Siegbert Tarrasch vs Max Kuerschner (1892)

Siegbert Tarrasch vs Max Kuerschner
Nuremberg club m2 1892 · French Defense: Schlechter Variation (C00) · 1-0

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explore this opening	find similar games	30 more Tarrasch/M Kuerschner games
sac: 19.Qg6+	PGN: download \| view	Help: general \| java-troubleshooting

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Jul-31-05		Honza Cervenka: Pretty and quite instructive game. This is a good example of horrors, which can happen to Black in French Defence, if he plays it not in the best way.

Jul-07-06		notyetagm: A great short example of the <RELOADER> theme. First note that the Black king is <STALEMATED>, always a danger sign. The Black king is <STALEMATED> on the light-square e8. White has two light-squared diagonal pieces, his f5-queen and c2-bishop, which would like to give a fatal check to the Black e8-king along the h5-e8 diagonal. White threatens to check twice on the g6-square using these two light-squared diagonal pieces. Black defends this square with only his h7-pawn. <One defender (Black h7-pawn) cannot keep out two attackers (White f5-queen and c2-bishop).> So White strikes with 19 g6+!, with the idea that when Black captures his queen with 19 ... hxg6, White will then <RELOAD> on the g6-square with his c2-bishop and give mate by 20 g6#. The White c2-bishop giving mate from the g6-square fully compensates White for the loss of his queen there. This little mating combination 19 g6+! hxg6 20 g6# is the particular <RELOADER> theme in which one side has two <similarly functioning pieces> and sacrifices one of them so that other can safely occupy a critical square, here the g6-mating focal point.

Feb-05-08		OBIT: Agreed, this is a very attractive game. The way Tarrasch blows open the center with 14. d5! is quite nice, and I especially like 18. Bc5!, setting up the queen sac and mate. Discounting obviously losing piece sacs, the only moves to stop the mate are 18...Qd5 and 18...Qc7. The 18...Qd5 try loses the queen after 19. Bxa4+ Kd8 Bxb6+, while after 18...Qc7 19. Rd1 renews the mating threat.

Apr-10-09		notyetagm: 19 ? click for larger view 19 f5-g6+! click for larger view 19 ... h7xg6 20 c2xg6# <reload: g6> click for larger view

Sep-10-09		WhiteRook48: Tarrasch crushed people back then

Apr-06-13		estrick: This game is featured in Bruce Pandolfini's column, "Solitaire Chess" in the April 2013 edition. Pandolfini says" 7. ...f6 "looks a bit premature with Black's king still uncastled" 9. ...c4 is "a strategic mistake since it relieves the pressure against d4" 10. ...Be7 is "too casual" 10. ...a6 followed by b5 is better 11. ...cxb3 is Black's best hope 12. ...bxa4 is "The third weak move for Black in a row." 14. ...Ncxe5 "Another bad choice" If "14. ...exd5, 15. Qxd5 Ndxd5 16. Qxd8+ Kxd8 17. Nxe5 Nxd5, and it is doubtful if Whate has any advantage." 18. ...Bb7? Black doesn't even see that he is about to be checkmated.

Apr-06-13		estrick: Kuerschner was evidently a player at the club which Tarrasch frequented in Nuremburg. The CG.com data base has 32 games played by Kuerschner, all against Tarrasch, and he lost all 32 of them! Seven of the games between Tarrasch & Kuerschner, including this one, are in the volume compiled by Fred Reinfeld titled, "Tarrasch's Best Games of Chess," first published in 1946.

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Featured in the Following Game Collections [what is this?]

Game 158.
from Tarrasch's Best Games of Chess. Part III. by Dr. Siggy

19 Qf5-g6+! leads to mate by reloader against Black e8-king
from STALEMATED KING! MATE ALERT! by notyetagm

19 Qg6+! hxg6 White then reloads on the g6-square with 20 Bxg6#
from RELOAD: using right piece to exploit alignment by notyetagm

Game 266, Nuremberg 1892-1894
from Tarrasch's Dreihundert Schachpartien by Honza Cervenka

w20
from Checkmates 18+ by Kasputin