Unseen blushes: Hans Niemann and the Varsity Match

Today sees the annual Varsity Match between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, hosted as usual by the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall. The current score is: Cambridge 60 wins to Oxford’s 58; 23 matches have been drawn. The respective teams and ratings are as follows, with Oxford names first:

Varsity Match number 142

I had hoped to lure Grandmaster Hans Niemann, currently residing in London, to open the event as our guest of honour. Sadly , monk-like devotion to his studies takes precedence over his attendance at what is widely regarded as the premier regular annual social event of the UK chess season.

Niemann is probably one of the world’s most recognisable chess grandmasters, as a result of the unfounded cheating accusations levelled against him by chess.com and Magnus Carlsen, coupled with the volatile domains of social media speculation. He has emerged from this ordeal with flying colours and his career is taking off, in particular after a stunning result in Zagreb, towards the end of last year.

Concerning study and advancement in chess strength, it is worth recalling those words of wisdom from Gray’s Elegy in a country churchyard:

“Full many a gem of purest ray serene,

The dark unfathom’d caves of ocean bear:

Full many a flow’r is born to blush unseen,

And waste its sweetness on the desert air.”

Following Gray, might I suggest, to a player who will doubtless prove to have reached a level far superior to my own, that  a fertile source for his intensive studies might be lesser known games by champions, which have escaped the standard anthologies because the “wrong “ result occurred. In particular I recommend Petrosian’s five missed opportunities from the 1956 Candidates’ tournament, where the 27 year old Jewish Armenian must have been suffering from so called Imposter Syndrome, and, in spite of easily achieving winning positions against the world’s best, failed to clinch the win on every one of the following occasions. What was interesting, and worthy of study, was the facility and regularity with which Petrosian achieved huge advantages, which should have been overwhelming, even against such powerful opposition.

It is instructive to see how, as in the old adage, the most difficult thing in chess is to win a won game. Back up analyses and detailed assessments follow.

Petrosian vs. Bronstein

Candidates tournament, Amsterdam, 1956

White to play

Here White, in an overwhelming position, played the tragic. 1. Ng5??, allowing 1… Nxd6. Naturally 1. Qc7 would have left Black without any sensible moves.

There is, of course, nothing much wrong with Ng5??, other than it being prudent to first remove the threatened Queen, after which, practically everything wins. For example:

1.a) Qa3 Re8 2. c5 Nd4 

​(2… Rg8 3. Nb6 Qf8 3. Qc3 Nd4 5. Qd2 Rg7 6. Nxd7 Bxd7 7. Rxb7 Rxb7 8. Qh6+;)

3.Nc7 Rd8 4. Nxa6 Ra8 5. Nc7 Ra7 6. Nb5 Nxb5 7. Rxb5 Nf6 8. Nxf6 Qxf6 9. Rb6 Qg7

​(9… Be6 10. Kg1 Rd7 11. Qe3 Kg7 12. Rxb7 Raxb7 13. Rxb7 Rxb7 14. Bxb7;)

​(9… Qxf2 10. Rf1 Qd4 11. Qc1 Qd2 12. Qxd2 Rxd2 13. Rf8+ Kh7 14. Rxc8;)

10.Be4 Bf5 11. Bxf5 gxf5 12. Qe3 Kg8 13. Rh6 Ra6 14. Rxh5 Rf8 15. Rg5 Rg6 16. Rxg6 Qxg6 17. Rb6 Qh5

​(17… Qg7 18. Qb3+ Qf7 19. Rxb7 Qxb3 20. Rxb3;)

18.Qxe5 Qf7

​(18… Qf3+ 19. Kg1 Qd1+ 20. Kg2;)

19.Kg2 Qd7 20. Rh6 Qg7 21. Qd6 Qf7 22. h5; or,

1.b) Qc7 Nd4 

​(1…. Rg8 or …b5, fare no better;) 

2.Ng5 b5 3. cxb5 axb5 4. Nb4 e4 

​(4… Qe7 5. a6 Bxa6 6. Nxa6 Rbe8 7. Nb4 Nf6 8. Qxe7;) 

5.Rd2 Rb7 6. Qc3 Ne6 

​(6… Nf5 7. Qxg7+ Nxg7 8. Bxe4 Ne5 9. Rbd1;)

7.Qxg7+ Nxg7 8. Bxe4 Ne5 9. Rbd1; or even,

1.c) Qb4 b5 

​(1… Re8 2. Nc7 Re7 3. Qc3 Nf8 4. Nxa6 Ra8 5. Nb4 Re8 6. Nd5 Ra6 7. c5 Rd8 8. Nb4;) 2. axb6 Bb7 3. Ng5 Rfc8 4. Kh2 Nh6 5. Ne7 Rc5 6. Bxb7 Rxb7 7. Nd5 Rc8 8. Qa3;

with a significant advantage for White in all lines.

