Late Knight by Richard Forster The Reti System New York 1924, one of the most significant tournaments of all time, is nowadays mostly remembered for the great race for top honours between Emanuel Lasker and Jose Raul Capablanca as well as for its outstanding tournament book by Alexander Alekhine. However, NY 24 was also the tournament of Richard Reti, the deep thinker and revolutioniser of chess theory. In the previous year he had introduced his new system with 1 Nf3 into practice, and in New York it was to be tested against all the top notch players of the time. Would Reti's new ideas stand the test and preparation of the biggest capacities in the World, or would his ideas be shot full of holes? A look at the tournament table shows that Reti did well, very well even. And if he hadn't had such a disastrous result as Black (-4!!), he could easily have achieved a much better ranking than fifth which was already highly creditable. Reti won seven out of his ten White games more than any other player in the tournament. This was the final proof of the validity of the new system, and 1 Nf3 was soon being copied by players all over the World. To realise just how successful Reti was with his new opening approach, do a statistical survey on your database. For the criteria "Reti" and "ECO-Code A00-A99" I got a stunning result of +44 =16 8 from the ChessBase Megabase! Now back to how Reti fared with his system in New York. You may remember that each day lots were drawn to decide who would play whom. Thus the players could not prepare for the individual game but on the other hand the colours where distributed unevenly over the tournament (in the end, of course, they had all played the others once with each colour). I am sure this unusual procedure did not favour Reti, who would have welcomed a more standard alternating of colours, rather than playing Black in several consecutive games. A particularly black series struck him just before the final round when he lost three times in a row. Round Three: Reti's first White, against Marączy, opened with 1 Nf3 c5 2 g3 Nc6 3 Bg2 g6 4 c4 Bg7 5 Nc3 d6 6 d3 etc., thus reaching what we would call nowadays a Symmetrical English. With energetic play Reti obtained a dangerous initiative on the queenside. However, on move 25 he rushed forward too hastily and allowed his opponent to start a strong counter-attack which led to a draw. Reti-Marączy 1 Nf3 c5 2 g3 Nc6 3 Bg2 g6 4 c4 Bg7 5 Nc3 d6 6 d3 Bd7 7 0-0 Rb8 8 Be3 Nd4 9 Qd2 h5 10 Rab1 Bc6 11 b4 Nxf3+ 12 exf3 b6 13 d4 cxd4 14 Bxd4 Nf6 15 Nd5! 0-0 16 Nxf6+ exf6 17 Be3 Qd7 18 Rfd1 Rbd8 19 b5 Ba8 20 c5 bxc5 21 Bxc5 Rfe8 22 Qa5 Qf5 23 Bxa7 Bxf3 24 Bxf3 Qxf3 25 b6? After 25 Bd4 (25...h4 26 Qc3) or 25 Qb4 White would probably have won. Now Black's counter-attack guarantees him equality. 25...h4! 26 Rd4 Re5 27 Qa6 hxg3 28 hxg3 Rh5 29 Rh4 Rxh4 30 gxh4 Qg4+ 31 Kf1 Qh3+ 32 Kg1 Qg4+ Drawn. Round Five saw Reti beating Capablanca in fine style the great Cuban's first loss in eight years immediately went around the globe. Again it was not a proper Reti System (1 Nf3 d5 2 c4) but it was nevertheless a magnificent example of a flank attack spreading from the queenside all over the board. Reti-Capablanca 1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 b4!? Bg7 4 Bb2 0-0 5 g3 b6 6 Bg2 Bb7 7 0-0 d6 8 d3 Nbd7 9 Nbd2 e5 10 Qc2 Re8 11 Rfd1! a5 12 a3 h6 13 Nf1 c5 14 b5! Nf8 15 e3!? Qc7 16 d4 Be4! 