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

The Vera Menchik Club

    In the pre-World ld War Two days one club that nobody wanted to join was The Vera Menchik Club. Membership required losing a tournament game to her and the club membership included Dr. Max Euwe, Samuel Reshevsky, Edgar Colle, Lajos Steiner, Sultan Kahn, Sir George Thomas, F.D. Yates. Albert Becker and William Winter, all big names back in those days.   

    Vera Menhik Stevenson (February 16, 1906 – June 26, 1944) was born to English and Czech parents in Moscow. She was married to Rufus Henry Streatfeild Stevenson, who at one time served as secretary of the British Chess Federation, from 1937 until his death in 1943. She learned to play chess at the age of nine and, after her family settled in England in 1921, she began taking lessons from Geza Maroczy. 

    Her style was positional and she was also known for her endgame expertise. Chessmetric estimates her highest rating to have been 2535 in 1929m ranking her #52 in the world. The top players were Alekhine. Capablanca, Nimzovich, Bogoljubow and Euwe. 

    Menchik was Women's World Champion from 1927 until 1944, when a German V1 rocket destroyed her London residence, killing her, her mother and her younger sister Olga Menchik. Watch a Youtube video

    The virtually unknown Olga Menchik (1907-1944) was also born in Moscow. In January 1927, Vera won the London ladies championship, and Olga finished second. She finished fourth in the Women's World Championship at Warsaw in 1935, and tied for 17–20th in the sixth WWC at Stockholm in 1937. In 1938, she married a Briton named Clifford Glanville. 

    At London 1932, the prominent British Master Sir George Thomas (1881-1972, 91 years old) joined the Vera Menchik Club. Thomas was born near Istanbul, Turkey. He learned chess from his mother, Lady Edith Thomas, who won one of the first women's tournaments that was held in Hastings in 1895. He was the British Champion in1923 and 1934.

 

    In addition to chess, Thomas wass the most successful player ever in the All England Open Badminton Championships, considered the unofficial World Badminton Championships, with 21 titles from 1903 to 1928. Four of those titles were in men's singles, nine in men's doubles and eight in mixed doubles. In tennis, he reached the quarterfinals of the singles and the semifinals of the men's doubles at Wimbledon in 1911. 

  

[Event "London"] [Site "] [Date "1932.02.04"] [Round "?"] [White "Vera Menchik"] [Black "Sir George Thomas"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E85"] [Annotator "Dragon by Komodo"] [PlyCount "47"] [EventDate "1932.02.01"] {E85: King's Indian: Sämisch} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 { Developed by the German Friedrich Saemisch in the 1920s, this often leads to very sharp play with players conducting attacks on their opponent's Ks which are castled on opposite sides.} O-O 6. Be3 e5 {Equally popular is 6...c5} 7. Nge2 {The alternative is 7.d5} b6 {This is not especially effective. The modern way is 7...c6} 8. Qd2 Nc6 (8... c5 9. d5 a6 10. Rb1 Ne8 11. g4 b5 12. cxb5 axb5 13. Nxb5 f5 {Black has a poor game. Castaldo,F (2330)-Likavsky,T (2485) Arvier 2007}) 9. d5 Ne7 10. g4 Nd7 11. Rg1 a5 {Both sides are going after their or opponent’s King. As Frank Marshall once put it, the outcome will depend on who can get there the fastest with the mostest.} 12. O-O-O Nc5 13. Ng3 Bd7 14. h4 a4 15. h5 Qb8 16. Bh6 {It's pretty clear that white has a significant advantage and the elimination of dark squared Bs leave black at a serious disadvantage.} Qa7 {Practically spealing 16...b5 was worth a try if for no other reason than ot complicates the issuue a bit.} 17. Bxg7 $18 Kxg7 18. Nf5+ {Crushing! Had white played 18.hxg6 her advantage would have been much less and black might then have had a fighting chance.]} Nxf5 (18... gxf5 { gets him mated.} 19. Qg5+ Kh8 20. Qf6+ Kg8 21. h6 {and mate on g7 cannot be prevented.}) 19. gxf5 {Threatening mate with f6+ which Thomas misses...not that it matters!} a3 {This loses quickly,.} (19... f6 20. hxg6 h6 21. Rh1 Rh8 { Holds up the attack a bit and would force white to work a little harder. Here is Dragon by Komodo's top line:} 22. Bd3 h5 23. Rh4 a3 24. b4 Nb3+ 25. axb3 a2 26. Qxa2 Qxa2 27. Nxa2 Rxa2 28. Rdh1 Ra1+ 29. Bb1 Raa8 30. f4 Rh6 31. fxe5 fxe5 32. Rxh5 {There is no question that white is winning/}) 20. f6+ {White mates in 8 moves.} Kh8 (20... Kxf6 21. Qg5+ Kg7 22. h6+ Kg8 23. Qf6 {and it's mate on g7}) 21. Qh6 axb2+ 22. Kb1 Rg8 23. hxg6 fxg6 {He could have held out an another two moves by playing something else, but this allows Menchik to pull off a nifty finish.} 24. Qxh7+ {[%mdl 512] Black resigned.} (24. Qxh7+ Kxh7 25. Rh1+ Bh3 26. Rxh3#) 1-0

