One of the interesting games was his quick defeat of the strong Yugoslav GM Mato Damjanovic at Sochi 1967.
Damjanovic (March 23, 1927 – February 12, 2011) participated in many events during the 1960s and 1970s, his most active period, with mixed results. In more than a few cases his poor results could be attributed to losses that were the result of his selling points to players needing an extra point or two in order to obtain a title. Also, on occasion he preferred enjoying the host city's various attractions more than playing chess.
Sochi, situated on the Sochi River along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, is the largest resort city in Russia. Being a part of the Caucasian Riviera, it is one of the very few places in Russia with a subtropical climate with warm to hot summers and mild winters. It's a good place to hold chess tournaments.
The Sochi tournaments were a part of the Chigorin Memorial tournaments which were played in honor of Mikhail Chigorin (1850–1908), founder of the Soviet Chess School and one of the leading players of his day.
The first and most important event was played in 1909 in St. Petersburg. Later on a Memorial tournament series was established and mainly played in Sochi (from 1963 to 1990). Further irregular tournaments had been held in 1947, 1951, 1961, and 1972, played in diverse venues. From 1993 the venue returned to St. Petersburg and is now an Open event.
The fact that it's a beautiful resort area may account for the reason for the five-way tie for first with modest a 10-5 score in the 1967 tournament. Not all of the games were peaceful though.
One game was the Shamkovich's games against Damjanovic in which black played the Sicilian Scheveningen. The Scheveningen is characterized by black setting up a small center with Ps on d6 and e6. There are numerous move orders that reach the setup.
Leonid Shamkovich - Mato Damjanovic
Result: 1-0
Site: Sochi
Date: 1967.09
Sicilian Scheveningen
[...] 1.e4 c5 2.♘f3 e6 3.♘c3 ♘c6 4.d4 cxd4 5.♘xd4 a6 Black usually enters the Scheveningen with 5...d6 6.♗e2 ♕c7 7.O-O ♘f6 8.♔h1 ♗e7 9.f4 d6 The modest d6-e6 P-center gives black a solid defensive setup in which he controls of the critical d5 and e5 squares and at the same time retains flexibility to break in the center with either ...e5 or ...d5. Black can proceed with rapid development, and the opening provides sound counter chances and considerable scope for creativity. 10.♗e3 O-O 11.♕e1 By far the most popular move here is 11.a4 to restrain black on the Q-side, but Shamkovich prefers this more tactical Q move which he described as lighting the fuse. The maneuver Qe1-g3 is a thematic attacking theme in many variations of the Sicilian because from g3 it simultaneously supports a possible e4-e5 and at the same time transfers it to an active role on the K-side. In some games white conducts the attack by pushing the f- and g-Pawns instead of f- and e-Pawns. Both plans are viable, depending on move orders. When white has played Nb3 or black has avoided ...a6 and ...Qc7 the advance of the f- and g-Pawns is not very effective. 11...♗d7 12.♕g3 ♔h8 The main move here is 12...a4 which is usually met by 13.a3 although Shamkovich preferred the more aggressive 13.e5. Instead Damjanovich prefers this passive positional move with the idea of preventing potential threats like Bh6 and e5.
12...b5 is the natural move and nowadays white plays the solid 13.a3, but Shamkovich preferred the more aggressive advance of his e-Pawn. 13.e5 dxe5 Safer is 13. ..Ne8 14.fxe5 ♘xe5 15.♖xf6 (15.♗h6 ♘e8 16.♗f4 is about equal.) 15...♗xf6 16.♗f4 with a good game.
13.a3 White usually plays a R (either one) to d1. With this move Shamkovich prepares to try and take advantage of the positions of black's K in the corner by transferring the B to d3 and he does not want it threatened by ...Nb4. 13...♖ac8 14.♗d3
14.♖ae1 ♖fe8 15.♘f3 h6 16.♗d3 b5 17.e5 With a good game after 17...Nh7. Instead black blundered with... 17...♘d5 18.♗d2 dxe5 19.♘xe5 ♘d8 20.♘xd5 exd5 21.♗c3 ♗f6 22.♘xf7+ 1-0 Erenburg,S (2569)-Hua,E (2301)/Linthicum USA 2018
14...b5 15.♖ae1 White has a very active position
15.♘xc6 gives white no more than equality after 15...♗xc6 16.♗d4 ♔g8 17.e5 ♘h5 18.♕h3 g6 Uvarov,V (2210)-Antoniewski,R (2310)/ Tallinn 1997
15...♕b8 Black is preparing ...b4 16.e5 Shamkovich ignores black's intentions and proceeds with his own plan. 16...♘g8 This is a horrible move because it deprives the K of access to g8.
