[Event "Veterans-Women"] [Site "Munich GER"] [Date "2000.07.07"] [Round "5"] [White "Zsofia Polgar"] [Black "Vasily Smyslov"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "mistr"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C60"] [Opening "Ruy Lopez: Fianchetto Defense"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/nsspObqZ/at6QNMMC"] [Orientation "black"] { Even in his very advanced years, Smyslov continued competing, playing regularly against players significantly younger than him. Most notably, in the late 90s and early 2000s, he participated in several "Veterans" vs "Young Talents" and "Veterans" vs "Women" matches, where players of older generation teamed up against young talents and promising and upcoming female players (events that, in one shape or form, persist to this day). In one of these matches, held in Munich in 2000, he faced the young Zsofia Polgar - the third of Polgar sisters who may have not achieved the same results as her sisters Susan and Judit - but who was nevertheless a very strong player. This wonderful game fully deserves to be included in this compilation of Smyslov's best games. } 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 { Smyslov is generally not regarded as the big opening theoretician, but several of his inventions in the Ruy Lopez have persisted to this day, including the very underrated text continuation that leads to the so-called Smyslov variation of the Ruy Lopez. The idea is to fianchetto the bishop to g7, place the knight on e7 and play in the King's Indian style with f5 soon. } 4. c3 a6 5. Bc4 d6 6. d4 Bg7 { Another point of this line is to reinforce the e5 point. } { [%cal Gg7e5,Gc6e5] } 7. O-O Qe7?! { But this move, defending e5 with the queen is a bit too artificial. It is probably not too good to move the queen so early in the opening. } (7... Nf6 { Seems more natural, although after } 8. dxe5 dxe5 9. Qxd8+ Nxd8 10. Nxe5 Be6 { It is not too easy to conclude that Black has sufficient compensation for the pawn. Smyslov was probably trying to avoid something along those lines. }) (7... Nge7 { is not too brilliant here as Black doesn't have time to castle: } 8. dxe5 Nxe5 9. Nxe5 Bxe5 10. f4 Bg7 11. f5 { White has a very strong initiative. } { [%cal Gc1g5,Gf5f6] }) 8. dxe5?! { But this move now releases the tension a bit prematurely! Now the queen exchange will not happen so there is no point to stabilizing the structure at this particular point. } (8. Re1) (8. Nbd2 { was probably preferable. In general, unless White achieves something tangible (or is forced to take on e5), it is probably better not to do so in these structures! }) 8... Nxe5 9. Nxe5 dxe5 10. b3 { This was the idea behind taking on e5. White wanted to open up the a3-f8 diagonal in order to pressure the queen on e7. Alas, it transpires this is NOT that dangerous as it can be met with the simple inteference with the c-pawn, as we will soon see. } { [%cal Gc1a3,Ra3f8] } 10... Nf6 11. Ba3 c5 { Dealing with the annoying bishop on a3. It looks as if Black is making a big concession and that both the c5 pawn and the d5 square are now weak, but it transpires that there is no easy way for White to exploit it. } { [%cal Ra3e7] } 12. Bd5!? { Not the most obvious move, but White is willing to give up the bishop to get the queen to d5 and pressure the c5 pawn. } 12... O-O { A natural move, but probably not the best in this position. } (12... Be6!? { Challenging the bishop was worth considering as now after } 13. c4 Bxd5 14. exd5 { White has to recapture with the pawn and the position is unclear. It is true that the pawn on d5 is passed, but it can be securely blockaded and White no longer has the bishop pair. } { [%csl Rd5] }) (12... Nxd5 13. Qxd5 { Was also playable, but now there is no good way to defend the c5 pawn. Black can try to play for compensation with } 13... Be6 14. Qxc5 Qxc5 15. Bxc5 Rc8 { When the bishop pair compensated for the missing pawn to a certain extent, but White is a pawn up after all. }) 13. b4?! { But this is a step in the wrong direction. White tries to play aggressively