The Check Janowski Filed Under the Wrong Heading

FM amazingatlas25 Oct 2026257 viewsEnglish (US)

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Janowski had a check that kept his attack alive and never played it, because he had already decided that move was a defensive idea. He grabbed a piece instead and the attack died.

Good day, chess world!
This is game 12 of Capablanca's My Chess Career, from San Sebastian 1911.
It is the one game in this series that teaches mostly from the losing side. David Janowski, one of the great attackers of his day, sacrifices into Capablanca's king and gets a substantial attack. Then at the critical moment he has a check that keeps everything going, and he does not play it.
The reason is the lesson: CHECK THE CHECKS!. He took a piece back instead, the attack drained away and Capablanca defended and eventually won a long endgame.

It is crucial when the positions is highly imbalanced to have a structured process to calculate moves. I work very hard with my students to make sure that when these moments come in chess games they are ready. Remember the Goldilocks principle when calculating: Find three options and rank them in order good, better, best. Had Janowski done this he would have been able to claim the spectacular victory against Capablanca.

What we can learn from Capa in this game is how to defend. When defending try to play the moves that make it as hard for your opponent as possible.

If you are enjoying my posts take a look at the lesson link on my website and consider signing up for the free daily lessons with the links below.

Four exercises from the game

Try to solve each before you watch. The first asks for Black's move, because Janowski's decision is the whole point of the game. The other three ask for Capablanca's, from the moments where he actually had a choice rather than a forced reply to a check. Each board is turned to the side that is to move. 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 28). This is the position the game is about. You are attacking, your queen is on g3 and the white king is short of air. There is a piece hanging on c4. Taking it is natural and it is wrong. Which check keeps the attack burning?

Exercise 2. White to play (move 35). You have survived a dozen checks and the queen on e1 is still glaring at you. Rather than shuffle again, which capture hits back in the centre?

Exercise 3. White to play (move 51). The checks have finally stopped. Your bishop on b6 has done its job there. Where does it go to clear the way for the b-pawn?

Exercise 4. White to play (move 60). The pawn on b7 is one square from queening and Black's h-pawn is running. Which capture ends the counterplay and wins?