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GM
Gosta Stoltz - IM Herman Steiner;
FIDE Interzonal Tournament
Stockholm, (Saltsjobaden) SWE; 1952.
FIDE Interzonal Tournament
Stockholm, (Saltsjobaden) SWE; 1952.
This is really a great and grand game of chess. I first saw this a long time ago ... and I was totally blown away by it. I have seen this game literally dozens of times in books and magazines. I have at least 10 different books that have this game in it. This ranges from some very old books that were printed in the late fifties or early sixties - all the way up to the new Soltis book which came out less than a year ago. I also have seen this game annotated more than once in various magazines. One of my Internet students, who lives in France, was kind enough to gather copies of about six different magazines that this game was originally printed in and send them to me. I have been working on this game now for over 3 years. I have not yet finished my 'long' version of this game, but I thought I would bring you some form of this game without any further delay. You be the judge: How brilliant is this game?
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G. Stoltz (2675) - H. Steiner (2650)
[A21]
Interzonal Tournament
Stockholm, SWE; 1952.
[A.J. Goldsby I]
No less a writer than the very well known and respected author, GM Andrew Soltis, considers this the EIGHTH (#8) Best Game of the whole of the 20th Century!!! (And it is a really amazing combination.)
G. Stoltz was a GM, and also many times the Champion of Sweden.
H. Steiner was an IM. He was also a U.S. Champion.
***
(My analysis here is based almost entirely Soltis's work. See the book, "The 100 Best," by GM Andrew Soltis.)
1.c4
e5; 2.Nc3
d6; 3.g3
f5; 4.Bg2
Nf6; 5.d4!?
Be7;
Simple development is probably
best for Black here.
[ 5...exd4; 6.Qxd4 g6; 7.b3 Bg7; 8.Bb2, "+/=" ].
6.e3
0-0; 7.Nge2,
This is probably best.
[ White could also play: 7.Rb1!?; or 7.Nh3 ].
7...Kh8; 8.Qc2
Qe8; 9.b3
Nc6; 10.Ba3
exd4;
At a first and casual glance, the
opening of the position seems to
favor Black.
[ Maybe better was: 10...a5!?;
- GM Andy Soltis.
(Black should follow up
with the idea of ...Nb4.) ].
11.exd4
f4!; 12.0-0-0!
Nh5!?;
This looks good, but Soltis says
Black should sacrifice a pawn for
some play instead.
[ According to GM A. Soltis, the best line for Black was:
12...f3!;
13.Bxf3
Ng4;
14.Bxg4
Bxg4; "~"
{Diagram?}
Black has good 'comp' and excellent play
for the Pawn. - GM A. Soltis. ].
13.Be4!
g6; 14.Nd5
Qd8; 15.Bb2!
f3; 16.Nef4
Bg5; 17.Bxg6!?,
I think this is a very brilliant
sacrifice. (Maybe - '!' or even '!!')
[ But better was: >= 17.Kb1!, {Diagram?} - GM's G. Stoltz & A. Soltis. ].
17...hxg6;
This looks forced. (To me anyway.)
[ Apparently Black had a better
defence with: 17...Rxf4!;
"~" {Diagram?}
- GM Andy Soltis. ].
18.Qxg6
Ng7;
This seems virtually forced
now, in this position.
[ Worse for Black was:
18...Nxf4?!; 19.gxf4
Rxf4; 20.Qh5+
Kg8;
21.Nxf4
Bxf4+; 22.Kb1,
"+/" and White is clearly better. ].
Now comes a sequence of moves
so complex and beautiful, that if
proven to be totally
sound, would
probably be in the 'Top Ten' of
the best combinations ever played.
19.h4
Bxf4+; 20.gxf4!
Bf5; 21.Qh6+
Bh7; 22.Ne3!
Rf6; 23.Qg5
Rg6;
24.d5!!
Rxg5;
One Russian analyst, in a Soviet
magazine of that era, spends
several pages proving
Black had
to take the Queen here.
[ If 24...Ne7;
then 25.Qh5,
---> and White has a very powerful
attack. ].
25.hxg5
Ne7; 26.Ng4!
Qc8; []
This is probably best for Black. (Box.)
27.g6!!
Qxg4; {Box?}
Once again, Black seems to be
making the only move that he can.
[ If 27...Nxg6;
28.Nf6
Nf8; {Diagram?}
Now White wins with 29.Rdg1,
and then 30.Nxh7. - GM Andy Soltis. ].
28.Rxh7+
Kg8; 29.Rxg7+
Kf8; 30.Rf7+
Ke8; 31.Re1
(!) 31...Qxg6;
32.Rexe7+
Kd8; 33.Bf6!!,
An extremely brilliant repartee,
considering that White also wins
with the simple Rg7.
[ 33.Rg7
Qd3; 34.Bf6
Qf1+; 35.Kb2
Qxf2+; 36.Kc3!,
White wins, ("+/-") as Black has run out
of any useful checks. ].
33...Qxf6; 34.Rd7+!, Black Resigns!
[ After the continuation: 34.Rd7+
Ke8; 35.Rxf6
Kxd7; 36.Rf7+
Ke8;
37.Rh7, {Diagram?}
White forces a trade of the Rooks,
and the resulting K+P
ending is
completely winning for White. ].
One of the most brilliant games
I have ever had the pleasure to
study or analyze.
Chernev said
this game had had to be in the 'Top 25' of the last 100 years.
1 - 0
I have been studying this game for over 3 years. (On and off.) I can say - with a high degree of confidence - that while many of the variations given by many annotators are incorrect, the actual combination is 100% sound. It is also one of the most brilliant games ever played. To further complicate matters, GM Andy Soltis finds NOT ONE BLACK MOVE ... on which he can hang a whole question mark. Using Andy Soltis's own criteria, in the strictest possible manner, this game would have to be an incredibly strong candidate for the most beautiful game of the 20th Century.
I personally rank this game in the "TOP 25" best (chess) games ... OF ALL TIME!!!
(Code Initially) Generated with ChessBase 8.0
Page last up-dated on October 31st, 2002.
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