In the Second Piatigorsky held in 1966 the basic plan was to be the same...invite the greatest GMs in the world with not more
than two from any one country. The only difference is that this time there would be ten players.
The United States was represented by the brilliant young champion Bobby Fischer and the older but still powerful former champion Samuel Reshevsky.
As for the Russians, the world champion Tigran Petrosian, who had just won a world championship match against Boris Spassky about a month earlier, were both playing.
Regarding the other players, they all had established formidable records over the years and were in the good form at the time of the tournament which was held from July 17 to August 15, 1966.
After the first eight rounds Spassky had won three games and drawn five and and was in first. Bent Larsen, who had lost his first game then drawn four and won three was in second.
Bobby Fischer had been disappointing. After winning one and drawing four, he had lost three games in row and was tied for last place with Borislav Ivkov with a 3-5 score.
The next eight rounds saw Spassky still playing methodically and he had not lost a game. However, he had won only a single game while drawing seven. Larsen had some bad luck during this stretch...he had one draw and four losses, but was tied for third with an 8-7 score.
Fischer had made a sensational comeback. After drawing with Petrosian in the ninth round,he won four games in in a row...all in the first session, no adjournments! After another draw came two more wins for a 7-1 score in the second half. As a result, Fischer and were tied for first with two rounds to go.
Could Fischer finish first? He was scheduled to meet Spassky in the penultimate round and Spassky had won their first encounter. Nine hundred people filled the auditorium to see the game while many were turned away! The result was a draw.
Going into the last round Fischer's opponent would be
World Champion Petrosian, while Spassky would face Jan Hein Donner, then in a tie for last place. As expected, Petrosian held off Fischer and Spassky defeated Donner to take first.
The other U.S. representative, Samuel Reshevsky, had done OK in the first half scoring a plus 1, but he faltered in the second half and scored minus 1 to finish with an even score.
Reshevsky's old rival Miguel Najdorf was the old man of the tournament. He did quite well and had a plus score until three rounds from the end, but finishing with three losses dropped him to eighth place in the final standings.
When Najdorf and Reshevsky met in the 9th round Reshevsky outfoxed Najdorf psychologically and the result was Najdorf, with some disgust, agreed to a draw in 23 moves.
Their second encounter in round 18 was different.
Playing black Najdorf used the same set-up that Spassky introduced in his game with Portisch in the fifth round. Reshevsky outplayed Najdorf in the opening and by move 29 he has established a theoretically won game which he eventually brought to fruition after Najdorf was forced to give up the exchange in order to try and extricate himself from his precarious situation.
Samuel Reshevsky - Miguel Najdorf
Result: 1-0
Site: 2nd Piatigorsky Cup, Santa Monica
Date: 1966.08.15
Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein Variation
[...] 1.d4 ♘f6 2.c4 e6 3.♘c3 ♗b4 4.e3 c5 5.♗d3 O-O 6.♘f3 b6 Black almost invariably plays 6...d5, but Najdorf has chosen this old variation which was also played in an earlier round in Portisch-Spassky just to get away from familiar lines. 7.O-O ♗b7 8.♘a4 cxd4 9.exd4 The alternative is 9. a3 to force ...Be7 but the text will gain a tempo if the B must still retreat. 9...♗e7 At the time this was considered the only playable move.
27...♗xc3 28.♕xc3 ♘hf6 29.♕c7 ♗xd5 30.♖d4 and wite stands well. 27.fxe3 ♘e5 28.♕c2 ♘xf3+ 29.♗xf3 ♕e5 While the position is theoretically won, white still has to play carefully and prevent black from building up counter threats. Reshevsky's major task now is to trade Qs. 30.♕d3 ♘d7 31.♘e2 a5 Played in order to make a post for the N at c5. 32.♕e4 Reshevsky exchanges Qs at the cost of a P, but he reaches a simple to win ending. 32...axb4 Najdorf admitted that he is now lost, but justified playing on because of the speed with which Reshevsky was making his moves. 33.♖b1 This is much better than immediately exchanging Qs.
9...d5 This is inferior. 10.c5 bxc5 11.a3 c4 12.♗xh7+ ♘xh7 13.axb4 ♘d7 14.♘c5 and white is better.
9...♖e8 This is a good alternative to withdrawing the B. After 10.a3 ♗f8 11.b4 d6 black has a satisfactory game.
10.♖e1 d6 11.b4 White has succeeded in advancing on the Q-side without the preliminary move a3. 11...♘bd7 12.♗b2 ♖e8 13.♘c3
13.a3 is a rather pointless alternative. 13...♗f8 14.♘c3 g6 15.♗f1 a6 16.♘d2 ♗g7 17.♘b3 Gomez,J (2474)-Maghsoodloo,P (2577)/Chengdu CHN 2017 with a equal position.
13...g6
13...♗f8 This is what Spassky played against Portisch, but it does not alter the situation. In either case the position is balanced although white' s greater space gives him easier play. 14.d5 e5 15.♘d2 g6 16.♘b3 ♘h5 17.g3 ♘g7 18.c5 dxc5 19.bxc5 ♘xc5 20.♗b5 is equal and the game was eventually drawn.
