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Chauvenet - Hautasaari Edinburgh - World Indiv. Deaf Ch. Atlanta, 1994 Annotations by Rick Kennedy [Click here
for an interactive board to follow the game on.] 1. e4 e5 Russ' friend, Ariel Mengarini annotated this game for the tournament book, and he wrote "The King's Gambit is essentially unsound and should not be essayed unless one is fully booked up as well as willing to gamble..." Different masters have different opinions on this opening! (Editors, too.) Recently, when Nigel Short played Gary Kasparov for the London Times World Chess Championship, he planned to play the Kings Gambit if Kasparov answered 1.e4 with 1...e5. Kasparov played the Sicilian 1...c5 instead. 2. ..... exf4 Here's a real shocker! As Estrin and Glaskov point out in their 1982 Play the King's Gambit, "We will devote 4 chapters to this [defense], whereas in other monographs on the King's Gambit it is hardly mentioned." They were writing on 1.e4 e5 2.f4 Nc6!?, which our game transposes to after 3.Nf3 ef. Estrin & Glaskov give that last move a "!" noting "This reply is not considered at all by theory." This is not quite true: Steinitz, in the May, 1885 International Chess Magazine, commented on Congdon - Sellman, match, 1885 - a game that started 1.e4 Nc6 2.f4 e5 - with 3. Nf3 ef 4.Bc4 g5 5.0-0 Bg7 6.c3 "Black gains nothing by 6...g4 7.Ne1 Ne5 8.Be2, etc." in his analysis. [By the way, Alexander Sellman was a strong deaf player from Baltimore, who played two matches with Steinitz (losing 1.5 - 3.5 and 0-3) and one with Zukertort (1-1). He finished 4th in the 5th USA Chess Congress of 1880, but was a tail-ender at London, 1883.] Joe Gallagher's 1992 Winning with the King's Gambit show the defense to be tricky, but leading to roughly equal play. Has Chauvenet fallen into Hautasaari's trap? 4. d4 d5 Estrin & Glaskov give this move a "!" - "4...g5? is well answered by either 5.h4 or simply 5.d5." 5. e5?! The recommended line of play is 5.ed Qxd5 6.Bxf4 (on 6.Nc3 there
can follow 6...Bg4 7.Bxf4 Qa5 followed by ...Bg4, with a good game for Black),
Bg4 "and Black's difficulties are behind him" 5. ..... Be6?! Here 5...g5 is awkward to meet; if 6.h4 g4 practically forces 7.Ng1" - Mengarini 6. Bxf4 Bb4+?
It is clear now: 3...Nc6 was not Hautasaari's secret weapon. He is losing his way... And Russ begins to take control of the game. 7. c3 Ba5
White's pieces are ready to attack the Kingside, if Black castles there -- but the Queenside is full of danger, too! Black's 6th move took his Bishop away from the defense of one side, and put it under foot on the other. 11. b4 Bb6 This pawn play against the Bishop can be seen in certain lines of the Evans Gambit, once a Chauvenet specialty (See TSK #3, March 1991). "Since Black's reply is quite adequate, stronger was 12.Nb3 with ideas of Nc5 before or after a4" is Mengarini's comment. Maybe. 12. ..... a5 Responding to the pressure on the pawn chain. Although White has the advantage, Black has counter-chances and is not lost yet. In fact, if he plays strongly and does not make more errors, he still does not have to lose (see "The Theory of Infinite Resistance", TSK #33). To win, Russ must continue to make life difficult for his opponent. You win in the "classical" style by collecting small advantages until they pile up and make one large advantage! 13. ..... Nf5
