Aron Nimzowitsch vs Jose Raul Capablanca (1927) Heavy Artillery

Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players ·

Kibitzing

Aron Nimzowitsch vs Jose Raul Capablanca
"Heavy Artillery" (game of the day Aug-18-2018)
New York (1927), New York, NY USA, rd 15, Mar-13
Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation (B12) · 0-1

White to move.

ANALYSIS [x]

Notes by Raymond Keene. A possibility favoured by Nimzowitsch as Black in such positions, e.g. his game versus Duras from San Sebastian 1912, was 7...Qa6. Capablanca had borrowed that idea to beat Atkins at London 1922. It is rather amusing to compare this with the Vajda-Nimzowitsch game. Creating a permanent weakness. Better is 16 Bf2. Zugzwang. One might suppose from this game that Capablanca had carefully read My System and then used all the theories contained therein against their inventor!0-1

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

FEN COPIED

Given 91 times; par: 90 [what's this?]

Annotations by Raymond Keene. [405 more games annotated by Keene]

explore this opening	find similar games	10 more A Nimzowitsch/Capablanca games
	PGN: download \| view \| print	Help: general \| java-troubleshooting

TIP: You should register a free account to activate some of Chessgames.com's coolest and most powerful features.

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]

< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 8 OF 8 · Later Kibitzing>
Jan-07-14		john barleycorn: I think Nimzowitsch "learned" his respect for Capablanca early: <During the course of the tournament many incidents of more or less interest took place. Niemzowitch, who considered himself very superior to me and others in the tournament, became very arrogant during the course of one of his lightning games against Bernstein, saying, because of a remark that I made, that I should not interfere in their game, as they were reputed masters and I had yet to become one. The outcome of his discourteous remark was a series of quick games for a side bet, which I won with ridiculous ease, and ended by his retracting the statement he had previously made.> from: My Chess Career by Capablanca

Feb-13-14		kbob: <john barleycorn> Thanks, though I appear to have withdrawn my original comment. And Kasparov in PredecessorsI prefers to refute 10. b4 with 10. ...Bxb5 11. Rb1 Qa5

Apr-12-14		Conrad93: What's wrong with 18. f5!?

Aug-21-14		Chessman1504: A fine game representative of Capablanca at his best. This is not an extremely complicated tactical position. It's a simple, classic demonstration of the third world champion's genius for planning and intuitive grasp of position. A fine effort indeed.

Sep-13-14		princecharming: I feel kind of silly offering a substitute move for the key play of the game (the zugzwang), but I would have played 45...Rd2 instead. If Queen takes 46.Qxd2, then 46...h4+ and wherever the King moves, 47...Qxf3. White can do nothing to stop the mate next move short of offering his Queen up for nothing. If Queen doesn't take, White is not going to be much better off than if it does.

Sep-21-14		Chessman1504: Well, if 46...h4+, then simply 47. Kf2 and I don't see any way for Black to make progress. If 47...Qxh2, Ke3 or Ke1 defends.

Apr-12-15		Atking: "but it is not clear what." Fusilli why not something similar to the game Qb3-Qd1-Re1 with a decisive attack.

May-20-15		Chessman1504: This is one of the first games I reviewed when I was first seriously interested in chess. This one game amazes me every time. The ability, at least presumably since it is Capablanca, to be able to envision a scenario in which Nimzowitsch is so unbelievably cramped that he'll be left without moves despite heavy pieces being on the board, is a stroke of genius. If I could play just one game like this, I would be very happy.

May-20-15		RookFile: Nimzo brings out his prize bishop on move 4 and swaps it off for black's problem bishop. But he does succeed later in getting rid of his own problematic c1 bishop. Against a lesser player Nimzo gets his draw, but not Capa.

Mar-12-17		offramp: This game was played 90 years ago today. It is famous for showing a top player doing absolutely nothing. Nimzowitsch plays 18. g5 and then gives up. He shuffles his queen and rooks around until they run out of moves. He must have had a huge inferiority complex against the mighty Cuban. Anyway, I play this type of Caro-Kann as Black myself, so I think it is a superb victory.

May-10-17		User not found: There's no coming back from the 36th move onwards so it's pointless talking about move 42 or whatever, but this is the point of no return.. kg2? click for larger view If 36.Rxc4 or e4 it's still slightly in blacks favour but with all the major pieces in a kinda zugzwang white could draw the game if played accurately.. It's a complicated game at the best of times but this is one of the best examples I've come across in an early 20th century game in quite a while.

