The position begins to look really dangerous for White. In reality Black's attack is reaching its maximum force. Very soon it will reach the apex, and then White, who is well prepared, will begin his counter action, and through his superiority in material obtain an undoubted advantage.

He could not play R - K 1 because of R × Q P. Besides, he wants to be ready to play P - K 5. At present White cannot with safety play R × K P, but he will soon prepare the way for it. Then, by giving up a Rook for a Bishop and a Pawn, he will completely upset Black's attack and come out a Pawn ahead. It is on this basis that White's whole defensive manœuvre is founded.

Now the Black Rook enters into the game, but White is prepared. It is now time to give back the exchange.

R - B 5 ch might have been better. The text move did not prove as strong as anticipated.

R × Kt would lose easily

Very fine. White cannot play R B 7 ch because of K - Q 1; R × B, R × Kt winning.

The ending is very difficult to win. At this point White had to make the last move before the game was adjourned.

I have passed over the game lightly because of its difficult nature, and because we are at present concerned more with the opening and the middle-game than we are with the endings, which will be treated separately.

24. CUTTING OFF PIECES FROM THE SCENE OF ACTION

Very often in a game a master only plays to cut off, so to speak, one of the pieces from the scene of actual conflict. Often a Bishop or a Knight is completely put out of action. In such cases we might say that from that moment the game is won, because for all practical purposes there will be one more piece on one side than on the other. A very good illustration is furnished by the following game.

Example 54.—Played at the Hastings Victory Tournament, 1919. (Four Knights.) White: W. Winter. Black: J. R. Capablanca.

Niemzowitch's variation, which I have played successfully in many a game. It gives White a very solid game. Niemzowitch's idea is that White will in due time be able to play P - K B 4, opening a line for his Rooks, which, in combination with the posting of a Knight at K B 5, should be sufficient to win. He thinks that should Black attempt to stop the Knight from going to K B 5, he will have to weaken his game in some other way. Whether this is true or not remains to be proved, but in my opinion the move is perfectly good. On the other hand, there is no question that Black can easily develop his pieces. But it must be considered that in this variation White does not attempt to hinder Black's development, he simply attempts to build up a position which he considers impregnable and from which he can start an attack in due course.

The alternative, Kt P × B; gives White the best of the game, without doubt.^[8]

This move is not at all in accordance with the nature of this variation. The general strategical plan for White is to play P - K R 3, to be followed in time by the advance of the K Kt P to Kt 4, and the bringing of the Q Kt to K B 5 via K 2 and K Kt 3 or Q 1 and K 3. Then, if possible, the K Kt is linked with the other Kt by placing it at either K R 4, K Kt 3, or K 3 as the occasion demands. The White King sometimes remains at Kt 1, and other times it is placed at K Kt 2, but mostly at K R 1. Finally, in most cases comes P - K B 4, and then the real attack begins. Sometimes it is a direct assault against the King,^[9] and at other times it comes simply to finessing for positional advantage in the end-game, after most of the pieces have been exchanged.^[10]

To prevent P - Q 4 and to draw White into playing Kt - Q 5, which would prove fatal. Black's plan is to play P - K Kt 4, as soon as the circumstances permit, in order to free his Queen and Knight from the pin by the Bishop.

White falls into the trap. Only lack of experience can account for this move. White should have considered that a player of my experience and strength could never allow such a move if it were good.

After this move White's game is lost. White cannot play Kt × Kt P, because Kt × Kt will win a piece. Therefore he must play B - Kt 3, either before or after Kt × Kt, with disastrous results in either case, as will be seen.

A simple examination will show that White is minus a Bishop for all practical purposes. He can only free it by sacrificing one Pawn, and possibly not even then. At least it would lose time besides the Pawn. Black now devotes all his energy to the Queen's side, and, having practically a Bishop more, the result cannot be in doubt. The rest of the game is given, so that the student may see how simple it is to win such a game.

There is no necessity to pay any attention to the King's side, because White gains nothing by exchanging Pawns and opening the King's Rook file.

If White takes the proffered Pawn, Black regains it immediately by R - Kt 5, after P × B P.

25. A PLAYER'S MOTIVES CRITICISED IN A SPECIMEN GAME

Now that a few of my games with my own notes have been given, I offer for close perusal and study a very fine game played by Sir George Thomas, one of England's foremost players, against Mr. F. F. L. Alexander, in the championship of the City of London Chess Club in the winter of 1919-1920. It has the interesting feature for the student that Sir George Thomas kindly wrote the notes to the game for me at my request, and with the understanding that I would make the comments on them that I considered appropriate. Sir George Thomas' notes are in brackets and thus will be distinguished from my own comments.

Example 55.—Queen's Gambit Declined. (The notes within brackets by Sir George Thomas.) White: Mr. F. F. L. Alexander. Black: Sir George Thomas.

(One of the objects of Black's method of defence is to attack White's Q Kt doubly by Kt - K 5, followed by P × P. But 7 Kt - Q 2 is probably a strong way of meeting this threat.) There are, besides, two good reasons for this method of defence; first, that it is not as much played as some of the other defences and consequently not so well known, and second that it leaves Black with two Bishops against B and Kt, which, in a general way, constitutes an advantage.

This is not the logical place for the B which should have been posted at Q 3. In the opening, time is of great importance, and therefore the player should be extremely careful in his development and make sure that he posts his pieces in the right places.