Benko Bashes Fischer

    The 1962 Candidates Tournament in Curacao was a disappointment for Bobby Fischer; he finished fourth with a score of 14-13 behind Tigran Petrosian, Paul Keres and Efim Geller, but ahead of Viktor Korchoi, Pal Benko, Mikhail Tal and Miroskav Filip. 

    Fischer's poor result resulted in him howling about how the Soviet players colluded to prevent non-Soviets from winning. He alleged that the short draws Petrosian, Keres and Geller played against each other were prearranged. They were and his accusations resulted in FIDE changing the Candidates Tournament to a series of knockout matche.

    Fischer was also involved in a dispute involving Pal Benko and the use of their second, Arthur Bisguier. The USCF didn’t have the money to furnish noth players with a second, so they had to share Bisguier. 

    Benko and Bisguier showed up at Fuscher’s hotel room hopong he would assist in analyzing Benko;s adjourned game against Petrosian, but Fischer had a hissy fit and refused to let Bisguier help Benko, arguing that since he was in a better position in the tournament, his games should take priority. 

 The result was a physical altercation when Benko refused to leave tFischer’s room. Fischer filed a formal protest with tournament officials, claiming Benko hit him. The way I heard it told was that Benko slapped him.

    Fast forward to 1970. Benko gave his place in the 1970 Interzonal tournament to Fischer because Fischer was the best hope for winning the world championship. Benko had qualified from the U.S. Championship (Fischer did not participate), which was a zonal qualifier.

    Getting back to this Benko vs. Fischer game played in the first round at Curacao, Benko opined that losing this game “had a very negative effect on Fischer and in the next round against Geller he lost again...When (the tournament was over) his great performances (in other tournaments) were overshadowed...” 

 Benko opened with 1.g3 which is rarely seen in GM play, but he played it in every game until the round 23. Fischer had difficulty handling it and Benko got a space advantage, won a Pawn, and despite his usual time trouble, he managed to secure a winning advantage. In annotating the game I found Benko’s comments very enlightening. 

