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Saturday, December 30, 2023

Tactics, the Pornography of Chess

    
Tactical play covers such a wide area that it is hard to define it exactly. It's like pornography; hard to define, but you know it when you see it. 
    Many amateurs like to think they have a tactical style and, having heard the saying “chess is 99 percent tactics,” think that by playing tactical chess they are bound to win more games. What exactly is meant by tactics? Most players can't come up with an adequate description of what a tactical style is and from what I've seen online, some consider blundering away a piece to be sacrificing it. According to Wikipedia, a blunder is a very bad move usually caused by a tactical oversight. Especially among amateur and novice players, blunders often occur because of a faulty thought process where they do not consider the opponent's forcing moves. 
    Was Paul Morphy a strategist or a tactician? Morphy's play was revolutionary for his era and his combinations were amazing, but what made all those fantastic tactics we see in his games possible? His play in the openings emphasized positional development which lead to advantages that allowed him to dominate the position and often finish off the game with a brilliant attack. 
    And what of Alekhine? Spielmann observed that he could see combinations as well as Alekhine, but he just couldn't get the positions Alekhine got. Why? Alekhine knew how to build up overwhelming positions. 
    There's more to tactics than just willy-nilly sacrificing something. So, what is a combination or tactic? The Encyclopedia of Chess Middlegames gives the following tactics categories:
 
 Double Attack 
 Pawn Breakthroughs 
Blockades 
Decoys 
Discovered Attacks 
Passed Pawns 
X-ray Attacks 
Interception 
Deflection 
Pins 
Demolition of Pawns 
Overloading 
Annihilation of Defense 
Perpetual Attack 
Intermediate Move 
Space Clearance 
 
That's a long list of motifs one has to be able to recognize if one is going to adapt a successful tactical style. Even if one prefers to play in a strategic style, you still have to be able to recognize all that stuff to avoid making a tactical blunder yourself or to take advantage of one by your opponent. 
`According to Wikipedia, a combination is a sequence of moves, often initiated by a sacrifice, which leaves the opponent few options and results in tangible gain.
    Combinations are sufficiently forcing that one can calculate exactly how the advantage will be achieved against any defense. Indeed, it is usually necessary to see several moves ahead in exact detail before launching a combination, or else the initial sacrifice would not be undertaken. 
    Describing exactly what constitutes tactical play isn't easy though as seen by the definitions of some of the greats: 
 Emanuel Lasker: A variation which leads to a desirable issue by force. 
 Znosko-Borovsky: A maneuver distinguished by surprise (usually springing from a sacrifice) which brings about a sudden change in the position, and should gain some advantage. 
Euwe: A short part of the game within which a certain purpose is attained by force. 
Fine: A double attack. 
Botvinnik (a forced variation with sacrifice) disagreed with...
Romanovsky’s definition (a variation in the course of which both sides make forced moves and which ends with an objective advantage for the active side) because in Botvinnik's opinion it would include things which come under the category of maneuvers. Botvinnik’s definition covers most combinations, but not all according to CJS Purdy. 
    For example, consider a Queen in enemy territory that doesn't have an escape route. A series of threats that have to be met by the “threatened” side ends up with his losing the trapped Queen, but there may not have been any sacrifice at all. Purdy said tactics are characterized by violent moves, but not necessarily sacrifices. 
    In some positions there is a winning tactic and either the player finds it and wins, or doesn’t and the game goes on, but in most positions there are no tactics at all. And, here's the point many amateurs fail to understand, spectacular, forcing moves may be unsound because nothing can be forced and the opponent has a wide choice. That approach may work for a strong player like Tahl or Nezhmetdinov, but for most of us, entering such positions also means we have just as good a chance of blundering away the game as our opponents! 
    The trick is to find a move that will give the best results no matter what the opponent does. That is position play; it deals with small improvements in a position and you are not likely to get the chance for a combination unless you can build up an advantage in little ways like Morphy and Alekhine did. Obviously, a sound tactic trumps all positional considerations whenever it comes up, so you have to be on the lookout for tactics at every move. 
    Purdy recommended that when (if) you see an opponent’s threat try to imagine that he could not execute it and examine possible attacking moves because one of them could render the threat harmless. The danger is that when you see an opponent's threat, the natural reaction is to start looking for a defense and suddenly find yourself just reacting to your opponent's moves. On the other hand, if you don’t ask yourself if he has any threats, you will constantly be making blunders. 
     It's also necessary to realize that a positional advantage is not always necessary to be able to pull off a tactical coup. It is true that tactics are usually brought off by the player with the superior position, but many tactics arise when the stronger side misses something. We've all blundered in won positions! Never be deterred by what appears to be a positional disadvantage. Every part of the board must be examined for some accidental feature that may give rise to a combination. That means you have to be able to recognize all those 16 motifs The Encyclopedia of Chess Middlegames sets out when you see them. So, there's more to playing tactical chess than just sacrificing something.

Friday, December 29, 2023

Magnus Smith

    
Today’s game is another one played by Roy Fitzgerald, also from the 1905 Western Championship only this one it is one he lost. The winner was three-time Canadian chess champion Magnus Smith (1869–1934) who won the championship in 1899, 1904 and 1906. Smith was also the North West Champion in 1899, 1900, 1903, 1904, 1905 and 1906. He was inducted into the Canadian Chess Hall of Fame in 2000. 
    Myron Samsin who wrote an e-book titled In from the Cold: The Life and Chess of Magnus Smith says he was born in Raudhamel, Iceland as Magnus Magnusson in and immigrated to Manitoba in 1885 then moved to British Columbia in the fall of 1889. He eventually moved to Titusville, Pennasylvania which is about 45 miles south of Erie. He passed away on September 12, 1934.It's my understanding that members of Chess Cafe can download the book HERE.
    In 1899, Harry Nelson Pillsbury came to Winnipeg to play a simultaneous exhibition and Smith defeated him in 56 moves. In 1907, Smith defeated Emmanuel Lasker in a simultaneous exhibition in Winnipeg. 
    At some point Smith was living in the United States because he joined the staff of Lasker’s Chess Magazine in New York. He joined the Brooklyn Chess Club and won the club’s championship in 1908. Also, in 1908, Smith, W.E. Napier and Charles Nugent started a publication, The Chess Weekly. 
    In 1911, in the National Masters Tournament in New York (won by Marshall ahead of Capablanca, Smith finished 7th-8th with a 5-7 score. In 1912m he switched to the Manhattan Chess Club in and won its championship in 1912 and 1913. 
     He is probably the most famous for The Magnus Smith Trap, trap in the Sicilian Defense, but chess historian Edward Winter was unable to locate any games or analysis to justify naming the trap after Smith. 

