Tuesday, June 15, 2021

Dubrovnik 1950

     Known for its medieval architecture and fortified old town, Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia (present day Croatia) is a city on the Adriatic Sea and it is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean. The new cultural policy that began in Yugoslavia in 1950 enabled the creation of a form of socialism that was distinctly more liberal than the existing Soviet model. These changes opened up Yugoslavia’s culture and science to the West and lead to the country's improving its cultural and scientific. 
     That was the backdrop of the 9th Chess Olympiad, an open team tournament as well as several other events designed to promote chess that took place between August 20 and September 11, 1950. Eighty-four players from 16 nations took part. The 1950 Dubrovnik chess set was designed and manufactured specifically for the Olympiad. 
     The US team consisted of Samuel Reshevsky, I.A. Horowitz, Herman Steiner, George Shainswit, George Kramer and Larry Evans. While the team was the only one to go undefeated their +11 -0 =4 score was only good enough for fourth place because the placing was determined by game points. 

     The Yugoslav team (Svetozar Gligoric, Vasja Pirc, Dr. Petar Trifunovic and Milan Vidmar, Jr.) was one of the favorites and their overwhelming score of 3.5-0.5 in five matches allowed them to finish two full points ahead of another favorite, Argentina (Miguel Najdorf, Julio Bolbochan, Hector Rossetto and Hermann Pilnik). 
     In spite of the fact that the US defeated West Germany (Wolfgang Unzicker, Lothar Schmid, Gerhard Pfeiffer and Ludwig Rellstab) by a score of +2 -1 =1 the West Germans, also a strong team, exceeded expectations and edged the US team by a half point. 
 
     The following game is interesting in that Horowitz violated opening principles by advancing his d-Pawn twice in the first three move making the game a battle between time and space. Horowitz explained his reasoning. During the early rounds he noticed that Pirc like the Catalan Opening and since Horowitz would be playing black against him and wanted to win, he was determined to prepare something different. At the same time he realized that such a task would be almost impossible against such a sound opening. Yet he was struck with an idea and decided to "give it a fling." For all that, the opening ended up being nothing more than a reversed K-Indian. 
     As is often the case, especially in the pre-engine days when average players dare not question a master, the game was not the one sided thumping that the annotator's notes often indicated. Instead the game was a battle of ideas where both sides missed better chances.

