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Hi Hans... I was wondering if these games are actually *from* the book (and you are posting them so people can get an idea of the contents). I also presume the comments are yours (ie: not from the book...)
I have a copy of the book, but I have not had much time to dig into it much at all...
Hi Kerry - yes most of the games are from the book - although I often find an interesting game elsewhere - I try to post only games with exceptional play or revealing the thinking skills (or occasional noteworthy blunders) of the blindfold player, and yes all of the comments are mine. Ive been told keeping this thread going is enhancing the sales of the book and so I am happy to keep posting once or twice a week.
Alekhine - Echiquier du Nord Lille, Paris 1925 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 d5 4.fxe5 Nxe4 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bb5 Bc5 7.d4 Bb4 8.Bd2 Bxc3 9.bxc3 0-0 10.0-0 Bg4 11.Qe1 Qe7 12.Bd3 f5 13.exf6 Rxf6 14.Be3 Raf8 15.Nd2 Rxf1+ 16.Nxf1 Nd8 17.c4 dxc4 18.Bxc4+ Kh8 19.Ng3 Nd6 20.Bd3 Re8 21.Bf2 Qxe1+ 22.Rxe1 Rxe1+ 23.Bxe1 Nc6 24.c3 Na5 25.Bd2 Ndc4 26.Bc1 g6 27.Ne4 Kg7 28.Nc5 Bc8 29.Kf2 b6 30.Nb3 Nxb3 31.axb3 Nd6 32.c4 Bf5 33.Ke3 Bxd3 34.Kxd3 Nf5 35.Bf4 Kf6 36.Bxc7 1-0 Alekhine survives intense pressure thru the opening and to about move 25 but manages to trade off major pieces and head for an endgame advantage. He hop scotches his black squared bishop and the surviving knight over to the queen side where he subtly engineers (with help from his opponents) a potential passed pawn. Just when his goal is about to be realized his opponents blunder and probably collectively resign in disgust.
Alekhine - Groupe de Joueurs Isoles Team Three, Paris 1925 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 e6 4.e3 b5 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Qd6 7.bxc4 c5 8.Bxb4 cxb4 9.c5 Qa6 10.a4 Bd7 11.Nbd2 Qb7 12.axb5 Bxb5 13.Bxb5+ Qxb5 14.Qa4 Qxa4 15.Rxa4 Nc6 16.Nc4 Nge7 17.Nd6+ Kd7 18.Nxf7 Rhf8 19.N7e5+ Kc7 20.Ra6 b3 21.Kd2 Rab8 22.Rb1 h6 23.Nxc6 Nxc6 24.Kc3 Rb7 25.Rxb3 Rfb8 26.Rxb7+ Rxb7 27.Nd2 Nb4 28.Ra4 Nd5+ 29.Kc4 Kb8 30.e4 Nc7 31.d5 exd5+ 32.exd5 Nb5 33.Ne4 Nc7 34.d6 Ne6 35.c6 Rb6 36.c7+ Kc8 37.Rxa7 Rc6+ 38.Kd5 1-0 Alekhine uses interesting pawn play in the opening to create the pawn chain f2-e3-d4-c5 with an advanced knight outpost on d6. His opponents offer little resistance so Alekhine creates connected passed pawns and drives them relentlessly forward. However at the end of the game he creates a work of art. The final position with the king fork on d5 shows a clear picture of middlegame (and endgame) dominance by White.
Alekhine - Cercle de la Rive Gauche Team Three, Pais 1925 1.f4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.Nc3 Ne7 4.Nf3 Ng6 5.d3 Bb4 6.Bd2 d4 7.Ne2 Bxd2+ 8.Qxd2 c5 9.b4 b6 10.bxc5 bxc5 11.g3 Nc6 12.Bg2 Rb8 13.0-0 0-0 14.Rab1 Ba6 15.h4 h6 16.h5 Nge7 17.g4 Qa5 18.Qxa5 Nxa5 19.Ne5 Rfd8 20.f5 exf5 21.exf5 f6 22.Ng6 Nxg6 23.fxg6 Bb7 24.Nf4 Bxg2 25.Kxg2 Rb6 26.Rxb6 axb6 27.Re1 Nc6 28.Re6 Nb4 29.Re7 Kf8 30.Rf7+ Kg8 31.Ne6 Re8 32.Nxg7 Re2+ 33.Kf1 Rxc2 34.Nf5 Nxd3 35.Nxh6+ Kh8 36.Rh7# 1-0 The opening in this game transposes into positions often played in Canadian chess. However Black allows a hole on g6 and with the exchange of knights there the Black king is entombed and you know its only a matter of time for Alekhine to find a way in to checkmate.
