Game 31 in the book: Alekhine's win over H. Fahrni at the International Tournament at Mannheim, 1914. A French Defence annotated by Alekhine, who plays White.
6.h4This energetic move has been especially played in off-hand games by the ingenious Paris amateur, M. Eugène Chatard, and previously by the Viennese master, A. Albin. It was during the present game that it was introduced for the first time in a Master Tournament.
6…Bxg56. ....Castles, adopted on several occasions in international tournaments in recent years, was refuted by Bogoljuboff in his game against Spielmann at Vienna, 1922, which continued 7. B—Q 3, P—Q B 4; 8. Kt—R 3!, R—K 1; 9. Kt—Q Kt 5, P—B 4; 10. Kt—Q 6, and 11. Kt x R, Q x Kt; 12. B—Kt 5! and White should win. 6. ....P—Q B 4, and if 7. Kt—Kt 5 then 7. ....P—B 3, seems somewhat better.
8…Qe7After 8. ....Q—R 3 Black's Queen would be in a precarious position, and in this case White could gradually have strengthened his position by 9. P—K Kt 3 and 10. B—Kt 2.
9…Nf8White refutes this plausible move by an enterprising attack, but against any other reply he would have obtained ample compensation for the Pawn sacrificed. A particularly interesting continuation has been suggested here by Bogoljuboff: 9. ....P—Q R 3; 10. Q—Kt 4, P—K Kt 3; 11. Castles, P—Q B 4; 12. Q—Kt 3!, Kt—Kt 3; 13. P x P, Q x P; 14. B—Q 3, Q—B 1; 15. B—K 4!! and White's Knight will force its way into the hostile camp via K 4 or Q 5, with decisive effect.
10.Qg4Threatening both 11. Q x Kt P and 11. Kt x Q P! Black's reply is therefore compulsory.
12.O-O-OWhite is again threatening 13. Kt x Q P, his King having removed from the King's file.
13…Kd8There is no other way to develop the Queen-side. If 13. ....B—Q 2 the sacrifice of the Knight at Q 5 would once more be decisive.
14.Rh6In order to tie up Black's pieces still more, on account of the pressure on his K B P. From now onwards all Black's moves are forced.
17.Qg3An essential preliminary for the ensuing sacrifice. White now threatens to win off-hand by 18. Kt x Q P. Black cannot play 17. ....Q—Q 3, for after 18. B x P!, P x B; 19. R x P! he would be defenceless against the threat 20. Q—Kt 7!
18.Bxe4This sacrifice, which must be accepted by the opponent, wins the game in a few moves.
20.Qa3If 20. Kt—Q 6 Black could still have defended himself by 20. ....Q x P, seeing that White's discovered checks do not lead to mate. But after the text-move he has no longer an adequate defence.