win with Qe7+.} Re8 { ...meeting the threat of Qe7+} (19... a5 {A pass to demonstrate white's threat/ } 20. Qe7+ Kc8 21. d6 Qa6 22. Qxf7 Ra7 23. Qxg7 Re8 24. Qxf6 {White is four Ps up.}) 20. Qg3 g5 {[%mdl 8192] This saves the P, but loses the game...an unfortunate happening after such a fine defensive effort.} (20... Rxe1 { keeps black in the game after} 21. Rxe1 b3 22. Qxg7 {Black looks to be in serious trouble, but he has a surprising defense.} Ne8 23. Qxf7 Qb4 {and the tables have turned and it's white who who is on the defensive and must choose his moves carefully,} 24. Rxe8+ Bxe8 25. Qf6+ Kc7 26. Qg7+ Bd7 27. d6+ Qxd6 28. Bxa8 bxa2 29. b4 Qf4+ 30. Kb2 a1=Q+ 31. Kxa1 Qc1+ 32. Ka2 Qxc2+ 33. Ka3 Qd3+ 34. Kb2 Qd2+ {draw.}) 21. Qd6 {It's surprising that the Q's immediate return to where it just came from is even stroinger than taling the R.} (21. Rxe8+ Nxe8 22. d6 Bc6 23. Qe5 Bxf3 24. d7 Qxd7 25. Rxd7+ Kxd7 26. Qf5+ Kd6 27. Qxf3) 21... Ng8 {Averbakh wraps thingds up in a forceful manner.} 22. Rxe8+ Kxe8 23. Re1+ Kd8 24. Qf8+ Kc7 25. d6+ Kb6 26. Qxa8 Qxa8 27. Bxa8 {[%mdl 4096] The ending is a routine win for white.} Kc5 28. Bb7 a5 29. Re5+ Kb6 30. Bd5 Nf6 31. Bxf7 Ng4 32. Re7 Kc6 33. Be6 {Black resigned. Both players deserve credit for theor resourceful play. Black lost only because of his mistake at move 20.} 1-0

An Early Keres Game

Felfpost chess set

    In 1942, Nazi Germany was at the pinnacle of its territorial expansion but began to suffer significant setbacks, notably in the Eastern Front with the failed Operation Barbarossa and the disastrous outcome at Stalingrad. 

     In spite of those setbacks German chess was going string and tournaments were used fot propaganda tournaments like the "1942 European Individual Chess Championship that was held in Munich. Of course, it was no such thing because players from enemy countries and Jewish players were excluded. Another prominent tournament that year included Salzburg and German players competed in events in occupied countries. 

     Chess was also popular with the German military and so the Feldpost chess set was introduced to provide entertainment for soldiers. The German military postal service distributed these sets which featured folding boards and flat cardboard pieces. These cheap sets were often combined with checkers. 

    The 1942 European Individual Chess Championship was held in Munich. It was a propaganda effort organized by Ehrhardt Post (1881-1947), a key official in the Nazi German chess federation. 

 Keres’ opponent was Braslav Rabar (1919-1972, 54 years old) who was born in in Zagreb, Yugoslavia. Awarded the IM title in 1952, he played in 13 Yugoslav Championships and won the title in 1950 and shared it in 1954. He is best remembered for designing the opening classification system that was used in the Chess Informant. 

