Candidate master Lev Zilbermintz [pictured] annotates his game against William Graif at the Westfield quads.
Round Three: Philidor Counter Gambit
William Graif (USCF 2134) - Lev Zilbermintz (USCF 2111), Westfield NJ 2/9/2014
The Del Rio Attack, first proposed by Ercole del Rio in 1750.
6...Bc5!
The other move here is 6...Nh6.
7.Nf7 Qf6 8.Be3 d4! 9.Bg5 Qf5
On 9...Qg6 10.Be2! So, it is necessary to provoke the blocking of the g4 square.
10.g4 Qd5 11.c4 Qxe6 12.Nxh8 Nc6!
First rook sacrifice. The knight on h8 is not coming out.
13.Na3 Ne5 14.Bg2 Nd3+ 15.Kf1
Maybe 15.Ke2 was better.
15...Nf6 16.Bxf6 Qxf6 17.Qe2 e3! 18.Qf3 Nxf2!
Now Black has two passed pawns and very active minor pieces.
19.Qxf6 gxf6 20.Nb5
Going for the other rook? White can have it!
20...d3!!
Morphy would have been proud!
21.Nxc7+ Kf8 22.Nxa8 Bxg4!!
Now all of Black's minor pieces are active.
23.h3 Be2+ 24.Kg1 Nxh1 25.Bxh1?
Perhaps 25.Nc7!? was better, trying to get the knight into play. Now it is all over.
25...Bd1! 26.b4 e2+ 27.Kg2 e1=Q 28.bxc5 Bf3+ 29.Kxf3
29...Qxa1 30.Ke3 Qxh1 31.Kxd3 Qxh3+ 32.Kd4 Kg7 33.Nc7 Qd7+ 34.Nd5 Kxh8
35.Ke3 Qe6+ 36.Kf3 f5 37.Kg3 Qe1+ 38.Kg2 Qd2+ 39.Kf3 Qxa2 40.Ne3 Qa3 41.Kf4 Qxc5 42.Nxf5 Qxc4+, White resigns.
Winning this game allowed me to be part of a 4-way tie for first place. Every player in the quad -- Mauricio Camejo, Errol Singh, William Graif, me -- scored 1.5 points, losing one game to each other. Since first prize was $60, each player received $15.
I think this was my most beautiful game so far: 19th century type attacking game, Morphy style; both black rooks sacrificed!
