A Fatal King Walk

     Before the Elo system, the Soviets, as explained in the November 28th post, Short, Ultra-Sharp Game by Nezhmetdinov, had a rating system in place. 

     Because they had millions of players as compared to a mere handful in the US for example, they had hundreds, if not thousands, of players who by today's standards were of Master strength. Even after the Elo system, which is based on the Bell curve, was adopted the Soviets dominated the scene, but the number of Master’s in the Soviet Union had nothing to do with “secret” training methods.

     Many things have been said about the Soviet School of Chess and how it produced legions of good players due to the elaborate system of chess education.

     As a former member of the Soviet System, American GM Alex Yermolinksy wrote that there was no building with a sign, 'The Soviet School of Chess”. He also emphasized that there were no secret methods of teaching chess. His highly decorated teacher was Vladiimir Zak, who had a real knack for judging talent, but once a player reached the 1800 level Zak’s training methods weren’t much help.

     During the 1940’s or 1950’s until the Bobby Fischer era there’s no doubt that the Russians had established a hegemony and dominated the field. And why not? The Russian government, acting as sponsors, promoted a huge program of chess activity and subsidized its top players. During the Fisher Boom chess became more popular and with the increase in the number of players worldwide, more non-Soviet talent emerged. 

     The following game was played in the 1949 Bolshvik Chess Club Championship in Odessa. It was a strong event as can bee seen from the crosstable...most of the top finishers are, or in their day were, well known. The Soviets were big on opening theory and, as you can see, the opening line in this game was, even in 1949, quite modern as it was still being used in games in the 2000’s.

 

     What makes the game unique is that on move 20 Grechkin’s King was setting fairly safely on g7, but on move 28 it began a journey to c4 where it sat in front of its own pieces and met its doom. 

 

[Event "Bolshevik CC Champ, Odessa"] [Site "Odessa (Ukraine)"] [Date "1949.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Vasily Panov"] [Black "Dmitri Grechkin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B80"] [Annotator "Stpckfish 16"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "1949.??.??"] {B80: Sicilian Scheveningen} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 {The d6–e6 Pawn center is a solid, flexible defensive setup that affords black the possibility of a center break with either ...d5 or ...e5.} 6. g3 { This is mot played very often, but it actually yeilds good results for white. The main moves are 6.Ne2 and 6.g4} a6 7. Bg2 Qc7 8. O-O Be7 9. Be3 O-O 10. Qe2 Nc6 11. Rad1 Bd7 12. Nb3 b5 13. a3 Bc8 {Black has tried several moves here, but the most active choice is 13...Ne5} 14. f4 Bb7 {The fact that black's time wasting B maneuver has not cost him anything is a good example of how limited white's attacking chances are and how solid black's position is. how limited} 15. g4 Nd7 16. g5 Nb6 {Not bad by any means, but the rock solid 16...Rae8 was to be preferred.} (16... Rae8 {This renders white's next move harmless. For example...} 17. f5 exf5 18. Nd5 (18. exf5 Bxg5) 18... Qc8 19. Bf4 f6 {seizing the initiative.}) 17. f5 {uddenly white's position is starting to look very promising.} Nc4 (17... exf5 18. exf5 Rae8 19. f6 Bd8 20. fxg7 Kxg7 21. Nd4 Nc4 22. Nd5 Qc8 23. Nf5+ {with the better psoition.}) 18. f6 Bd8 19. Bc1 N6e5 20. fxg7 {After thins white's advantage is minimal.} (20. Qh5 {packs a real punch.} Re8 21. Nd4 Rc8 22. fxg7 Qe7 23. Rf6 {and black is in very serious trouble. A smple line...} Ng6 24. Rd3 Kxg7 25. Rh3 Rh8 26. Qh6+ Kg8 27. Nxe6 fxe6 28. Rxg6+) 20... Kxg7 21. Nd4 Nc6 {Retreating the N from the center is the wrong strategy.} (21... Rg8 {leaves white unable to mount a decisive attack.} 22. h4 Ng6 23. h5 Nh4 24. Rd3 Kh8 25. Rg3 Rg7 26. Qf2 Nxg2 {and black should be able to hold his position.}) 22. Nxc6 (22. Qh5 {is no longer so powerful. After} Nxd4 23. Rxd4 Ne5 24. Bf4 {White is better, but the win is still a long way off.}) (22. Nxe6+ {This sacrifice packs a wallop.} fxe6 23. Rxf8 Kxf8 24. Rf1+ Ke7 25. Qh5 Kd7 {White now has another strong blow at hos disposal...} 26. Nd5 Qa5 (26... exd5 27. Bh3+ Ke7 28. Qf7#) 27. Qxh7+ Ne7 28. Nxe7 Bxe7 29. g6 { White's advantage is decisive.}) 22... Qxc6 23. Rd3 {A typical Rook lift.} Bb6+ 24. Kh1 Ne5 25. Rh3 {Qh5 is the strong threat.} Rh8 26. Qh5 Ng6 27. Ne2 { [%mdl 32] Watch this N!} f5 {He could have put up seriosu resistance with 27... Kf8} (27... Kf8 {was the best he had, but after} 28. Rhf3 Qc7 29. Bd2 Rd8 30. Qh6+ Ke8 31. Rxf7 Qxf7 32. Rxf7 Kxf7 {Technically white is winning, but in practice things could be different!}) 28. gxf6+ Kf7 29. Nf4 {Intending Qxh7+! and mate.} Rag8 ({A oass to demonstrate the threat.} 29... a5 30. Qxh7+ Rxh7 31. Rxh7+ Ke8 32. f7+ Kd8 33. Nxe6+ Kc8 34. f8=Q+ Nxf8 35. Rxf8+ Qe8 36. Rxe8+ Bd8 37. Rxd8#) (29... Qxe4 {This avoids white's next move, but it should still lose, it makes white work for the point after...} 30. Bxe4 Bxe4+ 31. Ng2 Rac8 32. Qh6 e5 33. Rg3 Bd4 34. c3 Bc5 {White may be winning, buty he has a long row to hoe.}) 30. Qxh7+ {[%mdl 512] Very nice!} Rxh7 31. Rxh7+ Kxf6 32. Nd5+ Ke5 33. Rh5+ Kd4 34. Be3+ Kc4 35. b3# {A captivating finale.} 1-0