16...dxe5 is best. After 17.♘xc6 ♗xc6 18.fxe5 ♘d7 This is better than Shamkovich's 18...Nh5 19.♕h3 g6 and black's defenses are adequate.
17.♘xc6 White had another promising possibility in 17.Qh3 which is equally good. 17...♗xc6 18.♗d4 White has, according to Shamkovich, a perfect attacking position.
18.♕h3 was an even better way to keep up the pressure. 18...h6 19.f5 dxe5 20.f6 with a very strong attack.
18...b4 Damjanovich ignores the gathering storm against his K and continues his counterattack, but he should have tended to the defense of his K first.
18...f6 was correct. 19.exf6 ♗xf6 20.♗xf6 ♖xf6 21.♘e4 ♗xe4 and white's attack is at a standstill and black has equalized.
19.f5 Objectively speaking white's best here is bring the N to safety first by playing 19.Ne2, but Shamkovich's sacrifice is also OK. When asked after the game if he calculated the piece sacrifice when he played 16. e5 or earlier? Shamkovich pointed out that a GM does not always calculate many moves ahead. He wrote that he knew of only two contemporary GMs that calculated almost on the level of computers Tal in his prime and Kasparov both of whom maintained a practical balance between calculation, intuition, and preparation He stated: Usually there is no necessity for extended calculation except in the most complicated or forcing positions. I was aware of the possibility for this advance earlier, but I considered it in detail only after my opponent played 18.b4.
19.♘e2 bxa3 20.f5 f6 21.exf6 ♗xf6 22.fxe6 ♗xd4 23.♘xd4 axb2 24.♖xf8 ♖xf8 25.♘xc6 with the advantage (Komodo after 60 minutes evaluating the position).
19...bxc3 A near fatal miscalculation.
19...f6 This is by far black's best defense. 20.exf6 ♗xf6 21.♗xf6 gxf6 22.axb4 e5 23.♘e4 ♗xe4 24.♗xe4 ♕xb4 and the chances would be about equal.
19...exf5 Against this Shamkovich had prepared an elegant win: 20.♖xf5 bxc3 21.exd6 ♗f6 22.♕h3 The threat is Qxh7+ and Rh5 mate 22...♘h6 23.♖xf6 winning.
20.f6 This is the point of the attack. It clears the way to black's King for his Bs, in particular the one on d4, the key piece in white's attack. 20...♗xf6 21.exf6 g6
21...gxf6 allows a mate in 6... 22.♕h4 h6 23.♖xf6 ♗xg2+ 24.♔g1 e5 25.♖xh6+ ♘xh6 26.♕xh6+ mate next move.
22.♗xg6 This is a colossal blunder that Shamkovich mistakenly gave two !!s when annotating this game. 22...e5 This allows a mate in 7.
22...fxg6 is the only move Shamkovich considered and black gets mated in 12 moves as follows: 23.f7+ e5 24.♖xe5 ♗xg2+ 25.♔xg2 ♘f6 26.♖e7 ♕a8+ 27.♔g1 ♖xf7 28.♖xf6 ♖g7 29.♖xg6 ♕d5 30.♕xc3 hxg6 31.♗xg7+ ♔h7 32.♗f8+ ♕f7 33.♖xf7+ mate next move.
(22...hxg6 is worse. 23.♕h3+ ♘h6 24.♕xh6+ mates next move.)
22...♘h6 This defense was overlooked by Shamkovich. 23.♕h3 ♖g8 24.♕xh6 ♖xg6 Forces white to surrender his Q for the R or else face 25.♕e3 ♗xg2+ 26.♔g1 cxb2 and white is totally helpless.
23.♖xe5 According to Shamkovich this is a logical finish, but while flashy, it's not worth the ! he gave it because the prosaic 23.Bxh7 forces mate.
23.♗xh7 ♘xf6 24.♖xf6 ♗xg2+ 25.♕xg2 ♕b3 26.♕h3 exd4 27.♗d3+ ♔g7 28.♕h7+ ♔xf6 29.♕h6#
23...♗xg2+ 24.♔xg2 dxe5 25.♗e4 ♘xf6 26.♗xe5 Damjanovic resigned.
26.♗xe5 ♕xe5 27.♕xe5 ♖g8+ 28.♔h3 ♖g7 29.♕xf6 ♔g8 30.♗d5 h6 31.♗xf7+ ♔h7 32.♕f5+ ♔h8 33.♕xc8+ ♔h7 34.♕f5+ ♔h8 35.♗g6 a5 36.♕f8+ ♖g8 37.♕xh6#
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