| May-27-04 |
| ughaibu: Chessgames.com: The venue for this game is incorrect, it was played at Moscow 1971 in the Alekhine memorial. |
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| May-27-04 |
| weepingwarrior: Stein Leonid's moves seem so logical to me, easily understood, and strong. |
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| May-27-04 |
| ughaibu: It's reckoned that Tal's 14th move wasn't much good and that he could have made a fight of it with 14....Bf3 15.Bf3 Ne5 16.Rd8 Nf3 17.Kh1 R?d8. This Tal-like possibility was pointed out by Tal himself as a line he'd considered during the game, I wonder why he didn't choose it(?) A possible further continuation: 18.Qe2 Rd3 19.Qe7 Re8 20.Qa7 Re1 21.Kg2 Rg1 22.Kh3 Rh1 23.Kg2 Rh2 24.Kf1 and it looks like Tal's having all the fun. |
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| May-27-04 |
| ughaibu: Pity I missed a white mate in that line. |
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Jun-19-06
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| notyetagm: Stein beat Tal 3-1 in decisive games.
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| Jun-19-06 |
| russep: Stein was a very good player. Too bad he died so early in his career. |
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| Jun-19-06 |
| FrenchFrog: <Stein was a very good player> He was more than a very good player...He was a genius, like Fischer or Tal. |
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| Jun-19-06 |
| RookFile: Yeah, I don't know a lot about Stein, except that he was held in very high regard as a player, and he died young. |
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| Jun-20-06 |
| FrenchFrog: <he died young.> He could have been Fischer's challenger in 1975. .. He played a very dynamic kind of chess, different from Tal's style. Stein was a sounder player than Misha Tal. |
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| Jun-20-06 |
| FrenchFrog: In his book Leonid Stein master of attack, Raymond Keene said that 15...Db6 is a mistake. After the game Tal saw 15...Bxf3 16. Bxf3 Ne5 !!. And 17. Rxd8 Nxf3+ 18.Kh1 Rc8xd8 19. Be3 Nd4 and the position is unclear...Is this pure madness? |
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Jun-22-06
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| plang: "The venue for this game is incorrect, it was played at Moscow 1971 in the Alekhine memorial." Venue is correct. This game was from 1971 soviet championship. They did play at the Alekhine Memorial tournament but game was drawn (and is not in Chess Games database. |
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Jun-22-06
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| plang: Correction, game from Alekhine Memorial Tournament is in the database. It was drawn in 28 moves. |
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| Nov-12-06 |
| black knight c6: can someone explain why 30. ... Bxa5? and not something like f6? |
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| Nov-13-06 |
| The Backward Pawn: If Bf6 white can push his B pawn and there is little black can do as b8 is covered by whites bishop. If you were refering to just f6 then it looks like Re8+ Kf7 Nd6+ and blacks bishop is pinned and the pawns can be pushed. |
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| May-29-07 |
| Tomlinsky: Notes by GM Nigel Davies:
1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 e6 3.Bg2 d5 4.Nf3 Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.d4 c6 7.Qc2 b6 8.Rd1 Bb7 9.Nc3 Nbd7 10.b3 Rc8 11.e4! Two points. White really must play this before Black frees himself with 11 ... c5. 11 ... c5 12.exd5
Probably White's best, but there is an interesting alternative in 12.e5!?
after which Catalan expert Neistadt recommends 12 ... Ng4!? 13.cxd5 cxd4 14.Rxd4 Ndxe5. Less good is 12 cxd5 after which 12 ... exd5 13 e5 Ne4 leaves White's queen exposed on the c-file. 12 ... exd5 13.dxc5
In a later game from the same tournament Stein (as White against Lengyel) was to vary at this point with 13.Bb2 and won after just six more moves: 13 ... Qc7 14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.cxd5 Bxd5 16.dxc5 Bxf3 17.Bxf3 Nxc5 18 Qf5 Rfd8? 19 Be5! 1-0. 13.cxd5 leads to nothing but simplification after 13 ... Nxd5 14.Nxd5 Bxd5 15.Ng5 Bxg5 or 15 ... Nf6. 13 ... dxc4 14.b4!
This constitutes White's only chance to play for an advantage. 14.cxb6 leads nowhere after 14 ... cxb3. 14.bxc4!? is also harmless as after 14 ... Rxc5 15.Ba3 Rc8! (rather than 15 ... Rxc4?! 16.Ne5) White has no compensation for his broken queenside. One of the points of 14.b4! is that you can meet 14 ... a5!? with 15.bxa5! with a possible sequel being 15 ... Bxc5 16.Bg5! h6 17.Ne5! Bxg2 18.Rxd7 Qe8 19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.Ng4. If Black plays 15 ... bxa5 in this line then 16.Na4! stops Black recapturing
on c5 because of 16 ... Bxc5 17.Nxc5 Rxc5 18.Ba3.
