Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (3)

Chess Explorations (3)

By Edward Winter

A number of Chess Notes items have discussed the old masters’ nominations for their best games, and we summarize here the various choices made, also presenting the game-scores and offering some suggestions for further reading.

On page 221 of the first volume of his Best Games collection, published in 1953, Tartakower wrote:

Savielly Tartakower

On a number of other occasions Tartakower picked out his best/favourite, etc. game:

• In Marshall’s Chess Masterpieces (pages 41-47) he stated that his win over Maróczy at Teplitz-Schönau, 1922 (see above) was his best game. His exact words are quoted later in the present article.

• On pages 241-244 of CHESS, 14 March 1939 he gave his draw against Capablanca at London, 1922, calling it ‘the most terribly pulse-stirring flight [sic] of my whole chess career’.

José Raúl Capablanca - Savielly Tartakower [D58]
London (round 8), 10 August 1922
Queen's Gambit Declined
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 0-0 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 b6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Qb3 Be6 10.Rd1 c6 11.Qc2 Ne4 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Nxe4 dxe4 14.Qxe4 Qb4+ 15.Nd2 Qxb2 16.Bd3 g6 17.Qf4 Kg7 18.h4 Nd7 19.Ne4 Qxa2 20.h5 g5 21.Qg3 Qa5+ 22.Ke2 f5 23.Nxg5 hxg5 24.Qxg5+ Kf7 25.h6 Rg8 26.Qh5+ Ke7 27.h7 Rxg2 28.Kf1 Qd5 29.h8Q Rxh8 30.Qxh8 Qf3 31.Rd2 Bd5 32.Ke1 Rg8 33.Qh4+ Kd6 34.Rf1 Be6 35.Rc2 a5 36.Qh2+ Ke7 37.Be2 Qe4 38.Kd2 c5 39.Bd3 Qg2 40.Qh4+ Qg5 41.Qxg5+ Rxg5 42.Rb1 f4 Drawn. Tartakower also annotated this game in his first volume of Best Games. On page 14 of The Times (London) of 11 August 1922 Capablanca described it as 'a royal battle', adding that Tartakower had played 'remarkably well'. [Click to replay]

• In Chess Review, June 1951 (pages 170-171) he wrote that his favourite game was his win over Vidmar at Vienna, 1905. (The score was given on pages 4-6 of his first Best Games book.)

Savielly Tartakower - Milan Vidmar [B72]
Vienna, 1905
Sicilian Defence
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Be3 Bg7 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Be2 d6 8.h3 0-0 9.Qd2 Bd7 10.g4 a6 11.g5 Ne8 12.h4 Rc8 13.h5 Na5 14.hxg6 hxg6 15.0-0-0 b5 16.f3 Nc7 17.Bd3 Ne6 18.Qh2 Re8 19.Qh7+ Kf8 20.Nxe6+ Bxe6 21.Rh6 Bc4 22.e5 Bxd3 23.e6 Rxc3 24.bxc3 Qc8 25.Bd4 f6 26.gxf6 exf6 27.Bxf6 Qb7 28.Qh8+ Bxh8 29.Rxh8 mate. [Click to replay]

Here are some other masters’ selections, taken from the 1930s series in Les Cahiers de l’Echiquier Français referred to by Tartakower:

• E. Znosko-Borovsky: Capablanca v Znosko-Borovsky, St Petersburg, 1913 (volume 2, pages 189-190).

