A word of caution for those
who are in their early stage of understanding this great game of Chess: Don't
follow this example, until you reach a level of chess comprehension.....I mean,
leaving the King in the center......!
.......and, pure chess lovers and masters.....are invited to take a stroll along with the Kings.....how inviting they were!
Paul Keres.....one of my favourite chess player (if I had a son, he may well have got that name or Alekhine!); is one of the true artist of chessboard whose creations will remain etched in the minds of true chess lovers..... and is one of those greats like Rubinstein and Bronstein...on whose head, Caissa would loved to have placed her crown....and smiled!
Alas......
This game is for celebrating the centenary of this great player....!
.......and, pure chess lovers and masters.....are invited to take a stroll along with the Kings.....how inviting they were!
Paul Keres.....one of my favourite chess player (if I had a son, he may well have got that name or Alekhine!); is one of the true artist of chessboard whose creations will remain etched in the minds of true chess lovers..... and is one of those greats like Rubinstein and Bronstein...on whose head, Caissa would loved to have placed her crown....and smiled!
Alas......
This game is for celebrating the centenary of this great player....!
Siebold - Paul
Keres, Correspondence - 1932
1.e4 e6; 2.d4 d5; 3.Nc3 Nf6; 4.Bg5 Bb4; 5.e5 h6; 6.Bd2 Bc3; 7.Bc3 Ne4; 8.Qg4 Kf8
1.e4 e6; 2.d4 d5; 3.Nc3 Nf6; 4.Bg5 Bb4; 5.e5 h6; 6.Bd2 Bc3; 7.Bc3 Ne4; 8.Qg4 Kf8
The first movement sideways!
A typical move in certain variations of French Defence.
9.Bd3
9.Bb4 c5; 10.Bc5 Nc5 does nothing great for White and 10.dc5? Nc6 will only end up in disintegrating White's center.
9.....Nc3; 10.bc3 c5; 11.h4 Qa5; 12.Kd2
......and White King follows his counterpart's footsteps....! Yet, this too is a typical French move.
12.....Nc6
French center is very unique and mastering the various center formations and their resolutions would lead one to make a great stride in understanding chess!
13.Nf3 cd4; 14.Nd4 Ne5; 15.Qg3 Nd3; 16.Qd6!
9.Bd3
9.Bb4 c5; 10.Bc5 Nc5 does nothing great for White and 10.dc5? Nc6 will only end up in disintegrating White's center.
9.....Nc3; 10.bc3 c5; 11.h4 Qa5; 12.Kd2
......and White King follows his counterpart's footsteps....! Yet, this too is a typical French move.
12.....Nc6
French center is very unique and mastering the various center formations and their resolutions would lead one to make a great stride in understanding chess!
13.Nf3 cd4; 14.Nd4 Ne5; 15.Qg3 Nd3; 16.Qd6!
16.......Ke8!?
......there he goes again! The choice was between aiding his Bishop to come out or to travel to 'h7' so that....that Rook does not remain tucked in that corner!
17.cd3 Bd7; 18.Rhe1 Rc8!
Responding to a threat with a threat! The threat was.....19.Nf5! As Keres himself wrote, both the players threw caution to winds and were aiming for the 'other' King!
19.Rac1 Qc5! 20.Qe5! Kf8!
Back again!
Because of the positioning of both the Kings, there are various possible ways of continuing the attack and defence. Such play creates poetry with both players writing the verses in tandem!
21.g4
As Keres mentioned, 21.Re3 followed by 22.Nb3 and a subsequent d4 merits attention. But, White has other ideas!
21......b5; 22.f4 b4;
......there he goes again! The choice was between aiding his Bishop to come out or to travel to 'h7' so that....that Rook does not remain tucked in that corner!
17.cd3 Bd7; 18.Rhe1 Rc8!
Responding to a threat with a threat! The threat was.....19.Nf5! As Keres himself wrote, both the players threw caution to winds and were aiming for the 'other' King!
19.Rac1 Qc5! 20.Qe5! Kf8!
Back again!
Because of the positioning of both the Kings, there are various possible ways of continuing the attack and defence. Such play creates poetry with both players writing the verses in tandem!
21.g4
As Keres mentioned, 21.Re3 followed by 22.Nb3 and a subsequent d4 merits attention. But, White has other ideas!
21......b5; 22.f4 b4;
23.cb4!?
Who wants peace.....which 23.c4 would have ensured!?
23......Qb4; 24.Ke3! f6; 25.Qh5 e5!?
"Nowadays I would have prepared this thrust with 25.....Re8 but at that time I was especially entranced by the forced continuation of the text-move with all its combinative possibilities. And indeed it must be granted that the ensuing portion of the game is not lacking in complications." - Keres
26.fe5 Re8; 27.Rf1!
Who wants peace.....which 23.c4 would have ensured!?
23......Qb4; 24.Ke3! f6; 25.Qh5 e5!?
"Nowadays I would have prepared this thrust with 25.....Re8 but at that time I was especially entranced by the forced continuation of the text-move with all its combinative possibilities. And indeed it must be granted that the ensuing portion of the game is not lacking in complications." - Keres
26.fe5 Re8; 27.Rf1!
Now, 27.....Kf8 (so as to
threaten ......Re5!) is impossible as 28.Rf6! would mate the Black King
27.....Qb6! 28.Rb1 Qc7; 29.Nf3 Qc5; 30.d4 Qc2!?
27.....Qb6! 28.Rb1 Qc7; 29.Nf3 Qc5; 30.d4 Qc2!?
