Annotated chess game: A Knight without reproach

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ANNOTATED GAME

A Knight without reproach - Jacques Meises !!
Jacques Mieses (2661) vs. Eugene Znosko-Borovsky (2630)
Annotated by: chess-writer (1200)
Chess opening: Vienna game (C28)

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1. e4

Jacques Mieses was born on February 23, 1865 -- just a few years after Morphy's brilliant conquest of England and Europe. No doubt the games of Morphy exercised a strong influence on Mieses's style, for in his long career he won a staggering number of brilliancy prizes. Mieses was born in Leipzig and studied first at Leipzig University and later in Berlin. His international success did not come until 1888, when he tied for 2nd place at Nuremberg and took 3rd at Leipzig. Over the next 50 years he played in numerous tournaments, always with an eye to the sharpest openings and boldest sacrifices. He also had the practice of earning money by writing journalistic reports about the tournaments in which he was playing, which may have contributed to his erratic results. In 1907, He came in 1st at Vienna ahead of Duras, Maroczy, Tartakover, Vidmar, Schlechter and Spielmann -- yet later that year he had a dismal performance at Carlsbad. He fled Germany just before World War II and eventually became a naturalized British citizen. He had a sharp wit, even in old age. On the occasion of his eightieth birthday, some friends held a dinner in his honor in London; the speech he made there has been preserved and is characteristic of his sense of humor: "I have been told that a good many people never reach the biblical span of three score years and ten; and those who do -- so some most reliable statistics assure us -- are most likely to die between 70 and 80. Hence, I dare say, ladies and gentlemen, that I for one have now passed the danger zone and may well go on living forever." He never gave up his love of brilliant chess. The same year that he gave that speech, he took a brilliancy prize at Hastings. Mieses was one of the players awarded the GM title by FIDE in 1950 when they began to give retrospective acknowledgment to the great players of the previous generation. Arpad Elo estimates his peak performance rating at 2490. He died on February 23, 1954, just four days short of his 89th birthday. For my second annotated game, we go back to 1907 when Mieses was at the height of his powers and conjuring furiously with that Morphyesque flair that remained his trademark throughout his long career. His opponent here is the strong Russian player and theoretician, Eugene Znosko-Borovsky.

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1... e5

Ah !! before we go any further, Please do not forget to rate and comment on this game. It helps me sense my audience's pulse and post more games of the kind that you like.

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2. Nc3

Znosko-Borovsky is probably best remembered today for four books that served as texts for the pre-war generation of Soviet players: How to Play the Chess Openings, The Middle Game in Chess, How to Play Chess Endings, and the delightful and irreverent How Not to Play Chess. Mieses, too, was the author of several books including The Chess Pilot, Manual of the End Game, and Instructive Positions from Master Chess. Mieses had a hearty dislike of "long lines," theoretical openings analyzed so deeply that anyone with a good memory could find his way through them. He would frequently trot out the Danish Gambit (2.d4 exd4 3.c3!?) in international competition. Here, he heads for a variation of the Vienna Game that was not sufficiently well explored at that time. His opponent's unfamiliarity with this sideline soon nets Mieses a significant positional advantage.

2... Nf6 3. Bc4 Nc6

Znosko-Borovsky passes up the opportunity to test Mieses with 3...Nxe4. While it is generally considered harmless for White to take the Knight with 4.Nxe4 Black gets back the piece back with 4...d5!. However white still retains a slight spatial advantage after this fork. However , having studied his games I can safely assert that Mieses might well have been unafraid to do something 'different'. He might have essayed the Boden-Kieseritzky Gambit with 4.Nf3!? Nxc3 5.dxc3, or the extremely complicated lines beginning with 4.Qh5!? Nd6 5.Bb3 Nc6 6.Nb5!?, which lead to almost unfathomable tactics.

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4. d3

As an interesting aside, White often reaches this position via the Bishop's Opening without giving Black the opportunity to take on e4, thus: 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Nc3, etc.

4... Bb4

Here 4...Bc5 would probably transpose into a King's Gambit Declined -- an opening, however, with which the veteran gambitteer Mieses could be expected to be familiar. Znosko-Borovsky's move is designed to start a fight in the center focused on the d5 square. By pinning White's N/c3, Black obtains presumptive control of d5 and is prepared to push his pawn there next move. After, for example, 5.Ne2 d5 6.exd5 Nxd5, Black has achieved the favorable "Jump Formation" in the center and can look forward to the middlegame with confidence thanks to his spatial advantage.

