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Right after the game, and later In contrast to his opponent's would have given Black a very

in his published commentaries as somewhat slothful play, Keres is promising game.


well, Najdorf showed that he had handling the opening energetic-
a guaranteed draw:' for example, ally: taking advantage of a tac-
27.. N:b2 28 Bg4, and there is tical nuance (7 Nf3 d4 8 N:e5
no escaping the perpetual after Qa5+), he obtains a brace of
29 B:e6+ and 30 Bf5+. etc. One powerful center pawns, just Black could not capture the h-
pretty variation is 28. .Qg7 waiting for the chance to push pawn, since 17 B:h3 Q:h3 18 Nd:e5
29 B:e6+ Kh7 30 Bf5+ Kh8 31 Rd8+ onward. N:e5 19 N:e5 would have deprived
him of either the castling priv-
ilege or his d-pawn; and retreat-
If Black had not taken thepawn ing to h5 would have permitted
at move 25, playing 25..e5 in- 17 N:d4!
stead, then 26 Qc2 and 27 Qg6
also leads inevitably to a per-
petual check. It was time to start thinking
about castling and developing
White would have had a harder the rooks to support the further
time if, instead of 24..Nb6,Black advance of the pawns. One at-
had simply played 24..B:a4, leav- tractive line, involving long
ing the knight to defend the king castling- lO..B:f3 11 B:f3 e4
side. Now 25 Ng4 would not have 12 Bg2 h6 13 b3 Qd7 14 Bb20-0-0-
( Position after 17..Rab8 ) nearly the same effect, in view fails to come off, because on
of 25.. e5 26 Qc2 Nf8. Another the 11th move White recaptures,
possibility after 24..Nb6 25 Ng4 not with the bishop, but with
would be 25..Nd4; for example: the pawn, which he then advances
Initiating a straightforward 26 ed N:a4, etc. The aim of to f4, breaking up the enemy
siege of the a-pawn. 25..Nd4 is to close off the c3- center pawns. After the text
6 diagonal, thereby cancelling move, Black no longer has to
out White's N:f6+ gf; Q:f6.Since worry about an eventual b2-b4.
such variations are impossible to
calculate accurately in time-
Black hasn't the time to bring pressure, Reshevsky preferred the
the knight to b6: if 2l..Nd7, Black sets up the threat of
then 22 Bb2 Nb6 23 Qc3, forking DRAW 12..e4, but grants White the
g7 and a5. opportunity to stop this pawn
cold. After 11. .Be7!, White
3. Petrosian-Keres would not have had this block-
(English Opening) ading opportunity. In order to
meet the threatened advance of
Strategically, Black already the e-pawn, White would have
has a won game: the a-pawn is been practically forced to make A pretty final stroke, based on
falling, while White has yet to the exchange on 6. combinative motifs, to the defen-
find useful employment for his sive system White has devised.
bishops. In this difficult sit- If Black exchanges queens and
uation, Najdorf employs the res- continues with ..f7-6, he will
iliency of his position to work lose: 19..Q:f5 20 ef 6 21 R:c6!
up one last tactical try. bc 22 B:c6+ Kf7 23 Bd5+!, fol-
The most important point in lowed by the capture of the rook
this position is unquestionably at a8. If, after exchanging
d4: it marks the intersection queens, Black defends the e-pawn
As time-pressure approaches, of the lines of force from the with his bishop instead, then
the less strategy and the more black bishop to the white king White has a positional advantage.
tactics. and from the black rook to the And if 19..Qd6, then 20 4 g6
white queen; also, if the black 21 fe, or 20 Rc5 are strong.
knight could get to d4, it would
take away four squares from the 19..Bd6 20. Q:e6+ fe 21. a3 Kd7
How to meet the threat of white queen and strengthen the 22. Bfl a4 23. Nel Ra5 24. ~ c 2
25..N:a4 is a question White was pin on the knight at 3. White's Rc8 25. Racl Na7 26. R:c8 N:c8
never called upon to answer, be-
cause Reshevsky, having four mi-
next- and quite obvious - move
will reduce the value of this
27. Bc4 Be7
nutes left to make his last 16 communications nexus to a mini- The position is now a clear
moves, offered a draw. Evidently mum, if not to zero. The block- draw: White's knight returns to
he was unable to calculate fully aded d-pawn will frustrate both d3 presently, leaving Black no
the consequences of White's com- the bishop on c5 and the rook on place to penetrate. Keres plays
bination 25 Ng4 N:a4 26 N:f6+ gf a8 with its aspirations to d8. it out to the 41st move and ad-
27-Q:f6. The nexus could have been cleared journs, hoping to find some hid-
for the price of a Pa-: 14-.d3 den resource at his leisure.
turning point of the game, at
28. Nd3 Nd6 29. f3 N:c4 30. R:c4 which it was necessary for him
Bd6 31. Kf2 Ra6 32. Ke2 g5 to begin giving serious thought
33. Kdl Ra8 34. Ke2 h5 35. Rcl to the problem of how to get a
Rh8 36. Rhl h4 37. g4 b5 38. Rcl draw. As regards the purely
Rb8 39. Kdl Rb6 40. Rc2 Rb8 This being the first round, chessic reasons for his loss,
41. Rcl Rc8 both players wage rather blood- these I shall try to illuminate
less battle: neither has yet in my notes.
The game was agreed a pushed a man past the boundary
of his own territory. Both sides
DRAW are concealing, as much as pos-
sible, the area in which they in-
without further play. tend to take action.

4. Averbakh-Smyslov What does Black achieve by


(Ruy Lopez) sacrificing a pawn? First, he
e2-e4 e7-e5 undermines the spearhead of the
Ngl-3 Nb8-c6 white pawn chain, the pawn on
Bf 1-b5 a7-a6 d5; in addition, after the un-
Bb5-a4 Ng8-f6 avoidable ..a7-a6 and b5:a6, he
0-0 Bf 8-e7 obtalns the good diagonal a6-1
Rfl-el b7-b5 for his bishop, which would have
Ba4-b3 d7-d6 far fewer prospects along the
c2-c3 0-0 at the last moment he noticed the c8-h3 diagonal. The two open
h2 -h3 Nc6-a5 textbook stroke 31 B:c5!, and the files Black obtains on thequeen- ,
Bb3-c2 c7-c5 queen is lost. Now he must give side, allowing him active play
d2-d4 Qd8-c7 up his darksquare bishop instead, against White s a- and b-pawns,
which might have proved decisive also speak in favor of the sac-
Chigorin's System in the Ruy under other circumstances. rifice. Nor ought we to forget
Lopez is a frequent guest in in- Black's bishop at g7: sinceBlack
ternational competition, but it intends to leave his e-pawn at e7
appeared in Zurich only six in this system, the bishop's
times. White marshals his forces sphere of activity is automatic-
for a kingside attack which gen- ally increased. And finally,
erally doesn't have much bite to DRAW there is the interesting strate-
it, since today's grandmasters gic idea (encountered also in
have learned quite well how to Black's centralized knightful- other variations of the ~ing's
set up a defensible position. ly compensates for White's pow- ~ndian)of developing thequeen's
Not surprisingly, therefore, most In the event of 23 hg, Black erful bishop at h6. rook without moving it from its
of the games played with this had prepared the reply 23.. Qh4. original square.
variation have lately been wind- ,.,.,.,.,.,.
-L-1.-8--1^.^1.

Of course, the sacrifice has


ing up drawn. 5. Taimanov-Bronstein its deficiencies as well, chief
(Benoni Defense) among these being the pawn defi-
It's a difficult thing tomain- cit. Should White gradually suc-
tain objectivity when commenting ceed in overcoming all his diffi-
on one's own games. Variations culties, and reach an endgame, he
running in the commentator's fa- will have excellent winning chan-
As a result of White's slow vor are always interesting, so ces. It is for this last reason
I find it hard to tie White's play, Black has obtained aslight details flow quick and plentiful that this variation was not seen
last two moves in with his stra- advantage. Now he wishes to se- from the yen; variations which in any more games from this tour-
tegic plan: the bishop on d2 and cure d4 for his knight, but he favor one s opponent, however, nament. I used it here, partly
the rook on cl are not one whit might well have considered a plan are often unclear as can be.For because I did not want to begin
better placed than they were at involving ..c5-c4, which could be one's own mistakes, one seeks this tournament with the sort of
their original positions. After prepared here with 28..a5. (and generally finds) justifi- protracted defense Black is us-
Chis loss of two tempi, White's cation; while the opponent's er- ually forced to put up with in
diversion on the kingside can rors seem so natural as to need one of the "normal" lines.
have no serious future. Averbakh no explanation whatever. So even
decides to generate piece play (See diagram, top of next page) before beginning to comment on
on this wing without taking on my game from Round One, I feel
additional responsibilities with compelled to note that Black did
the advance of the g-pawn.
Smyslov wasn't worried about
the check at h6, intending sim-
ply to move his king to f8; but
not have a decisive advantage
until very late in the game, al-
most the very end. Psychologic-
ally, White's loss can be traced
to the fact that he missed the
Up to this point, Black might
still have hoped to regain his
pawn, but now it becomes a real
sacrifice. I
Taimanov's intended 14 e5 no R8:a6 22 Re2 Nf6; or 22 e5 Nc7; left White far fewer, if any,
longer appeals to him in view of or 22 Rabl R:a2 23 Rb8 Ra8 losing chances.
14..de 15 N:e5 N:e5 16 Q:e5 Q:e5 24 Rebl Ral. Taimanov was cor-
rect in avoiding this exchange
Once I had precisely the same
position to play, but as White,
17 R:e5 Kf8.
of queens - but he should also
have avoided it later on.
vs. Lundin at Stockholm, 1948. I
traded bishops, whereupon Black
recaptured at a6 with his knight, Meeting the threatened 29 Nd7+
which he then brought via c7 and and threatening in turn to at-
b5 to d4. This seemed overly pro- Once again, 16 e5 de 17 N:e5 tack the pawn at c3. Suddenly it
tracted to he, so in the present 6 does not work, but this does becomes clear that Black can also
game I recaptured at a6 with my not mean he should have brought Either White overestimatedhis attack kingside pawns successful-
rook, sending the queen's knight the bishop back. 16 a3 was bet- endgame chances, or else he sim- ly. A rook behind enemy lines is
via d7 and b6 to a4, trading off ter, allowing Black to recover ply failed to give proper con- a force to be reckoned with.
the white queen's knight and his pawn at the cost of his dark- sideration to Black s strong
weakening the defense of the square bishop: 16..B:c3 17 bc 24th move.
pawns at a2 and b2. R:a3 18 Racl. Black would stand
actively on the queenside, but
with some dangerous darksquare
weaknesses about his king. White was on the point of los-
ing his knight: 31 Kg3 5; or if
31 Kg1 Re2 32 Ng3 Rel+ 33 Kh2 5.

I did not want to capture the


a-pawn, since White would then
achieve his goal: 18..R:a2?
19 R:a2 R:a2 20 e5, and Black has Taking the c-pawn would cost
no queenside targets, while White White his f-pawn; after that, the
gets some dangerous threats in attempt to pick up the h-pawn is
the center. refuted as follows: 34 R:c4 R:f2
35 N:h7+ Kg7 36 Ng5 R:g2+ 37 K:g2
Ne3+, and the knight endgame is
won for Black.

Take the knights from the


Taimanov has decided on e4-e5, Black now has a weak pawn at board, and this game must wind
cracking the foundation of the c5, and White could, for exam- up drawn; but Black's knight has
Black position; but this proves ple, exchange knights and give time to fork-
tactically unrealizable. White up his two queenside pawns for
would have had more prospects Black's one, and the draw would
with 11 Bf4 and 13 Qd2, instead be assured, since the rook end-
of his 11 Re1 and 13 Qe2: after- game with four pawns against
wards, he could post his rooks three on the same side is gene- White protects his f-pawn, but
to cl and bl, with the idea of rally not winnable. All this,
gradually clearing all of his however, is easier said than
pieces and pawns off the enemy done.
bishop's long diagonal. And af-
ter that, White would prepare lack's endgame advantage is WHITE RESIGNED
the advance b2-b4, beginning founded on the fact that hisbase
the active realization of his pawn at e7 is close to home and Taimanov is a born optimist.
extra pawn. This is how I played therefore easy to defend, while Having weathered his troubles
against Lundin, and I still con- 6. Euwe-Kotov
the white pawns at c3 and e4 af- reasonably enough, he immedi- (Benoni Defense)
sider it to be the correct plan. ford excellent targets to lack's ately begins to ask himself
rooks. If the e-pawn advances, why he cannot simply win the
then the pawn on d5 becomes weak. black pawn. 26 Kfl would have
The following lines give an ap- been a more suitable move for
proximate idea of what all this the endgame, and would have
means in practical terms: 21 Q:a6
Black activates his pieces, in- 24. ..Re5 25. Rfl Bc8 26. Qb5 Bd7 in Zurich, one out of threegames
tending to bring the knight on d7 27. Nc6 Kg7 opened with 1 d2-d4 turned into
via e5 to c4, or else to play a ~ i n ~ 'Indian,
s and foreign
..c5-c4 followed by ..Nd7-c5. The d-pawn could not have been players used it just as often as
captured, here or on the previous ours did.
move: if 27..Nb:d5, White takes
The system Black has selected twice and checks with the knight The diagrammed position is a
is not without its drawbacks, Halting Black's plan. White is at e7. familiar one to theory; the text
positionally speaking, but he not worried about the loss of the move is one of the latest discov-
does possess several trunps: the e-pawn, since he would obtain an 28. Ra6 Nc8 29. Qb8 Q:b8 30. N:b8 eries. Wishing to develop his
open e-file, good diagonals for attack on the dark squares ascom- Bf5 31. Rc6 Re8 32. e4 Bd7 33. e5 bishop to e3, White also over-
both his bishops, and three pawns pensation: for instance, 18..B:c3 R:e5 34. N:d7 N:d7 35. R:c8 Re3 protects his e-pawn!
against two on the queenside. For 19 Q:c3 B:e2 20 Rfel Bb5 21 Bh6 36. Rc6 Ne5 37. R:d6 Rd3 38. Rdl
his part, White can usually esta- 6 22 Re6; or 22 b3 first, with Re3 39. Rc6 The knight at d4 is temporari-
blish a knight at c4, putting the the threat of 23 Re6. ly undefended, of course, and
squeeze on the d-pawn, the key- BLACK RESIGNED Black could win a center pawn by
stone of Black's entire fortress. 12 ..Nf:e4 13 N:e4 B:d4; but then
In this game, Euwe decides he it would be White's turn to move,
would rather play on the queen- Black had a strong move at his and he would seize the keysquare
7. Stahlberg-Boleslavsky 6 with 14 Bg5 Qd7 15 Nf6+ B:f6
side, creating weaknesses there disposal, namely 18. .Rab8, under- (King's Indian)
for occupation by his pieces. La- scoring the white queen's inse- 16 B:f6, removing Black's "In-
ter, the game gets interesting, cure position: for example, 1. d2-d4 Ng8-6 dian" bishop, without which all
thanks to bold play - bold to 19 N:b5 ab 20 Nc6 Rb7, and White 2. c2-c4 g7-g6 Indian configurations become
the point of sacrifices- by both cannot play 21 Q:b5 in view of 3. g2-g3 Bf 8-g7 pointless. The extra pawn would
sides. 2l..N:d5. After 18..Rab8, the 4. Bfl-g2 0-0 be no consolation: occasional at-
threat of 19..c4 would carry more 5. Nbl-c3 d7-d6 tempts to prove otherwise have
weight also. 6. Ngl-3 Nb8-d7 nearly all wound up disastrously
7. 0-0 e7-e5 for Black, so no one snaps at the
The plan Black actually se- 8. e2-e4 Rf 8-e8 e-pawn anymore.
A typical maneuver in this po- lects is not as good: he intends 9. h2-h3 e5 :d4
sition: White brings the knight to sacrifice an exchange, hoping 10. Nf3:d4 Nd7-c5
to c4, and then plays a4-a5 to to obtain complications. 11. Rfl-el a7-a5
neutralize Black s queenside ma- 12. Qdl-c2 . ..
jority by blockade; should Black
then play ..b7-b5, White's knight Characteristically, the King's
gains access to a5 and c6. Indian Defense features a tense
White prepares the decisive battle waged on all fronts sim-
break b2-b4, which Black prevents ultaneously. The system used here
by giving up his rook for the bi- secures White considerable terri-
shop. tory, not only in the center, but
on the kingside as well.
I do not wish to leave the
reader the false impressionthat
White's further task, which is
to transform his sizable spatial
plus into a material advantage,
will be an easy one. The secret
of the King's Indian's hardihood
is that, while conceding space,
Black builds a few small but
weighty details into his config-
uration. Foremost among theseare
his long-range bishops at g7 and
c8, his firmly entrenched knight
at c5 and the rook at e8, which
Fifteen years ago, the K"ingts maintain constant watch on the e-
Indian Defense was played in So- pawn. Nor ought we to forget his
viet tournaments only by those pawns. The "weak" pawn on d6 is
wishing to avoid the passive, just waiting for the chance to
thoroughly analyzed variations push to d5, so White must con-
of the Queen's Gambit Declined; tinually keep an eye on that. The
outside our borders, it washard- pawn at a4 also has an important
ly played at all. As recently as role: the threat to advance it to
the 1948 World's Championship, a3 can upset his opponent's plans
the King's Indian figured In on- for that sector at any time, so
ly two games out of fifty- Here White must take extra precautions
regarding the defense of c3 and tle nut to crack, because it is under fire.
c4. ~f 12 Qc2 was White's latest so hard to reach. It might seem
theoretical discovery, then the that nothing could be simpler
same might justifiably be said than dropping the knight back
of Black's 14..Nd7. 14..Qa5 was from d4, but the problem is that
the old move, but after 15 Bf4, White needs his knight precisely
either the bishop at g7 or the on d4, where it observes the
rook at e8 had to move to an in- squares b5, c6, e6 and 5, and
ferior position, whereas now the neutralizes the power of the bi-
pawn can be covered with 15..Ne5 shop at g7. Only after White has
taken precautions against all of
Black's possible attacks (..a&-
a3? ..Bc8-e6, ..f7-f5) can his
knlght allow itself to leave the
center; but meanwhile Black has
time to regroup.
Stahlberg decides to rid his
position once and for all of the So the weakness of the d6-pawn
threat of a black pawn advance turns out to be largely fictive.
to a3. This move deprives the Modern methods of opening play
square b3 of pawn protection, allow for many such fictive weak
but it also strengthens the po- lawns, but it was precisely this
sition of the pawn at b2 and permanent" weakness at d6 which
generally of the whole constel- so long condemned the King's In-
lation a3-b2-c3. dian to the list of dubious open- has taken place: the disappear-
ings. ance of the darksquare bishops,
The next stage of the game- and of the pawnslat c4 and d6.
roughly to move 30- consists of With the bishops disappearance,
skillful maneuvers from both both sides must now make some ad-
sides, inducing weaknesses, The knight will return, five justments in their basic strate-
White's preparation for e4-e5 moves later, to help the pawn on gies. Black, for example, m s t
and Black's for ..d7-d5 or ..f7- e4 cross the Rubicon. The pawn give top priority to securing In the heat of battle, Bole-
f5, and mutual prevention of could have been pushed at orice, his position on the long diago- slavsky disregards his fierce
these breaks. but that would have given up con- nal, and against the incursion time-pressure and declines the
trol of the 5 square; Black's of a white pawn to 6 and queen draw he could probably have se-
bishop could go there, and after to h6. Considering the serious- cured by means of the accurate
24 e5 Bf5, White would have had ness of this threat, ~oleslavsky's retreat 35..Qc7, defending aga-
to sacrifice his queen by taking last move was a very good one: inst both threats, 36 Q:f7 and
the knight at 6 with his pawn - the bishop is ready for action 36 Qf6+. lack's dream of capi-
but that would win for White. The on the a2-g8 diagonal, and the talizing on his extra pawn is
simple 24..de, on the other hand, -pawn, by going to f6, covers impractical, considering his ex-
would give Black excellent play. the king against any attacks posed king. Even if Black should
The next two moves are some- from the main road; the bishop successfully run the gauntlet,
what unusual, both for White White could have taken the a- replaces the pawn at 7. White, warding off all assaults, White
and for Black: Black concen- pawn here, but at too great a for his part, must punch a hole could still, in all probability,
trates maximum firepower against price: White needs his darksquare in this new defensive line at any find a perpetual check.
the pawn at e4, an assault which bishop as much as Black does. cost, or else the initiative will
White tries to divert by threat- pass to his opponent, and all the
ening to take on d6. It is en- Boleslavsky's 24th move is an weaknesses in White's position,
tirely characteristic that, in invitation to White's rook to cap- which were of only passing int- White's task is now partially
order to carry out this idea, ture that long-disputed point at erest so long as he was on the complete: the queen has attained
White can find no better re- last; after 25..Nb6, however, offensive (b3, the lack of pawn the long diagonal.
treat square for his central- Black's knight enters c4. Stahl- control of d3, c3 and 3, and
ized knight at d4, the pride of berg's decision is most probably the passive bishop at gZ),might
his position, than back to its the correct one: before proceed- become the basis for combinations.
original square gl, since all ing with the siege ofltthed-lawn,
other retreat squares would in- he exchanges off the Indian bi-
terfere, in one way or another, shops. Judging from his next two
with the coordination between moves, it seems quite likelythat
his pieces. Black simply overlooked thismod-
Stahlberg is a consummate tac- est little move, which shakeshis
This seems an appropriate time tician, and a master of the king- position to its foundations.
side attack, and this sacrifice
to impart to the reader the sec-
ret of the d6-pawn in the King's is in his style. White cannot be 38. ... Qa5-b6 !
Indian Defense. This pawn, al- left master of e5, so the pawn
though backward on an open file, The position appears basically must be taken; but this opens the The pin on the knight must be
proves nevertheless a tough lit- unchanged, but an important event f-file, and Black's king comes liquidated at once. The threat
was not so much 39 Q:f5 as 39 g4, but felt that after 42.. Q:b2 ROUND TWO perhaps the only grandmaster of
and if 39.. fg 40 Ne4. With this White would have, at most, a our day who retains the Orthodox
timely retreat of his queen to perpetual check. This powerful 8. Kotov-Stahlberg
(Queen's Gambit)
Defense as part of his repertoire,
b6, Black avoids the worst. At- move, however, changes matters and he plays it like a virtuoso.
tempting to save his f-pawn by completely. Black cannot retreat 1, d2-d4 Ng8-6 This system, with 7.. g6 and the
38.. Bg6 might have had tragic to g8, since 43 Nd5 would follow; 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 knight transfer to e6 prior to
consequences, since besides 39 g4, so the bishop has to interpose, 3. Ngl-3 d7-d5 castling, is his invention. Nei-
White could also have exploited
the new pin motif to drive the
but then the knight can enter d6
via e4. So 41.. Bf7 was a better
4. Nbl-c3
5. c4:d5
Bf8-e7
e6 :d5
ther Kotov, in the present game,
nor the author, in the tourna-
1
black king into a mating net al- move than 41.. Kg7: White could ment's second half, nor even the
most by force: 39 Bfl Qb6 40 Bc4+ give perpetual check or win the
Kf8 41 Qf6+ Ke8 42 Nd5 - such
variations are certainly not for
a-pawn with 42 Qg4+, but this
White usually enters the Ex-
change Variation of the Orthodox
World Champion, Botvinnik him-
self, in the Budapest tournament
would be fully compensated by ~ueen'sGambit with the intention of 1952, could find any weak spot
time-pressure. Now White restores the black queen's entry into 2. of playing a minority attack, in in the Swedish grandmaster's fav-
the material balance, and Black's The most likely outcome would then
king is in as much danger as be- which he stations his rooks on the orite defense.
be a draw. Well, the game was a b- and c-files, and then advances
fore. draw here, too, but only after his b-pawn and trades it off onc6
some interesting new adventures. to create a backward black pawn.
A number of master games havedem- Kotov has kept his battle plans
onstrated that this is too direct encoded long enough: now at last
Black uses his last move before a plan to pose any great danger to his true intentions are revealed.
the time control to remind White Black, who may, in his turn, ex-
that there are targets in his own pand upon his control of the e-
camp too. lack's queen is ready Certainly the obvious, "what- file to carry an active piece game
to take the b-pawn, or, circum- else" moves are not always best. to the kingside, establishing ap-
stances permitting, to enter at proximate equality. This move is more than a little
2 with the threat of ..Nel. inconsequent. It would be good,
For this game, Kotov is not af- if White were carrying out the
ter a draw: he has other reasons queenside minority attack; but
altogether for trading off the here, after the pawn has been
center pawns. In the tradition of pushed to g4, the more provoca-
the old masters, he intends cast- tive 13 Be5 is better.
DRAW ling long, followed by a kingside
- ...
-
I
on Stahlberg's offer. The at- pawn storm an idea he conceals 13. Qd8-a5
tempt to end the game with a quite well for the next 5-7 moves 14. Nf3-d2 0-0
queen-sacrifice mating combina- Fearlessly castling into it.
tion: 49 h4 h6? 50 Q:c5!! Q:c5
51 Be4+, is refuted by 49..Neb.
48 h4 would not have won either:
Black replies 48.. h6, and after
49 Qe4+K:h550 Kh3, with the ap-
parently unstoppable threat of
mate by 51 g4, Black liquidates
White answers in kind. Thebat-
tle is joined ... I
the threat with the surprising
counterstroke 50.. Nf4+.
However, 45 h4, instead of
45 Ne8+, would have led to vic- ... and ends straightway. AS a
tory. result of this exchange, a pawn
has moved from b2 to c3. Both
sides prefer the new situation,
each for his own reasons: White,
This was the move Black wrote on because he has a new open file,
his scoresheet, then sealed inthe and the pawn is closer to the
envelope which was handed to the center; and Black, because he
chief arbiter of the tournament. need no longer fear the pawn
Stahlberg, of course, without any storm, and he now controls the
knowledge of that sealed move,had key square e4.
to analyze both of Black's possi-
ble replies, 41.. Kg7 and ..Bf7. 18.
19. ~dile4
Nf6-e4
d5:e4
20. Kbl-c2 Ra8-d8
21. a2-a4 ...
When he adjourned, Boleslavsky The game has gone into an end-
considered the possibility 42 Nd5, Black's last five moves are all
part of one plan. ~tahlbergis ing which favors White a bit,
s.4 c*
and requires accurate play from White's game is lost: he has our time .
Black. White would have done nothing to match Black's passed
better to play 21 Rbl, answer- pawn. However, he would have some A small but significant opening
ing 2l..Rd7 with 22 Rb2; then, ~racticalchances of a draw in subtlety: Black substituted .. b6
.. ..
after the f-file opened, he the following variation: 36 ab and Bb7 for the more usual
could obtain counterpressure on
the b-pawn, saving his a2-a4
ab 37 Ral h3 38 Rhl Rh7 39 Rh2: Nc6 and .. 0-0;and White, who
pawns are equal for the moment; failed to notice in time to react
untjl after Black s ..b7-b6. and White's rook is unapproach- correctly with 7 Ne2, must now
able; to play for the win, there- spend an extra tempo preparing
fore, Black's king must go for e3-e4. Such details should never
the g-pawn, which time White be underestimated, but neither
could use to attack the b- and should they be overvalued. Occa-
c-pawns: 39.. Kf5 40 Kb4 K:g5 sionally it is said that White's
41 c5, and if 41.. bc+, White gets advantage consists of his right
his draw; but on 41.. b5, he is to the first move: should he lose
one tempo short: 42 d5 cd 43K:b5 a tempo, then, the advantage must
Kh4 44 c6 - with the white king necessarily pass to Black. Prac-
on b6, this would be a draw. tically speaking, however, thead-
But he should still have tried it, vantage of playing White boils
especially since the whole var- down to greater freedom in selec-
iation occurs just before the ting a plan to suit one's tastes;
time control. once the game has settled into
its ordained track, the loss of
a single tempo is not always so
serious.
The beginning of a remarkable
plan. Clearly, any defensive ma-
neuvers on the kingside are fore-
doomed, since they involvepieces
WHITE RESIGNED with an inconsequential radius of
,.,. ,.,.
.L.l-&-Vs.(_.(
,\ >,
Black retreats his knight to
forestall the pin with 12 Bg5,and
activity (.. Rf7, .. Qe7, etc.).
But Black does have another de-
to be able to answer 3-4 with fensive resource, and that is
9. Geller-Euwe
(Nirnzoindian Defense)
.. 7-5, blockading the king's counterattack! The bishop at b7,
wing. White therefore secures 5 the rook at c8. and the knight at
One of the tournament's best before advancing his f-pawn. It c4 are all weli-based; all that
games, and the recipient of a would be senseless to defend the remains is to bring up thequeen.
brilliancy prize. White initia- pawn at c4 now: that pawn was The basis for this counterattack
ted a powerful attack on theking doomed by White's fifth move. is Black's preponderance on the
White's inappropriately active by sacrificing his c4-pawn. This central squares. With 16..b5,
play has resulted in a slight de- attack gave Geller every hope of Black reinforces the knight onc4
terioration of his position. success, provided Black held to and opens a path for the queen
the traditional sort of queen- to b6. Still. one cannot help
side counterattack. Euwe, how- feeling that'his operations are
ever, carried out two remarkable too little and too late ...
ideas: 1) utilizing his queen-
side lines of communication for White's attack has become ra-
30 Bg3 was correct: the exchange an attack on the king's wing, and ther threatening. lack's pre-
of minor pieces (.. N:g3) holdsno 2) decoying the enemy's forces vious move was necessary to fore- Pinning White's queen to the
terrors for White. Now, however, deep into his own rear area,with stall White's intention to push defense of the d-pawn, Black
the knight gets to f3 via h4, and the aim of cutting them off from his pawn to 6, and then, after prevents the intended 18 Qh5.
the white bishop's situation be- the defense of their king. 16.. N:f6, to pin the knight af- After 17 Qh5 Qb6 18 Ne2 Ne5, we
comes precarious (even the long- ter all, piling up on the king get the echo-variation, with the
est of diagonals can sometimes It's a most diverting specta- with the combined firepower of white rook unable to get to h4.
grow too short). cle to watch White's pieces in queen, rooks and three minor
their frontal assault on theking, pieces. Even now, White needs
burrowing further and further, only two moves to transfer his
while Black is transferring his rook and queen to the h-file, and
forces by roundabout routes. then it might appear that nothing
could save the black king. ~ l l
of White's moves required
detailed and precise analysis.
If 33 Bf4 g5, followed by ..Ngl. Euwe, however, is not easily Here, for example, the natural
flustered. Remember that in his 20 ed would fail to 20.. Qc6.
lifetime he played more than
seventy games with Alekhine, the
most feared attacking player of
Thus, White has broken through The analysts also showed that 11. Keres-Averbakh
after all, at an insignificant the ..Rf8-h8 idea was actually a (Nirnzoindian Defense) idea to accomplish that end, is
cost. Once again, Black's posi- little premature, and that .. Rc4 one of the bases of chess strat-
tion appears critical. first was better. However, those 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 egy in every phase of the game.
who love chess will find it dif- 4. e3 0-0 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5 The proper move order also plays
ficult to agree with this. Moves 7. 0-0 Nc6 8. a3 B:c3 9. bc b6 an important part, but this falls
like 22.. Rh8 are not forgotten. 10. Ne5 Bb7 11. 4 Na5 12. cd under the heading of tacticalim-
Q:d5 13. Qe2 cd 14. ed Nb3 plementation, which of course is
If lack's 16th move was the 15. Rbl N:cl 16. Rb:cl Rac8 a major determinant of the even-
beginning of his strategic plan 17. Qb2 Qd6 18. 5 ef 19. B:f5 tual success of the strategic
of counterattack, then this rook Rc7 20. c4 Rd8 21. Rf4 g5 plan.
sacrifice is its fundamentaltac-
tical stroke, with the aim of WHITE RESIGNED A surprising and correct deci- Here, White's basic idea is
drawing the white queen still sion. Black leaves his knight on obvious: he needs a good devel-
further afield and decoying it 6 without pawn protection and opment for both his bishops. He
away from the c2 square, mean- exposes his king to win a pawn. can accomplish this in two ways:
10. Smyslov-Szabo ~verbakh's calculations have con- either by playing a4 followed by
while attacking the king. (Reti Opening) vinced him that the pawn cannot Ba3, or by taking dc bc, andthen
be recovered, and Black's weak- playing c4. Apparently against
4. b3 g6 5. ~ b Bg7
2 6. Bg2 Qb6 nesses will not be much of a all logic, however, White places
7. Qcl 0-0 8. 0-0 Nbd7 9. cd cd problem to him with the queens his bishop on a diagonal whichis
off. White also has weak pawns occupied by pawns, seemingly in-
of his own on the queenside. viting Black to play ..c4 him-
self, and shut the bishop in for
With the queens and darksquare 22. Rf2 Q:d4 23. Q:d4 R:d4 good.
bishops gone, White is banking on 24. Rcfl Rd6 25. h4 gh 26. Rf4
the open c-file a ~ dchiefly onthe Rc5 27. Ng4 N:g4 28. R:g4+ Kf8 Why? As it turns out, 11 a4
advantage of his good" bishop 29. B:h7 Ba6 30. Rff4 Rh6 31. Bd3 would have been met by 11.. cd
over Black's, which will behemmed h3 32. gh R:h3 33. Rd4 Bc8 12 cd Bg4, or 12 ed Ne4, attack-
in by its own pawns. 34. Rd8+ Ke7 35. Rgd4 Be636. Kg2 ing the c-pawn; and 11 dc bc
Rg5+ 37. Kf2 Ra5 38. Rb8 R:a3 12 c4 would allow the reply
14. Rcl e6 15. Nc3 b6 16. d4Ba6 39. Be2 Rh2+ 40. Kel Ra1+41. Rdl 12.. Rb8, preventing 13 Bb2.
17. Ne5 N:e5 18. de Nb5 19.N:b5 R:e2+
B:b5 20. Rc2 Rfc8 21. Racl R:c2 Having played 11 Bb2, however,
22. R:c2 Ba6 23. 4 Rc8 24.R:c8 WHITE RESIGNED White can go ahead with hisc3-c4,
either at once or after the pre-
liminary 12 dc bc; so Black'sre-
12. Reshevsky-Petrosian
ply is not merely useful, butal-
White's plan is too tame, and (Nirnzoindian Defense)
most obligatory. The next phase
insufficient for winning pur- of the struggle is defined by the
poses. Black needs only to keep new pawn structure: already it
his bishop on the a6-1 diagonal has much less to do with the
Threatening mate in a fewmoves: and his kine at e7: most imuort- tastes and preferences of the
24.. R:g2+, 25.. Qc4+, etc. De- antly, he must not advanceany of two players than it has to do
tailed analysis, requiring more his pawns. His last two moves with their choice of opening.
than just one week's time, showed only help his opponent to create White will set his f- and e-
that White could have saved him- a passed pawn. pawns in motion, creating a
:elf from mate by finding a few passed d-pawn and combining the
only" and very difficult moves. advance of these central pawns
First, he has to play 24 d5; if with an attack on the f-file.
then 24.. Qb6+ 25 Khl Qf2 26 Rgl The text is thought to give Black, with three pawns to two
B:d5, White saves himself with Black a cramped game, but if a on his right wing, cannot do too
27 Re4!; and on the immediate player likes precisely that sort much with them for the moment,
24.. B:d5, not 25 Rd4 - only Allowing Black's pawn to get to
of 'cramped game", then he will
get better results with it than
since he must first battle the
25 Rdl! works: after 25.. R:g2+ a3 cost White his winningchances: white bishop pair and central
26 Kfl gh, neither 27 R:h6 nor with a "freer" game. Generally preponderance.
he had to push his own pawn to a3 speaking, such evaluations, even
27 R:d5: once again, the only on move 35. though they may sway the opinions
move is 27 Q:h6. Black would of the theoreticians, have far
still have bishop and two pawns 37. Be4 Be8 38. Bbl Bf7 39. Kc3 less of an influence on practical
for his rook then, which would e5 40. b5 Bd5 41. Kb4 e4 42.K:a3 tournament games than is commonly
leave him good winning chances, e3 43. Bd3 Bf3 44. Kb4 e2
* considering the open position 45. B:e2 B:e2 46. a4
supposed. Black could have altered the
course of the struggle here by
of White's king. It goes without taking the knight: 13.. B:f3
saying that Geller had no prac- DRAW 14. gf Nh5; but he refrained
tical chance to find all of these from doing so. The standard ex-
moves over the board.
Trying to improve one's posi- planation - White would be left
tion, and finding the correct with the two bishops, a strong
pawn center, and the open g-
file - could hardly have de-
terred him, since one bishop
would be blocked by its own
pawns, and the pawn center is
not dangerous for the moment.
If 15 e4, for example, then
15.. Nf4 16 Khl Qh4 17 Bcl Nd3
18 B:d3 cd 19 Qe3 de 20 fe Rfe8
21 f3 5 22 e5 Rad8, and the
pawn at d3 is taboo.
However, after 13..B:f3 14 gf
Nh5 White could systematically
strengthen his position with
4, 3, Qf2, Rael, Bcl, Khl and
e4, in that or in some other or-
der, depending on how Black re-
plies (Rgl mi ht also prove ne-
cessary, etc.7. A direct attack
on the king would be Black's
only possible counter, and it
would have had very small chances
of success, considering his re-
stricted maneuvering space: the
pawn barriers hamper the mobility Reshevsky's clever play com- Black, naturally, had no choice,
of his knights. bined with Petrosian's iron log- since taking the a-pawn would have
ic make this game one of the been senseless. But now it is
Petrosian continues following tournament's jewels. Black must White who must solve a difficult
his own line, figuring that as stop White's pawns, so Petrosian psychological problem: should he Black has a small advantage,
long as he has made no unsound gives up the exchange at a spot exchange on b4, which practically but not enough to convert. After
moves, nor upset the positional of his own choosing, freeing e7 guarantees the draw, or advance analysis at home, both players
balance, he will not risk finding for the transfer of his knightto the pawn, driving out the knight agreed to the
himself in a losing position. d5. Of course, Black gets good and obtaining winning chances, as
compensation for the exchange:
his knight is much stronger on
d5, as is his bishop, which no
well as losing ones?
With no time left in which to
DRAW
I
longer has an opponent. Note calculate variations, it is un-
derstandable that Reshevsky chose 13. Bronstein- Najdorf
that here, or even on the pre- (King's Indian)
vious move, White might have the simpler continuation. After
launched a direct attack with 32 c4 Nb6 33 Rcl N:a4 34 Bal Qc6
h4 followed by h5 and Rg3, with or 33 d5 ed 34 c5 N:a4 35 Bd4 Rc8
On 20 a4 there could follow good winning chances; but he ex- 36 Qf3 Qe6, White's pawns would
20.. Ne5! 21 Ba3 Nd3 22 B:d3 cd pects to win a different way. have been blockaded, and lack's
23 Q:d3 Q:a4. would become extremely dangerous.

Provoking 26.. b4, when there A lot has already happened in


Black prevents the maneuver would follow 27 d5 R:d5 28 B:e6 32.. N:b4 33 Qb3 Nd5 was also the first six moves. Taking ad-
21 a4 and 22 Ba3, and reminds his fe 29 Q:c4 (28 Q:c4 Rd:e5 would possible, or 33 Qb5 Q:b5 34 ab vantage of the white queen s bi-
opponent that he has a queenside have been weaker), but Petrosian Nd3 35 Re2 Rb8 36 Rd2 R:b5 37 R:d3 shop's development to g5, instead
pawn majority. perseveres with his plan. R:b2 38 d5, with a draw. of the usual e3, where it parti-
cipates in the struggle for d4,
33. a4-a5 Rd8-a8 Black quickly counterattackedthe
34. Rel-a1 Qe8-c6 white center with 5.. c5. S i n c ~
We have grown accustomed to 35. Bb2-cl ... 6 d5 kept Black's knight from
seeing this bishop on d3 or c2
or bl, at least - -
participating
1
Tempting Black to go into the
developing to c6, Najdorf now
intends to bring it to c7, so he
Keeping an eye on the pawn at
in a kingside attack. Reshevsky c4, and preparing to return the unclear line 35.. R:a5? 36 R:a5 can prepare ..b7-b5 with ..a7-a6.
undertakes a roundabout maneuver exchange - for a pawn. On28 Qf2 Q:cl+ 37 Qfl Qe3+ 38 Khl h6
39 Ra8+ Kh7 40 Qbl+ g6 41 Ra7+
This costs a lot of time, how-
which further strengthens White's
position and prepares the advance
Nd5 29 Rf3 b4 is unpleasant.
Kh8 42 h3 - but Black has no
need to speculate, since he does
ever, and the result obtained is
disproportionately small, com-
of his pawns, hitherto impossible. pared with the amount of effort
not stand worse. expended. The knight occupies a
passive position on c7, where it
remains unemployed for some time.
In the end, it nearly costs Black
the game. sizable stack; now with this
move, White begins his search White's last two moves weren't goric's choice, 4 Nf3, is also
for the decisive strengthening bad, but they could have been a quite playable. Although Black
of his position. The tgreat is little better: for instance, managed to equalize swiftly and
24 Nf4 g5 25 Ne6 gh 26 N:f8; 27 Bf2 Rc8 28 Qd3 Kg7 29 h4. Now even to seize the initiative in
additionallv. his last move ~ajdorffinds a way to introduce this game, Gligoric himself was
helped fix the black e- and f- tactical complications, and, more to blame for that.
pawns on dark squares. importantly, to exchange queens,
which eases his defense.
Still, White might have given
some thought to the transfer of
his bishop to a different diag-
onal. It has already done its
work here by inducing ..f6, and
might have caused Black consid- Of course White does not take ~asn'tTaimanov blundered a
erable grief after 23 Bel. 23 Ral
was also possible, but although the pawn, which would al!.ow the
knight out of its distant corner
piece - 10 Qa4+ Nc6 11 d5? No,
since the white knight is in-
an immediate 23..5 would not
work in view of 24 e5 de 25 d6+ at last. sufficiently defended -
ll..N:c3.
Kh8 26 de etc., White would al-
ways have had to consider an
eventual ..f5 anyway.

Practically all of White's ad-


vantage disappears after the ex-
change of rooks. Better was34 R:e7
Rb3 35 B:f6 or 34..Bd6 35 Re6 Be5
36 B:f6 B:c3 37 B:c3 Rb3 38 ba5!
White overestimated the strength
of the pawn at d3 in rejectingthis
continuation, although his pawn on
The positions of Black's pieces d5 would have been much more dan-
give the e- and f-pawns an insen- gerous.
sateauFge to advance. White is
acquiring more and more territo- The best line of all would have
ry; the pawn now at b5 is hardly been 33 Bg3, instead of 33 Kf3,
compensation for Black's cramped offering to exchange bishops. How-
position: for instance, compare ever, White had overlooked Black's
the rooks at 8 and 1. reply, 33. .Rb8.

17 Rfal could not be allowedi Gligoric is not afraid of the


but now White trades off Black s further advance of Black's pawns,
only active piece. correctly judging that this will
only weaken lack's position. So
DRAW he invites 12..h5, and where is
Why did White sacrifice that
pawn? Can't Black begin a coun- the player who could resist such
terattack now? Not yet; and, temptation? Taimanov saw just in
Since the queen cannot remain meanwhile, White needs only two 14. Gligoric-Taimanov time, however, that after 12..h5?
tied forever to the pawn at e7, or three moves - Nc3 and Rbl, (Nimzoindian Defense) 13 h4!, it is not Black who has
Black decides upon a weighty
step: shutting in his own bishop.
for example - to take over all
the key points on the queenside,
the attack, at any rate. So he
increases the pressure on e4 by
and then to pick up the c5- or means of the quiet maneuver Nb8-
the e7-pawn. The knight's poor d7-6, which results in a slight
placement at a8 helps White advantage for Black.
greatly in the execution of this In the overwhelming majority of However, White might have cast
plan. this tournament' s Nimzo-Indians, doubt on Black's whole system of
White continued with 4 e3: such
Small advantages, patiently is the pull of fashion - which,
as I suspected, was to ~ersist
development if he had played
something more concrete than his
accumulated, have grown into a clover castling idea: that being
long after this tournament. G 1 i - 12 d5, cutting c o r ~ i c a t i o n sbe-
tween the bishop at b7 and the them will disappear in the next ROUND THREE via d7 to c6. Now, however,
knight at e4. After 12.. ed? twelve moves! This statistic is White has the choice, depending
White would play 13 Nd4 (whlch also a reflection of the essen- 15. Najdorf-Gligoric upon circumstances, of recover-
would also meet most of lack's tial point of White's strategy: (Grunfeld Defense) ing his pawn by Nf3-e5:c4 or
other replies), with a very po- to denude the black king and 1. d2-d4 Ng8-6 Nbl-d2:c4, or going back to Qdl-
werful attack: he threatens, am- also to give Black some queen- 2. c2-c4 g7-g6 a4:c4.
ong other things, simply 14 3. side pawn weaknesses with the 3. g2-g3 c7-c6 If Black plays it like a
break c4-c5. 4. Nbl-c3 d7-d5 een's Gambit, and tries to
Though I know 1'm anticipating, 5. c4:d5 c6:d5 Tqualize1' by means of the Stan-
I still can't resist mentioning
that less than two years after
18.
19.
...
c4-c5
a7-a5
b6:c5
dard maneuver ..c7-c5, the fian-
The choice of opening indicates chettoed bishop unleashes tre-
this game, in the 22nd USSR Cham- 20. d4:c5 0-0 mutual lack of aggressive intent. mendous power: for example, 5..c5
pionship, Taimanov reached pre- 21. Rfl-dl Qd7-c6 The nearly symmetrical deploy- 6 0-0 Nc6 7 Qa4 Bd7 8 dc Na5
cisely this position against Ke- 22. c5:d6 c7 :d6 ments and the immobile pawn ten- 9 Qc2 B:c5 10 Ne5 Rc8 11 Nc3 b5
res, for which the Estonian had 23. g3-g4 Ra8-c8 ter largely presage the outcome 12 Bg5, and White has an out-
prepared (as he himself tells us) 24. g4:f5 Rf8:f5 of this game. standing game.
the improvement 12 d5! Keres
cided -
idea and the author's thus coin-
and immediately diverged:
White answered 12..ed, not with
The pawn skirmishes have gone
in White's favor: Black now has
a weakness at d6, and his king A new line. Black wants to
13 Nd4, but with 13 cd B:d5, and is starting to feel the draft. draw the bishop out to d2 to
only then 14 Nd4 Nd7 15 3 N:g3 prevent the knight from using
16 hg Qf6 17 B:f5 0-0-0 18 Qa4, 25. e3-e4 Rf5-f7 that square. On 6 Nbd2 White
with an excellent position: Black was afraid of 6..c3 7 bc B:c3,
had to lay down his arms in 29 White had planned the further when Black retains his pawn; but
moves. advance of his e-pawn, opening it would be interesting to see
the diagonal for the queen to what would happen after 8 Ba3
invade at g6. At the moment, this Here or a move earlier, White B:al 9 Q:al.
would not work, since on 26 e5 might have tried to stir up at
Black gives check and takes off least the semblance of a fight
the e-pawn with his queen. More by playing g3-g4, with h2-h4 to
pawn exchanges follow shortly, follow. The risk would have been
and the game begins to look like small; but on the other hand, it By not giving check, White
a draw. is not likely he could have bro- avoids 7..Bd7 and 8..Bc6. Now
ken into lack's position either. if 7..Bd7 he intends 8 Ne5, re-
26. Rdl-d3 g5-g4 So both captains decide to steer moving Black's lightsquare bi-
27. f3:g4 Qc6:e4 with the wind into quiet harbor. shop and thereby strengthening
28. Qc2-d2 Qe4 :g4 his own.
29. Ral-el Rf7-g7
Black throws all of his pie-
ces over to the g-file, but to Anyway! On 8 Ne5, Black re-
no avail. plies 8..Nc6, allowing his pawns
to be shattered: after 9 N:c6
30. Rd3:d6 Rc8:c3 B:c6 10 B:c6+ bc 11 Q:c4, how-
31. Rd6:e6 Rc3-g3 DRAW ever, Black has ll..Qd5, forcing
32. Rel-e2 Rg3:g2+ the trade of queens, whichlevels
the game completely, If 9 Q:c4in
DRAW, this line, 9..N:e5 10 de Nd5
16. Petrosian-Bronstein 11 B:d5 ed 12 Q:d5 Qc8 13 0-OBc6
since after 33 R:g2 Q:e6 (Catalan Opening) with a fine attack for the sac-
34 R:g7+ K:g7 35 Q:a5, both 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 rificed pawn.
generals will be left prac- 2. c2-c4 e7-e6
tically without soldiery. 3. g2-g3 d7-d5 8. 0-0 Bd7-c6
4. Bfl-g2 d5 :c4 9. Qc2:c4 Bc6-d5
,,
-.--L-L-.,.L-L
,.,.,. ,s
5. Ngl-3 ... lo. Qc4-c2 Nb8-c6
,.,,
8.

-L-,L.-V.-,
,\ >, 8.8.
11. Bd2-c3 Bd5-e4
The Catalan only appears to be 12. Qc2-dl 0-0
Taimanov has kept his pawn oc- a harmless opening: in reality, 13. Nbl-d2 Be4-g6
tave whole, while White's is it conceals a number of subtle- Bg6-e4
slightly marred in two places-
which more or less defines the
ties, which is why it is so of-
14.
15.
Nd2-c4
Nc4-d2 Be4-g6
ten played by such as Keres, 16. Nd2-c4 Bg6-e4
extent of Black's positional ad- Smyslov and Petrosian. White's 17. Nc4-d2
vantage. All the minor pieces move, 5 Nf3, is one such nuance.
having been traded off in the Usually, check is given here,and The transition phase from op-
pre~eding~phase of the game, now the pawn recaptured, but thisal- ening to middlegame has arrived.
the pawns turn comes: twelve of lows Black to develop his bishop White does not wish to continue
the fight with an enemy piece on Black counterattacked White's ..b6-b5 to assure himself good
e4, nor does Black care to allow pawn center, ?laying ll..Rd8 to counterplay on the opposite wing.
White's knight to get to e5. Un- prevent White s d4-d5, but his
able to reach an agreement as to plan failed: the rook had to go Black shores e5 up with might
the placing of these two pieces, back in order to defend the f - and main, pressing simultaneously
both sides repeat moves... pawn, and White advanced his d- on e4 in the hope of inducing f4- 18. Szabo-Keres
pawn. The position also admits 5. (Queen's Gambit)
DRAW of a different, and sharper, han- 1. d2-d4 d7-d5
dling: 14 Bd3 would maintain the 2. Ngl-3 Ng8-6
tension at c5 and e5, force a 3. c2-c4 d5 :c4
weakening of Black's king's wing, Correctly evaluating the posi- 4. Nbl-c3 a7-a6
17. Averbakh-Reshevsky
(Nimzoindian Defense)
and prepare an attack with his
pieces: for example, 14. .h6
tion, Averbakh does not capture 5. Qdl-a4+ ...
on e5, even though he would hold
15 Ne4 N:e4 16 B:e4 cd 17 cd ed a clear advantage after 25 fe fe
18 Bb2. 26 Rfl, followed by the doubling
of the rooks on the f-file, since
one of the black rooks wouldhave
to remain tied to the defense of
the e-pawn. The reason he didn't
take the pawn is that Black would
have answered 25 fe with 25..R:e5,
White threatens to play 2-4, and the black knight which would
when taking the pawn would bein- soon enter d6 would be not a bit
advisable for Black, since it weaker than a white rook. Now,
After obtaining a good position would open up the game in White's with Black's bishop immured,White
with Black in the first round ag- favor. Defending the pawn with can bring up his rooks and push
ainst Najdorf, Reshevsky repeats ..f7-6 would also be poor in his g- and h-pawns.
the opening exactly against Aver- view of Bbl, when the white
bakh. Here Najdorf played 11 a4; queen will invade at h7. So
Averbakh plays the more logical Black begins the construction of
11 Rel, which prepares 12 e4. The a defensive perimeter based on
first skirmish flares, concluding his pawn at e5. 17..Bd7 is nec- Before beeinnine his attack,
some ten moves later with White on essary to meet the threat of White would-like To ascertain.
top. Along the way, however, he 18 4, for now Black could reply which direction lack's king
wlll have to occupy e4 with a 18..ef 19 ef? Rae8; the move is will move in order to meet the
piece, in order to prevent lack's also useful for control of the threatened 27 B:h6. Practically speaking, the short-
pawn from doing so. diagonal a4-e8. est game of the tournament: even
though it did continue until the
41st move, after this check Sza-
Now everything is in readi- bo might as well have resigned,
ness for White to begin his since in effect he is now giving
pawn storm (with h2-h4 and g2- Keres odds of pawn and move (odds
An audit of the last ten moves g4) immediately. Of coursehemust once given by masters to first-
would show a strong positivebal- watch out for his opponent's category players in the handicap
ance for .White, with good show- play, but still Black would have tourneys of Chigorin's day). One
ings in all his ventures: he has had a very difficult time of it. wonders how, after prolonged con-
gotten in 20 e4, and closed the White's next move, however, slows sideration, Szabo could blunder
center, so that now he is ready the pace of the attack, allowing a pawn as early as move five. Ke-
to storm the king's position; Reshevsky to slip in a little re- res was more than a little amazed
and in the event of an endgame, minder of his own counterchances himself: he spent fifteen min-
he is ready with his protected (his extra pawn on the queenside, utes considering his reply.
passed pawn at d5. On the nega- the possible attack on the pawn
tive side, of course, there is at c4, and the weakness at b3).
that bishop at a2, but that can
always be redeployed via bl to 27. Ba2-bl Nb7-a5
d3. How is Black to meet the im- 28. Qg3-d3 Bd7-a4 The whole problem is thatWhite
pending attack on his king? H e 29. Bbl-c2 Ba4: c2 has not yet played e2-e3. With
must ready himself to weather the 30. Qd3:c2 Na5-b7 the bishop's diagonal open,..b7-
storm by placing his pawns on 31. a3-a4 Qd6-d8 b5 would require extensive anal-
dark squares, his rooks on the 32. Ral-a3 Nb7-d6 ysis, since White could thensim-
e-file, and his knight at d6, 33. Ra3-h3 Nd6-7 ply take the pawn with hisknight
where it blockades the pawn and and meet ..Bd7 with B:c4. But now
covers the light squares. DRAW his choice is either to remain a
pawn down, or to give up a piece:
White's attack would now in- 6 N:b5 Bd7 7 N:c7+ Q:c7 8 Qc2,
volve some risk, while Black hoping to pick up the c-pawn as
need only prepare the advance well eventually. Even in that
highly problematical event, how- 13 a5 would have been a trifle
ever, he would still have only more accurate, but Euwe was ex-
two pawns for his piece. pecting the knight to go to d7 Two pawns, one of them passed
on its own, with: 13 Nc3 Nb4 and on the sixth rank, are suf-
14 Be3 Nd7 15 Qd2. ficient compensation for the ex-
change; the maneuver Smyslov be-
Smyslov makes frequent use of gins with this move, however, un-
this line of the Grunfeld,where derscores the weakness of the
A pawn down, Szabo panics: why Black attacks the center pawns pawn at d6. 22 Nb5 is now impos-
not 8 Be3, when his two center with ..c5 and ..e6, trades off Smyslov plays an active de- sible, in view of 22.. R:b5, so
pawns, e4 and d4, promise White on d5 and blockades the pawn by fense: now he threatens to occu- the bishop has to retreat.
plenty of opportunities to com- planting his knight at d6. Iso- py d3 with a piece, severing the
plicate? Szabo's 8 Bg5 gives up lated and blockaded though it enemy communications between
a second pawn, in hopes that if may be, the white d-pawn remains flanks. Advancing his pawn tod6,
it is taken he will gain several very strong nevertheless. Black with the exchange sacrifice that
tempi to complete his develop- must always be prepared for its follows, appears to be the logi- The scales tip first one way,
ment. However, Keres easily re- advance, especially considering cal end of White's entire setup, then the other: just when Black
pels the attack, remaining two how difficult it will be for him but it would have had more effect has obtained the upper hand, Euwe
pawns up. to actually get either one ofhis after 15 a5. begins a complex combination with
knights from b6 or b8 to d6. The a pretty zwischenzug, 26 Nd7.
outcome of this game will depend
~ I;
314 on whether White finds an appro-
Ral-dl priate moment to advance the pawn
Bg5-e3 to d6 and secure it there. If he As will later become clear,
Bfl-e2 can, then he will have theadvan- 24.. Kg7 was better: it is im-
Be2-f3
0-0
Nc3-d5
Nd5 :e3
tage; if not, Black will obtain
good counterchances.
In my personal opinion, the
system looks good for White. It
portant in one variation that
the king defend the pawn on 7.
I
g2-g4
Ne3-5 is possible that Smyslov now
b2-b3 shares this opinion, since, de-
Qc2-cl spite the successful outcome of
a2 :b3 this game, he did not employ the
Rdl: cl system again, either at Zurichor
Rf l-dl at any other tournament thereaf-
Nf 5-h6+ ter.
g4-g5
Bf3-g4
Rdl-d6
White's threats do require a
bit of alertness from Keres. Smyslov is dealing with agreat
expert on the Grunfeld. At the
Amsterdam 1950 tournament, Euwe
played a similar game against The strategic idea is correct,
Pilnik, continuing here with but its tactical formulation is
10 Nbc3. In the tournament book wrong. Now 16 a5 was necessary in
Euwe noted that the move was not order to meet 16.. B:fl 17 K:fl
good, and recommended the con- Nd7 18 B:b7 Rb8 with 19 a6. After
tinuation 10 a4! Na6 11 Na3 ed the text, an interesting battle
12 ed Nb4 13 Nc3! Smyslov goes of the pieces ensues, where cal-
into the line nonetheless, which culation reigns supreme, and The picture looks hopeless for
gives this game added interest. where Black's chances are objec- White, but his next move is quite
tively no worse. pretty.
Curiously enough, in Game 129
(~ound19) against Keres, Euwe
played 10 Nec3, and in his notes
calls this move stronger than The idea is to decoy the rook
WHITE RES IGNED 10 a4. A brave choice. Many would have onto an unprotected square. Now
preferred 17.. Q:d6, which equal- if 26.. R:d7 27 B:e5+ Q:e528 Q:d
,. ,.,.
-L-L-.-d--O--%-
,\ <, ,\
Both moves seem adequate to me. lzes, and is in any event easier
to calculate.
Q:b2 29 Rel, and two of lack's
pawns are en prise; also poor is

1.
2.
19. Euwe-Smyslov
(Grunfeld Defense)
d2-d4
c2-c4
Ng8-6
g7-g6
26.. B:d4 27 Q:d4+ Kg8 28 Nf6+
Kh8 29 Nd5+ Kn8 30 Ne7+ Kf8 I
32 Qel Nc6 33 b4 Q:b4 34 N:e5 line 51.. Ne5 52 Kfl Kf5 53 Ke2 tory, first on the kingside, and
Q:el+ 35 R:el N:e5 36 R:e5 Rd2, Ke4 54 h5 h6, and White's pawns then over the entire board.
After 26.. Qa6+ 27 Kg1 B:d4 and Black must win. die.
28 Q:d4+ 6 or 28.. Kg8, White
obtains the better endgame with
29 N:b8 R:d4 30 N:a6.

Now Black is a piece up, and


the win is, as they say, a mat-
Smnyslov's determination to play ter of technique. In the present The first result of his ~assive
-
for complications has borne fruit: instance, however, the technique strategy is that White cankot
Euwe fails to find the better will be anything but simple; for move his queen to c2 in view of
move 28 Qd6, whose main continu- the piece White has, besides two 11.. Bf5.
ation runs: 28.. Rb6 29 Qe7 Nc6 pawns, some other chances as Gradually, the knight works
30 Qf6+ Kg8 31 Rdl, which threat- well: his king is better shel- its way to g4.
ens the killing 32 Bd5+. Black tered, and Black's knight has
would be forced to trade queens no support points in the center.
and trv to save himself in a dif-
.
ficult' pawn-down endgame : 28. Qa6t
29 Q:a6 N:a6 30 N:b8 R:b8 31 Rel.
In general, Black's plan will
58 Rd5 would not have helped
be to avoid exchanging queenside Stahlberg's maneuverings are
pawns, to find shelter for his either, in view of 58.. Rf5 not dictated by any strategic
king, to bring his knight to the 59 R:a5 Qb7+ 6 0 3 Nc4. The text plan, but rather by practical
kingside, and finally, to attack leads to an immediate loss. guidelines he has derived from
With the queen on d6, White the white pawns at 2 and b2 (or his enormous tournament exper-
could have continued 29 Qf6+ and b3) with overwhelming force. ience and chess-sense: advance
30 Bh3 here (forcing 3O..~a6+), no pawns, create no glaringweak-
traded queens, recovered the ex- The fulfilment of this plan After 58.. Ng4 59 Q:e7 R:e7 nesses, show not the slightest
change, and come out a pawn up. requires exceptional restraint, 60 b4, White might have had a aggressive intent; but meanwhile,
deep calculation, and rapid as- slim chance; but now 59.. Ng4 do not avoid exchanges, and be
sessment of the positions that is threatened, and if 59 3, ready to set a tactical snare at
occur along the way. then 59.. Qc2+ decides. any moment. So now, despite a
A brilliant resource which whole series of planless (butal-
White overlooked. Black's queen WHITE RESIGNED so harmless) moves, White's po-
reenters the fray elegantly and sition is not yet bad, on the
decisively, threatening to win Smyslov showed a high level of whole. Geller shows great re-
the pinned knight. mastery and an incredible will to sourcefulness and determination
win in every phase of this tense in breaking down Stahlberg's
game. skilled - and not entirely
toothless - defense.

20. Stahlberg-Geller
These last moves were played (King's Indian)
in grievous time-pressure, and 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 Now, while the knight tempo-
Black has thus far achieved no- 2. Ngl-3 g7-g6 rarily blocks the diagonal,
thing beyond pinning the white 3. g2-g3 Bf 8-g7 Black breaks the pin, puts his
queen to the protection of the 4.
5.
Bfl-g2
0-0
0-0
d7-d6
king on h7, and then plays .. 5.
2 square. Now he must secure c6
for the transfer of his knight. 6. Nbl-d2 ...
An unusual and somewhat passive
System Stahlberg employs occas-
ionally against the ~ i n ~ 'In-
s
dian. The e-pawn is kept at home,
The threat of 46.. Qel+ gains and the c-pawn advanced but one Black's advantage has crystal-
Black a tempo to regroup. Square; the d-pawn is traded off, lized somewhat: White's pieces
as White refrains absolutely from are corralled, his lightsquare
either creating a pawn center or bishop is locked out of play,and
Participating in the fight for the powerful chain of lack's
the central squares. Not infre- kingside pawns is always ready
quently this results in a great to be set in motion. A11 of this
White could have gotten athird deal of maneuvering, followed by put together, however, is not yet
pawn for the piece by 48 Rf4 Qe5 exchanges, and a draw; but for enough to win with. Black under-
Euwe thinks 31 Rdl would have 49 R:f6 Q:c3 50 R:g6+ K:g651 bc, this game, Geller will have none takes a queenside pawn advance a:
been better, but I do not see but he would have had a lost end- of it. Instead, he wages a very well, in order to restrict still
any great difference: 31.. Rc7 ing all the same. Euwe gives the active campaign for more terri- further his opponent's pieces;
pawn advances, and wrongly so: Now the break would come too
nothing required that he weaken late, since 1 has been cleared
his d3 sauare and give the black for White's bishop: he could ans-
queen an 'inroad. b better plan wer 41.. b4 with 42 Bfl, driving
would have been 34 Nfl, 35 Ne3 away the queen.
and 36 Qd2.
A move earlier wins; a move A typical move in this open-
later draws - that's what the ing: White attacks not only the
time element means in chess. pawn at e6 but also the bishop
behind it at e7. For exam~le.if
12.. Nbd7 13 Radl Nb6, White'can
already play 14 B:e6 fe 15Q:e6+
To give the knight a way out, Rf7 16 Ne5.
via 1, to g3 - and, as we shall
see, White will soon get the op- Kotov therefore tries to li-
portunity to avail himself of it. quidate the threat of B:e6 as
quickly as possible by exchanging
After adjournment and analysis, or else driving the bishop away
White bravely sacrifices a pawn, from b3.
knowing full well that he still
gets a perpetual check.
Wearying of his dull drawing
then he trades off all White's play, staKlberg wishes to h ~ r ; ~
active pieces, 1-eavinghim only matters by transferring the
the bishop on g2 and the knight knight via g3 and e2 to d4. At
on 1. Stahlberg maintains his this moment, a crevice appears
composure, and holds to his pas- in his defensive wall; 39 Bfl
sive course, believing himself was the proper move to keep the
to be running no danger of los- queen out of d3.
ing yet.
DRAW

For trading's sake, Stahlberg 21. Boleslavsky-Kotov


does not grudge even the dark- (Queen's Gambit)
square bishop, so important for 1. d2-d4 d7-d5
White against the King's Indian. 2. c2-c4 d5 :c4
This might eventually have cost 3. Ngl-3 Ng8-6
White the game. 4. e2-e3 e7-e6
5. Bfl:c4 c7-c5
6. 0-0 a7-a6
7. Qdl-e2 c5:d4
7.. b5 is usually played here, All the commentators agreed
but Kotov holds back with this, this move was a mistake, since it
intending to play it only after allowed White to carry out the
White's Nc3; if then a2-a4, Black pretty breakthrough that follows,
A transparent trap: if the bi-
can reply ..b5-b4 with tempo. with its lively play leading to
shop takes the pawn, White cuts a win for White, some thirty
Black's central exchange aims moves hence. Stahlberg, and Euwe
off its retreat by 31 c4. at securing an unhampered devel- as well in his earlier commenta-
opment for his pieces, followed ries, suggest that 13.. Nb4 was
by the establishment of a piece the required response here. How-
Geller's last move before the on d5. This relieves White ofhis ever, Rauzer showed in some ra-
time control destroys the fruits main headache in the ~ueen's Gam- ther old analysis that the con-
of all his labors, throwing away bit Accepted, namely: the devel- tinuation 13.. Nb4 14 d5 Nb:d5
Since Geller plans to close up opment of his queen's bishop; it 15 N:d5 B:d5 16 B:d5 N:d5 17 B:e7
the game, he ought not to exchange a well-earned win. He could have also opens up the e-file.
exploited the power of his two Q:e7 18 R:d5 favors White. Naj-
his last knight; on the other hand, dorf therefore recommended 13...Nd5
having traded it off now, he ought bishops with 40.. b4, putting
White in a hopeless predicament: Boleslavsky amasses a great 14 N:d5 B:g5 15 Nc3 Nb4, a view
not to close up the game. pile of pieces in the center, and later adopted by Euwe also.
41 ab a3 42 ba B:c3, and Black's
pawn will cost White a piece; or then sets off some interesting
41 cb c3, and Black gets to the complications, with the d-pawn We should like to go a little
a-pawn. acting as a fuse. more deeply into the concept of
Stahlberg breaks his rule of no
Getting out via 6 would be ab:
"mistake", as it is applied to lutely hopeless, since theknig
chess. To begin with, the mis- bishop ending with an extra pal
takenness of 13.. Na5 was only is a dead win for White.
demonstrated as a result of
White's clever and by no means Boleslavsky continues by fix.
obvious continuation. His advan- ing the a- and b-pawns on lighi
tage finally boiled down to his squares and bringing up his kin
possession of a strong bishop
against Black's knight in an then, after a few more prepara.
endgame: certainly not all that tory moves, he can pick off thf
simple, nor all that much! a-pawn with his knight.

Secondly, it's not clear how


the battle might have gone after
13.. Nd5, since White had the
secret weapon 14 N:d5 B:g5 15Nb6.
If Black plays 15.. Rb8, instead
of taking the knight, he loses
the exchange after 16 N:g5 and
17 Nd7; and on 15.. Ra7 16 d5 is
very strong. If he takes the BLACK RESIGNED
knight on b6, however, Blackwill
be in a real predicament after White would continue: 43 Kd4
16 N:g5: 16.. h6 loses to the Ke6 44 Ne4.
sacrifice at 7 followed by
18 Q:e6, and there seems to be If the bishop takes the knight
no clear defense to the thematic at 3, there follows 16 ef+ Kh8 Now Boleslavsky must demonstrate
push d4-d5, since 16.. N:d4fails 17 R:d8 B:e2 18 R:a8 R:a8 19 R:e2 his endgame skill. White begins
against 17 Qd3 Nf5 18 N:e6 fe and Black has two pieces enprise; with a typical technique in such
19 B:e6+ Kh8 20 B:f5, or 18..Qc6 when one falls, White wilrbetwo bishop/knight endings: placing his
19 Nf4, etc. pawns ahead. If that's not enough bishop three squares distant from
for White, he can also play the enemy knight on an opposite-
Had the game in fact taken such 16 Q:f3 Nd4 17 Qe3. colored square, thereby totally
a course, then 13.. Nd5 would have depriving the knight of moves.
been Labeled the mistake, and
13.. Na5 recommended instead, since
it does not appear to be too dan-
gerous. White does not need the pawn
so much as the square e6.
Black's difficulties appear to
have another cause entirely. Com-
pared with lack's pieces, White's
have made three extra moves! -
both rooks to central files, and
the bishop to an attacking diag-
onal. If there is logic in chess, Credit is due White also for
then those three powerful devel- selecting precisely this out of
oping moves must tell somehow. It all the possible continuations
is a grandmaster's task to dem- here. The phrase which comes to
onstrate White's advantage, and mind is: "Black's two bishops
in this case the proof was of the and good development in an open
complicated cornbinative sort. position fuAly compensate his
pawn minus. But now, it turns
Such melding of logic and com- out, the two bishops will dis-
binative powers is the hallmark appear, and the bad knight re-
of Boleslavsky. main, compensating nothing -
but all this had to be foreseen!

It is easy to see that taking


the d-pawn with bishop, knight or 20.. Rfe8 21 R:d6 R:e6 22 R:b6
pawn would cost a piec.e. R:b6 23 Bc7 was bad too.
ROUND FOUR insult later. 17 Be4, liquid- slavsky lays his trumps on the his bishop on 1 was hanging.
ating the long-diagonal threats table.
22. Geller-Boleslavsky once and for all, would have
(Queen's Indian Defense) been a good idea.
1. d2-d4 e7-e6
2. Ngl-3 Ng8-f6 First comes this attack on the
3. c2-c4 b7-b6 pawn at 4, exploiting the
4. Nbl-c3 Bc8-b7 Now if 18 Be4 Ba6 19 b3 d5 back-rank mate threat: if 25 b5,
20 ed Q:d6, and Black rids him- for example, then Black takes
self, not only of his weakpawn, twice. WHITE RESIGNED
but of White's knight as well.
,.,.,.,.,.,.
-L-G-I--LJ--l_

Other things being equal, it's 23. Smyslov-Stahlberg


always advantageous to occupy the Another pair of trumps: the g- (French Defense)
center with pawns. Unwilling to file is opened, and Black also
lose time retreating the bishop, demonstrates that the rook at d4 1. e2-e4 e7-e6
Geller decides to see whether the is no defender of the pawn at 4. 2. d2-d4 d7-d5
two bishops really do counterbal- 3. Nbl-c3 Ng8-6
ance a strong pawn center. Geller's decision to trade 4. Bcl-g5 d5 :e4
rooks here is contrary to logic. 5. Nc3:e4 Bf8-e7
White is pressing on the d-pawn, The sudden turn of events has 6. Bg5:f6 Be7:f6
and for this two rooks areclear- affected ~eller's nerve and self- 7. Ngl-3 Nb8-d7
ly better than one. After the possession. There was no need to 8. Bfl-c4 0-0
Black opens the center, to give rook's retreat, followed by give the pawn away: 26 Qe3 was 9. Qdl-e2 Nd7-b6
his bishops more room. 23 Rfdl, one of Black's pieces still playable. Even though White 10. Bc4-b3 Bc8-d7
would be forced into a passive has to submit to a powerful at- 11. 0-0 ...
position: either
or . . Rd8.
.. Rc7, .. Bc8, tack - 26 Qe3 gf 27 R:f4 Qg5
28 Qf2 Kh8 - Black has no forced For this game, the chessboard
win yet. becomes a battleground of prin-
The best defense to the threat ciple between Smyslov and Stahl-
of 11 Nc7+. berg, who are repeating their
game from the Budapest 1950 tour-
nament. There, Stahlberg contin-
ued with 11.. Ba4, only to dis-
A pretty maneuver. cover, after 12 N:f6+, that he
could not recapture with his
queen because of 13 B:a4 and
In many variations of the Nim- 14 Qc4, winning a pawn. So here,
zo-Indian, an exchange on c3 he delays the exchange of light-
leaves White with the two bishops. square bishops for two moves, but
In this case, it is Black who has With queens exchanged, the end- without achieving any substantial
the two bishops, but White has game would also be hopeless for improvement.
the better position. He has a White. Both sides were now in
lead in development, with pros- time-pressure, but Boleslavsky White has a palpable advantage
pects of capitalizing on it, plays very exactly. in space and complete freedom of
since Black has a backward pawn maneuver, while lack's bishop
at d7 and the weak square d6. remains under attack by White's
Geller occupies d6 with his knight and requires the queen s
knight, and then uses his rook The pawns start to roll: this protection; the black knight's
to fix the weak pawn at d7. Bo- is the beginning of the end. movements are quite restricted
leslavsky's counterplay is based too. Under these circumstances,
on his strong bishop, which will the slightest misstep could be
sweep a long diagonal after fatal for Black.
White's coming e4-e5, and on the
possibility of opening the g-
file for his major pieces. This queenside diversion (b2- Pushing the e-pawn to e3 would
b4, followed by a2-a4 and b4-b5) have decided at once. In time-
would have been a good idea un- pressure, Black wants to trade
der more peaceful circi~mstances queens first.
-with the queens gone, for ex-
ample. This was a good time to
think of defense with 24 Qe3 or
White throws himself into his 24 Kgl; but Geller, more from White threatened 18 N:f6+,
assault on the d-pawn, thinking inertia than for any other rsa- forcing the pawn recapture,
that the fianchettoed queen's son, continues to press, hoping since on 18.. Q:f6 19 c5 would
bishop will be no danger to him, to force a win ram a position In his time-pressure, Geller win the b-pawn. 17.. Qc7 does
but that bishop willavenge the not yet ripe for it. Now Bole- probably failed to notice that not meet this threat, however.
But it is hard to criticize (In this line we find a pretty pieces are en prise. After 10 B:c4
Stahlberg for not playing the forcing maneuver to keep theking dc, neither71 Qb3 nor the immed-
more accurate 17.. Rd7, since in in the corner which you may find iate 11 bc gives White any notice-
this case also White would have useful,: 21 Qg5+ Kh8 22 Qf6+ Kg8 able advantage.
many ways to strengthen his po-
sition, such as 18 a4, or 18 Nc5
23 Re3 Rfe8 24 Qh6
move - -
a quiet
24.. Kh8 25 Rg3, threat-
and 19 Nd3, to say nothing ofthe ening Qg7 mate, and on 25.. Rg8,
simple 18 N:f6+, followed by obviously, there follows 26 Qf6+.)
Ne5 and Rel-e3-h3 for an attack.

A small concluding combination:


Smyslov's logical play has been the rook cannot escape, due to
making lack's defense more and the threat of 23 Nf5+. In addi- An amusing situation! Black
more difficult. He cannot take
the c-pawn, of course, becauseof
20 Qh6, which leaves him no time
tion to the text, whereby White
wins the exchange, and thus ren-
ders the remainder of the game a
piece White brings out -
methodically trades off every
first
the two knights, and now comes
to defend the 6-pawn: for exam- matter of technique, there was the bishops turn. White cannot
ple, 19.. N:c4 20 Qh6 Qe7 21 Nh4, also 22 Qh6+, a reasonable move avoid the exchange; he can only
threatening 22 Nf5 and 22 Rd3. which maintains the attack. choose the square on which it
Nor does 19.. Kh8 save him, in will occur.
view of 20 Qh6 Nd7 21 d5, and
the exchange of pawns brings
White's rook to d5 and thence
to h5; or 20.. Qe7 21 Nh4. After
the text, White must bring his Persistent as a mosquito.
knight to g4 in order to contin-
ue his attack - but how?

Trading queens is not a good


idea here: the a- and c-pawns
DRAW
This drawn position represents
I
would be a lot of trouble to a victory for Euwe the Theoreti-
BLACK RESIGNED White in a rook ending. cian -but we won't call it the
last word ...

24. Keres-Euwe White has some advantage in


(Nimzoindian Defense) development, but no place to fo- 25. Reshevsky-Szabo
(Grunfeld Defense)
1. d2-d4 Ng8-6 cus his energies, since Black
2. c2-c4 e7-e6 has no weaknesses anywhere; and 1. d2-d4 Ng8-6
3.
4.
Nbl-c3
e2-e3
Bf 8-b4
c7-c5
there are so few pieces left ...
Meanwhile, Black intends to bring
2.
3.
c2-c4
Nbl-c3
g7-g6
d7-d5
5. Bfl-d3 0-0 his bishop out to a good position 4. Bcl-4 Bf8-g7
on c6 via d7, or by ..b7-b6 and 5. e2-e3 0-0
..Bc8-b7.
Offering a pawn ( 6 cd N:d5
A little reshaping of a fash- 7 N:d5 Q:d5 8 B:c7 ) for the
ionable variation: instead ofc6 quick development of his queen-
the knight is brought to d7. FOG With many pieces on the board, side; but Reshevsky prefers a
this game, Euwe makes his appear- this push always promises action; quieter continuation.
ance as Theoretician: he wishes here, it seems more like a fleet-
A beautiful move, captivating to demonstrate that by keeping ing glimpse of what might have
in its simplicity: since the only both his bishops and forcing the been.
route to g4 lies through e5, the trade of pieces, Black has an
knight runs full tilt onto the
bayonets - what could be sim-
pler! The point is, of course,
easy draw.
Having begun the game in gam-
bit style, Szabo sees no point in
that taking the knight would half-measures, and sacrifices a
open the door for White's queen second pawn. This gambit is an
and rook to set up a mating at- If White takes the bishop, idea of Trifunovic s, and is
tack: 20.. fe 21 Qg5+, followed there is a good in-between move: based on the fact that White has
by 22 Qf6+ and 23 Re3. 9.. c5:d4, when two of White's not one kingside piece developed
yet. Black seeks to destroy the
enemy pawn center and create DRAW
threats against the king. In
the present instance, however,
the price paid for all this - 27. Gligoric-Petrosian
two pawns - is too high. (Benoni Defense)

Black hurriedly removes the


more dangerous pawn: if 22..Q:b2
White trades queens and plays
24 Radl, and then 24.. B:a2 al-
lows an elegant mate: 25 Rd2Rb8
26 R:b2 R:b2 27 Bd4. Black would
be forced to take the f-pawn off m i t e violates one of the clas-
on move 24, when White would re- sic principles of the opening by
main a healthy pawn up. thus moving the same piece twice;
as a matter of fact, he is pre-
paring to move the knight yet a
third time, in order to bring it
to c4. Is this the end of the
A small combination: if 24..Ra8 principle, then? Of course not!
25 Qb3, forking 7 and b7. Black, you see, has already vio-
lated classical principles twice
himself, by exchanging a center
pawn for a wing pawn and by giv-
ing himself a backward pawn at
d6; with his last move, further-
more, he has saddled himself with
weaknesses on the dark squares as
well. If one side were to play White has the better position.
concretely, however, while the Black has no immediate prospects
other side contented himself with of exploiting his "extraUqueen-
following the rules, the winner side pawn, since the pawn at a5
You will find this diagram in BLACK RESIGNED would not be difficult to predict.. restrains two of Black's pawns.
the book "Grunfelda Odbrana" by Meanwhile, White can begin the
Trifunovic, Gruber and Bozic (~et's take an extreme case: pawn roller with e4, f4 and e5
(Section One, System Two, Variant 1 2-f3? e7-e6 2 g2-g4? What at the first available opportun-
B 18, Continuation A), with anote 26. Bronstein-Averbakh should Black do? Moving the queen ity, clearing the way for the
stating that Black, for his two (Nirnzoindian Defense) so early in the game is not gen- d-pawn. Gligoric, however, pre-
sacrificed pawns, has two threats: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 erally recommended, but in this fers piece maneuvers to all-out
.. Ng4 and ..Be6. Clearly, both
sides are playing a preparedline;
4. e3 0-0 5. Nf3 b6 6. Be2 Bb7 instance, taking White's errors
into consideration, 2.. Qd8-h4
pawn assaults, so the e-pawn
never even gets as far as the
7. 0-0 d5 8. cd ed 9. Bd2 Bd6
now we shall see how Reshevsky 10. Rcl a6 11. Ne5 c5 12. Ng4Nbd7 does not look bad.) fourth rank.
uses one bishop to meet both 13. N:f6+ N:f6 14. dc bc
threats. The knight maneuver from 3 via
d2 to c4 in this position was
White's passive play, his pre- played by Nimzovich in a famous
mature exchange on d5, and the game against Marshall from the
unfortunately posted queen's bi- New York 1927 tournament; since
shop, render any effective play It's hard to win games with-
Szabo's first independent move against Black's hanging pawns im- then, it has become popular. Its out moving any pawns at all.One
of this game, and it loses immed- practicable. point is to generate enough pres- good line here would appear to
iately. Trading bishops in order sure on the d-pawn and the square be 16 Na4 Nd7 17 Rbl, followed
to develop the rook to c8 with 15. Bf3 Re8 16. Na4 Rc8 17. Qb3 b6 to prevent Black from carrying by b2-b4, opening up the b-file
Out his only possible active plan
tempo would have been more in
the spirit of this variation. If
Ba8 18. Rfdl Ne4 19. Be1 Rb8
20. Qd3 Qh4 21. g3 N:g3
here: .. a7-a6, ..
b7-b5, etc., with the intention of turning the
d-pawn's flank. Or he might try
17 Qb3 Ng4 18 Ndl Rc7, and Black which, with the knight on c4, can to induce lack's pawn to ad-
recovers one of his pawns. and be met with a2-a4-a5. Additionally, vance to c4 and then try to win
Rather than wait until his op- from d2 the knight can support the
if 17 Qd4 Qh5, when ~ l a c ks;threat ponent collects himself suffi- it.
of .. N&4 prevents White from cas- ciently to be able to organize an
advance e2-e4: combined with 2-4
tling and allows the recovery- attack on the c- and d-pawns, and e4-e5, this is White's main
of one of Black's pawns. Strategic idea in this position.
Black simplifies the position by
a series of exchanges.
White would probably have played
17 Qf4, but: then 17.. Qe6 waspos-
sible, with reasonable counterplay. In order to answer 8 Nc4 with
8.. Nb6.
The pawn would have been better scored with one and the same
attacked from the side with plan: a pawn break on the c-
36.. Rb3 37 Rc2. Then Black could file, followed by an outflanking This was the system employed
by Gligoric and Trifunovic at
- g##gpi@#k have continued the plan begun by
33.. Kf8 - to bring his king to
and turning maneuver around the
entire grouping of Black's pie- Mar del Plata. Now the d-pawn is

aim, @y gfi
/,,<,
$,&$Ag#A the queenside and try to put some
life into his passed pawn.
ces on the d- through g-files,
leaving only the darksquare bi-
shop to guard his king. These
defended, the rook can go to the
g-file, and Black's knights hov-
er over the king's wing. Taiman-
yEpf A a,
A8 ,,,.,,,, a....5 games made the rounds of the ov, however, trusts the invulner-

m;p7
9 4 a,
.p
L. . . . A

By
%

A,,,,,
..Here too, 37.. Rbl, intending
Rb3, was better: Black would
chess press, and the general
consensus was that they had been
lost in the opening.
ability of his position, and con-
tinues with his cavalier assault
on the queenside.

p&$& a $&
not have had to display so much
ingenuity to get a draw. However, a few players still
hv ventured this "refuted" varia-
tion of the ~ing's Indian; at
#=g4..-
g& '@, fgL''.''L
d...%&
gg' @fg the Mar del Plata tournament of
1953, for example, Najdorf fell
victim to fashion: playing White,
The rook stands poorly here. in this variation, he lost to
Black will now have to find just Gligoric and only drew with dif-
the right move to draw. ficulty against Trifunovic. At
White still has the advantage. the start of the tournament in
He intends to smoke the knight Zurich, however, these games were
out of e5 and weaken lack's not known to Taimanov.
king position by the exchange of Here the game was adjourned.
bishops, and then play e2-e4-e5. After home analysis, both play- Thus, both sides played the
Sensing real danger, Petrosian ers concluded that the draw was opening wich great expectations:
tries some tactics; his next two within lack's capabilities, so Najdorf, having absorbed the Yu-
moves, ..c5-c4 and ..f7-5, com- Gligoric only asked to see what goslav analyses, which ran at
plicate his position, but do not move Black had sealed. Petrosian, least to move 21, and Taimanov,
improve it. of course, was not about to allow still flushed with his previous
a pawn on h6. successes.