José Raúl Capablanca - Eugene Znosko-Borovsky [C12]
St Petersburg (exhibition game), 18 December 1913
French Defence
1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Bb4 5.exd5 Qxd5 6.Bxf6 gxf6 7.Nf3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 b6 9.Be2 Bb7 10.Qd2 Nd7 11.c4 Qf5 12.0-0-0 0-0-0 13.Qe3 Rhg8 14.g3 Qa5 15.Rd3 Kb8 16.Rhd1 Qf5 17.Nh4 Qg5 18.f4 Qg7 19.Bf3 Rge8 20.Bxb7 Kxb7 21.c5 c6 22.Nf3 Qf8 23.Nd2 bxc5 24.Nc4 Nb6 25.Na5+ Ka8 26.dxc5 Nd5 27.Qd4 Rc8 28.c4 e5 29.Qg1 e4 30.cxd5 exd3 31.d6 Re2 32.d7 Rc2+ 33.Kb1 Rb8+ 34.Nb3 Qe7 35.Rxd3 Re2 36.Qd4 Rd8 37.Qa4 Qe4 38.Qa6 Kb8 39.Kc1 Rxd7 40.Nd4 Re1+ 41. White resigns. Capablanca annotated this game in Chess Fundamentals. Pages 153-156 of Znosko-Borovsky's book The Middle Game in Chess (London, 1922) had a discussion of moves 19-31. [Click to replay]

• D. Przepiórka: Przepiórka v von Scheve, Berlin, 1904 (volume 2, pages 222-223).

• E. Grünfeld: Grünfeld v Spielmann, Vienna, 1929 (volume 3, pages 165-167). (We gave an English translation of Grünfeld’s annotations in C.N. 1586; see pages 71-73 of Chess Explorations.)

  Ernst Grünfeld - Rudolf Spielmann [E22]
  Vienna (round 6), 6 December 1929
  Queen's Pawn, Spielmann Defence
  1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 c5 3.c4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Qb3 Bc5 7.Nf3 b6 8.Bg5 Bb7 9.e3 Nc6 10.Be2 h6 11.Bh4 Qe7 12.a3 g5 13.Bg3 Nh5 14.0-0-0 Nxg3 15.hxg3 0-0-0 16.Qa4 Kb8 17.Nd4 Bxd4 18.exd4 Rc8 19.Kb1 Na5 20.c5 Bxg2 21.cxb6 axb6 22.Qb5 Qd6 23.Rhg1 Bb7 24.d5 exd5 25.Nxd5 Bxd5 26.Rxd5 Qc6 27.Rxd7 Rhe8 28.Qxc6 Nxc6 29.Bf3 g4 30.Bxc6 Rxc6 31.Rxf7 Re2 32.Rd1 Kc8 33.Rc1 Rxc1+ 34.Kxc1 h5 35.Rf5 Re1+ 36.Kd2 Rh1 37.Ke3 Rh2 38.a4 Kb7 39.b4 h4 40.gxh4 Rxh4 41.a5 bxa5 42.bxa5 Rh6 43.Kf4 Rg6 44.Kg3 Ka6 45.Rf4 Kxa5 46.Rxg4 Rf6 47.Rd4 Kb5 48.f4 Kc5 49.Rd8 Resigns. Grünfeld's notes had already appeared on pages 357-358 of the December 1929 Wiener Schachzeitung. [Click to replay]

Ernst Grünfeld

• R. Spielmann: Spielmann v Rubinstein, Carlsbad, 1911 (volume 3, pages 324-325).

Rudolf Spielmann - Akiba Rubinstein [C49]
Carlsbad (round 16), 11 September 1911
Four Knights' Game
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bb4 5.0-0 0-0 6.d3 d6 7.Bg5 Bxc3 8.bxc3 Qe7 9.Re1 Nd8 10.d4 Ne6 11.Bc1 c6 12.Bf1 Rd8 13.g3 Qc7 14.Nh4 d5 15.f4 exf4 16.e5 Ne4 17.gxf4 f5 18.exf6 Nxf6 19.f5 Nf8 20.Qf3 Qf7 21.Bd3 Bd7 22.Bf4 Re8 23.Be5 c5 24.Kh1 c4 25.Be2 Bc6 26.Qf4 N8d7 27.Bf3 Re7 28.Re2 Rf8 29.Rg1 Qe8 30.Reg2 Rff7 31.Qh6 Kf8 32.Ng6+ hxg6 33.Qh8+ Ng8 34.Bd6 Qd8 35.Rxg6 Ndf6 36.Rxf6 Rxf6 37.Rxg7 Resigns. [Click to replay]

• J. Mieses: Mieses v Janowsky, Paris, 1900 (volume 4, pages 86-87).

