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The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games, by Graham Burgess, Dr John Nunn and John Emms

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The 125 greatest chess games of all time, selected, analysed, re-evaluated and explained by a team of British experts and illustrated with over 1,000 chess diagrams. Join the authors in studying these games, the cream of two centuries of international chess, and develop your own chess-playing skills – whatever your current standard. Instructive points at the end of each game highlight the lessons to be learned.First published in 1998, a second edition of The Mammoth Book of the World’s Greatest Chess Games in 2004 included an additional 12 games. This edition includes a further 13 games as well as some significant revisions to the analysis and information regarding other games in earlier editions of the book, facilitated by the use of a variety of chess software.
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Page 1: The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games, by Graham Burgess, Dr John Nunn and John Emms
Page 2: The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games, by Graham Burgess, Dr John Nunn and John Emms

The Mammoth Book of

The World’s GreatestChess Games

Graham BurgessJohn NunnJohn Emms

Foreword by Vishy Anand

Page 3: The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games, by Graham Burgess, Dr John Nunn and John Emms

Constable & Robinson Ltd3 The Lanchesters

162 Fulham Palace RoadLondon W6 9ER

www.constablerobinson.com

First edition published in the UK in 1998 by Robinson

This revised and updated edition published by Robinson,an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd, 2010

Copyright © Graham Burgess, John Nunn and John Emms 1998, 2004, 2010Edited by Graham Burgess and typeset by John Nunn for Gambit Publications Ltd

The right of Graham Burgess, John Nunn and John Emms to be identifiedas the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance

with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the conditionthat it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold,

hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or coverother than that in which it is published and without a similar conditionincluding this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in PublicationData is available from the British Library

UK ISBN 978-1-84901-368-0

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

First published in the United States in 2010 by Running Press Book PublishersAll rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions

This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form or by any means,electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information

storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without writtenpermission from the publisher.

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Digit on the right indicates the number of this printing

US Library of Congress number: 2009943388US ISBN 978-0-7624-3995-9

Running Press Book Publishers2300 Chestnut Street

Philadelphia, PA 19103-4371

Visit us on the web!www.runningpress.com

Printed and bound in the EU

Page 4: The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games, by Graham Burgess, Dr John Nunn and John Emms

Contents

Foreword by Vishy Anand 6Introduction 7Symbols 8

Players (White first) and Event Votes Ann. Page1 McDonnell – Labourdonnais, Match (16), London 1834 10 B 92 Anderssen – Kieseritzky, London 1851 13 E 143 Anderssen – Dufresne, Berlin 1852 10 B 194 Zukertort – Blackburne, London 1883 9 E 255 Steinitz – Chigorin, World Ch. (4), Havana 1892 11 E 306 Steinitz – von Bardeleben, Hastings 1895 13 B 367 Pillsbury – Em.Lasker, St Petersburg 1895/6 10 E 418 Steinitz – Em.Lasker, St Petersburg 1895/6 9 E 479 Pillsbury – Em.Lasker, Nuremberg 1896 10 B 52

10 Em.Lasker – Napier, Cambridge Springs 1904 9 N 5711 Rotlewi – Rubinstein, Lodz 1907/8 13 N 6312 Rubinstein – Em.Lasker, St Petersburg 1909 9 E 6813 O. Bernstein – Capablanca, Moscow 1914 9 E 7314 Nimzowitsch – Tarrasch, St Petersburg 1914 13 N 7915 Capablanca – Marshall, New York 1918 11 N 8516 E.Adams – C.Torre, New Orleans 1920 9 B 9117 Em.Lasker – Capablanca, World Ch. (10), Havana 1921 9 B 9618 Maróczy – Tartakower, Teplitz-Schönau 1922 10 N 10419 Sämisch – Nimzowitsch, Copenhagen 1923 12 E 11120 Grünfeld – Alekhine, Karlsbad 1923 9 N 11621 Capablanca – Tartakower, New York 1924 10 B 12222 Réti – Bogoljubow, New York 1924 13 N 12723 Réti – Alekhine, Baden-Baden 1925 14 N 13324 Rubinstein – Alekhine, Semmering 1926 9 N 13925 P. Johner – Nimzowitsch, Dresden 1926 9 E 14326 Capablanca – Spielmann, New York 1927 9 N 14927 Alekhine – Maróczy, Bled 1931 9 E 15328 Rauzer – Botvinnik, USSR Ch., Leningrad 1933 9 B 15829 Botvinnik – Capablanca, AVRO, Rotterdam 1938 15 B 16430 Euwe – Keres, Match (9), Rotterdam 1939/40 9 N 17031 Geller – Euwe, Candidates, Zurich 1953 9 B 17632 Euwe – Najdorf, Candidates, Zurich 1953 9 B 18033 Averbakh – Kotov, Candidates, Zurich 1953 13 N 18734 Keres – Smyslov, Candidates, Zurich 1953 9 B 19335 Botvinnik – Smyslov, World Ch. (14), Moscow 1954 10 B 19936 Keres – Szabo, USSR – Hungary, Budapest 1955 9 N 20437 Bronstein – Keres, Interzonal, Gothenburg 1955 9 B 208

Page 5: The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games, by Graham Burgess, Dr John Nunn and John Emms

38 D.Byrne – Fischer, Rosenwald, New York 1956 13 E 21339 Tal – Koblencs, Training game, Riga 1957 9 B 21740 Polugaevsky – Nezhmetdinov, RSFSR Ch., Sochi 1958 11 E 22441 Tal – Fischer, Candidates, Zagreb 1959 9 B 23042 Spassky – Bronstein, USSR Ch., Leningrad 1960 11 B 23543 Botvinnik – Tal, World Ch. (6), Moscow 1960 10 B 24044 Krogius – Stein, Russia – Ukraine, Kiev 1960 9 N 24645 Fischer – Tal, Leipzig Olympiad 1960 9 B 25446 Rubezov – Borisenko, USSR Corr. Ch. 1960–3 10 B 25847 Gufeld – Kavalek, Student Ol., Marianske Lazne 1962 12 E 26448 Tal – Hecht, Varna Ol. 1962 11 B 26949 Korchnoi – Tal, USSR Ch., Erevan 1962 9 E 27550 R.Byrne – Fischer, USA Ch., New York 1963/4 12 E 28151 Smyslov – Tal, USSR Team Ch., Moscow 1964 10 E 28752 Kholmov – Bronstein, USSR Ch., Kiev 1964/5 9 N 29353 Geller – Smyslov, Candidates (5), Moscow 1965 9 B 29854 Tal – Larsen, Candidates (10), Bled 1965 10 B 30255 Estrin – Berliner, 5th Corr. World Ch. 1965–8 10 B 30956 Petrosian – Spassky, World Ch. (10), Moscow 1966 11 B 31657 Botvinnik – Portisch, Monte Carlo 1968 14 N 32258 Polugaevsky – Tal, USSR Ch., Moscow 1969 11 B 32659 Larsen – Spassky, USSR vs R.o.W., Belgrade 1970 11 E 33160 Fischer – Panno, Buenos Aires 1970 9 E 33561 Fischer – Larsen, Candidates (1), Denver 1971 9 B 33962 Fischer – Petrosian, Candidates (7), Buenos Aires 1971 12 B 34463 Velimirovi‡ – Ljubojevi‡, Yugoslav Ch., Umag 1972 9 N 35064 Fischer – Spassky, World Ch. (6), Reykjavik 1972 14 B 35665 Spassky – Tal, Tallinn 1973 9 B 36266 Bagirov – Gufeld, Kirovabad 1973 12 B 36767 Karpov – Korchnoi, Candidates (2), Moscow 1974 11 B 37368 Mini‡ – Planinc, Rovinj/Zagreb 1975 9 B 38069 Ljubojevi‡ – Andersson, Wijk aan Zee 1976 9 N 38470 Reshevsky – Vaganian, Skopje 1976 10 E 39171 Lputian – Kasparov, Tbilisi 1976 9 B 39572 Karpov – Dorfman, USSR Ch., Moscow 1976 10 B 40273 Timman – Karpov, Montreal 1979 9 B 40874 Polugaevsky – E.Torre, Moscow 1981 13 B 41275 Kopylov – S.Koroliov, USSR Corr. Ch. 1981–3 12 N 41776 Kasparov – Portisch, Nikši‡ 1983 13 E 42277 Karpov – Kasparov, World Ch. (9), Moscow 1984/5 11 B 42778 Beliavsky – Nunn, Wijk aan Zee 1985 12 N 43479 Karpov – Kasparov, World Ch. (16), Moscow 1985 15 B 44080 Kasparov – Karpov, World Ch. (16), Leningrad 1986 14 B 44781 Miles – Beliavsky, Tilburg 1986 9 E 45682 Tal – Hjartarson, Reykjavik 1987 11 N 46083 Piket – Kasparov, Tilburg 1989 10 B 465

4 Contents

Page 6: The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games, by Graham Burgess, Dr John Nunn and John Emms

84 Smirin – Beliavsky, USSR Ch., Odessa 1989 12 E 47185 Ivanchuk – Yusupov, Candidates (9), Brussels 1991 14 B 47586 Short – Timman, Tilburg 1991 10 E 48187 Fischer – Spassky, Match (1), Sveti Stefan 1992 10 B 48788 Gelfand – Anand, Linares 1993 11 B 49389 Kamsky – Shirov, World Team Ch., Lucerne 1993 11 B 49990 Karpov – Topalov, Linares 1994 12 E 50591 Shirov – J.Polgar, Buenos Aires 1994 10 B 51092 Cifuentes – Zviagintsev, Wijk aan Zee 1995 10 N 51593 Kasparov – Anand, PCA World Ch. (10), New York 1995 13 E 52094 Topalov – Kramnik, Belgrade 1995 12 B 52695 Ivanchuk – Shirov, Wijk aan Zee 1996 11 B 53296 Deep Blue – Kasparov, Match (1), Philadelphia 1996 10 B 53697 Ivanchuk – Kramnik, Dos Hermanas 1996 10 N 54098 Topalov – Kramnik, Dortmund 1996 9 B 54499 Anand – Karpov, Las Palmas 1996 9 N 548100 Anand – Lautier, Biel 1997 10 N 553101 Atalik – Sax, Szeged 1997 13 N 557102 Gelfand – Shirov, Polanica Zdroj 1998 13 B 561103 Veingold – Fridman, Zonal tournament, Tallinn 1998 11 B 567104 Nunn – Nataf, French Team Ch. 1998/9 12 N 571105 Kasparov – Topalov, Wijk aan Zee 1999 15 B 577106 Topalov – Anand, Linares 1999 11 B 583107 Topalov – Ivanchuk, Linares 1999 9 N 590108 Svidler – Adams, Neum 2000 10 B 594109 I.Sokolov – Dreev, Dos Hermanas 2001 12 B 599110 Gelfand – Kantsler, Israel 2001 9 B 604111 Kramnik – Anand, Dortmund 2001 10 B 610112 Sutovsky – Smirin, Israeli Ch., Tel Aviv 2002 12 N 615113 J.Polgar – Berkes, Budapest 2003 9 N 621114 Anand – Bologan, Dortmund 2003 10 B 626115 Kasimdzhanov – Kasparov, Linares 2005 9 B 634116 Topalov – Anand, Sofia 2005 10 B 641117 Anand – Adams, FIDE World Ch., San Luis 2005 12 N 647118 Topalov – Aronian, Wijk aan Zee 2006 14 N 652119 Anand – Carlsen, Morelia/Linares 2007 12 B 658120 Sandipan – Tiviakov, Ottawa 2007 11 B 663121 Topalov – Kramnik, Wijk aan Zee 2008 11 B 669122 Ivanchuk – Kariakin, Amber Rapid, Nice 2008 10 N 675123 Kramnik – Anand, World Ch. (3), Bonn 2008 14 B 681124 Carlsen – Kramnik, London 2009 11 B 687125 Anand – Topalov, World Ch. (4), Sofia 2010 13 B 694

Index of Players 701Index of Openings 703About the Authors 704

Contents 5

Page 7: The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games, by Graham Burgess, Dr John Nunn and John Emms

Foreword by Vishy Anand

In virtually every sport, there is a debate about who was the greatest of all time,and which was the best contest. Comparisons made over long periods of time arefar from simple; comparing the tennis players of the past with those of todaymust take into account advances such as carbon-fibre rackets and scientificallydesigned training programs. A further difficulty is that for events pre-dating tele-vision, one often has to rely on written descriptions rather than video records.Chess is in a uniquely fortunate position in this respect; chess notation meansthat the great games of the past can be played over just as easily as those playedlast week.

This book aims to present the 125 greatest games of all time. Obviously noteveryone will agree with the choice, but there is no doubt that these are all out-standing games. There are many old favourites, but also some less well-knownencounters which will be new to most readers. Readers will meet not only the fa-miliar names of world champions, but those of less familiar masters and grand-masters, correspondence players, etc.

At the moment, one decade into a new millennium, chess is looking to the fu-ture. The Internet is having an increasing impact for both disseminating chess in-formation and providing a playing forum. The game will undoubtedly change inthe years to come, but it will only be another evolutionary step in the long andrich heritage of chess. This book contains selected highlights from over 160years of chess history; we can all learn from the experience of the past, and any-one who studies these games cannot fail to gain a greater understanding of chess.

As for the questions posed at the start of the foreword, was Mikhail Tal, whohas more games in this book than any other player, really the most brilliant of alltime? Were Botvinnik – Capablanca, AVRO tournament, Rotterdam 1938, Kar-pov – Kasparov, World Championship match (game 16), Moscow 1985, and Kas-parov – Topalov, Wijk aan Zee 1999 really the greatest games in chess history?After playing over the 125 masterpieces in this book, you may form your ownopinion; whether you agree or disagree, these games can hardly fail to give pleas-ure, instruction and entertainment.

Vishy Anand

Page 8: The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games, by Graham Burgess, Dr John Nunn and John Emms

Introduction

The aim of this book is simple: topresent the 125 greatest chess gamesof all time, with annotations that en-able chess enthusiasts to derive themaximum enjoyment and instructionfrom them.

The first problem we faced wasthe selection of the games: how couldwe choose just 125 from the treasure-house of chess history? Clearly thegames should be great battles, featur-ing deep and inventive play. We de-cided that the prime consideration hadto be the quality of the play, not just ofthe winner, but also of the loser. We re-jected games where the loser offeredlittle resistance, and those where thewinner jeopardized victory by aimingfor false brilliance. As one of the book’sobjectives is to help the reader gain adeeper understanding of all aspects ofchess, we favoured games illustratingimportant concepts. The selection cri-teria were therefore as follows:

• Quality and brilliance of play byboth contestants

• Instructive value• Historical significanceUsing these criteria, we selected a

shortlist of 270 games; then eachauthor voted on the games, rating eachon a scale of 1 to 5, as follows:5 one of the greatest 25 games ever

played4 in the top 603 in the top 1252 the game is not in the top 1251 the game is unsuitable for inclusion

in the book

Thus the greatest possible score fora game was 15 votes. In the end justthree games achieved this theoreticalmaximum.

