A Chess Hors d'oeuvre

    In 1947, the major chess activity in California included ia match between Reuben Fine and Herman Steiner who played six game at the homes of sponsors and the Hollywood Chess Group headquarters. Fine won 5-1.George Koltanowski, a chess journalist, moved to Santa Rosa and established the California Chess News magazine. That was the major news coming out of California that year. Today’s game, just an hors d'oeuvre, was played in the finals of the Capitol City Chess Club in Sacramento. 

 

 

[Event "Capitol City CCC, Sacramento"] [Site "?"] [Date "1947.04.??"] [Round "?"] [White "J.T. Marianos"] [Black "S.W. Applegate"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B01"] [Annotator "Stickfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "34"] [EventDate "1947.??.??"] {B01: Scandinavian Defense} 1. e4 d5 {One of the oldest defenses, it was deemed playable in the late 19th century and has been used by such players as Tarrasch, Spielmann, Tartakower and Alekhine.A regular user in the 1950s was Yugoslav IM Nikola Karaklajic and in the 1960s it ws used by Bronstein, women's world champion Nona Gaprindashvili, Larsen, Danish GM Curt Hansen, Australian GM Ian Rogers and even Viswanathan Anand. Magnus Carlsen has also given it a try.} 2. exd5 {This is the usual reply. Black has two main replies: 2...Qxd5 (Mieses–Kotrc Variation) and 2...Nf6 (Modern Vriation). The rare 2.. .c6 (Blackburne–Kloosterboer Gambit is thought to be (perhaps wrongly) unsound and is almost never seen.} Nf6 (2... c6 {Black does get some slight compensation for the P.} 3. dxc6 Nxc6 4. Nf3 e5 5. Nc3 Nf6 {White 's position is evaluated as slightly better.}) 3. c4 {This has been played frequently, but white would do better with 3.d4} c6 {It's odd, but while 2...c6 is evaluated as slightly better for white, jere it's the recommended move ny engines. Why? White's last move left him with a poor P-structure; the d-Pawn never moves.} 4. dxc6 Nxc6 {[%mdl 32]} 5. Nf3 e5 6. Nc3 Bc5 (6... e4 {At once was much better.} 7. Ng5 Bf5 {Black has an excellent position.}) 7. h3 (7. d3 O-O 8. Bg5 Qb6 9. Qd2 Nh5 10. Na4 Bb4 11. Nxb6 Bxd2+ 12. Kxd2 axb6 {Black is better and eventually won in Matschewsky,J (1235)-Plotkin,A (1060) Willingen 2005}) (7. Be2 O-O 8. d3 Bf5 9. O-O Nb4 10. Nxe5 Re8 11. Bf4 Qd4 12. a3 Nxd3 13. Nxd3 Bxd3 14. Qxd3 Qxf4 15. Qf3 Qd2 16. Rab1 b6 {½-½ Sieberg,R-Ueffing,H Dortmund 1987} ) 7... e4 (7... Qb6 {attacking f2 is not so effective. After} 8. Na4 Bxf2+ 9. Ke2 Nd4+ 10. Kxf2 Ne4+ 11. Ke1 Qg6 {an interesting position has been reached. It's tricky because white has only one move that keeps the chances equal!} 12. g4 (12. Nxd4 {is met by} Qg3+ 13. Ke2 exd4 14. Qe1 O-O {and white has to trade Qs allowing the fork.} 15. Kd1 {runs into} Nf2+ 16. Kc2 Bf5+ 17. d3 Bxd3+ 18. Kb3 Bxf1+ 19. Nc3 Bxc4+ 20. Kxc4 Rfe8 {which is just awful for white.}) 12... O-O 13. d3 {with equal chances.}) 8. Qe2 {[%mdl 8192] Thius plausible looking move loses.} (8. d4 {An absolute must! At keast now black's advantage is only a modest one.} Bb6 9. c5 exf3 10. cxb6 Qxb6 11. Qxf3 O-O {with sufficient compensation for the P.}) 8... O-O $19 9. Nh2 {Black is clearly winning.} Nb4 10. Qd1 Re8 {It's surprising how quickly white's position has collapsed after his 8th move.} 11. Be2 Nd3+ 12. Bxd3 exd3+ 13. Kf1 Qd4 14. Qf3 Bd7 {aiming for ...Bc6.} 15. Nb5 Bxb5 16. cxb5 Re2 17. Qxb7 Qxf2# 0-1

Tribute to Pierre Rolland

    Pierre Auguste Marie Rolland (September 9, 1926 — February 10, 1967, 40 years old), a professor of philosophy, was the 1955 Paris city champion. He competed in several French championships, finishing 3rd in 1959, 2nd in 1961 and 1962, =3rd in 1963, =2nd in 1965 and in 1966 he tied for first, but lost the title on tiebreakjs.

    After his 1966 championship appearance he transferred to Algeria for his work and omly played occasionally on his holidays. His only international appearance came in 1966 at the Le Harve e Chess Festival in which defeating GMs Aleksandar Matanovic and Milko Bobotsov and his performance was good enough to earn him an IM norm. As a result, he was invited to play in the Monaco 1967 tournament along side Bobby Fischer, Vasily Smyslov, Efim Geller and other leading players. Unfortunately, two months before it began he tragically died in an automobile accident on a road in southwestern France. 

 

    His opponent in the following game was Sylvan Zinsr (1936-2013, 76 years old), a well-known writer for the French chess magazine Europe Echecs.  Chessmetrics estimates Rolland's performance rating for this tournament to have been 2568 and his highest ever rating to have been 2510 in 1967, placing him at #173 in the world.

 

 

[Event "Le Havre"] [Site ""] [Date "1966.04.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Pierre Rolland"] [Black "Sylvain Zinser"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C94"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "1966.??.??"] {C94: Closed Ruy Lopez: Breyer Variation} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {Whenever I play online lower rated opponents invariably play 3.Bc4, but then sometimes go to rediculous lengths to attack f7. It's true that for lower rated players the Giuoco Piano is a good recommendation because it is easier to understand and learn due to its more straightforward nature. The Ruy Lopez is much more complex.} a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 {This introduces the Closed Ruy Lopez. Black threatens to win a P.} 5. O-O Be7 {This is the Closed Ruy Lopez. The main option is the somewhat risky Open Defense (5...Nxe4) which leads to an entirely different type of play.} 6. Re1 {White's threat is to play 7.Bxc6 and 8.Nxe5} b5 7. Bb3 d6 {The Marshall Attack (7...d4) is very aggressive, but lines have been discovered that allow white to neutralize it.} 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 {This prepares to play d4 without allowing the pin ...Bg4. At this point black has multiple options.} Nb8 {[%mdl 32] This is the rather quiet Breyer Variation, an old personal favorite from my correspondence days in the 70s. By returning the N, the B can now go to b7 attacking the e-Pawn.} 10. d3 {The brash 10.d4 is equally good.} (10. d4 Nbd7 11. c4 c6 12. Nc3 {with equal chances.}) 10... Nbd7 11. Nbd2 {[%mdl 32] The beginning of a long journey that culminates in an attack of f7!} Bb7 12. Nf1 Nc5 13. Bc2 Re8 14. Ne3 g6 (14... Bf8 15. b4 Ne6 16. c4 g6 17. Bb2 Bg7 18. a4 bxc4 19. Nxc4 Nf4 20. Bb3 N6h5 {with equal chances. Tal,M (2625)-Furman,S (2520) Baku 1972}) 15. Ng4 {Engines suggest that white should operte on the Q-side, but Rolland is going all out for a K-side attack which seems quite feasible!} (15. b4 Ne6 16. Bb3 Bf8 17. c4 Nd4 {with full equality.}) 15... h5 {White's strategy pays immediate dividends as this move fatally weakens his K's position.} (15... Nxg4 {is correct and leads to equal chances after} 16. hxg4 Bf8 {White has no prospects on the K-sdie and so is forced to switch to Q-side operations anyway.} 17. b4 Ne6 18. a4 {and black can equalize with either 18...Bg7 or 18...c5}) 16. Nh6+ {White has a decisive advantage as Rolland now flawlessly demonstrates.} Kg7 (16... Kf8 17. Ng5 Kg7 18. Nhxf7 Qc8 19. Qd2 Ng8 20. f4 {Black is going to get his guts ripped out. Here's Stockfish's top line after 5 minutes...} Ne6 21. fxe5 dxe5 22. Bb3 Nxg5 23. Nxg5 Qd7 24. Qf2 Rf8 25. Ne6+ Qxe6 26. Bxe6 Rxf2 27. Kxf2) 17. Ng5 $1 Rf8 18. b4 Ne6 {Rolland now finishes strongly.} 19. Nhxf7 Qd7 (19... Rxf7 20. Nxe6+ {wins the Q.}) 20. Nxe6+ Qxe6 21. Ng5 Qd7 22. d4 Bc8 23. Bb3 Qe8 24. a4 (24. Qd2 {is more straightforward.} c6 25. dxe5 dxe5 26. Nf7 {Threatening Qh6+} Ng8 27. Nxe5 {Whote is winning/}) 24... Bd7 25. dxe5 dxe5 26. axb5 axb5 27. Rxa8 Qxa8 28. Qd2 Bd6 29. Nf7 {[%mdl 512] The knockout punch. Black resigned} (29. Nf7 Ng8 30. Nxd6 cxd6 31. Qxd6 Qc6 32. Qxe5+ {wins easily.}) 1-0

An Opening Novelty on Move 20

    A few days ago it was dark and it drizzled rain off and on all day, so it was a good day to play around with my seldom used ChessBase 16 program. Let me reiterate that this is a truly outstanding program, but it's way more than an amateur who no longer plays tournament chess nor is interested (or even capable of) improving needs. For me the simpler Fritz program is perfect.

    While looking through the database of My Games I stumbled across the following long forgotten game I played in 1984. 

