Mikhail Chigorin vs Carl Schlechter (1902)

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Mikhail Chigorin vs Carl Schlechter
Monte Carlo (1902), Monte Carlo MNC, rd 19, Mar-06
Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo. Italian Four Knights Variation (C50) · 1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

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Given 7 times; par: 99 [what's this?]

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Apr-06-05		Runemaster: Another knight v bishop ending demonstration by Chigorin. He makes it look so easy to win with the knight!

Apr-06-05		paladin at large: <Runemaster>Thanks for bringing this one to our attention. Very impressive and very coolly played from move 27. on. I particularly like 33. g5+. Chigorin was well over 50 at the time and the formidable Schlechter must have been in his prime.

Feb-22-19		manselton: Position after 22...Ne8 click for larger view A level position. Symmetric pawns, no weaknesses, no spatial advantages. But Chigorin does not like early draws. He isolates his e-pawn to expose Black's d-pawn and give a couple of semi-open files. 23.d4!?

Feb-22-19		manselton: Previous comments from Shereshevsky by the way!

Feb-22-19		manselton: 31.Nd5 Chigorin famously loved his Knights and right now they are dancing. click for larger view Black's reply 31...Nxd5 32.Rxd5 is a strategic error leaving White's centralized Knight more active than his own Bishop. 31...Rxe5 2.Nxc7 Bc6+ 33.Kf2 Kf7 34.Na8 And the Bishop now looks better than the Knight. Black ought now to seek an exchange of Rooks hence not 34...Ke7 35.Rd1= Shereshevsky but 34...Re4 click for larger view threatening ...Rd4 and White's Rook cannot retreat due to ...Kf6-g4 so 35.c3 Rf4+ 36.Ke2 Rf6 37.Rd3 h5 and it is Black who seizes the initiative! click for larger view Chigorin had over-stretched his position but Schlechter failed to capitalize on this.

Feb-23-19		manselton: 35.Kf3 click for larger view Here 35...a5?! was played by Schlechter. I get the impression he thinks that any Bishop is better than a Knight and when he weathers the storm he will win. He does not seem to appreciate that the exchange of his Bishop is good for him 35...Rc7 and ...Bc6 looks even to me. Shereshevsky even suggests 35...Bd7-c8-b7.

Feb-23-19		manselton: 36...a4? Probably the losing move. click for larger view It was too late for 36...Bd7 as White can now exchange off into a winning K+P ending. His last chance was 36...Bb5! with the idea of going Bb5-a6-b7 setting up a fortress that I've found no way to break e.g. 37.Rd2 (37.Rd8 is not so good 37...Re8 38.Rxe8 Bxe8 38.Ng4 Bc6=) Ba6 38.Rd8 Bb7 click for larger view To defend the pawn on b6 Black alternates his Bishop b7-g2 or his Rook e7-g7 unless White goes for Rf6 when the King can flee to c7. After 36...a4 37.Rd8 there is no answer to the threat of 38.Rb8. That said, winning positions still require winning and that's not always easy.

Feb-23-19		manselton: 41.Ra3! click for larger view White wants an exchange of Rooks. On the other hand exchaning minor pieces may allow Black a draw. In this position the Knight is much better than the Bishop! Shereshevsky.

Feb-23-19		manselton: 45.Rf6! click for larger view The Rook manoeuvres to get to f7 for the exchange are a beauty to behold. Now if 45...Bxh3 White gets connected passed pawns with 46.Rc6+ and 47.Rxc5 winning easily. Black's position has been hopeless for some moves. White now takes his time to make any small improvement to the position of his pawns before making the exchange. It is so demoralizing for the other player.

Feb-23-19		manselton: 51.Ne4+ click for larger view Black is now obliged to make way for the White King. It is all over.

