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Inside Chess Sample

Mikhail Tal on Combinational Chess

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647 views9 pages

Inside Chess Sample

Mikhail Tal on Combinational Chess

Uploaded by

rajveer404
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
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Volume 11, Issue 4

$4.95 US/$7.50 Foreign

INSIDE CHESS
is owned by ICE, Inc., a subsidiary of Masterpiece Games, Inc.
A Vancouver stock Exchange listed company (MPA) European Office: Postbus 59064,1040 KB Amsterdam
April 1998

Volume 11, Issue 4


iPUBtlSHER::: :
4 Yasser Seirawan:
1 Michael Franett;;:;
tt(@insidechess:cQin

4 TAL BEFORE THE SACRIFICIAL ALTAR


Dr. Minev unearthed a wonderful article on sacrificial play
by the immortal Mikhail Tal and we feature Part I in this
issue.
10 IT'SVISHY AT LINARES
Vishy Anand continued his winning ways at Linares and has
taken over the second spot on the FIDE rating list behind
Kasparov. Yasser annotates.
25 KARPOV GRACES U.S. AMATEUR TEAM
The U.S. Amateur Team Championship (East) welcomed the
FIDE World Champion and, yes, he got to play first board.

chessx;pm ;

34 JACK PETERS INTERVIEW


Long-time LA Times chess columnist IM Jack Peters gives a
revealing and fascinating interview to himself!

AtfiS:s

38 TAL SHARED AT TILBURG


Our newest CM reassesses his chess at Tilburg '97.

:ss Service
tAPHERS

::IM

DEPARflWilNlS
3 PUBLISHER'S MESSAGE
20 INSIDE NEWS

Jnsi
iand
jtjb

xpress its gratitude fethe fi)1

iby

27 COMBINATION QUIZ
29 ENDGAME LABORATORY BY BABURIN

msi
!$?9
isent

32 ATTACKING CHESS BY CHRISTIANSEN


be reproduced, stor
form or;by;any means
liout the ; prior wi
are those of contributors,
emat;

Cover photo: Catherine Jaeg

Publisher's Message

ow that we have moved to a


monthly rather than a biweekly
format for the magazine, I am hardpressed to keep up with the mercurial
changes in the world of chess. In the
space of a month, anything can happen,
and seems to do so with regularity.
Since FIDE successfully organized its
1997 World Championship, PCA Champion Garry Kasparov has come under
increasing pressure to defend his version of the title again. Garry's refusal to
accept a spot in the recent FIDE Groningen Semifinals, combined with a complete absence of any semblance of a PCA
qualifying system, has eclipsed Kasparov
from the championship limelight. Garry's
own recent admissions of PCA failings
presaged a "stunning" announcement and
it finally came at the 1998 Linares tournament.
At a press conference before the tournament, Garry proudly announced the
formation of something called the World
Chess Council. This would have been a
bit more newsworthy if the WCC was
not, at least, the fourth such organization that Garry has founded. Long-suffering chess fans may recall the GrandMasters Association (GMA), the European Chess Union (ECU) and the Professional Chess Association (PCA). Each
of these august organizations was supposed solve all the chess world's prob-

lems and the first two are dead, while


the PCA's life-support system is about
to be unplugged.
So now that Garry wears the World
Chess Council crown, what can we expect? Well, the word "council" is defined as: "a) An assembly of persons
called together for consultation, deliberation, or discussion, b) A body of
people elected or appointed to serve in
an administrative, legislative, or advisory capacity, c) An assembly of church
officials and theologians convened for
regulating matters of doctrine and discipline." The first two definitions don't
completely fit and the third definitely
doesn't, but let's not quibble. Who are
the WCC members and to which particularly onerous problems in the chess
world are they addressing themselves?
The WCC is a "council" of two,
Garry Kasparov and Linares chess organizer Luis Rentero, and they have
called themselves together to legislate
and advise on the World Chess Championship. Kasparov and the PCA found
the whole Candidates process quite tedious and expensive; so the WCC cut the
Gordian knot and named Anand and
Kramnik as the finalists, the winner to
meet Garry for the title.
So why my mirth and expectation of
an early WCC collapse? Why, the principals themselves! Luis Rentero is famous for fining players and, in general,
making a big nuisance of himself. His
blacklisting of players in the past has

