| Aug-19-03 | | MasoodAhmed: One of the most intresting games in Ruy Lopez openings. The game was quite evenly balanced, until move 33. White made a dubious move 33.a4???..., which in my opinion wasn't a good move. It really wasn't necessary for white to open up its Queen side, and thus exposing itself to attacks later, on the 'C' file. Move 33.a4 was the turning point, and white was never able to recuperate for this mistake. |
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| Aug-19-03 | | aulero: Judith was forced to win this game, so she tried to open lines. In any case I think that the white position was already inferior. |
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| Aug-19-03 | | Calli: 33.a4 is desperation. Polgar is already lost at that point. Black threatens Nc4, Nxd2, Rfd8 etc. The c pawn will be difficult to keep and the knight at h6 is in bad shape. The mistake must be before that. It seems like Bd5-Bxc6 was unfavorable, but I don't see a blunder. |
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| Aug-19-03 | | tud: 14Bb1 does not strike me as a good plan. I would have changed and Ng5 with f4. Too bad for Judith |
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| Aug-22-03 | | patzer2: Judit's 8. h3 seems to be a wasted tempo for white. The immediate 8. c3 seems more to the point. After 10. a3 and 14. Bb1 it seems to me Judit has wasted too many tempo and given Anand too much of a space advantage. Passive positional play against Anand is futile. |
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| Aug-22-03 | | refutor: 8.c3 allows the devastating 8. ... d5! which is what 8.h3 strives to avoid |
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| Aug-23-03 | | patzer2: <refutor> 8...d5 initiates the marshall attack, which I have played and enjoyed for over 20 years from both sides of the board. "Speculative" and "exciting" may be a good description of the marshall attack in the Ruy Lopez, but "devastating" is hardly the description I would use. Note that even Marshall lost the first game he played with it, and many GMs consider it at best weak and at worse refuted. It certainly didn't frighten Bobby Fischer, who gladly accepted the pawn sacrifice and won easily against it. I seriously doubt that Anand intended to play this against a 2700 GM, but knowing his preference for tactical fireworks, who knows? However, I'm surprised that Judit Polgar, with her outstanding tactical abilities, would be afraid of it. While 8. h3 theoretically leads to equality, I still think 8. c3, staking out the center and fighting for space, gives white a better chance for the advantage and a sustained initiative. |
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| Aug-23-03 | | refutor: i think that 8. ... d5 is a devastating move, and i think that anand would play the marshall attack, he has played it as recently as Ponomariov vs Anand, 2002 polgar has had a rough go v. the marshall, so i believe she avoided it for a reason |
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| Aug-24-03 | | patzer2: <refutor> I don't want to denigrate the Marshall attack in the Ruy Lopez and suggest it is a bad opening choice for black. On the contrary, it gives black an early initiative, open lines and a fighting chance (as in most gambit lines). And white must defend carefully, and know a lot of theory to survive with equality or an advantage. The comment I made about some GMs considering the Marshall being refuted is based on an article at www.chesscafe.com/text/kibitz24.txt by Tim Harding, who, along with R.G. Wade, co-authored the Batsford book on The Marshall Attack. Although the article suggests a key main line of the Marshall Attack is in trouble for black, I personally remain skeptical that the Marshall is "refuted."
And with super GMs such as Anand, Nunn and Michael Adams playing the Marshall attack in recent years, it certainly seems to have regained a degree of respectability since Spassky and Geller popularized it in the 1960s. However, I still think the term "devastating" is an overstatement for an opening that according to chessgames.com data base wins only 23.5% of the time, with white winning 29%. Note that in the game Ponomariov vs Anand, 2002 cited, Anand is material down and settles for a draw by perepetual. Note also that Anand himself has an excellent record playing 8. c3 against the Marshall attack, although he has had to accept a lot of draws as white and has lost once to Nunn against it. Yet, you may be right that Judit Polgar wanted to avoid the Marshall, but not because she feared it. On the contrary, her recent result in securing a draw against it in Judit Polgar vs Michael Adams, 2003 shows she is very capable playing against the Marshall attack. However, being down in her match with Anand 4 to 3 and needing more than a draw, I suspect she felt she had to play 8. h3, creating complications, even though she had lost badly to Anand with it previously in Judit Polgar vs Anand, 2003 Although I am no where near Judit Polgar in chess skill or ability, my opinion is that 8. c3 is preferable to 8.h3 in the Ruy Lopez, because (1) white gets a good game with winning chances against the Marshall attack and (2) 8. c3 fights for space and a share of the center while 8. h3 is basically a passive wait and see move that gives black a tempo to take space and control of the center. |
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| Aug-24-03 | | refutor: that's likely true <...being down in her match with Anand 4 to 3 and needing more than a draw, i suspect she felt she had to play 8.h3, creating complications...> plus, in the deciding game, who would want to get into a memory contest with anand, in one of the most heavily analyzed lines in chess? on the other hand, in the big picture, if the marshall attack is a draw, then it's a "moral" victory for black and white should try and avoid it at all costs ;) |
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| Aug-24-03 | | patzer2: <Refutor> I need to make a correction, as the game I posted as a previous try with 8. h3 was actually the same game posted here. I mistakenly inserted it in an earlier post here, confusing it with another game. As a point of interest, possibly supporting your contention that Judit feared the Marshall, she had previously lost three games when facing it before. In a fairly recent game, Judit Polgar vs Grischuk, 2002 she tried to decline it after 8. c3 d4 with 9. d3 and lost decisively. Two previous tries in accepting the gambit resulted in losses for her in Judit Polgar vs Michael Adams, 1999 and inJudit Polgar vs Z Almasi, 1997 Still she had shown the ability to secure a draw against it in a very recent game Judit Polgar vs Michael Adams, 2003 which is especially significant as Michael Adams is currently the top super GM expert and proponent of the Marshall Attack. So I still maintain she would have been better to accept the Marshall against Anand with 8. c3 instead of declining it with 8. h3. |
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| Nov-19-03 | | technical draw: 33. a4 is almost forced as Judit is in a strange kind of Zugszwang. |
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| Nov-19-03 | | Master of Sacrifice: I wonder whether White ever realized till the end that lining pieces up like that is bad......... |
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| Nov-20-03 | | Master of Sacrifice: hehe |
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| Dec-01-05 | | aw1988: Bb1 seems to be the bad move. |
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| Dec-01-05 | | RookFile: Certainly by 27..... d5 black was
at least equal and probably better. |
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Kibitzing