This enabled us to select our 125games, which were then allocated be-tween the three annotators, 67 to Gra-ham Burgess (who coordinated thewhole project), 33 to John Nunn, and25 to John Emms.

The annotator and the total numberof votes for each game are indicated inthe contents list.

Our primary aims in annotatingeach game were to provide an accurateset of notes, and to highlight the maininstructive points. In some cases pre-existing notes, especially those by theplayers, proved a valuable source ofideas, but we repeatedly found majordeficiencies in previous annotations.The most common problem was “an-notation by result”, i.e. the annotatorpraises everything the winner did, andcriticizes all the loser’s decisions. Fewgames between strong opponents arereally so one-sided. Another commonfailing was the sheep-like tendency ofannotators to copy earlier notes. Thus,if a game was poorly annotated in thetournament book, or in the winner’s“best games” collection, then subse-quent annotations were blighted. Ofcourse, it would be unfair (and danger-ous!) for us to be too critical of otherannotators, especially considering thatthey were without computerized assis-tance, but in many cases there was

Page 9: The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games, by Graham Burgess, Dr John Nunn and John Emms

clearly a definite lack of independentthought.

In this book we have aimed to pres-ent the truth about these games, wartsand all. In some cases readers mightfeel that the games have lost some oftheir brilliance as a result, but we donot agree. On the contrary, it showsthat many games which were hithertoregarded as rather one-sided were infact massive struggles between almostevenly-matched players; only an 11th--hour slip at the height of the battle fi-nally tipped the balance in the winner’sfavour. These new annotations oftenreveal new and instructive points inthe games – so please don’t skip agame just because you have seen it be-fore. We were assisted in our work bya variety of computer software, mostnotably ChessBase, together with theFritz, Junior, Rybka and Robbolitoanalysis modules. In this 2010 edition,Games 113–125 are completely new,while there are also some significantrevisions to the analysis and informa-tion from the earlier editions.

Each game starts with biographicalinformation about the players (wherea player has already been introduced,

the reader is referred to the earlier ma-terial) and a summary of the game.The game and its detailed notes follow,with a final review of the game’s mostinstructive points. These games repre-sent the pinnacle of human creativityon the chessboard (in one case, silicon‘creativity’!) and there is a great dealto be learnt from them. You may findit convenient to use two chessboards –one to keep track of the position in themain game, and another to play overthe variations. Alternatively, and pref-erably, play over the moves using asuitable computer program (for exam-ple ChessBase). Keeping a programsuch as Fritz running in the backgroundwill reveal analytical points we had nospace to include in the book.

We hope you enjoy reading thisbook as much as we enjoyed writingit. If there are any terms in this bookthat you don’t understand, please referto the extensive glossary in The Mam-moth Book of Chess.

Graham BurgessJohn NunnJohn EmmsJune 2010

Symbols

+ check++ double check# checkmatex captures0-0 castles kingside0-0-0 castles queenside!! brilliant move! good move

!? interesting move?! dubious move? bad move?? blunder1-0 the game ends in a win for

WhiteÓ-Ó the game ends in a draw0-1 the game ends in a win for

Black

8 Introduction

Page 10: The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games, by Graham Burgess, Dr John Nunn and John Emms

Game 1

Alexander McDonnell – LouisCharles de Labourdonnais

4th match, 16th game, London 1834Sicilian Defence, Löwenthal Variation

The PlayersAlexander McDonnell (1798–1835) was born in Belfast and established himselfas the best player in England in the 1830s. Indeed, his superiority was such thathe even played at odds when facing the best of the English players blindfold.Though his talent was undoubted, he had little experience facing opposition ofhis own level, and this showed when he faced Labourdonnais in their series ofmatches.

Louis Charles Mahé de Labourdonnais (1797–1840) was born on the French is-land of La Réunion, where his father had been governor. After settling in France,then the world’s leading chess nation, he learned the game while in his late teens,and progressed rapidly; from 1820 up until his death he was regarded as the lead-ing player. He was clearly a man who loved to play chess; even during his matches,he would play off-hand games for small stakes between the match games.

The GameAfter some lacklustre opening play from McDonnell, Labourdonnais sets up apowerful mobile pawn centre, very much in the style of Philidor, the greatestFrench player prior to Labourdonnais. He plays extremely energetically to sup-port and advance the pawns, and when McDonnell threatens to make inroadsaround and behind the pawns, he comes up with a fine exchange sacrifice. Thetactics all work, and Black’s pawns continue their advance towards the goal. Thefinal position, once seen, is never forgotten: three passed pawns on the seventhrank overpowering a hapless queen and rook.

1 e4 c52 Ìf3 Ìc63 d4 cxd44 Ìxd4 e55 Ìxc6?!

This somewhat cooperative ex-change strengthens Black’s control ofthe centre without giving White anycompensating advantages. Moreover,it nullifies the main defect of Black’s

ambitious 4th move, i.e. the weaken-ing of the d5-square. 5 Ìb5 has beenthe normal move ever since.

5 ... bxc66 Íc4 Ìf67 Íg5 Íe78 Ëe2?!

By delaying development and ex-posing his queen to possible attackalong the a6–f1 diagonal, White only

Page 11: The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games, by Graham Burgess, Dr John Nunn and John Emms

encourages Black to advance in thecentre. The fact that the queen exertspressure on e5 is unlikely to be rele-vant before White has, at the least, gothis king safely castled. He should in-stead try 8 Ìc3 or 8 Íxf6 followed by9 Ìc3.

8 ... d59 Íxf6

9 exd5 cxd5 (9...Ìxd5 is also pos-sible, when Black has good piece-play) 10 Íb5+ Íd7 11 Ìc3 (after 11Íxd7+ Ìxd7 12 Íxe7 Ëxe7 Blackcan comfortably maintain his pawn-centre) 11...d4 12 Íxf6 Íxf6 13 Ìd5doesn’t work for White after 13...Ëa5+14 b4 (14 c3 Íxb5 15 Ëxb5+ Ëxb516 Ìc7+ Êd7 17 Ìxb5 Îab8 and b2caves in) 14...Íxb5 15 bxa5 Íxe2 16Ìc7+? (after normal moves, White’sshattered queenside pawns will givehim a dreadful ending) 16...Êd7 17Ìxa8 Ía6 and the knight is trapped.

9 ... Íxf610 Íb3 0-011 0-0

11 ... a5Now Black threatens both 12...a4

and 12...Ía6. Thus Black manages to

use his a-pawn to cause White to makeconcessions in the centre.

12 exd5 cxd513 Îd1 d414 c4

McDonnell decides to play ac-tively, hoping that his own passed c-pawn will prove as strong as Black’sd-pawn. However, this hope may beunrealistic. Black’s d-pawn is alreadywell advanced, and ably supported byits neighbour, the e5-pawn. Moreover,Black’s pieces are better mobilizedand have more scope. If a moderngrandmaster were to end up in this po-sition as White, then he would not tryto start a race, but rather develop thequeen’s knight, and aim to restrain andblockade the d-pawn, most likelychipping away at it with c3 at somepoint. However, this game was playedalmost a century before Nimzowitschsystematized the concept of “restrain,blockade, destroy” (though the thirdpart would be hoping for too much inthis instance), and, besides, in theearly nineteenth century it was morestandard for players to try to solve po-sitional problems by lashing out ag-gressively. More prudent optionsinclude 14 c3 and 14 Ìd2.

14 ... Ëb615 Íc2 Íb7

Certainly not 15...Ëxb2??, whichloses the queen to 16 Íxh7+.

16 Ìd2 Îae8!Labourdonnais correctly perceives

that his rooks belong on the e- and f-files, despite the fact that this leaveshis rooks poorly placed to act on thequeenside. The d-pawn is of course hismain asset, but to create real threatsBlack will need to push his e-pawn,and this in turn may need the support

10 Game 1: Alexander McDonnell – Louis Charles de Labourdonnais

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Page 12: The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games, by Graham Burgess, Dr John Nunn and John Emms

of the f-pawn. If White could some-how set up a firm blockade on e4, thenhe would have good chances, so thissquare may be regarded as the focus ofthe battle.

16...Ëxb2 strays off-course and dis-sipates Black’s advantage after either17 Íxh7+ Êxh7 18 Îab1 or 17 Ëd3e4 (17...g6 18 Îab1 forces 18...e4 any-way) 18 Ìxe4 Íxe4 19 Ëxe4 g6.

17 Ìe4 Íd8Black’s threat of ...f5 forces White

to act quickly if he is not to be overrun.18 c5 Ëc619 f3 Íe7

Preventing 20 Ìd6, which White’slast move had made possible.

20 Îac1 f5Black immediately begins the deci-

sive advance. Note that he spends notime on prophylaxis against White’squeenside play, confident that hispawn-storm will sweep everythingfrom its path.

21 Ëc4+ Êh8!21...Ëd5 would be annoyingly met

by 22 Ëb5, threatening Íb3.21...Îf7? loses an exchange under

far worse conditions than in the game:

22 Ía4 Ëc8 23 Íxe8 Ëxe8 24 Ìd6Íxd6 25 cxd6.

22 Ía4 Ëh6

23 Íxe8After 23 Ìd6, Black must play ex-

tremely precisely to keep his advan-tage: 23...Íxd6 24 Íxe8 Íc7 25 c6(25 Ëb3 e4 26 g3 should be answeredby 26...Ía6, with excellent play forBlack, since 26...Îxe8 27 Ëxb7 Ëe3+28 Êh1 Ëxf3+ 29 Êg1 may yield nomore than a draw) 25...e4 and now:

1) 26 cxb7? Ëxh2+ 27 Êf1 exf328 gxf3 Ëh3+ 29 Êe2 Îxe8+ 30 Êd3Ëxf3+ 31 Êc2 Ëxb7 is good for Black.

2) 26 h3?? Ëe3+ 27 Êf1 (27 Êh1Ëf4) 27...Íh2 and Black wins.

3) 26 g3 Ëe3+ 27 Êh1 Ëxf3+ 28Êg1 Íxg3 (28...Íc8 is met by 29Îf1) and here:

3a) 29 hxg3 Ëxg3+ 30 Êf1 (30Êh1 Îf6) 30...d3 31 Ëc5 (31 cxb7e3) 31...Îxe8 32 Ëg1 Ëf3+ 33 Ëf2Ëxf2+ 34 Êxf2 e3+ and ...Ía6 winsfor Black.

3b) 29 Îf1 Ëe3+ 30 Êg2 and nowBlack wins by sacrificing yet morematerial and using his swathe ofpawns:

4th match, 16th game, London 1834 11

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Page 13: The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games, by Graham Burgess, Dr John Nunn and John Emms

3b1) 30...Íe5 is not fast enough:31 Ëc5 (not 31 cxb7? Ëh6) 31...Ëd2+32 Îf2 Ëg5+ 33 Êh1 Íd6 34 Ëxd6!(34 Ëc2 d3 allows Black to consoli-date) 34...Ëxc1+ 35 Êg2 Ëg5+ 36Êh1! Îxe8 (not 36...Ëf6?? 37 Ëxf6gxf6 38 cxb7 Îxe8 39 Îc2) 37 cxb7gives Black no more than a draw.

3b2) 30...Ëd2+! 31 Êxg3 f4+ 32Êh3 f3 and mate cannot be prevented,e.g. 33 Îg1 Ëh6+ 34 Êg3 Ëf4+ 35Êf2 (35 Êh3 Îf6) 35...Ëxh2+ 36 Êf1e3 followed by ...e2+; or 33 Ëc2 Ëh6+34 Êg3 Ëg5+ 35 Êf2 (35 Êh3 Îf4)35...Ëe3+ 36 Êg3 f2+ 37 Êg4 Ëf3+38 Êh4 Îf4+ 39 Êg5 Ëg4#.

23 ... fxe424 c6 exf3?

24...Ëe3+ 25 Êh1 exf3 is the cor-rect move-order.

25 Îc2White is mated after 25 cxb7??

Ëe3+ 26 Êh1 fxg2+ or 25 gxf3??Ëe3+ 26 Êh1 Ëxf3+ 27 Êg1 Îf5.

25 ... Ëe3+?!25...Íc8 26 Íd7 is unclear.

26 Êh1?After 26 Îf2 Black has nothing.

26 ... Íc827 Íd7

White dare not let the c8-bishopout, e.g. 27 Íf7 (trying to block offthe rook instead) 27...Íg4 28 c7? (28Îf1 d3 29 Îcf2 d2 is hopeless forWhite in any case) 28...fxg2+ 29 Îxg2Íxd1 30 c8Ë Ëe1+ 31 Îg1 Íf3#.

27 ... f2

Black is threatening both 28...d3and 28...Ëe1+ 29 Ëf1 Ëxd1.

28 Îf1Not 28 Ëf1? Ía6.

28 ... d329 Îc3 Íxd730 cxd7

12 Game 1: Alexander McDonnell – Louis Charles de Labourdonnais

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4th match, 16th game, London 1834 13

Not 30 Îxd3? Íe6 (30...Ëe2 31Îc3) 31 Ëc2 Ëc5.

30 ... e4The threat is now ...Ëe1, and there

isn’t much White can do about it.31 Ëc8 Íd8

32 Ëc432 Ëc6 Ëe1 is no different, and 32

Îcc1 is met by 32...Ëf4.32 ... Ëe1!33 Îc1 d234 Ëc5 Îg835 Îd1 e336 Ëc3

Now for a truly magical finish...36 ... Ëxd137 Îxd1 e2

0-1

Lessons from this game:1) A large mobile pawn centre is a

major strategic asset.2) Don’t be afraid to sacrifice to

press forward to your main strategicgoal (e.g. the advance of a pawn-cen-tre, as in this game). An advantageousposition does not win itself against aresourceful opponent, and at somepoint it may become necessary to “getyour hands dirty” and analyse precisetactical variations.

3) When pawns are far-advanced,close to promotion, always be on thelookout for tactical tricks involvingpromotion. The final position of thisgame should provide all the necessaryinspiration – make a mental note of it!

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Game 2The “Immortal Game”

Adolf Anderssen – Lionel KieseritzkyLondon 1851King’s Gambit

The PlayersAdolf Anderssen (1818–79) was undoubtedly one of the strongest players of hisera and indeed he was crowned unofficial World Champion after handsomelywinning the great London Tournament of 1851, which had the distinction of be-ing the first international chess tournament ever held. A teacher of mathematicsby profession, Anderssen began to take chess much more seriously after his Lon-don triumph. He kept his status as the world’s strongest player until 1858, beforelosing convincingly in a match to the brilliant young American, Paul Morphy.Morphy’s sudden retirement from the game, however, meant that Anderssencould once more take up the mantle as the leading player. Despite his numerouswork commitments, he stayed active on the chess front, playing matches againstmany of his nearest rivals. In 1870 he won the strongest ever tournament at thattime, in Baden-Baden, ahead of players such as Steinitz and Blackburne. An-derssen was certainly a chess player at heart. At London in 1851, he was askedwhy he had not gone to see the Great Exhibition. “I came to London to playchess” was his curt reply.

