Former Beatles member John Lennon was shot and killed by an obsessed fan outside of Lennon’s apartment in Manhattan.
It was also the year Mount St. Helens in Washington state erupted, killing 57. One of my all time favorite items, Post-It notes, were officially introduced to US stores during April of 1980. The Rubik’s Cube debuted in January at a toy fair in London and by 1981 it was a worldwide craze.
The average income was $19,000 a year and the average cost of new house $68,700. A new car cost $7,200.00 and to put gas in it cost $1.19 a gallon.
If you played chess, USCF membership was $20 a year, chess books cost $8-12, a nice 3.75 inch heavily weighted rosewood and boxwood set was available for $49, the great Drueke Player's Choice plastic set was $20 and the Cavalier Deluxe also cost $20. Somewhere stored away in a bookcase I have the latter set which was purchased when I returned home from a tournament and discovered a couple of pieces from my Player's Choice set were missing!
As advertised in the June 1980 issue of Chess Life, the Sargon 2.5 Modular Game System was said to be able to solve a given mate in 3 in 3.5 minutes which was 20 times faster than any competitor. The cost? You had to mail in a clip out coupon and they would sent you a FREE price list, brochure and a detailed report comparing Sargon to other home chess computers. Later, in December, Boris/Sargon 2.5 was on sale for $295 (that amounts to about $905 today).
Sometimes you come across a game that is just fun to play over and the following game by USCF Expert James L. Harkins (1929-2017, 88 years old) in which he was defeated by USCF Master Tom Ward (born 1961) is such a game.
He tied for 1st in the 1954 Ohio Championship, but lost on tiebreaks and won the title in 1964, 1968 and 1973. I remember seeing Harkins at tournaments; he was a man of quiet demeanor, sported a crew cut and a bow tie. His obituary can be read on the USCF site HERE.
James L Harkins–Tom Ward0–1C44Ohio Champ QualifierCleveland, OH USA1980Stockfish 15
Scotch Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.d4 exd4 4.c3 This gambit is an
off-shoot from the Scotch Game in which white sacrifices a P, sometimes two,
to open up lines and to accelerate his development. dxc3 Black needs to
think carefully whether or not to accept the sacrifice; safer is 4...d5 5.c4 The alternative 5.Nxc3 has proven to be less effective. cxb2 By accepting
the second P black must exercise care that he doesn't allow white dangerous
attacking chances. 6.xb2 d6 A viable alternative is 6...Bb4+ and 5...Nf6 7.c3 7.0-0 e6 8.xe6 fxe6 9.b3 d7 Mastrovasilis,D (2562)-Michos,T
(2264) Athens 2006 is equal after 10.Nbd2. In the game white speculated with
10.Ng5?! 7...e6 8.xe6 8.d5 remains equal. ge7 9.g5 g6 Now the
correct move is 10.Nxe6. Stukalov,A (2164)-Kutepov,A (2083) Vladimir RUS 2004 8...fxe6 9.b3 Black is better. d7 This sets a little trap, but only a
beginner would fall for it. In any case, white has no real compensation for
the two sacrificed Ps. 10.0-0-0 This move, which leaves his K wide open, is
nearly fatal. 10.xb7 b8 and the B is lost. 10.g5 is insufficient. d4 11.xb7 d8 12.0-0 c5 Here, too, white has nothing to show for the two
Ps. 10.0-0 is safest, but black still has the advantage. a5 and after
the Q retreats black simply continues his development. 10...0-0-0 White
must now prevent ...Nf6. 11.g5 e8 12.f4 h6 13.f3 ge7 14.a4 Now with 14...Na5 and 15...Nec6 black has a very promising game. d8
Give this move two question marks because it should have lost. 15.b1 Give this move two question marks because it misses the win. 15.e5 wins the Q! dxe5 16.xd7 xd7 17.d1+ c8 18.d3 and white is
winning. 15...ec6 16.d2 a5 17.b4 dc6 18.b5 a6 19.e2 a7 20.c3 b8 Black still had to be careful! 20...e7 continuing his development is
met by 21.e5 d8 22.f7 d7 and white can draw by repeating moves with 23.
Ne5. If 23.xh8 xh8 24.c1 the position is unclear as both sides have
chances. 21.c1 21.e5 c8 22.f7 h7 and white hasn't really
accomplished anything. 21...e7 Opening up the position with 21...g5 was
more aggressive, but the text is quite solid. 22.h4 c8 23.g4 b5 24.d1 hg8 25.e3 g5 Black should have tried opening up lines against white' K
with 25...c5 even though white would then get some play. The text allows white
to nearly equalize. 25...c5 26.f5 b7 27.fxe6 xe4+ 28.cc2 xe6 29.f5 xe2 30.xe2 f8 31.e6 26.hxg5 hxg5 27.f5 exf5 28.gxf5 Wrong recapture!
28.exf5 7c6 29.d3 and for all practical purposes white is equal. 28...g4 The passed P causes white grief. 29.xg4 This may look like
desperation in a time of panic, but it sets a trap. 29.d4 g5 30.dd1 g3
and black is clearly better. 29.e5 This is the move! e8 30.5xg4 g5 31.f3 7c6 32.f6 Black will have to defend carefully in order to keep his
advantage. 29...c4 Excellent! 29...xg4 30.e5 d8 31.xg4 g5
and suddenly the chances are back to equal. 30.dc2 30.xc4 was better.
After bxc4 31.e3 g5 32.xg5 xg5 33.xc4 c6 Black is up the exchange,
but white has some practical chances owing to his active pieces and the P on
f5. 30...xb2 31.xb2 xg4 White resigned. At first glance it might look
a bit premature, but black has the win in hand. 31...xg4 32.e5 dxe5 33.xg4 a3 34.d1 e7 35.b3 xb2 36.xb2 and black is a piece and P up...
it's not worth playing on against a Master under such circumstances. 0–1
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