Capablanca Stomps Corzo

     Fifty-nine (!) years ago found me vacationing with my parents in Puerto Rico; we were visiting my brother who was stationed at the Naval Air Station there. I had my 13th birthday during the visit. Unknown to me, five years later I would return to Puerto Rico for training with the Marine Corps on Vieques Island off the eastern end of the island. 

     For my birthday my brother bought me a renaissance chess set and Fred Reinfeld's Attack and Counterattack in Chess. They are all gone now, my parents, my brother, the chess set, the air station and the training base, but I still have the book. The book gets surprisingly good reviews on Amazon, but as one reviewer noted, there are a number of mistakes in the annotations, but that is not at all unusual in pre-engine books. Reinfeld's explanations are a bit sketchy and one thing I did not like at all was the fact that he did not give the names of the players or the events. 

     He noted that the following game was played by a "twelve-year old youngster who grew up to become World Champion. His opponent is an experienced, mature player who hopes to outwit the boy by adopting a complicated gambit attack." In this case it's pretty easy to figure out that the boy was Capablanca (although I think he was actually 13 years old at the time) and the game was played in his match with Juan Corzo. At the end of the game Reinfeld did note that the games was played by Capablanca, but that's all the information he gave. 

     In 1901 Capa played an exhibition match against Corzo, the champion of Cuba. The match has sometimes been referred to as having been a match for the championship of Cuba, but that is incorrect. The Cuban championship was played in April of 1902 and Capablanca finished in fourth place with a minus score, losing both games to Corzo, who won the event. 

     Writing of the match, Capa stated that some thought he would have a good chance of defeating Corzo, but they also noted that he (Capa) had never seen a chess book and they urged him to study. Someone gave him several books and one of them was on endings which he liked and so he studied them. 

     In the match the winner of the first to win four games, draws not counting. Capa wrote that at the beginning he believe Corzo was the better player: he knew the openings, Capa didn't; he knew the games of the great masters of the past, Capa didn't; he was experienced, Capa was a novice. 

     Indeed, Corzo quickly won the first two games, but Capa wrote that something in the third game, which was a draw, showed him that Corzo had his weaknesses and that gave him the courage and confidence he needed. From there on Cozo did not win a game and only scored five more draws before Capa won the required four games. 

     Capa wrote that he had played without any book knowledge of the openings, but the match given him a better idea of them and he became more proficient in the middlegame. 

     It's hard to say how strong Corzo was, but he was a good tactician and the strongest player in Cuba so Capablanca’s victory created a local sensation. Chessmetrics only lists Corzo for the years 1913-1915, but his rating is estimated to have been in the mid-2400 during that time. 

     Juan Corzo y Principe (June 24, 1873 – September 27, 1941) played in a major double round tournament in Havana in 1913 and finished last with a score of 1 -9 =4. The order of finish was 1) Marshall 2) Capablanca 3) Janowsky 4-5) Chajes and Kupchik 6) Jaffe 7) Blanco 8) Corzo. 

     In any case, at the time of the match, the Cuban public's enthusiasm over Capa's victory was short-lived. In the Cuban championship a few months later in 1902, a double-round event, Capa lost both of his games against Corzo and finished last (fourth). Oddly, that was the only Cuban championship that Capa ever played in. Edward Winter has a really nice article on Juan Corzo HERE.

Juan Corzo - Jose Capablanca

Result: 0-1

Site: Match, Havana

Date: 1901.12.06

Hamppe-Allgaier Gambit

[...] 1.e4 e5 2.♘c3 ♘c6 3.f4 exf4 4.♘f3 g5 5.h4 g4 6.♘g5 Although theoretically dubious the Hamppe-Allgaier Gambit can still be dangerous. 6...h6

6...f6 Has, as far as I know, never been played, but it looks satisfactory as after 7.♕xg4 h5

7...fxg5 8.♕h5+ ♔e7 9.♕xg5+ ♔f7 10.♗c4+ and black is getting slaughtered.

8.♕f5 Threatening Qg6+ 8...♘ce7 9.♕xf4 fxg5 10.hxg5 with an interesting position.

