New York 1924, Round 2: Alekhine wins with the Alekhine

by Johannes Fischer
5/6/2020 – The second round of the Grandmaster Tournament New York 1924 saw only one decisive game. After a bold opening experiment Alexander Alekhine won with Black against Geza Maroczy, and with 2 out of 2 he is now sole first. The duel of the World Champions between Emanuel Lasker and José Raúl Capablanca ended in a bloodless draw but the game between Edward Lasker and Efim Bogoljubow was an interesting fight and gave Edward Lasker the opportunity to show why even the best players in the world make mistakes. | Photo: Alexander Alekhine (Archive)

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New York 1924, Round 2: Alekhine starts with two wins

The new ideas in chess promoted by players such as Aron Nimzowitsch, Richard Reti or Gyula Breyer lead to an ever increasing number of opening experiments in top-level tournaments. Suddenly the best players in the world are making moves that would have been unthinkable or ridiculed in the past. A good example of this is the Alekhine Defence, in which Black plays 1.e4 Nf6!? to provoke the white e-pawn to advance and to attack the knight. With this strategy Black hopes that White overextends himself and that the pawn in the center might later become a weakness.

For a long time, this move, which allows White to quickly occupy the center with pawns, was dismissed as eccentric, but since the idea that seemingly strong pawns centers can be weak and vulnerable has gradually gained ground, top players have looked at the opening more closely.

Alekhine in particular has done a lot to make this variation popular and has tried it out more than once in serious tournament games, for example against Friedrich Sämisch and against Endre Steiner at the tournament in Budapest in 1921, probably inspired by the analyses of Moscow master Michail Kljazkin, who is a passionate advocate of Black's provocative first move, and whom Alekhine certainly knew from his time in Moscow.

Probably Alekhine has given "his" opening new followers in the second round of the tournament in New York. He was playing with Black against the Hungarian Geza Maroczy and after 1.e4 Nf6 Black managed to win a short and impressive game .

 
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1.e4 Nf6!? Alekhine plays the defense named after him. But Maroczy refrains from the principled continuation 2.e5 and decides to opt for more restrained play. 2.d3 e5 3.f4 Nc6 4.Nf3 d5!? Encouraged by White's timid play Alekhine decides to sacrifice a pawn to seize the initiative. 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.fxe5 Bg4 7.Be2 Bxf3 8.Bxf3 Qh4+ 9.Kf1? It is hard to understand this move. Now White can no longer castle and his king will be in permanent danger. Better was 9.g3 e.g. Qd4 10.Qe2 0-0-0 11.c3 Qxe5 12.d4 Qxe2+ after 12...Qd6 13.0-0 White should be fine. 13.Kxe2 White has nothing to fear and the bishops pair might even give him slightly better chances. 9...0-0-0 10.Nc3 Bc5 11.Ne4?! After this second inaccuracy White's position is aready close to losing. Again, it was better to play 11.g3 though it looks dangerous. But after e.g. Qh3+ 12.Bg2 Qf5+ 13.Qf3 Qxf3+ 14.Bxf3 Ndb4 15.Bd1 Nxe5 the worst is over for White and he should be able to consolidate. 11...Ne3+ 12.Bxe3 Bxe3 13.Qe1 Qh6 With this retreat Black keeps the pressure. And the longer you look at White's position, the more desolate it seems: White might be pawn up but Black can regain this pawn any time. But the real problem for White is the fact that his king is vulnerable and that he cannot coordinate his pieces. 14.Ng3 Nd4 15.Qb4 c6 16.Qa4 Kb8 17.Rd1 Rhe8! Before landing the decisive blow Alekhine invites all his pieces to the party. White is surprisingly helpless because the vulnerable position of the white king stops the white pieces from becoming active. 18.h4 Qf4 19.Rh3 After 19.Nh5 Black simply plays Qxe5 with an overwhelming position. 19...b5! This surprising advance of the b-pawn wins material. 20.Nh5 What else? After 20.Qa6 Nxf3 21.Ne2 Nd2+ 22.Ke1 Qf2# White is mated and after 20.Qb4 a5 21.Qxa5 Nxf3 the bishop on e3 defends b6 and Black wins. 20...bxa4 21.Nxf4 Bxf4 22.c3 Nxf3 23.Rxf3 Bxe5 24.Rxf7 Rf8 A fine attacking game by Alekhine. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Maroczy,G-Alekhine,A-0–11924B02New York International Masters-012

Geza Maroczy

But this was the only victory of the round. The eagerly awaited duel between former World Champion Emanuel Lasker and the reigning World Champion Capablanca ended in a draw after 30 moves. In a line of the Ruy Lopez  both sides proceeded cautiously and avoided any risk.

The other games of the round were less correct but more entertaining. E.g. the encounter between Edward Lasker and Efim Bogolyubov, which once more illustrated that nothing is as difficult as winning a won game.

Edward Lasker is the only amateur in the field of professionals. He was born on December 3, 1885 in Kempen, in the province of Posen in Germany, but in 1914 he emigrated to the US after studying in Breslau and Berlin and a short interlude in London. Lasker is an engineer by profession and between 1921 and 1923 he developed an electric breast pump which has saved the lives of many babies and has made Lasker rich.

Edward Lasker in New York 1924

But although Lasker is an amateur, he should not be underestimated. E.g. the year before, in 1923, he played a match for the US Championship against Frank Marshall and only lost narrowly with 8½-9½.

Against Efim Bogoljubov Lasker showed a lot of tactical ingenuity in a bad position – and he was kind enough to explain the critical moments of the game afterwards.

