Mark Hebden vs John Nunn (1979)

Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players ·

Kibitzing

Mark Hebden vs John Nunn
London m/1 (1979)
King's Gambit: Accepted. Abbazia Defense (C36) · 0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

explore this opening	find similar games	11 more M Hebden/Nunn games
sac: 24...Rb3	PGN: download \| view \| print	Help: general \| java-troubleshooting

TIP: At the top of the page we display the common English name for the opening, followed by the ECO code (e.g. "C36"). The ECO codes are links that take you to opening pages.

For help with this chess viewer, please see the Olga Chess Viewer Quickstart Guide.

PREMIUM MEMBERS CAN REQUEST COMPUTER ANALYSIS [more info]

Jan-02-06		Timothy Glenn Forney: Nice smothered mate threat by Nunn.

Jan-02-06		Holden: There's no stopping the smothered mate. <Sneaky> should have this game in his "crazy rooks" collection. 24...Rb3! 0-1

Jan-02-06		Timothy Glenn Forney: The position after 18.Rxa7 is quite entertaining,just look how many pins there are! all centered around the Knight on c7,a real tense position.

Jan-02-06		Timothy Glenn Forney: The exchange sac 23...Rxf3!! leads to a winning position,no matter what white does.

Jan-02-06		Timothy Glenn Forney: In fact I'm giving 24...Rb3!! This game is a forgotten brilliancy.

Jan-03-06		Timothy Glenn Forney: See J Kinlay vs Nunn, 1977 another brilliancy by Nunn with the Abbazia defense.

Jan-06-06		Castle In The Sky: Nunn ends the game with a nice example of the "windmill."

Jan-06-06		offramp: The Abbazia Defence, the Windmill and the Stoke-Adams Attack.

Jan-06-06		Timothy Glenn Forney: I guess its not a forced smothered mate,so windmill is the best definition of the ending.

Feb-14-06		MorphyMatt: <Timothy Glenn Forney> Not a forced mate? not 27. ♔g1 ♘h3++ 28. ♔h1 ♕g1+! 29. ♖xg1 ♘f2#?

Feb-14-06		Timothy Glenn Forney: Its not a forced 'smothered' mate,the King can go to f1 then mate,follows,so technically its not a smothered mate.Its a windmill as <Castle In The Sky> points out.If you look at my first kibitz I said that.

Feb-15-06		notyetagm: <MorphyMatt> I agree with you: this is a forced smothered mate. It is in fact called <Philidor's Legacy>. The variation with ♔f1 ♕f2# is almost always part of this mating pattern. This threat is what forces the White king to go into the h1-corner from where he is then dragged out by the knight check on f2 to face the dreaded ... ♘h3++ double check.

Feb-15-06		notyetagm: 24 ... ♖b3!, attacking the White b6-queen defender to <REMOVE THE GUARD> of the critical d4-square. If the d4-square (not the d4-pawn!) falls to the Black d7-queen, then Nunn will be able to play the standard Philidor's Legacy smothered mate: ... ♕d4+, ... ♘f2+, ... ♘h3++, ... ♕g1+, ... ♘f2#. So Nunn attacks the defender (White b6-queen) with a non-attacker (Black f3-rook) from a square not in the defensive complex (b3-square) and dominates the defending queen, controlling all of the squares that the White queen needs to occupy in order to defend the d4-checking/mating focal point: b4, b6, c5, and d6. White chooses to meet the threat to his queen by <CAPTURING> the attacking rook (25 ♕x♖) but this allows the smothered mate discussed previously.

Feb-15-06		notyetagm: The more I think about it the more I realize that the ending combination is clearly not a windmill. One discovered check does not a windmill make. <A windmill is a series of discovered checks.> For example, see the incredible windmill played by Torre against Emmanuel Lasker(!) in Carlos Torre vs Lasker, 1925. In that game the windmill consists of the <series> of discovered checks 27 ♖g7xf7+, 29 ♖g7xb7+, and 31 ♖g7-g5+, each of these rook moves being a discovered check of the Black h8-king by the White f6-bishop.

Feb-15-06		Timothy Glenn Forney: <notyetagm> What you are calling a "windmill" I call a "see-saw",a windmill is done with a ♗ and ♘.A see-saw check is with the ♗ and ♖.As in--A Kupferstich vs J Andreassen, 1953 This famous game is an example of a windmill--D Byrne vs Fischer, 1956 In the Nunn game it is not forced the ♔ can go to f1,stopping the smothered mate to just a normal mate with ♘ and a ♔.

Feb-15-06		Timothy Glenn Forney: The person who really deserves the smothered mate named after him is Greco, since he had the first documented game with one.

May-08-07		twin phoenix: i don't understand why white doesn't try to win the exchange on move 17 Nxa8? what am i missing?

May-31-07		Timothy Glenn Forney: You are right 17.Nxa8 is winning.

Sep-28-08		smocard: What about Nxe6? Nxe6 Qxe6 Ng5 Bxg5 Bd6 (or Bxg5 if you wish) etc. Or... Nxe6 fxe6 Bxc4 Rxf4 Ne5 etc.

Sep-28-08		smocard: Oops, forgot to mention... Nxe6 fxe6 Bxc4 Nxc4 Ng5

Nov-19-09		Smothered Mate: too bad... Hebden resigned instead of letting me happen.

Sep-05-14		Christoforus Polacco: <Timothy Glenn Forney> In your absurdity definition ''the smothered mate'' not exist at all :)) But maybe you are right :) It's not forced mate ... because Hebden resigned before checkmate :) The smothered mate idea is that the player is not a suicide and don't want to make ritual Japanese harakiri (seppuku) :) ............... The most interesting move in this spectacular game in ''good, old style'' is 21.... Kh8 :) Anticipation for weakness of center ?

Sep-05-14		hcgflynn: I thought white is winning after 21. - Kh8. 22. Ng5 or 22. Ne5 seems good. (Or else I'm blind.)

Nov-07-14		Christoforus Polacco: <hcgflynn> Probably 21....Kh8 it was very psychological move :) Nunn gave his opponent the chance to make error ... :)

Mar-13-21		louispaulsen88888888: <hcgflynn> Yes. 22.b4! Is also strong.

NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion.

Please observe our posting guidelines:

No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language.
No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts.
No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members.
Nothing in violation of United States law.
No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members.
No trolling.
The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited.
Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers.

Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times.

See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator.

NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific game only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors.
All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration.

This game is type: CLASSICAL. Please report incorrect or missing information by submitting a correction slip to help us improve the quality of our content.