Σάββατο 31 Μαρτίου 2012

500 master games part 2

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[Event "New York"]
[Date "1857.??.??"]
[White "Lichtenhein"]
[Black "Morphy"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "38"]

1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.d4 exd4 4.¥c4 ¤f6

By a transposition of moves a variation of the Two Knight Defense has been reached.

5.e5 d5

A good move in which Black fights for the center by gaining a tempo on the White bishop.

6.¥b5

6.exf6 dxc4 7.fxg7 Bxg7 would be a winning position for Black who is a pawn ahead and has more pieces developed.

6...¤e4 7.¤xd4 ¥d7 8.¤xc6

8.Bxc6 The correct way to get rid of the knight as after...

8...bxc6

White would not have to lose time due to Black's c-pawn attacking the bishop. bxc6  The correct way to recapture since Black gains yet another tempo on the White bishop. 8...Bxc6 9.Bxc6+ bxc6 10.O-O allows White to catch up in development.

9.¥d3 ¥c5

Black develops another piece while creating a threat on White's f-pawn.

10.¥xe4

10.O-O Qh4 gives Black the advantage due to his kingside initiative.

10...£h4

Once again Black develops with gain of tempo this time he is threatening to checkmate White with 11...Qxf2.

11.£e2

11.g3 Qxe4+ 12.Qe2 Qxh1+

11...dxe4

The correct recapture, since Black has the initiative it will be much easier to attack White's king with queens still on the board. 11...Qxe4 12.Qxe4 dxe4 would be fine for White due to Black's broken pawn structure.

12.¥e3

This is the final mistake which allows Black to bring another piece into the attack with tempo. 12.O-O

12...¥g4 13.£c4

13.Qd2 Rd8 would leave White with no good response to Black's threat of 14... Rd1+.

13...¥xe3

Black takes advantage of the pin on White's f-pawn.

14.g3

14.Qxc6+ Bd7 15.Qxa8+ Ke7 16.g3 Qg4 17.Qxh8 Bxf2+ 18.Kxf2 Qf3+ 19.Kg1 Bh3 would leave White's king defenseless on the light squares 14.O-O Bb6 15.Qxc6+ Ke7 would leave Black a piece ahead.

14...£d8 15.fxe3 £d1+ 16.¢f2 £f3+ 17.¢g1 ¥h3

With no piece to come to the king's defense all White has left are a few spite checks.

18.£xc6+ ¢f8 19.£xa8+ ¢e7

White resigned.

 0-1

[Event "New York"]
[Date "1857.??.??"]
[White "Morphy"]
[Black "Perrin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "51"]

1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤c6 5.¥e3 ¤f6 6.¥d3 ¥b4+

6...Be7 7.O-O d6 would give Black control of the center and future play down the semi-open c-file.

7.c3 ¥a5

A mistake since Black's dark-square bishop belongs on e7 to cover the dark squares surrounding the king.

8.O-O ¥b6 9.¤d2

Black's waste of time with his dark squared bishop has given White the advantage due to his lead in development.

9...¤e5 10.¥e2 d5

Attacking in the center when behind in development is definetly a mistake.

11.f4 ¤c6 12.e5 ¥xd4 13.cxd4

White has succeeded in locking Black's light squared bishop out of the game.

13...¤d7 14.¥d3

Preparing to advance the f-pawn with a kingside attack.

14...f5 15.g4 g6

15...fxg4 16.Qxg4 This would only increase White's lead in development.

16.gxf5 exf5

16...gxf5 17.Qh5+ Kf8 Black's king is vulnerable to attack.

17.¢h1

White tucks his king away just in case the g-file should become opened.

17...¤f8 18.¦c1

White has a big lead in development as Black only has one piece off of the back rank.

18...¤e6 19.¥xf5

This sacrifice is made possible due to White's lead in development.

19...¤exd4

19...gxf5 20.Qh5+ Kd7 21.Qxf5 Qe8 22.Qh3 when Black has no good defense against White's passed pawns from advancing.

20.¥xc8 ¦xc8 21.f5

White is relentless in his pursuit to open up the position.

