[Event "Moscow"] [Site "Moscow"] [Date "1975.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Korchnoi, Victor"] [Black "Petrosian, Tigran V"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E07"] [WhiteElo "2665"] [BlackElo "2645"] [PlyCount "147"] [EventDate "1975.10.14"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "15"] [EventCountry "URS"] [EventCategory "12"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1999.07.01"] {Victor Korchnoi is a favourite player of mine and I am going through a best games book of his which explains why so many games of his are in my best games list. Here Victor defeats the 1963-1969 World Champion Tigran Petrosian but with extreme difficulty and over several days with adjournements. Tigran was known for his complex positional style which led to many draws in his chess career.} 1. c4 {The opening starts with an English Opening but it soon tranposes into a Catalan Opening.} Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. d4 Be7 5. g3 O-O 6. Bg2 Nbd7 7. Qd3 c6 8. O-O {This is actually the closed Catalan main line setup, closed openings were a choice of Tigran but Victor was no slouch in them either. The point of the Catalan Opening is White tries to temp Black to take the c4 pawn with his advanced d5 pawn this creates a long term weakness in Blacks position and takes time (ie a tempo). It used to be an extremely popular opening, at the top level for many years, but is less often seen, these years, at the top level.} b6 9. e4 Ba6 10. b3 Rc8 11. Bf4 Re8 12. Rfd1 Nf8 13. a4 Bb4 14. e5 N6d7 15. Bd2 Nb8 {Tigran spots a perfect place for the d7 Knight.} 16. Qc2 Be7 17. Qa2 Bb7 18. Qb2 a5 19. h4 Na6 20. Bg5 {Victor has given up the ghost on the Queenside and thus targets the King.} Nb4 21. Rac1 Rc7 22. Qd2 Qd7 23. Nh2 Bxg5 24. hxg5 Rec8 25. Ng4 Qd8 26. f4 Rd7 27. Ne3 Ng6 28. f5 exf5 29. Nxf5 Nf8 $6 (29... dxc4 30. bxc4 Nxe5 $44) 30. Nd6 Rxd6 31. exd6 Qxd6 32. cxd5 cxd5 33. Qf4 Qd8 34. Bh3 Ng6 35. Qf3 Rc6 36. Rf1 Rc7 37. Nb5 Re7 38. Rce1 Ba6 39. Bf5 Nf8 40. Qf4 Bxb5 $6 (40... Rxe1 41. Rxe1 g6 42. Bb1 Ne6 43. Qf6 Qxf6 44. gxf6 Nc6 45. Rc1 Bxb5 46. axb5 Ncxd4 $16) 41. axb5 Rxe1 42. Rxe1 g6 43. Bb1 Ne6 44. Qf6 Qc7 45. Kg2 Qc3 {Tigran infiltrates with his Queen but he doesnt have time for Qxd4 because of the threat of Qxf7.} 46. Rf1 Qc7 {The Queen rushes back to defend f7 now Victor hatches a plan to get his King to d2, Rook to c3 then to get the Bishop on b1 to g4. Tigran in the meantime can threaten only the b5, g3 and g5 pawns, and little else.} 47. Rf3 Nf8 48. Kf2 Ne6 49. Ke2 Ng7 50. Re3 Ne6 51. Kd2 Qd7 52. Rc3 Qe8 (52... Qxb5 $4 53. Rc8+ Nf8 54. Qd8 h6 55. Qxf8+ Kh7 56. Qg8#) 53. Bc2 Qf8 {It was here that Victor recognised the King wasn't safe on d2 due to the threat of Na2 and Qb4 so he decided to get his King to b2 first where it was completely safe.} 54. Bb1 Qe8 55. Rf3 Qf8 56. Rf1 Qe8 57. Rf2 Qf8 58. Rf3 Qg7 59. Rc3 Qf8 60. Kc1 Qe8 61. Kb2 Qa8 62. Qe7 Qb8 63. Rf3 Qf8 64. Qf6 Qe8 65. Rc3 Qa8 66. g4 {It was here that victor spotted an easier way to posible victory.} Qe8 $2 (66... Qb8 $3 {Tigran misses the point of Victors last move or simple misscalculates that he can defend the coming onslaught.}) 67. Qe5 $3 {The point is where ever the Queen goes now Victor can take advantage because Victor is planning to open the h-file and the Queen will need to both attack the g7 and h8 squares with mate opportunities arrising, and be able to go to h2- there is no defence Ng7 transposes into a lost endgame.} Qd8 $6 (67... Qf8 68. Bc2 $3 {an important waiting move.} Qe8 (68... Qg7 69. Rc8+ Nf8 70. Qf4 h6 (70... Qh8 71. Rc7 Qg7 72. Bb1 Ne6 73. Rc8+ Nf8 74. Kc3 Qh8 75. Qd6 Qg7 76. Qxb6 $18) 71. gxh6 Qh7 72. g5 f5 73. gxf6 Qf7 74. Qd6 Nxc2 75. h7+ Kxh7 76. Rxf8 Qb7 77. Qh2#) 69. Bxg6 hxg6 70. Rh3 Ng7 71. Qh2 Nh5 72. gxh5 Qe4 73. Qb8+ Kg7 74. Qe5+ Kg8 75. Qxe4 dxe4 $18) 68. Bxg6 $3 hxg6 69. Rh3 Nd3+ $1 70. Rxd3 Nxg5 71. Rc3 Ne4 72. Rh3 f6 $1 {temporarily stopping the Rook getting to h8 but there is still a way as the Knight is no match for the Rook.} 73. Qh2 $5 Kf7 74. Rh8 {Tigran didn't fancy the horrible position he was in as it was certainly heading for mate or loss ofhis Queen so he resigned. A possible line might go 74...Qd6 75.Qh7+ Ke6 76.Re8+ Qe7 77.Qxe7#} 1-0