Adolf Albin: Nothing wrong with a gambit

by Johannes Fischer
9/14/2018 – 170 years ago, September 14th, 1848, Adolf Albin was born. Statistics give Albin a historical rating of 2643 for August 1895 and with this rating he would have been the world's number 15 of that time. Today, Albin is mainly known as the namesake of an entertaining line in the Queen's Gambit, arising after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5!? - the Albin Counter-gambit. Another gambit, which Albin liked to play, is named after Alekhine. | Photo: Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

The Amazing Albin Counter-Gambit The Amazing Albin Counter-Gambit

On this DVD IM Trent shows the Albin Counter-Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5). Trent found a number of extremely dangerous Theoretical Novelties which will truly put the Albin Counter-Gambit back on the map.

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Adolf Albin (September 14, 1848 - February 1st, 1920)

The Oxford Companion to Chess by David Hooper and Ken Whyld has the following to say about Albin:

"Albin, Adolf (1848-1920), Romanian-born player, who spent most of his life in Vienna, where he died. Not a great player, perhaps because he learned the game at 22 and did not enter the international arena until he was 43, after his business career faltered. ..."

Albin was born in Bucharest and about his family Albin's biographer, chess historian Olimpiu G. Urcan, writes:

"Albin was born to a very wealthy family, yet his life was not one of opulence, but one of struggle in every dimension. His family was politically persecuted and had to flee from Frankfurt to Zhitomir and then to Bucharest; leaving its properties behind." (Olimpiu G. Urcan, "Adolf Albin and the Genesis of the Albin Countergambit" (PDF))

Albin indeed started his chess career rather late. Mikhail Botvinnik, who learnt to play chess when he was twelve years old, once complained "that this is the reason why throughout my career I have been thinking not as fast as my opponents who knew and exploited that," (quoted in Werner Harenberg, Schachweltmeister, Hamburg: Der Spiegel 1982, p.145), but Albin did not seem to suffer from a lack of tactical flair. He had an entertaining style and did not mind playing gambits.

In fact, a double-edged gambit is named after him: the Albin Counter-gambit which arises after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5!?. In the first part of his article, Urcan extensively discusses whether Albin indeed was the first who tried this gambit, but at any rate, it was Albin who made this line famous — even though with a loss. Albin tried "his" gambit at the Impromptu Tournament in New York 1893 in a game against the young Emanuel Lasker who one year later became World Champion.

Lasker was irresistible in this tournament, which he won with 13/13, and he did not seem to lose his composure when faced with Albin's bold opening experiment.

 
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.a3 Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3 7.gxf3 Nxe5 8.f4 Nc6 9.Bg2 Qd7 10.b4 a6 11.Bb2 Rd8 12.Nd2 Nge7 13.Nb3 Nf5 14.Qd3 Be7 15.Be4 Nd6 16.Nc5 Qc8 17.Bf3 0-0 18.Rg1 Ne8 19.Nb3 Qd7 20.0-0-0 Qd6 21.Kb1 Qxf4 22.Rg4 Qh6 23.Bxc6 bxc6 24.Rxd4 Rd6 25.c5 Re6 26.Qxa6 Qxh3 27.R4d3 Qg2 28.Nd4 Rf6 29.Re3 Bd8 30.Nc2 Rxf2 31.Rxd8 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Lasker,E-Albin,A-1–01893D08Impromptu Tournament12

Though he lost against Lasker, New York 1893 was still a success for Albin: he finished second, 4½ points behind Lasker.

Final standings

Rk. Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pts.
1 Emanuel Lasker   1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 13.0 / 13
2 Adolf Albin 0   1 1 1 1 1 ½ 0 1 0 1 0 1 8.5 / 13
3 Jackson Whipps Showalter 0 0   ½ 1 1 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 0 1 8.0 / 13
4 Eugene Delmar 0 0 ½   ½ 0 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 8.0 / 13
5 Francis Joseph Lee 0 0 0 ½   1 1 ½ 1 1 1 0 1 1 8.0 / 13
6 James Moore Hanham 0 0 0 1 0   1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 0 7.5 / 13
7 Harry Nelson Pillsbury 0 0 1 0 0 0   1 0 1 1 1 1 1 7.0 / 13
8 Jean Taubenhaus 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0   0 1 ½ 1 1 1 6.0 / 13
9 William Henry Krause Pollock 0 1 ½ 0 0 0 1 1   0 0 1 0 ½ 5.0 / 13
10 Louis Schmidt 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1   1 1 1 1 5.0 / 13
11 John S Ryan 0 1 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 1 0   0 1 1 5.0 / 13
12 Nicolai Jasnogrodsky 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1   1 1 4.0 / 13
13 Edward Olly 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0   ½ 3.5 / 13
14 George Hatfeild Gossip 0 0 0 ½ 0 1 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½   2.5 / 13

