Roman Izrailevich Levit vs Nikolai Georgiyevich Kopilov (1955) "Levitation"

Roman Izrailevich Levit vs Nikolai Georgiyevich Kopilov
"Levitation" (game of the day Jan-26-08)
URS-ch sf 1955 · Sicilian Defense: Classical Variation. General (B56) · 1-0

To move:

Last move:

explore this opening	find similar games	67 more games of N Kopilov
sac: 17.Nxd8	PGN: download \| view	Help: general \| java-troubleshooting

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Jan-26-08		think: Heres my guess as to why not 10. ... Qxf5: 11. Nd4 Nxd4 (11. ... Qxg5 12. Nc7+) 12. Qxd4 Qxg5 13. Bxc6+ bxc6 14. Qxc6+ picking up the Rook. Am I close at least? Nice Queen sac and follow up. Vaguely reminds me of the Topalov-Kramnik game played a couple of days ago. The only counterplay Black could find was an easily defended mate threat.

Jan-26-08		jovack: white's endgame was fairly poor, but he had more than enough material beat black regardless

Jan-26-08		patzer2: White's 17. Nxd8!? initiates a true Queen sacrifice. Black misses 22...Kc7= and it's mostly downhill from there. White does a nice job with the pursuit combination, even though 29. Rfd1! would have expedited the win a bit.

Jan-26-08		KudaMaLaS: i cant think like this!

Jan-26-08		drpoundsign: I've heard some "experts" diss pawn moves but why wouldn't checking black with some of the Queen's pawns have worked?

Jan-26-08		kevin86: I find it hard to call this a queen sac, as white gained a rook and knight for the queen-pretty much an even deal. White was able to pull off an attack;black feebly was only able to threaten mate twice. Guess who won,lol?

Jan-26-08		sambo: <think: Heres my guess as to why not 10. ... Qxf5: 11. Nd4 Nxd4 (11. ... Qxg5 12. Nc7+) 12. Qxd4 Qxg5 13. Bxc6+ bxc6 14. Qxc6+ picking up the Rook. Am I close at least?> I think you meant 11. Nd5 Nxd5. Anyhow, in that line, after 12. Qxd4, why not 12...Qd7 to defend the knight? Or 12...Rc8 to defend the knight and keep pressure on g5?

Jan-26-08		Funicular: patzer2: Rfd1? u sure? actually with Rd5 the black king is not allowed to escape. If Rfd1, black can go back to the fifth rank, threatening the bishop, and then white loses at least one tempi defending it perhaps it does speed things up, im just guessing

Jan-26-08		DarthStapler: King Hunt!

Jan-26-08		LearProdigy: Following from Sambo: White would still have the advantage despite being a pawn down. 2 White bishops with 1 black knight pinned. Perhaps, both players were taking a punt. As kevin86 mentioned, the Queen sacrifice isn't really a sacrifice. We tend to value it alot, and so whenever it doesn't get traded for the opposition's queen it feels like a sacrifice... Anyway, if black was to defend the knight with 12...,Rc8, white would counter with 13. Be3. Leaving open, 13..., Qxc2 for black (but the queen would end up being chased away by the two rooks and giving white extra tempi to attack the king. Perhaps, there was too much for black to calculate since most defensive moves leave white with a moderate strategic advantage. Without considering the Queen exchange, black's approach would have seemed fairly safe.

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