Vintage Reshevsky

     Samuel Reshevsky (November 26, 1911 - April 4, 1992) was always one of my favorite players. For some reason I always found his games easier to understand than those of anybody else. 

     Because of that it was a very enjoyable couple of weeks when I got to observe him in action close up at the 1975 U.S. Championship and it was a chess thrill of a lifetime when, in 1979, I drew a correspondence game with him. 

     Reshevsky's own description of his play was that he was "essentially a positional player, although I can conduct an assault with precision and vigor when the opportunity arises. My style lies between that of Tal and Petrosian. It is neither over-aggressive nor too passive. My strength consists of a fighting spirit, a great desire to win and a stubborn defense whenever in trouble. I rarely become discouraged in an inferior situation and I fear no one." 

     He continued, "By playing slowly during the early phases of a game I am able to grasp the basic requirements of each position. Then, despite being in time pressure, I have no difficulty in finding the best continuation. Incidentally, it is an odd fact that more often than not it is my opponent who gets the jitters when I am compelled to make these hurried moves." 

     Bobby Fischer said that Reshevsky was "like a machine calculating every variation" and he had to "find every move over the board by a process of elimination." Fischer added that REeshevsky could "see more variations in a shorter period of time than most players who ever lived." 

     Though Reshevsky pretty much adhered to the positional concepts of Steinitz and Nimzovich, his play was a rather curious mixture of their positional ideas and tactics. 

     He claimed that chess is basically positional, but tactics was how you obtained those positional advantages. You need a strong position in order to attack and you got those positions through tactics. 

     The following game was played in the 1958 Chess Olympiad that was played in Munich, West Germany. As expected, the Russians (Botvinnik, Smyslov, Keres, Bronstein, Tal and Petrosian) won easily. They were followed by Yugoslavia, Argentina and the United States (Reshevsky, Lombardy, Bisguier, Evans and Rossolimo). 

     Reshevsky's opponent in the following game was the English veteran C.H.O'D. Alexander, a tough, resourceful and dangerous attacker who was a hard player to beat. Over his career ge has wins over the likes of Botvinnik, Bronstein, Pachman and Szabo. 

     The game is pretty boring up to move 17, but then Reshevsky sacrificed a Pawn to reach a complicated position. Alexander was defending very well until time pressure set in. It was a gritty, vintage Reshevsky game. 

     In pre-engine days it's excusable that annotation errors were made, but Reshevsky's annotations to this game were, I hate to say this, appalling! It's almost as if he annotated the game without setting up a board. 

ChessBase

Samuel Reshevsky–C.H.O'D. Alexander1–0A10Final Olympiad, MunichMunich FRG14.10.1958Stockfish 15.1

English Opening 1.c4 At the time this game was played the English had become quite fashionable because it was thought that it was less committing than 1.d4. On the other hand, as Reshevsky pointed out, it gives black a wider choice of defenses. g6 2.g3 g7 3.g2 e5 Black's intention is to play an early ...f5 which was a favorite setup of Alexander. The idea is to obtain immediate control of e4 and then launch a K-side attack. 4.c3 d6 5.d3 f5 6.e4 e7 Black wants to be aboe to recapture with the N if white plays exf5. Other options are 6...Nc6 and 6...Nf6 7.ge2 0-0 8.0-0 bc6 9.f4 In this nearly symmetrical position white's P on c4 does not give him any particular advantage and so the position is quite equal. fxe4 9...b8 10.d5 fxe4 11.dxe4 g4 is equal. Kurosaki,T (2131)-Duckworth,W (2352) Los Angeles 2011 10.dxe4 e6 10...g4 11.h3 e6 12.d5 d7 White's position is slightly more active, but black's is solid and in Habibi,A (2343)-Fierz,M (2201) Mendrisio SUI 1999 the game was eventually drawn. 11.d5 11.b3 would have been too passive for Reshevsky's taste. exf4 12.gxf4 g4 13.b2 d4 14.d2 xe2+ 15.xe2 xb2 16.xb2 xe2 17.xe2 and black has simplified too much. 11...d7 In his notes to this game Reshevsky made some incredibly bad observations!! He claimed that this a natural move that was aparently played with the intention of playing ...Bh3. In fact, in this position ...Bh3 would be horrible. 11...d4 was also possible. 12.f5 12.xd4 exd4 13.d2 c6 14.xe7+ xe7 15.c2 c5 is equal, but not very promising for white. 12...xd5 13.cxd5 gxf5 14.g5 with equal chances. 12.b1 Reshevsky was expecting 12...Bh3 to which he would have then played 13.b4. Honest! That's what he wrote. g4 Here Reshevsky wrote some fiddle-faddle about how Alexander apparently concluded that white's B on g2 was weak so he avoided exchanging it, preferring to give up his B for a N, but that was a wrong assumption because later in the game the B on g2 became very active. 12...h3 turns out to be a mistake. 13.xh3 xh3 14.xc7 ac8 15.b5 White has snagged a P. cd8 16.e3 Somewhat better than taking on d6. 16.xd6 c8 17.c5 xd6 18.cxd6 e6 19.d5 xd6 20.xe6+ xe6 21.f5 gxf5 22.exf5 16...e6 17.d3 with good position. 13.e3 xe2 Reshevsky preferred 13.. .Bh5, but wrote that Alexander probably feared that the B would get into trouble there, but the fact is that there is no way white can endanger the B. Alexander was a very strong player and I think he, too, would have known that. He probably played 13...Bxe2 as part of a plan to exchange pieces and simplify the position. 13...h5 14.f5 gxf5 15.exf5 h6 16.f6 xe3+ 17.xe3 f5 The chances are completely equal, but that does not equate to a draw! 13...e6 leads to more routine play. 14.b4 d4 15.b2 c5 with equal chances. 14.xe2 d4 A very fine move. White has two Bs vs black's well posted N and now white needs to find a way to use the two Bs. 15.d3 exf4 Another nice move. The idea is to increase the scope of the B on g7. 16.gxf4 a5 17.d2 c5 18.f5 With his Q-side prospects shut down it's time for white to undertake some aggressive action elsewhere. ec6 This natural move is an imperceptible error! 18...ae8 19.xa5 gxf5 20.exf5 exf5 21.xf5 xf5 22.c3 e3 with complications. 19.d5 Here's the flaw with black's last move...the threat is 20.f6 and black has no good defense against it. e5 20.h3 xc4 20...gxf5 21.exf5 ae8 22.e3 favors white 21.g5 Black is confronted with the serious threat of Ne7+ ae8 Meeting the threat. 22.f6 In thgis case the threat was stronger than the execution because after this black can equalize. 22.h1 e5 23.bd1 f7 24.f4 b5 25.df1 keeps up the pressure. 22...xh3 23.xh3 Black now has complete equality if he finds the best move. Even if he plays the expected retreat of the B to h8 he should be able to defend himself. e5 A terrific rejoinder that was overlooked by Reshevsky. 23...h8 24.h6 f7 Best! 24...f7 25.bd1 e5 26.e7+ favors white. 25.xf8 xf8 26.bd1 b5 with adequate defensive resources. 24.c1 Here Reshevsky stated that after black retreats the B he will lose material. True, but it's hardly relevant. 24.f4 can be met by xd5 25.exd5 xf6 26.h6 g7 Here, too, black has sufficient defensive resources so that the game must be called even. 24.e7+ is not nearly as good as it looks at first glance. After f7 25.fxg7+ xg7 26.h6+ xh6 27.xf8 xe7 black is clearly better. 24...e2+ Here is where Alexander begins going down the path to destruction. Most likely he was beginning to feel the effects of time pressure. 24...h8 25.b3 The N is trapped so xd5 26.exd5 e5 and white has the advantage. 24...xd5 This excellent move was missed by both players. 25.exd5 xf6 and the chances are equal. 25.h1 xe4 Best under the circumstances according to Reshevsky. Engines slap a ? on it! 25...xc1 The logical followup. 26.bxc1 d2 27.e7+ h8 28.fxg7+ xg7 29.xf8 xf8 30.c8 xe4 White is better, but proving it might be difficult! 26.fxg7 xf1+ 27.xf1 xg7 Black has 3 Ps for the piece which is usually sufficient compensation, but here white's two powerful Bs vs black's uncoordinated Ns make the defense next to impossible. 28.g5 h6 29.d8 d2 30.g2 a4 31.a1 31.d1 looks tempting, but things get tricky after xa2 32.xd2 a1+ 33.f1 xf1+ 34.g2 f5 35.e3 f4+ 36.f3 f7 37.e4 and white should be able to win. 31...f7 32.a3 h4 Alexander was in terrific time trouble, but his position was helpless... theoretically at least! 32...d4 33.e1 c4 34.b3 34.xe2 makes things more difficult...for white. d1+ 35.f1 xf1+ 36.g2 b1 34...xa3 35.f3 d3 36.e4 d2 37.xa5 b2 38.d3 b6 39.xb6 d2 40.f1+ g7 41.e4 d4 42.f6 White is theoretically winning...OTB things wouldn't be so clear. 33.xh4 Black resigned. 1–0

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A Defensive Lesson By Dr. Marchand

     In 1956 the highest rated US player was Samuel Reshevsky (2663), who was in a class (Grandmaster) by himself. He was followed by Senior Masters Larry Evans, Robert Byrne, Arthur Bisguier, Isaac Kashdan, Donald Byrne, Nicolas Rossolimo, Max Pavey, Alex Kevitz, James Sherwin, Herbert Seidman, I.A. Horowitz, Arthur Dake, Arnold Denker and George Kramer. 