17 Qc3?! The queen is safer on c1 although Black can also equalise after 17 Qc1 exd4 18 exd4 Ne6. 17...exd4 18 exd4 N6d7? Losing the thread. 18...Ne6! promises good play. 19 Qd2! cxd4?! Opening the position turns out to be favourable for White, whose forces are better co-ordinated. Preferable is 19...Rad8 20 dxc5 dxc5 21 Bxg7 Kxg7 22 Qb2+ Kg8 23 Ne3 and White's advantage is still limited. 20 Bxd4 Qxc4 21 Bxg7 Kxg7 22 Qb2+! Kg8 23 Rxd6 Qc5 24 Rad1 Reti's advantage is obvious now. Watch out for his knights, which suddenly become very active. 24...Ra7 25 Ne3! Qh5 26 Nd4! Bxg2 27 Kxg2 Qe5 Winning a piece with 27...Rxe3 28 fxe3 Qxd1 is not advisable because of 29 Nf5!, and Black must lose his queen or get mated. 28 Nc4! Qc5 Or 28...Qe4+ 29 f3! Qb7 30 Qd2! and Black soon collapses. 29 Nc6! Rc7 30 Ne3 Ne5 31 R1d5! Black resigns. Capablanca had enough and did not want to see 31...Nc4 32 Rxc5 Nxb2 33 Rc2 Na4 34 Nd5!, which would have caused him some major material damage. Round Six saw not only the well-known endings Capablanca Tartakower and Emanuel Lasker Edward Lasker but also the first "real Reti" in this tournament with an intriguing development scheme for White's queenside: Reti-Yates 1 Nf3 d5 2 c4 e6 3 g3 Nf6 4 Bg2 Bd6 5 b3 0-0 6 0-0 Re8 7 Bb2 Nbd7 8 d3 Later it was discovered that with Black preparing so hard for ...e5, 8 d4! was a stronger continuation (see Reti's game against Bogoljubow). 8...c6 9 Nbd2 e5! 10 cxd5 cxd5 11 Rc1 Nf8 12 Rc2! The ingenious manoeuvre Ra1-c1-c2 in order to play Qd1-a1, adding to the pressure on the a1-h8 diagonal, was one of the most fundamental inventions by Reti in this sort of position. It has been played hundreds of times since then. But imagine how these moves must have been looked at when Reti played them for the first time! Actually he had done so once before, against Felix Fischer at Vienna, 1923. That game went 1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 g3 d5 4 Bg2 c6 5 b3 Nbd7 6 Bb2 Be7 7 0-0 0-0 8 d3 b6 9 Nbd2 Bb7 10 Rc1 Rc8 11 Rc2 c5 12 Qa1 Bd6 13 cxd5 exd5 14 Nh4 Re8 15 Nf5 Bf8 16 Nc4! Qc7 17 Nce3 Qb8 18 Bxf6 Nxf6 19 Nh6+! gxh6 20 Qxf6 d4 21 Bxb7 Qxb7 22 Nf5 Rc6 23 Qh4 Rg6 24 e4 b5 25 Qf4 Qd7 26 Ra1 Rc8 27 a4 Ra6 28 Rac1 bxa4 29 bxa4 Rxa4 30 Rxc5! Rxc5 31 Qg4+ Kh8 32 Rxc5 Rb4 33 Rd5 Qc8 34 Qh4 Qc1+ 35 Kg2 Rb1 36 Rd8 Qf1+ 37 Kf3 Qxd3+ 38 Kf4 Qd2+ 39 Kg4 and Black resigned. An impressive debut for "queen castling"! 12...Bd7 Alekhine preferred 12...Bf5! 13 Qa1 N8d7. 13 Qa1 Ng6 14 Rfc1 An additional advantage of the Reti manoeuvre White can double rooks on the c-file! 14...Bc6? Yates does not find the right plan in this new kind of position. He should have tried to neutralise White's pressure against e5 either by 14...Qe7 (Alekhine) or 14...b5!? 15 Nf1 Qb8 (Nimzowitsch). The text move leaves f5 unguarded. 15 Nf1 Qd7 16 Ne3 h6? Here 16...d4 was necessary to prevent the following break after which the latent energy in White's position is unleashed. In 1924, however, such "passive" set-ups and their potential for sudden activity were still underestimated by most masters. 17 d4! e4 Forced as 17...exd4 18 Nxd4 is just horrible. 