Up to 8. a3 everything fine here I consider 8. .. Ba5 superior to 8. .. Nxd4 and after 11. Kxc3 it looks like white is down in material but in reality has 2 pieces (the knight is trapped) for the rook.

12. .. Qe7 may look like a good idea but is not. Better to mantain something like equality would be 12. .. bxa4+ So here white is already in a superior position. And 16. .. Qe4 is the first step which black takes on his way to hell. Still better is bxc6.

Both exceedingly rare and attractive...a worthy GOTD for this and other reasons as well.

I can only find one game earlier than this one where that position had been reached, viz. H Angantysson vs I Polgar, 1969. Black (no relation to the famous sisters as far as I'm aware) actually won that game but the idea that such a complex position is "known ground" on the basis of one obscure game is a bit of a stretch.

<12. .. Qe7 may look like a good idea but is not. Better to mantain something like equality would be 12. .. bxa4+>

After either <12...bxa4+ 13.Kd3> or <12...bxa4+ 13.Kd2> the N is still trapped. Okay, it's now protected but it's still trapped. I prefer 13.Kd2 as it avoids any later complications with an eventual ...Bf5+ (as in the game I cited above) and although it blocks in the DSB it does defend e1 for when White's R gets there. But either of these K moves ought to be good for a win via a similar attack to this game as has been the case several times since.

I believe Black was objectively lost some time before 12.Bc4 and that his last chance for anything like equality was <8...Ba5 9.Nxc6 dxc6 10.Qe5+ Qe7 11.Qxe7+ Kxe7 12.Bd2 Bf5> as in Svidler vs A Raetsky, 1989.

... which was published over four years after this game.

<The mistake is 8….nxd4?>

click for larger view

12...Qe7 is definitely the best defense, even though it's a losing position.

click for larger view

The game annotation gives 12. Bc4?, a question mark. Bc4 is clearly the best move - maybe even should be an ! move.

1) +4.14 (41 ply) 12.Bc4 Qe7 13.Re1 d5 14.Bb5+ c6 15.Nxc6 Qxe1+ 16.Bd2 bxc6 17.Bxc6+ Bd7 18.Bxd7+ Kxd7 19.Bxe1 Rac8+ 20.Kd3 Nc2 21.Bc3 Nxb4+ 22.Bxb4 axb4 23.Qxh7 Ke7 24.h4 Rg8 25.Qf5 Rc4 26.h5 f6 27.Qxd5 Rcg4 28.Qb7+ Ke6 29.Qb6+ Kf7 30.Qc7+ Kf8 31.h6 R4g6 32.Qc5+ Kf7 33.Qc4+ Ke7 34.Qxb4+ Kf7 35.Qc4+ Ke7 36.Qc7+ Ke6 37.b4 Rh8 38.b5 Rgxh6 39.b6 R6h7 40.Qc6+ Kf7 41.b7 Rd8+ 42.Kc4 Rhh8 43.Qc7+ Ke6 44.Kc5 Rhe8 45.g3 f5 46.Kc6 Kf6 47.Kb6 Re6+ 48.Kc5

2) +1.52 (40 ply) 12.bxa5 Rxa5 13.Nc4 Ra6 14.Bg5 f6 15.Be2 Qe7 16.Bh5+ Kd8 17.Qxe7+ Kxe7 18.Re1+ Re6 19.Be3 b5 20.Na3 Bb7 21.Rxa1 b4+ 22.Kxb4 Bxg2 23.Re1 d6 24.Rg1 Re5 25.Be2 Bd5 26.Kc3 Rg8 27.Rg3 h5 28.b4 h4 29.Rxg8 Bxg8 30.Nc4 Re4 31.Nd2 Re5 32.Nf3 Rh5 33.Nd4 Rh8 34.Nf5+ Kd7 35.Ng7 Bh7 36.Bd4 Ke7 37.Nh5 Rf8 38.Nf4 Bf5 39.Nd5+ Kd7