     The great Dr. Savielly Tartakower (born February 1887) passed away on February 4, 1956, and in Detroit, Michigan a Tartakower Memorial Tournament was held from August 31 to September 3 at Wayne (State) University, a public research university. It was an 8 round Swiss and first prize was a staggering $500, which had the buying power of nearly $5,500 today. Back in those days the average yearly salary was $4,450. A new Ford car cost between $1,748-$3,151 and gas to put in it cost $0.23 a gallon. 

     The entry fee was a little stiff, $8.00 which was about a week's pay if you were making the average salary. Second prize was $175 ($1,900 today) and third prize was $75 ($800 today). There were also prizes for Classes A, B and C, unrated players and Juniors. 

     No mention was made of a prize for women, but in those days very few women played chess. The top female player was Lucille Kellner of Lima, Ohio, who finished with 5-3 (+4 -2 +2); she was rated 1782 placing her 9th on the women's rating list. 

     Eva Aronson of Chicago, had returned to play after a two year layoff due to illness and finished with +3 -3 =2. She was not rated because she had not played before the rating list was published. 

     The tournament was a strong one and Donald Byrne tallied 7-4 to win the event, drawing with runner-up Arthur Bisguier who tied for second with National Master Povilas Tautvaisas. Fourth to sixth with 6-2 scores were Stephan Popel, Walter Shipman and Dr. Ariel Mengarini. Seventh to ninth with 5.5-2.5 scores were Dr. Erich Marchand, Kazys Skema and Kazimieras Jakstas. 

     Obviously, in the opening black has to be much more careful than white because white, having the first move, has a slight but definite advantage. Black usually finds himself on the defensive in the opening and sometimes he even has to continue playing a defensive game into the middlegame or even the ending.

     Defensive play requires nerves of steel and one of white's advantages is that in the opening his superior center can cause black problems in developing his pieces. Consequently, black must be alert for every opportunity to seize his share of the center or, at least, to control as much of it as he can. 

     Another opening advantage white has is the "initiative" so he can generally play whatever type of middlegame plan that looks the most promising. 

     Generally black has two basic plans: 1) He can try for complications, hoping to wrest the initiative or cause white to go astray...a difficult and risky option! Or, 2) play simple chess, close the position, exchanges pieces and avoid the opening attacking lines. The idea is to meet each threat as it arises and by gradual positional means build up a strong position and maybe even develop an attack.

     The following game by US Master Dr. Erich Marchand, who at he time was rated a class below Master at Expert, illustrates some of these defensive procedures.

     His opponent was given as "K. Pleskacz", but I believe that is incorrect. I found an obituary for Bazyli Pleskacz (February 12, 1916 - March 17, 2006) who was originally from Belarus and after many hardships and adventures ended up in Detroit in 1950. The obituary added that he was an accomplished chess player and the May 1957 issue of Chess Life's rating list had a "B. Pleskacz" from Detroit who was rated 1887. I also discovered an obituary for his son, Peter Victor Pleskacz (1948-2021), and it mentioned that he had enjoyed playing bridge and chess with his father. 

ChessBase

Bazyli Pleskacz–Dr. Erich Marchand0–1B40Tartakower Memorial, Detroit1956Komodo 14

Sicilian Defense 1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 Marchand purposely avoided the Dragon Variation which was extremely popular at the time. 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 f6 5.c3 b4 This move is somewhat risky to play early because of the possible reply 6.e5 which can lead to unclear complications. 6.d3 6.e5 d5 7.d2 xc3 8.bxc3 e7 9.g4 and already white has a dangerous attack and black must proceed with caution. 6...e5 Again somewhat risky, but Marchand played it thinking that Pleskacz would not know the best reply. Actually, Marchand was mistaken about what is the best reply! 7.b3 Certainly not bad, but at the time the star move was thought to be 7.Nf5 7.f5 d5 This move loses, but it does show the practical advantage of 7.Nf5 8.xg7+ f8 9.h6 g8 10.f5 xf5 11.exf5 f8 12.g5 bd7 13.xd5 a5+ 14.c3 e4 15.b5 h6 16.h4 b4 White has a decisive advantage, but managed to throw it away and ended up drawing in the ending. Jablonski,N (2266)-Shirazi,K (2401) Paris 2007 7.f5 is correctly met by 0-0 8.0-0 and black can try either 6...Bxc3 ot 6...d6 7.de2 This is the most solid move after which the position is even after 0-0 8.a3 e7 9.0-0 7...d5 8.exd5 xd5 Here Marchand avoided 8...Bxc3+ and 9...Qxd5 doubling white's Ps because he thought that in the resulting open position white's teo Bs could end up being quite powerful. Beside, the figured he could double the Ps without yielding the two Bs. 9.d2 Castling at once was also worth considering. c6 This developing move cannot be bad, but 9... Bxc3 was more precise. 9...xc3 10.bxc3 0-0 11.0-0 c6 12.h5 f5 Shleimovitch,V-Lelumees,B (2110) Tallinn 2001 with equal chances. 9...xc3 10.bxc3 d6 11.h5 He could also castle. g6 12.h6 f8 13.e3 g7 14.c5 Cirkovic,R-Meister,Y (2503) Berlin 2005 with equal chances. 10.0-0 xc3 11.bxc3 e7 More exact was 11...Bd6 rendering white's next move totally harmless. 12.f4 exf4 Played to prevent white from gaining space with 13.f5. White's weakness is his doubled Ps, but as compensation he has a lead in development because black still needs to castle and develop his other B. One important factor to take inot consideration though is that white has opened a disgonal toward his own K and this is something black needs to keep in mind. 13.xf4 e6 14.h1 White plays with caution...he yields a tempo in order to get his K off the diagonal. The alternative was 14.Qf3 and then Rad1. 0-0 15.d4 Both sides having completed their development and the position is quite equal. White intends to bring his N into play and invite white to undoubling the c-Pawns and, this is important, he is setting a trap for black's Q, xd4 While undoubling the Ps may appear surprising, it's actually the best move. The idea is to exchange one small advantage for another. White now gets a weak c-Pawn, but more importantly black exchanges off white's pieces before they can be used to launch a full scale attack. 16.cxd4 f6 Avoiding the trap. With this move black slows down his opponent's attack. Note that black is still on the defensive because white has control of the center and the semi-open f-file might prove handy. Black must continue to be cautious. 16...xd4 17.xh7+ wins easily., 17.c3 17.h5 There is nothing to be gained by this seemingly aggressive move because after g6 18.f3 xd4 black has the upper hand. 17...c8 Development combined with a threat, thus keeping the balance. Practically speaking it seems that black is gradually taking over the initiative without white having made any mistakes. 18.d2 c4 Forcing the exchange of one of white's Bs. 19.xc4 xc4 20.f3 g5 Forcing the exchange of the other B or else white has to make a time losing and pointless retreat 21.xg5 xg5 22.e2 c6 Black has a number of reasonable alternatives, but Marchand felt that the coming action on the e- and f-files was going to play an important role and from c6 his R can defend his K by going to g6 or h6. 23.af1 d5 23...d8 Would have avoided the possibility of white taking on f7, but not safer. 24.c4 24.xf7 is, of course, no longer a possibility. xf7 25.xf7 xf7 24...e8 25.d3 Technically the position is equal, but practically black is clearly going to be defending. 24.f5 24.xf7 leads to tricky play after xf7 24...xf7 25.e8+ f8 26.xf8# 25.xf7 xf7 26.c4 Theoretically the chances would be equal, but this is one of those position where the win is likely going to go to the stronger player. In any case, the ending is going to be a tough one! 24...c4 25.xc4 25.xf7 Again, this was playable. xf7 26.xf7 xf7 27.c4 as noted before. 25...xc4 26.5f3 26.e5 was an interesting possibility, but after xc3 27.e7 a3 28.xb7 xa2 29.h3 h6 30.d5 d2 31.xa7 xd5 it's a draw 26...f6 27.e1 Marchand mistakenly called this an error. It's not at all; in fact the position is dead equal. 27.d1 Marchanbd. It ties up white's pieces after fc8 28.dd3 a4 29.d2 a3 30.c2 It's unlikely that black could win this, but it is he who has all the play. 27...fc8 28.ee3 This move. leaving his first rank undefended, is the fatal mistake. 28.e7 xd4 29.h3 dc4 30.xb7 with a draw. 28.g1 was also quite playable as after 8c7 29.b1 a4 30.b2 it's not likely that either side can squeeze out an advantage. 28...xd4 Pleskacz has made an elemenrary mistake! With R's and Q's on the board one must protect the 1st or 8th rank or give the K an escape square for escaping checks on the rank! 29.d3 This allows a cute finish. 29.h3 would have made black's task more difficult. dc4 30.d3 8c7 31.g1 f7 32.f2 b5 33.e2 a4 34.d2 a6 35.fd3 a3 36.c2 c4 and with white's pieces tied up black can patiently turn his attention to using hsi K-side P-majority. 29.g1 was also a reasonable try. dc4 30.e7 8c7 31.xc7 xc7 with care black should be able to squeeze out the win. 29...xc3 White resigned. He has to give up a R to avoid mate. A fine defensive example by Marchand. 0–1

