The 1931 New York Invitational was sponsored by the Manhattan Chess Club. Capablanca won with little difficulty although he did have a lost ending (surprise!) against Arthur Dake. Unfortunately for Dake, he started rushing his moves and refused to adjourn and eventually lost.
Capablanca also dodged a bullet in his game against Frank Marshall. The game appears in Harry Golombek’s book Capablanca’s Hundred Best Games of Chess that was published in 1946. I consider Golombek to have been a good writer, but he missed the mark in this game when he praised Capablanca's tactic at move 22 when, in fact, it should have lost. You can hardly blame Golombek for missing the refutation though! After all, both Marshall and Capablanca missed it, too!
[Event "New York"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1931.04.29"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Frank Marshall"]
[Black "Jose Capablanca"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E16"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "1931.04.18"]
{E16: Queen's Indian} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 e6 3. c4 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Bb4+ 6. Bd2
Bxd2+ 7. Nbxd2 {This is not as good as 7.Qxd2 because the N belongs on c3 so
white can answer the coming ...c5 with d5.} O-O 8. O-O c5 {The freeing move.
It's instructive to see how Capablanca manages to utilize his advantage on the
Q-side.} 9. dxc5 bxc5 10. Rc1 {While not bad, this is a routine move that
serves no real purpose. Normal is 10.Qc2} Qc7 11. Nb3 {This is a rather poor
move that leaves the N out of play. It would have been betder to admit his 7th
move was not so good and reposition it with 11.Nb1 and 12.Nc3. Capablanca
already has a slight advantage, but that's all he needs.} d6 12. Qd2 Nc6 13.
Rfd1 Rfd8 {Black is slightly better.} 14. Nh4 {In this game at least,
Marshall's handling of his Ns leaves a lit to be desired! Here there is no
possibility of a K-side attack. Even engines are having a hard time suggesting
anything positive. Who would want to play Stockfish’s suggestions of 14.Qe3
or in that is probably the best idea, repairing the Ns poor position with 14.
Na1 and 15.Nc2?} a5 15. a4 {Another poor move; it weakens the Q-side and gives
black's N a strong outpost on b4. White's best idea was still repositioning
the N as mentioned witi Na1-c2} Rab8 16. Rc3 Ba8 17. h3 {This part of a K-side
attack that never comes to fruition. At this poimt white is already
strategically lost.} Nb4 18. Bxa8 Rxa8 19. Qf4 {Part of his hoped for attack
on f7, but there was nothing more promising.} Qc6 20. Rf3 {The next part of
his plam is to drive the N away wiht g4 and g5} Rd7 {This defends f7, but
there is also a hidden point...it's part of a tactical trick that is not quite
correct.} 21. g4 Qxa4 {Capablanca plays a nifty little tactical trick, but it
dissipates his advantage. In his book of Capablanca’s best games Harry
Golombek praises Capablanca's idea, but these days any patzer with an engine
can show it’s not the best line. So, what should he have played?} (21... Ne8
22. g5 {Beating the air.} Rb7 {White has no useful continuation and he going
to lose the a-Pawn.}) 22. Rxd6 Nbd5 {[%mdl 8192] Golombek called this "a neat
little combination, winning a P by force." It's actually what should have been
a losing move that's worthy of a couple of question markd.} (22... Rxd6 {
results in equality after} 23. Qxd6 Qd7) 23. Qe5 {[%mdl 8192] It's Marshall's
turn to play a move worthy of two question marks.} (23. Ra6 {An amazing move.}
Rdd8 (23... Rxa6 {23...Rda7 3.29} 24. Qb8+ Rd8 25. Qxd8+ Qe8 26. Qxe8+ Nxe8 27.
cxd5 {and white has won a piece.}) 24. Rxa8 Rxa8 25. cxd5 {White is up a piece,
}) 23... Rxd6 $19 24. Qxd6 {Now things are back on track and Capablanca has
managed to come out with what is still a winning position.} Ne4 25. Qe5 Qxc4 {
Capablanca is a P up and his Q-side attack is still going strong. He finishes
up neatly.} 26. Rd3 a4 27. f3 Nef6 28. Nd2 Qc1+ 29. Kf2 h6 30. f4 c4 {Black is
clearly winning.} 31. Rd4 c3 {Creating a passed a-Pawn.} 32. bxc3 a3 {[%mdl 32]
} 33. g5 a2 34. Nb3 Qxc3 35. gxf6 Qxb3 36. Rd1 Qxd1 {White resigned.} 0-1
