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Mikhail Tal vs Edwin Bhend
"Bhend it Like Edwin" (game of the day Apr-14-2022)
Zuerich (1959), Zuerich SUI, rd 1, May-19
Benoni Defense: Old Benoni (A43)  ·  0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Jul-19-17  gauravbanodha: 24Qh4??
Jul-19-17  ChessHigherCat: "Watch Edwin bhend Tal"

What do you do with a guy who obstinately refuses to blunder? Lose

Nov-06-21  jerseybob: According to a recent post on Reddit, Bhend, at age 90, has just scored 4/7 in the European Senior Team Championship. And I'll bet every day he thinks of this game. I know I would!
Nov-09-21  whiteshark: I Bhend, so I don't break.
Feb-23-22  N.O.F. NAJDORF: Didn't Tal miss a win by

24. Bb1 Bf7 25. Qh4 h6 26. Qe4 Bg8 27. Rxg7 Kxg7 28. Qg6+ Kh8 29. Qxh6+ Bh7 30. Qxh7#

or

24. Bb1 Bf7 25. Qh4 Bg6 26. Bxg6 h6 27. Rfe1 (27. Bb1 Rf4) Rb7 28. Qe4 Rxe7 29. Qxe7 ?

Feb-23-22  N.O.F. NAJDORF: I overlooked 24 ... Rf7

After

24. Bb1 Rf7 25. Qh5 Kg8 26. Bxh7+ Kf8 27. Re3 Bc6 28. Rfe1 Rbb7 29. Bf5 Rxf5 30. Qxf5+ Rf7 31. Qe6 Bd4 32. R3e2 Qf6 33. Qxf6 Rxf6

it looks like black is winning.

Apr-14-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: I love the pun. Who the hell is Edwin Bhend?
Apr-14-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  An Englishman: Good Evening: Bhend proved a very tough opponent in this tournament. Not yet an IM, facing a herd of GMs, his -2 score might have made this his best result ever.
Apr-14-22  SkySports: The pun was created by <tamar>, I have just submitted it because apparently no one did it... Fun fact aboth Bhend, he is still active and he's the best over-90 player in the World (current rating 2099).
Apr-14-22  goodevans: Several endorsers of this pun so I must be missing something. "Edwin" is nothing like "Beckham" so surely it has nothing to do with the film. Could somebody please explain.
Apr-14-22  Andrew Chapman: <Several endorsers of this pun so I must be missing something.> I think the idea is that he was under intense pressure but didn't break - like bending a piece of wood until it almost breaks - but still holds.
Apr-14-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  OhioChessFan: <goodevans>, well, people clamor for great games with a great pun that directly applies to some aspect of the great game. If all 3 of those don't happen, someone will complain. FWIW, I remain on the record for the pun taking precedence of those points. Anyway, cg.c needs 365 of them a year. Sometimes, you gotta accept maybe a less than great game or less than perfect pun or a pun that doesn't directly relate to the game.
Apr-14-22  Nosnibor: Keep thinking 0f "Bend it " by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mitch and Titch. However in this game Bhend was very much alert and far from dozy!
Apr-14-22  goodevans: <OCF> As you know, for a good game (and this is one) I'll happily suffer a poor pun but comments from <Strelets>, <HMM>, etc. lauding the pun genuinely made me think I was missing something.

<Missy> did warn us yesterday that as far as bad puns go, "You ain't seen nothing yet!". Hopefully we're in for a string of interesting games.

Apr-14-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: Tal, like Alekhine, will try ANYTHING to save a game.... In fact most GMs will do that, but some will be very clever and slithery.
Kamsky is a modern version of a resourceful defender.
Apr-14-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  Teyss: <goodevans> On top of the movie reference, the pun might also be "Bent it like the wind" as in "Bend [Tal's position] like the wind [would]." Granted, a bit far-fetched but not more than the Beckham allusion.

Sacs that work are enjoyable but sacs that don't are instructive.

Apr-14-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  OhioChessFan: <goodevans> ok. I've often been shocked to see plainly sub-par puns praised. In any case, this one clearly is referring to bend it like Beckham.
Apr-14-22  RookFile: Tal played the first 19 moves perfectly and could have preserved his opening advantage with 20. Bh4
Mar-02-23
Premium Chessgames Member
  An Englishman: Good Evening: Just think, one year later in 1960, Bhend is on a trolley or sitting in a coffeehouse, telling everyone, "No, really! Last year, I beat the World Chess Champion!"

And everyone is thinking, "Why do they always sit next to me?"

Mar-03-23  RakishTilt: Well played, An Englishman. But perhaps best to get off at the next trolley stop just in case.
Mar-04-23
Premium Chessgames Member
  An Englishman: Good Evening: <RakishTilt> seems a pity that CG doesn't have a laughing face emoji for such a comment as yours.
Mar-04-23  syracrophy: <RakishTilt><An Englishman> 😂😂😂😂😂😂
Mar-04-23  syracrophy: <Marmot PFL: It was always best to play Tal in round 1.>

The winning opening vs Tal was playing him at the opening of the tournament.

Was it too much?

Mar-04-23
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: <Marmot: It was always best to play Tal in round 1.>

Cafferty, in annotating Tal vs R G Wade, 1966 in his work on the great man, alluded to Wade's choice of opening for that reason.

Jul-14-23
Premium Chessgames Member
  plang: Already, 5..Na6 was a new move; 5..Nf6 is most often played. Certainly, a creative opening by both players. 22 Bxg6?! doesn't even qualify as speculative; did Tal miss 22..Bxd5! (23 Qh5?..Bg8)? After the game Tal said that he had originally intended 24 Bxh7 but then noticed that after 24..Bf6! 25 Qh6..Qxe7 26 Be4+..Kg8 27 Bxd5+..Rf7 he doesn't have sufficient play. Despite his miscalculations Tal could have still played 25 Bh5..Bd4 26 Qh6..Bg7 with a likely repetition.
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