NN vs Frederick Rhine (1977) Strangers on a Train

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NN vs Frederick Rhine
"Strangers on a Train" (game of the day Jun-28-2022)
Chicago (1977), Chicago, IL USA
Alekhine Defense: Maroczy Variation (B02) · 0-1

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Dec-17-12		FSR: Strangers on a Train. I played this against a guy on a CTA train who saw me analyzing on my Drueke magnetic set and offered to play. The finish is reminiscent of NN vs Leonhardt, 1903: White will lose his queen to one of two knight forks, by different knights. If 17.Qc3 Na2+; if 17.Qc5 Nb3+.

Dec-17-12		JonathanJ: Did you write down the moves or did you recall the game from your memory?

Dec-17-12		FSR: <JonathanJ> From memory. My moves were very logical and forcing, making the game easy to remember (although 12...Re8+!, which occurred to me immediately after I moved, was stronger).

Dec-17-12		waustad: My queen goodnight my queen, my queen goodnight,

Dec-17-12		FSR: <waustad> One can lose one's queen a lot faster than that, e.g. 1.e3 e5 2.Qf3 d5 3.c4 e4 4.Qf4 Bd6 0-1 Nek-Bill Wall, Internet 1999. http://web.archive.org/web/20090803... In other versions of the same game, the moves are identical except that White played d4 or Nc3 instead of c4.

Mar-18-18		Korora: I note that White's king-side pieces remained undeveloped through the end of the game.

Mar-04-21		FSR: Good Tuesday puzzle after 16.a3.

Mar-05-21		fredthebear: This devilish miniature looks like Paul Morphy/David Bronstein played the Black pieces; it is certainly worthy of being compared to Leonhardt's classic. The zwischenzugs by knight would make fine puzzles -- temporarily ignoring a threat to make an equal or greater threat. 14...Nd4 is terrifically taunting - take your choice, or stay put. The White queen is haunted throughout. A most memorable game for <FSR> that any serious chess player would be pleased to have created. There are more famous games that don't have the pizzazz that this one has.

Mar-06-21		FSR: <waustad> In NN vs F Rhine, 2019 I managed to recreate "Spiel-Künzel, a most amusing game, won by Black in four moves," from J. du Mont, in 200 Miniature Games of Chess (p. 279). "My illustrious predecessor" went 1.e3 e5 2.Qf3 d5 3.Nc3 e4 4.Qf4 Bd6 5.Resigns. Similarly, there is Serov - Gorbunov, Em-Ozero, USSR, 1988: 1.e4 e6 2.f4 Qh4+ 3.g3 Qf6 4.e5 Qf5 5.Bd3 1-0. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F34...

Jun-28-22		Brenin: The pun refers to the brilliant Hitchcock film in which two strangers meet on a train and conspire to murder a lady. Here Black's two Ns do the same to White's Q.

Jun-28-22		An Englishman: Good Evening: Amusing and high-quality miniature. Wish I had played it.

Jun-28-22		Check It Out: 1977?! Man, <NN> is old! :)

Jun-28-22		offramp: <FSR: Good Tuesday puzzle after 16.a3.> Frederick Rhine suggested a puzzle from this game. In fact Frederick Rhine submitted this game, and then Frederick Rhine invented the brilliant pun for this game, which Frederick Rhine won brilliantly in extraordinary circumstances. Frederick Rhine failed to record the name of his opponent.

Jun-28-22		nalinw: Conspire to murder each others ladies ...

Jun-28-22		JohnBoy: Nice game, <Fred>. Typical NN play, but you were more than up to the task. Anyone would be proud to have this in their log book.

Jun-28-22		TheaN: Oh, thanks <Brenin>. I thought the pun just referenced the actual occasion of the game, but I'm not much of a Hitchcock expert so didn't get the movie reference. Very appropriate here indeed, great miniature <FSR>.

Jun-28-22		OhioChessFan: Really nice pun.

Jun-28-22		Saniyat24: nice game and pun, White's lack of development showed, and the Queen was helpless in front of the vicious knights, without any support...!

Jun-29-22		BxChess: The Hitchcock movie was based on the book of the same name by Pastrica Highsmith, whose `Deep Water' I have just finished. Her books are disturbing because they lead the reader to emphathise with the psychopathic killer. Like <FSR> in thsi game.

Jun-29-22		saffuna: Patricia Highsmith. Pretty chilling, unsparing novels, including the "Ripley" stories. Maybe she could call a game "The Talented Mr. Rhine," or "Rhine Underground." Or of course "Rhine's Game."

Jun-29-22		Sally Simpson: <'Frederick Rhine failed to record the name of his opponent.> He forgot it. I was on a train in Chicago in 1977and saw this weird looking guy dressed as a Klingon playing chess with himself. He told me he was on his way to a Star Trek Convention. We played a game, I messed about, got my Queen trapped and resigned. I got off at the next stop and saw him writing down the moves... He opened the window and asked me my name. 'Noah Nelson' I replied. I often wondered what happened to him. --- I googled 'Strangers on a Train' because I had a feeling I had too (possibly one of the cast has a chess connection or something like that.) It turns out: ' It was shot in the autumn of 1950 and released by Warner Bros. on June 30, 1951,' the day I was born(!).

Jun-29-22		FSR: I started reading a biography of Patricia Highsmith, but stopped about halfway through because it was too sickening. A sociopath. Think I'm exaggerating? Highsmith's lover was upset because of how Highsmith had treated her. The lover, in front of Highsmith, swallowed a bunch of pills, intending to kill herself. Highsmith's reaction was to (a) go out to dinner with friends and (b) call the person Highsmith's lover was going to go to dinner with to tell her that Highsmith's lover couldn't make it. When Highsmith got home around 2:00 a.m. she was surprised to find her lover alive. At that point she finally decided to call an ambulance. Her lover was expected to die, but survived. It's no surprise that Highsmith's most memorable characters are psychopaths.

Jun-29-22		FSR: <Sally Simpson> Noah! Thanks for the game! Really prescient of Warner Brothers to release <Strangers on a Train> on your birthday.

Jun-30-22		Dionysius1: Hold up though! I hope no-one minds me asking, but how do we establish that such games against NNs were played, rather than created as entertainment by the named player? Does it come down to trust, or is there a more formal method? It kind of matters, given the standards for entry to the database, doesn't it? Lovely game to follow, by the way.

Jun-30-22		FSR: <Dionysius1> If it's an online game, it may or may not be possible to link to it. If it's a game like this one, played against some random guy on a train, you'll have to take the submitter's word for it.

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