LaviChess

The extinct volcano erupts

Gideon Ståhlberg called his teammate Gösta Stoltz an extinct volcano. At the 1952 Interzonal the volcano erupted: Stoltz left his queen where it could be taken to open a single diagonal, and the game won the tournament's first brilliancy prize.

  • WhiteGösta Stoltz
  • BlackHerman Steiner
  • WhereStockholm–Saltsjöbaden
  • When1952
  • EventInterzonal tournament in Stockholm and Saltsjöbaden, round 4
  • Result1–0, White won
  • OpeningEnglish Opening (A21)
  • Length34 moves

In the autumn of 1952 the second Interzonal tournament was played in Sweden, a step on the road to the world championship. Twenty-two players started, but one of them withdrew early through illness. Of the twenty-one who played to the end, the top eight went on to the Candidates Tournament. There was no suitable hall in Stockholm for the whole event, so fifteen rounds were played in Saltsjöbaden and at least six in Stockholm City Hall. We have not found where round 4 was played.

Gösta Stoltz was 48. His teammate Gideon Ståhlberg called him “an extinct volcano, harmless to its surroundings.” Tidskrift för Schack, the Swedish chess magazine, disagreed: “Harmless is going too far; the volcano still produces the odd violent eruption.”

One of the eruptions came in round 4, against the American Herman Steiner. The tournament was won by Alexander Kotov, three points ahead of the runner-up.

The players

Gösta Stoltz (1904–1963) played nine Chess Olympiads for Sweden and won an individual gold medal in 1931. He won the Swedish championship three years in a row, 1951–1953, and became a grandmaster in 1954. At the 1952 Interzonal it didn't go far: he finished sixteenth of twenty-one.

Herman Steiner (1905–1955) was born in Dunaszerdahely in Austria-Hungary and came to New York at a young age. He became U.S. champion in 1948 and wrote a chess column in the Los Angeles Times. His chess club in Hollywood was visited by movie stars such as Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. At the 1952 Interzonal he scored ten points out of twenty.

Read more about Gösta Stoltz among the great chess players.

The game move by move

Step through with the arrows or tap a move. Moves with a dot have a comment.

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Gösta Stoltz has the white pieces, Herman Steiner the black.

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Play like Stoltz

Guess the moves Stoltz played, one at a time. The move from the game earns two points, and a move Lavi thinks is about as good earns one. The other side's moves and the game's notes come as you go.

Play like StoltzPlay like Steiner

The moments that decided it

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After 24.d5: the queen on g5 stays put, and the bishop on b2 sees all the way to g7, with the king behind it on h8. “You could hear the murmur …”
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After 27.g6: White has given up the queen, but the pawn on g6 and the rooks decide.

The end

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The final position after 34.Rxf6. Black's time ran out.

Why the game is famous

The game won the tournament's first brilliancy prize and caused a stir. Tidskrift för Schack printed a photo of the astonished spectators at the board, among them Ståhlberg and Erik Lundin, under the caption “The extinct volcano's eruption.”

The best-known move is 24.d5, where Stoltz left his queen hanging to open a single diagonal. It was not the strongest move in the position, but it was the one that set the hall murmuring.

