TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE
Aron Nimzovich, the Father of Hypermodernism, has for
Copyright
Copyright © 1981 by lim M arfia
All rights reserved.
Bibliographical Note
This Dover edition, first published in 1981 and republished in 2004, is an
English translation by lim M arfia of the work originally published in 1930 by
the Izdatel 'stvo VSFKJS akhmatnyi Li stok, Leningrad, as No. 13-14 of the
"Bibliotecka Sakhmatista" [Little Library for the Chess Player], under the title
Izbrannye part if meidunarodnovo turnira v KCII-Isbade 1929.
LibrCll), of Congress CatCtloging-il1-Publicatiol1 Data
Nimzowi tsch. Aran, 1886- 1935 .
[I zbrannye partii meZdunarodnovo turnira v Karlsbade 1929. English]
Carlsbad Internationa l C hess Tourn ament 1929 : annotated J by Aran
Nimzovich ; translated from the Ru ssian by lim Marfia.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-486-43942-9 (pbk.)
By 19 31, Nimzovich had developed and championed his
I. Carlsbad Intern at ional Chess Tournament (1929) I. Title.
GV1455.N53132004
796.1 '57- dc22
2004052720
M anufactured in the United States of America
blanca in this book is aimed less at discussing the objective
Dover Publications, Inc., 31 East 2nd Street, Mineola, N.Y 11501
merits of their play, than at proving that their success was
a long time been considered Denmark's great contribution
to chess (until Bent Larsen, that is) • In truth, however,
much of Europe could justifiably lay claim to Nimzovich:
Russia, where he was born, and lived until the Revolution;
Germany, where he completed his studies, and attained the
rank of Master; and of course Denmark, where he settled
and wrote the great tomes My System and Pr-axis of My Sys­
tem.
The present booklet was written in Russian, his native
tongue, and published in the Soviet Union in 1931, part of
the series entitled "Bibliotechka Shakhmatista (The Chess­
player's Pocket Library) ". Hitherto unpublished in Eng­
lish, it's an odd bit of Nimzovichiana, even for the man
Spielmann described as "possessed of an incurable taste
for the bi zarre. "
On the surface, the book appears to be si.mply a straight­
forward account of what was arguably one of the great tour­
naments of a ll time - attended, in fact, by every master of
any consequence in those days, with the exception of Alekh­
ine and Lasker. And it was written and annotated by the man
who would seem to be the logical choice for such a job ­
namely, the tournament winner, Nimzovich. And yet .••
And yet, upon rereading, the book changes character, al­
ters its tone; it becomes less a factual report of a tourna­
ment than a tract, a polemic, or perhaps more accurately
something we moderns might call" a bit of self-promotion"
( J.nd Nim zovich' s contemporaries probably called "tooting
one's own horn").
theories so successfully - his victory at Carlsbad 1929 being
a prime example of "theory put into practice" - that they
were no longer considered revolutionary, but were being
accepted by the top masters into their tournament arsenals.
Indeed, a great deal of his discussion of Spielmann and Capa­
based on their adherence to the theories of Hy permodern ­
ism!
But Nimzovich h ad other things in mind, when he wrote
this booklet, than merely gloating at this vindication of his
theories at the topmost level. In his book of the Carlsbad
1929 tournament, he sets forth the following thesis: Given,
that Hypermodernism is not only sound, but superior to the
old way of play ing chess (as demonstrated by his victory
here, and supported by Spielmann and Capablanca' s use of
Hypermodernism to place second and third); it follows,
then, that the most successful practitioner, and foremost
proponent of Hypermodernism ' (namely, Nimzovich himself)
is entitled to a match for the World Championship.
(Remember that in those days, there was no FIDE, as yet,
to regulate the process of selecting a Challenger into an or­
derly three -year cycle. Instead, the Challenger was any
master who could arrange for a sponsor to come up with a
purse sufficient to attract the reigning World Champion, and
who could then convince the World Champion to sit down and
play him. )
Unfortunately for Nimzovich, there were two major - and
ultimately insurmount a ble - obstacles in his path to the
coveted match. The first of these was the reigning World
Champion, Alexander Alekhine. From the d ay he won the
Championship from Capablanca in 1927, Alekhine used every
possible pretext to avoid playing a match with anyone who
might have presented a re a l d a nger to him. Thus, Capa­
blanca, the logical choice for a rematch, was kept at a dis­
tance by means of insults a nd impossibly high financial de­
mands - while Bogolyubov, no threat to anyone, was able
to play, not one, but two matches with Alekhine! Euwe in
1935 was also considered a "safe" opponent; when he actu­
ally won that match, however, Alekhine practically fell
over himself to arrange a rematch - and then, having won
"his" title back, went into hiding again.
If diplomacy (and remember, Capablanca was a diplomat
by profession! ) could not secure a match with Alekhine,
then certainly Nimzovich had no hope of securing it with his
approach, which reads curiously like a cross between the
[vi]
philosopher's appeal to "right reason", and a quasi-religious,
almost revivalist appeal to some sort of "moral obligation of
the world of chess" - as though, if Alekhine himself should
refuse Nimzovich a match, the world of chess should somehow
rise as one and force him!
Tha t was the second great obstacle: Nimzovich himself.
He considered Spielmann his protege and friend; yet even
Spielmann himself speaks elsewhere of Nimzovich's abra­
siveness, his condescension, his penchant for championing
the bizarre and forgotten (perhaps only as a mental exercise)
sometimes to his own cost. Certainly, he regularly made
more enemies than fhends, a serious flaw in a man whose
ambition depended upon the ability to flatter and win the sup­
port of a wealthy patron. And this Nimzovich was never able
to accomplish.
We hope our translation faithfully mirrors these qualities,
as expressed in Nimzovich's inimitable prose. However suc­
cessful we have been, we believe the experience of reading
these ,pages will prove a most unusual one (for those of you
accustomed to reading the almost antiseptic analysis that
passes for chess literature nowadays) - and an instructive
one as well. For, in spite of his dogmatism (which at times
rivalled that of his old enemy Tarrasch), and his polemics,
Nimzovich had a unique vision of the game, which he backed
up with a fine positional sense, matchless endgame techni­
que, and an exceptional tactical flair as well. Indeed, we
find it a shame that such an unusual and gifted Master was
never given the chance to show what he might have accom­
plished in a World Championship match. Carlsbad 1929 was
fated to remain Nimzovich's finest hour.
Jim Marfia
I wish to thank Mr. Jack O'Keefe ("Old Eagle-Eye" ),
without whose editorial help and suggestions this work
would be unthinkable.
,~
This translation is lovingly dedicated to my parents, who
made it possible.
[vii]
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 Introduction

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CARLSBAD

TOURNAMENT

The Carlsbad Tournament of 1929 ( July 25 - August 26 )

was one of the strongest tournaments ever played, and cer­
tainly the strongest tournament since the War. Everyone of
the grandmasters with the exception of Alekhine and Las­
ker, was in attendance. Present were Capablanca, Bogol­
yubov, Nimzovich and Vidmar, all candidates for the world
championship; Rubinstein, Spielmann, Tartakover, Maro­
czy and Euwe, grandmasters known for their fighting qual­
ities; and Marshall, Grunfeld and Samisch, whom we may
call "grandmasters without portfolio". In addition to these
twelve titans, the organizers also invited the "semi-grand­
masters" Colle, Johner a~d Yates; the promising masters
Canal, Mattison and Becker; and the old stalwarts Thomas,
Treybal and Gilg. And, in order not to offend the ladies,
Vera Menchik was also invited (and proved herself to be
quite a gifted player, by the way) .

':<

Spielmaon took the early lead, displaying a positional ac­

curacy and a knowledge of opening theory hitherto absent
from his game (see the chapter concerning him) ; while
Capablanca started with a series of draws. I lost in the fifth
round to Yates, but my game s with Canal and Rubinstein al­
ready indicated a certain inadequacy in my pre-tournament
training. Only Vidmar put up an appearance ( but no more
than that) of offering Spielmann serious competition. Bogol­
yubov, in spite of his early misfortunes, retained all his
innate equanimity and optimism: "So, Spielmann's running
away with it, is he? Let him! Sooner or later, he's bound
to stop!" Bogolyubov's prediction eventually came to pass:
Spielmann did stop - and stood for quite some time, look­
ing nervously about, as though to ask, "Well, and what do
you say to this?"
 Beginning about the fifteenth round, Vidmar also began to
fall back; and slowly Capablanca and Nimzovich began forg­
ing ahead. After the nineteenth round, Capablanca still had
the best chance for first prize, despite a loss to Samisch.
At this point, the situation was as follows: Capa and I had
13i points, while Spielmann had 13. In Round 20 an exhdusted
Spielmann gathered up his last reserves of strength and ­
sensation! - defeated Capablanca, while I could do no more
than "achieve" a draw with Maroczy ( despite having reached
an endgame that was clearly won for me ). So now Spiel­
mann and I had 14 points, while Capa with 13i stood in third
place. In the last round, however, Spielmann, whose victory
the previous day had evidently 'put him into a state of trance,
let slip a probable win against Mattison, while both Capa and
I outmatched our adversaries; the result was 15 points for
me, and 14i for Capa and Spielmann. I thus finished in first
place, with Capablanca and Spielmann sharing second and
third prizes.
We consider this tournament theoretically significant, inas­
much as my system (8.S set forth in the books ~ System
and Chess Praxis) scored a brilliant twofold victory: in
my games, and also in the games of Spielmann, who has
openly advocated my system. And, since my system is so
closely connected with neo-Rom a nticism - the world of
chess having long ago bestowed upon me the honorable title
"Father of the neo-Romantic Movement" - then we ought
to consider Capablanca its advocate as well (see his chap­
ter) .
The theoretical and practical value of any tournament is in
direct proportion to the number of well-played games, new
ideas, and theoretical novelties it brings to life. Beyond a
doubt, the Carlsbad tournament was rich in all of these. We
believe the tournament's most important novelty was Spiel­
mann's line for White ( cf. his games against Samisch and
Colle ), but we also see our game with Bogolyubov as filled
with new ide ology.
The tournament's salient features will be illuminated for
[xii]
the reader in the following chapters on the prizewinners;
these we particularly commend to his attention, for it
is here that we have left the key to the understanding of
our little book.
The tournament passed without disagreement. Victor
and vanquished alike shared a spirit of comradeship which
precluded bewailing their misfortunes ( with the possible
exception of Spielmann, who could not hide his disappoint­
ment that first prize had somehow at the l a st moment es­
c aped him). E ven Bogolyubov was "surprised" at those
who attempted to console him, assuring them that he was
completely satisfied with his result, for "after such a
result, Alekhine will have to give me odds, and thus I will
become World Champion! " And when he said, "after my
match with Alekhine", it sounded curiously like "after my
win from Alekhine" - a victory in which he believed un­
questioningly.
To conclude this preface, a few statistics. Out of 231
games, White won 90, Black 40, with 101 draws. The
brilliancy prizes were distributed as follows:
1st Prize - Samisch, for his game with Grunfeld.
2nd and 3rd Prizes - were shared by Maroczy, for his
game with Canal, and Vidm a r, for his game with Euwe.
The prize for the best-played game was shared by Nim­
zovich, for his game against Bogolyubov, and Euwe, for
his game with Thomas. The reader will find all these
games in the pages of the book which we now present for
his inspection..
,:,,:,,~
[xiii)
 Chapter I

ARON NIMZOVICH

"My System," plus some new-found

optimism.

In this tournament, 1 played with a greater ease and confi­

dence than usual. The explanation for this is that three
month s before the tournament began 1 undertook a strict pro­
gram of Muller I s exercises *. This in turn led to a kind of
healthy optimism, which dispelled all my lingering fears
and worries, and thereby also dispelled the little psycholog­
ical crises which formerly used to hobble my successful ca­
reer.

These psychological hobbles were still in evidence in

Round 1. My game against Thomas (White) opened as fol­
lows:

1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 e5 b6!

Trading off the light-square bishops in this manner enables

Black to exploit light-squared weaknesses - the square f5,
for example.

5 Qg4 g6 6 Bg5 Be7 7 Bd2 Ba6

Black would have done better to play ... h5 first. In all

likelihood, White would have replied with Qg3 or Qf4, and
only then should Black h ave traded bishops. The point is
that by playing Qg3 or Qf4 White would be committing him­
self to a dark-square strategy, whereas the immediate
7 ... Ba6 leaves White with the option of playing a light­
square strategy, too. Even though I saw all this quite

'" In 1904, Jorgens Peter Muller wrote a book of simple

exercises which could be performed at home, rather than
in a gymnasium, and without special equipment. The book
became an immediate best-seller, and was translated from
Danish into 24 languages. The title: 11 My System 11 • - Tr.
clearly at the time, still it proved insufficient to impel me a decent training partner in Denmark? " ), and to berate
to take so "decisive" a step as ••• h5, in order to ascertain myself in general. The thought never entered my head that,
my opponent's intentions. On the contrary: I was rather since the omission of 7 ... h5 could not have had any ef­
taken with the idea of letting my opponent enjoy as many op­ fect whatsoever upon the strategic balance of the position,
tions as possible - I was seduced, in other words, by a therefore one could not even rightly call it an omission ­
strategy of unrevealed motives. Such an attitude demon _
except in the psychological sense. However, since I was
strates that the force of will which was to manifest itself
at that moment undergoing a serious attack of skepticism,
so clearly in my later games had not yet made its appear­ 12 ••. c5 no longer appeared to represent a healthy attack­
ance.
ing plan. Worse, I began to fear that, by pursuing an un­
merited initiative, I would undoubtedly compromise my
8 B:a6 N:a6 9 Qe2
position, and end up by losing the game.
Here is the light-square counterplay referred to in the Thus my skepticism showed itself in twofold fashion:
preceding note.
first, in excessively harsh self-criticism; and second, in
the suspension of my belief in my own destiny. A lesson
9 ••• Nb4 10 Qb5+ Qd7
to remember, no doubt of it! This skepticism - or, more
accurately, pessimistic outlook - gradually dissipated as
Instead, 10 ••• c6 would be bad, on account of 11 Qa4 b5
the tournament progressed. while my optimism grew with
12 Qb3 a5 13 a4, etc.
each succeeding round. In fact I am convinced that, had the
position in the preceding diagram occurred in Round 10,
11 Q:d7 + K:d7 12 0-0-0 (see diagram)
and not in Round 1, I should, without the slightest twinge
of anxiety, have continued as follows: 12 •.• c5 13 dc bc
8 14 Nf3 Kc6! 15 a3 Na6, followed by ... h5 and .•. Ng8­
7 h6 - f5, with an excellent game.
6
5 Even the loss of a strategically won game to Yates in the
Position after fifth round did not upset me unduly, for by that time my op­
4 12 0 - 0 - 0 timism was already blossoming. Thus, it was not toodif­
3 ficult for me to find precisely the sort of comforting consid­
2 er ations I needed at that point.

In this game, I completely outplayed my opponent, with

a bed e f 9 h the Black pieces:

And here, for some reason, I eschewed the simple move

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 e5 Nd5 4 Nc3 e6 5 Ne4 f5 6 Nc3
12 c5, and instead continued in maneuvering style with
12 ..• h5 13 Nf3 Nc6, intending ••• Nc6 - a5 - c4.
White has sacrificed two tempi. to induce the compromis­
ing ... f5.
The reader might well ask what precisely were the con­
siderations or psychological worries that led me to reject 6 ... N:c3 7 dc Be7 8 Bf4 Qb6! 9 b3 Qc7! 10 Bd3 b6
12 . " c5, and the answer is quite instructive. My newfound 11 Qe2 c4!
optimism had, of course, not yet manifested itself by Round
1. Having missed the opportunity to play 7 .•• h5, I began Positionally risky, since it allows White's knight the d4

to bewail my sad fate (" How is anyone to come up with square.

[4] [5]
 12 bc Nc6 13 0- 0 Afterwards, I co nsol ed myse lf with the thought that, a fter
a lL I had found the move 20 ... B a6 by a process of e limin ­
13 Nd4 would have been m et by 13 ... Na5 14 Nb5 Q c 6 . ation: 20 ..• fe seemed un conv incing to me, as a matter of
fact, as did the continu ations 20 .,. Nf6 and 20 .. , h5 . Act­
13 ... Bb7 14 Rfel 0-0-0 15 R ad l ing out of the conviction that Bl ack fu ll y deser v ed to win in
this position, a nd that consequently there must be a winning
Now Bl ack answe r s 15 Nd4 with 15 ... g5.
mo v e, and b e i ng unable to find a clear w in, a t l ength I con­
vinced m yse lf - to my cost - that I h ad , in fac t, found the
15 ... Bc5!
winning line in 20 .. , B a6 . And I was f urth er ab le to exp la in
m y mistake on the following move ( 21 ... Kc7 ) as a n atural
The weakness at d4 has now been neut ra lize d .
reaction, considering the n erv ous t en sion I had endur ed try­
ing to fin d my 20th mov e . The up shot of all this was tha t I
16 Nd2 g5! 17 Be3
we nt on t o p lay the rest of the tournament with unflagging
energy.
Not 17 B :g5, on account of 17 ... R dg8 18 Bf6 R :g 2 +, etc.

-..1
On t he other hand, Fortune certainly d id smi le upon me in
17 ..• N : e 5 18 B: c 5 Ng4! 19 g 3 Q:c5 20 B e4 ! (Di agram) Round 8: it brought, not m ere ly an extr a point, but also a
ne w and decisive s timulus to the growth of my s till-budd in g
e ~. ~i.~
. ~ :;.
• t .. Y.
~
~ la
~
L ... "
~
optimism. That fateful smile deserves t o be memorialized
in a diagram ( see below) :
7 fJA. 18
6 ~I 8 t •• 8
5 ~.
~ n:r~
.i!Si ~
~ t ~~
,..... % P os iti on after
7

ft .1l:
. ft .ii . ~ .
4 20 B e4!
3 -B
B ,.1P~~
~ ~ r;ffi
~
. ~ •-• . %'''''';&
6
5 Pos iti on aft e r
2 ~ ~~~~
~ ,. , ~~!
,...... y.
Blac k' s 22nd
4
•• ~
~ § r~~~
a ~
i'GJi 3

a be d e f 9 h 2

A most interesting attempt at consolidation!

Here, ins te ad of selec ting the obvious co ntinu at ion
20 '" fe 21 Q:g4 h5 22 Qe2 Rdf8; or better still, 22 .. h4!
23 g4! (2 3 N:e4? hg! ), and now 23 .. Rd f 8, wh en after
the probable co ntinu a tion 24 N:e4 B :e4 25 Q:e4 Q:f2 +
26 Khl Qf3 + 27 Kg l! h3! Bl ack reac hes a wo n ending,
pl ayed in stead the monstrous move 2 0 ... Ba6 .
Of course , after White's reply 21 Bg2, I might still h ave
played 21 .. . Nf6 22 Qf3 Q c7 ! and c om e out safe and sound.
.\s so often h a ppens, however, I followed my first mistake
with a seco nd: a ft er 21 .. , Kc7 , I soon lo st.
abcdefgh
Here it would see m that nothing cou ld save White a ny m ore:
23 R:f7 + R :f7 24 Q: c8 , for exa mpl e , is met by 24 '" e2
25 Nc3 Qf4+! (stron ge r than 25 ... e l Q 26 R:el Q: e l
27 N: d5 ) 26 Khl Q: d4, and wins.
So I essayed the d espe r ate sortie 23 Nc3; whereupon, in­
stead of replying 23 .. , Q:d4, with a c lea r win ( 24 R a f!
Q e5 + 25 Khl Rc7 26 R:e3 Q: c3 ! o r 24 R:f7 + R:f7 25 Q: c 8
Qe5 + 26 Kgl e2 27 R e I Rn +! 28 R:fl Qe3 + ), Euwe , in time­
pressure, played 23 ... R :c3? , a nd the game conc luded as
follows: 24 R afle 2 25R:f7+R:f7 2 6Q:f7+Kh6 27Qf8+,

[6] [7]
and Black resigned.
I played a daring and original game in Round 10 against
Johner; but then, in Round 14, playing to avoid a dra w at
any cost brought me to the following, seemingly hopeless,
situation ( see diagram):
lowed I produced several strong fighting games, each one a
testimonial to my belief in "divine right" - to put it another
way, each was very optimistically played. I would like to
discuss this optimism, or rather the manner in which it
was infused into these last four games, at somewhat greater
length.

7.
B

6 •••
a •• ~~.
~at"fi %"~
5~~~~,J
~I~.t.t
• ta
~a
•
This optimism began from without - that is, independent­
ly of events on the chessboard, being the fruit of my exer­
cise and my trainer's inspiration. As soon as I sat down to
the chessboard, however, this optimism altered, taking on

4 •
•_ .;;. ~Z%.
a f~
~I •
%'411 .;;.
Position after
White f s 313t
caissic form: "I believe in the correctness of my chess ideas,
dnd I also believe that being in my present state of good
~"'"''
3 B.!.lB ~ rm1.!.l health will enable me to demonstrate their correctness. "
a aiia
.afta~§,§~a.a
• .,,,,,;i
Thus, my belief in the correctness of my ideas and my
2
~, m
.. z ~ ,7­
faith in the sufficiency of my physical and mental reserves
came together to form a magnificent pediment for a first­
a bed e f 9 h class triumph.

which I nevertheless managed to save by clever play, as I am convinced, moreover, that this ideal "combination"
follows:
of two apparently divergent motives cannot fail to form the
basis for other similar successes in future. The chess
31 ... Re7 32 Rd2
world is obligated to organize a match between the cham­
pion of the world and the winner of this Carlsbad tourna ­
With the terrible threat of 33 Rcdl Nb6 34 Rd8, followed ment - indeed, this is a moral obligation. If the world of
by 35 B:c5. However, Black unexpectedly continued: chess should remain deaf to its obligation, on the other hand,
it would amount to an absolutely unforgivable omission,
32 .•• c4!!
carrying with it a heavy burden of guilt.

neutralizing the threat of Rcd!, since now 33 bc bc 34 Rcdl
would be met by 34 •.. c3! 35 R:d7 c2 36 Rld3 R:d7 35 R:d7
Bc5!! and Black wins. This surprising resource so unnerved
Marshall that he lost the thread of the game completely, and
made a series of weak moves, as a result of which the game
ended up a draw. The remaining moves were:
A nd now we shall present a few games, in which our com­
ments shall take in, not only the purely competitive or the
technical aspects, but the psychological aspects of the games
as well.
tf

33 bc bc 34 R :c4 c5 35 Rc3 Ra7 36 Bc6 Kg7 37 Bb5?

( 37 Rcd3 was better) 37 ..• f6 38 e6? Nb6 39 B:c5 R :e6
40 B:f8 + K:f8 41 Kf2 f5 42 a4 Re4 43 Bc6 N:a4 44 Ra3
Rc4 45 Rd8 + Kg7.

In Rounds 15 and 16 I won, in good style, from Samisch and

Gilg. In Round 17, I allowed myself the luxury of a draw (af­
ter the fashion of Capablanca ) ; but in the rounds which fol ­

[8] [9]
 9. Rfl-el! d7-d6
Game 1. BOGOLYUBOV-NIMZOVICH 10. Qdl-c2
(New Indian Defense. Round 3)
If 10 Nd2 B:g2 11 K:g2, Black's best is no longer 11 •• e5,
but 11 •.. d5. After 11 ..• e5 12 e4 Nc6 (apparently forcing
l. d2-d4 NgS-f6 d4-d5 immediately), White plays 13 Bb2!, followed by
2. c2-c4 e7-e6 14 f3, and his position is unassailable! As for 11 •.. d5,
3. Nbl-c3 BfS-b4 even though it costs a tempo (d7-d6-d5), still it leaves
4. Ngl-f3 Black with a solid game, e. g. : 11 .•. d5 12 e4 N:e4 13 N:e4
de 14 R:e4 Nd7.
White could also play 4 Qc2 or 4 Qb3, but in either case
Black would get a reasonable game without difficulty. The 10. Bb7-e4
best reply to 4 Qc2 is 4 •.. d5!, for instance: 5 Nf3 ( on n. Qc2-b3 NbS-c6
5 Bg5, Black plays 5 •.• dc 6 e3 b5, as in the game Capa­ 12. Bg2-fl
blanc a - Nimzovich, Kissingen 1925 ) 5 .•. c5! 6 cd ed,
and Black is all right, thanks mainly to the White queen's In order to continue with 13 Nd2 Bg6 14 e4.
uncomfortable position. For 4 Qb3, we refer the reader to
Game 13, Spielmann - Samisch.
a!'. ~I..~.
w~ iY~ .tr~t
4. Bb4 : c3+ 7 ~'"2:;"'~7~ tlll, . ,,"f~ i!6'i.
b7-b6 6 ~ ~ "3IJ 0:£11i
~.... ~
.§if$.
~".,~
~.i%!!il~ ~
5. b2:c3
5 •••• Position after
The idea behind this new try of mine is as follows: I con­ 4 .ft~~.A.B.1 12 Bfl
sider the pawn configuration c3-c4-d4 to be solid and pro­
mising only if it can be bolstered by the presence of pawns
3 .'t¥Y~~
Ill..."III .W~f";:~1
B4Ja
at f3 and e4 as well. In other words, the c3-c4-d4 configu­ 2
1 ~g
,!;. f{~.t~~~~"'~
~ ~~~~~
ration has a right to exist only as part of a whole, but cer­ .X ._ ," ~,./'>

tainly not as a self-sustaining entity! Thus, 3S the game a bed e f 9 h

continues, we see that Black expends a great deal of effort
to prevent White's e-pawn from reaching the fourth rank. 12. e6-e5!

6. g2 -g3 In order to understand this move, one must understand

that in playing it, Black is turning down what would seem
On 6 Qc2 Bb7 7 Nd2! d5 S f3 ( intending e2-e4 ), Black to be a pleasant enough initiative with 12 ... Na5 13 Qa4
would continue S ... c5, with a counter-initiative in the (not 13 Qb4, on account of 13 ... c5 14 Qa4 Bc6 ) 13 ..• Bc6
center. 14 Qb4 Bb7! 15 Nd2 c5 16 Qbl? (16 dc would be better) cd
17 cd d5, when Black has a good game.
6. BcS-b7
7. Bfl-g2 0-0 In fact, 12 ... Na5 is rife with possibilities: we note
S. 0-0 RfS-eS!! also the line 13 Qa4 Bc6 14 Qb4 Ne4 15 Nd2 f5; or 13 Qa4
Qd7 14 Q:d7 N:d7 15 Nd2 Bc2! 16 e4 c5, and White stands
A subtle prophylactic measure, preventing the m:meuver poorly.
9 Nd2 B:g2 10 K:g2 (intending e2-e4) because of 10 .•• e5!,
when 11 e4? would lose to 11 •.• ed and 12 •.. N :e4 (see Nevertheless, Black quite correctly shunned the venture­
also the note to Black's fifth move) .

[10] [11]
some 12 '" Na5 in favor of a continuation which secured 29. Qd2 - d4
him a clear advantage - one based, not upon the tactical
soundness of this or that variation, but upon solid posi _ White would have done better to eliminate one of Black's
tional considerations . More exactly: instead of embarking "centrists" - namely, the knight at e5 .
upon a somewhat unclear adventure, Black carries out one
of his favorite stratagems - centralization! 29. Ne5 - g6!
30. Be2 - d3 Ng6 : f4
13. d4 : e5 Nc6 : e5! 31. Qd4: f4 Qf7 : f4
14. Nf3 : e5 ReS:e5 32. g3 :f4
15. Bel - f4 Re5- eS
16. f2 -f3 Be4 - b7 In addition to his two pairs of isolated pawns, White now
17. Ral - dl Nf6 - d7
has isolated a- and h-pawns as well - a whole army of in­
IS. e2 - e4 Qd8 - f6
valids! Clearly, Black will have no trouble penetrating the
enemy position, so White's game must be considered hope­
White now has his pawn center, but it is Black who has less .
the centralized position, since it is he who controls the
central e-file and the central diagonal f6-c3. It should 32 . Re8 - fS
come as no surprise, therefore, that the e-pawn will be
gradually reduced to deadwood, while Black's "centrists " This, rather than pursuin g problem-like wins such as
grow in strength with every move. And as a crownin g 32 ... Re3 33 Kg2 R:f3! 34 R:f3 Re3 35 Rn R:d3 - all be­
touch, the e-pawn will be demolished by '" f7-f5. cause now (thanks to Muller! ) I have begun to cultivate both
a taste and respect for the simplest moves . All hail prirni­
19. Bfl - g2 Nd7 - e5 tivism!
20. Rdl-d2 ReS - e7
21. Rel- dl Bb7 - c6! 33 . f4 - f5 Bc6 - d7
34 . Rdl - d2 Bd7 : f5
Preventing the break c4-c5. 35 . Rf2 - e2 Re7 : e2
36. Bd3:e2 RfS - eS
22. Rd2 - f2 Ra8-- e8 37. Kgl - f2 Re8 - e5
23. Bg2 - fl h7 - h6
24. Bfl - e2 KgS - hS Threatening to continue . .. Re5-a5-a3 (see the note to
25 . Qb3 - a3 White's 32nd move) .

