A Woodpusher Pushes Wood

 

     Old time readers of Chess Life, Chess Review, Canadian Chess Chat, the English magazine Chess the Dutch Schaak-Mat and American Chess Quarterly will, no doubt, remember the humorous articles that were full of wry observations titled The Old Woodpusher and Tales of a Woodpusher, by Fred Wren (April 29, 1900 - August 30, 1978). 

     Born in Sherman, Maine and a resident of Perry, Maine, Wren graduated from Sherman High School and joined the US Army in 1917 at the age of sixteen and served from April 1917 until May 1919. 

     After World War I he attended the University of Maine for two years after which he taught French and coached high school basketball. Wren also coached the Royal Canadian Engineers intermediate basketball team in Halifax and in his first year led them to the city title. He also coached numerous YMCA teams and won the city title four times. For four years during World War II, he served as president of the Nova Scotia Basketball Association and was a member of the YMCA Board and chaired their Physical Committee. 

     During summer vacations he worked as a cruiser and scaler for a lumber company. For those who are unfamiliar with the timber industry, timber cruising “is the process of measuring forest stands to determine stand characteristics, such as average tree sizes, volume, and quality. The primary purpose of cruising is to obtain a volume estimation to appraise and prepare timber sales.” 

     A log scaler measures the cut trees to determine the scale (volume) and quality (grade) of the wood to be used for manufacturing. When logs are sold, in order to determine the basis for a sale price in a standard way, the logs are scaled which means they are measured, identified as to species, and deductions for defects assigned to produce a net volume of merchantable wood. 

     In August 1924, Wren began his career with the U S Government as a patrol inspector with the Immigration Service in which one of his responsibilities was dealing with rum runners, a person or ship engaged in bringing prohibited liquor ashore or across the border. Originally stationed at a number of ports in Maine, in 1927 he was transferred to Ellis Island, New York. Subsequently, Wren worked for the Immigration Service as a technical advisor in the American consulates in Rotterdam and Antwerp. 

Fred Wren

     In 1935 he was appointed Officer in Charge of US Immigration in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He later became Vice Consul in the Visa Section of the American Consulate and ended up working in Halifax, Montreal and Switzerland. 

     In addition to writing his entertaining and humorous chess articles, he served as editor of Chess Life from 1958 to 1960. Wren was Canadian Maritime Champion in 1941 and again in 1945. He was instrumental in organizing chess in Halifax Public Schools. 

     In the following game we see how woodpushers push wood when the Old Woodpusher takes out Boris Garfinkel (November 18, 1904 - March 29, 1999). You can read Garfinkel's biography in the Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society: 

