Retro Commentary

There are so many reminiscences of the past in various spheres of  activity. I found it particularly funny when cricket scores were updated in espncricinfo with a retro live theme! And with the dearth of inflow of activity television channels too have decided to resort to re telecasting old programs. In many ways as Chess players and enthusiasts are very fortunate because it is much more feasible and pretty to revisit olden games. The FIDE candidates tournament too had to be stopped due to the current situation, and continuing with the current trend, I thought why not pretend to commentate on a Retro Candidates event? And What better event than the famous Zurich 1953 with the inimitable comments of David Bronstein! Lets delve into the second round duel between Efim Geller and former World Champion Max Euwe. To maintain the purity of time travel I will give below the comments of Bronstein in descriptive notation! For those who are not used to this can check the re playable board given at the end for the currently used Algebraic notation. I have also included some of my observations in italics.

One of the best games in the tournament, and the winner of a beauty prize. White starts a strong Kingside attack by sacrificing his QBP. Geller has every chance of succeeding if Black according to tradition, counterattacks on the Queenside. Euwe however, carries out two remarkable ideas:

1) he makes good use of communication with the Queenside to attack the Kingside, and

2) he lures his opponent's forces deep into his own territory in order to isolate them from the defense of their Kings.

It is extremely interesting to see how White's pieces dig deeper and deeper into their frontal attack on the King while Black regroups circuitously.

                                               Geller-Euwe Round 2 Candidates Zurich 1953

1. P-Q4 N-KB3 2.P-QB4 P-K3 3. N-QB3 B-N5 4. P-K3 P-B4 5. P-QR3 BXN ch 6.PXB P-QN3

7.B-Q3 B-N2 8.P-B3

A small but important detail in the opening: as a result of Black's substitution of  P-QN3 and B-N2 for the usual N-QB3 and 0-0, White , who failed to react correctly in time with N-K2, has to spend an extra tempo to prepare P-K4. Such details must never be overlooked, but they should not be overemphasized either. It is sometimes said that White's advantage consists of the first move; if he loses a tempo the advantage should go to Black. In practice, however, White's advantage is that has a greater choice of possible plans to suit his taste; when play is in full swing the loss of a single tempo is not always of great importance.

7.N-K2 !? B-N2 8. N-N3 0-0 9. B-Q3 BXP ( If Black does not capture the K-NP then White need not lose a move with P-KB3) 10.R-KN1 B-N2 11.P-K4 gives White a strong attack.

8....N-B3 9.N-K2 0-0 10. 0-0 N-QR4 11. P-K4 N-K1

Black moves the Knight to avoid the pin B-N5 and to answer P-B4  with ....P-B4, blocking the Kingside. White therefore takes control of KB5 before moving his KBP. Defending the QBP is pointless: it was already doomed by White's 5th move.

12. N-N3 PxP 13. PxP R-B1 14. P-B4 NxP 15. P-B5 P-B3 16. R-B4

 White's attack becomes threatening. Black's last move was necessary because White intended to advance his pawn to B6 and to answer .... NxP by pinning the Knight and attacking the King with the combined force of Queen, Rook, and three minor pieces. Now White needs only two moves to transfer his Queen and Rook to the KR file, after which nothing it seems, will save the Black King.

    But Euwe is not easily upset, Remember that in his life he played more than seventy games against Alekhine, the most dangerous attacking player of his time.

16.... P-QN4 ! 

 The beginning of a remarkable plan. It is clear that any defensive maneuver on the kingside that depends on pieces without significant scope - R-KB2, Q-K2, etc.- is doomed to fail. But Black has another defensive resource- counterattack! The QB, the QR and the Knight on QB5 occupy good launching positions, and all that remains is to activate the Queen. The basis for counterattack is Black's preponderance on the central squares. With P-QN4 Black reinforces his Knight's position and opens the way for the Queen to N3. Nevertheless, the impression is that these operations will be too late.

 With this in mind and the benefit of hindsight, it seems to me that perhaps white could have considered 16.P-QR4. And wouldn't Sultan Khan ,Petrosian or a later day Karpov have played that move as White!?

