Fischer Disappoints!?

     The year 1959 was an interesting one. According to Rod Serling there was a fifth dimension we didn't know about...the dimension of imagination. It was an area known as The Twilight Zone, a mix of horror, science-fiction, drama, comedy and superstition; Serling was the program's narrator. The wildly popular program first aired in October, but we never watched it at our house; my dad didn't like it.

     The most famous person in the country was probably Elvis Presley, but February 3rd came to be known as The Day The Music Died. On that date rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson) died in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, along with the pilot, Roger Peterson. 

     They weren't the only celebrities to meet a violent death. George Reeves, who played Superman on television, died at the age of 45 from a gunshot to the head. He was found in the upstairs bedroom of his home in the wee hours of the morning on June 16, 1959. The official finding was suicide, but some believe that he was murdered or the victim of an accidental shooting. 

      The scandalous book Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence was creating a hubbub. Although it was first published in Italy in 1928, it was banned in the U.S. (and other countries) as being obscene. 

     The ban on it and another book, Tropic of Cancer, was overturned in court in 1959. According to a columnist with The New York Times, the ruling was going to set off an explosion of free speech. 

     In 1959, the first house with a built-in bomb shelter was shown in Pleasant Hills, Pennsylvania. Later, in October of 1961, President Kennedy advised American families to build bomb shelters to protect them from fallout in the event of a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union. Kennedy also assured the public that the country's civil defense program would soon begin providing shelters for every American. 

     It was just a year later that the world hovered on the brink of nuclear war when the Cuban Missile Crisis erupted over Russia's placement of nuclear missiles in Cuba. During the 13-day crisis, some Americans prepared for nuclear war by buying up canned goods and completing last-minute work on their backyard bomb shelters. 

The Blogmeister in younger days

     Speaking of Cuba, several years later, in 1964, on the 5-year anniversary of Fidel Castro's takeover of Cuba, I was with the Marine Corps and we were aboard an old WWII aircraft carrier loaded with helicopters that was circling off the coast of Cuba. We sat on deck all day with the helicopters running and shutting down only to refuel. We had been issued ammunition and our weapons were loaded as we were ready to board the choppers and be flown to the fence line at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in case the Cubans tried to invade the base. Nothing happened and towards evening we were told to stand down. 

 

       In testimony before congress, game show contestant Charles Van Doren admitted he had been given the answers and coached on his on-camera performance while appearing on the game show Twenty-One. 

     As a result, Congress added a law to prohibit the fixing of televised contests of intellectual knowledge or skill and quiz shows disappeared for a long time. 

     Bobby Fischer played in three tournaments in 1959. In Mar del Plata he tied for 3rd with Borislav Ivkov a half point behind Miguel Najdorf and Ludek Pachman who tied for first. Then, after an appearance in a tournament in Santiago, Chile, he tied with Paul Keres for 3rd in Zurich behind Mikhail Tal (1st) and Svetozar Gligoric (2nd). 

 

     The second Torneo de Arturo Alesandri Palma was held from April 20th to May 6th, 1959 in Santiago, Chile. According to a brief report in Chess Review, the sixteen year old Bobby Fischer's result was disappointing. Fischer, who was just beginning his international career, scored as many wins as Ivkov and Pachman, but he lost four games. Here is his win against the 1958 Chilean champion.

[Event "Santiago"] [Site " "] [Date "1959.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Robert Fischer"] [Black "Moises Stekel Grunberg"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "1959.04.20"] {Ruy Lopez: Steinitz Defense Deferred} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 (3... d6 4. d4 Bd7 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. O-O Be7 {is the Old Steinitz.}) 4. Ba4 d6 {Also called the Modern Steinitz Defense, this line allows blacks the possibility of breaking the pin with ...b5 and so gives him more latitude than the Old Steinitz. White has many playable moves: 5.c3, 5.c4, 5.Bxc6, 5.d4 and 5.0-0.} 5. c3 Bd7 6. d4 g6 7. O-O Bg7 8. Bg5 Nge7 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. Qe2 (10. Re1 h6 11. Be3 b6 12. Na3 O-O 13. Qd2 Kh7 14. Rad1 {with equal chances. Zapata,A (2545) -Kamsky,G (2650) Manila 1990}) 10... h6 11. Be3 (11. Bh4 {is not so good.} g5 12. Bg3 Ng6 13. Rd1 Qe7 14. Nbd2 g4 15. Ne1 h5 16. f3 h4 {Black is better. Shceglov,M (1590)-Erokhin,A (1851) St Petersburg RUS 2019}) 11... Qc8 (11... O-O {can be played fiest.} 12. Rd1 Qc8 13. Nbd2 b6 14. Nf1 Be6 {is equal. Keres,P-Medina Garcia,A Gothenburg 1955}) 12. Rd1 Bg4 {This does not turn out well.} (12... b6 {is correct.} 13. h3 O-O 14. Bb3 Na5 15. c4 c5 {Nishimura,H (2285)-Kagan,N (2395) Malaysia 1995}) 13. h3 Bxf3 {The ignominious retreat 13.. .Bd7 was better.} 14. Qxf3 O-O 15. Bc5 Qe6 {A scintilla better was the exchange of Rs with 15...Rd8} 16. Nd2 Rad8 {As usual, this is the wrong R.} 17. Bxc6 {Had black played the other R to d8 he could have answered this with 17... Nxc6} bxc6 18. Qe2 Rb8 {There is little point ion trying to save the P, so black tries to use the open file.} (18... Ra8 19. Qc4 Qf6 (19... Qxc4 20. Nxc4 Rfe8 21. Rd7 {wins}) 20. Nf3 Rfc8 21. Rd7 Bf8 22. Rad1 {and black is in some serious trouble.}) 19. Qxa6 {White is clearly winning and it's only a matter of time.} Bf6 20. b4 Rfd8 21. a4 g5 {To his credit black is seeking a K-side attack even if it is doomed to failure.} 22. Kh2 g4 23. Qc4 Qc8 24. Nf1 { [%mdl 32] The beginning of a journey to f5.} Ng6 25. Ne3 gxh3 26. g3 Bg5 27. Nf5 {The N plays an important defensive role on f5.} h5 28. Kxh3 Rd7 29. Kg2 Qd8 30. Qe2 h4 {A frantic attempt at an attack, but there is no time to even get in ...hxg3} (30... Ne7 {There is just no way to get rid of the N on f5.} 31. Bxe7 Bxe7 32. Rxd7 Qxd7 33. Qxh5 {is winning easily.}) 31. Rxd7 Qxd7 32. Qg4 Qd8 33. Rd1 Qf6 34. gxh4 Bxh4 35. Be7 {Very precise play by Fischer. Black resigned.} 1-0

Unheralded Players, Forgotten Tournaments

     In his early days Fred Reinfeld wrote some excellent chess books, but they didn't sell so he took to writing junk, a trend not a few chess authors today have followed, and it made him a comfortable living. 

     One characteristic of a lot of Reinfeld's chess books was that he neglected to give details about the game such as the date, tournament and names of the players! 

     The following game is an example, but at least we know the names of the players and since the game was published in January, 1943, no doubt it was played in 1942, but the tournament was not given. 

     The player of the white pieces was given only as "M. Fish" while black was played by "S. Rubinow", who we know was Sol Rubinow, a Master who was born in New York City on November 6, 1923 and died on February 22, 1981. 

     It’s difficult to say exactly how good Rubinow was because his heyday which was before there was a rating list. However, after the advent of the rating list, he became a Life Master. When the USCF published its first rating list in November of 1950, Rubinow was rated 2243, which at that time was considered "Expert", not Master. 

     Chess was not his only interest. He was also a master bridge player and he became very prominent at his job...he was an authority on biomathematics, which employs theoretical analysis, mathematical models and abstractions of living organisms to investigate the principles that govern their structure, development and behavior. That's opposed to experimental biology which deals with the conduction of experiments to prove and validate the scientific theories. I hope that clears up any questions about Rubinow's day job. 

     Beginning in 1964, Rubinow was a professor of biomathematics at the Cornell University Graduate School of Medical Sciences. He was noted for research and papers papers on cancer research. 

     In 1943, he was intercollegiate chess champion. In 1952, he won the Massachusetts State Championship. He also took part in several U.S. Championships. 

     Dr. Rubinow died at the age of 57 at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center after having been hospitalized for two months following complications resulting from brain surgery. 

     Alas, the master Rubinow managed to lose to Fish in the following short, sharp, exciting game. It was, as Reinfeld stated, a fascinating game, but it was not the lopsided beating that he insinuated. 

 

 

