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White to Play

Pete Tamburro on Oct 12, 2026

This is a game, Alekhin – Kaufman,Odessa, 1918, which started out with 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c5 3.Bf4 cxd4 4.Bxb8 Rxb8 5.Qxd4 b6 (Better was 5...a6) 6.e4 dxe4 (SEE DIAGRAM) Black figured that after the queen exchange followed by 8.Ng5 Nh6 9.Nc3 e6 10.0–0–0+ Ke7 11.Ncxe4 g6 he's at least equal. He figured wrong. Where did he go wrong?

Knight moves are tricky. A knight can go to the right—or the left. 7.Qxd8+ Kxd8 8.Ne5 Black Resigned here as after 8...Nh6 9.Nc6+ wins the exchange.

Send questions and comments to PTamburro@aol.com.

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