Alexander McDonnell vs Louis Charles Mahe De La Bourdonnais (1834)

Alexander McDonnell vs Louis Charles Mahe De La Bourdonnais
London m3 ;HCL 18 1834 · King's Gambit: Accepted. MacDonnell Gambit (C37) · 0-1

To move:

Last move:

explore this opening	find similar games	85 more McDonnell/La Bourdonnais games
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Dec-30-04		Knight13: Alexander MacDonnell made lots of "Overlooked" mistakes. They are the checks and the sacrifices. Checks moved the Black king into a safe place and the sacrifices are useless, as you can see on the final position. Big mistakes.

Dec-31-04		sneaky pete: It takes a big man to make big mistakes.

Dec-19-06		sneaky pete: It's a pity Morphy didn't comment on this game. The defence is less then perfect and some of the Big Mac's big mistakes are "overlooked" sacrifices. Instead of retreating with 22.Ne2 .. the knight should have gone forward: 22.Nd5 cxd5 (after .. Bxd5 23.exd5 .. the black queen is lost; .. Qd7? 23.Rxe6+ ..) 23.exd5 Bf7 (best) 24.Qg4 .. is very difficult for black. After 24... Bg4? (.. Bd7 or .. Bc4 must be better) white should have played 25.Rxf8+ .. (Staunton). After 25.Qa5+? Kc8? (better .. Ke8) white can play 26.Rf7 .. (Staunton) with at least a draw (26... Bxf3 27.Qf5+ Kb8 28.Qxf3 Qe8 29.Nxc6+ Qxc6 30.Rxf8+ Rxf8 31.Qxf8+ Qc8 32.Qxd6+ Qc7 33.Qf8+ ..). 31.Nxc6 .. (censured by Lewis who recommends 31.b5 ..) is the right move at the wrong time. White should have played this a move earlier: 30.Nxc6 .. with winning chances (30... Kxc6? 31.Qc4+ Kb7 32.Rxd7+ Qxd7 33.Qd5+! ..; 30... Qxe4? 31.Rxd7+ ..).

Nov-26-10		blazerdoodle: My question then is: IF 22.Nd5 and it's very difficult for Black, where did Black go wrong, that is, where did earlier he have a better move? Amazing game.

Feb-03-12		Knight13: sneaky pete: It takes a big man to make big mistakes.> But not in chess. <blazerdoodle: IF 22.Nd5 and it's very difficult for Black, where did Black go wrong, that is, where did earlier he have a better move? Amazing game.> For one, 11...Bc5+?!. Also, 7...Nxd4?! -- White has a very active position set up for attack; the last thing Black should be doing here is grabbing the d4 pawn. 6...Nc6 is also questionable.

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