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Game of the week archive

    Last revised: 27 April, 2002.    

Isle of Man Chess Association

Southern Chess Club

 

   

 

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GAME  OF  THE  WEEK ARCHIVE PAGE

 

  Stephen Maggs Memorial Cup:     Douglas v Southern Club:   16th May 2001
   
White: Frank Maher     Black: Jonathan Waugh  
1. c4 e5  2. g3 d6  3. Bg2 f5  4. Nc3 c6  5. e3 Nf6  6. Nge2 Be7  7. 0-0 0-0  8. d4 e4  9. d5 c5
10. b3 Nbd7  11. f3 exf  12. Bxf3 Ne5  13.Bg2 a6  14. Nf4 Qe8  15. e4 fxe  16. Nxe4 Nxe4  17. Bxe4 Bf6
   

Jonathan Waugh

Position after blacks 17th move - see diagram

Frank Maher v Jonathan Waugh after blacks 17th move
  The position is now prepared for the final assault!!
   
  18. Qc2 g6
  19. Bb2 Bd7     both bishops are now in position
  20. Rae1 Qc8   the black queen is now isolated
  21. Bxe5 Bxe5  (if .......dxe 22. Bxg6 exf4  23. Bxh7+ Kh8
                            24. Rxf4 white has an overwhelming attack)
  22. Bxg6 hxg6   
  23. Qxg6+ Bg7  (if ......Kh8 then white may have nothing
                             better than a draw by repetition of moves!)
  24. Re7     and black resigned
   
  21 ...... dxe5 22/23 same 24. Nh5 and mate soon follows!
   

Frank Maher

 Further suggestions / analysis would be welcome !!

 

8th June - Additional notes for moves 21 and 23 supplied by Frank Maher.

 

   

Jonathan Waugh v John Costello 

Patrick Taylor Cup Round 6 - 14th March 2001

 

  

John Costello
1. e4 d5,  2. exd Qxd5,  3. Nc3 Qa5
4. d4 Nf6,  5 Bd3 c6,  6. Nf3 Bg4
7. 0-0 N(b)d7,  8. Qe2 e6,  9.Bd2 Qb6
10. Qe3 Bxf3,  11. gxf3 0-0-0,  12.Ne4 Nd5
13. Qe2 Qxd4,  14. c3 Qe5,  15. Ng5 Qf6
16. Ne4 Qe7,  17. a4 h6,  18. a5 f5
19. Ng3 Nc5,  20. Bc4 h5,  21.b4 h4
22. bxc5 hxg3,  23. a6 Rxh2,  24. axb+ Kxb7

See Diagram

Jonathan Waugh v John Costello after move 24
  

Jonathan Waugh

Black is threatening mate in three commencing Qh4.  White's attack looks stymied and at best slow.  What would you play as white?   DO NOT continue without coming to a decision.

 

SOLUTION / ANALYSIS

 

    

8th April 2001

In a recent Club Championship match, this was the position after Black's 17th move.  White already had a score of 2 from 3 games, and in order to be on the final leader board had to win his next two games and was prepared to go all out to do this.  With this in mind, this is what happened next !
White took 10 minutes to decide move 18 !!

Black  -  Brian Keig
18. Bxg6  hxg6

19. dxe5  Qxd1

20.  Rxd1  Rxd1+

21. Qxd1  Nxe5

22. Nxe5  Rxe5

Richard Sargent v Brian Keig after move 17
 

White  -  chessmaster

Without analysis by computer or human, white had and still has the gut feeling that 18. Bxg6 was the winning move in the circumstances.

   Your analysis is welcome.    chessmaster

White went on to win  and now has a score of 3 from 4 games !!!

 

    

Patrick Taylor Cup Round 6 - 14th March 2001

Jonathan Waugh v John Costello 
25. Bg5 !!!    Qxg5  Other queen moves are no better
26. Rxa7+ !!  Kc8   If 26 .........  Kxa7,  27. Qa2+ Kb7,  28. Rb1+ Kc7,  29. Qa7+ Kc8, 30. Rb8++.

John Costello
Jonathan Waugh v John Costello after move 24

Jonathan Waugh
    
If 28. ........ Kc8,  29. Qa6+ Kd7,  30. Rb7+ Nc7,
31. Rxc7+ Kxc7,  32. Qa7+ Kc8,  33. Ba6++.
27. Qxe6+?   White played this move after only a few
moments thought. It secures the draw but no more.
The ungainly looking 27. Ba6+ wins after 27 ....... Kb8,
28. Qb2+ Kxa7,  29. Qb7++
27 .........  Kb8
28. Ra8+ Kc7
29. Ra7+ Kb8
Draw agreed.
If white doesn't keep checking, black has the option of 30 ........ Rh1+,  31. Kg2 Nf4+.  If white eliminates the knight by 30 Bxd5 then ........ Rh1+,  31. Kg2 Rh2+ draws.  30. ...... g7, (after Bxd5) is also a draw   e.g. 31. Rb1+ Kxa7,  32. Ra1+ Kb8, and not now 33. Qe5+ Bd6 !
In view of the fact that white had a forced mate from move 27, what should black's 24th move have been?  Is black already doomed at that stage?  If so, was white's 23 a6 which appears to be a blunder, allowing the reply ........   Rxh2, really the ultimate brilliancy??
Replies by e-mail to the  chessmaster
Analysis by Frank Maher.

