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  • Tuesday, April 5, 2022

    Andrzej Pytlakowski, A Polish Master

        Polish master Andrzej Pytlakowski (July 2, 1919 - November 15, 2010) was a student Stefan Batory Gymnasium and Lyceum in Warsaw. Starting in 1937 he studied at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Warsaw University of Technology. 
         In 1938 Pytlakowski joined Bratnia Pomoc (Brotherly Help), a popular Polish students’ mutual aid organization. Starting in the 1930s, most branches were dominated by the nationalist Academic Union All Polish Youth. During the Second World War, under the Nazi German occupation, Bratniak branches functioned at the illegal, underground Polish universities. 
         Bratnia Pomoc existed until the early 1950s when it was first politicized and subsequently dissolved and replaced by the communist Zrzeszenie Studentow Polskich (Association of Polish Students). Bratnia Pomoc in its traditional, non-communist form was recreated after 1989. 
         In September of 1939 Pytlakowski managed to get to Lviv where he briefly studied at the Polytechnic before going to work in a radio plant. In 1942 he returned to Warsaw and worked at the State Radio and Telecommunication Works.
         In 1943, with the war in full swing and Germany occupying Poland, he became a partisan Gwardia Ludowa (People's Guard) and used the pseudonym "Adam". Gwardia Ludowa was a communist underground armed organization created by the communist Polish Workers' Party in German occupied Poland, with sponsorship from the Soviet Union. 
         Formed in early 1942, it quickly became the largest clandestine fighting force in Poland which refused to join the Polish Underground State loyal to the London-based government-in-exile. In January of 1944 the organization was incorporated into the communist Armia Ludowa (People's Army). 
         Gwardia Ludowa was connected to the NKVD intelligence services of the Soviet Union with NKVD colonels commanding. It was tasked with fighting against Germany by means of partisan warfare, sabotage, and reprisal actions. In August 1944, Pytlakowski left Warsaw and worked as a teacher in the village of Polany, a small village in southern Poland. 
         At the beginning of 1945 Pytlakowski became Civil service officer of the Ministry of Public Security in Poland where he was the head of the section in Municipal Office of Public Security in Radom, a city in east-central Poland. Later be was appointed deputy head of Faculty IV of Department I Ministry of Public Security; he left the service at his own request in October 1945 as a captain.
         After the war Pytlakowski continued his studies in Lodz and after graduating, in 1947 he joined the Polish People's Army. The communist-led Polish armed forces were permitted and aided by Joseph Stalin. In the following years he worked as a chess journalist and in for Institute of Mathematical Machines, a research institute in Warsaw. 
         Pytlakowski started playing in tournaments before World War II, including starting in 1938 in the championship of the Warsaw Society of Chess Game Supporters. 
         In late 1943 and early 1944 he won the underground championship in Warsaw. In 1946 he finished second in the city of Lodz championship. Between 1946 and 1956 he participated in the Polish Championship finals six times. His best result was in 1955 when he finished third. 
         After the communist authorities liquidated sports associations, including the Polish Chess Federation, in 1951 Pytlakowski became vice president of the Chess Section Main Committee of Physical Culture for training. 
         In the 1950s he competed in international tournaments and in 1952 he was a member of the Polish team in the Olympiad in Helsinki. The Polish team consisted of Tarnowski, Pytlakowski, Plater, Sliwa, Litmanowicz and Gruenfeld. 
         For political reasons Pytlakowski was chosen to play on second board, a position well above his real strength, and as a result he scored a miserable +0 -6 =1. 
         In 1955, in Lodz, he played in a match against USSR and scored 1-1 against Semyon Furman. In the years 1951–1957 he won the Polish Armed Forces Championship five times. 
