AVRO, 60 Years Ago... by Lev Khariton In the kaleidoscope of today's tournaments and supertournaments, we tend to forget many glorious chess events of the past. But even compared the most famous competitions, the AVRO tournament held in Holland in November 1938, sixty years ago this month, stands out as a unique event - primarily owing to the field of the elite grandmasters who participated in it. World Champion Alexander Alekhine, two former World Champions Jose Raoul Capablanca and Max Euwe and the would-be World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik, who won the title ten years later. The non- Champions were no less impressive: Salo Flohr of Czechoslovakia had been nominated one year before AVRO as FIDE's official challenger for the World Title. Samuel Reshevsky and Reuben Fine were two young American grandmasters who had achieved brilliant results in various competitions in the mid-30s. And, finally the 22-year-old Estonian Paul Keres who had already shown himself to be a dangerous match for the world's best chess players in several strong tournaments and chess olympiads. The AVRO tournament is sometimes compared to other outstanding events in chess history. For example, the Hastings tournament in 1895, the tournament in New York in 1927, the Nottingham tournament in 1936. No matter how strong these events were, the tailenders were relatively weak compared to AVRO (e.g., Hastings and Nottingham). From this point of view, the New York line-up was more balanced, but the presence of Lasker and Bogolyubov could have undoutely changed the course of events, while it seems that Vidmar, Marshall and Spielmann had already passed their peak and although being extraordinarily talented chess players, they could hardly be considered as serious contenders for a place in the chess elite, let alone seriously challenge for the World Title. Many years after, some chess historians have tried to draw parallels between AVRO and Montreal 1979 since three World Champions (Karpov, Tal, Spassky) participated in it. But the absence of Korchnoi, who was, probably, at that time in his peak form, was strongly felt, and such chess players as Andersson and Hubner have never been on a par with, let us say, Flohr or Keres. All this can certainly be argued; chess tastes, as all tastes, differ! In 1938 a major controversy existed in the chess world and the situation could be considered as chaotic as it is today. Alekhine had won a rematch defeating Euwe who was still a formidable opponent. In addition, there were some other players who had laid claim to the chess throne. Capablanca, who had lost to Alekhine in 1927, was still cherishing plans of another match with the great Russian. In order to help settle this dispute, a Dutch radio company, Allgemeene Vereenigung Radio-Omroep (AVRO) organized a tournament to consist of the eight strongest payers in the world at the time with the belief that the winner of the tournament, if not Alekhine himself, would earn the right to challenge him in the next World Championship match. When speaking about the AVRO tournament, we must not forget that it was played in November 1938, that is, after the Munich accords had been signed, and a new world war loomed inevitable. Salo Flohr, for example, who had previously accepted the invitation of organizers, asked to withdraw but to no avail. His country Czechoslovakia had already been occupied and his family