chessgames.com

Samuel Reshevsky vs Rafael Vaganian
Skopje 1976  ·  French Defense: Tarrasch. Pawn Center Variation (C05)  ·  0-1
To move:
Last move:

Click Here to play Guess-the-Move
Given 33 times; par: 33 [what's this?]

explore this opening
find similar games 1,892 more games of Vaganian
sac: 15...Ndxe5 PGN: download | view Help: general | java-troubleshooting

TIP: To flip the board (so black is on the bottom) either press F or click on the d7 square.

PGN Viewer:  What is this?
For help with this chess viewer, please see the Pgn4web Quickstart Guide.

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Apr-07-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  tamar: Found one previous game,
J Kostro vs Uhlmann, 1974
where white's king got trapped in a crossfire on f2. Kg3 probably looked safer, until 16...Bh4+!!
Apr-07-04  shr0pshire: Okay here are my thoughts on the lost king, after I have taken a step back and looked at the game.

9.kf2. I have seen this in the game
J Kostro vs Uhlmann, 1974
Huebner vs H Ree, 1982
I think the reason behind this move is mobility of the last rank. To get the queen and the rook connected for an assualt on the kingside. This is also why all the minor pieces are huddled against the king.

12. Kg3
I think this is when he leads his attack, with deploying many of his minor pieces, but with the king???

16. ... Bh4! I think that black ruins white's plans with this move.

The only reason I can think of for teh king move, is to move it out of the way so the back rank can clear, and start the attack.

That's the best I got, this late at night.

Apr-11-04  iron maiden: What's 28. Bh6 supposed to be? A joke move before resigning?
Jun-15-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  notyetagm: <One of my favorite games.> 16 ... Bh4+!! is just too much.
Aug-19-04  WMD: Looked at this with Fritz and it came up with an interesting defence with the pawn sac 18.e6. If then 18...Bxe6 19.Rf1 Qb4+ 20.Bf4 Qe7+ 21.Bg5 Black no longer has the reply...Qe6, as in the game. Then Black would appear to have nothing better than a perpetual with 21...Qb4+ 22.Bf4.

Fritz, however, finds the killer move 20...g5+ (instead of ...Qe7+) which is curtains after 21.Kxg5 Ne5!.

Dec-13-04  HOTDOG: see also MacDonnell vs La Bourdonnais, 1834 !
Apr-26-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  AgentRgent: <notyetagm: Reshevsky didn't shake Vaganian's hand after this crushing defeat.> True, but according to Vaganian: "but later, at the prize ceremony, he walked up to me and congratulated me on a brilliant win."
Jun-26-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  suenteus po 147: <AgentRgent> That sounds like me when I'm in the heat of a game. A lot people tell me I'm one of the friendliest and most amiable guys you could ever play against. But sometimes when I lose, especially if it's a game I've been winning or holding even, my mind is consumed in the black cloud of anger, and my eyes see nothing but red. Of course, the next day when I'm thinking clearly it's, "hey, that was great win you played."
Sep-07-06  capablancakarpov: Vaganian comments this game at the end of this interesting article about him:

http://www.newinchess.com/Archives/...

Sep-07-06  RookFile: Well, he's lucky Reshevsky didn't punch him in the face. The guy was a fighter.

Just kidding.

