Spielmann vs. Bogoljubow Match

     In January 1932, Rudolf Spielmann (May 5, 1883 - August 20, 1942) played a match in Semmering, Austria against Efim Bogoljubow. Both players had recently played in the very strong double-rounded tournament at Bled in September of 1931. Spielmann won their individual match up with a win and a draw, but Bogoljubow had finished second with 15 points. Spielmann finished 10th with 12.5 points.

 

Match results:

Spielmann   0 0 = 1 1 = 1 = 1 0   5.5 

Bogoljubov 1 1 = 0 0 = 0 = 0 1   4.5 

 

Writing about the match, Spielmann said: 

     My victory over the German Champion surprised me as well as my opponent and the whole chess world. Not that I'm too modest ... but if you consider Bogoljubow's tournament successes, his great opening knowledge and the inexhaustible freshness of his style, you would have to allow him the better prospects. 

     In most of the games he more or less outplayed me, but he underestimated both my concentration and my resilience. Being a melancholy person. If I begin poorly I usually brood on failure, but this time I held it together. Of course, that was not a coincidence. We only played for six hours a day. There was sufficient time to relax, there was nice weather and beautiful mountains. This was everything I love and which I needed to mentally and physically recover. 

     Bogoljubow was too optimistic this time. Optimism has brought him many great successes but he also has his own demons. Bogoljubow only rarely obliged himself to take the necessary care in advantageous positions. His three winning games were, without a doubt, masterpieces. 

     It is woe to any opponent of Bogoljubow once he soars into his most superb form, but throughout the Semmering match, he only achieved this in these three games! I am glad that I now have this arduous struggle behind me and that I have emerged the victor. I feel as though I have received a New Year's gift from the Gods! 

     

     It wasn't long after this match that Speilmann, being Jewish, had to skedaddle out of Austria. In 1934, he fled his home in Vienna due to rising pro-Nazi sympathies in the city and moved to The Netherlands. 

     In 1938, he went to Prague to be with his brother Leopold, but the German army occupied Czechoslovakia only a few months later and his brother was arrested and died in a concentration camp a few years later. One of his sisters also died in a camp and while the other survived the war she was left with mental problems and ended up committing suicide. 

     Spielmann managed to flee to Sweden from where he hoped to eventually reach England or the United States. To that end he worked at earning money for the trip by playing exhibition matches, writing chess columns, and a book titled "Memories of a Chess Master." Unfortunately, WWII was in full swing and some members of the Swedish Chess Federation were Nazi sympathizers and his book was never printed. 

     Spielmann became steadily more withdrawn and depressed and in August 1942, locked himself in his apartment and was not seen for a week. On August 20th, concerned neighbors called the police who found him dead in his apartment. The official cause of death was ischemic heart disease (heart problems caused by narrowed heart arteries). Some claimed that he intentionally starved himself.

     Spilemann's opponent, Efim D. Bogoljubov (April 14, 1889 - June 18, 1952) was a Russian-born German player who id probably best remembered for his two losses to Alekhine in world championship matches. However, Chessmetrics retro-ratings ranks him number one in the world on the January (2668) and February (2767), 1927 list. On the Edo historical rating list his best year was 1925 when he is ranked number 4 at 2651. 

     It seems odd that there was never a Bogoljubow's Best Games of Chess ever published; there is however 56 of his best games listed on Chessgames.com HERE

     The question of whether or not Bogoljubow was a Nazi remains open. See my blog post HERE.

 

Note: For reasons I have not been able to figure out sometimes the board does not show correctly in this post while at other times it does! Whatever the problem is I have not been able to correct it.

Rudolf Spielmann - Efim Bogoljubov

Result: 1-0

Site: Semmering

Date: 1932.01.13

Ruy Lopez: Worrall Attack

[...] 1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗b5 a6 4.♗a4 ♘f6 5.♕e2 This is the Worrall Attack. White plays 6.Qe2 and not the usual 6.Re1 to support the e-Pawn with the Q . 5...♗e7 6.c3 d6 7.d4 ♗d7 8.O-O O-O 9.♗c2 ♖e8

9...♗g4 10.♖d1 ♘d7 11.h3 ♗xf3 12.♕xf3 ♗g5 13.♘a3 ♗xc1 14.♖axc1 ♕g5 15.dxe5 ♘cxe5 and black has equalized. Bisguier,A (2455)-Biyiasas,P (2485)/Lone Pine 1980

10.d5 ♘b8 11.h3

11.c4 is a good alternative. 11...a5 12.♘c3 ♘a6 13.b3 c5 14.♗d2 h6 15.a3 ♘h7 16.♖ab1 ♘g5 17.h3 ♘xf3+ 18.♕xf3 ♗g5 19.♕e2 ♖c8 20.♗d3 ♖f8 and the non-combatants agreed to a draw. Karolyi,T (2363) -Simonyi,Z (2248)/Budapest 2008

