Alekhine's Annotations for the endgame.

34.Be4 (otherwise the a-pawn can no longer be protected)

38...c6 (A necessary preparation for eventual posting of the rook on the 5th rank.)

39.h4 (In this endgame, Capablanca's famous thoroughness fails him. Compare also his 56th move. Premature would have been 39.c5 on account of 39...Rb5 40.Rd6+ Ke5 41.Rxc5 Ra5 but 39.h3! in order to meet 39...Rh8 with 40.c5 and threaten Kd4-Kc3 followed by c5, would have set Black a much more difficult problem than the move in the text.)

40... Rh5 (The placing of the Rook in the fourth rank is equally effective for defense and attack, and White's plan to force a passed Pawn on the H file is now shown to be impractible.)

41...Ra5 (With the dangerous threat of Ke5,etc)

42...f6 (Again preventing 43.g4 because 43...g5+ would halt the H pawn.)

43.Rc2 Re5 (Necessary, because 44.c5 followed by g4, was threatening)

44.c5 (though this move, which confines somewhat the free movements of Black's Rook, his own Rook is committed to the defense of the C pawn, and henceforth it is necessary for Black merely to keep an eye on the threat of Kg3-Kh3, followed by g4.)

45.Rc3 (Threatening 46.Ra3, etc)

49...Kf7 (Necessary for Black must be prepared to be in a position always to reply to Kh3 with g5 and, in case White thereupon should attack the Rook with Kg4 to defend him with Kg6. Next he would exchange on h5 and play his Rook from e5 to h5 and back, whereupon White could make no further advance. Capablanca endeavors as a last resort to utilize the circumstance that the Black King dare not abandon g6.)

51.Rd4 (Through the return of the extra Pawn the Rook forces its way to the seventh rank and the hostile King, of course, is forced back. More than this could not be expected from the position after the 39th move, but such as it is there seems to be no real danger for the second player.)

52...Kf8 (Not 52...Kh6 53.Rf7)

56.g4 (After 56.Ke3 Rc3+ then 57.Kd4 Rxg3 58.Rxa5 Kf7 59.Ra8 etc.)

Alekhine found that there is a super subtle win in this ending by 39. h3!!

Years later, Kasparov found another win with 39. g3!!

<aulero: I'm interested in strategic and psychological observations...>

Here are his comments regarding the significant psychological impact that this game had on him:

<Alekhine>:

"At this tournament I made one very reassuring observation, a real discovery for me. The point is that, although in our first game Capablanca outplayed me in the opening, achieved a winning position in the middlegame, and preserved a significant part of his advantage in the rook endgame, in the end he still let slip the win and had to settle for a draw. That gave me food for thought, if you consider that Capablanca really wanted to win this game, as he was trying to catch up to Lasker, who was leading the tournament and who just the previous day had won against me. I was convinced that, had I been in Capablanca's place, I would have won the game without fail.

<Alekhine>:

"This game, in fact, was the starting point for my understanding of the chess-playing individuality of Capablanca."

After 5.e5:

click for larger view

You pointed out the pin, so Black's reply is forced: 5...h6 hitting the bishop. If White doesn't want to trade minors then he has his choice of retreats: 6.Be3 is playable; 6.Bd2 is the main line; 6.Bc1 is an interesting sideline that I quite like. 6...Ne4 is almost universally played as a response.

Instead White can trade pieces, hoping to ruin Black's kingside, but 6.exf6 hxg5 6.fxg7 Rg8 Black will regain the pawn with active pieces and a reasonable game.

And after 6.Bxf6?! gxf6 7.exf6 Qxf6 Black is fine, if not already better.

The ending is analysed in detail by Dvoretsky, who concluded that the counter-intuitive 39 h3 gave decent winning chances. Dvoretsky also noted the following idea: