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José Raúl Capablanca
Clear, quick play: Capablanca beats Marshall in their 1909 match, and hunts a king in 1933.
The idea
Clear, quick play: Capablanca hunts Steiner’s king up the board.
- Black’s king on c5 has walked far from home.
- The queen on b6 is its only guard on the b-file.
- Rxc6+ Qxc6 pulls the queen away, and then Qb4 is mate.
In a game: When the enemy king is out in the open, look for checks that drag its guards away.
How the lesson begins
José Raúl Capablanca was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1888. In 1909, aged 20, he played a match against Frank Marshall, one of the best players in America, and won eight games to one.
His play looked simple. He found the clear plan, traded into endgames he knew he would win, and seldom made a mistake. His book Chess Fundamentals is still read today. Here is a game from that match. Capablanca has White.
White gives a bishop for a knight to double Black’s pawns, and later trades a knight for Black’s light-squared bishop. Then the white queen gets in on e6.
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. O-O a6 5. Bxc6+ White gives the bishop for the knight, and Black’s c-pawns are doubled.
- 5... bxc6 6. d4 exd4 7. Nxd4 Bd7 8. Re1 c5 9. Nf3 Be7 10. Nc3 c6 11. Bf4 Be6 12. Qd3 Nf6 13. Rad1 d5 14. Ng5 d4 15. Nxe6 The knight takes the bishop on e6, and Black takes back with the f-pawn.
- 15... fxe6 16. Na4 Qa5 17. b3 Rd8 18. Nb2 Nh5 19. Be5 O-O 20. Nc4 Qb4 21. Qh3 g6 22. Qxe6+ The queen takes the e6 pawn with check.
- 22... Rf7 Black blocks with the rook on f7, which is now pinned.
White wins the knight on h5, but Black’s bishop and queen rush in towards White’s king.
- 23. g4 Bh4 24. gxh5 Bxf2+ 25. Kh1 Qc3 26. Re3 Qxc2 27. Red3 Qe2
Find the move
Black’s queen is on e2, close to your king. Find the knight move that attacks the pinned rook.
A hint
The knight on c4 can attack f7.
Show the answer
28. Nd6
Nd6! attacks the rook on f7, which cannot move because of the pin. Marshall took the knight with the other rook, and the bishop took back.