The Critial Moment
By IM Tim Taylor
Some years ago I was playing the strong master Emory Tate, and I had a winning position. I found a way to win both his rooks, played it, and he resigned. So far so good, yes? Then, like most chessplayers, who are harder on themselves than anyone else, I ended up cursing myself out! Why? Because, instead of winning two rooks, I had had a positively beautiful mate in four!
Now if the position against Emory had been a chess problem, with the caption reading, “Black moves and mates in four,” I would have found it without difficulty.
The only tiny little snag is this: during the game, there is no caption! No one whispers in your ear! (Unless, of course, your partner in crime has pocket Fritz and a wireless connection to your Walkman, but that’s another story!)
The question is, “How does one recognize the critical moment?”
The problem is exacerbated when playing your “difficult opponent”, since you are nervous anyway, afraid both to over-press and afraid to delay, afraid of your own errors to come, and the ones you already committed against this person, now once again three feet away, his hands ready to take your pieces …
Last month I talked about Gligoric’s horrendous run of losses against Leonid Stein, and before we get to my personal debacle, here is one more example of Gligo crashing and burning in a winning position!
Now losing a dead won position is hardly fair, but chess isn’t about fairness, it’s about combat.
Gligoric -Stein
King’s Indian Defense [E70]
Lvov, 1962
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 0–0 5.Bg5 c5 6.d5 d6 7.Bd3
Placing the Bishop here instead of the normal 7.Be2, which transposes to the Averbach System, creates original problems in view of the potentially open e-file.
7…e6 8.dxe6
I think the most logical move is 8.Nge2 here, closing the e-file, and preparing to take with the e-pawn if Black exchanges in the center. Black avoids that in the following game, but runs into other problems: 8…h6 9.Bf4 e5 10.Bd2 Nh5 11.Qc1 Kh7 12.Ng3 Nf6 13.h4 h5 14.Bg5 Qd7 15.f3 Ng8 16.Qd2 f6 17.Be3 a6 18.a3 Qe8 19.b4 b6 20.0–0 Nh6 21.Rab1 f5 22.exf5 Nxf5 23.Nce4 Qe7 24.Bg5 Qc7 25.Ne2 Nh6 26.bxc5 bxc5 27.Rb3 (27.f4, opening lines for attack, would be quickly decisive, but White misses the critical moment – the theme of today’s study in tragedy!) 27...Rf7 28.Rfb1 Nd7 29.Bxh6 Bxh6 30.Ng5+ Bxg5 31.Qxg5 Nf8 32.Ng3 Qe7 33.Qxe7 Rxe7 34.Rb6 Kg7 35.Rxd6 Raa7 36.Rbb6 Rab7 37.Ne4 Rec7 38.Rxb7 Bxb7 39.Ng5 Bc8 40.Rd8 Bd7 41.Rb8 Bc8 42.d6 Rc6 43.Be4 Nd7 44.Ra8 Rxd6 45.Rxc8 Rd1+ 46.Kf2 Ra1 47.Rc7, 1-0, Tempone-Paz, Mar del Plata 1991.
8...fxe6
Not bad, but simpler is 8...Bxe6 9.f4 Nc6 10.Nf3 Qb6 11.Qc1 Qa6 12.Nd2 Ng4 13.0–0 f6 and Black was equal in Petrosian-Velickovic, Vrsac 1981. Note that Black avoided temptation with 13...Bd4+ 14.Kh1 Nf2+ 15.Rxf2 Bxf2 16.f5, which comes down to White’s favor: a typical Petrosian Exchange sac.
9.Nge2 Nc6 10.0–0 h6 11.Bd2 e5 12.Nd5 Nd4 13.Nxd4 cxd4 14.f4 Nxd5 15.exd5 Bf5 16.Qc2 Qd7 17.fxe5 dxe5 18.Be4 Rf6 19.Rf3 Raf8
PLAYING WITH FIRE
How do describe this last move? It’s an objective mistake, but I believe Stein had his reasons. Yes, he could have played 19...Bxe4 20.Qxe4 Rxf3 21.gxf3 (21.Qxf3 Rf8) 21...Qf5 with a dead equal position, and yes, Black is now worse, but the impression I get from viewing the entire game is that Stein was convinced that Gligoric would blunder at some point, and so the daring Ukrainian deliberately avoids all simplifying and equalizing lines.
20.Raf1 h5 21.c5
White is better.
21…Qb5 22.Bxf5 gxf5
Better is 22...Rxf5, as now the White third rank Rook can zero in on Black’s isolated h-pawn. But Stein again avoids exchanges, as his level of risk rises.
23.Bg5 R6f7 24.Rh3
The weakness is in White’s sights.
24...Qe8 25.d6
A powerful passed pawn!
25…Qe6 26.Qd1 f4 27.Qxh5 Qf5 28.g4 Qe4 29.Bh4 f3
Another risk taking move: 29...Qc2 gives Black chances to draw, but Stein wants to win!
