Fischer Disappoints!?

     The year 1959 was an interesting one. According to Rod Serling there was a fifth dimension we didn't know about...the dimension of imagination. It was an area known as The Twilight Zone, a mix of horror, science-fiction, drama, comedy and superstition; Serling was the program's narrator. The wildly popular program first aired in October, but we never watched it at our house; my dad didn't like it.

     The most famous person in the country was probably Elvis Presley, but February 3rd came to be known as The Day The Music Died. On that date rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson) died in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, along with the pilot, Roger Peterson. 

     They weren't the only celebrities to meet a violent death. George Reeves, who played Superman on television, died at the age of 45 from a gunshot to the head. He was found in the upstairs bedroom of his home in the wee hours of the morning on June 16, 1959. The official finding was suicide, but some believe that he was murdered or the victim of an accidental shooting. 

      The scandalous book Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence was creating a hubbub. Although it was first published in Italy in 1928, it was banned in the U.S. (and other countries) as being obscene. 

     The ban on it and another book, Tropic of Cancer, was overturned in court in 1959. According to a columnist with The New York Times, the ruling was going to set off an explosion of free speech. 

     In 1959, the first house with a built-in bomb shelter was shown in Pleasant Hills, Pennsylvania. Later, in October of 1961, President Kennedy advised American families to build bomb shelters to protect them from fallout in the event of a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union. Kennedy also assured the public that the country's civil defense program would soon begin providing shelters for every American. 

     It was just a year later that the world hovered on the brink of nuclear war when the Cuban Missile Crisis erupted over Russia's placement of nuclear missiles in Cuba. During the 13-day crisis, some Americans prepared for nuclear war by buying up canned goods and completing last-minute work on their backyard bomb shelters. 

The Blogmeister in younger days

     Speaking of Cuba, several years later, in 1964, on the 5-year anniversary of Fidel Castro's takeover of Cuba, I was with the Marine Corps and we were aboard an old WWII aircraft carrier loaded with helicopters that was circling off the coast of Cuba. We sat on deck all day with the helicopters running and shutting down only to refuel. We had been issued ammunition and our weapons were loaded as we were ready to board the choppers and be flown to the fence line at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in case the Cubans tried to invade the base. Nothing happened and towards evening we were told to stand down. 

 

       In testimony before congress, game show contestant Charles Van Doren admitted he had been given the answers and coached on his on-camera performance while appearing on the game show Twenty-One. 

     As a result, Congress added a law to prohibit the fixing of televised contests of intellectual knowledge or skill and quiz shows disappeared for a long time. 

     Bobby Fischer played in three tournaments in 1959. In Mar del Plata he tied for 3rd with Borislav Ivkov a half point behind Miguel Najdorf and Ludek Pachman who tied for first. Then, after an appearance in a tournament in Santiago, Chile, he tied with Paul Keres for 3rd in Zurich behind Mikhail Tal (1st) and Svetozar Gligoric (2nd). 

 

     The second Torneo de Arturo Alesandri Palma was held from April 20th to May 6th, 1959 in Santiago, Chile. According to a brief report in Chess Review, the sixteen year old Bobby Fischer's result was disappointing. Fischer, who was just beginning his international career, scored as many wins as Ivkov and Pachman, but he lost four games. Here is his win against the 1958 Chilean champion.

ChessBase

Robert Fischer–Moises Stekel Grunberg1–0Santiago1959Stockfish 15

Ruy Lopez: Steinitz Defense Deferred 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 a6 3...d6 4.d4 d7 5.c3 f6 6.0-0 e7 is the Old Steinitz. 4.a4 d6 Also called the Modern Steinitz Defense, this line allows blacks the possibility of breaking the pin with ...b5 and so gives him more latitude than the Old Steinitz. White has many playable moves: 5.c3, 5.c4, 5.Bxc6, 5.d4 and 5.0-0. 5.c3 d7 6.d4 g6 7.0-0 g7 8.g5 ge7 9.dxe5 dxe5 10.e2 10.e1 h6 11.e3 b6 12.a3 0-0 13.d2 h7 14.ad1 with equal chances. Zapata,A (2545) -Kamsky,G (2650) Manila 1990 10...h6 11.e3 11.h4 is not so good. g5 12.g3 g6 13.d1 e7 14.bd2 g4 15.e1 h5 16.f3 h4 Black is better. Shceglov,M (1590)-Erokhin,A (1851) St Petersburg RUS 2019 11...c8 11...0-0 can be played fiest. 12.d1 c8 13.bd2 b6 14.f1 e6 is equal. Keres,P-Medina Garcia,A Gothenburg 1955 12.d1 g4 This does not turn out well. 12...b6 is correct. 13.h3 0-0 14.b3 a5 15.c4 c5 Nishimura,H (2285)-Kagan,N (2395) Malaysia 1995 13.h3 xf3 The ignominious retreat 13.. .Bd7 was better. 14.xf3 0-0 15.c5 e6 A scintilla better was the exchange of Rs with 15...Rd8 16.d2 ad8 As usual, this is the wrong R. 17.xc6 Had black played the other R to d8 he could have answered this with 17... Nxc6 bxc6 18.e2 b8 There is little point ion trying to save the P, so black tries to use the open file. 18...a8 19.c4 f6 19...xc4 20.xc4 fe8 21.d7 wins 20.f3 fc8 21.d7 f8 22.ad1 and black is in some serious trouble. 19.xa6 White is clearly winning and it's only a matter of time. f6 20.b4 fd8 21.a4 g5 To his credit black is seeking a K-side attack even if it is doomed to failure. 22.h2 g4 23.c4 c8 24.f1 The beginning of a journey to f5. g6 25.e3 gxh3 26.g3 g5 27.f5 The N plays an important defensive role on f5. h5 28.xh3 d7 29.g2 d8 30.e2 h4 A frantic attempt at an attack, but there is no time to even get in ...hxg3 30...e7 There is just no way to get rid of the N on f5. 31.xe7 xe7 32.xd7 xd7 33.xh5 is winning easily. 31.xd7 xd7 32.g4 d8 33.d1 f6 34.gxh4 xh4 35.e7 Very precise play by Fischer. Black resigned. 1–0

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Unheralded Players, Forgotten Tournaments

     In his early days Fred Reinfeld wrote some excellent chess books, but they didn't sell so he took to writing junk, a trend not a few chess authors today have followed, and it made him a comfortable living. 

     One characteristic of a lot of Reinfeld's chess books was that he neglected to give details about the game such as the date, tournament and names of the players! 

     The following game is an example, but at least we know the names of the players and since the game was published in January, 1943, no doubt it was played in 1942, but the tournament was not given. 

     The player of the white pieces was given only as "M. Fish" while black was played by "S. Rubinow", who we know was Sol Rubinow, a Master who was born in New York City on November 6, 1923 and died on February 22, 1981. 

     It’s difficult to say exactly how good Rubinow was because his heyday which was before there was a rating list. However, after the advent of the rating list, he became a Life Master. When the USCF published its first rating list in November of 1950, Rubinow was rated 2243, which at that time was considered "Expert", not Master. 

     Chess was not his only interest. He was also a master bridge player and he became very prominent at his job...he was an authority on biomathematics, which employs theoretical analysis, mathematical models and abstractions of living organisms to investigate the principles that govern their structure, development and behavior. That's opposed to experimental biology which deals with the conduction of experiments to prove and validate the scientific theories. I hope that clears up any questions about Rubinow's day job. 

     Beginning in 1964, Rubinow was a professor of biomathematics at the Cornell University Graduate School of Medical Sciences. He was noted for research and papers papers on cancer research. 

     In 1943, he was intercollegiate chess champion. In 1952, he won the Massachusetts State Championship. He also took part in several U.S. Championships. 

     Dr. Rubinow died at the age of 57 at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center after having been hospitalized for two months following complications resulting from brain surgery. 

     Alas, the master Rubinow managed to lose to Fish in the following short, sharp, exciting game. It was, as Reinfeld stated, a fascinating game, but it was not the lopsided beating that he insinuated. 

 

 

