thomastonk: What a sad game. Steinitz throw away a nice day in this wonderfull spa by 12.. ♕g2. Instead 12.. ♘e5! looks decisive!<refutor, An Englishman: 18.. ♕xf2> After that move I think I could decide who is winning ;-), but the text move is unclear.
<An Englishman: I suspect that if Rosenthal was winning, then he blundered away much of his advantage with 27.f5.> Rosenthal was never winning in the early phases of the game, and before 27.f5, which is not a good move, he is clearly loosing. Count the material, and since White has no successful attack, he is much worse.
Steinitz lost his advantage with 31.. f6, because that destroys his firm structure in the centre. It was necessary to fight the mating threat on d8 by different means, say 31.. ♕b1+ 32.♖d1 ♕b6 33.♗c5 ♕a5+ 34.♖1d2 ♘f5 or 32.♔f2 ♕b6+ 33.♔g2 ♘f5 or 32.♗d1 ♘c6.
After 34.. ♘c6?? Rosenthal is the first time winning. Necessary was 34.. ♕xe3+ 35.♔xe3 ♘f5+ 36.♔f4 ♘xd6 37.♗xd6 ♗xa2 38.♗xb7 and the game can only end in a draw.
Next it is Rosenthal who avoids winning by not playing 38.♖d7, and possibly also by avoiding 39.♖d3.
Whenever I look in detail at one of the not so well-known games by the old masters, the myth of their tactical abilities is reduced.
Kibitzing
