An Exciting Draw

 

     Normally I don’t post draws, but the Tal-Aronin game that was played in the 1957 USSR Championship held in Moscow was quite interesting and also quite complicated. 

     At the time Tal was 20 years old and had just beginning his meteoric rise that ended with his winning the World Championship just over 3 years later. 

     In other chess news out of Russia, Vasily Smyslov defeated Mikhail Botvinnik to become world champion. 

     That wasn’t the only exciting news that came out of the Soviet Union; they launched Sputnik, the first space satellite, starting the Space Race. I remember the excitement when ham (amateur) radio operators in the United States anxiously listened as the 184-pound Sputnik emitted a mechanical ...beep...beep...beep while passing over the eastern US. 

     The beeping was recorded and quickly broadcast all over the country. Americans in their living rooms heard Sputnik's transmission on their radios and televisions. It was awesome! 

     Not only was it exciting, but America's worst fears has become a reality... the Russians had technologically surpassed the United States and gained supremacy of outer space. 

     The USSR also demonstrated their chess superiority when the first European team chess championship was held in Vienna and the USSR team took first place. And, the first women's Olympiad was held in The Netherlands. The USSR took first in that one, too.

     Not all the exciting news was coming out of the Soviet Union. The US had an answer to Tal in Bobby Fischer. In May of 1957, he was a 2231 rated Master, the country’s youngest, after having gained over 500 rating points in one year. 

     The same year Fischer won the US Junior Championship in San Francisco. Then after some confusion over the winner of the US Open held in Cleveland, Ohio, Fischer was declared the winner on tiebreaks over Arthur Bisguier. 

     In shades of what was to come, in 1957, Alex Bernstein at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology wrote a chess program for an IBM computer. The monster executed 42,000 instructions per second and it did a 4-ply (two moves) search in 8 minutes. It was predicted that that within 10 years a computer would be world champion. It didn’t happen; it wasn’t until 1997 that Deep Blue edged Garry Kasparov in a match 3.5-2.5. 

     We lost some players in 1957. Three time Czech Champion (1905, 1909 and 1911) GM Oldrich Duras (1888-1957) died in Prague. The 1942 Swedish Correspondence Champion, Correspondence GM Harald Malmgren (1904-1957) died in Uppsula, Sweden. 

     The 1955 US Women’s Champion Nancy Roos (1905-1957) died of cancer in Los Angeles. Hans Haberditz (1901-1957) died in Vienna; he was best known for his analysis of the French Defense. Finally, The strong US Master Max Pavey (1918-1957) died of leukemia in New York.  

    

     Back to Tal’s gane in the 1957 USSR Championship...his opponent was Lev Aronin (1920-1983) who was awarded the IM title in 1950 although in reality he was probably of GM strength. Chess metrics estimates his best ever rating to have been 2674 in 1952, ranking him #22 in the world. 

     During the 1940s he was a leading authority on the K-Indian and although he was a positional player by nature, when the occasion demanded it, he could also go toe-to-toe with the tacticians.

 

