[Event "New York"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1924.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Maroczy,G"]
[Black "Alekhine,A"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Lopez "Battle Royale""]
[ECO "B02"]
[PlyCount "48"]

1. e4 { Maroczy (White) is known to prefer 1.e4 when he has the White pieces. He without knows that the e-pawn exercises great center control, and pushing it forward without allows the free development of his Queen and light-square without Bishop. } 1... Nf6 { This is the first move of the defense that has come to be named after without Alekhine himself. The Knight is developed toward the center and immediately without attacks the e4-pawn. } 2. d3 { Maroczy is already thinking defensively here. 2.Nc3 is another possible without defensive move, while 2.e5 is the more aggressive alternative. 2.d3 defends without the pawn, but also blocks in the light-square Bishop. } 2... e5 { Alekhine (Black) grabs a chunk of the center with this move, releases his without dark-square Bishop, and prevents Maroczy from playing the annoying pawn push without e4-e5. } 3. f4 { Interesting! Maroczy sets up a position similar to the King's Gambit (see without Game 5, Tartakower vs. Bogoljubow), advancing his f-pawn to attack Black's without e5-pawn. } 3... Nc6 { Alekhine is unafraid. He simply develops another piece and guards the menaced without e-pawn at the same time. The c6-Knight may also jump to d4 later. Notice without that all of White's pieces are still on their starting squares! } 4. Nf3 { The f3-Knight hits at the Black e5-pawn a second time. Notice that had without Maroczy played this on move 3, he would only have been able to attack the without Black pawn once, since his Knight would have blocked the f-pawn's without advance. } 4... d5 { Alekhine makes a threat. He threatens to play 5...dxe4 6.dxe4 Qxd1 7.Kxd1 without Nxe4 which exchanges Queens, prevents White from castling (since White's without King must recapture the checking Queen) and wins a pawn as well! } 5. exd5 { Maroczy captures the offending pawn. He could also have tried the more without aggresive 5.fxe5 (see the variation), but this line would tend to be in without Black's favor. } ( 5. fxe5 { Alternately, White could have played this move. Let's see where it leads... } 5... dxe4 { An eye for an eye! Now both players' f-Knights are threatened. } 6. exf6 { White grabs Black's Knight... } 6... exf3 { ...so Black returns the favor. } 7. Qxf3 { Thw White Queen snatches the pawn. } 7... Nd4 { Surprise! The Black Knight moves in and attacks White's Queen. (7...Qxf6 is without bad for Black. Once White plays 8.Qxf6, Black is forced to double his pawns without on the f-file with 8...gxf6). } 8. Qe4+ { The White Queen is forced to move, so it moves to the e-file where it can without check Black's King. } 8... Be6 { The Black Bishop blocks the check and gets off the back rank. Black has a without lead in development and is just one move away from castling on either the without Kingside or Queenside. (Variation by Alekhine). } ) 5... Nxd5 { Alekhine recaptures to avoid being a pawn behind. See how his Knights without dominate the board's center! Alekhine also now has a 2-1 lead in piece without development. If he can continue to develop and make threats, he can get a without good attack going! } 6. fxe5 { Maroczy captures the e-pawn and puts himself ahead by a pawn. But he's still without a piece behind in development. In effect, Alekhine has gambited a pawn to without get ahead in developing his pieces. } 6... Bg4 { Alekhine neutralizes Maroczy's only active piece, by pinning the White Knight without to the Queen! At the same time, he's developed another one of his without pieces! } 7. Be2 { Maroczy breaks the pin by developing his light-square Bishop. Now the way is without cleared for Kingside castling as well. } 7... Bxf3 { Alekhine maintains the initiative by capturing the f3-Knight. This forces without White's reply... } 8. Bxf3 { Of course, White must recapture or lose a piece. Recapturing by gxf3 would be without a terrible move! (See the variation to find out why). } ( 8. gxf3 { Ugly! White has blocked his light-square Bishop and has an isolated pawn on without h2. This pawn (isolated because there is no longer any g-pawn to protect it) without will require constant protection by a White piece, to prevent