earned him the enmity of many. Both


Kasparov and Karpov have publicly
feuded with Rentero to the point of mutual embarrassment. Now these two
fiery, temperamental personalities are to
work together? I think not! The first
run-in between these two volatile principals should be the last.
The second bump is that Anand has rejected Kasparov's offer. Anand had signed
a FIDE World Championship contract
stating that if he reached the quarterfinal
or beyond, he would not play in any other
(competing) World Championship event.
While Garry and Luis believe (probably
correctly) that the contract is unenforceable, Anand chooses to keep his word.
Perhaps Garry should skip the qualifying step and simply challenge the unfettered Kramnik? Well, there is rather
big problem here also. I'm sure the
highly-principled Vladimir Kramnik would
be extremely unhappy about being invited to a WCC Final. It would be a
cruel irony if Vladimir were to abandon
his principles now and become a "councilman" after refusing to play in Groningen because of Karpov's favorable
seeding. But if I 'm right about the combustible nature of the WCC, Vladimir
will be spared the dilemma.
As I said, I'm concerned about Inside
Chess only coming out once a month
now. I'm worried that these guys can
change the rules of engagement faster
than I can put out magazines!

The Internet Chess Club


The best place
to play chess
on the Internet.

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played per day.

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April 1998

INSIDE CHESS

-3-

Tactics, Tactics, and More Tactics

Reflections Before the Sacrificial Altar


Likhail Tal (1936-1992)
M,:

every foolish mistake. It is true, their


names are not mentioned in chess magazines, but the chess would not exist
without these unknown soldiers.
The most widespread offering at
Caissa's altar is the sacrifice of the
chess board's inhabitants. How many
Rooks, Knights, Bishops, and pawns are
laid at Caissa's sacrificial altar each
year! Queens also share the common
fate from time to time, players voluntarily part with their strongest piece.
Of course, the ultimate fate of these
sacrifices differs. Caissa gratefully acTranslated from Shakhmaty (Riga), cepts some of the sacrifices and the
#3-8/1966, and adapted for Inside player secures the recognition of his or
Chess by IM Nikolay Minev. Unanno- her contemporaries and the admiration
tated moves have been added in some of their descendents. But not always,
cases in order to complete the game sometimes the Goddess rejects the sacscores. The next three editions of Dr. rifice (I think, today this is described as
Minev's column will be devoted to the "an incorrect sacrifice"). What is to be
done then, but to wait for the next holiarticle by Mikhail Tal. Editor
day, and it is not far away, because
by GM Mikhail Tal
every game can, and must, be a holiday.
It so happens that I have often been beong, long ago, some unknown
fore
Caissa's sacrificial altar and I have
wise man (perhaps Brahmin,
given
many sacrifices to her. Some were
plowman or warrior) invented the marsuccessful,
some not very successful at
velous game of chess which has had
all.
I
want
to
share some thoughts on the
many mighty patrons over the years. In
subject
with
my
more or less experienced,
the course of time, the patrons have
more
or
less
successful,
colleagues. The
changed quickly, while the rules of the
reader
will
not
find
formulae
heretocongame have changed slowly, but one pafidently
predict
the
fate
of
a
given sacritroness still remains and, it seems, is
fice.
These
are
simply
reflections,
realive in the heart of every chess conflections
and
nothing
more.
noisseur. We are speaking of the chess
Goddess with the original and very
pleasant name, Caissa. Her kin GM Mikhail Tal-Amateur
Riga (simul) 1958
Pegasus, the Muses, Psyche, Hephaestus also have many devotees, devotees ready to make sacrifices, because
they all patronize the arts, and the arts
demand sacrifices.
Caissa also demands sacrifices, and
her servants are generous. Faced with
the demanding altar of the Goddess,
some give up hope of sporting successes
and opt for an unclouded and pleasant
life. However, many other of Caissa's
unknown servants offer her sacrifices
literally all their lives, from childhood
to a ripe old age, experiencing with the
same passion, every strong move and
was a great
player and a magnificent journalist. He
was also a rare World Champion who
gladly shared the secrets of his successes and failures in many articles and
annotations. The following article is
one of his little-known masterpieces, in
which he discuss different aspects of
tactics and combinational thinking. In
my opinion, this is a classic work,
which every chess player should know.
IM Nikolay Minev.

