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By Larry Parr
Chess Life Editor 1984 - 1988
Author
WORSE
THAN A CRIME?
(Continued)
WHEN
CHESS GODS BLUNDER
(IV)
Respect for an opponent and accepting the probable outcome of a game are,
then, Darwinian fitness reflexes. Yet
opportunities are missed by believing one’s opponent as in this stunning
example of failing to apprehend the unbelievable:
GM
Laszlo Szabo - GM
Samuel Reshevsky, Candidates’
Tournament, 1953
Reshevsky(to play)
Szabo
20. ... Bxf6??
One can make a case for awarding this blunder, which allows a mate two,
only one question mark. Black is
also lost after 20. ... Kh8, when White has such moves as 21. Qc3 or 21. f4,
continuing with f4-f5.
21. Bxf6??
Depending on viewpoint, this move could be adorned with merely a single
query (White still has a winning position) or with three (White does, after all,
overlook a standard tactic and a two-move mate after 21. Qxg6+ Bg7
22. Qxg7, mate). Szabo later
explained his blunder: “Well, you
don’t just look for mates in two against Reshevsky.”
As Bobby Fischer once wrote, “For a period of ten years - between 1946
and 1956 - Reshevsky was probably the best chess player in the world.
I feel sure that had he played a match with Botvinnik during that time,
he would have won.” No one can say who would have won such a match, though we all
can say who did win a short match
between the two in 1955. Sammy
triumphed 2 ˝ - 1 ˝.
21. ... Bxd5 22. cxd5 Qd6 23.
Qc3 Qxd5 24. Rfd1 Qf5
25. e4 Qe6 26. Bg7 b6
Black is still dead lost but not yet dead.
Reshevsky
Szabo (to play)
27. Bxf8??
“Someone has blundered” - Tennyson, in “The Charge of the Light
Brigade.” GM Szabo can still win
thanks to a mating threat on g7, but he once again fails to see a simple
tactical sequence, 27. Bh6 f6 28.
Qg3, threatening both 29. Qxg6+ and 29. Qxb8, bagging a Rook.
27. ... Kxf8, draw
Wrote David Bronstein in his famous book of this tournament, “Szabo
immediately saw his error and became so distraught that after using up nearly
all his remaining time, and still without making a move, he accepted the draw
Reshevsky had offered nearly half an hour before.
After such a traumatic experience Sazbo was a long time regaining his
confidence, which naturally affected his play for the remainder of the
tournament.”
QUICK GLANCE
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