 

[Event "Curacao Candidates"] [Site ""] [Date "1962.05.02"] [Round "1"] [White "Pal Benko"] [Black "Robert Fischer"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B07"] [Annotator "Benko and Stockfish "] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "1962.05.02"] {B07: Pirc Defense} 1. g3 {Benko like this move because it is flexible and allows many opotunities for transposition. He bekeved that it could also "take the opponent into positions that he's not completely familiar with." He warned that it "demands sophisticated positional technique."} Nf6 2. Bg2 g6 3. e4 d6 4. d4 Bg7 5. Ne2 O-O 6. O-O e5 7. Nbc3 {Benko played this move (instead if 7. c4) hoping to catch Fischer by surprise.} c6 {At the time white's setup was fairly new and today the usual move is 7...Nc6 as suggested by Fischer after the game.} 8. a4 {The purpose of this move is to prevent black from expanding on the Q-side.} Nbd7 9. a5 {This gains space on the Q-side. In a later game against Benko, Tal prvented it by playing 8...a5} exd4 {This is often seen in the K-Indian. Black accepts a weak P on d6 with the hope of gaining activity for his pieces. Benko explained that in this position the N on d7 doesn't have permanent access to the key square c5 because white can always chase it away by playing b2-b4. Benko also pointed out that black's d-Pawn is a serious liability because black won't be able to generate any pressure against the P on e4 because a black N on c5 would play a major role in attack ong it.} 10. Nxd4 Nc5 (10... Re8 11. a6 Qc7 12. axb7 Bxb7 13. Nb3 a5 14. Re1 Ne5 {with even chances. Gil Gonzales,J (2355)-Izeta Txabarri,F (2510) Spain 1993}) 11. h3 Re8 12. Re1 Nfd7 {Benko was critical of this move because it eases the pressure on hisy e-Pawn, which allows him to develop his B to e3. Actually, black does not have a very good success rate from this position and so the text move is probably as good as any.} 13. Be3 Qc7 14. f4 Rb8 15. Qd2 b5 {Fischer is hoping to get some play on the Q-side.} 16. axb6 axb6 17. b4 {"Forcing the c5 -Knight away from its active perch." Benko} (17. e5 $1 $18 Bb7 18. Ra7) 17... Ne6 $16 18. b5 {Destroying the c6-pawn's guard over d5, and thus giving White's Knight access to that very fine central post} Nxd4 19. Bxd4 Bxd4+ 20. Qxd4 c5 { This is a poor move after which the weaknesses in his position, the lag in development and weaknesses on d5 as a result of this move and his weak d-Pawn, according to Benko, "guarantee his demise." Instead of this he should have tried ...Bb7 and ...Nc5} 21. Qd2 $18 Bb7 22. Rad1 Re6 23. e5 {[%mdl 512] Excellent! This wins material because blacks's P is pinned.} Bxg2 {With the elimination of the Bs Fischer is hoping to get some plat on the light squares.} 24. Kxg2 Qb7+ 25. Kf2 Rd8 26. exd6 {Benko pointed out that even though he has won a P, "the game isn't over since the Pawn is blocked and in need of support. " Also, his K is exposed. He added this bit of wisdom, "Transforming a winning position into the full point is often very difficult, and this game is yet another reminder of this fact."} Nf6 27. Rxe6 fxe6 28. Qe3 Kf7 29. Qf3 Qb8 { Trading Qs was just a bit better according to engines, but Benko observed that after 29...Qxf3 "white's central K would become advantageously placed (an exposed K is only bad if there are heavy pieces on the board that can scare it) . Now white has to deal with his threatened d-Pawn," Instructive commentary!} ( 29... Qa8 {was worth a try.} 30. Qc6 Qa3) 30. Ne4 Nxe4+ 31. Qxe4 {[%mdl 4096] The fact that white has an extra P means he has a won game, but the ending still requires great skill. The fact that Benko keeps the win in hand despite his usual time ptrssure is impressive.} Rd7 32. Qc6 Qd8 33. Kf3 Kg7 34. g4 { A terrific move that gains space on the K-side.} e5 {An aggressive bid for some counterplay.} 35. fxe5 Rf7+ 36. Kg2 (36. Kg3 {was better. According to Benko the move played allows Fischer. "to keep a certain amount of hope smoldering in his chest.".} Qg5 37. Qe4 {and white's Ps assure the win.}) 36... Qh4 37. Rf1 Rxf1 38. Kxf1 Qxh3+ 39. Qg2 Qe3 40. Qe2 Qh3+ {The games was adjourned here and this was Fischer's sealed move, but he resigned without resuming when he realized there wasn't a perpetual check. An instructive game by Benko.} (40... Qh3+ 41. Kf2 Qh2+ 42. Kf3 Qh3+ (42... Qh1+ 43. Kf4 {Black is out of checks.}) 43. Kf4 g5+ 44. Kf5 Qh6 45. Ke4 Qg6+ 46. Kd5 Qf7+ 47. e6 { end of checks!}) 1-0

A Most Remarkable Game?