ChessBase

M. Fish–Sol Rubinow1–0B56Unknown1942Stockfish 15

Sicilian Defense 1.e4 c5 2.f3 c6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 f6 5.c3 d6 6.e3 Unusual, but not bad. g4 Black usually play 6...e6, but the text, which tries to take advantage of white's last move actually gives better results in practice. 7.c4 Normally white would play 7.Bb5 or even 7.Bg5. Instead, white is aiming for sharp play even if it means burdening himself with double isolated e-Pawns and a weakened King's position. xe3 8.fxe3 e5 The alternative is 7...e6, but from e5 the N cannot be driven off and it also guards f7. 9.b3 g6 Reinfeld was critical of this because he thought Rubinow was underestimating white's attacking potential. He suggested, without any analysis, 9...Be6 saying it was much safer. Actually, there is nothing at all wrong with 9...g6 and I suspect that the suggested 9...Be6 was a misprint ant it should have read simply 9...e6. 9...e6 10.xe6 fxe6 11.xe6 and white is winning. 9...e6 10.f3 Black must not play ...Nxf3 because it reinforces white's weak Ps. b6 11.d4 d7 Black has a positional advantage. 10.0-0 h6 Reinfeld blasted this move claiming black need not be in a big hurry to take the e-Pawn because it's a weakness that's not going away. He recommended 10...Bg7 instead. In fact, both moves have been played in this position, but Reinfeld does seem correct in his assessment that 10...Bg7 would be better. 10...g7 11.f3 0-0 12.d5 e6 13.d2 b6 Black is much better. Rothe,G (2171) -Miroshnichenko,E (2670) Reykjavik 2011 11.d5 This turns out to be a poor choice that allows black to gain the upper hand. 11.f3 is a safe alternative after which black can't claim any advantage. xe3+ 12.h1 g4 White can play it safe with 13.Qe1 or he can try the spectacular 13.xe5 xd1 14.xf7 a5 15.axd1 15.xh8 g4 16.f7 d4 17.h3 xc3 18.hxg4 xb2 19.ab1 favors black. 15...0-0 16.d8+ e6 17.xf8+ xf8 18.xe6+ e8 19.f1 c8 20.d5 In this complicated position the only good line is... d2 20...h6 21.c3 Black has no good moves and white is winning! a6 22.g3 Black is running out of moves. c6 23.f6+ e7 24.g8+ d7 25.xh6 c8 26.f7+ c6 27.d5+ b5 28.d4+ c5 29.xb7 mates in two. b6 30.b4+ xb4 31.e6# 21.f8+ d7 22.f7+ c6 22...xe6 23.e7# 23.a4+ b5 24.d8+ c5 24...xd8 25.c7# 25.e6+ c6 25...c4 26.b3# 26.d8+ draws. 11...0-0 This position was reached in a game many years later! 12.e1 12.f5 gxf5 13.exf5 e6 14.fxe6 fxe6 15.h5 g7 16.xf8+ xf8 17.f1 exd5 18.xd5+ h8 19.e4 h6 20.h3 d7 21.d1 g5 White resigned, Plank,P (2083) -Levin,F (2523) Bad Woerishofen 2003 12...a5 A waste of time according to Reinfeld. True, it loses black's advantage. Better were either 12...e6 or 12... Bg7 and black keeps his positional advantage. 13.h4 This attack on e7 equalizes for white, but not more. g7 14.xe7 xe3+ 14...f6 was neither better nor worse. Five Shootouts from this position resulted in five draws, For example... 15.d5 a4 16.f4 xf4 17.exf4 axb3 18.fxe5 bxa2 19.exf6+ xf6 20.xf6+ xf6 21.xf6 xf6 22.f2 e6 23.e3 d5 24.xe6 xe6 25.exd5+ xd5 26.d3 g5 27.c4+ c5 28.c3 a4 29.b3 a8 30.c3 a4 31.b3 b4+ 32.a3 xc4 33.xa2 e4 34.b3 h5 This position is a draw, 15.h1 g4 Reinfeld commented that had Rubinow seen what was coming he would have played 15...Bxd4 and white has a perpetual. He claimed that Rubinow felt he deserved more than a draw and that while Rubinow's positional judgment was correct, he played poorly tactically. Reinfeld was of the opinion that had Rubinow taken the trouble to consolidate his position and secure it from attack, he would have undoubtedly been able to utilize his positional advantage. 15...xd4 and white does have to take the perpetual. 16.f6+ h6 17.h4+ etc. 16.df5+ In spite of Reinfeld's twaddle, THIS position is equal IF black finds the correct move... which he does not. gxf5 The tactical error of which Reinfeld spoke; it loses the game. It should be mentioned that even at this early stage Rubinow was in time pressure. 16...xf5 The only move. 17.exf5 Black is on a tightrope...again he must find the only move that does not lose. f6 18.fxg6 fxg6 19.d5 xd5 No other move is satisfactory. Whether white exchanges Qs or not, the chances are equal. 17.exf5 h8 18.xf7 Very pretty says Reinfeld, but very bad says Stockfish! 18.ae1 White has a massive advantage. For instance... d4 19.f6 xb2 20.c3 xc3 21.c2 h6 22.e4 with a winning attack. 18...b6 After this gaffe there is no salvaging the game. 18...f2 Pure wizardry! It saves the game! 19.xf2 19.xg4 xe7 20.xf2 xf7 ...and black has won a piece and much more than likely will win the game. 19...xf2+ 20.g1 e4 Now it's white's turn to save the game and there is only one way it can be done. 21.g6 b6+ 22.h1 f2+ 23.g1 e4+ 24.h1 black has to take the draw. 19.xg4 xf7 He overlooks the mate, but it doesn't matter because the game is now beyond hope. 19...h6 20.h5 e3 21.g8 and black has little choice but to play xg8 22.xg8 g5 22...xg8 23.ae1 23.xg5 xg5 24.e6 with a won ending. 20.g8# A fascinating game. 1–0

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Tal at Jurmala 1985

 

     Jurmala?! It's a resort city in Latvia just west of the capital, Riga. It’s known for wooden art nouveau seaside villas, Soviet-era sanatoriums and long, sandy Jurmala Beach. 

     Starting in mid-August back in 1985, the 2nd Jurmala International Chess Tournament was played. Six of the 14 players were living in Latvia and the other eight had not played in Latvia before. 

     Hungary was represented by its 1983 champion IM Tamas Utasi, Bulgaria by GM Ventzislav Inkiov, Denmark by IM Carsten Hoi, the Philippines by IM Andronico Yap and England by IM Daniel King. 

     The Latvians were headed by Mikhail Tal. A talented young player named Alexander Shabalov was also playing. In 1991 Shabalov found his way to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and became one of the top players in the US for a while. He won the US Championship in 1993, 2000, 2003, 2007 and won or tied for first place in the US Open in 1993, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2015, 2016. 

     According to GM Daniel King, "...for much of the tournament Tal cruised along, not giving the chess his all; instead he was enjoying relaxing with his wife and young daughter." 

     In the last round Tal could share first place if he beat Danish IM Carsten Hoi and according to King, "Hoi didn't stand a chance. Tal was gunning for him." King described Tal's intense concentration and told how he "lit up a cigarette, sucking in the nicotine as though it were his life-blood, but never averting his gaze from the chessboard through the whole operation." 

ChessBase

Mikhail Tal–Carsten Hoi1–0B06Jurmala1985Stockfish 15

Pirc Defense 1.e4 g6 2.d4 g7 3.c3 d6 4.f3 f6 5.d3 0-0 6.0-0 c6 7.g5 h6 8.h4 h5 8...e8 The reason for this is soon clear. 9.bd2 h5 10.e1 e5 This why black moved his Q. 11.dxe5 dxe5 equals. Van Wely,L (2560)-Reinderman,D (2415) Wijk aan Zee 1993 8...e5 This is the usual move here. 9.dxe5 dxe5 10.a3 e6 11.e1 e8 with equal chances. Jussupow, A (2600)-Seirawan,Y (2570) Montpellier 1985 9.a3 The book moves here are 9.Nbd2 and 9.Re1 and as far as I know this is the only game in which this move has been played. The reason for developing the N on a3 turns out to be an idea that Tal had which will soon be apparent. 9.bd2 f4 10.c2 g5 11.g3 g4 12.c4 equals. Rasmussen,K (2295)-Hoi,C (2380) Naestved 1985 9.e1 f4 10.f1 g5 11.g3 e5 12.dxe5 dxe5 13.fd2 f6 14.a3 e6 15.c2 equals. Zysk,R (2395)-Mohr,S (2400) Budapest 1988 9...f4 Tal had foreseen that black was going to play ...Nf4 and that's the reason he played 9.Na3...so the Q could go to d2 as part of his plan to drive back the N. 10.c2 White must keep this B as it is one of his attacking pieces. g4 11.d2 Attacking the N g5 12.xg5 Very nice! Retreating the B would leave him at a disadvantage. King believed Tal saw the rough outlines of this sacrifice when he played 9. Na3. 12.g3 xf3 13.xf4 gxf4 14.gxf3 e5 15.h1 h4 16.g1 h8 and black has a promising position. 12...hxg5 White gets the advantage after this, but retreating the N was worse. 12...g6 13.xf7 xf7 If he takes with the R then white has 14.Bb3 13.xg5 g6 14.f4 The threat is 15.f5 driving the N back and trapping the B on g4. f6 15.f5 A tricky position has resulted and before reaching it Tal had to visualize everything. e6 After this black's position is in the trash. 15...fxg5 Challenging Tal's last move was the only correct plan. 16.xg5 16.fxg6 allows black to equalize with f6 16...ge5 17.dxe5 xe5 18.f4 e6 19.xg4 xg4 20.xg4 exf5 21.exf5 White has all the play. Still, this was black's best chance at survival. 16.h6 16.fxg6 This allows black to equalize because it gives him good defensive possibilities after fxg5 17.xf8+ xf8 16...exf5 17.h3 17.exf5 was even stronger. ge7 18.xg7 xg7 19.f4 h5 20.h4 h8 21.f4 White still has a strong attack going. For example... f7 22.g4 g8 23.h1 g5 24.b3+ d5 25.xg5 fxg5 26.xh5 White is winning. 17...f4 A fine idea. Black must lose the piece anyway he plays to close the K-side and thereby blunt white's attack. 17...h5 loses quickly after 18.xf5 17...xh3 is best met by 18.exf5 with two pieces under attack black is losing. 18.xg7 xg7 19.hxg4 h8 20.xf4 This followup is the only way white can maintain any advantage. xf4 21.xf4 Materially white has a B+2Ps vs a R, but white has the initiative and black's K is exposed. h6 22.f2 Anticipating... h8. Anyway, white's K will be safer behind the mass of Ps in the center. e5 With two Ps for the exchange and such a strong centre, white has the better chances, but the win is a long way of. This move, a panicky one made in time pressure, loses the game. Such things happened a lot to Tal's opponents! 22...h8 was his best try. After 23.f1 h1 24.xh1 xh1 25.b5 h4+ 26.f3 e5+ 27.e2 27.dxe5 fxe5 28.e3 f8+ 29.e2 xg4+ 30.d3 xg2 and black has equalized. 27...xg4+ 28.xg4+ xg4 29.xc7 white is better, but here, too, the win is a long way off. 23.dxe5 White is now winning. fxe5 24.g3 The best because it stops the unpleasant check on h4. 24.e3 h4+ 25.e2 f6 White is still better, but at least black has some play. 24...g5 25.c4 Tjis prevents ...Qd2+ plus, once the N is centralized black is finished. f8+ 26.e2 f4 27.e3 f8 28.f1 e8 29.f3 h1 30.f2 a1 31.b3 b1 32.d3 c6 33.g3 This is what white has been building up to playing for the last few moves. xb2 33...xf3 34.xf3 xb2 35.f7+ d8 36.xb7 is winning rather easily. 34.gxf4 White has a won ending but it must be noted that he can still lose the game if he is not careful!. 34.xb2 xf3 35.e2 xg3 36.f2 and a draw is likely going to be the outcome. 34...xf2 35.fxg5 xf3 36.e2 f4 37.d3 f8 38.g6 f3 39.f7 b5 40.e2 f4 41.f5 xe4+ 41...xg4 42.xd6 g2+ 43.f3 with a won ending. 42.f3 f4+ 43.g3 In this final position black actually has a small material advantage of a R+2Ps vs. a B+N, white has a mate in 20 moves. 43.g3 b4 44.e6 xf5 44...d5 45.g7+ e8 46.g8# 44...e8 45.g7 f3+ 46.xf3 e4+ 47.e3 d8 48.g8+ c7 49.c8+ b6 50.b8+ a5 51.xa7+ b5 52.c4# 45.gxf5 g7 46.g4 f6 47.cxb4 e4 48.f4 e3 49.xe3 g7 50.d7 c5 51.bxc5 dxc5 52.e6 c4 53.xc4 f6 54.f4 a5 55.a4 g7 56.e5 h6 57.d3 g7 58.f6+ f8 59.g7+ e8 60.g8+ d7 61.b8 c6 62.b5+ c5 63.d6# 1–0