    There were a few notes to the game, but I did not remember my opponent and could not find his name when I Googled it and chess. It was played on a long defunct site called Flying Knights Postal Chess Club which I suspect was actually an e-mail club, and the game was published in a magazine named Chess Express, whatever that was. It was annotated in my database by a program called Virtual Chess, but I do not remember anything about the program. 

    What was interesting was that the opening was, at the time, a popular line in the Najdorf Sicilian. A note in the game said that the only analysis I had was Albrec O'Kelly's "Sicilian Flank Game” which was published in 1969 and an article by Gligoric that had appeared in a recent issue of Chess Life. There was also a note stating the two sources gave completely different evaluations of the line. Needless to say, today Stockfish renders most of the published analysis of those days obsolete. 

    Up until white’s move 13 we were following a famous Fischer-Geller game that was played in Monte Carlo in 1967 that was theoretically important. I was a little surprised to see that the moves we played were following a Grandmaster game up to move 20 that was played in 1981. My notes didn't mention it, so it was unknown to me at the time. My opponent’s 20...Be7 was both a novelty and a game losing blunder. 

 

[Event "Flying Knights Postal Chess Club"] [Site ""] [Date "1984.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Tartajuboe"] [Black "Opponent"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B97"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "45"] [EventDate "1984.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "England"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "ENG"] {B97: Sicilian Najdorf: Poisoned Pawn} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd2 Qxb2 {The Poisoned Pawn Variation. One of the pioneers was David Bronstrin who playing it with great success.It was most famously played in two games in the 1972 World Championship match between Fischer, as black, and Spassky.} 9. Rb1 Qa3 {White now has two main ways to to continue. He can try to open as many lines as quickly as possible against black K with either 10.f5 or 10.e5. Earlier tries were 10.Bxf6 and 10. Be2} 10. f5 Nc6 {The main line. 10...e5 has been played in the past, but now it is considered positionally unsound.} (10... b5 {was another popular line at one time, but it was evaluated by the books as too risky. When this gane was player it was evaluated by Virtual Chess it as playable and today Stockfish gives white only a slight advantage.}) 11. fxe6 fxe6 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. e5 { This is a major part of white's plan to open lines. After 13.Bxf6 gxf6 white would have no good followup.} dxe5 {In the mid-60's this move was given a ?? by all the analyst, saying that 13....Nd5 was correct, but in a famious Fischer - Geller game, Monte Carlo, 1967, it was shown that the move ....Nd5 was unsound even though Fischer lost the game. Today 13...dxe5 is preferred by engines and has cecome the main line.} (13... Nd5 14. Nxd5 cxd5 15. Be2 dxe5 16. O-O Bc5+ 17. Kh1 Rf8 18. c4 Rxf1+ 19. Rxf1 Bb7 20. Bg4 dxc4 21. Bxe6 Qd3 22. Qe1 Be4 23. Bg4 Rb8 24. Bd1 Kd7 25. Rf7+ Ke6 {0-1 Robert Fischer-Efim Geller Monte Carlo 1967}) 14. Bxf6 {Eliminating Black's developed piece.} gxf6 15. Ne4 {Black, whose main disadvantage in this position is his displaced Q, gets it back into play after 15.Be2 Qd6!} Be7 {This is about the only move that is played today, but in his Chess Life article Gligoric drew attention to the fact that by 15....Qxa2 black can get his Q back into play and that practice had not yet refuted that move.} (15... Qxa2 {does, indeed, lead to full equality.} 16. Rd1 Be7 17. Be2 O-O {The majority of game played from this position have been drawn.}) {The engine's preferred move.} 16. Be2 h5 {The correct choice!} (16... O-O {This routine move is a serious mistake.} 17. Rb3 Qa5 18. c4 Kh8 19. O-O Ra7 20. Qh6 f5 21. Rg3 Bb4 22. Nf6 {1-0 Black resigned. Gipslis-Korchnoi, 31st Soviet Championship, 1963}) (16... Qxa2 {I's interesting that my old Virtual Chess gave a continuation that lead to a very favorable position for white, but it missed the mate in 9 that Stockfish spotted instantly!} 17. Bh5+ Kf8 18. Qh6+ Kg8 19. O-O Qxb1 20. Rxb1 Ra7 21. Rb8 Bc5+ 22. Kh1 Rf7 23. Nxf6+ Rxf6 24. Qxf6 Be7 25. Qf7#) 17. Rb3 {At the time this was a controversial move. O'Kelly's book gave 17.c4 stating that 17.Rb3 is of no use. Gligoric's article claimed 17.Rb3 is the only move and Stockfish concurs.. 17.Bf3 has been tried without success.} (17. c4 {somewhat favors black after} f5 18. Rb3 Qa4 19. Nd6+ Bxd6 20. Qxd6 Qa5+ 21. Kf2 Ra7 22. c5 Qc7 23. Rd1 Qxd6 24. Rxd6 Ke7) 17... Qa4 {White can now play 18.c4 which leads to complications and is it is quite playable. At the time I had analysis by O'Kelly, Gligoric and the Soviet Master Alvis Vitolinsch and threading my way through the analysis was quite a task. It was done using a book and magazine and shuffling pieces on a real chessboard.} 18. Nxf6+ Bxf6 19. c4 {This is another critical point. White is a piece down, but his pieces coordinate well. Black, on the other hand, has his Q out of play and his K is vulnerable. 19.c4 is necessary because, if at once, 10.O-O Qd4+ exchanging Qs and elimiating white's attacking chances while leaving black with the better ending. From Black's point of view, he can either get his QR into play by 19....Ra7 and 20.. .Rd7, or he can play as in the game to bring his Q back into play as quickly as possible.} (19. Rf1 {is a losing movr.} Be7 20. c4 Ra7 21. Rb8 Rc7 {Black is winning. Linford,C (2142)-Gibbs,D (1956) Coulsdon 2007}) (19. O-O Qd4+ { see note above....This why white has to play 19.c4 before castling/} 20. Qxd4 exd4 21. Rxf6 Ke7 {Black is slightly better.}) 19... c5 {At the time there was a lot of analysis available which is, no doubt, obsolete now. My opening book offers 5 possible moves for black. Seen most often are 19...Ra7 and 19...Bh4+ whicj is Stockfish's choice. 19...c5 is evaluated as equal.} (19... Ra7 20. O-O Rf7 21. Qd6 Be7 {with full equality.}) (19... Bh4+ 20. g3 Be7 21. O-O h4 { also with full equality.}) 20. O-O {Black should now return the material by 20. ...Qd7, when probably best for White is 21.Qxd7+ followed by Rxf6} Be7 { [%mdl 8192] A routine and natural looking move, but a fatal error. By a series of Q moves white manages to fork black's Rs.} (20... Qd7 {equalizes.} 21. Qxd7+ Bxd7 22. Rxf6 Ke7 23. Rg6 Rad8 24. Re3 Be8 25. Rg5 Rd2 26. Rgxe5 Rh6 27. Ra3 Bc6 28. Rxa6 {is equal, but in Beliavsky,A (2620)-Mikhalchishin,A (2535) Moscow 1981 black soon blundered and lost quickly.}) 21. Qd3 $18 Rh6 {He could not allow 22.Qg6+} 22. Qe3 Rh7 (22... Rf6 {offers a little hope after} 23. Bxh5+ Kd8 24. Rd3+ Bd7 25. Rxf6 e4 (25... Bxf6 26. Qh6 Be7 27. Qh8+ Kc7 28. Qxa8) 26. Qxe4 Bxf6 27. Qxa8+ {White is much better.}) 23. Qe4 {Black resigned. } 1-0

Bobby in 1986

 

    In 1986 you could buy the Miphisto Modular chess computer for the “low price of $300” which amounts to over $875 in today’s purchasing power. The cheapest model was only $199 (0ver $290 today). In 1986, chess computers were starting to become quite strong and top of the line computers were playing at the strong amateur level of, say, 2000-2100 or even a Master level. 

    The Fifth World Computer Chess Championship took place as part of the Cologne Trade Fair in Cologne, West Germany in June of 1986. Four programs finished with four out of five, and the winner was determined by sum of opponent scores. That is why the tournament was also decided by games from the bottom half. 

     The program Rebel was close to become the champion against the mainframe programs, but didn't manage to win a won game in the last round against Bebe. T Cray Blitz lost the second round against Bobby, but managed to win the last round against HiTech, which had a perfect score up until then. 

 

    A protest by Hans Berliner, suspicious by a move of Cray Blitz was declined by the arbiter after inspecting Blitz's log-files. Lucky for Cray Blitz was the adjudicated win against Schach 2.7 because years later, Rex’s co-author Sam Sloan started a campaign and claimed cheating by various sides. 

    Here’s an interesting game by Bobby, program by Hans-Joachim Kraas and Gunther Schrufer. In 1993, Bobby II won the 3rd International Paderborn Computer Championship. 

    The development of Bobby started in 1982 and was written in Pascal on an IBM computer. In 1987 Bobby II was complete[y redesign in C on an Atari ST microcomputer. Bobby had a sophisticated evaluation with respect to King safety and passed Pawns. The inclusion of certain non-tactical moves helped its play.

    Mephisto was a family of dedicated chess computers, produced and sold by Hegener & Glaser since 1980, starting with Mephisto I-III. In 1985 Richard Lang became primary Mephisto programmer and his programs competed in various World computer championships from 1985 until 1993. In 1994, Saitek Ltd., acquired the Mephisto trademark. 

    There is some interesting material on old engines and programs on Zarkov Fischer’s old site HERE. 

    I have a copy of Correspondence GM Robin Smith’s book Modern Chess Analysis which was published in 2004 and at that time engines were significantly stronger than in the past, and they were able to defeat strong humans, but they still had some major weaknesses and Snith showed how to takle advantage of thise weaknesses. 

