chessgames.com
Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players · Kibitzing
Herman Pilnik vs Efim Geller
Gothenburg Interzonal (1955), Gothenburg SWE, rd 15, Sep-09
Sicilian Defense: Boleslavsky Variation (B59)  ·  0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

Click Here to play Guess-the-Move
Given 9 times; par: 60 [what's this?]

explore this opening
find similar games 6 more Pilnik/Geller games
sac: 36...g3 PGN: download | view | print Help: general | java-troubleshooting

TIP: To access more information about the players (more games, favorite openings, statistics, sometimes a biography and photograph), click their highlighted names at the top of this page.

PGN Viewer:  What is this?
For help with this chess viewer, please see the Olga Chess Viewer Quickstart Guide.
PREMIUM MEMBERS CAN REQUEST COMPUTER ANALYSIS [more info]

Kibitzer's Corner
Nov-19-07  TheKnife: In his book Modern Chess Strategy, Ludek Pachman mentions this game took place in the Interzonal of 1952.
May-22-14  estrick: The position after 22. f3 is #150 in Lev Alburt's 'Chess Training Pocket Book'.

It is a demonstration of how to sacrifice a pawn in order to get the knight a dominant outpost on e5 while turning White's LSB into a bad bishop that's hemmed in by pawns of its own color.

The knight does indeed play a very important role in Black's kingside attack, while White's LSB is mostly a passive spectator.

Feb-06-15  whiteshark: You'll find the game annotated by Sokolsky / Lemos http://www.onlinechesslessons.net/2...
Nov-17-15  zydeco: Great example of Geller's energetic play. From move 18 on, every one of his moves is forward. 18....a4! and 19....f5! are important moves in seizing the initiative - they're not exactly hard moves to find, but it takes courage to not worry about potential weaknesses. Pilnik's play looks sensible the whole way through but he gets pushed into a passive position.

This was part of an Argentine massacre: over two critical rounds in this tournament, the Soviets beat the Argentines, their chief rivals, 6-1.

Nov-16-17  PaperSlim: 22. ..e4 is just beautiful. Strategically wins the game for black
Aug-26-21  Knightmare07: I love the idea of ??sacrificing the pawn for the knight outpost, certainly an underrated game.
Oct-10-21  joeld: This example could have been taken rohjt out of Nimzowitch's My System, Chapter 4, section 2a. But of course, because when Nimzo wrote that book, Geller had not yet played this game, Nimzo uses Kolte-Nimzowitsch, Baden-Baden 1925 instead. J W te Kolste vs Nimzowitsch, 1925
Mar-09-23  BronsteinStudent: I was on Israel Gelfers positional handbook and funnily enough, the king is on G7 instead of g8 after the great e4 move by Geller, that severely blocked whites bishop, maybe this is a mistake from the book.

NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion.

Please observe our posting guidelines:

  1. No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language.
  2. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts.
  3. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members.
  4. Nothing in violation of United States law.
  5. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members.
  6. No trolling.
  7. The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited.
  8. Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers.

Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times.

Blow the Whistle

See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator.


NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific game only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors.
All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration.

This game is type: CLASSICAL. Please report incorrect or missing information by submitting a correction slip to help us improve the quality of our content.

Home | About | Login | Logout | F.A.Q. | Profile | Preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | Biographer's Bistro | New Kibitzing | Chessforums | Tournament Index | Player Directory | Notable Games | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Store | Privacy Notice | Contact Us

Copyright 2001-2025, Chessgames Services LLC