30.Bf2 Rf4 31.Rh4 Bf6 32.g5 Rxh4 33.Bxh4 Bd8 34.Bf2 Qf5 35.Kh1 Kg7 36.Qh6+ Kf7 37.Rg1 Qg6 38.Qh3 Kg8 39.b4 d3 40.b5 e4
MARCH OF THE PAWNGUINS
Stein has gone way off the rails (in an objective sense) with his extremely risky play, and in fact is now lost by force, but – no one whispered that fact in Svetozar’s ear!
41.Qh6??
Horrible!
Why did White miss the rather obvious win? This is, of course, 41.c6 bxc6 42.bxc6 Qxd6 (Both 42...e3 43.Qh6 Qxh6 44.gxh6+ Kh7 45.Bxe3 and 42...Rf7 43.Bd4 Rh7 44.c7 Bxc7 45.Qc8+ also lead to a White victory) 43.g6 Qc7 44.g7.
When you look at the position, 41.c6 must certainly be the first move you see: push both pawns to the sixth and they are unstoppable! The few tactics involved are easy for a GM of Gligoric’s caliber.
The fact remains that Gligo missed this clear win. Why? I can only speculate, but this is my theory: Gligoric had already lost two games that same year against Stein. By this third game, he had no confidence in himself – and so he sought to exchange Queens, rather than forcing the win with sharp aggressive play.
Furthermore, he simply may not have realized he was at the critical point of the game – perhaps he moved quickly, and his chance disappeared.
41...Qxh6 42.gxh6+ Kh7 43.Be3 f2 44.Rf1 Ba5 45.c6??
The “right move” (four moves ago!) is now a blunder!
45...bxc6 46.bxc6 Bb6!!
Another nightmare for poor Gligoric!
47.Bxb6 axb6 48.Rxf2
48.c7 e3 49.d7 e2 is game over.
48...e3! 49.Rxf8
AN AMAZING POSITION
49…d2 50.c7
No better is 50.d7 d1=Q+ 51.Kg2 Qg4+ 52.Kf1 e2+ 53.Kf2 e1=Q+ 54.Kxe1 Qb4+ 55.Ke2 Qxf8 56.c7 Qe7+.
50...d1=Q+ 51.Kg2 Qg4+ 52.Kf1 Qc4+ 53.Kg2 e2 54.Kf2 Qe6 55.Ke1 Qxd6 56.Rh8+ Kg6 57.Rg8+ Kh5 and Gligoric resigned rather than face 58.c8=Q Qd1+ 59.Kf2 e1=Q+ 60.Kg2 Qf1+ 61.Kg3 Qdd3 mate.
Gligoric would lose four more games in similar fashion before he ever scored a win against his difficult opponent!
What’s the moral of this game? You have to put aside your fear of the difficult opponent, and think only of the position on the board. Sense the exact critical moment and strike right then – not four moves later!
In the following game, I also miss the critical moment. I reach a position in which my difficult opponent, Matikozyan, is left seemingly without any counterplay at all – and yet one careless move on my part and his ineffective pieces spring to life! Had I realized the position demanded a full board bind, I would have found the decisive maneuver – but I went for an unnecessary subtlety, missed the key element – and lost again!
Taylor (2322) - Matikozyan (2466)
King’s Indian Defense [E76]
Western Pacific Open, 2004
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 0–0 6.Nf3 Na6 7.Bd3 Bg4 8.0–0 e5
Better is 8...Nd7.
9.fxe5 Nd7 10.h3
This move is not bad, but later I found 10.Qe1! and played it against Matikozyan at the recent American Open. After his blunder 10… c5? I rapidly achieved a winning position with 11.Bg5 Qe8 and now 12.Qh4! is a forced win – but I, relapsing into pneumonia, was more concerned with breathing than winning, and so “preferred” to blunder a piece (!) with 12.Nd5 Bxf3 13.Nf6+?? Bxf6 14.exf6 Bh5 15.g4 Nb4 16.gxh5 Nxd3 17.Qh4 cxd4 18.Bh6 Qe6 19.Bxf8 Rxf8 20.Rad1 Nxb2 21.Rd2 Nxc4 22.Rdf2 Ne3 23.hxg6 fxg6 24.f7+ Kg7 25.Rc1 Qg4+ 26.Qxg4 Nxg4 27.Rb2 Nc5, 0–1.
That game I didn’t feel bad about: I was literally too sick to play, as opposed to the main game, which made me sick!
10...Bxf3 11.Qxf3 c5 12.Nd5!
White takes over the permanent square.
12...dxe5 13.dxc5 Naxc5 14.b4 Ne6
HAIL MARY DRAW OFFER
Here Matikozyan offered a draw in much the same way a quarterback throws up a Hail Mary pass – one may as well take a desperate chance!
I played…
15.Be3
Declining the draw in view of my strong Knight, two Bishops, queenside pawn majority, no play for Black – but of course had I taken the chicken’s way out here, I would have made a half point more than I actually received!
15...Nd4 16.Qf2 Rc8 17.c5 Kh8 18.Rad1 Rc6 19.Qd2 a6
CRITICAL POSITION
White has a winning position (I knew that) and the critical point has been reached – I didn’t know that!
