KEG: Post II
16. Rd1?
Very weak follow-up by Wolf. He should have amped up the pressure to Black's Queen-side with 16. Be3. After the text, which put the White Bishop on the same diagonal with his f3 Bishop, Mieses could have defused the White attack with 16...Bg4! But, as will soon be evident, Mieses was more concerned about building up his own attack than addressing the crisis on the Queen-side. 16... Rd8?
Now Wolf could pursue his plan, and now got around to playing: 17. Be3
He could also have played the prophylactic 17. h3. The position was now:
click for larger viewIt was at this point that Mieses launched an unsound attack. This might have proved fatal, but these sorts of attacks sometimes succeed when they shouldn't, perhaps because the opponent is intimidated. 17... e4?!
"A good pawn sacrifice whose object becomes clear on the next move." (Tournament Book) Tricky, yes. "Good," not with best play by White. Mieses could have just played 17...Be8 here and had decent chances of surviving. But that, of course, was not his style. 18. Bxe4 Rb8
click for larger view19. Rdb1!
Wolf avoids the trap of trying to grab the Black a7 pawn which, as the Tournament Book points out, would have been immediately fatal: 19. Rxa7? QxQ 20. RxQ Bc8 and now the mating threat on White's first rank coupled with the attack on his Rook ends the game. If now 21. RxR+ BxR and White's Rook must still be lost since now the Black Rook on b8 creates the mating threat. 19... RxR
Mieses might also have tried 19...Bf5. In either case, he was probably theoretically lost. But in practice, the situation is such that White must play with great care, the position now being: 
click for larger view20. RxR
"The first mistake. After 20. QxR there would have been little chance of a black swindle." (Tournament Book) 20. QxR was perhaps the better practical move, but the text was hardly a "mistake." The game still looks won for White. 20... Bf5
click for larger viewIt was here that Wolf began to lose his way:
21. Bd3?
"?"--(Tournament Book)
"The second [sic--KEG] mistake. After 21. Bf3 White would have the superior position." (Tournament Book) White's game does look to be winning with 21. Bf3! After the text, White is still better, but the win for White was now--at best--elusive. 21... BxB
22. cxB Rxd3
click for larger viewWolf perhaps still thought he had a win, and now what had been a blown opportunity for a win turned into a tragi-comedy for Wolf, who managed to get mated in just 13 moves after a remarkable case of double chess blindness. | 
Kibitzing
