Botvinnik Bashes Tartakower

     The year 1936 began with Reuben Fine capturing an undefeated first place ahead of Flohr and Tartakower at Hastings. When August rolled around Fine was also playing in Nottingham and there, too, he was undefeated, but tied for third with Euwe and Reshevsky a half point behind Botvinnik and Capablanca. Flohr and Tartakower also played in Nottingham, but Flohr only tied for 7th place with Lasker while Tartakower was tied with Bogoljubow down in 10th place.

     Sandwiched in between Hastings and Nottingham was the first US Championship Tournament (not a match). It was won by Reshevsky followed by Albert Simonson with Fine and George Treysman tied for 3rd. Isaac Kashdan was a disappointing fifth. 

     In mid-April, Flohr won the Premier tournament at Margate, England ahead Capablanca and Stahlberg. From mid-May to early June there was an international tournament in Moscow that was won by Capablanca followed by Flohr, Lilienthal, Ragozin and Lasker. Also in mid-May there was an international tournament in Bad Nauheim, Germany; Alekhine and Paul Keres tied for 1st place. 

     In June Alekhine won an international tournament in Dresden. He was followed by Engels, Maroczy and Stahlberg then Bogoljubow. Then in July, Fine finished first in Zandvoort, Holland followed by Euwe with Keres and Tartakower tied for third. 

     At the time Nottingham was going on, the US Open in Philadelphia was won by Al Horowitz followed by Dake and Denker (tied) and Kashdan and Kupchik (tied). In September Isaac Kashdan was successful in capturing the New York State Championship at Poughkeepsie, New York when he successfully defended his title with 10 wins and 1 draw. 2nd-3rd went to Hermann Helms and George Shainswit.

     The 15-player Nottingham tournament in 1936 was one of the strongest tournaments of its day. It was important because because it included five past, present or future world champions (Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Euwe and Botvinnik).  A number of other prominent players, such as Fine, Reshevsky and Flohr were in the tournament, too. The event was also notable for being Lasker's last major event and for Botvinnik achieving the first Soviet success outside the Soviet Union. 

     Botvinnik wrote that Bogoljubow had considerable talent and during the period 1925-1929 he was undoubtedly one of the strongest players in the world. He had a leaning towards tactical play, and, therefore, as he grew older and his ability to calculate variations diminished, so did his successes. 

     At Nottingham in his game against Botvinnik, Bogoljubow made a move and forgot to punch his clock. Botvinni promptly drew his attention to the fact and Bogo thanked him and punched his clock. When writing of the incident Botvinnik stated that by that time Bogoljubow had been out of Russia for so long that he had forgotten how to think in Russian. In the last round Bogoljubow put up strong resistance against Capablanca and drew the game, which allowed Botvinnik to share first place. 

     Although at that time there were many strong players in the Soviet Union, Botvinnik was undoubtedly the strongest. He was considered a challenger to Alekhine, but Alekhine lost his world title to Euwe, who then agreed to an immediate rematch and so an Alekhine-Botvinnik was put on hold then the war intervened and he had to wait some more. 

     Botvinnik's play against Tartakower drew considerable interest because of his series of elegant sacrifices. Writing about Tartakower, Botvinnik described his as a kind-hearted, affable and an independent man. As a chess player he was extremely inventive, but a lack of deep positional understanding reduced his practical results. This shortcoming can undoubtedly be seen in the following game which won Botvinnik a brilliancy prize.

Standings: 

1-2 Botvinnik and Capablanca (10.0) 

3-5 Euwe, Fine and Reshevsky (9.5) 

6 Alekhine (9.0) 

7-8 Flohr and Lasker (8.5) 

9 Vidmar (6) 

10-11 Bogoljubow and Tartakower (5.5) 

12 Tylor (4.5) 

13 Alexander (3.5) 

1 4 Thomas (3.0) 

15 Winter (2.5)

Mikhail Botvinnik - Savielly Tartakower

Result: 1-0

Site: Nottingham

Date: 1936.08.13

Old Indian Defense

[...] 1.♘f3 ♘f6 2.c4 d6 Botvinnik wrote that Tartakower (like Bogoljubow) was not very strong on opening theory even though he wrote many books. Here he chooses what Botvinnik called "a primitive variation of the Indian Defense" hoping to outwit his young opponent in the middlegame. 3.d4 ♘bd7 In the Old Indian Defense black develops his B on e7 rather than on g7. Mikhail Chigorin pioneered this defense late in his career and it had CJS Purdy's stamp of approval because while it is less active than the K-Indian, it is solid and easier for black to play. In some respects it is similar to the Hanham variation of the Petrov Defense. 4.g3 More common is 4.Nc3 although the rarely played text has yielded excellent results. 4...e5 5.♗g2 ♗e7 6.O-O O-O 7.♘c3 c6 Botvinnik also mentioned the resemblance of this position to the Philidor with the difference that white has fianchettoed his B and has played c2-c4 and these are important and positive factors in white's favor. 8.e4 Alekhine liked 8.b3 which is almost never played today. 8...♕c7 9.h3 ♖e8 10.♗e3 ♘f8 The first of a series of weak moves, which rapidly ruin black's position. (Alekhine)

10...exd4 11.♘xd4 ♘c5 12.♕c2 a5 was Alekhine's recommendation as the only way for black to get some active play for his pieces.

