Back in July of 1947, I celebrated my 2nd birthday and a training tournament that ended in August was held held in Parnu. It was a strong one...it was billed as the Tournament of the Strongest Masters of the USSR.
It's strength was slightly diminished by the absence of Botvinnik who declined to participate citing his “scientific work.”
Two other strong players, Levenfish and Ragozin, withdrew shortly before the start and their place was taken by two local players, Randviir and Renter.
The tournament received the moniker “training tournament” because Keres and Smyslov were scheduled to play in the upcoming World Championship match-tournament that was to begin in the Netherlands in just over six months.
By winning the tournament Keres consolidated his position as a front runner in the upcoming world championship contest. Kotov missed the chance to tie for first when he let slip a winning advantage against Lilienthal in the final round.
In the 1948 World Championship event Botvinnik dominated the field. Smyslov finished second while Keres tied with Reshevsky for third. Former World Champion Max Euwe finished fifth (last).
In the following game Alexander Kotov (1913-1981) takes down the local Raul Renter (August 1, 1920 – November 20, 1992, 70 years old). Renter was born in Tallinn, Estonia. In 1936, he won the second Soviet Junior Championship, was Estonian champion in 1946 and in 1949 he shared first with the other local in this Parnu tournament, Juri Randviir. In 1950, Renter finished first in Parnu ahead of Pitksaar, Kholmov and Mikenas.
What was interesting about this game is that Kotov’s play was nearly flawless. Except for his 14th move, it’s hard to suggest an improvement on his play anywhere.
Raul Renter–Alexander Kotov0–1E32Training Tournament, Parnu16.07.1947Stockfish 15.1
Nimzo-Indian: Classical 1.d4 f6 2.c4 e6 3.c3 b4 4.c2 This is the
Classical (or Capablanca) Variation. It was popular in the early days of the
Nimzo-Indian, but it was eventually replaced by the Rubinstein Variation (4.e3)
. With 4.Qc2 white aims to acquire the two B without allowing doubled c-Pawns.
The drawback is that the Q must move at least twice and his K-side development
is delayed. As a result, it is usually advisable for black to open the game
quickly to exploit his lead in development. d6 Black has tried just about
every reasonable move here. Most popular are 4...O-O and 5...d5 with 4...c5
and 4...Nc5 coming next order of preference. The text move has not fared well
in practice and so is rarely seen. 5.e3 White does better with 5.Nf3 0-0 6.ge2 6.d3 c5 Also playable is 6...e5 7.dxc5 d5 8.f3 c6 9.0-0
The position is equal. Bischoff,K (2556)-Speelman,J (2623) Hastings 2001 6...c5 6...e5 7.d2 e8 8.a3 xc3 9.xc3 exd4 10.xd4 e4 11.d3 xc3 12.xc3 d7 is equal. Keres,P-Smyslov,V Leningrad/Moscow 1941 7.g3 cxd4 8.exd4 c6 9.e3 g4 Black has a wide choice of satisfactory moves here, but
this is the start of an interesting idea. 10.d3 10.e2 was better
because after xe3 11.fxe3 g5 12.d2 the position is equal. 10...f5
Hoiw should white meet the threat of ...f4? 11.0-0-0 Not this way!
11.h3 xe3 12.fxe3 g5 13.f2 White has avoided disaster, but black
still has the more promising position. 11...xc3 11...f4 was equally
good. White's best continuation is 12.xh7+ h8 13.g6 fxe3 14.xg4 xh7 15.fxe3 White has two Ps vs. a minor piece, but it is not enough
compensation, so black has what can be considered a decisive advantage. 12.bxc3 Better that capturing with the Q because then he would not be able to
capture on h7. f4 13.xh7+ h8 14.d2 One wonders if Rentner saw this
position and was relying on this clever move iin anticipation of black playing
the obvious (and titally wrong) 14...fxc3? h4 14...fxg3 15.hxg3 h6 15...xf2 16.g6 e5 17.h5 h6 18.d3 f8 19.df1 g4 20.g6 and wins... xf1+ 21.xf1 xf1+ 22.xf1 f8 23.xh6 xf1+ 24.d2 gxh6 25.xg4 16.f3 Here, again, white has two Ps vs a minor piece, but this time he is the one
that is winning! For example... d5 17.g4 d7 18.g6 g8 19.h7+ h8 20.g5 wins e8 20...f7 21.g8+ xg8 22.h7# 21.gxh6 g6 22.xg6 White is
winning. 14...xf2 was even better. 15.df1 xh1 16.xh1 e5 is
winning for black. 16...fxg3 would be wrong because after 17.hxg3 f6
white is clearly better. 15.g6 15.xf4 xf4 16.g6 xf2 spells
disaster fir white. 15...xf2 16.e4 xh1 17.xh1 e5 Black's small slip
on move 14 has complicated his task, but he is now helped out by his opponent. 18.d5 This results in a quick loss. 18.xd6 This is the
crucial defense. Stockfish 15.1: f6 19.f7+ g8 20.xe5 xe5 21.dxe5 a6 22.f1 e6 23.xf4 xh2 24.d3 xa2 Black is better and with careful play
he has excellent winning chances. 18...e7 After this black is clearly
winning. 18...g4 was also good, but it allows white too much play. 19.xd6 f6 20.f7+ g8 21.dxc6 xg6 22.xg6 xg6 23.xe5 xg2 24.d3 bxc6
winning. 19.xd6 f6 20.f7+ xf7 This is the quickest way to win. 21.xf7 xf7 22.e1 f5 23.b3 g6 24.c5 e4 White resigned. 24...e4 25.d6 25.g4 xg4 26.xe4 f3 27.e3 f2 28.xf2 xf2 White is two pieces down. 25...e6 26.c2 e3 27.xe3 fxe3 28.xe3 Here, too, white is two pieces
down. 0–1
No comments:
Post a Comment