The Aggressive f-Pawn Advance

    Ludek Pachman (1924-2003) won the 1957 Czechoslovak Championship that was held in Prague. Pachman was a dominant figure in Czechoslovak chess during this era and was known for his strong international performance, including victory in the 1957 Dublin Zonal tournament. 

    Few people realize how strong Pachman was during the late 1950s. (n their December 1959 rating list Chess metrics rates him at 2695 placing him at #15 in the world. That put him in a group with names like David Bronstein, Bobby Fischer, Lazslo Szabo, Miguel Najdorf and Samuel Reshevsky. Mikhail Botvinnik (2797) and Pail Keres (2772) lead the list. 

    Remember these ratings do not compare to those of today! Ratings measure statistical performance against opponents, not absolute strength. A good example of this point was made in the 1970s by  Claude F. Bloodgoo III (1937-2001), a petty criminal who was serving a life sentence in the Virginia State Penitentiary for murdering his mother. 

    Bloodgood was of about Expert (200-2199) strength, but he pumped up his rating to over 2700 when he manipulated the rating system by creating a rated pool of fellow prisoners and submitted fake tournaments. 

    In the process of winning the ‘57 Czech Championship Pachman played the following instructive game that illustrates the motif of advancing the f-Pawn which can be either a high-risk or a high-reward tactical and positional idea that is used to break open the center or launch a K-side attack. 

     In the King's Indian Defense the advance of the f-Pawn is a common aggressive strategy that initiates a Pawn storm against the opponent's castled King.  

[Event "Czech Champ, Prague"] [Site ""] [Date "1957.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Ludek Pachman"] [Black "Jiri Kopriva"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E94"] [Annotator "Stockfish 18"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "1957.??.??"] {E94: King's Indian: Classical} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Nf3 e5 7. O-O {This is the classical system.} c6 {Black has multiple options here. Besides the text he can also play 7...Nbd7 or the interesting 7.. .Na6.} 8. Re1 {An old move. Other options are 8.Be3 and 8.d5} Qe7 {Frequently seen is 8...Nbd7} 9. Bf1 {Another old move which really serves to purpose.} Bg4 10. d5 $1 c5 11. h3 {Emphasizing the point that black's 9th move was harmless and he should have played 9...Nbd7. Of course he does not want to trade it foe the N so he has to undevelop it woth 11...Bc8 or go back to d7 where it takes that square away fron the N. As a result of black's less than accurate opening play white already has a considerable advantage.} Bd7 12. a3 a5 13. Bd2 Na6 14. Rb1 b6 15. g3 {Over the last several moves operations on the Q-side have come to a standoff. Consequently, both sides turn their attention to the other side and utilize the motif of advancing their f-Pawn. This advance proves to be more difficult for black. Where is black's N on a3 going to find employment?} h6 (15... Ne8 {Clearing the way for the advance of the f-Pawn.} 16. g4 f5 17. exf5 gxf5 18. Bd3 fxg4 19. Ng5 Nf6 20. hxg4 {White's pieces are aggressively placed agaosnt and the shaky position of black's K.}) 16. Nh4 Kh7 17. Kh2 $18 Ng8 18. Bd3 {This is additional preparation for the advance of the f-Pawn. Pachman judged its immediate advance to be premature.} f6 (18... Rab8 {This attept to generaye play on the Q-side can be ignored by white.} 19. Rg1 Nc7 20. a4 {Black is stopped cold.}) 19. f4 {After this a casual glance at the position may give the impression that black s defenses on the K-side will hold, but, in fact, white is winning.} Qd8 20. f5 g5 {With the P-formation locked up it may look like black has succeeded in defending himself, but watch how Packman opens up the position.} 21. Ng6 Rf7 22. h4 Be8 23. Rh1 Rb7 {Black's pieces are horribly limitde in mobility.} 24. Kg2 {Preparing to open the h-file.} Bxg6 25. fxg6+ Kxg6 26. hxg5 fxg5 {Now the obvious way to continue the attack is 27.Qh5+. In his analysis Pachman concluded that black would get some very good defensive possibilities. After a 30 minute analysis by Stockfish white had a decisive advantage, but there was no forced win, so in principle Pachman was correct.} 27. Be2 {This is a surprising move because it blocks the Qs path to the K-side, but even though it leads to a winning position because 17.Qh5+ gets complicated the text is a bit more clear. As played in the game the B comes into play and the position of black;s K remains very unsafe.} Kh7 (27... Nf6 {prevents Bh6+ but white has} 28. Bg4 {Od courde black will not willing exchange his N which aids in the defense.} Nc7 { Prevents Be6} 29. Qf3 Kf7 (29... Qe7 30. Bxg5 Kf7 (30... hxg5 {30...Kf7 4.96} 31. Bh5+ Nxh5 32. Qxh5+ {mate next move.}) 31. Bxh6 {White has a winning attack against the nude black K.}) 30. Rbf1 Qe7 31. Be6+ Nxe6 32. dxe6+ Qxe6 33. Nd5 {wins the N.}) 28. Bg4 Nc7 {Even though this N aids the defense by covering e6 white's pieces are so well coordinated that black no longer has any defense.} 29. Bf5+ Kh8 30. Qh5 Ne8 31. Rh2 (31. Bxg5 {Pachman saw this, but concluded that his way was even stronger. Technically there is not that much difference between the two moves, but practically speaking Pachman was correct.} Nef6 32. Qh4 Qe7 33. Rbf1 Rf8 {Strategically white is winning, but there is no clear path to a breakthrough/}) 31... Bf6 32. Qg6 Rg7 (32... Raa7 { was a smidgen better.} 33. Rxh6+ Nxh6 34. Qxh6+ Kg8 35. Be6+ Rf7 36. Rf1 Bg7 37. Qg6 {White has a decisive advantage.}) 33. Rxh6+ Nxh6 34. Qxh6+ Kg8 35. Be6+ Kf8 36. Rf1 {This pin concludes the game. White wants to mate with Bxg5.} Raa7 37. Bxg5 Raf7 38. Nb5 {Well played! Of course he could have played 38. Bxf6, but black is now out of reasonable moves.} Ke7 39. Rxf6 {Black resigned. The pim decides the game. A very strong performance by Pachman.} (39. Rxf6 Nxf6 40. Bxf6+ Rxf6 41. Qxg7+ Ke8 42. Nc7+) 1-0