Bobotsov Gets Squashed Like A Grape

     The following game was played in the World Student Olympiad in Varna, Bulgaria in 1958. Tal won the gold medal on 1st board, with +7 -0 =3. 

     Prior to the start of the Olympiad it was assumed that no team would represent the United States because the U.S. did not maintain diplomatic relations with Bulgaria and American passports were not valid for travel there. 

     The Intercollegiate Chess League of America had been in correspondence with the State Department for nearly a year, but the results were not encouraging then suddenly the State Department agreed to validate the passports so a team could travel to Bulgaria. 

     Max Pavey's wife was chairman of the USCF International Affairs Committee and she took immediate steps to assemble a team while ICLA Vice-President Anthony Saidy acted as chairman of the organizing committee. Naturally, there was the usual problem of financing and USCF members were asked to donate money to the cause. 

     Eventually a team (William Lombardy, Edmar Mednis, Anthony Saidy, Arthur Feuerstein and Martin Sobell) was put together and sent to Varna. The team started out with great success...they swept through the qualifying matches defeating Albania, Iceland, and Bulgaria, to enter the finals. 

     In the finals the USSR finished 1st ahead of Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary, USA, Argentina and East Germany. At the end, the team finished rather poorly, taking 6th place out of 16 teams. According to Lombardy, "The chess was good, but the nerves and luck were bad." 

     In the following game Tal crushes Bulgarian Milko Bobotsov (1931-2000, 68 years old). Bobotsov was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria and was Bulgarian champion in 1958 and was awarded the IM title in 1960 and the GM title in 1961, thus becoming Bulgaria's first GM. After suffering a stroke in 1972 his international play was somewhat curtailed. He was married to WGM Antonia Ivanova.

 

 

[Event "Finals World Student Olympiad, Varna"] [Site "Varna BUL"] [Date "1958.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Milko Bobotsov"] [Black "Mikhail Tal"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E81"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "1958.??.??"] {King's Indian: Saemisch Attack} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Nge2 {White hopes to solidify the center, castle Q-side and play g4–g5 and h2-h4 with a K-side attack. The disadvantage is the P on f3 deprives this N of its most natural square, f3} (6. Bd3 {Playing this first seems to make more sense, but for whatever reason, it's almost never seen.} c5 7. d5 e6 8. Nge2 a6 9. a4 Qc7 10. O-O exd5 11. cxd5 {Equals. Granda Zuniga,J (2525)-Barlov,D (2555) Zagreb 1987}) 6... c5 {Black can challenge the center with this or ...e5 after which white needs to decide whether to close the center with d4-d5 or let it remain fluid.} 7. Be3 (7. d5 e6 8. Ng3 exd5 9. cxd5 h5 {is the main alternative.}) 7... Nbd7 8. Qd2 a6 9. O-O-O Qa5 10. Kb1 b5 11. Nd5 {The opening was played at blitz speed as Bobotsov was curious to find out what had Tal prepared. This risky move had been played in some blitz games the previous day and when Bobotsov played it the spectators gasped when Tal, without a flinch, sacrificed his Q just as happened in the blitz games.} (11. dxc5 {was tried in Alterman,B (2585)-Nunn,J (2590) Pardubice 1993} dxc5 12. Nd5 Nxd5 13. cxd5 Qxd2 14. Rxd2 f5 15. Nf4 {with equal chances.}) 11... Nxd5 { This is the correct move as any engine will tell you, but black's advantage is not great.} 12. Qxa5 {White pretty much has to take the Q as other moves are inferior.} (12. cxd5 Qxd2 13. Rxd2 f5 {Best. In Sarno,S (2425)-Timoscenko,G (2533) Lido Estensi 2003 black played 13...Nb6 with equality.} 14. dxc5 { Favoring black is 14.exf5} Nxc5 15. Bxc5 dxc5 16. Nc3 {Black is considerably better. Spulber,C (2365)-Itkis,B (2430) Odorheiu Secuiesc 1993}) 12... Nxe3 13. Rc1 (13. Rd3 {is more appropriate.} Nxc4 14. Qe1 cxd4 15. Nxd4 {with roughly equal chances.}) 13... Nxc4 14. Rxc4 bxc4 15. Nc1 {Wrong direction! The N needs to go to f4 hoping to eventually land on d5} Rb8 {White's prospects are grim. Black has open lines against his K, his Q is misplaced on the Q-side and he has zero prospects of a K-side attack.} 16. Bxc4 Nb6 17. Bb3 Bxd4 18. Qd2 { [%mdl 8192] This loses quickly.} (18. Ne2 {To eliminate the B offers a glimmer of hope.} Bxb2 19. Kc2 (19. Kxb2 Nc4+ {wins outright.}) 19... Bf6 20. Rb1 e6 { Keeps the status quo...black has the initiative, but white can hope to defend himself. In 5 Shootouts (long and fascinating) white managed 4 draws and a loss.}) 18... Bg7 19. Ne2 c4 {[%mdl 32] Gutting the position of white's K.} 20. Bc2 c3 21. Qd3 cxb2 22. Nd4 Bd7 {Prevents Nc6.} 23. Rd1 Rfc8 24. Bb3 (24. Qxa6 {is met by} Nc4 25. Bb3 Be6 26. Qa4 Ra8 27. Qb4 Rcb8 28. Qc3 Na3+ 29. Kxb2 Nb5 30. Qe3 Nxd4 31. Rxd4 Bxb3 32. axb3 Ra4 {and wins}) 24... Na4 25. Bxa4 Bxa4 26. Nb3 Rc3 27. Qxa6 Bxb3 28. axb3 Rbc8 29. Qa3 Rc1+ 30. Rxc1 Rxc1+ {A delightful slaughter!} 0-1