David Bronstein

Belavenets – Bronstein · 1941 · 0–1

13th Soviet Championship semifinal, Rostov-on-Don 1941 — the 17-year-old Bronstein defeats the seasoned Soviet master Sergei Belavenets, an early flash of the talent that would reach a World Championship match within ten years.

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Zita – Bronstein · 1946 · 0–1

Moscow–Prague match, 1946 — a youthful attacking masterpiece that drew worldwide acclaim, capped by a celebrated rook sacrifice; long anthologized among the games that announced Bronstein's dynamic style.

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Bronstein – Dubinin · 1947 · 1–0

15th Soviet Championship, Leningrad 1947 — Bronstein, a lifelong champion of the romantic King's Gambit, wields it here in a sharp attacking win over Pyotr Dubinin.

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Bronstein – Keres · 1950 · 1–0

Candidates Tournament, Budapest 1950 — the last-round Ruy Lopez win over Paul Keres that caught Boleslavsky for first place and forced the playoff Bronstein would win to reach the world title match.

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Boleslavsky – Bronstein · 1950 · 0–1

Candidates playoff, Moscow 1950 — the decisive sudden-death 14th game against Isaac Boleslavsky; this win clinched the playoff and made Bronstein the challenger to World Champion Botvinnik.

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Bronstein – Botvinnik · 1951 · 1–0

World Championship 1951, Game 22 — a deep combination against World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik's Dutch Defense exploits a back-rank weakness and hands Bronstein the lead with two games to play.

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Reshevsky – Bronstein · 1953 · 0–1

Candidates Tournament, Zürich 1953 — a King's Indian win over Samuel Reshevsky that Grandmaster Ulf Andersson would later name his favorite game by another player.

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Bronstein – Keres · 1955 · 1–0

Göteborg Interzonal, 1955 — a dramatic Nimzo-Indian battle between two of the era's great attackers, decided in Bronstein's favor.

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Bronstein – Rojahn · 1956 · 1–0

Moscow Olympiad, 1956 — one of Bronstein's most imaginative games: from a Two Knights he gives up a piece for two pawns and rolls an unstoppable pawn phalanx through the center.

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Bronstein – Geller · 1961 · 1–0

28th Soviet Championship, Moscow 1961 — a celebrated 20-move miniature; Bronstein's attack overruns Efim Geller from a Nimzo-Indian, Sämisch Variation.

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Bakulin – Bronstein · 1965 · 0–1

32nd Soviet Championship, Kiev 1965 — Bronstein wins with the Caro-Kann line named after him, the Bronstein–Larsen Variation, a defense he helped pioneer.

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Bronstein – Tal · 1968 · 1–0

Soviet Team Cup, Riga 1968 — Bronstein beats former World Champion Mikhail Tal in the King's Gambit complex (a Falkbeer Counter-Gambit), a rare and prized scalp of the great attacker.

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Polugaevsky – Bronstein · 1971 · 0–1

39th Soviet Championship, Leningrad 1971 — Bronstein meets Lev Polugaevsky with an original, problematic pawn sacrifice that leaves White tied up for the rest of the game.

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Bronstein – Ljubojevic · 1973 · 1–0

Petropolis Interzonal, 1973 — often called the finest game of Bronstein's career: from an Alekhine's Defense, a long-range rook sacrifice that won the tournament's First Brilliancy Prize and was voted its most beautiful game.

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Bronstein – Kupreichik · 1983 · 1–0

51st Soviet Championship semifinal, Minsk 1983 — at 59, Bronstein produces a tactical King's Indian masterclass against Viktor Kupreichik.

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Conquest – Bronstein · 1989 · 0–1

London, 1989 — a dazzling 26-move tactical display; the 65-year-old Bronstein cuts down England's Stuart Conquest.

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Bronstein – Browne · 1990 · 1–0

Reykjavik Open, 1990 — at 66, Bronstein springs new ideas on Sicilian specialist Walter Browne and wins from a Najdorf.

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