[Event "New York"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1924.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Alekhine,A"]
[Black "Reti,R"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Lopez "Battle Royale""]
[ECO "E62"]
[PlyCount "87"]

1. d4 { Alekhine opens with his d-pawn, which should generally lead to a closed position. } 1... Nf6 { Reti's Knight leaps toward the center where, as you know, it will be well placed to take part in the action to come. } 2. c4 { By moving the c-pawn before playing Nc3, Alekhine ensures that the pawn's advance won't be blocked by the Knight. } 2... g6 { Reti advances the pawn to prepare a Bishop fianchetto (...Bg7). } 3. g3 { Alekhine will also fianchetto his Kingside Bishop. } 3... Bg7 { The Bishop moves to the long a1-h8 diagonal, from which it can easily influence the center. } 4. Bg2 { The White Bishop's move is the counterpart to Black's; White's Bishop now dominates the a8-h1 diagonal. } 4... O-O { Reti completes his Kingside development by castling, though it's not strictly necessary here (as the center pawns have not developed). } 5. Nc3 { Alekhine advances his Knight, a move he planned as far back as Move 2. } 5... d6 { By advancing the d-pawna single square, Reti paves the way for his c-pawn or e-pawn to advance two squares, possibly breaking up White's pawn center. } 6. Nf3 { Alekhine continues to develop usefully, moving his Kingside Knight toward the center. } 6... Nc6 { All of the Knights are now developed to their natural center-controlling squares. } 7. d5 { Alekhine plays a move with several purposes: the pawn advance attacks the c6-Knight, it controls two squares deep in Black's territory, and it makes it harder for Black to break the center by advancing the c- or e-pawn. } 7... Nb8 { If Reti plays ...Ne5, Alekhine would counter with Nxe5. After ...dxe5, the doubled e5-pawn becomes a weak target. The move ...Na5 is possible, but encourages White to harass the Knight by advancing the Queenside pawns. } 8. O-O { Satisfied with his space advantage and with Black's lack of immediate threats, Alekhine takes time to castle his King out of the center. } 8... Bg4 { Reti advances the Bishop, looking to trade it for White's Knight. } 9. h3 { Alekhine "puts the question" to the Bishop: either capture or retreat! } 9... Bxf3 { Reti swaps his Bishop for a Knight. But this exchange seems a little premature. With many pieces undeveloped and the position still somewhat unclear, it's a good idea to hang onto both Bishops until the position becomes better defined. } 10. exf3 { At first glance, this looks like it blocks the light-squared Bishop. But Alekhine has an idea... } 10... e6 { The old chess maxim says "When your position is cramped, free it by exchanging", which is exactly what Reti seeks to do here. } 11. f4 { Now we see the idea behind 10.exf3. The f4-pawn carves out space on the Kingside, the f1-Rook can slide over to e1 to command the e-file, and the light-squared Bishop on g2 once again controls the long diagonal. } 11... exd5 { Reti clears some space by swapping center pawns. His eventual goal is to plant a Knight on c6. } 12. cxd5 { Alekhine, of course, completes the swap, leaving him with an isolated pawn on d5. } 12... c5 { Reti really isn't too concerned with making the d5-pawn a target. The fact that he has a pawn on d6, directly in front of the isolated White pawn, means that the White pawn will be hard to attack anyway (the Rooks and Queen can't get at it along the d-file). So Reti advances his c-pawn, inviting White to capture en passant. } 13. dxc6 { The rules for en passant capture state that it must be done immediately or not at all, so Alekhine snaps up the pawn. } 13... Nxc6 { And Reti has his second Knight out. But his d-pawn is now isolated (plus it's advanced only one square), so it may become a liability later. } 14. Be3 { Alekhine develops his last minor piece. 14.Bd2 was out of the question, as the Bishop would then block the Queen's influence along the d-file. } 14... Qd7 { Reti pushes the Queen forward. This gets the Queen a bit more play along the c8-h3 diagonal, as well as opens up the square d8 for occupation by a Rook (adding to the defense of the isolated d6-pawn). } 15. Qa4 { Alekhine completes his development by pinning the c6-Knight (should the Knight move, the Black Queen is hanging undefended. Notice, though, that the c3-Knight guards the White Queen). } 15... Rac8 { Rooks belong on open files, as the old adage says. } 16. Rad1 { White puts pressure on the d6-pawn as well as indirectly attacks the Black Queen (by pinning the pawn). Alekhine is planning Bc5, piling up on the d6-pawn (...dxc5 would be impossible due to the reply Rxd7). } 16... b6 { Reti keeps the White Bishop off of c5 by controlling the square with a pawn. } 17. b3 { Alekhine overprotects the Queen. Both the b3-pawn and the c3-Knight defend the Queen; now either one of them is free for another duty should the need arise. } 17... Rfd8 { Reti adds another defender to the d6-pawn, in anticipation of White's Nb5 (which would attack the pawn). } 18. Rd3 { Alekhine clears d1 for the second Roook. He plans to double the Rooks on the d-file and put further pressure on the d6-pawn. } 18... Ne7 { Reti's thought here is to relieve some of the pressure on his center by swapping off the Queens. } 19. Nb5 { Alekhine will have none of it. He deftly blocks the Queen swap and adds another attacker to the push against d6. } 19... d5 { Sometimes the best way to defend a threatened pawn is to advance it. Rather than scramble to find another defender for the pawn, Reti advances it to a square