Thursday, April 25

Correspondence chess: Prodigies of attack and defense

We have recently received a large selection of games played by correspondence, and plan to share the best of them with our readers as space and time permit.  Correspondence chess is often of very high quality, with the possibility of thorough analysis largely eliminating obvious blunders and often allowing players of lesser strength to produce finished efforts that would do credit to any world-class Master.  

We present today two games of similar pedigree.  Each was played in an international tourney organized by the Schweizerische Schachzeitung, each features the so-called Open Defense (5...Nxe4) to the Ruy Lopez, and in each Black obtains a most threatening attack against the White King's castled position.  But there the similarities end, for in the first game the Black attack, by virtue of a series of sacrifices, breaks through to victory, while in the latter contest the first player succeeds through cool defense in surviving the enemy onslaught and ultimately decides the game in his own favor by the narrowest of margins.

Herewith our first offering, with notes based on those by the Swiss Master Voellmy:



And now for our second game, no less worthy than the first, with notes based on those by the winner:

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