Geller at 100: A sterling career but never the brass ring

It seems every chess era produces at least one star-crossed player whose path to the top is blocked by an even greater talent.

Polish great Akiba Rubinstein may have been the world’s strongest player in the first decades of the 20th century, but war, chess politics and simple bad luck prevented him from ever securing a match against longtime champ Emmanuel Lasker. World War II frustrated Paul Keres’ plans for the match he had earned against titleholder Alexander Alekhine in 1939, and the Estonian star would go on to finish second in four subsequent Candidates’ tournaments between 1953 and 1962.

In our own time, such transcendent talents as Ukraine’s Vasyl Ivanchuk and American stars Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura have spent their prime years in the shadow of two all-time greats: Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen.

Ukrainian-born GM Efim Geller — who would have turned 100 years ago in March — was another unfortunate also-ran, competing with a great run of Soviet champions in the 1950s and 1960s and then being eclipsed by the rise of Bobby Fischer and Anatoly Karpov.

A two-time Soviet national champion and Boris Spassky’s second in the epic 1972 Reykjavik match with Fischer, Geller’s talent and achievements are undeniable. He barely missed out on qualifying for a world title match against Mikhail Botvinnik in 1963, losing by a half-point in the Candidates to his lifelong friend, Tigran Petrosian, but he remained a top-ten player for at least two decades.

Most impressive perhaps is Geller’s head-to-head performance against his great rivals: He had a plus-score in tournaments and matches against world champs Botvinnik, Fischer, Petrosian and Vassily Smyslov. Geller was a tough out even in his later years, winning the world senior championship in 1992 and competing in the Russian national championship in 1995, three years before his passing at the age of 78.

Karpov was yet another world champion’s scalp claimed by Geller, who defeated his much younger rival in a memorable game at the 44th USSR championship in 1976 — Karpov’s only loss at the event. Geller as White lures the newly crowned champ into an unfamiliar French Defense line, topping things off with a stunning queen sacrifice.

Black gets into early trouble with 9. Ne2 Be7? (a loss of time; better was 9… Bxd2 10. Qxd2 Ne7, developing another piece and preparing to castle) 10. Rc1!, already looking to blast open the center before Black’s army is fully deployed. White pursues his idea with admirable energy: 14. c4! c6 (bxc4 15. bxc4 dxc4 16. d5! exd5 17. e6! fxe6 18. Ne5, and Black is being pushed off the board) 15. c5, grabbing more space and threatening to trap Karpov’s only developed piece, the bishop on a3.

White cashes in on his massive development lead with 20. Bg5 Bc7 21. Rxb8+! Qxb8 (Rxb8?? hangs the queen, while 21…Bxb8 22. Qxc6+ Qd7 23. Qxa7 drops the rook) 22. Qxc6+ Kf8 23. Nf4 Ra7 24, Nh4! (threatening 25. Nhxg6+ fxg6 26. Nxe6+ Kf7 27. Qd7+) Qe8 (see diagram) — Karpov’s move shores up e6 and g6 and seemingly forces a queen trade, but White has another surprise in store.

Thus: 25. Qxe6+!! (Qxe8+?! Kxe8 26. Rb1 f6 27. Nxe6 fxg5 28. Nxc7+ Rxc7 29. Rb8+ Kd7 30. Nf5 Nh6! 31. Rxh8 Nxf5 32. Rxh5 kc6 33. Rxg5 Nxd4 and the White center falls) fxe6 26. Nfg6+ Qxg6 (the queen will be lost anyway to the buzzing knights on 26…Kf7 27. Nxh8+ Kf8 28. N4g6+) 27. Nxg6+ Ke8 28. Nxh8 Ra4 29. Rd1 Ne7 (the Black knight finally gets into the game, only to be chopped off immediately) 30. Bxe7 Kxe7, and White has emerged from the fireworks several pawns to the good.

Geller adroitly turns aside Black’s attempts at counterplay in the rook ending, and after 39. Kxe6 g5 (Kxc7 40. Rd6 Rd2 41. h4 Rd1+ 42. Kg2 d4 43. f4) 40. Rd6 Rd2 41. e6 Kxc7 42. e7, Black resigns facing 42…Re2 43. Rxd5 Rxe7 44. Rxg5 h4 45 g4!, with the connected passed pawns providing an elementary win.

