A Queen Sacrifice Hidden for 30 Years: Chess Secret

A brilliant sacrificial combination we’re going to examine today was never meant to be published. It was played in one of the games from a secret training match between future World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik and his sparring partner, Viacheslav Ragozin. They agreed to keep the games of the match secret — and both kept their promise. As a result, this game remained hidden for almost 30 years, and only after Ragozin’s death did Botvinnik decide to publish it to pay tribute to Ragozin. Let’s dive in and see if you can find the combination, which, according to Botvinnik himself, had a shocking effect on him. Support the Channel:   / chesswisdom   Botvinnik vs Ragozin, Training game 1936 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be2 a6 7.Be3 Qc7 8.a4 b6 9.f4 Bb7 10.Bf3 Nbd7 11.Qe2 Be7 12.O-O O-O 13.g4 d5 14.e5 Ne4 15.Nxe4 dxe4 16.Bg2 Bd5 17.Rfc1 Rac8 18.Bf2 Nc5 19.b4 Nd3 20.cxd3 Qxc1+ 21.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 22.Bf1 Rfc8 23.Qb2 exd3 24.b5 axb5 25.axb5 Rd1 26.Nc6 Bf8 27.Bxb6 d2 28.Qc2 Bf3 0-1