(I did not want White's Kt to come to K 5, from where I could not dislodge it by P - K B 3 without weakening my K P.) The same result could be accomplished by playing B - Q 3. Incidentally it bears out my previous statement that the B should have been originally played to Q 3.

The alternative was P - K 4, followed by P - K 5, and then O - O. White would thereby assume the initiative but would weaken his Pawn position considerably, and might be compelled to stake all on a violent attack against the King. This is a turning point in the game, and it is in such positions that the temperament and style of the player decide the course of the game.

(White might play 15 K R - Q 1, keeping the option of breaking up the centre later on. I wanted him to advance this P as there is now a fine post for my B at Q B 4.) By this move White shows that he does not understand the true value of his position. His only advantage consisted in the undeveloped condition of Black's Q B. He should therefore have made a plan to prevent the B from coming out, or if that were not possible, then he should try to force Black to weaken his Pawn position in order to come out with the B. There were three moves to consider: first, P - Q R 4, in order to maintain the White B in the dominating position that it now occupies. This would have been met by Q - B 2; second, either of the Rooks to Q 1 in order to threaten 16 P × P, B × P; 17 Kt × B, Q × Kt; 18 B × P ch. This would have been met by B - Kt 5; and third, P - K R 3 to prevent B - Kt 5 and by playing either R to Q 1, followed up as previously stated to force Black to play P - Q Kt 4, which would weaken his Queen's side Pawns. Thus by playing P - K R 3 White would have attained the desired object. The text move blocks the action of the White B and facilitates Black's development. Hereafter White will act on the defensive, and the interest throughout the rest of the game will centre mainly on Black's play and the manner in which he carries out the attack.

(This seems wrong, as it makes the development of Black's Queen wing easier. At present he cannot play P - Q Kt 3, because of the reply P × P followed by B - Q 5.)

(With the idea of Q R - Kt 1 and P - B 5. But it only compels Black to bring his B to Q B 4, which he would do in any case.)

(It would have been better, probably, to play 20...K R - K 1, with the idea of P - B 4 presently.) Black's play hereabout is weak; it lacks force, and there seems to be no well-defined plan of attack. It is true that these are the most difficult positions to handle in a game. In such cases a player must conceive a plan on a large scale, which promises chances of success, and with it all, it must be a plan that can be carried out with the means at his disposal. From the look of the position it seems that Black's best chance would be to mass his forces for an attack against White's centre, to be followed by a direct attack against the King. He should, therefore, play Q R - K 1, threatening P - K B 4. If White is able to defeat this plan, or rather to prevent it, then, once he has fixed some of the White pieces on the King's side, he should quickly shift his attack to the Queen's side, and open a line for his Rooks, which, once they enter in action, should produce an advantage on account of the great power of the two Bishops.

(White has clearly lost time with his Rook's moves.)

(To bring his Queen across after Kt - R 4 and B - K 2.)

(I thought this exchange necessary here, as White is threatening to play his Bishop via Kt 4 to K 6. If he retook with the Bishop's Pawn I intended to exchange Bishops and rely on the two Pawns to one on the Queen's wing. I did not expect him to retake it with the King's Pawn, which seemed to expose him to a violent King's side attack.) Black's judgment in this instance I believe to be faulty. Had White retaken with the B P, as he expected, he would have had the worst of the Pawn position, as White would have had a passed Pawn well supported on the Queen's side. His only advantage would lie in his having a very well posted Bishop against a badly posted Knight, and on the fact that in such positions as the above, the Bishop is invariably stronger than the Knight. He could and should have prevented all that, by playing B - B 1, as, had White then replied with Q - Kt 3, he could then play P × P, and White would not have been able to retake with the B P on account of B × P ch winning the exchange.

I do not like this move. It would have been better to hold it in reserve and to have played P - B 4, to be followed in due time by P - K Kt 4 and P - B 5, after having placed the Q at Q 2, K B 2, or some other square as the occasion demanded. The text move blocks the action of the powerful B at Q B 4, and tends to make White's position safer than it should have been. The move in itself is a very strong attacking move, but it is isolated, and there is no effective continuation. Such advances as a rule should only be made when they can be followed by a concerted action of the pieces.

(If now 34 B - B 3, P × P; 35 B × R, B × B ch, with a winning attack.)

R - R 3 was the alternative. White's only move would have been K - R 1. The position now is evidently won for Black, and it is only a question of finding the right course. The final attack is now carried on by Sir George Thomas in an irreproachable manner.

(Again preventing B × R, by the masked attack on White's Rook. White therefore protects his Rook.) If Kt - B 4, P - K 7 !; 39 Kt × P, R × Kt ch; 40 R × R, B - K 5 ch !!; 41 B × B, best, R × R and White is lost. If, however, against 38 Kt - B 4, Black plays Q - R 3, and White 39 Q - B 2, I take pleasure in offering the position to my readers as a most beautiful and extraordinary win for Black, beginning with 39...Q - R 6 ch !!! I leave the variations for the student to work out.

(Making a double attack on the Rook—which still cannot be taken—and preparing to defend the K R P.) If either the Rook or Bishop are taken White would be mated in a few moves.

(If 40...R - R 3; 41 Kt - Kt 1, Q × Kt P; 42 Q - K Kt 2. Black therefore tries to get the Queen away from the defence.) A very beautiful move, and the best way to carry on the attack.

(The best defence was 41 R × B, but Black would emerge with Queen against Rook and Knight.)

(Again, not R - K R 3; because of P - Q 6 dis. ch.)

(If 42 Q × B, then, at last, R - R 3 wins.)