[Event "New York"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1918.11.03"] [Round "10"] [White "John S. Morrison"] [Black "Jose Capablanca"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C62"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "1918.10.23"] {C62: Ruy Lopez: Steinitz Defense} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. Nc3 Bd7 5. d4 exd4 6. Nxd4 g6 {Instead of the nornal 6...Nf6. In this line the development of the B on g7 exerts pressure on the long diagonal Capablanca liked it because the fianchettoed B was a solid defensive setup. Statistically the results are nearly identicak.} 7. Nf3 (7. h4 Bg7 8. Bg5 Nf6 9. Bxc6 bxc6 10. Qd2 h6 11. Bf4 {with equal chances. Haimovich,T (2435)-Novikov,M (2546) Biel 2006}) (7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. Bc4 Bg7 9. Qf3 Qf6 10. Qg3 Qe7 11. O-O {equals. Haimovich,T (2435)-Novikov,M (2546) Biel 2006}) 7... Bg7 8. Bg5 Nf6 (8... f6 9. Be3 Nh6 10. Bc4 Nf7 11. h4 h5 {equals. Balashov,Y (2487)-Novikov,M (2426) Tula 2004}) (8... Nce7 9. Bc4 Be6 10. Qd3 Qd7 11. O-O-O h6 12. Be3 Bxc4 13. Qxc4 {with equal chances. Kupreichik,V (2454)-Novikov,M (2426) Tula 2004}) 9. Qd2 h6 10. Bh4 {Capablanca called this an error of judgment. White wants to keep the N pinned, but it was more important to prevent black from immediately castling which he said 10.Bf4 would have accomplished because of Bxh6. Equally good would have been 10.Ne3. Even so, the text does not incur any damage to white's position.} O-O 11. O-O-O {According to Capablanca this this cold play is also faulty judgment "unless he intended to play to win or lose" claiming it "throwing safety to the winds." His reasoning was that the B on g7 becomes a very powerful attacking piece and black's positional setup is far superior to white's and so now black has the initiative. That's a bit harsh, but now black does, indeedm have a slight advantage.} Re8 12. Rhe1 $1 {White wanted to keep a R on the open file, and so brings over his other Rook to the center to defend his e-Pawn,} g5 {Capablanca states that now that R is in the center he can safely make this advance because in order to attack on the K-side white has to shift his Rs which he cannot do as long as black keeps up the pressure in the center.} 13. Bg3 Nh5 14. Nd5 {Capablanca noted that his B acting on the long diagonal prevents the advance of wwhite's e-Pawn. Still, black's advantage is, as of now, minimal.} a6 {[%mdl 2048] An important move. Black drives the B away so he can unpin his pieces and be able to maneuver freely.} 15. Bd3 Be6 {From this point black begins his attack.} 16. c3 {This move blocks the black B and hopefully allows white to prepare a battery aimed at h7 with the B on b1 and the Q on c2.} f5 {As Capablanca explained, this puts white's B out of action. His claim that there is no answer to this move is an over embellishment because in reality the chances are equal.} 17. h4 {Now things get tactical!} f4 18. hxg5 {He could also have retreated the B ti h2, but if black captures it the result would be unclear complications. The complications after ...fxg3 are enormous and different engines can't agree on the best continuation, only that the chances would be equal.} hxg5 {This accomplishes black's object, which is to put the B out of play.} 19. Rh1 Bf7 {He would lose after 19...Nxg3} 20. Kb1 {This "pass" loses time, but it sets a trap whicj Capablanca avoids. The B is shut out of the game after 10.Bh2, but that was his best move as sacrifices by white on f4 fall short.} Ne5 {This prudent move assures black of a small, but clear advantage. Capturing 20...fxg3 is way too dangerous while 20...Nxg3 is even worse.} 21. Nxe5 {How should black recapture?} Rxe5 {Thius is the proper way because it prepared for a possible attack against the K.} 22. Bh2 Nf6 {Now that white's B has been driven baCapablanca pointed out that the N on d5 is the key to white's defense.} 23. g3 {White strives not only to have play for his B, but also wants to break up black's Ps in order to counterattack.} Nxe4 24. Bxe4 Rxe4 25. gxf4 c6 26. Ne3 {In his annotation of this game Capalanca stated that he would leave it to his readers to work out the complications arising from the alternative 26.Nb4 because they are so numerous that they would take up too much space. Actually, Morrison's play so far has been aggressive and clever and Capablanca has only a slight advantage and he is far from winning.} Qa5 27. c4 {Capablanca makes no comment on this move, but it is really where white goes completely astray. Oddly, the exchange of Qs only serves to strengthen black's attack. White's best chance was to keep the Qs on ans defend a2 by playing 17.a3} Qxd2 28. Rxd2 {And now black has a decisive advantage.} gxf4 29. Ng4 Bg6 {This very strong move forces the K to the corner, where it will be in a mating net.} 30. Ka1 Rae8 31. a3 Re1+ 32. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 33. Ka2 Bf7 34. Kb3 {The is no other way to defend the P.} (34. Rc2 Be6 35. f3 Rf1 36. Bxf4 Bxg4) 34... d5 {The rest is a mopping up task.} 35. Bxf4 dxc4+ 36. Kb4 c3 37. bxc3 Re4+ 38. c4 Rxc4+ 39. Ka5 Rxf4 40. Rd8+ Kh7 41. Rd7 Be6 {White resigned} 0-1