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Alexander Alekhine vs John Drewitt
"Almost Drewitt" (game of the day Jan-22-2010)
BCF Major Open (1923), Fratton ENG, rd 10, Aug-23
Zukertort Opening: Santasiere's Folly (A06)  ·  1-0

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
a
1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move.
ANALYSIS [x]
Notes by Stockfish 9 v010218 (minimum 6s/ply)3.a3 was played in B Thelen vs F J Prokop, 1925 (1-0)4.b5 was played in Fischer vs D Ina, 1964 (1-0)4...a5 was played in Santasiere vs Kashdan, 1938 (0-1)better is 8...Bd6 9.Nbd2 b6 10.Rc1 Bb7 11.Bd3 Rc8 12.O-O Na5 = -0.38 (23 ply)= +0.35 (22 ply) after 9.Nc3 Ba5 10.Rc1 Re8 11.Be2 dxc4 12.Bxc4 e5 13.dxe5 9...Ba5 10.Qc2 b6 11.cxd5 Qxd5 12.Bd3 Bxd2+ 13.Qxd2 Bb7 = -0.05 (22 ply) ⩲ +0.80 (21 ply) 15...bxc6 16.c5 Ba5 17.Qc2 f5 18.Nf3 Rb8 19.Rb1 Nf6 = +0.45 (26 ply) ⩲ +1.22 (23 ply) 16...Ba5 17.Nb3 Bc7 18.Bb5 Nf6 19.Bc3 Ne4 20.Bb4 h6 21.a4 ⩲ +0.85 (25 ply) ± +1.83 (24 ply) 18...g6 19.Rxc5 Qxc5 20.Rh3 f5 21.Qe1 Rd7 22.Nf3 Rdc7 ± +1.62 (22 ply) 19.Bxh7+ Kxh7 20.Rh3+ Kg8 21.Qh5 f6 22.Qh7+ Kf8 23.Rg3 +- +7.33 (28 ply) 19...Bxb2 20.Rc2 Ba4 21.Bxh7+ Kf8 22.Bd3 Qa3 23.Nf1 Bxc2 ⩲ +1.20 (27 ply)+- +4.58 (25 ply)better is 22.Qh5 f6 23.Bxa3 Qxa3 24.Qh8+ Kf7 25.Qxd8 Qc1+ 26.Nf1 +- +4.88 (28 ply); 22...f6 23.Bh6 Qh7 24.Qh5 Bf8 25.Qg4+ Kf7 26.Bxf8 Qg6 +- +2.87 (29 ply)1-0

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

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Given 73 times; par: 39 [what's this?]

Annotations by Stockfish (Computer).      [35437 more games annotated by Stockfish]

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 4 OF 4 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Aug-23-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Peligroso Patzer: <WhiteRook48: after 22 Bxg7 f6 ( or f5) 23 Qh5 Kxg7 the best white has is perpetual check (23...Qxg7?? falls to 24 Rg3, winning the queen)>

Actually, after 22. ... f6 23. Qh5?, it would be a blunder for Black to play 23...Kxg7? since 24.Rg3+ forces mate.

On the other hand, although if Black plays 23. ... Qxg7! (again, in the line after 22. ... f6 23. Qh5?), then 24.Rg3 does win the Black Queen, he gets Rook, Bishop and pawn for it, and the position after the further 24. ... Qxg3 25.hxg3 is at least OK for Black.

As noted above, however, if 22. ... f6, then 23. Bh6! is winning for White.

Aug-25-09  kevin86: The pun was incorrect-Mr.Drewitt was lost when he sat at the chesstable.
Sep-02-09  arsen387: the funniest pun ever!
Jan-22-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: Same game and pun used on 8/23/09.
Jan-22-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  al wazir: 22. Qh5 f6 (what else is there?) 23. Bxa3 Qxa3 24. Qh8+ Kf7 25. Qxd8 also wins (as has already been pointed out).

The pun is a falsehood. Black never came close to a draw.

