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.
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| 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
13.♘e5
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.♘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#Powered by Aquarium
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