He has something of a reputation today for being a solid player - dour even - but in his heyday was regarded as an openings expert and top-class tactician, which makes a repertoire based on his games of particular interest to club players.
White
Open 1.d4 and meet the Nimzo-Indian: 1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 with 4.Qc2. The most-popular reply in Euwe's games in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database is 4...c5, against which he scored a remarkable 89% with 5.dxc5. Black's most-popular answer to this was 5...Nc6, against which Euwe seems to have introduced the now-standard manoeuvre 6.Nf3 Bxc5 7.Bg5. Today blacks more often play 5...0-0, against which Euwe varied his replies, although his first choice was 6.Bf4 Bxc5 7.e3 Nc6 8.Nf3.
Against 4...d5 he scored 60% with both 5.a3 and 5.cxd5. Perhaps play the former as it the less-popular move today, the standard continuation after 5.a3 being 5...Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 Ne4 7.Qc2 c5 8.dxc5 Nc6, after which Euwe used 9.cxd5 to beat Najdorf at Mar del Plata 1947.
Against 4...0-0 Euwe tried four different moves, not looking convincing with any of them. Perhaps most consistent with the rest of the repertoire is 5.a3, which Euwe used to draw with Unzicker and Pachman when he was well past his prime.
Against 3...d5, often reached through the Queen's Gambit Declined move-order: 1...d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6, he scored 67% from the mainline tabiya after 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Nf3 0-0 7.Rc1.
Against the Slav: 1...d5 2.c4 c6 he scored 88% in the Semi-Slav line 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3. In the pure Slav line 4...dxc4 he scored 79% with 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3.
Against the Queen's Gambit Accepted: 2...dxc4 he scored 70% with 3.Nf3, intending to meet the main reply 3...Nf6 with 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.0-0.
Against attempts to play the King's Indian or Grünfeld via 1...Nf6 2.c4 g6 he liked to counter-fianchetto with 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0, scoring 62% with 5.Nc3, which allows a King's Indian but rules out a Grünfeld. Some opponents went for a sort of Grünfeld with 4...d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 but Euwe scored 60% with 6.e4.
Against the Benoni: 2...c5 he scored 75% with the standard 3.d5.
Black v 1.e4
Play 1...e5 with the aim of meeting the mainline Spanish: 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 with the Open Variation: 5...Nxe4. After the normal 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 the vast majority of Euwe's opponents played what is still the main move, 9.c3. Euwe usually replied 9...Be7, scoring heavily with 10...0-0 against both 10.Nbd2 and 10.Be3. Euwe also played 9...Be7 against the three other ninth moves he faced: 9.Qe2, 9.Nbd2 and 9.Be3.
If White prevented the Open Variation by playing the Wormald Attack: 5.Qe2, Euwe scored 70% with 5...b5 6.Bb3 Bc5.
A more-popular way of preventing the Open Variation in his day was 5.Nc3, Euwe's games usually continuing 5...Be7 6.0-0 b5 7.Bb3, against which he won all three games when proceeding with 7...0-0.
He scored heavily against the Exchange Variation: 4.Bxc6, replying 4...dxc6 and early always castling long, but he never faced the modern move 5.0-0.
Euwe normally played 3...Bc5 against the Italian: 3.Bc4, and usually met 4.c3 with closed lines starting with 4...Bb6 or 4...Qe7, scoring a much higher percentage with the latter.
In the Spanish Four Knights: 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 he was happy going down the main line: 4...Bb4 5.0-0 0-0 6.d3 d6 7.Bg5 Bxc3, but had equal success with the much less-well known 7....Ne7, which has been tried by Carlsen.
He was also happy playing the main line in the Scotch Four Knights: 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.exd5 cxd5 9.0-0 0-0 10.Bg5, but avoided 10...c6 in favour of trying to push the c pawn two squares, if allowed, after 10...Be6 11.Qf3 Be7.
He did not face the pure Scotch: 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 often but usually replied 4...Nf6.
Against the Scotch Gambit: 4.Bc4 he won all three games in which he played the sharp 4...Nf6.