14.d5 This is a typical theme where white endeavors to obtain a strong point on c6 and utilize his greater space. Taking the P gives white's Bs a lot of scope. 14...exd5 Here there is a clash of ideas. Spassky's idea of ...e5 allowed the break c4-c5. Instead, Najdorf wanted to relieve the central tension and open lines that favor simplification. Reshevsky thought Najdorf's idea gave too much scope to white's Bs/ 15.cxd5 a6 This prevents white from playing Bb5 putting pressure on c6. It should also be mentioned that in this formation white will later have the strong maneuver Nd4. 16.a4 Otherwise black would have continued...b5 and ...Nb6 with good play. 16...♗f8 Now that white has prevented any hope of black expanding on the Q-side, Najdorf follows his plan of simplification.
16...♘xd5 leaves him defenseless after 17.♘xd5 ♗xd5 18.♗xg6 hxg6 19.♕xd5
17.♖xe8 ♕xe8 18.♕b3 ♗g7 This natural move causes difficulties later.
18...♘e5 Following his plan of immediate simplification was better. 19.♘xe5 dxe5 and he has prevented white's N from reaching d4.
19.♖e1 ♕f8 Black' s plan is to simplify by exchanging Rs with ...Re8, but Reshevsky was not content with a draw and decides to prevent this simplification because he felt his pieces had greater mobility than black's and that warranted playing on. 20.♘d4 Aiming to eventually post his N on c6. 20...♖e8 21.♖d1 Reshevsky avoids exchanges and now black has no targets and he really has no plausible plan to pursue. As Najdorf pointed out, his position is uncomfortable...his Q has no play so he now tries an artificial maneuver even though he admitted that objectively it cannot be good. Najdorf was a rare player in that he emphasized the excellent way with which Reshevsky is conducting the game. 21...♗h8 The plan is to bring the Q out on the K-side. 22.♗e2 Preparing to defend his light squares on the K-side. 22...♕h6 (22...♘xd5 23.♘xd5 ♗xd4 24.♗xd4 ♖xe2 25.♘e3 Traps his R.) 23.♗c1 ♕h4 Najdorf presses on with his plan even though his Q will soon be in danger. but returning to f8 would have been very depressing. 24.♘f3
24.♘c6 at this point would be ill advised as after 24...♘xd5 25.♗c4 ♗xc6 26.♗xd5 ♗xd5 27.♘xd5 ♖e2 black has equalized.
24...♕h5 25.h3 This quiet move threatens Be3, Ng5 and g3 trapping the Q. 25...h6 (25...♘xd5 loses... 26.♘xd5 ♖xe2 27.♘f4 ♗xf3 28.♘xh5 ♗xh5 29.g4) 26.♗e3 Now black is in serious trouble as he faces the threat of Ng5 winning the Q. Therefore he is compelled to give up material after which the game is virtually over. 26...♖xe3 This is the best defense he has.
26...♖c8 27.♘d4 ♕e5 28.♘c6 ♗xc6 29.dxc6 ♖xc6 30.♗c4 and black is facing too many threats.
26...♘h7 This may have been his best try because at this point both players were fixated on the threat to win black's Q, but as it turns out, winning the Q would have allowed black compensation sufficient for equality! 27.♖d3
27.♘g5 ♕h4
27...♖xe3 28.♗xh5 ♖xc3 29.♕b1 ♘xg5 30.♗xg6 fxg6 31.♕xg6+ ♗g7 32.♕xd6 with an unclear position.
28.g3 ♖xe3 29.gxh4 ♖xc3 30.♕a2 hxg5 with sufficient compensation for his Q. 33.♕xe5 ♘xe5 34.♖b1 ♘xf3+ 35.gxf3 ♗xd5 36.♖xb4 ♗xf3 and black's chances of holding the ending are very good!
33...♕xe4 34.♗xe4 ♗c3 This is a desperate attempt to keep the extra P, but in the process he also exchanges his best piece. There is, however, nothing that is any better. 35.♘xc3 bxc3 36.♗c2 ♗xd5 37.♖d1 ♗c6 If 37...Nf6 then 38.Rd3 winning the c-Pawn which represents black's only (faint) hope. 38.♖xd6 ♘e5 At least the c-Pawn is safe...for awhile. 39.♖d4 ♔f8 40.e4 This prevents ...f5
40.♖b4 ♔e7 41.♖xb6 ♔d6 42.a5 ♘c4 Gave black too much counterplay to suit Reshevsky.
40...♔e7 41.♔f2 Bringing his K to the center. 41...♗d7 42.♖b4 ♘c6 43.♖c4 Ruthless.
43.♖xb6 ♘d4 44.♗d1 c2 45.♗xc2 ♘xc2 46.a5 Still gives black too much counterplay.
43...♔d6 44.♖xc3 g5 45.♖d3+ ♔e7 46.♗d1 ♘a5 47.♖d2 Threatening 48.Rb2 47...♘c4 48.♖d4 ♘e5 49.♔e3 In order to make progress white needs to bring his K into play. 49...f6 50.♖b4 ♔d8 51.♗e2 ♔c7 52.♗b5 ♗e6 53.♖d4 ♗d7 54.♖d1
54.♖d1 ♗xb5 55.axb5 ♘c4+ 56.♔d4 ♘d6 57.♖b1 followed by the incursion of the K with Kd5.
Powered by Aquarium
No comments:
Post a Comment