Konstantinopolsky was nearly 20 when he learned chess and at the beginning of his career hewon the Kiev championships five consecutive times from 1932 to 1936.
During the late 1930s, Konstantinopolsky trained young players and amateurs in Kiev, at the Palace of Young Pioneers. He was widely regarded as a friendly and kindly man.
During the 1930s he, along with Bronstein and Isaac Boleslavsky, were the Ukrainian pioneers who developed the King's Indian Defense. He was also an early advocate of the Yugoslav Attack against the Dragon Variation of the Sicilian Defense, a line which would become very popular about 20 years.
His opponent in this wild tactical game was the attacking genius Alexander Tolush (1910-1969) who was born in St. Petersburg. He was warded the IM title at its inception in 1950, the GM title in 1953 and the Correspondence IM title in 1965.
[Event "USSR Championship, Moscow"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1950.11.20"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Alexander Konstantinopolsky"]
[Black "Alexander Tolush"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A15"]
[Annotator "Swordfish"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "1950.??.??"]
{A13: English Opening} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. b3 {A slow start, but the
fireworks come later.} Be7 4. Bb2 O-O 5. e3 c5 6. Be2 Nc6 7. O-O d5 8. d4 cxd4
9. exd4 b6 10. Nbd2 Ba6 {A novel idea apparently to put pressure on c4. To be
expected was 10...Bb7} (10... Bb7 11. Rc1 Rc8 12. Bd3 Re8 {with equal chances.
Grigoryan,K (2617)-Sarana,A (2662) Santiago de Compostela 2022}) 11. Rc1 Rc8
12. Re1 Na5 {Pressuring c4,} 13. Bd3 Bb4 (13... dxc4 14. bxc4 {White has
Hanging Pawns which requires a strategy unto itself.} Nxc4) 14. Re3 {Evidently
the plan is to play Ne5 and shift the R into position on the 3rd rank to
attack black's K.} Qe7 {He could drive the R back with 14...Ng4, but then his
N would have to retreat, so there was nothing to be gained. Still, that was
probably the safest course.} 15. Ne5 Ba3 {Eliminating the dark squared B is a
far reaching strategy because it's hard to see the long diagonal being opened,
but it will be.} 16. Bxa3 Qxa3 17. Rh3 {White's attack is looking dangerous.}
h6 18. g4 Rfd8 {Tolush has underestimated the force of white's attack. He
should have played 18...Nc6 to eliminate the N on e5.} 19. Rc2 {White does not
have time for this rather pointless move, Pressing on with the attack with 19.
g5 was much better. Now the advantage shifts to black.} Nc6 {[%mdl 2080] Watch
this N. White should eliminate it with 20.Nxc6 and then play 21.Rg3 when he
can hope to get some counterplay.} 20. f4 {White has overestimated the force
of his attack!} Nxd4 21. g5 {White offers the exchange, but Tolush isn't going
to take ther bait. Instead, he opens up the position.} dxc4 {White has no good
move!} (21... Nxc2 22. gxf6 Qc5+ 23. Kh1 {and black is at a loss for a game
saving move. The best line is} Bb7 24. Qh5 dxc4+ 25. Be4 g6 26. Rg3 Rc7 27.
Bxb7 Rxb7 28. Qxh6 {and white has a winning attack.}) 22. Rxc4 (22. gxf6 cxd3
23. Rxc8 Rxc8 24. Qh5 Qc1+ 25. Nf1 Rc7 26. fxg7 d2 27. Qxh6 Qxf1#) (22. gxh6
Qc5 23. Kg2 g6 24. Bxc4 Bb7+ 25. Kf1 Nxc2 26. Qxc2 Qd4 27. Ndf3 Bxf3 28. Rxf3
b5 {Black is winning.}) 22... Bxc4 23. bxc4 {Black still can't afford to get
careless!} Qc5 (23... Qxa2 24. gxf6 Nf5 (24... gxf6 25. Qh5 {and white wins.})
25. fxg7 {and it's now white who has a significant advantage.}) 24. gxf6 {
Black now delivers the finishing blow.} Ne2+ 25. Kh1 Nxf4 26. Qg4 g5 27. Ndf3 {
Black has an array of plausible captures but chooses the right one.} Rxd3 28.
Nxd3 Nxd3 29. Qh5 {White has a mate, but there is no time to execute it.} Qf2 {
White resigned} (29... Qf2 30. Ng1 (30. Qxh6 Qf1+ 31. Ng1 Nf2#) 30... Nf4 {
Threatening mate on g2, so} 31. Qg4 Nxh3 32. Nxh3 Qf1+ 33. Ng1 Qxf6 {with an
easy win.}) 0-1
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