`In 1938, the U.S. faced economic difficulties with rising unemployment. President Roosevelt founded the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (known as the March of Dimes) to combat polio. As an elementary school student I remember filling collection cards with dimes. We would receive a card, collect dimes from family and friends and then return the filled card to the school and it could earn you a lapel pin. In those day the possibility of getting polio was a scary thing and the program helped fund the development of the successful Salk polio vaccine. 

    On June 24, 1938, a meteorite weighing over 990,000 pounds exploded about 12 miles above the earth near Chicora, Pennsylvania. It was felt for miles and injured a cow though it missed populated areas like Pittsburgh, averting a major catastrophe. The explosion's sound and light were described as a fireball, similar to thunder, and were initially mistaken for other events, like a powder magazine explosion. 

 The fact that the meteorite entered the atmosphere at a 30- degree angle which expended its energy. If it had entered the atmosphere at a nearly vertical trajectory, most of it would have survived the descent. The resultant impact would have caused major damage to Pittsburgh and the surrounding area. 

    In 1938, movies out of Hollywood offered with box office hits like Alexander's Ragtime Band (it generally traced the history of jazz music) and You Can't Take It With You (about a man from a family of rich snobs who becomes engaged to a woman from a good-natured, but eccentric family.) 

    The year saw the invention of practical, synthetic fabrics and board games like Monopoly. Games like backyard games, card games, and board games were popular ways for people to entertain themselves during the Great Depression. 

    A game was played in the 1938 Utah State Championship that Chess Review describes as, “One of the most remarkable played by American amateurs!” Was it remarkable as in notably or conspicuously unusual? You be the judge. One thing that is was however, was an example of when NOT to play the Classic Bishop Sacrifice, Bxh7+ and Ng5+.

     The Utah Chess Association has long existed in various forms, bu records are not generally available. The 1938 Utah Champion is not documented in tournament records. Fortunately, the July 1938 issue of Chess Review listed the results. The championship was won a 20-year old University of Utah student named Richard Durham who scored 7.5-1.5.  Others scores: 

 

        2-3) D.L. Morgan (Salt Lake City champion) 7.0-2.0 

        2-3) W. Taylor (the only player to defeat Durham_ 

        4) C. H. Stewart (Idaho champion) 5.5-3.5 

        5-6) Dittman 4.5-4.5 

        5-6)) O.W. Manney (Arizona and New Mexico champion) 

        7) L. N. Page (defending champion) 4.0-5.0 

        8) G. J. Moore 3.0-6.0 

        9) H. Davis 1.5-4/5 

        10) R. Kooyman 0.5-8.5. 

 

