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Later Kibitzing> |
Apr-22-11
 | | alexrawlings: This is quite a game... White to move at move 31 could make a good Thu or Fri puzzle. |
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Apr-22-11
| | alexrawlings: And/or maybe a Sat or Sun puzzle at move 25! |
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| Apr-23-11 | | rilkefan: I started looking at 25.Nxd6 Qxd6 26.Bxg6. Then I realized I was too tired to have a chance. |
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Apr-23-11
 | | dzechiel: White to move (25?). Black is up a pawn. "Very Difficult." I saw
25 Qxh5 gxh5 26 Bxf4+
right away and decided that had to be the correct line. White recovers almost all of the queen and, with all of his pieces active (as opposed to black whose bishop and rook are out of the action) white would be able to whip up some good threats. I confess that I didn't look beyond this point, as it appeared the variations were growing large quickly. (Tonight I typed this all up after verifying my first two moves were correct). |
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| Apr-23-11 | | SufferingBruin: I got the first four moves. Yep, I got Qxh5. However, my 1200 rated patzer mind cannot--simply cannot--sac that beautiful bishop. And yet what other move is there? Even with the bishop move, I can see myself blowing this. I swear to all that is holy, I'd hate this game if I didn't love it. |
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| Apr-23-11 | | vulcan20: Okay, White is a pawn down. Does 25. Bxf4 work? 25. Bxf4 Nxf4 26. Qf1 Rf8! is highly annoying, and any other place just drops the critical c4-pawn. So something a little more subtle. Somehow 25. Qxh5 just wants to be tried, since White gets oodles of discoveries along the g-file. 25. Qxh5 gxh5 and now White has two choices: 26. Bh4+ Kf7 27. Bxe7 Kxe7 28. Rg7+ Rf7 29. Rxf7+ Nxf7 30. Ng3 wins the pawn back as well as the queen, and is definitely the fall-back if the next variation doesn't work 26. Bxf4+ Ng6 is forced because the following fail
26...Ng4 27. h3
26...Kh8 27. Bg5 and the threat of Bf6# forces Black to give up the queen
26...Kf8/f7 27. Rdf1! and White's attack is way too powerful after 26. Bxf4+ Ng6, the obvious try is 27. Bxd6, when White has now a passed d-pawn to go along with a dominant bishop pair and powerful attack for the queen. White's chances of winning in this line are good enough that I'd play this in a game situation, though there may be something even stronger. |
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Apr-23-11
 | | Phony Benoni: 
click for larger view<25.?>
Well, I at least saw the basic idea. 25.Bxf4 is obvious, of course, but after 25...Nxf4 Black is only minimally down in material and his knights are well posted. Still, that's a fairly safe idea if nothing else pans out. One clue that White should be thinking of attack is the possession of his dark-squared bishop when Black's kingside dark squares are weak. That piece could well be worth a rook in this position. A discovered check is usually worth thinking about, even if it needs a move like 25.Qxh5 to set it up. 25...gxh5 26.Bh4+ Qg7--probably not. It's Black who is winning the exchange now, and trading queens to boot. So 26.Bxf4+ instead. Now king moves look bad. 26...Kh8 27.Bg5 and 28.Bf6+; 26...Kf8 27.Bh6+ Ke8 28.Rg8+ and 29.Rg7 seem to lose quickly for Black, while 26...Kf7 27.Bg5 followed by 28.Rf1+ feels pretty awful as well. So Black probably goes for 25.Qxh5 gxh5 26.Bxf4+ Ng6, and here is where I got stuck. 27.Bxd6, 27.Nxd6, 27.Rf1, 27.Bg5 all look good for White, and I couldn't analyze a sure win in any of them. So I would have to make a judgment call here, and in a game I think I would have felt good enough about the position to give the queen sacrifice a shot. White is not down a significant amount of material, and the attack seems sure to pick up a bit more as the game goes along. Most importantly, the question at move 27 is not whether White has a good continuation, but which of several good possibilities should be chosen. With that in mind, I'd postpone the crucial decision until the position was actually on the board. The game continuation looks convincing, and I imagine the question today will be if other ideas win for White, especially on move 27. |
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| Apr-23-11 | | Shatranj Ka Khiladi: Why 39. Bc3 and not 39. Rh8? |
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Apr-23-11
 | | sevenseaman: I went 25. Qxh5 to 30. Rde1 with the text. Here I was either at a loss for a defensive reaction or I strongly felt I was on track and thought I had done enough. So looked up.
