Happy New Year

Hope to return in a few days. In the meantime... 

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Real or Fake?

     Some days you get the bear; some days the bear gets you. Recently the bear got me. The morning of the 24th I received a call informing me that my brother had peacefully passed away at his home at the age of 91. 

     By 10pm we had a foot of snow and while clearing the driveway the snowblower quit. Luckily I have a good neighbor who let me use his at 11 o'clock at night! Christmas morning saw an additional six inches. 

     Early Sunday morning saw an ice dam on the roof at the back of our house...the GFI switch on the heater cables in the gutter and roof had tripped. Then it was off to buy a new snowblower. Upon arrival home after setting it in the driveway I pulled the car into the garage and forgot to put the lift gate down resulting in breaking out the glass in the liftgate. After getting that mess cleaned up it was time to get the snowblower up and running and test it. 50 feet down the driveway the engine blew! 

     After loading it up to return to Home Depot my wife informed me we had no water. Fortunately it wasn't a frozen water pipe, but a broken water main a few streets away. And, that is why I am happy the past few days are behind us.  

The bear got me!

     Before the Christmas holiday I played over a few games from one of the oldest books in the remnants of my chess library, The Golden Treasury of Chess by Al Horowitz and the editors of Chess Review. 

     The Golden Treasury of Chess has a controversial history. It seems that the book has been published in many editions and that the man behind the original book was actually Francis J. Wellmuth. Chess historian Edward Winter discusses the topic on his site HERE.

     One of the games that caught my eye was a casual game played in Boston in 1892 between the eccentric US Master Franklin K. Young and the mysterious "L. Dore." Young occupies a unique niche in the chess world because of his serious effort to reduce chess to a mathematically exact system formulated on the principles of military science. He received some recognition around the late 1800’s and early 1900’s from world champion Emanuel Lasker, who referred to one of his books as "replete with logic and common sense." Today Young's work is treated with ridicule and scorn.  

     L. Dore was probably a member of the "Mandarins of the Yellow Button" in Boston. The Yellow Button was a pin worn in the hats of Chinese imperial officials to indicate high rank in the civil service. The Bostonians were a group of players in the late 19th century that included John F. Barry, C. F. Burille, F. H. Harlow, Dr. Edward M. Harris, C. F. Howard, Major Otho E. Michaelis, General William Paine, Dr. H. Richardson, C. W. Snow, Henry N. Stone, Franklin K. Young and Preston Ware. The group was the foundation of what would become the Deschapelles Chess Club in Boston. 

     The exact same game was played between Henry Atkins and Herbert L. Jacobs in London in 1915. Edward Winter discussed this controversy in post number 7096 HERE. 

     British player, author and columnist Leonard Barden, posting in an English chess forum, suggested that the Atkins v. Jacobs game is almost certainly fictitious and possibly so is the Young vs. Dore game. 

     Young played the Danish Gambit, an opening in which white sacrifices a Pawn or two for the sake of rapid development and the hope of getting an attack. However, with care black can accept one or both Pawns safely or simply decline the gambit and get good chances. 

     The Danish was popular with old masters like Alekhine, Blackburne and Mieses, but as good defensive lines were discovered for black in the 1920s it disappeared. Marshall used to play it, too, especially in simultaneous exhibitions. He wrote that his opponents eventually got booked up on it so he had to quit playing it. 

     In the game white's attack was hardly sound and black missed several wins, but it's fun to play over.

Franklin K. Young - L Dore

Result: 1-0

Site: Casual game, Boston

Date: 1892.11.08

C21: Danish Gambit

[...] 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 My database has 715 games and the results are about evenly divided between white and black wins with only about a quarter of them drawn. Among the more recent (1977 to 2018) games with both players rated over 2400 black has scored +13 -0 =5, not a good record for white! Some of the more recognizable names who have ventured the gambit are Rubinetti, De Firmian, Tisdall, and Nakamura (twice). 3...dxc3 If black wants to decline the gambit he should play 4...d5. Either way he scores well

3...d5 4.exd5 ♕xd5 5.cxd4 This looks pretty equal so it's hard to account for black's success. 5...♘c6 6.♘f3 ♗g4 7.♗e2 ♗b4+ 8.♘c3 Herzog,A (2455)-Flear,G (2455)/Graz 1984...the game is even.

