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Aron Nimzowitsch vs Jose Raul Capablanca
New York (1927)  ·  Indian Game: Anti-Nimzo-Indian (E10)  ·  0-1
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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Jan-03-04  Kong Jian Yuan: I have a problem of log in to the chess board
Jan-03-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  kevin86: Although two rooks are slightly better than a queen,when they are not co-ordinated they are weaker. They are subject to forks and pins by the queen. A good win by Capa
Jan-04-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  ketchuplover: Two rooks on the 2nd rank are deadly!

This site is great :)

Jan-04-04  PapaiSabetudo: Why not 31.BxR? Because, the black pieces answer with a furious atack in 31... Qxg4+ 32. Kh1, Qh3 33. Kg1, QxB+ 34. Kf1, Qf2#. I love Capablanca! He's amazing!
Jan-24-04  Lawrence: Interesting that on move 18 Capa takes the Knight not the Bishop. Is it because 18.....NxB 19.RxN would have developed White's Rook "free for nothing" i.e. gained a tempo whereas 18.....NxN 19.RxN leaves White's Rook on a1 undeveloped? Or is there something else here?
Jan-25-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  Calli: <Lawrence> Yes, thats what I see. After Nxc1, white will play Nd3 and Black's bishop doesn't look that superior to the knight. Also, in the game, note that Capa invades on the white squares. Nxe1 eliminates the last minor piece that could guard c2, b3 etc. This makes me think that 18.Rd1 would be better.
Jan-25-04  Lawrence: Calli, thanks for the insight into square colors, something that a player at my level never thinks about though "Chess Mentor" tries its best to educate us. Junior 8 likes 18.Rb1 or 18.Rd1 but certainly not the 18.Ne1 that Nimzo played.
Feb-17-04  Stavrogin: A great game! Beautiful and with high quality! Capablanca at his very best! Question: does any player has a +record vs Capablanca?
Feb-17-04  Resignation Trap: Sultan Khan in this game:
Sultan Khan vs Capablanca, 1930

and Boris Verlinsky in this game:
Capablanca vs Verlinsky, 1925

had the distinction of defeating Capablanca in their only encounters against the Cuban.

Jan-30-05  ArturoRivera: why does Nimzo Resigned, perhaps the passed kingside pawns at black's disponsal?
Jan-30-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: <stavrogin>, of people who played him multiple times, Keres was +1 -0 =7.
Apr-12-05  who: ArturoRivera maybe because of time. Can anyone post a winning line?
Apr-12-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  Hesam7: <who>, <ArturoRivera> White's position is completely hopeless, win is a matter of technique and a player of Capablanca's caliber would have won this easily.
Feb-16-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  meloncio: <who> Better late than never. After 15 minutes, Fritz8 points out this line as the best for black:

42.e4 Qd7 43.Ra8 h4 44.Bb8 Qb7 45.Rfa2 Qxe4 46.R8a7 Qxb4 47.Rxf7 Qe4 48.Rg2 b5 (eval -3.62; depth 17 ply; 955M nodes)

Aug-19-06  RookFile: Not many have a plus score against Capablanca. The guy lost 35 games in his professional career, spanning 3 decades. Pretty unbelievable when you think about it. Of all the men to beat, Capablanca was the hardest, or maybe Petrosian was equally hard.
Aug-16-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  chancho: Capa had Aron's number.
Aug-29-07  I3illieJoe: 26...e5! 27.Bxe5 Rdd2 and now if 28. Rf1?? Qxe3 !
Sep-07-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  notyetagm: Black to play: 26 ... ?


click for larger view

Here Capablanca (Black) played the excellent <PAWN SACRIFICE> 26 ... e6-e5!, in order to double his rooks on the 7th rank (<PIGS ON THE 7TH>).

26 ... e6-e5!


