[Event "Teplitz-Schoenau"]
[Site "Teplitz-Schoenau"]
[Date "1922.10.05"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Maroczy, Geza"]
[Black "Tartakower, Saviely"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A85"]
[WhiteElo "2576"]
[BlackElo "2542"]
[Annotator ""]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "1922.10.02"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "CSR"]
{The Players The Hungarian Geza Maroczy (1870–1951) was one of the
world’s strongest players at the start of the twentieth century. His second
place at Nuremberg 1896 signalled his arrival on the world stage, and over the
decade 1899–1908 he achieved consistently good results in numerous
tournaments. In 1906 he signed an agreement with Lasker to play a world-title
match, but owing to a combination of circumstances the match never took place.
Although Maroczy achieved some further successes after the title bid collapsed,
he started to play less often and more erratically. After the First World War
he lived in various countries before returning to Hungary, which he
represented in the Olympiads of 1927, 1930 and 1933. Maroczy effectively
retired in 1936, although he did participate in one tournament in 1947.
Maroczy had a positional style, and was especially famed for his handling of
the endgame. Some of his queen and pawn endings are regarded as classics and
are still quoted today as model examples. His name is attached to one
important opening system – the Maroczy Bind (pawns on c4 and e4 against the
Sicilian). Savielly Tartakower (1887–1956) was born in Rostov-on-Don, but
he left Russia in 1899 and settled in Vienna. He had already become a leading
player before the First World War, winning matches against Spielmann and Réti,
but it was in the 1920s that his career reached its peak. In 1924 Tartakower
moved to Paris and in the subsequent six years won a number of tournaments.
While he was undoubtedly one of the top ten players during this period, he was
not generally regarded as a potential challenger for the world title. During
the 1930s his results slowly tailed off, although he remained a strong and
active player until 1950. Tartakower’s playing style is hard to define. He
would often experiment in the openings, and he seemed to love paradoxical
ideas. His best games are absolutely first-class, but sometimes his love of
the eccentric cost him valuable points. Tartakower’s writings are highly
regarded, although little has been translated into English. His two-volume My
Best Games of Chess is an excellent games collection, containing not only very
fine analysis but also some humour. The Game Tartakower adopts the Dutch
Defence, an opening quite popular today but which was regarded as offbeat at
the time this game was played. In the Dutch, one of Black’s main plans is to
launch a kingside attack, but to begin with Maroczy does not seem to realize
the potential danger. A few casual moves by White allow Black to make a
brilliant rook sacrifice. What makes this sacrifice special is that it is
largely positional – Black obtains a few pawns, but his main compensation
lies in his unshakeable grip on the position. Maroczy struggles, but the net
tightens ever so slowly. Finally, the pressure becomes too much and White’s
position collapses.} 1. d4 e6 2. c4 f5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. a3 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3 d5
7. Nf3 c6 8. O-O Ne4 9. Qc2 Bd6 10. b3 Nd7 11. Bb2 Rf6 12. Rfe1 Rh6 13. g3 Qf6
14. Bf1 g5 15. Rad1 g4 16. Nxe4 fxe4 17. Nd2 {The fireworks begin from this
point onwards. The beautiful thing about the following sacrifice is that it
was intuitively made by Tartakower. It is impossible to calculate right to the
end.} Rxh2 $1 18. Kxh2 Qxf2+ 19. Kh1 (19. Bg2 Nf6 $1 20. Rc1 {making space for
the king on d1 might well be the best option.} (20. Rf1 $2 Qxg3+ 21. Kg1 Qh2+
22. Kf2 Bg3+ 23. Ke2 Qxg2+ 24. Rf2 Qxf2#) 20... Qxg3+ 21. Kg1 Qh2+ 22. Kf1 Nh5
$1 $19 {The knight enters the attack and Black has a decisive advantage.})
19... Nf6 $1 {The queen on f2 is irritatingly placed. Tartakower finds it the
perfect time to include more pieces into the attack.} (19... Bxg3 $2 20. Re2
$18) (19... Qxg3 $6 20. Nb1 $1 $14 {[%cal Gc2g2]}) 20. Re2 {This is definitely
the most natural and the best defensive move available in the position.} Qxg3 {
Black is a rook down and has three pawns to compensate for it. But his pieces
are working together. The queen on g3 is a monster and the bishop on d6 and
knight on f6 are backing it up. And as Garry Kasparov has said, even a pawn is
a unit of attack, so we cannot discount the g4 pawn.} 21. Nb1 {This looks like
the most natural move, clearing the second rank for the white queen to join
the defence.} (21. Rg2 $2 Qh3+ 22. Kg1 Qxe3+ 23. Kh1 Qh3+ 24. Kg1 Bf4 $17)
21... Nh5 (21... Qh4+ 22. Kg1 g3 23. Rg2 Ng4 24. Qe2 Bd7 $19 {followed by Rf8
will end the game. Look at how all the white pieces are completely tied up.})
22. Qd2 (22. Rh2 Qf3+ 23. Bg2 Ng3+ 24. Kg1 Ne2+ 25. Kh1 Qf2 $19) 22... Bd7 $1 {
Tartakower's play is a perfect example of attacking play. He invites everyone
to the party.} 23. Rf2 Qh4+ 24. Kg1 Bg3 25. Bc3 (25. Rg2 {might have been
possible but Black can bring his last piece into the attack.} Rf8 26. Nc3 Bc7 {
clearing the g3 square for the knight.} 27. Ne2 (27. Be2 $2 Ng3 $1 28. Rh2
Nxe2+ 29. Qxe2 Bxh2+ 30. Qxh2 Qxh2+ 31. Kxh2 Rf2+ $19) 27... Rf3 $1 $19) 25...
Bxf2+ 26. Qxf2 g3 27. Qg2 Rf8 {Black is now only a down a piece and already
has three pawns for it. Besides the knight on b1 is completely out of the game.
We can conclude that this is a completely winning position for the second
player.} 28. Be1 Rxf1+ $1 {Tartakower sacrifices material with great ease in
this game.} (28... e5 $1 {would have been faster.}) 29. Kxf1 e5 30. Kg1 Bg4 $1
{Attacking the d1 rook and also threatening Bf3.} 31. Bxg3 Nxg3 32. Re1 Nf5 $1
(32... Bf3 $2 33. Qh2 $15) 33. Qf2 Qg5 34. dxe5 Bf3+ 35. Kf1 Ng3+ {A
mesmerisingly beautiful attack by Tartakower. He could intuitively feel that
his attack was decisive even though there was no clear path to victory. He
brought all his pieces into the attack with great patience and finished off
the game to perfection. No wonder this game received a brilliancy prize.} (
35... Ng3+ 36. Kg1 Nh1+ $19 {. Lessons from this game: 1) If your opponent is
building up an attack, it is essential to take defensive measures in good time.
2) Sacrifices are not necessarily short-term investments; sometimes they only
pay off after 15 or 20 moves. 3) If the defender has no active plan, then the
attacker can afford to take his time and bring all his reserves into play.})
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