    The February, 2004, edition of Chess Life’s cover story was that Garry Kasparov made history in a battle against X3D Fritz which resulted in a bi draw. In 2004, Saitek Industries “and Garry Kasparov” offered the Master Chess Computer, that was “super strong” and “ideally suited for the advanced club player.” It was “great for problem solving, training and speed chess.” It came with an AC adaptor, but could also run on 6 AA batteries. Cost: $249.95 which is about $495 today.

 

 

[Event "Fifth World Computer Champ, Cologne"] [Site "?"] [Date "1986.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Bobby"] [Black "Mephisto X"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A70"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "93"] [SourceVersionDate ""] {B03: Alekhine's Defense} 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. exd6 exd6 6. Nc3 Be7 7. h3 O-O 8. Nf3 Nc6 9. Be2 Bf5 10. O-O Qd7 {The end of my program's book; usual is 10...Bf6} 11. Bf4 {Hardly bad, but 11.d5 was sharper.} (11. d5 {Stockfish 17.1:} Nb4 12. a3 Na6 13. b4 Bf6 14. Nd4 Bg6 15. Be3 { White is better by about 1.5 Ps.}) 11... Rae8 12. a4 {Agian, 12.d5 secures a plus.} Bf6 {Mephisto should have prevented Bobby's next move with 12...a5} 13. a5 $16 Nc8 14. a6 {Nothing comes from this so connecting his Rs with 14.Qd2 was indicated.} b6 15. g4 {Like the real Bobby, the engine Bobby is aggressive. } Bxg4 {Moving the attacked B either to e5 or g6 was correct. The sacrifice is completely unsound and today's engines give white a winning 3 Pawn advantage.} 16. hxg4 Qxg4+ 17. Bg3 {The threat is 18.Ne5.} Nxd4 18. Nxd4 Qxd4 19. Qc2 (19. Qxd4 {is just a bit weaker. e.g.} Bxd4 20. Rae1 Bxc3 21. bxc3 {but why accept doubled Ps?}) 19... h6 20. Rfd1 Qc5 21. Nb5 Be5 {With the transparent threat of ...Bxg3} 22. Rd5 Qc6 23. Bxe5 Rxe5 24. Rxe5 dxe5 25. Bg4 {There is no way for black to save a P.} Nd6 (25... Qa8 26. Nxc7 Qb8 27. Nd5) (25... e4 26. Bf5 (26. Bxc8 {is mot quite as good.} Rxc8 27. Nxa7 Qg6+ 28. Kf1 Rd8 29. Rd1 Ra8 30. Nb5 Rxa6 31. Nxc7 {White is still winning, but is advantage is not as great as it is after the tet.}) 26... Re8 27. Re1 Nd6 28. Nxd6 Qxd6 29. Bxe4 { here white's advantage is about 2 Pawns.}) 26. Nxa7 Qc5 27. Bd7 e4 28. Nb5 Nxb5 29. Bxb5 Qg5+ 30. Kf1 Qh4 {Time for a bit of tactics!} 31. Rd1 Qh1+ 32. Ke2 Qf3+ 33. Ke1 Qh1+ (33... c6 {No doubt Bobby would have the trap and played} 34. Qe2 (34. Bxc6 Qh1+ 35. Kd2 e3+ 36. fxe3 Qxc6 {with a likely draw.}) 34... cxb5 35. Qxf3 exf3 36. cxb5 {White has a won R+P ending.}) 34. Kd2 Qg2 {If Black can now play ...c6 this consolidates a bit.} 35. Kc1 {Stockfish puts white's advantage at 4-5 Ps. The ancient (circa 1998) Fritz 5.32 puts it at slightly less than 2 Ps.} Qg6 36. Qb3 c6 37. Ba4 c5 38. Qg3 Ra8 39. Qxg6 fxg6 {[%mdl 4096]} 40. Bb5 g5 41. Rd7 h5 42. a7 e3 43. fxe3 Rf8 44. Bc6 h4 45. a8=Q Rxa8 46. Bxa8 h3 47. Rd5 {Black resigned. Compared to Stockfish 17.1, Bobby's accuracy rating was a decent 72%. Mephisto's was an unspectacular 37%.} 1-0

Milan Vukcevich, Grandmaster Without the Title

    I recently received an e-mail from FM John McCarthy detailing some interesting information on a player who will be most familiar to players from Ohio, but not elsewhere, Milan Vukcevich. 

    Milan R. Vukcevich (March 11, 1937 – May 10, 2003) was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. In 1955 he won the Yugoslav junior championship. The same year he drew a match (4-4) with Bent Larsen who received his IM title that year.

    Vukcevich chose a career in science and in 1963 moved to the Cleveland, Ohio area. Here are some excerpts from the article which is used with permission.

     

    “Vuky, as some called him, was a gentleman, a scholar and had a very strong presence in every room that he entered...What should the FIDE rating be of a very part-time chessplayer with the following accomplishments? 

    (He) scored 11.5/13 on second board in the 1960 World Student Team Championship defeating Charles Kalme who also scored 11.5/13 on Board 2 for the US winning team ahead of the heavily favored Russian team. 

    Milan Vukcevich was an incredibly stand-up guy as he had a chance to beat out Kalme for the board prize. Once Kalme accepted a draw against Bulgaria to win the team title, he felt it would be unfair for him to take the board prize. Milan, in a gesture of sportsmanship, offered his much lower rated German opponent a draw on move 12 which was quickly accepted. Bill Lombardy scored a ridiculous 12/13 (2 draws) on Board 1 for the US including a win against Boris Spassky in 29 moves. 

    (Vukcevich) tied for first with GM’s Benko and Bisguier in his only US Open tournament at Lincoln, Nebraska in 1969. Vukcevich crushed Bisguier. Milan was invited to the US Championship (based on rating) for many years, only accepting when it came to Oberlin, Ohio in 1975. He finished clear 3rd with 7.5/13. Vukcevich scored a ridiculous 16/22 in the Telephone League playing first board against mostly GM’s and IM’s. 

    Milan was awarded the title of Grandmaster of Composition in 1988 becoming the equal 21st person to achieve the title...Vukcevich had 119.67 points through 1991 which placed him 9th all-time. He finished with 162.67 points which placed him 22nd all-time through 2021. 

    (He was the) sole 1998 inductee into the US Chess Hall of Fame...Vukcevich was =92nd in the world at 2490 on the January 1976 FIDE Rating List...Vukcevich only achieved a FIDE Master title for over the board play despite all of his chess achievements. 

    ...Vukcevich played in one Chess Olympiad, for Yugoslavia, held in Leipzig Germany in 1960. Vukcevich was second reserve for Yugoslavia which won the Bronze Medal for clear 3rd…. 

    Milan Vukcevich has been cited as a Nobel Prize for Chemistry nominee on many sites. I could not find documentation due to the 50 year rule below:

 

 **Nomination to the Nobel Prize in Chemistry is by invitation only. The names of the nominees and other information about the nominations cannot be revealed until 50 years later. 

     

    ...Vukcevich did not lose a game in the Cleveland Chess League for the approximately first 15 years that he played.” 

 

Burkhard Malich

    Life in East Germany in 1951 was characterized by a socialist economy, limited consumer goods and strict political control under the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. While the government promoted a strong sense of national identity and loyalty, East Germans faced significant challenges of economic hardship, shortages and limited freedoms. 

    Even after rationing was officially abolished in 1950, food and other goods remained in short supply, requiring long wait times for items like cars and telephones. Some high quality goods were available in special shops that were originally for foreign visitors, but were later accessible to East Germans if they could afford them. 

    The Stasi (Ministry for State Security), formed in 1950, played a key role in monitoring dissent and suppressing political opposition. Socialist ideals were promoted through various media, including education and youth organizations. Freedom of speech, movement and the press were restricted. Organizations like the Free German Youth aimed to indoctrinate children with socialist values and limit their contact with Western culture. 

    The 1951 East German Under 20 Championship was won by Wolfgang Uhlmann (1935-2020, 85 years old) who was East Germany's most successful player between the mid-1950s and the late 1980s. He was awarded the GM title in 1959 and won the East Germany Championships 11 times.

 

 

    The winner of the following game from the 1951 East German Under 29 Championship was Burkhard Malich (born Novermebr 29, 1936) who was awarded the IM title in 1962 and the GM title in 1975. 

    He learned chess in 1948 at the age of 12 and three years later won the East German Youth Championship and repeated in 1953. Malich won the individual championship of East Germany in 1957 and 1973. At the international level, he qualified for the zonal tournaments in 1963 and 1974. He played for the East German team in all eight Olympiads between 1958 and 1972. 

    His opponent, Wolfram Bialas (1935-1998) was a German FM who was the West Berlin city champion in 1958, 1962). He played for West Germany in the Chess Olympiads in 1960, 1964 and 1964. 