-4-

INSIDE CHESS

17.}xf7!

22.
23.d5 AbS 24.d6
25.d7+xd726.g8mate
GM Mikhail Tal-Amateur
_
Tbilisi (simul) 1965

! gxf5
23.1.e6
Sg8+!

24.See3
g6
1-0

25.
27.

Deceptive Tranquillity
JL he aggressiveness of chess players
shows itself in different ways. Some,
from the first moves, bring home to the
opponent what calamities he should expect and every blow is preceded by very
active play. Others are quiet for a time,
modestly developing the pieces and it
seems they don't intend anything menacing at all. The position is drowsy, the
opponent is at rest and, as a rule, in such
situations a subtly prepared explosion
proves to be exceptionally effective.
Here is one of such example of deceptive tranquillity.
French COO
GM Evgeny Vasiukov
GM Mikhail Tal
_
Baku, USSR Championship 1961
I.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.}d2 tf6 4.}gf3
k6 S.g3 dxe4 6.dxe4 AcS 7^,g2 e5
8.O-O O-O 9.e2 Ae6 10.c3 a5 11.
13.xc4 e7
14. JLd2 Sad8 IS.Sadl
Issue

The point of Black's combination.


Now the threat is not only against the
2-pawn, but, first and foremost, 21...h6.
That's where the negative qualities of
the move 17.Ah3 are shown.
2lJlf5
The Exchange can be saved by 21.
Ag2,butthenafter21...1?xf2+22. &hl
&e3 23.)h3 Axel 24.}xf2 &xb2,
Black has an advantageous endgame.
21...g6 22.b4 axb4 23.cxb4 e7 24.

Considering the position, it would


seem that the game will continue in a
calm, positional way, with no possibility
for combinations. This is not true.
When I began to think over my sixteenth move, I automatically gave attention to the continuation 16...Sxd2, but
very quickly I realized that this move attains nothing for Black, because after
17.xd2 Sd8 18.rcl Sxdl 19.Sxdl
he remains simply without an Exchange.
Now for something in the field of
imagination. It turns out that if White's
Bishop is not on g2, but on h3, the combination is feasible! I thought for forty
minutes. At first, my intention was to
continue 16...Sd7, provoking my opponent to play 17.Ah3 (with tempo!), but
I decided mat this would be too cheap.
White can continue simply 17.jk.cl, retaining a small positional advantage. So
I played . . .
16...Sd6
And now, to my astonishment, Vasiukov quickly answered with . . .

Black, continuing to pay attention to


the King's wing, doesn't want to simplify the position and declines 24...
xg5 25.Axc6 xcl 26.Sxcl bxc6
27.2xc6 JU6. In the game, Black
achieved an easily winning position, but
blundered in time trouble, and the game
ended in a draw.
d8 26.xb7 xg5 27.
28.a4 ^f8 29.A,bS ^d6
}xa4 31.<&g2 }b6 32.Sc5
WK1 33.b8! f3+ 34.<&>gl 0dl+
}e6 37.Sc6
39.Sd6 Wxe4+
40.<4>glbl+41.<4>g2 Draw
Ruy Lopez Chigorin C98
GM Mikhail Tal
GM Yury Averbakh
Riga, USSR Team Championship 1961

I.e4 eS
^if6 5.O-O
8.c3 O-O 9.h3

a6
b5 7_^,b3 d6
cS Il.d4
13.dxc5 dxcS 14.
g6 16.}e3 Sb8 17.

consideration and had decided to sacrifice the piece.


