Korchnoi-Spassky Candidates 1977: French Winawer Part 2

The games of the final Candidates match of 1977 between Viktor Korchnoi and Boris Spassky in which the positional lines of the French Defense, Winawer Variation were played will be shown. These are the games without 7.Qg4. Instead 7.a4 or 7.Nf3 were played in four games. In game 2, Spassky had played 7.Qg4 and lost. In games 4, 6, 8, and 10, Spassky did not play 7.Qg4. In those games, Korchnoi scored two wins and two draws. In game 12, Spassky switched back to 7.Qg4 and won. After that, the Winawer was not played again. In game 14, Spassky offered 1.e4, but Korchnoi responded with 1...e5 and lost. In game 16, Spassky played 1.d4 resulting in a draw. Korchnoi was leading by three points with four games left to play, but lost as White in game 17. In game 18, Spassky began with 1.d4. Korchnoi replied with 1...e6. The French Defense was on the board after 2.e4 d5. Instead of his usual 3.Nc3, Spassky played 3.e5, entering the Advance Variation. Korchnoi won that game and the match, leaving two scheduled games unplayed.

Since four games from the match and five other games played by Korchnoi are shown, a guide to locating the games is presented. The main game is game 4 (1/2-1/2) which features 7.a4 Bd7. The line with 7.Nf3 Bd7 8.dxc5 Qc7 9.Bd3 Ba4 appeared in three games with deviations on move 10. Game 6 (1/2-1/2) had 10.Be3. Game 8 (0-1) had 10.0-0. Game 10 (0-1) used 10.Rb1. In these three games, Korchnoi continued 10...Nd7. After 9.Bd3, instead of 9...Ba4, Korchnoi played 9...Nbc6 against Nunn (1/2-1/2). Other games shown are to be found following the main game. After 7.a4 Qa5 (instead of Bd7) 8.Qd2 Nbc6 Kuijpers lost to Korchnoi. After 7.a4 Bd7 8.Nf3 Qa5, Mnatsakanian tried 9.Qd2 (instead of 9.Bd2) and lost. The main game continued 7.a4 Bd7 8.Nf3 Qa5 9.Bd2 Nbc6 10.Be2 f6 11.c4 Qc7 12.exf6. Instead, Timman played 12.cxd5 and lost. Lenderman did play 12.exf6 gxf6 13.cxd5 Nxd5 as in the main game, but tried 14.dxc5, (instead of 14.c3) and lost.