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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