1945 Canadian Championship Miniature

     Saskatoon is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and to me it looks to be in the middle of nowhere...it's lies over 450 miles north of the US border state of Montana. That said, surveys indicate that the city is a good place to live with high ratings in housing, safety and healthcare. 

     The only real problem with the city seems to be its winters which generally last from early November to mid-March. Temperatures usually remain below freezing at all times, even during the daytime. January and February are the coldest months with low temperatures often dropping below -22°F and high temperatures not rising above 14°F. 

     The city is well over 1,800 miles from Toronto and it's nearly 2,200 miles from Montreal. Nevertheless, in June of 1945, Saskatoon was the location for the 1945 Canadian Championship which was a tie between Abe Yanofsy and Frank Yerhoff.

     Today's game is a miniature between John H. Belson and Leonard Hall. Miniature games are not just entertainment...they can teach you a lot about chess and help you improve your own play. 

     Games between two equally strong players can belong, subtle and...boring. Just ask any of us who suffered through the first Karpov-Kasparov match! On February 15, 1985, the President of FIDE Florencio Campomanes terminated the match after 48 games. Here is a little secret...to this day I have never played over a single game of that match. 

     Miniatures, games lasting about 25 moves usually come to an end with a spectacular tactical shot or an admirable idea and that makes them profitable to study. Or, if you're not interested in studying they are just plain entertaining. Take the following game, for instance. It didn't take Belson long to reach an overwhelming position and then deliver mate to his hapless opponent. 

     John Harold Belson (February 23, 1906 - March 13, 1947, 41 years old), known as Harry Belson, was born in Finland (his Finnish last name was Belczinsky) and after moving to Canada circa 1926 he lived in Toronto. He was Canadian champion in 1934 and 1946 and he won the Toronto city championship 7 times. By profession he was an automotive finance expert. I was unable to locate any information on Leonard Hall other that he appears to have been a local player from Saskatoon. 

 

ChessBase

John H Belson–Leonard Hall1–0C13Canadian Championship, Saskatoon1945Stockfish 15.1

French: Classical System 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.c3 f6 4.g5 e7 5.e5 fd7 6.h4 White almost always plays the boring 6.Bxe7, but here Belosn plays the bold Alekhine–Chatard Attack offering to sacrifice a P to keep black's K in the center. As will soon be seen, things can get complicated after 6.h4 c5 This move illustrates another point of white's 6.h4 6...xg5 7.hxg5 xg5 Experience has shown this is not a good way to test the soundness of white's 6th move. 8.h3 e7 Here white often plays 9.Nf4, but it does not appear to be the best. 9.g4 g6 10.g5 and whether black plays 10...h6 or 10...h5 white has a nice initiative. 7.b5 However, with this move which white may have thought was just a transposition, fails to demonstrate the mentioned point! 7.xe7 and black is forced to displace his K with 7...Kxe7 xe7 is not so good because of 8.b5 and the threat of Nxc7+ leaves black in a pickle. 7...f6 This upsets the applecart. 8.d3 8.exf6 xf6 9.dxc5 0-0 10.d3 c6 Black will follow up with ...e5 with an excellent position. 8...0-0 This is castling into trouble! 8...fxg5 and the best white has seems to be a draw. 9.h5+ f8 9...g6 10.xg6+ hxg6 11.xh8+ f8 is too dangerous for black to risk. 10.hxg5 cxd4 11.f3+ e8 12.h5+ draws. Note that 12...g6 loses. g6 13.xg6+ f8 13...hxg6 14.xg6+ f8 15.xh8# 14.h6+ g8 15.xh7+ xh7 16.xh7+ f8 17.h8+ f7 18.g6+ xg6 19.h7+ g5 20.h5+ f4 21.e2+ e4 22.f3+ xe5 23.f4# 8...cxd4 was played in Guimard,C-Stahlberg,G Mar del Plata 1942 and after 9.h5+ f8 10.exf6 xf6 11.e2 b4+ 12.f1 c6 White is slightly better, but in the game he could only draw. 8...c6 9.h5+ f8 The game is equal after 10.exf6, but there followed a comedy of errors. 10.h3 b4 10...cxd4 leaves him with a great position after 11.exf6 xf6 11.d2 xd3+ 12.cxd3 b6 Chances are equal after 12...a6 13.g3 g8 14.xh7 fxe5 15.f3+ f6 16.dxe5 1Black resigned. Abreu Jean,C (2246)-Infante,M (2275) Santo Domingo 2015 8...a6 This unlikely looking move (it seems to ignore white's threats) leaves black clearly better after... 9.h5+ f8 And, incredibly, white has no way of successfully continuing the attack. After 10 minutes the best line Stockfish came up with was 10.d6 xd6 11.exd6 c6 12.d2 cxd4 13.f4 e5 14.e2 e8 15.fxe5 dxe5 16.0-0-0 xh5 17.xh5 and black has a considerable advantage. 9.h5 f5 9...fxg5 10.xh7+ f7 11.g6# 9...h6 10.xh6 cxd4 11.xg7 xe5 12.h3 and the end is not far off. 10.c7 This turns out to be a rather lame continuation. 10.xe7 xe7 11.g5 xg5 12.hxg5 a6 White stands well. Winning is another matter though. 13.f4 10...xc7 10...xe5 giving up the R but getting some play is a plausible try. 11.xa8 cxd4 12.e2 ec6 After either 13.O-O-O or 13. f4 white's position is better. 11.xe7 f7 12.d6 Black is in trouble. d8 13.f3 Strongly threatening Ng5. g6 14.h6 f8 15.h5 Black's K-side is about to be ripped apart. g7 16.g5 c6 16...gxh5 17.xf8 xf8 18.xh5 e7 19.0-0-0 and time is running out for black. 17.xf8 17.hxg6 is not nearly as good. xg6 18.xf8+ xf8 19.xf8 xg5 20.xc5 xg2 21.c3 Positionally white is better in spite of black's passed h-P; his pieces are much more active than black's. 17...xf8 18.xh7+ f7 19.g5+ g8 20.hxg6 xd4 20...f8 21.h7+ e8 21...g8 22.f6+ f8 23.h8+ e7 24.xg7# 22.f6+ and wins...black must surrender his Q to avoid a mate in 3. 21.h8# Great play by Belson. 1–0

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An Unexpected Tribute to Oscar Chajes

     The First World War began on July 28, 1914 and ended on November 11, 1918. Two days before the war ended, on Saturday, November 9th, the New York Masters tournament ended. 

     Although the war was nearly over, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported 40 Brooklynites who had been casualties. There was also a flu pandemic in 1918. In the United States, it was first identified in military personnel in spring 1918. It is estimated that about 500 million people or one-third of the world’s population became infected with this virus. The number of deaths was about 675,000 in the United States. 

     With the war ending on November 11th and Thanksgiving being on November 28th, even in the midst of the pandemic, the nation exuberantly celebrated the holiday. Unfortunately, the deprivations caused by the war and the pandemic made Thanksgiving food more expensive than ever and the price of turkey and all the embellishments was sky-high. 

     During the war the Federal Food Administration had taken measures designed to conserve food for the war effort. Americans were asked to reduce their consumption of wheat, meat, sugar and fats in particular. 

     For this Thanksgiving, for reasons known only to bureaucrats at the FFA, they had ruled that any turkey offered for sale had to weigh at least eight pounds, meaning that it would cost $2.80 for the smallest bird people were allowed to buy; that was nearly a dollar more than a year before. 

     In Russia a Civil War was taking place and in Odessa, Ossip Bernstein was arrested and imprisoned by the Bolshevik secret police for the crime of being a legal advisor to bankers. Without benefit of a trial a firing squad lined up Bernstein and other prisoners to be shot. A superior official arrived and looked at the list of prisoners and asked Bernstein if he was the famous master. Not satisfied with Bernstein's answer, the two played a game and when Bernstein quickly won he was released and soon escaped to France. 

     Everybody knows of German air raids against Britain during WWII and that Vera Menchik was killed in one of them. Not so many know that during WWI the Germans also conducted air raids and in July of 1918, a 76-year old J.H. Blackburne was injured in a London air raid and was rendered temporarily deaf. His wife was also injured. 

     In August, German master Eric Cohn (1884-1918), a field doctor for the Red Cross, was killed in France. Then on December 27, 1918, Carl Schlechter (1874-1918) died in Budapest at the age of 44. In poor health aggravated by the war, he was found in his room without money, heat or food. 

