Memorization: Cold Winter

In the summer of 1919, twelve chess players gathered in Hastings, England for the first major international tournament since the conclusion of World War I. Among them were Jose Raul Capablanca of Cuba and William Winter of Britain. Their game, played on 15 August, would later be dubbed "Cold Winter."

Compared to "The Opera Game" and "When Pawns Attack," Winter-Capablanca 1919 is long. And in contrast to the first two, "Cold Winter" features an endgame whose nuances are difficult to grasp, much less articulate and remember. Nonetheless, it is a game Jeruchess instructor Alon Cohen recommended that his Adult Improver students memorize. Without the help of YouTube, Stockfish and Capablanca's own written recap, most of the insights explored below could not have been appreciated.

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1. Opening: Four Knights Game, Nimzowitsch (Paulsen) Variation

White opens 1.e4, and Black replies 1...e5. White attacks White's e5-pawn with 2.Nf3, and Black defends with 2...Nc6. White develops the second knight with 3.Nc3, and Black follows suit with 3...Nf6. White attacks Black's c6-knight with 4.Bb5, and Black attacks White's c3-knight with 4...Bb4. White and Black castle short: 5.0-0 0-0. White surrenders his light-square bish in exchange for Black's knight with 6.Bxc6.

2. Pins and needles

Black recaptures with 6...dxc6, activating the light-square bish. White could continue 7.Nxe5, but after 7...Re8 or 7...Bxc3 Black eventually wins White's e-pawn pawn back; instead, White continues 7.d3, defending his e-pawn and threatening 8.Nxe5, to which Black replies 7...Bd6, defending his own e-pawn. White develops the dark-square bish with 8.Bg5, pinning the knight on f6. Black needles the bish with 8...h6, but White maintains the pin with 9.Bh4.

3. Poisoned outpost

Now comes a peculiar move from Black: 9...c5. With the d5-square no longer protected, White is happy to play 10.Nd5 and relocate his knight to a central outpost. If Black replies 10...c6, White can double Black's pawns a second time after 11.Nxf6; and if Black replies 10...Be7, defending the knight, White can exchange for the bish with 11.Nxe7.

But Black's ninth move was a trap, and White fell into it. After 10...g5, White has four ways to continue:

• If 11.Nxg5, Black would not reply 11...hxg5, allowing 12.Bxg5 and a superior position for White. Instead, Black would first play 11...Nxd5. Then if 12.exd5, 12...hxg5 and White has to retreat the bish to g3 with a loss of material and no compensation; or if 12.Nf3 with a discovered attack on Black's queen, 12...Ne7 or 12...Nf6 and again Black is better.
• If 11.Bxg5, the outcome for White is even worse. After 11...hxg5, 12.Nxg5 is met with 12...Nxd5, and Black's king is exposed but White is down too much material to continue the attack; or 12.Ne3, and again White is without compensation for his loss of material.
• If 11.Bg3, Black captures with 11...Nxd5 and is better positionally after 12.exd5 Bg4: even though material is equal, White's bish on g3 is effectively out of play.
• 11.Nxf6+, after which Black recaptures with 11...Qxf6 and White retreats his bish with 12.Bg3.

4. And throw away the key

White's bishop is in jail, and Black wants to keep it there in perpetuity. His next move is therefore 12...Bg4, pinning White's knight to the queen and disallowing an advance of the f2-pawn that would give the bish a way out of its cell. White tries 13.h3, prompting 13...Bxf3 -- but Black foresaw all of this. After 14.Qxf3 and an exchange of queens with 14...Qxf3 and 15.gxf3, Black pushes 15...f6 and bolts his e- and g-pawns to their squares. If White wants to free his bish, it will cost him precious material and time.

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◄ Halftime recap ►

William Winter's game against Jose Raul Capablanca ended with the former resigning after move 29. Move 15 is therefore a convenient point in the game, both symmetrically and thematically, to check if the first half has been accurately absorbed into memory.

The game opens with the Four Knights: Nimzo (Paulsen) Variation, so 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bb4 5.0-0 0-0, and 6.Bxc6. Black recaptures with 6...dxc6, White defends e4 with 7.d3, and Black defends e5 with 7...Bd6. White pins with 8.Bg5, and Black needles with 8...h6, prompting 9.Bh4. Black sets a trap with 9...c5, and White falls into it with 10.Nd5. (Black has a bish on d6.) Black strikes at White's bish with 10...g5, and White doesn't want to retreat his bish to g3 and so captures with 11.Nxf6 11.Nxf6+. Black recaptures with 11...Qxf6, and now White has to retreat the bish with 12.Bg3. Black plays 12...Bg4 to build the prison around White's bish, and White tries 13.h3 to kick Black's bish off of g4. But Black captures with 13...Bxf3, after which White recaptures with 14.Qxf3. Black exchanges queens with 14...Qxf3 and 15.gxf3; and after 15...f6, the situation is that White has doubled pawns on the f-file that can't move and Black has pawns on the dark squares e5 and g5 that are supported and form a prison around White's dark-square bish.

