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Neil McKelvie vs Pal Benko
Manhattan Chess Club Championship (1966), New York, NY USA
Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation. Matanovic Attack (B82)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Kibitzer's Corner
Aug-16-15  SimplicityRichard: I can hardly believe there is no commentary on this beautiful combinative game. Granted, Black allowed White to unleash a combinatorial-fest by playing two inaccuracies that do not befit a chessmeister!

Pal Benko's 13...Qd5? reduces Black's slight advantage in the game. It was unwise to leave the Black Queen on the d-file in the knowledge that White could castle long and seize the advantage.

13...Qb4 is the recommended response from Stockfish 5. And I suppose Qb4 is better as it removes Black's Queen from the d-file in avoidance of tactical shots. Upon White castling long, Black's critical error is 14...Qd7 (+3.0), again leaving the Black Queen on the d-file. White now has a mating square, the unprotected d8! 15.Qc3 and Black is lost. 15...Bd5 is an attempt to block the d-file but unfortunately the uncastled Black King is susceptible to a series of beautiful combinative moves from White (Neil McKelvie).

What a beautiful demonstration of combinations. As Black protects the mating square d8, a new mating square arises - c8.

Exhilarating stuff! #

Aug-16-15  markwell: It was my great pleasure to play an occasional off-hand game with Professor McKelvie in the early to mid 1970s. A strong player and a great gentleman.
Aug-17-15  SimplicityRichard: <markwell> Thank you for your post. Indeed, Professor McKelvie is a great gentleman; a genius of sorts and an eclectic with many talents, whose intellectual prowess is matched only by his genuine modesty. I have the honour of meeting the Professor in a few days time for a coffee and cakes.
Feb-25-21  Caissanist: Annotated by Mark Ginsburg and McKelvie, with help from the Rybka chess engine, here: https://nezhmet.wordpress.com/2009/... . This line looks like it would be a lot of fun to play against the Scheveningen.
Feb-25-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: Have not reviewed the notes by <nezhmet> and <ChemMac>, but at a glance, 19....Nb4 is a clever idea that deserved a better fate, though Black's position was too disjointed for him to survive very long with so little development.

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