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Pagan vs Joseph Blackburne
"Pagan Holiday" (game of the day Nov-09-2006)
Glasgow (1883), Glasgow SCO
Center Game: Paulsen Attack Variation (C22)  ·  0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

Annotations by Joseph Blackburne.      [148 more games annotated by Blackburne]

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Kibitzer's Corner
Mar-09-05  Orbitkind: Cowardly game by white, and a fittingly stupid error at the end.
Mar-09-05  Karpova: white played like a patzer
Mar-09-05  percyblakeney: Almost unchristian play by white...
Mar-09-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  tpstar: A combination involving the Knight fork is a known pagan ritual.
Nov-09-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sneaky: Chess is a game where you can't let your guard down for a minute!!
Nov-09-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  al wazir: OK, so what should white have played instead of 31. cxd5? Black is threatening 31. dxc4+ followed by the fork 32. Ne5+.

If 31. Kc3 then 31...d4+ followed by 32...Ne5+, winning a ♙. If 31. f4, then again 31...d4, and black threatens to post a ♘ at e3 via f6 and g4.

I don't think white was anywhere near getting a draw.

Nov-09-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  An Englishman: Good Evening: Blackburne showed great foresight in swapping down to the minor piece endgame, seeing the Bishop was a serious liability, out of play on the Queenside. Getting it back into the game would require a combination of Nc3-e2, c2-c3, Bb3-c2 and b2-b3 to prevent ...Nc4. But *that* would probably require the King to stay at c1 to protect the b2 pawn. So ...Nf6! forces f2-f3 to defend against a Knight invasion at either e4 or g4. But *that* weakens e3 and creates a potential invasion route for the Black King via either d4 or f4. So Pagan advances the King to meet Black's and walks into the trap.

And yet White's in a bind. If 29.c3, White can't move the Bishop to c2 because of ...Nc4+; Kc1,Ne3. If 29.Ke3 the Bishop can't move to any square (except possibly a2) without allowing ...Nc4+ forking King and b2 pawn. This is just really good endgame strategy from a guy who usually preferred to sacrifice as many pieces as possible.

Nov-09-06  sfm: fm: 29.Kd3 is a clear mistake. 29.c3 and White is fine.

<An Englishman: the Bishop was a serious liability, out of play on the Queenside. Getting it back into the game would require a combination of Nc3-e2, c2-c3, Bb3-c2> Well, after c2-c3 the bishop is no more out of play than blacks b6-knight. No need to get it "back into play", keep it there as long as black keep the knight on b6. 30.c4 is a nasty move to have to make.

After 31.f4 (and not cxd????) I still think it is a draw, but black can play for a win, as indicated by Al Wazir.

What do the Fritz & Co. owners say?

Nov-09-06  tatarch: pretty lame for a game of the day, especially if they're going to head back to the 19th century- i'm pretty sure i played a game like this on yahoo when i was drunk one night, can that be a game of the day too?
Nov-09-06  lvlaple: Worst GOTD in memory.

That being said CG.com usually does an awesome job.

Nov-09-06  kevin86: Speaking of blunders,I once played a miniature with the Center game that went like this: I was black

1 e4 e5 2 d4 exd4 3 ♕xd4 ♘c6 4 ♕c3 ♗b4 5 resigns

I thought by the pun,that Pagan was going to win-but even that assumption was a blunder,lol.

Nov-09-06  Operation Mindcrime: <lvaple> I agree. But everyone has an off day once in a while.

Seriously, though, this has absolutely NO redeeming features. Even Blackburne says so himself in his notes - it was almost a dead draw, until white played cxd5????

Nov-09-06  gmgomes: <I don't think white was anywhere near getting a draw.> I have an evalution of -0.20 - so white could fight for draw.
Nov-09-06  Gameoverziggy: white can't fight for a draw after bxc4
Ne5+ winning the bishop
Nov-09-06  thegoodanarchist: Let's not be too hasty in our criticism of this GOTD. Even the most pedestrian of lines can be educational.
Nov-09-06  schnarre: <kevin86> Even I've played the Center Game better than that, & I'm not much of an 1. e4 player....

I'd be inclined to say "Passive play doesn't pay!" in regards to White's play here...

Nov-09-06  syracrophy: what's the fun of this game? lol
Nov-09-06  Manic: lol <kevin86> i once played a similar game as white where the moves were 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qc6??, to which i replied... 4.d4?? Nf6?? 5.Bb5

My weakness as a player (as well as the weakness of my opponent) is shown.

Oct-03-09  WhiteRook48: Blackburne vandalized the pagan temple

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