Nov-04-17		Richard Taylor: It is but Nimzovich didn't need to lose. Capablanca's method included, in this case, keeping the Queens on. Nimzovich played to passively overall but not badly until 16. ... g5 Keene wrote a book about Nimzovitch (I'l use the easier spelling) which quite detailed although someone said he omitted analysis by Larsen etc. His point in general that Nimzovich has some very good ideas and played some great games. I think that Keene's point at the end is relevant. Capablanca's decision to swap Bishops is 'disputed' by the computer. I went through this game last night as it is in a book on strategy and tried to work out what Capa would play. I had a knight retreat and also the capture only after I realised the other N could well get to f5. But Stockfish here prefers 16. ... Nfg7 By the way, later two moves are very important by Capablanca. 1) 29. ... a5 Here while Black is better, White is not lost at all. (But his g4 is surprising as a GM says, 'especially made by Nimzovich' (I think there are psychological factors working here, the errors are strange but in a real OTB game they are sometimes inexplicable, and immediately after the game we all realise the mistake or silliness of the move). An the other good move by Capa was 2) 35. ... Qb5 But these are "grandmaster moves" perhaps not computer perfect but instructive.

Nov-04-17		Richard Taylor: The key position, the position is = click for larger view Now Nimzovich "disobeys" his own positional instincts and evaluation and plays 16. g4? click for larger view This isn't fatal but from now on his position is difficult. Black has a small (but not winning) advantage. Then this weakness causes, probably for psychological and other reasons more errors and so on.

Nov-04-17		Richard Taylor: From here Capablanca makes use of the major pieces (Rooks and Queen) to eventually break through. It is not forced but Capablanca knew it would be difficult to defend White's position.

Aug-18-18		ClockPunchingMonkey: Ray Keene's suggestion of 7...Qa6 could be met by 8. Qh3 with advantage to white. Capa's 7....c5 is the strongest move on the board.

Aug-18-18		saturn2: Nice to see how black's superiority on the queen side resulted finally in attacking the white king.

Aug-18-18		Howard: Was there a GOTD yesterday, on the 17th ?

Aug-18-18		AylerKupp: <Howard> Sort of. There was a game listed but the link to it was broken. Second time I've seen that recently.

Aug-18-18		gars: Poor Nimzowitsch! Twice victim of "zugzwang", against Capablanca (this game) and Alekhine (San Remo, 1930).

Aug-18-18		RookFile: That's the problem with not playing dynamically. A guy like Marshall made plenty of mistakes, but the sharp nature of the position made it possible for him to pull of swindles.

Nov-27-20		plang: Nowadays, of course, 4 Bd3 is rarely played as it is considered ineffective. Already, 6 Nc3 was a new move. 14 c3?! was too passive; better was Alekhine's recommendation 14 Rac1..Nc6 15 Bf2!..h5 16 c4..dxc 17 Qxc4..0-0 18 Rfd1 with equality. After 16 g4? White was stregically lost; better would have been 16 Bf2..h5 17 Rd2 (with the idea of Rc1 and c4) and White should be OK. 22..Na5? was a waste of time; Capablanca had been planning ..Nc4 but realized that White would have dangerous counterplay possibilities involving f5..exf e6. 25 Nxc6 would have made White's position easier to defend. 30 Rfd2 was necessary maintaining sufficient control of d4. Capablanca's play in the ending is really fantastic.

Jun-16-22		kingscrusher: This game is a major reason the Nigel Short Be2 "shorter" bishop move is more effective

Jan-09-23		kingscrusher: Bit of technical chess trivia about this game - it seems as though the insertion of h4 before Bd3 makes Bd3 one of the top engine choices. And this also can be seen in the results of master games being much more favourable. So: 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 h5 5.Bd3 isn't so terrible here :) 791: Aron Nimzowitsch - Jose Raul Capablanca 0-1 15.0, New York New York, NY USA 1927 click for larger view Analysis by Stockfish 15 - 3 threads max: 1. ⩲ (0.31): 5.Bd3 Bxd3 6.Qxd3 e6 7.Nf3 Qa5+ 8.Nbd2 Nh6 9.c3 Qb6 10.0-0 Be7 11.Nb3 Nf5 12.Bg5 Bxg5 13.hxg5 g6 14.Nc5 Qc7 15.Qd2 Nd7 16.Nxd7 Qxd7 17.Rfe1 0-0 White is slightly better (Gavriel, 09.01.2023) I mention this because it seems an interesting example of something which seems conceptually disastrous (accepting the strategic bishop exchange, leaving white "in principle" weaker on light squares) but just by the insertion of another move before it, it turns out to be much more playable. Chess is very hard.

Sep-25-24		chessmaster102: Capa hardly ever loss with the caro I think it suited his style better to be honest. Karpov who admired capa greatly actually did and it makes sense why he felt like an improved capa

Sep-26-24		Fusilli: <kingcrusher> <I mention this because it seems an interesting example of something which seems conceptually disastrous...> Good point.

Jump to page # (enter # from 1 to 8)
search thread:
< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 8 OF 8 · Later Kibitzing>

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:

No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language.
No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts.
No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members.
Nothing in violation of United States law.
No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members.
No trolling.
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.
Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers.

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

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.