Alekhine At Budapest 1921

     In 1921, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle (March 24, 1877 - June 29, 1933), was an obese comic actor who got his start on stage, then in silent film comedies. He formed his own production company and hired Buster Keaton to star in his first film, The Butcher Boy (1917). 

     Arbuckle, himself, was soon starring in and making feature-length films, but his acting career was abruptly ended when he was arrested on manslaughter charges in 1921. It was alleged that while sexually assaulting an actress the 266-pound Arbuckle had ruptured her bladder. He was acquitted after three trials, but his acting career was ruined. In the 1930's he returned to acting, making several successful short films that led to a contract with Warner Brothers to do a feature film. Arbuckle died in his sleep the night after the contract was signed. The Smithsonian magazine has all the juicy details of his trial HERE.

     In February of 1921 the US State Department and the American consulate in Berlin refused to give a visa to world champion Emanuel Lasker and his wife for his trip to the United States and then on to Cuba to meet Capablanca. The reason...his German background. Lasker made it to Havana via Holland instead and on March 15 the Lasker-Capablanca world championship match began. 

     The games were played on the same table that was used by Steinitz and Chigorin in their world championship match in Havana. Capablanca won with a score of +4 -0 =10 when Lasker resigned on April 27, 1921 on the grounds of ill health. 

     On April 29, 1921, Alekhine and his wife were given permission to leave Russia for a visit to the West and he never returned. In September he won a tournament in Budapest which helped his bid as a world championship challenger. 

     At the tournament in Budapest, Alekhine introduced the Alekhine's Defense in games against Endre Steiner and Fritz Saemisch. Alekhine stated that he actually introduced the new defense in a consultation game at Zurich in August of 1921 and then introduced it into master practice at Budapest in September. He wrote, "Its correctness now seems perfectly established. One of the most searching proofs of its vitality lies in the fact that Dr. Emanuel Lasker, ex-champion of the world, although openly opposed to this defense, successfully adopted it against Maroczy at the New York Tournament (March-April 1924), after having tried in vain to demolish it." 

     In his book of best games Alekhine included the win against Steiner, but not the draw with Saemisch. He also included his wins against Bogoljubow and Sterk, but to be honest, I didn't find any of those games particularly interesting! The only game he played at Budapest that I really liked was the following snappy win against Zoltan Von Balla (1883-1945) who was Hungarian champion in 1906 and 1911. He died in a traffic accident with a Soviet tank at the end of World War II.

Alexander Alekhine - Zoltan von Balla
Result: 1-0
Site: Budapest
Date: 1921.09.17
London System

[...] 1.d4 d5 2.♘f3 e6 3.♗f4 This is one of those openings that is often hyped as a "system" that can be used against virtually any black defense. While that is true, the implication that because the opening comprises a smaller body of theory, that makes it easy to play with little study which is misleading. I have Tim Harding's book on the Colle, London and Blackmar systems and in the book he devotes 47 jam packed pages to its analysis. If you are going to play it correctly, there is a lot of stuff to learn. 3...c5 Usual is 3...Nf6, but occasionally one sees 3...Bd6. The text is a natural reaction. 4.e3 Equally good is 4.c3. 4...♘c6 5.c4

5.♘c3 a6 6.♗d3 ♗d6 7.dxc5 ♗xf4 8.exf4 ♕a5 9.O-O ♘f6 10.♘e2 ♕xc5 11.c3 with equality. Kharlov,A (2605) -Sherbakov,R (2555)/Niksic 1996

5.c3 This has also been played many times. One example... 5...♗d6 6.♗g3 ♘f6 7.♘bd2 O-O 8.♗b5 ♘e7 9.♗d3 ♕b6 10.♖b1 ♘g6 11.♗xg6 hxg6 12.♗xd6 ♕xd6 13.♘e5 with an even position. Gelfand,B (2734) -Inarkiev,E (2730)/Magas RUS 2016

5...♘f6 6.♘c3 cxd4 7.exd4 This position has also been seen many times as far back as 1887. 7...♘e4

7...dxc4 was played in Blackburne,J-Zukertort,J/London 1887 8.♗xc4 ♗e7 9.O-O O-O 10.♖c1 ♗d7 11.♕e2 ♖c8 12.♖fd1 ♕a5 White has more freedom for his pieces, but in the game Zukertort managed to hold on for many moves and the game was eventually drawn.

7...♗b4 is probably black's most promising continuation. After 8.a3 ♗xc3 9.bxc3 O-O 10.♗d3 ♕a5 11.♕c2 dxc4 12.♗xc4 ♘xd4 13.♘xd4 e5 with equal chances. Yanchenko,R (2436)-Tang,A (2513)/chess.com INT 2018

8.♗d3 It should be pointed out that 8.c5 releasing the tension in the center only benefits black.

8.c5 ♕a5 9.♖c1 ♗e7 10.♗d3 O-O 11.O-O f5 12.♘e5 with equality. Pietrow,A-Janse,J/Dieren 1999

8...♗b4 9.♖c1 ♕a5 This does not turn out well for black.

9...♘xc3 was better. Then after 10.bxc3 dxc4 11.♗xc4 ♗d6 white would have the more active position, but black's position is solid.

10.♕b3 dxc4 11.♗xc4 g5 A rather surprising and rash move that black will soon regret. (11...O-O 12.O-O ♗d6 was much safer.) 12.♗e3 g4 13.♘e5 ♘xe5 14.dxe5 ♗xc3

14...O-O is better as after 15.O-O ♗xc3 16.bxc3 ♕xe5±17.♖ce1 he has an extra P and his K is safe for the moment. However, white's pieces are very active.

15.bxc3 b6 Understandably he wants to get his B (and R) into play, but this mvoe is tactically flawed. (15...♘c5 16.♕b5 ♕xb5 17.♗xb5 ♗d7 and black is still in the game.) 16.O-O ♗d7 17.♖fd1 ♗a4 His position is bad, but this mistake simply hastens the end.

17...O-O-O 18.♕b4 ♗c6

18...♕xb4 19.cxb4 ♔b8 20.f3 leaves white with a dominating position which he can convert to a won ending without much trouble.

19.♕e7 with a promising attack, but this was black's best option.

18.♕b1 This backward retreat of the Q is the kind of move that is hard to see because our natural tendency is to look for moves that advance pieces. 18...♘xc3 At this point, while white has no immediate forcing win, black is lost no matter what he does. Sooner or later his position is going to collapse. (18...♘c5 19.♖d4 h5 20.♗g5 ♖c8 21.♗f6 is very bad for black.)

18...♗c6 19.♗d3 ♘c5 20.♗g5 ♖g8 21.♗f6 ♘xd3 22.♕xd3 ♕d5 23.♕g3 ♕c5 24.♖d6 here, too, black is bound hand and foot.

19.♖xc3 ♕xc3 After this black's K is caught in a crossfire from which there is no escape.

19...O-O is no better. 20.♕e4 ♕xc3 21.♗d3 f5 22.exf6 ♕c7 23.♕xa4 ♖xf6 24.♕xg4 ♔h8 25.♖c1 ♕g7 26.♕e4 ♖af8 27.♗d4 winning easily.

20.♗b5 ♗xb5 21.♕xb5 ♔f8 22.♗h6 ♔g8 23.♕d7 Black resigned. (23.♕d7 ♕a1 24.♖xa1 g3 25.hxg3 b5 26.♕e7 b4 27.♕g5#)

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