A iming to bring the queen to cl. 3S . Rd2 - d5 g7 - g5

25. Qf6 - e6 Preparing to centralize the king .
26 . Qa3 - cl f7 - f5
27. e4 :f5 Qe6 : f5 39. Rd5: e5 d6 : e5
28 . Qcl - d2 Qf5 - f7 40. c4 - c5

The combination 28 ... N:f3+ 29 B:f3 B:f3 30 R:f3 Re2 Otherwise Black's king will occupy c5. But since this in­
would have been refuted by 31 Qd3! Qh3 32 Rf2 Rel'+ 33 R:el creases Black's advant age to two extra pawns, the rest is
etc. (31 Qd4? loses after 31 .•. Qh3 32 Rf2 Rel+ 33 Rfl no more than death - throes. The game ended as follows:
RSe2.)

[12) [13)
40 . b6: c5 46. Ba6 - c4 Bf5 - g4! 6. QdS - e7
41. Be2 - a6 e5 - e4 47. B c4 - a6 h6 - h5 7. Bel - ;13?
42 . a2 - a4 KhS - g7 4S. B a6 - c4 h5 - h4
43. a4 - a5 e4: f3 4 9. Bc4 - a6 Bg4 - dl White could still ha ve carried out the maneuver suggested
44. Kf2: f3 Kg7 - f6 50. Ba6 - b7 g5 - g4 in the previous note: 7 e4! e5 S Nd2! c5 9 Bd3 Nc6 10 Nb3!
45. Kf3 - e3 Kf6 - e5 White resigned Now Black could not profitably play to win a pawn by means
of the exchanging operation 10 ... ed 11 cd Nb4 12 Qbl N:d3+
For this game I shared (with Euwe, for his game against 13 Q:d3 Q:e4+ 14 Q:e4 N:e4, since after 15 f3 Nf6 16 Bf4, he
Thomas) the prize awarded to the b est game of the tourna­ would b e in no position to entertain winning ideas .
ment.
7. c7 - c5 !
S. g2 - g3
In Round 12, I played a brief but interesting game with the
same opening variation that I used in Game 1 . We should still have preferred S e4 .

Game 2. MATIISON-NIMZOVICH 3. b7 - b6

9,. Bfl - g2 BcS - b7

(New Indian Oefense. Round 12) 10. 0-0 0-0

11. Nf3 - h4
1. d2-d4 NgS - f6
2. c2 - c4 e7 - e6 11 Nd2 was simpler, simultaneously protecting c4 and e4.
3 . Nbl-c3 BfS - b4
4. Ngl-f3
5 • b2: c3
Bb4: c3 +
B .i ~ ••
1m. "~S-~••
L , D
d7 - d6

7 ~~
~ A. .,a ~ t ~~t " ~ )1
Against Bogolyubov I played 5 .•. b6, when White's best. 6 ~,......
~, t~ , ..... ~ t :'-.....
"z • m·
continuation would ha ve been 6 e3 Bb7 7 Bd3 . With the 5 ••
~
-'~ r,t.;1
~ ~.~
~ 00
g Position after
~
•• ft ~ •~ &J

..
text move, Black seeks to prepare an immedi ate .. e6-e5 . 4 • • ~ z. 11 Nh4
Wi'«1 %:~ _. p~
3~~~ . ~~
6. Qdl - c2
2 ft Il.l.-~ . ft ~J:l t~
.. . '" ••• 7.

Here the paradoxical 6 Nd2 was proper, e . g . : 6 .. . e5 1 l~, • ~ B~

7 e4 Nc6 S Bb2, or if in this line 7 ... c5? S Bd3 Nc6!
( after S ... cd 9 cd ed, Bla ck would not be ab le to hold on
to the pawn in any event) 9 Nb3 b6 10 0-0 0-0 11 f4, with
good play for White .
Black would probably have met 6 Nd2! with 6 ... c5 !
(instead of 6 .•. e5), the likely cont inuation being: 7 e4
Nc6 S Bb2 e5 9 Bd3 Ne7 10 0-0 Ng6 . This position would
offer equal chances: Black prevents the advance f2-f4, but
White in turn mJY maneuver hi s knight to d5 by playing Rel
and Nd2-fl-e3 .
•• ,~
abcdefgh
11. Bb7 : g2
This move Black played with a hea vy heart. Truth to tell,
he was loath to grant White an extra tempo for the maneu ­
ver Nh4-g2-e3 (after the preliminary e2-e4), but the "log­
i ca l" move, 11 ... Nc6, would have allowed 12 e4 !! Now
12 ... cd 13 cd N:d4 14 Qd3 e5 15 f4 gives White an excellent
atta ck for the pawn. I worried over this variation for quite
some time, before deciding eventually to accept it, but in
the following vers ion: 11 . .. Nc6 12 e4! Na5! 13 e5 de

[14] [15]
14 de Ne8. I ended up throwing out the entire combination, 16. Qb3 - b5 Qa6: b5
however, since after 15 Qa4 I could find no continuation 17. c4:b5 Na5 - c4
which offered me win ning chances.
See the preceding note.
Later, while ana lyzing the game, I became convinced that
my winning chances would in fact have been minimal after 18. B a3 - cl a7 - a6!
15 Qa4 Nc7 16 Radl Rfd8 17 f4 Qe8 18 Q:e8+ N:e8 19 B:b7 19. b5 : a6 Ra8: a6
N:b7 20 Ng2 R:dl 21 R:dl Rd8 22 R:d8 N:d8 23 Ne3 h5! · 20. d4: c5 b6: c5
24 Kf2 g6. Black cou ld bring his king to c6, and his knights 21. Nh4 - g2 Nf6 - d5
to a5 and g7, threatening both ... Nf5 and ... b6-b5; how­
ever, his chances of winning would have to be rated small White is helpless.
indeed. Having spent 25 minutes on the 11 .•• Nc6 varia­
tion, I suddenly decided , "Enough wasted time! The game 22. Rdl -d3 Rf8 - a8
of chess is a struggle, not a mathematical exercise: Black 23. e2 - e4 Nc4 - e5!
to play and win ! Better to play a simple move, such as
B:g2. " White resigned, since after 24 Rdl N:c3 25 .Rfl R:a2
26 R:a2, the in-between check 26 ••• Nf3+ 27 Khl R:a2
12. Kgl: g2? costs him a third pawn.

Upon seeing this totally unexpected reply, I had to laugh ~,

(inwardly, of course - not at my opponent): I simply found

it comical that I should have sat ther e racking my brain Game 3. JOHNER·NimzQvich
over 11 .•• Nc6, afraid to p l ay 11 ••• B:g2 lest I shou ld
(Staunton Gambit. Round 10)
bring his knight from h4 to g2 - and now suddenly to see
that m y opponent had ne ve r thought of the Nh4:g2-e3 maneu ­
ver (after a preparatory e2-e4), and that I had therefore l. d2 - d4 f7 - f5
exercised m ys elf over nothing whatever . "How vain are our 2. e2 - e4 f5 : e4
fears ! " I thought to myself. "Sometimes we fear that which 3 . Nbl - c3 Ng8 - f6
our opponent (or fate) had never even considered! After 4. Bcl - g5 b7 - b6
this, then, is it any longer worthwhile to rack one's brain
to find new ghosts to fear? No, indeed: All hail Optimism!" A novelty which I first tested in a game against Brinck­
mann at Copenhagen 1924.
12. Qe7 - b7+
13. Kg2 - gl 5. f2 - f3

Not 13 f3 g5 14 Qd2, for then 14 .•. h6 wins . The main line, in my opinion, is 5 Bc4 e6 6 d5! Bb4! ,
with unfathomable complications.
13. Qb7 - a6
5. e4 - e3
Now the c4-pawn - or more accurate ly the c4 square ­
falls into Black's hands. 5 ... Bb7 is of doubtful value here: 6 d5! e6 7 fe ed 8ed
(8 e5 Qe7 9 Qe2 h6, etc. ) Bb4 9 Qe2+ Qe7 10 Q:e7+ B:e7
14. Qc2 - b3 Nb8 - c6 11 Bc4.
15. Rfl -dl Nc6 - a5

[16] [17]
 6. Bg5: e3?
Or 16 Nb5 Nh5 17 Nc7? N:f4 IS N:eS N:h3.
6 Qcl was correct, and after the likely continuation
16. b6 - b5!
6 .•. e6 7 Q:e3 Be7 S Bd3 d5 9 f4 0-0 10 Nf3 c5 11 0-0-0,
we believe White's position is preferable.
That suffices for the allegedly weak e-pawn : time to think
about counterattacking!
6. e7 - e6
7. Qdl - d2 d7 - d5
17. Bf4-e5 BfS - b4

IS. c2 - c3 Bb4 - a5

A n interesting conception from a strategic viewpoint.

19. Bg5: f6 g7: f6
Black is not afra id to make a weakness of his e-pawn,
20. Ne2 - f4
foreseeing that White will never be able to settle a knight
on e5. Now Black's "e-pawn weakness" is not the unpro­
tected pawn itself, strictly speaking, since Black will al­ 8
ways be able to find the means to defend it, but the com ­ 7
plex of weaknesses that surround it - chiefly the e5 square . 6

But if the e5 square is inacc essible , then the e-pawn weak­

5
Position after
ness is no longer a threat to Black.
4 20 Nef4
Why the e5 square should be inaccessible will become 3
clear l a ter (see the ne xt note) 2
.,.=bm'§f§
S. 0-0-0 c7 - c5
1 ~
* >..
4.
~ ~
~ '.;; W/""'.~=
9. Bfl - b5+ BcS - d7 a bed e f 9 h
10. Bb5:d7+ QdS : d7

20. b5 - b4!
ll. Ngl - h3

21. Rel-e2
On 11 f4 (intending Ngl-f3-e5), there follows 11 ..• c4
And now White discovers th a t the e-pawn cannot be taken,
12 Nf3 Bb4 13 Ne5 Qc7, and Black's knight goes to e4, rob­
since on 21 N:e6 there follows 21 ••. bc 22 bc NdS 23 Nhf4
bing the White knight on e5 of a ll its charm.
Bc7!, and Black wins a piece.
11. NbS - c6
12. Rhl - el 0-0-0
21. b4: c3
22. b2:c3 Qd7 - d6
13. Qd2 - e2 c5 - c4
23. Re2 - b2 Qd6 - a3
14. Be3 - f4 RdS - eS
15. Qe2 - e3
Now we may contrast an illusory pawn weakness (the e­
pawn, which has managed to fend for itself very well) with
15 Nb5 is neutralized by 15 .•. Nh5, for if then 16 N c7 ?
N:f4. a real one (the White c-pawn, which is doomed) •

24. Nf4 - e2
15. h7 - h6
16. Nc3 - e2
One curious line is 24 Kc2 Nb4+ 25 Kbl N:a2! 26 R:a2
Qb3+ and wins.

[18]
[19]
 24. e6 - e5 29. Re5 - el
25. d4: e5 Re8: e5 30. Rb2 - d2 ReI: dl+
26. Qe3 - f2 1 31. Rd2: dl Re8 - e7
32. Rdl - d2 Qc3 - b4+!
And not 26 Qd2? d4! Now White is ready to meet 26 •.• B:c3
with 27 N:c3 Q:c3+ 28 Qc2, with a few counter-chances. And now the knight is caught in the "echo-variation" (see
the note to Black's 26th move) •
8
7 33. Rd2 - b2
6
If 33 Kc2, then 33 •.• Qa4+ 34 Kbl c3, followed by
5 Position after 35 ... Q:f4 (our "echo-variation" ) ; still worse for White
4 26 Qf2 is 34 Kc3 Re3+! 35 Q:e3 Qa3+, winning the queen.
3
l (,o,~~~ ;'·····,.

2 33. Re7 - el+

34. Kbl - c2 Qb4 - a4+

a bed e f 9 h White resigned

26. Rh8 - e8
The point to this move lies in a rather paradoxical idea.
White's knight on h3 looks out of play - so why not try to
keep it there? Instead, Black actually impels it to partici­
pate in the game - that is, he indu ce s White to play Nh3­
f4, so as to win the knight on precisely that honorable square.
On 35 Kd2 there would follow 35 •.• Qdl+ 36 Kc3 Qcl+
37 Rc2 Re3+, or 37 Qc2 Re3+ 38 Nd3 R :d3 mate.
Undoubtedly one of the tournament's most interesting and
most original games.
~;:

In fact, his combination wins the knight on f4 in two separate

lines: a main variation, and a subsidiary, or "echo-varia­ Game 4. GILG-NIMZOVICH
tion", as well.
(New Indian Defense. Round 16)
27. Nh3 - f4
1. d2 - d4 Ng8 - f6
This is forced, since on 27 Nhgl, Black plays 27 ... Bb6 2. NgI -f3 e7 - e6
28 Qfl B:gI 29 N:gI Q:c3+ 30 Kbl ReI. 3. e2 - e3 c7 - c5
4. Bfl - d3 b7 - b6
27. Ba5: c3
There is no objective r .eason to criticize 4 •.• d7-d5, e. g.
Time to play this move at last! 5 b3 Nc6 6 Bb2 Bd6 7 a3 b6, with a respectable development;
Black prefers the text line for subjective reasons. However,
28. Ne2: c3 Qa3: c3+ he cannot escape the awful truth that sooner or later he will
29. Kc! - bl have to play •.. d7-d5 anyway! For a while, though, he pre­
fers to sail neo-Romantic waters.
If White plays 29 Qc2, he loses a piece after 29 ... Qe3+
30 Qd2 c3! - here is where the knight on f4 ruins White. 5. 0- 0 Bc8 - b7

[20] [21]
 6. Nbl - d2 NbS - c6
7. c2 - c3 BfS - e7 could have been played later, since h7 is not yet in need of
S. a2 - a3 protection .

If S e4 at once, then S •.. cd 9 cd? (9 N:d4! 0-0 However, at this moment I became overwhe lmed by the
10 f4 d6 leaves Black with a solid position, but White desire to "overprotect" my kingside, in accordance with
still stands quite well) 9 '" Nb4 10 Bbl Ba6 11 ReI Nd3 my system. As we shall soon see, I might have paid dearly
12 Re3 N:cl 13 Q:cl RcS, and Black's bishop pair will for my dogmatism.
be very strong.
15. Ng3 -- e2
S. 0-0
A tactical error! The maneuver f2-f4-f5 should have been
Here Black should have given serious thought to .•. d7 ­ prepared as follows: 15 Be3. followed by 16 Nd2 and f2-f4­
d5, transposing into :1 "classical" game; apparently, how­ f5. Then Black would have had a rough time of it.
ever, he had not yet tired of his "sailing" (see the note to
move 4) . 15. Nc6 - b8!
16. h2 -h3 QdS - d7
9. e3 - e4 d7 - d6 17. Ral - bl Bb7 - a6!

10. Rfl - el RaS - cS IS. Bd3 : a6

11. Nd2-fl
\ RfS - eS
Black would have met IS b5 with IS ..• c4! 19 ba cd
A subtle defensive maneuver. Black has at last decided to 20 Q:d3 Qa4, with the advantage.
play .•• d6-d5; anticipating the reply e4-e5, he prepares
the retreat ..• Nf6 - d7-fS for his knight. With all its subtle­ 18. NbS: a6
ty, however, the move cannot be regarded as wholly ade ­ 19. Bel - g5 Na6 - c7
quate. The knight certainly protects the king from fS; on 20. Bg5: e7 Qd7: e7
the other hand, it does nothing to stem the onrush of the £­ 21. Qdl - b3 NfS - g6
pawn (f2-f4-f5) . So instead of 11 •.. ReS, Black should 22. g2 - g3
have se lected a different plan of development, namely:
11 '" cd 12 cd Na5! If now 13 Nfd2 d5, and Black's knight There was no need for this weakening of the kingside :
"takes its seat" on c4 . After the "oversubtle" text, Black quiet development by 22 Rbcl was indicated.
soon finds himself in a very difficult situation .
22. f7 - f6!
12. Nfl - g3 23. e5: f6 Qe7: f6

I
d6 - d5
13. e4 - e5 Nf6-d7 24. Kgl - g2 Re8 - fS
14. b2 - b4! 25. Ne2 - gl c5: d4
26. c3: d4 Nc7 - b5
27. Qb3 - e3

I
Preventing Na5 .

14. Nd7 - f8 ( See diagram, next page )

It would have been better for Black to play .. , NcbS at

once, followed by .•. Ba6. This maneuver clears the air,
and hence should be played immediately, whereas .•. Nf8

[22]
[23]
 8 Or •• , Ne4 at once.
7
31. Qe3 - d2 Nf5 - d6
6
32. Rbl-cl Nd6 - e4
5 Position after 33. Qd2 - e3 Qf6 - d8!
4 27 Qe3 34. Ngl- e2
3
2 34 Rfl was proper, and if 34 ••• Ne7, then 35 Nd2 Nf5
36 Qd3.

a bed e f 9 h 34. Ng6 - e7

35. Rcl - fl Ne7 - f5
36. Q e3 - d3 Qd8 - f6
27. Rc8 - c2!
37. Nf3-d2 Ne4 - d6
38. Nd2 - f3 Nd6 - c4
Bl ack obtains nothing with the simple co ntinuation
39. Rfl - cl ?
27 •.. Rc3, for example: 28 Q:e6+ Q:e6 29 R:e6 R:a3
30 h4! ; if now 30 ••• Rd3 ( 30 .•. Ra:f3? 31 N:f3 R:f3
An oversight which results in immediate catastrophe; how­
32 R:g6), then 31 h5 Nh8 32 Re7 N:d4 33 N:d4 R:d4
ever, White had the inferior game in any case.
34 Ral, and Black will even find it difficult to draw.
39. Nf5 - e3+
The text is a preparation for a spectacular mate, but Qf6: f3+
40. f2 : e3
alas! - Gilg finds the only defense.
41. Kg2 - h2 Nc4: e3
28. ReI - e2!
White resigned
On 28 Q:e6+ Q:e6 29 R:e6 N:d4 30 N:d4? Rf:f2+ is mate
42 Rgl allows 42 •.• Ng4+, winning the queen.
next move. On 28 Rbcl N:d4!! 29 Q:d4 Q:d4 30 N:d4 leads
to mate in two, while 29 R:c2 N:c2 30 Q:e6+ Q:e6 31 R:e6 :::~

N:a3 leaves Black with an extra pawn.

28. Rc2: e2
Game 5. VIDMAR·NIMZOVICH
29. Ngl: e2 Nb5 - d6 (New Indian Oefense. Round 18)

The combination beginning with 27 ••• Rc2 was not for

1. d2 - d4 Ng8 - f6
nothing. It left Black with a tangible improvement in his
2. Ngl- f3 e7 - e6
positio n, to wit: the pressure on his e-pawn has been ne u­
3. Bcl- g5 c7 - c5
tralized, and he may now proceed with the gradua l improve­
4. e2 - e3 Qd8 - b6
ment of his position, with strongpoints at f5 and e4. We
5. Qdl- cl Nb8 - c6
should not forget that in opening the f-file with 22 ••• f6,
6. c2 - c3 d7 - d5
Black also weakened his e-pawn. The weakness of this pawn
makes his work along the f -file that much more difficult.
In this game, I turned to a classical formation quite early.
My experience in Game 4 had shown me the dangers of a
30. Ne2 - gl Nd6 - f5
waiting game - 11 and besides, 11 I thought, 11 surely it can't

[24] [25]
be altogether impossible to derive deep-laid plans from 8

classical positions too! "

7

7. Bfl- d3 Bf8 - d6!

5
Position after
Black has no fear at all of B:f6, and quite rightly so. 4
14 Qdl
3

8. Nbl- d2 2

If 8 B:f6 gf 9 0-0, then 9 .•. fS hinders White's intended

maneuver d4:cS and e3-e4. abcdefgh

8. cS: d4!
14. g7 - g6!

An original conception, which has the additional advantage

IS. 0- 0 h6 - hS

of depri v ing White of one possible initiative: d4:cS, followed

16. Rfl - el 0- O!
by e3-e4.
We shall see immediately that Black has only castled in
9. e3 :".--d A_ Nf6 - hS!
order to uncastle himself immediately by continuing .,. Kg7,
and ... Rh8, etc.! One could ask whether Black might not
Here is the point: Black will mount his campaign along the
have saved a tempo by playing 16 .•• Kf8 and then
diagonal d6-h2. This means that Black will operate, cur­
17 •.• Kg7? No, because 16 ... Kf8 would have been met
iously enough, on a diagonal which rightly belongs to White:
by 17 c4, when the temporary absence of Black's king rook
the occupation of eS by a White knight, for example, has
would ha v e made it difficult for him to restrain the enemy
long been a tradition in this sort of formation. But what does
brea kthrough.
the occupation of eS signify? It signifies control of a strong­
point on the e-file, but also on the d6-h2 diagonal. Black's
17. Qdl- e2
paradoxical idea has sent everything topsy-tur v y: ancient
traditions are swept away like so much cob webbing.
But now Black could meet 17 c4 by 17 .•. dc 18 B:c4 Rd8,
completely restraining the breakthrough.
10. Nd2 - fl h7 - h6
11. BgS - d2 Qb6 - c7
17. Kg8 - g7!
12. Nfl- g3 NhS - f4
18. Ral- dl
13. Bd2: f4 Bd6: f4
14. Qcl- dl
The immediate 18 Ne5 might have been preferable; here
too, howe v er, Black would maintain a solid position by
The first act of our drama is now completed, to the satis­
playing 18 ... N:eS 19 de Rh8! 20 Nfl h4! 21 g3 hg ' 22 hg
faction of both players. Black is happy with his bishop pair,
BgS 23 f4 Be7.
while White is looking forward, in a few moves, to the occu­
pation of eS (after 0-0, ReI and Qe2 ). In addition, Black
18. Rf8 - h8
must consider White's threats of Ng3-hS and c3-c4.
19. Ng3 - fl

If 19 Ne5, then 19 .•• N:e5 20 de h4 21 Nfl Rh5!

[26] [27]
19. h5 - h4
20. Nf3 - e5? 8
Nc6: e5
21. d4: e5 Rh8 - h5 7
22. g2 - g3 Rh5: e5 6
23. Qe2 - f3 Re5 - g5 5 Position after
4 35 Qf3
Behind in development, Black must exercise great cau ­
3
tion; otherwise, White's pieces might suddenly spring to
life! 2

24. Kgl- hI h4: g3

a bed e f 9 h
25. f2: g3 Bf4 - d6
26. Rdl- d2 Bc8 - d7
27. Rd2 - f2 f7 - f5 Vidm ar's stubborn defense would appear to have netted
28. Qf3 - e3 Rg5 - g4 him some counter-chances. After 3 5 .•. e5, for example,
29. Qe3 - e2 Ra8 - h8 36 N:f4 R :f2+ 37 Q:f2 ef 38 Qd4+ Kf7 39 Re2 f3 40 Rf2
Qg3 41 Kel, and White could still put up some resistance.
Now Black's development is complete, and he has a pow­
erful attack to boot. Nevertheless, the game continuation 35. d5 - d4!
l eads to double -edged situations, which Black might have 36. Bd3 - e4 Rg5 - f5! ?
avoided with a little more care.
This elegant move leads to a won pawn ending virtually
30. Khl - gl Bd7 - c6! by force. However, Black might have won still more sim­
31. Nfl - e3 ply by 36 ... Rhl+ 37 Ke2 B:e4 38 Q:f4 Qc4+ 39 Kdl Qd3+
40 Qd2 Q:d2 + and 41 ••• B:g2, with a piece to the good.
Not 31 Q:e6 ? Re8.
37. Qf3 - g4 Rh2 - hl+
31. Rg4 - g5 38. Kfl- e2 Rhl: el+
32. Ne3 - g2 f5 - f4! 39. Ke2: el Bf4 - g3
40. Be4: f5 Qc7 - e5+!
Black might also have advanced more compactly with
32 ••• e5, followed by 33 .•• e4 - however, the text.,. This in:-between check is the basis of Black's combination ;
move is stronger still. after 40 ... ef 41 Q:d4+, he would have had to work harder.

33. g3: f4 41. Kel- fl e6: f5

42. c3 : d4
Black wins after 33 Q:e6 ? Re8 34 Qh3 R:el+ 35 N:el fg.
Black also wins after 42 Q e2 Bb5 43 c4 Q:e2+ 44 R:e2

33. Bd6: f4 B:c4.

34. Kgl- fl Rh8: h2

35. Qe2 - f3 42. Bg3: f2
43. Kfl: f2 f5: g4
44. d4: e5 Bc6: g2
45. Kf2: g2 Kg7 - f7

[28] [29]
 46. Kg2 - g3 Kf7 - e6 5 d7 - d5
47. Kg3: g4 Ke6: e5
48. Kg4 - g5 Ke5 - e4 Routine play. We would prefer 5 ••. Bc5, for example:
49. Kg5: g6
6 N5c3 0-0 7 Qc2 Re8, or 6 d4 ed 7 B:d3 d6 8 a3 a6 9 N5c3
0-0 10 b4 Ba7 11 0-0 Re8 12 Nd2 Ne5, with some advantage
Material equality has been restored, but White's position to Black, who has the better-centralized pieces. The read­
is hopeless. The concluding moves were: 49 •.. Kd3 50 Kf5 er should not be disturbed by the "idleness" of the bishop on
Kc2 51 b4 b5! 52 Ke5 Kc3 53 Kd5 K:b4 54 Kc6 a5 55 Kb6 a4 a7, for this piece is full of "prophylactic poison" (that is,
56 Ka6 a3 57 Kb6 Kc4 58 Ka5 b4 59 Ka4 Kc3. White resigned. it retards the advance e3-e4 followed by f2-f4, when the bi­
shop would come suddenly to life) .

But although Spielmann may have made significant strides

of late i n coming to an und erstandIng of positional play, he
Game 6. NIMZOVICH-SPIELMANN has still not developed an affinity for hea'vy-caliber positions
(Irregular Opening [Sicialian Reversed). Round 19) such as the one just presented; and he still acknow led ges
prophylaxis only in its most elementary forms (see Game
14) . Original thinking in the op ening does not appeal to him
1. e2 - e3 e7 - e5 either. But we shall not condemn him for these gaps in his
knowledge, inasmuch as his long- a nd widely-known combi­
The most logical reply to White's first move would be native skill plus this recently-aroused passion for system­
1 ... c5, and if 2 b3, then 2 •.. e5 3 Bb2 Nc6 4 Bb5 f6, atically-executed positional play make him near and under­
and now 5 d4? would los e a piece after 5 ..• Qa5+ 6 N c3 standable to us! (See also our chapter about Spielmann.)
cd 7 ed Bb4 8 Ne2 Q:b5 •
6. c4: d5 Nf6: d5
2. c2 - c4
7. Nbl - c3 Nd5 - f6

On 2 Nc3 d5 3 d4, Black might play 3 ••. e4, without ex­ Capablanca recommends 7 ... N:c3 8 N:c3 f5.
periencing any serious difficulties: 4 f3 ef 5 N :f3 Nf6 6 Bd 3
c5. The complications after 7 e4 cd 8 N:d4 (8 Bb5+! ) de 8. Qdl- a4 Bc8 - f5
9 N:e4 N:e4 10 B:e4 Qh4+ 11 Kd2 Bb4+ 12 c3 0-0 13 Qf3 Bc5 9. Nb5 - d4 Bf5 - d7
are not unfavorable to Black. 10. Nd4: c6 Bd7: c6

ll. Bfl- b5 Qd8 - d7

2. Ng8 - f6 12. Bb5: c6 Qd7: c6

3. Ngl- f3 e5 - e4 13. Qa4: c6+ b7: c6

3 .•. Nc6 4 d4 ed 5 N:d4 g6 ! would give Black a very sol­ (See diagram, next page)
id p os ition.