A game that I liked (Fritz 17)

[Event "6th Western Championship"] [Site "Excelsior, MN USA"] [Date "1905.08.21"] [Round "2"] [White "Magnus Smith"] [Black "Roy G Fitzgerald"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C01"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "1905.??.??"] {[%evp 15,57,1,14,-24,147,-91,-52,-92,-81,-82,-36,-83,76,-17,-1,-2,382,390,387, 385,392,379,565,550,703,765,1025,942,29990,29991,29991,1107,911,815,789,688, 834,693,1011,866,3633,1517,29996,29997] C01: French: Exchange Variation} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 {Simple and clear cut, this variation makes no atteptt at gaining any advantage.} exd5 4. Bd3 Bd6 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Nc3 O-O 7. O-O Nc6 8. Bg5 Bg4 9. Kh1 (9. Nxd5 {is met by} Bxh2+ 10. Kxh2 Qxd5 11. Bxf6 gxf6 12. c3 Ne7 ( 12... Bxf3 13. Qxf3 Qxf3 14. gxf3 {and the ending favors black.}) 13. Rh1 { The idea ia toi attack h7m but there is really no way to take advantage of black's weakened K-side.} Rfe8 14. Qd2 Ng6 (14... Bxf3 15. gxf3 Qxf3 16. Rag1+ Ng6 17. Rg3 Qc6 18. Qh6 {with the advantage.}) 15. Ne1 (15. Qh6 Bxf3 16. gxf3 Qxf3 17. Kg1 Qxd3 {wins}) 15... Qg5 {equals}) 9... Re8 {This is a tactical error. Both 9...Ne7 and 9...Bd6 re satisfactory.} 10. Ne2 (10. Nxd5 Be7 11. Nxe7+ Qxe7 12. c3 {and white has won a P.}) 10... Nb4 11. c3 Nxd3 12. Qxd3 c6 13. Ng3 Bc7 {Instead of this passive move, black should have played 13...h6} ( 13... h6 14. Be3 Ne4 {with an active position.}) 14. Rae1 (14. Ne5 {was better. } Bxe5 15. dxe5 Rxe5 16. f4 {with good play.}) 14... Qd6 15. Ne5 Be6 {[%mdl 8192] The losing move. mith now gets a winning attack.} (15... Ne4 {results in complete equality.} 16. Nxe4 dxe4 17. Qxe4 Be6 18. Bf4 Bxa2 {is equal as there is no way white can take advantage of a discovery on the Q/}) (15... Ne4 16. Bf4 {is a bit more complicated, but it, too, leads to equal chances after} f6 17. f3 fxe5 18. dxe5 Nxg3+ 19. Bxg3 Qd7 20. fxg4 Qxg4) 16. Bxf6 {This works now because white is in a position to whip up a decisive attack on black's K.} gxf6 17. Nh5 fxe5 18. dxe5 Qc5 (18... Bf5 {was not much better.} 19. exd6 (19. Qxf5 {is less effective.} Rxe5 20. Rxe5 Qxe5 {White can keepo a slight advantage with...} 21. Qg4+ Kf8 22. f4 Qe6 23. Qg7+ Ke7 24. Qxh7) 19... Bxd3 20. Nf6+) 19. f4 {[%mdl 32]} Kf8 20. f5 Bc8 21. Qg3 Ke7 22. Qg5+ Kd7 23. Nf6+ { This is plenty good enough, but he missed a mate.} (23. e6+ fxe6 24. fxe6+ Rxe6 25. Nf6+ Kd6 26. Qg3+ Ke7 27. Qxc7+ Bd7 28. Qxd7+ Kf8 29. Rxe6 h6 30. Nh5+ Kg8 31. Qg7#) 23... Kd8 24. Nxe8+ Kxe8 25. e6 Qf8 26. Qh5 Ke7 27. exf7+ Kf6 28. Re8 (28. Qxh7 $142 Be5 29. Qh4+ {[%eval 32752,29] [%wdl 1000,0,0] [%emt 0:00:06]} Kxf7 30. Rxe5 Kg8 31. f6 Bf5 32. Rfxf5 Qf7 33. Rg5+ Qg6 34. Rxg6+ Kf8 35. Qh8+ Kf7 36. Qg7#) 28... Qxf7 29. Qh6+ {Black resigned.} (29. Qh6+ Qg6 30. fxg6+ Bf5 31. g7+ Kf7 32. g8=Q#) 1-0

