Keres Barks Up The Wrong Tree

     Zurich 1953, the Candidates Tournament for the 1954 World Championship is famous for the strength of the players and the high quality of the games. 
     Two well known books on it were written by David Bronstein and Miguel Najdorf. It later came out that Bronstein didn’t actually write "his" book, he only contributed analysis and everything else was written by Boris Vainshtein. I always preferred Najdorf’s book, but it’s rather harder to come by. There is also a scarce third book written in 1979 by National Master Jim Marfia of Michigan.   Marfia’s typewritten book concentrates less on variations and more on verbal descriptions of what was happening in the games. 
     Smylov finished first and only suffered one defeat (to Kotov) which is an incredible feat given the strength of the tournament which contained the best 15 players in the world at the time. 
     Bronstein, Keres and Reshevsky tied for second. Bronstein suffered only two losses (to Geller and Szabo). Keres lost both of his games to Smyslov, one to Bronstein and one to Averbakh. His critical game against Smyslov in the 24th round is given here and it was also one of the most exciting. Reshevsky lost one game to Keres, both games to Smyslov and one game to Kotov. 
     The Keres - Smyslov game from round 24 demonstrates the danger of trying to force the issue by playing for a win instead of just playing the best moves. It also illustrates a point that was unknown to masters of the Romantic Era. In those days when offered a piece they took it, but sometimes it's best to just say no. 
     In this game, when Keres offered him a Rook, Smyslov pondered a long time and finally decided against accepting it.  As a result, Keres paid a steep price. The game also illustrates the point that even two dangerous looking Rooks on the h-file may not constitute a sufficient attacking force if they are not backed up by other pieces.
     This game was included in the book The World’s Greatest Chess Games by Burgess, Nunn and Emms where it received a rating of only 9 points out of a possible 15, meaning that while it was a great game, it did not receive high marks based on their criteria of quality and brilliance by both players, instructive value and historical significance. 
     Of the game itself, Keres wrote that it was an important game for him because if he had succeeded in winning he would have lead the tournament and felt he would then have had “every chance of emerging with final victory.” Consequently, he believed he should not have done as he had so often in the past and played so risky and “staked everything on one card.” 
     He offered Smyslov an extremely complicated piece sacrifice which, had it been accepted, would have subjected him to a very virulent attack. But, after long thought Smyslov declined, coolly defended and handed Keres what he (Keres) described as “an ignominious defeat” that not only threw away first place, but dropped him back to fourth place. 
    The game was played in the 24th round when Keres was a half point behind Smyslov. Keres was due for a bye in the next round. If they drew, Keres would either be a half point back or a full point depending on how Smyslov did in his 25th round game against Reshevsky. 
     This explains Keres’ decision of going for broke; he needed to win and so on move 19 he offered the Rook. By playing it safe, sidestepping the tactics and emphasizing his positional advantage, Smyslov forced his opponent to prove he could mate Smyslov’s King; he couldn’t and so lost a critical game. Against a lesser player, Keres' attack might have succeeded.
     For the record, when Smyslov met Reshevsky in the next round (round 25), Reshevsky was a half point behind Smyslov with one more game to play. As a draw would not have helped Reshevsky, like Keres, he was forced to play for a win. Reshevsky was outplayed in a maneuvering game and so made a last ditch effort by introducing complications. But, Smyslov was careful, avoided all the danger and prevailed in the ending. 

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[Event "Zurich Candidates"]
[Site "Zurich SUI"]
[Date "1953.10.13"]
[Round "24"]
[White "Paul Keres"]
[Black "Vasily Smyslov"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. e3 Be7 5. b3 O-O 6. Bb2 b6 7. d4 cxd4 8.
exd4 d5 9. Bd3 Nc6 10. O-O Bb7 {A routine position and now white must decide
on a plan. In this type of position white hopes to use his B on the long
diagonal. Therefore black avoids capturing on c4 which might give white the
chance to play d5 opening up the Bs diagonal. } 11. Rc1 Rc8 12. Re1 Nb4 13.
Bf1 Ne4 14. a3 {White could play 14.Nxe4 and 15.Ne5 but he gains nothing
special.} 14... Nxc3 15. Rxc3 {Not 15.Bxc3 (removing the guard from the
a-Pawn) Na2 and after 16.Rc1 Nxc3 and ...Bxa3. } 15... Nc6 16. Ne5 {This turns
out to be a case of barking up the wrong tree. White would do better to play
on the Q-side with 16.c5 intending to utilize his Q-side P-majority. 18.Rh5
is the beginning of white's miseries. } 16... Nxe5 17. Rxe5 Bf6 18. Rh5
{Consistent as Keres continues his barking at the K-side. The threat is Rxh7
followed by Qh5+ and Rh3. However, retreating would give black a comfortable
position and pay against the isolated d-Pawn after 16...dxc4. Still, this was
probably white's best option.} 18... g6 {He could also have played at once
18...dxc4 19.Rxh7 and then 19...g6} 19. Rch3 {After this move Smyslov says he
thought for a long time and couldn't see a win for white if the R was taken,
but relied on his intuition that it was better not to take it. Theoretically
it was possible to take the offered R and survive, but practically his best
chance is to play as he did in the game and rely on his positional advantage.
Keres' only other choice was the retreat 19...Rhh3, but then the R is not well
placed and black would have a distinct advantage. } 19... dxc4 {Can he safely
take the R? In the book WGCG, Burgess indicates that he can with a lot of
analysis done with the help of Fritz 5 to support that hypothesis. 30 minutes
with Stockfish indicates that it would be an error for black to take the R.
After 19...gxh5? 20.Qxh5 Re8 21.a4! This surprising move allows the B go to a3
cutting off the escape route of black's K. If black prevents this with
21...Qd6 then 22.Qh6 will win. 22...Bg7 23.Qh7+ followed by 24.Rg3. The
beauty of Smyslov's move is that it 1) opens up the diagonal of the light
squared o it can go to the defense of the K is need be 2) puts pressure on the
d-Pawn and 3) threatens ...c3 closing the diagonal of white' dangerous B on
b2. } 20. Rxh7 {All the annotators mention the possibility of 20.Qg4 claiming
that Keres would have had drawing possibilities. But that, too, turns out to
be a dead end. 20...c3 21.Bxc3 Qd6!! All the annotators give 21...Rxc3
22.Rxc3 Qxd4. The genius of Stockfish gives us 21...Qd6 and black controls
the center and open c-file which in the long run gives gives him all the
winning chances. Still, 20.Qg4 was far better than chucking the R. } 20...
c3 {Simply brilliant. White can't avoid the collapse of his center and
black's growing play on the Q-side. } 21. Qc1 {Obviously if 21.Bxc3 Rxc3!
22.Rxc3 Kh7 and white doesn't have any pieces left to attack the K, not to
mention he is a piece down. } 21... Qxd4 {A must play move. Keres must have
been fervently hoping for 21...cxb2?? when 22.Qh6 leads to mate. } 22. Qh6
{Threatening mate on h7 after he sacrifices the R that's sitting on that
square. } 22... Rfd8 {Making an escape square. } 23. Bc1 Bg7 24. Qg5 {The
smoke has cleared and white is only a P down, but his pieces are useless
against black's counterattack. } 24... Qf6 25. Qg4 c2 26. Be2 Rd4 27. f4 Rd1+
28. Bxd1 Qd4+ {It's mate in 8 moves. Brilliant defense by Smyslov.} 0-1