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.
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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.d4Nf62.c4e63.Nc3Bb4This is the Nimzo Indian.4.e3The
Rubinstein Systemd5This 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+Nc6is just another line.5...Bxc3+5...Be7is possible but Capablanca decided to take on c3.6.bxc3c57.cxd5exd57...Nxd58.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 e4.0-09.Ne29.Nf3?!Does not fit in to Botvinnik's plan.9...b6Capablanca tries to exchange the very active bishop on d3, with his not so
active bishop on c8.10.0-0Ba611.Bxa6Nxa612.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!?Nc712...Nb813.dxc5bxc514.c4±13.Ng313.dxc5bxc514.c413...Re814.f3Ne615.Bb2!?15.e4?cxd416.e5dxc317.exf6Qxf615.Rd1!?Trying for e4.15...h5!?16.e4?16.Rad1∞16...h417.Ne2cxd418.cxd4dxe419.fxe4Nc5!20.Qd2Ncxe4-+12...Qd713.a4!Botvinnik prevents the queen from coming to a4.13.Qd3Qa4=13...Rfe814.Qd3Attacking 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.dxc5bxc516.c4±15.Qc2Nb816.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.Nc617.Ng3Na517...Ne4!Stopping White's plan of f3 and e4.18.f3Nxg319.hxg3f5!?=Stopping e4 seems like a good position for Black.18.f3Nb319.e4Qxa420.e5Both 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.Nd721.Qf2!Prophylaxis against Nc5
because then the knight would have been able to move to center with a tempo.21.--Nbc522.Qe2Nd321.f4Nbc522.Qf5Nd323.Re2±21.Re3‼
Engines suggest this and give it as completely winning. Here's an instructive
line.Nbc522.Qe2Nd323.f4Qa224.Qg4Qxb225.Nf5g626.Nh6+Kg727.Qxd7Kxh628.Qxf7+-21...g622.f4f523.exf6This had to be played
because otherwise Black would have cemented his position with a knight on e6.23.--Nf824.--Ne623...Nxf624.f5Rxe125.Rxe1Re826.Re6!
A fantastic move.26.Rf1g5-+26.fxg6hxg627.Rxe8+Nxe8=26...Rxe626...Kg727.Rxf6Kxf628.fxg6+Kxg629.Qf5+Kg730.Nh5+Kh830...Kg831.Qg5+Kf732.Qf6+Kg833.Qg7#30...Kh631.h4Rg831...Re1+32.Kh232.g4!+-31.Qf6+Kg832.Qg7#27.fxe6Kg728.Qf4Qe829.Qe5?!29.Qc7+!This was an important intermezzo.Kg829...Kh630.Qe530.Qe5Qe731.Ba3Qxa332.Qxf6+-White wins without any fireworks that
happened in the game.29...Qe729...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!Qxa330...Qe831.h4!31.e7?Na5∞31...Na532.h5gxh533.Nf5+Kg634.Nd6Qh835.Nf7+-31.Nh5+!A logical
follow up.gxh532.Qg5+Kf833.Qxf6+Kg833...Ke834.Qf7+Kd835.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+Kh835.e7Qc1+36.Kf236.Qf1Qe3+-+36...Qd2+37.Kg3Qg5+38.Kf2Qd2+This is why it was important to keep the queen on
f6.34...Qc1+35.Kf235.Qf1Qxf1+36.Kxf1Kf7-+35...Qc2+36.Kg3Qd3+36...Qxc3+37.Kh4Qe1+38.Kxh538.g3?Qe4+39.Kxh5Qe2+=38...Qe2+39.Kh4Qe1+40.g3Qe4+41.g4Qe1+42.Kh5+-37.Kh4Qe4+38.Kxh5Qe2+39.Kh439.g4Qxh2+40.Kg5Qd2+41.Kf5Nxd4+42.cxd4Qf2+43.Ke6+-39...Qe4+40.g4Qe1+41.Kh5The king has been saved from the
checks and Black is without any resources and has to throw in the towel.1–0
Sagar ShahSagar 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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