Sea and Shore

Sergio Mariotti – Roberto Cosulich
16th International Festival; San Benedetto del Tronto, July 1967
Sicilian Defence B39

Comments in quotation marks by L’Italia Scacchistica, No. 8, August 1967, pp. 184-185. The commentary is unsigned but is probably the work of the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Giovanni Ferrantes.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. c4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Nc3 Ng4. Gyula Breyer’s brand.
8. Qxg4 Nxd4 9. Qd1 Ne6. Aron Nimzowitsch’s trademark.
10. Qd2 d6 11. h4!? At the time a novelty, which was probably inspired to Mariotti by his early mentor, the exiled Russian Prince Nikolay Alekseyevich Obolensky, who, long before the coming of AlphaZero, did not fear to use the h-Pawn as an attacking weapon — with both White and Black.
11. ... h5 12. Be2 Bd7 13. f4 Bc6. L’Italia Scacchistica attaches a question mark to it, but maybe it is not so bad as they think. Nevertheless, 13. ... Qa5! 14. Rc1 Nc5⇄ was certainly best now.
14. f5 Nc5 15. Bd4. “Now Black finds himself in a very critical situation”.
15. ... Bh6 16. Qc2

16. ... Rg8? So far, this is Black’s only mistake, and alas for him — is an almost definitive one. Much better was 16. ... e5! 17. Bxc5 (17. fxe6 0-0! leads nowhere for White) 17. ... dxc5 18. Rd1 Qf6 19. Nd5 Bxd5 20. Rxd5⩲ leaving White with little or nothing of advantage.
17. b4. “Wins a piece. Now Black must seek for the most counterplay possible in the attempt to save the game”.
17. ... Nxe4!? 18. Nxe4 gxf5 19. Ng5 e5 20. Be3. Not 20. Nxf7? Kxf7 21. Qxf5+ on account of 21. ... Kg7! 22. Bf2 Rf8 with the upper hand for Black.
20. ... Bxg2. “If now 20. ... f4? 21. Qh7!”.
21. Qxf5 Bxg5 22. Bxg5 Rxg5 23. hxg5 Bxh1. At the end of the skirmish, Black is two Pawns up — but only temporarily.

24. 0-0-0! Here is the point. If now 24. ... Bc6 there would follow 25. g6! winning at once. Therefore Black’s reply is forced.
24. ... Be4! 25. Qxe4 Qxg5+ 26. Kb2 0-0-0. Black has three Pawns for the Bishop and his King is castled, but only straight into the enemy’s attack!
27. Bf3 Rd7 28. Qh7? Mariotti complicates life uselessly. More straightforward was 28. c5! f5 29. Qc4 e4 30. cxd6+ Kb8 (30. ... Kd8 31. Bxh5!+−) 31. Qe6+− with an easy win.
28. ... h4 29. Be4 Kc7 30. Bf5. Probably White had to think about exchanging Queens on f5, but who can blame him for not doing so?
30. ... Re7 31. Bh3. “Threatens 32. Qh8 f5 33. Qf8 and wins”.

31. ... e4! “The only move”.
The way in which Cosulich saves the ending is remarkable, and remarkably technical. The punctuation of the following moves is that of the original text from L’Italia Scacchistica.
32. Qh8 Qe5+ 33. Qxe5 Rxe5 34. Re1. “If 34. Rf1 Black intended to reply with 34. ... b5! exchanging as many Pawns as possible”.
34. ... f5 35. Kc3 f4 36. Kd4 e3 37. Bg2 Rg5 38. Bf3 b5! 39. Rh1 bxc4 40. Rxh4 Re5! 41. Rh2! “It was a draw with 41. Rh1 on account of 41. ... e2! 42. Re1 Re3! 43. Bxe2 c3 and White can no longer move anything".
41. ... a5! 42. a3 axb4 43. axb4 Rg5 44. Rh4 Re5 45. Rh2 Rg5 46. Ke4? “This move leads to a draw by force. The only try was 46. Rh7+ Kb6! 47. Kxc4 d5+! (to close the f3-Bishop) 48. Kd4 (if 48. Bxd5? Rxd5! and Black queens) 48. ... Rf5! [sic] and it is problematic for White to win”.
Oh, no! The last move of the analysis is totally wrong, as after 48. ... Rf5?? 49. Rh6+! Kb5 (49. ... Kc7 50.b5+−) 50. Kc3 the Black King is caught in a mating net.
Therefore after 46. Rh7+ Kb6 47. Kxc4 d5+! 48. Kd4 Black has to look for 48. ... Rg3! 49. Bxd5 e2 50. Rb7+ Ka6 51. Re7 Kb5!= with a draw soon (but not 51. ... f3?? because of 52. Kc5!+− with unaivodable mate).
46. ... Rb5 47. Kxf4 Rxb4 48. Kxe3 Rb3+ 49. Ke4 d5+ ½–½. “The last three moves were made by inertia”.