An Afternoon 'Playing Along' and Things Which Came To Mind

Good afternoon everyone. Just a simple bit of sharing and chat today.

I have been off work sick for a while - not pleasant - but the benefit has been being able to follow some chess online, live. ( for you young people of the internet generation reading this on a 'device', there was a time when us neandethals had to wait weeks or even months to get access to games, if they made it into print at all! To fill in the waiting time we would go hunter gathering - no Deliveroo apps back then - and gather firewood to keep the cave warm)

As readers of some of my earlier blogs will know I enjoy following games online and 'playing along'. i.e. taking the side of one of the players involved and trying to work out what I would play.

One such game fell under my radar last week in the British Championships and was a couple of happy hours well spent. Afterwards I looked at it again and then for a third time with the engine running. The result is my feature game here.

As you will see, it ends with a Queen endgame, and in that regard I mention Maroczy in the notes.

So, while I am here, I will give the 4 Queen endgames of his which come to mind.

First up, an early one against Janowski. Well, Janowski is quoted as saying that he hated endgames. However, he would often play on in drawn endgames trying to win. He lost a lot of endgames doing that, including this one, where, despite the Pawn headcount, he could have drawn comfortably.

Late addition! I knew I had it somewhere to hand. via Barcza et. al

Two against Marshall. This first one was a great lesson for me personally - you never known when lessons learned from studying games will come in useful. I was once able to win a rapid game against Ireland's No.1 with the idea of Maroczy's ...Qc2. 

It's rather nice having one of those old fashioned things called a library!! You get things like this wonderful version - complete with key - of the Ostende 1905 group picture. (You won't find this quality version with a google image search folks, but I daresay it will now start being posted by my betters - uncredited, of course!!)

Marshall not in picture.
This next game is one that I first went through in one of Euwe's books.  Even all these years later it may well be the best endgame of it's type ever played over the board, and that really is saying something! Just an absolute masterpiece. Magnificent.

And the 4th one which came to mind. Maroczy's save against Alekhine.  In the tournament book Alekhine explains his error on the basis that he was distracted by the Capablanca - Lasker game having reached it's critical point, or words to that effect! Nice diplomacy. In fact the  'critical point' was a serious dispute which was to have longer term consequences, but is beyond the scope of this humble blog. There is a story I have seen about this game - unsourced, as usual. It goes that at one point there was a conversation between the players with Maroczy saying something along the lines of '' Yes, my position is lost, but the game will end in a draw!''. No idea if it's true!

A relevant picture from New York 1927, including the tournament director Lederer, who was at the heart of the Capablanca - Lasker dispute.

Well, we had better - finally - get to the game which set me off on this long and winding road. Lots of chat in the notes. I also - unusually for me - consulted the engine on some key points. ( on that, before I forget, my friend  @zoranpe  is doing some nice work, looking at old games with the resources of today. His stuff is rather flying under the radar, so to speak.   https://www.chess.com/blog/zoranpe/david-bronstein-one-of-the-greatest-attackers-in-chess-history?utm_campaign=alert_tracking&utm_c5010ad48-74ff-4b44-b01b-d1fe302a47fc&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sendgrid.com  )
Black was Grandmaster Richard Pert. 2021 British Blitz champion.

The notes will explain why it got - and kept - my attention. Enjoy the game!