Bramley -- Burgess 1946

Sometimes a particular game captures my attention. Tuesday morning I went through five games in Irving Chernev, The 1000 Best Short Games of Chess (1955). I have been working through this book since mid-September. I went through the games quickly and then returned to the first, spending considerable time examining variations that might have been played. Using the opening explorer on Lichess, I found another game with the same odd ninth move.

That afternoon, I showed the game to my after school chess club. On Wednesday, I spent more time exploring the game, annotated it, and created a worksheet for my students with positions derived from the game--mostly those that did not occur. Captions under diagrams indicate the positions on the worksheet.

I cannot find any information about the game beyond what Chernev offers--only surnames, location, and year. Another book includes the game, László Polgár, Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations, and Games, but derived from Chernev. The game is number 500 in Chernev. Polgár includes it among 100 miniatures with sacrifices on f2/f7.

Bramley -- Burgess [C54]
Surrey, 1946

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4

5.d3 is the top choice of masters

5...exd4 6.cxd4

6.b4 Be7; 

6.e5 d5 7.Bb5

6...Bb4+ 7.Nc3

This move initiates the Greco Attack, which I have explored in several articles on Chess Skills.

7.Bd2 also preferred.

7...Nxe4 8.0-0

8.d5

8...Nxc3

8...Bxc3 9.d5 Bf6 10.Re1 Ne7 11.Rxe4 d6 Although approximately equal, Black tends to do better.

9.bxc3 Be7?!

Here we reach what struck me as a novelty when I first looked at the game. It has been been played by others, even at least once by a chess master.

White to move

Stockfish 14 on Lichess gave this move and White's response ?? in annotations to Boricsev,O. -- Sevostianov,P. 2017.

9...d5 10.Re1+ Be7 11.Bd3

10.Re1

Better is the immediate 10.d5 Nb8 (10...Na5 11.Bd3) 11.d6! (11.Re1 reaches the game) 11...cxd6 12.Bxf7+ Kxf7 13.Qd5+ Kf8

White to move

Analysis diagram

14.Re1 Na6 15.Ng5 Qe8 16.Bf4 Nc7 17.Qf5+ Kg8 18.Bxd6 Ne6 19.Nxe6 dxe6 20.Rxe6 Bxe6 21.Qxe6+ Qf7 22.Qxe7 Qxe7 23.Bxe7 Kf7 24.Bc5 Rhd8 and drawn in 63 moves. Chen,Y (2081) -- Kislik,E (2347) Budapest 2011.

14.Ng5 Bxg5 15.Bxg5 Qe8 16.Rfe1 Qf7 17.Qxd6+ Kg8 18.Re7 Nc6 and White won in 32 moves. Sizov,A -- Prikhodko,P Serpukhov 2001.

10...0-0

10...d5 11.Bd3 0-0 12.h3 Be6 13.Bf4 Qd7 14.Rb1 b6 15.Qd2 Bd6 16.Bxd6 Qxd6 17.Re2 h6 18.Rbe1 Rfe8 19.Bb5 f6 20.a4 Bf7 ½-½ Boricsev,O (2343) -- Sevostianov,P (2248) Mukachevo UKR 2017.

11.d5 Nb8

Both players have made errors, but White seems to be much better.

11...Na5 would be my inclination 12.d6! (12.Bd3) 12...cxd6 13.Bd5 Nc6 14.Ba3 Bf6 15.Qd3 (15.Rb1) 15...Ne7 16.Be4 g6 17.Bxd6+-

12.d6!

Lichess opening explorer shows that eleven other moves have been employed here, but none with the sort of results garnered by 12.d6! 12.Qe2 has been the most popular and Stockfish likes it almost as well.

12...Bf6

12...cxd6 13.Ba3 Nc6 14.Bd5 White's advantage is clear;
12...Bxd6?

White to move

Analysis: Exercise 2

13.Bg5 Qe8 14.Rxe8 Rxe8+-

White to move

13.dxc7

White could have struck now with 13.Bxf7+! Rxf7 14.dxc7 Qf8 (14...Qxc7 15.Re8+ Rf8 16.Qd5+ Kh8 17.Rxf8#) 15.cxb8Q Rxb8 16.Ba3 Be7 (16...Qxa3?

White to move

Analysis: Exercise 6

17.Re8+ Rf8 18.Qd5+ Kh8 19.Rae1+-)

17.Rxe7 Rxe7 18.Qd5+ Qf7 19.Qd6+-

13...Qxc7 14.Ba3

Again, White could have played 14.Bxf7+! Kh8 15.Bb3

14...Bxc3

Why not trade a rook for two bishops? 14...Qxc4 15.Bxf8 Kxf8?

White to move

Analysis: Exercise 1

16.Qd6+ Be7 17.Qxe7+ Kg8 18.Qe8#

15.Bxf7+!

Black to move

15...Kh8

During chess club, I was asked what if Black captures the bishop.

15...Kxf7

White to move

Analysis: Exercise 5

16.Qd5+ Kg6 17.Qg5+ Kf7 18.Qf5+ Bf6 19.Ng5+ Kg8 20.Qxh7#

Matters end more quickly if the rook nabs the bishop. 15...Rxf7 16.Re8+ Re7 17.Rxf8#

16.Bxf8 Bxe1 

16...d5 17.Ng5 Be6

White to move

Analysis: Exercise 4

18.Bxg7+ Kxg7 19.Nxe6+ Kh8 20.Nxc7+-

White to move

Exercise 3

17.Qd4

Black can delay, but not prevent checkmate. 1-0