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Jose Raul Capablanca vs Rafael Blanco Estera
"You say "Blanco" I say "Blanca"" (game of the day Jan-21-2016)
Havana (1913), Havana CUB, rd 2, Feb-17
French Defense: Rubinstein Variation. Capablanca Line (C10)  ·  1-0

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
a
1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move.
ANALYSIS [x]
Notes by Stockfish 9 v010218 (minimum 6s/ply)7...Be7 was played in Bogoljubov vs H E Leede, 1924 (0-1)8.Bg5 was played in I Nepomniachtchi vs G Meier, 2018 (1-0)better is 11...c5 12.dxc5 Qc7 13.Bf4 Qxc5 14.O-O Nd5 15.Bg3 f5 ⩲ +0.80 (23 ply) ⩲ +1.48 (20 ply)better is 18.Qg3 Nf7 19.b4 Nxe5 20.Qxe5 Qd8 21.a4 h6 22.a5 Qb8 ± +1.51 (24 ply) ⩲ +0.87 (25 ply)better is 21.Bc2 Qb4 22.Bb3 c5 23.Qd3 Qb6 24.h4 Ref8 25.h5 exd5 ⩲ +1.35 (23 ply)better is 21...b6 22.d6 Qf8 23.b4 c5 24.bxc5 bxc5 25.Bc2 Rc8 26.Qg5 ⩲ +0.80 (25 ply) ⩲ +1.42 (23 ply) 24...Bc6 25.Be2 Rd8 26.Bf3 Bxf3 27.Qxf3 Kg8 28.b3 Rd6 ⩲ +1.41 (25 ply) 25.Bc2 Kg8 26.Ba4 Rd8 27.Bc6 Rdf8 28.a3 f4 29.Bd5 h6 ± +2.24 (28 ply) 25...Qd6 26.Rd1 Qf8 27.Bf3 Rexe6 28.Red5 Re8 29.R5d3 f4 ⩲ +0.97 (29 ply)+- +3.15 (23 ply) 28...f4 29.Qe2 a6 30.g3 h6 31.b3 h5 32.gxf4 Bxd5 33.Rxe8 +- +3.02 (24 ply)+- +4.62 (23 ply)33...Rexe6 34.Rxe6 Rxe6 35.Qxg6+ Kf8 36.Bxe6 Ke7 37.Qf7+ +- +7.13 (26 ply)1-0

rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1
FEN COPIED

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Given 56 times; par: 54 [what's this?]

Annotations by Stockfish (Computer).      [35437 more games annotated by Stockfish]

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Dec-26-03  Lawrence: 32.....Rxg6 only makes it hurt all the more.
Jun-11-04  filipecea: Brilliant! Take a look at 28.Qe3, what an amazing battery on the e-file plus the bishop..
Sep-07-05  pencuse: 25. Be2!! first move of a very creative idea. White has found that it will be effective if the bishop goes to Bd5 square. One of the best games from Capablanca.
Jan-09-07  madlydeeply: looks like the early Queen development to f3, similar to Tarrasch vs Mieses, 1916, makes it hard to for black to develop black bishop on the long diagonal.
Jul-29-07  Beancounter: Look at the analysis of this game by Capa himself in "Chess Fundamentals". He does not give much concrete analysis but rather concentrates on strategic themes. After f5 was forced, JRC consistently played against the weakness on e6. An object lesson in positional chess.
Sep-08-07  patzerboy: Beautiful use of pins and threatened pins.
Jul-15-08  ToTheDeath: Powerful game. I find the early Capablanca games more fun to play over- most of them seem more dynamic and aggressive than in his peak years- rather than just trying to win a pawn and queen it he played a lot of great attacking chess.
Feb-08-13  Joules: The devastating power and beauty of that ♗d5 pin was more easily appreciated, by me, on playing it out. The Black queen is powerless to take back the White bishop. Leaving White up a piece and a pawn, when done.