[Event "Utah State Championship"] [Site "?"] [Date "1938.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "D.L. Morgan"] [Black "I.W. Taylor"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D53"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "1938.??.??"] {D53: Queen's Gambit Declined} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 {This is not a particularly good wat\y to meet the Queen's Gambit.} 3. Nc3 {This trnsposesinto regulat lines, but he should seize the chance to obtain a good game with 3.cxd5} (3. cxd5 Nxd5 4. e4 Nf6 5. Nc3 {Black has tried 5...e5 and 5...c6, both of whch have yielded poor results.}) 3... e6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Nf3 {Usual is 5...O-O or 5.. .h6. The text is seen in the Tartakower Variation.} b6 {This is not to be confused with the aforementioned Tartakower Variation.} (5... h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 b6 {transposes into the Tartakower; white has a wide number of options.}) 6. cxd5 Nxd5 {Capturing with the P is an acceptable alternative.} 7. Bxe7 Nxe7 { Recapturing with the Q was better.} 8. e4 O-O (8... Bb7 9. Bb5+ c6 10. Ba4 O-O 11. O-O Nd7 {Verzijden,M (1339)-Van Lenthe,G (1540) Hengelo 2005. The position is roughly equal, but nlack's is somewhat passive.}) 9. Bd3 Bb7 10. e5 Nbc6 { White should now castle. Instead he embarks on a completely unsound Classic Bishop Sacrifice.} 11. Bxh7+ {[%mdl 8192] For this, the Classic Bishop Sacrifice, to be successful white must have a P at e5, and the B on the diagonal c1-h6, a N on either d2 or c3 and a R on the open e-file. There may also be a R on f1, if the f-file is open. Here this conditions are almost, but not quite, met.} Kxh7 {Black must accept the sacrifice.} (11... Kh8 12. Be4 Ng8 13. h4 Nh6 14. Ng5 Qd7 {At the moment there is no chance of launching a successful attack on black's K, but white can switch to a Q-side diversion} 15. Qa4 Rab8 16. O-O-O Rfd8 17. Bxc6 Bxc6 18. Qc2 Nf5 19. d5 exd5 20. g4 d4 21. Rh3 Rbc8 22. gxf5 {and now white does have a decsuve K=side attacj.}) 12. Ng5+ { This is a critical position. Black gas to decide where to retreat the K.} Kh6 { This us the wrong square!} (12... Kg8 13. Qh5 Re8 14. Qxf7+ Kh8 {White either wind the Q or delivers mate.} 15. Nxe6) (12... Kg6 {This is the correct square/ White's chances of success are inlikley because he does not have a R on e1 and the N on c3 is unable to render much assistance. And, he must do something about the attack on his d-Pawn (...Qxd4).} 13. Qg4 (13. Nf3 Nb4 14. O-O f5 15. exf6 Rxf6 16. Qb1+ Nf5 {White's attack has been beaten off anbd black's advantage shpuld prove enough to win.}) 13... Qxd4) 13. Qd2 {[%mdl 8192] The threat of a discovered checj looks dangerous, but black equalizes easily.} (13. Qg4 {Keeps white's winning chances alive.} Qxd4 14. Nce4 {Bringing up the reserves.} Qb4+ 15. Kf1 Ba6+ 16. Kg1 {and the threat of Qh4+ cannot be met in any satisfactory way.}) 13... Qxd4 14. Qc1 Qxe5+ 15. Nce4 {There is no effective discovered chesck.} Kg6 (15... Qa5+ {Technically this is stronger, but also more difficult to calculate.} 16. Kf1 Nd4 17. Nxe6+ Kh7 18. N4g5+ Kg6 19. Nxd4 Qxg5) 16. h4 {A note in Chess Review says this vigorously seizies the opportunity to resume the attack. It threatens to win with h5+. but white cannot successfully carry out the threat so his position remians a lost one.} Rh8 {16...Qa5+ was still a strong option.} 17. g4 Rxh4 {A brilliant refutation. ..but} 18. Rxh4 Nd4 {...the followup is weak.} (18... Nb4 {A difficult to spot move!} 19. Qc4 (19. f4 Nd3+) 19... Qxb2 20. Rd1 Ned5 {Black has a dexisive advantage.