[Event "World Championship 19th"] [Site "Moscow"] [Date "1951.05.06"] [Round "22"] [White "Bronstein, David I"] [Black "Botvinnik, Mikhail"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A91"] [Annotator "Llewellyn, Alan"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "1951.03.16"] [EventType "match"] [EventRounds "24"] [EventCountry "URS"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1999.07.01"] {Mikhail Botvinnik was level with David Bronstein in this the 22nd game of the World Championship Match between the two set at 24 games. it was level before this match at 10.5-10.5 and it stipulated that the Champion, (Botvinnik), would retain his title if it were a drawn match. David plays a great game signified by a fantastic Bishop move which...} 1. d4 e6 2. c4 f5 {the Dutch Defence.} 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Be7 {it is a classical dutch-more common these days is the Lenningrad Dutch variations with g6 being played and Bg7.} 5. Nc3 O-O 6. e3 d5 7. Nge2 c6 (7... dxc4 8. Qa4 c5 9. O-O Nbd7 10. dxc5 Nxc5 11. Qxc4 $11 { with an equal game-yes it is imposible to defend the c4 pawn if you take it as Black in this line similar infact to the Catalan Opening where White fianchettos his Bishop similarly and allows the c4 pawn gambit to continue as a posibility.}) 8. b3 Ne4 9. O-O Nd7 10. Bb2 Ndf6 11. Qd3 g5 $1 {This was Mikhails pet line in the Dutch.} 12. cxd5 exd5 13. f3 Nxc3 14. Bxc3 g4 { this was the intention of playing g5 in order to cancel out the f3 pawn and allow the f6 Knight to make it to the e4 square unhindered.} 15. fxg4 Nxg4 16. Bh3 (16. Nf4) 16... Nh6 17. Nf4 Bd6 18. b4 $3 {having ran out of ideas on the Kingside David turns his attention towards a Queenside push.} a6 19. a4 Qe7 20. Rab1 b5 21. Bg2 Ng4 22. Bd2 Nf6 23. Rb2 Bd7 $11 (23... Ne4 $5 24. Ra1 Nxd2 25. Qxd2 Bb7 $14) 24. Ra1 Ne4 25. Be1 {David doesnt want to part with his Important Bishop and this bishop plays a key role in the end position.} Rfe8 $6 $14 (25... Rfb8 $11) 26. Qb3 Kh8 27. Rba2 Qf8 {this is in order to defend the a8 Rook twice otherwise axb5 will force cxb5 when the d5 pawn is hanging for White to simply pick up.} 28. Nd3 (28. axb5 axb5 29. Rxa8 Rxa8 30. Rxa8 Qxa8 $11) 28... Rab8 $2 {giving control of the a file to David.} 29. axb5 axb5 30. Ra7 Re7 31. Ne5 $1 Be8 32. g4 $3 {David getting his dark squared Bishop into the games must have come as a body blow to Mikhail.} fxg4 33. Bxe4 dxe4 34. Bh4 Rxe5 $2 (34... Rxa7 35. Rxa7 Qh6 36. Bg3 Rd8 37. Bf4 Qf6 38. Rf7 Bxf7 39. Nxf7+ Kg7 40. Nxd6 Rxd6 41. Be5 $18) 35. dxe5 Bxe5 36. Rf1 Qg8 {It looks like the Queens are likely to be swapped off but David wants an intermezzo, an intermezzo is a move which changes the whole nature of the position when the natural move to play fails to gain an advantage. It is an intervening move.} 37. Bg3 $3 Bg7 ({taking the Bishop doesnt work...} 37... Bxg3 38. Qc3+ Qg7 39. Qxg7#) ({and taking the Queen also loses quickly.} 37... Qxb3 38. Rf8+ Qg8 39. Bxe5#) 38. Qxg8+ {after Kxg8 comes Bxb8 and Mikhail would have been too far behind in material to survive so he resigned. Now it was 11.5-10.5 with two games to go and David just needed to draw both games to be crowned deserved World Champion but what happend after that was politics and the Soviet machine apparently ordered David to draw the match because Mikhail was seen as the more Russian of the two.} 1-0