O'Kelly Hammers Heidenfeld

     If you lived in Ireland in 1956, one headline making story was in February when pacifist, feminists and socialist Owen Sheehy-Skeffington, a university lecturer and member of the Irish Senate who was praised as a defender of civil liberty, Democracy, separation of Church and State, freedom of speech, women's rights and minority rights, introduced a motion calling for the prohibition of all corporal punishment for girls in Irish national schools. 

     Today the claim is that corporal punishment is the most widespread form of violence against children. It is defined as any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort. It is, it is claimed, a violation of children's rights, the respect for human dignity and physical integrity. Corporal punishment is a term my father never heard of. 

     In Ireland, starting in July, there was a polio epidemic. Polio, once the most feared of diseases, was terrifying because people didn’t understand why children were falling ill even if they had not been in contact with any other sufferers.

     In many communities certain groups of people, usually immigrants, were the scapegoats, but not always. In New York City in 1916 animals were suspected of spreading the disease and 8,000 dogs and 72,000 cats were killed. Many cities tried to quarantine themselves. Towns in Long Island and New Jersey sent out deputy sheriffs armed with shotguns to guard the roads and turn back cars containing children under the age of 16. 

     By the time of the Irish epidemic in 1956, knowledge about polio had increased, but it wasn’t widely shared. As a result, in August the Gaelic Athletic Association postponed the All-Ireland Hurling and Football Finals due to the outbreak. 

     At the end of November it was announced that gas rationing would be introduced because of the Suez Canal Crisis. In December, at the Olympic Games in Melbourne, Ronnie Delany won Ireland's first gold medal for 24 years. 

     On December 12th, the Irish Republican Army launched an attack in Northern Ireland with the bombing of a BBC relay transmitter, the burning of a courthouse, the burning of an Ulster Special Constabulary post and the blowing up of a half-built British Army barracks. And, a raid on a British Army barracks was repulsed after a brief exchange of fire. 

     Also in 1956, in mid-May, a small international chess tournament was held in Dublin. It was sponsored jointly by the Irish Chess Union and An Bord Failte. An Tostal, meaning The Pageant, was the name for a series of festivals held in Ireland that were inaugurated in 1953 as a celebration of Irish life and it continued on until 1958 when it died out in most cities. The original purpose of the festival was a celebration of Irish culture, with an emphasis upon drawing tourists into the country during the Easter off-season. It was marked by a series of regional parades, arts and sporting events. Many towns also began a clean-up plan. 

     Chess competitions were held as part of An Tostal by the Irish Chess Union from 1954 to 1957. The 1956 Dublin international tournament was the strongest tournament to date to have been played in Ireland. 

 

     The tournament was won by Albrec O'Kelly (May 17, 1911 - October 3, 1980, 69 years old) of Belgium who at the time was an IM; he was awarded the GM title in 1956 shortly after this tournament. As a youth, he took lessons from Akiba Rubinstein and won the Belgian championship thirteen times between 1937 and 1959. O'Kelly was also an International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster (1962) and the third ICCF World Correspondence Champion (1959–1962), chess writer and International Arbiter (1962). 

     His opponent, Wolfgamg Heidenfeld (May 29, 1911 - August 3, 1981, 70 years old), was born in Germany. He was Irish Champion in 1958, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1968 and 1972 and South African Champion in 1939, 1945-46 (jointly), 1947 (jointly), 1949, 1951, 1955, 1957 and 1959 (jointly).

