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. 

 

[Event "US Womens Champ, Milwaukee"] [Site "Milwaukee, WI USA"] [Date "1975.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Ruth Herstein"] [Black "Diane Savereide"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E62"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15.1"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "1975.??.??"] {King's Indian} 1. Nf3 g6 2. g3 Bg7 3. Bg2 d6 4. d4 Nf6 5. c4 O-O 6. Nc3 Nc6 7. O-O e5 8. e3 {This move is needlessly tame. 8.d5 followed by 9.e4 would have allowed white to press for an advantage.} Nd7 (8... Bf5 {is good option.} 9. b3 exd4 10. exd4 Ne4 {equals. Gagunashvili,M (2591)-Livshits,G (2406) Rishon Le Ziyyon 2006}) 9. a3 (9. Nd5 Nb6 10. Nxb6 axb6 11. d5 Ne7 12. Bd2 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. Nd5 Ne7 {Quite good was 11...e5 and 12.. .Nf6} 12. Ng5 {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... Nf6 13. Nxe7+ (13. dxe5 {is more precise. After} dxe5 14. Bb2 h6 15. Nxf6+ Bxf6 16. Nf3 {chances are even.}) 13... Qxe7 14. Bb2 e4 15. d5 Ng4 ( 15... h6 {was also quite good as after} 16. Ne6 Bxe6 17. dxe6 Qxe6 {black is a solid P up.}) 16. Bxg7 Qxg7 17. b4 Qc3 {Black chooses to ignore the stranded N tand exercises the option of seeking active play on the Q-side.} (17... Qf6 18. Nh3 g5 19. c5 h6 {with a solid positional advantage.}) (17... h6 18. Ne6 Bxe6 19. dxe6 Qe5 20. bxa5 Qxe6 21. Rb1 Rfb8 {black is slightly better.}) 18. Qc1 ( 18. Qd4 {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.} Qxd4 19. exd4) 18... axb4 19. Qxc3 {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. Rfc1 Ra4 21. Rxc3 Ne5 {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. Nh3 (23. Ne6 Bxe6 24. dxe6 d5 {leaves black clearly better.}) 23... Ra5 24. cxd6 cxd6 25. Nf4 Bd7 ( 25... Rc5 {gets tricky, but it's the only way to try and keep the advantage.} 26. Rxc5 (26. Rcc1 g5 27. Ne2 Rxd5 28. Nd4 Rc5) 26... dxc5 27. Rb1 Rd8) 26. Rc7 {This active R on the 7th means white has managed to equalize.} Rfa8 {With this move Savereide tosses away all of her advantage and allows Herstein to gain the clearly better position.} (26... Rf7 {and Black stays safe.} 27. Rxb7 g5 28. Ne6 Bxe6 29. Rb8+ Rf8 30. Rxf8+ Kxf8 31. dxe6 Ke7 {with equal chances.}) 27. Rxb7 {A logical followup to her last move, but she has missed a promising tactical shot!} (27. Nxg6 {[%mdl 512]} Nxg6 28. Rxd7 Rxd5 29. Rxb7 {with the better chances.}) 27... Rxa3 28. Rxa3 Rxa3 29. Bf1 (29. Nxg6 {Things get tricky after this, but now it only leads to equality.} Ra1+ 30. Bf1 f4 31. Nxf4 (31. Nxe5 Bh3 32. Rb8+ Kg7 33. Rb7+ Kf6 34. Ng4+ Kf5 35. Rf7+ Kxg4 {and wins}) 31... Nf3+ 32. Kg2 Ne1+ 33. Kh1 Bg4 {equal.}) 29... g5 30. Nh5 Kf7 31. Bb5 Ra1+ 32. Kg2 {With best play by both sides this position is probably drawn, but only IF black finds the right 32nd move!} Nf3 {Which she does!} (32... Ke7 33. Bxd7 Nxd7 34. Ng7 f4 35. gxf4 gxf4 36. exf4 {and the ending is favorable to white.}) 33. Rxd7+ (33. Bxd7 {would not be so good...} Rg1+ 34. Kh3 g4#) 33... Kg6 {[%mdl 8192] This is a gross blunder. Retreating to the 8th rank was the only feasible defense.} (33... Kf8 34. Rd8+ (34. Rxd6 {is a self mate.} Rg1+ 35. Kh3 g4#) 34... Kf7 35. Be8+ {She can never play Rxd6 because the mate is still there.} Ke7 36. Rd7+ Kxe8 37. Nf6+ Kf8 38. Nh7+ Kg8 39. Nf6+ Kf8 40. Nh7+ Kg8 41. Nf6+ Kf8 42. Nh7+ {Draw by threefold repetition.}) (33... Kg8 34. Nf6+ Kf8 {Noiw white can take the d-Pawn, but it does no good.} 35. Rxd6 Rg1+ 36. Kh3 Rh1 (36... g4+ {and white escapes by} 37. Nxg4 fxg4+ 38. Kxg4) 37. Ng4 { and wins.}) 34. Rg7+ {Black resigned.} (34. Rg7+ Kxh5 35. Be8+ Kg4 36. h3#) 1-0