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Eugenio Torre- Beating Karpov with Black or White....while Karpov was World Champion!

Eugenio Torre- Beating Karpov with Black or White....while Karpov was World Champion!

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kamalakanta
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Eugenio Torre was able to do what most other Grandmasters were not able to: To beat Karpov twice, while Karpov was World Champion!

In 1976, Karpov had just been crowned World Champion, because Bobby Fischer did not play their scheduled World Championship match in 1975. Karpov went on to dominate the world chess scene, winning ,multiple international tournaments at the highest level, for many years.

In this game, Eugenio Torre goes toe to toe with Karpov, and is able to outplay him! A great creative achievement!

12/29/28-

OK, here is the game where Torre outplays Karpov from the White side of a Nimzo-Indian....

By the way, searching for images of Karpov vs. Torre I discovered a book, written in 2016 by Tibor Karolyi, titled "Legendary Chess Careers- Eugenio Torre". It looks like a great book!

....and it is available here:

http://tinyurl.com/ycq7f8fe

12/29/18- 2nd Update...

The game that inspired me to look up games by Torre is the following game, Short-Torre, Istanbul 2012 Olympiad. It is a positional masterpiece by Torre!

12/30/18- Update....

The following game, played in 1975 in Cleveland, USA, is a delight to go through...against Andy Soltis, Torre produces a masterpiece, with a flowing, confident positional style that eventually crushes White's position! Here is the game:

                                              GM Andrew (Andy) Soltis (1947-     )

                                                  

12/31/18- The following game, where Torre plays Black against Polugaevsly, follows one of the main lines of the Slav Defense. As far as I understand it, White over-extended on the Kingside, and Black defends by exchanging a few pieces, which eliminated the possibility of a White Kingside-attack. Black applies pressure, and White loses a pawn, and at this level, a pawn is enough! Take a look!


                                                       Lev Polugaevsky (1934-1995)

In the next game, played in Bugjono, 1984, Torre plays the Meran Variation with Black. He goes for a risky continuation, and Smyslov slips a bit....and Torre pounces! Torre gains a pawn, and is able to hold it, albeit at some risk, as White is ahead in development and has a passed a-pawn. Torre is able to consolidate slowly and keep the advantage. A great achievement against Vassily Smyslov, who had played a Final Candidates' Match against Kasparov the year before! This is a game worth studying, with many ebbs and flows.

Vassily Smyslov
(1921-2010)

1/1/19- Happy New Year!

One more game, to end this blog post (I hope I don't go over the space limit).


                                                          Veselin Topalov (1975-    )

That's it, folks! I hope you enjoyed some of Torre's victories with the Black pieces....and remember, BLACK IS OK!