Vladimir Makogonov vs Mikhail Botvinnik (1940)

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Vladimir Makogonov vs Mikhail Botvinnik
USSR Championship (1940), Moscow URS, rd 11, Sep-19
Dutch Defense: Classical. Stonewall Variation Botvinnik Variation (A93) · 1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 2 OF 2 · Later Kibitzing>
Dec-03-20		Muttley101: <al wazir: <Honza Cervenka: 44.f7 can be a candidate as well.> Or 44. Qxd4.> 44. Q:d4 Q:d4+ 45 any g:f6 0-1

Dec-03-20		Brenin: Winning a piece by 40 Rxf8+ is a good Monday or Tuesday puzzle, as <Honza Cervenka> suggested 14 years ago, but on a Friday one also has to see the double threat (mate by Qg5+, and winning the B) of 42 ...Qd8, and how to deal with it by 43 f6.

Dec-03-20		Brenin: 43 f6 is not the only good response to 42 ... Qd8: simply 43 Kf1, with the threat of 44 Qf7 and 44 Qxg7 mate or 44 Re8+, is deadly, as the back rank mates prevent Black from capturing the B. Also adequate, if less forcing, is 43 Bf2.

Dec-03-20		goodevans: <Brenin: Winning a piece by 40 Rxf8+ is a good Monday or Tuesday puzzle, as <Honza Cervenka> suggested 14 years ago, but on a Friday one also has to see the double threat (mate by Qg5+, and winning the B) of 42 ...Qd8> Just as well it's Thursday then coz I stopped at 42.Qxc4. ;o) <43 f6 is not the only good response to 42 ... Qd8 [...] Also adequate, if less forcing, is 43 Bf2.> 43.Be3 and 43.Be5 are also fine.

Dec-03-20		Brenin: Thanks, <goodevans>, for that correction. Working from home for the last eight months, I find that the level of difficulty of POTD is one of the few ways of distinguishing one day from another, and currently that's accurate only to within about two days. Yes, 43 Be3 also works, as does 43 Be5. However, my first thought, 43 Bxg7+, doesn't seem to lead to a win, as White can't take advantage of the exposed Black K, and the extra P is not decisive.

Dec-03-20		awfulhangover: I don´t understand what makes this a Thursday puzzle!

Dec-03-20		beenthere240: f6 is elegant and reflects what chess is about — IMHO

Dec-03-20		The Kings Domain: Nice and easy.

Dec-03-20		The Kings Domain: Well-played game by Makogonov, he sure proved himself superior to his great opponent here.

Dec-03-20		TheaN: I'm willing to believe that <40.Rxf8+ Qxf8 (Kxf8 41.Qb8+ #2) 41.Qd5+ Kh8 (Qf7 42.Re8#) 42.Qxc4> is not what CG sees as a Thursday puzzle, so this would include the response to <42....Qd8>: click for larger view I saw up to this point and considered that White will have to do something against 43....Qg5+, not necessarily *xd4 because of the back rank mate. Settling on tackling both threats I played the suboptimal <44.Be3?! +-<>>. Point is, how much <worse> is this (or Kf1!) compared to <44.f6! +-> and does it merit this being a Thursday puzzle? It is much worse (+4 vs +12), but I think it is not critical. After retreating the bishop (or moving the king) Black's pretty much out of play and White will be able to simplify relatively fast. It would be different if Black had all kinds of threats, but he doesn't. If you saw 44.f6, good job, but if you played 44.Be3, Be5, Kf1 or even stopped after 43.Qxc4 it's pretty much solved as well.

Dec-03-20		TheaN: Actually, 44....*xd4 is a threat, as after 44....Rxd4 45.Qxd4 doesn't work as 45....Qxd4+ -+ comes with a somewhat crucial tempo. That's why White's alternatives on move 44 are 'just' Kf1 (Rxd4? 45.Qxd4 +-), Be5 (Qg5+ 45.Bg3 +-) and Be3 (+-, as it protects against everything).

Dec-03-20		malt: Had gone with 43.Kf1 h6 (43...Qf8 44.B:g7+ K:g7 45.Qc3+ ) 44.Qf7 wins

Dec-03-20		thegoodanarchist: I kept trying to find the kill shot that gives mate, instead of seeing the win of a piece that gives decisive advantage.