[Event "Munich"] [Site ""] [Date "1942.09.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Paul Keres"] [Black "Braslav Rabar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C90"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "1942.??.??"] {C88: Closed Ruy Lopez} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. a4 {Rather unusual. 9.d3 is more common. At the time it was an unexplored move and Keres no doubt played it for surprise vale against his less experienced opponent.9 . . .} Rb8 {Black has two better moves: 9...Bg4 and 9...b4. While the move played is not bad, Alekhine considered it a positional error that allows white to obtain a dominate position/} 10. axb5 axb5 11. d4 {This is the dominanting position Alekhine was referring to because now white threatens to win a piece and obliges blavk to exchange which opens up dangerous lines if attack.} exd4 {It's interesting to note that while Alekhine believed white has a dominating position engines evaluate the position as equal. However, in practice white wins the overwhelming majority (+25 -9 =6) in my database.} (11... Kh8 {This is a pass to show the threat Alekhine was referring to.} 12. d5 {and the N has nowhere to go.}) 12. cxd4 Bg4 {This is almost always played, but black would do better to challenge white's center directly with 12...d5} (12... d5 13. e5 Ne4 14. Nc3 Nxc3 15. bxc3 Bf5 { with equal paly.}) 13. Nc3 Qd7 (13... b4 {is nowhere as good as it might look!} 14. Nd5 Bxf3 15. gxf3 {and white is much better. Fiedorek,M (2303)-Kuderinov,K (2404) chess.com INT 2022}) 14. Be3 (14. d5 {is equally good, but Keres prefers an open position.} Bxf3 15. gxf3 Ne5 16. f4 Qh3 17. Re3 {White is slightly better. Volokitin,A (2634)-Votava,J (2529) Austria AUT 2019}) 14... Bd8 {If white plays d5 he wants to be able to play ...Ne7} 15. Qd3 {A real GM concept! He permots ...Bxf3 which gives white the two Bs and the semi-open g-file on which he can hope to conduct operations. The enginbe way is 15.d5} Bxf3 {It's [oor judgment to allow white the aforementioned advantages without receiving anything un return.} (15... Nb4 16. Qf1 Re8 17. Ng5 Bh5 18. f3 { Kindermann,S (2495)-Ljubarskij,J (2305) Hamburg 1993, Now with 18...d5! black would have equalized.}) 16. gxf3 Ne7 {This makes it possible to transfer the the N to the K0side for defensive purposes and it's good strategy.} 17. Kh1 Ng6 {This is consistent, but he could have better delayed it with the aggressive 17...Qh3} (17... Qh3 {forces white to defend the P in f3.} 18. Qe2 {Now black has time to get some play on the Q-side.} b4 19. Nb1 c5 {with equal chances.}) 18. Rg1 Nh5 {Alekhine observed that black is not playing for an attack here, but rather he is trying to defend against the "growing pressure in the cemter. " However, once agin, he missed the ebst defense with 18...Qh3} (18... Qh3 19. Rg3 Qc8 20. Rag1 c5 {White is beeter, but at least black has some play.}) 19. Qf1 Kh8 {Alekhine was crtical of this move whic he said only wastes time. Both Stockfish and Komodo like though.} 20. Ne2 c6 (20... f5 {This attempt to challenge white's center loses to} 21. Qh3 Nh4 22. Bg5 {wins a piece.}) 21. f4 {This start if a gane winning attack.} d5 22. f5 Nh4 23. f3 {The immediate 23. Qh3 was even stringer.} Qe8 24. Nf4 Nf6 25. Qh3 {The B has nowhere to go. Technically black is lost, but Rabar comes up with a clever sacrifice that while not sufficient to save the game was certainly worth trying.} Nxe4 26. fxe4 Qxe4+ 27. Ng2 Nxf5 {This gives black 3 Ps for a B, but in this position it's not enough compensation to save the game.} (27... Bf6 {would have enabled him to hold out a longer. For example} 28. Raf1 Rbe8 29. Rf4 Qd3 30. Bc2 Qxc2 31. Nxh4 Qe2 32. Bc1 Qh5 {White has a small materia; advantage, but there is no forced win and so he still has a lot of work to do.}) 28. Bf4 Rb7 29. Rae1 Qxd4 30. Qxf5 Qxb2 31. Be5 Qxb3 32. Re3 {Black resigned. The addition of the R to the attack spells the end.} (32. Re3 Qc4 33. Bxg7+ Kg8 34. Bf6 Bxf6 35. Nf4+ Bg7 36. Rxg7+ Kxg7 37. Rg3+ {mate next move.}) 1-0

Stefano Rosselli del Turco

 

    In the crosstable in the previous post you will norice that the last place finisher, del Turco scored only one point, scoring +0 -15 =2. His draws were with the third place finisher, Vidmar, and the eleventh place finisher, Treybal. Such a result may give the impression that del Turco was a poor player. But that does not seem to be the case. Chessmetrics estimates his highest rating to have been 2533 on the May 1912 rating list which put him at #44 in world...nit bad. 

    Stefano Rosselli del Turco (1877-1947) was an Italian player, writer and publisher. Born in Florence, He was a member of the famous Rosselli del Turco noble family. He received the title of National Master in 1900. 

    He won the Italian championship five times and represented Italy in the Chess Olympiad seven times. del Turco participated in the 1928 World Amateur Championship at The Hague (won by Max Euwe) placing 9th-11th with a score of 6-9. In 1911–1916 and 1924–1943, he was the founder and an editor of the Italian chess journal L'Italia Scacchistica. Later in his career he took up correspondence play. He was a strong attacking player with a sharp style and it’s evidence in the following game in which he defeated Richard Reti. Things were even in a modern looking Ruy Lopez and when things got complicated around move 19 Reti got the upper habd, but then he underestimated the strength of del Turco’s counterattack. As a result he ended up falling victim to del Turco’s aggressive play which ended the game with a couple of sharp moves. 

 