its capture. } 8... Qh4+ { Black's Queen sweeps into the fray, checking White's King. } 9. Kf1 { Now White has some big problems. He can't castle anymore and his King is without dangerously exposed! } ) 8... Qh4+ { The Black Queen gets into the act, checking the White King. How will Maroczy without respond? } 9. Kf1 { People in the crowd begin to exchange puzzled looks. Wouldn't 9.g3 have been without better than moving the King? See the variation to White's 9th move to find without out. } ( 9. g3 { Let's see what would have happened had White blocked check with the pawn... without (Variation by Alekhine) } 9... Qd4 { Obviously the Queen must move or be captured. On d4 the Black Queen prevents without White from castling or moving his dark-square Bishop (because of ...Qxb2). without Here the Queen also attacks the White e5-pawn. } 10. Qe2 { The White Queen comes to the defense of the e-pawn. } 10... O-O-O { Black castles Queenside, developing his Rook and getting the King out of the without line of fire. } 11. c3 { The c-pawn advances to kick the Black Queen out of its post on d4. } 11... Qxe5 { Surprise! Black offers to exchange Queens (and why not? After all, Black has without better development and his pieces control much of the board!). } 12. O-O { Rather than play 12.Qxe5 Nxe5 (allowing Black's Knights to dominate the without board) White castles and gets his King out of the danger zone. } 12... Qxe2 { Black trades off the Queens. } 13. Bxe2 { Of course, White has no choice but to recapture. } 13... Be7 { Black develops his remaining Bishop and connects his Rooks. While it's true without that the Black pieces are better developed and control much of the board, without White has no glaring weaknesses. Their positions are about even. } ) 9... O-O-O { Alekhine refuses to make the same mistake that Maroczy did (failing to without castle). He castles to get his King off of the dangerous e-file. This also without develops his Rook to the half-open d-file. } 10. Nc3 { Maroczy finally begins to develop his Queenside. In addition to centralizing without the Knight, this move has another purpose (as we'll soon see). } 10... Bc5 { Alekhine creates a major threat with this move. Do you see it? He threatens without to mate on his next move with ...Qf2! } 11. Ne4 { The White Knight comes to the rescue by jumping to the central square e4 and without protecting the f2 square from the Black Queen's invasion. } 11... Ne3+ { Alekhine begins a maneuver designed to stick his Bishop right into White's without throat. The Knight starts the operation by jumping to e3 and forking the without White King and Queen. } 12. Bxe3 { White's reply is forced. It's either capture the offending Black Knight or without face catastrophic loss of material (12.Kg1 Nxd1). } 12... Bxe3 { Obviously, this is Black's only sensible reply (anything else just loses the without Knight for nothing). } 13. Qe1 { Notice how the Black Bishop is choking White's position. Maroczy sets up a without double attack. The White Queen now attacks both the Black Queen and Bishop. without Alekhine must make a move that saves both pieces... } 13... Qh6 { ...which he does. Alekhine could have exchanged Queens, but that would without violate a fundamental chess principle: when you're attacking, don't exchange without pieces needlessly. (Look for more on this later on). } 14. Ng3 { The White Knight backs up to allow the f3-Bishop more scope along the long without diagonal (a8-h1). } 14... Nd4 { Alekhine keeps up the pressure by continuing to make threats. He now menaces without the c2-pawn (and after ...Nxc2, the Knight will fork both the White Queen without and a1-Rook!). } 15. Qb4 { Rather than play the weak defensive move 15.Bd1 (which cuts off the a1-Rook without from the center), Maroczy responds by making a threat of his own. The Queen without threatens to play Qxb7+, winning a pawn and driving the King to the without center. } 15... c6 { The simple pawn move stops the threat. Now that the White f3-Bishop no longer without attacks b7, White can't play Qxb7+. Black would simply reply ...Kxb7! } 16. Qa4 { Now Maroczy goes gunning for another pawn, this time the one on a7. } 16... Kb8 { Another simple move which holds the position. Now if Qxa7+, then simply without ...Kxa7. } 17. Rd1 { Maroczy centralizes his Rook and minimizes the danger of a possible ...Nxc2 without