Petrosian's stunning sacrifice - Honorata's Harmony

by Arne Kaehler
7/14/2023 – In today's episode, Honorata shows us one of the most spectacular positional exchange sacrifices, played by Tigran Petrosian. In this famous game against Samuel Reshevsky, "Iron Tigran" made a slight mistake in the middlegame, and White's bishop pair was about to cause havoc. But Petrosian found a spectacular move, which most of you probably know already.
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Honorata's Harmony

with WFM Honorata Kucharska

Chess is a game of strategy and each piece has its unique function that contributes to the harmony of the game. The pieces work together to protect the king, attack the opponent's pieces, and control the board.

This is where Honorata's Harmony kicks in. The 20-year-old Polish WFM was actually a fearless attacking player. But the more she got into chess, the more she was delighted by the power of positional play, and how all pieces can be used to their full advantage. 

Her rating soon went over 2200, and although studying computer-science, she is focusing on achieving her WIM title. So far, she reached all 3 norms for WIM and her first WGM norm!

Honorata's Harmony is all about understanding the roles of each chess piece, which is crucial for developing a successful playing style.

Game:

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.a3 Bxc3 9.bxc3 b6 10.cxd5 exd5 11.Bb2 11.a4 cxd4 12.cxd4 12.exd4 Ne4 12...Nb4 11.dxc5 bxc5 12.c4 Rb8! 11...c4 12.Bc2 Bg4 13.Qe1 Ne4 13...Bxf3 14.Nd2 Nxd2 15.Qxd2 Bh5 16.f3 Bg6 17.e4 Qd7 18.Rae1 dxe4 19.fxe4 Rfe8 20.Qf4 20.a4 Ne5! 21.Ba3 Nd3 22.Bxd3 cxd3 23.Qxd3 Qxa4 20...b5 21.Bd1 Re7 22.Bg4 Qe8 23.e5 a5 24.Re3 Rd8 25.Rfe1
25...Re6!       Petrosian's best known strategical exchange sacrifice. Petrosians berühmtes postionelles Qualitätsopfer. 26.a4 26.h4 h4-h5, 3 26...Ne7 26...b4 27.d5 Rxd5 28.Bxe6 fxe6 29.Qxc4 27.Bxe6 fxe6 28.Qf1 28.Qf2 Nd5 29.Rf3 b4 28...Nd5 29.Rf3 Bd3 30.Rxd3 cxd3 31.Qxd3 b4 32.cxb4 32.c4 Nb6 33.Rc1 Nxa4 34.Ba1 Qc6 32.c4 Nb6 33.d5 exd5 34.c5 Nxa4 35.Bd4 Rc8 36.Qf3 Qe6 32...axb4 32...Nxb4 33.Qb3 Nd5 32...Nxb4 33.Qb5 Qxb5 34.axb5 Nd3 35.Re2 Rb8 36.Rd2 Rxb5 37.Rxd3 Rxb2 38.d5= 33.a5 Ra8 34.Ra1 Qc6 35.Bc1 Qc7 35...Rxa5? 36.Rxa5 Qxc1+ 37.Qf1 Qe3+ 38.Kh1 h6 39.Ra8+ Kh7 40.Qb1+ g6 41.Ra7+ Kh8 42.h3 36.a6 Qb6 37.Bd2 b3 38.Qc4 h6 39.h3 b2 40.Rb1 Kh8 41.Be1 [Bronstein] ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Reshevsky,S-Petrosian,T-½–½1953E58Candidates Tournament2

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Arne Kaehler, a creative mind who is passionate about board games in general, was born in Hamburg and learned to play chess at a young age. By teaching chess to youth teams and creating chess-related videos on YouTube, Arne was able to expand this passion and has even created an online course for anyone who wants to learn how to play chess. Arne writes for the English and German news sites, but focuses mainly on content for the ChessBase media channels.
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