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J Smith vs George Derrickson
"Pony Express" (game of the day Aug-25-2006)
Philadelphia (1860), Philadelphia, PA USA
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense (C55)  ·  0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 1 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
May-18-03  ParanoidYoshi: Why 8. hxg4? White is up a bishop, but the h-file is open and Black's rook is on it, not to mention the fact that White kingside castled.

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Jul-25-03  Benjamin Lau: Another queen sac for Ron.
Jul-25-03
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sneaky: Is it really a queen-sac if it allows you to capture the opponent's queen a few moves later?

Nice game, anyhow. 1860 and 1861, by the way, were indeed the years when the Pony Express delivered mail. In this case, the ponies delivered mate.

Mar-23-04  TrueFiendish: Very witty... :-|
Mar-23-04  kevin86: Another big day for les cavaliers!!

Anybody who opens his h-file by taking the bishop deserves his fate.

Mar-23-04  PAWNTOEFOUR: like most amateurs that play stronger players,the urge to just survive comes into play...and while you watch your position slowly go down hill,you wonder what ya did wrong...believe me,i know lol..just take the game for what it's worth...a beautiful combination by derrickson
Mar-23-04  Abecedarian: Speaking for the c-rated and below players here, it's nice to see a game once in a while where even we could do better. 8.hxg4 indeed!
Mar-23-04  MoonlitKnight: Pardon my ignorance, but what is a C-rated player?
Mar-23-04  matein8: <MoonlitKnight> It's a ranking used by the USCF to denote players with a USCF rating of 1400-1599.
Mar-23-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  tpstar: 6. Bg5?! was shown to be inferior in Knorre-Chigorin (St. Petersburg, 1874) after 6 ... h6 7. Bh4?! (Better is 7. Bxf6.) g5 8. Bg3 h5! 9. Nxg5?! h4! 10. Nxf7 hxg3! and Black won brilliantly with a similar Kingside attack. In Dubois-Steinitz (London, 1862) White declined the sacrifice with 8. Bg3 h5! 9. h4 Bg4 10. c3 Qd7 and Black won. Anyone who plays the Italian Game or Two Knights Defense should review those games. For NN-Derrickson, White should have tried 10. Ng4 (defending f2) Nxg4 11. Qxg4 Bxf2+ 12. Rxf2 gxf2+ 13. Kxf2 with two Bishops vs. Rook & Pawn. Instead 10. Nf3? Ng4!! and Black crashed through with a crystal clear winning line. The final position is striking.
Mar-23-04  Shadout Mapes: For more info on tpstar's line 6 ... h6 7. Bh4?! (Better is 7. Bxf6.) g5 8. Bg3 h5! 9. Nxg5?! h4! 10. Nxf7 hxg3, go to Dubois vs Steinitz, 1862
Mar-24-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  tpstar: Shadout Mapes, thanks for the great link with interesting subvariations. To clarify, there are 8 games which could be cited as Dubois-Steinitz (London, 1862); 3 were this variation, and Black won all 3. In the other 5, Dubois beat Steinitz twice, so he was no slouch. I don't believe anyone has improved on this ancient analysis, but please correct me if I'm wrong.
Oct-05-04  morphy234: AWESOME GAME!
Oct-31-04  aw1988: <Mommy...
Mommy...
Mommy...
Mommy...
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>
What the?
Oct-31-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  tpstar: <Dearest> <Dearest> <Dearest> <Dearest> <Dearest> <Dearest> <Dearest> <Dearest> <Dearest> <Dearest>

No Wire Hangers - EVER!!

Apr-12-05  resty: what an amateur!
May-11-05  mandar: Yes I agree with tpstar,
10.Ng4 and White has got lot better than Black and blacks attack is halted to death. If i have missed anything then pls forgive me and write the improvement.
May-11-05  mandar: Instead of 9. Nh2 if Nfd2 was played then?
Aug-29-05  Chessography: mandar: I believe 10. Ng4 would just be answered by ...gxf2+, Nxf2 ...Nxe4!! dxe4 (otherwise the knight ends up on g3) ...Qxg5 and Black's attacking chances are simply too much too handle for little NN.
Aug-29-05  Chessography: Also, 10. Ng4, ...gxf2+, Nxf2, ...Nxe4!!, Bxd8, ...Ng3, Bxf7+?!, ...Kxd8!, Bh5, ...Rxh5, Qxh5, ...Nxh5 after which the other rook will soon come to h8 and the knight back to g3, causing complete pandemonium in the White camp.
Dec-27-05  sigi: <Chessography> 10.♘g4 gxf2 11.♖xf2! pins the knight on f6 a second time. White seems to have the edge.
May-04-06  PolishPentium: What about 9 Nh4 rather than the played move 9 Nh2? Black then doesn't seem to have any immediate way of attacking either White's h-file N or the g-file B...
May-16-06  SJP: 9. Nh4 is better, as White keeps the advantage; a probable continuation is 9...g3 10. Nc3 gxf2+ 11. Rxf2 (not 11. Kh1? Be3!, losing the bishop due to 12. Bxe3 Rxh4#) Qd7! (subtle) 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. Nd5
Aug-25-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  An Englishman: Good Evening: Once again, White castles much too soon in the Italian Game and gets pummelled--or should I write "pommelled," as in "pommel horse?"
Aug-25-06  chessmoron: 9. Nh4 might gave white the edge it needed. Huge mistake 11. Bxd8.
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