SPOT ON CHESS PUZZLES for SUNDAY, April 9th of 2023

Jose Raoul Capablanca... legend!

Today we have one of his games that is in the c3 Sicilian opening system - by transposition. Fantastic game against a very game opponent who did present the Cuban former World Chess Champion with problems during the game. An excellent struggle!

Game given below: SPOILER ALERT! Save it for later if you do not want to ruin the puzzles for your viewing pleasure during this sitting. These puzzles are on the easier side for most folks.

[Event "Buenos Aires ol"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1939.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Jose Raoul Capablanca"]
[Black "Moshe Czerniak"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B13"]
[EventDate "1939.??.??"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. cxd5 Qxd5 7. Be2 e6 8.
O-O Nf6 9. Nc3 Qa5 10. h3 Bh5 11. a3 Rd8 12. g4 Bg6 13. b4 Bxb4 14. axb4 Qxa1
15. Qb3 Rxd4 16. Ba3 Bc2 17. Qxc2 Qxa3 18. Nb5 Qxb4 ( 18... Rxg4+ 19. hxg4 Qxb4
20. Ne5 O-O 21. Nxc6 bxc6 22. Nxa7 Nxg4 23. Qxc6 { "and it is not so easy for
White to prove that his Bishop is stronger than the three pawns." - Sveshnikov}
)19. Nfxd4 Nxd4 20. Nxd4 ( 20. Qc8+ Ke7 21. Qxh8 Nxe2+ 22. Kh1 Qxb5 )20... O-O
( 20... Qxd4 21. Qc8+ Qd8 22. Bb5+ Ke7 23. Qxb7+ Kd6 24. Rd1+ Nd5 25. Bc6 Kc5 (
25... Ke5 26. Qb2+ Kf4 27. Qd2+ Ke5 28. Qd4+ Kd6 29. Bxd5 exd5 30. Qxd5+ Kc7
31. Qc5+ Kb8 32. Rb1+ Qb6 ( 32... Ka8 33. Qc6# ) 33. Rxb6+ axb6 34. Qxb6+ Ka8
35. Qc7 )26. Qb5+ Kd6 27. Bxd5 exd5 28. Qxd5+ Ke7 29. Qe5+ Kf8 30. Rxd8# )21.
Rd1 Nd5 22. Bf3 Nf4 23. Kh2 e5 24. Nf5 g6 25. Ne3 ( 25. Rb1 Qa3 26. Rb3 Qa4 27.
Ne7+ ( 27. Qc3)27... Kg7 28. Qc3 )25... Ne6 26. Nd5 Qa3 27. Rd3 Qa1 28. Rd1 Qa3
29. Rd3 Qa1 30. Qd2 Kg7 31. Qe2 f6 32. Qe3 a6 33. Rd1 Qb2 34. Nc3 Nd4 ( 34...
Qb4 35. Rb1 Qf4+ 36. Qxf4 Nxf4 37. Rxb7+ )( 34... b5 35. Rd7+ Rf7 36. Rxf7+
Kxf7 37. Qa7+ Kf8 38. Nd5 )35. Rb1 Qc2 36. Be4 1-0

Enjoy... now it's time for me to go catch up on some sleep! Peace - Out!