         Pytlakowski also worked as chess journalism with columns in the Polish chess magazine Szachy as well as other other magazines. 
         Besides chess, for over 50 years Pytlakowski was a mountaineer and participated in many expeditions in Himalayas and Hindu Kush. For his achievements in that area he was awarded an Honorary Membership in the Capital Tatra Club in Warsaw. 
         He died at the age of 91 on November 15, 2010 and was buried in Powazki Cemetery in Warsaw. 
         The following game, played in the 1951 Marianske Lazne-Praha, 1951 Zonal has a very pretty problem-lke finish. 
         The tournament was won by Ludek Pachman with the impressive undefeated score of 13-3. Together with Szabo, Barcza and Stoltz he qualified for the following year's Interzonal at Stockholm. 
         Jan Foltys and Pal Benko were tied for the final qualification spot at Stockholm. Foltys had the better tie breaks, but there was a possibility of a play-off match taking place. However, it appears that the idea was discarded and Foltys was awarded the spot. Unfortunately, he died of leukemia on March 11, 1952 before the Interzonal started. 
          Benko was next in line, but he could not play because he was otherwise occupied; he was in prison for trying to defect to the West. 
         Gideon Stahlberg ended up getting the place vacated by first Foltys then Benko. Pytlakowski's opponent was the enigmatic Romanian IM Ion Balanel. He was born in Bucharest on June 7, 1926 and was Romanian Champion in 1950, 1953, 1955 and 1958. He twice qualified for the Zonal tournaments: 1951 in MarianskeLazne and Prague, 1954. 
         For unknown reason he was In 1958 he was excommunicated from his club, Dinamo, and committed to a lunatic asylum by the Communist regime in 1958 and virtually disappeared.
         A Romanian site I visited stated that he retired prematurely because of health reasons and died under unexplained conditions, but no date was given. The same site had a pencil sketch of WIM Rodica Reicher that was claimed to have been drawn by Balanel in 1961.
    A game that I liked (Komodo 14)
    Ion BalanelAndrzej Pytlakowski0–1E32Marianske Lazne / Prague ZonalMarianske Lazne CSR08.1951Stockfish 14.1
    Nimzo-Indian 1.d4 f6 2.c4 e6 3.c3 b4 4.c2 0-0 5.e3 c5 6.dxc5 6.a3 is the alternative. xc3+ 7.bxc3 b6 8.f3 a6 9.d3 c6 10.e4 Mamedjarova,T (2267)-Safarli,E (2680) Sharjah UAE 2017 6...a6 7.ge2 xc5 7...xc5 8.a3 b6 9.b4 e7 10.b2 b7 11.d1 c8 12.f4 Maghsoodloo,P (2584)-Ganguly,S (2668) Doha QAT 2016 8.a3 xc3+ 9.xc3 b4 is the strong threat. d5 9...a5 preventing b4 is a viable alternative. 10.e4 d5 11.exd5 exd5 with a fully equal position. 10.b4 cd7 11.cxd5 exd5 12.b2 b6 13.d1 e7 14.e2 e6 15.0-0 ac8 16.b1 c4 17.b5 a6 18.d4 b5 19.b3 White has little play against the isolated d-Pawn whereas black has some prospects of a successful K-side attack. e4 Intending ...Qg5. 20.a1 Threats against g7 are not going to amount to much and this move gives black excellent prospects on the K-side. 20.f3 Either eliminating or driving back the N would maintain equality. g5 20...ed6 21.xc4 xc4 with equal chances. 21.fxe4 xe3+ 22.f2 xb3 23.exd5 xb2 24.dxe6 xb1 25.exf7+ xf7 26.xb1 xf2 27.xf2 xa3 28.a1 c2 29.xa6 with a draw. 20...g5 Black is more active. And, this move sets up an incredible finish. 21.d4 A fatal error. 21.h1 was absolutely essential. Black would still be better, but there is no forced win. fe8 22.xc4 dxc4 23.d2 f5 Black is better. 21...h3 There is no satisfactory answer to this. 22.f3 22.g3 h5 Even better than taking the R. 23.c5 23.fe1 h4 24.f3 f5 25.xe4 xe4 26.f3 c2 wraps it up. 23...h4 24.xe4 dxe4 25.fe1 hxg3 26.hxg3 c6 followed by ...Rg6 with a winning attack. 22...c6 The R joins in on the attack. 23.h1 g6 24.gxh3 This allows black a really nice finish. 24.g3 f5 25.xe4 dxe4 26.f4 exf3 27.f2 g2+ 28.xg2 28.g1 h3 wins 28...fxg2+ 29.xg2 c2+ 30.h1 h6 31.h4 f5 32.g2 g4 33.f1 xh4 Black is clearly winning. 24...g1+ Surprise! White resigned. A nearly flawless game by Pytlakowski. 24...g1+ 25.xg1 xf2# 0–1

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