Thursday, December 28, 2023

Congressional Representative Roy G. Fitzgerald

    
Roy Gerald Fitzgerald (August 25, 1875 – November 16, 1962) was an attorney, soldier, preservationist, and a member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio. He was also an amateur chessplayer of some ability.
    He was born in Watertown, New York and moved to Dayton, Ohio with his parents in 1890 when his father's employer, the Davis Sewing Machine Company, was purchased by George P. Huffman and relocated from Watertown to Dayton.
    Fitzgerald attended Dayton public schools, read law under John M. Sprigg of Dayton and was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1896. He commenced practice in Dayton as a partner in Sprigg & Fitzgerald that later became Fitzgerald & Sprigg.
    In 1900, Fitzgerald married and thebcouple had two daughters and a son. Their son, Roy Jr., was a Major in World War II, survived the Battle of the Bulge, but died five months after VJ Day. 
    Fitzgerald’s first wife, Caroline, suffered with ill health and she died in 1935 during her husband's Congressional service. He remarried after her death. 
    During World War I, Fitzgerald enlisted in the Army and was later commissioned as an Infantry Captain of infantry and was the commanding officer of Headquarters Company, 329th Infantry Regiment. In 1928 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of Infantry, United States Army Reserve Corps.
    Fitzgerald was elected as a Republican from Ohio and served five terms. He was defeated for reelection in 1930. 
    During his decade in Congress, Fitzgerald fought for a number of causes that dismayed his more conservative colleagues, including child labor laws, reorganization of the U S Army Air Corps as an independent body and Federal care of the needy aged, the forerunner of Social Security. 
    A licensed pilot and early advocate of flying, Fitzgerald was acquainted with Wright brothers. His interest in flying led him, in 1927, to urge that the Air Force be reorganized as an independent military force. 
    After his Congressional service, he resumed practicing law in Dayton with two partners. From 1927 to 1930, he was a delegate to an organization that studied methods of classifying international law and served in Paris, Berlin, Geneva and London. 
    He also found time to climbed 14,410 foot Mount Rainier in Washington state. Then, in 1929, he swam the Bosphorus Strait from Europe to Asia in a cold rain. The swim took him 30 minutes. 
    Fitzgerald was a director of the Merchants National Bank & Trust Company in Dayton for more than 50 years, and president of the Montgomery County Historical Society for 22 years. 
    Fitzgerald died in Dayton in 1962 after a long illness and is interred with his family at Woodland Cemetery in Dayton, Ohio. 
    His opponent in the following game was James Abbott (1852-1932). He was President of the Western Chess Association from 1906-1907. 
     The game was played in the 6th Western Championship (US Open) in Excelsior, Minnesota in 1905. It was very close and hard-fought event, in which the top five finishers did not draw any of their games with each other. Playing three games a day had to be a grind! 
 

    There was also a controversy when one player, Charles Rosen, defaulted several games and the tournament committee decided to cancel his score because he had played less than half of his games. This action benefited Blake, who had drawn with Rosen, and penalized Schrader who had received a point on forfeit.
    However, just before the last round they changed their mind and declared that Blake's draw with Rosen would have to stand. That left Blake and Schrader tied for first. In the final round Schrader defeated Fitzgerald while Blake could only draw against Stacy. 

A game that I liked (Fritz 17)

[Event "Western Champ, Excelsior, Minnesota"] [Site "Excelsior, MN USA"] [Date "1905.08.23"] [Round "?"] [White "Roy G Fitzgerald"] [Black "James Abbott"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D37"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "1905.??.??"] {D37: Queen's Gambit Declined} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bf4 {This move is not seen very often, but it's a dynamic move that gives white an aggressive position. In recent times it's been used by Shirov, Kramnik, So and Anand.} Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 b6 7. Rc1 c5 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Bd3 Ba6 {Not really bad, but the modern was is either 9...Bb7 or 9...Nc6} 10. O-O {Taking on a6 was equally good.} Bxd3 11. Qxd3 c4 12. Qf5 Qd7 {The exchange of Qs does not turn out well. His best choices were either 12...Bc6 or 12...Bb4} 13. Qxd7 Nbxd7 14. Ne5 Nb8 { This retreat is not a desirable move to have to make, but in this situation it is blacks' best choice.} (14... Nxe5 {A superficial glance might give the impression that this is OK, but after} 15. dxe5 Nd7 16. Nxd5 Bd8 17. Rxc4 { White has a decisive advantage.}) 15. b3 cxb3 16. axb3 Bb4 17. Nb5 {[%mdl 2048] } Nbd7 {With this move black's position collapses, but white's somewhat imprecise play that follows lets black back in the game.} (17... a5 18. Nc6 Nxc6 19. Rxc6 Rfc8 20. Rfc1 Rxc6 21. Rxc6 a4 22. bxa4 h6 23. Nc7 Rxa4 {While this position favors white, in Shootouts white scored +2 -0 =3. so blacl does have reasonable drawing chances OTB.}) 18. Nc6 a5 19. Nxb4 {After this white's position deteriorates to the point that his advantage is minimal (or even just theoretical) without his making any obviously bad moves!} (19. Nc7 {is the only move that keeps his winning chances at a high probability.} Rac8 (19... Nh5 20. Nxa8 Rxa8 21. Nxb4 axb4 22. Ra1 {wins}) 20. Nxb4 axb4 21. Bd6 Rfd8 22. Be7 {wins}) 19... axb4 20. Bd6 {Illustrating what was wrong with 17...Nvd7} Rfc8 21. Bxb4 g6 22. Rc7 (22. Nc7 {was even better.} Rab8 23. Rc6 {Black is left without a reasonable move.}) 22... Rxc7 23. Nxc7 Ra2 (23... Rc8 24. Bd6 Ne4 25. Nxd5 Nxd6 26. Ne7+ Kf8 27. Nxc8 Nxc8 {with a difficult ending...white should prevail, but it will require considerable technique.}) 24. Be7 {24.Rc1 was a very good move.} Rc2 {Going after the b-Pawn would have result in an ending where black had better practical chances.} (24... Rb2 25. Rc1 Rxb3 26. g4 h6 27. Rc6 Ne4 28. Nxd5 Kg7 29. Rc7 Ndf6 30. Bxf6+ Nxf6 31. Nxf6 Kxf6 32. h4 {Theoretically white has a won position.} Ke6) 25. Nb5 Ne4 26. b4 Rb2 {[%mdl 8192] This harmless looking move loses a couple of Ps and, of course, the game. } (26... f6 {A virtually impossible move to spot!} 27. Bd6 Kf7 28. Bg3 Ke7 29. Ra1 Rc4 30. Na7 Rc3 (30... Rxb4 31. Nc6+) 31. Kf1 {And a draw seems a reasonable outcome.}) 27. f3 Nd2 28. Rc1 {Hoping for Rc7.} Kg7 (28... Nc4 { puts up stouter resistance.} 29. Re1 f6 30. Nc7 Kf7 31. Nxd5 Ke6 32. e4 Rd2 { and a hard struggle remains.}) 29. Nc7 {White is winning.} Nf6 30. Bxf6+ Kxf6 31. Nxd5+ {Another P falls, so black resigned.} 1-0

