[BrianWall-ChessList] Chris Peterson DCC Lecture

Wed Mar 21 15:10:57 MDT 2007

Chris Peterson <garrensilverwing at yahoo.com

Maybe you can send this out on your list, maybe i can get a student or something
:)~

Chris Peterson <garrensilverwing at yahoo.com

  White: GM Lev Polugaevsky
  Black: IM Rashid Nezhmetdinov
  Nezhmet Kismet
  Sochi 28th RSFSR ch 1958
  [A Lecture by Chris Peterson]

  1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 The old Indian, an odd choice of opening for an attacking
player like Nezhmetdinov.

  3.Nc3 e5 4.e4?! Gains an extra hold on d5 but the d5 square is not as
important as the dark squares around the centre in this opening.  As Daud Zupa
could tell you in certain Botvinnik Systems the d5 square for white's pieces
does not exactly strengthen his position enough to compensate for the weak
central pawns. [4.dxe5 dxe5 5.Qxd8+ Kxd8 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Nf3 c6 8.0–0–0 Kc7=]
Black is doing OK in this ending.  Though white may have a slight advantage
black should be able to hold a draw even with less than perfect play.  5.Ng5 or
5.Nd2 is main line and both lead to sharp positions.

  4...exd4 5.Qxd4 Nc6 6.Qd2!? This is an interesting idea.  Keeping the Queen
developed on the dark squares helps alleviate some of the weaknesses as white
plans to play b3 and Bb2 but maybe a little more accurate was: [6.Qd1 Be7 7.Nf3
0–0 8.Be2 Nd7=].

  6...g6 7.b3 Bg7 8.Bb2 0–0 9.Bd3 Ng4!? As aggressive as Nezhmetdinov is he
could of played a little more accurately here, maybe better was: [9...Re8³]
with the idea of Nb4 and hitting the weakened e4 pawn.

  10.Nge2 Qh4! Not only combatively preventing white from castling it also
forces white to make some more defensive concessions on the kingside.

  11.Ng3 maybe better was: [11.g3 Qh5 12.Nf4 Qa5 13.0–0–0 Nxf2 14.Qxf2 Bxc3
15.Nd5³] Black is somewhat better here but there are better defensive chances
on the queenside since that is where most of white’s pieces are located.

  11...Nge5 12.0–0?! This move is risky to say the least.  Lev should have tried
11.Be2 which would let him defend much better.

  12...f5! When you’re on the attack you should always try to open more lines
towards the enemy king.  The more pieces you have attacking the stronger your
attack.  12...f5! He wants to open the f-file for the black rook which will
become a key attacking piece later on.

  13.f3 Often, when faced with difficult decisions, people make mistakes.
Though this is not an egregious blunder it’s the little mistakes that add up.
A better defense is simply exf5 though Lev would have to face a torrential
attack.

  13...Bh6 14.Qd1 f4 [14...Be3+ 15.Kh1 f4 16.Nge2 Bf2 17.Ng1 Bg3] Was a better
way to go but, personally, I prefer the way Rashid played it.

  15.Nge2 g5 It is simply complicated.  Rashid is trying to open lines for his
pieces so they can attack.  It is a simple concept that usually takes
complicated ideas to pull off.  As g4 is coming things are pretty much about to
explode!

  16.Nd5 Knights are best centralized and here is no exception.

  16...g4 17.g3! Probably the best way to defend this position all others are
getting to the point of resignation. [17.fxg4 Nxg4 18.h3 f3 19.gxf3 Nge5–+;
17.Qd2 g3 18.h3 Bxh3 19.gxh3 Nxd3–+; 17.Qc2 g3 18.h3 Bxh3 19.gxh3 Nxd3–+;
17.Bxe5 Nxe5 18.Nd4 g3 19.h3 Bxh3 20.gxh3 Qxh3 21.Qd2 Nxd3–+]

  17...fxg3 It is tough to be accurate to modern standards in any kind of
setting 2007 or 1958 but here a stronger move was: [17...Qh3 18.Rf2 fxg3
19.Nxg3 Rxf3 20.Bf1 Qh4 21.Rg2 Rf7!µ making room for the knight]

  18.hxg3 Qh3 19.f4 Unafraid of the Nf3+ as it leads no where when the king
hides on e3, but now we see Nezhmetdinov really shine!

  19...Be6!! Most people do not want to sacrifice it’s a natural inhibition.  I
see countless games between thousands of players, even here in Colorado where
one side gets a completely crushing position yet they fail to see the winning
combinations!  It is only good to have a good position if you know how to use
it!  My former mentor Dave Wallace said in order to be a great tactician you
need to be a great positional player too and it is true!  Tactics come from
good positions, it’s a fact.  If you have a good position you will also have
tactics against your opponents.  Positional and strategically (for that matter)
play is great and all but it needs to be backed up by tactics.  What is the
point of attacking a king if you do not know how to checkmate? Now everyone's
first thought about sacrifices is it must be unsound take it: 20.fxe5 Bxd5
threatening Be3+ 21.Bc1 Nxe5 now Nf3+ 22.Bxh6 Nf3+ 23.Kf2 Qh2+ 24. Ke3 Qxh6+
(–+) with a clearly winning position as black will be up a
 piece.

