[Event "Steinitz-Blackburne"]

[Site "London ENG"]

[Date "1876.02.17"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Wilhelm Steinitz"]
[Black "Joseph Henry Blackburne"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C77"]
[EventDate "1876.02.17"]
[PlyCount "67"]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3
{Steinitz puts his ultimate strategical plan in action. He will adopt
a Ruy Lopez-Restrained center position with pawns on c3-d3 and e4,
keeping the centre closed and stable. He will later push h3-g4 and
bring the queen knight to the kingside with the know well known
manouver Nbd2-Nf1-Ng3/Ne3.}
5...d6 6.c3 Be7?!
{How can you put a question mark on a developing move?
Simple, altho this move doesnt lose the game it surely makes life
harder for Black. In this kind of positions Black would like to
fianchetto his king's bishop to create a shelter for his king and
restrain the d3-d4 advance by White.}
7.h3
{This may work to avoid the Bg4 pin but most importantly to play g4!}
7...O-O 8.Qe2
{Steinitz keeps flexibility. He is planning on castling long.}
8...Ne8
{While Blackburne was a great tactician he wasn't that good when
talking about positional chess.
This move introduces the idea of attacking the e4-pawn with f5,
winning space on the kingside and active play.
Another plan and probably a better one was Nd7! followed by Nc5-Ne6
aiming at f4 (which would become a hole if White plays g4) and
restraining the advance d4.}
9.g4!
{Steinitz correctly stops the f5 pawn push which would attack White's
strong point (e4) and disrupt things in the center, possibly opening
it, not what Steinitz wanted when he got as solid as a rock with
c3-d3-e4}
9...b5 10.Bc2
{Bb3, Na5! Bc2 c5 and White is down a tempo.}
10...Bb7
{The fact that the bishop moved from the c8-h3 diagonal makes Nf5
desirable.}
11.Nbd2
{The knight starts its journey. Steinitz will post this knight on f5.}
11...Qd7 12.Nf1 Nd8 13.Ne3
{g3 was another option but it is more active from e3.}
13...Ne6 14.Nf5 g6
{Weakening the dark squares around the king and letting his most
precious piece be captured. This is too impatient by Blackburne,
better was to wait. A move like Bf6 followed by g6 looks better, not
giving up the bishop.}
15.Nxe7+ Qxe7 16.Be3 N8g7 17.O-O-O c5
{Blackburne staps pushing his queenside pawns, trying to get an attack
going.}
18.d4
{Although Steinitz initial idea was to not touch the center this pawn
advance helps White's pieces get closer to the enemy king. }

18...exd4 19.cxd4 c4?

{Closing the position does not help when you are about to get mated on
the kingside.}
( 19...cxd4 {And position would remain equal, with a fluid center
pieces can move faster from one wing to another not to mentioned that
Blackburne now has an open c-file to work with.} )
20.d5 Nc7 21.Qd2 a5 22.Bd4 f6 23.Qh6 b4 24.g5!
{Steinitz hits hard with this move.}
24...f5 25.Bf6 Qf7 26.exf5 gxf5 27.g6!!
{If hxg6 there is a forced mate in 10 according to Stockfish which
starts after Ng5. Even if Steinitz hadnt found the mate, Ng5 wins the
queen.}
27...Qxg6 28.Bxg7 Qxh6+ 29.Bxh6
{And the attack has ended, resulting in a winning material advantage
by White.}
29...Rf6 30.Rhg1+ Rg6 31.Bxf5 Kf7 32.Bxg6+ hxg6 33.Ng5+ Kg8 34.Rge1
{Blackburne could have resigned after g6 but he does it now.
This game showed the nature of the Ruy Lopez restrained centers.
You k}
1-0