Mistakes Were Made

     Margate 1939 was the last of five consecutive international tournaments organized at the seaside resort of Margate, England because the outbreak of World War II put an end to them. 

     The 1937 event brought together ten masters, including Capablanca who was set to play, but a few days before the start of the tournament it was announced that he was being replaced by Alekhine. 

     Capablanca's withdrawal was officially due to "diplomatic duties." However, it has been speculated that it may have been due to health issues. In a January 1937 letter from Havana he had requested a leave of absence from his diplomatic work in Europe due to medical treatment that prohibited his traveling. But, that appears to have been hogwash. 

     On March 29, 1937, two days before Margate commenced, Capablanca was well enough to travel to Miami to play a simultaneous, kick off a local tournament, be back in Havana on April 1st and on April 17th conduct a 70-board consultation simultaneous. 

     At Margate Reuben Fine and Paul Keres shared first place, both having gone undefeated while Alekhine displayed his usual aggressive style by not taking any draws. He only managed third place though because of losses to Fine and Keres and, surprisingly, to Victor Berger. A fitting end to the tournament came in the final round when the two leaders met and battled to a standstill. 

     Victor Burger (or Buerger) , a Ukrainian–British player, was born in January, 1904 in Mykolaiv, Ukraine and was a member of the London Chess. He died in London in 1996. 

     He played with varying success in tournaments in the mid-1920s to early 1930s. His main claim to fame was his defeat of Alekhine in this tournament. The game was somewhat marred by multiple time pressure mistakes by both players. Burger especially only had a few seconds for his remaining moves before the time control. 

     I have not seen any annotations to this game, but have read comments quoted from various sources about the mutual double blunder: Alekhine's 36...Qf4 and Burger's 37.Nxe4, both of which have been given double question marks.

     However, looking at the game with Stockfish 15 and Komodo 14, it's clear that Alekhine was dead lost no matter what he played and the difference between Stockfish's recommended 36...Qg6 and the move played by Alekhine was about 1.5 Ps, but that margin was not enough to make any difference! 

     After Alekhine's move, Burger had a huge advantage and his move dropped the evaluation drastically, but even so, he had a winning position anyway.

