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Kevin Spraggett vs Murray Campbell
Ch. junior du Canada (1974), rd 6
English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense. Anglo-Grünfeld Variation (A16)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
May-01-15  nalinw: I must deduct a small fraction for not seeing ... Rb5 as a defense.

But like <stst> I think this is a little easy for Friday - and gave me less trouble than even this Tuesdays puzzle.

May-01-15  lakshashishu: Its first time when i got friday puzzle right.
May-01-15  diagonalley: drat... and double drat :-(
May-01-15  agb2002: The material is identical.

The obvious move is 25.Rh8+:

A) 25... Kxh8 26.Qxf7 Qd4+ (26... Qb5 27.g4 + -) 27.Kg2 (27.e3 Qb2+ wins the rook with check) 27... Qe5 28.Rh1+ Qh5 29.Rxh5+ gxh5 30.Qxh5+ Kg7 (30... Kg8 31.Qe8+ Kg7 32.Qxe7+ Kg6 33.Qxc7 + - [Q+4P vs 2R]) 31.Qe5+ Kf7 32.Qxc7 + - [Q+3P vs 2R].

B) 25... Kg7 26.Rh7+

B.1) 26... Kxh7 27.Qxf7+ Kh6 (27... Kh8 28.Rh1+ Qh4 29.Rxh4#) 28.Rh1+ Kg5 29.f4+ and mate next.

B.2) 26... Kf(g)8 27.Qxf7#.

B.3) 26... Kf6 27.Qxf7+ Ke5 (27... Kg5 28.f4+ and mate next) 28.f4+ Kd6 (28... Kd4 29.Rc4+ wins the queen) 29.Qxe7+ Kd5 30.Qe5#.

May-01-15  Funology: IMO if you didn't see ...Qd4+ and ...Rb5 and how White should meet it, you only solved half the puzzle. Seeing the Qxf7 mating idea is just the beginning.

I saw up to ...Qg7 but then went with Rh1+, missing the Qe8+ and Rh4 idea.

May-01-15  morfishine: <25.Rh8+> powerful deflection (not to mention a rook sac) allowing White Queen access to <f7>

<25...Kxh8> forced; Black must accept since 25...Kg7 allows 26.Rh7+ which forces 26...Kxh7; but now White Queen captures f-pawn with check: 27.Qxf7+

After <26.Qxf7> I figured Black was toast [not realizing the resources still available]

*****

May-01-15  gofer: <The Times> had a similar breakthrough yesterday. So this one was already on my mind. This one however has a few twists and turns on the way. The most important is that black a way to avoid mate...

<25 Rh8+! ...>

Black cannot refuse...

25 ... Kg7

26 Rh7+ Kf6 (Kxh7 27 Qxf7+ Kh6 28 Rh1+ Kg5 29 f4+ Qxf4 (Kg4 Qe6#/Qxg6#) 30 Qxf4#)

27 Qxf7+ Ke5 (Kg5 28 f4+ Qxf4 (Kg4 Qe6#/Qxg6#) 29 Qxf4#))

28 f4+ Qxf4+ (Kd6 29 Qxe7+ Kd5 30 Qe5# or Kd4 29 Rc4+ Qxc4 30 Qxc4#)

29 gxf4+ Kd6 (Kd4 30 Qc4#)

30 Qxe7+ Kd5

31 Qd7#/Qe5#

<25 ... Kxh8>
<26 Qxf7 Qe4+>
<27 Kg2 ...>

Black has a "way out"...