DRAW

28. Taimanov-Najdorf
(King's Indian)
Taimanov's kingside defensive
array appears most imposing: the
pawns on light squares form akind
mousLfuture.
I
Let the reader be forewarned:
this was one of the tourney's of toothed fortress wall, with the
most interesting games, and the darksquare bishop covering the
recipient of a brilliancy prize. gaps between the teeth. But if

- -
The weakness of Black's a- Both of its phases opening the position be examined without
and c-pawns, along with the con- and middlegame were conducted prejudgment, then it would be
crete threat of 33 Q:b4 andR:a6, by Najdorf with such a high de- n a v e to speak of any sort of ad-
forces him to exchange queens and gree of erudition and mastery vantage to White. Could Black
take on a somewhat inferior end- that the need of a third phase hope to obtain more from the op- Black's pieces march onto the
ening than the development of all
game, but one in which he does
have a passed pawn. The next part
never arose. his pieces, the advance .. 7-5-
battlefield like soldiers incol-
urn, one after the other. Here
of the game takes place in atime- 4, occupation of the dark squares Taimanov ought to have rid him-
scramble, where both sides play and substantial attacking pros- self of the bishop at e3, even
inaccurately. pects on the kingside? Naturally, at the cost of the exchange, by
view of the extreme sharpness playing 27 Nc4.
of the position, Black must play
exactly, combining his attackwith
defense of the queen's wing, espe-
This move allows Black time to cially d6 and c7 -
ery tactical chance.
and seize ev-
regroup, freeing his rook from
defending the a-pawn. Not too long before thistour-
nament, Taimanov employed this
opening variation - 7.. Nc6
8 d5 - twice in the 20th USSR
Championship. In both cases, he What a picture! The queen's
(Queen's Indian Defense)
White cannot save his queen, d2-d4 Ng8-6
since if it retreats Black has c2-c4 e7-e6
a knight check at g3. Ngl-f3 b7-b6
Nbl-c3 Bc8-b7
e2-e3 d7-d5
c4:d5 e6:d5
~1-b5+ ...
White must develop the bishop
anyway; so, making hay out of
the fact that it would not be in
Here the game was adjourned; Black's best interest to inter-
after sealing pose a plece, he induces 7.. c6,
shutting in lack's bishop with-
out loss of tempo. Black there-
fore ought not to have been in
WHITE RESIGNED so much-of a hurry to push his
d-pawn; 5.. Be7 instead was
wing is by now completely de- without further play. After better. ( Position after 15.. d5:e4 )
serted, while seven pieces as- 43..Rg8 44 R:g8+ K:g8 he has
sail the white king; now the no defense against mate. the threats are 18 Nc7 and
square g2 is attacked four 18 Nd6, and if 17.. Rc8 18 Qg4.
times, and there is obviously On the other hand, Black loses
nothing left to defend it with: after 16 d5 cd 17 N:d5 Nc5
on 34 gh there follows mate in 18 Nh6+ gh 19 Nf6+, etc. Cu-
three moves, and 34. .R:f3 is riously, the pawn at c6, block-
threatened too. Not very logical. White quite ing the bishop's diagonal as a
evidently intends to bring his result of lack's barely notice-
knight to 5, when the bishop able opening inaccuracy, pro-
will be forced to retreat: bet- vides the basis for this combin-
ter to have prepared a place for ation, as well as for the one
it on 8 while also playing the which actually occurs in thegame
useful move 11.. R e g .

Positional evaluation alone is


not sufficient grounds for such
The threat was Nh6+, N:f7+,
and N:d8.
I
a decision: deep and accurate cal- White indicates his readiness
culation is necessary too. Feel- to sacrifice a piece: Blackcoulc
ing that his position is gradual- play 17.. h5, when white's queen
ly worsening, and knowing Petro- would have to leave either the
sian's power in just such posi- g-file, unpinning the pawn and
tions, Taimanov changes key, and thereby losing the knight at 5,
invites his opponent to trip the or the fourth rank, losing the
light combinative. Psychologic- knight at e4. Taimanov, however,
ally correct, this decision is feels that the risk is too great
also very much in accord with and so he contents himself with
Taimanov's style. the trade of rook and two pawns
for both the knights. Material
equality is maintained, and the
struggle flares anew.
( See diagram next column )

The inviting 16 d5 cd 17 N:d5


would lead nowhere after the ex-
change of bishop for knight: Intending to transfer the roo
17.. B:d5 18 Q:d5 Nc5. However- by
side.
way of c3 to attack the king
17 Nb5 was well worth a try:
on c5 will be secured with .. a5,
and this Pawn m y also be pushed
further: to a4, and even to a3.
Petrosian wants to throw his
e- and f-pawns into the attack For the moment, White attacks
too, but this requires one more nothing, but he does dispose of
move than the laws of chess will a strong center and freedom to
allow him. As Najdorf suggests, maneuver. Look at the board:
what was required was 21 Rc3 c5 mite's pieces and pawns occupy
22 Rg3 cd 23 Rdl Ne6 24 Qg4, or four ranks, and lack's, three,
21.. Q:d4 22 Bal Bc8 23 Qf3, with with a "no-man' s-land" between.
a powerful attack. These geometrical features large-
ly reflect the character of the
The text blocks White's bishop, opening, as the opposing forces
while giving Black a long diagonal have not yet come into contact.
for the operation of the harmo- mite's further plans are simple:
nious duet of Bb7 and Qd5. to develop the bishop and the
queen, to connect his rooks, pre-
pare an attack on the weak pawn
at d6 with which Black must even-
tually saddle himself in this de-
Forcing White back on the de- ployment, and keep an eye on the
fensive. Black already has the White's queen must simultan- defense of the e-pawn. The dif-
advantage. eously defend both g2 and e2. fering ways to defend this pawn
Black's last move deflects it lead to different systems ofplay.
from one of these two squares, Qc2 would be a handy move, but White's position is solid as 2
and Black carries out his de- this would leave the knight on rock. Now Black can only defend
ciding combination. d4 en prise for a moment, which the d-pawn by tactical means,
Black might be able to exploit; since 14.. Rd8 obviously loses t
if Be3 is played first, then 15 B:c5. Gligoric proves equal t
Black has .. Ng4. It is this sort the challenge: his is not amect
anical but a creative masteryoi
of tempo-play, with its many com-
White must accede to this ex- On 41 Khl there would come binative possibilities (due to every nuance of the King's India
change of rooks, with the conse- 41.. Nf4 42 Qf3 N:g2. But now, the fact that all of the pieces It's hard to believe that ten
quent weakening of both his queen- Black has 41.. Qd2, so and nearly all of the pawns are moves hence Black still will not
side pawns, in view of the terri- still on the board), that makes have had to give up his d-pawn!
ble threat of 28.. Rc2. WHITE RESIGNED the ~ing's Indian Defense such
a delight to its adherents.

30. Averbakh-Gligoric The pawn capture here would


(King's Indian) run into 15.. a3, and if 16 N:a
1. c2-c4 Ng8-f6 Before leaving for this tourna- B:c3, winning a piece. Whiteneu
2. Nbl-c3 ment, every one of its partici- tralizes this threat, and what
g7-g6 pants prepared a few new systems, else does Black have now?
3. g2-g3 Bf8-g7
The ending would be in Black's 4. Bfl-g2 0-0 especially in the popular openings
favor, but the queens should still 5. d2-d4 d7-d6 such as the King's Indian, the Si-
have been exchanged, as this at 6. Ngl-3 Nb8-d7 cilian and the Nimzo-Indian. One
leastwouldhave freedWhite of the 7. 0-0 e7-e5 of the best of these must be the This looks senseless: surely
direct threats on his king, which 8. e2-e4 e5:d4 system Averbakh introduced in the the bishop cannot stay here ver:
are growing more and more danger- 9. Nf3:d4 ... present game: 3, and Rf2-d2. long - but stay here it does.
ous. White prepares an attack on the
A position which occurs so of- d-pawn, but practice has shown
ten these days that it might be that it makes little sense to take
worthwhile to say a few words it with the queen, since on d6 If 16 4 B:c3 17 bc N:e4 18B:
about it here: not about systems, the queen itself becomes vulner- Q:e4 19 R:d6, Black's kingside
or variations to boggle the mem- able to attack, and must quickly may be weakened, but White's is
ory, but about the ideas which retreat. The enemy camp mustthere- no better off, and pawns are
will direct the play on both fore be invaded with a weaker still even.
sides for many moves to come. piece first. The move 10 3 also
secures the pawn at e4, while the
Leaving, as usual, only one By this exchange in the cen- fianchettoed bishop's diagonal
bodyguard for his king, Taima- ter, Black has opened his bish- is only closed temporarily.
nov has established all of his op's diagonal to attack the d4 In order to drive out the bi-
other pieces in their best po- square; shortly, he will also shop with 18 Ng4.
sitions. attack the pawn at e4 with rook
and knight. The knight's position
ably be considered as favoring
Black. the possibilities for both sides,
but find it difficult to deter-
mine which side has the advan- With this, lack's queen sets
tage. Usually, both sides feel out on a long and hazardous jour-
The threat was 34.. Ng4. they stand better; occasionally, ney. Five queen moves for a sin-
both sides think that they stand gle pawn: even the arithmetical
worse. In the present instance, balance is clearly unfavorable
the pivotal factor is the pawn at to Black. Still, what can White
e5. With the support of rook and accomplish with those five moves?
The position certainly is ripe queen, it may easily advance to
for decisive action, but it might Averbakh's resourcefulnessdoes e3. To counteract this, White
have been worth the trouble to not abandon him, even in themost tries to disorganize the enemy
make one more preparatory move: difficult situations. In time ranks by carrying out flanking
23 Rbdl. pressure, he sets a trap, but raids with his cavalry. Black
Gligoric finds the proper rebut- decides not to waste time re- So, White has made just one
tal. treating the bishop, since the useful move: 19 Rdl; and as for
exchange on c5 would develop his those kingside pawn moves, those
knight to a good position and un- might better be called double-
cover his queen's bishop as well. edged than favorable to White.
The sort of move that is either Black's move also cuts off the
very good or very bad. Its draw- retreat at 3 from the white To which we might add that
backs are so obvious that the ad- Hoping for 38.. gf 39 B:c5+. king's knight. All of these ad- Black could have made still bet-
vance of this pawn to 5 is only vantages are more thaz enough ter use of his pieces, with
playable when a forcing line has compensation for the sacrifice" 19.. Nc5 20 Nc3, and now 20.. Qd3
been calculated, resulting in a of his Indian bishop. In that event lack's knight
clear advantage. In the present would stand actively on c5, the
instance, Averbakh probably as- queen's bishop would have been
sessed the posikion after lack's uncovered, and White's bishop
33rd move incorrectly. would have been temporarily de-
prived of the c3 square.
With the unsubtle threat of
14 Bf4; but now Black succeeds What conclusion may we draw
WHITE RESIGNED in spiriting his bishop away, from all of this? That when one
The tempo of the attack slack- not only giving his queen the is well developed, onecanafford
ens somewhat here. A better idea square a5, but also underscoring to spend a few moves to capture
might have been 26 fg fg 27 e5 the misplaced state of the knight an important enemy pawn; but bear
R:e5 28 Q:g6, getting close to 31. Szabo-Bronstein at a4. After 13 N:c5 N:c5 14 Ne3 in mind that one must also eval-
(Old Indian Defense) the game would have been roughly uate the position correctly, and
the black king and paralyzing
Black by threats like 29 R:d6, 1. d2-d4 Ng8-6 even, while now Black has the calculate accurately...
29 Nf5, 29 Ne4, etc. 2. c2-c4 d7-d6 initiative firmly in hand. Un-
3. Ngl-3 Nb8-d7 willing to settle for a titmouse,
Szabo goes afteran entirecrane-
4. g2-g3 e7-e5 and sure enough, soon one flies
5. Bfl-g2 c7-c6 down for him.
But now this exchange is a mis- White's seemingly irreproach-
take. It was not yet too late to able development turns out to
play 27 Radl, continuing, in the have a hole in it after all: he
event of 27.. Bf8, with 28 c5. has failed to take control of e4,
and Black exploits this irnmedi- Forced: after Black carries out
ately by preparing ..e5-e4 and his threat to move his queen's
.. d6-d5. Szabo prefers to ex- knight, an unpleasant pin would
change pawns at e5, but this arise along the diagonal h3-c8.
gives Black an easy game, and
he begins at once to lay plans
A number of weaknesses have to assume the initiative.
cropped up in White's position.

Another strong line was 17.. ef


1 8 ef Qd4.

Averbakh may have thought a


rook on the seventh would give In view of Black's positional
him the better of it, but the
pawn at a3 is now so dangerous
One of those dynamic positions
characteristic of contemporary
threat of .. Nf8 and .. B h 3 , etc-9 22. ... Bf8-g7
that this position should prob- chess, in which one may evaluate White is practically forced to
sacrifice his e-pawn. Black breaks both of the rules

16813
is threatened, and if Black's
laid down in the previous note, knight retreats to e8, then
in his distracted determination 9 Qh5! begins White's attack
to exploit the position of the before castling.
white knight on a4. The obvious
22.. b5 would have forced White The reader will find just such
to trade off his best piece, the a development of events in Game
bishop on c3. But 23 B:f6 N:f6
24 cb Qa5 didn't seem clear 77, when Reshevsky ventured a re-
enough to me, so I decided to peat of this variation against
make some sort of waiting move. Keres.
Now Black also threatens ..b5,
but -

Alas! Black must give up the One might assume Reshevsky had
knight, in order to avoid getting forgotten that pawns may also
mated: 23.. Nh5 24 B:g7 N:g7 move two squares! However, the
25 Ng4, followed by 26 Qc3, and gradual advance of this pawn has
White is master of the diagonal its logic too. With White play-
al-h8. Knowing Szabo's skill with ing slowly (10 Ng3! was best),
a direct attack, I had no illu- Reshevsky amends his error on
sions as to the outcome, were I (Position after 36 Rh4) move 7, stopping White's e3-e4
to enter that line. Now Black for some time to come. After
fights on with the energy of A bit of tactics: White draws retained sufficient advantage to 10 Ng3, 10.. d5 could have been
despair. the knight to e5 in order to set win. met by 11 cd ed 12 Nf5, so the
up the following fork. Strangely correct reply would have been
enough, however, this move gives 10.. Nc6. But now, Black answers
Black defensive chances, since the exchange of central pawns by
The bishop returns, a clever maneuver which is only
Shorn of honor, the diagonal al-h8 is briefly
closed. 33 Qg5 Rae8 34 R:d7 and possible with the queen at c2.
For his steed has fallen
By the road. .. 35 Qf6 was stronger.
After checking the scoresheet 11. c4:d5 Qd8 :d5
to make sure that no one had for-
feited,

Black is now so terrorized by BLACK RESIGNED


The idea behind this Dawn move the bishop on c3 that all he can
appears in the variation 27.. ba think about any more is how soon
28 fg hg 29 Ne7+ B:e7 30 fe R:e7
31 Oh6 Ne5 32 Rd8+ Re8 33 B:e5!
he can play .. Ra8-c8:c3. I
played 34.. Qe8 without thinking,
32. Euwe-Reshevsky
(Nirnzoindian Defense)
hat also explains Black's reply: but here was the place to try
1. d2-d4 Ng8-6
by connecting his rooks, he pro- 34.. Rae8, answering Euwe's re-
tects the eighth rank. commendation of 35 Rd8 simply by 2. c2-c4 e7-e6
35.. Re6, continuing to balance 3. Nbl-c3 Bf8-b4
somehow on cliff's edge. 4. e2-e3 c7-c5
5. Bfl-d3 0-0
6. a2-a3 Bb4 :c3+
7. b2:c3 b7-b6

In order to distract that awful (See diagram, top of next page) Perhaps an appropriate contin-
uation with a different move-
bishop from the long diagonal, if
only for a moment. order - for instance. that which
occurred in Game 9, Geller-Euwe,
For the first time since move where Bd3 had not yet been played
23, I breathed a sigh of relief- and Black had not yet castled.
31 Qf4 wasn't bad, either. only to notice 37 Qf6!, and mate There, White had to expend a move Black threatens mate at 82,
next move... On 2-3, whereas here he could no more and no less. The natu-
play 8 e4, easily carrying out an ral 12 3 allows 12.. ~ 4 that
;
advance that would ordinarilyhave leaves White only 12 Nf4, when
cost him a good deal of trouble. the knight will not be very we1
Szabo is dead set on a check- It is amazing that Reshevsky, who placed. Thus, the mate threat
mate. Also quite sufficient to Up to this point, Black was is such an expert on the Black wasn't so naive after all: it
win was 32 Ba3, holding on to battling the bishop on c3; now Side of the Samisch line, should led to a substantive change in
the e-pawn. he continues the fight with its have allowed such a possibility, the position whfch was definite
ghost. 38.. Kf7 was correct, al- and also that Euwe should not have ly not in White s favor.
though White would still have exploited it. After 8 e4, 9 B g 5
the superior position.
But this is very much thewrong
time: 32 Rcl was the proper con-
tinuation of his defense, although
13.. g5 would be bad, of course: White's game is, by and large,al-
after 14 d5 lack's positioncrum- ready ruined. Black would have
bles. brought up his knight via e8 to Theory examines only 5.. N:d5,
d6, continuing the assault on and considers that White gets a
White's hanging pawns. advantage with the contin-
uation 6 e3 Nc6 7 Bc4. Keres'
move has never been seen in ma-
jor tournaments, and must have
been something Keres whipped up
himself, especially for this
The changing of the guard. tournament. Is it any good? Ap-
parently, no worse than anythlng
else; at any rate, Keres used it
three times, and the 2% points
it brought him speak for them-
The only possible explanation selves.
for this exchange must be that
Euwe wanted to try to mate Black
on the opened h-file. 19 Nd3
would have been much better, White has gained the time to
maintaining the option of driv- develop his queen, but Black wins
ing out Black's queen with ei- it back shortly with 8.. Nc6.
ther Ne5 or Nb4, thus freeing the There would have been no point in
bishop at 1 for work along its sacrificing a piece for three
proper diagonal: bl-h7. pawns by 6 de dc 7 ef+ Ke7 8 Q:d8+ ~eres'new system has success-
K:d8 9 bc, since the pawn on 7 fully withstood its baptism of
will fall sooner or later. fire. The game's further course
revolves around the pawn at d4.
It is isolated, but also passed;
Black would like to capture it,
No doubt Euwe overlooked this but he must blockade it first.
It seems our guess was correct. decisive stroke. In later games (NOS. 155 and
210), Najdorf and Geller played
7 e4 against Keres, but they
came prepared. In his first en-
counter with an unfamiliar var-
iation, Stahlberg could not risk
a sharp continuation.

~eshevsky's skillful queen ma-


neuvers have induced first one Stahlberg wants to give his
weakening, then another. White WHITE RESIGNED opponent a weak pawn too.
does not want to trade queens,
fearing to go into an endgame
with his hanging pawns.
33. Stahlberg-Keres This freeing possibility is an
(Queen's Gambit) important link in this svstem.
and deubtless Keres had toreseen
The reader has certainly no- it. If now 12 B:e7 Q:e7 13 N:d5?,
ticed by this time, and will then 13.. Qd7, winning a piece.
probably continue to note, that
we avoid detailed examination of
opening variations. When two ar- Black has a small but clear
White absolutely must bring his mies march to the battlefield,,
bishop out via cl to 4, and then there are so many roads they can positional advantage, which m y
to e5. Now was the time: 30 Bcl Danger still stalks White: be explained, but is hard to
take that one could never des- 13 Q:d8 B:d8, and once again, put into any sort of concrete
Qa5 31 Qb2 Rdd8 32 Bf4, and cribe all of them. White comes out a piece down.
32.. Nd5 doesn't work, while form. The black king is better
32.. Rc7 is now rendered impos- sheltered from possible checks,
In the present game, however, with the pawn at 5 rendering
sible. we shall make an exception, since special service in this regard
Keres employs a defense that is by protecting against diagonal
not found in the opening books. A final snare: if 15 N:c6, checks. (A similar disadvantage
then 15.. R:d2 16 N:e7+ Kf8, and nearly cost Keres his Round 29
Black recovers his piece with game against Taimanov.) In the
present case, however, the white It is possible to draw queen a6 14. B:g6 fg 15. Be3 Qe7 finally found not quite satis-
pieces are solidly placed, and endings with very accurate play. 16. Rfcl Rfc8 17. Bd2 h6 factory for Black. In this game
the last move, 30.. g6, which Keres intends to set up a posi- Kotov avoids risk by quick sim-
laid bare the seventh rank, cer- tion in which White will not be DRAW plification.
tainly did not increase Black's able to avoid the exchange of
winning chances. queens. For this purpose, the
king must be brought to the
queen's wing. The winning method 35. Kotov-Geller
is interesting, and a useful bit (Sicilian Defense)
of knowledge to have, but its 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cd
Now White has some threats of execution in this game was ab- 4. N:d4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 e6
his own. etted by an inaccuracy from
White.
7. Qd2 Be7 8. 0-0-00-0 9. 4 e5
A theoretical novelty, intro-
DRAW
I
44... h4 45. 0e5 Of2+ 46. Khl duced in this game, which re-
ceived further development in
the USSR Championships, and was
White could easily have played
34 Qf8, too: Black would thenhave
had nothing but to play 34.. Re2,
when 35 R:e2 Qdl+ 36 Kh2 Q:e2
37 Qf7+ Kh6 38 h4 probably leads An error that helps Black set
to a draw. up the winning position. 57 Qcl+
was correct, so as to meet
57.. Ke5 with 58 Qc5+, keeping
the king out of the queenside.
Here and two moves later White
misses a simple draw: 35 h4, with
the threat 36 Qg5+ and 37 Qe7+.

WHITE RESIGNED

With queens off, the rook ending


- since Black now has every
point on the c-file from c7 to
would be a loss for White. c4 to support an exchan e of
queens. After 68 Kg2 Qd8+ 69 Kh2
Qd6+ forces the trade.

34. Boleslavsky-Smyslov
(Queen's Gambit)
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6
4. Nc3 dc 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6
7. B:c4 Bb4
A defensive system prepared by
Smyslov for the Zurich event. Al-
though he used it four times,
drawing all four games in short
order, I still consider this a
difficult variation for Black.
Smyslov had to display a great
deal of resourcefulness in order
to equalize, and his opponents
did not always exploit their op-
portunities to the fullest. After
this tournament, neither Smyslov
nor the other masters made much
further use of this defense, so
it has disappeared from practice.
ROUND SIX
36. Smyslov-Kotov
This has its logic, but15..d5
(Sicilian Defense) looks far more attractive, demon-
strating as it does that the pawn Srnyslov plays simply and di-
on d6 wasn't really weak at all. rectly; gradually, his pieces
It gives Black more than just the assume better and better posi-
moral victory of proving that he tions. NOW 25 B:f6 is a threat.
could bring more force to bear on
d5 than White: it would have giv-
en Black a free game for his
The outcome of a game between pieces as well (15.. d5 16 ed
Smyslov and Kotov may be hard to Nb:d5 17 N:d5 N:d5 18 Bc5 ~4).
predict, but there can never be
any doubt about what the opening
will be: Smyslov feels honor- Now that White has induced
bound to play 1 e4, and Kotov in-
variably replies 1.. c5. Smyslov comes up with an ex-
.. g6, one might expect him to
attack this weakening; but in-
cellent antidote to this straight- stead, judging correctly that
This time, Kotov alters the forward plan of doubling rooks Black's castled position would
tradition a bit: instead of his and winning the b-pawn; here too, prove very difficult to penetrate,
usual Scheveningen, in which 17.. d5 was good with the same Smyslov suggests a transition In-
..e5 is played only at the last ideas as noted before. to an endgame that is slightly
minute, with White's threats al- better for him, based on his con-
ready hanging overhead, he tips trol of the square e4.
his hat to fashion and plays
.. e5 on move six. One idea be- At the most inappropriate mo- Smyslov's fine play has brought
hind this rather eccentric move ment. 18.. a5 was now necessary; the game to this winning position
is that here 7 Nf5 is unfavorable, only after 19 a4 Qb8 20 Nb5would Kotov agrees, mistakenly, to but now time-pressure puts him on
due to the reply 7.. B:f5 and 20.. d5 be possible. the trade of queens: the weak the wrong path. 38 fe+ Ke639Rf2
8.. d5. pawns at a6 and c4 leave him lit- would have led to swift victory
tle chance to save the endgame. for White - or perhaps 38 Kg2
With queens still on, Black might first, and only then 39 fe+,
eventually get a chance to play would have been yet more thema-
.. 5 and .. e4. tic. ~myslov's plan appears pow-
erful, but leaves Black a hidden
drawing resource.
Smyslov's omission of a2-a4 on
this or the preceding move allows
Black too much leeway. Had Black
played 10.. b5, White still might 32 Bc5 would not have won a
have replied 11 a4 b4 12 Nd5 N:d5 pawn in view of 32.. a5 33 R:c4
and retaken with the queen; but ab, and the pawn cannot be taken,
now ..b5 is wholly unobjection-
able. All that White has gotten
either by rook or bishop; if then An essential check: if 42 R:c4
34 b3 Ne6 35 B:b4 R:c4 36 bc Nd4, is played at once, then 42..Nd5
out of the opening is safe and and this endgame is most probably 43 Be5 Rb3, and lack's king goe
solid control of e4. That's some- a draw. to 5 via e6. Now, after 42..Ke6
thing - we shall have numerous 43 R:c4, 43.. Nd5 is no longer
occasions to remember it during However, White has found a way
the course of the game but
still one might have hoped for
- to exploit the weakness at e5.
possible, because of 44 Re&+,
when 44.. Kf5 loses the knight,
and 44.. Kd6 allows 45 Be5+. Eve1
more. after this check, however, the
draw is still there, with

...
. -~ -

36. f3-f4
21. ... Qc7-c6
14.. Nc4 and 14.. Na4 were both 22. Be3-g5 ... Nothing would come of 36 B:d4
ed 37 R:d4 c3 38 b3 Re8: the rook DRAW
threatened. That White should bc Exploiting the fact that thebi- invades the second rank and wins
forced to make such a move as shop is tied up temporarily, White the c-pawn, which draws. Now KO-
14 Rabl indicates that there is begins a kingside attack. 22.-R:b4 tov wins the c-pawn at once, but
something disharmonious in his his knight gets driven to al, and 37. Keres- Boleslavsky
2 3 ~ : f 6gf24Qd2 Be625 Ne4 isbad (Old Indian Defense)
position. for Black, sotherookbeats adisap- Black's position becomes critical.
1. d2-d4 Ng8-6
pointed retreat from b7. 36. ... Nd4:cZ 2. c2-c4 d7-d6
development: 7 Bg3 e4 8 Nd2 e3; possible continuation being: al strength: after e2-e4, it will
but now we enter Boleslavsky's 16 Q:d6 B:c3 17 bc Q:c3+ 18 Kbl become passed, and tie down some
A radical means of avoiding main line. ~ f 5 +19 e4 B:e4+ 20 Bd3. black pieces. The black pawn at
both the Samisch and the Four c4 cannot be considered its equal
Pawns Attack. Whatever White by any stretch of the imaginatior
plays, the pure Samisch setup is since it is not passed, and is
now unattainable: for example, The simple move which Boleslav- hardly likely ever to attain that
after 4 d5, Black is by no means sky overlooked in his preparatory status.
obliged to fianchetto his bishop, After 10 N:c7+ Kd8, the
but may play instead 4.. Bf5, move 11 Rbl would be no problem
and if 5 3 e4. for Black, since he would have the
,=heck on c3; here, however, with
If 4 e4, Black gains a tempo the knight on d5, the check is
for development with 4.. ed 5Q:d4 impossible, and Black's whole at-
Nc6, after which he may play ei- tack is refuted.
ther 6.. Be7 or 6.. g6. And on A Reshevsky novelty: 11 a3 Ba5
4 de de 5 Q:d8+ K:d8, Black's 12 Qa4 was usual here, but then
king forfeits castling, but will comes 12.. Bg4, indirectly at-
find shelter at c7. tacking, and then capturing, the
d-pawn in return for his c-pawn.
However, White still has ways of Blushing furiously at his mis- The point of 11 Qc2 is not the
exploiting Black's early e-pawn take, Boleslavsky commits another. sacrifice of a pawn, of course:
push, and the one Keres has in True, 12.. d5 would have been use- that's so obviously bad for Black
mind is 5 Bg5, a rarely-played less now without the check on b4, as to render it a mere footnote
line which is nevertheless one of but 12.. Bg7 would still havekept (ll..~:d4 12 N:d4 Q:d4 13 RdlQe5
White's most solid positional up some semblance of an attack: 14 Bf4, and White recovers the
ideas. for example, 13 Rcl Qa3 14 Qd2 Nc5. pawn with a colossal lead in de-
If Black can pick up the knight on velopment); the idea is that Whit
a8, he will have a pawn for the can use his attack on the c-pawn
exchange. Now, however, Keres can to gain a tempo to bring his rook
Some pieces in :he King's In- force the exchange of queens with to dl. With the support of the
If lack's 2.. d6 and 3.. e5 dian appear on a special price" a series of precise moves, andall rook, that pawn gets very lively
prevented the strongest of the list: the darksquare bishops are danger is liquidated. indeed, and runs quickly down to
anti-~ing's Indian attacks, then at the top of that list. This the seventh rank, setting up dan-
White, in turn, prevents Black means that Black has achieved gerous tactical possibilities.
from obtaining the modern form of something, in removing White's
the ~ i n ~ 'Indian
s (with a fian- bishop while retaining his own,
chettoed king's bishop), since even at the cost of shattering
5.. g6 6 de de 7 N:e5 costs a his own pawns. With his last move,
pawn. Black, of course, could Black initiates his previously
play 5.. Be7, but that sort of prepared sharp attacking line,
development for this bishopgrates sacrificing a rook for the attack.
on a ~ing's Indian player. In
that case, White would have a sim- The attack will be based onthe
ple program: 6 e3, 7 Be2 and80-0 fact that the centralized knight
with no fear of .. e5-e4, since is out of play at a8; the whole BLACK RESIGNED
his queen's bishop is already question is whether Black can
outside his pawn chain. work up decisive threats in the
short time it will take White to 38. Reshevsky-Stahlberg
Boleslavsky, who has worked develop his bishop and get his
steadily and with immense suc- knight back to the center. (Queen's Gambit)
cess at improving the King's In- 1. d2-d4 d7-d5
dian for Black, feels himselfmor- Boleslavsky had mainly consid- 2. c2-c4 e7-e6
ally obligated to correct extant ered the following line, in which 3. Nbl-c3 c7-c5
opinions; for this game, he has his darksquare bishop plays the 4. c4:d5 e6:d5
prepared a dizzying new line in- lead: 10 N:c7+ Kd8 11 N:a8 d5! 5. Ngl-3 Nb8-c6
volving the sacrifice of his 12 Rcl Bb4+ 13 Nd2 Nc5 14 Rc2Qe5 6. g2-g3 c5-c4
queen's rook. 15 e3 Rf5. ~ajdorf's recommenda-
tion. returnine the aueen to d8. The Swedish Variation, a great
is nbt appealing. is variation: avorite of Stahlberg and Stoltz.
9.. Qd8 10 Qd4 Ne5 11 N:e5 Bg7 Black's further plans are to dim-
inish the pressure on the d5-pawn
12 N:f7 K:f7 13 Of4+ Kg8 140-0-0
~6 15 N C ~
Qa5, only appears play- with ..
Bb4, and to strengthen its Giving his opponent the oppor-
tunity to play his bishop to 5,
If the bishop retreats again, able; in actuality, lack's one defense with .. Ne7, avoiding the when there would follow 13 Nh4
the e-pawn rushes to the third threat, 16.. B:c3, is no threat Pin with Bg5 that would be possi- N:d4 14 B:d4 Q:d4 15 N:f5 N:f5
rank, with the well-known idea at all, and White can cheerfully ble after . . Nf 6. However, 6 - ec4
16 Rfdl Qe5 17 Rd5 Q:d5 18 Nf6+;
of retarding White's kingside take on d6 with his queen, one gives the d4-pawn great addition- or 16.. Qb6 17 a3 Ba5 18 Q:c4,
and the white pieces would be I would not have been able to The present game is an example instead, he accepts the challenge
much more harmoniously placed resist 24 R:e6, with Black's of the latter type. The defender's to play a more complex game, full
than the black : 19 b4 is athreat, queen and knight so far awayfrom chief resource is a cool head, of interesting combinations.
to which capturing on b2 is no their king, his pawns weak, and and my opponent made full use of
adequate defense, in view of the pair of white bishops sweep- his here. At one point, I had to
20 Qd5, forking bishop and knight. ing the board. Variations would break off my calculations in order
have to be calculated too, nat- to ask myself: Just who is attack- 14.. cd would have been met by
urally, but I don't believe they'd ing whom here? 15 e5. Euwe wants White to try
look too bad. I would recommend 15 e5 B:f3 16 ef N:d4 17 B:h7+
that the reader examine 25 Nb5, During the game, and afterwards Kh8 18 fg+ K:g7 19 Bb2 Rad8, con-
as well as 25 Qc2 and 25 Bh3,for as well, I was unable to shake sidering his position capable of
himself. the feeling that somewhere I had withstanding the attack. After
had a win. Perhaps some concrete the game, the complications were
variation did flicker momentarily found to favor White, but I was
Playing forcefully and concrete- through my mind, but it tarried drawn to another, more intri-
ly, Reshevsky allows his opponent ~eshevsky'sactual move is al- not... In any event, neither I, guing possibility.
not a single free breath; Blackis so strong, and partly the prod- nor the commentators (~uwe,Naj-
continually forced to ward off di- uct of time-pressure. Having no dorf and Stahlberg) have been
rect threats. The game is vintage time left for calculations, Re- able to find an improvement for
Reshevsky, and without doubt one shevsky preferred to convert the White, which would mean that my
of the tourney's best. game into a technical exercise, promising piece sacrifice was not
in which there could be no doubt enough for a win. Perhaps the win Beginning an attack on the
as to his advantage. may yet be found in analysis; but king (of course not 17 d5?B:f3
even if I did not get the point, 18 gf Rh4 19 4 Qd7). Black
24... b5 25. R:b5 R:b5 26.Q:b5 I did get a lively and interesting could ca~turethe d- awn here.
Q:b5 27. N:b5 a6 28. Nc3 B:d7
29. Rdl Bc8
game. but he &rained, fearing 17. .R:d4
18 Bb2 Rd7 19 Qc2 n6 20 Ne4. I
was a little uncertain about
I
With the obvious intention of White's pieces are beautifully 17.. R:d4 18 Bb2 Qf4, but this
getting a little air by means of developed, while lack's pawns exchange sacrifice didn't look
22.. b5, but White does not allow are weak, and must fall before convincing enough to my oppo-
this either. the marauding bishops and rook. nent.

An admission of helplessness,
or simple oversight? Most likely, Both sides have played into
the latter. All of these opening moves were this line, which involves the
played almost automatically by sacrifice of a piece. Black
33. N:a6 Re8 34. Bf3 Nb335.Kg2 both sides. Now White begins pre- weakened the long diagonal by
Bc2 36. Rd7 Bf5 37. Rdl Bc2 parations for e3-e4. playing 18.. g6 instead of the
38. Rd7 Bf5 39. Rd6 Be6 40. Nc7 more natural 18.. 5, because he
Re7 41. N:e6 wanted the 5 square kept free
for his bishop; and White is giv-
BLACK RESIGNED ing up the piece in order to get
This, to me, seems stronger than the black king out to 6 and e6,
12.. Qe7, as Euwe played in Game and then assail him with all his
176 against Averbakh, and later in pieces. The battle waxes uncom-
39. Bronstein-Euwe the 11th Olvm~iadaeainst Botvin- monly fierce.
(Nimzoindian Defense) nik. cornparink the Fwo continua-
Generally, it makes sense to tions: 12.. Qe7 13 de N:e5 14N:e5
We5, and 12:. Re8 13 de N:e5
sacrifice a pawn, sometimes even
a piece, in order to keep theen- 14 N:e5 Q:e5 - Black has an ex-
emy king in the center and assail tra tempo in the latter line. Of At this moment, I was quite
it with rooks and queen. However, course, Black tem~orarilvDre- pleased with my position. In-
two general classes of such at- vents 13 e4 with his 12.:~;7, deed, after
tacks must be distinguished: in but is that move really so dan-
The pawn at d6 is loose, andthe the first category, the king is gerous?
rook may be attacked four differ- kept to the eighth rank, hemmed
ent ways - every one of which in by its own pawns and pieces; lack's king can never get back
would lose material for Black. while in the second category, the to g7, but must remain in the
Stahlberg contents himself with king is driven out to the sixth Euwe could have forced the center, assailed by both rooks,
the modest 23.. b6, defending the rank - sometimes even to the trade of queens here, with con- queen, bishop and perhaps even
knight and allowing the queen to fifth - and attempts to find siderably simpler play after by pawns. However, my opponent's
13.. c4 14 B:c4 ed 15 cd ~ a 5 face showed no sign of despair
get back to c8. shelter on one wing or the other.
6 Bd3 Q:c2 17 B:c2 N:e4; but either - an object lesson for
the young player who finds him- 26 fe+ Ke6 27 B:c5 R:d2 28 B:e7 40 Qh8+ Ke6 41 Re8+ Kd7 42 Rd8+
self in difficulties (especially K:e7, and Black can still draw, Kc6 43 Qh6+ Re6 44 Qcl+ Rc5
when facing a mating attack), and even though he is the exchange 45 Rc8+ Kd7 46 R:c5. Later it
chokes up at once, thereby ren- down. was shown that not all of Black':
dering his defensive task still moves in this line were forced,
more difficult. and that with exact play hecould
draw.

Having recovered his piece, Had Euwe taken the rook,there


White now attacks the exposed would have been no practical
king; however, he encounters reason why he should lose, since
strategical difficulties in de- this variation would lie, forthe
veloping his attack. The king is most part, beyond the time con-
surrounded by its own pieces, trol; however, he chose the more
which display a sharp tendency natural continuation.
to counterattack at the first
available opportunity. The king
also has many more open squares
about him than would be the case For a moment, I forgot that
if White were attacking the cas- Black's queen had moved to a6,
tled yosition. And finally, with attacking the square 1, and verj
White s king tucked away at hl, nearly went in for 36 R:d5+ Ke6
his own first rank has become 37 Re5+?? Kf6 38 Rfl+. Do not
To compare this with the 28 a4 imagine, dear reader, that the
weak. line: White has brought his bishop grandmasters are spotless crea-
to the strong diagonal here too, tures; they too, get into time-
Nonetheless, White still has but he has given up the e-pawn
one strong trump: the opposite- trouble; sometimes they fail to
for nothing. Now he could try calculate a variation completely;
colored bishops, which normally 31 R:f5 gf 32 Qg8, but after
ensure an advantage to the attack- and occasionally, they even blun-
ing side. It may have been this
32.. Qc6!, this leads to a per- der.. .
petual.
chance that White failed fully to
Here I examined 22 Bb2 and 22Qh6 exploit.
too. The text is stronger: it re-
tains both those threats while At this point I began to sus-
creating a third: 23 d6. pect that Black had started to play
Black would find himself en- for the win. Having determined
snared after 27.. Qc2 28 Racl, that 32 Q:h7 ab 33 Q:f7+ was sim-
since he is not really threaten- ply bad for me, I decided on one
A remarkable move: Black brings ing the bishop: 28.. Q:b2? 29Qf6+ last attacking try: to bring the
up the last of his defensive re- and 30 e6+. bishop via el to g3, creating a
serves, and obviates all three of threat to c7.
White's threats at a stroke. 23 Qh6
would now be met by the calm
23.. R:d5, and on 23 Bb2+, Black 28 a4, to exploit his strate-
plans to return the piece. Even gic advantage (the darksquarebi-
here, I was quite optimistic still, shop) would have been stronger,
feeling that with material equal- and possibly decisive: his oppo- One last detail, to complete the
ity restored White's attack would nent would have had to oppose his picture : neither side had more
be all the stronger. rook. After 28 a4, Blaek would than two minutes left until flag-
be practically forced to give up fall. 35 Qg5 Ke6 looked worse than
the exchange; he would get a sec- unclear, so I decided to stop
ond pawn for it, but then the at- tempting fate.
tack of the queen and two rooks
24 Radl was worth a look, but I would have become fierce indeed:
could not see anything forcing and for example, 28 a4 Re6 29 Ba3
decided not to take any unnecessary Qc4 30 Bd6 Re:d6 31 ed R:d6 All of the commentators gave
risk. 32 Radl; or 28.. Re:e5 29 B:e5 this move an exclamation mark,
R:e5 30 Racl. Since it was by now White's only
means of forcing a draw. Never-
theless, I feel bound to admit to 39.. Kf8 looked too risky:
the reader that I sacrificed more 40 Rd8+ Kg7 41 Be5+ 6 42 R8d7+
Since the d-pawn is doomed any- from inspiration than from calcu- Kh6 43 B:f6, threatening 44 Bg7
how, there's no sense in putting lation. 35.. gf 36 Rc7+ Ke8 but 43.. ~ would
4 stop-every-
the bishop en prise as well: after 37 Rc8+ appeared to me to be very thing.
dangerous for Black, for instance:
25 Bd4, Euwe would have continued
25.. R:d5 26 B:c5 R:d2 27 B:e7+
K : e 7 28 fe Be4, which draws; or
-
37. Kd7 38 Qd8+ Ke6 39 qe8+Kf6
lines: 9.. Be7 and 9.. Bc5. TO ing himself any pawn weaknesses. Gligoric8s desire to win this
The game was adjourned here, game exclusively by positional
and Black sealed me, the latter seems more natu- gut there is one significant
ral (cf. Game 70, Averbakh - piece weakness in his position, means, without recourse to any
Szabo), since the bishop is more and that is the queen, which is of the combinative possibili-
actively posted, and the queen not developed, and has no good ties, leads eventually to his
but there was no further play, retains the option of developing prospect of ever doing so -
something which White could have
downfall. 21 Nbd4 might fail to
21.. Q:a5, but 21 Nfd4 was good:
since after 42 Rd5+ and 43R:a5 on the d8-h4 diagonal.
after 21.. Ne:d4 22 N:d4 Q:a5,
the attempted to exploit with 15 c4.
mether Black takes or pushes White sacrifices his queen -
23 N:c6 Q:a2 24 N:e7+ Kh725 Rb4
DRAW his pawn, 16 Be4 would be White's
g5 26 B:g5 g6 27 Rh4+ Kg728 Bf6
is obvious. Szabo departs from the theo-
reply; and on 15.. Bg6, White
would have traded b~shopsand pro- mate! - a finale that could be
labeled the consistent conclu-
retical continuation 10.. 0-0 ceeded with 17 Rdl. Black would
11 Nbd2 Bg4 12 N:e4 de 13 Qd5 then have faced some difficult sion to his plan. Of course,
Q:d5 14 B:d5 ef 15 B:c6 fg 16 Rfel, problems, but 16 Be4 would not 21 Nfd4 would be better met by
40. Gligoric-Szabo have settled the outcome of the 21.. Nc:d4 22 cd Qd7 23 Rfcl,
which would leave White with
(Ruy Lopez) much the freer game. game: 15.. d4 16 Be4 Qd7 would with a minimal edge.
The prime consideration in pose the dilemma for White of
one's choice of an opening plan whether to sell his fine game
should be the harmonious devel- for a mere pawn. After 17 B:c6
opment of the pieces, but some- Q:c6 18 N:d4 N:d4 19 B:d4 Bg6,
times we forget about the devel- Black cannot take the pawn be- I rather prefer Black.
opment of the queen. Since the cause of the continuation 13B:c5
queen is, after all, the most B:c5 14 Qel, winning a piece The positional text move does Black's queen needed a long
important and the most valuable (13.. N:f3+ 14 gf Bh3 15 Re1 is not cost White his advantage, but trek (Qd8-b8-b5-~4-g4-5)to
of the pieces, the success of no improvement). So he retreats it does slow the game somewhat. achieve the opportunity to ex-
the whole piece configuration the knight first. Now the e- change itself for White's queen;
may depend on how well the p a y is really threatened; but only then were the two queens
queen plays its part. Gllgoric proceeds to refute of equal value. After the trade,
Black's entire opening configu- Black has the better of it, since
In some openings, the move ration by means of a pretty and the a-pawn is weak, and the pawns
.. c5 is important not only as
a means of attacking the enemy
original queen maneuver, unpinning Szabo has spotted the basic
shortcoming of his position,
at e5 and 4 hem in White's bi-
shop. Summarizing the course of
his knight and preventing Black
pawn center, but also in order from castling. and decides to postpone castling the struggle through the opening
to give the queen an exit to until his queen has found a way and middlegame, we could say that
c7, b6 or a5. This applies es- to the battlefield (the threat White's powerful and consistent
pecially to systems in which the was 18 Rdl and 19 c4). play netted him an advantage,
bishop is developed to e7, thus which he might have exploited
blocking the queen's other dia- with 20 Rfbl; on the 21st move,
gonal: for example, the Ortho- White might have maintained ap-
dox Queen's Gambit, the Chigo- proximate equality, or if Black
rin Ruy Lopez, or the Classical were careless, a pretty combina-
Variation of the French Defense. A chessmaster's skill liesnot tion could have been played. Hav.
so much in perceiving the correct ing let slip all these opportun-
In the game Gligoric - Szabo, plan as in carrying it out with ities, White must now endure a
the development of ~lack'squeen exact and sometimes "only" moves. difficult endgame.
became the central theme of the In the present case, we have
opening and middlegame struggle: White proceeding with his stra-
White maintained a clear advan- tegically correct play against
tage as long as the queen was the undeveloped queen, but se-
relegated to the eighth rank, lecting a technically inexact se-
and found his game sliding down- quence: 20 Rfbl was stronger. In
hill as soon as the queen ob-
tained some lebensraum.
1.
2.
e2-e4
Ngl-3
e7-e5
Nb8-c6
that event, the a-pawn would have
been defended, and the reply
20.. Qb5, obviously, rendered im-
Possible; while Vukovic's recom-
mendation of 20.. Qd8 would be
Taking with the pawn hems in
the bishop still more severely,
but 28 B:d4 would result in a
lost position after 28.. Rb5
II
29 R:b5 ab 30 Ral Ra6 31 ~ f l K f 8 .
3. Bfl-b5 a7-a6 Pointless, since the queen would
4. Bb5-a4 Ng8-6 be as it was before, with no
5.
6.
0-0
d2-d4
Nf6:e4
b7-b5
13.
14.
...
a2-a4
Bg4-h5
b5-b4
field of activity; one possible
2line
1 - - might be 21
Qd7, then 22Rdl, and if
Nc5 N:c5
7. Ba4-b3 d7-d5 * 3 R:d5, etc., or 21.. Rb822 Nbd4
8. d4:e5 Bc8-e6 T ~ U S ,Black has developed all
9. c2-c3 ... of his minor pieces well, holds Ne:d4 23 N:d4 N:e5 24 Bf4, or
21-. Na7 22 c4.
After 31 Rcl, Black simply
takes the pawn, and the pseudo-
the advanced e-pawn under obser-
Here the Open Defense to the vation, and could now play sacrifice of the exchange to re-
Ruy branches off into two main 14.. Bg6 and castle without giv- 21. Qa2-c2 cover it falls short: 3l..R:a5
MICI
32 R:b4 R:b4 33 Bd2 Rab5 34 B:b4 sentday defensive technique be- and d6, and rook on dl would be
R:b4 35 R:c7 R:d4, and Black now ing what it is, however, the ex- none too comfortable for Black.
has two passed pawns. ploitation of a single weakness .. Rc7, .. Qa8, .. Rfc8, and If 19.. h6, then 20 Ng4, with
is not enough to win. White
therefore had to accumulate other
.. Nf8 would have made a more the powerful threat 21 N:h6+,
either immediately or after a
defensive setup. A
small advantages as well; at the knight on 8 is one of the most preparatory d4-d5; and 19.. 5
decisive moment, all were neces- economical ways of defending h7, would deprive Black of the pos-
sary for the conclusive combina- and sometimes g7. The knight is sibility of defending his king
tion. The game acquires s ecial much less well placed on 6 for position at some future time by
34.. Rb5 would leave White the interest, due to AverbakhI:s ex- defensive purposes, since it can means of .. 7-6. Averbakh did
reply 35 Ra3 Bb4 36 Ra4, forcing ceptionally staunch and resource- be more easily attacked and driv- not want to bring the knight back
the bishop to take the a-pawn; ful defense: at one point, it en away. The Qa8/Bb7 battery to 6, because after 20 Qh3 he
then, in order to untangle his looked as though he had weath- would not only control the a8- would still have to consider such
pieces, Black would have to bring ered every threat, but just then e4 diagonal, but might also threats as 21 Ng4 and 21 d5; on
his king up from g8 all the way White found the means of reviving threaten the pawn on g2 in cer- 6 the knight is exposed, and
to b7 or b6. his attack. The finish was quite tain lines. By removing his may easily be driven away from
pretty. knight from d7, Black also gives the defense of h7, as we have
e5 over too soon. Averbakh later seen. The continuation Averbakh
concludes that the knight has to selects obviously weakens the
return. dark squares, but he had a con-
crete variation in mind which
brings a white pawn to e5, and
Despite his pawn minus, Gligo- thereby denies White's bishop
ric had a beautiful positional access to the squares 6, g7 and
draw here with 38 Bd2, and if Before continuing with his h6. Indeed, after
.
38. Bb6 39 Bb4, when it would
be very difficult for Black to
kingside operations, White cre-
ates favorable queenside pawn
bring his king to the center, When Taimanov played this same tension; by opening the a-file,
39.. 6 being met by 40 e6. In line with Black against Szabo in he also greatly increases the
the pawn endgame after 38.. B:d2 the following round, White con- scope of his rooks.
39 K:d2, the draw is clearer yet: tinued 8 Qe2, and Black was una- any retreat of the white king's
for example, 39.. Kf8 40 Kc3 Ke7 ble to save his king's bishop bishop allows 22.. Qd2, and in
41 Kb4 Kd7 42 Kc5. White would from exchange, whereas here he this position, with its immobil-
not have had this chance, if could have played it back to d6. ized pawn chain, White's bishops
Black had played 34.. Rb5 instead Averbakh, being unwilling to would pose no problem. But Tai-
of 34.. Ral - yet another exam- lose the time, gives up the bi- manov's brilliant
ple demonstrating how one must shop for the knight, to open his
always note and exploit the tin- fianchettoed bishop's diagonal
iest details in an endgame, and by trading pawns on c4; only
how useful it can be to know thereafter does he counterattack ushers in a new and trulygrand-
problem ideas. White's center with his pawn on masterly phase of the struggle,
c5 and strategically placed wherein both sides will have am-
pieces. ple opportunity to display fan-
tasy, calculation and technique.
Now the exchange of bishops This plan is harmless enough
does not come off, since Black to leave White's hands free for
can answer 39 Bd2 with 39.. Bg3, operations on both flanks.
gaining the tempo he needs to
play 40.. Kf8. 8. ... Bb4:c3 Thinking that the d-file
threats had been met and that
White would no longer be able
to reach Black's king after the
exchange of rooks, Averbakh of-
fered a draw. No doubt White's
WHITE RESIGNED White quietly prepares e3-e4, self-evident reply must have es-
for which Black has no better caped him completely.
,.,.,.,.,.,,
-L-,-.L-.--...L
remedv than mechanical preven-
41. Tairnanov-Averbakh tion.' If he places his bishop on
e4, then White can play 13 Bfl Black has a number of defenses
(Nimzoindian Defense) to this direct threat of mate. The
(which would have been impossi- White has taken over the d-
One of the tournament's most ble after 12 Qe2), and the corn- Problem is not so much the threat file! If Black now exchanges
interesting games, characterized ing Nf3-d2 will make it impos- se as the nature of the posi- rooks and stops the mate by
by White's persistent efforts to sible for lack's bishop to keep tloa advantage White will de- 25.. 6, then the other rook
clear a path, by cornbinative White's pawn on e3 for long. rive from Black's various replies- enters Black's position via the
means, for his fianchettoed l9.. Be4 suggests itself, but then a-file White was farsighted en-
queen's bishop to reach theweak- there comes 20 Redl, and the line- ough to have opened back on the
ened kingside dark squares. Pre- UP of queen on d8, knights on d7 18th move.
Let's make it White's move Repeating his invitation toad-
here. Do you see a pretty queen for his rook. In reply, Black
vance the pawn to d5. 10 e3 is
sacrifice? - 28 Q:f8+ K:f8 opens the road to g4 for his bi-
met by 10.. e5, and if 11 d5 then,
29 B:f6. To meet this threat, shop, SO as to stop the rook
There are players who think he&, at least, but it won't be not 11.. Na5, but 11.. Ne7, with
"such moves cannot be bad"; cu-
riously, however, this move is
Black could move his rook to 7,
attacking the pawn as well, but here. .. .
. 7-5 to follow. And if White
continues to fight for d4 with
a clear loss of tempo. After then we get the echo-variation 10 e3 e5 11 Ne2, then 11.. ed
25.. R:d6, White recaptures with 28 Qh3 5 29 Qh6 R:d7 30 Qg7+ 12 ed Qf6.
the pawn, not the rook, and for (the queen sacrifices itself on
that he does not need a rook on a different dark square)30..R:g7 King's Gambit, Taimanov's In-
dl. In order to keep up the pace 31 R:d8+. lack's move draws the
sting from the threatened 28Q:f8+, terpretation: a complete success.
of his attack, Taimanov should
have substituted either 25 e4 since he can now meet 28.. K:f8
or 25 h4. 29 B:f6 with 29.. Q:d7.
31.. Qe7 32 fe fe 33 Rd5 de-
cides, as Black can no longer de-
I believe there was a more fend the e-pawn; but now the al-
Passive defense would allow h8 diagonal is open again, and
White to strengthen his position radical solution to the problem even though the pawn still stands
decisively. One way would be to of defending the entire diagonal at 6, Black can no longer evade
play e3-e4 and then transfer the in 27.. e5, which would also flow catastrophe.
rook via d3 to h3; another might quite logically from Black's last
be to bring the bishop via cland few moves. For example:
g5 to 6. In either event, 2-4-
5, intending further exposure of
Black's king,
- would be a useful
plan. BLACK RESIGNED

Now the al-h8 diagonal is 111. 28 Qh3 Qe7, and White seems -
42. Najdorf Petrosian
blocked, and Black needs only to have no means of preventing (King's Indian)
one move, 27.. Qd7, to parryhis the maneuver ..
Rd8, ..Bc6 and
opponent's main threats. .. R:d7. 1.
2.
d2-d4
c2-c4
Ng8-6
d7-d6 Najdorf wearies of this obsti-
3. Ngl-3 g7-g6 nacy; so, with a negligent wave
27.. Bc6 solves part of the 4. g2-g3 Bf8-g7 at the d4-pawn, he retreats his
problem by getting rid of the 5. Bfl-g2 0-0 bishop, so that now, after e2-e3
pawn on d7, but that's not en- 6. 0-0 Nb8-c6 etc., Black's queen will no long-
ough for this complex position. er come out to 6 with an attack
Now Taimanov injects new life in- An idea peculiar to the King's
to his attack: throwing his pawns on the bishop at 3. If Whitewas
Indian: Black immediately joins in some way forced to exchange
into the fray, he finally suc- battle for d4, inviting White to his d-pawn for lack's b-pawn,
ceeds in breaking through to the push his pawn to d5 with gain of then Black has gained a signal
black king. time. What does this lead to,how- strategical success in the open-
ever? One fianchettoed bishop be- ing, for the two pawns areworlds
gins irritating White's most sen- apart in value.
sitive spots, while its opposite
number gets walled in behind its
By now, the atmosphere has be- O m Pam. There would be some
come so thick that the combina- Point to 7 d5 if the knight had
tions have begun to flickerhere to return to b8 or at least to go
and there, like heat-lightning. to e5, when White could exchange
If the pawn advances now (29.. g5), knights and then set up a major- A serious positional error; just
the pawn that stood on d7 makes ity attack with his queenside how serious it is will be made
possible the sacrifice 30 B:f6. Pawns. But the knight goes to a5 clear to the reader by the expla-
If the queen takes, White obtains instead, from which it can never nation which follows.
a winning rook endgame with the be driven: for instance, 7 d5 Na5 Black controls an open queen-
positional capital accumulated in 8 Qa4 c5!, with an excellent game. side file, and can easily force
the very beginning of the game;
A powerful move! The pawn ad- and if the rook takes, then White to play b2-b3. After that,
31 Q:g5+ Kf7 32 h6 e5 (32.. Qe7 his plan will be to advance his
vances to certain death, but it a-pawn to attack the pawn at b3.
will destroy the coordination of 33 R:d7) 33 Rd6. Continuing the fight for d4,
the black pieces. While Black oc- Black next trades off the knight This plan can only succeed if
*ich controls that square. Black can support his pawn to a4,
cupies himself in dealing with but with what? He no longer has
the pawn, White's pieces will his lightsquare bishop, and his
take up stLll more active posi- last move deprived his knight of
tions. Opens the high road, dl-d3-g3, its proper square. It will also
advice to offer him, other than Bravery, verging on bravado:
to avoid weaknesses and not to ROUND SEVEN
leave pieces en rise (which was Black cannot take on b2 or or,
43. Averbakh-Najdorf d5, in view of the terrific
g4 .:,.,s
g 24;.
the p r i n c i p l e l ? e b s u c h moves
as 18.. Nd8 and 19.. ~h8). Mean- 1. d2-d4
(King's Indian)
Ng8-f6
threat of 18 N:c4, when the pawn
at d6 must fall as well. Najdorf
'
:/

p~;fi'&J?i , while, White is all set for many


moves' worth of straightforward, 2. c2-c4 g7-g6
Bf 8-g7
must hold on to c4 at all costs,
while simultaneously keeping
....
p
g "$&
" gg -r-
chA I . . . . .N logical strengthening of his po-
sition: for example, Na4, Bc3 and
3. g2-g3
4. Bfl-g2
5. Nbl-c3
0-0
d7-d6
track of how many pieces are at-
tacking and defending his pinned
#5 $4
a,
4 a,...
Ld,% JAY,, /,.. . ,
/ the exchange of bishops, followed
by f2-4, Bf3, Kg2, h3-h4-h5,Rhl,
etc. This is only a sketch, of
6. Ngl-3
7. d4-d5
c7-c5
Nb8-a6
knight on 6.

A @
p@,8G'' course; in actual play, Black A setup quite similar to that

y, a,
0.8 @f#g&B
-,,,,,
would not likely stand still, but
there can be no denying that all
the chances in this fight would
be with White, the more so in
of Bronstein - Najdorf, from
Round Two, the only difference
being that here the white king's
18 Qf3 leads to nothing: after
the surprising 18.. Nc:d5, it is
gyg
gz$fq?+&g
.: ---
that any attempt to bring the
pawn at e7 into the fight would
bishopis o n g z not d3. This cir-
cumstance promises Black better
chances from his idea of ..
Nb8-
Black who wins.
DRAW
result in an irreparable weaken-
ing of the pawn at d6.
a6-c7 followed by
.. .. a7-a6 and
b7-b5, since the white bishop It's hard to predict who might
is less effective here, and have won, had the game continued,
White has spent an extra tempo but certainly a draw would have
become clear quite soon that on 3 g3. been the least likely outcome.
his knight cannot be maintained
on d4 for long, and the light Najdorf offered the draw be-
squares on the queenside are cause he considered his position
under the control of White's
fianchettoed bishop - thus, insecure, and Averbakh may have
agreed because he could not see
lack's knights have no good precisely how he was going to re-
squares. As a matter of fact, The opening battle grows very cover his pawn. The players
lack's knights end up in pitiable
positions.
tense: if White takes twice on
b5, his center will end up very
should have exchanged places
more than likely, they would
-
sad-looking indeed: 12 ab ab have continued the game then.
Thus, Black has no plan with a
future to it. He can make moves
some of them, no doubt, will be
- 13 cb N:b5 14 N:b5 R:b5. Foilow-
ing classical principles, Aver-
Najdorf gave the following var-
iations to justify the draw:
bakh answers this wing attack 18.. Ba6 19 Bfl h6 20 N:f6+B:f6,
fairly good; he still need not with a counterblow in the cen- followed by either 21 B:h6 Re8
lose the game, but he has already ter, even at the cost of mater- 22 R:e8+ Q:e8 23 N:c4 B:c4
lost the guiding thread, so his ial. 24 B:c4 B:b2 25 Rc2, or the bet-
position is consequently infer- ter line 21 B:f6 Q:f6 22 Ne4Qd8
ior. We recommend that the read- 23 Qd2 Kh7 24 Qf4 Ne8 25 Rc2,
er study this game in conjunction
with the Najdorf Geller game
from Round 28. There Blackplayed
- with even chances.

12.. Rb4!, and followed this up Petrosian undoubtedly saw that It seems to me that 18 Kc1
with ..
Ne5, inducing both 2-4
and b2-b3; then he re-positioned
he would lose a pawn after the
exchange of queens, but he hoped
was the mistake: the rook stood
well on the a-file too. A good
his kni ht on c5, and, despite to start using his tactical move with the same idea of at-
Najdorf5 s resourceful counter- chances to go rook-hunting. tacking the c-pawn would have
been 18 Bfl, especially since
play on the queenside, carried the bishop does not defend the
out the required attack on the d-pawn anyway. In this line,
pawn at b3. almost every white piece would
stand well, and the threat of
19 Qf3 would be strengthened. A
rough idea of the seriousness of
the pin on lack's king's knight
may be gathered from the follow-
ing variation: 18 Bfl Ba6 19R:a6
N:a6 20 Qf3, and there is nofur-
ther defense available for 6
(the proper move would be
Black has done all one could
ask: he has induced 16 b3 and BLACK RESIGNED
18 .. Bf5, and not 18.. Ba6).
advanced his pawn to a5 - what
he can do further, however, is
a mystery. Nor can one f i n d any
Consistently pursuing his plan the knight, coming out a piece to
44. Szabo-Taimanov
(Nimzoindian Defense)
15. g3-g4?! ... of opening Up the center: his the good; and on 28.. 6, White
takes first on e5, and then ond5
attack will have an easier time
But what's this? The High Priest finding the king with the e-pawn with the rook. In the line26..Qb5
of Theoreticians himself, making out of the way. 27 Bd4 Bd5 28 Kg3 B:f3 29 B:e5
the sort of move to baffle his B:dl 30 B:g7 R:el 31 Q:el K:g7
opponent, and the reader too -
and to what end? Firstly, to hin-
32 Q:dl Q:b2, Black might have
some hope for a draw.
der the usual ..
7-5; secondly,
to swing the knight over to g3.,
White had prepared a pretty
refutation for 22.. N:g4: 23 fg
Here or on the next move, and only then to play 2-4, since ~ : d 424 B:d4 R:el 25 Bc3.
White could - indeed, by the
logic of things he must -
start
this advance would be premature
here (it was ~arrasch's opinion
his central pawns moving: for ex- that 2-4 is nearly always pre-
ample, with 17 d5 ed 18 cd Ndf6 mature); and thirdly, to push the
19 B:f6 N:f6 20 e4. His next two pawn up to g5, if circumstances Allowing a remarkable two-
moves do little to improve his warrant. piece sacrifice, which would have
position: the rooks would have been a most fitting conclusion
been better posted a little to These are the surface points for this game.
the right. of 15 g4, but we may also guess
at something bolder: to station
17. Racl h6 18. Rfdl cd 19. ed the knight on g3 and the bishop
on e2, and at the right moment
go over to the assault with h3-
h4-h5 ...
It's amazing that a move
with so many good ideas behind it
The pawns have advanced, under could be bad, but there is so
less favorable conditions than much piece tension in the center
before, but still White stands that such a wing attack cannot
rather well: he has a passedpawn succeed. White does not even get
and some attacking chances. time enough to bring his knight
to g3, to say nothing of his oth-
er castles in the air.
26 Bb2 was better.
The bishop had a much better
Overprotecting the c-pawn, so move: 28 Bc5 would have given
as to be able to meet 16.. Ne5 White serious winning chances.
with 17 4. If 28.. B:c3, 29 Re3 and 30 B:c4;
if 28.. Rc8. 29 Re3 Bh6 30 R:e6

45. Euwe-Gligoric Once again threatening 17..Ne5;

I
(King's Indian) if then 18 4 N:d4!, followed by The combination begins with 28 Bb6 looks strong, since the
d2-d4 Ng8-6 the knight check on 3. 24.. N:f3, and continues 25 K:f3 pawn is blockaded; but as we
c2-c4 n7-~6 B:g4+ 26 K:g4 Qh5+ 27 Kg3 Be5+ shall soon see, Euwe has over-
28 Kf2 B:d6, threatening 29. .Re5; looked Black's 29th, which wins
Or 25 N:e8 N:el+ 26 R:el Q:el; or the c-pawn for nothing.
25 B:c4 N:el+ 26 R:el Be6.
Dashing one of his hopes: now
he will never get to play h3-h4.
A brave decision, trading Euwe had expected to recover
queens. ~ t ' shard to say whether the pawn at c4, but now he saw
E w e saw all of the possible var- that after the exchange of bi-
lations after 26.. Qb5 27 Bd4 shops this pawn will be defended
Here Gligoric, who has been by the knight. White must there-
playing wonderfully, begins a M 5 , but most likely his intui- fore reorient himself to a long
direct attack. I would prefer tion told him that he cou4d save and arduous defense. The outcome
not to have traded off this himself, and perhaps do evenbet- of the game will turn on whether
One of the ritual lines of the ter than that, with the problem
~ing's Indian. Deviate one step knight yet, moving it instead move 28 Kg3. Then, if the knight or not Black can succeed in con-
from the "correct" move order, to c5 or to 8, and threatening necting his passed pawns.
and the theoreticians will in- 21.. d5 under still more favor- takes on 3, White trades rooks
stantly brand the offending game able circumstances. with check and captures the
with that most,,dread taboo: el- king's bishop; if the bishop
ther "+" or . takes on 3 instead, White takes
46. Stahlberg-Bronstein fact that White will be a long Black to capture the c-pawnunder
White tries to make the black (Queen's Indian Defense)
pawns operate separately, and to while bringing this piece back circumstances which render its
keep them from getting too far Stahlberg is a most enjoyable into play at 4. A nearly sym- recovery rather problematic.
advanced. opponent for the King's Indian metrical position results, but
enthusiast, since he generally mite's lightsquare bishop is
prefers sharp, lively continua- still the more actively devel-
tions over theoretical lines. oped.
However, he played the White side
of the King's Indian so strongly He ought to have continued in
against Boleslavsky in Round One the same gambit style: 7 Nf3Nc6
that I could not muster the cour- 8 0-0 Nb6 9 Qc2 or 8 Q:c4 Nb6
age to repeat that opening ag- 9 Qd3 N:db 10 N:d4 Q:d4 11 Q:d4
ainst him. So I managed instead B:d4 12 Nb5 with lively play; if
to pick another system that he DRAW 10.. B:d4, then 11 Bh6, keeping
knows very well, from which he lack's king in the center as
secured a sizable advantage. Of course, with all those long as possible, is good.
pieces on the board, there's
still lots of play left; but Kotov wants his pawn back at
if White offers the draw in all costs, even two tempi; but
such a position, Black really that could have cost him the game.
cannot refuse.

47. Boleslavsky-Reshevsky
The point to this check is that, (Ruy Lopez)
of the three possible piece inter- Nor was 10 ed any sweeter,con-
positions, none is anygood:7..Nbd7 sidering 10.. Nc6 11 d5 Nde5, or
is met by 8 cd ed 9 Ne5; 7..Qd7 11 Be3 Nb6 12 Qd3 Bf5.
is met by 8 Qc2, and the coming
Ne5 will gain a tempo; and fin-
ally, if the other knight cov-
This saves the game. White cap- ers, its colleague is deprived a4 16. Nbd2 Ba6 17. Rcl Qb7 18.a3
tures the a-pawn, instead of the of its natural square. Thus, Bd8 19. b4 Black intends a positional pawn
relatively harmless b-pawn. After Black must use his pawn, which sacrifice, but he might also have
34 R:b6 B:a2, there would be no closes the bishop's diagonaltem- Forcing Black to take en assant, continued his successful policy
defense against the advance of porarily. Stahlberg immediately as otherwise the b-oawn ~ u k
of rapid piece development with
the c-pawn, with Black's bishop exchanges on d5, forcing the e- blockaded, and withLit lack's 10.. Bg4 11 Qd2 Nbc6 12 N:c6 bc.
and knight clearing its path: for pawn recapture, which in turn entire queenside. But now thegame
example, 35 Rb5 Nb3 36 Rc2 Bbl. practically forces an eventual opens up to White's advantage.
..c6-c5.
19.. ab 20. N:b3 Bb6 21. Nh4 g6
22. Bbl
If 35.. Nb3 now, 36 Re1 c2 DRAW
37 R:a2 clQ 38 R:cl R:cl 39Ra8+
Kg7 40 Rb8, with a draw. The text On Black's offer. Boleslavsky ac-
renews the threat of 36.. Nb3. White threatened a favorable cepted the draw prematurely: he
opening of the center with 11e4. threatens 23 de de 24 B:b6 Q:b6
25 Qd6 or 24 Nc5, and should at
least have waited to see lack's
mve.

Releasing the king's knight


In time-pressure, Gligoric from the defense of the pawn. 48. Kotov- Keres
spurns the repetition of moves, (Grunfeld Defense)
overlooks the loss of a piece, cZ-C~ Ng8-6
and almost loses, to be saved
only by his passed pawn. I would have preferred 13 Ne2, 2. d2-d4 g7-g6
keeping the option of recaptur- 3. Nbl-c3 Bf8-g7
ing on d4 with a knight, and 4* g2-g3 d7-d5
meeting 13.. Rc8 with 14 Qbl.
White wanted to hold his e2-e4
a while yet, but now we see
DRAW Black's King's Indian may
Black closes the bishop's di- 0 become a Grunfeld. White's Keres could not resist giving
agonal, taking advantage of the t move is illogical, allowing this pretty knight check,crown-
ing the knight's far-ranging ex- from d8 at his earliest conven- The beauty of this move becomes
pedition with the capture of bi- ience, driving White's king away evident in the main variation:
shop and queen. This mustang's from its pawn. White would have 5 White's
46 Kel.
43.. 44 Rd7+ Kf8
43rd45
move
Nf6de-
R:f2+
biography was an extensive one: had to play 17 e4, shutting off
eight of the first fifteenmoves, his own bishop and making it that serves its exclamation mark, but
checks to both queen and king, much easier for his opponent. so does his previous move, which
eating queen, bishop and knight, drove Black's king to the sev-
and saddling White with a weak After the text, Kotov manages enth rank. Had White played 42 Rd6
pawn at c3 - certainly enough to keep afloat with amazing skill: immediately (with the black king
activity for all of the pieces for moves, he maintains his on g8), Black would have played
in any other game! terminally ill pawn inter vivos, 42.. 5 and won after 43 Rd8+
and eventually pullshimself Kf7; but if the king tries to go
Even here, 12.. bc 13 0-0 Qb6 nearly even. to 7 now, to avoid the perpet-
14 Rdl Ba6! 15 Qc2 Rad8 wouldn't ual, the f-pawn is lost: 43..5
have been a bad idea: lack's 44 Rd7+ Kg6 4 5 Rd6+ Kf7 46 Rf6+
positional advantage is clear and 47 R:f5. The practical exe-
enough. cution of White's plan, then, re-
quired a black pawn at f7.
Having safely weathered the
Coldly accurate defense! On The c-pawn is doomed; the only worst of the storm, White finds
any other retreat, as we shall question is whether White willbe little to fear in the rest of it:
see immediately, the c-pawnwould able to get any sort of compen- by giving uy his a-pawn, he se-
not have been defended after move sation for it. He would be happy, cures Black s h-pawn in return,
16, and the king would have stood for example, to be able to ar- and gets his draw.
much worse besides. range a trade of knight for bi-
shop, or to clear away all ofthe
minor pieces. (one complicating Fighting spirit triumphs over
factor is that, as a result of common sense: Kotov declines a
the unusual opening, both sides draw that was his for the taking,
were already in time trouble.) in order to obtain by dint of
great effort a problemdraw some
twenty moves later- and the art
of chess is the winner. More than
likely, though, he simply over- DRAW
looked, in his fierce time trouble,
that Black could take the e-pawn.
A beautiful move, the idea be-
ing that giving up the pawn in 49. Geller-Smyslov
this way allows White to exchange (Nimzoindian Defense)
only one rook, while the other 1. d2-d4 Ng8-6
gains a tempo to attack the a- 2. c2-c4 e7-e6
pawn. 3. Nbl-c3 Bf8-b4
4. e2-e3 c7-c5
5. Bfl-d3 0-0
6. a2-a3 Bb4:c3+
7. b2:c3 Nb8-c6
8. Ngl-e2 b7-b6
In time-pressure, everybody
9. 0-0 .. .
takes pawns. 28 h4, preventing In Samisch's Attack against the
28.. g5, could have led to the Nimzo-Indian, the plans for both
following pretty line: 28..Rc7 sides are generally determinedat
29 R:a7 Kh7 30 a4 Bc3, and the an early stage. White accepts
This is the sort of position in only way White can untangle him- doubled pawns, with the c4-pawn
which White is lost despite his self is by giving back the pawn, especially weak (one might al-
being a pawn ahead. His minor which leads to a draw. most say doomed) in order to fa-
pieces are scattered, his c-pawn cilitate a rapid usurpation of
is weak, and his rooks are subject the center bykingside
to a means ofattackwith
e3-e4,
to the harassment of the beauti-
fully coordinated black bishops. :;$?4-f5, if Black allows).
The proper move for Black here Master practice has shown that
would appear to have beenl6..Bf5!, Black gets good counterplay if
keepir.g White's rooks from the he gets time for .. f5, blocking
b-file, and preventing them the king's wing; while White can
from doubling on the c-file; he only carry his attack through if
would also be threatening a check he can neutralize Black'squeen-
side activity and prevent .. 5.
White must play very energetically
tegically lost. Instead, hemight
have played 17 ef N:f6 18 Bg5
ously lost endgame.
to achieve his ends, and fromthis B:c4 19 B:f6 B:d3 20 R:d3 R:f6
standpoint, castling is a waste 21 c4, keeping the knight out of
of time here. c4 and setting up strong pressure
along the d-file. Black s win In
that case would have been farfrom
simple: for instance, 21.. Raf8
22 3 Nb7 23 Rfdl, intending Ne2- 48 Rf6 was possible here, in
g3-e4. order to place his pieces alit-
I don't see this as being any tle more effectively.
place for a queen, which should The reason for this repetition
be reinforcing White's kingside is that both sides were in se-
threats. More in the spirit of vere time-pressure. White's
the system White has selected skilled defense has thus far
would be 11 4 5 12 Ng3, with The point to this fine queen m g e d to ward off ~lack'sdi-
threats of 13 d5 or 13 e5; or maneuver is that by threatening rect threats, but his resources
11 Ng3 first. In any event, to win the c-pawn Black gains are gradually running out.
White should be developing his time to deny White's knight the
game in this direction, and not square h5, and forces White's
queenside, where the queen is bishop to the inferior square b3, WHITE FORFEITED
so passive. If Black answers where it will be completely out
11 f4 with 11.. Na5, attacking of play. Now White cannot return
the c-pawn, then 12 dc bc 13 Be3, his bishop to d3.
when White seizes the b- and d-
files and plays e5 with a very
strong game.

Smyslov spent about an hour


on this move, and found an ex-
cellent plan: he defends c6 and
a6, indirectly attacks the c-
pawn (after an eventual ..c5:d4),
and answers 12 dc with 12.. Ne5.

In the new situation, this ex-


change is not justified, since
Black has had time to play 12..d6
and can now recapture with thed-
pawn. From Geller, one mightsoon-
er have expected 14 d5!; although
he might lose the c-pawn later,
this is not all that important -
one pawn is not necessarily the
game. White would also have ob-
tained fair kingside chancesthen.

Of course, White will not ex- White's next move exploits an


change queens, since then hewould accidental tactical chance - the
lose the c-pawn with no compensa- somewhat exposed state of Black's
tion. king - to bring the queen over
to the kingside. However, this
has no material effect on theout-
come, since the best White can
achieve out of an attack on the
White retreats into passive de- king with his lone queen is an
fense, which renders his game stra- exchange of queens and an obvi-
ROUND EIGHT 1
to go, it interfereswith
50. Keres-Geller the rest of khe pieces. White's
(King's Indian) of queen on f3, bi-
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 shop on c4 and rook on d7 promises
4. Bg5 d6 5. e3 0-0 6. Nf3 c5 Recapturing the pawn with ei- to wind up the game in short order.
7. Be2 h6 8. Bh4 cd 9. N:d4 Nc6 ther knight would cost Black the
10. 0-0 Bd7 11. Qd2 a6 12. Rfdl exchange after 15 Qd5.
.
Black fairly flaunts his im-
pregnability, daring White to
attack him, if he dares. The op-
portunity is certainly there, but
the desire appears to be lacking.

Meeting the threat of 14 c5.


14. Nd5 B:d5 15. cd Ne5 16. 4
Ned7 17. Bf3 Rc8 18. Racl R:cl
19. R:cl Qb8 20. e4 Rc8 21. Bf2
Rc7 22. R:c7 Q:c7 23. Qcl
Reshevsky seized his head in
There was no objective reason his hands, glanced nervously at
why Keres should have hurried with his flag (ready to fall at any
this exchange. Could he have been moment) and the position, and -
suffering from the previous day's took the bishop with check. Then
draw with Kotov? Reshevsky asked how many moves
had been made (which is not ac-
ceptable grandmaster practice),
and received an answer from one
of the spectators (which is real-
DRAW If one may speak of various ways ly illegalj.
Now Black is forced to trans- to win this position, then 26 Qf3
,,,.,.,.,.,.
.b-b-LJ.J..L
fer his knight to b6, a maneuver Rab8 27 Bc4 was much quicker:
27.. R:b7 allows mate in a few,
35. Qf7:f8+ Rd8:8
as unpleasant as it is futile 36. Rel:e2 Rc8 :c6
51. Reshevsky-Kotov for him. This maneuver also sets and if 26.. Reb8 instead, then 37. Rb7:e7 a7-a5
(King's Indian) White's c-pawn in motion. 27 R:e7 Q:b3 28 Re8+.
1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 38.
39. Nb3-d4
h2-h4 Rc6-cl+
a5-a4
2. c2-c4 d7-d6 40. Kgl-h2 Rcl-dl
3. Nbl-c3 Nb8-d7 41. Nd4-b5 Rdl-bl
4. Ngl-f3 g7-g6 42. Nb5-d6
5. e2-e4 e7-e5
6. Bfl-e2 Bf8-g7 As soon as the time-control
7. 0-0 0-0 moves were finished,
8. Rfl-el c7-c6 Black cannot meet all of the The rest was played in unbe-
lievable time-pressure: Reshevsky BLACK RESIGNED
9. Be2-1 Nf6-e8 threats: already he must giveup had literally seconds left, Kotov
10. Ral-bl ... a pawn, but that's still not en-
ough to get his pieces coordin- a few minutes. Under these circum-
stances, Kotov found a swindle
White prepares 11 b4 in order to ated. White breaks into the sev- which almost brought the house
hinder the advance of the c-pawn; enth rank and begins an assault down. 52. Bronstein-Boleslavsky
the square a3 is left for the bi- on the king. (Nimzoindian Defense)
shop.

An antiquated continuation,
Seeing that his intended ll..Ne6 which gives White nothing and
will be met by 12 d5 Nd4 13 N:d4ed ~y trading off his good bi- has deservedly gone out of favor.
14 Ne2 c5 15 bc dc 16 4, when shop for lack's bad one, White e venom this move contains is
keeps lack's knight from devel- layed in the variation 35 Rfl 4.. c5 5. dc Na6 6. Nf3 0-0
White's monstrous avalanche of 36 Nd2 Q:d2, when White has
pawns would sweep all before it, oping: on c8, this piece is hem- 7. B 5 B:c5 8. e3 b6 9. Be2 Bb7
Kotov decides to carry out his med In by the white pawn at c5,
and on e7, by the white pawn at
37 Bc4, and then 37.. K:fl+
fl Qg5 saves Black from the
10. 8-0 Be7 11. Rfdl Nc5 12. Qc2
Nfe4 13. B:e7 Q:e7 14. N:e4 N:e4
plan with a different move order,
playing 11.. c5 first. e4. Not only does the knighthave iate threats. 15. Nd4 d5 16. cd B:d5 17. 3
Rfc8 18. Qa4 Nc5 19. Qa3 Bb7 aim - advancing the pawns to *hop to c2 in an attempt to open and .. Rh5, as well as Ra8-d8- ..
20. Bfl h6 21. b4 c4 and d5, opening the diagonal the game- d6, look so strong and dangerous
for the fianchettoed white that it is hard to imagine how
DRAW queen's bishop - is somewhat
convoluted, since these same
White might have wriggled out.
,.,.
.o--b-b,,<-L*-
d. ,.a. pawns also close up the diagonal
of his other bishop.
53. Gligoric-Stahlberg
(French Defense) I think White should play here p v,A
y p
2 j~@$!,
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4
4. Bd3 de 5. B:e4 c5
moves which support the push e3-
e42e5. & ~ d 4,

g ;
,,, ,

%2j %4AY;;? $4&,: Fg$'&


a,
,,,... &Av4, .,,,,4
,,,,?
,

An inaccuracy: Black should have r n , , , / ~ 4 A A , &A


played 5.. Nf6 first. If then
p
2 , . $&AEIAg#
6 Bd3 c5; but if 6 Bf3, he should
prepare ..e6-e5. y p A $##
. .

