♖♘♗♕♔♗♘♖
Pal Benko played, in our Chess Club, in 1977: blitz tournament, a game against consultants, simultaneous with clocks. I participated in all these activities. In the blitz, I got a big advantage (soon after he admitted: "I hanged a piece!"), I was short of time as usual, he played with great energy, hammering his moves over the board with loud crashes, and slapping the clock accordingly. Not that this would disturb me, but I
was really in severe zeitnot: my flag fell ... Against his travel mate and interpreter, Ruth Cardoso, I had a better luck: I made an exchange sacrifice that worked very well. She also defended herself fiercely, and started to speed up her moves, but I won in the end. (Benko watched the final moves, as his own game in the round had already finished - should I regard this as kind of a rematch !?).
One night there was the consultation game, with clock. We had a strong team - Sunyé, Joao Eduardo Correa, Rüppel, a few others. I proposed we play the variation of I A Zaitsev vs Benko, 1975 By the way, we had discussed this same - then - novelty with Benko himself during one of his lectures. We got a better endgame, but the time would run out, and it's not feasible to play a blitz in consultation, and it would not be regular to have a single player finishing the game. There was not any previous agreement on the matter of adjudication.
Then came the simultaneous with clocks. A few players took part (Sunyé abstained from this activity). Time of the seance: 2 hours (I'm not recalling the complete results - probably he won all the games.) Benko-Kornin, Curitiba, March 1977
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 e6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Nc3 Nc6 7.Bg5 Be7 8.c5 OO 9.a3 Ne4 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.Qc2 Nxc3 12.Qxc3 e5 13. dxe5 d4 14.Nxd4 Qxe5 + 15.Ne2 Qe7 16.OOO Be6 17.Nf4 Rac8 18.Kb1 Ne5 19.Nxe6 Qxe6 20.Bb5 And White won 9.a3: After the game, we analyzed the opening with Mauro de Athayde (a connoisseur of the Panov Attack. He's also fond of the c4-c5 advance). Our classical reference here was 9.Bb5 - That in Keres-Alekhine AVRO 1938, went 9 ... Ne4 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.Qc2 Ng5 etc. As a matter of fact, the a2-a3 move, associated with the advance c4-c5 AND Bg5, is quite unusual. 12.Qxc3: A game Hecht-Pfleger, BRD 1960, continued 12 ... f6 13.Bb5 e5 14.0-0 e4 15.Ne1 f5 16.f4 Kh8 17.Nc2 g5 18.Ne3 etc 1-0 63 moves; 12 ... e5: 
click for larger view I still believe this was a novelty. 13.dxe5: An adequate sequence here would be 13 ... Bg4! This idea appeared, finally, over the board, in a game Paldanius-Putka, Finland ch, 2007, Black obtained a quick victory (possibly due to some blunder) 14.0-0-0 d4 15.Qc2 Rac8 16.Kb1 Nxe5 17. Qe4 Qxc5 18.Be2 0-1
*** A more solid reference is Sivuk - A. Vunder, Saint-Petersburg (Chigorin MT), 2014 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 ♘f6 5.♘c3 ♘c6 6.♗g5 e6 7.♘f3 ♗e7 8.a3 0‑0 9.c5 ♘e4 10.♗xe7 ♕xe7 11.♕c2 ♘xc3 12.♕xc3 e5 13.dxe5 ♗g4 14.♗b5 ♗xf3 15.♕xf3 4d4 16.♕d3 ♕xe5 + 17.♔f1 ♘xb5 18.♕xb5 ♖fe8 19.h4 d4 20.♖h3 ♖ad8 21.♔g1 b6 22.♖d1 bxc5 23.b4 cxb4 24.♕xe5 ♖xe5 25.axb4 ♖b5 26.♖a3 ♖d7 27.♖a4 d3 28.g3 ♔f8 29.♖d2 ♔e7 30.♔g2 ♔d8 31.♔f3 ♔c8 32.♔e3 ♖e5 + 33.♔f3 ♔ b7 34.♖a3 ♖ed5 35.♔e3 ♖e7 + 36.♔f3 ♖ed7 37.♔e3 ♖e7 + 38.♔f3 ♖ed7 39.♔e3 ♖e7 + 40.♔f3 ♖ed7 1/2 - 1/2 16.0-0-0: A .... b7-b6 now, or in some other moment from here, would be an interesting motif. *** ♖♘♙ 39.Rf2!? 
