THE fourth game of the
match,
played on Monday, May 10. Rosenthal opened with the attack in the
Ruy Lopez, adopted in the first game of the last Steinitz-Blackburne
match;
but Zukertort, in lieu of Blackburnes 6th move for the defence B
to K
2, followed our recommendation in the notes to that game, and turned
into
the K Fianchetto by P to K Kt 3, and B to K Kt 2. In developing
the
Q Kt, Rosenthal pursued the course taken in the above-mentioned game,
namely,
to bring it out via Q 2 and K B sq before developing the Q B; but
he made the alteration of fixing K Kt 3 as the final destination of this
Kt, instead of K 3. In accordance with the principles of this
attack,
the movements of Whites pieces were well concealed behind the
pawns, until,
on the 15th move, Rosenthal opened hot action by the brilliant sacrifice
of the K Kt for the adverse K P. The French champion was bound to
recover his piece, but unless we err much in our detailed analysis given
below, he ought not to have come out actually with the superior game by
best play on the other side. As it was, Rosenthal brought all his
confined pieces into full play with a few effective strokes then forced
the exchange of queens, and obtained a free and easy attacking position
with the open file for his R on the extreme Queens wing.
Zukertort
defended himself with great ingenuity, but could not altogether release
himself from difficulties. On the 32nd move - singularly enough,
just the time of the adjournment, as in the second game of the match -
the most critical moment arose, and Rosenthal gave his move in a sealed
envelope, which was put into the care of Dr Ballard. This move
enabled
his opponent to equalise the game in a few moves after the
adjournment.
At that point, however, Rosenthal could have won the game, owing to an
incautious movement of the K on the part of his adversary. From
the
discussion which ensued after the finish of the game, we gathered that
Rosenthal had hit on the right idea, and in his calculation had
demonstrated
a win for himself against the very defence which Zukertort had intended
to employ; but the former game up his plan, on the assumption that
another
defence by P takes P would turn out unfavourable to his projected
attack.
Zukertort, however, immediately proved that in that case White would
also
have won. It should be stated that Zukertorts variation was
by far
the finer of the two, and, in fact, so subtle and ingenious that even
Rosenthals
best friends may excuse his not discovering the same in his
forecast.
We give a diagram of the position below, and have only to add that at
the
time when Zukertort consented to a draw we thought he had a slight
superiority
of position, but we are not prepared to say that it was sufficient to
win
by force. |
The Field, London,
1880.05.15
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Rosenthal,S Zukertort,JH
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(4)
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C77/08 |
Spanish: Morphy (Anderssen)
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Annotations by Wilhelm
Steinitz
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 d6 5.c3 a6 6.Ba4 g6
7.Nbd2
Bg7 8.Nf1 O-O 9.Ng3 b5 10.Bc2 d5 11.O-O h6
** |
In order to prevent White releasing
himself by Ng5, when the bishop is brought out to e3. Black could
now exchange queens by 11...dxe4, but the opponent would have remained
in first possession of the open file. |
12.Bd2 Be6 13.a4
** |
We have given frequent
illustrations
of the importance of this move when the opponents
b-pawn is fixed at b5. It prepares the eventual opening of the
a-file
at a convenient moment, and in the present game this process greatly
augmented
Whites position at a later
stage. |
13...Qd6 14.Qc1 Kh7 15.Nxe5
** |
An ingenious surprise, so far has
he had calculated upon recovering the piece, but we doubt whether he
ought
to have had the best of the final position, after equalising the
forces. |
15...Nxe5
** |
Of course he could not take with
the
queen, which would have been lost, in that case, by the reply
16.Bf4. |
16.d4 dxe4
** |
Retreating the e-knight anywhere
would
have been unfavorable; for White, after advancing 17.e5 and capturing
the
f-knight, had in most cases, a prospective source of a strong attack by
Nh5; yet, by the move in the text, he allows all Whites
pieces to obtain powerful positions for the ending game; and, on the
other
hand, we believe he might have retained the superiority by taking the
e-pawn
with the knight, this at once unmasking his confined g-bishop. The
game might then have proceeded thus: 16...Nxe4 17.dxe5 (17.Nxe4 dxe4
18.dxe5
Qxe5 19.Bf4 Qd5 20.Bxc7 Rac8 21.Ba5 {if 21.Bf5, the game might proceed
thus: 21.Bf5 b4 22.cxb4 Qc4 23.Bd1 Qxb4 winning another pawn, with a
fine
game.} 21...f5, and we prefer Blacks
position,
which at any rate, is much superior to the one he actually obtained.)
