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Friedrich Saemisch vs Jindrich Engel
Brno (1928), Brno CSR, Sep-??
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Saemisch Variation. Accelerated (E24)  ·  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) 6...e5 7.e4 Nc6 8.Bb2 O-O 9.Nf3 Na5 10.h3 Qe7 11.Bd3 = -0.27 (22 ply) ⩲ +0.52 (24 ply)better is 8.Bd3 O-O 9.Ne2 Nc6 10.O-O h6 11.h3 Re8 12.Rb1 b6 ⩲ +0.62 (25 ply)better is 8...Nc6 9.d5 Nb8 10.Bd3 O-O 11.Be3 Na6 12.Ne2 Nc5 = 0.00 (23 ply) ⩲ +0.52 (24 ply)better is 10...Na5 11.Ng3 Be6 12.Rb1 Bxc4 13.Bxc4 Nxc4 14.Rxb7 Qd7 = +0.15 (23 ply) ⩲ +0.89 (22 ply)better is 11...Na5 12.f4 c5 13.Ng3 Nc6 14.Bb2 b6 15.Rae1 Nf6 = +0.26 (19 ply)better is 12.f4 Na5 13.Ng3 Be6 14.Rb1 Rd8 15.Qe2 h6 16.f5 Bd7 ⩲ +0.90 (21 ply)= +0.40 (20 ply)better is 14...Qh4 15.Rab1 c5 16.Bf2 Qh6 17.d5 Bd7 18.Qe3 Qxe3 = +0.35 (23 ply) ⩲ +1.00 (24 ply) after 15.Rf2 c5 16.d5 Bd7 17.f4 Nc7 18.Rb1 Rae8 19.h3 Rb8 better is 15...c5 16.d5 Bd7 17.Rf2 Nc7 18.h3 Rae8 19.Rb1 Rd8 20.Rb2 ⩲ +0.58 (25 ply) ⩲ +1.20 (21 ply)better is 16...g6 17.Rf2 c5 18.Bh6 Ng7 19.Re1 cxd4 20.cxd4 Rac8 ⩲ +0.85 (20 ply) ⩲ +1.46 (23 ply)better is 19...Kh8 20.R4f3 Nc5 21.Bc2 Ba4 22.Bxa4 Nxa4 23.Nd4 Nc5 ⩲ +1.31 (22 ply)better is 20.Bc2 Kh8 21.Rh4 g6 22.Nh6 Qe7 23.Rhf4 Rc8 24.Bd4 Qg7 ± +1.93 (21 ply) 20...Bxf5 21.Bd4 Bd7 22.Rh4 g6 23.Rhf4 Rc8 24.h4 h5 ⩲ +1.18 (23 ply)+- +3.57 (25 ply)25...Kxh8 26.Qh5+ Kg8 27.Qh7+ Kf7 28.Bg6# +- mate-in-31-0

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

Annotations by Stockfish (Computer).      [35434 more games annotated by Stockfish]

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Dec-03-19  jith1207: Move 23 would've been a great mid week puzzle.
Dec-03-19  stacase:          
You do have to notice that White's d5 Pawn covers e6 before 25.Rh8+ works.

Pretty good Tuesday puzzle.        

Dec-03-19  agb2002: White is a knight down.

Black threatens gxh6.

The weak light squares around the black king allow a mating attack starting with 25.Rh8+ Kxh8 (25... Kf7 26.Qh5+ g6 27.Qxg6#) 26.Qh5+ Kg8 27.Qh7+ Kf7 28.Bg6#.

Dec-03-19  Walter Glattke: Black is a knight ahead, I have 25.Rh8+ Kxh8 26.Qh5+ Kg8 27.Bg6 Rf8 28.Qh7+ Kf8 29.Qh8#
Dec-03-19  EIDorado: @Beginners When the position is so simple, you don't have to analyse it. Just identify the simple tactic name and you can congratulate yourselves.
Dec-03-19  MrCarciofo: It's a longer way but 25 Bh7+ wins as well:
1) 25... Kf7; 26 Bg6+, Kg8; 27 Rh8+, KxR; 28 Qh5+, Kg8; 29 Qh7# 2) 25... Kh8; 26 Bg6+, Kg8; 27 Rh8+, KxR; 28 Qh5+, Kg8; Qh7#
Dec-03-19  saturn2: 25. Rh8+ decides

25..Kf7 26 Qh5 g6 27 Qg6
or

25..Kxh8 26 Qh5 Kg8 27 Qh7 Kf7 28 Bg6

Dec-03-19  Socrates2: Nice example of a double tactical sacrifice.
Dec-03-19  BjarneNielsen: <@MrCarciofo> How about 25. Bh7+, Kh8; 26.Bg6+, gxh6 and it seems, black is winning. After 25...Kh8 you need to move the rook back to e.g. h4 and you may still have an attack going, but it's way inferior to the game line.
Dec-03-19  cocker: Seen puzzles like this before - a bit same-ish.
Dec-03-19  malt: Have 25.Rh8+ Kh8

(25...Kf7 26.Bg6+ K:g6 27.Qh5# )

26.Qh5+ Kg8 27.Qh7+ Kf7 28.Bg6#

Dec-03-19  eblunt: I like 25 .... ♔f7 26 ♗g6 ♔xg6 27 ♕h5# - manages to squeeze in one last sac.
Dec-03-19  TheaN: <Jan-12-09 TheaN>

I'm a bit baffled how I found this game ten years ago. It doesn't seem like it was the PotD, would expect more posts.

