Saturday, October 20, 2018

Hermanis Matisons X Aaron Nimzowitsch - Karlsbad 1929

Games
[Event "Karlsbad"] [Site "Karlstad"] [Date "1929.??.??"] [Round "12"] [White "Matisons, Hermanis"] [Black "Nimzowitsch, Aaron"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E21"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "46"] [EventDate "1929.07.31"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "21"] [EventCountry "SWE"] [SourceTitle ""] [Source "HCA"] [SourceDate ""] [SourceVersion ""] [SourceVersionDate ""] [SourceQuality "1"] {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 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 d6 6. Qc2 Qe7 {Black is ready to meet 7.e4 with 7... e5, securing a fair share of the center.} 7. Ba3 {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 O-O 10. Bc1) 8... b6 {Black will dispute control of the diagonal.} 9. Bg2 Bb7 10. O-O O-O 11. Nh4 {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.} Bxg2 12. Kxg2 ({ Much better would be} 12. Nxg2 {brining the Knight back into play} Nc6 13. e4 Na5 14. Ne3 {with White´s Knight centralized and c4 Pawn defended.}) 12... Qb7+ 13. Kg1 {White gets into dificulties after this. The right move was 13.Nf3.} ( 13. Nf3 Qa6 14. Qb3 Nc6 15. Bc1 Rfc8 16. Bg5 Ne4 17. Qc2 f5 18. d5 Ne5 19. Nxe5 dxe5 20. Be7 Qxc4 21. d6 Qxc3 22. Qb3 Kf7 23. Rh1) (13. f3 g5 (13... Qa6 $1 14. Bb2 Nc6 15. Kg1 Na5 16. Ng2 Nxc4 17. e4) 14. Qd2 (14. Qc1) 14... h6 {and the Knight has no flight square.} 15. Kf2 gxh4 16. Qxh6 Nh7 17. gxh4 Kh8 18. Rg1) 13... Qa6 14. Qb3 Nc6 15. Rfd1 (15. dxc5 bxc5 {The threat is 16... Rab8, winning the a3 Bishop, or 16... Ne5, winning the c4 Pawn.} 16. Qb5 Qxb5 17. cxb5 Na5) (15. Nf3 Na5 16. Qb5 Qxb5 17. cxb5 Nc4 18. Bc1 Nd5 {and the c3 Pawn falls.}) 15... Na5 16. Qb5 Qxb5 17. cxb5 Nc4 $1 {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. Bc1 a6 $1 {Forces opening of the A file: White must capture or loses a Pawn.} 19. bxa6 Rxa6 20. dxc5 bxc5 21. Ng2 Nd5 { Black´s position is superior: his Knights are centralized, while White´s minor pieces are widely scaterred.} 22. Rd3 (22. Bd2 Rfa8 23. e4 Nf6 24. Ne3 Ne5 25. Kg2 Rxa2 26. Rxa2 Rxa2 27. f3) 22... Rfa8 23. e4 Ne5 (23... Ne5 24. Rd1 Nxc3 25. Rf1 (25. Rd2 Nf3+) (25. Re1 Nf3+) 25... Rxa2 26. Rxa2 Nf3+ 27. Kh1 Rxa2 { and White must lose the third Pawn (the e4 one).}) 0-1

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