Ford introduced its hit car, the 4-cylinder Consul, which was manufactured from 1951 until 1962. A radio soap opera, The Archers, was launched on the BBC and it's still in production.
In May, the spies Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean left Britain and defected to the Soviet Union. Also, Kim Philby, a British intelligence officer and a double agent who had divulged British secrets to the Soviets during World War II was forced to quit his position. John Cairncross, a civil servant who became an intelligence officer and spy during the Second World War suffered the same fate. As a Soviet double agent, he passed to the Soviet Union the decryptions that influenced the Battle of Kursk.
British boxer Randy Turpin whipped American Sugar Ray Robinson in a fight in London to become world middleweight champion.
1951 was also the year of the great Staunton Centenary Tournament celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first international tournament. First prize went to a 27-year old Yugoslav GM named Svetozar Gligoric (1923-2012, 89 years old). For decades he was one of the world's leading non-Soviet players. Even back in 1946 it had been written that it was evident from his play that he was a great master in the making.
Second, third and fourth prizes were shared between Pirc (Yugoslavia), Stahlberg (Sweden) and Trifunovic (Yugoslavia). Trifunovic was unlucky not to finished higher. His one loss, to Bogoljubow, was in a game that for the major part of its course seemed quite won for him. Even when he was lost most of the spectators were quite sure he was winning.
It was about that time that Petar Trifunovic (1910-1980) had a distinct change in his style of play. Before the war he was a dashing attacking player, but then his play became very safe and solid and he began playing almost all draws; that remained his style up to the end of his career.
In this tournament another Yugoslav player, Vasja Pirc (1907-1980), an older player, was the opposite. From a positional master he had turned into an adventurous player who went for complications and took hair-raising risks. He had the fewest draws among the prizewinners.
Stahlberg finished well, but his play was not up to its usual high standard and his showing was somewhat disappointing.
Tied for the remaining prizes were Alexander, Matanovic, Rossolimo and Unzicker. Alexander’s showing was a pleasant surprise for the British. He was in the lead for the first five rounds, but couldn't keep up the pace.
As a professional player whose only income was from prize money, Rossolimo had to play in about ten tournaments a year and the strain was trying, but he managed to almost always finish among the prize winners.
Ernst Klein (1910-1990) was born in Vienna and arrived in England in 1935. He was second among the British players, but he had little international practice in the past eleven years, so his result was quite an achievement.
The two veterans, Bogoljubow (1889-1952) and Tartakower (1887-1956), were both badly disappointed with their results, but in such a strong tournament their age was a handicap.
A game that I liked (Fritz 17)
Aleksandar Matanovic–Saviely Tartakower1–0B09Staunton Memorial , England1951Stockfish 15.1
Pirc Defense: Austrian Attack 1.e4 d6 2.d4 f6 3.c3 g6 4.f4 g7 5.f3 0-0 6.d3 At the time this defense was called the Yugoslav Defense and
theory was still being formed. It was thought that black had good prospects if
white did not take the opening seriously. The was enjoyim great popularity
because at the time black had been obtaining excellent results and white's
setup was in the experimental stage. Today white's move is the one that is
most often seem. c6 Black eschews the then popular ...c5 thrust and tries a
different P-formation. In this line, while it's tru that he does not suffer
from the cramping effects of white's d5, black's prospects of achieving a
forthright development are not bright. Nowadays black usually plays either 6...
