| Apr-12-13 | | thomastonk: I was interested to see how the old masters handled such a closed position. Anderssen tries to get a king side attack with ♘g5, ♘h5, but when he could not make it work, he had to take care on the queen side. The move that made me stop at this game for longer is 30.♖xc4. This must be a big mistake, I thought immediately, and 30.. dxc4 must be winning. But Blackburne plays 30.. ♖xc4. A opened the tournament book, but no comment by Schallopp. So, at least 3 old masters, which do not believe in this passed pawn! I switched on my engine, which confirmed my impression. That tells about chess knowledge then and now. The game has some interesting moments later, too.
Schallopp remarks that 35.. ♗d1 would have won, and the only non-trivial line he gives is 36.♖b8+ ♔h7 37.♕xd1 ♕a7!. That's correct. Also, he suggests 36.. ♖e3 instead of 36.. ♗d1, which still gives Black a clear advantage. Correct. But at 39.. ♕f8, Blackburne and Schallopp missed 39.. ♖xd3, which forces White to give a perpetual (♖xg7+, ♕f6+ etc. instantly or after an exchange on d3). Moves like 39.. ♕c3 or 39.. ♕a5 force the draw sooner or later, too. Anderssen could have played 42.♘xe6, which is winning, but White gets a lot of checks or "loses" the queen after 42.. ♖e1+ 43.♔f3 ♘e4+, which is nevertheless  because of 44.♔xe1 ♘xf6 45.♖xg7+ ♕xg7 46.♘xg7. His text move is less good, since after a series of forced moves for White, Blackburne missed 44.. dxe4. Say 45.♘c5 ♗c6 46.♖c7 ♖e2!! 47.♖xc6. This position deserves a diagram: 
click for larger view Black has saced a piece for advancing the e-pawn and, for the moment, there is no mating threat on g7, so there is not only ♖e1 mate in the air, but also ♕b8. White can still save some advantage, but he can lose the position, too. 48.g3! ♕b8 49.♘b7! is the solution, but it is still not over after 49.. ♖e1+ 50.♔g2 e2 51.♔f2 ♖b1 52.♔xe2 ♕xb7 53.♕xb7 ♖xb7, and White has a much better rook ending. |
Kibitzing
