Carl Schlechter vs Ignatz von Popiel (1902)

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Carl Schlechter vs Ignatz von Popiel
Monte Carlo (1902), Monte Carlo MNC, rd 17, Mar-05
Queen's Gambit Declined: Three Knights Variation. General (D37) · 1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

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May-22-24		Honza Cervenka: 30...Rc7? leads to a deadly pin of Bishop on the c-file and loses the game instantly but after a better 30...Rd8 31.Nxc6 Nxc6 32.Rb7 the advantage of white is quite apparent and white should be winning anyway. Instead of 13...Bxe5 black could try 13...Nc5!? 14.dxc5 Bxe5 15.cxd5 Nxd5 etc. Good game by Schlechter.

Sep-18-24		KEG: A workmanlike performance by Schlechter who, without any brilliant play, dismantled a clearly inferior player. This was a replay of the incomprehensible (2 move) draw between the same two players in Round 17. By this point in the tournament, Schlechter no longer had any chance for a top prize. So, with this replay and two further rounds to go, Schlechter ground down von Popiel, then drew a nothing game with Wolf (who was likewise seeking a minor prize) and agreed with Wolf to draw the replay by agreement, and finally ended the tournament with a victory over the hapless last-place Mortimer. This all resulted in a tie for 5th-7th places with Wolf and Tarrasch. Anyway, the play's the thing: 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. e3 click for larger view Avoiding the more normal 5. Bg5 (and also 5. Bf4 or 5. cxd5) in favor of a slow line in the QGD which suited Schlechter's purpose here. A slow positional crush of a player not in his league while taking no tactical chances. 5... Nbd7 5...0-0 looks simpler, but the text is obviously also sound. 6. Bd3 b6 While hardly a blunder, this line is artificial and did nothing to disturb Schlechter's relentless build-up. 6...0-0 or 6...c6 or 6...dxc4 all look more natural. 7. 0-0 Schlechter could also have played 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Ne5 (or 8. Bb5) with a small but noticeable edge. 7... Bb7 8. Qe2 0-0 "Black must play 8...a6 as, after the text, White can achieve the better game by 9. cxd5 exd5 10 Ba6." (Tournament Book) Huh? The above line in no way yields any edge to White. While I might prefer 8...Ne4, I see nothing wrong with the text. 9. Rd1 Ne4 Again attacked by the Tournament Book, and again an entirely natural and I believe equalizing move. The suggested 9...a6 would also be OK, but faulting the text seems ridiculous. 10. Qc2 f5 click for larger view 11. Qb3 Ndf6 12. Ne5 Bd6 13. f3 click for larger view 13... BxN I prefer 13...Nc5 as suggested by <Honza Cervenka> on this site. 14. dxB As pointed out by the Tournament Book, 14. fxN? would get crushed by 14...Bxh2+! 14... Nc5 15. Qc2 click for larger view Thus far, not a very interesting game. But this was the kind of closed position in which Schlechter excelled. To this point, the game was about equal. But now von Popiel had to make decisions (most notable what to do about his threatened f6 Knight). Not surprisingly, von Popiel quickly went astray and Schlechter quickly mopped up. So, stay tuned. What followed was considerably less boring than what I have covered to this point.

