Maczynski vs Wilfred Henry Pratten (1948) General Pratten

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Maczynski vs Wilfred Henry Pratten
"General Pratten" (game of the day Jan-30-2009)
Portsmouth (1948), Portsmouth ENG
Italian Game: Classical. Closed Variation (C53) · 0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 1 OF 2 · Later Kibitzing>
Feb-03-04		m0rphy: I first saw this game in Irving Chernev's "The Thousand Best Short games of Chess (1954).He gives each game a pithy introduction advising us that "The British Chess Magazine" (a 1948 edition) was so enthusiastic, they dubbed it "The English Immortal" Undoubtedly this is Chernev's source for the game.Years ago I bought many back copies of the BCM in researching the players of Morphy's generation and I came across this published game which made Pratten's reputation.From memory I believe it was played in a match between the Polish YMCA vs Hampshire.

Dec-31-05		Timothy Glenn Forney: I can't believe this game has not been kibitzed on more,Black sacs both Rooks and his Queen for a "Pure Mate".A brilliant attack against 0-0!

Jan-14-07		Rubenus: <Timothy Glenn Forney> Or I don't know what a pure mate means, or it is not a pure mate. The f2-square is protected by the knight and there is a white pawn on it. It is also not economical because the b6-bishop is not necessary for the mate. But it is still a beautiful game, no doubt about that.

Jun-07-07		Timothy Glenn Forney: This is a pure mate-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure_m...

Jun-07-07		Timothy Glenn Forney: 21...Bxf2+ 22.Kf1 Bg2#

Jul-11-07		MaczynskiPratten: Thanks TGF for the alternative mate, which in itself is so elegant it deserves a diagram: click for larger view Lovers of symmetry may prefer this to the actual mating position; on the other hand the latter is also very pretty and more economical of force (only 3 pieces required): click for larger view 2 elegant mates for the price of 1!

Jul-11-07		MaczynskiPratten: Where was White's last chance to save the game? 19 Nxf3 Qxf3 20 gxf4 Rxa8 stops immediate mate but, Queen for Rook up and on the attack, White is winning easily.

Jul-11-07		MaczynskiPratten: A very interesting possibility is for White to try the counter-sac Bxd6 at some stage, for example 17 Bxd6+: (a) 17...Kxd6 18 Rd2+ Bd4 (Kc5? 19 Qc6#; Ke7? 19 Qd8#) 19 Qc6+ Ke7 20 Qxc7+ Ke8 21 Qc8+ with at least perpetual check: (b) 17...cxd6 18 Qb7+ Ke8 19 Qc6+ with at least perpetual: (c) 17...Kf6 18 Qd8+ exchanging queens with check, then gxf4 winning: (d) 17...Kd7 18 Qc6+ at least draws (if Kd8 19 Bxc7+ and Rd2+ to follow). 18 Bxd6+ seems to work similarly except for (c); 18...Kf6 19 Qd8+ Kg6 20 Qe8+ winning.

Aug-07-07		Timothy Glenn Forney: Wow 17.Bxd6+!! nice

Aug-07-07		Timothy Glenn Forney: Here's some analysis with Shredder10,fastinating endgame included after 17.Bxd6

Aug-07-07		Timothy Glenn Forney: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Qe7 5. O-O d6 6. d4 Bb6 7. b4 Bg4 8. a4 a5 9. b5 Nd8 10. Ba3 f6 11. Ra2 Ne6 12. dxe5 fxe5 13. Qd5 Bxf3 14. Qxb7 Qg5 15. Qxa8+ Ke7 16. g3 Nf4 17. Re1 (17. Bxd6+ cxd6 18. Qb7+ Ke8 19. Qc8+ Qd8 20. Qxd8+ Kxd8 21. gxf4 Nf6 22. Nd2 Bxe4 23. fxe5 dxe5 24. Re1 Bb7 25. Bf1 Kc7 26. Bg2 Bc8 27. Rb2 Re8 28. Nc4 e4 29. Rd1 Bg4 30. Rd6 Re6 31. Rc6+ Rxc6 32. bxc6 Nd5 33. Bxe4 Nxc3 34. Nxb6 Nxe4 35. Nc4 Bc8 36. Nxa5 Nc5 37. Rb4 Ba6 38. Kg2 Nd3 39. Re4 g6 40. Nb3 Kd6 41. f4 Nb2 42. Na5 Nd3 43. h4 Nc5 44. Rd4+ Kc7 45. h5 Ne6 46. Rb4 Bc8 47. hxg6 hxg6 48. Kf3 Nd8 49. Rb1 Nf7 50. Ke3 g5 51. fxg5 Nxg5 52. Rc1 Bh3 53. Nc4 Kxc6 54. Kf4 Nf7 55. Ne5+ Kb6 56. Nxf7 Ka5 57. Ra1 Bg2 58. Nd6 Bc6 59. Ke3 Ka6 60. Rb1 Bg2 61. Kd4 Bc6 62. Rb5 Bg2 63. Rc5 Kb6 64. a5+ Ka6 65. Kc4 Bf3 66. Kb4 Ka7 67. Rc7+ Kb8 68. Re7 Bh1 69. Kc5 Bf3 70. Kb6 Bh5 71. Rb7+ Ka8 72. Nb5 Bf3 73. Nc7#) 17... Qh5 18. Nd2 Nf6 19. Qxh8 Qxh2+ 20. Kxh2 Ng4+ 21. Kg1 Nh3+ (21... Bxf2+ 22. Kf1 Bg2#) 22. Kf1 Nh2# 0-1

