Spassky's opponent in the following game finished last with a score of 5-14.
As an indication of how strong this tournament was Chessmetrics estimates Osnos' highest rating to have been 2656 on the October 1969 rating list, placing him at 26th in the world.
Soviet IM Vyacheslav Osnos (July 24, 1935 - August 27, 2009) was a prominent trainer and author who competed in six Soviet championship finals from 1963 to 1968.
Between 1968 and 1974 he was one of Viktor Korchnoi's seconds and in 1974 he was awarded the title of Honored Trainer of the Russian SFSR. Osnos assisted Korchnoi during his narrowly lost World Championship Candidate's final match against Anatoly Karpov in Moscow 1974. He won the championship of Leningrad in 1971 and 1980.
The weapon Spassky used was one of my favorite openings, the Torre Attack. In the Torre white develops his dark squared Bishop actively outside the Pawn chain and aims for an attack on the K-side.
The downside is that the Torre Attack doesn’t create any early Pawn tension in the center and so black has many options against it. What that means is that if you are going to play the Torre, you will have to be familiar with the correct strategy to use against any number of black setups. Nevertheless, white can often develop a very dangerous attack as Spassky does here.
[Event "USSR Champ, Leningrad"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1963.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Boris Spassky"]
[Black "Vyacheslav Osnos"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A46"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 15"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.10.05"]
{Torre Attack} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bg5 {The Torre Attack came into being in
1925, when the young Mexican star Carlos Torre used it at the top level
important international tournament in Moscow. The opening is a harmonious
system of development where white pins the N nd then establishes the Pawn
wedge c3-d4-c3. This setup allows white to develop harmoniously, has great
flexibility and offers white good attacking potential. What it is NOT, as some
authors have suggested, is a "system" in which white can play a set strategy
regardless of white black does. White's strategy will depend on what type of
formation black chooses.} c5 4. e3 Qb6 {This counterattacking move is the most
critical test of the Torre. Positionally the idea is that white has left his
b-Pawn undefended. Additionally, the Q puts pressure on the d4 Pawn, which
might be reinforced by ...Nc6. On the other hand, this early attack on the
Q-side has caused black to delay castling.} 5. Nbd2 {This is white's most
critical reply in which he offers the b-Pawn in the hopes that by attacking
the Q white will win several tempi for developing his pieces and thereby
generate a dangerous initiative as compensation. A sharp fight is looming.}
Qxb2 {Black can decline the gambit P and develop his pieces beginning with 5...
d5 or he can play 5...Nc6} 6. Bd3 {This is not the only method of trying to
secure compensation for the P. Another method is 6.Bxf6 gxf6 and now 7.Bd3
transposes into the main line, but white could also play 7.Be2 which requires
a completely different strategy.} cxd4 (6... Nc6 7. O-O Qb6 8. Nc4 Qd8 9. e4 b5
10. Nce5 c4 11. Be2 Be7 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. Nxc6 dxc6 14. a4 a6 15. d5 cxd5 16.
exd5 Qxd5 17. axb5 Qxb5 18. Nd4 Qc5 19. Bf3 Ra7 20. c3 Bd7 21. g4 {Dreev,A
(2697)-Onischuk,A (2650) Poikovsky 2006 ½-½ (51)}) 7. exd4 (7. Bxf6 gxf6 8.
exd4 Qb6 9. O-O {is equal and the players agreed to a draw after a handful
more moves. Reinderman,D (2565)-Solleveld,M (2485) Haarlem 2009}) (7. Rb1 {
This was a recommendation of GM Eduard Gufeld. He deemed taking the a-Pawn to
be too risky and suggested 7...Qc3} Qxa2 8. Nc4 b5 9. Ra1 Qxa1 10. Qxa1 bxc4
11. Bxc4 Bb4+ {and black may or may not have sufficient compensation for his
Q! Stockfish evaluates the position as equal whereas Komodo 14 favors white by
about a P.}) 7... Qc3 {This is just one of many alternatives that have been
tried here.} (7... d5 8. Bxf6 gxf6 9. O-O Nc6 10. c4 Qc3 {is equal, but
difficult to play. In Zierke,O (2294)-Bodnar,A (2398) Hamburg 2006 black lost
in a mere 20 moves.}) (7... Be7 {This looks rock solid. So how did black
manage to lose in 13 moves? Watch.} 8. Nc4 Qb4+ 9. c3 Qxc3+ 10. Kf1 {So far,
so good. Now after 10...b5 white would stand only slightly better. Instead,
black logically gets castled, but there's a fly in the ointment.} O-O 11. Rc1
Qb4 12. Rb1 Qc3 {Perhaps white will take the draw by repitition.} 13. Rb3 {
Trapping the Q so black resigned. Belenov,D (2338)-Kutlaev,M (2238) Nizhnij
Novgorod 2008}) 8. O-O {[%mdl 1024] Natural, but it also contains a trap that
black must be alert to.} d5 {It's vital that the c4 square is denied to
white's N.} (8... Be7 9. Nc4 Qb4 (9... d5 10. Bd2 {traps the Q}) (9... b5 10.