[Event "Unknown"] [Site "?"] [Date "1942.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "M. Fish"] [Black "Sol Rubinow"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B56"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "39"] [EventDate "1942.??.??"] {Sicilian Defense} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 {[%mdl 32]} 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 {Unusual, but not bad.} Ng4 {Black usually play 6...e6, but the text, which tries to take advantage of white's last move actually gives better results in practice.} 7. Bc4 {Normally white would play 7.Bb5 or even 7.Bg5. Instead, white is aiming for sharp play even if it means burdening himself with double isolated e-Pawns and a weakened King's position.} Nxe3 8. fxe3 Ne5 {The alternative is 7...e6, but from e5 the N cannot be driven off and it also guards f7.} 9. Bb3 g6 {Reinfeld was critical of this because he thought Rubinow was underestimating white's attacking potential. He suggested, without any analysis, 9...Be6 saying it was much safer. Actually, there is nothing at all wrong with 9...g6 and I suspect that the suggested 9...Be6 was a misprint ant it should have read simply 9...e6.} (9... Be6 10. Bxe6 fxe6 11. Nxe6 { and white is winning.}) (9... e6 10. Nf3 {Black must not play ...Nxf3 because it reinforces white's weak Ps.} Qb6 11. Qd4 Nd7 {Black has a positional advantage.}) 10. O-O Bh6 {Reinfeld blasted this move claiming black need not be in a big hurry to take the e-Pawn because it's a weakness that's not going away. He recommended 10...Bg7 instead. In fact, both moves have been played in this position, but Reinfeld does seem correct in his assessment that 10...Bg7 would be better.} (10... Bg7 11. Nf3 O-O 12. Qd5 e6 13. Qd2 b6 {Black is much better. Rothe,G (2171) -Miroshnichenko,E (2670) Reykjavik 2011}) 11. Nd5 { This turns out to be a poor choice that allows black to gain the upper hand.} ( 11. Nf3 {is a safe alternative after which black can't claim any advantage.} Bxe3+ 12. Kh1 Bg4 {White can play it safe with 13.Qe1 or he can try the spectacular} 13. Nxe5 Bxd1 14. Nxf7 Qa5 15. Raxd1 (15. Nxh8 Bg4 16. Nf7 Bd4 17. h3 Bxc3 18. hxg4 Bxb2 19. Rab1 {favors black.}) 15... O-O 16. Nd8+ e6 17. Rxf8+ Kxf8 18. Nxe6+ Ke8 19. Rf1 Rc8 20. Nd5 {In this complicated position the only good line is...} Qd2 (20... Bh6 21. c3 {Black has no good moves and white is winning!} a6 22. g3 {Black is running out of moves.} Rc6 23. Nf6+ Ke7 24. Ng8+ Kd7 25. Nxh6 Rc8 26. Rf7+ Kc6 27. Bd5+ Kb5 28. Nd4+ Kc5 29. Rxb7 {mates in two. } Qb6 30. b4+ Qxb4 31. Ne6#) 21. Rf8+ Kd7 22. Rf7+ Kc6 (22... Kxe6 23. Re7#) 23. Ba4+ b5 24. Nd8+ Kc5 (24... Rxd8 25. Rc7#) 25. Ne6+ Kc6 (25... Kc4 26. b3#) 26. Nd8+ {draws.}) 11... O-O {This position was reached in a game many years later!} 12. Qe1 (12. Nf5 gxf5 13. exf5 e6 14. fxe6 fxe6 15. Qh5 Bg7 16. Rxf8+ Bxf8 17. Rf1 exd5 18. Bxd5+ Kh8 19. Be4 h6 20. h3 Bd7 21. Rd1 Qg5 {White resigned, Plank,P (2083) -Levin,F (2523) Bad Woerishofen 2003}) 12... a5 { A waste of time according to Reinfeld. True, it loses black's advantage. Better were either 12...e6 or 12... Bg7 and black keeps his positional advantage.} 13. Qh4 {This attack on e7 equalizes for white, but not more.} Kg7 14. Nxe7 Bxe3+ (14... f6 {was neither better nor worse. Five Shootouts from this position resulted in five draws, For example...} 15. Nd5 a4 16. Nf4 Bxf4 17. exf4 axb3 18. fxe5 bxa2 19. exf6+ Rxf6 20. Qxf6+ Qxf6 21. Rxf6 Kxf6 22. Kf2 Be6 23. Ke3 d5 24. Nxe6 Kxe6 25. exd5+ Kxd5 26. Kd3 g5 27. c4+ Kc5 28. Kc3 Ra4 29. Kb3 Ra8 30. Kc3 Ra4 31. Kb3 Rb4+ 32. Ka3 Rxc4 33. Rxa2 Re4 34. b3 h5 { This position is a draw,}) 15. Kh1 Ng4 {Reinfeld commented that had Rubinow seen what was coming he would have played 15...Bxd4 and white has a perpetual. He claimed that Rubinow felt he deserved more than a draw and that while Rubinow's positional judgment was correct, he played poorly tactically. Reinfeld was of the opinion that had Rubinow taken the trouble to consolidate his position and secure it from attack, he would have undoubtedly been able to utilize his positional advantage.} (15... Bxd4 {and white does have to take the perpetual.} 16. Qf6+ Kh6 17. Qh4+ {etc.}) 16. Ndf5+ {In spite of Reinfeld's twaddle, THIS position is equal IF black finds the correct move... which he does not.} gxf5 {[%mdl 8192] The tactical error of which Reinfeld spoke; it loses the game. It should be mentioned that even at this early stage Rubinow was in time pressure.} (16... Bxf5 {The only move.} 17. exf5 {Black is on a tightrope...again he must find the only move that does not lose.} Nf6 18. fxg6 fxg6 19. Nd5 Nxd5 {No other move is satisfactory. Whether white exchanges Qs or not, the chances are equal.}) 17. exf5 Kh8 18. Bxf7 {Very pretty says Reinfeld, but very bad says Stockfish!} (18. Rae1 {White has a massive advantage. For instance...} Bd4 19. f6 Bxb2 20. c3 Bxc3 21. Bc2 h6 22. Re4 { with a winning attack.}) 18... Qb6 {[%mdl 8192] After this gaffe there is no salvaging the game.} (18... Bf2 {Pure wizardry! It saves the game!} 19. Rxf2 ( 19. Qxg4 Qxe7 20. Rxf2 Qxf7 {...and black has won a piece and much more than likely will win the game.}) 19... Nxf2+ 20. Kg1 Ne4 {Now it's white's turn to save the game and there is only one way it can be done.} 21. Bg6 Qb6+ 22. Kh1 Nf2+ 23. Kg1 Ne4+ 24. Kh1 {black has to take the draw.}) 19. Qxg4 Rxf7 { He overlooks the mate, but it doesn't matter because the game is now beyond hope.} (19... Bh6 20. Qh5 Qe3 21. Ng8 {and black has little choice but to play} Rxg8 22. Bxg8 Qg5 (22... Kxg8 23. Rae1) 23. Qxg5 Bxg5 24. Be6 {with a won ending.}) 20. Qg8# {A fascinating game.} 1-0

Tal at Jurmala 1985

 

     Jurmala?! It's a resort city in Latvia just west of the capital, Riga. It’s known for wooden art nouveau seaside villas, Soviet-era sanatoriums and long, sandy Jurmala Beach. 

     Starting in mid-August back in 1985, the 2nd Jurmala International Chess Tournament was played. Six of the 14 players were living in Latvia and the other eight had not played in Latvia before. 

     Hungary was represented by its 1983 champion IM Tamas Utasi, Bulgaria by GM Ventzislav Inkiov, Denmark by IM Carsten Hoi, the Philippines by IM Andronico Yap and England by IM Daniel King. 

     The Latvians were headed by Mikhail Tal. A talented young player named Alexander Shabalov was also playing. In 1991 Shabalov found his way to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and became one of the top players in the US for a while. He won the US Championship in 1993, 2000, 2003, 2007 and won or tied for first place in the US Open in 1993, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2015, 2016. 

     According to GM Daniel King, "...for much of the tournament Tal cruised along, not giving the chess his all; instead he was enjoying relaxing with his wife and young daughter." 

     In the last round Tal could share first place if he beat Danish IM Carsten Hoi and according to King, "Hoi didn't stand a chance. Tal was gunning for him." King described Tal's intense concentration and told how he "lit up a cigarette, sucking in the nicotine as though it were his life-blood, but never averting his gaze from the chessboard through the whole operation." 

[Event "Jurmala"] [Site ""] [Date "1985.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Mikhail Tal"] [Black "Carsten Hoi"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B06"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "1985.08.29"] {Pirc Defense} 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. c3 d6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bd3 O-O 6. O-O Nc6 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 Nh5 (8... Qe8 {The reason for this is soon clear.} 9. Nbd2 Nh5 10. Re1 e5 {This why black moved his Q.} 11. dxe5 dxe5 {equals. Van Wely,L (2560)-Reinderman,D (2415) Wijk aan Zee 1993}) (8... e5 {This is the usual move here.} 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. Na3 Be6 11. Re1 Qe8 {with equal chances. Jussupow, A (2600)-Seirawan,Y (2570) Montpellier 1985}) 9. Na3 {The book moves here are 9.Nbd2 and 9.Re1 and as far as I know this is the only game in which this move has been played. The reason for developing the N on a3 turns out to be an idea that Tal had which will soon be apparent.} (9. Nbd2 Nf4 10. Bc2 g5 11. Bg3 Bg4 12. Nc4 {equals. Rasmussen,K (2295)-Hoi,C (2380) Naestved 1985}) (9. Re1 Nf4 10. Bf1 g5 11. Bg3 e5 12. dxe5 dxe5 13. Nfd2 Qf6 14. Na3 Be6 15. Qc2 {equals. Zysk,R (2395)-Mohr,S (2400) Budapest 1988}) 9... Nf4 {Tal had foreseen that black was going to play ...Nf4 and that's the reason he played 9.Na3...so the Q could go to d2 as part of his plan to drive back the N.} 10. Bc2 {White must keep this B as it is one of his attacking pieces.} Bg4 11. Qd2 {Attacking the N } g5 12. Nxg5 {Very nice! Retreating the B would leave him at a disadvantage. King believed Tal saw the rough outlines of this sacrifice when he played 9. Na3.} (12. Bg3 Bxf3 13. Bxf4 gxf4 14. gxf3 e5 15. Kh1 Qh4 16. Rg1 Kh8 {and black has a promising position.}) 12... hxg5 {White gets the advantage after this, but retreating the N was worse.} (12... Ng6 13. Nxf7 Kxf7 {If he takes with the R then white has 14.Bb3}) 13. Bxg5 Ng6 14. f4 {The threat is 15.f5 driving the N back and trapping the B on g4.} f6 15. f5 {A tricky position has resulted and before reaching it Tal had to visualize everything.} e6 {[%mdl 8192] After this black's position is in the trash.} (15... fxg5 {Challenging Tal's last move was the only correct plan.} 16. Qxg5 (16. fxg6 {allows black to equalize with} Bf6) 16... Nge5 17. dxe5 Nxe5 18. Rf4 e6 19. Rxg4 Nxg4 20. Qxg4 exf5 21. exf5 {White has all the play. Still, this was black's best chance at survival.}) 16. Bh6 (16. fxg6 {This allows black to equalize because it gives him good defensive possibilities after} fxg5 17. Rxf8+ Bxf8) 16... exf5 17. h3 (17. exf5 {was even stronger.} Nge7 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. Rf4 Bh5 20. Rh4 Rh8 21. Qf4 {White still has a strong attack going. For example...} Kf7 22. g4 Qg8 23. Kh1 Qg5 24. Bb3+ d5 25. Qxg5 fxg5 26. Rxh5 {White is winning.}) 17... f4 {A fine idea. Black must lose the piece anyway he plays to close the K-side and thereby blunt white's attack.} (17... Bh5 {loses quickly after} 18. Rxf5) (17... Bxh3 {is best met by} 18. exf5 {with two pieces under attack black is losing.}) 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. hxg4 Rh8 20. Rxf4 {This followup is the only way white can maintain any advantage.} Nxf4 21. Qxf4 {Materially white has a B+2Ps vs a R, but white has the initiative and black's K is exposed.} Rh6 22. Kf2 {Anticipating... h8. Anyway, white's K will be safer behind the mass of Ps in the center.} Ne5 {[%mdl 8192] With two Ps for the exchange and such a strong centre, white has the better chances, but the win is a long way of. This move, a panicky one made in time pressure, loses the game. Such things happened a lot to Tal's opponents!} (22... Qh8 {was his best try. After} 23. Rf1 Rh1 24. Rxh1 Qxh1 25. Nb5 Qh4+ 26. Kf3 Ne5+ 27. Ke2 (27. dxe5 fxe5 28. Qe3 Rf8+ 29. Ke2 Qxg4+ 30. Kd3 Qxg2 {and black has equalized.}) 27... Qxg4+ 28. Qxg4+ Nxg4 29. Nxc7 {white is better, but here, too, the win is a long way off. }) 23. dxe5 {White is now winning.} fxe5 24. Qg3 {The best because it stops the unpleasant check on h4.} (24. Qe3 Qh4+ 25. Ke2 Rf6 {White is still better, but at least black has some play.}) 24... Qg5 25. Nc4 {Tjis prevents ...Qd2+ plus, once the N is centralized black is finished.} Rf8+ 26. Ke2 Rf4 27. Ne3 Kf8 28. Rf1 Ke8 29. Rf3 Rh1 30. Qf2 Ra1 31. Bb3 Rb1 32. Kd3 c6 33. g3 {[%mdl 32] This is what white has been building up to playing for the last few moves.} Rxb2 (33... Rxf3 34. Qxf3 Rxb2 35. Qf7+ Kd8 36. Qxb7 {is winning rather easily. }) 34. gxf4 {White has a won ending but it must be noted that he can still lose the game if he is not careful!.} (34. Qxb2 Rxf3 35. Qe2 Rxg3 36. Qf2 { and a draw is likely going to be the outcome.}) 34... Rxf2 35. fxg5 Rxf3 36. Ke2 Rf4 37. Kd3 Kf8 38. g6 Rf3 39. Bf7 b5 40. Ke2 Rf4 41. Nf5 Rxe4+ (41... Rxg4 42. Nxd6 Rg2+ 43. Kf3 {with a won ending.}) 42. Kf3 Rf4+ 43. Kg3 {In this final position black actually has a small material advantage of a R+2Ps vs. a B+N, white has a mate in 20 moves.} (43. Kg3 b4 44. Be6 Rxf5 (44... d5 45. g7+ Ke8 46. g8=R#) (44... Ke8 45. g7 Rf3+ 46. Kxf3 e4+ 47. Ke3 Kd8 48. g8=Q+ Kc7 49. Qc8+ Kb6 50. Qb8+ Ka5 51. Qxa7+ Kb5 52. c4#) 45. gxf5 Kg7 46. Kg4 Kf6 47. cxb4 e4 48. Kf4 e3 49. Kxe3 Kg7 50. Bd7 c5 51. bxc5 dxc5 52. Be6 c4 53. Bxc4 Kf6 54. Kf4 a5 55. a4 Kg7 56. Ke5 Kh6 57. Bd3 Kg7 58. f6+ Kf8 59. g7+ Ke8 60. g8=Q+ Kd7 61. Qb8 Kc6 62. Bb5+ Kc5 63. Qd6#) 1-0

