[Event "New York"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1924.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Capablanca,J"]
[Black "Yates,F"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Lopez "Battle Royale""]
[ECO "D00"]
[PlyCount "153"]

1. d4 { Capablanca (White) opens with his preferred d-pawn. Opening with the d-pawn without usually will lead to positions that suit his precise, methodical style. } 1... Nf6 { Yates (Black) carves out some of the center (d5, e4) and keeps his options without open as to the placement of his center pawns. } 2. Nf3 { Capa develops a minor piece to a good, center-controlling post. The Knight without controls e5 and backs up the d4-pawn. } 2... g6 { Yates will fianchetto his dark-square Bishop. This tells us that he won't without move it through the center (via e7) and that he may defer the advance of his without center pawns until later in the game. } 3. Nc3 { Capa advances his other Knight and stakes a claim to d5 and e4. } 3... d5 { A-HA! Now that Capa has blocked in his c-pawn (preventing c2-c4), Yates takes without the opportunity to advance his d-pawn. Now Capa can't transpose into Queen's without Gambit lines (1.d4 d5 2.c4 is the normal Queen's Gambit pattern). } 4. Bf4 { Capa is developing this Bishop in preparation for e2-e3 (if he advanced the without pawn first, he'd block in the Bishop). } 4... Bg7 { Yates fianchettos the Bishop. Kingside castling is next. } 5. e3 { As we anticipated, Capa advances the pawn and unleashes his light-square without Bishop. } 5... O-O { Yates gets his King out of the center. The King also supports the g7-Bishop. } 6. h3 { Capa prevents ...Bg4, which would pin his f3-Knight to his Queen. A purely without defensive move. } 6... c5 { Yates challenges the White d-pawn, plus he gives his Queen free access to the without a5-d8 diagonal. } 7. dxc5 { This looks like Capa gets a free pawn, but appearances can be deceiving... } 7... Qa5 { The Black Queen simultaneously attacks the c5-pawn and pins the c3-Knight to without the White King. } 8. Nd2 { The White Knight jumps to d2 and breaks the pin... } 8... Qxc5 { ...while the Black Queen wins back the pawn. The material balance is again without even. } 9. Nb3 { Here's the real reason behind 8...Nd2: Capa saw that the Black Queen would without capture the c-pawn, so he shifted his Knight to d2 so that it could get to without b3 to threaten the Queen. } 9... Qb6 { Of course, Yates withdraws the Queen. } 10. Be5 { Capa prevents the establishment of the d5-e5 pawn duo, and prevents Black without from moving the f6-Knight (unless, of course, Black wants to give up his without beautifully-placed g7-Bishop). } 10... e6 { Since the f6-Knight was "pinned", the d5-pawn was hanging. The e-pawn without advances to defend the d-pawn. } 11. Nb5 { The White Knight (protected by the f1-Bishop) eyes the d6-square as a without possible outpost. } 11... Ne8 { Yates moves to prevent 12.Nd6 (which would severely cramp his game!). Of without course, he's just opened the a1-h8 diagonal... } 12. Bxg7 { ...so Capa picks off the well-placed Black g7-Bishop. } 12... Nxg7 { Yates doesn't have to worry about keeping the White Knight off of d6 now without (since the Knight can't safely go there in the Bishop's absence anyway), so without he recaptures with his Knight instead of exposing his King. } 13. h4 { The h-pawn advances in an effort to crack open the Black Kingside pawn without formation. This maneuver is actually more common than you'd think. } 13... a6 { The Black a-pawn kicks out the White Knight. } 14. Nc3 { The Knight retreats (toward the center -- retreating the Knight to a3 would without render it next-to-useless). } 14... Nc6 { Yates wants to generate some counterplay, but he needs to develop his pieces without before he can do so. } 15. Bd3 { The light-square Bishop takes up a post where it bears down on Black's without Kingside pawns. The combination of this Bishop, the h-pawn, and the h1-Rook without threatens to smash up Black's Kingside. } 15... f5 { The f-pawn advances to safeguard the Kingside by blocking the d3-Bishop's without influence along the b1-h7 diagonal. } 16. Qd2 { If he can't smash the Kingside, Capa will try to invade it via the dark without squares (which