Bd2 {Again, the Q is trapped.}) 10. c3 Qb5 11. Nd6+ {wins the Q}) 9. Re1 (9.
Rb1 {lacks punch.} Be7 10. Rb3 Qc7) 9... Be7 10. Re3 {This R lift prepares the
R for action on the K-side.} (10. Nb3 {is an alternative, but less direct that
Spassky's move.} Qc7 11. Ne5 Nc6 12. Rc1 O-O 13. c4 {with a sharp position.})
10... Qc7 {Threatens to win with ...Ng4.} 11. Ne5 {Besides meeting the threat
of 1 ...Ng4, this clears the way for the R to get into the action.} (11. Rb1 {
A pass to demonstrate black's threat.} Ng4 12. Ne5 (12. Re1 Bxg5) (12. Bxe7
Nxe3 13. fxe3 Qxe7 {Black is better; he has a R+P for a N}) 12... Nxe3 13. Bxe3
{Black is better; he has a R+P for a N.}) 11... Nc6 12. c3 Nxe5 {While this
eliminates the well placed N it also gives white the advantage.} (12... Bd7 13.
Rb1 h5 {Intending ...Ng5} 14. Re1 (14. h3 {This fails to thwart black's
intentions.} Ng4 {Anyway!} 15. hxg4 Bxg5 16. Rh3 Nxe5 17. dxe5 Bf4 {with an
excellent position.}) 14... Ng4 15. Bxe7 Nxe7 16. Ndf3 {with equal chances.})
13. dxe5 Ng8 {It's probable that Osnos was expecting simplification after 14.
Bxe7, but Spassky has a surprise.} (13... Nd7 14. Bxe7 Kxe7 15. Qh5 {is simply
too risky for black.}) 14. Nf3 {Clever. Spassky wants to make use of the
capture on g5 to save a tempo.} h6 (14... Bxg5 15. Nxg5 {Black has no really
good defense to the attack on f7.} Bd7 (15... Nh6) 16. Nxf7 Kxf7 17. Qh5+ g6 (
17... Ke7 18. Qg5+ Kf7 19. Rg3 {White is winning.}) 18. Bxg6+ {and white is
clearly better.}) 15. Bf4 Bd7 16. Nd4 {[%mdl 32]} Bg5 {While not losing, this
does not work out well. After 16...Bc5 the position would have been about
equal.} 17. Bxg5 hxg5 18. Qg4 Qxc3 {This is too risky, but a defensive move
like 18...Qd8 does not look especially promising. White has let this P go
because it was impossible to defend it anyway and now the open c-file
discourages Q-side castling.} 19. Nb3 {This renews the threat to capture on g5
and at the same time defends the R.} Nh6 {A bad square for the N!} (19... Ne7 {
This was his best move, but even so, his position is not very promising.} 20.
Qxg5 Qb4 21. Qxg7 Qh4 22. h3 Rg8 23. Qf6 Qxf6 24. exf6 Ng6 {White is clearly
better.}) 20. Qxg5 Qb4 {Osnos plans on the transfer of his Q with the hope of
defending the K-side.} 21. Rg3 {This prevents ...Qg4. White could have played
21.Qxg7 but black can slip away with 21...O-O-O or he can try to defend with
21...Qf8 22.Qg5 (White should avoid trading Qs) Rg8. In either case white
retains excellent chances.} Qf8 {Black has succeeded in getting his Q back to
the defense, but now he loses quickly because this move fails to meet n even
greater danger.} (21... Rc8 {was necessary.} 22. Qxg7 Qf8 23. Qf6 Nf5 24. Bxf5
exf5 25. Rd1 Rc6 26. e6 fxe6 27. Qd4 b6 {Black has warded off the tactical
threats, but is left with a positionally inferior game.}) 22. Rc1 {This is a
very instructive move! There are no concrete threats so Spassky develops
another piece and at the same time keeps the K in the center.} f6 23. Qe3 (23.
Qxg7 Qxg7 24. Rxg7 fxe5 25. Rc7 Bc8 26. Nc5 {is also quite hopeless for black.}
) 23... f5 24. Nc5 f4 {Overlooking a tactical shot, but black is lost anyway.}
(24... Qe7 25. Nxb7 Kf8 26. Rc7 Rc8 27. Rxc8+ Bxc8 28. Nd6 Bd7 29. Qxa7 {etc.})
25. Bg6+ Ke7 26. Qa3 {Black resigned.} (26. Qa3 Bb5 (26... Kd8 27. Nxb7#) 27.
Nxb7+ Kd7 28. Rgc3 Bc4 (28... Qxa3 29. Rc7#) 29. Rxc4 dxc4 30. Nc5+ {It's mate
in 5 regardless of what black playes.} Kc8 (30... Kd8 31. Nxe6+ Kc8 32. Qa6+
Kd7 33. Rd1+ {mate in 2}) 31. Qa6+ Kd8 32. Rd1+ Qd6 33. Nxe6+ Kd7 34. Qxd6+ Kc8
35. Qc7#) 1-0
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