4.♗c4 ♘f6 5.♘f3 While this develops a piece, it's not white's best choice.

5.e5 This is not so good either. 5...d5 6.exf6 dxc4 7.♕xd8+ ♔xd8 8.♘xc3 gxf6 9.♗f4 Porobija,A (2002)-Bosiocic,M (2563)/Split 2013. Black is in no danger and went on to win thanks to his two extra Ps.

5.♘xc3 This is the best move. 5...d5 6.♘xd5 ♘xd5 7.exd5 ♗b4+ 8.♗d2 ♗xd2+ 9.♕xd2 O-O This position is fairly even, In Tisdall,J (2420)-Olafsson,H (2515)/Vestmannaeyjum 1985 white eventually lost in a long ending.

5...♘xe4 Not really bad, but taking the b-Pawn assured him of a slight advantage.

5...cxb2 6.♗xb2 ♗b4+ 7.♘bd2 Now black could have had a slight advantage with either 7...O-O or 7...d5. However in Blackburne,J-MacLeod,N/New York 1889 both sides continued in imprecise fashion and black eventually won.

6.O-O ♘d6 Horrible defense...black blocks his own B and prevents the advance of his own d-Pawn.

6...cxb2 turns out to be a bit too risky as after 7.♗xb2 ♗e7 8.♖e1 ♘c5 9.♕d4 white has the initiative. 9...d5 (9...♘e6 loses to 10.♗xe6 dxe6 11.♕xg7) 10.♕xc5 dxc4 11.♕g5 Here, too, white stands much better.

6...♘f6 is reasonable as after 7.♖e1+ ♗e7 8.♘xc3 O-O black is quite safe.

7.♘xc3 White is much too optimistic! (7.♗b3 ♗e7 8.♘xc3 O-O 9.♘d5 leaves him with a very promising position.) 7...♘xc4 8.♖e1+ This is interesting. The ever optimistic Stockfish thinks black's advantage is about 1-3/4 Ps while Komodo thinks the game is nearly even. 8...♗e7 9.♘d5 ♘c6 10.♗g5 f6 Forced, but even so black's extra material outweighs the weakening of his K's position. 11.♖c1 This is simply horrible!

11.♗f4 d6 12.♘xe7 ♘xe7 13.♕a4+ c6 14.♕xc4 d5 leaves black two Ps down, but it was the best he had.

11...b5 This results in black forfeiting most of his advantage after white retreats his B to f4.

11...fxg5 12.♖xc4 O-O leaves black with a solid position and a winning material advantage.

12.♖xc4 Unsound!

12.♗f4 d6 13.♘d4 ♘6e5 14.♘xb5 c6 15.♘bc7+ ♔f8 16.♘xa8 cxd5 17.♕xd5 In this messy situation the chances have to be adjudged as being equal.

12...bxc4

12...fxg5 For the record, this would lose after 13.♖ce4 d6

13...O-O 14.♘xe7+ ♘xe7 15.♖xe7 ♗b7 16.♘xg5 with a decisive attack. For example... 16...d6 17.♕h5 and mate is unavoidable.

14.♘xe7 ♘xe7 15.♕d5 ♖b8 16.♕xg5 and wins.

13.♘e5

13.♘xf6+ With this move white can at least get a little play. 13...gxf6 14.♗xf6 ♖g8 and black should survive with minimal difficulty.

13...fxg5 This is about the only move that loses as it allows a fatal check on h5.

13...♔f8 getting out of the Rs line of fire was better. Castling is also good. After 14.♘xe7 ♘xe7 15.♕f3 ♗b7 Distracting the Q! 16.♕xb7 d5 and black is winning rather easily.

14.♕h5+ and wins. 14...g6 15.♘f6+ ♗xf6 16.♘xg6+ Any other move is to white's advantage. 16...♕e7 17.♖xe7+ Not necessary, but it does no harm. 17.Nxe7 was even better though. (17.♘xe7+ ♔f8 18.♘d5 etc.) 17...♗xe7 18.♘e5+

18.♘xh8+ was a move quicker. 18...♔d8 19.♘f7+ ♔e8 20.♘d6+ ♔d8 21.♕e8#

18...♔d8 19.♘f7+ ♔e8 20.♘d6+ ♔d8 21.♕e8+ ♖xe8 22.♘f7#

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For those who celebrate the day...

Merry Christmas....