 

[Event "E. German U20 Chp, Leipzig"] [Site "Leipzig"] [Date "1951.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Wolfram Bialas"] [Black "Burkhard Malich"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B53"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "1951.??.??"] {B53: Sicilian} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Nf6 5. Bg5 e6 6. Nc3 Nc6 7. Qd2 a6 8. Rd1 h6 (8... Be7 {is usual.} 9. Be2 b5 10. a3 Bb7 11. Bf4 e5 12. Bg5 b4 {with equal chances. Chandias,C-Rosito,J (2417) Pereyra Puebla 2006}) 9. Bh4 b5 10. Bd3 (10. e5 dxe5 11. Qxd8+ Nxd8 12. Nxe5 {is completely equal. After the text black gets slightly the better prospects.}) 10... Bb7 11. Qe2 Qa5 12. O-O Be7 13. e5 dxe5 14. Nxe5 Nd4 {More precise was 14...Nxe5} 15. Qe3 Nc6 {This loss of time has disastrous consequences. His best try was 15...Rd8} (15... Rd8 16. Ng6 {At least now this is not as devastating as after 15...Nc6} Bc5 (16... fxg6 {is unplayable.} 17. Bxg6+ Kf8 18. Rxd4 {White is winning. Note that exchanging Rs leads to nate.} Rxd4 19. Qxe6 {and black cannot prevent mate.}) 17. Qe5 Bd6 18. Qe3 Bc5 {If white wants to avoid the repetition he can get a slight advantage with} 19. Be4 fxg6 20. Bxb7 Qb6 21. Bxf6 gxf6 22. Ne4 Be7 23. c3 Qxb7 24. cxd4) 16. Ng6 {[%mdl 512] This winner no doubt caught black by surprise!} b4 (16... fxg6 17. Bxg6+ Kf8 18. Qxe6 { Here black can prevent the mate, but the cost is too high.} Ne5 19. Qxe5 Qb6 20. Rd7 Bc5 21. Rf7+ Kg8 22. Bxf6 {wins}) 17. Nxh8 bxc3 {White has a decisive advantage, but his followup allows Malich back in the game.} 18. Rfe1 (18. Bg6 {[%mdl 512] As clever as it is deadly.} fxg6 19. Bxf6 Qf5 (19... Bxf6 20. Qxe6+ {mate next move.}) 20. Bxc3 Rd8 21. Rfe1 Rxd1 22. Rxd1 Qxc2 23. Qd2 Qxd2 24. Rxd2 g5 25. Re2 {White's advantage is decisive.}) 18... Nd8 19. Ng6 fxg6 20. Bxg6+ Kf8 {Black has bulked up his defense and now it's anybody's game after either 21.b3 or even 21.bxc3} 21. Rxd8+ {[%mdl 8192] Clever, but bad!} Qxd8 $19 22. Qxe6 {Black can defend against the mate threat and black has a slight (N vs. 2Ps) material advantage which translates to a clear advantage.} Bd5 23. Qh3 Qc7 24. Qe3 Bf7 (24... Bxa2 {is a gome losing gaffe.} 25. Bxf6 cxb2 (25... Bxf6 26. Qe8+ Rxe8 27. Rxe8#) 26. Bxb2 {Black's exposed K will prove fatal. For example...} Rd8 27. Ba3 {wins material...} Kg8 (27... Bxa3 28. Qe8+ Rxe8 29. Rxe8#) 28. Qxe7 Qxe7 29. Rxe7) 25. Bg3 {There was really nothing better. White has completely collapsed!} Qc5 26. Bxf7 Qxe3 27. Rxe3 {The game is not completeyl over!} cxb2 (27... Kxf7 {This natural looking move makes life difficult for himself after} 28. Rxc3 {and white iban put up a fight.}) 28. Rb3 Rd8 {White resigned. A fighting game.} (28... Rd8 29. Kf1 Rd1+ 30. Ke2 b1=Q { wins}) 0-1

Another Lolli’s Theme

    If you ever worked in an office then the year 1932 was an important one for you; it was the year the staple remover was invented. It was also the year The Crime of the Century, Charles Lindbergh Jr., the infant son of Charles and Lindbergh, was kidnapped from the family home near Hopewell, New Jersey.

    Chessplayer Norman T Whitaker and his partner in crime tried to cash in on it and extort money from a wealthy heiress. Speaking of crime, most infamous person in America was probably Chicago gangster Al Capone 

    The text “This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental” is at the end of film came about because the Russian prince who killed Rasputin sued MGM for not accurately depicting Rasputin’s murder in their 1932 film Rasputin and the Empress. 

    In the Marshall Chess Club Championship an 18 year old college student at the City College of New York named Reuben Fine retained the Marshall Chess Club Championship, winning the tournament in brilliant style, without the loss of a game. 

    In the post of April 14, 2025, I gave an example of Lolli’s Theme. Here is another one. The white pieces were manipulated by Robert Levenstein (May 26, 1914 - May 1, 2009, 94 years old) who was the New York state champion in 1934. Levenstein was an accomplished pianist and performed for the New York Pro Musica for many years. He was a music educator before he retired. 

    The black pieces were handled by Rudolf Smirka (1887-1947) who was born in Vienna. He won the New York State championship in 1923 and 1927. He was one of the strongest members of the Marshall club in in the 1920s, winning the club championship in 1929-1930 after a playoff with Sidney Bernstein. 

 

[Event "Marshall Chess Club Championship"] [Site "New York, NY"] [Date "1932.11.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Robert Levenstein"] [Black "Rudolph Smirka"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E43"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "1932.??.??"] {E43: Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein Variation} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 {White does not mind the doubled Ps afte because it would leave him with the two Bs and an easily developed attack on the K-side.} 5. Qf3 {A fine move. the point of which is to take advantage of the deployment of the black pieces on the Q-side.} d5 6. Bd3 Bb7 {A good alternative is 6...Ba6} 7. Nge2 Nbd7 8. cxd5 {This is a good positional move, the idea of which is to block the diagonal of the N on b7.} exd5 9. O-O Qe7 {Black should have castled, but he was afraid that the ensuing attack on the K-side would be too strong, The disadvantage of the move played is that it allows white to eliminate black's dark squared B.} 10. Nb5 Nf8 11. a3 Bd6 12. Nxd6+ Qxd6 13. Ng3 {Aiming for Nf5} Ne6 (13... g6 {This followed by ...O-O-O was suggested by Reuben FIne as being slightly better, but actually it's much worse!} 14. e4 Qe6 15. Re1 N8d7 16. e5 Ne4 17. Bh6 O-O-O 18. Nxe4 dxe4 19. Bxe4 Bxe4 20. Rxe4 {Black has a miserable, and likely lost, position.}) 14. Nf5 Qd8 (14... Qd7 {loses to} 15. Nxg7+ Nxg7 16. Qxf6) 15. Qg3 O-O 16. f4 g6 {Black, already in a difficult position, unwittingly voluntarily sets up the Lolli's Theme formation. For beeter or worse he had to try 16...Ne4} 17. Nh6+ Kh8 18. f5 Ng7 19. Qh4 Ng8 (19... gxf5 { This can't possibly be good, but how does white proceed? There is no obvious tactical sequence to force the win, so I let the engine work on the position for about 20 minutes and this was the result...} 20. Bxf5 Ba6 21. e4 Nfh5 22. Qxd8 Raxd8 23. Rf2 dxe4 24. Bxe4 f5 25. Bc2 Bc4 26. Bd2 Bd5 27. Raf1 f4 28. Bxf4 Nxf4 29. Rxf4 Rxf4 30. Rxf4 Rc8 31. Nf7+ Kg8 32. Ne5 Rd8 33. Rh4 h5 34. Rf4 Rd6 35. Kf2 Ne8 36. Rf5 Nf6 37. Ke3 c5 38. dxc5 {Stockfish says white has a decisive advantage. The ancient (10 year old) Rybka 2.3.2a puts white's advantage at a more modest "clearly better." For himans things probably aren;y that clear.} bxc5 39. b3 h4 40. Kf4 Kf8 41. Kg5 h3 42. g3) 20. f6 Ne8 21. Nxg8 Rxg8 {Black has no longer any adequate defense.} (21... Kxg8 22. Rf3 h5 23. Bd2 (23. Qg5 Qd7 24. Rh3 Qg4 {equalizes}) 23... Qd7 24. Qg5 Qg4 25. Qh6 Bc8 26. Raf1 Bb7 27. h3 Qd7 28. Bxg6 fxg6 29. Qxg6+ {White has a mate...} Kh8 30. f7 Qd6 31. Qxh5+ Kg7 32. fxe8=N+ Raxe8 33. Rf7+ Rxf7 34. Rxf7+ Kg8 35. Qh7#) 22. Rf4 {Threatening mate with Qxh7+!} Rf8 23. Bd2 Qd6 24. Raf1 {This defends the P on f6/ White's Qh6 followed by Rh4 was not been possible up until now because of ...Nxg6.} h5 25. Qg5 {Black resigned. There is a forced mate.} (25. Qg5 c6 26. Qh6+ Kg8 27. Bxg6 Nxf6 28. Rxf6 fxg6 29. Qxg6+ Kh8 30. R1f5 Qxh2+ 31. Kxh2 Rf7 32. Rxh5+ Rh7 33. Rxh7#) 1-0

King Sider vs. Queen Sider

    

When one side is attacking on the Q-side and the other on the K-side, the game can take on a lively character. For example, when one side is conducting an all out attack on the Q-side the pieces left to defend the King might be reduced. Consequently, the other side can strike hard at the King. The tense situations leads to an exciting struggle. For the players, keen positional judgment is required to know when to press on and when to take time to defend.

    In today’s incredible game Lipschutz goes all out against Blackburne's Q-siden and Blackburne ignores it and playes for mate on the K-side. As might be expected, it’s the player who is attacking on the Q-side who is in the greatest danger because a breakthrough on the K-side is likely to be immediately decisive. That doesn’t mean that Q-side attacks can’t be successful, but in the following game black’s Q-side attack just falls short. 

