Thomas ALMOST Beat Flohr

     There were no official ratings in 1933, but Chessmetrics retro-ratings estimates that in January the top five players in the world were 1) Alekhine (2817), 2) Kashdan (2734), Capablanca (2726), Flohr (2714) and Euwe (2706). Sir George Thomas was ranked number 46 with a rating of 2528. 

     The 13th Annual Hastings Christmas Congress was held at Hastings, England, between December 28, 1932 and January 6, 1933. The Premier Reserves Tournament was won by Josef Rejfir of Czechoslovakia who scored 7.5-2.5. The winner of the Premier event was Salo Flohr, also of Czechoslovakia. 

     In the Premier event the competition was quite close. Vasja Pirc, a young Yugoslav, player gave Flohr a good run for awhile, but faltered towards the end. Sultan Khan started out with two losses, to Flohr and Pirc, but then scored 5.5 out of 6 to become a threat for first. However, in the last round he lost to Michell as a result of striving too hard for a win, which left him in a tie for third with Lajos Steiner. 

     During the pre-WW2 years Flohr dominated many tournaments and by the late 1930s he was considered a contender for the World Championship. However, his patient, positional style was overtaken by the sharper, more tactical methods of the younger Soviet players that came on the scene after the War and Flohr became a drawing master whose games were quite colorless. 

 

     Today dawned miserable. It was 17 degrees (F) and snowing. There is lake effect snow stretching about 60 miles and reaching about 30 miles inland. The result is a winter weather advisory in effect from Friday 4am to 10pm with some areas facing 10-12 inches of snow and everywhere road conditions are bad. 

The view from my front window

 

     The day's gloom must be similar to what Sir George Thomas felt after the following game which he almost managed to win, but as often happens, somehow the stronger player dodged defeat.

Salo Flohr - Sir George Thomas

Result: 1-0

Site: Hastings

Date: 1932

Queen's Indian

[...] 1.d4 ♘f6 2.♘f3 e6 3.e3 At the time the Colle System was fashionable. Isaac Kashdan noted that it wasn't very spirited because it allowed black too many choices. 3...b6 4.♗d3 ♗b7 5.♘bd2 c5 6.O-O ♘c6 7.c4 Kashdan did not especially care for this move transposing into the Q-Indian because "having chosen backward development (white) will gain nothing from opening the game." 7...♗e7 8.b3 O-O 9.♗b2 d5 10.♖c1 ♖c8 Although the position is equal, Kashdan observed that black's minor pieces are somewhat better placed and if the center files get opened white's minor pieces are obstructing the d-file. 11.a3 dxc4

11...♖e8 12.♖e1 ♗f8 13.dxc5 bxc5 14.cxd5 exd5 offered black equal chances. Nakamura,H (2776)-Harika,D (2496)/Gibraltar 2015

11...h6 is also satisfactory. 12.♕e2 ♖e8 13.cxd5 exd5 Ulko,J (2442) -Tsvetkov,A (2220)/Voronezh 2018

12.bxc4 Here Kashdan makes the observation that this P is destined to become weak because it is subject to attack on the c-file and it cannot advance and white's pieces will become bound to its defense. Therefore, he recommended 12.Nxc4. Engines prefer Flohr's move and evaluate the position as equal.

12.♘xc4 favors black slightly after 12...cxd4 13.exd4 b5 14.♘e3 b4

12...♗d6 13.♘b3

13.♖c2 ♖e8 14.♕a1 ♗f8 15.♖d1 ♕e7 16.♕b1 ♘d7 17.♘e4 is about equal. Ehlvest,J (2602)-Haag, M (2324)/Willemstad 2003

13.d5 was a good try. 13...exd5 14.cxd5 ♘xd5 15.♕c2 h6 16.♗h7+ ♔h8 17.♗f5 and white has good play for the P.

13...♕e7 14.♖a1 To meet the threat of ... cxd4 and ...Bxa3. White wants to advance his a-Pawn gaining open lines on the Q-side since he has none in the center. 14...♗b8 15.♕b1 This is a bad error in judgment! His defense on the K-side is precarious. Flohr is relying on his pieces controlling the cnter, but he is in for a rude shock. Better was 15.Qe2

15.♘bd2 keeps things fairly equal after 15...♖fe8 16.♖e1 cxd4 17.exd4 with the infamous hanging Ps.

15...cxd4 16.exd4 ♘a5 Brilliant as it opens up the long diagonal for the B on b7 and white's lack of defense for his K soon becomes apparent. 17.♘fd2 The wrong N goes to d2! It removes a defender for the K and so moving the other N to d2 was much better though black would still have the better position. 17...♕d6 This is unfortunate. With the win in sight, Thomas falters although after the text he still maintains a slight advantage. As it is, Thomas will miss some promising moves to come, but he losing move comes later.

17...♘xb3 and black takes home the point 18.♘xb3 ♘g4 19.h3

19.♗xh7+ now or later does not accomplish anything. 19...♔h8 20.h3 ♕h4 21.d5 ♖xc4 22.♘d2 ♖f4 with a winning attack.

19...♕h4 20.f3 ♘e3 leaves black with a winning position as the R cannot move away. For example... 21.♖e1 ♘xg2 22.♖e2 (22.♔xg2 ♕g3+ mates in 2.) 22...♘f4 23.♕c2 ♗xf3 24.♖f2 ♕g3+ 25.♔f1 f5 with a winning position.

