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Mikhail Chigorin vs Wilhelm Steinitz
Steinitz - Chigorin World Championship Match (1889), Havana CUB, rd 15, Feb-21
Italian Game: Evans Gambit. Slow Variation (C52)  ·  0-1

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) 6...d6 7.Qb3 Qe7 8.d4 Bb6 9.Bb5 Bd7 10.Bxc6 bxc6 = -0.25 (35 ply) ⩲ +0.82 (26 ply)7...h6 was played in Allies vs Chigorin, 1891 (0-1)9.Bg5 was played in Chigorin vs Steinitz, 1889 (1-0)better is 12...h6 13.dxc6 Qxc6 14.Bb5 Qe6 15.Nc4 Bc7 16.Bc1 a6 ⩲ +0.70 (28 ply) ⩲ +1.20 (28 ply) 15.Qb4 f6 16.Bb3 Nf7 17.Qc4 Nh6 18.Nxe5 Bd8 19.Ng4 b5 ± +1.75 (26 ply) 15...Bc5 16.Qb3 a5 17.Nf3 b5 18.Bd3 a4 19.Qb2 Bxd6 20.Nc2 ⩱ -0.62 (25 ply)better is 16.Rd3 Bd4 17.cxd4 b5 18.Bxb5 fxe5 19.Rf3+ Ke8 20.d5 a6 +- +4.82 (28 ply) ± +2.15 (23 ply) 22...Kg7 23.Nc7 Bxd6 24.Nxa8 Rg8 25.Qd5 Bc5 26.Rb1 Qf4 ± +1.76 (27 ply) 23.Qe8+ Kg7 24.Qe7+ Kg8 25.Ne5 fxe5 26.Rd3 h6 27.Rf3 Rh7 +- +18.70 (29 ply) ± +1.67 (26 ply) after 23...Kf8 24.Qh4 Kg7 25.Nfd4 Rf8 26.Rfe1 Qb6 27.Nc7 Bxd4 better is 25.Rfe1 Rg8 26.Nc7 Kh8 27.Nxe6 dxe6 28.Qxc5 Qb7 29.Qe3 +- +2.82 (27 ply) ± +2.05 (31 ply)better is 26.Rxd4 Ba6 27.Rg4+ Ng5 28.Rxg5+ fxg5 29.Qxg5+ Kf7 ± +2.18 (30 ply)better is 26...Rg8 27.Rfe1 Kh8 28.Qf3 Bb7 29.Qxf6+ Ng7 30.Re7 Qf8 ± +1.65 (28 ply) 27.Rb1 Bb7 28.Nxe6+ dxe6 29.Rb4 Kh8 30.Rfb1 Bf3 31.Qxf3 ± +2.40 (32 ply)= 0.00 (29 ply) after 27...Kh8 28.Rh3 Ng5 29.Re3 Qxd6 30.Nf5 Qd5 31.Qh6 Qg8 28.Rh3 Be4 29.Qg4+ Bg6 30.Nf5+ Kf7 31.Nh6+ Kg7 32.Nf5+ = 0.00 (28 ply) ⩱ -0.76 (30 ply)better is 29.Qg4+ Kh8 30.Qxe6 Qe8 31.Qxe8 Rfxe8 32.c4 Re2 33.Rfd1 ⩱ -0.52 (27 ply) ⩱ -1.10 (27 ply)better is 31.Rd1 Qb6 32.Re3 Rfe8 33.Rxe6 Rxe6 34.Qxe6 Re8 35.Qd7+ ⩱ -0.86 (29 ply) ∓ -1.54 (28 ply) 32.c4 Rae8 33.Qd7+ Kh8 34.Rc3 Rd8 35.c5 Rxd7 36.cxb6 ∓ -1.67 (28 ply)-+ -2.54 (29 ply) 34.Re3 Rxe3 35.fxe3 Qxe3+ 36.Kh1 Qxc3 37.Qb7+ Bf7 -+ -2.81 (31 ply)-+ -10.07 (30 ply)37.Qxg6+ hxg6 38.Rhxd3 Re2 39.Rf3 Qd4 40.Rb1 Rxa2 -+ -7.12 (29 ply)0-1

