Why you should play the Colle!

[Event "San Sebastian"] [Site "San Sebastian"] [Date "1911.02.27"] [Round "5"] [White "Capablanca, Jose Raul"] [Black "Janowski, David Markelowicz"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D40"] [Annotator "Capablanca, J. R."] [PlyCount "131"] [EventDate "1911.??.??"] [EventType "tourn"] [Source "Pickard & Son"] [SourceDate "2002.01.01"] 1. d4 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. Nf3 c5 4. c4 e6 5. Nc3 Be7 {[There is something about this move that does not please me. The Bishop will have, later on, to take the pawn and thus lose a "tempo". Time is too valuable in chess to be thus squandered.]} 6. dxc5 O-O 7. a3 {[7. cxd5 is better, because it prevents Black from making that same move, practically equalizing the game.]} 7... Bxc5 8. b4 Be7 9. Bb2 a5 {[This move should only be played in case it is to be followed by ...dxc4 and ...Qxd1. As such was not the idea of Black, it consequently is weak.]} 10. b5 b6 11. cxd5 exd5 {[Black has now an isolated pawn and no compensation for it, a thing that should always be avoided.]} 12. Nd4 Bd6 13. Be2 {[A mistake, and the cause of most of my future trouble. I saw at the time that 13. g3 seemed the proper continuation, but I became afraid of being criticised for creating such a formation of pawn's on the Kingside, and hence the selection of this bad move against my better judgment. It must be remembered that I was playing my first big tournament, and I did not want to be criticized for doing what poor players so often do. In this game I was for the first time in my life to have the feeling of being completely outplayed by my opponent. Time after time, up to my twenty-third move, I would figure some reply of my adversary only to find out immediately that I was wrong, and that some other move that he had made was superior to the one I had thought best. After my twenty-third move until the end I played perfectly, with the exception of some few moves which I analyzed during adjournment, which shows, by the way, that a good player will often see more by studying the possibilities over the board than by analyzing and moving the pieces about.]} 13... Be6 14. Bf3 {[Since later on I will find myself compelled to return with the Bishop back to e2, it would have been better to have left the Bishop where it stood, and have simply castled with 14. O-O]} 14... Ra7 15. O-O Rc7 16. Qb3 {[Bad, as Black quickly demostrates. 16. Rc1 was probably the right move.]} 16... Nbd7 17. Rfd1 {[I could not play either 17. Nxd5 or 17. Nc6 as close analysis will show. I would have lost a piece in either case.]} 17... Ne5 18. Be2 Qe7 19. Rac1 Rfc8 20. Na4 {[This move has been criticized because it allows the coming combination. As a matter of fact, I had already seen what was coming, but I also felt sure that my only chance was to weather the storm. Any other way I was sure would lose. I therefore stood for all that was coming, certain that there was a defense to the terrific attack of Black, and that, at all events, it was my only chance.]} Rxc1 21. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 22. Bxc1 Ne4 23. Bb2 {[Perhaps either 23. f3 or 23. Nxe6 followed by 24.f3, would have held the game, but, at any rate, Black has an advantage.]} 23... Nc4 24. Bxc4 Bxh2+ {[The sacrifice is excellent, inasmuch as Black can, at least, draw the game by perpetual check. 24... dxc4 would not have been good, because White would then play 25. Qc2 and have, at least, an even game.]} 25. Kxh2 Qh4+ 26. Kg1 Qxf2+ 27. Kh2 Qg3+ 28. Kg1 {[If 28. Kh1 Bh3 29. Bf1 Nf2+ 30. Kg1 Ng4 winning.]} 28... dxc4 29. Qc2 Qxe3+ 30. Kh2 Qg3+ 31. Kg1 Qe1+ 32. Kh2 Qg3+ 33. Kg1 Qe1+ 34. Kh2 Nf6 35. Nxe6 Qh4+ 36. Kg1 Qe1+ 37. Kh2 Qh4+ {[The repetition of moves was simply for the purpose of gaining time.]} 38. Kg1 Ng4 39. Qd2 {[The only move. If 39. Qc3 Black would mate in two moves.]} 39... Qh2+ 40. Kf1 Qh1+ 41. Ke2 Qxg2+ 42. Kd1 Nf2+ 43. Kc2 Qg6+ 44. Kc1 Qg1+ 45. Kc2 Qg6+ 46. Kc1 Nd3+ 47. Kb1 fxe6 48. Qc2 {[An error 48. Ka2 would have given me, at least, a draw. Incidentally, it shows that my judgment was correct with respect to the possibility of warding off Black's terrific onslaught, as expressed in a previous note.]