'I always watch their games with excitement, mainly because it is a battle of ideas. They do not just play moves, there is something more involved - they know how to raise their play to the highest level of classical chess.' So wrote Kavalek in his introduction to this game in the tournament book. The praise is high but not out of place. It is no accident that two games between these players are found in the present book.
This time Portisch is the winner. He employs a carefully nurtured improve ment on a game between them which Gligoric had won fourteen years earlier. The novelty has the desired effect; although Black seems to become rather cramped, in fact he slowly but surely gathers all the positional trumps. At one point he ac celerates this process - unnecessarily, as Kavalek showed afterwards. The result ing endgame contains unusually subtle manoeuvres. Gligoric soon goes wrong and Portisch finishes the job with merciless precision.
1 d4 lilr6
2 c4 e6
3 lilc3 .i.b4
4 e3 b6
5 lile2 .i.a6
In a later round in this tournament I tried the controversial 5 ... lile4 against Donner. He answered with the surpris ing 6 'ifc2 f5 7 g3 ! and after 7 ... lilxc3 8 lilxc3 .i.b7 9 d5 b5 ? he could have gained a great advantage with 10 .i.d2 ! (instead of 10 .i.g2). Probably 6 ... .i.b7 (instead of 6 ... f5) is more accurate.
6 lilg3 .i.xc3+ 7 bxc3 dS 8 cxdS
An unusual but not unknown move which probably does not offer much.
8 . . •
9 'it>xn
.i.xn 'ii'xdS Capturing with the e-pawn would give White the position he wants after
10 f3.
10 'ii'd3 lilbd7 The game mentioned in the intro duction, Gligoric-Portisch, Torremo linos 196 1 , continued IO ... lilc6 1 1 e4
1i'd7 1 2 .i.g5 lilg8 1 3 �e2 f6 14 .i.c 1 lilge7 with equal chances (Gligoric). A possible improvement is 12 .i.a3.
With the text-move Black achieves a more harmonious development of his pieces.
1 1 e4 'it'aS The point of the previous move.
B
Typical of the opportunistic play of which Gligoric showed several glimpses in this Hoogoven tourna ment. (Compare Gligoric-Hort, for example: I d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 lbf3 lbf6 4 lbc3 dxc4 5 a4 lba6 6 e4 .tg4 7 e5? 11Jd7 8 .txc4 e6 9 0-0 .te7 10 h3 .th5 1 1 a5 lbb4 1 2 lbe4 0-0 1 3 .tf4 11Jd5 1 4 .th2 .tb4 and Black stood excel lently.) Here too it gives him little sat isfaction. The simple 1 2 f3 followed by 1 3 ..tf2 is better, with roughly equal play. 12 �5 13 c4 lbb4 14 Wb3 lbc6 15 .tb2 0-0 16 .tc3 Wa6 17 'il'b5
At first sight White seems to have a lot of play. The exchange of queens with 1 7 .. . 1i'xb5 1 8 cxb5 lbe7 19 .tb4 l:[fe8 20 .txe7 Axe? 2 1 �e2 gives him comfortable pressure, and other wise it seems Black will be driven back. This is an illusion, however; White must lose time getting his b-rook into
play, time which Black gratefully uses to direct his solid mass of pieces against the weakened White centre.
17 • • • Wb7
18 l:e1
Threatening the push 19 d5. 18 ... l:fd8 (D)
A nice line-up. If 1 9 d5 , then 1 9 .. . exd5 20 cxd5 lbe7 2 1 e6 1i'xd5 !. White's actions are not dangerous so long as his king's rook is not partici pating, which explains the next move.
19 h4 lbf8 20 l:e4 lbe7 21 h5 lbr5
White is kept busy. Now his pawn structure gets a little worse.
22 l:f4 lbxg3+ 23 fxg3 c5 24 l:hh4 cxd4 25 l:xd4 h6
A little dubious. White gets a point to hit at, as we will soon see.
26 'ii'b1
The queen was indeed a little out of play.
26 27 l:xd4 28 'iVe4 29 i.b4 30 i.d6 31 'iVe2 (D) lbd4 'ilc7 l:c8 c&l7 'iVc6
Exchanging queens would have dis astrous consequences. White's bishop, after all, is reasonably placed only for attacking purposes.
