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Chess Lessons From A Grandmaster

The document summarizes and analyzes a chess game between Alexander Alekhine and José Raúl Capablanca from their 1927 world title match. It describes how Alekhine was able to "outplay the great Cuban in Capablanca style" through strong strategic play and a combination to finish the game. While Capablanca was usually seen as the strategist, in this game Alekhine adopted Capablanca's style to wrest victory from an uncharacteristic collapse by Capablanca. The game is cited as an example of Alekhine's unconventional and visionary approach to chess compared to Capablanca.

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110 views

Chess Lessons From A Grandmaster

The document summarizes and analyzes a chess game between Alexander Alekhine and José Raúl Capablanca from their 1927 world title match. It describes how Alekhine was able to "outplay the great Cuban in Capablanca style" through strong strategic play and a combination to finish the game. While Capablanca was usually seen as the strategist, in this game Alekhine adopted Capablanca's style to wrest victory from an uncharacteristic collapse by Capablanca. The game is cited as an example of Alekhine's unconventional and visionary approach to chess compared to Capablanca.

Uploaded by

juan
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chess lessons from a Grandmaster

 Stephen Moss and Nigel Short


 The Guardian, Tuesday 15 August 2006
 Article history

Capablanca v Alekhine after move 32.

The doc and I are mulling over some of the games of Russian world champion Alexander
Alekhine. His great rival was the Cuban José Raúl Capablanca, from whom Alekhine
wrested the title in 1927. Usually, Capablanca is portrayed as a strategist and Alekhine as a
tactician. But things are never quite that simple: great players can adapt their style. Short
cites this game, the 21st of their world title series in 1927, as an example of Alekhine
"outplaying the great Cuban in Capablanca style".

Capablanca v Alekhine, Buenos Aires, 1927) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5.


e3 Be7 6. Nf3 0-0 7. Rc1 a6 8. a3 h6 9. Bh4 dxc4 10. Bxc4 b5 11. Be2 Bb7 12. 0-0 c5 13.
dxc5 Nxc5 14. Nd4 Rc8 15. b4 Ncd7 16. Bg3 Nb6 17. Qb3 Nfd5 18. Bf3 Rc4 19. Ne4 Qc8
20. Rxc4 Nxc4 21. Rc1 Qa8 22. Nc3 Rc8 23. Nxd5 Bxd5 24. Bxd5 Qxd5 25. a4 Bf6 26.
Nf3 Bb2 27. Re1 Rd8 28. axb5 axb5 29. h3 e5 30. Rb1 e4 31. Nd4 Bxd4 32. Rd1 Nxe3 (see
diagram above).

An uncharacteristic implosion by Capablanca, who seems to have overlooked black's tactic.


"Loses immediately," says Alekhine succinctly in his notes of 32. Rd1. "But also after 32.
exd4 Qxd4 the game could not have lasted long." (That's grandmaster-speak - I could still
easily lose that endgame, despite the pawn advantage.)

Black's knight on c4 dictates the play from an early stage. "White allows an outpost on c4,"
explains Short, "after which he is struggling. Black's 21st move was particularly fine: the
bishop appears suspended in air, but it is kept safe by tactics. Capablanca's collapse was
abrupt, indicating he was becoming worn out. Powerful strategy with a little combination to
finish it all off."

Alekhine considered this one of the two "most valuable" games of the 1927 match.
Kasparov, too, makes great play of it in My Great Predecessors: "In intricate, undetermined
positions with mutual weaknesses, Capablanca's intuition gave him trouble and he would
begin losing the thread. Alekhine thought in a more non-standard way, observing the
correlation of the weaknesses and which pieces needed to be exchanged, and which
retained."

Capablanca is sometimes called the Mozart of chess. Which must make Alekhine the
Beethoven - slightly bonkers and able to conjure up visions that elude everyone else.
"[Alekhine's] conceptions were gigantic, full of outrageous ideas," said Bobby Fischer,
explaining why the Russian was a dangerous role model. "It's hard to find mistakes in his
games, but in a sense his whole method was a mistake." Perhaps, I suggest to Short, I made
a mistake in adopting the nom de blunder AlecHyne. Maybe I should restyle myself
CapaBlanka. "Possibly," he says, "though of course Capa did have oodles of natural talent."
No offence meant, I'm sure.

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