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Jonathan Mestel vs Vernon Albert Small
Haifa Olympiad (1976), Haifa ISR, rd 1, Oct-25
French Defense: Advance. Wade Variation (C02)  ·  0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

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Kibitzer's Corner
Dec-05-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Domdaniel: Great winning technique here from Black, against a formidable opponent - Mestel was rapidly approaching the GM title in '76, even though this game is not a great advertisement for his talent.

Black is the exchange and a pawn ahead, but White's queenside pawns and knight outpost on c6 give him lots of counterplay. But Small snuffs it out neatly, returning the exchange with 35...Rxc6! - destroying both the knight and the pawn wedge - before ending it with the cute tactic 43...Nxf4!, reaching an easily won pawn ending after 44.Kxf4 e5+.

The earlier play has several interesting points, but the game's best point for me is in the fine art of winning a won game (and exchanging one advantage for another). Before 35...Rxc6! Mestel had every chance of a cheapo.

Aug-31-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  Jonathan Sarfati: Yep, Small said he had heard so much about Mestel's winning exchange sacs that he decided to hoist him with his own petard. Overall, Small handled the complications better.

All the ♘ moves in the opening were objectively not so good. Stockfish 12 says that White is over +4 if 23.♘a5 or ♘d6+. Those moves are good on the next move too.

The future GM Murray Chandler annotated the middle and endgame in one of his early Listener columns. He noted 24.♕xb7 as too greedy, and the computer agrees that it loses almost all the advantage. Small's 24...♗g5 was a strong reply, and White's only way to keep any advantage was 25.♕f3. The game move 25.♕e4 was a serious error and 25...f5 would have been -2. In the game, 26.f3 would have minimized disadvantage.

26... ♗xf4 was good, but 26.. f5 is even better. Ewen McGowen Green suggested 27.♖h3 Δ ♕h7#, but Chandler provides the following f5 28.♕xf4 g5 29.♕d4 ♘dxe5 30.♘d6 ♖c2 31.f3 ♕a8, but White is surviving after 32. ♘d2; Black would win by 31...♘f2. And 30. ♘d6is bad; White is OK after 30.♘xe5 ♕xd4 31.♘xd4 ♘xe5 32.♖e3.

Black was already better on move 27. Mestel's typical exchange sac looked good, except for Small's finesse of 29...♕f6! After that, Small finished the game accurately.

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