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Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Rubezov's Fatal King Walk

     Lou P. Andvere describes himself as a reasonably strong correspondence player (about 2300+ ICCF) who has written several chess engines. As he explained, these days in correspondence chess a good correspondence player using an engine is always stronger than a lone engine, especially in situations with a material imbalance that are difficult to evaluate. He added, "Correspondence players are a bit like race car drivers. They can’t outrun the car, but that’s not the point - the point is how well do you steer it." 
     Be that as it may, correspondence chess was a lot more fun before engines and it produced games like the following one. 

     Nothing is known of the Soviet correspondence player Anatoly Rubezov except that between 1960 and 1963 he he played, and lost, a game in the 1960 USSR Correspondence Championship to Georgy Borisenko (May 25, 1922 - December 3, 2012) that can be found in several books of chess brilliancies. 
     Borisenko was a Soviet correspondence GM and theoretician who trained, among others, Nona Gaprindashvili, his wife Valentina Borisenko, Viktor Korchnoi, Mark Taimanov and Timur Gareyev. He became a Russian Master of Sport in 1950 and a Russian Correspondence GM in 1966. He won the USSR Correspondence Championship twice, in 1957 and 1962, and came in second in 1965. 
     In the following game Borisenko displays fantastic ingenuity as he forces Rubezov's King on a long walk to its doom. The white King started on e1 and from there went on a journey to g1-f2-e1-d2-c3-c4-d5-d6-e5-e6-f5-e4 and ended up on d5 at which point Rubezov resigned. 
     In the game, at move 13, Borisenko made the sacrifice of the exchange that's often seen in the Sicilian (...Rxf3) and a few moves later makes what looks like a mistake, but was actually a carefully laid plan: a whole Rook down he chases white's King all over the board until there was nothing for Rubezov to do but send off a postcard with the dreaded words, "I resign" or some such. A game that I liked (Komodo 14)
[Event "USSR Correspondence Championship"] [Site "?"] [Date "1960.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Anatoly Rubezov"] [Black "Georgy Borisenko"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B89"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "1960.??.??"] {Sicilian: Sozin Attack} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bc4 {This aggressive move, the Sozin Attack, sets up tactical possibilities against f7. Afte black plays ...e6 then white can generate threats against the P on e6 and gain good prospects for a K-side attack with f4-f5.} e6 7. O-O Be7 8. Be3 O-O 9. Bb3 (9. Qe2 {is an alternative.} a6 10. Rad1 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 b5 12. Bb3 Bb7 13. a3 Qb8 14. f3 Bc6 15. Qf2 a5 16. Rfe1 b4 17. axb4 axb4 18. Nd5 { Draw agreed. Gomez Garrido,C (2504)-Vera Gonzalez-Quevedo,R (2446) Panama City PAN 2013}) 9... Na5 {At the time this move was considered somewhat suspect because it neglects the center. It was believed that either 9...a6 or 9...Bd7 were better. Stockfish actually prefers the text.} 10. f4 b6 {In annotating this game Graham Burgess was critical of this move, but did not offer an alternative. Sockfish considers the position equal.} (10... e5 {is an equally good alternative.} 11. fxe5 Ng4 12. Qe2 dxe5 13. Nf5 Bxf5 14. Rxf5 Nxe3 15. Qxe3 Qd4 16. Qxd4 exd4 17. Nd5 {White's pieces are better placed, but there does not seem to be any way for him to make substantial headway. Five Shootout games were drawn. Generally black avoided the exchange ...Nxb3 and played an ending with Bs of opposite color and double Rs.}) (10... Nxb3 {Burgess said black should avoid this, but that does not appear to be the case. After} 11. axb3 e5 {Superior to Burgess' 11...b6} 12. Nde2 a5 {the position is equal.}) 11. g4 (11. e5 {is the main alternative.} Ne8 12. Qh5 {and black has two main choices.} Nxb3 {This is probably the safest.} (12... Bb7 {This results in some complicated tactics.