Marshall - Burn
                      |
|
|
Chernev writes:
<< Amos Burn was a hard man to
beat, but Marshall could have
said
of him, (as Capablanca did of Vidmar): "He always gives me
a chance of
a brilliancy, he is my meat." >>
[ See the book,
{The} "1000 Best Short
Games Of Chess,"
by (the late, great) Irving Chernev. Game # 683, pg. # 351. ]
***
For my part, I will simply say the game is incredibly brilliant. This is also the
famous, "Un-lit pipe game."
(Burn was an inveterate smoker, usually
smoking his pipe non-stop during the entire game. Some opponents claimed
it was distracting and they could not see the board for the haze of smoke!)
Here, Marshall kills his opponent before he could even get his pipe properly
lit!
(I do not know if this game
won a prize, months of research has yielded
little information about this tournament. {Ostende, 1907.} This game is
NOT
annotated by GM Andy Soltis in his excellent hard-back book, "Frank
Marshall,
U.S. Chess Champion." (A biography with 220 annotated games.) But I do
remember reading that this game was at least a strong contender for the brilliancy prize.).
1. d4
Nf6; 2.
Nf3
d6; 3.
Bf4
Nbd7; 4.
e3
g6!?; {Diagram?}
Perhaps slightly risky,
(Maybe according to GM A. Soltis.)
(See the book,
"The Best Chess Games
of Boris Spassky,"
Game # 16, pg.'s # 61 - 65.) (In a similar position.)
The
move 4...g6!? does slightly weaken the squares around Black's King and
on the whole of the King-side. Perhaps this move, in concert with ...Nbd7;
makes the move, ...g6; a little risky. (Maybe 4...c6!?)
5. Bd3
Bg7; 6.
Nbd2
0-0; 7.
h4!? (Maybe - '!!!') {Diag?}
Marshall does not mess around, but starts an immediate attack
on his opponent's King.
[ White could have played the very sedate: 7.0-0; or the calm - 7.c3, "=" ].
7...Re8; 8.
h5!
Nxh5; 9.
Rxh5!!
gxh5;
{Diagram?}
Marshall must have gotten up in the wrong side of the bed this morning.
He rains sacrifices down on his unsuspecting opponents.
10. Bxh7+!
Kxh7!?; (Maybe - '?!/?')
Is this capture wise?
Black captures the Bishop. At one time it was considered unchivalrous
not to capture a proffered piece. Burn may have been still suffering the
after-effects of one of their earlier encounters.
(Marshall sacked a piece unsoundly and Burn should have taken,
but he did not.)
Maybe Black should not have taken this piece!!!
[Although Chernev does not say it, the best move may be: 10...Kf8!?;
(See the diagram directly below.)
|
(Maybe - '!')
Its not clear how White
will continue his attack.
( 11.Ng5
Nf6; 12.Nde4,"~"
{Unclear.} ). ].
11.
Ng5+
Kg6; {Diagram?}
Unfortunately for Black,
this is probably forced.
[Chernev offers the variation:
"No better is 11...Kg8; ('?!')
12.Qxh5
Nf6;
13.Qxf7+
Kh8;
14.0-0-0, ("+/-")
(See the diagram directly below.)
|
and the Rook check will end it." - Chernev. ].
12. Ndf3
e5;
{Diagram?}
Black is lost, the computer shows this position as a complete win
for White. - So it matters little what defense Black adopts now.
[
I would have been tempted to try something like: 12...Nf8!?
].
13. Nh4+
Kf6; 14.
Nh7+
Ke7; 15.
Nf5+
Ke6;
16. Nxg7+!?
Ke7;
{Diagram?}
Watch them little horsies dance!
17. Nf5+ Ke6; 18. d5+! Kxf5; 19. Qxh5+ Ke4;
20. 0-0-0, Black Resigns. 1-0
[The
final moves could have been:
20.0-0-0
Nf6
; (20...exf4;
21.Rd4#
) 21.f3#
]
***
Chernev writes:
"The threat is 21. P-B3 mate (f3#),
and if 20...PxB/f4; then
21. R-Q4
(Rd4) is mate."
Chernev continues:
"Marshall's skillful manipulation of his Knights is reminiscent of Capablanca's
Knight maneuvers in his game against Yates at New York, 1924"
A game of exceeding brilliance and beauty. A 'one-in-a-1000' chess game.
Marshall sacrifices almost all of his pieces, yet Chernev gives him not
a single exclamation point. One has to wonder at this.
(Had Capa played this game, would
Chernev given all of these
moves
exclams?)
(This game got strong consideration for the "Top Ten" list, but in the end,
Burn's defense - or the lack of it - basically removed this game from real
consideration for the final candidate list of games. - A.J. Goldsby I.)
1 - 0
(There is a very long story behind this game. I was sent {loaned} a book {on Marshall} by a friend who lived in Texas many years ago. {In the 1970's.} He was a big Marshall fan. I was to annotate ten of Marshall's best chess games and they were to be published in the Texas State Chess Magazine. {Over a period of several issues.} After working more than a year on this project, I copied everything and sent it to my friend. Then the magazine changed hands several times, and I don't know what happened to the material. The games were never printed. *sob*
Then
in 1992, I again annotated this game and sent it to several north-east U.S.
state chess magazines. I am not sure if ... or when ... any of this
material was ever published. So it gives me great satisfaction to finally see
this game in print.
- Even if it is only a web page!!)
This game is the full
length version of the game as it exists in my database.
(I have not shortened it for publication.)
If you would like a copy of that game to study, please contact
me.
Click HERE to go (or return) to my web page on the great Marshall himself.
Click HERE to go to, (or return to); my Home Page for this site.
*******
Click HERE to return to my GeoCities "Home Page."
Click HERE to return to my (GeoCities) "Best Short Games Page."
Copyright A.J. Goldsby I. © A.J. Goldsby, 1983-2005.
Copyright (©) A.J. Goldsby, 2006. All rights reserved.
|
|
