Apostle of Aggression

     That's how Chess Review described Weaver Adams after his victory in the 1948 U.S. Open that was held in Baltimore, Maryland. 

     The US Open of 1948 started the day before my third birthday, but I was unaware of it. Some other events in July that I was unaware of were Idlewild International Airport (today John F. Kennedy) opened in Queens, New York and pinball machines and other gaming devices were banned in New York City. The Berlin Airlift was taking place and, for reasons that I cannot begin to explain, The Woody Woodpecker Song by Kay Kyser and His Orchestra topped the Billboard singles charts.

     Only once before had the 47-year old Weaver Adams scored a major success and that was in 1945 when he won first prize at Ventnor City in New Jersey.

    In this US Open, Adams showed his aggressive nature when, after a second round loss and a third round draw, he was far off the pace, but came from behind to take first prize when he fought off a determined challenge by Olaf Ulvestad in the last round. 

     Max Pavey was the hard luck player; he missed possible wins against Adams (they drew) and Ulvestad (he lost) and had at least a draw against Kashdan (also a loss). That's a possible 2.5 points he left on the table...enough for a clear first. In the event the excellent showing of young players Robert Steinmeyer and Arthur Bisguier was a promising sign. 

     Adams success was remarkable because he frequently found himself playing against his own analysis, most of which was published for everyone to see. Such faithful adherence to his own theories made Adams' career a difficult one because he really was one to practice what he preached. 

     Adams made only one foray into the international tournament (Hastings 1950-51) and it was a disaster. He finished in 9th place with a +2 -6 =1 score in no small part because everybody knew what he was going to play. His iconoclastic theories just wouldn't hold up in actual play.

[Event "US Open, Baltimore"] [Site "?"] [Date "1948.07.12"] [Round "?"] [White "Weaver W. Adams"] [Black "Anthony Santasiere"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "1948.07.05"] {Caro-Kann: Advance Variation} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 {For a long time this was regarded as inferior for many years for no other reason than the way in which Capablanca crushed Nimzovich at New York 1927. But, it was revived by Tal and later Alexei Shirov and Nigel Short.} Bf5 {The other main continuation is 3...c5.} 4. Bd3 Bxd3 5. Qxd3 e6 6. Ne2 {[%mdl 32]} Qb6 7. f4 {This appears to be as least as good as the alternatives 7.c3, 7.Nd2 and 7.a4} g6 { Santasiere takes precautions against the advance of white's f-Pawn, but Adams opts to play it anyway.} 8. g4 c5 {Black is doing well here as white is facing some difficulty in getting his pieces out.} 9. f5 {Aggressive, but that's about all you can say for it.} cxd4 10. fxe6 Qxe6 {Not a bad move by any means. Engines prefer 10...fxe6, but it results in complications galore.} 11. Nxd4 Qd7 {A wimpy retreat. Larry Evans once criticized Santasiere for talking like a Romantic, but he didn't have any games to back up his bravado.} 12. Qe2 Be7 13. e6 fxe6 14. Nxe6 {Better than taking with the Q. White wants to keeps pieces on the board.} Nc6 15. O-O {Now white has the upper hand.} Nf6 16. Bh6 { [%mdl 2048]} Ne4 {It would have been safer to play 16...Kf7 and if 17.Ng5+ Kg8 even though the R on h8 would be imprisoned.} 17. Ng7+ Kd8 18. Nc3 {Black should now continue with 18...Nxc3 with approximate equality.} Nd4 {Black's centralized pieces coupled with white's exposed K appear to assure him of superiority, but, in fact, his position is lost.} 19. Qg2 {More precise was 19. Qd3} Rc8 20. Rad1 {Another slightly imprecise move, but even so, white still remains much better.} (20. Nxe4 dxe4 21. Qxe4 Rxc2 {and white is winning after} 22. Ne6+) 20... Rxc3 {As good as anything else!} 21. bxc3 {[%mdl 32]} Nb5 22. c4 Nbc3 23. cxd5 Bc5+ {It finally looks like black has an attack, but it's an illusion.} 24. Kh1 Nxd1 (24... Nf2+ {This was no better.} 25. Rxf2 Nxd1 26. Ne6+ Kc8 27. Re2 {White's only a P ahead, but is winning. How is that so?} Nf2+ 28. Kg1 Ne4+ 29. Be3 Bxe3+ 30. Rxe3 Nd6 31. Qg3 Nc4 32. Rb3 Re8 33. Qf4 Nd6 34. Re3 b5 {White wants to play c4} 35. a4 a6 36. axb5 axb5 37. Ra3 Rxe6 (37... Kb8 38. Ra6) 38. Qd4 Re1+ 39. Kf2 Rc1 40. Ra8+ Kc7 41. Qc5+ {mate next move}) 25. Qxe4 Nf2+ 26. Rxf2 {[%mdl 512] Putting an end to any hopes black has of counterattacking.} Bxf2 27. Qe5 {The threat is Bg5+. Compare this position to the one after 18...Nd4...black center gas completely disappeared.} Qxg4 28. Ne6+ {White mates.} ({Weaker is} 28. Qb8+ Ke7 29. Qxb7+ Kd6 30. Ne8+ Rxe8 $18) 28... Kd7 29. Qc7+ Ke8 30. Ng7+ Kf8 31. Nf5+ {Very precise and aggressive play by Adams.} 1-0