Moscow 1963

      If you are old enough to remember 1963 it was an historic year. In June, I graduated from high school and early July found me enlisted in the military. On November 22, 1963 we had just returned from lunch when we were informed that President Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas. 

     In chess news in 1963, on January 4th Bobby Fischer won the US Championship with 6 wins, 4 draws, but suffered one loss...his first loss in a US Championship. He was defeated by Edmar Mednis. 

     Later that year in a huge surprise, over the Labor Day weekend in September Fischer played in, and won, the New York state championship that was held in Poughkeepsie. Nobody was surprised when he scored 7-0 to finish ahead of Joseph Richman, Arthur Bisguier, Matthew Green and James T. Sherwin who shared second to fifth. 

     The chess world lost four players in '63. On January 6, the Dean of American Chess, Hermann Helms, died in Brooklyn at the age of 93. On the same day Weaver Adams died in Cedar Grove, New Jersey at the age of 61. On July 25, 1963, Gosta Stoltz died in Sweden at the age of 59. Boris Kostic (1887-1963) died in Belgrade at the age of 76 on November 3rd. 

     From July 2nd through the 28th World Champion Tigran Petrosian and Paul Keres tied for 1st in the Piatigorsky Cup held at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. They were followed by Najdorf and Olafsson (3rd-4th), Reshevsky (5th), Gligoric (6th) and Benko and Panno (7th-8th). Fischer was invited, but the his $2,000 appearance fee was denied and his place was taken by Benko. 

     The following game is an interesting draw between the Hungarian GM Laszlo Szabo and Mikhail Tal that was played in the fifth of a series of international tournaments organized by the USSR Central Chess Club in Moscow. 

     The game was played in the 11th round. After ten rounds Smyslov was in the lead with 8.5 and Tal was a point behind and so he had to win to have any hope of catching up. I have relied on Tal's annotation which he did for Shakhmaty (Riga) as well as Szabo's notes; he included this game in his best games collection which was published in 1986. 

     Laszlo Szabo (March 19, 1917 – August 8, 1998) was a Hungarian GM who was the best player in Hungary for nearly 20 years up until the eartly 1960s. At his peak he was one of the top 12 players in the world. His family donated his chess library and papers to the Cleveland (Ohio) Public Library John G. White Chess and Checkers Collection.

Laszlo Szabo - Mikhail Tal

Result: 1/2-1/2

Site: Moscow

Date: 1963.11.12

King's Indian: Four Pawns Attack

[...] 1.c4 g6 2.d4 ♘f6 3.♘c3 ♗g7 4.e4 O-O 5.f4 The Fout Ps Attack has never attracted serious interest in high-level play, except perhaps by Arthur Bisguier. White builds up a large P-center in order to gain a space advantage. After black gets his pieces developed he will attack the center by means of ...e7-e5, ...c7-c5 or ...f7-f5. 5...d6 6.♗e2 c5 7.♘f3 cxd4 8.♘xd4 Now Tal plays an interesting move that was suggested to him by Austrian GM Karl Robatsch, during a tournament in Havana. 8...♗g4 The idea of this move to be followed by 9...Qc8 was new to Szabo and he spent a lot of time on his reply.

8...♘c6 This is the usual move here, but Tal avoided it because white can, if he desires, play for a safe ending after 9.♗e3 ♗g4 10.♘xc6 ♗xe2 11.♘xd8 ♗xd1 12.♖xd1 ♖fxd8

9.♗e3 Played after about an hour's thought.

9.e5 Szabo considered this move but correctly concluded that the complications arising after 9...♗xe2 10.♕xe2 dxe5 11.fxe5 ♕xd4 12.exf6 ♗xf6 would be undesirable because his K would not be safe.

9...♕c8 Black temporarily delays developing his N and immediately aims at the complex of weak light squares - c4, g4 and (in some cases) e4. White now has several reasonable continuations.

9...♗xe2 10.♕xe2 ♘c6 11.♘b3 ♘a5 12.O-O ♖c8 13.c5 ♘xb3 14.axb3 dxc5 Szabolcsi,J (2425)-Karatorossian,D (2395)/Budapest 1998 is in white's favor after 15.♖fd1 ♕b6 16.e5 ♘e8 17.♕c4 and white's active pieces compensate for his weak Ps.

10.O-O

10.♘f3 ♘bd7 11.O-O ♗xf3 12.gxf3 ♗h6 13.♕e1 ♘h5 14.♕h4 e5 15.♘d5 ♕d8 16.♕xd8 ♖fxd8 17.f5 ♗xe3 18.♘xe3 1/2-1/2 Bisguier,A (2455)-Byrne,R (2530)/US Championshiop 1980

10.♘d5 ♗xe2 11.♕xe2 ♕d7 12.♘xf6 exf6 13.O-O is equal. Martz,W (2420)-Popovych,O (2415)/New York 1972

10...♗xe2 11.♕xe2 ♘g4 12.♘d5 ♖e8 13.f5 Szabo offers an interesting P sacrifice which Tal refuses.

