1945 West Virginia Championship

     The Labor Day holiday that fell on Monday, September 3, 1945, was a memorable one...the Japanese surrendered aboard the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945. 

     The beginning of the three-day weekend on September 1st had some really big news on the home front...the Agriculture Department removed the wartime ban on sale of whipping cream, the sale of which had been prohibited since 1943, and released 20 million pounds of butter to civilians and announced the public share of the 1945 canned salmon would more than double. 

     In New York City a mayoral candidate named Newbold Morris came out against sin of all kinds...things like burlesque shows, smutty shows and amusements, bingo and other forms of gambling.

     In other news that weekend, Colonel James Stewart, the former movie star Jimmy Stewart, who traded making movies in Hollywood for the Army, had returned home and wanted to get his old job back and return to movies. 

     Stewart came from a long line of military man and at the outbreak of the war he enlisted in the Army much to the dismay of MGM movie studios. He entered the Army as a private and at the end of WWII he was a colonel in the Army Air Corps and had been decorated as the result of the 20 combat missions he flew over Germany as leader of a squadron of B-24’s. Stewart continued his military career after WWII by serving in the Air Force Reserves and rose to the rank of Brigadier General. 

     Stewart said he wanted to make any movies but war films; he said, "People have had enough of that sort of stuff. They're in the mood for some good comedies." 

  

     Over the Labor Day weekend that year in Morgantown, West Virginia, Harold W. Liggett of South Charleston bagged the State Championship with a 5.5 out of 6 score. His only draw came in the first round against Frank Wisinski; among his victims were the two former state champions, Dr. Siegfried Werthammer and William Harting. 

     It's interesting to note that two players, Dr. Victor Lemke and William Schaeffer, were playing in their first tournament and they tied for third. 

 

     The following is one of Schaeffer's wins. He should not have won it, but the game proves the point that playing the middlegame and endgame well is more important than playing the opening well. At least that's the case in non-master games which often go only a half dozen or so moves deep into the book lines. 