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Sneaky Pawn Sacrifices

    
Subtle and skillfully executed Pawn sacrifices are always pleasing especially if the point is not so obvious and in the following game Tartakower pulled off a sly one. 
    Dr. Savielly Tartakower (1887-1956) was born in Russia and moved to Vienna at age 17. He became a Doctor of Law in 1909, but he never practiced law. During World War I, he served in the Austro-Hungarian army. In 1918, after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I, he became a Polish citizen and moved to Paris. 
    During World War II, he served in the Free French Army under General Charles de Gaulle. His French colleagues found his name too difficult to pronounce, so he changed it to Lieutenant Dr. Georges Cartier. He became a French citizen after World War II. 
    Tartakower is regarded as one of the founders of the Hypermodern School of Chess (along with Reti, Nimzovich and Breyer) and was a prolific writer. In addition to chess books, he also wrote a screenplay and a collection of poems. He worked for more than 30 chess magazines in multiple countries and his newspaper correspondence appeared in 11 languages. 
    His opponent was Geza Maroczy (1870-1951). Born in , Hungary, he was educated at the Polytechnic School of Zurich, where he became librarian of the Hungarian Society and where he first learned chess. Later he was appointed to a government position at Budapest and became a civil engineer. 
    Not greatly appreciated today, Chessmetrics considers Maroczy to have been the No. 1 player in the world for 30 months in 1904-07. In 1906 he agreed to terms for a World Championship match with Lasker, but there were political problems in Cuba, where the match was to be played. Maroczy failed to make the $500 (something over $16,000 today) deposit by the deadline and the negotiations ended. 

Tuesday, December 26, 2023

An Uncultured Grandmaster

   
It has been a strange past few days! The unseasonably warm weather in this neck of the woods meant my neighbor across the street was able to cut his grass on Christmas day; normally we would be shoveling snow or at least bundling up to go outside and not cutting grass!
    Also, sometime between the 22nd and the 25th Blogger started displaying the games again. Strange.
    Vladimir Liberzon was born in Moscow on March 23, 1937 and emigrated to Israel in 1973. He died in Isreal in 1997 at the age of 59. 
    He graduated from college with a mechanical engineering degree and claimed never to have been a professional player. However, for many years he worked as a chess trainer in Israel and he authored two chess books in Hebrew. In one of them he posed the question, "What is the best variation of Alekhine's Defense?" Answer: "They are all bad." 
    Liberzon was the first Grandmaster from the Soviet Union who was allowed to emigrate to Israel and so became Israel's first Grandmaster. 
    Known for his disciplined professionalism, Liberzon played in several Soviet championships, his best result being fourth at the 36th Championship in Alma-Ata 1968/69. Other results were less notable; his first entry led to a lowly finish at Tbilisi 1966/67, but he achieved solid mid-table performances at Moscow 1969 and at Riga 1970. 
    After moving to Israel he scored well in international tournaments finishing first or tying for first at Venice 1974, Lone Pine 1975, Beer-Sheva 1976 and Lone Pine 1979. 
    He finished second (or tied for second) at Netanya 1975 and Reykjavík 1975 and he finished third at Amsterdam 1977. He was a leading member of the Israeli teams in the Olympiads between 1974 and 1980. During his career he scored victories over Mikhail Tal, Paul Keres and Tigran Petrosian. Botvinnik was luckier; twice he barely escaped defeat. 
    Liberzon was not considered a cultured man. William Hartston told the story about when he first met Liberzon in Iceland in 1974, before they had been introduced, Liberzon walked over and asked if he spoke Hebrew. Hartston replied no, but said he did speak a little Russian. Liberzon replied that people with noses as big as Hartston’s usually spoke Hebrew. Liberzon spent the rest of the tournament telling Hartston dirty jokes in Russian. 
    His opponent in this game is FM Robert Sulman (born 1961) who is a USCF Life Master (meaning he played over 300 rated games and maintained a rating over 2200) who had a rating high of 2406 in 1992. 
    According to a note about him at Chessgames.com he was originally from Newburgh, New York and had a very original style, a bit quirky, and aggressive. He became a mathematics professor at the State University of New York at Oneonta and seems to have retired from chess over 20 years ago. 