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Reshevsky Shows How It's Done

     I had two favorite players. The first was Botvinnik and his book One Hundred Selected Games was a constant companion. Then I came into possession of Reshevsky On Chess and I had a new favorite player. I don't know why, but his games always intrigued me. His play looked so simple and logical that it seemed like I could duplicate his style. I couldn't of course, my 50 percent score against him notwithstanding. (We drew a postal game in 1979.) 

     During 1956 and 1957, Bobby Fischer had been playing a lot and by the time the 1957/58 championship rolled around most players felt was Reshevsky was the favorite although Larry Evans was also considered a contender while William Lombardy and Arthur Bisguier were not without their chances. Also, Robert Byrne was considered a possible contender, but he declined his invitation at the last minute.

     Going into the last round Fischer had 10 points and he met his old blitz partner, Abe Turner, and played an 18-move draw. That left him with a final score of 10.5. He then wandered off to play blitz and only checked back occasionally to see how his rival Reshevsky was doing. 

     Going into the last round Reshevsky had 9.5 and playing white, he needed to defeat William Lombardy to tie Fischer. That was not outside the realm of possibility, but when the dust had settled, Lombardy had won the Championship for Fischer by defeating Reshevsky. 

 

     Did that mean Bobby Fischer was the best player in the United States? When asked, he said, "No, one tournament doesn't mean much." Who was the best? "Maybe Reshevsky..." Things soon changed, didn't they? 

     In the following game Reshevsky defeats Arthur Bisguier in one of those games that looks so simple that playing like him looks like it would be a fairly easy thing to do. 

ChessBase

Arthur Bisguier–Samuel Reshevsky0–1US Championship 1957/58New York, NY USA29.12.1957Stockfish 15

Sicilian: Taimanov 1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 At the time this line was being revived by the Russians and Reshevsky decided to experiment with it. His favorite in the past had been the Dragon. 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 a6 This allows white to play the Maroczy Bind (5.c4) if he wishes. 5.c3 He doesn't. c7 Reshevsky mentioned that with this move black has the possibility of ...Bb4 and at the same time it prevents white from playing e5. 6.d3 c6 7.xc6 bxc6 8.0-0 According to Reshevsky, Bisguier has handled the opening with logical slmplicity and he is better developed and so has the better prospects. f6 Black gets better results when he plays 8...d5 8...d5 9.e1 b7 10.g4 f6 11.h4 d6 12.g5 d7 white is slightly better. Caruana,F (2828) -Xiong,J (2672) chess.com INT 2019 9.e2 d6 Better was 9...d5; instead Reshevsky decides on passive strategy. 9...d5 10.g5 Somewhat better is 10.e5, but Reshevsky did not like the possibility that white might play this threatening toi win a P with Bxf6, exd5 nd Nxd5. This seems rather odd reasoning because the so called threat is so remote a possibility. e7 parries the threat. 11.xf6 and black has a satisfactory position despite his problems castling. gxf6 11...xf6 is less good because after 12.exd5 xc3 13.d6 xd6 14.bxc3 0-0 white is slightly better thanks to his more active pieces. 10.f4 d7 Preventing the advance of white's e-Pawn. 11.e3 worked out well for white in Tiviakov,S (2622)-Ogleznev,A (2335) Eforie Nord ROU 2011 11.b3 e7 12.a3 c5 13.b2 f6 14.e5 dxe5 15.f5 b6 16.fxe6 xe6 17.xa6 White is better. 11.h1 seems a bit passive. e7 12.d2 0-0 13.f3 c5 14.e3 xd3 15.cxd3 f5 16.c1 Black is doing well. Sokolov,A (2505)-Kurajica,B (2530) Novi Sad 1984 11.a4 This is playable, but offers white nothing special. e7 12.e3 c5 13.c4 0-0 14.ac1 b7 15.c3 with equal chances. Bruchmann,S (2315)-Simon,R (2153) Berlin 2012 11...e7 12.f3 Preparing an attack against the K if black should dare to castle on the K-side. b8 13.a4 Capturing the a-Pawn would allow black a promising position after 13.xa6 xa6 14.xa6 xb2 15.d4 b4 16.xg7 g8 Black's position is preferable. 13...f6 14.b1 a5 Better was 14...c5 15.c4 Preventing an eventual ...d5 which black has neglected to play. Allowing him to do so would free black's position considerably. a6 Ready for some Grandmaster reasoning? According to Reshevsky this is the only logical place for this B. The only other useful square would be at b7, but in order to get any use out of it black would have to play ...c5 (Stockfish's preferred move) and in that event white would have had an excellent square for his N on b5. 16.c1 h5 An admission that black has given up hope of castling. 17.ff1 e7 This withdrawal seems rather odd, but it lures white's B to d4 after which ...e5 packs a punch. If black plays 17...e5 immediately then 18.f5 leaves white with a promising position. 18.d4 Either 18.b3 or 18.h3 would have been slightly better. 18.b3 e5 19.f5 f6 20.h3 with a good game. 18...e5 19.c3 On 19.fxe5 Nxe5 black has pretty much equalized because he has a fair share of the center. exf4 This looks risky but Reshevsy has decided that the complications Involved offered some chances of success. 20.xg7 h7 21.c3 e5 22.d2 Reshevsky suggested 22. b3, but there is nothing wrong with Bisguier's move. a7+ 23.h1 d4 Black has some pressure and white has to surrender the exchange. 24.f3 24.b1 runs into xc4 25.f2 xf2 26.xf2 b5 27.c3 h4 28.xf4 g5 29.f2 g4 and black is winning. 24...xf3 25.xf3 White is seriously threatening to open lines against black's K with e5. h6 25...c8 26.e5 g4 27.xc6+ f8 28.e4 xe4 29.xe4 g7 30.h3 e6 31.exd6 xd6 32.c5 c7 and white has managed to equalize. 26.xf4 26.e5 can now be met by dxe5 and c6 is defended. If 27.xa5 b4 28.xb4 xb4 29.b3 c8 black is winning. 26...f6 With the exchange to the good, black is in a comfortable position, but white's position is not without defensive possibilities. The threat is ...Rxf4 27.g3 This seriously weakens his K's position. 27.e2 c8 28.h3 e6 29.d3 and it's difficult to see how black can make any headway. 27...c8 A great move! It places the B on a usefull diagonal. 28.g2 After this white is completely lost. 28.e1 would have made black's task a little more difficult. h3 29.b3 d8 30.e3 xe3 31.xe3 h4 Black is clearly better. 28...g4 The clever 28...Rxf4 would be winning in the world of engines, it's not quite so clear in the world of humans. 29.f1 h4 Black is clearly winning. 30.b3 hxg3 31.hxg3 d7 A handy little move that gets the R on b1 into play. 32.e2 xe2 32...xe4+ Perhaps this is a wee bit more precise. 33.f3 xf3+ 34.xf3 xf4 35.xe4 35.gxf4 g8+ 36.f2 h4+ mates 35...xe4 winning easily. 33.xe2 Here is the reason that 32...Qxe4+ was a little bit better...in this position black is winning, but only if he finds the one move that does so! xf4 Which, of course, Reshevsky does. 33...g8 Bringing the other R into play as mentioned in the note allows white to equalize. 34.d1 xd1 34...a7 35.e3 b8 36.e5 and white has the initiative! 35.xd1 xf4 36.c3 fg4 37.e2 h4 38.f1 e7 39.f3 xg3 and a draw is quite likely the outcome! 34.gxf4 g8+ 35.f3 h4 White resigned as there is no way to meet the threat of ...Rg3# 35...h4 36.c5+ xc5 37.h2 h5+ 38.e3 g3+ 39.d2 f3 40.e2 g2 etc. 0–1

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A Slugfest In Palestine

 

     In the chess world, 1939 started off with Laszlo Szabo winning at Hastings. Later, in the spring, an international tournament was held at Margate and it was won by Paul Keres ahead of Jose Capablanca and Salo Flohr. 

