Out in the South Atlantic there was an island named Thompson Island. The island was first reported and named by whaling ship captain George Norris in 1825. The last reported sighting of the island was in 1893.
The German survey ship Valdivia fixed the position of nearby Bouvet Island in 1898, it when it looked for Thompson, it couldn't be found!
If Thompson ever existed, it is probable that it disappeared in a volcanic eruption sometime in the 1890s, but in 1997 it was reported that the sea depth at the supposed location is greater than 7,900 feet, or about a mile and a half which made the existence of a submarine volcano all but impossible. Nevertheless, the island continued to appear on maps published as late as 1943.
In US chess, at the Hotel Syracuse in Syracuse, New York the US Open Championship and the NY State Championship were held in mid-August.
As can be seen from the scores, the tournament was a battle between Horowitz and Santasiere.
Both of them jumped off to an early lead and both were undefeated. Santasiere had two early draws (with Katz and Otten) which left him trailing Horowitz by a full point until Horowitz was held to a draw by Katz. Horowitz and Santasiere met in the final round separated
by half a point. Horowitz needed only a draw to finish first, but Santasiere could tie for first if he won.
Strange as it may seem Santasiere, who was the reigning Marshall Club champion, took no chances, made no attempt to fight for a win and was content to draw by repetition.
A special guest at the event was 73 year old Herman Helms who was honored for his 50 years of publishing a chess column in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and 40 years of publishing the American Chess Bulletin. USCF president George Sturgis conferred upon him the title of Dean of American Chess.
In the Experts section G.O, Christensen of Brooklyn finished first with a +7 -0 =4 score and Louis Persinger, violinist, pianist and professor of violin, won the Class A tournament with a +9 -0 =2 score.
In the following game Horowitz defeats Arthur W. Wood, a local player from Syracuse, who also served as an officer in the state chess organization.
The game features Boden's Mate which is a pattern in which two Bs on criss-crossing diagonals deliver mate.
The mate gets its name from Samuel Boden, who played it in Schulder–Boden, London 1853. However, it had been known previously from the game Horwitz–Popert, Hamburg 1844. It's a handy pattern to know (I have pulled it off once) and you can play through a collection of games featuring the pattern at chessgames.com HERE.
Arthur W. Wood - I.A. Horowitz
Result: 0-1
Site: US Open/NY State Champ, Syracuse
Date: 1943
English Opening: Four Knights Variation
[...] 1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.c4 Already Horowitz is looking for a sharp fight. He is best remembered as an author of chess books and his wonderful Chess Review magazine, but Horowitz was a leading player in the US during the 1930s and 1940s. He was Open Champion in 1936, 1938 and 1943. In 1941, he lost a hard fought match (+0-3=13) to Reshevsky for the US Championship. He played in four Olympiads (1931, 1935, 1937 and 1950). And, he scored one of the only two wins for the US by defeating Salo Flohr in the 1945 match against the USSR. The following year he drew both games againxt Boleslavsky. 3...♗c5 4.♘c3 ♘f6 5.d3 White is oblivious to the lurking danger.
5.♕c2 is a mistake as demonstrated in Sukhu, G-Sabirova,O (2250)/Mallorca 2004 which continued 5...d6 6.d3 ♘g4 7.♔e2
7.h3 is correct, but black still gets a significant advantage after 7...♗xf2+ 8.♔e2 ♗h4 9.hxg4 ♘d4+ 10.♘xd4 exd4
7...♘xf2 8.♖g1 ♘b4 9.♕a4+ ♗d7 10.♘b5 a6 and wins. 5.♘xe5 is the best way to try and maintain equality, but after 5...♘xe5 6.d4 ♗b4 7.dxe5 ♘xe4 8.♕d4 ♘xc3 9.bxc3 ♗e7 white has not fared well in practice.
5.h3 is unbooked, but appears to be worth a try. 5...d6 6.d3 with a roughly equal position.
5...♘g4 Already white is in difficult straits!
5...d6 Black misses his chance here if white plays 6.h3 instead of 6.♗g5 h6 7.♗h4 g5 8.♗g3 ♗g4 and black is better. Jankovic,M-Curic,T (1507)/Belgrade 2008
6.d4 This position has been reached by white in many games, but he has no really satisfactory move and the results have favored black. With this move white tries to block the Bs diagonal.
6.♕c2 ♘xf2 7.♘a4 ♘xh1 8.♘xc5 d6 9.♘a4 Black won. Djaziri,Y-Eryigit,C/Kusadasi 2004
6.♗g5 is met by 6...♗xf2+ 7.♔e2 f6 8.♗h4 ♗xh4 9.♘xh4 O-O with a huge advantage.
6...exd4 7.♘d5 d3 Opening the diagonal. White's position is difficult, but hardly lost. 8.♗e3 Closing the diagonal. 8...♘xe3 9.fxe3 Now white is left with a shattered P-formation and a seriously weakened K. 9...♘b4 This move has a loud bark, but not a lot of bite.
9...a5 10.♗xd3 d6 11.♕e2 O-O 12.O-O-O ♘e5 and black has a good positional advantage.
10.♗xd3 The best move.