21...¤xf5 22.¦xf5 gxf5 23.£h5+ ¢d7 24.£f7+ £e7 25.e6+ ¢d8

White now has a decoying move which either wins the Black queen or mates the Black king.

26.¥g5

Black resigned.

 1-0

[Event "New York"]
[Date "1857.??.??"]
[White "Stanley"]
[Black "Morphy"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "40"]

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.¥c4

3.Nf3 would prevent the Black queen from checking on h4.

3...£h4+

A good move which forces White to move his king.

4.¢f1

4.g3 fxg3 5.Nf3 g2+ 6.Nxh4 gxh1Q+ wins material for Black.

4...b5

The Bryan  Counter gambit. Black's idea is to drive the bishop off of the a2- g8 diagonal.

5.¥b3

Capturing the pawn at b5 is a better move.

5...¤f6

5...a5 6.a4 b4 7.d3 Ba6 8.Nf3 Qf6 would make White's future development awkward.

6.¤f3 £h6 7.¤c3 b4 8.¤b5 ¥a6

Black develops while gaining a tempo by pinning White's knight to his king.

9.¥c4 ¥xb5 10.¥xb5 ¤h5 11.¢e2

11.d3 would allow Black to win material.

11...g5 12.¤e5 ¥g7 13.¤g4 f3+

A strong clearance move which will either give Black the f4 square for his knight or place White's king on the f-file.

14.¢xf3

14.gxf3 Nf4+ 15.Kf2 would allow Black to win a piece.

14...£b6 15.£e2 O-O 16.¥c4

Black has a winning position due to White's vulnerable king and backward development.

16...¤c6 17.c3 ¢h8

Prepares an attack on the f-file which was not playable immediately since Black's f-pawn is pinned by White's bishop at c4.

18.£e3

White seeks the exchange of queens which would allow White's king to move about more safely.

18...f5 19.£xb6 fxg4+

This intermediate move gains Black a material advantage.

20.¢xg4 ¤f6+

White resigned.

 0-1

[Event "New York"]
[Date "1857.??.??"]
[White "Paulsen"]
[Black "Morphy"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "50"]

1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¤c3 ¤f6 4.¥b5 ¥c5

This is an old fashioned, but very solid way of playing the opening.

5.O-O O-O 6.¤xe5 ¦e8 7.¤xc6 dxc6 8.¥c4 b5

A mistake, which weakens the pawn at c6.

9.¥e2

Black now captures the pawn at e4, which just opens up a serious line to the Black king.

9...¤xe4 10.¤xe4 ¦xe4 11.¥f3 ¦e6 12.c3 £d3

Black tries to prevent White from playing d4, which will allow the bishop into the game. But the queen is not well-suited to such a meaningless task.

13.b4

A very bad move. It was time to chase the enemy queen away. 13.Re1 Rxe1+ 14.Qxe1 Bd7 15.Qe2 White no longer has any serious problems.

13...¥b6 14.a4 bxa4

Forced, otherwise 15.a5 would trap the bishop.

15.£xa4 ¥d7

Black completes his development.

16.¦a2 ¦ae8 17.£a6

This is a clever attempt to exchange queens and reduce the attacking force. But Black has other plans for the queen, noticing that the bishop at f3 is one of only two pieces defending the White king. Do you see the sacrifice?

17...£xf3

A brilliant queen sacrifice which opens up the White kingside. This can be done because White's pieces are all misplaced.

18.gxf3 ¦g6+ 19.¢h1 ¥h3

The threat is 20...Bg2+ 21.Kg1 Bxf3 mate.

20.¦d1 ¥g2+ 21.¢g1 ¥xf3+ 22.¢f1

Here Morphy actually missed a quicker win. 22.Kf1 Rg2! 23.Qd3 Rxf2+ 24.Kg1 Rg2+ 25.Kf1Rg1++

22...¥g2+ 23.¢g1 ¥h3+ 24.¢h1 ¥xf2 25.£f1

The only defense to mate.

25...¥xf1

and Black went on to win.

