Le Coup de lune

Adolf Anderssen – Paul Charles Morphy
Match game 4; Paris, December 22, 1858
Spanish Game C77

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 Bc5 6. c3 b5 7. Bc2 d5 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. h3 0-0 10. 0-0 h6 11. d4 exd4 12. cxd4 Bb6 13. Nc3 Ndb4 14. Bb1 Be6? 15. a3 Nd5 16. Be3? Everything was happened already in the 2nd game and, now and then, no one of them took cognizance that 16. Qc2! would have almost won for White. 16. ... Nf6 17. Qd2 Re8 18. Rd1. Géza Maróczy rules out a tactical echo of the 2nd game by 18. Bxh6!? gxh6 19. Qxh6 Nxd4 for if 20. Ng5?? there would follow 19. ... Nf5−+, but White could play better by 20. Rd1 Bb3 (idem to say 20. ... Bc4) 21. Qg5+ contenting himself with perpetual check. 18. ... Bd5 19. Ne5

19. ... Qd6! It is the best and the most difficult move of the game! Catastrophic was 19. ... Nxd4?? 20.Bxd4 c5 21. Nxd5! Qxd5 22. Ba2 Qxd4 23. Bxf7+ 1 : 0 Tarrasch – Euwe, The Hague 1922, while if 19. ... Nxe5? 20. dxe5 Rxe5 there might follow 21. Bxb6 cxb6 22. Ba2 Qe7 23. f4 with an easy win. 20. Qc2? White’s trivial threat of winning a piece actually constitutes a big tactical mistake. Best was 20. Nxd5 Nxd5 21. Qc2 Nxe3 22. Qh7+ Kf8 23. Nxf7! Kxf7 24. fxe3 (as suggested by Grandmaster Rainer Knaak) with quite an unclear game. 20. ... Nxd4! 21. Bxd4. Even after 21. Rxd4 Bxd4 22. Bxd4 Bb7 23. Ba2 Rxe5 24. Bxe5 Qxe5 Black stands very much better (Beim’s analysis). 21. ... Bxd4 22. Nxd5 Qxe5. Clearly not 22. ... Qxd5?? on account of 23. Nc6! (23. ... Re4 24. Rxd4 Rxd4 25. Ne7+). 23. Nxf6+ Qxf6 24. Qh7+ Kf8. White obtained nothing for his Pawn sacrifice, and now he also has to contemplate a positional disaster. 25. Be4 Rad8 26. Kh1 Bxb2 27. Rab1 Rxd1+ 28. Rxd1 Qxf2 29. Qh8+. Not 29. Rd7?? Qe1+ 30. Kh2 Be5+ and mate in two moves. 29. ... Ke7 30. Qh7 Be5. Being lazy like a king, Morphy contents himself with putting the autopilot in a “won endgame” mode. He also could have continued the attack by 30. ... Rd8! as 31. Rxd8?? is met by 31. ... Qe1+ 32. Kh2 Be5+ and mate in two moves. 31.Bf3 Qg3 32. Kg1 Qg6! “This endgame is an elementary win. There were other possibilities, but Morphy was not interested in them. I’m sure Capablanca would have done likewise!”, Grandmaster Valeri Beim writes in his book “Paul Morphy Una Prospettiva Moderna”, Roma, Prisma Editori, 2008, p. 180. 33. Qxg6 fxg6 34. Bb7 Rb8! 35. Bxa6 c6 36. Kf2 Bd6 37. Rd3 Kd7 38. Ke2 Ra8 39. Bb7 Rxa3 40. Bc8+. White can no longer save himself into an ending with opposite coloured Bishops: 40. Rxa3 Bxa3 41. Kd3 Kc7 42. Ba6 Kb6 43. Bc8 c5 44. Be6 c4+ 45. Kc2 Kc5 46. Bf7 g5 47. Bg6 b4 48. Kb1 b3−+ (Maróczy’s analysis). 40. ... Kc7 41. Rd1 Ra2+ 42. Kf3 Bc5. Here Beim gives a pretty variation: 42. ... Ra8 43. Bb7 (or 43. Be6 Rf8+ 44. Ke4 Re8−+) 43. ... Ra3+ 44. Ke4 Ra4+ 45. Kf3 Be5 and White’s Bishop ends trapped. 43. Be6 Rf2+ 44. Kg3 Rf6 45. Rd7+ Kb6 46. Bg4 Bd6+ 47. Kh4 c5 48. Bf3 c4 49. Rxg7 Rf4+ 50. Bg4 c3 51. g3. After 51. Rxg6 c2! White cannot prevent Black from queening the Pawn. 51. ... Rxg4+ 0 : 1.