Days Before Databases + Rip off Chess Books

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 {The Evans Gambit appeared 22 times in this match, White won 15, Black won 4 and 3 were drawn.} 4... Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. O-O d6 7. d4 exd4 8. cxd4 Bb6 {Today theory follows Morphy's favourite move. 9.Nc3.} 9. d5 Ne5 {Not a good move, later in the match McDonnell discovered and played 9....Na5 which is still today regarded as best.} 10. Nxe5 dxe5 11. Nd2 Qf6 {It is the clumsy way the e5 pawn has to be defended which puts this line under a cloud.} 12. Nf3 Ne7 13. Bb2 Ng6 14. Kh1 {That is a good move by Bourdonnais unpinning the f-pawn. The tricks are about to start.} 14... O-O {OK off we go...} 15. Nxe5 Nxe5 16. f4 {Black now swaps the Queen for three minor pieces.} 16... Nxc4 17. Bxf6 gxf6 18. Rf3 {White rushes to get at the Black Kings at the same time preventing the Knight fork on e3.} 18... Kh8 19. Qd3 Nd6 20. f5 {White has shut out the c8 Bishop but if Black gets a Knight onto e5 the win, if indeed there is one, will be tricky.} 20... Rg8 21. Rf4 {Switching the Rook to the h-file and holding e5 to free the Queen for duty.} 21... Bd7 22. Qc3 {Protecting the f6 pawn with Ne8 shutting out the a8 Rook is not to Black's liking so he sacs the pawn for activity.} 22... Rg7 23. Qxf6 {Black saw this coming and has prepared a move to break the pin and hit g2.} 23... Rg8 24. Rh4 {Threatening Rxh7+ and Qh4 Checkmate.} 24... Be3 {The move I mentioned onmentioned on move 23. This stops the Rook sac idea and threatend Bg5.} 25. Qc3 Bg5 26. Rg4 f6 27. h4 h5 {Black now expected 28.Rg3 wwen Black has 28...Nxe5.} 28. hxg5 {But may have overlooked the strength of this idea.} 28... hxg4 29. g6 {White over estimates his chances. 29.gxf6 was much better. He is going for a trick.} 29... Nxe4 30. Qxc7 {It's not just a pawn steal. White is threatening Qh2+ and Checkmate.} 30... Re8 {Black spottted Qh2+ and now has all the winning chances.} 31. Rf1 g3 {Who is attacking who here? Black is creating his own King mating threats.} 32. Qf4 Kg8 {Black is thinking of moving his Knight and stops any Qh4+ and Qxf6 ideas.} 33. Kg1 {White replies by stopping any Nf2+ ideas.} 33... Re5 {I like the tricky 33...Nc3 here (see next game) but going for the f-pawn which will hang the g-pawn must be OK.} 34. Qe3 b6 {Black delays taking the f-pawn to tidy up his position and give the Knight a potential base on c5.} 35. Qd4 Nd6 {Three pieces now hit f5 Black is on top.} 36. Qh4 {Hitting g3 and f6} 36... Ne4 {The Knight returns to cover both pawns.} 37. d6 {If 37....Nxd6 38. Qxf6.} 37... a5 {Black is passing the buck, I don't know if he has lost the thread of the game. He is waiting for White to do something.} 38. Rf4 {White brings the game to a head by hitting the e4 Knight. Black can ignore it and play 38....Rc5.} 38... Nc3 {Threatening the Knight fork Ne2+} 39. Rf1 {Black should now play 39...Ne5 his last few moves seem to have a tired feeling. These games had no time control and McDonnell seemed to suffer from late in the game blunders thoughout the match.} 39... Ne2+ {Now the f6 pawn can no longer be held and Black is committed to taking on f5. Black has missed something.} 40. Kh1 Bxf5 41. Rxf5 Rxf5 42. Qc4+ {Black saw this coming and thought 42...Kh8 and 43.Qxe2 was the way the game would go but now he saw what White planned and resigned.} 42... Kh8 {We play on, the end is attractive. Note that 42...Kf8 43. Qc8 is Checkmate.} 43. Qc8+ {Instead of 43.Qxe2.} 43... Rg8 44. Qxf5 {White is threatening Qxf6+ mating and Qh5+ mating (also hitting the e2 Knight.)} 44... Kg7 45. Qh5 {Threatening Qh7+ mating and the e2 Knight.} 45... Rh8 {Well there is that.} 46. Qxh8+ Kxh8 47. d7 {A wonderful game.}