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Geller remained a feared attacker even in his later years, dispatching another rising star, then-22-year-old Russian GM Alexey Dreev, in yet another sacrificial French Defense at the 1990 New York Open. As in the Karpov game, a misguided early bishop maneuver by Black allows Geller to initiate a fierce attack on the uncastled Black king: 9. a4 Bb7? (better was 9…c3, though White then has the option for a different promising piece sacrifice with 10. axb5!? cxd2 11. Bxd2 Bb7 12. bxa6 Nxa6 13. c4 Be7 14. c5 Nf6 15. Bb5+ Kf8 16. Bd3) 10. bxc4 bxc4 11. Bxc4!! (as Fischer and others learned over the years, Geller’s tactical alertness was second to none; such an early piece sacrifice must have been a shock to Black) dxc4 12. Nxc4, already with the threat of 13. Nxd6+! Qxd6 14. Ba3 Qd7 15. Re1+ Kd8 16. Rb1, with an overwhelming  attack.

Black’s king is subjected to a withering crossfire from Geller’s rooks and Dreev’s defense collapses when he misses one last resource: 17. Bb2 Qxa4 18. Re4?! (the engines say White here should have harvested his nuts with the simple 18. Bxg7 0-0-0 19. Rb3 Bf6 20. Bxh8 Bxh8 21. c3) Qa2? (losing; Black could have clawed back into the fight now with 18…Qa5! — hitting the White knight on d2 — 19. Bxg7 0-0-0 20. Rb1 Rxd2 21. Qf3 Qd5 22. Bxh8 f5) 19. Bxg7 0-0-0 20. Rb3 Bf6, and now a neat set of checks set up the pleasing geometric climax.

Thus: 21. Qg4+ Kc7 (Rd7 22. Bxh8 Bxh8 23. Qxg8+ Rd8 24. Qxf7 and wins) 22. Qf4+! Kc8 (there’s no salvation in 22…Rd6 23. Rd3 Ne5 24. Bxf6 Nxd3 25. Rc4+ Kd7 26. Qf5+ Re6 27. Qd5+ Rd6 28. Qxf7+ Ne7 29. Qxe7 mate) 23. Bxf6 Nxf6 24. Qxf6 Qxc2 25. Qf5+! and Black resigned. His queen is left exposed on both 25…Rd7 26. Re8+ Rxe8 27. Qxc2 Re1+ 28. Nf1 and 25…Kc7 26. Re7+ Nxe7 27. Qxc2.

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

Geller-Karpov, USSR Championship, Moscow, November 1976

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 Qd7 5. Nf3 b6 6. Bd2 Ba6 7. Bxa6 Nxa6 8. O-O Nb8 9. Ne2 Be7 10. Rc1 b5 11. Nf4 h5 12. b3 Ba3 13. Rb1 a5 14. c4 c6 15. c5 Bb4 16. Bc1 a4 17. Nd3 Ba5 18. bxa4 bxa4 19. Qxa4 Qa7 20. Bg5 Bc7 21. Rxb8+ Qxb8 22. Qxc6+ Kf8 23. Nf4 Ra7 24. Nh4 Qe8 25. Qxe6 fxe6 26. Nfg6+ Qxg6 27. Nxg6+ Ke8 28. Nxh8 Ra4 29. Rd1 Ne7 30. Bxe7 Kxe7 31. Ng6+ Kf7 32. Nf4 Bxe5 33. dxe5 Rxf4 34. Rc1 Ke8 35. c6 Kd8 36. c7 Kc8 37. g3 Ra4 38. Rc6 Rxa2 39. Rxe6 g5 40. Rd6 Rd2 41. e6 Kxc7 42. e7 Black resigns.

Geller-Dreev, New York Open, New York, April 1990

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 a6 4. Ngf3 c5 5. exd5 exd5 6. Be2 c4 7. O-O Bd6 8. b3 b5 9. a4 Bb7 10. bxc4 bxc4 11. Bxc4 dxc4 12. Nxc4 Be7 13. Re1 Qc7 14. Rb1 Qxc4 15. Rxb7 Nc6 16. Nd2 Qxd4 17. Bb2 Qxa4 18. Re4 Qa2 19. Bxg7 O-O-O 20. Rb3 Bf6 21. Qg4+ Kc7 22. Qf4+ Kc8 23. Bxf6 Nxf6 24. Qxf6 Qxc2 25. Qf5+ Black resigns.