By refusing the exchange, White prepares a subtle action which would seem to find its best expression after a slow move like 3 l .. .a6 (intending 32 ... b5) and now: 32 g4 ! b5 33 g5 hxg5 (or 33 ... bxc4 34 gxh6 gxh6 35 l:g4+, etc.) 34 'iVg4 bxc4 35 'ii'xg5 'ii'b5 36 l:g4 1i'b l + 37 �f2 11fh7 38 l:xc4 and White has all the play.
In America, at about the same time, the analyst Lubosh Kavalek found the same variation independently, but he also found in it a winning method for Black. He writes in his book (Wijk aan Zee Grandmaster Chess Tournament 1975, published by R.H.M. Press) that after 33 g5 ! White suddenly becomes a tiger; Kavalek gives the variation 33 ... hxg5 34 'iVg4 bxc4 35 'iVxg5 'iVb5 36 l:g4 ! 'iVbl + (the same as my analy sis) and all ends well for the white king. However, Kavalek produces the powerful move 34 .. . 'iVb6 ! (instead of 34 ... bxc4) and White has no defence; e.g., 35 c5 ! lWtc5 36 'it'xg5 t0b3 ! ! . Lubosh gives other variations too, but this is sufficient; he has examined the position very thoroughly and analysed it sharply.
With the next move Black sacri fices a pawn, which required sharp, in tuitive calculation.
B
31 • • • bS
At the cost of a pawn Black's forces will penetrate White's camp. Perhaps 3 l ...a6 is more precise, as indicated above, but Portisch's decision is an ex cellent practical one.
w 32 cxbS 33 l:d1 34 g4 35 �g1 'iVcl+ 1i'g5 t0b6 l:c4 (D)
All three black pieces have sud denly left their modest rearward posi- tions and have landed on vital squares. W
36 i..b8 l:.xg4 37 i..xa7 lOc:IS 38 l:.xdS
Forced, because Black's threats are getting serious.
38 .•• exdS
39 e6 Again the best.
39 . . . lte4
Black must watch out, as we can see from 39 ... fxe6? 40 1Wxe6+ �h8 4 1
"ii'e8+ �h7 4 2 1i'g6+ ! 'iixg6 4 3 hxg6+ �xg6 44 b6 l:.b4 45 a4 and Black can just manage to draw.
40 exf7+ 41 'ii'f3+ 42 i..f2
�xf7 �g8
White must of course attend to his safety.
42 ... 43 �h2
'ii'd+ 'iVf4+
Although this endgame should not have led to a win for Black, it is his best chance.
44 '1Vxr4 l:.xf4 (D) 45 i.cS?
White immediately makes the deci sive mistake - something of a surprise, since the time-trouble phase is over. With the most natural move, 45 �g3, White keeps the choice of a square for his bishop open while bringing the king closer to the e5 square, where it is generally headed anyway, and thus he would keep the draw in hand. Hans B ohm and I finally completed the
hellish task of examining this whole thing. The variations run 45 �g3 l:.a4 46 b6 (D) and now:
B
1 ) 46 . . . l:.xa2 4 7 i.d4 ! . The differ ence from the game shows primarily in this variation. If 47 .. . 1ld2 48 i.e5, or if 47 ... l:.a4 48 i.c5 . In neither case can Black stop the dangerous march of the white king to e5.
2) 46 . . . �f7 is more accurate. The black king rushes to the centre while the rook is keeping the white bishop out of d4. Now is the time for White to play 4 7 i..c5 , after which Black must
manoeuvre very delicately: 4 7 . . . l:xa2 48 �f4 �e6 49 ..id4 l:a4 50 �e3 �f7 5 1 ..ic5 (5 1 ..ic3 loses quickly to 5 l ...l:a3 52 �d4 l:b3 53 ..ta5 l:b5, etc.) 5 1 ...l:c4 ! 52 ..id6 l:c3+ and now: 2a) 53 �d4 l:b3 and White now has three options:
2a1 ) 54 ..tc5 �e6. The culmina tion of the manoeuvres principally devised by Hans Bohm. White is in
zugzwang and is out-manoeuvred af
ter 55 g4 l:f3 56 ..tb4 l:tf4+ 57 �c5 l:c4+ 58 �b5 �d7 59 ..ia5 �c8 60 �a6 �b8.
