Saturday, May 22, 2010

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Mac Hack VI – Ben Landey
Boston Amateur; Boston, April 22, 1967
Sicilian Defence B20

Notes by Robert James Fischer, Boys’ Life, August 1968, p. 14.

I’ve never played a computer. Eventually, though, I think a computer can become champion. After all, it can’t be as hard as getting a man on the moon. But I hope it doesn’t happen during my lifetime! Incidentally, here’s an example of a computer game. Black’s game was a disgrace to the human race. The computer (White) was called Mac Hack VI, and it took on Landey, the man.

1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. Qxd4 Leads to loss of time. Try to avoid early Queen moves. 3. Nf3 was better.
3. ... Nc6 4. Qd3 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Nf3 d6 7. Bf4 e5? Anti-positional, weakens square on d5.
8. Bg3? 8. Bg5! pinning Knight and indirectly gaining control of d5 was logical.
8. ... a6 9. 0-0-0 b5 10. a4


10. ... Bh6+? Bad because it removes the d Pawns protection — the machine takes advantage of it. Simply 10. ... bxa4! and Black’s still OK.
11. Kb1 b4 12. Qxd6! Bd7 13. Bh4! Bg7 14. Nd5 Nxe4 15. Nc7+ Qxc7 16. Qxc7 Nc5 17. Qd6 Bf8 18. Qd5 Rc8 19. Nxe5 Be6


20. Qxc6+!! Rxc6 (RR 20. ... Bd7 21. Qxc8+ Bxc8 22. Rd8#)
21. Rd8# 1 : 0. A very powerful finish by the machine.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Bobby Fischer annotates

Commenta Bobby Fischer:

W. Steinitz – S. Dubois
8ª del match; Londra, 1862
Gambetto Evans C51

1. e4 e5 2. Cf3 Cc6 3. Ac4 Ac5 4. b4!? Ab6 5. b5 Aa5 6. Cxe5 Ch6 7. d4 d6 8. Axh6 dxe5 9. Axg7 Dg5 10. Axh8 Dxg2(?)
Ecco il “miglioramento” del Nero su 10. ... Cxc4, come giocato nella quarta partita.
11. Tf1! Cxc4 12. De2! Ag4!?
Il punto del Nero. Se adesso 13. Dxc4? Dxe4+ 14. Rd2 0-0-0 e il Nero ha un attacco vincente.
13. f3(!)
Le Donne spariscono e il Bianco entra in un finale con la Qualità e un Pedone in più. Considerando che l’unica mossa nuova del Nero in questa partita è stata 10. ... Dxg2, la partita è durata effettivamente solo due mosse!
13. ... Dxe2+
Su 13. ... Ah3? 14. Dxg2 Axg2 15. Tg1 Axd4 16. Txg2 ecc.
14. Rxe2 Ah3 15. Td1 0-0-0(?)
Meglio 15. ... Axd4 16. c3 Ac5.
16. Axe5 Tg8 17. Ag3 f5 18. Cd2!
Il Bianco restituisce un Pedone per consolidare la posizione.
18. ... Ca3 19. c3 Cxb5 20. Tac1 fxe4 21. Cxe4 Te8 22. Rf2 a6 23. a4 Ca7 24. Te1 Tf8 25. Cg5 Af5 26. Te7 Cc6 27. Tf7 Txf7 28. Cxf7 Ce7 29. Te1 Cd5 30. Te5 Ag6 31. Cd6+(!) cxd6 32. Txd5 Ac2 33. Txd6 Ad8 34. Th6 Ag6 35. h4! Ae7 36. h5 Ac2
Se 36. ... Af8 37. hxg6 Axh6 38. gxh7 Ag7 39. Ae5 il Pedone ‘h’ promuove.
37. d5 Ad3 38. d6 Ad8

[ W. Steinitz - S. Dubois; 8ª del match; Londra, 1862 ]39. d7+(!)
Una piacevolissima chiusa per un finale ben giocato.
39. ... Rxd7 40. Td6+ il Nero abbandona. (Da Chess Life, 1964, p. 295).

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Andor Lilienthal † (1918–2010)

After Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov and Florencio Campomanes, Andor Liliental, the oldest living Grandmaster, died in Budapest, Hungary on May 8, 2010. When Robert James Fischer noticed him in the audience at his 1992 rematch against Boris Vasilievich Spassky, Bobby greeted him with the remark “Pawn e5 takes f6!”.

[ A. Lilienthal – J. R. Capablanca Hastings, 1934-’35 ]Andor Lilienthal – José Raúl Capablanca
15th International Chess Congress; Hastings, January 1, 1935
2r1k2r/2pn1pp1/1p3n1p/p3PP2/4q2B/P1P5/2Q1N1PP/R4RK1 w k - 0 20

20. exf6!! Qxc2 21. fxg7 Rg8 22. Nd4 Qe4 23. Rae1 Nc5 24. Rxe4+ Nxe4 25. Re1 Rxg7 26. Rxe4+ Kd7 1 : 0.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Day Tripper

Che Ray Charles (Albany, 23 settembre 1930 – Beverly Hills, 10 giugno 2004), detto anche – e non a caso – il Genio del Soul, fosse appassionato di scacchi è storia nota. Eccolo all’opera in una parita sans façon contro il Grande Maestro Larry Evans:

R. Charles – L. Evans
Reno, 8 marzo 2002
Quattro Cavalli C47

1. e4 e5 2. Cc3 Cc6 3. Cf3 Cf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Cxd4 Ac5 6. Cxc6 bxc6 7. De2 0-0 8. Ae3 Axe3 9. Dxe3 Te8 10. f3 d5 11. Dd3 a5 12. 0-0-0 Aa6 13. Dd2 Axf1 14. Thxf1 dxe4 15. Dxd8 Taxd8 16. Txd8 Txd8 17. Td1 Txd1+ 18. Rxd1 exf3 19. gxf3 Rf8 20. Rc1 Re7 21. Rd2 Re6 22. Re3 Cd5+ 23. Rd4 Cxc3 24. Rxc3 Rd5 25. Il Bianco abbandona. Per aneddoti, analisi e commenti rimandiamo il lettore all’articolo di Morgan Daniels, “Ray ’n Chess”, ChessBase News, 18.06.2004.

Ray Charles in bus