[Event "Karlsbad"]
[Site "Karlsbad"]
[Date "1923.04.29"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Gruenfeld, Ernst"]
[Black "Alekhine, Alexander"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D64"]
[WhiteElo "2560"]
[BlackElo "2655"]
[Annotator ""]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "1923.04.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "17"]
[EventCountry "CSR"]
{[%evp 24,68,42,0,27,-24,28,-30,-6,-32,-14,-36,-25,-76,-19,-105,-91,-95,-88,
-126,-94,-112,-74,-108,-78,-100,-48,-70,-69,-87,-49,-72,-65,-81,-99,-109,-60,
-358,-353,-455,-456,-456,-456,-755,-758,-29998,-29999] D64: Queen's Gambit
Declined: Classical: 7 Rc1 c6 8 Qc2} {The Players Ernst Grünfeld (1893–1962)
was a strong Austrian grandmaster who, for a few years in the 1920s, was
probably in the world’s top ten players. He continued to play in the 1930s,
but with less success, and the Second World War effectively ended his career,
although he did play in a couple of small events in Vienna just after the war.
Today he is chiefly remembered for having invented the Grünfeld Defence (1.
d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5) which is one of those workhorse openings played day
in, day out by grandmasters all round the world. Alexander Alekhine
(1892–1946) was one of the greatest players of all time and held the World
Championship from 1927 to 1935 and from 1937 until his death in 1946. Born
into the Russian aristocracy, he was taught chess by his mother and soon
displayed a remarkable talent for the game. After some successes in relatively
minor tournaments, he was invited to play in the famous 1914 St Petersburg
tournament, which included all the world’s leading players. Alekhine’s
third place indicated that he had arrived among the chess elite. The First
World War and the Revolution interrupted Alekhine’s career, but after he
left Russia in 1920 he started a run of impressive tournament successes, which
led to a challenge for the World Championship in 1927. Few expected the almost
unbeatable Capablanca to lose, but Alekhine’s preparation was better and,
aided by his ferocious will-power, Alekhine gained the title after a marathon
battle of 34 games. Unlike many world champions, actually gaining the title
did not undermine his determination and over the next few years Alekhine
dominated the chess world. He successfully defended his title twice against
Bogoljubow, but Alekhine seemed reluctant to face his most dangerous
challengers and never allowed Capablanca a return match. A fondness for
alcohol cost Alekhine the title in 1935 when he faced the Dutchman Euwe. The
gentlemanly Euwe offered Alekhine a return match and, after giving up the
bottle, Alekhine regained his title in 1937. Alekhine’s results just before
the Second World War were definitely less impressive than formerly, and had a
projected match with Botvinnik taken place he might well have lost the title.
The war intervened, and during the war years Alekhine played in a number of
(not very strong) tournaments in German-occupied territory. After the war,
negotiations for a match with Botvinnik resumed and terms were agreed, but
Alekhine died of a heart attack before the match could take place. Alekhine
had a preference for attacking play and tactics, but he could handle all types
of position well. The games produced while he was at his peak are models of
attacking play; he had the rare ability to confront his opponents with all
sorts of problems without risking his own position. The Game After some subtle
opening play, Alekhine manages not only to nullify White’s advantage of the
first move but even to gain a slight positional advantage. Many players would
have tried to increase this advantage by slow positional manoeuvring, but
Alekhine’s methods are far more direct. A series of threats keeps Grünfeld
off-balance, until finally Alekhine strikes with a deadly combination.} 1. d4
Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. e3 O-O 7. Rc1 c6 {A tabiya of
the Orthodox Defence;} 8. Qc2 a6 9. a3 {The struggle for a tempo.} h6 10. Bh4
Re8 $1 11. Bd3 dxc4 12. Bxc4 b5 13. Ba2 c5 14. Rd1 $146 (14. O-O cxd4 15. exd4
Bb7 16. Ne5 Nf8 17. Rfd1 Rc8 18. Qe2 Qb6 19. f3 Red8 20. Bf2 Nd5 21. Nxd5 Bxd5
22. Rxc8 (22. Bxd5 exd5 23. Nd3 Ne6 24. Nc5 Re8 25. Qf1 Rcd8 26. Rc2 Bf6 27. b4
g6 28. Ra2 Bg7 29. a4 Ra8 30. g3 bxa4 31. Rxa4 Qb5 32. Rxa6 Qxb4 33. Nxe6 Rxa6
34. Qxa6 fxe6 35. Qd3 Kf7 36. Rb1 Qd6 {Gruenfeld,E-Teichmann,R Karlsbad 1923 1/
2-1/2 (37)}) 22... Rxc8 23. Bxd5 exd5 24. Nd3 Ne6 25. b4 Rc4 26. Nc5 Bf6 27.