} 48... h5 49. Bd4 h4 50. Bxb6 h3 51. Bc7 e5 52. b6 {[All this from move forty-eight on, is the result of the analysis during adjournment referred to in a previous note. It was not good, and Black could have won the game had he continued the attack in the same impeccable way as heretofore. Here 52. Qxc4+ Kf8 53. Bd6+ Qxd6 54. Qc8+ Ke7 55. Qxh3 would have given a better chance for a draw.]} 52... Qe4 {[This move I had not properly considered, though it was the only one to win. Against 52... Qc6 I had 53. Nc3 and in the same way I believe there would be a defense against any other move.]} 53. Bxe5 Qe1+ {[53... Qh1+ was the correct and winning move. For the first time Black since the attack started failed to make the best move to win. It has been said that the error was incomprehensible; as a matter of fact it has a very simple explanation, and very logical too. When Black played 52...Qe4 he had done so to prevent the coming of my Knight into the game, and against 53. Nc3 he could play 53...h2 and win my Knight for a pawn, and then win the game without any trouble. Thus to him the force of the move lay in the fact that while it prevented the further advance of my pawn, it also prevented my Knight from coming to the rescue, because of the check on e1. This check was, therefore, the key to the situation in his mind; consequently he did not think that the greatest force of the move expanded upon the fact that from e4 he could equally well go to h1 and e1, and that, while the last square was all important in one case, the other was vital in another case. The proof of this is that after the game Janowsky analyzed the position for two hours, and never saw where he had committed his fault. The other masters had to tell him. Burn had asked me if the move 53...Qh1+ had been considered, that he thought it would have won, and I told him that he was right, but that my opponent had never thought of it. We then talked about the move, and Janowsky thus came to know of its force. He should not, however, be much blamed for it, as previous to this fault he had conducted the game as in the old days, when he was one of the most feared of all the players.]} 54. Ka2 Nxe5 {[Janowsky, like the other masters watching this game, never thought that it would be possible for me to obtain more than a draw out of the game, hence his not taking the last chance afforded him to draw by perpetual check with 54... Nc1+ Before continuing I should add that the endgame coming is perhaps the finest of its kind ever played over the board, and that for some unknown reason it has not been properly appreciated. It is a masterpiece, one of which I am very proud, and which should be very carefully studied. As I said, nobody thought at the time that the ending could be won.]} 55. b7 Nd7 56. Nc5 {[An all-important move. At first sight it looks as though 56. Nb6 would be better. A profound study will show that such is not the case.]} 56... Nb8 57. Qxc4+ Kh8 58. Ne4 {[The beauty of White's fifty-sixth move is now seen. Black has no check with his Queen, nor can the pawn advance, because through a combination of checks I am threatening to win the Queen or obtain a similar position to the one that I finally obtained in the game.]} Kh7 59. Qd3 g6 {[If 59... Qh4 60. Ng5+ Kh6 61. Nf7+ Kh5 62. Qf5+ g5 63. Ne5 and wins.]} 60. Qxh3+ Kg7 61. Qf3 Qc1 {[Black is desperate. His Queen is useless at e1, while White's is threatening all the time to come into the game with a series of checks that are bound to be fatal. He, therefore, makes a last attempt, threatening perpetual check at the first opportunity.]} 62. Qf6+ Kh7 63. Qf7+ Kh6 64. Qf8+ Kh5 65. Qh8+ Kg4 66. Qc8+ {[A most interesting game, full of combinations and situations worth careful study. The game, besides, is most instructive in its three parts: opening, middle and endgame. These two games are fine examples of my ability at the time.]} 1-0