Reshevsky Shows How It's Done

     I had two favorite players. The first was Botvinnik and his book One Hundred Selected Games was a constant companion. Then I came into possession of Reshevsky On Chess and I had a new favorite player. I don't know why, but his games always intrigued me. His play looked so simple and logical that it seemed like I could duplicate his style. I couldn't of course, my 50 percent score against him notwithstanding. (We drew a postal game in 1979.) 

     During 1956 and 1957, Bobby Fischer had been playing a lot and by the time the 1957/58 championship rolled around most players felt was Reshevsky was the favorite although Larry Evans was also considered a contender while William Lombardy and Arthur Bisguier were not without their chances. Also, Robert Byrne was considered a possible contender, but he declined his invitation at the last minute.

     Going into the last round Fischer had 10 points and he met his old blitz partner, Abe Turner, and played an 18-move draw. That left him with a final score of 10.5. He then wandered off to play blitz and only checked back occasionally to see how his rival Reshevsky was doing. 

     Going into the last round Reshevsky had 9.5 and playing white, he needed to defeat William Lombardy to tie Fischer. That was not outside the realm of possibility, but when the dust had settled, Lombardy had won the Championship for Fischer by defeating Reshevsky. 

 

     Did that mean Bobby Fischer was the best player in the United States? When asked, he said, "No, one tournament doesn't mean much." Who was the best? "Maybe Reshevsky..." Things soon changed, didn't they? 

     In the following game Reshevsky defeats Arthur Bisguier in one of those games that looks so simple that playing like him looks like it would be a fairly easy thing to do. 

[Event "US Championship 1957/58"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1957.12.29"] [Round "?"] [White "Arthur Bisguier"] [Black "Samuel Reshevsky"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "1957.12.17"] {Sicilian: Taimanov} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 {At the time this line was being revived by the Russians and Reshevsky decided to experiment with it. His favorite in the past had been the Dragon.} 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 {This allows white to play the Maroczy Bind (5.c4) if he wishes.} 5. Nc3 {He doesn't.} Qc7 { Reshevsky mentioned that with this move black has the possibility of ...Bb4 and at the same time it prevents white from playing e5.} 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. O-O {According to Reshevsky, Bisguier has handled the opening with logical slmplicity and he is better developed and so has the better prospects.} Nf6 {Black gets better results when he plays 8...d5} (8... d5 9. Re1 Bb7 10. Qg4 Nf6 11. Qh4 Bd6 12. Bg5 Nd7 {white is slightly better. Caruana,F (2828) -Xiong,J (2672) chess.com INT 2019}) 9. Qe2 d6 {Better was 9...d5; instead Reshevsky decides on passive strategy.} (9... d5 10. Bg5 {Somewhat better is 10.e5, but Reshevsky did not like the possibility that white might play this threatening toi win a P with Bxf6, exd5 nd Nxd5. This seems rather odd reasoning because the so called threat is so remote a possibility.} Be7 { parries the threat.} 11. Bxf6 {and black has a satisfactory position despite his problems castling.} gxf6 (11... Bxf6 {is less good because after} 12. exd5 Bxc3 13. d6 Qxd6 14. bxc3 O-O {white is slightly better thanks to his more active pieces.})) 10. f4 Nd7 {Preventing the advance of white's e-Pawn.} 11. Be3 ({worked out well for white in Tiviakov,S (2622)-Ogleznev,A (2335) Eforie Nord ROU 2011} 11. b3 Be7 12. Ba3 c5 13. Bb2 Bf6 14. e5 dxe5 15. f5 Nb6 16. fxe6 Bxe6 17. Bxa6 {White is better.}) (11. Kh1 {seems a bit passive.} Be7 12. Bd2 O-O 13. Rf3 Nc5 14. Be3 Nxd3 15. cxd3 f5 16. Rc1 {Black is doing well. Sokolov,A (2505)-Kurajica,B (2530) Novi Sad 1984}) (11. Na4 {This is playable, but offers white nothing special.} Be7 12. Be3 c5 13. c4 O-O 14. Rac1 Bb7 15. Nc3 {with equal chances. Bruchmann,S (2315)-Simon,R (2153) Berlin 2012}) 11... Be7 12. Rf3 {Preparing an attack against the K if black should dare to castle on the K-side.} Rb8 13. Na4 {Capturing the a-Pawn would allow black a promising position after} (13. Bxa6 Bxa6 14. Qxa6 Rxb2 15. Bd4 Rb4 16. Bxg7 Rg8 {Black's position is preferable.}) 13... Bf6 14. Rb1 a5 {Better was 14...c5} 15. c4 {Preventing an eventual ...d5 which black has neglected to play. Allowing him to do so would free black's position considerably.} Ba6 {Ready for some Grandmaster reasoning? According to Reshevsky this is the only logical place for this B. The only other useful square would be at b7, but in order to get any use out of it black would have to play ...c5 (Stockfish's preferred move) and in that event white would have had an excellent square for his N on b5.} 16. Rc1 h5 {An admission that black has given up hope of castling.} 17. Rff1 Be7 {This withdrawal seems rather odd, but it lures white's B to d4 after which ...e5 packs a punch. If black plays 17...e5 immediately then 18.f5 leaves white with a promising position.} 18. Bd4 { Either 18.b3 or 18.h3 would have been slightly better.} (18. b3 e5 19. f5 Nf6 20. h3 {with a good game.}) 18... e5 19. Bc3 {On 19.fxe5 Nxe5 black has pretty much equalized because he has a fair share of the center.} exf4 {This looks risky but Reshevsy has decided that the complications Involved offered some chances of success.} 20. Bxg7 Rh7 21. Bc3 Ne5 22. Bd2 {Reshevsky suggested 22. b3, but there is nothing wrong with Bisguier's move.} Qa7+ 23. Kh1 Qd4 { [%mdl 2048] Black has some pressure and white has to surrender the exchange.} 24. Rf3 (24. Bb1 {runs into} Bxc4 25. Qf2 Qxf2 26. Rxf2 Bb5 27. Nc3 Bh4 28. Rxf4 Bg5 29. Rf2 Ng4 {and black is winning.}) 24... Nxf3 25. Qxf3 {White is seriously threatening to open lines against black's K with e5.} Rh6 (25... Bc8 26. e5 Bg4 27. Qxc6+ Kf8 28. Qe4 Qxe4 29. Bxe4 Rg7 30. h3 Be6 31. exd6 Bxd6 32. c5 Bc7 {and white has managed to equalize.}) 26. Bxf4 (26. e5 {can now be met by} dxe5 {and c6 is defended. If} 27. Bxa5 Bb4 28. Bxb4 Rxb4 29. b3 Bc8 { black is winning.}) 26... Rf6 {With the exchange to the good, black is in a comfortable position, but white's position is not without defensive possibilities. The threat is ...Rxf4} 27. g3 {This seriously weakens his K's position.} (27. Be2 Bc8 28. h3 Re6 29. Bd3 {and it's difficult to see how black can make any headway.}) 27... Bc8 {A great move! It places the B on a usefull diagonal.} 28. Kg2 {After this white is completely lost.} (28. Re1 { would have made black's task a little more difficult.} Bh3 29. b3 Rd8 30. Qe3 Qxe3 31. Rxe3 h4 {Black is clearly better.}) 28... Bg4 {The clever 28...Rxf4 would be winning in the world of engines, it's not quite so clear in the world of humans.} 29. Qf1 h4 {Black is clearly winning.} 30. b3 hxg3 31. hxg3 Kd7 { A handy little move that gets the R on b1 into play.} 32. Be2 Bxe2 (32... Qxe4+ {Perhaps this is a wee bit more precise.} 33. Bf3 Bxf3+ 34. Qxf3 Rxf4 35. Qxe4 (35. gxf4 Rg8+ 36. Kf2 Bh4+ {mates}) 35... Rxe4 {winning easily.}) 33. Qxe2 { Here is the reason that 32...Qxe4+ was a little bit better...in this position black is winning, but only if he finds the one move that does so!} Rxf4 { [%mdl 512] Which, of course, Reshevsky does.} (33... Rg8 {Bringing the other R into play as mentioned in the note allows white to equalize.} 34. Rd1 Qxd1 ( 34... Qa7 35. Be3 Qb8 36. e5 {and white has the initiative!}) 35. Qxd1 Rxf4 36. Nc3 Rfg4 37. Ne2 Bh4 38. Qf1 Ke7 39. Kf3 Bxg3 {and a draw is quite likely the outcome!}) 34. gxf4 Rg8+ 35. Kf3 Bh4 {White resigned as there is no way to meet the threat of ...Rg3#} (35... Bh4 36. Nc5+ Qxc5 37. Qh2 Qh5+ 38. Ke3 Rg3+ 39. Kd2 Qf3 40. Qe2 Rg2 {etc.}) 0-1

A Slugfest In Palestine

 

     In the chess world, 1939 started off with Laszlo Szabo winning at Hastings. Later, in the spring, an international tournament was held at Margate and it was won by Paul Keres ahead of Jose Capablanca and Salo Flohr. 

     The USSR Chess Championship, held in Leningrad, was won Mikhail Botvinnik. The American Chess Federation (ACF) championship (aka the U.S. Open) was held in New York and was won by Reuben Fine ahead of Samuel Reshevsky and I.A. Horowitz. 

     The Chess Olympiad (known at the time as the Hamilton-Russell Cup) and Women’s World Championship was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Germany won followed by Poland s and Estonia. Vera Menchik-Stevenson won the Women’s World Championship. 

