Find the best move!
It’s black turn to move. Which of the following is the best move for black to gain material advantage in the shortest possible time (least number of moves)? Assume that white and black play optimally.
Henry Bird vs Paul Morphy (1858 - London, England)
Note: The definition of “to gain material advantage” here is to gain at least pawns and is applicable in this problem only.
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1 solution
In olden times the object was to win with beautiful strokes, and fans often felt cheated when good defense frustrated a brilliancy. Morphy was the father of positional play, and his style was the antithesis of romanticism. Instead of going for the quick kill, he brought out all his pieces as rapidly as possible. But close scrutiny of his 400 recorded games reveals that many of his combinations were flawed. Here, a pawn ahead with a routine win in sight, he embarks on a celebrated sacrifice that needlessly allowed Bird drawing chances.
The opening for black was Philidor's Defense -- even though there are no recorded games showing that Philidor ever played it!
The art of defense was in such a backward state that inferior tactics often succeeded in those days. White resigned after move number 2 9 by black.
Answer to the problem:
Among the choices, the best move for black is Qa2+! .