Author: Jorge Pichard
Date: 12:28:16 05/11/03
L.Carranza - A.Alekhine, Buenos Aires, 1926 Black to play [D]r2qk2r/3bbppp/5n2/BP2R3/3p4/1p6/1PP2PPP/RN2Q1K1 b - - 0 1 At first sight, Black seems under some pressure. His Queen is under attack, the King is in the center, White has strong pressure along the e-file. But such an impression is untrue! The first thing that comes to mind is 16...Rxa5 17.Rxa5 bxc2. After 18.b6 cxb1=Q 19.Qxb1 0-0 (19...Qxb6? 20.Ra8+ wins for White)Black prevails. White can make things a bit more complex with 18.Rxe7+! Kf8! (18...Qxe7? 19.Ra8+ wins) 19.Rxd7! Nxd7 20.Ra1 cxb1=Q 21.Qxb1, and while Black is clearly better, he is still facing some technical challenges. Instead of all this, Alekhine comes with a much better and quicker solution. White's a5-Bishop is pinned and Black's b-pawn is dangerously close to her destination square. So the 4th World Champion strikes with... 16...bxc2! Pawn attacks a Knight, but what about a Queen? She is being sacrificed for a victory! 17.Bxd8 Also hopeless was 17.Rxe7+ Qxe7 18.Qxe7+ Kxe7 19.Bb4+ Ke6; as well as 17.Nc3 (d2) Rxa5! 17...Rxa1 This move represents a key point of Black's combination. Now White has no defense against the c2-pawn becoming a Queen. 18.Rxe7+ Another way 18.Bxe7 cxb1=Q 19.Bxf6+ Be6 was lost for White as well. 18...Kxd8 White resigned Analysis by Fritz 8: 1...bxc2 2.Na3 Rxa5 -+ (-2.50) Depth: 7/21 00:00:00 142kN -+ (-3.03) Depth: 14/40 00:00:38 32307kN
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