Had I gone up to 34...Qxf6, it would have been my day, but its like being Speelman and Azmaiparashvili rolled into one. Too long to sustain for a mortal! |
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Apr-23-11
| | Phony Benoni: <Shatranj Ka Khiladi: Why 39. Bc3 and not 39. Rh8?>
click for larger viewThere is always the chance that Speelman was in time pressure and missed that Black could save his rook with 39...Re8. I suspect both moves win, but going for the rook instead might make the win somewhat harder. Let's say the game had continued 39.Rh8+ Kf7 40.Rxa8 Kxf6. 
click for larger viewBlack's king is in the game, and his kingside pawns must be dealt with. It still looks a win for White, probably even a fairly easy one, but Black has counterplay and there will be thinking left to do. Now, compare the final position of the game:
click for larger viewWhite's bishop blocks both the pawns and the king's entrance (42...Kf7 43.Bf6). All Black can do is bring his king to the queenside, but after 42...Kd7 43.Ka3 Kc8 44.Kxa4 Kc7 45.Ka5 Kb7, his king is reduced to shuffling between a7/b7. White will pick up the d6-pawn with his bishop and still keep the kingside blockaded. That does sounds like a bit of work, but it's much easier because Black has no counterplay. |
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Apr-23-11
| | sevenseaman: < Shatranj Ka Khiladi: Why 39. Bc3 and not 39. Rh8?> A very valid thought that occurred to me too. 39. Rh8+ is a better move. I guess Speelman thought he could keep his DSB as well as take the Black R. It did not happen, it is one or the other. Unless someone can point to a flaw in our shared thinking, retaining the R leaves Speelman the easier mopping up. |
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| Apr-23-11 | | VincentL: "Very Difficult".
My first thought is "Why doesn´t 25. Bxf4 win? Should this be `Black to play?`" Assmuing it is white´s move, and Bxf4 is discounted, I am guessing that this starts 25. Qxh5. Then 25.....gxh5 26. Bxf4+. Now black has some choices.
(a) 26.....Ng6 27. Nxd6 (possibly).
I am floundering.
(b) 26.....Kh8
Again I cannot see the way forward.
The first move must be something different.
It is late. I am going to throw in the towel and check |
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Apr-23-11
| | sevenseaman: My comment overlapped <Phony Benoni>'s. He may have a point about the connected h and g pawns that Black could try and queen with his K concentrating on this solely. But I would have gone for the Black R and perhaps ended up paying for it. |
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Apr-23-11
 | | lost in space: Saw the first few moves and that White should avoid 26. Bh4 Qg7. I was going for 27. Ng6 Bxd6 and hoped for a win
click for larger view |
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Apr-23-11
| | sevenseaman: <Shatranj Ka Khiladi and Phony Benoni> I put in some spadework and I find 39. Rh8+ gives a good result. 39. Rh8+ Kf7 40. Rxa8 Kxf6 41. Rxa6 g5 42. Rxd6+ Kf5 
click for larger view43. Rh6 h4 and White's d pawn queens easier and faster. |
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Apr-23-11
| | Phony Benoni: <sevenseaman> That looks about right, but what if Black protects the d-pawn with 41...Ke5? 
click for larger viewIt's a little harder for White to get a passed pawn here. But I don't think analysis is the point. Even if the engines say 39.Rh8+ was the better move--which they probably will--I think that from a human point of view Speelman did the right thing by taking the simpler win. |
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| Apr-23-11 | | tacticalmonster: 25 Qxh5 gxh5 26 Bxf4+ Kf8 (26...Kh8 27 Bg5 win the queen) (26...Ng6 27 Bxd6 Qh4 28 Rdf1 b5 29 Nf6+ Kh8 30 Nxh7 ) 27 Bh6+ Ke8 28 Rg8+ Kd7 29 Rg7 Nf7 30 Rf1 Rf8 31 Rxh7 Kc8 32 Bxf8 Qxf8 33 R1xf7 Time spent: 30 min |
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| Apr-23-11 | | stacase: 25 Qxh5 was obvious, the rest wasn't. |
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| Apr-23-11 | | KingV93: How much do you have to see here to be correct?  xh5 and  xf4 is as good as it's gonna get on a Saturday for me. On a good day I'd have finished the game with the full point as well. |
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| Apr-23-11 | | Dr. J: Incidentally, Black cannot decline the (pseudo-)sacrifice: 25 Qxh5 Rxe4 26 Bxe4 gxh5 27 Bxe5+ Kf8 28 Rdf1+ Ke8 29 Rg8+ Kd7 30 Bf5+ Kc7 31 Rg7 and White comes out a piece ahead. |
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Apr-23-11
 | | morfishine: <Dr. J>...<Incidentally, Black cannot decline the (pseudo-)sacrifice> Good point and really the point: white forces the issue and black's position crumbles <sevenseaman> Way to go, you are on a roll |
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| Apr-23-11 | | Shatranj Ka Khiladi: Phony Benoni & sevenseaman, thanks for sharing your thoughtful analysis. |
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| Apr-23-11 | | AGOJ: I guessed the first move of the puzzle, and would not have played it OTB. This is one amazing game. |
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Apr-23-11
| | sevenseaman: < KingV93: How much do you have to see here to be correct? > One could deservedly pat oneself after the first two moves. This a longish solution. White really gets into domination after Black's 34th move. |
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| Apr-23-11 | | Tigranny: Nice game. I like the opening too. |
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