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Anatoly Karpov vs Viktor Korchnoi
Karpov-Korchnoi World Championship Match (1978)  ·  Spanish Game: Open. Bernstein Variation (C80)  ·  1-0
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Given 55 times; par: 25 [what's this?]

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 3 OF 3 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Oct-24-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  kevin86: The brilliant final move blocks the black forces from defending the last row. Mate will follow on that file.
Oct-24-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  johnlspouge: < <5hrsolver> wrote: 28.Nd8+ is pretty.>

Yep, it sure is, and most of my time went to finding it. Without the resource 28.Nd8+, 26.Rd7 is crash and burn.

Oct-24-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  YouRang: I glanced at 25.Nh6, but I never even gave 26.Rd7 a thought. :-(

Such are the differences between world champions and patzers.

I did, however, find 25.Qh5, with the blind hope that black won't notice the threat of 27.Qh6+ with mate to follow (27.Qh6~#).

Such are the differences between world champions and patzers.

Oct-24-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Jimfromprovidence: I found a convoluted but still interesting way for white to win. (A queen for a rook exchange).

25 Nh6 Rg7 26 Rd7 Re7 27 Qa8+ Re8 28 Rd8 Bd7 Re1 Qe6 30 Rxe6 fxe6


click for larger view

Then, simplifying with 31 Rxe8+ Bxe8 32 Qxa6.


click for larger view

Oct-24-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  chrisowen: Afternoon: knuckles I missed it. The attack on f7 is too great and black is in decay, I must sustain from keep on movin... 25.Nh6 Rg7 Rd7 Rb8 Nxf7 Bxd7 and 28.Nh6?! does release white's grip.
Oct-24-08  mworld: first 2 moves were surprisingly easy to find - but the continuation eluded me.
Oct-24-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  whiteshark: You don't shake my hand and thereupon I won't play my prepaired line.

Well don't ask for logical reasons but this way it worked for Karpov after 7 draws.

Oct-24-08  rajivsubs: On move 26, can't black play Re7?
Oct-24-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  lost in space: Hmmm, not so easy.

This is what I saw:
25. Nh6 Rg7
or 25...Re7? 26. Rd8+ Re8 27. Qxf7+ Bxf7 28. Rxf7#

26. Rd7 Re7
26...Qc5 27. Qxf7+ Rxf7 28. Rfxf7+ Bxf7 Rxf7# or 26...Bxd7 Qxf7+ Rxf7 28. Rxf7#

27. Rxe7 Kxe7 28. Qf6+ Kd7 29. Qxg7

not mate, but Black can resign.

Oct-24-08  Woody Wood Pusher: I saw 25.Nh6,Rg7 26.Rd7,Re7 27.Rxe7,Kxe7 28.Qf6+,Ke8 (28..Kf8 29.Qd8 mate) 29.Qxg7 winning a rook.

26..Rb8 was not a defense I considered because white piles in on f7 then like in the game.

27.Rxf7+ leaves white to try and hold the draw after 27..Bxf7 28.Nxf7,Kg8

but 27.Nxf7 is a masterstroke! 27..Bxd7 loses to 28.Nd8+! but the other continuation is 27..Bg4 28.Qf4,Kg8 29.Nd8 again spoils the party.

Quite a game by Karpov!

Oct-24-08  zanshin: <rajivsubs: On move 26, can't black play Re7?>

I thought 26...Re7 would lose to 27.Rd8+ so I ran it by Rybka. Apparently, 26...Re7 is playable. (Note: Rybka truncates lines when the evals are >= +5.0)


click for larger view

[+9.09] d=17 26...Re7 27.Rxe7 (1:24.42)
[+9.11] d=17 26...Rb8 27.Nxf7 (1:29.39)
[Mate in 4] d=2 26...a5 27.Rxf7 (0:00.00)

Oct-24-08  skemup: I missed it , i have chosen 25 Nh6 and 26 Qf6 for example 26..Rb8 27 Rd8+ or 26..Qc6 27Rg3 RxR 28 Qxf7 with mate

So i don't know if 26 Qf6 correct..

Oct-24-08  VooDooMoves: Stalemated King, so checks should be considered. Since white has no immediate ones, one has to be 'discovered. '

<25. Nh6!> Not only threatens to win the exchange but also threatens 26. Qxf7+ Bxf7 27. Rxf7 Mate! Black needs to guard f7 again and also move the rook away from g8. Only candidate is:

<25...Rg7> 25...Re7 26. Rd8+ Re8 ( 26...Kg7? 27. Qf6#) 27. Qxf7+ Bxf7 28. Rxf7#; 25...Bd5 26. Rxd5 Qxh6? 27. Qxf7#

<26. Rd7!> Hitting f7 again. Hardest move to find as it seems the rook can be taken for nothing. The idea is to remove the bishop from the defense of f7.

A)<26...Bxd7? 27. Qxf7+ Rxf7 28. Rxf7#>

B) <26...Re7 27. Rxe7 Kxe7> Or else be down a rook for no compensation <28. Qf6+ Kd7> 28...Kf8?? 29. Qd8 Mate <29. Qxg7> wins a rook

C)<26...f5 27. Qxf5+! Bxf5> 27...Rf7 28. Qxf7+ Bxf7 29. Rfxf7# or 27...Bf7 28. Qxf7+ Rxf7 29. Rfxf7# <28. Rxf5+ Rf7> 28....Qf6 only delays <29. Rfxf7#>

Combination starts out with a multi-purpose move that simultaneously uncovers and attack on f7 and takes away an important flight square for the black king. It's either lose a rook or be mated.