     On September 1, the day the finals commenced, Germany invaded Poland, starting World War II and the English team returned home immediately. At the conclusion of events, many participants decided to stay in Argentina or moved elsewhere in South America, rather than face an uncertain future by returning to a Europe in the midst of war. Among them were all five members of the German team (Eliskases, Michel, Engels, Becker, Reinhardt). 

     Finally, at the end of the year the American Chess Federation and the National Chess Federation formed the United States Chess Federation. 

     There was no nation of Israel and in Palestine, Britain's military and diplomatic efforts brought the Arab Rebellion, which had started in 1935, to an end in the late summer of 1939. 

     The following slugfest, that is probably the best word you could use for such a game as Winz-Czerniak, was played in the Palestine championship. It was a game in which attack and defense changed hands and ingenious sacrifices were countered by even more ingenious ones. 

     It looked like black could have resigned after 13.Rxa7, but Czerniak kept fighting and eventually prevailed at the end by avoiding a shrewd attempt by his opponent to set up a stalemate. 

     Viktor Winz (1896-?) was a Palestine/Israeli–Argentine master. He was born in Germany and began his career in Berlin. He emigrated to Palestine (then under the British Mandate) in the early 1930s. Winz played for the Palestine team in three Olympiads (1934, 1935 and 1939. When World War II broke out during the 1939 Olympiad Winz remained in Argentina permanently. 

     Moshe Czerniak (1910-1984) was a Polish-Israeli International Master. Czerniak emigrated from Poland to Israel in 1934. And, like his opponent, after the 1939 Olympiad he also decided to remain in Argentina. He returned to Israel in 1950. 

[Event "Palestine Championship, Tel Aviv"] [Site ""] [Date "1939.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Victor Winz"] [Black "Moshe Czerniak"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D70"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "1939.??.??"] {Gruenfeld Defense} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 {A so called Anti-Gruenfeld line that allows black a wide choice, including transposing into the Samisch variation of the King's Indian if he wishes.} d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nb6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. Be3 O-O {This constitutes the main line, but with his next move white deviates from the usual 8.Qd2} 8. f4 {This forces black to play enterprisingly if he does not want to face a strogn attack by white's Ps.} Nc6 9. d5 Nb8 (9... Na5 {is more precise. After} 10. Bd4 e5 11. Bxe5 Bxe5 12. fxe5 Qh4+ 13. g3 Qe7 14. Qd4 Rd8 15. b4 Nac4 16. Bxc4 Qxb4 {black should be able to hold his own even against white's impressive center.}) 10. a4 {Best!} (10. Bd4 {was played in Korchnoi,V (2615)-McShane,L (2625) Igualada 2005} Bh6 11. Qf3 c6 12. h4 cxd5 13. exd5 e5 14. Bxe5 N8d7 15. Bd4 Nf6 16. O-O-O Qd6 17. Bxf6 Qxf6 {Black is better and went on to win a well played ending.}) 10... e5 {The safe line begins with 10...c6} (10... a5 {lead to white's advantage in Richter,M (2470) -Aabling-Thomsen,J (2365) Copenhagen 2014} 11. Nf3 Na6 12. Bxb6 cxb6) 11. a5 { This is the logical followup, but white has unsuccessfully tried both 11.fxe5 and 11.f5 here.} exf4 12. axb6 {[%mdl 8192] This turns out to be a serious mistake. Correct was 12.Bxf4} fxe3 13. Rxa7 {White was probably chuckling to himself over having played this because black is lost after he plays the obvious 13...Rxa7} Qh4+ {Inviting, but this move is actually a clunker.} (13... Rxa7 14. bxa7 Qh4+ 15. g3 Qf6 16. Qc2 (16. axb8=Q Qf2#) 16... Na6 17. a8=Q) ( 13... Bg4 {The winner!} 14. Qxg4 Bxc3+ 15. bxc3 Qf6 16. Qg3 Qxc3+ 17. Ke2 Nd7 18. Qxe3 Qb2+ {and black has a decisive advantage.}) 14. g3 {Equalizing.} Bxc3+ 15. bxc3 Qxe4 (15... Qf6 {Threatens mate on f2, but it allows white to gain the advanatge after} 16. Qc2 Bh3 {The only way to avoid losing more material.} 17. Bxh3 Na6 {White's extra material is enough to win.}) 16. Nf3 {Best.} (16. Rxa8 {would lose after} Qxh1 17. Nf3 cxb6 18. Rxb8 Bg4 19. Rxf8+ Kxf8 20. d6 Bxf3 {and incredibly black has a mate in 11 as follows.} 21. Qd4 Ke8 22. Qe5+ Kd7 23. Qe7+ Kc6 24. Qc7+ Kd5 25. d7 Qxf1+ 26. Kxf1 e2+ 27. Ke1 Ke6 28. d8=Q Bc6 29. Qce7+ Kf5 30. Qxf7+ Ke4 31. Qf4#) 16... Bg4 17. Rxa8 {Finally!} Bxf3 { [%mdl 128] It appears that black's attack will be devastating.} 18. Qd3 Qe5 ( 18... Bxh1 {loses to} 19. Qxe4 Bxe4 20. bxc7 Nd7 21. Rxf8+ Nxf8 22. c8=Q) 19. bxc7 {Forceful, tricky, but not the best.} (19. Rg1 {Prosaic, but equalizing.} c5 20. dxc6 Bxc6 21. Be2 {followed by Rf1 with equal chances.}) 19... Qxc7 ( 19... Bxh1 {would be mistake.} 20. d6 Nc6 21. Rxf8+ Kxf8 22. c8=Q+) 20. Rg1 { Aiming for Bg2.} Qb6 (20... Bxd5 {would have given black the advantage. White should now play 21.Be2, but he must avoid} 21. Qxd5 Qxc3+ 22. Kd1 Rc8 {when black is winning.}) 21. g4 {White has missed the point of black's last move.} ( 21. Be2 {was the only good move.} Bxe2 22. Kxe2 {and black must be very careful!} Qb2+ (22... Re8 {defends the P, but loses after} 23. Rb1 Qf6 24. Rf1 Qb6 25. d6 Qb2+ 26. Kf3 {Black has no reasonable defense.}) 23. Kxe3 Qxh2 { with equal chances.}) 21... Rd8 (21... e2 {is slightly more accurate.} 22. Qxf3 Re8 23. Bxe2 Qxg1+ 24. Qf1 Qxh2) 22. Rg3 (22. Be2 Bxe2 23. Kxe2 Qb2+ 24. Kxe3 Qxh2 25. Rd1 Re8+ 26. Kf3 h5 {and black is clearly better.}) 22... Rxd5 23. Rxb8+ {This is slightly better than 23.Rxf3} Kg7 24. Rxf3 (24. Rxb7 {is tricky, but insufficient.} Rxd3 (24... Qxb7 25. Qxe3 {and white has plenty of play left.}) 25. Rxf7+ (25. Rxb6 Rd1#) 25... Kxf7 26. Rxf3+ Kg7 27. Bxd3 Qc5 28. Ke2 (28. Rxe3 Qxc3+ 29. Ke2 Qb2+ 30. Ke1 Qxh2 {with a won ending.}) 28... Qxc3 29. Kxe3 {Black should win the ending.}) 24... Rxd3 25. Bxd3 {Black is winning... but only if he finds the right move!} Qc7 {Which he does.} (25... Qd6 26. Rxb7 Qxd3 27. Rbxf7+ {draws.} Kg8 (27... Kh6 28. g5+ Kxg5 29. Rg3+ Kh6 30. Rh3+) 28. Rf8+ {etc.}) 26. Re8 Qxc3+ 27. Kf1 Qxd3+ {The ending is hopelessly lost for white, but he succeeds in making things as difficult as possible for his opponent.} 28. Kg2 Qd2+ 29. Kg3 e2 30. Rfe3 Qe1+ 31. Kh3 Qf1+ 32. Kg3 Qg1+ 33. Kh3 Qf2 34. R8e5 b5 {[%mdl 32]} 35. g5 h5 36. R5e4 b4 37. Rxe2 Qf3+ 38. Kh4 b3 39. R2e3 Qf2+ 40. Kh3 b2 {Black has a mate in 13 after both 41.Rb3 and 41.Re1 and quicker mates after everything else. But...white has one last trick up his sleeve.} 41. Re8 {An amazing resource. Winz plays for a stalemate trap where he would be two Qs down.} Qxe3+ {Clinching the win and so white resigned.} ( 41... b1=Q {This hasty move would have been a tragic mistake.} 42. Rg8+ Kxg8 43. Re8+ Kg7 44. Rg8+ Kxg8 {stalemate}) 0-1

An Instructional Tactical Game

     In his writings that exceptional teacher C.J.S. Purdy reminded readers to always comb the board for tactics after your opponent moves. And, before making your own move you should visualize the new position for tactics. 

     If you don’t ask yourself if your opponent has any threats, you will constantly be making blunders. Likewise, if you don't look for tactical threat before you move, you will constantly miss them. There’s no point in strategic planning when there’s a winning combination in the position. 

     As Teichmann once put it, chess is 99 per cent tactics, but after playing on some servers I have come to the conclusion that a lot of amateur players have no idea what tactics are. They seem to think that just willy-nilly sacrificing a piece or making a bad move for the sake of a vague "threat" is playing tactically. 

     They play like the guy I played several games against online the other day. He insisted on plying 1.e5 and 2.Qh5; sure Nakamura has played it in Blitz, but he's a Super-GM. My opponent also liked to play Bf4 and Bxf7+ or Nf3, Ng5 and Nxf7.

     We had a little conversation between moves and when I asked him about it, his comment was that he wins a lot of games by playing tactically. He wasn't playing tactically, he was blundering. 

     Another opponent who was badgering me and using a lot of profanity stated he was an "opening innovator." When I replied that there is a difference between an opening innovation and a bad move, it elicited a string of cuss words. I took great pleasure in gloating over beating him a couple of times. 

     The point is that there is a difference between playing tactically and giving away a piece for nothing. Purdy always emphasized sound tactics. I am discounting Tal-like, risky, unclear sacrifices because most of us are not as good as he was and can't calculate like he did. 

     The way you find tactics is not looking at the position and trying various moves until you find something that works. If you see one or more of these things, there is a possibility that a tactical solution exists: 

 

1. Look at all checks. 

2. Look for undefended pieces. 

3. Look for pins and forks. 

4. Look for pieces (especially the King!) that do not have any escape squares. 

5. Look for masked pieces (i.e. pieces on the same line) 

6. Look for pieces that may be performing more than one defensive task 

7. Finally, briefly look at bizarre and surprising moves, sacrifices, Pawn breaks and “obviously unplayable” moves. 

 

     More often than not, there won't be a sound tactic available, but only after you have ascertained that there isn't should you proceed with your strategical plan, assuming you have one...a lot of amateurs don't. 

     Back in my day positional play was emphasized and tactics were a neglected area. Today it's the other way around, or at least it seems that way. During a game, especially in complicated, unclear positions, you have to be extremely attentive otherwise unpleasant surprises will await you. 

     No matter how good a strategical plan might be, a tactical mistake will completely ruin it. That's a problem with chess...it may take 40 moves to win, but only one bad one to lose. 

