Vladas Mikenas vs Abram Khasin (1956)

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Vladas Mikenas vs Abram Khasin
URS-ch sf Leningrad (1956), Leningrad URS, rd 1, Dec-??
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal. Gligoric System Bronstein Variation (E55) · 0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Jul-22-24		stacase: One of those little sayings when you post says: "The hardest game to win is the won game." That aside, 25...Qxf2+ was pretty easy to see (-:

Jul-22-24		Mayankk: White is up a Rook for a pawn - so probably Black has sacrificed something already. Anyways, 25 ... Qxf2+ 26 Kxf2 Ng4+ 27 Kf3 (no point for it to go back to 8th rank) Nxh6. And now Black has won the lost Rook, exchanged the Queens and is a pawn up. Is that a forced win, not sure about that. Especially as White is exerting a lot of pressure on the f7 pawn, his King is more active and all his 3 remaining pawns are well protected. Black's Knight is on the rim and his pieces do not look well co-ordinated.

Jul-22-24		Mayankk: Ah. 24 ... Rxf2. That is where the combination started. Wonder why chessgames gave us a puzzle from the middle of the combination. Note that the simpler 24 ... Bxf1 loses to 25 Bxf7+ Rxf7 ( 25 ... Kh8 26 Qxf8+)26 Rc8+ when White will mate shortly.

Jul-22-24		Cecco: According to this engine the position after 28. Rc7 was even and this would have been evident if white had played 29. Bxf7+, instead of leaving the advantage of a pawn to black.

Jul-22-24		takebackok: And the beat goes on Monday, Wait sure 25...Qxf2+ 26. Kxf2 Ng4+ wins back a rook, but then what?!

Jul-22-24		King.Arthur.Brazil: It seems a simples tactical combination: 25...Qxf2+ 26. Kxf2 Ng4+ 27. Kg1 Nxh6 with an extra piece.

Jul-22-24		mel gibson: An easy fork to win a piece.

Jul-22-24		saturn2: Black wins back a rook and material is almost even then.

Jul-22-24		Dionysius1: This is much more "Black to move and save the game" than "Black to play and win". Fair enough, but pretty sophisticated for a Monday puzzle. The fact that Black went on to win was because of White's inaccuracies in the end game, not because of this combo (SF).

Jul-22-24		watwinc: SF shows the game as dead level after 27 … Nxh6, so we’re looking at White messing up the endgame …

Jul-22-24		TheaN: Triple take Monday! Tl;dr, I started looking for White, then was wondering if <25....Qxf2+ 26.Kxf2 Ng4+ => was actually correct considering Black's already a rook behind. But yes, it is by a long shot as else... we're a rook behind. To anyone criticizing and/or wondering about the position "not being won for Black after"... not a requirement for the CG puzzle! From the 'about our puzzles' page: <"(...) The goal is to find the best move, or sequence of moves, in the given position. (...) <Usually>, this move will lead to a superior position>. Keyword here being 'usually'. More recently I've noticed we are either presented or left with somewhat unclear positions, but it's not essential for the game to finish. Move 25 is quite literally the difference of a rook: 25....Qxf2+ is 0, 25....Bc6 is +5.5 (and rising). There's no question Qxf2+ is the best move, the combination is Monday level and it ends a move later as it's obvious you've seen the fork.

Jul-22-24		chrisowen: I dont its war q Qxf2 abluff frazzle its duh its axiom juggle its aod jade its Qxf2 dim;

Jul-22-24		daladno: It took me some time to see that it's the Black's move and stop looking for a way to deliver Qxh7#. Then it went much simpler.

Jul-22-24		NM JRousselle: 29 Bb3 is difficult to understand. Taking on f7 has to be much better.

Jul-22-24		TheaN: <NM JRousselle: 29 Bb3 is difficult to understand. Taking on f7 has to be much better.> I can sort of grasp White's thinking process, assuming it's not clock-related. I think he missed 29....Rd7 with an immediate trade rook, as otherwise you wouldn't just go into a double piece endgame a pawn down. The second consideration is the position after 29.Bxf7+ (Nxf7? Nf5+ -+) Nxf7 30.Nxf7 (Rxf7? Rd5 -+) Rd7 31.Rxd7 (Nh6+ just delays the rook trade) Bxd7, which is forced for White if taking on f7: click for larger view Slightly unpleasant endgame believe it or not, as bishops shine in these dual-wing endgames. In this case however the draw is pretty simple: the a-pawn is of the wrong color: trade off one king side pawn, sac the knight for the other (or both if possible) and march to a1. Well before Black can mobilize it's already a draw.

Jul-23-24		Allderdice83: Yes, Black wins back the rook, but after 28. Rc7, Black must play 28 ... Rd8 and 29 ... Rd7 to consolidate. That's not too hard to find, though.

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