18 Ne5! And that's why Black should have over-protected e5 earlier... 18...Bxe5 19 dxe5 Nh7 20 f4! exf3 21 exf3 Ng5 22 f4 Nh3+ 23 Kh1 d4 24 Bxd4 Rad8 (See Diagram) 25 Rxc6! bxc6 26 Bxc6 Nf2+ 27 Kg2 Qxd4 28 Qxd4 Rxd4 29 Bxe8 Ne4 30 e6! Rd2+ 31 Kf3 and Black resigns. Round Seven brings us another smooth victory with the system. White's set-up is quite different from the one in the Yates game. However, as Reti pointed out, "it is the aim of the modern school not to treat every position according to one general law, but according to the principle inherent in the position." (Modern Ideas in Chess) Thus if the position necessitated play for a space advantage, he did not hesitate to push pawns on both wings and in the centre. Reti-Edward Lasker 1 Nf3 d5 2 c4 e6 3 g3 c6 4 b3 Nf6 5 Bg2 Ne4? Intending 6 Bb2 Qb6 but he loses too much time. 6 Qc2 Be7 7 Bb2 0 0 8 0 0 Nd7 9 d3 Ng5 10 Nbd2 Nxf3+ 11 Nxf3 Bf6 12 d4! Taking space. 12...Re8 13 e4 Nb6 14 Ne5! Bd7 15 Ng4! Rc8 16 Nxf6+ Qxf6 17 a4 Red8 18 a5 Taking more space. 18...Na8 19 e5 And more. 19...Qg6 20 Qe2 Nc7 21 Ba3 Na6 22 Rfe1 Be8 23 Bd6 f5 24 f4 Qh6 25 Bf3 g5 26 Ra2 gxf4 27 gxf4 Rd7 28 Qe3 Rg7+ 29 Rg2 Rxg2+ 30 Kxg2! Bh5 31 Bxh5 Qxh5 If there was ever a good bishop against a bad knight, then it must have been in this position. 32 Rg1 Kf7 33 Kh1 Rg8 34 Rxg8 Kxg8 35 cxd5 cxd5 36 b4! The knight is not only bad, it is also in big danger of being dead! 36...Kf7 37 Qd3! Qh4 38 Qf1! Preventing all counter-play. 38...Qd8 39 Qh3 Kg8 40 Qg3+ Kf7 41 Qg5! Qc8 42 b5! R‚ti has calculated that he does not have to fear the queen checks because his king will find a haven on h6. And if Black picks up the b5 pawn, he will be mated by queen and bishop. 42...Qc1+ 43 Kg2 Qd2+ 44 Kh3 Qe3+ 45 Kh4 Qe1+ 46 Kh5 Qe2+ 47 Kh6 Qxh2+ 48 Qh5+ Qxh5+ 49 Kxh5 Now the poor horse's days on the board are definitely over. 49...Kg7 50 bxa6 bxa6 51 Bc5 Kf7 52 Kh6 Kg8 53 Bxa7 Kh8 54 Bb6 Kg8 55 Bd8 Kh8 56 Bh4 Black resigns. In Round Eleven Reti opened against Tartakower with his pet move 1 Nf3, but after 1...g6 2 e4 c5 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 d6 a standard position from the Sicilian Dragon arose. Reti showed that he was well acquainted with the subtleties of that line too, and won a fine positional game. Reti-Tartakower 1 Nf3 g6 2 e4 c5 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 d6 6 Be2 Bg7 7 0-0 Nc6 8 Be3 0-0 9 Nb3 Be6 10 f4 Qc8 11 h3 Ne8 12 Qd2 f5 13 exf5 gxf5 14 Rae1 Kh8 15 Nd4 Bg8 16 g4 Nxd4 17 Bxd4 e5 18 Be3 fxg4 19 Bxg4 Be6 20 f5 Bxf5 21 Rxf5 Rxf5 22 Qd3 e4 23 Nxe4 h5 24 Ng3 hxg4 25 Nxf5 Qe6 26 Re2 Be5 27 Bd4 Nf6 28 hxg4 Rg8 29 Bxe5 dxe5 30 Rh2+ Nh7 31 Ne3 Rg7 32 Qd8+ Rg8 33 Qd3 Rg7 34 Qe4 Kg8 35 Rd2 Nf6 36 Rd8+ Kf7 37 Qxb7+ Kg6 38 Qf3 Kg5 39 Rd2 e4 40 Qg3 Rd7 41 Rxd7 Nxd7 42 Qf2 Nc5 43 Qf5+ Qxf5 44 gxf5 Na4 45 b3 Nc3 46 a4 a5 47 Kf2 Na2 48 Ke2 Kf6 49 Kd2 Nb4 50 Kc3 Ke5 51 f6 Kxf6 52 Kd4 Ke6 53 Kxe4 Kd6 54 Kd4 Nc6+ 55 Kc4 Na7 56 c3 Kc6 57 Kd4 Kb6 58 Nc4+ Ka6 59 Kd5 Nc8 60 Ke6 Nb6 61 Nxb6 Kxb6 62 Kd6 Ka6 63 Kc6 Ka7 64 Kb5 Kb7 65 Kxa5 Ka7 66 b4 Kb7 67 b5 Ka7 68 b6+ Kb7 69 Kb5 Kb8 70 Ka6 Ka8 71 b7+ Kb8 72 c4 Kc7 73 Ka7 Kc6 74 b8Q and finally Black resigns. Round Twelve saw Reti improving on the Yates game with 8 d4! His elegant win against Bogoljubow earned him the first brilliancy prize. In Round Thirteen Reti was White again, and this time Alekhine was his victim. Note that Reti chooses the same system which Emanuel Lasker is going to use against him later with reversed colours! Reti-Alekhine 1 Nf3 g6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Bf4 Bg7 4 h3 c5 5 e3 b6 6 Nbd2 Bb7 7 Bd3 0 0 8 0 0 d6 9 c3 Nbd7 10 Qe2 Rc8 11 a4 Re8 12 Ba6 Qc7 13 a5 cxd4 14 exd4 e5 15 dxe5 dxe5 16 Be3 Nd5 17 axb6 axb6 18 Bxb7 Qxb7 19 Rfd1 e4? 