From time to time I like to pull out Super Nezh: Rashid Nezhmetdinov, Chess Assassin by Alex Pishkin and play through a few of his games.
Nezhmetdinov was an early version of Tal...his combinations were fantastic, if not always entirely sound. Every time I play over his games I get to thinking I could play like that, but, of course I can’t.
The following game was played against Oleg Chernikov (October 15, 1936 – February 6, 2015), an International Arbiter and the 2000 World Senior Chess Champion. It was played in a Russian team championship at Rostov-On Don in 1962.
After Chernikov played 11...Bf6 a position was reached that had long been known to be drawn and so after making it Chernikov went for a stroll thinking Nezhmetdinov would take a quick draw. But, Nezhmetdinov sunk into deep thought and everyone wondered what he could be thinking about. Finally after 45 minutes a youngster rushed up to Chernikov and informed him that Nezhmetdinov had sacrificed his Queen.
Nezhmetdinov’s Queen sacrifice only netted him two pieces, but he hoped to attack the weakened dark squares around black’s King. Immediately after the game it was thought black had a draw at best. After this game subsequent analysis reached the conclusion that the chances should be about equal if black plays 14...d5 instead of Chernikov’s 14...Re8. However, since then it’s been discovered that black has several reasonable moves. While the engine evaluations after 14.Nc3 lead one to believe that the chances are even, practical results strongly favor black.
In the end, Nezhmetdinov didn’t succeed in overturning theory, but what does that matter? The depth of his plan and his flight of fancy are worth more than reams of engine analysis.
[Event "Chigorin Team Cup, Rostov-On-Don"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1962.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Rashid Nezhmetdinov"]
[Black "Oleg L Chernikov"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]
%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
{Sicilian: Accelerated Dragon} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5.
Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 O-O 8. Bb3 {Either 8...d6 or 8...a5 are
preferable.} 8... Ng4 9. Qxg4 Nxd4 10. Qh4 {After 10.Qd1 it is difficult for
black to equalize as was also known when this game was played.} 10... Qa5 11.
O-O Bf6 {This is leads to a known draw. White can play 12.Qh6 Bg7 13. Qh4 and
repeat moves. Or, he can play 13.Qg5 and after the exchange of Qs the endgame
is drawn. Here Nezhmetdinov thought for 45 minutes.} 12. Qxf6 {White only get
two pieces for his Q but he hopes to attack on the weak b\dark squares around
black's K. At Warsaw 2006 in Cyborowski,L (2559)-Narmontas,M (2310) white
played 12.Qg4 but failed to get any advantage and eventually lost. In case
you're wondering what the engine thinks, SugaR's evaluation is that the
position is almost dead equal. Black can't try to grab material here: 12..
.Nxb3?? 13.Qe7 Nxa1 14.Nd5 followed by Bd4 leaves black busted.} 12... Ne2+
13. Nxe2 exf6 14. Nc3 {This is the reason for 12...Ne2+...white has had to
expend a tempo to get the N back.} 14... Re8 {The Fritz opening book labels
this a novelty ends because there are only two games in the database:
Serwinski-Grabczewski, Polanica Zdroj in which black played the 14...d5 and
went on to win and Rozkov-Terekhin, Kazan 2008 where he played 14...Qd8 and
also went on to win. SugaR likes 14...d6 and ...Be6.} 15. Nd5 Re6 16. Bd4 Kg7
17. Rad1 d6 {It's been suggested that the only correct move here was 17...b5,
but in fact black has several reasonable defenses. It would be too risky to
play 17...Rxe4 though because after 18.Bxf6+, 19.Bc3 and 20.Nf6 white's pieces
are very active.} 18. Rd3 Bd7 19. Rf3 Bb5 20. Bc3 Qd8 21. Nxf6 {Now with
21...Rc8! black can hope to survive because it leads to multiple exchanges
after 22.Bxe6 Rxc3 and in the best line black will have a Q vs a R and B in a
position which should be drawn.} 21... Be2 {After this black is worse.} 22.
Nxh7+ {Alertly played.} 22... Kg8 {Of course he can't allow 22...Kxh7 23.
Rxf7+} 23. Rh3 {Even better was first 23.Nf6+ and then Rh3. Black can't
capture on f1 because 24.Ng5 Kf8 (Also bad is 24...Re5 25.Nxf7 winning) 25.
Rh8+ wins the Q.} 23... Re5 24. f4 {After his next move black is completely
lost. In annotating this game ICCF Master Alex Pishkin makes no comment on
this move. If it was bad to take on f1 last move, it's still bad. Black could
have put up stiffer resistance with 24... Rh5! 25.Nf6+ Kf8 26.Nxh5 gxf5}
24... Bxf1 25. Kxf1 { Not bad at all, but even more forceful was 25.Ng5}
25... Rc8 26. Bd4 {Nezhmetdinov is over finessing. The prosaic 26.fxe5 was
sufficient.} 26... b5 {This shortens his misery. Far better was 26...Rxe4. He
has to surrender his Q after 27.Nf6+ Qxf6+ 28.Bxf6 but after 28. ..Rxf4+
29.Rf3 Rxf3+ gxf3 black a R+5Ps vs white 2Bs+5Ps. White wins this ending, but
it will require some work.} 27. Ng5 { Nice! 27.fxe5 dxe5 and ...Qd1+ gives
black too much play.} 27... Rc7 28. Bxf7+ Rxf7 29. Rh8+ {A nice finish.}
29... Kxh8 30. Nxf7+ Kh7 31. Nxd8 Rxe4 32. Nc6 Rxf4+ 33. Ke2 1-0
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