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