Lev Psakhis
Notable Games

Lev Psakhis

18 celebrated games · 794 in the full archive
Player Index ◈ Biography 794 CURATED GAMES

Notable Games

  • 1979.01 Chiburdanidze, Maia vsPsakhis, Lev 0-1 Ruy Lopez: Closed, Bogoljubow Variation 36 moves URS Young Masters-ch12 Soviet young masters' tournament, Baku 1979, which Psakhis won, against the reigning Women's World Champion Maia Chiburdanidze, in the Ruy Lopez. The black queen reaches d2 with 26...Qd2, the f- and e-pawns advance with 31...f4, 33...e4, 34...f3 and 35...e3, and 36...Qxf2+ ends the game.
  • 1979.10 Psakhis, Lev vsLputian, Smbat G 1-0 Queen's Gambit Declined: Tartakower Defense 32 moves URS-ch47 First League USSR Championship First League, Frunze 1979, against Smbat Lputian in the Queen's Gambit Declined. 18.Nf5 and 19.Nxh6+ break open the black king, 26.Qxb4 Bxb4 gives up the queen for a knight, and 27.Rd7+, 28.Rxf7+ and 31.Nd7+ drive the king to e8 before 32.cxb4.
  • 1980.12 Beliavsky, Alexander G vsPsakhis, Lev 0-1 Queen's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation 35 moves URS-ch48 Final USSR Championship, Vilnius 1980, against Alexander Beliavsky, with whom Psakhis shared the title on 10½/17, in the Queen's Indian. 19...h5 and 22...h4 advance on the kingside, 23...Rc2 enters the white position, 28...Rxb2 takes a bishop, and 35...Nxd4 ends the game.
  • 1980.12 Razuvaev, Yuri S vsPsakhis, Lev 0-1 Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line 26 moves URS-ch48 Final USSR Championship, Vilnius 1980, against Yuri Razuvaev in the Benoni. 14...c4, 16...b4 and 18...c3 push the queenside pawns, 19...b3 and 25...b2 carry one to the second rank, and 26...Qxc3 ends the game in 26 moves.
  • 1980 Zaichik, Gennadi vsPsakhis, Lev 0-1 Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, Opocensky Variation, Traditional Line 34 moves URS U26-ch Soviet under-26 championship, Riga 1980, against Gennadi Zaichik in the Najdorf Sicilian. 19...Nxb4, 20...Nc2 and 22...Nxf1 win the exchange, the black queen reaches f2 and g3, and the game ends with 34...Bf4.
  • 1981.02.24 Taimanov, Mark E vsPsakhis, Lev 0-1 Zukertort Opening 35 moves Moscow-4teams Moscow team tournament 1981 against Mark Taimanov. 17...d4 and 18...dxe3 open the center, 19...exf2+ drives the white king to f1, 20...Bxc6 and 21...Bxc1 win material, and after 27...Nxh2+ the black rook takes on e2, b2 and a2 with 31...Rxe2+, 32...Rxb2 and 33...Rxa2.
  • 1981.11.29 Psakhis, Lev vsKasparov, Garry 1-0 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System, Bronstein Variation 44 moves URS-ch49 Final USSR Championship, Frunze 1981, round two, against Garry Kasparov in the Nimzo-Indian. Psakhis and Kasparov finished level on 12½/17 and shared the title. Kasparov gives up two knights with 21...Nxc3 and 27...Nxf3+, and after 34...Bxf3+ 35.Kxf3 White has queen and bishop against a rook. The game ends at move 44.
  • 1982.07.26 Psakhis, Lev vsBrowne, Walter Shawn 1-0 Queen's Indian Defense 42 moves Interzonal-12a Las Palmas Interzonal 1982 against Walter Browne in the Queen's Indian. 33.Bxf5 wins a pawn, the rooks reach the seventh rank with 37.Rc7 and 39.Rbb7, and 40.Rxg7 and 41.Rxh7+ Qxh7 42.Rxh7# end the game with mate.
