Gordon Crown

     While browsing through a 1947 issue of Chess Review the other day I came across the name of British player Gordon Crown. I never heard of him so was curious as to who he was. It turned out Crown was a player of great promise who died just a few months after the issue was published. 

     Gordon Thomas Crown (June 20, 1929 - November 17,1947, 18 years old) was born in Liverpool, England. He learned to play chess at the age of nine and soon became a strong...real strong...player! 

     Noted for his exceptional knowledge of openings and understanding of the ending, he also had deep positional insight and excellent tactical ability. Add to that concentration, tenacity and determination to win and he was clearly Grandmaster material! Leonard Barden speculated that had he lived, Crown would have become a strong Grandmaster in the likes of Keres or Gligoric...a ringing endorsement! 

     He won the Lancashire Junior Championship three times in a row, was 2nd at the British Boys Championship in 1946 and in the 1946-47 Hastings Christmas Congress, at the age of 17, he won the Premier Reserves Group B. In 1947 he won 3rd prize in the British Championship and in September of that year he played 4th board for Britain in the match against Russia and scored a win and a loss against Alexander Kotov. That's pretty impressive since Chessmetrics puts Kotov's rating on the December, 1947 list at 2714 ranking him ninth in the world. 

 

     In September 1947, the 18-year-old Crown, who was a diabetic, complained of a stomach ache and was rushed to hospital where it was discovered that he was suffering from appendicitis and peritonitis; he died during the operation.

Gordon Crown - Alexander Kotov

Result: 1-0

Site: Great Britain-Soviet Union Radio Match

Date: 1947.09.21

[...] 1.e4 c5 2.♘c3 At the time Smyslov was making use of the Closed Variation in which white usually fianchettos the B and plans to slowly build up on the K-side. 2...♘c6 3.g3 g6 4.♗g2 ♗g7 5.d3 e6 6.♗e3 b6 Instead of the usual 6... d6. This rare sideline offers black little. Interesting is 6...Nd4

6...♘d4 Now white should play 7.Qd2 or 7.Nce2, but not... 7.♗xd4 cxd4 8.♘ce2 ♕b6 and black stands well.

7.♘ge2 Intending 8.d4 which would be quite good. 7...♘f6 Preventing 7.d4 (7...♗b7 8.d4 cxd4 9.♘xd4 ♘ge7 10.♘db5 O-O 11.♘d6) 8.h3 Preventing the attack on his B and agains threatening to play d4.

8.d4 is not good because after 8...♘g4 white has to either lose time retreating his B or allow it to be exchanged.

8...♗a6 This renders does not prevent d4, but renders it ineffective.. 9.♕d2

9.d4 cxd4 10.♘xd4 O-O Another good option would be 10...Ne5 11.♘xc6 dxc6 12.♕xd8 ♖fxd8 Equals.

9...d5 Safer was 9...Rc8 10.exd5 ♘xd5 11.♗g5 White prepares to sacrifice his b-Pawn.

11.♗h6 With this move white keeps the advantage a small advantage. 11...O-O 12.h4 ♗xh6 13.♕xh6 ♘e5 14.♘xd5 exd5 15.O-O-O white has some attacking chances on the K-side, but black has good defensive possibilities. In Shootouts white scored +1 -0 =4.

11.♘xd5 is also satisfactory. 11...exd5 12.♗h6 ♗xh6 (12...♗xb2 13.♖b1 ♗e5 14.♘f4 ♗xf4 15.♕xf4 is good for white.) 13.♕xh6 ♕d6 White is slightly better after he castles on either side.

11...♕d7 12.♘xd5 This is wrong; it gives black just a smidgen of an advantage. Correct was 12.Bh6 immediately. 12...exd5 13.♗h6 ♗xb2

13...O-O Declining the P is not bad at all. 14.♗xg7 ♔xg7 15.O-O-O d4 and there is no way for white to make any serious advances.

