Asleep At the Board

    Several 1.e4 e5 openings have the same tactical motifs, but at higher levels they are rarely seen because the players are quite aware of them. In this game we see one of those unique instances where a strong player wasn’t paying attention and got caught napping. 

    Jacek Bednarski (1939-2008) was a Polish politician and an IM who won the Polish Chess Championship in 1963. Bednarski became interested in chess at the age of eleven. He studied under a professional chess trainer while studying physics at Moscow State University. After returning to Poland, Bednarski quickly became one of the country’s leading players. You know who Robert J. Fischer (1943-2008) was.

 

 

 

 

[Event "Havana Olympiad, Qialifier"] [Site ""] [Date "1966.10.30"] [Round "?"] [White "Robert Fischer"] [Black "Jacek Bednarski"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [Annotator "Stockfosj 17.1"] [PlyCount "43"] [EventDate "1966.??.??"] {B86: Sicilian Najdorf} 1. e4 c5 (1... e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. d3 {The usual move here is 5...Nxc3} Qh4+ {This is generally considered inferior, but it it is quite playable.} 6. g3 Nxg3 {Compare this maneuver to the position after white's 12th move in the game.} 7. Nf3 {After 7...Qh5 the position is equal.}) 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bc4 e6 7. Bb3 Nbd7 8. f4 Nc5 {In addition to Fischer's next move, white has a wide choice here: 9.e5, 9.O-O and 9.Qf3} 9. f5 Nfxe4 {Black incorrectly thinks ... Qh4+ is a threat, but in this position it is not!} (9... Be7 {Although black has tried a variety of moves here, this is the Main Line and it is the best.} 10. Qf3 O-O 11. O-O Bd7 {with equal chanxes.}) (9... exf5 {At the time it was considered to be too risky for black to accept the this P offer and its acceptance does not appear in my database. However, it appears that black can safely accept the offer.} 10. exf5 Qe7+ 11. Nde2 Nxb3 12. axb3 Bxf5 13. Bg5 Qe5 {and the position is fully equal.}) 10. fxe6 Qh4+ {Unlike in the above noted Virenna, here this move is very bad.} (10... Nxc3 {isn't any better.} 11. exf7+ Kd7 12. bxc3 Nxb3 13. cxb3 {White is clearly better. Hari,V-Virnik,E (2154) Patras 1999}) (10... Bxe6 {This is his best move, but after} 11. Nxe4 Nxe4 12. Bxe6 fxe6 13. O-O (13. Nxe6 {loses to} Qh4+ 14. g3 Nxg3 {Here white doesn;t have Nf3 available.} 15. Rg1 Ne4+ 16. Ke2 Qe7 {and black is winning.}) 13... Qb6 14. Qf3 {White is better.}) 11. g3 Nxg3 {Black is lost here, but Befnarski has overlooked white's reply. However, even the better 11...Nxc3 was not that much better!} (11... Nxc3 12. gxh4 Nxd1 13. exf7+ Kd8 14. Bd5 Nxb2 15. Bxb2 { Black has a miserable position and is probably lost.}) 12. Nf3 {As noted in the beginning this reply is known from the Vienna.} Qh5 13. exf7+ Kd8 14. Rg1 ( 14. Bg5+ {is also a good move.} Kc7 15. Rg1 h6 16. Be3 Nxb3 17. Nd5+ Kb8 18. axb3 Ne4 {and nobody would want to be playing black.} 19. Qd3) 14... Nf5 { Black's attack has failed and now Fischer blows him off the board.} 15. Nd5 Qxf7 16. Bg5+ Ke8 17. Qe2+ Be6 18. Nf4 Kd7 19. O-O-O Qe8 20. Bxe6+ Nxe6 21. Qe4 g6 22. Nxe6 {Black resigned. Amazingly, The analysis with Fritz and the Stockfish engine assigns Fischer an Accuracy rating of 100%. Poor Bednarsky only got 12%.} (22. Nxe6 Kc8 (22... Qxe6 23. Qxb7+ Ke8 24. Rge1) 23. Nfd4 Nxd4 24. Rxd4 Be7 25. Bf4 Rf8 26. Bxd6 Bxd6 27. Rxd6 Qe7 28. Rgd1 {etc.}) 1-0