  • 1983 Keene, Raymond vsPsakhis, Lev 0-1 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Rubinstein System 42 moves EU-chT 08th Final European Team Championship, Plovdiv 1983, where Psakhis won team and individual gold medals for the Soviet Union, against Raymond Keene in the Nimzo-Indian. 28...Nxa5 wins a pawn, 31...f5 and 33...Rf6 open the f-file, and 40...Qxc5+ and 42...b5 end the game.
  • 1984.05.15 Kholmov, Ratmir D vsPsakhis, Lev 0-1 French Defense: Exchange Variation 42 moves URS-chT Cup 13th Soviet Team Cup, Kiev 1984, against Ratmir Kholmov in the Exchange French. The queens come off at move 34, the black king walks to a5 with 37...Kb7, 38...Kb6 and 39...Ka5, and 41...b4 decides the knight ending.
  • 1986 Psakhis, Lev vsPaunovic, Dragan 1-0 Sicilian Defense: French Variation 40 moves Minsk Minsk 1986 against Dragan Paunovic. White's h-pawn reaches h6 with 24.h5 and 25.h6, 32.Bxd5 exd5 33.Qg5+ forces the queens off, and 35.f7+, 36.h7, 37.Bf6+ and 38.Re7+ hunt the black king until 40.Rf7+.
  • 1987 Psakhis, Lev vsMalaniuk, Vladimir P 1-0 Ruy Lopez: Closed 29 moves URS-ch54 USSR Championship, Minsk 1987, against Vladimir Malaniuk in the Ruy Lopez. 16.Nxe5 wins a pawn, 26.Nxg7 Kxg7 gives up the knight to open the black king, and the game ends after 29.Be4.
  • 1989 Psakhis, Lev vsMartinovsky, Eugene Simeon 1-0 Petrov's Defense 25 moves World op 17th World Open, Philadelphia 1989, round one, against Eugene Martinovsky in the Petrov Defense. Black castles long, and 19.a4, 20.a5 and 21.Na4 bring White's queenside forward. After 22...Qxd5 23.Bxb5 Qxh5 White has given up the queen, and 24.Bxc7+ Kc8 25.Be5# is mate.
  • 1990 Psakhis, Lev vsKochyev, Alexander 1-0 Pirc Defense: Classical Variation, Quiet System, Czech Defense 31 moves Groningen op Groningen 1990 against Alexander Kochyev in the Pirc. 16.g4 and 19.gxf5 open the g-file, 23.Ngxf5 gxf5 and 27.Nxf5 Kxf5 give up both knights, 25.Bg6+ Qxg6 26.Rxg6 Kxg6 wins the black queen for bishop and rook, and the white queen and rook chase the king until 31.e6+.
  • 1992 Polgar, Zsuzsa vsPsakhis, Lev 0-1 Queen's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation 45 moves Aruba Aruba 1992 against Zsuzsa Polgar, who became Women's World Champion in 1996, in the Queen's Indian. White takes the a8 rook with 10.Nxf7 Kxf7 11.Bxa8, but 23...Rxf2+ and 27...Rxh2+ 28.Kxh2 Qf2+ open the white king, 29...Qxc5 wins a rook, and the game ends with 45...Qd5+.
  • 1993 Tiviakov, Sergei vsPsakhis, Lev 0-1 French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Open System 62 moves Rostov on Don Rostov-on-Don 1993 against Sergei Tiviakov in the Tarrasch French. 35...Rxd4 wins a pawn, 49...Rxe2 exchanges a pair of rooks, and the black queen and rook go for the white king with 53...fxg4, 54...gxf4 and 55...Rc2+. The game ends with 62...Re3.
  • 1995 Psakhis, Lev vsSmirin, Ilia 1-0 Sicilian Defense: French Variation 43 moves Haifa Haifa 1995 against Ilia Smirin. White plays for the kingside with 10.h4 and 18.h5, 33.g4 and 35.g5 open the black king, 36.Ng6+ and 37.Bxg5 follow, and the game ends after 43.Rh1.
  • 1999.11.10 Psakhis, Lev vsKosteniuk, Alexandra 1-0 Semi-Slav Defense: Meran Variation 44 moves Monarch Assurance 08th Monarch Assurance tournament, Port Erin 1999, against Alexandra Kosteniuk, who became Women's World Champion in 2008, in the Semi-Slav. The queens come off at move 20, the white king walks to g5 and h7 with 27.Kxg5 and 33.Kxh7, and the g- and f-pawns run: 38.g6, 39.g7+, 40.f6+ and 41.f7.
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