Vladimir Epishin vs Gata Kamsky (1987)

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Vladimir Epishin vs Gata Kamsky
Leningrad Championship (1987), Leningrad URS
Zukertort Opening: Sicilian Invitation (A04) · 1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

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

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Mar-01-22		engineerX: Beautiful sacrificial attack by white. I think it deserves to be game of the day.

Jun-12-24		Korora: Bye bye birdie.

Jun-12-24		takebackok: After 27. Rxh6 don't see any defense for black!?

Jun-12-24		mel gibson: Not that simple - it takes 11 moves to get a checkmate and it's easy to make a wrong move: Stockfish 16.1 says mate in 11: 27. Rxh6 (27. Rxh6 (1.Rxh6 Qxd5 2.Rh8+ Kxh8 3.g7+ Kh7 4.gxf8Q+ Rxe7 5.Qxe7+ Kg6 6.Rxd5 a3 7.h4 axb2 8.h5+ Kh6 9.Qxf6+ Kh7 10.Qf7+ Kh6 11.Qg6+) +M11/103 58) White wins _ mate in 11.

Jun-12-24		TheaN: The first move in this puzzle kind of speaks for itself, because White is under too much pressure to defend. Counterattacking is the only option, and does so via <27.Rxh6!>. Obviously, 27....Rxe7 28.Nxe7+ Kg7 29.Rh7#, and Rh8+ with Qxf8# is looming. Thus <27....Qxd5>. Surprisingly effective defense: White has no time for 28.Rxd5? Rxe7 29.Rxc5?? Re1# nor 28.Qxf8+? Kxf8 29.Rxd5 Rxd5 -+ and Black threatens the back rank and b7 is defended. Black just took the critical knight on d5, if there's no continuation Rxh6 fails horribly. But there is: <28.Rh8+!> is the key. Epitome of a magnet tactic, the king's a terrible defender if he's overworked <28....Kxh8>. There are two ways to win here: overlooking the g7+ path is three times check would lead someone to 29.Qxf8+?! Qg8 30.Qh6+ Qh7 31.Qxh7+ (not gxh7?? Rxd1#) Rxh7 32.gxh7 Kxh7 33.Rd5 +- and the endgame is entirely trivial. Of course, <29.g7+ Kh7 (Kg8 30.gxf8R#) 30.gxf8Q+ Rxe7 31.Qxe7+ Kh6 32.Rxd5 +-> is vastly superior as Black will be mated soon with ♘:♕♖.

Jun-12-24		tibone: if 27. Rc3 then 27...Qg4!

Jun-12-24		TheaN: <tibone: if 27. Rc3 then 27...Qg4!> I was actually wondering why 27....Qxd5 fails after Rc3, but that's because of 28.Qh7+!! Rxh7 29.gxh7+ and White takes with check on h7, meaning 30.Rxd5 +- follows with White being up a powerful exchange. Fwiw, this also works in the game line after 27....Qxd5 but because White invaded over the h-file it's actually worse: 28.Qh7+?! Rxh7 29.gxh7+ Kg7 and White is forced to give up Rh6 (that he worked so hard for to get there) 30.Rxd5 Kxh6 31.Rxc5 Kxh7 32.a3! +-: click for larger view Technically won but yeah, 28.Rh8+ is a bit cleaner.

Jun-12-24		whiteshark: Epishin in top form, at the coming end of an era.

Jun-12-24		chrisowen: Jammed its rails its big kan its q with Rxh6 its a bit lit doh its axiom juggle its bud its did x Rxh6 its effort

Jun-12-24		chrisowen: Beg c h6 v

Jun-12-24		chrisowen: Let us x know :(

Jun-12-24		King.Arthur.Brazil: Today, maybe more inspired due to European change to right side (praise God!)... 27. Rxh6 Rxe7 28. Nxe7+ Kg7 29. Nf5+ Kg8 30. g7 Re8 31. Rh8+ Kf7 32. Rxe8, (Qc2 33. g8=Q#) 32... Kxe8 33. Nd6+ Ke7 34. Nxc4 with an extra ♖. Otherwise, 27... Qg4 (or similar) 28. Rh8+ Kxh8 29. Qxf8# or 27... Rfd8 28. Nxf6#. A despaired try: 27... Qxd5? 28. Rh8+ Kxh8 29. Qxf8+ Qg8 30. Qh6+ Rh7 31. gxh7 (Qxh7 32. Rd8#) Qe8 32. Qxf6+ Kxh7 33. Qh4+ Kg7 34. Qg5+ Kh7 35. Qxc5 with an extra ♖ too. Another way is 30. Qh6+ Rh7 31. g7+ Qxg7 32. Rd8+ Qg8 33. Qxf6+ Rg7 34. Qh4+ Rh7 35. Qd4+ Rg7 36. Rxg8+ Kxg8 37. Qxc5 with an ♕x♖ end-game.

Jun-12-24		King.Arthur.Brazil: I didn't see the quickest 29. g7+! in my analysis... believe it? LOL.

Jun-12-24		landshark: Today I found this by process of elimination: As <Thea N> said, W needs to find some kind of attack somewhere - and remarkably, 27.Rxh6! allows us to live another day. Ok - 27... Qxd5 (!?) And now what - ? After considerable time looking over fruitless alternatives, 28.Rh8+ emerges as a promising possibility - .... Kxh8, and now: 29.g7+ and B's kingdom crumbles - How on earth strong players <steer towards such positions> is far beyond my scope - - It's remarkable what resources exist all around us!

Jun-25-24		whiteshark: <landshark: <...far beyond my scope - - >> if you work on exactly that

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