&$ p $ 9 w9,,,,'
44 A,,
a ;pj#
r.: ~%~,~&2 A
6. Ne2 Nf6 7. Bf3 cd 8. Q:d4 Q:d4
9. N:d4 a6 10. 0-0 Nbd7 11. Re1
0-0 12. Bd2 Rd8 13. a3 Bd6 14.Radl
Bc 7
Looking at its structure alone
without regard to the time fac-
tor, White s position is good: he
'!/&v~y fa
:" =" ?..@fgi
White's positional advantage is
could play Khl, Rgl, Bb2, Bbl,
etc. The trouble is that Black .-
-
&$,-I - &2 Q$&
growing. Black is unable to dev- has completed his development be-
elop his bishop, which in turn fore White, and can begin his
shuts in the rook. attack first: already he threat-
ens 16.. Qh3 and ..
Ne7-g6-h4.A~ Succumbing to the spell ofthe
15. Bg5 h6 16. Bh4 g5 17. Bg3 a result, White must resort to Two Bishops, Euwe hurriedly ex-
B:g3 18. hg g4 desperate measures in order to changes one of them, even though
avert a swift catastrophe. A memorable move indeed. Tai-
he had the excellent move 19..Rae8. manov is the great optimist of
Now Black's pawn weaknesses
become more pronounced. the chessboard, always happywith
his position, and sometimes a
19. Be2 Nb6 20. Nb3 Bd7 21. Na5 White has not the time to re- trifle slow to sense approaching
Rab8 22. Rd6 NcS 23. Rd4 e5 group with Khl and Rgl, for ex- Taimanov easily acquired apassed difficulties. However, when the
24.Rd2 Re8 25. Ne4 N:e4 26. R:d7 ample: 16 Khl Qh3 17 Qe2 e4 d-pawn in the early opening, and wolf is at the door, his resource
Nc5 27. Rc7 Ne6 28. R:b7 Nd6 18 Rgl ef 19. Qfl Ng4 20 Q:h3 then apparently forgot about it. fulness, combined with his far-
29. Rd7 Rb6 30. b4 Nb5 31. Nc4 N:f2 mate; however, this was the By itself, certainly, it would seeing powers of calculation,
Rc6 32. N:e5 R:c2 33. B:b5 ab line he should have chosen, but cause Black no great discomfort; draws from the deepest reserves
34. N:f7 Kf8 35. N:h6 Re7 36.Rd5 with the exchange sacrifice18 fe! but if it were to receive a bit of his position such possibili-
Nc7 37. Rf5+ Ke8 38. R:e7+ K:e7 Ng4 19 4 N:h2 20 Qg2 Q:g2+ of support, its power would grow ties as to astound not only his
39. N:g4 Ra2 40. Rc5 Kd6 41. Rc3 21 K:g2, with strong centerpawns, by leaps and bounds. opponent, but chess fans every-
Now, although White has defended where.
BLACK RESIGNED against the threat of 16.. Qh3 21 4 would have been very much
(when there would follow 17 Bb2 t!, the point here: however Black The plan he comes up with here
Q:f3 18 B:e5), his position is might reply, he could uot prevent dooms all five of his central
too passive and his rooks are the appearance of the pawn-pair pawns, in order to reach a posi-
54. Taimanov-Euwe
(Nirnzoindian Defense)
disconnected. d5-e5 - a chance White would not
have had, if Black had not been
tion in which rook and two rook
pawns successfu~lyhold off rook
1. d2-d4 Ng8-6 50 hasty with his 20.. 5. 20. .Rae8 and four pawns.
2. c2-c4 e7-e6 was still possible, with ..f5 only
3. Nbl-c3 Bf8-b4 thereafter. There was no reason to
4. e2-e3 c7-c5 m s h matters (since White could
5. Bfl-d3 d7-d5 hardly have effected any substan-
6. Ngl-3 0-0 A stock position illustrating tial change in the position inone
7. 0-0 Nb8-c6 the strength of the two knights move), and Black's forces would
8. a2-a3 Bb4:c3 and their advantage over the two then be completely mobilized.
9. b2:c3 d5 :c4 bishops. One bishop is locked in
10. Bd3:c4 Qd8-c7 a cell measuring a3 by cl by e3; 21. ... e5-e4 A nice in-between check. Its
11. Bc4-a2 . .. the other is chained to the pawn
at f3. Both bishops are absolute-
point appears by comparing what
might have occurred, had Black
A inaccuracy, affording mereLy played his rook to d4 at
One of many "possible, though ly impotent, and White has no te an amazing defensive oppor-
not best" continuations. Its ap- useful moves. The knights will it^; his position would have once: 27.. Rd4 28 Re7 R:d529R:b7
parent goal - to place the bi- continue to dominate the bishops n very difficult after21..Nf3+ Rd:f5 30 R:f5 R:f5 31 R:a7, with
shop at bl, the queen at c2 and as long as the pawn chain re- a draw. Now, however, White's
only then 22.. e4. The threats
mate the black king on h7 - I S mains immobile, so White's best 3.. R:f5 followed by . . Rg5+
kingmust go to the -file, so
too lightweight; while its true chance was to retreat the bi- that in this line the f-pawn
falls with check. Thus, White his a-pawn for lack's c-pawn, ening the b-pawn by bringing it
must find a move other than throwing in his h-pawn as well, to c3 and detaching it from its - in all lines, Black obtains
30 R:b7. if necessary: sometimes one can pawn chain. So 6.. N:c3 does a fully equal game.
- against
draw the ending - the f- have its logic.
and h-pawns.
After 35 R:c5, White also gets
his rook to a7, but Black keeps If White's knight were not at
Very good! Many players know his a-pawn. The main objection Of course, Black will have a 4, his pawn could, passiqg safe-
how to convert their advantage to 35 R:c5, however, is that difficult time collapsing d4, ly between Scylla and Charybdis,
into a win; it is a far more dif- White doesn't even win his pawn but that is not to say it will as it were, cause Black no lit-
ficult thing to convert the op- back, since lack's .. Rd4- be impossible. One of the pecul- tle anguish; but now White's
ponent's advantage into nothing. d3:a3 maneuver reestablishes the iarities of central pawn tension stronghold on d4 is attacked from
With 30 6, White intends to split two-pawn margin. is that Black may trade on d4 at four sides at once, and his cen-
lack's g- and h-pawns, and I am any suitable moment, while White ter collapses into formless rub-
still not convinced that Euwe's can almost never take on c5. On ble.
30.. R:f6 was best. Here's an in- the other hand, as we shall note
teresting alternative: 30.. g6 more than once, the move 7.. c5
31 Rg7+ Kh8 32 R:b7 c4 33 Rc7 enhances the power of White's
Rd6, etc. fianchettoed bishop.
White has much the worse of it.
Now Black has only to push his He cannot take on b7 with his
-pawn to the third rank, and queen (14 Q:b7? Rab8 15 Qe7 Q:c3,
even the best possible position and White loses a whole piece),
for White - Ra7, Kf2; Black - 10.. Na5 would have been in the nor with his bishop (for the
Ral, Kh8 - is lost, because of
the standard maneuver ..
Ral-hl.
style of Capablanca, who loved
clear, effective plans: it at-
same reason: 14 B:b7 Rab8 15Qd5
Bf3 or 15.. R:b7, etc., with an
33.. Rf5+ 34 Ke3 Re5+ 35 Kf4
c4 was somewhat better. tacks the weakened square c4, irresistible attack). White's
with a natural followup something only chance to equalize is to set
like 11.. Bd7, 12.. cd 13.. Rc8, up the formation Nd5 and e3-e4.
14.. Bc6, etc. The text move could but right now he cannot play ei-
WHITE RESIGNED have been met powerfully by 11 a4, ther 14 Nd5 Be2 15 Re1 Nf3+
threatening 12 Ba3, when White's 16 B:f3 B:f3. when his game is
The win is achieved by 42 Ra4 position would glow with all the lost; or 14 64 N3+ 15 Ehl ~ : c 3
f3 43 Ra3 2 44 Rg3+ Kh8 45 Ra3 colors of the rainbow. (Ba3 must 16 Rbl Nd4 17 Q:b7 Q:a2. SoNaj-
Rgl 46 Ra8+ Rg8, when Black not be played too hastily, how- dorf's 14 h3 is played to deter-
queens one of his pawns. ever: 11 a4 Rd8 12 Ba3 Bg4, and mine the intentions of this bi-
the bishop's diagonal has to be shop.
closed by 13 3, since 13 B:c5
allows 13.. Q:c5. So the right
55. Najdorf-Szabo move would be 11 a4 Rd8 12 Qb3,
(Grunfeld Defense) and then 13 ~a3.)
11. Qdl-b3 ...
In MorphyVs time, such a move
was played with the intention of
attacking 7 ; here, the queen's
eye is on b7.
We all know the basic idea of
the Grunfeld is to attack the White has apparently attained
pawn center, and especially the his goal first, and retarded the
d-pawn; so why does Black streng- queen's bishop's development.
then d4 and open the b-file for
Advising is always easier than White, without being forced to
playing the game oneself. A more do so?
stubborn defense was 37 Ra7, win- Following ~orphy's example,
ning control of the seventh rank, There are many reasons for it, Black is ready to sacrifice a
but to refuse the c-pawn, with a chief among them the fact that Pawn for development: for exam-
two-pawn deficit? One can only the knight had no good retreat ple, 12 3 Be6, followed by :
advise such moves... Nevertheless, square. Additionally, Black does
the outcome would not have been not lose a tempo, and he removes
all that clear, even with lack's a strong enemy knight. If the b-
two extra pawns: in order to free file is opened, the c-file isal-
his king, Black would have had to so closed; he may be strengthen-
give back his a-pawn. After that, ing the d-pawn, but he is also c) 13 Qa3 Bc4 14 Q:a5 N:a5
White's task would be to trade off isolating the a-pawn, and weak- 15 Rdl Rac8 16 Ba3 b6 17 f4Rfd8
Szabo's hot-blooded nature re- Averbakh, though perhaps cases in which one of the parti-
jects the strong positional line not quite so fortunate, still cipants forged ahead at theout-
17.. Qa6, although it is wholly fought with great verve in the set, only to lose game aftergame
logical and embodies a number of rounds that followed. towards the end (and not against
healthy ideas: controlling the White prepares a calm transpo- his most powerful opponents, ei-
In major tournaments, one ther), finishing far behind the
light squares, severely weakened
by the exchange of the fianchet-
sition into the Rubinstein Var-
iation, fianchettoing the second must ration one's strength, not winners.
toed bishop; defending the b- bishop; Averbakh finds a good for the individual game, but for
p a y ; increasing the queen's counter, exchanging pawns to the entire event, taken as a
radlus of activity; and impeding transpose into the Queen's Gam- whole. The history of chess ev-
the development of the knight, bit Accepted with an extra tempo ents - and that of many other
since 18 Nd5 would be met by for Black, thanks to White's two sports as well - contains many
18.. Qe2! bishop moves (~1-d3and ~d3:c4).
The strength of 17.. Qa6 lies
not merely in abstract ideas, but
also in concrete variations: for
example, 18 Qa3 Qc4, or 18 Ba3 b6,
or 18 Be3 c4 19 Qc2 Nd3. If 18 3,
the weakening of the second rank
must tell sooner or later (see
Game 85, Stahlberg - Szabo).
Szabo's bumptious 17.. b5 leads DRAW
almost by force to an equal end-
game.

Otherwise 20 Bd4!, and the


scales begin to tip in White's
favor.

Szabo may have overlooked this


move -it happens to grandmasters
too, sometimes. Still, there was
nothing significantly better.
If one desires an explanation
of such quick draws, which occur
in every tournament, one must keep
in mind that such an event lasts
DRAW more than one day. Many things
happen over the course of thirty
If the bishop were still on g7, rounds that have a bearing onthe
Black would have had some slight fighting abilities of the people
winning chances, but now after who play chess. In the present
28.. Rb8 29 Rcl c3 30 Bd4 Rb2 case, Petrosian's peaceable dis-
31 B:c3 B:c3 32 R:c3 R:a2, the position and ~verbakh's too, in
draw is clear. part, may have been due to the
previous round, which went badly
for both. After the extra rest
day they gave themselves with
56. Petrosian-Averbakh this eighth-round game, Petro-
(Queen's Gambit) sian went on to win threestraight
1. c2-c4 Ng8-f6 games in good style (an excep-
2. Nbl-c3 e7-e6 tional achievement by any stan-
3. Ngl-3 d7-d5 dard in such a strong tourney);
ROUND NINE pieces, while White's rooks and
queen are developing very nice-
57. Szabo-Petrosian ly. The text move prepares the
(Queen's Gambit) maneuver 12.. dc 13 B:c4 b5;then Now, with the knight pinned a-
1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 14.. Qb6, followed by the devel- ainst the rook, White threatens
2. c2-c4 e7-e6 opment of the rooks to c8 andd8. $8 B:f6 as well as 18 B:d7 and
3. Nbl-c3 d7-d5 Black still loses an important 19 N:d5, forcing Petrosian to
4. Bcl-g5 Bf8-e7 tempo, however, when 11.. dc trade off one of the d-pawn's Extremely dangerous, for now
5. e2-e3 0-0 12 B:c4 Ne4 would have eased his defenders. However, Szabo should White's knights both go straight
6. Ngl-3 h7-h6 defense. not have contented himself with under the gun. One gets awaywith
7. Bg5-h4 b7-b6 this, when he had an opportunity it, but the other...
to combine his attack on the d-
The direct and most natural pawn with threats to lack's
attempt to solve the problem Recapturing with the knight king. Having induced Black to
of the queen's bishop. For a would have suited the spirit of play his bishop to c6, he ought
long time, White used to get this opening better: if then to have brought his bishop back The active 26 Nd5 was not good,
the better of it with 8 cd ed 13 B:e7 Q:e7 14 N:d5 B:d5, with to c2, thus: 17.. Bc6 18 Bc2! since after 26.. N:d5 27 R:d5Bf6
9 Ne5; Pillsbury won a number a comfortable game for Black. On Rab8 19 Nd4 Ba8 20 Rbl, and etc.,there does not seem to be
of games that way. The system 15 e4, the bishop simply retreats lack's game creaks at every any way to relieve the pin. What
: White is threateningboth was required was 26 Nbl, when at
was revived recently when Bon-
darevsky and Makogonov decided
to b7, while if 15 B:a6, Black
could recapture at a2, although
I would prefer 15.. B:f3 16 gf
ioint
1 Bg3 and 21 Nf5. least one knight would be safe;
if then 26.. Rc8 27 Nld2 Bb4
that after 7.. b6 it made lit- 28 Rbl Nd5 29 R:b4, with sorne
tle sense to block the diagonal cd 17 ed Nf6, with good pros-
a8-hl with a pawn; so they be- pects, now that the knight has chances to draw. But now thetwo
gan recapturing, after 8 cd, the d5 and 4 squares. hanging knights give rise to a
with the knight instead. Now, combination which wins a piece.
Petrosian probably disliked Szabo has been bitten by a
should White reply to 8.. N:d5 fatal idea: to attack the d5-
with 9 B:e7 Q:e7 10 N:d5, so 12.. N:d5 because of the simple
that Black must suffer a pawn reply 13 Bg3. pawn on the c4 square. With
on d5 anyway, then the bishop this one thoughtless move 1)
shows its flexibility by devel- he weakens an entire cluster
oping to e6, rather than to b7. of dark squares in his posi-
Thus, the Bondarevsky-Makogonov tion; 2) he knocks the supports
Defense proves completely vi- out from under his queen's
able, and now on occasion it is knight; and 3) he makes Black's
White who, as here, deviates bishop better by giving it the
from the main line. chance to move out either to b4
or to a3.
Either 19 Nd4 and 20 Nf5,
or 19 Rc2 and 20 Rcd2 wouldhave
been correcc here. The pawn
A little change from the us- stood quite well at b2, and it
ual 10 Qe2 Ne4 11 Bg3 N:g3 12fg. should not have been disturbed.
After the text move, Black re-
frains from 10.. Ne4, since
White does not retreat to g3,
but takes on e7 instead, with- This must have been the result
out fearing 11.. N:c3 12 B:d8 of a miscalculation, since the
N:dl (no check) 13 Rf:dl Rf:d8 knight returns at once; but the
14 cd ed 15 R:c7. And ifll..Q:e7 queen's position improves mean-
instead, then 12 cd ed 13 N:e4 while, and now White must con- Szabo goes overboard in his
de 14 R:c7 is possible: after sider how to defend his knight
14.. Bc8 15 Bb5 ef 16 Q:f3 Rb8 desperate attempt to hold the
on c3. extra pawn, leaving the queen's
17 R:a7, White would have three rook thus undefended: 27 Nab6
pawns for the piece plus a pow- would have left hirn some small
erful position. drawing chances.
Black's hanging pawns are weak.
Szabo carries out a typical ma-
neuver, Bd3-c2-b3, in order to This position illustratesthe
induce the advance of one pawn, power of the pin, based on the
Black has brought out all his which weakens the other, and unprotected rook at cl.
gives White an important central By now, White's positionholds
minor pieces, but his develop- SO many weaknesses that he had
ment is far from complete. He support point. better start thinking about how
will have a hard tine finding he is going to draw; to thatend, The point of this pretty move
good positions for his heavy his rook should have been sent is easily seen: Black brings
in by 24 ~ d 4 ,and if then24--BbkS this knight to 6 6 , freeing the
and it would seem to me that
square 6 for the bishop. From
there, the bishop will attack,
White's threats - 20 N:g6+,
20 Qg4, etc. - would be impos-
not only the rook at d4, but
also the knight, if it should
In order to prepare.. 7-5. sible to withstand, especially
In his later commentary, Najdorf under tournament conditions. Naj-
move from a4 to b2. 27.. Nd7 suggested a different plan: dorf was apparently of the same
would have been an error, in 11.. Ba6, 12.. Rb8, and 13.. b5. opinion: before anything else,
view of 28 Rc?! Ne5 (the knight It seems to me, however, that in he aims to shore up the keypoint
blocks the diagonal of the bi- that event the kingside attack g6. (A note here: White's attack
shop, giving White time to de- would have developed more quick- would congeal very quickly if he
fend) 29 Nab2, and the rook on ly and more dangerously. limited his sacrifice to the ex-
c2 sidesteps to the d-file; on change: 18 Q:al+? Qf6 19 N:g6+
28.. Bf6 29 R:d7? would be a Kg7.1
mistake, owing to 29.. Q:d7
30 Nab6 Qb7 (29 Re4 would be
the correct move in that case).
We would like to draw the read-
er's attention to this elegant
knight leap; we did not give it
an exclamation mark, simply be-
cause we had already given one to
Driving the rook from the white's previous move.
fourth rank wins Black a piece,
since after 31 R:e5 R:c432 R:c4
Q:c4 attacks the queen and the
knight and threatens make, too; Naturally, Black doesn't even
on 33 Qdl Black calmly sacrl- This pawn sortie combines two think of saving the exchange, nor
fices" his queen with 33.. Q:a4; strategic ideas: restraint of would White dream of taking it:
or if 33 Q:c4 R:c4. Black's queenside development, after 15 Nf7+ R:f7 16 B:f7 Nb4
and cutting the communications the initiative would pass to
between the two wings of lack's Black.
position. Additionally, White
gains the valuable square d5 for
both bishop and knight.
White continues methodically
lack's retarded development clearing the approaches to the
is due chiefly to the fact that black king. On 15.. Na5, White
the pawn which is now nailed to could trade bishops and play his
d7 closes the diagonal c8-h3, queen to d5, with two threats:
which means that the bishop now 18 Q:b7 and 18 Nf7+; and on
can only get into play on b7 or Since White must attain one of
WHITE RESIGNED 15.. Qf6, White has the choice the important squares (g6, h6 or
a6. But 9.. b6 is not yet play- between 16 Nf7+, attacking the
able; first the knight must be h5) in any event, Najdorf decides
queen and winning the exchange to take the rook after all, since
played to c6. Thus, we can deduce after 16.. R:f7 17 g5, or 16 gf
58. Euwe-Najdorf that Black's next three moves this might later allow him togive
(King's Indian) Q:f5 17 Rh2. up his queen for two pieces or a
will be: 9.. Nc6, 10.. b6, and
11.. Bb7. piece and a pawn. On 18.. gf,
1. d2-d4 Ng8-6 White would have continued 19 Rbl
2. c2-c4 g7-g6 Be5 20 Qh5, with a tremendous at-
3. g2-g3 Bf 8-g7 lack's queenside pieces can Black is not opening the h8- tack. The next phase of the game
4. Bfl-g2 0-0 only reach the kingside by way a1 diagonal in order to capture
of the square d8, which puts puts one in mind of those ancient
5. Nbl-c3 c7-c5 the b-pawn, but in order to allow clashes of the masters of the It-
6 , d4-d5 e7-e5 quite a crimp on their maneuver- his king to hie himself to g7,
ability. alian School.
7. Bcl-g5 h7-h6 after which perhaps Black c-ould
risk capturing the knight. But
Aggressive treatment of the These are the positive aspects now a white knight gets to 4.
opening. If Black wants to break of 9 d6. There is only one nega-
the pin, he must do it at once, tive aspect: cut off from sup-
port, this pawn may die. White's White is practically advertis-
as otherwise White will put his ing that his attack is intuitive,
queen on d2, rendering ..
h7-h6 task is therefore to assail the
kingside with might and main for rather than calculated - other-
impracticable. And if the pin is White, in turn, also sacrifices wise, why would he need the e-
not broken, then White will move as long as the pawn at d6 stands, the exchange. couldn't Black take pawn? The simple 20 Nf4, setting
his bishop to h6 and without fur- depriving Black s kingside ofthe it? That question cannot be ans- up such fearsome threats as 21Nh5+
ther ado push his h-pawn - a necessary support of his queen- wered with variations. White has 21 Qh5 and 21 Rgl, seems more ap-
serious, though hardly a fatal, side pieces. This task Euwe car- a myriad of appealing attacking
ries out in brilliant style. pealing, yet Euwe didn't play it.
threat. From a purely chessic continuations. To examine one: Why? To put it simply, Euwe did
viewpoint, then, the logicalmove 17.. B:al 18 gf Bc3+ 19 Kfl is not want to give his opponent a
was certainly 7.. d6. Similar to what actually occurred; choice. White's 20 N:e4 forces
matters: by depriving Black's sides, 6 d5 is no longer possible;
queen of the square c3, itelim- if 6 Bg2, then 6.. Bb7. As the
inates the variation 20 Nf4Qc3+ course of the game will show,Tai-
21 Kfl - although, in my opin- manov has other ideas for this
ion, this would only improve pawn.
White's position. For example:
21.. R:f5 22 Qg4; or 21.. hg
22 hg R:f5 23 Rh7+. But -well,
Euwe received a brilliancyprize
for this game; the judges were
not too strict, and we shall not
go nitpicking either. Each grand- 8 Bf4! probably looked tooprim-
master has his own style, with itive to White, but in that case
its strengths and weaknesses. Taimanov would have had nothing
better than 8.. Qc8 or 8.. Bb7,
since the complications after
8.. b5 would inevitably resolve
White has a very strong posi- in White's favor.
tion, but he is still a whole
rook down. 20.. Q:f5 was bad:
White would have won right off
with 21 Q:al+ K:g6 22 Rgl+. So
first Black pulls his bishop ( Position after 22.. Kh8!) ( Position after 27.. R:e3)
out with check, and then he White no longer has any advan-
takes the f-pawn, puttingpres- have made it very difficult for tage. The text move prepares e2-e4,
sure on 2 and removing the White, but I believe he might which he never gets the chance to
protection of the knight atg6. still have turned the trick with i play. Like it or not, he ought to
25 Ncd5! in the first variation,
instead of the somewhat flaccid
25 Nce2. The pawn on d6 can be
I
6
The poorly sheltered king is
a good target, both in the mid-
dlegame and in the endgame.
have continued 10 cd cd 11 Q:e8
and 12 Rel, with an approximately
equal game.
let go now, since it has already
Black needs only another move done its work. Beyond a doubt,
or two to stabilize his position however, Euwe's 20 N:e4 put a 31. ... Qf5-c2+
and escape with his extra rook, damper on his attack, whereas 32. Kf2-gl Qc2-dl+ Black seizes the initiative.
but these must be good moves. Najdorf in turn failed to capi- 33. Kgl-h2 Qdl-c2+
Thus, 22.. Be5 would be answered talize on his good fortune. 34. Nf4-g2 Qc2-5
by 23 Ng3 Qh7 24 Qg4+ Kh8 25Ng6+; 35. Qe8-g8+ Kg7-6
if the queen goes to e5 instead, 36. Qg8-h8+ Kf6-g5
White's queen checks at g4; and
if the bishop retreats to f6,then
37. Qh8-g7+ ... Obsessed by his desire to play
either 23 Ng3 or 23 ~ g l +wins. I BLACK RESIGNED, e2-e4 at any cost, White nowdrops
believe that Black must lose here Unpleasant, but forced: on as mate is inevitable. this knight completely out of
even with the best defense. a ad
he wished, White could have forced
26.. Qg4 there would follow
27 Bf3, and any other retreat
b
,.,.,.,.,.,.
-.*-l-+-~as-L-'-J-
sight, so as to redevelop it to
d2. Doubtless, a4 (with thepros-
a draw with 22 Rgl, after which gives White far too many pleasant 59. Stahlberg-Tairnanov pect of getting to c5) would have
Black must play 22.. Qh3+23 Rg2 possibilities. At least 26.. R:g3 (Queen's Indian Defense) been a little better square.
Qhl+ 24 Rgl Qh3+, etc.) does not hand over the initia- 1. d2-d4 Ng8-6
tive. 2. c2-c4 e7-e6
3. Ngl-3 b7-b6
4. g2-g3 Bc8-a6
(see diagram, next column)
( See diagram, next page ) Modern thinking in the opening.
This is a good move. White must i The move .. b7-b6 does not nec- Stahlberg does not seem tohave
take the bishop now, giving his essarily mean that Black intends been in a mood to play chess this
opponent a breath of air, since
the consequences of 23 Rgl are
to continue with ..
Bb7. He may
also attack the pawn at c4; and
evening: 16 Nb3 would have left
There has been no mate as yet, him with some chances of putting
unclear . and the material is still even, although there are no less than together a defense.
but the bishop on b7 and the eleven different defenses to
knight on c6 are still mere by- this, each method has its draw-
standers; it is this last cir- backs. White selects what seems
But instead of this move, cumstance that allows White the to be the best line.
23.. Nd8 was necessary: the bi- opportunity to re-form his troops
shop on d5 was long past endur- into a new attacking wave and send
ing. Variations like 24 B:b7N:b7 them in once again to assault the
25 Nce2 Qe4 26 Rgl Rg8, or black king's broken position. TO this I would eagerly have
26 Ng3 Q:c4+ 27 Kg2 R:f4 would ( See diagram on next page )
28. ... ~e3-e8
replied 5.. c5, exploiting the
fact that with the queen off-
cause of 26.. Rel+, winning the it out a bit, but White's game
unfortunate bishop. If White, in is very bad, still: he has five
reply to 23.. Qd3, avoids the ex- isolated pawns, and Black's rook
change of queens by playing24 Qa4, at c2 in conjunction with his
the simple 24.. b3 underscoreshis passed pawn assures him the vic-
utter hel~lessness:for exam~le. tory.

Qf3+. However, the text is not a


bad idea either.

WHITE RESIGNED

60. Boleslavsky-Gligoric
(Sicilian Defense)

( Position after 21.. Rc2 )


Black believes the free game he
An instructive position which gets for his bishops and rooks
shows us: compensates for his doubled, iso-
lated pawns; but in my opinion,
1) why, when only one bishop re- White must have the better of it.
mains, we are told to place our He has a 3/2 pawn majority, with-
pawns on squares of oppositecol- out the need to create a passed
or. This gives the bishop pawn- pawn from it: the passed pawn is
trenches to traverse: for exam- already made for him! The closer
ple, if White had the light- the endgame approaches, the more
squared bishop, he would have a the c-pawn's presence will be felt.
fully acceptable game, whereas
here his position is hopeless. A strange optical illusion!
Now White cannot take the e- Theory holds that the exchange
2) why it is so clearly advan- pawn, since lack's queen would of queens leads by force to a
tageous to trade off the enemy's recapture and enter 3 via 6;
fianchettoed bishop: the square
g2 is very weak, and the usual
then, after .. h5-h4, Whitewould
have to resign. If, after 25 de
favorable endgame for White,
while retreating his queen to
16.. Bc5 would give Black no-
thing, since after 17 Rgel, the
b6 is bad because of 14 Na4Qc6 pawn on g2 would still be taboo:
technique of queen to 3, fol- Q:e6, White took the b-pawn, then 15 Bb5 Q:g2 16 Rgl. This is all 17 Rgel B:g2? 18 B:6 gf 19 Rgl,
lowed by pawn to h5-h4-h3 pro- 26.. R:cl 27 Ra:cl R:cl 28 Q:e6 true, but only with the black winning the pair of bishops for
mises a swift end for White. R:el+. pawn at h7! Then, indeed, after the rook. Nor is 16.. Bc5 17 Rgel
13.. Q:e5 14 fe Nd5 15 B:e7N:e7 Nd5 attractive, since simplifica-
3) the importance of seizing 16 Bd3, Black could not play tions are generally unfavorable
the seventh (or second) rank, 16.. Bd7 because of If B:h7+ to Black here; and besides,White
or even a single square of it. K:h7 18 R:d7; Black would have would stand a great deal better
Black could have won two pieces to continue 16.. Nc6 17 Rhel, after 18 N:d5 B:d5 19 Be4 B:e4
for a rook here with 21.. R:cl when 17.. Bd7 is once more im- 20 R:e4.
22 R:cl N:d2, but instead, he possible, and White establishes
simply placed his rook on c2. This chance to exchange queens a bind. In the present game,how-
On the second rank, the rook amounts to a reprieve for White. ever, with the pawn on h6,
restricts the enemy pieces, and 29.. Bg5 would have deprived him 16.. Bd7 is quite possible: af- White readies 18 g4, which does
also sets up sundry combinations, of this chance, and then nothing ter 17 Bh7+ K:h7 18 R:d7 Nc6, not work right away because of
as we shall observe later on. could have saved him from ..h4-h3 the exchange of b-pawn for e- 17.. Bc5 and 18.. N:g4.
22. Nd2:e4 d5:e4
followed by .. Qf3. pawn is not dangerous to Black,
23. a2-a3 ... as long as White is no great
endgame enthusiast - which Bo-
leslavsky is not.
Black could have wound the game Taking on g2 would still bebad.
up here by 23.. Qd3 24 Q:d3 ed. Both players overlooked this, Perhaps moving the king to h8
This threatens to win the bishop, and Gligoric played the novelty would have been a more useful
which has yet to make a single he had prepared for the other 16th move: Boleslavsky played it
move; and if 25 Rdl, then25..Re2, variation. himself in a later tournament.
when the pawn cannot be taken be- Taimanov has managed to drag
excellent winning chances: for premely important support point
Black's rooks ride quietly at instance, 34 g3 R:f5 35 Rd:e3 at d5 for the rook, thus defend-
anchor, defending their passed R:e3 36 R:e3 a4 37 c4 Rf2+ ing the king against checks on
Without fearing 19.. B:c3, pawn; but White's king stands so 38 Kc3 a3 39 ba R:a2 40 Kb4. In the d-file. 42 c5 would allow
which would give White a passed near that it may easily get next this line, the winning idea is Black to double his rooks on the
pawn on the c-file. This obser- to the pawn, let's say to 3. not the capture of the e-pawn, fifth rank and drive off the
vation might come as a surprise Should the e-pawn fall, then but the exchange of one pairof white king, thus: 42.. Ree5
to the reader, since White al- White's win will become a matter rooks in order to secure maximum 43 c6 Rd5+ 44 Kc4 Rc5+ 45 Kd3
ready has a passed pawn on c2. of time. lack's king can neither activity for his other pieces. Rfd5+ 46 R:d5 R:d5+ 47 Kc4 Rd2,
Unfortunately for White, this come to the aid of its pawn, nor and Black wins. There are many
pawn cannot be considered passed counterattack the f-pawn. A fur- After 34 g4 h5, White no lon- other combinative possibilities
with so many pieces still on the ther demonstration of White's ger has any advantage from ei- in this ending after 42 c5?,
board, since it may not stir a possibilities is that, were it ther 35 Rd4 or 35 c4: for ex- and all of them favor Black; but
single step without upsetting the his move here, then 32 c4, fol- ample, 35 Rd4 Kh6 36 Kd3 Kg5 as long as the pawn stands atc4,
king's disposition. If, however, lowed by 33 Rc3, would leave 37 c 4 hg 38 hg Kh4. the king at d3, and the rook cov-
Black were to take the knight Black in a completely hopeless ers the d-file, White can hold
here, then the c3-pawn, supported predicament, with the rook onc3 the draw.
by the bishop pair, could run for simultaneously attacking the pawn
daylight, while the c2-pawn re- on e3 and supporting its own
mained behind to shelter theking. passed pawn. lack's next move is
directed against this threat. lack's king has achieved a 61. Kotov-Bronstein
stunning success, becoming the (King's Indian)
If Black was not happy withthe first to break into the enemy Everyone loves to attack the
19.. ef variation, then 19.. Nd5 position. king, but it is often hard to
was theobvious continuation in decide on such an attack, espe-
order to play on the pin. This cially when one's opponent can
move costs Black his last point counterattack on the opposite
of support in the center, and Luckily, White still has this wing. The problem is that al-
move: if not, Black would have though the goal of the kingside
--
the passed e-pawn is no compen-
sation. won. attack mate to the enemy's
king is more enticing, it is
also far more difficult to ach-
ieve than, for example, the cre-
ation of a few pawn weaknesses
by means of a queenside attack.
The pawn at g2 has been indi- An attack on the king with pieces
rectly defended all this timeby alone requires overwhelming nu-
the black king's location on the merical superiority and generally
g-file (.. B:g2; B:f6! gf; Rgl., a few sacrifices; and the pawns
pinning the blshop); had theklng cannot always join in the assault.
gone to 8 here, there might have The present game is an example of
followed 23 a3 B:c3 24 R:c3 B:g2 headlong opposite-wing counterat-
25 Rg3 and 26 Rdgl, and now it is tacking. Watch how each side per-
Black who finds his g-pawn hard sistently prevents the other's
to protect. However, the text pawn breaks, c4-c5 and .. 7-5.
move also says that Gligoric is Kotov is the first to achieve his
unable to find a plan to improve goal, and his powerful passedpawn
his position. Meanwhile, Bole- at full career very nearly over-
slavsky proceeds, in the straight- powers the massed striking force
forward style characteristic of of the entire black army.
him, to engineer a minor-piece Tying the king down to the
trade, seize control of d5, and f6-pawn -
force the further advance (and
further weakening) of the e-pawn.

- but the black king refuses DRAW


to be tied down! Black is giving
up both his f-pawns in order to
reach the square 3, which will - after intensive analysis.
secure him the draw. Might this White must move his rook back
possibility have been prevented? Usually 9.. Nc5 is played,and
Yes; the mistake was 34 g4, by and forth along the d-file. Af- then 10.. a5. For this game,
which White transferred the base ter 42 c5, he would lose, and Black has selected a different
of his pawn chain from g2 to g4- most instructively. White'sking approach, which does not espec-
The four-rook endgame makes i-e., closer to Black's king-He must defend the rook on e2 and ially require the presence of a
White's advantage very clear. ought to have played 34 g3, with the pawn on c 4 at the same time; knight on c5; thus there is no
the latter pawn protects the su- need to move the pawn to as. The
text move is played mainly to
secure the square b5; in con-
coming attack. However, .. Nc5
was the correct move, as itwould
depending upon Black's reply. This
would have made matters much more
junction with Black's following have left Black with a very solid Thus, White is the first to pleasant for White than they
move, it may also support a game. reach his goal: he has annexed turned out in the game.
queenside pawn advance. the weak b-pawn. But now his
bishop is trapped.

Maintaining the option of re- By now it was time for Black The winning move: the king a-
capturing with the f-pawn after to give up thinking about win- voids the eighth-rank check, and
Black plays .. hg, and freeing ning the bishop, and concentrate Black gets queen and minor piece
Unhackneyed play. White does b4 for his knight, which will on securing the a-pawn instead, for two rooks (Black could also
not place his knight on d3, where force Biack's rook on a6 to which grows more dangerous with have transposed with 40.. R:a7
it could have supported thebreak beat a quick retreat. each move. 37.. R:b7 38 ab Rb8 41 Rb8+ Kh7).
c4-c5, but on e3, where it helps 39 Ra8 Qd8 40 Rc8! R:c8 41R:c8
the queen offer maximum resis- Q:c8 42 bcQ+ B:c8 would have
tance to Black's break .. 7-5.
The ensuing lengthy war of man-
led to a clear draw; now, how-
ever, things get much more com-
euver centers about these two plex.
strategically importantadvances.
The simplest way for Black to
Black is forced to rush hisat- win is to break through to the
tack, as once the white rook gets king with his queen. This canbe
to b6, Black's position becomes accomplished in either of two
quite uncertain. ways: by a piece sacrifice, or
by a flanking maneuver via d8
and b8; Black chooses the latter.
A move earlier, he could also
have played 44.. N:g3, but after
If White naively picks off the 45 R:f7 Q:f7 46 R:f7 K:f7 47 fg
b-pawn, Black penetrates to the N:e4 48 Nc2 Nf6 49 Ne3, a knight
king bv means of a knieht sacri- endgame is reached in whichBlack
fice on 83: 34 Q:b7 ~ : g 3
35 fg has an extra pawn, but White has
B:e3+ 36 B:e3 Qfl+ 37 Kh2, and some drawing chances.
now Black has the choice between
37.. Kg7, to clear h8 for therook,
or 37.. Rab8 38 Qc6 Rfc8.34 Rabl
would not have eliminated the
threat of
was best.
.. N:g3; Kotov's move
There's no other way but to
sacrifice.

Black's previous error now


allows a beautiful, though far
from obvious, combination, rem- White can't keep the queen out
iniscent of a study. A quiet of b6: if he fails to capture the
move. 38 Bcbl. is the ~relude. f-pawn, the queen invades viaf6.
with. the main'variatio; running:
38.. R:b7 39 ab Rb8 40 Ra8 Qd8
41 B:e5 6 42 R:b8 O:b8 43 Be3
Bc8 4 z Ba7 Q:b7 45 ~ : b B:b7,
7
and now White wins easily with
46 Bb8, attacking the black While the knight covers the
pawns from behind. Black would king, the queen sets out on a
Having set up a new defensive have to continue 38.. Re8 in fateful voyage.
line on the c8-a6 diagonal (bi- order to avoid the main varia-
shop, pawn and rook), Black tion; on 39 a7, he would have
throws all his other pieces to had to retreat his king to h7,
the kingside. He might havefro- as in the game, but this would
zen the c-pawn with 24.. Nc5, have left White an important 54.. Qd3 55 We3 Qd2+ would have
but was loath to give up this - tempo ahead, which he could won immediately, but the gamecon-
knight, which is destined to utilize by playing 40 Qc6, at- tinuation should also have suf-
play a lead role in the forth- i
tacking both rooks and threat- iced to win.
ening to capture either one,
on d5, after all.
However, the game Kotov-Leven- Geller skillfully masks his Many would have played 16 Qd2
fish (16th USSR Championship,Mos- true intentions: he would seem here, forcing Black to accept a
cow 1948) showed an antidote to to be threatening 12 Nd6+, when slightly inferior ending after
7 Bc4 as well: Black immediately in reality the knight is heading 16.. Q:f6 17 Q:a5; but as long
retreated his knight to b6, and for 6. Naturally, before this as Geller can attack, he will do
stubbornly refused to play..c5:d4, point can be secured, he will so. After 16 Qd2 Re8 is one of
which would have allowed White to have to deal with the knight on the insufficient replies, in view
open the diagonal cl-h6 for his d5 and the bishop on g7. of 17 Be5, and if 17.. Nc4, then
bishop with the recapture e3:d4 18 Qh6, and now both 18.. N:e5
(this was the mistake Kotov made and 18.. 6 would be met by19Ng5.
in his game with ~oleslavsky). I would have preferred 16 Bg5,
And, since White's bishop re- intending to re-position the bi-
mained on b3, he could not play Reshevsky plows unswervingly shop at h6: a bishop on that
b2-b3, so that his queen's bishop on with his plan of attacking square not infrequently gives
remained a constant source of the isolated d-pawn (this was rise to some surprising combina-
worry. At the present time, 7 Bd3 the other idea behind 8.. g6: tions.
and 7 Bc4 enjoy approximately to allow the bishop to develop
equal reputations. to g7); however, no other play-
er I know of would have allowed
White his next two moves. Cour-
age alone is insufficient for 17 Rel, with the same idea of
such a decision. playing Qdl-d2-h6, would have
Reshevsky possesses a unique been much more interesting:had
This was the next-to-last move style, concrete and unprejudiced. Reshevsky then taken the pawn at
before the second time control. Undeterred by the gaping holes b2, White would have the pretty
Black would have had enough to he creates at 6 and h6, hecloses reply 18 Bb4, and after 18..R:el+
win with after 55.. Kg5 56 Rag7+
Kf4 57 Ng2+ K:e4 58 R:h6 g3+, or
off the dangerous diagonal bl-h7,
and prepares pressure on the pawn f Why didn't the king walk out
of the check? Possibly because
19 Q:el, Black loses the knight
on a5 in view of the threatened
58.. Qf3+. Unfortunately, he at d4. Still, not every player of 15 Qd2, or the more forcing 20 Qe8+.
gave up his knight too late. could allow himself such a style, 15 N:d5 Q:b2 16 Bf6; more prob-
and not every player would enjoy ably because Black had already
it so. I shall note right here planned his 14.. B:f6 and
that, despite the draw Reshevsky 15.. Na5.
obtained in this game, he appears
to have been dissatisfied with
the opening, since in the second
DRAW half, against Szabo, he exchanged DRAW
knights on c3 in this position,
and then developed his bishop to - most unexpectedly.
62. Geller- Reshevsky
e7. A few moves later, however,
(Queen's Gambit)
he played ..g7-g6 again. Since White , of course, would have
Reshevsky did not employ this risked nothing by continuing his
1. d2-d4 Ng8-6 variation a third time, it would fight for the initiative. His
2. c2-c4 e7-e6 seem that the opening of the sec- pawn minus would have been vir-
3. Ngl-3 d7-d5 ond game was stlll less to his tually meaningless, in view of
4. Nbl-c3
5. c4:d5
c7-c5
Nf6:d5
1iking. Black's insecure king.
6. e2-e3 Nb8-c6 White had several tempting con-
7. Bfl-d3 ... tinuations at his disposal: for
Geller would undoubtedly have instance, I like playing the
White had a choice between answered 9.. Be7 with 10 h4. knight to e5 when the blackqueen
7 Bd3 and 7 Bc4. The former, is on c3. Also good is the sim-
aiming at quick development and ple 19 Bb4 Qc7 20 B:a5! Q:a5
a piece attack on the kingside, 21 Qcl, with fierce pressure. If
was in vogue twenty or thirty The sacrifice of a pawn after he wanted to force a draw, White
years ago, up until a game be- a knight exchange on c3 is known could always have done so later.
tween Botvinnik and Alekhine, in from many openings, especially At any rate, Black should have
which White played 7 Bc4 and won the Greco Attack of the Giuoco had to work a little for it.
a beautiful endgame. With 7 Bc4 Piano, which so delights the be- It is necessary to ascertain
White emphasizes that although ginner. In the present instance, the bishop's intentions: Black ..,.*.,.,.,.
.L-~-.'-J..'-.L

the black knight on d5 can con- taking the c-pawn with his queen cannot afford to leave it onf6. 63. ~myslov-Keres
(Queen's Gambit)
sider itself safe from pawns af- would soon have left Black hope- There is no time to trade off
ter the exchange on d4, it is lessly placed after 12 Bf6. White's knight, since if 15..Bg4
not safe from pieces, which 1. d2-d4 d7-d5
16 Qd2 B:f3? 17 Qh6 wins. 2. c2-c4 d5:c4
means it's not so well placed Ng8-6
3. Ngl-3
lack's pawn sacrifice would
appear to have achieved some-
thing: White now finds it dif-
ficult to complete the develop-
ment of his queenside, since any Now the rook also attacks a
move of the queen's bishop (ex- square in front of the pawn.
cept to b2 or g5, naturally) al-
A theoretical position which lows 22..Qa3, winning back the
occurs often in tournament play; C-pawn.
for example, Smyslov-Keres, Bu-
dapest 1950. Having put off The battle is lost. Black can
castling for so long, Black no longer withstand the pressure
ought to exercise his patience Anyway! This is a typical Smys-
lov move, combining the logical of White's pieces pushing the
a little longer in order to re- pawn forward to queen, and gives
move his queen from its danger- completion of his idea with ac-
curate calculation of its tact- up the exchange. The rest is a
ous opposition to the whiterook, matter of simple technique.
to c7 or b6. With 10.. Be7 and ical consequences. White disre-
11.. b4, Black enters a line gards his c-pawn in order to se-
which theory rightly considers cure the forced march of his d-
inferior for Black. On more than pawn. We should like to draw the
one occasion, Keres has over- reader's attention to the place-
thrown accepted opinion, infus- ment of White's bishops, laying
ing new ideas into old varia- down a crossfire in front ofthe
( Position after 14 d5) pawn.
tions: as examples, take his
games with ~oleslavsk~ and the idea behind the move 16 Nd2 BLACK RESIGNED
Stahlberg from this tournament. On 22..Qa3, White achieves a
becomes clear: White intends to
Here, however, he plays a var-
iation of low repute without
post this knight on e4 or c4,at-
decisive advantage in the follow-
ing manner: 23 Bc6 B:c6 24 dc ,.....
J.-L-v-
,k;k
tacking the square d6.
having any improvement prepared,
and his heedlessness lands him
Q:c3 25 Q:c3 B:c3 26 Racl and
27 R:c4. ,. ,. ,.
-L-L-I..I.J--(.
,\ ,\ 8.

in immediate difficulties." As the further course of the


game shows, it was here that Ker-
es realized the enormity of his
error; for the remainder of the
game, he displayed amazing re-
sourcefulness, doing literally
Of course! everything possible to prevent
The knight has no- White from capitalizing on his
where to go, so Black must enter passed pawn.
a line which leads by force to
the creation of a powerfulwhite
passed pawn.

( See diagram, next colurnn )

Beginning with this move, Smys-


lov carries out one idea with
iron determination and logic: the
mlnor pieces must clear a path
for the passed pawn. The knight
and the pair of bishops do not
defend the pawn; instead, they
attack the squares directly in
front of it. Seen in this light,

'1n 1959, Smyslovtriedoutanew


idea- lO..Bd6! -against Pet-
rosian, winning brilliantly.
ROUND TEN untary Bg5-cl. This game works
out rather like that, but with White has achieved his goal, in
64. Reshevsky-Smyslov White having spent an extratem-
(Nimzoindian Defense) part: now he induces 23.. 5, to
po (g2-g3) on his king's bishop's give himself queen checks along
development. Note how smoothly the diagonal h4-d8 (otherwise, the
Black's development proceeds . black king could hide on e7).
now. One cannot afford to ignore With the white king's bishop
the time element even in thequi-
An original decision. Smyslov
etest opening - how much more
so in the Sicilian!
fianchettoed and the black e-
pawn advanced to e5 in this var-
On 23.. Kg7, White would have iation, the moves 5.. a6 and
brings his queen into play, cre- the choice between 24 Re1 and 8.. b5 are not intended as part
ating long-diagonal pressure 24 Rd3, not to mention the sim- of a queenside attack (since
which curtails his opponent's ple 24 Qg4+ and 25 Q:b4. there s nothing there to attack),
activity somewhat. After lO..N:d5 but rather to gain space for the
there would be no sense forwhite
in winning a pawn with 11 N:d5 black pieces: .. Bb7 and ..Nb8-
B:d2 12 N:b6, since Black's po- d7-b6. From this point of view,
sition would be not one bit in- the bishop's deployment at e6
ferior after 12.. Q:b6 13 Q:d2 Here Black accepted the makes little sense. The bishop
B:f3 14 gf Nc6 15 Be4 Rfd8 later takes off for g4, and then
16 B:c6 Q:c6. However, White DRAW h5, as if reproaching Kotov for
What is wrong with White's making it idle aimlessly about
could continue 11 Qe2, followed position? His c-pawn is dead; White had offered with his23Qf3. the board, instead of taking up
by 12 Qe4, when Black wouldhave his queen's knight is just The continuation might have been
nothing better than to return waiting passively for the stroke its station immediately on the
his knight to 6. 25.. Be8 26 Qh6+ Ke7 27 Qh4+f6 long diagonal.
of a pawn from b4; having a 3/2 28 Q:b4+ Qc5 29 Q:c5+ R:c5
queenside pawn majority, White 30 R:d8 K:d8, and now 31 Rcl The ..b7-b5-b4 push makes sense
11. bc Q:d5 12. RelNbd7 13. Qe2 cannot make use of it, and is gives rise to the following cu-
Qh5 14. a4 a6 15. Rebl Rfd8 reduced to playing with hisking- only when Black has a pawn at e6
16. Be3 rious position: and White's knight is left with-
side pawns (which explains why out a good retreat. But here,
Allowing Black to exchangebi-
systems involving long castling
are so popular against the Sici- .. b5-b4 will send the knight to
shops, which vaporizes White's lian: the pawns go precisely the excellent square d5, where
initiative. However. 16 c4also
- - - where they are needed). Passive Black will be practically forced
leads nowhere, in view of play would soon involve White in to trade it off, extending the
16.. B:3 17 Q:f3 Q:f3 18 gf difficulties, so he sacrifices a diagonal of the fianchettoed
Ne5. White might have played pawn for the sake of the initia- white king's bishop. These are
15 c4, though; at least, he tive: for example, 14.. N:g4 all the drawbacks of developing
would have kept his two bishops. 15 Qg3 h5 16 Khl, when the cen- the bishop at e6.
ter of gravity has shifted to
the kingside. This variation
was easy to accept; however, I
also had to be ready for the
DRAW sharp counterattack Black ac-
tually undertook on the queenside.
More was expected from this
game, but the tournament lead- One general rule of chess stra-
ers contented themselves with tegy holds that a target point
extended reconnaissance, post- Compare this with a similar should be surrounded or isolated
poning their major clash until move of Geller's, made in his before it is attacked. 13 a5
the second half. game with Boleslavsky; then, as would have been good here, but
now, Black had no time for the Gligoric is strongly opposed to

65. Bronstein-Geller
preliminary 14.. a6. - which each side evaluated in
favor of the other. It would be
pushing pawns; he will decide to
play a4-a5 only several rounds
later, in Game 120 against Naj-
(Sicilian Defense) difficult to say with certainty
which was right. But Geller
dorf .
1. e2-e4 c7-c5
2. Ngl-f3 Nb8-c6 thought that 25.. Bb5, and not
3. d2-d4 c5 :d4 25.. Be8, was necessary; then
4. Nf3:d4 Ng8-6 a perpetual check would indeed
5. Nbl-c3 d7-d6 have ensued.
6. Bcl-g5 e7-e6 Had Black taken with the pawn, White has an extra queenside
7. g2-g3 ... White would have given perpetual pawn, but making a passed pawn
wlth it would appear to be the
check immediately. Here and later, 66. Gligoric- Kotov last thing on his mind; he wants
A new idea, and not a very White plays doggedly to open up to do only what is necessary on
good one, either. Keres often Black's king. (Sicilian Defense)
uses the deployment Qd3, Be2, 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 the queenside in order to free
Rdl, 0-0, and later even avol- himself to proceed with his at-
2. Ngl-f3 d 7-d6
tack on the kingside. This was attack plays itself" - we have grow careless, or commit some
the aim of the operation: 13Bd2, all read such formulas more than oversight in the complications
14 c3, and 15 B:c3. Black must once. However, today's high level to follow - although thesepose
play very alertly in this sit- of defensive technique makes it White wanted to make a second much more of a threat to White
uation - which he does, in
fact, postponing castling until
difficult to believe that a game
will, like a good horse, bring
use of the same technique for
extending his bishop's scope.
than to Black.
move 20 in order to blunt his its player to the desired end by For the present, this bishop is
opponent's initiative. itself. When one plays an exper- shut in behind the pawn; the
ienced master, who knows all of exchange of queens would give
the defensive tricks, sometimes both bishop and pawn a brilliant Courage based on careful cal-
the road to victory is a narrow future. Kotov, naturally, does culation.
The further course of thegame path of precise moves. not take the queen.
will give rise to the natural
question: shouldn't he have ta- Gligoric should have converted
ken the knight immediately? Pro- his accumulated advantages into
bably not. After 16.. B:e217Q:e2 a direct attack, beginning with A trap: if 22.. ef 23 B:f6, ig-
Be7, White, with the two bishops 18 g4, kicking back the unfortu- noring the in-between check
already in hand, would have had nate bishop before anything else; 23.. fg+ 24 Khl gf 25 Re7, when
no reason to undertake any sort after 18.. Bg6 19 4 would have the threats of 26 R:d7 and
of kingside operation. It would been considerably stronger. The 26 Q:d6 are hard to meet.
be a good idea then to remember threat of 20 5 would have forced
his a-pawn and prepare b2-b4 to 19.. 6; then there would follow
make it a passed one. 20 5 Bf7 21 Ng3, intending22 Qf3
and 23 h4, etc. This would lead Reculer our hieux avancer. A
to a sharp game, admittedly with few "naturbmoves , and already
some risk to White, whose king what was Gligoric's initiative
would not be left all that well is passing to Black. White has
protected; but certainly he would carved some holes in his ownpawn
also have been left with most of formation, and as soon as Black
the chances. The halfhearted plan gets the chance to play .. ef,
White actually selects sends his forcing the trade of the dark-
game down a blind alley. square bishops, all White's weak-
nesses will be laid bare.

At last, this bishop goes from


words to action, removing the last
of White's knights.
The reboufid. Black threatens
to win a pawn by 26.. Rc4, as The knight enters the fray
well as by capturing first on decisively.
4 and then on c3. If Whiie
After 18 4, the plan of cre- meets 26.. ef by taking the
ating a passed a-pawn lost much bishop on 6, then Black would
of its punch, since the ever- be perfectly justified in giv-
present threat of ..ef prevents ing check on g3 before recaptur-
White from devoting sufficient ing on 6 with the knight. Time pressure.
attention to the queen's wing.
White has secured a definite Here a combinative player would
advantage, and has made all of certainly have permitted himself
. his preparatory moves; now the 20 g4, threatening 21 g5, 22 Qg4,
time has come to solve themain and 23 5; if then 20.. h621 h4
problem of which road to choose is quite possible, and the threat White's entire advantage has After adjourning the game,
in order to get to the win. to advance the g-pawn once again evaporated with these one-movers.
forces Black's king to remain in WHITE RESIGNED
Sometimes it's enough merely the center. Taking the h-pawn
to play thz so-called "reason- would not be without risk for without continuing. Among other
able" and natural" moves: oc- Black either, in view of 22 fe, things, Black threatened 41..Nd2
cupy the open files with your opening up the center; in that Had the pawn been at a5, it and 42.. Nf3+ .
rooks, move them to the seventh event, even c lack's best move, would not have fallen so easily.
rank, pile up on a backwardpawn, 22.. 0-0, would leave him with a
create a protected passed pawn difficult position. White wants
and queen it... Many a game has to improve the placement of his 67. Taimanov-Boleslavsky
been won just that automatically: pieces a bit before embarking Black's position is as solid as (King's Indian)
"By means of simple/logical/ob- upon the pawn storm; but ~ o t o v , a cliffwall. In desperation,
v ~ o u smoves, White converts his as usual, defends superbly. White sacrifices the exchange,
advantage into a win''; "White's in hopes that his opponent will
ion: Bcl-e3-d4, trading bishops, Kg8 32. Be3 Rf8 33. Nel Bg4
Nd5, and the rooks to dl and cl
or else to dl and el. If he is White's game is not one bit
allowed to carry out all this, superior, despite his pawn plus.
sooner or later Black will be After the attack on his rook,
forced to advance the c-pawn, White ought to have accepted the
after which White can success- repetition with Rdl-d3-dl; leav-
Boleslavsky repeats the line fully assail the d-pawn. ing the d-file puts him into a
Najdorf so successfully employed cramped position.
against Taimanov (cf. Game 28, lack's counterplay is based,
Round Four), but on this occasion first and forsmost, on his bi- 34. Rcl Rd8 35. c5 Bf6 36. Kg2
Taimanov eschews 8 d5, attempt- shop-pair, which enable one some- Re8 37. Bf2 Bf5 38. Kf3h5 39.h4
ing instead to gain the upper times to hold a draw even in a Bg4+ 40. Kg3 Bf5 41. Nf3 Re2
hand by means of 8 Be3. However, pawn-down endgame; and secondly,
this move is so inoffensive as on the shaky status of the e- DRAW
to place White in the defender's pawn, since its defender will
position. Further investigation have to reckon with the pawn on
of this system has shown that 84. 68. Najdorf-Stahlberg
by playing 8.. Re$, Black can
practically force a whole series Let us watch now as the two (Queen's Gambit)
of exchanges, thereby solving plans collide, and what comes 1. d2-d4 Ng8-6
his defensive problem (cf. Game of it. 2. c2-c4 e7-e6
107, Reshevsky - Najdorf). When A pretty tactical stroke: on 3. Nbl-c3 d7-d5
this game was played, that im- 19.. gf 20 R:f3 R:f3 21 gf c6 4. Bcl-g5 Bf8-e7
provement had not yet been dis- 22 Nc7 Rb8 23 B:a7 snares the 5. e2-e3 Nb8-d7
covered. After 8.. Ng4 9 Bg5, rook; the same idea also works 6. Ngl-3 0-0
Black could play 9.. Bf6, of- White's plan requires 16 Rfdl, in the variation 19.. a6 20 fg 7. Ral-cl c7-c6
fering to trade off the dark- in order to threaten 17 Bd4, and R:fl+ 21 R:fl c6 22 Nc7, etc. 8. Bfl-d3 d5:c4
square bishops; after the move so as to be able to meet 16..Be6 And if 21.. B:g4 22 N:c7 Rc8, 9. Bd3:c4 Nf6-d5
he actually plays, White car- 17 Q:b7 B:c4 with 18 Q:c7.Black Black is already a pawn down, 10. Bg5:e7 Qd8 :e7
ries out a plan which secures would probably have replied and still saddled with the
him control of d5 and a defi- 16.. Qf7, when 17 Bd4 Q:d5 18 N:d5 weakness at d6. The opening is chiefly of int-
nite advantage. So Black's would have led to something re- erest for its history. It saw a
8.. Ng4 maneuver must be con- sembling the desired position for Black therefore hastens to lot of use in the Alekhine - Ca-
sidered not wholly satisfactory, White which we were discussing. drive the knight out of d5while pablanca World Championshipmatch,
inasmuch as he intends to con- his rook is still protectingthe wheremost ofthe gamesweredrawn
tinue with 9.. 6; the same 18 cd was also possible, with c7 square, White's dream of net- after some positional sparring;
8.. Ng4 would be much better if strong pressure on the c-file. ting the black queen's rook van- in any event, Black was unable to
Black played it in conjunction ishes like smoke, and the move win even one. Such biteless de-
with 9.. Bf6. 19 3 turns out to be useless. fenses are out of fashion nowa-
days. White's next move was an
It's almost sinful to criticize Alekhine invention, to which Ca-
a move that leads practically by pablanca's usual reply was
force to the win of a good pawn, 11.. N5f6. Stahlberg plays an
Sometimes, in positions like but it would appear that here, immediate 11.. e5, which fails
this, 10.. 5 is not too bad. too, White might well have held to ease Black's defense, but does
Boleslavsky selected the text, to the positional course with allow White to avoid the exchange
however, and it is hard to say 19 Rfdl, trading bishops on d4 of queens he would have to permit
whether he thought 10.. ed a and maintaining a powerful bind. with 11.. N5f6 12 Ng3 Qb4+.
better move or simply wished to
obtain some variety

Naturally White is not tempted


by the win of a pawn: 12 de N:e5
13 B:d5 N:f3+ 14 gf cd 15 Q:d5,
( See diagram, next column ) Boleslavsky decides to give up since Black would then be able
the a-pawn in order to secure the to develop almost all of his re-
trade of his weak d-pawn for maining pieces with tempo on the
White's center pawn. With Black's white queen. Nor would 12 ~ : d 5 c d
bishop- air, this accomplishment 13 Nc3 amount to anything, in
Now White has removed one of ( Position after 13 Qd5+ ) practically guarantees him the view of 13.. e4, with a good game
Black's pawns from the center, draw. for Black (14 N:d5? Qd6).
at the cost of ceding Black the
bishop-pair. White plans to 24. 4 Bc3 25. R:d6 R:e4 26.B:a7
strengthen his position in ap- Bg4 27. Rd3 Bf6 28. Re3 R:e3
proximately the following fash- 29. N:e3 Bh3 30. Rdl Be7 31. Ng2
A curious picture. Black has ond time, then a4, and then b4 Now the e-pawn's road is clear.
absolutely no intention of ever after the bishop retreats,grad-
Here and later, Stahlberg holds playing .. g7-g6, even though
that would relieve him of many
ually securing more and more
to his usual tactic (especially space. ( ~ important
n peculiar-
when playing lack) of wholesale of his later difficulties. In ity o f this position is that
exchanges, figuring that this will the succeeding phase of the after f4-5 the square e5 is
secure him a draw sooner or later; game, Black saddles himself with not weakened, thanks to the
if any sort of concrete threat a- a number of weaknesses, advanc- presence of a second f-pawn,
rises, he trusts his experience ing nearly every pawn but the which prevents Black from es-
and tactical abilities to show one he should have. tablishing his knight on e5.)
him a way out. However, if Stahl- But this plan would still have Najdorf is cautious: 45.. b4
berg intended to trade queens,he met a lot of resistance from and 46.. c3 was the threat. For
ought to have left himself the his opponent; now, however, example, 45 Ral b4 46 Ra8+ Ke7
bishop, since the white bishop White has gradually accumu- 28.. f6?, this terrible and 47 Rg8 c3 48 R:g7+ Kd8 49 R:c7
will be superior to the black lated an uncommon store of posi- completely unnecessary weaken- cb 50 Ba2 K:c7.
knight in any minor-piece ending- tional capital: his king is cen- ing of the e6 square, soon fol-
though not sufficiently better to tralized, his rook is on the lowed by a second, 29.. h6
forge a win from that factor al- fourth rank, where it will at- (which weakens g6), consider-
one, of course. Since the black tack lack 's pawns, the bishop ably eases hlite's task.
bishop will disappear in another controls important squares, and
half-move, however, this was not the knight is actively placed
the time to trade queens. 16..Rad8 too. As before, Stahlberg re- A nicely calculated, conclu-
17 Rfdl Rfe8 was natural: nothing lies on the inner defensive sive combination.
really threatens Black, and it is strength of his position, and An excellent move! Having done
quite likely that White would then on his ability to repel any dan- its work on the fourth rank, the
have tried for the trade ofqueens ger by tactical means, while rook now goes to the fifth,
himself by, for example, 18 Nf5 Najdorf breaks down the black where it restricts Black'spawns
Qg5+ 19 Qg4, when Black couldplay position with a steady alterna- to complete passivity. Whitebe- If 49.. Rc5, then 50 Ra7+Kf8
19.. Q:g4+, thereby returning the tion of lefts and rights. gins to occupy more space byad- 51 Rf7+ Ke8 52 Be6 fe 53 R:g7
g-pawn to its original file. vancing pawns and bringing up Nd4 54 Kb4 N:e6 55 fe, with an
his king. easily won rook ending.
Nor should this exchange of Black enters the other branch
knights be counted an achieve- of the combination.
ment for Black: his one remain-
ing knight cannot hope to pose
He should have returned the White any serious threats, while
knight to d5; after 20 e4 he two knights working together 33 5 suggests itself.
could occupy 4. might at least have driven the
white bishop from b3, thereby
easing the pressure on d5,which
grows more and more acute with After White's last inaccuracy,
every exchange. So here too, he had to play 33.. f5! 34 h4
24.. g6 ought to have been h5 35 Rgl Kf6.
played.

Seeing now that he stands on


the very brink of disaster,
Black wants to drive off the
It's amazing, how nearlyright bishop to give his knight a bit
Stahlbergts rather careless meL of air, but his decision comes
thod of play is. This is appa- too late.
rent from the fact that, despite
a string of inaccurate, and some
just plain bad, moves, lack's
game, positionally speaking,was
still not completely lost. True, Why wait until you're chased?
his choices were already lim- Now he threatens 38 Be4, and
ited: neither 28.. Rd7 nor the variations 37.. c4 38 Be4
28.. Nd6 was any good, but af- Rb6 39 b3!, and38.. Rc5 39 b4
ter 28.. Nf6 he could stillhave favor White.
held things together. White
would have continued in the same
fashion, improving his position
with e4, 4-5, then f4 a sec-
BLACK RESIGNED -
a beautiful game from Najdorf.
69. Petrosian-Euwe Black's heedlessness has brought White has not maneuvered very unpleasant in time pressure),
(Reti Opening) him into difficulties, although energetically, and Black has suc- threatening a perpetual check
they are not yet insuperable. He ceeded in improving the place- (39 B:f7 Qel+, and 40 Kd3 is
needs to develop his queen's
knight and to find a good spot
ment of his pieces - without,
however, solving his biggest
out in view of 40.. Qbl+!).
for the queen: a task best per- headache: the bishop is as much
formed by ..c6, .. Qc7 and..Nd7.
Bringing the knight to c7 looks
out of the picture as ever.This
makes White careless; he has
A loss of time. In such posi- artificial, and it is difficult completely forgotten to look af-
tions, it is better to focus even to guess what benefit Dr. ter his e-pawn, and here was 37.. Qh8 holds out no hope at
one's attention on piece devel- Euwe thought he would derive lack's chance to punish him. all: White could penetrate either
opment, leaving the bishop to therefrom. Euwe could practically have via d6 or through the queenside;
fend for itself. If White pres- equalized by 27.. Qa8, threaten- or else he could win the f-pawn
ses to exchange it off on g6, I 13. a2-a3 c7-c6 ing to invade via a2. So the by 38 g5.
believe this can only improve 14. Ral-dl Qd8-c8 restrained 26 f3!, instead of
lack's position. 15. c2-c4 Na6-c7 26 Bfl and 27 4, was the move
16. Qel-c3 ... to keep the h7-bishop's horlzons
limited.
Now White has a clear advan-
tage. All six of Black's pieces m e way to free the bishop
A fine move, which trains the stand passively, and routine ex- from its kingside incarcera-
queen's fire on both black bi-
shops: now e2-e4 and b2-b4 are
changes on the d-file will not
ease his situation, since the
tion would be
.. .. 7-6 and
e6-e5, allowing the bishop
both threats. White's system fewer pieces remain on the board, to exit via g8. It is this plan
of development is certainly not the more forcefully will the en- which Black intends to carry
as harmless as it might seem to tombed h7-bishop's absence from out now, in fact, and White
be (cf. the second-half game the fray be felt. The choice of must play actively in order to
Smyslov - Euwe). the plan for the capitalization keep the upper hand. The imrned-
of White's advantage is a matter iate threat was 27.. Nd4, hit-
for individual taste; already, ting the queen at c2 and cut-
more than one way is possible. ting off the queen's bishop from
One good idea is 16 c5, followed
by bringing the knight via c4 to
the knight on e5 - this ex-
plains White's last move. Now
Black's last two moves seem d6. Black could have brought about
inconsistent to me. By his 10th a trade of queens with 27..Nd4
move, Black ought to have come
up with some sort of plan. The
16.
17.
...
Nf3-e5
Be7-6
Rf 8-d8
28 Qdl Nb5, as the white queen
cannot simultaneously guard the
first question to be decided is 18. Bg2-3 ... e-pawn and escape from the
whether he is going to retain knight. White would therefore
his queen's bishop or trade it White waits. 18 Qcl, followed have continued 29 Q:d8+ B:d8,
off. If it is to be traded,then by c4-c5, was more active. Why keeping somewhat the better
the bishop, not the knight, ought take over an open file, if one ending: 30 Bd3 Kf8 31 Kf2 6
to have taken on e4: it will now is not going to use it to pene- 32 Nc4 Ke7 33 Ke3, and not The adjourned position. The
be a long time before this bi- trate the enemy position? While only does Black get no chance winning idea is based on some
shop can capture anything more the d-file is under White's con- to push his e-pawn, he must beautiful ectio-variations where
substantial than a pawn. And if trol, it ought to be used to get now worry about whether White one bishop defends against the
it is not to be traded (which, the white knight to d6. will push his. So Black chooses perpetual check.
to judge from Black's fifthmove, to fight with queens.
is indeed his intention), then 18. Nc7-e8
he ought to have retreated it to 19. ~dild8 Qc8:d8
h7 on the previous move, keeping 20. Rfl-dl Qd8-c7
the pawn tension in the center 21. c4-c5 a7-a5
and restricting the mobility of
even of his c-pawn - -
White's d- and e-pawns and
somewhat.
But if, after 9 N:e4, the dark-
Black opens the a-file, and
abandons it forthwith: 23.. Rd8.
If that was what he intended,
square bishop were to retreat to then the a-pawn would have been
e7, then after 10 Nh4! Black better left on a7, keeping the On 48.. Qc4+, the king es-
would still be forced to part
with one of his bishops, since
possibility of playing ..
b7-b6.
I > Petrosian continues his as-
capes the checks by 49 Kb2Qd4+
50 Bc3 Qf2+ 51 Ka3. But now
10.. Bh7 would be impossible in
view of 11 N:f6+ and 12 B:b7.
22.
23.
24.
Bf3-g2
a3:b4
Rdl:d8
a5 :b4
Ra8-d8
Qc7:d8
I sault on 7. The hasty 35 5
(35.. ef? 36 ef+ gf 37 Q:f5)
would have been a-distraction:
White has won a tempo for the im-
portant 49 h5, fixing the h-
pawn on a dark square. The queen
10. d3:e4 Bf5-h7 25. Qc3-c2 Ne8-c7 35.. fe 36 fe Nd4, and 37 Qh7 begins a new series of checks
11. b2-b4 Bc5-e7 26. Bg2-1 Nc7-b5
12. Bcl-b2 Nb8-a6 27. 2-4 ... N:e6 38 B:e6 seems to be win-
ning, but Black has the sur-
from the other side, but here
too, the bishop shelters the
prise reply 38.. Qdl (very king.
This is stronger, in my opin- shall now proceed to elucidate. Boleslavsky, I am sure he will
ion, than 9.. Be7, as Szabo cross swords with Estrin's line
played against Gligoric. Indeed,
there can't be very many opening
For many years
sig - - since Fleis-
Mackenzie, Vienna 1882, to
as well, sooner or later.
variations in which Black suc-
ceeds in developing all of his
be exact - 15 cd 4 16 3 Ng3
was considered to be unequivo-
~ e t ' s get back to the game.
minor pieces so quickly, to such cally in Black's favor, since
By forking bishoy and pawn, active positions! after 17 fg hg, none could see
White forces Black s queen to a way to prevent the black
return to 6, after which he From here on, the knight on e4 queen from getting to h2. Cer-
carries out the decisive maneu- draws battle like a magnet. It ap-
ver: exchanging queens and win- tainly, passive defense allows
pears firmly entrenched at present; Black's attack to grow very
ning the h-pawn. if it should chance to be driven fierce in a very short time:
away, however, Black's entire game for example, 18 Be3 Qh4 19 Re1
will totter. Qh2+ 20 Kfl Bh3.
Then Boleslavsky's painstak-
ing investigations forced are-
evaluation of the position. In
After 10 Qd3 Ne7 11 Be3 Bf5!, his well-known games with Bot-
or simply 10.. 0-0 11 Be3 5, vinnik and Ragozin, he showed
Black also stands well. that the continuation 18 Qd3
Bf5 19 Q:f5 R:f5 20 B:f5 ren-
BLACK RESIGNED ders the queen's sortie harm-
less, since after 20.. Qh4
,. ,. ,\
J..?..l..!.-L-1.
,\ 8 , ,\
An interesting variation, in
21 Bh3 Q:d4+ 22 Khl Q:e523 Bd2,
White's pieces set up a combined
70. Averbakh-Szabo which the knight is sacrificed at pressure against the black king
(Ruy Lopez) 2, flared, meteor-like, for a which occupies the queen suffi-
moment, and then disappeared. ciently to prevent it from sup-
From the fifth move until its Botvinnik used it against Smys-
conclusion, this game is a theo- porting the advance of lack's
lov in the 1943 Moscow Champion- pawns.
retical duel between two excel- ship, and a very lively game re- The piece sacrifice 17.. Ng3
lently prepared and expert advo- sulted. Since then, however, no After that it was Black who would clearly have no point here
cates of the Open Defense to the one has come forward who has been began to avoid this variation, (18 hg fg 19 Qd3 Bf5 20 Q:f5 R:f5
Ruy Lopez. willing to repeat the experiment 21 B:f5 Qh4 22 Bh3, and Black
until the Moscow master Yakov
in a game of any importance. Estrin came forward to suggest doesn't even have the queencheck
1. e2-e4 e7-e5 at d4), which is why the whole
2. Ngl-f3 Nb8-c6 that Black play, instead of
3. Bfl-b5 a7-a6 23.. Q:b2 (~otvinnik) or23..c5 variation, up to and including
4. Bb5-a4 Ng8-6 (~a~ozin),an immediate ..d5-d4- 17.. Ng5, has been considered un-
12 ef was also possible; in d3. With his analyses, some of favorable for Black. Szabo plays
5. 0-0 Nf6:e4 that event, the recapture on 6 them worked out to the thir- the move theory has condemned any
6. d2-d4 b7-b5 would have forced Black's knight tieth move, Estrin won a num-
7. Ba4-b3 d7-d5 way, and since he shows that the
to leave its outpost at e4,when ber of pretty games by corres- knight does not really stand SO
8. d4:e5 Bc8-e6 White could have continued with
9. c2-c3 Bf8-c5 pondence, achieving what, in badly on g5, he opens, if not a
13 Nb3 Bb6 14 Nbd4, or 14 Ng5, all probability, even he had new page, then at least a new
leading to a game of livelypiece not expected: this chameleon- paragraph in the opening handbook
play. Averbakh, however, hopes to variation began to be avoided
get more out of the position by by both White and Black!
retaining the pawn on e5 and
driving out the knight with 2-3. (A final note: it would be Black would like very much to
Then, too, 12.. N:f6 is not the naive to try to keep White's get the knight to e6, butWhite
only move: 12.. N:f2 is still ' queen from h7 with 18.. g6, does not allow him the opportun-
possible. since the queen could st111 ity: 18.. Bf5 19 B:f5 ~ : f 5 2 0ab
reach h2 for defensive purposes ab 21 R:a8 Q:a8 22 Qd3 forks b5
from h6. ) and 5.
The bishop retreats a bit fur- That's a sketch of the rea-
ther, so as not to give White an sons why Averbakh recaptured on
additional tempo for his a2-a4-a5. d4 with the queen instead of Black is now all set to equal-
the pawn. That's how matters ize completely with ..
Bf5, for
stand today - how will they instance: 19 a5 Bf5 20 B:f4 B:c2
appear tomorrow? For the present, 21 B:g5 Q:g5 22 Q:c2 Q:e5.
the search(White's, now) continues.
Why not the natural 15 cd?
Some Czech players have been
Thereby hangs a tale which we analyzing 17 Rf2, instead of
capturing the knight. Knowing The a- and b-pawns have greeted
and passed, one another, and ROUND ELEVEN sort of endgame. Euwe's planis
the game's culminating moment certainly unusual, to say the
has almost passed by unnoticed 71. Euwe-Averbakh least. The problem is not so
as well. A natural thought was (Nimzoindian Defense) much the bishop's retreat tobl,
19 cb cb 20 Qd4; but on 19 cb Even with the middlegame at since it remains on the attack-
there comes 19..c4 20 Qd4 Bf5, This is attack and defense at full boil, a master must al- ing diagonal, but that on the
and the defenseless f-pawn can- their finest. By defending the ways be thinking about the previous move he could have
not be taken safely by either pawn at e5, White threatens to endgame. The outcome ot many played his'rook to cl. However,
queen or bishop, while the at- throw back the black pieces by games, even some in which the Euwe thought that Black would
tempt to pick off the d-pawn 25 Bel. Szabo, by means of a king barely escaped direct be unable to keep the rook im-
also ends badly for White. Here last-ditch rook sacrifice, suc- threats and a seemingly inev- prisoned at al, so he was un-
are the variations: ceeds in forcing a perpetual itable catastrophe, has only willing to waste the tempo re-
check. The attempt to keep his been decided deep in theend- quired to move it.
attack going with 24..Re6 would game. This game was typical
have cost him the game in view from that standpoint, but a
b) 21 Q:f4 Nh3+ 22 gh B:c2, and of the retort 25 B:f4. rarity nonetheless. Averbakh
the white king's position is chose a plan leading to the
unsafe, creation of a queensidepassed
pawn. Knowing that a passed
c) 21 B:f5 R:f5 22 Rdl Ne6 pawn generally increases in
23 Q:d5 Qb6+ 24 Khl Rd8, and value as the number of pieces
Black wins, thanks to his pawn decreases, Averbakh resigned
on c4, which prevents White from DRAW himself to the temporary dis-
getting his queen back to b3. comforts of ~uwe's frontalas-
Averbakh was excellently pre- sault, concluding the gamn
Averbakh saw through Szabo's pared, but failed to catch his with an elegant knight sac-
elegant combination; not want- Hungarian opponent napping: both rifice in precisely the sec-
ing the knight on e6, however, players proved worthy of each tor where the passed b-pawn
he invited Black to sacrifice other. had been awaiting its hour.
it, although this exposed him
to some degree of risk.

Averbakh prepares to counter-


attack with ..f5, in order to
By developing his bishop to open some lines, trade a few
the long diagonal, White pro- pieces, and get closer to an
voked 12.. c4. This makes his endgame.
intended push of the e-pawn
much stronger, si.nce that pawn
would no longer need to guard
d4. Averbakh is willing to
meet him halfway, since hein-
tends a rapid advance of his 24 e5 looks too risky:getting
queenside pawn majority. the queen's rook out would be
much more difficult then.

I would rather have pushed


the e-pawn at once. The reserve rook now speeds
to the battlefront, but it might
better have waited until after
26 Re5, tying Black to the de-
fense of the d-pawn and consid-
erably retarding his progress
This practically guarantees towards the endgame.
Averbakh an advantage in any
72. Stahlberg-Petrosian
(King's Indian) everything.
Beautiful sacrifices are not Disappointed at the failure of 1. d2-d4 Ng8-6
the only moves which deserve his original intention, to bring 2. c2-c4 g7-g6
exclamation marks; such marks his knight to e6, Euwe insists on 3. g2-g3 Bf8-g7
should also be placed after having it his way, and starts to 4. Bfl-g2 0-0
moves which are major links push pawns, in hopes of regaining 5. Nbl-c3 d7-d6
in a consistent strategicplan. control of e6 and bringing the 6. Nrrl-f3 Nb8-d7 With only the heavy pieces
The tactical justification of knight there after all. left, sometimes one pawn is not
26.. Qd8 is that it would be enough to win with. From here
dangerous for White to avoid No two ways about it: White on, Stahlberg offers his young
the trade, as this would allow does have a bad endgame. Howev- opponent a stubborn but boot-
lack's queen a very profit- er, for the moment the position less resistance.
able excursion to h4. is of a closed nature, and Black
must search for a spot to break
through. White should play his
knight to d2 or bl, and leave The first step towards dis-
his g-pawn at g3. By starting aster. Having exchanged off his
Euwe was roundly criticized now, White could get this plan darksquare bishop, White should
for this move, and later he carried out just as Black gets have redoubled his concern for
himself recommended 28 Re6;but set up for the queenside break- the vital d4 square; instead,
- -
it is quite evident that he had through: 32 Nf4 Rf7 (otherwise he weakens it strange asthat
already formulated his plan of 33 Ne6) 33 g3 Nd6 34 Ng2 Nb5 may sound with 13 a3, which
going into a minor-piece end- 35 Ne3 Ke6 36 Nfl Nc8 37 Nd2. gives the black knight a bridge
game and maneuvering the knight to transfer itself from c5 via
via 4 and e6 to c5, followed b3 to d4. But that's still only
by the capture of the a-pawn. half a problem. Black had the choice of several
After 28 Re6, however, the ways to exploit his advantage;
rooks would also have been one would be using the a-file,
traded off eventually, with by means of ..
Ra8-a5-c5, topre-
pretty much the same endgame
resulting.
pare .. b5. Petrosian has a dif-
ferent scheme: to open up the
kingside and saddle his opponent
with isolated f- and h-pawns, and
then to localize White's attempt
at counterplay on the queenside,
And now the second rook must leaving him with two more iso-
be exchanged as well, else the lated pawns.
bishop is lost.

On any other move, including Taking the f-pawn would have


31 Bcl, Black would have re- allowed White counterchances: for
plied 31.. Ne3, winning at once. exam~le. 34.. 0:f3+ 35 Rg3 Qf5+

Each side has com leted its


preparations: WhiteP s knight is
ready to go to e6, and Black -
The second step, and the fatal 39.. g5 meets a curious rebut-
one. Although the comrr.entators tal: 40 Qc2+ Kh8 41 hg R:g5
called this an unbelievable ov- 42 R:g5 Q:g5 43 Ra8+ Kg7 44Qg2.
Averbakh sacrifices his knight ersight, it may be understood
to clear the road for his pawns. as the conclusion to the plan
A most elegant combination. begun with his 11th move. In
fact, were it not for the pawn
White will lose after the ex-
change of bishops, he wouldn't
have all that bad a position -
WHITE RESIGNED but that lewere it not'' spoils
This costs White one more pawn, "NO." White. ..d5-d4 is not bad in will spend the rest of the game
but his game was getting very the Reti, for example, after trying to drum up counterplay on
difficult to defend anyway, a- "Does that mean you played it to 1 Nf3 d5 2 c4, but there the the queenside - against what?
gainst the threat of 45.. Qe7. win?" e-pawn is still on e7, andmay Soon, White will move out his en-
later go to e5 in one step. In tire herd of pieces from the area
45... R:h4+ 46. K:h4 Qf4+ "Mrm .. . Partly." this game, a lively skirmish to the left and below the diagona
47. Kh3 Q:g5 48. R:c7+ Kh6 immediately erupts around the pawn-chains; then, after the ex-
49. Rc2Rf8 50. Rg2Qf6 51. Qe3+ "tkybe you played it to lose?!" far-advanced black pawn. change of rooks (which Black ini-
Qf4 52. Re2 g5 53. Q:f4 R:f4 tiates), the question of who con-
54. Rc2 R:f3+ 55. Kg2 Rb3 56. Rc6 "I played the move which met trols these squares will cease to
g4 57. R:d6+ Kg5 58. Re6 R:b4 the needs of the position." be of any importance whatever. If
59. R:e5+Kh460.K2 g3+61.Kf3 The idea of using b2-b4 as Black does not exchange rooks,
Rb3+ 62. Ke2 Rb2+ 63. Kfl Rf2+ a means of fighting for the however, White will seize the e-
64. Kg1 Rd2 While 1 will not swear to the d4 square is perhaps reminis- file.
literal accuracy of the entire cent of the Evans Gambit. In
WHITE RESIGNED dialogue, I would like to draw this position, however, the
the reader's attention to this b-pawn cannot be taken: 5..B:b4?
last retort, which so typifies 6 Qa4+ Nc6 7 Ne5 Be7 8 N:c6,
~oleslavsky's thinking. and if 8..Bd7 9 N:d8 B:a4
73. Boleslavsky-Najdorf 10 N:b7, and White has an extra
(King's Indian) piece.
The exclamation mark is not
for any one move, but for the
whole of White's original plan,
which is: to remove every single
Black's concern over the fate one of his pieces from the queen-
of the d-pawn impels him to side, and set up an attack on
spend a tempo in order to in- the king, making use of the numer
duce 8 b5, thus taking the ical superiority he enjoys there,
With his ship all fitted out pressure off the c-pawn and due to the absence from that sec-
for a long voyage, White unex- strengthening his central d- tor of one black knight.
pectedly heads for a quietback- pawn.
water. A contemporary openlng
does permit this sort of treat-
ment, however: White seeks a
small but secure advantage from Two of lack's pawns stand on
his control of the d5 square. the same color squares as his A strategic technique of which
Now we shall see a curious pro- bishop: can White turn this mic- Taimanov makes frequent use: leav-
cession: knight, pawn, bishop, roscopic advantage to account? That wasn't the right pawn. ing his king in its keep, under
and finally the second knight, Make the move 11.. c5:d4 on the protection of his two bishops
all pass through this same your board, instead of ll..e5:d4 he undertakes the decisive action
square, to be coolly removed as played, and you can see how on the queenside. The only reason
by Najdorf. An endgame results Black obtains a mobile center this technique fails him in this
in which White still has hopes and a lengthy diagonal for his instance is that there he will
for an advantage, based on his darksquare bishoy. After the find absolutely nothing and no
more active bishop, but these text move, Black s center pawns one to attack.
hopes go unrealized. are dead, and his bishop's pow-
ers much reduced.
How is it that Boleslavsky,
who relishes a complex game,
could have chosen such a biteless (See diagram, following page)
line? Presumably, since he plays
the Black side of the King's In- DRAW It was time to start thinking
dian so frequently himself, he about bringing his knight back
was unwilling to divulge his own home: 13.. Qc7, followed by ..b6
views on the White side of one 74. Kotov-Taimanov and . .Nb7. Preparing to move out the last
of the major variations. of the troops.
(Reti Opening) More than one game has been
Soon after the position had 1. c2-c4 Ng8-6 lost due to the over-optimistic
simplified, Najdorf, who was 2. g2-g3 e7-e6 assessment of one's own position:
not at all averse to a draw, 3. Bf 1-g2 d7-d5 such is the mistake Taimanov
asked his opponent: 4. Ngl-3 d5-d4 makes here. For the moment, the
chances are about even. It would
"Djd you play that move for a This sort of aggression so be hard to single out any spec- 27.. Nb7 would have been high-
draw? ' early in the game cannot hurt ific White advantage, but, in ly dangerous: for instance,
any event, Black has none- Black 28 N:h6+ gh 29 B:h6 B:h6 30Q:h6,
be spirited away to the queen- to 4, halting White's attack.
side, robbing Black's pawnpress 7.. Nh5 also prepares 8.. 5:
..f7-5-4 of much of its ef- all logical enough, but no more
fect by rendering it largely than that.
pointless.
Meanwhile, White has a wider
choice of strategic plans. With
the center closed, he may at- Black closes the game in the
tack on the kingside with g4, only sector where he had any
h4 and h4-h5 etc., or try for chance to stir up some activity
a queenside break by leading
away from his own king with a
for his pieces - wvy? The answer
comes from Gligoric s next two
pawn attack. Before deciding on moves, but it's hardly a satis-
an active plan, both White and factory one. Black wants to trade
Black engage in a lengthy war off the darksquare bishops with
of maneuver, of the sort that ..Bg7-6-h4, but he is unable to
occurs in many contemporary achieve this. It is possible that
grandmaster games. Generally on 9.. Nbd7 or 9.. Qe8, as Geller
speaking, the ideas behind such himself usually plays for Black,
play are: to find the best pos- Gligoric was afraid of 10 ef gf
sible positions for one's pieces, 11 g4; in that event, he should
to restrict the opponent's ini- continue 11.. fg 12 fg Nf4. White
( Position after 23 B:e4 ) tiative, to trade off one's own may get open diagonals, but they
"bad" bishop for the enemy's will not be easily occupied, and
and now if 30.. Nd6, then The concluding phase of this "good" one, and finally, topre- Black will get his chances too.
31 Bh7+ Kh8 32 Bf5+ Kg8 33 Qh7+ game testifies to the collapse pare a break. In the present He who plays the King's Indian
Kf8 34 B:e6 Qal+ 35 Kg2 fe of Black's plan and the triumph game, for example, up until the must be prepared for dangerous
36 Qc7, winning the pawn on b6. of White's strategy. The knight 42nd move only one piece and variations. With his 9.. f4,Black
30.. Nd8 obviously fails to wanders forlornly about thecor- one pawn had been exchanged. At resigns himself to having less
31 Qg5+, and 30.. Qal+ 31 Kg2 ner of the board, as if trying that moment, however, the game say in the game.
Na5 32 Bh7+ Kh8 33 Bf5+ Kg8 to perform the well-known night's entered its combinative phase,
34 B:e6 fe 35 Q:e6+ and 36 Q:b6 Tour, while White methodically and the reader who has followed
is also bad for Black. Withthe increases the pressure on the the phase preceding that with
knight on b3 now, the sacrifice black king's position. diligent attention will be rich-
at h6 would lead only to a per- ly rewarded for his pains. He
petual check, since the black will see sacrifices, counter- With a pawn chain entirely on
queen could rejoin the defense sacrifices, feints and kingside light squares, Geller naturally
via d7. A blunder, of course, but attacks - in a word, all the does not intend to be deprived
Black was lost in any event. trappings of a lively game. of his darksquare bishop. True,
the rook is shut in, but it takes
two black pieces (the knight on
The continuation of his mis- h5 and the bishop 01-h4) to keep
taken plan. Black wants to at- BLACK RESIGNED it in. (Note that 11.. Bh4 is
tack the base of White's pawn made possible by the combination
chain at d3 from the rear, but This is not the only plan for 12 g3 fg 13 hg R:f3).
he also has a weak pawn at b6, Black. He might also play 7..c6,
which is easier to assail, be- 75. Geller-Gligoric attempting to undermine the cen-
ing further removed from its (King's Indian) ter, or 7.. a5, to bring a knight
own pieces. In fact, this fac- 1. d2-d4 Ng8-6 to c5; but as Makogonov showed
tor has alreadv forced Black 2. c2-c4 g7-g6 in his day, White's attack on
to avoid the &change of queens: 3. Nbl-c3 Bf8-g7 the kingside moves very swiftly.
28.. Qal 29 Q:al N:al 30 Bc7, 4. e2-e4 d7-d6 If Black prepares ..f5 by drop-
and the black pawn chain crum-
bles.
5. 2-3 ... ping his knight back to e8, then
8 g4 sometimes follows, giving
Gligoric considers his posi-
tion strong enough to withstand
Samisch's Variation is the White the opportunity to open a siege, but against passive play
King's ~ndian's fierce foe. Sur- the g-file for his rooks with by Black, sooner or later White
rounded by his g2-3-e4-d5-c4 a later g4:f5. will find a way to break through.
palisade, White calmly develops 16.. c5 was worth a thought here,
his pieces on the squares left Black's choice in this game is in order to hem in the bishop on
open, while Black is unable even the end product of a battle of gl and perhaps give his own bi-
to dream of breaking in the cen- ideas of many years' duration. shop an exit via d8. White would
ter, and must place all his hopes From h5, the knight mechanical- most likely have taken assant,
( See diagram, next column ) in a wing attack. Here too, how- ly prevents h4-h5, which conse- leading to a livelier game!
ever, life is no bowl of cherries, quently renders the push h2-h4
since White's king, which is the at least temporarily useless; 17. Bd3-c2 Qd8-e8
chief target of his assault, will and on 8 g4, then knight goes
White wanted to carry out the break at c5, but that's not nec- How pitiful lack's piecesap-
exchanging maneuver 18 Ba4, much essary any longer, since its Dnr- peared, cooped up in the narrow
like lack's attempt with ll..Bh4, pose
line
-
- to open an attacking
has already been attained
space behind their pawn chain;
and how his whole position be-
but Gligoric does not allow it.
by other means; so he turns to an gins to sparkle, once his pawns
attack on the c- and b-pawns. The are set in motion! If Black suc- DRAW
former will be hard to get, since ceeds in picking up that last
it is easily defended by minor center pawn, then of course
pieces; the latter must be iso- White would no longer be able
lated from the bishop at d7, for to hold the game; otherwise, 76. Smyslov-Bronstein
The threat of 22 c5 forces which purpose the maneuver Ne2- alas, it is still Gligoricwho (Reti Opening)
Black to retreat his rook to cl-d3-b4-c6 will be useful - but must strive for the draw. 1. c2-c4 Ng8-6
8, and on the following move that will mean pulling White's 2. g2-g3 c7-c6
to play 22.. b6. Having already last piece away from the king's 3. Ngl-3 d7-d5
passed up the chance to enliven
his game, Black must now wait
wing ... 4. b2-b3 Bc8-5
and watch as White improves his If Black wants indisputable
position and prepares hisbreak. equality against the Reti, then
Now h lack's chances lie inwhat- the setup with ..c7-c6 and deve-
ever accidental tactical shots With all of lack's resource- loping the bishop to 5 seems
may happen to present themselves. fulness, the position is still best to me, following the clas-
uncertain. Geller has held on sic example Reti - Lasker. There
to his extra piece and his cen- have, of course, been cases in
ter pawn too; if he can get his which the bishop ended up out of
knight to d5, then Black must action on the diagonal bl-h7,but
perish. If Black can get in only because Black played inster-
.. d5, obtaining three connected
passed pawns, then the battle
eotyped fashion, without consid-
ering circumstances.
The onslaught White now sets will flare anew. White's last
in motion is not so much aggres- move aims at seizing control of
sive as prophylactic in nature. d5, but it gives Black a sec-
Before breaking on the queen- ond chance. On the other hand,
side, White wants to secure the 51 Qf3 would allow Black the
king's wing, fearing that once possibility 51.. Qd7 and52..g4.
all of his pieces have left that After long thought, Black de-
sector, Gligoric will find a cided to castle and do without
favorable opportunity to play .. h6 for the time being. Some-
..g6-$5-g4. But now the base of one once said - and many now
White s pawn chain is weakened,
giving Black the opportunity
believe - that loss of time is
meaningless in closed positions.
for a break by means of a piece If this is true, then it is true
sacrifice. only for thoroughly closed P s i -
tions, not for the kind that now
exists upon this board. It Seems
to me that 8.. h6 would have been
an unnecessary waste of time here.
Unexpectedly wrecking White's
maneuvering game. Sacrifices such
as this one are always in theair
around immobile pawn chains. Not Smyslov reacts immediately to
just the pawns, but the piecesbe- Black's "inaccuracy1', intending
hind them also become much more first to trade off the bishop at
Poor darksquare bishop: off active, and White must go on the g6, then to play c4:d5, and then
it goes into full retirement, defensive for a time. to prepare e2-e4, in order to
not to make one more move until clear the center of pawns and se-
game's end. cure great activity for hispieces.