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.Bg5 c6 8.Bb3 h6 9.Bh4 Re8 10.Qd3 Nh5 11.Qc4 Rf8 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Ne2 a5 14.Qc3 a4 15.Bc4 b5 16.Bd3 Bb7 17.dxe5 dxe5 18.Rad1 Rfe8 19.Ng3 Nxg3 20.hxg3 Nf6 21.Nh4 g6 22.Qd2 Kg7 23.Qe3 Ng4 24.Qd2 Qc5 25.Be2 Nf6 26.Bd3 Rad8 27.Qe2 Bc8 28.Kh1 Bg4 29.f3 Be6 30.a3 Re7 31.Rde1 Qd4 When, after thirty-one moves, the game was adjourned, my pieces had a deplorable lack of mobility, while those of my opponent were so well placed that I was all discouraged and gave the game up as lost - except for a faint hope that Bogoljubow might underestimate one slight counter-chance remaining at my disposal. My hope rested on a psychological basis. Bogoljubow had outplayed me so completely that he might not give me credit for conceiving a defense involving a hidden combination. 32.Qf2 Qxb2?! Played after very short consideration. I am sure he could have easily won the game with 32...Rb7 followed by ...b4 when he would have dominated two open files with his Rooks and won a Pawn shortly. 33.Qc5 Rc7 34.Rb1 Qd4 35.Rxb5! g5?! I believe if Bogoljubow had played 35...Nd7 in this position, he would have obtained an overwhelming game after 36.Qxd4 exd4 37.Rb4 c5 38.Rxa4 c4 39.Be2 d3! 36.Nf5+ Bxf5 37.exf5 Nh5 38.Re1! 38.Kh2? Nxg3! 39.Kxg3?? Qh4# 38...Nxg3+ 39.Kh2 Qh4+ 40.Kg1 f6 41.Rxe5! fxe5 42.Qxe5+ Kg8 43.Rb4‼ 43.Qxc7 would be a blunder, because of Qd4+ which protects the Rook. 43...Qh1+ 44.Kf2 Rf7 45.Rb8? Here my third hour was up, and I had to move instantly. Under this stress I had the hallucination that I could not take the Knight, forgetting that my Rook was defending the mate on h4 which Black's Queen had previously threatened. After 45.Kxg3 Black's game would have collapsed very quickly. 45...Rxb8 46.Qxb8+ Kg7 47.Qe5+ Kf8 48.Qb8+ Kg7 49.Qe5+ ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Lasker,E-Bogoljubow,E-½–½1924C41New York International Masters-012

An interesting game and probably more material for Edward Lasker's planned book Chess Secrets I Learned from the Masters.

After two rounds Alekhine is the sole leader with 2 out of 2. In round 3 he will meet Emanuel Lasker with White – and we will see whether Lasker still has chances against the younger generation or whether the time of the man who was World Champion for 27 years is finally over.

Results of round 2

Em. Lasker ½-½ J.R. Capablanca
Ed. Lasker ½-½ E. Bogoljubow
F. Marshall ½-½ S. Tartakower
F. Yates ½-½ D. Janowsky
G. Maroczy 0-1 A. Alekhine

Bye: Richard Reti

Standings after round 2

Rk. Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pts.
1 Alexander Alekhine             1   1     2.0
2 Saviely Tartakower     ½             1   1.5
3 Frank James Marshall   ½                 ½ 1.0
4 Jose Raul Capablanca           ½   ½       1.0
5 Edward Lasker                 ½ ½   1.0
6 Dawid Markelowicz Janowski       ½     ½         1.0
7 Frederick Dewhurst Yates 0         ½           0.5
8 Emanuel Lasker       ½               0.5
9 Geza Maroczy 0       ½             0.5
10 Efim Bogoljubow   0     ½             0.5
11 Richard Reti     ½                 0.5

Games

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.h3 0-0 6.Bf4 Nbd7 7.Qd2 c5 8.d5 a6 9.Bh6 b5 10.Bxg7 Kxg7 11.Qe3 Qa5 12.Nd2 e5 13.Be2 h6 14.0-0 Qd8 15.a4 b4 16.Ncb1 a5 17.Nc4 Nb6 18.Nxb6 Qxb6 19.f4 exf4 20.Rxf4 Qd8 21.Nd2 Qe7 22.Nc4 Ba6 23.Nb6 Rab8 24.Raf1 Nh5 25.R4f3 Bxe2 26.Qxe2 Rxb6 27.g4 Rbb8 28.Qf2 f5 29.gxh5 fxe4 30.Rxf8 Rxf8 31.Qxf8+ Qxf8 32.Rxf8 Kxf8 33.Kf2 Kg7 34.Ke3 g5 35.Kxe4 Kf6 36.b3 Ke7 37.Kd3 Kf6 38.Ke4 Ke7 39.Kd3 Kf6 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Lasker,E-Maroczy,G-½–½1924B08New York International Masters-011
Janowski,D-Capablanca,J-½–½1924D67New York International Masters-011
Tartakower,S-Bogoljubow,E-1–01924C33New York International Masters-011
Marshall,F-Reti,R-½–½1924E90New York International Masters-011
Yates,F-Alekhine,A-0–11924C76New York International Masters-011
Lasker,E-Bogoljubow,E-½–½1924C41New York International Masters-012
Marshall,F-Tartakower,S-½–½1924A85New York International Masters-012
Maroczy,G-Alekhine,A-0–11924B02New York International Masters-012
Lasker,E-Capablanca,J-½–½1924C66New York International Masters-012
Yates,F-Janowski,D-½–½1924C79New York International Masters-012

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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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