Thursday 23 January 2020

Lasker's Spanish Inquisition (part 10)

LASKER'S final Spanish Exchange as White came at New York 1924 against many-times US champion Frank Marshall.
Lasker - Marshall
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d4 Bg4!?
A popular move against 5.0-0, but relatively rare here.
6.dxe5 Qxd1+ 7.Kxd1 0-0-0
For 7...Bc5?!, see https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2020/01/laskers-spanish-inquisition.html
8.Ke1!?
By getting out of the pin, White makes it harder for Black to capture the e5 pawn.
8...Bc5
Ernst Grünfeld three times played 8...f6!? against Siegfried Wolf, scoring a win and two draws.
9.h3 Bh5 10.Bf4
Stockfish10 and Komodo10 prefer 10.Ke2!?, which transposes to a known position where it is normally White to move.
10...f5!? 11.Nbd2
Black is very active after 11.exf6 Nxf6 - exactly the type of position Marshall loved.
White is two pawns up after 11.exf5 Bxf3, but the position is unclear.
11...Ne7 12.Bg5 Bxf3 13.gxf3 Rhe8 14.Rd1 fxe4?
This is too cooperative. The engines give 14...h6 15.Be3 Bxe3 16.fxe3, and now 14...fxe4, when 15.Nxe4 does not hit anything, so Black equalises the material with 15...Rxd1+ 16.Kxd1 Nf5 etc
15.fxe4?!
15.Nxe4 was almost certainly better.
15...h6 16.Bh4 Bd4 17.Nc4 g5 18.c3 Ng6 19.cxd4 Nxh4 20.Ke2 Rd7?!
The engines like the active 20...Rf8 21.Rhf1 (or 21.Rd3 Ng2/g6) Nf3 22.Ke3 Rf4.
21.f3 Ng6 22.Ne3 c5 23.dxc5 Nf4+ 24.Kf2 Rxd1 25.Rxd1 Rxe5?
Better is 25...Nxh3+ 26.Kg3 Nf4 27.Nd5 Nxd5, although White still has an advantage after 18.Rxd5.
26.Nd5 Nxh3+ 27.Kg3 g4 28.Nf6 h5 29.f4 Rxc5?!
The engines' 29...h4+ 30.Kxh4 (30.Kxg4?! Nf2+) Nxf4 looks a better try.
30.Re1 Rb5 31.e5 Kd8 32.Nxh5 Ke7 33.f5 Ng5 34.Kxg4
White is a pawn up again, at least temporarily, and the rest is fairly simple.
34...Nh7 35.Nf4 Rxb2 36.Nd5+ Kd7 37.e6+ Kd6 38.e7 Kxd5 39.Re6 Rg2+ 40.Kf4 Rg8 41.e8=Q Rxe8 42.Rxe8 c5?
This accelerates the loss, but the engines' best line, 42...Kd6 43.Re6+ Kd7 44.Rg6 is convincing enough for White.
43.Rd8+ Kc6
Or 43...Kc4 44.Rh8 Nf6 45.e5 etc.
44.Rh8 1-0

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