Hastings Christmas Congress 50 Years Ago

     Because we're approaching the Christmas holiday I thought we would step back in time 50 years and take a look at the Hastings Christmas Congress of 1970/71. 

     Hastings is a seaside town on the south coast of England that is 53 miles south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place 8 miles to the northwest in 1066. Today, Hastings is a fishing port with the UK's largest beach-based fishing fleet and has an estimated population of over 92,000. 

     In Hastings, the summers are comfortable, the winters are long and cold and it is windy and partly cloudy year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 38 degrees F to 69 degrees F. When it comes to cloud cover, the clearest part of the year begins around the end of March and lasts for a little over six months, ending in early October. On average December 29 is the cloudiest day of the year. Christmas is not a good time to visit. 

     An interesting weather fact is that Point Roberts, Washington in the United States which lies 4,784 miles away on the southernmost tip of the Tsawwassen peninsula, south of Vancouver, British Columbia is the most distant foreign place with temperatures most similar to Hastings. As seen in the photo from the Telegraph, it snowed during the 1970 Hastings tournament. 

     Looking at the crosstable the first impression is that the tournament had a high percentage of draws which it did, but with few exceptions they were hard fought and exciting draws. According to Robert Byrne many of the draws kept "spectators on the edge of their chairs" and material was "being sacrificed back and forth, for positional reasons as well as for attack" and "the onlookers had great difficulty comprehending the games, not knowing a great part of the time who was winning." Byrne also mentioned that on a couple of occasions he was congratulated when he was desperately fighting just to stay in the game!

     Lajos Portisch, the eventual winner, began with a series of draws and it looked like he was going to finish in the middle of the pack, but late rally enabled him to finish first. The Czech representative Vastimil Hort had to win in the last round to tie with Portisch, but he took too many chances against England's Peter Markland and ended up losng badly. East Germany's GM Wolfgang Uhlmann also blew his chance at tying for first by losing to England's Robert Wade. 

     The Yugoslav IM Zvonimir Mestrovic led with three straight wins, but then started playing recklessly and began losing. But, before his decline he won the brilliancy prize for his game against Byrne. In the game (given below) Byrne lost his Queen at move 17 on a simple hallucination when he thought saw a forced mate! Still, Byrne managed to put stiff resistance for another 17 moves. 

     Many time Hastings winner Svetozar Gligoric of Yugoslavia found himself in bad positions on several occasions, but somehow managed to escape. He also had some luck. In his game against Hort who was playing white in a K-Indian, Hort carefully planned a little trap to snare Gligoric's Queen. But, when the position was reached and the snare of the Queen was at hand, Hort forgot about the trap he had set and soon agreed to a draw! 

     Robert Byrne (April 20, 1928 – April 12, 2013) learned to play chess at the age of eight, was awarded the IM title in 1952 and the GM title in 1964. The 1972 US Championship was an Interzonal qualifying tournament and Byrne after tying for first place with Samuel Reshevsky and Lubomir Kavalek, won the three man play off to advance to the Leningrad Interzonal 1973. Leningrad was probably the highlight of his career as he finished only one point behind tournament winners Viktor Korchnoi and Anatoly Karpov. He lost his 1974 quarter final candidates match against Boris Spassky.

Robert Byrne - Zvonimir Mestrovic

Result: 0-1

Site: Hastings

Date: 1970.12.30

Sicilian: Richter-Rauzer Attack

[...] 1.e4 c5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.d4 cxd4 4.♘xd4 ♘f6 5.♘c3 d6 6.♗g5 The Richter-Rauzer Attack used to be very popular during the 20th Century. It is named after Ukrainian Vsevolod Rauzer and the German Kurt Richter. There is an overwhelming amount of theoretical material on it. 6...♗d7 7.♕d2 ♖c8 8.O-O-O ♘xd4 9.♕xd4 ♕a5 10.f4 h6 This is actually a mistake!

10...♖xc3 It's been known for a number of years now that this exchange sacrifice gives black an overwhelming winning percentage. 11.bxc3 e5 12.♕b4 ♕xb4 13.cxb4 ♘xe4 14.♗h4 g5 15.fxg5 ♗e7 16.♗e1 ♗xg5+ 0-1 Van der Sterren, P (2460)-Kristiansen,J (2445)/Plovdiv 1983 and black went on to win.

