What Lev Polugaevsky and I Have in Common
Polugaesvky was a great GM, a fighter of the highest order. His playing style contrasted his personality; he was such a nice guy, Botvinnik criticized him for being too nice!
He is one of the few people who have a variation named after him: The Polugaevsky Variation!
His book, Grandmaster Preparation, is a journey into his creative laboratory; he shares with us his struggles and triumphs, failures and successes, in the development of his variation. Polugaevsky's record with his variation is impressive 14 wins, 2 losses, and 19 draws.
Here is a successful defense of his variation at the highest level- against Mikhail Tal, in a Candidates' Match!
OK, so what exactly do I have in common with Lev Polugaevsky? Well, to find out, we have to look at his book, a masterpiece: "Grandmaster Preparation". Highly recommended!
In the first chapter of the book, Polugaevsky shares a game played in 1948, when he was 14 years old! He played against Candidate Master A. Ivashin in the Championship of Kuybishev, where he lived.
So, Black's move .....Qd3!! shocked Polugaevsky!
Well, I had a similar experience last March, in the Icelandic Team Championship. I was paired against a GM. Our team was facing the strongest team in the league, and indeed, out of 10 top boards I believe we scored half a point!
Again, in my game I had White, and I am SO RUSTY it is not even funny! Here is the game against GM Artur Jakubiec, from Poland. Not only is he strong, he is also the coach of the men's Polish National Team!
GM Artur Jakubiec, Poland
Here is the game, which was over after 7 moves, even though it lasted 27!
Now, one or two things:
First of all, there are two reasons why the move 7....f5! was so powerful, and why I lost all hope after a few more moves. During the game, I was remembering a famous endgame by Rubinstein, in which his opponent (White) also had the same pawn structure that I had on the kingside: pawns at f2, f3 and h2. The problem is that, as demonstrated by Rubinstein, pawn endings with this structure are lost for White!
Here is the stem game for this concept, from the 1909 St. Petersburg Tournament. Rubinstein's endgame technique is delightful; it is like watching a jeweler polishing a diamond!
So, every tactical chance I had, GM Jakubiec would neutralize, and I felt the game was lost!
The second reason, which is where I learned my lesson in this game, was taught to me in the post-mortem by GM Jakubiec.
I have to mention that GM Jakubiec was kind enough to analyze with me after the game. We were joined by an Icelandic Master who is a friend of mine, and who I consider to have IM strength.
When we were analyzing, GM Jakubiec explained that, if I had played 11.Qe4 instead of 11. Rg1, he would have exchanged Queens, and White would have been OK! I explained that I did not play 11.Qe4 because I thought that Black could play 11....Qd7 followed by 0-0-0. When I said this, both GM Jakubiec and my friend almost jumped off their chairs, exclaiming: "NO!"
You see, for them it was obvious that Black cannot castle long in this position. And this makes sense: Black has no pieces on the queenside! However, during the game I was not able to be aware of this fact; therefore I rejected 11.Qe4, which is the move my intuition was telling me to play.
What did I learn from this? That I really understand chess A LOT LESS than I think I do!
Still, I derive great pleasure by looking at great games, and even offering my own lines in analysis. It is my greatest joy in chess.
So, Polugaevsky and I do have something in common!