Continuing this discussion further down, could Black have started with 15.... P-QN4  16. P-B6 NxP
17.B-N5 ( or 17.P-K5 N-Q4) Q-N3

17.R-R4 Q-N3 

Pinning the White Queen to the defense of the QP, Black impedes White's plan to play Q-R5. Incidentally if 17.Q-R5 Q-N3 18. N-K2 N-K4 an echo variation arises; White has no time for R-KR4

18. P-K5 NxKP 19. PxP NxB 20. QxN QxP

Each of White's moves requires careful and accurate calculation. Here, for instance the natural 20.PxP would not have worked because of 20...Q-B3.

20.... PxP  was an option for Black which seems to improve the structure. However, that is not the priority for Black, his Queen is a key participant in the Whirlwind counter attack that Black unleashes later on in the game, And for that, clearly she needs activity!

21.QxP ch K-B2 22.B-R6 R-KR1

 Black's 16th move P-QN4 was the beginning of a strategic plan of counter attack, and the Rook sacrifice is its main tactical blow, aiming to divert White's Queen far from its QB2 and to use that time to attack the King.

The Imagination and the concept of the idea is truly brilliant.As Bronstein has already pointed out, Euwe has a unique experience of playing a lot of games versus Alekhine, and can it not do wonders to one's whole board vision? There were of course various other alternatives in this rich position. For Example

1) 22...Q-Q4 !?  23.R-K4 R-B3 in order to meet 24.QR-K1 with R-K3 and Black has a nice position.

2)22...R-B5( Bronstein's suggestion) perhaps the game can go on with 23.R-KB1 Q-Q4 24.R-K4 RxP 25.R-K2 R-KR5 26.N-B5 and the position remains extremely complex

3) 22...P-N5( is a try with a devious trap in mind for example 23.PxP ? R-KR1!! 24.QxR R-B7 25. P-Q5 BxP 26. R-Q1 RxP ch 27. K-B1 Q-R3 ch wins the game! This is of course based on the defense for White which could have happened in the game) But White can carry on with 23.R-KB1 retaining complex play.

4) 22....R-B6!?  is another idea which threatens Q-Q4 and if need be undermine White's control of K4 with a possible RxN in mind. 23.R-KB1 Q-Q4 24. N-K4 K-K2!! and amidst all the Chaos Black might quietly let his monarch run away to safety from the centre of action. And this might tilt the balance in his favour.

23.QxR R-B7

The threat is mate in a few moves... RxP ch, ..... Q-B5 ch, etc. Careful analysis, which required no less than a week, proved that White could avoid the mate by means of a few very difficult only moves. Necessary is 24.P-Q5. If 24...Q-N3 ch 25. K-R1 Q-B7 26. R-KN1 BxP, White is saved by 27.R-K4! If at once 24...BxP, not 25.R-Q4 but only 25.R-Q1 then after 25....RxP ch 26.K-B1 PxB, neither 27.RxP nor 27.RxB is good, but again an "only" move, 27.QxP. Still, Black has a Bishop and two pawns for a Rook, which, considering the exposed position of White's King, gives him good winning chances. Needless to say, there was no practical possibility of Geller's finding all these moves over the board.

Analysts have also demonstrated that the overall idea of .... R-KR1 was premature. R-B5 was better first. Nevertheless, it will be hard for chess lovers to agree. A move like 22....R-KR1 is not easily forgotten.

24. R-QB1 RxP ch 25. K-B1 Q-N6 26. K-K1 Q-KB6 White Resigns


Concluding Thoughts:

Bronstein's comments to this impressive game were no less of a masterpiece than the game itself.

The two most important moments in the game were 16...P-QN4 and 22...R-KR1, both required great imagination and flight of courage, which were both abundantly available to the Chess Artist Max Euwe. 

To a certain extent I am also reminded of the 24th Round game between Keres and the eventual winner Smyslov from the same tournament. White would use all his might to attack the King Rook pawn in order to deliver a mate, but finally it amounted to one solitary pawn and better central control of the opponent diffused the attack surprisingly easily.

The position after White's 22nd move is very rich and would definitely enthrall the imagination of many a reader. The variations indicated are only a  spark to delve into the position further.

Signing off with respect to Bronstein, Geller and Euwe!

Au Revoir!

