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    Zurich 1953: 15 Contenders for the World Chess Championship
    Zurich 1953: 15 Contenders for the World Chess Championship
    Zurich 1953: 15 Contenders for the World Chess Championship
    Ebook1,031 pages15 hours

    Zurich 1953: 15 Contenders for the World Chess Championship

    By Yuri Averbakh and Miguel Najdorf

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    About this ebook

    The Stuff of Legend A great tournament deserves a great book. That’s what grandmaster Miguel Najdorf produced in his account of one of the greatest and most important chess events of all time, the 1953 Zarich Candidates Tournament, in which 15 of the world’s top players battled for the right to challenge the world champion, Mikhail Botvinnik. After two months and 210 games, many of which rank among the best ever played, Russian grandmaster Vassily Smyslov finally came out at the head of a star-studded field that included Sam Reshevsky, Paul Keres, David Bronstein, Tigran Petrosian, Efim Geller, Alexander Kotov, Mark Taimanov, Yuri Averbakh, Isaac Boleslavsky, Laszla Szaba, Svetozar Gligoric, Max Euwe, Gideon StÃ¥hlberg, and Najdorf himself. This is the first English edition of this classic work, until now available only in its original Spanish. It includes all 210 games with Najdorf’s full and extensive notes, plus all the original introductory material, biographical sketches of the players, round-by-round accounts of the action, closing summary, and a survey of the tournament’s impact on opening theory. Additionally this edition has many more diagrams and photos, an introduction by Yuri Averbakh (one of the last surviving participants) and a foreword by Andy Soltis.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRussell Enterprises, Inc.
    Release dateMar 4, 2015
    ISBN9781936490516
    Zurich 1953: 15 Contenders for the World Chess Championship

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      Book preview

      Zurich 1953 - Yuri Averbakh

      Round 1

      Standings after round 1: Bronstein, Euwe, Geller, 1; Averbakh, Boleslavsky Keres, Najdorf, Petrosian, Reshevsky, Smyslov, Ståhlberg, ½;; Kotov, Szabó, Taimanov, 0; Gligoric. [NB: One player had a bye each round. So, in most instances (the only exceptions being the 15th and 30th rounds) at least one player’s total is based on fewer games played than other players.]

      At five o’clock in the afternoon the clocks were set in motion and there, on the seven boards, the battles began. Perhaps battles is not quite the right term because, as often happens, the players’ nervousness and prudent, tentative style in this first round resulted in four drawn games out of seven.

      The sensation of the day was the defeat of Kotov at the hands of Dr. Euwe. The Dutch professor, suffering from a bothersome sinus infection, looked like he might not play in this round; nevertheless he did, and in such a manner! Where did Dr. Euwe find this youthful verve that won everyone’s admiration? Kotov played what looked like a prepared variation in the King’s Indian, but the refutation by the ex-world champion demonstrated – most of all by the quickness and sureness of his replies – that not only Russians know this defense! Black sacrificed the exchange, obtaining the better game, but when he failed to find the right continuation, Dr. Euwe recovered the initiative to the end.

      This defeat so impressed Kotov that he could not speak for some time afterwards, nor utter any of those amusing epigrams so pleasing to the Soviet master.

      Another much anticipated game was Najdorf-Reshevsky, in which these two great rivals of the western world met again after their last match in Buenos Aires. They resumed anew the same theme: the Nimzo-Indian, but this time with variations, and a dramatic ending. Reshevsky, in his habitual time trouble, found salvation in a masterful counter-blow on the queenside; and even though all were surprised when Najdorf’s draw offer was accepted, later analysis demonstrated the logic of this result.

      A game full of ups and downs was Taimanov-Bronstein. The latter raised eyebrows with an early pawn sacrifice. But the very nervous Taimanov lost the thread and later had to return the material with interest, succumbing in the endgame.

      Ståhlberg and Boleslavsky played a classical and correct King’s Indian. Toward the end of the game the Swedish grandmaster made a pretty pawn sacrifice, but then immediately erred in accepting the draw. Analysis showed that while Black could have arrived at this result, it was only through a subtle, single line of defense!

      The contest between Szabó and Geller was a Catalan Opening in which Black committed several errors which were not capitalized upon. The game continued with a draw seeming likely, but Szabó, victimized by his own inconsistent optimism, refused the draw and committed a serious misconception, which proved decisive.

      The Ruy Lopez in Averbakh-Smyslov led to no major complications, while in Petrosian-Keres, aside from a pawn sacrifice used by White to restore equilibrium, there was nothing noteworthy either.

      (1) Taimanov – Bronstein

      Benoni Defense [A58]

      1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5

      A fashionable move. A cross between the Benoni and the King’s Indian, in which Black attacks the center by c7-c5 rather than e7-e5, the difference being that here c5 is occupied, whereas in the King’s Indian he may post a piece there to attack the opponent’s center. With the text move Black ventures a bit out of the ordinary, but great chess masters, Bronstein in particular, are always looking for new paths. Of all the fifteen contestants Bronstein is the most adventurous, always trying to surprise his rivals with new ideas. And here we see that the new ideas are almost always good ones, because even if they are not correct, they have the virtue of surprising the opponent, leaving him unable to refute them with the limited time at his disposal.

      3.d5 g6

      Now the black bishop will have an active diagonal.

      4.Nc3 d6 5.e4 b5!?

      An already known move which Bronstein himself had to withstand at Saltsjöbaden 1948 against Lundin, who made of it a strong weapon and even managed to beat Szabó.

      With the pawn sacrifice Black obtains a clear initiative with two open files on the queen’s flank, and at the same time he obliges White to turn his attention away from direct kingside attack. Despite all this, the sacrifice is very dubious, as an extra pawn in the hands of a grandmaster is worth something, even if he has to suffer a bit of an attack and endure a strong

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