✓ Success, although I missed that White's move 11 comes with check

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5. King safety

Black wants to play on the side of the board where he has the advantage of the active bish, i.e. the queenside, but 16.Kg2 alerts him to White's plan of trying to penetrate on the h-file with a rook. After 16...a5 and 17.a4, Black plays 17...Kf7 in order to evacuate the king off the back two ranks, where he would be vulnerable to rook checks. White proceeds with his h-file plan and plays 18.Rh1, and Black completes the evacuation of the king with 18...Ke6. Now a rook penetration from White on the h-file would be fruitless.

6. h-file delusions

White nevertheless tries 19.h4 and, after Black's 19...Rfb8 to support a b-pawn push, continues 20.hxg5. Black recaptures with 20...hxg5, maintaining control over f4 and g4, and White concedes his rook is no threat to Black even on the fully open h-file.

7. b-file penetration

White continues 21.b3 to connect his pawns, and Black replies 21...c6 to further prepare 22...b5. White rook-lifts with 22.Ra2 to prepare stacking on the a-file, and Black pushes 22...b5. White stacks with 23.Rha1, and now comes 23...c4. White captures with 24.axb5, since 24.bxc4 bxc4 25.dxc4 and 24.dxc4 bxc4 25.Rc1 are met with 25...Rb4. Black replies 24...cxb3. White cannot continue 25.Rxa5 Rxa5 26.Rxa5 because 26...bxc2 would force 27.Ra1, and after 27...cxb5 White can't hold back the b- and c-pawns. White therefore recaptures with 25.cxb3 -- but this allows Black's rook to get in on the b-file with 25...Rxb5.

8. Queenside liquidation

White can't defend his b-pawn, and so tries 26.Ra4 to support 27.d4; and Black at last converts his positional advantage to a material advantage with 26...Rxb3. White pushes 27.d4 in desparate hope Black might set White's bish free with 27...exd4, but 27...Rb5 holds everything together. After 28.Rc4 Rb4 29.Rxc6 Rxd4, White resigns because his two rooks cannot stop the a-pawn's advance supported by Black's two rooks and bish.

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◄ Blind recap ►

Here is an attempt to replay Winter-Capablanca 1919 from start to finish without looking at the board:

Four Knights, Nimzo (Paulsen) Variation: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bb4 5.0-0 0-0 6.Bxc6. Black recaptures with 6...dxc6. White defends e4 with 7.d3, and Black defends e5 with 7...Bd6. White pins with 8.Bg5, and Black needles with 8...h6. White retreats, maintaining the pin, with 9.Bh4, and Black sets a trap with 9...c5. White falls into the trap with 10.Nd5, which is Black's cue to strike with 10...g5. White captures with 11.Nxf6+, and Black recaptures with 11...Qxf6. White retreats the bish again with 12.Bg3, and Black replies 12...Bg4 with an attack on the f3-knight. White hopes to kick the bish with 13.h3, but Black captures with 13...Bxf3. White recaptures with 14.Qxf3, and Black exchanges queens with 14...Qxf3 and 15.gxf3. Now Black locks the door with 15...f6, supporting the pawns on e5 and g5. White is out of options and tries 16.Kg2 to free his back rank for the rook. Black replies 16...a5, prompting 17.a4, and then begins evacuating the king with 17...Kf7. White continues 18.Rh1 and Black, proceeding with the evacuation plan, plays 18...Ke6. White pushes 19.h4 to tempt Black into 19...gxh4, but Black ignores and plays 19...Rfb8. White captures with 20.hxg5, to which Black replies 20...hxg5, but White abandons the idea of penetrating on the h-file and instead prepares to stack rooks with 21.Ra2. Black prepares to push his b-pawn with 21...c6, and White stacks with 22.Rha1. Black pushes 22...b5, and now he has pawns on a5, b5, c5, and c6. White's pawns are on a4, b3, c2, d3, and e4. White pushes 23.c3???

