Akiba Rubinstein vs Jose Raul Capablanca - San Sebastian 1911.03.13

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Akiba Rubinstein vs Jose Raul Capablanca
San Sebastian San Sebastian ESP round 13 1911.03.13
Tarrasch Defense: Prague Variation 1-0

[Event "San Sebastian"]
[Site "San Sebastian ESP"]
[Date "1911.03.13"]
[EventDate "1911.02.20"]
[Round "13"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Akiba Rubinstein"]
[Black "Jose Raul Capablanca"]
[ECO "D33"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "83"]

1.d4 {Notes by Jacques Mieses and Dr. Savielly Tartakower. ***
Tartakower: In a game overflowing with the finer points of
positional play, the outstanding feature is perhaps the
problem-like turn 17.Qc1, by which White very elegantly saves
all his unguarded pieces and remains with an extra pawn.} d5
2.Nf3 c5 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.g3 {Tartakower: First
introduced by Schlechter (against Dus-Chotimirsky, Prague
1908), systematized by Rubinstein, this positional maneuver
has all but refuted the Tarrasch Defense.} Be6 7.Bg2 Be7 8.O-O
Rc8 {Tartakower: Too dogmatic. Black devotes too much
attention to the queenside.} 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Ng5 {!} Nf6
11.Nxe6 fxe6 12.Bh3 Qe7 13.Bg5 {Mieses: A good move but not
the best. Beyond any doubt, with 13.e4! White achieves an
advantage; for example, 13...d4 14.Nd5 exd5 15.Bxc8 dxe4
16.Qb3! or 13...dxe4 14.Bg5 O-O 15.Nxe4, etc.} O-O
{Tartakower: Too late, and yet - as the storm now breaks - not
late enough. Better would be 13...Rd8.} 14.Bxf6 Qxf6 {Mieses:
A mistake. In his calculation Capablanca has overlooked the
opponent's 17th move. The right continuation was
14...gxf6. *** In "Chess Fundamentals" Jose Raul Capablanca
states that he overlooked 16.Kg2! and not White's 17th move
giving the following combination: 16.Bg2 (the move Capablanca
expected) 16...Ne5! 17.Nf4 (if 17.Rc1 Qxc1!! 18.Qxc1 Bxf2+ and
wins) 17...Ng4 18.h3 (18.Nh3 Bxf2+ and Black wins the exchange)
18...Nxf2 19.Rxf2 Bxf2+ 20.Kxf2 g5 and Black wins.} 15.Nxd5
{!} Qh6 16.Kg2 Rcd8 17.Qc1 {!!} exd5 18.Qxc5 Qd2 19.Qb5
{Tartakower: Having cleverly won a pawn, White shows that he
also can hold what he has gained.} Nd4 20.Qd3 Qxd3 {Mieses:
Black cannot avoid the exchange of the queens: 20...Qxb2 loses
a piece after 21.Rbf1, and if 20...Qb4, then 21.Rfd1 followed
by Be6+.} 21.exd3 Rfe8 22.Bg4 {!} Rd6 23.Rfe1 Rxe1 24.Rxe1 Rb6
{Mieses: I don't like this move. The best seems to be
24...Kf7. *** Tartakower: Very cleverly Black obtains some
counterplay which will bring in a pawn on the Q-side.} 25.Re5
Rxb2 26.Rxd5 Nc6 27.Be6+ Kf8 28.Rf5+ Ke8 29.Bf7+ Kd7 30.Bc4 a6
31.Rf7+ Kd6 32.Rxg7 b5 33.Bg8 a5 34.Rxh7 a4 35.h4 b4 36.Rh6+
Kc5 37.Rh5+ Kb6 38.Bd5 {? All annotators agree on 38.Bc4!
being better.} b3 {? All annotators agree on 38...Rxa2 being
better. According to Vladimir Vukovic White still wins with
39.Rh8! b3 40.h5! Ra1 (if 40...Nb4 41.h6! or 40...Rc2 41.h6!
b2 42.Ba2 etc.) 41.Bxc6 Kc7 (not 41...Kxc6? 42.Rb8 Kc7 43.Rb4
and wins) 42.Be4 b2 43.d4 a3 44.Rh7+ Kd6 45.Rb7 a2 46.Rxb2
Rg1+ 47.Kxg1 a1=Q+ 48.Rb1 Qxd4 49.Bf3, and White's position is
still winning.} 39.axb3 {! Tartakower: The result of very
precise calculations. 39.Bxb3 is another way to win.} a3
40.Bxc6 {Mieses: This paradoxical capture is now feasible;
e.g., 40...a2 41.Rb5+ Ka6 [41...Kxc6 42.Ra5] 42.Rb8!, etc.}
Rxb3 41.Bd5 a2 42.Rh6+ {!} 1-0

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Updated: 3 February, 2022
Created: 3 February, 2022