Morphy - Barnes
St James's Chess Club, London 1859
Petrov Defence Boden–Kieseritzky Gambit
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4!?
This game was played just six days after their previous encounter, in which Morphy chose the Classical Attack (3.Nxe5).
3...Nxe4 4.Nf3 Nxc3
The main move, and surely the real test of the Boden–Kieseritzky.
5.dxc3 f6 6.0-0!?
More popular in ChessBase's 2019 Mega database is 6.Nh4, but David Hooper in A Complete Defence To 1 P-K4: A Study Of Petroff's Defence (Pergamon Press, 1967) says 6.Nh4 "commits rather too soon to one line of attack."
6...Qe7
In a previous game between the same players in 1858, the same position was reached from a Bishop's Opening move-order, and in that game Barnes played 6...Nc6, so the text was presumably a prepared improvement.
7.Nh4
Most popular, but "not effective," according to Hooper. He preferred 7.Re1!?, which is the choice of Stockfish10 and Komodo10.
7...d6?
Hooper gave 7...g6, which is much preferred by the engines.
8.Qh5+ Kd8
The displacement of the black king, combined with White's lead in development, make for fair compensation for the pawn-minus.
9.f4 Be6
The point of 7...d6?, but the engines prefer 9...g6 10.Nxg6 Qe8 11.Qh4 Qxg6 12.fxe5 Bf5 13.exf6 Nd7, with a small edge (Komodo10), or 9...a5 10.f5 Bd7 11.Be3 c6 12.Ng6 hxg6 13.Qxh8 gxf5, again with a small edge (Stockfish10). However, in both cases there is a lot of play left in the position.
10.Bxe6 Qxe6 11.fxe5 dxe5 12.Ng6+
12.Be3!? was played in a 1998 Spanish game.
12...Bc5+ 13.Kh1 Re8 14.Qxh7
Hooper reckons the position is equal, as does Komodo10, but Stockfish10 gives White the upper hand.
14...Qg8 15.Qh5 Nd7 16.b4 Bd6 17.Bd2?!
Lowenthal: "Intending, probably, to advance c4, but it would have been much stronger play to post this bishop at e3." The engines agree.
17...Qf7 18.Qg4 Qe6 19.Qe4 Nb6!?
Lowenthal: "A very subtle, clever move, the true motive of which White entirely overlooked."
20.Qxb7!?
Löwenthal: "Curiously enough, this move, as Black foresaw, cost White his knight." But the text is the engines' top choice, so who is trapping whom?
20...Qg4 21.a4?
This is the real culprit. Komodo10 gives 21.c4!? Qxc4 22.Be3, with a slight edge for Black (although the more-volatile Stockfish10 has Black close to winning). Stockfish10 reckons best was 21.Rfe1!? Qxg6 22.c4 Ke7 23.c5 Kf8 24.cxd6 cxd6, with slightly the better position for Black.
21...Rc8!
White's knight is still trapped, and his compensation is inadequate.
22.Rad1 Qxg6 23.Be3 Nc4 24.Qc6 Qf7
Löwenthal points out that 24...Nxe3?? loses to 25.Rxd6.
25.Bxa7 e4?
Black is much better after 25...Rh8 or 25...Qe6. The text is faulty because it allows White's d1 rook strongly into the attack.
26.Rd4?
But this is not the way to menace the black knight as Black can ignore White's threat. Correct was 26.Rd5, with the engines giving best play as 26...Re5 27.Rd4 Rh5 28.Qxc4 Rxh2+ 29.Kg1, when White seems to be better despite the precarious-looking situation of his king. In this line, if Black tries 27...Ne3!?, White has 28.Rxd6+! cxd6 29.Qxd6+, with Be3 to come.
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| Black to play and win |
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26...Qh5
Löwenthal: "Menacing mate, and capitally played."
27.Rf4
There is no salvation in 27.g3, eg 27...Rh8 28.Rf2 e3 29.Rg2 e2 30.Re4 Qf3+ 31.Rg2 Qf1+ 32.Rg1 e1=Q 33.Rxf1 Rxh2+! 34.Kxh2 Qxg3+ 35.Kh1 Qh2#
27...e3 28.g4 e2 29.gxh5 e1=Q+ 30.Kg2 Re2+ 31.Kh3 f5?!
Several other moves win more easily, but this is good enough.
32.Qxc4?!
More challenging was 32.Rxc4. Black then has to find 32...g5 33.hxg6 Ke7, when the white pieces cannot get at the black king.
32...Qf1+! 33.Kh4
33.Rxf1?? Rxh2#
33...Rxh2+ 34.Kg5 Qg2+??
Correct was 34...Qg1+, and if, as in the game, 35.Rg4, then 35...Qe3+ leads to mate.
35.Rg4! fxg4 36.Qf7??
White wins with 36.Rxd6+ (a recurring theme in this game, which makes it all the more surprising that Morphy missed it) cxd6 37.Qg8+ Kd7 38.Qxg7+ Ke8 (other moves allow a quick mate) 39.Qg6+ Ke7 40.Qf6+ Ke8 41.Qe6+ Kf8 42.Qxd6+ Ke8 43.Qe6+ Kd8 44.Bb6+ Rc7 45.Qd6+ Ke8 46.Qxc7 - a long line, but much of it forced.
36...Qxc6
Making a sac on d6 ineffective, and thus winning.
37.b5 Qd7 38.Rxd6 Qxd6 0-1
Even at this late stage it was still possible to go wrong, ie 38...cxd6?? 39.Bb6+ wins for White.
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