I could see no reason to do it, so I ran it through Chessmaster.
Uh-oh! Leads to 21.Qxc6 Qd6 22.Qc4 Rfc8 23.Rc1 Nd8 24.Rb3 Rcb8 25.e3 Nf7 26.Ne2, which loses a pawn. Much better is Rxb7, leading to 21.Qxa6 Rb6 22.Qc4 Qd6 23.e3 Rb2 24.dxc6 e6 25.Rd1, which wins a rook for two pawns. This was black's key miscue in the game.
Looks like it was a flat-out blunder...
Edit: Althrough a better player/someone with a better engine may see something I'm missing, I can't see any reason for it.
I didn't really like the way black played the opening.
tonydal wrote:
My guess is that it's a typo (or some similar miscommunication of moves). Why would White bother to sacrifice the exchange here?--since all he has to do is play 20 dc and Black's bishop is forced back to the ridiculous square a8. White would then basically be a piece up. And why in the world would Black possibly decline the rook?! Boggles the mind.
I guess this is the most likely option, considering the ratings of both players.
MiDra, I will look at your continuations when I have some time for it
Thanks in advance
Hi,
I was viewing a game using the game explorer and I came across this game of Churkin Vitaly (2301) vs. Stroganov Anatoly (1931) played in 2005
Please click this link for the full game: http://www.chess.com/games/view.html?id=2885312
I dont get move 20 of black. Why does white not take the rook?
Thanks in advance
Alex