Mate in 4 Challenge from Emory Tate’s Simultaneous Exhibition at MSJE

Below is a game from IM Emory Tate’s chess simul at the Fremont Summer Chess Camp. The simul consisted of 30 boards occupied by many of the top scholastic chess players in Northern California. Emory Tate won on every board and completed the task in under 2 and 1/2 hours. I am purposefully leaving the game incomplete to see if my readers can spot the mate in 4 that Emory produced to conclude his game with Luke Zhao.

 

[Event “Simul at the Fremont Summer Chess Camp”]
[Site “Fremont (California)”]
[Date “2015.2.21”]
[Round “”]
[White “Tate Emory (USA)”]
[Black “Zhao, Luke (USA)”]
[Result “1-0”]
[Eco “C44”]
[Annotator “Chris Torres”]
[Source “www.chessmusings.wordpress.com”]
1. e4 e5

2.d4 {It’s a rare and unique pleasure to watch IM Emory Tate play the Danish Gambit!}

2… exd4 3.c3 d5

( 3…dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 Bb4+ 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Nge2Nxe4 8.O-O Nxc3 9.Nxc3 Bxc3 10.Bxc3 Qg5 11.Re1+ Kd8 12.f4 Qxf4 13.Bxg7 Rg8 14.Qg4 Qd6 15.Bf6+ {1-0, Linden F (GER) – Machussky, Paris 1863})

4.exd5 Qxd5

5.cxd4 Nc6

( 5…Bb4+ 6.Nc3 Nc6 7.Nf3 Nf6 8.Be2 O-O 9.O-O Bxc3 10.bxc3 b6 11.c4 Qd8 12.d5 Ne7 13.Nd4 Bb7 14.Bb2 c6 15.Bf3 cxd5 16.Re1 Re8 17.Qc1 Rb8 18.Qg5 Ng6 19.Nf5 Rxe1+ 20.Rxe1 dxc4 21.Bxb7 Rxb7 22.Bxf6 Qxf6 23.Re8+ Nf8 24.Nh6+ Qxh6 25.Rxf8+ Kxf8 26.Qd8# {1-0, Alekhine Alexander A (RUS) – Freeman, New York 1924})

6.Nf3 Bg4

( 6…Nf6 7.Be2 Bb4+ 8.Nc3 Ne4 9.Bd2 ( 9.Qd3 Bf5 )
Bxc3 10.bxc3 O-O 11.O-O Na5 12.Re1 b5 13.Bd3 f5 14.a4 {?!} Nb3
{!} 15.Ra3 bxa4 16.Rxa4 Nbxd2 17.Nxd2 Nxc3 18.Qc2 {!} Qd7 {!}
19.Ra5 {!} Qxd4 {!} ( 19…Nd5 {?} 20.Rxd5 ) ( 19…Ne4 {?} 20.Nxe4
fxe4 21.Bxe4 Rb8 22.Bxh7+ Kh8 23.Rh5 $18 ) 20.Rc1 Rd8 21.Qb3+
Be6 {!!} ( 21…Kh8 {?} 22.Rxc3 $18 ) ( 21…Nd5 {?} 22.Nf3 Qf4
23.Rxd5 {!} Qxc1+ 24.Bf1 Be6 25.Rxd8+ Rxd8 26.Qxe6+ Kh8 27.Ne5
$18 ) 22.Qxe6+ Kh8 23.Re5 Qxd3 24.Rce1 h6 25.Qg6 {?} Qxd2 {0-1, Nyholm Gustaf (SWE) – Alekhine Alexander A (RUS), Stockholm 1912 It})

 

7.Be2 O-O-O

( 7…Bb4+ 8.Nc3 Bxf3 9.Bxf3 Qc4 10.Bxc6+ Qxc6 11.O-O Ne7 12.Qb3 Bxc3 13.bxc3 O-O 14.c4 Nf5 15.d5 Qg6 16.Bf4 Nd4 17.Qd1 c5 18.Be3 Nf5 19.Qd3 b6 20.Bf4 Rfe8 21.Rfe1 Nd4 22.Qxg6
hxg6 23.Kf1 f6 24.Rxe8+ Rxe8 25.Re1 Kf7 {1/2-1/2, Neumeier Klaus (AUT) 2293 – Svidler Peter (RUS) 2740 , Dortmund 1991 It (open)})

