

[Event "tournament"]
[Site "Berlin"]
[Date "1890"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Caro, Horatio"]
[Black "Lasker, Emmanuel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D11"]
[PlyCount "25"]
[EventDate "1890"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Bf5 3. c4 c6 4. Qb3 Qc8 {Dubious manoeuvre.} 5. cxd5 cxd5 6.
Nc3 e6 7. Bf4 a6 {Patzer move; protects against nonexistant threat.} 8. Na4
Ra7 {Loses instantly.} 9. Nb6 Qd8 10. Bxb8 Qxb8 {
A position that is more likely to appear in a scholar game.} 11. Qa4+ Ke7 12. Rc1 g5
13. Nc8+ {13. Ne5 was even better. Possibly the worst game Lasker had ever played.} 1-0


[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Havana"]
[Date "1892"]
[Round "18"]
[White "Chigorin, Mikhail"]
[Black "Steinitz, Wilhelm"]
[Result "0-1"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/pp2R2p/3BNkb1/3P1p2/7p/8/PP1rr2P/5R1K w - - 0 32"]
[PlyCount "4"]
[EventDate "1892"]

32. Bb4?? {Chigorin needed a win in order to equalize match
result as he was by then down by 8 to 9. Steinitz was a single point away from
winning the whole match, but he seems to be losing...} 32... Rxh2+ {
A thunderstrike for White!} 33. Kg1 Rdg2# {Check and mate. Steinitz defended
the title. Chigorin never ever got the second chance to become the World Champion. Would you ever think
of more frightfull ending?} 0-1


[Event "tournament"]
[Site "Frankfurt"]
[Date "1912"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Von Holzhausen, Walther"]
[Black "Tarrasch, Siegbert"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[PlyCount "21"]
[EventDate "1912"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O d6 6. Nxd4 Be7 7. Nc3 O-O 8.
h3 Re8 9. Re1 Nd7 {The most dogmatic author ever probably planned to control c5 and e5. But...} 10. Bxf7+ Kxf7 11. Ne6 {
Black queen may be saved only at a cost of immediate checkmate. Nice choice.} 1-0


[Event "tournament"]
[Site "Amsterdam"]
[Date "1920"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Oskam, Gerard"]
[Black "Euwe, Machgielis"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D00"]
[PlyCount "19"]
[EventDate "1920"]

1. d4 d5 2. Bg5 {This is sort of move that should more likely be a reason to
lose in 10 moves rather than crushing win over future World Champion.} 2...
Bf5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. c4 e6 5. e3 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. Qb3 {Striking both b7 and d5.
Very typical and possibly killing manoeuvre in D-class players' games...} 7...
Nc6 8. Qxb7 Kd7 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Bb5 {
Nc6 is lost and no counterchances seem to appear. Euwe resigned.} 1-0


[Event "tournament"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1937"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Fine, Reuben"]
[Black "Yudovich, Mikhail"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D40"]
[PlyCount "24"]
[EventDate "1937"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 c5 5. Bg5 cxd4 6. Nxd4 e5 7. Ndb5 a6?? 8.
Nxd5 {This tactical motive is thoroughly explained to each child at the very
first lesson on Queen's gambit declined...} 8... axb5 9. Nxf6+ Qxf6 10. Bxf6
Bb4+ 11. Qd2 Bxd2+ 12. Kxd2 gxf6 0-1


[Event "tournament"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1949"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Kotov, Alexander"]
[Black "Petrosjan, Tigran"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D36"]
[PlyCount "23"]
[EventDate "1949"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 c6 7. Qc2 Ne4 {
Now, try to find which move Kotov chose...} 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Nxd5 {Ooups! Should't Petrosjan look after the board more carefully?} 9... cxd5 10.
Qxc8+ Qd8 11. Bb5+ Nc6 12. Bxc6+ {In this game Petrosjan was not iron but rather Lion in Sion.} 1-0


[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1951"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Botvinnik, Mikhail"]
[Black "Bronstein, David"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A91"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "1951"]

