Machine-Like Art

Daniel Harrwitz – Paul Charles Morphy
Match game 3; Paris, September 1858
Dutch Defence A84

1. d4 f5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4. For 4. ... Be7 5. e3 0-0 6. Bd3 b6 7. Nge2 Bb7 8. 0-0 Nh5! see Harrwitz – P. C. Morphy, Paris 1858, match game 5. 5. Qb3 c5 6. d5. The expert Harrwitz – who was leading the match 2–0 after two games – adopted here a very questionable theoretical standard. For 6. e3 0-0 7. a3 Qa5 8. Bd3 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Nc6 10. Ne2 d6 11. 0-0 Qc7 see Chiburdanidze – Jussupow, Linares 1984. 6. ... e5! 7. e3 0-0 8. Bd3 d6 9. Ne2 h6 10. Bxf6 Qxf6 11. a3 Bxc3+ 12. Qxc3 Qg6 13. 0-0 Nd7 14. b4 b6 15. f3 h5!? “A measure of precaution, to prevent White from playing g2-g4, and having in view also the advance ... h5-h4 if he should play Ne2-g3”, Johann Jacob Löwenthal wrote in his book “Morphy’s Games of Chess”, London, 1860, p. 51. 16. Bc2 Bb7. Grandmaster Valeri Beim argues that Black’s light-squared Bishop should remain on its diagonal by 16. ... h4!? followed by ... Nd7-f6, but Morphy, perhaps not liking the position ensuing from 16. ... h4 17. f4 e4, fianchettoes it! 17. Ba4 Qf7 18. Bxd7? “This is a very weak move; 18. Bc6 would have given White at once the best of the game”, Ignatz von Kolisch wrote in his brief notes for The Chess Player’s Chronicle, Third Series, 1859, p. 137. 18. ... Qxd7 19. bxc5. “The exchange of Pawns here showed want of judgment, for after giving up his Bishop, White’s c-Pawn was left so weak as seriously to endanger his game”, writes Löwenthal (ibidem). 19. ... bxc5 20. f4 e4 21. Rab1. Géza Maróczy suggests 21. Nc1 followed by Nc1-b3-a5 (defending the c-Pawn), while Rainer Fritz Albert Knaak prefers 21. Qa5 – they both have good reasons for their arguments. 21. ... Ba6 22. Rfc1 Qa4. “The prompt advantage which Mr. Morphy takes of the slightest error on the part of his opponent is an immense indication of the accuracy of his game, and it is well illustrated at this moment”, Löwenthal writes (ibidem). 23. Ng3 h4 24. Nf1 Rab8 25. Nd2 Rb6! “Very well played, for if (as was the case) the Rooks be exchanged, the b-Pawn is soon advanced and a free passage secured for the c-Pawn; and if the exchange be not made, Black doubles his Rooks on the b-file with a far superior game”, Löwenthal writes (ibidem). 26. Rxb6 axb6 27. Qb3? “This is the decisive error. After the exchange of Queens White can no longer create enough counterplay to compensate for his Pawn weaknesses. The correct line was 27. Rb1 b5 28. g4!? hxg3 29. hxg3 Rb8 30. g4 with counterplay”, writes Beim in his book “Paul Morphy Una Prospettiva Moderna”, Roma, Prisma Editori, 2008, p. 154. 27. ... Qxb3 28. Nxb3 b5! The inexorable consistency of the greatest endgame player ever lived. 29. cxb5. From Howard Staunton to Valeri Beim, through over a century, everyone in the world recommended 29. Nd2 as more stubborn, but 29. ... Ra8! – originally given by Maróczy – soon paralyses Black’s game. 29. ... Bxb5 30. Na5 Ra8 31. Nb7 Ra6 32. Rc3 Kf8 33. Nd8 Bd7 34. Rb3 Ke7 35. Rb8

35. ... c4!! Divinely played. No doubt Harrwitz was hoping for 35. ... Rxa3? 36. Nc6+! which draws immediately. 36. Kf2 c3 37. Ke2 Rxa3 38. Nc6+ Bxc6 39. dxc6 c2 40. Kd2. Not 40. c7 c1=Q 41. c8=Q Rxe3+ 42. Kf2 Qe1 mate. 40. ... Rc3!! The very elegant pointe. 41. Kc1 Rxc6 42. Rb3 Kf6 43. Ra3 g5 44. g3 hxg3 45. hxg3 gxf4 46. gxf4 Kg6 47. Ra5 Rc5!! Machine-like art. 48. Ra6 Rc3 49. Rxd6+ Kh5 50. Rd2 Kg4 51. Rg2+ Kf3 52. Rg5 Rc5 53. Rh5 Kxe3 54. Rh4 Kf3 0 : 1.