KEG: von Gottschall misplayed the opening, and Burn was on top by about move 8. Burn thereafter, playing cat and mouse with his less experienced opponent, and though not always playing the most dynamic moves, slowly built his advantage. Recognizing that the game was slipping away from him von Gottschall tried a wild exchange sacrifice that got him nowhere, after which Burn cruised to victory. 1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4 Bc5
4. c3 Nf6
5. d3
The Giuoco Pianissimo. A perfectly sound but unambitious opening for White. 5... d6
6. b4?
This move is not bad as a theoretical matter, but von Gottschall clearly did not understand the line and was quickly in trouble. The "?" is for playing a decent line he did not understood. 6... Bb6
7. Qb3
There are various plans that White can try here, e.g., 7. a4 (following up on b4) or 7. Nbd2 or 7. 0-0 or 7. Bb3 or even 7. h3. The text threatens nothing (if Black is awake), loses time, and robs the Bishop of a possible retreat square. 7... 0-0
So much for White's "threat."
8. Bg5
He should play 8. a4 (or perhaps just admit his last move was bad and play 8. Qc2 immediately). 8... Ne7
8...h6 would have exposed the futility of White's last move. The text was surprisingly poor, especially coming from a fine positional player such as Burn. It allows White to mess up his King-side pawn structure with 9. BxN 9. Nbd2
Not in the spirit of the opening, and making no effort to exploit the weakness in Burn's last move. von Gottschall should have played either 9. a4 (consistent with his opening) or 9. BxN (messing up Burn's hair). 9... c6
Giving White another chance to play BxN. 9...Ng6 would have solved all of Black's problems and given him much the better game. 10. Qc2
Another bad choice by White. He had two reasonable moves: 10. 0-0 or 10. BxN. The text merely concedes the error of 7. Qb3. 10... Ng6
The position now was:
 click for larger viewBurn has emerged from the opening with the better game. What followed was not particularly inspiring, but Burn slowly but surely wound up with a positionally won game. 11. h3?
Accomplishing nothing and giving Burn a chance to dominate the board qwith 11...d5! Better were 11. 0-0 or 11. Bb3. 11... h6?
Burn decided to chase the Bishop before playing d5, but this only allowed von Gottschall a chance to improve his game and trade off a pair of Bishops. 12. Be3 d5
Best, but not as strong as it would have been one move earlier. 13. BxB axB
Burn's eagerness to open the a-file is understandable, and the text does give him an excellent game. But 13...QxB was perhaps even stronger. 14. Bb3 Be6
Burn is still better after the text, but 14...Nf4 was even stronger. 15. Rd1
White's King is a sitting duck here. He should have played 15. 0-0. Even 15. Kf1 was better. 15... Qe7
Not best or fastest, but Burn is biding his time and slowly building a strategically winning position. 16. g3
"?"--(Tournament Book). While 16. g3 is hardly a move to celebrate, it was not one of the major causes of White's poor position here. 16... Nd7
16...Qd7 was better.
17. Nf1
von Gottschall continues to mangle his own position. 17. Kf1 (ugly but gets the King out of harm's way) 17.h4 or even 17. a4 were better. 17... f5
Burn continues his cat-and-mouse game with his over-matched opponent. 17...b5; 17...Rfd8; and 17...Rf38 were all better. 18. exd5 cxd5
18...Bxd5 was surely stronger, but Burn was in no hurry. 19. Ne3?
An awful move, giving Burn a live target to attack. 19. a4 or 19. N1d2 were both much better. 19... Qd6?
This may be good enough to win, but 19...f4! was much stronger. 20. d4
Good moves for White are hard to find here. He might have considered 20. Nf1 or 20. Ng2, but these also would not have brought about a position anyone would want to try to salvage. 20... e4
The position now was:
 click for larger viewBy this point, von Gottschall realized he was in big trouble, and--as I will show in my next post on this game--decided on desperate measures. |