Viacheslav Ragozin vs Isaac Boleslavsky (1953) Via Dolorosa

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Viacheslav Ragozin vs Isaac Boleslavsky
"Via Dolorosa" (game of the day Mar-25-2023)
USSR Training Tournament (1953), Gagra URS, rd 7, May-??
French Defense: Tarrasch Variation. Open System (C07) · 0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Mar-25-23		goodevans: 21...Rxf2 was very nice but the star move was 25...Nd3!. Without this the rest is nothing.

Mar-25-23		goodevans: The sac is mind-bogglingly complex. So many lines to calculate. Particularly hard to find a win after 25.Nf3. If this was a sac based on intuition then his intuition was good.

Mar-25-23		perfidious: <goodevans....Particularly hard to find a win after 25.Nf3....> This move looks like madness, but the actual continuation offered Ragozin no succour. Cannot imagine working out even the outlines of this remarkable idea at the board.

Mar-25-23		OhioChessFan: Excellent game. Per the pun, I'd never heard of the song and besides "Via" being a shortened first name, am unable to decipher the relevance.

Mar-25-23		beatgiant: <OhioChessFan> There's a song? I thought it was named after the major pilgrimage route with the Stations of the Cross, and the connection would be the fate of the White king in some of the variations.

Mar-25-23		Teyss: <goodevans: 21...Rxf2 was very nice but the star move was 25...Nd3!. Without this the rest is nothing.> I didn't fully understand this (it's probably my English). Do you mean Black couldn't have achieved anything without these two moves or that the rest of the game isn't worth much? If the latter it's a bit harsh because the whole combination is well elaborated with the pinnacle being these two moves indeed. <goodevans: Particularly hard to find a win after 25.Nf3.> Yes but I can understand White didn't want to expose his K to a discovered check. FWIW SF gives -6.6 at 35 ply on 25.Nf3 and -7.8 at 33 ply on 25.Kg1 so White is lost in both cases. I looked at some variations, it's complex. <beatgiant> Via Dolorosa is also the path of Christ to crucifixion. Isaac being a Biblical figure, the pun fits the two first names and the game where White is having a difficult course. If we stretch the comparison, there are 14 moves between the first sac (21...Rxf2) and the end of the game, same as the number of Stations of the Cross. Decent pun, interesting and technical game.

Mar-25-23		offramp: The Via Dolorosa is the e-file for the black rooks, especially e4. Also, DOLOROSA rhymes with BOLESLAVSKY. I mean Bia Bolorosky, or Via Boleslarosa.

Mar-25-23		goodevans: <Teyss: ... I didn't fully understand this...> My clumsy wording. I simply meant that without 25...Nd3! (which I think is hard both to see and to calculate) the combination would have failed.

Mar-25-23		MissScarlett: <OCF>'s cultural matrix seems to consist largely, if not entirely, of American popular culture post-1960. No wonder he thinks I'm doing a bad job!

Mar-25-23		goodevans: <Teyss: ... <goodevans: Particularly hard to find a win after 25.Nf3.> Yes but I can understand White didn't want to expose his K to a discovered check...> But that was part of my point. A discovered check does no damage, at least not immediately. White's K drops back to f1 where he's remarkably safe. click for larger view After 25.Nf3 there's only one winning move. I tried but couldn't find it. Even after the engine pointed it out to me it wasn't obvious that there was no adequate defence. Took a while to convince myself of that.

Mar-25-23		beatgiant: <Teyss> The pilgrimage route is assumed to be the path to crucifixion, so I think we are talking about the same thing. But in my opinion the Isaac connection is a stretch, since he is an Old Testament character. If we want to look at the names, I think Viacheslav ("greater glory") is a better fit: White's king dies for White's sins and rises to greater glory.

Mar-25-23		perfidious: <goodevans>, pity after 25.Nf3 Ne4+ 26.Kf1 that Boleslavsky would not have the right to make two moves running; for then the idea 26....Qg6 and ....Qxg3 would bring the attack home.

Mar-25-23		goodevans: <perfidious> Indeed it would. ;o)

Mar-25-23		Teyss: <beatgiant> I thought you were talking about the pilgrimage route as a concept, not that specific one. I see what you mean now and understand "major", yes we're talking about the same thing. Good point about the Old and New Testaments but it wouldn't be the first time a pun stretches a reference to the limit. I won't mention examples in order not to embarrass Missy. (Cover-up for: don't remember and won't bother searching.)

Mar-25-23		Teyss: <goodevans: I tried but couldn't find it. Even after the engine pointed it out to me it wasn't obvious that there was no adequate defence. Took a while to convince myself of that.> Ditto.

Mar-26-23		AlekhineSyndrome: can someone teach me how to reply comment with quote?

Mar-26-23		MissScarlett: See: Kibitzing Tricks

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