The 1927 World Championship Match was a fiercely contested clash of chess styles. Jose Raul Capablanca had a straightforward playing style which, combined with his famously precise endgame play, was his recipe for success. Alexander Alekhine, on the other hand, preferred creating complexities and oftentimes employed risky attacks in route to his victories. Capablanca was a heavy prematch favorite based on his dominating record against Alekhine in their previous encounters. However, in 1927, the Russian challenger adopted a more conservative approach at the chessboard and came out on top in what would be their only World Championship Match.
The position below comes from Round 11 of the Capablanca – Alekhine 1927 World Championship Match. A beautifully complex game resulted in a rare high level chess position with four queens on the board! In fact, Capablanca (white) has just promoted a pawn into his second queen with 65. a8=Q. However, this achievement is short lived as Alexander Alekhine now has a pretty mate in 3. Can you spot Alekhine’s (black’s) game winning combination?