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Judge A.B. Meek

     Having been out of town on a get-away for a few days last week was OK except for the chilly, very windy, rainy weather. It could gave been worse though because while checking out of the hotel Sunday, I talked to a man who said they were returning home to Racine, Wisconsin and the 8 inches of snow that had fallen Saturday. 

     Or, it could have been horrible like it was in Mississippi where tornado spawning storms killed at least 26 people. One town, Rolling Fork, was described as having been obliterated. 

     Rolling Fork, a town of fewer than 2,000 residents who live under the constant threat of flooding, was claimed by the Blues singer Muddy Waters as his hometown. 

     Upon returning home, my neighbor told me that we had a lot of rain and the wind was so bad that the Ohio Turnpike had issued a travel ban for all high-profile vehicles (like trucks) across the entire length of the 241-mile toll road. 

     The American Civil War lasted from April 12, 1861 to Apr 9, 1865, and on April 14th President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth during the play Our American Cousin. Lincoln died the following morning. That was the big news.

     Other exciting news took place on May 5, 1865, in North Bend, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati. I was not too far from that neck of the woods over the weekend. It is the home of William Henry Harrison, the 9th President of the U.S. and the birthplace of Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd President.

     The Civil War is considered to have ended less than a month earlier when General Lee had surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, but that only ended fighting in Virginia. Some Confederates held out for a few months and the incident in North Bend was five days before the capture of Jefferson Davis, the fleeing president of the defeated Confederacy, near Irvinville, Georgia. 

     The incident was the country's first train robbery. Some historians have asserted it was the work of Confederate guerrillas who refused to accept surrender and they label it a military action, not a criminal act. 

     The Cincinnati Times newspaper said Kentucky had been "fearfully infected by guerrillas, who in roving bands, have ravaged the whole country." The train robbers were assumed to have come from Kentucky. 

     On May 5th, an O&M train left Cincinnati at 8PM and it consisted of a locomotive pulling a baggage car, an Adams Express Company car and four passenger coaches. 

     According to the Cincinnati Times, the train was derailed "almost in the suburbs of Cincinnati by one of the nefarious gangs of cutthroat Rebel robbers." About 20 men had been seen crossing the Ohio River in boats from Kentucky earlier in the day and they were assumed to have been responsible for removing one rail, causing the derailment and overturning the locomotive, baggage car, Express car and one coach. 

     Four men then appeared at each car, two doing the robbing and two standing guard. They took at least $1,000 in cash from three men plus valuables and more cash from other passengers and crew. 

     Using an ax, five of the bandits entered the Express car and forced an agent to open one safe and two other safes were blown open using gunpowder. The amount of the loss is unknown. 

     The robbers were assumed to have recrossed the Ohio River to Kentucky after the robbery. Initially, the paper claimed it was a military act, but later stated that the robbers were not regular organized rebel guerrillas, but just a gang of thieves. It was noted that only male passengers were robbed and the gang leader had been heard to instruct his men not to hurt the ladies. 

    In 1865. Charles Hooper, a cabinet maker, built Ajeeb, a chess-playing "automaton." It was a piece of fake mechanical technology that had a strong human player concealed inside. The machine also played checkers. 

     In other chess news on April 3, 1865, the Richmond, Virginia Chess Club burned down. It had been visited by Paul Morphy as well as some notable Confederate Generals. 

     In New York City, in August, Thomas Bill entered a guilty plea to the charge of stealing from a hotel two pairs of Paul Morphy's boots. Bill was sentenced to prison. 

     Finally, on October 30, 1865, Judge Alexander B. Meek (born in 1814), a politician, lawyer, judge, and chess player of note, died of a heart attack in Columbus, Mississippi at the age of 51. He also was a writer of historical and literary essays, and poetry. 

     He served as Alabama's Attorney General in 1836. He also represented Mobile in the Alabama House of Representatives from 1853 to 1855 and was Speaker of the House from 1859 to 1861. 

     Meek gained a reputation as an orator early on, delivering addresses at colleges and before learned societies and many of his addresses were published by the societies or schools for which he spoke, and many more were collected and published in his book Romantic Passages in Southwestern History (1857). 

     In 1857, Meek was elected president of the 1st American Chess Congress and he was also a participant. In round one he defeated William Fuller with 3 wins and 2 losses. In round two, he lost to Paul Morphy with 3 losses. During the American Chess Congress, he also lost a game to Amalie Paulsen, the sister of Louis Paulsen. 

ChessBase

Alexander B. Meek–William J. A. Fuller1–0C201st American Congress, New York1.106.10.1857Stockfish 15.1

MacLeod Attack 1.e4 e5 2.c3 Chess Explorer lists this as the "Lopez Opening," but it's also known as the MacMeod Attack after the 19th century Scottish–Canadian master Nicholas MacLeod who played it several times in 1889 in the 6th American Chess Congress in New York. He finished last out of 20 players with a score of +3 -31 =6. Whatever name you call it, it does not give white very good results. The intention is to play d4 immediately which cannot be prevented. f6 2...c5 3.d4 exd4 4.cxd4 cxd4 5.f3 leaves black with an isolated d-Pawn which may or may not be a disadvantage depending upon subsequent play. 2...c5 3.f3 This is probably white's most promising continuation. c6 4.c4 f6 5.g5 d5 with interesting play. 2...d5 was recommended by Eric Shiller because it eliminates transpositional possibilities and solves all of black's opening problems. 3.exd5 xd5 As Shiller pointed out, 4.Nc3 driving back the Q with the gain of a tempo is not available to white. 4.d4 exd4 5.cxd4 Same observation as after 2...c5 except that the colors are reversed! 3.d4 xe4 4.dxe5 c5 5.g4 Theoretically probably not the best, but it it lays a trap into which black immediately falls! 5.h3 d5 6.d2 xd2 7.xd2 h4 8.f3 xh3 9.gxh3 d7 10.0-0-0 c6 and black has equalized at the least. 5...xf2 Offhand this looks like a juicy move, but it's very bad. 5...d5 stays ahead. 6.xg7 xf2+ 7.e2 f8 8.h6 c5 9.f3 f5 10.b4 e7 11.g4 g6 12.d4 d7 13.f3 c6 14.b5 xd4+ White resigned. Cabanas Bravo,J (2036) -Montanes Arribas,A (2030) Madrid 2008 6.xg7 f8 7.g5 f6 7...e7 8.xe7 xe7 9.xf2 wins a piece 8.exf6 Black has not a single move that would even offer his a small chamce of saving himself. f7 8...xh1 9.e2 and the threat of Bh5+ cannot be met. 8...d5 9.e2 g4 is well met by 10.xg4 xg4 11.f7+ xf7 12.xf7+ xf7 13.xd8 and black is a R down. 9.g8+ f8 10.xf2 It would not be wrong for black to resign here., only embarrassing. d5 11.a3 d6 12.e1+ e6 13.b4 d7 14.f3 0-0-0 15.b5 b6+ 16.e3 c5 17.g3 Very good! 17.bxc5 Not at all bad, but just not a good as the move actually played. xc5 18.g5 a6 19.bd4 xf6 17...xf6 White still has to be alert because ...Ne4+ would fork his K and Q. 18.g1 White's R is shut in which may have given black some hope, but, in fact, white is not going to need the R anyway. e4 19.e5 Black must now prevent Nxa7+! g7 19...h6 A pass to demonstrate the threat. 20.xa7+ xa7 21.xe6+ dd7 22.b5 and wins. 19...a6 20.bxc5 20.a7+ d7 Much better that taking the N. 21.h5 d6 22.d3 f4 Black is lost, but still kicking. 20...xc5 21.xc5 xc5+ 22.fd4 axb5 23.xe6+ wins 20.xa7+ White is clearly winning, but Meek finishes off the game with precise play. xa7 20...d7 21.bxc5 a5 22.b5+ e7 23.g5+ f8 24.xe6 xa7 25.e3 Here, too, white is winning. It will just take time to get his R into play. 21.xe6+ fd7 22.b5 xc3 23.xd7+ xd7 24.e5 xe5 25.xe5 xa2 26.a1 Black resigned. 1–0

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Jean Taubenhaus

     Jean Taubenhaus (December 14, 1850 - September 14, 1919) was a Polish–born French master.  Chessmetrics retro-ratings assigns him a high rating of 2597 in August of 1886 placing him at #14 in the world. 