click for larger viewwas a piece sacrifice that had devastating consequences for my adversary, who was short of time and overlooked the only defense 39...Ra1+ 40.Ne1 Rxe1+ 41.Kg2 Re2!! 42.Rxe2 Nd3! etc. Carvalho was a young player who was already Minas Gerais State champion. Next year he played in the "Golden Pawn" international junior tournament, and drew as black against a strong British player, facing also a piece sacrifice (but this time being more lucky) I Wells vs G G de Carvalho, 1982 [Event "BRA sf"]
[Site "Sao Luis"]
[Date "1981.05.??"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Kornin, Zalmen"]
[Black "Carvalho, Gueber G de"]
[TimeControl "-"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A11"]
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.b3 g6 3.Bb2 d5 4.c4 c6 5.g3 Bg7 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O Qb6 8.Na3 Nbd7 9.Rc1 e6 10.d3 Nh5 11.Bxg7 Nxg7 12.Qd2 Qc7 13.e4 dxe4 14.dxe4 e5 15.Qh6 f6 16.b4 c5 17.Nb5 Qc6 18.Rfd1 Ne8 19.a3 Nb6 20.Rd8 a6 21.Nc3 Qc7 22.Rdd1 Be6 23.Nd5 Bxd5 24.cxd5 c4 25.Bh3 Nd6 26.Be6+ Kh8 27.Nh4 Qg7 28.Qe3 Na4 29.f4 Nb2 30.Rd2 Nd3 31.Rf1 Qh6 32.Ng2 a5 33.Re2 axb4 34.axb4 Ra4 35.Qb6 Ra6 36.Qc7 Nxb4 37.fxe5 fxe5 38.Rxf8+ Qxf8 39.Rf2 Qa8 40.Qe7 Ra1+ 41.Ne1 Rxe1+ 42.Kg2 1-0 ♙♙♙♙♙♙♙♙
The <Az de Espadas ICT> ('ace of spades') was the first ever
International Round-Robin in Curitiba (and incidentally, my own first
- and only - so far) That defeat in the first round (due to time
troubles, I believed) was deceiving as it occurred, but my adversary
was already very experienced, forming in the Argentinian Ol-team, and
playing the strongest ever <Clarin> IT in Buenos Aires some time
before Z Kornin vs S Giardelli, 1983 Also white in the 2nd round, also deceiving (but I was positionally outplayed, that for sure...) - The adversary - then reigning chilean champion, and future GM Z Kornin vs R Cifuentes, 1983 Then, in
the penultimate round, I was no longer in danger of repeating
Colonel Moreau s performance (I
mean: had at least already a couple of draws) But: still looking for
my first win Z Kornin vs C Braga, 1983 ♖♘♗♕♔♗♘♖
♘♘
Match Paraná vs Rio de Janeiro in the students olympiads – last round.
We were leading, and a single point could be the ‘golden medal game’.
In such situations You would avoid hazardous play, right? Yes, and in
that specific event I was unbeaten that far – they joked: ‘Mr. Draw‘
... Well, after some magistral wood-shifting, we arrived to 23.♖d3 – some nasty threats over the K side, so... I won a P! Then, following
in the same – wise – adagio time... a second P! (well, this time
should be 33.Q takes the ‘h4’ P – to avoid h4-h3 and some annoyances... Later (my 'zeitnot' again) he managed to obtain a series
of checks, I returned part of the advantage and it became a lenghty
♕♕s endgame – well, You know – white won (and – yes!- the golden
medal was won already too – to be the second board with Sunyé in the
first and Fukuda ('the samurai') in the third was so
tranquilizing...)
[Event "JUBS - Bra U-26 Ol"]
[Site "João Pessoa"]
[Date "1979.7.??"]
