Smashing game by Nimzo. Fits the post perfectly.
It's not the opening that wins games it is who (on the day) plays the better Chess.
This game was what? 6 or 7 moves of theory, though Nimzo was out of his
book by move 2!
I've got loads of games like this on my CV.
Simply put you could say White sacced the d-pawn to keep Black from castling
and then thanks to the open d-file White crashed through with a Morphy type sac on d7.
But it's not that simple. Here is the hard bit, though easy once you have seen the game.
White played 16.Bh6! preventing castling and saccing the d-pawn.
This is judgement. It can be taught. But the student must be willing to listen
and be prepared to play over 100's of games to get it honed up so you can trust it.
Games like this help.
Nimzo never saw the coming sac on d7 but knew he would get tremendous activity
for his pawn v the uncastled King. He also knew defending such positions is an
art form that most players do not have.
Indeed Black stumbled right away.
Black has won his pawn and he too is in love with an idea concerning the
loose h6 Bishop. Qh5 or Ng4.
Black played 12...a6
A typical case of grabbing material and wondering about the consequences when
they appear on the board. This is to stop Nb5 and perhaps if Black had seen he
would be resorting to moves of this ilk when grabbing the pawn he may have
resisted temptation.
12...Qb6 (That's deep. Pawn up - get the Queens off.) Would have been the
move I did not want to see. Then I have to make decisions I don't want to make.
(A typical case of saccing the d-pawn and then wondering about the consequences
when they appear on the board.....I do it all the time.) 🙂
13.Qxb6 and Nb5 or keep the Queens on....? Decisions....
Finally here. NImzo mentions this line in his note after move 10.
We know what's coming. Black took the Knight, his best was Rxg7 and going
the exchange down...15...Rxg7 16.Nc7+ Kf8 17.Nxa8.....
...though this is not quite a pawn for the exhange type of position and that
fianchettoed Rook is awful. But it was better that getting mated.
The part about feeling the vibe from an OTB opponent is of course lost on here.
This comes with playing and it is nigh impossible to explain.
Experienced OTB players know what he talking about but nailing down what is
going on is, as I said, beyond me.
Suffice to say there is a lot more going on in players minds than chess when two
players meet OTB. That is why you get GM's beating GM's.
When you think about it there should be no way a Grandmaster, any Grandmaster,
should lose a game of chess. (but don't ask me to explain how.)
Nimzo some of the notes are out of sinc.
You have not left a space before the { and after the }.
I have tidied it up so the notes now appear in the right order and added just
one small comment.
1. d4 c6 2. c4 g6 {So I have nothing prepared against this system.} 3. Nc3 {I considered e4 as my alternative} Nf6 4. e4 d5 5. exd5 {e5 would be logical but I wanted to stir the pot early} cxd5 6. Qb3 {not exactly genius but simply put my intuition about my opponent told me putting him to work calculating was preferable to quieter standard play.} e6 {questionable choice, with white you can get away with a move or two like this but extra pawn moves have a way of biting you in the butt as Black} 7. Nf3 dxc4 {Black wants to attack the d pawn without getting safely developed. I knew at this point both the disposition of my opponent and the best way to test him.} 8. Bxc4 Nc6 9. Bg5 {Black wants to capture d4 and Bg5 is a simple attempt to force concessions if he wants the pawn. Probably 0-0 is better but OTB I don't completely ignore the vibe I get from my opponent.} Be7 10. Bh6
{I suspect I fell in love with my idea here, but casting a sober look at things now Black has some awkward elements but probably isn't worse here.Nonetheless you need to see the Nxd4 line clearly included not only the text to move 19 but also the declining my sacrifice and going down the exchange.} Nxd4 {he takes the bait} 11. Nxd4 Qxd4 12. O-O {Rd1 was more accurate but I was comfortable after 0-0} a6 13. Rad1 Qh4 14. Bg7 Rg8 15. Nb5 {It is easy to calculate and understand this if you have ever looked at Paul Morphy's games. (Bravo!....GP.)} axb5 {declining it is probably better with Rxg7 etc.} 16. Bxb5+ Nd7 17. Rxd7 {from here the different mates should be clear.} Bxd7 18. Bxd7+ Kxd7 19. Qxb7+ Ke8 20. Qc6+ Kd8 21. Rd1+ Bd6 22. Rxd6+ Ke7 23. Qd7 {I greatly enjoyed the symmetry of this as my hanging Bishop is crucial in the mating net.}
Just in case some lad has not seen it. Morphy v The Allies Paris 1858.
[FEN "rn2kb1r/p3qppp/2p2n2/1p2p1B1/2B1P3/1QN5/PPP2PPP/R3K2R w KQkq - 0 1"]
1. Nxb5 cxb5 2. Bxb5+ Nbd7 3. O-O-O Rd8 4. Rxd7 Rxd7 5. Rd1 Qe6 6. Bxd7+
Nxd7 7. Qb8+ Nxb8 8. Rd8