Igor Aleksandrovich Kopylov vs Sergey Korolev (1981) Advance your King! Do you Kopy?

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Igor Aleksandrovich Kopylov vs Sergey Korolev
"Advance your King! Do you Kopy?" (game of the day Mar-25-2022)
Dobrovolsky Memorial (1981) (correspondence), RUS
Sicilian Defense: Nimzowitsch. Advance Variation (B29) · 1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Oct-29-07		Ryan Razo: Kopylov's game look messy, but it is commendable how he was ale to sacrifice his ability to castle in exchange for activity in the kingside. The move 8...d5 was just the start of Koroliov's downfall, as it allowed the posting of a White Pawn on d6.

Feb-12-10		GrahamClayton: Black could have survived with 21..♔d7, eg 22.♘d6 ♕d6 23.♕g3 ♕g3 24.fg3 ♔d6 25.♗g2 ♖b8.

Apr-24-12		qqdos: From 21...Kc7 just watch the Black King's fancy footwork weaving (or is it being shepherded?) down the left flank of the board! A classic King Hunt featured in Nunn/Cozens book The King Hunt, p.136 and The World's Great Chess Games, p.417. Don't miss it! I think Black should be spelt Korolev, a correspondence GM with "vast experience" playing the Black side of this (B29) defence "as he never lost a single game" - source <Grigory Bogdanovich 2009>.

Jul-05-18		MKD: Can some one please explain the logic behind 11.g4. Will be very grateful.

Jul-05-18		ChessHigherCat: <MKD: Can some one please explain the logic behind 11.g4> It's kind of a cheapo trap because if 11...Bxg4 12. Qxb7 attacking the rook and knight on c6 simultaneously, and black has nothing better than Qb6 13. Qxa8. On the other hand, if black is not stupid enough to take the pawn, black gets a slight advantage: 1) -0.19 (19 ply) 11...Qd8 12.d4 Bxd6 13.Nxd6+ Qxd6 14.dxe5 Nxe5 15.Nxe5 Qxe5+ 16.Qe3 Qxe3+ 17.Bxe3 Bxg4 18.Rg1 Bf5 19.Rd1 O-O Maybe the idea was just to be able to fianchetto the bishop on g2 and g4 seemed better than g3 for some reason.

Jul-05-18		dumbgai: This should be game of the day, if just for the ending.

Jul-06-18		MKD: <ChessHigherCat>: Thank you so much. I really appreciate.

Aug-27-18		qqdos: Reviewing my earlier quote about Korolev, he also seems to have had extensive experience of losing on the black side of this opening - as this and 5 other games listed testify. He certainly did win many games as black and I salute him for perseverance against the odds.

Dec-02-18		micahtuhy: This game is featured in "The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games" as game 75. It's listed in the book under names spelled slightly differently and it's listed as a Correspondence Game from the USSR Correspondence Championship from 1981-83

Mar-25-22		Saniyat24: Get your missus away from me....!

Mar-25-22		Brenin: Great K hunt! At the end, after 36 ... Qh6+ 37 Kc2 d3+ 38 Qxd3 Black is running out of ideas to avoid mate, e.g. 38 ... Qh3 39 Qd1+ Ka2 40 Qb1+ Kxa3 41 Qb2 mate.

Mar-25-22		lentil: I have no idea went on, but the final mate was awesome.

Mar-25-22		FSR: <qqdos: . . . Korolev, a correspondence GM with "vast experience" playing the Black side of this (B29) defence "as he never lost a single game" - source <Grigory Bogdanovich 2009>.> As <qqdos> indicated in a later comment, this does not Kompute. chessgames' database shows him going 0-7 with the Nimzowitsch. https://www.chessgames.com/perl/che... Perhaps "he never won or drew a single game" would be more accurate?

Mar-25-22		FSR: <qqdos: . . . He certainly did win many games as black> Too generous? chessgames' database shows him scoring 0-12 as Black. Repertoire Explorer: Sergey Ivanovich Korolev (black)

Mar-25-22		spingo: I have never seen such a weird pair of games that are twins. The king walk in Kasparov vs Topalov, 1999 (Kasparov's Good Game) was predestined in 1981.

Mar-25-22		Teyss: OK the pun isn't great but the game is. I especially liked the final quiet move 36.Kc1! because if 36.Be4? threatening Qb1#, 36...d3! 37.Kc1 (too late; if 37.Bxd3, Qb2+ exchanges Qs) d2+ 38. Kd1 (same) Qb2 forcing the exchange because if the WQ moves, 39...Qc1+ 40.Ke2 d1=Q#. Black will remain R vs 2Ps up. <FSR> Spot on as usual. Korolev's overall score is +7 (all as White) -16 (of which 12 as Black, of which 7 with the Nimzowitsch) =5.

Mar-25-22		Teyss: A quick extra note. 24.Bh8 was a sneaky move luring the BQ. "Help, my Bishop is lost, I'll hide it on the side of the board." 24...Qh6 was OK setting a Q+R battery but 26...Qxh8 was a mistake after which White wins material or mates.

Mar-25-22		goodevans: <Teyss: [...] 26...Qxh8 was a mistake after which White wins material or mates.> I think Black was already lost by then. As far as I can tell the crucial manoeuvre was <20.Bxg7! Bxd6 21.Nxf7+ Kc7 22.Nxd6>. I was a little surprised at first that White gave up his pawn on d6 but doing that allowed <23.Bg2> and the B on that diagonal exerts even more influence than the advanced pawn did. 23.Bg2 effectively paralyses Black's Q-side. The pawn on b7 is pinned to the R, the B is tied down to defending that pawn and the R can't move because of the weakness on the h2-b8 diagonal (e.g. 24...Rb8 25.Qg3 and how does Black prevent White's B coming to e5?). I challenge you to come up with an alternative 26th move for Black that would have saved the game. Nice GOTD BTW.

Mar-25-22		Brenin: <goodevans: I challenge you to come up with an alternative 26th move for Black that would have saved the game.> What about 26 ... Bd7, intending 27 ... Bc6 to relieve the pressure on the Q-side? I'm not sure that it saves the game, but I think it makes White work harder for the win.

Mar-25-22		goodevans: <Brenin> I looked at <26...Bd7 27.Re7 Bc6 28.Qb3+> earlier today and clearly that's a complete disaster for Black. But I'd overlooked the zwischenzug <27...Ba4+!>. <28.b3> is forced and after <28...Bc6> Black has manged to deprive White's Q of the b3 square. White is still better here - I would say winning - but as you say it's not as easy as in the game.

Mar-25-22		Teyss: <Brenin> Thanks for looking into this. <goodevans> Yes White is still better after your line since Black's pieces are uncoordinated and his King is stuck (SF +2.9 at 45 ply) but it's not as bad as in the game after 26...Qxh8 (+8.8 at 34 ply). And you are right to praise 20.Bxg7! giving up the apparently strong d6 P but allowing 23.Bg2. Of course if 20...Bxg7?? 21.Nxf7+ Kd7 22.Re7#.

Mar-25-22		Cibator: Most apt that Black should be moving his king so often, when you remember that the Russian word for the piece transliterates to something like "korol".

Mar-26-22		Teyss: <Cibator> Well done (for info it's "Koroli"), was wondering if anyone would spot this hidden reference.

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