4. Nf3 - d4 Nb8 - c6
5. Nd4-b5

Another intriguing possibility was 5 N:c6 dc 6 Be2 Bf5

7 Qb3! b6 8 Qc2, followed by b3, Nc3, Bb2 and 0-0-0.

[30] [31 ]
 Now IB ••• RgB was strictly necessary, and after 19 f3
B
Nd5 20 Bd4! f5! 21 fe fe 22 B:a7 R:d2. White has achieved
7
nothing concrete.
6
5 Position after 19. f2 - f3! Nf6 - d5
4 130 bc
00 20. Bc3: g7!
3
Now White has a kingside majority.
2

20. Rd3: d2
a bed e f 9 h 21. Bg7 - d4 f7 - f5
22. f3:e4 f5: e4
23. Bd4: a7

14. b2 - b3 The bishop has thus paid two visits. and dined sumptuous­
lyon both occasions! •
There was nothing to be gained by 14 f3 ef 15 gf Nd5.
23. Rd2 - d3
Since White must in general be on his guard against pos­ 24. b3 - b4 Nd5: e3
sible pressure on his light squares (d5 and d3 ) , he re­ 25. Ba7: e3 Rd3: e3
sorts to the natural countermeasure: play on the opposite ­ 26. Rfl- el Re3 - b3
colored squares.
On 26 ••• Rdd3. 27 Kf2 R:el 2B R:el R:a3 29 R:e4 would
14. 0- 0 - 0 leave White with good winning chances. With the text move.
15. Bcl - b2 BfB - b4 Spielmann surrenders a pawn in return for pressure on the
16. a2 - a3 Bb4:c3 second rank.
17. Bb2:c3 RdB - d3
27. ReI: e4 RdB - d2

The old proverb says, 11 Feed a wolf anything you like _ 2B. Re4-e7 h7 - h5

he'll still hunt in the woods. 11 No matter how much we have 29. Re7 - f7
tried to convince Spielmann of the impossibility of surviving
on nothing more than developing and attacking moves (and Threatening 30 Rf2.
I ha ve tried hardest of all, through my books and our con ­
versations ) , still he tries, almost as a matter of prinCiple, 29. Rb3 - b2
to avoid the necessity of defense! Now, certainly it would 30. Rf7 - g7 KcB - b7
not have cost him much effort to find the move 17 ... RhgB! 31. h2 - h3 Rd2 - c2
This move protects the g-pawn in preparation for the in­ 32. Rg7 - g5 Kb7 - b6
tended IB .•• Nd5! And after IB B:f6 gf, Black could prob­ 33. Ral - fl c6 - c5
ably draw, in spite of his disrupted pawn formation, e. g. :
19 g3 Rd3 20 Rbl RgdB 21 Rb2 c5 22 Ke2 c4 23 bc R:a3, and ( See diagram, next page)
the passed a-pawn is sufficient compensation for all of the
holes in Black's position.

lB. 0-0 RhB-dB?

[32] [33]
 8 44. Rg2 - g5 c4 - c3
7
An interesting try.
6
5 45. Rg5: h5 Rcl - hI!
Position after
4 33 000 c5 46. Rh5 - c5+ Kc7 - b6
3 47. Kf2 - g3 Rhl- cl
2 48. Kg3 - f2 Rcl- hI

Black hopes to be able to draw after 49 R:c3 R:h4 50 Ke2

a bed e f 9 h Kb5 51 Kd2 Ka4.

49. Kf2 - e3!

Now on 49 ••• R:h4, White plays 50 Kd3 Rh3+ 51 Kc2,

34. Rn - f4! c5 - c4 followed by 52 R:c3, and all his pieces are coordinated.
35. h3 - h4 Rb2 - a2
49. Rhl - h3+
Now the White rooks' task may be mapped out as follows: 50. Ke3-d4 c3 - c2
taking up, in turn, the defense of the g-pawn, each rook 51. Rc5: c2 Rh3: h4+
will free the other to pursue the enemy king, until the lat­
ter is driven against the wall - that is, to the eighth rank. If 51 ••• R:a3, 52 Rh2, etc.
An example of comradeship in labor!
52. Kd4 - c3 Kb6 - b5
36. Rf4 - f6+ Kb6 - b7 53. Kc3 - b3 Rh4 -h3+
37. Rg5-b5+ Kb7-c8 54. Rc2 - c3

Or 37 ••• Ka7 38 Ra5+ Kb7 39 Rg6 and 40 R:h5.

•
38. Rf6 - g6
- and White won. An interesting and difficult endgame •

*
Now the rook on the f-file takes over (see the preceding
note) • Game 7. NIMZOVICH-TARTAKOVER
38. (Old Indian Oefense. Round 21)
Rc2 - d2
39. Rb5-c5 Ra2 - c2
40. Rg6 - g7 Kc8 - b8 1. d2 - d4 Ng8 - f6
2. c2 - c4 g7 - g6
On 40 ••• Rd7 instead, White plays 41 R:d7 K:d7 42 R:h5 3. f2 - f3
and then returns the rook to c5, with an easy win.
Thus, White avoids the variation 3 Nc3 d5 4 cd N:d5 5 84
41. Rc5: c7 Rd2: g2+ N:c3 6 bc Bg7, followed by ••• c7-c5. It is possible that
42. Rg7: g2 Rc2 - cl+ 3 ••• d5 is refuted by 4 Bf4 and 5 Be5, but - alas! ­ I
43. Kgl- f2 Kb8: c7 had forgotten that variation. On the whole, I have a hard

[34] [35]
time remembering someone else's published analysisr a 10. Qdl - d2 Nd7 - c5 ?
failing I have no cause to regret. Such analysis is in most 11. Be3-g5!
cases simply ballast. weighing down the free flight of fan­
tasy! At the very moment when Black has completed the stereo­
typed development he was so anxious to achieve. he finds
3. BfB - g7 himself in a very difficult situation. Instead of the routine
10 ••• Nc5. which fails to take into account the particular
Now 3 ••• d5 requires no knowledge of variations, since aspect of this position. Black should have continued boldly
4 cd N:d5 5 e4 Nb6 6 Nc3 Bg7 7 Be3 clearly favors White. and imaginatively with 10 ••• Nh5! 11 g4 Nf4! 12 B:f4 ef
13 Q:f4, and now 13 ••• Qh4 14 Qg3 B:c3+ 15 bc Qf6 16 f4
4. e2 - e4 d7 - d6? Nc5 picks up either the e- or the c-pawn; or even 13 ••• f5
14 gf gf 15 Rgl (on 15 ef Ne5 16 Bh3 Qh4! ) 15 ••• fe 16Qg3
4 ••• c5! was worth considering. If 5 d5 (on 5 dc, Black Qe7 17 fe Ne5 IB Be2 KhB, when all his pieces are power­
would answer simply 5 ••• Qa5+ and 6 ••• Q :c5, with play fully placed.
on the a7-g1 diagonal), 5 ••• d6 6 Nc3 e6 7 Bd3 ed B cd:
compare this position with that arising from MarshaU's Var­ 11. BcB - d7
iation 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 e6 4 Nc3 ed 5 cd d6 6 e4 g6 12. g2 - g4 QdB - cB
7 Bd3 Bg7. Now, who would dream of playing B f3 here? A 13. h2 - h4 KgB -hB
stupid move, obviously. Thus, 4 ••• c5 would bring about
the Marshall position for Black, in which White has already If 13 ••. NeB, 14 Be7.
played f2-f3, which would be sufficient to give Black a com­
pletely acceptable game, e. g. : B ••• a6 9 a4 Qc7 10 Bc4 14. h4 - h5 g6: h5
Nbd7 11 Nge2 Ne5 12 Ba2 c4 13 0-0 Nd3.

5. Nbl- c3
6. Bel - e3
0-0
NbB - d7 7.
8 K.
• ~~
iD
~~""
JI~ "~"~~
~tJ.~ t rI
'~:fi ~>"'~
'"~~
~" ~
~ :,-,"

•
.
~
t
'

3.
6 1':
The immediate 6 ••• e5 was also possible, for example, :

7 d5 NeB B Bd3 f5 9 Nge2 f4 10 Bf2 b6, with a solid game.

5 it ~1t il ~t Position after

4 • .ft • .ft • .ft • 14 ••• gh

7. Ngl- h3!! [j • .ft .

2 .ft f~
~ , tw~ ~
%,,'
••
1 ~if!!!ii •• ~~ . ,§
An interesting plan. If Black now plays 7 ••• e5, meeting ~ ~ ~~~
B d5 by posting his knight on c5 (after a preliminary •.• a5
a bed e f 9 h
and ••• b6), White may oppose knights - that is, offer the
exchange of his knight for Black's - by playing Nh3 '- f2-d3. 15. Bg5: f6 Bg7 : f6
16. Rhl: h5
7. e7 - e5
B. d4 - d5 a7 - a5 A glance at the diagram will suffice to see that Black's
9. Nh3 - f2 b7 - b6 king sits upon a very unsteady throne. When a Tartakover
is thus seated, however, be ready for a fierce and tena­
A routine move: 9 ••• Nh5 was to be preferred. The con­ cious defense of that throne; be ready also to set in motion
tinuation might have been 10 g3 f5 11 ef gf 12 Bd3 b6 13 Qc2 all your wiles and fantasy, for otherwise that throne may
Nc5, when Black would have had time to consolidate. unexpectedly become an impregnable fortress.

[36] [37]
 Instead of 16 R:h5, White could a lso have played 16 Qh6
Bg7 17 Q:h5 h6 18 g5 . If now 18 ••• f5, White plays, not
19 gh, but the far stronger 19 gf R:f6 20 Bh3! (Lasker1s
suggestion) Be8 21 B:c8!! (the point! ) B:h5 22 R:h5 R:c8
23 Ke2 R cf8 24 Rh3, and White wins with pressure on the
light squares (by bringing his knights to g4 a nd f5 ) •
But White I s best move in the diagrammed position ( once
again, according to Lasker ) is not 15 B:f6, but the waiting
move 15 O-O-O!, since 15 ••• hg?? allows a mate after
16 B:f6 B:f6 17 Qh6.
keeping in mind the possibility of advanci ng his pawns on the
queenside (b2-b3, a2 -a3, b3-b4 and c4-c5), his king would
clearly be out of place there. Paradoxically, it is ye t ano­
ther refinement that White a llows such weaknesses as those
at e5 and g5 to exist, for he fully understands their illusory
nature. The point is that Black can never play ••• e5:f4, in
order to occupy either e5 or g5 with his knight, since then
White1s N:f4-e6 would be crushing.
31 . Rh8-g8
32 . Qh2-d2!

My maneuver has one indisputable advantage : it econo ­ This, the sealed move, clears h2 for the rook, which in
mizes on strength and energy. White simply plays to occu­ turn frees h4 for the knight.
py the light squa res; as for the rest - "whatever the gods
bestow". This sort of psychological approach may be re­ 32. Ra8 - c8
commended to anyone, but its execution necessarily will
require tremendous optimism and equanimity. 8
7
16. Bf6 - g7
6

17. Nf2 - hI
5
Position after
Aiming to occupy the light square f5 via g3 • 4 32 000 Rc8
3

17. f7 - f6 2

18. Qd2 - h2 h7 - h6
19. Nhl- g3 Kh8 - h7
20. Bfl - e2 Rf8 - g8 a bed e f 9 Ii
21 . Kel - f2 Rg8 - h8
22. Rh5 - 114 Qc8 - e8 If 32 ••• ef 33 N :f4 Qg5, then 34 Rh5 traps the queen. And
23. Ral- gl Bg7 - f8 on 33 ••• Qh7, 34 Ne6+ B:e6 35 de Ng5 36 R:h6 N:f3 37 R:h7
24. Kf2 - g2 ! Nc5 - b7! N:d2 38 Rf7+ Ke8 39 R:e7+ Kf8 40 Rf7+ Ke8 41 Ng7+ Kd8
25. Ng3 - h5 Qe8 - g6 42 e7+ is decisive.
26. f3 - f4! Nb7 - d8
27. Be2-f3 Nd8 - f7 33 . Rh4 - h2 Kf8 - e8
28. Nc3 - e2 Bf8 - e7 34. b2 - b3 Ke8 - d8
29. Kg2 - hI Kh7 - g8 35 . a2 - a3 Rc8 - a8
30. Ne2 - g3 Kg8 - f8 36. Qd2 - cl
31. Ng3 - f5
(See diagram, next page)
White has managed to occupy the light squares f5 and h5
without too much difficulty, with the result th at Black is
now a lmost move-bound. Placing his king at hI was a spe­
cial refinement of White I s plan; since he is continually

[38] [39]
 8 s.~ :qJjl
dl;~ .lS.
.~ ~ 48.
49.
Rgl- g6
f5 - f6
Kb7 - c8
Rh7 - h8
7
•,!I1#,~m!A~4l.
r ~w.} :W;j:~ ". 50. Bf3 - g4+ Kc8 - d8
~....~ it ~/N;' iJ

