In The Middle Game in Chess, Znosko-Borovsky broke the game down into three elements: space, time and force. In his book New Ideas In Chess, Larry Evans repeated the same thing except he added Pawn structure.
Emanuel Lasker's Law, which was based on Steinitz' tenets, said that no combinations are possible without a considerable advantage.
All of that is true...sometimes. In his writings Purdy aptly pointed out that it is possible to have an advantage in all those elements and still lose the game. Why? Because sometimes even if a player has an advantage he can still fall victim to a tactic because of some anomaly in the position. Therefore you should always look for tactics first.
In the following game by move 24 Tal had a promising position, but rather than sit back and wait and see, Petrosian uncovered a tactical solution; he sacrificed the exchange to gain counterplay and Tal's position slowly deteriorated.
The game, a very complicated one, has been annotated by the players, Kasparov and Jeremy Silman used a fragment of the game in his book How To Reassess Your Chess for illustrative purposes.
All of these great players produced their analysis before today's powerful engines which, while they may make concrete evaluations, they do not take human frailties into consideration. Anyway, it's precisely those human frailties that make the comments of those esteemed players valuable to those of us who are not esteemed.
In annotating this game I relied heavily on notes by the above mentioned players, but since the days when they annotated the game, Stockfish and Komodo have changed some evaluations. As Kasparov noted concerning Petrosian's 60th move "higher computer geometry" has changed things.
In several positions the results were quite clear to the engines, but not to me (no surprise there). In those cases I ran Shootouts to clarify things. For those unfamiliar with Shootouts, they are simply games the engine plays against itself from a give position. You can specify either a time limit or a ply depth.
[Event "USSR Championship, Riga"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1958.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mikhail Tal"]
[Black "Tigran Petrosian"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C97"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 15"]
[PlyCount "145"]
[EventDate "1958.??.??"]
{Ruy Lopez} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7.
Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d6 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. Nbd2 Bd7 13. Nf1 Nc4 14.
Ne3 {The often played 14.b3 is a harmless alternative.} Nxe3 15. Bxe3 Be6 {
A better alternative is probably 15...h6} 16. Nd2 (16. Ng5 {was an alternative,
but essentially it drives the B to a more aggressive position.} Bc8 {Intending
to transfer the B to th long diagonal.} 17. f4 exd4 18. cxd4 h6 19. Nf3 Bb7 20.
d5 {etc.}) 16... Rfe8 17. f4 Rad8 18. fxe5 dxe5 (18... cxd4 {is more accurate.}
19. cxd4 (19. exf6 dxe3 20. fxe7 exd2 21. Qxd2 Rxe7 {is no more than equal.})
19... dxe5 20. d5 Rc8 21. Rc1 Bd7 22. Nb3 {white is slightly better.}) 19. d5
Bd7 20. c4 Rb8 21. a4 b4 22. a5 Rf8 23. Ba4 Bxa4 24. Rxa4 {Tal has built up a
considerable positional advantage. 1) he has a protected passed P on d5 which
could play a decisive role in the ending, 2) he has an advantage in space, 3)
he has pressure against black's c-Pawn and 4) good prospects of a K-side
attack.} Rbd8 25. Qf3 Rd6 {Placing the R on the 6th rank is the beginning of a
brilliant plan. A passive wait and see move would have been 25...Nd8 giving
white a free hand.} 26. Nb3 {Putting pressure on the c-Pawn. Kasparov makes an
instructive observation here in pointing out that up to here individual moves
did not play a decisive role and mainly they were merely aimed at implementing
the plan in general form. But now concrete calculation is required. And, as
Kasparov pointed out, there is coming a sudden change in events that unsettled
Tal and put him on the defensive, a situation he did not like to be in.} Nd7
27. Raa1 {Obviously the R has no future on a4 so has to return.} Rg6 28. Rf1
Bd6 {Black has managed to place his R in a good position and Tal now attempts
to drive it away by advancing his h-Pawn. As a result he weakens his K's
position, but with correct play that should not be a factor.} 29. h4 (29. Qe2
Be7 30. Nd2 Qd6 31. Rf5 {maintains an aggressive position without any danger.})
29... Qd8 30. h5 {Driving the R where it wants to go, but this is still the
best move.} Rf6 31. Qg4 {White would now like to exchange the R after which
Tal correctly wrote that he considered his position to be won. Stockfish would
agree, assigning white a two P advantage while Fritz 17 is less generous,
giving white a one P advantage. Tal has prepared an attack on the K-side while,
at the same time, black is lacking any play and s defending a weak c-Pawn.} Rf4
{A brilliant move! Petrosian sacrifices the exchange and for a small material
investment he gets active piece play. The cold-blooded Stockfish still puts
white's advantage at two Ps, but it does not take into account human emotions.
