Tukmakov-Nikolaevsky, USSR Ch. 1971

Black to play after 29.d8=Q. Just find the best move.

I was playing through some old games and came upon this minor masterpiece of Nikolaevsky's. It's amazing to think that the two players of this game finished 18th and 19th in the tournament, just three spots out of last place (spots filled by Grigorian, Dzindzinhashvili, and Tseitlin)! In fact, they were probably the least known players in the tournament, which was won by Savon ahead of Smyslov, Tal, Karpov and others. When you look at the number of powerful Soviet players in 1971 (and all of them did not even play in the championship), you realize how amazing was Bobby Fischer's World Championship victory the following year.

You can download the PGN or get it as text below. I hope to post a version to play online soon.

[Event "39th USSR Championship"]
[Site "Leningrad"]
[Date "1971.09.19"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Tukmakov, Vladimir"]
[Black "Nikolaevsky, Yuri"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E80"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "1971.??.??"]

1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. e4 c6 5. Be3 a6 6. Bd3 b5 7. Nge2 Nf6 8. f3 bxc4 9. Bxc4 d5 10. Bb3 dxe4 11. fxe4 (11. Nxe4 {Botvinnik-Smyslov, Match 1958} ) 11... Ng4 12. Qd3 (12. Bg1 $1 e5 13. h3 exd4 14. Bxd4 $14) 12... Nxe3 13. Qxe3 O-O 14. O-O-O (14. e5 $5) 14... Bg4 $1 (14... e5 $5 15. d5 Qh4 $13) 15. h3 Bxe2 16. Nxe2 Nd7 17. h4 c5 18. h5 c4 $1 (18... cxd4 $5 19. Nxd4 (19. Qh3 $1 g5 $1 20. h6 $13) 19... Qc7+ 20. Kb1 Qe5 21. hxg6 hxg6 22. Qh3 Nf6 $11) 19. Bc2 Qa5 20. hxg6 hxg6 21. Nc3 $6 (21. Qh3 $142 Rfd8 (21... Nf6 $2 22. e5 Nh5 23. Kb1 $1 $18) 22. e5 $5 Qxa2 23. Bxg6 Rab8 $13) 21... Rfb8 22. Rd2 e5 $1 23. d5 Nc5 24. Qh3 Ra7 25. d6 Rab7 26. d7 Ne6 27. Rd6 Nf8 28. Rhd1 Rxb2 $1 29. d8=Q $2 (29. R1d5 $142 $1 Qa3 $1 30. Kd1 Rd8 31. Na4 Qxh3 32. gxh3 Rxa2 $17) 29... Qa3 $3 30. Rh1 $6 ({a)} 30. Nb5 $1 Qxa2 (30... Rxc2+ 31. Kxc2 Qxa2+ 32. Kc3 Rxd8 33. Rxd8 axb5 $13) 31. Na3 Rxd8 32. Rxd8 c3 $1 33. Rh1 $1 (33. Qxc3 Bh6+ $1 34. R1d2 Qa1+ 35. Bb1 Rxd2 $3 36. Qxa1 Ra2+ 37. Kd1 Rxa1 $19) 33... Qa1+ 34. Nb1 Rxb1+ 35. Bxb1 Qb2+ 36. Kd1 Qxb1+ 37. Ke2 Qxe4+ 38. Kf2 Qc2+ $17) ({b)} 30. R1d3 Rb1+ $3 31. Kd2 Qc1+ 32. Ke2 Qf1+ 33. Ke3 Re1+ 34. Kd2 Qf2+ 35. Ne2 Rxe2+ 36. Kc1 Rxc2+ 37. Kd1 Qe2#) ({c)} 30. R1d5 Rb1+ {etc.}) ({d)} 30. Kd2 Rxc2+ $3 31. Ke1 Rxd8 32. Rxd8 Rxc3 $19) ({e)} 30. Qxf8+ $1 Rxf8 $1 31. Rxa6 $3 Rxc2+ 32. Kxc2 Qxa6 $17) 30... Rxd8 31. Rxd8 Rb8+ 32. Kd2 Rxd8+ 33. Nd5 Qc5 34. Ke2 Ne6 35. Qh7+ Kf8 36. Rf1 Nf4+ 37. Nxf4 exf4 $19 {and Black won on time.} 0-1