Quality control

I was doing a little research for one of my correspondence chess games today, and I came across an issue that occasionally bedevils chess writers (and sometimes players). One of the games in a variation I'm playing was between Kaidanov and Kamsky, both very strong GM's, and therefore a game worth studying. The game itself followed theory up until move 14, when Black played the slightly unusual 14. ... Qe7. However it was his 16th move (16 ... Nh7) that was the real surprise, as it allowed the queen to be captured by the bishop on g5. Fortunately for Black it seems Kaindanov was feeling kind as the bishop retreated the d2 instead!
Of course the real story was that Black almost certainly played 14 ... Qc7 (which is theory) and only later moved the queen to e7 (on move 22). Kaidanov eventually won the game as White, and the mistaken move is quite clear, so the game may prove to be useful after all. However it is always worth double checking whether the moves make sense, as the risk is to blindly follow something that never happened in the first place!


Kaidanov,Gregory S (2640) - Kamsky,Gata (2645) [E75]
USA-ch Long Beach (8), 1993

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5 c5 7. d5 e6 8. Qd2 exd5 9. exd5 Re8 10. Nf3 Bg4 11. O-O Nbd7 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 a6 14. a4 Qe7 15. a5 h5 16. Qc2 Nh7 17. Bd2 h4 18. Be2 Bd4 19. Kh2 Rab8 20. Ra3 Qd8 21. Bd1 Bg7 22. Kh1 Qe7 23. f4 f5 24. Bf3 Qf6 25. Raa1 Nhf8 26. Rae1 Qd4 27. b3 Kh8 28. Ne2 Qb2 29. Qxb2 Bxb2 30. Ng1 Kg7 31. Rxe8 Rxe8 32. Re1 Rb8 33. Bd1 Nf6 34. Bc2 Nh5 35. Nf3 Bf6 36. Kg1 Rc8 37. Bd3 Kf7 38. Kf2 Re8 39. Rxe8 Kxe8 40. Ke3 Nd7 41. Be1 Ng3 42. Nxh4 Bxh4 43. Kf3 Nf1 44. Bxh4 Nd2+ 45. Ke3 Nxb3 46. Be1 b6 47. Bc2 Nd4 48. Bd1 bxa5 49. Bxa5 Nf6 50. Bc3 Ne4 51. Bb2 Ke7 52. g4 a5 53. Ba1 Kf7 54. Bb2 Ke7 55. g5 Kf7 56. Ba4 Ke7 57. Ba1 Kf7 58. Bd1 Ke7 59. Bb2 Kf7 60. h4 Kf8 61. Ba1 Kg8 62. Bxd4 cxd4+ 63. Kxd4 Kg7 64. Be2 Nc5 65. Kc3 Kf7 66. Bd3 Kf8 67. Be2 Kg7 68. h5 gxh5 69. Bxh5 Ne4+ 70. Kc2 a4 71. Be2 Kg6 72. Kb2 Nc5 73. Ka3 Kf7 74. Bd1 Nd3 75. Bc2 Nxf4 76. Bxf5 Ng2 77. Kxa4 Ne3 78. Bd3 Ng4 79. Kb5 Ne5 80. Be4 Nd7 81. Bf5 Ne5 82. c5 dxc5 83. Kxc5 Nf3 84. g6+ Kf6 85. d6 1-0