33. ... Rexe6 34. Rxe6 Rxe6 35. Qxg6+ Kf8 36. Bxe6


click for larger view

Feb-05-14  ThumbTack: Capablanca in "Chess Fundamentals" stresses the strength of 7.Ne5. It stops Black from easily developing his Queen Bishop and puts a strangle hold on Black. He also mentions that Lasker thought White could not have played any better moves anywhere.
Mar-28-14  Jeton: Why was forcing f5. Why not 12... g6.
Jan-21-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: Just call the whole pun off, and enjoy the game.
Jan-21-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  al wazir: If black had played 29...Ke8 there would have been no pin.
Jan-21-16  Eusebius: Everything always seems to be so clear with this Capa...
Jan-21-16  TheFocus: Delightful game. Queen, both Rooks and a Bishop all aimed at e6!

If Capablanca had a kitchen sink handy, he would've thrown that in there, too!!

Although he did well enough without it.

Great game.

Jan-21-16  RookFile: After 7. Ne5, black needs to organize ...c5. 7....a6 and ...c5 next isn't bad.
Jan-21-16  LoveThatJoker: A truly famous J.R. Capablanca game. I've studied it in the past.

The pun is somewhat terrible admittedly. :)

LTJ

Jan-21-16  Castleinthesky: By move 14, White's position looks overwhelming. White is fully in control of the center and Black is very behind in development. As others have pointed out, 25. Be2! is a beautiful move that begins the winning combination and also activates White's light squared bishop.
Jan-21-16  kevin86: White's pressure and discovered check threat wins this one.
Jan-21-16  mikrohaus: Many mentioned "Chess Fundamentals" by Capa. It's free on Gutenberg. [I like the e-pub version, because it has all of the diagrams; but, you have to d/l the e-pub app if you don't have it for your browser.]

Capa had extensive commentary on this game, but also really good stuff on 2Rv2R endings and great analysis of some of his famous losses.

You are cheating yourself, if you've never read it.

Jan-21-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: <al wazir: If black had played 29...Ke8 there would have been no pin.>


click for larger view

True enough, that eliminates one pin and the game continuation. But there are other pins and other ways. Simply <30.Qh4>, attacking the rook on f6 looks like a quick win. If the rook move, the bishop hangs. If the bishop moves so that the queen protects the rook, then the other rook on e7 hangs. And if <30...Ke7 31.Qxh7+> crashes in.

The main point of <29...Kg8> is that <30.Qh4> can be answered by <30...Kg7>.

Jan-22-16  thegoodanarchist: Chess Genius at work. Everyone step aside, let the genius work.

Advance of the h pawn sealed the deal.

Jan-25-16  RookFile: I think that was Black's basic problem. He was too passive in his play. I'm not sure that black had a realistic threat in the entire game. Much better to mix it up.
Mar-23-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  fredthebear: Game 1 Chess Fundamentals by J.R. Capablanca

Game 16 The Immortal Games of Capablanca by Fred Reinfeld

Game 21 Modern Ideas in Chess by Richard Reti

Game 103 'The Golden Dozen: The Twelve Greatest Chess Players of All Time' by Irving Chernev

Game 103 Twelve Great Chess Players and Their Best Games by Irving Chernev

and more...

Jan-16-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: <RookFile: After 7. Ne5, black needs to organize ...c5. 7....a6 and ...c5 next isn't bad.>

Yes. 7.Ne5 looks unnatural, but it's justified because it impedes ...b6. With 7...Bd6, black puts the bishop on the wrong square, and 8...c6 is a positional blunder, as black needs to play for ...c5. The threat is trivial (take on e5, Qa5+ and Qxe5) and easily countered with 9.c3, which is helpful anyway.

Afterward, Capa cruises. In a video on chess.com, Leinier Dominguez says that when his coach showed him this game (when Leinier was 11) he was awe-struck, thinking that the whole game looked like a forced win for white. Capa surely makes it look that way!

In that video, Leinier asks that you stop before white's moves 21, 25, and 30. Key moments and the principle is basically the same: What can be improved? On move 21, the queen (21.Qe3 is fine too), on move 25, the bishop (25.Bc2 is fine too), and on move 30, all the big pieces are fine, so it's time to push a pawn to break up black's defense. Sheer logic.

Jan-16-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: <Phony Benoni: Just call the whole pun off, and enjoy the game.>

I have to say I disagree with our late friend. I like this pun. It has the virtue of playing with both players' names, while most puns play with only one player's name. And it uses the famous "I say... you say..." cleverly, in the context in which "I say... you say..." was created (differences in pronunciation, arguably a very close idea to just a single letter difference).

(And no, I did not submit this pun!)

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