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Mar-03-08
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| gawain: Got this quickly, probably aided by the fact that I had (like others of you) seen this game years earlier in Spielmann's gem of a book The Art of Sacrifice. (Illustrated entirely with Spielmann's own games This game is Example 15.) Thanks <zb2cr> for giving us some of Spielmann's notes, which show that the pawn sacrifice 8 e6 is the move Spielmann was particularly proud of. Spielmann was also quite pleased with 16 Nd8 (instead of 16 Nxh8 which he says would have been a rather "petty" move! |
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Mar-03-08
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| YouRang: Got it (a little advanced for a Monday, IMO).
I can't tell you how many times I've solved a puzzle by noticing that the opposing king is immobile (as in this case). Any piece that can deliver check without being captured or blocked is mate. (Knights are particularly dangerous because they can never be blocked). Right away, you start looking for ways to deliver this winning check, even if (in fact, ESPECIALLY if) you have to sacrifice serious material. With this in mind, I figured a needed either a clearance sac (vacating b7 for Nb7#) or a bishop deflection (removal of guard allowing Ne6#). Oddly, no clearance sac was forcing enough to allow Nb7#. Then I looked to deflect the bishop, and Qxc6! became apparent. It's absolutely forcing, and after ...Bxc6 the king is still immobile (with the bishop hindering his king instead of his knight), and Pe6 is left unguarded for the knight mate. |
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Mar-03-08
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| Domdaniel: <pyth> Well done, and keep doing it. I took even more than 15 years off from tournament play, and now I'm addicted again. |
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| Mar-03-08 |
| zb2cr: Okay, I'm back to finish the job of transcribing Spielmann's comments from his book on this game. Picking up on White's 9th move: <Now begins a dreadful holocaust. The obstructive sacrifice hinders the development and coordination of the hostile forces, so that the defending King, as in this instance, has to start a-roving. From the King's travels to the hunting of the King is cut a step: one small slip, and--the promenade degenerates into headlong flight.> After 9. ... Kd7: <Forced. 9. ... g6 is answered by 10. Qe5, Rg8; 11. Nxe6, Bxe6; 12. Qxe6.I. 12. ... Rg7; 13. Bb5+, Nd7; 14. Bh6, Rf7; 15. Bxf8, Rxf8; 16. Qxd5, Rc8; 17. O-O-O, Rc7; 18. Rhe1 and White has a clear win. II. 12. ... Rh8; 13. Bb5+, Nd7; 14. Qe5!, Rg8; 15. Qxd5 and White wins at once because of the threats 16. Qxg8, or 16. Bxd7+ and 17. Qxa8+.> After 10. Nf3!: <Compare the note to Black's eight move. The effect of the Knight's irruption is catastrophic.> After 10. ... Kc7: <Black has no halfway playable defense. If 10. ... Nc6; 11. Bb5, Bb7; 12. Ne5+, Kc7; 13. Bf4, Nxe5; 14. Qxe5+, Kc8; 15. Qxe6+ and mate follows.> After 11. ... Bd7: <The threat of 12. Nf7 could not be parried.I. 11. ... g6; 12. Nxg6, Qe8; 13. Qe5+ etc.
