[Event "Amsterdam"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1950.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Euwe"]
[Black "Pilnik"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "11: The Passed Pawn, Protected but Blockaded"]
[ECO "D72"]
[PlyCount "154"]
[Source "Hays Publishing"]
[SourceDate "1964.01.01"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nb6 7. Ne2 c5 8. d5 O-O 9. O-O e6 10. Nbc3 Na6 11. Nf4 e5 12. Nfe2 Nc4 $1 13. b3 Nd6 { White has a difficult game: his majority has produced a protected passed pawn,
and is thereby crippled. The blockade radiates influence. On the Queenside, he
can support the advance of his own majority, and on the other flank he puts
the requisite strength into an action by thef-pawn } 14. Be3 b6 15. Qd2 Re8 16. f4 $1 { There are several bad points to this. It opens the diagonal of the
Black KingBishop, and introduces a danger that Black may presently get control
of e5 } ( 16. Bh6 Bh8 ) ( 16. f3 -- 17. Rf2 -- 18. Bf1 { Holding operation worth considering } ) 16... Nc7 17. Rf2 $2 ( 17. h3 Ba6 18. f5 Ncb5 $15 ) 17... exf4 { Profiting from White's unprotected Queen Rook } 18. Bxf4 ( 18. gxf4 Nxe4 $1 19. Nxe4 Bxa1 ) 18... Ba6 ( 18... Nxe4 19. Bxe4 Rxe4 20. Nxe4 Bxa1 21. N2c3 $14 { Black has weak dark squares } ) 19. Re1 Qe7 20. g4 Be5 21. Bxe5 Qxe5 { There are now two blockaders in action - the familiar Knight at d6 and the
Queen at e5. The stronger a piece is intrinsically, the less suitable it is as
a blockader, since the strongest piece must always flee from the attack of any
other piece. The Black Queen is in fact a poor blockader, and White should now
maneuver his piece so as to driver heraway } 22. Ng3 $2 { This is a positional
blunder, moving the Knight to a point where it is even further from attacking
the Black Queen } ( 22. Kh1 f6 23. Ng1 Nf7 24. Nf3 Qd6 25. e5 $1 fxe5 26. Ne4 { In view of this line, Black would had to capture the Knight before it
left e2, and this would in any case have afforded some relief to White } ) 22... Re7 23. Bf1 Bc8 24. Be2 Bd7 25. Ref1 Rf8 26. Qc1 Nce8 $1 { The Knight is going to take over from the Queen as blockader at e5 } 27. Kh1 f6 28. Rg1 Ng7 ( 28... Nf7 { more to the point } ) 29. Bf3 Qg5 30. Qxg5 fxg5 { White now has two connected passed pawns but neither can advance } 31. Rgf1 Nge8 32. Be2 Rxf2 33. Rxf2 Kg7 34. h3 Nf6 35. Bf3 Be8 36. Re2 Nd7 37. Rd2 Ne5 { The ideal position: both Knight now function as blockaders } 38. Be2 b5 $1 { The Black majority comes into action } 39. Rc2 Rc7 40. Nd1 c4 41. bxc4 bxc4 42. Nc3 $2 ( 42. Nb2 c3 43. Nd3 { fighting e5 } ) 42... Kf6 43. Nb1 Rb7 44. Nd2 Ba4 $1 45. Rc1 Rb2 { A temporary pawn sacrifice for the purpose of forcing off the Rooks } 46. Nxc4 Nexc4 47. Bxc4 Bc2 $1 48. Bb3 Rb1 $1 49. Rxb1 Bxb1 { Now White's connected passed pawns are doomed } 50. Ne2 Bxe4+ 51. Kh2 Ke5 52. Nc3 Bd3 53. Kg3 Ne4+ 54. Nxe4 Bxe4 55. d6 Kxd6 { The battle is over. The
resulting endgame is won for Black, not so much because he has the extra pawn,
which is relatively unimportant, as because he has the good Bishop } 56. Bg8 h6 57. Bf7 Bd5 58. Bxg6 Bxa2 59. h4 a5 60. hxg5 hxg5 61. Kf3 a4 62. Ke3 Be6 63. Kd4 Bxg4 64. Kc4 Bd1 65. Bf5 Ke5 66. Bd7 Kf4 67. Kb4 Bc2 68. Kc3 Bb3 69. Kb4 Bf7 70. Kxa4 Bg6 71. Kb4 Bf5 72. Bc6 g4 73. Kc5 Be4 74. Bd7 g3 75. Bh3 Ke3 76. Kd6 Bf5 $1 77. Bg2 Kf2 0-1