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Bent Larsen vs Tigran Petrosian
Havana Olympiad Final-A (1966), Havana CUB, rd 4, Nov-07
French Defense: Two Knights Variation (C00)  ·  0-1

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
a
1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move.
ANALYSIS [x]
Notes by Stockfish 9 v010218 (minimum 6s/ply)better is 7.Qe2+ Qe7 8.Qxe7+ Bxe7 9.O-O O-O 10.Re1 Re8 11.Ne2 = +0.43 (24 ply)= -0.08 (25 ply)better is 10...Bc7 11.Bg5 Nf8 12.Re1 Bxf5 13.Bxf5 Rxe1+ 14.Qxe1 = -0.12 (27 ply)= +0.40 (25 ply) 12...Ng6 13.Re1 Nxe5 14.Bf4 Bg4 15.Qd2 Nc4 16.Bxc4 Qd7 = 0.00 (24 ply) ⩲ +0.76 (21 ply) after 13.f4 Nf6 14.b3 c5 15.Bb2 cxd4 16.Qf3 Ne4 17.Bxe4 dxe4 13...Nxe5 14.dxe5 Rxe5 15.Bf4 f6 16.c3 Be6 17.Qd2 Nd7 = +0.38 (23 ply) ⩲ +1.21 (25 ply)better is 19...Qd7 20.c3 Nh5 21.Qg5 Nf6 22.Be2 Ng6 23.Be3 Bg4 ⩲ +0.70 (20 ply) 20.Be3 Be6 21.Rad1 Nh5 22.Qe5 Nf6 23.Be2 Ng6 24.Qg3 Qf7 ⩲ +1.35 (21 ply) ⩲ +0.52 (22 ply) after 20...Bg6 21.h3 Nh5 22.Qh2 Ne6 23.Qe5 Nf6 24.Be2 Nd7 better is 23.fxe3 Nc5 24.c4 Nd3 25.Bxd3 exd3 26.cxd5 cxd5 27.Rf1 ⩲ +1.03 (24 ply)= +0.37 (21 ply)better is 24.f3 exf3 25.Rxf3 Ng5 26.Rf2 h5 27.Rd1 h4 28.Qf4 b5 ⩲ +0.90 (23 ply)= +0.35 (21 ply)better is 26...a5 27.f3 b5 28.Qg3 Qa7 29.fxe4 Nc5 30.Rf2 Rxf2 = +0.45 (21 ply) ⩲ +1.00 (24 ply) after 27.g3 Ne6 28.h4 Re8 29.Qd6 h6 30.Bh3 Bf5 31.Bg2 Rd8 better is 28...Re8 29.Qd6 Kh7 30.a5 a6 31.h4 Re6 32.Qb8 Bh5 33.c4 ⩲ +0.51 (23 ply) ⩲ +1.05 (26 ply) after 29.g3 Ng6 30.Qd4 Ne7 31.g4 a6 32.c4 Kh8 33.cxd5 cxd5 better is 30.g3 Ne6 31.Qe5 Ng5 32.Bg2 Re8 33.Qd6 Re6 34.Qf4 Qe8 ⩲ +0.92 (27 ply)= +0.39 (24 ply) 31...Bg6 32.c4 Nd3 33.Bxd3 exd3 34.cxd5 cxd5 35.Qe5 Qc4 = +0.23 (23 ply) ⩲ +1.12 (25 ply) 33.Rb1 Bg6 34.Rb5 Rc8 35.Rdb2 Qd6 36.Rb7 Nd3 37.R2b5 d4 ⩲ +1.15 (27 ply)= 0.00 (32 ply)better is 35.Rxd3 Bxd3 36.Qxd3 Rd8 37.Qb5 Qd6 38.a5 d4 39.cxd4 = 0.00 (32 ply) ⩱ -0.68 (24 ply) 36.Re5 Qxe6 37.Rxe6 Rb8 38.f3 c4 39.Rd6 Rb3 40.Rd1 Rxc3 = -0.37 (26 ply) ⩱ -1.35 (26 ply) 38.Kf1 d4 39.Rc1 Ke6 40.Ke1 Kd5 41.Rb5+ Ke4 42.Rb7 dxc3 ⩱ -0.91 (24 ply)-+ -4.02 (28 ply)49.Rxe8 c2 50.Re3+ Kxd4 51.Re8 d1=Q 52.Rd8+ Ke4 53.Re8+ -+ -55.90 (23 ply)0-1

rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1
FEN COPIED

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Given 40 times; par: 84 [what's this?]

Annotations by Stockfish (Computer).      [35437 more games annotated by Stockfish]

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Mar-25-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: Playing over the game I kept wondering why Petrosian didn't take White's pawn on d4.... After 47 Rd8+ Kc4 I finally saw why!
Mar-25-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  ray keene: i had the privilege of watching this game live-it was a needle game for petrosian since he had just lost twice to bent at the piatigorsky cup- a third loss wd have more or less finished his reputation as champion-many people write that petrosians last good result as world champion was his title defence v spassky in 1966-however they overlook his gold medals both team and individual on top board for the ussr in the 1966 and 1968 olympiads-where-taking both into account- he finished ahead of fischer portisch gligoric hort uhlmann najdorf reshevsky larsen and many others
Mar-25-06  Mating Net: <ray keene> Fantastic bit of information, thanks for sharing it with us.

Do you recall your reaction to Petrosian's 14...Rxe5! by any chance?