8.Nc3 Bb4

9.O-O Bxc3

( 9…Qa5 10.Be3 Nf6 11.Qb3 Rhe8 12.a3 Bxc3 13.bxc3 Nd5 14.Rab1 b6 15.Bb5 Bxf3 16.gxf3 Re6 17.Rbc1 a6 18.Bxc6 Nxe3 19.fxe3 Qg5+ 20.Kh1 Rxc6 21.c4 Re6 22.Rce1 Rde8 23.e4 Qf4 24.Qe3 Qh4 25.Qf2 Qe7 26.c5 bxc5 27.d5 Rb6 28.Rc1 f5 29.Qxc5 Qxc5 30.Rxc5 fxe4 31.fxe4 Rxe4 32.Rf8+ Kd7 33.Rf7+ Re7
34.Rxc7+ Kxc7 35.Rxe7+ Kd6 36.Rxg7 Kxd5 37.Rxh7 Rb3 38.a4 Rb4 39.a5 Rb5 40.Rh6 Ke4 41.Rxa6 Kf3 42.Rf6+ Kg4 43.a6 Ra5 44.Kg1 {1/2-1/2, Lipinski Georg – Matthai Heinz, Kiel 5/22/1965 It (open)})

10.bxc3 h6 {?} {Luke is spending a tempo he does not have to obstruct white’s progress on the wrong side of the board.}

( 10…Nf6 11.Rb1 Rhe8 12.c4 Qe4 13.Be3 Nxd4 14.Nxd4 Bxe2 15.Qxe2
Rxd4 16.Qb2 Rxc4 17.Bxa7 Re6 18.f3 Qc6 19.Bf2 b6 20.Rbc1 Kb7
21.Bg3 Re2 22.Qa3 Rxa2 23.Qxa2 Rxc1 24.Qxf7 Qc4 25.Qxc4 Rxc4
26.Re1 Nd5 27.h4 b5 28.Re5 Nc3 29.Be1 b4 30.h5 {…0-1, Uzman Cavit 2200 – Shaw Terrey I (AUS) 2390 , Skopje 1972 Olympiad})

( 10…Qd7 11.Rb1 f6 12.Qa4 Qe8 13.d5 Bxf3 14.Ba6 Na5 15.Qxa5
Bxd5 16.Bf4 Rd7 17.Qb5 Qe4 18.f3 Qxf4 19.Bxb7+ Kd8 20.Bxd5 {1-0, Forster Richard (SUI) 2456 – Lehner Oliver (AUT) 2453 , Parana 1991 Ch World (juniors)})

 

11.Rb1 {Emory’s rook is like a cannon pointed at Luke’s king from an adjacent room!}
11… Nf6

12.Be3 Nd7 {?} {Luke reacts to the danger improperly. If his best plan is to defend for dear
life, he might as well do that after Qxa2. At least then, if Luke survives, he has good prospects in the endgame.}

13.c4 {Emory regains the initiative while maximizing his space and force.}
13… Qh5

14.Rb5 {A more natural choice is Qb3 but Emory Tate is attacking with the creativity he is famous for.}

14… Qg6 {Luke sets up threats by placing his queen in the same file as Emory’s king. However, the best way to respond to Emory’s creative play would have been to return the favor with:}
( 14…Nde5 {!} 15.Nxe5 Bxe2 )

15.d5 {Now Emory’s pawn center is disrupting Luke’s king safety}
15… Ncb8 {??} {Luke has resigned himself to being target practice for Emory’s tactics. The only way to continue after d5 was Nce5 and even that isn’t pretty for black..}

16.Qb3 {!} {And now the punishment for Luke’s crime.}

16… b6

17.c5 {Emory attacks the only pawn that stands between him and victory.}

17… f5 {Too little too late. When it comes to the Danish Gambit, white doesn’t require
many inaccuracies in order to put black’s back against the ropes.}

18.c6 {Placing the nail into the coffin.}

 

18… Nxc6

19.dxc6 Qxc6

20.Rc1 Qa8

21.Ra5 {!} {Emory offers a rook that black can’t take.}

21… Nb8 ( 21…bxa5 22.Ba6+ Qb7 23.Qxb7# )

 

22.Bf4 {If you think Bxb6 also works, you are correct.}

22… Rd7

23.Re5 Rhd8

24.Qe6 g5 {And now, Emory spots a fantastic mate in 4 that blew the minds of everyone watching his simul.}

I will post the solution/conclusion of the game in the near future.