Mieses, Jacques VS Alekhine, Alexander 1913.07.29

Annotations

Game 19 in the book: J. Mieses–Alekhine, International Tournament at Scheveningen, 1913. A Centre Game annotated by Alekhine, who plays Black and wins.

1. 3.Qxd4 It is quite evident that such displacements of the Queen at an early stage in the opening are not likely to reap any advantage. However, Black is compelled to play with precision, so that his opponent may have no time to start an attack against the King-side or even in the centre. For, no doubt, the White Queen installed at K Kt 3 (via K 3) would exercise a pressure on Black's King-side if he eventually Castles on that side.
2. 4…Be7 Black could also have played Kt—B 3, for the following variation is mere bluff and eventually turns to Black's advantage: 5. P—K 5, Kt—K Kt 5; 6. Q—K 4, P—Q 4!; 7. P x P e.p. ch., B—K 3; 8. B—Q R 6 (or 8. P x P, Q—Q 8 ch!), Q x P; 9. B x P, Q—Kt 5 ch! 10. Q x Q, Kt x Q.
3. 7…d5 This advance, which at first sight appears somewhat risky, in view of the position of White's Q R, will on the contrary allow Black to extract the maximum return from his advanced development. 7. ....P—Q 3; would result in almost a close game and White would find time to complete his neglected development.
4. 9…Bh4 Providing without loss of time against the threat 10. B—K R 6. Black's advantage is now evident.
5. 10…Be6 The sacrifice initiated by this move is full of promise and on the other hand devoid of risk, for Black will have an equivalent in material for his Queen. It would, however, have been more logical to adopt the following variation: 10. ....Kt x Kt; 11. B x Kt, Q—Kt 4 ch; 12. B—Q 2 (else 12. ....B—Kt 5), Q—Q B 4!; 13. B—K 3, Q—Q R 4; which would have given Black a dominating position without such complications as defy exact calculation.
6. 11.Be3 Calling for the subsequent combination, for 11. ....Q Kt—K 2; would be bad because of 12. Kt x Kt, followed by 13. Q—R 5, and 14. P—Q B 4, etc.
7. 11…Nxc3 Black obtains Rook, Knight, and Pawn for his Queen while maintaining the superior position. The sacrifice is therefore fully justified. Much less strong would be: 11. ....Q Kt—Kt 5; 12. P—Q R 3, Kt x Kt; 13. R x Q, Kt (Kt 5)—R 7 ch; 14. K—Q 2, Kt—Kt 8 ch; 15. K—K 1, and the two Black Knights would find themselves in a tragi-comical situation.
8. 15…Rfe8 Essential as a basis for all the subsequent combinations.
9. 16.Nf4 16. R—Q 1, B—Q 4; 17. Q—R 5, B—B 3 was no better, as Black now threatens 18. ....B—K 5.
10. 17.Rc1 Preparing the combination Kt x P followed by Kt (B 3)—Kt 5, etc. which at present would not be sufficient, e.g. 17. ....Kt x P; 18. R x Kt, Kt—Kt 5; 19. Kt—Q 3!, R—K 5; 20. Kt x Kt!, etc.
11. 18.g4 In order to exchange the dangerous Black Bishop.
12. 20.Bf3 White seems to be able to disentangle his forces now; but nevertheless Black's position still remains very strong, even after the unavoidable exchange.
13. 22.Qe2 It is clear that the capture of the Q Kt P would entail a rapid disintegration through the combined action of the K B and the Q R, the latter seizing the open Q Kt file.
14. 22…c5 A very important move which puts renewed vigour into Black's attack. White in particular threatened to force further simplifications by 23. P—B 3, Kt (Kt 5)—Q 6; 24. Kt x Kt, Kt x Kt; 25. R—Q 1, etc. By his last move Black frustrates this plan, and, if necessary, aims at posting a Knight at Q 6 by P—B 5, etc. As White cannot reply 23. B x P, because of 23. ....Kt (K 4)—Q 6; 24. Q x R ch, R x Q; 25. Kt x Kt, Kt—B 3, etc., weakening his right wing, he has to attempt a counter-attack which Black allows him no time to develop.
15. 24…Nd5 The renewed complications resulting from this move required the most exact calculations.
16. 26.f4 If 26. P—Kt 5, B—Kt 2; 27. R—Q 1, then 27. ....R—Kt 4; 28. B—Q 4, R—K 3, etc., also to Black's advantage.
17. 26…Nd3 Black takes immediate advantage of the weakening of the White Bishop resulting from 26. P—B 4.
18. 27.Qf3 If White had taken the Knight the sequel would have been: 27. ....R x P; 28. R—Kt 3, B—Q 5!; 29. Q—Q B 2 (not 29. Q x R, P x Q; 30. B x B, R—K 8 ch; 31. K—R 2, P—Q 7! and wins), B x B; 30. Q x P, R (K 1)—Q 1; with the better game. However, this variation is more favourable than the one chosen by White, after which Black can force the win by a fresh sacrifice.
19. 27…Rb5 Decisive! Now White has to take the Knight, for after 28. P—Kt 3, R—Q R 4; 29. P x Kt, Black could force the win by 29. ....P x Kt P; 30. K—B 1, B—B 6; 31. K—Q 1, R—R 8 ch, etc. A curious position, for although Black has only a Rook for the Queen, White is without resource.
20. 30.Kd1 30. R—Kt 2, R—B 1 ch; 31. K—Q 1, etc., is merely an inversion of moves.
21. 30…Rc8 Against the threat 31. ....R (B 1)—B 7, White's only defence was 31. R—Kt 2. But it was in no way sufficient for a draw, despite the opinion of all the critics who annotated the game at the time it was played, and in this case Black would have won as follows: 31. ....R—Kt 8 ch; 32. K—Q 2, R—Kt 6; 33. K—Q 1 (or A), B—B 6!; 34. B—B 1, B—Kt 5! and White is helpless against the threats 35. ....P—Q 7; and 35. ....R—Kt 8. A. 33. K—K 1, R—B 8 ch; 34. K—B 2 (or 34. B x R, P—Q 7 ch), B x P ch and wins. This analysis shows the correctness of the sacrifice initiated on move 11, and the soundness of the final combination.

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