Siegbert Tarrasch vs James Mortimer (1902)

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Siegbert Tarrasch vs James Mortimer
Monte Carlo (1902), Monte Carlo MNC, rd 13, Feb-24
Spanish Game: Open. Zukertort Variation (C80) · 1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

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Given 4 times; par: 57 [what's this?]

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Jan-15-23		KEG: This games looks like a case of Chess Amateur vs. Chess Professional. Tarrasch had a won game after 11...c6? and never gave Mortimer a ghost of a chance after that. Tarrasch did nothing spectacular in this game; he just exploited Mortimer's weak play efficiently and effectively. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. 0-0 Nxe4 5. d4 a6 click for larger view More usual is 5...Nd6, but the text which was later played by Tarrasch himself and later was a favorite of Julio Kaplan and Korchnoi, and was played on at least one by Magnus Carlsen, is entirely sound. 6. Ba4 6. BxN is arguably better, but the text has been played by Alekhine, Bronstein, Karpov, Judith Polgar, and Kasparov, so who am I to argue its merits. 6... b5 6...exd4 is also a good choice for Black. 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 click for larger view Thus far, a reasonably played Berlin Defense from both sides. But from here it was all downhill fo Mortimer. 8... Ne7 "Inferior"--(Tournament Book) Indeed it is, though played on multiple occasions by both Zukertort and Tchigorin. Normal and best is 8...Be6. The text is not necessarily losing, but it seems obviously bad. 9. a4! Tarrasch was fortunate to face 8...Ne7 four times in his career (twice against Taubenhaus, once against Tchigorin, and here against Mortimer). Tarrasch played 9. a4 on all four occasions and won all four games. 9... Rb8 Taubenhaus played 9...c5 here, which was not a success. The text, 9...Be6, and 9...Bb7 seem to be the best options for Black. 10. axb5 Even against weak opposition, it is always a pleasure to see Tarrasch's logical mind at work. 10... axb5 11. Nd4 "!"--(Tournament Book) "An excellent move..." (Tournament Book) click for larger view 11. Be3 was also strong, but Tarrasch's move is likewise powerful and puts Black and neatly exploits Black's hanging b and d pawns. The Tournament Book here recommended 11...c5 for Black, but that loses after 12. Nxb5 [or 12. f3 first as suggested in the Tournament Book) RxN 13. Ba4 Bd7 14. f3 Nf2 15. RxN Rb8 16. Nc3 BxB 17. RxB and White with an extra pawn and better position should win easily. Black's only real chance lay in 11...Nc5. But here Mortimer played the disastrous: 11... c6? "?"--(Tournament Book) This left: click for larger view This could be presented as "White to play and win." Tarrasch's brutally efficient play, coupled with Mortimer's feeble resistance, made what followed less a competitive tournament game that a demonstration of how to demolish a weak position.

Jan-15-23		KEG: Post II 12. Nxc6! "!!"--(Tournament Book) Pretty, but a bit too obvious to warrant the "!!" assigned to it by the Tournament Book. 12... NxN 13. Bxd5 13. Qxd5 also wins. 13... Nxe5 14. BxN click for larger view With an extra pawn, his King safely castled and an isolated Black b-pawn, Tarrasch already had a won game (though not resignable for Black since there is still some play in the position). But Mortimer sapped the life out of what was left in the game with his next move: 14... QxQ? The ending, of course, holds out no hope for Black. Mortimer might as well have tried to complicate beginning with 14...Bd6. Did Mortimer really expect Tarrasch to bungle the ending? 15. RxQ click for larger view The balance of the game is of little interest, and Tarrasch did not appear to strain to find and most immediate or crushing lines; only to make sure to keep the win in hand. In this, he succeeded with no real difficulty. 15... Be6 Hardly the way to make something happen, but all such tried (e.g., 15...Bb4; 15...Be7; 15...g6) were doomed to failure anyway. The text walked into a nasty pin (not that Tarrasch needed this). 16. Bf4 f6 17. Ra7 click for larger view Much as I would relish the chance to play a game against Tarrasch, I wouldn't want to take over Mortimer's position. 17... Be7 18. Nc3 Kf7 Mortimer, if he didn't fancy resigning just yet, should at least have tried to make a fight of it with 18...g5. 19. Nd5 Rhe8 Hanging a second pawn. But the ending after 19...Rbe8 would also not have been much fun for Black. The position now was: click for larger view 20. NxB 20. BxN was a but faster, but I doubt Tarrasch would have cared by this point. 20... RxN 21. RxR+ KxR 22. BxN fxB 23. Bxh7 click for larger view For whatever reason, Mortimer chose to play this out. I will discuss the concluding (not very pretty) spectacle in my final post on this game.

Jan-15-23		KEG: Post III 23... b4 Now the b-pawn becomes a target after Tarrasch's next adroit move: 24. b3 click for larger view Black has no threats; White has no weaknesses and Black has plenty and is two pawns down. 24... Kf6 Maybe he thought Tarrasch would fall asleep and let him trap his Bishop with 25...g6. 25. Be4 If he wanted to, Tarrasch could have "fallen" for Mortimer's trap with 25. Rd6 since if then 25...g6 he could just play 26. Bxg6. 25... g6 He might have played 25...Rb6 to stop 26. Rd6. But Tarrasch didn't bother with this: 26. f3 Just in case Mortimer had dreams of a back-rank mate, Tarrasch put all such nonsense to rest. 26... Rb6 On this or the next move, Mortimer might have played 26...Bf5 if he had notions of prolonging the game. 27. Kf2 27. g4 would have been nasty, but Tarrasch had no need to complicate one iota. 27... g5 28. Kg3 Ra6? Awful, but the game was gone anyway. 29. Rd8 click for larger view 29... Bf7 29...Rb6 was the only even temporary way to save the b-pawn. 30. Rb8 I think I could take Magnus Carlsen from here. 30... Bg6 31. BxB KxB 32. Rxb4 click for larger view 32... Rc6 33. c4 Kf5 34. Rb5 1-0 Here Mortimer finally resigned.

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