James Mason vs Joseph Blackburne (1901)

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James Mason vs Joseph Blackburne
Monte Carlo (1901), Monte Carlo MNC, rd 1, Feb-04
Sicilian Defense: Four Knights. Exchange Variation (B45) · 0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

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Mar-13-09		morphynoman2: 25... Be3! is a very fine move. If 26, Bxe3, then h3!, winning.

Mar-13-09		Shams: that is a nice shot.

Dec-05-17		jdc2: The position after 25. a5 is problem #608 in Reinfeld's "1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations".

Jul-26-19		KEG: The 32nd and last game in the long rivalry between Blackburne and Mason. Blackburne's fine win here brought the final tally between these two veterans to 15 to 7 with 10 draws in Blackburne's favor. This game was fairly one-sided. Mason dropped a pawn on move 14 (missing a neat tactical finesse by Blackburne) and then erred badly on his 25th turn allowing Blackburne to unleash one of his glorious combinations. As jdc2 has pointed out on this site, Blackburne's combo here appears in one of Reinfeld's books on tactics. Blackburne was no longer a major factor at international tournaments at this stage of his career (he finished with a respectable 6.5 out of 13 at Monte Carlo 1901). But he was still a dangerous tactician. Lasker lost only two games in total in crushing the field at both London 1899 and Paris 1900. One of these was to Blackburne at London 1899 as the result of a spectacular sacrifice that even Lasker overlooked (Lasker's other loss in this period was to Marshall at Paris 1900). Incidentally, most of the notes appearing in the Tournament Book for this game were by "Sittenfeld." I have no idea who he was. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 click for larger view 6. NxN "This move strengthens the Black pawn centre and is not the best. I prefer 6. Be3." (Tournament Book). "The strongest is 6. Ndb5." (Schlechter). While the moves suggested by the Tournament Book and (especially) the one by Schlechter) are good options, there is nothing wrong with the text, which has been played by Kasparov (at least three times), Lasker (at least three times), Marshall, Najdorf, Robert Byrne, Spassky, Short, Timman, Anand, Akopian, Karjakin and a host of other fine players. The move derives from an 1849 game between Bird and Medley. It appears to yield White a tiny edge. 6... bxN 7. Bd3 The Tournament Book called this "weak" and suggested 7. e5. Both moves have their points. I prefer the text, which does not invite 7...Nd5. 7... d5! Announcing his intention to fight for the initiative and to play for a win. 7...Bd6 was a good, safe alternative. click for larger view 8. exd5 Giving up the center without a fight and handing the advantage to Black. The Tournament Book's suggested 8. Qe2 was certainly better. Best of all, however, was the simple 8. 0-0. 8... exd5 8...cxd5 keeping his pawn chair intact (and avoiding a backward c-pawn) was probably the sounder approach but not in Blackburne's style. The text was the way to unleash the c8 Bishop for attack, and I would not have expected anything else from Blackburne in such a position. 9. 0-0 Be7 9...Bd6 looks stronger. 10. Ne2 Obviously intending Ng3-f5 (or h5). But 10. Bf4 or 10. Re1 (and perhaps 10. h3) look more solid. 10... 0-0 click for larger view 11. Ng3 This attacking scheme was premature. Mason could better have taken on Blackburne's dangerous looking center with 11. c4, or perhaps gotten his c1 Bishop into play beginning with 11. b3. 11... Qc7 11...Bd6 still looks stronger. 12. c3 "He ought to continue with the plan of Nf5 to be followed by Bg5." (Tournament Book). 12. Nf5 would run into 12...BxN 13. BxB Rfe8 giving Black the better chances. The text, however, is no prize either. Better was 12. b3 or 12. c4. After the text, as the Tournament Book notes, Blackburne assumed the initiative. 12... Ng4 "!"--(Tournament Book) Also good were 12...Bd6 or 12...Re8. In any case, the initiative had indeed passed to Blackburne, the position after 12...Ng4 being: click for larger view

Jul-27-19		KEG: Post II 13. Qc2 This attack on h7 gets Mason nowhere (and, as will be seen, could simply have been ignored by Blackburne). Better was 13. Be2 or 13. c4. 13... g6 Good enough for equality, But Blackburne could have ignored the "threat" and played 13...h5! immediately, e.g., 14. h3 (14. Bh7+ Kh8 is no better for White) Bc5 with an attack similar to that which developed after Mason's poor 14th move. 14. h3? This loses a pawn and could alone (and even apart from Mason's later errors and Blackburne's famous combination on move 25) have been sufficient to lose the game. 14. Be2 or 14. c4 were much better. After 14. h3? the position was: click for larger view 14... Bc5! "!"--(Tournament Book) "Gaining a pawn and a winning position." (Tournament Book). 15. hxN White could also have tried 15. b4, which would have been met by 15...QxN. Mason of course could not move his Knight because of the resulting mate on h2. 15... QxN click for larger view 16. Be2? "It is clear that he cannot save the pawn. If 16. g5? Bh3 wins." (Tournament Book). A pawn must indeed be lost. 16. Re1 or 16. b4 were comparatively best. 16... Bxg4 17. BxB Slightly better chances were offered by 17. Qd3. 17... QxB click for larger view Blackburne here not only had a pawn in hand, but also a powerful initiative. The game can be considered lost for Mason. 18. Bd2 18. Qd1 was a better way to try to slow down the Blackburne express. 18... Rfe8 Blackburne now takes possession of the only open file. 18...f5 or 18...Rae8 were also strong for Black. 19. Rae1 Re2 "!"--(Tournament Book) Even better were 19...h5; 19...a5; or 19...Qh4. Blackburne must have been delighted to have so many different roads to victory. After his actual move, 19...Re2, the position was: click for larger view Not a very pleasant position to try to defend against so ferocious an attacker as Blackburne. But in fact it was in the above-diagrammed position, as I will discuss in my next post on this game, that Mason had his last chance to try to stave off defeat.

