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| Dec-03-07 | | Terry McCracken: < MostlyAverageJoe: <Terry McCracken: <MostlyAverageJoe: <Terry McCracken>: perhaps you could shed some light on the white's winning line after 33...Qa3?> 34. Rf7! which could have been played at move 32. How can you refute it?>
This is exactly the beginning of the line I proposed in this post: Y Gusev vs Averbakh, 1951 and yes, it cannot be refuted. Come to think of it, i got a bit confused after considering two variants in my post: 33...Qa3 and 34...g4. The first one is a forceful win for white, but in the second, white still has lots of work, although it is winning in long term. I should've really asked for improvements after the second, but somehow managed to ask about 33...Qa3. So, a restatement: do you see a truly forceful win if the game progressed with 34... Qg7 35. Bxg7 Kxg7 instead of 34...g4?> Yes, it's an easy endgame or basic ending win.
35.Rxe5 or 35. Kf3 followed by 35..Re8 36. Rxe5..Kf6 37. Rf5+ etc. The ensuing Rook and Pawn ending is overwhelming, Black is dead. But at least he gets his Rook into the game:-) |
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Dec-03-07
 | | Jimfromprovidence: <MAJ>
You could have played that same sequence at move 29 beginning with 29… cxb3. Then 30 axb3 31 Kg2 Qg7 ends up with an almost equivalent variation, except white has a little more work to do with this alternative. White has a momentary one pawn advantage, but it still should be an easy endgame. |
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| Jul-17-08 | | capatal: White's 24.Qxe5! leaves Chess computers clueless regarding the forced win. Good find and exposition Terry McCracken. |
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Jul-17-08
 | | al wazir: Yes, this is an amazing game, and I would love to know how confident Gusev was when he made his  sac that he would win and *why* he thought it would (or might) win. [Query to <patzer2>: Since analysis has shown that white wins against any defense, does that mean that 24. Qxe5 should be demoted to a "pseudo-sacrifice"?]However. Just because this game is so exceptional, I think it falls short of justifying <Terry McCracken>'s rather shrill denunciation of reliance on chess programs. After all, how often does a position like this occur? If I played like Rybka or TogaII I would lose games like this one, but my overall winning percentage would be a whole lot better than it is now. |
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| Dec-19-10 | | Touchdown: If Black has played 29...cxb3 30.cxb3 g5, what was the continuation for White ? |
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Dec-19-10
 | | GrahamClayton: <touchdown>If Black has played 29...cxb3 30.cxb3 g5, what was the continuation for White ? <touchdown>,
I think that White has nothing more than a draw, eg
31.  g2 a5 32.  f5 d8 33. f7 d2+ 34. f2 d6 35. f7 d2+ 36. f2 d6 37. f7 As long as the Black Queen guards f8, White has no mate. |
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| Apr-07-11 | | pikuels: Hi everybody! I had to register to comment on this game, which is my absolute favourite. Even if I'm a bit late, there seems to be a few doubts as if white is winning or not. I'd like to share my own thoughts: I think I'd better start with the best line for black, which involves the move Qg7 (funnily enough, I had not come up with that move, I saw it in this thread a while ago): 31 ... Qg7
32 Bxg7 Kxg7
At this point, white is up two pawns, and can get another passed pawn with something like Rf7+, Ra7. So this should be winning for white, but there's some work to do The last poster suggests 30 ... g5. This is losing, because white can play now 31. c5, and c6 on the next move, which automatically wins (black cannot capture the c pawn anymore, after c7 white plays Rf8+, Bxf8, c8=Q+, Qxh8 and e7). For example: 31. c5 Qe7