    This game is reminiscent of the game Botvinnik-Capablanca, AVRO, 1938, in which Capablanca had a 3 to 1 P majority on the Q-side, but Botvinnik executed a crushing double sacrifice which laid Capablanca’s King bare. HERE 

 

[Event "American Chess Congress, New York"] [Site ""] [Date "1889.04.05"] [Round "?"] [White "Joseph Blackburne"] [Black "Samuel Lipschutz"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D55"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "1889.03.25"] {D55: Queen's Gambit Declined} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 {At the time this games was played the Queen's Gambit Declined enjoyed tremendous popularity that lasted into the 1920s when it was gradually replaced. mostly by the Indian defenses.} 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 b6 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 Bb7 7. Rc1 Nbd7 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Bd3 O-O 10. O-O {All this is pretty much usual. Now instead of the usual 10...c5, Lipschütz plays a move in an attempt to launch an attack.} Ne4 {While this move opens up the game, it has not been especially successful. Note that the N cannot be taken with impunity.} 11. Bf4 (11. Nxe4 dxe4 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. Rxc7 Bc8 14. Bb5 Qd8 {White must give up the exchange in order to save the N.}) 11... c5 12. Qe2 f5 {The usual move is 12...Nxc3. This creates a weakness on e6.} (12... Nxc3 13. bxc3 c4 14. Bc2 b5 {with equal chances. Arun Prasad,S (2492)-Mikhalevski,V (2592) Montreal 2008}) 13. Rfd1 c4 {A good move! with ni chances of conducting a successful K-sude attack Lipschutz turns his attention to the Q-side.} (13... g5 {was a suggestion by Blackburne as a good attacking move, but it was not a good idea at all.} 14. Bxe4 dxe4 15. Qc4+ Kh8 16. Be5+ Nxe5 17. Nxe5 Qe8 18. dxc5 Bxc5 19. Nd7 Qf7 20. Qxf7 Rxf7 21. Nxc5 bxc5 22. Nb5 {There is no attack and white has a positional superiority that should be sufficient to win.}) 14. Bxe4 fxe4 15. Ne5 Nf6 16. g4 {An attacking player, Blackburne has no interest in dealing with any threats on the Q-side and playing 16.b3} Qe8 17. Qf1 {The purpose of this retrograde Q move is to bring theQ into an attacking position on the g-file, but more expedient would have been 17.b3} Bd6 18. h3 Rd8 {Over preparing. The immediate `8...b5 was better.} 19. Qg2 {To reoeat, 19.b3 was more appropriate.} b5 {[%mdl 32]} 20. Ne2 { Intending to att the N to the attack.} b4 {Things are shaping up. The outcome depends in who get there,as Frank Marshall once put it, the fastest with the mostest.} 21. Ng3 {Theoretically black is better here as white's glut of pieces on the K-side do not coordinate very well.} Nd7 22. Nxd7 Rxd7 {[%mdl 32] } 23. Ne2 Bxf4 24. Nxf4 Rdf7 {Black has eliminated a couple of white's attacking pieces plus he has pressure in the f-file. This, coupled with his advantage on the Q-side gives him every reason to be optimistic.} 25. g5 Rf5 { A wise defensive move, the idea is to neet the advance of white's g-Pawn wiht . ..h6 threatening ...Rg5} 26. Kh1 a5 27. Rg1 Bc8 28. Qg3 {Blackburne thought this was a clever move, stating, "The beginning of a combination. Tempting black to attack the weak Pawns on the Queen's side."} Qa4 {To quote Blackburne, "He yields to the temptation." In annotating this game W.H. Cozens observed that white's Q-side is going to collapse, but the text move has the disadvantage in that "a powerful defender has left the K side." The reality is that in this position black stands considerably better. In Shootouts from this position black scored +4 -0 =1, so there is no reason to criticize this move.} 29. b3 cxb3 {It is this move that loses the advantage even though black gets two connected passed Ps! He needed to play 29...Qb5} (29... Qb5 30. bxc4 dxc4 31. h4 b3 32. axb3 cxb3 {Having the Q behind the Ps makes all the difference as the Ps are free to advance unhindered by theor own Q.}) 30. axb3 Qxb3 { You would think that the two united P passed Ps would lead to a quick win. However, here with the Q in front of the Ps, Blackburne has time to add another assets to his position...his R immediately penetrate to the 7th rank.} 31. Rc7 {With a R established on the 7th rank he has successfully added another piece to his attack. Suddenly it is black who must play alert defensively to maintain equailty.} a4 {[%mdl 8192] Lipschutz is oblivious to the danger! At this point the game was adjourned at white had to seal his move. Before play was resumed, Lipschutz was asked how his game stood. Jis reply was, "He has a little bit of an attack. But, my two passed Pawns must win." That's not really a surprising view because no less a player than Steinitz agreed. Engines make the observation that white has a mate in 9!} (31... Rxf4 {This surprising move is the only one that keeps the chances equal.} 32. g6 (32. exf4 Qxg3 {wipes out all white's attacking chances.}) 32... h6 33. exf4 {Again, the attack is gone and the chances are equal.}) 32. g6 {White mates.} h6 { Lipschutz played this instantly, still unaware of the true situation be;oeving that with his K-side now firmly closed nothing could stop jis Ps.} 33. Rxg7+ { [%mdl 512] This move came as a shock to Lipschutz and the spectators, including Steinitz.} Kxg7 {Here there is only one move that avoids loss, nut it leads to mate.} (33... Kh8 34. Qh4 Kxg7 35. Qe7+ R5f7 36. Nh5+ Kh8 37. g7+ Kh7 38. Nf6+ Rxf6 39. gxf8=Q+) 34. Nh5+ {[%mdl 512]} Rxh5 35. Qc7+ Kf6 36. Qd6+ {Black resigned, It's mate in 3} (36. Qd6+ Kg7 37. Qe7+ Rf7 38. Qxf7+ Kh8 39. Qh7#) 1-0

The Bishop Pair

    Everybody is familiar with the concept of the two Bishops and their superiority over a Knight and a Bishop. So much so that sometimes a Pawn may be sacrificed to gain them. Why is that and in what positions does that hole trur and how do you utilize that advantage? 

    In open positions the Bishop is generally the better piece, but its one disadvantage is that it is confined to squares of one color. This often allowes the opponent to freely maneuver on squares not covered by the Bishop. When there are two Bishops, this disadvantage all but disappears in an unblocked position. 

    In the following game Pachman skillfully uses his two Bishops to attack various points in Barcza’s position and eventually he exchanged one of them for an actively placed enemy piece which was sufficient to win.

    Barcza resigned in a hopelessly lost K+P ending, but as I began to play around with it I discovered that it has a few instructive points that make it worthwhile examining.

[Event "Zonal Tournament, Prague"] [Site ""] [Date "1954.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Gideon Barcza"] [Black "Ludek Pachman"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A04"] [Annotator "Stockfiah 18.1"] [PlyCount "100"] [EventDate "1954.??.??"] {Sicilian Dragon} 1. Nf3 {What do you call this opening? The Barcza System is characterized by Nf3, g3, Bg2 and O-O regardless of what blavk plays which is not the case here. Fritz analysis classifies it as the Sicilian Dragon because that's the formation black sets up.} c5 2. g3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. Nb3 d6 7. Nc3 Nf6 8. O-O O-O 9. e4 {With this move the position now resembles a Sicilian Dragon in which white has chosen a quiet, unassuming line of play.} Bd7 {Black has a wide choice here, but 9...Bg4 is probably the best as it pretty much compels white to play the passive 10.f3} 10. Nd5 Nxd5 11. exd5 Ne5 12. Nd4 {White had conceded the two Bs, but in return has gained a strong outpost for his N. Pachman now begins the process of using his Bs to undermine the N.} Qb6 (12... Qc8 13. Re1 Bg4 14. f3 Bh3 15. Bxh3 Qxh3 16. Re4 Rac8 {Black is better. Mrva,M (2485)-Romanov,E (2600) Rijeka CRO 2010}) 13. c3 Rac8 14. h3 Qc5 15. Qe2 Rfe8 16. Rd1 Nc4 17. Be3 {White is pretty much forced to give up the two Bs, but his N on d4 is compensation.} (17. Bg5 e5 18. dxe6 Bxe6 19. Nxe6 Rxe6 20. Qg4 Nxb2 {Black is better.}) 17... Nxe3 18. Qxe3 Qb6 { Attacking the b-Pawn and forcing white to make a defensive move.} 19. Qd2 Rc4 { Now the threat is 20...Bxd4 weakening white's Pawns and allowing black to control the c-file.} 20. b3 {This is just an Infinitesimal slip that weakens the c-Pawn which will soon be forced to advance to c4 which deprives the N of support. 20.Nf3 is not an ideal solution, but in the long run it was probably best.} Rc7 21. Rac1 a5 {Long rage strategy! Because white will eventually have to play c4, Pacj,an prepares the opening of a file on the Q-side. It's insteresting to note that engines consider this position completely equal, but GMs prefer black. Five Shootouts from this position were drawn so the equals evaluation is technically correct, but practically speaking black has all the winning chances.} 22. c4 a4 {Part of his strategy of opening a file oin the Q-side.} 23. Rb1 Ra8 {There is no reason to fear 24.bxa4} 24. Bf1 (24. bxa4 Qxd4 25. Qxd4 Bxd4 26. Rxd4 Rxa4 {White has to lose a P plus the remaining Ps are weak.}) 24... axb3 25. axb3 Rcc8 26. Qe3 {Pachman's plan was to play ... Ra3 and ...Rc8-a12 while Barcza's plan is to prepare to exchange Qs with the hope that the penetration of the black Rs will not be dangerous to his only weakness, the b-Pawn, which can easily be protected.} Ra2 27. Nf5 Qxe3 28. Nxe3 h5 29. Rd3 b5 {Sticking with his plan of doubling Rs on the a-file would have been better.} 30. cxb5 Bxb5 {White has two weak Ps (on b3 and d5) amd a bad B. A couple of small things, nut they will gain in significance.} 31. Rdd1 Rb8 { Pachman erroneously offers to trade white's bad B believeing that he would have no difficulty in exploiting the weak Ps on b3 and d5, but that does not seems to be the case. Five Shootouts were drawn; doeble R endings are always difficult and white placed his pieces on white squares rendering black's dark squared B rather useless.} 32. Nc4 {This is a bad decision. Exchanging Bs was correct. Now white really is in difficulty.} Bc3 {Pachman sets about inproving the position of his BS. The B heads for c5 from where it attacks the f-Pawn.} 33. Rbc1 Bb4 34. Ra1 {From the practical point of view keeping both Rs on mught have been a better idea. So, 34.Bd3} Rba8 35. Rxa2 Rxa2 36. Rb1 Ba6 { This B heads for b7 from where it puts pressure on the d-Pawn. At this point it's safe to say that white is lost.} 37. Rb2 Ra1 38. Rc2 {This is a bad square for the R. Somewhat better would have been 38.Kg2} (38. Kg2 Bb7 39. Ne3 Ra5 40. Bc4 e6 41. Kf1 exd5 {But even here white's position is pretty bad.}) 38... Bb7 39. Ne3 Bc5 {The exchange of the N, and with it the loss of at least a P, can no longer be avoided.} 40. Rd2 Bxe3 {This fine move eliminates white's one well placed piece and greatly simplifies the win.} 41. fxe3 { [%mdl 4096]} Ba6 42. Rf2 Kg7 43. Kg2 (43. b4 {is a better defense.} Bc4 44. Rf4 Bxd5 45. b5 Rb1 {and black has to take time to deal with this P. He does that by} 46. Kf2 Be6 47. Re4 d5 48. Rd4 Kf6 49. h4 Ke5 50. Be2 Rb2 51. Ke1 Bd7 52. Kd1 Bxb5 53. Bf3 Bc4) 43... Rxf1 {In this case white's outside passed P is no threat.} 44. Rxf1 Bxf1+ 45. Kxf1 {Black's K can easily stop the dangerous looking b-Pawn} Kf6 46. Ke2 (46. b4 {is met by} Ke5 47. b5 Kxd5 48. b6 Kc6) 46... Ke5 47. Kd3 Kxd5 48. b4 Kc6 49. Kc4 d5+ 50. Kd4 Kd6 {White resigned} ( 50... Kd6 51. b5 e5+ 52. Kd3 Kc5) (50... Kd6 51. e4 e5+ 52. Kd3 d4 53. Kc4 Kc6) (50... Kd6 51. Kc3 {This is the best defense. It is a good ending to play around with to see if you can win it! The strongest line is} e5 52. Kb3 Kc6 53. Ka4 Kb6 54. Kb3 Kb5 55. Kc3 f5 56. Kb3 g5 57. Kc3 Ka4 58. b5 Kxb5 59. Kd3 g4 60. hxg4 hxg4 61. Kc3 Kc5 62. Kd3 Kb4 63. Kd2 Kc4 64. Ke2 d4 65. Kd2 dxe3+ 66. Kxe3 Kc3 67. Ke2 Kd4 68. Kd2 e4 69. Kc1 Kd3 70. Kb2 e3 {mates in 7 moves.}) 0-1