1. d4 {This is arguably the worst game ever played in any WCh match. Plenty of heavy tactical and strategical blunders were made on both sides. Amazing phenomenon and great fun to watch.} 1... e6 2. c4 f5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. d5 Bb4 7. Bd2 e5 8. e3 d6 9. Nge2 a6 10. Qc2 Qe8 11. f3 {This move closed line of fire for white bishop.} 11... b5 12. Qb3 Bc5 13. cxb5 Bd7 14. Na4 Ba7 {What was that played for?} 15. b6 Bxa4?? {A simple tactical blunder based on a well known motive. Shamefull choice for Black.} 16. b7 Bxb3 17. bxa8=Q Bb6 18. axb3 {White is clear Rook ahead. Now watch how Botvinnik managed to waste all of his advantage.} 18... Qb5 19. Nc3 Qxb3 {Black fought back the pawn, but this makes little hope still...} 20. Rxa6 Nxa6 21. Qxa6 {Another unforced and unnecessary sacryfice. Now White is only a minor piece ahead.} 21... Nxd5 {...but Black has centralized pieces and one pawn in compensation.} 22. Qa4 Qxa4 23. Nxa4 Bxe3 {Two extra pawns, I meant...} 24. Bf1 {This allows White Rook to come into play.} 24... Ra8 25. b3 Bxd2+ 26. Kxd2 Kf8 27. Bd3 g6 28. Rc1 Rb8 29. Nc3 Nb4 30. Be2 Ra8 31. Na4 c6 32. Rc4 Rb8 33. Bd1 Ke7 34. Nb2 d5 35. Rh4 h5 {Perfect square for the Rook, isn't it?} 36. g4 hxg4 37. fxg4 f4 38. g5 Rf8 39. Rh7+ Kd6 40. Rg7 e4 41. Rxg6+ Ke5 1/2-1/2


[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1951"]
[Round "17"]
[White "Botvinnik, Mikhail"]
[Black "Bronstein, David"]
[Result "0-1"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4r1k1/4rn2/1p2q3/p1p1P1p1/P2p1nNp/1P3P1P/1BR3P1/3QR1K1 w - - 0 35"]
[PlyCount "2"]
[EventDate "1951"]

35. Nf6+ {Now... How the hell should Black get rid of the intrusive knight? A
real challenge for each 1200 player.} 35... Qxf6 {
Surprisingly White resigned.} 0-1


[Event "WCh Cand"]
[Site "Amsterdam"]
[Date "1956"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Petrosjan, Tigran"]
[Black "Bronstein, David"]
[Result "0-1"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1rb2r1k/1p1n2q1/p2Q2p1/P2Npn1p/2P1N2P/6P1/1R3PB1/1R5K w - - 0 34"]
[PlyCount "2"]
[EventDate "1956"]

34. Ng5 {Black was under tremendous time pressure? Yes, you are right. It
was Black who was struggling not to lose on time instantly. Another lucky point for Bronstein.} 34... Nxd6
0-1


[Event "ol"]
[Site "Munich"]
[Date "1958"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Keres, Paul"]
[Black "Benitez, Francisco"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B71"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "1958"]

1. e4 {Keres' partner, an amateur player from Puerto Rico, did not seem to play
stronger than 2000 Elo. But Keres had obviously very bad day.}
1... c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. f4 Nc6 7. Bc4 Bd7 8. Nxc6
Bxc6 9. Qe2 d5 {A simple tactical blunder.} 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nxd5 Bxd5 12. Qe5
{Now White is winning.} 12... Bxc4 13. Qxh8 Qd5 14. Kf2 f6 15. Be3 Qh5 {
White let Black to trap the Queen in the very corner of the board, but this is still a win
for White.} 16. Rhe1 Kf7 17. Bd4 {Badly played.} 17... e5 18. fxe5 Qh4+ 19. Kg1
Qxd4+ 20. Kh1 Qh4 21. Re3 Re8 22. Rh3 Qxh3 23. Qxf6+ Kg8 24. gxh3 Bd5+ 25. Kg1
Bc5+ 26. Kf1 Rf8 27. Qxf8+ Kxf8 {Black is in the lead.} 28. Rd1 Bc6 29. a3 a5
30. Ke2 Ke7 31. Kd3 Bb5+ 32. Ke4 Ke6 33. Rd8 Bg1 34. Rd6+ Ke7 35. Rd2 Bc5 36.
h4 Ke6 37. Rd8 Be7 38. Rh8 Bxh4 39. Rxh7 Be7 40. Rh6 Be8 41. h4 Bf8 1/2-1/2