     The following short, but highly instructive game, played by two Moscow masters demonstrates some general ideas typical of the middlegame and a clash of two strategical plans. 

     White, relying on his lead in development, concentrated his pieces in the center and prepared an attack on the black King that was not castled. Black sacrificed a Pawn hoping for a counterattack on the Q-side where white was castled. 

     The game was decided by a Queen sacrifice when in final mating attack saw all the white pieces taking part. Yuri Averbakh described the action: 

 

1. The R on d1 took away the black K's squares on the d-file and defended the N at d8. 

2. The N, in tum, deprived the K of f7 square, the B deprived the K of f6

3. The R on e1 landed the fatal blow. 

 

While all that was happening, for black's part...

 

1. His B on f8 and P on f6 not only failed to help, they actually hinder the K's escape. 

2. The rest of black's pieces were cheerless spectators in the execution of their own monarch. 

 

     The winner, Mikhail Bronch-Osmolovsky (1919-1975) was awarded the Soviet National Master title in 1951. He is known for his contributions to opening theory and as a Soviet arbiter and President of the central chess section of the Burivyestnik Club. Nothing is known of his opponent, Boris Baranov (1923-1976).

 

[Event "USSR Champ Qualifier, Moscow"] [Site ""] [Date "1953.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Mikhail Bronch-Osmolovsky"] [Black "Boris Baranov"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "41"] [EventDate "1953.??.??"] [Source ""] {Petroff Defense} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 {If 3.Nxe5 black should first play 3...d6 and only then play ...Nxe4. The point is that on the immediate 3...Nxe4 white has the strong reply 4.Qe2} (3. Nxe5 d6 (3... Nxe4 4. Qe2 Qe7 5. Qxe4 d6 6. d4 dxe5 7. dxe5 {White has won a P.}) 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 {etc.}) 3... exd4 4. e5 (4. Bc4 {This inviting move which should lead to approximate equality has not worked out well for white in practice.} Nc6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Re1 {Oddly, there is no way for white to take advantage of the pin.} d5 7. Bxd5 Qxd5 8. Nc3 Qa5 9. Nxe4 Be6 10. Neg5 O-O-O 11. Nxe6 fxe6 12. Rxe6 {with an equal position.}) 4... Ne4 5. Qxd4 d5 6. exd6 Nxd6 7. Bd3 (7. Bg5 {can be met by} Nc6 {Also quite playable is 7...f6} 8. Qe3+ Be7 9. Nc3 h6 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. Qxe7+ Nxe7 {equals}) 7... Qe7+ {Averbakh claimed that 7...Nc6 is more accurate here. With the move in the game black plans to answer 8.Be3 with 8...Nf5 exchanging a N for a B, but this operation leads to a loss of time and to black delaying the develop- ment of his pieces.} (7... Nc6 8. Qf4 g6 9. Nc3 Bg7 10. O-O O-O {with complete equality.}) 8. Be3 Nf5 {But, this is questionable. It was not yet too late for black to reject his initial plan. By playing 8... Bf5 he would have gained an acceptable position, but after the text he encounters significant problems.} (8... Nc6 9. Qf4 g6 10. Nc3 Be6 11. Nd4 Bd7 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Qa4 Bg7 14. O-O O-O {White is better. Korchnoi, V-Averbakh,Y Sverdlovsk 1957}) (8... Bf5 9. Nc3 Nc6 10. Qf4 Bxd3 11. cxd3 O-O-O {with equal chances.}) 9. Bxf5 Bxf5 10. Nc3 {Offering black a P, but taking it would be extremely dangerous:} (10. Qf4 {Doesn't accomplish anything.} Qd7 11. Qe5+ Be6 12. Nc3 $11) 10... Qb4 {[%mdl 8192] This loses! By playing his Q to the Q-side where to all appearances white's K is intending to take shelter, black leaves his own K in the center a tad too long and white, having the initiative, is able to launch a decisive attack.} (10... Bxc2 {is just too dangerous.} 11. Rc1 Nc6 (11... Bg6 12. Nd5 {is fatal for black.}) 12. Qf4 Nb4 {With the obvious threat of ...Nd3+} 13. O-O Nd3 14. Qf5 Nxc1 15. Qxc2 {and white is better.}) ( 10... Nc6 {this is the correct move. After} 11. Qf4 Qd7 (11... Bg6 12. Nd5 { and wins.} Qd6 13. Nxc7+) 12. Nb5 O-O-O {white's advantage is minimal.}) 11. Qe5+ {Of course, there is no point in white exchanging Qs because his lead in development is best exploited by attacking.} Be6 12. O-O-O (12. Qxc7 {White fails to be tempted with this P grab.} Bd6 13. a3 Qxb2 14. Nd1 Bxc7 (14... Qxa1 15. Qxb7 O-O 16. Qxa8 Rd8 {Black is better.}) 15. Nxb2 Nc6 {with the advantage to black.}) 12... Nc6 {In the hope of mounting an attack along the c-file, black tries to buy off his opponent with a Pawn.} 13. Qxc7 Rc8 14. Qf4 Qa5 ( 14... Be7 {hoping to castle is met by} 15. Nd5 Qa5 16. Nxe7 Nxe7 17. a3 O-O { Black has no compensation for the P minus.}) 15. Qg5 {Interestying strategy. By offering the exchange of Qs now that he is a P up, white switches his Q to an active position with gain of tempo.} Qa6 (15... Qxg5 16. Nxg5 Be7 (16... Bf5 17. Rhe1 f6 (17... Be7 18. Bc5 {wins}) 18. Bc5+ Ne5 19. Bxf8 Kxf8 20. Nge4 { with a won ending.}) 17. Nxe6 fxe6 18. Nb5 {with an ending that clearly favors white.}) 16. Rhe1 {White's pieces are fully mobilized and are ready for decisive action whereas black has not yet resolved the question of safeguarding his K. Realizing his situation is desperate, black tries to counterattack.} Nb4 17. Nd4 {[%mdl 32]} Rxc3 {Self-immolation...this allows a mate in 6.} (17... f6 18. Qh5+ g6 19. Qb5+ Qxb5 20. Ndxb5 Kf7 (20... Nxa2+ 21. Nxa2 Bxa2 22. Bh6+ Kf7 23. Rd7+ Kg8 24. Bxf8 Rxf8 25. b3 {wins}) 21. Bxa7 Bf5 22. Nd4 Bd7 23. a3 Nc6 24. Ndb5 {Here, too, white has a won ending.}) 18. Qd8+ {[%mdl 512] White mates. This is the only satisfactory answer to black's last move!} (18. bxc3 {would have been a most unfortunate move.} Nxa2+ 19. Kd2 (19. Kb1 Nxc3+ 20. Kc1 Ba3+ 21. Kd2 Ne4#) 19... Nxc3 20. Kxc3 {Forced.} Qc4+ 21. Kd2 (21. Kb2 Ba3+ 22. Kxa3 Qa2+ 23. Kb4 {Black has to take the draw with 23...Qc4+ because after} O-O 24. Kc3 {white would be winning.}) 21... Bb4+ 22. Kc1 Ba3+ { draws}) 18... Kxd8 19. Nxe6+ {Again, this is the only move that wins.} (19. bxc3 Nxa2+ 20. Kd2 {and it'd black who is winning.}) 19... Ke7 20. Bg5+ { To repeat myself, this is the only move that wins. It is important not to let the K escape to f6.} (20. Bc5+ Kf6 {and there is no decisive followup whatsoever!} 21. Bd4+ Kg6 22. Nxf8+ Rxf8 23. Bxc3 Nxa2+ {and wins.}) 20... f6 21. Nd8+ {White mates in two...very precise play by Bonch-Osmolovsky.} 1-0

A Lesson On Connected Passed Pawns

     One of my early instructional books that I probably gained the most from was Ludek Pachman's classic, Modern Chess Strategy. In the book's section on passed Pawns, he wrote that two united passed Pawns are a dangerous weapon, but the possessor of such Pawns must make sure that they cannot be blockaded and that, as a rule, such Pawns should advance together. 

     Pachman gave the following game as an illustration of what happens if the Pawns are blockaded. In the final position white's connected passed Pawns on the Q-side went nowhere while black's connected passed Pawns in the center marched to victory. 

     When Pachman gave this as a model game he left the reader with the impression that Gligoric's opening strategy was completely faulty and, a a result, it was doomed from the beginning. But, thanks to Stockfish and Komodo it is clear that that was not the case. 

     In fact, the opening line as late as move 18 was played in at least four later games and white won them all, so clearly black's position after 17....Ne8 actually favors white slightly as is indicated by Stockfish and Komodo. Based on the evidence then, it's clear that Gligoric's loss must be attributed to a later error and not faulty opening strategy. 

     Still, the game is a good example of the principle that two united passed Pawns should not be allowed to be blockaded as Gligoric allowed to happen in this game and its instructional value is not diminished. 

