1983-01-01 - Palmer, Richard 1-0 Gomez, M
A National Club game and another King's Gambit. Black gets it all wrong but Richard takes advantage of a very unique opportunity. It's not everyday that you decline to take your opponent's Queen with check!
[Event "NATIONAL MINOR TEAM KO"] [Site "?"] [Date "1983.01.01"] [Round "?"] [White "Palmer, Richard"] [Black "Gomez, M"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C34"] [Annotator "Doe,John"] [PlyCount "49"] {Two miniatures for the price of one here. The main game, Palmer-Gomez, was played in the National Minor Club competition. "King's Gambits are usually fun. I have inserted a game of my own in the notes which are based on comments of the winner Richard Palmer. "} 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. f4 exf4 4. Nf3 d6 5. d4 Bg4 $6 {"Black has transposed into the Fischer variation of the King's Gambit Accepted (KGA) where 4...Nc6 is not very bright. I know this from personal experience as in this position I played 5...g5 against S Hooker of University in a League match in 1979. I do not hesitate the game as it has its humorous moments and some instructional value: Hooker-Mordue, 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3. Nf3 d6 4 Bc4 Nc6 5 d4 g5 (which I gave an ?! to but Deep Rybka thinks that it is okay) 6.h4 Be7?! (The engine gives 6...Na5 and 6...g4 which I didn't like after 7 Ng5 although 7...Nh6 8 Bxf4 Bg7 is playable albeit with advantage to White) 7.hxg5 Bxg5 8.g3 Bg4 9.gxf4? (Better is 9 Bxf4) 9...Bh4+ 10.Rxh4?? Bxf3 11.Qxf3 Qxh4+ 12.Kd1 Nxd4 13.Qe3 Qh1+ 14.Kd2 Qh2+ 15.Kc3? Qxc2+( Deep Rybka giving this as +27.27 to Black!!) 16.Kxd4 c5+ 17.Kd5 Ne7+ 18.Kxd6 Qxc4 19.f5 f6 20.Nc3 Rd8+ 21.Kc7 Rd7+ 0-1 because of 22 Kb8 0-0+(!) 23 Kxa7 Qa6 mate." There is also 22 Kb8 Qa6 threatening 23...0-0 mate so one resigns before it gets too embarrassing. Back to the game. Deep Rybka endorses 5...g5 which is in the sprit of the line, but doesn't like 5...Bg4 which just allows White to regain the gambit Pawn without any inconvenience.} 6. Bxf4 Nf6 7. Nc3 Be7 8. Qd2 a6 $6 9. Ng5 $5 {"Richard comments 'The retreat Ng5-f3 is forced later. but [Ng5] currently serves two purposes. Black must castle Kingside where White's attack is directed [The half-open f-file is obviously a boon for White in the King's Gambit. TM] and if he plays ...h7-h6 then the Kingside is weakened. Black could play 9...Bh5 is he still wished to castle Queenside, but this would take time and White would be able to attack readily there because of the weakness caused by 8...a6. Note how White's greater command of space gives him the option of attacking on either wing." In summary Black will be punished for playing Pawn to Queen's Rook Three if he castles Queenside , so Richard invites him to both castle Kingside and play Pawn to King's Rook Three, and get punished there instead! My sort of thinking ... and it all comes to pass!} O-O 10. O-O h6 $2 11. Nf3 {"An interesting idea is 11.Nxf7 Rxf7 12.Bxh6 gxh6 13.Qxh6 winning for White who threatens 14 Qg6+ Kh8 15 Bxf7 followed by 16 Rxf6 and 17 Qh6 mate. If 13...d5 14.Nxd5 Be6 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 (if here 15... Rxf6 16.Bxe6+ Rxe6 17.Qxe6+ and 18 Rf7 wins) 16.Bxe6 Bxd4+ 17.Kh1 Ne5 18.Bxf7+ Nxf7 19.Qg6+ Kh8 20.Rxf7 wins. However [after 11.Nxf7 Rxf7 12.Bxh6] 12...d5 13.Nxd5 Be6 appears to refute White's attack." Richard's comments again. I added "In this last variation 14.Nxf6+ Rxf6 15.Rxf6 Bxc4 16.Rg6 is very unclear [Deep Rybka has this as almost equal]. However, White already has enough positional plus to defer strongarm methods for a short while." An accurate bit of analysis and a fair summing up.} Qd7 12. Rae1 Nh5 $6 {I annotated this with a ?? and the comment "Asking for it!" Amazingly Deep Rybka suggests that this is the best move! It suggests that after 13 Bxh6 Black goes first 13...Na5 14 Bd3 and then 14...gxh6. However after 15 Qxh6 Nc6 16 Nd5 it reckons White is better off (+0.45 to +0.26) than at the start of the line. This is a really difficult position for Black. He's cramped, passive and short of constructive moves. After staring at it for a while I can only suggest the engine's other line 12...b5 and after 13 Bb3 then 13...Na5 - it still wants to play 13...Nh5 (!) - to eliminate one attacking piece. At some point maybe Black could try ...Bxf3 to get rid of another but the Rook replacing the Knight looks even more dangerous.} 13. Bxh6 $1 gxh6 14. Qxh6 Qd8 $2 {"In a bad position mistakes are the easiest moves to find. However, I would not even want to attempt to find a defence for Black, his position is so bad." It's so bad that Deep Rybka already has White at +1.32. The text drops a piece for nothing and leaves White two Pawns to the good with a mammoth position. White is probably already winning. The primary threat is 15 Nd5 and taking on the Bishop on e7 which enables the other Knight to get to g5 threatening Qh7 mate. Black has no sensible way of stopping 15 Nd5. If 14...Be6 White has a pleasant choice of 15 d5 or 15 Bxe6 and 16 Qxh5, while 14...Nb4 15 Ng5 Bxg5 16 Qxg5+ Kh7 17 h3 wins - 17...Bxh3 18 Qxh5+ loses two pieces. Deep Rybka at first suggests 14...Ng7 because of the other minor threat of 15 h3 unhinging the Bishop's defence of that Knight, but after 15 Nd5 Bd8 16 Ng5 Bxg5 17 Qxg5 Black has no sensible defence to 18 Nf6+.} 15. Qg6+ Ng7 16. Qxg4 Bf6 $2 { Losing two whole tempi but what else can one suggest?} 17. e5 dxe5 18. dxe5 Be7 19. Rd1 {Also good are 19 Ne4 aiming to put a Knight on g5 and 19 Nd5 trying to put this on on f6. Deep Rybka has White at +10.} Bc5+ 20. Kh1 Qe7 {"This gives White an almost unique opportunity."} 21. Nd5 Rae8 {In view of what happens next Black can be forgiven for not resigning!} 22. Nf6+ $3 {"Gligoric said that it is always a mistake to take your opponent's Queen with check. Richard forces mate instead!"} Kh8 23. Qh3+ Nh5 24. Qxh5+ Kg7 25. Qh7# 1-0
The games viewer used here was developed by
http://chesstempo.com
and is licensed under
CC BY 2.0.
