Harry Davidson vs Henry Bird (1876)

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Harry Davidson vs Henry Bird
4th American Chess Congress, Philadelphia (1876), Philadelphia, PA USA, rd 11, Aug-28
Spanish Game: Bird Variation (C61) · 0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

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Mar-18-04		InspiredByMorphy: The Kingside pawn march clenches the win!

Mar-18-04		shr0pshire: move 5 is interesting by black. 5. ... Bc5 I don't think is a good move and I would like to know the rationale behind his move. Black's D pawn is not being threatened immediately, and that bishop doesn't do much good on that diagonal. I think a mistake that is made in this game is that Davidson doesn't have a clear plan with where he is going with his attack. 10. Bf4 is a questionable move. I think that 10. Re1 would have been a stronger move blocking in the black king. 10. Nf3. I think 13. f3 is a weak move. This permanently weakens the kingside, and allows black's attack to take full strength. A better move would be 13. Nf3. 14. Nb3? is a very dubious move. It removes a defender from the king side, and the knight looks serverely misplaced on the queenside. Then after all of this, with an precise attack black comes away with an easy victory!

Mar-19-04		InspiredByMorphy: <shrOpshire> <I would like to know the rationale behind his move> Move 5 isn't about placing the bishop on an effective diagonal. It is used to defend the d-pawn (in most cases Ive seen black lets white exchange), and more importantly develop a piece. <Bc5 I don't think is a good move> I agree in a sense that it probably isnt the most effective move, but it does have its merits which shouldn't be discounted. <I think that 10. Re1 would have been a stronger move blocking in the black king. 10. Nf3.> 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 4. Nxd4 exd4 5. d3 Bc5 6. O-O c6 7. Bc4 d5 8. exd5 cxd5 9. Bb5+ Kf8 10. Re1 Nf6 11. c4 dxc3ep 12. Nxc3 Qb6 13. Qc2 Bf5 14. Bf4 Rc8 15. Rac1 Kg8 16. Nxd5 Qxb5 17. Re5 Nxd5 18. Rxd5 b6 19. Rxf5 Bxf2+ 20. Kh1 Rxc2 21. Rxb5 Rxc1+ and draws <I think 13. f3 is a weak move. A better move would be 13. Nf3.> 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 4. Nxd4 exd4 5. d3 Bc5 6. O-O c6 7. Bc4 d5 8. exd5 cxd5 9. Bb5+ Kf8 10. Bf4 h5 11. Re1 Ne7 12. Nd2 Bg4 13. Nf3 Qa5 14. c4 dxc3ep 15. Qa4 Qxa4 16. Bxa4 cxb2 17. Rab1 Ng6 18. Bg3 Bxf3 19. gxf3 Bd4 20. Bb3 h4 21. Bd6+ Kg8 22. Ba3 Nf4 23. Red1 Nh3+ 24. Kf1 Nxf2 25. Rd2 Nh3 26. Bxd5 Rh5 27. Be4 Nf4 28. Bxb2 Be3 and wins

Mar-19-04		InspiredByMorphy: <14.Nb3? is a very dubious move> I can find no better move, and even personally believe that Bird would have played it himself. However I tryed to find the best move I could come up with besides it 14.Ba4 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 4. Nxd4 exd4 5. d3 Bc5 6. O-O c6 7. Bc4 d5 8. exd5 cxd5 9. Bb5+ Kf8 10. Bf4 h5 11. Re1 Ne7 12. Nd2 Bg4 13. f3 Bf5 14. Ba4 Bd6 15. Bxd6 Qxd6 16. Bb3 Rh6 17. Qe2 Bd7 18. Qe5 Qxe5 19. Rxe5 Be6 20. c4 dxc3ep 21. bxc3 Rc8 22. c4 Nc6 23. Ree1 dxc4 24. Bxc4 Bxc4 25. dxc4 Na5 26. Rac1 Rhc6 27. Re5 Nxc4 28. Rxh5 Nd6 29. Rh8+ Ke7 30. Rxc8 Rxc8 31. Rxc8 Nxc8 and wins Good post <shrOpshire> ! Feel free to give me opinions on any of the above analysis.

Mar-19-04		shr0pshire: As far as f3 being a weak move I still stand by that, but let me change my response, because by your analysis I realize that my response was a blunder. 13. Qc1 is a much better move. It gets the knight out of harm's way. Here is the continuation I come up with: 13. Qc1 Qa5 14. f3 Be6 15. Rxc1 fxe6 16. Bd7 h4 17. Nb3 This leaves the position about even. As for Nb3, I was mistaken. I went back and reanalyzed and you are correct again. 14. Nb3 is the correct move. My mistake.

Apr-04-08		Knight13: 17. f4 looks good.

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