Adolf Albin vs James Mortimer (1902)

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Adolf Albin vs James Mortimer
Monte Carlo (1902), Monte Carlo MNC, rd 3, Feb-06
Spanish Game: Berlin Defense (C65) · 1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

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May-29-21		KEG: An unimpressive win by Albin over last-place finisher Mortimer. Albin did unleash a pretty combination on move 44, but even after that seemingly decisive move he needlessly put victory in jeopardy as late as his 49th move. Mortimer played reasonably sound chess until his blunder on move 29 which left himself open to a crushing attack on his King. Albin missed several chances thereafter to close out the game, but--not to worry--Mortimer let him off the hook every time and walked into a mating net. An entirely forgettable game. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 The Berlin Defense had not yet gone out of fashion in 1902 (before its resurrection thanks in large measure to Vladimir Kramnik). 4. d4 4. 0-0 is most usual, though the text is sound though giving Black a fairly easy route to equality. 4... exd4 The most frequent response to 4. d4, though 4...Nxd4 is simplest. 5. e5 The sharpest line. 5. 0-0 is most usual and, like the text, leads to approximate equality. 5... Ne4 6. 0-0 Be7 6...a6 may be best, but the text is the most popular line here and was favored by--among others--Andersen, Paulson, Rosenthal, Winawer, and Showalter. It was played by Lasker in his 1907 World Championship match against Marshall. 7. Re1 Nc5 8. Nxd4 NxN 9. QxN Ne6 9...0-0 is usual and best 10. Qe4 c6 11. Bd3 d5 click for larger view White is certainly better here, but Albin ruined all that with his next move: 12. Qe2? With the obvious 12. exd6 e.p., White would have a clear edge. Not so after the text. 12... Nc5 13. Nc3 Another inferior choice by Albin. 13. c3, 13. Be3, 13, Nd2 and 13. b3 were all decent options. 13... NxB Getting the two Bishops was tempting, but 13...0-0 or 13...a5 were even better. 14. QxN 14. cxN looks more logical, allowing for an eventual d4 to support the White pawn on e5. 14... Be6 Inferior to 14...0-0. 14...Qd7 (en route to f5) was also an interesting possibility. 15. Qg3 This plan by Albin led Mortimer to castle Queen-side. Nothing wrong with any of that, but it helped define the later course of the game, with White shifting his attack to the other wing. 15... g6 16. Ne2 h5 Mortimer now decided to launch a King-side attack. This never really got off the ground in this game. Worse still, it later distracted Mortimer from the need to defend his Queen-side. 17. Nd4 Qd7 A reasonable move, but it suggests Mortimer was ambivalent about his King-side attack since he did not follow up his 16th move with 17...h4. 18. NxB QxN click for larger view 19. Qg3 Shifting his focus to the Queen's side. But 19. Qc3 or 19. Qd3 were better if that was his idea. Albin could also have tried 19. Bg5 if he were satisfied with a draw. Given that Mortimer was by far the weakest player in the draw, it is not surprising that Albin was playing for a win. The text invited 0-0-0, and Mortimer obliged Albin: 19... 0-0-0 20. Qa4 click for larger view The themes of the game were becoming clearly defined. Albin would try to attack on the Queen-side, and Mortimer on the other wing. But from here play became--to put it mildly--spotty. Lots of interesting but often deeply flawed ideas.

