[blind-chess] Annotated Game #172: Svetozar Gligoric - Daniel Abraham Yanofsky, Saltsjobaden 1948
- From: "Roderick Macdonald" <rjmacdonald@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Blind-Chess Mailing List" <blind-chess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2014 19:31:04 -1000
Annotated Game #172:
Svetozar Gligoric - Daniel Abraham Yanofsky, Saltsjobaden 1948
Adapted and Condensed from
Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
Contents:
++1. Svetozar Gligoric
++1.A Life
++1.B Chess career
++1.C Lifetime scores against world champions
++1.D Legacy
++1.E Sample game
++1.F Death
++2. Daniel Yanofsky
++2.A Life in chess
++2.B Professional career
++2.C Yanofsky's writings
++2.D Notable chess games
++3. Svetozar Gligoric - Daniel Abraham Yanofsky, Saltsjobaden
1948
++1. Svetozar Gligoric
Svetozar Gligoric (February 2, 1923 - August 14, 2012) was a
Serbian and Yugoslavian chess grandmaster. He won the championship
of Yugoslavia a record twelve times, and is considered the best
player ever from Serbia. In 1958 he was declared the best athlete
of Yugoslavia.
In the 1950s and 1960s Gligoric was one of the top players in the
world, and also among the world's most popular, owing to his globe-
trotting tournament schedule and a particularly engaging
personality, reflected in the title of his autobiography, I Play
Against Pieces. (I.e., playing without hostility toward the
opponent, or playing differently against different players for
"psychological" reasons; playing the board and not the man.)
++1.A Life
Gligoric was born in Belgrade to a poor family. According to his
recollections, his first exposure to chess was as a small child
watching patrons play in a neighborhood bar. He began to play at
the age of eleven, when taught by a boarder taken in by his mother
(his father had died by this time). Lacking a chess set, he made
one for himself by carving pieces from corks from wine bottles, a
story paralleling the formative years of his contemporary, the
renowned Estonian grandmaster Paul Keres.
Gligoric was a good student during his youth, with both academic
and athletic successes that famously led to him to be invited to
represent his school at a birthday celebration for Prince Peter,
later to become King Peter II of Yugoslavia. He later recounted to
International Master David Levy (who chronicled his chess career in
The Chess of Gligoric) his distress at attending this gala event
wearing poor clothing stemming from his family's impoverished
condition. His first tournament success came in 1938 when he won
the Belgrade Chess Club championship; however, World War II
interrupted his chess progress for a time. During the war, Gligoric
was a member of a partisan unit. A chance encounter with a chess-
playing partisan officer led to his removal from combat.
Following World War II, Gligoric worked several years as a
journalist and organizer of chess tournaments. He continued to
progress as a player and was awarded the International Master (IM)
title in 1950 and the Grandmaster (GM) title in 1951, eventually
making the transition to full-time chess professional. He continued
active tournament play well into his sixties.
++1.B Chess career
Gligoric was one of the most successful tournament players of the
mid-20th century, with a number of tournament victories to his
credit, but was less successful in competing for the World Chess
Championship. He was Yugoslav champion in 1947 (joint), 1948
(joint), 1949, 1950, 1956, 1957, 1958 (joint), 1959, 1960, 1962,
1965 and 1971.
He represented his native Yugoslavia with great success in fifteen
Chess Olympiads from 1950 to 1982 (thirteen times on first board),
playing 223 games (+88 -26 =109). In the first post-war Olympiad,
on home soil at Dubrovnik 1950, Gligoric played on first board and
led Yugoslavia to a historic result, the team gold medal. The
Yugoslav team was usually second or third in the world during the
1950s.
His list of first-place finishes in international chess
competitions is one of the longest and includes such events as Mar
del Plata 1950, Stockholm 1954, Belgrade 1964, Manila 1968, Lone
Pine 1972 and 1979, etc. He was a regular competitor in the series
of great tournaments held at Hastings, with wins (or ties for
first) in 1951-1952, 1956-1957, 1959-1960, 1960-1961 and 1962-1963.
