[Event "Christmas Congress 1965/66-41 Premier"] [Site "Hastings"] [Date "1965.12.29"] [Round "1"] [White "Littlewood, Norman"] [Black "Spassky, Boris Vasilievich"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E29"] [Annotator "MJDonnelly"] [PlyCount "58"] [EventDate "1965.12.29"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "1998.11.16"] [SourceQuality "1"] {[%evp 0,58,31,14,23,3,4,5,30,-10,-4,-4,11,17,14,13,13,19,15,4,53,27,26,9,34,-11,-6,-54,-58,-36,-36,-62,-112,-140,-72,-154,-165,-166,-119,-123,-126,-270,-326,-187,-124,-106,-128,-114,-124,-262,-317,-284,-275,-378,-274,-295,-302,-482,-522,-501,-525]} {This is a game by the very strong British Amateur player Norman Littlewood, the brother of another very strong player John Littlewood. In it Norman somehow bamboozles for part of the game the famous GM Boris Spassky, who won this Hastings Premier event, and went on to challenge Tigran Petrosian for the World Championship just a few months latter.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 {Typical of the direct play of the Littlewood brothers, in that Norman chooses the move 4.a3 which immediately challenges the bishop. After exchanging on c3 White obtains the two bishops and chances of dominating the centre and a subsequent kings-side attack. However, a long term weakeness is the c4 pawn which is not easily defended. The move 4.a3 is generally known as the Samisch variation although, as is commonly the case, it has been played before this appellation stuck in games such as Sidney-Fagan Ballard, London Women International 1897, and by the famous artist Duchump versus Reilly Match 1925 amongst others. Although several times World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik also played 4.a3, he had a liking for the move 4. e3, with the idea of Nge2 then a3 to avoid pawn structure damage.} Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 c5 {The most usual Black reply although several other options are also playable. Black blockades the c4 pawn so that a timley c5 by White (after b6 and/or d6) does not allow the weak pawn to be jettisoned and give Black a poor pawn structure instead.} (5... d6 {is yet another Black option aiming to place the central pawn on black squares. Play may go} 6. f3 e5 7. e4 Nc6 8. Be3 b6 9. Bd3 Na5 {with a reasonable game for Black as in Boyer-Kuzubov, Chess.com Titled Tuesday INT Blitz 2021. Not however,} (9... Ba6 $2 {a very rare opening blunder by the chess legend Capablanca against Samisch at Karlsbad 1929 which continued} 10. Qa4 Bb7 11. d5 Qd7 12. dxc6 Bxc6 {and Black is lost.})) 6. e3 O-O (6... b6 {is also acceptable for Black but that player should not rush to pressure the c4 pawn when a line given by the Nimzo-indian expert GM Taimanov demonstrates White's attacking potential.} 7. Ne2 Nc6 8. Ng3 Ba6 9. e4 O-O 10. Bg5 h6 11. h4 cxd4 12. cxd4 hxg5 13. hxg5 g6 14. e5 Nh7 15. Qg4 {with advantage as in Vladimirov-Shamkovich, RSFSR-ch Krasnodar 1957.}) 7. Bd3 Nc6 8. Ne2 b6 9. e4 Ne8 {This slightly curious retreat has the idea of slowing White's kings-side attack with a timely f5.} 10. h4 {Intent on risky attacking play but sounder was to develop further with} (10. O-O Ba6 11. f4 {as preferred by Carlsen.}) ({or} 10. Be3 Ba6 11. Ng3 {as preferred by Svidler.}) 10... Ba6 11. e5 d6 12. Qa4 (12. Bg5 {appears more threatening but Black defended quite confortably after} Qc7 13. f4 Na5 14. Ng3 Bxc4 15. Be4 d5 16. Bxh7+ Kxh7 17. Qh5+ Kg8 18. Bf6 Nxf6 {0:1 Holland-Chernin, Lloyds Bank op London 1989.}) (12. Qc2 {demonstrates another idea of forming a queen and bishop battery on the b1-h7 diagoanl but again Black was fine after} h6 13. Bh7+ Kh8 14. Be4 Rc8 15. Qa4 Na5 16. Bb1 dxe5 17. dxe5 Bxc4 18. Qc2 f5 {Yurtaev-Serper, Bishkek zt 1993.}) 12... Na5 13. Qc2 h6 14. Bh7+ Kh8 15. Be4 Rc8 16. Bg5 {A nice idea but Black has a simple reply.} Qc7 ({A player of Spassky's caliber is not going to fall for} 16... hxg5 17. hxg5+ Kg8 18. Bh7+ Kh8 19. Bg8+ Kxg8 20. Qh7#) 17. Rh3 dxe5 {Play in the centre, is as usual a good reply to a wing-attack-here it also wins a central pawn.} 18. dxe5 Qxe5 $6 {Curiously Spassky suddenly plays too precipitously. Far simpler was} (18... Bxc4 {so that if White avoids the loss of the e5 pawn by} 19. Bf4 {then} Rd8 {and White has nothing and is bust.}) 19. Bf4 Qh5 20. g4 {Throwing in the kitchen sink actually generates some chances for White.} Qxg4 21. Rg3 Qh5 ({if} 21... Qxh4 22. O-O-O {and despite being 3 pawns down White still has significant threats.}) 22. Bf3 Qf5 23. Be4 Qh5 24. Bg5 $2 {White blows it with this effort at tactical play.} (24. Bf3 {repeats the position with a draw for if} Qxh4 25. O-O-O {is similar to the risky line given above when White threatens Rh1 with a powerful attack.}) 24... f5 {Now Black is clearly winning. Again Spassky would not fall for} (24... f6 25. Bg6 {winning the Black queen or}) (24... hxg5 25. hxg5 {with very good attacking chances despite being a piece and pawn down.}) 25. Be7 fxe4 ({Not the blunder} 25... Rf7 {and again Black's queen is lost after} 26. Nf4) 26. Bxf8 Qf7 {with the bishop trapped Black gains a substantial material superiority.} 27. Qxe4 Qxf8 28. Rf3 Nf6 29. Qc2 Bxc4 {For one brief moment Norman had Spassky on the ropes but too inventive play let the game escape from his grasp. This loss does not seem to have troubled Norman too much as he then went on to play in the same inventive manner against the then British Champion Peter Lee and won.} 0-1