[FEN "4r1k1/pp1b2r1/5pP1/3P1P2/4nQ2/6p1/P5P1/5R1K w - - 0 33"]
33. Kg1 {Here Black played Re5. I want to show you...} 33... Nc3 34. Qc4 Ne2+ 35. Kh1 {Now we sacrifice a Bishop and a Rook to mate White.} 35... Bb5 {This stops d6+ allowing Black's next move. } 36. Qxb5 Ree7 {To stop the mate White has to play Qxe2 here then it is a simple Black win.} 37. d6 {What else?} 37... Rh7+ 38. gxh7+ Rxh7# {Checkmate.} *

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. c3 {The centre building characteristic of the Giuoco Piano.} 4... Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 {The pawn sacrifice 7.Nc3 is the Moller Attack...it has teeth...get it? Teeth...Moller Attack?} 7... Bxd2+ 8. Nbxd2 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 {Even today this is recognised as main line theory.} 10. O-O O-O {118 RHP games have reach this position.} 11. Nb3 Be6 {And now we are down to just two RHP games that have gone this way.} 12. Re1 Nf4 13. Rc1 Qf6 14. Rc3 Rad8 15. Qc1 {That is a blunder. Black can now play 15...Bxc4 16.Rxc4 Nd3 winning the exchange.} 15... h5 {Black has missed it....} 16. Be2 {White is not giving Black a second chance.} 16... Nxe2+ 17. Rxe2 Bxb3 18. Rxb3 Nxd4 19. Nxd4 Qxd4 {White can take the pawn on b7 answering 20...Qd1+ with 21.Re1.} 20. Re1 Rfe8 {And now Black resigned. He possibly saw that....} 21. Rxe8+ Rxe8 22. Rxb7 Qe4 {...threatened mate with Qe1+ and hitting the b7 Rook.} *

[FEN "r1br2k1/ppp1npp1/1q2p2p/8/4N3/2PB4/P2Q1PPP/3RR1K1 w - - 0 16"]
16. Ng3 Bd7 17. Rb1 Qa5 {Offering a contaminated b7 pawn.} 18. Rxb7 Bc6 {Hitting the theme of the week Rook thus gaining a tempo to come to the active square of c6 and opening up a pin on the d3 Bishop.} 19. Rb4 Qd5 {Now hitting the d3 Bishop with two pieces and threatening mate on g2. White resigned it's either be mated or drop the d3 Bishop.} *

[FEN "1r1q2k1/p1p3p1/2np3p/2p1p3/4Pr2/PPP2N2/5PPP/R2Q1RK1 w - - 0 17"]
17. Qd5+ {White kicks things off by picking up the unprotected Knight on c6.} 17... Kh8 18. Qxc6 Rxb3 19. Rfc1 Rb2 20. Rab1 {Quite rightly challenging the Rook on the 7th.} 20... Re2 {Quite rightly keeping the Rook on the 7th rank. We are about to find out just how good a Rook on the 7th rank is.} 21. Rb7 {The pattern that allowed me to find this game. White has just shown us why it's not always a good idea to play a Rook to the 7th rank without thinking about it first.} 21... Rxf3 {Well spotted. The c1 Rook is unprotected.} 22. gxf3 {Black has won back his piece....} 22... Qg5+ 23. Kf1 {...or has he. The King hits the e2 Rook.} 23... Ra2 {Although a Rook down the Black Rook in the 7th is very strong creating all kinds of threats.} 24. Rd1 {White spots one one threat and stops Qd2. A better defence was Rcb1 answering Qd2 with Rb1b2. White had to give a Rook back.} 24... Qh4 {Mate starting with Qxf2+ cannot be stopped. 0-1} *