A game that I liked (Fritz 17)

[Event "Lone Pine"] [Site "Lone Pine, CA USA"] [Date "1981.03.29"] [Round "1"] [White "Vladimir Liberzon"] [Black "Robert Sulman"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C03"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "1981.??.??"] {C03: French Tarrasch Variation} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 {The Tarrasch Variation is named after Siegbert Tarrasch. This move became popular during the 1970s and early 1980s when Karpov used it to great effect. Though less aggressive than 3.Nc3, it is still used by top-level players seeking a small, safe advantage. Like 3.Nc3, 3.Nd2 protects e4, but is different in several key respects: it does not block white’s c-Pawn from advancing, which means he can play c3 at some point to support his d4-Pawn. Hence, it avoids the Winawer Variation as 3...Bb4 is now answered by 4.c3. On the other hand, 3.Nd2 develops the N to a less active square than 3.Nc3, and in addition, it hems in white’s dark-square B. Hence, white will typically have to spend an extra tempo moving the N from d2 at some point before developing his c1B.} b6 { A rare sideline. 3...c5 and 3...Nf6 are the most popular replies while 3... dxe4 and 3...Be7 are seen less frequently.} 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. e5 (5. Bb5+ c6 6. Bd3 Ba6 7. Qe2 Bxd3 8. Qxd3 {is completely equal. Sanal,V (2506)-Tate,E (2259) Albena BUL 2015}) 5... Ne4 6. Nxe4 (6. Bd3 Bb7 7. Qe2 Nxd2 8. Bxd2 a5 9. O-O { Vogt,L (2455)-Karner,H (2410) Tallinn 1981. White is a bit better.}) (6. Bb5+ { This is white's best reply.} c6 7. Bd3 Nxd2 8. Bxd2 Ba6 9. Bg5 Be7 10. h4 h6 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. Kf1 O-O 13. Rh3 c5 14. Rg3 {An interesting position which white soon won, but at this point the chances are about even. Van der Wiel,J (2590) -Short,N (2615) Brussels 1987}) 6... dxe4 7. Ng5 Bb7 (7... Qd5 {The attempt to save the P is not advisable because of} 8. Qh5 g6 9. Qg4 Bb7 10. Qf4 f5 11. exf6 {with the advantage.}) 8. Bb5+ Nd7 (8... c6 {leads to some tricky play that results in approximately equal chances, but it's difficult, if not impossible, to calculate OTB.} 9. Ba4 h6 10. Nxe4 b5 11. Bb3 c5 12. Nxc5 Bxc5 13. dxc5 Qxd1+ 14. Kxd1 Bxg2 15. Rg1 Bf3+ 16. Ke1 g5) 9. Qg4 {White already has a strong initiative.} a6 10. Be2 Qe7 11. Nxe4 O-O-O {Black hopes to find shelter for his K on the Q-side, but even so, white, having move space and greater freedom will succeed in ferreting out the Black even on the Q-side.} 12. Bf3 Kb8 13. O-O f5 {Black has to do something and this try is likely as good any any.} 14. exf6 $1 gxf6 15. Nc3 f5 16. Qf4 Rg8 17. Bxb7 $18 Kxb7 18. Qf3+ c6 19. Bf4 Qb4 {The Q doesn’t belong over here.} (19... Bg7 {attacking the d-Pawn offers better chances.} 20. Rad1 Nf6 {Even here white is considerably better.}) 20. Qe3 Qxb2 {This capture is, as usual, very risky especially here because it opens up a file against his K. Sulman has completely lost the thread of the game.} 21. Rab1 (21. Qxe6 {would be a mistake.} Ba3 {Now after either 12.Qe3 oe 12.Qc4 white's advantage is not so great.}) 21... Qa3 22. Qxe6 Rg4 (22... Rg6 {keeps fighting.} 23. Qe3 Bd6 24. Rb3 Bxf4 25. Qxf4 Qf8) 23. Rb3 (23. Qxf5 {is inferior.} Rxf4 24. Qxf4 Qxc3 25. Qh4 Kc7 26. Qxh7 Qc4 {and black can make a fight of it in spite of the material situation! In Shootouts the ending were long and very, very tricky. White scored +2 -1 =2}) 23... Qa5 {After this black is quite lost.} (23... Qe7 {Really does not help much though.} 24. Qxf5 Rg7 25. Ne4 Qf7 26. Qxf7 Rxf7 27. g3 {and the end is not far off,.}) 24. d5 {Opening lines to the K.} cxd5 25. Nxd5 {Now the b-Pawn is under a murderous attack.} Rg6 26. Qxf5 Rf6 27. Qe4 Nc5 28. Qe5 Bd6 29. Qxf6 {Black redigned. Precision play by Liberzon.} 1-0

Friday, December 22, 2023

Test Post

    Blogger has quit displaying the games using the Fritz 17 "direct share create a HTML file" option , but the "direct share" option seems to work OK. Perhaps that's because the game is stored off site. Who knows?  
    I have noticed that for the past several days when the post loads it takes a short while for the games to display properly. I have no idea what the problem is. This is just a test post. The games was analyzed using Fritz 17, saved and then reopened in ChessOK Aquarium 2020. It was then posted using the Web Export, iBook for Blog command. This was the old method until I started using Fritz 17. I am not sure which way I will be posting games in the future. Readers...any thoughts?

 