Against the Ponziani: 3.c3 he scored a win and a loss with 3...d5 but a win and a draw with 3...Nf6.
Against the mainline Vienna: 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 d5 4.fxe5 Nxe4 5.Nf3 he scored 70% with 5...Be7.
Euwe always accepted the King's Gambit: 2.f4, playing 3...Nc6 in the one game that continued 2...exf4 3.Bc4. He varied against 3.Nf3 - perhaps try 3...Be7!? with which he scored a win and a draw, and which has also been played by Kasparov.
Black v 1.d4 and Others
After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 he generally went for a Nimzo-Indian with 2...e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 or a Queen's Gambit Declined with 3...d5 but scored 22 percentage points higher with 2...g6. However White replied he nearly always went for a King's Indian set-up with 3...Bg7, 4...0-0 and 5...d6. The main exception to this was in the line 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Nf3 0-0 5.g3, which he met with 5...d5 all four times he faced it, winning all four games.
Against 2.Nf3 he again scored highly with 2...g6.
Against the English: 1.c4 he liked 1...Nf6, usually meeting 2.Nc3, 2.g3 and 2.Nf3 with 2...e6 or 2...g6. He scored better with the latter, which fits in with 2...g6 against 1.d4 and 2.c4/Nf3.
Against 1.Nf3 he mainly switched between 1...d5 and 1...Nf6 but the latter is the better choice for the repertoire laid out here.
Some club players are put off the King's Indian by the Four Pawns Attack, but Euwe won all three times he faced it.
Here he makes the task look ridiculously easy playing for Rotterdam against Edgard Colle of Antwerp.
Colle - Euwe
City Match (Antwerp) 1926
1.c4 Nf6 2.d4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 0-0 5.f4
The tempting 5.e5!? has been played by Karpov, albeit in a simul (he could only draw), but Black is reckoned to have a comfortable time of it after Fischer's 5...Ne8 6.f4 d6 7.Nf3 dxe5.
5...d6 6.Nf3 c5
This is the main move, and has been played by Kasparov, but Kasparov has also tried 6...Na6!?
7.d5 e6 8.Bd3!?
Colle had recently twice played what is today very much the main line, namely 8.Be2 exd5 9.cxd5.
8...exd5 9.cxd5 Qb6!?
Euwe seems to have introduced this move, which prevents early castling by White, in a win over Friedrich Sämisch the previous year. Various moves are tried today but most popular is 9...Re8. The text is only sixth-most popular in Mega20.
10.Bc2
Clearly not 10.0-0?? c4, but Sämisch - Euwe, Wiesbaden Viermeister 1925, saw 10.Nd2 Ng4 11.Nc4 Qd8 12.Be2 (12.0-0?? Qh4) h5 with an unclear position.
10...c4 11.Qe2 Re8 12.Ba4?
This hit on the rook does not inconvenience Black and merely costs White time in a sharp position..
12...Bd7 13.Bxd7
The analysis engines Stockfish11 and Komodo11.01 prefer 13.e5 or 13.Be3 but still give Black a winning advantage, eg 13.Be3 Qa5 14.Bc2 b5 with a strong initiative.
13...Nbxd7
 |
| Can White's game be saved? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
14.Nd2
It may be Colle intended 14.Be3 Qa5 15.Nd2, preparing kingside castling, but then saw Black simply has 15...Nxe4 as, despite appearances, the e pawn is only defended once.
14...Nxe4! 15.Ncxe4
Even worse is 15.Nxc4 Nxc3 as after 16.Nxb6 comes 16...Rxe2+ 17.Kf1 Nxb6 and Black emerges a knight up with an attack.
15...Rac8
There is no rush to win back the piece.
16.Kf1 f5 17.Nxc4 Rxc4 18.Nf6+
Black has an overwhelming attack after 18.Qxc4 Rxe4, eg 19.Qc8+ Nf8 20.Qc2 Bd4 21.Qd3 (to stop 21...Qb5+) Nd7 etc.
18...Nxf6 19.Qxc4 Ng4 0-1
There is no defence as preventing mate on e2 with 20.Qc2 runs into 20...Qb5+.
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