Lev Zilbermintz Crushes Master With Philidor Counter Gambit!

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WestOrangeChessClub

WestOrangeChessClub

The game notes were provided by Zilbermintz, West Orange Chess Club Co Vice President and 2010 WOCC Champion.

 

 

 

Due to a Chess.com bug the following notes did not make it into the game text in the original post:

 

 

After 8. Qe2 - The database gives three games with this line. They are James Mason - Otis Field, Jr., New York 1868, 0-1/27; Pessi-Popescu, Bucharest 1995, 1-0/47; and Kocsis - Aladics, 33rd Harkany Tenkes Cup, Hungary 2009, draw/10. 

 

After 14. Kc2 - Here I thought long over my next move. The problem is that so many candidate moves are playable. What attracted my attention was 14...Ne1+ 15.Kb1, but then how to continue the attack? After spending 12 minutes on the analyses, I came up with the solution.

 

After 15...e3! - This prevents the bishop on c1 from coming out. Now White's forces are divided in two.

WestOrangeChessClub

Some more on this game and the tournament it was played in from Zilbermintz:

 

 

Yesterday I played in the Don Carrelli Memorial tournament in Westfield. I began by defeating Errol Singh (USCF 1904) and drawing NM Sameer Mujumdar. Then I defeated NM Mark Kernighan (USCF 2206) after he repeatedly refused draw offers. The last game was against Merric Hu, who is a master these days.

The game vs. Hu was reminiscent of Graif - Zilbermintz, Westfield 2014, which was another Philidor Counter Gambit, del Rio Attack. That combat lasted 42 moves.

After winning the game vs. Hu, I thought that I might have qualified for the Under 2200 prize. Next thing I knew, NM Roman Malyshev was congratulating me on winning the tournament altogether!! This was a total surprise for me, as there were at least 10 masters in the tournament. These included Boris Privman, Yefim Treger, Sameer Mujumdar, Sam Barsky, Mauricio Camejo, just to name a few.

Winning this tournament with clear first place, 3.5/4 points, had to be my biggest success in years. I won the first place prize of $225.

WestOrangeChessClub

link for tournament Event Summary:  http://www.uschess.org/assets/msa_joomla/XtblMain.php?201909159652.0

BryanCFB
LHXCS_AC wrote:

A wonderful "romantic" - style game. Reminds me of my youth, how much fun it is to sac material for initiative and a king hunt. That's why chess is also an art and attracted me to the game as a kid! 

Any chance you'll start utilizing the PCG as your main weapon against 1. e4?happy.png

BryanCFB
pfren wrote:

The game notes gracefully neglect to mention that after 7.Nxe4 Black is painfully close to being totally lost.

And 4.dxe5 is nowhere close to being white's best line against this gambit. The theoretical refutation is 4.Bc4, which needs quite a bit of memorization, so either 4.exf5 or 4.Nc3! should cut the cake.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

I think most know, probably even Zilbermintz himself (although he'll probably deny ithappy.png), that this gambit is unsound and that with best play white will prevail.  However if white is not prepared and doesn't make the right moves this game is indicative of how it could go all wrong.

 

BryanCFB

The coolest moment that stands out for me in this game is how on only move 14 black can actually safely get in 14...Ne1+!

numismaticsandchess

IM Pfren, how about we play a match here?  See how well you play against my prepared lines with your 4 Bc4 ? I have played against this line and won.  With regard to 4 Nc3, I have played against that and won as well. Ditto for 4 exf5.  James West wrote a book on this opening. He shows there how to play these lines.

numismaticsandchess

Just as I thought! You chicken out of a challenge, perhaps being too overconfident in GM Negi's four-move analyses. Where did Negi cover the line? Please give the line, so I can reply. As for why you should care about West's book, the answer is simple: he covers all lines in-depth, for 20 moves. The 4 Nc3 line is covered in there. 

