Wolfgang Uhlmann and The French Winawer are names which will be linked for eternity.
The death of the German Grandmaster (29 March 1935 – 24 August 2020) at the age of 85 will sadden chess enthusiasts.
Uhlmann had many notable successes over the course of his very long chess career, especially in the 1960s. He qualified for the Candidates cycle just the once. This was in 1970, which happened to coincide with Bobby Fischer’s incredible run of match victories against Mark Taimanov (6-0), Bent Larsen (6-0) and Tigran Petrosian (6.5-2.5) on his way to his famous match with Boris Spassky in 1972.
Uhlmann lost his one and only Candidates match to Larsen, by the score of 3.5-5.5. Thereafter, he failed to make an impression at the highest level but he did play in no fewer than 11 Chess Olympiads between 1956 and 1990; a remarkable achievement.
Devotion to the French Defense
The most notable feature of Uhlmann’s chess career was his unerring devotion to the French Defense and his loyalty to the Winawer Variation in particular. His book, Winning with the French (Batsford, 1995) is essential reading and was recently reissued as an updated version with five new games and renamed The French Defense – Properly Played (Joachim Beyer Verlag, 2018).
The Winawer Variation arises after the moves: 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Bb4
It is timely to remind ourselves of Uhlmann’s prowess with the Winawer as Anish Giri’s course on the French Defense is making good progress in bringing this extremely sharp line back into fashion. Uhlmann and the French Winawer were simply inseparable and he had many great games with it against very strong players.
Uhlmann’s Battles with Bobby
Uhlmann’s Winawer battles with Bobby Fischer are still inspirational for anyone wanting to add the opening to their repertoire. The highlight is their game played in 1960 at the tournament in Buenos Aires.
Fans of the Winawer Variation will recognise the pawn structures and may find the following snippets from the game to be instructive.
They demonstrate the resilience of the Winawer, provide a sample of the typical tactics at Black’s disposal and show the defense was capable of success even against the strongest of players.
Fischer – Uhlmann
Buenos Aries, 1960
White to play
Fischer appears to have several advantages in this position. His bishop pair looks strong, the doubled pawns are protected and his pieces have good coordination. However, he was not at his best at Buenos Aires and his timing proved to be out in this game.
He played 20 f4? The logic of the move is clear. Fischer wants to chip away at the black pawns. He missed a highly effective knight manoeuvre by Uhlmann. 20 Rfe1, aiming to pressure Black down the e-file, is an obvious improvement.
20 …Nd6! The knight heads for e4. From there is will threaten the white queen, attack the pawn on c3 and also be close enough to worry the white king. Fischer will no longer be able to secure e4 with f2-f3, thanks to his impetuous 20 f4?
21 Bf3 Fischer could have kept things simpler than this with 21 fxg5 Ne4 22 Qe3 Qxc3 23 Qxc3 Nxc3, with equal chances.
Pawn Sacrifice
Uhlmann is quick to pounce upon on a new opportunity.
21 …g4!!
This stunning move offers a pawn sacrifice. The idea is to ensure Fischer’s dark-squared bishop is blocked out of the game. As White relies heavily on the bishop pair in the Winawer, rendering one of them ineffective represents a triumph for Black.
22 hxg4 f5!
Black’s blockading plan is the main feature of the next few moves.
23 g5 Re7 24 Bg3 Be8 25 Qe3 Ne4 26 Bxe4 dxe4 27 Kf2 Reh7 28 Rfb1 Qd5
Now Fischer slipped with 29 Qe1?
Fischer’s stubbornness was one his greatest strengths while, paradoxically, simultaneously being one of his greatest weaknesses.
Blockading the Bishop
It is extremely difficult to conjure up any serious winning tries for White, as Uhlmann’s domination of the white squares is too strong. It is possible Fischer thought he could continue to push, especially as he has an extra pawn. If he intended his queen to reach b2 to attack down the b-file then he will have been extremely disappointed by the next turn of events.
29 …Rh1! 30 Qxh1??
30 Qe3 Rxb1 31 Rxb1 Bxa4 clearly has little appeal for White, but would be the lesser of two evils.
Ordinarily, trading a queen for two rooks would be beneficial, but here Uhlmann shows in another surprise with the brilliant 30 …e3+!
This move brings serious trouble to White’s door.
Possible variations include:
31 Kxe3? Qe4+ 32 Kf2 Rxh1 33 Rxh1 Bc6! brings the ‘bad’ French bishop into play with a decisive effect.
31 Ke2? Rxh1 32 Rxh1 Qxg2+ is early winning, as the bishop on g3 will drop off.
Fischer tried the better move, 31 Kg1, but after 31 …Rxh1+ 32 Kxh1 e2! Uhlmann was clearly in full control and he duly converted his advantage (0-1, 42).
A great success for Wolfgang Uhlmann and the French Winawer!
For further information on the French Defense we can strongly recommend Anish Giri’s Chessable course.
