| Dec-03-04 | | kostich in time: the basic theme for white of the main lines in the Ruy is pressure against f7. Here we see Alekhine carrying out this theme to its logical conclusion. |
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Dec-03-04
 | | PivotalAnorak: 34. Qa2 ! is lovely, when f7 is doomed. This could be a "puzzle of the day" ? Of course 34... Ne6 is met by 35. Bxe6 Qxe6 36. Qxe6 fxe6 37. Rf8# |
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May-28-05
| | catfriend: Fine considered this game his best loss! |
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| May-28-05 | | ughaibu: Any suggestions for a better one? |
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| May-28-05 | | maoam: <ughaibu>
I prefer Boleslavsky vs Fine, 1945. |
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| May-28-05 | | ughaibu: How about Fine vs Euwe, 1938 |
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| May-28-05 | | ughaibu: Fine vs Keres, 1938 is another candidate. |
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| May-28-05 | | ughaibu: Not to mention Fine vs Najdorf, 1949 |
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May-28-05
 | | Boomie: According to Chessmetrics, AA's peak rating for 1936 was 2758 (#2) and RF was 2711 (#7). At 22, Fine was the youngest in the top ten list and about halp AA's age. There were a number of small inaccuracies by Fine that sealed his fate in this game. He missed a nice maneuver which I find instructive on move 18. Instead of 18... c6 (the knight fares better on c5), he could have moved his queen to d7 and e6. 18...  d7 19.  g5 e6 20.  ac1  h8
Notice how the queen supports a d5 push from here and attacks the a-pawn. Still there isn't a winning advantage for white. On move 23, g7 seems to equalize. d4 is optically good but the knight isn't really doing anything there except looking pretty. Fine missed a chance to take the initiative on move 25. He should have played 25...bxa3 26. bxa3 c3 immediately as the rook now pins the bishop. 25...exf4? draws the white queen away from the pin. White could also play 26. xf4 to put pressure on the d6 weakie. Notice that after 26...c3 27. fxe5 doesn't help much as black can respond b3 and if white continues pawn grubbing with 28. exd6, black has the killing shot e2+! After 28. f2, c6 is the obvious play as e5 is such a juicy post for the knight. It even defends f7 from there. 30...3c7? seems too passive. In an open position, the first player to blink usually loses. Much better is the 30...8c7} 31. b1 a8. 32...c5? was the final mistake. Black can play on with 32...e7
33. b6 c5 34. xa6 xf2+ 35. xf2 a8 36. a2 ea7 37. b5 6c7 38. xe8 xe8 39. d2. It's not a pleasant position for black but maybe he can hold. |
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May-28-05
 | | Calli: "30...R3c7? seems too passive. In an open position, the first player to blink usually loses." Yeah, thats definitely a bad one. Why not 30..Nc5 hitting the B and a4? Maybe Fine just messed up the move order. |
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May-28-05
| | Boomie: Thanks to <Calli> for reminding me to always double check my work. 30...c5 31. b1 c4, black's most aggressive line, was the first one I checked, and my personal favorite, but it runs into a problem with the white e-pawn of all things. There isn't much difference in evaluation at 13 ply, so I would choose the c5 line anyway because it shows good fighting spirit. 30... c5 31. b1 c4 32. de1 c7
33. e5 d5 34. e6 (0.45)
30... 8c7 31. b1 a8 32. d2 a3 (0.34) |
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Jul-27-08
 | | whiteshark: Another example in the endless story of the wrong rook: <30...R8c7> and black should have had no problems. |
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Jan-02-10
 | | Phony Benoni: This game was played in the penultimate 8th round at Hastings. Alekhine had started well with 6.5/7, but Fine had started better with 7/7. A win was absolutely necessary for Alekhine, and he got it. Fine did not always do well in these decisive games; Fine vs Keres, 1938 at AVRO comes to mind. |
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| Jan-02-10 | | ughaibu: Maybe this illustrates poor psychology on Fine's part. In other words, maybe Fine was a poor psychologist. |
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| Dec-15-12 | | wordfunph: <catfriend: Fine considered this game his best loss!> in fact, Fine annotated the game in detail in his Alekhine memorial article in 1946 Chess Review, calling it "the greatest game I have ever lost". |
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