Hi there.
In this lecture, we see an absolutely amazing game between Boris Spassky and Tigran Petrosian in the
1966 Trojan Spassky World Championship match, Round seven d4 from Boris Spassky.
We see nothing F 690 3e6 Bishop g5d5 Knight BD two Bishop e7e, Free Knight bd7 Bishop D free.
And you'll note here that Petrosian doesn't cancel kingside.
He creates the possibility actually of castling queenside with this next move in particular highlights
the potential for creating imbalances in the position so trying to create more differences in position.
So we see we see actually b six won't cost was kingside but now bishop B seven, knights E five and
now Knight takes E five, D takes 97.
Black's king is not necessarily going on the kingside.
Here we have Queen C seven, Knights have three now H six.
So this betrays the idea that maybe that's going to play G five and just Castle Queenside We have Bishop
G3, G five.
So what is White got from the opening?
It looks as though White's committed the king as a target.
Here we see b4h5 threatening to trap the bishop with h four.
So white plays h four if B takes c five.
Yeah, we just go ahead with h four and we're just winning material basically.
So h four we have g takes h four, which opens up this G file.
This already looks like a fantastic position for Black to have the opening.
We have Bishop and four.
If Bishop takes H four, we can take on H four and then after nine takes h four that neglects E five.
We can just take on E five and here then we can cancel queenside with advantage.
So Bishop four is chosen and now the imbalances are amplified with constant queenside.
So the differences of the king means and the structure is very different.
It's not exactly a symmetrical pawn structure.
There's a road to the king here.
It's full of imbalances here in Black's favor.
Overall, one has to say so a four and now closing up with C four, Bishop e two, and now getting ready
for A five or B five with the move a six.
So basically if B five, then a five, and if a five, then B five.
There's a nice reaction capability here.
So why it's not going to be able to open up too many lines against the king for the foreseeable future.
So it's a great preventative move in terms of preventing the opening up of the King.
We have now King h1b and now Rook D, B, eight, G one and our Rook G four, Queen D two and now the
Rooks double A five and now closing with B five.
The position Rook 81 and now Bishop F eight giving the idea that actually hold on Bishop G seven And
then what about E five soon we have no H two now this actually.
Is not such a big deal of a threat.
Guess what Petrosian plays here?
Which further raises the stakes of the differences in position.
OC a material imbalance.
Is increased there with this positional exchange SAC nine times e five.
So taking out a center pawn and straightening out the pawns here, this is very dangerous.
And it was also the one less key blockade of D four which could open up this bishop.
Directly to the white king.
So there's huge compensation for the positional exchange sacrifice.
Huge.
We have E4 and now just Bishop DD six important tactical note here.
We've created a kind of weakness of the last move with this retreat.
And in fact, if Petrosian had taken on E4, it's a complete disaster.
Can you see what white plays which is winning for white?
You know, this battery isn't just pretty.
Batteries should not be underestimated.
We have Bishop takes evolve with the white pieces and it's crushing.
Just losing material.
We can't take on E five because of Queen D H.
So safety point after E four.
Yes.
This is one of the very best moves in the position.
Bishop D six here, keeping things very safe.
So game on.
We have Queen E three.
And now 97.
Looking at Bishop takes a four.
Bishop takes the six.
Queen takes the six.
Rook RD four and E five.
We have raw data and another very dynamic move to try and maybe open up this B seven bishop to h1a little
bit more.
So guess what?
Petrosian place here for 100 points.
Yeah.
EF five.
A really interesting position on sacrifice.
We have to 65.
If E takes F five, the point is F six.
And for example here D four opens up the B seven bishop.
So this position we can actually slice through with E four very, very dangerous.
F takes this nine takes E four and this we can see the bishop is going to be decisive.
This position for example H two check 93 is winning the Queen, otherwise it's going to be be 9f1 mating.
And if we look at this again, I mean there are a few angles of this of what's going on here.
But basically, yeah, it's it's just very, very dangerous position here.
If F takes there's a lot of other dangers to work with for blank.
There's just a huge amount of compensation.
So instead of King G one in line, we looked at thou if, say, Queen A three and I have to check just
to show H to check.
This is also dangerous for Queen F for check and we're just going to be mating.
So E tanks D five is chosen.
And now this means a full squeezing with the pawns.
Queen E four and L nine, five, six allowing a check, but it doesn't really make a difference.
F three We have bishops eight Queen Bee one and now g three with an incoming H three move.
So why?
It's the void of counterplay here and the pieces are being squeezed.
H free Bishop f one If g st century we play g two check here and then Queen D seven dual purpose either
Queen St's H free or this queen A seven check is lurking in the position.
So Bishop f one we can just take on F one that's crushing.
Yeah, it's it's all pretty crushing there.
And if we go back instead of King G one, what if King H two, Queen D seven.
Here we can use Queen A seven, Jack.
And if we get our queen's f two, we're threatening now.
G one double check And mate, if you want Queen G phrase mate.
So nice resources.
Bishop F one is played Rook age eight G takes H three Bishop St Century King G one Bishop takes F one
King takes F one and now E four.
This is really great stuff.
Basically, Queen D one is played.
If Rook takes E four we have sympathy Rook H one Check picking up the queen if F takes.
We have two connected past pawns with the France of rook h one mating and if King G one queen f four
and white's king has had it black is on the way to mating.
Who moves like Queen H four and Queen H one.
This is just desperate.
They'll be desperate.
It's absolutely crushing position.
So Queen RD one was tried and now another glorious move from Tigran Petrosian.
Can you guess?
100 points.
Really glorious stuff.
We have Knight G four.
So what is going on here?
What's what's this Knight G four about, you might ask.
So F takes was played if F takes E for 93 check and it's too much for white.
This position is too much of an attack, especially after rook I think threatening all sorts of things.
So this position queen takes E for Queen D for a check.
Queen D two is mate.
So f tanks is tried f three, so a rook down.
But look at the pawns they're conspiring to help chap mate.
So one mate for that we have Rook g21 else.
If rook takes E4, this is just mate.
So Rook g two but now F to G two.
And actually here Spassky resigned at move 43.
If King takes G to.
Then to check NH six and we've got coordination here against the king.
It's mating.
If instead of King takes you to King, E2, then Queen are full and here with a free check queen have
to check.
And we can actually just play like this to win with a pass pawn.
So, yes, a fascinating game.
Lots of imbalances created by Abraham chosen.
He didn't just routinely in the opening castle king size.
And I do find this a very exciting way of playing if you want to try and win sometimes to create these
imbalances.
So it's not just the attacking players making use of this idea of pronouncing the differences between
both sides.
The positional player can do this and we see later on positional exchange sacrifice as well.
We see that great king safety management.
The king wasn't at all in danger, so counterplay than the opponent minimized whilst all the time we're
building the pressure, we're accumulating advantages through vivid accumulation of pressure against
White's King.
On the King's side, we're going to build up on E five here with Bishop G seven.
So this nice exchange sacrifice, it really is a beauty to behold.
So Queen E 397 Bishop takes, Queen takes.
Yeah.
It's just a beautiful flow to this game like Space Invaders of the Five.
And for these, these pawns are coming down like the classic game Space Invaders that I had on the Atari
100.
So, yeah, the pawns advance here, breaking through to the gates of the king.
So a real beauty to behold this game.
I'll take you back to that final endgame position.
Absolute beauty.
One of my favorite games of Tigran Petrosian crazy.
Lots of imbalances from the opening here.
Those favorable differences to differentiate both sides, advantages to be in different forms.
Okay, I hope you enjoyed this game as much as me and so much.