Ludek Pachman
Notable Games

Ludek Pachman

18 celebrated games · 592 in the full archive
Player Index ◈ Biography 592 CURATED GAMES

Notable Games

  • 1943.04.11 Fichtl, Jiri vsPachman, Ludek 0-1 Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation, Classical Variation, Paulsen Variation 44 moves Prague International Prague 1943, the earliest game in an archive that runs to 1996 — Pachman is twenty-one and playing in occupied Bohemia. Forty-four moves with Black: the b-pawn walks down the board while everything else is held, 39...axb3, 41...b2, and 43.Rh1 b1=Q 44.Bxb1 Rb2 wins the bishop back with the position resigned.
  • 1947.07.29 Pachman, Ludek vsSzabo, Laszlo 1-0 Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation, Normal Line 33 moves Hilversum Zonal Hilversum Zonal 1947 against László Szabó — himself a study player here, and about to become a Candidate. Black's pieces pile onto the kingside and never arrive: 25.Nxe6 Rxe6 26.Qxa7 takes the pawn, 29.e6 Rxg3 30.Qe5+ ignores the rook, and 31.Bxf5 Rg7 32.Bxh3 collects the stranded knight.
  • 1947.12.15 Pachman, Ludek vsGligoric, Svetozar 1-0 King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Debrecen Defense 127 moves Chigorin Memorial-01 Chigorin Memorial, Moscow 1947 — 127 moves against Svetozar Gligorić, the longest game in the archive by fifty. Queen against queen for the final forty, with the black king driven from h8 to b1 and Pachman finding a mating net at the very end: 125.Qb4 Qd5+ 126.Ka3+ Kc2 127.Qb2+.
  • 1947.12.16 Botvinnik, Mikhail vsPachman, Ludek 0-1 English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation 45 moves Chigorin Memorial-01 The very next day at the same tournament — Mikhail Botvinnik with White, five months from the match-tournament that made him World Champion. Pachman wins the d5 knight with 37.Qf3 Nxd5 38.exd5 Qf6, walks his king to h6 out of the checks, and by 45.Qd7 a6 the extra piece decides.
  • 1954.09.14 Pachman, Ludek vsEuwe, Max 1-0 Queen's Indian Defense: Spassky System 44 moves Olympiad-11 Final A Amsterdam Olympiad 1954 against Max Euwe, in his own country and eight years past the world title. The queens come off at 26...Qxc2 and the game becomes a pure rook race: Pachman takes the c-pawn with 30.Rxc7, gives back the a-pawn, and pushes the centre through — 42.e4, 44.e5.
  • 1955.03.30 Panno, Oscar vsPachman, Ludek 0-1 Dutch Defense: Classical Variation 95 moves Mar del Plata International-18 Mar del Plata 1955 with Black against Oscar Panno — also a study player here, and the reigning World Junior Champion. Ninety-five moves: opposite-coloured bishops with pawns, and Pachman keeps finding new ground until 77...Kxg5, 85...g5 and 94...h3 leave the white bishop unable to cover both wings.
  • 1955.08.28 Pachman, Ludek vsSpassky, Boris Vasilievich 1-0 Indian Defense: West Indian Defense 40 moves Interzonal-03 Gothenburg Interzonal 1955 against an eighteen-year-old Boris Spassky, in the year Spassky became the world's youngest grandmaster. Pachman gives the exchange with 25.Nc7 Ng4 26.fxg4 Bxe5 27.Nxa8 Rxa8 to keep the bind, and 38.gxh5 g4 39.Qf6 Qxh5 40.Re5 ends it.
  • 1958.09.07 Larsen, Bent vsPachman, Ludek 0-1 Bird Opening: Dutch Variation 57 moves Interzonal-04 Portorož Interzonal 1958 with Black against Bent Larsen, a study player here too. A pawn ending decided by two moves: 49...d2 50.Ke2 Kxe6 51.f8=Q Bxf8 52.Kxd2 lets White queen and Pachman still wins, because 53...Bxb2+ 54.Kxb2 Kd5 leaves the black king first to the kingside pawns.
  • 1959.03.25 Fischer, Robert James vsPachman, Ludek 0-1 Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense 56 moves Mar del Plata International-22 Mar del Plata 1959 with Black against a sixteen-year-old Bobby Fischer, in the year Fischer first played the Candidates. Everything comes off — 37.Rg4 Rxg4 38.hxg4, 40.Qf5 Qxf5 — and Pachman wins the rook-and-bishop ending with 52...a4, 54...b5, and 55...Rxf3+ 56.Rxf3 Bxf3.