     The USSR Chess Championship, held in Leningrad, was won Mikhail Botvinnik. The American Chess Federation (ACF) championship (aka the U.S. Open) was held in New York and was won by Reuben Fine ahead of Samuel Reshevsky and I.A. Horowitz. 

     The Chess Olympiad (known at the time as the Hamilton-Russell Cup) and Women’s World Championship was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Germany won followed by Poland s and Estonia. Vera Menchik-Stevenson won the Women’s World Championship. 

     On September 1, the day the finals commenced, Germany invaded Poland, starting World War II and the English team returned home immediately. At the conclusion of events, many participants decided to stay in Argentina or moved elsewhere in South America, rather than face an uncertain future by returning to a Europe in the midst of war. Among them were all five members of the German team (Eliskases, Michel, Engels, Becker, Reinhardt). 

     Finally, at the end of the year the American Chess Federation and the National Chess Federation formed the United States Chess Federation. 

     There was no nation of Israel and in Palestine, Britain's military and diplomatic efforts brought the Arab Rebellion, which had started in 1935, to an end in the late summer of 1939. 

     The following slugfest, that is probably the best word you could use for such a game as Winz-Czerniak, was played in the Palestine championship. It was a game in which attack and defense changed hands and ingenious sacrifices were countered by even more ingenious ones. 

     It looked like black could have resigned after 13.Rxa7, but Czerniak kept fighting and eventually prevailed at the end by avoiding a shrewd attempt by his opponent to set up a stalemate. 

     Viktor Winz (1896-?) was a Palestine/Israeli–Argentine master. He was born in Germany and began his career in Berlin. He emigrated to Palestine (then under the British Mandate) in the early 1930s. Winz played for the Palestine team in three Olympiads (1934, 1935 and 1939. When World War II broke out during the 1939 Olympiad Winz remained in Argentina permanently. 

     Moshe Czerniak (1910-1984) was a Polish-Israeli International Master. Czerniak emigrated from Poland to Israel in 1934. And, like his opponent, after the 1939 Olympiad he also decided to remain in Argentina. He returned to Israel in 1950. 

ChessBase

Victor Winz–Moshe Czerniak0–1D70Palestine Championship, Tel Aviv1939Stockfish 15

Gruenfeld Defense 1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 A so called Anti-Gruenfeld line that allows black a wide choice, including transposing into the Samisch variation of the King's Indian if he wishes. d5 4.cxd5 xd5 5.e4 b6 6.c3 g7 7.e3 0-0 This constitutes the main line, but with his next move white deviates from the usual 8.Qd2 8.f4 This forces black to play enterprisingly if he does not want to face a strogn attack by white's Ps. c6 9.d5 b8 9...a5 is more precise. After 10.d4 e5 11.xe5 xe5 12.fxe5 h4+ 13.g3 e7 14.d4 d8 15.b4 ac4 16.xc4 xb4 black should be able to hold his own even against white's impressive center. 10.a4 Best! 10.d4 was played in Korchnoi,V (2615)-McShane,L (2625) Igualada 2005 h6 11.f3 c6 12.h4 cxd5 13.exd5 e5 14.xe5 8d7 15.d4 f6 16.0-0-0 d6 17.xf6 xf6 Black is better and went on to win a well played ending. 10...e5 The safe line begins with 10...c6 10...a5 lead to white's advantage in Richter,M (2470) -Aabling-Thomsen,J (2365) Copenhagen 2014 11.f3 a6 12.xb6 cxb6 11.a5 This is the logical followup, but white has unsuccessfully tried both 11.fxe5 and 11.f5 here. exf4 12.axb6 This turns out to be a serious mistake. Correct was 12.Bxf4 fxe3 13.xa7 White was probably chuckling to himself over having played this because black is lost after he plays the obvious 13...Rxa7 h4+ Inviting, but this move is actually a clunker. 13...xa7 14.bxa7 h4+ 15.g3 f6 16.c2 16.axb8 f2# 16...a6 17.a8 13...g4 The winner! 14.xg4 xc3+ 15.bxc3 f6 16.g3 xc3+ 17.e2 d7 18.xe3 b2+ and black has a decisive advantage. 14.g3 Equalizing. xc3+ 15.bxc3 xe4 15...f6 Threatens mate on f2, but it allows white to gain the advanatge after 16.c2 h3 The only way to avoid losing more material. 17.xh3 a6 White's extra material is enough to win. 16.f3 Best. 16.xa8 would lose after xh1 17.f3 cxb6 18.xb8 g4 19.xf8+ xf8 20.d6 xf3 and incredibly black has a mate in 11 as follows. 21.d4 e8 22.e5+ d7 23.e7+ c6 24.c7+ d5 25.d7 xf1+ 26.xf1 e2+ 27.e1 e6 28.d8 c6 29.ce7+ f5 30.xf7+ e4 31.f4# 16...g4 17.xa8 Finally! xf3 It appears that black's attack will be devastating. 18.d3 e5 18...xh1 loses to 19.xe4 xe4 20.bxc7 d7 21.xf8+ xf8 22.c8 19.bxc7 Forceful, tricky, but not the best. 19.g1 Prosaic, but equalizing. c5 20.dxc6 xc6 21.e2 followed by Rf1 with equal chances. 19...xc7 19...xh1 would be mistake. 20.d6 c6 21.xf8+ xf8 22.c8+ 20.g1 Aiming for Bg2. b6 20...xd5 would have given black the advantage. White should now play 21.Be2, but he must avoid 21.xd5 xc3+ 22.d1 c8 when black is winning. 21.g4 White has missed the point of black's last move. 21.e2 was the only good move. xe2 22.xe2 and black must be very careful! b2+ 22...e8 defends the P, but loses after 23.b1 f6 24.f1 b6 25.d6 b2+ 26.f3 Black has no reasonable defense. 23.xe3 xh2 with equal chances. 21...d8 21...e2 is slightly more accurate. 22.xf3 e8 23.xe2 xg1+ 24.f1 xh2 22.g3 22.e2 xe2 23.xe2 b2+ 24.xe3 xh2 25.d1 e8+ 26.f3 h5 and black is clearly better. 22...xd5 23.xb8+ This is slightly better than 23.Rxf3 g7 24.xf3 24.xb7 is tricky, but insufficient. xd3 24...xb7 25.xe3 and white has plenty of play left. 25.xf7+ 25.xb6 d1# 25...xf7 26.xf3+ g7 27.xd3 c5 28.e2 28.xe3 xc3+ 29.e2 b2+ 30.e1 xh2 with a won ending. 28...xc3 29.xe3 Black should win the ending. 24...xd3 25.xd3 Black is winning... but only if he finds the right move! c7 Which he does. 25...d6 26.xb7 xd3 27.bxf7+ draws. g8 27...h6 28.g5+ xg5 29.g3+ h6 30.h3+ 28.f8+ etc. 26.e8 xc3+ 27.f1 xd3+ The ending is hopelessly lost for white, but he succeeds in making things as difficult as possible for his opponent. 28.g2 d2+ 29.g3 e2 30.fe3 e1+ 31.h3 f1+ 32.g3 g1+ 33.h3 f2 34.8e5 b5 35.g5 h5 36.5e4 b4 37.xe2 f3+ 38.h4 b3 39.2e3 f2+ 40.h3 b2 Black has a mate in 13 after both 41.Rb3 and 41.Re1 and quicker mates after everything else. But...white has one last trick up his sleeve. 41.e8 An amazing resource. Winz plays for a stalemate trap where he would be two Qs down. xe3+ Clinching the win and so white resigned. 41...b1 This hasty move would have been a tragic mistake. 42.g8+ xg8 43.e8+ g7 44.g8+ xg8 stalemate 0–1

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An Instructional Tactical Game

     In his writings that exceptional teacher C.J.S. Purdy reminded readers to always comb the board for tactics after your opponent moves. And, before making your own move you should visualize the new position for tactics. 

     If you don’t ask yourself if your opponent has any threats, you will constantly be making blunders. Likewise, if you don't look for tactical threat before you move, you will constantly miss them. There’s no point in strategic planning when there’s a winning combination in the position. 

     As Teichmann once put it, chess is 99 per cent tactics, but after playing on some servers I have come to the conclusion that a lot of amateur players have no idea what tactics are. They seem to think that just willy-nilly sacrificing a piece or making a bad move for the sake of a vague "threat" is playing tactically. 

     They play like the guy I played several games against online the other day. He insisted on plying 1.e5 and 2.Qh5; sure Nakamura has played it in Blitz, but he's a Super-GM. My opponent also liked to play Bf4 and Bxf7+ or Nf3, Ng5 and Nxf7.

     We had a little conversation between moves and when I asked him about it, his comment was that he wins a lot of games by playing tactically. He wasn't playing tactically, he was blundering. 

     Another opponent who was badgering me and using a lot of profanity stated he was an "opening innovator." When I replied that there is a difference between an opening innovation and a bad move, it elicited a string of cuss words. I took great pleasure in gloating over beating him a couple of times. 

     The point is that there is a difference between playing tactically and giving away a piece for nothing. Purdy always emphasized sound tactics. I am discounting Tal-like, risky, unclear sacrifices because most of us are not as good as he was and can't calculate like he did. 

     The way you find tactics is not looking at the position and trying various moves until you find something that works. If you see one or more of these things, there is a possibility that a tactical solution exists: 

 

1. Look at all checks. 

2. Look for undefended pieces. 

3. Look for pins and forks. 

4. Look for pieces (especially the King!) that do not have any escape squares. 

5. Look for masked pieces (i.e. pieces on the same line) 

6. Look for pieces that may be performing more than one defensive task 

7. Finally, briefly look at bizarre and surprising moves, sacrifices, Pawn breaks and “obviously unplayable” moves. 

 

     More often than not, there won't be a sound tactic available, but only after you have ascertained that there isn't should you proceed with your strategical plan, assuming you have one...a lot of amateurs don't. 

