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LCB, Issue #118 --, Live on the Edge with Tactics April 01, 2025 |
Live on the Edge with TacticsChessorb Classic, Issue #118 -- GOTM #88 Chessorb Classic We have the opening principles and many general positional principles to guide us as we choose our moves. These principles came to be accepted as truisms because they form the bedrock of any winning gameplan. But are there times when you can bend, not break, these rules? Yes is the surprising but true answer. You have to understand the principles on a deep level. Then you can recognize when the dangers they protect against are not more imminent than the chances available by your pieces temporarily abandoning their usual duties. This month's game features one of the great champions allowing a strong opponent some small apparent positional successes in order to further his own plan. The concessions were real enough but the pay off in terms of compensention was adjudicated to be worth it. It's 1929. Jose Raul Capablanca is back in Argentina for the first time since losing the World Championship in 1927. He faces many talented masters from the country. In this game he plays with White and his adversary is Albert Becker who plays with Black. Live on the Edge with TacticsCapablanca, Jose Raul - Becker, Albert [D37]GotM #88 Argentina, 1929 [Connaughton, Ken] 1.d4 Queen's Pawn Game 1...d5 Closed Game 2.c4 Queen's Gambit 2...e6 Queen's Gambit Declined 3.Nf3 Nd7 4.Nc3
This is the starting position of the D37 classification. 4...Ngf6 5.Bf4 dxc4 6.e3 Nd5 7.Bxc4
Allowing Black to exchange Knight for Bishop and rupture his pawns. Seems like something the amateur
would instinctively avoid but White knows he can retain the initiative by continuing to develop. He will also receive further compensation in the form of the semi-open e-file. (7.Bg3 Bb4 8.Qc2 b5 9.Be2 0-0 10.0-0 Nxc3 11.bxc3=) 7...Nxf4 8.exf4
And as discussed earlier, his pawns are compromized but he has a lead in development and the e-file to exploit. 8...Bd6 9.g3
This is another aspect of the concession that Capablanca was willing to allow when he played 7.Bxc4. Black has a weak long diagonal to attack and the next few moves will see him work towards utilizing that. 9...Nf6 10.0-0 White shows that he believes the Kingside will be defensible. 10...0-0 11.Qe2 b6 12.Rfd1 Bb7 13.Rac1 a6 14.Bd3 Bb4 15.Ne4!? White prevents any potential exchange on c3. He wants to get his Knight into the game and this is further evidence that he doesn't fear the Bishop - Queen battery on the long diagonal. He's allowing the Queen to come to d5. 15...Qd5
Most people would be scared to allow this but it show's White's calculation powers that he could forsee all of this before 7.Bxc4 and feel secure that his attack would contain better resources. 16.Nfg5! The attack begins. Don't feel bad if you can't see what's coming next. A strong master like Becker didn't. 16...Ne8 Preparing ...f5 to block the b1-h7 diagonal, apparently dealing with the threat. 17.Nxh7!!
Amazing sacrifice from White. Accepting the sac loses quickly. Declining loses slowly. 17...f5 Problem solved, White has two pieces under attack, one of them pinned to the mating squares g2 and h1. Black should be better now, right? (17...Kxh7?? 18.Nf6+ Kh6 (18...Kh8 19.Nxd5+-)19.Ng4+ Kh5 20.Be4! f5 (20...Qxe4 21.Nf6+ Kg6 22.Qh5+ Kxf6 23.Qg5#)21.Bxd5 Bxd5 22.Nf6+ Kg6 23.Nxd5+-) 18.Nhg5!
Suddenly as Black looks at the position, he feels so discouraged he
simply resigns. (After 18.Nhg5 Qd7 is best, to defend the second rank, however this loses to (18...Nf6 to stop the White Queen from coming in, is even worse 19.Bc4 Qd8 20.Bxe6+ Kh8 21.Nxf6 Qxf6 (21...Rxf6would fail against 22.Nf7+ Rxf7 23.Qh5+ Kg8 24.Qxf7+ Kh7 25.Qh5#)22.Rxc7 Qg6 (22...Bc8would be swiftly and brutally refuted by 23.Qh5+ Qh6 24.Qxh6+ gxh6 25.Rh7#)23.Rxb7 b5 24.Rc1 Rab8 25.Nf7+ Kh7 26.Rxb8 Rxb8 27.Qe5 Re8 28.Bxf5 Rxe5 29.Bxg6+ Kxg6 30.Nxe5+ Kf5 31.Kg2 Ke4 32.a3 Bf8+-) 19.Qh5 g6 20.Qxg6+ Qg7 21.Qxe6+ Kh8 22.Nd2 Nd6+-) 1-0 Capablanca, Jose Raul - Becker, Albert [D37] P.S. If you do not have html based email software and you're using a text only system, you may find that the links are only partially highlighted and may not work. If this is the case, simply copy and paste the entire link into the browser and hit Enter. That should get you where you want to go. Comments, ideas, feedback? I'd be stoked to hear from you. Get in touch See you next month. Ken 
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