A Lesson on Hanging Pawns

    In the notes to the game in the previous post it was mentioned that Hanging Pawns have a strategy all their own, so let’s take a look at what’s involved.

    Hanging Pawns (usually on c4 and d4 , or c5 and d5) with the adjacent files open) can be targets of attack. Assuming that it’s white with the hanging Pawns, black can place the d-Pawn under attack by moves like …Nc6, …Bf6 and …Rd8. Or he can attack the c-Pawn with moves like …Ba6, …Na5 and …Rc8. On the other hand both P’s have a dynamic potential. 

    If you know anything about handling the Isolated d-Pawn you know it has a tendency to advance to d5 given the opportunity. With Hanging Pawns this tendency is much stronger and there is a possibility of creating a passed Pawn by the advance d5. A passed Pawn could also be created by the advance c5, but this is much more rare. 

    From Black’s perspective the obligation to meet these threats prevents, or at least hinders, the attack on the Hanging Pawns. Also, the Pawns control several center squares (c5, d5 and e5) so they create a strong Pawn center. 

    Knowing the possibilities and plans of both sides will allow you to play with or against this type of P-formation with confidence. The plans are: 

 

White: 

1. Post pieces so that he threatens to create a strong passed Pawn by advancing one of them (usually the d-Pawn). 

2. Occupy e5 with a Knight and prepare a King side attack with the aid of the advance f2-f4-5. In this case, if black exchanges …exf5 then he has opened up the f-file for white’s attack and gives white a passed d-Pawn. If he allows white to exchange (f5xe6) then black’s Pawn on e6 has become weak. 

3. White can possibly carry out the advance a2-a4-5. In that case if black exchanges white has a passed c-Pawn and, additionally, has prospects of attacking the Pawn on a7. If black avoids the exchange white will do so leaving black with a weak Pawn on b6. 

 

Black: 

1. By suitable placing of his pieces (e.g. Bb7, Be7, Nf6) black can stop the Pawn’s from advancing, or, if they do, he can prepare a blockade of the resulting passed Pawn.  

2. At a suitable moment black can launch an attack on the hanging Pawns and force white to tie his pieces to their defense. 

3. In some cases black can undertake the advance …e5 or …b5. In either case if white exchanges, he has an isolated Pawn. If white pushes his Pawn (d5 or c5) then black can blockade the resulting passed Pawn and attack the adjacent backward Pawn. 

 

    The following game shows successful white strategy in addition to the tactical motifs that occur quite often in these types of positions. Playing over games of this type will pay dividends in that you will know the correct strategy and be familiar with the resulting tactical possibilities that result. This will bolster your confidence in these types of positions. 

[Event "Stockholm Interzonal"] [Site "Stockholm SWE"] [Date "1952.10.14"] [Round "?"] [White "Gedeon Barcza"] [Black "Harry Golombek"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E14"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "1952.09.15"] {E14: Queen's Indian: Classical Variation} 1. c4 Nf6 2. d4 e6 3. Nf3 {By playing 3.Nf3 qhite avoids the Nimzo-Indian. White can now play the ewlayed Bogo-Indian (3...Bb4+).} b6 {The idea behind the Q-Indian is that it increases black's control over the central light squares e4 and d5.} 4. e3 Bb7 5. Bd3 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 d5 8. b3 {The main alternative is 8...cxd5} c5 9. Qe2 cxd4 10. exd4 Nc6 11. Rd1 {White is preparing the break-through d4-d5 after the exchange on c4.} Rc8 12. Bb2 (12. a3 {lacks anf gumption.} Re8 13. Bb2 g6 14. b4 dxc4 15. Bxc4 Qc7 16. Nb5 Qb8 17. Nc3 Qc7 18. Nb5 Qb8 19. Nc3 {½-½ Balashov,Y (2600)-Tarjan,J (2535) Valetta 1980}) 12... Re8 {Not bad by any means, but more ambitious would have been 12...Nb4 which he soon plays when it's a bit too late.} (12... Nb4 {Now white can't preserve this B and use it for a K-side attack because 13.Bb1 hems in the R.} 13. Ne5 Nxd3 14. Qxd3 { and depending on his mood, black can play either 14...Ne5 or 14...dxc4 with a good game/}) 13. Rac1 dxc4 {GM Ludek Pachman stated that black is in trouble here, but that assessment is not correct. To this point Golombek's play has been quite satisfactory. Tje trouble arrives after his next move.} (13... Nb4 { was still a good alternative.} 14. Bb1 dxc4 15. bxc4 Bxf3 16. Qxf3 Rxc4 17. d5 exd5 18. a3 Nc6 19. Nxd5 Rxc1 20. Bxc1 Nxd5 21. Rxd5 Qc8 {with complete equality/}) 14. bxc4 Qc7 {This is a serious mistake. It was his last chance to play ...Bb4 with effect.} (14... Nb4 {leads to a an even position after} 15. Bb1 Bxf3 16. Qxf3 Rxc4 17. d5 exd5 18. a3 Nc6 19. Nxd5 Rxc1 20. Bxc1 Nxd5 21. Rxd5 Bf8 22. Be3 Qe7 23. g3 {with full equality.}) (14... Nb4 15. d5 {as in the game is not playable.} exd5 16. Nxd5 (16. cxd5 Bf8 17. Qd2 Nxd3 18. Qxd3 Qd7 {Black has tremendous pressure on the d-Pawn.}) 16... Bxd5 17. cxd5 Rxc1 18. Bxc1 Bc5 19. Qf1 Ng4 {and black is clearly better.}) 15. d5 {Grabbing the initiative and not letting go of it!} exd5 {This is the fatal error! Even though ...Nb4 has lost much of its effectiveness, it was still his nest chance. } (15... Nb4 16. Nb5 Qf4 17. d6 Nxd3 18. Rxd3 a6 19. Na7 Bxd6 20. g3 Qe4 21. Qxe4 Nxe4 22. Nxc8 Rxc8 {White is clearly better, but at least black can fight on.}) 16. Nxd5 Qb8 17. Qd2 (17. Ng5 {packs a greater wallop.} h6 18. Nxf7 Kxf7 19. Bxf6 Bxf6 20. Qh5+ Kf8 21. Nxf6 gxf6 22. Qxh6+ Kf7 23. Bg6+ Ke6 24. Qh3+ Ke7 25. Rd7+ Kf8 26. Qh8#) 17... Nxd5 18. cxd5 Nb4 {Finally, but the move has lost its effectiveness.} 19. Be4 {Barcza has failed to finish off his opponent in the most expeditious manner.} (19. Bc4 b5 20. Be5 Bd6 21. Bxb5 Rxc1 22. Rxc1 Rf8 23. Bc6 {White's extra P and active pieces should prove decisive.}) 19... Rxc1 20. Rxc1 {[%mdl 128] White clearly has the stronger position, but Golombek's next move seals his fate/} Rd8 {[%mdl 8192]} (20... Na6 21. Rd1 Nc5 22. Bf5 Bc8 23. Bb1 Qd6 24. Re1 Bd7 25. Be5 Qh6 {White's K-side attack is stymied and he can only hope to cash in on his extra space, but black is well entrenched. In Shootouts white scored +2 -0 =3, in some long, difficult endings.}) 21. Qd4 {The finalk onslaught. Barcza has prepared a nice finish.} f6 (21... Bf6 {results in the loss of a piece.} 22. Qxb4 Bxb2 23. Qxb2 Bxd5 24. Bxd5 Rxd5) 22. Bxh7+ {[%mdl 512]} Kxh7 23. Qe4+ {White is clearly winning.} Kg8 24. Qxe7 Nxd5 25. Qe6+ Kh8 26. Qh3+ Kg8 27. Ng5 {[%mdl 512] A nice finishing touch!} fxg5 28. Qe6+ {Black resigned.} (28. Qe6+ {The finish might be} Kh7 ( 28... Kf8 29. Ba3+) 29. Qf7 Rd7 (29... Rg8 30. Qh5#) 30. Qxd7 Qf8 31. Qxb7) 1-0

Learning From the Old Masters

    Yesterday a cold front went past here and brought with it furnace igniting temperature, drizzling rain and wind that would blow the hair off a dog. It was a good day to look at some old games. 