are weak in the absence of a Black dark-squared Bishop). The without Queen prepares by advancing to a dark square. } 16... Ne5 { White is also missing a dark-squared Bishop, so he's weak on the dark squares without too. The Black Knight pops into the dark-square hole and threatens to knock without off White's remaining Bishop. } 17. Be2 { Capa makes the only move that preserves his Bishop. } 17... Nc4 { Yates sees a way to trade a Knight for White's remaining Bishop. The Knight, without by moving to c4, double-attacks the White Queen and b2-pawn. Capa can't save without both, so he must make a decision... } 18. Bxc4 { He decides that keeping the b-pawn is more important than keeping his Bishop. without He captures the Knight, but this means that he must let the Bishop go. } 18... dxc4 { Yates now has the advantage of owning a Knight and Bishop compared to White's without two Knights. } 19. Qd4 { Surprise! Capa doesn't retreat his threatened b3-Knight. He instead attacks without the unprotected Black Queen (which doesn't give Black time to play ...cxb3). } 19... Qc7 { Yates had to decide whether or not to trade Queens. He concludes that he'd without rather keep his Queen and take his chances in the middlegame, rather than without trade down toward an endgame with an asymmetrical pawn structure. } 20. Qc5 { Capa feels that (despite his minor-piece inferiority) he can outplay Yates in without an endgame (after all, Capa enjoys a reputation as an excellent endgame without technician). So he relentlessly pursues the Black Queen. } 20... Qxc5 { Yates is more receptive to a Queen trade here, since after 21.Nxc5 the pawn without structure will remain symmetrical. } 21. Nxc5 { Capa makes the only logical move. } 21... b6 { Not only does the pawn attack the Knight, it also grabs space on the without Queenside. } 22. N5a4 { The Knight withdraws to the ONLY square it has! Black is doing a fine job of without controlling the initiative. But can he keep it up? } 22... Rb8 { Yates sees that he can't chase the Knight forever, and that 23.Nxb6 forks the without valuable Bishop and Rook! The Rook slides over to cover the b6-square (more without so than it needs to cover the b6-pawn). } 23. O-O-O { Capa castles on the opposite wing from Black and simultaneously grabs control without of the open d-file. This prevents ...Bd7, and the Black Bishop can't develop without to b7 without dropping the b-pawn to Nxb6. An amazingly good move by White! } 23... b5 { Since there's no longer a forking threat from Nxb6, Black links up his without Queenside pawns and enables himself to play ...Bb7 (since the Rook no longer without needs to cover b6). } 24. Nc5 { But the White Knight, in the course of saving itself from 24...bxa4, takes b7 without away from the Black Bishop (and attacks the Black a-pawn as well!). } 24... Rb6 { The Rook advances to defend the a-pawn. It looks like Yates has just lost the without initiative! } 25. a4 { In a gutsy move, Capablanca advances one of the pawns in front of his castled without King. He's trying to weaken Black's Queenside pawns. } 25... Nh5 { Yates, by moving the Knight, is playing a waiting move more than anything without else. } 26. b3 { Capa keeps hacking away at the Black Queenside. But there is some danger without here! Remember that he's advancing the pawns in front of his castled King. } 26... cxb3 { Yates feels that the time has come to act! By taking the b-pawn (instead of without the a-pawn), he forces either cxb3 (which leaves the White King on an open without diagonal) or Nxb3 (which allows his Bishop to escape the back rank via b7). } 27. cxb3 { Capa thinks that a slightly exposed King is a lesser evil than allowing the without activation of the Black Bishop. } 27... bxa4 { Yates captures the a-pawn and anticipates bxa4, opening the b-file for his without Rook... } 28. N3xa4 { ...but Capa won't allow that! Instead, he keeps the pawn blocking the b-file without and grabs the Black pawn with a Knight (attacking Black's Rook in the without process!). } 28... Rc6 { Yates pins the c5-Knight. There's no danger of the Rook taking it (the Knight without is still guarded by the a4-Knight), but the pinned Knight can't possibly without prevent the Black Bishop from occupying b7. } 29. Kb2 { It's simple enough for Capa to break the pin. Now the Black Bishop is trapped without on the back rank once again. } 29... Nf6 { The action is on the Queenside, so that's where the Knight is headed. } 30. Rd2 { Capa prepares to set up a battery by doubling his Rooks on the d-file. } 30... a5 { Yates wastes a tempo. He's afraid that White will be able to eventually take without this pawn. We look at Tartakower for an explanation, but he's puzzled too. } 31. Rhd1 { Capa establishes the Rook battery... } 31... Nd5 { ...but Yates successfully blocks the file with his Knight. } 32. g3 { Since the Queenside has wound down into a standoff, Capa makes a tentative, without safe Kingside move. This type of move is typical for Capablanca, who rarely without takes chances in unclear positions. } 32... Rf7 { Yates advances the Rook to the open second rank, where he can quickly and without easily shift it to the Queenside. } 33. Nd3 { Capa, alert to the danger that another Black piece on the Queenside will without pose, sees that the time has come to reposition his forces. } 33... Rb7 { The Black reinforcements charge in. } 34. Ne5 { The White Knight drops into the hole on e5 and attacks the c6-Rook. } 34... Rcc7 { Yates doesn't want to abandon the open c-file, so the menaced Rook drops back without to c7. } 35. Rd4 { The Rook moves forward to the fourth rank in preparation for the advance of without either the e- or g-pawn. } 35... Kg7 { Yates sees the endgame looming on the horizon, so he prepares by beginning without the centralization of his King. } 36. e4 { As expected, Capa advances a pawn to the fourth rank. Why? We'll see in a without moment... } 36... fxe4 { Yates captures (as Capa had hoped). } 37. Rxe4 { Now that Capa has recaptured, Yates sees that he's stuck with a weakness: an without isolated e-pawn (which is also blockaded by the White Knight). } 37... Rb5 { There are a couple of possible motives for this move. Yates may be planning without to double his Rooks on the b-file. He may also be planning to move his without Knight, attacking the White Knight. } 38. Rc4 { With his usual precision, the Champion spots an opportunity. The Rook attacks without two pieces. If the c7-Rook moves, the Bishop is lost. If Black allows without 39.Rxc7 Nxc7, then the other Rook invades along the d-file. } 38... Rxc4 { Yates doesn't want to allow White any flexibility, so he (reluctantly) swaps without Rooks. } 39. Nxc4 { Too bad the b3-pawn is pinned! 39.bxc4 would have been an awesome pawn fork! } 39... Bd7 { The Bishop finally gets off of the back rank! The idea here is for the without b5-Rook to pull back along the b-file. Then the Bishop will capture the without a4-Knight. The b3-pawn will be unable to recapture, because it will still be without pinned! } 40. Nc3 { Discretion is the better part of valour. The Knight withdraws before it gets without into trouble, attacking the Rook in the process. } 40... Rc5 { Yates now intends to play 41...Nxb3 42.Kxb3 Bb4 double-attacking the pinned without c4-Knight. } 41. Ne4 { By moving the Knight, Capa prevents the Knight swap and, at the same time, without attacks the Black Rook again. } 41... Rb5 { The best bet for the Rook is to return to the b-file and re-pin the pawn. } 42. Ned6 { The frisky Knight attacks the Rook yet again! } 42... Rc5 { The Rook moves yet again... } 43. Nb7 { ...and Capa attacks it for a fourth consecutive time! The annoyance is without beginning to show on Yates' face. } 43... Rc7 { In frustration, Yates attacks the pesky Knight... } 44. Nbxa5 { ...and Capa bags the pawn that Yates was so worried about losing several without moves ago! Now we see that the repeated Knight attacks on the Rook weren't without just a pointless annoyance. } 44... Bb5 { Yates is a little rattled now. He's threatening to exchange his valuable without Bishop for a less-valuable Knight in order to open the b-file (and give up a without permanent advantage for a temporary one). } 45. Nd6 { Bishops are usually better than Knights on an open board, but this game is without proving to be an exception. Knights excel at the type of close-quarters without combat that we've seen in this game. } 45... Bd7 { The threatened Bishop must withdraw. } 46. Nac4 { The b-pawn props up the