Gresser, the highest rated player in the event with a pre-tournament rating of 2107 lost in a second round upset to Kate Sillars of Wilmette, Illinois and yielded draws to Mona Karff and Ruth Herstein. She won all her other games which included her decisive encounter with Jacqueline Piatigorsky in round nine.
Dr. Helen Weissenstein was playing in her first women's championship in many years and was undefeated until losing to Gresser in the final round. Weissenstein participated in several women's championships and in 1952 published John and the Chess Men, a children's novel introducing the game of chess.
The following game was played between Rachel Guinan, rated 1771, and Kate Sillars, rated 1798. Remember, in those days there were few women players and none were masters.
Rachel Guinan (1927-1988) was from Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania, and competed in various US Amateur tournaments and several US Women’s Championships throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
In the New Jersey State Amateur in April 1963, she won the class B (rating 1600-1799) prize. In the February 1965 South Jersey Open held in Atlantic City, a three-way tie developed in the women’s section between Guinan, Eclesia Cestone and Mildred Morrell. As a result, Guinan was invited to play in the 1965 Women’s Championship.
In 1967, she was the highest scoring women in the US Amateur Open with a score of 4.5-2.5 which earned her the Women’s Amateur Champion title.
In 1969, she ranked as the 20th-best female player in the United States, with a rating of 1647. She placed fifth in the 1969 US Women’s Championship with a score of 4.5-4.5.
In 1970, in the Pennsylvania State
Championship, she was the top female player on tiebreak which bumped her
up to number 16 on the female rating list with a 1723 rating. Guinan also participated in the 1972 US Women’s Championship in which she scored 5.5-3.5
She was the lowest rated entrant in the '65 championship tournament, but was described as playing exciting chess in every game and was a threat to the leaders all the way.
After her marriage she became known as Katherine Gasser and lives in Massachusetts where she is a member of the Boylston Chess Club.
Judging by the following game, the ladies played pretty decent chess in those days despite their Class B ratings!
Rachel Guinan - Kate Sillars
Result: 0-1
Site: U.S. Women's Championship, New York
Date: 1965
Sicilian Scheveningen
[...] 1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.♘f3 d6 4.♘xd4 ♘f6 5.f3 a6 6.♘c3 e6 The slippery Scheveningen is characterised by black setting up a small center with Ps on d6 and e6. There are numerous move orders that reach it. 7.♗e3 ♗e7 8.♕d2 O-O 9.♗e2
18...d5 This is much less complicated, and practically, much safer that pushing the e-Pawn as the engines want to do!
9.g4 b5 10.O-O-O ♘fd7 11.g5 ♘b6 12.♗d3 ♕c7 13.♔b1 ♘c4 14.♗xc4 ♕xc4 15.h4 White has a promising attack. Grosar,A (2475)-Atlas,V (2450)/Ptuj 1995
9.O-O-O is the most frequently seen move. 9...♘c6 10.g4 ♘d7 11.h4 ♘de5 12.♕g2 b5 13.♘xc6 ♘xc6 14.g5 ♕a5 15.♔b1 b4 16.♘e2 e5 17.f4 Here, too, white has a strong attack. Morozevich,A (2723)-Short,N (2697)/Sarajevo 1999
9...♕c7 10.O-O
10.g4 ♘c6 11.O-O-O b5 12.g5 ♘d7 13.h4 ♗b7 14.h5 Here white's attack is not quite so dangerous as in the previous example mostly because of the rather passive position of his B on e2. Cerda Ayala,M (1538)-Tristan,L (2215)/Dos Hermanas 2004
10...♘bd7 11.♖ad1 ♘e5 12.b3 This prevents ...Nc4, but it creates a weakness on the c-file.
12.g4 is still the best move as white need not fear ...Nc4. 12...♘c4 13.♗xc4 ♕xc4 14.g5 ♘d7 15.f4 with equal chances.
12...♗d7 13.f4 ♘eg4
13...♖ac8 packed more punch. 14.fxe5 (14.♘b1 is met by 14...♘xe4 15.♕e1 ♘c3 16.♘xc3 ♕xc3 17.♕xc3 ♖xc3) 14...dxe5 15.♗c4 exd4 16.♗xd4 e5 leaves white with a difficult position.
14.h3 ♘xe3 15.♕xe3 ♖ac8 16.♖f3 ♖fe8
16...e5 was better. 17.♘f5 (17.fxe5 dxe5 18.♘f5 ♗xf5 19.exf5 ♗c5) 17...♗xf5 18.exf5 ♖fe8 and black is better.
17.♔h1 This precautionary move getting the K off the potentially dangerous a7-g1 diagonal is too passive.
17.e5 was required. Then after 17...♘d5 18.♘xd5 exd5 19.e6 fxe6 20.♘xe6 ♕xc2 21.♖xd5 black would only be slightly better.
