The 1952 Italian Championship

     What a year 1952 was! In the US the average wage was $1.85 an hour, gas was 20 cents a gallon and hamburger and bacon cost 53 cents a pound. 

     The bad news was that 3,300 people died of polio in the US and 57,000 children were paralyzed. 

     Over in England, Elizabeth II became the Queen after the death of her father King George VI and on December 4th a thick smog in London caused 4,000 fatalities. Great Smog of London 

     There was also more bad news for England because 1952 was the year the Mau Mau Rebellion started in Kenya. 

     The chess world lost a number of players that year and the British were hit especially hard. Robert F. Combe (1912-1952), the 1946 British champion, died at the age of 39 in Aberdeen on February 12. William E. Napier (1881-1952), the British champion in 1904, died in Washington DC at the age of 71 on September 7th. On October 20th Philip W. Sergeant (1872-1952) died in England at the age of 80. 

     The French problem composer Henri Rinck (1870-1952) died in Barcelona. Jan Foltys (1908-1952) the 1942 Czech champion died in Moravska Ostrava, Czechoslovakia on March 11th. On June 18th Efim Bogoljubov died at the age of 63 in Triberg, Germany after giving a simultaneous exhibition. On July 16, Vasily Platov (1881-1952), an endgame study composer, died in Latvia.

     There was a revolution in Cuba. In March of 1952 Fulgencio Batista returned to power through a bloodless military coup that deposed Carlos Prio Socarras. Batista returned as a brutal dictator, controlling the university, the press, the Congress and he embezzled huge sums from the soaring economy. He was eventually deposed by Fidel Castro. 

     Earlier in the year there was an international tournament in Havana that was held in February-March, 1952. During the tournament, on March 14th, the Cuban champion Juan Quesada died of a heart attack. His funeral was attended by all the players in the tournament. 

     As a result of Batista'a coup, the Mexican players (Manuel Soto Larrea and Jose Joaquin Araiza Munoz) were recalled by their government. 

     In the midst of it all few took note of the Italian championship that was played in Ferrara. Three players tied for first place and reigned as joint champions; they were Vincenzo Castaldi, Alberto Giustolisi anf Federico Norcia. 

 

 

     Today's game is from the Italian Championship. Guido Matteucci (May 11, 1884 - December 2, 1957, 73 years old) lost to Giorgio Porreca (August 30, 1927 - January 5, 1988, 60 years old).

Porrecca

     Porreca was an IM. Born in Naples, he won the Italian Championship in 1950 and 1956 and he won the Italian correspondence championship seven times from 1957 to 1973. He played for Italy in three Olympiads: Dubrovnik 1950 (3rd board), Helsinki 1952 (1st board) and Amsterdam 1954 (2nd board) with the overall score of (+ 17 – 11 = 15). 

     Porreca wrote several books on chess history. He had a degree in Russian language and Russian literature and translated a number of Russian chess books into Italian. He founded and until his death directed the Italian chess magazine Scacco! He was also an expert in endgame studies and for many years edited the endgame study section of the magazine.