     Back in my day positional play was emphasized and tactics were a neglected area. Today it's the other way around, or at least it seems that way. During a game, especially in complicated, unclear positions, you have to be extremely attentive otherwise unpleasant surprises will await you. 

     No matter how good a strategical plan might be, a tactical mistake will completely ruin it. That's a problem with chess...it may take 40 moves to win, but only one bad one to lose. 

     The following short, but highly instructive game, played by two Moscow masters demonstrates some general ideas typical of the middlegame and a clash of two strategical plans. 

     White, relying on his lead in development, concentrated his pieces in the center and prepared an attack on the black King that was not castled. Black sacrificed a Pawn hoping for a counterattack on the Q-side where white was castled. 

     The game was decided by a Queen sacrifice when in final mating attack saw all the white pieces taking part. Yuri Averbakh described the action: 

 

1. The R on d1 took away the black K's squares on the d-file and defended the N at d8. 

2. The N, in tum, deprived the K of f7 square, the B deprived the K of f6

3. The R on e1 landed the fatal blow. 

 

While all that was happening, for black's part...

 

1. His B on f8 and P on f6 not only failed to help, they actually hinder the K's escape. 

2. The rest of black's pieces were cheerless spectators in the execution of their own monarch. 

 

     The winner, Mikhail Bronch-Osmolovsky (1919-1975) was awarded the Soviet National Master title in 1951. He is known for his contributions to opening theory and as a Soviet arbiter and President of the central chess section of the Burivyestnik Club. Nothing is known of his opponent, Boris Baranov (1923-1976).

 

ChessBase

Mikhail Bronch-Osmolovsky–Boris Baranov1–0USSR Champ Qualifier, Moscow1953Stockfish 15

Petroff Defense 1.e4 e5 2.f3 f6 3.d4 If 3.Nxe5 black should first play 3...d6 and only then play ...Nxe4. The point is that on the immediate 3...Nxe4 white has the strong reply 4.Qe2 3.xe5 d6 3...xe4 4.e2 e7 5.xe4 d6 6.d4 dxe5 7.dxe5 White has won a P. 4.f3 xe4 5.d4 d5 6.d3 etc. 3...exd4 4.e5 4.c4 This inviting move which should lead to approximate equality has not worked out well for white in practice. c6 5.0-0 xe4 6.e1 Oddly, there is no way for white to take advantage of the pin. d5 7.xd5 xd5 8.c3 a5 9.xe4 e6 10.eg5 0-0-0 11.xe6 fxe6 12.xe6 with an equal position. 4...e4 5.xd4 d5 6.exd6 xd6 7.d3 7.g5 can be met by c6 Also quite playable is 7...f6 8.e3+ e7 9.c3 h6 10.xe7 xe7 11.xe7+ xe7 equals 7...e7+ Averbakh claimed that 7...Nc6 is more accurate here. With the move in the game black plans to answer 8.Be3 with 8...Nf5 exchanging a N for a B, but this operation leads to a loss of time and to black delaying the develop- ment of his pieces. 7...c6 8.f4 g6 9.c3 g7 10.0-0 0-0 with complete equality. 8.e3 f5 But, this is questionable. It was not yet too late for black to reject his initial plan. By playing 8... Bf5 he would have gained an acceptable position, but after the text he encounters significant problems. 8...c6 9.f4 g6 10.c3 e6 11.d4 d7 12.xc6 bxc6 13.a4 g7 14.0-0 0-0 White is better. Korchnoi, V-Averbakh,Y Sverdlovsk 1957 8...f5 9.c3 c6 10.f4 xd3 11.cxd3 0-0-0 with equal chances. 9.xf5 xf5 10.c3 Offering black a P, but taking it would be extremely dangerous: 10.f4 Doesn't accomplish anything. d7 11.e5+ e6 12.c3= 10...b4 This loses! By playing his Q to the Q-side where to all appearances white's K is intending to take shelter, black leaves his own K in the center a tad too long and white, having the initiative, is able to launch a decisive attack. 10...xc2 is just too dangerous. 11.c1 c6 11...g6 12.d5 is fatal for black. 12.f4 b4 With the obvious threat of ...Nd3+ 13.0-0 d3 14.f5 xc1 15.xc2 and white is better. 10...c6 this is the correct move. After 11.f4 d7 11...g6 12.d5 and wins. d6 13.xc7+ 12.b5 0-0-0 white's advantage is minimal. 11.e5+ Of course, there is no point in white exchanging Qs because his lead in development is best exploited by attacking. e6 12.0-0-0 12.xc7 White fails to be tempted with this P grab. d6 13.a3 xb2 14.d1 xc7 14...xa1 15.xb7 0-0 16.xa8 d8 Black is better. 15.xb2 c6 with the advantage to black. 12...c6 In the hope of mounting an attack along the c-file, black tries to buy off his opponent with a Pawn. 13.xc7 c8 14.f4 a5 14...e7 hoping to castle is met by 15.d5 a5 16.xe7 xe7 17.a3 0-0 Black has no compensation for the P minus. 15.g5 Interestying strategy. By offering the exchange of Qs now that he is a P up, white switches his Q to an active position with gain of tempo. a6 15...xg5 16.xg5 e7 16...f5 17.he1 f6 17...e7 18.c5 wins 18.c5+ e5 19.xf8 xf8 20.ge4 with a won ending. 17.xe6 fxe6 18.b5 with an ending that clearly favors white. 16.he1 White's pieces are fully mobilized and are ready for decisive action whereas black has not yet resolved the question of safeguarding his K. Realizing his situation is desperate, black tries to counterattack. b4 17.d4 xc3 Self-immolation...this allows a mate in 6. 17...f6 18.h5+ g6 19.b5+ xb5 20.dxb5 f7 20...xa2+ 21.xa2 xa2 22.h6+ f7 23.d7+ g8 24.xf8 xf8 25.b3 wins 21.xa7 f5 22.d4 d7 23.a3 c6 24.db5 Here, too, white has a won ending. 18.d8+ White mates. This is the only satisfactory answer to black's last move! 18.bxc3 would have been a most unfortunate move. xa2+ 19.d2 19.b1 xc3+ 20.c1 a3+ 21.d2 e4# 19...xc3 20.xc3 Forced. c4+ 21.d2 21.b2 a3+ 22.xa3 a2+ 23.b4 Black has to take the draw with 23...Qc4+ because after 0-0 24.c3 white would be winning. 21...b4+ 22.c1 a3+ draws 18...xd8 19.xe6+ Again, this is the only move that wins. 19.bxc3 xa2+ 20.d2 and it'd black who is winning. 19...e7 20.g5+ To repeat myself, this is the only move that wins. It is important not to let the K escape to f6. 20.c5+ f6 and there is no decisive followup whatsoever! 21.d4+ g6 22.xf8+ xf8 23.xc3 xa2+ and wins. 20...f6 21.d8+ White mates in two...very precise play by Bonch-Osmolovsky. 1–0

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A Lesson On Connected Passed Pawns

     One of my early instructional books that I probably gained the most from was Ludek Pachman's classic, Modern Chess Strategy. In the book's section on passed Pawns, he wrote that two united passed Pawns are a dangerous weapon, but the possessor of such Pawns must make sure that they cannot be blockaded and that, as a rule, such Pawns should advance together. 

     Pachman gave the following game as an illustration of what happens if the Pawns are blockaded. In the final position white's connected passed Pawns on the Q-side went nowhere while black's connected passed Pawns in the center marched to victory. 

     When Pachman gave this as a model game he left the reader with the impression that Gligoric's opening strategy was completely faulty and, a a result, it was doomed from the beginning. But, thanks to Stockfish and Komodo it is clear that that was not the case. 

     In fact, the opening line as late as move 18 was played in at least four later games and white won them all, so clearly black's position after 17....Ne8 actually favors white slightly as is indicated by Stockfish and Komodo. Based on the evidence then, it's clear that Gligoric's loss must be attributed to a later error and not faulty opening strategy. 

     Still, the game is a good example of the principle that two united passed Pawns should not be allowed to be blockaded as Gligoric allowed to happen in this game and its instructional value is not diminished. 

