During the period from 1904 to 1909, Marshall won like four or five International Chess Tournaments. He was obviously one of the best players in the world, and also one of the most brilliant. The game that follows could very well be the finest game that Marshall ever created during his long and storied career.
This tournament was one of the very strongest of that period. With the exception of Pillsbury, who was already ill, and World Champion Emanuel Lasker ... all the world's leading masters showed up for this exciting tournament. Geza Maroczy won ... a full point-and-a-half ahead of David Janowski and Siegbert Tarrasch, who were tied for second. (Schlechter, Marco, Teichmann, and Burn all finished ahead of Marshall. Click here to see a cross-table of this extremely important and historic event - you may have to scroll down a bit.) I also have studied many of the games of this tournament, some really great chess was played here. (You can get a lot of these games in just about any chess database.)
While Marshall did not do too well, he played some great chess. (One of his games against Burn won the second brilliancy prize.) But this game was probably his best effort. (I think so!)
Friday; April 30th, 2004: Just an aside - I received an e-mail from a good friend ... who asked that I not use his name. (Wassup with this?) But he is a fairly well-regarded chess historian, and while not a really strong player, knows a great deal about the lore and history of our royal game. (His library is much bigger than mine!)
He told me that Ostende, 1905; (and 1907 - for that matter); was a VERY rare tournament in terms of the high-quality games that were played. When I started to dispute this, he simply pointed to a few books that he knew I had (and respected) in my library, like Soltis's book, "The 100 Best." (He has an ORIGINAL copy {or copies} of the tournament books for Ostende.) These games are truly magnificent.
When just one game from a tournament makes into several anthologies as a really great game ... well this is good, but nothing to cheer about. But when 10-15 games are recognized as being really outstanding games ... and have made their way into several books ... you begin to wonder. (Was there a special prize for best play?)
White's play here is brilliant. Many historians consider this one of Marshall's best games. And I recently (March, 2004) got some new information about this game ... and I wanted to share it with Marshall fan's everywhere. So I finally forced myself to annotate this game.
This is mostly a text-based game ... with one or two diagrams. You will definitely want a chess board.
Click HERE to see an explanation of some of the symbols that I use when annotating a chess game.
Click HERE to see this game in java-script replay format. (Not one of my pages!)
Frank
J. Marshall (2675) -
Mikhail Tchigorin (2650)
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This is a rather bizarre position that we currently have on the chess board.
[ 8...Qa5+!?; 9.c3 Qxa2; 10.Bd3, "~" ]
9.Bd3 Nd7!?;
{Diagram?}
"Black tries to do without ...g6;
or castling." - GM Andy Soltis.
[ Possible was: 9...Bd6!?; "~" ]
Both sides continue to mobilize
for the middlegame.
10.Qe2 Kf7;
11.Nf3 Re8; 12.0-0 Bd6; 13.c3!,
13...Nf8!?; 14.Nh4!,
(hmmm)
{See the diagram ... just below.}
It is not even clear why White made
his last move ...
or just what the point
of this Knight sally was.
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I went over this game - briefly - one
night on ICC, a popular chess server.
One strong player commented that:
"White seems to be walking into an
upper-cut in this position!"
[ One program likes: 14.Rbe1!?, "~" ]
14...Bf5!?;
(Tempting fate?)
{See the diagram, just below.}
This seems like an obvious and a
fairly playable move, Tchigorin expects
something like:
15.Qc2, Bxd3;
16.Qxd3, Ng6; when Black has an
excellent position.
(Note that White's
Queen - now - is in a discovered attack.)
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But the great Tchigorin is in for a very big (and rude) surprise!
(Probably the best move in this position - for Black - was ...a6; or ...g6.)
[
The move of: >/=
14...g6!?; "~"
{Diagram?}
seems to blunt White's
attack. (A little, anyway.)
*******************************************************
GM A Soltis recommends that
Black play ...Bxg3; in this position,
but that is clearly bogus:
</= 14...Bxg3?!;
('?') 15.fxg3! Nd7;
16.Nf3 Kg8; 17.Rbe1,
'±' {Diagram?}
with an extremely large edge
for White in this position. ]
15.Nhxf5!!,
(Maybe - '!!!')
{Shocked?} {D?}
Thus begins one of the more amazing
combinations of that period in chess.
(Smyslov referred to it as the very
best that Marshall ever played!)
GM Andy Soltis calls this ... "much prettier" than
any of Marshall's other better
known combinations, and ... "more impressive
than the famous ...Qg3!!; game
with Stepan Livitsky at Breslau, 1912." (In
his book, "The 100 Best.")