GeLler prefers to give up the


exchange, rather than allow his A small subterfuge: lack con-
Black cannot allow this bi- opponent to get three connected ceals his aggressive intentions
shop to get to c6, and so he passed pawns. behind the mask of forced play.
is forced to play this active
move, resulting in the first
exchange of pawns and the open- Black has perpetual check,
ing of the c-file for White. but no more than that, since
White can no longer play his his own king is too exposed. Either White has underratedhis
opponent's ideas, or he is sim- for knight and pawn here: 20 B:d4
ply being careless: Black's N:h3+ 21 B:h3 Bf6, but now22 e5
long think after 8 Nc3 ought to fails against 22..B:e5 and
have forewarned him. 23. .Qg5+.
White mistakenly allowed atac- ~myslov's fighting qualities
Smyslov probably thought that tical shot which could have de- must be acknowledged: even in a
Black was just putting on a cided the game at once: 14..Ba3, slightly inferior position, he
show of intending to sacrifice and if 15 Q:g4, Black recovers A decisive maneuver: in con- declines a repetition and risks
a piece; and in fact, after his piece, coming out two pawns junction with the trade of bi- an immediate loss. Tradingqueens
11.. B:g4 12 hg N:g4 13 Nf3, to the good. On 15 B:a3, Black shops that ensues, this puts here would have given Black four
Black would have no threats would get a third pawn with a White in a difficult position. passed pawns and all sorts of
whatever. A little zwischenzuq, strengthened attack: 15.. Q:h4 winning chances. On the other
however, alters the position 16 Re1 Q:f2+ 17 Khl Qh4+ 18 Kgl, hand, maybe Smyslov did not like
substantially. and now the quiet 18..c5 is pos- the idea of retreating his queen
sible, as are the more energetic back to gl, after which Black
It should be mentioned that 18..5 or 18..Nde5. Black here declined White's could play his queen to d6, in-
Black had just such a turn of offer of a draw, certainly with stead of b2 again.
events in mind when he pondered In this variation, Black must some justification: the three
his eighth move, keeping in play for some little time a rook connected passed pawns he now
mind that 11.. Bg6 12 N:g6 hg down, which to me seemed exces- obtains will be a great danger
13 d4 would have left White sive. Afraid perhaps of nothing to White's pieces.
with a definite advantage. more than having to end thisgame
with a perpetual check, I decided
to comfort myself by taking a Courage! Black runs up under
third pawn for the piece. Evi- the rook's fire to "attack" the
dently, this was an inaccurate knight with a pinned pawn.
Taking the bishop would not assessment of the position. A positional move, aiming to
be good, in view of 12.. dc exchange off one of the few ac-
13 B:c3 N:h5 14 Nf3 Bf615 d4 tive white pieces.
Nf4; and after 12 Na4, .. b7-b5
is an immediate threat.
First of all, this retreat to
g5 prevents the d-pawn's advance,
when there would follow 18..Be3+,
19.. 5 and 20..Ng4; secondly,
it prepares 18..d3; and thirdly,
it neutralizes the threatened
18 Qh5, in view of the reply
18. .h6.

Here the game wzs adjourned,


and White offered a
Naturally, 1 could not calcu- A serious error. Having written
late all the consequences of the the winning move, 27..Rae8, down DRAW
sacrifice, but considering a few on my scoresheet, and with my
of the variations, I felt that hand already reaching for the the next day. I saw no way of
Black would have good chances rook, I changed my mind at the improving the position of my
for an attack, or - and sometimes
this can be more important - for
last moment, and spent the rest
of the game regretting this lost
pieces substantially; for that
matter, I had practically agreed
the steady improvement of hispo-
sition. For example: 14 Nf3 Bd6,
opportunjty. to the draw with my 30th move.
White needed only the check on
followed by ..f7-5, ..Qf6, and c4 for a three-time revetition,
..~e8,with the standing threat White might have given rook and so I took ~ m ~ s l o v ' soffer.
Imagine my surprise upon dis- ty that these analyses represent were to take the bishop here,he
covering that the sealed move the final answer. The reader will would have to return it at once, - --
had been 41 Ral-gl: once again have the opportunity to examine since 10..hg 11 hg N:e4? 12 Qh5 22 Ng5+! Kg8 23 Q:h6 5 24 N:e6
Smyslov had declined the draw! for himself, and perhaps to add 5 13 g6 would win quickly. Qh7 25 Q:h7+ K:h7 26 N:f8+ R:f8
It seems to me, however, that his own contribution to the col- 27 R:d6 - and the rook ending
this move would have given lective effort of all the world's will pose few problems for White.
Black good winning chances chessplayers.
once again after 4l..Qg6: then There are certainly many other
Black could answer the check possibilities for both sides a-
by moving his king to h7, fol- The only move: 12..hg leads to long the way, which no one could
lowed by either ..+5-g4 or 13 ef Q:f6 14 Bh7+ Kh8 15 hg possibly have calculated; but the
. .h5-h4. Now White s pieces
would remain tied up by lack's
Q:c3+ 16 Kfl, and White wins;
lf 12..B:g2, then 13 B:f6 gf
extended conception of unusual
beauty is a hallmark of Keres'
pawns; and if White were to car- 14 Qg4+ Kh8 15 Q:g2 Q:d3 16 Rh3, talent.
ry out the threat implicit in and Black loses his queen's
his 41 Rgl, which is: to sacrifice rook; and finally, if 12..Qc7, And now the reader who would
the exchange back with 42 R:g3 Here 7..Nc6 is usually played; then 13 ef B:g2 14 fg Qe5+ like to poke about with us through
fg+ 43 R:g3, Black could keep after 8 Ne2 b6 9 e4 Ne8, a type 15 Kd2 Re8 16 Nf3!, and White the byways of these combinations
the initiative by means of the of position is reached which is saves his rook, coming out a should follow the analysis, as
continuation 43.. h 4 44 Rh3 Rf4, well-known from the games Bot- piece ahead. Nimzovich once recommended, on
with strong pressure on the e- vinnik - Reshevsky (MOSCOW 1948), two chessboards: one to make the
and f-files. Smyslov and his Bronstein - Najdorf (Budapest moves of the game, and the other
second Simagin, however, thought 1950), and Geller - Smyslov, from to examine the variations.
that the immediate 4l..h442 Ng4, this tournament. Reshevsky re- The only move: as the reader
etc. was forced for Black, and peats the opening he played a- can easily determine, taking the
it's hard to say which of the gainst Euwe, but where White was knight with either the bishop
two of us was right. When a unable to summon the courage to or the pawn would give Black a 15 ef hg 16 hg is also quite
game is adjourned in a complex play 8 e4 in that game, Keres favorable ending. good enough here - EJajdorf, in
position, usually each side un- does so here. fact, considered it interesting,
consciously evaluates the po- and probably the winning liner'-
sition in his own favor. 16. .Qe5+ 17 Kfl Q:g5 18 fg Rc8
19 Rg3 Qf4 20 Rh3 Q:c4+ 21 Ne2
What conclusions can be drawn Nc6 22 Qd2.
from this tense and interesting R.G. Ashurov, a Class-A player
struggle? First: even in the from Baku, has pointed out a dif- Nedeljkovic and Vukovic put
most important games one may, ferent possibility for White forward 19 Qf3 Nc6 20 Qh3 in
if conditions are riglt, employ here: 9 e5, and if 9..B:g2, then this line, as well as the alter-
a sacrifice which canr-ot be ana- 10 Bg5 B:hl 11 ef g6 12 B:g6! hg natives:
lyzed in detail; second: if a 13 Qg4 with a very strong attack,
mistake or an inaccuracy occurs, which Ashurov carries out to mate
there is no need to assume "all in several lines. True, some of
is lost" and mope - one must these variations could be improved
reorient oneself quickly, and for Black, but without a doubt b) 16..0h2 17 Kfl Qh4 18 Rh3!
find a new plan to fit the new he gets into serious trouble if Q:c4+19Ne2 e5 20Qd6 Qe6
situation. he takes the pawn and the rook. 21 Qd3 e4 22 Qg3 gf 23 Qh4.
His best reply to 9 e5 would be
,. ,.,. ,.
-,.-L-,.-L-%-L
,* ,\
to retreat the knight, whenWhite V. Turchuk has rightly up-
could maintain the pressure with braided me for uncritically ac-
77. Keres-Reshevsky 10 Qh5.
(Nimzoindian Defense)
cepting this analysis, pointing
out that, instead of 21 Qd3,
If the reader should ask which
game I liked the best of all in
9. ... h7-h6 White could give mate in three
by 21 Rh8+, 22 Q:f8+, and 23Q:g7.
this tournament, I would have to Fierce! 9..d6 was also possible: After that, I critically re-exam-
pass over my own two encounters if 10 e5 de 11 de, then Black The best chance to defend his ined the variation, and came up
with onetime American wunderkind would not play ll..B:g2, which difficult position. In such sit- with 21 Q:f8+! K:f8 22 Rh8 -
Samuel Reshevsky in favor of one would lead to a complete collapse uations, many players are ready mate again, and in one move less!
of the tournament's most note- of his game in very short order, to throw up their hands and play
worthy games from the viewpoint but 11..Be4! On 9..d6, White the first move that comes to Euwe also thinks that the
of its depth of conception,beau- would probably have continued mind; but Reshevsky does not de- knight ought to have been taken
ty and complexity. This game has 10 4 Nbd7 11 Nf3 cd 12 cd, with spalr. with the pawn, but that after
been reproduced in chess journals a much more active position; so 15..hg the proper continuation
in every language, and has been Black prefers to force matters. White has several means of is not 16 hg (as Najdorf would
subjected to dissection by doz- destroying the black king'spawn have it), but 16 fg: for example,
ens of masters, almost all of the cover. Here Keres concocted an
grandmasters, and even Botvin-
nik himself -
and yet we still
cannot say with absolute certain-
Continuing his development.
1t's easy to see that if Black
astounding combinatLon, whose
main variation runs roughly as
a) 16..K:g7 17-Qh5 gh 18 Q:h4,
with the threat of 19 Rg3+;
follows: 15 ~ : f 6gf 16 Qg4+ Kh8
b) 16..Qe5+ 17 Re3 Q:g7 18Rg3 by 24 g4 and 25 Nf4, with an not be faulted for missing this,
6 19 Nf3, threatening 20 N:g5.
' As we can see, all of the com-
mentators agree that this con-
undiminished attack, in spite
of the attenuated material.
Once Reshevsky took the rook
since many of the commentators,
in quieter circumstances and af-
ter lengthy analysis, also failed
with his knight, Keres could to discover this winning plan,
tinuation (15 e) was clearer, finally enter the concluding suggesting instead 28 Qg6+ Kh8
and would have led to a quicker Grandmaster Botvinnik recom- phase of his outstanding com- 29 N:f8 R:f8 30 Re3, whichdoesn't
win. There were indeed two ways mended 16 ef!, and that may be bination. work, because Black does not play
to win, but the line White ac- the most meaningful thing the 30..f5 31 f3!, but 3O..Rg8 31 Qh6+
tually chose was no less forcing reader will learn from these Qh7, or 31 R:e4 R:g6 32 R:e7 R:g2,
and no less beautiful than those five pages. with a drawn ending.
that were suggested ost mortem.
Obviously, once K e r e h d ~
up with a plan that was good en-
ough to win, he carried it out
without distracting himself by Keres continues his idea. A time-pressure move, but his
calculating new complexities. 17 Rg3 would have been insuffi- selection was already limited.
cient in view of 17..Q:e5+18 Re3 Nothing was to be gained by26 Qg6+
Qc7 19 Rg3 Qe5+; if 18 Kfl or Kh8 27 Rd5 Rh7, while 26 Rc6 c4!
18 Ne2. then 18..5, and Black 27 Kb2 Re8 28 f4 Qd7 29 5 Q:c6
can defend. ~ o t h i ncomes
~' of 30 Qg6+ Kh8 31 Q:f7 Q:g2+ prob-
White had an exceptionally 17 Nf3 Nd7! 18 R:d7 Q:d7 19 ef ably leads to a draw. 26 4 is
beautiful attacking continua- Re8 20 Oh5 Od3! 21 0:h6+ Oh7 also unclear, in view of 26..Rh7
tion here: 16 f4!, keeping the ~ 2 'but 17 0-0-0
27 Qf4 ~ : 'either; 27 Qg6+ Kh8, when 28 5 is no
black queen from e5. The main 0:e5 18 Nf3 Oc7 19 Rd6 Nc620 Qf4 good in view of 28..Rg8.
line runs as follows: Kg7 21 g4 and 22 g5 looks very'
strong: if 17. .Nc6, then 18 f4 Nedeljkovic and Vukovic's re-
fe 19 Rd7 Qc8 20 Qh5 Kg7 21 f5! commendation, 26 g4, is not bad.

Trifunovic, and Reshevsky him- 27 g4 was better here, answering


self in later analysis, pointed 27..f5 with 28 g5, and 27..Qb7
out the winning move (in their with 28 Qd3. White would have
opinion), 18 Rd6. Indeed, White If Black takes the knight,
nothing can save him from mate. retained some winning chances.
wins after both 18..fe 19 0-0-0
and 18..5 19 Qf4 Kh7 20 0-0-0;
but the defense 18..Kg7, threat-
ening 19..N:e5 (this was sug- Now Black has fully equal play.
gested b the German analyst A glance at the position will
Rellstaby is sufficient to draw. reveal a noticeable similarity
For example, 19 ef+ N:f6 20 0-0-0 between it and the position men-
Qe7, or 19 Qg3+ Kh8 20 Qf4 Kg7, tioned in the note to lack's For one thing, Reshevsky could
etc. 14th. Here, however, Reshevsky have taken the pawn here: 28..Q:h4
sidesteps the main line: in- leaves White nothing better than
stead of 23..f5, he plays the queen ending after 29 Rd8
R:d8 30 N:d8 Q:f4+ 31 Kb2 Qc7
32 N:f7 Q:f7, where Black ob-
tains winning chances.
For the first time in this which, in conjunction with
1 (~iagramof hypothetical position)
game, no doubt, Reshevsky
breathed a sigh of relief. In-
deed, he has no worries over
Black's next, is far stronger. 29.
30.
31.
Qd5-e5+
Kcl-c2
Kc2-d2
Qe7-6
c5-c4
Kh8-g8
24 Q:g6+!! fg 25 f7+ Kh8 26 N:e6, 21 Rd7 Qe5 22 R:7+ R:f723Q:f7+ 32. Qe5-d5 Qf6 :h4
when knight and pawn overcome a Qg7, when Black may even threaten 33. Qd5:c4 Qh4-f2+
queen. mate in some lines himself:24 Qf3, Under severe time pressure, 34. Kd2-cl Qf 2-gl+
for instance, allows 24.. b5! with his emotions in a turmoil 35. Kcl-c2 Qgl:g2+
Such a combination, however, is from the whole preceding phase 36. Kc2-b3 b6-b5
not easily calculated over the of the strueele. Keres fails to
board, especially when one takes find the correct maneuver: 25 Qg6+ A trap which also secures the
into account such diversions as: ~eshevskycould have given up Kh8 26 Qh5+ Kg8 27 Rd3! Ne4 c4 square, where the exchange of
his queen for two rooks and a (27..Qh7 runs-into 28 Q:h7+, queens will shortly take place.
a) 16 fG Kh7 17 Nh3 Qb7, and it better defense here. 21 Nh3 was
more exact; then after the trade 29 N:f8+.and 30 R:d6 - i-e..
would not be easy for White to Keres' -in line) 28 N : f 8 R:B
find the proper move, which is of the queen for two rooks White 29 Qg4+ Ng5 30 Re3 Qg7 31 Rg3
18 Ra2; could continue 23 3, followed Kh8 32 hg. However. Keres can- The black queen ought to have
been kept out of fl, which could ROUND TWELVE
have been accomplished by 37 Qd3. 78. Bronstein- Keres
Here the game was adjourned. The knight seizes its chance
(Sicilian Defense) to escape with check. Attempting
Both players analyzed all night 1. e2-e4 c7-c5
and the next day as well - not to maintain it on e5 would only
the adjourned position, ofcourse, mean
for example:
more trouble for the king,
Reshevsky had only a few sec- but the game which led up to it.
onds left for three moves, so Both Keres and Reshevsky knew
it is not clear whether he re- there was no need to play off
jected or did not see the tempt- the adjourned position beyond Maybe a little bit too straight-
ing move 38..Rf6. The queen could the opening of the sealed move;
if they had known better, then forward - an opinion Black soon
not take the rook, in view of comes to share himself. On b8 111. 11..0-0 12 N:e5 Qd4+13&,1
39..Qc4+, with mate next; and on at least one would not have the rook supports the onrush of B:e5 14 Nb5 Q:b2 15 Rbl.
39 Qd5 , of course, Black would agreed to the the b-pawn, which is the sort of
trade queens; but 39 Rd8 R:e6 forceful assault that makes sense
40 R:e8+ R:e8 41 Qd5+ would ap- DRAW only when conducted in the neigh-
pear to save White. borhood of the white king. Inthe Hitting the bishop with12..e5
without playing on. present game, however, White se- would have been useless, since
cures his king in the right-hand that piece is aching for achance
corner. to leave the f-file anyway, and
taking a pawn en route makes it
even better. The bishop also
would not be averse to leavin
4 for e5 now, after the rook$ s
return to a8; but in that event
General considerations impelled Black could castle, thereby exer-
White to push his e-pawn to e5, cising his right to "make three
without worrying about its loss, moves in oneW.(We have grown so
since this o ens at least three used to castling that we think
lines: White? s half of the e-file, of it as just another move,when
the cl-h6 diagonal, and the g2- in fact it is not: the rookmoves
c6 diagonal. In addition, the from h8 to 8, defending f7,while
excellent post at e4 is cleared the king leaps from e8 to g8, de-
for White's queen's knight. fending the bishop at g7.)

Naturally, Black could also White is not above taking the


have continued with 9..d5, main- c-pawn. 13 Bc7 would be a mis-
taining a closed position where take, in view of 13..B or Qd4+.
his lag in development would not
have been so important - that's
probably how he should have
played it.
Symptomatic: in this type of
position, White usually spends
considerable effort in order to
enforce an exchange of dark-
2jgp&QT# square bishops, so that the im-
, aiwi
9 2 %.@ k/j/A,,
,,,, portant squares f6 and h6, so
close to Black's king, may be
'....A
wp
&A
,/Ay-,
A a,
aYi'g# the more easily occupied by
White's pieces. The fact that
it is Black who initiates the
y
Ap yy gz . . 4pp4 4
p trade of bishops here shows that

y, &A5 &A
5 4 :ZAA
i ,,,.,,

p & g f gq, , 2 m m he is by now unable to think in


terms of principles, but onlyof
how to reduce the number of at-
tacking pieces, which nearly al-
A gI...p9 A ,,&v,/Ap~,&~g# ways benefits the defender.

bpJ 94&4?/4g5$-g
-~
.- .- / ' /,. -
.....,
1

As long as White has not yet


come up with any concretethreats
to mate or to win material, where the black rook swings like Black has no compensation at self on d6 was the reason White
a pendulum from a8 to b8 and all for his lost exchange, so essayed this whole variation?By
Black should strive to develop the rest really requires nocom-
his queen's bishop as quickly back, and yet even then Blackis this time, 13 Ne5 was the better
as possible - that's the idea
behind this rook move (..b6
still able to maintain the bal-
ance somehow.
ment, except to say that White
certainly did not play the sec-
course.

and ..~b7). Time, however, is ond half of the game in the best
an expensive commodity in chess. possible way.
On b8 the rook is unprotected
once again, and soon comes un-
der fire from the queen. This looks aggressive, but it
turns out to be a blunder that
Good or bad, he ought to have costs a pawn. Even blunders,how-
played either 16..Nc6 or an im- ever, have their reasons some-
mediate 16..e5. times. For this encounter, Gli-
goric chose a cautious opening,
in which it is usually difficult
The game was adjourned here, to secure an advantage; he also
to be continued on the day set went in for early simplifications,
aside for the completion of all resulting in a completely draw-
unfinished games. ish position. At that moment, sud-
denly, White began playing for a
41. c5 3 42. Kg1 Ra8 43. Rcb7 win! The logic of chess does not
Ral+ 44. Rbl Ra6 45. Rd7 Ra8 permit such things: once a posi-
46. Re1 Ra2 47. Re3 Ral+48. Kf2 tion of clear equilibrium has
Ra2+ 49. K:f3 Rc2 50. Rc7 h5 been established, it takes more
51. Ke4 Nh6 52. Ra3 Re2+ 53. Kf4 than simple will-power to tip
Re8 54. Rh7 Kg8 55. R:h6 Kg7 the scales.
All Black needs now is one small 56. c6 K:h6 57. Rc3 g5+ 58. hg+
thing - his turn to move. And it was not yet too late to
BLACK RESIGNED defend the c-pawn: 15 b3 Nf5
16 Rd3 d5 17 cd N:d5 18 N:d5 B:d5.
Giving the queen its choice of 79. Gligoric-Smyslov
moving forward, left or right.By (Queen's Indian Defense)
going forward to d3, Black risks
losing a piece after 20 Nc5 Qb5 1. c2-c4 Ng8-6 Naturally! Black drives the
21 Qd6; by retreating leftward, 2. Nbl-c3 e7-e6 rook off first, then che knight,
to the kingside, Black would al- 3. N81-3 c7-c5 and then takes the c-pawn. Luck-
The knight cannot be kept away low the knight to get to c5; so ily for White, he still has 18e4,
from 6. At e4, it simultaneously therefore, the queen retreats allowing him to double Black's
masks the 4 square, through rightward, to the queenside, re- pawns.
which the white queen intends to taining control of c5 and d6. But
slip into h6; with the queen at now the wolf comes in through a
h6, Ne4-f6+ would be fatal for
Black, so he hits at the knight
different door - and once again,
the queen's rook is the culprit.
The game has transposed into
the Queen's Indian, but the
immediately. Once again, Keres transposition has been a favor-
is playing concretely, with hard- able one for Black: having got-
ly a thought for the weak pawn, ten his ..c7-c5 in beforeWhite's There exists a widespread, and
subject to frontal assault, that d2-d4, he can now trade off this therefore dangerous, misconcep-
he gets on e6. The importunate knight must be center pawn without permitting tion that the win is automatic
removed regardless of the cost, rhe cramping d4-d5. once you are a pawn ahead. As a
17. 7-f5 since otherwise it not only cap- matter of fact, Black's chief ad-
18. ~fili4 Bc8-d7 tures the bishop on d7, but also vantage in this position liesnot
forks all three of lack's heavy so much in his plus pawn, which
Black's move may be understood pieces (2O..Kg7? 21 ~:d7!). he is still far from exploiting,
in terms of the proverb,"Better as in his control of most of the
late than never". In this case, center squares: d4, d5, c5, 4
however, never would have been Completely neutralizing White's and 5.
better. The unfortunate rook has per- attempts at any sort of opening
ished at last, leaving behind a advantage. White has his counterchances:
The only chance to continue shattered army on the battlefield. a queenside pawn majority and
fighting lay in 18..Ra8, strange the d-file. How many similar
as that might sound. Black would games have been drawn because of
have had serious difficulties, of inexact play! Smyslov, however,
course, but there seems to be manages such endings with aniron
no forced win for White. One IS it possible that this harm- hand. His plan may be divided in-
could hardly imagine such agame, less attempt to establish him- to the following phases:
1. The immediate exchange of one eighth. White gave his knight support at
rook, leaving the other to re- h4, and opened a path for thebi-
strain White s queenside pawns And the second idea: Whitedoub- shop to h3. Najdorf's suggestion
and attack the c- and e-pawns. les his rooks on the b-file, but 13..Bf6 14 Ng2 Bg7 is not entire-
cannot turn this to account, since ly convincing, inasmuch as 14..B:h4
2. Deflecting White's rook to White sees the writing on the all the good invasion squares are is not a threat: White can reply
the h-file by the threat to cre- wall, and resolves to try his covered by lack's minor pieces. to 13..Bf6 with 14 3 B:h415 gh
ate an outside passed pawn, and luck in a knight ending. But White therefore stirs up some Nf6 16 Bg5 Kg7 17 Qd2.
then occupying the d-file with this can only be achieved at play on the other wing; harmless
his own rook. the cost of giving Black apassed in itself, this play leads to
d-pawn. the exchange of a few pieces and
3. Advancing the g-pawn to g4, draws the minor pieces away from
undermining the e-pawn's sup- the b-file, thus allowingWhite's
port, which is the 3-pawn. rooks to invade at b7 and con-
Now that a rook exchange is in clude the game within a fewmoves.
4. Tying up White's pieces by the offing, Black alters his
attacking the e-pawn. king's itinerary. After the auto-
matic 34..Kg6 35 R:d4 ed36 Nb5 White sees that it is not yet
5. Sending his king in to pick e5 37 N:a7 White has some hope. time to invade: 20 Qc6 Ra721 Q:d6?
off the weak pawns. Rc7!! traps the queen.
As we shall see, a simple win-
ning plan - for a Smyslov, nat-
An attack on the king with such
urally!
limited means can hardly accom-
One last swindle: 38..e5? plish much. As long as Whitestill
39 Nd6 is mte! If he wanted to Geller's ninth move completed has no concrete threats on the
play on a while longer, however, his array; now he intends 10..ed, queenside, Black might as well
38 Nb5 was better. Now the king with activization, so Taimanov have continued his preparations
is left completely alone against crosses him up by pushing his for ..f7-5.
king, knight and a powerfulpassed center pawn.
pawn.

Offering Black the choice of


trading on d5 or closing the
center - or doing neither.The
trade would make sense only if
WHITE RESIGNED White's bishop were on g2 and
Black's rook on 8. Maintaining
,.,.,. ,.
-l-J--O-&J-
8. 3. tension with 10. .Qe7 and 11. .a5,
followed eventually by ..Nc5
80. Taimanov-Geller and ..f7-5, looks good here.
(King's Indian) As to ~eller's choice, 1O..c5,
Perusal of this meaty game that's a matter of chessic
will acquaint the reader with taste: it seems to me that Black
two strategic ideas. As a result has a harder time obtaining
of the opening Black obtainsthe counterplay in the ~ing'sIn-
pawn configuration c5-d6-e5 ver- dian with a locked pawn config-
sus c4-d5-e4; this ensures White uration.
greater freedom to maneuver with-
in his own lines, since he has
three ranks, while Black has only
two. This is an abstract advan-
The first part of the plan is tage, of course, but it is the A far-sighted move whose point
complete: White must pull his master's task to render it con- will become clear later on. To complete this picture,
rook away. crete - that is, to find a plan Black need only "followthrough"
wherein this will prove useful. with ..Bh8. The position illus-
It is instructive to watch as trates the meaning of the phrase,
Taimanov practically clears his "freedom of maneuver". A white
first three ranks of pawns en- rook on b3 will control the b-
tirely, enabling him to trans- Black refrained from his in- file and simultaneously defend
fer his forces easily from one tended 13..f5, seeing 14 ef gf 3 and g3. In some variations,
wing to the other, while most of 15 Bh3, threatening 16 N:f5 and the rook on bl goes to hl, and
Now the e-pawn is twice at- Black's pieces find themselves 17 B:g4, and if 15..Qf6, then the knight on dl may go to c3,
tacked; Black intends to con- jostling one another on the sev- 16 Ne4 fe 17 ~:g$.Thus, 11 g3 e3 or 2; meanwhile, Black's
tinue ..~e7-8-g7-g6-gS-g&- enth rank, and especially onthe was directed against 13..f5: rooks and knights have only one
move apiece, Black's pieces can- vicinity of h8.
not use the b-file, nor can he
transfer pieces to the kingside. Black did not play ..Qc7 be-
However, Black's position is sol- fore castling; now he prepares
id enough: as we said, White ..c7-c5, but clears a spot for
still has to prove his advantage. It is not clear whether Naj-
Now there is a new threat: his bishop at 8 in anticipa- dorf was willing to take a draw
37 B:d7 B:d7 38 Qf6+, winning tion of a possible d4-d5 in here, or simyly wished to test
the key d6-pawn, and with it reply. his opponent s intentions, but
the game. in any event after 29..Rd8+ his
king would have had to retreat.
Of course, the draw would hardly
be forced, even after 30 Ke2
Geller's exceptionally tough, Rdc8; White could redeploy his
staunch defense deserves special Black's threat of ..e6-e5 knights to e3 and b3, and try to
mention. He has successfully 38..Re7 runs into 39 Nf6+, forces a trade of darksquare exploit his queenside preponder-
driven back the queen, andlarge- aGd on any king move, 40 Qhl. bishops, which eases his de- ance. However, Black would re-
fense. tain powerful support points in
ly neutralized White's control
of the b-file: on Rb7 he plays the center for his knights -
in all, a stubborn fight would
all
simply ..Re7, and the rook must
either retreat or trade. Now lie ahead.
White directs his knight, bi-
shops and queen toward the king's Once the time scramble had After 29 Kd3, however, thegame
wing, forcing Black to diverthis ended, and it was established took an unexpected turn. Kotov,
pieces from the b-file. that White had indeed completed full of optimism and fightingspi-
the required forty moves before White has one small advantage, rit as usual, decided to pushhis
flagfall, then, naturally, his queenside pawn majority; center pawns, drive off the white
Black has an extra center pawn. king and secure d3. It is ourop-
BLACK RESiGNED This means that in an endgame inion that this plan, even if it
the chances lie with White, could be fully carried out, would
whereas a complex fight with not have been especially favor-
queens promises fully equal able to Black. However, pushing
81. Najdorf -Kotov play for Black. With this in the e-pawn does deprive theknight
(Caro-Kann Defense) mind, Kotov should not have on b6 of any chance to go to d5
been so eager to exchange after White's c4-c5. On e6, the
queens; also, 2O..Nb8 and21..Nc6 pawn performed an irnportantfunc-
Initiating a war of nerves. was a better idea than his tion by protecting d5.
This was the only game in the 20. .Nb6.
entire tournament that Najdorf
opened with his king's pawn, ex-
pecting (as he explained later)
that Kotov would play the Najdorf
Variation of the Sicilian, for
which White had prepared a lit-
tle surprise.

After long thought, Kotov re-


plied l..c7-c6 -
also the only
time in the entire tournament
that he deserted his Sicilian.
Kotov proceeded to equalize com-
pletely by means of painstaking-
ly accurate play, and then began
This move deserves its excla- considering how to gain the ad-
mation mark, and not just for
itself, but also as the finishing
vantage...
touch to the game as a strategic
entity. All the moves which fol-
low are based on the quick trans-
fer of pieces from one wing to
the other; the same idea figures
in the present threat of 35 Kg2!
followed by the exchange on d7,
the check on 6, and Rbl-h1,with Despitehis flurryofactivity,
unavoidable mate somewhere inthe
83. Averbakh-Stahlberg 84. Szabo- Euwe
Black has an inferior position. (French Defense) (Queen's Indian Defense)
The e-pawn has left behind all
the points it ought to have de- 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6
fended, and the knights haveno 4. ed Q:d5 5. Ngf3 cd 6. Bc4 Qd6 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 Szabo exchanges bishops too
center support. After White's 7. 0-0 Nf6 8. Nb3 Nc6 9. Re1 a6 3. Ngl-3 b7-b6 quickly; pressure on the diag-
next move, the unpleasant35 Nd5+ 10. a4 Be7 11. Nb:d4 N:d4 12.Q:d4 4. Nbl-c3 Bc8-b7 onal with 11 Qa4 was necessary,
is already threatened. Bd7 13. Bf4 Q:d4 14. N:d4 Rc8 5. e2-e3 Bf 8-e7 with the following main varia-
15. Bb3 Nh5 16. Be3 0-0 17. Nf3 6. Bfl-d3 c7-c5 tion: ll..B:b5 12 Q:b5+ Qd7
Bc5 18. Ne5 Nf6 19. Radl Be8 7. 0-0 .. * 13 N:d5! ed 14 Qb3 or 14 Qe2,
20. B:c5 R:c5 21. c3 Bc6 22. 3 when White maintains his lead
Rb8 23. Rd4 Be8 24. h4 Kf825. 4 Before the play gets toolive- in development.
An oversight which loses by a5 26. Nd3 Rcc8 27. 5 ly ic the center, White decides
force. However, 35..Ke6 would to secure his king. Black has
also have left Black with the White departs from the "book" other ideas: he wants to carry
inferior position, in view of approach to the ending, making a out the typical maneuver in this
36 g3, with 2-3 to follow. rather adventurous attempt togain openlng - ..c5:d4 and ..d7-d5- But now lack's calculations
the upper hand. Failing this, he at once. are justified: White is unable
is left with the inferior posi- to increase the pressure. True,
tion. Szabo probably figured that he does make one last attempt,
Black could not play this be- but after
After this rather obvious fore castling because of checks
pseudo-sacrifice, lack's game on the a4-e8 diagonal; but Euwe
immediately collapses. risked it anyway, and equalized.
Black seizes the initiative. Black naturally does not take
back on d5 with the pawn, but
instead...
If the knight is taken, the
rook checks at d6.
Only a player with exception-
ally strong nerves could allow
This eases White's defense: the himself such opening play.
king should have headed for b8: A clear draw takes shape,
for example, 39..Kd8 40 Ne6+Kc8 and is in fact established by
4) Rc3+ Kb8 42 Rc7 Rd4! repetition of moves.
BLACK RESIGNED

82. Petrosian-Boleslavsky
(English Opening)
DRAW
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. g3 Nc6
4. Bg2 g6 5. d3 Bg7 6. Bd2 Nge7 A mistake, just before the
,.,.,.,,,.
-L-L-r.-L.L-,.
,\

7. Nf3 0-0 8. 0-0 Bd7 9. Rbl second time control: the knight ,. ,.,.,.
-.-O.J-l.*.l
,\ %,

should have taken the pawn.

White consistently attacks


the queenside, whereas Black is
committing an inaccuracy here.
If he wanted to exchange knights,
it was better to do this at d5;
if he did not, then he should
have moved his knight to 5 be-
fore playing 15..c6. 74. Nc6+ Kd7 75. Nd4 Kc8 76.Kg3
Rdl 77. Nc2 Nb5 78. Ra5 Rcl
79. N:a3 Rc3+ 80. Kh4 e5+! 81.Kh5
Rh3+ 82. Kg6 N:a3 83. gg7 Nbl!
84. Ra6 Nd2 85. R:h6 R:h6 86.K:h6
Nf3
DRAW
Just in time.
at White's suggestion, although
he had the better of it. A pos- WHITE RESIGNED
sible continuation might have
been 22 Rb7 h4 23 Rebl, etc.
ROUND THIRTEEN This move is justified by the Once again, 23 Q:c5 is impossible
85. Stahlberg-Szabo variation 13 h3 (winning thebi- on account of 23..R:b2 with a
If the queen takes the b-pawn, shop?!) 13..B:e3 14 fe Qh4 mate! mate threat.
(Grunfeld Defense) Black first trades his queen's On the other hand, if White ex-
1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 bishop for White's king sknight, changes bishops himself and then
2. c2-c4 g7-g6 and then plays ll..cd, abandon- plays 14 Nb5, Black has the un-
3. Nbl-c3 d7-d5 ing his queen's rook; one line pleasant reply 14..Ndc5, fol-
4. Ngl-3 Bf8-g7 is 12 Q:a8 dc 13 Q:a7 cb 14 Rbl lowed by 15..e5. lack's passed
5. Qdl-b3 ... Nc6, and Black has a very strong
attack on the king for the ex-
pawn on the d-file would be de-
The second-rank threat dogs
.
Black needs .c7-c5, which
White seeks to prevent by ap-
change. The text makes it very
uncomfortable for the queen's
fended, and therefore a great
deal stronger than White s; the White's every step: he cannot
black pieces would also be better even think of taking the a6-
plying pressure against the bishop, which now has the choice placed. p a y , in view of 26..Re8 with a
d-pawn, thereby forcing either of taking on f3 (which would swift end.
..c7-c6 or ..d5:c4. Numerous strengthen White's center) or of
defensive tries failed to work remaining at its post, to face
for Black until Smyslov worked great peril after 11 Nd2. This secures c4 for his knight
out the plan Black employs in and wins a tempo for castling, but
this game. it also opens the b-file.

Black appears to be locking his


own bishop in an escape-proof
cell; this is not mere whimsy,
This, with the followingmoves, however, but the product of ana-
is the Smyslov System of the lysis which Szabo had already
Grunfeld. tested in a game from a previous
tournament. For example: 12 h3ed Stahlberg's characteristically
threatening 13..d4, and if 13 ed, negligent attitude towards the
then 13..Bf5 14 g4 c4, clearing safety of his king. An outstand-
This apparently illogical move c5 for the knight, which lets the ing tactician who knows how to
has its own logic and its own bishop retreat; if then 15 Q:c4 put up a staunch defense, he has
history. When the system first Ne5 is possible, and the bishop saved so many difficult positions
began to be played, 8..Nc6 was is freed once again. that he sometimes simply ignores
usual here; 9 d5 would be ans- such weakenings as this. But his
wered by the bishop capture at g2-g3 will soon be followed by
3, for example: 10 dc b5!, or 2-3, and a cold wind will be-
10 gf Ne5 11 Qe2 c6! Eventually, gin to blow along the secondrank,
White started to get the upper now open from c- to h-file, which
hand in this; then Smyslov (and will ?rove most unhealthy for
others) began introducing rE- White s king.
finements. This process of lab-
oratory testing" resulted in Had White played 18 Rael here,
the move 8..Nfd7, which combines or 18 Ne7+ followed by 19 Rael,
two ideas: retaining the option his game would still have been
of ..c7-c5, and putting pressure far from lost; now it gets very
on the d-pawn. Now, for example, difficult. The point of this maneuver is
9..Nb6 is threatened, and if the
queen leaves the d-pawn's pro-
to gain control of g3 -this will
become clear after White's forced
tection, then lO..B:f3 followed reply.
by ll..B:d4.
There have been several tries
here: 9 Nd2, or 9 Be2 Nb6 10 Qd3 Although it leaves Black with
followed by long castling, which a protected passed pawn, White Naturally White could not al-
leads to a double-edged game; or could not avoid this exchange, low 36..Qf4, but now comes the
9 e5, or 9 d5, or 9 Rdl Nb610 Qb3. since there was no way to defend decisive maneuver: 36..Qe7
The conclusion was finallyreached the bishop: 21 Rael allows threatens 37..Rd3 followed by
that it is better to retreat the White's pawn has broken free 21..~:c4 22 Q:c4 R:b2, with a 38..Qe3 or 38..Qel, depending on
queen to b3 before the knight of its support, and will soon be mate threat at h2 - that second- White's reply.
chases it away. surrounded by the hostile army. rank weakness already!
A fierce battle erupts around it,
Szabo replies with an extremely but one may already predict that 22. Nc4:b6 Rb8 :b6 !
complicated variation involving the advantage must swing toBlack,
an immediate ..c7-c5. whose pieces are all developed, 22..ab was possible too, but
and who has already castled. Black wanted to keep the b-file
9. Qc4-b3 c7-c5 open for attacking PUrPOSeS- WHITE RES IGNED
combinative element into thegame his rook, but now 22..f6 would
86. Boleslavsky-Averbakh and completely altering the sit-
(Queen's Gambit)
be met by 23 e6!, when the white
uation. The e-pawn travels from pawn is very strong. SO Black re-
the third rank to the fifth, and luctantly goes on the defensive.
brings about a series of favorable
simplifications.

When one's opponent is well


developed, such moves generally
are not even considered, since
the d4-pawn is "irretrievably"
weakened, while Black - well,
Black wants to retreat his what does he have to worry about,
bishop to d6: this secures it since he has no weaknesses? In
against possible pursuit by our day, the concept of "weak-
Nb5. However, if White had ness" has altered to such an ex-
wanted to force this bishop to tent that not just pawn struc-
exchange itself for his queen's ture, but the poor placement of
knight, he could have played just one piece can be a weak-
11 a3; this would have given ness.
him much the better game, con- Black, in turn, will find it
sidering that he could then en- profitable to maneuver his rook
force c3-c4, with powerfulpres- to support the pawn advance
sure on the b- and c-files. So 16..Bf4 would be met by 17 e5 ..f7-6. If he sticks to passive
this variation cannot be recom- Qc6 18 NdZ!, when 18..b6 would tactics on both wings, then his
mended for Black. prove unprofitable for Black: game is bound to become difficult
19 Nd3 Q:c2 20 R:c2 B:d2 21 R:d2,
reaching an ending similar to At the moment, Black threatens
the one that occurs in the game, 2O..Bg4, trading off the knight,
but with a much weaker c-pawn. and thereby making it harder for It takes great skill indeedto
And on 16..de, the black queen his opponent to defend the d- induce Averbakh, a well-known
turns out to be badly placed. A pawn; this explains White's next endgame expert, to put all of his
Black's last few moves have sample variation will indicate move. pawns on the same color squares
aimed at creating a chain of White's advantage in the fast- as his bishop.
pawns and freeing his pieces paced piece play that ensues:
from the defense of the pawns 17 N:e4 Qg6 18 Bd3 Bf5 19 Nh4
at d5 and c7. Qh5 20 N:f5 N:f5 21 N:d6 N:d6 Here Black ought to have struck
22 Q:c7. at the d-pawn first by 2O..Nf5:
his ..a6-a5 would have had more
point after 21 Nb3. White could
answer with 22 a4, but then
It would seem more logical to comes 22..Bd7, inducing a new
continue harrying the queen by White weakness; if 22 Rdl in- Preventing the possible pawn
17 Bd3: for example, 17..B:c5 stead, then 22..a4 23 Ncl g5!, break 33 e6, and if 33..B:e6
18 Q:c5, or 17. .de 18 B:e4 Bf5 with such possibilities as 34 B:g6.
19 B:f5, and after the trading ..f7-6 or ..Nf5-g7-e6.
on 5 White wins the b-pawn.
That's probably what Boleslavsky Averbakh's move prevents 21 b4,
intended to play, too, until he followed by Nd2-b3-c5; but we
discovered that Black has the have seen how he could have Black is very much opposed to
excellent defense 17..Bf4; so achieved the same end using far advancing his pawn to b5; so he
he changed his plan. more active means. sends up a trial balloon, offer-
ing to let White take on 5 and
thereby leave himself withknight
versus a bad bishoa. White, .how- .
This rook was only passing ever. calmlv retreats his knight
- - - - -

through c5; now it gives place to f?3, obtaining k x i m u m results.


A very interesting position to the knight. Thus, the a4-pawn draws the pawn
has developed. White's natural to b5 after it, like string from
plan - the minority attackwith a ball. and the c6-pawn must suf-
a4, b4 and b5 - allows Black fer in turn.
Black is ready to play the active counterplay if he exploits
final move to consolidate his White's weakness (the d-pawn), Black's previous move didn't
position; but now comes anun- and perhaps carries out the ma- pan out: he wanted to prepare
expected blow, bringing the neuver ..b7-b6 and ..c~-c-. 22..f6, and recapture on f6 with
In his difficult position, blanca or Alekhine: they made
Averbakh finds a brilliant ma- their debut in contemporary
39 e6! would now have been the neuver to set up a drawn position. grandmaster games, further en-
logical conclusion of a well- If 43 ab, then 43..R:b3 44 R:c6 riching the treasury of ideas.
played endgame: whichever way R:b2 45 Rc7+ Kf8, and White can- 11 Qc2 and 12 Radl was more
Black takes, the white knight not win. Of 43 R:c6, of course, natural. Why expose the queento
goes to e5, with powerful pres- there follows 43..ba or 43..a3!, Such pawns appear not only in knight harassment from c5 ore5 ?
sure on both wings. Apparently, and suddenly it is Black who the King's Indian, but also in
the variation 39..K:e6 40 Ne5 wins. the Sicilian Defense after 1 e4
Be8 41 N:c6 Kd6 42 Ne5 R:c3 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cd 4 N:d4 e6
43 R:c3 6 44 Nd3 Bd7 appeared 5 c 4 Bg7 6 Be3 Nf6 7 Nc3 ~ ~ 4 "
insufficient to Boleslavsky, 8 Q:g4 N:d4 9 Qdl e5! 10 Bd3 0-0 Kotov never leaves a planhalf-
so he takes his time. The picture has suddenly al- 11 .0-0d6 12 ~~2 Be6 12 N:d4 ed, an, carried out, even when he begins
tered: the weak b-pawn has be- in some other openings as well. to suspect the plan he has cho-
come strong, and the "bad" bi- sen may not have been very good.
shop now occupies a strong posi- The d-pawn's survivability de- Here he feels that after 12..ed
tion. There would be no point for pends, first and foremost, upon 13 Q:d4 c5 would be bad forBlack,
White has finally gotten what White in taking the c-pawn: 44R:c6 the fianchettoed king's bishop, since it would leave White's
he was after: as soon as the Rhc8 45 R:c8 R:c8 threatens without which it would be a mere knight the d5 square in perpetu-
passing fancy; and secondly, ity; meanwhile, White is preparing
knight reaches c5, lack's game 46..Rc4, and if White brings his upon how effectively Black ex-
will be nearly hopeless, since king up to defend with 46 Kf3, an eventual 2-f4. However, Black
White will have an extra king- then 46..Be4+ wins for Black. If ploits the open lines adjoining comes up with a deeply thought out
the pawn. And, in fact, such forcing maneuver, leading tothe
side pawn, practically speaking,
and must eventually convert it
the king were at 1, let's say,
then White could get to e3 viae2 were the themes of the Kotov - seizure of the d4 square and the
into a win. Nevertheless, the and win. Thus, the ability to Petrosian game. appearance of the "hardy" pawn.
move played gives Averbakh a note and exploit the tiniesk of
problem-like save! nuances sometimes decides the out-
come of a game.
12..Qb6 was also possible here,
The following maneuvers can when White would appear to have
no longer alter the result. The nothing better than 13 Ne2; but
Once again the rook is forced question arises: was the win ever then the question arises: wouldn't
to occupy the square c5 where possible? And if so, when did the knights have been better de-
White had wanted to place his White let it slip? This is the proper strategy. veloped to d2 and e2 in the first
knight. White begins with the idea that place?
On move 40, instead of Nd3, a similar position - except for
40 Rc5! should have been played, White's c-pawn at c2 - could
not allowing Black two tempifor arise in the Philidor; there,
..b4 and ..Bf5; then, on 4O..b4, the bishop would stand on c4, White wants to play 2-4, but
he could have replied 41 Ra5; or where it plays a leading role in he can't do it right away inview
if 4O..Rhc8 41 Nd3, and now if the attack on the king. Here, of 13 f4? ed 14 Q:d4 d5!, with
4l..Bf5 42 Nb4, or if 4l..b4, however, at e2 or d3 it would the threat of 15..Bc5. The king's
then 42 Ra5, threatening 43 Nc5. only interfere with the rooks' retreat does not prevent Black
It seems to me that Black, in actions on the central files. On from carrying out his intended
spite of all his resourcefulness, g2, however, it has an excellent maneuver, so some sort of devel-
would have been unable to save future, since Black will have to oping move, for instance 13 Rel,
the game then. cede the d4 square to Whiteeven- was preferable here.
tually, and then the e-pawn will
become mobile.

( See diagram, next page )


Occupying d5 will be favorable
DRAW
,.,,,,,.,.
- -'.-I-J,\
-
I A rather patchwork idea. White
is apparently anticipating ..b7-b5
for White if he can secure his
knight there or if a trade of
minor pieces on that square
by overprotecting c4, but thenhe leaves him with a tangible ad-
87. Kotov-Petrosian brings his knight to d2 so that it
(OldIndian Defense) vantage. In the present instance,
may recapture on c4. nor is fian- neither condition holds, so Pet-
Hoping to force the bishop's We should like to draw the chettoing the queenzs bishop par- rosian is therefore not afraid to
retreat, after which the knight reader's attention to the d4- ticularly favorable with aknight weaken d5. White's queen is forced
can support the advance g3-g4, pzwn in this game: doubled, iso- on c3. 9 h3 ought to have been to beat a slow retreat back into
but - lated, and surrounded by enemy
pieces, still it showed an ex-
played a t once, securing e3 for its own camp, with the black
the bishop and thereby strength- knight in hot pursuit.
42. ... b4-b3 ceptional vitality. Such pawns
were nonexistent in the gamesof
ening d4.
M O ~ P ~ YSteinitz,
S Lasker, Capa- 9. ... ~f 8-e8
capture the d-pawn later. The
more restrained 19 Nf3 would Now the bishop on b7 is firm- Najdorf is temperamentally un-
lead to a small advantage for ly entombed, and the two d-pawns suited to a passive game without
Black: 19..bc 20 bc B:d5! 21 cd turn out to be weaker than one. counterchances. Seeing that his
N:f3 22 B:f3 Bg7, or 21 ed N:f3 Black would be more than willing queenside pieces have beenhemmed
22 Q:f3 Bg7 23 B:f6 B:f6. to remove either of them from in, he undertakes a kingside div-
the board. ersion, aimed chiefly against the
possibility of g2-g4. In a later
game, he castled here and held
Petrosian makes one last at-
the balance - not because his
game was good, but rather thanks
tempt: an exchange sacrifice, to his tactical skill.
which Kotov of course declines.
White needs only to bring one
of his rooks to dl in order to
win the d4-pawn, but Black has
set up such fierce pressure on DRAW
the c4- and e4-pawns that both Black has difficulty activat-
rooks are occupied defending ing his bishops, and White has
them. The plan to win the hardy counterchances, too: a poten-
pawn is not working out, and tial passed pawn, and control
White's game is hanging by a of the c-file.
( Position after 14,.c5 ) thread, but ~otov's coolheaded
defense stems the tide. Black had so good a position
After the queen retreats to before his 29th move that one
e3, 15..d5 is possible. feels impelled to speculate
as to whether or not he might
have had a win.

88. Geller-Najdorf
(Sicilian Defense)
1. e2-e4 c7-c5
2. Ngl-3 d7-d6
3. d2-d4 c5:d4
4. Nf3:d4 Ng8-f6
5. Nbl-c3 a7-a6
6. Bfl-e2 e7-e5
7. Nd4-b3 Bc8-e6
8. 0-0 Nb8-d7 Najdorf confidently sacrifices
9. 2-f4 Qd8-c7 a pawn for a little initiative.
10. f4-5 Be6-c4 His position after the 18th move
11. a2-a4! ... would indeed have been promising,
had Geller taken the a-pawn; but
Against this system, a fre- Geller finds a steadier solution
quently used one by Najdorf, to the problem, as we shall see.
Geller has prepared a plan to Denying himself the material, he
occupy the light squares in acquires a great positional ad-
the center and on the king's vantage instead by a series of
wing. By pushing his pawn to fine moves. And although ~ajdorf
Black uses combinative means 5, he has driven the bishop gave his 17..b5 an exclamation
to secure a positional advan- to c4, where it will shortly mark, it is possible that 17. .Qc6
tage: his next move, 18..g6, is The hardy pawn defies all its be traded off. Now he plays was better.
an important link. Petrosian 11 a4 in order to restrict
foes! Not a single piece can at- Black's queenside play.
had to see all this beforeplay- tack it, since it takes all of
ing 13..ed, or else his posi- them put together to keep itblock-
tion would have been quite du- aded. Now it is White's game that
bious by this time. looks suspect (29..d5 is a threat), This exchange is aimed at sub-
but Kotov finds a courageous pawn jugating the light squares, es-
12..d5 13 ed Bb4 or 13 N:d5
sacrifice. . N:d5 14 ed B:b3 15 cb Bc5 was
pecially d5, since White removes
one of the pieces which could de-
more in the spirit of thisvar- fend that square. The next links
Kotov doesn't quite believe iation. of his plan will be to bring the
his opponent, so he takes the rook from 2 to al, assail the a-
knight, hoping to be able to pawn with his heavy pieces, tie
down lack's rooks and queen to
ROUND FOURTEEN no more than a draw.
92. Gligoric- Reshevsky
(Ruy Lopez)
The first twenty moves in this
game were right out of theory, DRAW
and the players added very lit-
tle of their own to the handbook.
It might seem rather dull tothe 93. Taimanov- Keres
There's our zugzwang. Seeing reader, but it does liven up a
no way out, Reshevsky allowed little when Gligoric offers his (Queen's Gambit)
his flag to fall, upon which queen for rook and bishop onthe 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6
he was scored a loss. 29th move. Despite the fact that 2. c2-c4 e7-e6
the resulting balance of forces 3. Nbl-c3 d7-d5
would favor Black arithmetically, 4. Bcl-g5 c7-c5
Reshevsky declined this sacri-
fice. Keres, who stands apart from
King's Indianophiles and Nirnzo-
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 lovers alike, has secretly
4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 prepared a system for thistour-
nament involving ..c7-c5 at a
very early stage of the Queen's
13. Nf 1 Rfe8 14. de'de 15. N3h2 g6 Gambit Declined, and employed it
16. Ne3Be6 17.Nhg4N:g418.hgRad8 successfully against Stahlberg
19. Qf3Nc420.Nd5B:d521. ed Nb6 and Geller, and in the last
22. Be4c423.Bd2Rd6 24.Radl Red8 round against Najdorf as well,
in reply to 4 Nf3.
Both sides continue their leis-
urely woodshifting: neitherwants
to rock the boat.
A practical game is no theo-
reticians' polemic. Taimanov
was undoubtedly aware that af-
ter 5 cd theory finds an advan-
tage for White in every varia-
tion from "a" to the end of the
alphabet - and as a matter of
fact, he had won a game himself
using precisely that lineagainst
Prins at Stockholm 1952. But as
Taimanov, who has studied the
5 cd variation extensively, also
knows, the last word has notbeen
said here either. So he chooses
another line.
Really, is it possible to
"prove" that 4..c5 is contrary
to the logic of chess with such
lines as these:

b) 5 cd cd 6 Q:d4 Be7 7 e4Nc6


Had Black taken the queen, 8 Qd2 ed 9 B:f6 B:f6 10 edNe5
31 B:e7 Q:e7 32 B:f3 wouldhave 11 Bb5+ etc.; or
ensued; now the passed d-pawn
would have to be blockaded, but c) 5 cd cd 6 Q:d4 Be7 7 e4Nc6
with no more minor pieces at 8 Qd2 N:e4 9 N:e4 ed 10B:e7
hand, Black would be forced to Q:e7 11 Q:d5 0-0 1 2 f 3 Nb4
assign his only rook tothe task, 13 Qg5 etc.
Leaving White's rooks to pile
up on the isolated e-pawn. In Note too that after 5 cdBlack
this line Black could hope for may try the so-called Peruvian
Variation: 5..Qb6 6 B:f6 Q:b2 with a pawn and thereby strength- iation 23..Nc4 24 Ne4 Ne525 Qg3
etc. en his d-pawn; Black goes along N:g4 26 Q:c7 (the rook sacri-
with this, since the whole pawn fice on g7 could boomerang on
The most precise knowledge constellation will not be any A bold idea. Objectively, it White here: 25 R:g7+ K:g726 Qg3t
of opening theory cannot guar- stronger for it. There's noneed may be that 21 c4 was stronger, Ng6! 27 Q:c7 Q:e4! 28 Q:d8 Nf4,
antee one against over-the- to hurry with this exchange, how- but Taimanov does not feel he forcing mate).
board surprises. Therefore, a ever, since it can just as well could defend the hanging c-and
grandmaster will frequently be played after 16 a3. d-pawns against a Keres; so he
avoid the "best" continuation decides to base his defense on
in favor of his own, whether the pawn at c3, simultaneously
accepted by theory or not. preparing an attack on the Black is not going to be able
king's wing. to break in c3 without the use
of his pawns, so the rook move
is useless. 24..e5 would have
been the proper conclusion to
Black's strategy, torpedoing the
Of course it was more appeal- central d4-pawn. A careful exam-
Awaste of time. White is dal- ing to move the knight up: 22 Ne5, ination of the variations pro-
lying with the development of but this would have cost the ex- ceeding from 25 Q:f5 ed will
his kingside pieces, although change. convince us that all of them
the game is now semi-open, which wind up favoring Black. But now
means that White must take care the rook on g3 returns to the
to get his king secured. The e-file, fixing lack's newly-
more natural move here was 8 Bd3. Keres insists on inviting c3- created weakness on e6, and the
c4, since he now threatens to rook's sojourn from el to e4 to
invade at a2. Taimanov, however, g4 to g3 to e3 is justified at
is not to be put off his plan, last.
even though by now c3-c4 has
become necessary.
A positional snare. If Black Black goes overboard in his
succumbs and takes the bishop - efforts to simplify and win by
-
11.. N:d3 12 Q:d3 ed then 13 Ne5
gives White a clear advantage:
means of pure technique. If
Keres wanted to continue play-
on e5 the knight is better than ing for the win, he had to test
either bishop. White could have The classic starting position White with either 25..Qd6 or
laid a tactical snare as well: for an attack against the hang- 25..Qa2.
11 Ne5, and if Black takes the ing c- and d-pawns. White must
bishop, 12 Nc6 Qe7 13 N:e7+Q:e7 weigh concretely his opponent's
14 Q:d3 Ba6 15 b3 would lead to threats against his own means
a lively game with about even for coping with them. In the
chances. The swindle appears if, event White continues passively,
instead of 12..Qd7, Black tries Black has several attacking op-
to snatch a pawn in passingwith tions:
12..N:b2 13 Qe2 Qd7 14 N:e7+
Q:e7 15 Q:b2 Ba6. White would a) Nc6-a5-c4, blockading the
not take the knight on move 15, c-pawn and pressing on the a-
but a doubly defended pawn in- Pawn;
stead: 15 N:d5, and p lack's
position would collapse. Black b) rook maneuvers on the c-
would have to settle for the and d-files;
first variation: 11 Ne5 N:d3
12 Q:d3 Bb7, since an immediate c) undermining the d-pawn by
ll..Bb7 12 Bbl would leave White means of ..b6-b5, ..a7-a5, and White has found a vulnerable
good attacking prospects against ..b5-b4. spot in lack's fortress - 67.
g7 and h7. Now he wants to attack it twlce,
Black's final plan will de- following the precepts of chess
pend quite a bit on White's pedagogy: rook first, queen af-
counterplay: whether he settles ter. He also threatens the pri-
into a bunker defense, or car- mitive 24 R:g7+, 25 Qg3+ and
ries the play to the centerwith 26 Q:c7, as well as 24 Ne4.
c3-c4 and d4-d5, or attacks the
black king. Some idea of how dangerous
Both a prophylactic and a the situation could become for
waiting move. Minor piece trades Taimanov puts off the deci- Black, should he try to avoid ~ t ' shard for Black to hold
impend: White wishes to induce sion for a move while he opens weakening his pawn structure, his e-pawn, since White has,
..N:c3, so that he can recapture a vent for his king. might be gleaned from the var- besides a direct attack on the
pawn, the continual threat to would have retained his plus the tournament hall. To this we
break with Re5 and d4-d5. Keres pawn in all lines, with real may add that the Averbakh - KO-
decides to trade the e-pawn for winning chances. tov game now has a spot in the
White's c-pawn, but he chooses golden treasury of chess art.
a bad moment to do it: better
to have played 27..R8c6 first,
and then to have retreated his The rook makes for the open
queen to d7, or even to d6. sea; since the pawns are dead
even, White's advantage has
For a more general evaluation completely evaporated.
of such positions, the reader
should bear in mind that, were DRAW
lack's pawn at 7 instead of In the previous round, Petro-
5, White would be in dire ,.,,,,,\,\,.
-8-L-1.L-1.1.
sian had used a similar defense
straits after the maneuver..b6- against Kotov and obtained good
b5, ..a7-a5 and ..b5-b4. 94. Najdorf-Smyslov play. In this tournament, Kotov
(Nimzoindian Defense) generally answered 1 d4 with
l..d5, or else played the King's
Indian; for this game, however,
he adopted Petrosian's idea, em-
ploying it impromptu against
White's pieces are now very 36..R:f4 37 Re7 Qd4 38 R:g7+ 8 Bd2 is better here. Averbakh .
active, and Black has a hard Kh8 39 Q:d4 R:d4 40 R:a7. Black
time spotting all White's pos- could probably have gotten a draw In the previous game, White had
sible plans in time to neutra- by trading off all of the queen- continued 6 g3, fianchettoing his
lize them. Here, for example, side pawns, but Keres didn t bishop; here Averbakh uses the
31 Re8+ was threatened. So want to risk it, since he thought 12 3 was more in keeping other method of developing it,
Black first reduces the number he could stop White's attack by with the position. 6 Be2. This would make sense if
of pieces on the board. simpler means - which, as un- he followed it up with an advance
fortunately happens so often,
turned out to be more complex.
12 .. Ne4 13 Qel Nd6 14. Qdl of his queenside pawns, but he
does not carry his plan through
DRAW to its logical conclusion.

In a queen-and-heavy-pieces Keres assumed that the f-


game, the first thing that must pawn could not be defended, 95. Petrosian-Geller
be seen to is the protection of for example: 37 Kg3 Qd3+; but (Queen's Indian Defense)
the king, since the side which he overlooked the fact that 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nf3 c5
can combine the advance of its advancing the pawn would se- 4. g3 b6 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. 0-0 Be7
pawns with threats to the oppos- cure the g6 square forWhite, and 7. d4 cd 8. Q:d4
ing king will hold the initia- create a new possibility of at- The immediate 11 a3 would have
tive in such endings. In this tacking the g7-pawn. He would 8 N:d4 offers more chances to been a poor idea, since Black
position, White's advantage boils have been better off attacking sustain an initiative; but then, would have exchanged in the cen-
down to his having more pawns on the pawn from the other side: the Queen's Indian does have a ter, exposing the e-pawn, and
the f- and h-files, with the f- 36..Qf7, which also attacksthe reputation for being a drawish then advanced his a-pawn, pre-
pawn being especially important, 5 square; if then 37 g3 Qf5. opening ... venting b2-b4.
as it shields the king from
checks on the diagonal h2-b8. 8 .. 0-0 9. Rdl Nc6 10. Qf4
The difference in the positions Qb8 11. b3Rd812.Q:b8Ra:b8
of the respective kings isclear- In fierce time-pressure,Keres 13. Bb2 a6 14. Nd2
ly visible from the diagram. could not risk 37..Rf7 38 Re8+
Kh7 39 Qb8 R:f5, and decided to DRAW
double his queenside pawns. That
could have cost him the-game. This position is one of dynam-
ic equality, requiring great
( See diagram, next column ) 96. Averbakh-Kotov skill from both sides. Black can
(Old Indian Defense) undertake a diversion on either
The most beautiful game of the queenside (for example, ..Rec8,
By defending his f-pawn again, the Zurich tournament, this game ..cd and ..b5) or the kingside
Keres must now play a dogged Taimanov slackens his initiative has drawn rave reviews from the (..Kh8, ..Ng8 and..f5). Neither
defense, and he does it with skill. for a moment and exposes his entire chess wo:ld. "Once in a would present any deadly danger
king; the latter circumstance hundred years.. , "Unique in to White, provided he takes pre-
allows Keres to create a threat chess literature..", "Exquisite ventive measures. The only dan-
to the white a-pawn and force queen sacrifice.." - such were ger would be that he might allow
the draw. With the more active the feelings of commentators of himself to become so wrapped up
Inviting his opponent to try continuation 39 Re5, Taimanov many lands, although none of in meeting the threats on one
the pawn-down rook ending with them could match the reaction in wing as to miss the critical mo-
ment on the other. of three things: logic, accurate The position has occurred
calculation, and technique (this twice, so Black takes a pawn,
last includes a knowledge ofthe- and begins the count again.
ory). There is a fourth ingre-
dient also, however, perhaps the
This move is the equivalent most intriguing of all, although
of an announcement, with fan- it is often overlooked. I refer
fares, that Black has chosen
the kingside as his main theater
to intuition -
if you prefer.
chess fantasy,
of operations. White should now
have lost no time preparing Occasionally a position arises
a2-a3 and b2-b4: for example, in the course of a game which Black threatens 44..Be7, fol-
18 Qc2 Kh8 19 a3 Ng8 20 Bg4, cannot be evaluated on general lowed by 45..Nf6+ 46 Kf5 Nd7+
and if 2O..Nf6, he can trade principles, such as pawn weak- 47 Kg4 Rg8+ and mate next move.
bishops and open the b-file. nesses, open lines, better de- White has two tempi in which to
velopment, etc., since the state organize his defense, but cannot
of equilibrium has been upset on do anything with them, since all
several counts, rendering an ex- communications between the upper
act weighing of the elements im- and lower halves of the board
possible. Attempting to calculate are either severed by pawn bar-
the variations doesn't always ricades or under the crossfire
Since White here declines a work, either. Imagine that White of Black's pieces. Relatively
possible repetition of the po- has six or seven different con- "best" was 44 Be3 Be7 45 B:f4
sition (21 Be2 Ng8), evidently tinuations, and Black five or ef 46 N:f4 Rh4+ 47 Kg3 R:f4,
he feels his chances are not six replies to each move; it's but even this best would also
inferior. He is correct, inasmuch easy to see that no genius on have been quite hopeless for
as he has the possibility of earth could reach even the fourth Like a rabbit hypnotized by a White.
playing a2-a3, Rbl and b2-b4; move in his calculations. It is python, the king advances un-
but he is also incorrect, inas- then that intuition or fantasy willingly to the place of its
much as he has something totally comes to the rescue: that's what doom. For an understanding of
different in mind. has given the art of chess its the next phase of the game,bear
most beautiful combinations, and in mind that Kotov had very lit-
allowed chessplayers the chance tle time left until the timecon-
to experience the joy of creating. trol, and naturally did not wish
to spoil such a beautiful and
It is not true to say that in- unusual game with some hasty
Averbakh is trying to put out tuitive games were only played move. Therefore, he decides to
the fire with gasoline. Now in the days of Morphy, Anders- give a few checks, in order to
..f7-5 comes with double force, sen and Ghigorin (as if now, in get the game past the 40th move
since Black can capture either and adjourn it. No doubt, there
our era, everything were to has to be mate in this position;
of two pawns, while neither be based totally on positional
white pawn may capture on 5. most probably, Kotov saw its
princi les and rigorous calcul- basic outlines as far back as
ation!y: I remain convinced that, his 30th move.
even in the games which received
the brilliancy prizes at this
tournament,not all of the varia- 33. ... Nf6-d7
tions were calculated to the end. Here's the proof: had the
Intuition has been and remains queen sacrifice been "accur-
one of the cornerstones of chess
creativity - of which we shall
Although many commentators ately calculated", Kotovwould
gave this move a question mark, instead have chosen ~tahlberg's
now see proof positive. postmortem suggestion, 33..Ng4,
it cannot be considered a mis-
take; actually, it is the con- depriving White of the reply
tinuation of a plan begun much 34 Rg5. After 33..Ng4, White
earlier. Averbakh intends an would have had to suffer colos- The threat is mate in two
Now the weakness of the pawn sal material losses in order to moves by ..Rg7+ and ..Rf6;
attack along the g-file, and at h3 tells. The point of Ko-
so he opens it. This is all very avert the mate threats. 45 N:f4 Rg7+ 46 Ng6+ Rg:g6+
logical - except that the h-
pawn has to be on h2.
tov's remarkable combination,
which all his previous playwent 47 Kf5 Ne7 is mate too. White
must give up still another
to prepare, is to drag thewhite piece.
king out to 5, where it will The only defense against the
be defenseless against lack's threatened mate in three: ..Rf8,
two rooks, knight and bishop;
while White's five pieces, deep ..Rg8 and .. Rf6.
in his rear echelon, can only
look on from afar.
The creative element of chess
is generally thought to consist All of White's battalions fall
one by one, sallying forth by making it very difficult for Stahlberg did not retreat to
to the aid of their belea- White to get an advantage. d7 immediately, fearing 13 Qb3,
guered king. when the attempt to take the
Euwe does not try to refute d5-pawn would end very badly
the opening, which is impossible, for Black: 12..Bd7 13 Qb3 Nf:d5
but to upset the statistical ba- 14 N:d5 B:d4 15 Bh6, and Black
lance and create livelier play, must cede the exchange, as oth-
trusting that the advantage of erwise White could threaten the
In reply to thirteen checks, the first move will make itself knight at b6 and mate at g7 sim-
m i t e gives his first check, felt somewhere. Stahlberg is ultaneously, with serious diffi-
and after willing to meet Euwe halfway, culties for Black. And if, after
and the game which results is 13 Qb3, Black does not take the
51. ... Rg7-g8 very much like an absorbing nov- d-pawn, but continues instead
with13..Qc7, 14 Be3Nc415 Rfcl
elette.
WHITE RESIGNS sets up an unpleasant pin on
the c-file.
A grand game, richly deser-
ving its First Brilliancy Prize. Thus, the black bishop can
The sortie 5..Qa5+ 6 Nc3 Ne4 find no fulcrum from which to
is insufficient, and meets a exert its leverage, and wanders
pretty refutation in 7 Qd4 N:c3 mournfully along the diagonal
97. Szabo-Boleslavsky 8 Bd2 Q:d5 9 Q:c3! c8-h3: it has taken three moves
(French Defense) to get from c8 to d7! That's In either case, White wouldre-
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 quite enough to induce White to tain the advantage.
start an attack: with 14 a5, the
black knight would have been
driven back to c8, where it in-
The logical continuation of It is not entirely clear where terferes with the coordination
White's opening plan was to the knight is headed: there of lack's rooks, and would have
play to retain the pawn with does not seem to be any clear had a lot more skulking about to
8 Nb3 0-0 9 Be3. Now Black is path leading out of d7. First do, too.
better developed, and will he should have let the bishop Black must not exchange rooks
shortly recover the c-pawn. out : 8. .Bg4 9 Nd4 Qc8! under any circumstances, but.he
should have left c8 free forthe
knight by retreating the rookto
Black is spoiling for a fight! e8.
An unfortunate thought: the Stahlberg was probably attracted
knight never gets to 4. Like Tarrasch in his day,Euwe less by the prospect of winning
cannot abide the sight of an en- the pawn than by the piquant po-
10 ..
Re8 11. 0-0 B:c512. Qdl
Bb6 13. c3 h6 14. Bf4 Ne5
emy knight on b6. But the knight sition of the rook on c5, asquare
where it would appear to be vul-
stands so poorly on that square Another pretty combination.
15. B:e5 R:e5 16. Re1 R:el+ that there was no need to dis- nerable, yet cannot be attacked. Euwe invites the capture of his
17.Q:el Qd618.Rdl turb it. The quiet 10 Nd4 and Evidently, he was not yet will- b-pawn, when there would follow
11 b3 would have underscoredthe ing to sacrifice the rook for 23 Nb6, and White either wins a
DRAW knight's limited mobility, while knight and pawn by 15..R:c3 piece or queens his pawn. Of
the flank deployment of the sec- 16 Q:c3 Nb:d5, but in his cramped course, Black declines that con-
Black has the better of it. ond bishop would harmoniously position he could hardly hope tinuation, but the c-pawn will
Here is a curious combination complement the ensemble ofwhite to obtain anything better. Stahl- fall.
which might occur: 18..Re8 pieces. berg still keeps the possibility
19 Qd2 Ne4 20 Q:d5? N:f2! of trading off the rook in this
21 Q:d6 N:dl+ 22 Q:b6 Re1 mate. Euwe intends to develop the fashion for the next two moves,
bishop at e3: it must have been but he stubbornly maintains its
in order to rid himself of the position on c5. Black sees that he must bring
temptation to advance the e- up his sleeping kingside pieces
98. Euwe-Stahlberg
(Grunfeld Defense) .
pawn. . as quickly as possible, and to
that end he sacrifices yet ano-
A valiant charge! The knight ther pawn; however, such dras-
may be taken by rook, bishop or tic measures were as yet unnec-
pawn: which is best? Stahlberg essary. 23..Nfe8 was better, in-
Here Stahlberg probably wanted follows the line of greatestre- tending ..Nd6 and ..Bc3.
Black meets the flank develop- to play ll..Qc8, but didn't like sistance: instead of one minor
ment of the bishop by advancing 12 a5 Nc4 13 a6, when White gets piece for the rook, he getstwo,
his c-pawn to support ..d7-d5, the important square c6 for his but his opponent gets an ex-
setting up a symmetrical posi- knight. tremely dangerous passed pawn.
tion with a fixed pawn struc- Other possible lines: 16..B:c6 It would have been tempting
ture. Stahlberg is challenging 17 dc R:c3 18 Q:c3 Nd5 l9 c 7 ; to trade off the bishops aswell,
Euwe the openings theoretician, or 16..~f:d5 17 N:d8 B:c39 etc. picking up the c-pawn, but this
would have led to a quick fin- Three connected passed pawns far-advanced pawn, and thus has
ish: one white rook would go can be a terrible weapon when freedom to maneuver; the same
to the eighth rank, while the they start rolling and smash- cannot be said of Black's rook,
other supported the advance of ing all before them. Cases are which stands in front of the b) 47 Ke4 Kc6 48 Kf4 Kb5 49 Ra3
the b-pawn. known in which such pawns have passed pawn and will have fewer R:a6 50 R:a6 K:a6 51 Kg4 Kb5
defeated two rooks, or even a and fewer squares as the pawn 52 K:h4 Kc5, and the pawn end-
queen and rook; so Stahlberg advances further. This is quite ing is drawn, since the king
must take the b-pawn. He cannot a basic element in the evalua- gets back just in time to de-
Here too, he cannot exchange take it with the rook, since af- tion of rook endings, and will fend the pawn on 6;
bishops, and for the same rea- ter the last black rook is ex- figure prominently in the strug-
son. changed off, White plays Rd5- gle at hand. 11. 44 Ra3 g5 45 f5 h4 46 gh gh
b5-b6 and then queens his a- 47 Ke4 h3 48 Kf3 d5 49 Kg3 Kd6
pawn. Taking on b4 with the bi- 50 K:h3 Ke5, drawing;
shop would be bad too, in view
He ought to have found out of 35 c7. Luckily for Stahl- 111. 44 e4 Ra6, with the same
where the rook intended to go berg, he can still wriggle out ideas as in the game, but with
after 27..Bf5: the choice was of his difficult situation by an extra tempo for Black.
not great. Stahlberg apparently giving back the two pieces for
feared White would take a draw rook and pawn to get into a
by repetition of moves, and he slightly inferior rook endgame.
was loath to abandon a game that He shouldn't have taken the
had proven so interesting ... e4 square away from his king.
This is important in the follow-
ing variation: 44 Ra2 6 45 Ra3
g5 46 5 h4 47 gh gh 48 Ke4 h3
49 Kf3 h2 50 Kg2 Kc6 51 K:h2 Kb5
52 Kg3 R:a5 53 R:a5+ K:a5 54Kh4,
The game enters its third,and and White picks up the f-pawn
most interesting,phase. and queens one move beforeBlack.
The same thing occurs after
Black's pointless maneuverings The tale of chess tournaments 48..Kc6 49 Kf4 Kb5 50 Kg4 R:a5
have allowed White to improve the has furnished us a wealth of ma- 51 R:a5+, etc. But now that a
positions of his pieces. One of terial on the theory and prac- pawn bars the white king'spath,
Black's drawing chances lay in tice of rook endgames; this end- Black can go in for this varia-
avoiding an exchange of light- game, played by both sides with tion - which, indeed, he does.
square bishops, which keeps the a hi h degree of skill, cer-
possibility of giving back the tainKy belongs among the best.
two pieces for the rook andpawn, Black's task is a most difficult
leaving opposite-colored bishops. one: he has to cope with an out-
For this reason, he should have side passed pawn. He does have If Black should succeed in
brought his lightsquare bishop counterchances, however: the creating a passed pawn on the
to e6 only after the preparatory possibility of quickly creating h-file, things will not be so
31. .Nc7. a matching passed pawn on theh- bad for him.
file, and the fact that there is
33. Rc8-b8 so little material left on the
34. b31b4 ... board. This latter circumstance
sometimes allows one to trade
off all his pawns, give up the Euwe already sees Black's
rook for the last of the enemy plan of ..f7-6, ..g6-g5 and
pawns, and then force one's op- ..h5-h4, and wishes to keep
ponent to repay his debt in the in hand the possibility of
same coin. creating an outpost at 5,
thereby maintaining winning
We are largely indebted to chances after a mutual liquid-
Dr. Euwe's analysis for the fol- ation of passed pawns.
lowing commentaries.

Here Euwe's analysis indi-


The king would be better cates it would have been better
brought via g7 and 6 bo e5,but to begin at once with the cre-
that doesn't come off: 38..Kg7 ation-of a passed pawn by 43..6,
39 Kg2 Kf6 40 Kf3 Ke5 41 a6Ra7 followed by:
42 Ra5+ d5 43 e4, and Whitewins The crux of this remarkable
a pawn. The reason this turns I. 44 a6 g5 45 5 h4 46 gh gh endgame, and in fact of the en-
out in White's favor is that tire game. Stahlberg quite evi-
the white rook stands behind its a) 47 R:h4 R:a6 4 8 Rh7+ Ke8 dently thought that he could sup-
port his passed h-pawn in some ROUND FIFTEEN give up his "good" bishop for
lines; how could he have seen 99. Boleslavsky-Euwe
White's knight, and it appears
that it was precisely the para- that White can now occupy d5
Underscoring all the short- (Sicilian Defense) with a piece. Euwe, however, by
doxical 48..Ra7 which would have
held the draw? As Euwe shows in comings of s lack's position: 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 advancing his queenside pawns
his analyses: 49 a6 Kc6, and now he has no useful move. For 2. Ngl-3 Nb8-c6 and posting his own knight on
now : example, after 54..hlQ 55 R:hl 3. d2-d4 c5 :d4 c5, thwarts White's efforts to
R:a7 56 Rh7+, White wins the 4. Nf3:d4 Ng8-6 install his bishop at d5.
a) 50 Ra3 h3 51 R:h3R:a652 Rh6 rook at a7. If Black prepares 5. Nbl-c3 d7-d6
Kd7 53 Rh7+ Ke8 54 Kd5 Ra5+ this by retreating his king to 6. Bfl-e2 e7-e5
55 K:d6 Re5 and draws; the eighth rank, White places
his king in opposition, setting Euwe plays the BoleslavskyVar-
b> 50 Kd4 h3 51 Ra3 h2 52 Ral up a mate threat after the ex- iation against its inventor: a Boleslavsky opens the fi ht
change of pawns. If 54..Ke7, bit of psychology that often for d5. By attacking Black6s
then obviously 55 Kc6 and brings good results. To his psy- pawns, he forces Black either
Ra5+ 58 Kd4 Re5 and draws. 56 Kb7. Black tries to play on chological preparations, the to capture at a4 or to push to
for a while a pawn down, but former World Champion has also b4; in either event, he can
With the rook at a8, White's that's clearly hopeless. added a theoretical improvement bring his bishop to c4.
pawn goes to a7; then, in varia- at the 14th move.
tion b), after the trade of
pawns, White checks at h7 and Boleslavsky plays the game
wins the rook. peaceably, even somewhat weakly,
and Euwe succeeds in equalizing
completely.
Black now executes the idea
Here Stahlberg might have giv- he pLanned on the previous move
The attempt to trade passed en his opponent the opportunity of trading off White's good bi-
pawns by 5O..Kb7 51 Rh2 R:a7 to end the game with the follow- shop, ignoring the fact that
52 R:h4 would lose for Black, ing elegant combination, invol- hls d6-pawn appears to be unde-
since his king would not have vine back-to-back aueen sacri- fended.
the time to get back in order
to defend his pawns: 52..Kc6
53 Rh6 Rf7 54 Rh8 Re7 55 Kd4 K:f8 6 4 a8Q+ R:a8 65 Rh8+ -
Rf7 56 Rg8, and Black is in but he prefers to lose more pro-
zugzwang. saically. The players are traveling a
well-rutted road: the whole
59. Kd4-e3 Ra4-a3+ line was played repeatedly at
60. Ke3-4 Ra3-a1 the Stockholm tournament in
If Black had advanced his 61. Rh7-7 Kc6-c5 1952. There, Black played 14..a6;
passed pawn to the second rank, 62. Rf7:f6 Ral :a7 but after 15 a3 Qc4, White was
White would not have taken it 63. Rf6-e6 Ra7-a1 able to pin s lack's knightwith
off at once, but given check 64. 5-6 Kc5-c6 16 Bg5. This move of Black's
from c2 first; with the black 65. Kf4-5 Kc6-d7 forestalls that bishop sortie
king confined to the b-file, 66. Re6-e7+ Kd7-d8 and preserves the knight's
White would have an easy win. 67. Kf5-e6 .. . freedom of movement. For exam-
ple, he can play ..Nh7, intend-
BLACK RESIGNED -ng ..Bg5, or ..Nd7 followed by
..Nc5. In the Stockholm games,
Black had to spend a tempo de-
fending the bishop by ..Qc7 in
order to relieve the pin, and
then the knight had to go to e8.

