AVRO 1938, Round 11: Botvinnik's masterpiece

by Klaus Besenthal
6/13/2020 – The victory of Mikhail Botvinnik (photo) over José Raúl Capablanca in the eleventh round of the AVRO tournament will be enjoyed by many generations of chess players to come. At the outset of the game, the 27-year-old single-mindedly implemented a crystal-clear strategy against the former world champion, based on a central advance; then, he launched the final attack on the king with two brilliant piece sacrifices. In the shadow of this brilliant game, the most important development was almost ignored: Paul Keres secured the sole lead after Reuben Fine conceded yet another defeat.
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AVRO 1938 - Round 11

Botvinnik's double piece sacrifice just before the final attack was of rare beauty. Not only did White give up material but he also managed to escape the endless checks of the black queen before securing the win. It is up for discussion what was more difficult to calculate — the sacrifices or the king's escape.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Bd3 0-0 9.Ne2 b6 10.0-0 Ba6 11.Bxa6 Nxa6
12.Bb2 The bishop is initially behind two of his own pawns, but this could easily be improved with dxc5 and c3-c4. Botvinnik may have wanted to provoke Black to play c5-c4 with his move, which would take pressure off d4 and ease the possibility of an e3-e4 push. A pleasant side effect is that White has come a step closer to connecting his rooks. The most natural move at this point probably is 12.Qd3 . In case of Nc7 13.dxc5 bxc5 14.c4 the prospects on the long diagonal would have suddenly opened up for the bishop, and after Rb8 there comes 15.Ra2! 12.a4 together with Ba3 was another possibility, although the bishop is not so active on a3. 12...Qd7 13.a4 Rfe8 14.Qd3 c4 After making natural moves, Capablanca decides to radically change the position. As a result, the former world champion aims to gain the a4-pawn. 15.Qc2 Nb8 16.Rae1 Nc6 17.Ng3 Na5 18.f3 Nb3 It took a while for the black knight to reach this not-so-active square, but at least the a4-pawn will fall. 19.e4
Botvinnik has prepared this advance well: supported by their own heavy pieces, the white pawns move forward in a very dynamic way - this becomes a real model game. 19...Qxa4 20.e5 Nd7 21.Qf2 g6 22.f4
22...f5 Black could not allow f4-f5. 23.exf6 Nxf6 24.f5! The next strong move: White wants to profit with all his might from the current absence of the black queen on the kingside. Rxe1 25.Rxe1 Re8 26.Re6! Now White gets a terribly strong pawn on e6. Rxe6 27.fxe6 Kg7 28.Qf4 Qe8 Defending actively with 28...Qa2? can be responded by the strong 29.Nf5+! 29.Qe5 More precise was for obvious reasons 29.Qc7+ Kh8 30.Qe5 29...Qe7 After this missed move, the last still open question finds a wonderful answer: how can the b2-bishop intervene in the game? With 29...h5! Black could still offer resistance. 30.Ba3‼ The prelude to a magnificent combination, which should go down in (chess) history. Qxa3 30...Qe8 31.Qc7+ Kg8 32.Be7 was no better. If now Ng4 , there follows 33.Qd7 31.Nh5+‼ The next magnificent blow. gxh5 32.Qg5+ Kf8 33.Qxf6+ Kg8 34.e7 Qc1+ Here Botvinnik had correctly calculated how his king would escape the black queen's checks. He puts the finishing touches on this remarkable performance. 35.Kf2 Qc2+ 36.Kg3 Qd3+ 37.Kh4 Qe4+ 38.Kxh5 Qe2+ 39.Kh4 Qe4+ 40.g4 Qe1+ 41.Kh5 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Botvinnik,M-Capablanca,J-1–01938AVRO11

With this win, Botvinnik reached second place in the standings table, which he is currently sharing with Reuben Fine.

