| 23. ........ | K R - K 1 | |
| 24. Q - Kt 3 |
(To bring his Queen across after Kt - R 4 and B - K 2.)
| 24. ........ | R - Q 3 | |
| 25. Kt - R 4 | P - Kt 3 | |
| 26. B - K 2 |
| 26. ........ | P × P |
(I thought this exchange necessary here, as White is threatening to play his Bishop via Kt 4 to K 6. If he retook with the Bishop's Pawn I intended to exchange Bishops and rely on the two Pawns to one on the Queen's wing. I did not expect him to retake it with the King's Pawn, which seemed to expose him to a violent King's side attack.) Black's judgment in this instance I believe to be faulty. Had White retaken with the B P, as he expected, he would have had the worst of the Pawn position, as White would have had a passed Pawn well supported on the Queen's side. His only advantage would lie in his having a very well posted Bishop against a badly
posted Knight, and on the fact that in such positions as the above, the Bishop is invariably stronger than the Knight. He could and should have prevented all that, by playing B - B 1, as, had White then replied with Q - Kt 3, he could then play P × P, and White would not have been able to retake with the B P on account of B × P ch winning the exchange.
| 27. K P × P | P - K 5 | |
| 28. P - Kt 3 | P - K 6 |
I do not like this move. It would have been better to hold it in reserve and to have played P - B 4, to be followed in due time by P - K Kt 4 and P - B 5, after having placed the Q at Q 2, K B 2, or some other square as the occasion demanded. The text move blocks the action of the powerful B at Q B 4, and tends to make White's position safer than it should have been. The move in itself is a very strong attacking move, but it is isolated, and there is no effective continuation. Such advances as a rule should only be made when they can be followed by a concerted action of the pieces.