} 21. a3 {A pass to show what white is facing.} Nc2+ 22. Kf1 Nde3+ 23. fxe3 Nxe3+) 19. f4 {The equalizer as ...Qa5+ has lost its devastating effect.} Qa5+ 20. Kf2 {At some point Qh1 may be possible.} Qb5 {Also good was 29...f6} 21. Nc3 (21. Qh1 {is not yet playable.} Qe2+ 22. Kg3 Qe3+ 23. Kh2 Qxf4+ 24. Kh3 f6 {Black is winning.}) 21... Qd3 22. Rh3 {[%mdl 1024] After his poor followup on move 18 black is in a difficult position.} Qc4 {Black should have taken the opportunity to trade Qs wirh 22...Qc2+ after which he would still be in the game.} 23. Qb1+ {A fine move that gets his Q into the attack.} f5 {White can now wrap it up with 24.Qd1! threatening gxf5+ and Qh5+ and there is no satisfactory way for black to meet the threat.} 24. Qg1 {This sub-optimal move should have allowed black to equalize.} Qc5 (24... Nc2 25. gxf5+ Kxf5 {Black's K is perfectly safe here and the chances are equal.} (25... Nxf5 {loses outright.} 26. Nf3+ Kf6 27. Qg5+ Kf7 28. Ne5+)) 25. b4 {White is better herem but the game is far from over!} Qxb4 26. gxf5+ {[%mdl 128]} Nexf5 {[%mdl 8192]} 27. Nxe6+ {This looks crushing, but it allows black to get away with equality/} (27. Rb1 Qa5 28. Nf3+ Kf7 29. Ne5+ {White has secured the win.} Kf8 30. Qg6 Nh6 31. Rxh6 gxh6 32. Qf7#) 27... Kf7 28. Re1 {[%mdl 8192] Another horrible move that should have lost at once.} (28. Ng5+ Ke7 29. Rb1 Qc4 30. Re1+ Kd7 {and the win is uo for grabs!}) 28... Qd6 {[%mdl 8192] Technically this is a colossal blunder that should have lost, but it turns out that things are not so simple.} (28... Nxe6 29. Qg4 (29. Rxe6 Qxf4+ 30. Ke1 Kxe6 {and black is plenty of material ahead.}) 29... Qxf4+ 30. Qxf4 Nxf4 31. Rh2 Nd3+ 32. Ke2 Nxe1 33. Kxe1 {Black wins}) 29. Ng5+ Kg8 30. Rh8+ {[%mdl 512]} Kxh8 31. Nf7+ Kg8 32. Nxd6 Nxd6 33. Qg6 {Materially speaking white has a significant material advantage, but black's pieces are extremely active and the cooperate well, so white faces considerable difficulty in securing the win.} Rf8 34. Rg1 {A bit more precise would have been 34.Re7, but from heree to the end of the game there is no point in quibbling over a few Centipawns.} Rxf4+ 35. Ke3 Rf3+ 36. Kxd4 c5+ 37. Ke5 Nf7+ 38. Ke6 {White has a strong Q and R battery on the g-file and he has gotten his K into action, but black;s three pieces coordinate in a way that is both annoying and frustrating to white!} Re3+ 39. Ne4 (39. Kf5 Rf3+ {White has to consent to a repetition with 40.Ke6 on account of ...Ne5+}) 39... Rxe4+ 40. Kf5 Re5+ 41. Kf4 Re4+ 42. Kg3 Nh6 {This should have lost.} (42... Re2 {is a better chance.} 43. Kh3 Bc8+ 44. Kh4 Rh2+ 45. Kg3 Rh6 {and black is still fighting.}) 43. Kf2 Rf4+ 44. Ke3 Rf3+ 45. Ke2 {He has finally escaped the annoying R checks.} Nf5 46. Rg5 {The final missed opportunity. Even so it's hard to call the move into question because the winning line is hard to fathom...see the final position!} (46. Kd2 {Black runs out of checks after} Rf2+ 47. Kc1 Bd5 48. Qe8+ Kh7 49. Qh5+ Kg8 50. Rd1 Nd4 51. Qxd5+ {The Q vs a N+3Ps is not going to be as easy to win after 51...Kf8 (51... Kh7 leads yo mate in 21 moves) as the engine;s evaluation ov 83 Pawns (!) would lead us to believe. For the record here it is...} Kf8 52. Re1 g6 53. Qd8+ Kg7 54. Qe7+ Rf7 55. Qe5+ Rf6 56. Qc7+ Rf7 57. Re7 Rxe7 58. Qxe7+ Kh6 59. Qxa7 Kg5 60. Qxb6 Kf5 61. Qxc5+ Ke4 62. Qc4 g5 63. Kd2 Ke5 64. a4 g4 65. a5 g3 66. Qc7+ Kd5 67. Qxg3) 46... Ba6+ {Draw Agreed. A see=saw affair. Accuracy: White = 47%, Black = 50%.} (46... Ba6+ 47. Kxf3 Nh4+ 48. Kf4 Nxg6+ 49. Rxg6 {This position is evaluated at 9.00, but that does not mean it's drawn. Humanly speaking, laying on anything could happen!}) 1/2-1/2

