Anthony Santasiere vs Ben Thurston (1956)

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Anthony Santasiere vs Ben Thurston
57th US Open (1956), Oklahoma City, OK USA, rd 1, Jul-16
Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer. Classical Variation (B64) · 1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

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Jul-13-16		drollere: my solution was different and allowed too many counter moves: 26. Ng5 Qc7 (avoiding the fork) 27. Rxh7+ Kg8 28. Qc4+ Kf8 29. Rh8# after Qc4+ the reply d5 gets Qxd5. if 26. ... Rf8 then 28. ... d5 gets 29. Rxe5 bumping the queen and preparing a discovered check. or 26. Ng5 Qxf6 27. Rxh7+ Kg8 28. f6 Rxe2 29. Rg7+ Kf8 30. Nh7# or if Kh8 then 30. Nf7#. in either line the reply Rxe5 has to cope with the queen check, the knight fork, or the f7 pawn advance depending on black's choices. the line in the game is much cleaner. clearly black is already in serious trouble.

Jul-13-16		AlicesKnight: 26.Rxh7+ stands out as a try; if ...Kxh7, 27.Qh2+ Kg8; 28.Rh1 threatens Qh7 and Qg7, while Ng5 answers attempts to escape by Kf7. If Black declines with 26...Kg8 then 27.Rg7+ and Ng5 looks useful. Let's see.... OK, just as good if not better; Qh2 better than Ng5 of course (silly me).

Jul-13-16		cocker: Is this the man with a folly?

Jul-13-16		Cheapo by the Dozen: I went with Ng5 too, as in: --- My main line is 26 Ng4 (thumb twiddle) 27 Rxh7+ Kg8 28 f7+ 26 Ng4 Rf8 27 Rxh7+ Kg8 28 Rg7++ is a fiasco. 26 Ng4 Rxe5 27 Rxh7+ Kg8 28 Rg7+ Kg8 29 Qh2 (almost any) 30 Qh7+ Kf8 31 Qh8++/Rf7++ also gets Black mated. So does 26 Ng5 h5 27 Rxh5+ gxh5 28 Qxh5+ Kg8 29 Qh7+ Kf8 30 Qf7++ And I don't see any other defenses worth trying for Black.

Jul-13-16		morfishine: White is "Thurston" for blood <26.Rh7+> *****

Jul-13-16		TrollKing: 28. Ng5 was my choice. The threatened fork is nasty, as is the threat of Rh1.

Jul-13-16		saturn2: I settled quickly on Rxh7 as the solution. Then I also experimented with 26 f7 but I think that after ..Re6 the white attack peters out because 27 Ng5 fails to ..QxN

Jul-13-16		Eduardo Leon: 26.♖xh7+ ♔xh7 27.♕h2+ ♔g8. click for larger view And now there are several ways to win: A) 28.♕h6, as in the game. B) 28.♖h1, and there's no defense against 29.♕h8+ ♔f7 30.♘g5#. C) 28.♘g5, and, no matter how black stops 29.♕h7+, after 30.♖h1 he can't stop 31.♕h8#. Black's disgrace is that, in his 28th move, he can't simutaneously vacate e8 and bring his king to f7.

Jul-13-16		YetAnotherAmateur: 26. Rxh7+ is obviously the place to start. Accepting this is fatal: 26. ... Kxh7 27. Qh2+ Kg8 28. Rh1 Qd7 (most anything else: 29. Qh7+ Kf8 30. Qf7#) 29. Qh8+ Kf7 30. Ng5# And the alternative isn't much better: 26. ... Kg8 27. Ng5 Qxf6 28. exf6 Rxe2 29. Rh1 Rh2 30. R7xh2 and now black is powerless to stop 31. Rh8#

Jul-13-16		gawain: White must crash through with 26 Rxh7+, after which there seem to be several ways to skin this cat.

Jul-13-16		The Kings Domain: Nice puzzle and good game. Love those sacrifices on a kingside file that lead to an avalanche of a mating net.

Jul-13-16		PawnSac: < morfishine: White is "Thurston" for blood <26.Rh7+> > Thurston for mate!

Jul-13-16		PawnSac: < YouRang: I see the game proceeded a bit differently, but it just shows how hopeless black's position is. > Quite true! I count at least 7 different move orders that win, but the very best is.... 26.Rxh7+ Kxh7 27.Rh1+ Kg8 28.Qc4+!! d5 29.Qh4 Rxe5 30.Qh7+ Kf8 31.Qg7+ Ke8 32.Rh8# the weakness of the other lines is that they allow the sac ..Qxf6, which surely loses, but drags out the game a little longer. In this line, Qc4+ and Qh4 guards the f6 pawn so that if Qxf6 then QxQ and mate next move.

Jul-13-16		kevin86: An easy puzzle; the queen and second rook will rush to the h-file. The other pieces will pin the king to the back row and mate at h8 will be inevitable.