[ Possible was: 15.Qc2!? ]
15...Rxe2;
16.Nxd6+ Ke6[]; {Diagram?}
All the pundits agree that this is
completely forced for Black.
[
After the inferior continuation:
</= 16...Kg8?;
17.Bxe2! g6!?; 18.Rfe1!,
18...Qc7; 19.Ne8 Qf7;
20.Bd3 h5; 21.h4 f5; 22.Re2,
("+/-") {Diagram?}
White has a Knight, a Bishop,
and a whole Rook for the Queen.
(Material advantage AND the much
better position here.) ]
17.Nc8!!,
(WOW!!) [Piece
play!] {See
the diagram ... just below.}
Odds are that Tchigorin had seen
this far ahead, but had missed
this shot completely.
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Surely White's lone Knight on c8 will
soon be isolated from the rest of its
neighbors ...
and easily won?
[ Perhaps the great Tchigorin had
expected (a continuation) something like:
17.Ngf5!?,
"+/=" {Diagram?}
when maybe Black can hang on? ]
After the nearly forced Q-B2 by
Black, many of my students want
to capture the Rook
on e2 with
the White Knight. But this would
be missing the point completely ...
17...Qc7;
18.Bxe2! Kf7; ('!')
{Diagram?}
Black avoids the obvious stuff.
[
After the moves:
</= 18...Qxc8??;
19.Bg4+ f5; 20.Bxf5+,
20...Kd6; 21.Bxc8,
"+/-" {Diagram?}
Black should (possibly) consider
resignation in this position.
***************************************************
Not so obvious was the following:
18...g6!?; ('!?') 19.Rfe1 f5;
20.Bf3+ Kf6; 21.Re8!,
{Diagram?}
Definitely the best.
( A GM offers a blatantly inferior
continuation here:
</= 21.Ne7!? Ne6?; 22.Bxd5!, "+/-"
{Diag?}
- GM Andrew Soltis. )
21...h5!?; 22.h4 a6;
23.Rbe1, ("+/-")
{Diagram?}
White's position is dominating.
(And overwhelmingly so!) ]
19.Nf5!!,
{Diagram?}
"Another neat move that connects
both of White's Knight's."
- GM Andrew Soltis.
(And according to the book of the
tournament, a move that literally
"floored" all
the spectators of this
game. And I would bet that it was NOT the move that
poor Tchigorin
was expecting in this position.)
'!' - GM Andrew Soltis. '!!' - GM Salo Flohr.
[ Possible was: 19.Nxa7!?, '±' (Maybe "+/-") ]
19...Ne6; {Diagram?}
Of course Black could not capture the
"free" Knight on c8.
[
After the moves: </=
19...Qxc8???; 20.Nd6+ Ke6;
21.Nxc8 Nd7; 22.Bg4+,
22...f5; 23.Rfe1+ Kf6;
24.Bxf5! Kxf5; 25.Nd6+ Kf6; 27.Nxb7,
"+/-" {D?}
White is a Rook and two Pawns
ahead ... with a very easy win. ]
20.Nfd6+! Kg6;
{See
the diagram ... just below.}
Apparently this was (also) forced.
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Black looks like he might be getting
away, ...
and White's Knights look very
alone and stranded in this position.
[ Worse is: </= 20...Kf8?; 21.Rfe1, "+/-" ]
21.Bd3+ Kh5[];
{Diagram?}
Amazingly ... this is also forced.
(This is very hard for some of my
students to believe here, but even
a strong
chess engine like CM9000
confirms this to be true.)
[ Black can lose more horribly ...
(and much more quickly);
than in the game. For example:
</= 21...Kg5?; 22.Rbe1 Rxc8!?;
{Diagram?}
This might not be forced here, but
there were darned few
really viable
alternatives for Black.
( Or </= 22...Nf4!?; 23.Re7!, "/\" {Diagram?} just as in the game. )
23.Rxe6! Rd8; 24.Nf5 Rd7!?;
25.f4+ Kg6; 26.Nd6+ Kh6;
27.Rf3! g6;
{Box?}
{Diagram?}
This also looks forced.
( 27...g5?!; 28.Rh3+ Kg7; 29.Rxh7+ Kf8; 30.Re8#. )
28.Ne8 Qd8!?; 29.Rh3#.
