Digging into the past

The following game is one I annotated for an upcoming article on Computers and Chess. It comes from the very first Correspondence World Championship, and given its vintage, was obviously played without computer assistance. Nonetheless the moves chosen have a very high correlation with Rybka 3.0, searching to fixed depth of 13 ply. The main reason for this is that it was a highly tactical game, and lots of moves were forced. Nonetheless it still impresses me that both players were able to analyse the tactics to the level that they did.


Mitchell,G - Barda,O [C89]]
1st CC World Ch Final 5053 corr ICCF, 1950

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d5 9. exd5 e4 The Steiner Variation of the Marshall Gambit. Good for shock value, but modern analysis has rendered it unpopular. 10. dxc6 exf3 11. Qxf3 ( 11. d4 is best. If Black captures on g2 White does not recapture, but instead uses the pawn as a shield against the other Black pieces! ) 11...  Bg4 12. Qg3 Bd6 13. f4 g5 ( 13... Re8 gives Black better chances. 14. d4 Nh5! 15. Rxe8+ Qxe8 16. Qf2 Qxc6 and Black has held his own in practice. ) 14. d4 White is two pawns up. Modern engines assess this as already winning for White. 14...  Kh8 15. Re5 A visually appealing move. Certainly sound although modern analysis prefer Qf2. 15...  gxf4 ( 15... Bxe5 16. fxe5 +- ) 16. Qh4 Bxe5 17. dxe5 Rg8 18. Qxf6+ ( 18. exf6?? Bf3 -+ ) 18...  Qxf6 19. exf6 Bh3 20. g3 Rae8 ( 20... fxg3 21. Bf4 +- ( 21. hxg3? Rxg3+ 22. Kh2 Rag8 = ) ) 21. Kf2 fxg3+ 22. hxg3 Bg4 23. Bf4 Rg6 24. Nd2 White is easily winning here. He avoided any tricks by Black to reach a won ending. 24...  Re2+ 25. Kf1 Rxf6 26. Bd1 Rxd2 27. Bxg4 Rxb2 28. Bf3 Kg8 29. Rd1 Rf5 30. Kg1 Kg7 31. Bxc7 b4 32. Be4 Rc5 33. cxb4 1-0