offramp: From round 37, so Pillsbury would have been trying to beat this tailender. To this end he sends out his queen and grabs white's a-pawn, but white uses the time to build an attack, and after 21.Kh1...
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it is looking as though that a-pawn wasn't worth it. So Pillsbury gives back the pawn to reach this level but unbalanced double-rook ending, after 32.Rxd2
 click for larger viewLater, after 45.Rxc7+, one thinks that white, currently 4 pawns to 2 up, could hardly lose the game:
 click for larger viewIn fact, Pillsbury, in this denuded position, has a strong attack, and it proves too much for poor Trenchard. Perhaps he thought he should be playing for a win? After 49.Kf2
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...black would have had an immediate mating attack with 49...e4!,Δ50...e3+. ...But white was busted in any case. Here is the final position. Pillsbury was too strong. Edo historical ratings say that he was rated 2661 for Vienna 1898, and poor Cornish Trenchard rated 2269. 400 points is too much! |