Indirect defense is an often-


used technique: it can figure as
one of the elements of a combin-
Here's a surprise: one would ation, or as one of the links in
think that Black would have to a war of maneuver. In the dia-
keep two pieces watching the d5 grammed position, the d6-pawn
square, so that if White ever is defended indirectly, since if
occupies it, he would have to 25 Q:d6 Q:d6 26 R:d6, Black can
recapture with his pawn in the snap off the b3-pawn, formerly
event of an exchange, shutting defended by both the queen and
off his pressure on the d6-pawn. the c-pawn, with his knight.
But now Black seems willing to After 26. .N:b3 27 Rbl Nd4
28 R:b4 N:c2 29 Rb7 Ne3 or sis, a execution: lO..Nf4!, and if the
28 B:a6 R:c2 29 R:b4 Ne2+, DRAW bishop goes to c2, then ll..Nb6
White could hardly expect to (instead of ..Nc5) assails the
win the ending. Still, this was was agreed to without further weakened c-pawn and induces Szabo is on the horns of a
his best shot, as Black would play. Black stands more active- 12 b3. dilemma. Seeing that his inten-
not have had an easy defense. ly, but in Euwe's opinion, the ded 13..b5 will not work, in
a-pawn gives White sufficient view of 14 b4 and 15 c5, he
counterchances. decides to secure the knight's
position, at least. He conducts
the next phase of the game some-
what hesitantly, as though try-
100. Kotov-Szabo ing to decide what plan he ou ht
Creating a passed pawn is a (King's Indian) to adopt in the face of White$' s
logical plan, but it will be a Castling on opposite wings I,,... growing initiative. After the
difficult pawn to advance: generally presages pawn assaults 20th move, however, he decides
White's bishop, which would nor- against the opposing kings. An on a pawn assault leading away
mally support it, has no sup- exception to this rule consists from his own king, and plays
port points itself. of the unusual positions aris-
ing out of the Samisch ~ i n g ' s
-
va banque .
Indian. Here both sides, after 14. Kcl-bl Bc8-d7
castling on opposite wings, 15. Ne2-cl Rf 8-7
sometimes push the pawns in 16. Ncl-d3 b7-b6
front of their own kings. The 17. Rdl-cl Bg7-6
present game is an example of 18. Rhl-fl Bf6-h4
such play. With the center
closed and pawn chains fixed,
Black castles short and sets
4 r f a24p *,,,@B
"// $->
:, .=.-, =-. Obsessed by his desire to ex-
change off the darksquare bi-
up a break on g4 by playing shops, Szabo overlooks White's
..f7-5-4, ..g6-g5, ..h7-h5, simple reply. 18..a4 was neces-
and ..g5-g4; in the meantime, Szabo turns down that same sary, in order to prevent the
White opened the b-file leading rocky road as did Gligoric in trade of lightsquare bishops,
to his own king for his opponent. the game just mentioned with at least, and to deprive White's
This sort of original play on Geller, thus consigning himself pieces of the square b3.
both sides led to offensive to a protracted and difficult
breakthroughs on opposite wings, defense, too. In the meantime,
flanking piece maneuvers, and Kotov has a clear plan, which
sharp cut-and-thrust play. Makogonov used successfully In removing his bishop from
again and again in such posi- 6, Black left the e5-pawn un-
The unusual strategic idea, tions: the king goes to b1,and protected, so that now he must
the resourceful and daring play the knight on gl goes to d3, recapture the bishop with his
on both sides, and the beauti- either squeezing lack's knight b-pawn. Strange as it may seem,
ful concluding combinations out of c5 or else inducing the the line thus opened will turn
make this game altogether an weakening ..b7-b6; meanwhile, into an artery of communications
exceptionally interesting one. his rooks occupy the c- and d- for White's pieces, and not for
files. Gradually, White pre- Black's. The strategy and tac-
pares the break c4-c5, during tics of chess still hold many a
which his king will have two paradox.
pawns' protection; while Black,
in order to set his kingside
Euwe has carried out one of counterbreak in motion, must
the fundamental ideas of the strip his king absolutely bare
Boleslavsky Variation by occu- of pawn cover. A maneuver with the same idea
pying d4 with his knight. The as Black's ..Bg7-6-h4, but this
pawns at a4 and d6 are approx- In this game, matters do not one is more successful. Black
imately equivalent, but lack's move along quite as smoothly as cannot sidestep the exchange of
pieces are now better placed, A substantial improvement on we have just described it, but his "good" bishop, since re-
and soon it will be White who the Geller - Gligoric game, in that's the general scheme; soon treating it to c8 would put him
will have to fight for thedraw. which Black closed the position the scales begin to tip in in a squeeze. After 21 Bc6 Ra6
with 9..4. Szabo maintains the White's favor. Thus, Black 22 Nb5, it would be ~lack'sturn
central tension and the possi- should not have closed the game to seek this exchange.
bility of posting his knight at here, either: ll..Nf6 was bet-
4. ter, maintaining pressure on
e4 and preventing 12 Nge2 tac-
tical-ly,because of the contin-
uation 12..fe 13 fe N g 4 or
And right now was the proper 13 B:c5 ef. Black is now in real danger
The sealed move; after analy- moment to put this plan into
of losing: the threat is 23 Nb5, Black defends the a-pawn indi- Rauzer line against the Sici-
24 Rc3, and 25 Ra3, and there rectly, intending to undermine lian, with its 6 Bg5, 7 Qd2and
g2: the keystone of the sturdy Szabo is setting a trap. Ob- 8 0-0-0, White generally does
seems to be no way to defendthe viously, the bishop cannot be
a-pawn, especially since White bridge of white pawns. not get to bring out his light-
taken, either by rook or pawn. square bishop in the early
can also bring up a second knight If White takes the knight, we stages; in the Scheveningen,
to b3. In this position, withits get the well-known "windmill": White develops both bishops,
fixed pawn chain, White'sknights 39 Q:d7? Q:b2+! 40 R:b2 R:b2+ but to humbler posts: e2 and
have great power. Szabo decides By completing the long flank- 41 Kal, and now Black can give
to utilize hfs mobile unitswhere ing maneuver ..Qd7-h7-hl, the e3. In this game, Geller de-
black queen becomes the first discovered check by moving his cides to develop both his bi-
they stand, 1.e. on the king's rook to any of a dozen squares. shops actively, and apparently
wing; as a result, the game im- to invade the enemy camp, leav- Generally that would be enough
mediately changes character. The ing to its fate not only the he wishes to castle queenside
c-pawn and the rook, but its to give him at least a draw; too. If he could manage all this,
preceding unhurried maneuvering here, after 4l..Rb7+ 42 Ka2 he would stand beautifully. He
gives way to bitter hand-to-hand king as well. However, Black R:d7, it would even win.
fighting, requiring a cool head, had no other recourse, since began his plan with 6 Bc4, pre-
resourcefulness and accuracy. otherwise his a-pawn would have venting, among other things, the
fallen without compensation. Dragon Variation, in view of
23. h2-h3 Nh5-f6 Still, White's last move under- 6..g6 7 N:c6 bc 8 e5!, when cap-
scored his obvious advantage, turing is obviously impossible
Necessary, in order to play which consists of: 1) the bet- because of 9 B:f7+, winning the
..g5-g4. 23..Ng3 would not have ter-protected king, 2) hisknight, queen. 8..Ng4 would be neces-
served the purpose, in view of which is a much more dangerous sary instead, when the pawn ad-
24 Rfdl h5 25 Nf2!, when both weapon in an attack on the op- vances further still: 9 e6 5
black pieces would be nailed posing king than h lack's bi- 10 0-0, with an active game for
down. shop; and 3) the pawn White White, following the ancient
wins in the course of his at- game Schlechter - Lasker (~atch
tack, as well as the tempo he 1910).
wins by his attack on the rook.
All this gives sufficient basis Averbakh's 6..Bd7 prepares to
Finding the right plan isno- for many combinations; it is enter the Dragon Variation.
where near as difficult as car- the master's skill to select White could simply have castled
rying it out by means ~f accu- from among those combinations here, the likely continuation
rate - and sometimes only"
moves, while simultaneously
- the best and decisive ones. being 7..g6 8 h3 Bg7 9 Be3 0-0
10 Bb3, with a good game. But
counteracting the enemy plan he persists with his idea and
too. Here and later, ~otov's plays 7 Bg5.
play is beyond praise. He leaves
one rook to withstand the as- Averbakh meets this with a
sault, and continuously com- The knight's position is so daring and original counterplan:
bines attack with defense. threatening here that theblack A beautiful concluding move to forcing White to take his king's
king risks death at the first an outstandingly played game. knight (there being no other way
hostile queen check. White attacks the bishop and to defend both the bishop on g5
closes the second rank. If the and the pawn on e4), and leaving
queen takes this knight, then his king where it stands, he in-
g7 is left unprotected, and itiates a fierce kingside attack
White has a mating finish by right out of the opening. Gene-
sacrificing his rook as well: rally, such strategy runs coun-
Warding off lack's threat of 39..Q:e2 40 Rb8+! N:b8 41Qe8+, ter to chess principles; but in
35..Rh2 and 36..Bd2. with mate in three. this case the open g-file gives
Black two developed major pieces,
BLACK RESIGNED and a powerful pawn center as
well. It was just this curious
concatenation of circumstances
36 Qb3 would not have been so 101. Geller-Averbakh that gave rise to such an unu-
clear, in view of 36..Qg2, when sual plan.
(Sicilian Defense)
the check at b8 leads to nothing,
since g7 is covered by the queen. 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 Geller regards lack's attack
2. Ngl-3 Nb8-c6 as of no consequence, and delib-
3. d2-d4 c5 :d4 erately castles kingside, push-
4. Nf3:d4 Ng8-f6 ing his kingside pawns as if to
5. Nbl-c3 d7-d6 invite his opponent's attack. Of
6. Bfl-c4 Bc8-d7 course, that attack poses nomor-
Kotov defends against the 7. Bcl-g5 Qd8-a5 tal threat to White's king, but
threat of mate at b2, and now some preventive measures were
threatens simply to take off The last two moves for both still in order. Among other
the knight. sides contain a fair number of things, 9 Bd5 would have been
opening subtleties. Playing the a great deal better than his
9 Nb3: first the queen must be Black begins to clear away
cut off from the kingside, and the underbrush for his bishops.
then 10 Nb3 will be a threat. The last white pawn now vanishes
from the center.

We have been following the


Round 2 game Reshevsky - Petro-
A serious inaccuracy. White's sian up through move 18. In
knight is stronger than Black's that game, White kept a signif-
bishop here, so he ought not to icant positional advantage, al-
have allowed its exchange, re- though Petrosian put together
treating it instead to e3. Av- a fine defense that achieved a
erbakh could hardly have put to- draw. Here, in place of his ear-
gether any decisive threats with lier 18..Rae8, Petrosian plays
all those white pieces coming af- a more active move. The price
ter his own king. of that activity, however, is
a strong white center pawn with
the bishop-pair - and in my
opinion, that's too high.

White's little tactical


threat - 24 B:c6+, followed
by Nf5 and N:d6+- is easily What for? Why not continue the Black undertakes a series of
repelled: 23 Qg2 was better. attack on the king with queen, exchanges, expecting to be left
rook and bisho~?28..Bd8 29 B:d5 with more pieces available to
Bc7 30 Qg5 ~ : 31~ fg5 R:c3 or fight for d5 than his opponent.
Along with the witty and sub- 30 Qe2 R:c3 31 Qg2 Qg6 32 Kh2 The battle, however, rages not
tle finesses aimed at yrovoking The bishop takes its first Rc2 33 Re2 Oh5+ would have led only for that square, but for
weakenings of the king s pawn step, and White's position im- to a clear Gin. Now Black's ad- the entire board; and the force
cover, one should not forget mediately looks suspect (23..Kd7 vantage is purely academic. left to White - a queen and
such things as one-move mate wasn't bad either). two bishops - is a tremendous
threats. one indeed.

Attempting to win the exchange


would have been a grievous er-
Black gives up all thought of ror: 24..Bh4? 25 Nf5!
castling, but such fortitudewas
not dictated by necessity. Of DRAW
course the black king is per-
fectly safe behind its barbed-
wire fence of d6-e7-7-6, with If White had taken with the 102. Smyslov-Petrosian
all its pieces close by; but un- pawn, he would have had a hard (Nimzoindian Defense)
der these circumstances, the time defending both weaknesses,
center pawns are not being ex- d4 and g3, especially without 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6
ploited to the fullest possible his darksquare bishop. 2. c2-c4 e7-e6
extent. The black king ' s bishop 3. Nbl-c3 Bf 8-b4
also will not be able to parti-
cipate in the game for a long
time, and the struggle cannot
be won without it. White's position was diffi-
cult, but this move makes it
After 12..0-0-0, intending to hopeless. He might have put up
continue with ..e7-e6 and ..d6- some resistance with 27 KflBc5
d5, Black could have opened the 28 Qd3 Qh2 29 Qf3, maintaining Once again, the basic position
center very favorably and ob- drawing chances, especially if of the Nimzo-Indian Defense,
tained definite winning chances. the rooks are exchanged. which occurred so often in this
tournament that it was suggested
play be started here.
( See diagram, next page )
lack's strakegy has suffered
a fiasco. White has the better
game, beyond the shadow of a
-.
doubt: his a4-, d4- and c3- Smyslov plays a move that he 103. Keres-Najdorl
pawns are better than Black's will have to make anyway before (Sicilian Defense)
a7-, b6- and c4-pawns. White adjournment, so as to make his 1. e2-e4 c7-c5
has his passed pawn already, opponent do the thinking before
whereas lack's pawn on a7 can sealing, and also to make it
only become passed over thedead harder for him to analyze the
body of the bishop at a3. The adjourned position.
transfer of the knight to b3 is
played in the faint hope of dis-
tracting White's attention from A quiet line of the Sicilian.
the events in the center, and The play, as you can see, leads
inducing the exchange of at least to a nearly symmetrical posi-
one white bishop, but on b3 the tion, the only difference being
knight is too far from the cen- that the black pawns face the
ter of events. Not surprisingly, queen's wing, while White's
it cannot quite get back in time face the center. This factor
to prevent the d-pawn from queen- predetermines further planning
ing. on both sides. Keres does not
employ this unhurried maneuver-
ing system very often, and he
later commits a number of inac-
curacies, allowing Black, first
Black is apparently willing to A move of rare beauty. If to equalize, and then to get the
risk 28 d5 Q:a4 29 d6 Q:a330 d7 White queens, he is mated in better of it.
Qf8 31 Qc7 , since he has the save two moves; if he trades queens,
29..~c6; in this line, however, he loses the d-pawn; and if he
the simple capture 30 B:f5 would retreats by 47 Qd4,Q:h2 forces
have been quite as strong as it perpetual check.
is in the game continuation. Smyslov, who best knows the
Convinced that a genuine mir- Closed System and plays it like
acle had come to pass, Smyslov a virtuoso, prefers 8 Qcl here,
Chess miracles, as opposed to resigned himself to the loss of intending to trade off the dark-
the other sort, still happen on a half-point, and forced the square bishops; if Black fore-
White's d-pawn becomes more occasion, thanks to chessplayers' draw with a sham queen sacrifice. stalls this by 8..Re8 9 Bh6Bh8,
powerful with every exchange, fantasy and the game's endless
and while it advances, thewhite possibilities. In this - to
all appearances, absolutely
only then 10 h3. The queen's
move to cl, instead of d2, is
queen and bishop will also be
carrying out an attack on lack's
king. The following moves, up
lost - position, Petrosian com-
poses a study: Black to move
made with the idea of answering
8..Ng4 by 9 Bd2.
DRAW
to and including the 40th, were and draw, and demonstrates the
played by Smyslov with the in- solution to Smyslov after ad- In turn, lack's attempt to
tention of adjourning the game journment. play for the win would be easily Black clearly intends to put
without altering the position, rebuffed: 48..Qe2 49 Kh3 d2 a knight on d4. Now was White's
and then finding the surest road 50 Qd7 dlQ 51 Qf5+. last opportunity for 9 d4; fail-
to victory. Play really resumes ing to play it, he cedes his
on the 41st move, and it will However, as it turns out, mir- opponent a spatial advantage.
take a chess miracle to save If 43 Qe6+, to prevent the acles are sometimes no more than
Black's game then. check on el, then 43..Kh8 44 d6 optical illusions in chess as
Ne2+ 45 Kg4 Qf4+ 46 Kh5 Q:h2+
-
is ~ e r ~ e t u acheck
l and on
46 h3: it is mate to White's
well: 47 0d6 would have allowed
White to defend the h-pawn, skew-
er-fashion, throu h lack's Black is already prepared to
king. aueen. On 47*there follows advance the b-pawn, whileWhite
48 Kh4 g5+ 49 Kh5; and on any hasn't even castled yet. His
other Black reply to 47 Qd6 next maneuver has as its aim
Smyslov checks from a different White simply makes another queen, the removal of the knight from
square each time, so as not to and his king easily escapes the d4 and the advance of his pawn
repeat the position three times checks. to that square, but this plan
If White pushes his pawn to is doomed to fail. The best plan
by accident. d7 at once. then the draw is Curiously, neither of theplay- now was simply to take the
attained with the ~roblem-like ers, nor the tournament partici- knight and play 12 Bh6, so that
45..h5+! 46 K:h5 Q:e7 47 Qd5+ pants, nor the spectators, no- Black's pawn advance would at
Kh7 48 d8Q Nf4+; if instead ticed this possibility forWhite. least be deprived of the sup-
48 Qe4+, then 48..Q:e4 49 fe 47 Qd6 was discovered by a Swed- port of his king's bishop.
Nf4+, and Black even wins. ish amateur some months after
the end of the tournament.
A fine example of the use of for 3l..Bf8, too - mainly that
after 32 Ra7 kf7 33 R:f7 K:f7
a tactical stroke to overturn
an op~osingstrategic plan. If 34 Rd7+, he could bring his
Black s knight were to retreat, king to the center. Of course,
then after 13 d4 White would The triumph of centralization. Black could expect to lose a
stand well. Now, however, it is pawn in the line 32 R:e5 Bg7
White's knight which must re- 33 Re2 Rb3, but he would still
treat, and d3-d4 will never oc- be left with all of the chances.
cur. More: Black immediately
plays ..d6-d5 and ..f7-5, tak- White's game is lost: he has
ing over the center completely. no advantages whatsoever to
compensate him for the pawn.
The continuation 22 Nc3 Ne6
23 Radl Q:e3 24 B:e3 Nd4 would Black induced 34 b3 by his
13 cd would not have suited hold out no prospects for him, threat of 34..c4 and 35..e4;
White any better, since Black so he seeks somehow to change now he is able to set about
would then occupy important the normal course of events.He creating his passed pawn by
central poi.nts. offers Black the option of win- making use of the following
ning another pawn, with 22..B:a2, standard technique: 35..c4
or sacrificing the exchangehim- 36 bc, and now he does not re-
self. Both the one and the other capture White's pawn, but in-
would favor Black: stead pushes his own pawn on
White has lost the first skir- to queen with 36..b4. Why must
mish: his pieces are poorly 1) 22..B:a2 23 b3 Ne6 24 Q:d4 Black continue this way? Be-
posted, with the knight in par- N:d4 25 Bd5+ Kh8 26 Re3 e4!, cause, by recapturing at c4, The fortieth move! By recap-
ticular having not a single with an easy win; he allows White's rook, by turing with his bishop, Black
move. going to c7, to force him to would have entered a difficult,
2) 22..Bf7 23 Q:d4 ed! 24 Bf4 defend his pawn from the side, but still most probably won,
Rbc8 25 Bb7 Nd5! 26 B:c8 N:f4 after which the pawn could no endgame: 4O..B:b2 41 Rd7 Rc8
27 gf R:c8, with a winning po- longer take even one step fur- 42 c7 Bf6 43 Kfl Kf8, followed
sition; or if White plays26 Bd6 ther; White could then move by ..Be7 and ..Ke8; if 44 R:h7,
(instead of 26 B:c8), then his king up and take it. then 44..Bg7.
26 ..Nb4, or 27 Ba6 (instead of
27 gf) 27..d3 is not bad. After the inevitable ..c5-c4
and ..b5-b4, White will be in a
Najdorf disdains both acquir- real spot. Within three moves, DRAW
ing and sacrificing material, Black's pawn will reach the
expecting the win to be a mat- first rank, so its march must Despite his extra piece,
ter of simple technique after be halted, and not later than Black cannot win. After 4l..Rc2
the trade of queens. However, b2. In these circumstances, the 42 c7, Black's only reasonable
this exchange substantially im- proper plan would be: 35 Kfl c4 move is 42..Bf8. Now the bishop
proves White's position, chief- 36 bc b4 37 Bcl b3 38 Rd2 (per- cannot move anywhere, because
ly by bringing his knight back haps also 38 c5 b2 39 B:b2 and of the check on d8, the king
into the game; later, Black also 40 c6) and 39 Bb2, when the cannot cross the seventh rank,
allows White's rook to reach the pawn is stopped; or 37. .Rc8 and the rook can only move up
seventh. 38 Rb7 R:c4 39 Bd2 Bf8 40 g5, and down the c-file. em ember
when Black could hardly hope this position!
to win.
With 35 Rc7, White places his
rook in front of his pawn, and 104. Reshevsky-Taimanov
also deprives himself of the op- (Nimzoindian Defense)
portunity of playing Rd2. Now 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6
the above variations are no long- 2. c2-c4 e7-e6
er operative, and White must 3. Nbl-c3 Bf8-b4
Najdorf gives his opponentno give up a piece for the pawn. 4. e2-e3 0-0
rest! The pawn must be taken, as 5. Ngl-e2 d7-d5
18..4 is threatened, and if its 6. a2-a3 ...
path is blocked by 18 f4, then Black has simplified the game
18..Ne6, and the knight enters and held onto his pawn, but the White seeks to extract the
the fray with tremendous effect. quality of his position has been maximum from this opening by
After the exchange of pawns at so debased that the win is al- obtaining the advantage of the
5, Black is suddenly threaten- ready in doubt. two bishops without the doubled
ing 13..Bd3; and so the white c-pawns that usually accompany
knight, for the sake of whose 31. ... Rf3-f7 ( See diagram, next column ) them.
freedom White played 16 c4,
never gets to c3 at all. There was something to be said
White would also have metll..a6
Reshevsky likes this opening with 12 a4, and even though Black did not have this pos-
position, even though theory 12..Bb7 would allow Black to sibility earlier, when b8 was
does not, considering that Black maintain b5, 13 Qb3 Nbd7 14 a5 occupied by a knight. Apropos
equalizes with 8..c5. Reshevsky would have prevented him from of this, it should be noted that
obviously has his own opinions getting his knight to c4. Black had no need to return the
on that score, since he has al- knight to b8 on move 18: the
ways been willing to enter the bishop on a6 was better defended
Ngl-e2-g3 line, and plays it with 18. .Qa8.
outstandingly well.
His opponents in this tour- White has the freer game. In
nament - Taimanov, and Aver- the present instance, this means
bakh in Round 18 - declined that the b5-pawn is a strong Here White could have won a
pawn by 28 N:d5 Q:a5 29 N:f6+
to play 8..c5 in favor of their damper on the opposing position, N:f6 30 B:a5; his position is
own more intricate, which is the black d-pawn needs piecepro- so strong, however, that he has
not to say better, systems. I tection, and Black must also be no need to distract himself by
still think that 8..c5 is the on his guard against a possible consideration of the endgame af-
simplest solution. knight incursion on 5. Exchang-
ing on d4 would not change the ter 3O..Nd5.
basics of the position, butmere-
ly open another line for the bi- Black intended to wrest the
shop at d2. Taimanov takes an b-file away with 2l..Rb6, but
optimistic approach to the po- now this move would achieve
No very high level of chess sition by creating a protected nothing, since 22 Qa5 would
erudition is required to brand passed pawn, but this gives follow, when the rook must re-
this move anti-positional, and White some other trumps. Above turn to d6 (22..Nbd7 23 Na4
to give it a fat question mark, all, by removing the central Rb8 24 Q:a6), and White then
as almost every commentator has tension, he frees his opponent definitely takes over the b-
done. Its bad points are quite from worrying about his pawn file with 23 Na4. Such moves,
obvious. But the move was played chain, and allows him to con- easily passed over, can fre-
by an international grandmaster, centrate on active minor piece quently be more important than
and he undoubtedly saw some good play. As for the passed pawn, a combination, and decide the
in the move, this being that its protector is itself in need outcome of a game.
Black fixes the pawn at b4, and of protection, and will cause
prepares to break with ..a7-a5, Black no end of worry. Black's position has clearly
aiming to isolate one of the deteriorated. White's further
queenside pawns. As for the I would have preferred the plan is to step up the pressure
weakness of the pawn at c6, waiting move 14. .Nb6. on the d5-pawn; Black does not
Black expects to close the c- feel he can tolerate the knight
file with the maneuver ..Nb8- on 4, and so he exchanges it.
d7-b6-c4, simultaneously bring-
ing this knight to a strong po-
sition also.
Perhaps Taimanov would not Beginning a powerful strate-
have been quite so roundly con- gic maneuver aiming at the occu-
demned, had it been recalled pation of the a- and b-files by Black defends himself against
that the thoughtless lO..b5 was Despite this apparent weaken- 30 5, but after 30 g4 he will
his heavy pieces; especially ing of his d-pawn, White submits have to start looking after his
played by Reshevsky himself pretty is the concluding 21 Rb2, to the exchange, since it leaves
against Gligoric in a game from which refutes lack's defensive d-pawn, in view of the threat-
their match in New York 1951. him master of the dark squares. ened 31 g5. Losing time doesn't
play. Utilizing the weakening ..g7-g6 really mean very much here, since
he had earlier forced uponBlack, Black can't make any effective
his kingside pawn majority and improvement in the positioning
Gligoric also played in this the growing power of his pairof of his pieces. Taimanov defends
fashion against Reshevsky. The bishops, Reshevsky storms the very resourcefully, as usua1:his
modest bishop move is exception- enemy king position with excep- play shows no sign of desponden-
tional energy. cy. He tries constantly to set
ally strong, and destroys both
of Black's hopes. The pushll..a5 (See diagram, next page ) Nothing remains for Black but
his opponent some new problem
not all that complex, perhaps,
-
would now be risky, on account to try to cut down the number
of 12 ba R:a5 13 a4! b4 14 Na2 but at least it takes up time,
Na6 15 B:a6; so Taimanov tries of active pieces on the board, and
left!there's very little of that
bringing his knight to &first. and to ward off the direct tac-
tical threats.
1i 9. Qdl-c2 c7-c6 Thanks to lack's foresight,
this move, which might have
b White is all set to castle been aggressive, is finally
long and follow this up by played after the exchange of
In such positions, counter- 1 storming Black's king position. queens, and now serves only to
attack is the best means of Gligoric chooses this moment to rid White of a weakness which
defense. i remind him that with the c-file might otherwise become palpable
Here the time-pressure scram- r opened, the white king won't be after ..h7-h5.
ble reached its zenith: Reshev- entirely safe, either.
sky had literally seconds for
the last five moves, whereas
Taimanov had a full minute! Reshevsky sealed this strong
move. The game was not resumed,
the Black attacks the e-pawn in-
directly, using the c-file, as
By leaving both his bishops DRAW may be seen from the variation
on the second rank for a moment 1 2 Rbl Nc:e4 1 3 b4 Qc7.
Reshevsky allows Taimanov to being agreed to without fur-
pull his queen away from the ther play, in view of the fol- Both sides are now playing to
defense of the bishop at c8, and lowing main variation: 4l..Nh7 win an approximately level po-
thereby destrovs the fruits of 42 Bd6 Q:d4 43 Qc7 Nf6 44 Be5 sition. White shuffles his pieces
all his skillful play. Instead, Qd3+ 45 Kg2 Qe4+ - perpetual Now Black has to reckon with while Black pushes his pawns,
36 Ba4 Qa8 37 Kg2 would have check. b2-b4, since the pawn will have trying to get through to the b-
placed Black in complete zug-
zwang. to be taken, and the queen could
find itself lost among the white
pawn. He clears the b5 square in
order to trade off White s king's
105. Bronstein-Gligoric pieces. bishop there and open an entry
(King's Indian) for the knight to d3. However,
If, having castled, you see lack's accomplishments are tem-
that your opponent has closed the porary, while their drawbacks
center and is preparing a dir- An exchange of courtesies. will be permanent. The knight,
Black invites his opponent to which now retreats to the first
ect pawn storm, then i t ' c a good carry out his threat of 14 b4, rank, will later be aiming for
idea to open a line beforehand but White declines the invita- c4.
in the region where his king is tion, since after 14 b4 Q:b4
or intends to be. On that prin- 15 Nb5, Black is not obliged to
ciple, Gligoric sets up some in- continue 15..Qa4 16 Q:a4 N:a4
teresting queenside play as ear- 17 N:d6, with a somewhat infer-
ly as the ninth move, and ob- ior endgame; instead, he can
tains a strong counter-initia-
tive. sacrifice his queen with15..Q:b5
16 B:b5 B:b5, and White's king The king, which fled the cen-
would be in a pitiable state. ter the moment danger loomed, is
back. Now the drawbacks of the
King's Indian Defense begin to
assert themselves: the dark-
square bishop, if it does not
Both queens go home, in order have its say in the middlegame,
to resume their duel, after a usually finds little to do in
Another form of the Samisch short while, on the king's wing. the endgame.
Attack, with 5 h3 instead of
5 f3. The advantages of this
In time-pressure, Reshevsky system are: two dark diagonals
sees a mate, so he gives upthe are not weakened, the diagonal
bishop at c2 and retains the dl-h5 remains open, and the
darksquare one. But Taimanovin-
contestably refutes this idea,
square 3 as well -
Black will
find it difficult to establish Black's queenside initiative Clearing the king's road to
forcing Reshevsky, at adjourn- his knight on h5, when it can threatens to spill over into a the queenside.
ment time, to give serious con- always be driven away by Be2. major offensive. White hurries
sideration to how he can keep There are disadvantages, too, to distract his opponent's at-
from losing this game. chief among them the fact that tention, and partly succeeds.
e4 has no pawn protection, which
Objectively, 37 Bc3 was best, G1igori.c skillfully exploits
keeping the queen from b2. If later on.
then 37..Qe8, White could even
trade queens, keeping a sizable ( See diagram, next page )
advantage in spite of lack's
protected passed pawn.
chances, but by 47 KeZ!, leaving This round opened the second half of the tournament. After three
3 free for the knight's deci-
sive transfer to d3. daysf rest, the grandmasters resumed battle...

ROUND SIXTEEN
The black king's attempt at
counterattack has failed: 48..Kg5 106. Bronstein-Taimanov
would be met by 49 3. (Queen's Indian Defense)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6
4. g3 Ba6 5. Nbd2 c5 6. Bg2 Nc6
7. dc B:c5 8. 0-0 0-0 9.a3 Bb7
The bishop's foray to a6forced
White to slow his usual tempo of
development in the Queen's In-
dian. But Black's accomplishments
are fleeting: one bishop has al-
ready returned to its accustomed
place, and now the b-pawn's ad-
vance forces the other's retreat
White had his move to seal as well?
here, and he could not find
enough strength to resist 10. b4 Be7 11. Bb2 Rc8 12. Qb3
playing 41 B:c5: first, because Rc7 13. Racl Qa8 14. Qd3 h6
it gave him a protected passed 15. Rfdl Rd8 16. e4 d6
pawn; and second, because it
gave his opponent a weak, block- White has kept the pawn from ( ~ i a ~ r aof
m final position)
aded pawn at c5, and made it going to d5; and if his knight
easier for his own king to get were on c3, he could strengthen
to b5. Nevertheless, this was his position still further.With
not the best move; although it the knight on d2, however, I 107. Reshevsky-Najdorf
did not let the win slip, it could find no plan that had any (King's Indian)
complicated it considerably. future in it, either at theboard 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6
The bishop was a good one, and or at home. lack's pieces may 2. c2-c4 g7-g6
this was not yet the time to Gligoric wearies of passive indeed be cramped, but they are 3. Nbl-c3 Bf8-g7
trade it. 41 Nfl was correct, defense, and makes an attempt well coordinated; together with d7-d6
bringing back this knight which to break things up, which un- Black's pawns, they form a very 4.
5. Bfl-e2
e2-e4 0-0
has stood for thirty moves do- fortunately leads to a quick solid structure. On the whole, 6. Ngl-f3 e7-e5
ing nothing, while maintaining loss. If Black had simply stood it seems to me that the bestway 7. 0-0 Nb8-c6
all his threats. The difference
is that while it is on e3 the
in place, White would have con-
tinued with 2-3, brought his
to meet the ~ueen's Indian is
not to allow it. White won two,
8. Bcl-e3 ...
bishop keeps Black's king out knight to d3, and then broken and Black six, of the fifteen ~ajdorf'snext two moves, intro-
of g5, so that White can spend up Black's pawn bastions with Queen's Indians played in this ducedin this game, must be rated
some time quietly improving his a2-a3, etc., according to all tournament: an unenviable re- an important theoretical achieve-
position by transferring the the rules of endgame theory. sult. It was also an atypical ment, since Black obtains a draw
knight, let us say, via h2 to Black's impatient move appre- one: a more typical resultwould practically by force.
g4; after that, B:c5 dc; Kd3 ciably hastens the end. have been for all fifteen to
would lead to an easy win. have ended as draws.
17. Qe2 a5 18. Ral ab 19. ab Najdorf apparently came upon
Qc8 20. Bc3 Nd7 21. Nd4 N:d4 this move while analyzing the
22. B:d4 Bf6 23. B:f6 N:f6 King's Indians played not very
24. Qe3 d5 long before this tournament in
his long match against the same
DRAW opponent. In two of those games,
BLACK RESIGNED
46. .Kh4+ would be met, not by
47 Kf3 Bf4, with good drawing
Najdorf defended with 8..Ng4, essay the King's Indian in search
though unsuccessfully. Whether of double-edged combinativeplay.
8..Re8 or 8..Ng4 is the better It differs from ~myslov's sys-
move, however, is a question tem (see Games139 and 184) in
that will have to be left open that here the pawn is on c4 in-
for the time being. stead of c3.
And here is that small inac-
9. d4-d5 ... Theoreticians tell us that..e7-
e5 is difficult to get inagainst
curacy (2l..Nb4 was necessary);
now comes -
This appears to win a tempo, this line, so Black generally
but the knight unexpectedlygoes plays for ..c7-c5 instead, fol-
forward, instead of backward. lowing up with a gradual advance
of his queenside pawns. Petro- Now 22..h5 23 N:f6+ B:f6
sian carries out only the first 24 B:c6 Q:c6 25 Rd5 would be
part of this plan, and then both bad for Black; that leaves him
sides spend a lot of time inslow small choice between 22..Nb4
maneuvering, trying to induce 23 Bg5 and 22..N:g4. Petrosian
weaknesses. chooses the latter line, as it
leaves him with a relatively
It still seems to me thatBlack sounder position.
has no reason not to try for ..e7-
e5. But even with the plan he
uses in this game, his 5..Nbd7
is a poor choice: 5..0-0 would
be better, in order to continue,
after 6 e3, with 6..c5, followed Boleslavsky pointed out an
by ..Nc6! amusing move here: 48..Rf7
49 R:h7 Qf6: Black forces the
5. Nb8-d7 exchange of queens and draws,
6. c7-c5 against all logic! A rare case
7. e2-e3 0-0 Petrosian has no great choice: indeed!
8. Bfl-e2 b7-b6 he must shuffle back and forth,
9. 0-0 Bc8-b7 waiting for the next wave of However, after the problem
10. d4-d5! a7-a6 Keres' attack. move ..Rf7 White has the no
less original reply 49 Be2.
After some small opening in- This chance should still have
accuracies, Black has drifted been explored, however, since
into a positional squeeze. the ''more solid" 48. .Kh8 leads
to the immediate loss of his
extra pawn, and he never does
manage to trade queens.
In order to defend the h-pawn,
DRAW Black has had to loosen his king
position somewhat.
Black may have slightly the
better of it: in the endgame,
his king can reach a good po- An interesting psychological
sition via the dark squares. motif is becomiflg apparent here.
Evidently, in reply to 7..Nc6, By making only natural" and
should the attempts of a few "necessary" moves, Keres istry-
theoreticians to demonstrate ing to deceive his opponent into
an advantage for White after thinking that he plans nothing BLACK RESIGNED
8 de prove unsuccessful, we more than the steady improve-
shall have to return to 8 d5. ment of his position. In fact,
he has something completely dif-
ferent in mind: Keres wants(it's 109. Smyslov-Averbakh
hard to believe this) to whip This position already occurred (Queen's Gambit)
108. Keres- Petrosian up an attack on the h-file! To after Black's 40th move. 1. c2-c4 Ne8-6
(King's Indian) that end, he keeps the knight at
1. d2-d4 Ng8-6 h2 for a long time, waiting for
2. c2-c4 g7-g6 the moment when its appearance
3. Nbl-c3 Bf8-g7 at g4 will force Black to take
4. Ngl-f3 d7-d6 it off. Meanwhile, for form's
5. Bcl-4 ... sake, he "presses" on b6, d6,
etc.
A peaceful system, especially
unpleasant to those players who 16. ... Qe7-c7
advance. easy, though, to break through
to the king by means of a pawn
14. ... a7-a5 storm, so the most popular me-
thod is the direct frontal as-
In order to prevent the mino- sault, especially when g2 and The quality of a position does
rity attack, the pawn separates h2 provide such excellent tar- not always depend on the quan-
from its base and becomes a tar- gets for the pieces. Should tity of pawns. In this case,
get itself. Sometimes it happens White have to advance his g- Black has enough weaknesses to
that such a pawn draws a string or h-pawn, only then should give White a clear advantage.
of black pawns after it, like a Black bring in his pawns. The The thematic line here would be
needle pulling thread; in the success of such an operation 15..ba 16 B:a5 ba 17 Rfcl, when
present situation, however, Av- depends upon the concrete pe- White could look forward to a
erbakh isn't concerned with culiarities of the position. good harvest, not only of the
its defense yet. What he has In the present instance, Smy- three a-pawns, but of the d-
accomplished is that White must slov was not in a risk-taklng pawn as well. Naturally, Szabo
now set about regrouping his mood: calling off his attempt does not like this variation,
pieces toward a new goal (as- to win the a-pawn, he decides so he decides on a counter-sac-
sailing the a-pawn); Black uses to force the draw. A moral vic- rifice, to "clutter" the b-file
this time to be the first to tory for Black. a bit.
create threats on the kingside.

The knight has come under the


bishop's guns after all. The DRAW
attempt to get the knight to c5
The minority attack is not just by way of b3, avoiding the bl- Geller gives his opponent no
an opening idea most frequently 5 diagonal, would have failed, rest. After the forced exchange
employed in the Exchange Varia- since Black would have answered 110. Geller-Szabo on e5, Szabo has new problems,
tion (actually the Carlsbad Var- 15 Nd2 with 15..a4. (Nimzoindian Defense) one of them being where to put
iation) of the ~ueen'sGambitDe- 1. d2-d4 Ng8-6 the knight now on 6. The leap
clined, but a general strategic 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 to e4 appears compromising, but
idea, which under the right cir- 3. Nbl-c3 Bf 8-b4 in fact it is his best practi-
cumstances may be employed at 4. e2-e3 0-0 cal chance. Should the knight
any stage of the game, and not 5. Bfl-d3 d7-d5 retreat, the pack of e- and f-
just on the queenside. The point 6. Ngl-3 b7-b6 pawns wouldcharge unstoppably
of this attack is to give the 7. 0-0 c7-c5 into the black king's fortress.
opponent weaknesses in the sec-
tor where he holds a quantita- Although the c-pawn does at-
tive pawn majority, and then to tack the white center, its pre-
attack the weak pawns with sence on c5 also has the draw-
pieces. back of cutting off the king's
bishop's retreat. The more re-
Here the circumstances are strained 7..Bb7 seems more ap- White decides he can catch the
exceptionally favorable for a propriate to me. knight, but that was hardly nec-
White minority attack on the essary. 24 Qc7 was simple and
queen's wing. Generally Black, good, occupying all the key PO-
in order to equalize, must un- sitions. On the other hand,
dertake a piece attack on the White's position is so good
king. that it is hard to spoil with
just one move.
Black did not want to give up
his bishop, but will soon discov-
er that the white knight isworth
more. The assault White now be-
Why is White delaying his b2- gins against c7 and d6 has the
self-evident justification ofex-
b4? Black would reply 14..Be4, cluding the darksquare bishop
when 15 Nd2 would be impossible, This transfer of the rook to from play. In such cases, the
with the g-pawn loose. White g4 illustrates Black's counter- opening of lines generally fav- The knight on e4 has gone on,
does not want to give up his chances in this type of position. ors the better developed side. but the pawn on d5 is no more.
knight for Black's bishop ei- Usually during the minority at- The pawn sacrificed in order to Naturally, Black cannot afford
ther, since that bishop is ham- tack White's king is left ei- achieve this functions as bait. to wait until the e- and f-
pered by its own pawns. However, ther completely devoid of piece pawns start to roll, so he at-
Black's next move puts a long- protection or elge cover:d by tempts to get in first with
time crimp on the white b-pawn's just one minor PleCe. It s not a desperate try at creating a
passed pawn on the queenside. sition had been repeated three 111. Kotov-Euwe
The game unexpectedly turnscom- times, and was therefore drawn. then 19..Rd8 would be poor, in
binative; still more unexpectedly, (Reti Opening) view of 20 Qc3 6 21 R:d8+ Q:d8
No one had kept score during
Szabo obtains real savingchances. time-pressure, so it was only 1. c2-c4 Ne8-6 22 N:e6. The line 19..Na420N:a4
with great difficulty thatGel- ba 21 Qc5 Re8 22 Bh3, with the
ler was able to demonstrate to threat of 23 Qe5, would also
Szabo the error of his ways, and be in White's favor.
obtain the right to continue the
game. However, the move he sealed 1
was so poor as to require him, In his theoretical works, Euwe
Anyway. once the game was resumed, to advises against playing to retain
expend quite as much energy to the pawn, recommending 5..Nbd7
demonstrate to Szabo that the 6 Na3 Nb6 7 N:c4 N:c4 8 Qa4+ Bd7
position was still a draw. In 9 Q:c4 Bc6 10 b3 Bd6 instead,
The intended 33 e7 is refuted the hurly-burly of tournament with approximately equal play.
by a queen invasion of White's play, it's not difficult to over- With 5..a6, apparently, he is White's positional advantage
rear echelons (33..Qcl+, etc.): estimate one's own chances - or trying for more. still fully counterbalances
an excellent idea from Szabo in the other fellow's, for that mat- Black's extra pawn, but not a
severe mutual time-pressure. ter. bit more than that.

Black would have had more An experienced fighter's deci-


winning chances by not taking sion. Rather than spend a lot of
The queen check on the eighth the a-pawn here, and playing effort trying to regain thepawn,
rank would not have had the de- 43..Qc3+ instead. The enticing Kotov,would rather try for ac-
sired effect. Feeling that his endgame Szabo is aiming for tive piece play.
win is gone, Geller ensures turns out, contrary to his ex- Black cannot show any great
against loss by guaranteeing pectations, to be a draw. activity: White does have two
himself a perpetual check. bishops, after all, and they
have to be reckoned with.

The position is a splendid


illustration of a bishop's pow-
er over a knight: despite hav- Black doesn't want to trouble
ing an outside passed pawn, himself over the defense of his
Black cannot win. b-pawn, so he rather cavalierly
parts with his king's bishop. DRAW
However, by trading off this
bishop, Euwe presents Kotov with A game without much excitement.
too many of the dark squares.
14..Qb8 was more conservative,
although even then White would
stand very well after 15 Qb3 c6
Szabo will not believe that 16 e4 N5b6 17 Bf4. 112. Boleslavsky-Stahlberg
the position cannot be won, and (French Defense)
tries advancing his g-pawn lat-
er - which White does not even
deign to notice.
Of course, it will not be easy
to drive the knight out of here,
and it is not in lack's bestin- Stahlberg is unwilling to play
terests to trade it off. White his usual 3..Nf6, apparently
is still a pawn down, but the fearing to walk into some sort
Even checks don't help! powerful position of his pieces of preparation. But playing
outweighs that. 3..Bb4 is like jumping out of
71. Kf2 Ng3 72. Kf3 Kf6 73. Kg4 the frying pan into the fire,
This was a mistake. The game Nfl 74. Ba6Ne3+75. Kh3 Nf5 since Boleslavsky plays the
was adjourned here, with White 76. Bd3Ng3 77. Kg4Nhl78.Bc2 Nimzovich Variation quite a
having not the slightest advan- lot himself, and is thoroughly
tage: Black's queen and knight DRAW conversant with every Black
stand too near his king. Appar- weakness .
ently unwilling to analyze the By allowing Black to exchange
position, Szabo called the ar- the second pair of rooks, White Of course, Stahlberg does make
biter and told him that the PO- immediately dissipates his ad- a few changes in Black's normal
vantage. 19 Bb2 was correct, and defensive layout, but he gets
squares are hopelessly weak, himself with an immediate draw,
into difficulties just the same. but he could not resist the temp-
and Boleslavsky begins method-
ically to increase his pressure. tation of winning the queen.
The bishop on cl will return to
its appointed attacking diagonal The knight could have been
a3-8, the rooks will gather on harried a bit with 38 Re3, but
the f-file, the knight will en- White appears to be making a Naturally, 42..Kh7 43 R:e8
A flexible move: depending upon ter e5, and the pawns, supported habit of forgetting to open Q:e8 44 Rf8 would leave White
lack's reply, White may continue by the bishop at h3, will ad- files -the f-file, in this with a powerful attack; now,
with 8 Ba3, 8 Qd2, 8 Qg4, or the vance for the decisive break. case. however, only Black can have
game line, 8 Nf3. What can Black find to oppose any winning chances.
this? Very little, other than
passive defense. But Stahlberg does not like
exhausting adjournments, so
after analyzing the position,
he offered a
Black has managed to fortify
himself on the exact spotwhere DRAW
a breakthrough seemed inevitable.
The position has now closed up, which Boleslavsky accepted.
which deprives White's bishops
of the greater part of their ef-
fectiveness. White's best course
here would have been to content

Black has skillfully masked his


actual intentions, which has, in
turn, prevented White from put-
ting together a concrete plan of
attack; but here he mistakenly
lets himself be seduced by the
opportunity to open the f-file.
It brings him no benefit what-
ever, and after a few defensive
moves, White renews his onslaught. Having achieved a won position,
Black would have been better ad- White hesitates. 36 g5 immediate-
vised to keep to his waiting ly, or after the preparatory
tactics, fitting his actions to 36 B:d6, suggests itself: in
those of his opponent. either case, the g-file is op-
ened, and thanks to his great
16. Bd3-1 Ne7-g6 advantage in maneuvering space,
17. g2-g3 7-6 White would be able to set up a
18. e5:f6 Qd8 :6 winning attack. Now Black gets
19. Bfl-g2 Rc7-c8 time to pull his knight off the
20. Qdl-e2 Rf8-f7 6 square, so that g4-g5, al-
21. h2-h4 ... though it is still playable, no
longer wins a tempo.
The tocsin sounds. The dark
ROUND SEVENTEEN than 4O..Bf6.
113. Stahlberg-Kotov Soon both sides will begin 40. Qe2-e3
1.
(Old Indian Defense)
d2-d4 Ng8-6
trading threats - a boon to
the reader who, after this ra-
Kg7-g6!

2. c2-c4 d7-d6 ther tedious overture, will now


3. Ngl-3 Nb8-d7 see a delightful combination and
4. Nbl-c3 e7-e5 a delicate endgame.
5. e2-e4 c7-c6
6. Bfl-e2 Bf 8-e7
The ~ing's Indian bishop be-
longs at g7 - which is where
it ends up later.

White is also not developing


his bishop to its best square.
A more active plan would be to
bring his rook to dl first, and role in the fight.
then to play 10 h3, preparing to
develop the bishop to e3. 3) Nor are the pawns on 2
The king fulfills three tasks and g4 equivalent: where the
with one move: defending g5, pawn on 2 is weak and needs
clearing the queen's path toh7, protection, the pawn on g4
and avoiding the check - that's stands ready to assist its
The pawn advances in order to
important too! - in the event
of 41 Q:c3. What is memorable is
pieces in their assault on
the pawn at 2.
secure 3 for the knight which not just the idea of the combin-
The position begins to take is now on d7. Since the fian- ation, but the cleverness with All of these advantages
on the aspect of a "normal" chettoed bishop also threatens which it is carried out. Sudden- would lose their importance
King's Indian. Not wishing to White's queen's knight, it might ly, unexpectedly, the white king if White could just manage to
allow the opening of the center seem that the maneuver ..Nd7- is in trouble. get the rooks traded off, but
after 13..ed, White pushes his e5-f3+ could not be prevented. he can't. The game's conclud-
pawn, and the war of maneuver Stahlberg dissipates that illu- ing phase is most instructive.
continues. sion by means of a forcing var-
iation.

Kotov plays this second part


of the game with uncommon ener-
gy and resourcefulness. White,
it would seem, was just waiting
So now White has won the ex- for the chance to play g3-g4; Stahlberg is doing every-
change; but that was not the yet here is Black, giving him thing he can. Before all else,
reason his knight invaded e6 the opportunity to play it with he denies the black rook entry
with check. If Black had time tempo! into his camp. Were it not for
to get in 37. .h5, White's in- the passed g-pawn, that might
itiative would wither, so: have been enough to save the
There's no denying the fact game.
that Kotov has made better use
of the last ten moves: his forces
have been most harmoniously re- Here's the rub: despite the
grouped. Now the pawns enter the bishops of opposite color, White
An innocent-looking move that has a lost game. Let's see why:
fray. conceals a dastardly trap. The
game is about even here, and The decisive inroad by the
after 40 Kg2 and 41 Rhl, the 1)Black's bishop is supported, black king.
draw wouii have been quite ob- and stands very well at d4,
vious. But with his last move while the same cannot be said
in time-pressure, Stahlberg of the bishop at e4.
trustingly attacks the bishop,
no doubt expecting that Black 2) Black's king is far more ac-
would find nothing better tive than its white counterpart,
and in fact assumes a leading
Here, 60 Kg4 h5+. Now, everything is
much simpler.
WHITE RESIGNED

114. Euwe-Geller
(King's Indian)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 WHITE RESIGNED
4. Bg2 0-0 5. Nf3 d6 6. 0-0 Nbd7
7. Qc2 e5 8. Rdl Re8 9. Nc3 c6 ,.,.,.,.*.,.
-b-L-L-L....*-

10. de de 11. Ng5 Qe7 12. Nge4 115. Szabo-Smyslov


Nc5 13. Nd6 Rd8 14. N:c8 R:dl+ (Queen's Gambit)
15. N:dl R:c8 16. Bd2 Nfd7
17. Bc3f518.Ne3Ne6 19.b4 Nd4 1. d2-d4 d7-d5
2. c2-c4 c7-c6
3. Ngl-3 Ng8-6
4. Nbl-c3 d5:c4
5. a2-a4 Bc8-5
6. e2-e3 e7-e6
7. Bfl:c4 Bf8-b4
8. 0-0 Nb8-d7
3l..Qe6 32. Rf3 Re8 33. Kf2 9. Qdl-e2 0-0
10. e3-e4 Bf 5-g6
Rf8 34. Kfl Kg8 35. Kf2 Rf7
36. Kfl Rf5 37. Kf2 Bf6 38. Kg1 1 Bc4-d3 ...
Rd5 39. Kf2 Kg7 40. Kfl Rh5
41. Kg1 Rd5 4y. h3 Kf7 43. Kf2 Repeating the opening of Game
Ke7 44. Kfl Kd8 45. Nel Kc7 34, Boleslavsky - Smyslov, but
Szabo finds an improvement, 11Bd3,
over ~oleslavsky's 11 e5, which White nails down the b-pawn,
An important element of gave White nothing. but he cannot take it yet, OW-
Black's plan. Concluding that ing to the ensuing perpetual
simple means will not suffice check'' to his queen: ..Ra8-b8-
against White's position, Black a8. His next move strengthens
first removes his king to the Not a very good move. In Game the threat to the b-pawn.
opposite wing, where it will 128 against Stahlberg, two
not be exposed by his upcoming rounds later, Smyslov played
Euwe's passive play has allowed pawn storm. White's knight fol- ll..h6, and quickly achieved
Geller to set up a good attackiqg lows, and takes up station, so full equality, while in his match
position. Sooner or later, the Black's king will not forget the with Geller Smyslov successful-
knight on d4 will have to be tak- possibility of a deadly check on ly employed ll..Bh5. Since White
en by the bishop, which will give the eighth rank. cannot achieve anything with this Black must now find a defense
Black still more positional ad- variation, the thought comes to to the threatened 25 Bh4. Szabo
vantages. mind that perhaps 10 e4, or even is playing with great verve,and
5 a4, may not be best. Black's position grows critical.
22. a5 4 23. gf Q:f4 24. Rfl
Nf6 25. c5 Ne4 Euwe loses his patience, and 12. Nc3-a2 Bb4-e7
eases lack's task. 13. Bcl-d2 Qa5-h5
Black's knights are insuffer- 14. Na2-c3 Rf8-d8
able, but - 15. Bd2-4 c6-c5
16. d4-d5 ... White wins a pawn, but ren-
The standard break in such po- ders his win more difficult.
- the advantage of the two
bishops in this case came down
Black has found the white
king's Achilles heel: the gl sitions. First White closes d5
to Black's knight; then hedrives
Black would have had a rough-
er go of it after 27 b3 N:e5
square.
to their being able to get rid
of two good knights in two moves. 54. Qg7 Bf4 55. Kg2 Be3 56. Rfl
it away with 17 e5, after which
he can recapture the d-pawn, ob-
taining a strong central position
bc 31 Q:c4+ Ne6 32 Ng4 -
28 N:e5 R:dl+ 29 R:dl fe 30bc
his
best chance would have been
White loses without a fight. for his own knight. 30. .b4.
56 Rf7 had to be tried, and then
Black would have had to find the
Euwe intends to set up an im- complex line 56..Qgl+ 57 Kf3
pregnable fortress. Qfl+ 58 Kg3 Bf4+! 59 Kh4 Qf2+
and stopped there. Averbakh is superior, thanks to his advan- Reshevsky declines the sacri-
giving notice that he will con- tage in terrain. His next task fice, of course, but now the e-
tinue his aggression only in is to regroup his pieces, pre- pawn enters the fray. Black m n -
the event Keres starts pushing sently posted on the first two ages to ward off White's on-
his queenside pawns. ranks, in order to support the slaught, but his e- and h-pawns
further advance of his e- and become isolated.
f-pawns. One very importantfac-
tor in this is that his oppo-
nent has no active plan; in-
deed, lack's pieces spend the
DRAW next seven moves nearly inac-
tive, unless you consider the
Black is unable to break the
repetition, since after Nf3
White threatens B:f8 and Qh6,
other long diagonal -
transfer of the bishop to the
which
of course could have beendone
followed by Ng5 once again. earlier, without wasting time DRAW
Therefore, Black moves hisking on the maneuver ..Bc8-e6-d7-c6.
to h8, so as to answer Qh6 by White's position is far su-
..Ng8. But of course White is perior, of course. If queens
by no means obligated to repeat are exchanged, Black's weak
moves... pawns will be excellent targets;
and if they are not exchanged,
lack's exposed king and the
continual need to watch over its
safety would tie Black hand and
117. Petrosian-Reshevsky foot.
(Reti Opening)

118. Najdorf-Bronstein
DRAW (Nimzoi.idian Defense)

- at White's instigation.
Szabo would have retained sig-
nificant winning chances in the
endgame after, let's say, 34R:c8 This is a ~ing's Indian with
R:c8 35 Ra4. when Black would be reversed colors; consequently,
unable to recover the b-pawn: White has an extra tempo. This
35..Rcl+ 36 Ke2 Rc2+ 37 Kdl R:b2 is a structure which has been
38 Kc1 Rb3 39 Kc2 Rc3+ 40 Kb2 heavily used of late by Soviet
Rc4 41 Kb3. He would have hadto masters, and which demands a Here Black refrained from the
retreat his bishop: 35..Bf8; then great deal of alertness from tempting 9..B:f3, as he felt he
White replies 36 Nel, slowly im- Black. Schemes which White can would not be able to exploit the
proves the position of hispieces, well employ against the ~ i n g ' s weakenkng of White's king pro-
and still retains excellent Indian can prove lethal when tection: e.g., 9..B:f3 10 gf
chances to make something out of Black employs them a move be- cd 11 ed Nc6 12 Be3, when the
his extra pawn. hind. Reshevsky chooses an ex- king is quite secure. Neverthe-
change of center pawns, which less, Black should still have
is approximately equivalent to White has already won the stra- played this, but with the idea
the line in which White plays tegic battle: his opponent's of attacking, not the king, but
116. Averbakh- Keres d4:e5. This generally leads pieces have been driven back to the opposing center. After
(Ruy Lopez) to complete leveling, but here the last two ranks. The natural 12..B:c3 13 Q:c3 d5 or 13..e5,
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 White manages to carry out the plan now for White would be to we would have had s o w inter-
4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 advance of his e- and f-pawns advance his f- and g-pawns for esting play, whereas now White
7. Bb3 0-0 8. c3 d6 9. h3 Na5 to the fifth rank. a breakthrough on the kingside. develops a clear advantage, and
10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. Nbd2 Petrosian takes a somewhat dif- Black must employ all of his
Bb7 13. d5 ferent course: by threatening alertness.
h4-h5:g6 etc., he induces the
White closes the center, in blockading ..h6-h5; then he sac-
order to begin storming the king- rifices a pawn with 4-f5! If
side. Black accepts, White's knight on
2 goes, with great profit, to
13.. Bc3 14. Nfl Bd7 15. b3 g6 4 - an excellent stratagem.
16. Bh6 Rfb8 17. g4
White made one attacking move, White already stands somewhat lack's chief worry is how to
119. Taimanov-Gligoric After the exchange of bishops, up a powerful center, while the
prevent d4-d5. He must also (Sicilian Defense) I think it makes more sense to
keep an eye out to prevent White white knights have no points of
from entrenching his knight at The sacrifice of a pawn for put the pawn on the light square support. The ability to make
e5, or setting up the battery the initiative is one of the d3 and the knight on c3 (where exceptionally objective assess-
Bbl and Qc2; if that does hap- most complex problems of chess it controls the light square d5), ments of events as they are oc-
strategy - and perhaps of its and after Black plays ..e7-e6 or curring is one of Taimanov's
pen, he must have ..Nf8 ready.
Black has plenty of worries, as psychology as well. The positions ..g7-g6, to prepare the advance
f2-4-5. Taimanov acts illogi-
outstanding traits - a trait to
be envied, and certainly imitated
may be seen. But it is a bore to that occur as the result of a
think only about defense: Black's sacrifice are so varied that no cally in selecting a plan which as well. Here, White's only hope
14..dc carries with it the hope generalizations can possibly be helps Black to clear the c5-8 lies in creating complications,
of exploiting the active posi- made. Some grandmasters, posses- diagonal, presently cluttered and Taimanov is ready to answer
tion of his fianchettoed bishop, sing the faculty of quick cal- with black pawns. 13..dc with 14 Qb3, giving up
and perhaps the relative weak- culation, not infrequently give his b-pawn into the bargain.
ness of the pawns atc4andd4. up a pawn or two simply to alter However, Gligoric not only de-
Black would very much like one the nature and balance of a po- clines further acquisitions,he
of those two pawns to advance. sition, even if this is perhaps even gives back his extra pawn
White also has the threat of not in their favor. I don't temporarily, securing his advan-
..Nf6-g4 to deal with here. think this manner of playing has White decides not to recapture tage by advancing his pawns to
much of a future. I myself have the d-pawn, choosing instead a 5 and e5.
sacrificed, all told, several sharp move he had prepared pre-
dozen pawns, but still I think viously; he expects 8..e5 9 B:f6
White is not placing his rooks that the master who sacrifices gf 10 c3!, or 8..g6 9 B:f6 ef
right: he ought to occupy the a pawn ought to have at least a 10 N:d4, or 8..Ng4 9 N:d4 h6
e- and d-files. general idea of the nature of 10 Bcl. However, Gligoric finds The interesting complications
the initiative he will thereby an excellent plan which knocks that arise after 14..Qc7 would
obtain, and what sort of game the last white pawn out of the work out in Black's favor, but
will ensue. center and secures active posi- these would be complications
tions for Black's pieces. nonetheless, which is precisely
Once in a while, a pawn must what Taimnov is aiming for; so
be given up, or even an exchange Gligoric sticks with the strong
or a piece, against one's will- move 14..Qd5, centralizing his
the point being that any other queen. On 14. .Qc7, Whit6 would
course leads to a difficult po- There's not much choice: Black have replied 15 cd e5 16 Rcle4
sition. Playing White, Taimanov would answer 9 e5 with 9..Ne4. 17 Ne5 R:d4 18 0b3. but Black
sacrificed a pawn in the open- had a better alternative in
ing, but obtained no more of an 17..N:e5! 18 Ne6 fe 19 R:c7+
initiative thereby than he might K:c7 20 0b3 Nc6 21 0:e6 N:d4
have obtained by keeping the
same number of pawns as his op-
ponent. Throughout the game,
White put himself through ago-
nies trying to regain his pawn,
but never quite succeeded; even- Taimanov's relentless play
tually, Black's extra pawn went for complications has borne
on to queen. fruit: Black plays inexactly
here. 16..e4 was correct, when
17 Ne5 would be out because a
piece would be lost, and 17Nh4
would run into 17..Be7 18 Qh5
B:h4 19 Q:h4 Q:d4 20 Qh5 Qf6.
The exchange of lightsquare Now Black's extra pawn has. no
Black must hurry before White bishops on the fourth move is great role to play, since it
plays 20 Re1 and tries to bring part of a far-seeing strategic is blockaded, and his isolated
one of his rooks to g3, after idea. Gligoric has placed his pawns on the kingside are weak.
his knight goes to e4. A rook on pawns on dark squares, so Tai-
g3, in conjunction with the bi- manov thinks that with the
shop on c3, could demolish g7. lightsquare bishop gone Black
will find it hard to maintain
the positional balance. Of
course, Black can advance his
center pawns to e6 and d5, but
DRAW that will take time. (See diagram, next page )
The knight at e4 must be taken, Of course, TaimanoV sees that
and after 22 B:e4 B:e4, White's his strategic plans have come a
advantage disappears. cropper: Black has a Pawn more,
with the possibility of setting
In a few moves, he picks up the ROUND EIGHTEEN
b-pawn, after which his two con- 120. Gligoric-Najdorf
nected passed pawns will bring (Sicilian Defense)
him victory.
1. e2-e4 c7-c5
2. Ngl-3 d7-d6
3. d2-d4 c5 :d4
4. Nf3:d4 Ng8-6
5. Nbl-c3 a7-a6
6. g2-g3 e7-e5
7. Nd4-e2 Bc8-e6
8. Bfl-g2 b7-b5
Najdorf repeats the move Ko-
tov played against Gligoric in
Game 66. This time, Gligoricbe-
gins immediate operations on the
queenside. As one of the spec-
tators pointed out, however, he
could have played still more
sharply: 9 Nf4, and if Blackac-
cepts the sacrifice, 10 e5 sim-
ultaneously attacks a8 and 6;
( Position after 17..Bd6 ) while if he does not accept, the
knight makes a triumphal entrance
at d5.
White seeks his chances pre- Unexpected, and foolhardy:
cisely where they will be the White abandons the f-pawn, hop-
hardest to find: he can extract ing to regain the b-pawn. In
nothing from the pinned knight this game, ~ligoric'snormally
at c6, so he ought to have at- strict style is unrecognizable.
tacked the 5-pawn with 18 Nh4
and 19 Qh5.
33..B:e5 34 fe K:b4 would have
been a gross blunder, in view of
35 e6!, when the threat to sup-
port the advance of this passed
pawn with a rook would have
forced Black to seek the draw.
What has White achieved? The A curious moment: in the mid-
d-pawn is no longer isolated, dlegame, the rook occupies an And now it was Najdorf who
and the knight which blockaded open line, though not a file, as offered the
it has had to be replaced with is usual; this time it's the
the queen. fourth rank, completely cleared DRAW
of both white and black pieces.
Najdorf could have preventedthis which was accepted, although
by 16..a5, but of course it never White still has the superior
entered his head that his oppo- position. Black would be ill-
Too bold. Taimanov should have nent might intend, in the middle advised to take the b-pawn, in
recalled his third move, Bb5+, game with a board full of pieces, view of 28..Q:b4 29 N:e4 fe
which deprived his opponent of to open the fourth rank and oc- 30 Bh6 Rb8 31 Rf2, with the
his lightsquare bishop, and cupy it with a rook. threat of h3-h4-h5; also pos-
tried to keep the black pawns on sible is 30 Q:a6 Q:b2 31 Qb6,
dark squares. For this purpose, when the exchange of queens
22 b3 was best, followed by the WHITE RESIGNED would lose for Black.
transfer of his knight to c4. As he played this original move,
Gligoric offered a draw, which Black might have been able
Najdorf declined, although his to wriggle out of his diffi-
position gave him no grounds for culties by means of the piece
so optimistic an appraisal, as sacrifice 28..N:g3 29 K:g3 f4+
he himself later concluded. For 30 B:f4 ef+ 31 R:f4 5; Najdorf
example, after 20..0-0 21 Ncl carries his analysis to move
Nc5 22 Rb4! Q:a5 23 N:b3, White 51. The variations are inter-
has good play. esting, no doubt, but it would
This excellent move decides the have been more interesting still
game. Black returns his extra had the game continued.
pawn at the best possible moment.
r-I
121. ~ronstein-Petrosian White has wasted a lot of time plan will be an attack on the
(Old Indian Defense) in preparing for this advance, king, but it is not yet the
1. d2-d4 Ng8-6 which now encounters Black's ex- time for the pieces to enter
2. c2-c4 d7-d6 cellent defensive formations. the fray: first the h-pawnmust
3. Nbl-c3 Nb8-d7 advance, to breach the fortress
4. Bcl-g5 h7-h6 walls.
5. Bg5-h4 g7-g5
Since White has not prevented This game is vintage Reshev-
This is the sort of move that ..c7-c5, Black ought to have ex- sky: instead of flinging him-
radically alters the course of ploited this in the interests of self head over heels into the
a game, forcing the opponent to Now, ten moves too late, this freer development: among other attack, he methodically accum-
rethink all the details of the misses the point completely, and things, his knight could have ulates advantages, while trying
position. Mechanically, the move allows Black to open the game in gone to c6 instead of d7. Aver- not to give his opponent any
..g7-g5 is simple to explain: his favor. bakh opts for a solid but pas- counterchances. Averbakh mis-
Black exchanges off the bishop sive deployment, which allows construes the gradual develop-
on g3 for his knight, thereby Black too few counterchances for ment of White's attack, taking
enhancing the prospects of his him to have hopes for anything his caution for indecision.The
own king s bishop. However, more than a draw. With 8..c5, position already requiresBlack
"pawns do not move backward", Black would have knocked the d- to take energetic action on
and moving the pawn from g7 to pawn out of the center, opened the queenside.
g5 defines the pawn structure the c-file, and cleared the e5
in this sector too early, making square for his pieces.
it easier for White to formulate
a concrete plan. White sacrifices a pawn in
the mistaken hope of being able An unpleasant weakening of
to entice the black rook to e5; the king's wing. With the pawn
however, White will be unable to at 7, the routine attack h2-
exploit either the hl-a8 diag- Black feels he has fulfilled h4-h5 would lose much of its
onal or the open d-file, in view his primary goal in the Nimzo- effectiveness, inasmuch as the
of the unfortunate position of Indian by putting a long-term capture h5:g6 could always be
his knight on b3. One cannothelp crimp on e3-e4. White beginsun- met by recapturing with the f-
but recall ~arrasch's famous hurried preparations for the e- pawn. 24..Bf6 was bad, of course,
White's last three "attacking" dictum (see preface) ! pawn's advance, while Blackholds since White would take the bi-
moves offered his opponent no to his siege tactics: the value shop, bring his rook to the f-
problems whatever: he is making of his sortie ..a7-a5-a4 ismore file, and then push his pawn to
his preparations to attack in symbolic than real. Against this e5. And retreating the queen to
the wrong sector. The drawbacks backdrop, Black's position de- c7 would place that piece in a
of Petrosian's defense might clines noticeably over the next most uncomfortable position.
have stood out if White had ten or twelve moves: the bishop's
played 9 4, assailing the g- dithering from c8 to e6 to d7 to Averbakh's only hope is to
pawn. c8 to e6 again does not involve counterattack the white center
any sort of strategy, serving on- (30. .c5).
DRAW ly to demonstrate the impregna-
bility of Black's position. Mean-
White's position would be while, White marshals his forces
not a bit inferior, if his for the decisive stroke.
knight could only manage to The h-pawn could have been
maintain itself on c4. However, stopped here with 26..h5, SO
with 32..c4!, Black would pre-
r@g&Hp#
A,,
$g&y
$4.4
a ,,,
vent this: 33 N:c4 R:b5 or
33 Q:c4 Q:c4 34 N:c4 R:e4. On
26 Bh6!, followed by 27 h4,
was more accurate.

v',zbg&
,,,,,.&,xAB p F& &
$
the other hand, White need not
take the pawn: his best course
would be to continue 33 a4, re-
treat his bishop to 3, and
Black has so far managed to
prevent e3-e4, but Reshevsky will
The defenders of the fort-
ress place themselves in read-
A , . A. . v
$@".""' keep trying to work up counter- push his plan through. iness for battle with the man-
threat s against the black king. euvers ..Ne6, ..Bf8 and ..Nd7,
,
%$& $fiJ
p,;a@@Jhp#
779,,<h,
,,

yf p. 2
, 4 2,.5
A gd,,,fa In time-pressure, Petrosian
failed to notice 32..c4, and
therefore agreed to the draw.
preparing to sell their lives
dearly (Black is also prepar-
ing ..c5).
-xhd42

p/y$ ..5
4 4
<*"" 979 A7BWg
7 122. Reshevsky-Averbakh
. , :
. Q/$ A
9, / A
I% --
(Nirnzoindian Defense)
White has created a Powerful At last, at last! (Wouldn't
center. The next part of his this have been better played at
move eight?) holds things together somehow. Thus are the masters' tastes re-
And if White should delay his vealed even in the opening. So
Bh6 long enough to play, shall let the reader be properly skep-
we say, 36 ab, then 36..a3would tical of such notes as:"Better
give Black some serious counter- a2-a4", or "2-3 was more cir-
The e5 square Black has ob- chances. After Averbakh's blun- cumspect." In the beginning of
tained for his pieces doesn't der, White's problem finds an the game, there are many roads,
come anywhere near compensating easier solution. and most of them lead straight
for White's control of the h- to Rome.
file. 1t's only a question of
how soon White can manage to
double or triple his heavypieces
there. Accepting the exchange sacri-
fice would lead to a quickcheck- Contrary to the rules of po-
mate: for example, 37..N:f6? sitional play, here Szabo of-
38 B:f6 Bg7 39 B:g7 K:g7, and fers the exchange of his good
the queen checks from c3, with bishop - and rightly so. In
decisive threats. Play would the first place, this bishop
have proceeded similarly had is living in constant fear of
Black chosen 36..Be7 instead of White's threat to advance the
his 36..Ng4. f-pawn, which means it's not so
good after all. And in the sec-
ond place, Szabo wishes to use This gets White two knights
the rather shaky condition of for his rook and two pawns. As
White's e-pawn to fight for the for 17 h3, that's no threat:
square d5, which would make his Black replies 17..Bc5 here,
other bishop "good". too, and can always meet hg
with the queen check at h4.

BLACK RESIGNED
This game is a classic exam-
ple of how one should undermine 15..N:e4 would not be good in
the foundation of a solid posi- view of 16 Nd:e4 de 17 Bd4.
tion. Reshevsky considered it
his best game of the tournament.

Keres stirs up some interest-


Black is in an unenviablepo- ing complications, but Black
sition, of course, but a grand- 123. Keres-Szabo still has sufficient counter-
master should not fall apart (Sicilian Defense) chances. White's best lines
like this, simultaneously giv- 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 arise after 16..Nc6 or 16..Ng6;
ing up both a pawn and a key 2. Ngl-3 d7-d6 for example:
point in his position. White 3. d2-d4 c5:d4
might have begun the conquest 4. Nf3:d4 Ng8-6
of h6 and g7 on his 35th move 5. Nbl-c3 a7-a6
with 35 Bh6! Instead, he played 6. Bfl-e2 e7-e5
a waiting move, 35 Khl, for which 7. Nd4-b3 Bf 8-e7 2) 16. .Ng6 17 e5 Nd7 18 Nf3, or
there was no particular need, 8. Bcl-e3 Bc8-e6 17 B:f6 as in the first varia-
since nothing threatened the 9. 0-0 Nb8-d7 tion.
white king where it stood.Quite 10. 2-4 ...
evidently Reshevsky had still As usual, Szabo finds the most
not completely made up his mind The various lines of this sys- active continuation.
to force through the attack. tem of development are distin-
Since matters were proceeding guished chiefly by the place-
through one of his accustomed ment of the - and a-pawns, In
time-shortages, he wanted to Game 88, Geller played 2-f4and
play a few nondescript moves to a2-a4 against Najdorf, with an
reach the time control. It was active position for White, but We shall have occasion to
precisely these circumstances somewhat insecure in the center. compare the relative strengths
that made it imperative for Av- In Game 36, Smyslov pushed both ( See diagram, next column ) of queen, rook and knight again
erbakh to play 35..b4, stirring pawns one square against Kotov.
up some complications, at least. In this game, Keres plays f2-
One time-pressure possibility f4, but leaves the a-pawn in
might have been 36 Bh6 N:d3 place for the time bein . I my-
37 B:f8 K:f8 38 Q:d3, whenBlack self prefer a2-4 and fg-f3.
in Game 186, Kotov - Najdorf. looks very dangerous indeed. 124. Smyslov-Euwe
Knights and queens complement Keres' following maneuvers, (Reti Opening)
each other, knights being strong creating unbreachable defensive Sacrificing a pawn in order
in the center and around enemy positions with two knights and The knight must be taken now, to seize an open line in the
pawns; while rooks come into a pawn, without the aid of the like it or not, but although center is one of the oldest
their own in the endgame, where king, are beautiful beyond com- Black will be a pawn up in the strategic ideas known: it may
they find plenty of space for par ison. endgame, there is no win. be found in the classical games
their straightforward maneuvers. of Greco, Morphy, Anderssen,
Proceeding from these ideas, Chigorin, Spielmann and Alekhine.
White ought to utilize his Occasionally, a pawn is given up
knights on the kingside, with- to obtain a line for a bishop,
out trading queens, trying for the most obvious example being
something such as the following:
24 Qg4 Qf6 25 Rfl Qg6 26 Ng5 I Typical of pawn endings. The
king, of course, is headed for
the Danish Gambit: 1 e4 e52d4
ed 3 c3 dc 4 Bc4 cb 5 B:b2.The
Qc2 27 Qf3, or 24 Qg4 Qc8 25 Nf5 the h-pawn, but if Black ad- most promising sacrifices, how-
Qc3 26 N3d4. vances his king to d4 instead ever, are those which openlines
of b5, then White also keeps for the rooks, especially when
the option of taking the 5- this involves a direct attack on
pawn first. the king. Our forebears knew of
another Muzio Gambit besides the
usual one, called the "Double
Here too, 26 Qg4 Qf6 (26. .Qg6? ( or "Wild") Muzio": 1 e4 e5
27 ~e7+!) 27 Rdl was good. How- 2 4 ef 3 Nf3 g5 4 Bc4 g4 5 0-0
ever, the queen exchange was most gf 6 B:f7+ K:f7 7 Q:f3, which
tempting: White's knights gain is occasionally encountered
permanent sway over 5, and it even today. Of course, masters
was hard to foresee that fate and grandmasters take a rather
would send them somewhere else skeptical attitude toward such
altogether. play, but it has a sizable fol-
lowing among players of middling
strength. For example, this gam-
bit was a most fearsome weapon
in the hands of a Moscow first-
A wonderful position! cate ory player, Volodya Smir-
nov ?whose untimely passing we
The knight's active position The knights fend off their foes all mourn), in school and college
on 5 might have been exploited Now Black pushes his pawn to 5, tournaments, where he employed
for an attack on 7. For this and opens a route for his king his own analyses and variations.
purpose, the rook at a1 would to go via 6 and e5 to d4.
have to be brought to d7; the But where pieces and pawns
loss of the a-pawn would be in- were formerly sacrificed on the
consequential, since the b-pawn second or third move, nowadays
would be recovered immediately: such early skirmishings in the
29 Rdl R:a4 30 Rd7, with the Otherwise, the knight forks center are avoided. 1t's cer-
double threat 31 Nh6+ and 31 R:b7. when his king gets to e5. tainly not because players fear
White's actual move, powerful risk - in plain terms, the
though it might appear, leads, King's Indian is a greater risk
amazingly enough, to a diffi- for Black than the ~ing'sGam-
cult endgame for him. bit for White. Nevertheless, not
29. Rb4-f4 one of us is afraid to play the
The knights have regrouped, King's Indian, while the advo-
30. ~fjli6 Re8-b8 and are once again unapproach-
31. Ral-bl Rf4-a4 able. Now the black rook at- J Black was just one tempo shy cates of the ~ i n ~ 'Gambit
s grow
fewer and fewer, as do those of
32. Rbl:b7 Rb8 :b7 tempts to penetrate from the 1 of a win.
33. Nd6:b7 ... flank.
the Scotch, Italian and Vienna
Games. The problem with all these
In the middle of the board, openings is that after a short
fight in the center, the pawn
supported by a pawn, one knight 55..Q:h8+ 56 K:h8 Kc3 57 Kg7 structure simplifies, and the
may sometimes be as strong as a is a draw too. fight which follows becomes flat
rook. Here, however, on the edge Here Black had an interesting and featureless. Players of our
of the board, the knights cannot try: 41..4+, intending after day know how to sacrifice a pawn
work at full strength, and one 42 Kh4 to play for the win of a or a piece as well as Morphy or
rook can deal successfully with pawn by ..Rb5-b3-g3. During this
two knights. lack's plan -
to
bring up his king, drive off the
time White could probably pick
up the a-pawn, and the outcome DRAW
Anderssen did; but it is a char-
acteristic ot the present state
of the game would probably not of the art that sacrifices must
knight, or else force the trade
of both knights for his rook - have been altered.
7b'C-k be vostponed while shielding
one s cornbinative yearnings be-
hind a a s k of positional play. One more Black retreat: the
bishop now no longer controls
The Smyslov -Euwe game, filled
with combinative ideas that flow
In the bygone days of chess,
when today's finely-tuned tech-
c5.
organically from the position, niques of positional play had 26. Nb3-c5 Kb8-a8
deserves to be counted among the not yet been worked out to such
finest examples of the art of a degree, and having a piece or On 26..Nb6 there would follow
chess. a pawn more was considered the 27 Rd7!, but now the end comes
mark of a cad - in those days,
I do not doubt that Whitewould,
at once.
without much hesitation, have
sacrificed a knight on c6, and
knocked apart the black king's
insecure shelter. The strategic
basis for this sacrifice would
be the complete isolation of
With his queen's pawn supported Black's bishop and rook. Some
by 5..c6, it makes more sense to concrete variations:
occupy the center with 6..e5.The
problem with this move is that
his king's bishop remains shut in
behind its own pawns, making it
impossible for Black to castle 11. 12..Bf5 13 Qf3 Rc8 14 Ba4,
kingside for some time. Smyslov following which White would
exploits this with his 7 e4!
somewhat later than Morphy was
- place his rook on dl, obtain-
ing a position very similar to It is unpleasant to have to
accustomed to play this move, it that of the famous game Morphy- shut in one's own bishop, but
is true, but with no less effect. Duke of Brunswick and Count Is- after the rook's only possible
ouard; Black has no way of free- retreat - to d7 - the threat
7. e2-e4 d5 :e4 ing himself. was Bh3, so ..f6-5 had to be
8. d3:e4 Nf6 :e4 prepared.
9. Nf3-d4 Ne4 :d2 The indecisive text turns the
game in another direction for a
Was it the fear of giving up while, and forces Smyslov to put
his two bishops that prevented forth a lot of ingenuity later
the former World Champion from on, in order to create onceagain This was enough to win, but
playing 9..Nd6, and promptedhim the opportunity for a combina- Clouds are beginning to gather every chessplayer from beginner
instead to develo~still another tive attack. over the black king's position. to grandmaster would have gotten
enemy piece? ~fte; 9. .Nd6 10 ~ : 5 Euwe and Stahlberg s recommenda- more enjoyment out of the varia-
N:f5 11 Re1 g6 12 Ne4, or ll..e6 tion of 2l..Bg8 would not have tion 29 Bg2 Re8 30 B:e5 R:e5
12 Bh3 Nd6 13 0h5. White would made any substantial change in 31 Q:e5! Q:e5 32 B:c6+ Kb833Rb7i
still have had 't~'~rovethe cor- the position: for example,22B:b6 Ka8 34 Rb-any mate. For the same
rectness of his pawn sacrifice. ab 23 Q:b6 threatens 24 Na5. reason, the prosaic 30 R:g7Q:g7
31 B:c6+ and 32 B:e8 was not as
Euwe sets up a pawn chain on strong.
the dark squares, without giv-
ing a thought to what will pro- A consequence of 11..6?: the
tect the light ones- a circum-
stance Smyslov later exploits
diagonal h3-c8 is very weak, and
so Black, who did not want to
beautifully. 14..f5 should have play ..f7-5, must play it now;
been played at once. but now it only half helps.
An extra pawn plus the two
bishops means the outcome of
the game is assured. The phase
Black overestimates his posi- which follows is not especially
tion and plays too dogmatically, interesting: here or there Smy-
without giving an inch. 15..b6 Initiating a series of combin- slov might have played more ac-
16 Bc3 Nc5 should have been ative blows. With this move, curately, for instance by not
played. After 17 N:c5 B:c5 White exposes: 1) the insuffi- exchanging queens.
18 a4 Bd4 19 a5, etc., White ciently protected e-pawn, and
would have had some chances, but 2) the weakness of the h-pawn
the risks in that case would (in the variation 24..Qc7 25 B:f8
have been mutual. Now, White is R:f8 26 Q:h6).
home free.
fact that the square in front 16 Bd2 Qc7 17 Qc2 Rb8 18 Rbl.
of the d-pawn has passed com- After the text move, Black's
pletely into his hands, and initiative grows. Already he
39 a6+ K:a6 40 Qb4 would have makes a good base for his has a target in the white d-
decided immediately; now the pieces: from this square, pieces pawn, deprived of pawn protec-
game will drag on for quite some could exercise strong influence If 28 h5 instead, then 28..Qd6 tlon.
time . over both wings. A somewhat 29 Q:d6 R:d6 30 hg hg 31 f3Ng5,
vague idea, of course; one can-
not win a game, even by control-
and White has achieved nothing
but perhaps it would have been
-
ling the best square on theboard, worthwhile to drive out the
without attacking anything from knight first, and only then to
it. In the present game, con- play h4-h5.
crete targets became quite high-
ly visible after lack's ..g7- Black induces e2-e4 to short-
g6 and ..f7-5, but Stahlberg en the diagonal of the fianchet-
found sufficient defensive re- toed bishop; then he resets him-
sources, one of them being his self for an attack on the e-
centralized knight at e4. pawn.
10. 0-0
11. ~dkli5 Rf 8-e8 DRAW
Black has not stood so well 12. Nd2-b3 Nc5-e6
in quite a long time, but that's 13. Bcl-e3 Qd8-c7 White's pieces can find no
cold comfort since, as before, 14. c2-c3 Ra8-d8 way into the enemy camp.
he's two pawns down. 15. Qdl-3 ...
The a-pawn obviously cannot
be taken. 126. Kotov- Boleslavsky
(King's Indian)
1. c2-c4 N88-6

Such moves are not to every-


one's taste, but Stahlberg al-
ways plays without preconcep-
tions. Generalizations about
weak dark squares do not frigh- Against someone who likes to
ten him. play the Black side of the ~ing's
Indian because it leads to a
complicated struggle, the most
unpleasant choice would be 8 dc,
but for this game both players
were aggressively inclined.
BLACK RESIGNED
If White does not capture en
assant he will never get t G
125. Geller-Stahlberg White has succeeded in setting
k' out of d4.
(French Defense) up a strong position. He mayin-
1. e2-e4 e7-e6 vade the king's wing with his Black is developing harmon-
2. d2-d4 d7-d5 queen, setting up threats onthe iously: already he threatens
3. Nbl-d2 c7-c5 dark squares, or he may precede 12..b4, followed by 13..N:d5.
this by cutting up the kingside Evidently, White's was not the
pawns with h4-h5. True, the out- strongest system of develop-
come of either course of action ment. The most cursory inspection
is not entirely clear, but in of the position will show that
any event White ought not to Black's pieces hang like clouds
have submitted to the queen ex- over White's position. But how
change he allows in a few moves. to turn this to account? Bole-
Apparently Geller expected he slavsky wants the key to the
White has given his opponent would win the ending by pure Kotov refuses to give an inch, white fortress: the e-pawn.
a weak pawn on d5, but his plans technique, but Stahlberg puts but it was already high time for
for the next few moves do notin- up his usual stubborn defense, him to consi-ler maintaining the
volve an attack on it. White's attaining an unbreachable po-
play will revolve around the sition. balance, which he could havedone
with 14 bc ~ : b l15 Q:bl Bd7
ROUND NINETEEN for the practice of the middle-
game.
Taking pawns with check is 127. Boleslavsky-Geller
Kotov has won his pawn back, not always the best. Here, as (Sicilian Defense) White has a powerfully centra-
but Boleslavsky relentlessly the saying goes, 42..Nd443Ne2 Mutual forcing attacking play lized knight, making a good
turns to attack the next pawn R:a2 "deserved attention"; con- against opposite-wing castled counterweight to the bishop on
on the diagonal, at f3. What sidering lack's threat of positions is one of the sharpest d7 and ready to meet a queen
happens if this pawn falls, or 44..Qhl, it is doubtful that forms of the chess struggle. In sortie to a5 by retreating to
moves on? Behind the pawn on he would have had to play on this it is equally important not b3. White started his pawnstom
f3 stands the king, which Black for another twenty-five moves. to throw oneself too hastily in- first, and has already gottenin
has marked down as the next and to the attack and not to be ex- g3-g4 and h2-h4; his own king
final target of his attack. cessively concerned with the de- position has no weaknesses,while
fense of one's own king. The Black's pawn at g6 forms a hook
Now 43..Qhl does not work in harmonious blending of attack for White's advancing army to
view of 44 R:e6, but 43..Nd4 and defense, based upon exper- seize upon.
would still have decided immed- ience, knowledge and intuition,
iately. is what we find in this game be- While Black may be starting
tween two masters of the aggres- his pawn advance later than
sive style. White's, he already has a line
open against the enemy king.
His centralized knight is very
powerful too: it attacks the
lack's pretty maneuvers have weak link in White's pawnchain-
set up irresistible threats: the the pawn which is, in fact, the
rook cannot move, so it must be only support of White's whole
defended. If 40 Ke2, then chain (and very shaky, too!).
4O..Re8!, threatening 4l..N:f4+;
if then 41 Qd3 Ra8 42 Qbl c4! Black controls, and may soon
occupy, the important square c4,
which carries about the same
value as the 5 square does for
40 Kf2 Re8 41 Nf3 Q:e3+ 42 K:e3 WHITE RESIGNED Black; meanwhile, White still
Nd4+ 43 Qe4, or 4O..Ra8 41 Nf3 With his 6..Bg4, Geller forced does not control one square in
Qal 42 Re2 Nd4 43 N:d4 cd44Qc6! White to advance his f-pawn to the immediate area of Black's
would have been better. 3; making a virtue of necessity, king. Finally, the powerful bi-
Boleslavsky then played the Rau- shop at g7 may give rise todan-
zer Attack against his opponent's gerous combinations on the long
Dragon Variation, in which White diagonal.
plays f2-f3 of his own volition.
As may be seen, a complex po-
sition; at the moment, it lies
in a state of dynamic equality.
Great skill is necessary in or-
der to maneuver the entire mass
of pawns and pieces, while sim-
ultaneously countering the ene-
my's operations. In this game,
we shall follow the struggle
move by move.