 0-1

[Event "New York"]
[Date "1857.??.??"]
[White "Paulsen"]
[Black "Morphy"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "56"]

1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¤c3 ¤f6 4.¥b5 ¥c5

4...Bb4 5.O-O O-O 6.d3 d6 7. Bg5 Bxc3 8.bxc3 Qe7 9.Re1 Nd8 when White's advantage of the two bishops is off set by his doubled c-pawn 4...Nd4 is an interesting move that breaks the symmetry.

5.O-O O-O 6.¤xe5 ¦e8 7.¤xc6

7.Nf3 Nxe4 8.d4 Nxc3 9.bxc3 Bf8

7...dxc6 8.¥c4 b5

8...Nxe4 9.Nxe4 Rxe4 10.Bxf7+ Kxf7 11.Qf3+ Kg8 12. Qxe4 would leave White an exchange ahead.

9.¥e2 ¤xe4 10.¤xe4 ¦xe4 11.¥f3

A mistake as the light squared bishop has moved four times at the expense of ignoring White's other pieces. 11.d3 Re6 12.c3 is a better plan.

11...¦e6 12.c3

The final mistake which lets Black lock in White's queenside pieces. Correct was 12.d3 with a playable game.

12...£d3 13.b4 ¥b6 14.a4 bxa4

14...a6 15.axb5 Qxb5 16.d4 would let White out of the bind.

15.£xa4 ¥d7 16.¦a2 ¦ae8

Black's lead in development coupled with White's weakened back rank gives Morphy a winning position.

17.£a6

17.Bb2 would allow Black a forced mate in two.

17...£xf3

An amazing queen sacrifice which breaks down White's kingside defenses.

18.gxf3 ¦g6+ 19.¢h1 ¥h3 20.¦d1

20.Rg1 would allow Black a forced mate in three.

20...¥g2+ 21.¢g1 ¥xf3+ 22.¢f1 ¥g2+ 23.¢g1 ¥h3+ 24.¢h1 ¥xf2

The threat of 25...Bg2 mate decides the game.

25.£f1 ¥xf1 26.¦xf1 ¦e2 27.¦a1 ¦h6 28.d4 ¥e3

White resigned since he has no defense against 29...Rhxh2+

 0-1

[Event "New York"]
[Date "1857.??.??"]
[White "Thompson"]
[Black "Morphy"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "42"]

1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥c4 ¥c5 4.d3 ¤f6 5.¤c3 h6 6.¤e2

White has hardly developed at all but is already thinking about reorganizing! Either 6.Be3 or 6. O-O would have made much more sense.

6...d6 7.c3 O-O 8.h3 ¢h8

What is the logic behind this move? Morphy understands that in order to attack he will need to open up the f-file by advancing the pawn at f7 to f5. But the pin on the a2-g8 diagonal would prevent that. So the king moves from g8.

9.¤g3 ¤h7 10.£c2

Now that we know what Morphy is up to, we see the point of this move too.

10...f5

Here we go!

11.exf5 d5

There is no rush to capture this pawn. In fact, it will sit at f5 for most of the game. Instead, Morphy takes control of the center and limits the scope of the bishop at c4, which must now retreat with loss of time.

12.¥b3 e4 13.dxe4 dxe4 14.¤g1

Why retreat? Couldn't White capture the pawn? With the king still sitting at e1, the e-file would prove dangerous. Try playing the position as White against Gambit, and capture the pawn. See what happens!

14...¤e5 15.¥e3 ¤d3+ 16.¢e2 ¥xe3 17.fxe3

There are three White pieces near the king, but they are not well-posted for defensive duties. Black has only a knight in the attack so far, but it will soon be joined by the queen and, surprisingly, the bishop from distant c8.

17...£h4 18.¤xe4 £xe4 19.£xd3 £xg2+ 20.¢d1 ¥xf5

The recapture of the pawn, sitting there for ten moves, is perfectly timed. Now the queen must move, and the bishop can turn to its real task.