32. c6 Qc5+
33. Kg2
and black cannot capture on c6 because of Rf8++. Or:
31. c5 Qd8
32. c6 Qb6+
33. Kg2 Qb2+
34. Rf2
So that variation shows that 30 ... Qe7 is necessary. Black must have an eye on f8 and the other on c5, to prevent the c pawn from advancing |
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| Apr-07-11 | | pikuels: So, after 30... Qe7, white plays Kg2. I used to think, for a few days, that this game was great, but it wasn't a win. I thought that 33... g5 was a blunder. I mean, black controls f8 and c5 as long as the Queen stays in the a3-f8 diagonal, but Averbakh after ...g5 had to control 3 different squares (Rxg5 mates), which was too much. So I thought it would have been a draw if black had played Qe7-a3-e7. Some people think that black could have still played 34... Qd8 to draw, but after 35. c5 Qd2+ 36. Rf2, black cannot capture the c pawn. Black can try: 36 ... Qf4
37. Rxf4 gxf4
38. c6 f3+
39. Kxf3 a4
40. c7 a3
41. c8=Q++
So ...g5 seems to be the problem. The thing is, after a lot of thinking, I found that the only square for the black Queen to hold this position was e7, so if black plays Qa3 or Qc5, white wins with Rf7. So black can only play a4 and a3 (while white plays Rf1-f2-f1, for example) before zugzwang. Either if black moves the Queen or the g pawn, they're lost. I could be wrong, but I'll try to prove it in the next comment |
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| Apr-07-11 | | pikuels: So let's take the game from 30... Qe7. White plays 31. Kg2 to avoid Qc5+ (it wasn't essential, but any move works), and black plays Qa3. Well, white wins: 32. Rf7 Qxa2+
33. Kg3 Qa3
34. Rc7 Qf8 (34... Qxc3+, 35. Kg4)
35. Bxf8 Kxf8
36. Rc8+ Kg7
37. Rxh8 Kxh8
38. e7
Or:
32 ... Qb2+
33. Kg3 Qxc3+
34. Kg4 Qb4 (34... Qa3, 35. Rc7)
35. Rc7 Qb8
36. Rg7+ Kf8
37. Rb7+ Ke8
38. Rxb8+
Or:
32 ... Qc5 (32... Qd6)
33. Rg7+ Kf8
34. Rc7+ (34. Rd7+)
Black could have tried:
31 ... Qd6
32. Rf7 Qd8
33. Rg7+? Kf8
34. Rd7+ Ke8,
but white wins:
33. c5! Qe8
34. Rf2 (34. c6? Qxf7, 35. exf7+ Kxf7)
Hope that was clear, now I gotta get to work, but tomorrow I'll analyze what happens if black doesn't trade his Rook for white's light-squared Bishop, pretty interesting too Cheers |
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| Apr-08-11 | | pikuels: Ok, let's take this game from 25. Rf1 on.
Of course, white is threatening Bd1, Bb3 followed by e7+. If black doesn't trade white's light-squared Bishop, they can try blocking white's e pawn. For example: 25 ... Rc7
26. Bd1 Re7
27. Bb3
Now, it seems all black has to do is keep the Queen in the 8th rank, but the truth is that if the black Queen leaves e8, white wins. Black can move the queenside pawns, but they'll end up captured or blocked (if black moves the g pawn I think white should block it with the King instead of capturing it, to avoid g file checks). So: 27 ... Qd8
28. Rf7 Qe8 (28... Rxf7, 29. exf7++)
29. Rxe7 Qxe7
30. Bd5
Now, when the black Queen is forced to move, white mates: 30 ... Qe8
31. e7+ Qf7
32. e8=Q++
or:
30 ... Qd8
31. e7+ Qxd5
32. e8=Q++ |
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| Apr-08-11 | | pikuels: Another possibility is:
25 ... Qe7
26. Bd1 Rc8
27. Bb3
The black Rook has to stay in the 8th rank, or else: Rf8+, e7+. 27 ... Re8 (or any other move)
28. Rf7 a5 (or any other move)
29. Rxe7 Rxe7
30. Bd5
and white mates when the Rook moves |
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| Apr-08-11 | | pikuels: Ok, now it gets funny. Black can try:
25 ... Rc8
26. Bd1 Qxe6
27. Bb3 Qxb3
28. axb3
This is similar to other positions, all white has to do is get a passed pawn in the queenside, BUT: 28 ... a5
prevents white from getting it, if I'm not mistaken. After some thinking I thought I'd found a way: 29. c5 Rd8