     Taubenhaus was a leading Warsaw chess player in late 1870s and in 1880, he settled in Paris. His best performance was in London tournament 1886, where he tied for 3rd-4th places with Isidor Gunsberg behind Joseph Blackburne and Amos Burn. While living in Paris, Taubenhaus gave lessons at the Cafe de la Régence, where he played every day. 

     In 1893–96, he he visited the United states. In 1893 he participated in an impromptu international tournament in New York where he finished in 7th place with a 6-7 score. The event was won by Lasker ahead of Albin. 

     In 1896, he participated in the 6th American Congress in New York, finishing tied with Bird in 12th place (out of 20). Then, after touring Argentina and Cuba, he returned to Europe where he was an active tournament player. 

     In match play he drew with Sittenfeld (Paris, 1891). He lost matches to Tarrasch (Nuremberg 1891, 1892), Mieses (Glasgow, 1895), Janowski (Paris 1903, 1905), Miguel Angel Gelly (Buenos Aires, 1907) and Walter Lovegrove (Paris, 1912). In match play he defeated Andres Clemente Vazquez (Havana 1894/95), Albin (Paris, 1901), Villegas (Buenos Aires, 1907) and Teichmann (Paris, 1911).

     Taubenhaus authored on book: Traite du Jeu d’Échecs (Treatise on the Game of Chess) published in 1910. 

     Taubenhaus was also a primary operator of the Mephisto chess player machine. The third automaton Mephisto was made by Charles Godfrey Gumpel, and unlike its predecessors The Turk and Ajeeb, it had no hidden operator and functioned by electro-mechanical means. Gumpel took a few years to build it and it was first shown in 1876 at his Leicester Square home in London. It was the first automaton to win a tournament when it was entered in the Counties Chess Association at London in 1878. 

     Mephisto was operated mainly Isidor Gunsberg and was shown regularly for 10 years, and at one time had its own club in the UK. When Mephisto went to the Paris Exposition in 1889 it was operated by Taubenhaus. After that it was dismantled and its subsequent whereabouts are unknown. 

 

ChessBase

Jackson W. Showalter–Jean Taubenhaus0–1C376th American Congress, New YorkNew York, NY USA24.04.1889Stockfish 15.1

King's Gambit, Muzio Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.f3 g5 4.c4 g4 Black can avoid the Muzio with 4...Bg7 which has been recommended as a safe and practical method of avoiding complications. 5.0-0 White offers a N hoping to exploit black's weakness on the f-file, thereby launching an attack on black's K. gxf3 5...d5 postponing taking the N allows a strong attack after... 6.xd5 gxf3 7.xf3 f6 8.xf4 6.xf3 f6 This move is definitely best since it not only barricades the f-file, but also impedes the formation of white's P-center with d4. GM Dmitry Andreikin played the rare move 6...Bh6 6...h6 Apparently a satisfactory move. 7.d4 h4 8.c3 c6 9.d5 d8 10.c3 d6 11.xf4 ge7 12.g3 g4 is roughly equal. Nakamura,H (2741) -Andreikin,D (2683) Moscow 2010 7.e5 xe5 8.xf7+ According to Steinitz, the Scottish player John Cochrane (1798-1878) played this move first when giving the odds of the QN to inferior players. Among others, Morphy and other masters also favored it because it can be quite trappy and it also insures speedy cooperation of the two Rs.However, Steinitz correctly observed that here it "actually hampers white's game...to have the b1N on the board and lose time in its development." He was also of the opinion that the Muzio was "too bold" for tournament play and black should be able to use his extra material to fend off the attack. 8.d3 This prosaic move is best, but black still should have a significant advantage because of his extra material. h6 9.c3 e7 10.d2 and black stands quite well. 8...xf7 9.d4 f5 Best. 9...xd4+ gets really crazy. 10.e3 g7 11.xf4+ f6 12.d4 g8 13.e4 c5 14.xc5 d5 15.xd5+ e6 16.xb7 bd7 Black is better, but proving it OTB could prove to be difficult. In Shootouts black scored 5-0, but the endings generally were long with black having a R+B+Ps against a R+Ps 10.g4 Of course 10.Bxf4 was also quite playable. g6 This surprising move which leaves him open to a discovered check also leaves him with a winning position. 10...f6 11.c3 e7 12.xf4 e8 13.e4 leaves white with too much play. 10...e6 11.xf4 f6 12.c3 d5 13.g3 g7 14.g5 black can fend off the attack and keep the advantage, but after g4 15.gxf6 h6 16.xd5+ e6 17.xb7 here, too, white has a lot of play. 11.c3 f6 12.xf4 d6 12...xg4+ is less accurate. 13.xg4 xg4 14.e5+ g8 15.xh8 and black's position is not nearly a good as after the text. 13.g3 g7 Black is clearly winning. Believe it or not, the same moves were played in a game 107 years later. 13...e7 14.ae1 c6 15.d5 d8 16.h4 xg4 17.g3 f5 18.xf5 xf5 19.xf6 xf6 20.f1 xd4 21.xf5 e2+ 22.g2 xg3 23.hxg3 hf8 24.xf6+ g7 25.e6 ae8 The ending is lost so white resigned. Lilov,V (2259)-Filev,G (2389) Pleven 2006 14.d5 xd5 15.xd5 c6 16.c4 d5 According to Steinitz, "Black's attack with superior forces can hardly fail." 17.xd5 e6 18.b5 e7 19.xb7 e4 20.ae1 xd4+ 21.f2 d7 22.xc7 With only 3 Ps against a B and N it's clear that white must lose, but Taubenhaus' mopping up play is instructive. c5 23.g2 d5+ 24.f3 hf8 25.f4 ac8 26.c4 xf3+ A nice finishing touch. The auto-annotation with Fritz described Taubenhaus' play as "flawless." 26...xf3+ 27.xf3 xc7 28.g3 f2+ 29.xf2 xf4+ 30.e3 xc4 etc. 0–1

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An Obscure Thriller

     World War I lasted from June of 1914 to November of 1918, so 1916 was right in the middle of the war, but people still managed to play chess. 

     In 1916, Siegbert Tarrasch and Jacques Mieses played a match in Berlin which Tarrasch won by a score of 9-4. But, more importantly, he also won the prize of a half pound of butter. 

     On July 5, 1916, Friedrich Kohnlein (1879-1916), a French player and problem composer was killed in the Battle of Somme in France. The battle took place between July 1st and November 18th, 1916, and was fought by the British and the French against the Germans. An Allied victory, despite its horrific costs, inflicted serious damage on German positions in France, spurring the Germans to strategically retreat. 

     The Unites States didn't declare war on Germany until April of 1917, and so chess continued pretty much as usual until that time. In January-February 1916, Capablanca won the Rice Memorial, held in New York. It was held in honor of chess patron Professor Isaac Rice, who had died in November, 1915. 

     In April, Charles Jaffe sought $700 (almost $3.000 today) in a lawsuit for work he allegedly did in analyzing games for a book titled Twenty Years of the Rice Gambit. Jaffe lost. You can read all about it in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle HERE.

     Speaking of lawsuits, in December, 1916, Isidor Gunsberg won a lawsuit against the Associated Newspapers and the chess column Chess News Agency for libel. Chess columnist A. W. Foster wrote that Gunsberg had published a lot of bad analysis and unsound problems with bad solutions. Gunsberg won 250 British pounds in damages; that's nearly $16,500 today. 

     On March 21, 1916, Frank Marshall set a world record when he played 105 boards in a simultaneous exhibition held in Washington, D.C. It took him 7 hours and he scored +82 -8 =5. 

     Not long after Marshall's feat, in June, Borislav Kostic played 20 blindfold games simultaneously in New York, winning 19 and drawing 1. It took him 6 hours and 11 minutes. 

