Imagine a chess game with not one, but two shocking ideas that only a genius could find. A game where your opponent gets a slight advantage right after the opening and is slowly increasing the pressure. It seems the only thing you can do is to defend passively, hoping for a draw. But suddenly, you find a fantastic counterattacking idea — a shocking move that completely turns the tables. However, your opponent wants to punish you for such boldness and initiates a devastating attack against your king. Your position looks completely hopeless — but then you find another incredible move, this time defensive, which ruins your opponent’s plans and leads to a brilliant victory. One of the most original players in chess history, Bent Larsen, did all this in his game against Mark Taimanov. So, let’s dive in and see if you can find Larsen’s surprising moves too.
Taimanov vs Larsen, Vinkovci 1970
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 c5 5. dxc5 O-O 6. Bf4 Bxc5 7. Nf3 Nc6 8. e3 d5 9. a3 Qa5 10. Rc1 Be7 11. Be2 dxc4 12. Bxc4 Nd5 13. Bxd5 exd5 14. Qb3 g5 15. Bg3 g4 16. Nd4 Nxd4 17. exd4 Bg5 18. O-O Bxc1 19. Rxc1 Be6 20. h3 gxh3 21. Be5 f6 22. Ne4 fxe5 23. Qg3+ Bg4 24. Qxg4+ Kh8 25. Ng5 Qd2 26. Rc7 Qxf2+ 27. Kh2 Qxg2+ 28. Qxg2 hxg2 29. dxe5 Rac8 30. Rxb7 Rc2 31. Nf7+ Kg7 32. e6 Kf6 33. e7 g1=Q+ 34. Kxg1 Rg8+ 0-1