II. 11. ... Nd7; 12. Nf7, Qe8; 13. Bf4+, e5 (else the Queen is lost by a discovered check); 14. Bxe5+, Nxe5; 15. Qxe5+ etc. III. 11. ... Nc6; 12. Nf7, Qe8; 13. Bf4+, Kd7; 14. Bb5, Bb7; 15. Ne5+ and wins.> Personal comment: In variation II-- Spielmann meant discovered attack, not discovered check. The lines there are:
13. ...  c6; 14.  e5+, xe5; 15.  xe8 or 13. ... b7; 14. d6+, exd6; 15. xe8 or 13. ... e5?; 14.xe5+ followed by 15. c7#. After 16. Nd8!: <In order not to miss the opportunity of an inexpensive King-Hunt (see "King-Hunt sacrifice"). 16. Nxh8 would be petty.> After 16. ... Nc6: <Or 16. ... Bc6; 17. Qc8+ etc.> Personal comment: I think the etc. referred to here is 17. ... b5; 18. a4+, a5 ( 18. ... c5?; 19. b7#! ); 19. b5+, cxb3; 20.  xb8 threatening mate on a6. Black can only hold things up with 20. ... b5; 21. b7+, xb7; 22. axb5+, b6; 23. c7#. After 17. ... Kb5: <If 17. ... Ka5; 18. Nxc6+, bxc6; 19. b4+ and mate next move.> After 18. ... Kc5: <If 18. ... Ka4; 19. Nxc6+, Bxc6; 20. b4+, cxb3; 21. Qa6#.> |
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| Mar-03-08 |
| Judah: I was having trouble figuring out what to do here until I remembered that it was sac-the-queen day. (Then I didn't notice that the Bishop would cover b7, so I moved the Knight to the wrong square, but that is a mere detail.) |
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Mar-03-08
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| Domdaniel: <The effect of the Knight's irruption...>
I love that word 'irruption', meaning to explode into, as opposed to 'eruption' which means to explode outwards. But every time I try to use 'irruption' in an article somebody changes it to 'eruption'. |
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| Mar-03-08 |
| zb2cr: <Domdaniel>, That's because the word "irruption" is not widely known and used, so people editing you think you merely have made an atrociously bad attempt at spelling "eruption", and they take it upon themselves to "correct" you. There are many such words that should be more widely used, but today the English language has become merely a hammer for bluntly bashing meaning into others' minds. |
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| Mar-03-08 |
| Jim Bartle: So now we need William F. Buckley more than ever? |
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| Mar-03-08 |
| zb2cr: <Jim Bartle> wrote: "So now we need William F. Buckley more than ever?" I guess so; I'm not recommending following a particular writer, but the English language is much richer than
today's usage would suggest.
For an opposing viewpoint, I could quote the late science fiction writer H. Beam Piper, who wrote: "English is the result of the attempts by the Norman men-at-arms to make dates with the Saxon barmaids after the Norman conquest, and as a language, no more legitimate than any of the other products of said unions." |
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| Mar-03-08 |
| Jim Bartle: Buckley liked to use little-known words in his erudite statements, and defended the practice by saying the words had specific meanings and enriched the language. I tend to the view that you should use the simplest word or phrase possible while still being precise. For example, here in Peru authorities and people who want to impress like to use the phrase "elemento liquido," when they simply mean, of course, "agua." And don't get me started on NGOs and consultants in their reports... |
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Mar-03-08
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| TheaN: 1/1
19.Qxc6+ Bxc6 20.Nxe6# and White exploits non-developing play by Black to the fullest. Spielmann's own annotiations are nice. |
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Mar-03-08
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| BOGGLED: I saw Qa6, but missed Ne5. *sheepishly walks away* |
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Mar-03-08
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| Domdaniel: <Jim Bartle> The evasive obfuscatory language of bureaucrats and politicians everywhere is always reprehensible. The same applies to those who use polysyllables to sound more intelligent or educated. Oops. But 'plain English' can be overdone: interestingly, yours isn't all that plain or simple. "I tend to the view" is a nice stylistic flourish, and arguably more precise than "I think" or "I believe" (or even the dastardly "IMHO") - but is it the simplest phrase possible? |
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Mar-03-08
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| Domdaniel: <zb2cr> Thanks for both the comment and the translation, incidentally. |
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| Mar-03-08 |
| Riverbeast: Buckley was a pompous blowhard...I noticed that once you managed to hack through the smoke and mirrors of his unnecessarily obscure language, you suddenly realized that he wasn't really saying anything at all |
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Mar-03-08
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| johnlspouge: <<JG27Pyth> wrote: In the country of the blind midgets I am the one-eyed dwarf king. [snip] But, all this puzzle solving and kibitzing and analyzing candidate moves has actually taught me the value of aggressive play.> I am trying to picture the quivering schmo who has been paired to play against a one-eyed dwarf foaming at the mouth. I am sure you did just fine... ;>) |
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| Mar-03-08 |
| HNP: Thanks for Spielmann's annotations, <zb2cr>. |
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| Mar-03-08 |
| 012: Sunday puzzle <28. ...?> Mar-02-08 Smirin vs Beliavsky, 1989 |
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Mar-03-08
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| just a kid: Simple as pie. |
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| Mar-03-08 |
| Madman99X: Surely 11... g5 offers better resistance than the text. |
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| Mar-03-08 |
| UdayanOwen: <alexrawlings: UdayanOwen:
If 8...cxd4, probably white instead plays something like 9.Qb5+ Bd7 10.exf7+ Kxf7 11.Qxd5+ Kd8 12.Qxa8I think from your line <UdayanOwen>, black would play 10.. Qxd7 to keep the castling option open and I'm not sure if White would be much stronger...> But how is 10...Qxd7 even possible? The King on e8 is in check from the pawn on f7. And in any case, the black bishop is on d7 so how could black capture on that square? I hope you didn't mean 9...Qd7, which of course would lose the queen to 10.exd7  . |
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| Mar-03-08 |
| Jim Bartle: "Buckley was a pompous blowhard...I noticed that once you managed to hack through the smoke and mirrors of his unnecessarily obscure language, you suddenly realized that he wasn't really saying anything at all" Agreed.
