There was political turmoil in Argentina in 1955, but the tournament was completed before the June 16th bombing of Plaza de Mayo, a massacre that took place in Buenos Aires when 30 aircraft from the Argentine Navy and Air Force strafed and bombed the square in the largest aerial bombing ever on the Argentine mainland. It was a failed attempt by Argentine Naval Aviation to overthrow President Peron.
The first bomb to be dropped fell upon a bus packed with children, killing everyone on board. Peron sources claimed those killed to be around 400, but the official police report put the number at 136. Much later, in 1965, a journalist claimed that once the fighting had ended, in the immediate vicinity of Plaza de Mayo 2,000 were killed.
Peron was finally overthrown in September in the Revolucion Libertadora and Major General Eduardo Lonardi took office as president. The same month Major General Pedro Eugenio Aramburu overthrew Lonardi.
Switzerland banned nearly all forms of motor-racing after the 1955 Le Mans (France) disaster in which parts of a crashed car flew in the stands, injuring 180 and killing 84 spectators.
In a dark and evil event in Mississippi, a 14-year-old African American boy, Emmett Till, was abducted, tortured and lynched for allegedly flirting with a white woman. The murderers, Roy Bryant and his half brother J.W. Milam, were acquitted in a trial by an all white male jury. Protected against double jeopardy, the two men publicly admitted in a 1956 interview with Look magazine that they had tortured and murdered the boy, selling the story of how they did it for $4,000 (almost $43,000 today).
It was predicted that 1955 was going to be a tough year because of a predicted polio outbreak. And, at the Boston Children’s Hospital patients with polio started arriving earlier and in higher numbers than usual. It was the first sign of an outbreak that would go down in history. One good thing did happen in 1955...Dr. Jonas Salk started inoculating children against polio.
On January 31st former British champion (1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1924 and 1925) Henry Atkins (1872-1955) died in Huddersfield, England at the age of 82. Also in England, in May, H.J.R. Murray (1868-1955), a prominent chess historian died at the age of 86.
In November, in Los Angeles, the prominent US player and 1948 US Champion Herman Steiner (1905-1955) died during the California State Championship. And, in December, England lost another player, the 1912 British Champion and co-author of Modern Chess Openings, Richard C. Griffith. About a week later yet another British player, William Winter (1898-1955) died tuberculosis. He was the British Champion in 1935 and 1936.
On the lighter side, television remote controls became available to the public and the microwave was invented. Finally, tap dancer Bill Bailey preceded Michael Jackson in doing the moonwalk...watch it HERE
The 1955 Buenos Aires event was a mediocre result for Bisguier, but his loss to the great Hungarian GM Laszlo Szabo was instructive because it serves as an example of the difficulties that are sometimes associated with something that happens in almost every game...castling.
[Event "Buenos Aires"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1955.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Laszlo Szabo"]
[Black "Arthur Bisguier"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D46"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 15"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.10.11"]
{Semi-Slav} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. e4
dxe4 8. Nxe4 Nxe4 9. Bxe4 Nf6 {Black has tried a lot of moves here and it is
now known that by far the best move is 9...e5 which gives black excellent
chances. After the text black will experience difficulties.} 10. Bc2 Bb4+ 11.
Bd2 Bxd2+ 12. Qxd2 O-O {This position is highly favorable to white for
positional reasons: he has more space in the center and his B is well placed
for a K-side attack. By comparison black's B is hemmed in behind it's own Ps.
So, the problem for white is to find a way to exploit his advantage.} 13. Ne5 (
13. O-O {Trifunovic played this against Bisguier in and earlier round and the
game continued} Qc7 {in Baumegger,S (2447)-Neff,G (2205) Zwettl AUT 2012 black
tried 13...b6 but got nothing.} 14. Qe3 {In Peralta,F (2601)-Sochacki,C (2358)
Arinsal AND 2011 white played 14.c5, but Trifunovic's move is better.} b6 15.
