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Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Pillsbury vs. Lasker------Is The Computer Wrong?

Pillsbury lost the following game to Lasker in St. Petersburg after Lasker effectively sacrificed his two rooks on the same square. Kasparov noted in his Predecessors book, Volume 1, that computer analysis did not see the combination that Lasker did over the board. What follows is a Deep Fritz 14 analysis in pgn with verbose commentary. You be the judge.

[Event "St Petersburg 1895/96"]
[Site "St Petersburg"]
[Date "1896.01.04"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Pillsbury, Harry Nelson"]
[Black "Lasker, Emanuel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D50"]
[Annotator "Deep Fritz 14 x64 (10m)"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "1896.??.??"]

{D50: Queen's Gambit Declined: Dutch-Peruvian Gambit} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3
Nf6 4. Nf3 c5 5. Bg5 cxd4 6. Qxd4 Nc6 {Black threatens to win material: Nc6xd4}
7. Qh4 (7. Bxf6 gxf6 8. Qh4 dxc4 $11) 7... Be7 8. O-O-O Qa5 9. e3 {Covers d4} (
9. cxd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 exd5 11. Bxe7 Nxe7 $15) 9... Bd7 10. Kb1 h6 11. cxd5 exd5
12. Nd4 O-O 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. Qh5 Nxd4 15. exd4 Be6 16. f4 Rac8 17. f5 Rxc3 (
17... Bd7 $142 $5 18. Qf3 Ba4 $17) 18. fxe6 $11 (18. bxc3 $2 {looks very
tantalising, but} Bd7 19. h4 Qxc3 $19) 18... Ra3 19. exf7+ $4 {hands over the
advantage to the opponent} (19. bxa3 Qb6+ 20. Kc2 Rc8+ 21. Kd2 Qxd4+ 22. Ke1
Qe3+ 23. Be2 fxe6 24. Qh3 Bc3+ 25. Kf1 Rf8+ 26. Bf3 $17) 19... Rxf7 $19 20.
bxa3 Qb6+ 21. Bb5 Qxb5+ 22. Ka1 Rc7 $4 {Black has a mate threat. gives the
opponent new chances} (22... Qc4 $142 {Black has a promising position} 23. Kb1
Bxd4 24. Rxd4 Qxd4 $19) 23. Rd2 $11 Rc4 24. Rhd1 (24. Re1 Qa5 (24... Rxd4 $4 {
that pawn is deadly bait and will cause Black grave problems} 25. Re8+ Kh7 26.
Qf5+ g6 27. Qxf6 Qxe8 28. Qxd4 $18) 25. Re8+ Kh7 26. Qf5+ g6 27. Re7+ Bxe7 28.
Qf7+ Kh8 29. Qe8+ Kg7 30. Qxe7+ Kg8 31. Qe8+ Kh7 32. Qf7+ Kh8 33. Qf6+ Kh7 34.
Qe7+ Kh8 35. Qf8+ Kh7 36. Qf7+ Kh8 37. Qf6+ Kh7 38. Qe7+ Kh8 39. Qf8+ Kh7 40.
Qf7+ $11) 24... Rc3 $4 {Black threatens to win material: Rc3xa3. Black loses
the upper hand} (24... Qc6 $142 25. Kb1 Bg5 $17) 25. Qf5 Qc4 (25... Rxa3 $2 {
fails because of} 26. Qe6+ Kh7 27. Rc1 $16) 26. Kb2 $4 {gives the opponent
counterplay} (26. Kb1 $142 $14 {would bring relief}) 26... Rxa3 $19 27. Qe6+ (
27. Kb1 $142 Bxd4 $1 {Deflection: a2} 28. Re1 Qb4+ 29. Kc1 Qc3+ 30. Qc2 Qa1+
31. Qb1 Rc3+ 32. Rc2 Be3+ 33. Rxe3 Qxb1+ 34. Kxb1 Rxe3 35. Rd2 $19) 27... Kh7
$4 {Black has a mate threat. allows the opponent back into the game} (27... Kh8
$142 28. Qe8+ Kh7 $19) 28. Kxa3 $4 {stumbles just before the finish line} (28.
Qf5+ $142 {the only rescuing move} Kh8 29. Kb1 $11 (29. Kxa3 $4 {is refuted by
the following mate in 4} Qc3+ 30. Ka4 b5+ 31. Kxb5 Qc4+ 32. Ka5 Bd8#)) 28...
Qc3+ 29. Ka4 b5+ $1 {Mate attack} 30. Kxb5 (30. Kxb5 Qc4+ {Mate attack}) 30...
Qc4+ 31. Ka5 Bd8+ 32. Qb6 Bxb6# (32... axb6#) 0-1

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