     In the year 1918, on October 23rd, Frank Marshall played his famous the Marshall Attack in the Ruy Lopez against Capablanca in the first round in the strong New York tournament. Capablanca won that game, but the Marshall Attack proved a viable defense. 

     The New York tournament was originally planned as an 8-player double round robin tournament, but Norman T. Whitaker began a game a day before Round 1, got sick and withdrew, leaving it as a 7-player field. 

     Capablanca won, but a somewhat surprising second was the Yugoslav player Boriskav Kostic who despite going undefeated in the tournament wasn't able to come close to Capablanca. 

     By the way, you might be wondering who that last place finisher was. It was John H. Morrison (1889-1975, 85 years old) from Toronto, Canada. He was Canadian Champion in 1910, 1913, 1922, 1924, 1926 and 1931. 

     Let's take a gander at a long forgotten game from that event. David Janowsky (1868-1927) is pretty well known, but his opponent, Oscar Chajes (1873-1928) is virtually a forgotten master. 

     Normally one would pay tribute to  player by presenting one of his wins, but in this case I had already played over and made notes to the game and it was only when I looked up Chajes' biography that I realized tomorrow is the anniversary of his passing. That's when I discovered that he was a much stronger player than I realized!

     Chessmetrics estimates his highest ever rating to have been 2660 in 1920 which put him at number 10 in the world! The top 5 were Capablanca, Alekhine, Lasker, Marshall and Vidmar. 

     Prounounced HA-yes, he was Jewish and was born in Brody in the Austria-Hungary Empire in what is now the Ukraine. He studied medicine at the University of Vienna, near the home of his uncle, a Rabbi. 

     In 1904, Chajes immigrated to the United States from Hamburg, Germany and moved to Chicago before finally settling in New York City. He had been convalescing from an illness and on Monday, February 27, 1928, he was discovered unconscious in his apartment in Manhattan. He died the next day, Tuesday, February 28, 1928 at Bellevue Hospital in New York City without regaining consciousness. 

 

ChessBase

David Janowsky–Oscar Chajes1–0A46New YorkNew York, NY USA30.10.1918Stockfish 15.1

London System 1.d4 f6 2.f3 d6 This defense was a favorite with Chajes, who has employed it with considerable success in a match that he won earlier in the year against Janowsky. 3.f4 This is the London System which can be used against virtually any black defense. It's a solid opening, but offers little in the way of dynamic play. bd7 4.h3 c6 5.bd2 5.e3 c7 6.e2 e5 7.h2 e7 8.0-0 equals. Sergeev,V (2428)-Stocek, J (2592) CZE 2010 5.c3 g6 6.e3 g7 7.e2 0-0 8.0-0 equals. Rakhmangulov,A (2350) -Bikuzhin,M (2241) Kirov 2014 5...c7 6.e4 e5 7.h2 7.dxe5 is not bad, but it's less effective because it releases the pressure in the center. xe5 8.xe5 dxe5 9.c4 e7 10.0-0 Black has fully equalized. Cirjan,D (2051)-Sorbun,C (2083) Miercurea Ciuc 2002 7...exd4 8.xd4 g6 8...c5 9.f3 e6 10.xe6 xe6 11.0-0-0 e7 12.c4 0-0 12...xc4 13.xc4 would be too costly for black d8 14.e5 dxe5 15.xe5 c8 16.d6+ xd6 17.xd6 White is winning. 13.xe6 fxe6 14.b3 Here, too, black's position is difficult. 9.d3 9.g4 was a good alternative. For example... b6 Preventing Nc4 9...g7 10.c4 0-0 11.xd6 10.g2 g7 11.c3 0-0 12.0-0 and white has an aggressive position. 9...e5 10.e2 g7 11.c3 0-0 12.0-0 e8 13.f4 ed7 14.f3 c5 15.c2 e6 16.ad1 d5 Chajes has not been as successful with his defense as he had been in previous encounters with Janowsky and now he is now faced with a dangerous onset on the K-side, and his efforts to avert it break down completely. 16...b6 17.c4 c5 17...xd4 18.xd4 d8 19.e5 wins 18.f5 and black is still facing a dangerous attack. 17.e5 The attack begins.. .are black's defensive resources going to be adequate? xd4 18.cxd4 f5 19.c3 e4± 20.xe4 xe4 21.xe4 dxe4 22.f5 b6 22...gxf5 23.xf5 d7 24.g5 e6 and black actually has what looks to be good defenive chances. 23.e6 fxe6 This move turns out to be a complete disaster. 23...f6 is tougher. 24.g4 ad8 and while white clearly stands better, there is no immediate winning breakthrough. 24.f6 xf6 24...h8 25.f7+ is even worse. 25.xf6 Black can now resign. e5 After this white has a mate in 11...not that it matter because there was nothing any better. 26.c4+ h8 26...g7 holds out a bit longer. 27.f7+ h8 28.f8+ g7 29.f7+ h6 30.f4+ exf4 31.xf4+ g5 32.f6+ g7 33.f7+ g8 34.f6 xd4+ 35.xd4 e3 36.g7# 27.f8+ A nifty finish. Black resigned. 27.f8+ xf8 28.xe5+ f6 29.xf6# 1–0

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Annibale Dolci , Mystery Man

     The Italian player and problemist Annibale Dolci was born in 1873...the exact date is unknown. Nobody knows when he died. In fact, nobody knows much about him at all. 

     What is known is that between 1901 and 1904 and again between 1908 and 1913 he was staying in England before moving back to Genoa. 

     In 1916 he participated in the 1st Crespi Tournament in Milan. 

     The Crespi is named after Edoardo Crespi (1849-1910), an Italian player and patron of the arts. He bequeathed a substantial sum to the Braidense library to create a small chess section, funds to organize a club tournament annually as well as a national tournament every four years. 

     The club tournament was held in 1914 when the funds were finally released, whereas the national tournament was postponed because of World War I; it finally took place in 1916 and was won by Arturo Reggio. 

     Today the Crespi tournament, besides being one of the most important Italian events, has also became a major event on the international calendar thanks to the participation of many strong players from all over the world. 

     Dolci finished 3rd in that first Crespi tournament and as a result he was officially recognized as a Master. He then took part in the tournaments in Milan in 1919 and Genoa in 1920 and the last he was heard of he was in Genoa in May of 1924. After that he disappeared and nobody knows where he went or what happened to him. 

     It was not unusual for Dolci to be absent for long periods to go abroad, but he always returned to Italy. During his stays in England he had always sent news of himself to friends at his club and to the magazine L'Italia Scacchistica. However, at the age of 51 in 1924, he disappeared without a trace and was never heard from again. 

     Some have hypothesized that he left on a trip either for the summer holidays, or to return to England, or to go to Peru and during the trip he died; or that he died not long after his arrival. But, that is only a hypotheses. 

     Apparently he had no relatives in Italy; no mention was ever made of a wife or children. And, there is no record of him having ever owned any property. Besides that, after his return to Genoa there is little chess activity recorded for the city. 

ChessBase

Luca Morelli–Annibale Dolci0–1D401st Crespi Memorial, MilanMilan ITA11.1916Stockfish 15.1

Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch 1.d4 e6 2.c4 f6 3.c3 d5 4.f3 c5 Unlike the regular Tarrasch (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5) black does not accept an isolated P. This is because he intends to recapture on d5 with the N after cxd5. In the Semi-Tarrasch black cedes a spatial advantage to white. 5.f4 Usual are either 5.cxd5 or 5.e3 5.g5 leads to an entirely different type of game after cxd4 6.xd4 Also playable is 6.Qxd4 e5 and white can play either 7.Nf3 or 7.Nbd5 5...a6 5...dxc4 is better. 6.e4 cxd4 7.xd4 a6 8.xc4 b5 9.e2 b7 Milos,G (2601)-Caldeira,A (2291) Sao Paulo 2004 6.xb8 Obviously trading his developed B for the undeveloped N is not especially good. 6.e3 c6 7.e2 e7 8.0-0 0-0 is equal. Ramirez,H-Zheng Ruorong Heraklio 2002 6.dxc5 xc5 7.cxd5 b6 8.e3 xb2 9.c1 0-0 10.c4 exd5 11.xd5 xd5 12.xd5 b4+ a complicated position with equal chances. In Vitenberg,N (2203)-Sisatto,O (2276) Fagernes NOR 2019, black managed to win. 6...xb8 7.dxc5 xc5 8.b4 Interesting, but 6.e3 was more solid. e7 9.e3 9.cxd5 initiating exchanges would have kept black's advantage at a minimum. xd5 10.xd5 xd5 11.xd5 exd5 9...0-0 9...dxc4 was much stronger. 10.xc4 b5 11.xd8+ xd8 12.0-0-0+ e8 13.e2 xb4 and black should be able to nurse his advantage to a win. 10.a3 c7 11.b3 d7 12.e2 This is a tactical mistake! 12.c1 dxc4 12...bc8 13.c5 a5 with the initiative. 13.xc4 bc8 14.a2 c6 15.0-0 seems to hold. 12...dxc4 13.c2 13.xc4 loses a piece after bc8 14.d2 b5 13...b5 14.0-0 c6 15.d4 e5 16.f5 It's not possible to see now, but white will regret not having eliminated the B on the a8-h1 diagonal with 16.Ncc6 g6 17.g3 It's not possible to see now, but white will regret not having eliminated the B on e7 with 17.Nxe7 b7 18.f3 d5 19.xd5 xd5 20.d1 d8 Very nice; the B is headed for a more active diagonal. 21.c3 b6 Hoping for ...f5. 22.h1 f5 The attack is building. 23.a2 f4 24.exf4 d4 25.c2 xf4 26.e2 bf8 27.a4 e7 28.axb5 h4 This is hardly bad, but 28... axb5 first would have been even better. 29.e4 29.xc4 allows an abrupt finish. xh2+ 30.xh2 h4# 29...xe4 30.xc4+ g7 White is lost, but his next move only hastens the end. 31.g3 After this black must find the only move that keeps the advantage...which he does. 31.bxa6 a8 32.b5 and suddenly black has to stop and deal with white's Os. f6 33.d2 h4 34.h3 b6 Technically black has a won game, but there is no forced winning line and white's Ps have the potential to become dangerous should black get careless. This is why black should have taken the time to play ...axb5 31...xf3 This is the only move. 31...xf3+ 32.xf3 Black loses material. 32.xf3 32.gxh4 xf1# 32...xf3 33.g2 33.xf3 xf3+ 34.g2 e4 wins 33...f6 33...xg3 Stockfish points out that white gets mated in 17 moves. 34.f7+ h6 35.xh7+ xh7 36.f7+ h6 37.f8+ g5 38.d8+ f5 39.c8+ f6 40.f8+ e6 41.e8+ d6 42.f8+ c7 43.f7+ b6 44.e6+ xb5 45.d7+ c6 46.xc6+ xc6 47.c2+ b7 48.g2 c3 49.xg6 e4+ 50.g2 c1# 34.fg1 f2 It's mate in 12 34...axb5 35.c7+ h6 36.c8 f2 37.h3+ g7 38.d7+ f7 and wins. 35.c7+ h6 36.c1+ g5 37.h4 xg2+ White resigned. 37...xg2+ 38.xg2 f1+ 39.xf1 xf1+ 40.h2 axb5 41.g4 gxh4 42.g5+ g6 43.g4 e4 44.g2 e5+ 45.h3 f3+ 46.xh4 h5# 0–1

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1950 West Virginia Championship

     Today is Thursday. Wednesday was, to use a meteorological term, crappy; it started off with snow flurries in the wee hours of the morning and then switched over to a cold drizzle all day. 

     Things were nowhere near as bad as it was in West Virginia on November 24, 1950. Over 150 million Americans were enjoying (?) leftover turkey from Thanksgiving and more than 2 million of them (Americans, not leftover turkeys) were from West Virginia. 

     In the atmosphere far above the eastern US a storm was brewing. It was a storm that would last nearly a week and it would go down in history as one of the worst blizzards to ever strike the area. It was the Great Appalachian Storm of November 1950. 

     I lived through Ohio's blizzard of 1978 in which we suffered from wind gusts of up to 100 miles per hour, wind chills of 60 degrees below zero and snow drifts 25 feet deep. One truck driver near Mansfield was rescued after spending six days trapped in his truck which was buried under a mound of snow. Fifty-one Ohioans lost their lives. Trust me, blizzards are no fun! 

     The West Virginia blizzard was really bad. Twenty-two states were affected, but West Virginia bore the brunt of the storm and of the 353 people who died in it, nearly half were in West Virginia. 

     There's a small town of Pickens (current population 66) located in the central part of the state where the storm's official greatest snow was measured at 57 inches. Although not official, other locations measured 62-63 inches of snow.

 

    Yesterday while browsing the West Virginia Chess Bulletins from 1950 I came across the following game from the State Championship that year that was played in Beckley. The tournament was played over the Labor Day weekend in September, so the blizzard was a ways off. Here's a snappy little game from the event.

 

ChessBase

Ed Faust–William Hartling1–0A00WV Championship, Beckley1950Stockfish 15.1

Catalan 1.d4 f6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 The opening develops into the Catalan which is a sort of mix between the Queen’s Gambit and a Reti. It's safe and solid. c6 4.g2 d5 Black's P-formation gives him a playable, but difficult position. 5.b3 White has tried a plethora of different moves here, the most usual being 5.Nf3. bd7 6.c3 c7 7.f3 dxc4 8.xc4 White is slightly better here owing to black's cramped position. b6 Black's best plan is to free his position with ...e5 8...c5 9.f4 b6 10.b3 and black has no good square to which he can move his Q. c4 11.xc7 cxb3 12.axb3 bd5 13.e5 favors white. 8...e5 fails to 9.dxe5 xe5 10.xe5 xe5 11.xc6+ 8...d6 9.0-0 0-0 followed by ...e5 9.d3 d7 This is too passive. His intention is to castle Q-side, but that turns out badly. 9...d6 to play ...e5 is now too late to be effective as after 10.e4 e5 11.xe5 xe5 12.dxe5 xe5 13.f4 with a plus for white. 10.0-0 d6 11.e4 e5 This is practically forcedm but as above, it is no longer effective. 12.dxe5 xe5 13.xe5 xe5 14.f4 e6 15.d6 c4 Naturally black wants to get the annoying B off d6, but this is tactically refuted. Even so there was nothing that was really better. 15...0-0-0 16.ac1 c4 17.f4 he8 18.d4 b6 19.b3 e5 20.b5 b8 21.d6+ xd6 22.xd6 d3 23.xf7+ xf4 24.gxf4 c8 25.d6 with a decisive advantage. 16.e5 xd6 17.exf6 This is the right capture. 17.exd6 0-0 18.fe1 f5 19.d4 fe8 Black's defensive task has been eased. allowing the Qs to come off also allows black to equalize. 17.xd6 xd6 18.exd6 0-0-0 17...0-0-0 18.fxg7 hg8 19.xh7 Piling up the pressure with 19.Rad1 was good, too. f6 20.fd1 xg7 This meets with a very nice tactical refutation. 20...e5 21.h4 xg7 22.b4 g6 23.ac1 White is clearly better, but at least black can play on. 21.xd6 Wins a piece! xc3 A nice try to save himself. 22.xd7 A nice shot that wins a piece. 22.bxc3 xh7 Black is still lost, but with two Rs on the board he at least has a forlorn hope of salvaging a draw. 22...xd7 Even here white has only one move that secures the win. 22...xh7 23.xd8+ xd8 24.bxc3 23.h8+ Black resigned. Very well played by Faust. 23.h8+ d8 24.h3+ b8 25.bxc3 1–0

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Ted Edison

     Headed by Anthony E. Santasiere, champion of the Marshall Chess Club, the College of the City of New York team succeeded in winning the 1922 (24th) annual Intercollegiate Chess League (formerly known as the Triangular College Chess League) Championship that was held at the Marshall Chess Club in New York City from December 26th through the 30th in 1922. It was the second time that the CCNY team had won the championship. The previous year's winner, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, had to be content with 4th place. 

  

The team rosters were: 

City College- Anthony E. Santasiere, Erling Tholfsen, H. Grossman and M. Levine 

Pennsylvania- G.O. Petty, S. T. Kosovsky, J. F. Casciato, and H. E. Everding 

N.Y. University- H. Kabatsky, A. Adams, D. G Gladstone, W. Namenson and S. Alpern 

MIT- Weaver W. Adams, J. Brimberg, T. Shedlovsky, H. J. Stark and T. M. Edison 

Cornell- G. Neidich, W. J. Bryan, D. C. Haight, J. J. Singer, C. K. Thomas and L. Samuels      

 

     For MIT you will notice the name of T.M. Edison. According to an article in the American Chess Bulletin he joined the team in the third round and he was listed as "Thomas M. Edison", but that name is incorrect. He was actually Theodore Miller Edison (July 10, 1898 - November 24, 1992, 94 years old). 

