Moran's Once-In-A-Lifetime Masterpiece! - Best Of The 50s - Moran vs. Franco, 1955

Pablo Moran Santamaria is not a player many will have heard of, but he was a respected chess journalist who wrote an acclaimed biography of Alexander Alekhine. In 1955, against a fellow Spaniard, he also played a masterpiece that rivals Alekhine's best games. With incisive play, and a queen sacrifice, he gains a large advantage, but it is final sacrificial king hunt that is truly memorable.

Top 10 Games of the 1950s

• #1: ???
  
• #2: ???
• #3: ???
  
• #4: ???
• #5: ???
• #6: ???
  
• #7: ???
  
• #8: ???
  
• #9: Keres vs. Szabo, 1953
  
• #10: Moran vs. Franco, 1955
  
• See also: Top 10 of the 1960s, Top 10 of the 1970s, Top 10 of the 1980s, Top 10 of the 1990s, Top 10 of the 2000s, and Top 10 of the 2010s

Franco makes, to my mind, one really significant error in the game. With 9...e5?, he loses a vital tempo in the opening and weakens his position. Moran responds with the required aggression with the queen sacrifice 16.exf6!!, and despite some resourceful play, Franco is never able to really get back into the game. 23.Rxg7+!! is a beautiful conclusion. Can you calculate the checkmate to the end in all lines if the rook is accepted?

My annotations are available below.

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