The anatomy of Agony

by Jonathan Speelman
8/3/2020 – Star columnist Jon Speelman tells a story from the old days, when Soviet tournaments were long and inordinately slow. In it, he mentions Leonid Yurtaev, a fierce attacking player who in 1996 became Kyrgyzstan’s first-ever grandmaster and sadly died in 2011 aged just 52. Speelman then goes on to analyse two of Yurtaev’s finest efforts. | Pictured: The city of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

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Remembering Leonid Yurtaev

[Note that Jon Speelman also looks at the content of the article in video format, here embedded at the end of the article.]

Until recently, this was designated as an Agony column for readers to send their games into with one horrid (agonizing) one and, as a counterpoint, a delightful (ecstatic) one.

It’s a format I will return to from time to time so please do keep sending games in. But generally now the remit is broader, though today we return to the original idea, admittedly in a fiendishly refined form.

Stuart RachelsThis is a construction task picked out by the French Canadian computer scientist François Labelle from the output of his program, which he passed on to American IM Stuart Rachels, and Stuart in turn passed on to me.

The problem is: Find a game (with legal moves) ending in 7.Rc7 mate with the black king on d7 (NB it’s Rc7, not Rxc7).

This turns out to be extremely difficult and it’s a real honour to be able to publish it here for the first time. I took the best part of a week with many periods of bittersweet agony. After a few days, I passed it on to Luke McShane, who remarked fairly soon that, “It will take several bus journeys”. Indeed, I was on the top of a London bus (#113 to Edgware) when the penny finally dropped. This led to a short period of real delight followed by a warm glow inside for a couple of days.

If you do solve this you have all my admiration and please crow in the comments below, but don’t give away the solution — though you’re welcome to email me at jonathan@jspeelman.co.uk. Luke did solve it after I gave him a couple of hints, and I’ll start doing the same here in the comments in a week’s time. They will be as Fritzpa (which has nothing to do with a certain piece of software, but a ginger cat we had years ago). The solution will appear in the next column.

It’s an open secret that grandmasters occasionally (and in some countries at some times in the past rather more often than occasionally) agree draws without playing. It’s not our finest hour, and I’ve very seldom indulged — though on the couple of occasions when I’ve had to play chess on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day I’ve been sorely tempted.

Today I’m starting — though I can't actually find the (non) game in a database — with one such which occurred for a very good reason: my opponent had recently saved, if not my life, certainly my peace of mind for a day. This was at a tournament in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, which from 1926 to 1991 was named Frunze, after the Soviet Bolshevik leader Mikhail Frunze, and hosted a military academy in his name: today the city is Bishkek (apparently its old name before Frunze was Pishpek).

In the old days Soviet tournaments were long and inordinately slow, and Frunze 1979 lasted (nearly?) a whole month — what with travelling there via Moscow and back, playing days, adjournment days and rest days. I wasn’t yet a grandmaster and harboured the vague hope that I might get a GM norm, but discovered well before the end that this was already impossible.

Frunze has some lovely wide avenues and each day before the game — which was presumably at about 3 pm — I used to walk down one to the city gates and out for a while into the countryside. There was a city wall adorned with paintings of the might of Soviet man and the amity of the hundred different Soviet nations (good luck with that after it all collapsed), and these in some way stuck two fingers up at the vast tableau outside with the Tian Shan mountains in the distance separating Kyrgyzstan from China.

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

On a rest day, we went out into the mountains and I, less wimpy than usual, jumped over some stepping stones in a stream. My glasses fell off, and this would certainly have spoilt the rest of the day (presumably I did have the sense to have a spare pair with me on the trip) had not the then-IM Leonid Yurtaev retrieved them. The result a few days later was a very short game in which he was White and I played a Caro Kann, if I recall.

Yurtaev, who sadly died in 2011 aged just 52, was a fierce attacking player, who in 1996 became Kyrgyzstan’s first-ever grandmaster. In Frunze 1979, he beat a Mikhalchishin, whom I originally took to be the grandmaster Adrian but apparently, looking at Informator 27, was an M. Mihaljcisin, and the tournament winner Alexander Beliavsky. Both were impressive, and I’m starting with the former which was originally annotated for Informator 28 by Sergei Makarichev — I’ve updated the annotations with help from my engine.

