Exercises in Style (3/4): Solutions

by Johannes Fischer
8/10/2017 – Part three of the "Exercises in Style" showed games by Tigran Petrosian, Boris Spassky, Bobby Fischer and Anatoly Karpov, featuring patient maneuvering, tactical brilliance, impressive endgame technique and sophisticated positional play. However, it was not always easy to ascribe the games to the "right" World Champions. Here are the solutions.
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Game 1

The man who slayed the Sicilian in game 1 was Boris Spassky, World Champion from 1969 to 1972. Spassky was a universal player and handled all kinds of positions equally well. However, he had an exceptionally fine feeling for dynamic play. His game against Lev Polugayevsky, for which Spassky won the brilliancy prize at the Soviet Championship 1958, is a good example for Spassky's flair for dynamics.

 
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1.e41,165,57054%2421---
1.d4946,47455%2434---
1.Nf3281,31256%2441---
1.c4181,93756%2442---
1.g319,68856%2427---
1.b314,23654%2427---
1.f45,88648%2377---
1.Nc33,79651%2384---
1.b41,75348%2380---
1.a31,19754%2403---
1.e31,06848%2408---
1.d394850%2378---
1.g466246%2361---
1.h444653%2374---
1.c342651%2425---
1.h327956%2416---
1.a410860%2468---
1.f39147%2431---
1.Nh38966%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 Spassky's favorite move against the Najdorf. Nbd7 7.Bc4 Qa5 8.Qd2 e6 9.0-0-0 b5 10.Bb3 Bb7 11.Rhe1 Be7 12.f4 Nc5 13.e5 dxe5 14.Bxf6 Bxf6?! This move gets Black into trouble. Better was 14...gxf6 z.B. 15.fxe5 0-0-0 16.exf6 Bxf6 17.Qf4 Bg7 and the pair of bishops gives Black a good game. 15.fxe5 Bh4 16.g3 Be7
17.Bxe6! 0-0 Black cannot take the bishop: after 17...fxe6 18.Nxe6 Rd8 or 18...Nxe6 19.Qd7+ Kf7 20.Rf1+ with a crushing attack for White. 19.Nxg7+ Kf7 20.Qh6 White's attack is too strong. The "zwischenzug" 17...b4 helps neither: 18.Bxf7+ Kxf7 19.Qf4+ Ke8 20.Nf5 Ne6 21.Nd6+ Bxd6 22.exd6 with a winning attack for White. 18.Bb3 Rad8 19.Qf4 b4
20.Na4! White again sacrifices a piece - and Spassky shows his feeling for dynamic positions. As Kasparov indicated White also had the simpler 20.Nf5 spielen, z.B. Nxb3+ 21.axb3 bxc3 22.Nxe7+ Kh8 23.Kb1 and White is a pawn up and has a clear advantage. 20...h6 Black does not take the knight on a4 but first threatens to win the queen with 21...Bg5. After 20...Nxa4 21.Nf5 Rxd1+ 22.Rxd1 Bd8 White keeps the advantage with 23.e6! Nc5 After 23...fxe6? White does not take on e6 immediately but plays 24.Nh6+! gxh6 25.Bxe6+ Kg7 26.Rd7+ with a winning attack. 24.e7 Nxb3+ 25.axb3 Bxe7 26.Nxe7+ Kh8 27.Kb1 21.Nxc5 Qxc5 Black cannot profitably win the queen. After 21...Bg5 22.Qxg5 hxg5 23.Nxb7 Qc7 24.Nxd8 Rxd8 25.e6 White has a rook and two minor pieces for the queen and is winning. 22.h4
The wild combinations are over and White is clearly better: he is a pawn up and has active play. Spassky converts with strong and energetic play. 22...Bd5 23.Nf5 Bxb3 24.axb3 Rxd1+ 25.Rxd1 Rc8 26.Qe4 Bf8 27.e6 fxe6 28.Qxe6+ Kh8 29.Qe4 Qc6 30.Qd3 Re8 31.h5 Be7 32.Nxe7 Rxe7 33.Qg6 Qe8 34.g4 Re1 35.Qxe8+ Rxe8 The rook-ending is a clear win for White. 36.Rd4 a5 37.Kd2 Re5 38.c4 bxc3+ 39.bxc3 Rg5 40.c4 Kg8 41.Rf4 g6 In 1958 games were still adjourned but Polugaevsky did not want to test Spassky's technical skills and resigned immediately. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Spassky,B-Polugaevsky,L-1–01958B94URS-ch25