Lionel Kieseritzky (1806–53) was born in Tartu, in what is now Estonia, but set-tled in France in 1839. He became a frequent visitor to the Café de la Régènce inParis, where he gave chess lessons for five francs an hour, or played offhandgames for the same fee. His main strength was his ability to win by giving greatodds to weaker players. Kieseritzky was also an openings theoretician, who in-vented a line in the King’s Gambit which is still considered a main variation to-day. However, despite his other achievements, he is still best remembered for thepart he played in this game.

The GameDubbed the “Immortal Game” by the Austrian player Ernst Falkbeer, this is agame typical of the “romantic era” of chess, in which sacrifices were offered inplenty and most were duly accepted. Anderssen’s love of combinations and hiscontempt for material are plain to see here. After some imaginative opening play,the game explodes into life when Anderssen plays a brilliant (and sound) piecesacrifice. Spurning more mundane winning lines, Anderssen raises the gameonto another plane by a double rook offer, followed by a dazzling queen sacri-fice, finishing with a checkmate using all three of his remaining minor pieces. In

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the final analysis it could be claimed that it’s not all entirely sound, but this ismerely a case of brilliance over precision.

1 e4 e52 f4 exf43 Íc4 Ëh4+

It seems quite natural to forceWhite to move his king, but the draw-back of this check is that Black will beforced to waste time moving his queenagain when it is attacked. Modernplayers prefer 3...Ìf6 or 3...d5.

4 Êf1 b5?!

This counter-gambit was named af-ter the American amateur player Tho-mas Jefferson Bryan, who was activein the chess circles around Paris andLondon in the middle of the nine-teenth century. Kieseritzky also took ashine to it, especially after his prettywin over Schulten (see below). How-ever, it has always been considered, toput it mildly, somewhat dubious. Thatsaid, it has been utilized by none otherthan Garry Kasparov, although the cir-cumstances were hardly normal. Aftercomfortably defeating Nigel Short forthe PCA World Chess Championshipin 1993, the audiences at the Savoy

Theatre in London were treated tosome exhibition matches between thetwo players. Kasparov won the rapid-play games by the convincing marginof 4-0. Short, however, got some sweetrevenge in the theme games, wherethe openings were chosen by the or-ganizers. After two draws the pro-ceedings were “spiced up” whenKasparov was forced to defend withthe Bryan. Clearly disgusted with thischoice, Kasparov could only last fif-teen moves before resigning in a to-tally lost position, and storming offstage to vent his feelings to thepowers-that-be. Still, Kasparovcouldn’t complain too much. BatsfordChess Openings 2, written by GarryKasparov and Raymond Keene, onlygives White a slight plus in this line!

5 Íxb5 Ìf66 Ìf3

Kieseritzky’s more pleasant experi-ence with this line continued 6 Ìc3Ìg4 7 Ìh3 Ìc6 8 Ìd5 Ìd4 9 Ìxc7+Êd8 10 Ìxa8 f3 11 d3 f6 12 Íc4 d513 Íxd5 Íd6? 14 Ëe1? fxg2+ 15Êxg2 Ëxh3+!! 16 Êxh3 Ìe3+ 17Êh4 Ìf3+ 18 Êh5 Íg4# (0-1)Schulten-Kieseritzky, Paris 1844.

On this occasion the boot wasfirmly on the other foot!

6 ... Ëh67 d3

The more active 7 Ìc3 is probablybetter. Now 7...g5 8 d4 Íb7 9 h4 Îg810 Êg1 gxh4 11 Îxh4 Ëg6 12 Ëe2Ìxe4 13 Îxf4 f5 14 Ìh4 Ëg3 15Ìxe4 1-0 was the start and the end ofthe infamous Short-Kasparov game.

7 ... Ìh5

London 1851 15

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Protecting the f4-pawn and threat-ening ...Ìg3+, but it has to be said thatBlack’s play is a little one-dimen-sional. Once this idea is dealt withBlack soon finds himself on the re-treat.

8 Ìh4As one would expect, the Immortal

Game has been subjected to muchanalysis and debate from masters ofthe past and present. The sum of theanalysis alone would probably beenough to fill up an entire book. Oneof the most recent annotators is theGerman GM Robert Hübner, who re-viewed the game in his own criticalway for ChessBase Magazine. Frommove seven to eleven inclusive, Hüb-ner awarded seven question marks!Here, instead of 8 Ìh4, he recom-mends 8 Îg1, intending g4. He fol-lows this up with 8...Ëb6 9 Ìc3 c6 10Íc4 Ëc5 11 Ëe2 Ía6 12 Íxa6 Ìxa613 d4 Ëa5 14 Ìe5 g6 15 Ìc4 Ëc7 16e5, with a winning position for White.This all looks very correct, but thenagain Anderssen – Kieseritzky has al-ways been noted for its brilliancyrather than its accuracy.

8 ... Ëg59 Ìf5 c6

Here or on the next move Blackshould probably try to dislodge thef5-knight with ...g6. Hübner gives9...g6 10 h4 Ëf6! 11 Ìc3 c6 12 Ía4Ìa6 13 d4 Ìg3+ 14 Ìxg3 fxg3+ 15Ëf3 Ëxd4, which looks about equal.

10 g4 Ìf611 Îg1!

An imaginative piece sacrifice. Theidea is to gain masses of time drivingthe black queen around the board.This will give White an enormous leadin development.

11 ... cxb512 h4! Ëg613 h5

13 ... Ëg5Black is forced to bite the bullet.

Returning the sacrificed piece with13...Ìxh5? doesn’t relieve the pres-sure. Hübner then gives 14 gxh5 Ëf615 Ìc3 Íb7 16 Íxf4 g6 17 Ìxb5with a winning position for White.

14 Ëf3 Ìg8This abject retreat leaves Black’s

development in an almost comical state.In The Development of Chess StyleEuwe suggested the counter-sacrifice14...Ìxg4, although it has to be saidthat 15 Îxg4 Ëxh5 16 Íxf4 doesn’tlook too appetising for Black either.Hübner continues with 16...d5 17 Ìc3Íxf5 18 exf5, when White is clearlybetter.

15 Íxf4 Ëf6Once more Black chooses the most

aggressive option. Much more sober isthe full retreat with 15...Ëd8, al-though White’s development advan-tage should still be decisive after 16Ìc3. Instead Kieseritzky insists onplunging further into the fire.

16 Game 2: Adolf Anderssen – Lionel Kieseritzky

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16 Ìc3 Íc517 Ìd5

The game is already nearing its cli-max, as White initiates the grand con-cept of sacrificing both rooks. In thecold light of day 17 d4 should also beseriously considered. White wins afterboth the mundane 17...Íxd4 18 Ìd5and the slightly more exciting 17...Íe718 Íd6! Íxd6 19 g5!.

17 ... Ëxb2

18 Íd6!!(?)And here is the immortal sacrifice.

The two exclamation marks are for in-genuity, while the question mark is for

the actual strength of the move. With18 Íd6 White says to Black “Take myrooks!”. Given that Black can actuallyspoil the fun by choosing a resourcefuloption at move 19, it should bepointed out that objectively strongermoves do exist for White here. Hüb-ner gives three possible wins:

1) 18 d4 Ëxa1+ (or 18...Íf8 19Ìc7+ Êd8 20 Îe1) 19 Êg2 Ëb2 20dxc5 Ìa6 21 Ìd6+ Êf8 22 Íe5Ëxc2+ 23 Êh3 f6 24 Ìxf6 and thewhite attack breaks through.

2) 18 Íe3 and now:2a) 18...Ëxa1+ 19 Êg2 Ëb2 20

Íxc5 Ëxc2+ 21 Êh3 Ëxc5 22 Îc1d6 23 Îxc5 Íxf5 24 Ëxf5 dxc5 25Ëc8#.

2b) 18...d6 19 Íd4! Íxd4 (Whitealso wins if Black gives up his queen,e.g. 19...Ëxd4 20 Ìxd4 Íxd4 21Ìc7+ Êd8 22 c3) 20 Ìxd6+ Êd8 21Ìxf7+ Êe8 22 Ìd6+ Êd8 23 Ëf8+Êd7 24 Ëf7+ Êxd6 25 Ëc7+ Êe6 26Ìf4+ Êf6 27 g5#.

3) 18 Îe1 and now:3a) 18...Ìa6 19 Íd6 Íb7 (or

19...Íxg1 20 e5 Êd8 21 Ìxg7 Íb722 Ëxf7 Ìe7 23 Ìe6+! dxe6 24 Íc7+Êd7 25 Ëxe7+ Êc8 26 Ëxe6#) 20Íxc5 Ìxc5 21 Ìd6+ Êd8 22 Ìxf7+.

3b) 18...Íb7 19 d4 and once againWhite’s attack is too strong.

So the assessment after 17...Ëxb2is that White has many ways to win.The one chosen seeks the most bril-liant finish.

18 ... Ëxa1+19 Êe2 Íxg1?

By this stage I imagine Kieseritzkywas too much in mid-flow not to cap-ture the second rook. It would cer-tainly have been less sporting to playthe strong move 19...Ëb2!, after which

London 1851 17

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18 Game 2: Adolf Anderssen – Lionel Kieseritzky

the outcome of the game remains farfrom certain.

20 e5!!

Blocking off the black queen andthreatening 21 Ìxg7+ Êd8 22 Íc7#.Black has many defensive tries butnone really do the trick:

1) 20...f6 21 Ìxg7+ Êf7 22 Ìxf6Íb7 (or 22...Êxg7 23 Ìe8+ Êh6 24Ëf4#) 23 Ìd5+ Êxg7 24 Ëf8#.

2) 20...Íb7 21 Ìxg7+ Êd8 22Ëxf7 Ìh6 23 Ìe6+ mates.

3) 20...Ía6 (the grimmest defence)21 Ìc7+ Êd8 22 Ìxa6 and now:

3a) 22...Ëc3 (Falkbeer) 23 Íc7+Ëxc7 24 Ìxc7 Êxc7 25 Ëxa8 Ìc6 26Ìd6 Ìxe5 27 Ìe8+ Êb6 28 Ëb8+and 29 Ëxe5.

3b) 22...Íb6 (Chigorin) 23 Ëxa8Ëc3 24 Ëxb8+ Ëc8 25 Ëxc8+ Êxc826 Íf8 h6 27 Ìd6+ Êd8 28 Ìxf7+Êe8 29 Ìxh8 Êxf8 30 Êf3 andWhite rather mundanely wins the end-game.

3c) 22...Ëxa2 23 Íc7+ Êe8 24Ìb4 Ìc6 (what else?) 25 Ìxa2 Íc526 Ëd5 Íf8 27 Ëxb5 and White wins.

Kieseritzky’s defence was in a sensefar superior, as it ensured the game’simmortality.

20 ... Ìa6(!)

21 Ìxg7+ Êd822 Ëf6+!!

The final glory in a game of manyglories.

22 ... Ìxf623 Íe7# (1-0)

Lessons from this game:1) It goes without saying that Black

was punished in this game for his lackof respect for development. He hadfun with his queen, but this was short-lived.

2) In the so-called romantic era ofchess, defensive technique was notvery well developed, and sacrificestended to be readily accepted. Hence,Anderssen’s 18 Íd6 was a good prac-tical bet, but such a move could proveunwise against a modern grandmaster.

3) The Bryan Counter-Gambit is avery dodgy opening. Just ask GarryKasparov!

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Game 3The “Evergreen Game”

Adolf Anderssen – Jean DufresneBerlin 1852Evans Gambit

The PlayersAdolf Anderssen (1818–79) was one of the greatest players of the nineteenthcentury. See Game 2 for more information.

Jean Dufresne (1829–93) was born in Berlin. When a hearing defect forced himto give up his career as a journalist, he devoted himself to chess and chess writ-ing. Although not one of the leading players of his time, he was strong enough toscore some successes against masters, and his writings proved influential: hisKleines Lehrbuch des Schachspiels was a popular beginners’ guide, from whichseveral generations of Germans learned their chess. Nowadays, outside Germanyat least, he is mostly remembered as Anderssen’s opponent in the EvergreenGame.

The GameLike the “Immortal Game”, this encounter did not take place under tournamentconditions, but was a friendly game, just for the pleasure of playing chess. It hascertainly given a great deal of pleasure to generations of enthusiasts ever since,and to this day articles appear now and then in chess magazines with some newnuance in the analysis of Anderssen’s great combination.The game starts with a sharp Evans Gambit – one of the most popular openingsof the day. Dufresne chooses a somewhat offbeat sideline, losing a little time tofrustrate the smooth development of White’s position. Anderssen achieves apowerfully centralized position, and while Black tries to generate play on theflanks, White wrenches attention back to Black’s king, stranded in the centre,with a stunning (though, it must be said, unnecessary) knight sacrifice. Dufresne,though, has considerable counterplay against the white king, making for a thrill-ing finale. When he misses his best chance to stay in the game, Anderssenpounces with a dazzling queen sacrifice to force an extremely attractive check-mate.

1 e4 e52 Ìf3 Ìc63 Íc4 Íc54 b4 Íxb45 c3 Ía5

5...Íe7 is the preference of manymodern players, on the rare occasionswhen the Evans is played, but is by nomeans clearly better. One line runs 6d4 Ìa5 7 Ìxe5 (7 Íe2!? exd4 8

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Ëxd4 was Kasparov’s choice in agame he won against Anand at the Talmemorial tournament, Riga 1995, butshouldn’t lead to anything better thanunclear play) 7...Ìxc4 8 Ìxc4 d5 re-turning the pawn to bring about a rela-tively quiet position.

6 d4

6 ... exd46...d6 is the modern preference:

1) 7 Ëb3 Ëd7! is known as theConservative Defence, and is a toughnut to crack – analysts have been try-ing for a long time, without denting itmuch. A recent try is 8 dxe5 Íb6 9Ìbd2 Ìa5 10 Ëc2 Ìxc4 11 Ìxc4 d512 Íg5, with attacking chances.

2) After 7 0-0, 7...Íb6 has been thepreferred move ever since its strengthwas realized by Emanuel Lasker. It is atough defensive move, preparing to re-turn the pawn to secure a good posi-tion, rather than riskily clinging to thematerial. The key idea is 8 dxe5 dxe5 9Ëxd8+ (9 Ëb3 Ëf6 10 Íg5 Ëg6 11Íd5 Ìa5 has been discovered byMurray Chandler to lead to satisfactorysimplifications for Black) 9...Ìxd8 10Ìxe5 Ìf6 and in so far as winning

chances exist here, they are on Black’sside.

