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1. c4
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1960 World Championship Match, Game 6 |
 
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1... Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. d4 d6 6. Nc3 Nbd7 7. O-O e5
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The King's Indian Opening, Fianchetto: Classical Variation. |
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8. e4 c6 9. h3 Qb6 10. d5 cxd5 11. cxd5 Nc5 12. Ne1
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Preparing for a queenside assault. |
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12... Bd7 13. Nd3 Nxd3 14. Qxd3 Rfc8 15. Rb1
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Freeing the dark-square bishop to attack the queen. Botvinnik has lost control of the open file, but most of his pieces have their eyes turned towards the queenside, giving him good attacking chances. |
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15... Nh5
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Much of Tal's brilliancy is his resilience to classical principles and his keen discernment for when they do not apply: here he turns his attacks on the kingside in the middle of a pitched queenside battle. |
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16. Be3 Qb4 17. Qe2
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Botvinnik grapples to respond to Tal's 15th move. |
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17... Rc4 18. Rfc1 Rac8 19. Kh2
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In preparation for the assault. |
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19... f5
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Unleashing a strong attack. |
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20. exf5 Bxf5 21. Rba1 Nf4
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! A computer rated this sacrifice as unsound, but Botvinnik, for all of his scientific analysis, could not produce the computer's results in the course of the match. |
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22. gxf4 exf4 23. Bd2 Qxb2 24. Rab1
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After 24. ... Bxb1 25. Rxb1 Qa3 Black has a very cramped game, not unlike a Poisoned Pawn Variation. Also, since Tal has already sacrificed a piece, he must win more than the exchange in return. |
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24... f3 25. Rxb2 fxe2 26. Rb3 Rd4 27. Be1 Be5+ 28. Kg1 Bf4 29. Nxe2 Rxc1 30. Nxd4 Rxe1+ 31. Bf1 Be4 32. Ne2 Be5 33. f4 Bf6 34. Rxb7 Bxd5 35. Rc7
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Preventing 35. ... Bc4 winning the knight. |
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35... Bxa2 36. Rxa7 Bc4 37. Ra8+
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! Either Black draws under perpetual checks, or the King escapes to e6, from which Botvinnik can guard the knight. |
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37... Kf7 38. Ra7+ Ke6 39. Ra3
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Now if 39. ... Bxe2 then 40. Re3 wins back the material. |
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39... d5 40. Kf2 Bh4+ 41. Kg2 Kd6 42. Ng3 Bxg3 43. Bxc4
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Zwischenzung to maintain parity. |
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43... dxc4 44. Kxg3 Kd5 45. Ra7 c3 46. Rc7 Kd4 47. Rd7+
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Realizing that there was no sound way to stop the passed pawn, Botvinnik resigned. Following Tal's line of thought is like a roller coaster on black and white squares - so many moves are overlaid with deep traps and subtle forces so unpredictable that Botvinnik had little hope but to succumb in the end. The 1960 World Championship went to the young Latvian by a score of 12.5 to 8.5. |
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