[Round "last"]
[White "Kornin, Zalmen"]
[Black "Machado Jr, Hermes A "]
[TimeControl "-"]
[Result "1-0"]
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Bg5 Be7 6.Bxf6 Bxf6 7.Nf3 Bd7
8.Bd3 Bc6 9.c3 Nd7 10.O-O Nb6 11.Re1 O-O 12.Qc2 Nd5 13.Rad1 h6 14.Qd2
Be7 15.Ne5 Be8 16.Bb1 Nf6 17.Nxf6+ Bxf6 18.Ng4 h5 19.Nxf6+ Qxf6 20.Re5
g6 21.Qh6 Qg7 22.Qf4 Rd8 23.Rd3 Rd5 24.Rxd5 exd5 25.Qxc7 Bc6 26.Re3 Qf6
27.Qe7 Qf4 28.Qe5 Qh6 29.Qf6 Re8 30.Rxe8+ Bxe8 31.f4 h4 32.Qg5 Qf8
33.Qxd5 h3 34.gxh3 Qh6 35.Qf3 Bd7 36.Be4 Bxh3 37.Bxb7 Qh4 38.Qg3 Qh5
39.Bf3 1-0
*another of my games in the same event. Roberto Silva Lessa Feitosa presented himself as 'the reigning Paraíba State Champion'. I wasn't particularly impressed... [Event "XXXth JUBs"]
[Site "João Pessoa"]
[Date "1979.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Kornin, Zalmen"]
[Black "Feitosa, Roberto"]
[TimeControl "-"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Source "Tourney Scoresheet"]
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.Nf3 d6 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.a4 Be6 9.Be3 Nbd7 10.O-O O-O 11.f4 Qc7 12.f5 Bc4 13.g4 Rfd8 14.g5 Ne8 15.Bxc4 Qxc4 16.Nd2 Qc6 17.f6 Bf8 18.fxg7 Bxg7 19.Nd5 Bf8 20.Qh5 Qc8 21.Qxf7+ Kh8 22.Nb6 Qc7 23.Nxd7 Nf6 24.Nxe5 Nd7 25.Ng6+ hxg6 26.Rf3 Nf6 27.Rh3+ Nh5 28.Bd4+ Bg7 29.Bxg7+ Kh7 30.Rxh5+ gxh5 31.g6# 1-0 ♕♔ From the last round of the traditional International Open in
the ‘City of the Princes’ – he was playing for a win with black to
become a joint winner – I selected a lesser known variation – and
soon a very interesting motif appeared: 15.♗f4!! A piece ‘en prise’?
– offer another! – many pages of analysis searching to demonstrate
that the ♕ counter-sac was still the lesser evil... But after
20...0-0, the best finish was: 21.♘d5! (or to ‘e4’) ♔h8 (▢)
22.♘xf6 gxf6 23.♖xe5! ♖g8 24.♕f4 fxe5 25.♕xe5+ f6 26.♕xb8
♗h3!? 27.♕xb7! and wins) – Well, I won, but after a protracted
endgame full of vicissitudes and two time-scrambles ( My Botticelli
became a shaggy sketch... I will spare You of the moves here – “and
white won”) – thus: becoming myself a joint winner!... França Garcia,
from São Paulo, died still very young, in tragic circumstances, in the
early 80’s <note: "In 1982, at 26, from the consequences of a railway
<accident>">
position after 15...e5
click for larger view[Event "Open"]
[Site "Joinville"]
[Date "1981.??.??"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Kornin, Zalmen"]
[Black "França Garcia, Antônio José"]
[TimeControl "-"]
[Result "1-0"]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 dxe5 5.Nxe5 e6 6.Bb5+ Nbd7 7.Qf3 Bd6
8.Nxd7 Nxd7 9.Ne4 Be7 10.O-O Qb6 11.Ba4 Qa6 12.Nc3 Rb8 13.Bb5 Qd6
14.d3 a6 15.Bf4 e5 16.Bxe5 Qxe5 17.Rfe1 axb5 18.Rxe5 Nxe5 19.Qg3 Bf6
20.Re1 O-O 21.Rxe5 Bxe5 22.Qxe5 Bd7 23.Qxc5 1-0
@And now to the entries in this collection:
C Benitez vs Z Kornin, 1975 "Kornin, from Paraná, gave a clear demonstration of solidity and efficiency, taking the exchange sacrificed by the gaúcho Benitez, and winning the game". Wrote Lincoln Lucena in his newspaper column. Therefore, I beat the representative of Rio Grande do Sul for a start. Then followed draws vs Braga (São Paulo), Másculo (Rio), plus one draw, and in the fifth round I lost to the representative from Bahia State... [Event "Brasil Junior ch"]
[Site "Brasilia"]
[Date "1975.??.??"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Kornin, Zalmen"]
[Black "Braga, Cicero N"]
