Louis Karpinski vs Eugene Delmar (1901)

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Louis Karpinski vs Eugene Delmar
Buffalo (1901), Buffalo, New York USA, rd 7, Aug-15
Russian Game: Modern Attack (C43) · 0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

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Jan-08-21		KEG: Krapinski drew his first two games and then lost his final eight, including both of his games to Marshall, thus allowing Marshall to finish ahead of Krapinski (in next to last place). This game (in which he managed to achieve a lost position as White within his first 10 moves) explains why Krapinski finished in last place. Delmar had won a pawn by move 13, and the balance of the game is a fairly uninteresting wrapping up of a game that should probably have taken considerably less time than it took Delmar to finish off the hapless Krapinski. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 Marshall had played the Petroff in defeating Karpinski in the fourth round at Buffalo 1901. 3. d4 This, rather than 3. Nxe5, was the choice all three times the Petroff was played at this tournament. 3... exd4 Marshall had played the wild 3...d5?! in defeating Krapinski. The text is less usual than 3...Nxe4, is arguably as good or better. 4. e5 Ne4 Much better than 4...Qe7?! as played by Marshall earlier that same day (in Round 6) in his loss to Napier. 5. Nxd4 5. Qxd4 is probably better. 5... d5 6. Bd3 Krapinski could also have played 6. exd6 e.p. or 6. Be2. The text, however, is also OK and good enough for equality. 6... Bc5 7. Be3 click for larger view 7... Nc6 Needlessly allowing White to mess up the Black Queen-side pawn structure. 7...0-0; 7...BxN; 7...Bb6; and 7...Qe7 were all better. 8. NxN bxN click for larger view 9. BxN? Very weak. Krapinski apparently missed Delmar's intermediate move on his next turn. White would have better chances with 9. Qe2. And 9. Qf3 would have yielded at least equality to White. 9... BxB! The move Krapinski overlooked. click for larger view 10. fxB? Again overlooking Delmar's response. Krapinski would have been worse but had a playable game with 10. 0-0 or 10. Bxd5. 10... Qh4+ 11. g3? Yet another bad move by Krapinski. He had to buckle down with 11. Kf1 or 11. Kd2 and try to hang on. Now he loses a pawn and gets a nearly hopeless position. 11... QxB click for larger view What a horrendous position for the player of the White pieces to reach after just 11 moves.

Jan-08-21		KEG: Post II 12. 0-0 Bh3? This only helped Krapinski in his efforts to recover. The simple 12...Qxe3+ would leave White pretty badly busted. 13. Rf2 Qxe3 He could also have played 13...Qxe5. Black is still probably winning, but White now has some chances. 14. Qd2 Qb6 Hardly best. Delmar should have played 14...d4 or 14...QxQ. After the text, the position was: click for larger view 15. c3? Badly weakening his Queen-side. Karpinski would still have had some play with 15. b3. 15... 0-0 16. Qd4 Rae8 click for larger view 17. Na3? Another poor effort. 17. Nd2 Qxb2 18. Nb3 Qa3 19. Qh4 Bc8 20. Qb4 QxQ 21. bxQ would lead to a lost ending, but it was better than the text. But now Karinski got lucky. 17... Be6? 17...Re6! would have pretty much left Delmar without resource. But after the text, the position was: click for larger view 18. QxQ? Just awful. After Delmar's last move, Karpinski would have had interesting play with 18. b4. But now he got a hopeless ending down a pawn and never really had any real chances to save the game after this. 18... axQ! click for larger view The text was much better than 18...cxQ. Now, in addition to his extra pawn, Delmar had a half-open a-file on which to operate plus pressure on Karpinski's weak, isolated e-pawn. Resignation would not have been premature here, but given Delmar's faltering play in what follows Karpinsiki's decision to play on does not look too bad. 19. Nc2 c5 20. Re1 20. Rd2; 20. a4; or even 20. b4 were better, though with proper play by Black it should not make much of a difference. 20... Rd8 20...Re7 or 20...Bd7 or 20...Ra8 were stronger. The text didn't accomplish much, but Delmar's game still was a clear win. But to the extent Delmar was planning an upcoming d4, his forthcoming play made a mockery or 20...Rd8. 21. Rf4 Yet another hopeless move by Karpinski. 21. b4 or 21. Rd2 or even 21. b3 would have been better. click for larger view 21... Rd7 He could have played 21...d4! or, alternatively, tried another good plan with 21...Rfe8. The idea of doubling Rooks on the d-file was hardly best play. 22. Rd1 Rfd8 Continuing with his doubtful plan and missing another opportunity to play d4. After the text, the position was: click for larger view