Petrosian vs. Spassky

Candidates tournament, Amsterdam, 1956

White to play

Here Petrosian opted for the dilatory 1. Kh1, when 1. Rd1 would have faced Black with insuperable problems, for example 1…. c6 2. Kh1 Qf7 3. Qxf7+ Bxf7 4. Rd8+ winning. Alternatively 3… Kxf7 4. e6+ Bxe6 5. Rf1+ or 3… Rxf7 4. e6 Rf2 5. e7 Nf6 6. Bh5.

While the engine concurs that 1. Rd1! must represent the start of a crushing attack, Black has a variety of responses thereafter:-

2.a) 1… c6 2. Kh2 Qf7

​(2… Rxg4 3. Qxg4+ Qxg4 4. hxg4 Ng5 5. bxc6 Bxc6 6. Kg3 Kg7 7. Rf1 Ne6 8. Rf6 Nc7 9. ​Bf8+;)

3.Qxf7+ Kxf7 4. e6+ Ke8 5. Bh5+ Kd8 6. bxc6 bxc6 7. Bf7 Kc7 8. Bc3 Bxe6 9. Be5+;

2.b) 1… Qe6 2. Kh1 Rxg4 3. Qxg4+ Kf7 4. Rf1+ Ke8 5. Qxe6+ Bxe6 6. h4 b6

​(6… Bg4 7. a4 Bf3+ 8. Kg1 h5 9. Rc1;)

7.Rc1 Kd7 8. a4 Ba2 9. a5;

2.c) 1… Rxg4+ 2. Qxg4+ Qxg4+ 3. hxg4 Be6 4. Rc1 Bd7

​(4… c6 5. bxc6 bxc6 6. a4 Ng5 7. a5;)

5.Rxc7 Bxb5 6. e6 Nf6 7. Bc3 Ne8 8. Rxb7 Bc6 9. Ra7;

2.d) 1… Qxb5 2. Rxd5 Qxd5 3. Qe8+ Nf8 4. Qxf8+ Kh7 5. Kf2 Rg6 6. Qe7+ Rg7 8. Qf8+ Qg8 9. e6;

And White’s superiority in all lines will prove irresistible.

Smyslov vs. Petrosian

Candidates tournament, Amsterdam, 1956

Black to play

Here Black routinely doubled rooks on the b-file with 1… Rfb8 when White eventually scrambled a draw. Correct would have been 1… Rd2 2. Qb1 Bxc3 3. Nxc3 Rfxf2 when White can safely resign.

And while the engine avers with the outcome, it prefers a different defence:-

1… Rd2 2. Ne4 Rxd3 3. Nxd6 Bxa1 4. Rxa1 cxd6 5. Nf4 Ra3 6. Rxa3 Nxa3 7. Nxe6 Rb8 8. Bxd5 Nc2 9. Ng5 Nb4;

and the additional piece is decisive in those lines where mate is not immediately imminent.

Petrosian vs. Keres

Candidates tournament, Amsterdam, 1956

White to play

Here Petrosian played 1. Qf3. In fact, White gains a crushing position with 1. Bxf7+ Rcxf7 2. Qxg4 since if 2… Rxf2 3. Rxf2 Bxe3, of which Petrosian was scared, then 4. Qe6+ wins the bishop.

Of course, Black can find better than 2… Rxf2, although, remaining two pawns in arrears, he remains indubitably much worse after both 2… Qe8 and 2… Qe7.

Panno vs. Petrosian

Candidates tournament, Amsterdam, 1956

Black to play

White has just played 1. Qd6, to which Black responded, 1… f5?

Correct was the unambiguous, 1… Nxh3+!, as follows:-

2.a) gxh3 Qg5+ 3. Kh1 Bf8 4. Rg1 Qh6 5. Qh2 Bxa3 6. Rcf1 Kh8 7. Bd3

​(7. h4 Re6 8. Qh3 Rae8 9. Bd3 f5;)

7… Re6 8. Qg2 f5 9. Qg5 Qxg5 10. Rxg5 Rf8;

2.b) Kf1? Qh4 3. gxh3 Qxh3+ 4. Kg1

​(4. Ke1 Qg4+ 5. Kf1 Bf8 6. Qh2 Bxa3 7. Rc2 f5 8. Ne2 Re7 9. Qg2 Qf4;)

4… Qg4+ 5. Kf1 Bf8 6. Qh2 Bxa3 7. Rc2 f5 8. Qg2 Qh4 9. Qf3 Re7.

In all lines White’s discoordinated pieces will be squeezed into ever worse stations, while Black can plan the denouement in a relaxed and unpressured schedule of his own choosing.

May I take this opportunity to wish the best of good fortune to both sides in today’s university clash, and may all your winning positions not dissolve and vanish into the mist and fog of chessboard war, as did those of the unfortunate Petrosian.

Ray’s 207th book, Napoleon and Goethe: The Touchstone of Genius , is reviewed by Daniel Johnson, Editor of TheArticle, in the March issue of The Critic. The book is available from Amazon and Blackwell’s.  

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