[Event "San Remo"] [Site ""] [Date "1911.02.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Richard Reti"] [Black "Stefano del Turco"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C84"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "1911.??.??"] {C90: Closed Ruy Lopez} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 Na5 9. Bc2 c5 10. d4 Qc7 11. Nbd2 O-O 12. Nf1 Bb7 { In this highly analyzed variation the correct move is 12...cxd4. Black's move is not so good because the B is soon shut completely out of the game.} 13. Ng3 g6 {This prevents a possible Nf5, but 13...cxd4 was still his best option.} 14. Bg5 Nc6 15. h3 Ne8 {This was his last chance to play ...dxc4. Instead, de; Tirco's plan is to reposition his pieces for K-side play.} 16. d5 Nd8 17. Bh6 Ng7 18. Re3 (18. h4 {and white has the initiative with play on both sides of the board.} Bc8 19. h5 a5 20. Qe2 Rb8 21. a4 {with the better game.}) 18... f6 19. Nh4 Bc8 {This allows Reti to get a promising position with attacking chances. A better defense was 19...Nf7} (19... Nf7 20. Bxg7 Kxg7 21. Qg4 Ng5 22. Nhf5+ Kh8 (22... gxf5 23. Nxf5+ Kh8 24. h4 Rg8 25. hxg5 Rxg5 26. Qf3 { Whiye is better.}) 23. Nxe7 Qxe7 {with equal chances.}) 20. Bxg7 (20. Ngf5 { was better.} gxf5 21. Rg3 Rf7 22. exf5 {followed by Qh5 with a strong attack.}) 20... Kxg7 21. Ngf5+ Bxf5 (21... gxf5 {loses quickly.} 22. Rg3+ Kh8 23. exf5 Nf7 (23... Rg8 24. Ng6+ hxg6 25. fxg6 {wins}) 24. Ng6+ hxg6 25. fxg6 {White is winning.}) 22. exf5 g5 {Keeping the K-side closed.} 23. Nf3 Rh8 24. a4 { With the K0side closed Reti turns his attention to the other side.} Nf7 25. Qe2 Qb7 26. Bd3 c4 27. Bc2 Bd8 28. Nd2 h5 29. Qf3 {Reti has underestimated the strength of black's coming counterattack on the K-side ior he would have played 29.h4} (29. h4 g4 (29... gxh4 30. Rh3 Ng5 31. Rxh4 Qxd5 32. Be4 Nxe4 33. Nxe4 {with much the better of it.}) 30. Ne4 {with fully equal chances.}) 29... Bb6 30. Ree1 Rag8 31. Qe4 {White's inaccurate assessment of the situation has allowed del Turco to get a very dangerous counterattak. The change of events seems to have left Reti nonplussed.} g4 {[%mdl 2560] Keeping White busy.} 32. hxg4 {[%mdl 8192] This leads to a sudden and complete collapse of white's game. } (32. Qe2 {is his best try. After} Qxd5 33. axb5 axb5 34. Be4 Qc5 35. b4 cxb3 36. Nxb3 Qxc3 37. Ra6 Qxb3 38. Rxb6 {with approximate equality.}) 32... Ng5 33. Qe2 hxg4 34. Nf1 Kf8 35. Ng3 Qh7 36. Qxg4 {del Turco now finishes up with a couple of sharp tactical blows.} Nf3+ {[%mdl 512]} 37. Qxf3 Rxg3 {[%mdl 512] White resigned.} 0-1

Mistake in Judgment Results In Quick Loss

    In 1938, probably the most terrifying event in the Unites States happened on April 30th when 34-year old Elizabeth Coleman died. She was the first African-American woman and first Native American to hold a pilot’s license which she received in 1921. 

    She was in Jacksonville, Florida and had recently purchased a plane known as a Jenny in Dallas, Texas. Her mechanic and publicity agent, 24-year-old William Wills, flew the plane from Dallas in preparation for an airshow and had to make three forced landings along the way. 

    As a result, Coleman's friends and family implored her not to fly it, but she insisted. On a practice flight for a planned parachute jump the next day, Wills was piloting the plane and at 3,000 feet Coleman, who was unharnessed, was probably looking over the side to examine the terrain. 

    At that point the plane unexpectedly went into a spin and Coleman fell out and plunged to her death. Wills was unable to recover from the spin and was killed when the plane hit the ground. It was discovered that a wrench used to service the plane had been accidentally left behind and it had jammed the controls. I have had a private pilot’s license for many years and can tell you that the spin recovery training was the worst part of the training. Seeing nothing but ground in the windshield and violently spinning was terrifying...for me anyway. Also in 1926, Edgard Colle of Belgium died at the age of 34 after a surgery for a gastric ulcer.

 

 

    In this game Vidmar made an error in judgment when he removed his well placed N from the center, apparently with the idea of launching a K-side attack, and Spielmann quickly took advantage of it. The game was played in the tournament in the Semmering, Austria. It was organized by Ossip Bernstein and contained some of the best players of the day.

 

[Event "Semmering"] [Site ""] [Date "1926.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Rudolf Spielmann"] [Black "Milan Vidmar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C29"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "37"] [EventDate "1926.??.??"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "17"] [EventCountry "AUT"] [Source "ChessBase"] {C29: Vienna Game: 2...Nf6 3 f4} 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 {Popular in the 1800s, the Vienna fell into disuse until 1939 when American master Weaver Adams claimed that ot led to a forced win for white. It diesn't, of course.} Nf6 3. f4 d5 { This dynamic move isn't played very often, but it's black's best chance.} 4. fxe5 Nxe4 {This N is something of a problem for white. It's well placed and simply excahnging it is not very aggressive and so would be anathema to Spielmann. Instead he tries to gain time.} 5. Nf3 Bb4 6. Qe2 Bxc3 {Helping to preserve his N on e4.} 7. bxc3 {Capturing with the other P is also acceptable.} O-O 8. Qe3 Nc6 9. Bd3 f5 {This attempt to gain play on the K-side is where Vidmar starts to fo wrong.} (9... Re8 {picks up a P temporarily and the chances would be quite equal after} 10. O-O Nxe5 11. Nxe5 Rxe5 12. c4 d4 13. Qf4 Qe7 14. Ba3 c5 15. Bxe4 Rxe4 16. Bxc5) 10. O-O f4 11. Qe2 {[%mdl 2048]} Ng5 {This is not as bad as some annotators in the past have suggested. 11...Bf5 developing a piece and supporting the well placed N was suggested, but that move favors white. Based on the further course of the game it appears that Vidmar's intention was to conduct a K-side attack. If that was the case he has totally misjudged the position and all he succeeds in doing is weakening his own K's position..} (11... Bf5 12. Ba3 Re8 13. c4 {Undermining the N.} Nxe5 14. Nxe5 Rxe5 15. Rxf4 {White has good play}) 12. Ba3 Nxf3+ {[%mdl 8192] If this, followed by the advance of Ps on the K-side, was Vidmar's reason for playing 11...Ng5 it represents very poor judgment because after this his position is lost.} (12... Re8 {Once again this is the correct move after which the chances remain fairly even.} 13. h3 Be6 14. Rab1 Rb8) 13. Qxf3 Rf7 14. Rae1 {Before undertaking any action Spielmann gets all his pieces ready; especially note the position of his Bs drawing a bead on black's K.} g5 {Whether played with the intention of guarding the f-Pawn or intending to get some play with ...g4 this leads to a quick debacle, vut his position is beyond saving mo matter what he plays.} 15. e6 Rg7 16. Qh5 Ne7 {Preventing white from advancing the e-Pawn.} 17. Bc5 {And now Bd4 would win.} Nc6 {The N goes back with a loss of time, but he could hardly allow Bd4} 18. e7 {[%mdl 512]} Nxe7 19. Bxe7 { Black resigned. Mate by Qe8 cannot be prevented.} 1-0