[Event "Helsinki Olympics (Men) prel-B"] [Site "Helsinki FIN"] [Date "1952.08.11"] [Round "?"] [White "Svetozar Gligoric (Yugoslavia)"] [Black "Laszlo Szabo (Hungary)"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E42"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "1952.??.??"] {Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 {[%mdl 32]} c5 5. Nge2 d5 6. a3 cxd4 7. exd4 Be7 8. c5 O-O 9. b4 b6 10. g3 bxc5 11. dxc5 (11. bxc5 {is also favorable to black after} Nc6 12. Bg2 Ba6 13. Bf4 Bc4) 11... a5 { This allows white to get two united passed Ps and so it seems illogical, but the Ps are not as dangerous as they seem because they can be easily blockaded.} 12. Rb1 axb4 13. axb4 {Szabo's play in the opening has not lead to a decisive positional advantage as some past annotators have claimed...the correct evaluation here is black is slightly better.} Nc6 {Today's powerful engines suggest that 13...Na6 would have been ever so slightly better, but the resulting complications are probably beyond a player's ability to calculate over the board.} (13... Na6 14. Bg2 Rb8 15. Nd4 Bd7 (15... Nxb4 16. Rxb4 Rxb4 17. Nc6 Qc7 18. Nxb4 Qxc5 {is unclear.}) (15... Rxb4 16. Nc6 Rxb1 17. Nxd8 Rxc1 18. Qxc1 Nxc5 19. Nc6 Nd3+ 20. Kd2 Nxc1 21. Nxe7+ Kh8 22. Rxc1 {favors white.}) 16. Nc2 e5 17. Nxd5 Nxd5 18. Qxd5 Bf5 19. Qxd8 Rfxd8 20. Rb2 Bxc2 21. Rxc2 Nxb4 {is about equal.}) 14. Bg2 (14. b5 {fails for tactical reasons.} Ne5 {The threat is simple ...Nf3#} 15. Bg2 Bxc5) 14... Rb8 15. Ba3 (15. b5 Bxc5 16. bxc6 Rxb1 17. Nxb1 Qb6 {and black has attacking chances in exchange for his material investment. Just for example...} 18. Nbc3 Bxf2+ 19. Kf1 Ng4) 15... Bd7 (15... Ba6 {was better as demonstrated in Belous,V (2524)-Goganov,A (2469) St Petersburg 2011} 16. O-O Bc4 17. Re1 {Now, after the correct 17...Nd7 black has a very slight advantage. However, the position is so delicate that after he played 17...e5 white was better and eventually managed to score the point.}) 16. O-O (16. b5 {Must be renounced because it is flawed tactically.} Ne5 17. O-O Qc8 {winning a P and leaving the other one very weak.} 18. c6 Bxa3 19. cxd7 Nfxd7) 16... Na7 {Headed for b5 to blockade the P.} 17. Re1 Ne8 {The second N joins in the plan to blockade white's Ps.} (17... Nb5 {is punished by} 18. Nxb5 Bxb5 19. Nd4 Qd7 20. Nxb5 Qxb5 21. Bb2 {and white has a decisive advantage after, say, 21...Rfc8 22.Bf1 and 23.Bd4 because the Q is a poor blockader. Note that the P cannot be taken.} Qxb4 22. Bxf6 {with a discovered attack on the Q.}) 18. Bc1 (18. Nd4 {was tried in three later games and it's neither better nor worse than Gligoric's move. White is slightly better here in any case.} Nc7 19. Qd2 (19. Na4 Bf6 20. Nb6 e5 21. Nf3 Bf5 22. Ra1 {is equal. Panczyk,K (2375)-Pokojowczyk,J (2380) Bytom 1986}) 19... Bf6 20. f4 Qc8 21. Nce2 Rd8 22. Bb2 {White is slightly better. Garcia Palermo,C (2520) -Pinter,J (2540) Luzern 1985}) 18... Bf6 {Pachman declared that this move is part of black's attacking plan and also makes the observation tht white now errs in his plan to draw black's Ps forward with the idea of attacking them and at the same timne increasing the scope of his B on g2.} 19. Bf4 {Pachman assigned this move a ? without comment, but it is Komodo's first choice and white's advantage is put at just over a half of a P.} e5 {While this move ultimately serves black well it actually gives white the advantage.} (19... Nc7 20. Bd6 Re8 21. Nd4 {White's pieces are well placed, but black has adequate defensive resources so the position must be considered equal.}) 20. Bd2 {This retreat is an excellent move.} (20. Nxd5 exf4 21. Nexf4 {White's b- and c-Pawns and two well placed Ns are not quite sufficient compensation for black's two Bs and his slight material advantage.}) 20... d4 21. Nd5 {Not at all bad, but slightly more accurate would have been 21.Ne4 eyeing d6} Bc6 22. Nxf6+ Qxf6 23. Bxc6 Qxc6 {At this point the position must still be considered equal.} 24. f4 f6 25. Qb3+ Kh8 26. Rf1 {A subtle error after which black gains a very slight advantage.} (26. g4 {gaining active play on the K-side would have assured white of a small, but lasting advantage.} Nc7 27. Ng3 Rbe8 (27... Nab5 28. fxe5 fxe5 29. Rxe5 {picks up a P.}) 28. fxe5 fxe5 29. Qd3 {Keeping a watchful eye on e4 and b5} Nab5 30. Rf1 Rxf1+ 31. Rxf1 {White is slightly better.}) 26... Nc7 27. Qc4 Nab5 28. Rbe1 {Because the hope of advancing his Q-side Ps has long disappeared white has shifted his Rs around in an attenpt to defend against black's advancing Ps and as a result black now has the initiative. Pachman incorrectly assured readers that it's too late, black has a won position, but that is over optimistic. Evaluation: Komodo black by about a half a P, Stockfish 1.5 Ps.} h6 29. g4 {This makes g3 available for the N. It's interesting to note that white's Q-sdie Ps are not playing any part in the game at this point.} Rbe8 30. f5 {[%mdl 8192] This is a serious positional mistake because it gives black two connected passed Ps in the center.} (30. fxe5 fxe5 {also gives black two connected passe Ps in the center, but with the major difference that they can be blockaded.} 31. Rxf8+ Rxf8 32. Ng3 Qf3 33. Rf1 Qa8 34. Rxf8+ Qxf8 {with equal chances. In fact, white is slightly better.} 35. Qd3) 30... Qd5 31. Qc1 {[%mdl 8192] This is really where white starts down the trail that leds to a loss. His best bet was to exchange Qs because now black's Q is in a dominating position.} (31. Qxd5 Nxd5 32. Ng3 Rb8 (32... Ra8 { is not quite as strong.} 33. Ne4 Rfb8 {White's best try is...} 34. c6 Rb6 35. Rc1 Ne7 36. c7 Rc8 37. Rc5 Rxc7 38. Ra1 {with some play.}) 33. Rb1 Na3 34. Rb3 Nc4 35. Be1 Nde3 36. Rf2 {Black is clearly better, but at least white can play on with some hopes of salvaging the game.}) 31... Kh7 32. Ng3 e4 {[%mdl 32] With his Ps on the move black is clearly winning. White's Ps on the other hand have not budged.} 33. Bf4 e3 34. Qd1 Qc4 {Prevents Qd3} 35. h4 Nd5 36. g5 d3 37. Qg4 Rg8 38. Nh5 Re4 39. g6+ Kh8 40. Qf3 {White exceeded the time limit in this hopeless position.} (40. Qf3 e2 41. Rf2 Nxf4 42. Nxf4 d2 {wins easily.}) 0-1

Keres' Classic Sacrifice on f7

     The 6th (1935) Olympiad was organized by the FIDE and consisted of an open team tournament and an unofficial women's tournament as well as several events designed to promote the chess. It took place between August 16 and August 31, 1935, in Warsaw, Poland. 

     The Olympiad witnessed the debut of some strong young players: Paul Keres, Gideon Stahlberg, Jacobo Bolbochan, Andrea Lilienthal, Erich Eliskases, Peter rifunovic, Arthur Dake and Laszlo Szabo, among others. 

     At the start, the favorites were the United States (Reuben Fine, Frank Marshall, Abraham Kupchik, Arthur Dake and I.A. Horowitz) and Czechoslovakia, mostly because of their board 1 player, Salo Flohr, at the time one of the strongest world players in the world. The final standings out of 20 teams was 1) United States 2) Sweden and 3) Poland. 

     The Unites States' third consecutive win of this event was mainly credited to Arthur Dake's outstanding 15.5-2.5 score. An interesting sidelight was that although Dake was born in Portland, Oregon, his father was from Poland and so Dake refused to play against Poland. Kupchik went undefeated and that was also a great help. 

     It was at this event that Paul Keres (January 7, 1916 - June 5, 1975) was introduced to the world; he met World Champion Alexander Alekhine, Savielly Tartakower and SaloFlohr. He lost to all three of them, but scored a respectable 12-7. 

     In the following game his opponent, William Winter (September 11, 1898 - December 18, 1955), was an interesting character who was British Champion in 1935 and 1936. Winter spent six months in prison for sedition (conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch) due to his communist activity. 

     Before castling, the weakest squares on the board are f2 for white and f7 for black. In this game Keres' assault on f7 with a N sacrifice in the opening is not only entertaining, but instructive. 

     In the game Keres demonstrates the principle that a sacrificial attack on f7 (or f2), whether with a Bishop or a Knight, must be followed up by aggressive action. That's because after ...Kxf7 not only can the King not castle, it is exposed to attack and there is also a weakness on the diagonal d1-h5. Any advantage white gets is generally of a transitory nature and must be energetically exploited before it disappears. 

[Event "Warsaw Olympiad"] [Site "Warsaw POL"] [Date "1935.08.26"] [Round "?"] [White "Paul Keres"] [Black "William Winter"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "37"] [EventDate "1935.??.??"] {Sicilian: Nimzovich Variation} 1. e4 {[%mdl 32]} c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 {The rarely seen Nimzovich variation is, at least according to my database, a good surprise as only about a quarter of the games are drawn and the remaining games equally divided between white and black wins. AA disadvantage is that it does offer white some nice tactics.} 3. e5 {This advance Variation is the only ral way to try and exploit black's move. After 3.Nc3 black has at least three reasonable moves: 3...d6, 3...Nc6 or even 3...d5} Nd5 4. Nc3 (4. c3 {This is the main line. Play usually continues} Nc6 5. Bc4 Nb6 6. Bb3 c4 7. Bc2 { but this line has, on the whole, proven very favorable for white.}) 4... e6 5. Nxd5 exd5 6. d4 d6 7. Bg5 (7. Bb5+ {is a good alternative.} Nc6 8. O-O Be7 { with a good game.} 9. c4) 7... Qa5+ 8. c3 cxd4 (8... c4 {trying to keep the position closed is the main alternative, but white is doing well after} 9. Be2 Nc6 10. O-O) 9. Bd3 {Developing.} (9. Qxd4 Nc6 10. Qe3 Be6 11. Nd4 dxe5 12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. Qh3 {is completely equal. Kelecevic,N-Kozomara,V Sarajevo 1968}) (9. e6 {looks promising, but Keres rightly prefers developing to launching a premature attack with this move.} dxc3 10. exf7+ Kxf7 11. bxc3 Be7 (11... Qxc3+ 12. Bd2 {favors white.}) 12. Be2 h6 13. Be3 Rf8 14. O-O {White is only slightly better.}) 9... dxc3 10. O-O {Much the best.} (10. bxc3 dxe5 {and white has no good reply.} 11. Qb3 Bd6 {This, it turns out, is even stronger than trying to win material with a P fork by ...e4} (11... e4 12. Bb5+ Bd7 13. Nd4 {black is clearly better.}) 12. O-O O-O 13. Be2 Nc6 14. Rfd1 Be6 {and black stands very well.}) 10... cxb2 {This runs into a snappy refutation. In spite of his somewhat questionable move selection black would have been doing reasonably well after 10...Nc6.} (10... Nc6 11. Re1 Be6 12. bxc3 Qc7 13. exd6 Bxd6 14. Bf5 Qd7) 11. Rb1 {Curiously, after this according to Stockfish black is pretty much helpless (evaluation 2.5 Ps in white's favor; generally halving Stockfish's evaluation is more accurate). Komodo 14 puts white's advantage at a scant half of a P. Fritz 17 at about a quarter of a P.} (11. Qc2 { Threatening to win at once with Qxc8} Nc6 (11... Be6 12. Qxb2 Qb6 13. Bb5+ Nc6 14. exd6 Bxd6 15. Qxg7 {and white is winning.}) 12. Qxb2 dxe5 13. Nxe5 Qa3 { and black has equalized as there is no way to take advantage of the seemingly precarious position of his K.} 14. Qe2 Be7 15. Rae1 Be6) 11... dxe5 (11... h6 { The first choice of both engines.} 12. Bf4 Qb4 {Black dare not open the e-file by playing ...dxe5} 13. Bd2 Qb6 14. Qc2) (11... Qxa2 {is met by} 12. Qc2 Nc6 13. Bb5 Bd7 14. Rfe1 Be7 15. exd6 {and wins}) 12. Nxe5 Bd6 {Losing instantly.} (12... Be6 {was a tad better.} 13. Nxf7 Kxf7 14. Re1 Nd7 15. Qf3+ Nf6 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. Qh5+ {This move is often seen often seen in conjunction with the Bxf7+ sacrifice and the same applies here with the N.} Kg7 (17... Ke7 18. Bf5) 18. Rxe6 {White is winning.} Rc8 19. Rxb2 Rc1+ 20. Bf1 Qc7 {Black is actually a P up, but he is dead lost. The reason is white's pieces are more active and black's K is exposed, to wit...} 21. Qg4+ Kf7 22. Rbe2 Rc6 23. g3 h5 (23... Rxe6 24. Qxe6+ Kg6 25. Qg4+ Kf7 26. Qh5+ Kg7 27. Re8 Qc2 28. Qg4+ Kf7 29. Qe6+ Kg7 30. Rc8 Qxa2 31. Rc7+ Be7 32. Rxe7+ Kg6 33. Bd3+ Kh6 34. Qh3+ Kg5 35. f4#) 24. Qf5 Rh6 25. h4 Rc1 26. Re8 Qd6 27. R2e6 Qc5 28. Re1 Rc3 29. Bd3 Qd6 30. R1e6 Qc5 31. Rd8 d4 {White now has a pretty win as follows...} 32. Rxf6+ Rxf6 33. Qh7+ Ke6 (33... Bg7 34. Qg8+ Ke7 35. Qe8#) 34. Qd7+ Ke5 35. f4+ {and wins. Stockfish points out a mate in 22 moves!} Rxf4 36. Re8+ (36. gxf4+ Kxf4 { Black is lost, but he can still resist a bit.}) 36... Be7 37. Rxe7+ Qxe7 38. Qxe7+ Kd5 39. Qxb7+ Kc5 40. Qb5+ Kd6 41. gxf4 Rc5 42. Qa6+ Rc6 43. Qxa7 Rc5 44. Qb6+ Kd5 45. Kf2 Rc3 46. Qb5+ Ke6 47. Bf5+ Kd6 48. Qe5+ Kc6 49. Be4+ Kd7 50. Qxd4+ Ke6 51. Qxc3 Kd6 52. Qe5+ Kd7 53. Kg1 Kd8 54. Qd6+ Kc8 55. Qe7 Kb8 56. Qb7#) 13. Nxf7 {[%mdl 512]} Kxf7 14. Qh5+ {As noted, with a sac on f7 this move often plays an important part.} g6 {There is nothing better.} 15. Bxg6+ { [%mdl 512]} hxg6 16. Qxh8 {Threatening mate with Rfe1.} Bf5 17. Rfe1 {White wants to mate with Qh7+.} Be4 18. Rxe4 {[%mdl 512] This mates in 11 whereas 18. Qf6+ mates in 8.} (18. Qf6+ Kg8 19. Qe6+ Kg7 20. Bf6+ Kh7 21. Qf7+ Kh6 22. Qg7+ Kh5 23. Qh7+ Kg4 24. Qh3+ Kf4 25. g3+ Kf3 26. Re3#) 18... dxe4 19. Qf6+ { Flawless play by Keres in this model game!} (19. Qf6+ Kg8 20. Qxg6+ Kf8 21. Qxd6+ Kg8 22. Qe6+ Kg7 23. Qe7+ Kg8 24. Bf6 Qg5 25. Bxg5 Nc6 26. Qe6+ Kg7 27. Qf6+ Kg8 28. Bh6 {mate next move.}) 1-0

