E=MC2 Matter vs. Energy! - Shishov- Nezhmetdinov, 1947
Great players are able, among other things, to imbue their pieces with great energy; to unlock their potential. Rashid Gibiatovich Nezhmetdinov was such a player. When he found his groove in a position, you would not want to bet against him!
Against the great players of his day, the only one he had a plus-score against was Mikhail Tal. Here are some of his lifetime scores:
Classical games: Rashid Gibiatovich Nezhmetdinov tied Mikhail Botvinnik 0 to 0, with 1 draw.
*The figures above are based only on games present in our database which may be incomplete.
Classical games: Vasily Smyslov beat Rashid Gibiatovich Nezhmetdinov 1 to 0.
Classical games: Rashid Gibiatovich Nezhmetdinov beat Mikhail Tal 3 to 1.
Classical games: Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian beat Rashid Gibiatovich Nezhmetdinov 3 to 0, with 2 draws.
Classical games: Boris Spassky beat Rashid Gibiatovich Nezhmetdinov 3 to 2, with 1 draw.
Classical games: Lev Polugaevsky beat Rashid Gibiatovich Nezhmetdinov 4 to 2, with 2 draws.
Classical games: Rashid Gibiatovich Nezhmetdinov tied David Bronstein 1 to 1, with 1 draw.
Classical games: Viktor Korchnoi beat Rashid Gibiatovich Nezhmetdinov 3 to 0, with 2 draws.
Classical games: Efim Geller beat Rashid Gibiatovich Nezhmetdinov 2 to 1, with 3 draws.
Classical games: Isaac Boleslavsky beat Rashid Gibiatovich Nezhmetdinov 2 to 1, with 5 draws.
Classical games: Rashid Gibiatovich Nezhmetdinov tied Eduard Gufeld 0 to 0, with 2 draws.
Smyslov, Petrosian and Korchnoi dominated; he was not able to win one game against them. Against Tal he won 3, and won one each against Geller, Bronstein, Boleslavsky, and 2 against Polugaevsky.
The best game of his life he played against Polugaevsky in 1958; I mean, he just crushed with the Black pieces!
Nezhmetdinov was one of Tal's trainers for his match against Botvinnik in 1960......
A few years later, in an interview, a reporter asked Tal which had been the happiest day of his life. Tal answered that it was the day he lost the following game to Rashid G. Nezhmetdinov!
And now to the game featured in this post, Shichov-Nezhmetdinov, Tblisi 1947. Nezhmetdinov plays the Black side of the Siesta Variation in the Ruy Lopez, and introduces a novelty on move 11 in an ultra-sharp variation. White wins two pawns, and Nezhmetdinov....proposes the exchange of Queens!
He proceeds to demonstrate that the activity of his pieces was enough compensation. Within 4 moves Black had recovered the 2 pawns and had a winning position! Brilliant!
The game is commented by A. Pishkin, author of the book "Super Nezh".
