Alekhine Smashes Zubarev

     Here is an instructive game by Alekhine against a little known Master from Moscow that was played in a First Category tournament. First Category was approximately equal to an Elo rating of 2000-2125, or roughly USCF Expert. 

     Alekhine is known to everybody, but the chances are you never heard of the Soviet player Honored Master of Sport Nikolai Zubarev (January 10, 1894 – January 1951), twice champion of Moscow. 

     The title of Honored Master of Sport was a Soviet government honor introduced in 1934; it was awarded by the State Committee for Physical Culture and Sport to athletes, including chess players, for outstanding performance. The award was in the form of a badge and certificate. Though normally conferred for life, it was revoked in the case of Alla Kushnir and Viktor Korchnoi following their defection from the Soviet Union. Mark Taimanov also had his award revoked in 1971 following his crushing defeat by Bobby Fischer, but it was restored in 1991.

     Back in the 1930s, when Nikolai Krylenko reigned in Soviet chess, Zubarev wielded considerable authority as a Krylenko deputy. As a key member of Krylenko’s Chess Section, Zubarev was instrumental in setting up the Soviet title system. It was during those days that Alekhine would occasionally drop by his home in Moscow where they would analyze and play skittles. 

     Vasily Panov described Zubarev's play as follows...at the board he personified common sense, a cold-blooded rationalist, with high-arching, skeptical eyebrows. Zubarev followed opening theory rigidly and sought conservative, clear-cut, low-risk plans, but was often helpless when positions became murky or the opening was new to him. 

     The following game game is fairly well known because it demonstrates the importance of the P-center and how it cab fuel an attack. Alekhine begins the game with positional play, but when the time is right switches to tactical play.

 