already controlled by four of his pieces. Now the pawn is attacked just once and securely overprotected. } 20. Nxa7 { Alekhine begins operations against Black's Queenside pawns, which will quickly melt away. } 20... Ra8 { Pinning the White Knight. Even if the White Queens moves, Black still thrusts at the a2-pawn with an x-ray attack. Unfortunately, the Rook must abandon the open c-file to make this possible. } ( 20... Qxa4 $5 { Swapping the Queens immediately was another possibility (and better than what was actually played). } 21. bxa4 { The obvious recapture. } 21... Rc2 { The Rook slides down the open file to attack the a2-pawn. } 22. Bxb6 { White gobbles the second pawn. Black might play ...Rxa2 here or may try another threat (such as attacking one of White's minor pieces with his d-Rook). Either way, White retains a pawn advantage, the Bishop pair, and a freer position. } ) 21. Bxb6 { White grabs up the last Queenside pawn. } 21... Qxa4 { Reti makes the Queen swap. } 22. bxa4 { Alekhine must recapture. Compare this board position to the one after 22.Bxb6 in the last variation we looked at. The positions are identical save for one Black Rook, which is on a8 here, as opposed to c2 in the variation. The Rook would have better chances of winning a pawn if it was on c2 than it does at its present post. This is why 20...Qxa4 was better. } 22... Rd7 { Reti's plan is 23...Rxa7 24.Bxa7 Rxa7, winning two minor pieces for a Rook. } 23. Nb5 { Alekhine must retreat the Knight to save his minor pieces... } 23... Rxa4 { ...but does so at the cost of a pawn. } 24. Nc3 { Alekhine attacks the marauding Rook. } 24... Ra6 { Reti retreats the Rook with a threat to the b6-Bishop. } 25. Rb1 { The Rook defends the threatened Bishop. Alekhine might have retreated the Bishop instead, but chose to leave it at its current post, as it controls a number of squares in the heart of Black's position. } 25... Rb7 { Reti strikes at the Bishop a second time... } 26. Bc5 { ...forcing Alekhine to withdraw it to a safer square. } 26... Rxb1+ { Reti, concerned about future threats to his isolated d-pawn, decides to do a little board-clearing to head for an endgame. } 27. Nxb1 { Alekhine completes the trade. } 27... Nc6 { Reti is intending to play ...Ra5, so the Knight advances to provide coverage for that square. } 28. Nc3 { Alekhine replies by putting pressure on the isolated pawn. } 28... Ra5 { Reti attacks the hanging Bishop. The idea is to force the Bishop to move so that the a5-Rook will help defend the d-pawn. But this seems a bit awkward. } 29. Bb6 { The Bishop moves (of course) but to a square from which it threatens the a5-Rook. } 29... Ra6 { The Rook creates another threat to the Bishop. By keeping White off-balance this way, Reti doesn't give his opponent time to capture the isolated pawn. } ( 29... Ra3 { This was another possibility to consider. The Rook pins the Knight to the White Rook. } 30. Bf1 { The Bishop defends the Rook, allowing the Knight to move. But White's pieces seem a bit uncoordinated. } ) 30. Bc5 { Alekhine merely moves the Bishop back to its former post. } 30... Ra5 { Reti, a pawn down, is only too happy to repeat the position. } 31. Be3 { Alekhine must find another plan, as he is unwilling to settle for a draw. The Bishop now goes to the only other square that makes sense. } 31... Nb4 { Reti keeps the pressure up by attacking the d3-Rook. } 32. Rd2 { The Rook must withdraw. } 32... h6 { Having done all he can on the Queenside, Reti now turns his attention to the Kingside. } 33. a4 { Alekhine advances the pawn, taking space away from the a5-Rook (the pawn is guarded by the Knight on c3). } 33... Ne4 { Reti sees a way to try to improve his position. He begins by attacking the Rook on d2. } 34. Nxe4 { The Knight swap is forced, as White has no way to save both the Rook and the c3-Knight. } 34... dxe4 { The obvious conclusion to the trade. } 35. Rd8+ { Alekhine picks up a tempo by attacking the King. } 35... Kh7 { Moving the King to safety is better than ...Bf8 as the latter move just pins the Bishop. } 36. Bxe4 { Alekhine snares the hanging pawn... } 36... Rxa4 { ...and Reti returns the favor. The idea of these exchanges was to eliminate the central and Queenside pawns. Now Reti's Knight will be as valuable as a Bishop in an endgame with pawns on just one side of the board. Now his problem is how to get his Knight back across the board. } 37. f5 { Alekhine wants to play fxg6 fxg6. His pawns will then be undoubled and his 3-2 pawn majority should be capable of promotion. } 37... Ra6 { Covering c6 so that the Knight can start crossing back over to the Kingside. } 38. h4 { Preventing ...g6-g5. } 38... h5 { Likewise grabbing space and making it difficult for the White g-pawn to advance. } 39. g4 { Surprise! White is unafraid of ...hxg4, as Black will have doubled g-pawns. } 39... Ra5 { Reti puts flank pressure on the Kingside pawns. } 40. fxg6+ { Alekhine breaks up the Black pawns around the King. } 40... fxg6 { Reti recaptures, but he's in dire straits. His g-pawn is now pinned. } 41. gxh5 { Alekhine picks at the pawns around the White King. There is now a threat of mate: hxg6! } 41... Rxh5 { It was either this or the awful ...Bf6. } 42. Bg5 { And now the Black Rook is cut off. } 42... Bc3 { Reti gives his King a bit of breathing room, but it's a pretty hopeless situation. Black could resign here. } 43. Rd7+ { By checking the King, Alekhine forces it to the back rank. } 43... Kg8 { ...Kh8 was also possible, though iy would hardly make a difference. } 44. Bxg6 { With his King cornered and its protection gone, Reti calls it a day and resigns. } 1-0