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Tigran Petrosian vs Boris Spassky
Petrosian - Spassky World Championship Match (1969), Moscow URS, rd 10, May-09
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation. Bishop Attack (E47)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Kibitzer's Corner
Nov-06-06  Rama: The sequence starting with 10. a3 ..., is reminiscent of a variation in the Winawer outlined by Alekhine in his notes to the openings in NY 1924. With 12. Nxc3 ..., white accepts the doubled pawns of the Nimzo, but they are on the b-file, and mobile! Brilliant!

18. Ra3 ..., was the first "grandmaster-move" of the game, that is, one which I did not understand. After 21. Rfa1 ..., I got it. White's b-pawn artificially isolates black's a-pawn, justifying the bombardment by both Rooks.

29. Nxc5 ..., reaps the reward from Ra3 etc. White nets two pieces for a Rook and in about five moves it is all over.

Apr-06-08  Knight13: So 25...Qc5? is a blunder. But Black's position already sucks. I don't blame Spassky for playing 25...Qc5.
Nov-10-08  TheWizardfromHarlem: 18. Ra3 was an efficient move which served a short and long term purpose; it indirectly defends d3 and sets up a nice tactic if black where to try to get one of the bishops with Nd3 ex: 18...Nd3 19. Bxd3 20.Rxd3 20...Nd5 wins the rook(short term). It also as you mentioned prepares a rook battery on the a file .(long term).

In this game Petrosian masterfully shows how to defend every hole in your camp leaving nothing for your opponent to exploit. Very instructive game.

Jun-25-09  zdigyigy: 12. Nxc3! I never would have played this in a million years, but wow did he play it well. And also 24. Ra4! Siezing the only open rank? Shoring up f4 and keeping the pressure up on the rook file.
Jun-26-09  arsen387: absolutely no chances for blacks here, wonderful game by Petrosian
Apr-06-11  Lil Swine: passive yet solid play.
Aug-31-11  whiteshark: <Lil Swine: passive yet solid play.> I don't think these attributes characterise the game acceptably.
Sep-17-11  Lil Swine: yeah guess my "thinking was futile" at that time
Feb-21-13  Garech: Very nice game from Petrosian - his duels against Spassky should be more famous!

-Garech

Apr-18-22  cormier: depth=28

+1.03 13. b5 Na5 14. Be2 Bd5 15. Nxd5 exd5 16. Re1 Re8 17. Bf1 h6 18. Ra4 Nb7 19. Bd2 Nc5 20. Ra3 Re7 21. Qa1 Rd7 22. Qa2 Qe7 23. Rd1 Ne6 24. Ra1 d4 25. e4 Rc8 26. Rxa7 d3 27. Rxd7

Apr-18-22  cormier: depth=32

+0.68 12... Qc7 13. Be2 Rd8 14. Qc2 Nc6 15. b5 Nb4 16. Qb3 Nd3 17. Bxd3 Rxd3 18. Qc2 Qd6 19. e4 Nd7 20. Bg5 f5 21. exf5 Qc5+ 22. Qf2 Qxf5 23. Be3 Nf6 24. Rfd1 Nd5 25. Rxd3 Qxd3 26. Bd4 Nxc3 27. bxc3 Qxb5 28. Qg3

Apr-18-22  cormier: depth=30

+0.69 12. Qxd8 Rxd8 13. Nxc3 Nc6 14. Ra4 Nd5 15. Bxd5 exd5 16. b5 Na5 17. Rd1 h6 18. Ra3 Rdc8 19. Ne2 a6 20. bxa6 Bxa6 21. Nd4 Nc4 22. Rc3 Ne5 23. Bd2 Rxc3 24. Bxc3 Bd3 25. Nf5 Bxf5 26. Bxe5 f6

Apr-18-22  cormier: sf 14.1 NNUE depth=31

+0.18 10... Ba5 11. Na2 cxd4 12. Nxd4 Nc6 13. b4 Nxd4 14. Qxd4 Qxd4 15. exd4 b5 16. Bxb5 Bb6 17. Be3 e5 18. Bf2 e4 19. Nc3 exf3 20. gxf3 Bxf3 21. Na4 Rab8 22. Rac1 Bd5 23. Nxb6 Rxb6 24. Rc5 Bb7 25. Bg3 Ne4 26. Bd3 Rg6 27. Bxe4 Bxe4

Apr-18-22  RookFile: Black plays 8...Bb7. How exciting! Beautiful diagonal for the bishop. By a strange coincidence, Petrosian later plays f3 and e4, and that bishop is biting on granite. A lesson well worth keeping in mind.

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