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Bent Larsen vs Florin Gheorghiu
Monte Carlo (1968), Monte Carlo MNC, rd 8, Apr-11
English Opening: King's English Variation. General (A20)  ·  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...d6 was played in E Lobron vs Karpov, 1997 (0-1)better is 10...Nc6 11.Bg2 O-O 12.O-O Bf6 13.Ng5 d5 14.Bxd5 Ne7 = +0.10 (22 ply)better is 11.Bg2 Bf6 12.Nf4 Re8 13.Qd3 Na6 14.O-O Nb4 15.Qxd6 Nc6 ⩲ +0.67 (22 ply)= 0.00 (25 ply) after 11...Re8 12.Bg2 Nc6 13.O-O Bf8 14.Qf4 h6 15.Bd5 Qe7 better is 12...Qa5+ 13.Bd2 Bxg5 14.Qxg5 Qe5 15.Bg2 b6 16.Qxe5 dxe5 = +0.04 (25 ply) ⩲ +0.72 (24 ply)better is 13...Qa5+ 14.Bd2 Qd5 15.f3 f6 16.Bc3 Qe6 17.Rd1 d5 18.Bg2 = +0.11 (24 ply) ⩲ +0.62 (26 ply)better is 14...d5 15.Bg2 d4 16.Bd5+ Kh8 17.O-O Qe7 18.e3 d3 19.Rad1 = +0.14 (24 ply) ⩲ +0.72 (25 ply) 17.e4 Qe7 18.Bc3 Rac8 19.Rfe1 Rfe8 20.Rac1 Nc4 21.Rcd1 ⩲ +1.11 (24 ply)= +0.32 (25 ply)better is 27...Qe8 28.Rxa5 Rc5 29.hxg6 hxg6 30.Rxa7 Rbb5 31.Qd2 ⩲ +0.51 (30 ply) ⩲ +1.24 (27 ply) 29...Qf5 30.Qe3 Rb8 31.hxg6 hxg6 32.Rxa6 d5 33.Qe7 Rf8 ⩲ +1.35 (25 ply) ± +2.46 (28 ply) 31.Rxg6+ hxg6 32.Qxg6+ Kh8 33.Qxc2 Qe7 34.Rd1 Rb5 35.Qd3 +- +2.57 (27 ply) 31...f5 32.Ra4 Rb8 33.Rxa6 gxh5 34.Qf4 h4 35.Qxh4 Re8 ± +1.55 (24 ply)+- +3.85 (27 ply)better is 34.Rh6 Qg7 35.Re1 Rc8 36.Rh4 R2c5 37.Qd3 Re8 38.Rxe8 +- +5.17 (27 ply) ± +2.34 (28 ply) 35.Qe4 Qh8 36.Rh4 Rh5 37.Qg4 Rxh4 38.Qxd7+ Kg6 39.Qxc6 +- +2.62 (27 ply) 35...Qh6 36.Rh4 Rh5 37.Rxh5 Qxh5 38.Re1 a5 39.Kg2 Rc5 ⩲ +1.18 (31 ply)+- +9.71 (25 ply) after 36.Qh7+ Ke8 37.Rg8 d5 38.Kg2 Qxg8 39.Qxg8+ Ke7 40.Rh1 +- mate-in-16 after 37.Qh7+ Ke6 38.f5+ Kd5 39.Qxd7 Qe7 40.Rd1+ Ke538...Kd8 39.Rxe8+ Qxe8 40.Rg8 Qxg8 41.Qxg8+ Kc7 42.Qf7 +- +7.87 (30 ply)1-0

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

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Given 7 times; par: 71 [what's this?]

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

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Kibitzer's Corner
Aug-22-05  Poulsen: With the fall of black kingsside pawns he is in big trouble.

35.-,Re6 won't work either, since 36.Qh7+,K-- 37.Rf8 loses the queen.

Improvements?

Jun-19-14  Howard: Tournament victories such as this one make it palpable why Larsen was considered to be a strong contender for the world title. To put it another way, it wasn't just Fischer at the time whom the Soviets might have been nervous about as far as a threat to their long-running monopoly on the title.
Mar-10-15  zydeco: So much energy from Larsen in the opening. 9.d6 is truly a long-term sacrifice - it's almost twenty moves before he's even close to recovering the pawn.

23....Qe5 definitely wastes a tempo: the queen is better staying in contact with g6. 23....Rc8 immediately seems better. Gheorghiu seems to underestimate white's attack -- maybe it was better to retreat the queen to e8 on move 25 or 27. But it doesn't look like black made a lot of obvious mistakes.

The finish is 38....Kd8 39.Rxe8+ Q (or K)xd8 40.Rg8.

Mar-10-15  Retireborn: Houdini gives 31.Rxg6+ hxg6 32.Qxg6+ & 33.Qxc2 as a clearer win, and suggests Black offers more resistant with 31...f5 32.hxg6 fxg4 33.gxh7+ Kxh7 34.Qd3+ Kh6 35.Qxc2, when pawn g4 may create some problems for the white king.

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