Karel Opočenský
Notable Games

Karel Opočenský

13 celebrated games · 240 in the full archive
Player Index ◈ Biography 240 CURATED GAMES

Notable Games

  • 1913.08 Opocensky, Karel vsHrdina, Josef 1-0 Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Symmetrical Variation 19 moves CSR-ch05 Hauptturnier Mladá Boleslav 1913, the Hauptturnier of the Czech championship, in the year the Czech chess union made him a master. Nineteen moves: 11.f4, 14.f5 Nxc4 15.f6 and 16.Qh4 Bh5 17.g4 Ne3 18.gxh5 — Black takes the rook on f1, and 19.h6 brings the resignation.
  • 1925.05 Opocensky, Karel vsRubinstein, Akiba 1-0 Queen's Gambit Declined: Queen's Knight Variation 44 moves Marianske Lazne Masters Mariánské Lázně 1925 against Akiba Rubinstein, who shared first place in the tournament. 15.d5 exd5 16.e4 dxe4 17.Nd4 gives up two pawns to open the board, 20.Bb7 forces the queens off, and the a-pawn decides: 28.a6, and 44.Bc8 to escort it.
  • 1928.09.13 Opocensky, Karel vsTeller, Alfred 1-0 Polish Opening 56 moves Brno Brno 1928, opening 1.b4. 33.Bxf6 breaks open the black king, 41.Kxh2 collects the bishop that had checked it, and after 42...Rxf2+ 43.Qxf2 Qxg4 the ending turns on the b-pawn: 54.Rxb6 and 56.b6.
  • 1930 Opocensky, Karel vsFlohr, Salo 1-0 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Noa Variation 37 moves Prague-ch Prague championship 1930 against Salo Flohr, within a few years one of the leading players in the world. A Nimzo-Indian in which 19.Qxb7 and 23.Qe7 Qxe7 24.Rxe7 put a white rook on the seventh rank, and the ending is won at move 37.
  • 1933.06.21 Opocensky, Karel vsMackenzie, Arthur John 1-0 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation 28 moves Olympiad-05 Folkestone Olympiad 1933, fourth board, where he went through thirteen games with ten wins and three draws and took the individual gold medal. 27.Rxf6 Nxd5 28.Rf8+ finishes it in 28 moves.
  • 1935.08.25 Opocensky, Karel vsSpielmann, Rudolf 1-0 English Opening: King's English Variation, Two Knights Variation 50 moves Olympiad-06 Warsaw Olympiad 1935 against Rudolf Spielmann, one of the great attacking players of the period. A long King's English: 40.Nf7 Qxf7 41.Qxd8 wins the exchange, and White converts at move 50.
  • 1936.07.14 Opocensky, Karel vsSkalicka, Carlos 1-0 Queen's Gambit Accepted 29 moves Podebrady Poděbrady 1936, the tournament Flohr won ahead of Alekhine. 17.Nd5 exd5 18.exd5 gives up a knight to trap the black king on f8; after 21...Rxe3 22.Qxd7 the rooks come in, and 28.Re8+ Kg7 29.Ne6 is mate.
  • 1937.07.21 Stahlberg, Gideon vsOpocensky, Karel 0-1 Dutch Defense: Nimzo-Dutch Variation, Alekhine Variation 27 moves Parnu Pärnu 1937 with Black against Gideon Ståhlberg, Sweden's leading player and a future Candidate. A Dutch Defence decided in 27 moves: 25...Bxe2 26.Rxe2 Qxf3 27.Rxe8 Bxf2+.
  • 1939.09.04 Eliskases, Erich Gottlieb vsOpocensky, Karel 0-1 King's Indian Attack: Sicilian Variation 49 moves Olympiad-08 Final A Buenos Aires Olympiad 1939, first board for Bohemia and Moravia, three days after war broke out in Europe, against Erich Eliskases of Germany, the team that took the gold medals. 31...Bxh3 lets the queen go: 32.Rxc7 Rg4+ 33.Kh1 Bg2+ 34.Kg1 Bxf3+ drives out the white king, and 36...Bxc7 takes the rook back.
  • 1939.09.15 Van Scheltinga, Theo D vsOpocensky, Karel 0-1 King's Indian Defense 18 moves Olympiad-08 Final A Buenos Aires Olympiad 1939 against Theo van Scheltinga — one of the games in which Opočenský played the ...b5 pawn sacrifice decades before Pal Benko made it his own. 5...b5 6.cxb5, and Black's pressure on the a- and b-files ends it in 18 moves: 17...Bxc3 18.bxc3 Rxb1.
  • 1941.09.12 Opocensky, Karel vsAlekhine, Alexander 1-0 Queen's Gambit Declined 57 moves Europe Tournament Munich 1941 against Alexander Alekhine, the reigning World Champion. A Queen's Gambit that reaches a minor-piece ending: 29.Bxf7+ collects a pawn, and the d-pawn walks home — 49.d5+, 53.d6+, 57.d7.
  • 1945 Opocensky, Karel vsPachman, Ludek 1-0 Catalan Opening 20 moves Prague Prague 1945 against Luděk Pachman, soon to be Czechoslovakia's leading player. Twenty moves: 15.Bxh6 gxh6 16.Re4 Qxc3 17.Rc1 chases the queen, and 19.Rg4+ Kh8 20.Qc1 aims at the open king.
  • 1954.07.06 Tikovsky, Augustin vsOpocensky, Karel 0-1 Queen's Gambit Declined: Baltic Defense, Queen Attack 18 moves CSR-ch24 sf Czechoslovak championship semi-final 1954, at the age of sixty-two. White takes two queenside pawns in the Baltic Defence and falls behind in development: 14...Rxd2 15.Bxd2 Re8+ and 18...Bg4 end it in 18 moves.
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