18.g3 ♘xb3 19.♘xb3 ♖fd8 Black's game is still slightly better, but now there is nothing decvisive and white's center Ps hold black at bay. 20.♘d2 ♕c6 21.f3 All mating threats on the diagonal are now parried. Kashdan suggested that black should now try to continue a K-side attack with 21...h5, but gave no followup analysis. 21...e5 Not the best because it forces the advance of white's d-Pawn giving his a strong, supported passed P. The result is that both of black's Bs are blocked and white's pieces now spring to life. From this point back's position slowly deteriorates.

21...h5 Although the crushing attack black missed on move 17 is history, trying to continue the attack with 21...h5 actually leaves him with reasonably good chances. 22.♘e4 ♘xe4 23.fxe4 f5 24.♕c1 h4 25.♕e3 and both 25...fxe5 and 25...hxg3 are promising moves.

22.♗f5 Bad...he should have advanced the d-Pawn immediately. (22.dxe5 ♕c5+ 23.♖f2 ♗xe5 leaves white with a shattered P-formation.) (22.d5 ♕c5+ 23.♔g2 b5 with the initiative.) 22...♖c7 After this white has the upper hand and he is not about to let his chances slip.

22...exd4 Black missed this excellent chance. 23.♗xc8 (23.♘e4 ♖c7 24.♘xf6+ ♕xf6 25.♗xh7+ ♔f8 Black is better.) 23...♕xc8 24.♕d3 h5 25.♘b3 h4 26.♘xd4 hxg3 27.hxg3 ♕h3 28.♕c2 ♘g4 with a strong attack.

23.d5 Now all is well for white. 23...♕c5+ 24.♔h1 ♖e7 25.a4 Threatening Ba3 and at the same time hindering the advance of black's b-Pawn. At this point white finds ways to open new lines while black is reduced to just marking time 25...♗d6 26.♕e1 ♗c8 27.♗d3 ♕c7 28.♕e2 ♖de8

28...e4 was a worthwhile try at gaining some freedom. 29.♘xe4 ♘xe4 30.fxe4 but here, too, white has a very solid position and black has no serious counterplay.

29.♕g2 ♘d7 30.♘e4 ♘c5 31.♘xd6 ♕xd6 While white's position is hardly overwhelming, black has the difficult task of defending and lacking any real counterplay, all he can do, as mentioned previously, is mark time. 32.♗a3 ♖c7 33.♖fd1 ♖d8 34.a5 bxa5 35.♕c2 h6 36.♕c3 ♕f6 37.♗e2 e4 An attempt to get some play, but all it really does is strengthen white's Ps. On the other hand, white has slowly improved his position and for black to sit around and do nothing will prove fatal. 38.♕xf6 gxf6 39.fxe4 ♘xe4 40.♖d4 f5 41.♔g1 ♗a6 42.♗f1 Also good was 42.d6 42...♘g5 43.♔f2 White is now ready to play c5 and his Ps will be unstoppable. 43...♘e6 44.♖h4 ♘c5 45.♖xh6

45.♗xc5 was an even stronger move. 45...♖xc5 46.♔e3 ♖dc8 47.♖a4 and wins with little difficulty.

45...♘e4+ 46.♔e3 ♗xc4 Thomas probably planned this capture when he played 43...Ne6, but it loses the exchange.

46...f6 would have been somewhat better. After 47.♗d3 ♖e8 48.♔d4 ♖ec8 49.d6 black's position is still hopeless though.

47.♖c1 ♗xf1

47...♔g7 This seems like it would have been much better. True, engines give white a huge advantage, but an OTB game between humans may not have been so clear! 48.♖h4 ♗xf1 49.♖xc7 ♖xd5 Black's Q-side Ps pose no real threat and here is how Stockfish concluded the gaem... 50.♗b2+ ♔g6 51.♖c6+ ♔g5 52.♗d4 ♘d6 53.♖c5 ♖xc5 54.♗xc5 ♘e8 55.♗e7+ ♔g6 56.♗d8 ♗b5 57.♗xa5 ♘f6 58.♗c3 ♘d5+ 59.♔d4 ♘xc3 60.♔xc3 ♔g5 61.♖d4 ♗c6 62.♖c4 ♗d7 63.h4+ ♔g6 64.♖c7 ♗e8 65.♖xa7 f6 66.♔d4 f4 67.gxf4 ♔f5 68.♔e3 ♗g6 69.♖a8 ♗h5 70.♖a5+ ♔g4 71.♔e4 f5+ 72.♔e5 ♔xh4 73.♔xf5 ♔g3 74.♔e5 and wins

48.♖xc7 ♖xd5 49.♗b2 ♖d3+ 50.♔f4 Black resigned.

50.♔f4 f6 Required in order to avoid mate, but white now establishes a winning position after 51.♗xf6 ♘xf6 52.♖g6+ ♔f8 53.♖xf6+ ♔e8 54.♖ff7 Here is the engine's conclusion... 54...♗g2 55.♖g7 ♔d8 56.♖xa7 ♗c6 57.h4 ♖d1 58.h5 ♖h1 59.♖h7 a4 60.♔e5 ♖d1 61.h6 a3 62.♖h8+ ♗e8 63.♖xe8+ ♔xe8 64.h7 ♖h1 65.h8=♖+ ♖xh8 66.♖a8+ ♔d7 67.♖xh8 and the R prevails.

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