Alekhine, Alexander VS Marshall, Frank James 1914.04.26

Annotations

Game 24 in the book: Alekhine's win over F. J. Marshall at the International Tournament at St. Petersburg, 1914. A Petroff's Defence annotated by Alekhine, who plays White.

1. 7.c4 This variation of the Petroff does not cause Black any difficulty. White could secure better chances by 3. P—Q 4 (Steinitz), or 5. Q—K 2 (Lasker), or even 5. Kt—B 3.
2. 8…Nxd2 This exchange, which allows White quite an appreciable advantage in development, appears hardly justified. The correct line of play was 8. ....Castles; 9. Castles, B x Kt!; 10. B x B, B—Kt 5, with at least an equal game.
3. 10…Qxe2+ It is interesting to notice that this plausible exchange is later on shown up as a decisive mistake. Black must first play 10. ....B x B ch; 11. K x B, Q x Q ch; 12. B x Q, P x P; 13. B x P, Castles; after which White would have maintained a slight superiority in position, but Black's game would still remain very defendable.
4. 12…Be6 If now 12. ....P x P, then 13. K R—K 1 ch! with still greater effect than in the actual game, White having preserved his Bishop for the attack against his opponent's undeveloped game.
5. 15…Bxe4 Forced, for if 15. ....P—Q B 3 White would win a Pawn at once by exchange of Bishops, followed by 17. R—K 5.
6. 16…Re8 This move was absolutely necessary to prevent the threatened doubling of White's Rooks on the open file.
7. 19.Rg4 The winning manoeuvre. On the other hand, 19. Kt—Kt 5 was insufficient, on account of 19. ....K—Q 2! Now Black is going to lose a Pawn by force.
8. 20…Ke7 Best in the circumstances, for after 20. ....P—K R 4; 21. P—K Kt 4 followed by 22. P x P White would establish a passed Pawn.
9. 23.Re4+ Forcing the retreat of Black's King, for after 23. ....K—B 3; 24. K—B 3, the threat 25. R—K 8 would have been very dangerous for the opponent.
10. 24.Kc3 Contemplating ....Kt—Q 4; to cause White the maximum of technical difficulties.
11. 25…a6 If 25. ....Kt—K 2 White would have replied 26. R—K 5 and the continuation of the game would scarcely be modified.
12. 27.Re5 After the exchange of Rooks, Black could no longer save the game.
13. 28.Kd3 Preparing 29. R—Q B 5, which Black prevents by his reply, but at the cost of a new weakness at Q B 2 which White will proceed to exploit without delay.
14. 28…b6 White, as we see from the sequel, proposes to sacrifice a Pawn in order to occupy the 7th rank with his Rook and thus to obtain a passed Pawn. This manoeuvre is the shortest and surest means of securing the victory.
15. 30…Nf4 Or 30. ....R—K 3 ch; 31. Kt—K 5, Kt—B 3 ch; 32. K—B 3 and White dominates the board.
16. 32.Ne5 Not at once R x P on account of 32. ....R—B 5 ch followed by 33. ....R x Kt, whereas now, since White threatens 33. Kt—Q 7 ch, Black cannot save his Q B P.
17. 34.Nc4 A very important move. The Knight is going to be posted on Q Kt 7, where it will guard the advance of the passed Q P.

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