Stahlberg Bamboozles Najdorf

     I have never posted on Swedish GM Gideon Stahlberg (January 26, 1908 - May 26, 1967) before. He was among the inaugural recipients of the GM title in 1950 and the Swedish Champion in 1927; he also held the Nordic championship from 1929 until 1939. 

     Stahlberg won recognition after winning matches Rudolf Spielmann and Aron Nimzovich in 1933 and 1934 respectively plus finishing third in Dresden 1936 and second in Stockholm 1937. Then, in 1938 he drew a match against Paul Keres.

     After the 1939 Chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires was interrupted by the outbreak of WW2, Stahlberg remained in Argentina until 1948, where he won many tournaments. 

     Stahlberg served as umpire in the five World Championships between 1957 and 1963. He also published more than ten chess books. In 1967 he was in Leningrad to take part in an international tournament but died before playing his first game. 

     Going back before WW2 there were only a few Scandinavian masters of the minor variety. In the 1920's, under the influence of the chess patron Ludvig Collijn, a wholesale merchant in Sweden, chess enjoyed a tremendous renaissance. For many years one of the standard guides to the openings was published by Collijn. 

     As a result, in the 1930s, in addition to Stahlberg, Gosta Stoltz and Eric Lundin appeared on the scene. Stoltz was brilliant but unstable; Lundin was solid but dull whereas Stahlberg had it all. At first Stoltz was the most prominent of the three, but he then became erratic while Lundin did not compete outside of Sweden. That left Stahlberg as the leading Swedish representative in international competition.

     After his match victory over Nimzovich in 1934 he was a familiar figure in European tournaments. Stahlberg has a methodical, but not especially cautious, style and his greatest strength was in the openings where he was exceptionally adept at taking chances with sharp play. 

     On the July 1929 rating list Chessmetrics estimates his rating at 2665 placing him tenth in the world...on a par with players like Tartakower, Spielmann and Marshall. 

     The following game is a fascinating, if badly flawed, struggle from beginning to end. Looking at Reuben Fine's notes left me aghast to discover that not only was the game badly flawed, so were his notes which were superficial and based more on the result than on detailed analysis. But, that was often the case in pre-engine days. The fact is, Najdorf resigned in a drawn position! 

     It was played in a tournament held at the Jockey Club in La Plata, Argentina; the results of the tournament are not known. 

 