 

 What I am trying to prove is that this gambit is perfectly playable. Some titled players such  as yourself might shy away from something that is not 100% p[ositional. Fischer, Spassky and Tal all played gambit. Kasparov won with the Evans Gambit against Short in 1995. Point is, gambits are playable.

The guys on Chesspub rely too much on computer analyses rather on practice games. When you sit at a chess board against another player, you cannot use  a computer to help you. So, while off the board a computer might help you, on the board it is different. How many times have unscrupulous chess-players been  exposed for trying to get computer assistance while in play? Many times! Now, I am not saying you are doing it. Rather, the point is that practice takes priority over armchair analyses with a computer.

Here is a game played on the Internet Chess Club, where a Grandmaster gets crushed with the Philidor Counter-Gambit:

 

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 f5 4 dxe5 fxe4 5 Ng5 d5 6 Nc3 Bb4 7 Bd2 Nxc3 8 bxc3 Ne7 9 c4 h6 10 Nh3 d4  11 Nf4 00  12 Be2 Nbc6  13 e6 g5 14 Nh5 Bxe6 15 h4 Ng6 16 hg5 hg5 17 Bg4 Qd7 18 Be6+  Qxe6 19 Bg5 Qf5 20 Bh4 Nxh4! 21 Qe2 d3 22 cd3 exd3 23 Qb2 Rae8+ 24 Kf1 Qxh5 25 Rh3 Qe2+, White resigns,

GM Davor Rogic (Croatia) - Zilbermintz, Internet Chess Club 5 0 blitz, 22 September 2019.

 

numismaticsandchess

The move 6...h6 is a mistake. I can see where Black would lose after making such an inaccurate move. 

That said, have you checked the game Stepanov -Maliutin, Moscow 1992? Black won in 47 moves. 

chuddog

As a kid long ago, the PCG helped me cross 2200 and win nearly $1000 in a tournament. ... As white, of course. happy.png

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.games.chess/73FudRR6lfI

SeniorPatzer

"Rather, the point is that practice takes priority over armchair analyses with a computer."

With G60 games being considered classical OTB, I can see this being quite true.

numismaticsandchess

You would be wise to check out the game  IM Florian Grafl (2258) - Frank Roeberg (2250), Hessen championship, Baunatal 3/29/1999.  Black won in 29 moves. 

snacktime10101

this thread is turning into another "black is busted after c3 in the sicilian"

