[Event "New York"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1924.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Reti,R"]
[Black "Tartakower,S"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Lopez "Battle Royale""]
[ECO "B74"]
[PlyCount "147"]

1. Nf3 g6 2. e4 c5 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 { The players have transposed into the Dragon Variation of the Sicilian Defense. } 6. Be2 Bg7 7. O-O Nc6 8. Be3 O-O 9. Nb3 Be6 { Tartakower has two possible plans here: ...Rc8 to exploit the open c-file or ...Qc8 to form a battery on the c8-h3 diagonal, putting pressure on the Kingside. } 10. f4 Qc8 11. h3 Ne8 { Black prepares for the advance of the f-pawn. } 12. Qd2 { Reti's idea is to play g2-g4 and follow it up with Bh6, forcing the exchange of dark-squared Bishops, weakening Black's Kingside. } 12... f5 13. exf5 gxf5 14. Rae1 Kh8 15. Nd4 Bg8 { Tartakower acts to preserve his light-squared Bishop. } 16. g4 { It's usually a bad idea to advance the pawns in front of your castled King. However, a good player knows when it's all right to go against the general principles of chess. Reti sees that the Black pieces aren't very well-developed and that Black's chances of staging a counterattck are remote. So he uses his own Kingside pawns to launch an assault. } 16... Nxd4 17. Bxd4 e5 18. Be3 fxg4 19. Bxg4 Be6 { Tartakower, having broken up the pawn assault, now tries to futher tame White's attack by exchanging pieces. } 20. f5 Bxf5 { Tartakower is committed to breaking up White's attack at all costs. } 21. Rxf5 { Reti doesn't recapture with the less-valuable piece for a reason. He wants to threaten Rxf8 and is looking ahead... } 21... Rxf5 22. Qd3 { ...to setting up a pin on the f5-Rook and adding pressure to the pin by using his Queen. } 22... e4 { Tartakower's idea is 23.Qxe4 Re5, exchanging Queens. } 23. Nxe4 h5 24. Ng3 hxg4 25. Nxf5 Qe6 26. Re2 Be5 { Both sides are treading on dangerous ground as the Kings are horribly exposed. } 27. Bd4 Nf6 28. hxg4 Rg8 29. Bxe5 dxe5 30. Rh2+ Nh7 31. Ne3 Rg7 32. Qd8+ Rg8 33. Qd3 Rg7 { Tartakower's Rook is working very hard, alternately blocking the check on the back rank and preventing mate on h7. Reti needs to find a way to increase the pressure. } 34. Qe4 Kg8 35. Rd2 Nf6 36. Rd8+ Kf7 37. Qxb7+ Kg6 38. Qf3 Kg5 39. Rd2 { Reti carefully stalks the enemy King, which has been driven out into a very exposed position. } 39... e4 40. Qg3 Rd7 41. Rxd7 Nxd7 { Tartakower blunts White's immediate attacking chances by exchanging pieces, but puts himself at a long-term endgame disadvantage. } 42. Qf2 Nc5 43. Qf5+ { Reti, having determined that a mate is now out of the question, simplifies into an endgame in which he has a two-pawn advantage. } 43... Qxf5 44. gxf5 Na4 45. b3 Nc3 46. a4 a5 47. Kf2 Na2 48. Ke2 Kf6 49. Kd2 Nb4 50. Kc3 Ke5 51. f6 { Why does Reti give up his passed pawn? To kill Black's passed pawn, of course! } 51... Kxf6 { Tartakower has no choice. If he doesn't capture immediately, the pawn will advance and promote. } 52. Kd4 { Moving into position to destroy the e4-pawn. } 52... Ke6 53. Kxe4 { The Black passed pawn is now history and the White King holds the opposition -- preventing the Black King from approaching the c2-pawn. } 53... Kd6 54. Kd4 Nc6+ 55. Kc4 Na7 { From a7 the Knight covers b5 and prevents the White King from attacking the a5-pawn. } 56. c3 Kc6 57. Kd4 Kb6 58. Nc4+ Ka6 59. Kd5 Nc8 60. Ke6 { THis is something you're not likely to see again. Reti is creatively taking squares away from Black at a furious pace. He's hoping for 60...Na7 so that he can reply Kd7. This would take every single square away from Black's Knight. The Black King would be forced to b7 and White would then win the a-pawn (Nxa5). } 60... Nb6 { Tartakower plays his only move. Now the Knights will be exchanged and with them most of Black's drawing chances. } ( 60... Na7 61. Kd7 ) 61. Nxb6 Kxb6 62. Kd6 Ka6 63. Kc6 { Reti uses the power of the opposition to drive back Black's King. Black is now forced to move away from his pawn (losing it in short order). } 63... Ka7 64. Kb5 Kb7 65. Kxa5 Ka7 66. b4 { Tartakower has no hope in this position. The connected passed pawns are unstoppable. But he plays on for some reason. } 66... Kb7 67. b5 Ka7 68. b6+ Kb7 69. Kb5 Kb8 70. Ka6 Ka8 71. b7+ Kb8 72. c4 { NOT 72.Kb6, which would be stalemate! Tartakower was evidently hoping that such a trick could salvage a draw. But Reti is too fine a player to fall for it. } ( 72. Kb6 ) 72... Kc7 73. Ka7 Kc6 74. b8=Q 1-0