[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: This Week's ChessBase Show: A Consultation Game for the Ages

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
This Week's ChessBase Show: A Consultation Game for the Ages
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1205910268.shtml


   Imagine a consultation game today with Anand, Kramnik, Topalov,
   Gelfand and Leko on one side, and Carlsen, Aronian, Morozevich and
   Ivanchuk on the other. A game like that would be a real event,
   something we'd all love to see - especially in a lively opening. As
   far as I know, the aforementioned players have not made any such
   arrangements, but in 1952 a game of this sort took place.
   The White side starred Yuri Averbakh (a Candidate in 1953), Efim
   Geller (a many-time Candidate, who enjoyed a career plus score in his
   games against world champions), Tigran Petrosian (World Champion from
   1963-1969), Mark Taimanov (two-time Candidate), and after a while they
   were joined by Mikhail Botvinnik (the World Champion) and Vassily
   Smyslov (who drew a title match with Botvinnik in 1954 and beat him in
   1957). What a team! The Black team didn't have any world champions,
   but they too were loaded heavy hitters: Paul Keres (many times a
   Candidate, and on the short list of the greatest players never to
   become champion), Alexander Tolush (the "weakie" of the bunch, but a
   very strong GM), Alexander Kotov (a Candidate in 1953, and the
   decisive winner of that year's Interzonal), and Isaac Boleslavsky (who
   had tied for first in the 1950 Candidates).
   These greats combined to produce a really fascinating game, one
   deserving of our attention as we continue our series on the
   Nimzo-Indian Defense. [1]Last week we scratched the surface of the
   4.Qc2 systems, which are often characterized by a battle between
   White's long-term prospects with the bishop pair and Black's
   short-term initiative. In this week's game, we take a look at a
   radically different White approach, the Saemisch Variation with 4.a3.
   Here the long-term factors are in Black's favor (thanks to White's
   shattered queenside structure after 4...Bxc3+ 5.bxc3), while White is
   the one pursuing the initiative. White can build a big pawn center in
   the hopes of using his extra space to build a kingside attack, but
   he'd better hurry before his c4 pawn dies and the enemy crashes
   through the queenside.
   That's just the sort of battle we're going to see, and with such
   impressive intellectual firepower on both side, you can bet the action
   and the ideas will be top-notch. Join me tonight - Wednesday night -
   as we review this almost unknown gem from 1952. The show is free and
   starts at 9 p.m. ET (3 a.m. CET), and if you're new to watching
   broadcasts on the playchess server you can find full directions
   [2]here.

References

   1. http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1205300910.shtml
   2. http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1114234449.shtml