Capablanca vs Bogoljubow
301
[Event "London"] [Site "?"] [Round "0"] [White "Capablanca"] [Black "Bogoljubow"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C70"] [Opening "Spanish: 4.Ba4"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. d4 exd4 {The release of tension in the center is premature. 9... Bg4 is the contemporary reply.} 10. cxd4 Bg4 11. Be3 Na5 12. Bc2 Nc4 13. Bc1 { is this a loss of time? Not really, since the knight will eventually be forced back with b2-b3 and then the bishop can be profitably employed at b2.} 13... c5 {Classical Spanish play. Black will expand on the queenside and White will attempt to keep control of the center and attack on the kingside.} 14. b3 Na5 15. Bb2 {As promised. It would have been wrong to push the d-pawn, because then Black would simply swing his knight from f6 to d7 and stick the bishop on the long diagonal.} 15... Nc6 16. d5 Nb4 {Black has lured White into playing d4-d5, but it has cost him some time. He now attempts to eliminate the Spanish bishop, which can be dangerous after e5.} 17. Nbd2 Nxc2 18. Qxc2 {Black now has the bishop pair, but White controls the center and has a strong bishop at b2. Should he play on the kingside, as usual, or perhaps undermine the Black pawn structure with a2-a4. Or both? And how to time all ofthis?} 18... Re8 19. Qd3 { A very nice move which increases the pressure on the queenside while making it easier for the queen to get to the kingside via the third rank. Before making a concrete plan, White strives to improve the position of his pieces.} 19... h6 $18 {If Black was worried about e4-e5, he could have played Nf6-d7, but White isn't ready for such action yet. 19...Nd7 20.e5 Bxf3 21.Nxf3 dxe5 22.Nxe5 Nxe5 23.Bxe5 Bd6 24.Bxd6 Qxd6 25.Rad1 is not likely to be enough to win, given the block$} 20. Nf1 Nd7 21. h3 Bh5 {Black is a little too attached to his bishop pair. He should have captured and then played Bf6, to take control of the e5 square which has been the center of attention for some time.} 22. N3d2 Bf6 23. Bxf6 Qxf6 {Black seems to have secured the central squares, but now White deflects the Black knight to the queenside, and then launches his attack.} 24. a4 c4 25. bxc4 Nc5 26. Qe3 bxa4 {The position has changed considerably. Black has some valuable assets on the queenside and a seemingly well-placed knight, but it is actually offside.} 27. f4 {White is prepared to bring a pawnstorm against the enemy king. The Nc5 cannot come to the aid of its monarch. The attack can be repelled, but only by going into a complicated endgame.} 27... Qe7 28. g4 Bg6 29. f5 Bh7 30. Ng3 Qe5 31. Kg2 Rab8 32. Rab1 f6 {This is a passi ve move which creates further holes in Black's position. Since all of his chances lay on the queenside, he should have continued with his infiltration of the White position. 32...Rb2 33.Rxb2 Qxb2 would have been appropriate.} 33. Nf3 Rb2+ 34. Rxb2 Qxb2+ 35. Re2 {This is a much more comfortable position for White. The hole at e6 will be a nice landing site for the Nf3, and the passed pawn is not important.} 35... Qb3 36. Nd4 Qxe3 37. Rxe3 Rb8 {At first sight it seems that Black has all the chances with his open file and passed pawn. But White sees the potential of a passed d- pawn!} 38. Rc3 Kf7 39. Kf3 Rb2 40. Nge2 Bg8 {Now White, keeping in mind the theme of the previous variations, sees that he can achieve his goal of a passed d-pawn. He notices that the pawn at e4 is not a material consideration in this position.} 41. Ne6 Nb3 {Of course Bl ack cannot even think about exchanging at e6 and entombing the bishop. 41... Nxe4 42.Kxe4 Rxe2+ 43.Kd4 is a winning endgame for White, since the bishop is absolutely useless and the king is closeenough} 42. c5 dxc5 43. Nxc5 Nd2+ 44. Kf2 Ke7 {Again Black finds himself unthinkingly following conventional wisdom by moving his king to the center. But he needed to invest more thought in his queenside advantage. 44...Nb1! was best.} 45. Ke1 Nb1 46. Rd3 a3 {and here Blac k should have stuck to his plan, instead of belatedly switching to the queenside advance. 46...Kd6! gives drawing chances.} 47. d6+ Kd8 {At this point White is concentrating on mate rather than a longwinded endgame. The idea is that a knight at c6 would force the king off the queening square.} 48. Nd4 Rb6 49. Nde6+ Bxe6 50. fxe6 Rb8 51. e7+ Ke8 52. Nxa6 1-0
1-0
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1727
HITS
Players
WhiteCapablanca
BlackBogoljubow
Game
Moves52
OpeningC70 — Spanish: 4.Ba4
Result1-0
Date
Tags
Tournament
TournamentLondon
Location?
Round0