Jose Raul Capablanca vs Max Euwe - Capablanca - Euwe 1931.07.16

Tags:

Jose Raul Capablanca vs Max Euwe
Capablanca - Euwe Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Scheveningen NED round 3 1931.07.16
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Belyavsky Gambit 1-0

[Event "Capablanca - Euwe"]
[Site "Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Scheveningen NED"]
[Date "1931.07.16"]
[EventDate "1931.07.01"]
[Round "3"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Jose Raul Capablanca"]
[Black "Max Euwe"]
[ECO "E34"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "61"]

1. d4 {Notes by Capablanca} Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5
5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 Qd6 {To unpin the Knight. To go back with
6... Be7 would be a regular variation of the Queen's Gambit
with Black a move behind. To play 6... h6 7. Bh4 7...g5 would
be too risky.} 7. e3 Ne4 8. Bf4 Qg6 {The alternatives would be
8... Qe7 or 8...Qc6. The other Queen moves are much less
satisfactory. It should be noticed that in the eight moves
played so far, Black has moved his Queen twice and his King's
Knight twice also. In a closed position such things are often
possible and good, but in a rather open position they can very
seldom be done without getting into trouble.} 9. a3 {Black
threatened 9...Nxc3. The text move forces Black to exchange
the Bishop for the Knight, thereby not only releasing the
pressure against the Queen's Knight and the King, but also
strengthening White's position.} 9...Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 Bf5 {This
involves the loss of a pawn, but Black had very little
choice. The only way to avoid immediate loss would be to play
10...Qc6, another Queen move in ten. 10...c6 was not feasible
because of 11. f3 Nf6 12. Bd3 Qh5 13. h4 and Black cannot stop
14.g4 winning a piece.} 11. Qb3 O-O {Black plays for
attack. He is slightly ahead in development and now offers a
pawn in order to gain more time.} 12. f3 {Should White play
12. Qxb7 12...Nc6 would give Black such an advantage in
development that it would be impossible for White to avoid
serious loss. White, however, could have played 12. Qxd5 and
obtained the better game thus: 12...Nxc3 13. Qb3 Ne4 14. Nf3
Qb6 [best; if 14...Nc6 15. Rc1 Nd6 16. Ne5 Nxe5 17. dxe5 with
a winning position] 15. Qxb6 axb6 16. Bd3 with what should be
a winning position. White could also play 12. Nf3 and obtain a
winning game since Black's best answer would be 12...Qb6 and
then would follow 13. Qxb6 cxb6 14. c4. Instead of adopting
the simple course White went in for complications: a policy
not to be advised when there is a simple continuation in sight
offering a definite advantage.} 12...Nd6 13. g4 Bd3 {Black
insists in playing an attack at all costs: a wrong policy in a
case like this where the number of pieces for the attack is
inferior to the number of pieces for the defense. Black could
succeed only if he were able to throw into the fray the
balance of his pieces before White could bring his to the
defense. Since that is not the case he is bound to suffer the
consequences. He should have played 13...Be6 when White would
probably have played 14.Rd1 in order to start an attack
against Black's King through Bd3. The continuation 14. Bxd6
cxd6 15. Qxb7 15...Nd7 would give White a very doubtful game.}
14. Qxd5 Bxf1 15. Kxf1 Qd3+ 16. Ne2 Nc4 17. Kf2 17...Nxe3 {! A
very clever sacrifice.} 18. Qxb7 { White cannot take 18. Bxe3
because of 18...Re8 which would regain the piece for Black
with a good game. But unfortunately for Black he has not
enough force for the attack. All he is attacking with is a
Queen and a Knight, and the only other piece he can throw
immediately into the battle is the King's Rook. Against that
White has all his pieces ready to go to the defense of his
King. Under such conditions, unless the position is of a very
unusual nature, the attack cannot succeed.} 18...Na6 19. Qb1
19...Qxb1 {Black had to exchange Queens to avoid the loss of
the Knight. As a result White comes out a pawn ahead with a
good game, advantage enough to win with proper play.}
20. Raxb1 Nc4 21. a4 Rab8 22. Rb5 Rb6 23. Rhb1 Re8 24. Ng3 Rf6
25. Rf5 {White wants to keep his Bishop at f4 where it
controls the moves of the two Black Knights. At the same time
he wants to place his Knight at e4 in order to block any
possible entrance of the Rook at e8 into White's position. The
Knight at e4 would be in a very strong central position. It is
true that as a result of this maneuver Black will be able to
reunite his Queenside pawns and also White's pieces will be
crowding one another a little, but as White's ultimate
intention is to advance on the Kingside, the overcrowding of
White's pieces will not become too serious a fault. The
alternatives would be either 25.Nf5 or 25. Bc1 [threatening
26.Ne4]. The first move would prevent the placing of the
Knight at e4. The second move would remove the Bishop from the
one square where he controls most of the moves of both the
Black Knights. The course of the game vindicated White's
judgment in playing the text move.} 25...Rb6 26. Rxb6 axb6
27. Ne4 f6 28. h4 c6 29. h5 Kf7 {Black could not play 29...h6
because of 30. Bxh6.} 30. Bc1 {? A bad move. White should have
gone on with his original plan, which would have won without
much trouble thus: 30. h6 30...Rxe4 31. fxe4 g6 32. Rb5 cxb5
33. axb5 and White would regain the piece with a won
position. White made the text move forgetting that it released
the Knight at a6.} 30...Re6 {A blunder due to time
pressure. The game was being played at the rate of 32 moves in
two hours. Black was short of time and probably tired from the
ordeal. Incidentally it has been assumed by all annotators
that Black could now easily draw by playing 30...Nc7. They
have stated that White could not play 31. a5 because of
31...Nd5, threatening to win the Rook by 32...g6. The
assertion is entirely wrong. Not only can White play 31.a5 but
it is the best move, and the one move that gives White the
best winning chances. The position is so interesting that it
will repay study. Suppose 32. axb6 g6 33. Rf4 Rb8 [ Let us go
back again. If 33...Re7 34. Ng5+ followed by 35.Re4 with
winning chances. Black's best chance for a draw is to play
33...Nxf4 34. Bxf4 Nxb6 35. Nd6+ Ke7 36. Nxe8 Kxe8 37. Ke2 and
while it would be hard to prove a win, White would have
chances for victory. ] 34. Nxf6 Nxf4 35. Bxf4 Rxb6 36. Nxh7
and with three pawns for the Exchange White has an excellent
chance to win.} 31. Ng5+ 1-0

Download PGN

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