Thursday, November 30, 2023

Open Files Are Important

     Officially, the 1913 Scheveningen tournament celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the Nederlandschen Schaakbond, and was held in Scheveningen from July 28-August 8 and it was one of the twenty-year-old Alekhine’s early victories. 
     Edward Lasker was invited at the last minute as a replacement for Nimzovich who had fallen ill. 
     Of the Dutch players Adolf G. Olland (1857-1933, 66 years old), a medical doctor, was the only one with an international reputation. He was the leading Dutch chess master in the time before Max Euwe. 
     Ollan was unofficial Dutch champion in 1895 and 1901 and official champion in 1909. Besides being an active tournament player, he also played a number of matches...29 in all! Olland died of a heart attack playing in the 1933 Dutch Championship at The Hague. 

     Dr. Olland died of a heart attack while playing hos game against A. Hamming, in the 1933 Dutch Championship at The Hague.
     Edward Lasker (188501981, 95 years old) was born in a part of the German Empire that is now in Poland. Before World War I he moved to London, England, but after the outbreak of the war he left the UK for the United States. 
     When America entered the war, he was sent enlistment papers, but with the right of exemption as a German. He waived his right to exemption, hoping that may expedite his request for American citizenship; however, the war was over before he was called. FIDE awarded him the IM title in 1961. Lasker also authored several books. 
 
     In the following game Olland gives us a lesson on the importance of an open file. 

  A game that I liked (Fritz 17)

