Suffering from asthma, part of his adolescence was spent in Mexico because his father believed the climate would help. While there he met Jose Marti, a Cuban poet, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero and an important figure in Latin American literature.
Sterling was credited with saving the life of Mexican President Francisco I. Madero, when the latter was hiding from the authorities at the beginning of the Mexican Revolution.
Sterling served in the revolution then in 1901 went to Washington as member of the Cuban mission where he unsuccessfully protested against the Platt Amendment, legislation which outlined US policy for its meddling in Cuban affairs.
After a journalistic career, he served in diplomatic service for many years as ambassador to Mexico and the United States.
Sterling tied for last place in the Paris 1900 tournament (won by Emanuel Lasker) that was held during the world exhibition.
As an author, Sterling wrote about 15 books on diverse topics such as politics, history and chess.
He played, and lost, two matches against Andres Clemente Vazquez (1844 - 1901), a Cuban-Mexican problem composer who was an attorney by profession. In 1869, he emigrated to Mexico, becoming a naturalized Mexican citizen the next year.
In Mexico he collaborated in different periodicals and was a member of various organizations publishing his works such as Mexican Orators, Political Rights and Duties, Minorities Representation in Popular Elections.
Vazquez became a distinguished Consul of Mexico in Havana, a position which he held until his death. In that position he was lauded for his outstanding performance in all his endeavors which included diplomacy, literature and in the courts.
He was also a first class player and wrote three chess books: Chess by Memory, Masterly Chess and Chess Game Analysis. He also served as the first chess club president of Mexico and composed many direct mates.
The first match was held in August of 1894 with Vasquez winning 4.5-0.5. It was supposed to be a ten game match, but Sterling resigned half way through not only because his bad play left him no hope of winning, but also because he wanted to take advantage of the few days of leave that he had been given to visit family in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
They met again in January of 1900 in a match that was to go to the first to win five games, draws not counting. Vazquez was in the process of again trouncing his opponent with a +2 -0 =2 score when the match came to an abrupt end when Sterling was forced to resign the match when he had to leave for Washington.
The reason was that he had been appointed private secretary for Gonzalo de Quesada, a key architect (along with Jose Marti) of Cuba's Independence Movement. In that position Sterling was sent to the Universal Exposition of Paris as Cuba's representative.
The following was game 3 of their first match and it was a tactical humdinger...one worth playing over with a board and pieces if you want to sharpen your tactical vision and ability to see ahead.
Andres Clemente Vazquez–Manuel Marquez Sterling1–0C13First Match3Havana CUB11.08.1894Stockfish 15
French: Classical System 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.c3 f6 4.g5 e7 5.xf6 xf6 6.f3 0-0 7.d3 h6 Harmless. Both 7...c5 and the old fashioned 7...b3 are
reasonable. 7...dxe4 8.xe4 xd4 This mild looking position can actually
get incredibly complicated. 9.fg5 Wrong N! 9.eg5 g6 10.xh7 xh7 10...xf2+ is not quite sufficient. 11.xf2 xh7 12.h4 g7 13.d2
white has sufficient compensation for his P minus. 11.xd4 g7 11...xd4
loses 12.xg6+ 12.f3 f6 is completely equal. 9...f5 Wrong P move! 9...h6 and black wins! 10.h5 xb2 11.d1 d7 White is at a standstill.
Black simply must avoid taking the N. 10.h5 h6 11.g6 e8 12.f7 d7 13.xh6+ f8 14.g5 gxh6 15.h7+ e7 16.0-0-0 a4 17.xf5 xb2+ 18.xb2 b5+ 19.c1 xf5 20.g7+ f7 21.xh6 d7 22.g5+ Black resigned. Naranjo
Espinosa,S-Guerra,L Bogota 2004 8.e2 c6 This mild move blocking the
c-Pawn does no real harm, but it's quite passive. 9.e5 e7 10.a3 a6 11.g4 f6 12.0-0-0 fxe5 13.dxe5 b5 14.h4 e8 15.g5 h5 16.h3 Best. 16.dg1
doesn't work out. xf3 17.gxh6 xh6+ 18.b1 f4 16...xg5+ This is the
wrong way to capture the g-Pawn. Now white could have gained the advantage. 16...hxg5 17.g1 gxh4 18.xh4 xe2 19.h7+ f7 19...xh7 20.f5+ h4 21.xh4+ h5 22.xh5+ g8 23.xg7# 20.g6+ g8 21.h7+ draw 17.b1
Moving out of check seems reasonable, but in this case it loses. 17.xg5 was correct. Then after xe2 18.h7+ h8 19.xe2 xf2 20.d4
white has active play. xe5 21.e1 hxg5 22.hxg5 22.xe5 allows black to
equalize. g4 23.c3 xh7 24.xc7 f6 22...f7 23.h5 17...d8 This meeks retreat costs the game. 17...f4 Moving forward! 18.e1 b4 Opening lines against white's K gives black excellent attacking chances. 19.axb4 b8 18.g1 Once the Rs are doubled on the g-file the game will be
over. e7 18...xe5 19.xe5 xe2 20.xe2 c5 21.hg3 a7 22.c6 b7 23.xd8 xd8 24.g6 and white should prevail. 19.hg3 f7 20.xd5 A nice finishing touch. f5 20...xd5 21.g6 traps the Q 21.xf5 xf5 The rest of the game is a mopping up exercise. 22.d4 h7 23.f6+ xf6 24.exf6 xf6 25.e5 f7 26.xe6 xe6 27.xe6 f8 28.g6 xf2 29.c6
Black resigned. 29.c6 d8 30.xc7 fd2 31.xg7 and it's over. 1–0
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