Wow! What a position!!
White Queen is in grave danger as .....g7-g6 intends gobbling it and his
King is roaming in the center, shelter less. Despite this, he derives strength,
to continue the fight, from the activity of his Rooks, Knight and that lethal
pawn on e5!
31.Ng5!! g6; 32.Rf6 Kg7; 33.Rb7!!
31.Ng5!! g6; 32.Rf6 Kg7; 33.Rb7!!
Truly a remarkable
position....which generally occurs only in Chess Compositions!!
Human mind has limitations in calculating accurately....but Chess can sustain its beauty only by nurturing this limitation of human minds and not by subjecting such positions to gruesome rape by the 'chess-engines'.
The games that I deal with, in this blog, may not stand the test of those goddamn engines.....to hell with them! I am least bothered by the assessment of this position arrived through consulting engines.... I am least bothered about the "correctness"....
......rather I wish to deal with imperfections and languor and devour the 'imperfect beauty' that the human limitations bring in!
33.....gh5
Of course, 33......Re7 leads to a perpetual after 34.Ne6!
34.Rd7?
"But this mistake makes things much easier for Black. White should continue here with 34.Rf7 Kg8; 35.Rfd7! threatening mate in two. During the game I had prepared the following variation:
Human mind has limitations in calculating accurately....but Chess can sustain its beauty only by nurturing this limitation of human minds and not by subjecting such positions to gruesome rape by the 'chess-engines'.
The games that I deal with, in this blog, may not stand the test of those goddamn engines.....to hell with them! I am least bothered by the assessment of this position arrived through consulting engines.... I am least bothered about the "correctness"....
......rather I wish to deal with imperfections and languor and devour the 'imperfect beauty' that the human limitations bring in!
33.....gh5
Of course, 33......Re7 leads to a perpetual after 34.Ne6!
34.Rd7?
"But this mistake makes things much easier for Black. White should continue here with 34.Rf7 Kg8; 35.Rfd7! threatening mate in two. During the game I had prepared the following variation:
35.....Qg6; 36.gh5!
Qf5 (36.....Qh5; 37.Rg7 Kg8; 38.Nh7! Rh7; 39.Rh7! =) 37.Rg7 Kf8; 38.Rgf7 Qf7; 39.Nf7!
Rh7; 40.Nd6, though all
the same a win for Black here is not certain.
It is natural that, in the case of a young player, his concrete analyses betray far fewer inaccuracies than his positional assessments. This example is a case in point. Whereas in this game I formerly judged quite a number of positions in a manner either open to dispute or even incorrect, the concrete analysis reproduced above is in fact quite good. Only the conclusion is open to doubt, because after 40.....Rb7; 41.Nb7 Ke7 Black retains excellent winning chances (or does he!?)
But the analysis also is itself not wholly accurate. At the time I had not at all noticed that instead of playing 36.....Qf5 Black could also try 36.....Qf6! Apparently this move wins without much difficulty since both 37.Nh7 Rh7; 38.Rh7 Qf5! and 37.Rf7 Re5; 38.de5 Qe5; 39.Kd3 hg5; 40.Rfe7 Qf5 and Qe8 wins......
Nevertheless White disposes of a most surprising defensive resource here, to wit, 37.Rf7 Re5; 38.Kd2!!
It is natural that, in the case of a young player, his concrete analyses betray far fewer inaccuracies than his positional assessments. This example is a case in point. Whereas in this game I formerly judged quite a number of positions in a manner either open to dispute or even incorrect, the concrete analysis reproduced above is in fact quite good. Only the conclusion is open to doubt, because after 40.....Rb7; 41.Nb7 Ke7 Black retains excellent winning chances (or does he!?)
But the analysis also is itself not wholly accurate. At the time I had not at all noticed that instead of playing 36.....Qf5 Black could also try 36.....Qf6! Apparently this move wins without much difficulty since both 37.Nh7 Rh7; 38.Rh7 Qf5! and 37.Rf7 Re5; 38.de5 Qe5; 39.Kd3 hg5; 40.Rfe7 Qf5 and Qe8 wins......
Nevertheless White disposes of a most surprising defensive resource here, to wit, 37.Rf7 Re5; 38.Kd2!!
It becomes manifest
that Black's own Rook renders the win difficult. If the Rook on e5 is removed (from the
board.....literally!) then
Black wins simply by 38.....Qd4 followed by 39.....hg5.Now, however,
if Black wants to play on for a win, he has nothing better than 38.....Qd8whereupon
there follows 39.de5 hg5. A detailed analysis of this
position would lead us too far and in any case does not pertain to the
annotations already made here, but it is clear that Black retains some winning
prospects. In any event a most interesting variation." - Keres
Coming back to the game.....after 34.Rd7?
Coming back to the game.....after 34.Rd7?
34.....Kg8;
35.Rff7 Qc3! 36.Ke2 Re5!
Made possibly only by the presence of White Rook on f7 thereby threatening no mate!
37.de5 Qe5; 38.Kd3 hg5; 39.Rf5 Qe4 White Resigned
On a open board with the White King so naked, White Rooks have no chance of survival!
Very sad to see a side lose this game! A pure poetry!
Made possibly only by the presence of White Rook on f7 thereby threatening no mate!
37.de5 Qe5; 38.Kd3 hg5; 39.Rf5 Qe4 White Resigned
On a open board with the White King so naked, White Rooks have no chance of survival!
Very sad to see a side lose this game! A pure poetry!
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