1976-01-01 - Wise, Derek 1-0 Burnett, L
One of the outstanding games on this page. White's pieces suddenly engulf the Black King in a fashion that reminds one of Tal. <span class="bold">Wise's sacrifices made this the best game I have ever witnessed in 17 years of [WECU] Championship play.</span>
[Event "WECU CHAMPS 1976"] [Site "?"] [Date "1976.01.01"] [Round "7"] [White "Wise, Derek"] [Black "Burnett, L"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B35"] [Annotator "Mordue,Tyson"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "1976.??.??"] {The second game in Issue 10 from the Cleak Archives remembering Derek Wise. Original notes by Dave LeMoir (DL).} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 Qa5 8. O-O O-O 9. Nb3 {We are in the Accelerated Dragon variation of the Sicilian Defence. The principal point is that Black is striving to achieve ...d7-d5 in one move without resorting to ...d7-d6 first. Wise's text move is the second most popular choice after 9 Bb3 which usually transposes back into main-line Dragons once Black realises that he has to commit to ...d7-d6.} Qc7 10. f4 d6 11. Be2 {A theoretically-approved regrouping on the exposed Bishop on c4 to an effective square on f3.} a5 {A somewhat rare line whereby Black gains an outpost on b4 but concedes one on b5. } 12. a4 Nb4 13. Bf3 Be6 14. Rf2 {The usual move here is 14 Nd4 and after 14... Bc4 15 Rf2 we could have a transposition into other games. Subsequently Burnett goes his own way but the other point of Rf2 is to guard c2 and allow Nb5 or d5 as appropriate. One assumes Wise is not afraid of 14...Bxb3 freezing the White Queenside as he gains the Bishop pair and Black no longer has a target on c2 to aim at.} Qc8 {A subtle finesse which has the approval of Deep Rybka. With this retreat Burnett avoids tempo gains on his Queen with Nb5 or Nd5. He threatens 15...Nf6-g4 so Wise prevents it and Burnett can say his defensive move hasn't cost him a tempo. Fair enough but Black must now be very wary about allowing Nd5 because there are potential forks on both b6 and e7.} 15. h3 Nd7 16. Nd4 Bc4 17. Rd2 $5 {Another fascinating move that has the approval of the engine. Wise intends to follow up with Bg4, Ndb5 and e5 with a lot of pressure down the d-file. However, this requires the White Queen to remain on d1 so what is the future for the a1 Rook? By the same token what future does the a8 Rook have with the Black Queen on c8? Food for thought.} Rd8 18. Rb1 {"The mysterious Rook move which defends the b-Pawn in case White wants to play his Knights to b5, and allows a later b2-b3 without exposing the Rook on the long diagonal. More important perhaps, it waits for Black to do something." DL.} Nc5 {Deep Rybka analyses 18...Rb8 and 18...Ba6 as alternatives. I doubt if Burnett did because neither of them seem to do anything positive. The text gets the Knight away from d7 so it's no longer a target, but by taking the focus off e5 it encourages Wise to shortly play f4-f5.} 19. Bg4 Qc7 {Deep Rybka wants to play 19...e6 to hold up f4-f5. Dragon players would be very reluctant to do this and the reply 20 b3 forcing 20... Ba6 would probably put most players off anyway. The engine says that after the text Black still has a small disadvantage (about -0.28) which is consistent with the game so far. However, as this involves the loss of two tempi - remember 14...Qc8 - one feels that Black is getting pushed around a bit.} 20. f5 {The target on d7 has gone and e4-e5 no longer seems like a viable break so Wise switches to a Kingside attack.} Nd7 {I would call this "reacting to changed circumstances" by heading for the freshly available e5 square. Nearly all Deep Rybka's suggested alternatives either don't seem useful (20...b6, 20...Bf6 and 20...Be5) or lose tempi (20...Re8 and 20...Rf8) and, yes, in the latter case the same argument applies to the text. It also looked at 20...Qb6 which puts it on the same file as the b1 Rook - probably negligible - and the same diagonal as the e3 Bishop. After the text the engine says White's plus goes up to +0.5 but as none of the suggested alternatives seem constructive I'm reluctant to criticise it.} 21. fxg6 hxg6 22. Ncb5 Qb8 { The problem with the immediate 22...Bxb5 23 axb5 is that White threatens 24 c3 trapping the b4 Knight. This means that 23...e5 is met by 24 Ne6! fxe6 25 Bxe6+ Kh7 26 Qg4 with an attack at no material cost because White has c2-c3 in reserve. After 26...Nf6 27 Qh4+ Nh5 28 c3 the engine has White at +0.68 and what to do about g2-g4? As 22...Qc8 is too much of an embarrassment Burnett chooses b8 instead, but what does her Majesty do there?} 23. b3 $1 { "The exchange of the Queen's Bishop weakens Black on both sides." DL. This is actually the start of a terrific concept. Deep Rybka simply doesn't get it yet but Wise must have calculated a long way ahead.} Bxb5 24. axb5 {After 24 Nxb5 White keeps a small advantage. The text is much more committal. White threatens 25 c3 trapping the Knight because then the d2 Rook controls a2. Black can prevent this with 24...Qc8 or c7, but why not bounce the Knight into a2 and c3 with tempo gains? The answer is something akin to an attack by Tal.} Na2 {"His trump card, threatening 25...Nc3. Wise, having seen his chance, completely ignores the threat." DL.} 25. Bxd7 $1 Nc3 {"Or 25...Rxd7 26 Qg4 avoiding the fork." DL.} 26. Qg4 Nxb1 $2 {Correct is the simplifying 26...Rxd7 27.Qxd7 Nxb1 28.Rd3 when Deep Rybka claims White has a small advantage. I would certainly be concerned about the stranded Knight on b1 amongst a few other things. The engine comes up with a remarkable albeit unforced line: 28... Bf6 29.Nc6!? (29 b6 may be more promising and certainly less committal.) 29... bxc6 30.b6 Qe8 31.b7 Rb8 32.Qxe8+ Rxe8 33.Ba7 Nc3 34.b8=Q Rxb8 35.Bxb8 Nxe4 and calls it roughly level.} 27. Be6 $3 {"A devastating blow, simply threatening 28 Qxg6." DL. It turns out that all five White pieces can take part in the attack while the Black pieces are scattered and uncoordinated.} fxe6 {After 27...Nxd2 28 Qxg6 White has three different threats, specifically 29 Nf5 and 29 Bh6 both mating on g7, and 30 Qxf7+ Kh7 31 Qh5+ Bh6 32 Qxh6 mate. If 28...fxe6 29 Nxe6 also wins and inserting ...Nd2-f3+ in these lines only delays mate after g2xf3. Deep Rybka says it's mate in five after 28 Qxg6.} 28. Qxg6 Rf8 {If 28...Rd7 29 Nxe6 Qf8 30 Rf2! Qf6 31 Rxf6 exf6 32 Bh6 wins.} 29. Nxe6 Rf7 30. Rf2 {"Breaking down the defence of g7." DL.} Qf8 31. Ng5 b6 { Allowing White to crown his magnificent attack with a checkmate.} 32. Qh7# 1-0
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