English Chess Forum

Geoff, as you suggested, I'm posting the third game from that 'swindles' thread in its own thread. It is the one that already has annotations, probably too many, but this was one of those rare games where you clutch at straws and something does come up, somehow. It's an interesting example of an unintentional double bluff. The 'stalemate' line actually allows mate, but the stalemate bit in this case distracted from the mating bit, so it served its purpose of prolonging the game in the hope that something else would come up (the fact that neither player saw the mating line doesn't really change the effect). PS. Have you tried posting a game here with annotations and variations? It's not as easy as I'd hoped it would be. I'll say more in the technical support thread.

3) Drawing by allowing mate in 7

[Event "4NCL (D3), CU3 vs Bradford Knights"] [Date "05.05.2012"] [Round "9"] [White "Kreuzer, C"] [Black "Bramson, M"] [Result "½-½"] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Be7 5.c3 d6 6.cxd4 Nf6 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Bb3 Bg4 9.Be3 Qd7 10.Qe2 a6 11.Rd1 Bh5 12.h3 Bg6 13.Bc1 Qc8 14.0-0 Bh5 15.a3 b5 16.Bc2 b4 17.Nd5 Re8 18.Ba4 Qb7 19.Nxf6+ (19.Qc4 Na5 20.Qxc7 Nxd5 21.Qxa5 Nf6 22.Bxe8 Rxe8 23.Rfe1{+-}) (19.Qc2 Bxf3 20.gxf3 Nxd5 21.Bxc6 b3 22.Bxb7 bxc2 23.Rd2{+-}) 19...Bxf6 20.d5 (20.Qc4 Na5 21.Qxb4 Rxe4 22.Qxb7 Nxb7 23.Bc6 Bxf3 24.gxf3 Rxd4 25.Bxb7 Rb8 26.Rxd4 Bxd4 27.Bxa6 Bxb2{+-}) 20...Nd4 21.Qe3 (21.Rxd4 Bxf3 22.Qxf3 Bxd4 23.Bc6 Qb6 24.Bxa8 Rxa8) 21...Nxf3+ 22.gxf3 Qc8 23.Bxe8 Qxh3 24.Bd7 (24.Bxf7+ {was better} 24...Kxf7 25.Rd3) 24...Qxd7 25.Rd3 bxa3 26.Rxa3 Re8 27.Rxa6{?} (27.Kg2 Re5 28.Qd3{±}) 27...Qh3{?} (27...Bd4 28.Qd3 (28.Qxd4 Bxf3{-+}) 28...Qh3 29.Ra3 Qg3+ 30.Kh1 Bxf2{-+}) 28.Ra3 Bg6 (28...Bd4 29.Qxd4 Bxf3 30.Rxf3 Qxf3 31.Re1 Qg4+ 32.Kf1 f5 33.Re3 Rxe4 34.Rxe4 fxe4 35.Ke1 h5) 29.Re1 h6 30.f4 Qd7 31.f3 {(=) as I was short of time} 31...Qb5 32.Qf2 Qb4 33.Be3 (33.Re2{+-}) 33...Bxb2 34.Rb1{??} {unfortunately neglecting to deal with Black's rather obvious threat...} (34.Ra7 Bc3 35.Rc1 Re7 36.Kg2 Kh7 37.Qc2 Bd4 38.Rb1 Qc3 39.Qxc3 Bxc3 40.Rbb7{+-}) 34...Qxa3 35.Rxb2 f5 36.e5 dxe5 37.fxe5 Rxe5 38.Rb8+ Kh7 39.Bf4 Rxd5 40.Rb7 Bh5 41.Kg2 Rd3 42.Rxc7 {I am now losing horribly, but clinging on to the forlorn hope that my pressure on g7 may produce something...} 42...Bxf3+ (42...Rxf3 43.Qd4 Qa2+ 44.Bd2 Qg8 45.Bc3 Rxc3 46.Qxc3{-+} {still losing, but my pressure on g7 did win the exchange, so there are possibilities here}) 43.Kh2 Be4 {here, I thought for a long time, and rather than resigning, I played one last trap, a move that contained a stalemate line that I knew he would see, but would prolong the game a few more moves and I could continue praying for a miracle. It turns out the move I played allows mate in 7 in the main line, but it was probably the best practical chance.} 44.Be3 Rc3 (44...Rxe3 {my opponent rejected this, presumably seeing the same stalemate line as I did, but he should have looked further and seen the mate that I missed (and clearly he missed as well).} 45.Qxe3 Qb2+ (45...Qxe3{??} 46.Rxg7+ Kh8 47.Rg8+ Kh7 48.Rg7+ Kxg7 {stalemate}) 46.Kg3 Qg2+ 47.Kf4 Qg5+ {I'd only looked at Qg4+ and Qh2+...} (47...Qg4+ 48.Ke5{-+} {due to the three pawns for the exchange}) (47...Qh2+ 48.Qg3 Qd2+ 49.Ke5 {I'd looked this far and thought White was OK, but...} 49...Qd5+ 50.Kf4 Qd6+ 51.Ke3 Qxg3+ 52.Kd4 Qxc7{-+}) 48.Ke5 Qf6+ 49.Kf4 Qd6{#}) 45.Rd7 Rc2 46.Bd2 Qb2 (46...Qf3 47.Qg1 Rxd2+ 48.Rxd2 Qh5+ 49.Kg3 Qg5+ 50.Kf2 Qxd2+ 51.Kg3 g5{-+}) 47.Qf4 {hoping he might miss the obvious threat of Qxh6+ (yes, I was clutching at straws, but had been for several moves).} 47...Qf6 48.Rd6 Qf7 49.Qh4 Qc7 50.Qg3 Rc6{??} {My opponent blunders and allows me a perpetual. He clearly missed the threat of Qg6+, possibly because the focus had been on g7 for so long. He also wrote down Qc7 on his scoresheet (twice) instead of Rc6, possibly he was distracted by me having only a minute left for 15 moves before move 60. It hadn't been a conscious strategy to run my clock down, but maybe it helped. It might seem strange that simple variations like this are missed, but at this level, after four hours of play, it seems quite a lot of things can be missed, as I would demonstrate in my next game the following day...} 51.Qg6+ Kg8 {I was so short of time that I just bashed out the check here, and it was only when my opponent slumped in his chair that I looked again and saw the perpetual! I even spent 20 seconds looking for a possible win, but then offered a draw after the next move.} 52.Qe8+ Kh7 {White offered a draw and Black, in a state of some shock, agreed.}

Thanks. Carl should give us own forum.

I liked the notes in the King march thread better. More chatty.