18...JLg7 19.^d5 d6 20.Ae3 h6
Black is heading toward White's intention. It is clear that in accepting the
sacrifice of the Knight, he must take
into consideration the possibility of a
strong attack, because White's strike
forces hold menacing positions and an
explosion can occur at any moment.
Less misfortune was caused by 21...
xf6, even if White also wins a pawn
in this case.
22.Sadl
The last undeveloped piece gets into
play.
22...e7 23.Axc5! Sxdl 24^xdl
xc5 25.xf6 hxgS 26.Ab3
Now Black cannot simultaneously repel all the threats.
26..^b727.xg6+ ^1828.^6+ 1-0

The Board Has 64 Squares!


Very often chess players suffer from a
peculiar short-sightedness. It can frequently be observed that each of the
partners, engrossed in thought, stares
only at "his" sector of the board, forgetting that any of the 64 squares can be
decisive. I will try to illustrate this reflection with two examples.
Ruy Lopez Zaitsev C92
GM Mikhail Tal
GM Boris Spassky
_
Tbilisi (m-11) 1965

I.e4 eS
a6
}f6 5.O-O Ae7 6.Sel bS
8.h3 &b7 9.d3 d6 10.c3

. . . which was immediately followed


by:
17...Sxd2!
d8
Sxdl 20.Sxdl

11.

Ie8 14.ig3 Af8 15.b4 <^cd7 16.


a5 17.a3 axb4 18.cxb4 h6 19.
dS 20.^i3h4 cS 21.Se3 c4 22.
d4 24.f3 Ia6

This po.sition is similar to the previous example where the Knight on g5


was also in danger.
18.WO
This begins a forced variation. The
Knight on g5 is deprived of all retreats.
Naturally, White had taken this into
April 1998

INSIDE CHESS

-5-

Even a cursory assessment of the position shows that the mass of White
pieces on the King's wing looks impressive: Queen, Rook, both Knights, darksquared Bishop. Nevertheless, that's
not enough for a successful attack. During the last few moves, as if bewitched,
I looked steadily at the h6- and g7squares, scrutinizing all the possible and
impossible sacrifices: Axh6, <}xh6,
Sxg7+, )xg7, ^,g5. But, as it turned
out, it is impossible for Black's position
to be crushed without the light-squared
Bishop. A review of the kingside sector
forced me to the conclusion that there
are no better places for my pieces than
those on which they now stand. That's
why I sacrificed a piece:
But Spassky's strongest answer . . .
. . . caused an immediate crisis, which
proved to be fatal for White.
&h8 29.
31.f4
33.&xg3 Ut
Sg6 35.h4 exf4 36.xf4 f6 37.
cxd3 38.^.xd3 ^e5 39.Afl ig5 40.
0-1

Now let's return to the position in the


diagram. The basis of Black's strategy
was to restrict the activity of the opponent's light-squared Bishop. Here was
White's last chance to slice through the
Gordian knot by continuing 25. a4! followed by 26.Sbl. By so doing, after
the elimination of the phalanx of Black
pawns, White's attacking forces will receive a very essential reinforcement
the light-squared Bishop. Of course,
White cannot contend that he will absolutely win in this case, but it is clear that
25. a4! was the strongest continuation.
To find it, White needed to look at all 64
squares, instead of only five or six.

variation is 18...^.xc3 19j&.cl! with


ideas similar to the game.
23.g3 h6
Sbl+ 26.&g2
28.b8+ 1-0

When Life Is Hard

Black answered White's last move after one-and-a-half hour's thought! The
Ukrainian Master entered into a forced
variation.
14...1,xb2 IS.Sabl AxdS 16.exd5
Sb8
The further course of the game shows
that 16...^,f6 17.g4 d7 18.h3 g6 19.
gxh5 xh3 was better, though White's
chances are also preferable in this case.
Now Black's attention is directed
mainly to his Bishop and, of course, to
the Knight, which are in awkward positions. Calculating quite far, Bannik
reaches the conclusion that the piece
can be saved. But, however strange it
may seem, the principal defect in Black's
position is an insufficient defense of the
King. Because of this circumstance,
White's decisive combination becomes
feasible.