     Edison only played two games. He started by administering a defeat to William Namenson of New York University, who up to then had a 2-0 score. On the following day Edison lost a hard game against Everding of the Pennsylvania team.

     Ted Edison was a businessman, inventor, and environmentalist. He was the fourth son and youngest child of inventor Thomas A. Edison. He was the third child of Edison with his second wife. He was his father's last surviving child and today there are no direct descendants of Thomas A. Edison carrying the family name.

     Ted Edison was born at Glenmont, the Edison home in Llewellyn Park in West Orange, New Jersey. He ended his education at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from which he earned a physics degree in 1923 and remained there another year to pursue graduate studies. In 1925, he married Anna Maria (Ann) Osterhout, a graduate of Vassar College. 

     After graduation, he worked for his father's company, Thomas A. Edison, Inc., starting as a lab assistant. He later founded his own company, Calibron Industries, Inc. and built his own smaller laboratory in West Orange. He earned over 80 patents in his career. 

     In later years he became an ardent environmentalist and helped preserve Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in southwest Florida. He was also an opponent of the Vietnam War and advocate of Zero Population Growth. He lived in West Orange, New Jersey and died from Parkinson's disease on November 24, 1992.

     Here is is only known game, at least as far as I know. Nothing is known of his opponent, but according to one poster in chessgames.com he was the son of a lawyer who was involved in The Tungsten Light Bulb Scandal of 1908.  

     While I am not sure exactly what it means even after reading the Chessbase article on Weighted Error Value HERE, the auto-analysis assigned a WEV of 0.33 to white's play which apparently is pretty good. Black's value was 0.68 which appears to be not bad. In any case, Edison seems to have been a pretty decent player. 

ChessBase

H.E. Everding (Penn)–Theodore M. Edison (MIT)1–0D02Intercollegiate Chess LeagueMarshall CC, New York29.12.1922Stockfiah 15.1

Queen's Gambit Declined: Baltic Defense 1.d4 d5 2.f3 f5 3.c4 This is t unusual Baltic Defense. Because black has difficulties developing his B on c8 he takes this radical approach to the problem by bringing out the B immediately. It's never been popular, but Paul Keres and Alexei Shirov have used it on rare occasions. There is virtually no thgeory on it although back in 1993 Chess Digest published a small book on it. f6 The most popular line has black playing ...e6 and ...c6, but in practice the text has performed better. 4.c3 4.cxd5 xd5 5.bd2 b6 6.e4 g6 7.h4 h6 8.d3 8d7 9.a4 a5 10.h5 h7 11.0-0 and white has a significant space advantage and is much better developed. 4...e6 5.g5 e7 6.b3 This immediate attempt at taking advantage of the unguarded b-Pawn doesn't accomplish anything so it should be delayed a bit. 6.xf6 xf6 7.cxd5 exd5 8.b3 Attacking two Ps. c6 Forcing white to tend to the defense of his d-Pawn. 9.e3 Mira,H (2148) -Schwaninger,U (2045) Oberpullendorf 2002. Black can't defend both Ps so he is advised to let the b-Pawn go and play 9...Ne7 6...b6 6...dxc4 is correct and then after 7.xb7 bd7 8.xf6 xf6 9.e3 The chances are equal. 6...dxc4 7.xc4 bd7 8.e3 h6 9.xf6 xf6 10.e2 is also equal. 7.xf6 Well played. xf6 8.cxd5 0-0 8...exd5 9.xd5 xd5 10.xd5 d8 11.e3 White is clearly better. 9.e4 g4 10.e5 Thanks to black's faulty 6th move whiote has a huge advantage. xf3 This leaves white with a confusing choice of captures. Which is best? 11.gxf3 or 11.exf6. Or...does he have another move? 11.dxe6 This yields the advantage to black! 11.exf6 is good for black after xd5 12.c4 xc4 13.xc4 xf6 Black is a sild P ahead. 11.exf6 xd5 12.xd5 exd5 13.fxg7 e8+ 14.e2 is not very good for white either. 11.d6 is tricky, but black is OK after xe5 12.dxe5 c6 Better that ...Bb7 because is prevents white from playing Nb5. In this position black can claim a slight advantage. 11.gxf3 This is the correct move after which white can claim a significant advantage. h4 12.d1 exd5 13.xd5 White's advantage is nerly decisive. 11...xd4 This results in some tricky play where both side have chances. 11...c6 12.exf6 xd4 13.e7 d6 14.exf8+ xf8 15.a4 e5+ 16.d2 d8 17.e1 f4+ 18.e3 c6 is winning for black. 19.d1 xf2+ 20.c1 xe3+ 11...c6 12.exf7+ h8 13.gxf3 xd4 14.d1 xe5 15.d3 f6 16.0-0-0 xf3 Black is much better. 12.exf7+ h8 There was no reason to fear the pin after taking with the R. 12...xf7 13.exf6 e5+ 14.e2 xe2 15.xe2 c6 16.f4 16.fxg7 d4 wins after 17.d3 e8 16...a5+ 17.c3 xc3+ 18.bxc3 In this unbalanced position the chances would be about equal. 13.exf6 h5 14.fxg7+ xg7 15.e2 d6 15...xe2 would be very bad. After 16.xe2 xf7 17.0-0 White has what should prove to be a decisive advantage. 16.g3+ xf7 Black would have had better defensive chances by exchanging Qs. 17.xd6 cxd6 18.0-0-0 e7 19.f3 g6 20.c3 c8 21.b5 a6 22.he1+ f8 23.d3 b5 24.xg6 hxg6 25.b1 c6 26.e6 d5 27.xc6 xc6 28.xd5 There is little doubt that it's only matter of time before black makes the decision to resign. As Hamlet said, "The rest is silence." e8 29.d6 b4 30.a3 e1+ 31.d1 xd1+ 32.xd1 KN-KN d3 33.e3 e1 34.a2 a5 35.b3 d3 36.c3 c5 37.d4 a4 38.d1 e7 39.b3 b6 40.c5 d7+ 41.xb5 d6 42.xa5 c6 43.b4 g5 44.e3 b7 45.f5 a7 46.d6 b6 47.e4 c4+ 48.a4 e3 49.g4 c4 50.xg5 b6+ 51.b3 d7 52.h4 b7 53.h5 a7 54.h6 e5 55.h7 g6 56.f7 e7 57.h8 c6 58.g7 b8 59.d8+ Facing mate in 2 Edison finally resigned. 1–0

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A Game With Head Whirling Complications

     A world changing event took place on September 9, 1956: Elvis Presley appeared on The Ed Sullivan Sullivan Show and 8 out of 10 of American households were watching. 

     On July 1st, 1956, Elvis had appeared on the Steve Allen Show, which aired opposite The Ed Sullivan Show. Due to the backlash from Elvis’s second (and last) performance on The Milton Berle Show, Allen dressed Elvis in a tuxedo and had him sing “Hound Dog” to a basset hound. Elvis personally hated it, but his teen fans loved it. 

     The Steve Allen Show crushed Sullivan in that week’s ratings, but following the show Sullivan sent Allen a telegram saying, in effect, that Elvis stunk. Eventually Sullivan caved in and booked Elvis. Later, Sullivan endorsed Elvis and publicly stated that after having met Elvis, he found him to be a very nice guy and that really launched Elvis' career. You can watch Elvis performing on that first Ed Sullivan show HERE 

     While Americans were all aghast over Elvis' hip gyrations. a book titled Peyton Place stirred up controversy. too. It dealt with the then unspeakable subjects of rape, murder, incest, abortion, promiscuity, and adultery. Readers, while publicly shocked, were secretly titillated by the subjects. 

     In other titillating news, Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) reputedly coined the phrase, “I cried all the way to the bank.” 

     Known as just "Liberace", he was a child prodigy born in Wisconsin and was a pianist, singer and actor with a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordings, television, motion pictures and endorsements. 

     In 1956 in the UK, an article in the Daily Mirror strongly suggested that Liberace was homosexual. He sued the newspaper for libel and won the equivalent of $208,200 in today's dollars which led him to tell reporters: "I cried all the way to the bank!" 

     He settled a similar case in the US, but in n 1982, his former chauffeur and alleged live-in lover sued him for $113 million in palimony after Liberace fired him. The case was settled out of court in 1986 with the driver receiving $75,000 in cash plus three cars and three pet dogs. 