17...Nxg3
18.hxg3 (if he take the queen, Black checks with the knight at e2, and,
after capturing the queen, he advances the c-pawn to c6 or c5, and the
opponents far-advanced d-pawn ought
to fall
soon by ...Rfd8 and ...Bf8.) 18...Qxe5 19.Bf4 Qe2 20.Bxc7 d4, with an
excellent
game, for White dare not capture the pawn on account of rook to c8, as
the attack of the queen by Bd1 will be of no use, since Black may answer
...Qc4, winning at last the exchange. |
17.dxe5 Qxe5 18.Bf4 Qc5 19.Nxe4
Nxe4 20.Bxe4 Rad8 [?:??-1:00] 21.axb5
** |
See our note to
Whites
13th move. The opening of the a-file becomes now most effective;
and recognising his advantage for the ending with keen judgment, the
French
champion forces the exchange of queens next move. |
21...axb5 22.Qe3 Qxe3
** |
The exchange could not be avoided,
or else White would have increased his attack by Ra7. |
23.Bxe3 f5 24.Bc6 f4 25.Bc5 Rf5
** |
Zukertort develops powerful
defensive
resource, and makes the most of his extremely difficult
game. |
26.Bb4 Rd2 27.Rfe1
[1:00-?:??]
** |
27.Ra7 at once strikes us as much
stronger. Blacks best reply was
apparently
27...Be5, for he could not allow the c-pawn to be taken with the rook,
as by best play White ought afterwards to succeed in doubling the rooks
on the seventh rank after opening a square for the king by the advance
of the h-pawn, or else in winning also the b-pawn. The following
was then a probable continuation: 27.Ra7 Be5 (if 27...Rf7, the answer is
28.Ba8) 28.Re1 Rxb2 29.h4, and should Black defend the b-pawn by
29...Bc4,
he would lose through 30.Be4, followed accordingly by h5; or in case the
rook moves to h5, the bishop attack again at f3, and ultimately at g4,
with a winning game. |
27...Bd7 28.Bxd7 Rxd7 29.Ra7 Rfd5
30.h3 Be5 31.Rb7 [2:00-?:??] 31...Kg7
** |
An error which might have cost the
game. He should have brought the king round, via g8, although it
would have taken him one move longer to reach the center. |
32.b3
** |
We give a diagram of this most
interesting
position, already alluded to in our introductory remark. The
winning
move would have been 32.c4. Rosenthal assumed Black would reply
32...bxc4,
and though he saw that the rook might be sacrificed, he did not perceive
the full effect of the beautiful line of play pointed out by Zukertort,
and which goes on as follows: 32.c4 bc4 33.Rxe5 Rxe5 34.Bc3 Kf6 35.Rb5
Rde7 36.g4. The combination of this ingenious move with
Whites
previous attack had been overlooked by Rosenthal. Black dare not
take en passant, on account of the winning answer 37.f4.
Whites
next move is Rc5, and then he brings up his king to f3, and while Black,
after exhausting his pawn moves, can only play one rook backwards and
forwards.
White will await the most favorable moment for recovering the exchange,
and will also gain both isolated pawns on the c-file, remaining with a
strong passed pawn, which ought ultimately to win. Rosenthal, on
the other hand, pointed out that the defense which Zukertort admitted he
had relied upon in lieu of 32...bxc4, viz., 32...Rd1, would have proven
unsatisfactory, owing to the following simple process: 32.c4 Rd1 33.cxb5
Rxe1+ (if 33...Bxb2 at once then White takes the rook, and after moving
king to h2, wins also by b6 and Ba5.) 34.Bxe1 Rd1 35.Kf1 Bxb2 36.Ke2,
followed
by b6, and Ba5, winning. |
32...Kf6 33.Kf1 Kf5 34.c4 bxc4
½-½.
** |
We think now that if the game had gone on
Whites
far-advanced c-pawn (after 35.bxc4), which was not capable of much
support,
might have proved a source of trouble. Black could have now first
exchanged one rook by ...Rd1, followed by ...Rd4 and ...Ke4. |
The Field, London,
1880.05.15
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