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Gideon Stahlberg vs Miguel Najdorf
Zuerich Candidates (1953), Zuerich SUI, rd 25, Oct-14
King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation. Immediate Fianchetto (E60)  ·  0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

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Kibitzer's Corner
Dec-04-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: It struck as rather nonchalant for white to sac the exchange like that. But it was a hard fought game, so it must have not been too bad.
Nov-05-13  zydeco: 17.Rxf1 is a mistake; white should capture with the bishop.
Sep-15-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  cwcarlson: 22.b4! ♖b4 23.♗d7 ♕d7 24.♘d6 ±; 22...cb 23.♘d6 ♕d6 24.♕c6+-.
Mar-10-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  plang: Played in the 25th round; in the 9th round Euwe had played 7 Bg5 against Najdorf and had gone on to win a nice game. Stahlberg here varied with 7 Nf3. 12..Kh8 intended ..Ndf6 and ..Ng8 so perhaps White should have waited before playing a5. If White had been aiming for a draw he likely would have chosen 16 Nc7. 17 Bxf1 looks stronger leaving the rook on the a-file to support the passed pawn. Najdorf felt that 29 Nf5..Bxh6 30 Qxh6..Qf6 31 Qh5..Qg6 32 Qh4..Rxf5 33 Qd8+..Kg7 34 Nh4..Rf8! would not have helped White. 40..Nxe6 41 dxe..Rxe6 42 Nxd6..Rd7 43 Rf1+ was an alternative but appears to give White a bit more play.

The analysts who annotated the game seem to have felt that Stahlberg's exchange sacrifice was reasonable but Najdorf defended inventively on both sides of the board.

Mar-10-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: 22.b4 is a really nice idea from <cwcarlson>! Bronstein doesn't mention the possibility; I wonder if any of the other annotators do.
Mar-10-21  Retireborn: In his tournament book, Najdorf writes that 21.b4 is a threat, but says that 20...Rb7 & 21...Nc7 prevent the advance of the a-pawn and penetration of the Q-side.

Perhaps he just forgot about the b4 idea.

Mar-10-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: < Retireborn: In his tournament book, Najdorf writes that 21.b4 is a threat, but says that 20...Rb7 & 21...Nc7 prevent the advance of the a-pawn and penetration of the Q-side. Perhaps he just forgot about the b4 idea.>

You know, I've got Najdorf's book on my phone; I could have checked....

See also Keres vs Botvinnik, 1948 (kibitz #232) where Keres overlooks the possibility of ...c5 on move 18 after repeatedly considering it on earlier moves. This is why it's better to be a robot than a human.

Jul-23-22  tbontb: Stahlberg's courageous exchange sacrifice really deserved a better fate! The position is at least balanced until the unfortunate 29.Bxg7+ (better Nf5) hands the advantage to Black. Najdorf seals the best move 41....Rf1 and is able to find the winning line during adjournment.

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