Keres-Johansson: A Taimanov Sicilian at the Stockholm Jubilee 6667

At the tournament in Stockholm held in 1966-67, Paul Keres finished in clear first place with a score of 7/9. In doing so, he produced a number of fine games. The following example of his style and talent shows his handling of the white pieces against the Sicilian Defense. The variation is the Taimanov. It should be noticed that Keres played in a flexible, yet direct manner. It is not possible to show everything that can happen in even one variation of a chess opening, not to mention all the transpositional possibilities, in one article. Although the ECO code appears as B80, I suggest studying the opening using the code B47. Openings can usefully be studied one game at a time. In the early part of the game, there are general comments. Starting with move nine, there is analysis. Included in the notes are two complete and annotated games that I consider entertaining examples of alternatives.