|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
Chessville
Advertise to Single insert:
|
Annotated Games
Morphy v. Anderseen Annotated by Kelly Atkins [Click here to view the "Annotated_Games" PGN file in Chess Tutor, an interactive chess board.] [Or download the PGN file to use in your own chess program.] In 1858, Paul Morphy amazed the European chess world by soundly defeating the best & brightest of their players, including Anderssen. In the Romantic Age of chess where open positions and dazzling tactics ruled, Morphy stood head & shoulders above his contemporaries. The secret to his success wasn't tactical superiority over them, but an understanding of the underlying positional concepts that created those tactical opportunities. It would be more than 20 years before Steinitz fully explained this and the rest of the chess world began to fully understand Morphy's ideas. This game, played only a few days before Christmas, is a wonderful example of Morphy's skill in creating a situation where his tactical skills could wreak havoc & devastation. 1.e4 c5 You could almost call this Anderssen's first mistake. To willingly go into an unbalanced open position against Morphy was to invite disaster. 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 5.Nb5
The Taimanov variation of the Sicilian. It's interesting to see such a modern opening being played well over a century ago. 5...d6 6.Bf4 e5 7.Be3 f5? Anderssen seeks to open things up and give himself an opportunity to launch one of his dazzling attacks. This has always worked for him before, but it plays into Morphy's hands. Modern opening theory considers this to be a weak move for Black. More common now is... [7...Nf6 8.Bg5 a6] 8.N1c3! Morphy continues his development in preparation for punishing Black's premature aggression. 8...f4 9.Nd5! Better than anyone before him, Morphy understood the value of the initiative and how it often was much more important than mere material. 9...fxe3 Anderssen is already in trouble, but this will only add to it. Kf7 might have been wiser. 10.Nbc7+
10...Kf7 [10...Kd7 11.Qg4#] 11.Qf3+? Now that his target has been driven into the open, Morphy pursues it relentlessly. In this case though, it was a mistake. Nxa8 was much better and Morphy's immediate pursuit of the black king gave Anderssen good chances. 11...Nf6 12.Bc4 Nd4! 13.Nxf6+ d5! It's unlikely that Anderssen has calculated all variations after Kg6, but his instincts told him it led to disaster. [13...Kg6 14.Qh5+ Kxf6 15.Ne8+ Qxe8 16.Qxe8 Nxc2+ (16...d5 17.0–0–0 !) 17.Kf1 e2+ ! (17...Nxa1 18.g4 !) 18.Bxe2 Nxa1 19.g4 ! and despite a good material balance Black is defenceless against the new wave of attack. - Kasparov] 14.Bxd5+ Kg6? [14...Qxd5 was the safest option, although White has an advantage in the endgame: 15.Nfxd5+ Nxf3+ 16.gxf3 exf2+ 17.Kxf2; 14...Ke7 ! could make Morphy sorry for his over-ambitious 11th move, e.g. 15.Qh5 gxf6 16.Qf7+ Kd6 17.Nxa8 - Kasparov] 15.Qh5+
15...Kxf6 16.fxe3! A classic Morphy move! The open f-file ends any hope Black has. His King is exposed and the White rook has an open file to join the attack. [The tempting 16.Ne8+ ? 16...Qxe8 17.Qxe8 Bb4+ is disastrous for White.] 16...Nxc2+ Anderssen could have held out a little longer with Qxc7, but the end result would still have been the same. [16...Qxc7 17.Rf1+ Nf5 18.Rxf5+ ! 18...Bxf5 19.Qxf5+ Ke7 20.Qe6+ Kd8 21.0–0–0 ! 21...Bd6 22.Bxb7 - Kasparov] 17.Ke2 and Black resigned. Anderssen realizes that his exposed king with White's pieces all about, is doomed, especially with the open f-file. A very impressive demolition of the strongest European player of the time. 1–0
|
The
|
|||
|
|||||
