Marshall-Moreau
Submitted by
aabbccdd on Fri, 10/03/2008 at 4:48am.
Hi, this is a blog post about Colonel Moreau, and the Monte Carlo 1903 tournament. Have any of you heard of Colonel Moureau? He is a very famous guy - but I'd bet he's not too happy about it. His "famousness" is in this game (diagrammed below), and this tournament. Colonel Moreau lost all 25 games in the Monte Carlo Tournament in 1903! Now, for his game against Marshall.
The two players battled to this position both player's King's are about to come under heavy fire, but Black is a pawn up, and has the move. What move would you be tempted to play? 1...f3? Well, that is what was played in the game, and lost dearly for Moreau. 1...Ne7! is a much better move, and the combination in the game would not have worked due to Nxc6. 1...f3?? was played in the game though. Do you see White to play and win? 2.Rxd6+! wins. 2...cxd6 3.Qxd6+ Kc8 4. Qxc6 Kd8 5.Rd1+ Ke7 6.Qd6+ Ke8 7.Re1+ Kf7 8.Ne5+ Ke8 9.Ng6+! Kf7 10.Nxh8#