Capablanca–Snosko-Borovski, St. Petersburg 1913. Facing the McCutcheon French, Capablanca tries an early queen-side castle and presses for a “grand combination” that never quite arrives; Eugène Snosko-Borovski defends with great resourcefulness and turns the game around. Capablanca's candid notes on his own defeat, from the public-domain Chess Fundamentals (1921), follow.
4…Bb4This constitutes the McCutcheon Variation. It aims at taking the initiative away from White. Instead of defending, Black makes a counter demonstration on the Queen's side. It leads to highly interesting games.
5.exd5At the time this game was played the variation 5 P - K 5 was in vogue, but I considered then, as I do now, the text move to be the stronger.
5…Qxd5This is considered superior to P x P. It has for its object, as I said before, to take the initiative away from White by disrupting White's Queen's side. White, however, has more than ample compensation through his breaking up Black's King's side. It might be laid down as a principle of the opening that the breaking up of the King's side is of more importance than a similar occurrence on the Queen's side.
8…b6The plan of Black in this variation is to post his Bishop on the long diagonal so as to be able later on, in conjunction with the action of his Rooks along the open K Kt's file, to make a violent attack against White's King. It is, of course, expected that White will Castle on the King's side because of the broken-up condition of his Queen's side Pawns.
12.O-O-OAn original idea, I believe, played for the first time in a similar position in a game against Mr. Walter Penn Shipley, of Philadelphia. My idea is that as there is no Black Bishop and because Black's pieces have been developed with a view to an attack on the King's side, it will be impossible for Black to take advantage of the apparently unprotected position of White's King. Two possibilities must be considered. Firstly: If Black Castles on the Queen's side, as in this game, it is evident that there is no danger of an attack. Secondly: If Black Castles on the King's side, White begins the attack first, taking advantage of the awkward position of Black's Queen. In addition to the attacking probabilities of the text move, White in one move brings his King into safety and brings one of his Rooks into play. Thus he gains several moves, “tempi” as they are called, which will serve him to develop whatever plan he may wish to evolve.
14…Qa5Unquestionably a mistake, overlooking White's fine reply, but a careful examination will show that White already has the better position.
17.Nh4This move has been criticised because it puts the Knight out of the way for a few moves. But by forcing Q - K Kt 4; White gains a very important move with P - B 4, which not only consolidates his position, but also drives the Queen away, putting it out of the game for the moment. Certainly the Queen is far more valuable than the Knight, to say nothing of the time gained and the freedom of action obtained thereby for White's more important pieces.
19.Bf3In such positions it is generally very advantageous to get rid of the Black Bishop controlling his Q R 3 and Q B 3, which form “holes” for White's pieces. The Bishop in such positions is of very great defensive value, hence the advantage of getting rid of it.
21…c6White threatened P - B 6 ch.
22…Qf8To prevent the Knight from moving to Q 6 via Q 2 and K 4 or Q B 4. It is self-evident that White has a great advantage of position.
23.Nd2I had considered R - Kt 3, which was the right move, but gave it up because it seemed too slow, and that in such a position there had to be some quicker way of winning.
24.Nc4Kt - K 4 or Kt - Kt 3 would have brought about an ending advantageous to White.
27…Rc8If R - Kt 1; 28 Kt x P, R (Kt 1) - B 1; 29 Kt x P would win.
28.c4Kt - B 4 was the right move. I was, however, still looking for the “grand combination,” and thought that the Pawn I would later on have at Q 6 would win the game. Black deserves great credit for the way in which he conducted this exceedingly difficult defence. He could easily have gone wrong any number of times, but from move 22 onwards he always played the best move.
35.Rxd3The position is most interesting. I believe I lost here my last chance to win the game, and if that is true it would vindicate my judgment when, on move 28, I played P - B 4. The student can find out what would happen if White plays Q - Q 4 ! at once. I have gone over the following variations: 35 Q - Q 4, R x K R P (of course if R x B P, P - Q 8 wins); 36 Q x Q P ! R - Q 1; 37 Q - R 6, K - Kt 1 best (if Q - Q 5 ch; K - R 1, K - Kt 1; R - Q Kt 1 wins); 38 Q x B P and White will at least have a draw.
38…Kb8There is nothing to be done against this simple move, since White cannot play Kt - Q 4, because Q - R 8 mates.
40…Re1+A very interesting battle.
José Raúl Capablanca, Chess Fundamentals (1921) · Public domain · source