In the Middle Ages, Gotha was a rich trading town on the trade route Via Regia and between 1650 and 1850, the city saw a cultural heyday as a center of sciences and arts.
Industrialization started there around 1850 and the city continued to prosper. Under Nazi rule, Gotha became a center of the arms industry with nearly 7,000 forced laborers working in the city's factories. During the Kristallnacht in 1938 the synagogue was destroyed.
During the war allied air raids in 1944 and '45 damaged some buildings in the city, in particular the state theater (demolished by East German authorities in 1958) and the main station (which remains only half-a-building) and the main church (rebuilt after the war). Nevertheless, some 95 percent of the buildings survived unscathed. Jewish slave laborers working in quarries at Gotha were all murdered by their Nazi overseers on April 4, 1945, just before the city was captured by American forces.
The American Army was replaced by the Soviets in July 1945 and in 1949 Gotha became part of the GDR. During this period, some historic inner-city quarters were replaced and many other buildings fell derelict.
The highlight of the 1957 Gotha tournament was David Bronstein's lost to the little known Polish IM Bogdan Sliwa.
Sliwa (February 4, 1922 - May 16, 2003) won the Polish championship six times and was a frequent competitor in European tournaments after the war. Chessmetrics assigns him a high rating of 2586 in 1955, ranking him 71st in the world.
His win over Bronstein in the Gotha event is probably Sliwa's most famous and it's been called the Immortal Losing Game.
Bronstein wrote, "If you have made a mistake or committed an inacuracy there is no need to become annoyed and to think that everything is lost. You have to reorient yourself quickly and find a new plan in the new situation." - Bronstein. In this game, in a completely lost position, Bronstein plays on hoping for a swindle.
Bogdan Sliwa - David Bronstein
Result: 1-0
Site: Gotha GDR
Date: 1957.09
Dutch Defense
[...] 1.d4 f5 The Dutch is one of the most aggressive openings against 1.d4 and it has a low percentage of draws. Black breaks with conventional wisdom and instead of developing his pieces or occupying the center with a center P, black takes control over the key square e4.Also, the f-Pawn can become a dangerous attacking unit later in the game because black tries to get the initiative on the K-side. White aims for expansion on the Q-side. Black gets active piece play that can lead to some exciting positions, ...f5 has weakened f7 and sometimes white can use that as a basis for an attack. 2.g3 The modern way.
26...♕xd5 Excellent! 27.♘c2 Putting an end to black's shenanigans. (27.♘xd5 Would have been a tragic mistake. 27...♘xa2#) 27...♗xc3 28.bxc3 ♕xa2 29.cxb4 Not 29.Nxb4 Qb1 mate. Black resigned.
2.♗g5 This is an interesting move that I have play with success on several occasions. If black isn't careful he can lose quickly! 2...h6 3.♗h4 g5 4.e3 ♘f6 5.♗g3 d6 6.h4 g4 7.h5 ♗e6 8.♘e2 ♗f7 9.♘f4 ♘bd7 10.♗d3 e5 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.♘g6 ♗xg6 13.hxg6 e4 14.♗c4 ♕e7 15.♗xc7 ♗g7 16.♗d6 Black resigned. Tartajubow-RP, Correspondence 2002
2...g6 3.♗g2 ♗g7 4.♘c3 ♘f6 5.♗g5 ♘c6
5...O-O This turns out poorly for black after 6.♕d3 ♘c6 7.O-O-O b5 Very bad, but white's position is already preferable. 8.♕xb5 ♖b8 Li Shilong (2511) -Dzhumaev,M (2549)/Manila 2008
5...d6 6.♕d2 h6 It seems that in the Dutch black must exercise great caution when it comes to playing ...h6 7.♗xf6 ♗xf6 8.e4 White is better. Vakhania,A (2182) -Golubov,S (2488)/Poti GEO 2018
6.♕d2 d6 7.h4 e6
7...h6 8.♗xf6 ♗xf6 9.♘f3 e6 10.O-O-O d5 White is better. Karl,H (2251)-De Laubadere,P (2003)/Hockenheim GER 2007
8.O-O-O An interesting continuation is 8.d5 8...h6 9.♗f4 ♗d7 10.e4 fxe4 11.♘xe4 ♘d5 (11...♘xe4 12.♗xe4 ♕f6 with a solid position for black.) 12.♘e2 ♕e7 Black dare not take the B.
12...♘xf4 13.♘xf4 and there's no good way to defend the g-Pawn. 13...♔f7 is just awful. 14.d5 exd5 15.♕xd5+ and wins.
13.c4 ♘b6 Now however taking on f4 was OK.
13...♘xf4 14.♘xf4 ♕f7 with equal chances. White's best chance is 15.d5 ♘d4 16.h5 with the initiative. Black's best chance is to give up the exchange and skedaddle to the Q-side with his K. 16...g5 17.♘g6 O-O-O 18.♘xh8 ♗xh8 White is slightly better.
14.c5 dxc5 15.♗xc7 Black's best chance is now to play 15...Nxd4 but after 16.Nd6+ his position would be quite miserable. 15...O-O 16.♗d6 ♕f7 17.♗xf8 ♖xf8 18.dxc5 ♘d5 19.f4 ♖d8
19...b6 is OK, but white is not obliged to open the c-file just yet. 20.♘2c3 bxc5 21.♘d6 ♕f6 22.♗xd5 exd5 23.♕xd5+ ♕e6 24.♕xc5 ♗d4 25.♕d5 ♕xd5 26.♘xd5 ♗g7 27.♖he1 and white is winning rather easily.
20.♘2c3 ♘db4 21.♘d6 ♕f8 22.♘xb7 ♘d4 Although this costs him the exchange it is the best practical chance because it allows black to set up a small snare if white gets careless. 23.♘xd8 ♗b5 Setting up a potential swindle.
23...♕xd8 24.♘e2 ♘xe2+ 25.♕xe2 ♕c8 26.♕c4 a5 27.♖he1 is also hopeless for black.
24.♘xe6 Nothing is going to save black...assuming white does not step into the snare.. 24...♗d3 Setting a clever trap.
24...♘xe6 25.♗d5 ♘d3+ 26.♔b1 ♘dxc5 27.♘xb5 ♔h7 28.♗xe6 ♘xe6 29.h5 ♕f5+ 30.♔a1 ♕xb5 Black is down the double exchange plus some Ps.
24...♘xa2+ 25.♘xa2 ♘xe6 26.♗d5 ♕xc5+ 27.♘c3 ♗c4 28.♖he1 ♗xd5 29.♕xd5 ♕xd5 30.♘xd5 with a very easy win.
25.♗d5 Threatening a discovered check and at the same time guarding the critical b3 square.
25.♘xf8 Would have been horrible. 25...♘xa2+ 26.♘xa2 ♘b3# Here we see the point of the B maneuver.
25...♕f5 Threatening another offer of his Q with ...Qxd5 26.♘xd4+
26.♖h2 A pass just to demonstrate the threat. 26...♕xd5 27.♘xd5
27.b3 would put black right back in the game after 27...♕xe6 28.♘d5 ♕xd5 29.♕xb4
27...♘xa2#29.cxb4 ♗f5 30.♖he1 ♔f7 31.g4 ♕xc2+ 32.♕xc2 ♗xc2 33.♔xc2 ♔f6 34.♖d6+ ♔g7 35.♖e7+ ♔f8 36.♖xa7 ♔e8 37.♖b6 g5 38.♖b8#
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