7 0-0 d3?!7...dxc3?!, known as the Compro-

mised Defence, gives White a massiveattack after 8 Ëb3 Ëf6 9 e5 Ëg6 10Ìxc3 (10 Ía3 is less convincing, and,interestingly, was played in a latergame between the same players, butwith colours reversed: 10...Ìge7 11Îe1 0-0 12 Ìxc3 Íxc3 13 Ëxc3 d514 exd6 cxd6 15 Íd3 Ëh6 16 Îe4Íf5 17 Îh4 Ëg6 18 Îd1 Íxd3 19Îxd3 Ìf5 20 Îh3 Îfe8 21 Ìh4 Ìxh422 Îhg3 Ëf6 0-1 Dufresne – Anders-sen, Berlin 1855).

7...Íb6 8 cxd4 d6 brings about theso-called “Normal Position” of theEvans, presumably because it can bereached via many natural move-orders.It offers White fair compensation andattacking chances, due to his fine cen-tre and good development.

8 Ëb3!?Naturally, White plays for the at-

tack, immediately targeting the weakf7-pawn, rather than wasting timecapturing the d3-pawn, but 8 Îe1!?may well be a better way to pursue thisaim, e.g. 8...Ìf6 9 e5; 8...Ìge7 9Ìg5!; 8...d6 9 Ëb3 Ëd7 (9...Ëe7 10e5 dxe5 11 Ía3) 10 e5; or 8...Íb6 9e5, when it is difficult for Black to de-velop and avoid coming under a heavykingside attack.

8 ... Ëf69 e5 Ëg6

Instead, 9...Ìxe5?? 10 Îe1 d6 11Ëb5+ costs Black a piece.

In case you are thinking thatBlack’s play looks very old-fashioned,consider that this position has beentaken on, with success, as Black byGrandmaster Beliavsky (whom we

20 Game 3: Adolf Anderssen – Jean Dufresne

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meet in Games 78, 81 and 84), thoughhis opponent did not play Anderssen’snext move. Still, Beliavsky prepareshis openings extremely thoroughly, soit is reasonable to assume that after 10Îe1 he has an improvement for Blackthat he considers viable.

10 Îe1! Ìge710...Íb6 intending 11...Ìa5 may

cause White more inconvenience.

11 Ía3 b5?!This is the first truly “nineteenth-

century” move of the game, and isreminiscent of Kieseritzky’s 4...b5 inthe Immortal Game. Rather than try todefend carefully, and to return the pawn,if necessary, in due course to deadenWhite’s initiative, Black lashes outwith a counter-sacrifice of a pawn. To amodern player, the logic is hard to see.Black’s only consolation for White’slead in development is his extra pawn(the one of d3 cannot survive in thelong term), and healthy, unweakenedpawn-structure. These advantages arethrown away on a whim, Black hopingfor some sort of counterattack on theb-file and a8–h1 diagonal. While it istrue that Black does secure some

counter-threats, to start a tacticalshoot-out from a strategically inferiorposition is a policy doomed to failure.However, such logic was foreign toordinary masters in the 1850s – it wassome decades yet before the writingsof Steinitz (see Game 5) put the casefor the methodical approach to chess.That said, lashing out with a movesuch as this is not always bad – some-times specific tactics will justify out-rageous, “illogical” moves.

11...a6 would prepare the b-pawn’sadvance, and give Black more realistichope.

12 Ëxb5 Îb813 Ëa4 Íb6

13...0-0? would now lose a piece inview of 14 Íxe7 overloading the c6-knight.

14 Ìbd2

Anderssen brings his last minorpiece into play and will now aim hispieces at Black’s king, wherever ittries to hide.

14 ... Íb7Black has carried out the idea be-

hind his ...b5 pawn sacrifice. 14...0-0has been suggested, but if that is the

Berlin 1852 21

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best move, then why not just castle onmove 11?

15 Ìe4

15 ... Ëf5?This lands Black in trouble, so it is

worth looking at the alternatives:1) 15...0-0? 16 Íxd3 threatens 17

Ìf6+, as in the game, and moreover17 Ìeg5 is an idea after the queenmoves, while 16...Ëh5 loses to 17 Ìg3Ëh6 18 Íc1 Ëe6 19 Íxh7+!.

2) 15...Ìd4? is a thematic attemptto use the pressure on the long diagonalto bring about some exchanges. How-ever, after 16 cxd4 Íxe4, White hasthe nice square-clearing idea 17 e6!(17 Íxf7+!? is also good) 17...fxe6(17...Íxf3? 18 Ëxd7+ mates; 17...0-018 Îxe4 Ëxe4 19 Íxe7) 18 Íxd3!Íxd3 19 Ìe5, when Black’s positioncollapses.

3) 15...d2 16 Ìexd2 0-0 was Lask-er’s suggestion, but then material islevel and White has all the chances.For instance a correspondence gamewith Tim Harding as White ended 17Ìe4 Îfe8 18 Îad1 Îbd8?? (18...Ìa5)19 Ìeg5 1-0. Instead 17 Íxe7 Ìxe718 Ëxd7 looks horribly materialistic,

but Black must be careful, for exam-ple:

3a) 18...Îbd8 19 Ëxe7 Îxd2 (not19...Íxf2+? 20 Êxf2 Îxd2+ 21 Ìxd2Ëxg2+ 22 Êe3) 20 e6! Íxf2+ 21Êh1 Íc5? 22 Ëxf7+! Îxf7 23 exf7+wins for White.

3b) 18...Ìf5 19 e6 Îbd8 20 exf7+Êh8 21 Îe8 Îdxe8 22 fxe8Ë Ëxe8(22...Îxe8?? 23 Íf7) 23 Ëxe8 Îxe8and Black must put his faith in thebishop-pair to save this ending.

16 Íxd3 Ëh517 Ìf6+!?

17 Ìd6+!? is another interesting(pseudo-)sacrifice, but the best con-tinuation is 17 Ìg3! Ëh6 18 Íc1Ëe6 19 Íc4, winning material in sim-ple fashion. This is rather an artisticblemish on the game, but we can cer-tainly forgive Anderssen for wishingto win in spectacular fashion.

17 ... gxf618 exf6 Îg8

Black’s attempt to defend will bebased on threats to the white king.

19 Îad1This move was criticized by Lasker,

who suggested 19 Íe4!? Ëh3 20 g3

22 Game 3: Adolf Anderssen – Jean Dufresne

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Îxg3+ 21 hxg3 Ëxg3+ 22 Êh1 Íxf2.Then 23 Íxe7 (not 23 Îe2? Ìd4!)23...Ëh3+ 24 Ìh2 keeps some advan-tage after 24...Ëh4?! 25 Îe2 Ìd4 26Íxb7 Ìxe2 27 Ëxh4 Íxh4, but24...Íxe1 25 Îxe1 Ëh4 only givesWhite the better of a drawish ending.

19 ... Ëxf3?Now White wins. Plenty of alterna-

tives have been analysed in great depth,and at least two look sufficient to holdthe balance:

1) 19...Îxg2+? 20 Êxg2 Ìe5 is adangerous counterattacking try, butWhite strikes first, in similar fashionto the game continuation: 21 Ëxd7+!!Ìxd7 (21...Êxd7 22 Íg6+) 22 Îxe7+Êd8 (22...Êf8 23 Îe5+) 23 Îxd7+!Êc8 (23...Êxd7 24 Íf5++ Êe8{24...Êc6 25 Íd7#} 25 Íd7+ Êd826 Íe7#) 24 Îd8+! Êxd8 25 Íf5+Êe8 26 Íd7+ Êd8 27 Íe7#.

2) 19...Îg4?! has over the yearsbeen subjected to much debate:

2a) 20 c4? has been recommended,but this artificial move is inadequate:20...Îxg2+ (20...Îf4? 21 Íg6!) 21Êxg2 (21 Êh1 Îxf2) 21...Ëg4+ (not21...Ìe5??, when 22 Ëxd7+ still

works) 22 Êf1 Ëxf3 looks mostunconvincing for White:

2a1) 23 Îxe7+ Ìxe7 24 Ëxd7+Êxd7 25 Íf5++ (25 Íe2+ Êe6 26Íxf3 Íxf3 leaves Black a piece up)25...Êe8 26 Íd7+ Êf8 27 Íxe7+ isno longer mate, because Black has theg8-square at his disposal.

2a2) 23 c5 Ëh3+ 24 Êg1 (24 Êe2blocks the e-file, and allows 24...Ía5,with devastating threats) 24...Ìe5 andit is Black who is attacking.

2b) The key line is 20 Îe4 Îxe4(20...Îxg2+ 21 Êxg2 Ëg6+ 22 Êf1Ëxf6 23 Îde1) 21 Ëxe4 and althoughWhite’s threats aren’t too devastatinghere (to regain the piece, with an extrapawn or so, possibly starting with 22Îe1), it is difficult for Black to find adecent move – indeed most movesworsen his position:

2b1) 21...Ía5? 22 Íxe7 Íxc3 23Ía3+ Ìe5 24 Îb1 d5 25 Ëa4+ wins.

2b2) 21...Ëg6? 22 Ëh4 Ìf5 23 Ëf4and White wins back the piece with asubstantial advantage.

2b3) 21...d6 22 Îe1 and now22...Ëa5? 23 Ëxh7 Ëxa3 24 Íf5!cuts off the king’s escape, while after22...Ìe5?! 23 Íb5+! c6 (23...Êf8 24fxe7+ Êg7 25 Ëxb7 and the e-pawnqueens) 24 Íxd6 cxb5 25 Ëxe5 Ëxe526 Îxe5 White will regain the sacri-ficed material with a lot of interest.However, after 22...Ëg6! White cando no more than regain his materialwith a slightly better endgame: 23Ëxc6+ Íxc6 24 Îxe7+ Êf8 25 Íxg6hxg6 26 Ìe5! Íe8.

3) 19...Íd4! has the idea of block-ing the d-file. After 20 cxd4 Ëxf3,Black’s counterplay is good enoughfor a draw. 21 Íe4 Îxg2+ 22 Êh1Îxh2++ 23 Êxh2 Ëxf2+ should lead

Berlin 1852 23

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24 Game 3: Adolf Anderssen – Jean Dufresne

to perpetual check, though there aresome fireworks still possible; e.g., 24Êh3?! Íc8! 25 Íg2 Ëf4! and Whiteis in some danger.

4) 19...Ëh3! is also sufficient todraw: 20 Íf1 Ëf5 21 Íd3 Ëh3, etc.(not 21...Ëxf6?! 22 Íe4).

20 Îxe7+!

20 ... Ìxe7?Now Black is mated by force. In-

stead 20...Êf8? loses simply after 21Îe3+, picking up Black’s queen, but20...Êd8 21 Îxd7+! Êc8 (21...Êe8?22 Îe7+ Êd8 23 Íe2+; 21...Êxd7? 22Íf5++ Êe8 23 Íd7+ Êd8 24 Íxc6+mates) 22 Îd8+!! Êxd8 (22...Îxd8?23 gxf3 wins on material; 22...Ìxd8?23 Ëd7+!! Êxd7 24 Íf5++ forcesmate: 24...Êc6 25 Íd7# or 24...Êe825 Íd7#) needs careful analysis:

1) 23 Íf5+ Ëxd1+ 24 Ëxd1+Ìd4 25 Íh3! (25 g3 Îg5 26 Íh3 Íf3is less clear – Kasparov) 25...Íd5 26

Íe7+ Êe8 27 cxd4 wins (Nunn). Hegives the sample line 27...Ía5 28 g3c6 29 Ëc2 Îg6 30 Íg2! Íxg2 31Êxg2 Îc8 32 Ëe4.

2) 23 Íe2+ Ìd4 24 Íxf3 Íxf3 25g3! Îg5 (25...Íxd1 26 Ëxd1 “with aboring but winning endgame” – Kas-parov) 26 cxd4 Îa5 27 Íe7+ Êc8 28Ëc2 Íxd1 29 Ëxd1 is another linecited by Nunn – Black is in troublesince the f7-pawn cannot be held, andthen White’s own far-advanced f-pawnwill be unstoppable.

21 Ëxd7+!! Êxd722 Íf5++ Êe8

22...Êc6 23 Íd7#.23 Íd7+ Êf8

23...Êd8 24 Íxe7#.24 Íxe7# (1-0)

Lessons from this game:1) Play in the centre has more ef-

fect than play on the wings – everyoneknows this of course, but it is all tooeasily forgotten in the heat of battle.

2) Always analyse variations withdouble checks extremely carefully –however improbable they may look.

3) Before playing a spectacularcombination, check to see whetherthere is a simpler, safer way to wincleanly. Unless of course you want toplay a brilliancy that is still beingtalked about a century and a half later,in which case play the sacrifice andkeep your fingers crossed! (And don’tblame me if you follow that adviceand go on to lose.)

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Game 4

Johann Zukertort – Joseph BlackburneLondon 1883

English Opening

The PlayersJohann Zukertort (1842–88) was a Polish-born player, who for many years wasconsidered second only to Wilhelm Steinitz in the chess world. In 1861 he en-rolled in the faculty of medicine at Breslau University. Rather than attending lec-tures, however, Zukertort spent most of his waking hours playing chess,including many friendly games against Anderssen, and he was finally struckfrom the university register due to non-attendance. Zukertort gradually built uphis reputation as a chess player, and this was enhanced when a match of off-handgames ended in a 5–2 victory over Anderssen in 1871. He arrived in London in1872, and spent the rest of his life there as a professional player. Many successesin tournaments and match-play followed, including first place at the 1883 Lon-don Tournament, ahead of all the world’s best, including Steinitz. His triumphswere rewarded with a battle against Steinitz in New Orleans in 1886, which hasbeen recognized as the first official World Championship match. Steinitz won bythe score of +10 =5 ø5.

Joseph Blackburne (1841–1924) was for many years the leading English chessplayer, as well as being one of the world’s best. Inspired by Paul Morphy’s briefbut explosive accomplishments in Europe, the eighteen-year-old from Manches-ter decided to learn the game. He proved to be an excellent student. After spend-ing much of the 1860s developing his game, he made his breakthrough bywinning the British Championship in 1868, and following this he became a full-time professional player. Blackburne’s excellent results were helped by his bril-liant combinative powers, his ability to create awesome kingside attacks, plus hisknack of producing swindles from seemingly lost positions. The tournamentbook of Vienna 1873 called him “der schwarze Tod” (The Black Death), a nick-name that has stuck ever since.

The GameA deceptively quiet opening and a strategic middlegame give us no warning ofthe fireworks that eventually decide this battle. Blackburne starts off well, butthen makes a minor slip, which Zukertort immediately exploits. The rest of thegame is played to perfection by the Polish player, who builds up impressively onthe kingside. When the position finally opens up, Blackburne appears to be fight-ing back strongly, but Zukertort’s concept turns out to have hidden depth, and hewins by a spectacular combination. Look out in particular for White’s sensa-tional 28th move.

