SPASSKY vs. LARSEN Recounted by Dr. PETAR TRIFUNOVICH Boris Spassiy Part 2 (Concludes from page 871, October) Game 5 ‘The Tide Breaks, Larson scores at last and, curlously, mainly by holding fast SCOTCH GAME B. Spassky Larsen 1 PKE PeKe Larsen shatters all traditions of the match, Is it that he is satiated with Sicilian Defenses (and Attacks)? Or does he, perhaps, by altering the precedents as to openings hope to affect those as to resulta? 2N-KBS, 2 /N-BS White proposes the Scoth or the Four Knights Game. In etfoct, he telegraphs his opponent that he is amicably disposed this time, It may also be observed, thoug®, that his cholce of opening follows his match tactics, He avoids the home analyses to bbe expected, say, against the Ruy Lopez, fand also Laxeen’s flair for tactics whieh ‘would find expression in a more open same. Naps 3. P-KNS But Larsen disregards the telegram, His sitvation in the match is far from comfortable, He must fight. So he de cides to use an old system which Stein- iz often used against the 4 Pas 5 NxP Spassky is consistent. Theory states tat Black merely reaches equality after this answer, The only promising line for White here is 5 N-Q5! B-N2 6 B-KNS, QN-K2! 7 NxP, P-QBS 8 N-QB3, P-KRE 9 BKB 8. BN2 6 BKG 3 CHESS REVIEW, NOVEMBER, 1965 By accumulating pieces on his King file (see next move, too), White con gests his play. 6 NxN, NPXN T B-Q3 as fn the Scotch is better. On 7... N-BS, White has an effective P-K5, NBS 80-00 RKI 0-0 9 NxN Now this trade is forced and under in ferior conditions, @ P-B2 is met by § + P-Q4! And 91B-KNS is rebutted by 9 NaN 10 QxN, NxP! 9 NPxN 10 BBs ‘This Bishop takes a passive position and hampers the King Bishop Pawn, 10.... B-N2 11 aaa Pas 12 BRO Spassky errs: the swap of black-bound Bishops augments the pressure on the King Pawn. For example, Black's Rook can oceupy his K4 securely. 11 B-NS re tains an equal game. ABs Boxe 13 OB R-KA! Black's advantage is perceptible, QR-KI P-B4 16 KR-KI 15R-K3 Q-K2 17 P-KRG In a somewhat Inferior position, White ought to be more cautious. 17 P-KR3 is sounder. RK MF sores ax 18 oBd vee Else, say, 18 P-QN3, NNS 10 BAN, QxN, and Black progresses 8... K-n2 49 PLANS PKRS! Now White must reckon against the threat of . . . P-N&-5, 20 @-Ns eae 21 Bs R/tKe 22 NOS tees cheak & Bent Larsen ‘White needs to mark time, as with 22 Q-N3. The text opens the position in Black's favor and grants him a powerful Knight against a bad Bishop, 2 BxN 23 PxB rey 26 Pad 26 RR, RxR 27 aR. Qek! 28 x0, PxQ sets up a winning endgame for Black, It is elementary with his Pawn majority and strong Knight. 2 xR 27 Px White strives to avoid the endgame, 2 R-K4! ‘A Black Rook always comes back to this square. Black has a lease on it. And it cam be sald the gamo fs won merely by a Rook sitting here Beat 905 wK-R PRE 2883 O86 31 K-RI K-BT! Now Black threatens $2... RxKP without fear of 83 QxNPf, and $2 B-Q1 permits 32... N-K5! 