This is Why Chess Will Always Be Beautiful
A 1972 Leningrad Championship game between Grigori Reschko and Oleg Kaminsky features one of chess's rarest tactical ideas: an underpromotion to a **bishop** — the only piece that avoids stalemate and wins. The game is presented as a showcase of enduring chess beauty. ---
Key Concepts
| Concept | Definition |
|---|---|
| Underpromotion | Promoting a pawn to a piece other than a queen (knight, bishop, or rook) |
| Underpromotion to bishop | An exceptionally rare case where only a bishop promotion wins — queen and rook both cause stalemate, and knight fails to force a win |
| Stalemate trap | A defensive resource where the losing side has no legal moves; relevant here because promoting to queen or rook covers the h8 escape square, allowing queen f7+ → capture → stalemate |
Notes
Game Context
- Players: Grigori Reschko (White) vs. Oleg Kaminsky (Black)
- Event: 1972 Leningrad Championship — same year as Fischer vs. Spassky
- Kaminsky was a FIDE master; Reschko was reportedly joint USSR junior champion in 1945 alongside Petrosian
Opening (Moves 1–10)
- English Opening, Four Knights variation
- White: c4, Nc3, Nf3, g3, Bg2 (fianchetto), castles, a4, b3, Bb2
- Black: Nf6, e5, Nc6, d5, a5, castles, Be7, Be6
- Position after move 10 was never repeated in database
Middlegame
- White plays Nb5, pressuring c7; Black responds Bf6 defending e5
- White builds with Rc1, d4, e4 push aiming for d5 advance
- Black captures into complications; White sacrifices a knight with e6 pawn push
- Black captures the knight (cxd4), declining fxf7 refutation
- White plays Qe5 threatening queen-bishop mating ideas on g7
- Black tries to neutralize with Bc3; White responds with the zwischenzug f6 (pushing back the queen before recapturing)
- Tactical maneuvering leads to White controlling the d-file with Rd1–Rd3
Queen Endgame — White's Passed a-Pawn
- White is down a piece for much of the game but maintains a passed a-pawn as compensation
- Series of checks and queen maneuvers; Black attempts perpetual check
- Key defensive resource for Black: queen covers both queening square (a8) and delivers perpetual checks
- White carefully avoids stalemate tricks (e.g., h5+ → captures → Qg5#)
- Black plays Qd5 (instead of the correct Qa4), giving White the opportunity
The Critical Position — The Bishop Underpromotion
- Position: White pawn on a7, Black queen on b7
- **Black's idea**: Allow White to promote, expecting stalemate
- Queen promotion → Qf7+ → captures → **stalemate** (queen covers h8)
- Rook promotion → same stalemate
- Knight promotion → cannot escape the "cage"; Black can force perpetual check
- **Winning move**: **a8=B** (underpromotion to bishop)
- Bishop does *not* cover h8, so after Qf7+ → captures → Black still has a move → no stalemate → White mates quickly
Conclusion
- After a8=B, Black plays Qb3 hoping for a blunder
- White plays accurately: Qd7, bishop maneuvers to d5–f7–g6 area
- King march: Kg6, forcing Black's king into a mating net
- Kaminsky resigned when the h-pawn was unstoppable
Actionable Takeaways
- When calculating promotions, always check whether queen/rook promotions gift a stalemate — bishop or knight may be the only winning option
- In queen endgames with a passed pawn, the defending queen must cover *both* the queening square and mating threats simultaneously — missing either is fatal (Qa4 was correct; Qd5 lost)
- Study underpromotion patterns; they are rare but decisive when they appear
Quotes Worth Keeping
You don't bring a queen into the game, or the knight, or the rook — you have to bring a bishop into the game. If you bring anything else, it just doesn't work.
That's why it's beautiful, and that's why chess will always be beautiful.