
Powerful Queen Sacrifices in Chess Olympiads
By GM Lubomir Kavalek
A scarce double-queen sacrifice
The tension was mounting as my game against Lev Polugaevsky was approaching
a rare moment in chess history: both white and black queens were sacrificed
in a single move.

The game drew big crowds at the 1966 Havana Chess Olympiad early on since
it looked like the Soviet grandmaster would go down to a rare olympiad defeat.
As a matter of fact,
the Soviets lost only twice at the event, according to Wojciech Bartelski's
Olimpbase.
I had Polugaevsky on the ropes most of the game, missed a few wins here
and there, and could not knock him down. We reached the critical position
after 25 moves. Polu attacked my queen with 25...f6 and I saw a chance to
finished the game with a bang.
26.Qg6?! 26.Rxf6!? Ra7 26...Qxg1+ 27.Qxg1 gxf6 28.Qd4+- 27.Kb1± 26...Qf2‼ 27.Rxf2 hxg6 28.Rxg6 Rf8 29.Rf4 Rf7 30.Nxb4 Bb7 ½–½
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Kavalek,L | - | Polugaevsky,L | - | ½–½ | 1966 | | Havana Olympiad | |
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Despite this setback, I had the best result on the team of Czechoslovakia,
scoring 11.5 points out of 16 games. It was the last time I played for my
native country. In 1968, winning the powerful national championship, I was
nominated to play the top board on the team at the Olympiad in Lugano, but
after the Soviet-led invasion I left Czechoslovakia. In the 1970s I would
play on the first board of the U.S. team in four Olympiads.
A Half Century Ago
A queen sacrifice is on the mind of every chess players. Who can resist
the temptation to deploy it either as a logical conclusion of the game or
just as mere showing off? Nobody gets tired of it, every time the queen
sacrifice seems to be forever fresh and full of life.
At the 1964 Tel-Aviv Olympiad I could not help sacrificing the queen against
the Colombian player Bernardo Fernandez. It is hard to believe it happened
50 years ago.
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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29...Qg2+‼ 29...Bg2 30.Bxg2 Rxg2+ 31.Kf3 Re8! 32.f5 Bg4+ 33.Kf4 Rf2+ 34.Kg5 Rg8+ 35.Kf6 35.Kxh4 Nxf5# 35.Kh6 Nxf5# 35...Rxf5+ 36.Ke7 Rg7+ 37.Kxd6 Rfg5! 37...Rfg5 38.Nxd4 Rd7# 0–1
- Start an analysis engine:
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Fernandez,B | - | Kavalek,L | - | 0–1 | 1964 | | Tel-Aviv Olympiad | |
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"One of the most beautiful games of the Olympiad," wrote Ladislav
Prokes, one of the world's most prolific study composers and a member of
three Czechoslovakian Olympiad teams (1927, 1928 and 1930). He was intrigued
by the queen sacrifice and the final mating picture.
Shades of the first queen sacrifice
As soon as the chess queen acquired new power and could fly across the
chess board, the possibility of the queen sacrifice was there. The new queen
was celebrated in books at the dawn of the 15th century.
More than 100 problems appeared in Luca Pacioli's De Ludo scacchorum
(On the game of chess) with the illustrations allegedly done by Leonardo
da Vinci. Pacioli's portrait by Jacopo de' Barbieri could be the first image
of a chess writer.

Peter J. Monté, the Dutch author of The Classical Era of Modern
Chess, recently published by McFarland,
believes that the first game with the new powerful queens was recorded between
1480s and 1508, not in 1485 as was previously thought. It was the manuscript
Scachs d'amor by three authors from Valencia, Francesc de Castellvi,
Narciso Vinyoles and Bernat Fenollar, in which the new, powerful queen shows
up in full glory in the center of the chessboard. But the players missed
a queen sacrifice - perhaps the first in a chess game.
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd8 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.h3 6.Ne5! Bxd1 6...Be6! 7.Bxe6 fxe6 8.0-0+- 7.Bxf7# 6...Bxf3 7.Qxf3 e6 8.Qxb7 Nbd7 9.Nb5 Rc8 10.Nxa7 Nb6 11.Nxc8 Nxc8 12.d4 Nd6 13.Bb5+ Nxb5 14.Qxb5+ Nd7 15.d5 exd5 16.Be3 Bd6 17.Rd1 Qf6 18.Rxd5 Qg6 19.Bf4 Bxf4 20.Qxd7+ Kf8 21.Qd8# 1–0
- 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.
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From Scachs d'amor | - | | - | 1–0 | 1485 | B01 | Valencia circa | |
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Monté delivers great research and his brilliant, exhaustive
work is unique in chess history. He traces the works of early great
chess players and writers from the late 15th century into mid-17th
century, such as Lucena, Damiano, Ruy Lopez, Polerio, Salvio and Greco.
He discusses the development of castling and en passant. But the most
amazing part are the openings and games of the period. The 616-page
book is an absolute must not only for lovers of chess history, but
for all inquisitive chess players.
Images from Wikipedia
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