21.£e2

The back rank is now very weak, and Black already controls the 7th rank. So Morphy finishes with a nice combination. Some sources give the prosaic capture of the rook as ending the game, but according to Maroczy the finish was...

21...¥g4

White resigned . The point is that the Black rook is moving to f1 on the next move.

 0-1

[Event "New York"]
[Date "1857.??.??"]
[White "Morphy"]
[Black "Schulten"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "23"]

1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥c4 ¥c5 4.O-O f5

Awful. Black exposes his kingside and opens the game when he is behind in development.

5.d4 exd4 6.e5

This pawn is a bone in Black's throat, and if he doesn't do something about it White will break through in the center and exploit Black's inability to castle short.

6...d6

But this opens things even further with Black having no chance to get his king out of the way.

7.exd6 £xd6 8.¦e1+

White immediat ely exploits the open e-file and invites Black to move into a nasty pin.

8...¤ge7 9.¤g5 ¤e5

Unpinning the knight on e7, but walking into to pins on e5.

10.¥f4 ¤7g6 11.¥xe5 ¤xe5 12.¤f7

The pin now nets at least a piece, with Black's king still stuck in the middle .

 1-0

[Event "New York"]
[Date "1857.??.??"]
[White "Morphy"]
[Black "Meek"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "23"]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 c5 3.d5 e5 4.f4 d6 5.¤f3 ¥g4 6.fxe5 ¥xf3 7.£xf3 dxe5 8.¥b5+

This will set up the first of several pins which will prove deadly to Black.

8...¤d7 9.¤c3 ¤f6 10.¥g5

The second pin.

10...¥e7 11.d6

The point of this sacrifice is to create an open d-file, allowing a rook to be brought into the attack.

11...¥xd6 12.O-O-O

Faced with the multitude of pins (at d7 on both diagonal and file, and at f6) Black resigned. If you think you can find a defense, try playing on against Gambit.

 1-0

[Event "New York"]
[Date "1857.??.??"]
[White "Meek"]
[Black "Morphy"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "61"]

1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.d4 exd4 4.c3

The Scotch gambit where through the sacrifice of a pawn White hopes to gain a lead in development which will ultimately lead to a winning kingside attack.

4...dxc3 5.¤xc3 ¥c5

5...Bb4 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.O-O Bxc3 8.bxc3 d6 Black is close to consolidating his extra pawn.

6.¥c4 d6 7.h3

White wishes to avoid the pinning of his knight on f3. However, having already sacrificed a pawn for a lead in development 7. h3 is out of place with the spirit of White's previous play. 7.Qb3

7...¥e6

Given an extra move by White's 7.h3 Black wastes no time in neutralizing White's best placed piece the bishop on c4.

8.¥b5

8.Bxe6 fxe6 9.Qb3 Qc8 10. Ng5 Nd8 Black has everything defended plus his extra pawn.

8...¤e7 9.¤g5 O-O 10.£h5 h6 11.¤f3 ¤g6 12.g4

Black is better developed so this attack is premature. 12.Bxh6 gxh6 13.Qxh6 Qf6 14.Ng5 Qg7

12...¤ce5 13.¤xe5 dxe5 14.g5 £d4 15.¥e3 £b4 16.¥xc5 £xb2 17.O-O £xc3 18.¥xf8 ¦xf8

Materially the position is equal. However, White's disgruntled kingside and Black's active minor pieces give Black a winning position.

19.¦ac1 £b2 20.¥c4 ¤f4

The knight finds an outpost on f4 which greatly disrupts White's position.

21.£d1

21.Qh4 hxg5 22.Qg3 Bxc4 23.Rxc4 Ne2+ wins the White queen.

21...¤xh3+ 22.¢g2 ¤f4+ 23.¢h1 £b6

The final blow the Black queen prepares to swing over to the kingside and this quickly decides the game.

24.gxh6 ¥xc4 25.h7+ ¢xh7 26.£g4 £h6+ 27.¢g1 ¥xf1 28.¦xf1

Since Black is up a clear piece, White could resign with a clear conscious at any time.

