Hermann von Gottschall vs Friedrich G Jakob (1900)

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Hermann von Gottschall vs Friedrich G Jakob
12th DSB Congress, Munich (1900), Munich GER, rd 12, Aug-07
King's Gambit: Declined. Classical Variation (C30) · 1-0

White to move.

ANALYSIS [x]

1-0

rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1

FEN COPIED

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Jun-14-05		DanRoss53: Why not 12... ♘xa1 ?

Jun-14-05		WannaBe: seems like both side missed it. Shredder 9 likes your idea, followed by 13. fxg7 Kxg7 14. Bd2 b4 15. Na4 Na1xc2+

Dec-12-16		Straclonoor: Yes, 12....Nxa1 is better Analysis by Stockfish 051216 64 POPCNT: (-2.79): 12...Nxa1 13.Bg5 gxf6 14.Bh4 d5 15.Qxa1 dxe4 16.Nxe4 Bxe4 17.dxe4 Qd6 18.Kf1 Rad8 19.Rh2 Be3 20.Qe1 Bh6 21.Re2 Kh8 22.Nh2 Bg5 23.Ng4 Rg8 24.Bxg5 Rxg5 25.Re3 Qc6 26.Rc3 Qb6 27.Qe3 Qxe3 28.Rxe3 Kg7 29.Rc3 Rd1+ 30.Ke2 Rd4 31.Kf3 Rh5 32.Rxc7 Rxh3+ 33.Kg2

Mar-07-19		KEG: By the time this game was played in Round 12 at Munich 1900, von Gottschall was in 12th place well out of contention for even a minor prize and Jacob was well on his way to a last-place finish. But they produced a swashbuckling and thrilling game filled with exciting sacrifices, mating threats, and counter-attacks. A flawed effort to be sure, but a treasure-trove for those who relish tactical slugfests and analytical puzzles. 1. e4 e5 2. f4 von Gottschall's take no prisoners approach to this game was apparent from his 2nd move. 2... Bc5 The best way to refute a gambit is to accept it, or so goes the adage. But the King's Gambit Declined can present exciting counterplay for Black. Indeed, no less an attacker than Pillsbury chose this variation in his (losing) effort against Tchigorin at Hastings 1895. 3. Nf3 The best way to meet this variation of the King's Gambit Declined. 3... d6 "3...Nc6 ?! leads to unclear complications." (Korchnoi/Zak). Pillsbury played the text against Tchigorin, and it is clearly best. 4. Bc4 Korchnoi/Zak call 4. Nc3 "most accurate" here and call 4. c3 "an aggressive but not sufficiently reliable move." The text was played by Tchigorin in his above-cited game against Pillsbury. It leads to lively and exciting play. Fritz likes 4. c3 here (Korchnoi/Zak notwithstanding) and Stockfish opts for 4. fxe5. Call me old fashioned, but I'm with Tchigorin here and would play the text in a flash. 4... Nc6 Both this (Pillsbury's choice as well) and 4...Nf6 are good. 4...Qe7 is also a reasonable try. 5. Nc3 The fighting move successfully employed by Tchigorin in his Hastings 1895 game with Pillsbury. 5. fxe5 is probably soundest, and 5. c3 is another good aggressive line. Korchnoi/Zak condemn 5. d3 for reasons I fail to fathom (they say it is bad in light of 5...Be6, though that hardly seems the best response). 5... a6 Too slow. Pillsbury's 5...Nf6 is much better. The Tournament Book gives 5...Nf6 as one of two good options for Black here. 5...Bg4 looks even better. The Tournament Book suggests 5...Na5 as a good alternative, but that looks bad for Black after 6. Bb5+ c6 7. Be2 with a better game for White. 6. h3? Very weak and contrary to the theory and spirit of this opening. White has a number of reasonable options and possible plans here: e.g., 6. Nd5; 6. fxe5; 6. f5. The text is not one of them. 6... Nf6 This and 6...b5 each give Black much the better game. 7. d3 0-0 The position was now: click for larger view Battle lines are drawn. 8. f5 Playing a la Mieses: locking the center and preparing for a King-side assault. 8. fxe5 or 8. Rf1 (since White will not be castling King-side in light of the monster Black Bishop on c5) were also reasonable possibilities. 8... Nd4 Black has several plans at his disposal here. This counterattacking strategy looks good to me. Jacob could also have tried 8...b5 immediately to get rid of White's c4 Bishop (8...Na5 follows similar themes); or just tried to set up a roadblock for White's coming attack with 8...h6. Of these various plans, the text is the most exciting and probably best. 9. g4?! Going for the gold. 9. NxN is probably safest. 9. Bg5 was another interesting possibility. The text, however, signals the wild fight ahead, and I like it (damn the computers!--Fritz and Stockfish hate the text). 9... b5 9...c6 closing down d5 as a means of attack for White was perhaps theoretically best. But Jacob--with little to lose in this tournament but this stage--seemed ready for a short violent rumble. 10. Bb3 Bb7 The position was now: click for larger view The first ten moves were just a prelude to the wild episodes to follow. As I will discuss in my next post on this game, both sides from here played for attack and not material gain, making the game a lot of fun to play over and analyze. Sometimes, a slashing albeit flawed game can be more interesting and instructive than "best" play.