     On December 26, 1916, Marshall broke his own record by playing 129 boards simultaneously in Philadelphia. Je scored +97 -9 =23 in 8 hours. 

     The Netherlands remained neutral during World War I, but was significantly affected by it. The Dutch Army remained fully mobilized to counter any possible threat, and its economy felt the strain of both sides' attempt to control the world's sea lanes and supplies. 

     The following interesting game was played by two obscure players in an obscure winter tournament held at the Haarlem Chess Club in 1916. 

ChessBase

Dr. W. Fick–Dr. Rustige1–0C56Winter Tmt, Haarlem Chess Club1916Stockfish 15.1

Two Knights Defense. 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.d4 3.c4 f6 4.0-0 c5 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 d5 7.exf6 dxc4 8.e1+ e6 9.g5 d5 10.c3 f5 11.xe6 fxe6 is the Two Knights Defense and it is the same position as in the game after 11...fxe6 3...exd4 This old opening was popular in the 1800s, but by 1900 it had lost favor because it was thought to release he tension in the center too early and allow black easy equality. In more recent times Kasparov and Timman made it popular again as an alternative to the Ruy Lopez. 4.c4 Instead of 4.Nxd4, white can play this, the Scotch Gambit, or 4.c3 the Goring Gambit. After the text move black can transpose into the Two Knights Defense with 4...Nf6, or he can continue the Scotch with 4...Bc5 5.c3 and then 5...Nf6 will transposing into a safe variation of the Giuoco Piano. f6 5.0-0 c5 6.e5 d5 7.exf6 dxc4 8.e1+ e6 9.g5 d5 10.c3 f5 11.xe6 11.ce4 0-0-0 12.xe6 fxe6 13.g4 e5 14.fxg7 hg8 15.h6 is the long known main book line. 11...fxe6 12.e4 12.fxg7 g8 13.e4 0-0-0 14.g5 e7 15.h6 Black is much better. Niedermaier,B (1982)-Belostozkaja,J (2078) Braunfels 2009 12...b6 Castling 12...O-O-O would have transposed into Marshall-Tarrasch, Hamburg 1910 and Marshall-Leonhardt, Hamburh 1911. The best move though is simply 12...gxf6 13.fxg7 White is slightly better. g8 14.h6 This is the same maneuver Marshall played in both games except that he first played g2-g4. It was also seen in the note to move 11. 0-0-0 Hoping for ...Qg6. 15.g4 g6 16.g5 d5 This should have allowed white to get the initiative. 16...a5 keeps the pressure on. 17.e2 d3 18.cxd3 cxd3 19.e3 b6 20.e1 d2 21.xd2 xg7 22.xg7 xg5+ 23.h1 xd2 24.b3 xg7 and black will most likely win. 17.h4 17.g4 Stays on course. e5 18.h3 and white is in good shape. 17...f5 While this inhibits Nf6 (18.Nf6 Rxf6) it is not the most precise. 17...d3 18.g4 f5 Now is the time for this. 19.h1 e5 20.h3 dxc2 with the better game. 18.g3 d5 This was black's last chance. After this time wasting move he is lost! 18...d3 ugnoring the threat to his R allows him to stay in the game becuase after 19.xf5 xf5 20.cxd3 xf2+ 21.h1 xh4+ 22.g2 f2 and white is in serious trouble. 23.f3 xe1 24.xe1 xe1 25.f8+ xf8 26.gxf8+ d8 27.dxc4 e4+ with a won ending. 19.f3 e5 20.f8+ e8 An extraordinary position! 20...d8 also fails to 21.f6 xf6 22.gxf6 f7 23.f4 and white has a decisive advantage. 21.h5 g4 21...xf8 22.gxf8 xf8 23.xf8 f3+ 24.g2 xe1+ 25.xe1 d3 26.cxd3 cxd3 27.g7 d2 28.d1 a5 29.c3 White is winning. 22.xe6 d8 22...xf8 23.gxf8+ xf8 24.xf8 Black is a R down. 23.f6 xf6 24.xd8+ xd8 25.gxf6 f5 26.ae1 Black resigmed. 26.ae1 d3 27.e8+ xe8 28.xe8+ xe8 29.g8+ d7 30.f7+ d6 31.cxd3 cxd3 31...xf2 32.e7+ c6 33.e4+ d7 34.d5+ e8 35.e6+ d8 36.e7+ c8 37.e8# 32.f8+ e6 33.e7+ d5 34.d7+ e5 35.g7 xf2 36.f7+ f6+ 37.g2 wins 1–0

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Schipiro-Chajes Match of 1926

     Morris A. Schapiro (April 9, 1903 - December 26, 1996) was an American investment banker and chess master. 

     According to Wikipedia he came to the United States in 1907 and his family lived in Brownsville and Flatbush in Brooklyn. His father worked as a paper and cordage (cords or ropes, especially used in a ship's rigging) wholesaler, though he also wrote articles on philosophical subjects. However, in 1923, Schipiro's resume in the American Chess Bulletin says he was born in Brooklyn on April 9, 1903 and learned to play chess while attending the Boys' High School of Brooklyn. 

     In 1919 he graduated from that school with high honors and entered Columbia on a Pulitzer scholarship.

     Schipiro excelled in mathematics and Latin at school and entered Columbia at age 16 and graduated in 1923. He then went on to receive an advanced degree from the university in engineering. 

     Schapiro served as head of his own investment banking firm, M. A. Schapiro & Company. He established new business techniques for the banking industry. Starting in the 1950s he led some of the banking industry's largest mergers. 

     He was also a philanthropist and was a major donor to Columbia University, including Schapiro Hall (a dormitory) and the Morris A. Schapiro Center for Engineering and Physical Science Research. While at Columbia he led the chess team to four national championships. He also won the Manhattan CC championship in 1921 and 1922. 

     While disliked, even feared, by some bankers, he was extremely well liked by his colleagues. Once, while vacationing in Maine, Shapiro telephoned his office and spoke with everyone there.  Known for his small kindnesses, his 50 employees at his 2 firms received free lunches every day, a practice that is virtually unheard of along Wall Street...or anywhere else for that matter. He died aged 93 at his New York City apartment in 1996.

     While a student in the School of Mines at Columbia, he played a match against Oscar Chajes that began on December 22, 1922 and ended on February 4, 1923. Shapiro won +5 -3 =5. 

     By winning the thirteenth game Schapiro, the club champion, brought to a conclusion the match. Upon resigning the game, Chajes was the first to congratulate his young rival, who, as a result, was ranked as one of the leading players in the country and a bright future was predicted for him. As it turned out chess took a back seat to his business interests. 

ChessBase

Morris Schapiro–Oscar Chajes1–0C83Match, New York1203.02.1923Stockfish 15.1

Open Ruy Lopez 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 a6 4.a4 f6 5.0-0 xe4 In the open defense black tries to make use of the time white will take to regain the P to gain a foothold in the centrer. It often results in sharp play and in modern times fighting players like Korchnoi and Timman played it. Before them it was a favorite of Euwe. 6.d4 b5 7.b3 d5 8.dxe5 e6 9.c3 e7 10.bd2 0-0 11.c2 f5 12.d4 xd4 13.cxd4 xd2 14.xd2 c5 15.dxc5 xc5 16.c1 c8 17.b3 b6 18.f3 fd8 was a reasonable alternative. 18...h8 19.fd1 fe8 Better was 19...a5 with equal chances. 20.f1 d4 21.a5 c6 22.xc6 xc6 23.xd4 xb3 24.axb3 xd4 25.xc6 xe5 26.xa6 c8 White has a favorable ending. Vovk,Y (2549)-Prohaszka,P (2508) Szombathely 2008 19.g5 d7 20.fd1 b7 20...h6 21.e3 dc7 Bad...he should play 21... Rcc7 and white's advantage is minimal. 22.xd5 xe3 Really bad...it loses at once. 23.xc7 Ciric,D (2405)-Leverett,B (2310) Gausdal 1982. Black resigned because if xc7 24.xe3 b7 24...xe3 25.xe6+ 25.xb7 xb7 26.d6 wins without much trouble. 21.c3 A nice move. White can either double Rs on the c- or d-filer or , if given the opportunity to slide this R over to the g- or h-files. h6 22.f4 h8 Chajes senses danger in white's coming Qh5 and so defendes the h-Pawn, but he is too cautious...it would have been better to continue Q-side counterplay. 22...a5 23.cd3 a4 24.xd5 xd5 25.xd5 cd8 26.xd7 xd7 27.xd7 xd7 28.h3 and the Qs plus opposite color Bs cancel out white's extra P. 22...a5 23.h5 a4 is even because the d-Pawn is not under attack. 24.xc5 xc5 25.e8+ h7 26.xe6 axb3 27.xf5+ g8 28.e6 d8 29.axb3 with equal chances. e7 23.h5 f8 23...a5 24.xh6 a4 24...gxh6 25.xh6+ h7 26.xe6 etc 25.xg7+ g8 25...xg7 26.g3+ f8 27.h8+ e7 28.f6+ e8 29.xe6+ wins 26.h6 xf2+ 27.xf2 xc3 28.g6+ g7 29.xe6+ White is winning. f7 30.xf7+ xf7 31.xd5 24.xc8 xc8 25.g6 c7 26.h3 A safety precaution...his K needs an escape square. f7 26...c6 was a better defense. After 27.h5 d7 it would gave been much more difficult for white to make headway. 27.g3 Aiming for e6 and keeping black busy. d7 28.c1 b7 29.xh6 This not only wins a P, but also destroys the defenses around black's K. d4 29...gxh6 was necessary. 30.e6 xe6 31.e5+ g7 32.xe6 d8 33.c5 b8 33...d7 34.xd5 xe6 35.xd8+ h7 36.xe6 wins 34.xa6 34.xf5 makes things a little more difficult. For example... e5 35.xe5 xe5 36.c6 d6 34...e8 35.c1 d4 36.f7 white is winning owing to black's weak Ps and reduced activity of his pieces. 30.e6 There is no good answer to this. d6 30...g8 31.exd7 xd7 32.b8 xb3 33.xf8+ g8 34.c8 30...gxh6 31.exf7 xf7 32.g6 e7 33.xf7 g5 34.c8 31.xg7+ Practically any move wins. xg7 32.xd6 h5 33.d5 a7 34.c8+ Black resigned. 34.c8+ h7 35.e7 b7 36.xb7 d3 37.d5 xb2 38.c6 g7 39.e6 f6 40.xf6 f7 41.xf7+ h8 42.e8# 1–0