2a2) 54 ..tc7 l:tb5 (the white king cannot be permitted to reach c5) 55 �e5 �e7 56 �f5 (an idea of Tabe Bas: 56 ..id6+ �d7 57 ..tf8 is refuted by 57 ... d4+ and 58 ... l:g5) 56 ... �d7 57 �g6 d4 58 ..if4 l:txb6 59 �xg7 d3 60 g4 l:tb4 6 1 ..ixh6 l:xg4+ 62 �f7 l:th4 63 �g6 l:h2 and Black is going to win the endgame by one tempo, as can be verified without much difficulty.
Dvoretsky thought that White can get a draw in this variation with 57 g4 d4+ 58 �e4 . Initially I thought that this was correct, until I found a con clusive winning line for Black. It runs as follows: 58 . . . �c6 59 �xd4 l:tg5 60 .idS l:xg4+ 61 'it>e5 g6 62 hxg6 l:xg6 and, because the white king is cut off, the h-pawn runs through . Only with a bishop on f2 and a king on f3 would
White hold the draw.
2a3) 54 'it>c5. In this line the pretti est variations may arise: 54 . . . d4 ! 55 ..tf4. In passing it should be noted that 55 �xd4 l:xb6 loses. This position is
only drawn if White's g-pawn, ad vanced to g4, can be protected by the king. In order to do this the white king must reach e4 in time, but this occurs in practically no variation. Returning to the position after 55 ..if4: 55 ... d3 (on 55 ... �e6 there may follow 56 g4 with the idea of 57 g5) 56 �c6 (now there is no time for 56 g4 due to 56 . . . l:b2 and 57 ... d2) 56 . . . �e6 57 b7 �f5 58 ..te3 �g4 ! 59 ..tb6 d2 60 b8'ii' dl'ii'.
Originally I thought that this amaz ing position was definitive for the as sessment of White's drawing chances after 45 �g3. Black escapes from White's checks in the nick of time: 6 1 W'c8+ �xh5 62 'fi'f5+ g5 63 'ilff7+ (the quiet 63 ..ic5 does not help after the even more quiet 63 . . . l:d3 ! ! ) 63 . . . �g4 64 'We6+ �g3 65 'ii'h3+ �f4 66 ..ic7+ 'it>e4 67 1We6+ 'it>d3 etc.
A fantastic overall concept, but Black can win more prosaically. Dvor etsky gives the variation 56 . . . l:tb2 (in stead of 56 .. . �e6) 57 b7 d2 ! 58 ..ixd2 l:.c2+ 59 �b6 l:xd2 60 b8'ii' l:.b2+ with liquidation to a won pawn ending.
Therefore White must pursue his hopes of a draw in another direction.
2b) 53 �f4 l:b3 54 ..ic5 �e6 55 g4 !. Not 55 ..id4 l:b4 56 �e3 �f5 ! and White is driven back, as Hubner showed. But now Black cannot make further progress. Hans Bohm, who still tried to show that Black was win ning, could hardly produce anything else ; e.g., 55 .. . l:c3 56 ..tf8 l:c4+ 57 �f3 'it>f7 58 ..id6, etc.
3) 46 ... l%c4. A last try by Bohm.
Black wants to take both central squares, c5 and d4, from the bishop, but risks only danger after 47 ..iel .
w
45 l%a4
46 b6 :xa2 47 �g3 l:lc2! (D)
The difference from the variations with 45 �g3 now becomes clear. If 48 ..id4 l:lc4 49 ..ie5 l:lb4 with an easy win.
48 ..id6 l:lb2 49 ..ic5 �7 50 �f4 �e6 51 g4
The same losing line as in 2b above arises after 5 1 ..id4 l:lb4 52 �e3 �f5.
w
51 l:lb1
52 �e3 :n 53 �d4 l:lf4+ 54 �d3 :n (DJ
A simple, efficient winning plan: b7 and g7 are held under control si multaneously . 55 �d4 l:lb7 56 �e3 �eS 57 �d3 If 57 ..id4+ �d6, etc. 57 ••• �f4 0-1