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Joel Benjamin vs Jun Xu
US-China Summit (2001), Seattle, WA USA, rd 1, Mar-14
Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation (B90)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

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Kibitzer's Corner
Jun-14-08  tz061: 30.Ra8 what a great move.
Aug-11-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  plang: Played in round 1 (of 4) of the 10 board match between the US and China won by China 21-19. As usual, Benjamin avoided mainline theory with 6 a4 arriving at a position that was a Najdorf-Dragon hybrid. The idea behind 10..Qb6? is logical when a4 and ..a6 have not been played but here does not work as after Benjamin's 11 a5 11..qxb2? 12 Na4..Qb4 13 c3..Qxa4 14 Bb6 is not playable for Black. At the 1999 World Open against Chang Benjamin had played 15 Bb6; here he varied with 15 c4. Perhaps 18..Rab8 followed by ..b6 would have been an improvement. After 21..b6 the players missed that White could have played 22 fxg..hxg 23 Rxf7!..Nxf7 24 Ne6 with a winning position. 34..Qc3 35 Rf3..Qxb4 36 Bf2 would not have helped Black. 36 Qh3?..Rh4 would not have worked for White. A quicker win would have been 39 Nxf7..Qxd5 40 Ng5+..Kxh6 41 Qh3+..Kxg5 42 Be3+..Rbf4 43 Qg2!.

Certainly one of Benjamin's better games.

May-11-24  mel gibson: Nahh - didn't see that.

Stockfish 16.1 says:

30. Ra8

(30. Ra8 (1.Ra8 Qxa8 2.Nxe7+ Kh7 3.Qg3 Nf6 4.Rxf6 Qa1+ 5.Bg1 Qd1 6.Rf3 Bh6 7.gxh6 g5 8.Rf6 Qe2 9.Qxg5 Qe4+ 10.Qg2 Qxg2+ 11.Kxg2 Rg4+ 12.Kf1 Rxb4 13.Bf2 Re4 14.Nf5 Re5) +5.47/48 349)

score for White +5.47 depth 48.

May-11-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  An Englishman: Good Evening: The position rather occupies the grey area between a combination and a speculative sacrifice because Black put up a hard fight and kept the game going longer than one might expect.
May-11-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  scormus: Now that's what I call insane!

30 Ra8 deflects the BQ from defending e7 allowing Nxe7+ and mating threats on the h-file. Looked like a straightforward win. Oh no it wasn't. What followed was an amazing cascade of threat, counter-threat, and counter-counter-threat.

My SF16 agrees the line up to B's reply to 36 gxh6, very slightly preferring 36 ... g5 to ... Qb1 ca. (+3.8 against +4 to W). A great game and a great puzzle.

May-11-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  Teyss: <scormus: Now that's what I call insane!> Indeed. I couldn't see the combination, and then playing through not even the next move so I just sat back and enjoyed the game. 30.Ra8!! 32...Nf6! 33.Rxf6! 35.Rf3! 35...Bh6! 37.Nf5!! 8 exclamation marks in 8 moves, that's one of the highest ratios ever. The endgame is also impressive.
May-11-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sally Simpson: I saw Ra8 and an attack and that was it. After that it got very murky. Went through game. After my Ra8 it was completely different from what I was looking at.
May-11-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  chrisowen: Em ow its jah its z x Ra8 faith finish its aoe jet its afford pod io its ho its ah its crock Ra8 bug x
May-11-24  antiNaCl: I immediately saw the idea of Ra8 followed by Nxe7+ and then a potential checkmate on the h-file. What I completely failed to see is how to actually execute it. I thought White can simply play 32. Bf4, blocking the rook's vision to h4 and therefore threatening Qh4+ with mate to follow. I thought Black can only delay the inevitable with sacrificing his rook, but that won't make a difference. However I completely missed the stunning defense 32... Nf6! After White takes the knight: 33. gxf6 Black simply recaptures with 33... Bxf6, protecting h4 and removing White's important g-pawn. Funny thing is 32. Qg3! never occurred to me as a move. Turns out this is the better way to execute the checkmate on the h-file because White won't have to use the pawn to capture the knight on f6, because White's rook on f1 can see the f6 square also!
May-11-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  chrisowen: I ants are coming
What is your ultimate gall
DW Anteaters are darleks x
May-11-24  Lambda: Saw the first three moves, but then had 33.gxf6, not noticing that after 33...Bxf6 black now has two pieces controlling h4 so 34.Qh3+ is not mating.
May-11-24  Hercdon: All about the Benjamin

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