In July David Ben-Gurion resigned as Prime Minister and new elections were called for the Knesset. Also in July the Wadi Salib riots took place. They were a series of street demonstrations that resulted in vandalism in the Wadi Salib neighborhood of Haifa that were sparked by the police shooting of a Moroccan Jewish immigrant. Rioters accused the police of ethnic discrimination against Mizrahi Jews.
On November 4th, six Israeli jets and four Egyptian MiG-17s snarled in a dogfight near the border between the two nations. All planes reportedly returned safely and the battle did not lead to further action.
In other Israeli news, in 1959 the Israel Chess Federation organized the first international chess tournament in Israel. Top players from Russia, Yugoslavia and other countries were invited, but for various reasons most of them were unable to participate and that left Samuel Reshevsky and Hungary's Laszlo Szabo as the only leading GMs and it was obvious from the beginning that first place was going to be won by one of them.
By coincidence the deciding game between Szabo and Reshevsky was scheduled for the last round. It was a hard fought game in which Reshevsky (black) played the K-Indian, a defense that was a new experiment for him. Szabo established a considerable advantage in the middlegame, but with grim determination Reshevsky fought back. In the ensuing R and P ending Szabo again had gained the advantage, but let it slip away and after 69 moves they agreed to a draw.
In the meantime, the two GMs had to continue to chalk up points in order to keep up with each other. This was a considerable strain on the nerves because most of the other participants were not easy to beat. Reshevsky's game against England's Robert Wade was case in point. He held his own until after adjournment. Upon resumption he got into terrific time trouble and made a slip in the ending. A tough loss for Wade.
Robert Wade - Samuel Reshevsky
Result: 0-1
Site: Haifa/Tel Aviv
Date: 1959
King's Indian: Four Pawns Attack
[...] 1.d4 ♘f6 2.c4 g6 3.♘c3 ♗g7 Reshevsky had only recently decided recently to play the K-Indian and at time was still experimenting with it. 4.e4 d6 5.f4 The Four Ps Attack seems to give white complete control of the center, but it is only an illusion as black can break it up by means of an immediate counterattack and for that reason it's never been especially popular in GM play. 5...O-O 6.♘f3 c5 Best. 7.d5 e6 8.♗e2 ♖e8 9.O-O exd5 10.exd5 The open e-file may very well lead to exchanges of heavy pieces and easy equality for black. 10...♘g4 Threatening ...Ne3. Black is willing to lose a few tempi in order to exchange white's B. 11.♗d3 ♘e3 12.♗xe3 ♖xe3 13.♕d2 ♖e8 14.♖ae1 ♖xe1 15.♖xe1 ♘d7 16.g4 An aggressive continuation hoping to take advantage of black's lagging development by initiating a K-side attack by the advance f5 or g5.
32...♘f5 Nice...it prevents the K from going to e2 because ...Nd4+ would win a P. 33.♘f3 ♔c7 34.♔e2 b5 35.axb5 axb5 36.♘f2 ♔b6 37.♘e4 ♗g7 38.♔d3 bxc4+
44.♘a3 ♘e7 45.♘b5 ♘c8 This is a critical position because thanks to his 43rd move he was in terrific time pressure and black is threatening to win the c-Pawn with ...Kb4 and ...Nb6. 46.♘bc3 ♔b4 Wade could still have held the game by attacking the d-Pawn. Instead he makes a time pressure blunder and loses. 47.♘a2+
16.h3 didn't give white anything. 16...♘f6 17.♔h2 ♗d7 18.♘d1 ♕b6 19.♘f2 ♖e8 20.♖xe8+ ♘xe8 21.b3 with a dead equal position. Simantsev,M (2371)-Onischuk,V (2251)/Kiev 2004
16.♕e3 (Reshevsky) 16...♘f6 17.♕e7 ♕xe7 18.♖xe7 ♔f8 with a slight advantage.
16.♘e4 (Reshevsky) 16...♘f6 17.♘xf6+ ♗xf6 18.f5 ♗d7 and white is making no progress.
16...♘f6 17.h3 h6 Played in order to meet the advance of the f-Pawn with ...g5. 18.♔h2 ♗d7 19.g5 hxg5 20.fxg5
20.♘xg5 ♘h5 Intending ...Qf6. Black is better. 21.♘ce4 would be a blunder... 21...♘xf4 22.♕xf4 ♗e5
20...♘h5 21.♘e4 ♗f5 22.b3 ♕d7 23.♘f2 This defends the h-Pawn and at the same time forces the exchange of Bs. 23...♗xd3 24.♕xd3 ♖e8 25.♖xe8+ ♕xe8 As a result of the exchanges the position is equal and what can go wrong for white? 26.♕e4 Wade quite correctly wants to exchange Qs because his K is somewhat vulnerable. 26...♔f8
26...♕xe4 This immediate exchange of Qs by black was not a good idea because his K comes into action more slowly than it does by letting white make the trade. 27.♘xe4 ♗f8 Also, his B is tied down. 28.♔g2 ♗e7 29.♔f2 ♘f4 30.h4 and if there is any advantage to be had it belongs to white.
