[Event "Pillsbury blindfold sim"] [Site "Cologne"] [Date "1902.06.29"] [Round "2"] [White "Pillsbury, Harry Nelson"] [Black "Nauhaus"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C25"] [Annotator "MJDonnelly"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "1902.06.29"] [EventType "simul"] [EventRounds "1"] [EventCountry "GER"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2007.11.25"] [SourceQuality "1"] {[%evp 0,79,27,11,11,19,66,66,100,99,172,175,233,267,212,218,346,320,379,382,362,302,292,195,150,150,154,160,172,142,148,148,146,145,145,145,146,101,95,100,99,99,101,99,99,91,113,107,112,88,114,81,114,78,104,109,125,126,124,125,129,133,123,112,107,114,121,124,124,123,205,114,123,143,212,161,282,280,285,292,324,267]} {This game was one from an 11 board simultaneous that Pillsbury gave in Germany whilst Blinfolded. He gave multiple exhibitions of this kind against several opponents at the same time in locations all over the World in particular Europe and the USA .} 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 f5 {Black is playing a King's Gambit in reverse where White has an extra move in Nc3. This cannot be particularily good unless some disadvantage can be made of the knight on c3. This reversed King's Gambit idea received some attention in a handfull of games prior to the main game by several of the strongest players in the World at that time. Surprisingly it has, in recent years, also been played in several hundred games involving players rated over 2000 and even up to 2600. The move 2...f5 somewhat randomises the game, makes the lines very complex if White holds onto the material or if Black sacrifices further as actually occurs in the main game. In addition, the resulting positions are difficult to judge objectively in particulat if one is Blindfolded!} (2... Nc6 {is a more common reply to White's opening but in another Blindfold simul (Havana 1900) Black (Fernandez) allowed a variation of a known trap when snatching White's queen.too eagerly:} 3. f4 d6 4. Nf3 a6 5. Bc4 Bg4 6. fxe5 Nxe5 7. Nxe5 Bxd1 8. Bxf7+ Ke7 9. Nd5#) (2... Nf6 {is also common and this as well as 2..Nc6 returns the game to more normal lines. Instead,}) (2... c6 {is less frequently chosen by Black. Older examples of continuations are} 3. f4 d5 (3... exf4 4. Nf3 f6 5. d4 Bb4 6. Bxf4 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 d5 8. Bd3 Bg4 9. O-O Ne7 10. Rb1 b5 11. exd5 Qxd5 12. Qe2 Be6 13. Rbe1 Kf7 14. Bxb8 Raxb8 15. Ng5+ $18 {Pillsbury-David, Blindfold Simul Paris 1900.}) 4. fxe5 d4 5. Nce2 Bg4 6. d3 Nd7 7. Nf3 Bxf3 8. gxf3 Qh4+ 9. Ng3 Nxe5 10. Bg2 $11 {Steinitz-Burden, London International 1865.}) 3. exf5 (3. Bc4 {At first sight appears stronger but recent games show Black has a good game after} Nc6 ({or by} 3... Nf6 4. d3 Bb4 $11 {Ten Hertog-Narayanan, Titled Tuesday intern op Jan Chess.com INT blitz 2022.}) ({but certainly not by} 3... fxe4 {due to the obvious} 4. Qh5+ {and the queen cannot be trapped on h8. Examples include} g6 5. Qxe5+ Qe7 6. Qxh8 Nf6 7. Nge2 (7. Nd5 Nxd5 8. Bxd5 c6 9. Bb3 d5 10. Qd4 {Gilpin-Goodwin, AUS-ch Minor Brisbane 2006.}) 7... c6 8. d4 d5 9. Bg5 {Andersen-Sandbech, Copenhagen op 1994.