The Slav: Move by Move 22...bxc6 23 Bg1 &xh3+ Picking up a third pawn for the piece. White doesn’t have an iota of counterplay. 24 Ser Dga 25 2xga Lxga 26 De2 We7 27 Dfa? 27 &d1 was better. White’s king should put on his Air Jordan running shoes and take off fast for the queenside. 27...-2h6?! Wasting a tempo. 27...f6! 28 Wh4 S&xf4 29 exf4 e3! 30 Af1 Xb8 31 Ac3 Wed threatens mate with ...2b14, or better yet, ...Wb1+!, 28 2c3 28 Db3 Hf6 29 Wh4 &xf4 30 exf4 Wb7 31 Hg3 Exfa is also hopeless for White. 28...g5 29 Dez Bf6 30 Wg2 Ef3! Making inroads into White’s position. 31 Df1 Hbs 32 dd2? v5 Y/ pf May af. et “9 OM A, “/ a 2m t 5 eigen 4 Oy aoa VV eV ed Cezar AN akc ices 32...f5 This plan is okay, but not Black’s best. Kasparov, in his monumental series My Great Predecessors, claimed the old lions were ginormous patzers in comparison to today’s top players. He intimated that a current master-strength player might be able to take down a world championship contender if transported back a couple hundred years. Of course such comparisons can’t be made, and a player’s strength should be judged for his own time. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that if we transported Morphy in his prime to our time, gave him a database and books spanning the last 50 years (don’t give him My System or Morphy may plateau at a 1599 rating!), and gave him access to a good psychiatrist, he could be kicking Topalov’s, Anand’s, Carlsen’s, and yes, Kasparov's collected butts within a few years! And if not that, then at least playing competitively within the group. 14