Botvinnik — Euwe

AVRO TournamentAmsterdam, 1938

• Mikhail Botvinnik (1911–1995)The sixth World Champion and figurehead of the Soviet chess school, who held the title across three reigns between 1948 and 1963.
• Max Euwe (1901–1981)The fifth World Champion, who held the title from 1935 to 1937 and later led FIDE for eight years.

The position should be counted as typical, and to some extent debatable. That makes it interesting to follow how leading players treated it.

Two things here matter:

1. neither side has an advantage in development;
2. with the trade d4xc5 White "threatens" to isolate the d5 pawn. If Black stops this "threat" with 9...b6, hanging pawns can appear (after 10. dxc4 bxc4).

So Black has to choose between an isolated pawn and hanging pawns. This choice does not settle the game in advance: play is roughly equal either way. Black could calmly have carried on developing with 9...♗e6. Euwe, however, takes the second path and goes for hanging pawns:

Boards can be stepped through with the mouse wheel, a swipe, or the arrow keys — not just the buttons below them. Interactive boards

12345678abcdefgh

1. 9.
2. 10.
3. 11.
4. A good move, typical of positions like this
5. 12.
6. 13.
7. Defending the central pawns costs Black no real trouble, because Black is well developed. It matters that White has no knight on the queenside, the piece that usually bothers hanging pawns
8. 14.
9. 15.
10. 16.
11. Apparently to bring the bishop to the a8-h1 diagonal and press on the d5 pawn, but White never manages to carry this plan out. White would like a knight on d3 and a bishop on a3, but how do you get them there?
12. Black is doing fine
13. 16.
14. 17.
15. 18.
17. 18.
18. 19.
19. 20.
20. 21.
21. 22.
22. 23.
23. The game was drawn on move 40