’Tis the season to be — a little melancholy, if you want to know the truth.
Chess lovers have a lot to be thankful for these days, but there’s an undeniable post-world championship match letdown now that Magnus Carlsen has successfully defended his crown — again. And for a second straight holiday season, the specter of COVID-19 is hanging over the game, with events like Hastings, the George Washington Open and the Cairns Cup already scrubbed in the face of the latest resurgence of the virus.
Still, while Caissa can be a capricious mistress, she can console just as well as she can confound. If we don’t have the latest hot game or brilliant combination to pore over, there’s a vast repository of chess literature and lore to revisit as we sip our buttered rums by the crackling fireplace.
If you can’t stomach another cup of eggnog or another chorus of “Rudolph,” you might instead play over today’s two games, played on another Christmas Day 163 years ago. American wunderkind Paul Morphy, just 21, capped a triumphant European tour with a decisive defeat of German great Adolf Anderssen, considered at the time the strongest player in the world, by an 8-3 (7-2-2) margin. Anderssen, a professor of mathematics, traveled to Paris on his year-end break to play the match, including two lively encounters played on Dec. 25.
There’s been some excellent revisionist history about the Anderssen match and about the roots of Morphy’s greatness more generally. (Local Virginia master Macon Shibut’s “Paul Morphy and the Evolution of Chess Theory” is an excellent contribution to the debate.)
Contrary to the neat, simplistic fairy tale told by Richard Reti and others, Romantic Era masters like Anderssen understood perfectly well the need for piece development and control of the center, the tradeoff between time and material, and the way to translate a positional advantage into a tactical opportunity.
Morphy had a brilliant combinational eye and a deeper appreciation tha his predecessors for the value of mobility and the initiative, but the real “secret” to his amazing success appears to be that, while not perfect, he was a better opening, middlegame and endgame player than any of his contemporaries.
One pattern that definitely held in the match: If the game was short, the German was the loser. The first of the two Christmas contests was a case in point, as Black’s shaky handling of the Scandinavian leads Morphy to gambit a pawn for quick development. White soon recovers the pawn and another Black inaccuracy is all Morphy needs to launch a deadly sortie.
Thus: 15. Bd3 Bg4? (15…Be6 keeps White’s edge to a minimum) 16. Ng5! (the ever-alert Morphy doesn’t miss his chance) Rfd8 17. Qb4 Bc8 (an unhappy retreat, but the exposed bishop made 17…b6? 18. Nxh7 Nxh7 19. Qxg4 a non-starter) 18. Rfe1 a5 19. Qe7!, and White sees he doesn’t need his queen to cash in his overwhelming positional edge.
The finale: 19…Qxe7 20. Rxe7 Nd5 (Rd7 21. Rxd7 Nxd7 [Bxd7 hangs the b-pawn] 21. Bxh7+ Kf8 23. Be4, with domination) 21. Bxh7+ Kh8 (brutal would be 21…Kf8 22. Rxf7+ Ke8 23. Re1+ Be6 24. Rxe6+ Ne7 25. Rexe7 mate) 22. Rxf7 Nc3 23. Re1 Nxa2 24. Rf4! Ra6 25. Bd3, and Black has seen enough, not needing to play out lines like 25…Rf6 26. Rh4+ Kg8 27. Bc4+ Kf8 28. Nh7 mate.
Game 8 ranks among the most interesting of the match, with Anderssen again getting his preferred Sicilian Reversed with the eccentric move order 1. a3!? e5 (a move the young American played on principle) 2. c4. Black’s queen foray with 11. f4 Qh4+ 12. g3 Qh3 fails to impress, as the hoped-for kingside attack never materializes and Morphy’s queen ends up forlorn on h6.
The real battle takes place on the other flank, revolving around whether Black’s control of the a-file offsets his weak pawn on c6. Things come to a head after 34. Ne5 c5?! (understandable as the pawn was chronically weak, but now White’s rook springs to life and Black must walk a tightrope; 34…Ra6, or even 34…Bd6!? 35. Nxc6 Ra3 36. Ke2 Rxe3+! 37. Bxe3 Nc3+ 38. Kd2 Nxb1 look sturdier) 35. dxc5 Bxc5 36. Rb5! Nxe3 (Rc2 37. Nd7 Bxe3 38. Rxd5 wins a piece) 37. Rxc5 Ng2+ 38. Ke2 e3 39. Nf3!? (Rd5!, and it becomes clear Black must resort to emergency measures to rescue the knight on g2: best for Morphy may be 39…g5 40. fxg5 hxg5 41. Nc4 f4 42. Rxg5+ Kf7 34. Rd5 exd2 44. Rxd2 Rxd1+ 45. Nxd2 Kf6, and hope to a draw) g6 40. Rd5, and now the two great masters of the age engage in a startling bit of mutual chess blindness.
