Day 6of 14, Master the Fundamentals with Capablanca

Whoever Attacks Wins

Chajes vs Capablanca · Rice Memorial 1916 · Whoever Attacks Wins

This is the last loss Capablanca chose to publish, and it turns on a rule most players only know from the endgame. With bishops of opposite colour, the endgame is famously drawish. The middlegame is the opposite: the attacker is effectively a piece up, because the defending bishop can never contest a single square the attacking bishop touches. Capablanca was a pawn ahead with a fine knight on d5, and none of it helped, because his king was the target and his bishop was on the wrong colour. Take one idea into your games, with opposite bishops and queens on, attack, or secure the king before you do anything else.

Three ideas you'll take from this endgame
01

Opposite bishops favour the attacker

The defending bishop cannot cover one square the attacking bishop uses. In the middlegame that is a whole extra attacker, which is why Botvinnik said whoever attacks wins.

02

King safety comes first

Capablanca was a pawn up with a dominant knight on d5. With the king loose on the king-side and queens on, none of that counted.

03

Endgame logic is not middlegame logic

Opposite bishops draw endings and decide middlegames. Know which phase you are in before you apply the rule.

Study Mode: Watch & Play Along

Watch the lesson, then play the game through on the board below. The board stays with you as you scroll. Make each move yourself while you read. You'll remember a plan you played with your own hands far longer than one you only watched.

▶ The Lesson
♞ Play Through the Game: The Board Stays With You
The Big Idea

A pawn ahead, and attacked with an extra piece

Capablanca had every positional asset he liked in this position. He was a pawn up from the opening complications, his knight sat beautifully on d5, and his plan of Bd7 and Bc6 was exactly the sort of quiet improvement that usually wins his games. What he underrated was that his king had lost the right to castle at move eight and had walked to h7, and that the bishops were of opposite colour. That last fact changes the arithmetic completely. Chajes's dark-squared bishop attacks squares that Capablanca's light-squared bishop can never defend, so in every line White is effectively attacking with an extra piece. Once White opened the h-file with 22.h4 and 23.h5, the sacrifice on h6 was not a brilliancy, it was a consequence. In your games, when opposite bishops appear and the queens are still on, ask first whose king is the target, then attack or repair, but never continue quietly.

How the Endgame Arose

A McCutcheon, and a king that never castled

The French Defence McCutcheon gives Black activity in return for a sharp position, and Capablanca praised the line for exactly that. Here it also gave him a problem, 8...Kf8 answered White's queen sortie and cost the right to castle. He won a pawn in the complications and got the knight to d5, but his king walked to g7 and then h7 while the centre stayed closed and White built on the king-side. The bishop exchange left one bishop on dark squares for White and one on light squares for Black, which is the moment the game's real character was set.

Stop and Assess

Black is a pawn up. So why is he losing?

Black has an extra pawn, a strong knight on d5 and a reasonable bishop. White has the initiative on the king-side, a rook lifted to the third rank, and a dark-squared bishop pointing at a king that cannot be defended by a light-squared bishop. Stop and assess before you read on.

Black is a pawn ahead with a dominant knight. What is White's compensation, and why is it decisive?

Look at the colour of the two bishops and at the squares around Black's king. Which of those squares can Black's bishop ever defend? Think, then reveal.

Chajes vs Capablanca, before 22.h5, opposite-coloured bishops with Black's king exposed on h7.
Black is a pawn up, but the dark-squared bishop attacks squares his light-squared bishop can never defend
Reveal the assessment

White's method (Chajes)

  • Open the h-file. 22.h4 and 23.h5 force lines open toward the king.
  • Attack with the extra piece. The dark-squared bishop hits squares Black's bishop cannot cover.
  • Cash in. 27.Rxh6+ removes the last shelter and the knight check follows.

Black's problem (Capablanca)

  • A king that never castled. 8...Kf8 cost the right, and the king ended up on h7.
  • A bishop on the wrong colour. The light-squared bishop is a spectator on the king-side.
  • Endgame thinking too early. The extra pawn and the d5 knight are middlegame irrelevances while the king is under fire.
The Plan

Open the file, sacrifice, and collect the king

Chajes plays the position exactly as the imbalance demands. First he opens lines, 22.h4 and 23.h5 pry at the king-side and Black cannot answer on the queen-side quickly enough. Second he uses the extra attacker, every white piece works on dark squares while Black's bishop watches from c6, and the pressure builds until something must give. Third he sacrifices, 27.Rxh6+ Kxh6 28.Nf5+ tears the king open, and after 28...exf5 29.Qxb4 White has won the queen and the game is decided. The sacrifice looks spectacular and is really arithmetic, with opposite bishops the attacker has a spare piece, so the material investment is smaller than it appears. In your games, when you hold the attacking bishop, look for the sacrifice that opens the king; the defender simply cannot bring enough pieces to the right colour.

The Critical Moment: Think First

White has opened the h-file and every piece is aimed at the black king. Black has just recaptured on g6 and thinks the worst is over. It is the moment where the extra attacking piece pays for itself.

