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Jonathan Speelman vs Jeff Horner
"Little Jeff Horner Sat in the Corner" (game of the day Dec-15-2017)
British Championship (1976), Portsmouth ENG, rd 6, Aug-14
English Opening: Great Snake Variation (A10)  ·  1-0

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
a
1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move.
ANALYSIS [x]
1-0

rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1
FEN COPIED

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Kibitzer's Corner
Jul-19-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  eternaloptimist: Little Jeff Horner Sat in the Corner
Dec-15-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  Check It Out: Nice pun!
Dec-15-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: Poor Jeff Horner.

A lifetime as a great teacher in Bolton, then a final struggle to make the IM title in his late 60s, and all through his life boys, girls, men, women, opponents, all making the same joke constantly about his name, each thinking they are the first, and Jeff Horner responds with his sincere teacher's encouraging smile, and now, after all these years, he finally makes it to <Game Of The Day>...

Dec-15-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: Good game! Good pun!
Dec-15-17  Huddsblue: Lol! Poor old Jeff Horner.
Dec-15-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  ajk68: 19...Rb8 drops a pawn. Black should have relieved the tension in the center a few moves earlier.
Dec-15-17  Cheapo by the Dozen: Actually, it's Jack Horner in the rhyme, which somewhat detracts from the pun ...

Anyhow, d5 was a nice puzzleworthy shot.

Dec-15-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  eternaloptimist: Thx for the complements guys!

<Cheapo> I was already aware that Jack Horner is in the rhyme, but there isn't a Jack Horner in CG's database, so I used a Jeff Horner game. I don't think that it detracts from the pun b/c a pun is just a play on words; it doesn't have to line up w/ something exactly. Although I do agree w/ u that 33.♙d5! is a nice shot for a puzzle! Also Horner's ♔ is indeed in the corner at the end of the game so that agrees w/ the pun. My pun is kind of comical as well so that's a plus.

I love the way that Speelman does a great job of controlling the 7th & 8th ranks (from his perspective). He controls every vacant square on those ranks after 31.♘d6 so Horner can't defend his ♔ w/ his ♕ by staying on Speelman's 7th rank (Horner's 2nd rank) or by retreating to Speelman's 8th rank (Horner's back rank) on his next move. Shortly after that Speelman plays 33.♙d5! which blocks Horner's ♗ from protecting the f7 square. I'm a fan of Speelman b/c his games show his prowess in the endgame & show his tactical strength. It's great to see that after all these years he's still playing in tournaments!

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