10.♘xb4 ♗xb4+ 11.♔f2 ♗c5 12.♗xd3 O-O And white's position is most miserable.
10...♘xd5 While this straightens out whites' Ps it also prevents him from castling K-side.
10...O-O is the Stockfish way of doing things, but after 11.O-O d6 12.♔h1 c6 13.♘xb4 ♗xb4 14.♘d4 white is holding his position together and black's advantage is a positional one. Horowitz is playing for a tactical solution.
11.exd5 O-O 12.e4 d6 13.♕b3 Slightly better was 13.Qd2 then castle Q-side. 13...f5 14.O-O-O White's K has reached a safe haven and he can be considered to have equalized.
14.exf5 ♕e8+ 15.♔d1 ♗xf5 16.♗xf5 ♖xf5 17.♖e1 ♕h5 can't be good for white even though black doesn't have a forced win.
14...♕f6 15.♕c2 b5 Instead of the better 15...fxe4. Horowitz continues to seek a tactical solution. 16.cxb5 This looks risky, but if followed up correctly white is in no danger.
16.exf5 was also good. 16...bxc4 17.♗xc4 ♗xf5 18.♗d3 ♗xd3 19.♖xd3 and black's advantage is minimal.
16...a6 There is nothing at all wrong with this, but it's no more than a bluff...assuming white plays correctly that is. 17.a4 Bad!
17.bxa6 is quite satisfactory as after 17...♗xa6 18.♗xa6 ♖xa6 19.e5 ♗e3+ 20.♔b1 dxe5 21.♕b3 e4 22.♕xe3 exf3 23.gxf3 ♖fa8 24.♖he1 ♖xa2 25.♕e6+ ♕xe6 26.dxe6 ♖a1+ 27.♔c2 ♖xd1 28.♖xd1 ♖e8 29.♖d7 ♖xe6 30.♖xc7 ♖e2+ 31.♔c3 ♖e3+ 32.♔c4 ♖xf3 a draw is likely.
17.♔b1 This solid move forces black to declare himself. 17...fxe4 18.♗xe4 g6 19.bxa6 ♗xa6 20.♗d3 and black's attack has fizzled out and white is left a P ahead.
17...axb5 Black is now in a position to go after white's K, but the position is tricky as white is not without his own resources. 18.♗xb5
18.axb5 ♖a1+ 19.♔d2 ♗b4+ 20.♔e2 fxe4 21.♗xe4 (21.♖xa1 exd3+ 22.♕xd3 ♕xb2+ wins) 21...♖a2 22.♖d4 ♗c5 23.♖hd1 ♖e8 (23...♗xd4 24.♖xd4 ♗f5 25.♗xf5 ♕xf5 is winning for black.) 24.♔f1 ♗d7 and black has a winning attack.
18.e5 This is the best try after which black may not win! 18...♕h6+ 19.♔b1 bxa4 and black has a modest advantage, but in Shootouts white scored +1 -2 =2!
18...fxe4 19.♘d2 ♕h6
19...♗f5 is much better. After 20.♖hf1 e3 21.♘e4 ♕e5 white's best try is 22.♖xf5 ♖xf5 23.♘xc5 dxc5 24.♕c3 but after 24...♕xc3+ 25.bxc3 ♖f2 26.g3 ♖xh2 27.♖e1 e2 white would be fighting, probably unsuccessfully, for a draw. Here is the finish in a Shootout at 21 plies. 28.♔c2 g5 29.♔b3 h5 30.♔c4 h4 31.gxh4 gxh4 32.♔xc5 h3 33.♗xe2 ♖e8 34.♖g1+ ♖g2 35.♖h1 ♖exe2 36.♖xh3 ♖g6 37.c4 ♖a2 38.♖b3 ♖xa4 Even a R ahead this ending is surprisingly difficult. 39.♖b8+ ♔f7 40.♖c8 ♖a7 41.♖h8 ♔e7 42.♖h7+ ♔d8 43.♖h8+ ♔d7 44.♖h7+ ♔c8 45.♖h8+ ♔b7 46.♖h7 ♖a5+ 47.♔b4 ♖a1 48.♖f7 ♖c1 49.♖f4 ♔b6 50.♖f7 ♖b1+ 51.♔c3 ♖g3+ 52.♔d4 ♖d1+ 53.♔e4 ♖g4+ 54.♔e3 ♖xc4 55.♔e2 ♖xd5 and wins.
20.♕xe4 ♗f5 21.♕e2 ♕f6 Horowitz has been seeking a tactical solution ever since move 5, but it has resulted in a few imprecise moves here and there. In addition, Wood's defense has been decent. The result is that now with 22.Rdf1 white would have equalized. Instead, he misses the Boden's mate. 22.g4 Allowing an abrupt end to a brief, but sharp, dog fight.
22.♖df1 This give the K an escape square on d1. 22...♗d4 (22...♕c3+ 23.bxc3 ♗a3+ 24.♔d1) 23.♘f3 ♕h6+ 24.♘d2 with equal chances.
22...♕c3+ Boden's mate! (22...♕c3+ 23.bxc3 ♗a3#) Powered by Aquarium
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