    Back in the old days when all we had was chess books and no computers, my favorite books were tournament books and game collections. Alekhine, Tartakower, Reshevsky and Botvinnik were my favorites. 

    One book that I wore the cover off of was Botvinnik’s 100 Selected Games. They were games he played before becoming World Champion in 1948 and cover the period from his first big tournament which was the 1927 USSR Championship up to Groningen 1946. I was flabbergasted to read one Amazon review in which the reviewer gave the book only one star! His reasons: 1) the bbok is in descriptive notation and 2) Stockfish punches holes in Botvinnik’s analysis. 

    In answer to the first point, anyone of at least below average intelligence can learn descriptive notation in a few minutes, so that should be no problem. As to the second point, today’s engines do punch holes (occasionally BIG ones) in old analysis. However, nobody except correspondence players are playing against engines. 

    Reading these old books can still be helpful, or if you are not looking to up your game, they can still be very enjoyable. After all, at one time Botvinnik was the best player in the world and so he must have known something about chess that we can lean from him. Studying classic games can be a valuable learning tool even if the annotators missed a lot of tactics (which is usually the area where engines point out their gaffs), but they help you understand strategy and recognize patterns. 

    Experts recommend that when you study these games you use an actual board, (unless, I suppose, the only place you play is on the Internet!) and try out moves and use the engine to show you what’s wrong (or maybe even right) with your move selection. Or, if you’re no longer looking to improve, just enjoy the games.

` The following is an instructive early game of Botvinnik’s that was played in the 1926 Leninggrad Championship. A loss to Ilya Rabinovich ruined his chances of winning the tournament, but his tie for second was a good achievement. 

    His opponent was Abram Model (1896-1976), a Soviet Master and early coacj of Botvinnik, who had his title revoked by the Soviet chess authorities due to lack of good results. He was born in Daugavpils, Latvia, then moved to St. Petersburg. He shared third place in the 1927 USSR Chess Championship and during World War II, he won the Championship of Leningrad in 1944. 

    What I found interesting about this game is that the Tactical Analysis with Stockfish assigns Botvinnik an Accuracy rating of only 49% which means that only half of his moves were what Stockfosh though was the best move. Even so, the moves he played were within mere hundredths of a Centipawn of the engine's top choices. 

[Event "Leningrad ch"] [Site "Leningrad URS"] [Date "1926.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Abram Model"] [Black "Mikhail Botvinnik"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D05"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "54"] [EventDate "1926.??.??"] {D05: Colle-Zuckertort System} 1. Nf3 d5 2. b3 Nf6 3. Bb2 e6 4. e3 c5 5. d4 { Model was an advocate of Nimzovich's 1.Nf3 and 2.b3, did not use Nimzovich's Bb5, instead preferring this, the Zukertort System.} Nc6 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. c4 {The opening has morphed from the rather innocuous setup to one that more resembles an innocuous QP Opening. Against the usual 8.Nbd2 b;aclk has a wide choice of playable moves.} b6 9. Ne5 Bb7 10. cxd5 exd5 11. Nd2 (11. Nxc6 Bxc6 12. dxc5 bxc5 {Black has Hanging Pawns which have a strategy of all their own. Botvinnik was of the opinion that they give no advantage to either side.}) 11... Qe7 12. Ndf3 Ne4 13. Rc1 Nb4 14. Bb1 f6 {An interesting move. Probably few humans would play this and Stockfish, Dragon by Komodo, Lc0 and Fritz 19 all looked at ot for a fraction of a second before moving on to another move. However, after playing 14...f6 thge evaluations of all engines remained dead level.} 15. Nd3 {Black has the more active position, the position is pretty boring as white has almost no attacking chances and finds himself on the defensive...almost always a bad place to be.} Nxd3 16. Bxd3 Rfd8 17. Nh4 { IThis move is hardly bad, but in view of what happens later retreating to d2 would have been safer.} g6 18. Qe2 Rac8 19. Qg4 Qd7 {This looks like it loses a P and Model takes the bait. Engines want to play passivr stuff like 19...Ng4 or 19...c4} 20. Qxd7 {A reasonable option os to retreat the Q according to the engines, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with the text.} Rxd7 21. Bxe4 { Barking up the wrong tree...he is going afyer the offered P. 21.dxc5 qnd 22. Rfd1 is rock solid.} dxe4 $17 22. dxc5 Bxc5 23. Bxf6 {[%mdl 8192] Model was an excellent tactician, but he was apparently fixated on winning the P and did not check the results of this capture which loses quickly. He would have had some hope of saving himselgf after 23.Rfd1} Rf8 24. Bg5 {It doesn't matter where the B retreat tp because the finish is the same/} Rd5 25. Bh6 Rfd8 { The N has no retreat so hpw can white save it?} 26. Kh1 {He can'i.} (26. g3 Ba6 27. Rfe1 Bb4 {wins the exchange.}) (26. f3 Ba6 27. fxe4 Rh5) 26... g5 27. g3 gxh4 {White resigned.} 0-1

Sacrifices on f7 and c7 by Mecking

Before getting to the post, you might want to check out ssuitesoftware. The site has tons of free quality office software and applications without any restrictions attached, no trial trial software, etc...just useful programs. 

 

    All players know that in the opening the f7-square is the weakest point in black’s camp and catastrophes on that square can happen. Catastrophes on f7 aren’t limited to the opening though; they can happen in the middlegame. And, and they don;t just happen to amateurs; even masters can fall victim as Tan did in this game when the Brazilian Grandmaster pulled off a stunning coup starting with a Bishop sacrifice on f7 and then following it up with a Rook sacrifice on c7. The game was played in the Interzonal at Petropolis, Brazil in 1972.

 

    Henrique Mecking (b. 1952) was born in Santa Cruz do Sul, a city of about 130,000 in southern Brazil. He learned chess at the age of 6 at by age 11 he won his state championship at the age of 11. The in 1965, at the age of 13, he was the Brazilian champion. A long series of successes followed until 1979, when he was attempting his third consecutive Interzonal victory...he was forced to withdraw having been stricken with myasthenia gravis.

    Myasthenia gravis is a chronic autoimmune disorder that causes muscle weakness, particularly affecting the muscles responsible for eye movement, facial expression and swallowing. Over the long term, the symptoms usually progress, reaching maximum or near-maximum severity within one to three years. Most people, when properly treated, find they can remain physically active. It tool years, but he was eventually able to return to chess, but, naturally, not at the top levels. Mecking authored a bool telling his story and how Jesus Christ saved his life. 

    His opponent was Tan Lian Ann (b. 1947) from Singapore who was awarded the IM title in 1963.bHe was six times champion of Singapore.

 

[Event "Petropolis Interzonal"] [Site ""] [Date "1973.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Henrique Mecking"] [Black "Lian-Ann Tan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A29"] [Annotator "Stickfisg 17.1"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "1973.07.23"] {A29: English Opening: Four Knights Variation} 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 ( 3... e4 {is, of course, premature...} 4. Ng5 Qe7 5. Qc2 {and the e-Pawn is lost,}) 4. g3 Bb4 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O e4 {Black usually plays 6...h6 or 6...Re7. The advance of the e-Pawn doesn't accomplish much.} 7. Ng5 Bxc3 8. bxc3 Re8 9. d3 exd3 10. exd3 d6 11. Rb1 {Hindering the develoipment of black's B.} h6 12. Ne4 {The N goes here and not f3 because it invites the exchange of Ns.} Nxe4 13. Bxe4 {Black is in no danger yet, but note that he has no pieces defending his K.} Ne5 {Black has tried 13...Qf6 a few time, but the text is perfectly satisfactory.} 14. f4 {Sharp play! The safe 14.Bd4 is not for Mecking. Black should play 14...Bg4 with a good game.} Nxc4 15. f5 d5 16. Bg2 Ne3 17. Bxe3 $1 Rxe3 18. f6 {Technically this position is equal, but white obviously has the initiative which is a dangerous thing in Mecking's hands.} g6 19. Qd2 Re6 20. Qxh6 Rxf6 21. Rxf6 Qxf6 22. Bxd5 {Black is facing some difficulty here oner how to defend against an attack on f7. Tan mkaes the bold, and correct decision) to offer up his b-Pawn and shield f7 and at the same timeget his R on a8 into play.} Bf5 23. Rxb7 {Mecjing has reached a tricky position! How does black defend?} Rd8 (23... Bxd3 {Threarening mate on f1} 24. Qf4 Qe7 25. Rxc7 Qe1+ 26. Kg2 Bf1+ 27. Qxf1 Qd2+ 28. Kg1 Qxd5 {and it;s doubtful white can win even with the extra P}) (23... Qe5 {is the correct defense because after} 24. Bxf7+ (24. Bc4 Qe1+ 25. Kg2 Re8 26. Rb2 Re2+ 27. Rxe2 Qxe2+ 28. Kg1 { Black draws} Qe1+ (28... Bxd3 {leads to a lost B+P ending} 29. Qxg6+ Bxg6 30. Bxe2) 29. Kg2 Qe2+) 24... Kxf7 25. Rxc7+ Ke6 26. Qh7 {Black can draw with 26... Qe1+ or he can try} Qe3+ 27. Kg2 Qe2+ 28. Kg1 {but he still has to take the draw.}) 24. Bc4 Qxc3 {[%mdl 8192] This loses outright. After 24...Bxd3 the chances would be equal.} (24... Bxd3 $15 {keeps the upper hand.} 25. Bxd3 Qf3 26. Rxc7 Qxd3) 25. Bxf7+ {[%mdl 512] An excellent example of a B sacrifice the point of which appears next move.} Kxf7 26. Rxc7+ {[%mdl 512] This second sacrifice is a decoy.} Qxc7 27. Qh7+ Ke6 28. Qxc7 Rxd3 29. Qxa7 Rd1+ 30. Kf2 Rd2+ 31. Kf3 Rd3+ 32. Kf4 Kf6 33. Qa6+ {Black resigned.} 1-0

Lolli’s Mate Pattern

    Lolli’s Mate is a common mate pattern performed by the cooperation between the Q and a P, typically against a castled K. It’s named after Giambattista Lolli, an Italian player from the 18th century. The Belgian player Jozef Boey pulled it off against Malcolm Barker of England in the following game. The game doesn’t end in mate, but once Boey establishes the Lolli Theme black was so tied down that there was nothing he could do. 

