Learn from the Classics Ep 01: Botvinnik vs Capablanca, 1938

by Sagar Shah
10/1/2020 – Chess Classics are an integral part for every young chess player's development. These are the building blocks which help you to develop your style of play. IM Sagar Shah has started a new series on the ChessBase India YouTube channel where he has taken on the challenging task of covering some of the most important classics in chess! The first one he begins with is his personal favourite - Botvinnik vs Capablanca AVRO tournament 1938. A young Botvinnik takes on an experienced Capablanca and outplays him both strategically as well as tactically. 10 positions to solve, an hour long video and detailed game analysis for you to understand this duel.
Sagar Shah shows you on this DVD how you can use typical patterns used by the Master of the past in your own games. From opening play to middlegame themes.

What are Chess Classics? These are games by some of the best players in the world which have been accepted as model encounters. Studying them help you to understand certain concepts which are essential for your growth as a chess player. Just like how when you want to become a good musician, you must know certain songs of the great musicians of the past, to become a good chess player knowing these classics is essential. With this in mind, I have decided to launch a new series on ChessBase India YouTube channel called "Chess Classics you should know". The idea is to finish each session in one hour. Three fourth of the time (i.e 45 minutes) is spent on discussing the game with the viewers and in the last 15 minutes I show the viewers how to analyze using ChessBase 15.

Episode 1 of Chess Classics you must know - Botvinnik vs Capablanca 1938

Today, 28th of September 2020 is the first day of this series and I begin with one of my favourite classics - Botvinnik vs Capablanca from the AVRO tournament in 1938. Here are 10 questions for you to try your hand at and after that you can check the game analysis to get the answers.

In 1938 Botvinnik was on the rise, while Capablanca was the former World Champion, still quite sharp but nowhere close to what he was in his prime

 
Position 1

While ...d5 is a very respectable move in this position, sometimes I feel that it is not in the same spirit that Nimzowitsch would have liked someone to play Nimzo Indian in! White to play.

 
Position 2

You need to come up with a strategical concept of how you would like to develop your bishop on f1 and the knight on g1 in this position. Which are the best squares for those two pieces?

 
Position 3

Would you like to place your f-rook on e1 or the a-rook on e1?

 
Position 4

Black to play. How should Capablanca have put a stop to Botvinnik's plan in this position?

 
Position 5

The natural move seems to be to push on with f4 here. But Botvinnik did something better. Can you find the move?

 
Position 6

Time to find a great move for White.

 
Position 7

Botvinnik played the natural Qe5 here. But he missed something much better. What is that move?

 
Position 8

The move that made this game immortal. White to play and stun the former World Champion.

 
Position 9

When you say A, you must say B. White to play.

 
Position 10

Black has checks coming up on c1. Is it a perpetual check on hand? A lot of doubts would have gone through young Botvinnik's mind before making his next move. Should you play e7 here?

The game is so famous that the position was also converted into a postal stamp

He was a child prodigy and he is surrounded by legends. In his best times he was considered to be unbeatable and by many he was reckoned to be the greatest chess talent of all time: Jose Raul Capablanca, born 1888 in Havana.

Our experts show, using the games of Botvinnik, how to employ specific openings successfully, which model strategies are present in specific structures, how to find tactical solutions and rules for how to bring endings to a successful conclusion

Solutions

The answers to all the questions above are found in the game analysis below which is done by Sagar along with the people present during the liveshow:

