The Advantage Changed Hands Like a Kaleidoscope

     The 1939 Manhattan Chess Club championship was one of the most interesting in years because most of the players were fairly evenly matched. 

     The current New York State Champion, Arnold Denker, was the favorite and he secured first place in the penultimate round. The big disappointment was the showing of Albert C. Simonson who was scheduled to play in the upcoming 1940 US Championship and so it was anticipated that he would have done better in the club championship. 

     Simonson was the reserve on the gold-medal winning US team at the 1933 Folkstone Olympiad and in 1936 he finished second in the US championship, a half point behind Reshevsky and a half point ahead of Fine. In the 1940 championship he tied for fourth place with Albert Pinkus behind Reshevsky, Fine and Kashdan.

     Oscar Tenner (April 5, 1880 - December 24, 1948) was born in Lvov, at the time the capital of Austrian-held region of Galicia and now part of Ukraine. At the beginning of his career, he played in several tournaments in Germany and 1914 he was tied for 2nd-3rd with Ilya Rabinovich in the second master group at Mannheim which was interrupted by the outbreak of the war. Tenner, along with the other Russian players was interned at Triberg.

     After World War I, he emigrated to the United States where he became a fixture at the Manhattan Chess Club for close to 30 years. He arrived early every day and sat at his table reading Die Stadtszeitung. In his prime he was especially strong at blitz. A very talented player, at one time or another he defeated most of the leading American masters. 

     A Romantic, he always tried to play a beautiful game and many times won brilliancy prizes in Manhattan club tournaments. Al Horowitz wrote that Tenner never played for safety and sanity when risk and foolhardiness would do. 

     His opponent was Boris Blumin (January 11, 1908 - February 16, 1998), a Canadian-American master who was born in Russia. He emigrated to Canada where he won the Canadian Championship twice (1936 and 1937) before moving the the US. Suffering from Alzheimers, he died at home in New Jersey.  

 

In the following game the advantage changed hands like a kaleidoscope!

Oscar Tenner - Boris Blumin

Result: 0-1

Site: Manhattan CC Championship

Date: 1939

Ruy Lopez

[...] 1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗b5 If you want to become a better chessplayer, learn the Ruy Lopez - Anonymous 3...a6 4.♗a4 ♘f6 5.O-O ♗e7 6.d4 This risky sideline (instead of 6.Re1) has given white poor results. 6...b5 But this reply justifies white's last move.

6...exd4 This is the correct way to meet white's last move. After 7.e5 ♘e4 8.♘xd4 O-O black has fared well in practice.

7.dxe5 ♘xe4 8.♗b3 ♘c5 9.♗d5 ♗b7 10.c4

10.♘c3 O-O 11.♗f4

11.♗e3 ♘e6 12.♘e4 ♘a5 13.♗xb7 ♘xb7 14.a4 c6 15.axb5 cxb5 16.♕d5 ♕c7 17.♖fd1 ♘bc5 18.♘xc5 ♗xc5 19.♗xc5 ♕xc5 20.♕xc5 ♘xc5 is roughly even. Fahrni,H-Petterson,A/Barmen 1905

11...♘e6 12.♗g3 ♘a5 13.♗xb7 ♘xb7 14.a4 Wjite is slightly better. Saravanan,V (2390)-Khamdamov,S (2140)/Elista 1998

10.♘bd2 O-O 11.♘e4 ♘xe4 12.♗xe4 ♘a5 13.♖e1 d5 14.exd6 ♕xd6 with equal chances. Kuderinov,K (2422)-Pasalic,M (2392)/Chicago 2008

10...O-O 11.♘a3 b4 12.♘c2 ♖b8 13.b3 Black now elects to strike at white's advanced center (the P on e5) with ...f6 and his next move gets the K out of the way. The idea is correct, but the blow should have come with the d-Pawn, not the f-Pawn. 13...♔h8

13...d6 was correct. Then after 14.exd6 ♕xd6 15.♗e3 ♕g6 and ...Ne6 black would be equal.

14.♗b2 f6 15.♘e3 fxe5 16.♗xc6 ♗xc6 17.♘xe5 White has the initiative, but black's next move was too passive. It would have been better to play 17...Bf6 to oppose white on the long diagonal. 17...♗a8 18.♕g4 It would have been much harder for black to meet 18.Qd4. The text move also attacks d7 and d2, but it allows black a satisfactory defense. 18...♗f6 19.♕h3 Clearing g4 for a N. 19...♕e8 With hs K safe black now takes over the initiative. 20.♘3g4 ♘e6 This is too passive.

20...d6 forcing white to defend his N was much better. 21.♕e3 ♕h5

21...dxe5 22.♕xc5 only results in equal chances after 22...♗xg2 23.♔xg2 ♕g6 24.f3 h5

22.♘xf6 ♖xf6 Black has the initiative.

21.♘xf6 ♖xf6 22.♖fe1 d6 Black is in a difficult situation and no move is truly satisfactory.

22...♘f4 23.♕xd7 ♕f8 24.g3

24.♕xc7 This would be a serious error. 24...♖c8 25.♕a7 ♘xg2 26.♖ed1 (26.♘d7 ♕f7 wins) 26...♘f4 with a very strong attack.

24...♖d8 25.♕g4 ♘e6 26.♖e2 White stands quite well.

23.♘d3 13.Nf3 presents black with a difficult problem to solve...how to defend his K?

23.♘f3 There is no place safe to move the R. 23...♖g6 24.♘h4 ♖h6 25.♗xg7+ Nice! 25...♔xg7 26.♘f5+ wins

23.♘f3 ♖xf3 Best. 24.gxf3 ♕g6+ 25.♕g3 and white should win the ending.

23...♖g6 Black has now equalized if white blocks the long diagonal with 24.f3. Instead he fatally weakens it and allows Blumin a pretty finish. 24.g3 ♕c6 This is decisive. 25.f4

25.♔f1 Trying to run away also fails after 25...♘g5 26.♕f5 ♕g2+ 27.♔e2 ♗e4 28.♕f4 ♘e6 29.♕e3 ♗xd3+ 30.♔xd3 (30.♕xd3 ♖f8 31.♔d1 ♕xh2 followed by ...Rxf2) 30...♖f8 and ...Rf3 wraps it up.

25...♕h1+ 26.♔f2 ♕f3+ 27.♔g1 Now comes a peachy finish! 27...♖h6 28.♕f1 Of course taking the R allows mate on g2 so... 28...♕h1+ Tenner resigned.

28...♕h1+ 29.♔f2 ♖xh2+ 30.♕g2 (30.♔e3 ♕e4#) 30...♕xg2+ 31.♔e3 ♕xg3#

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