Jul-27-19		KEG: Post III Shedding a pawn had not gotten Mason much relief. His King was still vulnerable and mating threats by Black abounded. Mason's last serious chance to resist lay in trading Rooks on his 20th turn. He then could have developed counterplay after 20. RxR QxR 21. Qa4! QxB 22. Qxc6 (this fork was Mason's sole lifeline to try to stay in the game) Rd8 23. QxB Qxb2. Mason would now be a pawn down in a Queen and Rook ending in which his Queen would be on the loose and set to harass Blackburne. The game may well still have been lost, but at least Mason would have had some play. Mason's other try was 20. b4. But instead Mason played: 20. Qd3? This lemon allowed Blackburne to pile up on the e-file with: 20... Rae8! click for larger view The game lasted another 20 moves, but from this point Mason never really had much of a chance. 21. RxR RxR 21...QxR was perhaps even better, but the text certainly does the job. 22. Bc1 This looks dreadful, but there was nothing better for White. 22... h5 "!"--(Tournament Book) 23. b4 Playing to harass the Black Bishop. This only gets White a short reprieve. 23... Bb6 24. a4 h4 click for larger view 25. a5? "Giving his opponent the chance of a decisive combination." (Tournament Book) 25. Qf3 or 25. Bh6 would have avoided the debacle that now ensues, the position now being: click for larger view Black to play and win: 25... Be3! "!"--(Tournament Book) "A very fine move." (Morphynoman2 on this site in 2009) "This is a nice shot." (Shams on this site, also in 2009). Blackburne's move was so pretty is deserves another diagram: click for larger view 26. QxR There is nothing better. "If 26. BxB h3 wins." (Tournament Book)(morphynoman2) In fact. if 26. BxB, Black mates in four beginning with 26...h3. 26... QxQ 27. BxB a6 click for larger view Rook and Bishop can sometimes be reasonable compensation for Queen, but not here where Black has all the play. Mason sulked on for another 13 moves (to be discussed in my next post on this game), but White was clearly busted at this point.

Jul-27-19		KEG: Post IV After dropping his Queen, Mason offered only token resistance, and Blackburne quickly overwhelmed the decimated White forces. 28. Bd4 g5! Mason had no defense against Blackburne's steamroller advance. 29. f3 29. Bf6 seeking to pick up the Black pawn on g5 would only have made matters worse. The finish, however, would have been amusing: e.g., 29. Bf6 Kh7 30. Bxg5? (30. f3 would have allowed White to prolong, but not save, the game) Qg4! 31. f4 h3 32. Rf2 Qg3 (and now if 33. Rc2 f6 34. Bxf6 Qe3+) 29... f5! Alternatively, Blackburne could have brought his King into action immediately with 29...Kh7. 30. Rf2 Qd3 30...Qe1+ or 30...Qd1+ would have been faster. 31. Kh2? In a position this bad, it is difficult to call any White move a true blunder. But if Mason really wanted to suffer on for a while, he should not have let himself in for what now follows (and maybe played 31. Rb2 or 31. Bf6 instead of giving Blackburne an open invitation to ransack his fortress. 31... Qd1! click for larger view 32. Ra2 Feeble, but so was everything else. Mason should have considered resignation here. 32... Kf7 32...Qe1 was faster, but the King would eventually have to advance to finish off Mason. 33. Rf2 Kg6 34. f4 Desperation! click for larger view 34... g4! 35. g3 The only move to extend the game for even a few moves. 35... Qd3 "!"--(Tournament Book) This was indeed crushing, but 35...hxg3+ 36. Kxg3 Qh1 37. Rg2 Qh3+ 38. Kf2 Qf3+ was even more brutal. 36. Rg2 hxg3+ 37. Rxg3 Qd2+ Ouch! click for larger view 38. Rg2 Walking into a mating net, but 38. Kg1 Qc1+ 39. Kg2 Qxf4 would not have been any fun for White either. 38... Qxf4+ 39. Kg1 Qf3 39...g3 was also devastating. 40. Rf2 Qg3+ 40...Qe4 was another way to end resistance. 0-1

Jul-27-19		OhioChessFan: Thanks so much for these <KEG>.

Jul-29-19		KEG: <OhioChessFan>Glad you enjoyed my comments.

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