Speelman's Agony #85

by Jonathan Speelman
10/14/2018 – This week's games are from Polish IM Jan Przewoznik who is rekindling his chess passion and reflecting on his youth, including these games from 1979! Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!
Fritz 16 is looking forward to playing with you, and you're certain to have a great deal of fun with him too. Tense games and even well-fought victories await you with "Easy play" and "Assisted analysis" modes.

Four decades of agony

Jan Przewoźnik

This week's pair of games are by Jan Przewoznik from Poland, who turned 61 last month. A psychologist by profession, he was a very strong chess player in his prime, competing seven times in the Polish championship between 1976 and 1992, winning the title itself in 1979 and becoming an IM in 1985. [He also recently authored two articles for ChessBase on decision making: "Nine Indicators" (part 1 and part 2) -Ed.]

The two games he sent me are both very interesting both in their technical and emotional content. He sent the bare bones of notes with the critical positions and I've marked all these as JP. I've fleshed them out just a little adding JS (when I remember).

As he wrote: “Chess is an emotional game. Sometimes emotions excite people for years.” We start with a sophisticated Agony — a game in which he missed a beautiful win. Nevertheless, it comes from 1979, the year when he became national champion a few days later.

 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
JP: I played the following game in 1979, at the Polish Championships. For three rounds before the end of the tournament I could practically ensure the first place in the Polish championship as a completely unknown player (Candidate Master, 71th on Polish rating list). It was enough to win this game! 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0-0-0 Bd7 9.f4 Be7 9...b5 JS is much more common nowadays, when White normally replies 10.Bxf6 gxf6 and now usually 11.Kb1 I played this line many years ago and found it difficult as Black but it's a speciality of the Croatian Zdenko Kozul and I found 74 outings of his as Black in a database - he scored nearly 55% against average opposition a little over 2500. 9...h6 10.Bh4 b5 can also be played as in the famous and crucial last round game at the 2016 Candidates tournament. 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.f5 Qb6 13.fxe6 fxe6 14.Nxc6 Qxc6 15.Bd3 h5 16.Kb1 b4 17.Ne2 Qc5 18.Rhf1 Bh6 19.Qe1 a5 20.b3 Rg8 21.g3 Ke7 22.Bc4 Be3 23.Rf3 Rg4 24.Qf1 Rf8 25.Nf4 Bxf4 26.Rxf4 a4 27.bxa4 Bxa4 28.Qd3 Bc6 29.Bb3 Rg5 30.e5 Rxe5 31.Rc4 Rd5 32.Qe2 Qb6 33.Rh4 Re5 34.Qd3 Bg2 35.Rd4 d5 36.Qd2 Re4 37.Rxd5 exd5 38.Qxd5 Qc7 39.Qf5 Rf7 40.Bxf7 Qe5 41.Rd7+ Kf8 42.Rd8+ 1-0 (42) Karjakin,S (2760)-Caruana,F (2794) Moscow RUS 2016 10.Nf3 b5 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.f5 Qb6 13.Kb1 0-0-0 14.fxe6 JS Dissolving the doubled pawns but creating a target on e6. 14.g3 Kb8 15.fxe6 fxe6 16.Bh3 14...fxe6 15.g3 b4 16.Ne2 Ne5 17.Nfd4 Nc4 18.Qd3
18...d5 Engines are very unimpresed by this giving Nf4 as winning and when you look at the lines this is perfectly reasonable. But in a practical game Black has real chances of creating some chaos. 19.exd5 Indeed after 19.Nf4! the tactics simply don't work for Black eg: Bc5 19...Kb8 20.exd5 e5 21.Qxc4 20.exd5 Ne3 21.Qxe3 e5 22.Nfe2 Rhe8 22...exd4 23.Nxd4 Rhe8 24.Qd3 Bxd4 25.Qxd4 Qxd4 26.Bxa6+! 23.Qf3 exd4 24.Nc1 Re3 25.Qf4 Black is only a single pawn down at the moment but it's about to collapse. 19...Bb5 20.Nxb5 20.Qe4! was very strong mainly because if Rxd5 21.Nf4 or 21.Bh3 f5 22.Bxf5 20...axb5 21.Nd4? Now Black gets a good position. It already feels very messy but in fact 21.Nf4 kept control If e5 21...f5 22.Nxe6 Bf6 is what Black wants to play but he's falling apart a lot sooner than White after simply 23.Qxf5 Ne3 24.Qxf6 22.Ne6 is vile. 21...Rxd5 22.Bg2 Rd6 23.Qf3 Rhd8
24.Nc6 Rxd1+ 25.Rxd1 Nd2+ 26.Rxd2 Rxd2 27.Nxe7+ Kd7 28.Ng8
28...f5 Missing the chance to win with the very beautiful 28...Qg1+ 29.Bf1 Qh1‼ This was the source of Jan's continuing regret over the years and the rest of the game while a serious battle was something of an anti-climax. 29.Bf1 Qc6 30.Qxc6+ Kxc6 31.Kc1 Rxh2 32.Bd3 Rg2 33.Nf6 Rxg3 34.Nxh7 Kd5 35.Nf6+ Kd4 36.Nh5 Rg1+ 36...Rg5 37.Nf6 37.Nf4 Ke3 38.Ne2 f4 37.Kd2 Rg2+ 38.Be2 e5 39.c3+ bxc3+ 40.bxc3+ Kc5 41.Ke3 f4+?! Now White gets a blockade and is able to hold. 41...Rh2 still gave good winning chances. 42.Kf3 Rh2 43.Nf6 Rh3+ 44.Kf2 Rh6 45.Ng4 Rh5 46.Nf6 Rh2+ 47.Kf3 Kc6 48.Bd3 Rxa2 49.Ng4 Kd5 50.Bxb5 Ra3 51.Nf6+ Kc5 52.Bd3
52...Ra8 JP How long can one regret lost opportunities? Some pay for lost chances with sleepless nights during the tournament, but then the emotions quiet down somehow. I have emotionally remembered those events after 39 years! Not because of a draw. I won the title two rounds later. It hinted that it was possible to create an aesthetic work. The whole game was, after all, very conceptual. And maybe that's why I regret it because I've always highly valued the artistic side of chess. The more we involve ourselves in some values, the more we are exposed to experiencing strong emotions. Is it necessary to work-out such a problem? Maybe not necessarily. At a certain age, you come to the conclusion that victory and defeat are the same illusion. But five months lat... ½–½
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Pokojowczyk,J-Przewoznik,J-½–½1979B69POL ch
Przewoznik,J-Vogt,L-1–01979B22Naleczow