30. Rf3 (30. Rf2 Rd1+, 31. Kg2 Rd8) Rc8
31. Kf2 Re8
32. Ke2 Rd8
33. Ke3 g5!
34. h3 g4
35. hxg4 Re8
36. Kd3 Rd8+
37. Kc3
So I thought that was it, but when black's queenside pawns are traded or blocked, black can check the white King indefinitely, because if King takes Rook, it's stalemate. I tried advancing my pawns as much as I could, and in the last minute, right before black can start checking, play Rf8+ and Bxf8, but I don't think that white's passed queenside pawns are enough to win against black's Rook. Anyway, I did all these calculations without any help from a computer. I'm downloading right now Rybka 4, so maybe white can win this position too |
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| Apr-08-11 | | pikuels: Finally, a few hours ago I think I came up with a winning line for black: 25 ... Qe7
26. Bd1 Qg7 (this was inspired by another poster)
27. Bxg7 Kxg7
28. Bb3
It may be a draw, but it certainly doesn't look like a win for white. So maybe Gusev's Queen sacrifice wasn't accurate, but it made one of the most beautiful chess games ever As a reply to another poster, I don't think Gusev was very confident about that sacrifice. If you look at the game, he misses 32. Rf7 and seems pretty happy with the draw by repetition (that would've been a remarkable game as well), but after 32... Qe7 Averbakh seems to panick and plays g5, which eventually opens the door for white's victory (Gusev must have thought it was a blunder) I hope this is of any use to anyone interested in this magnificent game. As I said, I didn't use a computer for my analysis, so maybe I've made some mistakes. If I have, I'd much appreciate it if anyone provides the correct lines Cheers |
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Apr-08-11
 | | Phony Benoni: Just to add to the confusion regarding the pedigree of this game, I've been able to find crosstables for both the 1946 and 1951 Moscow Championshps. Yuri Averbakh played in both tournaments; Gusev in neither. |
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| Apr-09-11 | | pikuels: Well, Rybka 4 proved that I'm no Kasparov. If
25 ... Qe7
26. Bd1 Qg7
27. e7
wins easily. If
25 ... Rc8
26. Bd1 Qxe6
27. Bb3 Qxb3
28. axb3 a5
white wins too, according to Rybka. Instead of taking the King to the queenside, white gets a passed pawn by taking black's e5 pawn (Rf6 is played) and escapes black's checks when the black Rook is on c2 and white plays Kd2-d1. Then, black tries Rf2 but white plays Bg7! and wins So I'm extremely glad to say that, unless Rybka proves otherwise, Gusev's Queen sacrifice was perfect |
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| Oct-19-11 | | Rrrto2005: Amazing game!! Best game ever!!! |
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Oct-19-11
 | | andrewjsacks: Has the scent of a spurious game. |
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Oct-19-11
 | | An Englishman: Good Evening: Where has this astounding game been all my life?! Gusev's conception is one of the most profound I have ever seen. |
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| Oct-19-11 | | ossipossi: Nah... Q sac is fine, but it is a strange game. |
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| Oct-19-11 | | Skakalec: Please note that Averbakh is still alive! |
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Oct-19-11
 | | chessgames.com: We are glad that people agree how astounding this game is. We don't like to overuse and thereby cheapen the term "immortal." |
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| Oct-19-11 | | ounos: I can only imagine the delirious heart beat prior to 22. Rxf6 - at the moment when the idea Qxd6 and Qxe5 appears, and Gusev calculates it, recalculates it, and /recalculates it/. It's one thing to sacrifice your queen in view of a deep combination, and another thing to count on sacrificing it two moves later. You better be sure before you burn all bridges. |
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Oct-19-11
 | | Shams: <chessgames.com> Were you ever able to get a second source this game, apart from the breathless <Terry McCracken>? |
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| Oct-19-11 | | erniecohen: It looks like a draw if black exchanges on b3, but it's still the best GOTD in a long time. |
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Oct-19-11
 | | hedgeh0g: I can't believe I hadn't heard of this game before! Without a doubt one of the most incredible displays I've ever seen. |
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