Playing white was Ruzena Sucha (1907-1989), a Czech female player who received the Woman International Master title in 1954 and who won the Czech Women's Championship in 1938, 1951 and 1954. From the end of the 1930s to the early 1960s, she was one of the leading Czechoslovakian women's players.
The winner was Jaromir Florian (1911-1984), also of Czechoslovakia, who was known for his charismatic playing style even though he didn't hold an international title.
Unlike the previous game the winner's play was far from perfect and both sides missed chances, but the game is a real dogfight that could have gone either way.
[Event "Prague"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1943.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ruzena Sucha"]
[Black "Jaromir Florian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C40"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "1943.??.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "21"]
[EventCountry "CZE"]
[SourceTitle "HCL"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceVersion "2"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
{C40: Elephant Gambit} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d5 3. exd5 e4 {This is the recommended
move and the one that give black the best chance in practice.} 4. Ne5 {While
this is hardly bad, white has a better chance of winning with the more precise
4.Qe2 after which black finds himself in a difficult situation.} (4. Qe2 Nf6 5.
Nc3 Be7 (5... Bf5 {Defends the P again, but black runs into trouble after} 6.
Nh4 Bg6 7. Nxg6 hxg6 8. Nxe4 Nxe4 9. Qxe4+ {and black cannot recover the
sacrificed P.}) (5... Nxd5 6. Qxe4+ Be6 7. Bc4 c6 8. Nd4 {followed by Nxe6
with the advantage.}) 6. Nxe4 Nxd5 7. c4 Nb4 8. d4 {Here, too, black has no
compensation for his P.}) 4... Qxd5 5. d4 exd3 6. Nxd3 Nc6 7. Nc3 Qf5 {A
rather odd place for the Q. Usual is either 7...Qa5 (defending the c-Pawn) or
7...Qee+} {This prevents ...Bb4, but more to the point would have been 8.Bf4}
8. a3 {This prevents ...Bb4, but it's rather pointless.} (8. Bf4 {and the
attack on the c-Pawn gives white a slight advantage.} Bb4 9. Qd2 Bxc3 10. Qxc3
Nf6 {White cannot take the c-Pawn because of the forl ...Nd5} 11. O-O-O {
with a good position.}) 8... Bd7 9. Be2 Nf6 10. O-O O-O-O 11. Be3 {White has
failed to take advantage of whatever small opportunities black has given her
and as a result black has somewhat better chances because he is in a posiition
to initiate a K-side attack.} h5 {Florian is true to his aggressive style.} 12.
f3 {Apparently played to keep black's N off of e4 or g4, but it weakens the
K's position too much. There is not a lot white can do, but 12.Qd2 followed by
placing the Rs on d1 and e1 was about the best course if action available.} Bd6
{White's situation on the K-side is already starting to look suspect.} 13. b4 {
This is nothing more than a gesture, but 13.Qd2 wasm't a whole lot better.} Ne5
{Aggressive. He's not worried about the a-Pawn.} 14. f4 (14. Bxa7 Nxd3 (14...
b6 {Black should avoid trying to trap the B.} 15. Nxe5 Bxe5 16. Ba6#) 15. Qxd3
Be5 16. Qe3 (16. Qxf5 Bxf5 {wins}) 16... Rhe8 17. Bd3 Qe6 {with the more
promising position.}) 14... Neg4 15. Bd2 Rde8 16. Rf3 Bc6 17. Rg3 {White has
managed to land herself in a terrible mess mostly owing to her inaccurate
handling of the opening startinh at move 8. Still. things are not all that
clear when seen through human eyes!} g5 {[%mdl 512] Beginning a winnig attack.}
18. h3 {Now, according to engines, comes a double blunder. First, Florian
plays a completely unsound exchange sacrifice, but Sucha errs badly in
delaying taking it for a move. Perhaps both 18...Rxe2 and 19.hxg4 are worthy
of the double question marks the Tactical Analysis assigned them, but play
after black;s correct continuation of 18...gxf4 is not so clear as Stockfish
makes it seem.} Rxe2 {[%mdl 8192]} (18... gxf4 {os the strongest move, but the
win is not so clear, at least for humans.} 19. hxg4 Qg5 20. Nf2 Rhg8 21. Rd3
hxg4 {with an overwhelming attacking position. Here is the best line...} 22.
Rxd6 cxd6 23. Qf1 Rh8 24. Re1 Kb8 25. b5 Qh6 26. Nh3 gxh3 27. bxc6 hxg2 28.
Qxf4 Qxf4 29. Bxf4 Rh1+ 30. Kxg2 Rxe1 31. Bxd6+ Kc8 32. cxb7+ Kxb7 33. Bf3+ Kc8
34. Nb5 Rg8+ 35. Kf2 Re6 36. Nxa7+ Kd7 37. Bf4 {and according ti the engine :
black is clearly winning."}) 19. hxg4 {[%mdl 8192] This should have been a
fatal error, but the mistakes are not over.} (19. Qxe2 {completely urns the
tables! There is absolutely no way for black to continue his attack.} gxf4 20.
Bxf4 Bxf4 21. Rf1 Re8 22. Rxf4 Qd7 23. Qd2 {Black is the exchange down!}) 19...
hxg4 {Give this a question mark because it allows white to equalize.} (19...
Rxg2+ {This wins. For example...} 20. Rxg2 hxg4 21. Qf1 Qh7 22. Nf2 g3 {wins}
23. Qd3 gxf2+ 24. Kxf2 Qh4+ 25. Qg3 Qxg3+ 26. Kxg3 gxf4+) 20. Nxe2 {The next
to last serious mistake.} (20. Qxe2 Qh7 21. Kf2 {and white has escaped. It;s a
complicated position with a material imbalance that offers equal chances. In
Shootouts white only scored +0 -4 =1, but the games were quite long.}) 20...
Qh7 21. Nf2 Qh2+ 22. Kf1 gxf4 23. Bxf4 Bxf4 24. Qd3 Bxg3 25. Qxg3 Bb5 {Much
simpler would have been 25...Qxg3} (25... Qh1+ {A cute little move only an
engine would suggets.} 26. Nxh1 Rxh1+ 27. Ng1 Bb5+ 28. Qd3 (28. Ke1 Rxg1+ 29.
Kd2 Ne4+) 28... Bxd3+ 29. cxd3 Nd5 {with a won ending.}) 26. Qxh2 Rxh2 27. Re1
(27. Kg1 {was the only real chance.} Rh5 28. Nd4 Bc4 {with a P up and two Bs
vs. 2 Ns black has good winning chances.}) 27... g3 28. Nd3 Bc6 29. Nef4 Ne4 {
Black is clearly better, but the win is not guaranteed.} 30. Kg1 f5 31. Re2 Rh4
32. Re1 {[%mdl 8192] This move truly does deserve two question marks because
it loses a piece.} (32. Re3 {and white can puts up serious resistance,.} Ba4
33. c4 b6 34. Ne6 Kb7 35. Rf3 {and it's still a real fight. In Shootouts white
lost +0 -4 =1, but the winning procedure for black proved quite lengthy, so in
practical play the outcome would not be as certain,}) 32... Nf2 {[%mdl 512]
White resigned.} (32... Nf2 33. Nxf2 gxf2+ 34. Kxf2 Rxf4+) 0-1