Dec-03-20		AlicesKnight: I saw (along with others) the piece win after RxN+ but missed the f6 element which shows genius (didn't the winner also beat Reshevsky in his time? - he was no fool).

Dec-03-20		Argiechess: Justo curioud about Wannabe's Gambit ... Anybody to share the moves ..?

Dec-03-20		Jimfromprovidence: <brenin> <43 f6 is not the only good response to 42 ... Qd8: simply 43 Kf1, with the threat of 44 Qf7 and 44 Qxg7 mate or 44 Re8+, is deadly,> In this vein, I would also like to add 43 Kf1 Qd7 (threatening 44...Qxf5+) 44 Qe6! to the mix. click for larger view

Dec-03-20		goodevans: <Jimfromprovidence: [...] In this vein, I would also like to add 43 Kf1 Qd7 (threatening 44...Qxf5+) 44 Qe6! to the mix.> Against <43.Kf1> I'd have tried <43...Qa8> with two mate threats. Of course white can still win but it would have given him something to think about.

Dec-03-20		Jimfromprovidence: <goodevans> <Against <43.Kf1> I'd have tried <43...Qa8> with two mate threats. Of course white can still win but it would have given him something to think about.> Agreed. This is a very robust puzzle position. There is only one winning move and plenty of counterattacking chances, so a lot could go wrong. Black could have tried 42...Qa8, for example. click for larger view

Dec-03-20		al wazir: <Muttley101: 44. Q:d4 Q:d4+ 45 any g:f6 0-1>. Sorry about that. I somehow had the white king on h1.

Dec-03-20		BareKing: Jimfromprovidence: After 42...Qa8, Simply Bxg7+, Kxg7 (forced), Qc3+ and white is a rook up.

Dec-03-20		Brenin: <BareKing>: Even better, after 42 ... Qa8 43 Bxg7+ Kxg7 44 Re7+ leads to mate, e.g. 44 ... Kf6 (Kh8 45 Qc3+ Kg8 46 Qg7 mate, Kh6 45 Qh4 mate, or Kf8 45 Qf7 mate) 45 Qh4+ Kxf5 46 Qh5+ Kf4 (Kf6 47 Qe5+ is no better) 47 Qe5+ Kg4 (Kf3 48 Qg3 mate) 48 Rg7+ Kh4 (Kf3 49 Rg3 mate) 49 Qg5+ Kh3 50 Rxh7 mate.

Dec-03-20		Nullifidian: In this position, the temporary exchance sac 40. ♖xf8+ is the obvious first move. If the king captures then it's simply mate in 3: 41. ♕b8+ ♖c8 42. ♕xc8+ ♕e8 43. ♕xe8#. So the queen must capture, but that opens up the diagonal on the king, so now the play continues: 41. ♕d5+ ♔h8 (not ♕f7?? 42. ♖e8#) 42. ♕xc4, when white is up a piece.

Dec-03-20		gawain: This one is remarkable for the identity of the losing player. The great Botvinnik, victim of a beautiful combination. And who is this Makogonov? To judge by his brief bio and the list of eminent victims, he was a very good player indeed. I failed to find the win, but I had fun trying The innocent little pawn advance 43 f6 is unanswerable.

Dec-03-20		SchachAndAwe: Material is equal. and neither sides King is particularly safe. Black has two Rooks attacking the Bishop, which is only defended by the Queen, however the Rook in the c-file is loose. I managed to find the combination that picks up the Knight for free, but failed to find f6! that leads to the followup f7 a move later. That move is probably what gives the puzzle the Medium difficulty, as the earlier moves were easier to find.

Dec-04-20		RandomVisitor: After 4...Be7 the machine predicts 5.Nf3 d5 but would play 6.Qc2 over 0-0: click for larger view Stockfish_20110716_x64_modern: NNUE evaluation using nn-cb26f10b1fd9.nnue enabled <61/76 19:54:20 +0.50 5.Nf3 d5 6.Qc2> Ne4 7.0-0 c6 8.Ne5 Nd7 9.Nd3 Bf6 10.e3 0-0 11.Nc3 Re8 12.Rd1 Be7 13.b3 b6 14.Bb2 a5

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