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Leonid Stein vs Tigran V Petrosian
USSR Championship 1961a (1961), Moscow URS, rd 6, Jan-19
French Defense: Winawer. Poisoned Pawn Variation General (C18)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Sep-02-16  N.O.F. NAJDORF: Sorry,Suenteus, but the fact Petrosian went undefeated against Geller is not so remarkable.

Petrosian, Geller and Keres had an arrangement that the games among them at the 1962 Candidates' Tournament would all be agreed drawn.

Jan-01-19
Premium Chessgames Member
  Honza Cervenka: Instead of 18...Qe7 black could have played 18...Ba4 preventing thus 19.a4 with next Ra1 and Ba3. 24...Rh6 was a blunder but black position was already quite precarious.
Aug-22-21  N.O.F. NAJDORF: Couldn't black have tried

26 ... Nh8 ?

Oct-08-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  kingscrusher: Maybe the Caro-Kann would have been a better choice - slightly more solid perhaps. This winawer has a bad reputation in modern engine chess - White generally wins the White side.
Mar-06-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  fiercebadger: 26... Nxe5 Bf5 ++-
May-05-22  Brenin: 26 Bxe6 fxe6 27 Qg4 leaves Black helpless against 28 Qxg6+ or Qxe6+, e.g. 27 ... Nxe5 or Nh8 28 Qxe6+ R(or Q)e7 28 Rf8 mate, or 27 ... Qe7 28 Qxg6+ Kd8 29 Rf8+ Kd7 (or c7) 30 Rf7 wins the Q.
May-05-22  Brenin: After 26 Bxe6, it looks as though Black might limit his losses to a P by 26 ... Nh8 27 Qg4 g6, but then White has 28 Bg5, and if 28 ... Qc7 (or Qb6 or Qa5) then 29 Bxd5, and Black's position is collapsing.
May-05-22  geeker: I saw 26. Bxe6 quickly, but didn't realize it was so crushing and was surprised by the immediate resignation.
May-05-22  mel gibson: Not too difficult today.

Stockfish 15 x64 avx2 says:

26. Bxe6

(26. Bxe6 (♗g4xe6 ♘g6-h8 ♕d1-g4 g7-g6 ♗c1-g5 ♖b7-e7 ♗g5xe7 ♕d8xe7 ♗e6xd5 ♔e8-f8 ♕g4-c8+ ♔f8-g7 e5-e6 f7-f5 ♕c8-b8 b5-b4 ♖f1-a1 ♔g7-h6 ♖a1xa4 b4-b3 c2xb3 c4xb3 ♕b8-e5 b3-b2 ♖f2xb2 ♕e7-g5 ♖a4-a1 f5-f4 ♕e5xf4 ♕g5xf4 g3xf4 g6-g5 f4-f5 g5-g4 ♖b2-b8 ♔h6-g5 ♖b8-g8+ ♔g5-f6 ♖g8xg4 ♖h7-h5 ♖a1xa7 ♔f6xf5 ♖a7-g7 ♖h5-h6 e6-e7 ♖h6-g6) +16.40/36 1726)

score for White +16.40 depth 36.

May-05-22  Cheapo by the Dozen: Petrosian didn't loose the game until he played ... Rh6, instead of a defensive move to head off the puzzle line.

Or maybe he was trying to clear space for ... Nh8? Whatever his reasoning, it didn't work out for him.

Anyhow, to me the base line is:

26 Bxe6 fxe6
27 Qg4 Bxc2
28 Qxe6+ Re7/Qe7
29 Qg8+ any
30 Qxh7

May-05-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  An Englishman: Good Evening: White's 19.a4! accomplishes so much for the price of only one pawn--renders the Black Bishop useless and let's White's dark squared Bishop terrorize the a3-f8 diagonal. Stein had a virtual piece advantage for the rest of the game.

Would 22...Rg8 and 23...Nh8 have helped Petrosian hold out longer?

May-05-22  agb2002: White has the bishop pair for a bishop, a knight and a pawn.

