Things had started to turn around in 1949. After the Depression and World War II postwar prosperity started to get underway. Auto companies began to sell cars and televisions and other goods demanded by consumers began to appear.
Cars and televisions got bigger and with nearly 10 million TVs in American homes, a new type of program appeared...Soap Operas, so called because soap manufacturers sponsored the shows with the idea that they would be able to reach stay at home housewives.
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| 1949 Cadillac |
In chess news in 1949, the first FIDE Grandmaster list appeared with and it contained 17 GMs. Claude Shannon presented a paper on programming a computer to play chess and we all know where that ultimately lead although computers and software for the public didn’t onto the market in the mid-1970s.
In 1949, Eileen Tranmer scored a perfect 11-0 score to win the British Ladies' Chess Championship and Harry Golombek won the first British Championship to use the Swiss system. The first USSR correspondence chess championship tournament was began. It finished in 1951 and Alexander Konstantinopolsky was the winner. David Bronstein and Vasily Smyslov tied for the Soviet Championship. Nicholas Rossolimo won Hastings 1948/49.
In the US, Albert Sandrin won the US Open, held in Omaha. James B. Cross, Arthur Bisguier and Larry Evans tied for first in the 4th annual Junior Championship. Reuben Fine won the New York International ahead of Najdorf, Euwe and Pilnik.
Among the forgotten international tournaments in 1949 was a 20 player event, the Reti Memorial, held in Trencianske Teplice, a health resort and small spa town in western Slovakia. The town is renowned for its sulfur and thermal springs.
It was also one of Gideon Stahlberg’s great victories. At that time, according to Chessmetrics, Stahlberg was one of the top rated players in the world. The top ten players were: Botvinnik (2813), Smyslov (2756), Bronstein (2750), Kotov (2744), Najdorf (2743), Fine (2738), Doleslavaky (2728), Reshevsky (2728), Stahberg (2728) and Keres (2725).
Final Standings:
1) Stahlberg 14.0
2-3) Szabo and Pachman 13.5
4-5) Julio Bolbochan and Rossolimo 12.0
6) Foltys 11.5
7-8) Prins, and O'Kelly 11.0
9) Emil Richter 10.5
10) Kottnauer 10.0
11) Szily 9.5
12-13) Sefc and Golombek 9.0
14) Ujtelky 8.0
15-16) Erdelyi and Rohacek 7.0
17) Ojanen 6.5
18) Paoli 5.5
19) Platt 5.0
20) Wade 4.5
[Event "Trencianske Teplice"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1949.9.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Emil Richter"]
[Black "Enrico Paoli"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]
%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
{Queen's Gambut Accepted} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. e3 dxc4
6. Bxc4 b5 7. Bd3 a6 8. O-O c5 9. Qe2 {The opening has transposed from the
Semi-Slav into a variation of the QGA where black has lost a tempo compared to
normal variations.} 9... Bb7 10. dxc5 {Black is already at a considerable
disadvantage here. He can't play 10...Bxc5 on account of 11.Bxb5+. Perhaps
his best try was 10...Nc6.} 10... Qa5 11. e4 Bxc5 12. e5 Nd5 13. Ne4 {White
has more space and his N on e4 is very well placed. It's also clear that
black is not going to be ale to castle.} 13... Be7 14. Bg5 {This excellent
move eliminates the B that is guarding d6 and black runs into troible if he
castles. 14...O-O 15. Bxe7 Nxe7 16.Nfg5 and he will likely succumb to a
K-side attack as the are no pieces that can come to the aid of his K.} 14...
Qb6 15. Bxe7 Kxe7 16. Rac1 Nd7 17. Bb1 {A typical preparatory move to forming
a B and Q battery aimed at h7.} 17... h6 18. Rfe1 {A far sighted move that, as
will be seen, prepares for the occupation of d6 by the N.} 18... Rac8 19.
Rxc8 Rxc8 20. Nd6 {This is the critical position for black and it is at this
point that all chances to save the game disappear because of his next move.
White is going to place his Q on e4 and invade on h7 and the best defense
black has is 20...Rd8 which threatens ... Nxe5 removing the support of white's
powerful N on d6. Consequently, white has to play 21.Nb7 Qxb7 22.Qe4 Qa8!
And white has at best only a modest advantage. If white plays 23.Qh7 the reply
is 23...Nf4! and white dare not open the g-file with 24.Qxg7 because of
24...Rg8 and it's black who wins.} 20... Rc7 {After this black is lost. The
move looks like a reasonable one because it keeps the R on the open c-file.
But, in this position the c-file has little value.} 21. Qe4 {Hopeless is
21...Nxe5 22.Nf5+} 21... Qc5 {Now even better would have been 22.Qh4+ first.
If 22...Kf8 23.Qd8 mate. So, black has to play 22... f6 23.Nxb7} 22. Nxb7
{This is the simplest way to win material, so in practical play it has some
merit.} 22... Rxb7 23. Qh7 Qb4 24. Qxg7 Qf4 25. Be4 {Very good! Black has
gotten his Q into difficulties and can't meet both od white's threats: 26.g3
and 26.Bxd5.} 25... h5 26. Bxd5 Rc7 27. g3 Qg4 28. Ng5 1-0
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