Purser,Tom – Jeffers
Savannah Open, 1984
BDG Euwe Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.e4 dxe4 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 e6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Qe1
9...c5 10.Qh4 Re8 11.Ne5 Nf8 12.dxc5 Bxc5+ 13.Kh1 Be7 14.Rf3 Nd5
15.Rxf7 Bxg5 16.Rxf8+ Kxf8 17.Qxh7 Bf6 18.Ng6+ Kf7 19.Ne4 Ne3 20.Re1 Nf5 21.Rf1 Bd7??
I played 22.g4? and the game was drawn a couple of moves later. How many moves do chessplayers see ahead? For grandmothers, the max must be two. I missed a forced win with 22.Nd6+! Nxd6 23.Ne5+ Ke7 [23...Kf8 24.Qh8+ Ke7 is the same] 24.Qxg7+!
This is what I missed--that the Bishop can't take because then 25.Ng6+ would be mate. 24...Nf7 25.Qxf6+ Kd6 26.Nxf7+ Kc7
27.Qe5+ Of course 27.Nxd8 wins, but White has better--would you believe a forced mate in 19 after Black's 21st? (Okay, prove to granny she's wrong.) 27...Kc8 28.Nd6+ Kb8 29.Nxe8+ Kc8 30.Nd6+
A couple of variations: 30...Kc7
[30...Kb8 is a little faster: 31.Rf8 b5 (31...a6 32.Nb5+ Kc8 33.Qc7#; 31...Qxf8 32.Nb5+ Qd6 33.Qxd6+ Kc8 34.Qc7#; 31...b6 32.Ba6 Qxf8 33.Nb5+ Qd6 34.Qxd6#) 32.Rxd8+ Kc7 33.Rxa8 b4 34.Qc5+ Bc6 35.Nb5+ Kd7 36.Qd6#]
31.Nf7+ Kc8 32.Nxd8 a6 33.Nxe6 Bxe6 34.Qd6 b5 35.Qxe6+ Kd8 36.Rf8+ Kc7 37.Rf7+ Kb8 38.Qe8#
To be continued…
Play through this game and download PGN here.
