chessgames.com
Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players · Kibitzing
Jose Raul Capablanca vs Philip Stuart Milner-Barry
Margate (1936), Margate ENG, rd 1, Apr-15
English Opening: King's English Variation. Closed System (A25)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

explore this opening
find similar games 3 more Capablanca/Milner-Barry games
PGN: download | view | print Help: general | java-troubleshooting

TIP: If you missed a Game of the Day, you can review the last year of games at our Game of the Day Archive.

PGN Viewer:  What is this?
For help with this chess viewer, please see the Olga Chess Viewer Quickstart Guide.
PREMIUM MEMBERS CAN REQUEST COMPUTER ANALYSIS [more info]

A COMPUTER ANNOTATED SCORE OF THIS GAME IS AVAILABLE.  [CLICK HERE]

Kibitzer's Corner
Apr-27-05  zb2cr: In the final position, Black obviously can't play 36 ... Ke8 or 36 ... Kd8, since Capa takes his Rg8 with check then.

Likewise, 36 ... Kd7; 37 Qf7+, Ne7; 38 Qxe7#.

That leaves 36 ... Kf6; 37 Qe5+, Kf7; 38 hxg6+, Kxg6; 39 Qe6+. Now, three variations:

a. 39 ... Kh5?; 40 Qxf5+, Rg5; 41 fxg5, hxg5. White's up by a Rook and a Bishop.

b. 39 ... Kg7; 40 Qxf5 with a hard-to-defend threat of Be5+.

c. 39 ... Kh7; 40 Qxf5+, Rg6 (if 40 ... Kh8; 41 Be5+ leaves White a Rook up); 41 Re1 (threatening Re7+), Rg8; 42 b5! Now the Black Queen's only 2 flight squares are f3 and c8. But that puts her so far out of the action that White wins through easily: 42 ... Qf3; 43 Re7+, Rg7; 44 Rxg7+, Kxg7; 45 Be5+ and Black gets mated shortly. As for 42 ... Qc8; 43 Re7+, Kh8; 44 Be5+, R6g7; 45 Qxc8, Rxc8; 46 Rxg7 leaves White a Rook & a Bishop up.

Oct-30-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  Mateo: 27. c5! Nd7 28. Qb3 wins. 28... Kf8 29. Be3 Ng8 30. ef gf 31. Qe6 . 28... Ke8 29. ef gf 30. Re1 d5 31. Qe3 .
Nov-30-07  notyetagm: Game Collection: Remove the foundation

Capablanca vs Milner-Barry, 1936

Position after 31 c4-c5!:


click for larger view

Here the great Capablanca (White) undermines -both- the Black e5- and f5-knights by <REMOVING THEIR FOUNDATIONS>, the Black d6- and g6-pawns, with 30 h4-h5! and 31 c4-c5!.

May-25-08  ToTheDeath: Great game by Capablance. I particularly like the aggressive, almost Botvinnik like thrust 6.h4!, taking advantage of Black's passive knight placement, the logical positional play to get the two bishops and open the position, the undermining of the knight's outposts with the dagger-like jabs h5! and c5!, and then the final combination against the Black king, helpless against the open lines of White's marauding pieces.

An underrated gem.

Aug-27-19
Premium Chessgames Member
  Jonathan Sarfati: <Mateo> is right: the immediate undermining move 27.c5 is even stronger than Capa's choice, which is saying a lot.

I don't know what position <zb2cr> had, but 36 ... ♔d7; 37 ♕f7+ just pouts the ♕ en prise. ♗ut on 36... ♔d7, White can just exchange ♕s then take the ♖, going the exchange and two ♙s ahead, or retreat with 37.♕d3 and keep up the massive pressure.

Nov-02-24  Mathematicar: I always enjoyed seeing Lasker and Capablanca playing the English. Sadly, they rarely employed these "irregular" openings, altough Capa achieved some notable victories with it in his later years, including this one.

NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion.

Please observe our posting guidelines:

  1. No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language.
  2. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts.
  3. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members.
  4. Nothing in violation of United States law.
  5. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members.
  6. No trolling.
  7. The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited.
  8. Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers.

Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times.

Blow the Whistle

See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator.


NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific game only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors.
All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration.

This game is type: CLASSICAL. Please report incorrect or missing information by submitting a correction slip to help us improve the quality of our content.

Home | About | Login | Logout | F.A.Q. | Profile | Preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | Biographer's Bistro | New Kibitzing | Chessforums | Tournament Index | Player Directory | Notable Games | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Store | Privacy Notice | Contact Us

Copyright 2001-2025, Chessgames Services LLC