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Paul Morphy vs Henry Bird
Casual game (1858), London ENG, Aug-??
Italian Game: Evans Gambit. Main Line (C51)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

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Kibitzer's Corner
Oct-03-03  jhendricks: 25. ... Rh6 looks interesting
Oct-03-03  mauk: What is great about this game is that, after 17 ...,Nf6, Morphy already knows that he wants to play Rf4. It takes him 8 moves to get there and Bird cannot do anything but watch.
Oct-04-03  drukenknight: Tell me you dont really believe that do you? Surely it is more likely that Bird was a lunatic to have played f6?
Oct-04-03  Calli: Yeah, 25.f6?? is a loser. Rh6 or a5 are better.
Oct-16-04  Knight13: 25... f6?? that's a big mistake Bird made.
Oct-17-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  Chessical: Instead of <12...dxe5> modern theory has <12...Ne7> 13.Re1 0-0 14.Bg5 f6 15.exf6 gxf6 16.Bh6 Re8 17.Nc3 Ng6 with a sharp position for both sides.

<jhendricks'> suggestion of: <25...Rh6> seems to equalise for Bird after: 26.h3 Rd8 27.Qc4

The final coup could have been:

<31.Re7+> Kf8 32.Rd7 Rh8 33.Qb4+ c5 34.dxc6+ Kg8 35.Qc4+ Kf8 36.Qf7#

Apr-03-05  NoorBeckwith: Is there anything wrong with <14 ... Qxa1>?
Apr-03-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  tpstar: <NoorBeckwith> After 14 ... Qxa1?! 15. Nxb6 (15. Nc3? Ba5) axb6 16. Nc3 the Queen has no escape squares and is trapped by 17. Ba3. Or 15 ... Qxb1 16. Nxa8 and Black can't prevent 17. Nxc7+, also the King can't move to a dark square due to the Discovery winning the Queen. Less good is 15. Qe2+ Kxd7 16. Bb2 Qxa2 17. Qg4+ & 18. Bxg7.

Now what about 16 ... Qxa1 instead?

Apr-03-05  sneaky pete: Even stronger (after 14... Qxa1) is 15. Re1+ .. as indicated by Sergeant (after Lowenthal's earlier analysis, I guess). Then if 15... Kxd7 16.Qa4+ c6 17.dxc6+ .. or 16... Kd6 17.Bf4+ .. when black can only postpone the mate by giving up his queen.
Jan-10-06  morpstau: Well Birds first slight mistake is not playing 7...bb4+. I mean that would have eualized in my opinon and left Morphy on his own. Instead we get 7...bb6 which gives white a incredibly strong center and a few extra tempi. Morphy never looked back after this and indeed disected the unsound BIRD. A great game on the part of the first player. He attacks with great vigor and has the iniative thoughout this beutiful example of the lively Evans gambit. (any comments?)
Feb-05-06  Knight13: I might have even missed 26. Nxf6!

Good play by Morphy with his killing style!

Feb-05-06  jackmandoo: <Knight13> Morphy was known for his accurate play, in the process he just happened to kill. That's like calling a Tsuanami a "killer wave". Well who did the wave Kill? It wasn't on a rampage or anything, it was just reacting to the movement of the earth. Same thing as if you eat just plain mayonnayse for 3 days. You're going to have some strange bowel movements, that just goes without saying.
Feb-13-06  dakgootje: <Same thing as if you eat just plain mayonnayse for 3 days.> Ah yes! Now things are starting to get evry clearly indeed
Feb-14-06  babakova: <jackmandoo> always explains things so I can understand them.
Feb-14-06  Jim Bartle: That's right, and it's getting me worried.
Feb-15-06  dakgootje: <<jackmandoo> always explains things so I can understand them.>Yes indeed, strange how clearly hes able to explain things
Aug-09-06  sahmattr: "Morphy,Blackburne and Tal." These three guys are not only chess players but also artists.
Feb-02-08  JimmyVermeer: Sergeant lists White's 30th move as Q-B4, which could be either Qc4 or Qf4. This is why I've come to dislike descriptive notation - it tends to be ambiguous more than algebraic notation. Algebraic notation can also be ambiguous if used improperly.

There is an improvement on Chessical's suggested ending, whereby Black can delay mate by 1 more turn by playing differently on his 34th turn. 31 Re7+ Kf8 32 Rd7 Rh8 33 Qb4+ c5 34 dxc6ep+ Bc5 35 Qxc5+ Kg8 36 Qc4+ Kf8 37 Qf7#

Black's 30th move was a mistake. He should have tried Rh7, though he would have still lost in about 16 moves.

Jun-13-10  soothsayer8: why 13...Qf6? that looks like a clear mistake to me, it forces black's king out into the open, which was basically the source of all of black's problems. Was Qf6 really necessary?
Oct-15-13  lentil: I was wondering about 16 ... Qxa1, but finally doscovered that 17 Re1+ Kf8 18 Qb4+ c5 19 dc6+! mates.
Dec-16-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  tpstar: <16 ... Qxa1 17. Re1+ Kf8 18. Qb4+ c5 19. dxc6+! mates> Good job.

A textbook Evans Gambit crush.

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