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1 c4 e62 e3

Zukertort plays the early part of thegame in a very innocuous way indeed,allowing Black to reach a comfortableposition with no effort at all. Later onRichard Réti (see Game 22) was to de-velop a more potent, “hypermodern”method of development against 1...e6,involving a fianchetto of the king’sbishop. At this particular moment,however, the theory of flank openingshad not really developed at all.

2 ... Ìf63 Ìf3 b64 Íe2 Íb75 0-0 d56 d4 Íd67 Ìc3 0-08 b3 Ìbd79 Íb2

9 ... Ëe7?!After some effective opening play,

Black now starts to drift. There are twobasic pawn breaks for Black in this po-sition, namely ...c7-c5 and ...e6-e5.Both advances will lead to pawn ex-changes and thus an opening of the po-sition. With 9...Ëe7 Black connects

his rooks and keeps his options openon which advance to make, but for-gets one vital factor, the generaliza-tion that “in open positions bishopsare better than knights”. For this rea-son Black should take one move out topreserve his d6-bishop. Only after9...a6! can Black safely continue withsuch moves as ...Ëe7, ...Îad8, ...dxc4and ...e5 (or ...c5). Needless to say,Zukertort is quick to seize his chance.

10 Ìb5! Ìe411 Ìxd6 cxd612 Ìd2 Ìdf613 f3 Ìxd214 Ëxd2

At the moment the position remainsreasonably closed, but without beingreally blocked up. In effect it has thepotential to become open and it is thissituation which the bishops are wait-ing for. With his next move Black-burne allows just one open file, but indoing so he accepts a lifeless position.The advance 14...e5 is more enterpris-ing, and ensures more counterplay,e.g.:

1) 15 cxd5 e4! (aiming to blockthe position: 15...Ìxd5 16 e4 Ìf4 17

26 Game 4: Johann Zukertort – Joseph Blackburne

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Íc4! is clearly better for White) 16Íc4 Íxd5 and Black has good controlover the central light squares, whereasWhite’s bishops haven’t yet foundtheir scope.

2) 15 dxe5! dxe5 16 Îfd1 (or 16cxd5 Ìxd5 17 e4 Ìf4 and Black isvery active) 16...Îfd8 17 Ëe1 andWhite’s bishop-pair is enough for asmall edge.

14 ... dxc415 Íxc4 d516 Íd3 Îfc817 Îae1!

It is deep moves like this which of-ten separate good players from greatplayers. Many players would havebeen very tempted to oppose the onlyopen file with 17 Îac1, but this wouldhave been an incorrect plan, leadingonly to a mass exchange of the majorpieces on the c-file. It’s true that Whitecould still advance in the centre lateron, but with fewer pieces on the board,Black’s defensive task would begreatly eased. As we shall see later on,the presence of white rooks is an im-portant factor in the success of the at-tack.

This is not to say that giving up theonly open file is a business that shouldbe taken lightly. Here, however, Whitecorrectly assesses that Black’s occu-pation of the c-file is not so important,especially as all the possible infiltra-tion squares (i.e. c1-c5) are coveredmore than adequately by White’spieces and pawns.

As a further point it should be men-tioned that this is definitely a case ofthe “right rook”. The other rook is ex-cellently placed on f1, where it willsupport the eventual advance of the f-pawn.

17 ... Îc718 e4 Îac819 e5 Ìe820 f4 g621 Îe3

We now begin to see for sure thatBlack’s counterplay along the c-file isproving to be more apparent than real.Meanwhile, White’s attack on thekingside builds up at his leisure be-hind the impressive pawn-centre. Thenext stage of the plan will involveforcing the f4-f5 breakthrough withmoves such as g2-g4. Rather than

London 1883 27

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waiting to be squashed without a con-test, with his next move Blackburneunderstandably tries to fight back. How-ever, by doing so he stumbles into along forced line, ending in a brilliantwin for White.

21 ... f5

Despite the fact that this loses, itcan hardly be criticized, especially asthe alternatives are hardly enticing;e.g., 21...Ìg7 22 g4 Ëh4 23 Ëg2 (23Îg3?! Ía6! is less clear) and Whitemethodically prepares the f5 advance.

22 exf6 Ìxf6

23 f5 Ìe423...gxf5 24 Íxf5 is even worse,

e.g. 24...Ìe4 25 Íxe4 dxe4 26 Îg3+Êh8 27 d5+ e5 28 d6.

24 Íxe4 dxe425 fxg6

25 ... Îc2Black bases all of his hopes on this

move, which does seem to give him alot more counterplay than he perhapsdeserves. In any case, the alternative25...hxg6 loses swiftly to 26 Îg3,when Black’s creaking kingside can-not stand up to the intense pressure,e.g.:

1) 26...Ëe8 27 Ëh6 Îh7 28 Îxg6+Êh8 29 d5+ e5 30 Íxe5+! Ëxe5 31Ëf8+! Îxf8 32 Îxf8#.

2) 26...Êh7 27 d5 e5 (or 27...Íxd528 Îh3+ Êg8 29 Îh8#) 28 d6 Îd7 29Îh3+ Êg8 30 dxe7 Îxd2 31 Íxe5and Îh8#.

3) 26...Ëh7 27 Îf6 Îg7 28 Îh3wins the queen.

4) 26...Ëg7 27 d5 e5 28 Ëg5 Îe829 Îf6 and again White wins.

26 gxh7+ Êh8The only move. Both 26...Êxh7 27

Îh3+ Êg8 28 Ëh6 and 26...Ëxh7 27

28 Game 4: Johann Zukertort – Joseph Blackburne

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London 1883 29

Îg3+ Êh8 28 d5+ e5 29 Íxe5+ arewinning for White.

27 d5+ e5Suddenly it seems as if Black has

dealt with the threats and White is leftfacing the loss of a piece. 28 d6 looksgood, but Black can fight on after28...Ëg5!. Zukertort, however, has adazzling queen sacrifice up his sleeve.

28 Ëb4!!

An extraordinary idea against whichthere is no defence. Accepting the of-fer with 28...Ëxb4 leads to a forcedmate in seven after 29 Íxe5+ Êxh730 Îh3+ Êg6 (or 30...Êg8 31 Îh8#)31 Îg3+ Êh6 (other moves lead toquicker mates, e.g. 31...Êh7 32 Îf7+Êh6 33 Íf4+ Êh5 34 Îh7# or31...Êh5 32 Îf5+) 32 Îf6+ Êh5 33Îf5+ Êh6 34 Íf4+ Êh7 35 Îh5#.Other moves do no good either:

1) 28...Ëe8 29 Îf8+! Ëxf8 30Íxe5+ Êxh7 31 Ëxe4+ Êh6 32 Îh3+Êg5 33 Îg3+ Êh5 34 Ëg6+ Êh4 35Îg4#.

2) 28...Î8c7 29 Íxe5+ Ëxe5 30Ëf8+ Êxh7 31 Îh3+ Êg6 32 Ëh6#.

3) 28...Îe8 29 Îf8+! Ëxf8 30Íxe5+ Êxh7 31 Ëxe4+ Êh6 32 Îh3+

and White mates as in variation “1”.4) 28...Î2c7 defends against the

flash moves, but after the prosaic 29Ëxe4 Black can still resign.

28 ... Î8c529 Îf8+! Êxh7

After 29...Ëxf8 30 Íxe5+ Êxh731 Ëxe4+ Êh6 32 Îh3+ White matesin the usual way.

30 Ëxe4+ Êg7

31 Íxe5+ Êxf832 Íg7+ Êg8

32...Ëxg7 33 Ëe8# is mate.33 Ëxe7 1-0

Lessons from this game:1) Look out for sneaky knight

moves. It’s very easy to overlook an-noying ones like Zukertort’s 10 Ìb5,which secured the advantage of thetwo bishops.

2) Open files should be studiedcarefully. Sometimes they are themost important feature of the position.In this game, however, the open c-filewas virtually irrelevant.

3) A queen sacrifice, based on aforced checkmate in seven moves, is apleasing way to end the game!

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Game 5

Wilhelm Steinitz – Mikhail ChigorinWorld Championship match (game 4),

Havana 1892Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

The PlayersWilhelm Steinitz (1836–1900) was the first official World Champion, a title hereceived after defeating Zukertort in New Orleans in 1886. Despite actually be-ing one year older than Paul Morphy, Steinitz really belonged to the next genera-tion of chess players. By the time Steinitz was beginning to dedicate himselfseriously to the game, in 1862, Morphy’s chess career was already finished. Af-ter a few years living in Vienna, Steinitz came to England, and it was there that hedeveloped his positional style, which contrasted with Anderssen’s wholly com-binative play.Steinitz’s importance was not just as a player of the game. He was also a pro-found thinker and teacher and became the most prolific chess writer of the nine-teenth century. Unlike Philidor, who also advocated a positional approach tochess, Steinitz was able to persuade the world of its absolute importance. He wasundoubtedly helped in this respect by his excellent results using his deep con-cepts of positional play.

Mikhail Chigorin (1850–1908) was one of the world’s leading players towardsthe end of the nineteenth century. He twice challenged Steinitz for the worldchampionship, in 1889 and 1892, but lost on both occasions, although the secondmatch (+8 =5 –10) was close. Like many of his contemporaries, he was an excep-tional tactician and he was also renowned for his imaginative approach to theopening, which is shown in his surprising invention against the Queen’s Gambit(1 d4 d5 2 c4 Ìc6). At Vienna in 1903, where everyone was forced to play theKing’s Gambit Accepted, Chigorin won with ease, ahead of Pillsbury, Maróczyand Marshall. He also did much to develop chess activity in Russia, forming achess club in St Petersburg and lecturing in many other cities.

The GameAfter some peaceful opening play, Steinitz totally bewilders his distinguishedopponent with some high-class manoeuvring. Not realizing the danger, Chigorinprocrastinates over the right plan and is punished when Steinitz suddenly lashesout on the kingside with his h-pawn. Facing a sudden change in tempo, Chigorinis unable to cope and he finally falls prey to an irresistible attack on his king.Steinitz finishes with quite a flourish as an exquisite rook sacrifice rounds offsome extremely subtle play.

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1 e4 e52 Ìf3 Ìc63 Íb5 Ìf64 d3

This is the old way of playingagainst the Berlin. The modern methodinvolves offering the e-pawn with 40-0. Although Black normally cap-tures with 4...Ìxe4, this is not donewith the intention of keeping the extrapawn. After 5 d4 Black tends to enterthe endgame arising after 5...Ìd6 6Íxc6 dxc6 7 dxe5 Ìf5 8 Ëxd8+Êxd8, or to play the developing move5...Íe7. The greedy 5...exd4 allowsWhite to set up a powerful pin on thee-file with 6 Îe1. Then 6...d5 7 Ìxd4gives White an advantage, as both 8Ìxc6 and 8 f3 are threatened.

4 ... d65 c3 g66 Ìbd2 Íg77 Ìf1!?

By delaying castling White is ableto execute the classic Lopez knight ma-noeuvre. This knight can now emergeat either g3 or, on this occasion, e3where it has a substantial influenceover the centre. That said, Steinitz’s

plan is a little bit too elaborate to givehope of a real advantage.

7 ... 0-08 Ía4

White withdraws the bishop in or-der to preserve it for later on. In game2 of their match Steinitz had choseninstead 8 Ìe3 and Chigorin correctlycountered in the centre immediatelywith 8...d5.

8 ... Ìd7The following manoeuvre with this

knight proves rather time-consuming,without being especially constructive.

World Championship match (game 4), Havana 1892 31

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Perhaps Chigorin was lulled into afalse sense of security by White’s ap-parently slow opening play. Euwe rec-ommended queenside expansion with8...a6 9 Ìe3 b5 10 Íb3 Ìa5 11 Íc2c5, which would virtually be taken forgranted today. After 11...c5 Black’sposition possesses a certain amount ofcoordination, which is missing in thegame continuation. Later on in theirmatch Chigorin also improved on8...Ìd7 in another way, with an im-mediate lunge in the centre. The 14thgame continued 8...d5!? 9 Ëe2 Ëd610 Íc2 b6 11 Ìg3 Ía6 12 0-0 dxe413 Ìxe4 Ìxe4 14 Ëxe4 Íb7 andBlack had fully equalized.

9 Ìe3 Ìc510 Íc2 Ìe611 h4!

Probably the most important moveof the entire game. Steinitz certainlyenjoyed attacking in such a fashion. Insome ways this offensive looks risky,because White has yet to complete hisdevelopment, but his prophylacticmeasures in the centre have made itdifficult for Black to obtain counter-play. This means that White can and

should create instant pressure on theblack kingside. In particular the rookon h1 will enter the game under fa-vourable circumstances.

Steinitz’s idea of h2-h4 has notbeen lost on future generations. Justover a hundred years later the currentWorld Champion used a very similaridea, with an equally favourable re-sult.

Kasparov – ShortPCA World Championship

match (game 7), London 1993

Here Kasparov had already castled,but the wing attack still carried a nastysting. After 19 h4! Íc8 20 h5! Êh8 21Ìd5 g5 22 Ìe3 Ìf4 23 g3 Ìxh5 24Ìf5 Íxf5 25 exf5 Ëd7 26 Íxg5 h627 Ìh4 Ìf6 28 Íxf6 Íxf6 29 Ëh5Êh7 30 Ìg2 Ìe7 31 Ìe3 Ìg8 32 d4exd4 33 cxd4 Íxd4 34 Ìg4 Êg7 35Ìxh6! Íf6 36 Íxf7! Black was forcedto resign.

(Back now to Steinitz – Chigorin.)11 ... Ìe7

Finally Black hits on the correctplan, to aim for the ...d6-d5 advance.

32 Game 5: Wilhelm Steinitz – Mikhail Chigorin

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Other moves are in danger of being ei-ther too slow or too panicky:

1) 11...h6 (too slow) 12 h5 g5 andnow White should immediately oc-cupy the outpost with 13 Ìf5 and fol-low up with 14 d4, securing a definiteadvantage.

2) 11...f5!? (too panicky) 12 exf5!(but not 12 h5 f4 13 Ìd5 g5 14 h6 Íf615 Íb3 Êh8, when Black has not onlysurvived, but has taken over the opera-tion on the kingside) 12...gxf5 13 d4!exd4 14 Ìxf5 dxc3 15 Ìxg7 cxb2 16Íxb2 Ìxg7 17 Ìg5 and White has avery strong attack.

3) Perhaps Black’s best alternativeto 11...Ìe7 is 11...h5, which makes itharder for White to expand on thekingside. Of course White can con-tinue with 12 g4, but 12...hxg4 13Ìxg4 Ìf4 14 Ìg5 d5 gives Blackdefinite counterplay.

12 h5 d5

13 hxg6 fxg6?This was an occasion where Black

should have definitely adhered to the“capture towards the centre” princi-ple. Perhaps Chigorin was seekingcounterplay along the now half-open

f-file, but in reality all that Black hasdone is to weaken his king position.The threats down the h-file remain,while White will now also be able tofind particular joy along the a2–g8 di-agonal, which has suddenly becomequite vulnerable.

