How To Crush The Sicilian Defense! - Best Of The 40s - Ravinsky vs. Panov, 1943
It's the dream of every chess player playing the white pieces, crushing the Sicilian Defense with numerous sacrifices! The Soviet master, Ravinsky, does just that by sacrificing both rooks and a knight to fully expose the black king in the following game, a perfect demonstration of catching the king in the center and conducting a deadly king hunt.
Top 10 Games of the 1940s
- #1: ????
- #2: ????
- #3: ????
- #4: Ravinsky vs. Panov, 1943
- #5: Wood vs. Wallis, 1945
- #6: Reshevsky vs. Vasconcelos, 1948
- #7: Euwe vs. Keres, 1940
- #8: Liublinsky vs. Botvinnik, 1943
- #9: Zita vs. Bronstein, 1946
- #10: Siff vs. Kashdan, 1948
- See also: Top 10 of the 1950s, Top 10 of the 1960s, Top 10 of the 1970s, Top 10 of the 1980s, Top 10 of the 1990s, Top 10 of the 2000s, and Top 10 of the 2010s
The game opens with a seemingly innocuous fianchetto variation against the Sicilian Schevinengen, but as is often the case, the key to one's downfall in chess is not taking the opponent's play seriously enough. Panov seems unhurried regarding establishing a safe king position, leaving the bishop on f8 and pushing forward on the queenside. With a step too far on the queenside, Panov allows the break 14.e5! which leads quickly to sacrifices on d7, e6, and e7. that fully expose the black king to a decisive attack.
My annotations are below. Enjoy the beautiful tactics!
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