11...c6 12.dxc6

12.c4 cxd5 13.exd5 ♕c8 14.♘c3 ♗f5 15.♗a4 is equal. Madl,I (2410)-Holoubkova,M (2300)/Germany 1999

(12.c4 cxd5 13.cxd5 ♗b5⩲) 12...♗xc6 Better would have been 12...bxc6. As played black's backward d-Pawn causes him problems. 13.c4 Forever eliminating any possibility of ...d5 13...♘bd7 14.♘c3 ♘c5 15.b4 ♘e6 16.♗e3 ♗f8 Black has virtually left himself without any counterplay. 17.♖fd1 ♕c7 18.♖ac1 b5 19.♘d5 Black can't afford to leave the N on d5 nor can he afford to exchange it! 19...♕b7

19...♗xd5 eliminates the well placed N, but causes other problems. 20.cxd5 The N has no good retreat. 20...♘d4 21.♘xd4 exd4 22.♗xd4 ♕d8 23.♖e1 with the upper hand. 23...♘xd5 This is not as strong as it looks because after 24.♗b3 ♘f4 25.♕e3 ♘g6 26.♗d5 ♖c8 27.♖xc8 ♕xc8 28.♖c1 ♕d8 29.♕f3 followed by Rc6

20.♘h4 Surprise...Spielmann misses a powerful tactical move! After the move played black can now equalize.

20.♘xf6+ gxf6 and he gets a very strong attack after 21.♘h4 ♗xe4 22.♕g4+ ♗g6 23.♘xg6 hxg6 24.♗e4 and h4 is coming soon.

20...♘d7 Here he should have eliminated the N on d5. After the text move his position is not very promising.

20...♗xd5 21.exd5 ♘d4 22.♗xd4 exd4 23.♕f3 bxc4 24.♖xd4 ♕xb4 25.♖xc4 and black has miraculously equalized.

21.cxb5 ♕xb5

21...♗xd5 It's too late for this to be any good. 22.♖xd5 ♘f6 23.♕d3 g6

23...♘xd5 This gives white a strong attack. 24.exd5 e4 25.♕xe4 ♘g5 26.♕d3 ♘e4

24.bxa6 ♕xa6 25.♖a5 ♕xd3 26.♗xd3 with the advantage.

22.♗d3 Trading Qs was also good. 22...♕b7 23.♗c4 ♗a4 24.♖e1 g6 25.♕g4 ♖ac8 26.♘f5 h5 27.♕f3 ♖c6 Right square, wrong piece!

27...♗c6 Even after this black's position remains critical, but it's the best move he has. 28.♕g3 ♗xd5 Getting rid of one of the bad boys occupying the 5th rank is his best hope. 29.♗xd5 ♕b8 30.♘h4 ♔g7 Now white can no longer successfully carry out an attack on black's K, but his position is still superior. All he has to do is switch to the Q-side which he can do by 31.♖xc8 ♕xc8

31...♖xc8 loses outright to 32.♗xe6 fxe6 33.♗h6+ ♔f7 34.♕xg6+ ♔e7 35.♗g5+

32.♖c1 ♕d8 33.♔h2 ♔h7 34.♖c6 with a decisive positional advantage.

28.♘h6+ This quickly finishes him off. 28...♗xh6 29.♗xh6 ♘d4 AT this point I was called away from my analysis for 90 minutes and when I returned 29...Qb8 was Stockfish's best line, but it too would eventually lose.

29...♕b8 30.♗d2 ♘d4 31.♕g3 ♔g7 32.♕g5 ♖h8 33.♘e7 ♘f6 34.♘xc6 ♗xc6 35.f3 ♗b5 36.♕e3 h4 37.♔h2 ♘h5 38.♕f2 ♗xc4 39.♖xc4 ♘e6 40.♖d1 ♕b5 41.♖cc1 ♘g3 42.a3 ♘d4 43.♗e3 ♘ge2 44.♖c7 a5 45.♖xd4 exd4 46.♗xd4+ ♘xd4 47.♕xd4+ ♕e5+ 48.♕xe5+ dxe5 49.b5 ♖a8 50.a4 ♔f6 51.b6 with a won ending.

30.♘f6+ ♔h8 31.♗g7+!!31...♔xg7 32.♘xe8+ ♔h6 33.♕xf7

33.♕xf7 d5 34.♕g7+ ♔g5 35.♖c3 ♘f5 36.exf5 ♗d1 37.♖g3+ ♗g4 38.♖xg4+ hxg4 39.h4+ ♔xf5 40.♕f7+ ♖f6 41.♘g7+ ♔f4 42.g3+ ♔f3 43.♖e3#

Powered by Aquarium