A Kotov Brilliancy

Alexander Kotov

    The 1952 chess year started with Svetozar Gligoric winning Hastings 1951/52. Mikhail Botvinnik and Mark Taimanov tied for the USSR championship and Botvinnik won the play-off match. Twenty-year old Larry Evans crushed veteran Herman Steiner 10-4 in a US Championship match. Evans also won the US Open that year. 

     In other chess news, Hungarian master Geza Fuster (1910-1990) defected and sought asylum and eventually immigrated to Canada. Samuel Reshevsky defeated Miguel Najdorf 11-7 in a match that was billed as being for the Championship of the Free World. Svetozar Gligoric took first on tiebreak over Oscar Pomar in the Hollywood International. 

    The USSR team (Keres, Smyslov, Bronstein, Geller, Boleslavsky, and Kotov) won the Helsinki Olympiad. The US team (Reshevskym Evans, R. Byrne, Bisguier. Koltanowski and Berliner) finished fifth. 

    The following players were lost that year: Robert F, Combe (born 1912), former British champion, died in Aberdeen, Scotland. French problem composer Henri Rinck (born1870) died in Barcelona. Talented Czecg IM Jan Foltys died at the age of 43. Efim Bogoljubov died at the age of 63 in Triberg, Germany. British player William Napier (born in 1881) died in Washington DC at the age of 71. British chess author Philip W. Sergeant (born 1872) died in England at the age of 80. 

    In the following game played in the 1952 Stockholm Interzonal. Alexander Kotov’s victory over Gedeon Barcza, an eight time Hungarian champion, is remembered for his attacking play, particularly his Knight sacrifice on f5. His win was the culmination of his strong opening play against Barcza’s less than optimal handling of that phase of the game.

 

    This event was the highlight of Kotov’s career; he finished first with a dominant score of 16.5-3.5. He finished a full three points ahead of Taimanov and Petrosian. In the 1953 Candidates Tournament in Zurich, he was dar less successful posting a 14-14 score and tying with Taimanov for 8th place (out of 15). 

 

[Event "Stockholm Interzonal"] [Site ""] [Date "1952.10.16"] [Round "?"] [White "Alexander Kotov"] [Black "Gedeon Barcza"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E72"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "1952.09.15"] {E72: King's Indian Defense} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. g3 { Not often played, but it's a solid and flexible variation.} O-O 6. Bg2 e5 { Black has several good replies, but this is the most popular.} 7. Nge2 exd4 8. Nxd4 Nc6 9. Nc2 {White usually castles here, but the text and 9.Nxc6 are also good alternative.} (9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. O-O Nd7 {gives black good play on the long diagona; and he will play ...Ne5 after which he is prepared to begin operations on the Q-side.}) 9... Be6 {The plan Baecza is following does not offer him very active play. A more active plan is ...Nd7-c5 pressuring the e-Pawn followed by preparing the advance of his Q-side Ps.} 10. b3 Qd7 { Barcza,s rather simplistic plan to to exchange light squared Bs, but it's not a very effective one because his chances are on the Q-side.} 11. O-O Bh3 12. f3 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 a6 {Barczas move intemds to commence play on the Q-side.} (13... Nh5 {This K-side demonstration as played by Yudovich against Botvinnik is solid and ended in a draw.} 14. Bb2 f5 15. exf5 Qxf5 16. Ne3 Qf7 17. Qd5 Rae8 18. Rae1 Nf6 19. Qd2 a6 20. f4 Ne7 21. Rf2 Nf5 22. Rfe2 Nxe3+ 23. Rxe3 Rxe3 24. Rxe3 Re8 {½-½ Botvinnik,M-Yudovich,M Leningrad 1939}) 14. Bb2 Na7 {This prepares the immediate advance ...b5, but it leaves the N artificially placed. There were better alternatives. 14...Rab8 preparing ...b5 and the 14...Nh5 idea is still feasible.} 15. Qd2 $16 b5 16. Ne3 c6 17. Rad1 Rad8 {Black has not played the opening very actively (14...Na7 being the culprit) the result has been a weakening of his position: the N is misplaced and his d-Pawn is weak. Kotov now carries out an instructive maneuver culminating in a briilliant tactic in which his B makes itself felt.} 18. Ne2 {[%mdl 32] A powerful move! The idea is to maneuver the N to f5, but there is also a very strong positional threat, namely Qa5 attacking the a-Pawn and Barcza's next move meets that threat. but not very well!} Qc7 (18... bxc4 {was the best try, but afterter} 19. bxc4 c5 {Prevents a potential c5 by white plus it makes room to get the N back into play.} 20. g4 Nc6 21. h4 {white has a strong attack in progress.}) 19. Bc3 Qe7 {There is no better choice than to return, If 19...Rd7 white has more than one way to skin the cat: 20.Qb2, 20.g4 ar 20.h4, all good moves.} 20. Nd4 {Preparing the crusher. Black is now quite lost.} Ne8 {This seemingly parries the threat of 21.Ndf5} 21. Ndf5 {This brillaint tactic is based on the power of white's B and after the elimination of black's B there is another surprising point which will be seen on move 24.} gxf5 22. Nxf5 Qc7 23. Nxg7 Nxg7 24. Bf6 {This quiet move is the point of Kotov's tactical display...the defense by advancing his f-Pawn is prevented and white threatens Qg5 threatening mate.} Kh8 25. Qg5 Rg8 26. h4 Rde8 {Black's only hope is to eliminate white's B even if it costs the exchange, but even that is grasping at straws.} 27. h5 Re5 (27... Re6 28. h6 Rxf6 29. Qxf6 Nc8 30. c5 Qd7 31. Rh1 Qe7 32. hxg7+ Rxg7 33. Qxe7 Nxe7 34. cxd6 {wins}) 28. Bxe5 dxe5 29. Qf6 Nc8 30. h6 Ne7 31. Rd2 {Black resigned. A great game that was nearly perfectly played by Kotov.} 1-0