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Paul Keres vs Henrique Mecking
San Antonio (1972), San Antonio, TX USA, rd 2, Nov-20
Tarrasch Defense: Symmetrical Variation (D32)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

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Kibitzer's Corner
Jun-11-03  WhyDevelop: Great manouver by Keres. But I wonder what would happen if Mecking had played 25. ...Qd7 or 25. ...Bg7 instead of Qd8. We all know Keres has an advanced passed pawn and black's king is not playing, but I am talking just about this tactic move.
Nov-11-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  tpstar: Nice analysis of this classic IQP game here = http://members.aol.com/manusfealy2/... although the friendly annotator is a tad exuberant assigning exclamation points. =)

25 ... Bg7? loses a piece to 26. Bxg7 Kxg7 27. Qd4+ & 28. Qxa4. On 25 ... Qd7 26. Qf4 Bg7 27. Bxg7 Kxg7 28. Ne5 looks strong, although White needs to mind the weak back rank during these tactics.

18. c4!? looks pretty bold - if 18 ... Bxf3 I'll bet White planned 19. gxf3 instead of the Pawn sacrifice 19. Qxf3 Rxc4 and the IQP becomes weak all over again.

Jan-14-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  typhoonsub: c4! prepares an attraction sacrifice, a specialty of Keres' arsenal: 18...Bxf3 19.Qxf3! Rxc4 20.d5!! (With both rookers lined up, this is the kind of IQP central break that black should avoid, otherwise the only thing black get are serious problems) 20...Qc7 21.dxe6 f6 (after 21...fxe6 22. Rxe6 black opened the a2-g8 diagonal for free) 22.Rd7!! Nxd7 23.exd7 Qxd7 (23...Rd8 24.Qd5+ Kh8 25.Qf7) 24.Ba2 Rec8 25.Qe2 winning. In case of 22...Qc8, the fireworks begin with 23.Ba2 Rc2 24.Rxe7!! Rxe7 25.Qxf6 Rcc7 (25...Qe8 26. Qf7+!! decides) 26.Qg7+!! Rxg7 27.e7+ 28.Kh8 29.e8=Q+ Rg8 30.Qe5+.If 23...Rc7 then 24.Qf4! Rc2 25.Rxe7! Rxe7 26.Qxf6 Rcc7 27.Qg7+ with the same story. The greedy 20...exd5 just emphasizes the f7 weakness and leads to a spectacular mate: 21 Rxd5 Qc8 22.Ba2 Rc2 23.Qxf7+!! Kxf7 24.Rf5# This are some examples of the dangers around the IQP center break.
Jan-14-16  morfishine: <typhoonsub> After 18.c4 Bxf3 19.Qxf3 Rxc4 20.d5 Qc7 21.dxe6 f6 22.Rd7 Nxd7 23.exd7 Qxd7 24.Ba2 Black plays <24...b5> not 24...Rec8?

Black must play for his own passed-pawn after returning the exchange

*****

Jan-14-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  typhoonsub: I confess that 24...b5 was overlooked by me. Perhaps White may continue with another pin 25.Qe4 with the immediate threat 26. Bxc4+ bxc4 27.Qxc4+ followed by Qf7. For example: 25.Qe4 Qc8(or Qc7) 26. Qd5+ Kh8 27.Qf7 or 25...Kf7 26. Bxc4+ and mate in two moves. Even 25...f5 can be answered with the simple 26.Qe5. After 25.Qe4, Black's best response is 25...Kh8!. After 26. Bxc4 bxc4, White should ignore for the moment the passed c4 pawn and play the 'awful' looking 27.g4! g5 (27...Qd3 28. Qe6) 28.h4 gxh 29.g5! etc. Definitely 24...b5 was the toughest and made me reassess 22.Rd7.
Sep-25-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  profK: At this point the 'old' brigade had not quite made way for the 'young' brigade !!!
Jan-23-23
Premium Chessgames Member
  Honza Cervenka: 24...Na4 was a grave mistake allowing decisive tactical solution. 24...Bg7 was correct continuation.
Jan-23-23  ndg2: Keres had a style of his own, that you could somehow recognize.

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