devastated. Naturally, all this took its toll on his play and his results in the tournament. Reuben Fine, who later abandoned chess before the Hague-Moscow match-tournament in 1948, was already considering pursuing his academic endeavors before the start of AVRO. He also asked to withdraw, but his demand was refused as well. Years later in his book "Lessons from My Games" he tried to explain his success in AVRO. "Perhaps it was as a result of the decision to give up chess that I played with a new determination there".Arnold Denker in his wonderful memoirs "The Bobby Fischer I Knew" wrote an interesting chapter on Fine. Some quotes might not be irrelevant here: "...Fine tied with Paul Keres for first place at AVRO 1938, which was the strongest tournament held until that time and, for those of us who suspect that FIDE ratings have become outrageously inflated, the strongest tournament ever" Or "...Doubts are always the enemy of blind dedication, which is so essential for aspiring world champions. Unemployed from 1939 to 1941? Fine saw that a future dedicated to chess was bleak at best, and he obeyed the dictates of common sense, returning to school in the mid-1940s..." It was Fine who made the headlines by dashing ahead from the very start in this double-round super-tournament. He scored 5.5 out of the first six games. He won against Botvinnik, Reshevsky, Euwe, Flohr and Alekhine! The first disappointment came about in the 7th round when he lost to Keres who finished the first half of the tournament half a point behind Fine. They were clearly the two favorites, the others being at a respectable distance behind. However, in the second half of the competition, Keres made draws in all his games whereas Fine slowed down, losing two more games. The only consolation was that he beat Alekhine again, thus winning his mini-match against the World Champion. Incidentally, it was the only shut-out in the whole tournament, which was hard- fought, with Flohr being the only clear-cut tailender. He did not win a single game and with 4.5 points was 1.5 points behind Capablanca. For the Cuban grandmaster it was the worst showing in his career. In general Capablanca and Alekhine, the oldest participants of the tournament, complained that each round was played in a new town. Someone at the time said in jest that the grandmasters were combining tournament play with lessons in Dutch geography. They played in Amsterdam, the Hague, Rotterdam, Zwolle, Groningen... Thus, with 8.5 points out of 14 games, Keres and Fine tied for first; but the Estonian was awarded the victory on tie-breaks owing to better Berger coefficients. Keres achieved the right to challenge Alekhine to a match for the World Championship. Before the tournament in his speech to the participants and organizers Alekhine stated, that although the tournament was conceived as a sort of candidates' competition, he was not obliged to play a match with the winner of the tournament. Maybe, for this reason Botvinnik challenged Alekhine to a match shortly after the end of the AVRO tournament. However, the outbreak of World War II ended most chess activity. Botvinnik considered his third place in this tournament a serious failure. His victories in Moscow and Nottingham had made him feel confident that he could fight for the first place. However, more important than his relatively poor performance was the fact that he won two games - against Alekhine and Capablanca. And