     In a 2011 interview, legendary actress and close friend Betty White (January 17, 1922 – December 31, 2021) confirmed that Liberace was indeed gay and that she was often used by his managers to counter public rumors of his homosexuality. At the age of 67 Liberace died of AIDS the morning of February 4, 1987 at his retreat home in Palm Springs, California. 

     The year 1956 saw the chess world lose a number of players. Edith Price (1872-1956), five-time British Ladies Champion (1922, 1923, 1924, 1928, 1948)died in England. Veniamin Sozin (1896-2956) master, author and theoretician died in Leningrad.

     Savielly Tartakower (1887-1956) died in Paris. Julius du Mont (1881-1956), journalist, editor and writer died in Hastings. Czech champion Karel Hromadka (1887-1956) died in Prague. Dr. Walter Romaine Lovegrove (1869-1956) died in San Francisco. He was one of the strongest players in California in the 19th and early 20th century and won the first California championship in 1891. Hungarian champion Lajos Asztalos (1889-1956) died in Budapest. 

     On December 15, 1956, Adolf Fink (1890-1956) died in San Francisco at the age of 66. He was California State Champion in 1922, 1928 and 1929 and co-champion, with Herman Steiner, in 1945.

     The Candidate tournaments of old were some truly great events. As a result of his draw against Botvinnik in the 1954 World Championship match Smyslov was seeded directly into the 1956 Candidates while the others qualified from the 1955 Gothenburg Interzonal. Smyslov's only loss was to an upcoming Boris Spassky. 

 

     In the following instructive Spassky vs. Geller game we see a characteristic feature of the play against an Isolated d-Pawn: defense and active counterplay. Pachman used this game as an example in his book Modern Chess Strategy, but while his presentation was very instructive, lacking Stockfish for his analysis he missed some things. 

     The game actually featured complications galore. Also, it's important to note that as baseball's legendary Yogi Berra (May 12, 1925 – September 22, 2015) once observed, "It ain't over 'til it's over." On move 28 the wrong move by Geller would have tossed away his decisive advantage. You must be alert until your opponent resigns. 

ChessBase

Boris Spassky–Efim Geller0–1D32Amsterdam Candidates1956Stockfish 15.1

D40: Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch with e3 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.c3 c5 4.e3 f6 5.f3 c6 6.a3 cxd4 7.exd4 e7 8.d3 dxc4 9.xc4 0-0 10.0-0 a6 11.g5 11.a2 was recommended by Pachman with the continuation b5 12.d5 exd5 13.xd5 xd5 14.xd5 b7 resulting in equality, but such a tame continuation would not be to Spassky's liking. 11...b5 12.a2 b7 13.c1 13.d3 b4 14.a4 a5 15.xf6 gxf6 16.b3 h5 17.fc1 g6 18.xg6+ hxg6 19.c5 bxa3 20.xa3 fc8 21.c4 xd4 22.xb7 xa3 23.bxa3 xf3+ 24.gxf3 c7 25.d6 d8 26.xf7 d4 27.e5 g7 Mortensen,E (2450)-Berg,K (2420) Kerteminde 1991 0-1 (93) 13...b4 14.axb4 xb4 15.b1 As a result of his clever maneuvering on the Q-side Geller has gained control of d5 leaving white's d-Pawn a liability. On the other hand Spassky has more space on the K-side and where his actively placed pieces have the potential for a dangerous K-side attack. Clearly, a sharp fight is looming. 15.xf6 is not good because after xf6 15...a5 15...xf3 16.xf3 xd4 17.fd1 e5 18.xf6 xf6 19.e2 fd8 Being a P up black has a promising position. Privara,I (2271)-Ruckschloss,K (2176) Bratislava SVK 2014 15...h6 is less ambitious. 16.f4 bd5 17.e5 e8 but black has a solid position. Pinheiro,J (2255) -Frois,A (2350) Lisbon 1997 16.e5 ac8 17.e1 bd5 Both sides have positioned their pieces in a manner typical of the isolated d-Pawn position. White now commences a danerous attack on his opponent's K. 18.d3 g6 19.h3 The advance of the h-Pawn may appear to be a more robust way of continuing the attack, but it does not lead to anything positive. 19.h4 h5 20.xe7 xe7 21.e3 d5 22.d2 d8 23.g3 f6 24.xd5 fxe5 25.xc8 xc8 26.b4 xd4 27.xd4 exd4 28.c6 The position is equal. 19...b4 This adds extra protection to his B on e7 and at the same time it puts pressure on the d-Pawn. 19...a8 This is a "pass" in order to show just how dangerous white's attack could become. 20.h6 fc8 21.xf7 xf7 22.xe6+ e8 23.a2 b6 24.xd5 xe6 25.xe6 White has a winning position. 20.h6 fd8 This turns out to be a serious mistake. Black had two reasonable continuations. 20...xd4 remains equal. 21.xf8 xf8 22.xd5 xd5 23.d3 b4 24.c4 d6 and black has adequate compensation for the exchange. 25.e2 20...xb2 Looks risky, but it also gives black adequate defensive resources after 21.xf8 xf8 22.c4 b4 and the advance of the a-Pawn can become a threat requiring white's attention. 21.a2 After the game an exhaustive analysis lead to the conclusion that black could withstand the storm after 21.Nxf2. In those days the players did not have the same resources that we do today, so naturally, analysis with Stockfish is a must! 21.xf7 This turns out to be unclear. xf7 22.xe6+ e8 23.g5 d6 Stockfish assigns white a slight advantage here, but couldn't prove it in Shootouts...white scored +1 -1 =3 21...d6 An important defensive move that prevents the now very real threat of a N sacrifice on f7! 21...xd4 22.xf7 e8 22...xf7 After this white has a mate in 23.xe6+ e8 24.xd5 xd5 25.xd5 e3 26.f7+ d7 27.e6+ xe6 28.xe6+ e8 29.xe7# 23.e5 and white has an excellent position. 21...xb2 This is plausible as white cannot play 22, Nxf7, but he still comes out with the better game. 22.xd5 22.xf7 xc3 22...xf7 23.xe6+ leads to mate 23.xc3 xc3 only results in equality. 22...xd5 23.xc8 xc8 24.xd5 xd5 And now white can safely snatch the f-Pawn. Of course the N cannot be taken. 25.xf7 b6 Defending the e-Pawn. 25...xf7 26.xe6+ e8 27.xc8+ white has a mate in 9. Stockfish 15.1: f7 28.e6+ e8 29.c6+ d8 30.xd5+ c8 31.c6+ d8 32.f4 c3 33.xc3 e8 34.c7 f7 35.xe7+ f8 36.d8# 26.e5 White's advantage is minimal. 22.g5 This threatens to win with Bxd5. xd4 23.cd1 23.xf6 leads to unclear complications. xf6 24.xd5 xd5 25.xc8+ xc8 26.xd5 xe5 27.c3 xc3 28.bxc3 xc3 29.c1 exd5 30.xc3 e6 After white captures the a-Pawn Shootouts resulted in long, difficult endings where white scored +2 -0 =3. 23...f4 24.xf4 xf4 The position has reached a critical stage! 25.xd6 After this black gets the initiative. 25.xf7 This is not only playable again, it's the only move that allows white to keep the chances equal. xd1 26.xd1 c5 27.xe6 xf2+ 28.h1 c7 29.g5+ g7 It's a messy position, but the chances would be equal. 25...xd6 26.xf7 Now this move is unsatisfactory! Spassky has overlooked Geller's fine tactical resource. 26.xe6 This surprising offer comes up a bit short, too. c7 26...fxe6 27.xe6+ h8 28.xd6 is, of course, quite ba for black. 27.xf7 It would actually be somewaht better to play 27.g3 first. xf7 28.d1 e5 29.xf7+ xf7 Black is better, but could he win? Some very arduous endings took place, but black scored 4 wins and a draw. 26...xc3 Very nice! This gives black control over the important square e4 27.h6+ 27.bxc3 is the only way for White. e4 28.h6+ g7 29.g4 27...g7 28.bxc3 c5 After this black has a decisive advantage. 28...xh6 This only results in equality and so it's inferior to the text. 29.xh6+ xh6 30.xe6 29.g3 29.f1 was a better defense. e4 30.g4 h5 and the attack on f2 is decisive. 31.e3 xf2 32.xe6 xe3 33.xe3 xe3 34.xf2 a5 34...xf2+ would be a horrible mistake allowing white to equalize. 35.xf2 draws. 35.f1 xf2 36.xf2 a4 37.g3 f6 38.e3 e5 Black's distant passed P and superior K position translates to a winning position. 29...xg3 30.hxg3 xh6 31.xe6 While black has a won ending it will still require some technique. e4 32.e2 xc3 33.b2 c6 34.h2 b5 35.f3 g7 36.b3 d4 37.c8 a5 38.a3 a4 39.g4 g5 40.g3 f6 41.f4 c6 42.f5 h6 White resigned. The ending is hopelessly lost as the following analysis shows. 42...h6 43.h3 e7 44.c2 d6 45.a1 c5 46.h2 b4 47.xa4 xa4 48.e1 d5 49.c1 b3 50.h3 c4 51.g2 c3 52.h2 d5 53.fxg5 hxg5 54.f1 c4 55.e1 d3 56.e8 e3 57.f8 e2 58.c8 d4 59.f8 f3 60.f5 e3 61.a5 f2 62.a6 e4 63.a2+ d2 64.c2 d5 65.h3 g2+ 66.h2 f3 67.c1 f1+ 68.xf1+ xf1 69.h1 xg4 70.h2 d4 71.h1 h3 72.g4 g2# 0–1

