Impressive Win By Aleksanders Liepnieks

    Here is a game by Aleksanders Liepnieks who was mentioned in a previous post on Tal. He defeats USCF Life Master Walter Cunningham (1943-2010, 66 years old) who was the youngest Master in the country in the late 1950s. He was a psychology Ph.D. and professor at the University of Florida for 30 years. 

 

 

 

 

[Event "US Open, Lincoln, Nebraska"] [Site ""] [Date "1969.08.19"] [Round "?"] [White "Aleksandrs Liepnieks"] [Black "Walter Cunningham"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A46"] [WhiteElo "2051"] [BlackElo "2187"] [Annotator "Stockfish 18"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "1969.08.10"] {E67: King's Indian: Fianchetto Variation} 1. Nf3 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 g6 4. g3 { his is a different animal from the usual K-Ondian. Ny fiachettoing the B white prioritizes K safety and exerts long term pressure on the Q-side and, at the same time neutralizing Black's typical K-side P-storm.} Bg7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nc3 c6 8. d5 cxd5 9. cxd5 Nc5 10. Nd4 Bd7 {Two more common moves are 10...a5 and 10....Qb6} 11. h3 a5 12. a4 Qc8 {The Q is not especially well placed here.} (12... Qb6 13. e3 Ne8 14. Ra3 Nc7 15. Re1 N7a6 16. Bf1 Nb4 { Black is slightly better. Habibi,A (2190)-Mah,K (2170) Budapest HUN 1995}) 13. Kh2 h5 {This results in a loosening of black's K-side that he will soon regret. Better would have been 13...Nh5} 14. Bg5 Re8 15. e4 Nh7 {The N is not very well placed here. A better plan was to attack white's center with 15...e6} 16. Be3 Qd8 17. Rb1 Rb8 18. f4 h4 {This K-side demonstration has no prospects of success, but it's hard to suggest a constructive plan for black as his counterplay on the Q-side has been stifled. 18...e6 is still his best chance.} 19. g4 {This is not bad, but calling black's bluff and opening up lines on the K-side with 19.gxh4 was even better.} Na6 {Much too passive. Again, his best chance is to look for play in the center with either 19...e6 or even 19...e5} 20. Qd2 e5 {A consistant followup to his last move would have been 20...Nc5. Now the N remains stuck out of play on a6.} 21. dxe6 $1 fxe6 22. Ndb5 Bxb5 23. Nxb5 {None of black's pieces are actively placed and his Ps are weak...white gas a decisive advantage. Liepnieks has no trouble demonstarting the win.} e5 24. f5 Re7 (24... gxf5 {is also hopeless.} 25. exf5 Bf6 26. Nxd6 e4 27. Qd5+ Kg7 28. Nxe8+ Qxe8 29. g5 Nxg5 30. Bxg5 Bxg5 31. f6+ Kh6 32. f7 Qf8 33. Qe6+) 25. fxg6 Nf6 26. Qxd6 {Excanging Qs in no way offers relief from the onslaught. } Rd7 (26... Qxd6 27. Nxd6 Ne8 28. Nf5 Rc7 29. Bb6 Rc2 30. Rfc1 Re2 31. Kh1 { Besides being two (s down black is running out of reasonable moves.}) 27. Qe6+ Kh8 28. Bg5 Nc5 29. Qf5 Nxa4 30. Bxf6 Bxf6 {Black has regained a P, but Liepnieks come up with a powerful move.} 31. Rbd1 {[%mdl 512]} Nc5 (31... Rxd1 {allows a mate in 3.} 32. Qh5+ Kg8 33. Qh7+ Kf8 34. Qf7#) 32. Rxd7 Qxd7 33. Qxf6+ {And so white has won a piece. The game is over.} Kg8 34. Qf7+ Qxf7 35. Rxf7 Nd3 36. b3 Nf4 37. Bf1 Nxg6 38. Bc4 Kh8 39. Bd5 Rc8 40. Rc7 Ra8 41. Bxb7 Rf8 42. Rc8 {Black resigned. An extremely well played game by Liepnieks.} 1-0