    In 1950, to celebrate the Jubilee of both the Warwickshire Chess Association and the Erdington C.C., it was decided to hold an international tournament for boys under the age of twenty. It was an experiment...never before had a Junior International been held. 

    In the last round Haggqvist defeated Marshall to become the winner. I was unable to discover any information about Bjorn Haggqvist except that he was born on March 5, 1930. Chessgames.com only has 14 of his games, played between 1950 and 1957. 

 

     The winner of the following game was Jozef Boey (1934-2016), who went on to obtain the IM title and the Correspondence GM title. From the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s he was one of Belgium's leading chess players and was Belgian champion in 1959 (with O’Kelly), 1964, 1965 and 1971 (with Verstraeten).

    Chess.com has an excellent article on Barker HERE. In this event, Barker irked the organizers when he made no secret of the fact that he regarded the tournament as only a warming-up" contest for the British Boys’ Championship which immediately followed at Hastings. No doubt their annoyance was furthered when he clinched the championship on his 16th birthday and finished with a score of 7.5-1.5. 

 

[Event "Birmingham U20 International"] [Site ""] [Date "1950.04.05"] [Round ""] [White "Jozef Boey"] [Black "Malcolm Barker"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C18"] [Annotator "Stockfiah 17.1"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "1950.04.03"] {C18: French Defense, Winawer Variation} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 {Named after Szymon Winawer, this move was pioneered by Nimzvich andm especially, Botvinnik in the 1940s. The pin on the N forces white to resolve the central tension. White normally clarifies the situation with 4.e5, gaining space and hoping to show that black's B is misplaced.} 4. e5 c5 5. a3 cxd4 {An unusual sideline that is not particularly effective. Usual is 5...Bxc3. While White has doubled Ps, which form the basis for black's counterplay, can also help white since they strengthen the center and give him a semi-open b-file. White also has a spatial advantage on the K-side. The long-term features of the P-structure favors black.} 6. axb4 dxc3 7. bxc3 Qc7 {Attacking twi Ps...how does white reply?} 8. Qd4 {This defends both Ps, but he could also have sacrificed one of them.} (8. Nf3 {This move is frequently seen; black's best replies are 8...Ne7 or 8...Nc6} Qxc3+ {is not as good as it looks. After} 9. Bd2 Qc7 10. Bd3 {White has suffucuent compensation for the P.}) (8. f4 { is also good, and, again,} Qxc3+ {should be avoided.} 9. Bd2 Qc7 10. Bd3 { with compensation.}) 8... Nc6 9. Bb5 Nge7 10. f4 Bd7 {Black is slightly better. } 11. Bxc6 Nxc6 {White has lost time with his Q and his two Bs (part of his advantage) have disappeared. Both sides have bad Bs.} 12. Qd3 O-O 13. Nf3 Rfc8 14. O-O (14. Ng5 {was a promising alternative.} g6 15. Qh3 h5 16. O-O Ne7 { Repositioning the N for defensive purposes.} 17. Bd2 Nf5 18. g4 {with some attacking chances, but black appears to have adequate defensive chances.In Shootouts white scored +2 -0 =3}) 14... a6 {Better was 14...h6 to prevent 15. Ng5} 15. Rf2 (15. Ng5 g6 16. Qh3 h5 17. g4 {is even stronger than previously indicated because of the abscence of black's N from the K-side defense.}) 15... Na7 {This is a major error...the N was needed on the K-side sdo 15...Ne7 was correct/ Perhaps black had attacking the c-Pawn on his mind.} 16. Bb2 { Defending the P was not necessary. Again, 16.Ng5 was very strong. However, this bad B has a bright future in that it will eventually get outside the P-chain and find itself playing a key role in the win!} Bb5 17. Qe3 Nc6 { This position is deceptively complicated!} 18. Nd4 {With the Q having been forced off the b1-h7 diagonal playing the N to g5 has lost all of its effect.} (18. Ng5 h6 {The N has to go back and black can start play on the Q-side with the advance of his a-Pawn.}) 18... Bc4 19. Re1 a5 20. f5 Nxd4 {After this white gies on the attack.} (20... exf5 21. Nxf5 Re8 22. Qg3 {This is a tricky position! The natural looking defense og 22...g6 loses.} f6 {is the only defense, but it holds.} (22... axb4) (22... g6 23. Nh6+ Kf8 24. e6 Re7 (24... Qxg3 25. Rxf7#) 25. Qh4 d4 26. Qf6 Rxe6 27. Rxe6 Bxe6 28. Nxf7 Bxf7 29. Qh8+ Ke7 30. Rxf7+ Kxf7 31. Qxh7+ {wins.}) 23. bxa5 Nxe5 24. h3 Rxa5 25. Nh6+ Kh8 26. Rxe5 fxe5 27. Nf7+ Kg8 {White has to take the draw with} 28. Nh6+ {etc.}) 21. Qxd4 {Both sides err here!} ({secures the advantage.} 21. f6 Ne2+ 22. Rfxe2 Bxe2 (22... axb4 {is better.} 23. cxb4 (23. Qg5 Qc5+ 24. Kh1 g6 25. Qh6 Qf8 { defends and leaves black with a decisive advanrage.}) 23... Qd8 24. Rf2 g6 25. h4 Kh8 {White still has a very promising position.}) 23. Qg5 g6 24. Qh6 { The Lolli Theme}) {Black is unaware of the lurking danger. He needed to play 21...exf55 whicj eliminates all danger on the K-side.} 21... axb4 (21... exf5 22. bxa5 Rxa5 23. Rxf5 Ra2 24. Bc1 Rxc2 {Black has equalized because white has no effective way to contiue attacking.} 25. e6 fxe6 26. Bf4 Qe7 27. Rg5 g6 28. h4 Rf8 29. Be5 Qf7 30. h5 Qf2+ 31. Qxf2 Rfxf2 32. hxg6 hxg6 33. Rxg6+ Kf7 { and a draw will be the outcome.}) 22. cxb4 (22. f6 {Doesn't quite work because black can defend against the threat of mate on g7 and as a result he comes out on top.} bxc3 23. Qg4 g6 24. Qh4 Kh8 25. Qh6 Rg8 26. Bxc3 Bd3 27. cxd3 Qxc3 { with a significant advantage.}) 22... Ra2 23. f6 g6 24. Qe3 Qd8 25. Bd4 { Refer back to the observation about this B on move 16.} Kh8 26. Bc5 Rca8 (26... g5 {This cunning move offers black his best hope.} 27. Qxg5 Qg8 28. Qh6 Qg6 29. Bf8 Qxh6 30. Bxh6 Rca8 {and white is only slightly better.}) 27. Qd2 {There is no time for this!} (27. Qh6 Qg8 28. h4 {Keeps the attack going.} g5 {The magic move again! It allows black to exchange Qs after} 29. hxg5 Qg6 {with some chance of surviving.}) 27... Ra1 {Safer was the immediate 27...Qg8} 28. Rf3 Qb8 29. Bd4 Rxe1+ 30. Qxe1 Ra2 31. Qc1 {At this point black should have take time to defend g7 and play either 31...Qf8 or 31...Qg8.} Be2 32. Qh6 Qg8 33. Bc5 Ra8 (33... Rxc2 {falls into a mate.} 34. Bf8 {[%mdl 512] and mate on g7 cannot be prevented.}) 34. Ra3 {Trying to lure the R away from the back rank so he can play Bf8} Rc8 35. Re3 {Attacking the B doesn;t gain much, but attacking with 35.h4 is different.} (35. h4 Re8 {Black is pretty much reduced to shuffling his R back abd forth while white further improves his position.} 36. Ra5 Rc8 37. Bb6 Rb8 38. Rc5 Qf8 39. Qxf8+ Rxf8 40. Kf2 Bc4 41. Rc7 Ba6 42. Bc5 {wins.}) 35... Bg4 36. Rg3 Bf5 37. c3 Ra8 38. h4 Rb8 {The next few moces are a bit tedious as white slowlt improves his position.} 39. Bd6 Rc8 40. Rf3 b5 41. Rf2 Bd3 42. Ra2 Bc4 43. Ra7 Bd3 44. Rb7 Bc4 45. Rb8 {Black resigned.} (45. Rb8 Rxb8 46. Bxb8 g5 {in order to play ...Qg6} 47. h5 Be2 48. Bd6 {so as to play Bg7+ so black has no choice. It's been an amazing journey for this B.} Bxh5 49. Qxh5 {and white wins}) 1-0