May-30-21		KEG: Post II 20... Kb8? Since this doesn't protect the Black pawn on a7 in light of 21. Be3, much batter was 20...Bc5 or 20...a6. But Albin did not take advantage of this lapse to develop his Bishop with gain of time and instead played: 21. Be3 h4 Mortimer now resumed his King-side attacking scheme. The text makes sense, but 21...g5 and 21...d4 were both even stronger. 22. h3 Rh5 Not the best way to continue the attack. Better were 22...g5 or 22...Rhg8 or perhaps 22...d4. 23. Bf4? The White pawn on e5 was not really hanging since 23...Rxe5 loses the exchange to 24. Bf4. So instead of the text Albin should have played any one of a number of better moves; e.g., 23. c3 or 23. Qd4 or 23. Qd4 or 23. Qg4. After the text, Mortimer was definitely better: click for larger view 23... Rg8 Too slow. Mortimer could have pressed to increase his edge with 23...Rf5 or 23...Bc5 or perhaps 23...g5 or even 23...c5. Neither player shined in working through the problems posed in this complicated position. 24. Bh2 This is almost as bad as it looks. The diagonal can be exploited without wasting time on this move. Better were 24. Rad1 or 24. Be3 (posing threats of his own). 24... g5 Stronger were 24...Bc5 or the sneaky 24...Bd8 (en route to b6). 25. f3 The simple response to Mortimer's threat. 25... Bc5+ 26. Kh1 click for larger view 26... Bb6 27. b4 a6 28. Qb3 Rg6 Mortimer continued to play his attack in slow motion. If he intended Bf2, he should have played it here. The text gave Albin time to bolster his Queen-side prospects. 29. a4 click for larger view Even a quick glance at the board reveals the need for Black to anticipate White's coming advance on the Queen-side. But, as will be obvious, Mortimer completely misjudged the position and left himself open to a crushing attack that would have wiped him out quickly had Albin played more decisively. 29... Bf2? The first of several really bad moves by Mortimer that let Albin have his way on the Queen-side. Best here for Black, and almost surely sufficient to allow him to hold his position, was 29...Rh8. 30. Re2 30. Red1 was much better. The text gave Mortimer a chance--in effect--to retract his 29th move. [I would put all the bad play here down to time pressure given the move 30 time control, except that the level of play did not improve even after move 30 was reached]. 30... Bg3? Doubling down on his bad 29th move, and leaving his King nearly defenseless: click for larger view

May-30-21		KEG: Post III 31. Bg1 "!"--(Tournament Book) This move sets a trap (into which Mortimer didn't fall--as the Tournament Book points out, if now 31...Bxe5 White wins with 32. RxB since 32...QxR loses the Queen to 33. Bh2). The text also allows the Bishop to participate in White's Queen-side attack. But it is still too slow. Albin should just have played 31. b5 after which Mortimer would have been hard-pressed to hold his position. After the text, Black had some real chances at counterplay: click for larger view 31... f5? Yet another unduly slow effort by Mortimer. His chances now lay in 31...g4! after which the play would have been fascinating: e.g., 32. fxg4 Rxe5 33. RxR QxR 34. Rb1 Qe2! 35. b5 cxb5 36. axb5 Qxb5 37. Qe3!! [this temporary Rook sacrifice seems to be the only way for White to make progress] QxR 38. Qe8+ Kc7 39. Qxf7+ Kb8 40. Qe8+! [Not 40. QxR?? Bf2 and Black wins!] Kc7 41. QxR Be5 [40...Bf2 obviously not longer works since 41. Qf7+ would nab the Bishop] after which White still has definite winning chances but Black might be able to hold. After the text, the position was hopeless for Black: click for larger view 32. Qe3? This gave Mortimer a fighting chance. The clear winning move was 32. b5! after which I see no way for Black to save the game, e.g., 32. b5 d4 (the best chance) 33. Qb4 Qc8 34. Bxd4 and White should win without too much difficulty. After 32. Qe3, the position was: click for larger view 32... Qc8? "?"--(Tournament Book) After this, Black was lost, though--as will be seen--Albin made extremely heavy weather of his winning edge and gave Mortimer numerous chances to prolong the struggle. Mortimer would have had some chance (though he likely was still theoretically lost) to hold the game with 32...c5. After 32...Qc8?, Albin had a choice of how to finish off Black: click for larger view 33. e6 Another way to win was 33. Qa7+ Kc7 34. b5 Qb8 35. Qb6+ Kc8 36. e6 Rg8 37. bxc6 Qc7 38. Qa7 Rh7 39. Qa8+ Qb8 40. e7!! QxQ 42. e8(Q)+ RxQ 43. RxR+ Kc7 44. RxQ. 33... c5 "?"--(Tournament Book) The Tournament Book notwithstanding, I see nothing else that would save Black here. After 33...c5, the position was: click for larger view Although this position is a clear win for White, Albin misplayed it badly and--if not for some truly awful play by Mortimer--would likely have blown the win against his last-place opponent.

