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Bent Larsen vs Jude Acers
"Take A Sad Pawn And Make It Benter" (game of the day Jul-14-2023)
69th US Open (1968), Aspen, CO USA, rd 3, Aug-13
English Opening: King's English. Four Knights Variation Fianchetto Lines (A29)  ·  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 30s/ply) 19...Rab8 20.h4 Rd7 21.Kf1 Kf7 22.Kf2 Kg8 23.h5 Bf6 = +0.22 (32 ply) ⩲ +1.06 (34 ply) 25...Rfe8 26.g4 Red8 27.Nd2 Kf7 28.Ne4 h6 29.Kf1 Ke6 ⩲ +0.95 (32 ply) 26.gxf4 Rxf4 27.Rxb7 Rxc4 28.dxc4 a4 29.Nd2 Kf8 30.Kf1 ± +1.81 (35 ply) ⩲ +0.95 (35 ply) after 26...Rfb8 27.Nc5 fxg3 28.Rxb8+ Rxb8 29.Na4 Ne7 30.Bxg3 better is 27.Nc5 fxg3 28.Rxb8 Rxb8 29.Na4 Ne7 30.Bxg3 Nd5 31.Kf2 ⩲ +1.34 (37 ply) ⩲ +0.80 (36 ply)better is 30.g4 Kf7 31.Kf1 Rb8 32.Ke1 Ke6 33.Kd1 a4 34.Kc1 Ra8 ⩲ +1.50 (43 ply) ⩲ +0.85 (37 ply) after 30...h6 31.Kh3 Kf7 32.Kg4 gxh4 33.Kxh4 Kg6 34.g4 a4 40...h5 41.Rc4 Rh8 42.Bf2 Rg8 43.Kd2 Rb8 44.Kc2 Rg8 ⩲ +0.97 (38 ply) ± +2.43 (37 ply)better is 42.Rh4 Rh8 43.Bh6 Bf8 44.Bxf8 Rxf8 45.Rxa4 h5 46.Rh4 Rh8 +- +2.62 (34 ply) 42...Be7 43.Bh4 Bf8 44.Bg5 Ke6 45.Rh4 Kf5 46.Bd2 Kg6 ± +1.92 (37 ply)+- +3.07 (37 ply) 46...Rg7 47.Rxa4 h5 48.Rh4 Rh7 49.Bg5 Bc7 50.Kb3 Rh8 +- +2.85 (37 ply)+- +4.53 (38 ply) after 47.Rh6 Rf7 48.Be1 Bd6 49.Bc3 Re7 50.b3 axb3+ 51.Kxb3 +- mate-in-23 after 59...Ra7 60.e7 Ra6+ 61.Kd5 Ra5+ 62.Kc4 Rxf5 63.e8=Q+60...Rxe7 61.Kxe7 h2 62.Rf1 Kg5 63.Rh1 Kf4 64.Rxh2 Ke5 +- mate-in-151-0

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

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

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Kibitzer's Corner
Jul-22-20
Premium Chessgames Member
  OhioChessFan: I'm going to need to look again, but 8...a5 strikes me as positionally losing. Larsen just destroys that loose Pawn. 8 moves into a 60 move game and it seems lost? I might toss it in SF. Surely Black wasn't lost that early....
Jul-22-20
Premium Chessgames Member
  beatgiant: <OhioChessFan> It's actually a book line, and here's a recent top-level example: A Giri vs Carlsen, 2018

As for the game, maybe Black can improve with 18...Bd6, shoring up the c-pawn to free the knight. Maybe White gets a slight advantage with 18...Bd6 19. Ne4 f5 20. Nxd6 cxd6, but I don't see winning the a-pawn in the foreseeable future.

Jul-23-20  andrewjsacks: Of course it's a book line, quite conventional.
Jul-23-20
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: The best-known game in this variation was the attacking gem Botvinnik vs Portisch, 1968.
Jun-11-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  louispaulsen88888888: Black has a wide choice of moves at move 8. Personally, I would castle, delaying other decisions until later. But I wouldn’t say P-QR4 is positionally bad.
Jul-14-23
Premium Chessgames Member
  An Englishman: Good Evening: Acers unluckily caught Larsen on one of his better days, so this probably would not have saved the game, but maybe 40...h5; 41.Bg5,Rh8; 42.Bh4 (intending to sacrifice his Queen side pawns to support the h-pawn) might have given White an opportunity or two to make an error.

Lest we forget: good job on today's game title!

Jul-14-23
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: Ok, we're in best pun/worst pun territory here...
Jul-14-23
Premium Chessgames Member
  Check It Out: It's a song by the Beaters.
Jul-14-23
Premium Chessgames Member
  Teyss: A funny follow-up of yesterday's pun. Don't know if Missy planned it in advance, which would surprisingly demonstrate some planning skills, of if <thegoldenband> enters history with the quickest pun approval ever.

The issue is, I had the "Hey Jude" tune in my head all day yesterday, was rid of it this morning, now it's back.

For tomorrow's GOTD I propose "Remember to let Her into your h-file": J Acers vs T Jenkins, 1968

For Sunday it will be "Then you can start to make it shorter": J Acers vs Parsons, 1980

Monday: "Hey Jude, don't be afraid": E Steigum vs J Acers, 2011

Tuesday: "You were made to go out and get Her": J Acers vs R Hough, 1970. Etc.

Jul-14-23
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: Crappy games with unfunny puns about one of McCartney's worst songs.

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