PROVENTION ! Take the Square Away Before the Knight Gets There

FM amazingatlas23 Oct 2026347 viewsEnglish (US)

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Marshall's whole attack rested on one square, h5. Capablanca survived it by kicking the knight away, and the engine says he could have killed the idea a move earlier by never letting it land.

Good day, chess world!

This is game 9 of Capablanca's My Chess Career, the eleventh game of the 1909 Marshall match. I personally enjoy this game in the series for teaching defence. Marshall throws a kingside attack at Capa who is already a pawn up. The whole attack runs through one square: h5, where the knight wants to land and hit g7 and f6. The defensive idea is the habit I call PROVENTION (proactive prevention). Ask what your opponent wants, then take it away before it happens. In the video I point out that Capablanca should have taken that square a move earlier than he did.
That is the first exercise below, and I think it is the most useful position in the whole game.

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Four exercises from the game

Try to solve each before you watch. Capablanca is Black here and he wins, so every exercise asks for Black's move. The first one is the move he did not play and should have, which is the whole point of the game. These are defensive problems, which are harder than attacking ones because the right move often looks passive. The answers are in the full game at the bottom, in the video, and in the website lesson linked below.

Exercise 1. Black to play (move 21). Ask the proactive prevention question here: if Marshall had the move, what would he play? His idea is Nh5, hitting g7 and f6. Which quiet pawn move takes that square away before the knight ever reaches it?

Answer: 21...g6. Capablanca played 21...e5 instead, let the knight into h5, and only then kicked it with 22...g6. Stockfish at depth 22 puts 21...g6 at about plus 2.5 and the 21...e5 he chose at about plus 1.1, so taking the square a move earlier was worth roughly a pawn and a half. That is the whole idea of proactive prevention in one move.

Exercise 2. Black to play (move 32). Marshall has just played Be6, offering the bishop in front of your king. Declining loses. Which capture takes it, and are you brave enough?

Exercise 3. Black to play (move 37). White has checked with Rf1 and your king is on f8 with pieces swarming. There is exactly one square. Which?

Exercise 4. Black to play (move 40). White has played Qd6 and threatens everything. Your extra material only counts if you survive. Which queen move defends and offers the trade that ends the attack?