31...h6 is, according to Stockfish, a better defense, but only by about a
quarter of a P which is meaningless to humans.} 32. Bxf4 {According to
Kasparov this move leads to the activation of both the bad B at d6 (it now
eyes the h2-square) and the N at d7 which lands on an excellent outpost on e5.
Additionally, the white's Ps on c4 and e4 are weak. And, if that isn't enough,
it transpires that the h-Pawn has advanced too far and that the white K is a
potential target. In short, a complete change of scene. Again, that's from the
human perspective, but Stockfish is still giving white a two P advantage. No
matter...humans are playing the game and Kasparov believed that if Tal had
realized what the winning of the exchange woud lead to he would have been
satisfied with the win of a P instead.} (32. Rxf4 exf4 33. Bxf4 {The
material-grubbing engine does not like this quite as well as winning the
exchange, evaluating the position at about a quarter of a P less.}) 32... exf4
33. Nd2 Ne5 {White must now play accurately and this change in the situation
has a psychological effect. Kasparov observed that up to here individual moves
did not play a decisive role and mainly they were merely aimed at implementing
the plan in a general form. But, now concrete calculation is required and thus
sharp turn of events unsettled Tal. Also, now Tal finds himself defending
which was a situation he did not like being in. By the way, the nit-picking
engine likes 33...Be5 a little better.} 34. Qxf4 {Kasparov called this a
mistake, but engines disagree and prefer Tal's move.} Nxc4 35. e5 {Excellent!
As always, the aggressive Tal plays a P sacrifice to open a file for his R and
give his N an outpost on e4.} Nxe5 {Retaining a strongly posted N in the
center.} 36. Ne4 h6 37. Rae1 {This is where Tall really goes wrong and as a
result black now gets an equal position.} (37. Nxd6 {eliminates the dangerous
B, but after} Qxd6 38. b3 Qxd5 39. Rad1 Qe6 {black is in no way worse off.}) (
37. b3 {was essential. After} Kh8 38. Rad1 Qc7 39. Rfe1 Nc4 40. Qf3 Nxa5 41.
Nxd6 Qxd6 42. Re4 Nb7 43. Qe3 {And white is better. It's a tough row to hoe,
but in Shootouts white managed to score +4 -0 =1 with the passed d-Pawn, as
mentioned in the note to move 24, playing an important role.}) 37... Bb8 {
[%mdl 1024] Keeping his important B. Note the threat of a fork at d3} 38. Rd1 (
38. Nxc5 Qxd5 39. Nxa6 Nd3 $1 $19 40. Qg4 Nxe1 41. Rxe1 Ba7+ {and black wins.})
38... c4 {This activates his Q-side P-majority and threatens ...Ba7+ and ...
Bd3 with a mating attack. Technically, the position is equal, but practically
black is better and white's K is in danger.} 39. d6 Nd3 {[%mdl 32] Both
players were in time pressure.} 40. Qg4 {This last move before the time
control turns out to be a bad one.} (40. Qe3 Qd7 41. Rxd3 {Returning the
exchange is the safest course.} cxd3 42. Qxd3 Ba7+ 43. Kh2 Qg4 44. g3 Qxh5+ 45.
Kg2 Qxa5 46. d7 Bb6 47. Nd6 Qc5 48. Nc8 {White's d-Pawn keeps black tied up
and so compensates for his two Ps minus.} Bd8 49. Re1 g6 50. Qd6 (50. Re8 {
is a blunder} Qc6+ 51. Re4 Bf6 52. Kh2 Rd8 53. Rd4 b3 (53... Bxd4 54. Ne7+) 54.
Rd5 Qc2+ 55. Qxc2 bxc2 56. Rc5 Rxd7 57. Rxc2 Rb7 {black wins.}) 50... Qc2+ 51.
Kf1 Qc4+ 52. Kf2 Bc7 53. Qd5 Qg4 54. Re8 Qxg3+ 55. Ke2 Qg4+ {draws thanks to
white's exposed K.}) 40... Ba7+ {The B comes to life on the diagonal.} (40...