Planinc Loses Queen, Wins Game

Albin Planinc

    The names in this game probably won’t be familiar to today’s players, but they were very active in the 1960s and 1970s. Dragoljub Minic (1935-2005) of Yugoslavia was an IM who was made an Honorary Grandmaster in 1991. Minic was found dead by friends in his Novi Sad apartment on April 9, 2005, after failing to respond to phone and intercom calls for several days. Doctors determined that he died of a heart attack approximately four days earlier, on his 69th birthday. 

    Albin Planinc (1944 -2008) was a Slovenian GM who was a venturesome, romantic player that was committed to taking great risks to win. Known for extremely imaginative play, he was capable of spectacular results and often played brilliant attacking games, but his play was always too erratic to enable him to make it to the very top levels. 

     He was awarded the GM title in 1972, then became a chess trainer when the strain of playing tournament chess was contributing to his poor mental health. Planinc continued to suffer from severe depression for decades, spending the last years of his life at a mental institution in Ljubljana. In 1993, he changed his last name to Planinec. 

    The opening is the Archangelsk Variation which is one of the more aggressive, fighting variations against the Ruy Lopez. The variation was developed in the early sixties by players from the north Russian town of Archangelsk and was intensively analyzed by players from Lvov. The game features bold, imaginative play and explodes when Planinc is practically forced to surrender his Queen, but manages to create threats using his far advanced d-Pawn and when Minic soon went wrong it allowed Planinc a spectacular win. 

 

[Event "Rovinj/Zagreb"] [Site ""] [Date "1975.05.14"] [Round "?"] [White "Dragoljub Minic"] [Black "Albin Planinc"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C78"] [Annotator "Stockfush 17.1"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "1975.04.29"] {C78: Ruy Lopez: Archangelsk Variation} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bb7 {Black defines the position of this B early on in order to exert pressure against the opponent's center, in particular the squar4 e4. White must decide whether he protects this Pawn solidly with 7.d3 or goes for the unfathomable complications after 7.c3 Nxe4.} 7. d4 {This little explored option appears to offer equal chances.} Nxd4 8. Nxd4 exd4 9. e5 Ne4 10. c3 (10. Qxd4 {is a form of the Noah’s Ark Trap that loses a piece.} c5 11. Qd1 c4) 10... d3 11. Qf3 (11. Qxd3 Nc5 12. Qg3 Nxb3 13. axb3 Qe7 14. Na3 Qe6 15. b4 O-O-O {Black has an active position. Luke Brezmes,C (2079) -Khaidorov,V (2281) Tarragona ESP 2013}) 11... Qe7 12. Nd2 {[%mdl 32]} O-O-O { This move results in black obtaining a very shaky position.} (12... Qxe5 { is too risky.} 13. Nxe4 Bxe4 14. Re1 f5 (14... Bxf3 {loses a piece.} 15. Rxe5+ Kd8 16. gxf3) 15. Bf4 {followed by Qg3 with a good game.}) (12... Nc5 {keeps the e-file closed and results in equal chances.} 13. Bd5 Bxd5 14. Qxd5 Rd8 15. Re1 Qe6) 13. Nxe4 Qxe5 14. Re1 f5 15. Qg3 {The only move that maintains the advantage. White stands very well here, but as sometimes happens he is unable to press home his advantage and even slips into an inferior position.} Qe8 { This is his best move even though it loses the Q.} (15... Qxg3 16. Nxg3 g6 17. Bg5 c5 18. Bxd8 Kxd8 {White has a clear advantage.}) 16. Nd6+ Bxd6 17. Rxe8 Rhxe8 {White has a Q vs. a R+2Ps, a clear material advantage, but b;ack has some compensation the the form of active piece play.} 18. Bf4 {This is a mistake because it allows black to gain enough play that the chances can be considered equal. 18.f4 was suggested by Minic after the game and he was correct that it maintains the advantage.} (18. f4 Re2 19. Bd1 Bc5+ 20. Kf1 Bxg2+ 21. Qxg2 Rxg2 22. Kxg2 {White has a small material advantage, B vs. 2Ps.} ) 18... d2 19. Rf1 {A poor move.} ({White should try} 19. Kf1 {Bkack must now find thl only move that keeps him in the game ans that is} Re4 20. Bxd6 Rde8 { Threateng mate.} 21. f3 Re1+ 22. Rxe1 dxe1=Q+ 23. Qxe1 Rxe1+ 24. Kxe1 cxd6 { Black has fully equalized.}) 19... Re1 {[%mdl 128]} 20. Bxd6 Rde8 {Threatening mate.} 21. f3 Bd5 {Brilliant. The B on d6 isn’t posing a threat right now so Planinc ignores it and targets the B on b3 which is holding up his passed P on d2.} 22. Qf4 {[%mdl 8192] After this white is subjected to an onslaught by black;s pieces to which there is no defense.} (22. Bf4 {offers some hope.} Bc4 23. h4 Rxf1+ 24. Kh2 Bxb3 25. Bxd2 Bxa2 {White has a Q vs. 2Rs+4Ps. It's a material imbalance that should favor the Rs, but pectically the position would be difficult to play.}) 22... Bc4 23. h4 Rxf1+ 24. Kh2 Re2 {Planinc correctly continues to ignore the B on d6 and presses on with his attack.} 25. Bxc7 Rff2 {Care must be taken to the end.} (25... Bxb3 {is wrong.} 26. Bb6 Rh1+ 27. Kg3 d6 28. Qxd6 f4+ 29. Kxf4 Rxh4+ 30. Kg3 Re7 31. Qxe7 Rc4 {Black has avoided getting mated, but the cost was too high...he has a lost position.}) 26. Qd6 Rxg2+ {Black is clearly winning.} 27. Kh3 Rh2+ {[%mdl 512]} 28. Kg3 (28. Qxh2 Rxh2+ 29. Kxh2 Bxb3 {and the P queens.}) 28... Reg2+ 29. Kf4 Rxh4+ 30. Kxf5 Rh6 {White resigned.} (30... Rh6 31. Qe7 Rf6+ 32. Qxf6 gxf6 33. Bf4 Bxb3 34. Bxd2 Rxd2) 0-1

