Echoes of Euwe

Echoes of Euwe

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I taught a lesson on pins yesterday and covered a couple of positions that many chess players seem to struggle with. Pins aren't only used to win material, but also to keep opposing pieces stuck for numerous moves. One of the most famous moves in Max Euwe's triumphant World Title match demonstrates this well.

In the position above white has the better structure and a pin on the a-file, but black is threatening to escape with Bb5. With his next move Euwe completely stopped that idea and by the end of the game black has practically no moves that don't immediately lose material.

I was able to use a similar idea to win a 15 minute game once. In the position below white has a pin on the b-file, but only one move keeps it going.

Do you know of any similar examples of this tactical idea? I'd love to see them.