Dec-31-18
 | | KEG: With his win in this game, Burn pulled himself back into contention for a high position. The top scorers after this Round 9 games were: Pillsbury-- 7.5 - 1.5
Schlechter- 7.5 - 1.5
Maroczy -- 7 - 2
Marco - 6.5 - 2.5
Burn - 6 - 3
Janowski -- 5.5 3.5
Showalter - 5.5 - 3.5
Thanks in part to his win in this game, Burn took fourth prize. One odd statistical note. After Burn's win here, Burn and Bardeleben were the only two players with not draws in the tournament. (Burn later drew three games and Berdeleben--mired in the cellar at 1-8 after this game, eventually drew two games. The game itself, sad to say, was pretty bad. Only after many awful moves by Bardeleben did Burn obtain and maintain a winning position. And after getting up a pawn in the ending, the remainder of Burn's win is insufferable to play through, as both players erred repeatedly. Bardelben was sick and having a dreadful tournament. He had resigned a game in Round 2 when he was not lost, and quit on his 9th move against Schlechter, reportedly because of illness. So Bardeleben (who was 1-7 going into this game) may not have cared, and Burn may have been waiting for resignation that did not come until move 50 when Bardeleben was three pawns down in a hopeless double rook endgame. The only memorable features of this game were: (i) the curious King stroll by Burn's King, that marched from e8 to 68 to d7 to c6 to c5 to d4 to c3, and then back to d3, c3, d3, e4, f5, e6, and e7. While Burn's king was getting a tour of nearly the entire chessboard, Bardeleben twice decided to post his Knight on a1. Some of these moves made sense, and a few were actually quite good. 1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5 Nf6
Yet another Berlin Defense at Munich 1900.
4. 0-0 Nxe4
5. d4 Nd6
6. BxN dxB
7. dxe5 Nf5
8. QxQ+ KxQ
9. b3
In a game played in the same round, Jacob tried 9. Rd1+ against Halprin and achieved a draw. Both moves are reasonable.
9... h6
The move most frequently played here. Since there is no true need for h6 yet, I prefer 9...b6 or 9...Be6 10. Bb2
MCO-13 gives 10. Nc3. The text is also fine (since the Bishop belongs on b2 anyway_, as is 10. Rd1+. 10... Be6
"!"--Tournament Book.
Why the "!" ??
11. Nbd2
This seems a bit artificial. While the text is not bad, 11. Rd1+ or 11. c4 immediately were probably better. 11... Be7
11...c5 fighting for the center seems better, though Burn was still OK after the text. 12. c4 c5!
13. a3
Very passive. The build-up on the Queenside would only help Black. Bardeleben had many better options: e.g., 13. Ne4; 13. Rad1; and even 13. h3. 13... Kd7!
The beginning of a remarkable King march by Burn. Since Bardeleben has no White square Bishop, Burn decided to "castle" via c6. Very creative! The position now was:
click for larger view14. Rfd1 Kc6!
Burn's King now has a (temporary) home on c6.
15. Bc3
Beginning here, Bardeleben's play degenerates. The text seems pointless. 15. Ne4 of 15. a4 were good options. 15... Rhd8!
I love this move. At first blush, 15...Rhd8 seems better. But Burn had correctly recognized that the a8 Rook probably had a future on the a-file. 16. Ne4 b6
16...a6 immediately was better.
17. Kf1 a6
The position was now:
click for larger viewThus far, the game was not bad. But from here, as I will discuss in my next post on this game, play got sloppy, especially on the part of Bardeleben, who managed to get himself a lost game in fairly short order. |
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Jan-01-19
| | KEG: Post II
18. Rdc1
There is no good reason to cede the d-file to Black. Bardeleben would have retained decent chances of holding his own with 18...RxR or 18. a4. 18... Rd7
"!"--Tournament Book.
Since Burn apparently did not intend to double up his Rooks on the d-file, the Tournament Book's "!" for the text is strange. More in the spirit of the position were 18...b5; 18...a5; or perhaps 18...g5. 19. Nfd2
This retreat was very weak, and Bardeleben may well have had a strategically lost game after this lemon. He could have protected against invasion on the d-file with 19. Ke2, or perhaps just acknowledged that his last move was bad and played. 19. Rd1. 19... a5!
Preparing for action on the a-file, and justifying his decision to keep a Rook on a8. Also good here was 19...Nd4 immediately. 20. Rab1
Effectively capitulating to Burn's obvious Queen-side intentions. 20. a4 was essential here. 20... Nd4
As on the prior move, Nd4 was strong here for Burn. But, in light of Bardeleben's poor 20th move, even better was 20...a4! 21. b4?
"?"--Tournament Book.