But the Queen's Gambit was not the only opening in which Albin tried pawn sacrifices. In 1890, at the Kolisch Memorial in Vienna, he played against Adolf Csank, and after the moves 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 he tried 6.h4!?, offering a pawn. However, in the game, Albin was very close to losing and only saved himself with a stalemate trick in a lost position.

 
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1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.h4 Bxg5 7.hxg5 Qxg5 8.Nf3 Qe7 9.Nb5 Nf8 10.c3 Na6 11.Bd3 Bd7 12.Qe2 Bc6 13.Na3 Nb8 14.Nc2 Bd7 15.Qe3 Nc6 16.Ng5 h6 17.f4 Rg8 18.Nf3 0-0-0 19.b4 Rh8 20.a4 Rg8 21.a5 Nb8 22.b5 Qe8 23.Rb1 Qe7 24.c4 c6 25.b6 a6 26.c5 Re8 27.Nb4 Kd8 28.Qe2 Bc8 29.g4 Ng6 30.Qh2 f5 31.gxf5 exf5 32.Rg1 Nf8 33.Kd2 Qf7 34.Qh4+ Re7 35.Rg2 Ne6 36.Rbg1 Ke8 37.Rg6 Ng5 38.fxg5 Qxg6 39.gxh6 Qh7 40.Qh5+ Kf8 41.Rg6 gxh6 42.Rf6+ Rf7 43.Rxh6 Qg7 44.e6 Rf6 45.Rh7 Qg2+ 46.Kc3 Bxe6 47.Rxb7 Nd7 48.Rc7 Bf7 49.Rc8+ Ke7 50.Nxc6+ Rxc6 51.Qh4+ Rf6 52.Qe1+ Re6 53.Qh4+ Rf6 54.b7 Qxf3 55.Qe1+ Re6 56.Qh4+ Rf6 57.Rxg8 Bxg8 58.c6 Qe3 59.cxd7 Qc1+ 60.Bc2 Qa3+ 61.Kd2 Qb4+ 62.Kd1 Qd6 63.Bxf5 Be6 64.Qh8 Rf8 65.Qg7+ Bf7 66.Qg5+ Qf6 67.Qe3+ Be6 68.Qf4 Qxf5 69.d8Q+ Rxd8 70.Qc7+ Bd7 71.Qxd8+ Kxd8 72.b8Q+ Ke7 73.Qb4+ Kf7 74.Qb7 Qd3+ 75.Ke1 Qb5 76.Qc7 Ke8 77.Kf2 Qc6 78.Qe5+ Qe6 79.Qb8+ Kf7 80.Qc7 Qc6 81.Qa7 Kg6 82.Ke3 Qc1+ 83.Kf3 Qf1+ 84.Ke3 Qe1+ 85.Kf3 Qe4+ 86.Kf2 Qf4+ 87.Kg1 Qg3+ 88.Kh1 Bf5 89.Qg7+ ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Albin,A-Csank,A-½–½1890C14Wien Kolisch Memorial8

Vienna in the 1890s

Vienna of the 1890s | Photo: Detroit Publishing Co., under license from Photoglob Zürich, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

But it was another player who made the pawn-sacrifice 6.h4!? popular: Alexander Alekhine. He used the move 6.h4 to win a fine game against the Swiss player Hans Fahrni at the tournament in Mannheim 1914. In his comments, Alekhine gave the move 6.h4 an exclamation mark and wrote: "This energetic move has been especially played in off-hand games by the ingenious Paris amateur Eugène Chatard, and previously by the Viennese master, A. Albin. It was during the present game that it was introduced for the first time in a Master Tournament." However, when the line was given a name Albin was forgotten, and today the variation arising after 6.h4 is known as Alekhine Attack or Chatard-Alekhine Attack.

