A
Chess 07 May 1959, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Chess
The Guardian London, Greater London, England Thursday, May 07, 1959 Problem No. 524 by J.E. Driver (Kettering). White...
Posted by Bobby Fischer's True History on Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Problem No. 524 by J.E. Driver (Kettering).
Black (11)
White (11)
White mates in two moves.
FEN n6B/1QpB4/2pp4/r1b3p1/pN3kp1/K5Rr/6PP/4R2N w - - 0 1
Solution: 1. Ka2 Rxg3 2. hxg3#
Russian chess supremacy
The Russians seem to specialise in administering severe defeats to any promising young players appearing in the West. Masters like Gligoric. Unzicker. Ivkov, and Larsen have all suffered in this way, and the only ones who have done constantly well against the Russians are the American champion, Fischer, and Olafsson of Iceland. Portisch, the Hungarian champion, who is only 22, was recently second at Hastings and ahead of Szabo in Budapest. Immediately after these successes, he represented Budapest in a match against Leningrad, and the result was the following debacle.
Lajos Portisch vs Mark Taimanov
Budapest (1959)
English Opening: Agincourt Defense (A13) 0-1
1. Inviting White to transpose into the Nimzo Indian Defence (about which Taimanov has written a book) with 3 P-Q4 N-KB3.
2. Even a master may be tempted to develop his queen prematurely if he thinks that he can force a weakening at his opponent's King side. However, the idea is bad, and White should continue quietly by 4. P-KN3, followed by B-N2, KN-K2, Castles. P-Q3, and eventually P-KB4.
3. A profound reply: Black realizes that he must exchange off his KB, and so avoids weakening his block squares with 4. P-KN3.
4. A remarkable idea: with the centre closed and the white queen doing nothing positive on the king's side, Black intends to attack on that wing by driving the queen back. Indeed, White should have avoided committing himself by castling. A better plan is 8. P-Q3 P-KR3; 9. B-N5 R-R2; 10. BxN QxB; 11. QxQ PxQ; although even then Black has the better ending because of the two bishops and the passive position of White's KB.
5. Black has gained control of the board in the last few moves, and now deprives White of his chance of counterplay with P-KB4.
6. Black must have foreseen this some time before, since it is essential to clarify his advantage: 15. … PxP; 14. QxRP K-N2; 15. P-B4 would give White, not Black, a fine attacking position. Now, however, if 14. PxP PxP; 15. BxP R-N2; 16. BxN QxB; 17. Q-B3 Q-R3 (threatening 18. … N-B5 and … N-R6ch); 18. Q-K3 N-B5; 19. P-B3 (otherwise 19. … R-R2) N-R6ch and wins.
7. Despair; but if 16. PxP PxP; 17. QxP N-R6ch; 18. PxN R-N2 wins, while if 16. R-K1 R-N2 and White has no adequate defence to the threatened 17. … PxP (17. B-B3 NxQP).
8. Disposing of White's last hope of getting some play for his pieces. If 12. B-N PxB; 22. P-N3 N-K7ch.
9. A perfect end to a field day for Black's knights. Taimanov's style here is reminiscent of Nimzovitch's, who was equally a virtuoso in handling closed positions.