Guest - Tartajubow

Result: 0-1
Site: Chess Hotel
Date: 2023.05.23
B01: Scandinavian Defense
[...] 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 c6 3.dxc6 e5 4.cxb7
4.d4 exd4 5.cxb7 ♗xb7 6.♘f3 ♘c6 7.c3 dxc3 8.♕xd8+ ♖xd8 9.♘xc3 ♘b4 10.♗b5+ ♔e7 11.O-O ♗xf3 12.gxf3 ♘c2 13.♖b1 g6 14.♗g5+ f6 15.♖fe1+ ♘xe1 16.♖xe1+ ♔f7 17.♗c4+ ♔g7 18.♗e3 ♖d7 Buchenau,F (2218)-Castellanos Gomez,A (2277) chess.com INT 2022 0-1 (31)
4.♘c3 ♗c5 5.♘f3 ♘xc6 6.♗c4 ♘f6 7.h3 e4 8.♘g5 ♗xf2+ 9.♔f1 O-O 10.♘gxe4 ♘xe4 11.♘xe4 ♗b6 12.d3 ♘e5 13.♗b3 ♗f5 14.♗g5 ♕d4 15.♕e2 ♖ae8 16.♖e1 ♔h8 17.♗e3 ♕xe3 18.♕xe3 ♗xe3 Lebedev,A (1901)-Navalgund,N (2246) chess.com INT 2022 0-1 (54)
4...♗xb7 5.♗b5+ ♘c6 6.♘e2
Better is 6.♘f3±6...e4 7.♕e2 ♘f6 8.♘e5 ♕d5 9.♘xc6 ♗xc6 10.♘c3 ♕e6 11.♗xc6+ ♕xc6 12.O-O O-O-O 13.a4 ♗d6 14.a5 ♖de8 15.♖a4 ♔b8 16.♖c4 ♕b7 17.a6 ♕e7 18.d4 h6 19.♘b5 ♖c8 20.♘xd6 ♕xd6 21.♖xc8+ Fiori,H (2171)-Galleto,R (2014) Villa Martelli ARG 2013 1-0 (37)
6.♕e2 ♕g5 7.♕f3 ♖c8 8.♘h3 ♕g6 9.d3 ♗c5 10.O-O ♘ge7 11.♗e3 ♗xe3 12.fxe3 O-O 13.♕e2 ♘b4 14.♘c3 ♘ed5 15.♘xd5 ♗xd5 16.c3 ♘c6 17.e4 ♗e6 18.♕e3 ♖fd8 19.♖f3 ♗g4 20.♖g3 h5 Hamzic,A (1874)-Nice,D Vinkovci 2008 1-0
6...♗c5 (6...♕d5⩲7.♘bc3 ♕xg2 8.♘g3 ♕h3 9.♕f3 ♕d7±) 7.O-O±7...♕b6 8.♗xc6+ (8.c4± and life is bright. 8...O-O-O 9.♘bc3 ♘d4) 8...♕xc6 White resigned (Not 8...♗xc6 9.d4 exd4 10.♘d2±) (8...♕xc6 9.♘f4 exf4 10.♖e1+ ♘e7 11.♕f3−⁠+)
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A Messy, but Exciting Game

 
    
George N. Treysman was an exceptionally strong coffeehouse player from New York City who is little known today. That’s mostly because not much is known about the details of his life and, because he was primarily a coffehouse hustler, most of his games have not survived. 
    Treystman was never a serious tournament player except for the year 1936 when he nearly won the US Championship. In those days there were a series of preliminary qualifying events and players had to score well to make it to the finals. Treystman nearly won the event and would have if it had not been for a catastrophic last round loss to Albert Simonson. Instead he finished tied with Rueben Fine for third place behind Samuel Reshevsky and Simonson. 
Treysman

    Treystman earned his living as a hustler in the seedier chess clubs of New York City. He was willing to gamble on anything…chess, horses, cards…anything. Norman Lessing and Dr. Anthony Saidy in their book, The World of Chess, wrote that Treystman, “never opened a chess book or, I suspect, many books of whatever description.” 
    Arnold Denker called Treysman the best odds-giver at chess in the United States. Among his victims were such stalwarts as Isaac Kashdan, Arthur Dake, Alex Kevitz, Herman Steiner and Arnold Denker. The site Chessmetrics which calculates historical ratings, put his performance in this event at 2575. According to Chessmetrics his peak rating was 2650. When the first official chess rating system was published in 1950 Treystman had a 2521 rating. 
  
Adams

 
Treysman qualified for the finals at the 1937 US Open in Chicago, where he tied 3rd-4th and in 1938 he again played in the US Championship at New York where he tied 10-11th place out of 16. He died of throat cancer in February, 1959.
    Here is a sample game in which he defeated US Master Weaver W. Adams. The game can best be described as “messy.” That refers to the position, not the play, as both players threaded their way through the complications quite well. 
    Adams played the unusual (but not for him!) Albin Countergambit and Treysman got a slight advantage, but then on move 10 he overlooked a nice shot ans the position remained equal. Then starting around move 25 Adams’ began playing a few inferior moves and soon found himself in serious trouble. 
    If I don’t post against until after Christmas, have a merry Christmas, or enjoy Chinese food and a movie. 
 
For whatever reason Blogger has ceased to properly display the posted games. They can be highlighted and copied and pasted into a chess program, but there will be no notes. I do not know if this is a temporary problem or not. Therefore I have used Fritz 17's alternative posting method to display the games.  

 

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Trifunovic Trounces Aaron

    
One of my favorite openings was the Torre Attack. In the Torre white develops his dark squared Bishop actively outside the Pawn chain and aims for an attack on the K-side. 
    It’s sometimes advertised as a “system” that you can play almost automatically, but that’s not true. White's strategy will depend on what type of formation black chooses. 
    The downside is that the Torre Attack doesn’t create any early Pawn tension in the center and so black has many options against it. What that means is that if you are going to play the Torre, you will have to be familiar with the correct strategy to use against any number of black setups. Nevertheless, white can often develop a very dangerous attack. 
    The Torre Attack came into being in 1925, when the young Mexican star Carlos Torre used it at the top level important international tournament in Moscow. The Torre does, however, setup allows white to develop harmoniously, has great flexibility and offers white good attacking potential. 
    In the following game you see just how effective the Torre can be. The winner was Yugoslav GM Dr. Peter Trifunovic (August 31,1910 - December 8, 1980) who was a five-time Yugoslav Champion. For many years Yugoslavia was the world's second strongest chess nation and so it is a measure of his strength that at the first and second Yugoslav Championships held 1935 in Belgrade and 1936 in Novi Sad, that Trifunovic finished third in ‘35 and second the following year. Later he won the Yugoslav championship five times (1945, 1946, 1947 (shared with Gligoric), 1952 and 1961). 
    Trifunovic played in seven Olympiads between 1935 and 1962, the most memorable being Dubrovnik 1950 where his 10-3 score earned him the board 3 gold medal. 
    He obtained a Law degree in 1933, followed by a Doctorate. He received the IM title in 1950 and the GM title in 1953. 
    Originally, in the 1930s, he had a reputation as a fierce attacker, but like Flohr, he eventually began relying on positional play and defensive technique. As a result he became a drawing master. In his drawn match with Miguel Najdorf at Opatija 1949 the score was +1 −1 =10 and at Leipzig in 1965 he drew all 15 of his games. 
    One amusing tournament took place on his US tour was in 1962. In an open tournament in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma he was expected to win, but draws with Senior Master Kenneth Smith and the Dallas Expert Robert Potter resulted in his ending up in a ten way tie for first! 