.A-
6 51. Bg4 - e6 Kd8 - e8
5 ~L~
'r,j .
~ ft ~.::
~~~. . ,~

...•
Position after 52 • Be6: f7 + Ke8: f7

4
• it . it rl it B 36 Qcl III 53. Rhl: h6 Black resigned
~~ft ~
31~~a.~ A postscript: Tartakover erred in the opening, showing an
2 ~~ overfondness for previously-trodden paths; however, once
1 I. · ~~.,,~
. ~,, r~~ he found himself in difficulties, he displayed great resource­
a bed e f 9 h fulness and determination. Were it not for his blunder on
move 46, I might still have had a nother couple of hours'
work ahead of me. But I deserved the win, both from a com­
36. Be7 - f8 ? petitive and a psychological standpoint (my optimism! ). A
fighting game!
This oversight hastens the end , but Black's game was lost
in any case. For example: 36 ••• Qh7 37 Qfl Qh8 38 Be2!
Bf8 39 Rf2 Kc8 40 c5 ! dc 41 Bb5!, and White wins without *
difficulty (41 ••• Nd6 42 B:d7+ K:d7 43 fe fe 44 N:d6 B:d6 * *
45 Nf6+, winning the exchange) . And there were other ways
to win besides 37 Qfl - such as b3-b4 and c4-c5, of course
after the necessary preparation.

37. Nf5 - h4 Qg6 -h7

38 . Nh5: f6 Qh7 - h8
39. Nf6: g8 Qh8: g8
40. g4 - g5!. e5: f4
41. g5: h6 Qg8 - h7
42. Qcl: f4 Bf8: h6
43. Qf4 - f6+ Kd8 - c8
44. Nh4 - f5

Initiating a forcing liquidating sequence: Black must reply

••• B:f5, after which the new-made f-pawn will support the
further incursion Qg6.

44. Bd7: f5
45. e4: f5 Kc8 - b7
46. Qf6 - g6

Attacking Black's entire remaining "troika".

46. Ra8 - h8
47. Qg6:h7 Rh8: h7

[40] [41 ]
 Chapter 11

JOSE RAUL CAPABLANCA

Virtuoso technique: Has Capablanca

abandoned his old style?

Capablanca's games generally take the following course:

he begins with a series of extremely fine prophylactic ma­
neuvers, which neBtralize his opponent's attempts to com­
plicate the game; he then proceeds, slowly but surely, to
set up an attacking position. This attacking position, after
a series of simplifications, is transformed into a favorable
endgame, which he conducts with matchless technique.

However, it should be noted that in this tournament Capa­

blanca played very few games in the style we have just de­
scribed: his game with Colle, and perhaps his game with
Maroczy. Against Becker and Yates, and a few others, he
unleashed winning middlegame combinations. Is this a ser­
ious sign of progress in Capablanca's play? In order to dis­
cover the answer to this question, we shall first seek to as­
certain the nature of the changes that have occurred in Capa­
bl<1nca's style; then we shall examine whether these were
spur-of-the-moment changes, or had some psychological
foundation.

The first change to be noted is that Capablanca has lost

his former alertness, and commits horrendous blunders on
occasion ( Samisch - Capablanca: 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3
Bb4 4 a3 B:c3+ 5 bc d6 6 f3 e5 7 e4 Nc6 8 Be3 b6 9 Bd3
Ba6?? 10 Qa4, winning a piece) ; also, at times he over­
reaches himself on the attack ( something he never used to
do), as for example against Bogolyubov.

The second change is that he is turning more and more

from Classicism to neo-Romanticism. It is true he played
the New Indian Defense a number of times at Kissingen 1928,
but it was quite evident then that neo-Romanticism did not
wholly suit him yet; he was obviously employing a Romantic
opening only in order to reach a Classical position by what­
ever roundabout means (see his game with Marshall from
that tournament) •
 Today. however. matters stand differently. Capablanca's
game with me, for example, fairly. brims with neo-Roman­
ticism! An outmoded view of chess would hold that Maroc­
zy's Bind against the Dragon Sicilian ( 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6
3 d4 cd 4 N:d4 g6? - better 4 ••• Nf6 5 Nc3 d6 - 5 c4!,
followed by f2-f3) confers an advantage on White. But in
our game. Capablanca demonstrated the fallacy behind this
entrenched opinion. . B:c3 27 B:c3 ab 28 Qd2! bc 29 Qh6 f6 (if 29 ••• e5, then
Nimzovich - Capablanca
Unfortunately for Black, his intended 23 ••• e5 is par­
ried by 24 Nb5; if then 24 ••• B:b5 25 cb Qc2, White con­
solidates with 26 Bd3.
24 Q:e2
and after the further moves 24 ••• a6 25 a4 b5 26 ab
30 b4) 30 Rg5!, the game ended in one of those "explosive"
dra ws, with White sacrificing his rook on g6.

1 c4 Nf6 2 Nc3 c5 3 Nf3 Nc6 4 d4 cd 5 N:d4 g6! 6 e4 Bg7 This game demonstrates that Capablanca is no longer a
7 Nc2 0-0 8 Be2 d6 9 0-0 Nd7! 10 Be3 Nc5 11 Nd4 Bd7 12Qd2 stranger to the principles of neo- Romanticism.
Rc8 13 Radl Re8 14 Khl Qa5
Capablanca's uncertain play seems a temporary phenom­
Black's 13th move was a necessary prelude to this sortie, enon to us. We further suggest that his speedy victories
as White could have answered 13 ••• Qa5 with 14 N:c6 B:c6 over Becker and other masters show only that a naive at­
15 Nd5 Q:d2 16 N:e7+, followed by 17 R:d2, with a sound ex­ tacking strategy, which might not be out of place against a
tra pawn. second-class master, is certainly inappropriate against a
Capablanca.
15 f3 Ne6!
So, in the end, all these supposedly substantial changes
Totally neo-Romantic! come to nothing, more or less. The only change of any im­
portance, in our opinion, is that Capablanca has indeed
8 joined the ranks of the neo-Romantics. At the same time,
he has, of course, lost none of his exceptional accuracy in
7
the conduct of classical endgames.
6

5
Position after Capablanca's fighting ability has lessened, though only a
4 15 0 Ne6
0 0
little. The fact that Alekhine's opponent in the World Cham­
3 pionship match has turned out to be Bogolyubov (whose play
2
Capablanca regards none too highly), and not himself, has
depressed him somewhat. And this lack of fighting spirit
made itself felt more than once - for example, he played
a bed e f 9 h for a draw against Grunfeld, without making a single effort
to win.
16 Nb3 Qb4 17 Qc2 Na5 18 N:a5 Q:a5
And can we call Capablanca's two losses accidental? No,
And here, White had to set in motion a neo-Romantic ma­ because he had also stood to lose earlier, against Thomas,
neuver of his own, in order to escape trouble on the queen­ Rubinstein and Euwe, and only saved himself by a miracle.
side.
On the whole, Capablanca's result in this tournament was
19 Rd5! Nc5 20 Bd2 Qc7 21 Bel (21 Be3 was simpler) Ne6! exactly what he should have expected. Those "golden years"
22 b3 Nd4 23 Qd2 N:e2 when he could shun complications and still carry off first

[44] [45]
prize have gone now, never to ret urn! But, Senor Capa ­ 10. Nc6 - e5
blanca, continu e to play a ll of your games in the same
deeply creative vei n in which you piayed your game against Skillfu l utilizat ion of the centra l squares - even when they
me in thi s tournament, and without a doubt you will then are only available temp orarily - i s one of the h a ll marks of
once again begin taking first places. One cannot get very the neo- Romantic.
far these days by playing only for quick simplification!
11. Bd3 -c2

A "true " grandmaster would have foreseen Black's reply,

and would therefore ha ve played 11 Ba6 inste ad . After
11 ••. QcB 12 B:b7 Q:b7 13 ReI, White could bring his
queen1s knight to g3, with a solid position.
Game 8. COLLE-CAPABLAN CA
11. QdB - cB!
(New Indian Defense. Round 18) 12. f2 - f4 Bb7 - a6
13. Qe2 - dl Ne5-c6
14. Rfl - f3
l. d2 - d4 NgB - f6
2. Ngl- f3 b7 - b6 The old Capablanca used to love being attacked - "attacks"
3. e2 - e3 BcB - b7 such as this would gladden his heart. The new Capablanca,
4. Bfl - d3 e7 - e6 by contrast, knows not whether to be afra id or to rejoice . In
5. 0-0 c7 - c5 the present game , he decides to rejoice .
6. Nbl- d2 NbB - c6
7. c2 - c3 BfB - e7
8 E.~. !.~.
t t t ~~.'
A~",:m~
m4l•"£!•.~,/..•
7 "'"'4l1i
~ •- ~
. ".
~
¥lf$.
I reached the same position against Gilg (Game 4) .

5"a. ,.....
3. .a..
6
B. e3 - e4 Position aft er
4 ,.. • '.41ft~~"i ••
!iI 14 Rf3
Gilg played B a3 here.
f1l
B. c5 : d4!
2• ft ,..b~il~
!i! ,... ,
~~...M..,
~ - ~g ~. ".
m.mft ~~. . "
~ '
~
9. Nf3: d4 ....."
;'H!1
~~
... . !IJ ' "
a bed e f 9 h
9 cd is uncomfortable, in view of 9 ••• Nb4 10 Bbl Ba6

11 ReI Nd3, exchangi ng one of White's bishops.

14 . g7 - g6
15 . Nd2 - b3 Nc6 : d4
9. 0- 0 16. Nb3: d4 Ba6-b7!
10. Qdl- e2
Now the weakness of the enemy central squares s t ands out
It would be interesting to know how Capablanca intended clearl y .
to m'C"et 10 f4: would he have risked the continuation 10 •• e5
11 fe (or 11 N:c6 dc ) N:e5 12 Be2 d5, or would he have set ­ 17. Qdl- e2 Be7 - c5
tled for 10 .•. N:d4 11 cd d5 12 e5 Ne4 13 Qf3 f5 14 ef B:f6? lB . Rf3 - h3?

[46] [47]
Overprotection of e4, by 18 Re3, was necessary instead.
Game 9. CAPABLANCA-TREYBAL
18. Qc8 - c6! (Queen's Gambit Declined. Round 10)
19. e4 - e5 Nf6 - d5
20. Qe2 - f2? Bc5: d4
Ra8 - c8 1.. d2 - d4 d7 - d5
2l. c3: d4
2. c2 - c4 c7 - c6
22. Bc2 - dl
3. Ngl - f3 e7 - e6
4. Bel - g5 Bf8 - e7
If 22 Be4? Q:cl+!
5. Bg5: e7 Qd8: e7
f7 - f6 6. Nbl - d2 f7-f5!?
22.
23. Qf2 - h4 Rf8 - f7
Qc6 - c4 Taken by itself, the absence of the darksquare bishops un­
24. Bdl - f3
Bcl- e3 Nd5: e3! doubtedly speaks in favor of the Stonewall formation, rather
25.
Ne3 - f5 than against it. If the bishops were still present on f4 and d6,
26. Bf3 : b7
Rc8 - c7 White's bishop would be stronger than its opposite number,
27. Qh4- el
Bb7 - e4 Qc4: d4+ since he could support his bishop by playing e2 -e3. Should
28.
Kgl - hl f6 : e5 Black then capture, White's pawn would recapture, allowing
29.
e6 : f5 the rooks to assail Black's backward e-pawn . Despite all
3 O. Be4 : f5
Rf7 - e7 this, however, we should still prefer simple development to
3l. f4 : e5
Qd4: b2 any sort of Stonewall; after 6 .,. Nf6 7 e3 Nbd7 8 Bd3 e5 ,
32 . Rh3 - e3
Black has complete equality.
Another pawn goes.
7. e2-e3 Nb8 - d7
e5 - e6 8. Bfl- d3 Ng8 -h6?
33.

This, too, could be called a break of sorts - but note the To meet White's threat of 9 cd, when Black would not be
scientific elegance with which Black neutralizes it! able to reply 9 •• , ed, in view of 10 B:f5. However, 8 •• g6
was preferable. If then 9 0-0, Qd6!, followed by ••• Ngf6,
d7: e6 0-0, and finally ••• Ne4; or if 9 Ne5, N:e5 10 de Nh6
33.
Kg8 - f7! 11 0-0 Ng4, etc . The Stonewall is not playable if Black can
34. Re3: e6
not bring a knight to e4 .
White resigned
9. 0-0 o-0
This sort of ending is hopeless against a technician of the 10. Qdl - c2 g7 - g6
11. Ral -bl! Nd7 - f6
caliber of Capablanca.
12. Nf3 - e5 Nh6 - f7
-'-,­­ 13. f2 - f4 Bc8 - d7

13 • " N:e5 14 fe Ne4 would be met by 15 B:e4 de? ( .• fe

would be better) 16 c5, and the knight goes to d6.

14. Nd2 - f3 Rf8 - d8

15. b2-b4 Bd7-e8
16. Rfl - el a 7 - a6

~~ . ~~
 17. Qc2 - f2 Nf7: e5 33. Rbl - hI Rc8 - g8
18. Nf3 : e5 Nf6 - d7 34 . Qc3 - a l R g8 - b8
19. Ne5 - f31 RaS - c8 35. Qal - a31 Rb8 - g8
?{). c4 - c5 36. b4 - b5! a6 : b5
37. h5 - h6+ Kg7 - f8

..
38. a4: b5 Kf8 - e7
8
39. b5 - b6 Qc7 - b8
7
6

8 ~
,,~ • • .! ~
' .. .~

5. .t .~~~ . t
5
Position after
7
20 c5
~~ • t ••
r:.",~ t . ~ t ~~~
4
6 . .,,­
3

~~t . t ~~
.~ m... ~w~'' ' ' 7. _ Position aft e r
"jJ.
2

4 B a ~~ . 39 ••• Qb8
3 •~
Si ~.<~J~!fJ
~ ~" • •
a bed e f 9 h 2 . .. ~ ~§
Black is caught in an iron vise.
I ,. .. B B§
a bed e f 9 h
20. Nd7 - f6
2l. a2 - a4 Nf6 - g4 40. Rhl - al Rg8 - c8
22. Qf2 - e l Ng4 - h6 41. Qa3 - b4
23. h2 - h3 Nh6 - f7
24. g2 - g41 Be8 - d7 Capablanca has foreseen that, without room to man e u ve r,
25. Rel - c2 Kg8 - h8 Black will b e unable to ward off the impending blow on b7.
26. Rc2 - g2 Rd8 - g8
27. g4 - g5 Qe7 - d8 4l. Rh8 - d8
28. h3 - h4 Kh8 - g7 42. Ral- a7 Ke7 - f8
29. h4 - h5 43. Rh2 - hI Bd7 - e8
44. Rhl - al Kf8 - g8
Having ne ed lessly selected the Stonewall formation ( a fter 45. Ral - a4 Kg8 - f8
White I s harmless 4 Bg5 gave him the opportunity inst ea d to 46. Qb4 - a3 Kf8 - g8
play another, perfectly comfortable, defense), and having 47. Kf2 - g3 Be8 - d7
played that Stonewall passively to boot (8 ••. Nh6 ? , inste ad 48. Kg3 - h4 Kg8 - h8
of 8 .•• g6) , Black has no right to bewail his f ate now. The 49. Qa3 - al Kh8 - g8
"solidity" which supposedly c h aract er izes the Black position 50. Kh4 - g3 Kg8 - f8
might give pause to d callow youth, but it proves pur e ly Hlu­ 51. Kg3 - g2 Bd7 - e8
sory against the mast er , Capablanca. The next phase is 52. Nf3 - d2
quite instruc ti ve .
The beginning of the end. Bl ack has no defense agai nst Nd2­
29. Rg8 - h8 b3-a5, since the reply Rd7 would a llow N:b7 R:b7; Ra8,
30. Rg2 - h2 Qd8 - c7 winni ng the queen.
31. Qel- c3 Qc7 - d8
32. Kgl- f2 Qd8 - c7 52. Be8 - d7

[50] [51 ]
 53. Nd2 - b3 RdS - eS find nothing better, Black can play 12 ••. N:f3+ 13 B:f3 B:f3
54. Nb3 - a5 Nf7 - dS 14 Q :f3 Be5 15 Nd4 Qb6, with equality. Or 6 .•• Bd6 7 e4
55. Bd3 - a6! b7 : a6 de S N:e4: Be7 9 Bd3 N:e4 10 B:e7 Q:e7 11 B:e4 Nf6 12 Bd3
56. Ra7: d7 Qb4+ 13 Qd2 Q:d2+ 14 K:d2 b6 15 Ne5 c5.

Had the Black king been at e7, instead of fS, White would The reason we have chosen to dwell at such length upon the
have played 55 N:b7 N:b7 56 Ba6 NdS 57 B:cS Q:cS 5S Rc7 ramifications of this line is that we feel this particular prob­
QbS 59 Raa7. lem to be one of great psychological signigficance. What,in
fact, does our re-evaluation of the move 6 Nbd2 signify? It
56. ReS - e7 means that the majority of masters still have a poor sense
57. Rd7: dS+! Black resigned of centralization! The move 6 Nbd2 is, in fact, decentrali­
zing, and is therefore under no circumstances to be feared.
"It was only technique", the reader will say. Yes, but The path of a master's development in chess ought to aim
what mesmerizing elegance there was in that technique! in the direction that leads to the growth and development of
his central - positional feeling. For it is not just the Nf3 ­
h4's and the Rdl-bl's that are decentralizing; occasionally,
even Nbl-d2 or Ral-dl may be no better! So one's positional
feeling ought to be developed in precisely this aspect: learn
Game 10. CAPABLANCA-MAROCZY to "feel" centralization!
(Queen's Gambit Declined, Round 21)
5. e2 - e3 0-0
6. Nbl- c3 NbS - d7
l. d2 - d4 NgS - f6 7. Ral-el c7 - c6
2. c2 - c4 e7 - e6 S. Qdl- c2 h7 - h6
3. Ngl - f3 d7 - d5 9. Bg5 - h4 a7 - a6
4. Bel - g5
We should prefer 9 ••. ReS first.
After 4 Nc3, Black could choose the game continuation, or
else choose to defend himself by means of the Cambridge 10. c4: d5 Nf6 : d5?
Springs Variation: 4 ... Nbd7 5 Bg5 c6 6 e3 Qa5. The lat­
ter continuation is not possible after the text, since White Why this move? After the natural reply 10 ••• ed, Black
can meet 4 •.• Nbd7 5 e3 c6 with 6 Nbd2, instead of 6 Nc3. would have obtained easy equality, on the basis of the e-file
and the possibility of establishing an outpost at e4: 11 Bd3
4. BfS - e7 ReS 12 0-0 Ne4 13 B:e7 Q:e7 14 B:e4 de 15 Nd2 Nf6 16 Nc4
Bf5 17 Nb6 RadS IS Nca4 Qc7, with a perfectly sound posi­
Black still ought to have played the 4 •.• Nbd7 line here,
tion. It is true that Black would have queenside weaknesses
since the White knight, though perhaps temporarily very
( at b6 and c5) , but he would have the diagonal c7-h2 as
well posted at d2, cannot escape being branded a positional
compensation.
liability. In point of fact, the knight exercises no influence

on the opposing center from d2. After 4 ... Nbd7 5 e3 c6

11. Bh4 - g3 QdS - a5
6 Nbd2 Black could, without great effort, capitalize upon
12. Nf3 - d2 Nd5 ~ c3
the knight's position at d2 to prepare either •.• c6-c5 or
13. b2: c3 c6 - co
.•. e6-e5. For example: 6 ••. Bd6 7 Bd3 0-0 S 0-0 e5
14. Nd2 - c4! Qa5 - dS
9 cd cd 10 de N:e5 11 Nb3 Bg4 12 Be2 - and now, if he can

[52] [53]
 Had Black initiated his maneuver ... Nd5:c3 and ••. c6­
Here Black should ha ve gone in for the combination.
c5 on move 11, rather than on move .12 - that is, without the
16 ••• b5 17 Nd6 Qa5! 18 N:c8 R a :c8 19 R:d7 R:c3 20 Qd2
inclu sion of ••• Qa5 - the same position would have resul­
Bb4 21 Ke2 Rfc8, when he might still have fought on for a
ted, but with the White knight on f3 instead of c4. The en ­
while. Now he gets caught in a n iron vise.
tire question is: will this knight pro ve more active on c4
th a n it would have been on f3?
17. Rd4 - d2 Qd8 - e7
18. Bfl - e2 b7 - b6
15. Rcl - dl
19. Nc4 - d6 Nd7 - f6
20. 0-0 Ra8 - a7
8 21. Be2 - f3 Bc8 - d7
7 22. Rfl - dl
6

Black cannot move.

Position aft er
4 15 Rdl
22. e6 - e5
3 23. Bg3 - h4! g7 - g5
2 24. Bh4 - g3 KgB - g7
25. Bf3 - e2!
a bed e f 9 h
Very fine play.
15. c5: d4
25. b6 - b5
26. h2 -h4 Ra7 - c7
Overlooking White's fine reply . The knight should have
27. h4 : g5 h6: g5
been driven back by 15 ••• b5, at whatever cost - this is
28. Nd6 - f5+ Bd7: f5
the only way to deal with a knight which glowers so threat­
29. Qc2: f5 Bla ck resigned
eningly in every direction. On 15 ..• b5, neither 16 Nd6
Qb6, nor 16 Ne5 N:e5 17 B:e5 Qb6 offers White anything
After undertaking his attack on the d-file with a bare min­
special. Thus, we need only examine the combinative con­
imum of force, Capablanca proceeded to demonstrate a n
tinuation 16 dc bc 17 c6 Qe8 18 cd B:d7 19 B:c4. Her e , how­
amazing coolheadedness: ignoring his opponent's rather
ever, Black appears to get compensation for his pawn by
transpare nt counter attacks (~. nd perhaps even counting on
continuing 19 .•. Rc8! If now 20 B:a6, then 20 ••• Ba4
his opponent's careful style) , he gradually brought all his
21 Qb2 Rc6 22 Bb7 B:dl 23 B:c6 Q:c6 24 K:dl Q:g2, etc.
reserves into the fra y , J. nd crushed his 'opp onent complete­
ly. Undoubtedly, a singularly impressive game.
So Maroczy was objectively correct, in making the White
knight wander from f 3 to c4. Had Black found the proper )~
continuation, the knight, which seemed so threatening on c4,
might have proved to be not so fearsome after all.

16. Rdl: d4!

Regardless of the isolated pawn.

16. Be7 - c5

[54J [55]
 ll~ Qdl- e2 b7 - b6
Game 11. CAPABLANCA-BECKER 12. Rfl - dl!
(Queen's Gambit Declined. Round 8)
Many masters would prefer 12 Radl. Capab lan ca ' s move
1. d2 - d4 d7 - d5 demonstrates his wo nd erful intuition.
2. c2 - c4 e7 - e6
3. Ngl - f3 Nb8-d7 12. Bc8 - b7
4. Nbl - c3 Ng8 - f6 13. Ral - cl
5. Bel - f4
With truly Olympian detachment, White awaits further
Avoiding the Cambridge Springs Variation : 5 Bg5 c6 developments in his opponent's aggressive schemes a l ong
6 e3 Qa5. Alekhine, however~ has demonstrated another the long diagonal.
interesting possibility for White, namely: 5 Bg5 c6 6 e4!
The continu ation of the 11th game of his match with Bogol­ 13. a7 - a6
yubov was: 6 '" de 7 N:e4 Qb6 (7 .•• Be7 would have I ... ~ ~~~f?;. ?~-..a-. ~I
been more solid ) 8 N :f6+ gf 9 Bcl e5 10 Bd3 ed, with a 8
sharp game. Instead of 9 ••• e5, however, Black could 7
have played 9 ••• Qc7, followed by ..• b7-b6, ••• Bb7 6
and .•. 0-0-0, obtaining a reasonable pos ition. So Alek­
hine's attempt to avo id the Cambridge Springs is quite
satisfactory. But why should White try so hard to a void
51m ~-~H• ~~m ~
4
I Position after
13 0 a6
0 0

the Cambrid ge Springs? Can it be so fearsome for White? 3

2
5. d5: c4 1 ."
~ =h~Ef8.··
(.,'---' III ·="~~;r
'- ~
6. e2 - e3 Nf6 - d5
a bed e f 9 h
Or 6 '" Nb6 7 B:c4 N:c4 8 Qa4+.
14 . Bc4-d3
7. Bfl: c4 ! Nd5: f4
8. e3 : f4 Bf8 - d6 Very simple, but nonetheless a very difficult move to
find. White intends to bring his knight to e4 now, and begin
This move, which one might call too forthri ght , makes an a powerful att ack a long the diagonal d3-h7. Black's small,
unpleasant impression upon the connoisseur . Black simply ye t fatal, difficulty is that his bishop is tied t o the c-pawn 's
wishes to induce g2-g3 , and stir up play thereafter on the defense - otherw ise it could retreat to e7, helping to assem ­
long whites quared diagonal. But surely one cannot play a ble a strong defensive position on the kingside. Onl y now
closed position in an ope n style! Modest deve lopment, such does the depth of Capablanca ' s conception become evident:
as •.. c7-c6 followed by ... Bf8 - e7 and •.. 0-0, would in playing 12 Rfdl a nd 13 Rael, quite evide ntl y he had already
have been more in the spirit of this position. Black really foreseen his entire plan of action a l ong the diagonal d3-h7.
should be content with defending himself as best he can
against the threat ening f4-f5. (After the sequence just in­ 14. Bd6 - b4?
dicated, he would prob abl y co ntinue ••• Nd7-b6-d5.)
Still in the same, rather naive, style! Black threatens to
9. g2 - g3 ! Nd7 - f6 exchange off the knight, and fo ll ow this up with ••• Qd 5!
10. 0-0 0-0 The best defense, comparatively speaking, was 14 ... g6

[56] [57]
15 N e4 Nd5 16 h4 ReS 17 h5 BfS, followed by lS •.• Bg7. iation, there was no reason why Black should have avoided
this line. He ought to have played 6 ••• Ne4, when one pos­
15. Nc3 - e4 QdS - d5 sible continuation might be: 7 Qc2 c5! 8 cd ed 9 dc? Nc6!
16. Nf3 - g5!! 10 e3 (10 b4? Qf6) Bf5! 11 Bd3? (best here is 11 Qdl, giv­
ing back the pawn voluntarily; after 11 ••• N :c5 12 Nf3 Ne6
Just a little combination (une petite combinaison, as Capa White might have some chances to equalize) 11 ••• Qa5+
would put it ), but if one sees this combination as the final 12 Bd2 (on 12 Kfl Nb4! 13 Qdl N:d3 and 14 ..• Ng3+, Black
link in White 1 s strategic plan, the conception cannot fail to wins the queen) 12 ••• N:d2 13 Q:d2 B:d3.
enchant.
While Capablanca 1 s move was not the best, it nevertheless
16. Nf6 - eS indicates a great deal of creative thought. He wishes to uti­
17. Ng5: h7! f7 - f5 lize the d5 square for "central" maneuvers. The subtlety of
this stratagem lies in the fact that' at first glance Black 1 s
Giving up hope - except for the moral victory of finally freedom of movement (around d5 ) might appear to be quite
controlling the long diagonal! Already it is clear that even insignificant , in vie w of White 1 s threat of Bg5 followed by
the simple continuation IS N:fS B:fS ( 18 ••• fe 19 Bc4) e2-e4. However, the temporary control of d5 assumes mon­
19 f3 would leave Black with nothing but futile gestures umental importance in the hands of a virtuoso such as Capa­
( such as 19 ••• Q:d4+ 20 Kg2! ) . But Capablanca finds a blanca. This strategic plan alone would be sufficient to con­
reply that is still more convincing: vince us that Capablanca has indeed joined forces with the
neo-Romantics.
18. Nh7-g5! Black resigned,
7. Qc3:c4 0- O!
since 18 ••• fe allows either 19 B:e4 or 19 Bc4, with an
immediate catastrophe. Giving his opponent complete freedom of action!

8. Bcl- g5
*
Threatening 9 e2 -e4.
Game 12. EUWE-CAPABLANCA
(New Indian Oefense. Round 9) 8. c 7 - c6
9. Ngl - f3

1. d2 - d4 Ng8 - f6 On 9 e4, Black might ha ve continued : 9 ..• Qa5+ 10 Bd2

2. c2 - c4 e7 - e6 Qb6 11 Bd3! Q:b2 12 RblQ:a3 13 Bb4 Qa4 14 Qc3 (exchanges
3. Nbl- c3 Bf8 - b4 could hardly favor White at this point, e . g. : 14 B:f8 Q:c4
4. Qdl - c2 d7 - d5 15 B:c4 K:f8 16 Bd3 Nbd7 17 Nf3 b6 18 Kd2 Bb7, followed by
5. a2 - a3 Bb4: c3+ 19 .•. c5) 14 .•• c5 15 B:c5 Rd8, and Black has nothing to
6. Qc2: c3 d5: c4 fear.

Had Black played 6 •.• Ne4 instead, then 7 Qc2 would

9. Nb8 - d7
have led, by transposition, into the following variation,
10. e2 ­ e3 Qd8 ­ a5+
which I introduced into tournament praxis: 1 d4.Nf6 2 c4
11. b2 - b4
e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Qc2 B:c3+ 5 Q:c3 Ne4 6 Qc2 d5 7 a3.

But since 7 a3 is certainly not the best move in this va r­ Black has scored his first success :, now he h<;!s a target

[58] [59]
for the thrust ••• a 7 - as . Routine play ("centraliz ing the k ing" ), when an immed­
iate counterattack was what wa s needed, e. g . : 23 ••• f6!
n. QaS - dS ! If then 24 Rfbl, as in the game, then 24 ••• R:al 2S R:al
e5 26 de Bg4, etc.; or 26 dS cd 27 ed Be6! 28 d6 b6
Exploiting dS (see the note to Black's sixth move) • 29 cb N:d6, and Black consolidates .

12. Q c4 - c2 h7 - h6 24. Rfl - bl Ra8: a l

2S. Rbl: al Bd7 - c8
12 ••• as would have been premature; after 13 Bc4 Qd6 26. Kgl - fl e 6 - eS?
14 Bf4 Qe7 IS bS! cS 16 0-0, Black has numerous weak­
nesses (16 ••• Nb6 17 BgS cd 18 ed Bd7 19 Bd3 R ac 8 Bla c k still ought to have played 26 ••. f6, for ex a mple:
20 Qbl ). 27 Ke2 gS 28 Ke3 fS 29 Ra4 Nf6, and his position would
be full y recove red.
13. Bfl - c4 QdS-d6
14. BgS: f6 27 . Nf3: eS R d8 : d4
28. Kfl- e2 f7 - f6
This is weak! White should h ave held on to his two bi­ 29. NeS - c4 Rd4 - d8
shops instead by 14 Bf4 Qe7 IS 0-0 NhS 16 BeS N:eS 17 de 30. Ral- a7 Ke7 - d7
g6 18 Rad!. 31. Nc4 - b6+ Kd7 - c7
32. Bd3- a6 Ne8 - d6!
14. Nd7: f6
IS. e3 - e4 Qd6 - e7 The sealed move . Capablanc a is defending himself with
16. 0-0 a 7 - as uncommon determination.
17. Ral-bl

B
Pl aying for the blockade by 17 bS Bd7 18 b6 instead is un­
clear, as may be seen from: 18 ••• cS 19 eS Nh7 20 dS ed 7 1''---'' - ,.­
M?~.J
21 B:dS Bg4, etc. 6

5
Position after
17. as : b4 4 32 00 Nd6!
0

18. a3 : b4 Bc8 - d7
3
19. Bc4 - d3 Rf8 - d8
2
This is inexact: Black should have secured his position on
the a -file by means of an immediate 19 Ra3 0 ' 0 0
a b c d e f 9 h

20. Qc2 - c3! 33. Nb6: c8 Kc7: c8

34. c5 : d6 b7: a6
This forestalls that incursion. 3S. Ra7 - c7+ Kc8 - b8
36~ Rc7: c6 Kb8 - b7
20. Nf6 - e8 37 . Rc6 - c7+ Kb7 - b6
21. Qc3 - cS ! Kg8 - f8 38. Rc7: g7 Rd8: d6
22. Rbl- al Qe7: cS 39 . Rg7 - g6
23. b4: cS Kf8 - e7

[60] [61]
 Threatening 40 e4-e5.
Chapter III
39. Kb6 - c5
40. Rg6: h6 Kc5 - d4!
41. Ke2 - f3 a6 - a5 RUDOLF SPIELMANN

42. Kf3 - f4! a5 - a4

43. Rh6 - h5? Borrowed technique, but a wealth of
understanding, and a considerable gift for
Now Euwe makes a misstep in turn. After 43 Rh3 Ra6
combination.
(or 43 ••. Re6 44 Re3 ) 44 Ra3 Kc4 45 Kf5, White must

win.

Spielm a nn, the True Knight of the Gambit, has suddenly

43. Rd6 - a6 begun to play 1 d2-d4!
44. Rh5 - d5+ Kd4 - c3
45. Rd4 - dl a4 - a3 The explanation for this is that Spielmann is, in fact, the
46. Kf4 - f5 a3 - a2 hardest-working of all the masters, continually searching
47. f2 - f4 a2 - alQ out the flaws in his game and striving to eliminate them.
48. Rdl : al Ra6: al Thus, during the New York tournament of 1927, he came to
49. Kf5 : f6 Ral - a6+ the realization that he was not playing rook endgames accu­
50. Kf6 - f5 Kc3 - d4 rately enough; a year later, however, at Kissingen 1928, he
51. e4 - e5 Kd4 - d5 had already become a first-class specialist in such endings!
52. g2 - g3 How did this happen? Very simply: Spielmann set himself to
the task of studying rook endgames with exceptional dili ­
White can no longer win. gence, making use of his enormous library.

52. Ra6 - a8 This same phenomenon occurred in his positional play.

53. Kf5 - f6 Ra8 - a6+
54. Kf6 - f5 Ra6-a8
Draw
To sum up: the complexities of the neo-Romantic approach
Capablanca adopted for this game (with 6 ..• d,c) soon wore
him out; this e x plains the inaccuracies he committed in the
endgame. Finding himself in desperate straits, however, he
showed both the resourcefulness and the will necessary to
survive. Exploiting an error by his opponent, he succeeded
in turning the game into a draw.
Here, by his own admission, he has come under my influ­
ence. Centralization, overprotection, blockade, and most
of all, prophylaxis (all of which are worked out in such
detail in my books) completely occupied his a:tte ntion. Just
as in 1927 he had subjected rook endings to detailed study,
so in 1928 - 29 he began using my books to study positional
play. You ought to have heard the excitement with which he
showed his games from the first half of this tournament!
"Blockade", "prophylaxis", and all the rest, fairly flew
from his lips; and if I chanced to be looking on, there would
also be a friendly nod in my direction.

After all this, is it any wonder that I should feel Spiel­

~:(' :.;:: mann's positional play to be a trifle colorless - that is,
lacking a personal, specific character of its own? Not at
all, since he is still passing through the stage of learning
the technique of positional play - in other words, tensely
awaiting those moments when the general theory would be
telling him to employ "blockade", "prophylaxis", or some
other device.

"All of this may be true", the psychologically interested

[62] reader will say, "but in that case, why had Spielmann never
 given a thought to improving his positional play before 1928?
And furthermore, is it possible for someone to garner a
share of second and third prizes on no more than 'borrowed'
technique? "
We shall endeavor to dispel our honorable reader's doubts
forthwith. The fact that Spielmann remained true to his gam­
bit style for so many years can be explained as follows: he
is, by nature, a man who remains true to his idols, and
would not willingly change them. Thus, he expended a great
deal of energy defending his position; meanwhile, however,
his doubts grew daily, finally wearing down his dogmatic
stubbornness. It was then that he set himself the task of
examining the new principles, and soon he found himself
the queenside, in violation of tradition. (see Games 13 and
14) • The masters opposing him decided, after very little
consideration, that such "unsound" play must be punished.
Samisch, Colle and Johner forthwith took upon themselves
the honorable role of keeper of the precepts, and lost rap­
idly as a result. To go with these "wins by variation",
Spielmann picked up two additional points by crushing Grun­
feld with his old attacking style and routing a tired Mar ­
shall with his unoriginal technique. And so he suddenly
found himself with 5 points out of 5! Such a start, of course,
might prove sufficient to excite and inspire anyone to fur­
ther advances. *
Actually, Spielmann won only two really crushing games:

converted to them. against Grunfeld and against Thomas (Game 15).

Concerning the question of his success here, we submit In conclusion, we must point out that Spielmann played a

that at times a high level of creativity is of less importance very good tournament, and fully deserved his outstanding

than a high level of inspiration in the execution of one's success.

stratagems. Spielmann did carry out his stratagems at a

high level of inspiration; and if his games from this tourna­
ment appear somewhat "derivative" (i. e., bookish and un­
original) in style, still Spielmann himself must have been
*
experiencing something very much akin to original creativ­
ity during the games, so rapidly and keenly did he assimi­
late the strategic flow of events on the chessboard - as
though he were experiencing them for the first time.

Although the pattern of Spielmann's thought processes

which we have just described deserves an important place
among the reasons for his success here, the matter is not
exhausted by this f{lctor alone, there were other points as
well, naturally. Moving from general considerations to
particular, we should like to emphasize the well-known
fact that the best variation to use in a tournament is not
a merely good line, but more exactly a line which, though
good, is considered to be bad. In my younger days, for
example, I once scored 9t out of 10 with the following line:
1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 c5 4 c3, since everyone avoided the
drawing lines in an attempt to "refute" 3 e5.
* For accuracy's sake, it should be pointed out that Johner
Spielmann played very similarly here. After 1 d4 Nf6 was not beaten until Round 7. Spielmann's first five points
2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Qb3 c5 5 Nf3 Nc6 6 dc Ne4 7 Bd2 were collected from Grunfeld, Marshall, Samisch, Gilg and
N :d2 8 N :d2, in Round 3 he allowed himself to castle on Colle (in that order). - T r.

[64] [65]
\

covers the square b3 (since 17 Nd6? would allow 17 ... Na5

Game 13. SPIELMANN-SAMISCH
18 Qc3 Q:cS! 19 Q:c5 Nb3+ ) •
(New Indian Defense. Round 3)
An aggressive diversion which culminates in such a subtle
1. d2 - d4 defensive move as 17 Nd2 - here is no gamb it style, no Mu­
Ng8 - f6
2. c2 - c4 zio. no Polerio!
e7 - e6
3. Nbl- c3 Bf8 - b4
4. Qdl- b3 14. Na4: c5 d6: c5
c7 - cS
15. Nd2 - bl!
4 ••• Qe7 is also possible, as Alekhine played in a match
game against Bogolyubov. As Spielmann later remarked to a circle of masters: "Here
I remembered Nimzovich's prophylaxis, and decided that I
5. d4: cS Nb8 - c6 should employ it against a possible ••• b7-b5. "
6. Ngl - f3 Nf6 - e4
7. Bcl- d2 Ne4: d2 8

We should prefer 7 ••• N :cS 8 Qc2 as! to secure the

6

knight's position on cS.

5
Position after
8 ..", Nf3 : d2 0- 0 4 15 Nb!!
9. 0 - 0 - 0 3
2
A nd this is the novelt y we refer red to!

9. Qd8 - as a bed e f 9 h

15. Ra8 - b8
9 '" B:cS is simpler, but the text move does no harm.

10. a2 .. a3! Bb4: cS . •• Qc7, ••• Bd7, and ••. Rad8, consolidating immedi ate ­
ly, was better.
After 10 ••• B:c3 11 Q:c3! Q:c3+ 12 bc, Black does not
gain enough to compensate for White's pressure on the d ­ 16. Nbl- c3! Qa5 - c7
file. 17. Qb3-c2! Bc8 - d7
18 . Qc2 - d2! Rf8 - d8
ll. e2 - e3 19. Qd2 - d6
f7 - f5

Keeping White's knights out of e4 . A most intelligent use of the d-file ( see the next note) •

12. Bfl - e2 19. Qc7 : d6

a7 - a6
13. Nc3 - a4 ! 20. Rdl: d6 Bd7 - e8
d7 - d6
21. Rd6: d8!
In the event of 13 ..• Ba 7, Spielmann had prepared a fine
combination: 14 c5 B:c5 15 Nc4 Qc7! (on 15 .•. Qb5 16 Qc2, 21 .•. R :d 8 is met by 22 Na4, winning a pawn. So we see
with several tremendous threats) 16 N:c5 b5 17 Nd2!, which that White's pla y on the d-file.was in fact combined with

[66] [67]
 play against the weakness of the c-pawn! Instead of
38. c4: b5 a6: b5
20 ••• BeB!?, Black should have played as follows:
39. Re3 - el Kd6 - e7
20 ••• KfB 21 Rhdl Ke7 22 Na4 b623 Bf3 Nd4 24 R:d7+
R:d7 25 ed R:d4 26 R:d4 cd 27 Kd2 e5, with some slight
If 39 ••• N:f3? 40 Rfl.
counterchances. And of course White could not reply to
20 ••• Be8 with 21 R:e6? due to 21 ••• Bf7.
40. ReI - hI Rf6 - h6
41. Kc! - d2 Ke7 -d6
21. 42. Kd2 - e3 e6 - e5
N c6 : d8
22. Be2 - f3 43. Ke3 - e4
Kg8 - fB
23. Rhl - dl Kf8 - e7
\ 24. e3 - e4 After clearing the f-pawn out of the way, White has sys­
tematically exploited the e4 square - first with his knight,
Now the f-pawn is a target. and now with his king.

24. 43. c5 - c4
g7 - g6
25. e4: f5 44. f3 - f4 Nd4 - c6
g6: f5
26. Rdl- el 45. Rhl - dl+ Kd6 - e7
Ke7 - f8
27. g2 - g4! 46. f4: e5 Black resigned
f5 : g4
28. Bf3: g4

Securing the central square e4! A finely played game by Spielmann, which might serve as
a textbook example of the use of prophylaxis and centraliza­
28. tion.
BeB - f7
29. Nc3 - e4 h7 - h5
':(

This loses a pawn, but Black's defense was difficult in

any event.

Game 14. SPIELMANN-COLLE

30. Ne4 - f6! KfB - e7
31. Nf6 : h5 Bf7 : h5 (New Indian Defense. Round 5)
32. Bg4: h5 Nd8 - c6
33. Bh5 - g4 Nc6 - d4
34. h2 -h4 The opening of this game was the same as that of the pre­
Rb8 - fB
35. f2 - f3 ceding game: 1 d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2 c2-c4 e7-e6 3 Nbl-c3 BfB­
RfB - f6
36. Rel- e3 b4 4 Qdl'-b3 c7-c5 5 d4:c5 NbB-c6 6 Ngl-f3 Nf6-e4 7 Bcl­
d2 Ne4:d2 B Nf3:d2. Here Black continued:
Now the centralization of White's king, in conjunction with
the POSSibilitY/f b2-b4, should decide. B. f7 - f5
9. e2 - e3 Bb4: c5
36. Ke7 - d6 10. Bfl - e2 0-0
37. h4-h5 b7-b5 ll. O-O-O! b7 - b6
12. Nd2 - f3

This hastens the end. Making way for the rook; besides, a knight loves

[68] 11 [69]
 centra l squares (such as d4 and e5 ) .
8
12. Bc8 - a6 7
13. Rdl - d2 Qd8 - e7 6
14. Rhl - dl Ra8 - d8 5 Position after
15. a2 - a3
20 B:e3
4
3
15 g3 would have been more cautious.

2
15. f5 - f4
a bed e f 9 h
8
~
•• ~S ~~~
.. ".~'iS~ ••­
7 II . t~ ~It
6 Ar.l ~. t • • 21. Qc4-d3 Be3: d2+
Rir@ rim.w.'~.ir@ . Position after
5
4 a ft. fl • 15 000 f4
22. Rdl: d2 h7 - h6

3 p~ [j
&~ f '~"i!.'~L.%
"-,,,Y/JL m
1~"Z.J~
~ "'~. White has "blockading" chances, which Black failed to

~ .~fjY~;ti~ir.fJ'f.fji
take into consideration when he made his piece sacrifice.
Had he played 22 ••• d5 here inst ead , then 23 Neg5 g6
24 Qe3 Rd6 25 Ne5 would have set up a different blockade.
a bed e f 9 h Black should still have played this line, however; for, as
the game goes, the pawn is blockaded at d7, which is
16. Nc3 - e4! f4 : e3 wor se yet. Black is soon urulble to move at all!
17. f2: e3 Ba6: c4
23. Ne4 - d6 Qe7 - f6
A n interesting combination. 24. Kcl - bl Rd8 - b8
25. Kbl - a2 Qf6 - f4
18. Be2: c4 Nc6 - a5 26. Qd3 - b5 Rf8 - d8
19. Qb3 - d3 Na5: c 4 27. Qb5 - h5 b6 - b5
20. Qd3: c4 Bc5: e3 28. Rd2 - d4 Qf4 - f6
29. Nf3 - e5
All of this looks very good: Black now has two connected
passed pawns, along with what would appear to be a very White has ach ie ved an ide a l blockading position.
solid positio n. And materially speaking, he would seem to
be f:::ir ly well off also, but ­ 29. b5 - b4
1 ( See diagram, next page ) A desperate try.

30. a3: b4 Rb8 - b6

31. g2 - g3 Rd8 - f8

Or 31 .•• Ra6+ 32 Kb3 Qfl 33 Ndf7, followed by N:h6+,

when the exposure of the Black king will be decisive.

[70] [71]
 32. Rd4 - f4 Qf6 : f4 must be rated very dy n a mic - as proves to be the case here.

If 32 ... QdS, 33 Ndf7 wins. S. 0-0

33 . g3 : f4 Rb6: d6 Here Black should ha v e played S .•• h6 at once.

34. Qh5 - f3 Rd6 - d5
35 . Qf3 - e3 a7 - a6 9. Ngl- e2! RfS - e8
36. Qe3 - a7 Black resigned 10. 0 - 0 - 0 Nf6 - e4

For after 36 ... R:f4 White plays 37 Ng6 Rf7! 3S QaS+
Kh7 39 NfS+ KgS 40 N:e6+, etc .
Spielmann p l ayed this game exce llently too, although the
blockading idea was routinely treated, and the queen ma­
neuver 26 Qb5 and 27 Qh5, while pretty , was hardly ori­
ginal. Nevertheless, one may s ense a considerab le tech­
nical advance from 1927. Note the carefulness (such as
the transfer of his king to a2 ) and overall restraint evi­
dent in White's styl e. If Spielmann continues in this vein,
he will shortly become a pa s t master of position play .
Again, 10 •• h6 is. better, although now White could reply
11 h4, with the following possible continuation: 11 ••• hg
12 hg Ne4 13 B:e4 de 14 N:e4 B:g5 15 Nd6 NfS! 16 Rh8+ K:hS
17 N:f7+ KgS IS N:dS R:dS, a nd Black appears to be quite
well off. Spielmann's most lik ely reply to 10 ••• h6 would
h ave been the quiet bishop retre at 11 Bf4.
11. Bd3: e4 d5: e4
l2. h2 - h4
8

~~
7
6
5 Position after
4 12 h4
Game 15. SPIELMANN-THOMAS
3
(Queen '$ Gambit Declined. Round 10)
2

l~ d2 - d4 e7 - e6 a bed e f 9 h
2. c2 - c4 NgS - f6
3. Nbl- c3 d7 - d5 This same position occurred in a game between Spielmann
4. Bcl- g5 NbS - d7 and m ys elf (at Kissingen 1928), the only difference being
5. e2 - e3 c7 - c6 tha t in that game - unfortunately for him! - Spielma nn h a d
6. c4: d5 e6: d5 the Black pieces.
7. Bfl- d3 Bf8 - e7
8. Qdl- c2 In that game, Spielmann c_Olntinued: 12 •.• B:g5 13 hg Q: g5
14 N:e4 Qg6 15 f3 Nf8 16 Nf4 Qf5 17 Rh5 Qd7 lS d5 cd?, a nd
White delays the development of his king's knight, thereby lost qui ckly after 19 N:d5 Qc6 20 Q:c6 bc 21 Ndf6+, winning
leaving himself the option of bringing it out to f3 or e2. From the excha nge. Instead of 18 •.. cd, Tartakover has suggested
f3, it would help to control the central s qu are e5; while from 18 ... f5, with the probable continu ation 19 dc Q:c6 20 Q:c6
e2, it might work its way to f5 (this operation would be purely be 21 Nd6 R:e 3 22 N:f5 B:f5 23 R :f5; howe ver, he still con­
diversionary). Many y e a rs' stud y of the problems of strategy siders this endgame fa v orable to White. While we agree with
have convinced us that this sort of central-diversionary plan this opinion on the whole , we would suggest, in place of the

[72] [73]
simplifying 19 dc, the following interesting variation: 19 Ng5 19. Rhl: h7+ KhB - gB
R:e3 20 dc Q:c6 21 RdB! h6! 22 Q:c6 bc 23 Ne4! fe 24 Kd2 20. d4 - d5!
Rd3+ 25 N:d3 ed 26 Re5 Bb7 27 R:aB B:aB 2B Re7 c5 29 R:a7
Bd5 30 K:d3. Here, the passed a-pawn offers White some This is stronger than 20 Rdhl KfB 21 Qa3+ Qe7! 22 RhB+
chances, but the outcome would still be in doubt. BgB 23 Rlh5 - which, however, is also an easy win.

12. f7 - f5 2 O. c6: d5
21. Nc3:d5 RaB - cB+
12 ••• B:g5 was certainly preferable to this move, which 01 22. Kcl - bl QdB - g5
weakens the diagonal b3 -f7. 23. Rdl - hI Qg5: g6
24. Rh7 - hB+ KgB - f7
13. Qc2 - b3+ 25. Qb3: b7+ Black resigned

In his book of the Kissingen tournament, Tartakover dis­

misses this attack as "superficial", suggesting instead the In this game, Spielmann demonstrated his attacking abil­
undermining operation g2-g4. However, the check appears ities to the fullest. We feel he merits the highest praise
to work out well, too. for not being afraid to play the allegedly "superficial" at­
tack 13 Qb3+, since his naturally a cute positional sense
13. KgB - hB? indicated to him the depth that lay beneath the surface.

On 13 .•• KfB, White could have played 14 g4; 14 Nf4 Nf6 In short, Spielmann was his old self in this game, in
15 Na4! is possible as well, preventing ••• Qb6 and aiming contrast to the player of the two preceding games.
for c5, e. g. : 15 ••. Nd5 16 Nc5 B:g5 17 hg N:f4 IB ef b6
19 R:h7! dc 20 dc, with a powerful attack. Still, we think
13 •.• KfB was the right move, while the text move makes
*
Black's defensive task extremely difficult.
Game 16. SPIELMANN-MAROCZY
14. Ne2 - f4 Nd7 - f6
(Queen 's Gambit Declined. Round 8)
White would have met 14 ••• NfB, not by Tartakover's
suggestion 15 d5, but powerfully and simply with 15 Qf7.
One continuation is: 15 .•• B:g5 16 hg Re7 17 Qh5 - or 1. d2 - d4 Ng8 - f6
better still, 17 Q:fB+! 2. c2 - c4 e7 - e6
3. Nbl- c3 d7 - d5
15. h4-h5 Nf6 - d5 4. Bcl- g5 NbB - d7
5. e2 - e3 Bf8 - e7
Not 15 •.• h6 16 B:h6 gh 17 Qf7, and wins. 6. Bfl- d3 0-0
7. Ngl- e2 d5: c4
16. Bg5: e7 Nd5: e7
17. Nf4 - g6+ Ne7: g6 This seems to be all right, for without the possibility of a
lB. h5: g6 Bc8 - e6 later pawn exchange on d5, the knight on e2 can no longer
fulfil! its major plan of Ne2-g3-f5.
Alas, Black must give up the h-pawn, for if 18 ••• h6,
19 R:h6+ and 20 Qf7 threatens both 21 Qh7 mate and 21 g7+. 8. Bd3: c4 c7 - c5

[74] [75]
 9. 0-0 a7 - a6 8
10. a2 - a4 c5: d4!
7

Blac k i s not afraid to bring the knight on e2 into the game 6

now - a nd quite correctly so, for he has no other reason­ 5

Position after
able pla n of de ve lopment himself. Had Black decided against 4 15000 Qc7
pl aying 10 ••• cd, he would have been depriving himself of 3

a valuable weapon: forcing his opponent to lay his cards on

2

the t a ble - in other words, to choose between 11 ed or 11 N:d4.

n. Ne2:d4 a bed e f 9 h

After 11 ed, the knight would have been missed from f3,
since playing this knight to e5 is one of the bases of White's
strategy in positions where he has an isolated queen's pawn. 16. Nc3 - d5!
After II N :d4, the position should be considered equal.
Can this really be Spielm an n ? The f a r-famed Knight of the
11. Nd7 - e5 Gambit is offering to exchange queens, in order to exploit a
12. Bc4 - e2 Ne5 - g6 ? minimal endgame advantage!

The temporary centralization of the knight to e5 should 16. Qc7: c2

be exploited for strategic advantage: s o say s the Hungarian
grandm as ter's last move. While we agree with the princi­ He should h ave gone b ac k to d 8 j after 17 N:f6+ Q:f6 18 Bf3
ple, we would dispute Black's execution here. Black should Nh4 19 Be4 e5 20 Nb3 Bf5, or 20 Nf3 N:f3+ 21 B:f3 Bf5, he
be moving his pieces to the queenside, rather th a n the king­ wou ld h ave some chances of e qu a lizi ng.
side: 12 .•. Bd7, followed by ••. Nc6, when convenient, with
fully equal play . 17. Nd5: f6 + g7 : f6
18. Nd4: c2 Ng6 - e 5
The t ext move secures Black the two bishops, but at the 19. Rdl - d6 f6 - f5
cost of de ve lopment.
This prepares the excursion •.. Ne5-d7-f6-e4, which re­
13. Qdl- c2 h7 - h6 sults only in a trade which i s unfavorable to Black. He should
14. Bg5: f6 Be7: f6 therefore ha ve used the time in s t ead to consolidate by play­
15. Rn - dl Qd8 - c7 ing 19 •.. Re8, followed by .•• Kf8.

Black would ha v e had an easier development a fter 15 •• Qe7, 20. Nc2 - d4 Rf8 - e8
for example: 16 Bf3 Ne5 17 Be4 Bd7 18 B:b7 B: a 4!, or 18 f4 21. f2 - f4 N e 5 - d7
Nc6. 15 .•. B:d4?, on the other hand, gives White pressure 22. Ral - cl Nd7 - f6
on the d-file after 16 R:d4 Qe7 17 Radl Ne5 18 Qd2 Nc6 19 Rd6. 23. Be2 - f 3 Nf6 - e4
24. Bf3: e4 f5: e4
25. a4 - a5 Kg8 - f8
26. Rcl- c 7

Dominating the dark squares!

[76] [77]
 26. Re8 - e7 48. Nd5 - e3 Bc2 - bl
27. Rd6 - d8+ Re7 - e8 49. Ne3 - dl Kc6 - d6
28. Rd8: e8+ Kf8 : e8 50. Ndl- c3 Bbl - c2
29. Nd4 - b3 Bc8-d7! 51. Kd4 - c4 Kd6 - c6

•••
30. Nb3 - c5
8 ••••
Stronger than 30 R:b7 Rc8!
7.1 8 • •

6 1 .~

3...• .
30. RaS - cS
~ • t8 1
31. Rc7: cS+
32. Nc5: e4
Bd7: cS 5
4 !t$"rlh~
.
_
"M~i - .
~m '\:t.i.
•

~ iii
t.r.
~~~~
,"",x
~~M
.mma
•
Position after
51000 Kc6
• x., • "
Winning such endgames requires technique; they are not
2 iii..l ••
•• f$i • ~~
"-_ .. "
as simple as they seem.
1 ••• •
32. Ke8 - e7 a bed e f 9 h
33. Kgl - f2 f7 - f5
34. Ne4 - c3 e6 - e5! 52. h2 - h3!
35. Kf2 - e2 e5 : f4
36. e3 : f4 Ke7 - d6 And Black is in zugzwang, after all!