{Diagram?}
---> Black could have given up
his Queen in this line ...
but it would have still been a lost
game for the second party here. ]
22.Rbe1! Nf4!?;
23.Re7! Qa5!?; {Diagram?}
This is actually not the most accurate
move for Black in this position.
(The
box says that the second player must
immediately begin returning massive
amounts of material, but I think that
Tchigorin would have almost certainly
resigned rather than play in such a
lame fashion.)
[ >/= 23...Rxc8; 24.Rxc7 Rxc7; 25.Bf5, "+/-" ]
24.Bb1,
('!?') (hmmm)
{See
the diagram - just below.}
GM Andy Soltis calls this, "A surprising situation."
(He also notes that Bc2 might have
retained the possibility of a later
Bd1+ by Marshall.
Note that after
Bb1, Black's Queen has been shut
completely out of the game.)
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Now Black must meet the threat of
RxP/g7.
(Tchigorin does not care
about the loss of the Pawn, this
capture of the Black infantry
(on g7) by
White's Rook would put his King
in a terrible bind.)
*******
[
White could have also played:
(>/=) 24.Rxg7!?,
('!!') 24...Nxd3?;
25.Nf5!,
{Diagram?}
with an inescapable mating web. ]
24...g6[];
{Diagram?}
According to several books, this
move is completely forced here.
[ Better is:
24...Rxc8;
(Fritz) {Diagram?}
{White is still winning easily.} ]
25.g3!,
(challenge)
{Diagram?}
Putting the question to Black's
Knight on f4 which lacks a bevy
of
good squares to retreat to.
[ Interesting was:
25.Rxb7!?,
"+/-" {Diagram?}
and just grab ALL of Black's
Pawns on the 7th rank here. ]
25...Nh3+;
26.Kg2 Ng5; 27.Bd3!!,
{See
the diagram just below.}
An almost magical re-activation
of this piece, White now threatens
28.h4!,
(and if) 28...Ne4; then
29.Nf7, and 20.Be2#.
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'!' - GM Andrew Soltis.
[ Also good was: 27.f3!?, "+/-" ]
Now Black is in really dire straights ... and feels compelled to start returning
a little of his booty ... in a vain effort
to save the leader of the dark armies.
27...Rxc8;
28.Nxc8 Qd8; 29.h4! Qxc8; {Diagram?}
Not pleasant ... but few of the
variations here are.
[
Or 29...Nf7!?;
30.Rxf7 Qxc8?; {Diagram?}
Grabbing material, but ...
( >/= Or 30...Kh6; 31.Nxa7, "+/-" )
31.Rxh7+ Kg4; 32.f3#. ]
30.hxg5,
("+/-") {Diagram?}
(Black Resigned here.)
White has an overwhelming material
advantage here ... ... ...
and it is a mate in five or six more
moves from this position anyway.
[Apparently this game was submitted
for the top brilliancy prize(s).]
"This is a real Fourth of July fireworks
show from beginning to end."
- GM Frank J. Marshall,
in his book: "My Fifty
Years of Chess."
GM Andrew Soltis picked this game
as one of the very best ('Top 100')
of the whole of the 20th Century.
GM Vassily Smyslov called this ...
"simply the finest combination that
Marshall ever conceived!"
GM Mikhail Botvinnik and GM Salo
Flohr wrote a series of articles on
great chess games.
These articles
were published in Soviet chess
magazines from the late 1930's ...
all the way through the 1950's.
(Most westerners have never heard
of or even seen these articles.)
But this very distinguished pair called
this combination:
"The finest of its
kind and one of the best of that
whole period of chess."
Emanuel Lasker - in his [then] new
chess magazine - praised this contest
as,
"a spirited and inspired attacking
game, one of the best of its type."
Is this Frank J. Marshall's greatest and
best chessic achievement?
It is entirely
possible that this is so! (04/14/2004)
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Copyright (c) A.J. Goldsby, 2004. All rights reserved.
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All games - HTML code initially generated with the program, ChessBase 8.0.
My diagrams on this page were generated with the program Chess Captor 2.25.
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This is one of the greatest games Marshall ever played. Please feel free to send me a note and tell me what you think. I enjoyed working on this game. It is my sincere hope and desire that you found it a pleasant experience.
This (web) page was created in (mid) March, 2004.
(Final format and posting completed
on: Thursday; April 15th, 2004.)
This page was last updated on:
Wednesday, April 02, 2014
04/02/2014 08:29 AM
.
***
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Copyright (©) A.J. Goldsby, 1985 - 2014. All rights reserved.
(This game was previewed many times - by at least 20-30 people - over a two month period.)