✗ Partial success: on move 21 White connects pawns

Four Knights, Nimzo (Paulsen) Variation: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bb4 5.0-0 0-0 6.Bxc6. Black recaptures with 6...dxc6. White defends e4 with 7.d3, and Black defends e5 with 7...Bd6. White pins with 8.Bg5; and after Black needles with 8...h6, White retreats the bish with 9.Bh4. Black sets a trap with 9...c5, and White steps into it with 10.Nd5. Black attacks with 10...g5, White captures with 11.Nxf6+; and after 11...Qxf6, White again retreats the bish with 12.Bg3. Black attacks White's f3 knight with 12...Bg4 and White tries to kick with 13.h3, but Black captures with 13...Bxh3. White recaptures with 14.Qxf3, and Black exchanges queens with 14...Qxf3 and 15.gxf3. Black adds support to his pawns on e5 and g5 with 15...f6. White plays 16.Kg2 to clear the back rank for his rook, and Black replies 16...a5. White plays 17.a4, and Black begins a king evacuation with 17...Kf7. White plays 18.Rh1 to prepare 19.h4, and Black's king continues his journey with 18...Ke6. White pushes 19.h4, but Black ignores and replies 19...Rfb8. White captures with 20.hxg5, and Black recaptures with 20...hxg5. White abandons the h-file idea and connects pawns with 21.b3. Black prepares a b-pawn push with 21...c6, and White prepares to stack rooks with 22.Ra2. Black pushes 22...b5, and White stacks with 23.Rha1. Black pushes 23...c4, attacking White's pawn on b3. White captures with 24.axb5, and Black captures with 24...cxb3. White's a2-rook is under attack and it advances to a4 with 25.Ra4. Black captures with 25...Rxb5, and White captures with 26.cxb3. Black pushes 26...c4, and White pushes 27.d4. Black captures with 27...Rxb3, and White plays 28.Rc4. (Black has a pawn on c5, next to the bish, which is on d5 because it had moved there early in the game to defend e4.) Black retreats his rook with 28...Rb5, White captures with 29.Rxc5, and Black captures???

✗ Partial success: on move 25 White chops on b3

Four Knights, Nimzo (Paulsen) Variation: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bb4 5.0-0 0-0 6.Bxc6. Black recaptures with 6...dxc6, White defends e4 with 7.d3, and Black defends e5 with 7...Bd6. White pins with 8.Bg5, Black needles with 8...h6, White retreats but maintains the pin with 9.Bh4, and Black sets a trap with 9...c5. White falls into the trap with 10.Nd5, and Black strikes with 10...g5. White captures with 11.Nxf6+, and Black recaptures with 11...Qxf6. White retreats the bish with 12.Bg3, and Black attacks White's f3 knight with 12...Bg4. White tries to kick with 13.h3, but Black captures with 13...Bxf3. White recaptures with 14.Qxf3, and an exchange of queens ensues with 14...Qxf3 and 15.gxf3. Black locks up White's bish with 15...f6, supporting the pawns on e5 and g5. White has ideas of penetrating on the h-file with a rook, so he moves the king off the back rank with 16.Kg2. Black replies 16...a5, prompting White to play 17.a4. Black begins evacuating his king off the back ranks with 17...Kf7. White summons the rook with 18.Rh1, and Black completes the king's evacuation with 18...Ke6. White strikes at Black's g5-pawn with 19.h4, but Black ignores and prepares a b-pawn push with 19...Rfb8. White captures with 20.hxg5, and Black recaptures with 20...hxg5. White turns his attention to the queenside and connects his c- and a-pawns with 21.b3. Black replies by further preparing the b-pawn push with 21...c6. White prepares to stack rooks on the a-file with 22.Ra2, and Black pushes 22...b5. White's a-pawn is attacked, but he ignores and continues 23.Rha1. Black replies by pushing 23...c4. White has two three pawns under attack: a4 from b5, and b3 [and d3] from c4. White captures with 24.axb5, and Black captures with 24...cxb3. White's rook on a2 is under attack, so White captures with 25.cxb3, and Black captures with 25...Rxb5. White prepares a d-pawn push with 26.Ra4, and Black captures another pawn with 26...Rxb3. White pushes 27.d4 to try and tempt Black into 27...exd4, but Black ignores and retreats his rook with 27...Rb5. White attacks the pawn on c6 with 28.Rc4, and Black x-ray attacks White's pawn on d4 with 28...Rb4. White captures with 29.Rxc6, Black captures with 29...Rxd4, and White resigns.

✓ Success!