Alekhine, Alexander VS Isakov, Konstantin Ivanovic 1919.??.??

Annotations

Game 52 in the book: Alekhin—K. Issakoff, Moscow Championship, October 1919 (first prize, without loss). A Danish Gambit annotated by Alekhine, who plays White.

1. 3…dxc3 Declining the Gambit by 3. ....P—Q 4, or 3. ....Q—K 2 is, in my opinion, preferable.
2. 4.Nxc3 White, by giving up only one Pawn, secures as vigorous an attack as in the Danish Gambit, which has been completely neglected since Schlechter's discovery: 4. B—Q B 4, P×P; 5. B×P, P—Q 4!; 6. B×Q P, Kt—K B 3!
3. 4…Bb4 In a game Alekhin—Verlinski, played at Odessa in 1918, Black played 4. ....Kt—Q B 3. There followed: 5. B—Q B 4, P—Q 3; 6. Kt—B 3, Kt—B 3; 7. Q—Kt 3, Q—Q 2; 8. Kt—K Kt 5, Kt—K 4 (Kt—Q 1 is better); 9. B—Kt 5, P—B 3; 10. P—B 4!, P×B; 11. P×Kt, P×P; 12. B—K 3, B—Q 3; 13. Kt×Kt P, Castles; 14. R—Q 1, Kt—K 1; 15. Castles, Q—K 2; 16. Kt×Q B, Kt×Kt; 17. Q—R 3! (not 17. Q—Kt 4, because of Kt—B 4), R—Q 1; 18. Kt×B P, B—Kt 5; 19. R×Kt, R—K 1; 20. B—Kt 5, Q—B 2; 21. Q—Q Kt 3, B—K 7; 22. Kt×P ch, K—R 1; 23. R—B 1, R—K B 1, an ingenious resource which very nearly saves the game. 24. Q—Q 1!! (the only move), Q—R 4; 25. Q×B, Q×Kt; 26. R—Q 5, and Black resigns.
4. 5…d6 Black need not fear 6. B×P ch, K×B; 7. Q—Kt 3 ch, B—K 3; 8. Q×K B, Kt—Q B 3!; 9. Q×P, Kt—Q 5; which, on the contrary, would give him a very strong attack.
5. 9.Ba3 More in the spirit of the opening is at once 9. P—K 5, and if 9. ....P×P; 10. Q—Kt 3, with prospects of a strong attack for White. After the text-move Black could have secured a satisfactory game by 9. ....B—Kt 5; 10. Q—Kt 3, Kt—Q R 4!; 11. B×P ch, K—B 1; 12. Q—R 4, B×Kt; 13. P×B, K×B; 14. Q×Kt, R—K 1, etc.
6. 10…Ng4 After 10. ....Kt—K 1; 11. P—K R 3!, B—B 4; 12. R—K 1, etc. Black would have a very precarious game, the K R and K Kt being immobilized. He therefore prefers to give back the Pawn in order to complete his development.
7. 13.Re1 Preparing to sacrifice the K B eventually. It is clear that Black cannot play 13. ....R×R ch; 14. Q×R, Q×B; 15. Q—K 8 ch, Q—B 1; 16. B×P ch, K—R 1; 17. Q×Q mate.
8. 13…Bf5 Preferable, however, would be 13. ....R×R ch; 14. Q×R, B—B 4; 15. R—Q 1, Q—K 1; 16. Kt—Q 4!, and Black, although having slightly the inferior game, is safe from immediate disaster.
9. 14.Bxf7+ A pretty combination. Its object is to keep the K Kt from K B 3 by forcing the Black King to occupy that square.
10. 15…Kf6 Evidently compulsory. If 15. ....B—K 3; 16. Kt—Kt 5 ch, etc., and if 15. ....K—Kt 3; 16. R×R, followed by 17. Kt—R 4 ch and White wins.
11. 16…Be6 Or if 16. ....Kt—R 3; 17. P—Kt 4, etc.
12. 18.g4 Regaining by force the piece he has sacrificed.
13. 18…g6 The only resource. If 18. ....Kt—B 2 or K Kt 1, White wins with the following problem-like variation: 19. Q—B 4 ch, K—Kt 3; 20. B—K 7!!, Q×B; 21. R×B ch and mates.
14. 19.g5+ Also very strong would be 19. Q×Kt, Q×B; 20. P—Kt 5 ch, K—B 2!; 21. Q×R P ch, K—B 1; 22. Q×K Kt P, with a winning attack. After the text-move, which wins back the piece, the Black King contrives to escape danger temporarily.
15. 23…Bc4 Black hopes to take advantage of the fact that White's Q B is pinned, in order to seize the open King's file, but White's reply destroys this last hope.
16. 24.Be7 The same move as in the variation referred to after Black's 18th move, but with an entirely different aim.

Alexander Alekhine, My Best Games of Chess 1908–1923 (1927) · Public domain · source