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Thrown Out Of the Chicago Chess Club

     A few years back, 1964 I think it was, I was attending a military service school at Great Lakes, Illinois. When on liberty one Saturday I visited the Chicago Chess Club located at 64 East Van Buren Street in downtown Chicago. 

     The building used to be known as Steinway Hall, an 11-story office building with a ground-floor theater (later it became a cinema). In the early 1900s the building held the offices of a group of famous Chicago architects that included a young Frank Lloyd Wright. Steinway Hall was torn down in 1970 and replaced with a modern 600 foot tall building. 

     The Saturday I popped into the chess club there was a tournament taking place and as I began walking around looking at some of the games in progress a seedy looking character, either the club manager or the tournament director I presumed, walked up and tried to shake me down for a "spectator fee." 

     At first I thought he was joking, but he wasn't and when I told him I was not going to pay a fee I was told I had to go, which I did. I have purchased tickets to US Championships and international tournaments, but a weekend Swiss? That's absurd! 

     Chicago is one of the country's largest cities, so it's no surprise that it has always had a fair share of strong players and the Chicago Chess Club wasn't the only one in the city. There was Chess Unlimited on North Harlem and the Gompers Park Chess Club on West Forster. Nearby Oak Park and Calumet City also had clubs. 

     In the early 1900s, as an inkling of the strength of the Chicago Chess and Checker Club, they had defeated Brooklyn and Boston in telegraph matches and in 1904 the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota were overwhelmed and, later, the Franklin Chess Club of Philadelphia lost a match to the club. 

 

     The following game is from the match against the Twin Cities. I could find no information on the Chicago player Carl Medinus (August 4, 1873 - December 6, 1941, 68 years old). His opponent was not the well known Horace R. Bigelow (1898-1980), a prominent member of the Manhattan Chess Club and one of organizers of the New York 1924 tournament. He was Horace Erastus Bigelow (1867-1942) and he was H.R.'s father.

ChessBase

Carl Medinus (Chicago)–H.E. Bigelow (Twin Cities)1–0Telegraph Match1904Stockfish 15.1

Vienna Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.c3 f6 3.f4 White offers a P to gain control over the center. d5 This move, striking back at the center, is the best way to meet white's last move. 3...exf4 White usually plays 4.Bc4 or much less often 4.Nf3, but the engines like 4.e5 g8 5.f3 d6 6.d4 and white is better. 4.fxe5 xe4 5.f3 The other option is 5.Qf3 c6 The usual move is the rock solid 5...Be7 6.d4 6.b5 is more exact. g4 7.d3 xc3 8.bxc3 a6 9.xc6+ bxc6 10.0-0 with a completely equal position. 6...b4 7.d2 This is bit slow. 7.Qd3 would have been a bit better. f5 Stopping a square short. White would have been more uncomfortable facing 7... Bg4 which would have pretty much forced him to play the passive 8.Be2 owing to the pin on his N. 7...xd2 8.xd2 0-0 9.d3 g4 10.0-0 h8 11.h3 h5 12.a3 a5 13.b4 b6 14.e2 xf3 15.xf3 xd4 16.h1 xf3 17.gxf3 h4 18.f4 g5 0-1 (18) Ramirez Carrizo,V (2144)-Rohl Montes,J (2411) ICC INT 2009 7...xc3 There is no reason to play this unforced move and the doubled Ps are no disadvantage for white. 8.bxc3 0-0 9.d3 g4 10.0-0 f6 11.exf6 xf6 12.c1 equals. De Tarso,S-Segal,A (2309) Sao Paulo 2001 8.e2 xd2 9.xd2 e4 10.0-0 Castling Q-side was a good option. 0-0 11.ad1 b6 11...f6 Counterattacking white's center was more appropriate. After 12.exf6 xf6 13.a3 xc3 14.bxc3 d6 black has completely equalized. 12.a3 e7 13.b5 xf3 14.xc6 14.gxf3 is met by xd4 with good play. 14.xf3 xd4 15.g3 Black is also well off after 15...Kh8, but not... xb5 16.h6 g6 17.h3 h4 18.xd5 and white is winning. 14...xd1 15.xd1 15.xa8 is much worse. xa8 16.xd1 f6 equals 15...b8 16.xd5 Clearly white has the upper hand and the way Medinus conducts the rest of the game is instructive. f6 17.g4 f5 17...fxe5 Practically speaking this was a better decision. In Shootouts white scored 5-0, but in one of the games the ending reached a B+N vs a lone K; an easy with for the engine, but not for a human. 18.e6+ h8 19.xe7 xe7 20.xe7 xf1+ 21.xf1 f8+ 22.e2 exd4 23.d3 The ending favors black. 18.xf5 xf5 19.xf5 g5 Black's problem is that white's pieces dominate the board. 20.c3 a5 21.g3 h8 22.h4 c1 23.e6 d6 24.e7 xg3+ 24...xc6 gets him mated. 25.f8+ xf8 26.exf8# 25.f1 d6 26.e8+ xe8 27.xe8 xb2 28.h5 28.c8 f8+ 29.e2 xa3 30.xc7 would also win 28...xa3 29.c8+ The ending is hopeless, so black resigned. For the most part precise play by the winner. 1–0

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I won! I won!

     Last week started out sunny and warm, but come Wednesday we experienced wind that would blow the fur off a dog. Thursday the weather was supposed to be abominable; we were predicted to get showers in the morning then possibly severe thunderstorms in the afternoon continuing into the evening before changing to freezing rain, sleet and snow showers after midnight. Instead, all we got was some light drizzle as the heart of the storm passed to our south and east. 

     Even so, it got cold and dark outside; it was a good day to play online. I lost a couple of poorly played games and won one, also poorly played, when my opponent resigned in a drawn position. 

     Because it's been a while since readers have been treated to one of my games, here is my most delightful win. I thought the opening wasn't very well played by my opponent, but a post-game analysis shows that he actually didn't play too badly! 

     I played a bunch of sacrifices with little or no calculation only because it was a G/5 and I had a slight time advantage while my opponent was using too much time. Going over the game afterwards revealed that it was filled with wild complications! 