Bardeleben continued to fall in with Burn's scheme of overrunning the White position on the Queen-side. Bardeleben had to play 21. a4 (or 21. BxN followed by 22. a4). The position was now:
click for larger view21... cxb4?
Inexplicable. 21...cxb4 22. axb4 a4! would have given Burn a crushing advantage. 22. axb4 Ra4?
"!"--Tournament Book.
The Tournament Book's assessment notwithstanding, this gave away most of Burn's advantage on the Queen-side. With 22...cxb4 23. Bxb4 BxB 24. RxB Bf5 Burn would rule the board. 23. bxc5
23. Ra1 would also have been good here for Bardeleben, who was now very much back in the game. 23... Bxc5
This left:
click for larger view24. NxB?
A misguided trade. Bardeleben's position would probably be salvageable with 24. Ra1. 24... KxN?
This move was part of Burn's curious King stroll in this game. But 24...bxN would have given Burn a bind on the position and would have been much better. 25. BxN+?
There are times in this game in which Bardeleben, who was having a miserable tournament (1-7 going into this game) just seems to want to bring the game to a conclusion ASAP. 25. Ra1, or perhaps 25. Ke1 bringing the White King to the center and off a square on which there could be a Bishop check, were much better. 25... KxB
The King's travels around the board continued, as is revealed by a diagram: 
click for larger viewIn this position, as I will discuss in my next post on this game. Bardeleben committed a silly blunder--overlooking a simple skewer--that lost a pawn and left him hopelessly lost for the balance of the game. |
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Jan-01-19
| | KEG: Post III
In the diagrammed position with which I ended my last post, Bardeleben blundered with: 26. Rb5??
26. c5 or 26. Re1 would have given him chances to resist. The text overlooks the fact that White's King is still on f1. 26... Rxc4
"!"--Tournament Book.
Now 27. NxR loses to 27...BxN+ winning back the exchange with a pawn to the good. 27. Re1?
This only made matters worse for Bardeleben. He should have played 27. Rd1 or 27. Rcb1 or perhaps just gone ahead with the doomwed 27. NxR. After the text, the winning procedure for Burn was not all that difficult, as the diagram below reveals: 
click for larger view27...Rc2--the most obvious move on the board--should pretty much wrap up the game for Burn. Instead, he played the inexplicable: 27... Rc5?
Now, a simple Knight fork with 28. Nb3+ would force Burn to trade Bishop for Knight and get Bardeleben into a double Rook ending that would not have been easy for Burn to win. But Bardeleben, who seems to have played this part of the game in a fog, played: 28. Rbb1?
Now, Burn could proceed with his Rook invasion.
28... Rc2!
Rc2 here is not quite as strong as it would have been on Burn's previous move, but it was still a crushing blow. The game certainly now looked as if it was about to end with a win for Burn before very long. Just two problems: (i) Bardeleben couldn't figure out when to resign; and (ii) Burn seemed to lack the patience to figure out how to wrap up the game. As a result, the context dragged on for another 22 moves. 29. Nb3+
This no longer forces a minor piece trade and was no longer best. If Bardeleben wanted to play on, he should have played 29. Re2 or 29. Nf3+ or 29. Ne4. Instead--and whether as a joke or not--Bardeleben played to post his Knight on the "wonderful" square a1. 29... Kc3
On marched Burn's King. The strange position was now: 
click for larger viewIf you think this position was strange, you ain't seen nothing yet. 30. Na1
This does have the "virtue" of driving away the Black Rook, but it can't be good. I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to recommend for Bardeleben here, but the text cannot be good. The position was so bizarre that I give another diagram: 
click for larger viewBurn had a number of winning lines here: e.g., 30...Bc4+; 30...Ra2, etc. Instead, he chose the slow route with: 30... Rcd2
This didn't really ruin anything. But it meant that this insufferable game became extended, allowing us the chance to see a lot of further bad chess before Bardeleben finally called it quits. 31. f4?
Unless he was looking for a way to lose fast, I don't see the point of creating another weak pawn. In light of Burn's poor last move, Bardeleben could have played 31. h3 or 31. Re1+ or just about anything else if he wanted to give Burn trouble in closing out the game. 31... g6
Again choosing the long road (was Burn really all that frightened of a possible f5+). 31...R7d4 would have given Bardeleben little reason to play on. The position was now:
click for larger viewAs I will discuss, the game sputtered on from here. Perhaps, in light of what had occurred earlier in the tournament, Burn was expecting Bardeleben to resign at any moment and thus did not give the game much attention or make a major effort to find the shortest road to concluding this miserable game. |
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Jan-01-19
| | KEG: Post IV
32. Rec1+ Kd3
Burn's King continued his journeys around the chessboard. In this case, the move chosen was better than 32...Kd4. 33. Nb3
Out of the corner!