[TimeControl "-"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.b3 Bg7 4.Bb2 O-O 5.g3 d6 6.Bg2 e5 7.d3 Nc6 8.O-O Bg4 9.h3 Be6 10.Nc3 h6 11.e3 d5 12.Qe2 Qe7 13.d4 exd4 14.Nxd4 dxc4 15.Nxe6 Qxe6 16.bxc4 Rad8 17.Nd5 Rd7 18.Rad1 Rfd8 19.Nxf6+ Bxf6 20.Bd5 Qe7 21.Bxc6 bxc6 22.Rxd7 Rxd7 23.Bxf6 Qxf6 24.Rd1 Qd8 25.Rxd7 1/2-1/2 Z Kornin vs R Filguth, 1975 BRA South Zonal. That round was played on stage, in the great auditorium of the Club Athletico Paulistano. Qc2, 0-0-0, c4-c5 showed my disposition to attack. When we arrived to 24.Nf5, a whole piece sac, my time was almost depleted. The erratic sequence of 25...Rb8? 26.f4? Nd4? was result of the high tension. Then, with 27.Rxd4!! the win was clear. (but not after 31. Ne7+???) Z Kornin vs C E da Matta, 1975 Match Paraná vs Minas Gerais, first board. A few tempi for the b2 Pawn, then when he decides to castle King's side, the attack becomes vigorous with Bd3, Rf3-h3. I had decisive advantage after 22.Bf5, then opted for an assured ending (in team events is better not to overcalculate for artistic finishes.) Z Kornin vs V Prust, 1976 Paraná State ch Final from 1975, postponed to early 76. Prust came from the North of the State and beat the tournament's favorite, Jaime Sunyé, in the first round. Then things settled down: Jaime won the tournament, Prust lost a few games (including to me, of course). It's not heroic to make beautiful combinations when you already have a decisive advantage, but the ending was very pleasant. Z Kornin vs O Mak, 1976 Otto Mak (Germany 1906 - Brazil 1983) was a leading player in the local "Lasker Schachgesellschaft" already in the twenties. Someone remarked that 10.Kf1 was played by Alekhine vs Capablanca in AVRO 1938. The sacrifice of the Bishop in f5 and the final attack were very satisfying.
He was already somewhat short of time...
R Cabral Gomes vs Z Kornin, 1978 9.Nc4 was really a novelty, but the sequel should be 10.Rfd1! After 20.Nh4? Nfd7! I felt that my advantage was decisive. Then he came with a flurry of sacrifices. I defended myself with 22...Nf8 out of respect, since Rui Gomes was very talented and reputable. He continued to play with a couple of pieces less, as there was the time control. Z Kornin vs G Frota Junior, 1979 Probably one of the shortest victories ever in a BRA ch Final. This line 3...Bb4? is bad, but is 8.Kd1! the proper way to demonstrate this. Any master of the Viennese School would agree (and the engine here too...) V Chemin vs Z Kornin, 1981 The Schlechter defense as prelude to a fighting draw. Vitório beat me in the South Zonal in 78, I beat him in the National ch 1979. We never broke this tie. Z Kornin vs J Chemin, 1981 He plays flexible systems with slow developments, so when he loses in less than thirty moves, this is already noteworthy. In that Paraná State ch Final I was unbeaten, finishing 1-2th - and by the SB tiebreak first was... Justo! (Of course 23 ... Nd5 would allow a more spectacular finish 24.Rxh7! etc) J Sunye Neto vs Z Kornin, 1981 This event was a two rounds simultaneous with clocks vs 6, 2hs time. Besides of our 1,5-0,5; Dr. A C Bannach won the first game (with White, a Najdorf - Jaime always had a soft spot with these lines of the day); and lost the second: 1-1. The others (all State Champions and/or FMs) were roundly beaten by two-zero. Our second game: I had good opportunities for a second win, but arrived to a lost endgame. He erred too, and when he sat down on a chair to finish (it was the last game) I had already reasonable prospects for a draw. (Notation is unfinished, we played many moves, it was near to a King vs King final position. [Event "Clock Simul"]
[Site "Curitiba"]
[Date "1981.05.04"]
[EventDate "?"]