Game 2

Guessing the winner of game 2 was perhaps not as difficult as guessing the winners of the three other games. In game 2 Tigran Petrosian, World Champion from 1963 to 1969, had the white pieces. Petrosian is known for his infinite patience and his pronounced prophylactic play - before becoming active himself he liked to prevent or parry all possible or impossible threats his opponents had or might have. The game against Lothar Schmid is a typical example.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 d6 4.Nc3 g6 5.e4 Bg7 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bf4 Qa5 8.Bd2 This is already the third move of the black-squared bishop. Of course, White loses time with these moves but Black's extra-moves (...h6 and ...Qa5) did not necessarily improve Black's position. The move ...h6 weakened Black's position and the black queen will soon have to leave a5. e5 9.Bd3 Nh5 10.Nge2 Nd7 11.g3 Nhf6 12.h4 h5 13.Qc1 Black wants to play ...Bh6 to exchange the black-squared bishops. 13.Qc1 prevents this idea. Ng8 14.Nd1 Qd8 15.Qc2 Bh6 16.Ne3 Qf6 It is not easy to propose a plan for Black. Schmid tries to exploit the weak white squares but soon has to retreat. 17.Rf1 Nb6 18.f3 Bh3 19.Rf2 0-0-0 20.0-0-0 Kb8 21.Rh1 Bc8 22.Kb1 Ne7 23.f4 Nd7 24.Bc3 Qg7 25.a3 f6 26.b4 After smothering Black's possible counterplay White gets active with 23.f4 and 26.b4. White does not have any concrete threats yet but Black has to be careful and has difficulties to do anything himself. Rdf8 27.Nc1 g5?!
Black no longer wants to remain passive and offers a pawn to get counterplay. But this weakens the black position and is good for White. 28.hxg5 fxg5 29.f5!? White could also have accepted the pawn-sacrifice. After 29.fxe5 Rxf2 30.Qxf2 Nxe5 31.Rxh5 g4 32.Bxe5 dxe5 33.Nd1 the engines clearly favor White. But Petrosian prefers to increase the pressure without giving Black a chance to get counterplay. 29...g4 30.Ng2 Bg5 31.Nb3 b6 32.Ka2 Vacating b1 for a rook which might want to go to b1 should the b-file open. Bb7 33.bxc5! After maneuvering patiently for some time White suddenly turns up the heat and targets Black's pawn weakness on e5. Nxc5 34.Nxc5 bxc5 35.Nf4! Bxf4 Black cannot let the knight come to et. But after the text-move Black can no longer defend e5 whereas Black's passed pawns on g4 and h5 are harmless. 36.gxf4 g3 37.Rg2 Nc8 38.fxe5 dxe5 39.Qb2 Re8 40.f6 Qg5 After 40...Qxf6 41.Rxg3 Ka8 42.Rf1 Qe7 43.Rf5 Black loses the e-pawn and winds up in a desolate position. 41.f7 Re7 42.Rh3 h4 43.Rgxg3 Black resigned. His position collapses and he loses material. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Petrosian,T-Schmid,L-1–01965E70Yerevan10

Game 3

Anatoly Karpov, too, is a player with a fine feeling for prophylaxis. However, his play is markedly more active and more aggressive  than that of Petrosian. Both, active play and prophylaxis, comes together in his game against Judit Polgar presented here. It helped Karpov to a win that seems deceptively simple.

 
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1.e4 c5 2.c3 A surprising choice by Karpov who has played his fair share of brilliancies against the Open Sicilian in the course of his career. However, Karpov had noticed that Judit Polgar had shown weaknesses against the c3-Sicilian. e6 3.d4 d5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bb5 c4?! Perhaps Polgar wanted to avoid a positon with an isolated queen's pawn because Karpov's skills in these position were legendary. However, the text-move relinquishes the central tension too early. Therefore, objectively better was 6...Bd6 z.B. 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.0-0 Nge7 7.Ne5 Qb6 8.Bxc6+ bxc6 9.0-0 Bd6 10.b3 cxb3 11.axb3 Ne7 12.Ba3 Bxe5?! This weakens the black squares. 12...c5! offered more chances for counterplay. 13.dxe5 Be6?!
Black misses the last chance to play 13...c5 with hopes to get counterplay. After the text-move Black gets strangled. 14.Qd4! A strong move, giving White control over the black squares. Nf5 After 14...Qxb3 15.Nd2 Qb6 16.Rfb1 White has more than enough compensation for the pawn. 15.Qc5 h5 16.Nd2 f6 17.exf6 gxf6 18.Bb4! A typical Karpov-move. White does not do anything spectacular but quietly improves his position and increases the pressure against the weakness on a7. Kf7 19.Ra4 Qxc5 20.Bxc5 Karpov totally outplayed his opponent. Black has no counterplay but lots of weak pawns and can only hope that the opposite-colored bishops might help to keep a draw. a6 21.f3 h4 22.Rfa1 Bc8 23.Kf2 Rb8 24.b4 Re8 25.Nb3 After preventing counterplay on the e-file Karpov directs his knight to better squares. Bb7 26.Na5 Ba8 Of course, a8 is not the ideal square for Black's bishop but otherwise the pawn c6 will fall. 27.R4a2 Re6 28.Ba7! Rb5 An unfortunate square for the rook. But after, e.g. 28...Rbe8 29.Nb3 Bb7 30.Nc5 R6e7 31.Nxb7 Rxb7 32.Bc5! White wins the a-pawn and reaches a clearly better endgame. 29.Nb3 Bb7 30.g4 White chases the knight away from f5 - and Black's position collapses. hxg3+ 31.hxg3 Re8 32.g4 Nd6 33.Nd4 Black resigned. White's win seemed to be amazingly simple. Black lost without a trace of counterplay and did not even get the chance to stir up trouble. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Karpov,A2740Polgar,J26301–01994B22Linares 12th6