[Event "Dublin"] [Site "Dublin"] [Date "1956.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Alberic O'Kelly"] [Black "Wolfgang Heidenfeld"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A52"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "1956.??.??"] {Budapest Gambit} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 {The Budapest Gambit made its debut in 1896, but it received attention from leading players only after Vidmar used it to defeat Rubinstein in 1918. After a brief rise in popularity in the early 1920s it faded from master practice. Back in my tournament playing days I used it occasionally, but with little success. Even if black gets the P back he does not have much to show for it. Recently I tried it a few times in online blitz games and nothing has changed!} 3. dxe5 Ng4 (3... Ne4 {This is the seldom played Fajarowicz Variation in which black aims for rapid development. This is the variation I usually play in blitz. Against the usual 3...Ng5 natural moves by white are pretty easy to find. Against the Fajarowicz this does not seem to be the case.} 4. a3 {Not a bad idea...it prevents the annoying ...Bb4+} b6 {This was my idea, but it was no great improvement.} (4... Qh4 {Caveman chess threatening ...Qxf7 mate} 5. g3 Qh5 6. Bg2 Qxe5 7. Qc2 Nf6 8. Nf3 Qh5 9. Nc3 {While black has been moving his N and Q white has establiched a huge lead in development.}) 5. Nf3 Bb7 6. Nbd2 Qe7 7. Nxe4 Bxe4 8. Qd4 {After this black eqalizes. Annoying (and good for the advantage) were either 8.Bf4 or 8.Bg5} Bxf3 9. gxf3 Nc6 10. Qd5 Qxe5 11. Qxe5+ Nxe5 { Anonymous-Tartajubow Instant Chess 2014}) 4. Bf4 (4. e4 d6 5. Be2 Nxe5 6. f4 Ng4 7. Nf3 Nc6 8. O-O Bd7 9. Nc3 Be7 10. h3 Nf6 11. e5 dxe5 12. fxe5 Ng8 13. Be3 f6 14. Bd3 fxe5 15. Ng5 Nf6 16. Rxf6 Bxf6 17. Qh5+ g6 18. Bxg6+ hxg6 19. Qxg6+ Ke7 20. Bc5# {Samuel Reshevsky-Arnold Denker Syracuse, 1934}) 4... Bb4+ ( 4... g5 {is more enterprising and actually gives black better results!} 5. Bg3 Bg7 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. h4 Ngxe5 8. hxg5 Nxf3+ 9. gxf3 Bxb2 10. Nd2 Qxg5 11. Bxc7 d6 {White is better, but black managed top draw in Shimanov,A (2633)-Durarbayli,V (2608) Merida MEX 2016}) 5. Nc3 Nc6 {Equally good was 5...Bxc3+} 6. Nf3 Qe7 7. Qd5 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 Qa3 {The Q ends up misplaced here and so he should have tried the immediate 8...f6, but white remains with the better position.} 9. Rc1 f6 10. exf6 Nxf6 11. Qd2 d6 12. Nd4 (12. g3 O-O 13. Bg2 Qc5 14. Nd4 Ne5 15. O-O Nxc4 16. Qd3 {White is better. Turov,M (2587) -Kristensen, K (2134) Tromso 2013 }) (12. Qc2 O-O 13. Rb1 a6 14. e3 Qc5 15. Bd3 Ne5 16. Bxe5 dxe5 17. Ng5 h6 18. Ne4 Nxe4 19. Bxe4 c6 20. Bh7+ {White is slightly better. Savic,D (2082) -Cetkovic,M (2195) Belgrade 2016}) 12... O-O 13. f3 {This white's best move here.} (13. Nb5 Qa5 14. Nxc7 Qxc7 15. Bxd6 {Black is slightly better after 15.. .Qf7. Kowalski,D (1600)-Jordake,M (1571) Erlensee 2007}) (13. e3 {This was played in the game that caused a surge in popularity for the Budapest.} Nxd4 14. cxd4 Ne4 15. Qc2 Qa5+ 16. Ke2 Rxf4 17. exf4 Bf5 18. Qb2 Re8 19. Kf3 Nd2+ 20. Kg3 Ne4+ 21. Kh4 Re6 22. Be2 Rh6+ 23. Bh5 Rxh5+ 24. Kxh5 Bg6+ {0-1 Rubinstein,A-Vidmar,M Berlin 1918}) 13... Ne5 14. e4 (14. Nb5 {is met by} Qa5 15. e4 Be6 16. Nd4 Nxc4 {black is slightly better.}) 14... Qc5 15. Nb3 Qc6 { [%cal Of6e4] White must now prevent ...Nxe4} 16. Bxe5 (16. a3 {...to demonstrate the threat.} Nxe4 17. fxe4 Qxe4+ 18. Be3 Ng4 19. Qd5+ Qxd5 20. cxd5 Nxe3) 16... dxe5 17. Qg5 Re8 18. Be2 h6 19. Qe3 b6 20. g4 {Aggressive play by O'Kelly, but also very dangerous. Fortunately for him Heidenfeld missed the best reply. Either 20.O-O or 20.c5 would have been better and in that case white would have stood a little better.} Be6 21. g5 {Also worth a try was 21. c5, but O'Kelly is going all out for a K-side attack.} hxg5 {This falls in with his opponent's plans. He could have maintained a slight edge with 21...Nh5 } (21... Nh5 22. gxh6 Nf4 {Threatening a nasty fork on g2} 23. Rg1 g6 24. Nd4 Qc5 {and black's position is preferrable.}) 22. Qxg5 Nh7 23. Qxe5 Bxc4 24. Bxc4+ {[%mdl 128]} Qxc4 25. Qd4 Qf7 {Black must keep the Qs on.} (25... Qxd4 { This leads to a lost position.} 26. cxd4 Ng5 27. Ke2 {White has a strategically won ending/}) 26. O-O Rad8 {[%mdl 1024]} 27. Qe3 Rd6 28. Rcd1 Rg6+ {After this logical looking check white gets the advantage.} (28... Rxd1 { keeps the chances equal.} 29. Rxd1 Nf8 30. Kf2 Ne6 31. Rg1 Qh5) 29. Kh1 { Now black should have played 29...c5 to prevent the N from going to d4 and then played ...Nf6 and he would still be in the game.} Ng5 {An ill fated idea!} 30. Rg1 Rf8 31. Nd4 Nxf3 {[%mdl 8192] This is a losing blunder!} (31... Ne6 { was his best chance after which his position, while poor, was at least defensible.} 32. Rxg6 Qxg6 33. Rg1 Qf7 34. Nf5 {White is better.}) 32. Rxg6 { [%cal Od4f5]} Nxd4 (32... Qxg6 33. Nxf3 {simply wins a piece.}) 33. Rxg7+ { [%mdl 512] A nice coup de grace.} Kxg7 34. Rg1+ Kh8 {Black resigned without waiting to get mated in 3 moves.} (34... Kh8 35. Qh6+ Qh7 36. Qxf8+ Qg8 37. Qxg8#) 1-0