[Event "New York"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1924.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Janowski,D"]
[Black "Alekhine,A"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Lopez "Battle Royale""]
[ECO "A48"]
[PlyCount "100"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 { Alekhine offers to gambit a flank pawn for a central pawn. He can now develop his Knight to c6 without blocking the c-pawn's advance. } 3. e3 { Janowski is wise not to accept the "offer" -- he wouldn't be able to keep the pawn anyway. } ( 3. dxc5 Qa5+ ) 3... g6 { Alekhine continues the hypermodern strategy of striking at his opponent's center from out at the flanks. This pawn move prepares to fianchetto the Bishop to g7, where it will put pressure on d4. } 4. Bd3 b6 { Preparing a Queenside fianchetto. } 5. O-O Bb7 { Here again, central pressure is applied from the flank. Alekhine's moves are following this basic theme. } 6. c4 cxd4 7. exd4 Bg7 { Indirectly putting pressure on the d4-pawn, which can no longer be protected by a fellow pawn. White would have to advance it to d5 to ensure its protection by another pawn. } 8. Nc3 d5 { Alekhine's idea is to isolate the d4-pawn by removing the c-pawn. } 9. Bg5 dxc4 { Now the d4-pawn stands alone. } 10. Bxc4 O-O 11. Re1 Nc6 12. a3 Rc8 { Good strategic play -- the Rook moves to the open c-file. } 13. Qd3 Qc7 { Alekhine creates a battery on the open c-file. He's also increased the scope of the Queen; it now controls space on the h2-b8 diagonal. Most importantly, he's threatening to ruin White's position with 14...Nxd4 15.Qxd4 Qxd4 16.Qxc4 Rxc4 17.Rxe7 Bxf3 18.gxf3. } 14. Ba2 { Janowski prevents Black's planned exchange of material while keeping his Bishop on the same diagonal as the Black King. This prevents Black from playing ...h6 to kick the g5-Bishop, because White would just reply Qxg6 (...fxg6 is impossible since the f-pawn is pinned). } 14... e6 { Blocking the pin on the f7-pawn and clearing a square for the c6-Knight. } 15. h3 Ne7 { The idea is for the Knight to go to f5 to aid in an attack on the isolated d-pawn. } 16. Rac1 { A dangerous situation for the Black Queen. } 16... Qb8 17. Ne5 Rcd8 { Black's forces are getting into position for an attack on the d4-pawn } 18. Nxf7 { An interesting sacrifice! Janowski shows a flash of his old tactical wizardry. } 18... Rxf7 19. Bxe6 { Janowski now has two pawns for the Knight and has pinned the Rook on f7. One possibility is for White to play Bxf7; after ...Kxf7, he'll be materially ahead. } 19... Rf8 20. d5 { Janowski misplays the position. Instead of trying to tighten the screws on Black, he should have just gone for the material edge after 20.Bxf7. This mistake will ultimately cost him the game. } ( 20. Bxf7+ Rxf7 21. Qc4 { White would still have a pin on an f7-Rook. } ) 20... Nexd5 { Alekhine has tactical resources of his own! He offers up his own Knight sacrifice to get himself out of his current predicament. } 21. Nxd5 Bxd5 ( 21... Nxd5 22. Bxd5 Bxd5 23. Qxd5 Bxb2 { And Black is out of the woods while creating a couple of threats for White to think about. (This is the identical position to what occurred in the actual game after 23...Bxb2). } ) 22. Bxd5 Nxd5 23. Qxd5 Bxb2 { Janowski now has to deal with two simultaneous threats. } 24. Rc2 { The best he can do. He has no move that deals with both threats at once. } 24... Bxa3 25. Bh6 { Janowski tries to keep the pressure on Black, but he's pretty much blown his chance already. } 25... Rd8 26. Qe6 Bc5 { Cutting off the White c2-Rook from part of the open file. } 27. Rce2 { The triple-battery on the e-file looks imposing, but there's no real threat here. White can't presently mate by means of a big exchange of material on e8. Try it for yourself and see -- once the Queen moves from e6, the f7-Rook is no longer pinned and can aid in the Black King's defense. } 27... Qc7 28. Qb3 Qd7 29. Kh1 Bf8 30. Rd2 Qc8 31. Red1 Rxd2 ( 31... Bxh6 { There's no time for because of } 32. Rxd8+ Bf8 ( 32... Qxd8 33. Rxd8+ Bf8 34. Rd7 { With mate to follow. } ) 33. Rxc8 ) 32. Bxd2 b5 33. Rc1 ( 33. Qxb5 Qc2 34. Qe2 Rxf2 35. Qxf2 Qxd1+ 36. Qe1 Qxe1+ 37. Bxe1 Bc5 { With a pawn advantage, Black will probably be able to grind out a win here but it will likely be a long ordeal. } ) 33... Qd7 34. Bf4 { Janowski's idea is to bring the Rook to c7 to trade his Rook and Bishop for the Black Queen. Unfortunately, this doesn't work (as Alekhine later pointed out). } 34... a5 35. Be5 { The idea is to be able to shoot the Bishop back over to the Queenside to aid in stopping the advancing pawns. } ( 35. Rc7 a4 36. Qa2 Qd1+ 37. Kh2 Qb3 { This variation is from Alekhine's post-game analysis. Black now has all his bases covered (the f7-Rook is no longer pinned) and he's threatening both the White Queen and Bishop. } 38. Qd2 Rxc7 39. Bxc7 b4 { Black's pawn pair will be nearly impossible to stop. } ) 35... a4 36. Qa2 b4 37. Qc4 Qd2 38. f4 b3 39. Rb1 Qb4 40. Qe6 { The White Queen has a tough double assignment. It must keep up the pin on the f7-Rook (to keep Black from getting the Rook into the game) while helping the b1-Rook pressure the b-pawn (keeping the a-pawn from advancing). In effect, this makes the White Queen just as much a prisoner as the Black f7-Rook. } 40... Qe4 { Pinning the White Bishop. } 41. Rd1 { It seems that Janowski has the desperate idea of bringing the Rook to d7 to fling a last attack at the Black King... } 41... b2 { ...but this doesn't work, since Black could now play b1=Q+ in response to a Rook move, winning the initiative and the game. } 42. Qa2 Qc2 43. Rf1 a3 { There was a better move here, but Black is winning either way. } ( 43... Qc1 { Alekhine missed } 44. Rg1 ( 44. Rxc1 bxc1=Q+ 45. Kh2 a3 ) ( 44. Qb1 Qxb1 45. Rxb1 a3 46. Bxb2 Rb7 ) 44... Bc5 ) 44. Kh2 Qd3 45. Re1 Bb4 46. Rh1 Bd2 47. Qe6 Qf5 48. Qb3 Bxf4+ 49. Bxf4 Qxf4+ 50. Kg1 Kg7 { Janowski finally admits that its futile to try to hold the position and concedes the game. } ( 50... Kg7 51. Qc3+ Rf6 52. Qb3 ( 52. Qe1 a2 ) 52... Rc6 53. g4 ( 53. Qb7+ { This looks good in principle but has no bite. The White Queen can't leave the b-file to capture the Rook without allowing the b2-pawn to promote. } 53... Kh6 ) 53... Rc1+ 54. Kg2 b1=Q 55. Qc3+ Rxc3 56. Rxb1 ) 0-1