A Huebner appreciation, and exploring the relationship between the board and the bottle

The tributes and appreciations are flowing in for German GM Robert Huebner, the cerebral four-time world championship candidate, Olympiad first-board gold medalist and one of the world’s best players on either side of the Cold War divide in the 1970s and 1980s, who — as we noted here last week — died Jan. 5 after a long illness at the age of 76.

Every good chess obituary should include a game, and today we offer a fine Huebner victory over one of the best players who ever lived.

The young West German GM finished a very creditable fifth at the storied 1973 Leningrad Interzonal, highlighted by a win over the great former Soviet world champ Mikhail Tal. Tal was one of the greatest attacking players in the game, but the German GM not only throws back a classic Tal sacrificial sortie but turns the tables in a cut-and-thrust Kan Sicilian.

Already by 14. Qe1 d6 15. f5!? (Qf2, preparing the f-pawn thrust, may be even stronger) 0-0 16. f6!?, Black is in a place few players ever wanted to be — staring down the barrel of a full-on Tal kingside assault. Huebner keeps his cool in the face of a speculative exchange sacrifice that rips open the pawn ramparts guarding his king: 16…Bxf6 17. Rxf6! (realistically, the only way White can play for an advantage) gxf6 18. Qh4 Qe7!, sidestepping the landmine of 18…Nxe5?! 19. Qxf6 Ng6? (Nd7 avoids what’s to come. It looks like 20. Bh6? Qc5+ 21. Kh1 Qe5! blocks the mate, but White can interpolate 20. Nd5! exd5 21. Bh6, winning on the spot as the Black queen now can’t get to the e5-square.

Black prudently returns the exchange to ward off the buzzing White pieces: 21. Bh6 fxe4 (Rf7 runs into 22. Bh5, and the Black rook is trapped anyway) 22. Rg3+ Kh8  23. Bg7+! (Tal’s inexhaustible imagination fires up again; White is just worse after 23. Bxf8? Rxf8 23. Nxe4 Nd4 25. Bd3 Nf5) Qxg7 (Kg8?? 24. Bxf6+ Kf7 25. Bh5 is a very aesthetic checkmate) 24. Rxg7 Kxg7 25. Nxe4 (Qg4+!? Kh8 26. Qxe6 Ne5, and Huebner said in his notes to the game that the push of the f-pawn would cause White real problems) Ne5, and with two rooks and a pawn for the queen, Black has enough compensation to keep the play level.

Still trying to attack, Tal finally overreaches and Huebner pounces on the mistake: 29. Qh4?! (a better idea, Huebner wrote, was shifting the battlefield with 29. Qb6 Rd7 30. a4, with play for both sides) Rd7 30. Nxf6? (again, something like 30. a4 was preferred) Rg7!, and suddenly it’s Black who is doing the attacking down the open g-file and on the long diagonal.

The rooks come into their own as White’s defenses are shredded: 31. Qh6 (Ng4 Bxg2! 32. Kxg2 Nxg4 33. Bxg4 Rxg4+! 34. Qxg4 Rg8, and Black will win the pawn ending; or 31. g3 Rgf7 32. Ne4 Rf1+! 33. Bxf1 Nf3+ 34. Kg2 Nxh4+ 35. gxh4 Bxe4+ and wins) Rxg2+ 32. Kf1 (Kh1 Rg6+ 33. Ne4 Bxe4+ 34. Bf3 Bxf3 mate) Rf7!, covering the mate on h7, keeping the pin on the knight, and threatening 33…Rg6.

It’s over on 33. Bh5 (see diagram; if 33. Ke1, Black wins with 33…Rg6 34. Qd2 Bd5 35. Nxd5 Rg1+ 36. Bf1 Rfxf1+ 37. Ke2 Rg2+ 38. Kxf1 Rxd2) Ng4! (attacking the queen and the pinned knight and effectively ending the contest) 34. Bxg4 Rxg4, and Tal resigned. White’s knight can’t be saved after 35. Ke1 Rg6 36. Qe3 Rgxf6, and the Black rooks and bishop will be far too much for the lone White queen.

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​Those of you embracing the “Dry January” movement might be interested to know that there’s been a long, tangled, and still unresolved debate over the intersection of booze and chess. Surprisingly few top grandmasters throughout history appear to have suffered from alcoholism, perhaps because the exhilaration offered by chess competes with and does not complement the buzz from too many cognacs.

Easily the most famous collision of alcohol and chess greatness came in the person of former world champion Alexander Alekhine. The story — sometimes challenged — is that a weakness for drink was to blame for the Russian-born Alekhine’s shocking loss to Dutch star Max Euwe in their 1935 world title match. Alekhine, so the story goes, swore off the bottle and easily won a rematch two years later, retaining the world title he would hold until his death in 1946.

Still, the quality of Alekhine’s play in his final years markedly declined, even as his reputation was stained by his willingness to play tournaments and exhibitions in Nazi-dominated Europe. In his prime, Alekhine dismissed Ukrainian star Efim Bogoljubov in two lopsided world title matches in 1929 and 1934. But the late-career Alekhine could only draw a short non-title match with his old punching bag played in Warsaw in 1943.