Jul-26-24		KEG: A beautiful display of chess tactics in the endgame by Tchigorin. Schlechter had his chances after Tchigorin's weak 30. Ne5 (the last move before the move-30 time control), but from that point on Tchigorin overwhelmed his rival with a brilliant display of how a Knight can dominate a Bishop in certain types of endgame formations. Schlechter usually more than held his own against Tchgorin (+4 lifetime), but in this game it was Tchigorin's turn to shine. This game was played in the 19th round (out of 21 rounds). Neither player had a chance for a top prize by this point, but both could hope for a minor prize. Since Tchigorin would have a bye in this round, his chance for a modest prize required that he win this game (which he did) and his 22nd round game against Napier (which--surprisingly--he lost). Schlechter recovered sufficiently from his loss her to tie for 5th prize with Tarrach and Wolf. Tchigorin finished a half-point back and thus entirely out of the money. This contest has been superbly annotated on this site by <manselton>, who has made some lovely discoveries of the nuances in this game which allowed Tchigorin to triumph here. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. Be3 This move has been played more frequently here than I would have imagined. More usual--and somewhat better, is 6. Bg5. And 6.Na4 is another good option. 6... BxB 7. fxB click for larger view Not a formation most would seek as White. As always, however, Tchigorin marched to a different beat. 7... Na5 8. Bb3 NxB I would have expected 8...0-0 or maybe 8...c6. But there of course is nothing terribly wrong with the text. 9. axB 0-0 10. 0-0 Ng4 Looks premature. 10...Bd7 or 10...Re8 seem less committal and a better way for Black to try to maintain his small edge. But, as will be seen, Schlechter (often seen as a "drawing master" had some radical ideas of how to proceed here as Black, and therefore cleared the way for the advance of his f-pawn. 11. Qe1 To be able to play Qh5 and pursue his own notions of how to liven up the game. The position after the text was: click for larger view 11... f5?! Coming from the usually positional and precise Schlechter, this must have come as a surprise. 11...h6 or 11...c6 seem more prudent and more in Schlechter's style. 12. exf5 Bxf5 13. e4 Bd7 14. h4 Nf6 click for larger view 15. Qh4 15. Qe3 or 15. Qd2, look safest, but that, as always, was not what Tchigorin sought, especially in a game he probably thought he had to win. 15... c6 This was one way to bring the Queen into the game. But since Schlechter played 16...Qe8 on his next turn, the text seems a tad weakening. 16. Kh1 Preparing to play g4 shortly. 16... Qe8 17. Ne2 As always, Tchigorin's handling of his Knights warrant close examination. With the text, Tchigorin was leaving himself a bundle of options: click for larger view

Jul-26-24		KEG: Post II 17... Qh5 Schlechter perhaps thought it safest to reduce to an endgame in which Tchigorin's fabulous tactical prowess might be less formidable. If this was indeed Schlechter's thinking, he was to be very surprised! 18. g4 18. QxQ immediately might have been simpler. The text led to an endgame that looks equal and drawish. With Tchigorin, however, this seemingly simple endgame would prove to be full of fascinating ideas. 18... QxQ 19. NxQ click for larger view 19... g6 20. Kg2 a6 21. Ng3 Kg7 22. Nf3 Ne8 click for larger view "A level position...But Tchigorin does not like early draws." (<manselton>) This was especially true when the tournament standings virtually required him to play for a win. It is exciting to watch Tchigorin bring all sorts of tactical possibilities into play in what might seem an almost certain draw. 23. d4 "?!"--(<manselton>) "He isolates his e-pawn to expose Black's d-pawn and [obtain] a couple of semi-open files." (<manselton> from Shereshevsky) 23... exd4 24. Nxd4 click for larger view Had Schlechter continued here with 24...c5!, Tchigorin's idea might not have worked out as wonderfully as it ultimately did for him. But Schlechter here played what objectively seems a completely sound move. 24... Nc7 25. Rad1 RxR Schlechter probably thought he was headed for an easy draw from here. Objectively, this is correct. But tactical geniuses such as Tchigorin saw possibilities in what to many of us might seem a barren position. 26. NxR Keeping his Rook on the d-file created potential complications that Tchigorin would soon exploit. click for larger view 26... Re8 This sure looks safe for Black, doesn't it? 27. Nf3 Rxe4 28. Rxd6 Re7 click for larger view 29. Ne3 29. N1d2 appears simpler. But Tchigorin had a not entirely sound notion of keeping the possibility of Ne5 and later Nd5 open. Perhaps he anticipated Schlechter's next move. 29... c5?! click for larger view 29...Ne8 was probably best. The text, however, also seems completely safe. But with both his Knights still on the board, Tchigorin saw opportunities even the great Schlechter may not have considered. Thus far, this had not been a terribly exciting game. This was all about to change!