[Event "tournament"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1967"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Kudriashev, Anatoly"]
[Black "Petrosjan, Tigran"]
[Result "1-0"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/2b2prk/q3p2p/p4p2/P7/2P1QP1P/2B2P2/3R3K w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "3"]
[EventDate "1967"]

1. Bd3 Qd6 2. Bxf5+ {Another slip-up of iron Tigran.} 1-0


[Event "tournament"]
[Site "Dubna"]
[Round "?"]
[Date "1970"]
[White "Razuvayev, Yury"]
[Black "Kupreichik, Viktor"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A27"]
[PlyCount "16"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 f5 4. d4 e4 5. Bg5 Nf6 6. d5 exf3 7. dxc6 fxg2 8.
cxd7+ {Recapture at g2 gave Black decent chances with a mere pawn
behind. But now Black simply wins a piece.} 8... Nxd7 0-1


[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Riga"]
[Date "1972"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Kushnir, Alla"]
[Black "Gaprindashvili, Nona"]
[WhiteElo "2355"]
[BlackElo "2450"]
[Result "0-1"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "6k1/5p1p/6p1/3P1P2/4PQ2/8/1r2q2P/5R1K w - - 0 38"]
[PlyCount "2"]
[EventDate "1972"]

38. f6 {Threatens mate. Unfortunately it is Black who makes the next move.}
38... Qg2# 0-1


[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Reykjavik"]
[Date "1972"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Spassky, Boris"]
[Black "Fischer, Robert"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2660"]
[BlackElo "2785"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5k2/pp4pp/3bpp2/1P6/8/P2KP3/5PPP/2B5 b - - 0 28"]

28... Bxh2 {Famous Fischer's blunder.} 29. g3 h5 30. Ke2 h4 31. Kf3 Ke7 32. Kg2
hxg3 33. fxg3 Bxg3 34. Kxg3 {And White won.} 1-0


[Event "tournament"]
[Site "Munich"]
[Date "1979"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lieb, Harald"]
[Black "Spassky, Boris"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C26"]
[WhiteElo "2285"]
[BlackElo "2635"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "1979"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nc6 5. f4 d6 6. Na4 Bxg1 7. Rxg1 Ng4 8. g3
exf4 9. Bxf4 Nxh2 {Greedy boy. This time it won't work.} 10. Qh5 Qf6 11.
Qxh2 Nd4 12. Rf1 Bg4 13. Nc3 c6 14. Kd2 O-O 15. Qh4 Qxh4 16. gxh4 Rad8 17. Rf2
b5 18. Bb3 a5 19. Ke3 c5 20. Rg1 h5 21. Bd5 Kh7 22. Nd1 b4 23. c3 Nb5 24. Kd2 {
The only consolation for Boris is that 2285 rating was of more value those times.} 1-0

[Event "tournament"]
[Site "Frunze"]
[Date "1981"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Mikhalchishin, Adrian"]
[Black "Romanishin, Oleg"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D85"]
[WhiteElo "2535"]
[BlackElo "2595"]
[PlyCount ""]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. Nc3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. Be3 Qa5 9. Qd2 Nc6 10. Rb1 cxd4 11. cxd4 O-O 12. d5?? {Probably because draw was agreed before the start of the game White lost concentration.} Bc3 0-1


