Hearst Hornswoggles Gilden

Eliot Hearst

     In 1961, Grigory Levenfish (1889-1961) died in Moscow at the age of 71 and Akiba Rubinstein (1880-1961), died in Antwerp, Belgium at the age of 80. 

     Mikhail Botvinnk decisively (+10 -5 =6) defeated Mikhail Tal to regain the world championship. 

     On the US chess scene, the year started off on January 3rd with Bobby Fischer clinching the US Championship for the 4th time with a score of +7 -0 =4. His win qualified him for the next Interzonal. He finished ahead of Willaim Lombardy and Raymond Weinstein. Three players tied for fourth (Bisguier, Reshevsky and Sherwin). 

     The long awaited match between Fischer and Reshevsky was arranged and ended with Reshevsky being declared the winner. The score was tied at 5.5 points apiece when Fischer forfeited game 12 over a scheduling dispute and after letting loose a string of filthy language directed at everybody involved he withdrew in protest. 

     In December, Lisa Lane, chess's media glamour girl, played four games in the Hastings Reserve tournament, then withdrew At the time here score was +0 -1 =2 with one adjourned game. She said she could not concentrate on chess because she was homesick and in love with her future second husband Neil Hickey. At least that was her story. A more likely explanation was that she wasn't living up to the hype and in one interview she stated she hated anybody who beat her. Within a few years she quit chess and even refused to talk about it. 

     The 1961 Eastern Open that was held in Washington, D.C. was probably the strongest weekend tournament ever in the United States up to that time; it was won by Dr. Eliot Hearst of Arlington, Virginia with a convincing score of 7-1. 

     In those days Masters were rare and even Experts (2000-2199) commanded great respect. This tournament had 13 Masters and 37 Experts. It also drew a record entry of 162 players. 

 

     In the following game Larry Gilden (born 1942) of Washington, D.C. resigned in a drawn position. Chess.com has some anecdotes on this colorful player HERE.