More on the Alexandria Engine

    In a previous post I noted that I had been experimenting with the Alexandria engine and noted that it might be useful for uncovering an opening surprise when preparing for over the board play. 

    The following game was recently played online and using Fritz, I tested Alexandria by letting it analyze the game at 15 seconds per move with the idea of then checking the analysis against Stockfish’s. 

    To my surprise, Alexandria suggested no improvements! What I ended up doing was analyzing the game with Stockfish and then going through it again with Alexandria running in orfer to compare the results. 

    Unlike other engines that will allow you to see multiple lines, Alexandria only shows its top choice and it only uses one core. Its evaluations in Centipawns seems considerably higher than Stockfish. 

     As mentioned previously, while Version 8 is obviously very strong based on its Computer Chess Rating List results, it no longer seems to be available. The version 5 that I have does not seem to be practical for analysis. While it may be able to discover some hidden possibilities in the opening, a better engine for that purpose is probably Berserk which is also highly rated on the CCLR rating list and can be downloaded from the same site as Alexandria HERE. 

     Last year I played two games against a 2300+ otb Master who is also an ICCF International Master because I wanted to test the highly aggressive Berserk to see if it could discover any opening innovations. It didn’t and once we got out of the opening I felt my positions were slipping a bit even though Berserk showed things were equal, It was then that I switched back to Stockdish and we played two uneventful draws. 

    I think what all of this shows is that while it may be true that other engines might be useful for discovering opening innovations for otb play, Stockfish is still unsurpassed and I cannot see using any other engine fot post-game analysis.