27 ... Qe5
28 Rh1+ Qh5
29 Rxh5 gxh5
30 Qe8+ Kg7
31 Qxe7+ Kh6
32 f4


click for larger view

~~~

I, like a few others, missed the Rb5 defence (which could have been a bit of a shock OTB - especially if it ended up winning!) but luckily it looks worse than <27 ... Qe5> which threatens Qxe2+ so white has no time for Qxg6...

May-01-15  stacase: 25. Rh8+ and it pretty much plays itself the rest of the way.
May-01-15  CHESSTTCAMPS: Material is even, but black's rooks are spectators, offering no protection to a vulnerable king. With white's queen having access to f7, drawing the king to the edge appears to be an obvious solution.

25.Rh8+! and now

A. 25... Kxh8 26.Qxf7 Qd4+ (Qc5+ 27.Rxc5) 27.Kg2 Qd5 28.Rh1+ Qh5 29.Rxh5+ gxh5 30.Qxh5+ Kg7 (Kg8 31.Qe8+ Kg7 32.Qxe7+ followed by 33.Qxc7 loses an additional black pawn) 31.Qe5+ Kf7 32.Qxc7 gives white Q+3 pawns against virtually immobilized rooks. A kingside advance should finish quickly.

B. 25... Kg7 26.Rh7+ and now

B.1. 26... Kxh7+ 27.Qxf7+ Kh6 (Kh8 28.Rh1#) 28.Rh1+ Kg5 29.f4+ Kg4 30.Rh4#

B.2 26... Kf6 (Kf8 27.Qxf7#) 27.Qxf7+ Ke5 (Kg5 28.f4+ Kg4 29.Rh4#) 28.f4+ Kd6 (Kd4 29.Rc4+ Qxc4 30.Qxc4#) 29.Qxd7+ Kd5 30.e4+ Kd4 31.Rc4+ finishes.

Review time...

May-01-15  CHESSTTCAMPS: <diagonalley: drat... and double drat :-(> I'll second that emotion.
May-01-15  TheaN: Friday 1 May 2015 <25.?>

This seems to be somewhat easier than yesterday due to limited option. This game is headed for a draw if white has nothing up his sleeve; black has two weak pawns but he has no deficit yet and after a queen trade the rook endgame is surely a draw.

In the position at hand white can expose the lonely king. <25.Rh8+!>. Black can accept or decline, but declining in this position simply leads to tempo loss.

A) <25....Kg7? 26.Rh7+! Kf6> leads to mate too, but after 26....Kxh7 27.Qxf7+ black lost a crucial tempo: 27....Kh6 28.Rh1+ Kg5 29.f4+ Kg4 30.Qe6#. <27.Qxf7+ Ke5 (Kg5 28.f4+) 28.f4+ Kd6 (Kd4 29.Rc4+) 29.Qxe6+ Kd5 30.Qe5# 1-0>.

B) <25....Kxh8 26.Qxf7> the point: white cuts off the black king threatening Rh1# and cuts open the kingside doing so. White gave up a rook to set this up, so black can return a rook to protect against it. Giving up the queen for the second rook is probably not going to work because white will be able to pick up all kingside pawns, but it is forced:

Black can play <26....Qd4+ 27.Kg2 (e3 Qb2+ ) Rb5> to protect against mate. <28.Qxg6 Qg7> I guess Qd4+ had a point, but white forces <29.Rh1+ Kg8 30.Qe8+ Qf8 31.Rh8+ Kxh8 32.Qxf8+ Kh7 33.Qxe7+ Kg6 34.Qxc7 > and white should be able to win. The rooks are uncoordinated and black is down four pawns.

May-01-15  CHESSTTCAMPS: <Wayne Power: In the final position, what's wrong with 32...Rg5 ?> 33.Qxg5+ Kxg5 34.Rg4+ leaves an easy ending for white.
May-01-15  TheaN: <Funology: IMO if you didn't see ...Qd4+ and ...Rb5 and how White should meet it, you only solved half the puzzle. Seeing the Qxf7 mating idea is just the beginning.>

Though I agree with that, the combination after 25.Rh8+ Kxh8 26.Qxf7 Qd4+ 27.Kg2 Rb5 28.Qxg6 Qxg6 is unnecessary. In this position:


click for larger view

Analysis by Stockfish 5 64 SSE4.2:

1. (7.44): 29.Qe8+ Qg8 30.Rh1+ Kg7 31.Qxe7+ Qf7 32.Rh7+ Kxh7 33.Qxf7+ Kh8 34.Qf8+ Kh7 35.Qe7+ Kg8 36.Qd8+ Kg7 37.Qxc7+

2. (7.43): 29.Rh1+ Kg8 30.Qe8+ Qf8 31.Rh8+ Kxh8 32.Qxf8+ Kh7 33.Qxe7+ Kg8 34.Qd8+ Kg7 35.Qxc7+

3. = (0.00): 29.Qe6 Rh5 30.Qc8+ Kh7 31.Qxa6

Both Qe8+ and Rh1+ eventually end up with white winning the queen and four pawns with tempo for the two rooks. In the text Campbell 'erred' with 31....Kg6 which leads to mate after 32.Rh4 Rg5 33.f4 . After 31....Qf7 the exchanges as in the analysis are forced and both the variations end up to be just as strong.

