[Event "New York"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1924.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Janowski,D"]
[Black "Yates,F"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Lopez "Battle Royale""]
[ECO "A48"]
[PlyCount "162"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bf4 Bg7 4. h3 O-O 5. e3 d6 6. Bc4 Nc6 7. O-O Nd7 8. Nc3 h6 9. Qd2 e5 10. Bg3 { There's no point in Janowski capturing the e-pawn; it's defended three times. } ( 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Nxe5 Ncxe5 12. Bxe5 Nxe5 ) 10... Kh7 11. Rad1 { Janowski has built a battery on the d-file, anticipating a time when the file opens up. } 11... Nb6 12. Be2 Qe7 13. Rfe1 Bd7 14. Bd3 { Pinning the g6-pawn. But why didn't he do this on move 12 (when he retreated the Bishop from c4)? } 14... Rae8 { Yates creates his own e-file battery. } ( 14... f5 { Blocking the pin. } ) ( 14... Nb4 { Chasing the Bishop. } ) 15. dxe5 dxe5 16. e4 Nb4 17. Bf1 ( 17. Be2 { This would block the e1-Rook's defense of the e4-pawn. } ) 17... Rd8 18. Qc1 { Janowski hates to break up his d-file battery but it would be very dangerous for the White Queen to remain on the same file as the d8-Rook. } 18... f6 { The pawn now blocks the path of its own Bishop on g7. } ( 18... f5 { This was certainly better. } 19. exf5 Bxf5 20. Bxe5 Rxd1 21. Qxd1 Nxc2 22. Bxg7 Qxg7 23. Re2 Nb4 { The position is even. } ) 19. a3 Nc6 20. Nd5 Nxd5 21. exd5 Nb8 22. c4 b6 23. Bd3 Be8 { Clearing the path for the d8-Rook along the d-file and defending the g6-pawn. } 24. Qc2 Nd7 25. b4 { Preventing ...Nc5. } 25... a5 26. Nd4 { After Ne6, both Black Rooks and the c7-pawn will be forked. } 26... Rc8 { Yates gets the Rook out of harm's way and defends the c7-pawn, taking the bite out of Ne6. } 27. Ne6 { The e6-square is still a nice outpost for the Knight (it now commands six squares on Black's half of the board). } 27... Rg8 28. c5 bxc5 29. bxc5 Bf7 30. c6 { Janowski hurts himself with this move. He should have kept up the pressure with 30.f4 or 30.Bh4. The move he actually played allows Black to free his game by making exchanges. } ( 30. f4 { And Black can't play ...exf4. } 30... Bf8 ( 30... exf4 31. Ng5+ hxg5 32. Rxe7 Ne5 { White has a huge material advantage and can try almost anything here. } ) ( 30... Nf8 31. Nxg7 Rxg7 32. fxe5 fxe5 33. Bxe5 { Threatening Bxf7 with the secondary threat of Rxe7. } ) 31. c6 { And now c6 works. } 31... Nb6 { White has a big lead. The e6-Knight controls a lot of space in Black's camp and the c- and d-pawns have driven a wedge into Black's position, separating his forces. } ) ( 30. Bh4 { Pinning the f6-pawn to the Black Queen. } ) 30... Nf8 { Yates intends to play ...Nxe6 (splitting up the White c-and d-pawns) and then either ...Bxe6 or ...Qxe6. } 31. f4 Nxe6 32. dxe6 Qxe6 33. f5 Qe8 ( 33... gxf5 { Obviously not } 34. Bxf5+ { with a nasty fork of the Black King and Queen. } ) 34. Be4 gxf5 35. Bxf5+ Bg6 36. Rd7 Bxf5 37. Qxf5+ Qg6 { Yates is trying like mad to trade down to an endgame in which he'll have a one pawn advantage. He'd like to exchange Queens here. } 38. Qf3 Kh8 39. Re4 Rce8 40. Rg4 Qb1+ 41. Kh2 Re6 42. Qd5 Qf5 43. Rxc7 h5 44. Rh4 Bh6 45. Qf3 Qxf3 46. gxf3 { Yates has achieved his Queen exchange, And is about to win a pawn. A further source of advantage lies in positional factors, in this case that all of White's pawns are isolated and can't defend each other. } 46... Rd6 47. Rxh5 Rd2+ 48. Kh1 Rxg3 49. Rxh6+ Kg8 { Now this is a little scary for White. Yates must tread cautiously due to the position of the Black Rooks. } 50. Rd7 Rdg2 ( 50... Rxd7 { Completely awful. } 51. cxd7 { Nothing can now stop the pawn's promotion on d8. } ) 51. Rd1 { Otherwise ...Rg1+ leads to mate. } 51... Kg7 52. Rh4 Rc2 53. Rg1 { The Black Rooks are more active than their White counterparts (that is, they have more freedom of movement and can easily create threats). Janowski decides to cut down on this counterplay by sacrificing a pawn in order to get a pair of Rooks off the board.
 
So why Rg1 instead of Rg4+? It's really time to flip a coin -- both have merit. After 53.Rg1 Rxg1+ 54.Kxg1 the White King edges over toward the board's center (which is where you want your King in the endgame). After 53.Rg4+ Rxg4 54.hxg4 White unites his disconnected Kingside pawns. } ( 53. Rg4+ Rxg4 54. hxg4 Rxc6 ) 53... Rxg1+ 54. Kxg1 Rxc6 55. Ra4 Rc5 56. Kf2 { As expected, the White King edges closer to the center. } 56... f5 57. Kg3 Kf6 58. f4 ( 58. h4 { It's an old chess maxim that "passed pawns must be pushed". Janowski would have done better had he pushed the h-pawn. Even a King move would have been better than 58.f4. } ) 58... e4 { Uh-oh. Janowski was evidently expecting ...exf4+ to be followed by Kxf4 or Rxf4. Now Yates has a passed e-pawn. } 59. Kh4 Ke6 60. Rd4 Rb5 61. Ra4 Kd5 62. Kg3 Rc5 63. Kf2 Ke6 64. Kg3 Rc3+ 65. Kh4 Rf3 { Janowski is on the horns of a dilemma. The f4-pawn is threatened by the Rook, but if the King comes to the f-pawn's rescue, the h-pawn gets taken off. } 66. Kg5 Rxh3 67. Rxa5 Rg3+ 68. Kh5 Rg4 69. Re5+ Kf6 { And now Janowski is in the soup. It's all over for White now, barring any blunders by Yates. } 70. Re8 Rxf4 71. a4 Rf3 72. Kh4 Ra3 73. Ra8 { The a4-pawn is protected by the White Rook, but can never promote (the Rook is in the way of its own pawn). Meanwhile the White King can't stop the Black King and pawn pair. The game is dead lost for White. } 73... Ke5 74. Kg5 Rg3+ 75. Kh5 { The Black Rook shuts out the White King. } 75... e3 76. a5 ( 76. Re8+ { Pointless. } 76... Kf4 { The f5-pawn screens the Black King from the White Rook. } ) 76... Kf4 77. a6 Rg1 78. a7 Ra1 79. Kg6 Ra6+ 80. Kh5 e2 81. Re8 Kf3 ( 81... Kf3 82. Rxe2 Kxe2 83. Kg5 Rxa7 84. Kxf5 { And it's a simple win for Black. } ) 0-1