Sep-21-24		KEG: Post II 15... Nfd7 The Tournament Book said that "White also gets the better game after 15...NxB. But the line it gives after 15...NxB is badly flawed: 15...NxB 16. exN? [White is fine after 16. QxN. The suggested move, by contrast, should give Black the better game] 16...NxB? [correct and yielding a significant edge to Black would be 16...dxc4 (e.g., 17. fxg7 Rf7 18. Ne2 Qh4)] 17. fxg7 Rf7 18. RaxN after which White would indeed be better (but only because of the bad suggestion of 16...NxB In fact, both the text and 15...NxB seem to lead to an even position. 16. Be2 click for larger view From this position, von Popiel began to go astray: 16... c6? Black pretty much has to play 16...dxc4 here. The Tournament Book seems to suggest that the text was somehow best. It does this by correctly stating that White would be better after 16...Nxe5?. But even here the analysis in the Tournament Book is poor: 16...Nxe5 17. cxd5? [White gets much the better of the struggle with 17. b4! Na6 18. cxd5 exd5 19. Nxd5 BxN 20. BxB c6 21. Bb2 after which White's Bishops give him winning chances] 17...exd5 18. b4 [one move too late, since Black now just plays 18...Ne6 with about equal chances]. After 16...c6?, Schlechter slowly but surely overwhelmed von Popiel, who may not have been lost yet but undoubtedly was a few moves later. 17. b4 Schlechter was in his element here, and chases the Black Knight to an unhappy spot on a6! 17... Na6 18. b5! von Popiel gets no chance to catch his breath from Schlechter. 18... cxb5 click for larger view 19. Nxb5 "!"--(Tournament Book) As stated in the Tournament Book, the text is stronger than 19. cxb5. But even here the analysis by the Tournament Book is poor. Black must now play 19...Nac5 after which his position, though perhaps marginally inferior, is not so bad. But the Tournament Book only considers the disastrous 19...Nb4? which leads to the loss of a piece after 20. Qb3! 19... Nxe5 20. Bb2 Also strong are 20. Ba3 and 20. cxd5. After the text, the position was: click for larger view 20... Ng6? Black pretty much has to settle for 20...Nf7. The only alternative to the text considered by the Tournament Book was 20...Nxc4? which it rightly calls an "error," but yet again it's analysis is weak: 21. BxN [obviously forced] Rc8 22. Qc3 [forced] Rf7 [poor analysis by the Tournament Book here. Black's only chance in this line is 22...Qg5 23. Qb3 [simpler and better is 23. Nxa7 Nc5 24. Qa3 a6 25. Nc3 Qg5 26. f4 and White with a piece for two pawns should win. 21. Ba3 "!"--(Tournament Book) click for larger view Though nominally a pawn down, Schlechter (White) probably has a won game. What followed over the course of the next ten moves, however, was to leave von Popiel with no hope at all.

Sep-21-24		KEG: Post III 21... Nc5 "Forced, as Black must prevent Nd6." (Tournament Book) Perhaps. But it is not so clear to me that Black would be significantly worse off with 21...Ne7 [which does indeed permit 22. Nd6] as compared with the position after the text: e.g.22. Nd6 Bc8 23. cxd5 exd5] 22. BxN Schlechter must have hated having to trade off his dark-square Bishop, but this is the only serious way to play for a win. 22... bxB 23. cxd5 exd5 24. Qxc5 click for larger view Black's isolated d-pawn is a eye-sore. But, at least as a practical matter, Black should be able to offer resistance. von Popiel, however, plays like a deer-in-the-headlights for the balance of the game. This might have been because of the approaching move-30 time control, though I have no way to verify if that was indeed the reason for von Popiel's collapse. 24... Qe7? Allowing Schlechter to reduce to an end-game was a poor choice. von Popiel should have tried 24...Qa5 or 24...Qb6. 25. QxQ Of course. 25... NxQ click for larger view Not a position one would like to try to hold against Schlechter. However, and maybe because of the looming move-30 time control, Schlechter momentarily faltered: 26. Rac1 Rfc8 27. Nd4? A much simpler and probably better way to play for a win was 27...RxR+ BxR 28. e4 fxe4 29, fxe4 a6 30. Nc3 d4 31. Rxd4 and White with his extra pawn should probably be able to win. After Schlechter's poor 27th move, the position was: click for larger view 27... RxR? "?"--(Tournament Book) "A decisive blunder. 27...Kf7 was essential." (Tournament Book) Black's position would have been no picnic even with 27...Kf7, but after the text von Popiel was almost certainly lost. 28. RxR Rc8 Probably praying that Schlechter would be willing to swap another pair of Rooks. But this time Schlechter was not about to let Black off the hook. 29. Rb1! Bc6 The Tournament Book considered 29..Rc7, but that would have been a disaster for Black after 30. Ne6! 30. Ba6 30. Rb3 was perhaps even better. The text left the position as follows: click for larger view 30... Rc7? This was von Popiel's last-move before the time control. The Tournament Book is correct that 30...Rd8 was Black's best chance. But, as <Honza Cervenka> has shown, even then Black would have been in big trouble: 31. NxB NxN 32. Rb7. After the horrendous text, as <Honza Cervenka> had noted, Black falls into a deadly pin. 31. Rc1 Utterly crushing. Loss of serious material is now inevitable. 31... Kf7 32. Bb5 BxB 33. RxR click for larger view 1-0

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