The Man Who Knew Fischer

Eugene Torre – Axel Rombaldoni
42nd Chess Olympiad; Baku, September 9, 2016
Dutch Defence A40

1. d4 e6 2. Bf4 f5 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nf3 d6 5. h3 h6!? Rombaldoni plays aggressively, hoping to outplay his expert opponent – that is a responsible decision, since Torre is a superb positional player. 6. Be2 g5 7. Bh2 Bg7 8. c4 b6 9. Nc3 Nbd7 10. 0-0 0-0 11. Rc1 Bb7 12. b4 a5 13. a3! Torre didn’t even consider the stereotyped 13. b5 Ne4 which, renouncing to aim for the opening of the a-file, would give Black much less problems. 13. ... axb4 14. axb4 Ne4 15. Nxe4 Bxe4 16. Nd2 Bc6 17. c5 Ba4 18. Nb3 bxc5 19. bxc5 d5? So far Romaldoni’s managed to elude particular trouble, but now his decision to create a light-square fortress will prove to be wrong. Sounder was 19. ... Qe7 with a tenable position. 20. Qd3 c6. If 20. ... e5 then 21. c6 e4 22. Qc3 followed by Nb3-c5 with advantage to White. 21. Bd6 Rf7 22. Bh5 Bb5 23. Bxf7+ Kxf7 24. Qc3 Bxf1 25. Rxf1! A superb display of chess understanding! It will become soon clear why the retake with the King would have been out of place. 25. ... Ra4? This runs into an inexorable refutation. 26. Ra1 Qa8 27. Rxa4 Qxa4

28. Qa5! An elegant and decisive Knight pseudo-sacrifice which crowns Eugene’s day. 28. ... Qxb3. It should be noted that had the White King been on f1, now the effect of this move would be more than satisfactory due to the threat of mate on d1! The text loses outright, but Black must not regret as after 28. ... Qxa5 29. Nxa5 the c6-Pawn falls, and with it the game. 29. Qc7! The coup de grâce. 29. ... Qb1+ 30. Kh2 Qe4 31. Qxd7+ Kg6 32. Qxc6 f4 33. Qe8+ Kh7 34. Qf7 fxe3 35. fxe3 1 : 0. I’ll say it once again: not bad for an old boy who was playing his 23rd Olympiad!

Eugene Torre
Photo by Josh Albelda/Rappler