Janowsky Won Where Mikenas Failed

 

     In late 1915, philanthropist Isaac Rice, also a generous chess promoter and benefactor, began planning the Rice Jubilee Tournament to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of his discovery of the Rice Gambit. However, he died on November 2, 1915, but in keeping with his wishes his widow donated the funds for the tournament which was renamed the Rice Memorial in his honor.

     There is an excellent detailed report of this tournament at chessgames.com HERE so I will not go into the details of the event, but Janowsky's participation makes for an interesting story. 

     With war ridden Europe being no place for a chess master, Janowsky, who claimed international play would be dead in Europe for the next 20 years, had a harrowing time getting to New York for the tournament. 

     Living in Paris at the time and French Champion although he still had Russian citizenship, Janowsky arrived in New York aboard the French line ship S.S. Lafayette which had sailed from Bordeaux and managed to avoid prowling German submarines. 

     Janowsky had succeeded in getting out of Germany about a month after the outbreak of the war (in July, 1914) at which time in the midst of the Mannheim tournament he was arrested along with other foreign players. At Mannheim Janowski had been the only one to defeat Alekhine and when he submitted papers to the Russian Consul in Geneva with an application for a passport he included the game score with his papers. The Consul was a chessplayer and was familiar with Alekhine's name and this, Janowsky believed, helped him secure his passport. 

     The first 24 hours of the trip on the Layfayette were harrowing because the ship was accompanied by a French destroyer until it was deemed to be out of the danger zone. They left Bordeaux at 1AM on January 2, 1916, and after a few hours underway the ship came to a halt for most of the day while the destroyer searched for submarines. 

the Layfayette

     After reaching New York, Janowsky declared that a load had been lifted and he felt like a free man. He also stated that in his opinion the Germans had enough of the war and they would gladly welcome peace negotiations. Sadly the war was to drag on another two years until November 11, 1918. By the end of the war, over 17 million people would be killed including over 100,000 American troops. 

     In the following game Janowsky, playing white in a Queen's Gambit Declined, initiated an attack on Chajes' King with the sacrifice of a Bishop for two Pawns. Then by a clever maneuver he posted a Rook on the 7th rank and forced his opponent into a mating net when Chajes advanced his K-side Pawns. 

     Jumping ahead 15 years to the Prague Olympiad in 1931, Lithuanian master Vladas Mikenas reached the exact same position in his game against Isaac Kashdan, but after Kashdan played 18...Kh7 Mikenas agreed to a draw thinking all he had was a perpetual check.

David Janowsky - Oscar Chajes

Result: 1-0

Site: Rice Memorial, New York

Date: 1916

Queen's Gambit Declined: Classical: Main Line

[...] 1.d4 During the early period of modern chess, Queen Pawn openings were not in fashion, and the Queen's Gambit did not become commonplace until the 1873 tournament in Vienna. 1...♘f6 2.♘f3 d5 3.c4 e6 After the teachings of Steinitz and Tarrasch increased the appreciation of positional play the Queen's Gambit grew more popular and in the 1920s and 1930s it was considered the only correct opening. It was played in all but 2 of 34 games in the 1927 World Championship match between Capablanca and Alekhine. The Queen's Gambit was one of the reasons Capablanca prophesied the death of chess and invented a variant using two new pieces on a 10 x 8 board. After World War II, it was less frequently seen, and there was a surge in popularity of the Indian Defenses. 4.♗g5 ♗e7 5.e3 ♘bd7 6.♘c3 c6 7.♗d3 dxc4 8.♗xc4 b5 9.♗d3 a6 10.O-O c5 11.♖c1 ♗b7 12.♕e2 O-O 13.♖fd1 ♕b6 14.♘e5

14.♗b1 The idea is to set up a battery of B and Q aimed at h7. 14...♖fe8 15.♘e5 ♖ad8 16.♘xd7 ♖xd7 17.dxc5 ♖xd1+ 18.♘xd1 ♗xc5 19.♗xf6 gxf6 20.♕c2 ♖c8 Almost any other move keeps the game equal, but this blooper loses immediately. 21.b4 Black resigned here. Feige,M (2392)-Zoernpfenning,S (2082)/Lienz AUT 2019. If... 21...♗xb4 22.♕xh7+ ♔f8 23.♖xc8+ ♗xc8 24.♕h8+ ♔e7 25.♕xc8 winning a piece.

