Tartajubow Gets Slaughtered

    I am still tinkering with my new Fritz 19 and randomly picked one of my old tournament games to let it analyze just to see how well I played nearly 50 years ago. 

    The game was played in the 1975 Eastern Open that was held in Washington D.C. and, oddly, it received no coverage beyond a small blurb in Chess Life & Review. It was won by Rosendo Balinas (1941-1998) with a 5.5-0.5 score. He was from the Philippines and was awarded the IM title in 1975 and the GM title in 1976. My score of +2 -2 =2 was way off the pace and you’ll see why in the following game.

    Both I and my opponent had post-tournament ratings of Class B (1600-1799). I was a little surprised at my opponent’s rating because as the Fritz evaluation chart shows, he played a lot better than I did. 

    I remember the last round; I didn’t feel like playing and the game was dragging on so I offered my opponent a draw. He snickered and snidely replied, “Are you kidding?” I got tickled when a few moves later he blundered and lost quickly. 

    Here is Fritz' evaluation pf our play:

 

 

    In those days I was a big fan of the Pirc Defense because you could use the same basic setup against whatever white played. I never had much success with it though and finally went back to the French Defense...that’s what my early hero Botvinnik played. Here’s hoping you enjoy watching me get slaughtered.

[Event "Eastern Open, Washington D.C."] [Site "?"] [Date "1975.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "E.P."] [Black "Tartajubow"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B07"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "1975.??.??"] {B07: Pirc Defense} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 Bg7 5. Be2 Nf6 6. Qd2 O-O 7. Bh6 b5 {This is Stockfish's top choicer and I played it many times in those days, but with no particular success. Obbviously the problem was me, not 7...b5} 8. a3 (8. Bxg7 Kxg7 9. a3 Nbd7 10. Nf3 e5 11. dxe5 dxe5 12. Qd6 { Todorcevic,M (2480)-Dao Thien Hai (2565) Las Palmas 1993 is equal.}) 8... Bb7 { In this game I played the opening too mechanically, paying little attention to white's K-side plan.} (8... Nbd7 9. h4 e5 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Rd1 a5 12. h5 Qe7 { Takacs,B (2386)-Toth,E (2431) HUN-chT 2015 with equal chances.}) (8... e5 { getting play in the center in better.} 9. d5 (9. Bxg7 Kxg7 10. h4 {is about equal.}) 9... cxd5 10. exd5 Bxh6 11. Qxh6 Qa5 {The position is equal. Kelires, A (2530)-Saric,I (2689) Rio (Achaia) GRE 2018}) 9. h4 Nbd7 {In order to stay in the game it's necessary for black to take some action in the center.} (9... e5 {is not as effective as on move 8.} 10. Bxg7 Kxg7 11. Nf3 exd4 12. Nxd4 { followed bu h5 with excellent attacking possibilities.}) (9... c5 10. Bxg7 Kxg7 {This position is quite complicated and it's important to note that the e-Pawn is immune!} 11. h5 b4 (11... Nxe4 12. Nxe4 Bxe4 13. hxg6 Bxg6 14. Qh6+ Kg8 15. Bh5 {and black is in trouble after, say...} Qd7 (15... Bxc2 16. Rc1 Bg6 17. Bxg6) 16. O-O-O Qe6 17. Rh3 Nc6 18. Bxg6 Qxg6 19. Rg3) 12. axb4 cxb4 13. Nd1 Nxe4 14. Qxb4 Qb6 {White's advantage is minimal.}) 10. h5 a5 {Black's position is far worse than it looks. In fact, it is already lost!} 11. hxg6 fxg6 12. Bxg7 Kxg7 {[%mdl 32]} 13. Qh6+ Kf7 14. Nf3 Ke8 15. Ng5 Qb6 16. Nxh7 {This obvious move should have lost much of his advantage.} (16. O-O-O {was much better.} c5 (16... a4 17. e5 b4 18. exf6 bxc3 19. bxc3 Rxf6 20. Bg4 Kd8 21. Rde1 Qb5 22. Rxe7 Kxe7 23. Qxh7+ Kf8 24. Qh8+ Ke7 25. Rh7+ Rf7 26. Rxf7#) 17. dxc5 Qxc5 18. Ne6 {forkinh the Q and R}) 16... Qxd4 {[%mdl 8192] There is no explanation for this!} (16... Nxh7 17. Qxg6+ Kd8 18. Rxh7 Qxd4 {with at least a fighting chance.}) 17. Qxg6+ Rf7 18. Rd1 Qc5 19. f4 Nxh7 20. Rxh7 Qg1+ 21. Kd2 Qd4+ 22. Bd3 {Quicker was 22.Kc1 and 23,Bh5} Qf6 23. Qxf7+ Qxf7 24. Rxf7 Kxf7 25. g4 {[%mdl 2080]} b4 {Black hopes to get some activity in the endgame.} 26. axb4 axb4 27. Ne2 Nc5 28. g5 Nxd3 29. cxd3 {[%mdl 4096] I was hoping my B might prove superior to the N.} Rh8 30. Rg1 {Better was 39.f5} c5 31. Ke3 Rh3+ 32. Rg3 Rh1 33. g6+ Kg7 {And bow 34.f5 would jeep the advantage.} 34. Kd2 { This is a terrible move because it allows me to get active play/} Rh6 {[%mdl 8192] But not with this move which only placed the R in a passive position.} ( 34... d5 {and it's a whole new game!} 35. exd5 (35. f5 dxe4 36. Re3 Rh2 37. b3 e5 38. dxe4 Ba6 39. Ke1 c4 40. bxc4 Rh1+ 41. Kd2 Bxc4 {is a deaw. A possible continuation is...} 42. Nc1 Rh2+ 43. Kd1 Rh1+ 44. Kc2 Rh2+ 45. Kd1 {[%eval 0, 57]} Rh1+ 46. Kc2 Rh2+ 47. Kd1 {Threefold repititiom.}) 35... Bxd5 36. Rg5 Bb3 37. Rxc5 Kxg6 {This position should be drawn.}) 35. f5 Bc8 {Ar rgis point I realized the position was lost and came up with the idea of sacrificing the B and hoping to get two Ps fpr it.} 36. Nf4 Rh2+ 37. Kc1 b3 38. Rg2 Rh1+ 39. Kd2 Rh4 40. Nd5 Bxf5 41. exf5 {[%mdl 32]} Rd4 42. Nxe7 c4 43. Rg3 Rf4 44. dxc4 Rxc4 45. f6+ Kh6 46. g7 {Black resigned.} 1-0