-6-

a6
d6 7.
O-O

'uite frequently positions arise


which easily convince us that the natural and objectively correct continuations
give a good game to the opponent. In
such situations, quite a lot depends on
the character of the player. Some refuse
to ignore their chess consciences and
choose the objectively best continuation. Others consider that they should
keep the opponent in a state of constant
turmoil and often employ sharp continuations, even if they are not certain of
correctness. That's how combinations
arise which we will call "combinations
out of a hard life."
Sicilian Paulsen B48
Jon Kristinsson
GM Mikhail Tal
_
Reykjavik 1964
I.e4 c5 2.<ao e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.<^xd4 a6
c7 6.^.d3 }f6 7.O-O sc6
b5 9.a3 ^.b7 10.e2 ^eS 11.
h3 Sc8 12.f4 <

Black has counted only on the natural


18..d2, which can be answered by 18...
. But the game continuation was:

Here White initiated a combination,


which will lead to a draw with "normal" play.
13.)dxb5 axbS 14.&xb5 c6 15.

Ruy Lopez Steinitz Deferred C87


GM Mikhail Tal
Anatoly Bannik
Yerevan, USSR Championship 1962
I.e4 e5
tf6 5.O-O
bxc6 8.d4 exd4
c5 l

Sxa2

Now Black is compelled to capture


the poisoned pawn.
18..Jt,xc3 19.1xb8 Sxb8 20.Ag5
Because of the mating threat e8+,
Black must give up the Queen. An echo
INSIDE CHESS

If Black now plays 15...Wc7,then 16.


will follow with a repetition of
moves. But, because I don't like to
make a draw so early, I decided to undertake a very risky plan.
15...)xe3!? 16.ixc6 AcS
16..J2xc6 would be weaker because
of 17.Sf3. For the time being, Black has
Issue 4

only two minor pieces for the Queen,


but almost all his forces are mobilized.
If Black succeeds in winning the e4pawn, then his offensive will become
dangerous. For example, if 17.^a5,
then 17...Axe4 is possible, as well as
17....&a8 (I especially liked this move),
with the intention of capturing on e4 with
the Knight. In this latter case, Black's
light-squared Bishop will have a very important role in subsequent play.
It seems that the only move which
brings the correctness of Black's conception into question is 17.b4 Ab6 18.
c4!, and if 18...}xfl+, then 19.c5. But
even then, Black will have enough compensation for the Queen. Kristinsson
did not find this continuation and gave
back my material, with interest.
18.1xfl &xc6
White's pawns on the queenside are
not dangerous, because Black's attack
develops faster. The remaining fight is
also interesting.
19x4 d6 20.0C2 JLd4 21M e5 2115 &e7
21a4 g6 24.b5 Aa8 25.'e2 Scg8 26.a5
h5 27.g3 Sh7 28.^g2 Shg7 29. fxg6
Sxg6 30Sf3 }h7 31.el }g5 32.Sfl

Ixg3+ 34.<&>h2
36.Sxgl Sxgl+

32...ixe4!
37.xgl

0-1

AHA

Now, in my opinion, Black's initiative


promises him a draw.