These last two lines emanate from Tal himself who gave them in his notes to his game against the Swedish IM Thomas Wedberg in Reykjavik 1990. By that time Tal had switched allegiance to the White side of this opening! 
click for larger view 14 ... bxc5 15.b5! Qb6
After the game Tal pointed out that he could have sacrificed his queen with 15 ... Bxf3 16.Bxf3 Ne5!!. A possible sequel could be
17.Rxd8 Nxf3+ 18.Kh1 (and not 18.Kg2?? Ne1+) 18 ... Rcxd8 19.Be3 Nd4 or 19.Qe2 Rd3! 20.Qxe7 Re8 21.Qxc5 Re5 22.Qxc4 Re1+ 23.Kg2 Rg1+ 24.Kh3 g5 25.Qc8+ (25.Bxg5 Nxg5+ is better for
Black) 25 ... Kg7 26.Bb2 g4+ 27.Qxg4+ Nxg4 28.Ne2+ Kg6 29.Nxg1 Nxf2+ 30.Kg2 Nxg1 31.Kxf1 Rd2+ 32.Kxg1 Rxb2 with a
likely draw due to the activity of Black's king and rook. 16.Bf4! Rfd8 17.a4
A strong move which threatens 18 a5. 17
Qe2, forking e7 and c4, is another interesting move though 17 ... Qe6 is probably an
adequate reply.
17 ... Qa5 18.Nd2
Intending to bring the knight to the superb c4 square. 18 ... Bxg2 19.Nxc4!
An important `zwischenzug'. After 19 Kxg2 Nb6 20.Nce4 Nfd5 Black gets
excellent counterplay.
19 ... Qb4 20.Na2 Be4 21.Nxb4
Correctly going into the endgame.
21 ... Bxc2 22.Nxc2 Nb6 23 Rxd8+
A very precise move which forces Black to make a passive recapture with the bishop. If Black now plays 23 ... Rxd8 there would follow 24.Nxb6 axb6 25.Bc7 Rd2 26.Bxb6! (the point) Rxc2 27.a5 Nd7 28.Bc7 when Black has no answer to the advance of the White pawns. |
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| May-29-07 |
| Tomlinsky: 23 ... Bxd8 24.N2e3
Mikhail Suba would probably describe this move with the words `solid domination'. Blockading the passed c-pawn is certainly the most logical move 
click for larger view 24 ... Nxc4 25.Nxc4 Nd5 26 Rd1!
Again a convincing treatment which intends to meet 26 ... Nxf4 27.gxf4 Kf8 (Korchnoi's recommendation) with 28.Rd7! after which 28 ... Ra8 29 a5 Ke8 30 Rb7 looks miserable indeed. Another point behind this move is that 26 ... Nc3 is met by 27 Rd7 Nxa4 28 Rxa7 after which neither 28 ... Nc3 (29 b6) nor 28 ... Nb6 (29 Nxb6 Bxb6 30 Ra6 Bd8 31 b6) would hold out for very long. 26 ... Nb6 27.Nd6 Ra8 28.a5
The position is screaming out for the advance of the queenside pawns. 28 ... Na4 29 Nc4 Nc3 30 Re1!
Black's position is now desperate. The threat of 31 Re8 mate can hardly be met by 31 ... Bf6 because 32 b6 would shortly cost Black a rook. 30 ... Bxa5 31 Nxa5 Nxb5 32.Re5!
32 ... Rc8 is crushed by 33.Nc6! (33.Nb7 and 33.Nb3 are also good enough, if less stylish). 32 ... Nd4 33.Rxc5 1-0
A beautifully sculptered performance by Stein; to defeat Mikhail Tal, without allowing even the slightest counterchance, is a suberb achievement. |
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| May-30-07 |
| mrbasso: <Tomlinsky> Unfortunately 15...Bxf3? 16.Bxf3 Ne5 does not work at all.
15...Qb6 is not a mistake.
Probably 14...a5 is much better than 14...bxc5?!.
Interesting game, thanks for posting.
[Event "URS-ch39"]
[Site "Leningrad"]
[Date "1971.10.14"]
[Round "20"]
[White "Stein, Leonid"]
[Black "Tal, Mihail"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E08"]
[WhiteElo "2605"]
[BlackElo "2620"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "1971.09.15"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "21"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[EventCategory "11"]
[Source ""]
1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 e6 3. Bg2 d5 4. Nf3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. d4 c6 7. Qc2 b6 8. Rd1
Bb7 9. Nc3 Nbd7 10. b3 Rc8 11. e4 c5 12. exd5 exd5 13. dxc5 dxc4 14. b4 bxc5 (
14... a5 15. bxa5 bxa5 (15... Bxc5 16. Bg5 h6 $2 17. Ne5 Bxg2 18. Rxd7 Qe8 19.
