[Event "World Championship 23th"] [Site "Moscow"] [Date "1960.04.02"] [Round "9"] [White "Tal, Mikhail"] [Black "Botvinnik, Mikhail"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B18"] [PlyCount "116"] [EventDate "1960.03.15"] [EventType "match"] [EventRounds "21"] [EventCountry "URS"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1999.07.01"] {Here is a game by the positionally tactical genius of Mikhail Tal against the solidness of Mikhail Botvinnik. Tal often sacrificed regardless of whether he could see a clear win in doing so, thus he combined tactical awareness with positional concepts, where-as his opponent here was known for his near robotic like precision. And although in this the 9th game of the first World Championship between the two men, Botvinniks precision wins the day, but Botvinnik was defeated in the match but he was carefull to get a return match stipulated in his conditions which he duelly won.} 1. e4 c6 {Botvinnik was one of the most famous exponents of this opening which is otherwise quite rare at the top level though it is occasionally seen. 1.e4 c6 is called the Caro-Kann and I guess most players at club level have played it at some time in their chess careers but it is not common like I said because it is considered very slow to get any developing of your pieces which makes it less than dangerous though it was once considered rather solid.} 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 { This is the classical system of the Caro-Kann.} Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. N1e2 Nf6 7. h4 {The point o f this move is to chase the light squared Bishop of Black around the houses.} h6 (7... Nbd7 $6 8. h5 Be4 9. Nc3 Qa5 10. b4 Qxb4 11. Qd2 Bd5 12. Rb1 Qd6 13. Nxd5 cxd5 14. Rxb7 Rb8 15. Rxa7 $16) 8. Nf4 Bh7 9. Bc4 e6 10. O-O Bd6 11. Nxe6 $3 {although technically this loses it must still have been a shock to Tal that he did in such a promising position. Alright it is only a piece for 2 pawns but Botvinnik has to find a series of clever moves in order to win.} (11. Re1 O-O 12. Rxe6 $2 fxe6 (12... Bxf4 $6 13. Rxf6 Bxg3 14. Rxf7 Rxf7 15. Bxf7+ Kxf7 16. Qf3+ Kg8 17. Qxg3 Qf6 18. Qc7 Na6 19. Qxb7 Rf8 20. Be3 c5 21. dxc5 Rb8 22. Qd5+ Qf7 23. Qd6 Nc7 24. Re1 $14 Rxb2 $4 25. Qd8+ Qf8 26. Qxc7 $18) 13. Nxe6 Qe7 14. Nxf8+ Kxf8 $19) 11... fxe6 12. Bxe6 Qc7 13. Re1 Nbd7 14. Bg8+ $1 {The Bishop cannot be taken on g8 its discovered Check.} Kf8 $3 (14... Kd8 15. Bxh7 Rxh7 16. Qd3 Kc8 17. Nf5 g6 18. Nxd6+ Qxd6 $11 {and the bad King position stops Black from connecting Rooks easily.}) 15. Bxh7 Rxh7 16. Nf5 g6 $3 17. Bxh6+ Kg8 18. Nxd6 Qxd6 (18... Rxh6 $142 $15) 19. Bg5 Re7 20. Qd3 Kg7 21. Qg3 $2 $19 {Maybe Tal could have held out without this move.} Rxe1+ $1 (21... Qxg3 $1 22. Rxe7+ Kf8 23. fxg3 Kxe7 $19) 22. Rxe1 Qxg3 {The doubled pawns are enough to allow Black to win in this Won endgame for Botvinnik.} 23. fxg3 Rf8 24. c4 Ng4 25. d5 cxd5 26. cxd5 Ndf6 27. d6 Rf7 28. Rc1 Rd7 29. Rc7 Kf7 30. Bxf6 Nxf6 31. Kf2 Ke6 32. Rxd7 $6 {simplifying only helps Botvinniks cause.} Kxd7 33. Kf3 Kxd6 34. Kf4 Ke6 35. g4 Nd5+ 36. Ke4 Nf6+ 37. Kf4 Nd5+ 38. Ke4 Nb4 39. a3 Nc6 40. h5 g5 $1 41. h6 $6 Kf6 $3 {Botvinnik through his analysis Before!!!! the sealed move[they used to stop the games in the past at move 42 and resume the next day], sees that the King infiltration will get no-where.} 42. Kd5 Kg6 43. Ke6 Na5 44. a4 Nb3 45. Kd6 a5 46. Kd5 Kxh6 47. Kc4 Nc1 48. Kb5 Nd3 49. b3 Nc1 50. Kxa5 Nxb3+ 51. Kb4 Nc1 52. Kc3 Kg6 53. Kc2 Ne2 54. Kd3 Nc1+ 55. Kc2 Ne2 56. Kd3 Nf4+ 57. Kc4 Kf6 58. g3 Ne2 {59.Kb5 Nc3+ 60. Kb6 Nxa4+ 61.Kxb7 Ke5 62.Kc6 Ke4 63.Kd6 Kf3 64.Ke5 Kxg4 65.Kf6 Nc3. This is a posible continuation showing how right Tal was to resign.} 0-1