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27 Bd4xe5 Rd8-d2 <pigs on 7th>


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Mar-05-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  maxi: This is one of those games where Capa plays flawlessly and his winning seems determined by fate. Brilliant as his maneuvers are, let's us not fall into the spell, too. Nimzowitsch's 26.Qa6 leaves his second rank exposed. The saving clause was 26.Qd1 and if 26...e5 then 27.Re2.

A player of Nimzowitsch's strength should have seen this defense, but probably he was too uptight. After this move Capa plays like a chess machine.

Oct-07-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  visayanbraindoctor: <maxi: This is one of those games where Capa plays flawlessly and his winning seems determined by fate.>

This game looks so simple, yet if a new prodigy were to suddenly rise and play such games regularly, I would gladly bet the content of one of my savings account that he would soon be knocking at the World Championship door.

In this position


click for larger view

with two open files where all the major pieces can be exchanged, and White threatening b4 and Bb2, it's probably safe to say that 99% of chess games will end in a draw. What would you do as Black? Most players would probably embark on a plan of doubling rooks on one of the open files. In which case, White merely challenges Black's rooks with his own, and exchanges begin occurring. Or perhaps pawn storming the Kingside; which would probably be so slow that White would be able to exchange most of the pieces into a drawn endgame.

Capablanca however, did not think in a "I move this, he moves that' manner. He probably saw moving pictures of chess positions flashing in and out of his mind's eye at a phenomenally rapid rate. From here, he probably saw this position in his mind's eye.


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Suddenly everything is changed. Black has a massive advantage.

Capa must have also seen, as potential positions flashed in and out of his chess mind by the dozens per second, that even if Nimzo succeeded in his plan to play b4 and Bb2, a black Queen on a2 spells big trouble for White. Let's move the pieces around a bit.


click for larger view

(Naturally Black in such a position will have to move his Bishop first, say to f8 thus defending the g7 pawn from an attack by a White Bishop at b2 and a white Queen at g4. In the game, Capa did move his Bishop to f8.)

Oct-07-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  visayanbraindoctor: So what does Capa do? He does little one-square jiggles with his Queen, to e5 and then to d5, and on to a2!

First Qe5


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Nimzo must have thought "Oh he is planing to attack my h2 pawn with Bd6".


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Typical of Nimzo, he plays the prophylactic move g3.


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But to Nimzo's chagrin, there suddenly comes Qd5.


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Suddenly, it's clear what the real target of the Black Queen is. It's not an attack on the Kingside. It's the a2-b3 weak square complex on the opposite side of the board!

For psychological reasons, IMO very few players playing what seems to be a routinely drawish game could even imagine of a plan of attacking apparently insignificant weak squares by his Queen on the opposite side of the board. Certainly from the first position above


click for larger view

it's not so obvious that the a2 square, so far on the opposite edge of the board can be a decisive target of the strongest piece that 'normally' should be attacking the hostile King on the same side.

There is nothing better for Nimzo to do save to proceed with his plan to develop his Bishop. 22. b4 Bf8 23. Bb2... but then comes Qa2, and White from a seemingly safe and sound position just a few moves earlier is now completely trussed up!


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Nimzo is such a great player, and so to see his position deteriorate so fast after a few apparently simple moves - no brilliancies, no sacrifices, no pawn storms - just a few one-square jiggles of the Queen, is frankly incredible.

Feb-11-11
Premium Chessgames Member
  jmboutiere: The new prodigy who plays such games regularly is called Magnus Carlsen, Kasparov said 6 month ago
Feb-11-11  maelith: Capablanca is an amazing players, he can win position that most GM will think as a draw position, such a great player.
Feb-13-11  Lennonfan: <jmboutiere> <the new prodigy who plays such games regularly is magnus carlsen,Kasparov said 6 month ago...>as much as i hate to admit it Kasparov has been wrong before..carlsens young,and seems destined for the world championship,yet he's no where near capa's,or for that matter Kasparov's league yet,and will never achieve half of what Kasparov did!
Mar-06-12  AnalyzeThis: This is a marvelous game of chess, that teaches the power of the initiative.
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