Jacques Mieses - Dawid Markelowicz Janowsky [C27]
Paris (round 14), 12 June 1900
Vienna Game
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 d6 5.f4 Nc6 6.f5 Na5 7.Qf3 c6 8.g4 h6 9.h4 b5 10.Bb3 Nxb3 11.axb3 h5 12.gxh5 Nxh5 13.Nge2 Qb6 14.Ng3 Nf6 15.Bg5 Bb7 16.h5 Nh7 17.Bd2 0-0-0 18.h6 g6 19.0-0-0 Rhg8 20.fxg6 fxg6 21.Rdf1 Kb8 22.Qf7 Rh8 23.Qxg6 Rdg8 24.Qg7 Bc8 25.Nf5 Bxf5 26.Rxf5 Bb4 27.Kb1 Bxc3 28.bxc3 Nf8 29.Rhf1 Ng6 30.Qd7 Rd8 31.Qe6 Nf4 32.Bxf4 exf4 33.R5xf4 Qc5 34.Rf7 Qg5 35.Rf8 Qc5 36.Qe7 Resigns. [Click to replay]

Frank James Marshall

For Marshall’s book Chess Masterpieces (New York, 1928), the world’s leading masters (and a few others) nominated their best game and, in most cases, provided notes:

• R. Spielmann: Spielmann v Vidmar, Semmering, 1926 (page 1)

Rudolf Spielmann - Milan Vidmar [C29]
Semmering (round 11), 21 March 1926
Vienna Gambit
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 d5 4.fxe5 Nxe4 5.Nf3 Bb4 6.Qe2 Bxc3 7.bxc3 0-0 8.Qe3 Nc6 9.Bd3 f5 10.0-0 f4 11.Qe2 Ng5 12.Ba3 Nxf3+ 13.Qxf3 Rf7 14.Rae1 g5 15.e6 Rg7 16.Qh5 Ne7 17.Bc5 Nc6 18.e7 Nxe7 19.Bxe7 Resigns. [Click to replay]

• A. Nimzowitsch: ‘The one I played in the Dresden Tournament in 1926 against Rubinstein, who is, as you know, an extremely dangerous antagonist. I do not know any other of my important games which so well illustrates the principle of effective hindrance of the adversary’s forces, while at the same time securing the mobility of one’s own forces.’ (page 6)

Aron Nimzowitsch - Akiba Rubinstein [A34]
Dresden (round 5), 12 March 1926
English Opening
1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb4 6.Bc4 e6 7.0-0 N8c6 8.d3 Nd4 9.Nxd4 cxd4 10.Ne2 a6 11.Ng3 Bd6 12.f4 0-0 13.Qf3 Kh8 14.Bd2 f5 15.Rae1 Nc6 16.Re2 Qc7 17.exf5 exf5 18.Nh1 Bd7 19.Nf2 Rae8 20.Rfe1 Rxe2 21.Rxe2 Nd8 22.Nh3 Bc6 23.Qh5 g6 24.Qh4 Kg7 25.Qf2 Bc5 26.b4 Bb6 27.Qh4 Re8 28.Re5 Nf7 29.Bxf7 Qxf7 30.Ng5 Qg8 31.Rxe8 Bxe8 32.Qe1 Bc6 33.Qe7+ Kh8 34.b5 Qg7 35.Qxg7+ Kxg7 36.bxc6 bxc6 37.Nf3 c5 38.Ne5 Bc7 39.Nc4 Kf7 40.g3 Bd8 41.Ba5 Be7 42.Bc7 Ke6 43.Nb6 h6 44.h4 g5 45.h5 g4 46.Be5 Resigns. Nimzowitsch's notes to this game in Marshall's book were different from the ones which he had contributed on pages 285-288 of the April-June 1926 issue of Kagans Neueste Schachnachrichten and which were used in My System (London, 1929). [Click to replay]

