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Jose Raul Capablanca vs Mikhail Botvinnik
"The Boy Who Would be King" (game of the day Aug-20-2011)
Simul, 30b (1925) (exhibition), Leningrad RUS, Nov-20
Queen's Gambit Declined: Manhattan Variation (D51)  ·  0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 4 OF 4 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Apr-25-11  drnooo: if you look at the position, it wuld be natural for Capa to HAVE to push the few remaining pieces on the right to the center of the board: any other motion would look clumsy. The other account, simply turning the king over would also work, though few accounts hold with that.Then walking on, if tired, it would be easy to read a thousand things into a look. Hardly seems worth all the bother of worrying about Capas behavior or emotion.
Aug-20-11
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sneaky: <ismet: move 31 Capa Blunders ?!> Oh really? What do you suggest instead, 31.Bb1? Then comes ...c2 . Or do you fancy 31.Ba4? Then comes Rxg2!

I'm not sure where Capa went wrong, but it wasn't move 31.

Aug-20-11
Premium Chessgames Member
  Check It Out: Maybe castling 10.0-0-0 is a good place to start if you want to find fault; Capa gets shredded on the queenside.
Aug-20-11  whiteshark: You can already sense 'the patriarch' within the little Botvinnik.
Aug-20-11  consul: I'm not strong enough to appreciate the strength of Botvinnik's 29 .. Rc6
Aug-20-11  aliejin: "Hardly seems worth all the bother of worrying about Capas behavior or emotion."

yes, mistreat characters from the past it is easy , especially because they can not defend themselves

Aug-20-11  kevin86: a masterpiece-if only for the fact that a future champ defeats the present champ in an elegant game.
Aug-20-11  BobCrisp: <They had a fascination for Capa exemplified by one of the tournaments in the mid-1930s where Stalin walked up and gazed at Capa from behind.>

We only have <Olga Capablanca>'s word for this. Colour me skeptical.

Apr-03-12  David2009: 8.Qb3 seems to have been the first inaccuracy, better 8.Nf3 to reach


click for larger view

Compare D Jakovenko vs Fressinet, 2012 where Jakovenko beat Fressinet in the last round to win the 13th European Individual Championship (2012). This game continued 8...Qa5 9.Rc1 Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 0-0 11.Nd4 Qxc5 12.Bd3 to reach


click for larger view

when White, with the two Bishops, has a small pull.

Apr-03-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  maxi: The thread in Capablanca vs Verlinsky, 1925 is relevant to the present discussion.
May-03-12  Anderssen99: Consul: Had Capa retreated his B to b1 then the beautiful point of 29. ...,Rc6 would have been revealed: 30.Re3,Rd2. 31.Bb1,c2. 32.Ba2,Nxa2+!!. 33.Rxa2,Re1+. 34.Kb2,Rb1+. 35.Ka3,Ra6 mate!!
May-04-12  Anderssen99: The 33rd move above should read 33....,Rd1+. Sorry for the misprint!
Dec-19-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  kingscrusher: Black's move accuracy after White castled queenside is Houdini 4 move 1 or 2 choices ALL THE WAY. This is astonishing accuracy for the then 14 year old Mikhail Botvinnik. My provisional PGN follows:

[Event "Leningrad"]
[Site "Leningrad"]
[Date "1925.11.20"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Jose Raul Capablanca"]
[Black "Mikhail Botvinnik"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D51"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "1925.??.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3
Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. e3 Bb4 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Qb3 c5 8. dxc5 Qa5 9. Bxf6 Nxf6 10. O-O-O Maybe a bit too optimisti. Technically black better now (10. Rc1 O-O 11. Bd3) 10... O-O 11. Nf3 Be6 Houdini 4 first choice move depth 20 12. Nd4 Rac8 Houdini 4 first choice move depth 20 13. c6 (13. Nxe6 fxe6 14. Kb1 Bxc3 15. Qxc3 Qxc3 16. bxc3 Ne4 17. Rc1 Rxf2) 13... Bxc3 Houdini 4 2nd choice move depth 20 14. Qxc3 (14. bxc3 bxc6) 14... Qxa2 Houdini 4 first choice move depth 20 15. Bd3 bxc6 Houdini 4 first choice move depth 20 16. Kc2 c5 Houdini 4 2nd choice move depth 18 17. Nxe6 Qa4+ Houdini 4 first choice move depth 20 (17... fxe6 18. Ra1 d4 nearly equal) 18. b3 Qa2+ Houdini 4 first choice move depth 20 19. Qb2 Qxb2+ 20. Kxb2 fxe6 21. f3 3rd choice houdini move at depth 22. c4 and rb8 strong as well Rc7 Houdini 4 2nd choice move depth 20 22. Ra1 c4 Houdini 4 first choice move depth 20 23. bxc4 dxc4 24. Bc2 Rb8+ Houdini 4 2nd choice move depth 20 25. Kc1 Nd5 Houdini 4 first choice move depth 20 26. Re1 c3 Houdini 4 first choice move depth 20 27. Ra3 Nb4 Houdini 4 first choice move depth 20 28. Re2 Rd8 Houdini 4 first choice move depth 20 29. e4 (29. h3 Rd2 30. Rxc3) 29... Rc6 preparing ♖d2 without allowing ♖xc3! Houdini 4 first choice move depth 20 30. Re3 (30. Rxa7 Rd2) 30... Rd2 Houdini 4 first choice move depth 20 31. Raxc3 Rxc2+ 32. Rxc2 Rxc2+ 0-1

