Monday 15 February 2010

Black pawns move faster than White pawns

Apparently this is an old saying from the Manhattan Chess Club. I don't think it is always true but in the following game it certainly is. It is from a recent Marshall Gambit Thematic Tournament on the ICCF Webserver and contains some interesting alternatives to current high level theory.

Müller-Töpler,Michael (2056) - Jedinger,Andreas (2232) [C89]
WSTT/4/07/Final - Marshall Attack, C89 ICCF, 20.01.2009
[Press,Shaun]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d4 Bd6 13.Re1 Qh4 14.g3 Qh3 15.Re4 g5 16.Qe1 [RR 16.Qf1 Qh5 17.Nd2 Bf5 18.f3 Nf6 19.Re1 Rae8 20.Rxe8 Rxe8 21.a4 Qg6 22.axb5 Bd3 23.Qf2 Re2 24.Qxe2 Bxe2 25.bxa6 Qd3 26.Kf2 Bxf3 27.Nxf3 Ne4+ 28.Ke1 Nxc3 29.bxc3 Qxc3+ 30.Kf2 Qxa1 Kramnik,V (2770)-Leko,P (2741)/Brissago SUI 2004/The Week in Chess 518/0-1 (32)] 16...Bf5N [RR 16...Nf6 17.Nd2 Qh5 18.Qd1 Qxd1+ 19.Bxd1 Nxe4 20.Nxe4 Be7 21.Bxg5 Bxg5 22.Nxg5 h6 23.Ne4 f5 24.Nc5 f4 25.Nd3 fxg3 26.hxg3 Bf5 27.Ne5 Rac8 28.b4 Be4 29.a4 Rc7 30.f4 Ra8 31.a5 Motylev,A (2675)-Tkachiev,V (2625)/Kazan RUS 2005/The Week in Chess 566/1-0 (62)] 17.Nd2 The offer of the exchange is forced. [17.Re2 Bd3 18.Rd2 Nf4!!-+] 17...h6 18.f3 Kg7 19.a4 Bxe4 20.fxe4 Rae8 21.axb5 axb5 22.Qf2 f5! (D)
23.Ra7+
[23.exd5 f4 leads to a winning attack eg 24.Qf1 fxg3!! 25.Qxh3 Re1+ 26.Nf1 Rfxf1+ 27.Qxf1 gxh2+ 28.Kg2 Rxf1 29.Kxf1 h1Q+-+] 23...Re7 24.Rxe7+ Nxe7 25.e5 Bc7 26.Qf3 Nd5 27.Bxd5 cxd5 28.Qxd5 With two passed pawns for the exchange, and Blacks king a little more exposed, you would think that White would win this. Turns out the Black pawns move faster then White ones! 28...f4 29.Qf3 Qf5 30.Ne4 fxg3 31.Qxf5 gxh2+ 32.Kxh2 Rxf5 33.Kg2 Kg6 34.b3 g4 35.e6 Bd8 36.c4 h5 37.Nc3 h4 38.Nd5 h3+ 39.Kg1 Bh4 40.Be3 Rf3 0-1

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