Chess to Enjoy / Entertainment Keres Centenary
The World Chess Federation has declared 2016 to be “The Year of Keres,” in remembrance of Paul Keres, who was born 100 years ago in January. Most of today’s fans will remember the great Estonian from the several collections of his best games. Or they’ll recall how he was one of the world’s best players from the late 1930s to the 1970s. But this month we’ll remem - ber the young Keres, who was one of the world’s top 10 players before he was 20. In the six diagrams, depicting his early games, you are asked to find the fastest winning line of play. This will usually mean the forced win of a decisive amount of material, such as a rook or minor piece. For solutions, see page 71.
PROBLEM I Paul Keres Verbac
PROBLEM II A. Karu Paul Keres
Problem III Paul Keres Eggert Gilfer
WHITE TO PLAY
Problem IV Paul Keres Eero Book
BLACK TO PLAY
Problem V Gideon Stahlberg Paul Keres
WHITE TO PLAY
Problem VI Paul Keres Leho Laurine
WHITE TO PLAY
BLACK TO PLAY
historian Sergey Voronkov last fall. “He believed that I, like him, was on a ‘black list’ and would be killed at the hands of doctors.” By then Fischer’s paranoia had extended to
the medical profession. Nevertheless, Spassky agreed to the appendectomy. Smart move. “The doctors told us that if the patient had
been given a hot water bottle at night he wouldn’t have lived till morning,” Nadezhda Smyslov said. The warm bottle would have masked the
pain until it was too late. With Spassky recovering in the hospital, match officials were in a quandary. There was no precedent for a player needing a major operation during a world championship cycle event. However, each player was allowed three short
postponements. Spassky strung his three together and had the first playoff game delayed until April 7, ten days after he was stricken. But he was still recovering and asked for more time. That request was rejected by match officials.
But Hort, who made clear he didn’t want to win by forfeit, asked for his own “illness” postponement. The match resumed April 9 and Hort, as
White, couldn’t make much of an opening advantage in a 40-move draw. A 53-move draw followed. Matches were not broken by five- minute games then, so the two grandmasters had to play another pair of games. And after two draws, another pair. The 15th game was decisive.
Spassky was one of history’s greatest handlers
of isolated pawns or this formation, the “hanging pawns.” But he was usually the one with the isolani or the hangers.
22. ... Bc6 23. Bd4 Bb5 24. Qf2?
But 24. Nc3! was the way to secure a positional edge. Time trouble takes over:
WHITE TO PLAY
QUEEN’S INDIAN DEFENSE (E14) GM Boris Spassky GM Vlastimil Hort
Candidates match, Reykjavik, 1977
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. e3 Bb7 5. Bd3 d5 6. 0-0 Nbd7 7. b3 Be7 8. Bb2 0-0 9. Nc3 c5 10. Qe2 Rc8 11. Rfd1 Qc7 12 Rac1 Rfe8 13. cxd5 exd5 14. Bf5 g6 15. Bh3 Rcd8 16. Na4 Ne4 17. dxc5 bxc5 18. Bxd7! Qxd7 19. Ne5 Qc7 20. f3 Nf6 21. Nd3 c4 22. Ndc5!
24. ... Nd7 25. Nxd7 Bxd7 26. Nc3 Bf5 27. e4 dxe4 28. Nxe4 Bxe4 29. fxe4 c3!
Based on 30. Bxc3?? Bc5 or 30. Rxc3 Qxc3!
31. Bxc3 Rxd1+ 32. Be1 Bb4 and Black wins. But 30. Rd3! would have kept White ahead.
30. Rf1? Bb4 31. Bxa7 Rd2 32. Qe3 Ra8 33. Bb6 Qd7 34. a4 c2! 35. Bc5
Black saw that 35. ... Bxc5 would win (36.
Qxc5 Qg4 37. g3 Qh3 38. Rf2 Rd1+ or 37. Rf2 Rd1+ 38. Rf1 Rxc1 39. Rxc1 Qd1+). So does 35. ... Qg4. But he froze. He was overwhelmed by the feeling that he was about to realize his greatest goal in a career of more than 20 years. And then his flag fell. Hort was never a world championship
contender again. A reborn Spassky made it to the 1977 Candidates finals and even reached the Candidates stage again in 1985. And Fischer? He died in 2008—when he refused to let doctors treat his failing kidneys.
www.uschess.org 17
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