Part 1   Part 2

[Event "Buffalo, New York"] [Site "Buffalo"] [Date "1933.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Boris Garfinkel"] [Black "Fred Wren"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C37"] [Annotator "Stockfish 14.1"] [PlyCount "40"] [EventDate "1933.??.??"] {Muzio Gambit} 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Bc4 g5 4. Nf3 g4 5. O-O {You have to love this...the Muzio Gambit in which white sacrifices a N for a large lead in development and attacking chances.Its popularity reached its peak popularity in the mid-19th century, the Romantic Era, when sacrifices and early attacks were considered the pinnacle of chess art. Its popularity declined with the improvements in defensive technique.} gxf3 {Did anybody ever NOT take the N? If Black plays 5...d5 white supposedly obtains a strong attack beginning either 6.exd5 or 6.Bxd5. My database has four GM games from the early 1900s and in three Marco (black) defeated Marshall, Mieses and Schlechter. In the other game Leonhardt (black) lost to Spielmann. Engines give black the advantage after 5...d5} 6. Qxf3 Qf6 (6... Bh6 {trying to keep the P didn't work out too well in Nakamura,H (2741)-Andreikin,D (2683) Moscow 2010} 7. d4 Qh4 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Nd5 Kd8 10. c3 {White is slightly better and black's position is going to require careful defense.}) 7. e5 {This is very risky. Best is 7.d3} (7. c3 {was a bust in Arribas Lopez,A (2559)-Aguera Naredo,J (2358) Linares 2015} d6 8. d4 Bh6 9. Na3 Ne7 10. e5 dxe5 11. dxe5 Qg6 {with a significant advantage.}) 7... Qf5 (7... Qxe5 {Leaves black with the better game. With can play the solid 8.d3, but more in the spirit of the opening was Marshall's continuation.} 8. Bxf7+ (8. d3 Bh6 9. Bxf4 Bxf4 10. Qxf4 Qxf4 11. Rxf4 {After 11...f5 black is better. Tartakower,S-Leonhardt,P Vienna 1908}) 8... Kd8 9. d4 Qxd4+ 10. Kh1 Bh6 11. Bd2 Qg7 12. Bb3 Nc6 13. Bc3 Ne5 14. Qd5 d6 15. Rd1 {Marshall,F-Moreau,C Monte Carlo 1903. Black is winning, but in the game he managed to lose.}) (7... Qb6+ {This is a promising alternative if black follows it up correctly.} 8. Kh1 Bh6 {Which he did not. 8...d5 equalizes. } 9. d3 Ne7 10. Bxf4 Rf8 11. Nc3 {White is practically winning. Wan,Y (2462) -Bai,J (2151) Kuala Lumpur 2011}) 8. d4 {[%cal Bd2d4,Bd4e5][%mdl 32]} Nc6 { Black simply must play ...d5 if he wants to have any chances.} 9. c3 {This is too passive. Attacking the Q gains time and keeps things equal.} (9. Bd3 Nxd4 10. Qd5 Ne2+ 11. Bxe2 Ne7 12. Qf3 {equals.}) 9... b6 {Once again. black should have played ...d5} (9... d5 {[%cal Rd5c4] stays on course.} 10. Bxd5 Nge7 11. Be4 Qg4 12. Bxf4 Qxf3 13. Bxf3 Be6 {with the advantage.}) 10. g4 {[%mdl 8192] This blooper loses. Going after the f-Pawn was correct.} (10. Qe2 Bh6 11. Bxf4 Bxf4 12. g3 Qg6 13. Rxf4 {and white is in good shape.}) (10. Bxf4 {This obviou move allows black to equalize after} h5 11. Qe3 Nd8 12. Bd3 Qg4 13. h3 Qg7 14. Nd2 Ne6) 10... Nxe5 {[%mdl 8192] Two question marks for this totally unsound move.} (10... Qg6 11. Nd2 Bb7 12. Bd3 Qg7 13. Ne4 f5 {Stunning!} 14. exf6 Nxf6 15. Nxf6+ Qxf6 16. Qxf4 Qxf4 17. Bxf4 {is winning for black.}) 11. dxe5 (11. gxf5 {is much less precise.} Nxf3+ 12. Rxf3 Bb7 13. Rf2 Bd6 14. Bxf4 Bxf4 15. Rxf4 {Black's position is the more active.}) (11. Qxa8 {White must avoid this because it allows black complete equality after} Qxg4+ 12. Kf2 (12. Kh1 Ne7 13. Rxf4 Qd1+ {draws after} 14. Rf1 Qg4 15. Rf4 {etc.}) 12... Qh4+ 13. Ke2 Qg4+ 14. Ke1 Nxc4 15. Qxc8+ Ke7 16. Qxc7 Qe6+ 17. Kd1 Qg4+ {draws because if} 18. Kc2 Qe2+ 19. Kb3 Qxf1 20. Qxc4 Qd1+ 21. Ka3 Kd8+ 22. b4 Qxc1+ {wins}) 11... Qxg4+ { Giving up the Q was a good practical decision even though he gets nowhere near enough compensation for it.} (11... Bc5+ 12. Kh1 Qg6 13. Qxa8 {is winning for white because, unlike in the previous line (11.Qxa8) black cannot immediately get to white's K.}) 12. Qxg4 {[%cal Oc4f7] Strongly threatening Bxf7+} Bc5+ 13. Kh1 Bb7+ 14. Rf3 Nh6 {[%cal Bg8h6,Bh6g4,Bg4f2][%mdl 32]} 15. Qxf4 {[%cal Rc4f7] } O-O-O 16. Nd2 Rhg8 {[%cal Bh8g8,Bg8g1,Bg1h1][%mdl 32]} 17. h4 (17. h3 { taking g4 away from the N was an absolute must.} Rg1+ 18. Kh2 Rdg8 19. Bf1 { and black is busted.}) 17... Rg1+ 18. Kh2 Ng4+ 19. Kh3 Rg8 {White is totally oblivious to the lurking danger. After 20.Nf1 or 20.Bxf7 or 20.Ne4 the position is equal and would probably be drawn.} 20. Qxf7 {[%mdl 8192] With this move white has just fallen into a mate in 3.} (20. Bxf7 Rh1+ (20... Nf2+ { fails to} 21. Rxf2 Rh1+ 22. Qh2 Rxh2+ 23. Rxh2 {and wins because of all the extra material.}) 21. Kg2 Rg1+ {draws}) 20... Nf2+ {[%mdl 512] White resigned.} (20... Nf2+ 21. Rxf2 (21. Kh2 Rh1#) 21... Rh1+ 22. Rh2 Bg2#) 0-1