Aron Nimzowitsch

• M. Vidmar: Vidmar v Nimzowitsch, New York, 1927 (page 12)

Milan Vidmar - Aron Nimzowitsch [E01]
New York (round 14), 12 March 1927
Queen's Pawn Game
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Nbd7 5.0-0 Bd6 6.b3 c6 7.Nbd2 0-0 8.Bb2 Qe7 9.c4 b5 10.Ne5 Bxe5 11.dxe5 Ng4 12.e4 Ngxe5 13.exd5 exd5 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.Bxd5 Rb8 16.Re1 Qd6 17.Nf3 Nxf3+ 18.Qxf3 Kh8 19.Rac1 Rb6 20.Rxc8 Rxc8 21.Qxf7 Qg6 22.Qxd7 Resigns. This was the final game in Vidmar's autobiographical collection Goldene Schachzeiten. Annotations also appeared on pages 386-389 of his book Pol stoletja ob šahovnici (Ljubljana, 1951). [Click to replay]

• F.J. Marshall: ‘I think that my best game was the one against Bogoljubow in the 1924 New York International Tournament. It is rarely that a mate in five moves is announced against a grand master in an important tournament.’ (page 18)

Frank James Marshall - Efim Bogoljubow [D52]
New York (round 18), 10 April 1924
Queen's Gambit Declined
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bg5 d5 4.e3 Nbd7 5.c4 c6 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Nc3 Qa5 8.Bd3 Ne4 9.Qc2 Nxg5 10.Nxg5 h6 11.Nf3 Be7 12.0-0 0-0 13.a3 Qd8 14.Rae1 a5 15.Qe2 Nf6 16.Ne5 Bd6 17.f4 c5 18.Bb1 Bd7 19.Qc2 Bc6 20.dxc5 Bxc5 21.Kh1 Re8 22.e4 Bd4 23.Nxc6 bxc6 24.e5 Ng4 25.Qh7+ Kf8 26.g3 Qb6 27.Bf5 Nf2+ 28.Rxf2 Bxf2 29.Qh8+ Ke7 30.Qxg7 Kd8 31.Qf6+ Re7 32.e6 Bd4 33.exf7 Bxf6 34.f8Q+ Kc7 35.Rxe7+ Bxe7 36.Qxa8 Kd6 37.Qh8 Qd8 38.Qe5+ Kc5 39.Na4+ Kc4 40.Qc3+ Kb5 41.Bd3+ Kxa4 42.Qc2 mate. A different set of notes appeared in My Fifty Years of Chess by F.J. Marshall (New York, 1942). [Click to replay]

• J.R. Capablanca: ‘It is difficult to say; so much depends on the point of view. There are three possible types of best game – a fine attack, a brilliant defence, or a purely artistic treatment. ... I think my most finished and artistic game was the one I played against Dr Bernstein at Moscow on 4 February 1914.’ (page 24).

Ossip Bernstein - José Raúl Capablanca [D63]
Moscow (exhibition game), 4 February 1914
Queen's Gambit Declined
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bg5 0-0 6.e3 Nbd7 7.Rc1 b6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Qa4 Bb7 10.Ba6 Bxa6 11.Qxa6 c5 12.Bxf6 Nxf6 13.dxc5 bxc5 14.0-0 Qb6 15.Qe2 c4 16.Rfd1 Rfd8 17.Nd4 Bb4 18.b3 Rac8 19.bxc4 dxc4 20.Rc2 Bxc3 21.Rxc3 Nd5 22.Rc2 c3 23.Rdc1 Rc5 24.Nb3 Rc6 25.Nd4 Rc7 26.Nb5 Rc5 27.Nxc3 Nxc3 28.Rxc3 Rxc3 29.Rxc3 Qb2 30. White resigns. The notes by Capablanca in Marshall's book were reproduced from My Chess Career. [Click to replay]

