Saturday, December 16, 2006

In memory of David Ionovich Bronstein


i bring to you the commented game i promised. The game to go along with this post. And what better way is there to remember him by, then to go over one of his beautifull games. A game that took place at the Amsterdam (the city i was born and raised) Interzonal in 1964 (i wasn't born yet then). In this game, Bronstein plays with the Black pieces against an Argentinian master by the name of Alberto Foguelman (this should be particularly interesting to those who play the QGA as Black).

[Event "Interzonal, Amsterdam 1964"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "A Foguelman"]
[Black "Bronstein David"]
[ECO "D25"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4

{Bronstein plays a Queen's Gambit Accepted which at the time was not a particularly popular opening. But Bronstein was never a slave to fashion and played exactly what he wanted to and he had many original ideas.} 3. Nf3 {One of the main lines.} Nf6 {Sensible move. Prevents White from playing his pawn up to e4 and claim the center.} 4. e3

{Attacking the pawn on c4 (see variation for what happens when Black tries to hold on to the pawn by playing b5).} Bg4

{An old favourite of Alekhine. It should be noted that this move comes with a slight drawback, namely the weakening of the b7 pawn.} [Black tries to hold on to the c4 pawn; 4... b5 5. a4 c6 6. axb5 cxb5 7. b3 cxb3 8. Bxb5+] 5. Bxc4 e6 6. Qb3 {A slightly controversial move, but if there's any move that will take advantage of Black's opening play, Qb3 will be it. Because the White Queen attacks b7. But it's here that Black gets to put his opening idea into
practice. And that is the sacrifice of the b-pawn to get active play.} 6... Bxf3 {Black seeks to ruin White's Kingside} 7. gxf3 c5

{Undermining White's center. And having come this far, White must certainly take on b7 as White's center is about to disintegrate, unless White takes the pawn on b7.} 8. Qxb7 Nbd7 {Now it's time that White starts asking himself questions, like what is going on in this position. There's no obvious move as such, but he certainly should start asking himself what alternative do i have, and what are Black's threats in this position. And Foguelman probably determined that Black threatens to take on d4, thereby reducing White's pawn structure to ruble. But he doesn't quite appreciate that Black has serious attacking chances on the Kingside in this position. And Foguelman continued with} 9. dxc5 {Andrew Martin think's 9. Rg1 would be more apropriate, because the text move only speeds up Black's development.} 9... Bxc5 10. f4 O-O 11. O-O {Andrew Martin thinks this is too risky and prefers 11.Nc3 as a waiting event, or perhaps to play Queen to g2 (probably the best move of all). And with the Queen closeby to the Kingside, white can consider castling. Even perhaps consider playing Rg1. But if you play that move, ofcourse you then gonna have to worry about where to put your King. But to castle in this position seems incredibly risky because of Black's next excellent reply. Which White probably completely missed.} 11... Nd5

{Cutting the Queen off from the defense of her King. At first sight, it doesn't look as if that move is actually completely playable, because what is to stop White from actually taking the Knight (see variation for what happens then).} 12. Rd1 [White takes the Knight; 12. Bxd5 Rb8 13. Qa6 (13. Qc6 Rb6 14. Qa4 exd5) 13... exd5} 12... Rb8 13. Qc6 Qh4

{A very powerfull move according to A. Martin, sacrificing the Knight on d7 and a move which A. Martin think's Foguelman completely underestimated. He simply didn't appreciate a few moves ago, that his Queen was needed for the defense of his King.} 14. Nc3 {Desperately trying to get his pieces out (see variation for what happens when Queen takes Knight).} [Queen takes Knight; 14. Qxd7 Qg4+] 14... Rb6 15. Qxd7 Nxf4

{A brilliant but also very logical move by Bronstein. Because with all the White pieces concentrated on the queenside it is actually very important for Black to start action on the kingside while the white king is actually undefended.} 16. Ne2 {White seeks to defend his King but it's much too late for that now (see variation for what happens if White takes the Knight on f4 or plays his Bishop to f1).} [White takes Knight; 16. exf4 Qxf2+ 17. Kh1 Qf3#] [White plays Bishop to f1; 16. Bf1 Qg4+ 17. Kh1 Qf3+ 18. Kg1 e5 19. Ne2 Nxe2+ 20. Bxe2 Rg6+ 21. Kf1 Qh1#] 16... Nh3+ 17. Kg2 Nxf2 18. Rd4 {If Black takes the Rook then pawn takes, Queen takes and perhaps White is holding on. But Bronstein carried on with the attack.} Ng4 19. Rf4 Qxh2+ 20. Kf1 Bxe3 21. Bd5 {Utterly desperate move.} Bxf4

{And White resigned.} *

Now, i really wanted to post this on the day of Bronstein's passing but alas, it didn't work out that way. I did order four of Bronstein's books after i took notice of his death, and got them delivered shortly after. For some reason i just couldn't hold off purchasing them any longer. I got Bronstein On the King's Indian (which i really like to recommend if you're into the KID), Modern Chess Self-Tutor (which seemed to be a very hot purchase shortly after Bronstein died), Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953 (needs no introduction) and finally, Bronstein's Sorcerer's Apprentice. And i'm very happy to have them.

If you're having trouble following the game as i posted it, you can also go over it through your browser here. Hope you enjoy the post. Took me quite a bit of time to get it up. Hope the images will hold...

2 Comments:

At 17 December, 2006 09:03 , Blogger Majnu said...

It seems like the diagrams have dissapeared Edwin.
They were there when I got the rss-signal of this post. But now they are gone.
Have you had contact with Blogger.com about this?

 
At 25 December, 2006 19:37 , Blogger takchess said...

i created a collection on chessgames.com of the sorceror's apprentice. I am also in the midst of creating one on his book 200 open games. He is a great annotator as he speaks to the main ideas of a game not every minor point. A great light in the game of chess!

 

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