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Judd vs. Mason non-Match

     In 1876 there was a much talked of match between Mac Judd and James Mason. 

     Max Judd (December 27, 1851 - May 7, 1906, 54 years old) was originally known as Maximlian Judkiewich because he was born in Krakow, Poland, but he emigrated to America in 1862. 

    Judd was a cloak manufacturer and chess master. Grover Cleveland served as the 22nd (1885-1889) and 24th (1893-1897) President of the United States and he appointed Judd as the U.S. Consul General to Austria. 

     James Mason (November 19, 1849 - January 12, 1905) was born in Kilkenny, Ireland. He was adopted as a child and his name changed; his original name is unknown. He immigrated to the United States in 1861 as a child, and then to England in 1878 as an adult. According to Chessmetrics' estimated ratings, he was the strongest player in the world from August 1877 through June 1878. 

     In 1876 Mason challenged Judd to a match, but the challenge ended in a fiasco. As the American Chess Bulletin of the day put it. "...no games by these chessers need be looked for in this number of the Journal, or perhaps in any of those to come. 

     Mason, after challenging Judd, and "making considerable noise, ingloriously failed to" to follow through nor did he offer any public excuse for his failure to do so. Consequently, he incurred the wrath of the ACB. 

     Some time before issuing the challenge Mason had published in his own chess column in Wilke's Spirit of the Times an attack on Judd. He wrote, "Mr. Max Judd, of St. Louis, is not so much disposed to play chess as he is to talk about it. Isn't that so, Mr. Judd?" 

     Judd replied in his chess column in the St. Louis Globe Democrat, saying, "...we would say that we are not as anxious to play Mr. Mason now as we were prior to the termination of the tourney in New York. We play chess for the glory of the thing, and now see no glory in defeating Mr. Mason, since our late antagonist, Mr, Alberoni, whom we defeated so easily, has come out ahead of him in the tourney, But, if Mr. Mason wishes to re-establish his reputation we are ready and wiling at any time to give him an opportunity to do so." (I am not sure what tournament in New York Judd was referring to.) 

     This was a reference to Edward Alberoni, about whom little is known. He was, apparently, a French player living in New York and in 1876 Judd defeated him in a match in Cleveland, Ohio, by a score of +6 -2 =4. At the time Alberoni had been living in the U.S. for two years. 

     Their war of words resulted in Mason yielded his point of twenty moves to the hour on the time limit and accepting 15. Mason did insist that Judd should deposit $100 at the office of the Turf, Field and Farm as good faith deposit. The Turf, Field and Farm was a New York that was mainly devoted to horse racing. 

     The St. Louis newspaper promptly deposited the $100 and Judd was informed by Captain George H. Mackenzie (who was negotiating for Mason) the deposit would be covered by Mason and that Mason would be in St. Louis to begin the match on June, 27, 1876. 

     The problem was, not only did Mason not appear on that date, he did not write or promptly send a telegram. And, on the 9th the Globe-Democrat declared the match to be off and added, "...we would say that Mr. Mason's conduct regarding the match has been far from what we expected. After Mr. Judd had accepted the challenge and all arrangements bad been made for the match...Mr. Mason should have at least written his inability to fulfill the engagement and then no serious fault could be found with him; but, to keep Mr. Judd ignorant of his intentions was, to put it mildly, very ungentlemanly." 

     The two did meet in August, 1876, though. It was in the 4th American Congress in Philadelphia. At the occasion of the World's Fair held in Philadelphia, a number of exhibitions and events were organized to take place during the fair in order to attract foreign interests and representatives. 

     In addition to many new inventions debuted at the fair, which included the telegraph, the telephone and the typewriter, the 4th American Chess Congress was held. Besides Judd and Mason, the players were: 

 

Henry E. Bird (1829-1908) an English accountant who learned yo play chess at age 15 by watching players at a local coffeehouse which later became known as Simpson's Divan in London. By 1866 he had distinguished himself in an informal match against Steinitz. With Steinitz leading +7 -5 =5, Bird was called away to America by his employers and the match was not finished. Throughout his career, Bird proved himself to always be a dangerous opponent. 

 

Jacob Elson (1839-1909) was born in Germany. After coming ot the U.S. he worked as a watchmaker in his shop in New York. A member of the Manhattan Chess Club, Elson took Pillsbury's umbrella and when Pillsbury asked the club to get it back, Elson told the club the umbrella was at his (Elson's) house and if Pillsbury wanted it back he could come and get it. Pillsbury would not go get it and neither would the club. As a Pillsbury resigned from the club in a fit of anger.

 

Harry Davidson (1858-1924) was born in Philadelphia, the tenth of about eleven children. His father Julius Davidson had emigrated from Poland to Pennsylvania in 1844 and his mother was originally from England. Trained as a wood engraver, he moved to New York around 1880 where he later became an art critic for the magazine Vogue. As a teenager he was a member of the Philadelphia Chess Club.

 

Albert Roberts (1857-1913) was a young Philadelphian, who first gave indications of remarkable ability in 1875, when MacKenzie and Bird visited the city. He gave up chess in 1898 and died in Philadelphia at the age of 47. 

 

Preston Ware (1821-1890) was Boston's leading player of the late 19th century. He His few tournament appearances were not successful, due in part to his offbeat opening repertoire (moves like 1.a4 and 1...a5), but the highlight of his career was a win over Steinitz at Vienna 1882; it was Ware's only international tournament where he finished 16th out of 18. 

 

Lorenzo Barbour (1840-1895) who lived in Portland, Maine before moving to Philadelphia sometime before 1870. He worked there in a clothing shop. 

 

Dion Martinez (1837-1928) emigrated from Cuba somewhere between 1873-1875 and settled in Philadelphia, where he in 1885 became the first president of the Franklin Chess Club. In 1889, the New York Times wrote that he had not played since 1887 because "financial adversities have tended to detract his mind from the game." He left the tournament to go to Cuba when he learned of the illness of a family member. 

      In this tournament Judd was outplayed rather easily by Mason in their first game and when it was time to play the second Judd became ill and was unable to play. The game was declared drawn because it had no affect on the distribution of prizes. The Bird vs. Barbour game was much more exciting! 

