In 1913, Capablanca was in Russia and played an exhibition knock-out match against three opponents. The conditions to win the gold cup were that Capablanca must not lose a game. If he did, the cup would go to the opponent with the best score against him.
Capablanca was employed by the Foreign Office of Cuba and was assigned to the newly founded Cuban Consulate at St. Petersburg. His duties were probably intended to be that of a Goodwill Ambassador based on his chess playing skill, plus a major international tournament was scheduled to be played in St. Petersburg.
He arrived in St. Petersburg on November 18, 1913 and during his stay and until the great tournament of 1914, he gave multiple simultaneous exhibitions and played many exhibition games against Russian masters.
One such exhibition was the Savorin Cup. According to a post on
chessgames.com the Savorin Cup could actually be the Suvorin Cup.
Aleksei Suvorin (1834-1912) was a Russian newspaper publisher, book
publisher and journalist from St. Petersburg whose publishing empire
wielded considerable influence during the last decades of the Russian
Empire. According to the poster there are many Suvorin's in Russia, but
very few Savorins.
In the cup Capablanca defeated Alexander Alekhine and Fyodor Dus-Chotimirsky 2-0, but then scored 1-1 against Eugene Znosko-Borovsky. Thus, Znosko-Borovsky was the winner and also won the side stakes.
Eugene Znosko-Borovsky (August 16, 1884 – December 31, 1954) was a Russian master, music and drama critic, teacher and author. Born in St. Petersburg, he settled in Paris in 1920 and lived there for the rest of his life.
Outside of chess Znosko-Borovsky was a noted drama critic. He was also a soldier in the Russian military and fought and was wounded in both the Russo-Japanese War and in World War One. Later, he fought against the Bolsheviks in the Russian Revolution before moving to France.
Generally regarded as a minor master and punching bag for top level players, Znosko-Borovsky actually had considerable talent and he managed to chalk up wins against Capablanca, Rubinstein, Euwe and Bogoljubow. Chessmetrics estimates his highest rating to have been 2613 in 1914 and that ranked him number 18 in the world.
Jose Capablanca - Eugene Znosko-Borovsky
Result: 0-1
Site: St Petersburg, Savorin Cup
Date: 1913.12.18
French Defense McCutcheon Variation
[...] 1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.♘c3 ♘f6 4.♗g5 ♗b4 With the McCutcheon Variation black ignores white's threat of e4-e5 and instead plays for a counterattack on the Q-side. 5.exd5 At the time this game was played and as it is today, 5.e5 is most fequently played, but Capa considered 5.exd5 to be stronger. 5...♕xd5 This is preferable to 5...exd5. This move represents a clash of plans at the very basic level. Black's idea is to seize the initiative by distrupting white's Q-side. White has compensation in that he breaks up black's K-side.. 6.♗xf6 gxf6 7.♘f3 ♗xc3 8.bxc3 b6 This represents a long range plan on black's part. He hopes to use the B on the long diagonal in conjunction with his Rs on the g-file to attack white's K. 9.♗e2 One of three good moves at white's disposal.
31...♖e2 32.d7 Again, Capa makes no comment on this move, but after this he is dead lost.
9.g3 ♕a5
9...♗b7 10.♗g2 ♕e4 11.♔d2 ♕g6 12.♘h4 ♕h6 13.f4 Black is better. Tarrasch,S (2612) -Alekhine,A (2621)/St Petersburg 1914
10.♕d2 ♘c6 11.♗g2 ♗b7 12.O-O O-O-O Kasimdzhanov,R (2664)-Glek,I (2566)/Mainz 2003 is equal. 9.c4 ♕e4 10.♕e2 ♗b7 11.O-O-O is equal. Timman,J (2630)-Visser,Y (2485)/Vlaardingen 2005
9...♗b7 10.♕d2 ♘d7 11.c4 ♕f5 12.O-O-O Today this move is exclusively played, but at the time it was a novelty. Capa explained that he got the idea from a game of Walter P. Shipley that he saw. His thinking was that black has no dark squared B and his pieces are developed with the aim of a K-side attack and so white's K will be perfectly safe opn the Q-side in spite of appearances. Also, if black plays ...O-O the white can take advantage of the awkward position of black's Q to begin a K-side attack. 12...O-O-O 13.♕e3 ♖hg8 14.g3 Capa called this an unquestionable mistake and wrote that he overlooked white's fine reply. Stockfish considers the position to be quite equal. 14...♕a5 Black threatens to win material: Qa5xa2 (14...♖g4 leads nowhere after 15.♘d2 ♗xh1 16.♗xg4 ♕xg4 17.♖xh1) 15.♖d3 Doubling Rs on the d-file. There also may be some distant possibility of using the R to slide over and attack black's K. 15...♔b8 The move 14...Rg4 was still a reasonable alternative. 16.♖hd1 ♕f5 17.♘h4 This move was criticized because it puts the N out of play, but Capa liked it because by forcing the Q to g6 white gains time with f2-f4 which consolidates his position and drives the black Q out of play. Stockfish prefers transferring the N to the Q-side with Nd2-b3. 17...♕g5 18.f4 ♕g7 In his book Chess Fundamentals Capablanca made no comment on this move, but it is a mistake that allows white to secure a considerable advantage. The correct idea was to transfer the Q back to the Q-side with 18...Qa5 after which it would have been very difficult for white to make progress. At the same time, black would have had few attacking chances on the K-side. 19.♗f3 Of course he wants to eliminate the black B leaving black with a white square weakness around his K. 19...♖ge8
19...♗c8 Black must agree to the exchange. 20.♕e4 c6 21.♕xc6 ♗a6 22.♕a8 ♔c7 23.♕xa7 wins. In fact, there is actually a mate in 8.
