Alexander Kotov vs Efim Geller (1949)

Alexander Kotov vs Efim Geller
Moscow ch-SU 1949 · King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation. Classical Fianchetto (E67) · 0-1

Given 5 times; par: 45 [what's this?]

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Mar-09-03		ughaibu: In Geller's first appearance in the Soviet championship he finished 2nd. This game was awarded a brilliancy prize.

Aug-09-05		Rama: 18 ... Qa5 is very nice.

Mar-24-06		zev22407: Anothe masterpiece by geller.

Jun-12-06		offramp: Geller reckoned this as one of his best-ever games. Every black move seems to be an attack. Bronstein thought that 27...b2 was stronger than bxa2.

Jul-21-08		notyetagm: <ughaibu: In Geller's first appearance in the Soviet championship he finished 2nd. This game was awarded a brilliancy prize.> Indeed. A -STUPENDOUS- game by Geller. Makes me want to learn how to play the KID. :-)

Jul-21-08		Petrosianic: <ughaibu> <In Geller's first appearance in the Soviet championship he finished 2nd.> Yes, and this was also Petrosian's Soviet Championship debut, where he started off with a terminal case of stagefright and dropped his first 5 games. Vasiliev's book on Petrosian, in discussing Geller's great result here, makes the cryptic comment that if Geller in his last round game had practiced one iota of the caution that Petrosian always did, that he'd have finished 1st. However, I haven't bothered to track down Geller's last round game to see how true that is. Maybe that's something to do right now. I infer from the comment that Geller lost the game. And Geller lost four games in this tournament, while finishing a half point out of first: to Keres, Aronin, Sokolsky, and Lilienthal. Think I'll track down which it was and see how close Geller came to becoming Soviet Champion on his first attempt.

Jul-21-08		notyetagm: <Petrosianic: ... Maybe that's something to do right now. I infer from the comment that Geller lost the game. And he lost three games in this tournament: to Keres, Sokolsky, and Lilienthal. Think I'll track down which it was and see how close Geller came to becoming Soviet Champion on his first attempt.> Geller's three 1949 USSR Championship losses that you mentioned: Geller vs Keres, 1949 Geller vs Sokolsky, 1949 Lilienthal vs Geller, 1949

Jul-21-08		Petrosianic: He also lost to Kholmov (I misremembered, and said Aronin). In fact, it looks like this might be the game in question: Geller vs Kholmov, 1949 ...judging from this comment: <Kangaroo> <What a game! If Geller won it, he would have become the champion.> It's also labeled Round 19, which would be the final one. Geller scored +10-4=5 in this tournament to finish a half point behind Smyslov and Bronstein. I'll have to have a closer look at this game.

Jul-21-08		notyetagm: Position after 37 e4xg6? click for larger view With his last two moves (35 ... h7-h5, 36 ... h5-h4) Geller (Black) has setup a nasty little tactical surprise for White, which 37 e4xg6? did nothing to prevent. <<<Geller has noticed that the lineup of dark-squared Black e5-bishop and White e1-queen means that the g3-square is a <TACTICAL BASE> from which the Black e5-bishop would strike at the White e1-queen. So the g3-square is a <TACTICAL BASE> and the White e1-queen a <TACTICAL TARGET>.>>> Geller knows that he must gain control of this g3-tactical base. So first he <COORDINATES HIS FORCES> on the crucial g3-square with 35 ... h7-h5 and 36 ... h5-h4. Secondly, Geller knows that he must <CLEAR THE TACTICAL BASE> of its defenders. Here the g3-tactical base is defended by the White h2-pawn, which is already attacked by the Black b2-rook and defended only by the White h1-king, a tacitcal situation which screams for <REMOVAL OF THE GUARD> by <ILLUSORY PROTECTION>. So Geller (Black) <REMOVES THE GUARD> of the g3-tactical base with 37 ... b2xh2+!. Position after 37 ... b2xh2+! <remove the guard> click for larger view And after the forced 38 h1xh2 e5xg3+, Geller has realized his fantasy position of a <FORK> on the g3-square involving the Black e5-bishop and White e1-queen. Position after 38 h1xh2 e5xg3+ click for larger view Note how the Black g3-bishop needs the support of the Black h4-pawn, else White would simply play e1xg3 or h2xg3 and not lose material. Hence the real reason for the advance of the Black h-pawn is revealed: it did not mindlessly advance to "attack" the White h1-king, it advanced to support a <BISHOP FORK> on g3! Ingenius tactical play by Geller.

Jul-22-08		notyetagm: <ughaibu: In Geller's first appearance in the Soviet championship he finished 2nd. This game was awarded a brilliancy prize.> What a beautiful win this is by Geller.

Jul-22-08		notyetagm: Position after 25 ... c4-c3 click for larger view Geller (Black) has the <BISHOP PAIR ()> and a pair of advanced <CONNECTED PASSERS> for a piece, clearly a winning position. This game is so full of beautfiful tactical shots that no wonder it won a brilliancy prize.

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