The pawn exchange has given Black1s king some degree of 52. Kc6 - d6
freedom to maneuver - specifically, the square e6. Maro­ 53. b4-b5
czy hopes that this will enable him to avoid the zugzwang
which is typical of such endgames. The beginning of the end.

37. b2 - b4 BcS - d7 53. :16: b5+

3S. Ke2 - e3 Bd7 - c6 54. Nc3: b5+ Kd6 - e7
39 . g2 - g3 Bc6 - d7 55. Kc4 - c5 Bc2 - e4
40. Ke3 - d4 Bd7 - e6 56. Nb5 - d6 Black resigned
4l. Nc3 - a4
A very good game. However, it was played in the sort of
The beginning of a tiresome series of maneuvers. style that could equally well have been Schlechter1s, or Tar­
rasch1s, or even Maroczy1s - that is to say, there was
4l. h6 - h5 nothing unique or individual about it. Well, let1s wait until
42. Na4 - c5 Be6 - d5 Spielmann has found his own playin g form; he will find a
43. Nc5 - d7 Bd5 - b3 style of his own in positional play, just as he did earlier
44. Nd7-e5 Bb3 - c2 in the direct attacking game!
45. Ne5 - c4+ Kd6 - c6
46. Nc4 - e3 Be2 - bl

Not 46 ••• Be4? 47 g4 hg 48 N:g4.

47. Ne3-d5 Bbl - c2

[78] [79]
 Putting the queen here only renders the advance e3-e4
Game 17. SPIELMANN-CAPABLANCA stronger still.
(Queen's Gambit Declined, Round 20)
11. a2 - a3

1. d2 - d4 Ng8 - f6 Resolutely refusing to play an immediate 11 e4, when Black

2. c2 - c4 e7 - e6 might reply 11 ••• g5 12 Bg3 de 13 N:e4 N:e4 14 B:e4 Bb4+;
3. Nbl- c3 d7 - d5 or 13 B:d6 Q:d6 14 N:e4 N:e4 15 B:e4 Qb4+ 16 Nc3 Q:d4, with
4. Bcl- g5 Nb8 - d7 an uncert a in outcome. However, we still consider 11 a3 unnec­
5. e2 - e3 c7 - c6 essary, since White could well have castled instead.
6. c4: d5 e6: d5
7. Bfl - d3 Bf8 - d6 For example: 11 0-0-0 Be6 12 f3 0-0-0 13 e4 g5 14 Bf2 de
15 fe Bc7 (not 15 ••• Ng4 ? 16 Bgl), and now 16 d5 brings
Capablanca is deliberately playing the opening so as to al­

.
us to the diagrammed position:
low Spielmann an attack, in the belief that his opponent has
been not only exhausted by the long t ournament, but also _ . ~~ ~M ~=

I i'~ mt~~L)~~' t·""/••

8 D ~ ~. '~ ~_I
disheartened by his loss in the previous round. For these f :
7~. ~ JiJ~
,....,;;', ~

...:afr.:fr. _

reasons, then, he does not fear an atta ck. But Capablanca ......... ,..
""
is mistaken, as we shall soon see; and thi s psychological 6 _
~ t D:.lj
~ ~ M ~~i
K.~
error was to cost him a share of first prize. sl8 £.1 Position after

.§
4 16 d5 (analys is)
8. Ngl-e2 Nd7 - f 8
31_ft ~
~ A8
1.'..,,3, -M,. " '~ ~~
" ft ~"JI
..
It is possible to maneuver behind one's lines without run­
ning any special risk; one may even h a lt the development of
2
18 ~§ _
g . . "Ll

one's pieces altogether, without doing oneself a ny particular a bed e f 9 h

damage - but only in a closed position. Here the position
merely seems closed, when in fact White can open the game
at any moment with e3-e4. For this reason, Black's strat­
egy must be considered fund ament a lly unsound.
9. Qdl- c2 h7 - h6
We believe that 9 ••• Be6 would h ave been comparatively
best, e. g. : 10 0-0-0 Qa5 11 B:f6 gf 12 e4 de 13 N:e4 Be7,
or 10 ••• Be 7 11 f3! Qa5! 12 B:f6 B:f6 13 e4? de , followed
After 16 ••• cd 17 Nb5 (thre atening Bf2-c5-d6) a6,
White may choose between winning the exchange with
18 Bc5 Qd7 19 N:c7 Q:c7 20 Be7, or the fiery attacking
continuation 18 Na7+ Kb8 19 Nd4 Qd7 20 Ndc6+! (the
simple 20 Nac6+ Ka8 ! 21 N:d 8 is also quite sufficient)
20 ••• Ka8! 21 B:a6! In this line , there are three varia­
tions:
I. 21 ••• ba 22 Qa4 Rb8! 23 Q:a6 Bf4+ 24 Kbl Qb7

by 14 .•• B:a2. In short, Black should have t aken prophy­ 25 N:b8 B:b8 26 Qa5 B:a7 27 B:a7 Q:a7 28 Qd8+ and

l actic measures against the threatened e3-e4. How ever , 29 Q:f6, and White wins;

since Capablanca is known to be a spec i a list precisely in

the field of prophylaxis, we ought rightly to rew ord that last 11. 21 ••• bc 22 Qa4 N:e4 23 Bc 8 R: c8 24 N:c6+ B a 5

statement to read: 11 Here Capablanca might still have saved 25 Q:a5+ Kb7 26 Qa7+ K:c6 27 Qb6 mate;

the game, had he played like Capablanca! "

Ill. 21 ••• N:e4 22 Qa4 N:f2 23 Bb5, and mates.
10. Bg5 - h4 Qd8-e7?

[80] [81]
 So 11 0-0-0, with f2-f3 and e3-e4 to follow, would le ad to sary; if then 17 d5 Kb8 18 dc Rc8. However, White would
complications quite favorable to White. If in fact Spielmann maintain a definite positional superiority with 17 0-0-0,
did select the overly cautious 11 a3 instead, then we may followed by 18 Nc3.
justify his choice by pointing out that: 1) he was unfamiliar
with the continuation f2-f3 and e3-e4, which had only been 17. 0-8-0 Bd7 - e6
played once before in this variation, in my game with Ro­ 18. Ne2 - c3
mih at London 1927, and 2) from a psychological standpoint,
it seemed very important to Spielmann never again to allow With the threat of 19 d5 cd 20 Nb5 and 21 Nc7+.
himself to attack in the carefree manner of his youth! You
may recall Tarrasch trying to convince the chess world that 18. Qd6 - c7
Lasker won by means of hypnosis. That was antediluvian
superstition! I can assure you that any sort of hypnosis is
useless against a strong opponent. Self-hypnosis is quite
another matter, however i that can accomplish a great deal!
But let us return to our game.
7
6
B

5 •••
•
l'/~.U£
~.~
•
iD=-
• ?
~ . ~
,

~~.&. ,~ ~ .&. ~
a t•
. ~S

.t.
'. H....;

~1.Iil• •
~t
fl
Position after

1.
11. Bc8 - d7 4 • 18 000 Qc7
3
K~~rd
L.! .P.:'~
• ~~
Again, a move difficult to understand: why not ..• Be6? ;~Y0'l£t-. ff4'f
If then 12 e4, Black could play 12 ••• de 13 N:e4 g5 14 Bg3
2 ~ ~ .•
',MS • ~~
is ... , ft ••-BWi@.

B:g3 15 hg Nd5 and 16 ••• 0-0-0. In this game, Capablanca ~§. B§

makes a whole series of "anti-consolidating" moves - some­ a bed e f 9 h
thing very unusual for him.
19. Nc3 - b5!
12. e3 -e4 g7 - g5
13. Bh4 - g3 d5: e4 19Qa4 Nd7 20 d5 Nb6 21 Qa5? fails against 21 ••. cd
14. Nc3: e4 Nf6:e4? (but not 21' .•• N:d5 22 R:d5) •

This was Black's last chance to think about conSOlidation; 19. Qc7 - d7
toying with Spielmann this long is very dangerous! He should 20. d4 - d5! c6: b5
have played 14 ••• B:g3 15 hg Nd5 here (this is why the bi­ 21. d5: e6 Qd7 - c8
shop should have gone to e6, by the way: to fortify d5) • 22. e6 : f7+ Ke8 : f7
23. Rdl- d6 Qc7: c2+
15. Bd3: e4 Bd6: g3 24. Kc1 : c2
16. h2 : g3
As a result of White's successful breakthrough, the dis­
Black's position is not coherent: chiefly , he lacks block­ harmony already present in Black's position stands out
aders for the d-pawn (a knight on b6, or a bishop on e6, still more clearly . His rooks are disconnected, his pawns
would have been good, for then he could have played .• Nd5 at b7 and h6 loose; but his chief problem is that White i s
or •. Bd5) . preparing to centralize all his forces (that is, to occupy
the center of the board) •
16. Qe7-d6?
24. Ra8 - e8!
This comp letely spoils his game . 16 .•• 0-0-0 was neces­

[82] [83]
 The best chance. 37. Nf8 - e6

25. Be4: b7 Had the endgame been properly played (31 Ke4! instead
of the weaker 31 Ra8), this knight could never have freed
We should prefer 25 f3, after which Black would have no itself.
moves. From e4, the centrist bishop keeps the knight safe­
ly stabled on f8. But it appears that Spielmann has grown 38. Bc6 - a4 Ne6 - f4
tired of positional chess. Now mindful of his younger days, 39. Ra7 - e7+ Ke5 - d6
he undertakes a berserker assault on the enemy king, giv­ 40. Re7 - d7+ Kd6 - e5
ing no thought whatever to the fate of his pawns. 41. Ba4 - c6 Rh3 - h6
42. b4 - b5 Rh6 - d6
25. Re8 - e2+ 43. Rd7 - e7+ Rd6 -e6
26. Kc2 - d3 Re2 : f2 44. Re7 - c7 Ke5 - d6
27. Rhl-el 45. Rc7 - c8 Re6 - e2+
46. Kc2 - c3 Re2 - e3+
Threatening 28 Bd5+ Kg7 29 Re7 mate. 47. Kc3 - c4 Re3 - e2
48. Rc8 - d8+'! Kd6 - c7
27. Rf2 - f6! 49. Rd8-d7+ Kc7 - c8
28. Bb7 - d5+ Kf7 - g6 50. Kc4 - c5 Re2: b2
29. Rd6: f6+ Kg6 : f6 51. Kc5 - b6
30. ReI - e8 h6 - h5
White plays for mate.
Or 30 .•• Ng6 31 Re6+ Kg7 (Kf5? 32 g4+) 32 Ra6 •
51. Rb2 - e2
31. Re8 ·-a8 52. Rd7 - c7+ Kc8 - d8
53. Rc7 - d7+ Kd8 - c8
Weak play again: Spielmann has forgotten his newly­ 54. Rd7 - d4! Nf4- e6
acquired wisdom. The centralizing 31 Ke4 suggests it­ 55. Bc6 - b7+ Kc8 - b8
self, for example: 31 ••• Ng6 32 Re6+ Kg7 33 Kf5 and 56. Rd4 - c4 Black resigned
wins; or 31 ••• h4 32 g4 Kg7 33 Kf5 Kh6 34 Bf7 Kg7
35 Bh5 Kh6 36 Ra8 Ng6 37 R:h8+ N:h8 38 b4 and wins. A far from perfect game, but a very interesting one none­
theless - and one characteristic of both Capablanca and
31. h5 - h4 Spielmann. Capablanca displayed a rather strange concep­
32. g3: h4 g5: h4 tion of the neo-Romantic style: apparently, he does not
33. Ra8: a7 Kf6 - e5 think there is much of a place in it for consolidation, since
34. Bd5 - c6 h4 - h3! he missed a number of opportunities to consolidate. On the
35. g2: h3 Rh8: h3+ other hand, Spielmann at first showed a desire to consoli­
36. Kd3 - c2 b5 - b4 date (11 a3 ); but then, when matters reached the endgame.
37. a3: b4 he suddenly forgot that he could and should employ centra­
lization, which is one of the chief pillars of consolidation
Now the win is no longer simple. White cannot allow the play. As a result, he was only able to win the game with
Black king to establish itself on a dark square (for exam­ difficulty, although he did at times display both style and
ple. with White's pawn on b5, Black's king could hold the brilliance.
draw from c5 ) •
*

[84] [85]
 To sum up: both Capablanca and Spielmann have altered
their styles of play in recent years. Capablanca has ap pa­
Chapter IV
rently become interested in neo-Romanticism, while
Spielmann has discovered a talent for positional play . How­
ever, both still show signs of uncertainty in this unfamiliar
AKIBA K. RUBINSTEIN

style. It is very difficult to predict just how their styles Astonishingly deep concepts from
may develop from this point.
the simplest-looking moves.

To us, at least, Rubinstein's style of play appears to be

absolutely inimitable. He is accomplished in more than
just endgame technique. Endgame technique is no longer a
monopoly of anyone; Alekhine, La"sker, Capablanca, and
others as well, can create perfect endgames. And indeed,
one would hardly think that the style of a great master could
only become apparent in the end~ame!
::::;:: ~:~
Tarrasch circulated the legend that Lasker had a simple
plan of play: trade off all the heavy pieces and go into an
endgame. Only Tarrasch, who was himself none too famil­
iar with the process of chess creatiyity, could possibly have
conceived of such a notion. In the true master, the process
of creativity unfolds as follows: into the opening phase of
the game, he places all his ideas, all his understanding,
and all his fantasy, his hopes and aspirations. Here, and
in the middlegame as well, he carries out his plans, there­
by producing a weakness in the enemy position. This weak­
ness stands out most clearly in the endgame, which then
becomes the game's "technical" stage.