Where's Your Proof, Magnus?

      DETAILS at ChessBase

     NOTE: See Dr. Ken Regan's statistical analysis of Niemann's games HERE.

A Bad Day Online

     Last Friday morning was spent running errands and in the afternoon I spent some time playing Blitz on Chess Hotel. It was a bad day...I was going to say a lot of good players were on line, but a more accurate way of putting it was a lot of players better than me were on line. There's a difference. 

     I lost several games and of the two I won, one was a seesaw affair where my opponent ran out of time in a winning position...at least Stockfish said it was winning. 

     The following game was the most interesting. I blundered away a P at move 3, but somehow managed to get compensation for it. Playing Blitz online is one thing, but in OTB play I agree with GM Alex Yermolinsky when he states that even average players should play solid mainline openings and avoid all that nonsense some titled players use to sell books...stuff like making your opponent think on his own, etc. If I play a wacky opening I have to think on my own, too, and experience tells me that thinking on my own doesn't always work out too well.

     Going back to my OTB days, I realized that average players rarely played more than 6-8 "book" moves in any opening anyway and so a deep study was a waste of time. 

     In one game my opponent was snapping out his opening moves at a Blitz pace while I was using quite a bit of time. Then all of a sudden I played a move and he sank into thought for several minutes and I knew we were at the end of what he had memorized. His reply was a weak move that soon left him totally lost. 

     In the postmortem I got schooled on the whole variation (of a Sicilian, I think it was). When we got to the move that made him think, I was told my move was bad (and maybe it was) because it wasn't what Fischer played. My question to him was, if it was such a bad move why couldn't he refute it? 

     In any case, in this game even though I lost the d-Pawn on move 3 Komodo 14 only gives black an advantage of about half a Pawn. It makes me think we amateur players put way too much emphasis on openings and our time might be better spent studying other aspects of the game. 

[Event "Chess Hotel"] [Site "?"] [Date "2022.09.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Tartajubow"] [Black "Anonymous"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "45"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] {Nimzovich Defense} 1. e4 Nc6 {A hypermodern defense in which white is invited to occupy the center with Ps and black will then try to blockade them and then undermine the center. While never accepted in master play the defense seems solid enough.} 2. d4 e5 {Also good is 2...d5 which was preferred by Nimzovich. The solid text was preferred by Anthony Miles. White can transpose to the Scotch Game with 3.Nf3, or play 3.d5 Nce7 (3...Nb8, although perhaps not as bad as it looks, is considered inferior). Or. white can try 3.dxe5} 3. Nc3 { I would say this move is the result of a mouse slip, but even that flimsy excuse doesn't make sense. The truth is, there is no explanation.} Nxd4 { Preferred by Stockfish over 3...exd4} 4. f4 d6 5. Be3 c5 {This is Stockfish's second choice (6...Nc6 is the first). Somehow black's P-formation just doesn't look right.} 6. Nf3 {[%mdl 32]} Bg4 {Engines don't seem to think this move is a top contender, but I found it annoying.} 7. fxe5 dxe5 {It has transpired that somehow the P sacrifice on move 3 has resulted in equality...assuming I find a good move here.} (7... Bxf3 8. gxf3 dxe5 9. Nd5 Be7 (9... Bd6 10. c3 Nc6 11. Rg1 {white has a promising position.}) 10. Nxe7 Nxe7 11. c3 Qa5 {with equal chances.}) 8. Bc4 {This isn't as good as it looks; black is slightly better.} (8. Nxd4 {This is the best move!} Bxd1 9. Bb5+ Qd7 10. Nf5 {Capturing the Q was also quite playable, but this move is craftier.} Bg4 (10... Qxb5 11. Nxb5 Bg4 12. Nc7+ {and white is better.}) 11. Bxd7+ Kxd7 12. Rf1 {with equal chances.}) (8. Bb5+ {results in equality.} Nxb5 9. Qxd8+ Rxd8 10. Nxb5 Bxf3 11. gxf3 a6 12. Nc7+ Kd7 13. Nd5 Kc6 {with a weird position that is evaluated as equal.}) 8... Nf6 {This allows a tactical shot that I had in mind when I played 8.Bc4.} (8... Nxf3+ 9. gxf3 Bh3 10. Bb5+ Bd7 11. Qd5 Bxb5 12. Qxe5+ { is good for white.}) (8... Bxf3 {equalizes after} 9. gxf3 Nf6 10. O-O Qb6) 9. Bxf7+ {Unfortunately this is hardly crushing...white gets no more than a slight advantage.} Kxf7 10. Nxe5+ Kg8 11. Nxg4 {White's advantage weighs in at about one P.} h5 {[%mdl 8192] But this move yields white a significant advantage. Black should exchange Ns first.} (11... Nxg4 12. Bxd4 h5 (12... cxd4 13. Qxg4 dxc3 14. Qe6#) 13. Bg1 {White has a slight advantage whether black exchanges Qs or plays 13...Qh4+}) 12. Nxf6+ Qxf6 13. Qd3 {Making room to castle Q-side.} Bd6 14. O-O-O Be5 {Eliminating the Bs with 14...Bf4 would have been somewhat better.} 15. Nd5 {The N is on a great post!} Qe6 16. Rhf1 Rd8 { Here I spent about one minute, but could not think of a reasonable move. Engines suggest 17.Qc4 and white is winning. Needing to move, I hallucinated and played...} 17. Rf5 {[%mdl 8192] I am not sure what the point of this move was supposed to be, but after 17...Nxf5 black would clearly be better. Now it was black's turn to think a minute or so.} g6 {[%mdl 8192] Black chickened out! } (17... Nxf5 18. exf5 Qf7 19. Bxc5 {White has a N+2Ps vs a R and the slightly better position.}) (17... Rxd5 $19 {and life would good for black after} 18. Rf8+ (18. exd5 Qxf5 19. Qxf5 Nxf5 20. Bxc5 Bxh2) 18... Kxf8 19. exd5 Qg4 20. Rf1+ Ke7) 18. Rf2 (18. Bxd4 {Fortunately there was no time to comsider this which would have allowed black to equalize after} gxf5 19. Bxe5 Qxe5 20. Qb3 Kf8 {and both 21.Qxb7 and 21.Rf1 lead to no more than equality.}) 18... Kg7 19. Rdf1 {White is clearly winning now.} Rhf8 20. Rxf8 Rxf8 21. Rxf8 Kxf8 22. c3 Qc6 {A rushed move due to time considerations.} (22... Nc6 {is best, but after} 23. Bxc5+ Kf7 24. h3 {black's position would be hopeless,}) 23. Bh6+ { Noticed at the last second...it removes the B from the clutches of black's P after 24.cxd4 cxd4+ Black thought several seconds and realized the game was over and so resigned.} (23. cxd4 {would be a serious mistake because after} cxd4+ 24. Kb1 dxe3 {white's advantage has all but disappeared.}) (23. Bxd4 { Came to mind, but it was quickly obvious that after} cxd4 {white can't claim any advantage.}) (23. Bh6+ Kf7 24. cxd4 cxd4+ 25. Kd2 Bxh2 26. Qf3+ Ke8 27. Qf8+ Kd7 28. Qf7+ Kc8 (28... Kd6 29. Qe7#) (28... Kd8 29. Bg5+ {[%emt 0:00:03] mates in}) 29. Ne7+ {wins.}) (23. Bh6+ Ke8 24. cxd4 cxd4+ 25. Kb1 Bxh2 26. g3 Qc5 27. b4 {White wins.}) 1-0

Viktor the Terrible Tears Up Tal

     The year 1962 started of with Botvinnik winning the annual Hastings Christmas tournament and pocketing $280 (worth about 10 times that today).

     Chessplayers lost that year were Vyacheslav Ragozin, Ernst Gruenfeld, Czech IM Josef Rejfir, Milan Vidmar, Ossip Bernstein and Frank Graves, a former USCF president. 

     On October 25, 1962, the strong US Senior Master 38-year old Abe Turner was stabbed to death in the offices of Chess Review by Theodore Smith, an ex-mental patient. Turner was stabbed in the back 9 times and then his 280 pound body stuffed in a large safe. 

