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Efim Bogoljubov vs Alexander Alekhine
"The Triple Queen Sacrifice" (game of the day Sep-10-08)
Hastings (1922)  ·  Dutch Defense: Nimzo-Dutch Variation (A90)  ·  0-1
To move:
Last move:

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Given 46 times; par: 104 [what's this?]

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sac: 31...c2 PGN: download | view Help: general | java-troubleshooting

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 3 OF 7 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Jan-29-05  aw1988: How can it not be true? I would not disbelieve that Lasker had thought/discussed it, the intelligent man that he was, although it really was Alekhine who used it to the maximum effect.
Jan-30-05  drukenknight: I think you misread what I wrote. I meant that I did not think ALkehine was first to realize this. It seems to me quite clear from Lasker's writings although maybe I am reading into it more.

I would like to see more evidence of ALkehine's bringing out. Of that I did not hear about.

Jan-30-05  ughaibu: "The greatest writer who ever lived, (Irving Chernev)", a little over the top with that one.
Feb-08-05  LIFE Master AJ: <ugh>
No point in answering ... you will think of something else derogatory to say. I don't think you and I have ever agreed one time.
Apr-12-05  aw1988: Disagreeing has nothing to do with derogatory in its' initial description. Derogatory depends on the dispute and the persons responsible for steering it.

Mr. Goldsby is a little over the top on some things, yes, but I find him to be a good annotator nonetheless.

Jul-21-05  aw1988: "According to Kasparov"- now that was truly idiotic. OK, Lasker for sure knew that. Steinitz too. Morphy.
Jul-21-05  aw1988: Eh, Capablanca.
Jul-27-05  Medusa: wonderfull game!!!!!!
Jul-27-05  A.Alekhine: Don't see how Alekhine can win here...
Aug-15-05  vampiero: White must play Kd4 Kf5 and white must defend his pawn with K e4 and then black plays d4+ for the exchange of pawns and Alekhine has a extra passed pawn.
Aug-28-05  A.Alekhine: Queen sacrifices...
Sep-16-05  aragorn69: Alekhine's comments (one version of them) are at http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/...
Sep-16-05  domradave: This game is the greatest game in the history of chess. Every time I play it through I am always amazed by it!
Sep-24-05  Averageguy: I find this an exquisite game. The more I look at it the more I like it.
Sep-24-05  paladin at large: <offramp> <LIFE MasterAJ>   <LIFE Master AJ: <offcamp> Who whizzed in your Cheerios today?> <[Diagram?]>

lol. (And that's my first lol). I think I am slowly getting into the spirit of this place.

Dec-19-05  Arjun Parameswaran: I have seen grand wins but this is all above it!!!!!!!!
Dec-19-05  PizzatheHut: <According to Garry Kasparov he was the first to really realize the three elements of chess - 1) material 2) time 3) quality of position. I must say I agree.>

Does this mean that Alekhine was the first to verbalize his understanding of these three elements? Surely the strong masters before him (Morphy, Lasker, Tarrasch, etc.) must have subconsciously had a very firm grasp of these factors.

Dec-23-05  Averageguy: <PizzatheHut>I'm not sure that claims about Kasparov by Kasparov are completely reliable.
Dec-24-05  Averageguy: Alekhine's gain of space and central control is instructive and can be learned from. Especially nice is the move 11...a5 gaining important territory on the queenside and playing a vital part in the ensuing tactics. Interestingly enough after the combination starting with 29...b4 and finsishing with 33...c1Q black is actually down material but threats of mate force material concessions from white. The brilliant 47...Qe2 simplifies into a won pawn endgame.
Apr-03-06  TylerD: The greatest game of all times.
Jun-11-06  blingice: One of the things I found most interesting about this game is the progression of the very odd pawn structures of both sides.

After 14. h4:


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Notice that neither side has pushed their pawns yet. I speculate that this is because the believed it would allow their opponent to push HIS pawns, and both players didn't want to speculate who would be at an advantage in that position. Alekhine's pawns are more conservatively placed, and you can tell he's trying to resist the pawn rush of Bogo. Alekhine is like a soccer player with the ball, and as his guard lunges at him to steal the ball, he may simply pass the aggressive guard by a slight kick in the opposite side of the attacker.

Pawn structure after 24. Rg2:


click for larger view

You see that Bogo no longer has any backup pawns, and has devoted every pawn he has to a weak attack. If Alekhine passes his line of pawns, attack is easy (which he does). Alekhine is able to rip the strength of Bogo's pawn wall apart only by trading off a few pawns. Furthermore, Alekhine has a very stable pawn pressing into white's ground, and the central control is much better. It proves the ultimate strength of a successful pawn structure and the weakness of a poor pawn structure. Quite interesting.

Jun-12-06  Nasruddin Hodja: Hmmm. No doubt Alekhine played an excellent game here, but white's play is just too weak for this game to be ranked (by writers like Soltis) among the top 10 games of the 20th century. In particular, 17. f4 (handing g4 to black and allowing him to close off the white bishop with ...e4) and 18. Rfd1 are positional howlers, given that 18. d5 desperately needs to be played in order to give his knights a good square and rooks the possibility of an open file after the c5 advance.

21. a4, handing black the b4 square for no good reason, is also unexplainable, and 24. Rg2, followed by 26. Nf2 strands his own rook in the naive hope that he'll get to play g4 soon after, which doesn't happen until after white's game is lost. Bogoljubov may have been a great tactician, but he was no great shakes as a positional player, as his lopsided record against both Alekhine and Capablanca indicates.

Sep-16-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  notyetagm: Can anyone find another game where one side uses the promotion trick <7th-rank pawn attacks 8th-rank enemy knight> -twice-?

Position after 31 ... c2:


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Position after 48 ... fxe2:


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Dec-13-06  Themofro: Being a huge Alekine I must admit that this is my personal favorite game of all time, even more than Reti vs. Alekine 1925. c2 has got to be one of the most brilliant moves of all time, he could have simple recaptured the rook with equal material, but he doesn't and gives up his last rook with check. Note: not too long ago (can't remember exactly) this game was voted the second best game of all time by the readers of a major british chess magazine. Note #2: the game they voted first was Reti vs. Alekine 1925. Last note, both games were voted higher than the "game of the Century" which came in at third!
Jan-11-07  adviser: I don't find these games as intersting as thise of which Kasparov played. These are like nothing for the games that Kaspy played. They were truly outstanding.
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