Bxf6 gxf6 20. Ng4) 16. Rb1 (16. Na4 Bd5 (16... Bxc5 $2 17. Nxc5 Rxc5 18. Ba3)
17. Ba3 Bxc5 (17... Re8) 18. Nxc5 Nxc5 19. Ng5 Nd3 20. Bxf8 Bxg2 21. Kxg2 Qxf8)
16... Ba8 17. Ng5 (17. Ne5 Bxg2 18. Nxd7 Nxd7 19. Kxg2 Qe8 20. Re1 Nxc5 21. Nd5
Ne6) 17... Bxg2 18. Kxg2 h6 19. Nge4 Qe8 20. Nd6 Bxd6 21. cxd6 Ne5) 15. b5 Bxf3
16. Bxf3 Ne5 17. Rxd8 Nxf3+ 18. Kh1 Rcxd8 19. Qe2 (19. Be3 Nd4 20. Qa4) 19...
Rd3 (19... Bd6 20. Qxf3 Be5 21. Bf4 Rd3 22. Qxd3 cxd3 23. Bxe5) 20. Qxe7 Re8 (
20... Rxc3 21. Be3) 21. Qxc5 Re5 (21... Re1+ 22. Kg2 Rg1+ 23. Kh3 h6 24. Ne4
Nxe4 25. Qc8+ Kh7 26. Qf5+ Kh8 27. Qxe4 Rh1 28. Be3 Rxh2+ 29. Kg4) 22. Qc8+ (
22. Qxc4 $2 Re1+ 23. Kg2 Rg1+ 24. Kh3 g5) 22... Re8 23. Qf5 Re5 (23... Rxc3 24.
Bb2 Nd4 25. Qc5) (23... Nd4 24. Qf4) 24. Qf4 Re1+ 25. Kg2 Rg1+ 26. Kh3 h6 27.
Ne4 Nd5 28. Qb8+ Kh7 29. Bb2 c3 30. Bxc3 Nxc3 31. Rxg1 Nxg1+ 32. Kg2 1-0 |
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Mar-02-08
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| whatthefat: <mrbasso: Unfortunately 15...Bxf3? 16.Bxf3 Ne5 does not work at all. 17.Rxd8 Nxf3+ 18.Kh1 Rcxd8 19.Qe2 Rd3 20.Qxe7 Rxc3 21.Be3> What if Black plays 21...Nd5 here?
click for larger viewIt seems to me that White still has some serious problems after something like 22.Qxc5 Nxe3 23.fxe3 Rc2 |
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Mar-03-08
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| whatthefat: On second thoughts, 22.Qe4 looks very strong, simply meeting 22...Nxe3 with 23.Qxf3. Perhaps this is why Tal rejected the queen sacrifice. |
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Aug-23-08
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| notyetagm: <Tomlinsky: Notes by GM Nigel Davies: > In which book by GM Davies does he annotate this game? 23  d1xd8+
click for larger view<23 Rxd8+
A very precise move which forces Black to make a passive recapture with the bishop. If Black now plays 23 ... Rxd8 there would follow 24.Nxb6 axb6 25.Bc7 Rd2 26.Bxb6! (the point) Rxc2 27.a5 Nd7 28.Bc7 when Black has no answer to the advance of the White pawns.> 
click for larger view |
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Aug-23-08
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| notyetagm: <Tomlinsky: ... A beautifully sculptered performance by Stein; to defeat Mikhail Tal, without allowing even the slightest counterchance, is a suberb achievement.> Indeed, Stein was showing World Championship form in the early 70s when this game was played. |
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Aug-23-08
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| notyetagm: 18 ...  b7xg2
click for larger view19  d2xc4! <zwischenzug>
click for larger view< 19.Nxc4!
An important `zwischenzug'. After 19 Kxg2 Nb6 20.Nce4 Nfd5 Black gets excellent counterplay.> (VAR) 19  g1xg2 d7-b6 20 c3-e4 f6-d5
click for larger viewThus 19 g1xg2?! is an inaccuracy as it allows Black to <DEFEND> the c4-square with 19 ... d7-b6, where as Black cannot play this knight move to <DEFEND> the c4-square after the excellent <ZWISCHENZUG> 19 d2xc4! as the Black a5-queen is <EN PRISE>. |
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| Mar-06-09 |
| dwavechess: 26/33 concur with Rybka 3 at 3 min. per move for Stein |
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| Jul-17-09 |
| totololo: <notyetagm> I think that you are mistaken by the database error. Stein- TAL score is 3-0! I can't believe it ! |
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