32 R-KB 83 Q-R3 White no longer has a good move, oxkP 335K-N2 96 B-Qt ALKS 05 BF QN2 ROS PRS 38.8-K2 G7 Resigns Game 6 ‘The “Critical” Draw. Despite Larsen's fine combination, Spassky defends well as he feels he must morally to avoid the psychological encouragement to Larsen ff Scoring two wins in a row. ENGLISH OPENING B, Larsen B, Spassiy 1 P.oBs ie Larsen returns to the fighting Stellan (Gn reverse) at least for the attack. Teese PK¢ 2 Naas Pugs 3 N83 BONS And Spassky continues his match tac ties of producing a fresh line to minimize the chanee of home analysis. N-Kes B-K2 BRS ‘This Dishop does not harmonize with Black’s other pieces. But if It is possible to take advantage of that factor, White doesn’t find out how. 7 Pat ‘aN-a2 80-0 PBs 9 PON aa Here 9 P-QN4 to open the Queenside with P-N5 may be opportune in the absence of the Black Queen Bishop, oo... 10 BN Black Is preparing and... . P-Q4; but White's next move Ininders that plan, 11 Pas PoKS Black's thrust looks unsound, but he needs to secure some I 12. PxP xP Not 12... PRN 13 PXN, PxN 14 PXRt. 13 N-as xB 4 axB Naka MASSIVE CHESS arte ola Be rere Bice the gar of the ini Fete ere est and. epucately ath ha id, te gir ete aye the Stay for ue fevou spectators" and Sur iy ero edad "mer caring, be SnDoyer fe tgs Minato hin eid hesadoard that tie set tmmelate Ss iment, Money retundes {if not blesses Price $18.85 Postpaid. Texans add 4% MILLER IMPORTS - 2507 West Woadlawn. Ave. ANTONIO, Teka Taa2 15 P-B3 ‘ 15 QR-Ql offers better chances: eg. 16... P-Q4 16 Pxp, PxP 17 P-B3! PxP 18 NxP, BBS 19 NeP! oF 18... NxNP 18 QeN with excellent play for White, B.. PxP 16 NxP R-aB1 Only the Detpni oracle could say what Black wanted with this move. 16 N-N9 or 16... Q-B2 Is better. 17 @R-ai Q-B2 18 N-a4 @r-a1 10 NBS B81 Here it appears that Larsen has be come inspired. ‘With only a small chance, Larsen is already in his element. The sacrifice, it seems, will not do more than draw; but {it poses extremely difficult problems for Diack, On 21 R-Q4, Black replies . .. R-K2, Meese Par 22 ORS peas 22 N-B5! Is also a strong attacking possibility. Bi ne BN On 22... R-K3 23 N-KS, the... BxN ls foreed and leads to the same continua- Hon as in the game, 23 OxB RK 24 N-KE Ke 25 28s . White must parry 25... r-xp, a... R-KNI! With 25. . . P-QB4, Black can prevent White's next ‘move, but then 26 R-KB1 ains a decisive advantage. 26 P85! PxP 27 NxKel FENG! 28 NONE 28.N-Q7 is met by ROKBI, by... K-N2 8 Pops 29 NRE Ras! In a ditticult position, Black holds very Drecisely. After 29. RNG, White has winning chances: 30 P-KR4? R-R¢ 31 BAN, PxB [not 31... R/3xB? 32 R-QSt! and "White wins) 32 N-B7} K-N2 33 Nit, S0RxR = xR S2.N-B7t KN 31 BxN | PXB 33. NXP RK. Or 33... RBS 34 Q-NSf, K-RI [34 K-B1?? 