Si no hay café para todos, no habrá para nadie

Armando Acevedo Milán – Ernesto Che Guevara
25-board simultaneous exhibition; Camagüey, May 29, 1964
Spanish Game C68

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6. The so-called Exchange Variation, which Emanuel Lasker — and a century later Bobby Fischer too — chose in important games. 4. ... dxc6 5. 0-0 Bd6 6. d4 exd4 7. Qxd4 f6 8. Nc3 c5 9. Qe3 Nh6 10. e5!? A sharp Pawn sacrifice, probably not unsound. 10. ... Ng4 11. Qe4 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Bxe5

13. Be3. Probably best for White is 11. Bf4 which would have been answered by 11. ... Qd4 with approximate equality. 13. ... Qe7 14. Nd5?? A horrible, horrible blunder — very easy to refute. 14. ... Bxh2+. “Bold and aggressive Bishop sacrifice aimed to break down White King’s defence, win the Queen and launch the attack”, Javier Vargas wrote. 15. Kxh2 Qxe4 16. Nxc7+ Kf7 17. Nxa8 b6! Easy, but pretty. 18. Nxb6 Bb7 0 : 1. For if 18. Rg1 then 18. ... Qh4 mate, while if 18. f3 then 18. ... Qxe3 finis. In his article “Mi partida con el Che Guevara”, Mexican FIDE Master Acevedo Milán swears he didn’t lose on purpose.

Guess what? Life happened. Photo: Armando Acevedo Milán.