A Breathtaking Masterpiece By Tal

     The 1959 Candidates Tournament was played in three cities in Yugoslavia. The players met each other four times, twice in Bled and once in Zagreb and Belgrade. In Bled, the players stayed at the Grand Hotel Toplice, the site of Alekhine's historic 1932 victory. 

     Sidelights: The winner, Mikhail Tal, had just had his appendix removed less than two weeks earlier, but FIDE insisted he make it in time for the tournament. According to Tal the only effect was that he didn't feel like walking around during his games, but apparently that wasn't the case at all. Harry Golombek wrote that after Tal made a winning move that he would "pace around the table like a man-eating tiger." Bobby Fischer complained that after his first game with Tal that whenever he "rose from the board he would begin talking to the other Soviet players and they enjoyed whispering about their or others' positions. 

     Pal Benko later wrote that due to his demanding job in a brokerage firm, he didn't prepare at all and claimed that he did reasonably well. He lost 15 games and won three...a score that hardly qualifies as reasonably well unless you're a weak player which Benko certainly was not. 

     After the first cycle Tal, Keres and Petrosian shared the lead. During the second cycle, British IM and journalist Harry Golombek remarked to Fischer on how many Caro-Kanns the Soviets had been playing. Fischer's reply was, "they are all just chicken; they just don't want to face B-QB4 against the Sicilian." True or not, in round eight Tal, facing the Caro-Kann, scored a spectacular win over Smyslov in a game that was awarded the brilliancy prize. 

     After the third cycle Keres was leading by a half point, but by the time the last round rolled around Tal only needed only a draw against tailender Benko to secure first. He easily got the half point by forcing an early perpetual check thereby earning the right to face Mikhail Botvinnik in 1960 for the World Championship.

 

 

     One of the better known games from the 1959 Candidates is Tal's brilliancy against Smyslov. Writing in The Soviet Chess School, Kotov and Yudovich gave Tal's 14th move a "!?" and stated that even now (in 1983) commentators hadn't managed to determine whether the sacrifice was correct. They added the one might ask whether or not it really mattered because in over the board play it was as Tal stated, "...just try and see through my puzzles during the battle, in the heat of the struggle when delay (as a result of spending too much time on pondering one's moves) may mean death." 

     By the way, the book (The Soviet Chess School) is a very poor revision of their earlier, and far better, book The Soviet School of Chess that was published in 1958. When checked with Komodo and Stockfish their analysis of the Tal vs. Smyslov prize winning game is shown to be nothing short of absolutely horrible. Likewise, Hans Kmoch's analysis in Chess Review doesn't stand up under scrutiny by engines, but thankfully the game was played by real people under the pressure of the clock. 

     Kmoch's introduction to the game was spot on when he wrote, "Pieces may behave like sandbags or like bombs depending on how they are handled. Tal certainly knows how to make them behave explosively. This is one of his masterpieces. It is wonderful to watch how he obtains an advantage in development and subsequently ushers his pieces to victory in a breathtaking sweep." Here it is and it's still very intriguing.

Mikhail Tal - Vasily Smyslov

Result: 1-0

Site: Bled, Zagreb & Belgrade

Date: 1959.09.18

Caro-Kann

[...] 1.e4 c6 2.d3 A rare move that was first played by Breyer. It may transpose into a K-Indian Reversed. 2...d5 3.♘d2 e5 This move, the recommendation of which dates back to von Bardeleben is considered reckless. Solid is 3...g6. 4.♘gf3 ♘d7 This is not good because it causes the congestion of black's pieces. Much better is 4...Bd6 5.d4 At the time this move came as something of a surprise, but it's actually the best. 5...dxe4 According to Hans Kmoch, Smyslov's opening play is amazingly poor. The reason is that by exchanging both center Ps all he is doing is cooperating with white's plans and as a result he soon lands in serious trouble. That's a bit harsh as taking with either P or developing with 5...Bd6 all have equal merit and white is only slightly better. 6.♘xe4 exd4

6...♘gf6 is met by 7.♘xf6+ ♕xf6 8.♗g5 ♕e6 9.dxe5 and black's position is difficult.

7.♕xd4

7.♗c4 This turned out not to be an improvement on 7.Qxd4 7...♘df6 8.♘eg5 ♘h6 9.O-O ♗e7 10.♘xd4 O-O 11.c3 with equality. Ljubojevic,L (2550)-Marovic,D (2465)/Umag 1972

7...♘gf6 8.♗g5

8.♘d6+ This move also has it merits. 8...♗xd6 9.♕xd6 ♘e4 10.♕d4 O-O 11.♗e3 ♘df6 12.♗d3 ♕xd4 13.♗xd4 The position is equal. Zwakala,N (2088) -Oatlhotse,P (2289)/Sandton RSA 2019

8...♗e7 9.O-O-O O-O 10.♘d6 ♕a5 11.♗c4 Kmoch wrote that it's obvious that white has a great advantage in development and this move looks like a routine developing move, but it really plans a sacrifice. True, but this game was originally annotated based on the result and not on concrete analysis. Today we have powerful engine that don't care about anything but the cold, hard facts. Actually, at this point the position is dead equal. Fortunately engines weren't playing the game though! 11...b5 Played with the intention of showing white's last move to be too energetic because retreating to b3 would lose a piece after 12...c5. However, Tal finds a way to save the B and at the same time place his Q in the vicinity of black's K.