35 QxRt. 34 ONS} Ket 35 Q-B5t K-N2 35... K-KT permits 26 Q-R5t! 36 Q-NSt K-Bt 37 QBS} K-N2 ‘White trles to win at any cost Ac. tually, he can do 30 without risk as he has a strong Knight, better Pawn position and Black's King under heavy fire. 39... QK2 42. QBS K-NZ Hoos RBs 430-85 OKs 41Q-N¢ RNS 4 Q-B¢ as 45 PKs NG On 45... Q-Q8f 46 K-R2, Q-KT 47 @-QB7f, and White must force the draw. 46 QB2 Ro 47 Ki REE! Black’s counters begin to tell 48 N-a6: so 48 KARI, R-Q6 gives Black the better of the game. Bo... 49 N-BSt RxRP. KN 50 @-@1 R-aBE 51-071 RBS 52 KR? @-RSt! Black still must be careful, On 62 Q-BSt? 58 P_N3, R-BI#? 64 K-R3, Q-BSy 55 K-RA! R-R2F 56 K-NS, he is lost. And, on 53... Q-Bit! S4 KARE, RRSt 55 ING, Q-KTH 56 K-NS, Q-RA} 57 K-BS, ‘Q-N3} 58 K-KS, he can be content to re: tain the draw. 53 K-NS Even nov, on 53... R-BGt? 54 K-B4, Q-RIt 55 PNB, Q-BT} 56 K-KE, White will wi, SE KR GRA 56 KAZ REY 55 K-NS QNGt awn Game 7 Nearclincher, Larsen’s resistance weak: fens, and the mateh is all but over. SICILIAN DEFENSE Spassky B, Lareen 1 PKs PLQBS 2N-QBs P-as P-KNS 98a? RANT 10 RANI P-QN¢ a1 Plana P-D4 So far, the game has run with all unctilio’ according to the Sicilian Re ‘vorsed a la Spassky as evolved from the Spassky-Geller match, Here in the third game of this mateh, Larsen essayed the weak 11... P-QR¢ and was surprised by Spassky’s 12 P-QR4! It is not clear why Black does not even now continue with the logical 11... . P-N6 12 PxP, PxP 13, N-K2, Q-N3t if K-RY, P-K4 a5 that af fords hum free and active play. 12 B-Ka ‘The text serves to prevent the march of Black's Queen Pawn,» P-QH5, 2. oe 13 B62 White clears the King le and pre pares, in the event of (18), . . N-Q5, the Immediate 14 NxN, PxN 15°N-K2, WB soc K-RI Black anticipates opening the game and so removes his King from the opened ‘lagonal. It remains a question, however, TS cear t= an ear ‘CHESS REviEW, NOVEMBER, 1968 teif he hasn't a more useful move than ‘merely dodging an eventual, surpris check. 14 KI PANS Finally, that logical move comes in 15 RPXP. PNP. It is Ukely that 16... PKA Is the better continuation. 47 PP. pKa aKa tion on Q3. On 19 N-NS, of course, Black replies with 19... BNi, AB ve pas Here Larsen pitches a Pawn, and the ‘match comes close to expiring. The cor- rect continuation is 19... P-QRA 20 N-Q8, KR-Q1, 20 NxP NaN 21 PxN PxP. 22 BxKP bee 5 2 rat On 22... BxP, White's 23 N-Q8 not only threatens 24'NsP but also 24 NxB, QeN? 25 B-Qé (in this respect, at least, it seems that Black played 18 « . . K-Ri for the benefit of White!). In the event of 24... KR-Q1, Black may be discom. fited by ‘the simple 25 B-N2 with the Aiscovered threats on Black's pieces on the King tile or by 25 Q-N5, B-N2 26 BxNP and 27 RxB. And 25... . B-Q3 still loser a Pawn (0 26 BeNP and 27 RB. 23 Neos! oes With 23 QxP, White taces troubles starting with 28... N-Qt! Bo... Pars 24 ke 8-85 25 Ks! NoBt Black can regain his Pawn by 25. BxP only to return it again on 26 Nxl QxN 27 Q-BS! QxQ 28 BxQ, KR-KI B-N6! 