Mar-07-19		KEG: Post II 11. g5! Having played 9. g4, it was too late for von Gottschall to back down now. 11... NxB Challenge accepted. Jacob could have chosen the defensive 11...Nd7. The position with von Gottschall (White) to recapture was: click for larger view The obvious--and correct--recapture was 12. axN. von Gottschall, however, decided to stake all on his King-side attack and tried something even Tahl would have passed up (because it loses: 12. gxN? While von Gottschall ultimately won this game, this is simply zany. The position was now: click for larger view 12... Nd4? Huh? As DanRoss53, WannaBe, and Straclonoor have ably shown on this site, Black should have played the obvious 12...NxR. This wins (following WannaBe's line): 13. fxg7 (Straclonoor has shown that White also loses after 13. Bg5) Kxg7 14. Bd2 b4 15. Na4 Nxc2+ (15...Ba7 is even stronger than WannaBe's 15...Nxc2+). If 13. a3 Black wins after 13...d5 14. fxg7 Kxg7 15. Bd2 dxe4 16. Nxe4 BxN 17. dxB Qd6. Incredibly, the only alternative to 12...Nd4? discussed in the Tournament Book is 12...NxB. While 12...NxB is better than the text, it probably blows the win--especially on the badly flawed line appearing in the Tournament Book: 12...NxB 13. fxg7 Kxg7 (13...Nd3+ is much stronger and retains some winning chances) 14. QxN Qf6 (Black can retain some edge with 14...b4 or 14...Rg8). 15. h4 with roughly equal chances. This was very poor analysis in the Tournament Book (which did a better job with the complications what arose on move 17). After 12...Nd4?, the position was: click for larger view Suddenly, it's a game again. But von Gottschall quickly ran his chances off the road once again: 13. Bg5 With the simple 13. fxg7, von Gottschall would have had about equal chances. But now, he was back in trouble. 13... Re8! The best way to anticipate the coming King-side attack. 14. h4?! von Gottschall had to get his h1 Rook on the g-file. Since the Black Bishop on c5 precluded 14. Rg1, he had to play 14. Rh2. The text (14. h4?!) was over the top, and von Gottschall was in trouble once again. 14... gxf6 15. NxN 15. Bh6 was probably better, but von Gottschall would still have been on the ropes with best play by Black. The position, with Jacob to recapture, was now: click for larger view With 15...exN, von Gottschall would have had his work cut out to stay in the game; e.g., 16. Bh6 Kh8 17. Nd5 BxN 18. Qf3 Bxe4 19. dxB Bb4+ 20. Ke2 d5 leaving Black two pawns up and White's attack nearly at an end. But instead of the seemingly obvious 15...exN, Jacob inexplicably played: 15... BxN? Now, it was Jacob who was at risk of loss, the position now being: click for larger view As I will discuss in my next post on this game, von Gottschall's attack now picked up steam, until he wgain went astray on move 17. In fairness to the players, they were confronting the tricky tactical possibilities while I have spent hours examining the game with computer assistance as and when I thought I required it. But some of the moves missed (e.g., 12...BxR amd 15...exN) were hardly very difficult to find.

