With the title of this thread you might expect a stileto sharp rook sacrifice by Nakamura or a thrilling endgame by Kamsky et al. But no, this concerns a game played in the U 1600 section on board 2 in Round 9. Lucas Knight (15 years old) had the black pieces and needed a win to get to 7.5 points which had a chance to tie for 1st place in the section. I won’t annotate the game, others could do a much better job. I just want to comment on the conditions under which the game was played.
It may not have been the most pinpoint accurate game as far as technique is concerned – I don’t know as it hasn’t been run through Fritz yet. Regardless, it’s the circumstances under which the game was played and the noble choices of the players who displayed a genuine love for the true spirit of chess – a spirit which can often seem absent in the ranks of professional chess with the safety of draws, avoidance of risk and solid main line theory.
On move 8, and with his opponent’s Queen holding court in the center of the board, Lucas chose to run his king IN FRONT of his f6 g6 and h6 pawns rather than give his opponent a draw in hand by perpetual check if he chose it. I do not think Max Osmulski (also about 15 years old) would have went for a draw since he played an equally exciting game trying all the while for the full point as well. But Lucas could not have known during the game what his opponent was after and therefore in order to safeguard his chance at winning the tournament he walked his king through the valley of death seeing that valley as the only possible route to victory.
I was giving his Mom updates throughout the game and at one point became a bit emotional trying to explain why she should be so proud of her son’s pure unadulterated spirit of chess. We had a Hallmark moment.
When Lucas emailed me with the game score later that evening he included the following:
[i]Two quotes that I remembered during the game:
"The quality of a game lays in how much originality, fighting spirit, beauty the player brings–not technique. "
- Bronstein
“Sometimes in order to win in chess you have to demonstrate that 2+2=5”
- Mikhail Tal
(Incidentally I found out that you were thinking the same thing)[/i]
Coming from a 15 year old boy playing for World Open cash in Round 9, this kind of blew me away.
Both players had 6.5 points and only 1 player in the field had 7, so securing a half point for 7 points total would have guaranteed a nice pay check for the week while losing the game would leave either player with chump change or nada.
Lucas chose the chance to create something beautiful rather than opt for safety and the positions which developed are beautifully intriguing and complex. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
On a personal note, the game was an angel to me. I had to drop out of the last round of the tournament due to a personal issue which mimicked the choices made in this game. I risked safety for the sake of beauty and lost the game I was playing while Lucas Knight won his and earned a 3 way tie for 1st place and a fat check for $7000. Yet, I know for a fact the game he played will mean much more to him than any check ever could.
This game gave me four hours of peace and helped me through a very rough day. For your enjoyment I leave you now with the most beautiful game of the the 2009 World Open… at least for me it was anyway.
(written by Lee Donofrio)
[b][Event “World Open U1600”]
[Date “2009.07.06”]
[Round “9”]
[White “Osmulski, Max”]
[Black “Knight, Lucas”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “D07”]
[WhiteElo “1547”]
[BlackElo “1616”]
[EventDate “7-5-09”]
[TimeControl “40/2 SD/1”]
- d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. e3 e5 5. h3 Bxf3
- Qxf3 exd4 7. cxd5 Nb4 8. Bb5+ Ke7 9… Qe4+ Kf6 10. Qxd4+ Kg6 11. Bd3+ Nxd3+12. Qxd3+ f5 13. g4 Qd7 14. gxf5+ Qxf5 15. e4 Re8 16. Rg1+ Kf7 17. Rg4 Nf6 18. Rf4 Rxe4+ 19. Rxe4 Qxe4+ 20. Qxe4 Nxe4 21. Be3 Bb4+ 22. Ke2 Rd8 23. a3 Be7 24. f3 Nf6 25… Bxa7 b6 26. Nc3 Nxd5 27. Nxd5 Rxd5 28. Rc1 Bd6 29. Rc6 Rc5 30. Rxc5 Bxc5 31. a4 Bb4 32. Bb8 Bd6 33. Ba7 Ke6 34. a5 bxa5 35. Bd4 Be5 36. Bxe5 Kxe5 37. Ke3 g5 38. b3 h6 39. Ke2 Kf4 40. Kf2 h5 41. Kg2 Ke3 42. Kg3 c5 43. Kg2 h4 44. Kg1 Kxf3 45… Kh2 c4 46. bxc4 a4 0-1 [/b]