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Max Euwe vs Alexander Alekhine
"The Pearl of Zandvoort" (game of the day Feb-03-2016)
Alekhine - Euwe World Championship Match (1935), Various Locations NED, rd 26, Dec-03
Dutch Defense: Nimzo-Dutch. Alekhine Variation (A90)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 3 OF 5 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Oct-20-08  Everyone: Max da pearl diva
ding-a-ling
Oct-20-08  Alphastar: <Xeroxx> that is not quite possible, considering chessgames.com has not been around for 8 years yet, which means it has existed for less than 2920 days.
Oct-20-08  kevin86: The e-pawn decided this game and provided the margin of victory for Euwe in this title match.

Could Euwe be called "The Seabiscuit of chess"? A great underdog-or underhorse-wins a great solid victory.

Oct-20-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  mjmorri: <Knight13> <Is 3...Bb4+ really necessary? This isn't Queen's Idian...>

Alekhine played this move quite frequently during this stage of his career. He really wants to play Be7, but first forces the White Bishop to the "inferior" d2 square.

Reuben Fine did not have a very high opion of it though, and beat Alekhine from a similar position. Fine vs Alekhine, 1937

Oct-20-08  Pianoplayer: How did Alekhine not see 47.♘e4? I mean, really.
Oct-21-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  mjmorri: <Pianoplayer> The game was over by then.
Oct-31-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  stoy: The "Pearl of Zandvoort" was started in Zandvoort but finished, after adjournment, in Amsterdam! A great game.
Oct-03-10  Eduardo Bermudez: Look at the Knight who started in g1, after 19 moves !!! I love this game !!!
Oct-04-10  anjyplayer: Good to see Alekhine getting crushed.
Nov-03-10  soothsayer8: I'd say that knight has earned his keep ;)
Nov-07-10  lefthandsketch: You can see Euwe's notes on this game here, which include an explanation of how black emerges with a better position after 11.Bxb7 http://brooklyn64.com/?p=414
Nov-15-10  sevenseaman: A great N fork to finish with a flourish!
Dec-16-10  redorc19: could someone show me the analysis for after the last move? How would white win
Dec-16-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sastre: 47...Kf5 48.Nxd2 Rxe6 49.dxe6 Kxe6 50.cxb5 .
Feb-10-11  redorc19: oh yeah...thx
Feb-10-11  Pygeum Lycopene: <<Good to see Alekhine getting crushed.>> lol. yeah, the luzhin defence was a very annoying movie.
Apr-29-11  Dyonis: 9. Nxe4 seems strong continuation for white...after 9. ... fxe 10. Ne5 ...I think white are much better... But afcourse,the moove chosen by Euve(9.Qc2) is ...strong enough...against the very provocative 8. ... b6 ?! The whole idea suported by Alekhine here was probably...to provocate white's 11.Bxb7...against which he had been (probably) ready to counteract...
May-03-11  erniecohen: Doesn't 37...Rxe6 38. dxe6 Rf5 draw?
May-03-11  bronkenstein: <Doesn't 37...Rxe6 38. dxe6 Rf5 draw?>

Doesn´t look like an obvious draw after 39.Rd1( 39. Re1 !? ) .

May-14-11  erniecohen: <bronkenstein: <Doesn't 37...Rxe6 38. dxe6 Rf5 draw?> Doesn´t look like an obvious draw after 39.Rd1( 39. Re1 !? )>

RP* endings aren't my specialty, but I think white ends up with nothing better than an extra pawn on the Q-side (with the K-side pawns still there), which would normally be a draw. Any specialists care to comment?

May-14-11  bronkenstein: Since no specialists answered your call , i will try to help as much as I can :)

Comparing the line you gave to Alekhine´s choice , the rook ending offers much better drawing chances , since black is totally lost otherwise few moves later , with knight on the board + chain passers . Alekhine simply overestimated his position IMO.

Just, the draw is not obvious (to me at least ) or forced in small number of moves . Both pawns in center are rather weak than strong , and black remains with very active rook but being pawn or two down (eventually) in many variations.

38. ...Rxe6 is even better than 37. ... Rxe6 , since white already determined the position of his rook ( by playing 38. Re1 ), so we don´t have to deal with variations starting with 39. Rd1 continuing the line you gave .

For example : 38. ... Rxe6 39. dxe6 Kg7 40. b3!? ( with the trap 40. ...Rf2? 41.Kg1! Ra2?? 42.Rf1 Re2 43. Rf5 ; 40. Rd1 !?) Kf8! 41. Rd1 Rf2 ( 41. ... Ke7 42. Rd7+ Kxe6 43 . Rxh7 looks even worse ) 42.Rd8+ Kxe7 43. Rd7+ Kxe6 44. Rxa7 Kxe5 etc, white puts all his hopes in activity .

Jan-21-12  Eduardo Bermudez: Look at the Knight who started in g1, after its 19 moves !!! I love this game !!!
Aug-17-12  Chessplayer150X: 32.Ng5!!!! This is the rock crusher.The immediate threat is most unpleasant.
Nov-18-12  Cemoblanca: Euwe is thinking on his 29th move! http://web.inter.nl.net/hcc/rekius/...
Mar-20-13  ajax333221: he moved the same knight 7 times in a row :0
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