Russ connects his Rooks, and sets a small trap to pry open the Queenside. If this were not available, he probably would play the steady 14.Nb3, like Mengarini has suggested. 14. ..... axb4 After this, it looks like White has erred: if 15.cb then 15...Nfxd4 16.Nxd4 Bxd4+ and 17.Bxa1, which is good for the second player. Still, Black should be looking for counter-play, perhaps with 14...h6. 15. a5! Ba7 Mengarini says "Black has little to lose by playing 16...bc 17.ba+ Kb8." Your Editor disagrees: in this line 18.Rxa7!? followed by 19.Nb3 leads to a strong attack for White. To avoid this, Black allows an advanced passed pawn and buries his Bishop alive - turning it into a pawn! He also weakens c6, and behind it, c7. Watch closely how Chauvenet takes advantage of this, step by step! 17. cxb4 Kb8 There is trouble coming on the c-file, and Hautasaari rightly takes steps to defend. The move also has a little trap in it. 18. Qf2 Protecting the pawn on d4, and guarding his Queen against 18...Nfxd4 19.Nxd4 Nxd4 breaking the pin; since White would not be capturing the Queen with check - 20.Bxd7 - while Black would be 10...Nxe2+. Also, the Queen already has her eye on c7! 18. ..... Qe8 Making room for the Bishop to come to d7, and ease the pressure on the Knight on c6. 19. g4 Nfe7
Black is looking to start counterplay before he is overwhelmed - a good idea in general. Still, a better plan right now is to either make the moves required by the position - .. .Rc8 (easing the pressure on c7) and ...Bd7 (easing the pressure on c6) - or play ...h6 directly, planning to chase the white Bishop off of the dangerous and deadly b8-h2 diagonal. International Grandmaster David Bronstein has said with a smile that it takes three "little mistakes' or one "big mistake' to lose a game. Hautasaari is only making "little" mistakes, but he is letting Chauvenet wrap around him like a boa constrictor, and s-q-e-e-z-e him - and that's a BIG mistake. 21. Rac1 Rc8
24. e6! A "clearance sacrifice" that gives sudden life to the Bishop & Queen battery, and frees e5 for his Knight, if need be. All for the cost of a pawn! 24. ..... fxe6 Mengarini prefers 26.Ne5 Nxb4 27.Nxd7+ Qxd7 28.Rxc7 but the text moves wins just as well. 26. ..... g5 One move too late! 27. Be3 The old masters say, "Once you have found a good move to play, sit on your hands - and look for a better one!" Instead of the text, 27.bc (triumph of the Queenside pawn attack!) gf 28.Qg2 wins a piece for White, as Mengarini points out. Don't we all wish we had a friendly chess master to review our games and point out where we could have done even better! 27. ..... Na5 After 29.Qxc7+ Ka8 30.Nb3 Qd8 31.Nxa5 Qxc7 32.Rxc7 "Black is quite lost" - Mengarini. White's game is still better after the text move, but winning is more difficult. The oversight looks like it might have been time pressure. 29. ..... Ka8
White offers a poisoned Knight, but taking it leads to a mate in 3. Will Hautasaari take the bait? 30. ..... Nxb3 Instead of 30.Nb3, Mengarini recommends 30. Rxa7+ Kxa7 31.Qc7+ Ka8 32.Ne5 Bc8 33.Qxb6 Qd8 34.Qc5 saying the Queenside pawns should amount to something. The position would then be in White's favor, but very complicated. Black may win the two advanced passed pawns on the Queenside for his Bishop; and if some pawns can be exchanged off, the ending of 2 pieces vs a rook would be tough. Still, Chauvenet faced a challenging opening, and came out on top; faced a challenging middle game and bested his opponent; so it can be expected that he would have been successful in a challenging end game, as well!
Levin,J - Chauvenet,L 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 g6 5.Qb3 Bg7 6.g3 0-0 7.Bg2
b6 8.0-0 e6 9.Rd1 Nbd7 10.Bf4 Ba6 11.cxd5 exd5 12.a4 Re8 13.Ne5 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 Nd7
15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.e4 Bc4 17.Qc2 dxe4 18.Bxe4 Rc8 19.Rac1 Nf6 20.Bg2 Nd5 21.Ne4 Ba6
22.Re1 Nb4 23.Qc3 Na2 24.Qa3 Nxc1 25.Rxc1 Qxd4 26.Nd6 Re2 27.Qf3 Qxd6 28.Bf1 Qd2
29.Qc3+ Qxc3 30.Rxc3 Rce8 0-1 |
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