33... Rc2
33...Ra2 was also good.
34. Re1
Trading Rooks was no good for Bardeleben, so he had to play the text or 34...Rd1+. 34... Kc3
A lazy move. 34...Kc4 was definitely best.
35. Na1?!
Back to the corner. This looks--and was--bad.
35... Bc4+
The simple 35...Ra2 was best. Burn still does not seem to be engaged in this game. 36. Kg1 Rcd2?
Despite some indifferent play, Burn would still have had the game very much in hand with 36...Re2. Now--perhaps to Bardeleben's surprise and disbelief--he has a ghost of a chance. 37. Rec1+ Kd3
38. Nb3 BxN
This trade was now the only way for Burn to maintain a chance to win. 39. RxB check
After this exchange, the position was:
click for larger view39... Ke4
Yet another poor move by Burn, who should have played 39...Ke2. Granted, double Rook endings are always tricky. But the play here by both sides had been, and continued to be, very poor. 40. Re1+
40. Rb4+ was much better.
40... Kf5
40...Kxf4 41. Rf3+ would have given Bardeleben good chances to save the game. 41. g3?
Bardeleben didn't have time for this. He had to play 41. Rf3 or 41. Rf1 or perhaps 41. h4. After the text, it certainly appeared that the roof was about to cave in for Bardeleben. 41... Rc2!
42. Rbe3
Another thoughtless move. Bardeleben had to play 42. h3 or maybe 42. Rf3. The position was now:
click for larger viewBurn now had a clear win with the most obvious move on the board: 42...Rdd2! But Burn must have seen ghosts, and played: 42... Ke6?
And so the game dragged on, and Burn's King continued its odyssey. 43. g4?
Bardeleben should have seized the chance to play one of his Rooks to e2 before Burn doubled up on the 2nd rank. 43... Rdd2
Better late than never.
44. f5+
Not great, but there was nothing better.
44... Ke7
The e-pawn was no real threat. Burn should just have played 44...gxf5 45. gxf5+ Kxf5 which would have left him two pawns up with his Rooks nicelt posted on c2 and d2. 45. Rh3?
45. h3 was best.
The position was now:
click for larger viewAs I will discuss in my next post on this game, after Bardeleben's last move, Burn finally girded his loins and won a game he should have ended long before. |
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| Jan-02-19 | | Cibator: KEG: Would it cause resentment if I were to ask why you devote so much time and effort to annotating this "miserable" and "insufferable" game? My curiosity has for once got the better of my courtesy. |
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Jan-02-19
| | KEG: <Cibator>Having decided, whether wisely or foolishly, to examine all the games at certain tournaments, I occasionally wind up stuck with a really bad game such as this one. My view is that the best way to understand what happened at a tournament is to review all the games. This has generally served me well, since recurring openings and strategies are often critical to know. On balance, I am OK with what I am doing, even if i sometimes encounter games that make me want to pull out what is left of my hair. |
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Jan-02-19
| | KEG: Post V
After Bardeleben's poor 45th move, Burn gobbled up the now hanging g-pawn and finished off the game. 45... Rg2+
46. Kh1 Rxg4
47. Rxh6
47. fxg5 or 47. f6+ were both more tenacious, but neither would have affected the outcome. 47... gxf5
With the White e=pawn loose, the game was effectively over: 
click for larger view48. h4
Since the White h-pawn is not going anywhere, Bardeleben--if he didn't want to resign--should have played 48.Rh5, though Burn could still have responded 48...Re4 (since Bardeleben can hardly afford to trade Rooks), or perhaps 48...Rf4. 48... Re4
48...b5 was another way to finish off Bardeleben. 49. Rb1
Bardeleben could obviously not trade Rooks and hope to survive. 49... Rxe5
49...b5! would be cute, exploiting the possibility of a back-rank mate should Bardeleben have the temerity to capture the Black b-pawn. 50. Rh8 Ree2
0-1
The final position was:
click for larger view |
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Jan-02-19
 | | gezafan: I'll bet all this analysis KEG has done has improved his game. My guess is that KEG is a strong OTB player. |
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Jan-03-19
| | KEG: <gezafan>You are surely correct that my efforts to analyze games and discuss them with others on this site has substantially improved my chess. Having an excellent chess teacher to guide and inspire me has also helped enormously. Most important of all, doing all this has increased my enjoyment and understanding of the game. But, truth be told, I recently played a rapid game against a grandmaster and got annihilated before I knew what hit me. So there's still plenty for me to learn. |
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Kibitzing
