Adolf Albin vs Heinrich Wolf (1902)

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Adolf Albin vs Heinrich Wolf
Monte Carlo (1902), Monte Carlo MNC, rd 21, Mar-11
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense. Polerio Defense Bishop Check line (C58) · 0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Aug-29-04		tpstar: The ugly 8. Bd3 is best met by 8 ... Bd6, allowing a Knight trade on e4 to get ... f5 in with tempo. Note 9. Nf3 0-0 10. 0-0?? e4. reso66-tpstar0 (Yahoo 8/28/04): 8. Bd3 Bd6 9. Ne4 0-0 10. 0-0 Nxe4 11. Bxe4 f5 12. Bf3 e4 13. Be2 Qc7 14. g3 f4 15. b3!? f3 16. Bc4+ Nxc4 17. bxc4 Qf7 18. d3 Qh5 19. Kh1 Qh3 20. Rg1 Rf5 21. Qf1 Qxh2+! 22. Kxh2 Rh5+ 0-1.

Feb-28-25		KEG: An "ugly" [to steal a characterization from <tpstar> and often horribly sloppy game. This short win by Wolf enabled him to tie with Tarrasch and Schlechter for 5th place with a +5 score. But he (and Albin--who was long since out of the running for any kind of prize) must have been exhausted by this time at the end of a long tournament. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 The Two Knights' Defense 4. Ng5 Often called a "Duffer's Move," but one that often requires Black to sacrifice a pawn to avoid a bad game. 4... d5 5. exd5 Na5 5...Nxd5 can lead to a difficult game for Black after 6. d4! And of course a playful White can always unleash the famous Fried-Liver Attack (6. Nxf7?!) which is theoretically good for at least a draw and is not much fun to play against for Black. The text involves the sacrifice of a pawn but gives Black decent counter-play. 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 click for larger view 8. Bd3 "A favorite of Mr. Bird's, which has also been adopted by Pillsbury. It is, however, hardly to our liking, White's development being impeded." (Hoffer) The assessment of the text (its champion at the time this game was played was Gunsberg) has changed and it is now recognized as at least as good as the more popular 8. Be2 or the wilder 8. Qf3. The disadvantage of blocking the White d-pawn is balanced by the greater ease of use of White's light-square Bishop in a later King-side attack. 8... Bd6 A novelty at the time so far as I can discern but not significantly inferior to the more usual 8...Nd5. It leaves Black a pawn behind but with better development. 9. Nc3 click for larger view 9... 0-0 While castling is tempting, 9...Nd5 is much better. 10. Nce4 Allowing Black stronger play. Albin should just have castled here. 10... NxN 11. NxN click for larger view Black is still down a pawn, but White still needs to find a way to get his dark-square Bishop into the game. Since Black's possession of the to Bishops is one of his major assets (for the sacrificed pawn), he pretty much has to retreat his d6 Bishop. The question is, where should the Bishop go. 11... Be7 11...Bc7 is perhaps slightly superior to the text. Hoffer claimed that Black would get a bad game after 11...Bc7 12. b4. But Black is surely not worse than in the game after 12...f5 13. bxN fxN 14. Bc4+ [not 14. Bxe4? Qd4 and Black wins] Kh8 15. 0-0 Bxa5 16. d3. After 11...Bc7, White can just castle and retain slightly better chances because of his pawn plus. The text, of course, is also fine. 12. Qe2 f5! click for larger view White is a pawn to the good, but his c1 Bishop remains hemmed in. White may be theoretically slightly for choice, but Black's freer position is easier and far more fun to play. While there is nothing horrible about White's 12. Qe2, I would prefer 12. 0-0; 12. Nc3; or even 12. Ng3.

Mar-01-25		KEG: Post II 13. Bc4+? It is understandable that Albin wanted to allow his d-pawn to advance and thus free his c1 Bishop. But allowing Albin to trade off his Knight on the rim for a healthy Bishop (and give Wolf the advantage of the two Bishops) seems daft. But Hoffer's commentary says nothing about this move, and Wolf (for two moves at least) declined to make the trade. I don't get it. 13. Nc3 appears indicated. 13... Kh8? For whatever reason, Wolf did not take the Bishop here--or on his next move. 14. Nc3 Bd6 Again declining to play NxB. 15. d3? Here Albin could have had his cake and eaten it too by playing 15. Ba6. This avoids allowing Wolf to trade Knight for Bishop and allows White to continue with d3 (either before or after 0-0. 15... NxB Finally making the trade. Perhaps Wolf wanted to double Albin's pawns and somehow intuited this chance would come to pass. Pretty bizarre play all round. And bizarre silence from Hoffer. "A well-posted Bishop for an indifferently placed Knight is a desirable exchange"--(Hoffer) Yep. 16. dxN click for larger view 16... Ba6 Employing his light-square Bishop to attack the doubled White c-pawn can hardly be best. Wolf could have tried to press his edge in the center with 16...e4; or gotten his a8 Rook into the game with 16...Rb8. He was, of course, still down a pawn and had to press the action. 17. 0-0 Albin also seemed to be playing in a haze. 17. Bd2 followed by 18, 0-0-0 was much stronger. Alternatively, he could have rendered Wolf's last move useless with 17. b3. 17... Qf6 Wolf still seemed unwilling to be committal with 17...e4 or 17...Qh5. Perhaps he had decided just to hang around and wait for Albin to blunder and hand him the game. If this was his plan, it worked! 18. Bd2 e4! Better late than never. But Wolf's lethargy seemed to doom him to insufficient compensation for the sacrificed pawn. 19. Rad1 click for larger view Albin's position looks a bit strange and cramped, but--with his extra pawn--he had a somewhat superior position. Wolf, on the other hand, pretty much had to follow up his strong 18th move with 19...Rae8. But: 19... Be5? 20. Na4! A fine (very temporary) counter-sacrifice: click for larger view If now 20...Bxb2, White gets excellent chances after 21. Bb4! Be5 22. Nc5 [the point] Bc8 [an unhappy necessity] 23. Nd7! BxN 24. BxR Be8 25. Bc5 Bxh2+ 26. KxB [26. Kh1 Bf4] Qe5+ 27. Kg1 QxB leaving White with Rook for Bishop and pawn. Probably not a winning edge given that White has an isolated doubled c-pawn, but a healthy plus nonetheless. 20... Rab8 As indicated above, 20...Bxb2 would have been no bargain for Black, but the text was worse: click for larger view Albin--still with an extra pawn--was plainly better. Strange to relate, however, within the next few moves (as I will discuss in my next post on this game), he seemed to lose his bearings and was dead lost after his 25th move (if not before). So maybe Wolf knew what he was doing after all.

