Boxing in White City

by Jonathan Speelman
12/19/2021 – The recent World Championship appears in hindsight to have been very one-sided, with Ian Nepomniachtchi’s collapse being dramatic but far from unprecedented. Thinking about collapses, star columnist Jon Speelman went back to the famous battle between Viktor Korchnoi (pictured) and Boris Spassky in Belgrade 1977!

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Not unprecedented

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

Ian NepomniachtchiThe recent World Championship appears in hindsight to have been very one-sided, and indeed Magnus Carlsen’s final margin of victory was huge. But the first five games were very close and hard fought, and it was only after the epic sixth game that things changed utterly.

The manner of defeat was the worst possible for Ian Nepomniachtchi, and it came at the start of a sequence of three games — which in a match of this intensity is highly unusual and probably just too much. Nepo went into something like shock, and although he was able to operate normally for long tracts of play, his “hand” lost its reliability: which is an awful thing when you have to be able to rely on playing at least sensibly, as decisions have to be made    move by move under extreme tension over an extended period.

Nepo’s collapse was dramatic but far from (and here I find myself endangering my life by using the u word) unprecedented. Under match conditions, it’s not unusual for players to crack either totally or for a few games. And in this case, it brought them to the end of the match — which at 14 games was long by today’s standards — but short compared to the battles of the past.

[Photo: Niki Riga]

Belgrade 1977

Thinking about collapses I went back to the famous battle between Viktor Korchnoi and Boris Spassky in Belgrade 1977, and found Ray Keene’s book on it on my shelves.

“Only” the Candidates final, this was nevertheless scheduled for 20 games, and in intensity, bad feeling and shenanigans, acted as a precursor to the Karpov v Korchnoi World Championship in Baguio 1978.  

Having defected from the USSR in 1976, Korchnoi at that stage was a “non-person” whose games they didn’t publish (at least not with his name attached). Spassky not only faced a formidable opponent but also had the weight of his country’s expectations upon him (as he did later against Fischer), and in the first nine games Korchnoi built up a massive lead of 6½-2½.

It was in game 10 that Spassky began to behave very strangely. Both players had a private box where they could relax when it was not their move, but Spassky began to stay there during his moves as well, returning to the board only to move the pieces. Korchnoi won game 10 despite having a losing position at one stage, but as protests and counterprotests erupted regarding the box, Spassky, who at one stage took to appearing on the stage in a visor, won four in a row from 11-14. Eventually the positions of the two boxes were reversed so that Korchnoi could at least see his opponent when he was in his “half-open box”. And after draws in games 15 and 16, Korchnoi won the last two to finish as the 10½-7½ winner with two games remaining.

Boris Spassky, Viktor Korchnoi

I hope I’ve given a reasonable account of this. The exact details of every protest, counterprotest and statement by the chief arbiter Bozidar Kazic and FIDE President Max Euwe don’t seem too important at this distance, but the general feeling is that match play is intense and brutal and feelings can run very high, even when international politics aren’t involved. (Indeed, this time some of the comments about Daniil Dubov’s decision to continue to work for Magnus Carlsen against a fellow Russian have been highly intemperate.)

As to the actual games in Belgrade, they were fought to the hilt. The most famous is the back rank battle in game 7, and I've included a couple more as well.

My next column will be on January 2nd 2022 and will presumably have at least some elements of retrospection, and also prognostication.  

