LESSON: CANAL-HORVATH, BUDAPEST 1934

Esteban Canal-Imre Horvath

Budapest, 1934

1.e4 d5

The Scandinavian Defense. This is a good choice to open a chess game with Black, simply because White cannot avoid it if he or she begins the game with 1.e4! White must do something, because Black is attacking White's e4-pawn.

2.exd5 Qxd5

Black recaptures the pawn. Black can also play 2...Nf6 and sacrifice the pawn for quick piece development. Here, Black gets a solid position, but the queen gets kicked around a bit.

3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 c6

Black controls d5 and b5. This may seem like a strange move, but Black wants to make sure White does not steamroll him in the center.

5.Nf3 Bg4

A good spot for this piece.

6.Bf4 e6 7.h3

White "puts the question" to the bishop: it must either trade itself for the knight or move away.

7...Bxf3 8.Qxf3 Bb4

Aggressive, but sound.

9.Be2 Nd7 10.a3

White puts the question to the other bishop! Black decides to not do anything with it, however...

10...0-0-0

This is a losing move, but it is not easy to see why. In chess, players often think that the opponent cannot play a certain move, and when they do it anyway, it is a terrible shock.

11.axb4

Excellent! White sees to the end of the game. This is not a hard move to make, if you LOOK FOR IT and know the idea White has--it is common, actually.

11...Qxa1+ 12.Kd2

White says: "Take my rooks!" This was also the title of a chess book.

12...Qxh1 13.Qxc6+

Black resigned here. The finish would have been: 13...bxc6 14.Ba6#! This is a fairly common pattern, the queen sacrificing itself this way with the bishop-crossfire checkmate. Most of the time, it happens when one side castles queenside.

What did we learn from this game?

1. Openings that force the opponent to make a decision right away can be a good choice, because they cannot be avoided!

2. Be prepared for unexpected tactical shots from your opponent.

3. It is a good idea to become familiar with as many tactical themes as you can: by knowing the double-rook sacrifice and the bishop-crossfire checkmate, the move 11.axb4 was easy for White to play.

4. Don't assume your opponent cannot play a move: maybe there is a way to "make it work" that you didn't count on.