Bogoljubov even took the lead by winning the first game from the White side of a Sicilian Dragon. After 12. Rad1 Nh5 13. Bf3, it’s impossible to say if it’s too much wine or simply recklessness that leads Black into 13…Nxf4?! (Bxd4 14. Bxd4 Nxd4 15. Qxd4 Qc5 is very playable) 14. Nxc6 Nxh3+ 15. gxh3 bxc6, getting only obscure compensation for the sacrificed piece.

It gets worse when White manages to save his seemingly undefendable h-pawn: 16. Bd4! Bh6 17. Qd3! e5 (17…Bxh3? 18. Bxh8 Bxf1 19. Rxf1 f6 leads to bad things such as 20. e5! Kf7 21. Bxf6 exf6 22. Bh5! gxh5 23. Rxf6+ Kg7 24. Qg6+ Kh8 25. Qxh6+ Kg8 26. Qg5+ Kh7 27. Rh6 mate) 18. Bf2 Bf8 (a sad retreat, but 18…Bxh3 is met by 19. Qxd6 Bxf1 20. Qxe5+) Bg2, and the pawn is saved.

Down a piece for two pawns, Black continues to press, but Bogoljubov tenaciously protects his advantage: 26. Qg3 Qe6 (Bh4 27. Qg1 Qd7 28. Rf5! Bxf5 29. Qg8+ Ke7 30. Qxa8 Bg4 31. Qg8, and White is winning) 27. Bf3 Rh4 28. Bxg4 Rxg4 29. Qf3! (Qxh3?? Rh4) Rh4 30. Qf5 Rb8 31. b3 Rb7 32. Rdf2, and now White enjoys a positional as well as material advantage.

Alekhine sacrifices more pawns to get his rooks doubled on the h-file, but the once-fearsome attacker can make no headway against White’s precise defense: 38. exd5 Rbh7 39. Kf3 Rh2 (generating a real drawing threat of 40…R7h3+ 41. Kg4 Rh4+ 43. Kf3 R4h3+, as 44.. Ke4?? actually loses to 44…Rxd2) 40. Be1! Ke7 41. dxc6 Ke6 42. Ke4 Be7 43. Nd5 Re2+ 44. Kd3 Rxe1, and now some fancy knight-stepping brings down the curtain: 45. Nc7+ (also winning was simply 45. Rxe1 Kxd5 46. c7 Rh8 47. Re4) Kd6 46. Ne8+ Ke6 47. Rxe1!, and Black resigns as the c-pawn queens after 47…Kxf5 (Rh8 48. Ng7+ Kd6 49. Nh5 and the knight escapes into a winning position) 48. c7 Rh3+ 49. Kc4 Rh4+ 50. Kb5.

(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)

Tal-Huebner, FIDE Interzonal Tournament, Leningrad, June 1973

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be2 b5 7. a3 Bb7 8. f4 Nc6 9. Be3 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 Ne7 11. Rd1 Rd8 12. O-O Nc6 13. Qd2 Be7 14. Qe1 d6 15. f5 O-O 16. f6 Bxf6 17. Rxf6 gxf6 18. Qh4 Qe7 19. Rd3 f5 20. Bg5 f6 21. Bh6 fxe4 22. Rg3+ Kh8 23. Bg7+ Qxg7 24. Rxg7 Kxg7 25. Nxe4 Ne5 26. Ng3 Ng6 27. Qd4 Kh8 28. Nh5 Ne5 29. Qh4 Rd7 30. Nxf6 Rg7 31. Qh6 Rxg2+ 32. Kf1 Rf7 33. Bh5 Ng4 34. Bxg4 Rxg4 White resigns.

Bogoljubov-Alekhine, Match, Game 1, Warsaw, March 1943

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 g6 7. O-O Bg7 8. Be3 h5 9. h3 Bd7 10. Qd2 Qc8 11. f4 h4 12. Rad1 Nh5 13. Bf3 Nxf4 14. Nxc6 Nxh3+ 15. gxh3 bxc6 16. Bd4 Bh6 17. Qd3 e5 18. Bf2 Bf8 19. Bg2 Be6 20. Qf3 Be7 21. Be3 Rh7 22. Rd2 g5 23. Kh2 g4 24. hxg4 h3 25. Bh1 Bxg4 26. Qg3 Qe6 27. Bf3 Rh4 28. Bxg4 Rxg4 29. Qf3 Rh4 30. Qf5 Rb8 31. b3 Rb7 32. Rdf2 Rg4 33. Kxh3 Rh4+ 34. Kg2 d5 35. Bd2 Bc5 36. Rf3 Qxf5 37. Rxf5 f6 38. exd5 Rbh7 39. Kf3 Rh2 40. Be1 Ke7 41. dxc6 Ke6 42. Ke4 Be7 43. Nd5 Re2+ 44. Kd3 Rxe1 45. Nc7+ Kd6 46. Ne8+ Ke6 47. Rxe1 Black resigns.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.