numismaticsandchess
 

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2006

Philidor Counter Gambit with 6.Neg5

 
One of the sharpest variations in the Philidor Counter Gambit occurs after the opening moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Neg5. In his book C.O.O.L. Chess, grandmaster Paul Motwani considers two possible moves for Black: 6...h6 and 6...e4. But recently I have played successfully a third continuation 6...exd4 7.Nxd4 Qe7+.
4v1h3bw0tads.png
Game One: Dragan Milovanovic (USCF 2230) - Jim West (USCF 2235), Hamilton Quad 12/17/2005 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Neg5 exd4 7.Nxd4 Qe7+ 8.Qe2 h6 9.Nge6 Bxe6 10.Nxe6 Kf7 11.Nf4!?
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A better try for White is 11.Nxf8 Qxe2+ 12.Bxe2 Kxf8 13.Bf4 c6 14.O-O Nf6 15.Bd3 Kf7 16.Rfe1 Nbd7 17.Bd6 Rhe8 with the absolute bishop pair, but Black has no pawn weaknesses. In fact, this position is virtually identical to the one arrived at by a different move order 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Ng5 d5 6.dxe5 c6 7.Ncxe4 Qc7 8.Nd6+ Bxd6 9.exd6 Qxd6 10.Bd3 Nf6 11.Qe2+ Qe7 12.Qxe7+ Kxe7 13.O-O h6 14.Re1+ Kf8 15.Ne6+ Bxe6 16.Rxe6 Kf7 17.Re1 Nbd7 18.Bf4 Rhe8, Jerry McDonnell (USCF 2217) - Jim West (USCF 2287), Somerset Quad 2/4/1990.
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That game ended in a draw on move 52. 11...Qxe2+ 12.Bxe2 Nf6 13.c4 Bb4+ 14.Bd2 Bxd2+ 15.Kxd2 c6 16.cxd5 cxd5 17.Bf3 Nc6 18.Rhd1 Rhd8 19.Ke1 Ne7 20.Rac1 Rd7 21.h4 g5 22.hxg5 hxg5 23.Nd3 Ng6 24.Nc5 Re7+ 25.Kf1 Rd8 26.Rd4 Ne5 27.Rcd1 Nxf3 28.gxf3 Rh8 29.Kg2 Kg6 30.Nd3 b6 31.Nb4 Nh5 32.Nxd5 Re5 33.Kf1 Nf4 34.Nxf4+ gxf4 35.Re4 Rxe4 36.fxe4 f3 37.Ke1 Kg5 38.Rd7 Re8 39.Rxa7 Rxe4+ 40.Kf1 Rc4 41.Kg1 Rg4+ 42.Kf1 Rd4 43.Kg1 Rg4+ 44.Kf1 Rc4 45.Kg1, draw.
1yo4rftj0n8ks.png
Game Two: Yogesh Raghunathan (USCF 2045) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Empire City Open 12/17/2006 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Neg5 exd4 7.Nxd4 Qe7+ 8.Be2 h6 9.O-O
gegv20g6ixwx.png
This looks too ambitious. I had expected 9.Ngf3 c6 10.O-O Qf6 11.Re1 Bd6 12.Bd3+ Ne7 13.Bd2 O-O 14.Bc3 Qf7 with chances for both sides. 9...hxg5 10.Bh5+ On 10.Re1 Kd8 11.Bh5 Qxe1+ 12.Qxe1 Rxh5 13.Ne6+ Bxe6 14.Qxe6 Nf6 15.Qf7 Nbd7, Black has more than enough for the queen, or 15.g4 Rh8 16.Bxg5 Nbd7 17.Re1 Bc5 18.Qf7 Kc8 19.Bxf6 Nxf6 20.Qxg7 Rf8 21.Kg2 b6 22.f3 Kb7 with a complicated position. I could have transposed into this line with 10...Kd8 but tried something different. 10...Rxh5!? 11.Qxh5+ Qf7 12.Re1+ Be7 13.Qxg5 Kf8 14.Qe3 Bd7 15.Qb3 b6 16.Nb5 Bxb5 17.Qxb5 c6 18.Qa4 Nf6 19.Be3 c5 20.c3 Nbd7 21.Qc6 Re8 22.Rad1 Kg8 23.Bg5 Bf8 24.Kf1?
3l3qqszybyyo4.png
I had anticipated 24.Rxe8 Qxe8 25.Bxf6 Nxf6 26.Qxe8 Nxe8 27.Rxd5 Nd6 with a roughly equal position. 24...Ne5 25.Qa4 Ne4 26.Be3 Ng4 27.f3 Nxe3+ 28.Rxe3 Ng3+ 29.Kf2 Rxe3 30.Kxe3 d4+ 31.cxd4 cxd4+ 32.Kf2 Ne4+ 33.Kf1 Bc5 34.Qc6??
7b5vnj9hzmrp.png
My opponent had been behind on time all game long. It finally takes its toll. 34...Qc4+ 35.Kg1 d3+ 36.Kh1 Nf2+, White resigns.
94z2fv0656o4.png
numismaticsandchess

I should mention that after 6 Neg5 h6?? Is a very bad move. GM Negi does not know how to analyze if he suggests such a bad response by Black. 

 

Fortunately Black has two good responses. One is 6...Qe7. The second one I will keep secret until I get to play it. 

numismaticsandchess

IM Pfren, I challenge you to a game with the Philidor Counter-Gambit. Let’s see you prove yourself.