and now for a bizarre and mysterious game from the Paris exhibition: Alekhine-Cercle de Colombes-sur-Seine, Paris 1925 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bf4 Bg4 4.Nbd2 Nf6 5.h3 Bh5 6.g4 Bg6 7.Ne5 Nxd4 8.Nxg6 fxg6 9.Nf3 Nxf3+ 10.exf3 e6 11.Be3 Bd6 12.Bd3 0-0 13.h4 Qe8 14.c4 Bb4+ 15.Kf1 b6 16.h5 gxh5 17.g5 Nd7 18.cxd5 Ne5 19.Be4 Rd8 20.Qb3 Qb5+ 21.Kg2 exd5 22.Rad1 c6 23.Rxh5 g6 24.Rh3 Rf7 25.Rdh1 Rdd7 26.Bd4 dxe4 27.Rxh7 1-0 Chigorin's Defence is the opening and Alekhine reacts in an interesting way. Did he just blunder the pawn on d4? The resulting bizarre pawn structures and the central black Ne5 do the Chigorin's proud. Alekhine in character uses his H-pawn lever to open the kingside for play but the final result is shocking. In a position where Black should win with logical play Black resigns! My guess is the Black team collectively hallucinated the variation 27...Kf8 28.Qe6 not seeing that 28...Rxh7 wins a rook at least. A bizarre conclusion to a bizarre game.
and finally from Paris 1925 Alekhine's greatest blunder (probably) in his blindfold chess career. This was not a one move blunder but a grand hallucination probably based on the thought that the black queen was still on d8. In the opening the black team plays symmetrical moves. Alekhine varies (probably to keep an original position) creatively with Nc3 and a3 and b4 but is soon copied by his opponents. It shows the chess genius of Alekhine that he still manages to create a strategically winning position and at the point of blundering first with 21.Nc6 he could have played 21.Nf5 and 22.Bg4 which would have led to a winning position. Alekhine - Ecole Polytechnique Paris 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.Nc3 c5 5.dxc5 Bxc5 6.a3 0-0 7.b4 Be7 8.Bb2 a6 9.h3 Nc6 10.Be2 b5 11.0-0 Bb7 12.Nb1 Rc8 13.Nbd2 Qd6 14.Nb3 Nd7 15.Nfd4 Nce5 16.Na5 Ba8 17.a4 Nc4 18.Nxc4 bxc4 19.b5 Rfe8 20.Bc3 e5 21.Nc6?? Bxc6 22.bxc6 Rxc6 23.Qxd5?? 0-1
A week after Paris Richard Reti did 29 boards in Brazil to break Alekhines world record and surprisingly held this record until his death in 1929. Interestingly Alekhine made no attempt for 8 years! to challenge for the world record and I can find no direct reason for this. My observations lead me to believe that this was for two reasons. First of all the 28 board display in Paris was of such magnificence and so well done that why would Alekhine attempt to do another such spectacle? and more importantly very soon after Retis display Alekhine's attention was diverted to finding sponsorship and then extensive preparations for the World Championship match with Capablanca. This would have occupied most of his time. Major blindfold exhibitions for Alekhine in the period of the remainder of 1925 thru 1932 became infrequent although there is evidence of the occasional "tried and true" 12 board blindfold exhibition. Only a few games from this period survive.
I was very interested to see another blindfold game of the great Serbian blindfold player Bora Kostic (see post #147 in this thread) in Olimpiu Urcan's column Past Pieces posted May 1st at www.chesscafe.com. Apparently Kostic did a 5 board blindfold simul at Brooklyn Boy's High School in June 1915. None of the games were recorded but several days after the event Kostic recited all the moves of all the games. Max Wolfson, one of the opponents was a student at the school and made notoriety by playing ideas tributed to Nimzovich before Nimzovich published them. The column has games of Wolfson against Capablanca and Kostic but I'll let the reader go and read Olimpiu Urcan's excellent column for the rest of the story. However here is the gamescore of that blindfold game: Kostic - Max Wolfson, Brooklyn Boy's School June 1915, 5 board blindfold simul 1.e4 e6 2.d4 b6 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.Nf3 Bb4 5.Bd3 d6 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 Nf6 8.Qe2 h6 9.0-0 0-0 10.Ne1 c5 11.f4 c4 12.Bxc4 Nxe4 13.Bb2 Nd7 14.f5 d5 15.Bb5 Qc7 16.Qd3 a6 17.Bxd7 Qxd7 18.fxe6 fxe6 19.Nf3 Rac8 20.Ne5 Qc7 21.Qh3 Ng5 22.Qg4 Rce8 23.Rxf8+ Rxf8 24.h4 Ne4 25.Qxe6+ Kh7 26.Qg6+ Kg8 27.Rf1 Rxf1+ 28.Kxf1 Nxc3 29.Kg1 Bc8 30.Bxc3 Qxc3 31.Qe8+ Kh7 32.Qg6+ Agreed drawn.