ChessBase

Svetozar Gligoric (Yugoslavia)–Laszlo Szabo (Hungary)0–1E42Helsinki Olympics (Men) prel-BHelsinki FIN11.08.1952Stockfish 15

Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein 1.d4 f6 2.c4 e6 3.c3 b4 4.e3 c5 5.ge2 d5 6.a3 cxd4 7.exd4 e7 8.c5 0-0 9.b4 b6 10.g3 bxc5 11.dxc5 11.bxc5 is also favorable to black after c6 12.g2 a6 13.f4 c4 11...a5 This allows white to get two united passed Ps and so it seems illogical, but the Ps are not as dangerous as they seem because they can be easily blockaded. 12.b1 axb4 13.axb4 Szabo's play in the opening has not lead to a decisive positional advantage as some past annotators have claimed...the correct evaluation here is black is slightly better. c6 Today's powerful engines suggest that 13...Na6 would have been ever so slightly better, but the resulting complications are probably beyond a player's ability to calculate over the board. 13...a6 14.g2 b8 15.d4 d7 15...xb4 16.xb4 xb4 17.c6 c7 18.xb4 xc5 is unclear. 15...xb4 16.c6 xb1 17.xd8 xc1 18.xc1 xc5 19.c6 d3+ 20.d2 xc1 21.xe7+ h8 22.xc1 favors white. 16.c2 e5 17.xd5 xd5 18.xd5 f5 19.xd8 fxd8 20.b2 xc2 21.xc2 xb4 is about equal. 14.g2 14.b5 fails for tactical reasons. e5 The threat is simple ...Nf3# 15.g2 xc5 14...b8 15.a3 15.b5 xc5 16.bxc6 xb1 17.xb1 b6 and black has attacking chances in exchange for his material investment. Just for example... 18.bc3 xf2+ 19.f1 g4 15...d7 15...a6 was better as demonstrated in Belous,V (2524)-Goganov,A (2469) St Petersburg 2011 16.0-0 c4 17.e1 Now, after the correct 17...Nd7 black has a very slight advantage. However, the position is so delicate that after he played 17...e5 white was better and eventually managed to score the point. 16.0-0 16.b5 Must be renounced because it is flawed tactically. e5 17.0-0 c8 winning a P and leaving the other one very weak. 18.c6 xa3 19.cxd7 fxd7 16...a7 Headed for b5 to blockade the P. 17.e1 e8 The second N joins in the plan to blockade white's Ps. 17...b5 is punished by 18.xb5 xb5 19.d4 d7 20.xb5 xb5 21.b2 and white has a decisive advantage after, say, 21...Rfc8 22.Bf1 and 23.Bd4 because the Q is a poor blockader. Note that the P cannot be taken. xb4 22.xf6 with a discovered attack on the Q. 18.c1 18.d4 was tried in three later games and it's neither better nor worse than Gligoric's move. White is slightly better here in any case. c7 19.d2 19.a4 f6 20.b6 e5 21.f3 f5 22.a1 is equal. Panczyk,K (2375)-Pokojowczyk,J (2380) Bytom 1986 19...f6 20.f4 c8 21.ce2 d8 22.b2 White is slightly better. Garcia Palermo,C (2520) -Pinter,J (2540) Luzern 1985 18...f6 Pachman declared that this move is part of black's attacking plan and also makes the observation tht white now errs in his plan to draw black's Ps forward with the idea of attacking them and at the same timne increasing the scope of his B on g2. 19.f4 Pachman assigned this move a ? without comment, but it is Komodo's first choice and white's advantage is put at just over a half of a P. e5 While this move ultimately serves black well it actually gives white the advantage. 19...c7 20.d6 e8 21.d4 White's pieces are well placed, but black has adequate defensive resources so the position must be considered equal. 20.d2 This retreat is an excellent move. 20.xd5 exf4 21.exf4 White's b- and c-Pawns and two well placed Ns are not quite sufficient compensation for black's two Bs and his slight material advantage. 20...d4 21.d5 Not at all bad, but slightly more accurate would have been 21.Ne4 eyeing d6 c6 22.xf6+ xf6 23.xc6 xc6 At this point the position must still be considered equal. 24.f4 f6 25.b3+ h8 26.f1 A subtle error after which black gains a very slight advantage. 26.g4 gaining active play on the K-side would have assured white of a small, but lasting advantage. c7 27.g3 be8 27...ab5 28.fxe5 fxe5 29.xe5 picks up a P. 28.fxe5 fxe5 29.d3 Keeping a watchful eye on e4 and b5 ab5 30.f1 xf1+ 31.xf1 White is slightly better. 26...c7 27.c4 ab5 28.be1 Because the hope of advancing his Q-side Ps has long disappeared white has shifted his Rs around in an attenpt to defend against black's advancing Ps and as a result black now has the initiative. Pachman incorrectly assured readers that it's too late, black has a won position, but that is over optimistic. Evaluation: Komodo black by about a half a P, Stockfish 1.5 Ps. h6 29.g4 This makes g3 available for the N. It's interesting to note that white's Q-sdie Ps are not playing any part in the game at this point. be8 30.f5 This is a serious positional mistake because it gives black two connected passed Ps in the center. 30.fxe5 fxe5 also gives black two connected passe Ps in the center, but with the major difference that they can be blockaded. 31.xf8+ xf8 32.g3 f3 33.f1 a8 34.xf8+ xf8 with equal chances. In fact, white is slightly better. 35.d3 30...d5 31.c1 This is really where white starts down the trail that leds to a loss. His best bet was to exchange Qs because now black's Q is in a dominating position. 31.xd5 xd5 32.g3 b8 32...a8 is not quite as strong. 33.e4 fb8 White's best try is... 34.c6 b6 35.c1 e7 36.c7 c8 37.c5 xc7 38.a1 with some play. 33.b1 a3 34.b3 c4 35.e1 de3 36.f2 Black is clearly better, but at least white can play on with some hopes of salvaging the game. 31...h7 32.g3 e4 With his Ps on the move black is clearly winning. White's Ps on the other hand have not budged. 33.f4 e3 34.d1 c4 Prevents Qd3 35.h4 d5 36.g5 d3 37.g4 g8 38.h5 e4 39.g6+ h8 40.f3 White exceeded the time limit in this hopeless position. 40.f3 e2 41.f2 xf4 42.xf4 d2 wins easily. 0–1

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Keres' Classic Sacrifice on f7

     The 6th (1935) Olympiad was organized by the FIDE and consisted of an open team tournament and an unofficial women's tournament as well as several events designed to promote the chess. It took place between August 16 and August 31, 1935, in Warsaw, Poland. 

     The Olympiad witnessed the debut of some strong young players: Paul Keres, Gideon Stahlberg, Jacobo Bolbochan, Andrea Lilienthal, Erich Eliskases, Peter rifunovic, Arthur Dake and Laszlo Szabo, among others. 

     At the start, the favorites were the United States (Reuben Fine, Frank Marshall, Abraham Kupchik, Arthur Dake and I.A. Horowitz) and Czechoslovakia, mostly because of their board 1 player, Salo Flohr, at the time one of the strongest world players in the world. The final standings out of 20 teams was 1) United States 2) Sweden and 3) Poland. 

     The Unites States' third consecutive win of this event was mainly credited to Arthur Dake's outstanding 15.5-2.5 score. An interesting sidelight was that although Dake was born in Portland, Oregon, his father was from Poland and so Dake refused to play against Poland. Kupchik went undefeated and that was also a great help. 

     It was at this event that Paul Keres (January 7, 1916 - June 5, 1975) was introduced to the world; he met World Champion Alexander Alekhine, Savielly Tartakower and SaloFlohr. He lost to all three of them, but scored a respectable 12-7. 

     In the following game his opponent, William Winter (September 11, 1898 - December 18, 1955), was an interesting character who was British Champion in 1935 and 1936. Winter spent six months in prison for sedition (conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch) due to his communist activity. 

     Before castling, the weakest squares on the board are f2 for white and f7 for black. In this game Keres' assault on f7 with a N sacrifice in the opening is not only entertaining, but instructive. 

     In the game Keres demonstrates the principle that a sacrificial attack on f7 (or f2), whether with a Bishop or a Knight, must be followed up by aggressive action. That's because after ...Kxf7 not only can the King not castle, it is exposed to attack and there is also a weakness on the diagonal d1-h5. Any advantage white gets is generally of a transitory nature and must be energetically exploited before it disappears. 