José Raúl Capablanca

Ex-world champion Capablanca is having a hard time at the AVRO tournament

Reuben Fine, who started the tournament so confidently, is not doing well at all: the American suffered his third defeat of the event, against former world champion Max Euwe. In an extremely sharp opening variation, Fine found himself in trouble after allowing his opponent's bishop onto the strong f5-square:

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Bg5 Bb4+ 5.Nc3 dxc4 6.e4 c5 7.e5 cxd4 8.Qa4+ Nc6 9.0-0-0 Bd7 10.Ne4 Be7 11.exf6 gxf6 12.Bh4
In this fascinating, sharply-calculated variation Euwe plays a new move. 12...Rc8! Black prevents his opponent from capturing the c4-pawn, and as a result can consolidate the pawn mass in the centre, forcing White to return the piece. The alternative 12...Nb4? was known by Fine from a game he played two years earlier. Black gives White the opportunity to swap his queen for a whole bunch of pieces at a good price: 13.Qxb4! Bxb4 14.Nxf6+ Kf8 15.Rxd4 Qa5 16.Nxd7+ Ke8 17.Nf6+ Kf8 18.Bxc4 Rc8 19.Kb1 h5 20.Rhd1 Be7 21.Nd7+ Ke8 22.Bg3 Rg8 23.h3 Rg7 24.a3 b5 25.Bb3 b4 26.axb4 Bxb4 27.Be5 Rxg2 28.Rxb4 Qxb4 29.Nf6+ Ke7 30.Rd7+ Kf8 31.Bd6+ Qxd6 32.Rxd6 Rxf2 33.Rd3 Ke7 34.Nxh5 Rf1+ 35.Bd1 Rg8 36.Nd4 e5 37.Nc6+ Ke6 38.Ka2 Rxd1 39.Rxd1 Rg5 40.Nf4+ exf4 41.Nd4+ Kf6 42.Rf1 Ra5+ 43.Kb1 Ra4 44.Nf3 Re4 45.Re1 Re6 46.Rxe6+ fxe6 47.Kc2 e5 48.Kd3 Kf5 49.Nd2 Kg5 50.Ke4 Kh4 51.Kxe5 Kxh3 52.Kxf4 1-0 (52) Fine,R-Gruenfeld,E Amsterdam/ The Hague/ Rotterd 1936 13.Kb1 Na5 14.Qc2 e5 15.Nxd4 exd4 16.Rxd4 Qb6
In this sharp position the game is about equal. The black pawn on c4 prevents White from effectively developing the f1-bishop. On the other hand, Black must worry about the safety of his king. 17.Qc3 But now Fine makes a mistake: the d7-bishop gets to f5 strengthening Black's position. 17.Rd5! would have prevented Bf5. Also good was 17.Rd6 even though 17.Rxd7 was better than the move in the game. 17...Bf5 18.g4 The actually desirable 18.Be2 would have been responded by Bc5 18...Bg6! still threatens Bc5. 19.f4 It would be completely hopeless to play 19.f3 Bb4 20.Qe3 0-0 and while all the black pieces are in play, White's army is cruelly uncoordinated. 19...Bc5 Black wins material. 20.Rxc4 After this move, White is definitely worse. It was necessary to go 20.f5 Bxd4 21.Nxf6+ Bxf6 22.Bxf6 0-0 23.Bg2 Here it would not have been so easy for Black to convert his advantage against the strong white bishops. 20...Nxc4 21.f5 21.Qxc4 0-0! was not better. 21...Bd4 22.Qb3 Qc6 23.Bg2 Qxe4+ 24.Bxe4 Nd2+ 25.Ka1 Nxb3+ 26.axb3 0-0 27.fxg6 hxg6 28.Kb1 Rfe8 29.Bd3 Re3 30.Rd1 Be5 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Fine,R-Euwe,M-0–11938AVRO11

Reuben Fine

Reuben Fine has fallen behind a bit, but can still hope for tournament victory

In his game against Samuel Reshevsky, Paul Keres signed a draw to secure the sole lead in the standings. The young Estonian scored the half point after surviving a worse position:

