I don't think any of us were aware that the US economy continued into its fifth consecutive year of expansion as part of the longest boom since the end of World War II.
It was the year that crude and vulgar lout occupying the White House, Lyndon B. Johnson, signed the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965 into law. The bill required printed health warnings on cigarette packages about the harmful effects of smoking.
We didn't know it at the time at Camp Lejeune, but 1965 was the year Johnson began the escalation of the war in Vietnam when nearly 5,000 men from the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade arrived in South Vietnam to defend the airbase at Da Nang from Viet Cong attacks. By the end of the year over 58,000 Marines were in Vietnam.
The conflict eventually became known as “Johnson’s War” because he pretty much ran the war in a haphazard manner using Executive Orders. By 1968 it was clear that Johnson was not capable of running the country and he declined to seek reelection. The country missed him not being in office about like one would miss no longer having a hemorrhoid.
Of course I was totally unaware of the US Open that was held in San Juan where there was a major upset in the first round.
Unless you are into chess variants you have probably never heard of Ralph Betza. Although he has not been active for decades he is an FM (FIDE 2330) who, without a doubt, is the most productive inventor of that type of chess. You can read an interview with him HERE.
Back in 1965, Betza, who was born on April 16, 1945, was the 33rd place finisher in the US Open with a score of 7-5. His USCF rating was 1955 (Class A). In the first round he defeated GM Robert Byrne who's USCF rating was 2546.
Ralph Betza–Robert Byrne1–0A02US Open, San Juan1965Stockfish 15
White's strategy involves control of e5 and the Bird offers
good attacking chances at the expense of slightly weakening the K-side. 1.f4 f6 Byrne chooses this flexible defense instead of the more popular 1...d5 2.f3 g6 3.g3 g7 4.g2 c5 After this the opening is already in remotely
explored territory. Usual is 4...d5. 5.c3 This looks rather awkward. 5.O-O
is a good alternative. d5 6.d3 d4 Black has already gained a
slight advantage. 7.e4 d5 There was nothing wrong with 7...Nxe4. In fact,
it was probably slightly better than the text. 8.d2 b6 Well played as it
gives white something to think about. Should he allow ...Qxb2 or not? 9.c4 9.0-0 xb2 won't work. Instead, black should simply castle. 10.b1 a3 10...xa2 11.e5 xe5 12.fxe5 0-0 13.c1 White has what should amount to
a winning attack. 11.b3 xa2 12.xc5 White is better. 9...e3 9...dxc3 10.bxc3 0-0 11.b1 would leave white with a decent position. 10.xe3 dxe3 Obviously black can't maintain the P on e3, but it temporarily has a
cramping effect on white's position. 11.b1 11.0-0 xb2 12.xc5 0-0 13.d4 c6 14.d3 a3 15.de5 is equal. 11...a5+ 12.f1 c6 13.a3 It looks
like black has made some serious progress in gaining the advantage, but, oddly,
Stockfish evaluates the position as quite equal as does Komodo 14! f5 13...d4 is another alternative. 14.c1 b3 15.xe3 with equal chances. 14.eg5 Better was 14.Nc3 as the N now gets chased to a poor square. h6 15.h3 0-0 16.c1 a4 Rather odd in that it allows white to take the e-Pawn and
thereby get a slight edge. Instead, black had two reasonable alternatives. 16...d4 17.xd4 cxd4 18.b4 c7 19.b5 d8 Technically this position is
evaluated at nearly equal, but practically black looks to have all the chances.
16...e5 17.xe5 xe5 18.fxe5 f4 is interesting, but it appears white
manages to survive after 19.xf4 g5 20.xc6 A nice trap is set with this
move. bxc6 20...gxf4 21.d5+ h8 22.g2 c7 22...fxg3 23.xe3 wins
quickly. 23.e6 f6 24.c3 g7 25.hf1 xe6 26.xe6 xe6 27.xf4
with a decisive advantage. 17.xe3 c2 Byrne has misjudged bot only the
amount of play he gets on the Q-side, but the strength of white's counterplay. 18.f2 xb2 19.xc5 e5 Correct was 19...Be6. Now white's Q and
N crete havoc. 20.d6 g7 21.xe5 This look natural, but it should have
allowed black to equalize. 21.xb2 xb2 and only now that black's Q has
been drawn away from e3 should white capture on e5. 22.xe5 xe5 23.fxe5
and white is better. 21...d4+ 22.f3 xe5+ This eliminates
the dangerous N, but, ironically, loses the game. 22...d2 23.xg6+ h8 24.xh6+ and now because he is threatened with mate on e3, white must take the
draw by repeating moves. 23.fxe5 White is clearly winning; he just has to
be careful. Practically, for a lowly class player to find himself in this
position against one of the country's best players had to be nerve-racking.
Kudos to Betza for not falling apart! b6 23...b6 saves the B, but it's
met by 24.xb6 With the B gone all of black's hope disappears. axb6 25.f4 c3 26.xg6+ h8 27.xh6+ g8 28.g6 wins. e8 29.h8+ f7 30.h7+ e6 31.b1 d7 32.f4+ xe5 33.xd7 xc4 34.dxc4 xa3+ 35.f2 f3+ 36.exf3 f6 37.xb6+ e6 38.xe6+ g5 39.h4# 24.xd4 In case you have not
noticed, white is up a N and two Ps and has a winning advantage, but with a
591 point rating advantage the Grandmaster is not going to resign so quickly. b7+ 25.f2 xg2 26.xg2 xe2+ 27.f2 ad8 28.b2 h5 29.e6+ f6 30.e7 e8 31.he1 f7 32.b5 g5 33.d5+ g7 34.e6 f7 35.be1
After this black can only make meaningless moves and so he resigned. An
impressive performance by Betza. 35.be1 h5 36.d4 g6 37.d7 a6 38.h3 f4 39.6e5 f3+ 40.f1 g4 41.g5 g8 42.e4 f2 42...f7 43.g5+ 43.e2 f7 44.xf6 xf6 45.xf2+ 1–0
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