Na6 or 6...Nc6. 7.0-0 b5 According to Euwe this move does not achieve
anything of note, but black's position is already most difficult for him. If
he tries 7...Nbd7 intending to play ...e5 then his B is blocked in for a long
time. And if he tries 7...Bg4 then 8.h6 forces him to part with the two B. The
question then arises why play a defense in which this positional drawback has
to be incurred so quickly? 8.a3 a6 8...d5 9.e5 e8 10.h3 f5 11.exf6 exf6 12.f5 xf5 13.xf5 gxf5 White is clearly better. Bagaturov,G (2474)-Cugini,
W (2199) Bratto 2007 9.h1 White has also played 9.Qe1 and 9.Qe2 c7 9...c5 striking at the center is a better defense. 10.e5 fd7 11.e4 but even
so white is still better. 10.e5 d5 11.g5 White has a very fine
attacking position and black can do little more than await the onslaught. xc3 12.bxc3 h6 Of course Tartakover knew that he will have to pay for this
weakening of the K-side; but 12...Nd7 would be refuted rather easily. 12...d7 13.e6 f6 14.f5 gxf5 15.xf5 xe6 16.xe6 fxe6 17.xe6 13.f3 dxe5
Black opens the f- file for white's R as well as the diagonal for his dark
squared B, but, if black avoids this exchange, then white plays Qe1-g3 and
threatens f5 with an explosive force. 14.fxe5 e6 15.e1 d5 16.h4 h5 17.g5 a7 18.ae1 c5 Black strives desperately for counter-play,
but white now gets in a powerful thrust. 19.e6 The main point of this move
is that after 19...Bxe6 20 Bxg6 or even 20,Rxe6 black's K-side is destroyed. f5 19...xe6 20.xe6 fxe6 21.xg6 d7 22.xh5 f6 23.h3 d6 24.d2
and the threat of Ng5 is decisive. 19...xe6 20.xg6 c4 21.d3 xd3 22.cxd3 f6 23.e3 d7 24.xh5 White is winning. 20.f4 c6 21.g3 By
threat of Bxb8, white wins the g-Pawn and the collapse of black's position
soon follows. b7 22.xg6 f6 23.g3 xf3 24.gxf3 White wants to mate
with Rg1. The rest of the game is just mopping up. h4 25.g2 h3 26.g3 xe6 27.xe6 xe6 28.g1 f7 29.xb8 e6 30.dxc5 h5 31.e5 h6 32.c6 Black resigned 32.c6 f7 33.c7 xc7 34.xc7 It's mate in 11 moves
Stockfish 15.1: f7 35.d6 f6 36.c5 f8 37.g8+ e8 38.g6 xg6 39.xg6+ d8 40.xe6 xc5 41.xf5 c7 42.d7+ b6 43.d8+ b7 44.e4+ a7 45.c7# 1–0
Interested in real raw espionage, Churchill, Monty, Ungentlemanly Warfare, John le Carré, Kim Philby, SAS Rogue Heroes, 22 SAS Regiment (Malaya) and Philby's interest therein? Do read the epic fact based spy thriller, Bill Fairclough's Beyond Enkription, the first stand-alone novel of six in TheBurlingtonFiles series. He was one of Pemberton’s People in MI6.
ReplyDeleteBeyond Enkription is a fact based book which follows the real life of a real spy, Bill Fairclough (MI6 codename JJ) aka Edward Burlington who worked for British Intelligence, the CIA et al. It’s the stuff memorable spy films are made of, raw, realistic yet punchy, pacy and provocative; a super read as long as you don’t expect John le Carré’s delicate diction, sophisticated syntax and placid plots.
For the synopsis see TheBurlingtonFiles website. This thriller is like nothing we have ever come across before. Indeed, we wonder what The Burlington Files would have been like if David Cornwell aka John le Carré had collaborated with Bill Fairclough. They did consider it and even though they didn’t collaborate, Beyond Enkription is still described as ”up there with My Silent War by Kim Philby and No Other Choice by George Blake”.
As for Bill Fairclough, he has even been described as a real life posh Harry Palmer; there are many intriguing bios of him on the web. As for Beyond Enkription, it’s a must read for espionage cognoscenti. To relish in this totally different non-fiction espionage thriller best do some research first. Try reading two brief news articles published on TheBurlingtonFiles website. One is about characters' identities (September 2021) and the other about Pemberton's People (October 2022). You’ll soon be immersed in a whole new world! As for TheBurlingtonFiles website, it is like a living espionage museum and as breathtaking as a compelling thriller in its own right.