Oct-10-07  hovik2003: J. Speelman in his book, Best Games of 1970-1980, analyzing this game he writes something like this " After Vaganian's 14...e5!! brilliant move, it is glorious to see how black pieces tearing off their chains and running right into the battlefield." Indeed GM Vaganian is a vertuso on French Defense Winawer variation.
Oct-10-07  siggemannen: Although this game wasn't winaver but tarrasch :)
Oct-10-07  Davolni: wow, what a nice game by GM Vaganian:)))
Oct-10-07  hovik2003: King walk to g3 is common practice in this kind of opening(king have to move and can't go back to first rank to block the king's rook), but obviously Reshevsky's 14.Re1 was played to prevent black's liberating move 14...e5., but Vaganian assesing the position correctly and by calculating all variations atleast upto the 20...Qe6 to make his 14th move work he played 14...e5!! anyway. So Reshevsky should have played farsighted and hard to find move 14.h3! opening a hatch for his king, before attempting to charge on black's backward e pawn.
Feb-12-09  arsen387: Vaganian himself annotates this outstanding game in the end of this fascinating article http://www.newinchess.com/Archives/...
Feb-12-09  arsen387: according to Vaganian white's mistake was 14.Re1?, this is what he says about it <This is evidently a mistake. 14.h3 was the right way to proceed, removing the king from the danger zone. I had been looking at this position for quite some time, contemplating various moves, when lighting suddenly struck me from above: the f2 square, the f2 square! I started to calculate the consequences of 14...e5. It was imperative to see everything right up to move 20.>
May-16-09  zdigyigy: White says,"go ahead, baby, make my day". And black does just that.
May-16-09  WhiteRook48: why not 18 gxf3?
May-22-09  Brown: If 18.gxf3 Qf2+ then

19.Ng3 Qxh2+ 20.Kg5 Qh6#
19.Kh5 Qxf3+ 20.Kg5 Qg4#
19.Kg5 h6+ 20.Kg6 Nxe5+ 21.Kh5 Qh2#

Aug-22-09  Walruspuppy: Ironmaiden, after 28 B-KR6, White's Queen gets some breathing room and attacks the KP. Some counter play may ensue depending upon where Black places his QR. Vaganian calmly plays his QR to KB1 and Reshevsky sees that he is playing solid and resigns. Note also that Black was threatening at some point ... P-KR3 either trapping the bishop or forcing it away from protection of the Knight. 28 ... PxB 19 QXRP at least continues to protect the Knight in place of the Bishop.
Aug-22-09  Walruspuppy: I have not looked at the referenced annotations given above (thanks) but how about 25 QXRch KxQ 26 N-Q3 ch Q-KB4 27 RxQch NxR leaving White down a pawn but with opposite colored bishops. I think this would hold on for a draw. Comments?

BTW, This game is found in The World's Greatest Chess Games by Burgess.

Oct-15-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni:


click for larger view

<Walruspuppy> Sorry, but after 25.QxRch KxQ 26.N-Q3ch Black can cross check with 26...N-B4ch and save his queen.

For the monolingual among you: 25.Qxf7+ Kxf7 26.Nd3+ Nf5+.

Mar-23-12  King Death: <arsen387>, thanks for posting the link to a fine article!

In the opening there's one idea that Vaganian didn't mention (8.Be3) but it was played in this game (Adorjan vs J L Watson, 1981) and it's considered very good for White.

Of course this takes nothing away from the fierce attack that Vaganian put together in this game, maybe his best.

Oct-15-12  newzild: Vaganian's notes for this brillant game (from New In Chess):

The game against Reshevsky started at 10 a.m. lest my opponent would have to play after the first star had reached the firmament. At the time it was not so easy for me to start that early. Now I am used to being awake at 7a.m., when my wife prepares the children for going to school...

<1.e4>

Reshevsky always played 1.d4, unless he was absolutely sure of what his opponent would reply to his moving the king’s pawn. In those days, of course, I would play the French Defence without exception.

<1...e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6>

Reshevsky was probably expecting 3...c5, which I had played against Karpov in Round 1. However, I wanted something else.

<4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Ndf3 Qa5>

Another option is 7...c4, which Petrosian played a few times.

<8.Kf2 Be7 9.Bd3?!>

9.g3, in order to bring the king into safety, was preferable. I was thinking about 9...b5 to create queenside counter-play as quickly as possible after 10.Kg2 b4.

<9...Qb6 10.Ne2 f6>

I had had this position before (in Adorjan-Vaganian,Student Olympiad, Teesside 1974)

<11.ef6 Bf6 12.Kg3 cd4 13.cd4 0-0 14.Re1?>

This is evidently a mistake. 14.h3 was the right way to proceed, removing the king from the danger zone. I had been looking at this position for quite some time, contemplating various moves, when lighting suddenly struck me from above: the f2 square, the f2 square! I started to calculate the consequences of 14...e5. It was imperative to see everything right up to move 20.