Space, Time and Material

    One of the first instructional books I read was The Middlegame in Chess by Eugene Znosko-Borovsky (1884–1954). Little known as a writer, Znosko-Borovsky was a Russian master and highly regarded author who was known for his instructional books. He had a knack for explaining things in an easy to understand way. In the book he discussed how to evaluate middlegame positions based on space, time and force (i.e. material). Another book that addresses these same elements, but also covers a lot more subjects, is Ludek Pachman’s The Opening Game in Chess. 

    These basic elements play a large part in the opening. Time, that is piece development and the gain or loss of a tempo, and the struggle for the center and the attempt to gain space to maneuver the pieces are, or should be, familiar. 

    The other element, material, can be hard to assess because the amount is important, but sometimes other factors must be considered. e.g. in some positions a Knight might be more valuable than a Rook. And, another example is in the opening when material may be sacrificed to gain time or space.

    Today’s game is a good illustration of the elements. The game was played in the Hastings tournament in 1895. This tournament was the strongest ever held up to that time. 

    Steinitz’ opponent was Curt von Bardeleben (1861-1924) of Germany. According to Chess metrics in 1895 he was one of the top ten best players in the world. On January 31, 1924, at the age of 62, after plunging from an apartment window in Berlin. Some sources say it was suicide, others an accident. 

    The suicide theory suggest it was triggered by financial troubles he experienced. He was supposedly living in povery at the time having lost his fortune during World War I. 

    Jacques Mieses and Bernhard Kagan, two of his contemporaries, believed it was accidental. In an obituary, Kagan suggested that Bardeleben suffered from severe arteriosclerosis and might have had a dizzy spell while leaning out an open window and lost his balance. Kagan’s theory is possible. Feeling dizzy, losing coordination have a difficult time walking and unexpectedly fall down are some of the symptoms of arteriosclerosis.

 

     In this game von Bardeleben avoids a lot of pitfalls by not taking a second gambit Pawn when it was offered at move 7. However, he was under some pressure after having taken the first gambit Pawn because Steinitz had more space and piece activity. von Bardeleben’s real mistake came when he played 16...c6 which made it impossible to complete his development even though the material was greatly reduced. Had he played 16...Kf7! it would have connected his Rooks and resulted in complete equality. This brings to mind the statement by one of the game's really great teachers, C.J.S. Purdy, who reminded his students that development is not really complete until the Rooks are connected.

 

