Another Wednesday night game, from 57 years ago...

I don't know if I'm going to make this a regular weekly post (see this post for an earlier game), but in any event, I figured it was only fair to present this game of my grandfather's, played on this night in 1946, in which he ends up on the winning side of the chessboard.

[Event "Wednesday night tournament"]
[Date "1946.03.19"]
[Round "5"]
[White "V.V."]
[Black "Marachi"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.Nf3 Bb7 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3
{ Personally, I'd have probably played 5.Bg5 here. The text move seems to me to be passive, ceding the a8/h1 diagonal to Black. }
5...Be7 6.Bd3 O-O 7.e4
{ I'm not sure there's any other way to expand in the center. }
7...Bb4 8.e5 Ne4 9.Qc2 f5 10.exf6 {e.p.} Nxf6 11.Bg5
{ The threat of ...Bxf3, which doubles pawns on the semi-open f file, should be dealt with. }
11...h6 12.Bh4 Nc6
{ Here, Black misses not only opening the f file to his advantage, but winning a pawn to boot with 12...Bxf3 13. gxf3 Nc6. }
13.O-O-O Be7 14.a3 d5?
{ Leaves Black's e-pawn backward and subject to attack, but the position is still pretty even. }
15.Rhe1 Qd7 16.Ne5 Nxe5 17.dxe5 Ng4 18.Bg3 Bg5+ 19.Kb1 Bf4 20.cxd5?
{ Obtains a passed pawn but misses 20.Bxf4 Rxf4 21.f3! trapping the knight. The best Black can do is desperado the knight in exchange for the pawns on h2 and f3, but that opens up kingside files for operations by White's rooks. }
20...exd5 21.e6 Qe7 22.Bh7+ Kh8 23.Nxd5 Bxd5 24.Rxd5?
{ Loses the exchange. Now Black gets files to work on, while White's bishops are not as effective operating along the diagonals from the White kingside. }
24...Nf6 25.Bxf4 Nxd5 26.Bg3 Rae8? 27.Bg6 Rd8 28.Qc4 c5 29.Bh4 Nf6 30.f4 Rd4
{ Black prepares to double the rooks on the d file, while White prepares a kingside pawn storm. }
31.Qc1 Rfd8 32.g4 c4 33.g5
{ }
33...hxg5?
{ 33...Nd5 was better, threatening the pawn on f4 and placing the knight within striking distance of the White king. The pawn capture opens the h file, which can be reached by the White queen in two moves. After 34. Bg3 hxg5 35. fxg5 the h file is not as open, and Black has counterplay on the queenside with 35...c3! }
34.Bxg5 b5??
{ The losing move, in my opinion. 34...Rd2 was indicated, to prevent the Queen from reaching the e3 square. }
35.Qe3 Rd3
{ Forced. White threatens 36.Qh3 and 37.Bf7, leading either to mate or loss of the Black queen. }
36.Bxd3 Rxd3 37.Qe5 Kh7
{ Accelerates the end. }
38.Bxf6 gxf6 39.Qh5+ Kg8 40.Rg1+ Qg7 41.Qf7+ Kh8 42.Qxg7 mate (1-0)

In the final analysis, there is an aphorism in chess, to the effect that "the game is won by the person who makes the next-to-last error." As one progresses away from the master level, into the realm of amateurdon, the errors upon which chess games turn tend to be more... blatant. In this game, up until Black's 33rd move, things were more or less equally balanced between the two players, in my opinion.

Cheers...

Must be some kind of chess mania, or something...

Galina went to sleep early, at around 7:45, so she missed the endless news reports and the official announcement about the start of the disarmament process in Iraq. I hied myself downstairs to my office and went online with U.S. Chess. After observing a couple of games, I accepted a challenge to play a 300+12 game (which means that each side starts with 5 minutes, and 12 seconds are added to the clock after each move... which basically means you can't dawdle over your moves).

It turned out to be a pretty game:

[Date "2003.03.19"]
[Time "23:15:13"]
[White "AlexPGP"]
[Black "PAOLO721"]
[Result "1-0"]

{ After a wild opening, we arrived at the following position, with White a pawn down but far ahead in development.


I looked hard at 14. Bxh6 in this position, which is a perfectly good move, but wanted keep the Black f pawn immobile, so that the queen could not come to the defense of g7. So I played... }
14. Rf6!
{ Sticks the rook right under the pawn's sword and dares Black to take, which - as it turns out - leads to some wild complications that (I think) lead to a White victory. Black, however, didn't bite. }
14...Qd5?
{ 14...Qe7!? 15. Rdf1! }
15. Bxh6!!
{ There is a kind of aesthetic appeal in placing a second piece in jeopardy. Here, 15...Ne7 was required, after which 16.Qg3 Ng6 17.Bxg6 fxg6 18.Rxg6 was likely, with an eventual win for White. Instead, Black plays... }
15...Qxa2??
{
White now can mate in 5 moves, though when I'm attacking like this in a timed game, I don't calculate such things out to the end. After all, you don't get anything "extra" if you win a game by announcing a mate in so many moves. In any event, I didn't see the mate that starts with 16.Bxg7 (and allows Black to delay the inevitable with two annoying checks, 16...Qa1+ and 17...Qxd1+). However, I did see a move that I was pretty sure led to mate - and which both prevented the spite checks from the Queen and placed yet a third piece under the gun! The sequence starts with... }
16. Bh7+! Kh8 17. Bxg7+ Kxg7 18. Qh6+ Kh8 19. Bg6+ Kg8 20. Qh7#
{ Black is checkmated. } 1-0

It's too early to tell whether this "mania" for chess is a small bubble or something more serious. Historically, I've had periods during which I actively pursued the game, followed by long intervals during which I did nothing at all.

We'll see.

Cheers...