The Marshall Attack, Refuted at Sight

The game, move by move

A Ruy Lopez, and a pawn given

1. 1. e4 King’s pawn
2. 1… e5 The same claim
3. 2. Nf3 The knight out
4. 2… Nc6 And Black’s
5. 3. Bb5 The Ruy Lopez
6. 3… a6 a6
7. 4. Ba4 The bishop steps back
8. 4… Nf6 The knight out
9. 5. O-O White castles
10. 5… Be7 Be7
11. 6. Re1 The rook to e1
12. 6… b5 b5
13. 7. Bb3 Bb3 On the diagonal that ends at f7. Sixty half-moves later it takes there and the game is over.
14. 7… O-O Black castles
15. 8. c3 c3
16. 8… d5 d5 — the Marshall Attack A pawn thrown into the middle on move eight, and the whole line is named after this move. Marshall is said to have been keeping it for Capablanca for eight years.

Everything at f2 and h2

1. 9. exd5 Taken
2. 9… Nxd5 The knight recaptures
3. 10. Nxe5 The knight takes e5
4. 10… Nxe5 And Black takes back
5. 11. Rxe5 The rook takes the knight
6. 11… Nf6 The knight to f6
7. 12. Re1 The rook steps back to e1
8. 12… Bd6 Bd6, aimed at h2
9. 13. h3 h3, taking g4 away
10. 13… Ng4 Ng4 anyway — the first offer A knight on a square a pawn covers. Black is a pawn down and offering a piece, which is the whole spirit of the line.
11. 14. Qf3 The queen to f3, defending
12. 14… Qh4 The queen to h4, joining in
13. 15. d4 d4, and White holds the centre
14. 15… Nxf2 The knight takes f2 A knight for a pawn, and the king cannot take it — the rook on e1 would fall and the queen is on h4. So White does not take it.
15. 16. Re2 The rook to e2, sidestepping
16. 16… Bg4 The bishop to g4, at the rook
17. 17. hxg4 The pawn takes it
18. 17… Bh2+ The bishop takes h2, with check
19. 18. Kf1 Kf1 — the first king move Out of the corner rather than into it. Three more of these are coming.
20. 18… Bg3 The bishop to g3
21. 19. Rxf2 The rook takes the knight on f2
22. 19… Qh1+ Check from h1
23. 20. Ke2 Ke2 — the second
24. 20… Bxf2 The bishop takes the rook on f2 Black has a queen on h1, a bishop on f2 and a rook coming, and the white king is standing on e2 in the middle of it. He is also a piece up.

The king walks to c2

1. 21. Bd2 The bishop to d2, defending
2. 21… Bh4 The bishop to h4
3. 22. Qh3 The queen to h3
4. 22… Rae8+ The rook to e8, with check
5. 23. Kd3 Kd3 — the third A white king on d3 on move twenty-three, with three black pieces and a queen looking at him. Capablanca had worked out that none of them can reach him.
6. 23… Qf1+ Check from f1
7. 24. Kc2 Kc2 — the fourth, and he is safe The checks stop here. From c2 the king is behind his own pawn on c3 and there is nothing left aimed at him.
8. 24… Bf2 The bishop to f2

A pawn to b7

1. 25. Qf3 The queen to f3, offering the trade
2. 25… Qg1 The queen to g1
3. 26. Bd5 Bd5 — the bishop takes over From b3 to d5, onto the diagonal that ends at g8 and holds the position together.
4. 26… c5 c5
5. 27. dxc5 Taken
6. 27… Bxc5 The bishop recaptures
7. 28. b4 b4, at the bishop
8. 28… Bd6 Bd6
9. 29. a4 a4 — the pawns set off Capablanca is a piece up and turns to the queenside. The pawn that ends the game reaches b7 fourteen half-moves later.
10. 29… a5 a5
11. 30. axb5 Taken on b5
12. 30… axb4 And Black takes on b4
13. 31. Ra6 The rook to a6
14. 31… bxc3 The pawn takes c3
15. 32. Nxc3 The knight recaptures
16. 32… Bb4 The bishop to b4
17. 33. b6 b6, and the pawn is past everything
18. 33… Bxc3 The bishop takes the knight
19. 34. Bxc3 Recaptured
20. 34… h6 h6
21. 35. b7 b7 — one square from a queen
22. 35… Re3 The rook to e3, the last try
23. 36. Bxf7+ Bxf7+ — and Black resigned The bishop that went to b3 on move six takes on f7 with check. The king has three legal moves, the pawn on b7 promotes next, and Marshall is a rook and a piece behind. Eight years of preparation and Capablanca solved it at the board in about two hours.