A Case of Mistaken Identity

     A number of U.S. Presidents have played chess to some degree and in her biography of President Woodrow Wilson author Carol Dommermuth-Costa wrote that Wilson and his father shared many hours playing chess and billiards. 

     A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of Princeton University and as the governor of New Jersey before winning the 1912 presidential election. 

     Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924) was a politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. 

     As president, Wilson changed the nation's economic policies and starting in 1917 he led the United States during World War I. He was the leading architect of the League of Nations and his progressive stance on foreign policy came to be known as Wilsonianism. 

     In the presidential election of 1916 he was re-elected when he defeated Charles Evan Hughes. What is generally not known, or at least almost never mentioned, is Wilson's racism. See the Vox article HERE. 

     The other day I came across a game printed in Chess Life, January 5, 1953, that was, it said, played in 1898 by Wilson against Salomon Langleben in Buffalo, New York. At the time, Wilson was a Princeton University professor and Langleben was the champion of Buffalo. The article gave no information as to the circumstances under which the game was played nor why Wilson was in Buffalo.

     Salomon Langleben (1862 - February 8, 1939) was a Polish master who for many years lived in the United States. At the end of the 1800s he returned to Poland and in the mid-1900s had modest success in a number tournaments. 

     The problem is, the game was not played by Woodrow Wilson, the future president. It was played by W.S. Wilson of the Manhattan Chess Club and Langleben was a member of the Buffalo Chess Club. 

     There was a lot of chess activity in Buffalo in 1893 and 1894, but the event was not specified. The game was originally published in the February 13, 1893 edition of the Buffalo Express. You can view the clipping HERE. 

     The game was not especially well played. Just as a matter of curiosity, in ChessBase's "Centipawn Loss" analysis using the more human-like Komodo 14 engine white's play scored 0.88 which puts it in the 1200-1800 Elo range. Black's play scored 0.39 putting it in the 1800-2200 Elo range. 

 

