How Complicated Was Flamberg-Duras, Abbazia 1912?

     I don't usually post on weekends, but today is an exception. After another inch of lake effect snow fell last night and the 5 a.m. snowplow drive by which left the driveway plowed shut, for the fourth time in two days the snowblower had to be fired up. Also, the wife and her sister are on an out of state trip leaving me home alone with nothing to do. Thus, a rare Saturday post. 

     At first I was going to title this post A Long Forgotten Tournament - Abbazia Gambit Tournament, 1912. But, then I discovered that wasn't quite the case because there have been at least two books on the tournament published. One by Anthony Gilliam and the other by chess book publisher Bob Long who was murdered in a home invasion back in October of 2019.  

     Abbazia in the Austria-Hungary empire was a seaside resort on the Kvarner Gulf known for its Mediterranean climate and its historic buildings reminiscent of the Austrian Riviera. I say "was" because although the town is still there, it is now known as as Opatija and it's in what is now Croatia.

    The Abbazia Gambit tournament of 1912 was a theme tournament in which playing the King's Gambit Accepted was mandatory. It was organized by Georg Marco and the venue was the Casino des Etrangers. 

 

     Of the 12 players, who met each other twice, only Spielmann, Duras, Cohn and Leonhardt were regarded as masters at the time. Aurbach forfeited his Round 7 game against Flamberg, upset after he lost his Round 6 game against Rosselli on time in a winning position, and withdrew from the second cycle for "medical reasons."

     Naturally, there were a lot of spectacular games played in the tournament, but Today's game features a miniature that Fred Reinfled called, "perhaps the most complicated contest of its length that has ever been played." I am not sure if Reinfeld was correct. All I can say is Stockfish didn't find the complications all that difficult!

     Alexander Flamberg (1880 - January 24, 1926) was a Polish master who spent his early years in England, where he learned to play chess. After returning to Warsaw he became one of the strongest Polish players. 

     Oldrich Duras (October 30, 1882 - January 5, 1957, Prague) was a leading Czech chess master of the early 20th century. He was also a noted problem composer.

ChessBase

Alexander Flamberg–Oldrich Duras0–1C33Abbazia Gambit TournamentAbbazia Gambit Tournament09.02.1912Stockfish 14.1

King's Gambit Accepted 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.c4 c6 4.d4 f6 5.e5 A very sharp position. In my database this move results in 88 percent of the games being decisive with the results evenly split between white and black! d5 6.e2 Another good alternative is 6.Bb3 6.b5 e4 7.xf4 h4+ 8.g3 xg3 9.xg3 e4+ 10.f2 xh1 11.d2 and black is very much better. Koch,J (2484) -Kosten,A (2493)/Belfort 2012 6...e4 7.xf4 f6 This immediate challenge to white's center is black's best move. 7...f5 is good, but not quite as effective. 8.c3 f6 9.exf6 xf6 Black has an excellent position. Laakso,H (2186)-Franssila,T (2225)/Helsinki 2014 8.f3 fxe5 9.xe5 xe5 10.xe5 b4+ 11.c3 At first glace you might think black just wasted time because now he has to retreat the B. 0-0 But, he does not because now f2 is under attack. 12.f3 12.cxb4 f2 13.b3 xh1 14.d2 f2 15.g3 f7 and black is the exchange up. 12...g5 Slightly better was 12. ..Qh4+ although the consequences are difficult to calculate OTB. 12...h4+ 13.g3 h3 14.cxb4 g4 15.xg4 g2 16.e2 16.e6+ doesn't work. h8 17.xg7+ xg7 18.g4+ h8 19.xd5 xh1+ 20.e2 f1+ 21.e3 f2 wins 16...xh1+ mates next move. 13.d2 Now was the time to take the B!. This move throws away the game. 13.cxb4 e3+ 14.e2 Black has to either take the draw by repetition with 14...Qc1+ or else play 14...Rxf3 15.gxf3 first. Anything else loses. 13...xf3 Crushing. None of the possible recaptures are any good. 14.gxf3 14.xf3 xg2 15.f1 xc3 16.d2 xa2 is hopeless. 14.xf3 xd2+ 15.f1 g4 wins easily. 14...h4+ 15.e2 f2+ 16.d3 xd2 Oh, no! After this white could have transitioned from dead lost to likely winning! 16...c5+ nails it down 17.dxc5 f5+ 18.e4 xc5 19.d4 xd4 20.cxd4 c5 and wins. 17.cxb4 White overlooks a mate in two...for black. 17.e2 leaves him with the superior position after e4 18.hf1 f5 19.xf2 xf2+ 20.d2 d3 21.cxb4 xb2 White is better. In Shootouts white scored 5 wins. 17...c4 Black, in turn, also overlooks the mate in two. Not that it really matters because white has a mate in 7 therefore black resigned. 17...c4 18.e1 f5+ 19.e4 f8 20.f4 xe4+ 21.fxe4 xf4 22.e2 f3+ 23.c2 xe2+ 24.b1 xb2# 0–1

Download PGN