Black answers blow for blow.


This prepares ..b5-b4, as well
as .. Nc4, after which he could
now answer B:c4 with ..b5:~4,
opening the b-file, which is
more dangerous to White than the
c-file.

Taking the b-pawn would be


madness, of course. And h4-h5
is ineffective, so long as
The position is of exceptional Black's pieces solidly defend
interest, both for theory and the squares h7 and h8; so first
White wants to trade off one of Nothing comes of 17..Nc4 could make any headway against
the most important defensive 18 B:c4 bc 19 Kal Rb8 20 Rbl. it.
pieces. Now 18.. b4 is a threat.
True, Szabo found the inter-
esting move I1 Bd3, and obtained
a significant advantage after
..Bh8 is sometimes possible in ll..Qa5?, but two rounds later
such positions: at the moment, Smyslov already had an improve-
the rook is less valuable than Black refrains from 2O..Qe3, ment for Black, ll..h6; and his
the bishop. The long diagonal, which could result in a repe- subsequent maneuver ..Nd7-b8-
at present loaded with pieces, tition of moves after 21 Qcl c6 gave him full equality.
may be cleared quickly with, Qc3. Black has no advantage,
for instance, 14..Bh8 15 B:f8 and after the exchange of queens
R:c3 16 bc N:f3 17 N:f3 N:e4 - his game becomes perhaps even
not a forced line by any means, a bit inferior.
and a clear loss for Blackhere
as well, but presented merely
as an illustration of the ideas
that may come up in the course This forces Black to initiate This exchange could have been
of battle. the trade, as 21..hg allows delayed, with the developing
22 Qcl, with the threat of 23 Qh6. 16 Bd2 played first.
No rook can fight a bishop and
h4-h5 was a real threat now, four pawns. If it were not for
so this exchange of rook for the a-pawn, perhaps White might
knight, which also breaks up scare up some sort of chances,
the king's cover, was practic- An inaccuracy, which leads up but it will take him a coupleof
ally forced. to Boleslavsky's following one- moves to win that pawn, and in
move oversight, the only such that time, the black pawns can
occurrence in his tournament go a long way...
practice in the last fifteen
years. Correct was 23 Bd3 or
23 Be2, and only then 24 a3. In
that event, White would have had
winning chances.

Even here, nothing fearsome


would have occurred after 24Ka2,
but Boleslavsky bravely follows WHITE RESIGNED
the variation he calculated: ,.,.,.,.,.
d..Ld*.L-L-V*
24..N:f3 25 N:f3 Rc3+ 26 Rd3?!?! ,\

As Boleslavsky explained it la- 128. Stahlberg-Smyslov


ter, he of course saw that the (Queen's Gambit)
black knight could take the f-
pawn, followed by the rookcheck 1. d2-d4 d7-d5
at c3, forking king and knight; 2. c2-c4 c7-c6
but he thought his 26 Rd3 would 3. Ngl-3 Ng8-6
protect both attacked pieces - 4. Nbl-c3 d5 :c4
including the king! 5. a2-a4 Bc8-f5
6. e2-e3 e7-e6
7. Bfl:c4 Bf 8-b4
The natural attacking contin- 8. 0-0 Nb8-d7
uation. 9. Qdl-e2 Bf 5-g6
10. e3-e4 0-0
11. Bc4-d3 h7-h6
The foundation cracks, and DRAW
White's king position is loos- the entire edifice comes tum- Making a draw with Black some-
ening, and his queen must now bling down. times becomes a necessity dueto But perhaps not quite so sim-
return to the defense. On the one's tournament standing or the ply as the reader might think.
other hand, the position is still approach of more important games. In view of the threatened 28 b5
in balance, since White has the When he needed to draw a game, ab 29 a6, Black must play
exchange as compensation. Smyslov used the Slav Defense, 27..Rce8! here, in order to meet
and neither Boleslavsky, nor Sza- 28 b5 ab 29 a6 with 29..Na5!
bo, nor Stahlberg in this game The exchange sacrifice 28 R:c6
bc 29 R:c6 would fail to 29..Rc8! able for maneuvering. If coefficients could be found
for that sort of evaluation, then
30 R:a6 Rc2 or 30 Qc3 R:c6 31 Q:c6 machines could also play chess.
h5!
Thus, White's relatively best Ega&&
h4:5 im@#+ By now it is clear that White,
whose pieces are more actively
line would be 28 Re3 followed by
29 b5 ab 30 a6. Sometimes the p;i #,9d~,i,
#iyi placed, should try to exploit
his opponent's weaknesses, while
draw two grandmasters agree to
conceals many pretty possibil- ' "d 6% i Ep not forgetting his main threats.
There were two ways for Euwe to
;,:,
ities.
#j
,
; d/Ay, "/He,'
,2,/2,2,,,/,,,,
,,,,
accomplish this. One was 22 b3,
in order to slow Black's pawn
4<,4 <57v/<,iC.4
129. Euwe- Keres
(Grunfeld Opening) .
r;".i
7.:

pip
...~
y,
I
'4

,,,,,
#,
-
<.a""';a
,,//

--
:? @ roller: ..b5-b4, ..c5-c4 and
..c4-c3; but Black's position
would still have been difficult
2;,3 &id ,,,,,$,A to crack, chiefly due to the
A 2732
'"" @@
2 2
y&i&f&j
&d
,,,,,
bishop at e6. So 22 R:e6 sug-
gests itself, in order to elim-
,, v,,.,
;<. p, 74

C- :&p,;;; ,g;&
jqdq:;Q ,~ ,
inate the only black piece that
has any freedom of action, and
thus fling open the door to the
black king's shelter along the
seventh rank, while turning
c lack's three good pawns at 7,
Why does Black voluntarily Every positional achievement- g6 and h6 into two weak ones at
create this breach in his posi- in this case, the pawn at d6, e6 and g6. White's attack could
tion, as if to invite the fur- which commands the attention of then develop as follows: 22..fe
ther advance of the d-pawn?The The battle waxes very hot af- the black pieces - is important, 23 Qe5 Qd7 24 Bh3, or 23..Re8
answer to this must be soughtin ter this pawn's advance. Trad- but not so much of itself as in 24 Q:c5.
Keres' first few moves. c lack's ing the c-pawn for the d-pawn conjunction with other combina-
entire system is aimed at en- would be unfavorable for Black: tive or positional motifs. In At all events, the text move
ticing the white pawn to d6, for example, 13..N:e4 14 N:e4! the diagrammed position, themo- had little to recommend it. It
there to be attacked and elim- N:d5 15 N:c5, and I cannot see tifs for White are: does nothing to further White's
inated. For the time being, how Black is to maintain his plans, and needlessly weakens
White restrains himself long position at b7 and d5 without 1) the undefended c5-pawn, b3. Keres exploits this skill-
enough to castle; but eventually sacrificing either position or fully.
he decides to exploit this material. 2) the Black king's weakened
breach in the pawn wall bypush- cover,
ing his pawn to d6. It appears
to me that the pleasure of at- 3) the ever-present possibil- An excellent defensive maneu-
tacking the encircled pawn is ity of the advance d6-d7, ver. The bishop threatens to
won at too great a price: a exit to b3, when the rook at dl
conclusion which the further A necessity, and a sad one 4) control of the c7 and e7 will be overburdened, having to
course of this game supports. too, since it will be difficult squares; coupled with this, defend the d-pawn as well as
to fight that passed pawn with- the idea of trying for control the king's rook.
out his darksquare bishop. of either the c-file or the e-
file.
lack's opening idea has been
We have seen a similar maneu- a fiasco. And for Black:
ver in Game 19, Euwe - Smyslov: Completing the encirclement,
the knight on bl stays at home 1) the ~ossibilityof surround- and more importantly the block-
temporarily, so as to come out ing the d-pawn from three sides, ade, of the d-pawn: without mo-
later at either a3 or d2, or to bility, it holds no further ter-
replace the other knight when 2) a queenside majority attack, rors. Meanwhile, the c5-pawn is
it leaves c3, depending upon awakening from its slumber, SO
circumstances. 3) the possibility of ..Nh5, Euwe hurries to trade it forthe
which would force White's queen d-pawn before it starts to ad-
away from its strong position vance .
on 4.
It is by means of this match-
Now White has an obvious ad- ( See diagram, next page ) imy up and balancing of the
vantage, consisting of the great chances for both sides that the Now the fire has died, and
mobility of his d-pawn by compa- master generally arrives at more there is no catwe for further
rison with the clear weakness of or less objective co~clusions, argument. The DRAW comes as
the black pawn at c5. In addi- which are called an evaluation the natural conclusion to a
tion, White has more spaceavail- of the position". battle flamed- and faded.
130. Szabo-Reshevsky White's position was so pow- 132. Petrosian-Gligoric
(Queen's Gambit) erful that despite his unbeliev- (King's Indian)
1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 able oversight on the 21st move,
2. c2-c4 e7-e6 he still has more than enough
3. Ngl-3 d7-d5 to win here. Once again, it
4. Nbl-c3 c7-c5 comes down to a mate threat at
5. c4:d5 Nf6 :d5 g7, for which purpose he need
6. e2-e3 Nb8-c6 only have retreated his bishop
7. Bfl-d3 Nd5 :c3 by 27 Bh6. The only reply would
be 27..f6, when 28 Qg3 would
If Black wanted to trade on have won at least a rook. White is not obliged to close
c3, he should have played7..cd the center: he could also have
first. Szabo played otherwise: continued with 7 Nge2 ed 8 N:d4
c6 9 Nc2 Re8 10 Qd2 d5 11 0-0-0,
which wins the d-pawn eventually,
but gives Black the initiative.
immediately saw his error, and
Black prepares to castle. Con- became so distraught that, after
sidering White's threat of B:h7, using up nearly all his remain-
this or some other weakening was ing time, and still without This move is not obligatory
practically unavoidable, and it making a move, he accepted the either, but a lot of people seem
is hard to say whether Reshevsky to think that in the King's In-
would have had less of a problem DRAW dian the f-pawn must go to 5 as
after 9..h6. Szabo would then quickly as possible. I don't be-
have tried to have his king's Reshexsky had offered nearly lieve that's always true. The
bishop and his queen trade half an hour before - right ..f7-5 or ..f7-5-4 attack is
places as quickly as possible, after White took the rook at good, provided it achieves some
and what would Black do then? This has not happened in tour- 8 with his bishop. After such substantive end; if not, then
Further weakening of his pawn nament play in a long time:both a traumatic experience, Szabo it's better to postpone ..f7-5
barricade with ..g7-g6 or ..f7- grandmasters have overlooked a was a long time regaining his until it is most effective. For
5 would be fatal, and Black mate in two by 21 Q:g6+ Bg7 confidence, which naturally af- this reason, 7..Nbd7 and 7..a5
obviously would not have enough 22 Q:g7 mate. Black's only move fected his play for the remain- were not at all inferior to the
time to bring his knight to 8. was 2O..Kh8, when White would der of the tournament. text move.
On the other hand, that same have continued his attack by
..Nf8 would be not only his one 21 f4, followed by 4-5 or
chance, but his one hope as e3-e4-e5, with a relatively
well. So we must conclude that 131. Averbakh-Bronstein
easy win. Those with a penchant (King's Indian)
the combination of 6..Nc6 with for beauty might try 21 Qc3,
7..N:c3 was unfortunate. The threatening 22 Ne8; 2l..B:d5
text move weakens a whole clus- would be well met by 22 N:d5.
ter of squares, and gives White A new move: compare this with
the basis for a successful at- Game 75, Geller - Gligoric, in
tack. which Black played 12..Nd7, and
then pulled his bishop back to
e7. Since Black had to endure a
The threat was 16 N:c6 and long and difficult defense in
17 B:c5. that game, Gligoric decides to
waste no time opening the g-
The first consequence ofBlack's 16. b3 h5 17. Nc3 Ned7 18.Rel file for kingside counterplay.
carelessness: on 12..Bd7, White Qd8 19. Rabl Nf8 20. Red1 Qe7 In reply, Petrosian exploits
sacrifices a piece with 13 B:g6 the knight's absence from d7 to
fg 14 Q:g6+ Kf8 15 e4, with the Neither player is putting much break on the left flank.
threat of 16 Bh6+. life into this well-known and
thoroughly analyzed variation:
White plays his cards close to
the vest, and Black follows his
example. Sometimes excessive
peaceableness can be justified, With part of the board block-
but not here. aded, Black appears to be all
set for the long haul after his
..f5-4. So there was no reason
.5 for haste here, either: the
Szabo has obtained an excellent coolheaded 15..Kh8 would have
attacking position, while Black's forestalled White's next threat,
pieces stand passively, and his DRAW and made possible the plan..Rg8,
king still has not castled. ..Be7, ..a5 etc.
Black's only hope is an at- 37..R:e4 seemed just too risky. 111. 40 a3 Nd2+ 41 Kal Nb3+
tack on White's king. So he But when one sacrifices, one 42 Kbl N:cl 43 N:cl Rc544Bd3
This energetic move secures gives up another pawn to open does not count pawns, but rather B:d3 45 N:d3 Q:d3 46 Qe2 Q:e2
mite's advantage. If 16..b6, a line and remove one of the accrued advantages and concrete 47 R:e2 Kg7 48 b4 Rd5, or:
then 17 a3 followed by 18 b4 pieces covering the king. variations.
takes away all the blackknight's
squares, and the queen's bishop's Had Gligoric not lost heart,
as well; if 16..bc 17 dc, when and found within himself the b) 43 Q:cl Qb3 44 Qd2 Rd5
the a2-g8 diagonal is opened, strength to sacrifice the rook, 45 Qcl Q:c2+ 46 Q:c2 Rdl+
and White's pieces gain the d5 the continuation might have
square, for example: 17..Qe8 been very interesting; I am IV. 40 Q:a5 Q:a5 41 Kal 3
18 Ncl Q:c6? 19 Bb5 Qb7 20 B:a6 sure that Petrosian would have 42 Nc3 Ng3 43 Rf2 e4.
Q:a6 21 Qd5+. had reason to regret his care-
lessness. Of course Gligoric could not
White plays rather hesi- calculate all of these varia-
tantly in time-pressure (Rhl- First, some considerations tions through in time-pressure,
gl-cl, Bh3-1-d3-fl), which, of a general nature. After 38 fe and therefore was unable to bring
while it does not let the win N:e4, the only White reply that himself to give up a rook on
A transparent sacrifice which slip away, still allows his makes any sense is 39 Qel, de- "spec". On the other hand, con-
only slows down the attack.White opponent to improve the posi- fending against the newly cre- sidering that Black ended up re-
thinks that his threat of 19 Nf5 tion of his pieces. The idea ated threat of 39..Nd2+ 40 Kal signing the game four moves la-
will force Black to enter the of transferring his rook to R:a2+ 41 K:a2 Qa8 mate. Nor is ter, the rook doesn't appear to
unfavorable line 18..fg 19 hg the fourth rank is very good, this all: Black's queen now takes have been worth keeping.
B:g3 20 Qg5+ Kh8 21 Q:g3. Gli- but it does not get carried on d5, and White's king is quite
goric's quiet reply, however, through to its logical conclu- suddenly and quite obviously in
forces the knight to retreatand sion. a mating net.
try a different route.
For just one rook (of question- Whether by intuition or by
able usefulness), Black clears conscious choice, Petrosian is
away all pawn obstructions in not about to allow Black toplay
This allows White to dismem- the center; along with the three something as tempting as ..R:e4
ber lack's pawn formation to- pawns he gets as material com- twice. In the game of chess as
tally by trading his bishop for pensation, he also obtains two in life, opportunity knocks but
the knight, which leaves Black diagonals, one file and a power- once.
in a more or less lost position. ful knight in the very middle of
Black might have exploited his the board. White's material ad-
opponent s loss of time with vantage would probably have al-
19..Nd7, and only then ..Nac5 lowed him to save his king from
.
and .a5. direct threats, but finding the
solution to this task wouldhave and Gligoric
20. Bgl:c5! ... presented him no small difficul-
ties. RESIGNED
White instantly exploits his
opponent's inaccuracy. For those who enjoy compli- After-41..Bg6 42 Qf6+ and
cated, pretty variations, we 43 Q:e5, Black's entire pawn
present a summary analysis, chain is destroyed, while af-
giving a good illustration of ter 4l..Qe8 there would follow
the possibilities for both Bfl-h3-e6 , followed by rook
sides in this head-breaking to g2.
Directed against the threat- position. (In addition to the
ened 23 Na4 and 24 Qc2. However, author's variations, we have
Petrosian now finds an original made use here of those arising
queen maneuver to win the c5- from the correspondence pole- 133. Najdorf-Taimanov
pawn. mic between Soviet grandmaster (Nimzoindian Defense)
During the past fifteen Tigran Petrosian and the Yugo-
moves Black has tried by every slav master Vukovic, commenta-
means available to complicate tor for "Sahovski Glasnik".
the game, but ~etrosian's sol-
id preventive measures have I. 40 b3 Nd2+ 41 Kb2 R:a2+
taken their toll: Gligoric loses 42 K:a2 Q:b3+ 43 Kal Qa3+,
Petrosian correctly declines faith, and just at the very mo- and mate next; or 41 Kal N:b3+
the second pawn: after 26 Q:c7 ment when blind luck offers him 42 Kb2 N:cl.
Rfc8 27 Qa5 BfZ! Black would an unexpected - I might even
have some serious counterchances. say unbelievable - opportunity 11. 40 b4 Nd2+ 41 Kal Nb3+
to complicate, and mix things 42 Kbl R:a2 43 K:a2 ( 4 3 N:f4
up. The idea of giving a rook Nd2+ 44 Q:d2 Qb3 mate!)43..N:cl+
for "only" two pawns with 44 Kal Qa8+ 4 5 Kbl Qa2+!
White's slow opening play has ROUND TWENTY White able to get in e3-e4 so
allowed Black time to complete quickly and effectively, open-
his development. Black might also have been 134. Tairnanov-Petrosian ing diagonals for both his bi-
tempted to set up a death- (Nimzoindian Defense) shops at once. The slightest
dealing battery against White's One of the tournament's most misstep from Black could result
king with 23..Ba8, threatening beautiful games, in which White, in his king's falling under a
24. .Qb7. without resorting to a pawn
storm, managed to break down a
powerful attack
threatened.
- Qh4 is already
solid defensive position by com-
binative means.
The reader will note that this
is not the first time we havere-
Weakening the hl-a8 diagonal Black's extra pawn is of no ferred to a game as being "one
is not a good idea for White: significance, so the draw is I of the most beautiful of the
driving out the knight did not foreordained. By continuinghis 1 tournament". Indeed, a great num-
require such strong measures. stubborn pursuit of the win,Tai- ber of beautiful games were pro-
I
Within two moves, Najdorf gives manov gets into an inferior po- duced here. True beauty in chess
up a pawn in order to enforce sition. But after some small agi- can only be a creation by both
an exchange of queens; then, tation, everything comes out all players: should one player's mas-
his two bishops restore approx- right in the end. tery of the game considerablyex-
imate equality. ceed that of his opponent, the
resulting creation cannot afford
Rc7 35. Rc.3 h5 36. Bbl Nh6 us complete esthetic satisfac-
37. h4 Bc8 38. Bd4 Rc4 39.Bd3 tion.
That's the point! If the rook I There were only three brilli-
takes, Black gets his main re- ancy prizes given at the Zurich
serve, the e-pawn, very success- tournament; but even if there
fully into the fray with a sud- DRAW had been ten times that many,
den onslaught against White's the jury could still have found
king: 22 R:d4 e5 23 R4dl R:c3! worthy recipients for them.
24 R:c3 ef-you need only set Petrosian decides to turn to
up this position to understand defense exclusively, based upon
why White hurriedly recaptured the strong point at e6. Thisde-
with the pawn, and then closed cision was not at all forced: us-
the bishop's diagonal with d4-d5. ing his temporarylead indevel-
opmentandthe centralpawnten-
sion, he might have stirred up
sharp play by means of 15..f5.
For example:

A defensive system that saw a


I. 16 ed Q:d5 17 Be3 Ne5 -
17..f4and 17..cd are good too.
lot of use in this event - in
Games 12, 71, 102 and 160, for 11. On 16 e5, Black has kept
example. In each case, Black the c4 square open for his
found sufficient counterchances, knight, and would reply 16..b5,
thanks to his extra queenside with the threat of ..Nd7-b6-ch.
pawn.
111. Perhaps Petrosian disliked
In this game, Taimanov spends the continuation 16 c4 fe 17 fe
two moves in order to trade off dc 18 d5, but this is not dan-
the black queen's knight, which gerous for Black either, after
enables him to carry out his in- 18. .Qd6:
tended 2-3ande3-e4quickly,
by eliminating the pressure on a) 19 B:c4 Ne5 20 Be2 Bg4
the d4-pawn. 21 Bb2 B:e2 22 Q:e2 Rae8, and
the white pawns are blockaded;

c) Black would get a tremen-


dous attack after 19 R : f 8 +
In no other ~imzo-Indianwas R : f 8 20 de Ne5, when the bi-
shop cannot retreat to bl or tory, but that gives Black an
e2 because of 2l..Qd4+, while excellent endgame. Retreating
if it retreats to 1 or c2, If Black takes the queen, then the queen to el opened up new
then 2l..Ng4, and I see no after 26..Q:h4 27 B:e6+ Kh8 possibilities for further cre-
way of stopping both 22..Q:h2 28 B:d5 Ra7 he will be unable to BLACK RESIGNED ativity on both sides.
mate and 22..Qd4+. stop White's pawn phalanx, to
say nothing of the fact that
White could also win the knight
with 29 Rb8 Qd8 30 e6 or 30Be6. 135. Gligoric-Averbakh
(Sicilian Defense) In days of yore, people were
1. e2-e4 c7-c5 not as preoccupied with pawns
2. Ngl-3 Nb8-c6 as they are today, counting
White has a clear plan of at- 3. d2-d4 c5 :d4 them up after every half-move -
tack: h3, Kh2, Rgl, g4, Qg3 or Taimanov attacks in classic 4. Nf3:d4 Ng8-f6 no, pawns used to be sacrificed
Qh4, and Black cannot meet this style, quickly creating irres- 5. Nbl-c3 d7-d6 at the drop of a hat for var-
on the kingside in any way. Pe- istible threats of mate. On 6. Bcl-g5 e7-e6 ious, occasionally questionable
trosian's attempt to divert his the other hand, he could also 7. Qdl-d2 a7-a6 and even dubious ends. Eventhen,
opponent with his extra queen- have won with 27 Rh3 h6 28 Rg3 8. 0-0-0 Bc8-d7 however, they were not given
side pawn is understandable, but Kh7 29 Bf8; or if 27..g6, then away. Steinitz, for example,
now a breach appears in his for- 28 Rb7!, forcing mate. used to suffer an awful lot for
tress, through which the enemy the chance to hang onto, and
bishops will assail lack's po- then bring home, one extra pawn.
sition from the flank, while the He probably would not have parted
queen and the other rook contin- quite so lightly with his d-
ue their frontal assault. pawn; on the other hand, one
may sympathize with Averbakh's
distaste for 12..Qc7, since a-
ter 13 B:f6 gf 14 Nd5, the queen
has to lose a tempo and retreat
to d8: a prospect unlikely to
appeal to anyone. However, posi-
tions do occur whose solution
lies precisely in such a modus
o erandi - could this be=
&F- At any rate, after 14..Qd8
I see no immediate dangers for
Black, and perhaps he will be
able to rid himself of the e-
file pin with the curious move
..Nc6-e5!
The starting point for much
theoretical research. Latest
analyses give White the nod,
perhaps without sufficient
grounds for doing so. The point
of Black's defense 7..a6 and The game immediately loses all
8..Bd7 is that with the white interest for theory and goes in-
queen on d2 and bishop on g5, to the trenches for a war of =-
Black always has the stroke neuver, where neither side wants
..N:e4 available. to undertake any active plan.
15 B:f6 gf 16 Qh4 is very in-
White's pieces are coordin-
ating beautifully. The bishop
37. Rg3:g6+ ... It is difficult to get any
teresting here, but I believe
the strongest course would be
sort of attack against the Si- the simple retreat of the rook
obviously cannot be taken, while The conclusive combinative cilian without this move, but
on 24..Bd7 there follows 25 e6 from d6 to d2. Only after see-
blow: if 36..B:g6, then 37 Q:e6+ now comes the main variation ing Black's reply should White
Q:e6 26 Qd8+. Bf7 38 Qf6. of Black's defense. decide whether he will play on
the black pawn weaknesses after
B:f6 or keep this bishop for an
attack on the squares round ab-
White disdains the exchange, out the black king. Lately this
The finish is a trifle crude: variation has become the rage.
rather than allow Black to un- 38 Kf2 was more delicate, with This move was discovered not
too long ago - perhaps fifteen
tangle himself. mate in no more than four moves 15..Ne7 16. Bd3 Bc6 17. R:d8+
after any Black reply, even years back. 11 B:d8 N:d2, etc., R:d8 18. Rdl Qh5 19. g3 Nf5
38..Q:e7 or 38..Kh7- was formerly considered obliga- 20. B:f6 gf 21. Qf2 Nd4 22. Be4
~ c 23.
5 Kbl 5 24. B:c6 Q:c6 ther side wishes to capture the hinges on whether White has
25. a3 Qf3 26. Qgl other's b-pawn. However, White the means to prevent ..e6-e5.
is a move ahead, and Szabo, like
Can one possibly hope to win it or not, must finally give way.
a game by such moves? Gligoric
remains true to himself: not
one unnecessary pawn move; but Beginning an uninterrupted
this occasionally gives his It would have been better to assault by the queen and the
play an excessively cautious maintain the symmetry by the lightsquare bishop. White is
turn. It is no surprise that sacrifice of a pawn with 10..Qb6. One cannot maneuver forever. determined to force ..f6-5,
this game is shortly drawn. Now White secures a sizable ad- While there is still time, both while Szabo is playing for
26..Nc6 27. R:d8+ K:d8 28. Kc1
vantage with a curious knight
maneuver.
sides
their
improve the positions of
kings.
..e6-e5.
Kc7 29. Kd2 h5 30. Qe3 Q:e3+
31. K:e3 Kd6 32. Ndl 6 33. Kd3
Ne7 34. c4 h4 35. b4 hg 36. hg
b6 37. Ne3 Nc6 38. Nc2 a539.Kc3 A combination based on the
ab+ 40. ab Nb8 41. Nd4 Na6 The only way to save the a- theme of overloading the queen:
42. Kb3 Nc7 Now that the position has pawn, but the knight is doubly one black pawn must fall.
opened up, it would make no p~nnedon the d-file.
DRAW sense at all for Black to give
up his better bishop for the
knight.
136. Bronstein-Szabo
(Nirnzoindian Defense) Once more White fails to rise
1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 to the occasion. The pin on the
2. c2-c4 e7-e6 knight could have been strength-
3. Nbl-c3 Bf 8-b4 ened by 32 Qa3.
4. Ngl-3 c7-c5
5. e2-e3 0-0
6. Bfl-e2 ...
Since the main variation with
6 Bd3 gives White neither the
push e3-e4 nor a mating attack A pawn sacrifice to keep the
on the bl-h7 diagonal, he leaves initiative. Black's sole weak-
the d-file open. ness is the a-pawn, so Black's
bishop must be pulled off the
gl-a7 diagonal at any cost.

This trade reveals White's


intentions:
It is very important for White
that he get this pawn to a5, de-
priving Black's pieces of the
square b6. Black puts his bishop This shows the usefulness of
on b8 in order to free his that white pawn at a6. Curious-
Taking on c6 with the knight knight on cS - but that's six ly, both white bishops end up
was better, leaving lack's of one, half a dozen of the behind black pawns.
Black must therefore submit to queen with no good square: 16N:c6 other.. .
an isolated pawn, which gives Qd6 17 e4 or 16. .Qc7 17 B:d5 ed
White a small but secure advan- 18 Qc3. I failed to see that, on
tage after 8..ed 9 dc B:c5 10 a3 16..Qg5, 17 h4 wins.
or 10 b3. The author's idea was
adopted successfully by Gligoric After 37..Ne7 38 Bb7, the a-
in a later game against Euwe. pawn would fall; now the knight
gets pinned again. BLACK RESIGNED

A series of exchanges has left 137. Reshevsky-Euwe


Every chess primer teaches the White with the pure form of the (Nimzoindian Defense)
importance of controlling the two-bishop advantage. Nailing the a7-pawn in place. In Game 17 against Averbakh,
long diagonal, which is why nei- Now the outcome of the game Reshevsky was u ~ b l eto solve
is defensive problems in the untended, allows White the not the better of the two,
so he decided to employ opportunity for an interesting since his pawns stand on dark
maneuver of his own. Better to squares; additionally, White BLACK RES IGNED
complete one plan (by playing has a weak pawn at c3, andBlack
..Bg6 now or after ..Nc7) be- has the more active rook.
fore beginning another.
White, in turn, can prepare 138. Keres-Stahlberg
and carry out a maneuver to ex- (Queen's Gambit)
tend his bishop's diagonal: 1. d2-d4 Ng8-6
pushing his e-pawn to e6 when 2. c2-c4 e7-e6
the time is right. This advance 3. Nbl-c3 d7-d5
will be even stronger if the f- 4. Bcl-g5 Bf8-e7
pawn gets to 5 first. 5. e2-e3 Nb8-d7
6. Ngl-3 0-0
These are the underlying mo- 7. Qdl-c2 c7-c6
tifs of the struggle that fol- 8. Ral-dl Rf 8-e8
lows. 9. a2-a3 d5:c4
10. Bfl:c4 Nf6-d5

Reshevsky played ll..Rd8 against


Averbakh, in order to prevent12d5, Rather slow: invading b7 immed-
but Euwe does not consider this iately with the queen promised The exchange of bishops and
push to be dangerous, and he may more. knights has simplified Black's
be right. position; now, by preparing
..c6-c5, he wishes to solve
Black's basic problem in the
Now White must trade, since Orthodox Defense: the develop-
Euwe had an energetic counter- 3O..Rg6 is threatened. After the ment of his queen's bishop.
blow ready, but there was no exchange of queens, Black's White has several diff>rent ways
need for it. Simply moving the task is much simplified. to proceed here. One g ~ o dline
knight to a5 would have left the involves placing his ~ ~ onel,
o k
d5-pawn in a precarious position, Not everyone would decide to and pushing his e-paw7 to e4,
cut off from its own camp. For take such a pawn: after 22..c4, meeting ..c5 with d4-d5. He
example, 12..Na5 13 d6 Qc6 14N:e5 23..Nd5 is threatened, or may also retreat the bishop to
Qe4 recovers the pawn with good 23..Ra8, and the bishop might This destroys the fruits of a2, and bring his rcoks to the
play. Also possible is Euwe s disappear in a wink. But Resh- his dogged defense. The obvious c-file. Keres likes to set his
postmortem suggestion of 13..Qb6 evsky is prepared, if he sees 3l..Ra3 would have yielded siz- knights in central positions,
14 N:e5 N:c4 15 N:c4 Qa6. a chance to win, to think it able drawing chances. Euwe gives and occasionally succeeds with
over for two hours and twenty- the following variation: 3l..Ra3 an attack based on such favorable
five minutes, if it means he 32 e6 fe 33 R:e6 N:c3 34 Re7 placement.
will then be able to exploit Kf8! 35 Bc5! Ra5! 36 Rc7+ Kg8
that chance and fashion a win 37 Bb4 Ral+ 38 Kg2 Nd5, which Exchanging knights at e5 might
out of it. secures Black the draw. tempt Black - in fact, if all
White holds his usual small the pieces could be cleared from
positional advantage in this the board then, the pawn ending
variation: a kingside pawn maj- would be much superior for him,
ority, which can drive the black This flanking maneuver and perhaps even a win, thanks to
knight from 6, after which the Thus, Reshevsky exploits the subsequent infiltration of the his three-to-two on the queen-
bishop-pair will have attacking undefended black bishop. If rook to the seventh rank decides side. However, no one has yet
prospects against the king. As now 23..Bg6 24 Be3, and Black the game in short order. found the way to remove all the
for Black's extra pawn on the will be in trouble; so Euwe pieces. After 14..N:e5 15 de
queenside, that must wait for forces matters. Bb7 16 Rd6, White occupies d6
an endgame. and the rest of the file aswell.
The exchange of rooks could only
take place on d6 after that,
and White would recapture with
his pawn, obtaining a powerful
passed pawn.
Euwe resolutel;~undertook the Now the game enters a new
maneuver ..Bg4-hs-g6inorderto phase, wherein Black, despite This breakthrough, properly So Black develops his bishop
cover his king, anticipating the his pawn minus, has fair draw- timed, sets up an irresistible first, which creates a threat to
coming attack; but then he failed ing chances, especially if the threat of mate. trade knights, since after
to carry it through, beginning queens are exchanged. The prob- 14..Bb7 15 Ba2 -N:e5 16 de Rad8!,
another plan instead: ..a7-a6 lem for White is that he only for instance, the d-file would
and ..b7-b5. The bishop, left has one bishop now, and that one become a trading-ground.
139. Srnyslov-Boleslavksy
(King's Indian)
Certainly the opening has been 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bf4 Bg7
a success for Black: having se- 4. Nbd2 d6 5. h3 0-0 6. e3
cured full equality, he now en-
ters an engrossing full-scale An unusual system against the
battle, despite the rather slim ~ing's Indian, which Smyslov em-
material available. He has two ploys whenever he does not want
open files at his disposal (c- to give Black the slightest
and d-), while White has only chance of obtaining an initia-
one (the f-). tive. White firmly anchors his
d4-pawn, and controls e5 three
Open files are important when times, preventing Black from
they contain targets, or when carrying out the traditional
they serve as avenues of commu- ~ i n ~ 'Indian
s advance, ..e7-e5.
nication for the transfer of 5 h3 is thrown in to safeguard
pieces, usually rooks, to the the queen's bishop against pos-
main theater of action. In this sible exchange via ..Nh5.
case, the f-file satisfies both
conditions; more importantly, In this game, Boleslavsky dem-
however, it lies close to the onstrates the best method of com-
king, which makes Stahlberg ner- bating this solid, although ra-
vous. Such moves can and shouldonly ther indolent, system: he plays
be played when there is no long- ..c7-c5, occupies the c-file, and
The Swedish grandmaster de- er any other way to defend the builds a barricade of pawns be-
cides to swing his bishop over king. Here Black had wholly suf- Psychologically speaking, one fore the darksquare bishop. Any
--
to the defense of the king's ficient and not quite so vio- can understand why Black should other course would have left
wing via e4, and thereafter to lent means: 22. .Rec8 23 Ba6 seize the first opportunity to Black in the throes of a posi-
concentrate on his attack against Rc2 24 Qf3 Rf8, and if 25 h5Bf5 exchange queens and rid himself tional squeeze.
the d-pawn and on using the c- 26 g4 Qh4. of White's mating threats, but
file for flanking maneuvers the resulting endgame is hope-
against the white king. Such a less for him. 3l..f5 instead
plan is certainly feasible, but would have given him good draw- No one was chasing it! 8 c3
I do think Black would have ob- ing chances. was more in the spirit of the
tained more from the position if system, intending to recapture
he had exchanged on d4 immediate- Black's pawn at h5 has drawn In order to keep his attack at d4 with the c-pawn.
ly, and then tried to invade the the g-pawn after it, and already from flickering out, Kereswould
second rank with his rooks. His White's pieces are preparing to probably have sacrificed a rook 8. .cd 9. ed Bd7 10. 0-0 Rc8
threats against g2 might have invade on the weakened squares at 5, but after 32 Rf:f5 gf 11. Re1 a6 12. Bfl b5 13. c3
curtailed the activities of the h6, g5 and 6. 33 R:h5+ Kg6 34 Rg5+ Kh6, White Na5 14. Ng5 Re8 15. Nde4 N:e4
white rooks. appears to have no better move 16. N:e4 Nc4 17. Rbl
than 35 Qf3, when Black could
reply 35..Rcl+ 36 Kh2 Qd6+37g3 DRAW
Now the forcing play begins: Qd2+, forcing an approximately
27 Q:h5 was threatened, and even ending after 38 Kh3 Q:g5
White's next move sets up the 39 hg+ K:g5 40 e7 Rh8+ 41 Kg2
threat of 28 R:h5+. Rc2+ 42 Kg1 Rcl+, etc. 140. Geller-Kotov
(Nimzoindian Defense)
Naturally, it would have made 1. d2-d4 Ng8-6
no sense for Black to trade 2. c2-c4 e7-e6
off his bishop with 2l..Bh5 3. Nbl-c3 Bf8-b4
22 Q:h5 R:c4, since that piece 4. e2-e3 c7-c5
traveled here for the express Keres rushes to crown his 5. Bfl-d3 0-0
purpose of protecting his king. heavy-piece attack with this
After 23 Rd3, White's attack pawn breakthrough, but in so
gets there first. doing, he gives his opponent
a counterchance. 29 Rf6 was
correct, nailing the kingside
down, after which there would
no longer be a defense to the
threat of 30 Qf4 and 31 d5! BLACK RESIGNED
1 ( See diagram, next column )
Geller has repeated the open-
ing of Game 54, Taimanov - Euwe;
but, having learned from White's
unfortunate experience with
13 d5, he uses a different con-
tinuation here, intendinge3-e4.
While White has spent his time
maneuvering bishops, Black has
brought his knight to a strong
position. The laws of chess allow Black declines the trade of
that it may be driven off with queens, in view of 3l..Q:d2
A sharp and original idea: ex- a pawn move, but the laws of 32 B:d2 B:c4 33 Be3; and after
ploiting the bishop's temporary strategy categorically forbid White induces ..b7-b6, his bi-
position at g4 to push his pawn such a move as 21 g3, since this shop can attack the black pawns
to e4 without the support of his would fatally weaken the second from behind. However, he could
minor pieces. White could right- rank. Thus, White should have still have traded queens, but
fully lay claim to a strategic begun thinking about maintaining without capturing the c-pawn
victory - if he could also se- equality here by playing 21 Bcl
since, to White's great goodfor-
immediately, continuing instead
with 32..Kf8 33 Be3 b6 34 Bf4
cure the advance of his f-pawn
two squares. However, since he tune, 2l..Bb5 still does not Ke7 35 Bb8 Kd7, and if the bi-
has to keep 2-3 in reserve in work. shop takes the pawn now, 36..Kc7
order to prevent Black from pick- catches it!
ing off the e-pawn, White's only Geller is unwilling to believe
pawn in the center will be pretty that he does not have the better Now the threat is 23..R:d2
shaky. This shows, for instance, game, and so he seeks to gain and 24..Nh3+. If 23 K h l , then
in the fact that White cannot re- the upper hand on the d-file, 23..Nd3, and White has to give
ply to Black's next move, 15..Rfe8, which allows Kotov to carry out up the exchange.
with the natural 16 Re1 in view a beautiful combination on the
of 16..N:e4! 17 f3 Q:c3 18 Q:c3 themes of deflection of the 23. Ba2-d5 Nf4 :d5 On 35 Bf4, Black returns to
N:c3 19 R:e8+ R:e8 20 fg Rel+ queen and cooperation of queen the bishop-catching theme with
21 Kf2 Re2+ 22 Kf3 R:a2. In this and knight. We have already men- Black has the better position, 35..Ke7.
line, 2O..N:a2, recommended by tioned that queen and knight can and now wins a pawn. He might
some commentators, does not work, sometimes be stronger thanqueen have tried to exploit the active
since White, instead of taking and bishop, and occasionallythey position of his pieces another
the knight, plays 21 Bd2!, when are no weaker than queen androok. way, by 23..R:d5 24 ed Re2,etc.
the knight remains trapped. This will be easier to comprehend
if one bears in mind that thebi- 24. e4:d5 Rd8 :d5
shop's capabilities parallel 25. Rd2:d5 Qg5 :d5
the queen s, while the knight's
complement them.
This would have some point, if Against two connected passed
there were any way at all of en- pawns, White is helpless.
forcing 2-f4.
Prelude. This drives the queen
into a dark cell, where it may be
attacked by a knight from either WHITE RESIGNED
d3 or e2.

( See diagram, next page )


Smyslov does not see that he was to be played, he set Bole-
ROUND TWENTY-ONE is losing two pieces for arook. slavsky the sort of problem that
141. Kotov-Smyslov The knight had to be removed by would be very difficult to solve
(English Opening) other means: 2O..R:c3 21 B:c3 over the board. Under these cir-
1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e3 Nf6 B:d5. White would not relish cumstances, Keres ran no great
4. b3 g6 5. Bb2 Bg7 6. d4 0-0 21 R:d7 R:c2 22 R:e7 R:b223R:b7 risk of losing, while his win-
7. Bd3 c5 8. 0-0 cd 9. N:d4 R:b3, as this would come nearer ning chances were very good in-
to favoring Black. White's best deed.
9 ed was better, to maintain line would be 2O..R:c3 21 B:c3
the important center pawn. B:d5 22 B:g7 K:g7 23 Rcl, main-
taining some advantage.
9..e5 10. Nb5 a6 11. N5c3 dc Master Vasiukov later sug-
12. B:c4 b5 13. Be2 Bb714.Nd2 gested a clever solution: 14 de
e4 de 15 Nld2! ef 16 ef B:f6 17Q:f3
Smyslov had seen 21 R:d7, of Be6 18 Ne4 Be7 19 Qh5, or
Black has resolved all of his course; what he probably hadnot 14..N:e4 15 Ne3! Be6 16 Qe2.
opening problems well; the only seen was that 2l..B:b2 is met by
thing left to do now is develop 22 R:d8+.
his queen's knight so that he
can get into the fight for the
c- and d-files. Desiring compli-
cations, White plays the double-
edged 15 b4, with the idea of
getting his knight to c5; how- Many commentators thought this
ever, this allows Black the op- move a waste of time, and recom-
portunity to invade at c4. Play And here is the novelty Keres mended 18 Nf5 instead; but after
now revolves around the follow- prepared. The position thiscre- 18..Bb4 it is not clear just
ing themes: the control and oc- BLACK RESIGNED ates cannot be exhaustively an- how White is to continue the at-
cupation of c4 and c5, the op- alyzed, since every move gives tack, not just for the sake of
position of the bishops on the ,. ,.,.
..--t--L-L-L...
,\ ,\ ,* rise to three or four different attacking, but in order to win.
long diagonal, and the control possibilities, none worse than There was a loss of time, true,
142. Boleslavsky-Keres any other. So a calculation five but not here; 16 Qe2, as played,
of the open files.
(Ruy Lopez) moves deep would entail checking instead of the correct 16 Ng5.
15. b4 Qe7 16. a3 Rfd8 17. Qc2 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 out around twenty thousand var-
Nbd7 18. Nb3 Rac8 19. RfdlNd5 2. Ngl-3 Nb8-c6 iations, stopping periodically
3. Bfl-b5 a7-a6 along the way to decide whether
4. Bb5-a4 Ng8-6 this or that intermediate posi- Simple and good. White threat-
5. 0-0 Bf 8-e7 tion would favor one side or the ened to bring in his knights at
6. Rfl-el b7-b5 other. Such a calculation could 5 or h5, and then to reinforce
7. Ba4-b3 0-0 probably be performed only by a them with the queen. By this one
8. c2-c3 d7-d6 computer- but a computer does modest move, Keres immediately
9. h2-h3 Nc6 -a5 not possess intuition. solves several defensive prob-
10. Bb3-c2 c7-c5 lems by depriving White's pieces
11. d2-d4 Qd8-c7 If we try to evaluate the po- of the 5 and h5 s uares. Bear
12. Nbl-d2 Rf 8-d8 sition on the basis of general in mind that White9s advantage
principles, we conclude that is of a temporary sort, and that
Introducing a variation Keres White has good attacking chances: if it is not put into some con-
prepared especially for this both his bishops, both his crete form within the next two
game. The point behind thismove knights, and his queen can be or three moves, Black will bring
is that on 12..Bb7 White usually mobilized quickly to the battle- up his reserve (the knight on
closes up the center with 13d5, field, while the rook hinders a5) to solidify his king's posi-
leaving the bishop nothing bet- the black king's flight. There tion. After lack's powerful
ter to do than return to c8. Af- are only two tactical counter- move, I don't believe Boleslav-
ter 12..Re8 13 de de is possi- chances for Black that we can sky had any way to continue his
ble, when the black rook even- see: his queen attacks the bishop attack other than 19 Ndf5! If
tually goes to the d-file. But on c2, and his rook may even- Black takes the knight, he:
after this move it would make tually threaten the white queen.
Is it possible that Smyslov no sense at all for White to 1) opens the g-file,
actually thought he was winning play either 13 d5 (while the Therefore, there has to be a
the pinned white knight? Kotov, bishop still stands on c8) or line White can play that will 2) opens the bl-h7 diagonal,
unable to believe his eyes, spent 13 de (since the rook i.s already give these possibil.ities con-
forty minutes in thought before on the d-file). So instead White crete expression. In that case, 3) lets the queen get to h5,
taking off the kr~ightwith his continues the traditional knight's why does 12..Rd8, and the whole and most importantly,
rook. tour, from bl via d2 and flto g3 variation, deserve an exclama-
tion mark? It's for Keres' as- 4) m'lst tolerate a white knight
tute psychological preparations. at 5 anyway!
Knowing beforehand what line
If Black could defend himself played dull chess, not even at- move opens the e-file; chess Kh8, Black would have the ini-
successfully in this line, then tempting to make use of the practitioners, however, know tiative. White decides to ex-
already there was nothing to be counterchances inherent in the that two files are opened: the change pawns.
done for White! But in that case ~ i n ~ 'Indian
s Defense. e-file for White and the f-
Keres would also have had no file for Black as well. The
easy time of it, whereas here player who is the first to reap
White's game worsens move by some tangible benefit from "his1'
move. file gains the initiative.

Up to here, everything has


gone according to theory. In
Game 131, Averbakh -
Bronstein,
White continued 13 Rdl. After
White decides to give up the
exchange, since after 22Rabl or the text move, 13 Nb3, Reshev-
22Radl Black's piece pressure sky could have stirred up a
against the queenside would sharp fight with 13..Ne5.
have been unbearable.
13. Nb3 N:b3 14. ab Ne5 15.Be3
Nc6 16. Radl Nb4 17. Qcl
17 Qd2 was much more active
here, intending 2-4 and Qf2.

After playing the opening


sharply, Black is unable to
make the switch to positional
chess quickly enough: the knight
recapture, followed by ..Rae8,
was better.
WHITE RESIGNED
DRAW
Of course Black will not take
143. Stahlberg-Reshevsky the rook (ll..Q:e4? 12 Nh4!),
(King's Indian) sacrificing a pawn instead, for White's bishops have found the
144. Euwe-Bronstein the sake of quick development.
(Dutch Defense)
opportunity to display their
Even among the strongest of The correctness of the sacri- powers.
the contemporary masters, we still 1.. d2-d4 e7-e6 fice would be fully tested, not
find the sort of player who is 2. c2-c4 7-f5 by its acceptance, but by the
far stronger with the white quiet retreat 12 Rel; however,
pieces than with the black.With What else but 2..5 against White has other ideas.
Black, such a player thinks the Dutch champion? However, A prelude to interesting com-
about getting a draw from the this failed to surprise him; plications.
opening moves. When he has after a few introductory moves
White, certain positions inspire the game took on the aspect of
in him flights of fancy, and a a theoretical discussion. Euwe probably underestimated
desire to win at any cost; when Black's position. White's desire
he has Black, the same positions to trade off one of the bishops
seem to inspire nothing but bore- is wholly understandable, but
$om, and calculations aimed at the rook will not be well placed Now Black faces a diffi.cult
equalizing". This quality is at h4. decision: which of the white
a strong characteristic in bishops is more valuable? Af-
Reshevsky, which the reader will ter lengthy consideration, he
note for himself from a study of decided to take the darksquare
his games. I will mention only An old continuation which has bishop, chiefly because of the
this statistic: in this tourna- been resurrected, thanks to the White's position is now a tri- possibility of invading at d2
ment, Reshevsky won seven games discovery of the rook sacrifice fle difficult. If he gives up with his rook.
with White, lost only one and at e4. his fianchettoed bishop for the
drew six; while with Black, he black knight, his light squares
could only win one, losing three will become weak, but how else ( See diagram, next page )
and drawing ten! can he defend the d4 square?
15 Be3 seems the simplest solu-
In the present game Reshevsky Some theoreticians believe this tion, but after 15-.Bd3 16 Bd5+
according to a chosen scheme, move here as well; if then20 d4
making no contact with the op- cd 21 Q:d4 de (instead of21..Qb6
position for the moment, and with good counterplay.
DRAW in most cases not crossing the
demarcation line between the
The invasion at c2 with the fourth and fifth ranks.
knight was thoughtless, of course.
Time-pressure was not a factor Such an unhurried attitude,
yet, and there was no reason for however, frequently foreshadows
me to suppose that Euwe had de- an interesting game - as it
cided to hand me the game with does here.
his 27 3. Indeed, after27..Nc2
28 Re2 is bad because of28..Rdl+;
consequently, I should have giv-
en more thought to 28 Rcl. In-
stead, I glanced over two varia-
tions: 28 Rcl Rd2 29 fe fe, and
28 Rcl e3 29 R:c2 Rdl+ 30 Kg2
Rd2+. Both seemed to have their
good points, and so I decidedto
postpone the final decision un-
til after White's reply.
The choice, however, turned
out to be a difficult one. In A position has been reached
the first line, after 30 Rdl!, which is reminiscent of aClosed
The only possibility. Now White gets the better endgame; Sicilian, with the only differ-
24..Rd2 would be met by 25 Rdl, in the second line, after 31 R:d2 ence being that the pawn on c2
and if 25..R:b2 26 Rd7. The ed, the d-pawn never queens at has jumped to c4. White's pawns
question is whether Black will all, as Black hoped, in view of occupy good starting positions An energetic move in Szabo's
have time to play ..e4 and bring the simple 32 4, when White for a strong attack on the king. characteristic style, leading to
his king directly to the center still has his bishop, while As soon as Szabo plays his 12 5, a favorable ending for White.
via g7-6-e5. He begins this
plan with great expectations,
Black no longer has his knight. Black plays his 12..b5, and
they're off!
-
So 28..Nb4 would probably have
but meets with a clever riposte. been correct, but after that it
would have been White's turn to
assume the offensive. Quite ev- The exchange of queens is
idently, Euwe was feeling peace-
able that day. All's well that
Black's best defense - but not
on b6. Why not the maneuver
ends well. 2l..Qc8 (threatening 22..B:h3)
22 Kh2 Qc4, winning a tempo for
On d4 this knight would have Black?
blockaded the base of the white
145. Szabo-Gligoric pawn chain and controlled more
(English Opening) important squares than it does
Saying something like " the here. Among other things, it
contemporary way of handling the would have made White's next
opening" still does not explain move impossible, and forcedsza-
how the opening was played. Some- bo to decide what he wants todo
times, the opening is sharp, and with his f-pawn.
the first mistake decides the White can now strike a posi-
outcome. In this case, both sides tional balance: he has the open
reveal their plans at the outset: c-file, the two bishops, and an
one attacks, let's say, on the extra pawn on the queenside;
kingside, while the other does Black has a strongly centralized
the same on the queenside. This The reader who is thoroughly knight and an extra pawn on the
has always been one of the most acquainted with o ening theory kingside. White will have the
popular scenarios, in our day will recall this 'little com- easier time trying to turn his
as much as it was in the past. bination" of White's without advantages to account, if only
difficulty as being similar to because, in such positions:
In the present game, we meet one that occurred in a game
The thought of accepting the a new approach, one which has Milner-Barry - Capablanca. In 1) the two bishops can do more
repetition by 26..Nc6 27 RdlNd4 begun appearing relatively re- a similar position, Black re- than bishop and knight, even
28 Re1 was repellent, but Euwe cently in tournaments, andwhich captured on g7, but some Moscow when the knight is centralized;
elegantly demonstrates that this Konstantinopolsky aptly termed players later showed that ..Re8
courageous pawn push also cannot
sides bring their troops
'.
"the clash of openings ~ ~ t h would have been better. Perhaps 2) White's passed pawn on the
alter the outcome. that would have been the better a- or b-file will be more dan-
gerous thanBlackfs, since the Szabo again disdains the win of a direct attack, which isone
latter can easily be stopped of a pawn, by 39 B:e5 de 40R:e5, of the strategic ideas behind
by the white king; and if 4O..a5 41 Bfl would be the move 6 Bc4. One must also
the simplest means of nipping keep the human factor in mind:
3) the relative weakness of all possible complications in Averbakh is hot for revenge on
Black's a- and d-pawns will the bud. But he does come back Taimanov for their game fromthe
be of no small significance. to this idea, all the same, a first half.
few moves later.

White is spending two moves


developing a bishop that Black
Here I would no longer want can easily exchange with..Nb8-
the pawn: 43 Bfl Rb7 44 Rec3 c6-a5:b3, but there is a point
looks more convincing. to this. The exchanging opera-
tion also consumes a great deal
of time, leaving White a strong
knight at d4, while Black's bi-
shops will not exert much influ-
ence for the moment.
..Rg :d7was probably all right
too, but the text move is more
convincing. White must now give
up his pride and joy, the d-pawn,
since Black is threatenine ..Ra2, This is not Taimanov's first
or ..Rge2+ and ..Rh2. experience with this opening:
he played all of this against
Lipnitsky in the XX USSR Champ-
Carelessness. Szabo allowed ionship in 1952. There White
Black's rook onto the c-file, continued 12 e5 and achieved
and now he allows it behind his nothing.
A picturesque position. lack's passed pawn, which makes his
pieces are all tied up, butWhite task a bit more complicated. The last difficult move of
cannot reap anything tangible this endgame, which practically
from that, since he is bereft of seals the draw. The exclamation mark is not
pawns precisely where he needs for the quality of the move,
them, on the f- and g-files. but for Averbakh9s courage. In
his comments to the Lipnitsky
game, Taimanov pointed o u ~the
W t e apparently forgot such best defensive method for Black,
a possibility existed. Now the and wrote that White could safe-
The two bishops should be white king must retreat to the ly consign the entire variation
treasured, but never hoarded. first rank, which practically to the dustbin. Averbakh wants
After 33 B:f5! gf 34 Rc6, I nullifies his material advan- to find a better use for it.
don't see how Black will find tage.
a decent defense for the weak
pawns at a7, d6 and 5; for
example: 34..Rd8 35 R:d6 R:d6 DRAW
36 B:e5+, or 34..Rd7 35 R:f5;
and on 34..Rf6 35 Ra6 or
35 Rc7+ is sufficient. Trading On 15 Qf2 Black sacrifices a
off a pair of rooks with33..R:f5 146. Averbakh-Taimanov piece: 15..0-O! 16 g4 N:b317ab
34 R:f5 gf is also bad for Black, (Sicilian Defense) Q:e5 18 gh Q:h5, with a very
if for no other reason than 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 powerful attack.
35 B:a7. 2. Ngl-3 Nb8-c6
( See diagram, next page ) 3. d2-d4 c5:d4
4. Nf3:d4 Ng8-f6
5. Nbl-c3 d7-d6 Just what Averbakh was waiting
6. Bf 1-c4 ... for! It was later established
that the correct line is15..N:b3
White gives notice of his in- 16 N:b3 Q:e5 17 Na5, and here
tent to break down the impreg- neither 17..Bd5 nor 17..Nf6 is
nable "Sicilianw center by means any good, but 17..b4! leads to
a highly interesting fight after 31. Rfl-f6+ Kc6-c7 ROUND TWENTY-TWO by the very pawn it was trying
18 Nc4 Qc7! 19 Q:h5 0-0 20 Nb6 32. Be3-h6 Rg7-g4 to attack, advancing from c4
33. Re5-e7+ Kc7-d8 148. Najdorf-Averbakh to c5.
34. Re7-h7 Ra8-b8 (Queen's Indian Defense)
35. Nf8-e6+! Bc8:e6 Middlegame and endgame cannot
36. Rf6-8 mate be separated, one from theother;
Sometimes this type of pretty in the middlegame - and some-
sacrifice can be refuted simply In this tournament, Averbakh times even in the opening -the
by castling. Here, however, and Taimanov produced two beau- master discerns the outlines of
16..0-0 runs into 17 Rf5 Nf4 tiful specimens of the art of the forthcoming endgame. Many of
18 R:e5 N:h3+ and the bishop chess. Averbakh's creations are very
recaptures at h3. logical and consistent because
he is such a great authority on,
and enthusiast of, the endgame.
147. Petrosian- Najdorf Here, by moves 12-15 he had al-
Black meets the threat of (Queen's Indian Defense) ready visualized the coming
18 Bd4, but the second threat 1. d2-d4 Ng8-6 knight vs. bishop endgame, and
remains in force: 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 did everything possible there-
3. Ngl-3 b7-b6 after to assure his knight the
4. Nbl-c3 Bc8-b7 best possible working conditions
5. e2-e3 Bf 8-e7 for its struggle against the bi-
6. Bf 1-d3 d7-d5 shop. We know the knight is
strong: a) when the pawns are
In Game 84, Szabo - Euwe, fixed, b) when it has points of
which also ended in a quick support, and c) when the enemy
draw, Black played 6..c5; 6..d5 pawns are on squares of the same
makes the game a ~ueen'sGambit color as his bishop.
Declined, with no particularad-
vantages for White. Averbakh achieves all of this
by means of some fine maneuvers,
leaving Najdorf in complete zug- Of course, this position is
zwang. far less appealing for White
than the one obtained in the
preceding variation. The role
Black wants his bishop on a of pawn-keeper is hardly a be-
more active square, so he se- coming one for the queen, and
cures it against Nb5. queens may also be exchanged..

It has been said that this


move weakened the c4-pawn, and
DRAW that therefore the usual 9 Q:c3
Naturally, two extra pawns was better. I do not think that
would be enough for White to The sort of position in which such a weakening would have had
win with, but add to that his almost any pawn advance leaves very much of an effect on the
attack on the king... a weakness, and the pieces overall pawn mass, had White only White has an unenviable posi-
alone are not enough to wrest taken the status of this pawn
(at c4) into account when making
tion - but why?
an advantage.
his further plans, and not al- 1) Above all, because his a2-
lowed Black to attack it unim- and c3-pawns are clearly weak-
peded. Black's knight will now er than their opposite numbers
try to get to a5 via c6, which at a6 and b6; the c-pawn espec-
White should endeavor to meetby ially needs constant defense;
the timely posting of his knight
to b3. Plav could ~roceedaDDrox- 2) White's position contains a
imately as' followsL: 9. .Nc6 id Nd2 gaplng hole at c4, which Black
Na5 11 B:b7 N:b7 12 Nb3. White will find perfectly fitted to
now plans an immediate advance his knight, and perhaps to his
of his a-pawn to a4 and a5, thus rook as well;
White's pieces are creeping forcing Black to play ..a7-a5
closer and closer to the king. himself, which deprives hisknight 3) the darksquare bishop is
of that square. Should theknight passively placed - compare it
30. ... Rg6-g7 then try for d6, it would be met with Black s!
This trade is more or less
forced, as otherwise it would
Hoping that Black will go af- be difficult for Black to com-
ter the pawn with 3l..Rb2 32Rc1, plete the development of his
but Averbakh simply brings up queenside. On 15..Nd7 there
his king. could follow 16 Nc6 B:c6 17 R:c6,
An unusual and rarelx-seen hitting the bishop atd6 and
system, the so-called Double threatening the a-pawn, as well
Stonewall", which once enjoyed as 18 Racl, sealing his control
great popularity. The blocked of the open file.
state of the center pawns en-
forces a complex maneuvering
game, which gains a measure of
sharpness from the positions
of the knights at e4 and e5 Not a proper place for the
and the possibility (never ac- knight. It should have returned
tually carried out in this game) to c3, and traded off theknight
of a sudden g2-g4 or ..g7-g5. on e4 at the earliest convenient
The position is not wholly sym- moment.
metrical: White's pawn at c4
gives him some queenside initia-
tive, so Black usually builds on
White's only chance is an at- the kingside. Both sides have
tack on the weak pawn at b6, but "bad" queen's bishops, and would Szabo wishes to free himself
this is illusory, since it can be Gappy to trade them off, even from the coils of the positional
always advance to b5, and the if only" for knights, or grad- squeeze that now menaces him. If
knight on c4 protects it anyway. ually bring them into play on 19 B:a6, then 19..Qg5 threatens
the kingside. These basic motifs 2O..Bh5 or 2O..N:d2; also, when
Of course, Black cannot hold underlie the play for the next the bishop leaves a6, Black's
on to all the advantages his yo- 8-10 moves. rook will be able to invade at
sition contains, but he doesn t a3. So Taimanov declines the
need them all in order to win. pawn.
Shortly White eliminates his
weakness at c3, but only by en-
tering precisely the sort of White is in absolute zugzwang. This move would have had some
endgame Averbakh has been striv- If 36 4 Nd2 and 37..Ne4; if point, if Black could have traded
ing for. A more solid position 36 e4 fe followed by 37..Nd2 off the lightsquare bishops, but So the rook ought not to have
would be obtained by 21 Nd3Nc4 and 38..N:e4; the king cannot it quickly becomes clear that he left here at move 12. In any
22 Rfcl Rc6 23 Kfl. move, because of 36..Nd2 and cannot exchange on c4 without event, Taimanov is now even with
37..N:f3; and if the rook goes giving up the center. his opponent in time lost (9..Ba6
to d3, then 36..Rb2 and 37..R:b4. and 10. .Bb7).
The move White actually plays
allows Black to pick off an im-
portant center pawn for nothing, Since lO..B:c4 11 B:c4 dc
This position must be consid- which ends the game for allprac- 12 Q:c4 would leave serious weak-
ered lost for White. lack's tical purposes. nesses at e6 and c6, the bishop
pieces now have access into goes right back to b7.
White's camp: soon the rook
turns up at c2, where in con-
junction with the knight at c4
it completely dominates the sur-
rounding squares. In many such positions it suits
White to trade on d5 when Black
23. Nc4-a3 cannot recapture with the e-pawn.
24. ~bilb3 ~a3-b5 WHITE RESIGNED Such a moment occurs now, and
25. e2-e3 Rc8-c2 Taimanov seizes the c-file.
26. a2-a4 Nb5-d6 After the obvious 42..Rc4, one
27. a&-a5 b6-b5 of the pawns on the fourth rank
falls, with more to follow.
White has nothing better than
to make the first offer to ex- 12 Racl was more accurate.
change rooks, as otherwise there 149. Taimanov-Szabo
follows 28..Rac8. (Dutch Defense)
1. d2-d4 e7-e6
2. c2-c4 f 7-5 Szabo cleverly continues his
3. Nbl-c3 Ng8-6
Qd5 48 R:e2 Rc2 49 Qfl Qd350Rel ty game, and a complex one.
search for the initiative, once Q:fl+ 51 R:fl Re2 52 Re1 R:el+
more offering a pawn: 21 ab ab 53 B:el Nd5, and wins.
22 B:b5 Ra3!, with good chances;
for example: 23 Bd3 Bh5 24 Qel 150. Gligoric-Euwe
Rfa8. (Nimzoindian Defense)
Thus, a not overly prolonged "The basic position of theNim-
maneuvering stage is followed zo-Indian" (after I d4 Nf6 2 c 4
by a period during which combin- e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 e3 c5 5 Bd3 d5
ative motifs appear more and more 6 Nf3 Nc6 7 0-0 0-0) occurred
frequently. eleven times in this tournament
After analyzing the adjourned prior to this twenty-second
position, Taimanov ought to have round; of those games, six were
realized the seriousness of drawn, with the results of the
Black's counterchances and made remaining five favoring Black
some attempt at reaching apeace- slightly.
able conclusion. Now was pre-
cisely the right time: 48 e8Q! You will not find Gligoric's
Q:e8 49 R:d3 elQ+ 50 B:el Q:el+ name listed among those who are
lack's active play has reaped 51 Kh2 is a forced draw. The considered "main- line enthusi-
some not inconsiderable position- text move not only fails to im- asts"; those would be Reshevsky,
al fruits : his "inferior" light- prove White's winning chances, Euwe and Averbakh. For this game
square bishop is better devel- but might actually have lost. Gligoric came as close to the
oped than the enemy's passive main line as he ever did
darksquare bishop, he has wrested Black refrains from advancing in the course of the tournament,
control of the c-file away, and his e-pawn for the moment, so but he gave it a different treat-
the threatened Nc5 is not danger- as not to give White's queen ment, more like a Queen's Gam-
ous due to 27 Nc5 Ne:c5 28 bc access to the kingside. bit: developing the bishop ate2,
Qe7, followed by ..Nd7-b8-c6. he traded off the center pawns
Now he threatens ..N:b4, ..Rc2, so as to leave Black an isolated
Nd3-4 Bh5-f7 and ..e4-e3, in this or some dS-pawn. The game's chief int-
Bbl :e4 5 :e4 other order. The strength of erest lies in the ebb and flow
Qel-bl Rc8-c4 Black's position is that his of the positional struggle that
Rfl-cl Qg5-5 pieces stand ready to attack revolves around this pawn.
Nf4-e2 Bf7-g6 the king, and his pawn at e4
Rcl-f1 Qf5-g5 is worth a piece. White's pawn, Heavy-piece fighting for an
Ne2-4 Bg6-5 by contrast, can only advance: isolated pawn is one of the cen-
Bd2-el Nd7-b8 it supports nothing, and needs tral elements of positional play.
Qbl-b2 Nb8-c6 protection itself as well. Much more is involved than the
simple formu1a:"White attack?
Black has completed his re-
grouping and now stands better:
These are all general ideas, twice, Black defends twice -
a draw is the outcome". Woven
and
however; the actual play here-
he attacks the b-pawn, and con- abouts requires great accuracy into the struggle are such mo-
trols the c-file, and his queen and farseeing calculation. The tifs as: pinning the isolated
is active too. All that saves next few moves by both sides pawn (should the hea pieces
White is the fact that the bishop
is somewhat insecure at 5, slnce
are the best possible - from
the viewpoint of the respective 46. .... e2-elQ+
defend it from behin8, a sud-
den switch to an attack on the
White's next move sets UD a
threat of 37 ~ : d 5fo1lo;ed by
opponents - since the game was
adjourned at this point, and
At the last moment, Szabo's
nerves failed him-he may have
king, or an attempt to occupy
the seventh rank at some point
38 Q:f5. resumed after painstaking ana- been short of time - and he too when the heavy pieces are tied
lysis. failed to see the pretty and to the defense of the isolated
thematic 48..Nf4, when even two pawn. Isolated pawn endingswere
queens would not be enough to played with great skill by the
Now White wins a pawn by the save White from mate. For example: classicists Lasker, Capablanca
threat of 37 ~ l e 6 ,but remains 49 e8QelQ+50B:elR:g2+ 51KhlQ:f3 and Rubinstein. In the present
with the inferior position. When This is stronger than 43 Qd7, or49BelRc150e8QR:el+ 51 Kh2 game, Gligoric and Euwe come
the gunfire dies down a bit,we when there would follow 43..e3, Rhl+52 K:hl elQ+ 53 Kh2 Q:e8, or forearmed with their knowledge
shall explain why this is so. and if 44 B:e3 Qe4, or if44Bg3 49Qf5+Q:f550e8QelQ+51 B:e1 oL' the old masters' legacy.
e2 45 Re1 Qg4. In both these R:g2+ 52KflRh2 53 Qe5 Qc2. The reader who immerses himself
lines Black wins, as has been in this battle's fine points, who
demonstrated by detailed analy- 49. Bg3:el Rc2:g2+ examines the techniques usedhere,
sis, whose variations run to 50. Kgl:g2 Nd3:el+ and who familiarizes himselfwith
the 53rd move; we shall present 51. Kg2-2 ... the basic ideas behind this type
only one of them: 44 Bg3 e2 of ending, will have made agreat
45 Re1 Qg4 46 Qf7 Q:d4+ 47 Khl DRAW stride forward in positional play.
- it's perpetual check. A pret- The game's concluding phase, a
'four-vs-three" rook endgame, is closer and closer to his goal: In order to understand what Here, Gligoric, who has man-
3lso of great theoretical inter- a battle of heavy pieces for follows, one must keep in mind aged the game very consistently
3st. the isolated pawn. that rook endings with four and powerfully up to now, com-
pawns to three, all on one side, mits a small inaccuracy, but a
generally cannot be won. So if very common one. Having forced
all of the queenside pawns dis- Black to abandon the d-pawn's
appear, Black would be risking defense, he ought not to have
very little even if he does lose taken it just yet, as this gives
the isolated d-pawn. With this Euwe the chance to bring his
in mind, 25 b5, which leads to rook to a good position. 31Kg2
exchanges, is not a very good was correct; if then 31..Qcl,he
move: 25 Qd2 would be more con- should avoid trading queens for
sistent, threatening 26 e4 and the moment by playing his queen
forcing 25..5. to b4. Here it is important that
the variation 31..Qcl 32 Qb4Rc2
It is lack's task to rid him- Attacking the isolated pawn 33 R:d5 Q:e3 does not work for
self of the isolated pawn-that on the file with the threat of Black, in view of 34 Rd8+,
is, to push it to d4 and trade it e3-e4 is a technique common to 35 Qf8+ and 36 Rd6+.
off. This, however, is impossible such endings.
for the moment, due to 11 Na4.
The natural thing for Black to
do would therefore be to prepare
this advance with ..a7-a6 and
..Ba7. It is White's task to
use these two tempi to bringout
With this rook maneuver,Black
ensures the exchange of his last
another piece to control thed4 Euwe defends excellently. Here, queenside pawn. It is elementary,
square, intending to occupy it 29 e4 was threatened, and if but important, that White can
later on with a knight. Follow- 28..Ra8 29 R:d5 R:a3, Whitewould accomplish nothing by attacking
ing this plan, one must consider have continued 30 Rd8+ Kg7 31 Qd4+ the pawn from behind: 34 Rd8+
10 b3! a6 11 Na4 Ba7 12 Bb2more Kh6 32 Rg8. By inducing the fur- Kg7 35 Rb8 Rb5, and White can-
logical; if then 12..b5 13 Rcl!, The centralized knight must ther advance of the a-pawn, Black not play 36 a6.
followed by 14 Nc5. The square go first. 16 Nd4 would havebeen increases the likelihood of its
d4 would have remained under inferior, owing to 16..Bh3 17 Re1 exchange, and hopes thereby to And so, in a few moves we shall
White's control, a strategic Qf6. turn the game into a drawn end- see the theoretically drawnfour
accomplishment of no small im- ing. vs. three-pawn rook endgame. Gli-
portance. goric wants to test theory'scon-
clusion, to see how much truth
there is in it; so he plays on
for a while, risking nothing. For
Now White has a solid grip on the moment, he simply places his
In his detailed comments to the d4 square, and Black s at- pawns more actively.
this game for a Yugoslav maga- tack can no longer come to any-
zine, Gligoricls second, Tri- thing, in view of the small
funovic, indicates that ll..Ba7 amount of material left on the
should have been played here: on board.
12 Bb2, Black could have contin-
ued 12..d4; and on 12 b5 (after
ll..Ba7), Trifunovic gives a
pretty variation: 12..d4 13 bc Opinions vary on this move.
dc 14 Qb3 Qc7 15 Q:c3 Bd7 16 Ne5 Euwe gave it an exclamationmark,
Nd5. Here too, however, White calling it "a pawn sacrificerich
could continue 17 Qb2 B:c618N:c6 This move is the tactical with possibilities", while Tri-
Q:c6 19 Bf3, and hold a definite justification for White's whole funovic considered it a serious
plus, thanks to his bishop pair, plan. If the rook were forced to mistake, allowing Black to trade
open files and extra centerpawn. retreat from c5 here, the ex- off two pawns. He recommended
change of bishops would leave postponing g4-g5 in favor ofthe
White with an isolated pawn as preparatory moves Kg3, 3, e4,
well, and there would be no Kf4 and Ra6. I submit that nei-
further reason why he should ther of them is completely cor-
think about winning. rect: Black need not lose here,
Gligoric has completed the first The pawn can no longer be de- regardless of whether or not
part of his plan: the d-pawn is fended; by giving it up now, White plays g4-g5.
now fixed firmly in place. Euwe Black hopes to get the queens
hopes to stir up some play onthe traded off, at least. The move g4-g5 is interesting
kingside, but White easily repels from a psychological standpoint.
Black's threats, and by steadily
trading off minor pieces, draws
31. Rd4:d5 ... It was played just before the
I
this is not immediately play-
time-control, leaving Euwe to to e6 via e7: Euwe's recommenda- able. ~ligoric's plan to make
decide whether to reply 38..gh, tion 39..Rb4 40 4 Re4 41 Kf3 it so may be divided into the
Re6, etc., is refuted by 40f3, Now White is threatening to
&ich weakens his pawn forma- following stages: take the pawn with his rook;
tion-"but who would have im- by which White covers both g4
agined that this would play and e4, keeping Black's rook if 57. .Rgl+, then 58 K:h3 is
1) induce the black h-pawn to also possible, with the same
such an important role in the off the sixth rank and threaten-
resultins - three vs. three!
endgame? (Euwe). Instead, he
- ing 41 Rh6.
advance, and then capture it; ideas mentioned in the preced-
ing note.
2) bring his own rook to dl
could have played 38..h6, which and drive the enemy rook from
would have led to a much clear- the e-file;
er draw after the exchange of
two pawns. Black meets the threatened 3) carry out the final maneu-
42 R:h5 by threatening to reply ver by pushing the f-pawn to
with 42..Kg6. 5 and the e-pawn to e6 with
the support of the king and
rook.

Euwe might have adjourned the It was noted in the first ed-
game on move 40, but continued ition of this book that Black
playing until the 44th move, dur- advanced this pawn to h3 inview
ing which time he succeeded in of the threat of 50 Kg4, since
committing his final mistake. the white king could now cap-
Advancing this pawn gave White's ture the h-pawn while his f-pawn
king the square g4 and shortened is onf4: 50Kg4Rgl+51 K:h4 Rhl+
the range of his own rook enough 52 Kg4 R:h6 53 gh+ K:h6 54 5,
to give White sufficient basis when the pawn ending is won for
for a real winning attempt. With White.
the black pawn at h5, I do not
believe a win would have been But as Orlov, an amateur from
possible. If, for instance,White Leningrad, has pointed out, this
sets up this position: Kf5,Rb7, In Orlov's opinion, this was
and pawns at f4, e5 and g5, with is not so: the ending is adraw! the decisive mistake by Black,
the threat of e5-e6, then Black Black continues 54..Kg7 55 Kg5 who let the draw slip here. This
puts his rook on the e-file, f6+ 56 ef+ Kf7. He also notes could have been obtained, he
which renders the pawn advance that the text move (49..h3) is says, by 57..Rgl+ 58 K:h3 Rhl+
unplayable, and White's king necessary, but for a different 59 Kg4 R:h6 60 gh 6 61 ef Kf7
Beautifully played! Now ..h7- has no move either. reason: 50 Kg4 Rgl+ 51 Kh3! Rhl+ 62 Kf5 Kf8 63 Ke6 Ke8 6 4 f7+
h6 will be impossible, of 52 Kg2, which wins the pawn. Kf8.
course, but White is also
threatening to bring up his pawn I was just preparing myself
to e4, his king to 5, and his to argue with this capable Len-
rook to h6. White wins thisend- White does not fall into the ingrad analyst, whea my thunder
ing, if he can capture the h5- trap 46 K:h4 Rhl+, when Black was stolen by the well-known ex-
pawn while keeping the pawns at draws the pawn endgame after pert on pawn endgames, Igor Mai-
f7 and h7 in place. 47 Kg4 R:h6 48 gh+ K:h6 49Kf5 zelis, who pointed out that in
Kg7 50 3 h6 51 4 h5 52 Kg5 A pretty move, which aims by exactly the position where Orlov
f6+ 53 ef+ Kf7, etc. the use of zugzwang either to ends his analysis in the belief
force the king to retreat or to that it is an obvious drawWhite
Either Euwe had no time left force the rook to move, after can win with a maneuver remini-
to think, or else he considered which the white king can attack scent of a composed study:65Kd6!!
he could draw as he pleased; and capture the h-pawn. White's K:f7 66 Kd7 Kf8 67 Ke6, etc.
in any case, he was not paying rook had to go to 6 in order And if Black plays 62..Ke8 in
sufficient attention to his op- From now on, this position to defend the f-pawn. ~rlov's line (instead of 62..~8),
ponent's plan. The rook had to will be included in every end- then 63 Ke6 Kf8 64 Kd7 Kf7
be brought to e6, when it turns game textbook. The winning me- An interesting line is 54..Kg8 65 Kd8 Kf8 66 7 K:f7 67 Kd7
out that exchanging rooks re- thod, discovered by Gligoric 55 Kg3 Kg7 56 Kg4 Kg8 57 Rh6, Kf6 68 Ke8, and the white king
sults in a king and pawn endgame in actual play, is not only and the Dawn falls. since if the attacks and captures the last
that Black can just barely draw: pretty and logically consistent, rooks are exchanged by 57. .Rgl+ black pawn, and then shepherds
39..Re7 40 Kg3 Re6 41 R:e6 fe but a valuable addition to theo- 58 K:h3 Rhl+ 59 Kg4 R:h660gh, its own pawn through to h8.
42 Kt14 Kg6 43 4 h6. If White ry as well. the black king can no longer
does not take on e6, then Black reach the pawn at h6. Additionally, Master Fridstein
plays ..h7-h6; and if White ans- Reaching the final posit ion has pointed out that, in 0rlov's
wers 39..Re7 with 40 Rh6, then will require White to advance line with 57..Rgl+ instead of
4O..Re5 41 R:h5 Kg6. Curiously, his pawn from e5 to e6 with his 57..hZ, White is not obliged to
the rook can only be transferred rook on the seventh rank, but take on the pawn ending, butcan
capture the pawn by a different Had Black not played 64..Rfl, 73 Rd8, and e5-e6 or 5-f6+.
route: 58 Kf3 Rfl+ 59 Kg3 Rgl+ then the simple 66 Kf6 would
60 Kf2 Rhl 61 Rh4. All that re- have decided here. If 66 Rc4 to 72. Rdl-d7 ...
mains is for me to thank Messrs. prepare this, then naturallythe
Orlov, Maizelis and Fridstein black king returns to g7. By now White had another way
for their interesting and val- to win: 72 g6 hg 73 f6+.
uable comments.
72. ... Rg2 :g5

Zugzwang again. What can Black White would have won beauti-
do? fully after 72..Kf8: 73 6 Ke8
White has now completed the 74 Re7+ Kf8 75 Rb7 Ke8 76 Rb8+
first part of his plan, but the I. 67..h6 68 gh+ K:h6 69 Rg8. Kd7 77 Rf8 Ke6 78 Re8+ Kf5
win is not easy even yet: his With Black's king cut off,White 79 e6!
king is cut off, and the f-pawn wins easily.
needs protection.
11. 67..Ral 68 Rd7, threatening
As a matter of fact, couldn't 69 e6, and Black is lost, consi-
Black cut off the white king on dering:
the h-file permanently? No, be-
cause after 60 Rf6 Kg7 61 Kh3 a) 68..Ra5 69 Kg4 Kf8 70 Rd8+
Rgl 62 Ra6 the threat to advance Kg7 71 5 R:e5 72 f6+, with
the e-pawn (with the king at h5 mate next; In my preparations for the
and the rook at a7) would force Stahlberg game, I set great store
lack's rook off the g-file. b) 68..Kf8 69 Kf6 Ra6+ 70Rd6!, by this flank attack, which seeme
etc. ; to refute Black's plan of bring-
ing a knight to e6. On 1O..g6,
11 B:f6 B:f6 12 h5 is verystrong
and on 10..h6 I intended to con-
tinue 11 B:f6 B:f6 12 g4, fol-
lowed by queenside castling and
All that's left is the text. g4-g5; I felt such an attack
Black has selected the defen- would have to succeed. But Stahl-
sive plan of tying White's king berg played
to the f-pawn. By attacking the
f-pawn from behind, Black leaves But after White's reply,
relatively free toma-
neuver
his kin?..~~7-f8-~7), while also anywfy, and immediately I saw
preventing the white king from my mls take.
occupying 6 ; with White ' s rook Black has no more checks, nor
on the seventh rank, this would can his rook return to 1.
decide the game at once. When
White's king comes out, Black's Thus, White has now completed
rook will check on the files, the second part of his plan, and BLACK RESIGNED Unfortunately, after 12 g4Nc7!
but Gligoric finds a skillful is all ready to push his pawns White is short the one tempo he
maneuver to drive lack's rook to 5 and e6, once the blackrook 78..h4 is met by 79 Kf6 h3 needs in order to continue with
from the f-file and secure the has been forced off the f-file. 80 Rg7+ Kh8 81 Rg3. his pawn storm. He should still
win. If the rook does not leave the have played 12 g4, however, but
file, then the king must go ei- An endgame that will repay with the idea, after 12..Nc7, of
As Euwe points out, 64..Ral, ther to g8 or to 8, which would close study. laying aside temporarily his
Black's other possible plan here, leave it perilously placed in- ideas of a crushing attack, in
would not have saved him either: deed after White's f4-5-6; for favor of a plan to accumulate
65 Rc6 Ra4 66 Rc7 Kf8 67 Kg4Ral example: 68..Kf8 69 Kg4 Re2 positional advantages, beginning
68 5, and now comes a series of 70 Kf3 Ra2 71 5. 151. Bronstein-Stahlberg with 13 Bf5. White s irrepres-
checks, which the king escapes (Queen's Gambit) sible urge to complicate soon
on c8: 68..Rgl+ 69 Kf4 Rfl+ forces him back on the defensive.
70 Ke4 Rel+ 71 Kd5 Rdl+ 72 Kc6
Rcl+ 73 Kd7 Rdl+ 74 Kc8 Rd5
75 6 R:e5 76 Kd7, and by forc-
ing the trade of rooks White
reaches a won pawn ending: The concluding phase: white's
76..Rd5+ 77 Kc6 Rd8 78 Rd7. And pawns are set in motion. The decision of a great mas-
if 74..Rgl, then 75 6 R:g5 ter. Not everyone would dare to
76 Kd7, etc. castle when his opponent had al-
ready pushed his pawn to h5, but
7l..Ra7 would be met b y 7 2 ~ e 4 , Stahlberg has accurately calcu-
lated that the c-file will be
opened before a white pawn can ever, White's attacking fireshad
get even as far as g5. been damped by move twenty. nothing to be lightly undertaken; has no choice now, so this time
White -mistakenly -hesitates to he throws himself into the riv-
make the decision. er without a second thought. A
move earlier, Black could have
placed White in zugzwan with
52. .Kf8! (53 Rf3 R:b2+!7, but
17..a6 was more logical: then Returning the queen to active such moves frequently escape
18 B:b5 ab would open the a- duty. notice in the course of a game.
file, which would cause White a Unlike its white counterpart,
lot of worry in connection with the black king may even be abit
a possible pawn storm. too active. In the heat of the
time-scramble, Black cannot de-
cide on the proper way to open
up his fortress.
The remainder of the game may
almost be said to follow from
this advance. If the rook sim-
Offering lack's queen a ply recaptures at d5, 28..R:d5 Now lack's two pawns far out-
choice: either leave the area, 29 Q:d5 Qh4 would force White's weigh White's singleton.
and thereby allow White's g- rook to abandon the e-file; thus,
pawn to proceed with a boarding 28 e6, which clears e5 for the
expedition, or remain in the white queen. All very properly
area of the upcoming skirmishes. thought out, except that White
completely forgot about his h-
pawn, which could have beensaved Preventing 45 a4, which would
by 31 Qdl. have bolstered White's position
a little, and setting up a threat
to exchange queens at c4. Sonow
White must push his pawn anyway,
but that gives Black two pawns
plus.

