The white dress offered a sculpted bodice, a tight waist and an unusually short skirt and...silk lace panties that were very much in evidence when she raced across the court or leaped high.
Wimbledon officials complained that she was “bringing vulgarity and sin into tennis," but the public and the press loved it. She was besieged with requests for personal appearances at everything from hospitals to beauty contests. Even the Marx Brothers who were in London at the time invited her to join their act. A racehorse, an aircraft and a restaurant’s special sauce were named after her.
If you lived in the Los Angeles area on January 11, 1949, when you woke up you got the shock of your life. During the middle of the night more than half an inch of sow had fallen. Snow accumulation in that area is rare; since 1930, there are only 7 recorded times snow has accumulated.
In 1949 the entire San Fernando Valley was pelted with snow for three days and it ended up being a foot deep in some areas.
It created havoc. Many motorists suffered frozen radiators and some were trapped in their cars in Laurel Canyon, a mountainous neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills region.
Three hundred miles to the north in the village of Castroville the engine of crooner Bing Crosby's green Cadillac froze and he had to hitch a ride into town.
In 1949 there was an international tournament in Heidelberg, West Germany that was almost unnoticed.
Today's game from that tournament features what was at the time an exciting theoretical duel involving the Botvinnik variation of the Semi-Slav, one of the most complicated of all openings. Theory goes over thirty moves in some variations.
Botvinnik introduced it in his game against Arnold Denker in the 1945 USSR vs. USA radio match, but it was actually Germany's Klaus Junge who is credited with being the actual inventor.
B.H. Wood–Paul Schmidt0–1Heidelberg1949Stockfish 15
Semi-Slav: Botvinnik System 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.f3 f6 4.c3 e6 At the
time this was an unusual move as black normally played 4...Bf5 to get his B
into play. 5.g5 At the time this move was also debatable because black can
play 5...h6 forcing the exchange of the B for the N. Today 5.e3 is much more
popular, but there is little difference in the results. dxc4 This move, the
Botvinnjik Variatuion, also enables black to hold the gambit P, but only at
the cost of a disorganization of his K-side.It is one of the most complicated
of all openings, with theory reaching over 30 moves in some variations.
Botvinnik introduced it in his game against Denker in the 1945 USSR vs. USA
radio match. Historically, German master Klaus Junge is credited as the actual
inventor. The capture 4...dxc4 allows white to take control of the center with
6. e4 when black defends the extra P with ...b5. 6.e4 White gets good
possibilities on the K-side and in the center with this move, but at the time
of this game most masters viewed the whole line with suspicion based on some
games played in 1946. b5 This is almost always played. If black does not
play this move white would be able to establish a strong center unchallenged. 6...h6 is the only other real option. 7.h4 g5 8.g3 b5 7.e5 h6 8.h4 8.xf6 gxf6 9.a4 b7 9...a6 10.axb5 cxb5 11.xb5 white is winning. 10.axb5 cxb5 11.xb5 fxe5 12.xe5 c6 13.xc4 b4+ is better for black. 8...g5 This save the piece, but white has some tactical resources. 9.xg5
With this move temporary piece sacrifice white destroys black's K-side, but
gives him open lines. hxg5 10.xg5 bd7 11.exf6 This is the move with
which Denker lost to Botvinnik. The best move is 11.g3 which provides shelter
for white's K. 11.g3 b7 12.exf6 c5 13.d5 b6 14.g2 and white stands
very well. 11...xf6 Schmidt had evidently had prepared opening analysis. 11...h6 did not work out well for black. 12.xh6 xh6 13.g3 b7 14.g2 c7 15.d2 xf6 16.a4 0-0-0 17.0-0 c5 18.axb5 b3 19.e2 xd4 20.xc4 b8 21.c5 cxb5 22.xa7+ c8 23.xb7+ xb7 24.a8+ c7 25.xb5+ 1-0 (25)
Jussupow,A (2555)-Kuijf,M (2370) Amsterdam 1982 11...b7 was Botvinnik's
move which is the correct one. 12.e2 b6 13.0-0 0-0-0 14.a4 b4 15.e4 c5 16.b1 c7 17.g3 cxd4 18.xc4 c6 19.f3 d3 20.c1 c5+ 21.h1 d6 22.f4 xh2+ 23.xh2 h8+ 24.h4 xh4+ 25.xh4 f4 0-1
Denker-Botvinnik USA vs USSR Radio Match 1945 12.f3 The double attack on
the N and P on c3 forces black to surrender material, but in doing so black is
able to develop while white is not...a dangerous situation for white! 12.g3 keeps the advantage. b4 13.e4 e7 14.xf6+ xf6 15.xf6 xf6 16.g2
and white is better. 12...e7 This position is equal and white can
continue with just about any reasonable move: 13.g3, 13.Be2, 13.h4, etc. 13.xb5 But this is not one of them. Superfieially this looks promising for
white because he either wins a P or the exchange and prevents black from
castling. It would have been netter to tend to his own development as
mentioned in the previous note. cxb5 With thi move black fails to take
advantage of white's last move. 13...b8 14.c3 xb2 15.d1 a5 and
black has plenty of play. 14.xa8 b4+ This position is technically equal,
it's here that white's troubles begin because he moves his K to an exposed
square and he is unable to develop his K-side pieces. Either 15.Bd2 or even 15.