<14...e5!! 15.fe5 Nde5 16.de5 Bh4 17.Kh4>

Not 17.Nh4 Qf2 mate!

<17...Rf3!!>

It would be wrong to play 17...Qf2? 18.Ng3 Qg2 19.Bf1!, when it is White who wins!

<18.Rf1!>

The only move. 18.gf3 Qf2 mates in two moves. On 18.g3, 18...Qd8 19.Bg5 Qd7 is decisive.

<18...Qb4 19.Bf4 Qe7 20.Bg5 Qe6>

This is the crucial move I had to foresee when embarking on the combination.

<21.Bf5>

The lines 21.h3 Rh3 22.gh3 Qh3 and 21.Qa4 Rh3 are simple.

<21...Rf5>

Of course, Black must avoid 21...Qf5? 22.Qd5 Be6 23.Qf3.

<22.Nf4>

Now 22.Rf5 Qf5 23.Qd5 Be6 24.Qf3 Qe5 25.Bf4 g5 wins for Black.

<22...Qe5>

The rest is clear. Black is a pawn up and has a crushing attack against the enemy king to boot.

<23.Qg4 Rf7 24.Qh5 Ne7 25.g4 Ng6 26.Kg3 Bd7 27.Rae1 Qd6 28.Bh6 Raf8>

And here Reshevsky overstepped the time limit. He was so upset that he didn't shake hands, but later, at the prize ceremony, he walked up to me and congratulated me on a brilliant win.

Dec-12-12  rilkefan: This would be a worthy GOTD - perhaps under "Vagan poetry".
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
NOTE: You need to pick a username and password to post a reply. Getting your account takes less than a minute, totally anonymous, and 100% free--plus, it entitles you to features otherwise unavailable. Pick your username now and join the chessgames community!
If you already have an account, you should login now.
Please observe our posting guidelines:
  1. No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language.
  2. No spamming, advertising, or duplicating posts.
  3. No personal attacks against other users.
  4. Nothing in violation of United States law.
Blow the Whistle See something which violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform an administrator.


NOTE: Keep all discussion on the topic of this page. This forum is for this specific game and nothing else. If you want to discuss chess in general, or this site, you might try the Kibitzer's Café.
Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors.
Spot an error? Please submit a correction slip and help us eliminate database mistakes!
This game is type: CLASSICAL (Disagree? Please submit a correction slip.)

Featured in the Following Game Collections [what is this?]
Chess Informant Best Games 2
by koinonia
Mil y Una Partidas 1975-1999
by K9Empress
getting a feel for the openings (C)
by fourier
Nick's Favorite Games
by nd792001
Unleaching the French light squared Bishop attack with ...e6-e5
from La collection française de SOG7 by SniperOnG7
TheFrench's favorite French
by TheFrench
Game 69
from World's Greatest Chess Games by Anatoly21
Arcturus' favorite games
by Arcturus
How to play the French Defense
by iron man
Chess Highlights of the 20th Century (3/3)
by 50movesaheadofyou
Chess Informant: 100 Golden Games + 10 Best
by SirChrislov
How to treat a King with too much trust in the pawn chain
from Theriomorphic French Games by Domdaniel
#6-Skopje 1976 (70/391)
from World's Greatest Chess Games by DanBoyle
(C05) ...stop sayin LOL
from 97_French Disasters -Teh Bright Side don't mind by whiteshark
Skopje 1976
from Favorite Games from (1960-1979) by wanabe2000
Games for Study
by Tullius
Tarrasch, brilliant counterattack!
from sackman's Fighting French by sackman
Statonc's collection
by Statonc
Understanding Pawn Play in Chess by D. Marovic
by hms123
Volume 21 - 1st Place - 73 pts. (4, 9 judges)
from Chess Informant: 640 Best Games - Part 3 by TheAlchemist
plus 19 more collections (not shown)


home | about | login | logout | F.A.Q. | your profile | preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | Biographer's Bistro | new kibitzing | chessforums | Tournament Index | Player Directory | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Little ChessPartner | privacy notice | contact us
Copyright 2001-2013, Chessgames Services LLC
Web design & database development by 20/20 Technologies