28...¦d8 29.a4 ¦d6 30.f3 ¦g6 31.¢f2

White resigned not because he will lose his queen but because Black has a forced mate in three. Do you see how?

 0-1

[Event "New York"]
[Date "1857.??.??"]
[White "Schulten"]
[Black "Morphy"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "34"]

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.¥c4 ¤f6 4.¤c3

4.d3 is a move that leads to fewer complications.

4...¥b4 5.e5

If Black wer e forced to move the knight this would be a good move, but White has a superior option.

5...d5 6.exf6 dxc4 7.fxg7 ¦g8

At first glance this looks good for White, since the Black pawn structure is a mess. But even in 1857 it was known that Black has compensation since it is easier to develop the remaining pieces.

8.£e2+ ¥e6 9.a3 ¥c5

All White has done is push the bishop to a better location.

10.¤f3 ¤c6 11.¤e4

White tries to play actively with such pieces are already developed. The problem is the king, which is stuck in the middle of the board and has no prospects of castling.

11...¤d4 12.¤xd4 ¥xd4 13.c3 £h4+ 14.¢f1

14.Kd1 Bg4

14...¥b6 15.d4 cxd3 16.£xd3 ¦d8 17.£e2

Now the queen is overworked. Not only must f2 and d1 be guarded, but also c4. Black can now win brilliantly. Do you see how? Be careful, though. There is also a trap!

17...¦d1+

17...Bc4 18.Nf6+

 0-1

[Event "New York"]
[Date "1857.??.??"]
[White "Schulten"]
[Black "Morphy"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "41"]

1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 e4 4.¤c3 ¤f6 5.d3 ¥b4 6.¥d2

This breaks the pin on the Nc3, but Black can reinstate it.

6...e3

It is worth a pawn to deflect the bishop from its defensive duties.

7.¥xe3 O-O 8.¥d2 ¥xc3 9.bxc3 ¦e8+ 10.¥e2

White has two extra pawns, but the pawn structure is a mess and the bishops have no scope. Black now uses the pin on the d- file to add more pressure.

10...¥g4 11.c4 c6 12.dxc6 ¤xc6

Black's superior development gives him a clear advantage.

13.¢f1

White has n ow abandoned the notion of ever castling. Black's would like to keep the pressure on, and invests the exchange to do so.

13...¦xe2 14.¤xe2

The knight is now pinned to the queen, and it is easy to pile on more pressure which results in a quick kill.

14...¤d4 15.£b1 ¥xe2+ 16.¢f2 ¤g4+ 17.¢g1

White's position is so pathetic that the king is nearly checkmated by the minor pieces alone. But to add insult to injury, Morphy finishes with a fine combination by sacrificing a piece.

17...¤f3+ 18.gxf3 £d4+ 19.¢g2 £f2+ 20.¢h3 £xf3+ 21.¢h4

Black resigned without waiting for 21...Nh6, which would be followed by checkmate.

 0-1

[Event "New York"]
[Date "1857.??.??"]
[White "Marache"]
[Black "Morphy"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "40"]

1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥c4 ¥c5 4.b4 ¥xb4 5.c3 ¥a5 6.d4 exd4 7.e5

The point of this move is to prevent Black from playing Nf6 or advancing the pawn from d7. But castling would have been wiser.

7...d5 8.exd6 £xd6 9.O-O ¤ge7

It turns out that the knight is better placed here anyway. Now White should have seized the diagonal with 10.Ba3, but instead Marache launches a premature attack.

10.¤g5 O-O 11.¥d3 ¥f5

This seems to be a straightforward defense. But wait a minute, doesn't it have a tactical flaw? Can't White simply trade pieces at f5 and then play Ba3, with a skewer on the a3-f8 diagonal.

12.¥xf5 ¤xf5 13.¥a3

Could Morphy have missed such a simple tactical device? Not a chance!

13...£g6

Morphy is willing to part with a little material to maintain his kingside attack.

14.¥xf8 £xg5 15.¥a3 dxc3 16.¥c1

The bishop has been quite busy ministering all over the world, but now returns home. Notice that White's pieces all remain passive on the home rank.