[Event "Italian Championship, Ferrare"] [Site "Ferrara ITA"] [Date "1952.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Guido Matteucci"] [Black "Giorgio Porreca"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C58"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "1952.03.15"] {Two Knights Defense} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 {First recorded by Polerio in the late 1500s this defense was extensively developed in the 1800s. The Two Knights is aggressive...black invites an attack on f7 and if white accepts the game quickly takes on a tactical character: The defense's theory was explored extensively in the game between Yakov Estrin and Hans Berliner in the 1965 World Correspondence Championship.} (3... Be7 {This is the Hungarian Defense which was recommended for amateurs by CJS Purdy because it leads to a quiet game that emphasizes strong defensive-positional play without tactical complications. On the downside black must be prepared to defend a cramped position.} 4. O-O (4. d4 d6 5. dxe5 dxe5 6. Nbd2 Nf6 7. c3 O-O {with equality.} ) 4... Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. Re1 d6 {with a solid position.}) 4. Ng5 {A controversial move. While it attacks f7 the claim is that it loses time which will eventually tell against white.} d5 (4... Bc5 {can lead to wild complications, but against correct play black has no compensation for the P plus his K remains in the center.} 5. Bxf7+ Ke7 6. Bb3 Rf8 7. d3 d6 8. Nf3 Qe8 9. Be3 Bg4 10. h3 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 Nd4 12. Qg3 Nh5 13. Qh4+ Kd7 14. Qg4+ {Bortnyk, O (2598)-Morozevich,A (2659) lichess.org INT 2020. White is better and went on to win.}) 5. exd5 Na5 {This is the standard move.} (5... b5 6. Bf1 Nd4 7. c3 Nxd5 8. Ne4 Qh4 9. Ng3 Bg4 10. f3 e4 11. cxd4 Bd6 12. Bxb5+ Kd8 13. O-O exf3 14. Rxf3 Rb8 {Yakov Estrin-Hans Berliner ICCF World CC 1965. Although white lost the game Stockfish thinks white is clearly better (2 Ps plus_.}) 6. d3 (6. Bb5+ {Black supposedly has compensation for the P after} c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 { but in practice white scores well after 8.Be2!}) 6... h6 7. Nf3 e4 8. Qe2 Nxc4 9. dxc4 Bc5 10. h3 O-O 11. Nh2 e3 {exposing the vulnerability of the g3 square. It's hard to go back and pinpoint exactly where white went wrong in giving black such a strong initiative. Perhaps 6.d3 was the culprit.} 12. Bxe3 Bxe3 13. fxe3 Ne4 {There is no way white can successfully avoid a N fork on g3.} 14. O-O Ng3 15. Qf2 (15. Qf3 Nxf1 16. Nxf1 Qh4 17. Nbd2 Bd7 18. Qg3 Qxg3 19. Nxg3 { is equal. Narmontas,R (2056)-Martinkus,R (2140) Lithuania 2015}) (15. Qd3 Nxf1 16. Nxf1 Qg5 17. e4 {and even though black is slightly better a draw was agreed to in Rakic,T-Ivkov, B Sombor 1957}) 15... Nxf1 16. Nxf1 Qg5 (16... b5 { Black maintains a slight advantage after this.} 17. Nc3 (17. b3 bxc4 18. bxc4 c6 19. dxc6 {black is winning.}) 17... bxc4 18. e4 {Black is better.}) 17. Qf3 (17. Nbd2 {equalizes.} b5 (17... Bxh3 18. Nf3 Qg6 19. Nh4 Qg5 20. Nf3 {draws}) 18. Nf3 Qf6 19. Nd4) 17... Bf5 {Now, with 18.Bc3 and 19.Re1 white has a nearly equal game. Instead, his next move is a tactical error.} 18. e4 {[%mdl 8192] A surprising move. Its point will soon become clear.} Bxe4 19. Qxe4 Rae8 20. Qd4 Re1 {Both Ns are pinned and the R is useless.} 21. Kf2 Rfe8 22. Ng3 Qc1 { White is practically in Zugzwang.} 23. Nd2 (23. Qc3 Qf4+ 24. Qf3 Qd4+ 25. Qe3 Qxe3#) 23... Qxa1 24. Nf5 R1e5 25. g4 Qe1+ {Not that it matters, but he missed a forced mate.} (25... Re2+ $142 26. Kg3 Qe1+ 27. Kf3 Qh1+ 28. Kg3 Qg2+ 29. Kh4 g5+ 30. Kh5 Qxh3+ 31. Nh4 Qxh4#) 26. Kf3 {White plays a couple of more moves out of inertia.} Qe2+ 27. Kg3 Re3+ 28. Nxe3 Rxe3+ {White resigned. Nearly flawless play by Porreca!} 0-1