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Boris Spassky vs Leon Weiss
Havana Olympiad qual-1 (1966), Havana CUB, rd 2, Oct-27
Scandinavian Defense: Modern Variation (B01)  ·  1-0

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
a
1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move.
ANALYSIS [x]
Notes by Stockfish 9 v010218 (minimum 6s/ply)better is 6.d4 g6 7.Bb3 Nb6 8.Qf3 a5 9.a4 Bg7 10.h3 Bd7 11.Qe2 ⩲ +0.87 (22 ply)= +0.33 (21 ply) 8...e6 9.Nge2 Bg4 10.Qe3 Bb4 11.f3 Bf5 12.O-O O-O = +0.44 (22 ply) 9.Nge2 c6 10.dxc6 bxc6 11.Qxc6+ Nd7 12.O-O Rc8 13.Qa6 ± +1.62 (21 ply) 9...e6 10.dxe6 c6 11.exf7+ Kxf7 12.Be3 Bd6 13.Nge2 Re8 = +0.36 (21 ply) ⩲ +1.48 (21 ply)better is 10...e6 11.dxe6 c6 12.Qe3 Bb4 13.Nd4 Bg6 14.exf7+ Kxf7 ⩲ +1.17 (21 ply)better is 11.Nd4 Bh7 12.O-O g5 13.Be5 Bg7 14.Qe2 O-O 15.f4 Qd7 ± +1.75 (22 ply) 11...g5 12.Nd4 Bg6 13.Be5 Bg7 14.Qe2 O-O 15.f4 Qd7 ⩲ +1.17 (23 ply)+- +2.77 (23 ply) 12...Bg6 13.Rfe1 Bh5 14.Qe3 Qd7 15.Bg3 g6 16.f3 Bg7 ± +2.20 (22 ply)+- +3.20 (21 ply) 13...Qg4 14.Qe3 Qd7 15.Bg3 g5 16.Nb3 Bg7 17.Nc5 Qd8 +- +2.76 (23 ply)+- +4.43 (20 ply)+- mate-in-8 after 19...Be4 20.Rxe4 Kf8 21.Rxe7 Qxe7 22.Qxe7+ Kg720...Kf8 21.Rxd7 Re8 22.Rd8 Rxd8 23.Ne6+ Ke8 24.Qxd8# +- mate-in-41-0

rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1
FEN COPIED

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Kibitzer's Corner
Jul-11-05  calman543: This game was thrown into the book "Spassky's 100 Best Games" as comedy relief.
Jul-11-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: I've been looking for this game! Thanks, calman!

The game was used to show an idea of Bronstein's - that you should not refute an opponent's error as it is normally only the introduction of a second even bigger error. Spassky decided to try and play that way. He didn't try to refute his opponent's weak moves, he just kept developing and his opponent kept making mistakes!

Jul-11-05  calman543: Did you lose your copy of the Spassky book?
Jul-12-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: It's in a crate somewhere. I can remember some of Spassky's comments:

"Simple development!"
"At this point I became somewhat rude and tried to remain at the board for as little time as possible..." "Bronstein is right!"
"When I returned to the board my opponent had gone - he had resigned. Before resigning he had written on his scoresheet - and played on the board - the move 20...Rd8."

Jul-12-05  calman543: The author added in the final comment: "This incident reminds me of the story that Leonard Barden told of an Olympiad in the 50s when an Irishman was White against Bronstein. The game opened 1.P-K4 P-QB3 and after his demise the Irishman asked Bronstein 'what was the name of that opening?'"
Oct-13-06  johnywh: From a women's championship in Greece some decade ago: To the opponent after the first moves:
"I am playing the sicilian, what opening do you play?"
Jun-20-20  carpovius: That's really comical game)))
Jul-13-24  Helios727: The book comments: 1) After Black's 2nd move, "Apparently my opponent knows the opening. The text is still the best move." 2) After White's 9th move, "From this point I stopped trying to guess my opponent's moves and I probably behaved somewhat tactlessly - I tried to sit at the board for as little time as possible." 3) After Black's 10th, "Now I remembered a game I once had with master Koyplov. Then too I could not guess a single move from my opponent for a long period. My first reaction was one of annoyance, but then I merely started playing 'my own' developing moves and 8 moves later he resigned." [Side note, Black's 9th was marked with a "?" and 10th with a "??"] 4) After 12. Nd4, "My own move." 5) After Black's 13th [marked "?"] came the above quote concerning Bronstein. 6) After Black's 14th [which was marked "??"], "Bronstein is right!" 7) After White's 19th, "My opponent amazed me with his imperturbable appearance." 8) After White's 20th, Now Petrosian added his comment to the audience in Moscow, "Boris got up and walked away leaving me to sit next to all this." Then Spassky again, "When I came back, Weiss had resigned, but I learned that before this, he had calmly written down on his score sheet, and then played 20...Rd8." Then came the Leonard Barden quote from above.
Jul-14-24  generror: "My opponent amazed me with his imperturbable appearance." XD XD XD Good old Spassky, he really is one of the most likable World Champions ever.

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