Beliavsky's Immortal King Hunt - Best Of The 1980s - Smirin vs. Beliavsky, 1989
Many great chess players have lived in Garry Kasparov's chess shadow. Alexander Beliavsky is one of those players - a brilliant attacker who you may not even have heard of, but who was one of the strongest players in the 1980s aside from Kasparov and Karpov.
Beliavsky is also to be much admired for the length of his career as he was soviet champion in the 70's and a top-ten players in the 80's and late 90's.
Top 10 Games of the 1980s
- #1: ???
- #2: ???
- #3: ???
- #4: ???
- #5: ???
- #6: ???
- #7: ???
- #8: Smirin vs. Beliavsky, 1989
- #9: Kasparov vs. Petrosian, 1981 (blog)
- #10: Beliavsky vs. Nunn, 1985 (blog)
- See also: Top 10 of the 1990s, Top 10 of the 2000s, and Top 10 of the 2010s
Beliavsky's immortal is doubtless his victory here against Ilia Smirin. The also aggressive Smirin pushed forward with the h-pawn, but "Harry" fails to faze Beliavsky who mobilizes his pieces for a central assault which quickly turns into a beautiful king hunt.
The rook and knight sacrifice to drive the white king up the board are very visual sacrifices, sure to please any lovers of chess aesthetics.
Lessons:
- If you start a knife fight on the board, you best not flinch.
- Bring ALL of the pieces to the fight.
- Don't miss your chance at immortality.
My notes are below.
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I'm the VP of Chess and Community for Chess.com. I earned the National Master title in 2012, and in 2014, I returned to my home state of South Carolina to start Strategery: Chess and Games. In late 2014, I began working for Chess.com and haven't looked back since.
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