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Reuben Fine vs Alexander Alekhine
"Fine and Dandy" (game of the day Jul-27-08)
AVRO,Bk:A Passion 1938  ·  Spanish Game: Morphy Defense. Modern Steinitz Defense (C72)  ·  1-0


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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing >
Sep-08-05   tolow4y: then why did he continue to play after 42.Kxd8 if he was so tired. From the looks of it, i see three past pawns. Thats enough for me to resign.
Sep-08-05   RookFile: They probably just blitzed out a few more moves, I sure it didn't take long.
Jan-29-06   morpstau: Fatigue may have been a factor in Alekhine's play in this game, which occurred in round 13 of 14. Alekhine complained after the tournament about the arduous nature of the schedule: "Chess masters, some of them getting on in years, were forced, without sufficient warning, to play a tournament of exceptional difficulty, continuing for three weeks without a single day's rest, and to play day after day in a new town. This was absurd and cannot be agreed to in the future." Alek was alittle rattled and could have resigned earlier.
Aug-27-06   sfm: It's possible that fatigue may have been a factor in Alekhine's play in this game...
Aug-27-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  Calli: Alekhine expects an early draw with the Queen exchange 11...Qd7+ when the best move is 11...b5 as in Geller vs Smyslov, 1986 Fine squeezes the most out of the position with moves like 18.a4! Alekhine finally makes an error with 18...Ke5? Correct move is 18...Nf6 See Tringov vs V Kovacevic, 1988 The final inacurrate move is 20...Nh5 . Its possible he still had a defense with 20...Ke6! 21.a5 b5 22.Nb3 Nd7 At any rate, it was his only chance. What I see, is not a "tired" Alekhine but a more accurate brand of chess at AVRO being played by Botvinnik, Fine, Reshevsky etc. This was tougher than the schedule on AA.
Aug-27-06   perfidious: <Calli> The schedule may well have been a factor- Capablanca also had a poor second half, losing four games, after faring decently in the first cycle.
Aug-28-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  Calli: <Perfidious> Capablanca complained of his high blood pressure, not the schedule. I prefer to admire a superb game from Reuben Fine and not engage in speculation.
Aug-28-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  euripides: <Alekhine expects an early draw with the Queen exchange 11...Qd7+> reminds me of another American-Russian (well, Armenian) encounter: Fischer vs Petrosian, 1971
Jul-27-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  PinnedPiece: <Alekhine married the Russian baroness Sergewin, who was several years older> ..Wikipedia. And there were three more.

Does that qualify as a dandy?

Jul-27-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  whiteshark: It's really astonishing how quickly Black could have fully equalized after <11...b5> (pointed out by <Calli>) as in Geller vs Smyslov, 1986
Jul-27-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Once: Alekhine spends the entire game trying to find something useful to do with his rooks. No attacking player wants to play moves like 14. ... Rf8 and 22. ... Ra8.

Sad to say, but this comes across more as poor play by Alekhine than inspired play by Fine.

Jul-27-08   sneaky pete: For the playing schedule "without a day's rest" see Benzol's Game Collection: AVRO 1938. Between round 1, November 6, and round 14, November 27, there were 8 rest days.

Alekhine's complaint is not without ground however. Adjourned games (after 5 hours of play and 40 moves) were continued on rest days and only on 2 of the 8 rest days he was free of play. When the present game from round 13 was played in Leiden on November 25, he still had to finish (on the next rest day, November 26, in Amsterdam) a difficult game against Keres (from round 12, Den Haag, November 24).

Jul-27-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Hoozits: I can understand fatigue settling in from a personal standpoint. I'm certainly subpar when tired or otherwise not in top mental form. This game has inspired me somewhat to take steps to keep in better physical shape so as to be better prepared for the mental battles that lie ahead.
Jul-27-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: Similar to another famous Alekhine loss from this tournament: Botvinnik vs Alekhine, 1938
Jul-27-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  playground player: This game looks like one of those patented Wilhelm Steinitz King strolls. Alekhine didn't come to grief as fast as I would have, or as fast as Steinitz sometimes did.
Jul-27-08   maxi: This game gives no evidence about about Fine's good qualities. It just shows an Alekhine playing completely subpar. He must have been exhausted. Capablanca also mentions the playing conditions of the tournament were not the best. Young people recover faster from fatigue.
Jul-28-08   RookFile: I think it does show Fine's usual strength and efficiency in the endgame.
Jul-28-08   maxi: Well, perhaps... The thing is, his position is so superior that, as they say, "the game plays itself".
Jul-28-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  kevin86: Another bad loss for the champ. I wonder why he hung around so long in a hopeless position.

Three passed pawns ahead-even a caveman can win this position. (although Fred Flintstone once blew a win with two passed pawns).

Jul-28-08   RookFile: There was one remote chance: the queen's rook pawn becoming passed. A rook pawn is the hardest for the knight to stop: often it has tremendous power. Of course, Fine was well aware of this possibility, and Alekhine had to resign.
Jul-28-08   maxi: Yes, the straightforward way of winning is the one Fine took, to take the King to the probable enemy passed pawn. Then White plays for a rupture on the Queen side to clarify. If all Pawns there are exchanged he is then three Pawns up. Otherwise, if each side keeps a Pawn, then he advances it and it is over.

Fred Flinstone was a chess player? He must have used one of those marble sets.

Mar-29-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sem: This defeat must have rattled Alekhine, especially because after his victory at Bern 1932 he had felt it necessary to remark: 'Ich habe es den Juden wieder mal gezeigt' ('I've shown it to the Jews again'). The source of this quote is Max Euwe, man beyond reproach, in his anecdotal book 'Mr Caissa'.
Mar-29-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  whiteshark: <Sem> That's quite a stretch. And not that it matters, but he used the singular and it was after his only win vs Lasker in Zurich Alekhine vs Lasker, 1934 See the postings there. :D
Apr-05-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sem: Whiteshark, had he used the singular, he would have said: 'Ich habe es DEM Juden wieder mal gezeigt.' (How priggish of me). But thanks for drawing my attention to the postings; I was unfamiliar with Alekhine's comment at the concluding banquet.
Sep-25-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  tpstar: <I wonder why he hung around so long in a hopeless position> Agreed. As of 32. Rxh7 Black has zero swindling chances and no real play or plan. The final position reflects badly on Black, tired or not.

Did Fine ever comment about AAA playing on too long in this game?

<Calli> Great synopsis. =)

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