His record in world championship qualifying events was mixed. He
was a regular competitor in Zonal and Interzonal competitions with
several successes, e.g. zonal wins in 1951, 1960 (joint), 1963,
1966, and 1969 (joint) and finishes at the Interzonals of 1952,
1958 and 1967 high enough to qualify him for the final Candidates
events the following years. However, he was not as successful in
any of the Candidates events, with mediocre results in the 1953 and
1959 Candidates Tournaments and a match loss to Mikhail Tal in the
1968 Candidates match series.
++1.C Lifetime scores against world champions
]Gligoric had the following record against the world champions he
played against: Max Euwe +2 -0 =5, Mikhail Botvinnik +2 -2 =6,
Vasily Smyslov +6 -8 =28, Tigran Petrosian +8 -11 =19, Mikhail Tal
+2 -10 =22, Boris Spassky +0 -6 =16, Bobby Fischer +4 -7 =8,
Anatoly Karpov +0 -4 =6 and Garry Kasparov +0 -3 =0.
++1.D Legacy
Although he compiled a superb tournament record, it is perhaps as
an openings theorist and commentator that Gligoric will be best
remembered. He made enormous contributions to the theory and
practice of the King's Indian Defense, Ruy Lopez and Nimzo-Indian
Defense, among others, and particularly with the King's Indian,
translated his theoretical contributions into several spectacular
victories with both colors (including the sample game below).
Theoretically significant variations in the King's Indian and Ruy
Lopez are named for him. His battles with Bobby Fischer in the
King's Indian and Sicilian Defense (particularly the Najdorf
Variation, a long-time Fischer specialty) often worked out in his
favor.
As a commentator, Gligoric was able to take advantage of his
fluency in a number of languages and his training as a journalist,
to produce lucid, interesting game annotations. He was a regular
columnist for Chess Review and Chess Life magazines for many years,
his "Game of the Month" column often amounting to a complete
tutorial in the opening used in the feature game as well as a set
of comprehensive game annotations. He wrote a number of chess books
in several languages. One of the most notable was Fischer v
Spassky: The Chess Match of the Century, a detailed account of
their epic struggle for the world title in Reykjavik in 1972. He
also contributed regularly to the Chess Informant semi-annual (more
recently, thrice-yearly) compilation of the world's most important
chess games.
++1.E Sample game
One of Gligoric's most famous games was this win against the former
World Champion Tigran Petrosian at the great "Tournament of Peace"
held in Zagreb in 1970. It displays Gligoric's virtuosity on the
Black side of the King's Indian and his willingness to play for a
sacrificial attack against one of history's greatest defenders.
Zagreb 1970 was another Gligoric tournament success, as he tied for
second (with Petrosian and others) behind Fischer, at the start of
the latter's 1970-1971 run of tournament and match victories.
Tigran Petrosian - Svetozar Gligoric, Zagreb 1970
1. c4 g6
2. Nf3 Bg7
3. d4 Nf6
4. Nc3 0-0
5. e4 d6
6. Be2 e5
7. 0-0 Nc6
8. d5 Ne7
9. b4 Nh5
10. Nd2 Nf4
11. a4 f5
12. Bf3 g5
13. exf5 Nxf5
14. g3 Nd4
15. gxf4 Nxf3+
16. Qxf3 g4
17. Qh1 exf4
18. Bb2 Bf5
19. Rfe1 f3
20. Nde4 Qh4
21. h3 Be5
22. Re3 gxh3
23. Qxf3 Bg4
24. Qh1 h2+
25. Kg2 Qh5
26. Nd2 Bd4
27. Qe1 Rae8
28. Nce4 Bxb2
29. Rg3 Be5
30. R1a3 Kh8
31. Kh1 Rg8
32. Qf1 Bxg3
33. Rxg3 Rxe4
0-1
Indeed, Gligoric was the first person to inflict a defeat on
Petrosian after he won the world title from Mikhail Botvinnik in
1963.
++1.F Death
On August 14, 2012, Svetozar Gligoric died from a stroke at 89
years of age in Belgrade. Gligoric was buried on August 16, 2012,
at 13:30 in the Alley of the Greats at Belgrade's New Cemetery.