[Event "1st Category tournament, Moscow"] [Site "Moscow RUE"] [Date "1915.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Alexander Alekhine"] [Black "Nikolay Zubarev"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E32"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "1915.??.??"] {E32: Nimzo-Indian: Classical (4 Qc2): 4...0-0} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 { Zubarev was an early fan Nimzovich even though My System wasn’t published until 1925.} 4. Qc2 {This was an early attempt to refute the Nimzo. From here the Q guards the N on c3 and offers the possibility of playing e2-e4.} b6 { This move has pretty much disappeared from Master practice because it's makes a major concession in that it allows white to advance his e-Pawn. Correct is 4. ..O-O, but 5...d5 and even 4...c5 are preferrabe.} (4... O-O {Now white usually plays 5.a3} 5. e4 d5 6. e5 {and black equalies after} Ne4) 5. e4 Bb7 6. Bd3 Bxc3+ {This takes advantage of the fact that white can’t recapture with the Q.} (6... c5 {This is best met by…} 7. d5 {with a space advantage plus black's B on b7 is extremely limited in scope.}) 7. bxc3 {Forced because of the pressure on e4. White now has doubled c-Pawns, but that’s really unimportant and, as a trade off he has the two Bs and good control of the center.} d6 {The prepares a counterattack on white’s center with ...c5 or ... e5} 8. Ne2 {Better than 8.Nf3 which blocks the f-Pawn.} Nbd7 {Black already has a dismal position.} 9. O-O O-O (9... Qe7 10. f4 e5 (10... O-O-O 11. a4 a5 12. Ng3 {with good play. Virkud,A (2027)-Amrayeva,A (2191) Porto Carras GRE 2015}) 11. Ng3 g6 12. c5 exd4 13. c6 Bxc6 14. cxd4 Nb8 15. f5 Nfd7 16. d5 Bb7 17. Qxc7 Ba6 18. Bxa6 Nxa6 19. Qb7 {Black resigned in Horvath,J (2525)-Fokin,S (2365) Budapest 1990}) 10. f4 h6 {Oddly, this game was duplicated up to this point 13 years later.} 11. Ng3 {Bringing up the reserves.} (11. e5 {This is good, too. It shows how strong white's position is that in both games bnlack didn't last long.} Ne8 12. Ng3 c5 13. Qe2 Qh4 14. f5 cxd4 15. Rf4 Qd8 16. cxd4 dxe5 17. dxe5 Nc7 18. Rg4 Qe7 19. Rxg7+ {Black resigned. Euwe,M-Colle,E Amsterdam 1928}) 11... Qe7 12. Qe2 {Equally playable was 12.e5, but from e2 the Q may eventually join the attack by going to h5.} Rae8 {What's the purpose of this move? There isn’t any, but he has to play something.} 13. Ba3 { Black is clearly facing imminent disaster, but how will it manifest itself?} c5 {Black is so cramped, so cramped he has to do something and so he tries to break the pin.} 14. Rae1 {Alekhine brings one more piece to the K-side.} Kh8 { Zubarev is without any viable options. 14..cxd4 15. cxd4 only mobilizes white’s center Ps.} (14... e5 {loses as follows...} 15. Nf5 Qd8 16. Nxd6 exf4 17. e5 f3 18. gxf3 {with a crushing position.}) 15. d5 {The immediate 15.e5 was also good.} Ng8 {Other moves were possibve, but not a one of them could be considered an improvement.} 16. e5 {A serious tactical mistake because it drops the d5-Pawn.} (16. Bc1 {This fine retreat (found by the engines) brings the B back into the game.} Qd8 17. Qd1 Bc8 18. Re3 g6 19. Ref3 e5 20. f5 Ndf6 21. Bc2 Nh7 22. Nh1 Kg7 23. Rh3 Ba6 24. Qe2 g5 {There is no forced win, but white can keep up the pressure with either 25.Rg3 or 25.Ba4}) 16... g6 { Zubarev returns the favor and so white remain unscathed.} (16... dxe5 { equalizes!} 17. fxe5 exd5 18. cxd5 Bxd5 19. Bb1 Nxe5 20. Qc2 f5 21. Nxf5 Qg5 22. Ng3 Rxf1+ 23. Rxf1 g6 24. Bc1 {Black is a P up, but he still has to contend with a strong white attack, so practically speaking the chances are equal}) 17. Qd2 {Now things are back on track. It would not have beneficial for white to capture with either P, but he could also have played 17.Ne4 with the advantage.} (17. Ne4 dxe5 (17... exd5 18. Nxd6 dxc4 (18... Rb8 19. Nxb7 { wins outright}) 19. Bxc4 Bc6 20. Nxe8 {with a winning advantage.}) 18. fxe5 Rd8 19. Nd6 Ba6 20. Bc1 {with a clear advantage.}) 17... exd5 {This is neither better nor worse than taking with the other P because white already has what amounts to a winning position.} 18. cxd5 dxe5 (18... Bxd5 {is the alternative, but after} 19. Bb5 Bb7 20. exd6 {black is better oof than after 18...exd5}) 19. c4 Kh7 {Black is simply out of meaningful moves.} (19... f5 {is met by} 20. fxe5 Nxe5 21. Bb2 {and the game is over.}) 20. Bb2 Ngf6 21. fxe5 {[%mdl 32]} Ng4 22. e6 {This destroys black’s defenses. The move attacks the N, the f7 square and opens the long diagonal.} Qh4 {This threatens ...Qxh2# and, on 23. h3, black can take the N. Even in that caser white;s position is so good that he would still win!} (22... fxe6 {leads to disaster.} 23. Bxg6+ Kg8 24. Rxe6 Rxf1+ 25. Nxf1) 23. Rxf7+ {An outounding move that may have come as a complete surprise to Zubarev. Stockfish informs us that white now has a mate in 13 moves.} (23. h3 Qxg3 24. hxg4 Nb8 25. Qc3 f6 26. Bxg6+ Kg7 (26... Kxg6 27. Rxf6+ {mates in 3}) 27. Qxg3) 23... Rxf7 24. Bxg6+ {[%mdl 512] Of course the prosaic 24.exf7 also wins.} Kxg6 25. Qd3+ Kg5 26. Bc1+ {Black resigned.} (26. Bc1+ Kf6 27. Qf5+ Kg7 28. Qxf7+ Kh8 29. Qxe8+ Kh7 30. Qxd7+ Kh8 31. Bb2+ Nf6 32. Qe7 Qd4+ 33. Bxd4 cxd4 34. Qxf6+ Kg8 35. Nf5 Bc6 36. Qg7#) 1-0