In this special weekly column we will be looking at the most unexpected upsets that happened last week. Players usually face opponents of a similar level. Considerably less frequent are situations when a significantly lower-rated player succeeds in beating a much stronger adversary.

I would like to submit the game played between IM Lawrence Day (2490) and me (Louis Morin, 1960)  at the Quebec Open Championship, Montreal 1984, 4th round.  It can be found at this link: 

Lawrence Day - Louis Morin, 0-1 

IM Day was to become Canadian champion in 1985.
He has had a lot of success with the King's Gambit at the previous Olympiad, but when he tried it against me, it backfired terribly.

When I played 11...b5, he instantly sacrificed his bishop on b5, making me think that I would not survive very long.
Indeed, when he played 16.Nxb5, I could see in his face that my position was dead lost... at least, this is what he thought.
But my answer 16...Kf8 brought complete disbelief in his eyes.  When he played the incredibly passive move 21.Rg1, I remember thinking that even a strong IM could not play such a move against me. And I worked very hard to find the killing blow. It was not easy to find, because it is a normal-looking move, not a combination with sacrifice. But after 21...Qb6!, there was nothing he could do to avoid further material loss. However, he played on and made me prove that I could beat him with a rook up. 

I hope you enjoyed this. Thank you 

Louis Morin
Montreal, Canada

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