José Raúl Capablanca

• G. Maróczy: Maróczy v Chigorin, Vienna, 1903 (page 30)

Géza Maróczy - Mikhail Chigorin [C37]
Vienna (round 3), 5 May 1903
King's Gambit Accepted
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.Nc3 gxf3 6.Qxf3 d6 7.d4 Be6 8.Nd5 c6 9.0-0 cxd5 10.exd5 Bf5 11.Bxf4 Bg6 12.Bb5+ Nd7 13.Rae1+ Be7 14.Bxd6 Kf8 15.Rxe7 Nxe7 16.Re1 Kg7 17.Bxe7 Qa5 18.Qe2 Nf8 19.Bf6+ Kg8 20.Qe5 h6 21.Bxh8 f6 22.Qe7 Kxh8 23.Qxf6+ Resigns. [Click to replay]

• A. Alekhine: Réti v Alekhine, Baden-Baden, 1925 (page 35). (When annotating it in his second Best Games collection (published in 1939) Alekhine wrote: ‘I consider this and the game against Bogoljubow at Hastings, 1922 the most brilliant tournament games of my chess career.’)

  Richard Réti - Alexander Alekhine [A00]
  Baden-Baden (round 8), 25 April 1925
  Reti's Opening
  1.g3 e5 2.Nf3 e4 3.Nd4 d5 4.d3 exd3 5.Qxd3 Nf6 6.Bg2 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Bxd2+ 8.Nxd2 0-0 9.c4 Na6 10.cxd5 Nb4 11.Qc4 Nbxd5 12.N2b3 c6 13.0-0 Re8 14.Rfd1 Bg4 15.Rd2 Qc8 16.Nc5 Bh3 17.Bf3 Bg4 18.Bg2 Bh3 19.Bf3 Bg4 20.Bg2 Bh3 21.Bf3 Bg4 22.Bh1 h5 23.b4 a6 24.Rc1 h4 25.a4 hxg3 26.hxg3 Qc7 27.b5 axb5 28.axb5 Re3 29.Nf3 cxb5 30.Qxb5 Nc3 31.Qxb7 Qxb7 32.Nxb7 Nxe2+ 33.Kh2 Ne4 34.Rc4 Nxf2 35.Bg2 Be6 36.Rcc2 Ng4+ 37.Kh3 Ne5+ 38.Kh2 Rxf3 39.Rxe2 Ng4+ 40.Kh3 Ne3+ 41.Kh2 Nxc2 42.Bxf3 Nd4 43. White resigns. This is the longest of the three versions of the game-score that have been found. They are discussed in C.N. 5632. [Click to replay]

  Efim Bogoljubow - Alexander Alekhine [A90]
  Hastings (round 10), 21 September 1922
  Dutch Defence
  1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.g3 e6 4.Bg2 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Bxd2+ 6.Nxd2 Nc6 7.Ngf3 0-0 8.0-0 d6 9.Qb3 Kh8 10.Qc3 e5 11.e3 a5 12.b3 Qe8 13.a3 Qh5 14.h4 Ng4 15.Ng5 Bd7 16.f3 Nf6 17.f4 e4 18.Rfd1 h6 19.Nh3 d5 20.Nf1 Ne7 21.a4 Nc6 22.Rd2 Nb4 23.Bh1 Qe8 24.Rg2 dxc4 25.bxc4 Bxa4 26.Nf2 Bd7 27.Nd2 b5 28.Nd1 Nd3 29.Rxa5 b4 30.Rxa8 bxc3 31.Rxe8 c2 32.Rxf8+ Kh7 33.Nf2 c1Q+ 34.Nf1 Ne1 35.Rh2 Qxc4 36.Rb8 Bb5 37.Rxb5 Qxb5 38.g4 Nf3+ 39.Bxf3 exf3 40.gxf5 Qe2 41.d5 Kg8 42.h5 Kh7 43.e4 Nxe4 44.Nxe4 Qxe4 45.d6 cxd6 46.f6 gxf6 47.Rd2 Qe2 48.Rxe2 fxe2 49.Kf2 exf1Q+ 50.Kxf1 Kg7 51.Kf2 Kf7 52.Ke3 Ke6 53.Ke4 d5+ 54. White resigns. Alekhine's annotations to this game in his first volume of Best Games are well known. For another set of notes by him, from La Nation Belge, 16 November 1922, see C.N. 3929. [Click to replay]