Vasja Pirc - I.A. Horowitz

Result: 0-1

Site: Dubrovnik

Date: 1950.08.31

King's Indian Attack

[...] 1.♘f3 d5 2.g3 c5
2...d4 Horowitz actually thought about playing this, but knew that he could play it next move. 3.♗g2 c5 transposes anyway.
3.♗g2 d4 Usual is 3...Nc6 4.d4 with a Catalan. Black's plan is to control the center and cramp white's position. Horowitz observed that white has a couple of interesting possibilities to counter in the center with 4.c3 or 4.e3 in which case his plan was to maintain a P on d4 and perhaps play ...g6 and ...Bg7. 4.O-O
4.c3 ♘c6 5.cxd4 cxd4 6.♕a4 would pretty much force 6...d3 with a unique and interesting psotion already!
4.c3 dxc3 Abandoning the idea of keeping a P on d4. This move leads to 5.bxc3 ♘c6 6.O-O e5 7.d4 exd4 8.cxd4 cxd4 9.♕a4 ♗c5 White is better. There is an interesting tactical sequence after 10.♘e5 ♘ge7 11.♘xf7 ♔xf7 12.♕c4+ ♗e6 13.♕xc5
4...♘c6 5.d3 Pirc chooses not to tamper with the P on d4...a wise decision?
5.e3 g6 6.exd4 cxd4 Now after 7.d3 black has achieved his goal. However, white has an interesting try... 7.b4 This leads to some interesting play! 7...♘xb4 8.c3 dxc3 9.♕a4+ ♘c6 10.♘e5 ♗d7 11.♘xc6 bxc6 (11...♗xc6 loses to 12.♗xc6+ bxc6 13.♕xc6+) 12.♘xc3 and for the P white has good play.
12.♗xc6 won't give the same results now. 12...c2 13.♘c3 ♖c8 14.♗xd7+ ♕xd7 15.♕xd7+ ♔xd7 with equal chances.
5...♘f6 White has reached the a Kins's Indian Reversed position, with a move in hand. Theoretically, this gives him a slight advantage, but practically the advantage is minimal. 6.e4 e5
6...g6 Suggested by Reshevsky after the game. He was of the opinion that black would then have a good game. Horowitz realized that 6...e5 would later allow white the break f4, he preferred to p!ay an open game, rather than the closed one which would result from Reshevsky's suggestion. 7.e5 ♘d5 8.c4 ♘c7 9.♘bd2 ♗g7 10.♘e4 b6 is equal.
7.♘bd2 ♗d6 8.♘c4 ♗c7 9.a4 This position has been reached many times with the colors reversed. 9...O-O Horowitz himself gave this move a ? because without reason he changed plans. He originally intended to play 9...Qe7.10...Be6 and 11...O-O-O which he believed would not give white any attacking chances against his K. As played, black must suffer through a K-side attack. In reality Horowitz' 9...O-O does not deserve the ? as it is hardly a bad move, but on the other hand, psychologically it was, to his mind anyway, the wrong choice.
9...a6 10.♗d2 ♖b8 11.♕e1 O-O 12.a5 ♗e6 Valdes Romero,L (2406)-Ynojosa Aponte,F (2448)/ Tromso NOR 2014 was equal.
9...♗g4 10.h3 ♗xf3 11.♕xf3 a6 12.♗g5 b6 13.h4 h6 14.♗xf6 ♕xf6 15.♕xf6 gxf6 with equality. Hossain,M (2038)-Minhazuddin, A (2290)/Dhaka BAN 2018
9...♕e7 Horowitz 10.♘h4 ♗e6 11.♘f5 ♕f8 12.c3 O-O-O is also equal.
10.♘e1 In order to play f4 and open lines against black's K. 10...♖b8 11.f4 a6 12.f5 b5 13.♘a3 ♘e8 The plan is to set up a P barrier and at the same time centralize the N. 14.g4 The race is on. 14...f6 15.h4 ♘d6 16.♘f3 c4 17.g5 ♗b6 18.♔h1 ♗b7 19.♘h2⩲19...♘b4 20.♗d2
20.axb5 leads nowhere after 20...axb5 21.gxf6 gxf6 22.♗h6 ♖f7 23.♗f3 ♔h8 24.♖g1
20...♗c5 21.axb5 Horowitz. who did not suggest an alternative, called this a terrible strategic blunder in that it opens up the a-file which eventually favors black and labeled ity the turning point of the game. Neither Stockfish nor Komodo agree with him and evaluate the position as equal.
21.g6 turns out to be slightly better for black after 21...♕e7 22.♕h5 h6 and white operations on the K-side are at a standstill.
21...axb5
21...cxd3 is a loser. To wit... 22.cxd3 ♔h8 (22...♘xd3 23.♕b3+) 23.♗xb4 ♗xb4 24.♘c2 a5 25.♘xb4 axb4 26.♕h5 ♕e7 27.♘g4 ♖fc8 (27...♖g8 28.g6 h6 29.♘xh6 mates in two) 28.♗f3 ♖c2 29.♖g1 ♖bc8 30.gxf6 gxf6 31.♘h6 and wins
22.♕e1 ♘c6
22...c3 Was better because it prevents the advance of white's c-Pawn. 23.bxc3 dxc3 24.♗xc3 ♘c6 25.♘b1 b4 26.♗b2 ♗d4 with an approximately equal position.
23.♕g3 White misses his chance to seize the advantage. (23.b4 Excellent! 23...cxb3 24.cxb3 with equal chances.) 23...♔h8 24.g6 This is tempting because it appears that white's attack has come first, but appearances can be deceptive. After this move the advantage is in black's hands.
24.h5 was his best chance but after 24...♖g8 25.h6 c3 26.bxc3 dxc3 27.♗c1 (27.♗xc3 b4) 27...♘d4 black stands well.
24...♕e7
24...h6 runs into 25.♗xh6 winning a P and fatally weakening black's K.
25.♘b1
25.gxh7 does nothing as after 25...c3 26.♗c1 ♖a8 black is on the attack.
25...h6 Black need not fear the sacrifice on h6.
25...hxg6 would allow white to get the better of it after 26.fxg6 f5 27.exf5 ♕d7 28.♗g5 ♘xf5
28...♖xf5 29.♘d2 (29.♖xf5 favors black after 29...♕xf5) 29...♖xf1+ 30.♖xf1 ♕e6 31.h5 and white is better.
29.♕g4 ♘ce7 with complications favoring white who scored +4 -1 =0 in Shootouts.
26.♗f3
26.♗xh6 gxh6 27.♕g4 ♖a8 28.♖xa8 ♖xa8 29.♕h5 ♔g7 30.♘g4 ♖h8 and white is stymied.
26...♘b4 27.♗xb4 ♗xb4 28.♕g4 White is counting on Qh5, but it's an empty threat as black has sufficient defensive resources and his Q-side play will prove to be too much for white to handle. 28...♖a8 29.♖xa8 ♖xa8 There is little choice but to continue as planned. 30.♕h5 ♖a1 31.♖g1 Better was 31.Ng4 with the threat of capturing on h6. Even analyzing with Stockfish and Komodo for half an hour did not yield any clear results other than black is better. OTB play would be less clear. 31...♕d7 Horowitz was short of time and played this in hopes of discouraging white from playing 32.Ng4. The problem is that his Q is too passively placed and after 31. ..Qd7 the move 32.Ng4 is better than it was previously. The problem is that given Horowitz' shortness of time, Pirc elected not to spend extra time calculating the consequences of 32.Ng4 32.♔g2 After this very passive move black is clearly winning. The point of it is that white stops to protect his B.
32.♘g4 ♘xf5 Horowitz' intended move but the defensive 32...Ne8 would have been somewhat better. 33.♘xf6 gxf6 34.g7+ ♔g8 35.exf5 ♗xf3+ 36.♕xf3 with equal chances!
32...♘e8 33.♘g4 Unfortunately for white, he is lost on the Q-side and by now his K-side attack has petered out. 33...♗f8 There is no good defense to black's threat of ...Ra2 34.dxc4 bxc4 35.♘d2 ♖xg1+ 36.♔xg1 ♕a4 The incursion of black's Q is decisive. 37.♗e2
37.♘xh6 This is a useless gesture. 37...gxh6 38.g7+ ♗xg7 39.♕f7 c3 40.bxc3 ♗c6 41.♕b3 ♕xb3 42.cxb3 dxc3 wins
37...♗a6
37...♘d6 was even more forceful. 38.♘xc4 ♘xc4 39.♘f2 ♕a1+ 40.♔g2 ♘e3+
38.b3 ♕a1+ 39.♗f1 c3 40.♘xh6 Finally, but by now this move is totally without punch. 40...gxh6 41.g7+ Horowitz has managed to get through his time pressure and reach adjournment. This was Pirc's sealed move, but he resigned without resuming play.
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