Click or tap a game in the game list below the board to switch

There are few opening systems which have been undergoing such a fast and furious renaissance as the 6.Bg5 Variation of the Najdorf System. Inspired by Radjabov’s victories over Anand and Karjakin in 2006, a great number of games have been played since then, meaning that the theory has developed enormously. But even before then it stretched to such distant horizons that makes it all the more important to have someone who can explain the ideas which underlie the variations. That is exactly what Alexei Shirov does on his DVD.

Submit your games and win free Premium!

Did you enjoy the column and instructive analysis by GM Jonathan Speelman? Do you wish you could have a world-renowned grandmaster analyzing your play? You can!

To submit your games just upload a PGN or ChessBase file (.pgn or .cbv archive), along with your name and e-mail address. Send one success story (Ecstasy) and one loss (Agony).

Tell why you chose them, where or when they were played. Please do include your email address, so Jon can reply, and preferably a photo of yourself for our article.

If your game is selected Jon will contact you personally, and not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

A three-month Premium subscription to ChessBase Account means you get:

  • Premium access to the Playchess server with ratings, simuls, lectures, and live commentary of top games
  • Access to all Web apps with no restrictions, such as the Cloud database, and more!
  • Full access to the Video archive, which not only includes all the past lectures by Daniel King, Simon Williams and others, but also a large number of full ChessBase products you would normally need to buy in the ChessBase Shop but that you can view for free as a Premium subscriber.

See also:

Jonathan Speelman, born in 1956, studied mathematics but became a professional chess player in 1977. He was a member of the English Olympic team from 1980–2006 and three times British Champion. He played twice in Candidates Tournaments, reaching the semi-final in 1989. He twice seconded a World Championship challenger: Nigel Short and then Viswanathan Anand against Garry Kasparov in London 1993 and New York 1995.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register

We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.