20 Nd4 f5? 21 Nb5! As against Capablanca, Reti's knights cause havoc in the opponent's camp. 21...f4 Desperation, but there was no fully adequate answer to the threats of Nc4 and Ra7. 22 Nd6 Qc6 23 Nxe8 Rxe8 24 Qc4! Ne5 25 Qxc6 Nxc6 26 Nc4 Nxc3 27 bxc3 fxe3 28 Nxe3 Bxc3 29 Rac1 Nd4 30 Kf1 Nb5 31 Rd5 and Black resigns. In Round Fifteen Reti misplayed the opening against Marshall. After 1 Nf3 d5 2 c4 Nf6?! 3 cxd5 Nxd5 he chose the weak 4 d4, which gave Marshall a fine game after 4...Bf5 5 Nc3 e6 6 Qb3 Nc6! The American grandmaster later won with a pretty attack. In Round Sixteen Reti faced Emanuel Lasker. Unlike in his game against Lasker at Maehrisch-Ostrau the previous year, where after 1 Nf3 d5 Reti had chickened out with 2 d4, this time he stuck to his system. Lasker was well prepared and demonstrated that the "London System", which had gained some popularity two years earlier, was also playable with Black. With some minor modifications (...Be7 instead of ...Bd6 and the insertion of ...h6) his system is still one of Black's main antidotes to the Reti System nowadays. Reti-Emanuel Lasker 1 Nf3 d5 2 c4 c6 3 b3 Bf5 4 g3 Nf6 5 Bg2 Nbd7 6 Bb2 e6 7 0-0 Bd6 As stated above, the modern interpretation is slightly different from Lasker's, for example 7...h6 8 d3 Be7 9 Nbd2 0-0 10 Rc1 a5 11 a3 Re8 12 Rc2 Bh7 13 Qa1 Bf8 etc. (Capablanca-Lilienthal, Moscow 1936). 8 d3 0-0 9 Nbd2 e5 10 cxd5 cxd5 11 Rc1 Reti sticks to his patent plan, but with Black having played ...e6-e5 already it was later established as being less effective. Instead an immediate central pawn break with 11 e4! gives White good play, viz. 11 e4! dxe4 12 dxe4 Bxe4 13 Nxe4 Nxe4 14 Nh4 Ndf6 15 Qe2 or 11...Bg4 12 exd5 Nxd5 13 Nc4 with the initiative. 11...Qe7 12 Rc2 Preparing e4 with 12 Re1 still made a lot of sense. The next moves show that Lasker has studied Reti's favourite set-up thoroughly. 12...a5! 13 a4 This weakening of b4 and b3 is virtually forced because otherwise ...a5-a4 is very annoying. 13...h6 With the preventive retreat of the bishop to h7 Lasker takes the sting out of e4 or Nh4. 14 Qa1 Rfe8 15 Rfc1 Bh7 16 Nf1 Nc5! Instead 16...e4 17 dxe4 dxe4 18 Nd4 e3 19 Nxe3 Bxc2 20 Rxc2 would be exactly what White desires. The activity of all his pieces more than compensates for the slight material deficit. 17 Rxc5!? This exchange sacrifice is not as strong as the one mentioned above, but without it the pressure against b3 and b4 (after ...Na6) would be uncomfortable. 17...Bxc5 18 Nxe5 Rac8 Challenging the knight immediately with 18...Bd6 was stronger. 19 Ne3 Qe6 20 h3 Bd6? A better continuation was 20...Red8 (or 20...b6) in order to play ...d4 or force White to play d3-d4 himself. In either case the dangerous battery on the long black diagonal would be neutralised. 