Not 33 Qf8 R:e6! This maneuver, which Black may


have underestimated, saves
On 47..Qf4, White would have White's game. With the black
attacked the rook with 48 Qc5. king exposed, the advantage of
Had White not taken the b-pawn the g-pawn cannot be turned to
away from its protection of the account.
c4 square, then 47..Qf4 48 Qc5
Qc4+ would have won easily here.
White has no sense of the dan-
ger- such is the power of his
faith in the amulet on e6.While
the white queen dances back and
Black's decision turned onhis forth, Black is making a passed Retreat all along the line. Now
assessment of the line 22 Qg4f5 pawn of his own; thereafter, White has troubles withBlack's White's queen and rook are
23 ef R:f6 24 4, when the queen White's affairs take a sharp and h-pawns to add to his wor- free to roam once more, so
appears about to be trapped, but turn for the worse. Of course, :yes over the e-pawn. Black decides that it's time to
Black escapes damage by exploit- the pawn at e6 does constrict settle the issue ~eaceablyby
ing a pin: 24..Re8 25 Re2 R:f4. lack's forces powerfully, but perpetual check.
White's pieces are tied to it
as well. The only real advantage
it confers on White is the great-
The same initial move as in er mobility of his rook. There-
the variation presented above, fore, before Black finds time to White's defensive resources are
but with the more modest goal regroup, the king should be sent running out, and Black, with two DRAW
of creating a passed e-pawn. out to save the pawn, especially pawns plus, decides to returnone,
His trust in the almighty powers now that the road that leads to since 54 ba would completely de-
of this pawn nearly ends upcost- it (a2-b3-c4-d5), although com- nude the white king, and captur-
ing White the game, but finally ~letelyopen, is also completely ing with the king is also not 152. Reshevsky-Boleslavsky
it saves him as well. Another safe. But a king-march to the without its dangers, in view of (King's Indian)
possible plan, 22 g4, would have middle of the board with queens possible checks along the diag-
resulted in a sharp game; how- and rooks still on the board is onal a3-8 or from the squares Chess is a limitless game; to
a5 or a4. However, the whiteking avoid losing his way in it, the
chessplayer will use certain Black does not wish to play..a7- leaves cl, the b2-pawn will be
guideposts to orient himself a6. left undefended, and the black
in the evaluation of a position king's bishop will be able to
and the selection of a plan, such capture it with tempo. After
as weak pawns, open files, alead White's knight captures the d6-
in development, good and bad bi- pawn, the squares e8 and c8
shops, a poorly placed king, and will be closed to Black's rooks,
so on. It is worth noting that Now Black attacks the c4-pawn and moving the bishop to e7will
one will not find in every game from the other side. Playing e2- win White the exchange; and so
such guideposts as will allow e4 would block the diagonal of forth, and so on. This is far
one to compare a position'sgood White's own bishop, so he takes from being a complete listing,
and bad points and to chooSe a on e6; after of course: merely fragmented
proper plan on that basis. Ei- glimpses of the sort of general
ther chess theory has not yet ideas that take shape in the
found a quantity of guideposts chessplayer's mind as he makes
sufficient to exhaust the game's he has the choice of either his choice of possible contin-
diversity, or else thereare posi- leaving his knight tied to the uations.
tions in which the balance has defense of his c-pawn, or
been upset more than once, and
guideposts are hard to discern.
12.
13.
...
Nc3:e4
Nf6:e4
Be6 :c4
In any event, one frequently 14. Bcl-g5 Qd8-d7
finds the sort of game which must
be played for quite some time on Boleslavsky is trying to en-
nothing more than gut feeling tice his opponent inside the
and calculation, and this is the walls of the fortress, but Resh- A retty move to conclude this
hardest sort of game to play, evsky stoutly resists the temp- gameT s combinative phase: Black's
even for a grandmaster. tation: 15 Nf6+ B:f6 16 B:f6 assets will no longer include
Qe6 brings White no special re- the pair of bishops. His rook
wards, while further losses will can no more leave 8 than his
not be long in coming his way. queen's bishop can avoid ex-
If Black had played 14..6, change. Now White can exploit
White could have replied 15 Bf4 his lead in development and the
g5 16 N:d6. strong position of his rooks.Gn
the other hand, lack's position
is by no means lost: it is his
overassessment of his own chances
This move is, of COL-se, not that costs him the game later.
classical. Apiece is dt rrlqped
somewhere out on the rlii,, lm-
mediately makes anothcr w v e , The prospect of giving up a
and winds up at c7, which has rook for the darksquare bishop
never been considered a very and picking up a pair of pawns A knight's strength is doub-
good square for a knight. How- From here until approximately as interest, naturally, doesn't led when it has pawn support.
ever, ideas such as this occur the 23rd move, the game follows disturb Black at all. But Resh- Had Boleslavsky played 21. .Ne6,
frequently in the modern type a long and complicated course of evsky has spotted an important he would have obtained a solid
of game, where they are danger- tactical calculation, for which peculiarity of the forthcoming position, with the knight cut-
ous precisely because of their no all-inclusive general rules endgame: his rooks will be able ting short all of White's at-
seeming illogic and, at the have yet been formulated. In to act in concert against~lackls tempts to win the queensidepawns,
same time, their preeminent the art of complex combinative bishop and two pawns. The only moving to d4 also if necessary.
practicality. calculation, these two are wor- thing that gives him some slight
thy foes-in fact, at the time pause is c lack's possession of 22. Be7:f8 Bg7:f8
The whole point to the maneu-
ver ..Nb8-a6-c7 and ..Ra8-b8 is
this tournament was played they two powerful bishops. 23. Ra2-e2! ...
were, along with Geller and Tai-
that Black wants to play ..b7-b5 manov, the best calculating play- Beautiful play! White threat-
without recourse to ..a7-a6. Why ers in the world. Naturally, this ens to trade off lack's rook
play ..b7-b5, when White can re- does not by any means lessen and attack the pawns from be-
ply simply b2-b3? Not so fast: their stature as positional play- hind. This combination would
in order to play b2-b3, White ers. obviously have been impossible
must first remove two of his if the knight stood at e6, which
pieces from the long diagonal; Let's examine a few of the is why it was so important to
after that, however, Black can combinative motifs that will (See diagram, next column) close the e-file with theknight.
trade pawns on c4, followed by occur during the creative pro- Now Black has to take the knight,
bishop to a6 and rook to b4,when cess. Black s rook, havingleft since 23..Kg7 allows 24 Ne8+and
White will have a very difficult a8, now defends the b7-pawn, but 25 Re5.
time defending his c-pawn. It the knight and the rook are now
is for that reason-to keep a6 subject to diagonal attack. ~ f -
clear for the bishop- that ter the white queen's bishop
after a tense and exhausting
struggle, he played automatical-
Had Black gone after the g- ly:
Keres initiates a multi-
pawn, he would have lost to
24..B:g3 25 hg Nc7 26 Re7 Neb
To understand the following
curious events, one must know, 36. ... Bf8-c5? branched combination of unusual
complexity, based on pinning
27 Rdd7. However, it's difficult first of all, that they oc- and after possibilities along the c-file,
to believe that with two pawns curred while Reshevsky was in the activity of his fianchettoed
for the exchange, Black could tremendous time-trouble; and king's bishop, and in one varia-
think of no more active move secondly, that all of this oc- tion even a threat of mate at g7!
than 24..Bf8. He might have curred very late at night. The
tried picking off a third pawn twenty-second round fell on a BLACK RESIGNED
with 24..Nb6, for instance. On Saturday. For religious reasons,
the other hand, if the author Reshevsky started his Saturday
had been playing Black here, games some hours after the us-
and had moved his knight to b6, ual time-after the rise of the 153. Keres-Kotov
and then lost, Boleslavskymight evening star; on Fridays, he (Catalan Opening)
then have written in his notes played his games during the day, 1. d2-d4 Ng8-6
that 24..Bf8 should h z been so as to finish before the rise
tried - and he, in his turn,
would have been right also.
of that same star.
2.
3.
c2-c4
g2-g3
e7-e6
d7-d5
Fearing to leave something 4. Bfl-g2 Bf 8-e7
hanging in time-pressure, Resh- 5. Ngl-3 0-0
evsky decides to play Rf7-f3- 6. 0-0 c7-c6
Black wants to push this pawn d3-d7-7, which was playable After this, Keres transposes
to c3 so it can be defended by with Black's Dawn at b3. but into a classical Reti configu-
the bishop. If 25..a6, Euwe re- allowed Black a saving clause ration in which Black has no
commends 26 Rde5 b5 27 a5, with when the pawn went to b2. particular need of the move ..c7-
the idea of winning the a-pawn. c6. Kotov could also have used
To my way of thinking, 26 a5 is another, perhaps more accurate,
a sounder line for White. move order: 6..Nbd7, and if
Now the win could have been
7 b3 c5.
attained with 36 Rd8, but Resh-
Refuting lack's idea. 26 Rcl evsky follows his "plan''.
Rc8, followed by ..c3 and..Bg7,
would leave Black with no wor- A brilliant move, conp1etel.y
ries; but now 26..Rc8 would be unexpected. The knight is now
met bv 27 Rdd4 c3 28 Rc4. and triply attacked, and only the
after'the rooks are exchanged, There exists a barely percep- knight at e5 defends it! As
the pawn must fall: 28..R:c4 tible difference betweenmite's it turns out, however, the c6
29 R:c4 Bg7? 30 Rc8+. position and Black's. How much square is also controlled by
The same result follows 26..c3 is "barely"? White's bishop is the bishop at g2 through" the
27 Rc4 Bg7 28 Rdc5!, and after on g2, while ~ l a c k ' s ~ ~on
i s e7. bishopllatd5, and by the rook
the unavoidable exchange ofrooks, Keres asks himself, How may at cl through" the knight at
White wins easily by bringing his this affect the further course c5!
king to d3, after which hisun- of play?", and answers, "The
chained rook begins to reap the white queen has the square e2, If 18..B:c6 19 R:d8 B:d8
defenseless black a- and b-pawns. while the symmetrical square e7 20 N:c6 R:c6 21 B:c6 Q:c622b4,
is occupied by lack's bishop, the knight is Dinned and White
and his queen will belluncomfort- wins thg exchahge for a pawn.
able on an open file. Thus, And if 18..B:g2 19 N:d8 Ba8
Boleslavsky has one last chance: White's plan begins with the
to trade off White's a-pawn and moves e3, Qe2 and Rfdl- but
advance his one remaining compen- this is only a beginning.
sating pawn as far as possible.
27. Re4:c4 b7-b5 On 19..B:c6 we get the varia-
28. a4:b5 a6 :b5 And here, Black might have tion mentioned in the preceding
29. Rc4-c7 b5-b4 saved his game with the clever note.
Black must clear d8 for his
30. Rd5-d7 Rb8-a8 rook retreat from a2 to a7. Bole-
slavsky still had a few minutes, rook, and then quit the d-file. 20. Bg2:d5 ...
The pawn cannot be pushed fur- and in the light of day he would This costs him two moves, and
his queen on e8 is stilf not White also wins the exchange
ther just yet, in view of 3O..b3?
31 Rb7.
no doubt have seen and played
that move; but at 2 : 0 0 a.m., and so well posted as White s on e2. for a pawn this way - a pedes-
trian return for a combination
on such a grand scale. He would
have gotten a good deal more this pawn by combinative means prove on 45..R:a2, by playing
out of 20 B:f6 B:f6 21 e4 B:e4 and bringing up his king, Kotov 45..Bf2 46 Rle2 Bc5 instead.
22 R:d8+ B:d8 23 B:e4 Q:e4 need no longer have any fears
24 Q:e4 N:e4 25 Rc8, or20..B:g2 as to the outcome of this game.
21 B:e7 Re8 22 B:c5 Bf3 23 B:b6,
and White comes out two pawns With the same threats. Now
ahead. the fires of battle slowly be-
gin to subside, and after one
more harmless try the game
Keres still tries for the win, winds up a draw.
but he may have missed the boat
already. With this move, he pre- 45. R4e2 e4 46. R:e4 R:a2
vents 33..d4, so he can return 47. g4 Rg2 48. 5 gf 49. gf
his rook to cl and pick up the Rf2 50. Re7 Kc4 51. Rle4 Kd3
pawn at c4. 52. R:d4+ K:d4 53. R:h7 a5
54. Rd7+ Ke4 55. h5 R:f5 56.h6
Rh5
DRAW

A little reminder that Black 154. Smyslov-Geller


still has a rook. forces Smyslov to recast his
(King's Indian) plans.
One of the postulates of open-
ing theory reads as follows: In
the opening, White should always
play to gain the advantage, wh51e ll..Qb6 comes to the same thing
Black should always play to equal- after 12 hg Q:d4 (but not12..B:d4
ize. I do not know the precise because of 13 Qd2, when thethreat
formulation of Geller's views,but of 14 Na4 forces Black into full
to judge from his games, he appar- retreat).
ently believes that whichever side
he happens to be playing is the
side that ought to get the better
of the opening.
An outstanding idea! Smyslov
The chief characteristics of establishes an outpost in the
White has the better position, Geller's creativity are an ama- immediate vicinity of the en-
but Black has excellent counter- zing ability to extract the very emy army's general headquarters.
chances. Now White must overcome maximum from the opening and a And although this cheeky pawn
Kotov's unflagging resourceful- readiness to abandon positional is cut off from its own chain,
ness all over again in order to schemes for an open game rife directly or indirectly it holds
win the game- no small order, with combinations, or vice ver- back three of the enemy. Most
considering the energy and imag- sa, at any moment. importantly, it holds down the
ination Keres expended on the thematic King's Indian thrust
preceding stage. ..f7-f5.

27 Bd4 would have been better


here, in order to keep the knight
out of c5 and d3. With the queens exchanged,
Black is ready to trade bishop
for knight as well, if he can
get a pawn into the bargain: for
Having developed his pieces example, 17 f4 B:c3 18 bc N:e4.
harmoniously, Smyslov now wishes So White contents himself with
After 44 fe Black would be un- to set about a straightforward the more modest 17 3, waiting
3O..e5 had to be prevented, so able to stop the passed pawn; siege of Black's position, with- for the right moment to drive
30 Kfl was the move. However, one however, he would have good out incurring any weaknesses hin- the bishop from e5 and take the
cannot see everything. chances to win, not to draw, self. He would like to make the d-pawn. A position of dynamic
with 44..Rb2+ 45 Kc1 R:a2 46 e6 first breach in the fortress equilibrium results. Black now
Kc4 47 Kbl Rb2+ 48 Kal Kb3. wall at d6- but now this sud- advances his queenside pawns,
White would have better in47Rle2, den knight sortie, with itsun- but all the while he must keep
Having succeeded in advancing but then Black could also im- mistakable threat of ll..~h4, an eye on the central grouping
43. Be2-dl Ba5-el
44. Bdl:a4 ...
BLACK RESIGNED
,.,.,. ,,,.
-.--I_---*-&
,\

,,,.,.,. ,.,,
...-L-.-.L-&-*-

of his own and the enemy forces.

A pretty stroke, in Smyslov's


White's last move was to de- characteristic style, which
fend the b-pawn, so he could leads to complications favoring
transfer the knight via e2 to White. If Black takes the knight
d4. Geller intended to meet this with his pawn, he gets into a
maneuver with the following ag- hopeless position: 27..cd 28cd
gressive line: 21 Ne2 Nd322Rbl Ne4 29 de B:h6 30 Rc7, or
b5 23 cb Ba2 24 Ral Bb3, with 28..B:d5 29 R:d5 Ne4 30 Rc7,
interesting complications. If intending 31 Bc4, etc.
Geller had been in a peaceable
mood, he would probably have
played 20..6, and after 21gf
B:f6 the game would most likely
have been drawn. 28..Kh8 was much better: on
the natural continuation 29 Bd4
he could have sacrificed the ex-
change with 29..R:d4 30 R:d4Be7
Geller decides to liquidate and trap the knight. White would
the unpleasant g5-pawn at the have to give some thought to the
precise moment when bothWhite's extrication of that knieht. but
rooks are located on the same it could probably be aczomplished
diagonal, as though to invite by 29 Re1 Be7 30 Bf2: White's
an attack from the bishop at f5. pbsition remains somewhat supe-
However, Smyslov refutes Black's rior, but Black has defensive
idea by means of an accurately possibilities.
calculated counterblow.

Geller evidentlv missed the


fact that 23. .B:c? could now
be met by 24 B:c5 dc 25 R:c3
fe 26 Re3 Bf5 27 Be2 Re828Rdl. Now White's passed pawn is
with a won position. solidly defended, which assures
him the victory.
ROUND TWENTY-THREE

1.
2.
3.
155. Geller-Keres
(Queen's Gambit)
d2-d4
c2-c4
Nbl-~3
4. Ngl-3
5.
7.
c4:d5
6. Qdl:d4
e2-e4
Ng8-6
e7-e6
d7-d5
c7-c5
c5 :d4
e6 :d5
...
Once again Keres employs the
new defense, specially prepared
for this tournament, which he
@
g m ;gg&g?&.
L... .
'

ggv 7!&
gg&& g# a'.""
A my,
@&@&@
p?
fl.7

A g# &!
&""'.'
@,
156. Kotov- Reshevsky
(Queen's Indian Defense)

This is too pacific. White is


preparing to open the centerwith
11 e4, and from a Reshevsky one
used successfully againststahl-
berg (see Game 33). Geller's
plan of attack with 7 e4 takes
A ~~gs'''"~p!J@
y4,,,.. g
A@ might sooner have expected
lO..Bb4 11 a3 B:c3 12 B:c3 dc
lgg..,.2m4,.- , 13 bc c5 or 13..Be4.
us out of the realm of the yosi-
tional schemes of the Queen s /A , ../ 11. e3-e4 d5 :e4
Gambit and into the sphere of 12. Nc3:e4 Nf6 :e4
the open games of the Italian 13. Bd3:e4 Bb7 :e4
School. On 7..de, White trades
queens and continues 9 Ng5, at-
However, Keres finds a pret-
ty combinative solution: even Another little combination: if
14. Qe2:e4 ..
.
tacking the pawns at 7 and e4. though he "cannot" castle, he 16 B:e7, Black simplifies with White has the freer position,
does so anyway! Immediately, 16..N:c3 17 B:d8 N:e2+ 18 R:e2 with significantly more lines
White's position is practically R:e2 19 B:e2 R:d8, and eventually available for various regroup-
hopeless, since he no longer wins, being a pawn ahead. If ings. Since his darksquare bi-
has either his attack or his 16 B:c6 first, then 16..bc de- shop is on the al-h8 diagonal,
pawn. So ~eller's correct stra- fends the d-pawn. 16 R:d5 is it looks very tempting to bring
Geller plays in classical tegical idea must have fallen also met by 16..N:c3, with sim- a rook to g3, but he must also
style. Having sacrificed a victim to an incorrect tactical plifications favorable toBlack, counter Black's efforts to in-
pawn, he is in no hurry to re- execution. or even the win of the exchange. crease the scope of his own
cover it, bringing out his pieces by ..c7-c5 or ..e6-e5.
pieces instead for an attack Geller could have kept the
on the king. king in the center for quite
some time by means of the mneu-
ver 11 B:c6+ bc 12 Qe5, when his
threats of 13 Nd4 and 11 b3 fol-
Black's task must be to remove lowed by 14 Ba3 would have forced
his king from the center at all an immediate 12..Kf8.
costs, otherwise an extra pawn This allows a third and final
or even an extra piece will not ''little combination" - adding
save him from a fierce attack. up to the equivalent of one
The task is not solved by ex- Suddenly, lack's knight is "grand combination". Although
changing knights at c3, since mobile again: 12 B:c6 Bd6!, 21 Rd3 was condemned by the
9..N:c3 10 Q:c3 would leave the and then 13..bc. annotators, it does not alter
g7-pawn under fire from the the outcome, but merely hastens
white queen, as before, and the it. After 21 Rc5 Be7 22 Rc4 Be6
dark-square bishop would remain 23 Ra4 a6 also, Black has an
unable to move and clear the easy win.
way for castling kingside. Lengthy maneuvers on interior
lines have not brought aboutany
White might have won back his substantial change in the posi-
pawn instead: 15 B:f6 B:f6 tion. White's next move is a
16 Q:e8+ Q:e8 17 R:e8+ R:e8 careless one that allows Resh-
One who plays an open game must 18 R:d5-but he could hardly evsky to assume the initiative.
not only search for and invent have had any hopes of saving
various attacks and combinations, the endgame then. White's
but also keep a sharp eye onhis knights would have had no points
opponent, and never forget that of support, and would have had WHITE RESIGNED
he may also come up with a clev- to stay tied to their posts, Well played. Now Black knocks
er idea himself. Thus, at first while Black's bishops wouldhold White's d-pawn out of the cen-
Geller's move looks quite strong: absolute sway over the board.
it pins the bishop and delays Sooner or later, Whiteqs a-
Black's castling, and on 11..Be6 and b-pawns would have fallen.
12 Nd4 is very uncomfortable.
ter and obtains full play. e5 39 h3 e4, or 39 fe N:e5 an immediate draw: 58 c5+ Kd5 I
40 Qd5 Bc5, lack's pieces 59 c6 Kd6 60 Kb2 Nc4+. I
I
would be quite excellently
placed, while White's would
have no useful moves. His best
White absent-mindedly puts would have been 38 Qc6.
the rook on a bad square. He
should have taken the c-pawn
first.

BLACK RESIGNED

157. Boleslavsky-Bronstein
(English Opening)
Nd2+ 55 Ke2 N:c4, etc.; but by
means of a sharp left-handturn,
his king escapes the danger zone.

A very pretty move-and here Black's method of play, using


are the variations (with the only his pawns, is hardlv like-
first one very much like a novel): ly to attract imitators. Not
surprisingly, Black soon finds
I. 52..Nc3 - a hunt for the a- himself in difficulties.
pawn- 53 Kd3 Nbl 54 Kc2 N:a3+
55 Kb2 - the knight perishes,
A very risky decision. The but the breakthrough comes on
plan to take over the d-file the other side - 55..h4 56 K:a3
hg; and if the knight hurries
should have been implemented 46..Qe7, aiming at the a-pawn,
with something like 35 Rcl and offered somewhat better chances. to assist with 57 Nf3?, then
36 Rcdl. This foolhardy push of As the game's further course 57..gf, and the wave of pawns
the f-pawn could have costWhite will make clear, Reshevskyover- from e6 to 5 to 4 to g3 rolls
the game. It decisively weakens estimated his chances in his unopposed to the first r y k .
two diagonals, both of them vi- home analysis. Well, there's But the knight can ride round-
tal to White's health and safe- no need for us to regret that, about": 57 Nf7+!, and after So as to avoid the opening
ty: c5-gl and a8-hl. since the knight ending that Nf7:g5-3, the g-pawn is stopped of the b-file, at least.
results is most interesting. at the very threshold.
11. 52..N:g3 53 Nf7+ Ke7 54N:g5,
Of course. Black immediately and once again, the blackknight
has a number of combinative is mired.
threats; among other things,
the threat of 36..e5 forces Reshevsky nevertheless finds a
White's knight to abandon d4 50..ab would have securedthe way to get to the a-pawn.
at once. draw, but Black wants to retain
his own a-pawn while removing
that of his opponent. One cannot
fault ~eshevsky's logic, except 54. ~e5:g4 ~e4-:3
that Kotov finds an astonishing 55. Ng4-e5 Nc3-bl
56. Ke3-d3 Nbl :a3
This returns the favor. Resh-
evsky feels that White will have
a harder time defending the pawns
defense.
57. b4-b5 ... ( See diagram, next page )

at a3 and b3 once the rooks are This allows Black to give up


exchanged, but Kotov manages to Black is giving it all he's his knight for two pawns and ob-
hold on. I would have selected got. Kotov's position now looks tain some real drawing chances.
the more obvious 37..5, espec- critical, in view of the threat- Wouldn't the simple 57 Kc3 have
ially since the rook already oc- ened 52..NdZ+ 53 Ke3 Nbl 54 Kd3 been better? No, since it turns
cupies the e-file. After 38 Qf3 h4, Or 52-.g4+ 53 hg hg+ 54N:g4 out that 57..b5 woul-dgiveBlack
Here and later Gligoric avoids
exchanges, in order to keep the
game complicated. 8..cd 9 N:d4
N:d4 10 Q:d4 Be6 was also good;
if then 11 B:b7 B:h3.

Possibly White should have in-


itiated this exchange with his
seventh move.

The endgame after 12 B:c5 B:h3


13 B:h3 R:dl 14 B:c8 R:al15R:al
R:c8 seems to favor Black.

The check at e7 would lead to


White has an obvious position- And here it is Black whomisses still greater difficulties:
al advantage. Here the transfer his chance: 43..Qg3 ought tohave After playing a rather slow 20 N:e7+ Kf8 21 Qe3 Q:e3 22 fe
of the knight from b3 via d2 to been attempted. In view of the opening, White now removes an Nf3+; or 21 N:g6+ hg 22 B:d8
c4 suggests itself; Black would threat of 44..Ng4, White would important piece from the center Q:f2+.
of course be ill-advised to take have had to defend himself with unnecessarily and falls into a
the d-pawn, since the opening of 44 Qf2, but after 44..Q:f2+ difficult position. A few ex-
the d-file and the a2-g8 diago- 45 K:f2 N:d5 46 N:d5 B:d5 47B:d5 changes would have been more to
nal would kill him. By missing R:d5 48 R:d5 Black goes into the the point here: 14 N:d4 cd15R:d4
this opportunity, White cedes rook ending a pawn up. On the R:d4 16 B:d4 B:g2 17 K:g2 Q:c4
the initiative. other hand, I don't think this 18 e3, or 15 B:d4 Ng4+ 16 hgR:d4
ending could have been won. 17 R:d4 B:d4 18 e3.

An extra protected passedpawn


in the center, with chances of
Coupled with his next move, making it two connected passed
this is an outstanding mneuver
which leads to the win of a pawn.
pawns- that's more than enough
to win with. The rest is a mat-
DRAW Its precision appears in the fol- ter of uncomplicated technique.
lowing variations: 17 Qe3 Q:c4 Black brings his king to the
18 Q:e7 Rd7 19 Qe3 Re8, and White center, creates a second passed
158. Stahlberg-Gligoric is in a hopeless predicament; or pawn, and by advancing his pawns
(King's Indian) 17 Ne3 Ne4, when Black threatens with the support of the rook, he
to trap the bishop. forces his opponent to lay down
1. Ngl-3 Ng8-6 his arms.
2. c2-c4 g7-gf3
White's position has become 3. g2-g3 Bf8-g7
dubious; he is opening this im- 4. Bfl-g2 0-0
portant operating file for his 5. 0-0 d7-d6
pieces just in the nick of time. 6. d2-d4 c7-c5 The courage of despair. The
7. h2-h3 ... white pieces are very poorly
placed: the rooks lack scope,
the queen is buried, and every
Sometimes White can permithim- pawn stands quite as passively Stahlberg is giving his oppo-
self this kind of tempo-loss in as the next. Even the bishop nent all the hindrance he can.
the opening, especially when, as stands alone, in the middle of For the moment, the pawns are
here, the move is not altogether Black's pieces. It is therefore blockaded, and the only way to
useless. Stahlberg intends tode- understandable that the Swedish win is to get the rook around
velop his bishop to e3 without grandmaster should wish to see in back; in that event, however,
fear of ..Ng4. his knight set free, at least. White threatens to advance his
at g6 with his queen. Besides, A pawn down, White nevertheless
after 18 Neg5 g6 the square 6 has some compensation in his
would be seriously weakened, queen, which is very active on
1 and Black would not have enough the eighth rank.
time to bring his bishop to gj:
19 h4 Bf6 20 Ne4 Bg7 21 Nd6Qb8
22 N:f7.
By forcing Black to waste time Would you believe that the
on the maneuver ..Qd8-e7:d8-e8, humble h-pawn would become a
White has obtained a small edge queen in just a few moves? 28..g6
Taimanov courageously meets 29 h4 gh 30 Q:h4+ Kd7 31 Qf6Nd8
in development. his opponent's idea head-on, 32 Bb5+ Kc8 was necessary, main-
having more accurately judged taining his extra pawn with a
the endgame which now arises by safe king.
White has now removed one of
force .
the main defenders of the h7
square. After Black's bishop Suspecting nothing.
recapture (instead of the pawn
reca~ture). Euwe believes 17 Nb5
was horth'a look: the knight aims By removing this dangerous
for c7, and if 17..Rd8 18 Nd6. knight, Black is obviously avoid- But now what is he to do? How
c-pawn. White is finally be- However. after 17. .0e7! 18 Nd6 ing all manner of possible sur- to defend against the threat of
trayed by the undefended status Be8, White ' s advantage evaporates. prises. h5-h6-h7-h8Q?
of his rook and Black's threat
to mate on e3 when his rook
reaches the second or third
rank.

White's queen is temporarily Suddenly the black king is


blocked out of play, and Black feeling a good deal less than
quickly goes after the defense- comfortable. A catastrophe ap-
less white pawns. pears to be imminent, but "first
Destroying his last hope: 37 cb aid" (..g5-g4-g3) arrives just
25. Bc4-fl Qdl-b3 in time to save "his majesty's"
R:cl! 26. h2-h3 ... health.
White is too complacent: 26 Qh8
was necessary, followed by an im-
mediate 27 h4. Euwe apparently
hoped to close the b-file with
Bb5, in which case his queen
should certainly be at a8. 52
p:! "=
I //Ay &M% 3,:.
WHITE RESIGNED
z?! A ;fi fg
B&@JA&
r,... A

/ A , p2j
,/ LV ,4/,,,..,2

2 - ,-

159. Euwe-Taimanov
(Nirnzoindian Defense)
As we leave the opening for
the middlegame stage, the chances
n &2dM?,,5,
A a,,
yj qg
>pjy2<?&,G&$ v"/ @/
lie with White. His advantage
consists of the more activeplace- ." @ fA# bfl
?,>& A/& 7;,7, .. ,..,..
ment of his pieces and his con-
r" ,g:.: &fJ$ 6:;;
9 ;, 7
"' "

trol of the d-file. White now


essays a curious combination,
which unfortunately falls short
<, , / , , ,
::;i
"4 cq-- gt
,~~'*,/ {7,,,4 /,IL//,
@
One of Euwe's numerous open- of its mark; so playing the oth- .- 5, z

ing novelties, this one does not er knight straightforwardly out


try for any sort of big advan- to g5 was therefore better. After
tage, but it does introduce some 18 Neg5, Black would have had
diversity into this well-known nothing better than to play Now, in view of the threatened
1ine. 18..g6, and after 19 h 4 and20h5,
the black king's position might
33. .gf+ 34 K:f2 Qh4+, White's
queen cannot leave the h-pawn.
become very unsafe, in view of
White's standing threat to sac-
rifice a piece at e6 and enter
move is an improvement on the
game Taimanov - Botvinnik from
the XX USSR Championship. The f-pawn is the only weak
spot in lack's position. Why
not play simply 3l..Kg7, defen-
ding 6 at the same time? That
would have assured the fall of
Botvinnik played 12..Bg4, but White's a-pawn, for no compen-
his opponent ignored the threat sation, and lack's win would
to double his pawns and played then have been quite easy.
13 Qel!

This allows Black to entrench


himself firmly at e4. 13 B:e4de
14 Nd2 was more in the spirit of
the position, since a later 2-
3 would open the f-file for his Najdorf wants to force a de-
rook and give his queen an exit cision by occupying the g-file.
to g3. Exchanging queens and pushinghis
queenside pawns was a sounder
The h-pawn has truly had a idea.
brillianf. career. Now White even
wins a plece.
Black's pieces are much more
actively posted. If Black can
hold firm in the struggle for
DRAW the strategically vital e4 square, 24..Nb3 was also possible;
then clearly he will have the White would then have probably
agreed, since White's minimal whip hand. replied 25 R:b3 cb 26 Q:a6, and
material advantage is not enough with a couple of pawns for the
to exploit. By means of his re- exchange, he would not be too
sourceful play, Taimanov neutra- badly off. So Black holds back
lized his mistake on the 28th Black's major task would have on ..Nb3 for a while, waiting
move. been solved by the pawn recap- until the queen no longer attacks
ture, which makes use of the fact the a6-pawn.
J- -4-
,.
,.,. ,.-'-.'-
,,-'--a- ,\ that the e3-pawn is twice attacked
and 2-3 is therefore impossible.
160. Szabo-Najdorf After 16..de, both White's bi-
(Nirnzoindian Defense) shops would remain blockaded for
1. d2-d4 Ng8-6 some time. Black could exploit
2. c2-c4 e7-e6 this to create threats against
3. Nbl-c3 Bf8-b4 the white king: for example,
4. e2-e3 0-0 17 Qd2 Bg4 (threatenin ..BE3)
5. Ngl-3 d7-d5 18 Khl Re6 19 Bdl Rh6 50 B:g4
Q:g4 21 3 Qg3 22 h3 ef 23 R:f3 White's game appears hopeless.
6. a2-a3 Bb4:c3+
7. b2:c3 b7-b6 R:h3+.
8. c4:d5 e6 :d5
9. Bfl-d3 c7-c5
10. 0-0 Nb8-c6
11. a3-a4 ... A lucky find: White can leave
his rook hanging, as long as the
By maintaining the pawn ten- black king cannot avoid the per-
sion in the center, Black pre- petual check.
vents White's e3-e4, so Szabo
seeks an exit for his bishop
on the a3-8 diagonal. As soon ( See diagram, next page )
as he plays 11 a4, however,Naj-
dorf immediately closes the cen-
ter and stations his knight at
e4, giving White the choice of DRAW
trading off his bishop or wor-
rying over his c3-pawn. This Tndeed, White plays 44 Rg2,
game is significant for opening and after the rooks are ex-
theory, since ~ajdorf's 12th changed Black can w i n the bi-
shop, but not the g ~ i n ,v i e w
of the perpetual check. 43..Qbl ROUND TWENTY-FOUR the openine o f the f-file. since
leads nowhere for the same reas- even before ..f4:g3, castlingwould
01,. Instead of his actual last 162. Petrosian-Szabo not have been without danger to
move, however, Black could have (English Opening) White, in view of his weakened
tried 43..Q:f4+ 44 ef Kg8, when pawn wall 2-g3-h4. Petrosian
45 Re5 fails to 45..Nd2!, threat- plays the next part of the game
ening mate in two. If Black's very resourcefully, and succeeds
king gets to the queenside, he in warding off his opponent's
will have real winning chances, threats while retaining his ma-
since he will have an extrapawn, terial advantage.
for all practical purposes.
lack's position was so strong
that not even two inaccuracies
could spoil it completely.
Of course it would have been
The opening of this game has difficult to calculate accurate-
been quite characteristic of ly all the consequences of23..e4,
161. Averbakh-Petrosian contemporary strategy. The en- but it would have brought about
(Sicilian Defense) ergetic moves Qa4+, h2-h4, and a completely muddled position,
1. e2-e4 c7-c5 Rbl were only a means to create in which Black is not without
2. Ngl-3 d7-d6 a more favorable position from chances -and that was precisely
3. d2-d4 c5 :d4 which to enter the middlegame. what Szabo aimed for in sacri-
4. Nf3:d4 Ng8-6 ficing the first pawn.
5. Nbl-c3 g7-g6
6. Bfl-e2 Bf 8-g7
7. Bcl-e3 0-0 I suppose it's time to let
8. 0-0 Nb8-c6 the reader in on our little se-
9. Qdl-d2 d6-d5 cret: up to and i n ~ l u d i n ~ ~ l a c k ' s Black's bishop is now firmly
17th move, both sides have been For a few moves, both sides entombed-a consequence of
With this standard d-pawn ad- replaying a game from the Szcza- maneuver quietly, each in his Black's inability to decide on
vance, Black wants to bring about wno-Zdroj tournament of 1950, in own camp. 23. .e4.
a series of exchanges to ease his which Averbakh was Black. There
defense; however, some risk is Geller continued 18 Qd5, andaf-
involved in this, due to the pos- ter 18..Qe6 19 Q:e6 fe 20 Rd7,
sibility 10 N:c6 bc 11 e5 Nd7 secured not the slightest advan-
12 4 e6 13 Na4, when White is tage. Now Averbakh is playing
better. ll..Ng4 12 B:g4 B:g4 White, and has prepared an im-
13 f4 would also leave Black in provement- however, it does
a ticklish position, in view of not lead to anything substan- White has consolidated quite
the threatened 14 Bc5. Averbakh tial either. well, and there's nothing left
chooses a different course. for Black but the battering ram..
18. Qc4:c8 Ra8 :c8
19. Rdl-d7 Bg7:e5
20. Rd7:b7 Rc8-b8
21. Rb7:b8 Rf8 :b8
This is more interesting than
22. b2-b3 ...
the obvious 12 B:d4 Q:d5 13 Radl, DRAW
etc.: it leaves Black with the Black has managed to liquid-
problem of whether to keep his ate all White's pawn reserves.
knight on d4 or to take the bi- If only his bishop could help
shop at e2. If he should play the queen, just a little! Con-
12..N:e2+ 13 Q:e2 e6, then the cluding that now, at last, it's
quiet 14 Nc3 retains the better time to come out of the shadows,
chances for White, despite the the bishop shoulders its pawn
pair of black bishops, thanks aside, but- alas! - too late.
to White's queenside majority of White's pieces begin theircoun-
pawns and his control of most of terattack, and thanks to their
the central squares. Black finds numerical superiority, they
the best move. sweep all before them.

For the price of a pawn,Black ( See diagram, next page )


has managed to hold White'sking
in the center. Far more important
in this situation, however, is
164. Taimanov-Stahlberg
c4-c5. O n 11 b4, of course, (Reti Opening)
there might follow ll..Ng4, forc- 1. c2-c4 e7-e6
ing 12 g3, but there's nothing 2. g2-g3 Ng8-f6
terrible about that. Now Black 3. Bfl-g2
gets in ..d7-d5. d7-d5
Black has had to cede the c- 4. Ngl-f3 d5 :c4
file, but has seized the neigh- 5. Qdl-a4+ Nb8-d7
boring file as compensation, and 6. Qa4:c4 a7-a6
will be the first to reach the 7. 0-0 Bf8-d6
seventh rank. The game gradually
levels out, eventually winding 7..Bd6 and 9..Qe7 must be in-
up with a perpetual check. tended as a preparation for..e6-
e5; if that is so, then 6..a6
was a waste of time.
Both sides have a pair of bi-
shops and one approximatelyequi-
valent weakness (at d4 and e6,
respectively), which equalizes
the possibilities for attackand Inconsistent again: by this
defense . advance, the b-pawn will leave
the c-pawn far behind, and soon
the latter will fall- on the
d6 square, it's true, butthat's
a mere detail. 1O..e5 should
have been played at once, and
if 11 de N:e5 12 N:e5, heshould
recapture with the bishop, and
Black's queen now occupies a not with the queen.
square that by rights ought to
belong to White's, and creates
BLACK RESIGNED a threat to take over the c-file.

163. Najdorf-Euwe
(Nimzoindian Defense)
1. d2-d4 Ng8-6
2. c2-c4 e7-e6 When one has two equivalent
3. Nbl-c3 Bf8-b4 ways to win a pawn, it's hard
4. e2-e3 c7-c5 to resist a little joke (Black
5. Bfl-d3 b7-b6 could not retreat to e7, in view
White's whole problem is that of 17 e5).
his king cannot escape via g3be-
cause of 34..Rg2+ 35 Kh4 Rg4+
36 Kh5 Bf3 or 35 Kh3 Rg4; in
For some reason, the masters both cases, the mate threat wins
in this tournament seemed to for Black.
favor defensive systems with
a queen's bishop fianchetto
against Najdorf (see, for ex-
ample, Games 9 4 and 118). In
this game, Najdorf employs one
of the best continuations, which
forces Black to exchange pawns
under most unfavorable circum-
stances. An excellent reply, with the
idea of controlling the central
light squares with his bishop The king finds no shelter on ( See diagram, next page )
and the dark squares with his the other wing either: 41 Kb5
pawns. Despite the fact that this Rc5+, and Black picks up the
exchange doubles and isolates e5-pawn; or 41 Kb3 Rc5 42 Bd7+
the white pawns, it is precisely Kd8 43 e6 Ra5, forcing the
White leaves the correct road, this queen exchange that makes
and theory can no longer extract them no longer weak, since the DRAW
anything useful from this game. rook will be unable to reach
11 b4! was more logical, using them. *-,-J.-'--'--b
I...
,.,.,.*I

the knight to support a ~ossible


Zugzwang: the king is tied to
the 7-pawn, and the knight is
trying to blockade the e5-pawn;
Black s defensive resources,
however, have finally run out.

Now all is in readiness for


the decisive e5-e6.

Black is doomed to passive This looks like the end, but


defense. stahlberg8s last move The king must fall back to the Stahlberg, as ever, resourceful-
somewhat fortifies the knight's eighth rank: on 48..Ke6 49 Nb7 ly searches out the tiniest
position at 5, and makes its threatens 50 Nd8+ or 50 Nc5 mate. chance.
Clearing a path for the king rotation between 5 and h6 eas-
to d4. As for the e-pawn, itdid ier.
not need defending, as the fol-
lowing variation serves to illus-
trate: 27 Rcl N:e5? 28 Nc6! N:c6 Black has taken up his final
29 R:c4 Ne7 30 R:c8+ N:c831Bb7 Apparently, even a lone knight defensive line; behind that is
Nb6 32 B:a6. White's perpetual threat is not so easily avoided.
against the 7-pawn has forced the abyss.
Black to allow the exchange of
rooks, thus depriving Stahlberg
of the hope still beating in
his breast of securing a draw
White is dead set against tak- in the "three-vs-four rook After the eighth rank, there's
ing a second pawn from Black and pawn ending already known If one held a contest among
with 29 Bb7. By allowing the a- to us. As for the knight and nowhere else to go. The author knights for the most checksgiv-
pawns to be exchanged, Taimanov pawn "three-vs-four" ending, wishes to take this opportunity en, stahlberg's would surely
lengthens the game considerably, that, as we shall see, is a to dispel a mistaken notion cur- hold the record.
and is forced to seek his win in win. rent among some beginners that
a protracted knight endgame. according to the laws of chess,
43. Rc7:e7 Nf5:e7 if a king reaches the eighth
44. Kf2-3 Kg7-8 rank, one captured pawn may be
45. Ne4-d6 Ne7-c6 taken back. In this tournament,
46. Kf3-e4 Kf8-e7 several kings made it to the The pawn ending is certainly
47. 4-5 Nc6-b4 eighth rank, and the reader may nothing Black is interested in.
see for himself that no pawns
32 N:d5 was better. appeared on the board as a re-
sult. This is a nonexistent
"rule", artificial and contra-
ry to the logic'of chess, whose BLACK RESIGNED
laws are the product of many
33 Rc5 would have restricted years' experience.
the knight. ( See diagram, next page )
165. Gligoric-Boleslavsky
(Sicilian Defense)
The next phase of the strug-
gle sees White pushing back the
black king and beginning a right-
ward movement of his o m -
to play ..c7-c6, and this will In his difficult position,Gel-
5. Nbl-c3 a7-a6 tralize the queen's bishop's create a notch which White's ler does not lose his resource-
6. g2-g3 e7-e6 support of this advance, and attacking pawns can grapple.
the king ends up on g2. Thus, White has prospects of fulness or presence of mind. See-
ing that "normal" play will re-
~oleslavskydeclines to enter further strengthening his posi- sult in a slow death for Black,
the 6..e5 line, since Gligoric In other lines, White plays tion, while Black must operate he gives up the pawn and allows
is known to favor that system Nf3-el, recapturing on g2 with on the kingside whether he will
for White, and can be expected the knight. or no - here, however, the mo-
White two connected passedpams,
but creates an interesting coun-
to have an improvement prepared
over his Round 18 game with Naj-
-
dus operandi is not so clear, terchance in the form of a far-
advanced c-pawn. If 21 Q:a7, for
dorf. Another typical maneuver in example, then 2l..c4.
7. Bfl-g2 Bf 8-e7 such positions. Black exploits
8. 0-0 0-0 the hanging c-pawn and theking's
9. b2-b3 Qd8-c7 position to bring his queen to
10. Bcl-b2 Nb8-c6 the long diagonal without loss
11. Nc3-e2 Bc8-d7 of time.
12. c2-c4 . .. Of course not 23 cb? R:cl
24 R:cl Q:f2+.
White wants to control d5. To The obverse of the standard
meet this, Black first removes minoritv attack amears if White
all his pieces and pawns from simply trades knights: 16 N:e6
the long diagonal, which great- An unhurried move which under- R:e6 17 b5 Qg5 18 bc R:c6 19 Qb3
ly decreases the effectiveness scores the strength of t lack's Bh3 20 Bf3 B:g2!,and Black's
of the fianchettoed bishop; then position. White no longer has queenside holds, while White's
he undermines the c4-pawn, and the means to keep the d-pawn in kingside is already in ruins.
its place. Now Geller's tactics are jus-
secures full equality. The ability to temper attackwith tified. Fearing the c-pawn's
defense is one of the chessmas- swift advance, followed by the
ter's most valued, essential d-pawn, Reshevsky hurriedly ex-
skills. Total immersion in one's changes queens, and now real
own plan generally leads toun- drawing possibilities begin to
derestimating that of one's op- appear. Black would have had a
ponent. Forgetting this ax- harder job after 27 b6 or 27 Rd4,
DRAW iom cost Reshevsky a half-point for example: 27 b6 c2 28 Rfl
after adjournment. (but not 28 Re1 d4!).
White's try for advantage was
DRAW made with too cautious, and
therefore harmless, means.

166. Bronstein- Kotov Black should always play ..a7-


(Queen's Indian Defense) 167. Reshevsky-Geller a6 in these cases to induceTiJe
(Nimzoindian Defense) to play; a2-a4; then, if the ml-
1. c2-c4 Ng8-6 norlty advances any further, it
2. Ngl-3 b7-b6 1. d2-d4 Ng8-6 will involve a pawn exchange. The
3. g2-g3 Bc8-b7 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 more pawns Black can trade off,
4. Bfl-g2 c7-c5 3. Nbl-c3 Bf 8-b4 the fewer his queenside weak-
5. 0-0 e7-e6 4. Qdl-c2 d7-d5 nesses.
6. Nbl-c3 Bf 8-e7 5. c4:d5 e6:d5
7. d2-d4 c5:d4 6. Bcl-g5 h7-h6
8. Nf3:d4 Bb7 :g2 7. Bg5:f6 Qd8:f6
9. Kgl:g2 ... 8.
9.
a2-a3
Qc2:c3
Bb4:c3+
.. . ~ This break is based on the
fact that after 19..cb 20 Qb3,
In the Queen's Indian we occa-
...
I
What made Reshevsky aim for no matter how Black replies,
sionally see a fianchettoed
king. What would impel White to such a position out of the open- 1 White not only wins his pawn
back, but gains another aswell.
develop his bishop at g2 and ing? Isn't it symmetrical, with I
then trade it off immediately? no advantage of any kind for
Certainly it is not that the White? Symmetrical, yes --but
king is so well placed on g2. not entirely. Geller has pawns
No, th; explanation lies in the on light squares; consequently, The queen attacks the a-pawn.
fact that in the Queen's Indian the squares in front of themare Had Black moved it up to a6 at
the positional battle hinges dark squares, and White will be
able to establish his knight on the proper time, he would be in
on the advance ..d7-d5. If White these squares, where the light- a great deal less trouble now. One of those rare cases in
can restrain it, he has the bet- square bishop Geller is now left Geller's career where he over-
ter game; if Black enforces it, with cannot drive it away. F ~ ~ - looks a saving combination, this
he equalizes. White therefore ther, Black cannot avoid having
trades bishops in order to neu-
one based on the white king's 168. Keres-Smyslov
lack of an "airhole": 3l..R:a3 Both rooks are ready for the
Black has achieved a greatdeal: (English Opening) plunge.
32 b7 Rb4 33 Rd8+ Kh7 34 b8Q
R:b8 35 R:b8 Rd3 36 Rfl Rc3! his rook and king are active, On the eve of the 24th round,
NOW White h;?s nothing better than while White's pawns are imobil- Keres was a half-point behind
to enter a four-vs.-threeUrook- ized. Still, had White played Smyslov, but Keres was due for
and-pawn ending, which theory 50 Ra8, his two extra pawns his bye in the 25th round. In
considers drawn (cf. Game 150, would have won in a walk. the event of a draw with Smys-
Gligoric - Euwe). lov, he would fall either a
point or a point and a half be-
hind Smyslov, depending on howthe
latter scored against Reshevsky
in Round 25. Thus, we can see
the psychological circumstance
which impelled Keres to try his
luck with a strange, sharp king-
side attack, using only his two
rooks without the aid of his
And here it might seem that pawns.
nothing could save Black. Nev-
ertheless, I would not have Keres either could not or
traded my b-pawn for the in- would not make methodical and
significant h-pawn. couldn't logical preparations for his
White have relocated his rook attack. As early as the 19th
on the seventh rank? After move, he offered a rook, as the
38 e6 6 39 Rc7 R:b6 40 R6d7, English expression goes, "for
it seems White's idea has jelled nothing". Our understanding of
(and this, by the way, is the sacrifices usually involves some
same sort of sudden assault on resounding check-B:h7+ or It would not be out of place
g7 Reshevsky used once before in R:g7+- forcing one's opponent to mention here that White was
this tournament,against Euwe). to capture the piece. However, already threatening 19 R:h7K:h7
the finest sacrifices are a bit 20 Qh5+ Kg8 21 Rh3 Bh4 22 R:h4
different: the rook is attacked, 5 23 Qh7+, with an irresistible
but it does not move... attack.
Another inaccuracy, which
throws away the win for certain
In order to understand what in an amazing fashion: 51 Ra8
follows, keep in mind that there was still the right move. Now "I thought for a long time,"
are some rook endings in which Black's king is restricted- said Smyslov afterwards, "over
two extra pawns are not enough too much so, in fact. whether or not I should give in,
to win. As an example, sometimes and accept the rook - the more
it is impossible to win the end- so, in that I was unable to see
ing with rook and f- and h-pawns how White would be able to win
against rook, or rook and two here.. ." Indeed, to take a whole
connected passed pawns against rook for nothing! The worst of
rook, if the pawns can beblock- ~ f t e r53 R:f5+ K:h4, we reach it is, what if I don't take it,
aded. Geller is hoping to trans- one of the drawn positions with and then lose? And look: next
pose into one of these endgames. two extra pawns for White. On 11 Qe2, Black could play move, the rook will take off the
for the win of a pawn without h-pawn - we1 1, then, grab it !
running too much of a risk: Calculating all the variations
ll..Nb4 12 Bbl dc 13 bc B:f3 over the board is obviously not
54 K:f3 or 54 Kg2 R:g3+55K:g3 followed by 14..Q:d4. possible; all one can do is to
is stalemate! The king makes for examine the main lines and trust
the e-file, but it doesn't make in oneself.
any difference. (I the white
rook were on a8, there would
be no stalemate; White would
win. ) Smyslov's intuition did not
deceive him: as later analysis
Believing he can win as he 54. Kf2-e2 Rf3:g3 White unveils his original was to show, he made the best
pleases, Reshevsky plays care- 55. Rf6:5+ Kh5:h4 plan to transfer the rook to move here. But how did he ar-
lessly: 48 g4 was the proper 56. Ke2-f2 Rg3-a3 the kingside. On the otherhand, rive at it? What sort of mech-
continuation. Now Black gets in 57. Rf 5-g5 Ra3-b3 15 B:c3 was obviously out of the anism, if one rr.ay so call it,
the important blockading move 58. Rg5-gl Kh4-h5 question, in view of 15..Na2. operates a grandmaster's intui-
49. .f5. 59. Kf2-e2 Rb3-a3 tion? Did Smyslov reason
60. 4-5 Ra3-a5 it out, or did he simply guess,
DRAW as one might do in a lottery,
and pull out a winning number?
ROUND TWENTY-FIVE pawn's advance.
169. Srnyslov-Reshevsky
(Reti Opening)
In his battle for the ri ht to
play a match for the world5 s
Black has now more or lessneu-
tralized the two bishops. Thebi-
Keres could still have forced championship, Smyslov had just shop on e4 stands guard over one,
a draw by 20 Qg4 c3 21 B:c3 R:c3 survived a fierce struggle with while the other is hemmed in by
22 R:c3 Q:d4 23 Q:d4 B:d424Rc7 Keres; his next opponent, Resh- Black's pawns. Of course, the d-
gh 25 R:b7, but he was not look- evsky, was just as aggressively pawn will be a source of worry,
ing for a draw when he undertook inc1ined. but this is no great danger, as
this attack. long as lack's position con-
At this moment, Reshevsky had tains no other weaknesses. White's
half a point less than Smyslov, following maneuvers aim at get-
with one more game played. So, ting the black bishop for his
Now the bishop can neither strictly speaking, even a win knight.
take the pawn- 21 B:c3? R:c3- would not have allowed Reshevsky
nor retreat 21 Bcl Q:d4.
Keres finds the best chance.
- to overtake the leader, while a
draw would clearly have been un-
suitable. So, like Keres, the
American also set himself the
task of winning at all costs. White could also have achieved
Of course the text move re- his ends without this move, since
sulted from a deep study of the
position. First of all, Black
is opening his bishop's diagonal,
creating the possibility of
* a,,gui?&@@;
.?,

& /A p;A@,p
i...
17 Nf5 would have forced Blackto
give up the bishop; but Smyslov
leaves himself the option of tak-
ing the bishop on g6 at a later
LAAv,,
transferring that piece via e4
to 5 or g6. Secondly, the d- Tfi @/A&A@ %
, time, under more favorable cir-
cumstances.
file is opened, creating the
possibility of moving the queen
to d5 and attacking the square
g2 along the diagonal, or sun-
@*,,,, ?'my,,s7,' @@. The rather unusual 3..Bb4, fol-
lowed by the exchange pn c3,was
evidently something Reshevsky
ply taking the d4-pawn with the
queen. And thirdly, a passed c- f'fg3,,. -. rfiV] $B#;g, had prepared with the intention

, 8pfg.
pawn temporarily makes its ap- 4..
,.,,. ,,,.. fi of obtaining a position bearing
the least possible resemblance
pearance; it may go on to c3, j Even here, it cannot be said
closing the diagonal of the dan-
gerous white bishop ...Meanwhile, 7; p
9/A g "" p 7%;
,=-. ,-
to anything in theory, and of
carrying on the fight with his
that White's bishop-pair con-
fers on him any kind of sub-
the white rook is still en rise =.<c
4 knights against the enemy's bi- stantial advantage. This is a
and now the basic '-
:
t
a
e
r
ht shops. balanced position, which here
..g6:h5 is a real one; for on presages, not a draw, but ra-
20 bc, for example, 2O..gh21Q:h5 ther an interesting struggle.
Be4. Taking the bishop would be a In the course of the next ten
bad idea in view of 22 Qh6 Q:d4 or twelve moves, both sides ma-
Still, we are all curious to 23 Rh8+ B:h8 24 Qh7 mate. neuver, while hiding their plans
see what might have happened if from each other, and await the
Black had taken the rook right moment when the constellationof
away-wouldn't 19..gh 20 Q:h5 A proper move, typical of a pieces will allow them to take
Re8 have saved him, by opening Queen's Indian Defense: Black decisive action.
an escape hatch for the king?No, places his bishop in front of
since White would have cut off its pawn chain, so that now he
his escape with the startling need no longer fear White's d4-
21 a4!!, threatening 22 Ba3. Accuracy to the end. Black d5. If the bishop had remained
Some sample lines: forces 27 f4, opening the diag- on b7, it would have been doomed
onal for a check. to passivity, whereas now it is
fully the equal of White's bi-
shop on g2.
IT. 2l..Qd6 22 c5, and now: ( See diagram, next page )
WHITE RESIGNED
a) 22..bc 23 Qh6 Bg7 24 Q:h7+
Kf8 25 dc, A powerful move, combining
the tactical threat of 15 B:f6
and 16 b4 with the positional
idea of either driving the bi-
shop out or inducing the e-
Smyslov only feinted at 3-4, once again, Smyslov comes out on
while he was really preparing a top, despite all of his oppo-
battery on the diagonal gl-a7. nent's tactical skill.
Now a2-a3 and b3-b4 is the threat,
driving the knkht away so as 39. c4:d5 ...
to attack the b-pawn. 33Rc2was BLACK RESIGNED
played to eliminate the reply If 39 R:d5 R:d5 40 cd Qe5,
..N:b3 after his 34 a3, and to threatening 41..Qal+ or41..Nd3,
or simply 4l..Q:f5.
This ame (and the one that
followsk decided first prize,
support the break c4-c5 in some
lines. As for lack's pieces, for all practical purposes. Smy-
the only difference between their slov displayed all his best
positions now and what it was qualities, while I played this
eleven moves ago is that theking important game with Geller in
has gone from g8 to h7 -and 40 Rc4 Qe3+ 41 Khl Nd3 would a manner far beneath any possi-
even this slight change is not be a mistake for White. ble criticism.
to Black's advantage.
,, ,. ,.,.,.
-I.-,- J--L-L-L
,\

170. Geller-Bronstein
41..Q:f5 42 Q:f4 Q:f4 43 R:f4 (Queen's Gambit)
Reshevsky now executes his Re2 would have been stronger. We
long-delayed thrust, when he 1. d2-d4 e7-e6
no longer has any real choice. get the same position in another 2. Ngl-3 Ng8-6
The rest follows quite swiftly, three moves, but White retains
( Position after 22 Qc3 ) his 5-pawn. And if White answers
presenting a sharp contrast to 2..f5 was a more suitable move
the deliberate maneuvers of the 41. .Q:f5 with 42 R:f4, then in order to play for a win, but
preceding stage. 42..Qc2 43 Re1 R:el+ 44 Q:el Nd3, Black was peaceably inclined.
with complications.
White's bishops are still re-
stricted, but his darksquare bi-
shop can go to e3, which is the
intersection point of two impor-
tant diagonals. Black should have Reshevsky sacrifices a pawn,
forestalled this while attempting but achieves his goal: compli-
to seize the initiative on the cations at any price.
kingside with 22..f5!
One may imagine that perhaps
Reshevsky deliberately refrained
from playing this here, in order
to play it after White hadplayed
e2-e4, and closer to the time- There was no reason to delay
control, for the sake of further the knight invasion of e4; af-
complicating matters. However, ter 13. .Ne4 14 Qc2 Bf5 White
this tactic proved unsuccessful would have had to reckon with
against Smyslov's clear, logical 15. .g5.
play.
23. e2-e4 Nf6-h5
24. Qc3-e3 Nh5-6
25. Bg2-h3 Nf 6-h7
26. Rd2-e2 Nh7-6
27. Rdl-1 Nf6-h5
28. Bh3-g2 Qc7-e7 After 18 Bg3, the queen sacri-
29. Bb2-cl Qe7-c7 fice 18..Q:g3 19 fg ef 20 e4Nf6
30. Rfl-dl Kg8-h7 comes into consideration: bishop,
31. Qe3-f2 Nh5-6 Threatening 46 6 and 47 d6. knight and the pawn at 3 would
32. Bcl-e3 Nf6-h5 White's pawns get underway now, be adequate compensation.
33. Re2-c2!! .. . and now they are six against
three!
We must give this move two ex-
clamation marks, as otherwise we
would have to give one to each A second pawn follows the
of Smyslov's moves. He emerges first, in order to attain the
as the winner of this game from sort of position where, tempo-
both the chessplaying and the rarily, the pawn count will be
psychological point of view. meaningless. If White plays this Black may already have gone
Reshevsky was unable to fathom stage calmly and accurately, his too far in his unwillingness to
the plan behind his moves.Here, two extra pawns must tell. And, undertake anything active. White
171. Kotov-Gligoric
has cleverly exploited his part- (King's Indian) The black knight wants to get
ner's weak play to work up some to e5, and White has to get it
queenside pressure, although In the struggle that is chess, out of there at any cost, which
there were no real threats as the blockade is not just an im- explains his knight's retreat to
yet. So the following blunder portant technique, but also one its original square.
of a pawn was totally uncalled of the elements in the strategic
for. plan. The methods for dealing After the sufferings he en- White saw nothing attractive
with any enemy piece may be dured in his games with Geller in the line 14 e5 N:e5 15B:h7+
ranked in descending value as and Petrosian from White's con- Kg8; although White keeps his
follows: capture (or elimina- tinual threat of c4-c5, Gligor- extra pawn and the semblance of
tion), exchange, attack, block- ic decides to close the center. an attack on the king, his posi-
ade. The attacked piece may be Although this does deprive his tion is actually quite hopeless,
defended in any of several ways: knight of the square c5, it also in view of lack's threats of
retreat is the simplest, but it retains solid control of d4, even ..N:c4, ..f4-f3, and ..Qg5.
may also be shielded, or the at- if his e5-pawn should go else-
tacking piece may be captured. where. Kotov's 8 Bd3 is the nat-
The idea behind the blockade is ural reaction for White, intend-
first to deprive the target ing to create threats on the di-
piece of its mobility before agonal bl-h7 in the event of Black has won the first skir-
actually attacking it. ..f7-5. mish, and thrown back the enemy
forces, but he has yet to win
In the most general sense, a the campaign. After regrouping,
blockade may be employedagainst White's pieces move out once
any piece, including the king, again to more active positions.
but when we speak of the block-
ade in practical terms, generally
it is in reference to pawns. They
are the easiest to blockade, and
the most dangerous pieces when
set in motion.
Gligoric loves a well-prepared
Which pieces best fill the breakthrough. A less patient
role of blockader? First and player would have been unable to
Of course! I had completely foremost, of course, the knight, restrain himself from playing
overlooked that the b8 square since while it blocks the path 19..a6 20 Bd3 b5 21 cb ab22B:b5
was controlled by White's bi- of the pawn it also attacks the Ba6, with a fearsome attack on
shop on g3. Now lack's game squares diagonally behind it. the a- and b-files and the long
slides rapidly downhill. The bishop is also useful for diagonal.
this purpose, since it can pre-
vent the advance of several
pawns simultaneously. One may
also blockade a pawn with a
pawn, but that is a double- Outstanding! Now, after ..b7-
edged weapon, since the block- b5, White does not take thepawn,
ading pawn becomes blockaded but replies Nbl-d2, threatening
itself. to drive away the queen, one
way or another, from the main
These are the blockade's sirn- The first link in Black'splan blockading square.
plest facets; the reality of of blockade: he brings a white
chess is a great deal more com- pawn to e4, which remains there
plicated. In the Kotov - Gligo- until the end of the game, ham-
ric game, Black succeeded in pering any effort by White to Beautiful play. The maneuver
maintaining a blockade of a con- obtain the initiative on the di- Nbl-d2-3 could have led to the
siderable length of pawn chain, agonal where his queen and bi- collapse of Black's entireblock-
thereby severely restricting, shop are so threateningly posted. ading position. Gligoric demon-
not only the pawns, but thepieces Meanwhile, he frees e5 for his strates that he is a true chess
too. Naturally, Gligoric didnot own pieces, and clears an irn- artist in the creative sense by
achieve all this for nothing: it portant operating diagonal for giving up a second pawn in order
cost him a great deal ofthought- his "Indian" bishop, in the to deprive the knight of the f3
and two pawns. event White castles long. For square and expand the radius of
I3L4CK RESIGNED all these advantages, Black has his blockade.
1. d2-d4 Ng8-6 only given up one pawn: an in-
2. c2-c4 g7-g6 significant price, considering
the circumstances.
12. f3:e4 f5-4
13. Be3-f2 Nb8-d7
wins owed less to the objective
strength of his 1 e2-e4 than to
~auzer's own creative talent.
the exceptionally logical pat-
lack's rook returns, but tern of his thinking, and the
White has improved his position accuracy of his calculations.
considerably: the knight cannow
@A@&@, 9 , Ay, go to cl and thence to d3, lift-
Rauzer's Attacks and Variations

A a,,
live on, and are still employed
gfiA ;gga.@
ing the blockade a little. to this day, even though it is
9
+,.A
gf$ 6.,,,2 B
possible for Black to defendhim-
self successfully against them.
A@ A p,
L ....A So working up forcing lines for

g,zw
A /2,,A'.., m
7, .,,
use in the opening battle, a
fearsome weapon in the hands of
dA p#L.&rne&@ABA
lw "p& a
such players as Morphy, Chigorin,
Pillsbury, Alekhine, Fine and
Botvinnik, is a method thatworks
a'' ''.
t, 4 -
g equally well for White or Black.
The player who uses a prepared
forcing line mav verv well run
~ - -..
into auforced refutation, as in-
deed happened in some games from
the present tournament. There is
A classic example of a block- no player, past or present, who
aded position. The blockade's Gligoric could have maintained has never made a mistake-an
immediate effect embraces four good winning chances with40..b3+ axiom that holds just as true for
white pawns, but its influence 41 ab ab+ 42 K:b3 Oe7 43 h6Ba4+ home analysis as it does for
penetrates much deeper: the over-the-board play. Which, in
lightsquare bishop has been turn, means that one cannot, as
turned into a pawn, the knight's a rule, gain the advantage this
own pawns occupy all of its way in the opening.
best squares, and even so mobile
a piece as White's queen is al- DRAW So there exists a different
most totally blockaded as well! concept of opening strategy,
Now Black threatens no more and After careful analysis, both which may briefly be summarized
no less than mate in two; and sides concluded that Black had as follows: that it is not nec-
the best defensive move is ans- An exchanging combination on no win. essary to make the very best
wered, at last, by the well- the theme of "interference and moves - only good ones.
prepared breakthrough. decoy". Once the white f- and
e-pawns started moving, lack's This was the creative atti-
One can only marvel at the game would crumble. 172. Boleslavsky-Taimanov tude of Lasker and Capablanca,
great defensive power of White's for example, and it is ~myslov's
position, and at Kotov's mas- (Queen's Indian Defense)
too. The advantage of the open-
terful ability to stay on his Does White get the advantage ing, in this case, is understood
feet come what may, considering from his right to the first move? to be the right to choose a sys-
the circumstances. Every chessplayer asks himself tem of development more suited
that question, and the answer is to the White player's taste, and
The bishop must get closer to not easily discovered. which gives him the greatestpos-
the center, in view of the sible liberty to express his
threatened 36 e5. One is forcefully reminded in creative ability.
this connection of Vsevolod Rau-
At the critical juncture, zer, one of our most noted mas- Statistics - a sound approach
Black fails to show the neces- ter-theoreticians, whose motto to the study of mass phenomena-
sary resoluteness. H e had to was, "1 e2-e4!, and White wins". show that White's opening advan-
calculate the variations and He was probably joking when he tage is quite real. In the var-
said that, but every joke con- ious eras of history, in every
advance one of his pawns. If The last moves before the tains its share of truth. This strong tournament for which rec-
27..a5 fails against 28 cb a4 time-control were made in a conviction that moving theking's ords were kept, White held aper-
29 Nd2 a3 30 Nc4 ab+ 31 KblQe7 hurry. Black could also have pawn first gave White the bet- sistent edge in the number of
32 e5, when the blockade is pushed his a-pawn without mov- ter of it, while 1 d2-d4 led
broken, then 27..b4 28 Na5 Ba4 ing his queen about; nor was wins. This advantage of White's
29 b3 would be very strong for White's next move with hisking only to a draw, inspired Rauzer should be considered as a ten-
Black, guaranteeing him at necessary. to work out amazingly deep and dency, which manifests itself
least a perpetual check. He forceful attacking systems in in the course of dozens or hun-
could, however, also retreat a number of openings: the Sici- dreds of games, but which hasno
his bishop to d7, continuing lian, French, Ruy and Caro-Kann, bearing on the outcome of any
the attack. and many others. Later, of course, particular game. It would be
it developed that many of his tremendously interesting to ex-
amine this tendency in histori- tor. Unlike Taimanov, he does reply, since 14..B:b2 15 Q:b2
cal cross-section: has the per- not forget his other option, ed 16 Ng5 Qg6 17 Nh3 favors
centage of games won by White that of shutting the fianchet- White.
increased or decreased by com- toed bishop out with d4-d5.
parison with what it was, say,
20, 50 or 100 years ago? One
peculiar feature should benoted:
the stronger the tournament, the White's pawn must be removed
weaker the influence of the ad- White's second and third from d5 at all costs: if Black
vantage of the first move. As "merely good" moves. Stubborn plays passively, then 16 Nd4,
examples todemonstrate this, one attempts to secure an advantage and the opening of the center
may cite the 1948 World's Cham- by means of 8 Bd2 or 9 bc are with e2-e4 is not to be pre-
pionship Match-Tournament, the still being tried- although vented.
1951 World's Championship Match the latter move does encounter
(in which White won four games the powerful rejoinder 9..Nc6
and Black six), and a few other (cf. Najdorf - Averbakh).
events. Does this mean that even-
tually the right of the first
move will give no advantage at One can onAy describe Black's
all? Time will tell... Opinions are sharply divided
over this fashionable move. It position as ailing". As you
In this game, the reader will is enough to note that some con- can see, one need not make gross
find a sample of ~oleslavsky's sider it to be a defensivemove; blunders in order to lose a
well-prepared and accurately- others, attacking. game; sometimes it is enough A most unusual position for
calculated opening play, followed merely to have played the open- the white f-pawn, which has now
by a natural transition into a The author possesses a rather ing superficially. Still, begin- gotten behind the f5-pawn's
combinative middle stage, and limited knowledge of the Queen's ning with this move, Taimanov back !
then an interesting endgamewhich Indian, and although 9..f5 did starts to play at full power,
is a win for White. In conclu- occur in the third and last en- demonstrating his customary re-
sion, we have a witty counter- counter between the previous and sourcefulness and invention.
combination by Taimanov. the present World Champions (Am-
sterdam 1938, Alekhine - Botvin-
nik), it would seem to me that
Keres is more correct in prefer- ~oleslavsky'scombinative style
ring the unhurried transfer of has one feature peculiar to him-
this bishop to a better square self: strict logic intertwined And is that all? -the reader
The first of White's "merely with 9..Be4. In this opening with his tactical strokes. A asks. Yes, and that's not so
good" moves. 3 Nc3 is universally formation, the f-pawn probably player of Srnyslov's or Makogo- little, either. It is a well-
considered "best". belongs at 7: the pawns at d7, nov's style would probably have known truth that the importance
e6 and f5 overload the diagonal played the more cautious 19 Rd2 of a weakness increases as the
c8-h3. - followed by 20 Rfdl, and if number of pieces on the board
19..Re6, then the temporary re- decreases.
treat 20 Nd3.
Here, White has at least three
advantages:
Of course, Black understands
In contrast to the ~ i n ~ 'In-
s that the knight does not belong 1) his bishop is active, while
dian, where the placement of the at c6; he is merely using that Forcing a series of exchanges. Black's is not;
white e-pawn makes no difference square as a springboard to bring
to Black, in the Queen's Indian the knight to the king's wing. 2) he can create a passed pawn
Black has to keep close watchon However, this costs Black ano- on the g- or h-file before
the e4 square. The difference is ther move, which enhancesWhitels Black can create one;
easily explained: in the King's initial advantage.
Indian, Black places his center 3) he can also get his king to
pawns on d6 and e5, leaving his With his advantage in time, the center more quickly.
queen's bishop the excellent di- White methodically prepares,
agonal c8-h3 to work on, where- and then carries out, the impor- These advantages are quite
as here the queen's bishop is tant push d4-d5, cutting the sufficient to win.
developed to b7, with a differ- black bishop's mobility to nil.
ent working diagonal, a8-hl. Con- ( See diagram, next column ) 27. h7-h6
sequently, it follows that the 28. ~~i:iz ~f8-e7
fewer pawns stand in the way 29. Kf2-3 a7-a5
from b7 to 3, the better lack's 30. Kf3-g4 Bb7-c8+
prospects will be. The nextphase
of the game could be headed,"The Black could no longer prevent
Battle For e2-e4", and it is Bo- this aggression: on 13..Ne7
leslavsky who comes out the vie- 14 d5 would also have been the
This
-- is proper: Black sacrifices
a pawn to activate his bishop.
40. ... Bc2-h7
Kf7 65 K:b4 Ke8 66 Kb5 Kd8 67 Kb6
lack's king reaches c8 just in
the exchange for a strong passed
a-pawn; later, he was to con-
With the passive 3O..Kf6 31 Kh5 Taimanov's improvement. Black time. With Black's pawn at b6 (or clude that the simple 14 ab was
succeeds in avoiding the ex- b5), the exchange of queens would better, retaining a positional
Kg7 32 g4, followed by 33 g5, not have been playable, since the advantage. This self-criticism
Black would lose without a strug- change of queens, since the
white king has to abandon the white king would have time to oc- is commendable, but I do not
gle. cupy b7, securing the route a2- consider the move Stahlberg ac-
~5 sauare.
a4.. .a8Q. tually made in any way inferior
to 14 ab.

Black is defending excellently. 173. Stahlberg-Najdorf


White's king will be pinned to (King's Indian)
the h-file, where it blocks the The queen ending is none too
pawn's advance. pleasant for Black either, but
still it is a queen ending, with
all of its attendant drawing
chances. This sudden turn in a
A trial balloon: White must game which White had thought was
now decide whether the black already over knocks him off his
threat of ..a4-a3 followed by stride. For the remainder ofthe
game, Boleslavsky appears to be A defense which Najdorf used
..Bc8-5-bl:a2 or ..Bc8-e6:b3 frequently prior to this tourna-
is dangerous or not. playing somewhat planlessly;
eventually, he overlooks a draw- ment, up until its demolition
ing queen exchange himself. at the hands of Euwe in Game 58.
After a lengthy recess, Najdorf
Boleslavsky has concocted an 43. Ke5-d5 is employing it again, without
interesting combination, but 44. ~b81b7+ Kd5-e5 fear of Euwe's 7 Bg5, which he
Taimanov finds a surprising 45. Qb7-g7+ ... intends to meet with 7..d6 8 N e 4
Qa5+, or 8 Qd2 a6.
loophole. The immediate 34 g4
was better, since White gets He ought to have chopped off
his pawn to g8 before Black the b-pawn without further ado.
can set up his breakthrough on
the opposite wing.

If White had been afraid to


lose, he could have continued
Black is preparing for the 16 Nc7 B:fl 17 B:fl Rac8 18 Nb5,
freeing and counterattacking when Black would have nothing
And here he ought to have sent move ..f7-5 by playing the ma- better than to return his rook
his pawn a-queening. White is neuver ..Nd7-f6-g8. The immed- to a8. Stahlberg goes for the
only driving the black king clos- iate 12..5 would be a poor win.
er to his h-pawn. move in view of 13 Ng5Ndf614 ef
B:f5 15 Nge4, and the pin is
not dangerous to White, with
his knight so well defended.
In this line, 14 Ne6!? is also Having given up the exchange,
interesting: after 14..B:e6 White ought to advance his passed
the king's bishop's diagonal pawn as quickly as possible; for
would be opened. this purpose the rook is better
placed at al, and the bishop at
1. If Black can blockade the a-
pawn, he will probably have the
While Black is busily executing advantage.
This pawn advance looks harm- his complicated maneuvers on the
less for White; does it makeany kingside, White threatens to
difference whether it's on b6 block the queenside, and then to
or b4? White carelessly repeats continue with 14 Na4 and 15 b4,
moves . outstripping his opponent's at-
tack. So ~ajdorf'snext sharp
move is practically his only White was threatening 21 b4.
means of holding the balance.
Doubtless expecting 4O..Bb3 DRAW
41 ab c2 42 g8Q clQ 43 Qg5+, Most unhappily, Stahlberg re-
trading queens, after which agreed: after 61 Q:g6+ K:g6 turns his rook to al. Had he re-
White's h-pawn queens. 62 Kd7 K:h6 63 Kc6 Kg6 64 Kb5 Stahlberg decides to give up captured with the bishop atmove
17, then here he might have 174. Euwe-Petrosian
played (other things being (Old Indian Defense) does free Black's game.
equal) 21 a6, when everything
would have looked quite a bit
different-
- - - -- - - --
Ne6 13. Rae1 d5 14. cd cd 15.Qb3 This rather risky continua-
Just in time to head off the Bf8 16. Re2 Qd6 17. Bcl tion is the only way to avoid
threatened a5-a6-a7. losing a pawn.
Neither tired player can mus-
ter the strength for any show of
aggression.
17..a6 18. Rfel b5 19. Bf5 Bd7
20. a3 Rac8 21. Qdl Nc7 22. B:d7
N:d7 23. Ne5 It was time for White to end
this foolishness, capture on
DRAW c6, and play his other bishop
With the a-pawn blockaded, to g5.
Black begins his attack on the
other wing. 175. Szabo- Averbakh
(Sicilian Defense)
A curious game. Szabo twice
The game was adjourned here; overlooked the same sort of
"little combination'' on the
p/a_y9,-. &QyP

!
after analysis, Black confi- @
dently converted his advantage same square, d4; after Averbakh's
:'@&
into a win. inaccuracies, however, he was
still able to achieve a draw. Kii&@J#gi#&
p&&py
The exchange of queens has
led to a difficult endgame, in
White has his choice of rooks.
Had Stahlberg played 42 B:f7,
the continuation might havebeen:
42..R:dl 43 Bh5 Ral 44 N:d6 N:d5
C..

L,,,,?
ggx,hgy 4i
. /& i'T/
G,. z , 9

a
which the chances clearly lie hv/ %/AP5$,ye
with Black, but the play is 45 Nb7 e4 46 N:c5 e3 47 Ng2 e2
48 Nd3 Nf6 49 Bg4 h5 50 Bc8 Nf3, &A&yJ@ g@
&$
//,

.'.
very complicated, with eight y
pieces wandering about the and Black wins a piece. This
&&; $&k7
A fa97@
board, any one of them capable variation is Najdorf's, andbears . h i..: ---
of surprises. witness to the way he spent the
time between the first and sec-
A comparatively rare and not
a very active system of the Si-
q 4 t@ fi $44
It is instructive to follow
the way both players try to
ond sessions. cilian. White is not in a hurry
to play d2-d4; and since his
g %A g e--
C..

cut down the mobility of the Rd1:fl Rf7:fl pawns all stand on light squares,
opposing pieces by tying them Nc4 :d6 Nd4: e6 he makes no secret of his wil-
down to the defense of weak d5 :e6 Kf8-e7 lingness to exchange his light-
points. Black's rook andknight Nd6-e4 Ke7:e6 square bishop. Once again, in the same spot!
are tied to the d-pawn, while Ne4:c5+ Ke6-d5 Black closes the rook's line of
White's knight, bishop and rook Nc5-a4 e5-e4 fire, which deprives the bishop
defend the pawn at a5, the pawn Kh3-g2 Rf 1-a1 on d7 of protection. Then he
at d5, and the knight at 5. Na4-c3+ Kd5-e5 swiftly doubles rooks, winning
Black's king now approaches the g3-g4 Ral:a5 the d-pawn: a most elegant com-
battlefield. Nh4-5 Nb4-d5 bination.
Nc3-dl Ra5-a1
Ndl-2 Nd5-f4+ An unpinning technique, which
Kg2-g3 Ral-gl+ consists of an attack on a dif-
Kg3-h4 Rgl-g2 ferent enemy piece with thepinned
Nf 2-dl Rg2 :h2+ piece, while simultaneously at-
Kh4-g3 Rh2-h3+ tacking the pinning piece. Ano- Averbakh no doubt thought he
Kg3-f2 Rh3-f3+ ther example of this technique could always take the pawn. If
An interesting, although in- Kf2-el h7-h5 occurs with the black queen at he takes it at once, therewould
sufficient, chance, which serves Ndl-e3 h5-h4 d8, the knight at f6, White's be complications: 2O..R:d421R:d4
to complicate yet again what g4-g5 h4-h3 bishop at g5 and his queen at N:d4 22 Be5 Nc6 23 Bf6, or
would appear to be a rather sim- c3: Black plays ..Ne4, attacking 22..Rd8 23 Bf6 Rd7 24 Kfl Nc6
ple position. If 4O..N:e6, then WHITE RESIGNED the queen with his knight and 25 Rc2. On 2O..Rfd8 therecould
41 de R:e6 42 N:d6 Rd7 43 Rfl+, also the bishop with his queen. follow 21 Rdfl N:d4 22 Bh4 R c 8
;t-ka*,t* 23 Bf6, and in either case the
etc. Najdorf finds an equally
interesting rebuttal. This "little combination" does win for Black is unclear, de-
not cost White material, but it spite his pawn to the good.
ROUND TWENTY-SIX be met as in the game with
and 24 dc. So Black must takeon 176. Averbakh-Euwe 16. .c4.
Black wants to ensure the best d5, and an equal ending results.
possible conditions for his (Nimzoindian Defense)
knight, while preventing the
above-mentioned possibility Bf6.
A brave move, and a beautiful
one, too: White's c-pawn is
nailed down-he never does play
Black expected to force either c3-c4 in this game- and even-
tually the white queen's bishop
the exchange or advance of
White's e-pawn, which would have falls without ever having at-
meant a further strengthening of tacked anything. There is an
DRAW element of tactics here as well:
the knight's position at c6; for
example, 21 ef R:f5 22 R:f5 gf
23 Bf2 Rd5! and 24..e5. However,
,.-..,.,.
,\
-9. .L.L
3.
L
.
,\
Averbakh must pay close atten-
tion to the diagonal c5-gl, since
Szabo has found a clever counter: ,.,,,.,.,.
-1_J--?-.l_.(_-)_
,L
a check by lack's queen at c5,
attacking the bishop on c4, could
if 21..fe? 22 R:f8+ K:f8 23 Rfl+ Toward the end of the tourna- prove most unpleasant for White.
ment, the grandmasters began to
lose some of their inventiveness
in the openings. Here, Averbakh
repeats the opening of Game 39,
Bronstein - Euwe, which led t o a On 18 g3 Black invades the
position rife with chances for light squares by means of a
White. Euwe played 12..Re8 in technique which should be fam-
that game, hoping thereby topre- iliar to every chessplayer:
vent White's e3-e4 for sometime; 18..Qh5 19 h4 Ne5 20 Be2 Bg4.
however, it turned out to be
playable after all, since theop-
position of queens allowed White
to answer (after 13 e4) 13..ed
14 cd cd with 15 N:d4 (12..Qe7
is no more effective in this re-
gard). After Zurich, everyone
plays 12..Re8!, hoping for the
continuation 13 e4 c4!

Now the opening is over. The


advance e3-e4 remains the under-
lying theme for the present, but
there will be other themes as
well, for example: White'squeen's
bishop is walled in by its own
pawns, and Black later sacrifices
a pawn in order to keep it impri-
soned; White no longer has his
king's knight, that sturdy de-
fender of the king's wing, which Put the bishop back on c.8,
inspires Euwe to devise and exe- put the rook on e8 instead, and
cute a sharp attack against the you will see that, after15..Re8,
white king. In general, Black must the move 16 Bb2 would have been
be acknowledged to have solved simply bad for White.
his opening problems successful-
ly; his last move (15..Bd7), how-
ever, is really a tactical trap,
and does not fit into the greater
plan: if now 16 e4, then 16..Ba4! In conjunction with his pre-
17 Q:a4? Q:c3. But lack's in- vious move, this is a bold and
tended kingside attack would have original idea, marking Averbakh
become much stronger after 15..Re8, as a genuine artist (it goes
intending to meet 16 e4 with without saying that deep calcu-
16..Ng4 17 4 Qh5 1 8 h3 c4, ob- lation was necessary too). Many
taining good play- 16 Bb2 would would have fallen for the move
~ajdorfrecommends here, 20 Qd4, The textbook maneuver 35..Ra2+ accordance with predetermined
but this leads to imediate de- would have secured an easy draw. schemes, and bide their time,
struction by 2O..Qh5 21 h3 Bc6! each occupying only his own
22 hg Q:g4, when Black wins the half of the board, without as
queen for rook and minor piece. yet encountering the other.
Now the white rook defends both
20 Bd5 was tempting, but then pawns, freeing the king to sup-
one of the symmetrical bishop re- port the passed a-pawn.
treats (to e6 or c6, 5 or b5),
combined with the threat of..N:e3,
would probably have given Black,
if not the better of it, then at Lulled by his opponent's appar-
least the opportunity to enter a ently pacific deployment, Black
quiet endgame. Now, however, in initiates the conflict. This is
spite of Euwe's outstanding de- a serious inaccuracy, whereby
fense, White maintains his extra he weakens not only his king-
pawn. side, but the central squares
too. It would have been most
sensible for him to place his
queen on c7 (instead of c8), his
Black defends the rook, and BLACK RESIGNED rooks on e8 and d8, and prepared
once again threatens ..Ba4, while gradually for ..d6-d5.
simultaneously hitting the bi-
shop.
177. Petrosian-Stahlberg
(Sicilian Defense)
White gets his queen out of This entire game is an excel-
danger, defends his queen's bi- lent illustration of Petrosian's
shop? and attacks the knight, So now it's an ending, in style: its highly individual
forclng a quick resolution. which White has an extra rook's positional pattern and its logi-
pawn, but Black can attack it cal consistency combine to create White's position is uncoiling
from behind with his rook: such a harmonious whole and an artis- like a spring: his pieces and
endings are generally drawn.The tic achievement. Curiously, not pawns turn out to be as harmon-
pawn is unable to advance with- one of the annotators of thisgame, iously placed for action in the
out the aid of the king; and in Stahlberg among them, could find center as on the right flank.
Attack and defense are both the time it takes for the king a single sizable error on Black's Black has weak pawns at d6 and
at their peak. Black brings to get to the a-file, lack's part! The contemporary game oper- e6, and a tornado threatens to
about an exchange of queens, rook or king can pick off a ates on such fine nuances that sweep away all obstacles on the
as if he did not see White's brace of kingside pawns. After they prove difficult to isolate, bl-h7 diagonal as well.
threat of doubling on the d- that, if worse comes to worst, even in analysis, to say nothing
file, winning a piece. However, Black can always give up his of over-the-board play.
this exchange is Black's only rook for the passed pawn.
means of holding the game: the
bishop does not fall, since
Black can attack White's bi-
shop with his rook and unpin
(25 Red2 Rc8). Pressed by White's central and
kingside superiority, Stahlberg
seeks chances on the other side,
but White's position is solid
here too.