The result of the opening is clearly in


White's favor. He possesses greater
space and it is difficult to find possibilities for Black counterplay. White's attack threatens to become irresistible in a
few moves. Knowing how inflexibly
and with what clear purpose the Yugoslavian Grandmaster realizes positional
advantages, I was sure that passive defense equalled defeat. That's why I began to fish in troubled waters. I
succeeded in sharpening the situation
and taking the fight to my opponent. I
must confess that a considerable role
was played by mutual time trouble.
23...c5! 24.bxc5 dxcS 2S.Axd8
26. Shi Ixd8
Black has no obvious compensation
for the sacrificed Exchange, but White
was unable to find the most effective
continuations and Black managed to
achieve counterplay.
)e5 28.)d5 <&>g7 29.Sbl
30.Sb3 d7 31.Sebl Sa6 32.
6 33.h3 h5 34.tf5 2a4 35.
Sb6 We 36.^c2 Sa3 37.S6b3 0a4
38.)b6 Sa2 39.ixa4
Gligoric does not fall into the trap. If
39.Slb2?, then 39...xb3 and Black is
already out of any troubles.
39...1xc2

King 's Indian Classical E96


GM Svetozar Gligoric
GM Mikhail Tal
_

Leipzig Olympiad 1960

I.d4 > 2.c4 g6 3.}c3 Ag7 4.e4 d6


S&B O-O 6.Ae2 e5 7.O-O ^bd7 8.
lei Ie8 9. Afl c6 lO.Ebl exd4 11.
12.f3 a5 13^,e3 c7 14.
15.b3 Sad8 16.a3 Ac8 17.
b4 axb4 18.axb4 x& 19.Sbcl

42.Sxb7 J,xh3 43.gxh3


Sxg2 46.Sfxf7+
Ia2 49.Sb6+ <
50.\e6+ <&g6 51.id8+ &g5 52.
Draw
g3 54.)xd4+ <&h7 55.Sb7+
and White must force a draw.

Diving off the Springboard


46U

JT1.OW many moves can a Grand-

master calculate?" "Please, show your


longest combination." "Did the author
of the combination take into consideration all the possibilities?" I am often
asked such questions.
First of all, let me stress that combinations are different, not only in type, but
also in spirit. There are more or less
complicated, forced combinations which
can be calculated till mate or till the
achievement of a very substantial advantage. In other words, combinations
which are designed for a victory. That
such a combination can be very complicated is shown, for example, by the
famous game Botvinnik-Capablanca,
in which the main variation runs to fifteen moves. But we cannot always
make so long a trip. Every chess
player is familiar with the situation in
which you become aware of an attractive combination, but are unable to calculate the consequences in full. Often
such attempts are without success and
consume a great deal of energy. That
is why experienced players trust their
feelings and terminate the calculation
at some definite position. If they like
this position, then they look at it as a
kind of "springboard" for the further
conduct of the fight.
This happened in my game with
Keres in the 1959 Bled Candidates
tournament, but, unfortunately, it
turned out that my faith in the jump
from the springboard was misplaced.

Le5 23.Ag5
April 1998

The game was adjourned here.


Analysis showed that only after 41.f4!
does White maintain good winning
chances. Instead, Gligoric sealed another, more natural-looking move.

INSIDE CHESS

-7-

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GM Paul Keres-GM Mikhail Tal


Bled (ct) 1959

Black's position is preferable. White's


King's wing has weaknesses and, on occasion, Black's Bishop threatens to enter play with effect. In other words,
terrible tactical clouds are hanging over
White's position. Here the moves 28...
lTc6 or 28...We7 look attractive, but
they don't force events enough. However, Black has an order of moves with
which he achieves a very dangerous attack by force.
28...^xe3! 29.Hcl
The only move. 29.Axc8 and 29.
dxe3 are weak because of 29...Wc6!
29...We7! 30.dxe3
It is clear that in case of 30.Axe8 or
SO.HxcS, 30...1fxh4 will follow.
Wh3+ 32.<4>e2

I had reached this position in my preliminary calculations. I have three


pawns for the piece and White's King is
in a bad position. (Translator's note:
This is the springboard position see
Tal's note to the diagram above.)
33...Sfd8+ 34.^d4 Wg3 35.Sf4
Sxcl?
April 1998

