Euwe, at Fifty-Two

The game, move by move

A Sämisch Nimzo-Indian

1. 1. d4 Queen’s pawn
2. 1… Nf6 The knight out
3. 2. c4 c4
4. 2… e6 e6
5. 3. Nc3 The knight out
6. 3… Bb4 Bb4 — the Nimzo-Indian
7. 4. e3 e3
8. 4… c5 c5
9. 5. a3 a3 — the Sämisch White spends a move to win the bishop and accepts doubled c-pawns for it. Those pawns are the file Euwe wins on.
10. 5… Bxc3+ The bishop takes the knight, with check
11. 6. bxc3 Recaptured — the pawns are doubled
12. 6… b6 b6
13. 7. Bd3 The bishop to d3, at h7
14. 7… Bb7 Bb7
15. 8. f3 f3
16. 8… Nc6 The knight out
17. 9. Ne2 Ne2
18. 9… O-O Black castles
19. 10. O-O And White
20. 10… Na5 The knight to a5, at c4

White’s pawns, Black’s c-file

1. 11. e4 e4
2. 11… Ne8 The knight back to e8
3. 12. Ng3 The knight to g3
4. 12… cxd4 The pawns come off on d4
5. 13. cxd4 Recaptured
6. 13… Rc8 The rook to c8 — the file Onto the file White’s doubled pawns opened. Everything Black does from here is on it or through it.
7. 14. f4 f4 — White starts as well
8. 14… Nxc4 The knight takes c4
9. 15. f5 f5, coming on
10. 15… f6 f6, blocking
11. 16. Rf4 The rook lifts to f4
12. 16… b5 b5, holding the knight
13. 17. Rh4 Rh4 — the rook swings across Onto the h-file, aimed at h7 with a bishop on d3 behind it. This is a real attack and it wins if Black answers it.
14. 17… Qb6 The queen to b6 — and Black does not answer it She comes out to attack d4 and b2 rather than to defend h7. Euwe has counted both attacks and decided his is faster.

Both attacks at once

1. 18. e5 e5, opening everything
2. 18… Nxe5 The knight takes it
3. 19. fxe6 The pawn takes e6, at the king
4. 19… Nxd3 The knight takes the bishop on d3 Removing the piece behind the rook on h4. The attack on h7 is now a rook and a queen instead of a rook, a queen and a bishop.
5. 20. Qxd3 The queen recaptures
6. 20… Qxe6 The queen takes e6
7. 21. Qxh7+ The queen takes h7, with check White’s attack arrives. It is a pawn and a check and it is one move too slow.
8. 21… Kf7 Kf7
9. 22. Bh6 The bishop to h6, at g7
10. 22… Rh8 The rook to h8, offered Black gives a whole rook to keep his own attack moving. There is nothing else on that side of the board he needs.

The second rank

1. 23. Qxh8 The queen takes it
2. 23… Rc2 Rc2 — the second rank And this is what the c-file was for. From c2 the rook takes on g2 and the white king has no cover at all.
3. 24. Rc1 The rook to c1, trying to trade
4. 24… Rxg2+ The rook takes g2, with check
5. 25. Kf1 Kf1
6. 25… Qb3 The queen to b3, joining in
7. 26. Ke1 Ke1 — the last square
8. 26… Qf3 Qf3 — and White resigned The queen steps to f3 and mate follows on d1 or e1 whatever White does. Thirty-four legal moves and not one of them helps. A world champion of sixteen years earlier, out-calculating one of the best attacking players in the world by a single move.