Saturday, October 20, 2018

Hermanis Matisons X Aaron Nimzowitsch - Karlsbad 1929

Games
Matisons, HermanisNimzowitsch, Aaron0–1E21Karlsbad12Karlstad1929
Weak Pawns, Weak Squares and Mighty, Mighty Knights In this game, Nimzovich (a) plants his Knight on a weak square, (b) forces open a file for his Rook and (c) switches the other Knight over to the center of the board, and the power generated by the centralized Knights are devastating. 1.d4 f6 2.c4 e6 3.c3 b4 4.f3 xc3+ 5.bxc3 d6 6.c2 e7 Black is ready to meet 7.e4 with 7... e5, securing a fair share of the center. 7.a3 White has two objects in mind: (1) to prevent 7... e5, after which 8.dxe5 leaves Black unable to recapture; (2) To advance 8.c5, with the idea of dissolving the doubled Pawn. c5 This fixes White´s Pawn at c4, making it a targit of Black´s future attack. 8.g3 White will fianchetto the Bishop and control the long diagonal. Here it has the drawback of depriving the weak Pawn at c4 of a defender. 8.e4 e5 9.d5 0-0 10.c1 8...b6 Black will dispute control of the diagonal. 9.g2 b7 10.0-0 0-0 11.h4 White is anxious to exchange Bishops because Black´s has more scope, making (together with f6 Knight) strong pression on e4 square, but a better way to bring about an exchange was by 11.Nd2. The Knight would then exert more influence on the center and also would be a useful protector od the c4 Pawn. xg2 12.xg2 Much better would be 12.xg2 brining the Knight back into play c6 13.e4 a5 14.e3 with White´s Knight centralized and c4 Pawn defended. 12...b7+ 13.g1 White gets into dificulties after this. The right move was 13.Nf3. 13.f3 a6 14.b3 c6 15.c1 fc8 16.g5 e4 17.c2 f5 18.d5 e5 19.xe5 dxe5 20.e7 xc4 21.d6 xc3 22.b3 f7 23.h1 13.f3 g5 13...a6! 14.b2 c6 15.g1 a5 16.g2 xc4 17.e4 14.d2 14.c1 14...h6 and the Knight has no flight square. 15.f2 gxh4 16.xh6 h7 17.gxh4 h8 18.g1 13...a6 14.b3 c6 15.fd1 15.dxc5 bxc5 The threat is 16... Rab8, winning the a3 Bishop, or 16... Ne5, winning the c4 Pawn. 16.b5 xb5 17.cxb5 a5 15.f3 a5 16.b5 xb5 17.cxb5 c4 18.c1 d5 and the c3 Pawn falls. 15...a5 16.b5 xb5 17.cxb5 c4! The doubled Pawn has been dissolved, but the weakness of the c4 square remains. Nimzovich anchors his Knight on this vital square and secure new advantages: (1) The Knight is posted aggressively. It attacks the Bishop and drives it back to its original square. (2) The Knight is posted defensively, protecting the d6 and b6 Pawns. (3) The Knight cannot be dislodged by Pawns nor by the Bishop (which operates on black squares only). 18.c1 a6! Forces opening of the A file: White must capture or loses a Pawn. 19.bxa6 xa6 20.dxc5 bxc5 21.g2 d5 Black´s position is superior: his Knights are centralized, while White´s minor pieces are widely scaterred. 22.d3 22.d2 fa8 23.e4 f6 24.e3 e5 25.g2 xa2 26.xa2 xa2 27.f3 22...fa8 23.e4 e5 23...e5 24.d1 xc3 25.f1 25.d2 f3+ 25.e1 f3+ 25...xa2 26.xa2 f3+ 27.h1 xa2 and White must lose the third Pawn (the e4 one). 0–1

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