Weinstein’s Wall Of Pawns

     Back in the old days (1960s and 70s) two of my favorite young players were James Tarjan and Raymond Weinstein. Both had an attacking style that made their games a lot of fun to play over. 
     In 1984, while in his early 30s, Tarjan gave up chess to become a librarian. After retirement in 2014, he successfully returned to play in open events. Everybody knows what happened to Weinstein.
     The claim has been made that the 1961-62 US Championship was a weak one, but it was fairly evenly balanced. Evans and Benko were the only two GMs though Robert Byrne, who didn’t have the title at the time, was certainly well qualified. 
     Before the tournament Sidney Bernstein commented, "It's the kind of field where most anyone could beat most anyone else. Maybe." And that's pretty much what happened. Abe Turner was quoted in the New York Times as saying, "This fellow Evans ... will finish very high if he has a bad tournament. If he has a good tournament, he will run through the field...” 
     Fischer was preparing for the interzonal in Stockholm. So was Arthur Bisguier who took William Lombardy’s place. Lombardy had qualified, but was unavailable because he was preparing for the priesthood. Reshevsky had declined his invitation for unspecified reasons...some thought he was retiring after his match with Fischer earlier in the year. Another GM, Nicolas Rossolimo, was inactive. 
     The favorites were Larry Evans, Robert Byrne and Pal Benko. Edmar Mednis was not yet a GM; he didn’t get the title until 1980. Mednis was a trained as a chemical engineer and like most players was involved in earning a living which curtailed his chess activity. 
     Dr. Eliot Hearst hadn't played since 1954 because of school work. George Kramer, Herbert Seidman, James Sherwin and Sidney Bernstein were there based on ratings acquired in open tournaments and club events. Donald Byrne hadn’t played much because of his teaching duties and declining health. Raymond Weinstein was a promising junior who looked to have a bright future ahead of him. 
     Abe Turner was not very well known to the chess public, but he had had some good results in the past and was a true coffeehouse player. Less than a year after this tournament ended, Turner (1924-1962) was found stabbed to death and stuffed in a safe in the basement where Al Horowitz’ Chess Review office was located. 

See Edward Winter's article for  details

     Turner had been employed by Horowitz for only six months and his murderer was a fellow employee named Theodore Smith. Later that night Smith was arrested by the police and lead them to a hunting knife buried in Central Park. According to an article that appeared in Chess Review, when asked why he killed Turner, Smith said it was because Secret Service agents had told him to. Edward Winter’s site has a newspaper clipping from the Daily News in which Smith’s name was given as Ross Smith. 
     In The Art of Bisguier, Arthur Bisguier wrote that Turner was murdered because Smith had become enraged when Turner made a homosexual pass at him as the two rode an elevator down to the basement. Bisguier was also employed by Chess Review at the time and stated he knew, and liked, both men. He also mentioned that Smith had always been very polite to Mrs. Bisguier whenever she showed up at the Chess Review office.
     Evans was pushing the ripe old age of 30 and said he was playing "for the spirit of competition...And sometimes because I run short of cash." Here’s a little known fact about Evans...he was a master blackjack player who excelled at counting cards. 
     In 1968, before card counting became all the rage, Evans had moved to Reno, Nevada specifically for the purpose of playing blackjack and make a few extra dollars at the Reno casinos. It only worked for a while. Once a player achieves fame as a card counter they get banned from the casinos in Reno, Las Vegas and everywhere else. See Seven Reasons To Never Count Cards 
     Evans was tough to beat. He liked to grab Pawns and hang on for dear life. He also had a pet theory, "No matter how had your position, if it's not totally lost, you will arrive at a point during the game where you will he presented with an opportunity to win or draw if you take advantage of it. I never give up in an inferior position; most players do.” 

Final standings. 
The total prize fund was $3000 with $1000 for first. That may not sound like a lot, but in 1962 first prize amounted to over $8,000, a princely sum in those days! Average family income in 1962 varied by regions, ranging from $4,600 in the South to $6,700 in the West; with the Northeast and North Central Regions averaging $6,600 and $6,300, respectively. Directors were Hans Kmoch and Frank Brady. 

