I had intended this week to write about the surprise surge by Mamedyarov which overturned all expectations in the elite Gashimov Memorial. Instead, the death of Viktor Korchnoi, known variously as Viktor the Terrible or the Leningrad Lip, represents a force majeure priority. An outspoken defector and three-times world champion contender, Korchnoi was one of the dominating figures of 20th-century chess.
 
This week, a win against the legendary Bobby Fischer and a puzzle position against his arch foe Anatoly Karpov. Comments based on those by Cyrus Lakdawala in Korchnoi: Move by Move (Everyman Chess).
 
Fischer-Korchnoi: Candidates Tournament Curacao 1962; Pirc Defence
 
1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Nc3 g6 4 f4 Bg7 5 Nf3 0-0 6 Be2 Today White normally plays the more aggressive and superior 6 Bd3. 6 … c5 7 dxc5 Uninspiring but 7 0-0 cxd4 8 Nxd4 is a Classical Dragon where White has played f2-f4 slightly too soon, and either 8 … Nbd7 9 Kh1 a6 or 8 … Nc6 9 Be3 Qb6 gives Black good play. 7 … Qa5 8 0-0 Qxc5+ 9 Kh1 Nc6 Black achieved a favourable Dragon set-up, since White’s pieces are posted rather passively. 10 Nd2 a5 Black’s queen now gets extra squares, while a knight on b3 is undermined by … a5-a4. 11 Nb3 Qb6 12 a4 Nb4 White will experience problems ejecting this knight. 13 g4 (see diagram 1) Fischer’s psychotic last move is reminiscent of a Star Trek episode where Spock grapples with human feelings and loses control. 13 … Bxg4! 14 Bxg4 Nxg4 15 Qxg4 Nxc2 The point: Black gets a nasty double attack on b3 and a1, regaining all his material, with the bonus of overextending White at the end of it. 16 Nb5 Nxa1 17 Nxa1 Qc6 18 f5 Weakening further, but the time is long gone for a passive move such as 18 Qf3. It becomes quite clear that stalling fails to diminish the urgency in White’s rotting position. 18 … Qc4 19 Qf3 Qxa4 20 Nc7 Qxa1 (see diagram 2) 21 Nd5 Grabbing material with 21 Nxa8 Rxa8 is no better. After 22 fxg6 fxg6 23 Qf7+ Kh8 24 Qxe7 Qb1! 25 Qxb7 Re8 26 Re1 Qd3! (threatening … Qf3+ followed by … Bd4+) 27 Kg2 Qc2+ 28 Kh1 Be5 mates. 21 … Rae8 22 Bg5 Qxb2 23 Bxe7 Be5 24 Rf2 Qc1+ 25 Rf1 Qh6 A dual purpose move. Black threatens mate on h2 and the queen enlists yet another defender of her king’s dark squares. 26 h3 gxf5 27 Bxf8 Rxf8 28 Ne7+ Kh8 29 Nxf5 Qe6 30 Rg1 a4 31 Rg4 Qb3 32 Qf1 a3 33 Rg3 Qxg3 White resigns 34 Nxg3 a2 wins.

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