11.♗h4 g5 12.♗e1 This is far too passive a move to play aganst black's aggressive setup.

12.e5 Fights for the initiative. 12...gxh4 13.exf6 e6 14.♗e2 ♖g8 15.♗f3 ♗c6 16.♖he1 ♗xf3 17.gxf3 with a sharp position where both sides have chances. Socko,B (2641) -Dreev,A (2633)/ Lugo 2007

12.fxg5 is possible. After 12...hxg5 13.♗f2 b6 14.e5 An interesting P sacrifice. 14...dxe5 15.♕e3 ♗h6 16.♔b1 ♗e6 But here black is doing quite well.

12...♗g7 There were better ways to keep up the pressure

12...gxf4 Black has a very slight advantage after this. 13.♘d5 ♕xa2 14.♘xf6+ exf6 15.♗c3

15.♕xf6 ♖g8 16.♗c3 ♖g6 17.♕h8 ♔e7 18.♕d4 and black is winning. Preethi,R (2115) -Danilyuk, O (2075)/ Tashkent 2007

15...♖g8 16.♕d5 ♕xd5 17.exd5 ♗e7 and a draw was agrees. Dely,P-Pietrusiak,B/Polanica Zdroj 1965

13.g3 Byrne's play is uncharacteristically passive. (13.e5 ♘h5 14.g3 gxf4 15.gxf4 ♗c6 16.♘b5 with a double edged position.) 13...♗c6 14.♗h3 O-O Mestrovic is not interested in playing it safe by moving his R away from the B. 15.♗xc8 ♘xe4 16.♘xe4 ♕xa2

16...♗xd4 17.♗xa5 ♗e3+ 18.♗d2 ♗xe4 19.♗xb7 ♗xd2+ 20.♖xd2 ♗xb7 (20...♗xh1 21.♗xh1 is winning for white.) 21.♖e1 with a winning position.

17.♕xg7+ 17.Qb4 kept the chances even, but somehow Byrne thought he saw a forced mate. 17...♔xg7 18.♗c3+ ♔g6

18...♔h7 19.♗f5+ ♔g8 20.fxg5 ♗xe4 21.♗xe4 and while there is no mate white has enough compensation for the Q that he can boast of what should be a winning advantage...Stockfish won 7 Shootouts from this position.

19.♘xd6

19.♗xb7 was somewhat better. 19...♗xb7 20.♖he1 but here, too, black is better.

19...exd6 20.♖xd6+ f6 White's B is unfefended plus his R is threatened by ...Qa8+ so he has to lose something. 21.♖e1 ♖xc8 22.♖xf6+ ♔h5 An odd square but the K fonds a safe haven here. 23.h3 ♖e8

23...♕a1+ 24.♔d2 ♖d8+ 25.♔e2 ♕a4 and there's no way to meet ...Qxc2 26.♖c1 ♕e4+ mates in 3.

24.g4+ ♔h4 25.♖xh6+ ♔g3 26.♖xe8 ♗xe8 27.fxg5 I might appear that white has succeeded in at least equalizing, but Mestrovic has everything under control. Looking at this position, I wonder how many non-masters would fail to win as white? 27...♕a1+ 28.♔d2 ♕g1 29.♖e6 ♗f7 30.♖f6 ♗d5 31.g6 How big a threat is this P?! 31...♕g2+ 32.♔d3 ♕xh3 33.g7 ♕xg4 34.♗d4 The P is no threat at all, but of course it can't be taken. 34...b5 (34...♕xg7 35.♗e5+ ♔g4 36.♖f4+ ♔g5 37.♗xg7 ♔xf4 draw.) 35.b4

35.g8=♕ ♗xg8 36.♗e5+ ♔h3 37.♔e3 (37.♖f8 ♗h7+ 38.♔e3 ♕e4+) 37...♕g5+ 38.♔e4 ♕d2 wins another P.

35...♕d1+ 36.♔c3 ♕a1+ Black actually mates a couple of moves quicker with 36...Qe1+, but realizing he was quite lost Byrne resigned here. A very nice finish by Mestrovic.