  20.Bc2 Since he cannot take the knight  white ops to play a different
defensive move it is one of the strongest defenses along with Bxe5.  Lets see
how it pans out.

  20...Rf7! Sometimes it pays to be quiet.  He is activating his queen's rook by
doubling on the f-file and anticipating its opening later on.

  21.Kf2! Running to the queenside is an excellent idea, though it may be too
little too late.

  21...Qh2+! 22.Ke3 Bxd5 Now that the struggle has shifted to the center its
time to eliminate some defenders there.  When attacking you should try and
eliminate as many defenders as possible as it will ultimately create more holes
in their position.  Sounds counter intuitive to trade in an attacking setting
when you can go down a piece at anytime but that is the paradoxical beauty of
chess and sacrificing and attacking.

  23.cxd5 Nb4! 24.Rh1?? Polugaevsky finally makes a blunder.  It is not a very
obvious blunder as only a very strong attacking player can capitalize on this.
Rh-f1 left something unguarded and it leads to a fantastic sacrificing motif
that probably took Rashid forever to calculate out.  All other moves lead to a
winning position for white so look carefully.  (Hint: be aware of your hanging
bishop on h6!)

  24...Rxf4!! This move is simply spectacular. [24...Qg2 25.Rxh6+-; 24...Nxc2+
25.Qxc2 Qg2 26.Rxh6+-]

  25.Rxh2 Best by test, who said that? :) [25.gxf4 Bxf4+ 26.Nxf4 Nxc2+ 27.Qxc2
Qxc2; 25.Nxf4 Qxg3+ 26.Ke2 Bxf4 with a forced mate in at most 13 :) 27.Bd4 Qf3+
28.Ke1 Nxc2+ 29.Qxc2 Qxh1+ 30.Ke2 Qg2+ 31.Bf2 g3 32.Qd3 Qxf2+ 33.Kd1 Nxd3 then
mate to follow on d2]

   25...Rf3+ Only move to maintain any kind of initiative and the initiative is
the only thing that makes the queen sacrifice sound.  The initiative is a very
important aspect of chess.  The initiative is the driving force of all tactics,
attacks and sacrifices.  If you cannot obtain an initiative your attack will,
most likely, fizzle out.  This is a prime example of the initiative.  Black has
had the initiative since move 9!  All game black has been deciding what is going
on and how the game is going to flow.  Only small decisions were made by white
say where should the king go.  Ninety-nine games out of one hundred are decided
by the initiative.  Who gets it first and whether or not they can maintain it
long enough to win, you don’t believe me?  Look at your victories that did not
involve your opponent just out right hanging material (even then it can be
caused by a strong initiative!).  So always be on the lookout on how you can
gain the initiative!  It can be positional
 or tactical it can be in an endgame an opening or a middle game it can be with
white or black and it will decide the game.

  26.Kd4 Bg7! also good was [26...c5+! 27.dxc6 threatening Nc6# 27...b5 28.Bd3
Nexc6+ 29.Kc3 Bg7+ 30.Kd2 Rxd3+ 31.Ke1 Rxd1+ 32.Rxd1 Bxb2–+]

  27.a4?? The last egregious blunder of the game here a better defense Ng1
offers better resistance but it still leaves black with a crushing position.
[27.Ng1 Rxg3 28.Ne2 Rf3 29.Ng1 c5+ 30.dxc6 Ned3+ 31.e5 Bxe5+ 32.Kc4 (32.Ke4
d5#) 32...b5+ 33.Kxb5 Rb8+ 34.Ka4 Nxb2+ 35.Ka3 Nxd1 36.Bxh7+ Kg7 37.Rxd1
Rc3!!–+ with the idea of maneuvering Rc3-c5-a5; 27.Nc3 Ned3+ 28.e5 Bxe5+ 29.Kc4
(29.Ke4 Nc5#) 29...Nxb2+ 30.Kxb4 Bxc3+ 31.Ka3 Nxd1 32.Bxh7+ Kg7 33.Rxd1 Rh8
34.Rdh1 Rxg3 35.Bf5 Rxh2 36.Rxh2 Kf6–+ with an easily won ending.]

  27...c5+ now it is forced mate.

  28.dxc6 bxc6 29.Bd3 [29.Qd3 Nexd3+ 30.Kc4 d5+ 31.exd5 cxd5+ 32.Kb5 Rb8+ 33.Ka5
Nc6+ 34.Ka6 Nc5#; 29.Rxh7 c5#]

29...Nexd3+ 30.Kc4 d5+ 31.exd5 cxd5+ 32.Kb5 Rb8+ 33.Ka5 Nc6+ and Polugaevsky
resigned. 0–1

-------------- next part --------------
Chris Peterson <garrensilverwing at yahoo.com

Maybe you can send this out on your list, maybe i can get a student or something
:)~

Chris Peterson <garrensilverwing at yahoo.com

  White: GM Lev Polugaevsky
  Black: IM Rashid Nezhmetdinov
  Nezhmet Kismet
  Sochi 28th RSFSR ch 1958
  [A Lecture by Chris Peterson]