Serper's Long Lost Game

I'll admit, the title is a bit misleading. GM Serper himself probably has it in his archives. But, nevertheless, this game is not featured on chessgames.com, so it certainly was lost for a vast majority of chess fans.

The game is from the Soviet Army Championship that was held in Frunze in 1988. Serper, then a National Master, was out of form and finished 17th of 18, winning only two games. The game against Yuri Kruppa is on chessgames.com, but the game against the Latvian veteran Janis Klovans (who finished last at that tournament, with 2.5/17 and without a single win) isn't.

Other notable participants of that tournament included IM Evgeny Vladimirov (former second to Garry Kasparov, won the tournament), IM Vasily Ivanchuk (3rd), IM Alex Yermolinsky (4th), GM Valery Chekhov (7th), GM Gennady Timoschenko (8th) and NM Alexey Dreev (10th). The titles are given, of course, as they were in 1988.

Let that sink in: Serper shared first place at the World Junior Championship several months after he finished next to last at the Soviet Army Championship. That's the Soviet chess school for you!

And now, without further ado, the game. Nice defence by Serper.