[Event "Candidates Tournament"] [Site "Zuerich"] [Date "1953.08.31"] [Round "2"] [White "Geller, Efim P"] [Black "Euwe, Max"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E28"] [Annotator "David Bronstein,Kidambi"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "1953.08.30"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "30"] [EventCountry "SUI"] [SourceTitle "Candidates"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceVersion "2"] [SourceQuality "1"] {One of the tournament's best games, and the recipient of a brilliancy prize. White initiated a powerful attack on the king by sacrificing his c4-pawn. This attack gave Geller every hope of success, provided Black held to the traditional sort of queenside counterattack. Euwe, however, carried out two remarkable ideas: 1) utilizing his queenside lines of communication for an attack on the king's wing, and 2) decoying the enemy's forces deep into his own rear area, with the aim of cutting them off from the defense of their king. It's a most diverting spectacle to watch White's pieces in their frontal assault on the king, burrowing further and further, while Black is transferring his forces by roundabout routes.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 b6 $5 7. Bd3 (7. Ne2 $5 Bb7 (7... Nc6 8. Ng3 Ba6 { transposes to the main line.}) 8. Ng3 O-O 9. Bd3 Bxg2 {and if Black doesnt take on g2, white does not have to lose a move with f3. - Kidambi} 10. Rg1 Bb7 11. e4 {gives White a strong attack. -Kidambi}) 7... Bb7 8. f3 {A small but significant opening subtlety: Black substituted .. b6 and .. Bb7 for the more usual Nc6 and .. 0-0; and White, who failed to notice in time to react correctly with 7 Ne2, must now spend an extra tempo preparing e3-e4. Such details should never be underestimated, but neither should they be overvalued. Occasionally it is said that White's advantage consists of his right to the first move: should he lose a tempo, then, the advantage must necessarily pass to Black. Practically speaking, however, the advantage of playing White boils down to greater freedom in selecting a plan to suit one's tastes; once the game has settled into its ordained track, the loss of a single tempo is not always so serious.} Nc6 9. Ne2 O-O 10. O-O Na5 11. e4 Ne8 {Black retreats his knight to forestall the pin with 12 Bg5, and to be able to answer f3-f4 with .. f7-f5, blockading the king's wing. White therefore secures f5 before advancing his f-pawn. It would be senseless to defend the pawn at c4 now: that pawn was doomed by White's fifth move.} 12. Ng3 cxd4 13. cxd4 Rc8 14. f4 Nxc4 15. f5 f6 ({Again with the benefit of hindsight} 15... b5 $5 {looks like an option} 16. f6 {and this is perhaps not as dangerous as it seems} Nxf6 17. Bg5 (17. e5 Nd5) 17... Qb6 {- Kidambi}) 16. Rf4 {Diagram [#] White's attack has become rather threatening. lack's previous move was necessary to forestall White's intention to push his pawn to f6, and then, after 16.. N:f6, to pin the knight after all, piling up on the king with the combined firepower of queen, rooks and three minor pieces. Even now, White needs only two moves to transfer his rook and queen to the h-file, and then it might appear that nothing could save the black king. Euwe, however, is not easily flustered. Remember that in his lifetime he played more than seventy games with Alekhine, the most feared attacking player of our time.} (16. a4 $5 {With the benefit of hindsight, would a Sultan Khan or Petrosian have played this move?}) 16... b5 $1 {The beginning of a remarkable plan. Clearly, any defensive maneuvers on the kingside are foredoomed, since they involve pieces with an inconsequential radius of activity (.. Rf7, .. Qe7, etc.). But Black does have another defensive resource, and that is counterattack! The bishop at b7, the rook at c8. and the knight at c4 are all weli-based; all that remains is to bring up the queen. The basis for this counterattack is Black's preponderance on the central squares. With 16..b5, Black reinforces the knight on c4 and opens a path for the queen to b6. Still, one cannot help feeling that his operations are too little and too late ...} 17. Rh4 (17. Qh5 Qb6 18. Ne2 Ne5) 17... Qb6 { Pinning White's queen to the defense of the d-pawn, Black prevents the intended 18 Qh5. After 17 Qh5 Qb6 18 Ne2 Ne5, we get the echo-variation, with the white rook unable to get to h4.} 18. e5 Nxe5 19. fxe6 Nxd3 20. Qxd3 (20. exd7 Qc6 $1) 20... Qxe6 {All of White's moves required detailed and precise analysis. Here, for example, the natural 20 ed would fail to 20.. Qc6.} (20... dxe6 {is perhaps improving the structure, but thats not the priority here. The Queen is a key participant in the whirlwind counter attack that Black unleashes and she needs more activity!- Kidambi}) 21. Qxh7+ {Thus, White has broken through after all, at an insignificant cost. Once again, Black's position appears critical.} Kf7 22. Bh6 Rh8 {If lack's 16th move was the beginning of his strategic plan of counterattack, then this rook sacrifice is its fundamental tactical stroke, with the aim of drawing the white queen still further a field and decoying it away from the c2 square, meanwhile attacking the king.-Bronstein The imagination and concept is truly brilliant. As Bronstein pointed out earlier Euwe's unique experience of playing such a lot of games with Alekhine. Can it not do wonders to one's whole board perception!? There were ofcourse various other alternatives for Black in this rich position.-Kidambi [#]} (22... Qd5 $5 23. Re4 Rc6 {to meet Rae1 with Re6, gives Black a nice position.-Kidambi}) (22... Rc4 {was the move suggested by Bronstein. Perhaps with the continuation like} 23. Rf1 Qd5 24. Re4 Rxd4 25. Re2 Rh4 26. Nf5 {But the position remains extremely complicated.-Kidambi}) (22... b4 $5 {is a try with a devious trap in mind} 23. Rf1 $1 {With threats of Nf5 and Bxg7 etc in the air.} ({Not} 23. axb4 $2 Rh8 $1 24. Qxh8 Rc2 25. d5 Bxd5 26. Rd1 Rxg2+ 27. Kf1 Qa6+ $1 $19) 23... b3 (23... bxa3 24. Nf5) 24. Nf5) ( 22... Rc3 $5 {is another idea which threatens Qd5 and Black intends to undermine White's control of e4 with a possible Rxg3 in mind.} 23. Rf1 Qd5 24. Ne4 Ke7 $1 {and in a chaotic position, Black might take his King to safety by running away from the epicentre of actions. This might tilt the balance in Black's favour.-Kidambi [#]} (24... Rc2 25. Bxg7 $1)) 23. Qxh8 Rc2 {Diagram [#] Threatening mate in a few moves: 24.. R:g2+, 25.. Qc4+, etc. Detailed analysis, requiring more than just one week's time, showed that White could have saved him-self from mate by finding a few "only" and very difficult moves. First, he has to play 24 d5; if then 24.. Qb6+ 25 Kh1 Qf2 26 Rg1 B:d5, White saves himself with 27 Re4!; and on the immediate 24.. B:d5, not 25 Rd4 - only 25 Rd1! works: after 25.. R:g2+ 26 Kf1 gh, neither 27 R:h6 nor 27 R:d5: once again, the only move is 27 Q:h6. Black would still have bishop and two pawns for his rook then, which would leave him good winning chances, considering the open position of White's king. It goes without saying that Geller had no practical chance to find all of these moves over the board. The analysts also showed that the ..Rf8-h8 idea was actually a little premature, and that .. Rc4 first was better. However, those who love chess will find it difficult to agree with this. Moves like 22.. Rh8 are not forgotten.} 24. Rc1 $2 (24. d5 Bxd5 (24... Qb6+ 25. Kh1 Qf2 26. Rg1 Bxd5 27. Re4 $1) 25. Rd1 $1 ({Not} 25. Rd4 ) 25... Rxg2+ 26. Kf1 gxh6 27. Qxh6 $1 ({Neither} 27. Rxd5) ({Nor} 27. Rxh6)) 24... Rxg2+ 25. Kf1 Qb3 26. Ke1 Qf3 {Concluding Thoughts: Bronstein's comments to this impressive game were no less of a masterpiece than the game itself. The two most important moments in the game were 16...P-QN4 and 22... R-KR1, both required great imagination and flight of courage, which were both abundantly available to the Chess Artist Max Euwe. To a certain extent I am also reminded of the 24th Round game between Keres and the eventual winner Smyslov from the same tournament. White would use all his might to attack the h7 pawn in order to deliver a mate, but finally h7 only amounted to one solitary pawn and better central control of the opponent diffused the attack surprisingly easily. The position after White's 22nd move is very rich and would definitely enthrall the imagination of many a reader. The variations indicated are only a spark to delve into the position further. Signing off with respect to Bronstein, Geller and Euwe! Au Revoir!} 0-1