 
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1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.h4 Bxg5 7.hxg5 Qxg5 8.Nh3 Qe7 9.Nf4 Nf8 10.Qg4 f5 11.exf6 gxf6 12.0-0-0 c6 13.Re1 Kd8 14.Rh6 e5 15.Qh4 Nbd7 16.Bd3 e4 17.Qg3 Qf7 18.Bxe4 dxe4 19.Nxe4 Rg8 20.Qa3 Qg7 21.Nd6 Nb6 22.Ne8 Qf7 23.Qd6+ 1–0
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Alekhine,A-Fahrni,H-1–01914C14DSB Kongress-19 Meisterturnier-1811

For readers curious to learn more, Edward Winter further details the history behind this move, drawing from several items in Chess Notes.

Albin enriched opening theory and in 1872 he published Amiculu Jocului de Schach, the first chess book in Romanian, but he does not seem to have been an opening theoretician. However, he was certainly a dangerous player who could beat anyone. For example, at the Congress of the German Chess Federation 1892, Albin won against Tarrasch who had not lost a single game for quite some time.

Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch

But Tarrasch was not lacking for an explanation for his surprising loss. In his book Dreihundert Schachpartien he writes the following about the tournament in Dresden in general and his loss against Albin in particular:

"I was a bit overworked and felt very tired. Therefore, in the first games every single move seemed to me to be incredibly difficult, and I finished the first week of the tournament in a position that was not particularly favourable. I had only won three of the first nine games, while drawing five, and even losing one, against Albin, my first loss since the tournament in Breslau, which had caused quite a stir that was very flattering for me. I had rather carelessly played a lesser-known variation from the Bilguer but my opponent did not know it and therefore allowed himself at a certain point to play a move that was much stronger than the weak one recommended by the book, and this move brought him an advantage, and thus I lost the game because of my good memory and his lack of knowledge." (Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch, Dreihundert Schachpartien: Ein Lehrbuch des Schachspiels für geübte Spieler, Jens-Erik Rudolph Verlag, Hamburg 2012, p. 244. Reprint of the third edition published 1925. Translation: jf)

However, another reason for Tarrasch's loss was the strong play of his opponent.

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Nxe4 8.Bxb4 Nxb4 9.Bxf7+ Kxf7 10.Qb3+ d5 11.Ne5+ Kf6 This is the recommendation in the Bilguer. 12.Qxb4 c5 13.Qa4 Qe8 14.Qd1 And this strong queen retreat was Albin's novelty. The theoreticians of that time had thought that White had to agree to the exchange of queens. But the exposed black king gives White a good reason not to do that. Ng5?! This leads to serious trouble for Black. The engines recommend 14...Qe7 with a slight advantage for White. 15.f4 Ne6 16.Nc3! After this simple developing move the engines think that White is already winning. Black cannot defend the pawn on d5. g6 Or 16...Qd8 17.dxc5 and Black's position is desolate. 17.Nxd5+ Kg7 18.0-0 cxd4 19.f5 Nf4 20.f6+ Kf8 21.Ne7 Qb5 22.Rxf4 Qxe5 23.Qxd4 Qxd4+ 24.Rxd4 Black managed to avoid getting mated and escaped into an endgame in which he is a pawn down. However, the white pieces are still annoyingly active. Be6 25.Rd6 Kf7 26.Re1! White continues with his active play and does not bother to protect his pawn on a2. Bxa2 27.Nd5 Rhd8 28.Re7+ Kf8 29.Rxd8+ Rxd8 30.Nc3 Bf7 Or 30...Bd5 31.Rxh7 Bf7 32.Ne4 Rd5 33.Rh8+ Bg8 34.Kf2 with a winning position for White. 31.Rxb7 a6 32.Ra7 Rd2 33.Ne4 Rxb2 34.Ra8+ Be8 35.Nd6 Black resigned. After 35...Re2 White has 36.f7. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Albin,A-Tarrasch,S-1–01892C54DSB Kongress-07 Meisterturnier4.6

Albin died February 1, 1920, in Vienna.


The Amazing Albin Counter-Gambit

On this DVD IM Trent shows the Albin Counter-Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5). Trent found a number of extremely dangerous Theoretical Novelties which will truly put the Albin Counter-Gambit back on the map.


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Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".

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