Richard Reti vs Aron Nimzowitsch (1925) "Reti's Knightmare"

Richard Reti vs Aron Nimzowitsch
"Reti's Knightmare" (game of the day Mar-02-11)
Marienbad (1925) · English Opening: King's English. Nimzowitsch-Flohr Variation (A20) · 0-1

[Event "Marienbad"]
[Site "Marienbad CZE"]
[Date "1925.??.??"]
[EventDate "1925.??.??"]
[Round "14"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Richard Reti"]
[Black "Aron Nimzowitsch"]
[ECO "A20"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "102"]

1.c4 {Notes by Nimzowitsch} e5 2.Nf3 e4 3.Nd4 Nc6 4.Nc2 Bc5
5.Nc3 Nf6 6.d4 exd3 7.exd3 d5 8.d4 Be7 9.c5 {Played in
enterprising blockade style.} Bf5 {Brreaking-up attempts
beginning with ...b6 would have been premature, e.g., 9...b6
10 b4 a5 11 b5 and c6.} 10.Bd3 {Here the natural continuation
would have been 10 Bb5 followed by Bxc6+.} Bxd3 11.Qxd3 b6
{Here this move is in order.} 12.O-O {12 b4 a5 13 b5 fails on
account of 13...Nb4 with the gain of a tempo.} O-O 13.Bg5 h6
14.Bh4 bxc5 15.dxc5 Ne5 16.Qd4 Ng6 17.Bg3 c6 {Black has a good
d-pawn (poorly blockaded) and the possibility of attacking the
White c-pawn. Against this White's control of the diagonal
from g3 to b8 does not seem to afford an equivalent. White
should clearly have played 10 Bb5.} 18.Nb4 Rc8 19.h3 Re8
{Making room for the knight and at the same time preparing for
the occupation of the central file, which white cannot dispute
because of the difficulties at c5.} 20.Rad1 Nf8 21.Nd3 Qa5
{White saw that 22 Qa4 is now forced, and had prepared a
highly original centralization maneuver in reply.} 22.Qa4 {Bad
would be 22 b4 Qa3 23 Rb1 Ne6 24 Qe5 Nd7 25 Qe1 Nfxc5 26 bxc5
Bf6.} Qxa4 23.Nxa4 Ne4 {Now the knight occupies the center,
which has become free after the deflection of the defending
forces.} 24.Bh2 Ne6 {What can the knight want? The c-pawn is
easy to defend.} 25.b4 Nd4 {A quite extraordinary
cO-Operation! Two knights, of which one can easily be driven
away (f3) and the other is undefended, and yet they control
the board.} 26.Rfe1 {If 26 f3 Ne2+ followed by ...Ng3+.} Bh4
{The third ally.} 27.Be5 {White was in difficulties. This move
loses a pawn.} Rxe5 28.Nxe5 Bxf2+ 29.Kf1 Bxe1 30.Rxd4 Bg3
31.Nf3 Re8 32.Rd1 Re6 33.Rc1 Kf8 {The king goes to the
threatened wing.} 34.Nc3 Nxc3 35.Rxc3 Re4 36.a3 Ke8 37.Rd3 {A
fine move. If now ...Kd7; b5.} a6 38.Rd4 f5 39.a4 Kd7 40.b5
{This fails now on account of a finesse worthy of an End-Game
study.} axb5 41.axb5 cxb5 42.Rxd5+ Kc6 {The extra material is
returned with thanks.} 43.Rd4 {If 43 Rxf5, b4; etc.} Kxc5
44.Rxe4 fxe4 45.Nd2 Kd4 46.Ke2 Bf4 47.Nb3+ Kc4 48.Na5+ Kc3
49.Nb7 b4 50.Nc5 Kc2 51.g3 Bxg3 0-1

To move:

Last move:

Given 18 times; par: 95 [what's this?]

Annotations by Aron Nimzowitsch. [48 more games annotated by Nimzowitsch]

explore this opening	find similar games	10 more Reti/Nimzowitsch games
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Nov-18-05		OhioChessFan: Wow. a6 just knocks my socks off. Amazing how Nimzo could make such unassuming moves so powerful. Round about move 25, I bet Reti was having a knightmare.

Sep-09-07		Maynard5: Although Nimzovich in his notes argues that he has the edge after move 17, it seems that White has better options here than 18. Nb4, which leaves the pawn on c5 poorly protected. Instead, 18. b4, securing the critical c5 square, should hold. White still faces problems, inasmuch as Black has a variety of possible knight moves, ... Nd7 or ... Nh5 threatening ... Bf6. Still, White can reply with Qd2, followed by Nd4.

Sep-23-07		gambitfan: Endgame // an easy win!

Mar-02-11		Oceanlake: 10 Bd3 Pawns on d4 and c5 versus pawns of d5 and c6? White should preserve the white-square bishop or at lest trade it in for something of value. Getting the Queen to d3 is insufficient.

Mar-02-11		hstevens129: Interesting point Nimzo makes about the superiority of 10.Bb5 in order to maintain the blockade.

Mar-02-11		Dr. J: Nimzowitsch's note says <Bad would be 22 b4 Qa3 23 Rb1 Ne6 24 Qe5 Nd7 25 Qe1 Nfxc5 (sic) 26 bxc5 Bf6.> click for larger view But White can continue 27 Rb3 Qxb3 28 axb3 Rxe1 29 Rxe1 Bxc3 30 Re7 Nf6 31 Rxa7, which looks perfectly acceptable to me. Does Black have any improvement on this?

Mar-02-11		mpl: 22. b4 a3 23. b1 e6 24. e5 d7 25. e1 d4! ( xc3 and e2+) 26. f4 xc5

Mar-02-11		Nilsson: I think that 27.Kf1 could have save the game for white. Black has an advantage, but is it enough?! /JN

Mar-02-11		kevin86: The two passed pawns are far too much for blwhite's king and knight to stop. "If the right one won't get you,then the left one will"-SIXTEEN TONS.

Mar-02-11		TheTamale: What's with White's last move? Is this just Reti's way of throwing in the towel?

Mar-02-11		Dr. J: <mpl: 22. b4 Qa3 23. Rb1 Ne6 24. Qe5 Nd7 25. Qe1 Nd4! (with the idea Qxc3 and Ne2+) 26. Nf4 Bxc5 > Yes, that looks good. (Please note, that improves on Nimzo, not on me.) That still leaves open the question why he thought 23 Rb1 is best.

Mar-02-11		WhiteRook48: 51 g3 was just a last resort before resigning

Mar-03-11		mpl: <Dr. J> After 22. b4 a3 the white queen is in trouble, facing e6 and the need to keep c3 protected. One try is the "active" 23. b1, which is of course not forced. A little better might be to give up a pawn immediately, by 23. b1 xa2, but I can't see much compensation. Even so, Nimzovitch thinks that 22. a4 is almost forced, there was an alternative. After 22. a3! e6 23. b4! xb4 24. axb4 black might be a little better, but the knight on d3 holds everything together.

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