 

From Alan Ormsby by e-mail 25th March

Very impressive start to your new venture !   I have used Fritz 6 to have a quick look at the diagrammed position and 25 Bg5 !! does give white an advantage.  However, black has a resource which can extend the game. Instead of 25..Qxg5 the silicon monster suggests 25.....Rh1+ !. with the following possible lines.....

26Kxh1 g2+

27Kg1!   (Kxg2 ?? wins for black as he takes the bishop on g5 with check and follows up with ..Bxc5 allowing the rook to come to h8 with devastating effect.)

27....... gxf1(Q)+

28 Kxf1 Qxg5

29 Bxd5 Rxd5

30 Qa6+ Kc7

31Qxa7+ Kd8

32 Qf7! Qe7

33Ra8+ Kd7

34 Ra7+ Kd8

35 Rxe7 Bxe7

36 Qxe6 Rxc5

37 Qg8+ Kd7

38 Qxg7

This line seems to be forced and results in White having a Queen v Rook and Bishop. White has an advantage but still has a lot of work to do to win.   Going back to black's 24th move, it seems that Kb8 leaves black with the advantage.

Regards    Alan  Ormsby

 

(e-mail 25th March) Regarding the game of the week, the continuation 25. ........  Nf4! by black needs to be analysed fully. In this line it is not clear if white has a clear win.
John Costello

 

From Frank Maher 2nd April (by snail mail)
Good to see such interest in the fascinating position in the Waugh v Costello game.
What prompted me to analyse it was the sheer beauty (id quod visu placet Aquinas) of 25 Bg5 as I witnessed it being played over the board.  It fair took my breath away though at the time I could not appreciate the hidden depths revealed by the subsequent analyses.  It is therefore somewhat * discombobulating * to find Alan Ormsby subjecting such an elegant continuation to analysis by computer, however valuable this may be from a theoretical point of view.  Such treatment bears as much relevance to beauty in chess as painting by numbers bears to the works of Michelangelo. 
On the other hand John Costello's suggestion of 25 ......... Nf4! is a truly creative and imaginative addition to the debate.  It reveals further hidden charms within the position which deserve uncovering.
26 R(f)b1+ Ka8       if 26 ...... Kc7; 27 Qe5+     Kd7           if 27 .......... Kc8
  28 Rxa7+    Kd8             28 Ba6+   Kd7
  29 Rxe7+    Bxe7            29 Rb7+ etc....
  30 Bxf4 and white wins.
 27 Bxf4                      Not 27 Bxe7  Nh3+ and mate next move.
 27 .........  Rh1+ and draw by repetition of moves.
Not 27 ........  Qh4;  28 Rxa7+ and mate next move.
Nor 27 ........  gxf+;  28 Kah2  Qh4+; 29 Kg2  Qxf4;  
                                30 Rxa7+ and mate next move.
So it appears that 25 ........ Nf4 secures the draw but no more.
Frank Maher

Oh !   So Controversial !

Further analyses of the analyses
dis•com•bob•u•late  to confuse or disconcert; upset; frustrate:
* discombobulating * was readily accepted by my computer's spell checker, it must be commonly used by chess computers for analyses purposes!!    chessmaster  

Oh !   So So Controversial !

From Alan Ormsby by e-mail 6th April

Richard
 
Is Frank Maher really suggesting that beauty is more important than truth ?
 
Surely a chess move can only have real beauty if it is sound and I would suggest that at our level of play the only way we can know if a move is sound (in a very complicated position) is if we use a computer to help with analysis.
 
Frank may find the "painting by numbers" method upsetting but I would contend that the move 25...Rh1+ is just as beautiful as 25 Bg5 and that if it was not for the computer then we would be unaware of it.
 
25..Nf4 may be creative, imaginative and charming but it also loses rapidly to 26 Rxa7+ ! followed by Qa2+.
 
Finally, perhaps you should ask Frank to contribute to a "Word of the Week" section on the website to expand our vocabularies. Lessons in Latin may also be useful !
Regards
 
Alan Ormsby
 
3 May 2001
Richard
As the chess season is now over on the island and we have all taken to our bikes (motor or pedal, as the case may be) I will not be responding further to the analyses given by Alan Ormsby's Fritz.
However, he does raise an interesting and perhaps profound philosophical question regarding the relative importance of beauty compared to truth.  My immediate reaction is to echo the words of Pontius Pilate which have reverberated down the years "Truth? What is that?" (John 18:38 JB)
In the end I suppose it all depends on one's epistemology.
Frank Maher