After 13...hxg6 White should proba-bly continue with 14 Ëe2, intendingÍd2 and 0-0-0. Notice that 14...Ìf4would not be too much of a worry.White could simply retreat with 15Ëf1, before kicking the knight backwith g3.

14 exd5!White normally doesn’t release the

tension in the centre like this withoutgood reason, but here he is absolutelyjustified in his decision. The Lopezbishop will now find a nice home onthe b3-square.

14 ... Ìxd515 Ìxd5 Ëxd516 Íb3 Ëc617 Ëe2

17 ... Íd7Other moves have been suggested,

but in all probability Black’s positionis beyond repair already. 17...Êh8

World Championship match (game 4), Havana 1892 33

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removes the black king from the pin,but after 18 Íh6! the weaknesses inthe black camp are becoming moreand more apparent. In particular, thee5-pawn is basically a sitting duck.17...a5, trying to chase the bishop offthe diagonal with ...a4 is another try,although once more White can keepthe advantage by either direct meanswith 18 Ìg5 Ëxg2 19 Îxh7, or in amore positional way with 18 a4 Ëb619 Ëc2 and 20 Íe3, as suggested byNeishtadt.

18 Íe3After obtaining positional domina-

tion, now is the right time to completedevelopment. 18 Ìxe5? Ëxg2 wouldspoil all the earlier work.

18 ... Êh819 0-0-0 Îae820 Ëf1!

“More attacking than defensive” –Steinitz. This subtle queen retreat,which has many different purposes, isa move of star quality. Firstly Whiteremoves the queen from the e-file, thuseliminating many of Black’s tacticaltricks involving ...Ìf4 and ...Ìd4.There is also a much deeper aspect to

20 Ëf1, which becomes obvious verysoon.

20 ... a5Passive defence with 20...Îf5, in-

tending ...Ìf8, doesn’t help Black.White should simply increase the pres-sure on the h-file with 21 Îh4, when21...Ìf8 can be answered with 22Ìg5!. Instead of 20...Îf5, we shouldconsider two knight moves for Black.

1) 20...Ìd4? 21 Îxh7+! (anotherpoint of 20 Ëf1) 21...Êxh7 22 Ëh1+Íh6 23 Ëxh6#.

2) 20...Ìf4 and now either 21 Ìg5h6 22 Ìf7+ Êh7 23 d4! Ëxg2 24Ëxg2 Ìxg2 25 Ìxh6 (Ravinsky) or21 d4! exd4 22 Îxd4 looks very strongfor White.

21 d4!

21 ... exd422 Ìxd4 Íxd4

Unfortunately Black must part withhis defensive bishop, leaving him woe-fully weak on both the dark squaresand the light squares! 22...Ìxd4 al-lows White to mate after 23 Îxh7+!Êxh7 24 Ëh1+. Euwe also gives thedepressing variations 22...Ëa6 23 Íc4Ëa8 24 Ìf3 and 22...Ëe4 23 Íc2

34 Game 5: Wilhelm Steinitz – Mikhail Chigorin

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World Championship match (game 4), Havana 1892 35

Ëg4 24 f3 Ëg3 25 Ìf5! gxf5 26 Îxd7as positionally winning for White.

23 Îxd4!

23 ... Ìxd4?Overlooking White’s next brilliant

idea. Euwe gives 23...b5 24 Ëd3! aswinning for White, when 24...Ìc5runs into the usual rook sacrifice: 25Îxh7+! Êxh7 26 Îh4+ Êg7 27 Ëd4+Ëf6 28 Íh6+ Êh7 29 Íxf8+ Ëxh430 Ëg7#. Black’s final chance to pro-long the agony lies in 23...Îe7, hopingfor 24 Ëd3? Ìc5, when White isforced to give up one of his bishops forthat lowly knight. Instead White shouldswing his rook across the fourth rankto increase the pressure on h7.

24 Îxh7+!Revealing to his startled opponent

the real point of 20 Ëf1. The blackking will find itself checkmated inmid-board.

24 ... Êxh725 Ëh1+ Êg726 Íh6+ Êf6

27 Ëh4+ Êe528 Ëxd4+

1-0After 28...Êf5 White can choose

between 29 g4# and 29 Ëf4#.

Lessons from this game:1) Don’t dither with your plan!

Here Black wanders around aimlesslyfor too long before deciding to carryout the logical ...d5 advance, some-thing which could have been achievedas early as move eight. Be direct!

2) Look out for the unexpected.Sometimes pedestrian developingmoves can be replaced by a suddenidea which causes your opponent im-mediate problems. Steinitz’s 11 h4 isan example of such an effective idea.

3) A move which looks to havemerely one purpose, but in fact con-tains some heavily concealed threats,often produces the desired result. HereSteinitz’s very deep 20 Ëf1 was toomuch for Chigorin.

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Game 6

Wilhelm Steinitz – Curt von BardelebenHastings 1895

Giuoco Piano

The PlayersWilhelm Steinitz (1836–1900) was the first player to be recognized as WorldChampion, a title he held from 1886 to 1894, and one of the key figures in the de-velopment of chess. See Game 5 for more information.

Curt von Bardeleben (1861–1924) was born in Berlin. He studied law but neverpractised, finding the lure of the chessboard too strong to resist. He was undoubt-edly an extremely talented player, capable of first-class results, but his tempera-ment was unsuited to the hurly-burly of tough competitive play, with itsinevitable setbacks. His standard of play would fall substantially after a disap-pointing loss, and he would sometimes withdraw from an event altogether.

The GameFor both players this was a turning point in the tournament. Steinitz had begunpoorly, but starting with this game rallied to a respectable fifth place, whereas forvon Bardeleben, who had the tremendous score of 7Ó/9 up to that point, itmarked the start of a collapse. Steinitz plays a rather simple opening, commonnowadays only at club level for its trappiness, but rare at top level because itbrings matters to a premature crisis. However, von Bardeleben avoids the mainlines, and lands in a position where structurally he is doing well, but his king isstranded in the centre. After a trade of inaccuracies, Steinitz plays an excellentpawn sacrifice to bring his knight into the attack. The finish is highly dramatic. Itappears that Steinitz has over-reached, as Black finds a cunning defence based onWhite’s back rank. However, this illusion is washed away by a staggering seriesof rook offers. This opens up a route for the white queen to come into the attackand bring about a beautiful mating finish.

1 e4 e52 Ìf3 Ìc63 Íc4 Íc5

This move characterizes the GiuocoPiano. The name means “Quiet Game”,and seems rather inappropriate giventhe stormy events to come. However,when it received its name, the standardopening was the King’s Gambit, andin comparison it is relatively “quiet”.

4 c3Instead 4 d3, or 5 d3 on the next

move, would bring about the GiuocoPianissimo. This is actually the mod-ern preference, with White keepingopen many plans, including queensideexpansion with b4, play in the centre,and kingside activity, often involvingthe manoeuvre Ìbd2-f1-g3. Note that4 d3 followed by Ìc3 is a deadly dull

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system that tends to be seen a lot inschools’ chess.

4 ... Ìf6This healthy developing move forces

White either to slow the pace with 5 d3or else to open the centre before he isfully ready to do so.

5 d4 exd46 cxd4

White has set up an “ideal” pawn-centre, but he is unable to maintain it.Another logical attempt to achievecentral dominance, 6 e5, is met by thethematic central thrust 6...d5!, assur-ing Black his full share of the play.Anyone who defends symmetricalking’s pawn openings absolutely mustknow this idea.

6 ... Íb4+This is the problem. If White had

had time to castle before playing d4,then his pawns would have been ableto steam-roller through in the centre,scattering Black’s minor pieces in alldirections before them.

7 Ìc3Instead 7 Íd2 Íxd2+ 8 Ìbxd2 d5!

breaks up White’s pawn-centre, andgives Black a completely acceptableposition.

7 ... d5?!Now, however, this move causes

White rather less inconvenience. Thekey difference from the line in the pre-vious note is that White retains hisdark-squared bishop, and this greatlyenhances his attacking prospects inthe open position that now arises. The-ory regards 7...Ìxe4 as best, whenWhite is struggling for equality in thenotorious and thoroughly analysedcomplications after 8 0-0 Íxc3 9 d5Íf6 10 Îe1 Ìe7 11 Îxe4 d6.

8 exd5 Ìxd5

9 0-0 Íe6It is too late for Black to grab the

pawn:1) 9...Ìxc3 10 bxc3 Íxc3? 11

Ëb3! Íxa1 12 Íxf7+ Êf8 13 Ía3+Ìe7 14 Íh5 g6 15 Ìg5 Ëe8 16 Îe1and White wins.

2) 9...Íxc3 10 bxc3 Ìxc3 11 Ëb3gives White a huge attack without himhaving had to sacrifice.

10 Íg5Now White has the initiative in a

position with level material.10 ... Íe7

After 10...Ëd7?! 11 Íxd5 Íxd512 Îe1+, the undesirable 12...Êf8 isforced since 12...Íe7? loses on thespot to 13 Ìe5!.

11 Íxd5 Íxd512 Ìxd5

12 Íxe7?! Ìxe7 13 Îe1 is less ef-fective, since after 13...0-0 14 Îxe7Íxf3! 15 Ëe1 Íc6 16 Ëe5 Îe8 Blacksurvives the pressure.

12 ... Ëxd513 Íxe7 Ìxe714 Îe1

14 ... f615 Ëe2

Hastings 1895 37

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This move seems very natural andstrong, but White had an excellent al-ternative in 15 Ëa4+!:

1) 15...c6? 16 Ëa3 gives Black nodecent way to defend his knight, since16...Ëd7 allows 17 Îxe7+ Ëxe7 18Îe1.

2) 15...Êf7 16 Ìe5+! fxe5 (de-clining the sacrifice by 16...Êg8 17Ìg4 Ìg6 18 Ìe3 Ëf7 19 Ìf5 givesWhite a very strong position) 17 Îxe5Ëd6 (17...b5 18 Ëa3; 17...Ëc6 18Ëb3+ Êf8 19 Îae1 Îe8 20 Îe6 Ëd721 Î1e4 and the deadly threat of Îf4+decides the game in White’s favour)18 Ëc4+ Êf8 19 Îae1 Ìg8 (19...Îe820 Î1e3 g6 21 Îe6 wins) 20 Îd5 andthen:

2a) 20...b5!? 21 Ëb3 Ëf6 22 Ëb4+wins: 22...Êf7 23 Ëxb5 Ìe7 (23...Ìh624 Îd7+ Êg6 25 Îde7) 24 Îxe7+Ëxe7 25 Îd7; or 22...Ìe7 23 Îxe7Ëxe7 24 Îf5+ Êe8 25 Ëxb5+ Ëd726 Îe5+ Êd8 27 Îd5.

2b) 20...Ëc6 21 Ëb4+ Êf7 22Îc5 Ëd6 23 Ëc4+ Êf8 24 Îxc7 Ìh625 Îc8+ wins.

15 ... Ëd7

16 Îac1

Not the sharpest. White has anumber of more forceful possibilities:

1) 16 d5 is Romanovsky’s sugges-tion, but 16...Êf7 17 Îad1 (this is animproved version of the next note)17...Îad8 (17...Ìxd5? 18 Ìg5+ fxg519 Ëf3+) 18 Ëe6+ Êf8 might sur-vive for Black.

2) 16 Ëe4!? c6 17 Îe2 Êf7 18Îae1 keeps some pressure.

3) 16 Îad1! (Zaitsev) looks verystrong. After 16...c6? 17 d5 White sim-ply powers through, while 16...Êf7 17Ëc4+ Ìd5? (bad, but otherwise howis Black to develop his pieces?) 18Ìe5+ fxe5 19 dxe5 wins nicely.

16 ... c6?!Black underestimates the forth-

coming square-vacating pawn sacri-fice.

16...Êf7 has been regarded as amajor improvement. White has a vari-ety of attempts, but none that gives aserious advantage:

1) 17 Ëxe7+ Ëxe7 18 Îxe7+Êxe7 19 Îxc7+ Êd6 20 Îxg7 Îhc8followed by ...Îc7 is good for Black,whose king is very active (Réti).

2) 17 Ìe5+ fxe5 18 dxe5 is ColinCrouch’s suggestion in his book reana-lysing the games from the Hastingstournament of 1895. White has enoughfor the piece after 18...Ëe6 19 Ëf3+(19 Îxc7?! Îhd8) 19...Êg6 20 Îxc7,but probably no more than that.

3) 17 Ìg5+ (Gufeld and Stetsko)17...fxg5 18 Ëf3+ Ìf5 19 g4 will re-gain the material and provides somechance of White keeping an edge, butwith his king also now exposed, itwill be nothing serious, e.g. 19...c6 20Îe5 g6 21 gxf5, 19...Îae8 20 Îe5 or19...Îhd8 20 Îe5 Êg8 21 Îxf5.

17 d5!

38 Game 6: Wilhelm Steinitz – Curt von Bardeleben

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This excellent pawn sacrifice sud-denly enlivens the struggle.

17 ... cxd518 Ìd4

It is well worth a pawn to get such awonderful square for the knight.

18 ... Êf719 Ìe6

White threatens 20 Îc7 Ëd6 21Ëg4 g6 22 Ëf4! Ëxf4 23 Ìxf4 fol-lowed by 24 Ìxd5, winning the pinnedknight on e7.

19 ... Îhc8Instead after 19...Îac8 20 Ëg4 g6

21 Ìg5+ Êe8 22 Îxc8+ White wins

on the spot, while 19...Ìc6 20 Ìc5Ëc8 21 Ëh5+! is also devastating.

20 Ëg4Now the threat is to enter on g7.

20 ... g621 Ìg5+

The discovered attack on the blackqueen forces the reply.

21 ... Êe822 Îxe7+!

Starting one of the most famoussacrificial sequences in chess history.The rook cannot be taken, but Blackhas a cunning defensive idea.

22 ... Êf8Black suffers a disaster if he touches

the rook: 22...Ëxe7 23 Îxc8+ Îxc824 Ëxc8+ leaves White a piece up,while 22...Êxe7 gives White a pleas-ant choice of winning lines:

1) 23 Ëb4+ Êe8 (23...Ëd6 24Ëxb7+ Ëd7 25 Îe1+ Êd6 26 Ìf7+)24 Îe1+ Êd8 25 Ìe6+ safely winsthe queen since White has two piecescovering e1.

2) 23 Îe1+ Êd6 24 Ëb4+ Êc7(24...Îc5 25 Îe6+) 25 Ìe6+ Êb8 26Ëf4+ wins in view of 26...Îc7 27Ìxc7 Ëxc7 28 Îe8#.

Hastings 1895 39

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40 Game 6: Wilhelm Steinitz – Curt von Bardeleben

After Black’s choice in the game,22...Êf8, the black queen cannot betaken due to mate on the back rank.Meanwhile all four of White’s piecesare under attack. Something dramaticis now needed.