Jul-10-14  1d410: 6. Capa exchanges a wing pawn for a center pawn
12. planning Bxc3 and either doubling pawns or pinning against the queen 14. Capa chooses to pin the queen 15. Capa is occupying the center while Botvinnik wreaks havoc on the queenside Capa does not tryi to save the advanced but doomed pawn, allowing Botvinnik a material material advantage 17 Capa wins the bishop pair, but he is already a pawn down 19 Botvinnik simplifies by forcing an exchange of queen's hoping to enter the endgame a pawn up 31. Capa loses rather than play the endgame
Jul-11-14  1d410: 6. Capa exchanges a wing pawn for a center pawn
8. Capa gives up the bishop pair for little compensation. 12. planning Bxc3 and either doubling pawns or pinning against the queen 14. Capa chooses to pin the queen 15. Capa is occupying the center while Botvinnik wreaks havoc on the queenside Capa does not try to save the advanced but doomed pawn, allowing Botvinnik a material advantage 17 Capa wins a knight for a bishop, but he is already a pawn down 19 Botvinnik simplifies by forcing an exchange of queen's hoping to enter the endgame a pawn up 31. Capa loses rather than play the endgame
Jul-13-14  1d410: I edited it to be more exciting and less boring
Dec-27-15  TheFocus: From a simultaneous exhibition in Leningrad, Russia on November 20, 1925.

Capablanca scored +18=8-4.

Source is <Unknown Capablanca> by Brandreth and Hooper.

Jan-08-16  thejack: People emphasize that Botvinnik was only 14 when this game was played, but what really amazes me is that he had learned to play chess at age 12, just two years before!!? And people say Fischer was naturally talented..
Jul-10-16  GarloPemberton: Fix. 8. ...Qa5 is too good for Botvinnik. Capablanca was a crooked character, and the Russians have always been crooked. While he was in Russia, they, no doubt, paid Cap to take a dive to the kid they were grooming to be their next champion.
Jul-10-16  GarloPemberton: 10. 0-0-0 also looks especially weak. The Russians like to long castle at bad times in prearranged games to create weakness for the side designed to lose, see Korchnoi- Karpov WCC challenge (I think it's the last game of the match, when Korchnoi long castles from white creating enough weakness for Karpov to win.)
Jun-28-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sally Simpson: Page 55, 'Soviet Chess' by Bob Wade.

"Though two well-known chess players sitting on the same bench gave me a lot of advice, I succeeded in winning a pawn."

Hinting that despite being advised to 'do this' or 'try that', he ignored them and won his pawn.

Mar-07-18  ACMEKINGKRUSHER: Wow,

Great Research! Even if it takes YEARS! At least WE NOW KNOW! One thing that deserves to be mentioned again is the FACT THAT CAPABLANCA WAS WORLD CHAMPION AT THAT TIME! Even losing to a WORLD CHAMPION can be very Interesting! Way to go Young Mikhail! ACME KING KRUSHER!

Mar-07-18  tgyuid: the opening is really really important
Mar-08-18  WorstPlayerEver: I think Capa went for 'the quick win' by playing 10. 0-0-0, obviously he was unaware of the potential of his opponent at the time. Mikhail was just 14.

But by playing 13. c6 (best move) he must've known 10. 0-0-0 was a mistake.

Nov-13-18  Violin sonata: At first glance, i think the position of endgame is more inclined to capablanca as in his book "chess fundamental" saying that a bishop and a rook are stronger than a knight and a rook but didn't saying with two rooks (i don't think that makes a big difference), but at least the bishop range was not too broad.

Since the white move 10. 0-0-0 is too selfish to my opinion and a good game from botvinnik that led him to get a winning position with centralized pawns, I don't think that's a big problem for him.

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