Mar-01-25		KEG: Post III 21. b4?? "This is a grave error. 21. b3 would have shut out Black's QB whilst at the same time keeping a powerful army of pawns for the ending"--(Hoffer). I have been critical of much of Hoffer's commentary on this game, but the above-comment is spot on. With one move, Albin transformed a near-winning position to a near-losing one. Albin was obviously looking to 22. b5 and then 23. Nc5 to justify the text. but that was a terrible mistake in judgment. 21... Qf7! Refuting Albin's idea. 22. b5 Having said "A," Albin pretty much had to say "B." 22... cxb5 23. Nc5 click for larger view So this was Albin's idea. It's quick refutation now follows. 23... Bc8 Hoffer here gives 23...Bxh2+ as a viable alternative, But that is light years inferior to the text, which left Wolf in a winning or close to winning situation. By contrast, after 23...Bxh2+ 24. KxB [24. Kh1? Be5 would be awful for White[ Qc7+ 25. Bf4 QxB+ 26. Kg1 Bc8 27. cxb5 leads to nearly equal chances for both sides in a very difficult and unbalanced position. 24. cxb5 Qc7 click for larger view 25. Bb4? Albin was in a desperate situation, but he might have had at least decent practical chances with 25. Na6 or 25. Nb3 despite the availability of 25...Bxh2+ for Black in both cases. The text was a hopeless blunder that should have spelled doom for Albin forthwith. 25... a5 This may well be good enough to win, but the seemingly obvious 25...Bxh2+ would have been decisive: 25...Bxh2+ 26. Kh1 Rb6! [after which the Black b6 Rook come to h6 with devastating consequences. If White tries to stop this with 27. Bd2 [there is nothing better] then Black continues with 27...Be5 and then 28. Na6 [what else?] Qxc2 29. Qh5 Rxb5 and wins. After the text, White still has a fighting chance to stave off defeat: 26. Ba3 Forced. 26... Bxh2+ 27. Kh1 click for larger view 27... Rf6?? The position, despite Wolf's inferior 25th move, still looks like a clear win for Black. He need only play 27...Rb6 to leave White helpless. If now 28. g4 (as in the game) Black's Rook still on f8 refutes the counter-play that Albin had at his disposal after the text. In fact, and amazingly, after the text, Wolf not only no longer had a winning position; he was dead lost: click for larger view Albin now only needed to play the easy to spot 28. Qh5 since 28...Rh6 was unavailable because of the back-rank mate for White with 29. Qe8 checkmate. The text, and the zonky moves by Albin that follow (that I will cover in my next and probably final post on this game) suggest to me that either: (A) Both player were grossly fatigued at the end of a long tournament; (B) Both players were in desperate time trouble with the approach of the move-30 time control; and/or (C) The score is fouled. I see no other way to explain the finale of this game.

Mar-01-25		KEG: Post IV 28. g4?? Wolf had turned a win into a lost position with his 27th move. Now, Albin returned the favor with his very next move. As previously indicated, Albin could have won with 28. Qh5 [28...Rg6 29. Qh4 Rd6 (best) 30. Nxa6 BxN 31. BxR BxB 32. bxB leaving White up the exchange with a clear win in sight. The text is inexplicable (to me at least): 28... Rh6 click for larger view White is dead. The only way to prolong the game was with 29. Kg2. Albin, however, was either in the grip of crushing time-pressure or was too disgusted to offer continued resistance and played the suicidal: 29. f4?? This has the merit of shortening White's agony: 29... Bxf4+ Ouch: click for larger view The only question now was how long it would take Wolf to checkmate Albin. The latter found a way to shorten proceedings: 30. Kg1? 30. Kg2 would also have been no fun for White [30...Rh2+ is nasty and wins the White Queen, but at least it avoids mate in three]: 30... Be3+ click for larger view 0-1 With ...Qh2 mate coming, White can only extend the game an additional move by playing the hopeless 31. Rf2 after which 31...Qh2+ 32. Kf1 Qh1 checkmate terminates proceedings.

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