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Yrjo Rantanen vs Brian Denman
"Death of Brian" (game of the day Jul-15-2021)
Skopje Olympiad Final-C (1972), Skopje YUG, rd 6, Oct-02
Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation. Main Line (B99)  ·  1-0

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
a
1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move.
ANALYSIS [x]
1-0

rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1
FEN COPIED

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sac: 13.exf6 PGN: download | view | print Help: general | java-troubleshooting

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Kibitzer's Corner
Jan-07-14  gabriel112000: Nice game.
Jan-30-15  ragtag: Brian's face in the toilet while he's screaming kills me every time...
Jan-02-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  GrahamClayton: 15...Ke7 16. Rhe1 with the threat of 17. Nd5+.
Jul-15-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: "You've sold me a dead Brian!!"
Jul-15-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  Breunor: I agree with gabriel112000, very nice attacking chess.
Jul-15-21  areknames: One of those countless passive Najdorfs where Black chooses to do nothing and gets overwhelmed quickly. The pun is a mystery, I mean I've heard about the 'Life of Brian' but come on...
Jul-15-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  al wazir: After 13. Bxf3, I think there's nothing black can do to save the game. At worst white ends up with three minor pieces for the ♕ and black is immobilized.
Jul-15-21  paavoh: Rantanen knows Sicilian very well, and he had excellent scores in Olympiads at Skopje 1972 (+11 =2 -2) and La Valletta 1980 (+6 =7 -0). In 1980, I had a pleasure of receiving a prize for our chess team from him.
Jul-15-21  phantasmagorium: Up to 14. Bxf3, the game is identical with Keres vs Fischer, 1959 it seems. The difference is that the ol' (or little?) Bobby chose 14.... Bxf6 which appears much better - though it is not clear if it deserved the win he got.

I cannot believe Rantanen was not familiar with that game (though those days most players were not as theoretically strong as today ones). Did he have an improvement in mind? Or did he count on his opponent not knowing the theory? (This would not be not an unreasonable expectation those days) Or did he simply like it that a complicated position would ensue - and he thought he handled such a position better than his opponent? (again not unreasonable, he was such a good tactician, though his positional game was suspect). I could only wonder about it.

Jul-15-21  goodevans: Yes, Black was guilty of passive play (I've no idea what 15...Qb6 was intended to achieve) but the way White took advantage was top drawer. Very satisfying.
Jul-15-21  catlover: Thanks, <phantasmagorium>, for the link to the Keres-Fischer game with this same line. I learned a lot comparing to two games.

Apparently, with best play on both sides, this line is a draw.

Jul-15-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  0ZeR0: Can someone explain the pun for this one?
Jul-15-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: It's a play on <The Life of Brian>.
Jul-15-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  beatgiant: <Death of Brian Griffin> on knowyourmeme: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/even...
Jul-15-21  areknames: I love Python's <Life of Brian> almost as much as I love <Brian Griffin> but I still fail to see the relevance of the pun to this game.
Jul-16-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  0ZeR0: <MissScarlett> <beatgiant>

Thanks.

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