Mar-08-19		KEG: Post III 16. Qh5! "!"--(Tournament Book) A pretty sacrifice. Had Jacob taken the Bishop, he would--as pointed out by the Tournament Book-- have lost very quickly. The line given in the Tournament Book was: 16...fxB?? 17. hxg5 Kf8 (17...BxN+ was no better) 18. f6 Re6 (18...BxN+ followed by 19...Re6 would not have saved the day for Black) 19. Qxh7 Ke8 (19...BxN+ would delay but not avoid White's attack) 20. Qg8+ Kd7 21. Qxf7+ and wins. Jacob avoided 16...fxB and played: 16... Qe7! The best try. The position was now: click for larger view 17. Bd2? "?"--(Tournament Book) This lemon gave Jacob a second win and a good chance to save the game. As the Tournament Book correctly notes, von Gottschall had a likely win here with the wonderful 17. Kd2!! (the double exclamation points appear in the Tournament Book, and I completely agree). The Tournament Book considered two possible replies to 17. Kd2, neither of which save the game for Black: I) 17...fxB which, following the analysis in the Tournament Book, loses after: 18. hxg5 f6 19. gxf6 Qd7 (19...Qxf6 avoids the immediate mating net, but loses to 20. Qxh7+ Kf8 21. Rhg1 BxR 22. RxB Qf7 23. Qh6+) 20. Rag1+ (20. Qg5+ was even better) BxR 21. RxB+ Kh8 23. Rg7 QxR 23. fxQ+ Kxg7 24. Qg5+ Kf7 (24...Kh8 loses to 25. Qf6+ and the White Knight enters the game via d1 e3 g4 and h6 with devastating effect. II) 17...d5 18. Qh6 Qf8 19 R(either) g1+ BxR 20. RxB QxQ 21. BxQ+ Kh8 22. Bg7+ Kg8 23. Bxf6+ Kf8 24. Rg7 Rec8 25. Rxh7 (25. exd5 is even stronger) Ke8 26. h5 (26. exd5 is even better) and White, though down the exchange, must win. The two above moves considered by the Tournament Book are indeed hopeless, as the lines given above confirm. The best chances for Black would lie in either 17...Reb8 or 17...Rec8, though White would still have a likely win after 18. Qh6. After von Gottschall's weak 17. Bd2?, the position was: click for larger view White's winning attack has vanished. 17... Kh8 Jacob, if anyone, now had the best of the contest. The text was better than the main alternatives (17...Rad8 or 17...d5). 18. 0-0-0 The only chance to reignite his once powerful attack. 18... Rg8 Better than 18...Rad8. 19. Qh6 von Gottschall should have either gotten his King to safety with 19. Kb1! or have brought his Knight into the King-side battle eith 19. Nd5 (or perhaps 19. Ne2). 19... Rg2! Suddenly, Jacob has attacking chances of his own, the position now being: click for larger view This game had its bad moments and serious mistakes, but the position here is fascinating. Sadly, as I will discuss in my next post on this game, both sides erred badly from here, until Jacob's blunder on move 21 brought the game to a sudden conclusion.

Mar-08-19		KEG: Post IV 20. Rh3? He should either have played 20. Rde1 or 20. Rhe1 or else brought his King to safety with 20. Kb1. After the text, von Gottschall was in trouble again. 20... Rag8? Missing another chance. With 20...b4, Jacob would have had winning chances. 20...d5 was also much better than the text. The one big plus from playing 20...Rag8 is that it allowed Jacob to play Rg1 on his next turn---an opportunity he missed with immediately fatal consequences. 21. Kb1! An essential precaution. von Gottschall could probably now have held the position even against best play, the position now being: click for larger view Black would not be fine after 21...Rg1! as noted by the Tournament Book. But instead, Jacob blundered with: 21... d5 "?"--(Tournament Book) This left: click for larger view White to play and win. 22. Bg5! "!"--(Tournament Book). This move deserves its own diagram: click for larger view The best (though small) chance to resist lay in 22...Qf8 or 22...Rg7. But Jacob instead played: 22... fxB? This allowed a neat finish by von Gottschall. 23. hxg5 Black was now busted: click for larger view 23... f6? 23...Rg7 might have allowed Jacob to play on for a bit, but would have been hopeless after 24. f6! Jacob's actual move allowed von Gottschall to terminate resistance with: 24. gxf6 1-0 The final position was: click for larger view If now 24...Qf7 von Gottschall mates with 25. Qxh7+ QxQ 26. RxQ+ KxR 27. Rh1+ and mate next move. A pretty finish. The only way to stave off mate was with the hopeless 24...Be3 (which gets crushed by 25. fxQ BxQ 26. f6

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