8…Re8Black lets slip the opportunity of playing 8. ....P×P followed by ....Kt—Q 4 before White has Castled, for after the text-move he will not succeed in freeing himself by ....P—K 4. The move R—K 1 is only to be considered before White's K B has moved, e.g. if White should play 8. Q—B 2.
11.Ne4A very natural move. As he has already Castled, White need not fear the variation ....Q—R 4 ch; K—K 2 or B 1.
13.Ng3When possessing greater freedom of movement than the opponent—and this is the case for White here—it is good strategy to retain the greatest possible number of pieces on the board, in order to reap the greatest profit from this freedom.
15…Nbd7Black wishes to enforce the move ....P—K 4 all the same, but, as we shall see, it is much too late! In an exhibition game played at Paris in February, 1922, Znosko-Borovski adopted 15. ....B—Q 2 against me, but also without satisfactory results. Here is the continuation of that game:— 16. Kt—K 5, Q—K 2; 17. P—B 4, Q R—B 1; 18. Q—B 3, R—B 2; 19. Kt—K 2!, B—B 1; 20. Kt—Q 3, Kt (Kt 3)—Q 2; 21. Kt—B 3, and White threatens a strong King-side attack commencing P—K Kt 4, etc.
16.e4White not only does not attempt to prevent the following reply by 17. P—K R 3, but on the contrary, having recognized its futility, he seeks to provoke it.
16…e5Facilitating his opponent's task, although in any case White's game was won strategically.
18.e6Simplest. The Black Pawn at K 3 is a fresh stumbling-block in the way of Black's already laborious development.
22.Kh1This and the next move, incomprehensible at first sight, form the necessary preparation for the decisive attack. They arise from the following reasoning: (1) White must win the game if he can attain the formation: Kt at K R 5 and Q at K Kt 4. But this plan is at present impracticable, for the opponent, after 22. P—K 5, Kt—Q 4, threatens Kt—K 6. (2) On the other hand the White Queen when played would no longer defend the Knight on Q 4, which Black would threaten to capture with a check. Therefore the text-move avoids this latter contingency, and the next move prevents the threat of the Black Knight (Kt—K 6). After this explanation the final manœuvre reveals itself without difficulty.
22…a5Hopeless, like every other move.
25.Nh5The point of the decisive manœuvre. If 25. ....Kt×R; 26. Q—Kt 4, P—Kt 4; 27. Kt—B 6 ch, K—B 1; 28. P×Kt and White wins.
27.Qd3Threatening 28. B—B 2 or B×Kt, against which Black is defenceless.
28.Bxd5Falling under the spell of a beautiful variation in mind, I was tempted to continue here by 28. B—Q 1, Kt—Kt 5; 29. Q—R 7 ch!!, K×Q; 30. R×P ch!, R×R; 31. Kt—B 6 ch, K—Kt 3; 32. B—R 5 mate. But as, first, the move 28. ....Kt—Kt 5 is not at all forced, and moreover, the text-move equally leads to mate, I decided in favour of a forced and logical continuation.
29.Nf6+If now 29. ....K—B 1; 30. Q—R 7, or if 29. ....K—B 2; 30. R×P ch, and mates in two moves.
Alexander Alekhine, My Best Games of Chess 1908–1923 (1927) · Public domain · source