17...b5
17...e5 After this the chances are about equal. This push would leave white with a poor position after. 18.♘f5 ♗xf5 19.exf5 e4 20.♘xe4 ♕xc2
18.♖d2 White in turn misses the equalizing advance of her e-Pawn.
18.e5 ♘d5 19.♘xd5 exd5 20.♗d3 and the chances are equal. The move 20...Bd8 is safe, but some tricky tactics are introduced with 20...Bf6 20...♗f6 21.♗xh7+ ♔h8
21...♔xh7 22.♕d3+ g6 leaves white with a winning position. 23.exf6
22.♕f2 dxe5 23.fxe5 ♕xe5 24.♗f5 with complications. 18...e5 19.♘dxb5 (19.fxe5 dxe5 20.♘f5 ♗xf5 21.♖xf5 ♕xc3 wins a piece.) 19...axb5 20.♘xb5 ♗xb5 21.♗xb5 ♖ed8 22.fxe5 dxe5 23.♖xd8+ ♖xd8 24.♗d3 and Stockfish gives black a winning 5P advantage, but in practice that would be difficult to prove.
19.e5 b4 20.exf6 bxc3 21.♖d3 ♗xf6 22.a4 (22.♖xc3 is not playable. 22...♕xc3 23.♕xc3 ♖xc3 24.♖xc3 ♗xd4) 22...♕c5 23.g4 e5 24.fxe5 ♖xe5 25.♕f2 ♖ce8 26.♖xc3
26.♖xf6 might have been worth a shot, but after 26...gxf6 27.♕xf6 ♕e7 black is safe.
26...♕b4 27.♖cd3 ♖e4 Better was 27...Qe7 and white is powerless to come up with a good plan and only sit and wait. 28.c3
28.♖xf6 In this situation this is much better than it was at move 26. 28...gxf6 29.♕xf6 ♕e7 30.♕xe7 ♖8xe7 31.♗f3 ♖e3 32.♖d2 abd in this simplified position white's defense is easier...black's advantage is minimal.
28...♕a3 29.♗f1 ♕c1 30.♔g2 ♕h6
30...♕g5 was better because the threat of ...h5 is then too strong. 31.♘f5 ♖4e5 32.♘d4 ♕g6 followed by ...h5 with good attacking chances.
31.♘f5 Now this equalizes. 31...♗xf5 32.♖xf5 ♗h4 33.♕f3 Throughout the game white has been playing too passively.
33.♕c5 is more active and therefore better. After 33...g6 (33...♖e2+ 34.♗xe2 ♖xe2+ 35.♔g1 ♖e1+ 36.♔g2 black must take the draw!) 34.♖ff3 ♖e1 35.♕xd5 and here, too, black has to take the draw with 35...♖8e2+ 36.♗xe2 ♖xe2+ 37.♔g1 ♕c1+ 38.♖d1 ♖e1+ 39.♖xe1 ♕xe1+ 40.♔h2 ♕e2+ etc.
33...♕c1 34.♖fxd5
34.♖xf7 was also good. 34...♕c2+ 35.♔h1 ♕xb3 36.♖f4 ♕xa4 37.♖d4 is roughly equal.
34...♖f4 On her next move white overlooks a clever tactic that wins the game for black. 35.♕d1 an unfortunate move that relinquishes the win
35.♖d1 ♕b2+ 36.♖5d2 ♖xf3 37.♖xb2 ♖xc3 38.♗xa6 with a difficult ending that should be drawn with correct play. In Shootouts white scored +1 -0 =4. The result with amateurs handling the position is anybody's guess!
35...♖f2+ This is decisive. 36.♔g1 ♕f4 37.♗g2 g6 A safety precaution. Stockfish likes 37...Rxg2+ 38.Kxg2 Qf2+ but it leads to an ending that would be very difficult to play. 38.♖f3 The game is lost, but this leads to a mate in 10.
38.♖d8 holds out. 38...♗xd8 39.♖xd8 ♖fe2 40.♕xe2 ♖xd8 41.♕f3 Here black has a technical win, but how well Class B players (or any non-master for that matter) would handle it is open to question!
38...♖xf3 39.♖d8 ♖xd8 Good enough, but capturing with the B mates in 7. 40.♕xf3 ♕xf3
40...♕c1+ 41.♔h2 ♖d1 42.c4 ♕d2 43.c5 ♗g5 44.♕g3 ♗f4 45.h4 ♗xg3+ 46.♔xg3 ♕e3+ 47.♗f3 ♖g1+ 48.♔h3 ♕xf3+ 49.♔h2 ♕g2#
41.♗xf3−+41...♖d3 42.♗b7 ♖xc3 43.♗xa6 ♖xb3 44.♔g2 ♔f8 45.♗b5 ♖a3 White resigned. Powered by Aquarium
Kate Sillars was the top scoring women at the 1963 US Open at the age of 14. She used to visit the Central YMCA chess club every once in a while. Not only was she quite a good player, she was also a very friendly and pleasant young woman
ReplyDelete