We consider Rubinstein's colossal "depth of plan'! to be one

of his major characteristics, serving him as a logical bridge
leading from the opening into the endgame. We shall cl<lTify
this idea by means of a schematic example. Let us suppose
that Rubinstein has just played a very modest opening, with­
out any overt ambition, and in the ensuing middle game, he
stands no better than his opponent. After a series of lengthy,
uninteresting, and totally unexciting maneuvers, an ending
is reached, which also a.ppears to offer Rubinstein no win­
ning chances. The ending is so dull and featureless, in fact,
that the spectators are beginning to ask themselves why the
game was not called a draw long ago. But then, suddenly,
Rubinstein wins; and in retrospect, all of our judgments con­
cerning both the middle game and the opening now appear to
have been superficial and inaccurate: opening and middle ­
game alike were in Rubinstein's favor. Profundity, indeed!

[86] [87]
 Another of Rubinstein's characteristic features is his dis­ On 7 •.. d5, 8 b3 - compare the note to Black's third
like for melodramatics. Empty rhetoric and pretentious move.
moves alike shock him to the core! All his moves aresuf­
fused with a natural elegance, bordering on severity. He 8 Qe2 Be7 9 c3
abhors cliches. In 1912, while reading the annotations to a
certain game, he chanced upon the expression, "This Since Samisch has definitely decided not to play ••• d7-d5,
move highlights the hopelessness of Black's position. " in favor of a neo-Romantic deployment, Rubinstein changes
"A cliche! " cried Rubinstein, and would read no further. his plan; by threatening to play e3-e4, he now induces
It was necessary for me - being the unfortunate author Black to play ••. d7 -d5 after all.
of the note that had so infuriated him - to go to great
lengths in order to convince Rubinstein that my note had, 9 ••• d5
in fact, only reflected the actual state of affairs, and thus
was not a cliche. Only then was Rubinstein persuaded to But now this continuation looks very good for Black: he
continue reading. controls e5, whereas White has yet to play b2-b3 and Bcl­
b2 to contest this important square.
A neo-Romantic ( such as your author, for example) finds
it difficult to accept that one may clothe the deepest - laid
81r~
•• a~. fS
·"· . ;i~%.
plans in the form of Rubinstein's humble moves. But it is
~~ t f-At

. ..,
.
~ tw
7 r.d.ELJ=J~
possible! His moves are always normal; one might term i1i
,,,.,,'i1i.~ ?\···%m

lammt 41E.t "~_a

""" r. 0

them "everyday" moves. One could imagine such moves 6

being played by a man devoid of poetry and ideals, weary 5 Position after
of the daily routine of life - some Philistine - but never ::~
4
:[~~ 9.,o 'd5
by a first-rate master! Close study, however, will show
that these simple, "everyday" moves are in fact uncommon­ 'I"",," 'Nm~
r~
3 ~~
m
r.:; ,,~
~~
Z'~~
~ . ~
~
~'" •
tL~~ ~
~•
,," . / ,
~ 4>- Z:~

~§ 'W%~~' v-I"R~'''''"
ly deep. 2 ~ ~ _ ~~~~~
.
~
...... v- ~ e::,~
We should like to illustrate by presenting one of Rubin­ a bed e f 9 h
stein's less successful games - a game which nevertheless
displays all the amazing depth of his concepts, a depth 10 b4
which still goes hand in hand with a touching modesty and
lack of pretense in the moves themselves. Prevents the e-pawn's advance, because of 11 b4-b5.

10 ••• 0-0 11 b5!

Rubinstein - Samisch
Taking over the e5 square - at the price, of course, of
weakening White's entire queenside!
1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 e3 c5
11 ••• Na5 12 Bb2! c4! 13 Bc2 Bd6 14 a4
Rubinstein would probably have replied to 3 ••• d5 with

4 b3, proceeding thereafter to obtain the better game by

So it turns out that Rubinstein is not interested in the
means known only to himself.
sort of counterchances he would obtain a fter e3-e4.

4 Nbd2 Nc6 5 a3 b6 6 Bd3 Bb7 7 0-0 Qc7 14 ••. a6

[88] [89]
 Beginning a punitive expedition: now the b-pawn. so cava­
lierly advanced. will come under fire. Rubinstein foresaw
all this. however. and now defends the b-pawn.
15 Ba3!
Clearing the b-file in order to protect the pawn. and also
preparing the occupation of the center (the square e5) by
exchanging bishops.
15 ••• B:a3 16 R:a3 ab 17 ab g6 18 Ne5 Kg7 19 Rbl Nd7
20 f4 f6 21 N:d7
Very simple. White is happy to exchange his knight for
the knight on d 7. which forms an important link in Bla ck' s
defense.
sacrifice the b-pawn. in order to get my rooks over to the
firing line on the kingside. " We do not know exactly how he
reasoned it out; but in any event. we think White's plan
was extraordinarily deep.
24 ... e5!
An interesting combination. sacrificing the exchange.
25 fe Q:g4+ 26 Qg2 Q:g2+ 27 K:g2 fe 28 N:e5 R:e5 29 de
d4+ 30 Kgl d3 31 Bdl Re8 32 Bg4 R:e5 33 Kf2 h5 34 Bh3
g5 35 Bd7 Re7 36 Bc6 Rf7+ 37 Kel g4 38 Rb4 N:c6 39 bc
B:c6 40 R:b6 Bf3 41 Ra5 Bg2 42 · e4! Rfl+ 43 Kd2 Rf2+
44 Ke3 Rf3+ 45 Kd2 Rf2+ Draw
,~

21 ••• Q:d7 22 Nf3 Rae8 23 Ra2 Re7 24 g4

Carelessness: White misses Black's combination. He Our next game was one of the finest achievements of the
should first have played h2-h3. and only then g2-g4. Rubin­ tournament.
stein's plan was as follows: g2-g4-g5 forces Black to play
••• f6-f5; then White continues Nf3-e5 and h3-h4-h5. after
which the b-pawn is thrown to the wolves. while White's Game 18. RUBINSTEIN-TREYBAL
rooks move quietly to the h-file. with a decisive attack on
Black's king: a deep plan. indeed! After forcing the knight (Ruy Lopez. Round 1)
on c6 away from the center. Rubinstein slowly but surely
achieved a superiority there. while the poor b-pawn sur­ 1. e2 - e4 e7 - e5
vived thanks to the efforts of White's rooks. As the strug­ 2. Ngl - f3 Nb8 - c6
gle progressed. White's central attack developed slowly. 3. Bfl- b5 a7 - a6
dislodging the knight on f6; the g-pawn would then have 4. Bb5 - a4 d7 - d6
rolled forward. forcing f6-f5. and leaving the square e5 5. 0-0 Bc8 - d7
once again in White's hands. Only then would the rooks 6. c2 - c3 Ng8 - e7
have abandoned the b-pawn and (after h2-h4-h5 ) occupied
the h-file. in order to participate in the attack on Black's Steinitz' Defense.
king.
7. d2 - d4 Ne7 - g6
Perhaps. when he played 11 b5 Rubinstein had not fore­ 8. Nbl- d2 Bf8 - e7
seen everyone of these details. Perhaps he reasoned. less 9. Rfl - el 0-0
concretely. "from the center to the wings" as follows: " I 10. Nd2- fl Bd7 - g4
shall have to defend the b-pawn with my rooks for a while;
I have the upper hand in the center. so I can do without my
rooks for the time being. Later. when my central attack
grows in intensity and spreads to the king's wing. I shall

[90] [91]
 Consenting to bishops of opposite color.
8
7
18. Qe8: e7
6
19. Bcl- e3 c5 - c4
5
Position after
4 11 , " Bg4 Black would find little to be happy about in the rather arti­
3
ficial continuation 19 •.• Rfb8 20 Qa3 Rb5. for 8xample :
21 b3 a5 22 c4 Rb4 23 Qb2 f6 ( ••• B:c4? 24 Qc3) 24 f3 Rb6
2
25 Qf2 Rc6. Still. we believe this would have been the logi­
cal course for Black, since the b-file. with the addition of
a bed e f 9 h his c- and a-pawns, would have retained the characteristics
of a sort of tank (with the tendency to roll onward by ••• a5­
a4). The text leads to the exchange of White's b-pawn for
11. Ba4:c6! Black's e-pawn, which favors White.

This transforms the game into an ending, a transformation 20. Qa4-a5

made possible by Black's 10 ... Bg4. Was Black's last move
a lucky accident, then? No, because it was White's opening Threatening 21 Bc5 .
deployment that brought about this reaction. Once Black had
developed his knight to g6. rather than f6, he found himself 20. Rf8 - b8
deprived of any opportunity to take a counter-initiative in the 21. Qa5: e5 f7 - f6
center - by means of ..• e5:d4, for instance. Thus, he had

8
7.t.•
22. Qe5 - g3 Rb8: b2
to undertake something else. since perpetual passive defense 23. h2-h3 Ra8 - d8
alone cannot possibly lead to a good result.
~ .~.I
Nevertheless, we should have preferred the quiet devel­ jV~ ~ ~~1
"~~ 1
~,.8 v, ~
r.~~
-.
~ .. ... ~ ....;.
opment by 10 ... Bf6, although White would still keep the
advantage then by 11 Ne3 • 6 a .iJI •
5 • • • • Position after
B t . !cg
ft'"a •

..
11. b7: c6 4 23 '" Rd8
12. Nfl- e3 Bg4 - e6 3 ~.
~
~ y.~
~ ~"1<
.~
, "" " i....".. .~.
.' ,."
,.,- , ft
13. Qdl - a4 Qd8 - d7
2ft. a ~ft .
,~§"' '.! .'''~:~
'.'':' ~
14. d4: e5 Ng6: e5
15. Nf3 : e5 d6 : e5
16. ReI - dl Qd7 - e8 a bed e f 9 h
17. Ne3 - f5
Offering further simplification - a nd why not? Rubinstein
The point to White's whole maneuver is that Black's reply is agreeable! Insofar as such qualities may be discussed in
is now forced, since 17 .•• B:f5? 18 ef would leave him relation to serious play. we should like to point out here
without any compensation for his bad pawn structure on the that even over the board one may discern this characteris­
queenside. tic tr ait of R ubinstein' s : his unusual mee kne ss and complai­
sance (which of course does not prevent him from finding
17. c6 - c5 the very finest of plans) •
18. Nf5 : e7+!

[92] [93]
 24. Rdl: dS+! Qe7: dS 36 Be5 g6, when Black could still have put up a s tiff resis­
25. Be3 - h6 QdS - e7 t ance .

Avoiding a weakness (25 ••• g6) ; 25 ••• Qd7 would not 34. Kgl - f2 KgS - f7
have held the d -file , since White could then h ave played 35 . Kf2 - e3 Kf7 - e6
26 Kh2 , followed by 27 Rdl. 3 6. B d6 - fS Ke6 - f7
3 7. BfS - d6 Kf7 - e6
26. R a l - dl Rb2 - bS 3S . Bd6 - f4 Bd7 - eS
27. Bh6 - f4 RbS - dS 39 . Ke3 - d4 BeS - b5
40. Kd4 - c5 Ke6 - d7
Seeking further s implifi cation, B l ack overlooks White's
30th move . He shoul d have defended the pawn in ste ad by White may exchange his a-paw n for the Black c -paw n any
27 ••• RcS. time he wishes , but th at wou ld not y et be suffici e nt. First,
making use of zugzwang, he advances his e -p awn to e6; only
2S Rdl : dS+ Qe7: dS then will it be time for the exchange of pawns .
29 . Bg3: c7 QdS - d3
30 . Qg3 - d6! Qd3: dB 41. e4 - e5 Kd7 - e6
42. g2 - g4 g7 - g6
If 30 ••• Kf7 , then 31 Q:a6 Q:c3 32 Qb7 Q a l+ 33 Kh2 Q:a2 43. a2 - a3 h7 - h5
34 f4 puts Black in serious t roubl e . 44. g4: h5 g6 : h5
45. h3 - h4 Ke6 - f5
31. Bc7: d6 46 . Bf4 - g3 Kf5 - e6
47 . B g3 - h2! Ke6 -e7
8 ... II~.
7 .... ~~ 1 The blockade of t he e-p awn turns out to be an illusion;
lR •
5"_.1
the zu gz wa ng has done it s work .
~ ~
~..;..~ Am
j;L ~ ~
11.f•
.
t ••_f•t

6
Position aft er 4S . Kc5 - d5 Ke7 - d7
4 31 B:d6 49. e5 - e6+
~ ~
3 .~ ~~ ~
2 1 .~ .~ ~:tfVt. See the note to White's 40th move.
1 .... ~ 49 . Kd7 - e7 57 . a3 - a4 Bb5 - c6
a bed e f 9 h 50. Kd5 - e5 Ke7 - fS 5S . Kb4: c4 Bc6: a4
51. Bh2 - f4 KfS - g7 59 . Kc4 - c5 Ke6 - d7
The ga me l ooks dead d rawn, a ll the same. 52. Bf4 - g5 Kg7 - g6 60. c3 - c4 Kd7 - c7
53. Ke5 - d5 Kg6 - f5 61. Kc5 - d5 Kc7 - d7
31. f6 - f5 54. e6 - e7 Kf5 - g6 62. Kd5 - e5 Ba4 - dl
32 . f2 - f3 f5 : e4 55 . Kd5 - c5 Kg6 - f7 63. Ke5 - f6 Kd7 - eS
33 . f3: e4 Be6 - d7 56 . Kc5 - b4 Kf7 - e6 64. c4 - c5 Bl ac k re s igned

Thi s protects the a - a nd c -pawns against the thr eat ene d

After 64 ••. a5 , White pl ays 65 Bd2 a4 66 Eb4, and one of
invasion by the White king via d4 to b6. Still, we woul d
his pawns must queen.
have played instead 33 ••• Kf7 34 Kf2 KeS 35 Ke3 Kd7
,~

[94] [95]
 Praxis should know that in such cases the centralizer has
Game 19. RUBINSTEIN-GRUNFELD nothing to worry about.
(New Indian Oefense, Round 5)
12. c2 - c3 e6 - e5

IM d2 -d4 Ng8 - f6 Again, weakly played; 12 ••• Nc5 13 Bc2 a5! was the cor­
2. Ngl - f3 e7 - e6 rect continuation.
3. e2 - e3 b7 - b6
13. Nd2 - c4 Be7 - f6
See the notes to the game Rubinstein - Samisch, pp. 88 - 91. 14. f4 - f5 Nd7 - c5
15. Bd3 - c2 Bb7 - a6
4. Nbl- d2 Bc8 - b7 16. Bcl- e3 0-0
5. Bfl- d3 c7 - c5 17. Be3: c5 b6: c5
6. 0-0 Bf8 - e7 18. Bc2 - d3 Ba6: c4
7. e3 - e4 c5: d4
8. Nf3 : d4 Nb8 - c6 And this is certainly an example of premature simplifica­
tion. After 18 ••• Rad8 19 h3! (threatening 20 N:e5) Rfe8!
"Paulsenization" of the position by 8 ••• d6 would certain­ 20 Radl h6, the attempt to unpin the knight by 21 N:e5 Q:e5
ly have favored White after 9 c4! Nbd7 10 b3. 22 B:a6 R:dl 23 R:dl Q:e4 24 Q:e4 R:e4 25 a3 would allow
Black to develop a counter-initiative by 25 ••• Bh4 26 g4 h5.
9. Nd4: c6!
19. Bd3: c4 Rf8 - d8
Typical Rubinstein non-resistance. One who preferred 20. Ral - dl Rd8 : dl
complexity would doubtless have played 9 N2f3 instead. 21. Rfl : dl Ra8 - d8
22. Rdl: d8+ Qc7 : d8
9. d7 : c6?
Rubinstein plays the following endgame with amazing accu­
The typical reaction of a pseudo - neo-Romantic - which racy.
Grunfeld most certainly is: he may pose as a neo-Roman­
tic, but he will always back away at the first opportunity. 23. Kgl - fl g7 - g6
He could have proceeded bravely with 9 ••• B:c6, since 24. f5 : g6 h7: g6
10 e5 (recommended by Kmoch) 10 ••• Nd5 11 Ne4 f5! 25. g2 - g3 Kg8 - g7
12 Ng3 b5, which leaves Black with a centralized knight, 26. h2 -b4 Qd8 - d7
must be in his favor. 27. Kfl - g2 Qd7 -d6
28. Bc4 - b3 Qd6 - d7
10. Qdl- e2 Qd8 - c7 29. Qe2 - c4
11 • f2 - f4 Nf6 - d7
Considering the relatively safe situation of his king, White
If you're afraid of the wolves, stay out of the woods! is correct in beginning a direct attack upon the enemy pawns.

Black should have castled here, meeting 12 e5 with 29. Qd7 - d2+
12 ••• Nd5 13 c4 Nb4 14 Bbl a5! 15 a3 Na6, and from
there to c5. What is so terrible about 11 ••• 0-0 12 e5 29 .•• Qe7 would have consigned Black to utter passivity,

Nd5? This is simply a ~ase of "Centralization vs. while White improved his position with 30 Kfl, 31 Ke2 and

The Flank Attack"; and anyone who has read Chess

[96] [97]
32 Ba4; still, this was his proper course, since White's
initiative would have been rather limited in scope.
7.a t.
8
~
... . .
~
~ ~
• ~
r.&.4'

oot .
30.
31.
Kg2 -
Qc4:
f3
c5!
Kg7 -
Qd2:
h6
b2
5" .. . ..
6

:fra ~i
Position after

ft . .. .
32. Qc5 - e3+! Kh6 - g7
4 ... 40 Kh3
33. Qe3: a7 Qb2; c3+
34. Kf3 - g4 3 Bit. .YJ¥£~~
2 ~
The simplification begun with 31 Q:c5 has borne fruit; 1 ..... .
White wins the f-pawn.
a bed e f 9 h
Rubinstein I S games with Grurifeld almost invariably take
the following course; by means of overhasty simplification, 40. Qd2 - d8
Grunfeld gets himself into difficulties, after which Rubin­ 41. Qf3 - c3 Qd8 - d6
stein wins the game by means of extremely judicious sim­ 42. g3 - g4 Bf6 - d8
plifications. The dynamism inherent in Rubinstein's simpli­ 43. g4 - g5 Bd8 - b6
fications becomes especially clear when these are compared 44. Qc3 - f3 Qd6 - f8
with the less fortunate simplifications of his opponent (as,
for example, Grunfeld's 18 ••• B:c4, compared to Rubin­ On 44 ••• Qe 7, White decide s by means of 45 h5 Q: g5
stein's 31Q;c5). 46 Qf7+ Kh6 47 Qf8+ K:h5 48 Bdl+ •

34. Qc3 - d3 45. Qf3 ; f8+ Kg7 : f8

35. Qa7 : f7+ Kg7 - h6 46. Kh3 - g4 Bb6 - e3
36. Qf7 - c4 47. Bb3 - a4 ! c6 - c5
48. Ba4 - b3 Be3 - d2
36 Q:f6? would allow a perpetual check at e4 and hI. 49. Bb3 - c4

36. Qd3 - d2 Black's c- and e-pawns now hamper his bishop.

The endgame after 36 ••• Q:c4 would be won for White. 49. Kf8 - g7
50. a2-a4 Kg7 - f8
37. Qc4 - fl Kh6 - g7 51. Kg4 - f3! Kf8 - e7
38. Qfl - dl Qd2 - g2
39. Qdl - f3 Qg2 - d2 On 51 ••• Bel 52 Ke2 B:h4? 53 a5, the pawn queens.
40. Kg4 - h3
52. Kf3 - e2 Bd2 - a5
Now White, by advancing his g -p awn, creates new 53. Ke2 - dl Ba5 - b4
threats on the f-file, which eventually force a trade of 54. Bc4 - e2 Ke7 - d6
queens. 55. h4 -h5 g6 : h5
56. Be2: h5 Kd6-e7
57. Kdl- c2 c5 - c4
58. Bb5 - e2 c4 - c3
59. Kc2 - b3 Ke7 - f7

[98] [99]
 60. Be2 - d3 Bb4 - a5 In order to meet 6 ••• c5 with 7 dc and 8 b4.
61. Kb3 - c4

Now the win is finally clear: the a-pawn will cost Black
6. a7 - a6
his bishop. If Black feared the continuation in the previous note. he
might have played 6 ••• Ne4 without doing himself any ser­
61. KfT- g6 ious harm: if 7 N:e4 de 8 Nd2 f5 9 f3. then he cou ld even
62. Kc4 - b5! Ba5 - d8 try 9 ••• e5 10 de Nc6 11 f4 g5 12 Nb3 Q:dl+ 13 K:dl gf
63. a4 - a5 Bd8: g5 14 ef a5 ! - and in our opinion. Black has sufficient compen ­
64. a5 - a6 Bg5 - e3 sation for the sacrificed pawn. He could a lso meet 9 f3 by
65. Kb5 - c6 Kg6 - g5 9 ••• c5 .
66. Kc6 - b7 Kg5 - f4
67. Bd3 - bl! After 6 ••• Ne4. White could also continue 7 Bd3 or
7 Qc2. In the former instance. Black wou l d play 7 ••• N:c3
Not 67 a7. because of 67 ••• B: a7 68 K:a7 Ke3 69 Bbl Kd2 8 bc b6. followed by 9 ••• Ba6; while in the latter case. he
70 Kb6 Kcl 71 Bd3 Kd2. and draws.
cou ld play 7 ••• f5 with a fa v orable form of the Stonewall.
67. Be 3 - d4 7. b2 - b4 b7 - b6
68. a6-a7 Bd4: a7
69. Kb7: a7 Kf4 - e3 Now Black could hardly play 7 ••• Ne4. since after 8 N:e4
70. Ka7-b6 Black resigned de 9 Nd2 f5 10 f3. the continuation 10 ..• e5 woul d not give
Black the chances described in the previous note. since he
For if 70 •.• Kd2. then 71 Kc5 Kcl 72 Kc4. etc.
wou ld be a tempo behind. Howe ver. he coul d prepare the
occupation of e4 with 7 ••• a5! . for example: 8 b5 Ne4
9 N:e4 de 10 Nd2 f5 11 f3 e5! 12 de Nd7 13 f4 Nc5 14 Be2 g5.
* with a strong attack .

Game 20. RUBINSTEIN·SPIELMANN What is it most masters lack? Intuition in the opening!

(Queen's Gambit Declined. Round 11) 8. Bcl- b2 c7 - c5

Now Black might very well have played 8 ••• Ne4 9 cd

1. d2 - d4 e7 - e6
N:c3 10 B:c3 Q:d5 11 Bd3 Bb7. with ••• Qh5 in the offing.
2. c2 - c4 Ng8 - f6
3. Nbl- c3 d7 - d5
9. d4: c5 b6: c5
4. Ngl - f3 Bf8 - e7
10. b4: c5 Be7: c5
5. e2 - e3 0-0
11. c4: d5 e6: d5
Castling will not run away here. Black should instead have
This isolated pawn is weak; nor is it made any stronger
considered a possible early center action. such as 5 .•• Nbd 7
by the abse nce of the b-pawns. Observe the ease with which
6 a3 c5 7 dc N:c5 8 b4 Nce4. or 7 cd ed 8 dc N:c5. followed
Rubinstein prevents the opposing knight from occupying c4 .
by by ••• Nce4. The simple 5 ••• c5 was also good .
12. Bfl - e2 Bc8 - e6
6. a2 - a3
13. 0- 0 Nb8 - d7

[100] [101]
 Preparing ..• Nd7 - b6 - c4 . On 13 ... Nc6, White could 24 . Rf6 - g6
have p l ayed 14 Na4 Be7 15 Nd4 . 25 . Bg4 - h3 Rg6 - h6
26 . Bh3-g4 Rh6 - g6
14. N£3 - d4 Nd7 - b6 27. Bg4 - h3 Rg6 - h6
15. Nc3 - a4! 28 . Kgl - g2 Rh6 - f6
29. Bh3 - g4 Rf6 - g6
See the end of the note to Black's 11th move. 30 . Bg4 - h3 Rg6 - £6
31. Bh3 - g4 Rf6 - g6
15. Nb6 : a4 32. h2 - h3
16. Qdl: d4 Qd8 - d6
Thus ends Black's attack!
This prepares ••. Rfb8, working on the "exposed" bishop
at b2 (Black is trying to extraCt some gain from the absence 32 . Rg6 - f6
of the b-pawns ) • 33 . Rn - f3 g7 - g5?

!l Nerves! Black had no choice but to play a waiting game.

7

34. f4: g5 Rf6 : f3

6
35. Bg4: f3 Qd6 - e7
5
Position after 36 . h3-h4 Qe7 - f7
4 16 000 Qd6 37 . Rcl- c3 Nb8 - d7
3

After a l ong confinement, the knight has at last regained

its freedom .

a bed e f 9 h 38 . Qa4 - c6 Rf8 - b8

39 . Rc3 - c2 Rb8 - f8
17. Nd4: e6! 40 . Rb2 - f2 a6 - a5
41. Rf2 - fl Kg8 - g7
Simple and precise! The isolated pawn now becomes an 42. Qc6 - d6
"isolated pawn couple", and after White's intended maneu­
ver Bb2 - d4 B:d4; e3 : d4, Black will have not less than A pawn down, Black now finds himself staleTI1ated as well _.
three weaknesses: the a -p awn, the c-file, and the e-pawn. Thus, one might expect his immediate resignation; instead>o
a sudden turn of events very nearly undoes the Honorable
17. f7 : e6 Akiba Rubinstein.
18. Be2 - f3 Nf6 - d7
19. Ral - cl Rf8 - £7 42 . e6 - e5?
20 . Bb2 - d4 Bc5 : d4
21. e3: d4 Ra8 - f8 This is equivalent to resignation; Black's song would be
22. Bf3 - g4 Nd7 - b8 sung after the natural reply 43 de. Instead, Rubinstein,
23 . g2 - g3 Rf7 - f6 evidently overlooking something, plays for a trap - which
24. f2 - f4 results in his having to work out the win all over again.

This fixes the pawn on e6 . 43 . Bf3 - e2? Qf7 - e8

[102] [103]
 44. Be2 - b5 Rf8 : fl
45. Bb5: d7
The hy pnosis must still ha v e been working; otherwise,
Rubinstein surely would not have feared the endgame
after 45 K:fl Qf8+ 46 Q :f8+ N :f8 47 de, since 47 ••• Kf7
can be met by 48 Bd3 Ke6 49 h5 K:e5 50 h6 and 51 B:h7 .
52 ••• Qe2+ 53 Kgl Qd3 54 Kf2! Kd7 55 Qe3 Qc2+ 56 Kf3
a4 57 Kf4 Qbl 58 h5 Qb8+ 59 Kg4 Qb3 60 Qf3 Qc4 61 Qf5+
Kd8 62 Qe5 Qb3 63 g6 hg 64 hg Qdl+ 65 Kg5 Qcl+ 66 Qf4,
and Bl a ck resigned.
Let us return for a moment to the position after White's
interesting 47th move, Qe2. Could Black have saved him­

. ..

self here with 47 ••• Rbl, or 47 ••• Ral? By way of proof

81 • • ~• • , that he could not, we present the following analysis:
7 • rH ~~
• •~ •
~ • ~1
i'ei
47 ••• Rbl 48 Be6 Qb7 49 Qf3+ Ke8 50 B:d5 Rb2+ 51 Kh3
6 ~ Qd7+ 52 g4 Qd6 53 Qf7+ Kd8 54 Qg8+ Kc7 55 Q:h7+ Kd8
5 ~....~
..."' .~ 1ll~ ~11
,..... , Position after 56 Qg8+ Kc7 57 Qf7+ Kd8 58 Qf6+; or 57 ••• Kb8 58 Qe8+
4 .£itt .f~ 45 B:d7 Kc7 59 Qe5 Rd2 60 Q:d6+ K:d6 61 g6, and wins.
~ .~ •• f~
3 L~ • ~ L~
2 • • •~., So e v en after his blindspot, White was still able to find
1 •• B•• a problem -like win! Truly, Rubinstein won this game
twice, and v ery exactly both times.
a bed e f 9 h

After the text move, the consensus of opinion in the tour­ ::':c

nament hall was that Rubinstein had fallen victim to an hal­ ~;:: ':(
lucination which would cost him the win. But the tourna ­
ment "sharks" had not counted on Rubinstein's phenomenal
abilities: even after his blindspot, he still created a jewel
of an endgame!

