In the following game played at Pistyan 1912, Frank Marshall took a beating from Karoly Sterk (September 19, 1881 – December 10, 1946) of the kind Marshall himself often administered
Prior to WW1, Sterks’ best performance was probably sharing 2nd place with Barasz, behind Breyer, at Budapest 1917. He lost two matches to Géza Maróczy in 1907 and 1917, both by +1 –2 =3.
After World War I, he mainly played in Budapest with only modest results. Sterk played for Hungary in unofficial and official Olympiads at Paris 1924, Budapest 1926, and Prague 1931.
The victory at Pistyan, a small resort northeast of Bratislava, was one of Rubinstein's greatest triumphs. Despite making two quick draws at the end, he was still first by 2.5 points. The venue was Grand Hotel Royal in Pistyan, then part of Austria-Hungary, known today as Piestany in Slov.
1) Rubinstein 14.0
2) Spielmann 11.5
3) Marshall 10.5
4) Schlechter 10.0
5-6) Duras and Teichmann 10.0
7-8) Balla and Breyer 9.5
9-11) Alapin, Sterk and Salwe 9.0
12) Lowcki 8.0
13-14) Barasz and Yates 6.0
15-16) Hromadka and Cohn 5.5
17) Leonhardt 5.5
18) Johner 4.5
[Event "Bad Pistyan"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1912.5.31"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Karoly Sterk"]
[Black "Frank Marshall"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]
%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
{Four Knights Game} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bb5 {A speculative
attempt at complicating the game is the the Belgrade Gambit, 4.d4.} 4... Bb4
{This symmetrical variation is known as the Spanish Variation. The symmetrical
position is especially dangerous if for black if he gets lulled into
complacency by the quiet start because white has a very dangerous initiative
against the King. A move aggressive move is 4...Nd4 (the Rubinstein Variation)
trying to exchange the N for a B and obtaining the advantage of the B-pair.}
5. O-O O-O 6. d3 {Now black usually continues with 6...d6 and after 7.Bg5
it's dangerous for him to keep copying white's moves by 7...Bg4} 6... d5 {This
rarely seen move has actually fared quite well in practice. It was a
specialty of Marshall's and this was the only game he lost with it.} 7. Nxd5
{Here white has almost always played either 7.Bxc6 or 7.exd5, but this is
probably best.} 7... Nxd5 8. exd5 Qxd5 9. Bc4 Qd6 10. c3 Bc5 11. b4 Bb6 12.
a4 a5 13. b5 Ne7 {Now white's immediate attack on f7 holds little danger for
black. It would have been better to play 14.Qb3 followed by Re1 and then
Ng5.} 14. Ng5 Qg6 15. Qe2 Bf5 {Marshall's offer of the e-Pawn is unsound and
he should have defended it with ...Qf5 and ...Ng6. Sterk erred in not taking
it because after 16.Qxe5! attacking the N and leaving black no good followup.
If he defends it with 16.. .Rae8 then after 17.Re1 white is much, much better.
Likewise, if 16...h6 17. Qxe7 white stands well.} 16. g4 h6 {Retreating to d7
would have been safer.} 17. gxf5 Nxf5 18. Kh1 hxg5 19. Rg1 g4 20. Ba3
{Somewhat better was 20.Rxg4, but Sterk was probably counting on Marshall
moving his R to safety with 20... Rfe8 then after 21.Rxg4 and Rag1 white has
an overwhelming position.} 20... Nh6 { Best even though it costs the
exchange.} 21. Bxf8 Rxf8 22. Rg2 {Getting the out of range of black's B so he
can play f2-f3.} 22... Re8 23. f3 {This is a critical position for black. His
best chance was 23...Nf5 as after 24.Rxg4 Qf6 he has some chance of defending
himself.} 23... Qg5 {After this black's position disintegrates.} 24. Re1 Qe7
25. fxg4 Qa3 {Rather pointless and it allows a nice finish, but black is lost
anyway.} 26. g5 Nf5 27. g6 Re7 28. Qh5 {Black's K is in a mating net.} 28...
Nh6 29. Qxh6 {Nice! If 29...gxh6 30.gxf7+ and the P queens.} 1-0
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