[Event "Eastern Open, Washington DC"] [Site "?"] [Date "1961.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Larry Gilden"] [Black "Eliot Hearst"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D22"] [Annotator "Stockfish 14.1"] [PlyCount "56"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.03.31"] {Queen's Gambit Accepted} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 {In my database this is the third most popular option and if fares on a par with both 2...c6 and 2...e6. Because black has surrendered the center white will try to seize space there and use it to launch an attack. Black hoped to weaken white's center Ps. Alao, accepting the gambit allow black to save time by allowing the freeing moves …e5 and …c5 to be played in one move.} 3. Nf3 {In my database white scores a tad better with the direct 3.e4 trying to establish a strong P-center. 3.e4 disappeared for a long time, but became popular again in the 1990s. With the text move white delays attempts to regain the P and prevents black from striking at the center with ...e5.} a6 {The most common reply is 3...Nf6, but thisd move was introduced by Alekhine.} (3... b5 {This attempt to hold the P fails.} 4. a4 c6 5. b3 {and black caonnot capture on either a4 or c3.} cxb3 ( 5... bxa4 6. bxc4 {and black's Q-side is wrecked.}) (5... e6 6. axb5 cxb5 7. e3 Be7 8. bxc4 bxc4 {and white is better.} 9. Bxc4) 6. axb5 cxb5 7. e3 e6 (7... a6 8. Bxb5+) 8. Bxb5+ {with the advantage.}) 4. e3 Bg4 5. Bxc4 e6 6. Qb3 {Very blunt.} Bxf3 7. gxf3 {Black is now faced with the problem of how to defend the attacked b-Pawn or if he even should.} Ra7 (7... b5 8. Be2 Qg5 9. a4 b4 10. Nd2 Qg2 11. Rf1 Nf6 {White is much better. Ivanov,I (2430)-Jauregui Andrade,C (2305) Montreal 1981}) (7... Nd7 8. Qxb7 Rb8 9. Qxa6 {and white is clearly better as his Q is in no danger and black is not prepared to launch any kind of an attack.}) 8. Bd2 Nf6 9. Nc3 Nc6 {Blocking the c-Pawn seems questionable.} (9... Nbd7 10. Be2 c5 11. d5 e5 12. a4 Bd6 13. O-O Qe7 14. Kh1 e4 {This sharp position favors white. Botvinnik,M-Flohr,S Moscow 1945}) 10. Ne4 {White is aiming to either pick up the b-Pawn or force black to yield the two Bs.} Be7 11. Nc5 O-O {It would have been better to eliminate the N.} (11... Bxc5 12. dxc5 Qe7 13. Bc3 {The c-Pawn is immune (Bd4 picks up the R on a2).} O-O 14. Rg1 {with about equal chances.}) 12. Nxb7 {Instead of playing it safe with 12.Ne4 and being content with a slight advantage Gliden opts for the risky text.} Qa8 13. Nc5 Bxc5 14. dxc5 Ne5 {A superb move! The Q is unmasked and the P on f3 is threatened.} 15. O-O-O {White counters with a superb move of his own.} Qxf3 16. Qc3 Qf5 {It would have been better to eliminate the B with 16...Nxc4} 17. Rhg1 (17. f4 {After this white would manage to equalize.} Nxc4 18. Qxc4 Rb7 19. Bc3 Rb5 20. Bd4 Rfb8 21. Rhg1) 17... Ne4 {Black's Ns are well centralized and as GM William Lombardy once described a similar situation, they are doing their droppings all over the two Bs.} 18. Qd4 g6 $1 19. Bc3 {Now owing to the threat on the long diagonal the B has to go.} Nxc3 20. Qxc3 Nxc4 {So does the other B and now black picks up the f-Pawn} 21. Qxc4 Qxf2 22. Qc3 Rb7 {Finally the R on a7 is going to make itself felt. Of course, black could also have captured the h-Pawn with impunity, but prefers to launch an attack.} 23. a3 {Missing a nice tactical stroke that would have offered him some chances. Nobody is going to blame him though because it's a surprising move and the consequences would be impossible to calculate over the board.} (23. Rgf1 Qxh2 24. Rxf7 Rxf7 25. Rd8+ Rf8 26. Rxf8+ Kxf8 27. Qf6+ Kg8 28. Qxe6+ Kg7 29. Qe7+ Kh6 30. Qf8+ Kg5 31. Qd8+ Kg4 32. Qc8+ Kf3 33. Qxb7+ Kxe3 {Technically black should win assuming he does not botch the Q+P ending!}) 23... Rfb8 {[%cal Rb7b2] Technically the immediate 23...Rxb2 would win, but black would have to play two Rs against tge Q.} (23... Rxb2 24. Rgf1 Qxf1 25. Rxf1 Rxh2 {etc.}) 24. b4 {Now black would be left with a routine but somewhat tedious win after capturing the h-Pawn.,} a5 25. Rg4 {[%mdl 8192] This loses.} (25. Rgf1 {equalizes!} Qxh2 {watch this...} 26. Rxf7 Kxf7 27. c6 Qh6 (27... Rb5 28. Rd7+ Kg8 29. Qg7#) 28. cxb7 Rxb7 29. Rd7+ Kg8 {And now white can actually play for a win! It's likely that only Stockfish would see it though!} 30. Kd2 Qf8 31. Ke2 axb4 32. Qc6 Rb6 33. Qh1 h5 34. Qe4 Qe8 35. Qd4 e5 36. Qd5+ Kf8 37. Rd8 {and wins}) 25... axb4 26. axb4 e5 27. Qxe5 Qa2 (27... Ra7 28. Qb2 Qxe3+ {would have been more precise.}) 28. Qc3 Ra8 {Here Gilden wrongly resigned!} (28... Qxh2 {This turns out to be less strong than it looks because after} 29. Rgd4 Re8 30. Rd8 Rb8 31. Qf6 {Despite his P minus white has equalized.}) (28... Qa8 {This odd looking move is the best. The idea is for the Q and R to trade places.} 29. Qb3 Ra7 30. Rgd4 Rf8 { Black should win, but because the ending is all heavy pieces white can continue playing.}) (28... Ra8 29. Rd7 {and black's advantage is minimal! For example...} Qxh2 30. Qf6 {Black's pieces are tied up defending his position.} Qh1+ 31. Rd1 {Any K move would lead to him getting mated.} Qh6 (31... Qh3 32. Rd8+ Rxd8 33. Qxd8+ Kg7 34. Qd4+ {draws}) 32. Rf4 Qg7 33. Qxg7+ Kxg7 34. Rd7 Rf8 35. c6 {with a likely draw.}) 0-1