Hi there! I’m going to start a new feature, to tie in with #ThrowbackThursday on social media — you know, being in with cool stuff like that, and all. Basically, what I am going to do, every Thursday, is post a game from the archives, a classic. I’ll explain a bit of the background, and annotate the game as best I can. I’m hoping that it will bring some enjoyment, dear reader.
I’m going to start as I mean to go on, with a game of immense quality. It was played over eighty-years ago, between Alexander Alekhine, (the then World Chess Champion), and Emmanuel Lasker. The game took place in Zurich, Switzerland, at the 37th Swiss Championships. The chess elite of the time, (Nimsowitch, Lasker, Alekhine, Bogoljubov, Euwe, to name a few), joined homegrown hopefuls to compete for the crown.
The tournament would be won by Alekhine, with a score of 13/15. He would pip Max Euwe of the Netherlands (the only player to defeat Alekhine in the tournament, and who would take his World Championship title from him a year later) by a point. On his way to that score, Alekhine would grace chess history with this gem, in which he outplays and out-strategizes his opponent, before finishing in his usual sharp style.
[pgn height=300 layout=horizontal showmoves=figurine initialgame=first initialHalfmove=][Event “Zurich”]
[Site “Zurich SUI”]
[Date “1934.07.25”]
[Round “12”]
[White “Alexander Alekhine”]
[Black “Emanuel Lasker”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “D67”]
[EventDate “1934.07.14”]{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. } 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.e3 O-O 7.Rc1 c6 8.Bd3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 { All fairly standard stuff, of course, but at the time it was the likes of these guys who were making it standard stuff. } 9…Nd5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.Ne4 N5f6 12.Ng3 { It’s a rather quiet move this, maintaining pieces, but White has to be careful not to become passive. } 12…e5 { Black declines the option to go to an early endgame, via 12…Qb4 (as shown in the variation). This is actually a good response to White’s last, a punchy move after a quiet one, striking in the centre, where White’s King as yet remains. Good, human chess. } ( 12…Qb4+ 13.Qd2 Qxd2+ 14.Kxd2 { with equal chances, games usually continuing either …b6 or …Rd8 } ) 13.O-O { Very prudent. White is slightly better, here, but Black will not be unhappy. } ( { White is equal at best after: } 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Nxe5 Qxe5 15.Qc2 Qa5+ ) 13…exd4 ( 13…e4 { seems to work out very slightly better for White after: } 14.Nd2 Nb6 15.Bb3 Be6 16.Qc2 { but to me, Black seems to have things under control after } 16…Bd5 ) 14.Nf5 { The straight recaptures with either the f3-knight or Queen were also perfectly respectable. But it makes sense to reactivate this knight, especially with tempo on the black Queen. Textbook stuff. } 14…Qd8 15.N3xd4 { Recapturing with the other knight was also good, just a question of taste. } 15…Ne5 { A little hasty, this, …c5 was a little more in context, booting the knight out of its nice central square. It is possible that Black may have been concerned about Nb5 and the d6-square, but upon …Ne5 Black is actually not doing badly at all. } ( 15…c5 16.Nb5 Ne5 17.Nbd6 Bxf5 18.Nxf5 { and either …Nxc4 or …Qxd1 holds things fine, here. } ) 16.Bb3 { Certain engines give Be2, here. Personally, I agree with Alekhine, I think it is correct to have this bishop firing along this diagonal if at all possible. } 16…Bxf5 { Not a bad move, but this was by no means forced. Black could have continued to improve his position with …Qc7, for example, with the idea of then centralising rooks. The fact that he chose to capture here could be an indication that he was not comfortable, or just a simple misjudgement, because it doesn’t really work out for him. } 17.Nxf5 Qb6 $2 { This move is really an incorrect