Tarrasch — Spielmann

Nuremberg, 1910

• Siegbert Tarrasch (1862–1934)German master, one of the strongest players and the leading chess teacher around the turn of the twentieth century, a world-title challenger against Em. Lasker in 1908 and the man the Tarrasch Defence and the Tarrasch Variation of the French are named after.
• Rudolf Spielmann (1883–1942)Austrian master, one of the strongest attacking players of the early twentieth century, nicknamed "the last knight of the King's Gambit" and the author of the classic book on sacrifice "Richtig opfern" (1935).

In this game, by a minor transposition, the same ten moves were played as in Teichmann — Spielmann.

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1. 11.
2. 12.
3. 13.
4. 14.
5. At last the desired move has been played. White must now prove that his central pawns are stronger than his opponent's flank pawns
6. 14.
7. 15.
8. 16.
9. “The bishop should have gone to g5 first and then back to d2, because if it had gone straight to d2, Black could in one move havedefended his bishop, whereas now his queen is completely cut off from the queenside” (Tarrasch)
10. 16.
11. 17.
12. “Now Black's pieces are attacked and must be partly traded off, partly driven away, so that pawns that were strong only a moment ago are left defenseless and become the opponent's prey” (Tarrasch)
13. 17.
14. 18.
15. 19.
16. It all follows logically. The central pawn, by advancing, drives back an enemy piece and so secures a central square for its own piece
17. 19.
18. Of course Black cannot take the d5-pawn, since that would lose a piece
19. 20.
20. 21.
21. 22.
22. 23.
23. White wins a second pawn, but that is not the only point. They dominate the center, and their pieces are incomparably more active than Black's. They soon won

In endgames, the question of which pawn majority matters more — one in the center or one on a flank — is settled a little differently. Much here depends on which pieces take part in the fight.