Saturday, May 14, 2011

Czerniak the Honest

The following game appeared in the letter section of the Israeli chess magazine, Shachmat, in 1983. The author of the letter, Uriel Zak, notes how he defeated the Moshe Czerniak in 12 moves, adding before the game itself that he hopes this letter will help the student of opening traps by showing that even a "seasoned international master" might fall into such a trap.

The game is notable for a few things:

1). Zak is quite respectful of Czerniak, mentioning his glorious past (a draw with Botvinnik) in the same variation.
2). The game does not appear in the "standard" databases.
3). It is not every day that an IM loses in 12 moves.
4). The editor of the game section of Shachmat at the time -- less than a year before his death? The man who who published this game? The same Moshe Czerniak. 

Czerniak,Moshe - Zak,Uriel [A04]
Be'er Sheva, 1979
[Annotations: Uriel Zak]
Source: Shachmat, 1983, 11-12 [Nov. - Dec.]. Letters to the editor section. 

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.g3 

Closed Sicilian. By the way, with this opening Czerniak drew with the great Botvinnik. 

3...g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.0–0 e6 

Botvinnik played  5...e5 

6.d3 Nge7 7.c3 0–0 

Who would believe the game would end in six moves? 

8.Be3 b6! 9.Qc1 Ba6 10.Rd1 d5 11.Bh6 

Sets a trap, since after 11...Bxh6 12.Qxh6 dxe4 13.Ng5 mates 

11. ... dxe4 12.dxe4?? 


A natural move that loses immediately.  12.Bxg7! Kxg7 13.dxe4 Qc7= 

12...Bxh6! 0–1

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