23 Îf7+!23 Îxc8+? Îxc8 24 Îf7+ Êg8 25

Îg7+ Êh8 26 Îxh7+ Êg8 27 Îg7+?Êh8 is only a draw, since if Whitegoes in for 28 Ëh4+? Êxg7 29 Ëh7+Êf8 30 Ëh8+ Êe7 31 Ëg7+ Êd8 32Ëf8+ Êc7 the king escapes.

23 ... Êg824 Îg7+!

Aiming to decoy the black king sothat the queen falls with check.

24 ... Êh824...Êf8 is no better: 25 Ìxh7+

Êxg7 26 Ëxd7+.25 Îxh7+! 1-0

This “1-0” needs some explanation.von Bardeleben now saw the spectacu-lar finish that awaited him, and electedto “resign” by simply leaving the tour-nament hall and not coming back.Obviously, this is rather poor sports-manship.

After this devastating loss he evenwanted to withdraw from the tourna-ment. Ironically, this game is now vir-tually the only thing he is rememberedfor – perhaps the idea of gaining im-mortality as a loser is what upset himso much.

The key variation is 25...Êg8 26Îg7+ Êh8 27 Ëh4+ Êxg7 28 Ëh7+Êf8 29 Ëh8+ Êe7 30 Ëg7+ Êe8(30...Êd8 allows White to save a cou-ple of moves by 31 Ëf8+) 31 Ëg8+Êe7 32 Ëf7+ Êd8 33 Ëf8+ Ëe8 34Ìf7+ Êd7 35 Ëd6#.

Lessons from this game:1) If the opponent allows you to

win a centre pawn, take it unless thereis a very good reason not to.

2) It can be well worth sacrificing apawn to gain a superb square for apiece, particularly if it is near the en-emy king.

3) Try not to be too upset by a loss.Setbacks are inevitable, and it is mostuseful (though not necessarily veryeasy) to view each as a learning expe-rience.

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Game 7

Harry Nelson Pillsbury – Emanuel LaskerSt Petersburg 1895/6

Queen’s Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch Defence

The PlayersHarry Nelson Pillsbury (1872–1906) shot to fame when he won his first majortournament. No one had ever done this before and only Capablanca laterachieved a success of a similar magnitude in his international debut. Althoughconsidered merely an outside bet for the first Hastings International in 1895,Pillsbury produced some magnificent chess, scoring fifteen wins, three drawsand only three losses. He came first, ahead of Steinitz, Chigorin, Tarrasch and thereigning World Champion Lasker. This result catapulted Pillsbury to the top ofthe chess world, and his exceptional form continued in the first half of the St Pe-tersburg Tournament, a round-robin tournament with Lasker, Steinitz andChigorin (six games against each). After nine rounds Pillsbury was a clear leaderwith 6Ó points. However, Pillsbury’s play mysteriously collapsed in the secondhalf, when he could muster only 1Ó points, leaving him in third place behindLasker and Steinitz. Pillsbury also caught syphilis at St Petersburg, whichplagued him through the rest of his career and led to his premature death.

Emanuel Lasker (1868–1941) is one of the most famous chess players of all time.As a youngster Lasker showed incredible talent at both chess and mathematicsand he fulfilled his potential in both fields. Lasker defeated Steinitz to becomeWorld Champion in 1894, a title he was to hold for twenty-seven years, which isstill a record. Despite his victory over Steinitz, the chess world remained unim-pressed, chiefly as the former World Champion was 32 years older than Laskerand his health was declining. Lasker, however, was still improving. In 1896 heproved his worth without doubt by winning four successive major events, includ-ing the St Petersburg tournament. Lasker continued to have excellent results, be-fore beating Steinitz in a return match in 1896/7. During his chess career he stillfound time to pursue his mathematical studies, and in 1900 he was awarded hisdoctorate at Erlangen University. In chess Lasker was an exceptional tactician,but more than anything he was an immensely resourceful fighter. On countlessoccasions he was able to turn inferior positions to his advantage and his defen-sive qualities were without equal.

The GameLasker gets away with some provocative opening play to reach a very comfort-able position with the black pieces. Undaunted, Pillsbury continues to ploughahead with a crude attack, but is rocked on his heels by a clever rook sacrificefrom Lasker. Fighting hard, Pillsbury offloads some material to set up a defence,

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but at the vital moment, he misses the best line and allows Lasker to sacrificeagain. This time there is no defence.

1 d4 d52 c4 e63 Ìc3 Ìf64 Ìf3 c55 Íg5

A popular move at the time, but thishas now been replaced by the more di-rect 5 cxd5, when after 5...Ìxd5 6 e4Ìxc3 7 bxc3 cxd4 8 cxd4 Íb4+ 9Íd2 Íxd2+ 10 Ëxd2 0-0 Black hasto play accurately against White’simpressive-looking centre (see Game58, Polugaevsky – Tal).

5 ... cxd46 Ëxd4

6 ... Ìc6Lasker liked this move, although

6...Íe7 is probably more accurate,e.g. 7 cxd5 exd5 8 e4 Ìc6 9 Íb5 0-010 Íxc6 bxc6 with an equal position.

7 Ëh4In the later game Pillsbury – Lasker,

Cambridge Springs 1904, the Ameri-can improved on his opening playwith the subtle 7 Íxf6!, and after7...gxf6 8 Ëh4 dxc4 9 Îd1 Íd7 10 e3

Ìe5 11 Ìxe5 fxe5 12 Ëxc4 Ëb6 13Íe2 Ëxb2 14 0-0 Îc8 15 Ëd3 Îc7 16Ìe4 Black’s weaknesses were obvi-ous. Note that 7...Ìxd4 8 Íxd8 Ìc2+9 Êd2 Ìxa1 10 Íh4 favours White,who will pick up the trapped knight inthe corner.

7 ... Íe78 0-0-0 Ëa59 e3 Íd7

10 Êb1 h611 cxd5 exd512 Ìd4 0-0

13 Íxf6It looks tempting to go “all-in” with

13 Íxh6. Indeed, after 13...gxh6 14Ëxh6 Ìg4 15 Ëf4 White has somemenacing threats. However, Blackdoesn’t have to capture the bishop im-mediately. Instead he can keep a coolhead with 13...Ìe4!, when 14 Ìxc6Ìxc3+ 15 Êc2 Íxh4 16 Ìxa5 Ìxd1wins for Black, as does 14 Ëf4 Ìxc3+15 bxc3 gxh6 16 Ëxh6 Ìxd4 17 Îxd4Íf5+.

13 ... Íxf6

42 Game 7: Harry Nelson Pillsbury – Emanuel Lasker

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14 Ëh5 Ìxd415 exd4 Íe616 f4

The attempt to profit from the pinon the fifth rank with 16 Ìe4 fails af-ter 16...Íxd4! 17 Îxd4 Ëe1+ 18 Ëd1Ëxd1+ 19 Îxd1 dxe4 and Black hasmerely won a pawn. With 16 f4 Whiteintends to launch an attack on thekingside. Meanwhile Black has hisown ambitions on the other wing.Who will get in first?

16 ... Îac817 f5

17 ... Îxc3!This move is the start of some real

cut-and-thrust, where neither side iswilling to go on the defensive. Ofcourse 17...Íd7 is possible, but that’sanother, less exciting story.

18 fxe6!Grabbing the rook leads to a catas-

trophe on the queenside for White. Af-ter 18 bxc3 Îc8! 19 fxe6 Ëxc3 Whitecannot defend against the many mat-ing threats, e.g. 20 Íe2 Ëb4+ 21 Êa1Îc1+!! 22 Îxc1 Íxd4+ and mate nextmove. The desperate 20 Ëe2 Íxd4 21exf7+ Êf8 22 Ëe8+ avoids mate, but

22...Îxe8 23 fxe8Ë+ Êxe8 is clearlyhopeless for White.

18 ... Îa3!!

Moving the rook from one attackedsquare to another creates quite an im-pact. Lasker must have had this inmind when playing 16...Îac8. Whitewill have to capture the rook, as other-wise the decisive ...Îxa2 will follow.It’s just a question of when to take therook.

19 exf7+?A mistake in a difficult position. It

would have been more sensible tokeep the e-file closed.

1) However, the apparently disrup-tive 19 e7? actually fails to do the trickafter 19...Îe8 20 bxa3 Ëb6+ 21 Êc2(21 Êa1 Íxd4+ 22 Îxd4 Ëxd4+ 23Êb1 Îxe7 wins for Black, as Whitehas no useful square to develop hisbishop, e.g. 24 Íb5 Ëe4+ 25 Êa1 a6!)21...Îc8+! 22 Êd2 Íxd4 and there isno defence:

1a) 23 Íd3 Ëb2+ 24 Íc2 Ëxc2+25 Êe1 Ëf2#.

1b) 23 Êe2 Ëe6+ 24 Êf3 Ëe3+25 Êg4 g6! 26 Ëxd5 h5+ 27 Êh4Íf6+ 28 Ëg5 Íxg5#.

St Petersburg 1895/6 43

XABCDEFGHY8-+r+-tk+(7zp+-+pz-’6-+-+lv-z&5w-+p+P+Q%4-+-Z-+-+$3+-S-+-+-#2PZ-+-+PZ"1+K+R+L+R!xabcdefghy

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Instead of 19 exf7+ or 19 e7, Whitecan also make the most obvious move,that is grabbing the rook:

2) 19 bxa3 Ëb6+ and now:2a) 20 Êc2?! and then:2a1) 20...Ëc6+ 21 Êb1 (not 21

Êb2? Îc8!, nor 21 Êd3? Íg5! 22Êe2 Ëxe6+ 23 Êf3 Ëe3+ 24 Êg4f5#) 21...Ëb6+ is perpetual check.

2a2) 20...Îc8+ is a sharp winningattempt; for example 21 Êd2 Ëxd4+(after 21...Íxd4?! 22 Ëxf7+ Êh8 23Êe2 the attack flounders) 22 Êe1 (not22 Íd3? Îc2+! 23 Êxc2 Ëb2#)22...Ëe3+ (22...Ëc3+ 23 Îd2 fxe6gives Black compensation, but Whiteis certainly still in the game) 23 Íe2(23 Ëe2? Íc3+ 24 Îd2 Íxd2+ 25Êd1 Îc1#) 23...fxe6 followed by...Íc3+ gives Black a large advantage.

2b) 20 Íb5! is the best defensivetry, giving back some of White’s extramaterial to bring his forces into play.After 20...Ëxb5+ 21 Êa1 fxe6 22Ëg4 Black can’t focus so squarely onhis attack as he could in the game.

19 ... Îxf720 bxa3 Ëb6+

21 Íb5

An excellent defensive resource.The white bishop can be captured withcheck, but at least the black queen islured off the attack of the d-pawn. Inany case king moves lead to a swift de-feat:

1) 21 Êa1 Íxd4+ 22 Îxd4 Ëxd4+23 Êb1 Ëe4+ 24 Êa1 (Black winsquickly after 24 Êc1 Îc7+ or 24 Êb2Îf2+) 24...Ëe1+ 25 Êb2 Îf2+ 26Êb3 Ëb1+ 27 Êa4 (27 Êc3 Ëb2+ 28Êd3 Ëd2# is mate) 27...Îf4+ 28 Êa5Ëb6#.

2) 21 Êc2 Îc7+ 22 Êd2 Ëxd4+23 Íd3 (23 Êe2 also leads to mate af-ter 23...Îe7+ 24 Êf3 Ëe3+ 25 Êg4Îe4+ 26 Êf5 Îf4+ 27 Êg6 Ëe8#)23...Îc2+! 24 Êxc2 Ëb2#.

21 ... Ëxb5+22 Êa1 Îc7?

There is no rest for White. Now thethreat is 23...Îc1+! 24 Îxc1 Íxd4+and mate follows. Even so, it appearsthat 22...Ëc4! would have given Whiteno chance to erect a defensive wall.The only way to protect the vital d4-pawn would be with 23 Ëg4, but then23...Îe7, intending to continue ...Îe4,leaves White with no defence.

44 Game 7: Harry Nelson Pillsbury – Emanuel Lasker

XABCDEFGHY8-+-+-+k+(7zp+-+rz-’6-w-+-v-z&5+-+p+-+Q%4-+-Z-+-+$3Z-+-+-+-#2P+-+-+PZ"1+K+R+L+R!xabcdefghy

XABCDEFGHY8-+-+-+k+(7zpt-+-z-’6-+-+-v-z&5+q+p+-+Q%4-+-Z-+-+$3Z-+-+-+-#2P+-+-+PZ"1M-+R+-+R!xabcdefghy

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23 Îd2 Îc4Another vital moment has arisen.

Black threatens both 24...Íxd4+ and24...Îxd4, with the added idea of dou-bling the major pieces on the c-file.White has to decide between activeand passive defence, and it is by nomeans an easy choice.

24 Îhd1Or:1) 24 Îb1 Ëc6 25 Ëd1 loses to

25...Îxd4 26 Îxd4 Ëc3+ 27 Îb2Íxd4, when White is trapped in a le-thal pin.

2) 24 Ëg4 also doesn’t work after24...Ëc6, e.g. 25 Êb2 Ëb6+ 26 Êa1Îxd4 27 Ëc8+ Êf7 28 Ëd7+ Êg6 29Ëe8+ Êh7 or 25 Êb1 Íg5 26 Îdd1Ëb6+ 27 Êa1 Íe3!.

3) However, the active 24 Îe1!looks like a good move. SuddenlyWhite has threats of his own, includ-ing Îe8+ and the simplifying Ëe8+.Indeed, there seems to be no decisivecontinuation for Black, e.g.:

3a) 24...Íxd4+? allows a decisivecounterattack after 25 Îxd4! Îxd4 26Îe8+ Êh7 27 Ëf5+ g6 28 Ëf7#.

3b) 24...Îxd4 is no better. Whitewins with 25 Îe8+ Êh7 26 Ëf5+ g627 Ëxf6, threatening mate on h8.

3c) Black could also try the quiet24...Êf8, preventing Ëe8 and Îe8ideas, but this is too slow to have anyreal chance of working. It should beremembered, after all, that Black is theexchange down. White can simplyplay 25 Îf2, pinning the bishop andcreating the opportunity of a counter-sacrifice of the exchange on f6. For ex-ample 25...Îxd4? 26 Îxf6+! gxf6 27Ëxh6+ Êf7 28 Ëh7+ Êf8 29 Ëe7+Êg8 30 Ëd8+ Êg7 31 Îe7+ and nowit’s Black’s king on the run.

3d) 24...Ëc6 is probably the bestchoice. This does allow White to ex-change queens with 25 Ëe8+, but after25...Êh7! (forcing White to exchangeimproves Black’s pawn structure) 26Ëxc6 bxc6 27 Êb1 Íxd4 28 Îc2 Íc3Black still has good compensation forthe exchange.