21 Rxc8 Rxc8 22 Nf3? It is difficult to understand why Reti refrains from the natural 22 N5g4!, which at least wins another pawn and offers White excellent possibilities. 22...Be7 23 Nd4 Qd7 White has good squares for his pieces, but how to continue? Reti detects a most original manoeuvre which forms a perfect supplement to the earlier "standard moves" Ra1-c1-c2 and Qd1- a1: 24 Kh2! h5! 25 Qh1! The classical players must have shuddered... However, were it not for Lasker's inventive counter-play Reti might have even won this game easily! 25...h4!? Lasker has decided to sacrifice the d5 pawn in order to obtain open lines for his pieces and play against White's king. Otherwise 25...Rd8 might have been preferred. 26 Nxd5 hxg3+ 27 fxg3 Nxd5 28 Bxd5 Bf6! 29 Bxb7 29 Qf3!? was suggested as an improvement, later followed by e2-e4 to establish a stronghold in the centre. 29...Rc5 30 Ba6! Reti must rely on tactical means to avoid material loss. The endgame after 30 Be4 Bxd4 31 Bxh7+ Kxh7 32 Qe4+ f5 33 Qxd4 Qxd4 34 Bxd4 Rc2 35 Bb6 Rxe2+ 36 Kg1 Rd2 looks lost. After the text move the knight is immune because of Qa8+ a pretty geometrical motif (Qd1-a1-h1-a8)! 30...Bg6! 31 Qb7 Qd8! Illustrating Lasker's great tactical feeling. The text move is stronger than 31...Qd6 or 31...Qxb7. On 32 e3 he wanted to play 32...Bxd4! 33 Bxd4 Rc2+ 34 Kh1 Qd6! and there is no satisfactory defence to Black's mating attack. 32 b4 Rc7 33 Qb6 Rd7! Leading to a won endgame with a passed pawn on b4. 34 Qxd8+ Rxd8 35 e3 Unfortunately 35 Nc6 fails to 35...Rd6 36 Bxf6 Rxc6, and Black wins a piece. Nor are moves like 36 b5 or 36 Nxa5 good enough to save the game. 35...axb4 36 Kg2 Bxd4 37 exd4 On 37 Bxd4 Black wins with 37...Bf5! 38 Bc4 Be6! or 38 Kf3 Bd7! 37...Bf5 38 Bb7 Be6! A nice way to stop White's a-pawn (39 a5 Bd5+!). Lasker finishes the game with supreme technique. 39 Kf3 Bb3! 40 Bc6 Rd6 41 Bb5 Rf6+ 42 Ke3 Re6+! An important check. If now 43 Kd2, he wins with 43...Rg6 44 g4 Rh6 45 a5 Rxh3 46 a6 Rh2+ 47 Kc1 Rh1+ 48 Kd2 Rb1! 49 Bc1 Ra1 or 43 Kf3/f2 Bd1(+) and Re2. 43 Kf4 Re2 44 Bc1 Rc2 45 Be3 Bd5 46 White resigns. One of the greatest and most influential battles from New York 1924, rich in interesting ideas and a magnificent testimony to the imagination of both players. In the final Round (Twenty-Two), Reti was White again, against Janowski. Despite three consecutive losses with Black he managed to pull himself together and end the tournament with another smooth demonstration of the Reti System: Reti-Janowski 1 Nf3 d5 2 c4 dxc4 3 Na3 Nf6 4 Nxc4 e6 5 g3 Nbd7 6 Bg2 Nb6 7 0 0 Nxc4 8 Qa4+ c6 9 Qxc4 Be7 10 b3 0 0 11 Bb2 Nd5 12 d4 f5 13 Ne5 Bf6 14 e4! Bxe5 15 dxe5 fxe4 16 Bxe4 Bd7 17 Qd3 h6 18 Ba3 Re8 19 Bh7+ Kh8 20 Bg6 b6 21 f4 Qc8 22 Bxe8 Qxe8 23 Rf2 g6 24 h4 c5 25 h5 Kg7 26 Qxg6+ Qxg6 27 hxg6 Kxg6 28 Re1 h5 29 f5+ exf5 30 e6 Bc6 31 e7 Nc7 32 Rd2 Kf7 33 Rd8 Ne8 34 Bc1 a5 35 Rxa8 Bxa8 36 Bg5 Bd5 37 Kf2 Ng7 38 Bf4 Ne6 39 e8Q+ Kxe8 40 Re5 Bxb3 41 axb3 Kd7 42 Rd5+ Ke7 43 Be3 and Black resigns. Thanks to the great success in these games, Reti's System definitely managed to establish itself as a worthy alternative to the standard 1 e4 and 1 d4 openings. Nobody less than Kasparov relied on it in the crucial 24th match game against Karpov at Seville, 1987, and as we all know, Reti did not let him down... Copyright 1999 Richard Forster. All rights reserved.