36...♕a1+ 37.♔d3 ♕d1+ 38.♔c3 ♕e1+ 39.♔b2 ♕xb4+ 40.♔c1 ♕xd4 41.♖f5 ♗c4 42.g8=♕+ ♗xg8 43.♖xb5 ♗c4 44.♖b7 ♕c3 45.♔b1 ♕a3 46.♖b3+ ♗xb3 47.cxb3 ♕xb3+ 48.♔a1 ♕c3+ 49.♔b1 a5 50.♔a2 a4 51.♔b1 a3 52.♔a2 ♕b2#

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Alan Trefler

     Don't be surprised if you never heard of Alan Trefler, a man worth $5.3 billion.

     Trefler was born to a Jewish family in Boston in 1956 and along with his brother Leon was raised in Brookline, Massachusetts where he lives today. His mother was a daughter of immigrants from Eastern Europe and worked as a schoolteacher. His father was a Holocaust survivor who came to the United States from Poland after World War II and owned and operated Trefler's, an art and furniture restoration business. 

     After graduating from Brookline High School in 1973, Trefler studied economics and computer science at Dartmouth College where he was the winner of the John G. Kemeny prize in computing. He graduated with a BS in 1977.

     He was employed as a software engineer until 1983 when at the age of 27 he started Pegasystems, a company that focuses on streamlining business and enhancing customer engagement. The company went public in 1996 and now brings in more than $900 million in annual sales and employs some 5,500 people. In March of this year, Pegasystems launched a free app to help clients track Covid-19 among employees. 

     Along with his wife Pamela they founded the Trefler Foundation and have donated to public education and health care in Boston. They donated $1 million to Dorchester High School in 1995 and in 2015 they founded Union and Fifth where proceeds raised from donated clothes benefit various charities. 

     Trefler started playing chess around the age of seven and later became the Massachusetts high school champion and the winner of various regional competitions. While in college, Trefler continued to dabble in chess and in 1975 at the age of 19, he tied for first place with Pal Benko in the World Open in New York. 

     It was only about two weeks after a good come-back performance at the World Open that Nicolas Rossolimo died of injuries resulting from a fall. He was discovered unconscious and with a head injury in a hallway in Greenwich Village on Monday, July 21. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died on Thursday, July 24, without having regained consciousness. 

     This was only the 3rd World Open and it drew a combined 815 entries in the Open and Booster sections. At that time it awarded the biggest prize fund in world history for an open tournament, $20,000 which is the equivalent of nearly $97,000 today. Benko and Trefler each earned $2,250, or about $11,000 today.

     The biggest surprise of the tournament was Alan Trefler who went into the tournament ranked 115th with an Expert's rating of 2045. Trefler lost his first game to Dr. Orest Popovych (2295), but then won eight in a row to tie for first with Benko (2504). 

     In the last five rounds Trefler defeated one IM, three Masters and one Expert: Lipking (2223), Frankle (2194), Wachtel (2308), IM Julio Kaplan (2462) and Rohde (2296). The result boosted his rating to about 2300. Today Trefler, whose last rated event was in 1990, has a USCF rating of 2197. 

     Trefler scored a quick win in his last round game and for a while it looked like he might be a clear first if Benko, who was engaged in a long, lengthy battle with Expert (2053) Robert Gruchaz, could only manage a draw. But, Benko eventually prevailed and took first on tiebreaks. 

     In the Booster Section (under 1800) New York City's Eddy Vildoso (Elo 1763) took first. The tournament allowed a half point bye to be taken in the first two rounds and Vildoso took one in round two, but won all his other games and the $1,000 first prize. One other impressive performance in the Booster section was that of 1631 rated 11-year-old Joel Benjamin, who despite being paired up 6 times finished with a 6-3. He became a GM in 1986.

Alan Trefler (2045) - Julio Kaplan (2462)

Result: 1-0

Site: World Open, New York City

Date: 1975

King's Indian: Saemisch Variation

[...] 1.d4 ♘f6 2.c4 g6 3.♘c3 ♗g7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 With this move white postpones the development of his K-side in order to solidify the center and potentially sets up g4–g5 or h4 with K-side play. Compared to classical K-Indian lines where White plays Nf3, the Saemisch allows relatively little counterplay for black on the K-side and offers white attacking chances on that side. A drawback is that the P on f3 deprives the N of its most natural square. The strategic nature of the fight for the center is determined by black. He can challenge the center with ...c5 or ...e5 after which white needs to decide whether to close the center with d4–d5 or keep the tension. Black can also pursue an early initiative on the Q-side with ...b5. 5...O-O 6.♗e3 ♘c6

6...c5 is an interesting gambit line. 7.dxc5 dxc5 8.♕xd8 ♖xd8 9.♗xc5 ♘c6 with excellent play for the P.