  • 1959.04.26 Pachman, Ludek vsFischer, Robert James 1-0 Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian 40 moves Santiago de Chile International Santiago de Chile, a month later — Fischer beaten a second time in five weeks, now with White. The white king walks up the board under fire and survives: 24.Ke1 Qg1+ 25.Kd2 Qxf2+ 26.Kc3 Qg3, and after 31.Qxg2+ fxg2 32.Rg1 the extra material tells at 35.Kc4 b5+ 36.Kc5.
  • 1960.06.25 Pachman, Ludek vsBenko, Pal C 1-0 King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation 41 moves Buenos Aires International Buenos Aires 1960 against Pál Benkő, later a Candidate and one of the great endgame composers. Pachman gives up a knight with 22.Ne7+ Kh8 23.Nxc8 to break the position open, wins it back at 34.hxg5, and the passed pawns run: 37.f5, 38.f6, 40.d6, 41.d7.
  • 1960.11.05 Pachman, Ludek vsSzabo, Laszlo 1-0 Caro-Kann Defense: Panov Attack 24 moves Olympiad-14 Final A Leipzig Olympiad 1960, Szabó again and twenty-four moves this time. 18.Bxf6 gxf6 strips the king, 20.Qxf6 walks the queen in, and after 22...Qxb2 the counterattack arrives one move too late: 23.Rxe6 Rxf4 24.Re8+ mates.
  • 1961.08.18 Pachman, Ludek vsDueckstein, Andreas 1-0 Queen's Gambit Declined: Chigorin Defense, Janowski Variation 18 moves Graz Graz 1961, eighteen moves and not a single capture after move eleven. Black wins a pawn on d3 and it costs him the game: Pachman just takes it back with 13.Rxd3, doubles on the e-file with 16.Rde3, and 18.Ng3 leaves the position unplayable.
  • 1962.04.30 Pachman, Ludek vsNajdorf, Miguel 1-0 King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Panno Main Line 48 moves Capablanca Memorial-01 Capablanca Memorial, Havana 1962 against Miguel Najdorf, twice a Candidate and the man whose name is on the most-played Sicilian of all. Forty-eight moves in a Sämisch King's Indian: every piece is traded down the c-file and the e-file, and 47.Kf2 Ke6 48.Ke2 wins the king-and-pawn ending by a tempo.
  • 1963.09.01 Pachman, Ludek vsKorchnoi, Viktor Lvovich 1-0 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Noa Variation 41 moves Capablanca Memorial-02 Capablanca Memorial 1963 against Viktor Korchnoi, later twice a World Championship challenger. Pachman gives up the d4 pawn — 29.Nxe3 Qxd4 — and gets the black king instead: 30.Qg6+ Qg7 31.Qe6+ Qf7 32.Qxh6, 38.Nh6 Ke8 39.Qg8+ Kd7 40.Nf5 and 41.Rxb7.
  • 1967.05.25 Pachman, Ludek vsSmyslov, Vasily V 1-0 English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense 37 moves October Revolution 50years Moscow 1967 against Vasily Smyslov, a decade past the world title — the fourth World Champion Pachman beats in this archive. Thirty-seven moves: 30.fxe4 opens the position, and once the black bishop goes wandering — 30...Bxc4, 31...Bxe2 — 33.exf5 and 36.Bd6+ Kg8 37.Qe8+ finish it.
  • 1977 Pachman, Ludek vsLarsen, Bent 1-0 Benoni Defense: King's Indian System 41 moves Geneve Geneva 1977, playing now for West Germany — Pachman had backed the Prague Spring, was imprisoned and badly injured after the Soviet invasion of 1968, and emigrated in 1972. Larsen is beaten with a knight underpromotion: 30.d7 Kxe7 31.dxc8=N+ Ke8 32.Nd6+, the new knight forking its way to a won queen ending.
  • 1996.02.03 Pachman, Ludek vsMovsesian, Sergei 1-0 English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, Old Indian Formation 40 moves CZE-chT 9596 Czech team championship, February 1996 — the last game in the archive, fifty-three years after the first. Pachman is seventy-two and beating a teenage Sergei Movsesian, who would go on to reach the world's top ten. The queens come off at 24.Qxb7 Qb8 25.Qxb8, and the b-pawn walks in: 27.b5, 40.b6.
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