(1) Edelbaum,T - Lermen,H [A03] CT Ch., 1957 This game came to me over the internet. The winner now lives in Florida and is very active with the USCF. This is his most memorable game from the old days in Connecticut. 1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 Bf5 This bishop ends up a bit misplaced on f5, especially with the fianchetto formation Black chooses. RB 3.e3 A Leningrad formation (d3, g3) would better take advantage of the Bf5 by promoting the e4 break. RB 3...Nf6 4.Be2 g6 5.0-0 Bg7 6.Ne5 0-0 7.g4 Bd7!? 8.Qe1 Nc6 9.Nxc6 Bxc6 10.d3 e6 11.Nd2 Qe7 12.Qh4 d4 Also to be considered would be 12...Qc5 HL 13.e4 [ 13.exd4 Nd5 ( 13...Nxg4 14.Qxe7 Bxd4+ 15.Rf2 ) 14.Qf2 ( 14.Qxe7 Bxd4+ ) ] 13...Nd5 14.g5?! Also to be considered is trading queens first with 14.Qxe7 Nxe7. Now Black gets a strong post on e3.HL 14...Ne3! 15.Rf3 f5 ! Black sets up an effective and necessary 2nd rank defense to White&aposs ambitions on the h-file. RB 16.Rh3 Bh8 17.b3 Nxc2 18.Rb1 Rf7 19.Bb2 White tosses in a second pawn rather than give up his counterplay with 19.e5. RB 19...fxe4 20.dxe4 Raf8 21.Rf3 In retrospect 21.f5!? looks a bit better, but Black is still strong. HL [ 21.f5!? gxf5 ( 21...exf5?? 22.Bc4 ) 22.exf5 Rxf5 23.Bd3 Ne3 -+ RB] 21...Qd6 22.Nc4 Rxf4! 23.Nxd6 Rxh4 Black now has a clear winning advantage. White could not be criticized for resigning now, but there is just enough tension in the position for a strong player like Edelbaum to see what "technical difficulties" might arise. Technical difficulties is the term masters use for what Patzers call "cheapo potential." The result is a high class endgame full of instructional fencing and jabbing as White tries in vain to hold a lost endgame. HL 24.Rxf8+ Kxf8 25.Rf1+ Kg8 26.Bc4 Rg4+! This move was the key to Black&aposs defense. RB 27.Kh1 Bxe4+ 28.Nxe4 Rxe4 29.Bd3 Re1 And now Black has forced the ending referred to above. White plays on down 3 pawns because of a rather effective White squared blockade and the hope for bishops of the opposite colors. RB 30.Kg1 Rxf1+ 31.Kxf1 Ne3+ 32.Ke1 c5 33.Bc1 Nd5 I like the plan ...Nf5-d6, contesting e4 and c4 to break the white squared blockade. RB [ 33...Nf5 ] 34.Bc4 Kf7 35.Kf2 Be5 36.h4 Ke7 37.Kf3 Kd6 38.Bd3 Nb4 39.Bb1 b5 40.Bd2 Nd5 41.Bd3 Nc3?! This just gives White a reason to play on, since he is able to double blacks pawns and get bishops of opposite colors. Much more disheartening would be 41...Kc6, followed by ...Nb6 and ...c4. RB 42.Bxc3 dxc3 43.h5 gxh5 44.Bxh7 Kd5 45.Bc2 Kd4 46.Ke2 Bg7 [ 46...h4 ] 47.Bg6 h4 48.Bh5 a5 49.Be8 b4 50.Bf7 e5 [ 50...h3 51.Bh5 c2 52.Kd2 c1Q+ 53.Kxc1 Ke3 also wins. HL] 51.Be6 e4 52.Bg4 Be5 53.g6 e3 54.Kd1 c4!? 55.Bd7 cxb3 Also winning is... [ 55...a4 56.bxa4 ( 56.Bxa4 Kd3 ) 56...c2+ ( 56...b3 ) 57.Kxc2 b3+ 58.axb3 cxb3+ 59.Kd1 b2 60.Bf5 h3 61.Ke2 h2 White cannot cover everything. HL] 56.axb3 Ke4 57.Be6 [ 57.g7 hangs on longer. HL] 57...Kf3 58.Bc4 c2+ 0-1