ChessBase

Tartajubow–Anonymous1–0D00Chess Hotel G/516.02.2023Stocjfish 15.1

Blackmar Gambit 1.e4 d5 2.d4 This, the Blackmar Gambit, is an aggressive opening that has some amateur enthusiasts. It's dismissed as unsound by GMs, but it's not likely I'll be meeting any on Chess Hotel. dxe4 If black wants to play it safe he can play 2...c6 or even 2...e6 3.f3 exf3 4.xf3 White can offer a second P with 4.Qxf3, the Ryder Gambit, but that's going too far even in a 5-minute game! e6 The Euwe Defense. Other options are 4...Bf5, 4... Bg4, 5...g6 and 5...c6. Take your pick. 5.d3 After the game I found out that 5.Bg5 is the usual continuation, but there seems nothing wrong with the text. g6 Not really bad, but somehow it just looks wrong. 5...f6 6.0-0 d6 7.g5 bd7 is equal. Pelekh,O-Chumagina,Y Illichevsk 2006 6.g5 White actually has compensation for the P! f6 Ugly as it looks, this is Stockfish's first choice and...surprise...it evaluates the position as dead equal. 6...e7 is bad. 7.f6 g8 and white has an excellent position. 6...e7 7.h4 f6 7...xg5 8.xg5 is also a wee bit in white's favor. 8.c3 favors white slightly. 7.f4 e7 8.c3 White has sufficient compensation for the P, but not more. g7 9.d2 c6 Clearly, black intends a Q-side demonstration, but after this white is better. 9...bc6 10.a3 d5 and black keeps the balance. 10.0-0-0 b5 11.b1 Played quickly to get a little thinking time. I had no idea how to best continue! 11.h4 is the engine's move with the following continuation. h5 12.e4 d7 13.df1 0-0 and now white launches a strong attack with 14.g4 11...a5 12.e4 The threat is Nd6+ displacing black's K. 0-0 There wasn't anything better. Now that black has castled I hit on the idea of advancing the h-Pawn. 13.h4 And now h5 would win. b7 Black has underestimated the strength of the obvious 14.h5 13...h5 This is what I was worried that he would play and I was not sure of how I would continue. It stops the advance of the h-Pawn, but it turns out his K-side gets ripped apart after... 14.g4 Let's pretend that I would have seen this. hxg4 15.h5 f5 15...gxf3 16.h6 h8 17.h7+ f7 18.d6+ Black has to surrender his Q because g7 19.h6+ mates in 3. 16.h6 f6 17.h7+ h8 18.xf6 xf6 19.e5 d7 19...f8 20.h6 wins 20.g5 white is winning. 13...d5 This is the best defense and black does not come off too badly after 14.d6 f5 15.xf8 xf8 16.c3 f6 14.h5 d7 14...g5 was probably the best practical chance because, let's be honest, it would have confused me and cost me some time. Actually, white should win no matter what he plays, but the best line is 15.h6 15.fxg5 This would also work! fxg5 16.xg5 d5 17.xh7+ h8 18.xe6 15...gxf4 16.hxg7 f7 17.xf6+ xf6 18.xh7 followed by doubling Rs on the h-file. 15.hxg6 xg6 16.h6 16.d6 is evaluated a little higher by the engine. e7 16...c8 17.xh7 xh7 18.h1+ g8 19.xg6 wins 17.xb7 b6 18.c5 16...a7 All black can really do is make pointless moves. 16...xh6 17.xh6 e7 18.eg5 fxg5 19.xg6 hxg6 20.h8+ f7 21.h7+ e8 22.xe7+ xe7 23.h7+ f7 24.xg6 etc. 17.xg7 f7 17...xg7 18.h6+ f7 19.xh7+ e8 20.d6# 18.h6 c5 The engine likes 19.Nd6, but my move is also good. 19.eg5 All I saw was that this opens up the diagonal for the B. fxg5 20.xg5 c4 20...e7 This is what I expected. The engine sees that 21.Nxh7 wins easily; I didn't. 21.xg6 My intended move which is good enough, but... hxg6 The material is equal here and white's advantage is put at nearly 8 Pawns which is winning easily. However, I have no idea how I would have continued here and no idea how to win! 22.d3 22.dxc5 Best, but only by a bit. d5 23.d3 e8 24.d4 e4 25.xe4 e5 26.e3 and wins 22...e8 23.h3 f6 24.f8 h5 25.xe7 xe7 26.xe6 d5 27.f4 and white is winning. 21.xf7 xf7 22.xg6+ hxg6 23.df1+ g8 24.e3 Adding the Q to the attack and threatening Qxe6+ with mate in 9, but there was a mate in 8. 24.g7 f3 25.xf3 f6 26.xf6 f7 27.g5 g8 28.c5 e8 29.xa7 f8 30.h8 e5 31.e7# 24...d5 25.g3 25.g7 This still leads to mate. f6 26.xf6 f8 27.h8+ f7 28.e5+ e7 29.hxf8 f3 30.xf3 d7 31.e4 e7 32.1f7# 25...e4 26.h4 In the auto-analysis the engine slapped a ? on this move because it missed the mate and white's advantage dropped to "only" 4 Ps. 26.g5 mates f5 27.xd8 f8 28.f6 f7 29.e5 d7 30.g5 a7 31.f6+ e8 32.d8+ f7 33.h8 e5 34.d5 g7 35.xf8# 26...f5 A final blunder. 26...xh4 27.xh4 d5 28.hf4 b7 28...xg2 29.1f2 d5 30.f7 sould win without much trouble. 29.f7 c5 30.xb7 xb7 Again, white should win, but it was a 5 minute game and time was running short, so the outcome would by no means be certain! 27.g5 Missing the obvious 27. Qxd8+, but black resigned anyway. 27.g5 There is a forced mate after this. f8 28.h8+ f7 29.xd8 e8 30.e5 xd8 31.b8+ e7 32.h8 a8 33.xa8 xc2+ 34.xc2 d6 35.xf8+ c6 36.c5+ b7 37.f7+ a6 38.a8# 1–0

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House of Commons vs. House of Representatives

     In June of 1897, a unique encounter took place when chessers from the United States House of Representatives dueled in a cable match against chessers from the British House of Commons. 

     Ladislaus Hengelmuller von Hengervar, Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from Austria-Hungary was in Washington and was chosen as referee. The umpires were Sir Julian Pauncefote, British Ambassador in Washington, for the British team and John Hay, a representative of the United States who was in London. 

     For the US team Richmond Pearson, a 45-year old lawyer from Asheville, North Carolina was on board 1 because he was thought to be the strongest player in Congress. 

     At board 2 was 43-year old lawyer John F. Shafroth of Denver, Colorado, who at one time served as president of the Denver Chess Club and was once city champion. However, he had not played chess for a dozen years before this match. In physical appearance he was said to have resembled the famous Kentucky player Jackson W. Showalter. 

     Manning board 3 was the oldest player on the team, Robert N. Bodine of Paris, Mississippi. Although he was well versed in the openings, his play was deemed to be rather superficial. 

     Holding down board 4 was T.S. Plowman, a 54-year old who for many years had been a bank president in Talladega, Alabama. Described as short, slim and active, he gave the appearance of being a nervous player, but he had done well in the practice games and defeated C. R. Shannon, the captain of the American team 

     At last board was Irving Handy of Newark, Delaware. At age 36 he was the youngest man on the team. He was a lecturer, writer and journalist who had a reputation as a good player. 

     Britain's board 1 player, Horace Plunkett, was described as a small man with a gentle voice and manner. He was the brother of Lord Dunsany, an Irish writer and dramatist. Plunkett started an Irish farmers' association and wrote for a British magazine. He had also spent a long time in the US in the state of Wyoming where had land interests. 

     The best known British player was John Parnell whose more famous brother was Charles Stewart Parnell, an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament. The brothers were born into a powerful Anglo-Irish Protestant landowning family and Charles was a land reform agitator. Before the start of the game Parnell complained of not feeling well, but took his time and played carefully to score the win. 

     A. Strauss at 3rd board was a partner in a leading firm of tin merchants and a speculator on the British Metal Exchange. 

     Llywelyn Atherley-Jones was the son of Ernest Jones, a colorful character who was was a political agitator and once spent two years in jail. Ernest was a writer, lecturer, poet and a chartist, a trader who employs technical analysis in their trading and research by examining price charts and graphs. 

     At 5th board was F. W. Wilson who came from a long line of tenant farmers and was described as half a country squire and half a journalist because he was a pioneer in daily the journal business. 