}) 4. d3 Nf6 {Roeberg-Grafl, Hessen-ch Frankfurt 2000.}) 3... Nf6 4. g4 {The most concrete. The alternatives is fine for Black.} (4. d4 exd4 5. Qxd4 Nc6 {Liyanage-Camacho Campusano, Titled Tuesday intern op 19 Sept Chess.com INT blitz 2023}) ({but} 4. d3 {is passive and Black has a good score against the move . Examples are} Bc5 (4... d5 5. g4 h6 6. Bg2 c6 7. Qe2 Bd6 8. f4 O-O 9. fxe5 Bxe5 {worked well for Black with an eventual win in Jakubowska-Beerdsen, Titled Tuesday intern op Chess.com 15 Aug INT blitz 2023.}) 5. Be3 Bxe3 6. fxe3 d5 {and Black won in both Carrington-MacKenzie, NY Casual games 1868 and Mwashe-Njua, Meru op 2018.}) 4... Bc5 (4... h5 5. g5 {is a reversed Kieseritsky Gambit where the Knight would usually go to e4 but as this is guarded Black is reduced to} Ng4 (5... Ng8 6. d4 d6 7. dxe5 {with a winning advantage in Skold-Staine, SWE-ch U20 Borlange 1992 (although Black won!) .}) 6. h3 Nxf2 7. Kxf2 Bc5+ 8. d4 Bxd4+ 9. Kg2 {and Black has insufficient for the piece in Opl-Bondick, EU-chT Seniors Dreseden 2006.}) (4... h6 {seems to prevent g5 but a famous chess problem composer was given a lesson by a famous player in the following game} 5. Bg2 d5 6. d3 Bc5 7. h3 O-O 8. Nge2 c6 9. Ng3 Qc7 10. h4 Qb6 11. Qe2 Bb4 12. a3 Qa5 13. axb4 Qxa1 14. O-O Qa6 15. g5 hxg5 16. hxg5 Nfd7 17. Nxd5 {Steinitz-Loyd, Paris International Congress 1867.}) 5. g5 (5. d3 {is again sluggish and lets Black take the centre with} O-O 6. Bg2 d6 7. h3 c6 8. Nge2 d5 {Perez Candelas-Szechenyi, Arcelor Mittal op Lichess.org INT blitz 2020.}) 5... O-O {Black is playing the (in)famous Muzio Gambit in reverse.} 6. gxf6 ({Delaying accepting the material, whilst threatening Qc4+, does not gain any particular advantage.} 6. Qe2 d5 7. gxf6 Qxf6 8. Nxd5 Qxf5 9. Ne3 Bxe3 10. dxe3 {and White whilst passive has consolidated the extra material (Germes-Dumas, Split op 2011).}) 6... Qxf6 (6... d5 {occupying the centre has been harshly dealt with in both old and more recent games.} 7. Qg4 (7. Bg2 Qxf6 8. Bxd5+ Kh8 9. Qf3 Nc6 10. Ne4 Nd4 11. Nxf6 Nxf3+ 12. Nxf3 Rxf6 13. d3 c6 14. Bb3 Bxf5 15. Be3 Bxe3 16. fxe3 Bh3 17. Ng5 Bg2 18. Rg1 $18 {Legrade-Le Duigou, FRA-ch Blitz Port Marly 2022.}) (7. Nxd5 {was the tactical blow in a correspondence game which did not last long} Bxf5 (7... Qxd5 8. Qg4 {threatens mate and Bc4}) 8. Bc4 Kh8 9. Qh5 Qd7 10. d3 {1:0 Faldon-Hughes, Ward-Higgs corr. 1996.}) 7... Rxf6 8. Nxd5 Rxf5 9. Ne3 Rf4 10. Qg3 {Blackburne-Grube, GBR tour 1871.}) 7. Qf3 {As in the Muzio proper although the obvious} (7. Ne4 {seems playable as long as White doesn't fall for the simple} Qxf5 8. Nxc5 (8. Qf3 Qxf3 9. Nxf3 Rxf3 10. Nxc5 Nc6 11. c3 d6 12. Bc4+ {is far more accurate.}) 8... Qxf2#) (7. Bh3 d5 {randomises the game even more and somehow Black won after} 8. Nxd5 Qh4 (8... Bxf2+ 9. Kxf2 Qh4+ 10. Kg2 Bxf5 {may have been worth a shot.}) 9. Qf3 Nc6 10. c3 {Janzer-Lipski, Pilzno Omega Cup 2009.}) 7... e4 (7... Bb6 {this slow retreat worked well in an early game in this line as follows} 8. d3 (8. Nd5 {utilising the extra move refutes this retreat for example} Qh4 9. f6 c6 10. Ne7+ Kh8 11. fxg7+ Kxg7 12. Nf5+ Rxf5 13. Qxf5 d6 14. Qf3 Bg4 15. Qg3) 8... c6 9. Ne4 Qe7 10. Bd2 d5 11. f6 Qc7 12. O-O-O dxe4 {Falkbeer-Anderssen, Berlin m3 1851.