13.♘b5 instead of the solid 13.Rad1 is interesting. After 13...♘xe3 14.♕xe3 ♕xc4 15.♘dc7 ♘c6 16.♖fc1 with an unbalanced position that would offer both sides chances. Actually, the idea of the N fork on c7 does not go away as will soon be seen.

13...♘xe3 14.♕xe3 ♕c5 This position is a little more complicated than it might appear at first glance.

14...♕xc4 Tal didn't want to give Szabo, a dangerous attacker, any chances in the complications arising after 15.♘f3 gxf5 16.♖ad1 ♕xe4 17.♕f2 although the position is actually in black's favor after 17...♘c6 18.♘c7 ♕c4 19.♖fe1 ♕xa2 20.♘xe8 ♖xe8 21.♖xd6 e6

14...♕xc4 15.♘b3 This was actually Szabo's planned move which is better than Tal's risky continuation. 15...♕c8

15...♗xb2 leads to a draw. 16.fxg6 hxg6 17.♕f4 f6 18.♕h6 ♕xe4 19.♖ae1 ♕xd5 20.♕xg6

16.f6 exf6 17.♘xf6 ♗xf6 18.♖xf6 ♘c6 19.♖xd6 and black is only a little better owing to white's weak e-Pawn.

15.♖ad1 Tal made no comment about this move, but Szabo devoted considerable analysis to the move 15.f6 and concluded that it would be too risky. He also stated that the time he had spent considering his tenth move was beginning to tell.

15.f6 is indeed quite interesting but with correct play it should lead to a draw. For example... 15...exf6 16.♘b5 ♕xe3 17.♘xe3 ♘a6 18.♘d5 ♖xe4 19.♘xf6 ♗xf6 20.♖xf6 ♖xc4 21.♖xf7 ♔xf7 22.♘xd6 ♔g7 23.♘xc4

15...♘d7 16.♘b5 ♕xe3 17.♘xe3 ♖ac8 This is the right R.

17...♖ec8 18.♘d5 and black is forced to use his B to defend the e-Pawn.

18.♘xa7 ♖a8 19.♘b5 ♖xa2 20.♘d5 It is difficult to find a convenient defence of the e7-pawn. 20...♘f6

20...♖xb2 This results in tricky complications. 21.♘bc7 ♖f8 22.♘xe7 ♔h8 23.fxg6 fxg6 24.♘e6 ♖e8 25.♖f7 ♗h6 26.♘c7 ♖f8 27.♘xg6 hxg6 28.♖xd7 ♗e3 29.♔h1 ♖ff2 30.♘d5 ♗c5 31.♖a1 ♖a2

20...♗e5 This is the most solid reply as after 21.b4 ♘f6 22.fxg6 hxg6 23.♘xf6 ♗xf6 24.♘xd6 exd6 25.♖xf6 ♖xe4 with a probable draw,

21.fxg6

21.♘bc7 gets tricky. 21...♘xd5 22.♘xe8 ♘e3 23.♖a1 ♖xb2 24.♖a8 ♗d4 and black wins 25.♖c1 ♘g4 26.♔f1 ♘xh2 27.♔e1 ♖xg2 28.♘xd6 ♔g7 29.♘e8 ♔h6 The threat is mate after 30...Nf3+ 30.♔d1 ♘g4 31.♖a3 ♘f2 32.♔c2 ♘xe4 33.♔d3 ♗c5 34.♔xe4 gxf5 35.♔xf5 ♖g5 (35...♗xa3 36.♖h1 ♖h2 37.♖xh2#) 36.♔e4 ♗xa3 wins.

21.♘bc7 After this the most accurate line is 21...♘xd5 22.♘xe8 ♘e3 23.♖a1 ♖xb2 and now... 24.f6 ♗xf6 25.♘xf6 exf6 26.♖f2 ♖b4 27.♖xf6 ♘xc4 28.♖af1 with a likely draw.

21...hxg6 There's nothing better, but this leads to a draw. 22.♘xd6 (22.♘xf6 ♗xf6 23.♘xd6 exd6 24.♖xf6 also leads to a draw.) 22...exd6 23.♘xf6 ♗xf6 24.♖xf6 ♖xb2 As the old saying goes...all double R endings are drawn. 25.♖df1 Also drawing was taking the d-Pawn with either R. 25...♖xe4 26.♖xf7 ♖xc4 Black's two passed P are not as dangerous as they look. 27.h3 ♖cc2 28.♖f8 ♔g7 Not that black has a mate threat. 29.♖1f7 ♔h6 30.h4 ♖xg2 31.♔f1 Note that white has a mate threat. 31...♔h5 32.♖f4 White still has a mate threat 32...g5 33.♖h8 ♔g6 34.♖ff8 A bad slip would be trying to win with 34.h5+ because of 34...Kg7 and both Rs are attacked.

34.♖g8 fails to secure the win after 34...♔h6 35.♖f6 ♔h5 36.♖xg5 ♖xg5 37.hxg5 ♔xg5 38.♖xd6 draw

34...♖h2 35.h5 A final finesse. Black's K cannot escape the checks. Agreed drawn.

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