ChessBase

A. Strauss (GB)–R. Bodine (US)0–1C67Commons vs, Representative Match1897Stockfish 15.1

Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 f6 This defense was first analyzed in the 19th century. Considered defensive and drawish it was rarely used, except by Arthur Bisguier who often employed it, until the 2000 World Championship when Kramnik successfully used it against Kasparov. 4.0-0 xe4 5.e1 The main line is 5.d4, nut the text is also seen and is quite satisfactory. 5.d4 d6 6.dxe5 xb5 7.a4 bd4 8.xd4 xd4 9.xd4 d5 10.exd6 xd6 11.e4+ e6 12.d4 d6 13.e4+ e6 14.d4 d6 While not forced, this line has been used many times by GMs who want to pretend like they have played a legitimate game, but really only want a draw. 5...d6 6.xc6 Seldom played, but it has the advantage of not being as drawish as 6.Nxe5 dxc6 7.xe5 e7 8.d4 0-0 9.c3 e6 9...e8 10.d2 f8 11.f1 f6 12.d3 xe1 13.xe1 and the players soon agreed to a draw. Bach, M (2276)-Buhmann,R (2563) Bad Wiessee 2010 9...f5 10.d2 e8 11.df3 f8 12.f4 f6 13.d3 xe1+ 14.dxe1 with equality. Paredes Bustamante,P (2156)-Hoare,A (2088) Khanty-Mansiysk RUS 2015 10.e2 In recent games white has played 10.Nd2. Here 10.Qe2 is not an especially good choice because, as will be seen, the Q is exposed on the open file. e8 11.e3 f6 Black can claim to be slightly better here as he begins to gain time. 12.d3 c4 13.d2 13.f4 Trying to keep the B is met by f7 14.d2 d6 and black is slightly better. 13...xe3 14.fxe3 d6 15.e4 f5 16.f3 g6 17.f4 f7 18.f1 c5 19.d5 f5 It was worth considering playing 19...c4 to make room for the B at c5 20.e6 This is certainly not bad, but he might have also played 20. exf5 20.exf5 xf4 21.xe8+ xe8 22.xf4 xd5 23.e3 c6 24.f1 with equal chances if black offers a trade of Qs with 24...Qe4 otherwise white has slightly the better of if after he plays f5-f6. 20...xe6 20...fxe4 21.xe4 d7 22.ae1 c6 also results in equality, but white's pieces are more actively positioned. 21.dxe6 fxe4 This is somewhat inferior to 21...f4, but black's position cam hardly be considered anywhere near losing. 21...f4 22.e5 f8 23.xf4 e7 24.d2 xe6 is equal. 25.f3 22.xe4 f8 22...g5 getting his Q ito play would have been a more active defense. For example. .. 23.ae1 f8 24.e2 ae8 23.g4 23.e2 leaves white better. For example... e7 24.e3 ae8 25.d1 followed by Nc4 with considerable pressure. 23...f6 White enjoys a very slight advantage here, ut he is oblivious to the lurking danger. 24.ae1 Strauss falls into a mate in 3! 24.e2 eliminates all danger and after ae8 25.e3 h6 26.g3 g6 27.c4 White is only slightly better. After 27...Rf6 xg3 This is tempting. 28.hxg3 xg3+ 29.g2 xg2+ 30.xg2 In 5 Shootouts in long (140+ moves!) and difficult endings white scored +2 -0 =3 with the draws coming at the higher plies. 24...f2+ 25.h1 xf1+ White resigned. Except for white's unfortunate lapse on move 23 this was a well played game and Bodine's play was especially precise. 0–1

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Ruth Herstein, Mystery Lady

 

     Ruth Herstein (April 12, 1932 - September 13, 1999, age 67) was born in Heerlen, The Netherlands and was was one of the leading female chess players in the United States in the 1970s. Even so, you won't find much about her. 

     She never had a minus score in the US Women's Championships and her best results were in 1975 and 1976, when she tied for 2nd-3rd. 

     She also played in the Women's Olympiads in 1974, 1976, and 1978: Second board in 1974 in Medellín (+7 -2 =2), third board in 1976 in Haifa (+3 -2 =3) and third board in 1978 in Buenos Aires (+4 -6 =0). 

     A high school science teacher by profession, she was married to US Master Kenneth Fitzgerald from 1969 to 1973. She passed away in Santa Monica, California. 

     In the 1975 US Women's Championship she finished in a tie for second place with Ruth Haring Orton of Fayetteville, Arkansas. The prize money was split equally, but because the championship was a FIDE Zonal from which only the first and second finishers could advance, a playoff was held later to determine who would accompany Diane Savereide; Orton won the playoff. 

     The following topsy-turvy game was played in the first round of the 1975 Women's Championship and was the only game Savereide lost when she became too intent on her own plan of giving mate and ended up falling to a mate by Herstein even though a draw was available. 

 

ChessBase

Ruth Herstein–Diane Savereide1–0E62US Womens Champ, MilwaukeeMilwaukee, WI USA1975Stockfish 15.1

King's Indian 1.f3 g6 2.g3 g7 3.g2 d6 4.d4 f6 5.c4 0-0 6.c3 c6 7.0-0 e5 8.e3 This move is needlessly tame. 8.d5 followed by 9.e4 would have allowed white to press for an advantage. d7 8...f5 is good option. 9.b3 exd4 10.exd4 e4 equals. Gagunashvili,M (2591)-Livshits,G (2406) Rishon Le Ziyyon 2006 9.a3 9.d5 b6 10.xb6 axb6 11.d5 e7 12.d2 h6 13.a4 is completely even. Glud,J (2456)-Pina Vega,S (2279) Havana 2008 9.b3 is a slow option that does not lead to much. f5 10.dxe5 in Roca Rojas,A (2242)-Amaro Alfonso,R (2021) Havana 2015 black continued with 10...Ndxe5 and got a poor game. Instead 10...dxe5 is equal. 9...a5 10.b3 f5 As a result of white's passive play Savereide has had no trouble getting an active, but not necessarily better, position. 11.d5 e7 Quite good was 11...e5 and 12.. .Nf6 12.g5 One annotator called this move rather pointless, but the fact is that it's not at all bad. 12.dxe5 was equally good. dxe5 13.e4 c6 White can either retreat the N to c3 or capture on e7; either move is equally good. 12...f6 13.xe7+ 13.dxe5 is more precise. After dxe5 14.b2 h6 15.xf6+ xf6 16.f3 chances are even. 13...xe7 14.b2 e4 15.d5 g4 15...h6 was also quite good as after 16.e6 xe6 17.dxe6 xe6 black is a solid P up. 16.xg7 xg7 17.b4 c3 Black chooses to ignore the stranded N tand exercises the option of seeking active play on the Q-side. 17...f6 18.h3 g5 19.c5 h6 with a solid positional advantage. 17...h6 18.e6 xe6 19.dxe6 e5 20.bxa5 xe6 21.b1 fb8 black is slightly better. 18.c1 18.d4 would have also forced the trade of Qs but it would have made her defense easier because it leads to a more active P-formation. xd4 19.exd4 18...axb4 19.xc3 This is the wrong capture because it leaves the a-Pawn weak. 19.axb4 Qxc1 20.Rfc1 was correct. Black's advantage would then be minimal. bxc3 20.fc1 a4 21.xc3 e5 Technically black has the advantage after this move, but it leads to obscure complications. It would have been better to fix white's c-Pawn with 21...b6! 22.c5 h6 23.h3 23.e6 xe6 24.dxe6 d5 leaves black clearly better. 23...a5 24.cxd6 cxd6 25.f4 d7 25...c5 gets tricky, but it's the only way to try and keep the advantage. 26.xc5 26.cc1 g5 27.e2 xd5 28.d4 c5 26...dxc5 27.b1 d8 26.c7 This active R on the 7th means white has managed to equalize. fa8 With this move Savereide tosses away all of her advantage and allows Herstein to gain the clearly better position. 26...f7 and Black stays safe. 27.xb7 g5 28.e6 xe6 29.b8+ f8 30.xf8+ xf8 31.dxe6 e7 with equal chances. 27.xb7 A logical followup to her last move, but she has missed a promising tactical shot! 27.xg6 xg6 28.xd7 xd5 29.xb7 with the better chances. 27...xa3 28.xa3 xa3 29.f1 29.xg6 Things get tricky after this, but now it only leads to equality. a1+ 30.f1 f4 31.xf4 31.xe5 h3 32.b8+ g7 33.b7+ f6 34.g4+ f5 35.f7+ xg4 and wins 31...f3+ 32.g2 e1+ 33.h1 g4 equal. 29...g5 30.h5 f7 31.b5 a1+ 32.g2 With best play by both sides this position is probably drawn, but only IF black finds the right 32nd move! f3 Which she does! 32...e7 33.xd7 xd7 34.g7 f4 35.gxf4 gxf4 36.exf4 and the ending is favorable to white. 33.xd7+ 33.xd7 would not be so good... g1+ 34.h3 g4# 33...g6 This is a gross blunder. Retreating to the 8th rank was the only feasible defense. 33...f8 34.d8+ 34.xd6 is a self mate. g1+ 35.h3 g4# 34...f7 35.e8+ She can never play Rxd6 because the mate is still there. e7 36.d7+ xe8 37.f6+ f8 38.h7+ g8 39.f6+ f8 40.h7+ g8 41.f6+ f8 42.h7+ Draw by threefold repetition. 33...g8 34.f6+ f8 Noiw white can take the d-Pawn, but it does no good. 35.xd6 g1+ 36.h3 h1 36...g4+ and white escapes by 37.xg4 fxg4+ 38.xg4 37.g4 and wins. 34.g7+ Black resigned. 34.g7+ xh5 35.e8+ g4 36.h3# 1–0

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