[Event "USSR Championship, Moscow"] [Site "Moscow URS"] [Date "1957.02.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Mikhail Tal"] [Black "Lev Aronin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D32"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "1957.??.??"] {D40: Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch} 1. d4 {Already a surprise for Aronin who had prepared for the expected 1.e4. He decided on the opening at the board. The Semi-Tarrasch. It's not without risks, but it promisies active piece play.} d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. e3 {The theoretically preferred move is 4.cxd5 followed by developing his B at g2. That's modern theory, but Tarrasch himself considered 4.e3 to be the only correct move. The reson Tal choce the text is because it promises the possibility of his obtaining a K-side attack. At the same time, since the game was played near the end of the tournament Tal did not want to risk running into the complicated Hennig-Schara Gambit by playing 4.cxd5} (4. cxd5 cxd4 {The Hennig-Schara can be quite effective and in its early days it was used by players like Alekhine. Additionally, a large number of Soviet players experimented with it.} 5. Qa4+ Bd7 6. Qxd4 exd5 7. Qxd5 Nc6 8. Nf3 Nf6 9. Qd1 Bc5 10. e3 Qe7 {The chances are approximately equal. }) 4... Nf6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. a3 Bd6 {Nowadays maintaining the symmetry with 6... a6 is invariably played, but at the time it was thought to be favorable to white. Aronin's move invite the tempo gaining 7.dxc5 which Tal concluded not to be too desireable.} 7. dxc5 {In fact, this move is the recommended one.} Bxc5 8. b4 Bd6 {White intends to develop his B at b2 and in the ensuing struggle to control e5 this B is best deployed on d6.} 9. Bb2 O-O 10. Qc2 { Aronin wrote that he didn't expect that this move was associated with white playing O-O-O, but rather that it was Tal's intention to strengthen the pressure on the d-file with Rd1.} Ne5 {This move was praised by Aronin because it puts pressure on the important square c4} (10... Qe7 {as played in Pilnick, C-Hearst,E New York 1954 is actually more precise.} 11. Be2 dxc4 12. O-O e5 { Black stands slightly better and eventually managed to score the win.}) (10... a5 {worked out to be in white's favor after} 11. b5 Ne5 12. Nxe5 Bxe5 {with a slight plus. Wang,D (2219)-Ding,Y (2439) Jinan CHN 2014}) (10... Bd7 {is also possible.} 11. Rd1 Rc8 12. Ng5 Ne5 {equals. Appel,I-Seitz,J Lodz 1938}) 11. O-O-O {This is not as risky as it might look at first glance. It's to be expected that an attack is coming in which the players will be attacking on opposite sides.} (11. c5 {was not, as Tal thought, unfavorable because after} Nxf3+ 12. gxf3 Be7 13. Bd3 {white can claim a small advantage.}) 11... Qe7 { Aronin incorrectly assessed 11...a5 as being bad whereas Tal correctly assessed it as best.} (11... a5 12. c5 axb4 13. axb4 Bc7 14. Nxe5 Bxe5 15. f4 { Black can play 15...Bb8, 15...Bc7 or 15...Bxc3 all of which lead to sharp play. }) 12. Nb5 {White now has slightly the better position.} Ned7 {Both players rejected 12...Nxf3 as a possibility because after 13.gxf3 white might have play on the g-file. However, in the light of subsequent events that may have been black's best option because exactly how white will get any play on the g-file is not at all clear.} 13. Nxd6 Qxd6 14. Qc3 {With the exchange of the dark squared Bs white's presence on the a1-h8 diagonal takes on real significance. Black's immediate concern is to do something about the threat of g2-g4} Re8 {This frees up the f8 square and black hopes at some point get in .. .e5} 15. g4 {Typical aggressive play by Tal.