[Event "Jockey Club, La Plata"] [Site "?"] [Date "1944.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Gideon Stahlberg"] [Black "Miguel Najdorf"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "79"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.09.09"] {Slav Defense: Exchange Variation} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. cxd5 { At the time this simple move had been enjoying considerable success.} cxd5 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bf4 Bf5 {Reuben Fine pointed out that while symmetry is sometimes an easy way to achieve equality, black has to remember that because he has the initiative, white can sometimes break the symmetry to his advantage.} 7. e3 a6 {Breaking the symmetry, but 7...e6 is also satisfactory.} 8. Ne5 {Thus played Alekhine against Euwe at AVRO 1938...an innovation at the time.} e6 {Euwe played 8...Rc8 and Alekhine gained the advantage.} 9. g4 {Another Alekhine innovation. Fine liked 9.Qb3} (9. Be2 Nxe5 10. Bxe5 Nd7 11. g4 Bg6 12. Bg3 { is equal. Kvon,A (2448)-Dao,T (2520) Khanty-Mansiysk RUS 2010}) (9. Qa4 Rc8 10. Nxc6 Qd7 11. Be2 Qxc6 12. Qb3 {equal. Matviishen,V (2364)-Ianocichin,V (2152) Balti MDA 2015}) 9... Bg6 10. h4 Qb6 11. Qb3 {Stahlbrg gave this move a ? and recommended instead 11.a3} (11. a3 Qxb2 12. Na4 Qc2 13. Qxc2 Bxc2 14. Nb6 Rd8 15. Nxc6 bxc6 16. Bc7 {with a significant advantage as in Kolesar,M (2143) -Borosova,Z (2310) Banska Stiavnica SVK 2011}) 11... Qxb3 12. axb3 Nxe5 13. dxe5 Nd7 {[%mdl 32] Taking the offered P could prove too dangerous. Instead, black opts for a superior P-formation in the ending.} (13... Nxg4 14. Bb5+ Kd8 15. f3 Nh6 {The chances are equal, but white has at least two promising moves: 16.e4 and 16.h5}) 14. Rc1 {This move probably merits a ?! because he missed a good opportunity to create complications with 14.h5, Or. if he was not up to it 14.Be2 was solid, if uninspired.} (14. h5 Bc2 15. e4 d4 16. Nb5 Bxe4 17. Rh3 O-O-O 18. Nxd4 Bb4+ 19. Ke2 {Black is clearly better.}) (14. Be2 h5 15. gxh5 Bxh5 16. e4 dxe4 17. Nxe4 Rc8 {Black is better.}) 14... h6 {Even better was 14. ..h5} 15. h5 Bh7 16. Na2 {An interesting move. Stahlberg seizes the open file and he may have possibly been thinking about trying to dissolve his doubled Ps by advancing the P on b3. The fact remains that in this position the advantage is black's.} Nc5 17. b4 Nd3+ (17... Nd7 {This illustrates the point of white's hope to advance his b-Pawn.} 18. b5 axb5 19. Nc3 b4 20. Nb5 Kd8 21. Nd6 Bxd6 22. exd6 e5 23. Bg3 {Black is only slightly better.}) 18. Bxd3 Bxd3 {Note that black's maneuver has prevented white from playing b5} 19. Rc7 {This looks good, but the R is in real danger here. Still, if white does nothing (say with 19,f3) black has a decisive positional advantage with no danger.} Bc4 20. Nc3 Rb8 { White has a very poor position: the P on b4 is lost, his pieces are poorly coordinated and the R on c7 is in grave danger. In spite of all this Stahlberg somehow conjures up some dangerous play.} 21. Bg3 Bxb4 22. Bh4 {The point of his last move...if given the opportunity he can play Re7+} Bb5 {Fine was critical of this move which prepares to win the R, but Fine was completely wrong because 22...Bb5 is actually the best move on the board.} (22... Ba5 { as suggested by Fine is quite playable, just not as good as Najdorf's move.} 23. Re7+ {In spite of white's clever 22nd move this move is no real salvation.} Kf8 {and black has the upper hand here, too...just not as good as the position the move actually played leads to.}) 23. Kd1 Bc6 {Threatening both ...d4 attacking the R on h1 and ...Ba5 snagging the R on c7.} 24. Rh3 {[%mdl 32]} Ba5 {Najdorf falters with this logical looking followup. He had a won position after 24...O-O} (24... O-O 25. Be7 Ba5 26. Rxc6 bxc6 27. Bxf8 Rxb2 (27... Kxf8 28. Kc2 Rb4 29. Rg3 (29. f3 Bb6) 29... Bc7 {wins}) 28. Ba3 Rb3 {wins}) 25. Re7+ Kf8 26. Rf3 {Seemingly out of nowhere white is attacking! He has equalized and maybe even can boast of a slight advantage.} Be8 {The threat is ...Bd8} 27. Rxe6 {Najdorf saw this but thought it was unplayable.} Bd7 {[%mdl 8192] This blunder loses the game. He could probably have drawn with 27...Kg8. The thing is, white has only one move that does not allow black to get back the advantage.} 28. Rxf7+ {[%mdl 512] This is it and it's the move Najdorf overlooked. White is now winning.} Kxf7 29. Re7+ Kg8 30. Rxd7 Bxc3 31. bxc3 { Here Najdorf offered a draw and even though he was short of time Stahlberg rejected the offer because his R which was in grave danger on the 7th rank earlier is now a powerhouse that gives white winning chances.} Kh7 {Connecting his Rs, but the move loses quickly. That said, suggesting a move that's really better is impossible.} (31... a5 {This meek P does not present any danger to white. For example...} 32. f4 a4 33. e6 a3 34. Kc2 a2 35. Kb2 Ra8 36. Ka1 b5 37. f5 Kh7 38. Bf6 Rhg8 39. Bd4 {which is similar to what happens in the game.} ) 32. f4 Rhg8 33. e6 b5 34. f5 Rb6 {Otherwise white gets to connected passed P with 35.f6} 35. Bf6 a5 36. Be5 Ra6 37. f6 {Both Stahlberg and Fine who annotated this game coasted here, but this move, which merits at least a ? and which Fine passed over, is a terrible mistake that should have let Najdorf off the hook!} (37. Bd4 {first was essential.} Rc6 38. f6 Rxe6 39. f7 Rf8 40. Bc5 Rxf7 41. Rxf7 Re5 42. Rf5 Re4 43. Rf4 {with a winning ending.}) 37... Rxe6 { Once again, black has equalized!} 38. f7 Rc8 {[%mdl 8192] He had two moves that equalize: 38...Rf8 and the pretty and unexpected 38...Rxe5. After the text, once again, black is lost, but that does not mean his position is resignable!} (38... Rf8 39. Bd6 Rxf7 40. Rxf7 Rxd6 41. Rb7 {and white should draw without much trouble.}) (38... Rxe5 {Pretty!} 39. fxg8=B+ {Why not... underpromotions are rare.} Kxg8 40. Ke2 a4 41. Rb7 {and here, too, white should draw.}) 39. f8=Q {Fine gave this move a ! with the fatuous comment, "His lust to expand is uninhibited." The fact is, it deserves a ?, but it must also be remembered that, unlike Fine, Stahlberg was in time pressure.} (39. Bd4 {This simply must be played after which thanks to their calculating ability any engine will tell you the game should be easily won for white. Don't blieve it! Take a look at some of the possibilities.} Re4 40. Bc5 Rxg4 41. Rxd5 (41. f8=R Rxf8 42. Bxf8 Rg5 43. Rb7 b4 44. cxb4 axb4 45. Kc2 Kg8 46. Bxb4 Rxh5 47. Kd3 {This position is won although it does present some technical difficulties. }) 41... Rc4 42. f8=Q Rxf8 43. Bxf8 Rxc3 44. Bc5 b4 45. Bd4 Rc7 46. Rxa5 g6 { this position, too, is a win, but it also requires some technique on white's part.}) 39... Rxf8 40. Rxg7+ {[%mdl 32768] Black resigned, but guess what? This position is equal!! Nevertheless, the game was a great battle!} (40. Rxg7+ Kh8 {Believe it or not, there is absolutely no way white can win this game. Stockfish's top 3 choices are evaluated at 0.00. Here is the continuation after 15 minutes thinking on 3 cores...} 41. Bd4 (41. Re7+ Rxe5 42. Rxe5 b4 43. cxb4 axb4 44. Rxd5 Rb8 {draw}) 41... Rf1+ 42. Kc2 Re4 {Oddly, discovered checks accomplish nothing.} 43. Rg6+ Kh7 44. Rg7+ {drawn.}) 1-0