Jul-13-16		PawnSac: < Cheapo by the Dozen: I went with Ng5 too, as in: --- My main line is.... [lines showing mate 4 or 5] And I don't see any other defenses worth trying for Black. > stockfish 7 x64 finds mate in 10 43/39 18:18 877,488k 799k -M10 Re8-e7 f6xe7 Qd8xe7 Rh1xh7+ Qe7xh7 Ng5xh7 Kh8xh7 Qe2-f3 Nc6xe5 Qf3-f6 Kh7-g8 Rd1-h1 Ne5-f7 Qf6xg6+ Kg8-f8 Rh1-f1 Kf8-e8 Rf1xf7 Ke8-d8 Qg6-g8+

Jul-13-16		YouRang: <PawnSac><...but the very best is.... 26.Rxh7+ Kxh7 27.Rh1+ Kg8 28.Qc4+!! d5 29.Qh4 Rxe5 30.Qh7+ Kf8 31.Qg7+ Ke8 32.Rh8# the weakness of the other lines is that they allow the sac ..Qxf6, which surely loses, but drags out the game a little longer. In this line, Qc4+ and Qh4 guards the f6 pawn so that if Qxf6 then QxQ and mate next move.> Well, ...Qxf6 is an option, but I don't think it drags out the game longer. If anything, it shortens it. For instance, my proposed line <26.Rxh7 Kxh7 27.Ng5+ Kg8 28.Qh2> At this point, black's best (e.g. 28...Qd7) allows mate in 4, but 28...Qxf6 allows mate in 3.

Jul-13-16		Knight13: <Klurk: A simple RXd6 wins too.> 26. Rxd6 Qxd6 27. exd6 Re3 28. Qxe3 Re8 29. Qxe8#. Am I right?

Jul-13-16		YouRang: For those who like unexpected variations, how about <26.Rxh7+ Kxh7 <27.Qg2!?>> click for larger view Surprisingly, this move is as good as any other, even though (1) it doesn't give check, (2) it can't yet capture the Pg6 that it attacks, and (3) playing the natural Ng5 seems to block the queen's attack. It seems then that black should have some wiggle room, but no! (1) 27...Nxe5, but then 28.Ng5+ Kg8 29.Qd5+!, and black can only stall: 29.Re6 Qxe6+ 30.Nf7 Qxf7+ 31.Kh8 Rh1# (2) 27...Qd7, but then 28.Rh1+!, and again black's best is to stall: 28...Qh3 29.Rxh3+ Kg8 30.Qxg6+ Kf8 31.Rh8# (3) 27...Rxe5, but then 28.Rh1+ Rh5 29.Rxh5+ Kg8 (29...gxh5 30.Qg7#) 30.Qxg6+ Kf8 31.Rh8#

Jul-13-16		YouRang: <Knight13: <Klurk: A simple RXd6 wins too.> 26. Rxd6 Qxd6 27. exd6 Re3 28. Qxe3 Re8 29. Qxe8#. Am I right?> Nope - After 27.exd6? click for larger view comes 27...Rxe2

Jul-13-16		Patriot: I went with 26.Rxh7+ Kxh7 27.Ng5+. On 27...Kg8 28.Qc4+ d5 29.Rxd5. There are lots of ways to win this starting on move 27.

Jul-13-16		morfishine: Thanks <YouRang> ! walking out the door this morning, it looked like there was more than one "solution" and this is another *****

Jul-13-16		steinitzfan: I like 28Rh1. That knight check is quite beautiful if Black tries to escape via f7. 26Ng5 at the beginning is nice too. Now there's a no nonsense move. Almost no chance of error. I always did have a weakness for moves that get the job done.

Jul-13-16		steinitzfan: Whoops. I thought that 26Ng5 was as sure and pragmatic a crusher as I had ever seen. 26...Nxe5 seems to complicate things though.

Jul-13-16		Klurk: <Knight13: <Klurk: A simple RXd6 wins too.> 26. Rxd6 Qxd6 27. exd6 Re3 28. Qxe3 Re8 29. Qxe8#. Am I right?>26.Rxd6 Qxd6 27. Ng5 Qxf6 28. Rxh7+ Kg8 29. exf6 Rxe2 30. Rg7+ Kf8 31.Nh7+ Ke8 32. f7+ Kd7 33. f8=Q+

Jul-13-16		CHESSTTCAMPS: Currently frustrated with mediocre results in ChessTempo tactical problems, so looking for a lighter challenge in the Wednesday POTD. Material is even, but white owns the semi-open h-file and an f6 pawn that functions as an extra piece in the attack. Giving priority to the most forcing move marks 26.Rh7+! as the top candidate: A. 26... Kg8 27.Rg7+ Kf8 28.Qh2 forces mate-in-2. B. 26... Kxh7 27.Qh2+ Kg8 28.Qh6 Qd7/c7 29.Qxg6+ Kf8 30.Rh1 with the unstoppable threat of 31.Rh8+ forcing mate. B.1 28... Kf7 29.Ng5+ Kg8 30.f7# B.2 28... Re7 29.Qxg6+ Kf8 30.Rh1 is similar to B main line. B.3 28... other 29.Qg7# Game review time...

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