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 This is the Nimzo Indian. 4.e3 The Rubinstein System d5 This move was considered for many years to be not in the spirit of the Nimzo Indian because on one hand you want to double the pawns on c3 and c4 but on the other hand you are undoubling the pawns with d5. It is not the way in which Nimzowitsch would have liked to play the Nimzo Indian, but it is of course a very fine move. 5.a3!? Botvinnik immediately tries to resolve the tension. 5.Qa4+ Nc6 is just another line. 5...Bxc3+ 5...Be7 is possible but Capablanca decided to take on c3. 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5 exd5 7...Nxd5 8.Bd3! The start of a very nice strategic plan where White puts his pieces in the center in a way where they are behind the pawns and you can expand with f3 and e4. So the plan is Bd3, Nge2 and eventually f3, Ng3 and e4. 0-0 9.Ne2 9.Nf3?! Does not fit in to Botvinnik's plan. 9...b6 Capablanca tries to exchange the very active bishop on d3, with his not so active bishop on c8. 10.0-0 Ba6 11.Bxa6 Nxa6 12.Bb2?! This bishop could well have been kept on c1 because it could have been active on the c1-h6 diagonal or on the a1-h8 diagonal. There was no rush to develop this bishop on b2. 12.Qd3!? Nc7 12...Nb8 13.dxc5 bxc5 14.c4± 13.Ng3 13.dxc5 bxc5 14.c4 13...Re8 14.f3 Ne6 15.Bb2!? 15.e4? cxd4 16.e5 dxc3 17.exf6 Qxf6 15.Rd1!? Trying for e4. 15...h5!? 16.e4? 16.Rad1∞ 16...h4 17.Ne2 cxd4 18.cxd4 dxe4 19.fxe4 Nc5! 20.Qd2 Ncxe4-+ 12...Qd7 13.a4! Botvinnik prevents the queen from coming to a4. 13.Qd3 Qa4= 13...Rfe8 14.Qd3 Attacking the knight on a6. c4!? Although the move in itself might not be so bad, Capablanca's idea was to reroute his knight from a6-b68-c6-a5-b3 which is very slow. Hence, c4 which releases the tension, in conjunction to this entire knight tour, is not a good idea. Please note c4 on its own is not a bad move. 14...Nc7?! 15.dxc5 bxc5 16.c4± 15.Qc2 Nb8 16.Rae1! It's very important to choose the right rook to be placed in the center in such positions. Because if you would have put the other rook on e1, it would have been a mistake. After f3-e4, the center is going to be opened up and you will need your rooks on e1 and f1. Nc6 17.Ng3 Na5 17...Ne4! Stopping White's plan of f3 and e4. 18.f3 Nxg3 19.hxg3 f5!?= Stopping e4 seems like a good position for Black. 18.f3 Nb3 19.e4 Qxa4 20.e5 Both sides have followed their plan religiously. Black has won a pawn on the queenside while White has expanded in the center. It remains to be seen which plan is more successful. In the end we got to see that Botvinnik had the much more superior plan. Nd7 21.Qf2! Prophylaxis against Nc5 because then the knight would have been able to move to center with a tempo. 21.-- Nbc5 22.Qe2 Nd3 21.f4 Nbc5 22.Qf5 Nd3 23.Re2± 21.Re3‼ Engines suggest this and give it as completely winning. Here's an instructive line. Nbc5 22.Qe2 Nd3 23.f4 Qa2 24.Qg4 Qxb2 25.Nf5 g6 26.Nh6+ Kg7 27.Qxd7 Kxh6 28.Qxf7+- 21...g6 22.f4 f5 23.exf6 This had to be played because otherwise Black would have cemented his position with a knight on e6. 23.-- Nf8 24.-- Ne6 23...Nxf6 24.f5 Rxe1 25.Rxe1 Re8 26.Re6! A fantastic move. 26.Rf1 g5-+ 26.fxg6 hxg6 27.Rxe8+ Nxe8= 26...Rxe6 26...Kg7 27.Rxf6 Kxf6 28.fxg6+ Kxg6 29.Qf5+ Kg7 30.Nh5+ Kh8 30...Kg8 31.Qg5+ Kf7 32.Qf6+ Kg8 33.Qg7# 30...Kh6 31.h4 Rg8 31...Re1+ 32.Kh2 32.g4!+- 31.Qf6+ Kg8 32.Qg7# 27.fxe6 Kg7 28.Qf4 Qe8 29.Qe5?! 29.Qc7+! This was an important intermezzo. Kg8 29...Kh6 30.Qe5 30.Qe5 Qe7 31.Ba3 Qxa3 32.Qxf6+- White wins without any fireworks that happened in the game. 29...Qe7 29...Na5! White is still better but Black is fighting. 30.Ba3‼ The move that made this game immortal. It also remins us that no piece on the board (or for that matter no person in your life should be underestimated). The bishop on a3 pops out to not just clear the path of the e-pawn, but at the same create tactical opportunities with Nh5 in the game! Qxa3 30...Qe8 31.h4! 31.e7? Na5∞ 31...Na5 32.h5 gxh5 33.Nf5+ Kg6 34.Nd6 Qh8 35.Nf7+- 31.Nh5+! A logical follow up. gxh5 32.Qg5+ Kf8 33.Qxf6+ Kg8 33...Ke8 34.Qf7+ Kd8 35.Qd7# 34.e7! This move gets an exclamation for the sheer belief that Botvinnik had on his calculations. He thought and thought and realized that his knight is not coming under perpetual checks and made this move. It shows tremendous self belief. 34.Qf7+ Kh8 35.e7 Qc1+ 36.Kf2 36.Qf1 Qe3+-+ 36...Qd2+ 37.Kg3 Qg5+ 38.Kf2 Qd2+ This is why it was important to keep the queen on f6. 34...Qc1+ 35.Kf2 35.Qf1 Qxf1+ 36.Kxf1 Kf7-+ 35...Qc2+ 36.Kg3 Qd3+ 36...Qxc3+ 37.Kh4 Qe1+ 38.Kxh5 38.g3? Qe4+ 39.Kxh5 Qe2+= 38...Qe2+ 39.Kh4 Qe1+ 40.g3 Qe4+ 41.g4 Qe1+ 42.Kh5+- 37.Kh4 Qe4+ 38.Kxh5 Qe2+ 39.Kh4 39.g4 Qxh2+ 40.Kg5 Qd2+ 41.Kf5 Nxd4+ 42.cxd4 Qf2+ 43.Ke6+- 39...Qe4+ 40.g4 Qe1+ 41.Kh5 The king has been saved from the checks and Black is without any resources and has to throw in the towel. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Botvinnik,M-Capablanca,J-1–01938E49AVRO11

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Sagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.

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