Memorization: Kovacs-Korchnoi 1969
When White opts for the Exchange French, what he is saying is, My opponent knows the French Defense better than I do, so my best chance at leveling the playing field is the Exchange Variation. At the amateur level, White has a point. It is a mixture of disappointing and frustrating for Black to play a variation of the French Defense that is un-French in nature and where White's first-move advantage reduces Black to a reactive role. Taulbut, however, sees an upside to this role: "The Exchange Variation is satisfactory for Black since White usually has to commit his pieces earlier and Black can adopt a set-up designed to counter White's development." Taulbut's notes on the Kovacs-Korchnoi game, and more so those of Mark Weeks, were essential in composing this memorization exercise.
1. Opening: French Defense, Exchange Variation (Reti Attack?)
After White's 1.e4, Black's reply of 1...e6 gives rise to the French Defense. White continues 2.d4, and Black attacks e4 with 2...d5. White and Black exchange pawns with 3.exd5 exd5, giving rise to the Exchange French. White's 4.Bd3 cuts off the queen's defense of the d4-pawn, and Black seizes the opportunity to it with 4...Nc6. White defends with 5.c3, and Black develops the dark-square bish with 5...Bd6. White's next move, 6.Qf3, attacking Black's d5-pawn and prepping 7.Bf4, does not have a name as a variation of the Exchange French. As it was played by Richard Reti as far back as 1921, it will henceforth be referred to as the "Reti Attack."
2. Standoff of dark-square bishes
Rather than developing the king's knight to defend d5 with 6...Nf6 or 6...Nge7, Black defends with 6...Nce7, moving his already-developed queen's knight a second time. Black is anticipating that White will develop his bish to b4, with a threat of capturing Black's bish on d5. If White forgoes capturing and Black can capture first on f4, White's queen will recapture and Black's knight on e7 will be poised to attack the queen from g6. What makes Black think White will develop the dark-square bish to b4? Since the c3-square is unavailable for White's b1-knight, it will deploy to d2, and that means White will prioritize the bish's development above the knight's and to a square that is not d2. Sure enough, White continues 7.Bf4, offering to exchange his bad bish for Black's good one. Black's reply of 7...Nf6 preps kingside castling and invites 8.Bxd6, because 8...Qxd6 puts him ahead in development. White observes that Black's knight on f6 would allow an attack on the queen with 8...Bg4, so he double-defends the g4-square with 8.h3.
3. Black shoots first
Black begins executing his plan with 8...Bxf4, prompting 9.Qxf4, but delays attacking White's queen with 9...Ng6 for it would allow 10.Qe3+. Black first castles with 9...0-0; and after White's 10.Ne2, keeping the f3-square available for the queen's knight, Black attacks White's queen with 10...Ng6. White could capture with 11.Bxg6, prompting 11...hxg6, but supposes the exchange would benefit Black. Instead, White's queen tucks away with 11.Qh2 -- but in so doing, her strength is reduced to that of a dark-square bish.
4. e-file penetration
With his opponent lagging in development, Black stakes a claim to the e-file with 11...Re8, in the process pinning White's e2-knight to the king. White finally castles with 12.0-0, but this leaves the bish on d3 as the e2-knight's only defender. Exploiting this state of affairs, Black offers White his light-square bish with 12...Bf5 in exchange for White's knight on e2. White accepts; and after 13.Bxf5 Rxe2, the situation is that White has a light-square bish on f5 unsupported by the queen because she is on a dark square and Black has a rook on White's second rank not only attacking an undefended pawn on b2 but preventing the b1-knight from developing with 14.Nd2.
◄ Halftime recap ►
Laszlo Kovacs' game against Viktor Korchnoi ended with the former resigning after move 25. Move 13 is therefore a convenient point in the game to check if the first half has been accurately absorbed into memory.