The whole game with notes, as text

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. g3 f5 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. d4 Be7 6. e3 O-O 7. Nge2 Kh8 8. Qc2 Qe8 9. b3 Nc6 10. Ba3 exd4 11. exd4 f4 12. O-O-O White castles queenside. The kings are on opposite wings, and both sides can attack. 12… Nh5 13. Be4 g6 14. Nd5 Qd8 15. Bb2 f3 The black pawn pushes in to f3, a wedge in White's kingside. 16. Nef4 Bg5 17. Bxg6 Stoltz sacrifices the bishop and tears open the black king's position. “The start of a sacrificial attack as beautiful as it is strong,” wrote Tidskrift för Schack. In fact, quieter moves would have given White a bigger advantage, but the sacrifice turned the game into a brawl. 17… hxg6 18. Qxg6 Ng7 19. h4 Bxf4+ Black trades off one of the attackers, with check. 20. gxf4 Bf5 21. Qh6+ Bh7 22. Ne3 Rf6 23. Qg5 Rg6 The rook attacks the queen on g5. 24. d5 Stoltz leaves his queen where it is. The pawn opens the diagonal from the bishop on b2 straight at g7 and h8, and at the same time attacks the knight on c6. “A move to the crowd's taste — you could hear the murmur …,” wrote Tidskrift för Schack. Strongest was actually to trade queens with 24.Qxd8+, but it was 24.d5 that made the crowd gasp. 24… Rxg5 Steiner takes the queen, and it was his best choice. 25. hxg5 White has given the queen for a rook. In return the h-file is open, and the knight on g7 is pinned to the king on h8 by the bishop on b2. 25… Ne7 The most natural defense, wrote Tidskrift för Schack. 26. Ng4 Qc8 The decisive mistake. After the game Steiner believed that 26…Kg8 would have given him chances to hold, but that defense is not enough either. Best was 26…Qe8, though White would still have been clearly better. Tidskrift för Schack thought that 26…Qe8 loses too. 27. g6 The only move that wins. Black takes the knight, but the pawn on g6 and the rooks take over. 27… Qxg4 28. Rxh7+ The rook takes the bishop with check, and next move the knight on g7 falls. 28… Kg8 29. Rxg7+ Kf8 30. Rf7+ Ke8 31. Re1 Qxg6 32. Rexe7+ Kd8 33. Bf6 A last trick. The queen can take the bishop, but then the rook on f7 takes the queen. 33… Qxf6 34. Rxf6 Here Steiner's time ran out. With 34…Kxe7 he would have won back a rook, but White would still have been clearly better.

PGN – the game as text for other chess programs
[Event "Interzonal tournament in Stockholm and Saltsjöbaden, round 4"]
[Site "Stockholm–Saltsjöbaden"]
[Date "1952.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Gösta Stoltz"]
[Black "Herman Steiner"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A21"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. g3 f5 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. d4 Be7 6. e3 O-O 7. Nge2 Kh8 8. Qc2 Qe8 9. b3 Nc6 10. Ba3 exd4 11. exd4 f4 12. O-O-O Nh5 13. Be4 g6 14. Nd5 Qd8 15. Bb2 f3 16. Nef4 Bg5 17. Bxg6 hxg6 18. Qxg6 Ng7 19. h4 Bxf4+ 20. gxf4 Bf5 21. Qh6+ Bh7 22. Ne3 Rf6 23. Qg5 Rg6 24. d5 Rxg5 25. hxg5 Ne7 26. Ng4 Qc8 27. g6 Qxg4 28. Rxh7+ Kg8 29. Rxg7+ Kf8 30. Rf7+ Ke8 31. Re1 Qxg6 32. Rexe7+ Kd8 33. Bf6 Qxf6 34. Rxf6 1-0

Download .pgn

Sources

  • Tidskrift för Schack 1952 no. 10–11: the report (pp. 254–258) and the game with notes (pp. 273–274)
  • PGN Mentor, Interzonal1952.pgn
  • Mark Weeks: 1952 Saltsjobaden Interzonal
  • Wikipedia: World Chess Championship 1954 (the 1952 Interzonal)
  • Wikipedia: Herman Steiner

The moves compared in three sources (Tidskrift för Schack 1952, the Swedish federation's magazine, PGN Mentor and Mark Weeks): identical, 67 half-moves. The magazine prints 10…c5xd4, but there is no black pawn on c5, and the only black pawn that can take on d4 is the e-pawn: a misprint for 10…exd4, not a different game. Steiner's time ran out after 34.Rxf6, according to the magazine. Round 4 according to the magazine and PGN Mentor; we have not found the day. Every move has also been replayed by computer and checked against the rules of chess.

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Updated November 14, 2026