Jun-16-06  wharfrat: I think Larsen avoided 35.Rd3 because he was convinced it was dead lost for White. After 35...Bd3; 36.Qd3, Rd8, Black will first establish a passed pawn and force White to blockade it. Black will then combine the threat of pushing the passer with attacking the other weaknesses in White's position (a4, h3, f2, the 1st rank, the light squares around White's king). White has absolutely no counterplay and he won't be able to cover everything. For a very informative treatment of this type of position, check out the section on Alekhine in Mihail Marin's "Learn from the Legends."
Jun-16-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  ray keene: sorry i missed the query for a while-this was the game of the olympiad-the tension was terrific and when petrosian sacrificed on e5--which i watched- it was not a big surprise because he had sacrficed the exchange so often against spassky in their match from 1966. btw i think if white re-sacs on d3 it must really be a draw.black can play but white shd hold. very interesting also is to meet 21---Ng4 with 22 Bxa7!? I ANALYSE THIS GAME IN TREMENDOUS DEPTH IN MY FORTHCOMING BATSFORD BOOK PETROSIAN AGAINST THE ELITE.
Jun-16-06  RookFile: Beautiful game by Petrosian. He put up a score of 9 wins to 4 against Larsen in his career.
Jun-16-06  Boomie: A Petrosianesque answer to 35. Rxd3 is Be4. The threat of white square domination is too compelling.

35. ♖xd3 ♗e4 36. f4 ♗xd3 37. ♕xd3 ♕d7 38. ♖e5 ♖d8 39. c4 d4 40. ♖xc5 ♕xa4=

Aug-06-06  notyetagm: With 47 ♖d8+ ♔c4 48 ♖c8+ ♔d3 Black uses the White d4-pawn to shield his king from the White rook checks.

This idea is called <The Sheltering Pawn> in one of Chernev's books.

Aug-06-06  notyetagm: <ray keene: ... I ANALYSE THIS GAME IN TREMENDOUS DEPTH IN MY FORTHCOMING BATSFORD BOOK PETROSIAN AGAINST THE ELITE.>

So how is your book coming along, GM Keene?

Aug-06-06  positionalgenius: <raykeene>I recently read your book about the 1990 kasparov-karpov title match,"Clash of the Titans".It was very good.Where can I find other WCC books by you?
Apr-06-07  stanleys: Well I will not call this sacrifice "fantastic"

Boleslavsky thinks that "this is the best practical chance for black".However after 16.f3 white seems to have an advantage.Another error was exchanging the dark-squared bishop

Apr-06-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  Peligroso Patzer: <notyetagm: <ray keene: ... I ANALYSE THIS GAME IN TREMENDOUS DEPTH IN MY FORTHCOMING BATSFORD BOOK PETROSIAN AGAINST THE ELITE.> So how is your book coming along, GM Keene?>

Since GM Keene apparently has not visited this page for some months, I will note on his behalf that his book on Petrosian has been available for purchase at least since late January 2007.

Aug-03-07  bettermove: Weird game?! What a fascinating style Petrosian played this with.Err... how did he play like this? His chess playing style should come with a health warning...quite extraordinary!
Jul-09-08  Everett: I think a well timed c4 by white gets him out of trouble. On move 35 for instance.
Jul-09-08  paul1959: <Everett> Maybe , but I think that Larsen was not thinking of saving the game at that point but win it. Otherwise he had no reason to exchange Queens. He was the ever-optimist
Jul-10-08  arsen387: No one ever played exchange sacs like it did Petrosian. Sac the exchenge on move 14 to win the game on move 48. What a profound understanding of chess he had! Amazing
Jul-10-08  HannibalSchlecter: Seems like Petrosian doesn't sac unless he is more or less "forced" to out of necessity rather than an adventuresome mindset.
Jul-10-08  Everett: Seriously, Petrosian sacs the exchange of 14 because he was about to get crushed. Says more about his uneven opening prep (and Larsen's strong opening play) than any advanced designs of the sac.
Mar-10-12  LoveThatJoker: <Everett> I'm a huge Petrosian fan. I agree that the exchange sac on move 14 occured because Petrosian's opening prep was a bit left-field in this game.

That being said, it is amazing to see how he creates and builds upon coordination of his pieces after the exchange sac occurs (the exchange sac itself serving to commence this harmonizing phase).

Another defensive gem that is akin to this one is Fischer vs W Wagenhals, 1964 which was brought to my attention by <Memethecat>.

LTJ

Mar-10-12  ughaibu: This one's fun: Najdorf vs P Trifunovic, 1949
Nov-07-13  hyperactivemodernist: Masterful play from Petrosian. He could afford to go down in material with the exchange sacrifice because of his expert pawn play. He leaves no weaknesses for Larsen to attack with his rooks.
Jun-27-16  Zhbugnoimt: Almost everyone here is judging the opening by the result of the game and is making themselves look foolish. Petrosian was in huge trouble at move 14, and saced the exchange to get practical chances. Had Komodo been playing White... Point is, Petrosian was in very bad shape out of the opening and beat Larsen only because Larsen played very poorly from there on out.
Nov-26-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  ray keene: I refer to my comments below. I watched this game and annotated it in depth in my book on Petrosian.
Aug-22-23  SpaceRunner: 1) +1.23 (25 ply) 16.f3 Nf6 17.Qg5 c5 18.b3 Ne6 19.Qe3 Nd8 20.Qf2 b6 21.a4 Bd7 22.Bg5 Nf7 23.Bxf6 Qxf6 24.a5 Rf8 25.axb6 axb6 26.Ra6 Bc8 27.Ra7 g6 28.Re1 Be6 29.Rb7 e4 30.Rxb6
Apr-26-24  nezhmet: The exchange sac doesn't make a whole lot of sense and white is just better if he plays normally (he has the B pair as well). For example he can play Be3 instead of c3.
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