[Event "W. Virginia Champ, Morgantown"] [Site "?"] [Date "1945.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "William Schaeffer"] [Black "Dr. Claude Spiker"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C02"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15.1 (10s)"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "1945.??.??"] {French Defense, Advance Variation} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 {Rarely played, but not at all bad.} c5 4. c3 Qb6 5. Nf3 Ne7 {Preferable is the immediate 5... Nc6 followed by ...f6 attacking white's P center.} 6. Be2 Nf5 (6... Nec6 7. a3 Nd7 8. b4 cxd4 9. cxd4 a6 10. Be3 Be7 11. O-O O-O 12. Nc3 f6 {is the thematic continuation. Lang,T (2055)-Simon,H/Bad Duerkheim 1993}) 7. O-O Nc6 8. Bd3 cxd4 9. Bxf5 exf5 10. cxd4 Be6 11. Nc3 Rc8 12. Na4 Qb5 13. Nc5 {This loses a P. 13. Nc3 was solid.} Bxc5 14. dxc5 Qxc5 15. Ng5 Nxe5 {This is not especially good as will soon become clear and it justifies white's 13th move. 15...O-O would have kept a slight advantage.} 16. Re1 {This gives black new life.} (16. Nxe6 fxe6 17. Qe2 {picks up the e-Pawn with check because} Qd6 18. Bf4 {wins a piece.}) 16... Qd6 {This is bad because it subjects black to a strong pin.} ( 16... Ng4 {is the move. White barely maintains equality after} 17. Qf3 Qe7 18. Qf4 O-O 19. h3 Nf6 20. Qxf5 Rfe8) 17. Bf4 {Overlooking a tactic that would have won the N.} (17. Nxe6 Qxe6 (17... fxe6 18. Bf4 {wins the N}) 18. f4 f6 19. fxe5 fxe5) 17... f6 18. Nxe6 {Another imprecise move.} (18. Qd4 O-O 19. Bxe5 fxe5 20. Rxe5 Rfe8 {with equal chances.}) 18... Qxe6 {Now that the N is supported by the P all danger for black has passed.} 19. Qa4+ (19. Qd4 O-O 20. Bxe5 Rc4 21. Bxf6 Rxd4 22. Rxe6 gxf6 {with a double R ending that should probably be drawn.}) 19... Kf7 20. Qxa7 Rc7 21. b3 Rhc8 22. Qe3 Re7 {It's interesting that black's doubled Rs on the open c-file have no future, so he switches to the e-file.} 23. Re2 {This is a serious error that should lose. He should have played 23.Rad1 when black's advantage is minimal.} g5 (23... d4 { was even more potent.} 24. Qh3 (24. Qxd4 Nf3+ 25. gxf3 Qxe2) 24... Nf3+ { also wins the exchange.}) 24. Bxe5 Qxe5 25. Qxe5 Rxe5 {Even better was 25... fxe5 which would have left white pretty much helpless.} 26. Kf1 {White is following the wrong strategy in exchanging Rs. Attacking the isolated d-Pawn with 26.Rd6 would have made black's task much harder.} Rce8 {This, too, is an elementary error as he should not have allowed white to keep both Rs on the board. Thus 26...Rxe2 was correct.} (26... Rxe2 27. Kxe2 Rc2+ 28. Kf1 f4 { and white is completely tied up.}) 27. Rae1 {Much, much better was activating the R with 27.Rc2 then trying to play his one trump card...setting his Q-side Ps in motion.} Rxe2 {Advancing the d-Pawn would have caused white grievous problems. However, calculating the ramifications OTB would have been impossible, so black correctly chooses the safe way.} (27... d4 28. a4 d3 29. Re3 f4 30. Rxe5 fxe5 31. Rd1 e4 32. b4 Rd8 33. a5 Ke6 34. b5 Rd5 35. Rb1 Rc5 36. Ke1 (36. a6 bxa6 37. bxa6 Ra5) 36... Rc2 37. a6 bxa6 38. b6 d2+ 39. Kd1 Rc1+ 40. Rxc1 dxc1=Q+ 41. Kxc1 Kd6 {and the P is stopped.}) 28. Rxe2 Rxe2 { Black should have avoided this move because even though he has an extra P, in the ensuing K+P ending white has a distant two to one P advantage on the Q-side plus white's K can stop black's d-Pawn.} (28... Rc8 {keeps the advantage, but would it have been enough to win? The answer is yes; in Shootouts black won 5 and drew 1. Here is a likely continuation...} 29. Ke1 Rc1+ 30. Kd2 Rh1 31. h3 h5 32. Re1 Rh2 33. Ke3 g4 34. hxg4 fxg4 35. Rg1 h4 36. Kf4 f5 37. Kxf5 h3 38. gxh3 gxh3 39. Ke5 Rxf2 40. Rh1 h2 41. a4 Rd2 42. a5 Kg6 43. b4 Kg5 44. b5 Kg4 45. b6 Kg3 46. a6 bxa6 47. Rb1 Rb2 48. Rxb2 h1=Q 49. Rb3+ Kf2 50. b7 Qe4+ 51. Kf6 Qf4+ 52. Ke7 Qb8 53. Kd7 d4 54. Kc6 a5 55. Ra3 Qd8 { and black wins.}) 29. Kxe2 {This position is drawn, but black's next move loses the game because it allows white to get an outside passed P and black's K is too far away} b5 (29... Ke6 {Centralization.} 30. Kd3 {Likewise.} f4 31. a4 Kd7 32. Kd4 Kc6 33. b4 Kd6 34. a5 {loses.} (34. Kc3 Kc6 (34... Ke5 {puts his K out of play.} 35. a5 Kd6 36. b5 Kc5 37. a6 bxa6 38. bxa6 Kb6 39. Kd4 { White's K gobbles up the K-side Ps.}) 35. Kd4 {All either side can do is keep shifting their ks.}) 34... Kc6 35. f3 Kb5 36. Kxd5 Kxb4 37. Ke6 Kxa5 38. Kxf6 b5 39. Kxg5 b4 40. Kxf4 b3 {wins}) 30. a4 bxa4 31. bxa4 Ke7 32. Kd3 Kd7 33. Kd4 Kc6 34. a5 Kb5 35. a6 Kxa6 36. Kxd5 {There was no reasoin for black to waste time by playing on. Clearly his K is too far away so it is futile to even think about saving the game. It is possible that he was playing on to reach the time control.} Kb5 37. Ke6 f4 38. f3 h5 39. Kxf6 g4 40. Kf5 gxf3 41. gxf3 Kc4 42. Kxf4 Kd5 43. Kg5 Ke5 44. h4 Ke6 45. Kxh5 Kf7 46. Kg5 Kg7 47. h5 Kh7 48. f4 Kg7 49. f5 Kh7 50. Kf6 Kg8 51. Ke7 {Black resigned.} (51. Ke7 Kg7 52. f6+ Kh6 53. f7 Kxh5 54. f8=Q {etc.}) 1-0