16...£g6 17.¥f4

To protect h2.

17...¦d8 18.£c2 ¤cd4 19.£e4

White tries to get some pieces near the king, for protection. But the enemy horses stampede all over the kingside, creating an aesthetically pleasing trail. Do you see the brilliant finish?

19...¤g3

The knight cannot be captured because the White queen is en prise.

20.£xg6 ¤de2# 0-1

[Event "Paris"]
[Date "1858.??.??"]
[White "Morphy"]
[Black "Bottin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "19"]

1.e4 e5 2.c3 ¤f6 3.d4 ¤xe4 4.dxe5

White hopes to show that Black's knight is misplaced.

4...¥c5 5.£g4 ¤xf2

Too greedy. Black could get good play by the sacrificial 5...d5 6.Qxg7 Rf8. The text loses by giving up control of g5.

6.£xg7 ¦f8 7.¥g5 f6

The only other way to save his queen was 8...Be7, when White just wins a piece by 9.Bxe7 Qxe7 10.Kxf2.

8.exf6 ¦xf6

There was still no escape for the queen, and White was threatening 9.f7+

9.¥xf6 ¥e7 10.£g8+ 1-0

[Event "Paris"]
[Date "1858.??.??"]
[White "Morphy"]
[Black "Anderssen"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "33"]

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.¤f3 ¤c6 4.¤xd4 e6 5.¤b5 d6 6.¥f4 e5

This creates a serious weakness at d5, which will be exploited by White.

7.¥e3 f5 8.¤1c3 f4

This was Black's basic idea. After the bishop retreats, Black can continue with rapid development. But Morphy has more aggressive plans.

9.¤d5 fxe3 10.¤bc7+

It is not the rook White is after, but the king!

10...¢f7 11.£f3+ ¤f6 12.¥c4

This sets up a nasty discovered check.

12...¤d4 13.¤xf6+ d5

What now? White is attacking with four pieces, but each one is under an immediate threat of capture!

14.¥xd5+ ¢g6

14...Ke7 15.Ng8+ Rxg8 16.Qf7+ Kd6 17.O-O-O

15.£h5+ ¢xf6 16.fxe3

The importa nt point of this delayed capture is that it opens up the f- file. Black could have held out a little longer here with 16...Qe7, but decided to grab some material instead.

16...¤xc2+ 17.¢e2

Now Anderssen realized that capturing the rook would lead to checkmate, so he resigned.

 1-0

[Event "London"]
[Date "1858.??.??"]
[White "Morphy"]
[Black "Hampton"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "33"]

1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥c4 ¥c5 4.b4

The Evans Gambit was very popular during the 19th Century. It provides an excellent example of the importance of controlling the center. Eventually, however, Black found effective defensive plans and it is no longer popular.

4...¥xb4 5.c3 ¥c5 6.O-O d6 7.d4

We can see that White has built up an ideal central formation, supported by both pieces and pawns.

7...exd4 8.cxd4 ¥b6 9.¤c3 ¤f6

Black tries to develop quickly, but the central pawns now advance with devastating effect.

10.e5 dxe5 11.¥a3

A very strong move which prevents Black from castling.

11...¥g4

11...exd4 12.Re1+ Be6 13.Bxe6 fxe6 14.Rxe6+ Kd7 15.Ng5 h6 16.Rxf6 gxf6 17.Qg4+ Ke8 18.Qe6+

12.£b3

White strikes at the vulnerable f7-square.

12...¥h5 13.dxe5 ¤g4 14.¦ad1 £c8

Now White has almost all of his pieces in the attack. The position can hardly be improved because the rook at f1, the remaining spectator, is needed there to guard the pawn at f2. So it is time to strike!

15.e6 f6

15...fxe6 16.Bxe6 Qb8 17.Bxg4 Bxg4 18.Rfe1+

16.£b5

Attacking the hanging bishop at h5.

16...¥g6 17.¥d5

Here Black igned. If you are not sure why, play out the game as Black against Gambit. Even on a relatively low level, it should win every time!

 1-0

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