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Grigory Levenfish vs Mikhail Botvinnik
Botvinnik - Levenfish (1937), Leningrad RUS, rd 3, Oct-09
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical. Noa Variation (E34)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

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Kibitzer's Corner
Aug-20-05  lentil: was this game played before the 3-fold repetition rule? surely there are several repetitions around move 40!
Aug-20-05  Calli: Many events had a rule long before 1937, but they didn't have the repetition rule in this match. The rule varied with each event.
Aug-24-05  paladin at large: Why did Botvinnik play 28.....Nf4 - did he think he could gain perpetual check? 28...... R x c4 looks better, no?
Aug-25-05  Runemaster: hi <paladin>: if 28...Rxc4, 29. Qd5+ wins the knight on d3. So, if the game score is correct, it looks like Botty realised that was hopeless and tried something else.
Aug-25-05  Shams: <Calli> when did implementation become standard for all tournaments?
Aug-25-05  Calli: <Shams> I really don't know. Surely when the FIDE took over the World Chmpionship cycle in 1948, the rules became more standardized.
Jun-07-20  spektrowski: According to Botvinnik, they had a threefold repetition rule, but a different one. "Threefold repetition of the position wasn’t enough: to claim a draw, both players had to repeat the same moves or move sequences three times in a row."
Feb-21-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  nizmo11: The critical position:


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The counter-combination starting with 27...Nd3 did not quite work. In his annotations Levenfish discarded 27...Ne4 with 28.f3 Ng5 29.Rd6 Qf7 30.c5. But after 28.f3? Black has 28...Rxc4! 29.fxe4 Qxg4 with at least a draw.
The other option is 28 d6, but as <J. Aagaard> in his Afterword to Soviet Outcast points out, after 27...Ne4! 28.d6 Rxc4! 29.Qd5+ Black defends with Qf7.

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