[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: Spassky and the Most Fantastic Move Ever (?)

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
Spassky and the Most Fantastic Move Ever (?)
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1170393115.shtml


   To continue our celebration of Spassky's 70th birthday...
   It was early 1956, and the Soviet Championship had finished
   inconclusively: Mark Taimanov, Yuri Averbakh and the just-turned-19
   Boris Spassky were tied for first, and a playoff was needed. The
   players commenced a double-round robin, and it started poorly for
   Spassky. The first game was a 115-move draw between Taimanov and
   Averbakh, and the second game was a Spassky loss, with White, against
   Taimanov. To have a chance at first, Spassky would probably need to
   win with Black against Averbakh, but after the moves
   1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.d4 Bg7 5.Be2 O-O 6.Bg5 [The Averbakh
   Variation. Coincidence?] 6...c5 [I hope all my readers know not to
   play 6...e5?? here: 7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Qxd8 Rxd8 9.Nd5+-, though Black can
   limit the damage to a lost pawn and a worse position with 9...Nbd7
   10.Rd1 Rf8 11.Nxc7 Rb8 12.Be3 b6 13.f3 etc. If Black wants to play an
   ...e5 system against the Averbakh, he should play 6...Na6 and only
   then ...e5.] 7.d5 Qa5 8.Bd2 a6 9.a4 e5 10.g4 Ne8 11.h4 f5 12.h5 f4
   13.g5 Qd8 14.Bg4 Nc7 15.Bxc8 Qxc8 16.Nf3
   [averbakh_spassky_1.jpg]
   Black's position is beyond bad; it's horrible. He has no space, no
   counterplay, and nothing to do but wait for White to finish him off.
   What would you do here? Whatever it is, I'm sure it's not the move
   Spassky played: 16...Nc6!!??
   [averbakh_spassky_2.jpg]
   What???
   Well, yes, it is crazy, and Black is still completely lost. But at
   least it's a different kind of lost! Black has a little more room for
   his pieces, the b-file, a potentially mobile pawn center (especially
   after ...Nd4, should White exchange that knight), and perhaps a
   short-term psychological advantage as White lifts his jaw from the
   floor.
   As the game continued, Averbakh was clearly winning, and maintained
   that advantage for a long time, but eventually the tables turned. The
   position became more fluid, and when White couldn't figure out how to
   win on the kingside, Black's queenside initiative ended up giving him
   a won game! Unfortunately, Spassky refturned the favor, and Averbakh
   snuck out with what was, by the end, a very fortunate half a point.
   Is this the most fantastic move ever? [1]Tim Krabbé thinks so, and
   while I'm not sure I agree, no other move comes to mind in its stead.
   Remarkable.
   [N.B. You can replay the whole game, and see Spassky's own comments to
   the move, via the Krabbé link given above.]

References

   1. http://www.xs4all.nl/~timkr/chess/fant100.htm