Jul-27-24		KEG: Post III 30. Ne5?! After this rash venture and its forced follow-up 31. Nd5, Tchigorin's Knights were now "dancing" (to quote <manselton>. But the move was a mistake nonetheless and was precisely the sort of over-reaching that Schlechter usually punished. Tchigorin was trying to find a way to win a theoretically drawn ending, and this was his last move before the time control. I give the move a "?!" rather than a "?" since--like similar efforts by Mikhail Tahl--it terrorized a very strong opponent into an inferior line. 30... Be8! The strongest reply made just before Schlechter also reached the move-30 time control. The position was now: click for larger view 31. Nd5 Forced, but scary-looking nonetheless: click for larger view 31... NxN? Missing his chance. As noted by <manselton>, Schlechter should have played 31...RxN after which White's Knight gets hopelessly misplaced and Black would have fine winning chances: e.g., 32. NxN [an unhappy situation for the Knight] 32...Bc6+ 33. Kf2 Kf7 [exploiting the miserable current placement of the White Knight] 34. Na8 [if instead 34. Rd2 Re7 35. Na8 Kf6 36. Nb6 Kg5 (the King is a fighting piece)] Ke7 (stronger than 34...Re4 as suggested by <manselton> in light of 35. Nb6 after which White is probably out of serious danger. The text, I should note, should not have led to defeat. It did, however, end any winning ideas Schlechter might have contemplated. 32. RxN Now the game again seems headed for a draw. But Tchigorin had only just begun to fight: click for larger view 32... Kf6 Schlechter could also have simply played 32...b6. 33. g5+ Forced, but fully sufficient to hold the game. 33... Ke6 Forced. 34. c4 Again forced, but strong nonetheless: click for larger view 34... b6 There was nothing wrong with this move, though 34...Bc6 might have simplified Schlechter if he was seeking a draw, e.g., 35. NxB [forced] bxN 36. Rxc5 Kd6 37. Ra5 Re2+ 38. Kg3 Rxb2 39. Rxa6 Rxb3+ 40. Kg4 etc, 35. Kf3 click for larger view Beginning here, as I will discuss in my next post on this game, Schlechter decided to fish in troubled waters, and--incredible as it may seem-- after his next two moves was hopelessly lost.

Jul-27-24		KEG: Post IV 35... a5?! A bad idea that soon led to catastrophe. With 35...Rc7, Schlechter would have been fine. The text did not--in itself--lose the game for Schlechter. But it suggests he already had his losing move (36...a4?) very much in mind. 36. Kf4 click for larger view 36... a5? "Probably the losing move." (<manselton>) I would delete the word "Probably," but otherwise agree. From here it was all clear sailing for Tchigorin. The only saving move, for the reasons previously discussed on this site by <manselton>, was 36...Bb5. As also shown by <manselton>, 36...Bd7?? would have been even worse than the text, since Tchigorin could then have reduced to a completely winning King and Pawn ending after 37. RxB! After36...a4?, the position was: click for larger view 37. Rd8! "...there is no answer to the threat of Rb8"--(<manselton>) Notice the power of Tchigorin's Knight in this position as compared with Schlechter's now feeble Bishop. Interestingly, this is the second game in this round (the other being Mason v. Janowski) in which a Knight dominated an opposing Bishop in the endgame. It may well be, as <manselton> has speculated, that Schlechter mistakenly relied on the general superiority of the Bishop. If so, Tchigorin punished him drastically for any such unwarranted assumption here. 37... axb3 Hopeless, but there was nothing better. 38. Rb8! Black is busted: click for larger view 38... Kd6 Once again, there was nothing better for Black. 39. Rxb6+ Kc7 Obviously forced. 40. Rxb3 Bc6 41. Ra3 "!"--(<manselton>) click for larger view 41... Bb7 As noted by <manselton>, Tchigorin would have been delighted to trade Rooks! 42. Ra5 Kd6 43. Rb5! click for larger view Tchigorin loved Knights, so he must have relished the dominating position of his Knight here. It was clear that the end was now near for Schlechter, though he chose to struggle until move 57. I will discuss this finale in my next post on this game.

Jul-28-24		KEG: Post V The game at this point was a clear win for Tchigorin. But won games do not always win themselves, and technique was still required. Tchigorin, however, demonstrated that he had all the technique that was required. 43... Bg2 44. Rb6+! Pretty! The only move to win. 44... Kc7 45. Rf6! "!"--(<manselton>) Indirectly protecting his h-pawn. click for larger view 45... Bb7 If instead 45...Bxh3 then 46. Rc6+ gives White two protected passed pawns on the Queen-side (i.e., game over). 46. h4 46. Rf7, forcing the trade of Rooks, is another way to win. 46... Ba8 46...Bc8 would have offered slightly more stubborn resistance, but almost certainly would not have saved the day for Schlechter. 47. Rf7 Now the Rooks come off and the game is a simple win for White. 47... Kd6 48. RxR KxR click for larger view An easy win for White from here. But it is pleasing to watch Tchigorin close out this game. 49. Nd3 Kd6 50. Nf2 Tchigorin's use of his Knight here is a joy to behold. click for larger view 50... Bg2 By contrast, the impotence of the Black Bishop is striking. 51. Ne4+ Now, as <manselton> has noted, the White king enters the Black camp with devastating effect. 51... Kc6 52. Ke4 Bf1 53. Nd2 The White Knight has all the answers here! And 53. Nf6 would have been an even faster road to victory. click for larger view 53... Bd3 54. Kf6 Ouch! 54... Kd6 55. Kg7 Ke5 56. Kxh7 56. Nb3 was faster, but the text was, of course, also completely decisive. 56... Kf4 57. Nb3 click for larger view 1-0 Needless to say, 57...Bxc4 58. Nxc5 would have been a cakewalk for White.

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