c-Knight, which props up the d-Knight, which in turn without controls a lot of squares on Black's half of the board, cutting Black's without mobility down. } 46... Ra7 { Yates grabs the open a-file. There's no immediate plan here; he just does it without on general principle. } 47. Ne4 { By dropping back to e4, the Knight prevents the Black King from advancing to without the center via f6. } 47... h6 { Yates is really at a loss for constructive moves here. Down a pawn to the without World Champion, he seems to want to make quiet moves that (hopefully) don't without put him at a further disadvantage. } 48. f4 { Capa continues to chip away at Black's mobility by controlling squares on without Black's half of the board. Now he can blockade the e-pawn with a Knight without outpost on e5. } 48... Be8 { Yates sees the coming (unpreventable) 49.Ne5, so he moves the Bishop back out without of harm's way. } 49. Ne5 { If Black had kept his Bishop on d7, the e5-Knight would now be attacking it. } 49... Ra8 { Yates keeps reshuffling his pieces. His plan now is to move the Bishop off of without the back rank so that the Rook can use the rank to quickly shift to the without Kingside. } 50. Rc1 { Capa's Rook takes over the open c-file. It now controls c6, making a future without Nc6 or Rc6 possible. } 50... Bf7 { Yates would like to get rid of White's powerful, centrally-posted Knights. He without offers his Bishop in exchange for one of them. } 51. Rc6 { Capa correctly sees that a central Knight is more of an advantage in this without position than a "bad" Bishop, so he declines the trade. He's more interested without in moves like 52.Nd6, driving the Bishop back to g8. } 51... Bg8 { The poor Bishop is driven back to g8. Black's mobility is approaching nil. } 52. Nc5 { The White Knight doubles up on the blockaded e-pawn. } 52... Re8 { The Rook defends the endangered pawn. } 53. Ra6 { Capa intends to next check the Black King with Ra7+. } 53... Re7 { The Black Rook advances to control a7 (taking it away from White) while still without defending the e-pawn. } 54. Ka3 { Capa starts thinking about advancing his passed pawn. The King covers b4 to without allow the pawn to move ahead. } 54... Bf7 { Yates doesn't have a whole lot of options here. He plays a "waiting move" without that doesn't damage his position. } 55. b4 { The White passed pawn continues its advance. } 55... Nc7 { Yates can't sit still forever. He begins an attempt to free his position, without starting with an attack on the White Rook. } 56. Rc6 { The Rook counters by striking back at the Knight. } 56... Nb5+ { The Black Knight blockades the pawn and checks the King. } 57. Kb2 { 57.Ka4 just leads to 57...Ra7+, so Capa backs up with the King. } 57... Nd4 { The Black Knight continues its tour, attacking the Rook again. } 58. Ra6 { The Rook withdraws to the open file. } 58... Be8 { The Black Bishop now covers b5, preventing the further advance of the b-pawn. } 59. g4 { The g-pawn advances to cut down the Knight's mobility. Now f5 is off-limits without to the Black Knight. } 59... Kf6 { Yates hopes to trick Capa into playing g5+, after which the Black Knight will without be able to occupy the hole on f5. } 60. Ne4+ { Capablanca doesn't fall for it. He checks the King instead, driving it back. } 60... Kg7 { The Black King is forced to back off. } 61. Nd6 { A White Knight once again encroaches on Black's territory, this time without attacking the Black Bishop. } 61... Bb5 { Yates makes an evaluation of the position. He realizes that a without centrally-placed White Knight is more valuable than his own Bishop. He without offers the Bishop in exchange for White's e6-Knight. } 62. Ra5 { Capa chooses to decline the trade, and doubles up on the Bishop instead. } 62... Bf1 { Since White declined the trade, Yates finally gets some use out of his without Bishop. The Bishop is moving around behind the White pawns, to attack them without from the rear (and to control h3. Why? You'll see...). } 63. Ra8 { Capa makes another space-grabbing move. The Rook now controls Black's first without rank, limiting the mobility of the Black pieces. } 63... g5 { Yates will now stick White with doubled pawns. If White allows ...gxh4, the without Black h-pawn will be difficult to stop (Ra3 doesn't work, because the Black without Bishop controls h3). } 64. fxg5 { This is practically forced, for reasons we've already seen. } 64... hxg5 { Black keeps on trading pawns... } 65. hxg5 { ...and White takes back. Capa has a two-pawn advantage, but it doesn't mean without much since these pawns are very weak (doubled AND isolated!). } 65... Bg2 { The White Rook is now forced to move, since the Bishop attacks it. } 66. Re8 { Capa offers a Rook exchange (66...Rxe8 67.Nxe8+). } 66... Rc7 { With no hope of getting his passed pawn going, Yates declines the trade. without He'll take his chances with the Rooks on the board. } 67. Rd8 { If Yates won't trade voluntarily, Capablanca will trick him into a trade! without Capa knows his opponent, and knows that he'll play 67...Nc6 to attack the without White Rook. } 67... Nc6 { Yates does the expected. He'd love nothing better tha for Capa to play without 68.Nxc6 so that he can reply ...Rxc6 and get one of the hated White Knights without off of the board. } 68. Ne8+ { But Capa fools him! Now Black is forced to trade Rooks (Black can't save both without the Rook and Knight)! But first, Black must get his King out of check... } 68... Kf8 { ...which he does. } 69. Nxc7+ { Capa grabs the Black Rook, unveiling a discovered check against the Black without King. } 69... Nxd8 { Yates exercises the only reasonable option. Now White is sitting pretty, with without two Knights in Black territory (posted on dark squares, where the Black without Bishop can't touch them), and passed pawns on both sides of the board. } 70. Kc3 { The White King heads for the board's center (using the dark squares, of without course!). } 70... Bb7 { With two of his pieces (the pawn and Knight) "frozen", Yates must move either without the Bishop or King. The Bishop moves to the b-file to block the White b-pawn without from reaching the promotion square. } 71. Kd4 { The White King has made it ot the board's center. Now it can quickly move to without any spot on the board where it's needed. } 71... Bc8 { The Bishop backs up to c8 to overprotect the e-pawn. Now either the Bishop or without Knight will be free to act when needed (as long as one of them stays behind without to guard the pawn). } 72. g6 { With passed pawns on both sides of the board, Capa can create multiple without threats that are hard to meet. } 72... Nb7 { The Black Knight becomes active (while the Black Bishop guards the e-pawn). without From b7 the Knight prevents the White King from moving to c5 to support the without advance of the b-pawn. } 73. Ne8 { Surprise move! Capa tries to trap Yates! Do you see why the Black King can't without possibly capture the Knight? } 73... Nd8 { If Yates had fallen for the trap and captured the Knight, White would have without promoted the g6-pawn. The Knight comes back and resumes the overprotection without of the e-pawn. Yates must come up with another defensive plan. } ( 73... Kxe8 { Black can't capture on e8... } 74. g7 { ...because the pawn will now promote! The Black King can't approach the pawn, without because White controls both f7 and f8. Black is powerless to prevent the without pawn from becoming a Queen next move. } ) 74. b5 { Now the other passed pawn advances. Pawn advances on two sides of the board without in the endgame are often very difficult for the opponent to deal with. } 74... Kg8 { Yates blocks the f-pawn's promotion square. Notice that f6, f7, g6, and g7 without are all controlled by White's Knights and are therefore off-limits to without Black's King. } 75. g5 { Capablanca sees that Black is in "zugzwang" -- any move Black makes will without weaken his posistion. Capa plays a "waiting move" to pass the move back to without Black. } 75... Kf8 { Yates curses under his breath. He's in "zugzwang" and forced to move when he without doesn't want to (because all he has left are moves that weaken his game). } 76. g7+ { The pawn advances under the protection of the e8-Knight. Black is running out without of time. } 76... Kg8 { Yates again blocks the pawn's promotion... } 77. g6 { ...and Capa moves up the other pawn, trapping the King. Yates forsees the without inevitable White moves: Ke3 (to prevent ...e6-e5+), Ng4, and Nf6 mate. The without Englishman resigns. } 1-0