++2. Daniel Yanofsky
Daniel Abraham (Abe) Yanofsky, OC, QC (March 25, 1925 - March 5,
2000) was Canada's first chess grandmaster, an eight-time Canadian
Chess Champion, a chess writer, a chess arbiter, and a lawyer.
++2.A Life in chess
Yanofsky was born to a Jewish family in Brody, Poland (now western
Ukraine), and moved to Canada when he was eight months old,
settling with his family in Winnipeg. He learned to play chess at
the age of eight. Yanofsky won his first Manitoba provincial
championship at age 12 in 1937, also making his debut in the Closed
Canadian Chess Championship that same year in Toronto. In 1939,
just 14 years old, he played for Canada at the Buenos Aires
Olympiad. Yanofsky was the sensation of the tournament, making the
highest score on second board. He won his first Canadian Chess
Championship in 1941 at age 16, at home in Winnipeg. The next year
he won at Ventnor City with 6.5/9, and tied 1st-2nd with Herman
Steiner with 16/17 in the U.S. Open at Dallas.
In 1946, at age 21, Yanofsky entered the first top-class post-war
tournament, at Groningen, and defeated Soviet champion and
tournament winner Mikhail Botvinnik, winning the brilliancy prize.
During the next two years, he played several more European events,
where his best result was second place behind Miguel Najdorf at
Barcelona 1946. Yanofsky represented Canada at the Interzonals held
in Saltsjobaden 1948 and Stockholm 1962. He won the British
Championship in 1953. At Dallas 1957, Yanofsky achieved his first
grandmaster norm with wins over Samuel Reshevsky, Fririk Olafsson
and Larry Evans. His performance at the Tel Aviv 1964 Olympiad
earned him his second grandmaster norm, and the title, thereby
becoming the first grandmaster raised in the British Commonwealth.
Yanofsky repeated as Canadian Champion in 1943, 1945, 1947, 1953,
1959, 1963, and 1965; his eight titles is a Canadian record (tied
with Maurice Fox). He represented Canada at eleven Olympiads:
(Buenos Aires 1939 13.5/16; Amsterdam 1954 9/17; Munich 1958
5.5/11; Tel Aviv 1964 10/16; Havana 1966 3.5/5; Lugano 1968 6/14;
Siegen 1970 7/14; Skopje 1972 6/13; Nice 1974 7/14; Haifa 1976
3.5/10; and Lucerne 1982 6/11) a total surpassed among Canadians
only by IM Lawrence Day (thirteen). His total of 141 games played
in Olympiads is another Canadian record. Further tournament titles
included Arbon 1946 (tied with Karel Opocensky and Ludek Pachman),
Reykjavik 1947, Hastings 1952-1953 (tied with Harry Golombek,
Jonathan Penrose, and Antonio Medina), and the Canadian Open Chess
Championship 1979 (Edmonton). Yanofsky placed second at Hastings
1951-1952 behind Svetozar Gligoric, and second at Netanya 1968
behind Robert Fischer.
Yanofsky had the lead organizer role for Canada's first super-
grandmaster tournament at Winnipeg 1967, to mark Canada's
Centennial, and played in the tournament, winning the Brilliancy
Prize for his victory over Laszlo Szabo. The Winnipeg tournament
was jointly won by Bent Larsen and Klaus Darga.
Yanofsky earned the FIDE International Arbiter title in 1977. He
played in his final Canadian Championship in 1986 at age 61 at home
in Winnipeg, and qualified for another Interzonal appearance,
placing tied 3rd-5th with 9.5/15, but generously ceded that
opportunity in favor of a younger player. He returned to Groningen
in 1996 for the 50th anniversary reunion tournament among the 1946
event's surviving players. Following Yanofsky's death in 2000, an
annual Memorial Tournament has been held in Winnipeg to honor his
wide-ranging contributions to Canadian chess.
++2.B Professional career
Except for a short period in the late 1940s, Yanofsky never
concentrated full-time on chess. He graduated with a law degree
from the University of Manitoba in 1951, and served in the Royal
Canadian Navy during World War II (1944-1946). He won several
scholarships, which allowed him to pursue legal studies at Oxford
University (1951-1953). Following graduation, he practised law in
Winnipeg, with his brother Harry, who was also a chess master.
