BtM 19A: Simple isn’t always easy
June 1988, Position F
White to play
Klinger - Summermatter, Zug 1987
Contributions to the comments box are welcome. I’ll reply with what the Masters have to say about their choice to anybody who suggests a move.
Scroll down to see some commentary from me and the Masters’ feedback.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I don’t really believe in luck in chess … but I got lucky with this one.
I ended up picking the 10 point answer, but the first move I looked at, 1 f3-f4, is an outright blunder. I eventually rejected the pawn push but not for the reason that I should have.
1 f4 pushing the knight back? No! 1 … Qxe4+, 2 Qxe4 Nf2+ and 3 … Nxd4 wins back the queen and eventually picks up the bishop.
Your engine will probably tell you it greatly prefers Black regardless of what White tries, but the Masters for the most part want to make the best of a bad job.
For example Kosten says,
"1 h5. White has a terrible position and so must his counter chances along the g-file."
And Howell agrees that shoving Harry up the board would be the best practical chance:
"Although I suspect a passive move such as 1 Nh2 is objectively better, I wouldn’t be prepared to defend such a position."
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
POINTS
10: h5
7: Qg5
3: Bg2, Nh2
MASTERS
h5: Kosten, Plaskett, Davies, Flear, P. Littlewood, Norwood, Conquest, Howell, Pein, Mephisto MM4
Qg5: K. Arkell, S. Arkell
f4: Levitt
SOURCE
1 Bg2, Klinger - Summermatter, Zug 1987
So from the position post ...
ReplyDeleteAdam wanted to go for 1 h5. In addition to the Masters quoted above I’ll just add this:-
NORWOOD: "1 h5. The kind of move that you would play in a blitz game without thinking."
Angus wanted to try 1 Qh6 but wasn’t confident about his chances. And rightly so. The computer says 1 ... Nf2+ is a big winning advantage for Black.
No points from the Masters’ for 1 Qh6 ... but 7 points for 1 Qg5 which was the choice of both Arkells. Yet the computer thinks it’s just as bad as pushing the queen one square further.
And what of 1 f4 which both Adam and I wanted to play. At first. We both rejected it.
LEVITT: "1 f4 ... Black should play 1 ... Bc6 when he is better". Then there’s the following note, "1 ... Qe4+ is the only good reply to 1 f4 - Ed."
Not so according to HIARCS. Black is clearly better after 1 ... Bc6. But 1 f4 Qxe4+ is an immediate win so perhaps i’m being a bit picky.