Nxb2 {This hasty move loses after} 41. Rd5 c3 (41... b3 42. Ng3 c3 43. Nf5 Qg5
44. Ne7+ Kh8 45. Ng6+) 42. Nf6+ Kh8 43. Qxb4) 41. Kh1 (41. Kh2 {is met by} f5
42. Qh3 Qxa5 (42... fxe4 43. Qe6+ Kh8 44. Rxf8+ Qxf8 45. d7 Qf4+ 46. g3 Qf2+
47. Kh3 Nf4+ 48. gxf4 Qf3+ {draws}) 43. d7 Qe5+ 44. Ng3 f4 {and black is
winning.}) 41... f5 {Petrosian keeps the attack going. As before ...Nxb2 would
end up losing the game.} 42. Nf6+ Kh8 43. Qxc4 Nxb2 44. Qxa6 {Take the N or
the R?} Nxd1 {This is the correct decision.} (44... Qxf6 45. Qxa7 Nxd1 46. Rxd1
Qg5 {and the position is equal. White can't make progress because of his
exposed K.}) (44... Rxf6 {would lose:} 45. Rc1 Kh7 46. Qxa7 Rxd6 47. Qf2 Rd2
48. Qxf5+ Kh8 49. Rc8 {wins}) 45. Qxa7 Qxd6 {In My Great Predecessors Kasparov
assigned this move a ? and gave 45...Nc3 a ! He also gave a lot of analysis
that appears to have be engine generated (the book was published in 2004).
Stockfish 15 takes the exact opposite view and gives 45... Qd6 the !
(evaluation 5.75) and 45...Nc3 a ? (evaluation -0.32).} (45... Nc3 46. Qe7 gxf6
47. Rxf5 Qxe7 48. dxe7 Re8 49. Rxf6 Rxe7 {This position is extremely
complicated! In Shooutout analysis black scored 3 wns at 10, 11 and 13 plies,
but draws at 15 and 17 plies.}) 46. Qd7 {[%mdl 36864] Kasparov called this a
very strong reply that enabled Tal to draw, but he added that (at the time of
publication) nobody had seriously analyzed this part of the game. These days
using Stockfish, his analysis appears flawed because after the text black's
advantage is over 6.5 Ps.} Qxf6 (46... Rd8 47. Qxd6 Rxd6 48. a6 gxf6 49. a7 Rd8
50. Rxf5 Ra8 51. Rxf6 Rxa7 52. Rb6 Nf2+ 53. Kg1 Ng4 54. Kf1 (54. Rxb4 Ra1+ 55.
Rb1 Rxb1#) 54... Rf7+ 55. Ke2 Rf4 {In Shootouts using modern endgame
tablebases black scored 5 wins.}) 47. Qxd1 Rb8 (47... Qa6 {Much better
(Stockfish); bad (Kasparov).} 48. Qa1 f4 49. Rf3 Rf5 {black is winning.}) 48.
Rf3 (48. Qd3 {Kasparov was correct in claiming this move is much better.} b3
49. a6 {This position is a draw as demonstrated in Shootouts.}) 48... Ra8 {
With this move black loses his advantage.} (48... Rb5 49. Qe1 Qf7 50. a6 Kh7
51. Qf1 Ra5 52. Rh3 Qf6 53. Rb3 Rxa6 54. Rxb4 Ra1 55. Rb1 {It was a herculean
task, but in Shootouts black scored 5 wins.}) 49. Qe1 Rxa5 50. Qxb4 Re5 51. Qf4
Kh7 52. Kh2 Rd5 53. Rf1 Qg5 54. Qf3 Re5 55. Kg1 Rc5 56. Qf2 Re5 57. Qf3 Ra5 58.
Kh2 Kh8 59. Kg1 Ra2 60. Qd5 {Then position was dead even, but this is a very
serious lapse because it leaves e3 undefended. Both 60.Kh2 an 60.Rf2 hold the
draw.} Rc2 {Missing his chance. Kasparov commented that when this game was
played the winning move was discovered by the Junior and Fritz engines, adding
that this knowledge required "higher computer geometry which was then unknown."
} (60... Qe3+ 61. Kh2 Ra4 62. Rf3 Rh4+ 63. Rh3 Rxh3+ 64. gxh3 Qe2+ 65. Kg1 Qxh5
{with a won ending.}) 61. Qa8+ Kh7 62. Qf3 Rc1 63. Rxc1 Qxc1+ 64. Kh2 Qc7+ 65.
Kh3 Qe5 66. g4 fxg4+ 67. Kxg4 Qg5+ 68. Kh3 Qf6 69. Qe4+ Kg8 70. Qe8+ Qf8 71.
Qxf8+ Kxf8 72. Kg4 Kf7 73. Kf5 {Draw agreed.} 1/2-1/2
No comments:
Post a Comment