Here I blundered and allowed White


good possibilities for counterplay. Instead, the immediate 35...ttg2+ 36.
Jle2 ttd5 gains a fourth pawn and retains excellent prospects for a strong attack. In playing 35...Hxcl?, I overlooked White's 38th move.
36.xcl g2+ 37.Ae2 d5 38.Wc7!
Sd7 39.Wc4
After the exchange of Queens, Keres
demonstrated in masterly fashion that,
in this situation, the piece is stronger
than three pawns.
39...*g7 40.!?xd5 AxdS 41.Ab5 Sc7
42.e4 AaS 43.*>e3 Hc3+ 44.Ad3 b3
4S.Sfl Sc5 46.^xb3 SxeS 47.Scl
ShS 48.Sc7 4>f6 49.)c5 <4>e5 50.
}d7+ *d6 51.Sa7 e5 52.Sxa8 <4>xd7
53.Sxa5 Sh3+ 54.<*d2 Sh2+ 55.<4-c3
h5 56.Ha7+ <&c6 57.Sxf7 g5 58.a5 g4
59.a6 Ha2 60.Ac4 Sal 61.Sfl Sxfl
62.Axfl h4 63.Ae2 g3 64.Afl 1-0
Psychological Boomerang
"ften we come across this type of
statement in chess books and magazines:
"Taking advantage of the time trouble of
his strong opponent, Player A sharpened
the game to the limit, sacrificing a pawn
(or a piece). In his confusion, B didn't
find the right defensive plan and the attack succeeded." I must make the candid
admission that more than once I have succeeded in such situations.
GM Mikhail Tal-GM David Bronstein
Kiev, USSR Championship 1964-65

In the first round of 32nd USSR


Championship, my game with Bronstein
reached the position shown in the diagram above and my opponent had only
a few minutes for his last eight moves.
I considered, practically speaking, Black's
situation to be very difficult and not
only from a practical point of view. The
INSIDE CHESS

Black King is under a crossfire of all the


White heavy pieces and my darksquared Bishop is also ready to enter the
fray. Further, this Bishop has no Black
counterpart and the Black pieces are in
unenviable positions. Yet, Bronstein
still found a great defensive possibility.
32...&e7!! 33.1a7+ <4>f6
As it turned out, the King is safer going
ahead than staying at home on the eighth
rank. The King is not lonely on f6 for he
is in a crowd of friends. If my opponent
had more time at his disposal, I would
have probably chosen 34.Ad2 or 34.
Ae3, maintaining sufficient initiative for
the piece. I don't know how events
would have developed further, but this is
not the topic of our conversation. White's
striving to add oil to the fire further heated
an already very tense situation. Bronstein
began to carry out a sharp, and as it appeared to him, a forced, variation.
34Se4!? dl+ 35.<4>h2 Sxet 36.
I was confident here that
was the only move, and after 37.Wxd4+
Sxd4 38.Ab2 Hxh6+ 39.4>gl Sh4
40.Sa4 4"e5 41. g3 the game must end
in a draw. A draw seemed to me the
most normal result of a game in which
the attack (so I was convinced) and the
defense (this I still wanted to verify) were
at high levels. Suddenly, Bronstein answered with another move:
36...Se5
In my preliminary calculations, I had
considered Black's last move to be losing
and had prepared the following variation:
37.Sa5 d6 38.Af4 Ad5 39.1a6!
!xh6+ 40.*>gl Wxa6 41.xe5+ and
42.W g5 mate. But I enjoyed only a few
seconds basking in the glory of the successful hunter when my intentions burst
like a soap bubble, hi calculating the
beautiful variation, I forgot a small detail
I also have a King. Black can easily
take advantage of this circumstance by
playing 37...e2! with an instant win.
37.Af4
This is what is left at my disposal, but
it was refuted with the same prosaic
continuation.
White resigned after few moves.
40.
Sa5+ <S?d4 4lSh5 Ad5 42.'S?h3 15 0-1
Thus White's psychological weapon
boomeranged against him.

Part II next issue

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