Jan-22-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Jimfromprovidence: <RandomVisitor> says white missed 19 Bxh7+, winning, so what does white do do after 18...g6? Grind it out?


click for larger view

Jan-22-10  kevin86: Not close to a draw. White committed surgery on the king side.
Jan-22-10  Chessmensch: <Phony Benoni> Not according to the Chessgames. com archives that give Oct-23 Spidey Sense
Morozevich vs Adams, 2001
Jan-22-10  sneaky pete: <Chessmensch> That's right, October is month 8 of the old Roman calender.
Jan-22-10  drpoundsign: Drewitt made dumb sacs.

Alekhine mad smart ones.

Jan-22-10  RandomVisitor: After 18.Rf3 white has a commanding position:


click for larger view

Rybka 3:

<[+0.93] d=19 18...f6> 19.Rh3 g6 20.Bb5 Rcc8 21.Bxe8 Rxe8 22.Rc3 Rc6 23.Nf3 Rec8 24.Qd3 Rb6 25.Qd2 Rbc6 26.Nd4 Bxd4 27.exd4 Rc4 28.Rhe3

[+1.05] d=19 18...g6 19.Nb3 Bd6 20.Bf1 Bxa3 21.Bxa3 Qxa3 22.Ra1 Qb4 23.Nd4 Rc7 24.Rxa7 Rdc8 25.Ra1 Rc3 26.Qb1 Qe7 27.Ra7

[+1.24] d=18 18...Bb6 19.Nb3 g6 20.Rxc6 Bxc6 21.Nd4 Bd7 22.Qb3 Rc8 23.Nc2 f6 24.Rf2 Be8 25.Rf1 Kg7 26.a4

Jan-22-10  RandomVisitor: The winning 19.Bxh7+! only works due to the specific placement of pieces after 18...Bxa3.

At a critical point in the variations that follow, white can play Bxa3 and put pressure on the a3-f8 diagonal - either on the black king moving back to f8 or on the black queen coming over to e7 of f8 to assist in the defense.

This is why Bxh7+ does NOT work after a waiting move such as 18...a6. White cannot make the critical move Ba3 and apply the needed pressure along the diagonal, so the sacrifice fails.

Jan-22-10  WhiteRook48: so if he didn't play ...Bxa3 he wouldn't lose as quickly?
Oct-02-10  Wyatt Gwyon: wonder what this dude would be rated.
Apr-12-11  instrumentals: that's exactly what an amateur would say

takes a look at the amount of major pieces on the board...oh same!..i almost drew it!!!

black's pieces are in very bad positions, and he decides to sack the badly-placed Nd7 by Nxc5 when he should have moved that knight back to Nf6?

Mar-21-12  LoveThatJoker: Guess-the-Move Final Score:

Alekhine vs J Drewitt, 1923.
YOU ARE PLAYING THE ROLE OF ALEKHINE.
Your score: 50 (par = 37)

LTJ

Nov-06-12  wildrookie: Almost Drewitt?? Naah...Alekhine's advantage was too big for that.
Jun-05-13  SeanAzarin: I think we can safely say that Drewitt... didn't.
Dec-25-13  celtrusco: 16 ... Nxc5 It was like to unleash Godzilla.
Jul-05-14  Travis Bickle: What a massacre!
May-07-20  RookFile: A problem with black's position is his bishop wasn't on some useful square like e7 or maybe f8. If black is not attacking (which he isn't), then that bishop should stick around the king.
Sep-02-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  kingscrusher: I am a bit surprised Alekhine wasn't playing in the main British championship - the major open nowadays is usually filled with players less than 2200 FIDE

https://www.saund.co.uk/britbase/pg...

Maybe he needed other qualifying aspects

Sep-02-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  kingscrusher: Wiki mistake alert:

" Alexander Alekhine won the 16th BCC at Portsmouth/Southsea 1923,[6][7] Aron Nimzowitsch and Savielly Tartakower won at London 1927,"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briti...

No - Alekhine won the Bunny major open!

Sep-02-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  kingscrusher: Wiki Fix applied:

"Alexander Alekhine won the 16th BCC Major Open at Portsmouth/Southsea 1923.."

Sep-02-22  Granny O Doul: Irving Chernev wrote "this is a game where Drewitt didn't!" in Fireside Book of Chess. Of course, not everyone is in position to select their own puns.
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