ChessBase

Henry Bird–Lorenzo D Barbour1–0C404th American Congress, PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia, PA USA22.08.1876Stockfish 15.1

Elephant Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.f3 d5 The Elephant Gambit, aka the Englund Counterattack, is considered unsound. White should be considered to have an advantage because black is left with a passive position and white has more space and the initiative. 3.exd5 Best 3.xe5 dxe4 4.c4 h6 cannot be good for black! 4...e6 5.xe6 fxe6 6.h5+ is winning for white. 3.xe5 d6 This is probably best. 4.d4 dxe4 5.c4 xe5 6.h5 e7 7.xe5 xe5 8.dxe5 c6 9.c3 Neither side has much to boast about. 3...e4 4.e2 f5 5.d3 f6 5...xd5 Turned out quite badly for black in Szczurek,N (1738)-Wrzalek,P (1600) Polanica Zdroj 2009 6.c3 b4 7.d2 xc3 8.xc3 e7 9.dxe4 fxe4 10.d2 f5 11.h5+ with the much better position; black lasted only a handful more moves. 6.dxe4 fxe4 7.g5 7.c3 is also quite good. e7 8.xe4 0-0 9.d2 b5 10.0-0-0 xe4 11.xe4 Yuan,Y (2119) -Tate,E (2378) Chicago 2008. Even the strong Master and dangerous attacker Emory Tate could not hold black's position. 7...xd5 8.f3 f5 Fortunately for Barbour, his opponent fails to punish this clunker! 8...c6 offered a stouter defense. 9.c3 9.xe4 xe4 10.xe4+ xe4+ 11.fxe4 b4 Despite being a P down, black has an active position. 9...b4 10.gxe4 xe4 11.xe4+ xe4+ 12.fxe4 e6 Developing and keeping his two Bs is better than capturing on c3 even though it wrecks white's Ps. 13.d2 0-0 14.0-0-0 and white's advantage is minimal. 9.d2 9.fxe4 leaves black with no good reply. xe4 9...xe4 This capture is inferior to taking with the N, but it's more difficult to calculate and may be the reason Bird rejected 9.fxe4 10.d2 c6 11.c3 0-0-0 12.gxe4 a5 12...e8 13.xd5 xe4 14.xf6 xe2+ 15.xe2 gxf6 and white has won a R. 13.0-0-0 White is a piece ahead. 10.g4 g6 11.g2 wins a piece. 9...e3 This is a serious miscalculation. 9...c6 10.fxe4 xe4 11.gxe4 0-0-0 Black has equalized. 10.xe3+ e7 11.c4 c5 12.xc5 xc5 With the Qs off the board it looks like black should be able to defend himself without too much trouble, but white still has a very strong attack. 13.de4 xe4 14.fxe4 Allowing black to trade Ns with 14.Nxe4 is weaker. g4 15.h3 h5 16.e6 The fatal blow. It shows why 14. Nxe4 was weaker. f7 17.xg7+ 17.xc5 is good, but the text is even better. xc4 18.xb7 would also be decisive. 17...f8 The rest of the game is a mopping up exercise. 18.f1 xg7 19.xf7+ g6 20.f5 Forget the c-Pawn! Bird is going after black's K. d4 21.c3 f6 22.f3 a6 This loses instantly, but the best he could hope for is to hold out with 22... Bh4+ and then get ground down. 22...h4+ 23.e2 c6 24.f7+ g7 25.e3 ad8 26.af1 Black is quite lost. 23.g3+ h5 23...g5 24.xg5+ f6 25.e5+ e7 26.g7+ e8 27.g5 Black has avoided getting mated...for now. 24.f7+ h4 25.g4# Sharp play by Bird. 1–0

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Frank and Annie Lynn

     Fank W. Lynn was born in Wahoo, Nebraska on April 11, 1875 and passed away at the age of 75 in Grapevine, Texas on March 13, 1951. By profession he was a national salesman for the National Sewing Machine Company located in Belvidere, Illinois. The company manufactured a wide variety of items: sewing machines, washing machines, bicycles, an automobile, home workshop machinery and cast iron toys and novelties. 

     But, there was more to him than being a salesman. He wrote poetry and was known as a philanthropist. Lynn was also a sportswriter for the Chicago Tribune newspaper. In that capacity he was the radio announcer for the 10-round boxing rematch between world heavyweight champion Gene Tunney and former champion Jack Dempsey, which Tunney won by a unanimous decision. 

     The famous fight, which took place on September 22, 1927, at Soldier Field in Chicago is known as "the long count fight" because when Tunney was knocked down in the seventh round the count was delayed due to Dempsey's failure to go to and remain in a neutral corner. Whether the long count actually affected the outcome remains a subject of debate. 

     While living in Chicago, at one time Lynn was the champion of Chicago Chess and Checkers Club. In 1908, Lynn and his family moved to Dallas, Texas where he formed his own company, Frank W. Lynn Company of Dallas, Texas. The company was a manufacturers representative. 

     Lynn's wife was better known in the chess world. Anna Belle (nee Barnes) Lynn was born in Wichita, Kansas on April 28, 1972 and passed away at the age of 87 in Manhattan Beach, California on December 6, 1959. She is buried in Dallas. 

     Known as Annie, she was long regarded as one of the best female players in US and she was expected to win the first American Women's Chess Congress in New York in 1906, but finished a surprising second. 

     She briefly edited the chess column of The Chicago Tribune from November 26, 1905 until January 28, 1906. 

     Lynn first came into prominence in 1902 when she defeated Emanuel Lasker in a simul game. What made that result so surprising was that up until that time she had only played casual games friends and family. 

     The only games by her that I could locate were three played against Lasker (two wins in 1902 and a draw in 1905) and a draw with Pillsbury in 1903. 

ChessBase

Emanuel Lasker–Anna Belle Lynn0–1C31Simul, ChicagoChicago, IL USA15.11.1902Stockfish/Komodo

Falkbeer Counter Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 The Falkbeer Counter Gambit is an attempt to open up the center and attack on the K-side. My database base shows the wins about evenly divided between white and black with less that 1 in 5 being drawn, so it is a crap shoot! 3.exd5 This is almost always played, but white can try 3.Nf3 3.f3 exf4 This yields better practical results than 3...dxe4 4.exd5 f6 with equal chances. 3...e4 4.c3 4.d3 is more common and it yields better results for white. f6 5.dxe4 xe4 6.f3 Black usually plays 6...Bc5, but that seems to work out well for white. 6...Bf5 or even 6...c6 are worth a try. 4...f6 5.c4 c5 6.d4 exd3 7.xd3 0-0 8.ge2 e8 Black is slightly better. 9.d2 g4 So far this has been all book stuff. 10.e4 This takes measures against ...Nf2, but it's also the losing move. 10.f1 e3 11.xe3 xe3 Black stands well. Pienkos,S (2064)-Dunne,P (1847) Rewal 2007 10.f3 is an interesting possibility, but black can successfully meet it. h4+ 10...f2 This turns out to be not very effective. 11.f1 g4 12.g3 xe2 13.xe2 e4 14.xe4 xe4 15.f3 xd5 and white's position is satisfactory. 11.g3 f6 White's best move is now 12.0-0-0 f2 with a clear advantage. 10...f5 There is no way out of this really nasty pin! 11.xc5 11.2g3 xe4 12.xe4 f2 wins 11.f1 xe4 wins a piece. 11...xd3 12.xd3 Obviously two Bs are hardly enough compensation for the Q, but it's a simul and Lasker probably figured the level of competition was not too high. e3 This move is vital because it prevents white from castling. 12...e7 attacks the N, but after 13.0-0-0 xe2 14.de1 Black has to return the Q. xe1+ 15.xe1 xe1+ 16.xe1 Black is clearly better, but white can still play on. 13.xe3 xe3 14.f2 14.f2 This defends the N and so enables castling, but after e7 15.0-0-0 xe2 16.xe2 e3+ 17.b1 xf2 18.f3 Black, with a Q for a R, is winning. 14...e7 15.b3 c6 16.c3 b6+ 17.f1 d7 18.g4 e3 19.h3 ae8 Mrs. Lynn has played to complete her development and now she finishes off her famous opponent with great precision. 20.h2 f3+ 21.g1 g3+ 22.h1 c5 Bringing up reinforcements. Winning a piece is of no importance. 23.d6 23.xc5 e1+ 24.xe1 xe1# 23...xd3 Excellent! 23...e1+ only muddies the water. 24.xe1 xe1+ 25.xe1 xe1+ 26.g2 Black should win, but white can still put up a fight. 24.dxe7 f2+ 25.xf2 xf2 Lasker graciously resigned. 25...xf2 26.d1 g6 27.d8 e1+ 28.g2 xe7 29.xe8+ xe8 White is hopelessly lost and chose not to force black to execute a rather tedious, but sure, winning procedure. 30.f2 Here analysis by Komodo seemed to produce the most reasonable play. e7 31.e2 31.g5 c5+ 32.f3 g1 33.e2 f1+ 34.e3 xh3+ 35.d2 d7+ 36.e3 g7 37.d4 e7+ 38.d2 g8 39.e2 e4 40.d1 g2 41.d2 e4 42.d1 g7 43.d2 f6 44.gxf6+ xf6 45.d1 h5 wins 31...h4+ 32.g2 e1 33.c4 b1 34.b3 xb2 35.f2 a1 36.g2 e1 37.c4 d2 38.d3 a5 39.g3 xa2 40.e4 e6 41.f2 a5 42.d2 a4 43.c4 b5 44.d2 a3 45.b3 f6 46.e3 a2 47.f3 a1 48.xa1 xa1 49.e3 e1+ 50.f3 h1+ 51.g3 g1+ 52.f3 h2 wins 0–1

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The Year 1984

     Looking back on 1984, much of the world was involved in a perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance had developed, we were experiencing a revision of history in order to omit some things that actually happened and there was constant propaganda to persecute individuality and independent thinking. No, wait! I'm confusing all that with George Orwell's book 1984 that was published in 1949. 

