Koenig spent much of his life in Vienna, but in 1938 he emigrated to England and became a British citizen in 1949. The English climate adeversely affected his health, so in 1953 he moived to California.
He became a promising player at an early age and in 1920, while in college, he met Spielmann, Tartakover and Reti, who sparked his interest in the Hypermodern style.
Koenig’s results were handicapped by a poor temperament for tournament chess which prevented him from achieving greater success in the international events. He played for Yugoslavia in the chess Olympiads of 1931 and 1935 and finished 2nd in the 1922 Yugoslav championship. In international tournaments his best result was at Hastings 1948/49 where he finished 2nd behind Rossolimo.
The following game is one of his later efforts that was played in Fresno in the 1962 annual Northern California vs. Southern California match. This was a massive 43 board event which was won by the northern team by a score of 28.5-14.5.
His opponent was FM Tibor Weinberger (born 1932), a Hungarian master who played in five Hungarian championships from 1952 through 1956. He settled in the United States in 1957.
This game is far from perfect and hardly shows either player at their best, but the quick reversal of fortunes illustrate the point, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” See more Yogisms
[Event "North-South Match, Fresno"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1962.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Imre Koenig"]
[Black "Tibor Weinberger"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A07"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 17"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "1962.??.??"]
{B24: Closed Sicilian} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 {The Closed Sicilian tends to be more
positional in nature. White will usually go for a K-side attack. Black will
either play in the center or expand on the Q-side.} Nc6 {This is black's most
common reply; it is not yet known if white will play for d4 or 3.g3} 3. g3 {
This is the thematic move in the Closed Sicilian. White intends to control the
light squares in the center and make it difficult for black to play ...d5} g6 {
This is the most common move for black.} 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 e6 {At this point
white almost always plays the routine 6.Be3 and 9.Qd2.} 6. Nh3 {A rare
sideline, while not as common as 6. Be3 or 6. f4, aims to play a delayed f4
and launch a K-side attack usinf the f-file. Black has a wide variety of good
responses.} Nge7 7. O-O O-O 8. Bg5 (8. Be3 b6 9. Qd2 d5 10. Bh6 Bb7 11. Bxg7
Kxg7 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Nxd5 exd5 14. Rae1 {is completely equalm but in Suttles,
D (2470)-Westerinen,H (2450) Havana 1966 they played on and black somehow
eventually manages to win.}) 8... h6 9. Be3 d6 (9... b6 10. Nf4 Bb7 11. h4 Nd4
{Black is slightly better. Krnic,I (2166)-Tomazini,Z (2370) Legnica POL 2013})
10. Qd2 Kh7 11. Rab1 {Highly unusual. Realizing he has no real prospects on
the K-side, Kownig turns his attention to the other side.} (11. f4 f5 {This
blunts white's prospects on the K-side sp he gas to cast about for play
elsewhere.}) 11... Rb8 12. Ne2 Ne5 13. f3 b6 14. b4 Bd7 15. Nf2 f5 (15... cxb4
16. Qxb4 d5 17. f4 N5c6 18. Qa3 (18. Qd2 d4) 18... d4 {leaves black with a
solid position.}) 16. f4 {Of course, white wants open lines for his as of yet
only potential K-side attack that black's last move has made possible.} N5c6
17. bxc5 dxc5 18. e5 {The immediate 18.d4 leads to equalizing exchanges.} Qc8
19. c3 Nd5 20. Bxd5 $1 exd5 21. d4 c4 {White has a protected passed e-Pawn,
but it doesn;t confer any advantage because black is solidly in control of e6.}
22. Qe1 Rf7 23. Nd1 Bf8 24. Bc1 b5 25. Ne3 Be6 26. Bd2 Qa6 {All of this
maneuvering has not really lead anywhere. Black threatens the a-Pawn whicj
Koenig now mistakenly defends...it would have been better to let black have it.
} 27. Nc1 {This allows black to gain some counterplay.} (27. Qd1 {keeps the
balance.} Qxa2 28. Ra1 Qb2 29. Nc2 a5 30. Rb1 Qa2 31. Ra1 {draws.}) 27... b4 {
[%mdl 512] This threatens to win with ...bxc3.} 28. cxb4 {This is a serious
error.} (28. Kh1 {A pass to show the threat.} bxc3 29. Rxb8 cxd2 30. Qxd2 Nxb8
{Black has won a piece.}) 28... Nxd4 29. Bc3 Nc6 {Threatening ...d4} 30. Nc2
Bc5+ 31. Kg2 d4 32. Qf2 Bd5+ {Weinberger now has a winning position.} 33. Kh3
Be4 {Also very strong was 33...g5} 34. bxc5 Rxb1 35. Nxd4 g5 36. fxg5 hxg5 37.
Ne6 {White's K is clearly in a very dangerous position and all black has to do
in play 37...g4+ forcing it to h5. Instead, Weinberger plays his K to g6 so
that it will allow him to deliver mate with 38...Rh7.} Kg6 {One wonders if
Weinberger was expecting his opponemt to resign.} 38. Nxg5 Kxg5 {[%mdl 8192]
As Yogi Berra once said, "You've got to be very careful if you don't know
where you are going, because you might not get there." After this move the
treat of 38...Rh7 cannot be met...or can ot?!} (38... Rxc1 {It's astonishing,
but this is the only winning move black has!} 39. Nxf7 (39. Rxc1 Kxg5 {wins.
For example} 40. Qd2+ f4 41. gxf4+ Kf5 42. Rg1 Rh7+ 43. Kg3 Nxe5 44. Bxe5 Qh6 {
The Bs of opposite color are meningless because there isd a mate in 7.} 45. Bf6
(45. Kf2 Qxh2+ 46. Kf1 Qxd2 47. Rg5+ Ke6 48. Rg6+ Bxg6 49. f5+ Bxf5 50. Bd4
Rh1+ 51. Bg1 Bd3#) 45... c3 46. h4 cxd2 47. Kf2 Qxf4+ 48. Ke2 Qf3+ 49. Kxd2
Rd7+ 50. Kc1 Qa3+ 51. Bb2 Qe3#) 39... Rxc3 40. Nh8+ Kg7 41. Qf4 Qb7 42. Qh4 Qe7
{with an easy win.}) 39. Qd2+ {This completely turns the tables!} Kg6 {The
threat is still ...Rh7+} 40. Qd6+ Kh7 {The K is forced to cut the R off fron
h7.} 41. Rf4 {Now black;s KJ is in a mating net.} Kg8 42. Rh4 Qc8 43. Qg6+ Rg7
44. e6 {[%mdl 512] Coldblooded efficiency.} Rbb7 (44... Rxg6 45. Rh8#) 45. Bxg7
Rxg7 46. Qh6 {A bitter disappointnebt for Weinberger! A lucky escape for
Koenig!} (46. Qh6 Kf8 47. Qh8+ Rg8 48. Qf6+ Ke8 49. Qf7+ Kd8 50. Qxg8+) 1-0
No comments:
Post a Comment