In the meantime a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

 
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1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 e6
6.g3 This is the old main line and it leads to various highly complicated branches.After trying the immediate Bb4 in this game, Spassky switched to the the main line with 6...Qb6 7 Nb3 Ne5 in game 3, which he drew, and tried 6...Qb6 7 Nb3 Bb4 in game 5, later losing. 6.a3 Discombobulated by all the theory, I reintroduced what I later discovered was an old move (it was hardly a surprise it had been played before) - 8.a3, which I played against Jan Timman in the Reykjavik World Cup in 1988. It subsequently became a main line and is one of my very few contributions to opening theory. d5 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Bg5 Be7 9.e3 0-0 10.Bb5 Bg4 11.Qa4 Nxd4 12.Qxd4 a6 13.Bd3 Qd7 14.0-0 Rad8 15.Rac1 Bf5 16.Rfd1 Bg4 17.Rd2 Qe6 18.h3 Bh5 19.Qh4 Bg6 20.Bxg6 hxg6 21.Rcd1 Rd6 22.Qa4 Rfd8 23.Qb3 R6d7 24.Rd4 Kf8 25.R1d2 b5 26.Qd1 Qf5 27.h4 Qe6 28.e4 Bc5 29.exd5 Qe5 30.Bxf6 gxf6 31.Re4 Qd6 32.Qf3 f5 33.Re1 Re7 34.Rde2 Rxe2 35.Rxe2 Bd4 36.g3 Kg8 37.h5 Kg7 38.hxg6 Qxg6 39.Rd2 Qf6 40.Ne2 Bxb2 41.Nf4 Qc3 42.Qh5 Rh8 43.Qg5+ Kf8 44.Qd8+ 1/2-1/2 (44) Speelman,J (2645)-Timman,J (2660) Reykjavik 1988 6...Bc5 6...Qb6 7.Nb3 7.Ndb5 Many years later 7.Ndb5 became popular with really wild lines such as the famous game Nakamura v Karjakin. Ne5 8.Bf4 Nfg4 9.Qa4 g5 10.Bxe5 Qxf2+ 11.Kd1 Nxe5 12.Nc7+ Kd8 13.Nxa8 Qd4+ 14.Kc2 Nxc4 15.e4
15...Ne3+? This loses. 15...Qd2+ should draw. 16.Kb3 Qd2 17.a3 Qc2+ 18.Ka2 Qxa4 19.Nxa4 Nxf1 20.Rhxf1 b5 21.N4b6 axb6 22.Nxb6 Bb7 23.Rxf7 Bc6 24.Rd1 Be7 25.Rf3 Kc7 26.Nxd7 Rd8 27.Rc3 1-0 (27) Nakamura,H (2776)-Karjakin, S (2760) Zurich SUI 2015
7...Ne5 7...Bb4 8.e4 Bb4 was and is one of the main lines of the English.
7.Nb3 Bb4 8.Bg2 d5 9.cxd5 It's very hard to judge, but it's possible that castling is a slightly better try for the advantage: 9.0-0 dxc4 10.Qxd8+ Nxd8 10...Kxd8 11.Rd1+ 11.Nd2 Bd7 12.Nxc4 Bc6 12...Rc8 9...Nxd5 10.a3 10.0-0 is very decent because if Nxc3 11.Qxd8+ Nxd8 12.bxc3 Bxc3 13.Rb1 0-0 14.Ba3 Re8 15.Rfc1 White can easily regain the pawn when he wishes, and should emerge with at least some edge for instance after Bf6 16.Na5 Be7 17.Bxe7 Rxe7 18.Rd1 Re8 19.Nxb7 Nxb7 20.Bxb7 Bxb7 21.Rxb7 10...Bxc3+ 11.bxc3 0-0 12.Qc2 Qc7 13.c4 Ne5 14.Nd2 b5 15.c5 Bb7 16.0-0
16...Rac8?! It was better to use the other rook since this one was well-placed on a8 16...Rfc8 17.Nb3 a5 18.Bd2 Nc4 19.e4 Ne7 20.a4! Ba6 21.axb5 Bxb5 22.Rfc1 Nc6 23.Bc3 Rfd8 24.Bf1 a4 25.Bxc4 Bxc4 26.Rxa4 Bb5 27.Ra3 To protect the knight in case Black starts playing on the b-file. Rd3 27...e5 28.Raa1 Despite the extra pawn, White shouldn't have too much here. h5 28...f6 also made sense to block the diagonal. 29.Nd2 Nd4 30.Bxd4 Rxd4 31.Qc3 Rcd8
31...Qd8 32.Nb3! Returning the pawn to meet his c-pawn moving. Rxe4 33.Qa5 Qxa5 34.Nxa5
34...Ra4? Somewhat to my surprise my Houdini isn't greatly concerned by the c-pawn and gives 34...Red4 35.c6 R4d5 as equal. But after the exchange of a pair of rooks the pawn is really dangerous. 35.Rxa4 Bxa4 36.c6 Kf8 37.c7 Rc8 38.Rc5 Ke7 39.Nc4 Bd7 40.Kg2 Rh8
41.Nb6? Rushing. After neutral moves, White can advance his king and has excellent winning chances. 41.Kf3± Bc8 42.Ke4 h4 and here my engine likes g4. 41...Kd6! 42.c8Q Forced because if 42.Rc3 Bc6+ 43.Rxc6+ Kxc6 44.c8Q+ Rxc8 45.Nxc8 Kc7 comes to the same thing. 42...Bxc8 43.Rxc8 Rxc8 44.Nxc8+ Kc7 The knight is trapped so Black is able to survive with minimal care. 45.Ne7 Kd7 46.Ng8 h4 47.g4 Ke8 48.Kh3 Kf8 49.Nh6 gxh6 50.Kxh4 Kg7 51.Kg3 Kg6 52.Kf4 f6 53.h3
A heavyweight battle to start the match.
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kortschnoj,V2645Spassky,B2610½–½1977A33Candidates final1
Kortschnoj,V2665Spassky,B26301–01977D58Candidates final7
Spassky,B2610Kortschnoj,V26451–01977C18Candidates final12

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Enjoy Capablanca's fine technique, Tal's magic, Lasker's fighting spirit, Petrosian's defensive skills, Smyslov's feeling for harmony, and Alekhine's and Spassky's flair for the attack.


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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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