ChessBase

Paul Keres–William Winter1–0Warsaw OlympiadWarsaw POL26.08.1935Stockfish 15

Sicilian: Nimzovich Variation 1.e4 c5 2.f3 f6 The rarely seen Nimzovich variation is, at least according to my database, a good surprise as only about a quarter of the games are drawn and the remaining games equally divided between white and black wins. AA disadvantage is that it does offer white some nice tactics. 3.e5 This advance Variation is the only ral way to try and exploit black's move. After 3.Nc3 black has at least three reasonable moves: 3...d6, 3...Nc6 or even 3...d5 d5 4.c3 4.c3 This is the main line. Play usually continues c6 5.c4 b6 6.b3 c4 7.c2 but this line has, on the whole, proven very favorable for white. 4...e6 5.xd5 exd5 6.d4 d6 7.g5 7.b5+ is a good alternative. c6 8.0-0 e7 with a good game. 9.c4 7...a5+ 8.c3 cxd4 8...c4 trying to keep the position closed is the main alternative, but white is doing well after 9.e2 c6 10.0-0 9.d3 Developing. 9.xd4 c6 10.e3 e6 11.d4 dxe5 12.xe6 fxe6 13.h3 is completely equal. Kelecevic,N-Kozomara,V Sarajevo 1968 9.e6 looks promising, but Keres rightly prefers developing to launching a premature attack with this move. dxc3 10.exf7+ xf7 11.bxc3 e7 11...xc3+ 12.d2 favors white. 12.e2 h6 13.e3 f8 14.0-0 White is only slightly better. 9...dxc3 10.0-0 Much the best. 10.bxc3 dxe5 and white has no good reply. 11.b3 d6 This, it turns out, is even stronger than trying to win material with a P fork by ...e4 11...e4 12.b5+ d7 13.d4 black is clearly better. 12.0-0 0-0 13.e2 c6 14.fd1 e6 and black stands very well. 10...cxb2 This runs into a snappy refutation. In spite of his somewhat questionable move selection black would have been doing reasonably well after 10...Nc6. 10...c6 11.e1 e6 12.bxc3 c7 13.exd6 xd6 14.f5 d7 11.b1 Curiously, after this according to Stockfish black is pretty much helpless (evaluation 2.5 Ps in white's favor; generally halving Stockfish's evaluation is more accurate). Komodo 14 puts white's advantage at a scant half of a P. Fritz 17 at about a quarter of a P. 11.c2 Threatening to win at once with Qxc8 c6 11...e6 12.xb2 b6 13.b5+ c6 14.exd6 xd6 15.xg7 and white is winning. 12.xb2 dxe5 13.xe5 a3 and black has equalized as there is no way to take advantage of the seemingly precarious position of his K. 14.e2 e7 15.ae1 e6 11...dxe5 11...h6 The first choice of both engines. 12.f4 b4 Black dare not open the e-file by playing ...dxe5 13.d2 b6 14.c2 11...xa2 is met by 12.c2 c6 13.b5 d7 14.fe1 e7 15.exd6 and wins 12.xe5 d6 Losing instantly. 12...e6 was a tad better. 13.xf7 xf7 14.e1 d7 15.f3+ f6 16.xf6 gxf6 17.h5+ This move is often seen often seen in conjunction with the Bxf7+ sacrifice and the same applies here with the N. g7 17...e7 18.f5 18.xe6 White is winning. c8 19.xb2 c1+ 20.f1 c7 Black is actually a P up, but he is dead lost. The reason is white's pieces are more active and black's K is exposed, to wit... 21.g4+ f7 22.be2 c6 23.g3 h5 23...xe6 24.xe6+ g6 25.g4+ f7 26.h5+ g7 27.e8 c2 28.g4+ f7 29.e6+ g7 30.c8 xa2 31.c7+ e7 32.xe7+ g6 33.d3+ h6 34.h3+ g5 35.f4# 24.f5 h6 25.h4 c1 26.e8 d6 27.2e6 c5 28.e1 c3 29.d3 d6 30.1e6 c5 31.d8 d4 White now has a pretty win as follows... 32.xf6+ xf6 33.h7+ e6 33...g7 34.g8+ e7 35.e8# 34.d7+ e5 35.f4+ and wins. Stockfish points out a mate in 22 moves! xf4 36.e8+ 36.gxf4+ xf4 Black is lost, but he can still resist a bit. 36...e7 37.xe7+ xe7 38.xe7+ d5 39.xb7+ c5 40.b5+ d6 41.gxf4 c5 42.a6+ c6 43.xa7 c5 44.b6+ d5 45.f2 c3 46.b5+ e6 47.f5+ d6 48.e5+ c6 49.e4+ d7 50.xd4+ e6 51.xc3 d6 52.e5+ d7 53.g1 d8 54.d6+ c8 55.e7 b8 56.b7# 13.xf7 xf7 14.h5+ As noted, with a sac on f7 this move often plays an important part. g6 There is nothing better. 15.xg6+ hxg6 16.xh8 Threatening mate with Rfe1. f5 17.fe1 White wants to mate with Qh7+. e4 18.xe4 This mates in 11 whereas 18. Qf6+ mates in 8. 18.f6+ g8 19.e6+ g7 20.f6+ h7 21.f7+ h6 22.g7+ h5 23.h7+ g4 24.h3+ f4 25.g3+ f3 26.e3# 18...dxe4 19.f6+ Flawless play by Keres in this model game! 19.f6+ g8 20.xg6+ f8 21.xd6+ g8 22.e6+ g7 23.e7+ g8 24.f6 g5 25.xg5 c6 26.e6+ g7 27.f6+ g8 28.h6 mate next move. 1–0

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Where's Your Proof, Magnus?

      DETAILS at ChessBase

     NOTE: See Dr. Ken Regan's statistical analysis of Niemann's games HERE.

A Bad Day Online

     Last Friday morning was spent running errands and in the afternoon I spent some time playing Blitz on Chess Hotel. It was a bad day...I was going to say a lot of good players were on line, but a more accurate way of putting it was a lot of players better than me were on line. There's a difference. 

     I lost several games and of the two I won, one was a seesaw affair where my opponent ran out of time in a winning position...at least Stockfish said it was winning. 

     The following game was the most interesting. I blundered away a P at move 3, but somehow managed to get compensation for it. Playing Blitz online is one thing, but in OTB play I agree with GM Alex Yermolinsky when he states that even average players should play solid mainline openings and avoid all that nonsense some titled players use to sell books...stuff like making your opponent think on his own, etc. If I play a wacky opening I have to think on my own, too, and experience tells me that thinking on my own doesn't always work out too well.

     Going back to my OTB days, I realized that average players rarely played more than 6-8 "book" moves in any opening anyway and so a deep study was a waste of time. 

     In one game my opponent was snapping out his opening moves at a Blitz pace while I was using quite a bit of time. Then all of a sudden I played a move and he sank into thought for several minutes and I knew we were at the end of what he had memorized. His reply was a weak move that soon left him totally lost. 

     In the postmortem I got schooled on the whole variation (of a Sicilian, I think it was). When we got to the move that made him think, I was told my move was bad (and maybe it was) because it wasn't what Fischer played. My question to him was, if it was such a bad move why couldn't he refute it? 

     In any case, in this game even though I lost the d-Pawn on move 3 Komodo 14 only gives black an advantage of about half a Pawn. It makes me think we amateur players put way too much emphasis on openings and our time might be better spent studying other aspects of the game. 

ChessBase

Tartajubow–Anonymous1–0Chess Hotel15.09.2022Stockfish 15

Nimzovich Defense 1.e4 c6 A hypermodern defense in which white is invited to occupy the center with Ps and black will then try to blockade them and then undermine the center. While never accepted in master play the defense seems solid enough. 2.d4 e5 Also good is 2...d5 which was preferred by Nimzovich. The solid text was preferred by Anthony Miles. White can transpose to the Scotch Game with 3.Nf3, or play 3.d5 Nce7 (3...Nb8, although perhaps not as bad as it looks, is considered inferior). Or. white can try 3.dxe5 3.c3 I would say this move is the result of a mouse slip, but even that flimsy excuse doesn't make sense. The truth is, there is no explanation. xd4 Preferred by Stockfish over 3...exd4 4.f4 d6 5.e3 c5 This is Stockfish's second choice (6...Nc6 is the first). Somehow black's P-formation just doesn't look right. 6.f3 g4 Engines don't seem to think this move is a top contender, but I found it annoying. 7.fxe5 dxe5 It has transpired that somehow the P sacrifice on move 3 has resulted in equality...assuming I find a good move here. 7...xf3 8.gxf3 dxe5 9.d5 e7 9...d6 10.c3 c6 11.g1 white has a promising position. 10.xe7 xe7 11.c3 a5 with equal chances. 8.c4 This isn't as good as it looks; black is slightly better. 8.xd4 This is the best move! xd1 9.b5+ d7 10.f5 Capturing the Q was also quite playable, but this move is craftier. g4 10...xb5 11.xb5 g4 12.c7+ and white is better. 11.xd7+ xd7 12.f1 with equal chances. 8.b5+ results in equality. xb5 9.xd8+ xd8 10.xb5 xf3 11.gxf3 a6 12.c7+ d7 13.d5 c6 with a weird position that is evaluated as equal. 8...f6 This allows a tactical shot that I had in mind when I played 8.Bc4. 8...xf3+ 9.gxf3 h3 10.b5+ d7 11.d5 xb5 12.xe5+ is good for white. 8...xf3 equalizes after 9.gxf3 f6 10.0-0 b6 9.xf7+ Unfortunately this is hardly crushing...white gets no more than a slight advantage. xf7 10.xe5+ g8 11.xg4 White's advantage weighs in at about one P. h5 But this move yields white a significant advantage. Black should exchange Ns first. 11...xg4 12.xd4 h5 12...cxd4 13.xg4 dxc3 14.e6# 13.g1 White has a slight advantage whether black exchanges Qs or plays 13...Qh4+ 12.xf6+ xf6 13.d3 Making room to castle Q-side. d6 14.0-0-0 e5 Eliminating the Bs with 14...Bf4 would have been somewhat better. 15.d5 The N is on a great post! e6 16.hf1 d8 Here I spent about one minute, but could not think of a reasonable move. Engines suggest 17.Qc4 and white is winning. Needing to move, I hallucinated and played... 17.f5 I am not sure what the point of this move was supposed to be, but after 17...Nxf5 black would clearly be better. Now it was black's turn to think a minute or so. g6 Black chickened out! 17...xf5 18.exf5 f7 19.xc5 White has a N+2Ps vs a R and the slightly better position. 17...xd5-+ and life would good for black after 18.f8+ 18.exd5 xf5 19.xf5 xf5 20.xc5 xh2 18...xf8 19.exd5 g4 20.f1+ e7 18.f2 18.xd4 Fortunately there was no time to comsider this which would have allowed black to equalize after gxf5 19.xe5 xe5 20.b3 f8 and both 21.Qxb7 and 21.Rf1 lead to no more than equality. 18...g7 19.df1 White is clearly winning now. hf8 20.xf8 xf8 21.xf8 xf8 22.c3 c6 A rushed move due to time considerations. 22...c6 is best, but after 23.xc5+ f7 24.h3 black's position would be hopeless, 23.h6+ Noticed at the last second...it removes the B from the clutches of black's P after 24.cxd4 cxd4+ Black thought several seconds and realized the game was over and so resigned. 23.cxd4 would be a serious mistake because after cxd4+ 24.b1 dxe3 white's advantage has all but disappeared. 23.xd4 Came to mind, but it was quickly obvious that after cxd4 white can't claim any advantage. 23.h6+ f7 24.cxd4 cxd4+ 25.d2 xh2 26.f3+ e8 27.f8+ d7 28.f7+ c8 28...d6 29.e7# 28...d8 29.g5+ mates in 29.e7+ wins. 23.h6+ e8 24.cxd4 cxd4+ 25.b1 xh2 26.g3 c5 27.b4 White wins. 1–0

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Viktor the Terrible Tears Up Tal

     The year 1962 started of with Botvinnik winning the annual Hastings Christmas tournament and pocketing $280 (worth about 10 times that today).

     Chessplayers lost that year were Vyacheslav Ragozin, Ernst Gruenfeld, Czech IM Josef Rejfir, Milan Vidmar, Ossip Bernstein and Frank Graves, a former USCF president. 

