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.
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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