Kf1 Qc6 28. Re1 Nxd4 {Reti,R-Teichmann,R Karlsbad 1923 1-0 (50)}) (14. Bxf6
Nxf6 15. dxc5 Bxc5 16. Ne4 Be7 17. Bb1 Bb7 18. Nxf6+ Bxf6 19. O-O g6 20. Rfd1
Qe7 21. b4 Rac8 22. Qe2 Bd5 23. Ba2 Bb7 24. Nd2 Rxc1 25. Rxc1 Bb2 26. Rd1 Bxa3
27. Nf3 Bxf3 28. Qxf3 Qxb4 {Kacalek,T (1661)-Zikan,K (1870) Brno 2007 0-1 (38)}
) 14... cxd4 15. Nxd4 {(this would appear to involve a tactical oversight)} Qb6
{Black has an edge.} 16. Bb1 Bb7 $1 17. O-O Rac8 {Black has comfortably
completed his development and is now threatening 18...Be4 or 18...Ne4.} 18. Qd2
Ne5 $1 {'This knight will occupy the square c4, thereby fixing the weakness of
the queenside, induced by 9 a3.' (Alekhine)} 19. Bxf6 {With the intention of
exchanging the dangerous b7-bishop. However, according to Alekhine, all
White's trickery is no longer sufficient to equalise.} (19. Qe2 $11) 19... Bxf6
$17 20. Qc2 g6 {(not so much a defence against Qh7+ as a preparation for ...
Bg7)} 21. Qe2 Nc4 22. Be4 $1 Bg7 $1 {Avoiding a subtle trap;} 23. Bxb7 Qxb7 {
(threatening 24...Nxa3)} 24. Rc1 e5 $1 {'This advance of the e-pawn will give
Black's knight a new outpost on d3, still more irksome for the opponent than
its present position.' (Alekhine)} 25. Nb3 e4 {(again threatening ...Nxa3)} 26.
Nd4 Red8 $1 {[%cal Be8d8,Bd8d4,Bd4d1][%mdl 32] (gradually supporting the
knight's position at d3)} 27. Rfd1 Ne5 28. Na2 $6 {'After this move, which
removes the knight from the field of action, White is definitely lost.} Nd3 29.
Rxc8 Qxc8 30. f3 $2 {Completely outplayed by his mighty opponent, in
desperation Grünfeld tries to undermine the d3-outpost as soon as possible:
this knight is just too strong, paralysing White's entire game and creating
the preconditions for dangerous combinations.} (30. Nc3 $1 $15) 30... Rxd4 $1
$19 31. fxe4 {[#] Here the rook is immune;} Nf4 $1 {[%mdl 512] The crowning
stroke!} 32. exf4 Qc4 $3 {Diversion – one of the spectacular tactical devices
in which all the games of the fourth champion abound.} 33. Qxc4 {(otherwise
the knight at a2 is lost)} (33. Re1 $142 Qxa2 34. h3) 33... Rxd1+ ({Inferior is
} 33... bxc4 34. Nc3 $16) 34. Qf1 Bd4+ {. A move before mate White resigned. A
deserved brilliancy prize, wouldn't you agree? Lessons from this game: 1) Even
if no material sacrifice is involved, playing for an attack usually involves a
positional commitment which may prove a handicap if the attack fails. 2)
Advantages do not increase of their own accord; purposeful play is necessary
to increase an advantage. 3) A knight firmly entrenched in the middle of the
opposing position is often a decisive advantage. Accuracy: White = 24%, Black
= 47%.} 0-1
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