Stearns Smashed by Hahlbohm

     A far reaching law that had a personal impact on me almost 30 years later was passed in Ohio on April 29, 1921; it was the Bing Act. 

     With two major exceptions the law required children between the ages of six and eighteen to attend school. The two exceptions were a child who had already graduated from high school did not have to stay in school until turning eighteen; and a child who was sixteen and had passed the seventh grade was allowed to work as a farmer instead of attending school. 

     The law's intent was created to stop child labor, but it also caused problems and, naturally, there were those who opposed the bill...farmers and the Amish. They didn't want to take their children off the farm to continue in school. Plus they knew it meant they were going to take a financial hit...more taxes would have to be raised to run the schools. 

     Some also thought school would be a training ground that would teach children to be delinquents and learn bad behavior. When children were forced to attend school some families faced financial troubles because they relied on their children's income to help pay the bills. 

     To meet the schools needs the Legislature adopted a 3 percent sales tax that gave half of the funds to the schools for education purposes and operating costs. Question...what happened to the other half?!

     1921 was the last season for the Cleveland Tigers, the first Cleveland team franchise in what became the National Football League. For the 1921 season, the name of the team was changed to the Indians, partly because it was a stock name in Cleveland. A baseball team had also used the name since 1915, additionally, the football team had three Native Americans who had been signed away from the Canton, Ohio Bulldogs. 

     In October of 1921, the 22nd Western Championship (forerunner of the U.S. Open) was played at the Hotel Hollenden in Cleveland, Ohio. Edward Lasker won his third title in a row and fifth in six years. Hermann Helms served as referee and tournament director. 

 

     In the following game the well known Clevelander Elliott E. Stearns (1891-1969), a corporate attorney by profession, got clobbered by the prominent Chicago master Herman Hahlbohm (1886-1963). 

[Event "22nd Western Champ, Cleveland Ohio"] [Site ""] [Date "1921.10.05"] [Round "?"] [White "Elliott E. Stearns"] [Black "Herman H. Hahlbohm"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D02"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "46"] [EventDate "1921.??.??"] {Symmetrical English} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 c5 4. Nc3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 { This is the reason the auto-annotation using Fritz has classified this slippery opening sequence as the Symmetrical English.} e5 6. Nf3 d4 7. Nxe5 { Already a losing move!} (7. Nb1 Nc6 8. a3 {and here in the game Poliakov,Y (2249)-Rakhmangulov,A (2401) Pavlograd 2000 black erred with the passive 8... Be7, but he could have gotten an overwhelming edge with 8...e4 or even 8... Qa5+}) (7. Nb5 Bb4+ {Also good was 7...Nc6} 8. Bd2 Bxd2+ 9. Qxd2 a6 10. Na3 Ne4 11. Qd1 Qa5+ {Black has a significant advantage. Poliakov,Y (2249) -Rakhmangulov,A (2401) Pavlograd 2000}) 7... dxc3 {This move is faulty in that it allows white to equalize.} (7... Qd6 {attacking both Ns would have been much better.} 8. Qa4+ Nbd7 9. Nxd7 Bxd7 10. Nb5 Qb6 {Black will regain the piece and be left with an excellent position.}) 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nxf7+ Ke8 10. Nxh8 Bb4 {[%mdl 128] Black has enough compensation for the exchange in the form of active play. The text move threatening a discovered check also sets a trap.} 11. Kd1 {[%mdl 8192] ...into which white falls.} (11. b3 {renders the discovered check harmless.} c2+ 12. Bd2 Ba3 13. e4 {Tricky!} Nxe4 (13... Bb2 { is the correct move.} 14. Rc1 Bxc1 15. Bxc1 Nc6 16. Bd3 {In this highly unbalanced material situation the chance would be approximately equal. In Shootouts five games were drawn, but with humans I suspect the game could go either way.}) 14. Bd3 Nxd2 15. Kxd2 {and white is better.}) 11... Bf5 {With the obvious threat of 12...c2#} 12. e3 (12. e4 {This surprising move giving up a P would have kept his disadvantage at a minimum. The reason is clear next move.} Nxe4 13. Ke2 Nc6 (13... cxb2 {is inferior.} 14. Bxb2 Nc6 15. g4 Be6 16. Bxg7 {Black's advantage has mostly disappeared.}) 14. f3 Nd2 15. g4 Be6 16. a3 Nd4+ 17. Kf2 Bc5 18. b4 N2b3 19. Bd3 Nxa1 20. bxc5 {Black is better, but white can at least play on.}) 12... Nc6 {Getting his R into play.} 13. a3 Rd8+ { [%mdl 32] Here is the reason 12.e4 would have been better; in those lines black was not able tp get his R into play with a gain of time; a subtle difference.} 14. Ke2 cxb2 {Much the best as it brings the R into a dominating position.} (14... Bd3+ {This is not bad. White's K can skitter away, but it is still subject to a devastating attack.} 15. Kf3 Ne5+ 16. Kg3 Nh5+ 17. Kh3 Bf5+ 18. g4 Bxg4+ 19. Kg2 Bf3+ {Black is winning.}) 15. Bxb2 Rd2+ 16. Ke1 Ba5 { White is out of any meaningful moves...everything he plays will lose.} 17. Bxf6 gxf6 18. Rc1 {This allows a mate in 13, but he was hopelessly lost anyway.} Rb2+ 19. Kd1 Bg4+ 20. f3 Rd2+ 21. Ke1 Rxg2+ 22. Kd1 Bxf3+ 23. Be2 Rxe2 { White resigned. A crushing defeat.} (23... Rxe2 24. Rc3 Bxc3 25. Rg1 Rb2+ 26. Kc1 Na5 27. Rg8+ Kd7 28. Rg7+ Kc6 29. Rxb7 Kxb7 30. Nf7 Nb3#) 0-1