[Event "Las Palmas Interzonal"] [Site "Las Palmas"] [Date "1982.??.??"] [Round "8"] [White "Mestel, A Jonathan"] [Black "Smyslov, Vassily"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2540"] [BlackElo "2565"] [Annotator "Llewellyn, Alan"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "1982.07.??"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "13"] [EventCountry "ESP"] [EventCategory "12"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1999.07.01"] {Jonathan Mestel was the first English Grandmaster, here in 1982 he meets an ex-Soviet World Champion on form in the Interzonal Tournament which was to decide some of the candidates in the match knock-out section, the winner of that was to be Garry Kasparov on his way to defeating Anatoly Karpov in 1985. It is quite remarkable that Vassily Smyslov went so far in 1982 considering he held the World Title in 1957 til 1958.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Be7 {This is the Hungarian Defence and unusual setup these days.} 4. d4 d6 5. d5 Nb8 6. Bd3 {Vassily has two options here to undermine the closed pawn centre hampering his Bishops and reducing his space. Therefore c6 and f5 are to be planned -he ends up playing both but this move by Jonathan stops the immediate f5.} Nf6 7. c4 O-O 8. Nc3 c6 {Vassily keeps his options open of a Queenside attack but Jonathan plays well on the Queenside but rather poorer on the Kingside as we shall see.} 9. O-O Nbd7 10. Rb1 Re8 11. b4 Nf8 12. Re1 Ng6 13. Bf1 $6 {This may have been prompted by the threat of Nf4 but it makes the f5 push easier by Vassily.} (13. h3 Nf4 14. Bxf4 exf4 15. Qd2 Nh5 16. e5 $16) 13... Rf8 14. Qb3 Kh8 15. Bb2 cxd5 16. cxd5 (16. Nxd5 $142) 16... Ng4 17. h3 Nh6 18. Rbc1 (18. Bc1 f5 19. Bxh6 gxh6 20. Rbc1 Nh4 21. Nxh4 Bxh4 22. Rc2 $13) 18... f5 19. Nb5 fxe4 20. Rxe4 Bf5 21. Rec4 Nh4 $1 22. Nxh4 (22. R1c3 $142) 22... Bxh4 23. g3 $6 (23. Rxh4 $142 $3 Qxh4 24. Nxd6 Bxh3 25. Qe3 $13 (25. Qxh3 $4 Qxf2+ 26. Kh1 Qxb2 $19) (25. gxh3 Qxf2+ 26. Kh1 Rf3 27. Qc2 Qxc2 28. Rxc2 Rxf1+ $19)) 23... Bg5 24. Rd1 $2 (24. f4 $142 Qb6+ 25. Kg2 Qxb5 26. fxg5 $11) 24... Qb6 25. h4 $6 $17 Ng4 $5 26. Rdd4 $3 (26. Nd4 $6 Bh6 27. a4 exd4 $2 ( 27... a6 $3 {giving a flight square for the Queen to maintain its killing attack on f2.} 28. a5 Qa7 29. Re1 Nxf2 30. Nxf5 Rxf5 31. Kg2 Ng4 32. Rc2 Bd2 $3 33. Rxd2 Rf2+ 34. Kh3 Rxd2 35. Kxg4 Rf8 36. Qe3 Qb8 37. Kh3 Qc8+ 38. g4 Rxb2 $19) 28. Bxd4 $17) 26... Bh6 27. Nc7 Rac8 28. Ne6 Bxe6 29. dxe6 Rce8 $1 (29... Nxf2 $4 30. e7 $3 Ng4 31. Qc2 Rxf1+ 32. Kxf1 Ne3+ 33. Kf2 Nxc4 34. Qxc4 Re8 35. Qf7 Qc6 36. Qf8+ Rxf8+ 37. exf8=Q#) 30. Be2 (30. e7 Rxe7 31. Qf3 Nf6 32. Rd3 Ref7 $19 {I have never seen an attack on the f2 square quite like this one.}) 30... Nxf2 31. Rd5 (31. Bf3) 31... Nh3+ 32. Kg2 Qg1+ $5 33. Kxh3 Qh1+ 34. Kg4 Qxd5 35. Rf4 Rxf4+ $1 {after 36.gxf4 Qg2+ 37.Qg3 Qxe2+ 38.Qf3 Qxb2 I think Jonathan would have been rather embarrased to carry on. So he gave up there. Jonathan played well and gave a good account of himself, the 26th move by him smacks of desperation but it is still fabulous.} 0-1