Alexander Alekhine

• S. Tartakower: ‘I consider [Maróczy v Tartakower, Teplitz-Schönau, 1922] to be my best game, because it was played against a master of the highest rank, and victory was not obtained through a serious blunder by my opponent, and because the sacrifice which I made at the 17th move, when subsequently analysed in all the variations, was proved to be perfectly sound.’ (page 41) This game was given above.

• Edward Lasker: Torre v Ed. Lasker, Chicago, 1926 (page 48)

  Carlos Torre Repetto - Edward Lasker [A09]
  Chicago, 1926
  Réti's Opening
  1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Na3 e5 4.Nxe5 Bxa3 5.Qa4+ b5 6.Qxa3 Bb7 7.b3 Qd6 8.Bb2 f6 9.Qxd6 cxd6 10.Nf3 cxb3 11.Nd4 a6 12.axb3 Kd7 13.Nf5 g6 14.Ne3 Ke6 15.Rc1 Nc6 16.g3 Nge7 17.Bh3+ Kf7 18.0-0 h5 19.Rc2 Rhd8 20.Rfc1 d5 21.Rc5 d4 22.Ng2 Bc8 23.Bxc8 Raxc8 24.Nf4 Na5 25.Rc7 Nxb3 26.Ba3 Nxc1 27.Rxe7+ Kg8 28.Nxg6 Re8 29.Rxe8+ Rxe8 30.Bxc1 d3 31.e3 b4 32.Nf4 Rd8 33.Bb2 a5 34.Bxf6 Rd7 35.e4 a4 36.Nd5 Rb7 37.f3 a3 38.Nxb4 Rxb4 39.Kf2 Kf7 40.Bh8 Rb8 41.Bd4 a2 42.Ke3 Kg6 43.h4 Rb1 44.Kxd3 Rg1 45.Ke3 Rxg3 46.Kf4 Rh3 47.Ke5 Rxf3 48.Ke6 Rd3 49. White resigns. Lasker annotated this game on pages 194-206 of his book Chess for Fun & Chess for Blood (Philadelphia, 1942). His comments on the possibility of 8...c3 (pointed out by Marshall) are of particular interest. On page 100 of Legendäre Schachpartien by Peter Köhler (Hanover, 2007) it was bizarrely suggested not only that 8...c3 was played but, even, that White then resigned. [Click to replay]

Copyright to all historical pictures and scans: Edward Winter

The concluding part of this article will be posted in a few days' time.

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Edward Winter is the editor of Chess Notes, which was founded in January 1982 as "a forum for aficionados to discuss all matters relating to the Royal Pastime". Since then over 5,600 items have been published, and the series has resulted in four books by Winter: Chess Explorations (1996), Kings, Commoners and Knaves (1999), A Chess Omnibus (2003) and Chess Facts and Fables (2006). He is also the author of a monograph on Capablanca (1989).

Chess Notes is well known for its historical research, and anyone browsing in its archives will find a wealth of unknown games, accounts of historical mysteries, quotes and quips, and other material of every kind imaginable. Correspondents from around the world contribute items, and they include not only "ordinary readers" but also some eminent historians – and, indeed, some eminent masters. Chess Notes is located at the Chess History Center. Signed copies of Edward Winter's publications are currently available.