7.♘ge2 a6 This is the Panno Variation, an excellent system against the Saemisch. 8.♕d2 ♖b8 9.g4 Trefler is going all out for an attack against his much higher rated opponent. This is good strategy because rather than waiting around to get out played, as we shall see, in a complicated tactical struggle anything can happen. 9...b5 10.♘g3 e5 11.♘ce2

11.d5 is safe, but Trefler decides to keep up the tension. 11...♘d4 12.♗xd4 Correct is 12.Bg2. In this game white tried to simplify and got slaughtered. 12...exd4 13.♘ce2 d3 14.♕xd3 bxc4 15.♕d2 ♘xg4 16.fxg4 ♖xb2 17.♕f4 ♖xe2+ 18.♗xe2 ♗xa1 19.♗xc4 ♗c3+ 20.♔f2 ♗e5 21.♕f3 ♕h4 22.♗e2 f5 White resigned. Agarwal,B (2260)-Gufeld,E (2490)/Calcutta 1992

11...exd4 12.♘xd4 ♘xd4

12...♘e5 13.cxb5 axb5 and now in practice neither 14.Be2 nor 14.Kf2 have turned out to be satisfactory for white.

13.♗xd4 c5 After this move black gets the two Bs and has much the better game. The B cannot retreat to e3 because that would allow black too much pressure on the b-Pawn so Trefler tries to close the Q-side. 14.♗c3 (14.♗e3 bxc4 15.♗xc4 ♘xg4 with a huge advantage.) 14...b4

14...bxc4 15.♗xc4 ♗e6 16.♗xe6 fxe6 17.O-O d5 and black is only slightly better.

15.♗xf6 ♗xf6 This is a mistake that costs black most of his advantage. At this point Kaplan begins to play in a way that lets his advantage slip away.

15...♕xf6 is likely winning for black as after 16.♗e2 ♕xb2 17.♕xb2 ♗xb2 18.♖b1 ♗g7 19.♔d2 a5 black is headed for a passed P on the Q-side and a decisive endgame advantage.

16.h4

16.O-O-O This is what Kaplan was hoping for...white is losing after 16...♗xg4 17.♕d3 (17.fxg4 ♗g5) 17...♗e6 Black is a P up and has a very promising position. A sample line is 18.f4 ♗g7 19.f5 ♗d7 20.♕xd6 ♕a5 21.♕xd7 ♖fd8

16...♕e7 17.O-O-O ♗g7 There was no reason to avoid taking the h-Pawn, but Kaplan was probably uncomfortable opening the h-file.

17...♗xh4 18.♕h2 ♗g5+ 19.♔b1 h6 20.♘e2 ♕e5 21.♖xd6 ♕xh2 22.♖xh2 ♔g7 and black stands quite well.

18.h5 ♗e6 19.♗e2 ♗d4 20.f4

20.♔b1 Trefler though this was safer for white, but his actual move was probably the best. He is pushing on with his K-side plans while Kaplan is slowly using up his time on the clock. 20...a5 21.♗d3 a4 22.e5 a3 23.exd6 ♕xd6 24.hxg6 b3 Things are getting very complicated, but black should emerge with the advantage after, say 25.axb3 ♖xb3 26.♕g5 fxg6 27.♖xh7 a2+ 28.♔a1 ♗xb2+ 29.♔xa2 ♖a3+ 30.♔b1 ♕b8 and mates in 10. Komodo 12.1.1 64-bit: 31.♖b7 ♕xb7 32.♕e7 ♕xe7 33.♗e4 ♗d4 34.♘e2 ♖b8+ 35.♔c1 ♖a1+ 36.♔d2 ♖b2+ 37.♗c2 ♗xc4 38.♘xd4 cxd4 39.♖xa1 ♕e2+ 40.♔c1 ♕xc2#

20...d5 21.f5 Relentless. 21...dxc4

21...b3 was better. Then after 22.a3 gxf5 23.cxd5 ♗d7 24.gxf5 ♕e5 25.♖h3 ♔h8 the chances are even.

