Wenzhe Liu vs Jan Hein Donner (1978) The Chinese Immortal

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Wenzhe Liu vs Jan Hein Donner
"The Chinese Immortal" (game of the day Jan-10-2009)
Buenos Aires Olympiad (1978), Buenos Aires ARG, rd 8, Nov-02
Pirc Defense: Chinese Variation (B07) · 1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

Given 55 times; par: 24 [what's this?]

explore this opening	find similar games	1,625 more games of J H Donner
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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 6 OF 6 · Later Kibitzing>
Aug-14-11		sevenseaman: <Patriot> I should feel flattered but I am a realist. Rating a chess aficionado on the basis of his puzzle solutions posted from the comfort of his own drawing room could be dicey. OTB is a different cup of tea and I am sure you'll realise the error of your ways some day.

Aug-14-11		CHESSTTCAMPS: In this opening position, white is down a pawn and has three undeveloped pieces, but controls that all important open h-file. The vulnerable castled black king is already close to being entombed. It is quickly seen that after 14.Qh2, the only way to avoid 15.Qh7# for black to play f6 or f5. The candidate 14.Nf6+ (?), an attempt to hold down the f7 escape hatch, is worth investigating, but after 14...Nxf6 (Bxf6?? 15.Qh2 wins immediately) 15.gf Bxf6 16.Qh2 Re8 the king escapes via f8. So the forcing approach of direct threats is best: 14.Qh2! essentially limits black to two serious defensive tries which are virtually identical: A) 14... f5 (or f6) 15.Qh7+ Kf7 16.Qxg6+!! (a familiar h-file attack tactic) Kxg6 17.Bh5+ Kh7 18.Bf7+ Bh6 19.g6+! (the key find for me) Kg7 (Kh8 20.Rxh6+ Kg7 21.Rh7#) 20.Bh6+ Kh8 21.Bxf8+ (mate in the case of 14.... f6) Qh4 22.Rxh4# A.1) 17... Kg8 18.Qh7+ Kf7 19.Bh5# B) 14... Nf6 15.gf Re8 16.Qh7+ Kf8 17.Qxg7# 14... Qa4+ (15.b4), 14... Bc3+, and 14... Bh3 are other options that delay mate by a few moves. Time for review. Very pretty, but not particularly complex.

Aug-14-11		Patriot: <sevenseaman> You're just too modest!

Aug-15-11		DrMAL: <sevenseaman: Looking at the puzzle first time, Q check at h7 was the first thing I saw in a flash.> Solving a puzzle means to compute in one's head the entire set of possible sequences in advance. If you or anyone else actually did this, rather than looking ahead or stumbling into it or using a computer, congratulations. Again, I sincerely doubt it.

Aug-15-11		dumbgai: I love this game. A GM makes a couple of poor opening moves and he's dead meat just a dozen moves into the game.

Aug-16-11		50movesaheadofyou: A pirc defense, chinese variation? I didn't know there was such thing. This game is the birth of this variation I imagine.

Jan-20-12		pericles of athens: fantastic game! uber-aggressive play from white. wow.

Feb-18-12		Naniwazu: Saw this in Kavalek's column. Qxg6+ is a fantastic move!

Mar-05-12		LawrenceBernstein: Donner once asked a colleague, "how can a western gm lose to a chinese player?" boy, did he find out.

Jul-13-12		perfidious: < LawrenceBernstein: Donner once asked a colleague, "how can a western gm lose to a chinese player?" boy, did he find out.> Did he ever-the full quote's here, according to Speelman. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_He...

Nov-20-12		FSR: <50movesaheadofyou: A pirc defense, chinese variation? I didn't know there was such thing. This game is the birth of this variation I imagine.> There's nothing new under the sun. The line (4.Be2 Bg7 5.g4!?) had been played before, unsuccessfully, in F Blatny vs Vadasz, 1974. After this spectacular win, the line was indeed dubbed the "Chinese Variation." Objectively, I don't think it's any great shakes. Seirawan won elegantly against it in V Kovacevic vs Seirawan, 1980. Since then, the line has been played rarely, and mostly by lesser lights. http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... But it certainly worked great against Donner's cooperative play (7...0-0?).

Nov-20-12		SimonWebbsTiger: @<FSR> The variation also has the nickname "the Spike". Interestingly, John Nunn gave the Seirawan game as his main line in "The Complete Pirc" (pp.210-211, Batsford 1989). James Vigus in "the Pirc in Black and White" (pp. 366-370, Everyman 2007) also gives the Seirawan game. Nunn (unclear) and Andrew Martin ( ) recommend 9. a3 as an improvement on that game, and thus Vigus recommends 5...d5 instead of Seirawan's 5...c6. In Vigus' opinion, the Spike is a bit more potent when delayed by 5. Be3 0-0 6. g4! English FM Graham Lee has played this for a quarter century.

Nov-20-12		Abdel Irada: Another act of auto-cannibalism by Donner.

Nov-20-12		FSR: <Abdel Irada> Yup. A classic "Donner Partie."

Nov-20-12		FSR: <SimonWebbsTiger: ... English FM Graham Lee has played this for a quarter century.> Ah. He must be the "G. Lee" I always see in game scores.

Aug-28-13		ajile: Black 0-0 right into the attack. Here is Seirawan's improvement: V Kovacevic vs Seirawan, 1980

Jul-25-14		ColeTrane: Milton's Immortal: Buddha vs. Shiva

Jul-25-14		perfidious: Lean more towards a shiksa myself.

Feb-25-15		Mating Net: I think Black's misery in this game can be blamed on the nervous 5...h6 in response to White's g4. This is the move that set the table for the opening of the h file and the ensuing tactical fireworks. I couldn't imagine a top rated player making such a move today.

Jan-07-18		brimarern: Mating Net, even though ...h6, was part of the problem, Donner made a bunch of questionable moves afterwards...c5, and the most questionable move -castling into a ready made attack, with the center closed. It is an awesome game to play over, but to be quite honest, 5.g4 is provocative to the highest degree. However, provocative moves can be dangerous if met incorrectly. What awes me is the antidote to this provocation 5..d5! moving a pawn twice in the opening, goes against opening principles -is hard to find if your mind is locked on playing "properly".

Sep-09-18		Rubenchik: Dvoretsky says about 8.h4! "prophylaxis"

Aug-31-19		thegoodanarchist: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2... "Big Dragon" strategy saw its first dividend payout after 8 years.

Aug-28-23		brimarern: To think that there are two mates at the end: (a) 21.Bxf8+ Qh4 22.Rxh4# or the snappier (b) 21.Bg7!!+ Kg7 22.Rh7#.

Apr-03-24		WTHarvey: White mates in 4. click for larger view 19. ?

Dec-03-24		Dionysius1: Wow, that 18.Bf7+ Bh6 19.g6 and onwards is a beautiful little passage. The gentle stiletto thrust of g6 instead of trying something blunter with Rxh6 is great.

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