When Grandmasters Suck: 3 Blind Spots

While playing through some old games from the Roaring '20s recently, I happened upon a curious tactical trap, into which no fewer than three grandmasters had fallen (actually, two--one of them fell for it twice). As it is a rather instructive tactic, I decided to share it here, for the benefit of my quillions of readers.

The first game in which the trap occurred was Alekhine-Yates, Baden-Baden 1925, where after 14 moves the following position appeared:

Alekhine-Yates, Baden-Baden 1925

Position after 14...hg

Due to the black queen's lack of luft, White now has the combination 15.Nd5! Since taking the knight allows 16.Bc7, Black is obliged to part with the pawn for no compensation. Alekhine went on to win both the game and the tournament, while Yates went on to drown his sorrows at the local pub.

Three years later this same tactical motif occurred in the game Euwe-Rubinstein, Bad Kissingen 1928. The following position arose after Black's rather dubious 12th move:

Euwe-Rubinstein, Bad Kissingen 1928

Position after 12...Nh5?

That knight on the rim looks a bit dim, because it no longer protects d5, and therefore 13.Nd5! becomes possible. According to Fritz Saemisch, when Rubinstein saw this move appear on the board, eine kleine Menge Pipi ("a little bit of pee") involuntarily escaped him, before the Polish grandmaster regained his composure and bladder control.

But despite that humiliation, Rubinstein fell for the trap a second time, just two years later--and against its inventor, Alexander Alekhine, of all people:

Alekhine-Rubinstein, San Remo 1930

Position after 12...f5

By now the shot 13.Nd5! should come as a surprise to no one except the bewildered Rubinstein--who is said to have swept the pieces from the board at this point and declared, "I am sorry, sir: but the pieces appear to have fallen from the board, and I'm afraid I can no longer remember their positions; therefore it is a draw."

A similar stratagem was attempted in the game Antonius Block-Grim Reaper, Sweden 1349; in both cases, the ruse failed.