11.♖c1 h6 Alekhine wrote that this was either loss of time or preparation for a bad move (g5). Botvinnik observed that in Philidor's Defense the plan with ...h6, ...g5 and ...Ng6 is quite acceptable, but here this plan is out of place.

11...♘g6 12.♖e1

12.♕c2 ♗d7 13.♖fd1 ♖ad8 14.a3 ♕b8 15.dxe5 dxe5 16.c5 with equality. Kiss,A (2375)-Blatny, P (2440)/Leipzig 1988

12...♗d7 13.b4 exd4 14.♘xd4 White has a slight advantage. Voloshin,L (2369)-Mammadov,V (2066)/Polanica Zdroj 2017.

12.d5

12.b4 exd4 13.♘xd4 ♘g6 14.f4 ♗f8 15.♕f3 a5 16.a3 with equality. Martynov, R (2284)-Bortnyk,M (2416)/Minsk 2015

12...♗d7 It was too dangerous to play 12...g5 at once.

12...g5 This idea is not dangerous to white. 13.h4 ♘g4 14.hxg5 ♘xe3 15.fxe3 hxg5 16.♘h2 ♘g6 17.♕h5 with the makings of a K-side attack.

13.♘d2 g5 After this rash move black soon finds himself in serious trouble. This move is highly risky. Black was hoping that white would allow .. .Ng6 after which the advance f2-f4 would be impossible. His best plan was to close the game with 13...c5.

13...♘g6 was recommended by Botvinnik, but after 14.b4

14.f4 exf4 15.gxf4 ♘h4 Botvinnik commented that this position is "not so harmless" for white. and so he avoided it. Actually, the position is quite benign.

14...a5 15.dxc6 bxc6 16.b5 white has a strong initiative.

14.f4 Of course Botvinnik does not wait. 14...gxf4 15.gxf4 ♔g7 (15...exf4 16.♗xf4 ♘g6 17.♗xh6 ♕b6+ 18.♖f2 ♔h7+⁠−) 16.fxe5 The attack from now on is very easy to conduct as there are "many roads to Rome". 16...dxe5 17.c5 Botvinnik stated (correctly) that black's position is now lost because white controls all the important square. 17...cxd5 Black sees that he must lose anyhow and does not even try to resist. (Alekhine)

17...♕c8 Is equally hopeless, but at least the attack would not develop quite as rapidly as in the game. 18.♕f3 ♘g6 19.♘c4 and the threat of d5-d6 can't be met in any reasonable way.

18.♘xd5 ♕c6 19.♘c4 ♘g6 20.♘d6 Decisive as the black R cannot move nor can the N be taken. 20...♗e6 (20...♖h8 21.♘xe7 ♘xe7 22.♖xf6 ♔xf6 23.♕h5 ♖h7 24.♖f1+ and white wins) (20...♗xd6 21.♖xf6 ♖e6 22.cxd6 ♕xd6 white is a piece up.) 21.♘xe7 Excellent! White prefers to sacrifice material in order to build up a mating attack. Both paths lead to a win, but Botvinnik's choice is the more elegant.

21.♘xe8+ ♖xe8 22.♘xe7 ♖xe7 23.♗xh6+ ♔xh6 24.♖xf6 and white is the exchange and a P ahead.

21...♘xe7 If 21...Rxe7 22 Nf5+ and wins. (21...♖xe7 22.♘f5+ ♗xf5 23.exf5 wins.) 22.♖xf6 This continuation makes an especially pleasant impression because the moves are of a of a quiet nature.

22.♕f3 ♘fg8 23.♕g3+ ♘g6 24.h4 ♔h7 25.♗h3 ♘f4 (25...♗xh3 26.♖xf7+ mates in two.) 26.♗xf4 exf4 27.♖xf4 ♖e7 28.♗xe6 fxe6 29.h5 ♘f6 30.♕g6+ ♔h8 31.♕xh6+ ♘h7 32.♖f7 and black can't avoid mate.

22...♔xf6 23.♕h5 Threatening mate in two. 23...♘g6 24.♘f5 ♖g8

24...♖h8 25.♗xh6 Threatens mate by Bg7 25...♖xh6 and black has a lost ending 26.♕xh6 ♖g8 27.h4 ♗xf5 28.exf5 ♕d7 29.fxg6 ♖xg6 30.♕h8+ ♔e7 31.♕xe5+ etc.

25.♕xh6 Even better was Bxh6, but in any case black is still lost. 25...♗xa2 26.♖d1 ♖ad8 27.♕g5+ A more logical move was first 27 Rxd8. (27.♖xd8 ♖xd8 28.♕g5+ ♔e6 29.♕xd8 The threat of Ng7mate can't be met.) 27...♔e6 28.♖xd8 f6 29.♖xg8 ♘f4 30.♕g7 Tartakower resigned.

30.♕g7 ♘e2+ 31.♔f2 ♕d7 32.♕f8 ♘c3 33.♘g7+ ♕xg7 34.♖xg7 ♘xe4+ 35.♗xe4 f5 36.♕xf5#

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