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

Annotations by Stockfish (Computer).      [35435 more games annotated by Stockfish]

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Kibitzer's Corner
Sep-19-06  Confuse: Kramnik comments that black has a hopeless position from move 14 onwards, interesting no ? : )
Nov-17-06  thegoodanarchist: yes, Black gets in trouble with his stubbornly dogmatic ...Qf6 move, and only the does he begin to play like a world champion.

But why dig yourself a hole like that??

Feb-28-08  Knight13: Because Chigorin messed up. He wasn't the only one losing won games, you know.
May-10-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: 35....Rd3 is a pretty move by Steinitz. Better to develop your rooks by move 33 than not at all.
May-28-08  PolishPentium: It seems that 13 Bxe7 was premature. 13 d6 appears preferable...
May-28-08  PolishPentium: Also, 27 Nf5+. Rd3 needs to come later, methinks.
Aug-30-10  soothsayer8: I can't believe Steinitz won this game...Look at that weak opening!
Oct-16-10  chowie01: Chigorin is pure genius. Even when he loses.
Oct-16-10  owbsa: I have always believed in Steiniz even when his position looked terrible!!
Jul-14-12  King.Arthur.Brazil: The black has some resources... after 27...Bb7, seemed the white wins, but this is not easy. After 28.Nf5+ Kh8 (not Kg8 because Tg3 gets an extra tempo for a dangerous attack), 29.Th3 Ng5, 29.Tg3 (or 29.Ne7) then 29...Qe8, followed if possible with Qg6 and white attack desappears. 28.f4! seems good, but again the same Qe8 and Qg6 protects black king. So for me, the best reply is 28. Te1!(28...Qxd6?? Nf5+; 28...Nxd4?? Te7+, so the 2 black treats has no meaning.) 28...Qe8 29.Tg3+ Kh8 (now black cant reply Ng5... because Rxe8)30. Qh6 Qf7 (forced)31.Nf5... treating Ne8. If 31...Tg8 32 T1e3. But in my opinion, the position is not clear for white's thriumph. So Chingorin Nxe6 cannot be regarded directly as error.
Jul-14-12  brankat: Although Steinitz was not afraid of cramped and dubious defensive systems, and did have a considerable success with them, Chigorin had clearly had a bad day.
Jul-20-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: Steinitz was one stubborn player at times-here we see one of his numerous tries with 6....Qf6 in this match. It's a wonder that he scored any points at all in this line with the dreadful positions he reached. Black's last three moves form a simple, though nice overloading sequence to end Chigorin's resistance.
Jul-20-12  bobbyjones1234: awesome
Nov-18-14  RandomWords: Unbelievable that Chigorin manages to lose this game! There have to be major improvements in White's play after the opening phase!
Apr-11-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Richard Taylor: They played the Evans and the Tchigorin several times and the opening is far from weak although the best response to the Evans seems to be 5. ... Bd6

Tchigorin was surely winning here. He was, also, prone to blunders. I wouldn't say he was a "romantic" player, he was innovative and he persisted with the Evans. This line Steinitz plays is not as bad as it looks, as he won a number and Tchigorin won a number but they might have tried other lines in it...

22. Ne5+ has been given as a winning method.

Apr-12-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Richard Taylor: 22. Ne5+ is a forced win but Tchigorin had a lot of ways to win earlier. This was an interesting match. In the early games Steinitz blundered in one game then Tchigorin seemed to fade in good positions and blundered also. He was known for unaccountable blunders according to an oldish book I have on World Championships...

However it was good to see the Evans Gambit and Tchigorin's own defence being used a lot.

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