Alas, I don't have much to add to myself, starting this from 24 instead of 25 in 2009. The only small 'mishap' I made today was playing 27.Bh7+?! in the Kxh8 variation, playing on the motive that the bishop goes to g6 to block f7. As there's no escape square on the e-file or f6 this is not needed. It's just one move slower so it wouldn't have mattered too much in practice.

Dec-03-19  King.Arthur.Brazil: I suppose that I saw this game before, since I found the combination immediately. However, I do agree with <Blok> that Black surely could try to survive more, with a petrosianic defence, by answering 23...♗xf5. A plausible sequence could be: 24. ♖xf5 gxh6 25. ♖h5 ♕g7 26. ♖h3 ♔f7 27. ♕h5+ ♔e7 28. ♖g3 ♕xg3 29. hxg3 ♘d6 (see diagram) 30. ♕xh6 e4 31. 31. ♗xe4 ♘xe4 32. ♕h7+ ♔d6 33. ♕xe4 ♖ae8 Obviously, this is not forced, there are many choices to explore, but the game will continue more than 2 or 3 moves.

Diagram:


click for larger view

Dec-03-19  zb2cr: White wins with 25. Rh8+.

The main line is 25. ... Kxh8; 26. Qh5+, Kg8; 27. Qh7+, Kf7; 28. Bg6#.

Black can try refusing the Rook with
25. ... Kf7, but <agb2002> and <eblunt> point out 2 methods of delivering mate in that case.

Dec-03-19  awfulhangover: Monday level problem
Dec-03-19  TheaN: <Antonius Blok: <TheaN> First time he set down on f5 19.Nf5 ... Bang Bang Bxf5.

(...)

TheaN: Yeah, true, as that's before move 20 :). However, after Rxf5, Black's position is pretty crushable. And Samisch would have crushed that. Take note that even then, White is a short while going to play e5 with a Rook to the flank.>

Getting back to the PotD and reacting to what Blok and I discussed back then: 19....Bxf5 is not really a viable defense (in fact, nothing is at that point) but <not> because of 20.Rxf5?! ±. The point is that taking with the rook allows Black the awful looking g6 at will to hold the position.

White should abuse Black's problems on the king side with 20.exf5!, probably following 20....Nc5 21.Bc2 Nd7 22.R1f3 Ne5 23.Rh3 +-:


click for larger view

where it becomes pretty clear Black has no proper way of defending the h-file (it evaluates +2.6 on 23ply). SF9 removes the Queen of guarding h5 with 23....Qd7 to create escape squares, but White breaks through with 24.Qh5 h6 25.Rfh4 Rf7 26.Bxh6 +-... and eh, good luck defending that:


click for larger view

Dec-03-19  Damenlaeuferbauer: After long pondering (as always), the great German time trouble addict Fritz Saemisch, who in this terms only rivals US America's second-best player in history (ahead of R. Fine, H. Nakamura, W. So, and F. Caruana) and Polish child prodigy Sammy Reshevsky and Russian/Swiss two/three-times vice world champion Victor Kortchnoi, finally found the mate in 4 moves with 25.Rh8+!,Kxh8 (25.-,Kf7 26.Qh5+,g6 27.Qxg6#) 26.Qh5+,Kg8 27.Qh7+,Kf7 28.Bg6#. In the 1980s, I tried to imitate their style (3 minutes for 20 moves) with horrible results, until an old man told me: "You won't survive a whole life being in time pressure!" So I chose life (in chess).
Dec-03-19
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: Crushable positions are fun, especially when handing out liberal doses of crushification to a vanquished opponent whilst taking him to killtown.
Dec-03-19
Premium Chessgames Member
  PawnSac: I just love a good rook sac!
Dec-03-19
Premium Chessgames Member
  PawnSac: may have been more interesting with white to play on move 24. ?
Dec-03-19  erichbf: So <keypusher> stop your spamming Masters of Chessboard is superlative, and if you can't understand that, just keep quiet.

Thank you, <fredthebear>

Jun-12-15 keypusher: <fredthebear: This is game #68 in "Masters of the Chessboard" by Richard Reti. It's one of the classic chess books that will instruct and inspire you.>

Stop spamming. And <Masters of the Chessboard> is the most overrated "classic" in the history of the game.

Dec-03-19
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: <erichbf: So <keypusher> stop your spamming Masters of Chessboard is superlative, and if you can't understand that, just keep quiet.>

No, it's crap. For examples (which could be easily multiplied, but why waste time on such a terrible book?) see

Lasker vs Capablanca, 1914

<Brandreth quotes Reti's claim in <Masters of the Chessboard> that, as a rule, Lasker only adopted the Exchange Variation when his opponent wanted to play only for a draw. Like so much in <Masters of the Chessboard>, this is as false as grandma's eyelashes. >

Richard Reti

Richard Reti

Summing up:

<[Reti's] basic theme is that it is ideas (as opposed to, say, skill), that brings success in chess, so every great confrontation in chess history is presented as a struggle between chess ideologies rather than between chess players. Lasker's success is described as the result of superior psychology rather than superior play -- Reti going so far as to say that Lasker made bad moves on purpose, folly which has been repeated by hacks ever since.>

Sorry I was rude to FTB though.

Dec-03-19
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: Anyway, this is a terrific game by Saemisch -- nice to see him on the winning side of a brilliancy.
Aug-08-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  WTHarvey: White mates in 5.


click for larger view

24. ?

if 26...♔xh8 27.♕h5+ ♔g8 28.♕h7+
or if 26...♔f7 27.♕h5+ g6 28.♕xg6#

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