In the Smith–Mundt Act of 1948, the Voice of America was forbidden to broadcast directly to American citizens. VOA is a government owned radio broadcaster that produces digital, TV, and radio content in 48 languages and distributes it to affiliate stations around the world.
The intent of the legislation was to protect the public from propaganda being put out by its own government!
Congress had serious reservations about letting the State Department broadcast VOA radio programs to the American public because some characterized the State Department as "chock full of Reds" and "the lousiest outfit in town." One state representative from New York called for a house cleaning in the Department to "keep only those people whose first loyalty is to the United States". Even the FBI (i.e. J. Edgar Hoover) had concerns.
As late as 1998 the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled the act exempts VOA from releasing transcripts in response to a Freedom of Information Act!
Another interesting fact about radio broadcasts in 1948: it was estimated that crooner Bing Crosby's recordings filled more than half of the radio time allocated to recorded music! I will spare readers from having to listen to one of his songs, but if you're interested just go to YouTube HERE.
The big chess news in 1948 was Mikhail Botvinnik winning The Hague/Moscow match-tournament to become world champion. Botvinnik won by a 3 point margin and had a plus score against all his rivals. It's quite possible that Stalin had given orders for Keres and Smyslov to lose to Botvinnik.
David Bronstein won the first Interzonal at Saltjobaden and went on to tie Botvinnik in their 1951 match. Many are unaware of the fact that the second place finisher, Laszlo Szabo of Hungary, missed tying with Bronstein because he lost one game...to the last place finisher Eric Lundin of Sweden; it was Lundin's only win!
Amid all the big goings on there was an obscure tournament held in Baarn, a small town in the Netherlands near Hilversum. I was unable to uncover any information on the event, but because the one game from the tournament that I ran across listed it as having been played in the Baarn Major, I assume it was either an open event or there were other side tournaments and this was the main one.
Although the tournament results have passed into obscurity, one game survived. It was the Brilliancy Prize game won by Paul De Vos (March 10, 1911 - June 14, 1981) that featured a fantastic and bizarre final position. De Vos was was Belgian Champion seven times: 1933, 1936, 1937, 1940, 1941, 1945 and 1948.
His opponent was Baruch H. Wood (July 13, 1909 - April 4, 1989), an English player, editor and author. In 1935, he founded the magazine CHESS, which became one of the two leading chess magazines in Great Britain. From 1946 to 1951 he was a president of the ICCA, a forerunner organization of the ICCF. He was also a FIDE Judge and an International Arbiter.
Baruch H. Wood–Paul De Vos0–1Baarn Major1948Stockfish 15
Nimzo-Indian 1.d4 f6 2.c4 e6 3.c3 b4 4.c2 d5 This is the Noa
Variation. 5.a3 The main line is 5.cxd5 after which black can play either 5.
..Qxd5 or 5...exd5 xc3+ 6.xc3 e4 This N is destined to play a major role
in the game's outcome. 7.c2 c5 8.dxc5 c6 It's too soon to tell, but this
N will deliver the final blow. 9.cxd5 exd5 10.f3 f5 11.b4 0-0 12.b2 d4 This is the only example of this move that I could locate...probably with
good reason...it's very speculative. 12...e8 remains equal. 13.d1 b6 14.e3 bxc5 15.b5 b6 16.a4 ac8 17.xd5 e6 18.xc6 xc6 19.xc6 xc6
is equal. Ivanchuk,V (2717)-Topalov,V (2718) Monte Carlo 2001 13.c4 13.g4 A Stockfish recommendation that's not likely to occur to a human. g6 14.c4 e8 15.g2 15.xd4 is premature. h4 attacking f2 and obtaining a
winning position. 16.0-0-0 g5+ 17.e3 xf2 15...h5 16.0-0 This looks
dangerous, but there is no way for black to exploit the position of white's K. 16.xd4 is still too soon. e5 17.b3 xg4 18.xe4 xe4 While the
position is evaluated as being equal, most players would prefer black. 16...hxg4 17.xd4 e5 18.b3 White is a solid P up. 13...e8 Black's d-Pawn
is still immune from capture, a fact that Wood was unaware of! 14.xd4
14.xd4 a5 15.e3 axb4 16.e2 16.axb4 xd4 wins material. 16...g4 17.h3 xf3 18.gxf3 xd4 19.fxe4 19.exd4 c3 wins 19...xe2 20.xe2 bxa3 and black stands well. 14.d1 is the correct move. g4 15.xd4 xd4 16.xd4 e7 Now with 17.Qb2 white would have equality. Instead he
lost quickly with his next move. 17.e3 ad8 18.d2 d7 19.b3 xd2 20.c2 xe2 White resigned. Brown,M (2121)-Bodek,M (2191) Crossville USA 2011 14...f6 Now ...Rad8 is a very strong threat. 15.a2 Guarding the B, but white
is already lost as a result of his last move. 15.f3 is no good. h4+ 16.g3 xg3 15.0-0-0 is met by ad8 15...xf2 wins, but not the exchange! 16.xf5 xf5 17.d5 e6 18.g1 16.f4 16.xc6 xd1+ 17.xd1 xb2
and wins. 16...f2 Black is clearly winning. 15...e6 16.xe6 xf2+ 16...xe6 No doubt this is what Wood was hoping for because now it is he who
is winning. 17.xe6 xe6 18.f3 f6 19.e4 With 2Bs vs 2Ns plus two extra
Ps. 17.d1 He can run, but he can't hide said boxer Joe Louis about his
opponent Billy Conn shortly before their heavyweight title rematch at Yankee
Stadium in New York City on June 19, 1946. xe6 18.c3 d8+ 19.c2
Stockfish likes 19...Nxc3 leading to a mate in 10, but let's not agree because
we would then be deprived of the unusual finish we see here. e3 19...xc3 20.a1 e3 21.c1 f6 22.d3 a4 23.b3 exd3+ 24.xa4 d4 25.b5 c2 26.exd3 c3 27.b6 xa3+ 28.b5 b4# 20.h4 d2+ Stockfish's
preferred 20...Nd2 gets about a one Pawn higher evaluation, but, again, who
cares? 21.xd2 Black could still go badly wrong here if he recaptures on d2
with the wrong piece! xd2+ 21...xd2 22.d3 d4+ 23.d1 xd3 24.exd3 xf1 25.xf1 and it's white who is winning. 21...d4+ This check
doesn't lead anywhere after 22.c1 and black has to take a draw with b3+ 23.c2 d4+ etc. 23...exd2 loses! 24.d3 xd3+ 25.exd3 and black is
down material. 22.b3 d4+ 23.a4 d1+ Black mates in 3. 24.a5 a6+ 24...a4+ sacrificing the Q immediately is a move quicker. 25.xa4 c3+ 26.xc3 a6# 25.xa6 Kudos to Wood for not resigning and allowing his opponent
a beautiful finish! a4+ 26.xa4 c3+ The N has been patiently sitting on
e4 since move 6 and now it plays a major role in covering the Ks escape square.
27.a5 b3# What a game! 0–1
No comments:
Post a Comment