[Round "2"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "Zalmen Kornin"]
[Black "Jaime Sunye Neto"]
[ECO "A42"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "102"]
1.c4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.e4 d6 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.Nge2 e5 6.d5 Nce7 7.f3 f5 8.Be3 Nf6 9.h3 O-O 10. g4 fxg4 11. fxg4 c6 12. Qd2 a6 13. O-O-O cxd5 14. cxd5 b5 15. Ng3 Qa5 16. Kb1 b4 17. Nce2 Ne8 18. Nc1 Bd7 19. Nb3 Qd8 20. Qxb4 Rf3 21. Bb6 Qb8 22. Ne2 Bb5 23. Qa5 Rxf1 24. Rdxf1 Bxe2 25. Re1 Bd3+ 26. Ka1 Nc8 27. Bd8 Qb5 28. Re3 Qxa5 29. Nxa5 Bb5 30. g5 Bf8 31. Rc3 Be7 32. Rxc8 Rxc8 33. Bxe7 Kf7 34. Bf6 Nxf6 35. gxf6 Kxf6 36. Re1 Rc2 37. b3 Re2 38. Rf1+ Ke7 39. Nc6+ Bxc6 40. dxc6 Rc2 41. h4 Rxc6 42. Kb2 Rc8 43. h5 g5 44. Rg1 h6 45. a4 a5 46. Rd1 g4 47. Rg1 Rg8 48. b4 axb4 49. Kb3 g3 50. Kxb4 g2 51. Kb5 Kd7 1/2-1/2 Z Kornin vs F Matsuura, 1982 This game was played in the penultimate stage of the Paraná State Championship Finals, in the so called 'Metropolitan Zonal'. In the "Super" Finals our game went: [Event "PR State ch"]
[Site "Curitiba"]
[Date "1982"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Matsuura, Frederico"]
[Black "Kornin, Zalmen"]
[TimeControl "-"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "-"]
1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d6 3.d4 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 Nc6 8.Bb5 Nd7 9.Bxc6 bxc6 10.Ne2 O-O 11.O-O c5 12.d5 Rb8 13.Rb1 Qc8 14.c3 Qa6 15.a3 Qc4 16.Be3 a5 17.b4 a4 18.Rfc1 Rb6 19.g4 Rfb8 20.Ng3 Qd3 21.Qe2 Qxe2 22.Nxe2 R6b7 23.Kf2 h6 24.h4 Nf6 25.Kf3 Nd7 26.Kf2 Kh7 27.Bd2 cxb4 28.cxb4 Nc5 29.Rc4 Nb3 30.Be3 e6 31.Nc1 exd5 32.exd5 Nc5 33.Ne2 Nd7 34.Rd1 Re8 35.Kf3 g5 36.hxg5 hxg5 37.Re4 Rxe4 38.Kxe4 gxf4 39.Nxf4 Be5 40.Rh1+ Kg8 41.g5 Bb2 42.Bd4 Bxd4 43.Kxd4 Ne5 44.Ke4 Nc4 45.Nh5 Rb5 46.Nf6+ Kg7 47.Kf4 Rb8 48.Rh7+ Kg6 49.Rh6+ Kg7 50.Rh7+ Kg6 51.Rh6+ Kg7 52.Rh7+ Kg6 1/2-1/2 (source Tournament Bulletin, by H. Marinho) Z Kornin vs H Matsuura, 1982 Horácio beat me in 76 when he was an 11 years old Chess prodigy (just the first of the Matsuura family). The game appeared in a newspaper from his hometown, Londrina, with photo and spectacular headline. Six years later, we meet again in a State ch Finals' game. In the Bird Opening, the b1 Knight is often a problematic piece to develop. Here this Knight appears quick and suddenly in g5... (Horácio's 1...f5: For me, this was kind of a compliment...) And his younger brother played a Bird in our only encounter E Matsuura vs Z Kornin, 1984 G W Fonrobert vs Z Kornin, 1982 This opening is really old, much older than the earlier register here... The same line was played in G W Fonrobert vs Mecking, 1967 Well, I didn't knew back then that was playing like Mequinho until the seventh move. Z Kornin vs A Perepelak, 1985 Result +4=0-0. Some people said me that Perepelak was too strong for this display. Not a beginner. Slightly handicapped by vodka in that night. Z Kornin vs D van Riemsdijk, 1985 A little proof that in this defense isn't enough for Black to display his pieces in healthy development. 11...Nc6! would be quite defiant. With 20.Nf5! and 21.e4 my advantage became decisive. Further mistakes serves to release from sufferings. "BRA IC": Inter-clubes = Brazilian Teams Championship. (Adaucto Nóbrega from brasilbase spotted this game in a magazine from Santa Catarina State. Very few games from this event are preserved http://www.brasilbase.pro.br/bea198... ) Z Kornin vs P C de Souza Haro, 1986 Last round of the 5th Brazilian Teams Ch. The 3-1 victory was worth the third place for the Curitiba Chess Club. This was the last game to finish, and when I played RxNe7+, Pinheiros (from São Paulo) team's captain Chow Man Yee made an emphatic gesture of 'we're throwing the towel'... The venue was the Caiobá Hotel, in the Caiobá beach and neighborhood of the Matinhos municipality. http://www.brasilbase.pro.br/bea198...
| 
Kibitzing