[FEN "3q3k/p1p3p1/2Qp3p/2p1p3/4Pr2/P1P2N2/4rPPP/1RR3K1 w - - 0 21"]
21. Rb7 Rxf3 {Here. Instead of gxf3 how about....} 22. Rf1 {Now the f3 Rooks hang and White has active threats on the Queenside with his own Rook on the 7th playing a part.} 22... Rf7 {Saves the pawn but the loose e2 Rook allows White to play a trick shot.} 23. Qb5 {Hitting the e2 Rook and threatening Rb8 winning the Queen. That's a cracker of a move and yet there is a defence.} 23... c6 {A return trick shot. If White plays Rb8 then cxb5. or if White takes on e2 then Black takes the Rook on b7. These under 1200 games hold dark secrets. It always worth investing some time looking for tactical ideas.} 0-1

[FEN "1r1q2k1/4rppp/5b2/p7/2Q1p3/4B1R1/PPP2PPP/R5K1 w - - 0 22"]
22. Bg5 Bxg5 23. Rxg5 Rxb2 {The theme of the week pattern in reverse.} 24. Qc3 {Hello. A check mating threat on g7 and a hit on the b2 Rook. Black saw this and had this reply ready.} 24... f6 {Stops the mate and attacks the g5 Rook.} 25. Qxf6 {The best move for Black appears to be Rb8 protecting both the loose Black pieces, the b2 Rook and the Black Queen.} 25... Rd7 {But Black plays this cool shot which actually threatens to mate White with Rd1+. However White spots the weight the d7 Rook is carrying.} 26. Rxg7+ {Taking advantage of the overloaded d7 Rook. It is protecting both square g7 and the d8 Queen.} 26... Kh8 {Obviously if Rxg7 then Qxd8+ and 1-0. But this was all part of the Black trap. He is now expecting Qxb2 when Rd1+ does indeed mate White.} 27. Re7+ {A lovely move blocking the attack on the Queen, blocking the protection of g7 and as it's a check it's stopping Black from mating White} 27... Kg8 28. Qg7 {That is checkmate.}

[FEN "6k1/p1p2p1p/2p1rqp1/3p1b2/B7/1R6/PPPQ1PPP/6K1 w - - 0 20"]
20. Rb7 {That is the pattern that led me to discovering this game.} 20... Qe5 21. f4 Qe1+ 22. Qxe1 Rxe1+ 23. Kf2 Rd1 24. Rxc7 Rd2+ 25. Kg3 {The game now splits into two parts. White goes on a pawn hunting expedition on the Queenside. Black builds a mating net on the Kingside.} 25... Be4 26. Rxc6 Rxg2+ 27. Kh3 h5 {White seems oblivious as to what Black is up too. Now the move Rc3 has to be played.} 28. Ra6 {Chasing pawns whilst the King is about to be arrested.} 28... Rg4 {White now sees it. Bg2 mate is unstoppable. White Resigned.} 0-1

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Nc3 e6 5. Nf3 Be7 6. Bf4 Nf6 7. e3 O-O 8. Bd3 {I've not seen an 'important innovation' yet - have you?} 8... Nc6 9. O-O Bd7 10. Rc1 Rc8 11. a3 a6 12. Na4 {Ignore that. Black could try his own Knight on the rim with 12...Nh5 and if 13.Be5 Nxe5 which threatens to win a piece with Rxc1 and Bxa4.} 12... b5 13. Nc5 Bxc5 14. Rxc5 Ne7 {The weaker player is chasing exchanges before White drums up some complications.} 15. Bg5 Rxc5 16. Bxf6 {This crosses up Black. His best bet here is to take the Bishop.} 16... Rc7 {Instead Black saves the exchange and encourages a classic Bishop sacrifice.} 17. Bxh7+ {Again Black will falter here. It's best to leave Bishop alone and now play Kh8. Even then White is still in top.} 17... Kxh7 18. Ng5+ {18...Kg8 and the f6 Bishop can actually mate. 18....Kg8 19.Qh5 Re8 20.Qxf7+ Kh8 21.Bxg7 mate.} 18... Kh6 19. Qg4 gxf6 20. Qh4+ Kg6 21. Qh7+ Kxg5 {It's this triple piece sac. Rook, Bishop and Knight that lifts the game from the mundane.} 22. f4+ Kg4 23. Qh3{Checkmate.}