Game 12: Pitschak vs Flohr: Flohr's Revenge — How to Destroy a Castled King

Game 12: Pitschak vs Flohr: Flohr's Revenge — How to Destroy a Castled King

Liebwerda 1934 | English Opening | A21 | Black wins (0-1)
Game 12 features one of the great revenge stories in chess: Flohr turns the tables on Pitschak, defeating him with the very technique Pitschak used against Flohr in Game 11. In the previous game, White weakened Black's castled king and delivered Blackburne's Mate. Here, with colours reversed, Flohr systematically targets the same structural weaknesses — and wins even more elegantly.
The key teaching: if you understand how an attack works, you can flip it and use it from the other side.

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The Full Game

Replay the complete annotated game below. Every move is explained with Chernev's original commentary from the book.

The Story Behind the Game

This game is one of the most satisfying in Chernev's book precisely because of the context: just four years earlier, at Bilin 1930, Pitschak defeated Flohr by gradually weakening the kingside pawn structure and launching a mating attack (Game 11). Here at Liebwerda 1934, the roles are reversed. Flohr is Black, Pitschak is White — and Flohr demonstrates that he has not only understood what was done to him, but has mastered the technique completely.
The opening is the English Opening (1.c4). Chernev uses this game to show how the same positional principles operate regardless of which colour you play. Piece coordination, pawn structure, and king safety are universal ideas.

The Opening: English Opening (1.c4)

White opens with 1.c4 — the English Opening. Despite the fact that only one piece is freed by this move (against the two freed by 1.e4 or 1.d4), the English is one of the strongest opening weapons in White's arsenal. It allows manoeuvring without early contact, and in many forms White does not even try to occupy the centre immediately.
Black responds with 1...e5, planting a pawn in the centre. After 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 d5!, Black immediately strikes back in the centre. The pawn exchange 4.cxd5 Nxd5 hands Black a strong pawn on e5, while White's c-file opens for the queen's rook.

The Critical Moment: 5...Nb6!

After 5.Bg2 (attacking the knight with tempo), most players would reply 5...Be6. But Flohr plays 5...Nb6! — a key prophylactic manoeuvre. By keeping the knight on b6, Black permanently prevents White from playing d4, which would give White the counterplay he needs.
Chernev highlights this as a perfect example of the modern approach: even the most natural-looking moves must be questioned in the search for the best continuation.

White's Fatal Pawn Move: 10.h3

After natural developing moves, White plays 10.h3, demanding that Black's bishop on g4 declare its intentions. This is the move that starts White's downfall.
Chernev explains it: moves like h3 near the castled king, made more by instinct than reason, have an injurious effect on the defensive structure. Once the pawns near the king advance, they become targets themselves. The h3 pawn will soon become a free gift.
Black retreats with 10...Bh5, maintaining psychological and structural pressure on White's kingside.

The Exchange Sacrifice: 12...Bxf3!

After 12.Na4, Black seizes the moment: 12...Bxf3! gives White an impossible choice. If 13.gxf3, the d-pawn becomes isolated and weak. If 13.Bxf3, Black captures the h3 pawn.
After 13.Bxf3 Qxh3, Black's attacking prospects are already overwhelming. Flohr can visualise winning plans involving 14...f5 followed by 15...f4 to destroy the g-pawn, or 15...Rf6 followed by swinging the rook to h6.

Key Position: The Decisive Moment — 15...Nd5!

After 15...Nd5!, Black has a beautifully centralized knight threatening 16...Nxe3. This is the moment of maximum piece coordination. Every Black piece is aimed at the White king.
White is forced to play 16.Qe1 (the only move to save the g-pawn), and after 16...f5! followed by 17...f4, the attack becomes unstoppable.
The final sequence: 17.Bc5 f4! 18.Bxe7 fxg3 19.fxg3 Ne3! 0-1
There is no defence. The threat of Qg2# cannot be stopped without massive material loss.

Key Takeaways

Pawn weaknesses near the king are permanent. When White played h3, he created a target. Flohr circled it, built up pressure, and struck at precisely the right moment.
Restraint before action. Flohr did not rush. Every move improved his position slightly, and only when every piece was maximally active did the decisive combination appear — the knight on d5, the queen on h3, the rook ready to come to the f-file.
Reversibility of ideas. This is the most profound lesson from Games 11 and 12 together. The same attacking idea — weaken the kingside pawns, use piece coordination to generate mating threats — works equally well for White or Black. Understanding the pattern is more valuable than memorising specific moves.
5...Nb6! teaches prophylaxis. The best move is not always the most natural one. Flohr's knight retreat prevents d4 indefinitely, giving Black a permanent positional advantage.
The bishop sacrifice on f3. Giving up the bishop for the knight on f3 is a recurring attacking idea in the English Opening. Black gains immediate compensation and long-term attacking chances.

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💬 How did Flohr's revenge compare to Game 11? Did you find 12...Bxf3! or 15...Nd5! more impressive? Leave a comment below!

Resources

📺 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kknmehm6N4w
📖 Logical Chess: Move by Move by Irving Chernev (Game 12)
♟️ Replay the full annotated study on Lichess:

About This Series

I'm FM Nicholas Van Der Nat, FIDE Master and FIDE Trainer. I'm walking through all 33 games from Irving Chernev's Logical Chess: Move by Move on ChessExcellence. Each game has a YouTube video, a Lichess study, and written analysis.
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