[Event "Rice Memorial"]
[Site "New York, NY USA"]
[Date "1916.02.08"]
[Round "3"]
[White "David Janowski"]
[Black "Jose Raul Capablanca"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/NoseKnowsAll"]
[ECO "D15"]
[Opening "Slav Defense: Three Knights Variation"]
[UTCDate "2021.05.28"]
[UTCTime "21:55:06"]
[Variant "Standard"]

{ I will leave this endgame study with another practical endgame example.

PRO TIP: Activate your pieces! In an endgame, active pieces win the game, even at the cost of losing a pawn or two.

Here is a famous example from Capablanca. Skip ahead to move 22 to see the endgame. } 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 Bf5 $6 { Modern Slav theory suggests that if you want to play Bf5, you should first play dxc4, "forcing" a4. } ( 4... dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 ) 5. Qb3 Qb6 6. Qxb6 axb6 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Nxd5 cxd5 9. e3 Nc6 10. Bd2 Bd7 11. Be2 e6 12. O-O Bd6 13. Rfc1 Ke7 14. Bc3 Rhc8 15. a3 Na5 16. Nd2 f5 17. g3 b5 18. f3 Nc4 19. Bxc4 bxc4 20. e4 Kf7 21. e5 Be7 22. f4 b5 { With more space on the queenside, Capablanca first seeks to activate his pieces on that side of the board. } 23. Kf2 Ra4 { Black first stops white from trading his terrible bishop trapped on c3 for our active bishop on e7. } 24. Ke3 Rca8 { Doubling rooks on the a file threatens to play the b4 pawn break, taking advantage of the pinned a pawn. } 25. Rab1 { Notice how passive every white piece is compared to their black counterparts. } 25... h6 26. Nf3 g5 $1 { With more space on the queenside, Capablanca now seeks to gain space on the kingside. } 27. Ne1 Rg8 28. Kf3 gxf4 29. gxf4 Raa8 { Black's rooks weren't getting anywhere on the a file, so Capablanca now seeks to penetrate into the white position on the g file. } 30. Ng2 $2 ( 30. Nc2 $5 Rg4 31. h3 Rg6 32. Rg1 Rag8 33. Rxg6 Rxg6 { In this position, white has at least traded one pair of rooks and currently covers all the entrance squares on the open g file. Black is still better, but white can hope to draw here. } ) 30... Rg4 31. Rg1 Rag8 { The g file is dominated by black's rooks, which now pin the terrible knight on g2. Black is completely in control on the kingside. } 32. Be1 { White desperately tries Be1 in order to play h3 and kick out the active g4 rook. } 32... b4 $3 { Activate your pieces! Capablanca willingly sacrifices this pawn in order to enter the white position with his only piece that wasn't already contributing: the inactive bishop on d7. } 33. axb4 Ba4 34. Ra1 ( 34. Rc1 $17 { White should have tried to stop this bishop from entering into the position, but black remains in the driver seat of this game. } ) 34... Bc2 35. Bg3 Be4+ $17 36. Kf2 { Now that the previously passive bishop on d7 has become an absolute monster piece on e4, black is surely winning. } 36... h5 { The threat is Bxg2, Rxg2 h4 winning a piece. } 37. Ra7 { White has done a good job activating at least one rook, but Capablanca saw deeper than Janowski here and uncorked a great combination: } ( 37. Ra4 $4 Bxg2 38. Rxg2 h4 $19 ) 37... Bxg2 38. Rxg2 h4 39. Bxh4 Rxg2+ 40. Kf3 { Janowski thought he was fine here because he is winning the bishop on e7 with check next. However, Capablanca correctly reasoned that the activity of his rooks would give him more than enough counterplay to finish off his opponent. } 40... Rxh2 41. Bxe7 Rh3+ 42. Kf2 Rb3 $1 { Capablanca followed the advice: when your opponent has one bishop, put all your pieces on the color opposite that bishop. There are no good discovered checks! } 43. Bg5+ Kg6 44. Re7 Rxb2+ 45. Kf3 Ra8 $1 { Capablanca doesn't fear the white pieces anymore as he sees white's king is already in a mating net. } 46. Rxe6+ Kh7 $19 { 0-1 White resigns. Janowski made this game complicated by seeking his own activity throughout the endgame, but Capablanca remained in control the entire time. There is no perpetual check, and the threat of Ra3# is unstoppable. [%cal Ga8a3,Ra3h3,Rb2h2,Rf5g4,Rf5e4] } ( 46... Kh5 $4 47. Rh6# { It's never too late to checkmate yourself! } ) 47. Kg3 { If the king tries to run, it won't run very far: } 47... Ra3+ 48. Kh4 Rh2# 0-1