2-85 —Ox@ 28 BNE 27 BxQKR-K1 29 BB! White deftly wins a temp ACNA loses of course to 30 B- Besos R/N-81 30 BxP Nas Apparentiy, Black is striving for frult- ful complications while retaining as many pleces as possible on the board. ier 30... BxP $1 NxB, RxN 82 BxP ‘with threat of 38 B-B3 nor 30... Be. 31 BxB, BxP 82 BXN, PxB 33 BxP re deem his game, St NoBE gene R-QNI ‘CHESS REVIEW, NOVEMBER, 1968 Not $1 NxP? RxP ete. Sto... BABY 33 KeN2 32 B-N6 N-K7} 34 QR-at Simplification by 34 RxN, BxR 36 B-Q4, B-N2 leads to 2 draw. White nat- turally plans something better. xP 35.B-KS A/I-KI 40 K-B3 RAG’ 36 R-Q2 0 -RXB 41 PLNSR-BG 37 NxR RxN 42 K-K4 PORE SB R/KN BXR 43 K-QS! ‘Now Black's Queen Knight Pawn goes. 4B. RBI 45 RK? R-QIt 44B-B5 BBS 46 B-Q6 . 46 K-B4 is countered by 46... R-Q7. cn Kent 47 R-QN7 B-N2 Black can cherish a last hope of 48 RxP, RxBt and 49... B-Bit. 48 RNG Resigns Game 8 Formalization, With this draw, Spassky secures the winning majority ‘of points to take the match, QUEEN'S GAMBIT DECLINED B. Larsen B, Spassky 1P-0Bs PKS 4 B-KNS BLK 2NQB3 Pal 5 P-KRS SPQ N-KBS 6 0-0 7N-BS P-QNS Presumably, Spessky 1s really pointing for a draw this time. For Larsen is known to be an expert in the Tartakover Defense. Or is this psychology, to play ‘he opponent’s own line? At any rate, all Spassky needs is a draw, And he need fear no home analysis here. For he also is an expert in the variation. 8 xP NXP 10 NKN PN 9 BB Bf BKe zi Larsen adopts the same system which hhe introduced in his match with Portisch (page 257, July, and 270, August), also a firm follower of the Tartakover. Key moves in the Larsen system are 11 B-K2, 18 Q-Q2 and 14 P-QN3, MWe... BKS 190-02 NG? 2 Pass 14 P-QNS ‘White prevents 14... P-BB. 4. Part ‘This is the logical answer. Black aims tor... PARE 15 B-NS sees Here Is the point of Larsen's system. He has apparently achieved a good deal in stopping Black’s Queen-side initiative. But, as Black proves in this game, he gains an easy equality. Likely, Larsen overestimated the value of his system, Waves N-Ba 16 QR-B1 KR-B1 17 Q-N2 AT N-K6 is more enterprising. 7. Portisch employed N-Q8 to drive the Bi hnant post, Spassky's method 1s more tfective, 18 B-a3 fea 18 BxB, NxB 19 KR-QI, Q-K3! estab lishes an equal game. .. PARE 19 RBZ B-K3! Now Black's Bishop can return since the Hook Pawn has advanced. 20 KR-Bt ara! Black is determined to create a weak: ness in the enemy camp. 21 P-KRS PxP Now the game is entirely equal. One weakness 1s compensation for the other. 23Qx@ RQ. 2RKR PAR. 24 PxP RNP 27 RKP RENBt BERS AXP KAZ ve. 28 BBL, BBA 29 N-KG Is also feasible or 28... RANT 29 B-Q8, ete, 2B. RANT 23 Nat 7 Not 29 K-N1 because of 29... ReP 30 KAR, N-K6t. 2. RKP. 30 Boke NoKS at R87 Drawn Spassky vs. Geller For the record, here is Game $ of the Spassky-Geller inateh, completing the games given by Trifunovich, in July. SICILIAN DEFENSE Boris Spassty 13 PN3 BOBS. 14 PBA NEN/SE 15 BxN PQs 16 B-KS Pugs Weg aoe 18 P-KNS PLBE 19N-NS KRY 200-K2 QR-Ki 21 BN2 PAKS 22.P-N4 _KPXP 23.BxP_—_PxQNP 24 RPxP PONS 25.PXNP BxNP