Vera Menchik vs George Alan Thomas (1936) A Lady's Touch

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Vera Menchik vs George Alan Thomas
"A Lady's Touch" (game of the day Apr-17-2005)
Podebrady (1936), Podebrady CSR, rd 8, Jul-14
Slav Defense: Modern Line (D11) · 1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Apr-17-05		soberknight: Nice win by Menchik. I guess it's a good weekend for women chessplayers...woohoo first post!

Apr-17-05		fgh: Nice game. Is enjoyed the role the c5 knight played here.

Apr-17-05		mynameisrandy: Wasn't Thomas the guy who mockingly said that players who lose to Menchik should be in "The Vera Menchik Club" only to lose to her right after?

Apr-17-05		keypusher: Actually that whole story is probably a myth (and sounds suspiciously like the story of Tarrasch trying to keep Yates out of the 1910 Hamburg tournament, only to lose to him, and Nimzowitch trying to keep Capablanca out of the 1911 San Sebastian tournament, only to lose to him, etc. -- are either of those true?) Winter wrote a column about it. Thomas was supposed to be a very good sport.

Apr-17-05		mynameisrandy: Ah. Well, that's very good then. I don't know about the Tarrasch/Yates bit, but in 1911 Ossip Bernstein did object to Capa's presence in the San Sebastian tournament, according to Capa himself. They played in the first round and Capablanca won, proving to the participants that he would not be a whipping boy at his debut. Capa's quote on the matter: "Some of the masters objected to my entry... One of them was Dr. Bernstein. I had the good fortune to play him in the first round and beat him in such fasion as to obtain the Rothschild prize for the most brilliant game of the tournament."

Apr-17-05		Benzol: <mynameisrandy><keypusher> Here are the two games in question Tarrasch vs Yates, 1910 Capablanca vs O Bernstein, 1911

Apr-17-05		khense: Can black survive with 50...Kg8, followed by RA8 and RE8?

Apr-17-05		WorldChampeen: Murder stalkers have stalked, molested around here, I know my name is Tom, but it is an insult to put up with any stalking that might be kind in nature, compared to the murder and rape branding that has been occurring,

Apr-17-05		Swapmeet: Ok then.

Apr-17-05		Swapmeet: <khense> Black will survive a little longer in that case, but white will scoop up the queenside pawns and still have enough to win.

Apr-17-05		Karpova: <WorldChampeen> so that's what you have to say about this game?

Apr-17-05		drukenknight: it looks like black's K needs to be in front of the passed pawn. Maybe instead of swapping R, which loses a tempo, he can get his K over there..?

Apr-17-05		halcyonteam: actually both sides play good, with black making a small mistake in endgame (swapping) which costs the game

Apr-17-05		MarvinTsai: Why not just 45...ke8, then black can stop the passed pawn, and win a queen-side pawn?

Apr-17-05		kevin86: <MarvinTsai> I think black blundered and underestimated the power of white's king pawn. Black called the operator and said: Operator,I've been cut off!"

Apr-17-05		akiba82: My understanding was that it was Vidmar, not Thomas who suggested a Vera Menchik club for those who lost to Menchik. The story goes that he became the first member! Perhaps someone else will be able to document this.

Apr-17-05		akiba82: So far cant find an official game where Menchik defeated Vidmar, so maybe it was another player who started the Menchik club.

Apr-17-05		ajile: This is a Stonewall Dutch not a Slav.

Apr-17-05		cade: Surely 50...Kg8 holds

Apr-17-05		Madman99X: I got bored so I did some analysis. (With the help of Chessmaster 9000) Please feel free to criticize, refute, and otherwise tear apart my work, as I don't consider it to be perfect by any means. Black let's white off the hook with 41. fxg4: 41. fxg4? Rb2! 42. b5 cxb5 43. axb5 Rxb5 44. Kf2 Rb2+ 45. Ke3 Ke6 Black's king blocks the passed e-pawn, and black menaces with twin passed pawns on the a and b files. White avoids this possibility if she plays: 41. Rxg4 Rh1+ 42. Kg2 R4h2+ 43. Kg3 Rb2 44. Re3 Ke6 45. f4 Rg1+ 46. Kh4 Rf1 This seems an equal position to me. In answer to Marvin Tsai: If 45... Ke8! then 46. Rh3 Rxb4 47. Rxh7 Rxd4 48. Kf3 Rxa4 49. Rxb7 Re4 50. Rc7 a5 51. Rxc6 Rxe5 52. Rc5 a4 53. Ra5 Re4 54. Rxd5 This position draws. It looks like white has a win with 46. e6! (I didn't check every possiblity with this line, but it looks tight to me.) 46. e6! Re1 47. Rf7+ Kg8 48. Re7 Re4 49. g5! Rxd4 50. Rxb7 Re4 51. Rb6 Kf8 52. Rxc6 Rxb4 53. Rxa6 Rg4+ 54. Kf3 Rxg5 55. Kf4 h6 56. Ra7 d4 57. Ke4 h5 58. d5 h4 59. Kf4 Rg1 60. a6 Ra1 61. Rf7 Ke8 62. a7 a3 63. Ke3 d2 64. Kxd2 h3 65. Rh7 Ra2+ 66. Kc3 Ra3+ 67. Kb4 Ra1 68. Rxh3 Rxa7 69. Rh8+ Ke7 70. Rh7 skewers the king against the rook leading to a king/rook endgame. 46... axb5? seems to be a blunder to me. 46... cxb5 47. axb5 Rxb5 Advantage to black who has two deadly passed pawns on the a and b files again. If 49... Rb1+?! Then it looks like the white king cannot leave the vicinity of e1, e2, f1, f2 safely, and black can draw through perpetual check. (I didn't play all of these out, but I don't see a good alternative for white.) Finally, in answer to cade, 50... Kg8 serves, I think, only to prolong the misery. 50... Kg8 51. Rxb7 Kf8 52. Rxh7 Rd2 53. Rf7+ Ke8 54. g5 Rd1+ 55. Kf2 Rd2+ 56. Kf3 Rd3+ 57. Kf4 Rxd4+ 58. Ke5 Re4+ 59. Kd6 d4 60. Rh7 Kf8 61. e7+ Kg8 62. Rh6 And black must sacrifice the rook to stop white from queening her e-pawn. That's all for today. I apologize to chessgames.com if I took up too much space on your server. :-)

Apr-24-05		patzer2: Black's 49...Ra2?? was a blunder. He missed a draw by threefold repetition with 49... Rb1+! 50. Ke2 Rb2+ 51. Ke1 Rb1+ 52. Ke2 Rb2+ 53. Ke1 Rb1+ 54. Ke2 Rb2=.

Apr-24-05		patzer2: Of course after the 49...Ra2?? blunder, White has a winning queening combination after 50. Rf7+ Kg6? (50...Kg8! puts up maximum resistance and offers practical drawing chances) 51. Rf8!

Jul-14-09		sfm: <khense: Can black survive with 50...Kg8, followed by RA8 and RE8?> As far as I can see he has a fighting chance. White comes up a pawn ahead, but in rook endgames this, as we know, is frequently not enough.

Mar-26-11		hottyboy90: It was Albert Becker that suggested the Vera Menchik club!

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