<1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6 7. O-O Be7 8. f4 Qc7 9. Qe1 O-O 10. Qg3 Qb6!?> Instead of making a second Queen move early in the opening, perhaps better for Black is developing with 10...Nc6 as in Tal vs L Espig, 1972 or Geller vs Judit Polgar, 1992. <11. Be3 Qxb2> Black is alteady too far committed and must snatch the pawn, even though it gives White a lead in development. <12. Bf2 Qb4 13. e5!> Also worth considering here is 13. Rab1! as in Jansa vs Ermenkov, 1978. <13...dxe5 14. fxe5 Ne8 15. Bd3 Qa5> Not 15... Qxc3? 16. Bxh7+ . <16. Ne4 Nd7 17. Nf3 g6 18. Bd4 Ng7 19. Nf6+ Bxf6 20. exf6 Nh5 21. Qh4 Qd8> Here, Fritz 8 prefers 21... e5 22. g4 exd4 23. gxh5 Qxh5 24. Qxh5 gxh5 25. Nxd4 Rd8 26. c3 Nc5 27. Bc2 =. <22. Rae1 Ndxf6 23. Ng5 e5> Though difficult to see, this move loses. Instead, perhaps Black could try 23. Ng4!? 24. Bc5 f5 25. Bxf8 Qxf8 26. Be2 Qc5+ 27. Kh1 Ngf6 with some practical chances for a draw. <24. Bxe5 h6 25. Bxf6 hxg5 26. Qxg5> This is OK, but perhaps stronger and more decisive is 26. Bxg5! Qd6 27. Kh1 Qc6 28. Be4 Qc4 (28... Qd7? 29. Bxg6! fxg6 30. Qc4+ Kg7 31. Rxf8 Kxf8 32. Bh6+ Ng7 33. Rf1+ Qf5 34. Rxf5+ ) 29. g4 Be6 (29... Ng7 30. Bf6 Qe6 31. Qh6 ) 30. gxh5 Bd5 31. Rf6 Rfe8 32. hxg6 Bxe4+ 33. Kg1 fxg6 34. Rxg6+ Bxg6 35. Qxc4+ . <26... Nxf6 27. Rxf6 Qd4+ 28. Kh1 Qg4 29. Qh6 Bf5> If 29... a5?, then White has a quick mate after 30. Rxf7! Rxf7 (30...Kxf7 31. Qh7+! Kf6 32. Qe7#) 31. Re8+ Rf8 32. Rxf8#. <30. h3 Qd4 31. Rxf5!!> This initiates a winning pursuit combination. <31...gxf5 32. Re3!> This followup is essential. Wasting too much time and giving Black the advantage is 32. Qg5+? Qg7 33. Qxf5 Rae8 34. Rf1 Re5 35. Qf4 Rfe8 . <32... Qg7 33. Qh4! Qa1+> This is Black's best chance of surviving. Making it too easy for White is 33... f4? 34. Qxf4 . <34. Kh2 Rfe8 35. Rg3+ Kf8 36. Qh6+ Ke7 37. Re3+ Kd7 38. Bxf5+ Kc7 39.Qf4+! Kc6> White mates quickly after other King moves, such as 39... Kb6 40. Qd6+! Ka7 (40...Ka5 41. Qc5+ Ka4 42. Ra3#; 40... Kb5 41. Rb3+! Kc4 42. Bd3#) 41. Qc5+ b6 42. Qc7# or 39... Kd8 40. Qd6#. <40. Qc4+ Kd6 41. Qb4+ Kd5> If 41... Kc6, then White's easiest win is probably 42. Rc3+! Qxc3 (42... Kd5 43. Qc5#) 43. Qxc3+ . <42. Rd3+ Ke5 43. Qd6+ Kxf5 44. Rf3+ Kg5 45. Qf4+> This works, but a bit faster is 45. h4+ Kxh4 46. Qh6+ Kg4 47. Rf4#. <45... Kh5 46. g4+ Kg6 47. Qxf7+ 1-0> Black resigned in lieu of 47...Kh6 48. Qh5+ Kg7 49. Rf7+ Kg8 50. Qh7#.

This is completely inaccurate. A check with Fritz 8.0 shows that 44.f3+! mates in around five moves. g4+? leads nowhere, ...Kg5; 45.d5+ wins, but there is no mate in sight.

Hell, black was gone by that time and whether the mate is in 5 or in 8 is very very irrelevant (I'm not even talking about whether they are correct or not). Instead of sending you silly emails about the quickest possible mate they should try and improve on blacks play to find a draw somewhere. (hint: it ain't in black's move 43).

What would you do?

That's a good question ... I wouldn't mind knowing the answer to that one myself.

Up until the early 20th century, it was mandatory to announce a check. Up until the late 19th century, it was mandatory to say 'check to the queen' or 'gardez' when she was attacked. At one time, if the King and other piece were simultaneously attacked by a piece, it was customary to announce the fact by saying check to both pieces. Up until the early 19th century, an unannounced check could be ignored. In 1991, the game Wegner-Johnsen in Gausdal had 100 checks for White and 41 checks for Black, for a total of 141 checks in the game. In 1995, the game Rebickova-Voracova in the Czech Republic, ended with 74 checks by the black Queen.>

Lately I would feed it to Ze Fritz but that doesn't count does it?

Surely when someone sends me an e-mail, saying that they searched "for quite some time," and never found the mate ... this qualifies as a question?

<http://www.xs4all.nl/~timkr/records...;

Great spankin' by Stein.