[Event "Margate"] [Site "Margate ENG"] [Date "1937.04.01"] [Round "?"] [White "Victor Berger"] [Black "Alexander Alekhine"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E10"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "1937.03.31"] {Nimzo-Indian, Rubinstein Variation} 1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 Ne4 {Some sources list this as the Dory Defense which technically begins 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 Ne4. It has little independent significance as it can transpose into several defenses. It is named after the Austrian master Ladislaus Dory (1897-1979). In 1943 Dory was sentenced to death by the Nazis for sedition, but was released from prison by Allied troops in 1945.} 4. Nc3 (4. Nbd2 {is also a good reply.} f5 5. Qc2 d5 6. e3 Nd7 7. Be2 c6 8. O-O Bd6 9. b3 O-O 10. Bb2 Qf6 {with a Dutch Defense. Rotunno,E-Alekhine,A Carrasco 1938}) 4... Bb4 5. Qc2 f5 6. e3 b6 7. Bd3 Bb7 8. Bd2 Nxd2 $18 9. Qxd2 (9. Nxd2 O-O 10. O-O-O Nc6 11. g4 Bxc3 12. bxc3 Qf6 13. Rhg1 {Equals. Balazs,G (2392)-Juhasz,A (2343) Hungary 2015}) 9... O-O 10. a3 {[%mdl 32]} Bd6 {Vintage Alekhine. He withdraws the B to a square where it eyes h2 and has the possibility of partaking in a K-side attack,} ( 10... Be7 11. Be2 d6 12. O-O Nd7 13. Qc2 Nf6 {Laubert,J (2031)-Heyder,F playchess.com INT 2008/ Owing to black's limited prospects, white stands better after 14.d5}) 11. Qe2 c5 12. d5 {With this thrust white makes sure that he maintains at least equality..} exd5 13. cxd5 a6 14. a4 Qf6 15. Rd1 {Be prepared for considerable woodshifting for a stretch of moves.} Re8 16. Qc2 g6 17. O-O a5 18. Rfe1 Na6 19. Bb5 Nb4 20. Qe2 Re7 21. Qc4 Kg7 22. Re2 Rae8 23. Qb3 g5 {[%cal Bg6g5,Bg5g4][%mdl 32] Finally! Some action, but white has sufficient defensive resources.} 24. Bc4 g4 25. Nd2 f4 (25... h5 {was also worth considering.} 26. Rde1 h4 27. Nb5 Be5 28. f3 {Black is slightly better, but with careful play white should be OK.}) 26. exf4 Qxf4 {[%mdl 128] White needs to defend precisely.} 27. Nf1 Rf8 28. Rde1 Rxe2 29. Rxe2 Be5 30. g3 Qg5 31. Ne4 Qf5 32. Qe3 {This is a tactical error, but Alekhine missed it. Perhaps time pressure was already approaching.} (32. Ned2 Bd4 33. Ne3 {maintains the balance.}) 32... Bd4 (32... Bxd5 33. Bxd5 Bd4 34. Qd2 Qxd5 {with an obviously superior position.}) 33. Qb3 {[%mdl 8192]} (33. Nd6 {was the only good move.} Bxe3 34. Nxf5+ Rxf5 35. Nxe3 Re5 36. Nxg4 Rxe2 37. Bxe2 Bxd5 38. Ne5 {and white should be able to hold his own.}) 33... Nxd5 {[%cal Od5c3]} 34. Qd1 (34. Nfd2 Nb4 35. Nd6 Bxf2+ 36. Kf1 Qf6 37. Nxb7 Be3+ 38. Ke1 Bxd2+ 39. Rxd2 d5 { The P is immune because on mate on f1} 40. Bb5 Qe7+ 41. Re2 Qxb7 {Black is winning.}) 34... Nf4 {[%mdl 8192] After this gaffe white has the advantage.} ( 34... Nc3 {is much better.} 35. bxc3 Bxe4 36. cxd4 (36. Rxe4 Qxf2+ {mate next move.}) 36... Qf3 {White has to surrender his Q with 37.Rxe4 to avoid immediate mate.}) (34... Nb4 {Even this was very good.} 35. Ned2 d5 36. Re7+ Kh8 {and black is winning. For example...} 37. Qe2 Bxf2+ 38. Kh1 Ba8 39. Bb5 d4+ {is fatal for white.}) 35. gxf4 Bxe4 {Better, but still not sufficient was 35...Qxf4} (35... Qxf4 36. Nfg3 Qf3 37. Qd2 {Black is a piece down with no compensation.}) 36. Ng3 {This reveals the problem with black's 34th move; white has a devastating fork on the Q and B, but what follows is surprising. CHESS magazine called the next two moves "probably the most incredible double oversight in the history of first-class chess" and Irving Chernev called it "the worst blunder ever seen on a chessboard."} Qxf4 {This move is often given a double question mark, but that is undeserved and the comment "double blunder" does not seem entirely accurate. In this position black does not have anything that can be considered better! Stockfish 15's evaluation of this position is about 10 Ps in white's favor. Komodo 14's evaluation is a bit more conservative at 6.75 Ps.} (36... Qg6 37. Rxe4 {leaves black a piece down with no compensation and Komodo 14's evaluation is that he is about 4.5 Ps behind.}) 37. Nxe4 {Certainly not the best, but in any case, white is a piece up and can look forward to winning.} (37. Nh5+ {is obvious, but not necessarily if you are in extreme time pressure as were both players.} Kh8 38. Nxf4 Bf3 {Things get a little tactical here, but white comes out on top.} 39. Ng6+ {is also playable.} Kg7 (39... hxg6 40. Qd2 Kg7 41. Re7+ Kf6 42. Rxd7 {white is winning. }) 40. Nxf8 Kxf8 41. Qc2 Bxe2 42. Qf5+ Kg7 43. Qg5+ Kf8 44. Qg8+ Ke7 45. Qxh7+ Kd6 46. Bxe2) 37... Rf5 38. Qd2 {White is clearly winning in spite of missing 37.Nh5+} Qxd2 39. Rxd2 d5 40. Ng3 Re5 41. Bd3 Re1+ 42. Kg2 Be5 43. b3 Bc3 44. Re2 Rd1 45. Bf5 d4 46. Bxg4 Rb1 47. Re7+ Kf6 48. Re6+ Kf7 49. Rxb6 Ke8 50. Ne4 Bb4 51. Rb7 Re1 52. Nf6+ Kf8 53. Bh5 Re7 54. Nxh7+ {Alekhine resigned.} 1-0