Also, due to shortages America saw it's first rationing. An article in the August 5, 1943 edition of the the Brooklyn Daily Eagle stated that while there was plenty of meat around, local butches were complaining that they weren't getting any of it. It seems meat packers were selling their meat locally and all the meat being shipped into New York City was going to Federal government sources. Hotels in the city were also experiencing shortages of beer and liquor and they were afraid that meat shortages would be a "death blow" to the hotel business.
Concerning Soviet chess, beginning in the 1920s all areas of Soviet culture began coming under control of the government, including chess.
In 1932, not only artists and writers were brought under government control, but chess also.
For chess, it started with Alexander Ilyin-Zhenevsky in 1920 and Nikolai Krylenko in 1924. Under Stalin chess continued to be a major part of the cultural struggle and in 1930 a resolution by the All-Union Chess Section of the Supreme Council for Physical Culture proclaimed that there was a necessity for “the saturation of all chess activity with political content.” What that meant was that chess for just the fun of it was not allowed.
Problemists were advised that bourgeois themes should be avoided in favor of revolutionary themes. In other words, compositions were required to have a close relationship to practical play and they were not to be fanciful.
Consequently, one-, two- and three-move problems were out because they tended to be fanciful. Problems like helpmates, self-mates and fairy chess were also officially disgraced. Their construction was classified as formalism. Instead, long, complicated problems that required multiple variations were in favor.
In 1936 Shakhmaty v SSSR ran an article co-authored by Botvinnik in which it was argued that compositions weren't all that important and were useful only if they helped to develop practical play. That is, chess problems of a fanciful nature were useless and so their existence could not be justified.
We might snicker at such decrees today, but defying them cost Mikhail Barulin (1897-1943) his life! He was the editor of the problem section of the Soviet magazine "64" from 1935 to 1941 and of "Shakhmatny v SSSR" from 1938 to 1941. He is considered as one of the creators of the modern two mover.
In 1943, Mikhail Barulin died in a Russian prison. In November, 1941, Barulin was arrested when he refused to sign a confession or denounce other chess problemists. He had written that compositions should be an art in themselves and not dependent upon practical play.
Botvinnik adhered to the official government line. He wrote, "If comrade Barulin thinks that his problem activity is absolutely autonomous and self-sufficing that's bad not for the mass chess movement and not for composition which will develop jointly with actual play; so much the worse for comrade Barulin and for similar composers, who are good for nothing. Theory of art for art's sake is resolutely condemned in the USSR, and our composers are well aware of it."
Now, on to the subject at hand. In 1943, Reuben Fine wrote, "There is no doubt that we will hear a lot more from Bastrikov in the future."
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| Bastrikov |
He was referring to Georgy V. Bastrikov (1914-1979) who is, as it turned out, pretty much an unknown figure these days.
Bastrikov was known for his good humor, witty conversation and happy disposition. He was a good organizer and for many years served as coach for Russian junior players and was recognized as one of the best trainers in the country. He was recognized for his wide range of creative and original ideas in the opening and at the board he was an uncompromising fighter.
The following game is a good illustration of Bastrikov's original opening play and vigorous attacking style. His attack seems to start slowly, but he quickly overwhelms his opponent.
Georgy Bastrikov–Isakas Vistaneckis1–0B17Sverdlovsk National TournamentSverdlovsk URS22.03.1942Stockfish 15
Caro-Kann 1.e4 c6 2.c3 d5 3.d4 dxe4 4.xe4 d7 Black selects a rather
passive line, but the alternatives 4...Bf5 and 4...Nf5 do not produce any
better results. 5.f3 gf6 6.g3 e6 7.c4 An unusual square for the B;
usual is 7.Bd3 because white's natural plan is an attack against black's K and
on d3 the B aims at h7. However, as the game proceeds Bastrikov's plan becomes
clear. e7 8.e2 8.0-0 c7 9.e2 c5 10.d5 f8 11.b5+ d7 12.dxe6 xe6 13.f5 White has some advantage. Khachian,M (2462)-Moussa,A (2236) Burbank
2005) 8...c5 8...b5 is a more solid reply. 9.b3 b7 10.0-0 0-0 11.e5 c7 9.0-0 0-0 10.dxc5 10.e5 b6 11.dxc5 xc5 12.d3 c7 13.h5 bd5 14.c4 xh5 15.xh5 f6 16.e2 d6 17.f4 b6 18.g3 b7 19.ad1
and a draw was agreed. Gabrilavicius,A-Alekberovas,A (2076) Panevezys 2007 10...xc5 11.f4 This is why white played 7.Bc4. Had he placed the B on d3
he would now have to lose a tempo to avoid black from exchanging it with ...
