Robert Burnt, New Yonkers Times–Game Of The Week: How do you get to the Bolshoi Theater? Practice!
4 Comments Published by Robert Burnt December 29th, 2006 in Chess, Robert Burnt, Whole Chess GamesImagine sitting down with the black pieces to face the most violent attacking player since Alekhine, who needs the full point to gain the right to play for the World Championship! That’s what baritone Vasily Smyslov did when he faced Paul Keres in the deciding game of the Candidates’ Tournament, Zurich, 1953. Watch Smyslov thread his way through a defensive maze and finally land the kill-shot that put him in the World Championship Match against Botvinnik.
[Click HERE for floating game board.]
Keres/Smyslov 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.e3 Be7 5.b3 0-0 6.Bb2 b6 7.d4 cd 8.ed d5 9.Bd3 Nc6 10.0-0 Bb7 11.Rc1 Rc8 12.Re1 Nb4 13.Bf1 Ne4 14.a3 Nc3 15.Rc3 Nc6 16.Ne5 Ne5 17.Re5 Bf6 18.Rh5 g6 19.Rch3! dc! (”The only sure way of meeting a violent assault on the wing is to counter-attack in the center.” –Smyslov) 20.Rh7 c3 21.Qc1 Qd4 22.Qh6 Rfd8 23.Bc1 Bg7 24.Qg5 Qf6 25.Qg4 c2 26.Be2 Rd4 27.f4 Rd1+ 28.Bd1 Qd4+ 0–1 (”Those boys are playin’ some chess.” –The Butcher)
Keres – Smyslov, Zurich 1953 is a farce. Keres was forced to lose both games to Smyslov in that tournament so that Smyslov could win the tournament.
I do wish Master Schroeder would tell us how he knows all this. Certainly, Fisher’s accusations of “the fix” at the Interzonals in 1967 have at least
circumstantial merit. And the first Karpov/Kasparov match of 1984, abruptly cancelled just when it seemed Kasparov’s tactic of wearing his opponent down with endless draws was about to pay off, reeks of political interference. But a fine line has to be drawn: unless an insider comes forward to tell the world first-hand exactly what happened, allegations of cheating remain just that: allegations. The whole business can readily degenerate into the kind of Danilov babble that so marred the last world championship. There are facts and there is the interpretation of facts, that is, postulating a cause and effect relationship between the facts. Unless scientifically demonstratable, interpretation remains a fiction of the human mind.
Master Schroeder wrote me in March, and I give most of the substance of his comments here:
He says that Fischer’s accusation of “the fix” was at the Candidates Tournament of 1962, and is known to be correct.
He says that Keres was forced to lose four games to Botvinnik in the 1948 World Championship tournament – which was well-known to European masters and was proven in the book “Russians versus Fischer” – and was forbidden to ever win a Candidates Tournament. He says there has been much publicity about this in recent years.
Some interesting web pages:
See Lombardy Missed Point of Missing Keres Games
In 2002, A.J. Goldsby received copies of what he believes are likely genuine KGB papers of an agreement between the Soviet government and Paul Keres. “This paperwork seems to be an agreement for Keres to lose to Botvinnik in 1948. In return for his cooperation, Keres would have several of his relatives released from prison or work camps.” http://www.geocities.com/LifeMasterAJ/bestplay.html
A long article on the “Keres-Botvinnik Case” by Taylor Kingston, 1998. http://www.chesscafe.com/text/kb1.txt and http://www.chesscafe.com/text/kb2.txt
Yuri Averbakh: An Interview with History Part 1 by Taylor Kingston, 2002.
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skittles181.pdf