[Event "Buffalo, New York"] [Site "?"] [Date "1893.02.??"] [Round "?"] [White "W. S. Wilson"] [Black "Salomon A. Langleben"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D06"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "90"] [EventDate "1893.??.??"] {Queen's Gambit Declined, Baltic Defense} 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Bf5 {The Baltic Defense is an unusual variation that takes a radical approach to the problem black typically has in developing his light squared B.} 3. e3 Nf6 4. c4 e6 5. Nc3 (5. Qb3 {This attempt at taking advantage of the weakness of the b-Pawn does not lead to any advantage.} Nc6 {A more passive approach is to defend the P with 5...Qc8} 6. a3 (6. Qxb7 {This is a serious error because there is no good answer to} Nb4) 6... a6 7. Bd2 Rb8 8. Bc3 Be7 9. Be2 dxc4 {and black has equalized.}) 5... Nc6 {Apparently black intends at some point to play ...e5. While not bad, this move does not seem terribly effective. Probably he should have tried 5...c6} 6. a3 a6 7. b4 dxc4 {Normally black would delay this exchange until after white has moved his B, but here it's part of the planned . ..e5} 8. Bxc4 {[%mdl 32]} b5 {This is positionally wrong as he is left with a backward P on an.open file.} (8... Bd6 {is correct as it supports the advance of the e-Pawn.} 9. Bb2 O-O {The immediate advance of the e-Pawn was also playable.} 10. b5 {As will be seen, this prevents ...e5, but 10.O-O e5 results in no more than equality.} Na5 11. Be2 axb5 12. Nxb5 Be7 {As a result of white's 10th move black can no longer play ...e5. Eingorn,V (2587)-Miladinovic, I (2604) Lille FRA 2005 was eventually drawn.}) 9. Be2 Bd6 {Still playing for . ..e5, but white now seizes the initiative.} 10. Nh4 Bg6 11. Bf3 Qd7 12. e4 { The puerile threat of e5 is ineffective because black now gets in the aimed for thrust of his e-Pawn.} (12. Nxg6 hxg6 13. Qc2 {maintains a positional Advantage.}) 12... e5 13. d5 Nd4 14. Nxg6 Nxf3+ 15. Qxf3 fxg6 16. Bb2 O-O 17. O-O {A simple tactical mistake that alows black to secure the advantage. He had to remove the Q from the range of the R by playing it to either e2 or d3.} Nxd5 {[%mdl 512]} 18. Qg3 Nf4 19. Rad1 (19. Rac1 {Intending to pile up on the c-Pawn is worse.} a5 20. Rc2 axb4 21. axb4 Qc6 22. Qf3 Bxb4 23. Rfc1 Qc4 24. Nd5 Nxd5 25. Rxc4 Rxf3 26. gxf3 bxc4 27. exd5 Bd6 28. Rxc4 Ra5 {black is winning.}) 19... Qe7 20. Rd2 c6 {Prevents Nd5.} 21. Rfd1 Rad8 22. f3 {[%mdl 8192]} (22. Ne2 {was better.} Nxe2+ 23. Rxe2 {and white still has hopes of defending his position.}) 22... Bc7 23. Qf2 (23. Rxd8 Rxd8 24. Rxd8+ Qxd8 25. Qe1 Bb6+ 26. Kh1 Nd3 {cannot be met}) 23... Qg5 24. Kh1 Rxd2 $19 25. Rxd2 Rb8 { The purpose of this move is clear after his next move, but just as good was 25. ..Rd8} 26. Rd7 Bb6 27. Qd2 Be3 {[%mdl 512]} 28. Qc2 {Black has established a position where there's not much white can do except wait. Black should not continue his attack by advancing his h-Pawn. Instead, he makes a mistake that allows white not only to defend himself, but actually gain the advantage.} Nh3 29. Nd1 Bb6 30. Qxc6 {Grabbing this P is quite natural, but wrong!} (30. g3 { Secures the advantage.} Rf8 31. Qxc6 {and it's white who is better because black cannot play} Rxf3 32. Qd5+ Kf8 33. Qa8+ Bd8 34. Rxd8+ {and white is winning.} Ke7 (34... Kf7 35. Qd5+ Ke7 36. Qd6+ {mate next move}) 35. Re8+ Kf7 36. Rf8+ Ke7 37. Qd8+ Ke6 38. Re8+ Kf7 39. Qd7+ {mte next move}) 30... Nf4 31. Qc2 h6 {White has equal chances here but his best defensive is to sit tight with 32.Qd2.} 32. Bc1 {[%mdl 8192] Pinning the N looks logical, but it actually loses the game.} Qh4 {Threatening mate} 33. Qd2 {Threatening ...Rxc1 because of the mate threat on f1} Rc8 {[%mdl 32] And now ...Rxc1! would win.} 34. Ne3 Bxe3 {While this doesn't lose the advantage, 34...Bd4 was crushing.} ( 34... Bd4 35. Bb2 (35. g3 Qh5 36. gxf4 Qxf3+ 37. Kg1 Rxc1+ 38. Qxc1 Bxe3+) 35... Bxb2 36. Rxg7+ Kxg7 37. Qd7+ Kf6 38. Qd6+ Kf7 39. Qd7+ Qe7 {Black has avoided the perpetual check and comes out material ahead.}) 35. Qxe3 $17 Rc2 { [%mdl 128] While occupation of the 2nd rank is leaves white in a real bind, it's not fatal to him.} 36. Bd2 Rb2 37. g3 {[%mdl 8192]} (37. Qg1 Ne2 38. Qd1 Qf2 $19 39. Qe1 Qxe1+ 40. Bxe1 Rb1) (37. Be1 {This allows white to put up a hardy defense.} Qf6 38. Qc1 Rxg2 39. Qc8+ Kh7 40. Rd8 g5 41. Rf8 Re2 42. Bg3 Qe6 43. Rh8+ Kg6 44. Qxe6+ Nxe6 45. Bxe5 {and if he's lucky, white may be able to draw.}) 37... Rb1+ 38. Bc1 Qh3 {Threatening mate} 39. Rxg7+ (39. Rd8+ Kh7 40. gxf4 (40. Qg1 Rxc1 41. Qxc1 Qg2#) 40... Qf1+ 41. Qg1 Qxf3+ 42. Qg2 Rxc1+ 43. Rd1 Rxd1#) 39... Kxg7 {[%mdl 32]} 40. Qa7+ Kf6 41. Qb6+ Ne6 42. Qg1 Rb3 43. Qd1 Nd4 44. f4 Rxg3 45. fxe5+ Kxe5 {White resigned...it's mate in 6} (45... Kxe5 46. Bf4+ Kxf4 47. Qc1+ Re3 48. Qc7+ Kf3 49. Qg3+ Qxg3 50. hxg3 Kxg3 { mate next move.}) 0-1