The (Not So Great) Vazquez vs. Sterling Matches

     Manuel Marquez Sterling y Loret de Mola (1872-1934) was born in Lima, Peru to Cuban parents and died in Washington, DC. He was a Cuban diplomat and interim President of Cuba for 6 hours on January 18, 1934. At the age of 16 he began a career in journalism writing for publications founded by his father.

     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. 

[Event "First Match"] [Site "Havana CUB"] [Date "1894.08.11"] [Round "3"] [White "Andres Clemente Vazquez"] [Black "Manuel Marquez Sterling"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C13"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "1894.08.09"] [Source "El Ajedrez Magis"] {French: Classical System} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Bxf6 Bxf6 6. Nf3 O-O 7. Bd3 h6 {Harmless. Both 7...c5 and the old fashioned 7...b3 are reasonable.} (7... dxe4 8. Nxe4 Bxd4 {This mild looking position can actually get incredibly complicated.} 9. Nfg5 {Wrong N!} (9. Neg5 g6 10. Nxh7 Kxh7 ( 10... Bxf2+ {is not quite sufficient.} 11. Kxf2 Kxh7 12. h4 Kg7 13. Qd2 { white has sufficient compensation for his P minus.}) 11. Nxd4 Kg7 (11... Qxd4 { loses} 12. Bxg6+) 12. Nf3 Qf6 {is completely equal.}) 9... f5 {Wrong P move!} ( 9... h6 {and black wins!} 10. Qh5 Bxb2 11. Rd1 Nd7 {White is at a standstill. Black simply must avoid taking the N.}) 10. Qh5 h6 11. Qg6 Re8 12. Nf7 Qd7 13. Nxh6+ Kf8 14. Ng5 gxh6 15. Nh7+ Ke7 16. O-O-O Qa4 17. Bxf5 Bxb2+ 18. Kxb2 Qb5+ 19. Kc1 Qxf5 20. Qg7+ Qf7 21. Qxh6 Nd7 22. Qg5+ {Black resigned. Naranjo Espinosa,S-Guerra,L Bogota 2004}) 8. Qe2 Nc6 {This mild move blocking the c-Pawn does no real harm, but it's quite passive.} 9. e5 Be7 10. a3 a6 11. g4 f6 12. O-O-O fxe5 13. dxe5 b5 14. h4 Qe8 15. g5 Qh5 16. Rh3 {Best.} (16. Rdg1 { doesn't work out.} Rxf3 17. gxh6 Qxh6+ 18. Kb1 Qf4) 16... Bxg5+ {This is the wrong way to capture the g-Pawn. Now white could have gained the advantage.} ( 16... hxg5 17. Rg1 gxh4 18. Nxh4 Qxe2 19. Bh7+ Kf7 (19... Kxh7 20. Nf5+ Bh4 21. Rxh4+ Qh5 22. Rxh5+ Kg8 23. Rxg7#) 20. Bg6+ Kg8 21. Bh7+ {draw}) 17. Kb1 { [%mdl 8192] Moving out of check seems reasonable, but in this case it loses.} ( 17. Nxg5 {was correct. Then after} Qxe2 18. Bh7+ Kh8 19. Nxe2 Rxf2 20. Nd4 { white has active play.} Nxe5 21. Re1 hxg5 22. hxg5 (22. Rxe5 {allows black to equalize.} g4 23. Rc3 Kxh7 24. Rxc7 Rf6) 22... Nf7 23. Rh5) 17... Bd8 {[%mdl 8192] This meeks retreat costs the game.} (17... Bf4 {Moving forward!} 18. Re1 b4 {Opening lines against white's K gives black excellent attacking chances.} 19. axb4 Rb8) 18. Rg1 {Once the Rs are doubled on the g-file the game will be over.} Ne7 (18... Nxe5 19. Nxe5 Qxe2 20. Nxe2 c5 21. Rhg3 Ra7 22. Nc6 Rb7 23. Nxd8 Rxd8 24. Bg6 {and white should prevail.}) 19. Rhg3 Rf7 20. Nxd5 {[%mdl 512] A nice finishing touch.} Nf5 (20... Nxd5 21. Bg6 {traps the Q}) 21. Bxf5 Qxf5 {The rest of the game is a mopping up exercise.} 22. Nd4 Qh7 23. Nf6+ Bxf6 24. exf6 Rxf6 25. Qe5 Rf7 26. Nxe6 Bxe6 27. Qxe6 Kf8 28. Rg6 Rxf2 29. Qc6 { Black resigned.} (29. Qc6 Rd8 30. Qxc7 Rfd2 31. Rxg7 {and it's over.}) 1-0