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Alex Sherzer vs Nikola Petrov
HUN-ch op (1988), Budapest HUN, Oct-??
Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation. Delayed Keres Attack (B81)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Kibitzer's Corner
Jun-09-25  Mayankk: The royal fork Nd6+ isn't immediately available. So we distract the defender of d6 square by Rd8+ and then we have it.

21 Rd8+ Bxd8 22 Nd6+ Ke7/Kf8 23 Nxc8

Jun-09-25  stacase: After more than a few seconds, What Mayankk said.
Jun-09-25  Walter Glattke: 21.Rd8+ a) 21.-Bxd8 22.Nd6+ Kd7 23.Bxf5+ Kxd6 24.Bxc8 Bxb6 25.Qxb6+ Nc6 26.Rd1+ Ke7 27.Qc7+ Kf8 28.Bb7 b) 21.-Qxd8 22.Bxd8 Bxe4 23.Bg2 Bxd8 24.Bxe4 wins the rook 24.-Nd7 c) 22 .-Nc6 23.Bxf5 Rxd8 24.Nf6+ Bxf6 25.gxf6 Nd4 26.Qg7 Nxf5 27.Qxh8+ Kd7 28.Rd1+ Nd6 29.Rxd6+ Kxd6 30.Qxd8+ + 10.0 for white
Jun-09-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  takebackok: Take your pick and keep going Monday, had 21. Bxf5 Qxf5 22. Rd8+ Bxd8 23. Nd6+ Kf8 24. Nxf5 etc. or 21. Bxf5 Qc6 22. Qg3 Qxb6 23. Qxe5 0-0 24. Qxd7 etc. All roads are gg
Jun-09-25  Walter Glattke: Match: 23.-Bxh3 24.Nxe7 Kxe7 25.Qc5+ Ke8 26.Rd1 Nd7 27.Qc6 Rb8 28.Bf5 h6 29.Rxd7 Bxd7 30.Qd6 mate next
Jun-09-25  mel gibson: I chose the same ply as the game but Stockfish 17 chose a different ply:

21. Bxf5

(21. Bxf5 (1.Bxf5 Qc6 2.Nf6+ Kf8 3.Be4 Qc4 4.Bd5 Qh4 5.Bxa8 h6 6.Bc5 Qxg5+ 7.Qxg5 hxg5 8.Rd8+ Kg7 9.Bxe7 Rxd8 10.Bxd8 Kf8 11.Ba5 e4 12.Bxe4 Ke7 13.Nd5+ Kd6 14.Rd1 Ke6 ) +10.52/38 195)

score for White +10.52 depth 38.

If I force SF to play the game ply:

21. Rd8+ Qxd8

(21. .. Qxd8 (1. ... Qxd8 2.Bxd8 b3 3.Bxe7 Bxe4 4.axb3 Nc6 5.Ba3 Rg8 6.Qe1 Bd5 7.Rf1 Rg6 8.Qe3 Rd8 9.Qc5 Rgd6 10.Qxd6 Rxd6 11.Bxd6 e4 12.Rd1 Be6 13.Bg2 Bf5 14.Bc5 Nd8 ) -8.52/41 264)

score for Black -8.52 depth 41.

So that is a bit tricky for a Monday. LOL

Jun-09-25  King.Arthur.Brazil: Mondays for our good week start: 21. Rd8+ Bxd8 22. Nd6+ Ke7 23. Nxc8+ Kd7 24. Bxf5+ Kc6 25. Qc5+ Kb7 26. Nd6#
Jun-09-25  morea: Quite difficult for Monday. The slightly obvious 21. Rd8+ doesn't work: 21...Bxd8 22. Nd6+ Kf8 23. Nxc8 Bxh3 and White won the Queen, but for a Rook and a Bishop, which is hardly an easy win.

The problem was that after gaining the Queen, Black could still strike back with the f5 Bishop. So the combination works a lot better if we remove that Bishop first:

21. Bxf5 Qxf5 22. Rd8+ Bxd8 23. Nd6+ Kd7 24. Nxf5, winning the Queen for only a Rook.

Jun-09-25  murkia: After more than a few seconds, what Stockfish said.
Jun-09-25  cocker: <morea> 21 Bxf5 is probably best, but after your first line White should win easily starting 24 Qc5+.
Jun-09-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  chrisowen: I flood c its hup v its Rd8+ its aoa its ja its eel its aad dank its code its Rd8+ duff
Jun-09-25  TheaN: I'm with the majority and the game line, playing <21.Rd8+?!> right away, <21....Bxd8> 21....Qxd8 is probably best given Black loses the queen anyway, after 22.Bxd8 Black has some options, ie 22....Bxe4 23.Bxe7 Nc6 just developing and keeping White pieces in. Capturing on h3 is worse due to 22....Bxh3 23.Bxe7 and if Kxe7 24.Qc5+ +-. <22.Nd6+> and interestingly, the king can only go to f8: <22....Kf8 (Kd7 23.Bxf5+ Kxd6 24.Bxc8 +-; Ke7 23.Nxc8+ Bxc8 24.Bxc8 +-) 23.Nxc8 Bxh3 24.Qc5+ +-> and White will regain a piece (either Bd8 or after 24....Ke8? 25.Qxe5+! #5) and win easily.

Having said all that, White's best is just avoiding all the Black LSB moves with 21.Bxf5. If the queen moves out of the way White just won the bishop, and 22....Qxf5 23.Rd8+ Bxd8 24.Nxd6+ +- is the same with less complications.

<morea: Quite difficult for Monday. The slightly obvious 21. Rd8+ doesn't work (...)>

I'd say both moves are fine, but 21.Rd8+ requires 24.Qc5+, 21.Bxf5 is over on the spot.

Jun-09-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  LIFE Master AJ: Very nice game.
Jun-09-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  An Englishman: Good Morning: Stockfish chose the same line my five remaining brain cells chose. Something's wrong with that silicon monster.
Jun-09-25  Hercdon: May not be best according to SF but just about everything works
Jun-10-25  Halldor: My first thought was 21 Rd8†. But since the Bh3 is undefended I decided to start with Bishop exchange, then after QxB: 22 Rd8† BxR 23.Nd6† forking K and Q and winning the Queen. — (I'm glad my unauthorized 32-bit version of Stockfish 14.1 under Fritz-7 for Windows XP supports this.)
Jun-14-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  LIFE Master AJ: @ Englishman 🤣

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