Daniel Yanofsky argued several cases before the Supreme Court of
Canada.
He was mayor of the Winnipeg suburb of West Kildonan, and served on
the Winnipeg City Council from 1970 to 1986, chairing the Finance
Committee. Yanofsky campaigned for the Legislative Assembly of
Manitoba in the 1959 provincial election as a candidate of the
Liberal-Progressive Party. He finished third against Co-operative
Commonwealth Federation candidate David Orlikow in the St. Johns
constituency. He was also an important contributor to the
conception and development of the Seven Oaks General Hospital and
the Wellness Institute.
In 1972, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 1980, he
was appointed a Queen's Counsel.
++2.C Yanofsky's writings
* Chess The Hard Way
* How to Win End-games
* 100 Years of Chess in Canada
* Served as Editor of the magazine Canadian Chess Chat for
many years
* Wrote a weekly chess column for the newspaper Winnipeg Free
Press
* Wrote the tournament book for the First Canadian Open,
Montreal 1956
* Edited the tournament book for the Winnipeg 1967
Grandmasters' tournament
++2.D Notable chess games
* Daniel Yanofsky vs Alberto Dulanto, Buenos Aires Olympiad
1939, French, Classical (C11), 1-0 14-year-old Yanofsky
unleashes a pretty rook sacrifice to win a game which was
highly praised by World Champion Alexander Alekhine.
* Daniel Yanofsky vs Mikhail Botvinnik, Groningen 1946, Ruy
Lopez, Closed, Chigorin (C99), 1-0 In a Brilliancy Prize
game, the young Canadian stuns the Soviet champion and
Groningen event winner.
* Viacheslav Ragozin vs Daniel Yanofsky, Saltsjobaden
Interzonal 1948, French, Classical (C13), 0-1 Yanofsky
coolly gives up his queen to forestall the experienced
Soviet GM's dangerous attacking chances.
* Samuel Reshevsky vs Daniel Yanofsky, Tel Aviv Olympiad
1964, Gruenfeld (D93), 0-1 Yanofsky sacrifices a piece to
entomb White's bishop and ruin his pawn structure, leading
to a strategical masterpiece.
* Laszlo Szabo vs Daniel Yanofsky, Winnipeg 1967, King's
Indian (E70), 0-1 A lovely thematic dark-square King's
Indian game which won the Brilliancy Prize.
++3. Svetozar Gligoric - Daniel Abraham Yanofsky, Saltsjobaden
1948
Saltsjobaden 1948, Round 19
White: Svetozar Gligoric
Black: Daniel Abraham Yanofsky
Result: 1-0
ECO: C14 - French Defense, Paulsen Variation, Classical System, Albin Variation
Notes by R.J. Macdonald
1. e4 e6
(The French Defense.)
2. d4 d5
3. Nc3
(The Paulsen Variation.)
3. ... Nf6
(3. ... Bb4 is the more popular Winawer Variation.)
4. Bg5 Be7
(This is the Classical Variation.)
5. e5
(5. Bxf6 Bxf6 6. Nf3 0-0 7. Qd2 b6 8. 0-0-0 Bb7 9. exd5 Bxd5 10. Nxd5 Qxd5 11.
c4 Qd7 12. g4 offers equal chances.)
5. ... Nfd7
(5. ... Ng8 is the Vistaneskis Variation.)
6. h4
(This is the Albin Variation.)
6. ... c5
(After 6. ... 0-0 7. Qg4 f6 8. Qxe6+ Kh8 9. exf6 Nxf6 10. Qe3 Ng4 11. Qxe7 Re8
12. Qe2 Rxe2+ 13. Ngxe2 Qd7 14. f3 White has a slight advantage. 6. ... a6 7.
Qg4 Bxg5 8. hxg5 c5 9. g6 f5 10. Qg3 h6 11. Nf3 Nc6 12. Ne2 Qa5+ 13. c3 cxd4
14. Nexd4 Ndxe5 also gives white slight advantage.)
7. Bxe7 Kxe7
8. f4 Qb6
9. Nf3
(White has a king attack. 9. Na4 Qa5+ 10. c3 b6 11. Kf2 Ba6 12. Nf3 Bxf1 13.