and now for Alekhine's Immortal Blindfold Game (called that by popular chess author Irving Chernev) and considered by Alekhine himself one of his best blindfold games: Alekhine - Schwartz, London 1926 (one of two blindfold games on the side with a 26 board normal (sighted) simultaneous exhibition. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.Nc3 d6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.d5 Na5 8.Qd3 b6 9.Nd4 Nb7 10.Nc6 Qd7 11.0-0 a5 12.b3 Nc5 13.Qc2 Bb7 14.h3 Rae8 15.a3 Bxc6 16.dxc6 Qc8 17.b4 axb4 18.axb4 Na6 19.Ra4 Nb8 20.b5 h6 21.Ra7 e5 22.Kh2 Kh7 23.f4 Re7 24.fxe5 Rxe5 25.Bf4 Ree8 26.Nd5 Nxd5 27.Bxd5 Qd8 28.h4 Qe7 29.e3 Kh8 30.Kg2 f5 31.Re1 Kh7 32.e4 Be5 33.exf5 gxf5 34.c5 bxc5 35.b6 Rc8 36.Qc3 Rfe8 37.Bxe5 dxe5 38.Qxe5 Qxe5 39.Rxe5 Rxe5 40.Rxc7+ Rxc7 41.bxc7 Re8 42.cxb8=Q Rxb8 43.Be6 Kg6 44.c7 Rf8 45.c8=Q Rxc8 46.Bxc8 c4 47.Ba6 c3 48.Bd3 Kf6 49.Kf3 Ke5 50.Ke3 h5 51.Bc2 Kf6 52.Kf4 Kg7 53.Kxf5 Kh6 54.Kf4 1-0 Alekhine mentioned that 34.c5 was the start of a 10 move combination but technically the combination finishes on move 46.Bxc8 - so 13 moves. Some commentators mentioned 38.Qxe5 as a queen sacrifice but it is just a breakthru sacrifice although a beautiful and unexpected move! Alekhine's opponent plays on until the last cheapo opportunity is exhausted but Alekhine had to be accurate. (if 54.Kf6?? is stalemate)
It is quite clear Alekhine enjoyed a public spectacle and more so than any other blindfold player he enjoyed the challenge of playing another strong player, both without sight of the board. From Leipzig, Germany 1926, Alekhine - Dobriner 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 Bf5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.a3 h6 6.Nbd2 Nf6 7.Qb3 Qc8 8.g3 e6 9.Bg2 Bd6 10.Nh4 c6 11.Nc4 Be7 12.Nxf5 exf5 13.Bf4 0-0 14.0-0 Rd8 15.Rfd1 Na6 16.Rac1 Nd5 17.Be5 Nac7 18.Na5 Rb8 19.Qd3 f6 20.Bxc7 Qxc7 21.b4 g6 22.f3 Bd6 23.e4 Ne7 24.Qb3+ Kg7 25.d5 fxe4 26.fxe4 Rdc8 27.Bh3 Rf8 28.Be6 g5 29.Rf1 Qb6+ 30.Kg2 cxd5 31.exd5 Qd4 32.Qc4 Qb2+ 33.Rc2 Qxa3 34.Rb1 Qe3 35.Re2 Qb6 36.Qg4 Ng6 37.Nc4 Qd8 38.Ne3 Ne7 39.h4 Qe8 40.hxg5 hxg5 41.Nc4 Rd8 42.Nxd6 Rxd6 43.Rc1 Rd8 44.Rc7 Rb8 45.d6 Rh8 46.Rxe7+ 1-0 After a quiet, unassuming opening Alekhine begins his relentless probing in the later opening and middlegame stages. Just for sport he allows his opponent's queen into his camp and then chases her away. Note his subsequent play on the white squares (but whittling away at the dark squares as well) and the final breakthru using the C-file and the seventh rank. His poor opponent was left wondering whether the breakthru would come via the square f5 or the H-file, the E-file, or the C-file. Clear domination of the board.