} 13. Nxe6 fxe6 14. Bxe6+ Kh8 15. Bf7 Qc8 16. Nd5 Bxd5 17. Bxd5 {with equal chances.}) 13. Nc6 Qc7 14. Nxe7+ Qxe7 15. axb3 Bb7 16. Nb5 a6 17. Nd4 b5 {equals.}) 11... Bb7 12. Qf3 Rc8 13. g5 Rxc3 {This sacrifice of the exchange is quite common in the Dragon Variation, but, as here, it is often seen in other variations as well. The point is that it weakens white's e-Pawn.} (13... Nd7 {is barely playable; it's rather passive and things get tactical.} 14. Nxe6 fxe6 15. Bxe6+ Kh8 16. Qh5 {with the initiative.} d5 17. Rf3 g6 18. Qh6 Bc5 19. Bxc5 Rxc5 20. Rh3 Qe7 21. exd5 Rxf4 22. Qxg6 Qg7 23. Qxg7+ Kxg7 24. Bxd7 Bxd5 {White is better.}) (13... Ne8 {is also too passive and here, too, black ends up on the defensive.} 14. Qh3 Nxb3 15. axb3 a6 16. Rf3 b5 17. Qh5 Rxc3 18. Rh3 {Black has only one good move here.} Bxe4 19. bxc3 Bg6 20. Qf3 Nc7 {Black has beaten back the attack on his K, but white has slightly better chances.}) 14. gxf6 {Excellent! Black has only one reply that does not lose.} ( 14. bxc3 {is a mistake.} Nxe4 15. Qg4 Qc8 16. Rf3 Nxb3 17. axb3 f5 { Padevsky-Botvinnik, Moscow 1956. Black soon won.}) 14... Rxe3 {This is it.} ( 14... Rc7 15. fxe7 Rxe7 16. f5 {Crushing.} Nxb3 (16... e5 17. f6 Rc7 18. Qg4 g6 19. Nf5 Re8 20. Qh4 h5 21. Ne7+ Rexe7 22. fxe7 Qxe7 23. Bxf7+ Kg7 24. Bg5 Qd7 25. Bd8 {and wins}) 17. axb3 exf5 18. Bg5 f6 19. Nxf5 Re5 (19... fxg5 20. Nxe7+ Qxe7 21. Qxf8+ Qxf8 22. Rxf8+ Kxf8 23. Rxa7 Bxe4 24. c4 {with a won ending.}) 20. Rxa7 Qb8 (20... Bxe4 21. Rxg7+ {[%emt 0:00:04] mates in}) 21. Rxb7 Qxb7 22. Bf4 Re6 23. Qg4 Qd7 24. Rd1 g6 25. Bg3 {white will ultimately win this position: 5-0 in Shootouts.}) 15. Qxe3 (15. fxe7 {is a mistake as after} Rxf3 16. exd8=Q Rxf1+ 17. Rxf1 Rxd8 {Black is a good Pawn up.}) 15... Bxf6 16. Rad1 {Also good was 16...c3} Nxb3 (16... Qe7 {This cautious move was played in Jankovec,I (2320)-Smejkal,J (2515) Trinec 1972} 17. c3 g6 18. Nf3 Bg7 19. Qd3 Bh6 20. Ne1 Qe8 21. Nc2 Qc6 {with equal chances.}) 17. axb3 a6 {This allows white some tactical ideas, but Borisenko is relying on the open lines he gets as compensation.} (17... g6 {is slightly more accurate, but the results is no more than a draw.} 18. e5 dxe5 19. Nxe6 Qc8 20. Nxf8 Qxc2 21. Qh3 Bh4 22. Rd3 Qc5+ 23. Qe3 Qc2 {repeating moves,}) 18. e5 dxe5 {Now this is not good as white seizes the initiative. The best defense was 18...Bh4 when white is only slightly better+} 19. Nxe6 Qc8 20. Nxf8 Qc6 21. Kf2 {[%mdl 8192] Here white goes astray. He keeps the advantage after 21.Rd2} (21. Qh3 {is a colossal blunder!} Bh4 (21... Kxf8 22. Rd3 {equals}) 22. Rf3 Qxf3 23. Qxf3 Bxf3 24. Rd3 Bg4 25. Nxh7 exf4 {and black has what should be a winning advantage.}) (21. Rd2 Bh4 {Threatens mate.} (21... Qh1+ 22. Kf2 Bh4+ 23. Ke2 {and the K slips away.}) 22. Rf3 {Forced} Qxf3 23. Qxf3 Bxf3 24. Nd7 exf4 25. Nxb6 {and white is better. }) 21... Qg2+ (21... Bh4+ {is ineffective beause after} 22. Ke2 Qg2+ 23. Kd3 e4+ 24. Kc3 Bf6+ 25. Kb4 Be7+ (25... Qxc2 26. Qxb6) 26. Kc3 {The K has escaped and black has to take the draw.}) (21... Qxc2+ {is also ineffective.} 22. Rd2 Qf5 23. Kg1 exf4 24. Rxf4 Qg5+ 25. Kf1 Kxf8 26. Rdf2 {and black's position is difficult.}) 22. Ke1 Bh4+ 23. Rf2 {This threatens to win with 24.Ne6} Bf3 { Meeting the threat and leaving black with a clearly winning position.} 24. Rd8 {From here on black is forced to find th very best moves in a remarkable King hunt.} (24. Ne6 {is refuted by} Qh1+ 25. Kd2 Qxd1+ 26. Kc3 fxe6) 24... Qg1+ 25. Kd2 Qd1+ $1 (25... e4 {would lose the game after} 26. Re8 Qd1+ 27. Kc3 Bf6+ 28. Kc4 b5+ 29. Kb4 Qd6+ 30. Qc5 Qxc5+ 31. Kxc5 Be7+ 32. Rxe7 Kxf8 33. Ra7 { winning easily.}) 26. Kc3 Qxd8 27. Rxf3 {[%mdl 32]} e4 28. Rh3 Bf6+ 29. Kc4 Qc7+ {Both 29...Kxf8 and 29...Qxf8 would lose almose all of black's advantage.} 30. Kd5 Qb7+ {Again, the most precise.} (30... Kxf8 31. Kxe4 Qxc2+ 32. Kf3 { with equal chances.}) 31. Kd6 Kxf8 32. Rxh7 {[%mdl 4096]} Be7+ 33. Ke5 { [%cal Rh7h8]} f6+ 34. Ke6 Qc6+ 35. Kf5 Qc8+ 36. Kxe4 Qxc2+ 37. Kd5 {The end of the line for white's K! White played quite well, but his play was no match for Borisenko's precision.} Qxh7 {White resigned.} 0-1

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