Veresov came to the forefront of Soviet chess during the Second World War and according to Chessmetrics he ranked 21st in the world in 1945.
He was an aggressive, but uneven player who did not always place as high in tournaments as his skill would have indicated. Nevertheless, his opponents knew he was a dangerous attacker and they always had to be on the alert against him. He was noted for his strong and original opening play, precise, powerful middlegame attacks and his great skill in conducting counterattacks
In addition to the Veresov Attack (1. d4 d5: 2. Nc3 Nf6: 3. Bg5) as it is sometimes called, he produced a lot of analysis on the Sicilian, Queen's Gambit and the Nimzovich Defense.
In 1951 he completed graduate at the Academy of Sciences and defended a candidate's thesis which ultimately lead to his holding a high post in the Belorussian Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries.
He was awarded the Soviet Master title in 1937 after defeating Vasily Panov in a match 9-7. He played in the USSR Championships of 1934, 1940 and 1944.
In the following game from the semi-finals of the 1934 USSR Championship things are looking pretty humdrum, but when Ragozin works his pieces into a corner, Veresov moves in for the kill and finishes him off with a nice tactical blow.
Gavriil Veresov - Viacheslav Ragozin
Result: 1-0
Site: USSR Champ Semi-Finals, Tbilisi
Date: 1934
Gruenfeld Defense
[...] 1.d4 ♘f6 2.c4 g6 3.♘c3 d5 4.♘f3 ♗g7 5.♗f4 This move was very popular in the 1930s, but it's not often seen these days although there seems to be no good reason. In my database this move results in almost the same success rate as both the popular Exchange Variation (4,.cxd5) and the Russian Variation (5.Qb3). With 5.Bf4 white opts for play on the Q-side. 5...c6 6.e3 O-O 7.♕b3 ♕a5 8.♘d2 ♘a6
8...♘bd7 This is the move that is most often played. 9.cxd5 ♘xd5 10.♗g3 ♘xc3 11.bxc3 b6 12.♗c4 ♗a6 13.O-O Beliavsky, A (2652)-Eljanov,P (2561)/Bled 2002. The position is even.
8...c5 This did not work out well at all in this game... 9.cxd5 cxd4 10.exd4 ♘a6 11.a3 e6 12.dxe6 ♖e8 13.♗c4 ♗xe6 14.O-O b6 15.♗e5 ♘g4 16.♗xe6 ♘xe5 17.♗d5 ♘d3 18.♘c4 1-0 Dinic,G (2250)-Vlatkovic,S (2330)/Belgrade SRB 2012
9.♗e2 dxc4
9...♕b4 10.O-O dxc4 11.♘xc4 ♘d5 12.♘xd5 cxd5 13.♘a3 ♕xb3 14.axb3 is even. Vakhidov,T (2455)-Rakhimov,D/Uzbekistan 1993
10.♘xc4 ♕b4 11.♕d1
11.♕xb4 is neither good nor bad. After... 11...♘xb4 12.O-O ♘bd5 13.♗e5 neither side can claim an advantage.
11...♘e4 12.O-O ♘xc3 13.bxc3 ♕b5 14.♖b1 ♕d5 15.f3 b6 16.♘e5 ♗xe5 17.♗xe5 ♗b7 18.c4 ♕e6 19.♗f4 ♖fd8 20.♕c2 ♘b8 21.c5 Are you bored yet? After a routine move like 21...Nd7 22.a4 white would have the initiative and some play on the Q-side. So, black tries keeping the Q-side closed. 21...b5 White meets this with a surprising reply. 22.♗c4 Black can hardly afford to take the B. 22...♕c8 (22...♕xc4 23.♕xc4 bxc4 24.♖xb7 ♘d7 and white stands well.)
22...bxc4 23.♖xb7 ♘d7 24.♖c1 ♘f6 25.♕xc4 ♕xc4 26.♖xc4 ♖d7 27.♖cb4 ♘d5 28.♖xd7 ♘xb4 29.a3 ♘d5 White has a winning position.
23.♕b3 With all of black's pieces crammed into the corner and not a single piece defending his K you just know white will discover a way to win. 23...e6 24.a4 a6 25.♗d3 ♘d7 26.♗d6 ♘f8 This lone defender of the K won't be enough. 27.e4 The breakthrough begins. 27...♔g7 28.f4 ♕d7 29.f5 exf5 30.exf5 f6 31.fxg6 hxg6 The K seems to have some measure of safety. 32.♖xf6 Bang! An abrupt finish. Black resigned.
32.♖xf6 ♔xf6 33.♖f1+ ♔g7 34.♗e5+ ♔h6 35.♕g8 ♖e8 36.♖xf8 and black can delay mate on g6, but not prevent it.
32.♖xf6 ♗c8 33.♗e5 ♕d5 34.♖xg6+ ♔f7 35.♖g7+ ♔e8 36.♗f6 Threatened with Re7# black can only delay mate by throwing away material.
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