Bad Pieces

Any pieces that has poor scope or position should be traded quickly.

If you are reading this instead of viewing a chess puzzle or game, then you must enable JavaScript on this website.

[Event "2nd Gulf Coast Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1979.06.10"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morash, John"]
[Black "Rohdes, Michael IM"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "John Morash and David Hayes"]
[BlackElo "2426"]
[ECO "B80"]
[TimeControl "0"]
[WhiteElo "1839"]

{ Mr. John Morash is a rare talent on 64 squares as he demonstrates in this
game. } 1. e4 { B80: Sicilian Scheveningen: 6 g3 and 6 Be3, including English
Attack } 1... c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 Be7 7. Qd2 a6 { Covers b5. } 8. O-O-O { I decide to try the Richter-Rouzer attack. This is all
book right now. } 8... Nbd7 9. f4 Qc7 10. Be2 b5 11. Bf3 b4 { Black attacks on the
queenside while white will attack on the kingside. } 12. Nce2 Bb7 13. Ng3 Rc8 14. Rhe1 { Worse is 14. Qxb4 d5 15. Qe1 dxe4 16. Bxe4 Nxe4 17. Nxe4 f6 with
advantage for black. } 14... Nb6 15. Nh5 Rg8 { On 15. ... Nxh5 16. Bxe7 Qxe7? 17.
Nf5!! is painful and black did not relish 16. ... Kxe7 17. Bxh5 after which I
would have to say white stands much better with lots of pressure on the black
king. } 16. Nxf6+ gxf6 17. Bh4 Kf8 { I have never been able to figure out this
move or move 18. Rohde gives up two tempos for no apparent reason. } 18. g4 { Worse is 18. Qxb4 d5 19. Qb3 dxe4 (not 19... Qxf4+ 20. Kb1 Qd6 21. exd5 Bxd5
22. Bxd5 Nxd5 23. c4 Rxg2 24. Bg3 with advantage for white.) White must not
be greedy because 24. cxd5 is refuted by 24... Rb8 25. Qc3 Rbxb2+ 26. Qxb2
Rxb2+ 27. Kxb2 Qxh2+ 28. Re2 Qxh4 winning for black. } 18... Nc4 19. Qf2 { Still the
b4 pawn is untouchable. 19. Qxb4 d5 20. Qb3 dxe4. Less advisable is 20...
Qxf4+ 21. Kb1 Ba8 22. exd5 Nd2+ 23. Rxd2 Qxd2 24. Rd1 Qxh2 25. dxe6 Bxf3 26.
exf7 allowing white to equalize if white avoids 26. Nxf3 Qe2 27. Re1 Qc4
where black would have the upper hand. } 19... Ke8 20. Bg3 { Here I am planning 21.
h4 with a kingside pawn storm, but after black's next move I decide that
maybe I need to find a more compelling plan instead. } 20... a5 21. g5 { Once again,
its "Tora, tora, tora". } 21... fxg5 22. f5 { This push gains space and begins the
difficult task of cracking open the pawn shield around black's king. } 22... e5 23. f6 { At this point I can't believe I am sacing two pawns against an
International Master but if I move the knight to b3 then black can play 23.
... f6! next move and lock up the position after which black's attack is
strong. } 23... Bf8 { Black would lose his advantage after 23... Bxf6?! 24. Bg4 Be7
25. Nb5. Best is 23... exd4 24. Bg4 Bd8 25. Bxc8 Qxc8 with complicated play. } 24. Bg4 exd4 { Black decides to get two pieces for the rook but forgets about
the precarious position of his king. On 24... Ra8 25. Nf5 white has pressure
but it is anyone's game. } 25. Bxc8 Bxc8 26. e5 dxe5 27. Bxe5 { White takes
full advantage of the terrible position of black's king. } 27... Nxe5 { A pinning
theme. The pawns crumble around a naked black king. } 28. Qxd4 { Do you see the
mate threat? } 28... Be6 29. Rxe5 { White threatens Qe4. } 29... Rg6 30. Rb5 { It is pleasant
to have several good moves to choose. An alternative for lively play is: 30.
Qe4 Rxf6 31. Qa8+ Ke7 32. Rc5 Qb6 33. Rb5 Qe3+ 34. Kb1 Bd7 35. Rbd5. } 30... Rh6 $4 { But even a better move would not have saved the game. The white pawn on f6
chokes black like a bone in his throat. Other moves simple lose material or
worse. } 31. Rb7 $1 { A devastating blow. At this point in the game there were
about 15-20 people watching, and my hands were shaking as I made each move! } 31... Qc8 { A classical mating theme. The rook serves to deflect the black queen
from her defense of d8. } 32. Qb6 Rxh2 33. Rb8 { White overlooked the immediate
mate in 3 beginning with the sac of his queen. 33. Qxe6! Qxe6 (33... fxe6 34.
f7 mate) 34. Rb8+ with mate next. Also better is 33. Qb5+! Bd7 34. Qxd7+ Qxd7
35. Rbxd7 to finish black off quickly. } 33... Rxc2+ 34. Kb1 Bf5 { Black threatens
mate in 1 with Rc1. } 35. Rxc8+ { Black is lost in the main line, but 35. Rd8+
is swifter. } 35... Rxc8+ 36. Ka1 Bc5 37. Qb5+ Kf8 38. Qxc5+ $3 { Eliminates the
defender c5. } 38... Ke8 39. Qe7# 1-0