The sensation of the tournament was Nicolas Rossolimo’s brilliant Queen sacrifice in his game against Puerto Rican Master Paul Reissmann which was reminiscent of Marshall famous Queen sacrifice against Levitsky at Breslau, 1912. See the game HERE
In addition to being a brilliancy, the game is also an instructive example of opening play. Inexperienced players have all surely read that unnecessary Pawn moves in the opening delay the development of pieces and can have drastic consequences. Even so, they are still prone to waste time with moves like a3 (or ...a6) and h3 (or ...h6) in the belief that they are thereby securing their position against possible attacks by their opponent’s N or B. However, such moves are often mistakes unless there is a specific reason for them.
Pawn moves in the opening are a means of developing the
pieces, but Pawns also play an important part in controlling the center. Watch how Rossoilimo does it using one of his favorite opening, the Giuoco Piano, one of the oldest recorded openings. Even so, Reissmann has the antidote that keeps the position equal, but he soon plays too passively and Rossolimo’s position just keeps getting stronger until it explodes with a Queen sacrifice.
Dating back to the 16th century, the Giuoco Piano was popular through the 19th century, but refinements for black pretty much put the kibosh on it at the top levels except as a surprise weapon.
[Event "Puerto Rican Open, San Juan, 1967"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1967"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Nicolas Rossolimo"]
[Black "Paul Reissmann"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C54"]
[Annotator "Stockfiah 17"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "1967.??.??"]
{C54: Giuoco Piano} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 {It's interesting that in my
database white's winning percentage remains about the same with this or the
Ruy Lopez (a little over 30%), but black's winning percentage changes
significantly. With the Ri Lopez it's 20%. With the Giuoco Piano it jumps to
28%.} Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 {White's last move did not aid his development so black
takes the opportunity to get his pieces into play. This move, attacking the
e-Pawn, is clearly his best.} 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ {Best. Black dare not
play 6...Bb6 because wite would then gain time as well as space in the center
with 7.d5} (6... d5 {Falls short after} 7. exd5 Bb4+ 8. Nc3 Nxd5 9. O-O {
Black has to capture on c3 and whether he does it with the B or the N white
has the better game/}) 7. Bd2 Bxd2+ {Safer than 7...Nxe4 which gets tricky
tactically,} (7... Nxe4 8. Bxb4 Nxb4 {Now 9.Qb3 d5 is solid, but white can get
fancy with} 9. Bxf7+ Kxf7 10. Qb3+ Kf8 11. Qxb4+ Qe7 12. Qxe7+ Kxe7 {and
things have fizzled out to equality.}) 8. Nbxd2 {It would appear that white
has now achieved the ideal and strong Pawn center he was aiming for, but
black's next move is a strong counterattacking move that shatters the illusion
that white has a dominating position.} d5 {This is the most precise way to
counter in the center. He could also play the tricky 8...Nxe5 though.} 9. exd5
Nxd5 10. Qb3 {White has an isolated d-Pawn which could be a disadvantage in
the ending, so he must post his pieces as actively as possible and hope to
attack.} Nce7 11. O-O c6 {Black is playing to keep control of the vital square
d5..} 12. Rfe1 O-O 13. a4 {[%mdl 32] This position has been reached many times
and white has tried a variety of moves, but the text dates back to the late
1800s when the imaginative Russian Mikhail Chigorin played it.} b6 {Black
usually plays either 13...Qc7 or 13...Qb6, but neither is entirely
satisfactory. Opening theoretician Czech GM Ludek Pachman asserted that 13...
b6 (a new move at the time) contained the seeds of defeat, but a thourough
engine analysis shows an evaluation of 0.00, meanign, not that the position is
drawn, but that both side have chances. That said, from the practical point of
view white's position looks more promising and it;s certainly easier to play}
14. Ne5 {White's pieces arc extremely active and he is entertaining 15.Nxc6
Nxc6 17.Bxd5} Bb7 {Oddlym it is this, the logical followup to 13...b6,cwhere
black's troubles begin.} (14... Be6 15. Ndf3 (15. Ne4 f6 16. Nf3 Bf7 17. Ng3
Qd7 18. Rac1 Rfb8 19. Qd1 a5 {equals. Pereyra,H (2072)-Mazziotti Irigoyen,G
(2149) Los Polvorines 2003}) 15... h6 16. Rac1 Rb8 17. Qa3 Re8 {equals.
Pereyra,H (2072)-Mazziotti Irigoyen,G (2238) ARG 2003}) 15. a5 {Threatening 16.
a6 Bc8 17.Nxc6} Rc8 16. Ne4 {White's pieces are all well positioned. Compare
then to black's: His 14th move has left a pathe to f7 for his N and blacl,s
K-side is befreft of defenders.} Qc7 {Another small mistake. The R should have
moved here in order to make c8 available to the N.} 17. a6 {Forcing the B to
the most remote corner where it can be of no use during the looming attack on
the K.} Ba8 18. Qh3 {The centralized Ns are a major factor in white's attack
on the K. There is a looming threat of 19.Ng5 h6 20.Nxf7} Nf4 ({A pass to
illustrate the threat.} 18... Qb8 19. Ng5 h6 20. Nexf7 Rxf7 21. Nxf7 Kxf7 22.
Qe6+ Kf8 23. Ra3 {The addition of this R to the attack spells the end.}) 19.
Qg4 Ned5 20. Ra3 {The last undeveloped piece joins the action.} Ne6 {This
mistake allows white to pull his beautiful finish.} (20... c5 {offers some
hope of defending himself.} 21. Rg3 g6 22. Nf6+ Nxf6 23. Qxf4 Nd5 24. Bxd5 Bxd5
25. h4) 21. Bxd5 {The start of the winning attack...it removes a defender of
f6.} cxd5 22. Nf6+ Kh8 23. Qg6 {[%mdl 512] White has a number of ways to win,
but this move is both brilliant and strong. There is no playable defense..} Qc2
(23... gxf6 24. Qxf6+ Ng7 25. Rg3 Rg8 26. Nxf7+ Qxf7 27. Qxf7 Bc6 28. Qxa7 {
wins}) (23... Ng5 24. Qxg5 Qd6 25. Neg4 Rc6 26. Rh3 gxf6 27. Qh6 {mates}) 24.
Rh3 {[%mdl 512] There is no way of avoiding mate in 7} (24. Rh3 Ng5 25. Qxg5
gxf6 26. Qxf6+ Kg8 27. Ng4 h5 28. Rxh5 Qh7 29. Rxh7 Kxh7 30. Qh6+ Kg8 31. Nf6#)
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