what games! Ever since they have been considered as Botvinnik's most outstanding masterpieces. His game against Capablanca is regarded by many as the 'immortal game' of the 20th century. What is especially important is that Botvinnik in these games demonstrated his complete strategic superiority over the famous champions. I do not know how many times I have analysed these two games, but I have come to the conclusion that Botvinnik was speaking a new language that neither Alekhine nor Capablanca could understand. The games are so well known that they need no commentary, but playing them over and over again gives hours of enjoyment. M Botvinnik -J.R. Capablanca 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Bd3 0-0 9.Ne2 b6 10.0-0 Ba6 11.Bxa6 Nxa6 12.Bb2 Qd7 13.a4 Rfe8 14.Qd3 c4 15.Qc2 Nb8 16.Rae1 Nc6 17.Ng3 Na5 18.f3 Nb3 19.e4 Qxa4 20.e5 Nd7 21.Qf2 g6 22.f4 f5 23.exf6 Nxf6 24.f5 Rxe1 25.Rxe1 Re8 26.Re6 Rxe6 27.fxe6 Kg7 28.Qf4 Qe8 29.Qe5 Qe7 (See Diagram) 30.Ba3!! Qxa3 31.Nh5+!! gxh5 32.Qg5+ Kf8 33.Qxf6+ Kg8 34.e7 Qc1+ 35.Kf2 Qc2+ 36.Kg3 Qd3+ 37.Kh4 Qe4+ 38.Kxh5 Qe2+ 39.Kh4 Qe4+ 40.g4 Qe1+ 41.Kh5 Black resigned. M. Botvinnik - A. Alekhine 1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e3 Nc6 7.Bc4 cxd4 8.exd4 Be7 9.0-0 0-0 10.Re1 b6 11.Nxd5 exd5 12.Bb5 Bd7 13.Qa4 Nb8 14.Bf4 Bxb5 15.Qxb5 a6 16.Qa4 Bd6 17.Bxd6 Qxd6 18.Rac1 Ra7 19.Qc2 Re7 20.Rxe7 Qxe7 21.Qc7 Qxc7 22.Rxc7 f6 23.Kf1 Rf7 24.Rc8+ Rf8 25.Rc3 g5 26.Ne1 h5 (See Diagram) 27.h4! Nd7 28.Rc7 Rf7 29.Nf3 g4 30.Ne1 f5 31.Nd3 f4 32.f3 gxf3 33.gxf3 a5 34.a4 Kf8 35.Rc6 Ke7 36.Kf2 Rf5 37.b3 Kd8 38.Ke2 Nb8 39.Rg6 Kc7 40.Ne5 Na6 41.Rg7+ Kc8 42.Nc6 Rf6 43.Ne7+ Kb8 44.Nxd5 Rd6 45.Rg5 Nb4 46.Nxb4 axb4 47.Rxh5 Rc6 48.Rb5 Kc7 49.Rxb4 Rh6 50.Rb5 Rxh4 51.Kd3 Black resigned. Possibly, Botvinnik's result in the tournament would have been better if he had avoided a terrible setback in his first-round game against Fine. What is more, Botvinnik lost with Black playing the French Defence - his successful weapon for years. Fine had prepared a novel continuation and Botvinnik was unable to find anything convincing over the board. This game is given here with Fine's annotations, but although he pinpoints Botvinnik's inaccuracy in this game, still it seems that Fine, like a circus magician, created an unexplainable miracle. R. Fine - M.Botvinnik, AVRO 1938. Notes by Reuben Fine based on those in "Lessons from My Games" Dover Publications, 1983 (originally published by David McKay Co. 1958) 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 With Black Botvinnik always plays either the French or the Sicilian, and I was prepared against both. It is curious that not a single player dared to try a Sicilian in the whole tournament. 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.dxc5 The prepared move. Actually 5.Bd2 is stronger, but the element of surprise is very important in a contest of this kind. 5...Ne7 Premature is 5...d4? 6.a3 dxc3 7.Qxd8+ Kxd8 8.axb4, with a superior endgame. 6.Nf3 Nbc6 7.Bd3 If, instead 7.Bd2 Ng6 8.Bb5 is forced, when 8...0-0 equalizes. 7...d4 8.a3 Ba5 Better than 8...dxc3 9.axb4 cxb2 10.Bxb2 Nxb4 11.Be4 with advantage to White. 9.b4 Nxb4 10.axb4 Bxb4 11.Bb5+ Setting a trap. The alternative 11.0-0 Bxc3 12.Rb1 to play for the attack, could also have been considered. 11...Nc6? The decisive blunder. Correct was 11...Bd7 12.Qxd4 Bxc3+ 13.Qxc3 Bxb5 14.Nd4 with equality. 