 
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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,173,50054%2421---
1.d4952,12655%2434---
1.Nf3283,50356%2440---
1.c4183,15556%2442---
1.g319,79656%2427---
1.b314,44254%2427---
1.f45,92148%2377---
1.Nc33,85150%2384---
1.b41,77148%2379---
1.a31,23454%2405---
1.e31,07549%2409---
1.d396150%2378---
1.g466846%2360---
1.h446554%2381---
1.c343651%2426---
1.h328356%2419---
1.a411660%2462---
1.f39947%2428---
1.Nh39267%2511---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.d4 cxd4 6.Bc4 Nb6 6...e6!? JS is less common, but obviously also perfectly playable. 7.Bb3 d6 8.exd6 Qxd6 9.0-0 Bf5 9...dxc3 10.Nxc3± -> JS Engines give this as about equal after Qxd1 11.Rxd1 Bg4 10.Nxd4! Nxd4 11.cxd4 e6 12.Nc3 Be7 13.Qf3 0-0 14.d5! 14.Qxb7 Rfb8 15.Qf3 Qxd4= JS This looks very acceptable for Black. Of course it's much better to play the thematic advance. 14...Qc7?! 14...Qd7!? Houdini agrees with Makarychev, though after simply 15.Be3 White is certainly somewhat better. 15.Re1 Nc4 16.Bf4 Qc5 17.Rac1
17...Nxb2? 17...Rac8 was suggested by Makarychev who stopped there. Houdini then gives a forcing line which you might well consider in a game, but would be a bit hard to calculate accurately. 18.Bxc4 Houdini 18.g4 Bg6 19.Bxc4 Qxc4 20.d6 Bh4! JS This square is avaialable precisely because White played g4 21.d7 Rcd8 22.Bd6 18...Qxc4 19.d6 Bf6 19...Bh4 20.g3 JS doesn't help here. 20.g4 Qd3 20...Bg6 21.Nd5 Qxd5 22.Qxd5 Rxc1 23.Qd2 JS And the d-pawn is very strong. I like playaing with peices against a queen, but am perfectly happy to believe Houdini when it gives this as winning for White. Rc2 24.Qe3 21.Re3 Qd2 22.Rd1 Qxb2 23.gxf5 Rxc3 24.Rxc3 Bxc3 25.d7 Bf6 26.Bd6 Rd8 27.Bc7+- 18.Nd1 Qa3 19.Nxb2 Qxb2 20.Rc7
20...Bb4? 20...Bf6 is better JS 21.g4 Bg6 22.dxe6 fxe6 23.Bxe6+ Kh8 24.Rxb7 and Black can still fight hard. 21.Be5 JS From here on in Yurtaev played very nicely Qd2 21...Qa3 22.dxe6 Bxe1 23.exf7+ Kh8 24.Qxf5+- -> 22.Re2 Qh6 JS to protect e6. If 22...Qg5 23.dxe6 23.h3! 23.dxe6 Bxe6 24.Bxe6 Qxe6 25.Bxg7 Qd6 and the weak back rank means that White has to scramble for a draw: 26.Re4 Kxg7 27.Rg4+ Kh8 28.Rxb4 Qxb4 29.Qf6+ 23.g4 Qg6 23...Rad8 If 23...Qg6 24.dxe6 Bxe6 25.Bxe6 Qxe6 26.Bxg7 JS and with the back rank sorted White wins easily. 24.g4 Qg5 25.Qg3 Bg6
26.h4! 26.h4 Qh6 27.Bf4 traps the queen, so Black resigned.
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Yurtaev,L-Mihaljcisin,M-1–01979B22Frunze 28/313

This game, which was decided by a single blunder, was unannotated in MegaBase, so the notes are all mine.

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Be3 d6 7.Qd2 Nf6 8.f3 0-0 9.0-0-0
JS A "Dragon in which Black has a c-pawn rather than an e-pawn" - this is somewhat problematic for Black. 9...Nxd4 10.Bxd4 Be6 11.g4 c5 12.Be3 Qa5 13.Bh6
13...Bxa2? This line has been tried at blitz by players as strong as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, but also without great success: 13...Rfd8 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.h4 Bxa2 16.Nxa2 Qxa2 17.Qc3 d5 18.g5 Qa1+ 19.Kd2 dxe4+ 20.Bd3 Qa4 21.b3 Qe8 22.Qxf6+ Kg8 23.Rhe1 Qd7 24.Rxe4 b5 25.h5 gxh5 26.Re7 Qd5 27.Kc1 Kf8 28.Be2 1-0 (28) Najer,E (2633)-Mamedyarov,S (2753) Khanty-Mansiysk RUS 2013 13...Bxh6 14.Qxh6 b5 is the best that Houdini can come up with, but 15.Bxb5 Rfb8 16.Qf4! is clearly better for White. This is one of those instances when I had to follow the engine line to understand the difference, and it is that on f4 the queen defends f3. 16.Bc6 Rxb2 17.Kxb2 Rb8+ 18.Nb5 Rxb5+ 19.Bxb5 Qxa2+ 20.Kc1 Qa3+ 21.Kd2 Qxf3 apparently leads to a draw. 22.Bd3 Nxg4 23.Qg5 f6 24.Qh4 Qe3+ 25.Kc3 Qd4+= 16...Kg7 17.Bc6 Rxb2 18.Kxb2 Rb8+ 19.Nb5 Rxb5+ 20.Bxb5 Qxb5+ 21.Kc1 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.Nxa2 Qxa2 16.Qc3! The pin now wins a piece for palpably insufficient compensation: d5 17.g5 d4 18.gxf6+ Kxf6 19.e5+ Kg7 20.Qa3 Qd5 21.Re1 Rac8 22.c4 Qe6 23.f4 Rc6 24.Bd3 Qh3 25.Be4 Qxa3 26.bxa3 Ra6 27.Kb2 Rb8 28.Bd3 Rc6 29.Ka2 f5 30.h4 h5 31.Rhg1 Kh6 32.Rg3 a6 33.Rb1
And Beliavsky resigned. White can simply double on the b-file and if ... b6-a4-a5 play Rb5 followed by Rxa5
1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
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  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
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  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Yurtaev,L-Beliavsky,A25951–01979C41Frunze


After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6! leads to the so-called "Accelerated Dragon Defense". On this DVD the Russian grandmaster and top women player Nadezhda Kosintseva reveals the secrets of her favourite opening.


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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.

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