Mike Splane – Rohan Satha (1939)

Kolti Chess Club July 24, 2008

Before this draw I’d played a string of 23 straight decisive games, the longest such streak of my career. I’d also won nine in a row as White.

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5! a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d4 Ne4 ?

I’ve just started playing this opening and this is the first time I’ve been in this position. The best move is 5. … ed. I expect to reach that position in my game next week.

6. Qe2 d5

Black has a choice of four replies here. 6. … Nf6, 6. … Nd6 and 6. … f5 are all met by 7. de with advantage to White. 6. … d5 is the worst choice, it’s supposed to lose a piece.

7. Ne5

This position has been reached 7 times in Chesslab.com’s database. White won six games, Black won once. White’s threat is simple, Nc6 (with a threat to the queen) when f3 wins the pinned knight.

7. … Bd7

This sets some traps, but 7. … Be6 was the move I was worried about in the game. I didn’t know the Emmanuel Lasker game from 1900 that went

7. … Be6 8. Nc6 Qd7 9. f3 Nf6 10. f4 g6 11. Qe5 Bg7 12. Bh6. The key tactical idea is 10. f4 Ne5 11. f5 Bf5 12. Ne7! Qa4 13. Nf5 winning a piece.

8. Nc6

I knew this was book and played it instantly. I knew this position was won for White, he is supposed to win a piece. but did not remember the analysis. While Black was thinking I started kicking myself for not playing 8. Bc6 bc 9. f3 N moves, 10. Nc6+ winning the queen. Luckily, I didn’t play that, because 9 f3 Qh4+ followed by 10. … Ng3 is winning for Black!

8. … . bc

Much better than 8. … Bc6 when White gets to swap off his badly placed bishop before winning the knight.

9. f3 Qh4+ 10. g3 Qh3 11. fe ?

The only games I’d seen in this line ended here with Black’s resignation. I had not looked any deeper than this position in my pre-game analysis, and was unprepared for the following middlegame. This is the first of several bad moves. Two days after the game it suddenly dawned on me that 11. Bf4 is a massive improvement. After 11. … Bd6 12. Bd6 cd 13. Nc3 0-0 14. fe Rfe8 15. 0-0-0 Black’s game is hopeless.

11. … Be6 12. e5?

After this I can not stop Black from opening the e file, so I should have played 12. Nc3 preparing to castle queenside. Then if he captures on e4 with a pawn the e file is blocked, and if he captures with the rook he loses even more material.

12. …. 0-0 13. Be3?

The e file is going to be opened. I need to get my king to safety immediately, so 13. Nc3 Rfe8 14. Bf4 f6 15. 0-0-0 is correct. The bishop does nothing on e3, except serve as a target.

13. … Rfe8 14. Qf1?

I thought for 18 minutes before playing this lemon. White has a winning position after 14. Nd2 f6 15. ed Re3 16. Qe3 Re8 17. Qe8+ Be8 18. dc followed by castling. Or, I could have also played the idea in the game with 14. Nd2 f6 15. Qf1 Qh5 16. Qf3 Bg4 17. Qf2 fe 18. Bc6. Moving the queen first costs a critical tempo, Black doesn’t have to play f6.

14. … Qh5 15. Nd2

Maybe I should be playing 15. g4 Qg4 16. Rg1 to activate some pieces but I didn’t realize how bad my position was about to become.

Be5 16. de Re5 17 Qf4 Rae8

He could have played 17. … Re3+ 18. Qe3 Re8 but by now he was aiming for more.

18. Nf1

I don’t know whether this is a good move or a bad one but it seemed like the only try. After the game he pointed out that I could have castled. I didn’t like the looks of 18. 0-0 Re3 threatening 19. … Re2 20. Nf3 Re4 or 20. … Bg4

18. … Re4

Believe it or not, I didn’t even see this coming.

19. g4!

I can’t play 19. Qc7 Re3+ 20. Ne3 Re3+ when I’m almost certainly going to get mated. Now if he captures on g4 with the bishop, his queen can’t get to e2 directly, so I thought I could grab the c pawn with some back row mate threats and hold on.

19. … Qh4+ ?

As I was waiting for him to make his move, I saw a hole in my analysis. If 19. … Bg4 20. Qc7 Re3+ 21. Ne3 Re3+ 22. Kd2 Qh6! wins instantly, so 19 … Bg4 20. Qf2 is forced. His position is then so strong he can stop to grab the a4 bishop, or continue the attack with 20. … Bh3.

20. Qf2

Of course not 20. Qg3 Re3+ 21. Ne3 Re3+ winning the queen.

I was examining the position after 20. .. Re3+ 21. Ne3 Re3+ 22. Kf1 Qh3+ and saw that I was losing after 23. Kg1 Qg4+ and was mated after 23. Qg2 Rf4+ 24. Kg1 Qe3. My opponent was running short on time, so I thought I’d better offer a draw.

He thought for a while and then I saw my error. I’m ok after 23. Qg2 because 23. … Rf4+ is an illegal move, the rook will be on e3 not e4. What can I say? Some nights I just can’t analyze correctly. Unfortunately, the rules don’t allow you to retract a draw offer.

Draw