Digging the Queen’s Gambit long before ‘The Queen’s Gambit’

Chess players were into the Queen’s Gambit long before “The Queen’s Gambit.”

The runaway Netflix hit may have made chess cool this year (at least for a little while), but the Queen’s Gambit — accepted, declined or counter-gambited — has been opening royalty since at least the late 19th century. Around 1. d4 d5 2. c4 has grown a a rich thicket of options for both players, including the Slav and the Semi-Slav, the Meran and the Anti-Meran, lines named for Siegbert Tarrasch, Emanuel Lasker, Savielly Tartakower, Nicolas Rossolimo and variations honoring London, Vienna and Cambridge Springs, Pa.

The profusion and popularity of QGD lines — an astonishing 32 of the 34 games in the 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine world title match were Queen’s Gambits — led some to worry the opening was draining the life out of the game, only to see new generations of players breathe new energy into the opening’s promise of complex positional play. (Garry Kasparov throughout his career has willingly played both sides of the opening.)

Polish great Akiba Rubinstein ranks among the greatest Queen’s Gambiteers of all time, (In one of those almost certainly apocryphal old chess stories, an opponent once glued Rubinstein’s d-pawn to the board before the game as a joke.) His famous first-meeting victories over Lasker and Jose Raul Capablanca were QGDs, and he showed his sophisticated handling of the opening in another pretty win over Russian star Eugene Znosko-Borovsky at the storied 1909 St. Petersburg tournament.

Freeing the light-squared bishop is always Job One for Black in this opening, which is why 7. Qc2 b6? 8. cxd5 exd5 (Nxd5? 9. Nxd5 exd5 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. Qxc7) 9. Bd3 Bb7 puts Znosko-Borovsky in an early hole. The punishment is surprisingly swift.

Thus: 13. dxc5 bxc5? (see diagram; White’s also better on 13…Rc8 [Ndxc5 14. Nxd5! Bxd5 — 14…Nxd3 is no longer check thanks to White’s clever 12. Kb1! — 15. Bc4 Kh8 16. Bxd5 Rc8 17. Bxe4, winning]14. c6! Bxc6 15. Nd4, with a clear edge) 14. Nxe4!! (a deep combination with some brilliant off-ramps) fxe4 15. Bxe4! dxe4 16. Qb3+ Kh8 17. Qxb7 exf3 18. Rxd7, when White stays on top after 18…fxg2 19. Rxd8 gxh1+=Q 20. Qxh1 Rfxd8 (Bxd8 allows 21. Qxa8) 21. Bxe7, with decisive material advantage.

Black’s rooks still look menacing, but Rubinstein never loses control after 21. Qe4! Qxe4 (on 21…fxg2 [Qb6 22. Qe5!] 22. Qxg2 h6, White has the clever 23. Qg3! Qc2 [hxg5 24. hxg5+ and 25. Qh3] 24. Bf6!, winning) 22. Rxe4 fxg2 23. Rg1 Rxf2 24. Rf4! Rc2 (Rbxb2 25. Rf8+ Rxf8 26. Kxb2 Rf2+ 27. Kb3 c4+ 28. Kxc4 Rxa2 29. Kd4, and the Black g-pawn will fall) 25. b3. In the end, after 29. Bd4 Rc8 30. Rg4, Black resigns as 30…Rcc2 (Rc7 31. R4xg2 Rxg2 32. Rxg2 and Black’s counterplay dies) 31. Rxg7 will produce a deadly discovered check.

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Despite its positional reputation, the QGD has some sharply tactical offshoots no player should enter theoretically unarmed. Tops among them is the razor-sharp Semi-Slav Botvinnik line, with a piece “sacrifice” built into the main line and unbalanced attacking play virtually guaranteed.

Former Russian world champ Vladimir Kramnik gave Estonian GM Jaan Ehlvest a lesson in the opening’s dangers in their game from a 1995 tournament.

Top players at the time were still working through the complexities of this line when Ehlvest errs with 13 Qf3 Rc8?! (the first player to play a purely defensive move in this variation usually ends up losing; 13…b4 was better) 14. Be2 b4 15. Ne4 c5 (Black is trying to pry open lines to the White king, but his own monarch is in greater peril) 16. d5! exd5 17. Qf5!!, offering a full piece for the attack.

It all works on 17…dxe4? (drinking from the poisoned chalice; Black had to try 17…c3! 18. Qxd5 Bxe2 19. Kxe2 cxb2 20. Rad1 Qa6+ 21. Kf3 Qc6 and hope to hold on) 18. 0-0-0, with massive pressure on the open central file.

Kramnik finds the put away on 21. Bxd7 Bxd7 (Rxd7 22. Bf4! cuts off the Black king’s escape route and wins in lines like 22…Qa6 [the threat was 23. Qa8 mate] 23. Qa8+ Qc8 24. Qxa7! Rxd1+ 25. Rxd1+ Bd7 26. Qb6+ Ke8 27. Bc7! Be7 28. fxe7 Rg8 29. Rxd7! Qxd7 30. Bd6 f6 31. Qb8+ Kf7 32. Qf8+!) 22. Rhe1 Bh6 23. Qa8+ Rc8 24. Rxd7+ Kxd7 25. Qd5+, and, as one wag put it, Ehlvest “left the building” ahead of 25…Kc7 26. Re7+ Kb6 27. Qb7 mate.

Rubinstein — Znosko-Borovsky, Chigorin Memorial, St. Petersburg, February 1909

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. Qc2 b6 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Bd3 Bb7 10. O-O-O Ne4 11. h4 f5 12. Kb1 c5 13. dxc5 bxc5 14. Nxe4 fxe4 15. Bxe4 dxe4 16. Qb3+ Kh8 17. Qxb7 exf3 18. Rxd7 Qe8 19. Rxe7 Qg6+ 20. Ka1 Rab8 21. Qe4 Qxe4 22. Rxe4 fxg2 23. Rg1 Rxf2 24. Rf4 Rc2 25. b3 h6 26. Be7 Re8 27. Kb1 Re2 28. Bxc5 Rd8 29. Bd4 Rc8 30. Rg4 Black resigns.

Kramnik — Ehlvest, Tal Memorial, Riga, Latvia, April 1995

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 dxc4 6. e4 b5 7. e5 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Nxg5 hxg5 10. Bxg5 Nbd7 11. g3 Qa5 12. exf6 Ba6 13. Qf3 Rc8 14. Be2 b4 15. Ne4 c5 16. d5 exd5 17. Qf5 dxe4 18. O-O-O Rc7 19. Bg4 Bb5 20. Qxe4+ Kd8 21. Bxd7 Bxd7 22. Rhe1 Bh6 23. Qa8+ Rc8 24. Rxd7+ Kxd7 25. Qd5+ Black resigns.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email dsands@washingtontimes.com.