Qe5 Qb8 16. Ng5 Ba6 17. b3 c5 18. Rad1 {Black has been allowed to equalize and
the game was agreed drawn in a few more moves.}) 13... Qc7 14. O-O-O {An
excellent move because it brings the R into play and at the same time white
gets his K castled. Note that white's K is in no danger despite castling on
opposite sides because black's attacking chances are almost non-existent. BTW,
CJS Purdy always advised amateurs that their development was not complete
until the Rs have been connected.} c5 {A routine counterattack, but not the
best.} (14... b5 {This move enjoys a hearty recommendation from GMs Ludek
Pachman, Stockfish 15, Komodo 14, et al. The idea is that this move secures d5
for his N, but even then white is better.} 15. c5 {This yields d5 to black and
leaves the d-Pawn backward and on an open file, but a very important trade off
is that black's P structure renders his B incommodious.} Nd5 {An interesting
position! Komodo evaluates it as equal, but Pachman and Stockfish think white
is better. Perhaps black could hold the position, but white certainly has the
better prospects. In Shootouts using Stockfish white scored +2 -0 =3.}) 15. Qe3
b6 {The disadvantage of this move is that it precludes any prospects of black
counterattacking.} (15... cxd4 {This exchange only facilitates white's attack.}
16. Rxd4 Qc5 17. g4 g6 18. g5 Nh5 19. Nxf7 e5 20. Nxe5 Bf5 21. Bxf5 Rxf5 22.
Rd8+ Rxd8 23. Qxc5 Nf4 24. Qe7 Rc8 25. Rd1 {Black resigned; it's mate in 8.
Blagojevic,D (2531)-Scekic,V (2038) Bar 2006}) (15... b5 {This violent move
should prove unsatisfactory, but it is black's only hope.} 16. dxc5 bxc4 17.
Nxc4 Bb7 18. Nd6 Bd5 19. a3 Rab8 {Depending on white's reply black can
exchange off the N on d6 or try for a counterattack with ...Nd7 and ...a5. In
either case white stands well.}) 16. dxc5 bxc5 (16... Qxc5 {results in an
ending very much in white's favor after} 17. Qxc5 bxc5 {Black's c-Pawn is weak
and the proximity of white's K to the center are important factors in white's
favor.}) (16... Bb7 {leads nowhere.} 17. Rhe1 Rfc8 (17... Bxg2 18. Rg1 Bb7 19.
Rxg7+ Kxg7 20. Qg5+ Kh8 21. Qxf6+ Kg8 22. Rg1+ Bg2 23. Rxg2#) 18. g4 {Much
better than capturing on b6.} (18. cxb6 axb6 {White is better, but black has
some hope because of the open lines on the Q-side.}) 18... Qxc5 19. Rd4 Rc7 20.
g5 Nh5 21. Red1 {white has a dominating (winning) position.}) 17. g4 {[%mdl 32]
The beginning of the winning assault on black's K.} Rb8 18. Rhg1 Qb6 (18... Nd7
{Hoping to get rid of the dangerous N on e5 is tactically faulty.} 19. Rxd7
Bxd7 20. Qd3 g6 21. Nxd7 Rfd8 22. Rd1 Qf4+ 23. Kb1 Qxf2 24. Qd6 Rbc8 25. Qe5 {
and black is left with no satisfactory defense.} Qf3 26. a3 h6 27. Ka2 a6 28.
h3 Qf2 29. Ba4 {Black is out of moves. For example...} g5 30. Qc3 Qe2 31. Bc2
Qf2 32. Qd3 Rxd7 33. Qh7+ Kf8 34. Rxd7 {etc.}) 19. b3 Rb7 20. g5 Ne8 {Playing
20...Nd7 was equally hopeless.} (20... Nd7 21. Bxh7+ {Anyway.} Kxh7 22. g6+ {
wins.}) 21. Bxh7+ {[%mdl 512] What a dandy! White mates in 11.} Kxh7 22. Qh3+
Kg8 23. Rg4 {It's mate in 9. Stockfish assigns Szabo's play a "very precise"
rating.} (23. Rg4 Qa5 24. Rh4 Qa3+ 25. Kb1 Rxb3+ 26. axb3 Qxb3+ 27. Qxb3 Bb7
28. Qh3 Be4+ 29. Kb2 Bh7 30. Rxh7 g6 31. Rh8+ Kg7 32. Qh7#) 1-0
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