[Event "Online G/10"] [Site "?"] [Date "2025.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Tartajubow"] [Black "Anonymous"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C44"] [Annotator "Stockfish/Aleandria"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2025.??.??"] {C44: Ponziani Opening} 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 {After the more frequently seen 2.. ..Nf6 I like to play the Urosov Gambit (3.d4) which is not entirely sound but it can give white attacking chances. Also reasonable was 3.f4.} 3. d4 {This is definitely not good! The Vienna (3.Nc3) would still offer white the opportunity of entering a gambit line.} exd4 {Alexandria's choice.} (3... Nxd4 {seems preferable because white then has little choice but to offer the trade of Ns with 4.Nf3} 4. Nf3 Nxf3+ 5. Qxf3 Qe7 {White does not have quite enough compensation for the P.}) 4. Nf3 Bc5 5. c3 d3 6. O-O {More common is 6.b4 which is somewhat better.} d6 7. Qxd3 Nf6 {It was surprising to discover that my database has 31 games which reached this position, but only one of the players was a Master which is not surprising. White's best move is 8.b4} 8. Ng5 {The threat to capture on f7 is no threat at all, nut I didn't see any other way of continuing that offered any play at all. However, black had been moving almost instantly and I thought this might gove him pause for thought.} O-O { No pausing to think; he played this instantly.} (8... Ne5 {is much stronger. After} 9. Qd1 Nxc4 10. Qa4+ Nd7 11. Qxc4 Ne5 12. Qe2 Bg4 13. Nf3 Nxf3+ 14. gxf3 Bh3 {Black is netter, but sy yjr non-engine level the "black is winning" comment by Fritz is not a foregone conclusion.}) 9. Qg3 {This earns a ? from Stockfish and both engines recommend that the N tuck its tail and return to f3. In these types of positions it's rarely a good idea to capture the f-Pawn.} Ne5 10. Bb3 h6 11. Bc2 {The N is bait hoping to get some kind of an attack.} (11. Nxf7 {is the recommended move.} Nxf7 12. Bxh6 Nh5 13. Qg6 Qf6 14. Qxh5 Qxh6 15. Qxh6 gxh6 {White's hoped fpor attack has not materialized and he only has two Ps for the B so black's position should prove to be a winning one.}) 11... hxg5 {Taken without hesitation, but there was a better move. That said, there is nothing at all wrong with 11...hxg5 which also leaves white with a losing position.} (11... Nh5 12. Qh4 Bg4 13. Bd1 Bxd1 (13... hxg5 {and the Q is trapped.}) 14. Rxd1 g6 {White is in serious trouble.}) 12. Bxg5 Ng6 13. Re1 Nh5 {The problem with this move, which technically speaking is not a bad one, soon becomes apparent} (13... Qe8 {is the top choice of Alexandria and the second for Stockfish which showed a slight preference for 13...Qd7. In either case, black has a much larger advantage that after the text. Almost 4 Pawms according to Stockfish which is long way from A,exandria's 7 Ps.]}) 14. Bxd8 Nxg3 {It should be obvious that white never had a real chance at conducting a K-side attack and now has scant compensation for the N.} 15. Bxc7 {I think black missed this. White now has two Ps for the N.} Nh5 16. b4 Bb6 17. Bxd6 { Suddenly white has 3 Ps for the N. Engines still consider black to have a decisive advantage though. In Shootouts whitr losr 0-5, but the endings were long and difficult and far beyond the skill level of the two players in this game.} Rd8 18. e5 Nhf4 19. Nd2 {[%mdl 32] The plan is to replace the B on d6 with the better piece, the N.} Ne6 {19...B6 has better winning chances. The threat is to win with ...Nxe5} 20. Rad1 Bc7 21. Nc4 Bxd6 22. Nxd6 {White has 2 Ps for the N and has managed to achieve equality.} b6 23. g3 {To support the advance f4, but more exact would have been 23.Bb3} Rb8 {[%mdl 8192] Pointless.} (23... Ng5 {takes advantage of white's imprecise last move.} 24. Re3 Nxe5 { Now that the Ns support had been removed black again has gained a significant advantage.} 25. f4 Ng4 26. Re2 Ne6 {and black is back to having a N vs, 2 Ps.}) 24. f4 {[%mdl 2048] White has strong initiative and it;s black who is in jeopardy.} Ne7 25. f5 Ng5 26. Kf2 Bb7 {An obvious tactical blunder. Black, who had started the game moving almost instantly, had gradually begun using more and more time and now had less than two minutes left to my four. Best, but insufficient, would have been 26...Kf8} 27. Nxb7 Rxd1 28. Rxd1 Rxb7 29. Rd8+ Kh7 30. h4 {The N has nowhere to go.} Nc6 {A good try. Now I had to spend some precious time trying to decide whether or not to move the attacked R. U finally secided to complicate the issue, mostly because of my opponent's lack of time.} 31. e6 (31. Re8 Rd7 32. Ke3 Nxe5 33. hxg5 Nc4+ 34. Kf4 g6 35. f6 Rd5 36. Re7 Kg8 37. Rxa7 {would ultimately win, but it will take some time which isnt; available in this blitz game.}) 31... Nxd8 32. f6+ $1 Kh6 33. e7 Nh3+ 34. Kf1 {In this hopeless position black lost on time. A lucky escape for white. Accuracy: White = 64%, Black = 36%.} 1-0