Jose Raul Capablanca - Juan Corzo
At just 12 years of age, Capablanca already displays one of the qualities that would make him a legend: his extraordinary mastery of the endgame. With simple, natural, and precise play, he simplifies the position into a bishop-versus-knight ending, where a distant passed pawn and the impeccable coordination of his pieces make all the difference. A remarkable demonstration of positional understanding and technical skill, allowing him to outplay Juan Corzo, one of the leading figures in Cuban chess at the time, and foreshadowing the genius of the future World Champion.
The moves, with the annotations
1. d4 f5 2. e4 The Staunton Gambit
2… fxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 c6 5. Bxf6 exf6 6. Nxe4 d5 7. Ng3 Qe7+ 8. Qe2 Qxe2+ 9. Bxe2 To be fair, Black has obtained a perfectly comfortable position. The position is symmetrical, but Black has the bishop pair, which gives them a slight advantage.
9… Bd6 10. Nf3 O-O 11. O-O Bg4 Although the move looks active, it causes Black to lose their way. It would be better to maintain this bishop on d7 or e6.
12. h3 Bxf3 Black gives up the main asset of their position: the bishop pair.
13. Bxf3 Bxg3 14. fxg3 Nd7 15. Rfe1 Rae8 16. Kf1 f5 17. Rxe8 Rxe8 18. Re1 Rxe1+ 19. Kxe1 Nf6 20. Kd2 Capablanca quickly activates his king.
20… Ne4+ 21. Ke3 Nd6 22. Be2 Kf7 23. Kf4 Kf6 24. h4 g6 25. g4 h6 26. g5+ hxg5+ 27. hxg5+ Ke7 28. g4 With this series of moves, Capablanca has achieved 3 things. 1. He has gained space on the kingside. 2. He has rid himself of his weakness. 3. He has a more active king. For these reasons, White has the better position.
28… fxg4 29. Bd3 Nf5 Black's final inaccuracy allows White to create a favorable imbalance.
30. Kxg4 Nxd4 31. Bxg6 c5 32. Kh5 Ne6 33. Kh6 The pawn needs the king's help to promote.
33… Kf8 34. Bf5 Ng7 35. Bc8 b6 36. g6 d4 37. b3 Kg8 38. a4 Black's majority has been paralyzed.
38… Kf8 39. Bg4 Ne8 40. Kh7 Ng7 41. Kh6 Ne8 42. Be2 Ng7 43. Bc4 Capablanca has improved his pieces as much as possible; they are all on optimal squares. As can be seen, there is no way to promote the pawn. However, the passed pawn is used as a decoy to win the queenside pawns.
43… Ne8 44. Kg5 Ke7 45. Kf5 Ng7+ 46. Ke5 Nh5 47. Be2 Ng7 48. Kd5 Ne8 49. Kc6 Ng7 50. Kb7 Kd6 51. Kxa7 Kc7 52. Ka6 Ne8 53. Bf3 Ng7 54. Bd5 Ne8 55. Bf7 Ng7 56. Kb5 Nf5 57. a5 Nd6+ 58. Ka6 bxa5 59. g7