[Event "Hastings"] [Site ""] [Date "1895.08.17"] [Round "?"] [White "Wilhelm Steinitz"] [Black "Curt von Bardeleben"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C54"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "1895.08.05"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 { Today the quiet 7 Bd2 is considered the best, but in 1895 this move was extremely popular. The idea being to answer 7...Nxe4 with 8.0-0 sacrificing another P hoping to launching an attack against black's K.} d5 {This is a sound alternative to grabbing material. Black declines the P and liquidates white's center.} (7... Nxe4 8. O-O {Now black can play 8...Bxc3 and 9...d5 with an active position.} Nxc3 {This move is playable as long as he follows it up witj 9...d5} 9. bxc3 Bxc3 {Black has won another P, but the price is too high. The space and mobility white has outweigh black's extra material.} 10. Ba3 d5 11. Bb5 {Black can grab a R and see what happens or he can castle hoping to play it safe. Neither plan works out very well!} Bxa1 12. Re1+ Be6 13. Qa4 Qd7 14. Ne5 {Now black's best bet is to give up the Q} Nxe5 (14... Qc8 15. Bxc6+ bxc6 16. Qxc6+ {with a mate in 5} Qd7 17. Nxd7 Kd8 18. Rxe6 fxe6 19. Ne5 Bxd4 20. Qxa8#) 15. Bxd7+ Nxd7 16. Rxa1 {and nobody would want to be playing black/}) 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. O-O Be6 10. Bg5 Be7 11. Bxd5 Bxd5 12. Nxd5 Qxd5 13. Bxe7 Nxe7 14. Re1 {All the exchanges have resulted in a simplified position, but that does not mean there is no play left. First, notice that white has an isolated d-Pawn...it could become a liability in the ending. Howver, at the moment black has the immediate problem of countering white's pressure on the e-file. Because he cannot castle von Bardeleben makes room for his R to reach e8 by simply playing ...f6 and ...Kf7.} f6 15. Qe2 Qd7 16. Rac1 c6 {This is a fatal mistake, because now black cannot complete his development. He should have stuck with his plan to play ...Kf7 giving his Rs access to e8 and countering white's pressure on the file. He would have then had a fully equal game.} (16... Kf7 17. Rc3 Rhe8 18. Re3 Nd5 19. Qc4 (19. Rxe8 Rxe8 20. Qxe8+ Qxe8 21. Rxe8 Kxe8 {Black has a favorable ending.}) 19... a5 (19... Rxe3 20. fxe3 {is good for white.}) 20. a3 b5 {with equal chances.}) 17. d5 { A brilliant P sacrifice. What is the point? It vacayes d4 for the N. It;s difficult to see now, but the N on d4 will lead to a brilliant finish.} cxd5 ( 17... Kf7 {This was still his best chance, but after} 18. dxc6 bxc6 19. Qc4+ Qd5 20. Qxd5+ Nxd5 21. Rxc6 {white is better.}) 18. Nd4 {The obvious threat is 19.Nf5} Kf7 {Black is finally out of the pin, but by now he is completely lost. } 19. Ne6 {A briulliant followup and the only move that wins. Black us threatened with 20.Rc7} Rhc8 {Of course had to defend against Rc7 but now white wins by force.} (19... Rac8 {was no better.} 20. Qg4 Rhg8 21. Ng5+ { wins the Q because if} Ke8 22. Rxc8+ Qd8 (22... Qxc8 23. Qxc8#) 23. Qe6 { and mate next move.}) 20. Qg4 {Threatening Qxg7, so...} g6 21. Ng5+ Ke8 22. Rxe7+ Kf8 (22... Qxe7 23. Rxc8+ Rxc8 24. Qxc8+ Qd8 25. Qxd8+ Kxd8 26. Nxh7 { The ending is won for whote. A samle line...} Ke7 27. Kf1 Kf7 28. Ke2 Kg7 29. Nxf6 Kxf6 30. Kd3 Ke5 31. h4 {with a routine win.}) (22... Kxe7 23. Re1+ Kd6 24. Qb4+ Rc5 25. Re6+ {wins}) 23. Rf7+ Kg8 {Note that white could be mated if black is allowed to play ...Rxc1, so he can't capture the Q. What's white's puzzle-like solution?} 24. Rg7+ Kh8 {White is not done with the R offers.} ( 24... Qxg7 25. Rxc8+ Rxc8 26. Qxc8+ Qf8 {Now comes a routine mop up.yone should be familiar.} 27. Qe6+ Kh8 28. Nf7+ Kg8 29. Nd6+ Kh8 30. Qxd5) 25. Rxh7+ {Black resigned. Immediately after the game Steinitz demonstrated a mate in 19 moves. In his book Pachman gave Steinitz' analysis, but evidently didn't check it. It's clear that black's position is resign worthy, but there is no forced mate. None of that reallt matters because it was a brilliant and instructive game by Steinitz.} ({Steinitz' solution runs rus:} 25. Rxh7+ Kg8 26. Rg7+ Kh8 ( 26... Qxg7 {holds out longer...it's nate in 23 moves says Stockfish.} 27. Rxc8+ Rxc8 28. Qxc8+ Qf8 29. Qe6+ Kg7 30. Qd7+ Kh6 31. Ne6 {etc. The extra pice wins. }) 27. Qh4+ Kxg7 28. Qh7+ Kf8 29. Qh8+ Ke7 30. Qg7+ Ke8 31. Qg8+ Ke7 32. Qf7+ Kd8 33. Qf8+ Qe8 34. Nf7+ Kd7 35. Qd6#) (25. Rxh7+ Qxh7 {Avoids the immediate mate, but white is clearly winning.} 26. Rxc8+ Rxc8 27. Qxc8+ Qg8 28. Qh3+ Kg7 29. Qd7+ Kh6 30. Ne6 {Again, the extra piece assures the win, but there is no forced mate.}) 1-0

Another Fine Win at New York 1948/49

Reuben Fine

    A Chess Life article on the 1948/49 New York international tournament caught my attention because Fred Reinfeld labeled Arnold Denke’s 9th place finish with a +0 -5 =4 score as greatly disappointing. He then lambasted Denker saying that while Denker’s play was rich in (tactical) ideas, he lacked “staying power and a serious attitude. His play is fundamentally frivolous: he lacks the self-discipline to stick to a logical line of play and will always cast it aside for the gaudy bauble of a scintillating sacrifice which may or may not be sound.” 

