Karlovy Vary 1948

 

     Karlovy Vary is a spa city of about 48,000 inhabitants in the Czech Republic. It lies on the confluence of the rivers Ohre and Tepla, 81 miles west of Prague. The city is the site of numerous hot springs (13 main springs, about 300 smaller springs, and the warm-water Tepla River), and is the most visited spa town in the country. The city center is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation. 

     The year 1948 saw Gandhi assassinated in New Delhi by a Hindu militant in January and on May 14th Israel became a nation again and were immediately had to repel an attack Arab armies. The in June the famous Berlin airlift began.  In December of 1948 in Adelaide, Australia a man was found dead on the beach and it was the start of a mystery that has never been solved.  

     Here's a trivia fact...in one of the most successful ad campaigns ever, DeBeers introduced diamond rings as synonymous with marriage or engagement, something had not previously been the case. The first jukeboxes were available and Tupperware parties became popular. 

     In Czechoslovakia the Communists had seized power in late February and the tournament, won by the brilliant Jan Folyts, took place a few months later in June. 

     I am a big fan of two database sites, chessgames and chess365, both of which offer a wealth of games organized by player and often by tournament. I enjoy browsing both sites and always find interesting games that have gone unnoticed.

     Once such game was the following game from Karlovy Vary 1948. The winner, IM Jan Foltys (October 13, 1908 - March 11, 1952), had his life cut far too short when he died of leukemia at the age of 44. He qualified for 1951 for the 1952 Interzonal held in Stockholm, but died at Ostrava before it took place. Chessmetrics assigns Foltys a high rating of 2653 placing him number 20 in the world on their November 1947 rating list. He was in the group that contained such notable players as Ragozin, Flohr, Lilienthal, Szabo, Tolush, Bondarevsky and Pilnik...not bad! 

 

     The selected game today is between Gideon Barcza (ronounced Bartsa) and Emil Richter. GM Gideon Barcza (August 21, 1911 - February 27, 1986) was an eight-time champion of Hungary who is best remembered for the opening 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3, known as the Barcza System. His opponent was Emil Richter (January 13, 1894 - March 16, 1971), the 1948 Czech champion.

Gideon Barcza - Emil Richter

Result: 1-0

Site: Karlovy Vary

Date: 1948

Catalan

[...] 1.♘f3 d5 2.g3 Writing of Barcza, Harry Golombek said, "[he] is a most versatile player in the openings. He plays g2–g3 sometimes on the first, sometimes on the second, sometimes on the third, and sometimes not until the fourth move." 2...♘f6 3.♗g2 The idea of Barcza's system is to delay the occupation of the center until black's defensive intentions become clearer. 3...c5 4.O-O ♘c6 5.d4 e6 6.c4 dxc4

6...cxd4 tends to be drawish. 7.♘xd4 ♗c5 8.♘f3 dxc4 9.♕a4 O-O 10.♕xc4

7.♕a4 ♗d7 (7...cxd4 gives white the advantage after 8.♘xd4 ♕xd4 9.♗xc6+) 8.dxc5 ♘a5

8...♗xc5 Interestingly this is the engine choice after which the game is evaluated as equal, but in practice, in my database black has lost the majority of the games! 9.♕xc4 ♗e7 10.♘c3 O-O 11.♖d1 and neither side can boast of havinbg any advantage. So, why has 8...Bxc5 fared so poorly? Who knows?! Maybe lower rated players have chosen the line because it it so "equal", but they get outplayed anyway.

9.♕c2 ♗xc5 10.♘e5 ♖c8 11.♘c3 b5 Trying to hold the P is quickly shown to be a terrible mistake.

11...♘c6 12.♘xc4 O-O 13.♗f4

13.♖d1 ♕e7 14.♗e3 ♗xe3 15.♘xe3 ♖fd8 16.♖d2 Draw agreed. Razuvaev,Y (2520)-Sokolov,A (2550)/USSR Chp, Riga 1985

13...♕e7 14.♖ad1 ♘d4 15.♕d3 ♗c6 is equal. Adzic,S (2154)-Foisor,M (2123)/Timisoara 2009

12.♗g5

12.♖d1 was very strong. If 12...♕e7 13.♘xd7 ♘xd7 14.♘xb5 white is better.

12...♕b6 This move is horribly faulty tactically. Can you see how?

12...♘c6 After this white is better, but not by that much after 13.♘xd7 ♕xd7 14.♗xf6 gxf6 15.♖ad1 ♕e7 16.♗xc6+ ♖xc6 17.♘xb5 with a positional advantage.

13.♖ad1 Now black has to try and defend his twice attacked B. 13...♖d8

13...♖c7 is met by 14.♕d2 b4 (14...♗c8 15.♕d8#) 15.♗xf6 bxc3 16.bxc3 gxf6 17.♘xd7 black cannot meet both the threat to his Q and Nxf6+

14.♕d2 b4 (14...♗c6 is met by 15.♕xd8+ ♕xd8 16.♖xd8+ ♔xd8 17.♘xf7+) 15.♗xf6

15.♘e4 is also good. 15...♘xe4 16.♗xe4 f6 17.♘xd7 ♖f8 18.♘xb6 ♖xd2 19.♖xd2 axb6 20.♗f4 and white is a R up.

15...gxf6 (15...bxc3 16.bxc3 gxf6 17.♘xd7) 16.♘e4 Equally good is 16.Nxd7 16...fxe5 17.♘f6+ ♔f8

17...♔e7 18.♕g5 h6 19.♕h4 and depending on black's move a devastating discovered N check follows.

18.♕h6+ ♔e7 19.♕h4 There is no good way for black to meet the discovered check. 19...♗a4 (19...♕b5 20.♘xd7+ ♔e8 21.♘f6+ ♔e7 22.♘xh7+ f6 23.♕xf6+ mates next move.) 20.♘d5+ ♔e8 21.♘xb6 As soion becomes apparent black does not get enough compensation for his Q. 21...♗xd1 22.♘xc4 ♖d4

22...♘xc4 Black loses almost everything he has after this. 23.♗c6+ ♖d7 24.♕xc4 ♗d4 25.♖xd1 ♔e7 26.♗xd7 ♔xd7 27.e3

23.♕f6 ♘xc4 24.♕xh8+ ♔e7 25.♕c8 ♗b6 26.e3 Black resigned.

26.e3 ♘d6 27.♕c1 ♗e2 28.exd4 ♗xf1 29.♔xf1 leaves black only a N for the Q.

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