White can weaken the light squares around the black king with 26.Bxe6:

A) 26... fxe6 27.Qg4

A.1) 27... Bxc2 28.Qxe6+ (probably stronger than 28.Rxc2)

A.1.a) 28... Ne7 29.Rf8#.

A.1.b) 28... Qe7 29.Qc8+ Qd8 30.Rf8+ Nxf8 31.Rxf8+ Kxf8 32.Qxd8+ Kf7 33.Qxd5+ and 33.Qxb7 wins decisive material.

A.1.c) 28... Re7 29.Qc6+

A.1.c.i) 29... Qd7 30.Qxg6+ Kd8 (30... Bxg6 31.Rf8#) 31.Q(R)xc2 wins decisive material.

A.1.c.ii) 29... Rd7 30.e6 looks crushing.

A.2) 27... Kd7 28.Qxg6 Rh8 29.Rf7+ Kc8 (29... Kc6 30.Qxe6+ Qd6 31.Qxd6#) 30.Qxe6+

A.2.a) 30... Kb8 31.Rxb7+ Kxb7 32.Rf7+ Kb8 (else 33.Qc6+ and mate next) 33.Ba3 must be winning.

A.2.b) 30... Rd7 31.Qc6+ Qc7 (31... Rc7 32.Qa8#) 32.Qa8+ Qb8 33.Qxb8+ Kxb8 34.Rxd7 wins decisive material.

B) 26... Nh8 27.Qf3

B.1) 27... fxe6 28.Qf8+ Kd7 29.Qd6+ Kd8 (29... Ke8 30.Rf8#) 30.Rf8 wins.

B.2) 27... g6 28.Bxd5 wins a pawn at least.

May-05-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  scormus: I thought 26 Bxe6 looked strong, but I wasn't expecting .... 1-0!
May-05-22  saturn2: 26.Bxe6 Nh8 (else worse) 27.Bf5 g6 (the Rh7 has no square) 28.Bh3 and white invades with the rook via f6
May-05-22  newzild: 19. a4 is very instructive, despite the computer's evaluation.
May-05-22  Stanco: 26.Bxe6 fxe6 27.Qg4
May-05-22  Brenin: <An Englishman: Would 22...Rg8 and 23...Nh8 have helped Petrosian hold out longer?>

I don't think so: if 22 ... Rg8 23 Raf1 Nh8 then 24 Qg4, with threats such as 25 Rxf7 Nxf7 26 Qg6, or 25 Qh5 and 26 Qh7, seems to give White a winning position.

May-05-22  Cellist: I thought that the R sacrifice on f7 would lead to mate and spent much time analyzing various lines. Sadly, this ultimately does not work. I considered Bxe6 but did not see how decisive it is.
May-05-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  chrisowen: I baffle x eulogy Bxe6 muff clung ho roadhouse puzzle x boffin again brick work ask i dab hand dull finish
May-05-22  TheaN: Looked at Rxf7 first, but the line with Black escaping to h8 aren't appealing, so <26.Bxe6> first. This pawn grab is vital for White to continue the attack.

Black can decline this, but is facing a horrible game after 26....Nh8 27.Qg4! as in the accepted line, as Nh8 doesn't necessarily defuse the pressure.

Accepting will speed the demise though, as <26....fxe6 27.Qg4 +-> and now the same knight is on g6 is in, whilst defending f8, and Black also has no defense against the killing Qxe6+. 27....Bxc2, to defend Ng6, 28.Rxc2 +- and White only made progress.

May-05-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  Korora: I got it, though I wasn't sure what follow-up would work best.
May-05-22  AlicesKnight: Found the game move, but was a bit surprised that resignation was immediate (especially from Petrosian). On reading previous analysis, I now see more in it.
May-05-22  whiteshark: <26.Bxe6 fxe6 27.Qg4>, and that's it.

Who started the rumor that Petrosian would be difficult to defeat?

May-05-22  thegoodanarchist: Petrosian's only loss of the tournament, in which he finished first.
May-05-22  N0B0DY: Stop carrying your cell phone tracking device everywhere.

Some of us remember when <N0B0DY> could contact you all day long.

It's not that big a deal to be off the grid.

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