22.fxe6 c3 23.exf7+ ♕xf7

23...♖xf7 is not better. 24.♕c2 ♕e6 25.♕b3 cxb2+ 26.♔b1 ♕xb3 27.axb3 ♔g7 28.♗c4 ♖f4 29.g5 ♖f3 30.♖hf1 ♖bf8 (30...♖xg3 31.♖f7+ ♔h8 32.hxg6 wins) 31.h6+ ♔h8 32.♖xf3 ♖xf3 33.e5 ♖xg3 34.♖f1 wins

24.♕d3 This is very solid.

24.♕g5 This was more precise. 24...♕xa2 25.♕d5+ ♕xd5 26.exd5 cxb2+ 27.♔b1 b3 28.♘e4 a5 29.d6 but the position is filled with great complications from which, if he plays precisely, white should emerge slightly better.

24...b3 25.axb3 ♖xb3 26.♕c4 cxb2+

26...♖xb2 would be very bad. 27.♖xd4 cxd4 28.♖f1 and white wins.

27.♔b1 ♖c3 Kaplan is now in serious time trouble having less than one minute to get to the time control at move 40! Here Trefler begins trying to complicate things to take advantage of Kaplan's time trouble. This is not always a good idea, but here it works.

27...♖xg3 This loses a R. 28.♖df1 ♕xc4 29.♗xc4+ ♔h8 (29...♔g7 30.h6+ ♔h8 31.♖xf8#) 30.♖xf8+

28.hxg6 hxg6 throwing away the advantage

28...♕xc4 29.♗xc4+ ♖xc4 30.gxh7+ ♔h8 31.♘f5 Looks very scary for black especially since he is in time pressure, but the fact is the position is no more than equal. For example... 31...a5 32.g5 ♖a4 (32...a4 33.g6 wins) 33.g6 ♖b8 34.♘xd4 cxd4 35.♔c2 ♖c4+ 36.♔b1 ♖a4 (36...a4 This still loses 37.g7+) 37.g7+ ♔xg7 38.♖dg1+ ♔f6 39.h8=♕+ ♖xh8 40.♖f1+ ♔e5 41.♖xh8 ♖a1+ 42.♔c2 ♖xf1 43.♖e8+ ♔d6 44.♔xb2 draws

29.♖xd4 Well played!

29.♕xf7+ ♖xf7 30.♖hf1 ♖b7 31.♖d3 ♖bb3 32.♖fd1 In this unbalanced position the chances are about equal.

29...cxd4

29...♖xc4 seems a touch better as after 30.♗xc4 cxd4 31.♗xf7+ ♖xf7 32.♖f1 ♖c7 33.♖d1 ♖c4 34.♔xb2 Theoretically white is winning, but in practice that might not be the case.

30.♕xd4 With the Qs on the board, the open h-file, the B on a nice diagonal and a N in the vicinity of the K-side white has every reason to believe he can win. 30...♕f6 31.♗c4+ ♖xc4

31...♔g7 doesn't do any good 32.e5 ♖c1+ 33.♔xb2 ♕f2+ 34.♕xf2 ♖xf2+ 35.♔xc1

32.♕xc4+ ♔g7 33.♕c7+ Trefler does a good job finishing off his opponent. 33...♖f7 34.♕b8 ♖f8 35.♕xb2 This makes things a little more difficult. (35.♕a7+ ♕f7 36.♕d4+ ♕f6 37.e5 was technically more precise.) 35...♕xb2+ 36.♔xb2 ♖f2+ 37.♔c1 ♖f4 38.♖f1 ♖xg4 Can black draw? 39.♖f3 ♖g5 40.♔d2 ♖b5 41.♖d3 (41.♖a3 ♔f6 42.♖xa6+ ♔e5 43.♖xg6) 41...a5 42.♔e3 a4 43.♖a3 ♖a5 44.♘e2 Black resigned.

44.♘e2 White can nurse his remaining P forward and in the end there isn't anything black can do. 44...g5 45.♘c3 ♖c5 46.♘xa4 ♖a5 47.♖a2 ♔f6 48.♘c3 ♖c5 49.♔d4 ♖c8 50.♘d5+ ♔e6 51.♖a6+ ♔f7 52.♖a7+ ♔f8 53.e5 ♖c6 54.♔e4 ♔e8 55.♔f5 ♖c5 56.♘c7+ ♔d7 57.♘a6+

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