45. Qe8 - f7

After 45 ••• Qf8? 46 Q:e5+ Kg6 47 Be8+, White wins.

46. Qd6: e5+ Kg7 - f8

47. Qe5-e2!! Rfl - cl
48. Bd7-e6 Qf7 - c7

Now, with the queen and rook defending one another, it

would appear that Black has nothing to worr y about. But ••

49. Qe2 - f3+ Kf8 - e8

50. Be6 - f7+ Qc7 : f7
51. Qf3 - e3+ Qf7 - e7
52. Qe3 : cl

With a won ending. The game concluded as follows:

[104] [105]
 Chapter V

THE REMAINING

PRIZEWINNERS

Fifth, sixth and seventh prizes were shared by Vidmar,

Euwe and Becker; this time, Bogolyubov had to be content
with eighth prize. We shall begin our survey with him.

Bogolyubov lost some games by trying too hard for a win

in drawn positions. By way of illustration, we present his
game with Maroczy (see diagram):

8
7
6
5 Position after
4 Black I s 41st
3
2

a bed e f 9 h

Bogolyubov (White) "played to win" with 42 Kc 3? (42 Ke3

would have been simpler) Rdl! 43 Rb5 Ral 44 Ra5? ( in­
stead of the solid 44 Rb4, which would lead to a draw) Ra2
45 R:a7 R:f2 46 Rh7 h5 47 a5 R:g2 48 aB Ra2 49 a7 Kg5
50 Re7 Kh4 51 Kb3 Ral 52 R:eB R:a7 53 R:g6 K:h3, and
Black went on to win.

Against Nimzovich and Tartakover, however, Bogolyubov

was simply outplayed. CleCl.rly Bogolyubov is capable of far
better play than he showed in this tournament.

Of the three masters who shared fifth through seventh prizes,

the quality of Vidmar's play clearly sets him apart, and shows
much that is unique and inimitable. Euwe's play, by contrast,
is always ~ courant, but never original - that is to say, he
never attempts to imbue a game with his own personal un ­ And now, a few games played by these last prizewinners.
derstanding (or "character"). This is why Vidmar's games
seemed so captivating: one always ' wanted to discover "how
it was all going to turn out." Euwe's games, by contrast,
seemed like an old story that everyone has already heard, Game 21. VI DMAR-TART AKOVER
winding down its familiar course. (Old Indian Oefense. Round 8)

We believe the following to be the features that give Vi:d­

mar's play its special character: 1) He regards the neo­ 1. d2 - d4 Ng8 - f6
Romantic laborings of his opponents with good-natured iro­ 2. c2 - c4 g7 - g6
ny; while making a show (by means of his moves, not his 3. Ngl - f3 Bf8 - g7
expression) of fearing their neo-Romantic maneuvers, in 4. g2 - g3 0-0
reality he is attempting to catch them at their "curious pre­ 5. Bfl - g2 d7 - d5
dilection for the bizarre". 2) His play evinces a piquant
combination of professorial erudition and an unusually pri­ On its face, this would appear to be a surprising shift from
mitive directness of thought and sensibility. It is amazing a neo - Romantic develop:rnent to a classical opening scheme;
that Vidmar' s vast know ledge (he is, incidentally, one of in reality, it is the latest word in neo-Romantic opening tech­
the greatest living authorities on electrotechnology) has nique. The point to this "shift" is that Black hopes, after 6 cd
not stifled the freshness of his spirit! 3) Vidmar is a cle­ N:d5 7 e4 Nb6, to volley away at the White pawn center.
ver player, in a very peasant-like way (not the European,
but the Slavic sort of peasant): his cleverness is filled It is interesting to trace the gradual evolution of this idea
with a sort of good-natured guile, to which his opponents out of Grunfeld's Variation -1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 cd
quite frequently fall victim just when it might seem he has N:d5 5 e4 N:c3 6 bc Bg7, with 7 ••• c5 to follow - into the
no thought of surprising anyone, being apparently wrapped sideline we encounter in the present game. In Grunfeld's Var­
up in the execution of some ultra-refined strategical man­ iation, the unfortunate knight at d5 sees exchanging on c3 as
euver. This is precisely the sort of moment at which he is its only play able escape, so to speak, from its un~leasant
fond of delivering a "blow to the head" of his completely situation; whereas in this game, the knight goes unblushingly
unsuspecting opponent. 4) Vidmar believes in "strength"; to b6, while the White center turns out - not to mince words­
in this, he resembles Lasker. In addition, he is a staunch to be weak!
defender of bad positions (see Game 23, Vidmar - Euwe ).
Let us return to the game, however, to see what becomes
~~ of this not quite strong, not quite weak center, in Vidmar's
capable hands. And let us not forget, meanwhile, that it is
It is difficult to find anything whatever to say about Becker. Tartakover, one of the leading neo-Romantics, who is at­
He has no recognizable chess physiognomy - indeed, God tacking that center. After all of this, it should be clear that
only knows how he gets through his games. With White, he we are in for an interesting fight.
opens 1 e2 - e4, employing an old line of the Giuoco that ev­
eryone else has half-forgotten, while with Black, his defense 6. c4 : d5 Nf6 : d5
evinces neither style nor accuracy. He is hardly likely to 7. 0-0 Nb8 - a6
achieve such heights a second time. 8. e2 - e4 Nd5 - b6

);.:: Now Tartakover takes deadly aim at the enemy center, in­
tending ••• c5 or ••• Bg4.

[108] [109]
 9 . Nbl- c3 ern fancies , Vidmar irritat es him by playing moves that
are deliberately hyperclassical !

8 .! .
7 rfit
~
~ ~j}. ~/.
~.a..,
?'~
~__ ~
~-=~~.
~~ t ¥~

-tl ~~ • •
~I
~ t

t.
ft. •
12 .
13. Kgl: g2
14. Ral - dl
Bh3: g2
e7 - e6
Rf8-e8 ?

3.
6
S • ••• Position after
Black shoul d ha ve taken on d5 first.
4 • £:11 9 Nc3
~ .~ ~jJ
Pif4?" .~
~ rI~Z~"Z 15. d5-d6 ! c7 : d6
r~!D!"~~, \tj
'if.
2 ~ ~m ¥~~~ ~
b8f",,0
(~ ~g ~ e:::, ~)6lJ. Black had chances for survival with 15 ••• e5 16 Be3 ! ?
abcdef gh cd 17 Nb5 Nc8 18 Qc4 Qc6, or 16dc Q :c7 17 Be3 Qc4.
After the text move, Black's queen i s in trouble .
Playing the callow youth, White makes no attempt to side­
step his opponent ' s punishing thunderbolts . 16. Bf4 : d6 Qd7 - c6
17. Nf3 - e5 Qc6 - c8
9. Bc8 - g4 18. Rdl - cl

A lready believing himself master of the positi on! C l osing the circle about the queen, Vidmar finishes by
adroitly snapping off a queenside pa wn .
10. d4 - d5!
18. f7 - f6
Such a gentle, good - humored smile! Usua lly, Black has 19. Nc3 - b5 Qc8 - d8
to indu ce this advance by p l ayi ng ••• c5; here, the pawn 20 . Ne5 - f3 Qd8 - d7
slides ahead on its own, without waiting for ••• c5 - in 21. Rfl - dl Re8 - c8
the face of certain death, one might say. For Black, not 22. Bd6 - c5 ! Nb6 - d5
having advanced h i s c - pawn, will be ab l e to play both ••• c6
and .•• e6 . This is forced : 22 " • Qc6 loses the exchange after
23 Be3 Qe8 24 Nd6 .
10 . Qd8 - d7
23 . Bc5: a7 R c8 : cl
10 ••• e6 turns out to l ead to nothing tangib le for Bl ack:
24 . Rdl: cl Nd5 - b4
after 11 h3 B:f3 12 Q:f3 ed, the i so l ated pawn at d5 can be

quite comfortab l y defended.

From thi s point on, Vidmar's approach changes . Instead
of the humorously clever thru sts of the preceding phase
11. Qdl- e2 Bg4 - h3 (moves 16 - 23), the professoria l game suddenly makes its
appe arance , as White plays for a dark - s quare initiati ve.
Leaving the d - pawn i n peace for the moment , Black plays
first to exchange· off the fianchettoed king's bishop which de­ Many might say that this manner of alternati ng purely
fends it. tactica l motifs with deliberate l y scientific strategy is by
no means a characteristic of Vidmar a l one; they cou ld
12 . Bel - f4 point to Lasker, Al ekhine, or even to the author as exam ­
ples. Although this may indeed be true, it i s nevertheless
Still teasing his opponent ; ignor i ng Tartakover ' s hypermod­ the psychological basis of Vidmar's strategies that ren­

[110] [111 ]
ders him unique; even though he is a true high priest of 36. Kf7 - g7
knowledge, still he has managed to retain such a fresh­
ness and directness in his play, such a love for simpli­ Or 36 ••• KgS 37 N:e6!
city and the naive weltanschaaung, that at time s it might
a lmost seem as if he l aughs at his own conventionality. 37. Rdl- dS! ReS: dS
So this alternation of styles in his play is thus no trick, 3S. Ng5: e6+
or mannerism, or some sort of secret weapon, but ra ­
ther the natural expression of his spirit. The rest is simple. There followed:

25. Rcl - dl Qd7 - e7 3S ••• KgS 39 N:dS b6 40 f4 KfS 41 Ne6+ Ke7 42 Nd4 Kd7
26. a2 - a3 Nb4 - c6 43 Kf2 Ne7 44 Ke2 Nbc6 45 N:c6 K:c6 46 a4 Nd5 47 Bd2 b5
27. Ba7 - b6 Bg7 - fS 4S ab+K:b5 49 Kd3 Ne7 50 Kd4 Kc6 51 Kc4, and Black
2S. b2 - b4 Qe7 - f7 resigned.
29. Qe2 - d3 RaS - eS
30. Nb5 - d6 BfS : d6 ~~

31. Qd3:d6

8 • . .i . ~. Game 22. COLLE-VIDMAR

7.1 • • ~ • .t (Co//e System. Round 4)

.ft ••
.fM;·~l f~1 .
6 ""~~ ft;Et ~~. ~
5 •• •• Position after 1. d2 - d4 d7 - d5
4 ~.I 1
31 Q:d6 2. Ngl - f3 NgS - f6
3~
~ • • ~~
d • ~~ 3. e2 - e3 c7 - c5
_
~~ P~r+>ii:~
4. c2 - c3 NbS - d7
2 •• ~~ 'Gf~
J •• aB • 5. Nbl - d2
6. Bfl - d3
g7 - g6
BfS - g7
a bed e f 9 h 7. 0-0 0-0
S. e3 - e4
White controls the dark squares!
Black has played the opening with some originality, lea ving
31. Nc6 - e7 us to await with interest the ar"swer to the question: what
32. Qd6 - d7 Ne7 - cS will be the ficnchettoed bishop's role in the struggle for the
33. Bb6 - e3 Na6 - bS center?
34. Qd7 : f7+ KgS : f7
35. e4 - e5 S. d5 : e4
9. Nd2: e4 c5 : d4
Seizing still more dark-squared territory.
Black might also have played 9 ••• N:e4 10 B:e4 Nf6 11 Bc2
35. f6 - f5 b6 12 Be3 Qc7, when the bishop would soon have been activ ­
36. Nf3 - g5+! ated.

Adroitly picking up a second pawn. 10. Nf3: d4 Nd7 - e5

11. Ne4: f6+ Bg7: f6

[112] [113]
 12. Bd3 - e2 Bc8 - d7 20 h3 gives Black the opportunity to execute a sparkling
13. Qdl - b3 Qd8 - c8 queen sacrifice: 20 ••• Q:g3 21 fg R:g2+ 22 Khl R:b2+
23 Kgl Rg2 + 24 Khl R:g3+ 2S BdS! R :c3 26 Qdl (Q:c3
Black might also have given serious consideration to the B:dS+) Rd8 27 B:c6 R:dl. and Blaci( comes out with three
idea of expelling White I s knight. now grown so fat on d4. pawns for the exchange.
viz. : 13 ... Nc6! 14 Q:b7 B:d4 IS cd N:d4 16 Bdl Bc6
17 Qb4 QdS 18 f3 eS. when Black would be impressively 20. Ra8 - d8
centralized. 21. Bf7 - e6 Qg6 - gS
22. Be6 - h3
14. Bcl- h6 Rf8 - d8
lS. Bh6 - f4 In view of the threatened h7-hS-h4.

This voluntary retreat leaves a strange impression. 2.2. Bc6 - bS?

lS Radl was proper.
A hasty move. Black has a colossal position, which he
lS. NeS - c6 might have strengthened decisively by means of 22 ••• R8d 3
16. Nd4: c6 Bd7: c6 23 Qc4 QdS 24 Q:dS B:dS. leaving White's queenside pawns
17. Be2 - c4 defenseless.

E xpecting 17 .•. e6. no doubt. 23. Bg3 - f4! QgS : f4

24. Qb3: bS Qf4 - c7
8 • • ~~• • ~.I 2S. Bh3 - g4 Rd8 - dS
7~t
, .. 3 .
• mt
,~ .
~l 26. QbS - b4 a7 - as
6 BA. ~1 .1 27. Qb4-a3?
5 •••• Position after The rook should not have been allowed to go to bS without
•• ~ .
4 .~ . {~ ~
~ •
~ •I 17 Bc4 a fight: 27Qb3! a4 28Qb4.
3
2
.~€I.
.a. 1~
.!1 ~,......
~,
_a• •
•~
~~ .a. P4?-'
,r,
2'' .....~Y- .!1. ~" __~
,,,v­
27. RdS - bS
I ~~
,t:::i, "'~
.11. .11
~.~.v. § ~
,g
28. b2-b3 RbS - cS!

a bed e f 9 h
8
17. Qc8 - g4! 7
6
A sudden change (in t y pical Vidmar style) from the "sci­ 5 Position after
entific method" to "directness" and his clever brand of 4 28 000 RcS!
"naivete". The pawn sacrifice offers rich chances.
3
18. Bc4: f7+ Kg8 - g7 2
19. Bf4 - g3 Rd8 - d2
20. Ral - el
a bed e f 9 h

[114] [115]
 Having lost the greater part of his advantage through his 49. Rb2 - c2 Bd6 - b4
carelessness on the 22nd move. Vidmar has not lost heart, 50. Rc2 - e2 Bb4 - c3
however. He has used the mobility of his rooks to shut out 51. Re2 - f2 Bc3 - d4
the enemy queen (aided in part by Colle's unfortunate 27th 52. Rf2 - c2 Rd3 - dl
move); and now he sets an astonishingly clever tr a p. into
which the guileless Colle proceeds to fall. Black h a s achieved his aim; due to the threat of ••• Rgl
mate, White must now play h2 - h3.
29. c3 - c4? Bf6 - b2!
30. Qa3 - a4 b7 - b5! 53. h2 - h3+ Kg4 - f5
31. c4: b5 Rd2 - d4 54. Rc2 - e2 Rdl - d3
32. b5 - b6 55. Re2 - c2 Kf5 - e4
56. Rc2 - e2+ Bd4 - e3
Forced. 57. Re2-c2 Rd3 - dl
58. Rc2 - c4+
32. Rd4: a4
33. b6: c7 Ra4: g4 On 58 Re2? Kd3 59 Rb2 Bd4 wins the rook.
34. ReI: e7+ Kg7 - f6
35. Rfl - el Rg4 - b4 58. Be3 - d4
36. g2 - g3 Rb4 - b6 59. h3-h4 Rdl- d2+
37. Re7: h7 Bb2 - e5 60. Kg2 - h3 Ke4 - f3
38. f2 - f4 Be5 - d6
With two threats: 1) 61 ••• Rdl 62 Rc2 Rhl+ 63 Rh2 R:h2+
38 ••• B:c7 fails to 39 Ree7. 64 K:h2 Bf2; and 2) 61 ••• Rd3. followed by 62 ••• Bf2.

39. ReI - dl Bd6: c7 61. Rc4 - c6 Rd2: a2

Having gotten rid of the dangerous pawn at last, Black can White resigned
now proceed to the exploitation of his winning chances; this
in turn will require a very highly refined technique. ~"

40. Rdl- d2 Rb6 - c6

41. Rh7 - d7 Rc5 - c2 Game 23. VI DMAR-EUWE
42. Kgl- g2 Kf6 - e6 (Old Indian Defense. Round 16)
43. Rd7 - d3 Rc6 - c3
44. Rd3 - e3+! Ke6 - f5
45. Re3 - e2 Rc2: d2 1. d2 - d4 Ng8 - f6
46. Re2: d2 Kf5 - g4! 2. Ngl - f3 g7 - g6
3. Bcl- g5 Bf8 - g7
Black intends to force his opponent to weaken his position 4. Nbl- d2 c7 - c5!
with h2-h3. 5. e2 - e3 b7 - b6

47. Rd2 -e2 Bc7 - d6 This game characterizes both masters very clearly. Euwe
48 . Re2 - b2 Rc3 - d3 adheres strictly to routine, carrying out a plan designed to

[116] [117]
remove one of the enemy bishop s , after which he hopes to 15. Nc6-e7!
exploit the (neo-Romantically motivated) power of his own
two bishops. Vidmar, for his part, keeps an alert, though Counter - centralization!
not entirely unsatirical, eye upon his opponent's machina­
tions. 16. Qb3 - a3!

6. Bfl-d3 BcS - b7 The psychological basis for this move is Vidmar's typical
7. 0 - 0 h7 - h6 aim of "irritating" his opponent. On e7, the knight literally
S. Bg5 - f4 d7 - d6 reveled in an array of possibilities (of going either to f5 or
9. c2-c3
to d5); but no longer - now it must choose a road at once.
White should have kept his bishop by playing h2 - h3. 16. Ne7 - f5
17. Rdl- d2 ?
9. Nf6 - h5!
10. Qdl - b3
Loss of time; the knight should have been disturbed immed­
iately by Ng3. Now Vidmar gets into trouble.
In enterprising style; many would have preferred 10 Bg3.
17. QdS - e7
10. Nh5: f4 IS. Ne4 - g3 Nf5 : g3
11. e3 : f4 0-0 19. f2 : g3 RfS - cS
12. Ral - dl 2 O. g3 - g4 RcS - c7
21. f4 - f5
12 B:g6 would lose a piece here after 12 •• c4! and 13 •• d5.
White continues to create strange situations; note, for
12. NbS - c6 example, the queen's odd pl acement at a3, as well as the
13. Bd3 - bl unusual configuration of kingside pawns.

Here, on 13 B:g6?, Black has 13 •.• Na5! 21. e6 : f5

22. g4 : f5 g6 - g5
13. c5: d4
14. c3: d4 e7 - e6! Black, however, with the technique of a seasoned juggler,
"catches the situation" in mid-air, so to speak, rendering
Here, Euwe considered the following line: 14 .•. N:d4 the position flat and commonplace once again.
15 N:d4 B:d4 16 B:g6 B:b2, but re jected it later, because
of the continuation 17 Be4 B:e4 IS N:e4 Bg7 19 f5. In his 23. Rn - el Qe7 - f6
ability to calculate s uch lengthy variations, Euwe ranks 24. h2-h3 RaS - cS
among the top grandma s ters. 25. Rd2 - dl
15. Nd2 - e4 Vidmar's loss of time on move 17 leads to another loss of
time here; like it or not, White must defend his first rank
Aiming to get compensation for Black's two bishops with
against an inva sion by the rooks.
a bit of centralization.

25. Rc7 - c4

[118) [119)
 26. d4-d5 a7 - a5
27. Nf3- d2 Qf6- d4+ Game 24. THOMAS-EUWE
2S. Kgl - hI Qd4: d5? (New Indian Oefense. Round 20)

The proper course was 2S ••• Ra4 29 Q:d6 Q:d5.

1. d2 - d4 N gS - f6
29. Bbl- e4! Rc4: e4 2. Ngl - f3 c7 -c5?
30. Nd2: e4 Qd5 : f5 3. c2-c4?
31. Ne4: d6
3 d5 is correct here; after 3 ••• e6 4 c4 ed 5 cd d6 6 Nc3
g6 7 e4 (better than 7 Nd2, as I played at New York 1927:
8

after 7 ••• Nbd7 S Nc4 Nb6 9 e4, Black should have played
7
9 ••• N:c4) 7 ••• Bg7 S Bd3 0-0 . 9 0-0 a6 10 a4 White's
6
central pawn mass is, at any rate, more active than Black's
5
Position after pawns on the queenside. Of course, Black is not helpless;
4 31 N:d6 he may, for example, continue with ••• b7-b6 followed by
••• Ra8-a7-e7 and ••• RfeS, taking steps against W'.lite's
3
eventual threat of e4-e5. All the se measures, however, suf­
2 fer from the same drawback of being too passive (they lack
"poison" ).
a bed e f 9 h
We are therefore inclined to consider this variation unfav­
31. Bb7: g2+ orable to Black - the more so, in that Black's other replies
to 3 d5 are no better for him. For instance, White can meet
This none too original try is refuted by means of a spectac­ the newly fashionable 3 ••• b5 with 4 c4 Bb7 5 a4! bc 6 Nc3
ular counter - combination. e6 7 e4. Now Black's great hope, the knight sacrifice on e4,
is a vain one, since 7 ••• N:e4 S N:e4 ed allows the counter­
32. Khl: g2 RcS - c2+ sacrifice 9 Nc3 d4 10 B:c4 dc 11 B:f7+ K:f7 12 Qb3+, a nd
33. Kg2 - hI Qf5 - f4 White wins.
34. Rel- eS+ Bg7 - fS
35. Re8 : fS+! KgS : fS We have devoted a great deal of time to the examination of
36. Nd6 - f5+ KfS - gS this variation, because we believe that an understanding of
37. Qa3-fS+! thi s variation is essential in orde-r to understand the prob­
lems of blockade. And what is chess strategy without a n
And mate next move. understanding of blockade? Absolute poverty of thought!

3. c5: d4
* 4. Nf3 : d4 b7 - b6
5. Nbl- d2

Mannered, and rather pointles s . The simple 5 Nc3 Bb7

6 Bg5 Ne4 7 N:e4 B:e4 S f3 Bb7 9 e4 undoubtedly deserved
the preference.

[120J [121 ]

J
 5. BcB - b7 Not 15 ••• N:a2? IB Qbl.
B. Nd2 - f3 g7 - gB
7. e2 - e3 BfB - g7 lB. Be2 - f3
B. Bfl- e2 0-0
9. b2 - b3 d7 - d5 There was no joy in IB a3. either: lB ••• Nbd3 17 Bal BaB
10. 0-0 NbB - d7 IB Rc2 e5 19 N4f3 e4 20 Nd4 f5.
11. Bcl- b2 a7 - aB
lB. Bb7 : f3
Probably intended as a preparation for ••• e7 -e5. which 17. Nd2: f3 Nb4: a2
might otherwise be met by Nb5.
The complications which follow have been well calculated
12. c4: d5 by the Dutch champion.

Needlessly simplifying the position in the center. Instead. lB. Bb2 - a3 e7 - e5

we suggest the following: 12 Rcl dc 13 bc! Nc5 14 Nb3 Na4 19. Nd4 - c2 e5 - e4
15 Bd4. threatening IB Na5. If instead Black plays 12 •.• 20. Nf3 - d4 QdB -d5
e5. then 13 Nc2 ReB 14 Ba3. and White exercises influence 21. Qdl - bl a5 - a4!
on at least some central areas. while limiting the influence
of Black's queen. The point of Black's freeing combination: the prisoner
(that is. Black's knight on a2) now gains its freedom. since
12. NfB : d5 its guardian (that is. the rook on c4 ) is itself none too se­
13. Ral - cl Nd7 - c5 cure.
14. Nf3 - d2
22. Nd4 - cB
8 • • E ~.~.
Or 22 Q:a2 ab 23 N:b3 Q:c4.
. A~ ~~.t l~t

..1 : . .
7 _ ~ .iJ, ~

6 t f.t • •t a 22. Qd5: cB

5 •~ I~
-&. ~
..... SI
. Position after 23. Qbl : a2 a4: b3
~ ~ •1

1.• ." ./
4 ~ i:Y • 14 Nd2 24. Qa2: b3 Nc5: b3
~~ B 25. Rc4: cB RfB - cB
•.a. fX& ~ ~,m
I'<:. ~~ ~
3
.a. ~~ 2B. RcB: cB + RaB: cB
2 J.1 ~ tZ.J~ clL~~ 11 ~~
@t¥B ~
. §~ This endgame is easily won for Black. chiefly due to the

a bed e f 9 h poor position of White's knight.

14. Nd5 - b4! 27. Rfl - dl Bg7 - fB

2B. Nc2 - d4
Threatening both ••• Nd3 and ••• N:a2. White's reply is
forced. 2B Nb4 would be met by 2B ••• Be7 29 Nc2 KfB 30 B:e7+
K:e7 31 Nb4 b5. and Black must win.
15. Rcl - c4! aB - a5
2B. Nb3: d4

[122] [123]
 29. e3: d4 Rc8 - c4 Personally, I remain firmly convinced that a thorough un­
30. d4 - d5 Rc4 - d4 derstanding of the secrets of defensive play makes any mem­
31. Rdl: d4 Bf6 : d4 orization of the openings unnecessary. Thus, here I would
have played 5 ••• Bb6, meeting 6 d4 with 6 ••• Bg4; u p on
The game ended as follows: 32 Bd6 f6 33 Kfl Kf7 34 Ke2 the further 7 Qb3 Qe7 8 Ng5 Bh5 9 d5 Nd8 10 Bb5+ Kf8,
Ke8 35 f3 ef + 36 K:f3 Be5! 37 Bb4 B:h2, and White resigned. Becker would have had to leave his world of memorized var­
iations, and turn instead to positional play.
Had White played 37 B:e5 (instead of 37 Bb4) fe 38 Ke4,
then naturally Black would have played 38 ••• Kd7 39 K:e5 6. d2 - d4 e5: d4
b5, when his passed pawn would decide easily: 40 g4 g5 7. c3: d4 Bc5 - b6
41 h3 h6 42 Kd4 Kd6 43 Ke4 b4 44 Kd4 b3 45 Kc3 K:d5 8. Nbl- c3 Bc8 - g4
46 K:b3 Ke4, etc. 9. Bcl- e3 0-0
10. Bc4 - b3
*
Defending himself against the threat of ••• N:e4 and ••• d7­
d5.
Game 25. SEeKER-MATTISON
(Giuoco Piano. Round 9) 10. Rf8 - e8

A pointless move, as his opponent's reply demonstrates.