     By the way, Big Brother IS watching you! The government uses facial recognition tools for activities like streamlining entry at security checkpoints and identifying suspects during criminal investigations. 

     It's not all bad though. When rioting thugs who supported Donald Trump invaded the U.S. Capitol building in 2021 many were tracked down and charged when the government used such technology. 

     Even Ford Motor Company has a GPS tracking system that allows them to know where your car is located, how many miles are on it and even when and where drivers speed. 

     In 1984, a Hollywood actor turned politician named Ronald Reagan was the President. He seemed like a pretty nice fellow. At one point his approval rating was 73% and it remained above 50% until the U.S. experienced a recession and high unemployment in 1982 and his rating plummeted to 35% in early 1983.

     What we were really doing in 1984 was watching movies like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Karate Kid, Ghostbusters and Terminator. And, we were watching television shows like Dukes of Hazzard, Magnum, P.I., Hill Street Blues and A-Team. 

     It was the year Apple Computer launched the Macintosh computer line and Sony and Philips introduce the first CD players. Hulk Hogan defeated The Iron Sheik to win his first World Wrestling Federation championship. 

     It was also the year of what was probably the greatest show business sensation of all time...Michael Jackson’s hair caught fire while filming a Pepsi commercial. Read more ...

     In 1984, many players were lost. Jacobo Bolbochan (1906-1984) the champion of Argentina in 1932 and 1933. 1933 died. The very strong American Master Albert Pinkus (1903-1984) died in New York. Reginald Bonham (1906-1984) the 1958 World Blind Champion died in Worcester, England. 

     Comins Mansfield (1896-1984) GM of Chess Composition died in England. Albert Becker (1896-1984), the Austrian champion in 1925 and 1937 died in Argentina. Chess book author William Cozens (1911-1984) died in Taunton, England. 

     Former World Champion Tigran Petrosian (1929-1984) died of stomach cancer in Moscow. Czech composer Jindrich Fritz (1912-1984) died in Prague. Many time Swiss champion Max Blau (1918-1984) died in Bern, Switzerland. Palestine champion (1936) and Israeli champion (1955) Moshe Czerniak (1910-1984) died in Tel Aviv. 

     The former USSR champion (1927) and long time Canadian stalwart Fedor Bohatirchuk (1892-1984) died in Ottawa. Yugoslav GM Mijo Udovcic (1920-1984) died in Zagreb. 

     Sporting a rating of 2710, Garry Kasparov became the No. 1 ranked player in the world, surpassing world champion Anatoly Karpov. Walter Browne (1949-2015), rated 2582, was the only American on the list of 20 highest-rated players in the world. 

     The most boring World Championship match ever played, the Karpov-Kasparov match, began in Moscow on September 10, 1984. Mercifully, it was halted in February, 1985 after 48 games with Karpov leading +5 -3 with 40 games drawn.

     ICD was selling a lot of different models of chess computers. The Sci Sys Explorer was under $80 and for under $100 you could get Fidelity Elite that played at over 1800 strength. For a little under $1,200 (equal to a whopping $3,529.31 in 2023) you could get the Prestige-B, that was touted as the world's strongest microcomputer. It had 2" squares with a 3-3/4" King, 14K of Ram, clock and voice, 15 levels of play and it played at over 1900. 

     For $130 you could also get a printer for the computers that would print out the moves and even diagrams! And, if you bought that Prestige-B, you could also buy a lightweight scientifically designed carrying case with an egg-crate foam interior to carry it in. It cost "only" $34.95 ($102.79 today). 

     A plain old human operated set of pieces, the Drueke Players Choice set, sold for $24 (almost $71 in today's dollars!!) and a roll up plastic board cost $6 ($17.65 today). 

     In 1984, GM Lev Alburt (born August 21, 1945), who defected from the Soviet Union in 1978 and arrived in the U.S. broke, had managed to make use of his talents and became the U.S. Champion.
 

     The 1984 U.S. Championship was unique in that for the first time in 30 tournaments an incumbent failed to place either first or second. It was a strong event; there were six former GM titlists: six-time champions Walter Browne, the reigning co-champions Roman Dzindzichashvili and Larry Christiansen and GMs Robert Byrne, Lubomir Kavalek and Yasser Seirawan. 

     For this tournament Paul M. Albert Jr. of South Salem, New York donated $250 (735.27 today) for the most brilliant game of the event. Arthur Bisguier was the judge and there were two among the many high-quality games that he found to be of clarity and overall beaut so he decided tio split the money. They were the game Peters-Seirawan (the co-winner) and deFirmian (the co-winner)-Kudrin. 

ChessBase

Nick deFirmian–Sergey Kudrin1–0E12US Champ, Berkeley, CA1884Stockfish 15.1

Queens Indian Defense 1.f3 f6 2.c4 c5 3.c3 b6 4.e3 b7 5.d4 cxd4 6.exd4 e6 7.a3 d5 8.cxd5 xd5 9.b5+ c6 This position had been known since the 1950s except that in this game white has played the useful move 7.a3. 10.d3 d7 11.0-0 The position is equal. 11.e4 5f6 12.g5 e7 13.g3 h6 14.e3 c7 15.e2 a6 16.0-0 with equality. Benjamin,J (2610)-Gurevich,D (2535) US Champ, Key West 1994 11...e7 12.e1 0-0 13.e4 7f6 13...5f6 was recommended by Bisguier because it prevents white from placing a N on e5. 14.g3 14.e5 xe4 15.xe4 xe4 16.xe4 xe5 17.xe5 f6 18.e4 d5 19.d3 fd8 20.e3 ac8 and black is better. 14...a6 15.g5 a7 16.e2 is nearly equal. Lobo,R (2310)-Gurevich,D (2540) San Francisco 1998 14.e5 b7 15.g5 At some point over the next couple of moves black should have played ...h6 to drive the N back. As it is, he will eventually pay a price for not having done so. c7 16.d2 ad8 17.c1± b8 18.e2 Perhaps more precise would have been 18.Qc2 g6 and then the maneuver Qe1-f3 d6 19.b1 e7 With white's pieces menacing his K, Kudrin tries to avoid weakening his K-side P-structure, but but since this proves unavoidable he should have played 19...h6 and then simplify. 19...h6 20.e4 xe4 21.xe4 f5 22.e2 xe5 23.xe5 xe5 with a equal position. 20.g4 Perhaps black overlooked the force of this move which forces him to retract his last move, ed5 A frequently seen B+Q battery in these types of positions. 20...xg4 21.xh7+ h8 22.xg4 xh2+ 23.h1 and white has a winning attack. To give just one example... g6 24.h3 f4 25.g8+ g7 25...xg8 26.h7# 26.h7+ f6 27.h4 g7 28.xf4 and white is clearly winning. 21.d3 g6 22.h3 f4 This loses without much of a fight, but he was pretty much lost anyway, but it was possible to make white work to score the point. 22...h5 would have worked better. 23.h6+ g7 24.hxf7 xf7 25.xe6+ h8 26.xg6 dd7 26...ff8 27.xh5 is hopeless 27.xf7 xf7 28.g5 with a decisive advantage. 23.xf4 xf4 24.h6+ g7 25.hxf7 xf7 26.xe6+ g8 27.xd8 Witty play and stronger than taking the Q! 27.xf4 xf4 28.h6 4h5 28...xg2 Bisguier 29.e5 xd4 29...g4 30.g5 xd4 30...xe5 31.xd8+ 31.xg6 xe5 32.xf7+ xf7 33.xe5 30.a2 wins. 29.e5 g7 30.a2+ h8 31.ce1 e4 There is no question that with only two Ns for the Q that black is losing, but deFirmian's 27.Nxd8 is clearer.. 27...g4 28.e8+ Black resigned. Engine analysis indicates that deFirmian's play was "flawless." 28.e8+ f8 29.xf8+ xf8 30.xg4 xd8 31.a2 g7 31...e7 32.g3 g7 33.e5+ xe5 34.dxe5 with a easily won ending. 32.g3 There is no way to meet the intended Qe5 f8 33.e5 e7 34.h8+ f7 35.xh7+ etc. 1–0

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