May-30-21		KEG: Post IV 34. bxc5 This wins, but the immediate killer was 34. e7! (34...d4 [34...Qd8 35. Qxc5 is also hopeless for Black] 35. e8(Q) dxQ 36. QxR. Even after the text, the position was lost for Black: click for larger view 34... d4? 34...Rh8 might have allowed Black to resist for a while, though with little hope of ultimate success. The text should have led to immediate disaster. 35. Qb3? "!"--(Tournament Book) This may or may not preserve the win, but the simple 35. Qxd4 would have left Black nothing to play for. If 35...Rg8 (I see nothing better) 36. Rb1 Rhh8 37. e7 (or perhaps better still 37. c6 Qxc6 38. Qa7+) is murder. After 35. Qb3, the position was: click for larger view 35... Rh8? Awful. The only hope of resistance lay in doubling the Black Rooks horizontally in order to stop the White e-pawn. Thus, 35...Rhh6 36. e7 Re6 37. RxR RxR 38. Qd5 Rxe7 39. c6! bxc6 40. Qxd4 Rb7 41. Rd1 may give Black some chance to hang on. After the text, White had various ways to win. 36. Bxd4 36. Rb1, 36. Qd5, and 36. e7 all seem simpler. But the text--snatching the d-pawn-- also seems to do the trick. 36... Re8? Feeble. But now not even 36...Rhh6 seems to save the day. 37. e7! click for larger view 37... g4 This looks hopeless, since White now has the crushing 38. Qf7!, or could just win with 38. hxg4. But Albin found a move to make the game interesting: 38. fxg4? The win is still there for White, but now the position is interesting and Black has at least practical chances. 38... fxg4 39. Qf7 Rgg8 40. Qe6! Probably the only way for White to play to win here. The position was now: click for larger view 40... gxh3 This looks silly, but everything else also loses. 41. gxh3 click for larger view 41... Qc7 Trading Queens seems to be Black's only hope of resisting. After the text, White has a beautiful winning line which Albin only partially realized: 42. Rb1! Ka8 What else? 43. Rb6! There were other ways to win, but this was the prettiest. 43... Qf4? This should lose instantly, since it removes the only real defender available to the Black King. 43...Qc8 offered the closest thing to resistance that was available. The position was now: click for larger view White to move and win.

May-30-21		KEG: Post V 44. Rxa6+! Very nice. This should have terminated resistance almost immediately. But this game still had some ups and downs to come. 44... bxR 44...Kb8 45. Be5+ winning the Queen was no improvement for Black. The position was now: click for larger view 45. Qxa6+ This also wins, but one would imagine that in playing 44. Rxa6+ Albin had noticed the real crusher: 45. Qd5+ leaving Black the choice of losing his Queen after 45...Kb8 46. Be5+ or getting mated after 45...Ka7 46. c6+! 45... Kb8 46. Be5+ 46. Re3 also wins. 46... QxB 47. RxQ BxR click for larger view This is still a win for White, to be sure, but now there is some work to be done and some pitfalls along the way. 48. Qb6+ Ka8 click for larger view 49. Qe6? This certainly made things exciting. The simplest way to win was 49. Qa5+ Kb7 (if 49...Kb8 50. c6 Bd4 51. Qd5) 50. c6+ Kxc6 51. QxB Kd7 52. a5. But after the text, Black suddenly had a fighting chance, the position now being: click for larger view 49... Bc7? This looks more like an attempt at a help-mate than an effort to hold the game. Amaxingly, Black still had some chances with the Bishop sacrifice 49...Bf4 50. Qe4+ Ka7 51. QxB Rxe7 52. Qxh4 which would leave: click for larger view White should still be able to win this but his pawns are isolated and Black can make trouble with his two Rooks. But the text left: click for larger view 50. Qa6+! Curtains---and this time for real. 50... Kb8 51. c6 click for larger view Now Black can only avoid mate by sacrificing a bunch of pieces begininng with 51...Rg1+. So... 1-0

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