18 book moves!

sorry; have been away. Here's the game. It is the first game analysed in Neil McDonald's excellent book; Chess: the art of logical thinking


1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 g6 11.Qe2 Bg7 12.Nd4 Nxe5 13.f4 Nc4 14.f5 gxf5 15.Nxf5 Rg8 16.Nxc4 dxc4 17.Bc2 Nd3 18.Bh6 Bf8 19.Rad1 Qd5 20.Bxd3 cxd3 21.Rxd3 Qc6 22.Bxf8 Qb6+ 23.Kh1 Kxf8 24.Qf3 Re8 25.Nh6 Rg7 26.Rd7 Rb8 27.Nxf7 Bxd7 28.Nd8+ Line

Originally posted by Sheerluck Holmes
sorry; have been away. Here's the game. It is the first game analysed in Neil McDonald's excellent book; Chess: the art of logical thinking


1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 g6 11.Qe2 Bg7 12.Nd4 Nxe5 13.f4 Nc4 14.f5 gxf5 15.Nxf5 Rg8 16.Nxc4 dxc4 17.Bc2 Nd3 18.Bh6 Bf8 19.Rad1 Qd5 20.Bxd3 ...[text shortened]... 1.Rxd3 Qc6 22.Bxf8 Qb6+ 23.Kh1 Kxf8 24.Qf3 Re8 25.Nh6 Rg7 26.Rd7 Rb8 27.Nxf7 Bxd7 28.Nd8+ Line

Thank you.

It was game 8 of the WCC. According to Raymond Keene in his book on the match (he assisted Korchnoi as a second), the novelty came on move 10. However, today's databases facilitate more comprehensive research with a few mouse clicks, and I located six games that reached the position after Korchnoi's move 10.

The novelty appears to be Korchnoi's move 13.

It doesn't require a GM to get this deeply into book in the Spanish opening (Ruy Lopez). Last fall in an OTB game, a sixth grader played a novelty on move 15 against me in a closed Spanish. We were both C players at the time, and after the current club championship is rated, he will catch up to me in rating and we'll both be B players. If he and I play the Spanish again, the novelty seems likely at move 18 or even later.

[Event "World Championship 29th"]
[Site "Baguio City"]
[Date "1978.07.??"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Karpov, Anatoly"]
[Black "Kortschnoj, Viktor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C80"]
[WhiteElo "2725"]
[BlackElo "2665"]
[Annotator "Wulebgr"]
[PlyCount "55"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5
Be6 9. Nbd2 Nc5 10. c3 g6 {Raymond Keene identifies this move as the game's
novelty, but ChessBase online lists six prior games with this position.} 11.
Qe2 Bg7 12. Nd4 {Heilemann-Ericson 1964 corr is the only previous game that
reached this position.} Nxe5 $146 13. f4 Nc4 $146 {the novelty} 14. f5 gxf5 15.
Nxf5 Rg8 16. Nxc4 dxc4 17. Bc2 Nd3 18. Bh6 Bf8 19. Rad1 Qd5 20. Bxd3 cxd3 21.
Rxd3 Qc6 22. Bxf8 Qb6+ 23. Kh1 Kxf8 24. Qf3 Re8 25. Nh6 Rg7 26. Rd7 Rb8 27.
Nxf7 Bxd7 28. Nd8+ 1-0