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Samuel Reshevsky vs Arnold Denker
"Slam Denk" (game of the day Aug-23-2013)
Syracuse (1934), Syracuse, NY USA, rd 11, Aug-21
Budapest Defense: Alekhine Variation. Tartakower Defense (A52)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Kibitzer's Corner
Oct-26-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  Chessical: Denker could not escape the mating net with <18...Kf8> as:

<19.Qh6+> Bg7 20.Bc5+ Ne7 21.Rf1+ Kg8 22.Bxh7+! Rxh7 23.Qxh7#

Oct-26-04  clocked: I like how black returns to g4 with the knight, even though the square is attacked twice, and later white uses the same resource going to g5.
Nov-30-04  vonKrolock: Other two versions for present game's conclusion:

a) 20.Qf7 Kd6 21.c5#

b) 18...gf6 1-0

* (a) is not what we would await from a world class player: Reshevsky disregard a Mate in #1. NOTE: But this ocurred already sometimes in Chess History

** (b) is more plausible: Denker realizes that a Mate in 2 will follow and resigns

<from CM7kBase.tbg>

Apr-14-05  RookFile: Maybe 10... Nh6 is better than
10... Nf6
Jan-03-11  Roger Krueger: Ya know, maybe prying open the F file before you castle isn't such a hot idea after all...
Feb-21-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  profK: Not Arnie's best game. The Budapest has its moments. This isn't one of them. Ian Rogers revived it for awhile with some success.
Jul-11-13  jerseybob: Reshevsky in his book criticizes 8..Bd7, which loses black the chance to castle kingside(8..Be7 better), and 13..f6, which blows a shot at 000(13..Be6 better).
Jul-11-13  JimNorCal: <Roger Krueger>: "Ya know, maybe prying open the F file before you castle isn't such a hot idea after all..."

Heh.
I guess we've all had days like that....

Jul-11-13  JohnBoy: Slam Denker
Aug-23-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: Instead of "Slam Dunk", I suppose.
Aug-23-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: They went all the way to Sicily to play a game of chess. That's dedication.
Aug-23-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  An Englishman: Good Evening: This game might have taken place in the original Syracuse, which you will find in New York State--that other Syracuse is just a copycat.
Aug-23-13  Conrad93: 6. Ng4?! is cute, but what does it actually accomplish?
Aug-23-13  DcGentle: In my opinion the real mistake of Black was <6... Ng4>. What should this lonely knight accomplish here? Black hopes that White will fall for <7. Bxg4 Qh4+> winning back the piece, but White knows that development is more important and <10. h3> and <12. fxe5> kick this knight twice, gaining tempi and driving this piece back to g8. This is the position after <12... Ng8>:


click for larger view

White has a huge advantage in development, dominating the center.

Reshevsky is right declaring that <8... Be7> is better, but even then White is doing fine.

Most likely <6... Ng6> is required.

Aug-23-13  Conrad93: < In my opinion the real mistake of Black was <6... Ng4>.>

It was actually much earlier, but, yes, that is one of the major mistakes.

Not even Houdini can justify 6...Ng4?!, and Houdini can get away with almost anything.

Aug-23-13  kevin86: The mate kind of snuck up on black.
Aug-23-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  playground player: Fred Reinfeld on the Budapest Defense: <White's best course is to continue quietly with his development while Black moves his King Knight three times> (1958).

Beautiful game by Reshevsky!

Aug-23-13  Olsonist: I like the mirrored traps of <6... Ng4 7. Bxg4 Qh4+> and <15. Ng5 Bxg5 16. Qh5+>.
Aug-23-13  TheTamale: I was going to ask why Black simply doesn't take the knight on move 15, but then I saw that White then just commences a similar mating attack on the spot, starting with 16) Qh5+... at the end, the rook is helping guard the escape squares instead of the knight. (And by "saw," I mean "moved around the pieces until I saw.")
Jun-11-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  plang: 4..d6!? looks dubious to me. 6..Nec6 is played occasionally but still looks pretty good for White. Denker tried to take advantage of Reshevskys lack of theoretical knowledge but it backfired badly.
Oct-09-18  goser: What a cruel massacre!
Sep-08-22  KernelMoreau: An intersting position after 15.Ng5. Denker replied with 15...Nf6 and Reshevsky went on to wrap up the game very nicely. However it appears that instead of 15...Nf6, a better try would be 15...Bg4!?. (Reshevsky in his excellent book "Reshevsky's Best Games of Chess" does not mention the possibility of 15...Bg4!?)

I analyzed this position using an old, old version of Fritz, just analyzing from one move to the next. The following analysis performed was not very deep, nor very thorough. However while not representing the best moves it did lead to some interesting positions. The sample main line runs as follows:

15...Bg4!? 16.Qd2 (16.Qxg4!) e4 17.Nf7 Qxd3 18.Qxd3 exd3 19.hxg4 Nf6 20.Nxh8 Nxg4 21.Bd2 Nce5 22.Rf4 Bc5+ 23.Kf1 g5 24.Rf5 Ke7 25.Nd5+ Kd7 26.Bc3 Nxc4 27.Nf6+ Nxf6 28.Rxc5 Ne3+ 29.Kg1 Ne4 30.Re5 Nxc3 31.bxc3 Nc4 32.Nf7 Nxe5 33.Nxe5+ Kd6 34.Nxd3 Kd5

It is not my intention to prove that Denker could have saved the game. However, I find that when analyzing a position, it is often more interesting and instructive to examine alternative or second best moves rather than the "correct" moves.

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