11...♘b6 was probably better. 12.♗b3 ♗e6 results in full equality after 13.Bxe6, 13.Bxf6 or 13. Rhf1 13.♗xe6 fxe6 14.♔b1 ♘bd5 15.♘e4 ♘xe4 16.♕xe4 ♗xg5 17.♕xe6+ ♔h8 18.♘xg5 and here is how black equalizes... 18...♘c3+ 19.bxc3 ♕b5+ 20.♔a1 ♕xg5 with equal chances.

11...♗xd6 is not quite satisfactory either. 12.♕xd6 ♘e4 13.♕f4 ♘xg5 14.♘xg5 White has a slight advantage because of his more active pieces.

12.♗d2

12.♗xf7+ ♖xf7 13.♘xf7 ♔xf7 This is one of those positions in which the material imbalance is difficult to evaluate, but the stronger player is likely to be the ultimate winner.

12...♕a6 Smyslov was thinking of transferring the Q over to the K-side along the third rank, but he doesn't get the time to do it. The fact is that the text move, 12...Qa4 and 12. ..Qb6 all equalize.

12...♕a4 Kotov and Yudovich wrote that this leads to great complications after 13.Nf5 Bc5 14.Qh4, but their analysis was totally flawed, in fact losing for white. It was so bad I am not even going to bother repeating it here. 13.♘f5 ♗c5 14.♗b3 The only move that does not lose. 14...♗xd4 15.♗xa4 ♗xf2 16.♘e7+ ♔h8 17.♗b3 which slightly favors black.

13.♘f5 Black can win a piece, but in doing so he is exposed to a very powerful attack. 13...♗d8

13...♗c5 This is best. Kotov and Yudovich gave horrible analysis to prove it was bad. Kmoch also stated that its not good, but he, too, gave bad analysis. 14.♕f4 bxc4 Playable despite what the annotators of old claimed.

14...♘b6 15.♘h6+ ♔h8 (15...gxh6 16.♕xf6 ♘d5 17.♗xd5 cxd5 18.♕e5 White is winning.) 16.♗c3

16.♘xf7+ looks really good, but it's not so clear after 16...♔g8 17.♗b3 ♖xf7 18.♗xf7+ ♔xf7

16...♗e7 (16...bxc4 17.♕xf6 mates in two.) 17.♖he1 ♗e6 18.♗xe6 fxe6 19.♖xe6 ♕xa2 20.♖xe7 is winning for white.

15.♗c3 ♖e8 (15...♕xa2 16.♘xg7 ♔xg7 17.♖xd7 wins) 16.♗xf6 ♘xf6 white has only one move that does not lose! 17.♘xg7 ♕xa2

17...♔xg7 18.♕g5+ ♔h8 19.♕xf6+ ♔g8 20.♕g5+ ♔h8 21.♕xc5 is good for white.

18.♘xe8 ♕a1+ 19.♔d2 ♕a5+ 20.♔e2 ♘xe8 21.♕g5+ ♔f8 22.♕h6+ ♔g8 White can draw with 23.Qg5+ or play on in an unclear position after 23.Qxc6

14.♕h4 bxc4 15.♕g5 ♘h5 16.♘h6+ ♔h8 17.♕xh5 ♕xa2 Kotov and Yudovich called this the decisive mistake, but it most certainly is not. Engines evaluate the position as completely equal. 18.♗c3 ♘f6 This is the decisive mistake because it allows white to exploit the back rank weakness.

18...♗f6 Kmoch claimed this loses, but it does not. Like Kotov and Yudovich's analysis, Kmoch's poor analysis is not worth quoting. 19.♘xf7+ ♔g8 20.♘7g5 ♕a1+ 21.♔d2 ♗xc3+ 22.bxc3 ♘f6 23.♕f7+ ♖xf7 24.♖xa1 ♖d7+ with equal chances.

18...♗c7 After 30 minutes this is the move that Stockfish came up with that leads to equality after 19.♕h4 This move allows white to continue the fight. (19.♘xf7+ ♔g8 and white must take the draw by repetition.) 19...f6 20.♖he1 ♗a5 21.♘g5 Here there is only one way for black to avoid mate. 21...♕a1+ (21...gxh6 22.♘f7+ ♖xf7 23.♖e8+ ♘f8 24.♗xf6+ mates in three) (21...fxg5 22.♗xg7+ ♔xg7 23.♖xd7+ ♗xd7 24.♕xg5+ ♔h8 25.♕e5+ mates next move) 22.♔d2 fxg5 23.♕xc4 ♗xc3+ 24.bxc3 ♖xf2+ 25.♖e2 ♗a6 26.♘f7+ ♔g8 27.♘h6+ with a perpetual check

19.♕xf7 Very appealing! 19...♕a1+ 20.♔d2 ♖xf7 21.♘xf7+ ♔g8 22.♖xa1 ♔xf7 23.♘e5+ ♔e6 (23...♔g8 24.♘xc6 ♘e4+ 25.♔e3 ♘xc3 26.♘xd8 ♘d5+ White has a won ending.) 24.♘xc6 ♘e4+ 25.♔e3 ♗b6+ 26.♗d4 Black resigned.

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