Opening is Exchange French: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5. White develops the light-square bish with 4.Bd3, and this undefends the d4-pawn, so Black attacks it with 4...Nf6. White defends with 5.c3, and Black develops his dark-square bish with 5...Bd6. Black's d5-pawn is no longer defended, so White attacks it with 6.Qf3, and Black defends with 6...Nce5. White offers an exchange of dark-square bishes with 7.Bf4, but Black ignores in favor of kingside development with 7...Nc6. White is worried about 8...Bg4 attacking the queen and continues 8.h3 to give the queen an escape square. Black ends the bish standoff with 8...Bxf4, and White fires back with 9.Qxf4. Black could attack White's queen with 9...Ng6, but delays in favor of 9...0-0. White preps his own kingside castle with 10.Ne2. Now Black attacks White's queen with 10...Ng6, and the queen tucks away with 11.Qh2. Black stakes a claim to the e-file with 11...Re8, and White castles with 12.0-0. Black would like to capture White's e2-knight with 12...Rxe2, but the knight is defended by the light-square bish on d3, so Black tempts White's bish away with 12...Bf5. White captures with 13.Bxf5, and Black captures with 13...Rxe2.
✓ Success
5. Rook on the second, part 1
White continues 14.b3 to save the b-pawn, and Black replies 14...Qe7 -- strengthening his claim to the e-file, leaving a square on e8 for the a8-rook, and guarding the a3-square so White's knight can't deploy there. White attacks Black's rook on e2 with 15.Bd3, but 15...Rb2 both safeties the rook and keeps it on the second rank. White needs to involve his queen in the game, and 16.Qg3 is a step in this direction. Black, meanwhile, completes development and further strengthens his hold on the e-file with 16...Re8. White's queen repositions with 17.Qg5, eyeing the c1-square, and Black attacks her and the pawn on f2 with 17...Ne4. White could trade off the queens with 18.Qxe7, but Black's lead in development would give him an advantage in the endgame. Instead, White continues 18.Qc1, trapping Black's rook, and offers Black a draw.
6. Heavy casualties on f2
Black declines the draw offer with a roar, kamikazeing the rook with 18...Rxf2. White has two defenders on f2 and recaptures with 19.Rxf2, but Black proceeds to sac a knight with 19...Nxf2. White recaptures with 20.Kxf2, and Black gives a check with 20...Qf6. The king can't go to the e-file on account of Black's rook on e8, nor can he remain on the f-file on account of Black's queen. The king seeks and momentarily finds refuge with 21.Kg1, but Black's pressure is unrelenting: 21...Nf4 attacks White's bish on d3. The knight being a short-range weapon, Black needs it close to the enemy king in order to be effective. White's bish takes up a position by the king's side with 23.Bf1 but is helpless to stand in the way of Black's attack.
7. Rook on the second, part 2
Black's e8-rook invades with 23...Re2, and the bish cannot capture because 24.Bxe2 would invite a royal fork with 24...Nxe2+. White can, however, finally involve the b2-knight in the game with 24.Nd2 and potentially activate the rook in a turn or two. Black, in a race to prosecute his attack before White's pieces can mobilize and repel Black's attack, replies with a forcing move: 24...Nxh3+. White cannot capture with 24.gxh3 because after 24...Qf2+ and 25.Kh1, 25...Qh2# is game over. White's best continuation is 25.Kh2. After 25...Nf4, Black is threatenng checkmate with 26...Qh4+ 27.Kg1 Nh3+ 28.Kh2 Nf2+ 29.Kg1 and 29...Qh1#. White tries 25.Kg3 to get away from the corner but resigns after 25...Nd3, because White will either lose the queen to 26...Nxc1 or the king to 26...Qf4+ 27.Kh3 Nf2#.