Jan-09-21		KEG: Post III 23. b3? He should have played 23. Ra4 to forestall 23...Ra8. 23... b5? After Karpinski's weak 23. b3?, 23...Ra8 would have been nasty. But Delmar seemed reluctant to land a knock-out punch yet. Perhaps he was in time pressure. 24. b4 click for larger view 24... cxb4? Hard to believe. Black could have rolled over Karpinski with 24...d4 or 24...g5. Now, Karpinski had at least a ghost of a chance. But not for long! 25. Rxb4 25. cxb4 avoiding the two isolated Queen-side pawns he gets with the text. But worse was soon to come for Karpinski. 25... c6 click for larger view 26. g4? Hopeless, and this time Delmar didn't throw him a lifeline. 26. a4 might have given him a chance to rid himself of at least one of his weak pawns. The text, by contrast, created new weaknesses in the White pawn structure. 26... Ra8! At last. After the text, White will not get to play a4. 27. a3 White's position was now pretty much entirely en prise. click for larger view 27... Kf8 27...Re7 immediately was even better. 28. h3 Re7 The Tournament Book gives this move as 28...Rc7. But 28...Re7 looks better. In any case, after Delmar's 30th move, the two scores converge. 29. Rf4 c5 30. Kh2 Rea7 30...g5 was more forceful. After the text, we can again be confident we are working with the correct position (see move 27): click for larger view 31. Rdf1? 31. Rb1 offered the best (albeit probably futile) resistance. 31... Ra4 32. Kg3 Ke7 33. RxR Trading Rooks doesn't leave Karpsinski any chances for counterplay and White's game sure looks hopeless to me from this point. But anything else by Karpinski here would have been even worse. 33... RxR click for larger view Karpinski from here struggled on for another 25(!) moves, the game was now obviously over.

Jan-09-21		KEG: Post IV 34. Rf4 Ra5 Delmar was certainly correct in declining to trade Rooks (since his Rook is doing much more on the a-file than White's is doing on the f-file, but 34...Ra8 or 34...Ra6 or even 34...Ra7 were a;; better. 35. Kf2 Bd7 A flexible choice, permitting his Bishop to get to e8 and free the King for action or to go to c6 and support a pawn advance. Meanwhile, the Bishop eyes h5. 36. Ke3 Ke6 36...h5 was even stronger. 37. Kd3 Be8 38. Rf3 Ra4 39. Re3 Bc6! 40. Kd2 Re4! Leaving Karpinski with an impossible dilemma. Everything for White is hopeless. click for larger view 41. RxR Loss of a pawn (and of the game) is inevitable, but the text is equivalent to resignation. If Karpinski (whose name I seem to have misspelled repeatedly--sorry about that!) wanted to play on, he had to try 41. Rf3. Once the Rooks are off the board, White has no play at all. 41... dxR click for larger view Not much left for White to play for. 42. Na1 If this is the best White has, it was time to call it a day. 42. Ne3 looks "best," but it hardly mattered by this point. 42... Bd5 43. Ke3 He might as well have conceded his 42nd move was junk and just played 43. Nc2. 43... Kex5 click for larger view I would be willing to bet serious money I could defeat Magnus Carlsen with the Black position here. 44. Nc2 Bringing the Knight back from the dead. 44... f6 Prolonging White's agony. 44...Be6 or 44...h5 were faster ways to close out proceedings. 45. Ne1 g6 Delmar must have been enjoying his position too much to finish off his helpless opponent. 45...Be6 or 45...g5 were faster. 46. Ng2 f5 Was Delmar trying to make his rask harder. Why else not play 46...g5. After the text, the position was: click for larger view 47. g5 This is hopeless. 47. gxf5 was the best slender hope. 47... Bb3 48. Nf4 Bd1 click for larger view Hard to explain why Karpinski continued to play from here. This doesn't look like any fun for White at all.

Jan-09-21		KEG: Post V 49. h4 Bf3 White is already nearly in Zugzwang. 50. Nh3 Kd5 51. Nf4+ Ke5 Delmar must have been looking to repeat moves to gain time on the clock. 52. Nh3 Bg2 53. Nf4 Bf1 click for larger view Zugzwang. 54. h5 gxh5 55. Nxh5 Bh3 55...Bc4 56. Nf4 Bf7 57. Ng2 Kd5 was fastest. 56. Nf6 Absurd. But the "better" 56. Nf4 would have only extended the agony. After the text, the position was: click for larger view The finish now was brutal. 56... f4+ 57. Ke2 bf5 58. Kd2 Utterly hopeless, but Karpinski perhaps was ready to move on to end the game and go on to play his postponed 5th round game with Pillsbury (which he also lost). 58... h6 click for larger view 0-1

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