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Ion Balanel vs Bent Larsen
"Lady's Man" (game of the day Sep-18-2010)
Moscow Olympiad Final-A (1956), Moscow URS, rd 6, Sep-16
English Opening: Symmetrical. Fianchetto Variation (A34)  ·  0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Kibitzer's Corner
Sep-18-10  Sularus: In all the four queens games i have seen, the first one that checked (after both sides have two queens each) won.

I wonder if there is at least one game where this is not true.

Sep-18-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: <Sularus> With all the firepower available, I'm sure your observation is generally correct. But there are draws, and here's one where the first checker loses:

Ashley vs DeFirmian, 1996

There are undoubtedly more.

Sep-18-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  al wazir: Seems to me that after 45. Nxf8 Rxf8, white has at least an even game.
Sep-18-10  shuriken68: Call me a patzer but i think 61.Qh4+ wins for white. Maybe somebody with a chess engine would take a min or two to look into it?
Sep-18-10  Ferro: Mito & Mc Colby
Sep-18-10  Ferro: Mito & Colby
Sep-18-10  Sularus: thanks <phony B>!
i tried searching for such a game here and also by using google but gave up after a minute or two.
Sep-18-10  Yelena Dembo: Wonderful game. Knight's transfer was very typical! Good to remember.
Sep-18-10  Once: <shuriken68> This is what Fritz finds:

After 60... h2, he rates the position as clearly winning for black, with no white moves scoring more than -10.

61. Qh4+ seems to be the best of a very bad bunch with an eval of -10.29. And then something like this might happen:

61. Qh4+ Kg8 62. Qh6 (not the only choice or even the best choice but it leads to a fun line) 62...Qg1+!


click for larger view

A very difficult one for a human to spot! The rest is slaughter

63. Nxg1 hxg1=Q+ 64. Ke4 Qg2+ 65. Rf3 Qe2+ 66. Kd5 Qxf3+ 67. Ke6 Qb3+ 68. Kd7 Qb7+ 69. Ke6 Qf7#


click for larger view

White has better choices than 62. Qh6 but they largely transpose to a position similar to the game finish. Fritzie prefers 62. Qh3 but after 62...Rxe2+ the eval is still over -10 and the game will follow a similar path to the line that was played.

But I am not sure how much of that I could have found without silicon assistance. Larsen was a genius.

Sep-18-10  Madmartigan: That last diagram from Once is quite a sight. How often do you mate a white king on e6?
Sep-18-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: <Sularus> I think the most famous four-queen game (at least at top level) is Fischer vs Petrosian, 1959, and it was a draw. But maybe I'm wrong. Any other top-level four-queen game out there?
Sep-18-10  Petrosianic: Sure. Capablanca-Alekhine, Game 11. Probably more famous than Fischer-Petrosian.
Sep-18-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: These are not from such high level events, but all have some elements of interest:

Smyslov vs Keres, 1953

Ed Lasker vs Alekhine, 1913 (Another "First check loses".)

Burn vs O Chajes, 1911 (Not top-level players, but a great story; see the kibitzes.)

Campora vs Larsen, 1993 (Player of the week on the wrong side.)

Leko vs Kasparov, 2003 (Leko draws, of course)

Judit Polgar vs Morozevich, 2008 (Don't we need at least one multiple queen game involving a woman?)

D Howell vs Gelfand, 2010 (A recent example.)

There doesn't seem to be a collection specifically of games with four queens. Somebody should do something about that.

Sep-18-10  kevin86: An amusing game-each side has two queens.BTW,what movie had the most underpromotions?

1001 knights-lol

Sep-18-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: Whoops! I now see that <kevin86> has been compiling Game Collection: polygamy or what's an extra Q among friends? for some time. Oh, well; maybe I can find a few others.
Sep-18-10  rapidcitychess: Nice white's little kingside party blows up like a hot cocoa in a microwave in mid-January. What does that mean? I dunno.
Sep-18-10  shuriken68: @ ONCE: Thx a lot. It was very instructive. Very kind of you to analyse the position. Larsen was, for sure, one of the greatest players ever.
Sep-18-10  kellmano: <al wazir: Seems to me that after 45. Nxf8 Rxf8, white has at least an even game.>

Surely you'd see 45......Qxd4+

Sep-18-10  RandomVisitor: 52...Rb8!
Aug-29-11  Edoneill: Nice game. Black really bided his time well, took a few risks with the pawns, then used the free space to move his big guns in. Nice to see a game with 4 queens at the end too!

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