from Black. } 17... Rhe8 { Alekhine centralizes his Rook on the half-open e-file and attacks the White without e5-pawn. Notice the excellent placement of both of Black's Rooks on the two without important half-open center files. } 18. h4 { Since Maroczy's h1-Rook is buried, he plans to free it by advancing it along without the h-file. The h-pawn jumps ahead to clear room for the Rook. } 18... Qf4 { Rather than immediately capturing the e5-pawn with his Rook, Black hunts without bigger game by assaulting the unprotected White Knight on g3. The White without position is becoming harder and harder to defend. } 19. Rh3 { Maroczy advances his Rook to defend the threatened Knight. Although the Rook without has a little more space than it did several moves ago, it's still trapped on without the h-file. } 19... b5 { Alekhine launches yet another attack, lashing out at White's Queen. The without strain of defending such a tough position is beginning to show on Maroczy's without face. } 20. Nh5 { Maroczy throws a counter-punch, striking at the Black Queen. Unfortunately, without this loses a piece for White, as we'll soon see. However, retreating the without White Queen doesn't work either (see the variation). } ( 20. Qb4 { Here's what happens if White tries to retreat his Queen... } 20... a5 { Our first impulse is to question this move. After all, doesn't this just lose without a pawn for Black? } 21. Qxa5 { Obviously, White grabs the pawn. } 21... Nxf3 { Now the Black Knight snatches the Bishop. Black's pieces are closing in on without the White King. Notice that White can't sidetrack Black with a check, without because the Black d3-Bishop controls all of the White Queen's possible without checking squares. } 22. gxf3 { For White, it's either recapture or stay a piece behind. Other possibilities without are too brutal to contemplate...(see the sub-variation) } ( 22. Ne2 { ...but let's contemplate one anyway! White tries to be clever and save his without bacon by attacking the Black Queen. } 22... Nh2+ { Black responds with a brutal double-check that carries the day. Notice that without since it's a double check, White can't respond by simply snapping off the without Black Queen. } 23. Ke1 { The White King's only flight square is e1. } 23... Qf2# { And it's curtains for His Majesty. } ) 22... Qxf3+ { The obvious move in this case is also the best one. The White King is now a without sitting duck. } 23. Ke1 { Now it's all over, except for the crying. } 23... Qf2# { The White King falls at last. (Variations by Alekhine and Lopez). } ) 20... bxa4 { Alekhine snags the White Queen. True, his King is exposed and his Queenside without pawn structure is a mess, but this is all immaterial due to the inactivity without of the White pieces. } 21. Nxf4 { Maroczy takes the Black Queen, but exposes his Knight to capture in the without process. } 21... Bxf4 { Alekhine takes the White Knight. Black is now ahead by a minor piece, his without Rooks are powerfully placed, his minor pieces severely cramp White's without position, and two of his pieces threaten the e5-pawn. It looks very bad for without Maroczy! } 22. c3 { Maroczy pushes his c-pawn, trying to kick the Black Knight off of d4. If the without Knight moves away, White can win a pawn with Bxc6. } 22... Nxf3 { Alekhine saves the pawn by trading his Knight for the White Bishop. Remember without what we went over in the last game: if you're ahead in material, start without trading off pieces and head for the endgame! } 23. Rxf3 { Instead of just recapturing with the g-pawn, Maroczy takes back with the Rook without and now attacks the Black Bishop. } 23... Bxe5 { Finally! The White e-pawn falls at last! Although Alekhine gave up one of his without attacking pieces (the Knight) to reach this position, he's also cleared the without e-file as a path for his Rooks to get into the fight. } 24. Rxf7 { Maroczy grabs a pawn. His expression seems hopeful once again. Maybe he can without start a Queenside pawnstorm. But wait a minute...Alekhine's face lights up without with savage glee! He snatches up his e8 Rook... } 24... Rf8 { ...and POW!! The Black Rook on f8 hopelessly pins the f7-Rook to the White without King. This forces 25.Rxf8 Rxf8+, leaving White with a lone Rook against a without Rook and Bishop. Maroczy knows it's just a matter of time until he's mated, without so he resigns. } 0-1