24 ... Îc3?This prepares an imaginative sacri-

fice on a3. Nevertheless, it was objec-tively better to carry out the intendeddoubling on the c-file. After 24...Ëc6!Black threatens the deadly 25...Îc1+and forces White to relinquish his ma-terial advantage with interest:

1) 25 Êb2 Ëb6+ 26 Êa1 Îxd4 27Îxd4 Íxd4+ 28 Îxd4 Ëxd4+ 29 Êb1Ëg1+ and the g2-pawn drops withcheck.

2) 25 Êb1 is a better try, planningto meet 25...Ëb6+? with 26 Îb2.However, Black has the very strong re-ply 25...Íg5!. Now, moving the d2-rook allows 26...Îc1+, so White mustgive up the exchange. However, after26 Ëe2 Íxd2 27 Ëxd2 Ëd6! Blackimmediately wins another pawn. To-gether with White’s shaky king posi-tion, this promises Black a winningadvantage.

25 Ëf5White has a good alternative in 25

Îe1!?, which is a particularly difficultmove to see, as the rook had deliber-ately bypassed this option on theprevious move. Nevertheless, the factthat the black rook is no longer attack-ing d4 makes Îe1 an even stronger op-tion now than on move 24. Let’sexamine the variations:

1) 25...Ëc4? 26 Êb2! Îxa3 (or26...Íxd4 27 Îe8+ Êh7 28 Ëf5+ g629 Ëf7+ Íg7 30 Ëg8#) 27 Îe8+

St Petersburg 1895/6 45

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Êh7 28 Ëf5+ g6 29 Îe7+!! Íxe7 30Ëf7+ Êh8 31 Ëe8+ Êg7 32 Ëxe7+Êg8 33 Ëxa3 and White wins.

2) 25...Îxa3? 26 Îe8+ Êh7 27Ëf5+ g6 28 Ëe6! h5 29 Îe7+! Íxe730 Ëxe7+ Êh6 31 Ëxa3 and againWhite prevails.

3) As on the previous move,25...Ëc6 is best. After 26 Ëe8+ Êh727 Ëxc6 bxc6 28 Êb1 Îxa3 29 Îe6Îc3 30 Îc2 Îd3 31 Îcxc6 Îd2 32Îc2 Îd1+ 33 Êb2 Íxd4+ 34 Êb3White has an edge, although a draw isthe most likely outcome.

25 ... Ëc4

26 Êb2?White makes a fatal error. He seems

to have everything covered, but Black’snext move, the third offer of a rook inthe game, shatters this illusion.

26 Êb1! renders Black’s play in-sufficient – one square makes all thedifference! After 26...Îxa3 27 Îc1,26...Ëc6 27 Îe1 or 26...Ëb5+ 27 Îb2Ëc6 28 Îb3, White consolidates.

26 ... Îxa3!!27 Ëe6+ Êh7

27...Êh8 28 Ëe8+ Êh7 29 Êxa3Ëc3+ 30 Êa4 a6! also wins.

28 Êxa3Declining the sacrifice doesn’t help,

for example 28 Êb1 Íxd4 29 Îxd4Ëxa2+ 30 Êc1 Îc3#, or 28 Êa1Íxd4+ 29 Êb1 Ëb4+ 30 Êc1 Îc3+31 Îc2 Îxc2+ 32 Êxc2 Ëc3+ 33 Êb1Ëb2#.

28 ... Ëc3+

0-1After 29 Êa4 b5+! 30 Êxb5 Ëc4+

31 Êa5 Íd8+ 32 Ëb6 Black has thepleasant choice between 32...axb6#and 32...Íxb6#.

Lessons from this game:1) Study your own games! Despite

being on the wrong end of a brilliancyhere, Pillsbury didn’t just erase thegame from his memory. He lookedlong and hard for an improvement andwas ready to unleash 7 Íxf6! nexttime around.

2) Often attack is the best form ofdefence. Instead of passive resistance,the more active 24 Îe1 or 25 Îe1would have saved White.

3) Sacrificing two rooks, followedby driving the king up the board tocheckmate, is a pleasing way to win!

46 Game 7: Harry Nelson Pillsbury – Emanuel Lasker

XABCDEFGHY8-+-+-+k+(7zp+-+-z-’6-+-+-v-z&5+-+p+Q+-%4-+qZ-+-+$3Z-t-+-+-#2P+-T-+PZ"1M-+R+-+-!xabcdefghy

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Game 8

Wilhelm Steinitz – Emanuel LaskerSt Petersburg 1895/6Queen’s Gambit Declined

The PlayersWe have already met both Steinitz and Lasker in earlier games (see Game 5 formore information on Steinitz and Game 7 for more about Lasker). By the time ofthis particular meeting between the two giants of the chess world, Steinitz had al-ready lost the title of World Champion to Lasker, who was now proving his worthby a convincing demonstration at this tournament, which he won by a big marginahead of Steinitz, Pillsbury and Chigorin. In his six games against Steinitz in theSt Petersburg event, Lasker scored three wins, two draws and one loss, which isshown here.

The GameSteinitz introduces a new concept in a well-worn opening, which presents Laskerwith some early difficulties. Lasker reacts badly to the new circumstances andleaves the opening with clear disadvantage. Steinitz then plays the rest of thegame in an accurate and imaginative fashion, never once letting Lasker use hisrenowned fighting abilities. Faced with problem after problem, the new WorldChampion finally breaks and Steinitz’s relentless attack reaps the reward his in-genious play deserves.

1 d4 d52 c4 e63 Ìc3 Ìf64 Íf4

4 ... Íe7These days 4 Íf4 is very uncom-

mon, since it has been shown that theactive 4...c5 offers Black a problem-free position. If White is intent onplaying Íf4 lines, he tends first toplay 4 Ìf3 and only after 4...Íe7 doeshe commit the bishop to f4. In fact, inanother encounter between these twolater on in the same event, Laskershowed that he had learned from thisencounter. The third Steinitz – Laskergame went 4...c5 5 e3 Ìc6 6 Ìf3 a6 7dxc5 Íxc5 8 cxd5 Ìxd5 9 Ìxd5 exd510 Íd3 Íb4+ 11 Êe2 with equality.

5 e3 0-06 c5!?

This move, which introduces anextremely adventurous scheme by

XABCDEFGHY8rslwkv-t(7zpz-+pzp’6-+-+ps-+&5+-+p+-+-%4-+PZ-V-+$3+-S-+-+-#2PZ-+PZPZ"1T-+QMLSR!xabcdefghy

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White, was quite a surprise at the time.A bind is established on the queensideand Black has to play actively or elserun the risk of being squashed and suf-focated to death.

6 ... Ìe4?Predictably, Lasker seeks activity,

but this proves to be the wrong way tofind counterplay. In particular Black’scentral pawn-structure becomes com-promised, and the e4-pawn becomes aliability. What are Black’s other op-tions in this position? Handbuch gives6...b6 7 b4 a5 8 a3 as better for White,but more recent games have shownthis to be the way forward. One veryimportant theoretical battle was Lerner– Geller, USSR Championship, Riga1985, which continued 8...axb4 9 axb4Îxa1 10 Ëxa1 Ìc6 11 Ëa4 bxc5!! 12Ëxc6 cxd4 with a dangerous initiativefor the sacrificed piece.

7 Ìxe4 dxe48 Ëc2 f59 Íc4 Ìc6

10 a3This quiet move is a useful prophy-

lactic device, preventing ...Ìc6-b4-d5ideas from Black, and also making a

retreat-square on a2 available for thelight-squared bishop, which is des-tined to do good work on the enticinga2–g8 diagonal.

10 ... Íf6Black can actually trap the f4-bishop

here with 10...g5 11 Íg3 f4, but fol-lowing 12 Ëxe4 fxg3 13 hxg3 Îf7 14d5! White has more than enough com-pensation for the piece.

11 0-0-0

An excellent decision. Black’s coun-terplay revolves around the advance...e5. Putting the rook on d1 furtherdissuades Black from this lunge. With11 0-0-0 Steinitz changes direction,preparing the move f3, which will poseBlack some problems in the centre.White can also hope to initiate a king-side attack.

11 ... Êh8This move breaks the pin of the e6-

pawn, making it easier for Black to re-alize his goal of ...e5. In fact, Black al-ready has to be careful in this position.11...b6? runs into 12 d5!, which leadsto a complete disaster. 11...Ìe7, in-tending ...Ìd5, has been suggested asan alternative defence. Then White

48 Game 8: Wilhelm Steinitz – Emanuel Lasker

XABCDEFGHY8r+lw-tk+(7zpz-v-zp’6-+n+p+-+&5+-Z-+p+-%4-+LZpV-+$3+-+-Z-+-#2PZQ+-ZPZ"1T-+-M-SR!xabcdefghy

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can still keep the initiative in the cen-tre and on the kingside with 12 g4!,e.g. 12...g5 13 Íg3 Êh8 14 h4! andthe attack is gathering momentum bythe move.

12 f3 Ëe7!Not surprisingly Lasker begins to

fight hard in what can only be de-scribed as a miserable position. Theobliging 12...exf3 13 Ìxf3 leavesBlack with absolutely no prospects,while White could slowly prepare toopen lines on the kingside with theeventual g2-g4.

13 Íg3!Very clever play from White. What

could be more natural than grabbing apawn with 13 fxe4? Well, this was ex-actly what the World Champion washoping for. Following 13...e5! 14 dxe5Ìxe5 Black suddenly takes over theinitiative. Note that 15 exf5? Íxf5!makes matters worse for White, as after16 Ëxf5 Ìxc4 Black’s swift counter-attack has reached menacing propor-tions.

13 ... f4!?

Once more a typical move fromLasker, who won many games from

suspicious positions just by compli-cating matters. Unfortunately on thisparticular day he met Steinitz in an ir-repressible mood.

14 Ëxe4!!This brilliant piece sacrifice kills

Black’s attempt at snatching the ini-tiative. Lasker was once more hopingthat White would grab the offeredpawn. After 14 Íxf4 e5 15 dxe5 Ìxe5both 16 Íxe5 Íxe5 17 f4 Íf6 18Íd5 Íf5 19 Íxb7? Îab8 and 16Ëxe4 Íf5! 17 Ëxf5 Ìxc4 leave Blackfirmly on the offensive. After 14 Ëxe4White gains only two pawns for thepiece. On the other hand, Black is re-duced to a grim defensive job, whichwould not have suited Lasker at all.

14 ... fxg315 hxg3 g6

By relinquishing a third pawn Las-ker hopes to use the semi-open g-filefor defence. If instead 15...g5 Whitetightens his grip over the e5-squarewith 16 f4!, after which it is extremelydifficult to see what Black can do toprevent White’s steamroller of an at-tack. 16...gxf4 17 gxf4 Íd7 18 Ìf3looks totally grim, so Black should tryto block the game up with 16...g4.Nevertheless, following 17 Ìe2 theanalysis is overwhelmingly in White’sfavour, e.g.:

1) 17...Îf7 18 Ëc2 b6 19 e4 Íg720 e5 h6 21 Ëg6 Ëe8 (or 21...bxc5 22d5 Ìd8 23 dxe6 Ìxe6 24 f5 Ëg5+ 25Ëxg5 Ìxg5 26 f6 Íf8 27 Ìf4 Êg828 e6!) 22 Íd3 is a variation given bynone other than Garry Kasparov, whoannotated the game for ChessBaseMagazine. Following 22...Ëg8 Whitewins neatly with 23 Îxh6+ Íxh6 24Ëxh6+ Îh7 25 Íxh7 Ëxh7 26 Ëf8+Ëg8 27 Îh1#.

St Petersburg 1895/6 49

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2) 17...Íd7 18 Îh6! Îf7 19 Îdh1Îg8 20 Ëd3 and the threat of e5 is de-cisive, e.g. 20...Ìa5 21 Ía2 Îgg7 22e4 Ëe8 23 b4! Íb5 24 Ëc2 Ía4 25Ëb2 Ìc6 26 e5 Íd8 27 b5 Ìb8 28Ìc3, winning the bishop on a4.

16 Ëxg6 Íd7Black can snatch one of the three

pawns back with 16...Îg8 17 Ëe4Îxg3, but this only allows White tobring the knight into the attack withtempo after 18 Ìe2 Îg7 19 Ìf4. It isclear that Black cannot afford suchgreed.

17 f4

17 ... Îf7?Lasker finally cracks under the

strain of having to defend a miserableposition for a long time. 17...Îg8! of-fers more hope, although it has to besaid that White retains a significantinitiative after 18 Ëe4, e.g. 18...Îxg319 Ìe2 Îg7 20 Îh6 followed byÎdh1. It is also worth mentioning thatafter 17...Îg8 White can play 18Îxh7+, which leads to a draw by per-petual check following 18...Ëxh7 19Ëxf6+ Ëg7 20 Ëh4+. Black can avoidthe draw with 19...Îg7, although this

is risky in view of White’s attack after20 Ìf3.

After 17...Îf7? the game is over asa contest. Black’s defences becomeuncoordinated and White’s attack isallowed to power through.

18 g4 Îg7After 18...Îg8 White simply re-

plies 19 Ëh5!, followed by g5.After the text-move, 19 Ëh5 allows

Black to defend with ...Íe8-g6, butWhite has an alternative square.

19 Ëh6! Îxg420 Íd3 Îg7

Or 20...Îh4 21 Îxh4 Íxh4 22 Ìf3Íf2 23 Îh1 Íxe3+ 24 Êb1 and h7collapses.

21 Ìf3 Ëf7

22 g4!The rest of the game must have been

very pleasurable for Steinitz. White’sattack virtually plays itself. A collapseon h7 is simply unavoidable.

22 ... Îag823 g5 Íd824 Îh2! Îg625 Ëh5! Î6g726 Îdh1! Ëxh527 Îxh5 Îf8

50 Game 8: Wilhelm Steinitz – Emanuel Lasker

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St Petersburg 1895/6 51

28 Îxh7+ Îxh7The loss of the d7-bishop cannot be

avoided by 28...Êg8, as White replies29 Îxg7+ Êxg7 30 Îh7+ and 31Îxd7. Black could already resign.

29 Îxh7+ Êg830 Îxd7 Îf731 Íc4!

1-0After 31...Îxd7 32 Íxe6+ Îf7 33

g6 White will be four pawns up.

Lessons from this game:1) Always be careful to study care-

fully the consequences before allow-ing your pawn-structure to change.Lasker hoped that he would gainenough activity to counterbalance hiscompromised structure after 6...Ìe4,but was proved wrong by Steinitz’simaginative play.

2) If your opponent shocks you inthe opening (as in this case with 6 c5),don’t panic into moving quickly. Takea deep breath and try to weigh up thenovel idea in objective fashion. Inmost cases you’ll find that the newmove is not any better than its prede-cessors and that its main strength is in-deed its surprise value.

3) It is often worth giving up mate-rial to kill off any chances of counter-play. This is shown with great effectby Steinitz’s 13 Íg3! and 14 Ëxe4!.With absolutely no attacking chancesto relieve the purely defensive task athand, even great fighters such as Las-ker are going to make mistakes.

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