    In the following game Trifunovic played the Torre Attack and used his positional assets (control of an open file, N outposts, weak square complex, good B vs. bad B) to gain complete dominance of the position and ended the game with a surprising tactic. 
    Manuel Aaron (born December 30, 1935) was the first Indian master in the second half of the 20th century. He dominated chess in India in the 1960s to the 1980s and was the national champion of India nine times between 1959 and 1981. 

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Louis Persinger

    
Louis Persinger (February 11, 1887 - December 31, 1966) was an American violinist, pianist and professor of violin and an amateur chessplayer. 
    Persinger had early lessons in Colorado, appearing in public by the age of 12. His main studies were at the Leipzig Conservatory where he studied violin, piano and conducting before finishing his training in Brussels and France. He was described by one of his teachers as "one of the most talented pupils the Leipzig Conservatory ever had. 
    He served as leader of the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra and the Royal Opera Orchestra in Brussels before being appointed leader and assistant conductor of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in 1915 and in 1930 he joined the faculty og the Juilliard School in New York. He was best known as the teacher of many great violinists. 
    Persinger was also a pretty good amateur chessplayer. I was not able to locate a rating for him, but I would guess it was somewhere between 1800-2000. In 1941, Persinger won the first USCF open correspondence tournament. 
    In 1944, he played in the US Chess Championship, but only scored a half point out of 17 games and finished in last place. His lone draw was against sixth place finisher George Shainswit. He explained the problem was that the chess boards were out of tune. 
    There were only 18 players, many of whom were non-masters, who were split into two qualifying two qualifying events and Persinger got into the finals as a result of finishing in the top half of one of the qualifiers. 
    You can view an old tournament book of the 2nd Hollywood Pan-Am played in Los Angeles in 1954. Persinger finished tied for 57-60 out of 74 players with a score of +4 -7 =3. You can find the original version HERE. Here’s a nice, fairly well played win he scored in that event.

Sunday, December 17, 2023

Stick–to–itiveness Wins the Tournament

    
For those who are not familiar with the geography of Poland, Polanica Zdroi is a spa town with a population of over 61,000 that lies in south-western Poland. I checked it out on Google Maps and it looks like a nice place. 
    At the same time as all the hoopla of the Bobby Fischer vs. Boris Spassy World Championship Match (aka the Match of the Century) that took place in 1972, a tournament in Polanica Zdroi went virtually unnoticed. 
    During August the tenth Rubinstein Memorial took place. It could not be considered especially strong because only 10 of the 16 players had international titles, but Krysztof Pytel, the Polish champion, went on to obtain the IM title in 1975. Also, Evgenij Ermenkov of Bulgaria was to be awarded the IM title in 1974 and the GM title in 1977. He was Bulgarian Champion in 1973, 1975, 1976, 1979 and 1984 (jointly). 
a residential street in the city

    Bernard Zuckerman told how the townspeople besieged the players for autographs wherever they went; the players were also asked for autographs during their games! 
    From the beginning it was a fight for first place between the Czech GM Jan Smejkal and Soviet GM Evgeni Vasiukov. The latter went undefeated while Smejkel lost to Anatoly Lutikov and had doubtful and probably even lost positions in some games (e.g. the featured game!), but his ingenuity and stick–to–itiveness allowed him to overtake Vasiukov. 
    The US representative IM Bernard Zuckerman had a modest result, but he was a well known opening expert, but when he blundered against Polish IM Jacek Bednarski it was Bednarski who receive the prize for the best theoretical novelty.
 
 
    The winner of the following game was Jan Smejkal (born March 22, 1946) who received the GM title in 1972. In the 1970s he was among the world chess elite. He won the Czech Championship in 1973, 1979 and 1986. In 1973 at the Interzonal in Leningrad he finished fourth and so just missed qualifying for the World Championship Candidates Tournament. His opponent was Ervin Haag (1933-2018) of Hungry. He was awarded the IM title in 1960 and the Correspondence IM title in 1961. 

Friday, December 15, 2023

The Sheep Attacks the Wolf

    
Back in 1958, Larry Evans published a book titled Modern Ideas In Chess. The Amazon blurb says it is “one of the most influential chess books written,” and “readers will learn the most important strategy, tactics and themes that comprise a successful chess game.” 
    Amazon reviewers called it a “hidden gem” and “the best chess book I have ever read,” etc. Several complained of very bad proofreading, typos, diagrams, etc. 
    In the book Evans examined the elements of space, time, force and Pawn structure. Eugene Znosko-Borovsky published the Middle Game in Chess (not sure of the date) that was translated into English by Julius Du Mont back in 1938. You can take a look at Znosko-Borovsky’s book that was published as a Project Gutenberg Canada Ebook. HERE
    In his book Evans has different samples and discusses some things Znosko-Borovsky didn’t and I suppose some of his instruction may be helpful. I have the book, but never read it. I did read Znosko-Borovsky’s book many years ago and liked it, but it never helped...that’s not a slam at the book because none of the books I ever read elevated much beyond the patzer level. 
    When it comes to gambits, Evans explained that the gambiteer hopes to profit from his rapid development and superior mobility, but he added that if the player accepting the gambit has made no errs or his position has no organic weaknesses then the gambit is unfounded. 
    Evans stated that there are three way to meet a gambit. 1) decline it, 2) doggedly hold on to the material at the cost of the initiative and 3) accept it and then return the material at a favorable moment. Evans style dictated approach number 2 as can be seen in the following game from San Antonio, 1972. 
    The tournament was sponsored by Bill Church of Church's Fried Chicken, a restaurant chain in the United States. The company started out as a small fried chicken shack across from the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. 
    In 1952, retired chicken incubator salesman George W. Church Sr. opened the first restaurant, Church's Fried Chicken To-Go, in San Antonio. It sold two pieces of chicken and a roll for 49 cents. They added fries and jalapenos to the menu in 1955. To allow customers to see their food prepared while they waited, Church designed the kitchen with the fryers next to the takeout window. 
    The company had four restaurants by the time of Church death in 1956. After his death, family members took over operations and in 1962, Church’s son Bill Junior took over as top executive. \ Popeyes bought Church's Chicken for nearly $400 million in 1989 in a heavily financed deal that plunged the new owner into bankruptcy proceedings by 1991. AFC Enterprises, originally called America's Favorite Chicken Co. acquired Popeyes and Church's Chicken in 1992. The company changed its name to Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen in 2014. Bill Church passed away at the age of 81 on February 7, 2014. 
 