Game 4

Game 4 was perhaps the most difficult to ascribe. All World Champions were strong endgame players and the final phase of this game could possibly also have been played by Karpov or Petrosian. However, in this game it was Bobby Fischer who demonstrated superb endgame technique and his  typical untiring will to win.

 
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1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Nf3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Bc4 Ngf6 6.Neg5 Nd5 7.d4 h6 8.Ne4 N7b6 9.Bb3 Bf5 10.Ng3 Bh7 11.0-0 e6 12.Ne5 Nd7 13.c4 N5f6 14.Bf4 Nxe5 15.Bxe5 Bd6 16.Qe2 0-0 17.Rad1 Qe7 18.Bxd6 Qxd6 19.f4 c5 20.Qe5 Qxe5 21.dxe5 Ne4 22.Rd7
White has only a microscopic advantage but in the further course of the game he continues to pose Black problems. 22...Nxg3 23.hxg3 Be4 24.Ba4 Preventing 24...Bc6 Rad8 25.Rfd1 Rxd7 26.Rxd7 g5 27.Bd1 White wants to exchange bishops. Bc6 28.Rd6 Rc8 29.Kf2 Kf8 30.Bf3 Bxf3 31.gxf3 White has a slight advantage in the rook-ending but Black should be able to hold. gxf4 32.gxf4 Ke7 33.f5! This pawn thrust gives White the better pawn-structure and increases his winning chances. exf5 34.Rxh6 Rd8 Black cannot play 34...Rc6 to activate his king because the pawn-ending after 35.Rxc6 bxc6 36.Kg3 is lost for Black. Soltis gives the following variation: f6 37.Kf4 Ke6 38.exf6 Kxf6 39.a3 a6 40.a4 a5 41.b3 Ke6 42.Kg5 Ke5 43.Kg6 Kf4 44.Kf6 Kxf3 45.Kxf5 Ke3 46.Ke6 Kd3 47.Kd7 Kc3 48.Kxc6 Kxb3 49.Kb5 and White wins. 35.Ke2?! It was better to play 35.Ke3 immediately. 35...Rg8 36.Kf2 Rd8?! Black misses the chance. Better was 36...f4 e.g. 37.Rh4 Rg5 38.Rxf4 Rxe5 and White no longer has serious winning chances. In the game White wins Black's f-pawn and can activate his king. 37.Ke3 Rd1 38.b3 Re1+ 39.Kf4 Re2 40.Kxf5 Rxa2 41.f4 Re2 42.Rh3
This position is no longer equal but better for White. Portisch finds no way to hold the game. 42...Re1 43.Rd3 Rb1 44.Re3 White wants to play e6 to create a passed pawn on the f-file. Rb2 45.e6 a6 46.exf7+ Kxf7 47.Ke5 Rd2 48.Rc3 b6 49.f5 Rd1 50.Rh3 b5 51.Rh7+ Kg8 52.Rb7 bxc4 53.bxc4 Rd4 54.Ke6 Re4+ After 54...Rxc4 55.Rb8+ Kh7 56.f6 Re4+ 57.Kf5 Rb4 58.Re8 Black has to give his rook to stop the f-pawn from queening. 55.Kd5 Rf4 56.Kxc5 Rxf5+ 57.Kd6 Rf6+ 58.Ke5 Rf7 59.Rb6 Rc7 60.Kd5 Kf7 61.Rxa6
This position is won for White - Black's rook and king are too clumsily placed. 61...Ke7 62.Re6+ Kd8 63.Rd6+ Ke7 64.c5 Rc8 65.c6 Rc7 66.Rh6 Kd8 67.Rh8+ Ke7 68.Ra8 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Fischer,R-Portisch,L-1–01962B17Stockholm Interzonal4

No other World Champion was more infamous both inside and outside the chess world than Bobby Fischer. On this DVD, a team of experts shows you the winning techniques and strategies employed by the 11th World Champion.

Grandmaster Dorian Rogozenco delves into Fischer’s openings, and retraces the development of his repertoire. What variations did Fischer play, and what sources did he use to arm himself against the best Soviet players? Mihail Marin explains Fischer’s particular style and his special strategic talent in annotated games against Spassky, Taimanov and other greats. Karsten Müller is not just a leading international endgame expert, but also a true Fischer connoisseur.

The fourth and final part of the Exercises in Style will follow shortly.

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Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".

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