5. Bg5

Mieses, not to be outdone, counters by reducing Black's own control over d5.

5... d6

This is such a natural-looking move that it is difficult to condemn it. Yet Alekhine, in his annotations to the game Alekhine-Gregory, St. Petersburg, 1909, suggests that Black's strongest course is an immediate 5...h6! with the idea 6.Bxf6 Bxc3+! (before White can play Ne2) 7.bxc3 Qxf6, with equal chances. On the other hand, if White were to meet 5...h6 with 6.Bh4, Black could continue 6...g5 7.Bg3 d5! and, having driven off White's Bishop, he would achieve his central goal and have no further worries.

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6. Nge2

Now that Mieses has taken the time to defend the N/c3 with a fellow steed, the idea of ...h6 is less appealing. White can recapture on c3 with a Knight, and Black's Queen would be exposed after her recapture on f6 since White plans both Nd5 (hitting f6 and c7) and 0-0 with f4! coming.

6... Be6

The tension this move introduces is quite characteristic of Vienna and Giuoco Piano positions. Tarrasch was one of the first people to note that White should not, as a rule, capture on e6: although it doubles Black's pawns, the pawns control important central squares (like d5 -- there's that square again!) and the open f-file is an asset for Black. The two paths most commonly taken are Bb3, defending the B comfortably with the a-pawn, and Mieses's more daring plan here:

7. O-O

Mieses simply completes his development. If Black captures on c4, White will have a death-grip on the d5 square. This is highly uncomfortable for Black! So Znosko-Borovsky puts the question to White's B/g5 instead. Yet perhaps the best move of all for Black is simply 7...Bxc3. This is a difficult point to understand unless you really grasp the niceties of the pawn formation. Black's darksquare Bishop is outside his pawn chain, true: yet it hasn't much of a future where it stands. In the subsequent course of the game, it serves as more of a punching bag for White than an offensive piece. Trading it off might have been the better part of valor.

7... h6 8. Bxf6 Qxf6 9. Nd5 Bxd5

Already, the B/b4 looks like it is "floating" without a purpose. Mieses captures on d5 with his Bishop for a good reason. There is nothing to be gained immediately by kicking Black's N/c6 with a pawn; and long-term, the pawn on d5 might become a liability. Mieses is planning to push f4 soon, harassing Black's Queen and opening a critical file. Notice how weak the f7 square would be if there were no White f-pawn!

10. Bxd5 Bc5 11. Bxc6+

This prepares for the eventual advance of White's d-pawn. The idea is to soften up the center with f4 first, and if the Black e-pawn can be deflected, then d4 will establish a dominant center for White.

11... bxc6 12. Kh1

As advertised: White is preparing f4.

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12... d5 13. f4 exf4

Here Mieses makes a small mis-step, which his opponent declines to capitalize on.

14. Rxf4

This dares Black to snatch a pawn on b2. Yet he might as well grab some booty for his troubles. Mieses could have avoided all of this with 14.d4! and 15.Rxf4, transposing into something like the game continuation without offering Black that opportunity.

14... Qe7

Black ducks the challenge. Now White's plan rolls forward unhindered.

15. d4

What should White play if Black puts the Bishop on d6 now? 15...Bd6 is not the game continuation, but it is worth looking at. The key to this position, as is so often the case in chess, is an undefended man -- here, the pawn on c6. Black's problem is that his Bishop can be forced to go to an undefended square as well, and White can then fork the B and the P. 16.e5 Bb4 17.c3 Ba5 18.Qa4 ... and Black must lose a piece since allowing the fork on c6 is out of the question. For this reason, Black must put his Bishop on b6.

15... Bb6 16. Ng3

Mieses consistently prepares for an assault on the King. Now 16...0-0? is poor, since White has 17.Nf5! and 18.Qg4 with decisive threats on g7 and h6.

16... O-O-O

Znosko-Borovsky is well aware that the Kingside is an unwelcome home for him, so he spirits his King away to the other side. The castle on the west side of his domain is drafty, but he counts on the fact that he has a clerical defender there and White's pieces are not aimed properly for an assault on the Queenside.

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