Alekhine became quite the celebrity in Paris after his win against Capablanca in 1927 and one of his favorite pastimes was playing cards in the Russian Circle (a large group of Russian emigres who were refugees from Russia and who had settled (often temporarily) in and around Paris). Occasionally there was a chess exhibition where Alekhine showed his skills and even more occasionally a blindfold game (or several) as a treat. Alekhine - Russian Chess Circle, Paris 1929 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.e3 Bb4+ 4.Nc3 exd4 5.exd4 0-0 6.Bg5 Qe8+ 7.Be3 d6 8.Be2 Bf5 9.Nf3 Ng4 10.Bd2 Bd3 11.0-0 Bxe2 12.Nxe2 Bxd2 13.Qxd2 f5 14.Nf4 Qd7 15.Rfe1 Nc6 16.h3 Nf6 17.d5 Ne7 18.Ne6 Rfe8 19.Qg5 Ng6 20.Qxf5 Re7 21.Re3 Rae8 22.Rae1 Qa4 23.b3 Qxa2 24.Nfg5 Qa5 25.Kh2 c6 26.Nxh7 Nxh7 27. Qxg6 Nf8 28.Qd3 Nxe6 29.dxe6 d5 30.Re5 dxc4 31.Qxc4 Qa2 32.R1e2 Qa1 33.f4 Qd1 34.f5 Qf1 35.Qh4 a5 36.Rf2 Qa1 37.Qg3 g5 38.f6 1-0 The opening is no surprise for a game like this - spicy from Black's point of view! (a Budapest Gambit) but Alekhine doesnt bite - in fact he plays unusually timidly. However he still manages to obtain a strategically overwhelming position with rooks on the E-file supporting an awesome knight outpost on e6 (in fact the white and black knights rubbing noses with the white queen adjacent ready to pounce is a rare picturesque position). The finale with the black queen nibbling on a2 while white bites on h7 and then the black queen making a lot of edge moves while the black fortress is cracking apart is chess humour at its best. I love the way Alekhine could literally toy with his opponents!
In the 1930's the only blindfold games I could find of Alekhine were either considered noteworthy games or if the opponent had drawn or beaten Alekhine or games from celebrated events (like his 32 board simul in Chicago in 1933). In the following game Alekhine plays an individual blindfold game with a well known master from Yugoslavia. Alekhine-Bora Tot, Belgrade 1931 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 0-0 5.e3 Bxd2+ 6.Bxd2 d6 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.0-0 Qe7 9.Qc2 b6 10.Rae1 Bb7 11.e4 e5 12.Nh4 g6 13.Bg5 Kg7 14.f4 h6 15.fxe5 dxe5 16.dxe5 hxg5 17.exf6+ Nxf6 18.e5 Qc5+ 19.Kh1 gxh4 20.exf6+ Kh7 21.Be4 Bxe4 22.Rxe4 Qg5 23.Qf2 Rad8 24.Rxh4+ Kg8 25.Rd4 Rde8 26.Rd7 Re5 27.h4 Qg4 28.Qf4 Qe2 29.Rd5 Rxd5 30.cxd5 Re8 31.Kh2 Re4 32.Qh6 Rxh4+ 33.Qxh4 Qxf1 Agreed drawn. Alekhine has his opponent right where he wants him in an exciting middlegame but fails to find an Alekhine finish. (probably a timely Rf2 and rook captures c7 and a7 but that is mundane and not an Alekhine finish:)
Instead he gets involved in the heat of the battle and succumbs to an unexpected swindle.
Referring to my previous post here is a sensational game fragment from a blindfold simul at Belgrade in 1931. Why would a player venture such an opening against Alekhine? We can only thank him for doing so. This must have been incredibly easy for Alekhine to play (as compared to the other games of the simul). For him it would be all "book".(opening theory) Alekhine - Lukowski 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Qg4 Qf6 5.Nd5 Qxf2+ 6.Kd1 Kf8 7.Nh3 Qd4 8.d3 Bb6 9.Rf1 Nd8 10.c3 Qc5 11.Ng5 h6 12.Qh5 1-0 The final position for White should be a chess painting illustrating a successful opening trap. The pins on the H- and F-files,Black's back rank development, the curiously helpless black pieces that are developed, and White's overwhelming initiative must have drawn spectators like magnets. White has many ways to win. My suggestion would be the sensational 13.Nf7! idea of removing the defender with 13...Nxf7 14.Be3 Qd6 15.Nxb6 and 16.Nxa8 following.
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