[A.J. Goldsby I]
One of the most beautiful games ever played.
A MASTERPIECE of defense. (!!!)
It is also one of the greatest examples of 'home cooking' that chess has ever seen. (Marshall prepared his new idea YEARS in advance ... before springing on Capa.).
(My annotations here are based primarily on GM A. Soltis's ... in his book, "The 100 Best.")
1. e4 e5; 2. Nf3 Nc6; 3. Bb5 a6!?; (Maybe - '!') The Morphy Defense.
4. Ba4 Nf6; 5. 0-0 Be7; 6. Re1 b5; 7. Bb3 0-0; 8. c3 d5!!; (TN) One of the most important opening innovations of the 20th century, according to GM's Nunn and Soltis.
It went on to become one of the most analyzed variations of all times.
[ Of course the main line is: 8...d6!?; which is fine for Black. ].
9.exd5 Nxd5; 10. Nxe5 Nxe5; 11. Rxe5 Nf6; Marshall's tricky original idea.
[ Marshall was to later introduce: 11...c6; "comp" - which became the main line. Dozens of books have been published on this line. ].
12. Re1!?, A move that anticipates Black's threats.
[ A more normal move would be: 12.d4, but it could also transpose back to the game. 12...Bd6; 13.Re1 Ng4; 14.h3 Qh4; 15.Qf3!, etc. (Black could now play 15...Nxf2; and we have transposed back to the game.);
White could have also tried: 12.Re2!?, but this leads to a completely different type of game. ].
12...Bd6; 13. h3 Ng4!; Black begins an attack which lasts a very long time.
Later analysis showed the next 3 moves (By BOTH sides!!) were easily the best. 14. Qf3!, White finds the best defense.
[ 14.hxg4?!, (Maybe - '?') This looks very tempting, but is very bad. 14...Qh4; 15.g3?, ( 15.Qf3[] Bh2+!; 16.Kf1 Bxg4; "--->" ) 15...Bxg3; 16.fxg3 Qxg3+; 17.Kh1 Bxg4; "-/+" with a winning attack for Black. ].
14...Qh4!; 15. d4!, Again Capa knows his best - and only - chance ... is to [eventually] develop his Queen-side.
[ 15.Qxa8?? Qxf2+; 16.Kh1 Qxe1# ].
15...Nxf2!; Soltis gives this move an exclam and says it is Black's best chance to continue his attack.
[ 15...h5!? ].
16. Re2! Bg4!; Black continues the attack in fine fashion. (Black's attack looks VERY menacing!)
[ 16...Ng4!?; 17.g3!! Qxh3; 18.Qxa8! Bxg3; 19.Qg2, "+/" (Probably "+/-") - GM F. Marshall. ].
17. hxg4, (Probably - '!') Again, Capa finds the best move.
[ 17.Bxf7+!?, "~" Not 17.Qd5?? Bxe2; "-/+" ].
17...Bh2+; 18. Kf1 Bg3; 19. Rxf2!, Again and again - Capa finds the very best defense.
[ Or 19.Ke1!? Nh3+; 20.Kd1 Ng1; "~" ]. 19...Qh1+; 20. Ke2 Bxf2; (Nice.) (Maybe - '!') Black finds the best continuation of the attack.
[ If 20...Qxc1!?; 21.Qxg3, "+/=" ].
21. Bd2!, (Maybe - '!!') Foreseen by Capa many moves in advance, this move breaks the force of Black's attack.
[ Not 21.Qxf2?! Qxc1; "Comp" as Black has a very strong attack. ].
21...Bh4; 22. Qh3 Rae8+; 23. Kd3 Qf1+; 24. Kc2 Bf2;
25. Qf3!, Beautiful. A very good move. White re-centralizes his Queen and sets up a pin ... which Black feels compelled to break.
[ 25.a4!? ].
25...Qg1; Breaking the pin ... and trying to maintain good piece activity.
[ 25...Re2!?; 26.a4! Qe1; 27.axb5! Be3; 28.Qxe3!, "+/-" (Or 28.Bc4!?) ].
26. Bd5!, Very nice. Again and again, Capa finds the very best move. (White also threatens Qd1; swapping Queens, and winning the game.)
[ 26.a4? Be3; "<=>" ].
26...c5; 27. dxc5 Bxc5; 28. b4 Bd6; Black finally is driven back - his attack is slowly repulsed ... and his game is nearly over.
[ 28...Be3?!; 29.Bxe3! Rxe3; 30.Nd2! Qxa1; 31.Qxe3, "+/-" ].
29. a4 a5!?; A desperate - but not entirely 'sting-less' attempt at counterplay. (Basically, this is GM's Soltis's comment at this juncture of the game.)
[ 29...h6; 30.axb5 axb5; 31.Ra5 Qb6; 32.g5, "+/-" ].
Capa now finishes off with ruthless and highly skilled precision. 30. axb5 axb4; 31. Ra6! bxc3; 32. Nxc3 Bb4; 33.b6!, The passed pawn decides.
[ Maybe 33.g5!?, "+/=" ].
33...Bxc3; 34. Bxc3 h6; 35. b7 Re3; 36. Bxf7+!,
Black RESIGNS! 1 - 0
***
A model of precision and accuracy.
One of the greatest chess games ever played, according to Chernev.
"The finest example of innovative attack and spirited defense that the century produced." - GM A. Soltis. (From his book, "The 100 Best.").
[ 36...Rxf7; 37. b8(Q)+, winning. ].
I consider this game to be easily in the "Ten Best" of all the games ever played... and I consider this the 7th greatest game of chess ever played!!
1 - 0
Copyright (c) A.J. Goldsby I, (c) 2001, (c) 2002.
One of the greatest games of chess ever played. (PERIOD!)
One of the most beautiful games of all time. And a 'piece-de-la-resistiance' of masterful defense.
Could this be Capa's greatest game???
Click HERE to go to/return to my Yahoo/GeoCities chess web site. (Home Page.)
Click HERE to return to my Yahoo/GeoCities "Best All-Time Games Page."
Click HERE to go to my Yahoo/GeoCities "Best Short Games Page."
Click HERE to go to my web page on my Geo-Cities web site, where I examine this game in GREAT detail!!! (But there is only 1 diagram, so you have to use a chess board & set!)
This is a MUCH shortened copy of the game than the version that exits in my database. (I had to shorten it for publication. The other version was simply too difficult to convert to an HTML [re-play] document.)
The original "ChessBase" file contains a fairly good look at the opening of this game, "The Marshall Gambit." This would be an asset to have, if you wanted to study this opening.
If you would like a copy of this game, please contact me.
Copyright, (©) A.J. Goldsby I. © A.J. Goldsby, 1999 - 2006.
Copyright (©) A.J. Goldsby, 2007. All rights reserved.