7.♘xf7 ♔xf7 Reinfeld opined that the position might well trouble a sophisticated master because his K is exposed (I doubt it. White is a piece down, but he will pick up some Ps leaving him almost equal in material. The real problem for black is that he is likely to fall badly behind in development. 8.d4 d5

8...♘f6 9.♗xf4 ♗b4 10.♗e2 d5 11.O-O ♗xc3 12.bxc3 ♔g7 13.c4 ♘xe4 14.cxd5 ♕xh4

14...♖e8 15.♗c4 ♕xh4 16.dxc6 g3 17.♗xg3 ♘xg3 18.♖f7+ ♔h8 19.♕f3 ♕xd4+ 20.♔h2 ♗g4 21.♕xg3 ♕xc4 22.♕xc7 ♕e4 23.cxb7 ♖ad8 24.♖b1 ♔g8 25.♖f4 ♕e6 26.b8=♕ 1-0 Forthofer,R (2208)-Henris,L (2283)/Nancy 2006

15.dxc6 g3 16.♗e5+ ♔g6 17.♗h5+ ♕xh5 18.♕xh5+ ♔xh5 19.♗xh8 bxc6 20.♖f8 ♗b7 21.♖xa8 ♗xa8 22.c4 c5 23.d5 White is winning. Kogan,A (2485)-Gyimesi,Z (2545)/Budapest 1996

( Komodo 12.1.1 64-bit: 8...f3 9.♗c4+ d5) 9.exd5 ♕e7+ 10.♔f2

10.♗e2 Was played in an earlier game. 10...f3 11.gxf3 gxf3 12.O-O ♕xh4 13.♗xf3 ♘f6 14.♗h5+ ♔e7 15.♕e2+ ♔d8 16.♖xf6 ♖g8+ 17.♖g6 ♖xg6+ 18.♗xg6 ♕g3+ 19.♕g2 ♕e1+ 20.♕f1 1/2-1/2 Corzo y Prinzipe,J-Capablanca,J/Havana 1901

10...g3+ 11.♔g1 A glance at the position gives the impression that black has virtually committed suicide. He has lost two Ps for the sacrificed piece and after his attacked N moves he will lose a couple more. Worse yet, black will be hopelessly behind in development. 11...♘xd4 hith this briliaint move Capa frees his position and he has seen that he can soon regain the material.

11...♘b4 12.♗xf4

12.a3 ♕f6 13.axb4 ♗g4 14.♗e2 (14.♕xg4 ♕xd4+ mate next move) 14...♖e8 15.♕d3 ♔g7 black is better.

12...♘f6 13.♗c4 ♔g7 14.a3 and white is better. I Shootouts white scored +4 -1 =0

12.♕xd4 ♕c5 The point. 13.♘e2 (13.♕xc5 ♗xc5+ mate next move.) (13.♘b5 is met by 13...a6 14.d6 ♕xd4+ 15.♘xd4 ♗xd6) 13...♕b6 14.♕xb6 This move meets with immediate disaster.

14.b4 was his best defense. But even so, after 14...♗xb4 15.♗e3 fxe3 16.♕xh8 ♕f6 17.♕xf6+ ♘xf6 18.♘xg3 ♗d6 19.♘e2 ♘e4 black would still be winning.

14...axb6 The mate threat ...Bc5+ is still present.

14...cxb6 would have allowed white to equalize! 15.c3 ♗c5+ 16.♘d4 ♗d6 17.h5 ♘f6 18.♖h4 ♗g4 19.♗d3 ♖hg8 20.♗f5 ♗xf5 21.♘xf5 ♗c5+ 22.♔f1 ♖g5 23.♖xf4 ♖xh5 Amazing!

15.♘d4

15.c3 is no help as after 15...♗c5+ 16.♘d4 ♖a4 17.♗e2 ♗xd4+ 18.cxd4 ♖xd4 19.♗h5+ ♔g7 20.b3 ♘f6 21.♗b2 ♖d2 black is winning.

15...♗c5 16.c3 ♖a4 As Reinfeld pointed out, aside from the tactical details, white's R on h1 has been forever buried. 17.♗e2 ♗xd4+ 18.cxd4 ♖xd4 19.b3 ♘f6 20.♗b2 ♖d2 21.♗h5+

21.♗xf6 was equally hopeless because after 21...♔xf6 22.♗h5 To keep the R off of e8 (22.♗f3 ♖e8 23.a3 ♖e3 24.♖b1 ♗f5 etc) 22...♖xd5 23.♖f1 ♖d4 24.♖d1 ♖xd1+ 25.♗xd1 ♖e8 It didn't work! White is hopelessly lost.

21...♘xh5 22.♗xh8 f3 23.gxf3 ♘f4 24.♗e5 ♖g2+ 25.♔f1 ♖f2+ 26.♔e1 ♘d3+ White resigned.

26...♘d3+ The finish might be 27.♔d1 ♘xe5 28.♖g1 ♔f6 29.♖xg3 (29.♖c1 ♘xf3 Threatening ...Rd2 mate) 29...♖f1+ 30.♔c2 ♖xa1

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