     Harsh criticism! Fred Reinfeld was a very strong player, stronger than most people give him credit for, but he never accomplished as much as Denker did. Reinfeld also chastised Denker for having time trouble “again and again.” In this tournament the time limit was 40 moves in two hours. 

    A grumpy Reinfeld was also critical of the play of the then U.S. Champion Herman Steiner saying, “He is a happy-go-lucky player whose performances are extremely uneven. Aside from the fact that the time limit plagued him, his play was much too superficial to carry weight in such company.” 

    Reinfeld’s blathering about the course of the following Denker vs. Fine game was way off, but then he didn’t have an engine, so we can forgive him. That said, it was those very comments that caused me to ferret out the unpublished game and take a look at it! The game turned out to be a bit disappointing. It was boring up until the point where Denker’s rambunctious attempt to attack backfired and he lost quickly. But, since I bothered to look it up and run it through Fritz for analysis here it is. 

 

[Event "New York 1948/49"] [Site ""] [Date "1948.12.26"] [Round "4"] [White "Arnold Denker"] [Black "Reuben Fine"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E33"] [Annotator "Dragon by Komodo"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "1948.??.??"] {E33: Nimzo-Indian: Classical} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 Nc6 5. e3 O-O 6. Nge2 {A departure from the usual 6.Nf3 or 6.Bd3, but not bad. White wants to avoid doubled c-Pawns.} d5 7. cxd5 (7. a3 Bxc3+ 8. Nxc3 e5 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Be2 Nxc3 12. Qxc3 {with a boring position. Bernasek,J (2506)-Boensch,U (2528) Austria 2013}) 7... exd5 8. a3 Bd6 9. Ng3 {White makes room for the B to develop plus on g3 the N has some potential for supporting a K-side attack.} g6 {Shielding h7 and preventing a potential Nf5 by white.} 10. Bd3 a6 11. Bd2 Be6 12. Nce2 Qd7 13. O-O Ne8 {Preparing the advance of the f-Pawn in order to challenge the advance of white's e-Pawn/} 14. f3 f5 15. e4 { Denker wants to open up the position so he can use his two Bs and active piece in an attack on Fine's K which at the moment is quite safe.} Bxg3 16. hxg3 dxe4 17. fxe4 Nxd4 18. Nxd4 Qxd4+ 19. Kh2 Rd8 20. Rf3 Nf6 21. exf5 Bxf5 22. Qb3+ Rf7 23. Bc3 Ng4+ {Opening up the position has allowed black's pieces, not white's, to spring into life.} 24. Kh1 Qc5 {[%mdl 2048] A clever move that leaves his Q well placed...it supports a potential ...Nc2+ and the Q has access to the h-file. White is now in a precarious situation...one wrong move and he is done for.} 25. Bxf5 {Superficially this looks reasonable because it appears to weaken black's K-side, but what ot does us, it allows} (25. Bc4 {get him mated. } Be6 {[%mdl 512]} 26. Bxe6 Qh5+ 27. Kg1 Qh2+ 28. Kf1 Qh1+ 29. Ke2 Qxg2+ 30. Ke1 Qh1+ 31. Ke2 Qxf3+ 32. Ke1 Qe3#) (25. Bb4 {This is his best reply.} Be6 26. Bxc5 {Trading Qs eliminates black's attack.} (26. Qxe6 {allows black a mating attack.} Qh5+ 27. Kg1 Qh2+ 28. Kf1 Qh1+ 29. Ke2 Qxg2+ 30. Ke1 Qxf3 31. Qe2 Qxg3+ 32. Kd2 Rf2 33. Kc1 Rxe2 34. Bc4+ Kg7 35. Bc3+ Kh6 36. Bxe2 Qe3+ 37. Kc2 Qxe2+ 38. Kb3 Qe6+ 39. Ka4 Qc6+ 40. Kb3 Qd5+ 41. Kc2 Ne3+ 42. Kb1 Qb3 43. Bg7+ Kxg7 44. Kc1 Rd1#) 26... Bxb3 27. Be2 {with equal chances.}) 25... gxf5 26. Rd1 Rd6 27. Rxd6 Qxd6 28. Kg1 Qh6 {White lost on time. It's a pity because even though he is technically lost, white could have put up a stiff defense.} (28... Qh6 {Here is a possible continuation...} 29. Rd3 Qc1+ 30. Qd1 Qxd1+ 31. Rxd1 Kf8 32. Rd8+ Ke7 33. Ra8 Kd6 34. Kf1 Kc5 35. Ke2 Kc4 36. Rd8 c5 37. Rd3 Re7+ 38. Kd2 Nf2 39. Rf3 Ne4+ 40. Kd1 Re8 41. Kc2 Nd6 {This ending is won for black who scored +4 -0 =1 in Shootyouts, but the games were long indicating that in practice white has some hope of drawing.}) 0-1

Nice Guys Finish Fifth

    In the last round of the New York International tournament of 1948/49 Reuben Fine offered Al Horowitz a draw on the thirteenth move. Horowitz, who was considered a kind and gentle person by his close chess colleagues, refused in order to preserve Miguel Najdorf's chances. Horowitz went on to lose and so the nice gut gesture cost him a share of the prize money. 

