London 1858
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5!?
Morphy played the Philidor nine times, which compares with three times for the Petrov and 50 times for 2...Nc6, according to ChessBase's 2019 Mega database. Eight of his Philidor opponents played 3.d4, with Morphy replying 3....f5!? four times, scoring +3=1-0, and the modern favourite 3...exd4 four times, scoring +2=1-1. The one time he faced 3.Bc4, Morphy also played 3...f5!?, with the game ending in a draw.
4.dxe5 fxe4 5.Ng5 d5 6.e6 Nh5 7.Nc3 c6 8.Ngxe4!? dxe4 9.Qh5+ g6 10.Qe5 Rg8 11.Bxh6 Bxh6 12.Rd1
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| The same position as reached five times in games between Atwood and Wilson in the late 1700s (see part one of this series) |
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12...Qg5!?
Wilson always played 12...Qe7, which is at first much preferred by Stockfish10 and Komodo10. But give the engines more time and their evaluations narrow, although still preferring Wilson's move. Saveilly Tartakower in 500 Master Games Of Chess calls 12...Qe7 "passive" and the text "more active," but does not explicitly state his preference.
13.Qc7
Tartakower comments: "For Black to have permitted this intrusion, which threatens Qxc8+ as well as a mate on the move, is proof of steady nerves or most-accurate calculation."
13...Bxe6 14.Qxb7 e3
Tartakower points out that this threatens ...exf2+ followed by ...Qe6#.
15.f3 Qe7!?
The engines prefer 15...e2 16.Bxe2 Qxg2 17.Rf1 Qxh2 18.Ne4! (if 18.Qxa8?! then 18...Qg3+ 19.Rf2 Be3 20.Ne4 Bxf2+ 21.Nxf2 Qc7, when material is level but the engines give Black an edge) Qh4+ 19.Rf2 Be3 20.Qxa8 Bxf2+ 21.Nxf2 Qb4+ 22.c3 Qb6, which is very similar to the line in brackets, but this time the engines slightly prefer White.
16.Qxa8 Kf7
White has emerged from the immediate complications with rook and pawn for bishop. If the white queen can escape from the corner, White must be much better.
17...Bf4?
The engines suggest 17...Kg7, while preferring White.
18.Be2?
Komodo10 likes Johann Löwenthal's suggestion of 18.g3 for quite some time, but eventually agrees with Stockfish10 and an anonymous ChessBase annotator that best is 18.Rd4, the point being to follow with Ra4.
18...Kg7 19.0-0
No longer so strong is Rd4 as Black has 19...Rc8, when 20.Ra4?? runs into 20...Na6 21.Qxc8 Bxc8. Note that if White had played 18.Rd4, the reply 18...Rc8 would not solve Black's problems as White has the pinning 19.Bc4, removing the threat of ...Na6.
19...Qc7?!
Threatening to win the white queen and also threatening ...Bxh2+. But White finds a strong reply, so it seems that better was 19...Rc8!?, when the white queen can be saved by 20.Rd6 Bxd6 21.Nxd6 Qxd6 22.Qxa7+. The engines continue 22...Bf7 23.Qxe3, when they much prefer Black, although the position is unclear as White has three pawns for a knight.
20.Nc5! Bxh2+ 21.Kh1 Bc8
White is the exchange up but the position remains complicated as his queen is still endangered and Black has mating threats.
22.Rd4 Bg3 23.Re4?
This loses. The engines give 23.Ne4! when the game's ...Kh8? loses to 24.Nxg3 Qxg3 25.Qxa7. However, Black can save the dark-square bishop, eg 23...Be5, when the engines reckon Black has full compensation for the exchange.
23...Kh8
The fate of the white queen will be irrelevant if Black delivers mate by switching his queen to the h file via g7.
24.Rd1 Qg7 25.Rh4!?
Desperation, but it contains a point Morphy & Barnes miss.
25...Bxh4?
Best was 25...Qe7 (other moves also win), eg 26.Rdd4 Qxc5.
26.Qxb8 Ba6 27.Qh2?
White had to find 27.Qf4, which, like the text, attacks the dark-square bishop, but has the crucial extra factor of covering the h6 checking square. After 27...Bxe2 28.Rd7 Be7 (the only way to save the dark-square bishop as well as Black's queen) 29.Ne6 Qf6 30.Rxe7! Qxe7 31.Qe5+ Rg7, White has a perpetual by 32.Qb8+ etc.
27...Bxe2 28.Rd7 Qh6 29.Ne4
Nothing gets White's piece back.
29...Bc4 30.Nf6 e2 31.Re7 Qc1+ 32.Qg1 Qxg1+ 33.Kxg1 e1=Q+ 34.Rxe1 Bxe1 0-1
White's missing move was 17.Ne4
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