White to play. Black's king sits on h6 behind a thin shelter. What breaks it open?

Chajes vs Capablanca, before 27.Rxh6+, White to find the breakthrough sacrifice.
27.Rxh6+: the sacrifice that opens the king, and Black's light-squared bishop cannot help
Reveal the move and the why

27.Rxh6+, and the king is dragged into the open. After 27...Kxh6 28.Nf5+ the check comes with the queen still on b4 hanging, and 28...exf5 29.Qxb4 leaves White a queen for the rook and knight. What makes it work is not calculation but structure, the bishops are of opposite colour, so every dark square around Black's king is defended by nothing at all. Capablanca's bishop on c6 is a fine piece looking at an empty diagonal. This is Botvinnik's rule in one position, in a middlegame with opposite bishops the attacker plays with an extra piece. In your games, count the defenders of the colour under attack before you judge a sacrifice sound or unsound.

♞ Follow the Finish: The Board Returns
Attack, or Fix the King

Win the queen, then convert

The point of the combination arrives immediately. 28.Nf5+ exf5 29.Qxb4 wins the queen for a rook and knight, and just as important the black king remains permanently unsafe. Chajes does not have to find anything else brilliant, the extra attacker has already done its work and the rest is a matter of technique.

Chajes vs Capablanca, after 28...exf5, White is about to win the queen with 29.Qxb4.
After 28...exf5, 29.Qxb4 wins the queen and the game

Capablanca fights on for another thirty moves, and the honesty of publishing this game is part of its value. The finish is a long conversion in which the exposed king never stops being a liability, and White eventually collects everything. Carry the lesson into your games in the form Botvinnik gave it, with bishops of opposite colour in the middlegame, whoever attacks wins, so decide early which side of that sentence you are on.

Chajes vs Capablanca, the final position, White has converted the attack.
The finish: the exposed king never stopped costing, and Capablanca resigns
Principles to Take to Your Own Board

This game is over. Your games are where it matters.

1 · Opposite bishops favour the attacker.

The rule: in a middlegame with opposite bishops the attacking side is effectively a piece up. In this game: Black's light-squared bishop could not defend one square of the attack. In your games: when opposite bishops appear, work out who is attacking and commit.

2 · Do not apply endgame rules to a middlegame.

The rule: opposite bishops draw endings and decide middlegames. In this game: Capablanca's extra pawn was an endgame asset in a middlegame fight. In your games: name the phase before you apply the maxim.

3 · King safety outranks material and outposts.

The rule: with queens on, secure the king before you bank any other advantage. In this game: a pawn and a dominant knight on d5 counted for nothing. In your games: fix the king first, then improve.

4 · Count defenders by colour.

The rule: a sacrifice near the king is sound when the defence cannot reach the right colour squares. In this game: nothing black defended the dark squares. In your games: count defenders of the attacked colour, not defenders in general.

5 · Open a line before you sacrifice.

The rule: sacrifices work once a file or diagonal is already open toward the king. In this game: 22.h4 and 23.h5 came before 27.Rxh6+. In your games: earn the open line first, then invest material.

Test Yourself

Five questions before you go

1 · Why do opposite bishops help the attacker?

Because the defending bishop can never contest a square the attacking bishop uses. Every other piece can be met by a like piece, but the bishops are on different colours forever, so the attacking side has one piece the defence simply cannot answer.

2 · Is that not the opposite of the endgame rule?

It is, and that is exactly why the rule is worth stating. In an ending, opposite bishops mean the defender can build a fortress on his own colour and hold even a pawn or two down. In a middlegame with queens on, the same imbalance is a decisive attacking asset.

3 · Where did Capablanca actually go wrong?

At the level of priorities rather than a single move. He was correct that the d5 knight and the extra pawn were assets, and wrong that he could bank them while his uncastled king sat on h7 with the wrong-coloured bishop. King safety had to come first.

4 · Why was 27.Rxh6+ sound?

Because the dark squares around the king had no defenders at all. After 27...Kxh6 28.Nf5+ exf5 29.Qxb4 White wins the queen, and the king remains exposed. The material given back is smaller than the attacking advantage that the opposite bishops guarantee.

5 · What is the practical takeaway?

When opposite bishops appear with queens still on, decide immediately whether you are the attacker or the defender. If you are attacking, open a line and look for the sacrifice. If you are defending, spend moves on the king before you touch anything else.

Sharpen Your Eye: Six Endgame Exercises

Now you convert the edge

Six discovered-attack exercises, rising in difficulty. In each you have the winning side, so find the piece that moves and the line it opens. Drag the pieces, the board plays the defence for you.

Know Which Side of the Rule You Are On.

Recognising an imbalance and then choosing the right plan for it, attack or repair, is the judgement that decides club games far more often than tactics do. In a 2-hour Strategy Assessment I go through your own games, find the moments you kept playing quietly when the position demanded action, and hand you a plan built for your chess, not a hypothetical student's.

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Next, Game 7: Capablanca vs Burn, positional mastery with the white pieces.