Messiah: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bh4 c5 6.d5 d6 7.e3 exd5<H Steiner vs Larry Evans, 1952 featured 7...e5.>
8.cxd5 Nbd7 9.Bb5 O-O 10.Nge2 Ne5 11.O-O Ng6 12.Bg3 Nh5
<I like 12...a6 much more.>
13.Bd3 Nxg3 14.Nxg3 Ne5
<Or 14...Bd7, 14...f5, whatever.>
15.Be2 Bxc3
<My gut feeling is that Smyslov was already out of his book at this moment, and this could be the reason of his strange decisions throughout the game. 15...a6, Benoni-style, is something I would expect from a hyper-strong player like him.>
16.bxc3 Qh4
<The other idea is to play 16...Rb8. Maybe even 16...Re8.>
17.f4 Ng4 18.Bxg4 Bxg4 19.Qa4?!
<Very weird and almost ugly move, putting the queen onto the same rank as the other queen is located at. By moving the bishop away (as Smyslov does it in the very next move), suddenly the f-pawn, or after an e4, the e-pawn, are vulnerable because of the pin. 19.Qd3 or 19.Qc2 are completely natural and good moves.>
19...Bc8
<Logical, yes, but seemingly more natural is 19...Qe7. The position is an equality with being playable for both sides.>
20.e4 Qg4?!
<I can not understand what was Smyslov's problem with 20...f5 21.Rae1 fxe4 22.Nxe4 Qd8.>
21.Qc2 h5 22.Rf2
<22.Rf3 seems to be more natural, but the resulting positions could be sharper.>
22...b5 23.e5 h4 24.Nf1
<24.Ne4 Bf5 25.Qe2 Qxe2 26.Rxe2 is also playable.>
24...Bf5 25.Qd2
<Or 25.Qb2. This position would require months of analysis to decide which is the proper move.>
25...dxe5?!?!??!?!!!???!??!??!!!?!?!?!!
<Technically the resulting position is not lost, but something was astronomically misjudged by Smyslov: maybe he did not bear the proper mentality required for playing chess. After something obvious like 25...Rfe8 or 25...Qg6 or 25...Rad8 the position is a total equality, despite not being dry and boring. But now White has a free passer on a guarded file.>
26.fxe5 Bg6 27.Re1
<I like the immediate 27.d6 too.>
27...h3?
<66 years after the game it is very easy to be the smart guy, but I think this is the moment when Smyslov lost. He did not understand that it is not him who attacks. Black's only options are either starting the bombardement of the central pawns, or trying to establish some counterplay on the queenside. I can not work out the first case, for the second one I might recommend some stupid variations like 27...b4 28.d6 Rfe8 29.Ne3 (or maybe 29.c4) 29...bxc3 30.Qxc3 Qe6 and although White is better (just look at the pawn structure!), not winning (yet). I find the thinking about this position to be very difficult.>
28.d6
<Or 28.Ne3. Black's future is dark.>
28...Be4 29.Ne3 Qe6
<29...Qg6 or 29...Qg5 are not better at all. The pawns are bulldozers.>
30.Rf4!
<Spassky reaches a total control in the centre.>
30...Bxg2
<Bombarding the centre in a hurry is a little bit late. 30...f5 31.exf6 Rxf6 32.Ng4 Rxf4 33.Qxf4 and White has the pull.>
31.Nf5!
<I really like this move. 31.Nxg2 hxg2 32.Qxg2 is also better for White, but 31.Nf5 is even better.>
31...Rfe8 32.Re3 Rad8
<The position is already very bad, but now the young Spassky can finish Black's day with a not too difficult combination. We might find objectively better moves for Black, but why would we try? White's total positional dominance is a harsh reality.>
33.Nxg7 Rxd6
<Nothing helps anymore: 33...Qd5 34.Rg3 Kf8 35.Rh4 f5 36.Qe2 and sooner or later it is curtains.>
Kibitzing
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