Classic Chess Game - Eugene Torre vs Ian Rogers, 1979

Greetings to all chess fans! Today, I'm posting a game played by Asia's first grandmaster, Eugene Torre. He is the original Pinoy pride of chess before Wesley So broke Philippine chess records. Eugene style of play is usually solid so this game against Ian Rogers is different because he played an aggressive game.

The game started with 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. c3 f5

The Cordel Gambit in the Ruy Lopez. I don't see this played often and I don't understand the nuances of this opening. 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 dxc3 7. O-O Nge7

For the moment, Black is up by two pawns but his king remain uncastled in an open position. Taking a third pawn with cxb2 will be too greedy and will lead to Danish Gambit like position where White has a big lead in development in exchange for pawns. 8. Qe2 d5

Black still can't castle due to the threat of Qc4+, forking the bishop on c5. 9. exd6 cxd6 10. Nxc3 O-O 11. Bg5 Qc7

White's lead in development had him already winning at this point despite the pawn deficit. Black's one pawn advantage can be recovered because of his weak d6 pawn. But, his pieces remain undeveloped while White's pieces are occupying important squares. 12. Rfe1 Ng6 13. Nd5 Qd7 14. b4 Bb6 15. Rad1 Bd8 16. Bc1

A tactical retreat. The bishop can reposition on b2 to target the long diagonal. 16. ...Kh8 17. Nf4 a6 18. Nxg6+ hxg6 19. Bc4 b5 20. Bb3 Bb7

White's bishop controls the a2-g8 diagonal. If he can put a rook or a queen on the h file then it's mate. 21. Qd3 Nxb4 22. Qc3 a5 23. Ne5 { Black resigns. } 1-0

Black resigns. He cannot meet White's two threats of Qh3 mate and Nxd7 taking Black's queen at the same time. A good game by GM Torre at his prime.

Game link: https://lichess.org/game/G0sKMLaj#0