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.
[Event "US Open, San Juan"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1965.??.26"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ralph Betza"]
[Black "Robert Byrne"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A02"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 15"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "1965.07.26"]
{Bird's Opening} {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
Nf6 {Byrne chooses this flexible defense instead of the more popular 1...d5} 2.
Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 c5 {After this the opening is already in remotely
explored territory. Usual is 4...d5.} 5. Nc3 {This looks rather awkward. 5.O-O
is a good alternative.} d5 {[%mdl 32]} 6. d3 d4 {Black has already gained a
slight advantage.} 7. Ne4 Nd5 {There was nothing wrong with 7...Nxe4. In fact,
it was probably slightly better than the text.} 8. Bd2 Qb6 {Well played as it
gives white something to think about. Should he allow ...Qxb2 or not?} 9. c4 (
9. O-O Qxb2 {won't work. Instead, black should simply castle.} 10. Rb1 Qa3 (
10... Qxa2 11. Ne5 Bxe5 12. fxe5 O-O 13. Qc1 {White has what should amount to
a winning attack.}) 11. Rb3 Qxa2 12. Nxc5 {White is better.}) 9... Ne3 (9...
dxc3 10. bxc3 O-O 11. Rb1 {would leave white with a decent position.}) 10. Bxe3
dxe3 {Obviously black can't maintain the P on e3, but it temporarily has a
cramping effect on white's position.} 11. Rb1 (11. O-O Qxb2 12. Nxc5 O-O 13. d4
Nc6 14. Nd3 Qa3 15. Nde5 {is equal.}) 11... Qa5+ 12. Kf1 Nc6 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...
Nd4 {is another alternative.} 14. Qc1 Nb3 15. Qxe3 {with equal chances.}) 14.
Neg5 {Better was 14.Nc3 as the N now gets chased to a poor square.} h6 15. Nh3
O-O 16. Qc1 Qa4 {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... Bd4 17. Nxd4 cxd4 18. b4 Qc7 19. b5 Nd8 {Technically this position is
evaluated at nearly equal, but practically black looks to have all the chances.
}) (16... e5 17. Nxe5 Bxe5 18. fxe5 f4 {is interesting, but it appears white
manages to survive after} 19. Nxf4 g5 20. Bxc6 {A nice trap is set with this
move.} bxc6 (20... gxf4 21. Bd5+ Kh8 22. Kg2 Qc7 (22... fxg3 23. Qxe3 {wins
quickly.}) 23. e6 Rf6 24. Qc3 Qg7 25. Rhf1 Bxe6 26. Bxe6 Rxe6 27. Rxf4 {
with a decisive advantage.})) 17. Qxe3 Qc2 {Byrne has misjudged bot only the
amount of play he gets on the Q-side, but the strength of white's counterplay.}
18. Kf2 {[%mdl 32]} Bxb2 19. Qxc5 e5 {Correct was 19...Be6. Now white's Q and
N crete havoc.} 20. Qd6 Kg7 21. Nxe5 {This look natural, but it should have
allowed black to equalize.} (21. Rxb2 Qxb2 {and only now that black's Q has
been drawn away from e3 should white capture on e5.} 22. Nxe5 Nxe5 23. fxe5 {
and white is better.}) 21... Bd4+ 22. Kf3 Nxe5+ {[%mdl 8192] This eliminates
the dangerous N, but, ironically, loses the game.} (22... Qd2 23. Qxg6+ Kh8 24.
Qxh6+ {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... Bb6 {saves the B, but it's
met by} 24. Rxb6 {With the B gone all of black's hope disappears.} axb6 25. Nf4
Qc3 26. Qxg6+ Kh8 27. Qxh6+ Kg8 28. Ng6 {wins.} Re8 29. Qh8+ Kf7 30. Qh7+ Ke6
31. Rb1 Bd7 32. Nf4+ Kxe5 33. Qxd7 Qxc4 34. dxc4 Rxa3+ 35. Kf2 Rf3+ 36. exf3
Kf6 37. Rxb6+ Re6 38. Rxe6+ Kg5 39. h4#) 24. Qxd4 {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.}
Bb7+ 25. Kf2 Bxg2 26. Kxg2 Qxe2+ 27. Nf2 Rad8 28. Qb2 Qh5 29. e6+ {[%mdl 32]}
Rf6 30. e7 Re8 31. Rhe1 Kf7 32. Qb5 g5 33. Qd5+ Kg7 34. Re6 Qf7 35. Rbe1 {
After this black can only make meaningless moves and so he resigned. An
impressive performance by Betza.} (35. Rbe1 h5 36. Qd4 Kg6 37. Qd7 a6 38. Nh3
f4 39. R6e5 f3+ 40. Kf1 g4 41. Ng5 Qg8 42. Ne4 f2 (42... Rf7 43. Rg5+) 43. Re2
Qf7 44. Nxf6 Kxf6 45. Rxf2+) 1-0
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