1. e2 - e4 e7 -e5 But Black's position already is not easy. 10 ••• h6 would
2. Ngl - f3 Nb8 - c6 have given him chances to equalize: II Qd3 Ne7, followed
3. Bfl - c4 Bf8 - c5 by ••• d7-d5.
4. 0- 0 d7 - d6
11. Qdl- d3 Bg4 -h5
A voiding the theoretically proper reply 4 • •• Nf6 - but 12. Nf3 - d2
in these days, with all of their Indian and half-Indian per­
turbations, who can remember the wild complications
after 4 ••• Nf6 5 d4 ed 6 e5 d5? Nevertheless, Black
as_ ~ ;l!J~ Q I8
~~ ~~ _
~
could have risked 4 ••• Nf6 anyway, since after 5 d4 he 7 ~~~
~t ~~
~* ~
~ t "-'~~
.f;'it
also has the comparatively "harmless" defense 5 ••• B:d4 6 r.r.~i'~~ ~~f"~·.1
."""".'.v-.'' . .".,E
6 N:d4 N:d4. We call it harmless, because playing it does
not require the memorization of dozens of dizzying varia­
tions. Instead, one can survive using only the principles
of sound development: 7 Bg5 d6! 8 f4 Be6 (though not
7 ••• h6 8 Bh4 g5? 9 f4!! gf 10 R:f4, and wins) •
3.
5
4

2 it
~.!ffi
•
. ~{).M,rM
j,..... g~

1 ~E!t ~!B~··
I. . . •
~~

.
~ it .
f~
....~
:
m.m §~.
~~
~
•
4>
~~ 11. ~ ~
~~'
y<
Position after

.......~ :. _ .:x. . . :

12 Nd2

Be that as it may, Becker was quite clever to use a var­

a b e d ,e f 9 h
iation everyone had long since forgotten. He did so in many
of his games with White, and it brought him the lion's share 12. Nf6 - g4
of his victories.
With 12 ••• Bg6, Black could have forced White to play
5. c2 - c3 Ng8 - f6 d4-d5, since 13 f3? allows 13 ••• d5, breaking up White's
central pawn front. Even after 13 d5!, however, Black's

[124] [125]
game would still have been difficult: 13 ••• B:e3 14 Q :e3!. 30. Bb3: d5 QgS - g6
threatening f2-f4-f5; or 13 ••• Nb4 14 Qe2! B:e3 15 Q:e3 31. Rf7 - fS+
B:e4 16 Nd:e4 N:e4 17 N:e4 f5 IS Qd2 R:e4 19 f3 Rh4 20 g3,
winning a piece. We consider that Black's best chance would Black resigned
have been 14 ••• B:e4! 15 B:b6! B:g2 16 Qc4 B:fl 17 N:fl
ab IS Q:b4, when he could still have put up a stiff resis _ Becker carried out his attack quite well.
tance.
-"
0-

13. Nc3 - d5 Ng4: e3

14. f2: e3 ReS - fS
15. Rfl - f2 Nc6 - e7 Game 26. BOGOlYUBOV-GllG
16. Nd5 - f4 Bh5 - g4 (Queen '5 Gambit Declined. Round 9)
17. Ral - fl

Black is helpless. 1. d2 - d4 NgS - f6

2. c2 - c4 e7 - e6
17. QdS - cS? 3. Nbl- c3 d7 - d5
4. Bcl- g5 NbS - d7
This move is incomprehensible. Black's only playable 5. e2 - e3 h7 - h6
move here was 17 ••• KhS, to be followed by ••• Bd7 and 6. Bg5 - h4 BfS - e7
••• f6; after 17 ••• KhS IS h3 Bd7 19 g4 f6. however. 7. Ngl - f3 0-0
White would still hold an obvious advantage. S. Ral - cl c7 - c6
9. a2 - a3 Nf6 - e4
IS. h2 - h3 Bg4 - d7
19. Nd2 - c4 g7 - g6 This unexpected transformation of a solid Carlsbad Varia­
20. g2 - g4 KgS - g7 tion into a rather dubious Stonewall appears to us to have
21. e4 - e5 d6 - d5 been poorly motivated. Better, and more in the spirit of the
22. Nc4: b6 a7: b6 Carlsbad Variation, was 9 ••• Re8 10 h3 (delaying the de­
23. e3 - e4! velopment of the king's bishop: on 10 Bd3 Black would play
10 ••• dc 11 B:c4 b5, followed by ••. a6 and ••• c5) 10 •• a6!
This is stronger than 23 N:d5. Now White would have to "sacrifice" a tempo after all, by
playing 11 Bd3 dc 12 B:c4, etc.
23. d5: e4
24. Qd3: e4 Bd7 - c6 10. Bh4: e7 Qd8: e7
25. Qe4 - e3! Kg7 - hS 11. Bfl - d3 f7 - f5
26. Nf4 - h5
Black still could have avoided the Stonewall with 11 •• N:c3
A pretty finish.
12 R:c3 dc 13 B:c4 e5, obtaining a solid position.

26. g6: h5 12. 0-0 Ne4 - g5

27. Rf2 : f7 RfS : f7
2S. Rfl : f7 Ne7 - d5 A reasonable idea: Gilg wishes to drive White's knight
29. Qe3 - h6 QcS - gS from f3, so that he need not worry about it occupying e5

[126] [127]
which. by the way. is poorly defended in the absence of the 22. Ne2 - d4 a7 - a6
darksquare bishop. 23. Rcl- c2 Rc8 - c7
24. Rfl - cl Ra8 -c8
13. Nf3 - d2!
25. Rc2 - c3! g7 - g6
26. Qb3 - c2 Kg8 - g7
White's best reply.
27. c4: d5 e6: d5
28. Rc3 - c5
13. Nd7 - f6
14. f2 - f4 Ng5 -e4 Black has a hopeless position: there is no remedy for what
his opponent has in mind on the c-file!
If 14 ••• Nf7. then 15 Nf3 g5 16 Ne5 Kg7 17 h3. followed
by g2-g4 when opportune. 28. Qe7 - e8
29. a3 - a4 Bf7 - e6
15. Nd2 - f3 Bc8 -d7 30. b4 - b5 a6 : b5
16. Nf3 - e5 Bd7 -e8 31. a4: b5 h6 - h5

Black's position appears sturdy enough; neverthele s s. Bo­ If 31 ••• Bd7? 32 b6!
golyubov quickly destroy s it!
32. b5 : c6 b7: c6
8 .B .A~.~., 33. Nd4 - b5 Rc7 - d7
Ji~~t •-. '\~ ~......~'"7­ 34. Nb5 - d6
.,E1
7 "",J,ii • ....~
hIiif! ~

6
, .
~~t .
D, t~
"'<~' ~~ '" ...... " The concluding moves were: 34 ••• R:d6 35 ed Bd7
5 • •t ~t. Position after 36 Ra5 Qe6 37 Qc5 Kh6 38 Ra7 Rb8 39 h3 Rb5 40 Qd4.
!},·~~ . P~

1.

~ '~ :D ~~ ~ ~~ ~
4 - ­
16 Be8 and Black resigned.
'l« ~: ..~~/. /~{/ i~~IU"'~_ ~
~ ~.,Q.~~ ~
3 ~~~~~ B
~~ W7fi ~ -a. ~~ Bogolyubov demonstrated great power in this game.
2
miI
~~ ~ffi ~ J.1. ~~
~.... ~~ ;B~. ~'" .) 'L "
r§~. l:'!~
a bed e f 9 h *
~" *
17. Bd3: e4 f5: e4
18. b2 - h4 Nf6 - d 7
19. Qdl- b3 Nd7: e5
20. d4: e5!

Preparing a cozy little spot for the knight on d4.

20. Be8 - f7

Parrying the threat of 21 cd ed 22 N:e4.

21. Nc3 -e2 Rf8 - c8

[128] [129]
 Chapter VI

THE NON-PRIZEWINNERS

Inasmuch as some of those who failed to win a prize in

this tournament are among the world's most renowned mas­
ters (to cite only Maroczy, Tartakover, the top-ranking
theoretician Grunfeld, the deep-thinking strategist Samisch,
et al. ) it should be no surprise that we should find some out­
standingly played games by the n.;m-prizewinners as well.
Herewith, we present some of these games.

Game 27. TARTAKOVER-BOGOLYUBOV

(Queen's Gambit Declined-Czech Defense. Round 14)

1. d2 - d4 d7 - d5
2. c2 - c4 c7 - c6
3. Nbl- c3 Ng8 - f6
4. Bcl- g5

Alekhine also played this risky-looking move in the 13th

game of his match with Bogolyubov. We are inclined to
consider 4 Nf3 more correct here.

4. d5 : c4!
5. Bg5: f6

White could also have played 5 a4 e6 6 e4 Bb4 7 B:c4

B:c3+ 8 bc Qa5 9 Bd2 N:e4 10 Nf3, with some compensa­
tion for the sacrificed pawn (though not 10 Qg4?, in view
of 10 ••• N:d2 11 Q:g7 Q:c3 12 Q:h8+ Kd7, etc.).

5. e7 : f6
6. e2 - e3

Trying to bluff his opponent into considering the simple

defense 6 ••• Be6 unsuitable.

6. b7 -!:>5
 Tartakover's claims deserved a more skeptical attitude: 14. Qd8 - d5
6 ••• Be6 was absolutely playable. After either 7 e4 Bb4 15. Kfl - gl! • • e,

8 Qa4 Qe7 9 0-0-0 b5 10 Qc2 0-0 iI d5 Bd7. or 7 a4 Bb4

8 Nf3 Qa5 9 Qc2 Nd7 10 Nd2 Nb6 11 Be2 f5 12 0-0 0-0 1 Completely undisturbed by his crumpled right wing. White
Black has consolidated his game completely. looks forward to its eventual unfurling. The procedure turns
out to be most instructive.
The text move loses the c-pawn.
15. Nb8 - c6
7. a2 - a4 b5 -b4 16. Nbl- d2!

7 ••• Bb4? 8 ab cb 9 Qf3. Once again. White does not fear phantoms: the isolated
queen's pawn he will obtain after 16 ••• bc 17 Q:c3 N:d4
8. Nc3 - bl Bc8 - a6 18 Q:d4 Q:d4 19 ed is defensible. e. g. 19 ••• Rd8 20 Nf3
9. Qdl - cl c4 - c3 g5 21 g4.

Giving back the pawn voluntarily. in exchange for nothing
more than a small positional advantage.
10. b2 : c3
10 B:a6 cb 11 Q:b2 N:a6 was also inferior. although in this
line White still has chances to recover the pawn: 12 Qe2 Nc7
13 Nf3 Be7 14 0-0 0-0 15 Qc4 Qd5 16 Rcl Rfc8 17 Q:c6 Q:c6
18 R:c6 Nd5 19 R:c8+ R:c8 20 Nbd2 f5. and Black stands bet­
ter. Instead of 15 ••• Qd5. Black could also play 15 ••• Qd71
aiming to hold on to the c-pawn longer. even though this
would result in some discomfort to him: 16 Rcl Rfc8 17 e4!
(though not 17 Q:c6?? Nd5. winning the queen.).
10. Ba6 : fl
11. Kel: fl Bf8 - e7
Gloating over the shut-in White king's rook.
16. Ra8 - d8
After this. Black's entire attack collapses. He should
have been content with the variation given in the preceding
note (without 20 ••• g5) •
17. c3-c4! Qd5-d7
18. Nd2 - b3!
This completes White's consolidation.
Reviewing the foregoing moves. we find the following:
1) that the healing of White's king's wing was an internal
process - that is. one which came about through the med­
ium of centralization; and 2) that Bogolyubov undoubtedly
both overestimated his own chances. and underestimated
the value of this centralization ( something he does quite
often) •

12. Ngl - f3 c6 - c5 The position thus arrived at is a highly original one.

13. g2 - g3 and deserves a diagram:

In order to free that rook.

( See diagram. next page )
13. c5: d4
14. Nf3: d4

Centralizing the knight!

[132] [133]
 a ~.".
~ ~~dr.oa_.
~
~a1~ ~.11' ~ .. ~l
31. Re4 - e3 Bh4 - f6

7 - -1Lm
"B~ ..
L
• ..... J.
'is ~.... ~ t ~r:~
~t
L 32.
33.
Nb3-c5
Nc5 - e6
KfS - f7
RdS - bs
6 ••• ~t1 . 34. Rhl - gl

4
5 ••••

3
2
:it ~~ :it f.&J
_~_;
• '-1-.1.
••••
~~
• •
~lw~.r44.

~"'~~~.!ffiA~~
...
Position after
16 Nb3! The decisive counterattack.

34. b4 - b3
~~¥~ ,~
1 r~
f8~ ~
i~ •• ~'H
~:Gia
• In nihilist style. On 34 ••• Qh5, there follows 35 Ng5+ B:g5
a bed e f 9 h 36 R:g5 Qh7 37 d6 RheS 3S Rh3.

35. Rgl: g4 f5 : g4
36. Ne6 - g5+ Bf6 : g5
IS. Qd7 - b7 37. f4: g5 b3 - b2
3S. Qd3 - f5+ Kf7 - gS
Still nursing his fading dreams of a kingside attack. He 39. Qf5 - e6+ KgS - h7
should have completed his own development instead with
••• 0-0, ••• f7-f5, and ••• Be7-f6. If 39 ••• KfS, then 40 Qd6+ Kf7 41 g6+.

19. f2 - f4! h7 - h5!? 40. Qe6 - e4+ Kh7 - gS

41. Re3-el RhS: h2
Tartakover is not one to be frightened by such "attacks"! 42. Kfl - gl g4 ~ g3
43. g5 - g6
20. Qc1 - fl Nc6: d4
21. e3: d4 f6 - f5 Black resigned
22. Ral - el KeS - f8
23. Qfl - d3 h5 -h4
24. Qd3 : f5!
*
Still confident: nothing frightens us! Game 28. SAMISCH-GRUNFELD
(New Indian Defense. Round 18)
24. Be7 - f6
25. Qf5 - d3 h4: g3
26. d4 - d5 g3 - g2 1. d2 - d4 NgS - f6
2. c2 - c4 e7 - e6
In order to sustain the attack. 3. Nbl-c3 BfS - b4
4. a2 - a3
27. Kgl: g2 Qb7 - d7
2S. a4-a5 Bf6 - h4 Samisch I S move, which leads to an approximately even

29. Rel- e4! Qd7 - g4 + game.

30. Kg2 - fl f7 - f5
4. Bb4: c3+
This weakens e6 - but Black has a lost game in any case.

[134] [135]
 .am.~~.~.
.,.
5. b2 : c3 d7 - d6
8
Not the proper strategy here. which is to enter the Queen's 7 [I ~ . t ~lt
Gambit with 5 ••• d5. Then the move a2 -a3 would turn into 6JJ:lm
......~ •
" ~ •
,- ,
the loss of an important tempo. 5 ~· D~~ .
~'-.rt~. Position after
4 •~ ft ~~ ft ~4:i~
~
""","
• 14 f4
6. f2 - f3 0- 0

Here too, Black had to play 6 ••• d5. although already he

~ I~.~ii~.~~it1
must worry about such things as the combinative 7 e4 de
:§~
i j •
..•.§ ~
~
8 fe N:e4 9 Qg4, etc. a bed e f 9 h

7. e2 -e4 e6 - e5
8. Bfl - d3 Nb8 - c6
14. f7 - f6
Wrong again. Now he must induce d4-d5 at any cost. even
if it means resorting to a positionally dubious move such as Black should probably have played 14 ••• ef 15 R:f4 Qe6
••• c7-c5; after 8 ••• c5 9 Ne2 Nc6 10 Be3 b6. White will in order to induce 16 d5. which would have cleared the
hardly be able to get in f3-f4. which is the entire point of e5 square for his knight. However. White would have played
his deployment. 16 Nf5 (instead of 16 d5). with wild complications. some of
which are presented below:
9. Ngl- e2 Nf6 - d7
1. 16 Nf5 B:c4 17 Rh4 (threatening 18 B:c4 Q:c4 19 Ne7+
Preparing to meet f3-f4 with ••• f7 -f6. and also preparing Kh8 20 R:h7+ and 21 Qh5 mate) 17 ••• B:d3 18 Qh5 Nf6
to attack the c4-pawn triply: bishop to a6, knight to a5. and 19 Qg5 g6 (19 ••• Ne8 allows 20 Ne7+ and 21 R:h7+ again)
queen to f7 or e6 - not a bad plan. but Grunfeld apparently 20 d5 N:e4 21 Qh6. and mates;
still underestimates the resources at White's disposal after
f2-f3. n. 16 Nf5 g6! 17 Rh4 gf? 18 ef Qe7 19 Qg4+ Kh8 20 R:h7+
K:h7 21 f6+. and mates;
10. 0-0 b7 - b6
11. Bcl- e3 Bc8 - a6 Ill. 16 Nf5 g6! 17 Rh4 B:c4! 18 B:c4 N:c4 (18 ••• Q:c4 is
12. Ne2 - g3 Nc6 - a5 met by 19 Qg4. with an attack) 19 d5 Qf6 20 Q: c 4 Ne5
13. Qdl- e2 Qd8 - e8 21 Qfl gf 22 Rf4. with an uncertain outcome.
14. f3 - f4
15. Rfl - f3 K g8 -h8
This move is White's chief (indeed. almost his only)
trump in the Samisch Variation. On 15 ••• Qe6 16 Nf5 B: c4 17 Rg3 g6 18 Qh5 Rf7. WJ:-rite
finishes elegantly with 19 Nh6+ Kf8 20 f5!! gh 21 Rg8+ Ke7
22 R:a8! Rf8 23 R:f8 N:f8 24 fe B:d3 25 d5 B:e4 26 Ng8+.
( See diagram. next page) winning a piece.

16. Rcl - fl Qe8 - f7

This allows White the following operation. which secures

[136] [137]
the c4-pawn against attack, at least for the moment. But
since Black can always renew his attack on that pawn later,
while his own king is not in any great difficulty, we there­
fore approve Grunfeld's choice of plan, rather than 16 •• Qe6;
for in the latter case, White could play 17 Nf5 B:c4 18 Rh3
B:d3? (18 ••• g6, of course) 19 Qh5, and wins: 19 •• Qg8
20 Ne7 g6 21 N:g6+ Kg7 22 Ne7!, etc.
had to abandon its post at a6 (and its pressure on the c4­
pawn) in order to meet Nf5 with ••• , B:f5 and ••• Rf7. How­
ever, this retreat frees White's queen.
27. Qe2-f2!
Correct!

17. f4: e5 27. Nd6 - e8

28. Rh3 - f3
Here 17 Nf5 B:c4 18 Rh3 does not work, since after the
reply 18 ••• B:d3, White is unable to continue 19 Qh5 (the The next step is to prepare h2-h4.
queen defends the castled king better from f7 than from e6).
28. Ne8 - g7
17. d6: e5 29. Rh5-h3 Bc8 - d7?
18. d4 - d5 Na5-b7! 30. Rh3 - g3

All very finely played by Black: the knight aims for d6, Had Black played 29 ••• Ne8! (instead of 29 ••• Bd7?),
from which square it will also protect f5. he could have answered this move with 30 ••• Kg7! 31 Nf5+
B:f5 32 gf h5!, with consolidation; or 32 R:f5 Nd6! 33 Rff3
19. Ng3 - f5 Nb7 - d6! Nf7! 34 Rg2 (34 h4? gh 35 Rg2 Ng5!) 34 ••• Nh8!!, fol­
20. Rf3 - h3? 10wed by ••• Ng6 and ••• Nf4, and it is Black who has the
upper hand.
The knight should have been supported by 20 g4 N:f5 21 gf.
30. Bd7 - e8
20. g7 - g6? 31. h2 - h4 g5: h4

Returning the favor immediately. 20 ••• N:f5 was the pro­ Black finds no joy in 31 ••• Bg6 32 Rh3 and 33 Qh2,

per continuation; after 21 ef e4! 22 B:e4 Rae8 23 Bd3 Ne5, ei there

or 21 R :f5 g6 22 Rf2 Qe7, Black can defend himself.

32. Rg3 - g2
21. Nf5 - h6
Samisch is conducting the attack very exactly, while Grun­
A strong knight! feld appears not to have exploited fully the resources that
were available to him.
21. Qf7 - g7
22. g2 - g4 g6 - g5 32. h4 -h3
23. Rh3 - h5 Nd7 - c5 33. Rf3 : h3 Be8 - g6
24. Be3: c5 b6: c5 34. Rh3 - f3 Ra8 - b8
25. Rfl - f3 Qg7 - e7 35. Qf2 - h4 Rb8 - b3
26. Rf3 - h3 Ba6 - c8
Since Black has run out of defenses, he decides on this

Black's position is beginning to splinter. The bishop has desperate sortie.

[138] [139]
 36. Rg2 - f2 Rb3: c3 (first the bishop on a6, and then the knight on d6 ) from the
37. g4-g5 Ng7 - e8 attack on the c4-pawn, and finally White's delightful con­
38. g5: f6 Qe7 - d8 eluding attack - all these provide nourishment for both the
39. Nh6 - g4 Rc3: d3 mind and the emotions of the reader.

In order to prolong the agony. The fact that Black could have secured an easy draw by
playing 29 ••• Ne8 should not be considered a serious
40. Rf3 : d3 Bg6: e4 enough flaw to mar the game. We should rather say that
41. Rd3 - e3 Ne8 - d6 it only goes to show that, until the 29th move, both sides
42. Ng4: e 5 Be4 - f5 had played about equally well.

8 ~.
~.'~
..'i!fJ.
~=
c~~ ,~.... ~
~:' " This game received the First Brilliancy Prize.

7
r~
••
2'
~
".'f.

It~~ ~. ~~ ~~ ~7.a>f?~_
•
......,
at *
ft ff~ ~
6
•_ I •~.. , r:N~!k
•_
5 ·IWoa
~
•
~~
ff
. d
f, .... Z it"\1.
~'.s..
'L . i
~ ~ •
~ Position after
4
~.ft
~~ 8~; ,~
• ".'"~: 42 • 0 Bf5
0 Game 29. MAROCZY-CANAL
3 I~.J • ~§
(Sicilian Defense. Round 14)
2

liB ~ ••
• • ~§~a
~ !8 • ~'g 1. e2 - e4 c7 - c5
a b e d e f 9 h 2. Ngl - f3 e7 - e6
3. d2 - d4 c5: d4
And now for an elegant finale! 4. Nf3 : d4 Ng8 - f6
5. Nbl- c3 d7 - d6
43. Rf2 : f5! Nd6 : f5
44. Ne5 - g6+ Kh8 - g8 Paulsen's V ariation. *
45. Re3 - e7!!
6. Bfl - e2 Bf8 - e7
The simple 45 Ne7+ would also ha.ve won, of course; never­ 7. 0 - 0 0-0
theless, the text move is spellbinding.
As a general rule, one should castle early; but when there
45. Rf8 - f7 are strategic tasks of greater urgency, castling should be
46. Re7 : f7 Kg8 : f7 postponed until a more suitable moment. And what impor ­
47. Ng6 - e5+ Kf7 - f8 tant strategic tasks could there be here? The answer is easy
48. Qh4: h7 to discover: prophylaxis and overprotection, which ought to
Black resigned be employed here against a future f2-f4 and e4-e5. Thus:
7 ••• a6, followed by 8 ••• Nbd7 and 9 ••• Qc7.
Despite a few shortcomings, this game leaves a good im­
pression. Black's deep plan of 14 ••• f6, 15 ••• Kh8 and
16 ••• Qf7, the accurate defensive maneuver ••• Na5-b7­
d6, and also Samisch's precise attacking play (after Grun­
feld's oversight 20 • •• g6), luring away Black's pieces ,~ Today this is known as the Scheveningen. - Tr.

[140] [141]

 8. Kgl - hI Nb8 - c6 Driving the knight back into the cave at b6.

8 ••• a6 and 9 ••• Nbd7 is preferable. 23. Nc4 - b6

9. Bel- e3 Qd8 - c7 Now. of course. 23 ••• Nd6? allows 24 B:d5.

10. f2 - f4 Rf8 - d8?

24. f4 - f5 Rd8 - e8
This is weak! Black should play along the c-file instead 25. g4 - g5 Bb4 - c3
with 10 ••• a6. followed by ••• Nc6-a5-c4. 26. g5 - g6

11. Be2 - f3 a7 - a6 Bravely . Maroczy plays for the attack.

12. Qdl - el Nc6 - a5

26. Bc3: d4
Too late! Now this attack is easily repulsed. 27. Rdl: d4 h7: g6
28. f5 : g6 f7 - f6
13. Ral - dl Na5 - c4 29. Bel - f4 Qc7 - c5
14. Be3 - cl Ra8 - b8 30. Rfl - dl! Re8 - e5

In order to continue with ••• b7 -b5. which is impossible Black had no choice. as White was also threatening 31 Qg4.
for the moment on account of 15 e4-e5.
31. Bf4: e5 f6 : e5
15. g2 - g4 d6 - d5
8 ~• • • ~B
Although a flank attack is in general best met by a central
counterattack. here 15 ••• b5 was still preferable: on 16 g5.
7 _ All • ft;
t ·i~
~ m ~ ft .
~~ ~ ~

it .
Nd7 followed by ••• Nc5 and ••• Bb7. attacking e4. 6
5 ·_.0
~.W@:
-t
\'eJ
~> ~
~¥'~
~ >,,,,,,,X
~~.
fa
~ Position after
l§
~ ~'

1_ .§
.
•~
. ~Bw.'. !1"~
~
16. e4: d5 Nf6 : d5 4
~ ,.... ~
_
".""~
~ 31 • 00 fe
17. Nc3: d5
18. Qel- g3
e6: d5 3 . ft • •
19. Qg3 - g2
b7 -
Bc8 -
b5
b7
2 ftB • .~.
B~

We find the maneuver ••• Bc5 and ••• Qb6 more attrac­ abcdefgh

tive; after inducing c2-c3. Black could continue ••• b5-b4.

Now White finishes with a rather pretty combination.

20. h2 -h4 Be7 - c5

21. c2 - c3 32. Rd4: d5! Qc5 - e7

If 21 g5 Nd6! 22 B:d5? B:d4 23 R:d4 Nf5 wins. Or 32 ••• B:d5 33 B:d5+ N:d5 34 Q:d5+. with a winning

rook e nding.
21. b5 - b4
22. c3 : b4 Bc5 : b4 330 Rd5: e5! Qe7: e5
23. b2 - b3! 34. Bf3: b7

[142] [143]

 With a material advantage, plus a strong attack. 9. c2 - c3 Nc6 -e7

34. Qe5-h5 On 9 ••• a6, White could play 10 d4 Ba7 11 h3, etc.
35. Rdl- d4 Rb8 - e8
36. Qg2 - e4 Qh5 - b5 10. d3-d4 e5: d4
37. Bb7 - d5+ Kg8 - h8 11. Nf3: d 4

Trying to avoid the exchange of queens. 11 cd Bb6 12 N:b6 ab 13 Qb3 0-0 14 0-0 was also possible~
with about even chances.
38. Qe4 - f3! Nb6: d5
39. Rd4: d 5 Re8 - el+ 11. Ne7: d5
40. Khl- g2 Qb5 - e2+ 12. Bc4: d 5 0-0
13. Qdl- d3 Qd8 - f6
Forced! 14. Bd5 -b3! Rf8 - e8
15. 0-0 Bc8 - e6
41. Qf3 : e2 ReI: e2+ 16. Bb3 - c2 g7 - g6
42. Kg2 - f3 Re2 - e8 17. Kgl - hI
43. Rd5-d6 Re8 - a8
44. b3 - b4 Kh8 - g8 White stands better: the knight is very active on d4, as
45. a2 - a3 befits a centralized piece.
Black resigned
17. Ra8 - d8
Maroczy played this game in elegant style j it shared the
second and third brilliancy prizes. 17 ••• B:d4 18 cd d5 19 e5 favors Whit~.

* 18. f2 - f4 Be6 - d7
19. f4 - f5! g6 - g5
20. Nd4-e6! f7 : e6
Game 30. CANAL-JOHNER 21. f5 : e6 Qf6 - g6
(Four Knights Game, Round 19) 22. e6: d 1 Rd8: d7
23. Rfl - f5 Rd7 - e7
24. Ral - fl
1. e2-e4 e7 - e5

2. Ngl - f3 Nb8 - c6
If 24 e5 Qg7 (but not 24 ••• R:e5? 25 R:e5). After 24 e5,
3. Nbl- c3 Ng8 - f6
the reply 24 ••• Kg7 leads to an interesting variation :
4. Bfl - c4 Bf8 - c5
25 Rf7 +! Q:f7 26 Qh7+ Kf8 27 Qh8+ Qg8 28 Rfl+ Rf7 29 R:f7 +
5. d2-d3 d7 - d6 K:f7 30 Bb3+.
6. Bcl- g5 h7 - h6!

7. Bg5: f6 Qd8 : f6
24. Kg8 - g7
8. Nc3 -d5 Qf6- d8?
25. e4 - e5!

Amazing! Could 8 ••• Qg6! have been so difficult? Threatening 26 Rf7+.

[144] [145]

b ~ , _ __ __
 25. Re8 - h8
26. e5 - e6l Qg6 : e6
27. Rf5 - f6
Black resigned

For after 27 ••• Q:f6 28 R:f6 K:f6. White mates in two

by 29 Qg6+ Ke5 30 Qf5.

*
* *
*
A CATALOG OF SELECTED
DOVER BOOKS
IN ALL FIELDS OF INTEREST

DJ

[146]