[Event "Scheveningen"] [Site ""] [Date "1913.07.30"] [Round "?"] [White "Adolf G. Olland"] [Black "Edward Lasker"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C83"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "1913.07.28"] {C83: Open Ruy Lopez} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 { In the Open Ruy Lopez black tries to make use of the time white takes to regain P to gain a foothold in the center. This defense was to become a favorite of Euwe.} 6. d4 b5 (6... exd4 {is inferior.} 7. Re1 d5 8. Nxd4 Bc5 9. Bxc6+ bxc6 10. f3 (10. Nxc6 {is a loser...} Bxf2+ 11. Kh1 Bxe1 12. Qxe1 (12. Nxd8 Nf2+ 13. Kg1 Nxd1 14. Nc6 Bf2+ 15. Kf1 Bb6 16. Ke2 Bb7 17. Kxd1 Bxc6 {wins }) 12... Qd6 {with the advantage.}) 10... Qh4 11. g3 {Black's attack is at a standstill and white's position is superior.}) 7. Bb3 d5 (7... exd4 {is wrong because after} 8. Re1 d5 9. Nc3 Be6 (9... dxc3 {loses} 10. Bxd5 Bb7 11. Bxe4 { White is winning.}) 10. Nxe4 dxe4 11. Rxe4 {and black is at a disadvantage. Robert Fischer - Dr. Petar Trifunovic, Bled 1961}) 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Be7 10. Be3 O-O 11. Qd3 {The customary move is 11.Nbd2. Olland's move apparently was played with the idea of playing Rd1 attacking the d-Pawn three times. However, black can easily meet the threat.} (11. Nbd2 $14 Qd7 12. Re1 Rad8 13. Bc2 { is the main line.}) (11. Re1 {is not quite up to par.} Na5 12. Bc2 Nc4 13. Bc1 Bc5 14. Nd4 Nxf2 15. Kxf2 Qh4+ {Black went on to win. Efimenko,Z (2590) -Kaidanov,G (2629) Moscow 2003}) 11... Na5 {This continuation enables an early advance of the c-Pawn and gains black the initiative on the Q-side.} 12. Nbd2 ( 12. Rd1 {is now met by} Nc4 {and black is completely equal.}) 12... Nxb3 $146 { Lasker admitted that the better 12...c5 did not occur to him because he missed the fact that white can’t take on e4 because 13...c4 wins a piece.} (12... c5 {Five years later Rubinstein did not miss the fact that this is better.} 13. Bc2 (13. Nxe4 {is a blunder.} c4 14. Nf6+ gxf6 15. Qe2 cxb3) 13... Bf5 14. Nxe4 Bxe4 15. Qe2 Nc4 {and the game was eventually drawn. Schlechter,C-Rubinstein,A Berlin 1918}) 13. axb3 Nxd2 14. Qxd2 c5 15. b4 {Risky! Both players missed the fact that after this black has a promising continuation with 15...d4 which would have given black Ps on the a- and b-files. It’s true that white gets a P in the center, but it would not be able to advance any time soon.} (15. Bg5 Bxg5 16. Nxg5 h6 17. Nxe6 fxe6 {The position is completely even.}) 15... cxb4 ( 15... d4 16. cxd4 cxb4 17. Bg5 Bd5 18. Rfc1 a5 19. Bxe7 Qxe7 20. Rc5 Qd7 { Stockfish was left to analyze this position for about 30 minutes and up to move 44 the position was judged equal.}) 16. cxb4 Qd7 17. Rfc1 (17. Bc5 Rfc8 18. Rac1 {with a slight advantage.}) 17... f6 {Lasker has failed to realize that trying to stop white's operations on the c-file is much more important than his own plan of opening the f-file because white’s f2 is well protected while black’s c7 is not.} (17... d4 {This is still the right move. Note that if white ha played 17.Bc5 then 17...d4 is not an option.} 18. Bxd4 Rfd8 19. Qc3 Bd5 20. Bc5 {and the position is roughly equal.}) 18. Bc5 fxe5 19. Nxe5 { White now has a the edge as black has been forced into a passive position.} Qe8 20. Nc6 Bxc5 21. Rxc5 Rf6 22. Re1 Qf7 23. Ne5 Qb7 24. Rec1 Raf8 {Lasker thought perhaps he had drawing chances afte 24...Rc8, but the text is actually his best move. Even so, as it is he drifts into a hopeless, purely defensive game.} (24... Rc8 {After about 15 minutes Stockfish can up with the following line...} 25. Rxc8+ Bxc8 26. Rc6 Be6 27. h3 {White stands better and in Shoots outs scored +2 -0 =3 so there is not a lot of difference between Lasker's suggestion and the move played.}) 25. f3 {[%mdl 32]} Qb8 26. Rc7 Rf4 27. R1c6 { White's Rs on the open file are far more potent than black's on the semi-open file.} Qd8 28. g3 (28. Rb7 {was even stronger.} Bh3 29. Rcc7 {The Rs on the 7th rank spell victory.} (29. gxh3 Qg5+ 30. Kh1 Qxe5 {and now it's black that has the advantage.}) 29... Qg5 30. Rxg7+ Qxg7 31. Rxg7+ Kxg7 32. gxh3 {with a winning advantage. For example...} d4 33. Kg2 R8f6 34. Kg3 R4f5 35. Qxd4 { Black can only mark time.}) 28... R4f5 29. Qd4 Bf7 30. f4 Rf6 31. Rc5 {[%mdl 32]} Be6 32. Rb7 Kh8 33. Rcc7 {With black's pieces completely tied up white can win at his leisure.} Rg8 34. Nc6 Qf8 35. Ne7 Qe8 36. Nxg8 Bxg8 37. Re7 Qg6 38. Rxg7 Qb1+ 39. Kg2 {[%mdl 32]} Qc2+ 40. Kf3 Qb3+ 41. Kg4 Be6+ 42. Kg5 { Black resigned. White's K has avoided the checks and he now has a mate in 5.} ( 42. Kg5 Rf5+ 43. Kh6 Rh5+ 44. Kxh5 Qd1+ 45. Rg4+ Qxd4 46. Rb8+ Bg8 47. Rgxg8#) (42. Kg5 h6+ 43. Kxf6 Qc2 44. Rh7+ Kg8 45. Rbg7+ Kf8 46. Rh8+ Bg8 47. Rhxg8#) 1-0

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