}) (7... d6 {would be a rational move if Black was not so much material down but here is far too slow in such a sharp position as White has} 8. Ne4 Qe7 9. Nxc5 {and now Black blundered with} Rxf5 10. Qb3+ Kh8 11. Ne4 $18 {Jung-Augstein, Mecklenburg VP LL 2003.}) (7... c6 {prevents Nd5 but White has Ne4. For example} 8. Ne4 Qe7 9. f6 (9. Bh3 Bb6 10. Ne2 d5 11. f6 {Hros-Durica, Drienica Saris op 2020 which ended with} gxf6 12. Bxc8 Rxc8 13. Qg4+) 9... gxf6 10. Nxc5 Qxc5 11. Qc3 {Gelblum-Qin, Gatineau op 2014.}) 8. Nxe4 {Again using the extra move is stongest rather than} (8. Qxe4 {as in the Muzio proper} Bxf2+ (8... d6 9. Nd5 Qd8 10. Ne3 {safeguards White's game as in Garrido Fernandez-Fernandez Muixi, Catalunya-chT Spain 1998.}) 9. Kxf2 d5 10. Qxd5+ Be6 {although even here White has better in 10. Nxd5.}) 8... Qe5 9. Ne2 Nc6 {Other much later games have seen White slowly consolidate the extra material a technique that Pillsbury also now employs.} (9... Rxf5 10. Qb3+ Rf7 11. Nxc5 Qxc5 12. d4 Qf5 13. Be3 d6 14. Bg2 {Czuchnicki-Augstein, Mecklenburg VP LL1 2005.}) (9... Bb6 10. Bh3 Nc6 11. c3 d5 12. N4g3 d4 13. d3 dxc3 14. bxc3 Ba5 15. Bd2 {Edelmann-Schroeder, Rangliste 1600-1900 freechess.de 2015.}) 10. Bh3 d6 11. d4 {White gives material back to assist in completion of development and before Black can play Bxf5 and Rae8.} Nxd4 12. Nxd4 Bxd4 13. Bf4 {A key move gaining time.} Qb5 14. Qb3+ Qxb3 15. axb3 Bxf5 16. Bxf5 Rxf5 17. Be3 Bxb2 18. Rb1 Be5 19. Ng3 Rf7 20. Ke2 {The dust has settled and Black is just a pawn down with active pieces. Black also has lots of pawns in just two islands compared to White's 3 islands.This may be important if Black can reach an ending in which a knight for 2 pawns may not be enough to win for White.} a6 (20... a5 {looks more active with a barrier of pawns to prevent White's pieces entering Black's game and with chances of creating a passed pawn with a4.} 21. Rbd1 b5 22. Rhg1 c6) 21. Rbd1 Re8 22. Rhg1 Bf4 23. c4 {A good move controlling Black's queen's side pawns with just two pawns.} g6 24. h3 Re5 25. Nf1 Kf8 26. Rd3 {White has secured the Be3 so that Black has is unable to generate much additional pressure.} Ke8 27. Nd2 Bxe3 28. Rxe3 Rfe7 29. Kd3 (29. Rxe5 Rxe5+ {gives Black more chances as the rook could become active on a5 or h5.}) 29... Kd7 30. Rge1 {Neatly forcing the rook exchange under conditions favourable for White.} Rxe3+ 31. Rxe3 Rxe3+ ({If} 31... Rf7 32. Rf3 {continues ot push Black back.}) 32. Kxe3 Ke6 {Centralising the king is normally played in endings to keep out the opponent's king. Here, however, Black will sooon run out of decent moves that will not allow an entry of the king or knight. For instance,} (32... c6 33. Ne4 h6 (33... Ke6 34. c5 d5 35. Ng5+ Ke5 36. Nxh7 d4+ 37. Kd3 Kd5 38. b4 a5 39. bxa5 Kxc5 40. h4 Kb5 41. Nf8) (33... b5 34. cxb5 axb5 35. Nf6+) 34. c5 d5 35. Nd6 b6 36. Kd4) 33. Nf3 h6 (33... d5 34. c5 $18) 34. Ke4 c5 35. Ne1 b5 36. Nd3 Ke7 37. Kd5 Kd7 38. cxb5 axb5 39. Nf4 g5 40. Ne6 ({After} 40. Ne6 {White will just sacrifice the knight to reach a winning K+P ending. For instace,} b4 (40... c4 41. bxc4 bxc4 42. Nd4 $18) 41. Nxc5+ dxc5 42. Kxc5 Ke6 43. Kxb4 $18) 1-0