Rxf1 Nc6 14. Kg1 g6 15. b3 Rac8 16. a3 cxd4 17. cxd4 b5 18. Nc5 Nxc5 19. b4 Qa4
20. bxc5 Qxd1 21. Rfxd1 Rb8 22. Rdb1 Rb7 23. Kf2 Rhb8 0-1 in 39 moves, as in
the game I. Nataf (2485) - M. Ulibin (2555), Stockholm 1999.)
9. ... Nc6
(Black threatens to win material: Nc6xd4. 9. ... Qxb2 10. Nb5 Qb4+ (10. ... a6
11. Rb1 Qxa2 12. Nd6 Qa5+ 13. Kf2 Nc6 14. Rh3 cxd4 15. Bd3 Qc7 16. Qc1 b5 17.
Rg3 g6 18. h5 Bb7 19. Qh1 Ncxe5 20. fxe5 Nxe5 21. Nxe5 Qxd6 22. Re1 f6 23. Qh4
g5 24. Rxg5 Kf8 25. Rg3 1-0 in 36 moves, as in the game M. Matulovic - A.
Zaradic, Zagreb 1955) 11. Kf2 Nc6 12. c4 (12. Rb1 Qa5 13. c4 Rd8 14. Nd6 cxd4
15. Ng5 h6 16. cxd5 Ncxe5 17. fxe5 hxg5 18. Nxc8+ Raxc8 19. d6+ Ke8 20. hxg5
Qxe5 21. Rh8+ Nf8 22. Bb5+ Rc6 23. Qf3 Rdxd6 24. g6 f5 25. Qa3 Qf4+ 26. Kg1
Qe3+ 1/2-1/2 in 31 moves, as in the game D. Zacurdajev (2136) - A. Vunder
(2323), St. Petersburg 2004) 12. ... Rd8 13. cxd5 exd5 14. Nc7 Qb2+ 15. Be2 Rb8
16. Nxd5+ Kf8 17. Qd3 Nxd4 18. Qxh7 Qxe2+ 19. Kg3 Nf5+ 20. Kh2 Ke8 21. e6 Nf8
22. Nc7+ Ke7 23. Qxf5 fxe6 24. Qg5+ 1-0 as in the game N. Speck (2324) - I.
Bjelobrk (2197), Melbourne 2002. 9. ... Qxb2 10. Nb5 a6 11. Rb1 Qxa2 12. Ra1
offers equal chances.)
10. Na4
(White now has a slight advantage.)
10. ... Qa5+
11. c3
(This controls b4.)
11. ... cxd4
(11. ... b6 12. Rh3 leads to equality.)
12. b4
(White threatens to win material: b4xa5.)
12. ... Qc7
(12. ... Nxb4 13. cxb4 Qxb4+ 14. Kf2 gives white a solid advantage.)
13. Nxd4
(The knight is not easily driven from d4. 13. b5 Na5 14. cxd4 Nc4 gives white a
solid advantage.)
13. ... a6
(This consolidates b5. White still has a slight advantage.)
14. Rh3
(14. Kf2 leaves white slightly better.)
14. ... Nb6
(14. ... b5!? is worth looking at: 15. Nb2 Bb7 offers equal chances.)
15. Nc5
(White is still slightly better.)
15. ... Bd7
(15. ... Nd7 16. Ncb3 gives white a solid advantage.)
16. a4
(16. Kf2 is very strong for white.)
Key Move Diagram:
r6r/
1pqbkppp/
pnn1p3/
2NpP3/
PP1N1P1P/
2P4R/
6P1/
R2QKB2
Position after white's 16th move.
16. ... Rag8?
(16. ... Nxd4!? 17. cxd4 Nc4 is relatively better, but white still has a solid
advantage.)
17. a5
(Now white's position is very strong.)
17. ... Nc8
18. Re3
(18. Kf2 N8a7 is also very strong for white.)
18. ... N8a7
(18. ... g6 19. Kf2 is also very strong for white.)