A glance at the position seems to show that Black has no chance at all: White has a dominant Knight, while Black’s advanced Knight can be undermined or exchanged, both of which will be seen in the following variations.
White can expand on the queenside, Black can’t move a single kingside pawn without weakening his position catastrophically. White has the half open f-file, Black’s half open c-file is a three square joke.
So White can win as he pleases, yes?
NO!
Black does have one tiny chance at counterplay, and if I had suppressed that, the win would have been smooth sailing. Correct is 20.a4 with the idea of a5 and a total clamp.
Black can play:
a) 20...f5 21.a5 Nb3 (21...f4 22.Bxd4 exd4 23.Rxf4 picks up a pawn, while 21...Re6 22.exf5 gxf5 23.Bc4 Ree8 24.Nf4 is completely crushing) 22.Qa2 Nd4 23.exf5 gxf5 24.Bxd4 exd4 25.Bxf5 wins a pawn.
b) 20...a5 21.Bb5 Re6 (21...Nxb5 22.axb5 Rc8 23.bxa5 Nxc5 24.Qb4 Ne6 25.Nb6 wins material) 22.Nf4 exf4 (22...Rf6 23.Ne2 (also good is 23.Bxd4 exd4 24.Qxd4 Rxf4 25.Qxd7 Qg5 26.bxa5, ±) 23...Rxf1+ 24.Kxf1, ±) 23.Bxd4 and White’s winning.
c) 20...Rc8 (Black sits) 21.a5 Rc6 22.Nc3 Rc8 23.Ne2 Qc7 24.Bc4 Nxe2+ 25.Qxe2 Nb8 26.Qg4 and Black’s game is awful;
d) 20… b6 21.Bxa6 bxc5 22.b5 (±) Rxa6 (22… Rd6 23.a5 and the pawns roll forward) 23.bxa6 f5 24.a7 Qa8 (24...Nc6 25.a8=Q Qxa8 26.Nc7) 25.Qa5 Nc6 26.Qc7 Nf6 27.Nxf6 Bxf6 28.Bh6 Rg8 29.Rd7 and the game is over.
All very clear and decisive, but I wasn’t looking for a decisive move! I just tried to weaken my opponent’s kingside, but I completely missed his counter with …b6, and this little pawn break – the only one he had – let my slippery difficult opponent back into the game!
20.Bg5? f6 21.Be3 b6! 22.Bxd4 exd4 23.Bxa6
Better is 23.cxb6 Nxb6 24.Nf4.
23...bxc5 24.Bb5 Re6 25.Rfe1
Again, better is 25.Nf4 Rxe4 26.Bxd7 Qxd7 27.Nd3 (I completely missed this pretty tactic) 27...Qe8 28.Nxc5 Re2 29.Qxd4 Rxa2 30.Rfe1 and White may still be slightly better.
25...f5 26.exf5 Rxe1+ 27.Rxe1 Rxf5 28.Ne7 Rf8 29.Qg5
I sacrifice a pawn to confuse the issue: a good practical try that should have succeeded!
29...cxb4 30.Re4 Qb6?
TOSSING AWAY THE WIN
Allows a saving tactic! Correct is 30...Nf6! 31.Qh4 (31.Re1 d3) 31...Nh5 32.Bd3 Bh6 33.Kh1 Be3 and Black has consolidated with an extra pawn; if White tries to force his way through, he loses as follows: 34.g4 Qc7 35.gxh5 Qc1+ and mates.
31.Bd3??
What was I thinking?? The obvious 31.Nxg6+ draws, as can be seen: 31… Qxg6 (White wins after 31...hxg6?? 32.Qh4+ Kg8 33.Bc4+ Rf7 34.Bxf7+ Kxf7 35.Qe7+ Kg8 36.Qxd7+) 32.Qxg6 hxg6 33.Bxd7 Bh6 34.Re8 d3 35.Rxf8+ Bxf8 36.Kf1, =.
31...Qf6
It’s all over: Black has an extra passed pawn and the better position. All I succeed in doing now is prolonging the agony.
32.Nxg6+ Qxg6 33.Qxg6 hxg6 34.Rh4+ Kg8 35.Bc4+ Rf7 36.Rf4 Ne5 37.Bxf7+ Nxf7 38.Kf1 Be5 39.Re4 Kg7 40.Ke2 Kf6 41.Kd3 Ke6 42.Rxd4 Bxd4 43.Kxd4 Ne5 44.h4 Kf5 45.g3 Nd7 46.Kc4 Kg4 47.Kxb4 Kxg3 48.Kb5 Kxh4 49.a4 g5 50.a5 Nb8 51.Kb6 g4 52.Kc7 Na6+ 53.Kb6 Nb4 54.Kb5 g3, 0–1.
And so my difficult opponent scored another win – after I missed a clear win and a clear draw!
Why did I miss the win? (Let’s not even worry about the draw – after all, I could have had that, if I had wanted it, on move 14!). The answer is simple: I failed to bear down at the critical moment, and so my “playless” opponent found counterplay that he should never have been allowed … and this reversal caused me to lose my mind and the game!
