[Event "Rishon LeZion Jubilee Tournament"]
[Site "Rishon LeZion ISR"]
[Date "1978.12.25"]
[EventDate "1978.12.24"]
[Round "2"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Nechemia Kasimov"]
[Black "Roman Dzindzichashvili"]
[ECO "A49"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "121"]

1. d4 {Notes by Israeli National Master Nechemia Kasimov:
Before this tournament, GM Roman Dzindzichashvili had lost
only two games in Israel since moving there from the Soviet
Republic of Georgia in 1976. His best career performances came
in 1978, when he was rated among the top twenty players in the
world. My strategy was to avoid theoretical openings, since
Roman's knowledge was profound and mine was below zero. This
game was intense: it lasted six hours, starting at 7:00
p.m. and finishing at 1:00 a.m. I had no doubt Roman was sure
his superior chess skills would prove decisive in the endgame;
I was willing to go the distance, and the spectators were
willing to wait until the end of the game for what turned out
to be a big surprise.} Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O
5. b3 d6 6. Bb2 c6 7. Nbd2 Qa5 8. O-O Qh5 9. Ne1 c5 10. e3
Qxd1 11. Rxd1 cxd4 12. exd4 Nc6 13. Nc4 Bg4 14. f3 Be6 15. Ne3
Nb4 16. Nd3 Nfd5 17. Nxd5 Nxd5 18. Rfe1 b5 19. c4 bxc4
20. bxc4 Nb6 21. d5 Bf5 22. Bxg7 Kxg7 23. c5 Na4 24. Nf4 Nxc5
25. Rxe7 Rfe8 26. Rde1 Kf8 27. Rxe8+ Rxe8 28. Rxe8+ Kxe8
29. Kf2 Bb1 30. a3 Ba2 {After thirty moves on the board, the
position was equal. I didn't offer a draw, since it was clear
to me Roman would try to win anyway.} 31. Ke3 Na4 32. Kd4 Nb6
33. h4 h6 34. Bf1 Ke7 35. Bd3 Kf6 36. Be4 Nc4 {Roman started
hunting my a-pawn. Meanwhile, the White pieces were improving
their positions.} 37. a4 Nb6 38. a5 Nc4 39. a6 Nb6 40. Nd3 Bc4
41. Nb4 Bb5 42. Bd3 Bd7 43. f4 {I spent time considering
43. Nc6, but in the line 43. Nc6 Bxc6 44. dxc6 Ke6 45. c7 Kd7
46.Bb5+ Kxc7 47.Be8 g6 48.hxg5 hxg5 49.Bxf7 Kd7, Roman could
survive, so I chose another plan -- to keep open the
possibility of Nc6 and to combine it with active play on the
opposite side.} Ke7 44. Be2 {Preparing 45. h5} Kd8 45. h5 Kc7
46. hxg6 fxg6 47. Bd3 g5 48. f5 h5 49. f6 {I saw at last I had
a real chance to win this game. This was the crucial
point. Roman could still survive by playing 49. . . . Be8, and
if 50. Nc6, Bxc6 51. dxc6 Kxc6, and if 52. f7 or 52. Bf5,
52. . . . Nd7 would stop my f-pawn. Instead, Roman played
49. . . . Kd8?} Kd8 50. Nc6+ Bxc6 51. dxc6 {At this point, the
Black pieces were unable to fight with two White pawns on
opposite sides of the board.} h4 52. gxh4 gxh4 53. Bf5
{Halting Roman's pawn at h4; the moves that followed only
delayed defeat.} Na8 54. Kd5 Nc7+ 55. Kxd6 Nb5+ 56. Ke5 Nc7
57. Bd7 h3 58. Bxh3 Nxa6 59. Kd6 Nc7 60. f7 Nb5+ 61. Kc5
{Roman lost only one other game in this tournament: his
final-round defeat by third-place finisher Ofer Komay.} 1-0