Failing to Draw

Failing to Draw

Hikaru Junction

Failing to Draw

Today, I went looking for some games in which a player, presumably aiming for a draw, plays a very drawish opening and is easily defeated.

Stefano Tatai–Viktor Korchnoi Beer Sheva 1978



Korchnoi whacks White with the French defense! An extravagant undertaking, much more like the first panel than the second:
French Propaganda



The first panel reads: We progress in 1914/We will win in 1915. Interesting, no? I didn’t know that other countries besides the USSR had used mainstream chess propaganda.
(Image: http://streathambrixtonchess.blogspot.com/2014/08/war-game.html)

Pedro Damiano–NN Rome 1497



Black attempted to draw with the admittedly draw-conducive Petroff, but made a fatal error in exposing the queen to the White pieces for so long.

Friedhelm Harms–Jean L Moeckel TGT 1998



Max Euwe–Rudolf Johannes Loman Rotterdam 1923



Fight against stronger players!
Don’t give up and try to settle for a draw!

–HikaruShindo

Posted to Hikaru Junction

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Comments (2)

  • Posted 3090 days 16 hours and 29 minutes ago
    Standard memberHikaruShindo
    Yeah, that's a good point, really. I hadn't (although it seems obvious now) thought about how old the game is when writing it up. I'd rather not edit the post after people've viewed it (that gets confusing) but thanks for the insightful comment.
  • Posted 3090 days 17 hours and 8 minutes ago
    Standard memberShallow Blue
    Hmmm... I don't think Damiano's opponent was actually trying to draw. In fact, I don't think either player thought of the Petroff as a drawish opening yet - let alone as the "Petroff"! Remember that in those days, both opening theory and any thought of positional safety were very much in their infancy.
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