Deflection study:

One of my holiday reading books was the delightful The Chess Players Bedside Book, a compilation of articles by Raymond Edwards and Raymond Keene; published by Batsford in 1975. It comprises a couple of dozens articles on a number of different chess subjects. The fact that it is dated adds to it appeal. The article by David Levy on computer chess, for instance, can still be read with interest and amusement. And most articles had things which greatly interested me.

One position struck particularly.

Black to play. What is his best move?

I would never have played 1…Bg4!! but it is a brilliant move, deflecting the queen from its attack on e5, giving black enough time to counter attack. Qd2/Rg8 ideas decided the game quickly for Larsen.

The deflection is more or less the same as Mitrofanov's study which was recently shown in two Chessbase articles, the first of which was http://en.chessbase.com/post/joys-of-che–the-mother-of-all-moves-301013.

Mitrofanov composed his study in 1967, with Taimanov Larsen being three years later.

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