In Chicago the city ran out of money and couldn't pay it's teachers for 2 months. Many car manufacturers went out of business because people did not have money to buy new cars and a serious drought in the Midwest made food more expensive and turned some areas into dust bowls suffering dust storms and soil erosion.
On the plus side the US government started making some progress against the Mafia and a notable success was the conviction of Al Capone on tax fraud charges which got him an 11 year prison sentence in Alcatraz.
Not everybody was broke though. A small community in Nevada named Las Vegas made the decision to legalize gambling and succeeded in attracting a lot of people who had money to throw away in spite of the bad economy.
Prestigious tournaments had been held in New York City in 1924 and 1927. In 1924, the competitors included world champion Capablanca and his predecessor Lasker and other top players included Alekhine, Bogoljubow, Maroczy, Reti, Tartakower and Yates. Lasker won.
The New York 1927 tournament was a 6-player event won by Capablanca ahead of Alekhine, Nimzovich, Vidmar, Spielmann and Marshall.
Although the next big tournament, played at the Hotel Alamac in Manhattan, had Capablanca from Havana playing, it could hardly be considered international. Naturally, he was the favorite to win right from the start, but many fans were interested in seeing how well the fan favorite, Frank Marshall, would fare.
The participation of Isaac Kashdan, champion of the Manhattan Chess Club, now a full-fledged master who was making a name for himself, also aroused interest. Fans were especially excited about his first meeting with Capablanca. As it turned out, when they met Capablanca was already assured of first place so their game was an uneventful draw.
Originally conceived as an 8-player event, the 1931 New York Invitational was expanded to 12 players by the sponsoring Manhattan Chess Club. Playing sessions were scheduled 2-7 PM on Saturday and Sunday and 7 PM - midnight on other days. Norbert Lederer directed.
Capablanca had a relatively easy tournament and from the beginning it was clear that he was in good form. For many it was merely a question as to how far ahead of the field he would finish.
His play wasn't perfect though. He had a lost ending against Arthur Dake but by playing too fast and refusing to adjourn, Dake ended up losing. Capablanca also found himself a Pawn down against Alexander Kevitz in the second round, but managed to hold the draw. And, against I. S. Turover, Capa managed to score a full point in a book drawn ending.
Isaac Kashdan fulfilled expectations and acquitted himself with credit by going undefeated. Alexander Kevitz' third place finish was something of a surprise as was the miserable finish of Frank Marshall.
Herman Steiner - Maurice Fox
Result: 1-0
Site: New York City
Date: 1931.05.02
Torre Attack
[...] 1.d4 ♘f6 2.♘f3 e6 3.♗g5 The Torre Attack is another one of those "systems" that is an opening you can play against any black defense. However, some unscrupulous authors imply that you don't have to memorize a lot of theory. While it is true the body of theory is relatively small compared to a lot of other openings. However, the Torre is not a one size fits all opening! To play it correctly you must follow the correct strategy and that will depend on the type of setup black chooses. 3...h6 This is the modern way of meeting the Torre and it has produced good results. 4.♗xf6 The alternatives are 4.Bf4 and 4.Bh4 neither of which confers any advantage to white. Here the idea is to play an immediate e4. 4...♕xf6 5.e4 c5 Either 5.d6 or 5.d5 are better because now white grabs a lot of center space and black loses time with his Q. 6.e5 ♕d8 7.c3 Not bad but more promising is 7.d5! leaving black with no really satisfactory response. After 7.d5! the risky 7... Qb6?! probably is black's best chance of getting any counterplay. 7...♗e7 8.♘bd2 cxd4 9.♘xd4 ♘c6 10.♘xc6 dxc6 Steiner has played the opening rather passively and even with a P on e5 he can't boast of any serious advantage because black's position has no weaknesses. 11.♕g4 White threatens to win material: Qg4xg7 11...O-O 12.O-O-O ♕a5 This attack on the a-Pawn is going to land Fox in trouble. Better was 12...Qc7 putting pressure on the e-Pawn.
12...♕c7 13.♕e4 b5 14.♗d3 g6 15.h4 ♗b7 would offer both sides chances for attack.
13.♕e4 Steiner offers a P for a promising attack. 13...♕xa2 After this P grab black is practically lost. Maurice Fox (1898-1988) was an 8-time Canadian champion so he was no pushover. Here he obviously thought his defensive resources would be adequate. 14.♗d3 g6 15.h4 ♕d5 Hoping white will echange Qs which greatly diminishes his attacking chances. 16.♕e3 ♖d8 As Fritz put it, "Even a better move would not have saved the game." 17.♘f3
17.♗c2 wasn't bad either. 17...♔g7 18.♕g3+−18...h5 19.♘e4 ♕a5 20.♖xd8 ♗xd8 21.♕f4 followed by 22.g4 with a winning attack.
17...♕a5 18.h5
18.♕xh6 is not so clear after 18...♖xd3 19.♖xd3 ♕a1 20.♔d2 ♕xh1 21.♘g5 ♗xg5 22.♕xg5 ♗d7 23.♖xd7
18...g5 19.♕e4 White has an obvious mate threat but this move loses the initiative. 19.Bd2 was correct 19...♔f8 This loses quickly.
19...♖xd3 would be a reprieve as it eliminates the direct mate threat and allows black counterplay. 20.♕xd3 b5 The threat of 21...b4 puts black is right back in the game! Just one example... 21.♘d4 ♗b7 22.♘c2 To stop ...b4. Note white threats Qd7 attacking both Bs so... 22...♕a6 23.♕e3 c5 24.♖d7 and both sides have chances.
20.♕h7 Ending the game. Nevertheless, white had to calculate things exactly because he is giving up both Rs. All black needs is one move to slip out of the mating net and he wins by virtue of his extra material. 20...♔e8 21.♕xh6 ♖xd3 22.♖xd3 ♕a1 23.♔c2 ♕xh1 24.♕h8 ♗f8 25.♘xg5 ♕xg2 Does this save the game? 26.♕f6 No, it does not because of the mate threat on f7. Black can only surrender his Q to delay mate and so Fox resigned.
26.♕f6 ♕d5 27.♕xf7 ♔d8 28.♖xd5 exd5 29.e6 ♗d6 30.h6 a5 31.h7 ♗e5 32.c4 dxc4 33.e7 ♔c7 34.e8=♕ ♔b6 35.♕xe5 ♗d7 36.♕xd7 ♔a6 37.♕c5 ♖b8 38.♘e6 b6 39.♕cxc6 c3 40.♘c5#
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