[Event "US Open"]
[Site "New York"]
[Date "1986"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Walton"]
[Black "Alburt, Lev"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A75"]
[WhiteElo "1986"]
[BlackElo "2648"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[EventDate "1986"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. d4 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 a6 7. a4 g6 8. Nf3 Bg7
9. Be2 O-O 10. O-O Bg4 11. Nd2 Bxe2 12. Qxe2 Nbd7 13. Nc4 Nb6 14. Na3 Re8 15.
Qc2 Ng4 16. a5 Nd7 17. Nc4 Nde5 18. Nb6 Nxh2 19. Kxh2 Qh4+ 20. Kg1 Nf3+ {
Obviously Alburt missed Kg1-f1-e2 escape route because no other line justifies
giving away two knights for initiative...} 21. gxf3 Re5 22. Re1 Rae8 23. Nc4
Rh5 24. Kf1 Rf5 25. Qd3 Bd4 26. Nd1 Rxd5 {Alburt's partner, who was A-class
player was quite frightened as he face his lifelong chance. }
27. Be3 Rh5 28. Bxd4 cxd4 29. Nxd6 Re6 30. Qxd4 Qf4 31. Qe3 Qxd6 {
A piece is lost, but White is stil one piece ahead.} 32. Nc3 Qb4 33. Qe2 Qd6 34.
Qd1 Qh2 35. Qd8+ Kg7 36. Qd4+ Rf6 37. Ke2 Qf4 38. Qe3 Qxe3+ 39. Kxe3 Rh3 40.
Kd4 Rhxf3 {Another pawn lost, but material has been drastically reduced. Will
Lev manage to come back home on time?} 41. Re2 Rxf2 42. Rxf2 Rxf2 43. b4 {
White played this endgame in surprisangly brave way and he finally went on to a shocking
win.} 43... h5 44. Nd5 h4 45. Kc5 g5 46. Rh1 f5 47. Kb6 fxe4 48. Kxb7 Rd2 49.
Kxa6 Rxd5 {
Another White piece dies, but this time is if fully justified manoeuvre.} 50. b5
Kg6 51. b6 Kh5 52. b7 Rd8 53. Kb6 e3 54. a6 e2 55. a7 Rd1 56. a8=Q Rxh1 57.
Qe8+ {Alburt resigned. Sensational result. This was standard tournament game
in US Open 1986, 1st round.} 1-0


[Event "tournament"]
[Site "Tbilisi"]
[Date "1986"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Gurgenidze, Bukhuti"]
[Black "Azmaiparashvili, Zurab"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D00"]
[WhiteElo "2440"]
[BlackElo "2470"]
[PlyCount "24"]
[EventDate "1986"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. Qd2 O-O 6. Bh6 Bxh6 7. Qxh6 c5 8.
O-O-O Ng4 {A fork. Should be no surprise for any 1500+ player.} 9. Qh4 e5 10.
Qxd8 Rxd8 11. dxe5 Be6 12. Ne4 {Blundering a piece.} 12... Nd7 0-1


[Event "tournament"]
[Site "Linares"]
[Date "1988"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Nunn, John"]
[Black "Georgiev, Kiril"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B17"]
[WhiteElo "2615"]
[BlackElo "2595"]
[PlyCount "19"]
[EventDate "1988"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Ng5 h6 {I hope YOU know such moves may never lead to good positions.} 6. Ne6 Qa5+ 7.
Bd2 Qb6 8. Bd3 fxe6 {Another mistake. This time lethal. It loses the Black Queen in 2 moves.} 9. Qh5+ Kd8
10. Ba5 {Black fought hard only to resign on 42th move.} 1-0


[Event "tournament"]
[Site "Wijk an Zee"]
[Date "1993"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Christiansen, Larry"]
[Black "Karpov, Anatoly"]
[WhiteElo "2620"]
[BlackElo "2725"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E12"]
[PlyCount "23"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Ba6 5. Qc2 Bb7 6. Nc3 c5 7. e4 cxd4 8. Nxd4
Nc6 9. Nxc6 Bxc6 10. Bf4 Nh5 11. Be3 Bd6 {A novelty! What would do you now?}
12. Qd1 {Wins a piece. Karpov resigned.} 1-0