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d6 6.Nge2 e5 7.0-0 Re8 8.Ng3 Bxc3 9.bxc3 c5 10.Qc2 h6 11.d5 Nbd7 12.f4 exf4 13.exf4 Nf8 14.Bd2 Bd7 15.h3 a6 16.a4
Black may suffer from a certain lack of space, but his position has no serious weaknesses and there is a good square for every piece. 16...b5?! This opening of the position should favour the white bishops. 17.axb5 axb5 18.Rxa8 Qxa8 19.cxb5 Nxd5 20.Ne4 After 20.c4! the black knight had a number of options. For example: Ne3 21.Bxe3 Rxe3 22.Ne4 and the coordination of the black pieces is not ideal: d5 23.Nxc5± 20...Qb8 Another possibility was 20...Bf5! preventing White's next move. 21.f5! This constricting move is uncomfortable for Black. Nh7 22.c4 Nb4 23.Bxb4 cxb4
24.Qf2? Hier war 24.f6! would have been an excellent move, threatening Nxd6. If g6 there comes 25.Qd2+- 24...d5! Suddenly Black has the initiative. 25.cxd5 Bxb5 26.Qd4 Bxd3 27.Qxd3 Qb6+ 28.Kh1
28...Nf6 The obvious choice was 28...b3 even though after 29.d6 b2 30.d7 Rd8 31.Qc2 Qb5 32.Rb1 Qxf5 33.Rxb2 Qxd7 Black is far from winning. 29.Nxf6+ Qxf6 30.d6 Rd8 31.Rd1 b3 32.Qxb3 Qxf5
In this position White has a passed pawn that looks menacing but is actually harmless. 33.Qb6 Rd7 34.Qd4 Qe6 35.Qd3 Qg6 36.Qb5 Qe6 37.Qc6 Kh7 38.Qc2+ Qg6 39.Qd2 Qe6 40.Qf4 Qg6 41.h4 Qe6 42.h5 Kg8 43.Rd4 Kh7 44.Kh2 Kg8 45.Rd2 Kh7 46.Rd4 Kg8 47.Rd1 Kh7 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Reshevsky,S-Keres,P-½–½1938AVRO11

Paul Keres

Three rounds before the end of the tournament, Paul Keres is in a good position to win

And what about the reigning world champion? Alexander Alekhine saw his opponent Salo Flohr missing a strong move, and then made the conversion to a win look easy:

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 Na5 9.Bc2 c5 10.d4 Qc7 11.Nbd2 0-0 12.Nf1 Bg4 13.dxe5 dxe5 14.Ne3 Be6 15.Qe2 Rfe8 16.Ng5 c4 17.b4 cxb3 18.Nxe6 fxe6 19.axb3 b4 20.cxb4 Bxb4 21.Bd2 Bxd2 22.Qxd2 Nc6 23.Qc3 Qb6 24.Bd3 Nd4 25.b4 Rec8 26.Nc4 Rab8 27.Ra5 Qxb4 28.Qxb4 Rxb4 29.Nxe5
Black obviously cannot hold the pawn on a6, but that should not necessarily lead to a loss. 29...Nb3 30.Rxa6 Nc5 31.Rc1 Rbb8 32.Bc4 The last moves were more or less inevitable for both sides. Kh8? But now Black chose the wrong move to to attenuate the danger provoked by the bishop on c4. After 32...Kf8! Black would have captured the e4-pawn in the next move. 33.Nf7+ Kg8 34.Nd6 Rc7 With 34...Rf8 35.Rc6 Nfxe4 36.Nxe4 Nxe4 37.Rxe6 Nd2 38.Ba2 Kh8 39.Re7 White would have also obtained a clear advantage. 35.Raa1! Now Black cannot capture on e4. On the contrary, White even pushes e4-e5. Kf8 36.e5! Now the advantage is clear: White is a pawn up, the bishop presses on the weak e6-pawn and the rooks get active on the third rank. Ng4 37.Re1 g5 38.Ra3 Nh6 39.Rf3+ Kg7 40.Rg3 g4 41.h3 Kh8 42.hxg4 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Alekhine,A-Flohr,S-1–01938AVRO11

Alexander Alekhine

Alexander Alekhine is not too far behind, but it will be difficult to finish ahead of the three strong players that are above him in the standings table with only three rounds to play

Results of round 11

S. Reshevsky ½-½ P. Keres
R. Fine 0-1 M. Euwe
M. Botvinnik 1-0 J.R. Capablanca
A. Alekhine 1-0 S. Flohr

Standings after round 11

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Klaus Besenthal is computer scientist, has followed and still follows the chess scene avidly since 1972 and since then has also regularly played in tournaments.

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