19. Nf3
(19. Kf2 Nxd4 20. cxd4 h5 is decisive for white.)
19. ... g6
(19. ... Rd8 20. h5 is very strong for white.)
20. Qd2
(20. Kf2 Kf8 is also very strong for white.)
20. ... Bc8
(20. ... Kf8 21. Kf2 is also decisive for white.)
21. Qf2
(21. Kf2 Rg7 is also very strong for white.)
21. ... h5
(21. ... Kf8 22. h5 gxh5 23. Qh4 is also decisive for white.)
22. Qg3
(22. Qd2 Rg7 should also win for white.)
22. ... Ke8
(22. ... Rd8 23. Qg5+ Kf8 24. Qf6 is also decisive for white.)
23. Kf2 Ne7
24. Bd3 Bd7
(24. ... Nac6 25. Kg1 is also very strong for white.)
25. Kg1
(25. Ng5 Bb5 26. Bxb5+ Nxb5 should win easily for white.)
25. ... Bb5
(25. ... Nf5!? 26. Bxf5 gxf5 leaves white with a solid advantage.)
26. Bxb5+
(26. Qf2 Nf5 27. Bxb5+ axb5 is very strong for white.)
26. ... Nxb5
(26. ... axb5 27. Re2 is decisive for white.)
27. Rd3 Na7
(27. ... Nc6 28. Ng5 is decisive for white.)
28. Rad1
(After 28. Qf2 White can relax: 28. ... Rg7 29. Ng5 Nac6 should win easily for
white.)
28. ... Nac6
(28. ... Kd8 29. c4 Kc8 30. Qf2 is still decisive for white.)
29. Qf2 Kf8
(29. ... Rf8 30. Rb1 is still decisive for white.)
30. Ng5 Qc8
31. c4 Kg7
32. cxd5 Nxd5
(32. ... exd5 doesn't get the cat off the tree: 33. e6 f6 34. Nf7 and white
should win easily.)
33. f5 gxf5
34. Rxd5 exd5
35. e6 f6
36. Nf7
(Better is 36. Rxd5, after which White has it in the bag: 36. ... Rd8 37. Rd7+
Rxd7 38. exd7.)
36. ... Ne7
(36. ... Nxb4 37. Rb1 b6 38. axb6 is still very strong for white. After the
text move white has a solid edge.)
37. Qd4
(Better is 37. Qg3+ Kh7 38. Qd6, with a decisive advantage for white.)
Key Move Diagram:
2q3rr/
1p2nNk1/
p3Pp2/
P1Np1p1p/
1P1Q3P/
8/
6P1/
3R2K1
Position after white's 37th move.
37. ... Nc6??
(This will cause more grief. Better is 37. ... Rf8, though white still has a
solid edge.)
38. Qxd5
(White has a decisive advantage.)
38. ... Rd8
(38. ... Qc7 doesn't change the outcome of the game: 39. Qxf5 Ne5 40. Nxh8 Rxh8
41. Rd7+ Nxd7 42. exd7 and white has a decisive edge. Weaker is 42. Nxd7 Qc3
43. Qe4 Rc8 with a slight edge for black.)
39. Nd7 Kg6
(39. ... Qc7 is the only chance to get some counterplay, but 40. Qxf5 Rxd7 41.
Rxd7 Qxd7 42. exd7 Kxf7 is still very strong for white.)
40. Rf1
(40. Rd3 Qc7 41. Nd6 Qxd6 42. Qxd6 Ne5 43. Rg3+ Ng4 44. e7 Rxd7 45. Qxd7 f4 46.
e8=Q+ Rxe8 47. Qxe8+ Kf5 48. Qxh5+ Ke4 49. Qxg4 Ke5 50. Qe2+ Kd5 51. Rd3+ Kc4
52. Qc2+ Kb5 53. Rd5+ Kxb4 54. Qb2+ Kc4 55. Rd4+ Kc5 56. Qb6#.)
40. ... Ne7
41. Qd4
(Black resigned in view of 41. ... Rxd7 42. exd7 Kxf7 43. dxc8=Q Rxc8 44. Re1
and white wins.)
1-0
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