Geller Teaches the Kids (Fischer, Karpov, Beliavsky, Psakhis!) How Chess Can Be Played
Many, many strong, world-class Grandmasters came out of the Soviet Union. Yet among these superstars, some had the ability to create new paths in chess theory and practice, due to their superior understanding of the essence of chess. Such a player is Efim Geller.
Efim Geller (1925-1988)
Now, I am sure all of us have a favorite something: a favorite sports team, a favorite kind of music, a favorite music band/soloist, a favorite movie star, etc.....
In my case, I have a few favorites in chess, as anyone who has looked at my blog can attest. Among them, Bronstein, Tal and Geller are three of the main ones. All three were great creators, trail-blazers who showed the world how chess could be played.
Among them, Geller also became a great coach.
There is something unique about Geller; his ideas have such power! Certain players have this virtue; their moves can be like a thunder-blow, a sledge-hammer of Truth! Geller had the ability to uncover the truth about certain openings. It is said that his discoveries sometimes could change the way an opening was played.
Geller was born the same year (1925) that my father was born. Geller's country, Ukraine, was invaded by the Nazis; before attacking Moscow, the Germans attacked Kiev. Ukraine lost more people, in proportion to their population, than any other country in the world. My father fought, as a member of the Allied army, against the Nazis in Germany. Maybe these are all coincidences, maybe. But I feel a certain closeness to the players of this generation, in the same way I feel a closeness to my father. They had to go through so much!
According to both Botvinnik and Bronstein, the chess player who best played the King's Indian Defense was Efim Geller.
GELLER'S SCORE AGAINST WORLD CHAMPIONS:
"Geller had an overall plus score against four world champions: Mikhail Botvinnik +4−1=7, Vasily Smyslov +11−8=37, Tigran Petrosian +5−3=32, Bobby Fischer +5−3=2.[3] In total, Geller has played ten and beaten eight world chess champions, and his overall record in games in classical chess against world champions is positive: +39−36=131 (Max Euwe +1−1, Mikhail Botvinnik +4−1=7, Vassily Smyslov +11−8=37, Mikhail Tal +6−6=23, Tigran Petrosian +5−3=32, Boris Spassky +6−10=22, Bobby Fischer +5−3=2, Anatoly Karpov +1−2=5, Gary Kasparov +0−1=2, Viswanathan Anand +0−1=1). Geller did rather badly against Korchnoi (+6−11=16) and Polugaevsky (+4−11=21). "- Wikipedia
Perhaps one of the best examples of Geller's contributions was a novelty that was NOT used by Spassky in his match against Fischer (1972). In game 6, Spassky passed on the opportunity of using Geller's innovation against Furman's idea (Bb5)....let us take a look:
This is the position after Furman's 14.Bb5, which he used to defeat Geller himself!
Geller writes:
"Earlier White had usually played 14.Be2. But in his game against me in the tournament celebrating the 25th Victory Anniversary (Moscow, 1970), Furman played 14.Bb5 which was a new move at the time. The idea is to induce the advance of the a-pawn, which will weaken not only that pawn but Black's entire queenside."
"Our game continued 14...a6 15.dxc5 bxc5 16. 0-0 Ra7 17. Be2 a5 18.Rc3 Nd7 19.Rfc1, and White gained an advantage. Shortly after that game I discovered the correct plan for Black (14...Qb7), which Spassky and I examined during the period of preparation for the World Championship match in 1972. Yet in his sixth match game with Fischer, Spassky for some reason preferred the old line. He followed Furman-Geller as far as move 17, the played 17...Nd7 18.Nd4 Qf8; but after 19.Nxe6 fxe6 20.e4 he obtained the worse game."
Now, I have a hard time understanding why Spassky did not play 14...Qb7. Maybe only Spassky can answer that question!
Here is the stem game, Furman Geller, Moscow 1970:
For some reason, Spassky decided NOT to use the novelty that Geller had shared with him. This is almost unexplicable. Here is Game 6 from the 1972 Spassky-Fischer WC Match!
But in 1973, Geller was able to unveil his novelty against Timman:
Now, about 2 years ago, the following game was published. In this game, Black used the Geller Variation in the English Symmetrical Anti-Benoni and won. Who was Black? The player who just lost the 2021 World Championship Match. Anaylsis by GM Dejan Bojkov:
Now, I digress briefly to show something about how Geller developed this variation into a weapon that was used to teach a youngster a lesson. But it all starts in 1955, with Mark Taimanov defeating Geller in this line. Take a look!
Now, Mark Taimanov is probably a bit underestimated by the general public (myself included), because he lost a Candidates Match against Bobby Fischer by the score of 6-0. He also did not have an aggressive face, which made it easier to ignorant people like me to underestimate him.
Mark Taimanov (1926-2016)
Yet Mark Taimanov was a brilliant man; a true genius. You see, he was not only a Candidate for the World Championship in chess; he was also a touring Classical Pianist!
Mark Taimanov was a movie star before he was a chess player!
Recently, my friend Simaginfan inspired me to look at Taimanov's Selected Games:
...and it was here that I saw the Taimanov-Geller game form 1955.
Now, going back to Geller- four months after his loss to Taimanov, he used the Geller Variation to defeat Robert Byrne in the 1955 USA-USSR Match:
Now, in the following game, Beliavsky was 22 years old, and Geller was 50 years old. At the time, Beliavsky had just won, along with Tal, the 1974 USSR Chess Championship, at the age of 21.
This is the first example of Geller giving a Master Class to a young, talented GM......Comments by GM Efim Geller
In 1982 Geller was 57 years old, and Lev Psakhis was 24 years old, and also Co-Champion, along with Kasparov, of the 1981 USSR Chess Championship. Again, Geller teaches him a lesson.....
Psakhis-Geller, Yerevan Zonal 1982
(Comments by GM Efim Geller)
In 1976 Anatoly Karpov was 25 years old and Geller was 51. Also, Karpov was the newly crowned World Champion. Yet Geller was able to deliver yet another Master Class!
And last, but not least, a victory against Fischer in the 1962 Curazao Candidates Tournament ; Geller was 37, Fischer was 18.....
Geller-Fischer, 1962
That is all I have time for now.
Happy New Year to all!