20.♗xb7 ♔xb7 21.c5 The threat is 22.c6. 21...c6
21...♕g4 This is a pass to demonstrate white's threat. 22.c6 ♔xc6 23.♕e4 ♔d6 24.d5 ♔e7 25.dxe6 ♘c5 26.♘f5 wins.
22.♘f3 ♕f8 23.♘d2 Capa gave this a ? and said he considered the right move (23.Rb3) but gave up on it because it was too slow and he believed there must be some quicker way to win. Actually, it turns out that 23.Nd2 is the quickest way.
23.♖b3 allows black to strike a quick counterattack in the center that equalizes. 23...e5 24.fxe5 fxe5 25.cxb6 axb6 26.♘xe5 ♕g7 27.♕f3 ♘xe5 28.dxe5 ♕g5 29.♔b1 ♖xe5
23...bxc5 24.♘c4 ♘b6 25.♘a5 ♔a8 26.dxc5 ♘d5 27.♕d4 ♖c8 Here according to Stockfish white is winning (evaluation of about 3.5 Ps). Capa correctly points out that his next move was an error adding that the right move was 28.Nc4. His explanation was that he was still looking for the knockout blow and he thought that the P he gets on d6 would win. He also gives Znosko-Borovsky great credit for the way he conducted his defense adding that he could have gone wrong a number of times since move 22. 28.c4 White threatens to win material: c4xd5
28.♘c4 This is much better than 28.c4. 28...e5 29.♕g1!29...♖b8 30.♘d6 ♘b4 31.♖a3 ♖ed8 32.♕h1 and white wins rather easily.
28...e5 This equalizes. 29.♕g1 e4 30.cxd5 exd3 Capa makes no comment on his next move which is a poor one, but as he explained, he thought the P on d6 assured the win. 31.d6 After this the advantage belongs to black.
31.♘xc6 This move forces an unbalanced material situation where a draw is probably going to be the outcome. For example 31...♖e4
31...♖e2 32.♖xd3 ♕e8 33.♕d4 ♖e4 34.♕c3 ♖e1 35.♔b2 ♕e2 36.♔a3 ♖c1 37.♕d2 ♕xd2 38.♖xd2 ♖xc5 with a likely draw.
32.♖xd3 ♖c4 33.♔d2 ♖xc5 34.♕d4 ♕d6 here, too, a draw is likely. 32.♖xd3 is correct and then the onus is on black to find the winning plan. Probably beginning with moves like ...Qe8 and ...Rb8 and there does not seem to be anything white can do to save the game. 32...♕e8 33.♕d4 ♖b8 and from this position black scored 5-0 in Shootouts.
32...♖c2 33.♔b1 ♖b8 34.♘b3 ♕e7 Here Capa mistakenly thought he had a chance to win the game after 35.Qd4 35.♖xd3
35.♕d4 ♖xh2 This was the only move Capa considered. After 36.♕xd3 ♖d8 At this point he gives some truly faulty analysis, but it is true he has at least a draw after 37.♕f3
37.♕a6 This was Capa's analysis, but it is totally the wrong move. 37...♕e6 38.♕d3 ♕e2 39.♕xe2 ♖xe2 40.♖d6 ♖e6 and wins.
37...♖xd7 38.♕xc6 ♖b735.♕d4 ♖e2 Instead of Capa's faulty capture of the h-Pawn, this keeps black's hopes of winning alive. 36.♖xd3 ♖d8 37.♕d6 ♕xd6 38.cxd6 ♖xd7 39.♘c5 ♖d8 40.h4 ♖e1 41.♔c2 ♖e2 From this position black scored 5 wins in Shootouts, but it was in difficult endings so in practical play both sides have plenty of room for error.
35...♖e2 36.♕d4 ♖d8 37.♕a4 ♕e4 38.♕a6 ♔b8 As Capa pointed out, there is nothing to be done against this simple move.
38...♕h1 This move demonstrates the point that it's never too late to blunder. 39.♘c1 ♖b8 (39...♖e1 40.♕c8 mate next move.) 40.♖b3 ♕e4 41.♘d3 and black has to take the draw. 41...♕h1 42.♘c1 ♕e4 etc.
39.♔c1 ♖xd7 40.♘d4 ♖e1 41.♔d2
41.♔b2 an white gets mated in 16. 41...♖xd4 42.♖b3 ♖b4 43.♕a4 ♖xb3 44.♕xb3 ♔c8 45.♔c3 ♖e3 46.♔b2 ♕d4 47.♔b1 ♖e1 48.♔c2 ♖e2 49.♔c1 ♕d2 50.♔b1 ♖e1 51.♕d1 ♖xd1#
41...♖xd4 White reigned. "A very interesting battle." (Capablanca)
41...♖xd4 42.a3 ♖e3 43.♔c1 ♖exd3 44.♕b5 cxb5 45.c6 ♖c4 46.♔b1 ♖d1 47.♔a2 ♕b1#
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