    Fine, at the time rated (on paper at least) as one of the workd’s top players, jas his fans (if he had any) worried that he wouldn’t be able to live up to his reputation. For this tournament, at least, they need not have worried. According to Chessmetric’s December 1948 rating list Najdorf was rated #2 in the world behind Botvinnik. Fine was ranked #11 and former World Champion Euwe was still doing pretty well being ranked #18. 

    This tournament was Najdorf’s first appearance in the United States and ieven though he finished second. Chess Review called it “an artistic fiasco.” In the early going it looked like he was going to run away with first place, but he had been lucky.

 

 

    In his game against Najdorf, Arnold Denker had achieved a winning position and Horowitz’ draw against him had been a lucky one. Horowitz was in bad time pressure and am excited Najdorf missed the win several times and got himself into a lost position, offered a draw, and a keyed-up Horowitz accepted. After that hair raising encounter Najdorf cooled off. A half point behind at the start of the sixth round, he played recklessly and lost to Fine. His last two games were lifeless draws.  

 

[Event "New York 1948/49"] [Site ""] [Date "1949.01.02"] [Round "9"] [White "Reuben Fine"] [Black "I.A. Horowitz"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D30"] [Annotator "Dragon by Komodo"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "1948.??.??"] {D35: Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Bg5 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. cxd5 exd5 {White has a P-majority in the center, black on the Q-side. Often white will play the Minority Attack by playing Rb1, followed by b2–b4–b5, then bxc6 in order to create a weak P on c6. Here Fine eschews that plan in favor of a durect attack on black's K.} 7. Nc3 Bd6 8. Bd3 O-O 9. O-O Re8 10. Qc2 Nf8 11. Rfe1 {It might have been a wee bit better to prevent black's next move and play 11.h3} (11. Rab1 {is the alternative plan.} Ng6 12. b4 h6 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14. b5 {with equal chances. Iashvili,A (2390)-Machulsky,A (2555) Moscow 1991}) 11... Bg4 12. Nd2 Be6 13. Nf1 {With this move Fine offered a draw. Horowitz refused in order to preserve Najdorf's chances.} Ng6 14. f4 {His draw offer refused, Fine gets mean.} Bd7 15. Ng3 Rc8 {This is too passive; he never gets the chance to play ...c5.. Bolstering up his K-side with 15...Be7 was called for.} 16. f5 Nf8 17. e4 {Black should now eliminate an attacker and play 17...Bxg6} dxe4 {A rather surprising tactical error from a player of Horowitz' strength.} 18. Ncxe4 Be7 19. Bxf6 {Removing the guard from d6.} Bxf6 20. Nd6 Rxe1+ (20... Bxd4+ {is met by} 21. Kh1 Rxe1+ 22. Rxe1 Rc7 {is met by} 23. Qc4 Bf6 24. Qxf7+ Kh8 25. Re8 Qxe8 (25... Bxe8 26. Qxf8#) 26. Nxe8) 21. Rxe1 Qa5 22. Kf1 Rb8 {Now Fine could have played 23.Bc4 first. He could then play Nxf7 and then bring up the other N with Nge4. He would then have a dominating position, Instead he gets a bit fancy.} 23. Nxf7 { [%mdl 512]} h6 (23... Kxf7 24. Qb3+ Be6 25. Rxe6 {The R cannot be taken/} Qb6 ( 25... Nxe6 26. Qxe6+ Kf8 27. Bc4 {mates on f7}) 26. Qc4 Qb5 27. Re5+ Qxc4 28. Bxc4+ {with a decisive advantage.}) 24. Qb3 Kh7 $2 (24... Qd5 {is refuted by} 25. Nxh6+ Kh7 26. Ng4 Qxb3 27. Nxf6+ gxf6 28. Re7+ Kh6 29. axb3 {White has a routine endgame win.}) 25. Nh5 Bxf5 {Pointless, but there was no saving the game. Howeverm he could have dragged it oout with 25...Qd5} (25... Qd5 26. Nxf6+ gxf6 27. Qxd5 cxd5 28. Re7 Re8 29. Rxe8 Bxe8 30. Nd6 Bc6 31. b4 a6 32. b5 axb5 33. Bxb5 Bxb5+ 34. Nxb5 Nd7 35. Nc7 Nb6 36. Kf2 {White has a won N+P ending. A sample line...} Kg7 37. Ne6+ Kg8 38. Nc5 Nc4 39. Nxb7 Na3 40. Nc5 Nb5 41. Ke3 Nd6 42. Kf4 Nb5 43. Nd7 Kg7 44. a4 Nxd4 45. Nb6 Nb3 46. Nxd5) 26. Nxf6+ gxf6 27. Re7 Kg6 28. Ne5+ {[%mdl 512]} Kg5 (28... fxe5 29. Qf7+ Kg5 30. Qxf5+ Kh4 31. g3#) 29. h4+ {[%mdl 512] Black resigned.} (29. h4+ Kxh4 30. Rg7 Ng6 31. Nxg6+ Bxg6 32. Bxg6 Qa6+ 33. Kg1 {White will mate...} Rf8 34. Qh3+ Kg5 35. Qg3# ) 1-0