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Nick DeFirmian vs Predrag Nikolic
"The Bonfire of Tunis" (game of the day Dec-01-04)
Tunis 1985  ·  Spanish Game: Closed Variations. Flohr System (C92)  ·  1-0


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Given 15 times; par: 26 [what's this?]

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sac: 32.Nxh6+ PGN: download | view Help: general | java-troubleshooting

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Kibitzer's Corner
Oct-17-02
Premium Chessgames Member
  Honza Cervenka: Very nice game!
Oct-17-02
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sneaky: Indeed! So which move do you think deserves the exclam "!"

I suppose it would be the move that kicked off all the fun: 19.e6! And yet, this is a very natural sacrifice as it weakens g6.

A great example of how a simple attacking plan can explode into a crecendo of beautiful tactics.

Oct-18-02
Premium Chessgames Member
  Honza Cervenka: 19.e6 seems to be very strong but black did not reacted well missing natural move 20...c4 (after 19...fxe6 20.Ne5). In that case it wouldn't be so easy for white to lead a winning attack as it happened in the game. 26.Nd7 is also very nice and strong move preparing (after probably not the best 26...Nb4) definitely winning blow 27.Nef6+. White could play here also 26.Bxh6 as 26...gxh6 27.Ng5 leads to the mate and if, for example, 27...Nd4 then 28.Bxg7! with winning attack.
Oct-18-02   exchange: Honza, in your other winning line 26.Bxh6, if 26...Nxe5 then 27.Qg3 Bf8 28.Nf6+ followed by Nxe8 wins.
Oct-19-02
Premium Chessgames Member
  Honza Cervenka: Exchange, you are right. It is the reason I suggested to play move 26...Nd4 (of course not 27...) after 26.Bxh6 as then 27.Qg3 is refuted by simple 27...Nf5.
Oct-19-02   Danilomagalhaes: There are a lot of Closed Ruy Lopez games that are good to study its variants... Try to do it, and you can see a lot of good moves that makes the game go through a better way for you!
Dec-01-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  An Englishman: Good Evening: Alekhine would have been proud to call this game his own, and I can think of no higher praise.
Dec-01-04   isolatedpawn: Looks like Nick DeFirmian was struggling to find the right sequence of moves to Mate. He was repeating some Check moves over and over again and then thought of sacrificing the Bishop and Knight to get the right moves!!!
Dec-01-04   deshad: isolatedpawn, he may have been low on time and repeated those moves to get some extra time. I've done that a few times myself.
Dec-01-04   Derek880: In Honza's line in which he suggests 20...c4, White can play 21 Qh5 Rf8 22 Bxh6 Qe8 23 Qg4
Dec-01-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  ajile: Could we get some "games of the day" where black wins? This is like the 5th game in a row with white winning. thx.
Dec-01-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  acirce: <ajile> The 13th, to be exact.
Dec-01-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  kevin86: The oscillations to save time drive me up a wall!;I know there are ten seconds per move and even five seconds per move in speed chess -has any thought been given to something like three minutes per move in regular chess? I do like the Fischer idea of adding time after each move,as a compromise.
Dec-01-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  JohnBoy: If black plays <Honza>'s 20...c4, I believe that 21.Qh5 is very stong for white. The immediate threat is Qf7+ followed by Bh6 with a seemingly irresistable attack.

Secondly, when <Honza> suggests that 26...Nb4 is not black's best, I must admit that I don't see anything better. 26...Nd4 runs into the same knight sac, for example.

Dec-01-04   aw1988: This is the correct first player, but not the 2nd! :(
Dec-01-04   drukenknight: This is not an easy game to finish off; the chesslab computer struggles w/ it. Again this computer is not much good at endgams so maybe the win is easy. From the final position (move 1 = blacks 37th):

1. ... Qxc4
2. Qe7+ Kh6
3. Qe3+ Kh5
4. Qxa7 Qc1+
5. Kg2 Qxb2+
6. Kh3 Kg5
7. Qxh7 Qa3
8. Qf7 Kh5
9. Kg2 Qa6
10. Kf2 Qb6+
11. Ke2 Qb5+
12. Ke3 Qc5+
13. Ke4 Qc2+
14. Kd4 Qd1+
15. Kc5 Qc1+
16. Qc4

Dec-01-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  crafty: 37. ... Kf5 38. Re5+ Kf4 39. Qg3#   (eval Mat02; depth 7 ply; 1M nodes)
Dec-01-04   drukenknight: sorry I think I posted that in the above line in the wrong folder, is there another Nikolic game? duh.
Dec-01-04   drukenknight: sorry it is the Halkias/Ftacnik game that is supposed to be in....
Dec-01-04   Granite: Move 29 and 31 should be Neg4+ instead of simply Neg4. Discovery from the rook.
Dec-01-04   ruylopez900: a very nice mating pattern had black allowed it :)
Dec-19-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  patzer2: Defirmian's 19. e6!? is a good calculated attempt at demolishing Black's pawn structure, but it succeeds only because Black misses a simple and strong defense.