Nxd3. At this point white has two main options. He can head for the endgame
where he has the advantage of the Q-side P-majority or he can avoid exchanges
and build up a K-side attack. Bastrikov prefers the latter. b6 12.c3 12.f5 12.a4 0.68 This might look alluring, but after exf5 13.xe7 e6
is quite equal. 12...d7 13.ad1 fd8 14.d4 A good square for the N. ac8 15.fe1 a5 This secures the position of the N by guarding against b4.
Reuben Fine suggested 15. ..a6 hoping to build up Q-side counterplay, but he
gave no analysis and that move seems inadequate. 15...a6 15...
Be8 16.g5 d5 17.f3 xg5 18.xg5 h6 18...f6 19.xf7 The square e6 is comes under heavy attack. xf7 20.b4 b5 21.xd8 xd8 22.bxc5 xc4 23.xc4 c8 24.b4 24.cxb6 24.Qb4 xc4 Black is slightly better due to his more active pieces. 24...xb4 25.cxb4 white has a smidgen of an advantage. 19.xf7 xf7 20.b4 b5 21.f3+ g8 22.xd5 xd5 23.xd5 exd5 White is slightly better. Threatening a nasty
fork on e7. 24.f5 24.bxc5 Black equalizes after xc5 25.h3 25.e3 d4 wins 25...xc3 26.xd5+ 24...c7 25.xd5+ h7 26.e7 Threatening
mate, so... xe7 27.xe7 27.f5+ g6 28.xg6+ xg6 29.xe7 27...g6
Also threatening mate. 28.d2 c6 Threatening mate. 29.f3 e6 With a difficult position, but one that offers equal chances. 16.h4 White's attack begins. e8 17.g5 c7 White is better,
but the position is a maze of complications! 18.gf5 f8
This is the best defense. 18...ce4 19.xe6 fxe6 20.xe6
and black is lost even after his best continuation. h5 21.f1 xd1 22.xc7 xe1 23.xe7+ h8 24.xe1 xc7 25.f5 h6 26.xf6 xf6 27.d4 18...exf5 leaves white better after 19.xe7 xe7 20.xe7 fe4 19.h6+ h8 19...gxh6 19...Kh8 0.68 is obviously bad. 20.xf6
and there is no good defense against Qg4+ 20.f3 An intriguing position
assuming black finds the correct move. Against Nce4 cd7 Which
he does not. 20...ce4 is best. 21.d3 xg5 22.hxg5 g8! 23.g4
Black must now prevent Bxh7 g6 Obviously white has the
advantage here, but black seems to have sufficient defensive resources. In
Shootouts from this position white only scored one win and four games were
drawn. 21.xe6 fxe6 22.xe6 e5 22...c6 Trading Qs would
not have helped. After 23.xc6 bxc6 24.xf6 gxf6 25.xd8 xd8 26.xd7 xd7 26...xd7 26...Rxd7 27.f7+ g8 28.xd8 27.xe8 g7 28.f5+ white is winning. 23.f4 xd1 24.xd1 e7 25.xe5 Best. 25.xf8 25.Qxe5 h5 26.xf6 xf6 27.xf6 gxf6 28.g4 xg4 and black has a lot of play and so has equalized. 25...d7 26.xf8
xf8 27.d6 Black exceeded the time limit, but his position was
lost anyway. 27.d6 e8 This results in a forced mate. 28.xf6 28.xf6 This is pretty, but not nearly as good. gxf6 29.xf6+ xf6 30.xf6
with a won ending. 28...xf6 29.xf6 e6 30.d4 a4 31.f6 g8 32.h5 a3 33.xg7+ xg7 34.f5 xf5 35.h6 axb2 36.xg7# 27.d6 c6 This is his
best defense, but the ending is still lost. The best line of play is... 28.xc6 xc6 29.xf6 gxf6 30.f4 e4 31.g4 White has a won ending. 1–0
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