Oct-24-08  VooDooMoves: I saw that thr Re8 had to move but I never considered b8! Do I still get half credit ? :/
Oct-24-08  TheMacMan: fischer was right the games were all prearranged
Oct-24-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  DarthStapler: I got the first two moves
Oct-25-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  WannaBe: <DarthStapler: I got the first two moves>

You mean 1. e4 e5, right?? (Alright, jokings aside =)...

Apr-27-09  WhiteRook48: 28 Nd8+ is surprising
Jun-09-09  WhiteRook48: 28....Ke7 29 Qf8#
Sep-23-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Hesam7:


click for larger view

Rybka 2.2n2 @ depth 19:

13. ... Ned3 14.f5 gxf5 15.Nxf5 0-0 16.Nxg7 Kxg7 17.Bc2 Nxc1 18.Raxc1 Qd6 19.b4 Nd7 20.Qh5 (-0.06)

13. ... Nc4 14.f5 gxf5 15.Nxf5 Bf8 16.Bc2 Nd6 17.b4 Na4 18.Nd4 Qe7 19.Qh5 Bg7 20.N2b3 (-0.37)

13. ... Ned7 14.Bxd5 0-0 15.Bxa8 Qxa8 16.Nxe6 Nxe6 17.Nb3 Re8 18.Qf3 Qxf3 19.Rxf3 Ndc5 20.f5 (-0.80)

13. ... Nxb3 14.N2xb3 Nd7 15.g4 0-0 16.f5 Bxf5 17.gxf5 Re8 18.Qg2 Nf6 19.Bg5 Qd6 (-0.89)

Apr-06-11
Premium Chessgames Member
  talisman: 10...g6?......for black?
ok it's late i'll look it up tomorrow.
Jan-28-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: <<Hesam7:> 13. ... Nc4 14.f5 gxf5 15.Nxf5 Bf8 16.Bc2 Nd6 17.b4 Na4 18.Nd4 Qe7 19.Qh5 Bg7 20.N2b3 (-0.37)>

Interesting. My engine, admittedly much weaker than Rybka, evaluates this position as +0.35 or so, and it largely prefers 19.N2f3 over 19.Qh5. I wonder what Rybka, or any other top engine, thinks of 19.N2f3.

From a human point of view, 13...Nc4 does look like a mistake. 14.f5 looks very powerful... and Karpov showed it to be.

Korchnoi's position, already critical, collapses after 24...Re8. Did he not see 26.Rd7?

Jul-31-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: Have you ever spent hours of careful analysis preparing a kibitz, only to have 106 other people beat you to it? Have you ever finally gotten a kibitz in edgewise, only to have people sign up for <chessgames.com> just to refute your analysis?

Well, these problems need discourage you no longer. Thanks to the revolutionary concepts revealed in the new book <Annotate Like A Grandmaster>, you too can instantly produce profound comments for any chess position at any time, even without understanding what is actually going on in the game!

The authors of <ALAG> have painstakingly studied notes by grandmasters to literally millions of games, and through careful linguistic analysis have identified commonly used phrases and cliches as well as the situations in which they are invariably used. By following their distilled wisdom, you too can <Annotate Like A Grandmaster>!

In just the first chapter, you will learn:

...the concept of desperation!

...the difference between <wrong rook> and <right rook>!

...the Rule of Material Compensation!

...when to employ the word "forced"!

Other chapters cover the role of punctuation, determining when the rest is a matter of technique, blaming errors on typos, the art of presenting trivial variations as profound, and, of course, proper placement of "The Point!".

Still not convinced? Let's see the program in action! We gave a copy to NN, then asked for annotations to the game on this page. Here is the result!

<1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4>

"The Open Defense, which is less often played than 5...Be7, the Closed Defense."

<6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 g6?!>

"The beginning of a bad plan; Black should complete his development."

<11.Qe2 Bg7>

"Consistent, but dangerous."

<12.Nd4!>

"A brilliant pawn sacrifice for which White receives tremendous compensation."

<12...Nxe5>

"Black should refuse the sacrifice and try to bring his king to safety."

<13.f4 Nc4>

"Not 13...Ng4? 14.Nxe6!"

<14.f5>

"Opening lines for the attack."

<14...gxf5>

"Forced."

<15.Nxf5 Rg8 16.Nxc4!>

"Exchanging Black's most active piece."

<16...dxc4 17.Bc2 Nd3 18.Bh6>

"Developing with gain of tempo."

<18..Bf8 19.Rad1>

"The RIGHT rook!"

<19...Qd5>

"Of course not 19...Qf6?? 20.Nd6+!"

<20.Bxd3 cxd3 21.Rxd3>

"White has regained his pawn with a winning attack."

<21...Qc6 22.Bxf8 Qb6+ 23.Kh1 Kxf8 24.Qf3 Re8>

"The rook must stay on the eighth rank to stop 25.Rd8#."

<25.Nh6 Rg7 26.Rd7!!>

"The winning move, as the rook is immune."

<26...Rb8>

"Desperation."

<27.Nxf7!! Bxd7?>

"A blunder in a lost position."

<28.Nd8+ 1-0>

"Mate or ruinous loss of material follows."

Isn't that incredible? Just think what YOU will be able to do after reading the book!

So don't delay, and order your copy of <Annotate Like A Grandmaster> now! Operators will be sitting by their telephones waiting for your call.

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Jul-31-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: <Phony Benoni> Nice work.

NN forgot to squeeze 'the point' in there-not that I mind, you understand.

Back in the 1980s, there was a strong player who annotated games for the New Hampshire newsletter, often throwing in 'the point!'. Enough to make grown men cringe in abject terror.

Jul-31-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  WannaBe: <Phony Benoni> Happy 10K post!! Congratulations, put me down for 2 copies of that book.

(Do I get free Shipping & Handling?)

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