Muffang, Andre VS Alekhine, Alexander 1923.02.22

Annotations

1. 3.e5 Steinitz's move, reintroduced by Niemzovitch a few years ago. It leads to a very complicated game, not disadvantageous for Black.
2. 5…f6 In an analogous position at St. Petersburg, 1914, Dr. Lasker played 5. ....P—B 4 against Dr. Tarrasch. The text-move, although perhaps less solid, aims at creating a tension in the centre which necessitates perfectly correct play on the part of his opponent.
3. 6…Bd7 More prudent was here 6. ....Q—B 2; 7. B—K B 4, Q—Kt 3!, for after the text-move White could have introduced complications equally dangerous for both players by 7. Kt—Kt 5!?, e.g.: 7. Kt—Kt 5!?, P—B 4; 8. P—K Kt 4!, P×Q P; 9. P×B P, Kt×P; 10. P×K P, B—B 3; 11. P×P, Kt×B ch; 12. Q×Kt, Q—B 3; 13. Castles, Kt—R 3, followed by Castles Q R, and in spite of White's Pawn plus the chances can be considered approximately equal, since the position of White's King is compromised by the opening of the K Kt file.
4. 7.Qc2 As White's Queen cannot be maintained on this file, it was useless to lose a move to provoke a reply which would sooner or later be forced on account of the dangers arising from Kt—Kt 5. It was therefore better to play 7. Q—K 2 at once.
5. 7…f5 Very energetic..... but as will be seen subsequently, the opening of the K Kt file is rather to the advantage of his opponent.
6. 10.dxc5 Once again best. He must prevent the threatened exchange of Knight against the Pawns, leading to the opening of the Q B file and the weakening of White's square at Q 4.
7. 11.Qe2 Threatening a demonstration on the right wing, commencing 12. Kt—Kt 5, but Black opposes it by the following move.
8. 14.Nbd4 This move should not have been played until his Q B had been developed, which would have enabled White to occupy the Q B file in the event of an exchange. Better was 14. B—K Kt 5, with the probable continuation 14. ....Castles Q R; 15. B—B 6, K R—Kt 1; 16. Kt (Kt 3)—Q 4, B×Kt; 17. P×B, Q R—K 1; 18. R—Q B 1, K—Kt 1, with a slight advantage to Black, whereas after the text-move he secures a practically won position after a few moves.
9. 16.Qe3 If 16. B—K 3, the reply 16. ....Kt—Kt 5 would be still more disagreeable.
10. 18.Bd2 While the position of Black's King is sufficiently protected, that of White's King appears seriously compromised. White should have taken the chance to Castle, thereby securing some prospects of a satisfactory defence.
11. 19…Qxb2 The entry of the Black Queen into the enemy's game should speedily terminate the game.
12. 21…Qxa2 This useless capture makes the win difficult again, as White can temporarily bring his King into safety. The right move was 21. ....R—K Kt 1, definitely preventing Castling by White, after which the victory would have been fairly easy, e.g.: 22. Q—Kt 3, Q—K 5 ch; 23. Q—K 3, P—B 5; 24. Q—K 2, P—Q R 3! and White has not sufficient defence against 25. ....B—Kt 4, which will have fatal consequences.
13. 23…Qc2 Black, in order to retain his slight advantage in position, has no other resource than to provoke an exchange of Queens on K 5, for all other manoeuvres, tending to maintain his material advantage, would have turned in the adversary's favour, e.g.: I.—23. ....Q—R 3; 24. R (B 1)—Q Kt 1, R—B 8 ch; 25. R×R (if 25. B×R?, Q—B 8 ch and mates next move), Q×R; 26. Q—R 6 and White has a strong attack. II.—23. ....P—B 5; 24. Q×P, R—B 1; 25. Q—K 3, R×Kt; 26. Q×R, Q×B; 27. Q—R 5 ch, K—Q 1; 28. Q—B 7!, Q—R 3; 29. R—K Kt 1 and White should win.
14. 24.Ng5 This move only results in the improvement of Black's position, Black's Rook being better placed for the defence on K Kt 2 than on K Kt 1. A little better was 24. R×P at once, although in this case Black's position would have been preferable after 24. ....Q—K 5.
15. 26.Nf3 The Knight is compelled to retreat, for if 26. R—B 1, P—B 5!; 27. R×Q (or 27. Q×P, P×Kt), P×Q; 28. R×R ch, Kt×R, and White has three pieces en prise.
16. 26…f4 The initial move of the decisive attack. White cannot capture this Pawn because of 27. Q×P, Q—Q 6!, followed by 28. ....R—K B 2, and Black wins.
17. 28.Qd1 If 28. R—K 1, Q×Q; 29. R×Q, B—Kt 4; 30. R—K 1, B—Q 6 followed by 31. ....B—K 5, and Black has a winning position.
18. 29.Re1 The game could not be saved, e.g.: I.—29. R—R 4, Kt×K P, etc. II.—29. R—R 3, Kt×Q P; 30. R—K 1, Kt×Kt!; 31. R×Q, P×R; 32. R×Kt, P×R; 33. B×R, R—Kt 5; 34. B—Kt 3 (or 34. Q—Q 2, R—Q Kt 1!), R (Kt 5)—Q B 5, and Black wins.
19. 29…Nxa7 This Queen-sacrifice is the logical sequel to the preceding moves. It enables Black's Q B at last to take an active part in the attack against the opposing King.
20. 31…e3 The point! White's Knight will now be hopelessly pinned by Black's Q B on the long diagonal, after which the gain of this piece will be merely a question of time.
21. 34.Bxe3 Or 34. Q—B 3 ch, K—Kt 1; 35. Q×P, B—B 3 ch; 36. Kt—B 3, R—B 1, and wins.
22. 35…Kg8 Still simpler was 35. ....R—Q Kt 1!; 36. P—R 4, R—Q Kt 6. However, the text-move is quite sufficient to win.
23. 42.h4 Obviously 42. Q×B would lead to mate in three moves.

Alexander Alekhine, My Best Games of Chess 1908–1923 (1927) · Public domain · source