12.Bxc6+! bxc6 13.Ra4! The point - White wins the Pawn back and dominates the position. 13...Bxc3+ 14.Bd2 f6 15.0-0 0-0 16.Bxc3 dxc3 17.Qe1 a5 18.Qxc3 Ba6 19.Rfa1 Bb5 Black feels choked, and would be only too glad to give up RP to get some freedom. 20.Rd4! White does not have to be in a hurry. After 20.Rxa5?? Rxa5 21.Qxa5 Qxa5 22.Rxa5 Rd8 Black can at least draw. 20...Qe7 21.Rd6 a4 22.Qe3 Ra7 (See Diagram) 23.Nd2! Now the defence collapses; the threat of c2-c4 is too strong. 23... a3 24.c4 Ba4 25.exf6! Qxf6 26.Rxa3 Re8 27.h3 A little air, just in case. 27... Raa8 28.Nf3 Qb2 29.Ne5 Qb1+ 30.Kh2 Qf5 31.Qg3. Black resigned. Botvinnik's resignation here was somewhat of a surprise to me, but the position is hopeless. White threatens Ra3-f3-f7 and Rd6-d7, to which there is no defence. If the game against Botvinnik was Fine's positional masterpiece, his game against Flohr showed him as an extremely imaginative tactical player. Special mention should made of Fine's highly original attacking manoeuvre - 12.Rc1 followed by 14.c4.. R. Fine - S. Flohr, AVRO 1938 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.Bd2 Ne7 6.Nf3 Nf5? 7.dxc5! Bxc5 8.Bd3 Nh4 9.0-0 Nc6 10.Re1 h6 11.Na4! Bf8 12.Rc1! Bd7 13.Nxh4 Qxh4 14.c4! dxc4 15.Rxc4 Qd8 16.Qh5! Ne7 17.Rd4! g6 18.Qf3 Qc7 19.Nc3 Nf5 20.Nb5 Qb6 (See Diagram) 21.Rxd7! Kxd7 22.g4 Nh4 23.Qxf7+ Be7 24.Bb4 Rae8 25.Bxe7 Rxe7 26.Qf6 a6 27.Rd1! axb5 28.Be4+ Kc7 29.Qxe7+. Black resigned. As previously noted, of special importance in the Fine-Keres race was the game between them in the seventh round. R.Fine - P. Keres, AVRO 1938 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Qe2 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a4 Bg4 9.c3 0-0 10.axb5 axb5 11.Rxa8 Qxa8 12.Qxb5 Na7 13.Qe2 Qxe4 14.Qxe4 Nxe4 15.d4 Bxf3 16.gxf3 Ng5 17.Kg2? This lands Fine in difficulties. After 17.Bxg5 Bxg5 18.dxe5 dxe5 19.Re1 Bf4 20.Re2 the chances are equal. 17... Rb8 18.Bc4 exd4 19.cxd4 Ne6 20.d5 Nc5 21.Nc3 Nc8 22.Re1 Kf8 23.Re2 f5? Keres considered that after 23...Rb4 24.Bb5 Na7 25.Bc6 Nxc6 26.dxc6 Rc4 28.Nd5 Ne6 Black could have won a pawn and eventually the game. 24.Nb5 Nb6 25.b3 Nxd5 26.Nd4 Nb4 27.Bd2? 27.Nxf5 Bf6 28.Bf4 should have been preferred. 27...d5! 28.Bxb4 Rxb4 29.Nc6 dxc4 30.Nxb4 cxb3 31.Nd5 Nd3 32.Rd2 b2 33.Rd1 c5? Keres found that Black could have won easily here after 33...Nc1 34.Nc3 Bb4 35.Nb1 c5 36.Kf1 c4. 34.Rb1 c4 35.Kf1 Bc5 36.Ke2 Bxf2 37.Ne3! It seems that now Black's pawns will fall. But Keres finds a problem-like move. (See Diagram) 37... c3!! 38.Nc2 Ne1! 39.Na3 Bc5 40.Kxe1 Bxa3 41.Kd1 Bd6 42.Kc2 Bxh2 43.Rh1 Be5 44.Rxh7 Kf7 45.Rh1 g5 46.Re1 Kf6 47.Rg1 Kg6 48.Re1 Bf6 49.Rg1 g4 50.fxg4 f4 51.g5 Bd4 52.Rd1 Be3 53.Kxc3 Bc1 54.Rd6+ Kxg5 55.Rb6 f3 56.Kd3 Kf4 57.Rb8 Kg3 White resigned. The AVRO tournament was the last major chess event before the Second World War. In this tournament the older grandmasters were pitted against the up-and-coming brilliant youth. Youth clearly triumphed in this event; a new era of chess players was to dominate the chess world for many years to come. But time passes by, and today all the participants of the famous tournament are gone. Capablanca and Alekhine passed away a long time ago, but the younger generation lived into the second half of the 20th century. In the 90s Reshevsky, Fine and Botvinnik left this world. The AVRO tournament belongs to the ages now... Final standings: Keres, Fine 8.5 (14) Botvinnik 7.5 Alekhine, Euwe, Reshevsky 7 Capablanca 6 Flohr 4.5