chessgames.com
Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players · Kibitzing
Bent Larsen vs Viktor Korchnoi
Leningrad Interzonal (1973), Leningrad URS, rd 8, Jun-13
English Opening: King's English Variation. General (A20)  ·  0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

Click Here to play Guess-the-Move
Given 7 times; par: 69 [what's this?]

explore this opening
find similar games 18 more Larsen/Korchnoi games
PGN: download | view | print Help: general | java-troubleshooting

TIP: Some games have photographs. These are denoted in the game list with the icon.

PGN Viewer:  What is this?
For help with this chess viewer, please see the Olga Chess Viewer Quickstart Guide.
PREMIUM MEMBERS CAN REQUEST COMPUTER ANALYSIS [more info]

A COMPUTER ANNOTATED SCORE OF THIS GAME IS AVAILABLE.  [CLICK HERE]

Kibitzer's Corner
Sep-20-08  PeterB: Great game - vintage Korchnoi. All tactics, all the time!
Aug-11-10  M.D. Wilson: During one of the Korchnoi vs Karpov, 1974 games Korchnoi asked the arbiter if he could legally castle when his rook was attacked. He talks about this incident in "Chess Is My Life". Almost the same situation arose in this game, but his rook wasn't being threatened.
Mar-13-13  Everett: <MD> I think that story is utter garbage, Korchnoi playing games.
Mar-13-13  andrewjsacks: Great win by a great player. Larsen was plenty good but not THAT good. Ask Fischer.
Mar-13-13  Everett: < andrewjsacks: Great win by a great player. Larsen was plenty good but not THAT good. Ask Fischer.>

I would rather go over all the great games Larsen played in the Interzonals from 73-79, still fighting and going after wins against the best players willing to play.

Mar-13-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: This game is annotated by Korchnoi in the tournament book; round about 22....Rxf4, he discusses an alternative to the move played at length, but I do not recall the analysis.
Apr-09-18  Adenosina: It is a nice game, in fact Korchnoi got the initiative with the Black pieces with an interesting exchange sacrifice which did unbalance the game.

Furthermore, the resulting position is quite typical of different color bishops where the intiative (in this case, it was in Korchnoi hands) is a major factor.

Sep-18-19  Ulhumbrus: After 17...fxe6 White has the bishop pair and Black's pawns are dislocated. It may seem at first sight that White can expect an overwhelming win.

However the opposite happens. Black wins.

Moreover it is not easy to say how White should play differently so as to show that he has an overwhelming advantage.

One example of an answer is that there is in fact no way for White to play differently so as to show that he has an overwhelming advantage, because White's advantage is in fact an illusion.

White's c4 square is weak and his king is exposed to attack. Black's pawn weaknesses are also illusory as White can't get at them in time. White's queen's bishop only appears to be a weapon but is in fact a target.

So the true evaluation is that it is Black who has the advantage instead of White.

This suggests that one can learn a few things about the art of evaluation from this game

May-03-24  Albion 1959: This game between two of the greatest chess fighters of the 1970's & 1980's produces a position that defies conventional chess logic. Korchnoi with 16: O-O-O!? Allows Larsen to have the bishop pair, have pawns on d4 & e4 with a strong pawn centre and weaken his own kingside pawns. In return he gets active piece play, especially the knights. And instead of trying to win an endgame with the extra pawn, Korchnoi goes for tactics to win a piece:
May-03-24  Murky: <perfidious: This game is annotated by Korchnoi in the tournament book>... Not quite. I have that tournament book and the annotations are by I. Zaitsev in Russian. Annotations are quite detailed, running 3.5 pages. A few abbreviated comments here. Instead of 8.h3, 8. Qc2 is recommended. Instead of 10. Qc2, 10. d3 ed 11. e4 is suggested. 16. Rad1 is recommended instead of the played 16. Nc5. As for the combination starting with 22...Rxf4, Zaitsev claims that Larsen could have survived with 23. gxf4 Nxf4+ 24. Kf3 Rf8 25. Kg3 Ne3 26. Rd2 Nxh3 27. Re2!. Having missed that shot, Larsen is just losing. At game's end Zaitsev' writes (my translation): "This duel between the two tournament favorites had an extraordinary impact on the players themselves. Korchnoi with this victory continued to play with boosted confidence and never lost his place leading the tournament. For the Danish grandmaster the loss had the effect of making him despondent, after which he lost several games.
May-03-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: See <World Championship Interzonals> by Wade, Blackstock and Kotov for this game, which was, as stated above, annotated by Korchnoi, pp 80-82.
May-03-24  Murky: <Perfidious> I also have the book by Wade, Blackstock and Kotov. After the move 22..Rxf4, Korchnoi defers to Zaitsev's analysis, as detailed in my first comment.
Oct-27-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  kingscrusher: <Ulhumbrus> The thing is with evaluations is that they can be super-sensitive to the finesse of the position, and can change rapidly with a specific move played. It seems in this game, Black's structure was indeed a wreck, and it does seem if White played

18.Ne2


click for larger view

White should be clearly better both in theory and in practice. Concretely White sometimes now threatens d5 after preparation like h4 against g5.

The a3 move by contrast literally changes the evaluation in one move after Be7 where black's threats include Rxd4 and sometimes g5. The g5 threat is supercharged with Rhf8.

Chess is hard!

Apr-06-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: <Murky....After the move 22..Rxf4, Korchnoi defers to Zaitsev's analysis, as detailed in my first comment.>

Within the comment only; to imply that is this true thereafter is disingenuous.

NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion.

Please observe our posting guidelines:

  1. No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language.
  2. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts.
  3. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members.
  4. Nothing in violation of United States law.
  5. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members.
  6. No trolling.
  7. The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited.
  8. Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers.

Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times.

Blow the Whistle

See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator.


NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific game only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors.
All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration.

This game is type: CLASSICAL. Please report incorrect or missing information by submitting a correction slip to help us improve the quality of our content.

Home | About | Login | Logout | F.A.Q. | Profile | Preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | Biographer's Bistro | New Kibitzing | Chessforums | Tournament Index | Player Directory | Notable Games | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Store | Privacy Notice | Contact Us

Copyright 2001-2025, Chessgames Services LLC