     The Stockholm Interzonal was won by 18-year-old Bobby Fischer who was undefeated. Tigran Petrosian won the Candidates tournament at Curacao. US representatives Bobby Fischer and Pal Benko finished 4th and 6th (out of 8 places) respectively. After the tournament Fischer accused the Russians of cheating by rigging the outcome of their games; later Korchnoi confirmed the accusations. 

     The following game was played in the 1962 Soviet Championship. The tournament, which had been preceded by six semifinals events, was held from November 21 to December 20 in Yerevan, the capital and largest city of Armenia. Korchnoi scored +10 -1 =8, losing only to Vladas Mikenas. Curiously, Mikenas defeated both Korchnoi and Tal. 

     The following game has been widely published and was included by Korchnoi in his own best games collection. While referring to notes by GM John Emms, GM Andy Soltis and USCF Life Master A.J. Goldsby, and with the help of Stockfish 15, Komodo 14, I have tried to weed out a lot of variations, including some erroneous analysis, and just capture the essence of this struggle between these two leviathans of the chess world. Enjoy the game! 

[Event "USSR Championship, Yerevan"] [Site "Yerevan URS "] [Date "1962.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Viktor Korchnoi"] [Black "Mikhail Tal"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A62"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "1962.??.??"] {Modern Benoni: Fianchetto Variation} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nf3 g6 {At the time Tal was almost the only titled player that played the sharp Benoni and he was responsible for its surge in popularity. Black plays for a Q-side attack while white tries to use his center Ps.} 7. g3 {A Korchnoi favorite.} Bg7 8. Bg2 O-O 9. O-O Na6 {At the time this move was all the rage; today either 9...a6 or 9...Re8, or sometimes 9...Nbd7 are the standard moves. In the book of his best games Korchnoi slapped a ? on the move, but it's quite playable.} 10. h3 {An important part of white's strategy. He wants to advance his center Ps, but first prevents black from playing ....Bg5 and ...Bxf3 thereby getting rid of his bad B. An alternative is 10.Nd2} Nc7 { GM John Emms disapproved of this move blaming it for black's opening problems, claiming that 10...Re8 in order to hinder white's center advance makes more sense. Komodo doesn't see much difference between the two moves.} (10... Re8 11. Nd2 Nc7 12. a4 b6 13. e4 Ba6 14. Re1 Nd7 15. Nf3 Qe7 16. Bf4 Qf8 {with equal chances. Kamsky,G (2735)-Topalov,V (2700) Dos Hermanas 1996}) 11. e4 Nd7 {Emms was critical of time Tal spends fiddling with his Ns and makes the handy observation that it is usually a sign that something has gone wrong if black has to capture on e5 with his d-Pawn.} (11... Re8 {is the main alternative, but it hardly seems better.} 12. Re1 h6 {White stands slightly better, but with the R on e8 the advance e5 is rendered ineffective.} 13. e5 {Despite Emms' observation this leads nowhere after} dxe5 14. Nxe5 Nfxd5 15. Nxd5 Bxe5 16. Bf4 Bxf4 17. Rxe8+ Nxe8 18. Nxf4 Qxd1+ 19. Rxd1 {with a likely draw, black's extra P notwithstanding.}) 12. Re1 {12.Bf4 is equally good. It was played in two GM games in my database. The same applies to 12.Bg5} Ne8 { The position was critical and Tal is still fiddling with his Ns.} (12... b5 { This is premature.} 13. e5 b4 14. exd6 bxc3 15. dxc7 Qxc7 16. bxc3 Bxc3 17. Bh6 Bxe1 18. Qxe1 Bb7 (18... Rd8 19. Qe7 {followed by Ng5 wins}) 19. Bxf8 Rxf8 20. Rd1 {White is slightly better.}) (12... f6 {Hindering e5 was a reasonable try even though it further weakens the K's position.} 13. a4 Ne5 {is equal.}) ( 12... Ne5 13. Nxe5 Bxe5 14. Be3 Re8 {and white is slightly better.}) 13. Bg5 Bf6 14. Be3 Rb8 (14... b5 {was suggested by Korchnoi as being black's best practical chance.} 15. Nxb5 Ba6 16. a4 Bxb5 17. axb5 Bxb2 18. Ra6 Nb6 {with an unclear position, but in the long run white should have the better chances.}) 15. a4 a6 16. Bf1 {Prevents b5.} Qe7 17. Nd2 Nc7 18. f4 b5 {This move has been condemned by many critics, but oddly, in The World's Greatest Chess Games, GM John Emms passed over it without comment. Stockfish drops its evaluation to 2. 5 Ps in white's favor, but Komodo 14 is much less harsh, favoring white by only one P. In any case, Tal's temperament would not permit a passive defense.} 19. e5 {Korchnoi breaks through in the center in classic fashion and quickly develops a K-side attack.} dxe5 20. Nde4 {Threatening 21.d6 so...} Qd8 (20... exf4 21. d6 Qe6 22. dxc7 Bxc3 23. cxb8=Q Nxb8 24. bxc3 fxe3 25. Qf3 {costs black a R.}) 21. Nxf6+ Nxf6 {Now in addition to the move he played, white has a couple of other reasonable moves: 22.axb5 and 22. Bxc5.} 22. d6 (22. Bxc5 { is OK, but not as forceful.} b4 (22... Re8 23. fxe5 Nfxd5 24. Nxd5 Nxd5 25. axb5 axb5 26. Qd4 {Black can hope to play on.}) 23. Ne4 Nxe4 24. Rxe4 Re8 25. Rxe5 Rxe5 26. fxe5 Nxd5 {and black is still fighting.}) 22... Ne6 23. fxe5 b4 24. Nd5 {White's pieces are swarming in preparation of an attack.} (24. exf6 { allows black to equalize with} bxc3 25. bxc3 Qxf6 26. d7 Bb7) 24... Nxd5 25. Qxd5 Bb7 26. Qd2 Qd7 27. Kh2 {White has the advantage: more space, the B pair and a strong, protected passed P. In addition, black's dark squares around his K are weak.} b3 {Trying to distract his opponent with a Q-side demonstration.} (27... Qc6 {Threatening mate on h1 is adequately met by} 28. Bc4 Qf3 29. b3 { with a clear superiority.}) 28. Rac1 Qxa4 29. Bc4 Bc8 30. Rf1 {[%mdl 32]} Rb4 31. Bxe6 {This was universally slapped with a ? because is should have allowed black to seize the initiative and get back in the game, but engine analysis shows that white is still superior. That said, 31.Bxe6 was not the best move.} (31. Bd5 Qd7 32. Bh6 Rd4 33. Qg2 Ng7 34. Bc6 Qe6 35. Rxc5 {There were other reasonable moves for both sides, but in any case, black is unlikely to survive much longer.}) 31... Bxe6 32. Bh6 {Korchnoi is rightly unconcerned about grabbing the c-Pawn.} Re8 33. Qg5 Re4 34. Rf2 {Prevents Re2.} (34. Qf6 { allows black to equalize after} Re2+ 35. Rf2 Rxf2+ 36. Qxf2 Qd4 37. Qxd4 cxd4 38. Rc7 Ra8 {The position is completely even.}) 34... f5 35. Qf6 {Attacking on the dark squares.} (35. exf6 {is less effective than keeping possession of the pair of passed Ps.} Bf7 36. Qxc5 Qd4 {White is clearly better, but black can still put up stiff resistance.}) 35... Qd7 {Prevents Qg7+.} 36. Rxc5 Rc4 37. Rxc4 Bxc4 38. Rd2 Be6 {Now comes a repetition in order to reach adjournment and allow Korchnoi time to figure things out at his leisure.} 39. Rd1 Qa7 { aiming for ... Qf2+.} 40. Rd2 {Care must be taken even to the very end.} (40. d7 Qf2+ 41. Kh1 Qf3+ 42. Kh2 Qe2+ 43. Kh1 Qxd1+ 44. Kg2 Qe2+ 45. Kg1 Qe1+ 46. Kg2 Bd5+ {mates next move.}) 40... Qd7 41. Rd1 {The game was adjourned here.} Qa7 42. Rd4 {Korchnoi found this keen move during adjournment...it prevents the Q from reaching f2 (obviously black can't take it because his Q is preventing mate on g7). It should be mentioned that white's advantage here (2 Ps according to Komodo) is sufficient to win, but even so, white must continue to find good moves and he has to remain alert so that he does not offer his very dangerous opponent counterplay.} Qd7 43. g4 a5 44. Kg3 {[%mdl 32] The beginning of a K march on the dark squares in preparation of the final attack. As Steinitz said, the K is a fighting piece.} Rb8 {Not a move without purpose! It prepares ...Qf7} (44... Qf7 {immediately is met by the winning move} 45. d7 Bxd7 46. Qxf7+ Kxf7 47. Rxd7+ Ke6 48. Rxh7 {etc.}) 45. Kh4 (45. gxf5 {would also win.} Bxf5 46. Rc4 Qa7 47. Rc5 Re8 {This leaves white to figure out how he is going to grind out the win.}) 45... Qf7 46. Kg5 fxg4 47. hxg4 Bd7 48. Rc4 {[%mdl 512] As far as I know this brilliant move has not been commented on.} ( 48. Rf4 {allows black to equalize after} Qxf6+ 49. Kxf6 Re8 50. Re4 Re6+ 51. Kg5 Re8 {and the Bs of opposite color allow black to set up a blockade,}) 48... a4 (48... Qxf6+ 49. Kxf6 Re8 50. Rc7 Re6+ 51. Kg5 Be8 52. Kf4 Bb5 53. Rc8+ Re8 54. Rxe8+ Bxe8 55. e6 {wins}) 49. Rc7 a3 {Korchnoi is not about to be distracted by this Q-side demonstration.} 50. Rxd7 {[%mdl 512] Well played! This is the only move that wins!} (50. Qxf7+ Kxf7 51. Rxd7+ Ke6 52. Re7+ Kd5 53. d7 axb2 54. Re8 b1=Q 55. Rc8 Kxe5 56. d8=Q Rxc8 57. Qxc8 {This position should be drawn with careful play by both sides.}) (50. bxa3 {would lose to} Qxf6+ 51. Kxf6 b2) (50. Qe7 {This attempt at being clever also loses.} Qxe7+ 51. dxe7 Be8) 50... Qxd7 51. e6 {[%mdl 32] White's strategy as noted on move 6 is successful. After the best move, 51...Qb5+, Komodo shows a mate in 25 moves. } Qa7 {This shortens the misery...it's mate in 10 moves.} 52. Qe5 {White mates. } axb2 53. e7 Kf7 54. d7 {A great game with an unbelievable finish and one in which Korchnoi deserves credit for his very precise play.} (54. d7 Qe3+ (54... Qxd7 55. Qf6+ {mate next move.}) (54... b1=Q 55. Qf6+ Kg8 56. Qg7#) 55. Qxe3 Rb5+ 56. Kh4 g5+ 57. Bxg5 Rb8 58. e8=Q+ Rxe8 59. dxe8=Q+ Kg7 60. Q3e5#) 1-0