◄ Blind recap ►
Below is an attempt to replay Kovacs-Korchnoi 1969 from start to finish without looking at the board:
Opening is Exchange French, 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5, and White continues 4.Bd3. Black attacks the undefended pawn on d4 with 4...Nc6, and White defends with 5.c3. Black develops the dark-square bish with 5...Bd6, and now it's White who attacks Black's undefended pawn with 6.Qf3 -- which also preps development of the dark-square bish to f4. Black defends d5 with 6...Nce7. White threatens to trade off his bad dark-square bish for Black's good one with 7.Bf4, but Black disregards the threat in favor of a threat of his own: 7...Nf6 preps 8...Bg4, attacking White's queen on f3. White preps a getaway for the queen with 8.h3, and it is Black who initiates the exchange of dark-square bishes with 8...Bxf4 and 9.Qxf4. Black could attack White's queen from e7 with 9...Ng6, but delays doing so because it would expose the king to a check from the queen on the e-file. Instead, Black castles with 9...0-0. Black has two knights developed and is castled, while White has a queen and a bish developed but can't castle yet, so White continues 10.Ne2 to prep castling kingside. Black attacks White's queen on f4 with 10...Ng6, prompting 11.Qh2, and repositions the f8-rook with 11...Re8. White castles with 12.0-0, and Black attacks White's light-square bish on d3 with 12...Bf5. The d3-bish is the only defender of White's knight on e2, so after 13.Bxf5 -- White is happy to eliminate Black's remaining bish -- Black captures the knight with 13...Rxe2. Black's rook is attacking White's undefended pawn on b2, so White advances it to safety with 14.b3. Black's game is flowing through the e-file, and 14...Qe7 preps a future mobilization of the a8-rook to e8. White attacks Black's e2-rook with 15.Bd3, and Black keeps the rook on the second rank with 15...Rb2. White senses that Black's rook is vulnerable, deep as it is in White's territory, and begins a transfer of the queen to an attacking position vis-a-vis the rook with 16.Qg3. Black replies 16...Re8 to further dominate the e-file, and White continues the queen tranfser with 17.Qg5. Black has a queen on e7, so 17...Ne4 is both an attack on White's queen from the knight and a discvered offer of a queen trade. White could exchange on e4 by capturing with the d3-bish, but forgoes in favor of 18.Qc1. Now Black's rook is trapped and attacked, and Black's queen can't help
✗ Visualization errors
Opening is Exchange French: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5, and White continues 4.Bd3. Black attacks White's undefended pawn with 4...Nc6, and White defends with 5.c3. Black develops the dark-square bish with 5...Bd6, and 6.Qf3 from White gives rise to the Reti Attack. Black defends d5 with 6...Nce7, and White offers a trade of dark-square bishes with 7.Bf4. Rather than address White's offer, Black continues developing with 7...Nf6. White is worried about 8...Bg4 attacking the queen, so 8.h3 is played. Black ends the bish standoff with 8...Bxf4, and White recaptures with 9.Qxf4. Black castles with 9...0-0, and White preps castling with 10.Ne2. Black attacks White's queen with 10...Ng6, and White tucks the queen away with 11.Qh2. Black positions the f8-rook on the e-file with 11...Re8, and White castles with 12.0-0. Black lures White's bish away from defending the knight on e2 with 12...Bf5, and White plays into Black's plan with 13.Bxf5. Black captures White's e2-knight with 13...Rxe2, and White pushes 14.b3 because the pawn is under attack. Black reinforces on the e-file with 14...Qe7, leaving e8 available for the a8-rook, and White attacks Black's e2-rook with 15.Bd3. Black safeties the rook with 15...Rb2, and White begins maneuvering the queen with 16.Qg3. Black repositions the a8-rook with 16...Re8, and White continues 17.Qg5, eyeing the c1-square. Black attacks White's queen and discovered-offers a queen trade with 17...Ne4, but White declines the trade and attacks Black's b2-rook with 18.Qc1. A series of captures ensues on f2 with 18...Rxf2 19.Rxf2 Nxf2 and 20.Kxf2, and Black checks with 20...Qf6+. White's king hides with 21.Kg1. Black attacks White's bish on d3 with 21...Nf4, and the bish takes up a new position beside the king with 22.Bf1. Black invades on the e-file again with 22...Re2, and White can't capture with 23.Bxe2 on account of 23...Nxe2+ and a royal fork. Instead, White develops the b1-knight with 23.Nd2. Black gives a check with 23...Nxh3+, and White can't recapture with 24.gxh3 because 24...Qf2+ would lead to mate, so White moves the king with 24.Kh2. Black replies 24...Nf4, White continues 25.Kg3; and after 25...Nd3, attacking White's queen, White resigns.
✓ Success
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