1) Larry Evans 7.5 
2) Robert Byrne 7.0 
3-6) Pal Benko, Edmar Mednis, Herbert Seidman and James Sherwin 6.5 
7) Eliot Hearst 5.5 
8) Donald Byrne 5.0 
9) Raymond Weinstein 4.5 
10) Abe Turner 4.0 
11) George Kramer 3.5 
12) Sidney Bernstein 3.0 

     One of the more interesting game from that tournament was Bernstein’s loss to Weinstein. On move 10, going all out for a K-side, Bernstein played the risky 10.h4, never got castled and reached a place where he barely had a move. He tried giving up his Q for a couple of pieces, but was overwhelmed by Weinstein’s wall of Pawns. 

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[Event "US Championship 1961/62"]
[Site "New York, NY USA"]
[Date "1961.12.17"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Sidney Bernstein"]
[Black "Raymond Weinstein"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
{E61: King's Indian: Early deviations for White, including Smyslov System} 1.
d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 {This move leaves white options to play e4,
fianchetto his f1B or play as in the game.} 4... O-O 5. Bg5 h6 {A rare move.
Normally black plays 5...d6.} 6. Bf4 {This, too, is somewhat unsual as white
normally plays 6.Bh4} 6... d6 7. Qc1 {An experiment which doesn't have much to
recommend for itself. Much better was 7.h3 makin g room for the B and at the
same time keeping his options open.} 7... Kh7 8. Qc2 {The point of Bernstein's
play will be clear shortly.} 8... Nbd7 9. Rd1 c6 10. h4 {The idea is that now
that black's g-Pawn is pinned if white is allowed to play h5 he has a strong
attack. However, the threat is easily parried and so simply 10.e4 was
better.} 10... Nh5 { Black could also have played 10...Kg8 11.Qd2 Ng4! with a
fully satisfactory position.} 11. Bc1 {Bernstein chooses this retreat over
11.Bh2 because from c1 the B is aimed at black's K-side where he still hopes
to develop an attack.} 11... Ndf6 12. e4 Qc7 {Black has a cramped, but solid,
position.} 13. e5 {Instead of the solid 13.Be2, Bernstein plays a move that is
about to unleash the latent energy of black's pieces.} 13... dxe5 14. Nxe5 c5
{Undermining the support of white's best placed piece. Bernstein plays to
keep his N on e5, but ends up getting his other N misplaced.} 15. Nb5 {Good as
it drives black's Q to an unfavorable position. But, it might have been better
to play the more active 15...Qa4+ 16.Bd2 Qb6.} 15... Qb8 16. Qe2 {This seems
like another waste of time; better was 16.Bd3.} 16... a6 17. Na3 {This is a
poor choice. Much better was 17.Nc3. After 17.Nc3 cxd4 18.Rxd4 Bf5 white
can't play g4 because his R on d4 is exposed to the B on g7. Now how does
black meet threat of g4 winning piece?} 17... cxd4 {He doesn't.} 18. g4 {By
this point white has nothing better.} 18... Nxg4 { Black invests a piece to
trap White's pieces behind an ever-encroaching wall of pawns.} 19. Nxg4 f5
{White's next move is another passive one, but even after the more aggressive
20.Bh6 fxg4 21.Bxg7 Kxg7 22.Qxe7+ Rf7 his position is pretty grim.} 20. Nh2
e5 {Weinstein's wall of Ps can't be stopped.} 21. Nc2 Be6 22. Bg2 Qc7 23. b3
Rad8 {White's situation is difficult. Black doesn't have any move that
immediately wins the game, but it's futile for white to play on and the option
of resigning so early is unappealing.} 24. Kf1 e4 25. Ne1 Be5 26. Kg1 d3 27.
Qd2 {Marginally better was 27.Nxd3} 27... Nf4 28. Bf1 Qe7 29. Qxf4
{Despiration, but White was lost anyway.} 29... Bxf4 30. Bxf4 Qxh4 31. Ng2
Qh5 32. Ne3 g5 33. Nhg4 Qxh1+ {Boing!} 34. Kxh1 gxf4 35. Bg2 fxe3 36. Nxe3
Kg7 37. f4 Kf6 38. Kh2 Rd7 39. Rd2 Rg8 40. Bh3 Rdg7 41. Nf1 Rc7 {At least
white held out until adjournment.} 0-1