Alekhine memories
Posted on April 26, 2012 08:40:44 PM
By Bobby Ang

No, we are not talking about the 4th World Chess Champion Alexander Alekhine. We are talking about the defense he introduced in the 1921 Budapest tournament in games against Endre Steiner and Fritz Saemisch.

When GM Eugene Torre and I were working on the planned book on his best games of chess the plan was to have a chapter on the Alekhine Defense, since this was Eugene’s main weapon early in his career. He gave it up after a bad loss to Anatoly Karpov in the 1973 Leningrad Interzonal.

I asked GM Torre that if the Alekhine is really so bad then why did Jan Timman, his best friend among the GMs, keep using it. He responded that, according to Timman, the White treatment which is the most trouble is no longer in fashion, and besides he chose his opponents carefully.

Another GM who used it from time to time is Bent Larsen, also known as the “Great Dane.” As most BusinessWorld readers know, together with Bobby Fischer he contended with the Soviet players on even terms in the ’60s and ’70s. In fact though Fischer became world champion, it can be argued that Larsen was the greater tournament player especially in the mid-’60s when he won five major tournaments in a row in Havana, Winnipeg, Palma de Mallorca, the Sousse Interzonal in 1967 and Monte Carlo in 1968.

The best measure of Larsen’s stature at the time was the 1970 USSR vs. Rest of The World match in Belgrade — he demanded top board above Fischer, and Fischer agreed!

Anyway, in his 1965 Candidates’ Match with one of the greatest attacking geniuses in chess history Mihail Tal, instead of trying to steer the game along positional channels Larsen actually dared his opponent to attack his king position, and Tal blinked. Here is that game.

Tal, Mihail — Larsen, Bent [B04]
Candidates sf1 Bled (4), 1965

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 dxe5 5.Nxe5 Nd7!?

Obviously provoking Tal to sacrifice his knight on f7. Now here is the rub — Tal spent the next 50 minutes in deep thought, and then played…

6.Bc4!?

In his notes to the game, Tal reveals that “A couple of hours later, during the game, it dawned on me that after 6.Nxf7 Kxf7 7.Qh5+ Ke6 8.g3 (threatening c2 — c4 followed by Bh3+ and possibly c4 — c5+) 8…b5 9.a4! c6 10.axb5 g6 11.Qe2+ Kf7 12.bxc6 N7b6 White has enough pawns for his piece to be satisfied with his sacrifice. I was no longer able to play normally.” The game ended in a draw.

6…e6 7.Qg4 h5 8.Qe2 Nxe5 9.dxe5 Bd7 10.0 — 0 Bc6 11.Rd1 Qe7 12.Nc3 Nxc3 13.bxc3 g6 14.a4 a6 15.Rb1 Qc5 16.Be3 Qxe5 17.f4 Qf5 18.Bd3 Qg4 19.Qf2 Be7 20.Bd4 0 — 0 21.Be2 Qf5 22.Bd3 Qg4 23.Be2 Qh4 24.g3 Qh3 25.Bf3 Rad8 26.Bxc6 bxc6 27.Be5 Qf5 28.Qe2 Bd6 29.Rd3 Bxe5 30.fxe5 Rxd3 31.cxd3 Rd8 32.Rd1 c5 33.c4 Qg4 34.Qxg4 hxg4 35.Kf2 Rb8 36.Rd2 Kg7 37.Ke3 g5 38.d4 Rb3+ 39.Kf2 cxd4 40.Rxd4 Kg6 41.Rxg4 Rb2+ 42.Kg1 Kf5 43.Rd4 Kxe5 44.Rd7 f5 45.Rxc7 Ke4 46.Rd7 Rc2 47.Rd6 e5 48.h4 gxh4 49.gxh4 Rxc4 50.h5 Kf3 51.Rd3+ Kg4 52.h6 Rc7 53.Rd6 e4 54.Kf2 a5 55.Rg6+ Kh5 56.Ra6 f4 57.Re6 Rc2+ 58.Ke1 Rc1+ 59.Kd2 Rh1 60.Rxe4 Kg4 61.Re6 Kg3 62.Rf6 f3 63.Ke3 Re1+ 64.Kd3 Re7 65.Rg6+ Kf4 66.Rf6+ Kg3 67.Rg6+ Kf4 68.Rf6+ Kg4 69.Kd4 Kg3 70.Rg6+ Kh3 71.Rg7 Rxg7 72.hxg7 f2 73.g8Q f1Q 74.Qe6+ Kh4 75.Kc5 Qb1 76.Qc4+ Kg3 77.Qc3+ Kf2 1/2–1/2

In his influential chess column GM Larry Evans explained that in their 10-game Candidates’ match Tal had lost the first game, won the second and drawn the third. The match, in fact, went down the wire and it was not until the 10th game that Tal clinched it. With the prospect of a shot at the world title at stake, Tal probably didn’t want to risk so much so early in the match.

Lately I was surprised to see that up to now this sacrifice is still being disputed. For example former Ukrainian Champion Evgeny Miroshnichenko and Russian GM Boris Savchenko like to play with the Black side, not always successfully, as the following game will show.

(Warning! The following game should NOT be played carelessly — lock yourself up in your room, ask your wife and children to watch PBB and not bother you. Then bring out your wooden chessboard — give each move careful thought. You will be rewarded with an evening well spent)

Full article here.

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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