Game 9 in the book: Alekhine's win over Georg Marco at the International Tournament at Stockholm, 1912. A Philidor's Defence annotated by Alekhine, who plays White.

1. 4…Nbd7 Marco's favourite defence, which I also have adopted on several occasions (compare game No. 47), but I have since come to the conclusion that against logical and sound play it is not altogether satisfactory.
2. 6.O-O Sacrificial combinations commencing 6. Kt—Kt 5 or 6. B x P ch turn to Black's advantage.
3. 6…O-O After Castling, Black's development becomes laborious and he has not the slightest chance of a counter-attack. It seems to be more in the spirit of the defence to play: 6. ....P—K R 3 followed by P—B 3, Q—B 2, Kt—B 1, P—K Kt 4 and Kt—Kt 3. This system was adopted successfully by my opponent in several recent tournaments (Yates—Marco, The Hague, 1921; Wolf—Marco, Pistyan, 1922). This line of play forces White to play with great care, for Black's manœuvre on the King-side may develop into a serious attack.
4. 8.a4 In this variation it is essential once and for all to prevent Black's P—Q Kt 4.
5. 8…h6 The anxiety to provide against Kt—Kt 5 or B—Kt 5 is natural enough, but the resultant weakening of the King's position may have unfortunate consequences, as the bad development of the Black pieces does not warrant this move.
6. 9.Bb3 After 9. B—K 3 Black could have played 9. ....Kt x P, followed by P—Q 4. By preventing this manœuvre, the text-move maintains White's supremacy in the centre. However B—R 2 would have been still better (see Bogoljuboff v. Niemzovitch, Stockholm, 1920).
7. 10.h3 To prevent Black from playing Kt—Kt 5 in reply to 11. B—K 3.
8. 10…Kh7 Black adopts an unsound plan in an already difficult position. The development of the Queen-side by P—Q Kt 3, B—Kt 2 and Q R—Q 1, followed by an attempt to stabilize matters in the centre by P—Q B 4, would have been more to be recommended.
9. 12…Kg7 All this laborious manœuvring aims at getting the K R into play. But Black will not have even this meagre satisfaction, as White, now fully developed, will initiate a direct attack on the Black King.
10. 13…Ng8 If 13. ....Kt—R 4; then 14. Q—Q 2, followed by P—Kt 4 and P—B 4, etc.
11. 15.Qg4 The strongest continuation of the attack. After the move in the text Black has nothing better than to sacrifice the K Kt P, which will give him the necessary time to exchange the White K B. If on move 9 White had played B—R 2 Black would not have even this small resource.
12. 17…Nxb3 Or 17. ....P—Kt 4; 18. B x Kt followed by Q—R 5 and wins.
13. 19…Bd7 If now 20. Kt—Kt 4? the White Queen is lost by 20. ....B—K 1.
14. 21.Ng4 threatening 22. P—K 5, etc.
15. 22.Ne2 This Knight now journeys to Kt 6 and decides the game in a few moves.
16. 25.Rd3 Here White could have won a second Pawn by Kt x R P, but he prefers to play for a mate.
17. 26…Rxg6 Frustrating White's intended combination, which would have terminated the game brilliantly. The threat was: 27. R—B 4 followed by 28. Kt x R P, Kt x Kt; 29. Q x Kt ch, K x Q; 30. R—R 4 ch, K—Kt 4; 31. B—K 3 or R—Kt 3 mate. This threat could only be parried by giving up the Exchange, which anyhow leaves Black without hope.