A Most Wanted Man

“When the famous ‘Coca-Cola’ company offered him a firm contract, Fischer rejected it, saying that there is no money which could persuade him to give publicity to a drink that is harmful to people’s health... I like such a man who does not measure his accomplishments against the size of other people’s pockets...”, Grandmaster Lajos Portisch said. Quoted in Svetozar Gligorić, “Shall We Play Fischerandom Chess?”, London, Batsford, 2002, p. 35.

Rare AP Archive footage from 1971 Candidates final between Robert James Fischer and Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian. The clip shows the audience of the Teatro San Martín in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on October 26, 1971, giving Fischer a standing ovation when Petrosian resigned the 9th game.

时差问题

Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov – Lajos Portisch
Linares, 1989
Queen’s Gambit Declined D31

Notes by Grandmaster Jan Timman, New In Chess, 2008/2, p. 35.

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 c6 6. e3 Bf5 7. g4 Bg6 8. h4 h5 9. g5 Bd6 10. Nge2 Na6 11. Bxd6 Qxd6 12. Nf4 Nc7 13. Be2 Qb4 14. Qd2 Ne7 15. Bf3 Ne6 16. Nce2 Nxf4 17. Nxf4 Qxd2+ 18. Kxd2 Be4 19. Bxe4 dxe4 20. Rac1 0-0-0 21. Rc5 Nd5 22. Nxd5 Rxd5 23. Rhc1 Rhd8 24. b4 Kc7 25. Ke2 a6 26. f3 exf3+ 27. Kxf3 R5d6 28. Rf5 R8d7 29. Rcc5 Re7 30. Rce5 Kd8 31. a4 g6 32. Rxe7 Kxe7 33. Re5+ Kf8 34. Ke4 f6 35. gxf6 Rxf6 36. b5 axb5 37. axb5 Kf7 38. Rc5 Ke7 39. Rg5 Kf7 40. Rg2 Rf5 41. bxc6 bxc6 42. Rc2 Rf6 43. Ra2 Ke7 44. Ra7+ Kd6 45. Rg7 Ke6 46. Kd3

Here Portisch played 46. ... Kd6? and after 47. e4 he was hopelessy lost.
[Robert James] Fischer indicated that he could have drawn with 46. ... c5!. It is essential to tear down the white pawn structure. It is clear that 47. dxc5 Kd5 won’t yield White anything. The crucial move is 47. Ke4, after which a pawn ending arises by force that is just within drawing territory. Fischer’s main variation went as follows: 46. ... c5 47. Ke4 cxd4 48. exd4 Kd6 49. d5 Kc5 50. Rc7+ Kd6 51. Rc6+ Ke7 52. Rxf6 Kxf6 53. Kf4 Kf7! 54. Ke5 (or 54. Kg5 Kg7 55. d6 Kf7) 54. ... Ke7 55. d6+ Kd7 56. Kd5 g5!, and the black h-pawn will queen with check. An impressive feat of analysis.
47. ... Rf4 48. e5+ Ke6 49. Rxg6+ Kd7 50. Kc4 Rf1 51. Rh6 Rc1+ 52. Kd3 c5 53. d5 c4+ 54. Kd2 Rh1 55. Rh7+ Ke8 56. Rxh5 Rh3 57. Kc2 1 : 0.

Scuola Magiara

Nel 2006, Hans-Walter Schmitt, poliedrico organizzatore della kermesse estiva di Magonza, istituì nientemeno che quattro Campionati del Mondo di scacchi960 (Fischerandom) di genere: assoluto, femminile, juniors e seniors. Per la terza età Schmitt candidò all’eterodossa corona due miti della storia degli scacchi ortodossi: Vlastimil Hort e Lajos Portisch, già pretendenti – in seconda età – al titolo classico. Ecco come li presentò Eric van Reem nella sua cronaca di allora:

Hort and Portisch both played against the inventor of Chess960, Bobby Fischer, when he was living in Budapest. Portisch even won a game against the ex-world champion: “I could never beat him in normal chess, but I could beat him in Chess960. “Bobby was not amused”, Portisch smiled.

Il titolo arrise a Hort, ma solo al tie-break lampo (il match ufficiale di otto partite semimeditate si impuntò sul 4 a 4). In compenso, notevole fu, per economia, eleganza e strategia, la prestazione di Portisch nella 7ª partita:

L. Portisch – V. Hort
7ª del match; Magonza, 16 agosto 2006
rbnqbknr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RBNQBKNR
Posizione 520

1. c4 c6 2. Cf3 d5 3. Dc2 Cf6 4. d3 Cb6 5. Aa5. Minaccia c4-c5. 5. ... Ac7 6. 0-0 0-0 7. a3 Tc8 8. Cb3 Cbd7 9. Ac3 b6 10. e4 dxe4 11. dxe4 e5 12. c5 De7 13. Ab4 b5. Se 13. ... a5 allora 14. cxb6 axb4 15. bxc7 bxa3 16. Txa3 Txc7 17. Ca5 con vantaggio per il Bianco. 14. a4 a6 15. axb5 axb5 16. Ca5 Axa5 17. Txa5 Ch5 18. g3 f6 19. Ta7 Af7 20. Td1 Ae6 21. Td6! Minaccia 22. Txe6 Dxe6 24. Aa2. 21. ... Tf7 22. Dd1. Minaccia ancora Td6xe6. 22. ... Td8 23. Ch4! La strategia di Portisch è cristallina. 23. Txc6? era invece confutata da 23. ... Cf8!!. 23. ... g6 24. Cf5! 24. Txc6? è sempre annichilita da 24. ... Cf8!!. 24. ... gxf5 25. Dxh5 f4 26. Txe6! Come tremtadue denti senza carie! 26. ... Dxe6 27. Aa2 De7 28. Dxf7+ Dxf7 29. Axf7+ Rxf7 30. Aa5 Re8 31. Axd8 Rxd8 32. Ta8+ Rc7 33. b4 h5 34. h4 Cb8 35. g4! il Nero abbandona. Una chiusa elegante: 35. ... hxg4 36. Txb8 Rxb8 37. h5 +-.