Game of the week January 22, 2023 by Robert Huntington In memory of Michael Basman who passed away in October. [Event "Cambridge 1981"] [White "Michael Basman"] [Black "James Plaskett"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A00"] [Annotator "ATH"] [PlyCount "39"] [EventDate "1981.??.??"] [SourceTitle "StarBase 4.56"] [SourceDate "2004.11.04"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2004.11.04"] [SourceQuality "2"] 1. g4 e5 2. Bg2 Ne7 (2... Nc6 3. Nc3 Nge7 4. e4 Ng6 $15) 3. d4 exd4 (3... d5 $5 $15) 4. Qxd4 Nbc6 (4... d5 $5) 5. Qa4 Ng6 (5... Rb8 6. Nc3 b5 $11 7. Nxb5 $2 a6 8. Nd4 Rb4 9. Nxc6 Nxc6 10. Qa3 Rxg4 $17) 6. h4 Bc5 (6... Bb4+ 7. Kf1 Nge7 $11) 7. Nc3 Nxh4 $6 (7... Nge5 $11) 8. Bd5 (8. Be4 $1 $14) 8... Qe7 (8... Ne5 9. Bf4 Nhg6 $11) 9. g5 $6 (9. Bf4 Ng6 10. Bxc7 O-O (10... d6 $2 11. Bxc6+ $18) 11. O-O-O d6 12. Bxc6 Qxc7 13. Be4 Bxf2 14. Nd5 Qd8 $11) 9... Nf5 (9... Ng6 $1 10. Nf3 Nb4 11. a3 b5 $6 (11... Na6 $11) 12. Qb3 Nc6 $6 (12... Nxd5 13. Nxd5 $14) 13. Bd2 $16 {Note that 13. g6 is not possible as in the game}) 10. Nf3 (10. Bg2 $5) 10... Nb4 $2 (10... Ncd4 $11) 11. a3 b5 $2 (11... Nxd5 12. Nxd5 Qd6 13. c4 $16) 12. Qb3 Nc6 (12... Bxf2+ 13. Kxf2 Qc5+ 14. Ke1 Nxd5 15. Qxd5 $18 {might (or might not) prolong the game but it gets the queens off}) 13. g6 $1 fxg6 ({ Stockfirsh may prefer} 13... Ncd4 14. Bxf7+ Kf8 15. Qd5 c6 16. Rxh7 $1 Rxh7 17. gxh7 cxd5 18. h8=Q+ $18 {but it's just as hopeless}) 14. Bg5 Nfd4 (14... Ncd4 { is a marginal improvement that won't change the outcome}) 15. Nxd4 Qxg5 $6 ( 15... Nxd4 16. Bxe7 Nxb3 17. Bxc5 Nxc5 18. Bxa8 c6 19. b4 Ne6 20. a4 $18 { is a "better" way to lose, according to Stockfish}) 16. Nxc6 Bxf2+ $2 (16... Bb7 {but it hardly matters at this point}) 17. Kxf2 Rf8+ $2 (17... Bb7 { Again, it doesn't matter}) 18. Bf3 $2 {Suddenly, instead of being nine points up, White is only up three (which more than suffices)} (18. Ke1 {and Black can resign as he nothing but a single spite check and is down two pieces}) 18... Qc5+ $2 (18... dxc6 19. Rxh7 $18) 19. Kf1 (19. Ke1 {is much better, according to Stockfish, but the move played is quite sufficient}) 19... dxc6 20. Qb4 ({ Stockfish prefers} 20. Rxh7 {but since Black resigned, the move played must be good}) 1-0 your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard; alternatively your wordpress theme might suppress the html iframe tag from articles or excerpts Views: 11