Gerlef Meins vs Eric Schiller (1996)

Gerlef Meins vs Eric Schiller
GM Open 1996 · Tarrasch Defense: Classical Variation (D34) · 1-0

[Event "GM Open"]
[Site "Groningen "]
[Date "1996.12.20"]
[EventDate "?"]
[Round "2"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Gerlef Meins"]
[Black "Eric Schiller"]
[ECO "D34"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "82"]

1.d4 {Notes by Eric Schiller.} d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5
5.g3 Nf6 6.Bg2 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.Nc3 Nc6 9.b3 Re8 {A worthy
alternative to the normal 9...Ne4.} 10.Bb2 cxd4 11.Nxd4 Bc5 {
This is technically a novelty, but it was suggested in a 1993
book by Keilhack.} 12.Nf3 { The capture on c6 also comes into
consideration, though it is nothing special.} Bg4 13.Rc1 Bb6
14.Na4 Qe7 { This is my own idea. The plan is to offer the
d-pawn as a sacrifice for rapid development. I worked this out
last year, but had not reviewed the analysis, since 9.b3 is
rather rare against the Tarrasch these days.} 15.e3 { If
15.Nxb6 axb6 White has pawns hanging at e2 and a2.} Ne4 {This
is a rea l sacrifice, since White can actually consider taking
the pawn at d5, after which Black has a between 16...Rad8 and
16...Nb4. I believe that practical chances justify the
investment, but the complications need to be worked out by
objective analysis. What follows are just some preliminary
post-game thoughts.} 16.h3 {This looks like strong move, since
if the bishop retreats, the power of the pin is
lessened. Black, however, has other plans. 16.Qxd5 Nb4 looked
good to me during the game, but maybe it fails to a maniacally
tactical line. 17.Qe5 Qxe5 18.Nxe5 Bf5 19.Bxe4 Bxe4 20.Rc4 Nd3
21.Rxe4 Nxb2 22.Nxb2 f5 23.Rf4 Rxe5 24.Nc4 Rd5 25.Nxb6 axb6
26.a4 b5 27.Rb4 and White is clearly better. } Nxf2 { A very
strong sacrifice, which gives Black a definite advantage.}
17.Rxf2 Bxf3 { The only correct continuation, since 17...Qxe3
fails to 18.Nxb6! and 17... Bxe3 18.hxg4 is too much of an
investment for Black.} 18.Bxf3 Bxe3 19.Nc3 Qg5 {There is no
need to capture either rook when the bishop is so strong.}
20.Kg2 d4 21.Nd5 Rad8 {At this point I thought the game was
simply winning, but White found a strong reply.} 22.Rc5 Bxf2
23.Kxf2 Ne5 { It took me far too long to work out the
complications, and I caught up to my opponent on time. Each of
us was down to 12 minutes. 23...Re3 I considered this move for
a while. Far too long, actually. The ensuing time pressure
would prove very costly indeed. 24.h4 Qe5 25.Kg2 and I just
could not find anything convincing for Black. Rxf3 26.Qxf3 Nb4
27.Qf5 Qe2+ 28.Kh3 Nd3 29.Rc8 was one line I looked at, but my
brain couldn't go any further than capturing the knight if
Black checks at f2. Nf2+ 30.Qxf2 Qe6+ 31.g4 Rxc8 32.Qxd4 and
now I am glad I didn't go into this line! } 24.Qxd4 { What a
picture! White has veiled threats against g7 and the move Ne7+
must always be attended to. Black does not seem to have much
of an attack, but in fact the attack continues.} Nxf3 {This
undermines the knight at d5 and exposes the White king. Each
of us is down to 8 minutes here.} 25.Kxf3 Qf5+ { Wrong
check. I missed the fact that the White knight is lost after
...a6 and ...b6, so that White cannot afford to exchange
queens. 25...Qh5+ 26.Qg4 Qxg4+ 27.hxg4 b6 28.Rb5 a6 29.Rxb6
Rxd5 30.Rxa6 Rd3+ 31.Kf4 Rd2 Black wins. I must admit that I
missed the entire line with ...b6 and ...a6. This would have
been a much more efficient line, but my move should also
win. } 26.Nf4 Rxd4 27.Rxf5 {Still, the position is completely
winning for Black.} Rd2 28.Bc3 Rxa2 29.Nh5 f6 {Now 30.Bxf6
fails to 30...g6!} 30.Rb5 { Ten moves to go and only 2 minutes
left, so I try to keep it simple.} Rd8 31.Nf4 Rc2 32.Be1 b6
33.h4 Rd1 {This rook should have stayed home, but I didn't see
any possible threat to my king.} 34.Bb4 Rf1+ 35.Kg4 g6 36.h5 {
Here all I had to do is play 36...Rb1, but with both flags
hanging I thought I saw a mating net.} Kg7 37.hxg6 hxg6 38.Rd5
{Now things are tougher, because the simple 38...Rc7 fails to
39.Ne6+. Checking at f5 was necessary.} Kh6 {Now White forces
mate, pattern I have never encountered. I just never saw it
coming.} 39.Bf8+ Kh7 40.Rd7+ Kg8 41.Nxg6 { At first I thought
I had won on time here, but I had forgotten to notate the
exchange at g6. Then I thought that the position was not
winning for me. Finally, it dawned on me that it was mate in
one! A tragedy but certainly an entertaining and theoretically
important game!} 1-0

To move:

Last move:

Annotations by Eric Schiller. [184 more games annotated by E Schiller]

explore this opening	find similar games	724 more games of E Schiller
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Mar-24-05		Eric Schiller: A tragic end to a nice game. I missed an easy win by checking at f5 instead of h5, and fell into a mating pattern I hadn't seen before. The moral of the game is: if you don't finish your opponent off when you can, he'll often come back and bite you!

Mar-25-05		Knezh: Very good notes, Mr. Schiller! I especially enjoyed the fact that unlike many annotators you were self-conscious and didn't try to hide your mistakes.

Mar-29-05		who: 41...Rf4+ 42.Kxf4 Rc7 43.Rxc7 and only then is it mate in 1.

Apr-12-05		patzer2: This is an instructive game, both from the standpoint of honest annotations by a strong National Master, and some interesting tactics. I particularly enjoyed the unusual winning deflection combination 25...Qh5!, which Black unfortunately missed, and the rather unique mating pattern White played for mate-in-four with 39. Bf8+!

Apr-12-05		aw1988: Oh, lord. That is a terrible end, to an extremely nice game. A shame, but brilliant notes.

Jun-02-06		siggemannen: It's funny browsing randomly through chessgames i stumbled upon this game and wow, i just had the exact same mating pattern in my blitz game today but i was black and i mated my opponent. Really weird coinsidence

Sep-12-10		BISHOP TAL: At move 25 Eric gives a line, In that line move 29 knight f6 check doubleing the f pawns then Rxb6, why isnt that better? what am i missing.

Sep-12-10		whiteshark: The Lord moves in mysterious ways.

Sep-13-10		BISHOP TAL: Yes, but usaully though faith,I had a healing recently and was reingrafted in Christ last Feb.Psalms 103 and 107 are great sciptures, he healeath thine diseases, and delivers you from distruction.Are you a Christian whiteshark?

Sep-13-10		whiteshark: Uh-oh! The <Gretchen question> asked by a .

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

25...Qh5+! -+ (see NM Eric Schiller's notes)
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39. Bf8+! initiates a pretty mate-in-four
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OK, so I threw it all away. Still an exciting game!
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