    In the following game both players were true to their style. Ken Smth played the Smith-Mora Gambit against Evans’ Sicilain Defense and Evans, who had a strategic and patient (i.e. boring) style held on to the Pawn and, in a way that was unusual for him, almost immediately went after Smith’s King. 

A game that I liked (Fritz 17)

[Event "Church's Fried Chicken, San Antonio"] [Site ""] [Date "1972.11.30"] [Round "?"] [White "Kenneth Smith"] [Black "Larry Evans"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B21"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "1972.11.19"] {B21: Sicilian: Smith-Morra Gambit} 1. e4 c5 2. d4 {This was long advocated by Smith who wanted amateurs to play gambits. White sacrifices a P for quick development (hopefully) attacking chances. It's rarely seen at this level even though it does not have a refutation.} cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 {White has two options: 4.Nxc3 and 4.Bc4 which is similar to the Danish Gambit and may be a bit too much.} 4. Nxc3 {White’s plan is straightforward and consists of placing his B on c4 from where it attacks f7, control the c and d-files with Rs and utilize the fact that black will find a suitable place for his Q.} Nc6 { Black has gobs of decent setups that are effective.} 5. Nf3 d6 6. Bc4 a6 7. O-O Nf6 8. Bg5 e6 9. Qe2 h6 10. Bh4 g5 {[%mdl 32] An excellent move. Evans wastes no time going after the K.} 11. Bg3 Nh5 $1 12. Rfd1 (12. Rad1 {isn't any better as the game Lendwai,R (2410)-Lutz,C (2550) Graz 1993 demonstrated.} Nxg3 13. hxg3 Qf6 14. Nh2 Be7 15. f4 gxf4 16. gxf4 Qg7 {Black is better and went on to win.}) 12... Nxg3 13. hxg3 g4 14. Ne1 (14. Nd4 Ne5 15. Rac1 Bd7 16. Bb3 Rc8 17. Nc2 Qg5 18. Ne3 h5 19. Na4 Rxc1 20. Rxc1 Bc6 21. Rd1 h4 22. Nb6 h3 { White resigned. Sanchez Maya,S (2203)-Arenas,D (2266) Medellin 2009}) 14... Ne5 15. Bb3 h5 {Black only has a N developed, but white is already in serious difficulty.} 16. Nd3 Bg7 17. Nf4 (17. Nxe5 {with the idea of eliminating an attacking piece isn't any better. To wit...} Bxe5 18. Qe3 h4 19. Ne2 hxg3 20. Nxg3 Bd7 21. Rac1 Qh4 {White's K goes on the run, but there is no really safe place.} 22. Kf1 Bb5+ 23. Ke1 Bxb2 {Black is winning.}) 17... h4 18. Qd2 (18. Qe3 hxg3 19. Qxg3 Qg5 20. Rac1 Bd7 {White is out of reasonable moves. Black has no forced win here, but a Shootout continuation ran...} 21. Rc2 Nc6 22. Qe3 Qh6 23. Kf1 Be5 24. g3 b5 25. Nd3 Qxe3 26. fxe3 Bxg3 27. Rg2 Be5 28. Rxg4 Ke7 29. Rc1 Bf6 30. Rg2 Rh1+ 31. Rg1 Rxg1+ 32. Kxg1 Rg8+ 33. Kf2 Rh8 34. Nf4 Be5 35. Kg2 Nb4 36. Rd1 a5 37. a4 Bxc3 38. bxc3 bxa4 39. cxb4 axb3 40. bxa5 Bc6 41. Kf3 Rb8 42. Ne2 f5 43. Nc3 b2 44. a6 Rb3 45. Nb1 Bxe4+ 46. Kf2 Rb5 47. a7 Ra5 { and it's pretty clear that black wins.}) 18... hxg3 19. fxg3 Qb6+ 20. Kf1 Bd7 21. Rac1 Rd8 22. Ke2 {White is dead in the water...he has no plan and zero useful moves. All that's left is for Evans to play solid, careful moves (which was his style) to secure the win.} Nf3 {[%mdl 512]} 23. Qd3 Nd4+ 24. Kd2 Nxb3+ 25. axb3 Qf2+ 26. Nce2 Bb5 27. Qe3 Qxe3+ 28. Kxe3 e5 29. Nd5 Bh6+ 30. Kf2 Bxc1 31. Rxc1 Bc6 32. Nec3 Kd7 33. Nf6+ Ke6 34. Nxg4 f5 35. exf5+ Kxf5 36. Ne3+ Ke6 37. g4 d5 {[%mdl 32]} 38. Ne2 d4 39. Nc4 Rdg8 40. Kg3 Rg5 {The time control has been reached and so Smith resigned. Neraly flawless play by Evans left Smith without a chance.} 0-1