Kd1 were satisfactory. 15.e2 For some reason, at the time
annotators thought this was the only move at white's disposal...no doubt they
were guilty of annotating based on the result. 15.d2 xd2+ 16.xd2 xd4+ 17.e1 0-0 18.f3 xb2 19.g3+ h7 20.h4+ draws 15.d1 xd4+ 16.c1 0-0 17.e3 d6 18.f3 e5 19.g3+ g4 20.c2 and with careful play white
can keep the chances even. 15...0-0 Black castling is surprising because
he has no P wall behind which his K can hide, white has no way of attacking
because his pieces are not in a position to do so. 16.d1 White has to try
to hold his d-Pawn and this is the only way to do it. 16.xa7 d5 17.e3 b7± 18.a3 a8 19.b6 e4 black is winning. 20.d1 c3 21.c1 cxb2+ 22.xb2 c3+ 23.xc3 d5+ 16.xf6 xf6 17.e4 e5 18.dxe5 e8 19.exf6 xe4+ 20.f3 b7 21.g3 d6+ 22.f4 xf4 23.e2 xf6+ black is winning. 16...e5 Threatening to win the Q with ...Bg4+ and leaving white little choice of
replies. 17.c6 At last white appears to have gained a breathing space by
threatening the N and the b-Pawn simultaneously. 17.xa7 exd4 18.xd4 e8+ Materially speaking white has a R+2 Ps vs a N, but a B and a R are useless
against black's active pieces and so here black is winning. 17...exd4
However, the exposed state of the white K enables black to embark on a winning
sacrificial attack. 18.xf6 18.xf6 won't do either. d3+ 19.e3 e8+ 20.f3 b7 21.xb7 21.xd8 xc6+ 22.g3 wins xd8 21...xf6+ 22.g4 g6+ 23.h3 h6+ 24.g3 d6+ mates in 5 moves at most. 18...e8+ 19.f3 e7
Annotators of the day said that this enables black to recover his piece, but
only by accepting some exchanges which makes his attack more difficult to
bring to a decisive conclusion. It is, in fact, a blunder that throws away all
of his advantage. 19...d5+ is the only move that keeps the advantage. 20.g3 e7 should prove decisive, but the game is far from over and black must
play precisely (i.e. find the only move at every turn!) or white will gain the
advantage. 21.xd4 c5 and black loses material. 21...xg5+ is bad. 22.xg5+ xg5 23.d5 d8 24.xb5 c7+ 25.f4 White is better. 22.e3 xf6 23.g4+ xg4 24.xc5 d7 25.h4 25.xa7 a8 26.e3 xa2 wins rather
easily. 25...xb2 26.xa7 a8 27.c5 xa2 28.h5 Material is equal, but
white's h-Pawn poses no real threat. The same cannot be said of black's b- and
c-Pawns. 20.xd4 White plans to reach an ending in which he will be a P
ahead, but it will not be enough to give him any advantage. Equally good was
20.Qxd4 xf6 21.xd8 xd8 22.e3 Giving black the advantage. 22.xd8 and White is OK. xd8 23.e2 d2 24.a4 a6 25.axb5 axb5 is equal.
22...b7+ White's K is caught in a crossfire of black's pieces. 23.g3 c7+ 24.h3 24.g4 e4+ 25.f5 e6 26.xa7 c8 is fatal. 24...f5
Black is thinking of a mating attack of a mating attack. 25.xa7 f7 26.d4 g6 The idea is ...Re7-h7 27.f4 White is curiously helpless. He finally
gets his K-side pieces into play, but too late to prevent black's decisive
attack. xf4 28.g3 e3 White resigned. A fine attacking game by Schmidt,
but he received considerable assistance from Wood! 28...e3 29.g2 29.xe3 h8+ 30.h6 xh6# 29...xg2+ 30.xg2 xd4 wins easily. 0–1
No comments:
Post a Comment