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Jose Raul Capablanca vs Savielly Tartakower
Buenos Aires Olympiad Final-A (1939), Buenos Aires ARG, rd 1, Sep-01
Sicilian Defense: Four Knights Variation (B45)  ·  1/2-1/2

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
a
1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move.
ANALYSIS [x]
1/2-1/2

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

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Kibitzer's Corner
Mar-18-07  paladin at large: It's not every day you get a new endgame challenge from Capablanca, but here is one (which he unfortunately does not solve for us), from his articles for the Argentine newspaper Critica (source - Winter), covering the 1939 Chess Olympiad:

"Against Tartakower I played the opening superficially. As a result my opponent, who had the black pieces, obtained an excellent position which ought to have given him a draw. However, not content with that, he initiated a central attack with his pawns in an endgame position and this, in my view, was ill-considered. As a result he created a small weakness, of which I took advantage up until a certain moment. But at the point where I had a method of deciding the game in my favor, I mistakenly chose a continuation which gave no advantage at all, and the game was therefore drawn."

None of the many articles Capa wrote for Critica include annotations, so we do not know if Capa was blowing smoke about a winning continuation. Can anyone see an improvement on white's play in the ending?

Capa was rather flat here, but the 1939 Olympiad represented a modest rebound in form for him - he won the gold medal for the best result on first board.

Mar-18-07  Calli: <Palidin> Appreciate your effort in posting the story. My attempt at winning would be 24.Bb4! threatening Bc3 and White has good chances to win a pawn. Whether he wins the game, I am not sure.
Mar-19-07  paladin at large: <Calli> thanks, that looks like a good plan.
Mar-19-07  gmgomes: <paladin> Also at move 20. Bd2, instead of Rd6; threatening Bc3 is very powerful. My engine suggests that Black might play 20... Re8 (following 21. Bc3 and the e5 pawn falls later.) or 20... Rd8 (following 21. Bxg5) In both cases white would be a pawn up, but black could try to hold, considering the opposite colors bishops.
Sep-17-08  paladin at large: <chessgames.com> Please note that the red marked moves are correct if you adjust Black's 18th move from Rg8 to Rhg8. Thanks.
Jun-22-18  ClockPunchingMonkey: It does look like Calli's 24. Bb4 gives white an edge, but how much is unclear.

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