against the c5 pawn (maybe Zsofia felt a bit provoked with Black's opening?), but it turns out that strategic play was required in this particular position. } (13. c4 { Entrenching the bishop on d5 was quite unpleasant. It is now not clear how will Black go about creating counterplay as the queen can still recapture on d5 and also Nc3 is coming. } { [%cal Gd1d5,Gb1c3] }) 13... Rd8 { An unpleasant move, creating the threat of Nxe4 and/or Nxd5. } { [%cal Rf6d5] } 14. bxc5 { White consistently implements the idea started with b4 but now the situation becomes very tactical and messy very very soon. } 14... Nxe4 { Capturing an important pawn and also creating an unpleasant pin against the d5 bishop. } { [%csl Rd5][%cal Re4c5] } 15. c4 Qc7 { Another very strong move, avoiding any sort of c6 discoveries. } { [%cal Ra3e7] } (15... Nxc5 { is a one-move blunder } 16. Bxc5 Qxc5 17. Bxf7+ { And White wins material. Black can't play like this, unfortunately for him. } { [%cal Rd1d8] }) 16. Re1? { This is not a good move as it removes the rook from the place where it protects the f2 pawn. } { [%csl Rf2] } (16. Qf3 { Getting out of the pin with a gain of tempo on the knight on e4 was quite reasonable. Note that the c5 pawn is still immune due to the pressure against the f7 pawn. The position is complicated and Black is maybe marginally better due to the better structure, but there is still all left to play for. } { [%cal Rf3f7,Rd5f7] }) 16... Bf5? { Missing the first chance! } (16... Nxf2 { Was already possible here, although the follow-up is very tricky to see. After } 17. Kxf2 e4 { [%cal Rg7a1] } 18. Qd2 Bxa1 19. Nc3 { There is only one good move here for Black - the amazing } 19... Re8 { Creating the unpleasasnt threat of e3 before capturing on c3. } { [%csl Ra1][%cal Ge4e3] } (19... Bxc3 20. Qxc3 { Is actually just winning for White due to the dark-square weaknesses around the Black king. } { [%csl Rf6,Rg7,Rh6] }) 20. Qe3 Bxc3 21. Qxc3 e3+ { And now Qe5 is coming next and Black is actually winning. An amazing combination! }) 17. g4 Nxf2 { But not the second chance. In this particular case this was required as the knight would have otherwise been lost! } 18. Kxf2 e4 { In this version, not only the rook on a1 hangs, but also the pawn on h2. } { [%csl Rh2][%cal Rc7h2] } 19. Kg2? { After this, White's position goes from bad to worse! } (19. gxf5 { For better or for worse, the piece on f5 should have been taken - even though it looks suicidal to allow the check on h2. Following } 19... Qxh2+ 20. Kf1 Bxa1 21. fxg6 hxg6 { White is, of course, lost, but the position is still relatively messy. }) 19... Be6 { A very unpleasant quiet move, keeping the threat to the rook on a1 alive but also removing the bishop from the attack and attacking the pinned bishop. } { [%cal Re6d5,Rg7a1,Rd8d1] } 20. Nd2 { Now it seems as if White manages to lose only an exchange - not a full rook, but Smyslov has evaluated correctly that the simple capture on d5 is sufficient! } 20... Bxd5 { Actually - this is the only move to win. } 21. cxd5 Rxd5 { White is completely tied up as the pin is deadly and also the rook on a1 is hanging. } { [%cal Ra8d8,Rg7a1,Rd8d1] } 22. Qe2 Bxa1 23. Rxa1 Re8 { White has two pieces for an exchange and a pawn, which is nominally not THAT bad, but the weakness of the king and the activity of Black's rooks don't leave much room for hope. } { [%cal Ge8e4] } (23... Rad8 { It was actually possible to attack the knight on d2 here. The point is that after } 24. Nxe4 Qc6 { covers the f6 square and prepares a lethal battery on the light-squared diagonal. Not an easy point to see! } { [%csl Gf6][%cal Rc6g2,Rc6f6] }) 24. Nc4 (24. Nxe4 { Now loses to many things, but most directly to } 24... Rde5 25. Nf6+ Kh8 { And White is the one who will get checkmated soon. } { [%csl Rg2] }) 24... Rd3 25. Rb1 Qc6 26. Kg1 { A final blunder in the lost position. } 26... Rxa3 27. Nxa3 Qxc5+ { [%cal Rc5a3,Rc5g1] } 28. Qf2 e3 { And here Zsofia finally decided she had had enough. A brutal and beautiful game and definitely not a bad effort for a 79-year-old. } 0-1