May-01-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Penguincw: I saw 25.Rh8+ Kxh8 26.Qxf7 Qd4+ 27.Kg2. OTB, I might've solved the puzzle.
May-01-15  Lambda: I didn't quite consider every defence here due to a subtlety; after Qxf7, I looked at Qg7 after a Qd4+, and observed it was totally pointless, so having then considered defences on h5 which are refuted by Qxg6, I didn't notice that this changed Qg7 into a useful move which gives the king a square at g8.
May-01-15  Edeltalent: 25.? White to play

In positions with only heavy pieces, king safety is extremely important. While Black's rooks are clumsily placed on the queenside, the white rook is threatening along the h-file, so no wonder Black is trying to exchange queens. The white queen has no active square to step away from the trade, and 25.Rh7 fails to Qxc4. So White should play 25.Rh8+ with tempo. The rook has to be accepted, as 25...Kh7 26.Rh7+ Kxh7 27.Qxf7+ Kh6 28.Rh1+ Kg5 29.f4+ leads to immediate disaster.

After 25...Kxh8 26.Qxf7 Qd4+ 27.Kg2 Qe5, the desirable 28.Qxg6 fails to Qxe2+, but although with 28.Rh1+ Qh5 Black can avoid a direct mate, he loses too many pawns. One possibility from here on would be 29.Qxg6 Qxh1+ 30.Kxh1 Ra8 31.Qf7, and after the e-pawn is gone the white pawns will just march down the board.

May-01-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  playground player: <Mrs. PGP> got this one right away. She doesn't much like to play chess, but has come to enjoy these puzzles. She's a lot better at puzzles than OTB--I think because she so quickly runs out of patience when she plays.

I wonder how many chess buffs are good with puzzles but bad on the board--and vice versa?

May-01-15  YetAnotherAmateur: I started with the game line, but after 26. Rh8+ Kxh8 27. Qxf7 Rb5, I found myself looking not at 28. Qxg6 but instead at 28. g4.

Which gives me only partial credit, because after 28. ... Qg7 29. Rh1+ Rh5 30. Qe8+ Qg8 the best I can muster is 31. Qxg8+ Kxg8 32. gxh5 gxh5 33. Rxh5 with white's only advantage being a single pawn.

May-01-15  kevin86: White roots out black's king with a sacrifice.
May-01-15  Marmot PFL: 25 Rh8+ kxh8 26 Qxf7 spotted instantly, but proving it works is hard. 26...Rb5 27 Qxg6 Qd4+ (often checks like this ruin combinations) 28 Kg2 Qg7 29 Rh1+ Kg8 30 Qe8+ Qf8 31 Rh8+ (both rooks sacrificed on the same sq) kxh8 32 Qxf8+ and 33 Qxe7+ with an easy win.l
May-01-15  Marmot PFL: On 2nd thought I might say it was a little easier than an average Fri. since all black's moves seem forced.
May-01-15  YouRang: I solved it the lazy way:

25.Rh8+ Kxh8 26.Qxf7 with Rh1+ in view.

This technique employs the almost-reliable principle that a Q & R attack on an open K is a likely win (and even more likely to be no worse than a draw).

May-01-15  thegoodanarchist: <YouRang> I clicked an imaginary "like" button for your comment
May-01-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Peligroso Patzer: <Funology: *** I saw up to ...Qg7 but then went with Rh1+, missing the Qe8+ and Rh4 idea.>

29. Rh1+ is just as winning as 29. Qe8+, so if you saw everything that far, you deserve credit for solving the puzzle IMO.

May-01-15  Tiggler: <Peligroso Patzer: <Funology: *** I saw up to ...Qg7 but then went with Rh1+, missing the Qe8+ and Rh4 idea.>

29. Rh1+ is just as winning as 29. Qe8+, so if you saw everything that far, you deserve credit for solving the puzzle IMO.>

I agree, and I also agree even with this:

<stacase: 25. Rh8+ and it pretty much plays itself the rest of the way.>

After 25.Rh8+ white must win, so this is a very easy puzzle.

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