Game Number 1

In the odd free moment I had last weekend I had a quick look at the Australian Chess Enterprises book stall at the Doeberl. I didn't have time to make an extensive choice of books but I did pick up one bargain. "The Best of the Best 1000" is a collection of the Top 10 games from each of the first 100 issues of Chess Informant, and it was going for a song.
For the younger readers, Chess Informant was the thing chess players used before chess databases came along, and was printed on good old fashioned paper. The truly dedicated would by every issue, but I restricted myself to picking up the odd copy here and there. So to get a collection of the very best games is quite a nice find, and hopefully I will find the time to play through some of them.
The game below is historical for a couple of reasons. It was voted the best game from the very first issue of Chess Informant, and is Game No. 1 in the book. It was also the first decisive game from the 1966 Petrosian v Spassky World Championship Match which Petrosian won 12.5-11.5. And finally it is a bit of a nightmare for players who think the Torre Attack is a risk free way of playing 1.d4, and Petrosian neutralised Spassky's play on the kingside, and then swamped him with an avalanche of pawns.


Spassky,B - Petrosian,Tigran V [D03]
Wch26 Moscow (7), 1966

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bg5 d5 4. Nbd2 Be7 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 c5 7. c3 b6 8. O-O Bb7 9. Ne5 Nxe5 10. dxe5 Nd7 11. Bf4 Qc7 12. Nf3 h6 13. b4 g5 14. Bg3 h5 15. h4 gxh4 16. Bf4 O-O-O 17. a4 c4 18. Be2 a6 19. Kh1 Rdg8 20. Rg1 Rg4 21. Qd2 Rhg8 22. a5 b5 23. Rad1 Bf8 24. Nh2 Nxe5 25. Nxg4 hxg4 26. e4 Bd6 27. Qe3 Nd7 28. Bxd6 Qxd6 29. Rd4 e5 30. Rd2 f5 31. exd5 f4 32. Qe4 Nf6 33. Qf5+ Kb8 34. f3 Bc8 35. Qb1 g3 36. Re1 h3 37. Bf1 Rh8 38. gxh3 Bxh3 39. Kg1 Bxf1 40. Kxf1 e4 41. Qd1 Ng4 42. fxg4 f3 43. Rg2 fxg2+ 0-1