Thus: 40…Kf7?? (a remarkably casual move from one of the game’s most precise players; simple and safe was 40…exd2 41. Rxd2 Ra3 42. Rd3 Ra4 43. Kf2 Nxf4 44. gxf4 Rxf4) 41. Rd6?? (missing 41. Ra5! and the computers are suddenly buzzing that White has a won game: 41…Rxd2+ [41…Rc2 42. Kd3; 41…Rb2 42. Ne5+ Ke6 43. Nc4] 42. Nxd2 exd2 43. Kxd2 g5 44. fxg5 Kg6 45. Ra6+ Kxg5 46. Ke2 and the knight is doomed) Kg7, and Black once again reaches drawing shoals.
With 44…Nxf4! 45. gxf4 Rxf4 46. Rd4 Rxd4 47. Nxd4, there are not enough pawns left for White to win. The hard-fought draw was agreed to four moves later.
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And as a final thank you to so many loyal readers over the years, a little holiday stocking-stuffer (see diagram) in the form of a “Christmas Tree Mate in Three” from the late, great Pal Benko. With the kings and pawns forming the tree, we won’t make you work too hard on what is supposed to be a day off. spoiler alert: Cover up the next paragraph if you want to try it yourself.
The key: 1. Kb8! Kxb6 (1..Kd7 2. c8=Q mate; 1…Kc5 2. c8=Q+ Kxb6 3. c5 mate) 2. c8=R! (2. c8=Q?? stalemate) Ka6 3. Rc6 mate.
Morphy-Anderssen, Match, Game 7, Paris, Dec. 25, 1858
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 e5 5. dxe5 Qxe5+ 6. Be2 Bb4 7. Nf3 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 Qxc3+ 9. Bd2 Qc5 10. Rb1 Nc6 11. O-O Nf6 12. Bf4 O-O 13. Bxc7 Nd4 14. Qxd4 Qxc7 15. Bd3 Bg4 16. Ng5 Rfd8 17. Qb4 Bc8 18. Rfe1 a5 19. Qe7 Qxe7 20. Rxe7 Nd5 21. Bxh7+ Kh8 22. Rxf7 Nc3 23. Re1 Nxa2 24. Rf4 Ra6 25. Bd3 Black resigns.
Anderssen-Morphy, Match, Game 8, Paris, Dec. 25, 1858
1. a3 e5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e3 Be6 6. Nf3 Bd6 7. Be2 O-O 8. d4 Nxc3 9. bxc3 e4 10. Nd2 f5 11. f4 Qh4+ 12. g3 Qh3 13. Bf1 Qh6 14. c4 c6 15. c5 Bc7 16. Bc4 Nd7 17. O-O b5 18. cxb6 axb6 19. Qb3 Rfe8 20. Bb2 b5 21. Bxe6+ Qxe6 22. Qc2 Qd5 23. Rfc1 Ra6 24. a4 Rea8 25. axb5 Qxb5 26. Qc4+ Qxc4 27. Nxc4 Rxa1 28. Bxa1 Nf6 29. Bc3 Ra2 30. Bd2 Nd5 31. Kf1 Bd8 32. Ke1 Be7 33. Rb1 h6 34. Ne5 c5 35. dxc5 Bxc5 36. Rb5 Nxe3 37. Rxc5 Ng2+ 38. Ke2 e3 39. Nf3 g6 40. Rd5 Kf7 41. Rd6 Kg7 42. h4 exd2 43. Rxd2 Ra4 44. Kf2 Nxf4 45. gxf4 Rxf4 46. Rd4 Rxd4 47. Nxd4 Kf6 48. Ke3 g5 49. h5 Ke5 50. Nf3+ Kf6 51. Nd4 Draw agreed.
• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at [email protected].