} Qf8 16. Bd3 {Tal wants to play g4–g5, but first he must get e4 under control. However, the text allows Aronin the opportunity to launch a counterattack.} (16. c5 {was the move...it prevent ...Nb6.} a5 17. Bd3 e5 18. g5 {a sharp position with chances for both sides.}) 16... Nb6 {This is not the correct counterattack!} (16... dxc4 17. Qxc4 b5 {Here is is!} 18. Qf4 (18. Qxb5 a5 19. bxa5 Rb8 20. Qc4 Bb7 {Black is winning.}) 18... Bb7 19. g5 e5 20. Qg3 Ne4 {Black is doinf quite well for himself.}) 17. g5 Na4 18. Qc2 {After the game Tal admitted that he considered sacrificing his Q! How would it have worked out?!} (18. gxf6 Nxc3 19. Bxc3 e5 { And now the best play for both sides is} (19... gxf6 {Of course this clearly justifies the Q-sac.} 20. Rdg1+ Qg7 21. Rxg7+ Kxg7 22. Rg1+ Kf8 23. Bxf6 { with mate in 5.} Re7 24. Ne5 Rc7 25. c5 {Mate in 3 is unavoidable.} a5 26. Bxh7 Rxc5+ 27. bxc5 a4 28. Rg8#) 20. Nxe5 a5 21. f4 Qd6 22. cxd5 axb4 23. Bxb4 Qxf6 {Technically black is much better, but in OTB play it's complicated and there is plenty of roo for error. In any casem avoidung the Q-sac was clearly the wisest decision.}) 18... Nxb2 19. Kxb2 dxc4 {Black needed to play this because it lessens the double attack on h7.} 20. gxf6 {Correct was 20,Bxc4. Now Tal likely went for the complications arising from the text At this point Aronin notrd that both players were satisfied with their position, each thinking they had the advantage. In fact, the position is dead equal.} cxd3 21. Qxd3 e5 { Absolutely essential. Other moves lose.} (21... g6 22. Ne5 {The winner which 21...e5 prevented.} a5 23. b5 b6 24. Qd6 Bb7 25. Qxf8+ Rxf8 26. f3 Rac8 27. Rc1 {White's N dominates the position and as a result white is winning. Just a sample line...} h5 28. Rhd1 Rxc1 29. Rxc1 Ba8 30. Rc7 Bd5 31. e4 Ba8 32. Nd7 Rd8 33. Kc3 {Note that black is running out of moves.} g5 34. Nxb6 g4 35. fxg4 hxg4 36. Nd7 Kh7 (36... Bxe4 37. b6 {wins}) 37. Kd4 Kg6 38. Ke5 Rh8 39. b6 Rxh2 40. b7 Bxb7 41. Rxb7 g3 42. Nf8+ Kh6 43. Rxf7 g2 44. Rh7+ Kg5 45. Rg7+ Kh6 46. Kxe6 {etc.}) 22. Ng5 g6 23. h4 {All white has to do now is play h4-h5 and black will be pretty much without any defense. However, Aronin has a move that puts Tal in a critical situation.} Bf5 {Excellent!} 24. e4 {This is not good at all. Now black gets the advantage.} (24. Qe2 {is correct.} e4 25. h5 Red8 26. hxg6 Bxg6 27. Nxh7 Bxh7 {falls into a mate in 7...} 28. Qh5 Rd2+ 29. Rxd2 Qg7 30. fxg7 Kxg7 31. Qxh7+ Kf6 32. Qh6+ {mates in two against any move.}) 24... Bg4 {Rendering the advance of the P to h5 useless, but Tal plays it anyway.} 25. h5 {This generates no attack therefore his best move was 25.Rc1 awaiting developments.} Rad8 {Aronin made this good looking move almost without thinking and in doing so he let Tal off the hook. How many times has it been said in the past...This is the wrong Rook! The reason it's the wrong R is soon clear...black's Q is unable to get into play.} (25... Red8 26. hxg6 Rxd3 27. gxh7+ Kh8 28. Rxd3 Qe8 {Black is winning.}) 26. hxg6 Rxd3 27. Rxd3 ( 27. gxh7+ Kh8 28. Rxd3 {leaves black with the better position.}) 27... hxg6 ( 27... fxg6 28. f7+ Kg7 29. fxe8=Q Qxe8 30. Rxh7+ Kf6 31. Nf3 {is unclear and the chances would be equal.}) 28. Rh7 {The threat is 29.f3. Note that black's Q is imprisoned.} Rc8 29. f3 Rc6 {Only this move saves the day!} (29... Bh5 30. Rd7 Rc6 31. Rhxf7) 30. Rxf7 {Wisely transposing into a R ending which he can draw.} (30. fxg4 {would lose.} Rxf6 31. Rdh3 Rf2+ 32. Kb3 Qd6 33. Rh8+ Kg7 34. R3h7+ Kf6 35. Rxf7+ Kxg5 36. Rxf2 Qd3+ 37. Ka2 Qc4+ {Black has a won ending.}) 30... Qxf7 31. Nxf7 Kxf7 32. fxg4 Kxf6 33. Rd7 Rb6 34. Kc3 Kg5 35. a4 a6 36. Kc4 Kxg4 {Draw agreed.} 1/2-1/2