Mar-15-08		johnlspouge: <<MaczynskiPratten> wrote: Thanks TGF for the alternative mate> The alternative mate is elegance beyond words! Thanks to you both.

May-24-08		addiction to chess: Wow! A double rook and queen sac! Now that's amazing!

Dec-30-08		TheaN: <TGF: for a "Pure Mate"> With all due respect for the poster and the players of this game, neither mates you proposed are pure. In the game's mate, mate one, ♙f2 is already there to block the King, but it is also defended by both ♗b6 and ♘h3. All other squares are purely defended: ♔f1 = ♘h2‡, e1=♖e1 block, e2/g2 = ♗f3, g1 = ♘h3. In the second mate, after 21....Bxf2† 22.Kf1 Bg2‡, e1 is the square that is destroying the pure mate: it blocks the King due to the White Rook but it's also defended by ♗f2. All other squares are once again only defended once, in a completely different matter than the first pattern: ♔f1 = ♗g2‡, e2 = ♘f4, f2 = ♘g4, g2 = ♘f4, g1 = ♗f2. Both mates are still cool, but this <pure> mate would have even been better: click for larger view

Jan-30-09		YoungEd: Is taking both rooks with your queen EVER a good idea? :)

Jan-30-09		Chicago Chess Man: Who cares whether the mate is pure or not? It's just some arbitrary phrase cooked up by people who have too much time on their hands. Winning the game is the only thing that matters.

Jan-30-09		mike1: To me it looks like 19. Qxh8 is the loosing move. 19. Bxd6+ is stronger than 18 Bxd6 because Nxf3 is possible now. e.g. 19 Bxd6+ cxd6 20.Qb7+ Ke8 21. Qf7+ Qxf7 22.Bxf7+ Kxf7 23.Nxf3 winning for white.

Jan-30-09		al wazir: 16. Bxd6+ also looks like saving white. (I was going to post some analysis, but I see that it's much the same as the lines following 17. Bxd6+.)

Jan-30-09		dito: What about 18... Qh3, 19. Bf1, Bg2 ? If Black captures the bishop on f1, I do not see defense for mate on g2. Or maybe there is some counter-attack for White?

Jan-30-09		chopin4525: Well, this is tragic. It's the first time a chessgames pun made me laugh. ^^

Jan-30-09		Timothy Glenn Forney: Back in 2005 I found the mate in some book I was reading and they called it a pure mate, which later I found out was wrong through wikipedia, anyway, it is a great game to analyze.

Jan-30-09		kevin86: A big game for the Cavaliers or Springers,if you are German. This is a top five game for me in this kind of mate. There is a more symetric mate in a minature game with both knights and both bishops involved in the mate.

Jan-30-09		Hugh the Drover: Was this not the lost checkmate which the master failed to find in "Night Moves" starring Gene Hackman? (I say this having done no research.) Major artistry is seen with the black Knights in this game, with an assist by the Bishop.

Jan-30-09		jovack: There a lot of fun ways to end this game. Blame white for not getting any defenses to his king's aid and just taking black's irrelevant pieces.

Jan-30-09		waustad: Patton's affinity for cavalry makes the pun particularly appropriate. Hr did, after all save the Lipizzaner stallions.

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