27.♕xe8+ ♔xe8 28.♘d3 Equally good would have been 28.Ne4 but the text was played to keep black's N out of f4. This ending is completely equal, but Reshevsky thought he had some slight chances on the Q-side. In this type of position the burden is always on the weaker player because one small slip and the stronger opponent will pounce on it. 28...♗c3 A very instructive move. The purpose is to prevent white's N from maneuvering Nd2-e4 after which black would have to defend his d-Pawn. Reshevsky wanted his K free to roam. 29.♔g2 a6 30.a4 ♔d7 31.♘h2 Intending to maneuver the N to h6 where it would attack the f-Pawn. 31...♘g7 32.♔f2
32.♘g4 Turns out to be a dead end after 32...♘f5 33.♘h6 ♘xh6
33...♘d4 also leads nowhere. 34.♘f2 ♘xb3 35.♘e4 ♗g7 36.♘xf7 ♘a5 37.♘exd6 ♗f8 38.♘xb7 ♘xb7 39.♘e5+ ♔e8 40.♘xg6 and black is fighting to hold the draw.
34.gxh6 ♔e7 35.♘f2 f5 36.h4 ♗f6 37.♔g3 ♔f8 38.♘h3 ♔g8 39.♘g5 with a draw. 38...♔a5 was no better as white has a number of good replies that keep the draw in hand. 39.♘fd2 ♔b4 40.cxb5 ♔xb5 41.♘c4 ♗f8 42.♔c3 ♗e7 43.♘f6 with a draw is just one way.
39.bxc4
39.♔xc4 ♗f8 The threat is to win a P with ...Ne3+ 40.♔d3 (Reshevsky) 40...♔b5 41.♘fd2 ♔b4 and Reshevsky claimed white is practically in Zugzwang which is simply not the case. 42.♘c3 and there is absolutely no way black can make progress. 42...♗g7 43.♘a2+ ♔a3 44.♘c3 ♘e7 45.♔c4 etc.
39...♔a5 40.♘e1 ♗e5 Another GM move. The idea is to free the N for possible action. The game was adjourned here and the position is dead equal, but in order to keep up with Szabo, Reshevsky spent many hours analyzing trying to find a way to win. 41.♘c2 ♗f4 Another GM move. It has the dual purpose of tying down the N on e4 and preventing white from playing Ne3.
41...♔a4 This looks like a logical way of making progress with the K, but it allows 42.♘e3 ♘xe3 43.♔xe3 ♔b3 44.♔d3 ♗f4 45.h4 ♗e5 46.♘d2+ and black has made no progress. Hence the move 41...Bf4
42.♘a3 ♘d4 Note that the database 365Chess incorrectly give black's move as 42...Ne7 although the position ends up the same due to the repetition, but the distinction is important because Reshevsky originally intended a move that is not possible after 42...Ne7. 43.♘c2 Wade took almost an hour to make this move and after the game admitted that had Reshevsky played his intended 43...Nf3 he had had not seen the correct answer of 44.Nxc5. 43...♘f5
43...♘f3 This move winning the g-Pawn was what Reshevsky intended, but to his dismay, at the last minute he saw Wade's surprising reply. 44.♘xc5 dxc5
44...♘xg5 doesn't make any progress either after 45.♘d7 ♘xh3 46.♔d4 ♘f2 47.c5 dxc5+ 48.♔xc5 ♘e4+ 49.♔d4 ♘d6 50.♔c5 g5 51.♘f6 and black can make no further progress.
45.♔e4 ♘xg5+ 46.♔xf4 f6 47.h4 ♘f7 48.♔e4 with an equal position. 47.♘b5 ♗e5 48.h4 ♔b3 49.♘d2+ ♔b4 50.♘e4 and there is nothing black can do except take the draw.
47...♔b3 ...and wins. 48.♘ac3 ♘b6 49.♘e2 ♗e5 50.♘c1+ ♔a3 51.♘e2 ♘a4 52.♘2c3 This seals his fate.
52.♘c1 ♘b2+ 53.♔c2 ♘xc4 54.♘d3 would have allowed him to put up stiffer resistance. 54...♗h2 55.♘f6 ♔a4 56.h4 ♘e3+ 57.♔d2 ♘f5 58.h5 gxh5 59.♘xh5 ♔b3 60.♘hf4 c4 61.♘c1+ ♔b2 62.♘fe2 ♗e5 Zugzwang
52...♘xc3 53.♘xc3 ♗xc3 54.♔xc3 ♔a4 The c-Pawn is lost and with it the game. A tough loss for Wade. Powered by Aquarium
No comments:
Post a Comment