14...♖fe8 15.dxc5

15.♘xd7 ♘xd7 16.♗xe7 ♖xe7 17.dxc5

17.♕h5 lead nowhere for white. 17...g6 18.♕h4 ♖ae8 19.♗e4 is even. Asabri,H (2215)-Gebregziabher,B/Turin 2006

17...♘xc5 18.♗b1 ♖c8 19.b4 ♘d7 20.♘e4 ♖xc1 21.♖xc1 ♖e8 22.♕d3 ♘f8 with equal chances. Wendt,J (2332) -Sawlin,L (2258)/Berlin 2015

15.a4 b4 16.♘b1 ♘xe5 17.dxe5 ♕c6 18.♕f3 ♕c7 19.♕g3 ♘e4 20.♗xe4 ♗xe4 21.♘d2 with equal chances. Bolbochan,J-Hounie Fleurquin,C/Mar del Plata 1947

(15.♘xd7 ♘xd7 16.♗xe7 ♖xe7 17.dxc5 ♘xc5) 15...♘xc5 After this white gets a slight advantage.

15...♕xc5 was worth looking at becauae the Q opposite the R is in no danger. 16.♘xd7

16.♗xh7+ This is interesting, but it does not lead to anything conclusive, 16...♘xh7 17.♗xe7 ♖xe7 18.♘xd7 ♕c6 19.♘d5 Best 19...♕xd7 20.♘xe7+ ♕xe7

16...♕xg5 with equality.

16.♗xf6 Well played. 16...♗xf6 17.♗xh7+ ♔xh7 18.♕h5+ ♔g8 19.♕xf7+ ♔h7 This is the wrong square for the K. Mikenas-Kashdan, Prague Olympiad, 1931 was drawn by agreement here, but Janowsky found the win.

19...♔h8 This is the correct retreat. 20.♘d7 This trick no longer works and white really does have to take the perpetual check after 20...♘xd7 21.♖xd7 ♗c6 This is the same position as in the game except black;s K is on h8 not h7 which makes all the difference! 22.♕h5+

22.♘e4 as in the game is not playable because after 22...♗xe4 23.♕h5+ ♗h7 and black wins.

22...♔g8 23.♕f7+ etc.

19...♔h8 20.b4 This is white's only try for the advantage. 20...♗xe5 21.♕h5+ ♔g8 22.♕xe5 ♖ac8 23.bxc5 ♖xc5 24.♕g3 and white has a very slight advantage. In Shootouts using Stockfish white score +2 -0 =3

20.♘d7 ♘xd7 21.♖xd7 ♗c6 This move fails because as pointed out in the note to move 19 black's K on h7 makes all the difference. Stockfish points out that white has a mate in 13!

21...♖f8 would also lose, but more slowly. 22.♖xb7 ♖xf7 23.♖xb6 ♖c8 24.♔f1 ♖fc7 25.a3 with a won ending.

22.♘e4

22.♘d5 doesn't lead to a forced mate, but plunging the N onto d5 looks impressive! 22...exd5 23.♕xf6 ♗xd7 24.♕xb6 with a sizeable advantage.

22...♗xb2 This allows mate in 5

22...♗xe4 doesn't change the outcome, it only lengthens the the number of moves to mate. 23.♕xf6 ♖g8 24.♕h4+ ♔g6 25.♕xe4+ ♔h6 26.♖c6 ♕xc6 27.♕xc6 ♖ae8 28.♕e4 ♖ef8 29.♕xe6+ ♔h7 30.f4 ♖xf4 31.exf4 ♖f8 32.♕e5 ♖f7 33.♕h5+ ♔g8 34.♕xf7+ ♔h7 35.♕xg7#

23.♘g5+ ♔h6 24.g4 g6 25.h4 ♖h8 26.♕h7+ Black resigned.

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