The reader will doubtless have


noted that Petrosian is playing
a King's Indian Defense with the
White pieces. Defense against
what? The King's Indian is usu-
( See diagram, next column ) ally played in reply to 1 d4, but There's no rush: he knows what
here Black has not played the his position is worth.
corresponding l..d5; his setup
looks more like a Dragon Sici-
lian. Thus, we are dealing once
again with our old friend the
clash of openings, in which both
sides arrange their pieces in
An elegant breakthrough! Now nament, the conclusion was an isolated pawn's shortcomings
35..d5 36 h5 leads to a com- reached that 8..Nfd7! 9 Nd3 and neglect its positive aspects,
pletely hopeless position for Nc6 is Black's best line here. One such aspect is the absence
Black. Taking the pawn looks The move Boleslavsky selected of pawns on the neighboriq
relatively harmless, and would is more natural, but it's files, which is a point for the
appear to give Black counter- exactly what'~ajdorfwas count- "isolated" side, as long as he
chances, for example: 32..de ing on. can bring his major pieces to
33 N:e5 B:e5 34 fe Qc6+. Petro- those files. And so it is
sian's idea, however, is much here: the absence of pawns on
subtler. the c- and e-files is clearly
not favorable to Black. The
queen, for example, standsquite
uncomfortably at c7, and the far-
reaching power of White's bi-
The harrying of the black shops is also making itself felt.
queen continues. Black must now Under these circumstances, Black
make the important concession
The e-pawn hangs by a thread,
+
of his li htsquare bishop, leav-
ing White s flanchettoed bishop
takes the only proper decision:
to attack and eliminate the d-
pawn supporting White's center
but Black cannot take it, either without an opponent. The effects as quickly as he can.
here or on the next move. For of this will be felt for the
example, if 37..N:e5 38 N:e5R:e5 rest of the game.
39 R:e5 B:e5 40 N:c4 Bg7 41Be3,
and White wins the a-pawn:41..a6
42 Ral Nc7 43 Bb6. If Black could take the c-pawn
here, he would be saved, but- Black mistakenly stops half-
57..R:c3? 58 Ra7+ Kg8 59 Ra8+ way. 2O..b6 would have achieved
Kf7 60 R2a7+ Kf6 61 Rf8 is mate! Nowadays a player will select both of Black's goals by driving
a move not according to the ex- the bishop from c5 and eliminat-
ternal characteristics of a po- ing the d-pawn. After 2O..b6
sition, but by concretely eval- 21 B:a8, Black would also have
uating its possibilities. Here, had the pleasant choice of which
Black could occupy d4 with his bishop he wishes to leave White;
knight, but he sees that this I would have left him the dark-
would leave him with insuffi- square bishop, since after 21..R::
cient prospects for the further 22 Ba3 N:d4 the position compli-
Black has lost a pawn, buthis strengthening of his position. cates in a manner unfavorable to
weaknesses still remain. So Meanwhile, White could play White. However, the intermediary
White can fully expect to win, Rabl and b4, etc.; and with his 22 Nb5 strengthens the defense,
but some accuracy is still re- bishop working on the diagonal so perhaps Black would be better
quired: the queenside pawnsmust BLACK RESIGNED hl-a8, he could work up some advised to take the other bishop:
be secured, and if the e-pawn serious threats to Black's 21..bc, and after 22 Bg2 cd he
really must be given up, then queen's wing. During all this, has a strong passed pawn.
only in exchange for the a-pawn, 178. Najdorf-Boleslavsky
practically the only thing the
so as to set up connected passed knight on d4 would accomplish Then Black's pressure on the
pawns as quickly as possible. (King's Indian) would be to cover the weak pawn b-file, combined with the ad-
This is the point of his next 1. d2-d4 Ne8-f6 on d3 from frontal attacks along vance of his d- and e-pawns sup-
few moves . the d-file. This is why, instead
of the "strategic" ..Nd4, Black
ported by his fianchettoedking's
bishop, would have assured him
selects the combinative ..Rfd8, even chances, despite his small
aiming directly at the d-pawn. material deficit. ~oleslavskyse-
lects another, quieter continu-
ation, but it leaves the bishop
at c5 undisturbed, and creates
two new weaknesses for Black at
An important innovation by a7 and d5.
Najdorf. Moving the knight on A series of subtle changes
3 to e5 injects new possibil- has occurred. White's queen's
ities into an apparently harm- bishop has migrated to c5,where
less variation. After the tour- it cramps Black's activities.
White's d-pawn has moved up a
square, but it remains just as
isolated, and therefore just as
weak, as it was before. White's pressure is becoming
unbearable, so Black seeks to
But is it really weak? It is exchange queens; however, this
common practice to talk about should have cost him a pawn.
DRAW
The chief drawback of this ex-
changing operation is that it
costs White his most active 179. Taimanov-Kotov
piece, that being the bishop at (Queen's Gambit)
c5. He could have maintained his The first part of the plan is
two bishops with 27 g4, which now complete, but ~oleslavsky's 1. d2-d4 Ng8-6
would have led to the loss of a clever rook maneuver once again 2. c2-c4 e7-e6
pawn for Black in a considerably throws White's king back to the 3. Ngl-f3 d7-d5
inferior position: 27..Nh4 28 Be7, d-file. 4. Nbl-c3 Bf 8-b4
or 27..Nh6 28 h3, and the pawns 5. c4:d5 e6:d5
on d5 and a5 will not long sur- 6. Qdl-a4+ Nb8-c6
vive. 7. Bcl-g5 h7-h6
8. Bg5:f6 Qd8:f6
9. e2-e3 0-0
The point of this move is to 10. Bfl-e2 Bc8-e6
break up White's pawn structure, 11. 0-0 a7-a6
and most probably White should
have replied with the same pawn In Ragozin's Defense, the ab-
advance: 42 g4. Of course, after stract concept of White's open-
that Black could have maneuvered ing advantage assumes a concrete
..Rc6-h6-6-h6, to try to tie form: the black knight stands in
one of White's rooks to the h- Black's clever defense haswon front of the pawn at c7, which
pawn, but as long as White did his pieces a great deal of activ- must sooner or later become. the
not swerve from his basic plan ity. The fact that he no longer target of an attack, and the d-
of advancing his b-pawn, lack's blockades the b-pawn does not pawn remains artificially iso-
defense would still have been mean at all that he is letting lated for some time. In return,
very difficult. For example: it slip away from his attention. Black obtains what is referred
42 g4 Rh6 43 h3 Rf6 44 3 Rh6 Two rooks on the second rank are to as good piece play. There is
45 b4 R:h3 46 b5!, and if a powerful force. Here, for exam- no disputing that in the eyes of
46..Rb6, the king goes after the ple, on 50 b5 there could follow Schlechter, Teichmann or even
rook. 5O..Rb2, when 51 Rfb4 is notplay- Rubinstein, the backward pawn
able due to 5l..R:f2+. In addi- was something more substantial
42. Re3-e4 Rb8-d8+ tion, Black threatened 50..Ke5, than lively piece play, but in
43. Kd2-el Rc6-h6 driving White's rook from 4, our day the latter is more often
which is the intersection of the preferred.
lines 4-b4 and 4-2. White's
last move meets that threat, ~aimanov's next move initiates
Najdorf has, somewhat overcon- since 5O..Ke5 51 Rbf3 would cost a plan of gradually accumulating
fidently, allowed Black to dis- Black the f-pawn. small positional advantages.
White has now the very diffi- member White's f-, g- and h- First he secures control of his
cult task of queening his b- pawns, resulting in the exposure open file.
pawn, a task rendered more com- of White's king. lack's rooks
plicated by all those enemy can now threaten to check on the
pieces on dark squares, where ranks as well as on the files, 51 Rff3 would have been met by
they are very hard to drive out. and the black king's chancesare 5l..R:f2+!
Now White's king will approach also greatly enhanced. In such
the battlefieId. Black decides circumstances, it is hard to fix 14..c5 must be prevented, and
to enforce the exchange of the your attention on any one thing he would like to induce 14..b6.
The b-pawn cannot get far with-
last pair of minor pieces,which
completely immobilizes the b-
in particular, and so the pawn
at b3 takes only one more fbr- out the king's help- but how
pawn. ward step. can he throw his f- and h-pawns
away? If he leaves them to the
black king, then even if he suc- Having carried out both tasks
ceeds in queening his b-pawn, efficiently, the knight returns.
Black will be able to give up
The king returns home-and his rook at the queening square
An interesting rook endgame, immediately a black rook comes and draw by keeping either his
and beyond doubt an instructive knocking. f- or his h-pawn.
one as well. White wants to ach- An interesting positional ma-
ieve the following, if possible: neuver. By this threat to the a-
bring his king over to the b- pawn, White induces still ano-
pawn, trade off one rook, and ther weakening of lack's pawn
not allow the black king toreach skeleton. This maneuver would
his pawns. have been more effective on the
previous move, however, instead and about three-quarters of
of 15 Nc3. his chances as well.

This was almost forced:27..c5


28 b5 c4 was im~ossibledue to
- -

If he takes the a-pawn, his 29 R:c4! dc 30 ~ : c 4Nd5 31 Qb3,


bishop will be trapped. and, in any case, Taimanov was BLACK RESIGNED
planning to push u p a w n t o b 5 . Convinced that White has no
threats any more, Kotov takes
the game out of the realm of
chess and into that of psycho- 180. Gligoric-Geller
logy, inviting his opponent to (King's Indian)
--- take the h-pawn, expecting some- The second game between these
An invitiation to Black to 32. 6;2-f3 Ra4-a1 thing like this: 39 B:h5 R:b4 two players bore a great dealof
"free himself" with 20. .c5, to 33. Rc5-cl Ral :bl 40 R:b4 Q:b4 41 B:g6 B:g642h5 resemblance to their first: the
which White would reply 21 dc 34. Rc1:bl g7-g6 Qd6 43 Kfl, etc. -but even this same opening with colors reversed
B:a4 22 cd Q:d6 23 Nd4, with an is hardly advantageous toBlack, the same sort of difficult, en-
excellent position. especially as White also has grossing endgame -the only dif-
39 B:h5 R:b4 40 Rcl. ference was the result.
It should be noted here that
this psychological experiment
owed its existence in large mea-
sure to the sporting situation:
had he won this game, Kotov
Having squeezed as much as he would have improved his tourna-
could out of his pressure on the ment standing substantially, ov-
c-pawn, and seeing that it is, ertaking Keres and settling just
nevertheless, still standing, a half-point behind Reshevsky.
White switches to the e-file. Driving a wedge between two
The immediate 24 e4 would not wings, White splits the arena
have been effective, since the of battle into two independent
black knight could go to d5. A brilliant rejoinder. With- sectors. Geller immediately be-
White must create conditions such out deciding yet whether or not gins his operations in the re-
that a trade of pawns on e4 will he will take the h-pawn, Taima- gion nearest the enemy king,
lead to an immediate attack on nov forces the rook to declare while Gligoric comes up with a
the black queen. itself. If it abandons the a- roundabout maneuver: first he
file, then he will take the pawn. breaks on the queen's wing, and
Thus, White has achieved all The position of the white bi- only then does he go after the
a positional player could ask shop, and its simultaneous ac- king. The next few moves are
h e more positional achieve- for. With lightsquare bishoys tion against a4 and h5 are easy to understand, but this is
ment for White: lack's -pawn on the board, five of Black s strongly reminiscent of the pow- not a position amenable to pre-
now hinders the mobility of his pawns stand on light squares; ers of the king in Russian cise evaluation. In such cases,
own pieces, and the weakening White's knight occupies an ideal
position in the center, and can-
-
draughts could that be where
the bishop's move was taken from?
the player who puts more fantasy,
of the diagonal a2-g8 will make courage and logic into his plan
itself felt later. O n the other not be driven away; and Black's will be the winner.
hand, Kotot. played this move in- pieces are tied down to defend-
tentionally: had he feared the ing the weak g- and c-pawns,
difficulties just mentioned, he which stand on open files. If
could have played 24..Qf6. only White could also occupy White's dreams have come true:
the a-file with his rook! the rook rips through to the
eighth rank, and sows utter
What sort of attacking plan turmoil.
This was more or less forced. should White select? Since his
Attempting to strengthen his opponent's weaknesses are fixed
grip on e4 with something like on light squares, he should at- With this, Gligoric intends to
Nd2, 2-3 and e3-e4 would have tack the light squares, following The power of White's rook and exploit the opening of the b-
led to a powerful reactivation this rough scheme (and adjusting, the shortcomings of lack's po- file: there is no chance of a
of Black's pieces, which have naturally, for his opponent's re- sition become clear in the fol- break at c5.
been observing the white king- actions): h2-h3, Kh2, Rgl and lowing line: 4O..Bf7 41 Ra7 Rbl
side for some time. g2-g4; or he can retreat his 42 Qg5 (now White doesn't even
queen and then ylay 2-f3 and need his bishop) 42..R:dl+43 Kh2
The text move conceals a trap: e3-e4. Taimanov S following Kf8 44 Qh6+.
25..ab 26 ab c5 27 Nb2 c4 moves, 2-4 and h2-h4, destroy
28 N:c4! dc 29 B:c4 ~ d 30B:d5
5 the possibility of a break- The rook is shuyted to g6, to
Q:d5 31 R:c7. through on the light squares, support the pawns assault.
standing of the position.Ge1- play, strengthened his pieces'
ler takes on an endgame in which, positions to the maximum. Since
despite his pawn minus, he can White's a- and g-pawns, though
make Gligoric fight hard for passed, are practically motion-
the draw. less, not surprisingly Black
is in firm control of the ini-
tiative. White attempts to rec-
tify his error by means of this
rook incursion, and nearly suc-
Both sides have gotten closer ceeds.
to their goals: Black now begins
a determined assault on g3, Underscoring the weakness of
while White mounts an invasion, White's pawns at c4, d5 and e4.
beginning with Qb6. For once it turns out not to be
such a good idea to put pawns on
squares not controlled by one's
own bishop. As long as thereare
other pieces on the board, the White should not have allowed
pawns frequently get into dif- the black pawn to reach e3 so
ficulties. easily. 53 Kf2 was the proper
move, and after 53..R:a2+54Kfl
Black could no longer play
54..e3; White would then have 62. Kg2-3 Ke5-d4
enough time to attack the pawn
from the rear with Re8. The rea- This pawn, with support of
son for keeping the e-pawn un- rook and king, will cost White
der restraint will become clear his rook in a move or two.
shortly.
63. g3-g4 .*.
White remembers his ownpassed
pawns too late.
It seems quite likely that in 63. Kd4-c3
his preliminary calculations Gli- 64. K3:;?4 Rcl-el+
goric assumed that he need not 65. Ke4-f5 d3-d2
fear this position, intending 66. Rf2:d2 Kc3:d2
simply to take the e-pawn off 67. g4-g5 Kd2-d3
with his rook. Only later did 68. c4-c5 d6 :c5
he notice that the reply to this 69. d5-d6 Rel-e8
would be, not 57..N:e2, but 70. d6-d7 Reg-a8
57. .R:f4.
WHITE RESIGNED
White has shored up 93 as well
as he could. Now Black s last A textbook rook-vs-separated-
reserve, the h-pawn, comes running passed-pawns position. White is
to the aid of his pieces. Despite the limited amount of one move short of a draw: 71 Ke6
material remaining, Black has The final error: he shouldnot c4 72 Ke7 c3 73 d8Q R:d8 74K:d8
dealt successfully with his main have traded his bishop. Whitenow c2 75 g6 clQ 76 g7 Qgl.
concern: keeping the white rook rids himself of the pawn at e2,
out of his back rank. but the d-pawn becomes stillmore
dangerous. If the bishop had
simply moved back and forth along 181. Bronstein-Smyslov
Who has the better of it? There the diagonal, I do not see how (Ruy Lopez)
is good and bad in both positions: Black could have won. For exam- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6
for instance, White has a pawn Otherwise, the king gets to d3. ple: 59 Bd2 Rdl 60 Ba5, or 4. B:c6
more, but his rook stands poorly 59..R:c4 60 Kf2 Rc2 61 Be1 R:a2
at h5. We generally say such po- 62 Bc3. One of World Champion Dr. Em-
sitions are in a state of dynam- anuel Lasker's favorite varia-
ic balance. tions; he employed it at the St.
Petersburg tournament of 1914to
score a famous victory over Capa-
Gligoric has spent too much
A brilliant decision, based on time pondering and watting, while
an exceptionally ~rofoundunder- Black has, by his consistent
ROUND TWENTY-SEVEN
blanca. Since then, Black'sde-
fensive strategies have been 183. Keres-Bronstein
worked out to the tiniest de- Wrong: he should have taken (King's Indian)
tails; consequently, this var- on c3 without further ado, fol- 1. d2-d4 Ng8-6
iation is seldom employed any lowing this up with 10. .Nc6. 2. c2-c4 g7-g6
more, and is considered draw- 3. Nbl-c3 Bf8-g7
ish. 4. e2-e4 d7-d6
4 .. dc 5. Nc3 f6 6. d4 ed
5. 2-4 ...
DRAW The Four Pawns' Attack. This
7. Q:d4 Q:d4 8. N:d4 Bd7 9. Be3
0-0-010. 0-0-0 Ne7 11. h3 Ng6 variation has an interestinghis-
12. Nb3 Bb4 13. Ne2 Rhe8 14. a3 If the reader ever has such a tory. When it first appeared, it
Bf8 15. Nc3 Be6 16. R:d8+ R:d8 position with White, he should struck terror into the hearts of
17. Rdl R:dl+ 18. K:dl Ne5 never accept a draw; and if he King's Indian players. By the
19. Bc5 Bd6 20. B:d6 cd 21. Nd4 has Black, he should never offer aggregate efforts of many mas-
one. White has the better posi- ters, this attack's steamroller
DRAW tion. He may attack as he chooses, tendencies were neutralized, and
on either flank, with good pros- soon it was Black who began to
pects in either case. So why did score the points. The variation
Reshevsky offer a draw? Obvious- disappeared for quite sometime,
182. Reshevsky- Keres ly, he was making his own calcu- giving place to the more conser-
(Nimzoindian Defense) lations: there remained three vative setups with g2-g3 and
rounds, with no chance for him Bg2, etc., or the "riskier" at- The queen went to the kingside
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 to take first, and second place in order to attack the bishop,
4. e3 b6 5. Ne2 Ba6 6. Ng3 tack with 5 2-3, 6 Be3 and in the event that White castles,
now seemed assured. Perhaps psy- 7 Qd2.
Now the pawn threatens to run chology had something to do with with ..Ng4. The bishop could not
it, too, as well as arithmetic: retreat to d2 then, in view of
from e3 up to e5, which Black Recently, the storming varia- 12..Nd4! (using the well-known
cannot prevent by 6..d5 because after all, the three previous tion has reappeared, with new
rounds had brought him only one technique of decoying both the
of 7 Qa4+. Keres takes an inter-
esting, though not an outstanding- half-point... aspirations and new goals, of
course, and decked out with an
queen and the knight from the
defense of h2). However, White
ly good, decision: he allows the array of modern positional does have a better move.
pawn to advance, and then coun- ideas.
terattacks on d4.
In this game Black employs a
thirty-year-old defensive line
recommended by Alekhine. Not Now Black must beat a sad re-
surprisingly, the line has gone treat, so as not to suffer a
stale since his day, and Black worse fate. From the course in-
saves himself only by calling a dicated by his 10..0h5 and his
timely halt to, and making some ll..Ng4, one might logically
alterations in, his originally expect 12..Nd4 here, but then
intended plan. the well-considered 13 Qfl!
would set Black insoluble prob-
lems.

This pawn used to be pushed to Black's defensive system has


d5, but praxis has shown the line failed to justify itself.
6 d5 0-0 7 Nf3 e6 8 Bd3 ed 9 cd
b5 to be acceptable for Black.

Having suffered a fiasco on


the kingside, Black's knight
journeys to the queenside.
This is how the variation is Black must be very careful, con-
played nowadays. White has good tinuously calculating all the
variations beginning with f4-f5,
play for his pieces; unless since his queen at h5 makes a
he is prevented, he will not very tempting target for the
find it too difficult to putto- white minor pieces.
gether a decisive mating attack.

White straightforwardly im-


3 .. Bg7 4. Nbd2 d6 5. h3 8-0 Once again, Taimanov finds the
best move.
6. e3 c5 7. Be2 Nc6 8. Bh2 b6
9. 0-0 Bb7 10. c3 Qd7 11. Re1
Rfd8 12. Qc2 Rac8 13. Radl cd
14. N:d4 d5 15. N:c6 Q:c6 16. Qb3
Qc5 17. Qb5 Another sacrifice; this one
I would prefer lO..Qe8, in- is forced, since the knight
This is the sort of position tending ll..d6. hasn't the time to retreat.
where it is very difficult to
create any kind of complica-
tions.
White has decided to sacrifice This is enough for a defense,
a piece for the attack. Natural- but bringing up the reserves
DRAW ly, he has plenty of grounds for with 19..Nc4 was better.
this: the black king's knight has
been driven to a5, and the bishop
at b6 is also out of play. And
185. Geller-Taimanov the combined force of the bishop
(Ruy Lopez) at a3, the rook on the f-file, White must submit to this ex-
and the queen bodes nothing good change of queens and continue
Why is it that today- as com- for Black's king. Nevertheless,
pared to ten years ago? let's the fight with his two pawns
proves his position, and Black, 12 Nd2 first was better, since against Black's piece.
who has lost a great deal of say- so few masters wlll go in complete success will never be
time on the maneuver ..Qa5-h5- for fierce combinative attacks, attainable without this knight.
a5, is finding it most difficult with piece sacrifices? More than
to come up with a plan of equal any other reason, it is because 12. 7-6
value. The queenside diversion
he undertakes places his queen
the art of combinative defense
these days has reached such a
13. fiii4 ...
in jeopardy once again, but it high level that in the heat The further course of the game
turns out to be the only means of the battle it occasionally will demonstrate that this move
of maintaining the balance. becomes difficult to determine should have lost by force. Having successfully carried
15..Qb4 is indeed the thread who is attacking whom. Of course off his complex defensive task
which holds lack's game toge- it's fun to crumble the defenses and achieved a winning position,
ther. of an opponent's king move by Taimanov begins to play care-
move, to create irresistible lessly. Here the enemy pawn
threats, and to wind up the game The main line of Geller's com-
with a mating attack. But how ought to have been stopped with
bination ran as follows: 14..Nc4 26..h5; if then 27 g4 hg 28 h5
Now comes rapid simplifica- sad it can be to end up minus 15 Qf7+ Kh8 16 Bf8, forci~gmate. Rh8.
tion. both piece and attack, to sit It was not his fault that Taima-
and wonder:"How did all this nov's sharp eye spotted and neu-
happen? Where did I go wrong?'' tralized this combination. On
the other hand, White still has
This is, roughly, the psycho-
logical backdrop of the Geller
Taimanov game; but at the very
- quite a few attacking possibil-
ities. Another inaccuracy. 29..Nc4
end, fortune favored the brave. 30 R5el Nd6 was necessary.
DRAW
King's Indian players will have A powerful positional move The last mistake. He could
to find a better antidote to the that brings lack's bishop into have held on with 3O..Bg6.
Four Pawns' Attack. the game. The fact that a pawn
In the Evans Gambit, White is also gained, and with check
sacrifices a pawn in order to at that, is mere circumstance.
lure the black bishop to b4, SO
184. Smyslov-Gligoric that he can play c2-c3 and d2-
(King's Indian) d4 with tempo. Here the bishop
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bf4 is going to b4 of its own ac- After 17 cd Q:d4+ 18 Nf2 Nc4,
cord, and White can carry out White's attack would come to a
Two points in front of his the same idea free of charge, swift and bitter conclusion. Now
nearest rivals, Smyslov employs so to speak. Geller comes to an 17..~:e5would run into 18 Ng5,
quiet, solid lines for his last unexpected conclusion: since he while after 17..Be3, the rook
games, and does not avoid a draw, is not required to sacrifice one Occupies the d-file-with tempo, ( See diagram, next page )
whether he has White or Black. of his own pawns, he takes one creating boundless possibilities
For this game, he employs, once of his opponent's. for the attacker's fantasy in-
again, the variation he used in volving 19 Rf3 or 19 Rd3-
Game 139 against Boleslavsky. 4. 0-0 Ng8-e7
The advantage of advancing
this pawn to 4 is that Black's
pieces are denied the squaree5.
the other hand, this move al-
(3-1
so has serious drawbacks: Black
obtains a protected passed pawn
in the center, the darksquare
bishop is blocked, and White's
knight loses the 4 square.
Ngl-h3-4, creating the ever-
present threat of sinking the
knight at e6 and also of a pos-
sible excursion to h5, was much
better.

36. Bb4:a5 b6 :a5


37. b5:c6 Rg8-d8
38. c6-c7 Rd8-c8 And here's the idea! Now the A second inaccuracy, and this
39. d4-d5 Be6-g4 Encouraged by his preponder- rook can no longer reach dl, so one probably costs him the win.
ance in the center, Najdorf un- the d-pawn is defenseless. And
40. Re5-e7+ Kf7-8 dertakes a powerful wing demon- with the d5 outpost gone, Black After 25..Ne6 26 Bb6 Rd7 27 Rfl
41. g5-g6 h7:gb Ra6, White would lose his passed
42. h5:g6 ... stration. advances his pawn from d6 to d4,
and the game will end almost in-
pawn without getting any counter-
14. Qdl-d2 a6 :b5 stantly. Naturally, Kotov ob- chances in return for it. The
BLACK RESIGNED text move looks stronger, but it
15. Bfl:b5 Bc8-a6 jects to such an immediate and
16. Bb5:a6 Nb8:a6 allows Kotov an amazing resource
Worth noting is ~eller's fierce
determination in seeking every 17. Ngl-e2 ... painful end; so with his usual
defensive resourcefulness, he later on.
chance availabld,to him in the gives up an exchange for a pawn,
two-pawns-vs-piece endgame. Fol- The threat of ..Na6-b4-d3+ casting the game into a sea of
lowing his Round 24 draw with forces White to castle hurriedly interesting complications. Naj-
Reshevsky, Geller won three in on the short side, which means dorf, who probably thought his
that his main strategic idea- win would now be a matter of
a row, and in the next round he
was to add a fourth-the longest -
an attack on the kingside has
come a cropper. Now his whole
technique, must begin the fight
all over again. Psychologically,
winning streak of the tournament.
This brilliant finish assured game looks dubious. ~lack'squeen this is sometimes very difficult.
can travel the Great White Way, Had Najdorf foreseen White's
Geller of a good place afterhis idea, he might have played
disastrous start. 7-h5-g4, to approach the ex-
posed white king, the d5-pawn 3l..Ke6, followed by ..Nc5-d3; how-
looks very lonely indeed, and ever, fully confident that this
the white bishop has no pros- The first inaccuracy. There position was an automatic win,
186. ~otov-Najdorf pects. In such a position, an was a fairly simple win after he continued his incautious play..
(King's Indian) extra pawn is small consolation. 23..B:c3 24 bc N:d5 25 cd N:e3
26 Q:e3 Qd5, bzt who likes to
1. c2-c4
2. Nbl-c3
Ng8-6
g7-g6 17.
18.
...
0-0
Na6-b4
Ne8-c7
give away his Indian'' bishop?
3. d2-d4 Bf8-g7 And now Najdorf is ready to
4. e2-e4 d7-d6 19. Ne2-cl Qd8-e8
20. a2-a3 Qe8-h5 reap the harvest. First he will
5. 2-3 0-0 pick up the pawn at b2; then his
6. Bcl-e3 e7-e5 rooks will put the squeeze on
7. d4-d5 c7-c5 A pretty maneuver. ~ajdorf's
White's knights; then the e-pawn
8. g2-g4 ... threat of ..Qg4+ and ..Q:h4+
brings the white rook to 2. will go on to queen- bxt as the
White is willing to give up the Eastern proverb has it: If it
After his unhappy experience weren't for the wolves, our goat
with the opening as White in h-pawn without a check, but
could make it to Mecca." But now
Game 171, Kotov - Gligoric, in Najdorf has other ideas. ( See diagram, next column )
two howling wolves appear, in
which he played 8 Bd3, Kotov the form of a pair of white
switches to the more aggressive
continuation 8 g2-g4 and 9 h2-
knights...
h4, intending to break down the
black king's fortress at once.
should ask why I never played 188. Stahlberg-Averbakh
this, even once, in the thirty (Queen's Indian Defense)
rounds of this tournament, I 1. d2-d4 Ng8-6
would pick one reason out of 2. c2-c4 e7-e6
many, and reply that nobody 3. Ngl-f3 b7-b6
played 1 e2-e4, even once, 4. g2-g3 Bc8-b7
against me. 5. Bfl-g2 Bf8-e7
6. Nbl-c3 Nf6-e4
A fitting conclusion to a most
7. Bcl-d2 -..
interesting game! Where Kotov This is not a bit weaker than
took a knight and a pawn foreach the usual 7 Qc2. The bishopmove
of his rooks, Najdorf gets only awakened pleasant memories in
a pair of pawns for his pair of the chief arbiter of the tourna-
rooks, leaving Kotov the knights Now White has the choice of ment, the Czech veteran Karel
as interest, so to speak. HOW- 10 Qf3, stirring up interesting Opocensky, who introduced this
ever, two knights cannot mate, double-edged complications such line long ago.
as we know: they can only stale- as lO..Nbd7 11 h5 Bc2 12 h6 g6
mate. 13 Bc4 e5 14 Qe2 0-0-0; or10h5,
which sacrifices a pawn, but
49. Kg4:f4 Rg8:g7 leaves Black with a permanent
50. Nh5:g7+ ... weakness at e6. Boleslavsky
chooses the second, and better,
We should point out that in continuation.
the diagrammed position 34 N:f5
N:f5 35 Re5+ Kd7 36 R:f5 fails Beginning the fight for e4.
to 36..R:b2+ 37 Kg3 Rb3. Black
could also take the b-pawn at
once with 34..R:b2+ 35 Kh3 N:f5
36 Re5+ Kd7 37 R:f5 Ra3 . ~bjldl
Nel :g2
A curious decision: White of- Qdl-d3
fers to exchange queens, even e2-e4
though he is a pawn down! Pet- Qd3 :e4
rosian may have entertained the Ral-dl
hope that Boleslavsky would Ng2-e3
yield to the temptation to play
13 Qb3, hitting b7 and e6 simul- Black should not have detached
taneously; the text destroys his his a-pawn from its fellows. Now
Najdorf's chief difficulty is illusions (13 Qb3 Ng4 14 Q:e6+
that he is not sure whether he he accepts an exchange of queens
Kd8). in order to avoid the loss of
ought to be playing for the win
or giving thought to saving the his pawn after 19..Rae8 20 Qc2.
game. At any moment, one of the
knights may come up with a fatal
fork, so he keeps his rooks at
a respectful distance.
This game might better belong
in an adventure magazine thanin
a tournament book.

Black's pieces are tied down


to e6; however, White is unable
187. Boleslavsky-Petrosian to improve his position either,
(Caro-Kann Defense) and since he is a pawn down, the
game is quickly drawn.

( See diagram, next page )


This is Black's standard con-
tinuation in this opening. Al- DRAW
though theory considers it com-
pletely sound, I have a weak- ;k;*;~;k;9;~
ness for the impudent 4..Nf6
5 N:f6+ gf. If the reader who
wishes to trap me in my words
which is a most unpleasant thing 189. Euwe-Szabo
to have to do in a rook ending. (King's Indian)
lows, the d4-pawn manages to
outlive many.
1. d2-d4 Ng8-6
2. c2-c4 27-86

Active defense is too latenow:


36..Rd5 37 R:e6 Rd:c5 38 Rf2.
The bishop stands well here:
it defends the c- and e-pawns,
and prevents the enemy pawnfrom
advancing. Now White may consid-
er besieging that pawn.
White's brief weakening of
the long diagonal brings on
the natural reaction from Black.
Black's previous move stepped
up the pressure on the c-pawn.
24 Qa4 would have been wrong,
therefore, in view of 24..B:c4
25 B:c4 d3+ 26 Kg2 d2 27 Red1
Black has gotten in ..b7-b5 B:b2, when the White position
without hindrance, and stands is in ruins.
Btack cannot take the knight: quite well. For this reason, it
would be premature, even fool-
hardy, to make an attacking ges-
ture at this time: 13..b4
14 Nce4 Nc:d5 15 Rdl, and Black
11. 29..B:e5 30 de N:c4 31 ed cannot maintain his extra pawn.
N:d6 32 B:g7, and although the
pawns are still even, lack's
game is lost, since he cannot
stop White from creating a
passed pawn on the h-file.
Averbakh finds the best de- While Black plays on the wings,
fense, comparatively speaking. 40 a3 was a calmer choice. White methodically gathers his
Black's only counterchance is forces in the center.
in the hope that he can somehow
obtain White's a- and b-pawns
He could have taken the g6- in exchange for his e- and g-
pawn with his knight, but after pawns. In that event, White would
3O..N:c4 31 Bb4 Black could sac- be better off losing his a-pawn
rifice a piece with 3l..a3! on the third rank. Having bolstered his position
32 R:c4 ab 33 Rb3 R:a2, muddying sufficiently, White can undertake
the waters. considerably. Stahl- this step as well.
berg's choice is more conserva-
tive. This is completely worthless.
The pawn should have been at-
tacked with 4O..Rb6; the contin-
uation 41 R:e6 R:e6 42 R:e6R:b2 The black pawn at d4 is doomed,
leaves Black some hope, at least. but the c-file will be opened, From the diagram, one might
and the pawn at c4 will also be find it hard to believe that
a target for sundry assaults. It there might be a chink in White's
would be very tempting to put his position, and especially that
A waste of time; after 34..e5, knight on a3: after 21 B:a3 ba it might be at d5, which appears
Black would have had every rea- Black would control the important to be his strongest point, rest-
son to expect a drawn outcome. square b2- but not for long,
since 22 Qa4 would attack the
ing as it does on two firm pil-
But now White's rook reaches e5 lars and immune to pawn attack.
by force, completely blocking the BLACK RESIGNED pawn and the bishop at a6. So In this position, however, a
e- and f-pawns. the knight takes the other path. combinative motif appears: by
,.,.,.,.,.,.
-L-b-L->..L-L
As regards so-called "doomed" means of a series of exchanges,
pawns, we know - from Game 87, Black draws both of White's
for instance - that sometimes rooks away from the defense of
The winning move. Black's rook they can prove to be very hardy his queen's bishop, and then the
must assume a passive position, indeed. In this game too, despite c-pawn, which covers this bishop
all the bloodletting that fol- on the file, can no longer play
its role as defender of the ROUND TWENTY-EIGHT the rear.
d-pawn. 190. Szabo-Stahlberg
Now everything comes off.
(Queen's Gambit)
1. c2-c4 e7-e6
2. Ngl-3 Ng8-6
3. d2-d4 d7-d5
DRAW 4. Nbl-c3 Nb8-d7
5. c4:d5 e6 :d5
White was unable to prevent 6. Bcl-85 Bf8-e7 The knight takes up its post.
..B:d5; had he captured on e4
with his bishop, he would have
risked a possibly fatal pin:
Stahlberg's favorite defense,
with which we are already ac-
quainted from Game 8. Securing e5 against the white
knight and clearing f 7 for his
king.

The b-pawn is headed for b5;


its mission is to disorganize
the enemy pawn formation.
DRAW
Finding it difficult to shel-
ter his king from Black's insis-
tent checks, Szabo lays aside
his aggressive aspirations and
settles for a peaceable conclu-
sion.

191. Averbakh-Boleslavsky
(Dutch Defense)
1. d2-d4 e7-e6
2. Ngl-3 7-f5
3. g2-g3 Ng8-f6
4
5.. Bfl-g2
0-0 Bf8-e7
0-0
6. c2-c4 d7-d6
7. b2-b3 ...
The question of the "solidity"
of Black's system could only be
debated after the strictly theo-
retical 7 Nc3; the text makes
Black's task a great deal easier.
Time-is an excellent gift inthe
openlng .
The pawns are fighting hand-
to-hand now. White s b-pawn per-
ishes, but the bastion at c6
holds firm, since the c-pawn is
immediately replaced by itscom-
rade from b7. A quick look at the newgroup-
ing of Black's pieces reveals a
White has succeeded in giving curious picture: the queen has
his opponent a weak pawn on the taken the place of the king, and
open c-file, but the rooks will the bishop, the queen's. It is
certainly never take it, provided a typical deployment in these
the cavalry can defend it from positions where Black prepares
for ..e6-e5. advance renders the entire po-
sition dynamic. Had Black played
In some openings - Alekhine's
Defense, for example, or the
2O..Bf6, he would have strength- Grunfeld-Black moves an un-
ened his position still further. protected piece into the center
to induce the hypertrophied ad-
vance of White's pawns, intend-
~verbakh's insipid plav has ing to attack them later. Geller
--
allowed Black the chance to here executes a similar idea in
mount a successful kingside DRAW the middlegame. He is trying to
attack. Black intended a pawn induce White's pawns to advance
$;$:;k>\;k$; to 4 and to b3, which he soon
sacrifice her:: 14 ed f4!, open-
ing the queen s bishop's diag- Boleslavsky absent-mindedly accomplishes. Later, he willwork
overlooked the obvious queen 193. Najdorf-Geller up an attack against the pawn at
onal. Deciding that this would (King's Indian)
be a dangerous line, White re- check, falling thereby out of a b3, for which purpose he willset
captures with his knight, de- promising middlegame into a du- This game was identical to his rooks on the b-file and his
spite the temptation to open bious endgame. Now he must buck- the Najdorf - Petrosian game knight at c5, supporting the a-
the e-file for his pieces. le himself down to a laborious until move 12: again, Najdorf pawn's advance to a4. The reader
defense. gave up his central pawn for should note that Petrosian was
the black b-pawn, and thereby unable to carry out the same idea
abandoned the struggle to solve only because he had no piece th$t
one of the basic problems of could control the a4 square:the
By bringing this bishop out This, coupled with the pawn the opening. But where Petro- queen, of course, is not aproper
to an active position, and then advance that follows, is lack's sian,in the sixth-round game piece for this purpose, and the
obtaining his opponent's con- best chance. alluded to, immediately committed knight needs the square c5-
sent to its exchange, Boleslav- a serious positional error by which, as we saw, had been oc-
sky scores a weighty positioml playing ..c7-c5 and deprivedhis cupied by his pawn.
success. In the Dutch Defense, knight of its best square, Gel-
Black's lightsquare bishop is ler takes a lesson from that
considered bad (especially in game, and carries out a success-
the Stonewall variation), while ful queenside attack here.
White's fianchettoed king's bi- Despite the white knight's
shop is the mainstay of his po- threatening posture, and the
sition. The exchange of these rather humble status of Black's
bishops creates an unpleasant DRAW pawns, we consider lack's po-
situation around the whiteking. sition preferable. The knight
in view of 31..B:cl 32 R:clR:d5. will not keep its place on d5
for very long, while lack's
pawns harbor a great deal of
192. Petrosian- Kotov potential energy. White will
(King's Indian) have trouble developing his
rooks, and his wing attack on
1. d2-d4 Ng8-6 the kingside has fewer prospects
2. c2-c4 d7-d6 than Black's attack on the queen-
3. Ngl-3 g7-g6 side.
4. Nbl-c3 Bf8-g7
5. g2-g3 0-0
6. Bfl-g2 Nb8-d7
7. 0-0 e7-e5
8. Qdl-c2 c7-c6
9. Rfl-dl Rf8-e8
10. d4:e5 d6:e5
11. Nf3-g5 Qd8-e7
12. Ng5-e4 Nf6:eh
Najdorf follows roughly the
After his fierce two-day bat- same scheme he used against Pe-
tle with Najdorf, Kotov decided trosian: exchanging bishops in
to take a little time-out; thus, order to weaken the king's posi-
this series of simplifying ex- tion and pave the way for apawn
changes. First, the enemy horse assault.
is liquidated; then the rooks
disappear, and a drawish wind
begins to blow. One might add
that Black's activities were the
more successful, in that they The strategic idea is proper;
In the Dutch Defense, the g- received ~etrosian's wholehearted its tactical execution is faul-
pawn is a necessary ingredient support and cooperation.
ty. The weakening 25 b3 could
in all attacks on the king: its also have been induced by24..Qb&,
and the queen would have been White's goal would have been his bishop an exit to g5, and
much more actively placed. attained with 32 Qf4, with the simultaneously closing off the
same idea of penetrating to h6, Any queen retreat would have fianchettoed black queen's bi-
but without losing sight of the allowed 9..c7-c5, when Black shop's diagonal.
knight on e5, and maintaining has solved the two basic prob-
pressure on the pawn at d6.Then lems of the Catalan: the devel- However, all of these White
Black would have had to turn his opment of his queen's bishop, achievements would pale to in-
Black is going to extremes entire attention to defense,where- and counterattacking the pawn significance if Black would re-
in his effort to avoid the as now he succeeds in carrying at d4. After the exchange of call his own chances, particu-
out his plan of breaking into queens, further simplifications larly against the chronically
advance of his center pawns. quickly follow, and the game
This was exactly the proper the White position through b3. sick pawn at c4.
moment to answer White's flank winds up drawn. One must con-
attack, in accordance withclas- clude, then, that the queen's So we can see that both sides
sical principles, with a coun- meanderings from dl to a4 to are entering the middlegame with
terstroke in the center: 27..e6! c4 and back to a4 again, in roughly even chances: everything
28 g4 d5; now White's first at- Here is the difference between search of the sacrificed pawn, turns on which player handles
tacking wave has been beaten putting the queen at h4 and at were absolutely harmless to his pieces better.
off, and the black pawn cannot 4: in the latter case, lack's Black.
be prevented from advancing to last move would have been met by
a&. 34 Q:e5. Rapid development of White's
kingside (5 Nf3) holds out more
28. 4-5 Nd7-e5 34. a2:b3 Rb4 :b3 promise. The c4-pawn would not
29. 5-f6! Qa6-a7 35. f6:e7 Qa7 :e7 run awav, and Black could not White decides not to defend
36. Qh4:e7 Re8:e7 try to hold on to it without his c-pawn, in the interests of
Now it becomes clear that in 37. Bg2-d5 Rb3:e3 creating weaknesses in his posi- mounting his attack on 6 soon-
his singleminded pursuit of his 38. Rd6-d8+ Kg8-g7 tion. er. One must eventually consider
queenside idea Black has neg- 39. Rd8-c8 Ne5-d3 the development of one's pieces
lected his chances in the cen- 40. Rc8-a8 Re3-e2+ also.
ter, thereby handing over the 41. Kh2-gl Re2-d2
initiative to his opponent. 42. Ra8-a1 Nd3-b4
WHITE RESIGNED

This could have led to serious


difficulties. 3O..Qc7 was neces- 194. Taimanov-Smyslov
sary, to defend the d-pawn. (Catalan Opening)
A powerful move. White wished
1. d2-d4 Ng8-6 to take at f6 with his bishop,
2. c2-c4 e7-e6 and then to play his knight out
Trading queens would correct 3. g2-g3 d7-d5 to h5. Black does not object to
White's pawn structure, and cost 4. Bfl-g2 d5:c4 this turn of events, but he
Black his c-pawn and the game. 5. Qdl-a4+ Bc8-d7 wishes to introduce a small but
6. Qa4:c4 Bd7-c6 DRAW substantial change: 15..h5. Now
7. Ngl-3 Bc6-d5 the knight can only reach h5 by
-
:
8 Qc4-a4+ Qd8-d7 capturing this pawn, and this
195. Gligoric- Keres small detail changes the picture
(Nimzoindian Defense) completely: after White plays
N:h5, Black will have two attack-
1, d2-d4 Ng8-6 ing lines, instead of one.
2. c2-c4 e7-e6
3. Nbl-c3 Bf 8-b4
4. e2-e3 b7-b6
5. a2-a3 Bb4:c3+
6. b2:c3 Bc8-b7
7. f2-3 Nb8-c6
8. e3-e4 .. .
Five pawn moves in a row!
Strictly speaking, one should
never play like this, but here
the white pawns' inchworm pro- ( See diagram, next page )
gression is justified by the
introverted character of the
position. White wants to kill
three birds with one stone,
putting Black's knights under
threat of a pawn press, g i v i n g
has successfully beaten back the c) if Black wins the a-pawn, 196. Bronstein-Reshevsky
first wave of the attack; his his passed a-pawn will queen
without opposition; the "ready- (Ruy Lopez)
king now stands quite securely.
But what is he to do about his made" passed h-pawn cannot do 1. e2-e4 e7-e5
tattered queenside? this, since the white pieces 2. Ngl-3 Nb8-c6
are unable to clear its path. 3. Bfl-b5 a7-a6
4. Bb5-a4 Ng8-6
These are the major features 5. 0-0 Bf8-e7
of the position, and they serve 6. Rfl-el b7-b5
to explain why Black is con- 7. Ba4-b3 d7-d6
A knight usually stands well stantly on the offensive, while 8. c2-c3 0-0
at e5. ~ligoric's attempt to White can only defend himself 9. h2-h3 Nc6-a5
centralize his rook could have passively. Under the circumstances, 10. Bb3-c2 c7-c5
resulted in an immediate loss. White's defense must crack soon- 11. d2-d4 Qd8-c7
However, saying that White com- er or later. 12. Nbl-d2 Na5-c6
mitted an oversight is about the 13. d4:c5 d6:c5
same as saying nothing at all; 14. Nd2-1 Rf8-d8
it is a great deal more inter- 15. Qdl-e2 Nf6-h5
esting to speculate on the causes 16. a2-a4 Ra8-b8
of White's oversight. During a A powerful position for the 17. a4:b5 a6 :b5
lengthy war of maneuver, it not
infrequently happens that one's
queen: from here, it attacks the
pawns at a4, c3 and g2.
18. g2-g3 ...
combinative alertness is dulled.
I think that this is precisely
Inviting the knight in to 6; what happened here, to both play-
however, after 20 Nf6 Rg6 21 e5, ers. The courage of despair: White
Black's return visit with21..Ne3 already had no good defense to
would not suit White at all. lack's plan of ..Rg6, ..Ne4,
etc. Now Keres finds a series
This is not like Keres; in of pretty moves to force the
such cases, the commentator gen- win.
The merits of lack's plan may erallx justifies the oversight
be seen in the thematic varia- with tlrne-pressure". By trapping
tion 20 ef R:h5 21 Q:h5 Q:gZmate. the rook with 33..Ne4, Black
If Black had left his pawn at h7, could have either forced 34R:e4
the white knight at h5 would have or captured the knight on g3,
been unassailable. All this was since the knight could not leave
very nicely played by Keres. that square in view of the ob-
vious combination 34..R:g2+!
35 K:g2 Q:h5.

Up to and including Black's


Having broken out into the 17th move, this variation is
open, Black's rooks search for well-known to theory. Here18 g4
weak points. Nf4 19 B:f4 ef 20 e5 is recom-
mended, and White wins a pawn
The queen finds a roundabout due to his threat of 21 Qe4.
route behind White's pawns. Theory needs only a pawn ahead
White has dug himself in thor- to come up with its +, butthat's
oughly, but lack's advantage is not quite enough for-the chess-
of a lasting sort, expressedless player sitting at the board. It
in the activity of his pieces is frequently possible to win a
White's a-pawn sat for quite than in his better pawn position. pawn with such moves as g2-g4 or
some time under attack by the Specifically: ..g7-g5, but how then does one
knight at c4, hampering the mo- convert that pawn into a full
bility o White's queen's zook; a) all of lack's pawns form a point?
but now lack's a-pawn threat- single strand, while %ite's
ened to go to a4, fixing White's are broken into three islands", In this instance, is 18 g4
a-pawn as a permanent target. to use Botvinnik's expression; justifiable? I think not. After
1 8 g4 Nf4 19 B:f4 ef 20 e5, for
b) the pawns at d5 and 5 se- example, Black could play 20. .Bb7
cure e4 for Black's knight; if WHITE RESIGNED 2 1 Qe4 g6, and if 22 Q:f4 f6,
White should trade knights on when the game opens up in a man-
that square, Black gets a pro- ner clearly favorable to Black,
GligoricVs accurate defense tected passed pawn;
who is always assured of at White has not yet forgotten the
least a draw. golden rule: Always combine at-
tack with defense. Unfortunately, Unexpected, and quite pretty.
Such were the considerations
by which I came gradually tothe
he did forget this rule later. -
If the knight is taken which
is what White should have done -
Threatening mate after 42Bf8+.
The rest is understandable:
White wins the exchange, and the
conclusion that 18 g4 was not the rook goes to the second rank game with it.
the move. However, I could not and picks up one of White's bi-
allow a knight on 4, either. shops. Striving for a win at
Thus arose the move 18 g3; so all costs, White rejected this
far as my memory serves, this variation in favor of a subtle
has never before appeared Ln a trap; then, holding his breath, 4l..R:b3? 42 Bf8+ Kh8 43 Bh6+
tournament game. Black's pieces are now sowell he waited to see if Reshevsky Bd8 44 R:d8 mate.
posted that White's rook can would fall into it.
Black, of course, cannot take find no way to penetrate. Still,
the h-pawn, since after 19 Ng5 White has achieved something:he
White wins in all lines: the has created a passed pawn (al-
bishop at h3 and the knight at though it is not far advanced), This pawn will shortly cost
h5 are both 2 prise. which in conjunction with his Black his bishop.
two bishops represents a force
to be reckoned with.

19 Ne3 B:h3 20 Nd5 was not


enough to retain the advantage,
but there is no need for White
to be in a hurry: the square d5
is preordained for the knight,
and will not run away.
BLACK RESIGNED
*. ,.,.,,,,
.s-.t-.L.L-o-.,*
,\

White fears a black knight's ,.,.,. ,,


.L-L..--L-LA
,, ,,
invasion at d3, and therefore
strives to reduce the number of
pieces controlling that square.

Black is absolutely determined


to attack two bishops simultan-
eously. With this move- while
I was still writing it down, in
A pawn sacrifice typical of fact-Reshevsky offered a draw
such positions; in order to ac- (for the third time this game).
cept it, Black must give up his
lightsquare bishop. Now White Just as White feared, the knight
will be able to disturb his op- has reached d3. However, now the
ponent in various areas of the white rook reaches the eighth
board. rank as well, and gives the game's
first check.

White tries to open the posi-


tion as much as possible; this
will make the advantage of his In terrific time-pressure,
two bishops more tangible.Black White declined to play 38 c4in
seeks the reverse: to keep his view of 38..Rf5, failing to see
defense at least semi-closed. that after 39 R:e4 N:f2 40 Rf4!
the knight would be trapped. The
proper reply for Black would be
38..Re5, when White could hardly
have hoped to exploit his mini-
Black was ready to play27..e4 mal advantage.
and bring his rook over to h5.
fended, and the rook on bl would The last error in time-pres-
ROUND TWENTY-NINE have turned out to be well sure: he should have taken off
197. Reshevsky-Gligoric placed after all. White threatened simultaneous the knight at f6, retreated his
(King's Indian) check to the queen and the king, rook to e6, and tried to get his
1. d2-d4 Ng8-6 so the knight had to be removed. bishop to e4, after which the
Other lines would lead to still battle might have begun afresh.
2. c2-c4 g7-g6 greater advantage for White, for White would still have won with
3. g2-g3 Bf 8-g7 instance: 26..Nfe8 27 Qc3 Bg7
4. Bfl-g2 0-0 38 R:d6, sacrificing two pieces
5. Nbl-c3 d7-d6 28 Q:g7+ N:g7 29 Nf6+, or26..Nf:d5 for a rook, but activating his
6. Ngl-3 c7-c5 27 N:d5 B:d3 28 Nf6+, or, finally, own pieces to the maximum:
26..Nfe8 27 Qc3 e5 28 fe B:e3 38..Ne439R:a6Nd240RclNf3+
We are indebted to the Yugo- Black obtained a very good 29 e6. 41 KflR:b242R:c5, or38..Bb7
slavs for the introduction of game out of the opening, but 39B:f6Rg2+40KflR:g341Rd8+
this move to serious interna- he is totally incapable of de- Kf7 42 Re5: here there would
tional practice. White has to ciding which side is the better have been some practical chances,
decide here whether to push his one from which to begin his as- whereas now the game is over.
pawn to d5 or allow the black sault on the d5-pawn; thus he
continues to shuffle his pieces Recapturing with the bishop
knight to develop to c6 and would do little to improve Gli-
then drive it at once to a5. In back and forth. This sort ofcat-
either event, the game will be and-mouse play allows Reshevsky goric's position, since after
very interesting. Of course, time for a singularly favorable 30 Qc4 Nd5 31 Ng2, followed by
White's opening advantage will regrouping, and then White can 32 Rdl, lack's attack would
not be neutralized immediately, give his opponent a little trou- soon run out. BLACK RESIGNED
but Black has no need to fear: ble too. Gligoric ought to have
although White does stand a bit picked out a proper time to
more actively, Black still dis- bring his knight from c7 to d4; 198. Keres-Taimanov
poses of sufficient possibili- instead, he drops it back to (Sicilian Defense)
ties for the most diverse cre- e8 for some unknown reason, only In time-pressure, Reshevsky
ative efforts. to bring it back out again. could not bring himself to try 1. e2-e4 c7-c5
the forking line, although 2. Ngl-3 Nb8-c6
Among Soviet players, the Len- Black's resistance would have 3. d2-d4 c5 :d4
ingrad grandmaster Korchnoi is been speedily crushed after 4. Nf3:d4 Ng8-6
a virtuoso in this variation. 31 Qh8+ Kf7 32 Q:h7+ Bg7 33B:g7 5. Nbl-c3 d7-d6
N:g7 34 Rc3 d5 35 Ng2. Now,
Black gets drawing chances.
6. Bfl-c4 ...
White wants to trade off the Sozin's sharp system, which
hampering black queen's bishop. we have already seen. Theoret-
In such positions, I like the ical opinion concerning this
break with a2-a3 and b3-b4. variation has changed more than
Reshevsky copies Euwe's play once.
in the latter's game with Sza-
bo. I do not think it proper to It was played three times in
allow Black to get in ..b7-b5 so the Zurich tournament; today it
easily: 9 a4 might have been is the favorite weapon of young
played, even though this weakens Gligoric unexpectedly loses Robert Fischer.
the b4 square - but how important his patience, and comes up with
is that, if Black cannot extract a very dangerous plan to open
anything from it? On the other the game with ..e7-e6-danger-
hand, Reshevsky had played just ous because, while the e-file
that move some days earlier does fall into lack's hands,
against Boleslavsky. And although the combination of ..Bh6 and
he obtained an advantage there, ..e7-e6 hands White the impor- In Game 146 Taimanov played
he tries for more here-and tant diagonal al-h8 and the key 9..Be7 here against Averbakh,
winds up with nothing! square 6. Later, Reshevsky~~kes and lost. Now he returns to the
faultless advantage of this gen- older system with 9..Na5, so as
erosity". to be sooner rid of that perni-
cious bishop. Later, once he
had rehabilitated 9..Be7, Tai-
manov used it successfully in
If this knight had a chance of one of his games at the XXIUSSR
reaching c6 later, then this re- Championship.
capture would be justified. But The refutation of Black's
since the variation 12..Ba6 13Na5 idea. It's a real shame that the
N7:d5 14 Nc6 Nb4 is in lack's d-pa- is now attacked three
favor, the pawn recapture would times, not even defended once-
have made more sense: d5 and b5 and yet it cannot be taken. An old idea in a new setting.
would have been more solidly de-
In the final round of the 1935 Combinations can be part of the that attacking the e-pawn with two! The meaning of this latter
Moscow International Tournament, defense, as well as the attack. 16 Qb3 took too much time, while circumstance will soon become
the 67-year-old Emanuel Lasker Here we see the start of a com-
bination whose final goal is to
not giving White any real chances.
A different and more promising
clear .
destroyed Pirc's position right
out of the opening with a simi- wrest away the initiative from plan was adopted by Geller in
lar all-out attack, and received his opponent. his game against Taimanov from
the XXI USSR Championship. In- 33..Qf6 is useless, since
a brilliancy prize for his play.
Keres carries out a similar idea, 18. Nd4-5 ... stead of opening the f-file with White would bravely proceed to
but he is not following Lasker
so much as Tolush, who also em-
14 fe, he played 14 Qf3, contin-
uing his attack with g2-g4-g5.
exchange queens, continuin
not with 35 g4, certainly ?which
-
ployed 11 5, not too long before It would seem that somewhere would be good after 35..Kg6
this tournament, in his game with along these lines the fate of 36 Ke3 5, but would be refuted
Taimanov in the Leningrad Champ- Taimanov's defense to 6 Bc4 will by 36..Kg5)-with 35 Ke3!,
ionship that year. be decided. which forces 35..f5. After36g4,
there would be very few chances
In the meantime, however, Ker- left, it is true, but they'd
es must find the simplest means all be White's.
of neutralizing Taimanov's pres-
One of the positional rules - sure in the difficult endgame
capture toward the center - is that lies ahead. He decides to
being broken frequently of late. give up his e-pawn for Black's
In this position, the idea is d-pawn, and to retain the heavy This saves the game. All of
clear: to open the c-file for pieces for play against the White's pawns turn out to be
the white rooks. However, in the passed (and "almost extra") e- placed precisely where they
endgame, the disadvantages of pawn. are needed. If it were not for
his pawn structure could cause the pawn at b4, 35..Qc5+ would
White considerable embarrassment. win; the b2-pawn defends the a3-
pawn, which would otherwise be
Black must exercise some cau- Black does not fear the white lost to 35..Qd3+.
tion in completing his develop- piece invasion of his eighth
ment. Such moves as 12..b4, or 18 Nc6? would be a mistake in rank: after the e-pawn falls,
12,.e5, followed by 13..b4, may view of 18..Q:c6 19 Nd5 Qe8 it is White's king which will
win the e-pawn, it is true; but 20 Nc7 Qg6 21 N:a8 B:h3. be the first to come under a White threatened to attack the
they contradict Black's strategy. mating attack. e-pawn with 36 Qc2, and 35..Kg6
fails to 36 Qc2 Kf5 37 Qc8+.

Here is ~aimanov'sprepared im- White must begin this series


provement. The continuation in of exchanges, since retreating
the Tolush - Taimanov game alluded to g3 would mean going on the Keres has managed to plug the DRAW
to was 13..Qb7 14 b4 0-0 15 fe fe defensive. holes in his position by means
16 Qb3, with some pressure; here Keres may have hoped he would of some accurate play, and Tai- -since Black has no good de-
Biack covers e6 with two pieces, have the time to secure d5 by manov can find nothing better fense against the perpetual
and then quietly castles. means of 19 Bg5, followed by than to go into a queen ending check.
20 B:f6; only now did he notice in which White has a useless
that 19 Bg5 loses a pawn after doubled pawn on the queenside.
19..N:e4 20 N:e7 N:g5 or 20B:e7
R:f5. So White takes the bishop 199. Smyslov-Najdorf
first, and then plays Bg5. And (King's Indian)
A rare place for the queen in to avoid finding himself in an 1. d2-d4 NEB-f6
the Sicilian. Keres hopes either inferior position, he shores up
to induce ..d6-d5, or else topin his e-pawn with a number of ex-
Biack's bishop down to c8. Tai- changes, attempting simultaneous-
manov finds still another solu- ly to press his claim on the d-
tion: he prepares ..e6-e5. pawn. A quick glance at this posi-
I tion might leave one wondering
how even Keres, with all his
skill in queen endings, could
Black daes not wish to become save this game. However, there
active too soon, while his king are two peculiarities in this
is still exposed. Indeed, after position which ease White'stask
16..Ng4 White has the pretty a bit: the black king's scanty DRAW
strake 17 Nd5, when Black would White has made no obvious er- cover, which means White is al-
be in some difficulty. ror, but nonetheless the initia- ways threatening a perpetual This quick draw assured Smys-
tive has gradually passed over
to Black. It appears evident of White's queenside pawns-
check, and the solid position
after all, they are three against
lov of
dates'
of the
a clear first inthecandi-
Tournament, regardless
outcome of any of the
I
other games of the last two defensive measures on the king-
rounds . side (among other things, he
has covered d3 against a possi-
,k*;k;k;V:t ble knight incursion from c5),
but he still does not have a
200. Geller-Petrosian good defense for his c-pawn. So
(Nimzoindian Defense) he decides to sacrifice it. White cannot work up any ini- White's darksquare bishop is
1. d2-d4 Ng8-6 tiative anywhere; so he keeps unable to exert its influence
2. c2-c4 e7-e6 to a waiting game, taking care due to the excessively powerful
3. Ngl-3 Bf8-b4+ not to allow Black any important position of the knight at c5.
4. Nbl-c3 c7-c5 local superiority. ~oleslavsky'snext few moves
5. e2-e3 0-0 Complications such as 26..Q:c4
6. Bfl-e2 b7-b6 27 Nd4 Qf7 28 Qg3 Rg6 29 R:c8+ are aimed at ousting that knight.
7. 0-0 Bc8-b7 B:c8 30 Qh4 evidently appeared
8. Qdl-b3 c5:d4 double-edged to Black, so Petro-
9. Qb3:b4 Nb8-c6 sian declined the sacrifice.
10. Qb4-3 d4:c3 White has passed the dangerous
11. Qa3:c3 Nf6-e4 corner in safety, and now pulls
12. Qc3-~2 7-5 confidently in for a drawn fin-
ish.
While White made five queen
moves in pursuit of the bishop-
pair, Black has completed his
development and established a DRAW
knight in the center. Petrosian DRAW
now brings his rook to h6,block-
ades the white queenside pawns, ,.,.,.,.,.,.
.L-L-V.-L.V-.

and obtains an outstanding posi- 202. Boleslavsky-Szabo


201. Kotov-Averbakh
tion. (Nimzoindian Defense) (Queen's Indian Defense)
d2-d4 Ng8-6 1. d2-d4 Ng8-6
c2-c4 e7-e6 2. c2-c4 e7-e6
Nbl-c3 Bf8-b4 3. Ngl-3 c7-c5
e2-e3 0-0 4. Nbl-c3 c5:d4
Ngl-e2 d7-d5 5. Nf3:d4 Bf8-b4
6. Qdl-b3 Nb8-a6
a2-a3
c4:d5
Bb4-e7
e6:d5 7. e2-e3 ...
Black's wing-pawn push is a Ne2-g3 Rf8-e8 White wants to sacrifice a
well-known technique usedagainst Bfl-d3 Nb8-d7 pawn for quick development. The
pawns at a3, b4 and c4 (or the 0-0 a7-a6 present position offers little
corres onding pawns at a6, b5 grounds to recommend such an
and c57. 18 ba would have been After playing an unsuccessful experiment: Black is well devel-
met by 18..N:a5, attacking the long-term waiting game against The job turned out to be a
c-pawn down the file. ~eller's Reshevsky, Averbakh plays a more oped, and his king solidly pro- tough one, and White had to
reply weakened the c5 square. logical system with ..c7-c5this tected. 7 Bg5 would have led to resort to forceful measures.
Black's knight heads for it im- time, and quickly achieves com- some curious complications, for
mediately, forcing White to take plete equality. The cautious example: 7..Qa5 8 Bd2 Nc5 9 Qc2
it off next move. This helps, lO..a6 is directed against any Nce4! 10 N:e4 N:e4 11 Nb3 B:d2+
but only by half, since Black possible incursion of white 12 N:d2 d5, and Black is more
still has his other knight. pieces on b5. actively placed.

On 18 Qb3, White's queenwould White has improved his posi-


remain tied to the defense of tion somewhat, and he has won
the b-pawn, a circumstance which back his pawn. However, his pawns
Black could exploit by preparing are split; so despite his two
a kingside attack. Nevertheless, This refutes White's idea. If bishops, he still has a tough
he should not have weakened c5. The immediate 14..Be6 was more the bishop had taken on c3 at ending .
accurate. On e2 White's bishop once, then White's development
is better placed than it was on after 10 bc Q:c3 11 Bb2 would
d3. be full compensation for Black's
extra pawn. Nor would the trade
of queens at b3 have hurt White,
since this would reunite the a-
and c-pawns. But now the queen
must move to c2, and the exchange
will take place under circum-
White has taken the necessary stances unfavorable to White. Szabo plays this ending well.
Naturally, 28..6 would not
ROUND THIRTY 206. Taimanov-Reshevsky
work in view of 29 Bc6 Rd2 (King's Indian)
204. Averbakh-Geller
30 R:a7. (King's Indian) d2-d4 Ng8-6
c2-c4 d7-d6
29. Bd5:f7 Bd7-c6 Ngl-3 g7-g6
30. Rb7-bl a7-a5 White wants to maintain the
31. Bf7-d5 Bc6 :d5 connections between his queen- Nbl-c3
e2-e4 Bf8-g7
0-0
32. Rbl-dl a5-a4 side pawns: against the threat- Bfl-e2 Nb8-d7
33. Rdl:d5+ Kd6-c6 ened ..B:c3, he circumspectly 0-0 e7-e5
34. h2-h4 Ra2-c2 defends the knight with his Rfl-el e5:d4
35. Rd5:e5 a4-a3 rook (since after 7 bc, the a- The idea underlying this move Nf3 :d4 Nd7-c5
36. Re5-e6+ Kc6-b7 pawn would be cut off from the is to bring the knight via e5 Be2-1 Rf8-e8
37. Re6-e7+ Kb7-b6 main group). and d3 to b4, after White's Be3. 2-3 Nf6-d7
38. Re7-e6+ Kb6-a5 Bcl-e3 c7-c6
39. Re6-e8 a3-a2 6. h7-h6 13. Rdl c6 14. Be3 a4 15. Rabl Qdl-d2 a7-a5
40. Re8-a$+ Ka5-b4 7. ~~!jii6 Qd8:f6 Qe7 16. Re1 Ne5 17. b3 ab 18.ab Ral-dl a5-a4
41.
42.
Kgl-h2
Ra8-b8+
Kb4-b3
Kb3 :c4
8.
9.
e2-e3
Bfl-e2
0-0
d7-d6
Ned3 19. Re2 Nb4 20. Qdl Qc7 Nd4-c2 ...
10. 0-0 Bb4:c3
WHITE RESIGNED 11. Rcl:c3 Nb8-d7 White has zeroed in on the
12. Nf3-d2 e6-e5 pawn at d6; in order to capture
13. Be2-3 Bb7 :3 it, however, he must bring his
14. Nd2:f3 ... bishop to 4-when Black could
203. Stahlberg-Euwe develop the threat of ..f7-5.
(Nimzoindian Defense) DRAW
1. d2-d4 Ng8-6
2. c2-c4 e7-e6
26..Nf4 was impossible, in
view of 27 Nf3 Qf6 28 g5.

DRAW

205. Petrosian-Smyslov
(Queen's Gambit)
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cd cd A well-known technique for the
4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Nf3 Nc6 defense of the d-pawn in the
King's Indian.
Another form of Four Knights'
Game, which is not as harmless
as it might seem to be. A symmet-
rical position does not mean
that neither side wants a fight; A self-assured weakening of
perhaps it is only being post- his d4. Fortunately for Taima-
poned to a later stage. In the nov, this is not too dangerous,
present case, it is being post- in view of White's good devel-
poned to a later tournament. opment.

This continuation was discov-


ered by Trifunovic. Even Botvin-
nik, who had White in 1947 The weakness at d4 can only
against Trifunovic, had to take be exploited in an ending; and,
a draw as early as move 13. Pet- strictly speaking, now was the
rosian follows his example time to start thinking about
against Smyslov. exchanging queens. The varia-
tion 19..Qc5 2 0 Q:c5Nd:c5 seems
9. Bb5 Qa5 10. B:c6+ bc 11.a3 to meet the needs of the posi-
B:c3+ 12. Q:c3 Q:c3+ 13. bc tion, since the knight on d7
DRAW
goes to c5, and the threat of
the other knight to go to d4 5. Ngl-e2 d7-d5
would force White to keep a 6. a2-a3 Bb4-e7
knight posted at c2 to guard 7. c4:d5 e6 :d5
that square. However, Reshev- 8. Ne2-g3 c7-c5
sky declined the queentrade,
since after 20 b4 ab 21 ab Alekhine played this as far
Q:f2+ 22 K:f2 Black's mini- back as his 25th match game
mal advantage would not have Black is now threatening ..h5- against Euwe in 1937. By this
been sufficient to win. h4, so White retreats his king counterattack against the white
to gl. center Black removes White ' s
pawn from d4, and obtains the
possibility of settling down at
This,strong move equalizes e5.
the game completely; now 3-4
is a threat. So Reshevsky was 9. Bfl-d3 Nb8-c6
forced to accept the 10. 0-0 Rf8-e8
11. d4:c5 Be7:c5
DRAW 12. b2-b4 Bc5-d6
13. Bcl-b2 Bd6-e5
here. It seems to me that the Another achievement for Black, 14. Nc3-a4 Be5:b2
American grandmaster committed this one induced by his threat
his mistake even before the of 28..Nf5. The absence of this The battle is raging for d4.
start of this game: he should bishop makes itself felt later. worrying over mate threats. However, this is not an end in
have chosen a different varia- On 42 Kh2, Black had the itself, since controlling the
tion, or perhaps even a diff- elegant rook sacrifice 42..Rbl square in front of an isolated
erent opening. The line that 43 Q:bl Q:g3+ 44 Kg1 Qh2+. In pawn is only important in those
occurred in the game was too addition to this threat to in- cases where White can establish
well known to Taimanov. vade on the b-file with his rook, a piece on that square and has
~oleslavsky's attack hasgrown Black also had the simpler plan no weaknesses himself.
quite ominous. Euwe decides to ..g6-g5 and ..f5-4, so White's
sacrifice a pawn in the hope of position must be untenable. Black's further play is dir-
207. Euwe-Boleslavsky distracting his opponent from
(King's Indian) ected towards the enticement of
his king long enough so that he White's pieces as far as possi-
1. d2-d4 Ng8-6 can free himself a bit. ble from d4, and the creation of
2. c2-c4 g7-g6 Black could have brought his weaknesses in White's queenside
3. g2-g3 Bf8-g7 other bishop decisively into pawn position. For example, this
4. Bfl-g2 0-0 the game here by 42..Ba5 43Q:a5 trade of darksquare bishops is
5. Nbl-c3 d7-d6 (43 Qf2 Rbl) 43..Q:g3+ 44 Rg2 favorable to White, but Black
6. Ngl-3 Nb8-d7 Q:e3+ 45 Khl Rbl 46 Qc7+ Kh6 could not allow White to control
7. 0-0 e7-e5 47 Ne6 Q:h3+!
8. b2-b3 ... The lightsquare bishop, having
the long diagonal. And besides,
the white knight ends up in an
out-of-the-way location, from
An ancient line which has now sat for so long in reserve, now which it would require at least
gone out of fashion. The bishop enters the fray. four moves to reach d4.
never does get to b2.
15. Na4:b2 Bc8-g4
16. Bd3-e2 ...
White's queen had no good
retreat square, but the exchange
of this pair of bishops favors
On 11 Nd2, Black couldbrave- Black, not White.
ly proceed with ll..d5!, when Now the other bishop also joins This is why the bishop is
White's attempt to exploit the in the attack, heading for c7, stronger than the knight.
fork motif by 12 cd cd 13 Nb5 where it supports the queen in
would be met by 13..Re6 14 Qc7 its activities along the diag-
Qe8. And on 11 Ng5, Black could onal b8-h2. Boleslavsky plays
sacrifice a pawn for good pros- this phase of the game with WHITE RESIGNED
pects with ll..e3, and if 12B:e3 great skill. Just in time. On the pre-
R:e3 13 fe Ng4, or 12 fe Ng4 at vious move White could have
once, with good piece play. played 19 b5 to good effect;
208. Gligoric-Bronstein since it was important to
(Nirnzoindian Defense) maintain his knight at c6 then,
Euwe offers Black his g-pawn 1. d2-d4 Ng8-6 Black played 18..a6. But now
in exchange for the a-pawn, hop- White's a-pawn is insufficient-
ing to get the queens exchanged 2. c2-c4 e7-e6
and thereby relieve himself of 3. Nbl-c3 Bf8-b4 ly protected, and Black can re-
4. e2-e3 0-0 deploy his knight to e6, where
lack's rook is tied to the
it will hold a great deal of defense of the b- and d-pawns.
influence over the squares g7, White wants to get his king to
4, d4 and c5. White's plan of setting up a 5 or e5; Black s next fewmoves
powerful attacking position prevent this, but with them he
withRfel,Radl, Bbl, Ne5 and contracts a fresh weakness: the
2-4 induces Black to start By the exchan e of one rook, pawn at 6.
this exchanging operation, re- Black removes tie piece that
sulting in a lessening of the controls el, so that later he
number of pieces on the board. can set up some counterplay on
Thus, the threat of an immed- that file.
iate mating attack is gone, but
White's advantage remains,mere-
ly altering its form.

I
White's threats are assuming After analyzing the adjourned
concrete form: 32 Rd6. Kotov position, Kotov came to the con-
undertakes a raid with hisqueen, clusion that his position was
in order to distract his oppo- hopeless, and that his only
nent by threatening the safety chance lay in activating his
of his king. rook.

I There was absolutely no reason


I
to give up the e-file for nothing,
especially when he must submit to
an exchange of queens as well.
The only means of resisting
White's pressure was 32..5, for
Black's queen gets behind example: 33 g3 4 34 Rd6 fg+
the a-pawn. White drives it 35 hn Rd8, or 33 h3 Oh4+ 34Kfl
away, but it goes to c3; the 4. ijhite.would stili have held
rook hits it again, and it re- the advantage, but he would also
turns... have had a difficult time coor-
dinating his attack on the b-
and d-pawns with the defense of
his king.
After the trade of queens that
DRAW follows next move, Black winds
up in a difficult rook ending.
209. Smbo-KO~OV
(Nimzoindian Defense) White's positional advantage
1. d2-d4 Ng8-6 is indisputable. He may choose
2. c2-c4 e7-e6 between the advance of his a-
3. Nbl-c3 Bf8-b4 pawn to the fifth rank, perma-
4. e2-e3 0-0 nently nailing down the pawn at
5. Bfl-d3 d7-d5 b7, or an immediate attack with
f2-4-5, or the development of
his rooks to the d- and e-files.
All of these are good plans, ex-
cept that they are not forceful Black has done everything pos-
enough, and allow Black the op- sible: his king has broken in,
portunity to put together astout his rook is active, and the f-
defense. Szabo prefers to sim- pawn is now twice attacked. But
plify a little, leaving himself it's all too late: the d-pawn
Black prepares to fianchetto one concrete advantage: pressure will cost him the game.
his queen's bishop. White'sbi- on the open file against the
shop retreats a little way, so pawn at b7.
as to be able to answer ..b7-b5
with d4-d5.
with very dangerous threats, for
example: 17 Bh6 0-0-0 18 Qg4+ 5,
or 18 R:e7 Rg8, and White can-
not defend g2.

BLACK RESIGNED The next day, after the tour-


nament had already ended, Naj-
dorf, with his usual Argentine
fervor, showed all the partici-
210. Najdorf- Keres pants that 17 Bf4 would have won
(Queen's Gambit) anyway: 17..0-0-0 would be met
1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 by 18 R:e7 Rg8 19 Rc7+. And if
2. C2-c4 e7-e6 16..B:d5 instead, then 17 Bg5
3. Nbl-c3 d7-d5 Be6 18 Radl Qb4 19 Bh6, with a
powerful attack. In reply, Keres
4.
5.
Ngl-3
c4:d5
c7-c5
c5:d4 just smiled.. .
6.
7.
Qdl:d4
e2-e4
e6 :d5
Nb8-c6 ,. ,.,,,.
J--L-s-.!.-t--*.
,\ 8.

,,,.,. ,,,.
8. Bfl-b5 a7-a6 -*.J..bJ--l_.l_
a.

Keres loves to play


and does so with a great
ban ue
& ,.,,,,,. ,.
-v..v.t.L-Ld-
,\

skill, especially at the end of


a tournament, when his final
standing is in the balance. One 1l..Be7 has been suggested in-
can hardly help recalling the stead of the text. White might
last-round wins that secured have replied 12 d6 Q:d6 13 Q:d6
him first places in such strong B:d6 14 Nc4, with the better
tournaments as the XV, XVIII, game, due to the weakness of the
and XIX USSR Championships, and black a- and c-pawns. Still,
the 1952 Budapest International. this was better than ll..N:d5,
since Black could thereby have
The word "tournament" probably avoided subjecting himself to
awakens in Keres visions of ar- the perils of the direct attack
mored knights galloping towards that now encircles his king.
each other with lances at the
ready (and certainly not offer-
ing any draws!). Perhaps he saw
himself as just such a knight
when, in the final round, he A pretty piece sacrifice,with
elected to try for clear second the idea of keeping ~lack'sking
place, and for the third time in the center and attacking it
adopted this double-edged wea- there with White's rooks, queen
pon, his new defense- or, more and minor pieces. Keres has
accurately, counterattack- to caught a Tartar, indeed!
the Queen's Gambit. The risk
was very great, since his game
against Geller had alreadylooked
dubious; and now Najdorf, who is
known to specialize in forcing
lines, would be well prepared,
beyond the shadow of a doubt.
8..a6 is an improvement on the (-See diagram, next page )
Geller-Keres game (NO. 155), in
which 8..N:e4 was played.

DRAW
This is better than castling
here, when Black could reply Najdorf did not play 16 N:d5,
lO..de 11 Q:d8+ K:d8 12 Ng5Ke8. in view of 16..Q:d5; on almost
The text forces lack's bishop any White reply, Black castles
to a passive position. queenside, and then plays ..~g8,
CROSSTABLE

participants 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Total Place

1 Srnyslov x %% 1 1 % 11 %% %O 18 I

2 Bronstein %% x 1% 11 %% $0 %% 5% 16 11-IV

3 Keres 00 0% x %% ?& >"


2 2 16 11-IV

4 Reshevsky %o 00 2% x %% %% 4% 10 16 11-IV

5 Petrosian 4% %% %O %% x %% 0% %% 15 v
6 Geller 00 $1 +o %% %% x 11 %O 14% VI-VII

7 Najdorf %% %% %% 1% 00 x 1% 14% VI-VII

8 Kotov tl %% %% 01 %I 0% x 14 VIII-IX

9 Taimanov %% 0% %% %% 11 10 0% 01 14 VIII-IX

10 Averbakh %% 1% $0 4% %% 0% 13% X-XI

11 Boleslavsky %% %% 00 %O %% 10 %% 11 13% X-XI

12 Szabo %% 10 0% 0% 00 0% %% 01 13 XI1

13 Gligoric 0% 0% %O 40 %O 40 %% 0% 12% XI11

14 Euwe 00 %% 5% 00 0% 10 1% 1% 11% XIV

15 Stahlberg 0% %% 00 0% 00 %% 00 10 8 xv
INDEX OF PLAYERS

( The numbers refer to games

AVERBAKH - EUWE - KERES - PETROSIAN - STAHLBERG -


--Boleslavsky 191 - Averbakh 71
- Boleslavsky 207
- Averbakh 11
- Boleslavsky 37 --Averbakh 56 - Averbakh 188
Bronstein 131 Boleslavsky 82 - Boleslavsky 7
-Euwe 176
- Geller 204
- Bronstein 144
- Geller 114
- Bronstein 183
- Euwe 24 --
Bronstein 16 -- Bronstein 46
- Gligoric 30 - Gligoric 45 --Geller 50
Euwe 69
--
Geller 95
Euwe 203
- Geller 20
- Keres 116 - Keres 129 Gligoric 90 - Gligoric 158
- Kotov 96 - Kotov 6 -Kotov 153
- Najdorf 103
Gligoric 132
- Keres 3 - Keres 33
- Najdorf 43 - Najdorf 58 - Kotov 192 - Kotov 113
--Petrosian 161 - Petrosian 174 -Petrosian 108
- Reshevsky 77 - Najdorf 147 --Najdorf 173
---
Reshevsky 17 - Reshevsky 32 Reshevsky 117 Petrosian 72
- Smyslov 4 - Smyslov 19 - Smyslov 168 Smyslov 205 --
Reshevsky 143
- Stahlberg 83 - Stahlberg 98 - Stahlberg 138
--
Szabo 70 -Szabo 189 - Szabo 123
- Taimanov 198 -Stahlberg 177
Szabo 162
Smyslov 128
-
Szabo 85
Taimanov 146 - Taimanov 159 - Taimanov 29 - Taimanov 59
BOLESLAVSKY - GELLER - KOTOV -
- Averbakh 201 RESHEVSKY - SZABO -
- Averbakh 86 - Averbakh 101 --Averbakh 122 --
Averbakh 175
--Bronstein 157 - Boleslavsky 22
- Bronstein 170
- Boleslavsky 126
- Bronstein 61 Boleslavsky 152 Boleslavsky 97
-Euwe 99
Geller 127 - Euwe 9 - Euwe 111
- Bronstein 91
--
Euwe 137
- Bronstein 31
- Euwe 84
- Gligoric 60 - Gligoric 75 - Geller 35 Geller 167 - Geller 1
--
Keres 142
Kotov 21
- Keres 155
- Kotov 140
- Gligoric 171
- Keres 48 --
Gligoric 197 -- Gligoric 145
Keres 182 Keres 18
--
Najdorf 73
Petrosian 187
- Naj'dorf 88
- Petrosian 200
- Najdorf 186
- Petrosian 87 --
Kotov 51 -- Kotov 209
Najdorf 107 Najdorf 160
- Reshevsky 62 - Reshevsky 156 - ---
- Reshevsky 47 Petrosian 12 Petrosian 57
-
Smyslov 34
- Stahlberg 112
- Smyslov 49
- Stahlberg 125
- Smyslov 141
-- - Smyslov 64 Reshevsky 130
- - Szabo 110
Stahlberg 8 - Stahlberg 38 Smyslov 115
Szabo 202
- Taimanov 172 - Taimanov 185 -Szabo 100
Taimanov 74 --
Szabo 25
Taimanov 104
- Stahlberg 190
- Taimanov 44
BRONSTEIN - GLIGORIC - NAJDORF - SMYSLOV - -
- Averbakh 26
- Boleslavsky 52
- Averbakh 135
- Boleslavsky 165
- Averbakh 148
- Boleslavsky 178 - Averbakh 109
TAIMANOV
- Averbakh 41
- -- -- - Boleslavsky 139 - Boleslavsky 67
Euwe 39
- Geller 65
Bronstein 208 Bronstein 118 - Bronstein 76 - Bronstein 5
- Gligoric 105
Euwe 150
-- -Euwe 163 - Euwe 124 --Euwe 54
--Keres 78
Geller 180
Keres 195
Geller 193
- Gligoric 15 --Geller 154 Geller 80
- Gligoric 119
Kotov 166 --
Kotov 66 - Keres 210
- Kotov 81
Gligoric 184
- Keres 63 - Keres 93
- Najdorf 13 Najdorf 120
- Petrosian 42 --
Kotov 36 - Kotov 179
- Petrosian 121 - Petrosian 27 - Najdorf 28
--
Reshevsky 196 - Reshevsky 92 -Reshevsky 2 Najdorf 199
-- - Petrosian 134
Smyslov 181
- Stahlberg 151
--
Smyslov 79 - Smyslov 94
- Stahlberg 68
Petrosian 102
Reshevsky 169 - Reshevsky 206
--
Szabo 136
Stahlberg 53
- Szabo 40 - Szabo 55 --
Stahlberg 23 - Smyslov 194
- Stahlberg 164
Taimanov 106 - Taimanov 14 - Taimanov 133 Szabo 10
- Taimanov 89 - Szabo 149
ROUND - BY - ROUND PROGRESSIVE SCORES

Player 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 111213 1415 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

1 Smyslov
2 Bronstein
3 Keres
4 Reshevsky
5 Petrosian
6 Geller
7 Najdorf
8 Kotov
9 Taimanov
10 Averbakh
11 Boleslavsky
12 Szabo
13 Gligoric
14 Euwe
15 Stahlberg

Underscoring (-) indicates bye.

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