     On October 25, 1962, the strong US Senior Master 38-year old Abe Turner was stabbed to death in the offices of Chess Review by Theodore Smith, an ex-mental patient. Turner was stabbed in the back 9 times and then his 280 pound body stuffed in a large safe. 

     The Stockholm Interzonal was won by 18-year-old Bobby Fischer who was undefeated. Tigran Petrosian won the Candidates tournament at Curacao. US representatives Bobby Fischer and Pal Benko finished 4th and 6th (out of 8 places) respectively. After the tournament Fischer accused the Russians of cheating by rigging the outcome of their games; later Korchnoi confirmed the accusations. 

     The following game was played in the 1962 Soviet Championship. The tournament, which had been preceded by six semifinals events, was held from November 21 to December 20 in Yerevan, the capital and largest city of Armenia. Korchnoi scored +10 -1 =8, losing only to Vladas Mikenas. Curiously, Mikenas defeated both Korchnoi and Tal. 

     The following game has been widely published and was included by Korchnoi in his own best games collection. While referring to notes by GM John Emms, GM Andy Soltis and USCF Life Master A.J. Goldsby, and with the help of Stockfish 15, Komodo 14, I have tried to weed out a lot of variations, including some erroneous analysis, and just capture the essence of this struggle between these two leviathans of the chess world. Enjoy the game! 

ChessBase

Viktor Korchnoi–Mikhail Tal1–0A62USSR Championship, YerevanYerevan URS 1962Stockfish 15

Modern Benoni: Fianchetto Variation 1.d4 f6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.c3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.f3 g6 At the time Tal was almost the only titled player that played the sharp Benoni and he was responsible for its surge in popularity. Black plays for a Q-side attack while white tries to use his center Ps. 7.g3 A Korchnoi favorite. g7 8.g2 0-0 9.0-0 a6 At the time this move was all the rage; today either 9...a6 or 9...Re8, or sometimes 9...Nbd7 are the standard moves. In the book of his best games Korchnoi slapped a ? on the move, but it's quite playable. 10.h3 An important part of white's strategy. He wants to advance his center Ps, but first prevents black from playing ....Bg5 and ...Bxf3 thereby getting rid of his bad B. An alternative is 10.Nd2 c7 GM John Emms disapproved of this move blaming it for black's opening problems, claiming that 10...Re8 in order to hinder white's center advance makes more sense. Komodo doesn't see much difference between the two moves. 10...e8 11.d2 c7 12.a4 b6 13.e4 a6 14.e1 d7 15.f3 e7 16.f4 f8 with equal chances. Kamsky,G (2735)-Topalov,V (2700) Dos Hermanas 1996 11.e4 d7 Emms was critical of time Tal spends fiddling with his Ns and makes the handy observation that it is usually a sign that something has gone wrong if black has to capture on e5 with his d-Pawn. 11...e8 is the main alternative, but it hardly seems better. 12.e1 h6 White stands slightly better, but with the R on e8 the advance e5 is rendered ineffective. 13.e5 Despite Emms' observation this leads nowhere after dxe5 14.xe5 fxd5 15.xd5 xe5 16.f4 xf4 17.xe8+ xe8 18.xf4 xd1+ 19.xd1 with a likely draw, black's extra P notwithstanding. 12.e1 12.Bf4 is equally good. It was played in two GM games in my database. The same applies to 12.Bg5 e8 The position was critical and Tal is still fiddling with his Ns. 12...b5 This is premature. 13.e5 b4 14.exd6 bxc3 15.dxc7 xc7 16.bxc3 xc3 17.h6 xe1 18.xe1 b7 18...d8 19.e7 followed by Ng5 wins 19.xf8 xf8 20.d1 White is slightly better. 12...f6 Hindering e5 was a reasonable try even though it further weakens the K's position. 13.a4 e5 is equal. 12...e5 13.xe5 xe5 14.e3 e8 and white is slightly better. 13.g5 f6 14.e3 b8 14...b5 was suggested by Korchnoi as being black's best practical chance. 15.xb5 a6 16.a4 xb5 17.axb5 xb2 18.a6 b6 with an unclear position, but in the long run white should have the better chances. 15.a4 a6 16.f1 Prevents b5. e7 17.d2 c7 18.f4 b5 This move has been condemned by many critics, but oddly, in The World's Greatest Chess Games, GM John Emms passed over it without comment. Stockfish drops its evaluation to 2. 5 Ps in white's favor, but Komodo 14 is much less harsh, favoring white by only one P. In any case, Tal's temperament would not permit a passive defense. 19.e5 Korchnoi breaks through in the center in classic fashion and quickly develops a K-side attack. dxe5 20.de4 Threatening 21.d6 so... d8 20...exf4 21.d6 e6 22.dxc7 xc3 23.cxb8 xb8 24.bxc3 fxe3 25.f3 costs black a R. 21.xf6+ xf6 Now in addition to the move he played, white has a couple of other reasonable moves: 22.axb5 and 22. Bxc5. 22.d6 22.xc5 is OK, but not as forceful. b4 22...e8 23.fxe5 fxd5 24.xd5 xd5 25.axb5 axb5 26.d4 Black can hope to play on. 23.e4 xe4 24.xe4 e8 25.xe5 xe5 26.fxe5 xd5 and black is still fighting. 22...e6 23.fxe5 b4 24.d5 White's pieces are swarming in preparation of an attack. 24.exf6 allows black to equalize with bxc3 25.bxc3 xf6 26.d7 b7 24...xd5 25.xd5 b7 26.d2 d7 27.h2 White has the advantage: more space, the B pair and a strong, protected passed P. In addition, black's dark squares around his K are weak. b3 Trying to distract his opponent with a Q-side demonstration. 27...c6 Threatening mate on h1 is adequately met by 28.c4 f3 29.b3 with a clear superiority. 28.ac1 xa4 29.c4 c8 30.f1 b4 31.xe6 This was universally slapped with a ? because is should have allowed black to seize the initiative and get back in the game, but engine analysis shows that white is still superior. That said, 31.Bxe6 was not the best move. 31.d5 d7 32.h6 d4 33.g2 g7 34.c6 e6 35.xc5 There were other reasonable moves for both sides, but in any case, black is unlikely to survive much longer. 31...xe6 32.h6 Korchnoi is rightly unconcerned about grabbing the c-Pawn. e8 33.g5 e4 34.f2 Prevents Re2. 34.f6 allows black to equalize after e2+ 35.f2 xf2+ 36.xf2 d4 37.xd4 cxd4 38.c7 a8 The position is completely even. 34...f5 35.f6 Attacking on the dark squares. 35.exf6 is less effective than keeping possession of the pair of passed Ps. f7 36.xc5 d4 White is clearly better, but black can still put up stiff resistance. 35...d7 Prevents Qg7+. 36.xc5 c4 37.xc4 xc4 38.d2 e6 Now comes a repetition in order to reach adjournment and allow Korchnoi time to figure things out at his leisure. 39.d1 a7 aiming for ... Qf2+. 40.d2 Care must be taken even to the very end. 40.d7 f2+ 41.h1 f3+ 42.h2 e2+ 43.h1 xd1+ 44.g2 e2+ 45.g1 e1+ 46.g2 d5+ mates next move. 40...d7 41.d1 The game was adjourned here. a7 42.d4 Korchnoi found this keen move during adjournment...it prevents the Q from reaching f2 (obviously black can't take it because his Q is preventing mate on g7). It should be mentioned that white's advantage here (2 Ps according to Komodo) is sufficient to win, but even so, white must continue to find good moves and he has to remain alert so that he does not offer his very dangerous opponent counterplay. d7 43.g4 a5 44.g3 The beginning of a K march on the dark squares in preparation of the final attack. As Steinitz said, the K is a fighting piece. b8 Not a move without purpose! It prepares ...Qf7 44...f7 immediately is met by the winning move 45.d7 xd7 46.xf7+ xf7 47.xd7+ e6 48.xh7 etc. 45.h4 45.gxf5 would also win. xf5 46.c4 a7 47.c5 e8 This leaves white to figure out how he is going to grind out the win. 45...f7 46.g5 fxg4 47.hxg4 d7 48.c4 As far as I know this brilliant move has not been commented on. 48.f4 allows black to equalize after xf6+ 49.xf6 e8 50.e4 e6+ 51.g5 e8 and the Bs of opposite color allow black to set up a blockade, 48...a4 48...xf6+ 49.xf6 e8 50.c7 e6+ 51.g5 e8 52.f4 b5 53.c8+ e8 54.xe8+ xe8 55.e6 wins 49.c7 a3 Korchnoi is not about to be distracted by this Q-side demonstration. 50.xd7 Well played! This is the only move that wins! 50.xf7+ xf7 51.xd7+ e6 52.e7+ d5 53.d7 axb2 54.e8 b1 55.c8 xe5 56.d8 xc8 57.xc8 This position should be drawn with careful play by both sides. 50.bxa3 would lose to xf6+ 51.xf6 b2 50.e7 This attempt at being clever also loses. xe7+ 51.dxe7 e8 50...xd7 51.e6 White's strategy as noted on move 6 is successful. After the best move, 51...Qb5+, Komodo shows a mate in 25 moves. a7 This shortens the misery...it's mate in 10 moves. 52.e5 White mates. axb2 53.e7 f7 54.d7 A great game with an unbelievable finish and one in which Korchnoi deserves credit for his very precise play. 54.d7 e3+ 54...xd7 55.f6+ mate next move. 54...b1 55.f6+ g8 56.g7# 55.xe3 b5+ 56.h4 g5+ 57.xg5 b8 58.e8+ xe8 59.dxe8+ g7 60.3e5# 1–0

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