Gligoric Surprises Pomar

    According to reports Torremolinos, a resort town in southern Spain known for its sandy beaches, is an excellent place to live if you crave year-round sunshine and vibrant coastal living, And they have an active chess club. 

    Today’s game is taken from the first in what was to be a long series of international tournaments and during the 1960s and 1970s, Torremolinos hosted a prestigious and long-running series of international tournaments in which players from all over participated. 

    In the first tournament Yugoslav GM Svetozar Gligoric (1923-2012) and former child prodigy, Spanish GM, Arturo Pornar (1931-2016) tied for first and this game was the reason.

 

 

    Few players appreciate how strong Pomar was, but Chess metrics estimates his highest ever rating to have been 2655 in March 1962 which ranked him #34 in the world. He was known for an intuitive, natural, and highly positional style of play, and he possessed excellent endgame technique, However, in this game his intuition let him down and he committed a game-losing blunder. 

 

 

[Event "Torremolinos"] [Site ""] [Date "1961.02.03"] [Round "?"] [White "Svetozar Gligoric"] [Black "Arturo Pomar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B88"] [Annotator "Stockfish 18"] [PlyCount "41"] [EventDate "1961.??.??"] {B88: Sicilian: Sozin Attack} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bc4 {The aggressive Sozin Attack was very popular when this game was played.} e6 {Black usually plays this in order to limi white's B, but White can eventually put pressure on the e6 Pawn by playing f4-f5.} 7. O-O Be7 8. Bb3 O-O 9. Be3 Nxd4 {This is rather drawish. 9...a6 is sharper.} 10. Bxd4 Bd7 11. Qe2 {The immediate 11.f4 is usual. Gligoric's move is safer.} (11. f4 Bc6 12. Qe2 b5 13. Nxb5 Bxb5 14. Qxb5 {This position is very sharp, but black has scored very well so it's understandable that Gligoric prefers a safer approach. }) 11... Bc6 12. Rad1 Qa5 13. f4 e5 {This is risky! 13...Rac8 was solid.} 14. fxe5 {This opens the f-file and exposed f7. White has to play aggressively otherwise black gets the initiative.} (14. Bf2 exf4 15. Nd5 Rae8 16. Be1 Qd8 17. Rxf4 Nxd5 18. Bxd5 Bf6 19. Bb3 {Black is slightly better. Kots, Y-Shamkovich,L Baku 1961}) 14... dxe5 15. Rf5 Bc5 16. Bf2 Rad8 17. Rf1 Rd6 18. Kh1 {[%mdl 2048] White would like to play 19.Bh4, but this moves also sets a wily trap.} Bxf2 19. Qxf2 {Black should now play 19...Bd7 with a solid position, Insteaf he takes the bait and makes a losing tactical blunder.} Bxe4 {[%mdl 8192]} 20. Nxe4 Nxe4 {Black has won a P, but f7 is attacked four times, but only defended twice. However, white has to move the attacked Q which give black a defense.} 21. Rxf7 {[%mdl 512] This nasty surprise forced Pomar to resign.} (21. Qf3 Nf6 {Shielding f7. White should now take on b6 with a slight advantage.} 22. g4 e4 {Aggressive play is black's best option.} (22... h6 23. g5 hxg5 24. Rxg5 {White is slightly better.}) 23. Qg3 (23. Qf4 Qd2) 23... Qd8 24. g5 Nd5 25. Qf2 e3 26. Qf3 e2 27. Qxe2 g6 28. R5f3 Rd7 {and black is managing to defend f7.}) (21. Rxf7 Nxf2+ 22. R7xf2+ Rf7 23. Rxf7 h6 {Black has successfully avoided getting mated, but after} 24. R7f6+ Kh7 25. Rxd6 {The lone Q has no chance against the two Rs and B.}) 1-0