After 19...f5! 20. Ng3 c4 , Black holds the position with equal or better chances.

Playing 19...c5!?, or the previously discussed 20...c5!?, leads to very complex positions, which, though slightly favoring White, may still be defensible for Black. However, debating the merit of those moves seems to be a moot point, since preparing the 20...c4! thrust with 19...f5! gives Black good counterplay.

Dec-19-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  patzer2: Defirmian seems to have overlooked a sure win by not playing the strong "demolition of pawn structure" move 24. Bxh6!!

24. Bxh6!! Nd4

[24...gxh6?? 25. Ng5! Nxe5 26. Qh7+ Kf8 27. Qh8#]

[24...Qd8 25. Nd7 Bh4 26. Qd5+ Kh8 27. Be3 Ne5 28. Qxb7 Qxd7 29. Qxd7 Nxd7 30. Nd6 Rf8 31. Rd1 c4 32. Rd5 Bf6 33. Rxb5 c3 34. bxc3 Bxc3 ]

[24...Nxe5 25. Qg3 Bf8 26. Nf6+ Kf7 27. Nxe8 Qxe8 28. Rxe5 ]

24. Bxh6!! Nd4 25. Bxg7! Qa6

[25...Kxg7?? 26. Qg3+! Kh8 27. Nf7+ Kh7 28. Nfg5+ Bxg5 (28...Kg6 29. Ne6+ Kf7 30. Nd6+ Bxd6 31. Qg7#) 29. Nxg5+ Kh6 (29...Kg6 30. Ne6+ Kf6 31. Qg5+ Kf7 32. Qg7#) 30. Qh4+ Kg6 31. Qh7+ Kf6 32. Qh6+ Kf5 33. g4+ Kf4 34. Qf6+ Nf5 35. Qxf5#]

24. Bxh6!! Nd4 25. Bxg7! Qa6 26. b4 Qe6

[26...Rd8 27. Bh8 Bxe4 28. Rxe4 Ne6 29. Rg4+ Ng5 30. Qf5 Rf8 (30...Kxh7 31. Ng6+ Kg7 32. Nxe7 Rd1+ 33. Kh2 Qd6+ 34. f4 Qxe7 35. Rxg5+ Kh8 36. Rh5+ Kg8 37. Qg6+ Qg7 38. Qe8+ Qf8 39. Rg5+ Kh7 40. Qg6+ Kh8 41. Rh5+ Qh6 42. Rxh6#) 31. Rxg5+ Bxg5 32. Qxg5+ Kxh8 33. Ng6+ Kg7 34. Nxf8+ Kxf8 35. Qxc5+ ]

[26...Kxg7 27. bxc5 Rd8 (27...Bxe4 28. Qxe4 Rd8 29. Qg4+ Kh7 30. c6 Rf8 31. Qxd4 Qa2 32. Qd3+ Kg8 33. Qg6+ Kh8 34. Re4 Qxf2+ 35. Kh2 Qf5 36. Qh6+ Kg8 37. Rg4+ ) 28. Qg3+ Kf8 (28...Kh7 29. c6 ) 29. Qf4+ Kg8 30. Qf7+ Kh8 31. Ng6+ (31. Nd6 ) ]

24. Bxh6!! Nd4 25. Bxg7! Qa6 26. b4 Qe6 27. Nxc5 Qd5 28. bxc5 Qd5 29. Qg6 Qxg2+ 30. Qxg2 Bxg2 31. Kxg2 Kxg7 32. Re4 White has a winning endgame advantage.

Dec-20-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  patzer2: After 26...Nb5?? (better was 26...Kh8 putting up much more resistance), White wins with the surprising 27. Nef6+!

27. Nef6+ Kf7

[27...Bxf6 28. Nxf6+ Kf7 29. Qd7+ Kxf6 30. Rxe8 ]

[27...gxf6 28. Qg6+ Kh8 29. Qxh6+ Kg8 30. Qg6+ Kh8 31. Nxf6 Bxf6 32. Qxf6+ Kg8 33. Qg6+ Kh8 34. Rxe8+ ]

27. Nef6+ Kf7 28. Ne5+ Ke6

[28...Kxf6 29. Qg6#; 28...Kf8 29. Qg6 Bxf6 30. Qf7#]

27. Nef6+ Kf7 28. Ne5+ Ke6 29. Neg4+ Kf7 30. Nxh6+ gxh6 31. Qh7+ Kxf6 32. Qxh6+ Kf7 33. Qh7+ Kf6 34. Bg5+ Kxg5 35. Qg7+ Kf5 36. Re5+ Kf4 37. Qg3#

Jun-03-07   pawnQueenblack: 20...Nc7!
21.Qg4 Bxe4
22. Rxe4 c4!
23. Bxh6! Bf6
24. Bxg7 Bxg7
25. Qg6 Re7!
26. Rh4 Qa1!
27. Kh2 Nbd5!
28. Qh7 Kf8
29. Ng6+ Ke8
30. Nxe7 Be5+
31 g3 Qxb2
32 Bc2 Nxe7

0-1


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