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Botvinnik versus Capablanca, AVRO 1938. The immortal game

ChessChess PersonalitiesOver the boardTacticsPuzzle
Botvinnik played what was altogether the "game of his life" against Capablanca. It was not just that it was judged the most brilliant in the tournament and to be worth two first prizes, but it was even suggested that, by analogy with the "immortal" and "evergreen" games, it should be called "peerless" or "classical"! - Garry Kasparov

And this game is really classical and Botvinnik showed there the sacrifice of 2 pieces which is really crazy!
Below is a study where you can follow along with the moves, let's begin!

https://lichess.org/study/FbgMOxgr/aPPx8bVG#0

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 We have Nimzo-Indian defense on the board, white has some pressure on e4 square 4. e3 d5 Controlling e4 square 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 White has 2 bishops and good position and doubled c pawns are not a problem for Botvinnik 7. cxd5 exd5 Botvinnik gets rid of his doubled c pawns 8. Bd3 O-O 9. Ne2 b6 Knight goes to e2 because white often have c4 and e4 plans here 10. O-O Ba6 Capablanca went b6 to exchange dangerous d3 bishop which can attack his king 11. Bxa6 Nxa6 12. Bb2 Qd7 White has c5 ideas a bit later to have an active bishop 13. a4 Rfe8 Botvinnik made a4 move to prevent Qa4 after Qd3 14. Qd3 c4, c4 move is a mistake because now it is easy for white to move f3 and e4 later. Botvinnik told that Qb7 was better 15. Qc2 Nb8 Capablanca goes with his knight to c6 which can help him to control the center and also Capablanca can have Nc6 Na5 and Nb3 plan 16. Rae1 Nc6 Botvinnik went Re1 to support the center after Ng3 with more pieces and to prepare f3 e4 17. Ng3 Na5 The better move for Capablanca was Ne4 to create blockade in the center 18. f3 Nb3 Botvinnik doesn't care that he can lose a4 pawn, he wants to have an active center! 19. e4 Qxa4 20. e5 Nd7 White has space advantage 21. Qf2 g6 Botvinnik has f4 plan to attack black's king 22. f4 f5 White need to take En passant to have active play and if they don't then black can defend 23. exf6 Nxf6 24. f5 Rxe1 25. Rxe1 Re8 26. Re6 Rxe6 Botvinnik has very big advantage 27. fxe6 Kg7 Now Botvinnik has e pawn which is a very strong passed pawn! 28. Qf4 Qe8, Here Qf4 is a very active move and Botvinnik wants to go to c7 29. Qe5 Qe7 30. Ba3!! Qxa3 First great sacrifice by Botvinnik!! White wants to distract black's queen from blocking passed pawn! 31. Nh5+!! gxh5 Bravo, one more sacrifice! 32. Qg5+ Kf8 33. Qxf6+ Kg8 Botvinnik has a winning position because of very strong passed pawn and now let's watch how Botvinnik defends from all checks 34. e7 Qc1+ 35. Kf2 Qc2+ 36. Kg3 Qd3+ 37. Kh4 Qe4+ 38. Kxh5 Qe2+ 39. Kh4 Qe4+ 40. g4 Qe1+ 41. Kh5 and now Capablanca has no checks and that's why he resigned!
A great game by Botvinnik!
Key moments :
1.Space is very important!
2.Active center is always a great advantage!
3. 2 bishops are very strong!
4.Passed pawns are great too!
5.You can sacrifice your pieces to break the opponent's blockade!