appraisal of the standings. Black is not in any position to be making such moves yet, and would have been better opting for …g6 for now. The White knight on f5 is much more dangerous than it looks, as Alekhine now demonstrates. } 18.Qd6 $1 { Tickling the black knight on e5, but there is a credible threat here of Nh6 for example, with the knight on f6 also vulnerable. } 18…Ned7 ( 18…Ng6 19.Nh6+ gxh6 { …Kh8 would be ridiculous of course, and lose to Nxf7+ } 20.Qxf6 { with a huge edge to White. } ) 19.Rfd1 { Nice play by Alekhine, steadily improving his position and mobilising more forces. Very illustrative. } 19…Rad8 20.Qg3 { White’s position is total harmony, now. To me, it begins to resemble a piece of poetry. } 20…g6 21.Qg5 { Another illustrative move, White has a stranglehold on the Black position. The black knights lack quality, and the one on d7 is bonded to the one on f6. The black queen is unable to make any valuable contribution. Black’s rooks are passive spectators and his King is in a very precarious situation. White is at this time the only player in the game. } 21…Kh8 { A prudent decision by Lasker, White has enjoyed this pin for too long already. In honesty, though, this is too little, too late. } ( 21…Qb5 22.Nh6+ Kg7 23.Qxb5 cxb5 24.Nxf7 { In this situation, White is getting the better deal giving two pieces for the rook. It’s all down to activity and piece quality. } 24…Rxf7 25.Bxf7 Kxf7 26.Rc7 { totally dominating } ) ( { also inadequate is } 21…Ne4 22.Qe7 gxf5 23.Rxd7 Rxd7 24.Qxd7 { and the open Black King, together with the superior quality of the bishop compared to the knight, not to mention the more active Queen, gives White the better game by far } ) 22.Nd6 { The beginning of the end. } 22…Kg7 23.e4 { This is the equivalent of placing a feather on a car which is balancing precariously on the edge of a cliff and ready to plummett to the depths. In chess, we call it ‘zugzwang’ (or other things, unfortunately unprintable). } 23…Ng8 24.Rd3 { Continuing the build up, ready to swing the rook over to the Kingside or even to double up. But even more so, Alekhine knows that Lasker has nowhere to go, and that with each move his options become more and more unfavourable. } 24…f6 { Accelerating the end, but to be honest, Black was done regardless and in a horrid situation. The end comes swiftly and is probably a relief. } 25.Nf5+ { Alekhine, one of the sharpest chess players ever, pounces. } 25…Kh8 26.Qxg6 $3 { A wonderful finish! And here Lasker resigned on account of mate being absolutely unavoidable — even with heavy losses. A superb display by Alexander Alekhine. 1-0. } 1-0[/pgn]
[Site “Zurich SUI”]
[Date “1934.07.25”]
[Round “12”]
[White “Alexander Alekhine”]
[Black “Emanuel Lasker”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “D67”]
[EventDate “1934.07.14”]{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. } 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.e3 O-O 7.Rc1 c6 8.Bd3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 { All fairly standard stuff, of course, but at the time it was the likes of these guys who were making it standard stuff. } 9…Nd5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.Ne4 N5f6 12.Ng3 { It’s a rather quiet move this, maintaining pieces, but White has to be careful not to become passive. } 12…e5 { Black declines the option to go to an early endgame, via 12…Qb4 (as shown in the variation). This is actually a good response to White’s last, a punchy move after a quiet one, striking in the centre, where White’s King as yet remains. Good, human chess. } ( 12…Qb4+ 13.Qd2 Qxd2+ 14.Kxd2 { with equal chances, games usually continuing either …b6 or …Rd8 } ) 13.O-O { Very prudent. White is slightly better, here, but Black will not be unhappy. } ( { White is equal at best after: } 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Nxe5 Qxe5 15.Qc2 Qa5+ ) 13…exd4 ( 13…e4 { seems to work out very slightly better for White after: } 14.Nd2 Nb6 15.Bb3 Be6 16.Qc2 { but to me, Black seems to have things under control after } 16…Bd5 ) 14.Nf5 { The straight recaptures with either the f3-knight or Queen were also perfectly respectable. But it makes sense to reactivate this knight, especially with tempo on the black Queen. Textbook stuff. } 14…Qd8 15.N3xd4 { Recapturing with the other knight was also good, just a question of taste. } 15…Ne5 { A little hasty, this, …c5 was a little more in context, booting the knight out of its nice central square. It is possible that Black may have been concerned about Nb5 and the d6-square, but upon …Ne5 Black is actually not doing badly at all. } ( 15…c5 16.Nb5 Ne5 17.Nbd6 Bxf5 18.Nxf5 { and either …Nxc4 or …Qxd1 holds things fine, here. } ) 16.Bb3 { Certain engines give Be2, here. Personally, I agree with Alekhine, I think it is correct to have this bishop firing along this diagonal if at all possible. } 16…Bxf5 { Not a bad move, but this was by no means forced. Black could have continued to improve his position with …Qc7, for example, with the idea of then centralising rooks. The fact that he chose to capture here could be an indication that he was not comfortable, or just a simple misjudgement, because it doesn’t really work out for him. } 17.Nxf5 Qb6 $2 { This move is really an incorrect appraisal of the standings. Black is not in any position to be making such moves yet, and would have been better opting for …g6 for now. The White knight on f5 is much more dangerous than it looks, as Alekhine now demonstrates. } 18.Qd6 $1 { Tickling the black knight on e5, but there is a credible threat here of Nh6 for example, with the knight on f6 also vulnerable. } 18…Ned7 ( 18…Ng6 19.Nh6+ gxh6 { …Kh8 would be ridiculous of course, and lose to Nxf7+ } 20.Qxf6 { with a huge edge to White. } ) 19.Rfd1 { Nice play by Alekhine, steadily improving his position and mobilising more forces. Very illustrative. } 19…Rad8 20.Qg3 { White’s position is total harmony, now. To me, it begins to resemble a piece of poetry. } 20…g6 21.Qg5 { Another illustrative move, White has a stranglehold on the Black position. The black knights lack quality, and the one on d7 is bonded to the one on f6. The black queen is unable to make any valuable contribution. Black’s rooks are passive spectators and his King is in a very precarious situation. White is at this time the only player in the game. } 21…Kh8 { A prudent decision by Lasker, White has enjoyed this pin for too long already. In honesty, though, this is too little, too late. } ( 21…Qb5 22.Nh6+ Kg7 23.Qxb5 cxb5 24.Nxf7 { In this situation, White is getting the better deal giving two pieces for the rook. It’s all down to activity and piece quality. } 24…Rxf7 25.Bxf7 Kxf7 26.Rc7 { totally dominating } ) ( { also inadequate is } 21…Ne4 22.Qe7 gxf5 23.Rxd7 Rxd7 24.Qxd7 { and the open Black King, together with the superior quality of the bishop compared to the knight, not to mention the more active Queen, gives White the better game by far } ) 22.Nd6 { The beginning of the end. } 22…Kg7 23.e4 { This is the equivalent of placing a feather on a car which is balancing precariously on the edge of a cliff and ready to plummett to the depths. In chess, we call it ‘zugzwang’ (or other things, unfortunately unprintable). } 23…Ng8 24.Rd3 { Continuing the build up, ready to swing the rook over to the Kingside or even to double up. But even more so, Alekhine knows that Lasker has nowhere to go, and that with each move his options become more and more unfavourable. } 24…f6 { Accelerating the end, but to be honest, Black was done regardless and in a horrid situation. The end comes swiftly and is probably a relief. } 25.Nf5+ { Alekhine, one of the sharpest chess players ever, pounces. } 25…Kh8 26.Qxg6 $3 { A wonderful finish! And here Lasker resigned on account of mate being absolutely unavoidable — even with heavy losses. A superb display by Alexander Alekhine. 1-0. } 1-0[/pgn]
