Annotated chess game: Petrov's greatest game of all time

ANNOTATED GAME

Petrov's greatest game of all time
F. A. Hoffmann (2600) vs. A.D. Petrov (2500)
Annotated by: goodoldtom (1200)
Chess opening: Giuoco Piano (C53), Ghulam Kassim variation

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This is the best attacking game in all of history, (except for Anderrson, maybe). Petov sacrifices his queen and obtains a lasting attack against the king. This is shocking.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5	Today, cxd4 is preferred.



6... Ne4 7. Bd5	Looking for adventure, but this violates the principle of rapid development.



7... Nxf2 8. Kxf2 dxc3+ 9. Kg3	better is king e1, however not Be3, Bxe3 , Kxe3, cxb2.



9... cxb2 10. Bxb2 Ne7 11. Ng5 Nxd5 12. Nxf7 O-O	?!. Sacrificing a queen for a king hunt, this may not work, but it did.



13. Nxd8 Bf2+ 14. Kh3 d6+ 15. e6 Nf4+ 16. Kg4 Nxe6 17. g3 Nxd8+ 18. Kh4 Rf4+ 19. Kg5 Ne6+ 20. Kh5 g6+ 21. Kh6 Rh4+ 22. gxh4 Be3#	Checkmate. Petrov became one of the greatest players in the world.
	3 comments marinvukusic (2161) on 13-May-07: I think this game deserves a better annotation... don't you? archduke_piccolo (2340) on 13-May-07: Maybe this long king hunt sequence ought to be broken up by some sort of comment on possible defensive alternatives and their consequences, or maybe just punctuation (!, ?, and the like). I can understand that you want to share the game (I've not seen it before) but that you don't feel that you can do it justice. But some comment, even your thoughts on - or aesthetic response to a particular move (like yours in response to the Q sac that begins the sequence) is fine. *** For instance, what happens if White plays 14.Kg4 instead of 14.Kh3? All sorts of ideas spring to mind, but I can't find (off the top of my head) anything better than 14...d6ch 15.e6 (15.Kg5 Rf5ch 16.Kg4 Ne3ch 17.Kh3 Rh5#) 15...Ne3ch 20.Kh3 Nxd1 21.Rxd1 Rxd8 with 22...Bxe6ch to come. With 3 extra pawns, Black wins easily. I wouldn't be surprised, though, if someone does find a quicker finish for Black after 14.Kg4. It does seem to indicate, all the same, that 14.Kg4 is no improvement on the move White actually played! far1ey (1200) on 13-May-07: Amazing ability to calculate all those moves. Even though most were forced checks it would be extremely hard to see all this (if he did )