His spats with Gore Vidal were great, though. |
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| Mar-04-08 |
| krippp: <zb2cr> Thank you for Spielmann's analysis. His heavy critique of the move <7...c5> left me troubled, however, and I had to try to poke a hole into Spielmann's opinion with the help of a silicone friend, Rybka 2.3.2. :) First of all, <7...e6> was not the one and only good move. This is Rybka's top5 after <7.Nd4>: <
7...e6 is 0.27 @ 18ply
7...g6 is 0.28 @ 18ply
7...Qc7 is 0.35 @ 18ply
7...Ba6 is 0.39 @ 18ply
7...Qd7 is 0.45 @ 18ply
>
So at least <7...g6> was a viable option as well. If then <8.e6>, black just plays <8...Bg7>, and the top5 looks like: <
9.Bf4 is 0.23 @ 18ply
9.g3 is 0.09 @ 18ply
9.exf7+ is 0.05 @ 18ply
9.Bg5 is 0.03 @ 18ply
9.h4 is 0.03 @ 18ply
>
Meaning a pretty much equal position.
---------
And now onto <7...c5> itself. After white's best move, <8.e6!>, Rybka thinks: <
8...a6! is 0.60 @ 18ply
8...Bxe6 is 0.91 @ 18ply
8...fxe6 is 1.12 @ 18ply
>
Thus it seems like Spielmann did miss black's best reply, <8...a6!>, prompting <9.exf7+ Kxf7 10.Nf3>, and now Rybka says: <
10...Nc6 is 0.62 @ 18ply
10...Kg8 is 0.95 @ 18ply
10...Ra7 is 0.98 @ 18ply
10...Ke8 is 0.99 @ 18ply
10...Qe8 is 1.11 @ 18ply
>
And after <10...Nc6>, the game becomes less forcing, with black still alive. In conclusion, I'd give 7...c5 a ?! maybe, but not ?. The real mistake was <8...fxe6?>, and would have been Spielmann's suggestion of <8...Bxe6?> as well. |
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| Mar-04-08 |
| krippp: Haha...
I must withdraw some of my critique of Spielmann's analysis; he actually beat Rybka (and me) here!This is what I just found out will happen after <8...a6!?>: <9.Qf3>
Now all three candidate replies,
<
9...Bxe6
9...f6
9...fxe6
>
will lead to an inferior position, but the thing that was missed was, that after <9...fxe6 10.Qh5+ Kd7>, the wonderful knight-sac <11.Nxe6!> will almost certainly win by force. So sorry, Spielmann, the master of sacrifices, for ever doubting you. ;) |
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| Mar-04-08 |
| zb2cr: <kripp>,
Don't feel bad. Spielmann made a career out of riding those sacrifices that run just on the edge of things you should be able to calculate--and in the process, made fools of better men than you or I. |
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Later Kibitzing > |
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Secrets of Opening Surprises
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