History
Lichtenhein-Morphy, New York 1857| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
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No one knows when the first zwischenzug was played, but it was evidently long before the term itself existed. One early example was Lichtenhein-Morphy, New York 1857. In the diagram at right, White has just captured Black's knight on e4 and surely expected the recapture 10...dxe4 11.0-0, when White's king is safe and he has the better pawn structure. Morphy, the strongest player of the day, instead played the zwischenzug 10...Qh4! Now White cannot save the bishop, since a move like 11.Bf3?? is met by 11...Qxf2#. Moreover, 11.0-0 would be met by 11...Qxe4 12.Nc3 Qh4, when "Black has the two bishops and a compact position without serious weakness" (Reinfeld & Soltis 1974:53). Instead, White played 11.Qe2 (forcing Black to weaken his pawns) dxe4 12.Be3? (after 12.0-0!, Black has only a slight advantage) Bg4! 13.Qc4 Bxe3!! and Morphy went on to win a brilliancy. (Réti 1976:32–36) (Reinfeld & Soltis 1974:51–54)
Rosenthal-De Vere, Paris 1867| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
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Rosenthal-De Vere, Paris 1867, is another 19th-century example of a zwischenzug (Hooper & Whyld 1992:107–8). De Vere (Black) had earlier sacrificed a piece for two pawns. White has just played 16.Bxb4. Instead of recapturing with 16...Qxb4+, De Vere first played the zwischenzug (or zwischenschach) 16...Rc1+! After 17.Kd2 Rxf1 18.Qxf1 Qxb4+ 19.Ke2 Qxf4 20.Qg1 Nxe5, De Vere's zwischenzug had netted him two more pawns, leaving him with the material advantage of four pawns for a knight. White resigned after twelve more moves.
Tartakower-Capablanca, New York 1924| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
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Another prominent example that brought the concept of zwischenzug, albeit not the term itself, to public attention was Tartakower-Capablanca, New York 1924. This was a game won by the reigning World Champion at one of the strongest tournaments of the early 20th century. In the position at right, Tartakower (White) has just played 9. Bxb8, thinking he has caught Capablanca in a trap: if 9...Rxb8, 10.Qa4+ and 11.Qxb4 wins a bishop (Tartakower & du Mont 1975:295). However, Capablanca sprang the zwischenzug 9...Nd5!, protecting his bishop and also threatening 10...Ne3+, forking White's king and queen. After Tartakower's 10.Kf2 Rxb8, Capablanca had regained his piece and went on to win in 20 more moves. Note that after 10.Bf4 (instead of 10.Kf2), Black would not play 10...Nxf4??, which would still allow 11.Qa4+, winning a piece. Instead, after 10.Bf4 Black would play a second zwischenzug, 10...Qf6!, attacking the bishop again, and also renewing the threat of 11...Ne3+ (Alekhine 1961:208 note h) (Reinfeld 1974:230). After a move like 11.Qc1, Black could either take the bishop or consider yet a third zwischenzug with 11...Bd6.
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Alekhine, Reinfeld, and Tartakower and du Mont do not call 9...Nd5! a "zwischenzug" in their books (originally published in 1925, 1942, and 1952, respectively). Instead, they refer to it as, respectively, "a bit of finesse", a "sly interpolation", and an "intermediary manoeuvre" (Alekhine 1961:208 note e) (Reinfeld 1974:230) (Tartakower & du Mont 1975:296).
The earliest known use of the term zwischenzug did not occur until after all of these games. According to chess historian Edward Winter, the first known use was in 1933. Fred Reinfeld and Irving Chernev, annotating the game Max Euwe-Gyula Breyer, Vienna 1921, called Breyer's 27th move, 27...Nge3!, "an important Zwischenzug" (Reinfeld & Chernev 1933:48). The game can be played over here.
Read more about this topic: Zwischenzug
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