14.♖b1 ♗e5 15.O-O d4 While this move doesn't lose or anything, black could have gotten the edge by playing 15... O-O-O

15...O-O-O 16.♘f4 ♗xf4 17.♕xf4 d4 18.♕f6 ♗b7 19.♖fe1 ♖he8 and black is slightly better.

16.♖fe1 Not bad, but not th best either.

16.♘f4 ♗b7 17.♖fe1 O-O-O 18.♘d5 and here black's best line is 18...♘b4 19.♘xb4 ♗xg2 20.♔xg2 ♖de8 (20...cxb4 21.♖xe5 White is a piece up.) 21.♕g5 ♕b7+ 22.♔g1 f6 23.♕g4+ f5 24.♕d1 cxb4 25.♖xb4 Chances are about even.

16...O-O-O 17.♘f4 ♖he8 This move allows white to gain the initiative.

17...♗xf4 18.♕xf4 f5 19.♖e2 ♖de8 20.♖be1 ♗b7 Black's K is safe in he still has the extra P so he enjoys the advantage.

18.♘d5 ♕d6 19.♘xb6+ axb6 20.♖xb6 ♗b7 21.♖eb1 ♖e7 A fascinating position. It's odd, but this turns out to be the wrong R! He needed to play 21...Rd7 and then use the other R on the 6th rsnk with ...Re6.

21...♖d7 22.♕c1 ♖e6 23.♕a3 Now we will see why the setup of the Rs matters. 23...♗xg3

23...♕e7 also leads to an interesting sequence. 24.♗f8 ♕xf8 25.♗xc6 ♖xc6 26.♖xb7 ♖xb7 27.♕a8+ ♖b8 28.♕xc6+ ♗c7 29.♖e1 ♔d8 30.a4 ♖b6 31.♕a8+ ♖b8 and white has to take the draw with 32.♕d5+ etc.

24.fxg3 ♕xg3 25.♕xc5 ♖c7 26.♕g5 ♖e1+ 27.♖xe1 ♕xe1+ 28.♔h2 ♘d8 29.♗xb7+ ♘xb7 with a likely draw!

22.♕c1

22.♗g5 keeps the advantage. 22...f6 23.♗h6 g5 24.h4 white is somewhat better.

22...♖dd7 Logical as it defends the B, but after this white starts calling the tune and doesn't stop until Kotov resigns.

22...♖de8 23.♔h2 ♕f6 24.f4 ♗c7 25.♖xb7 ♕d6 26.♕a3 ♖e2 27.♕a6 ♘b4 The best continuation is 28.♖xc7+ ♔xc7 29.♕b7+ ♔d8 30.a3 ♖xc2 31.axb4 ♖ee2 32.♖g1 cxb4 with an unclear position, but in Shootouts white only scored +1 -0 =4, so black has excellent drawing chances.

23.♗f8 23.f4 was even more forceful because it stops any black shenanigans beginning with sacrificing his B on g3. 23...♖c7

23...♗xg3 This is black's last chance at salvaging the game. 24.♗xe7 ♖xe7 25.♕h6

25.fxg3 ♕xg3 26.♕d1 ♘b4 27.♖xb7 ♖xb7 28.♕e2 and there is no way for white to win.

25...♗h2+ 26.♔f1 f6 27.♕d2 and white is better and in hootouts scored +3 -0 =2

24.♕a3 Again. 24.f4 was good, but no matter. White is winning 24...♕e6

24...♗xg3 no longer has any punch. 25.♗xe7 ♗h2+ 26.♔h1 ♖xe7 27.♖xb7 ♖xb7 28.♕a6 ♘d8 29.♗xb7+ and wins.

25.♗xe7 ♕xe7 The rest is simply mopping up. 26.♕a4 ♘d8 27.♕b5 h5 28.a4 h4 29.gxh4 (29.♖e1 hxg3 30.f4 was also good.) 29...♗d6 30.a5 ♕d7 31.a6 ♕xb5 32.axb7+ ♔b8 33.♖1xb5 ♗f4 34.♖a6 ♘xb7 35.♖ab6 Kotov resigned because either the N or the R is lost.

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