An Unusual Position

 

     The first air conditioners appeared in 1902 by an inventor named Willis Carrier, but it was not for homes. Carrier's air conditioner was designed to keep paper from wrinkling in the heat and humidity at the Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Publishing Company in Brooklyn, New York. 

     It wasn't long after that industrial buildings and hospitals began adopting the technology, but the first person to air condition his home was Charles Gates, son of an industrialist and gambler named John Gates when he air conditioned his house in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1914. 

     By the 1920s, air conditioners were smaller and safer; the old versions used a toxic coolant. During the Depression, few places could afford to install the expensive systems, but movie theaters were an exception because they could be sure to see a return on their investment as people flocked to them. 

     However, it wasn't until after WWII that air conditioning started showing up in American homes, especially in the South. And, the fact that the venue of the 1956 U.S. Open in Oklahoma City, the Civic Room of the Oklahoma Biltmore, was air conditioned would have been w a welcome draw; in fact, it was even mentioned in the tournament announcement. The entry fee was $12 ($132.72 in today's dollars). 

     The Open was won by the U.S. Champion Arthur Bisguier. He suffered a surprising third round defeat by Donald Fischheimer of Chicago and as a result had to come from behind in an exciting finish to win the Championship with a 9.5-2.5 score. He was actually tied with James Sherwin, but won on tiebreaks. Robert Steinmeyer, who led the field for a time, placed third with 9-3. Tied at 8.5-3.5 for fourth to eight place were 13-tear old Bobby Fischer, Anthony Saidy, Edmar Mednis, Stephan Popel and Anthony DiCamillo. 

     The Women's Open Champion was Sonya Graf-Stevenson of Los Angeles, the defending champion, with 6.5-5.5 score. She was followed by the unheralded Mary Selensky a point behind. 

     Arthur Bisguier (1929-2017) needs no introduction, but his opponent, Dr. Orest Popovych is less known. Popovych was born January 18, 1933, in the Ukraine; he passed away at the age of 90 on March 14, 2023 at his home in Howell, New Jersey. 

     He immigrated to the U.S. in 1949 and settled in Newark, New Jersey. After finishing high school in 1951, he enrolled at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey where he majored in chemistry. In the fall of 1955, he entered the PH.D. Program in Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, first as a teaching assistant and then as an Allied Chemical and Dye Fellow. In January 1959, he was awarded his PhD in analytical chemistry. 

     After graduation he then embarked on a corporate career and in 1963 he began teaching in Brooklyn College of the City University of New York where he became a full professor in the Department of Chemistry. 

     Popovych was a USCF Senior Master and an FIDE FM. He won the New Jersey championship in 1959, 1961, 1985 and in 2001. In 2001 he authored a chess book featuring games by former champions of the Ukrainian Sports Federation of the USA and Canada. He was inducted into the Ukrainian Sports Federation Hall of Fame in 2016. 

     In the following game, the position of Bisguier's Bs on e7 and e8 at move 15 is quite unusual. He held the advantage for most of the game, but made a slip at move 30. Popovych failed to take advantage of it, but he still managed to create a mate threat. However, in doing so he allowed Bisguier a nice finish. Not that it mattered because black was lost anyway. 

ChessBase

Arthur Bisguier–Orest Popovych1–0E70US Open, Oklahoma CityOklahoma City, OK USA24.07.1956Stockfish 15.1

King's Indian 1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.c3 g7 4.e4 d6 5.g5 c5 6.d5 0-0 7.d2 a5 this is somewhat risky because the Q may end being misplaced. Either 7...e6 or 7...a6 are better. 8.d3 e8 8...a6 9.c1 b5 10.b3 e6 11.ge2 exd5 12.exd5 bd7 equals. Milov,V (2668)-Kempinski,R (2624) Geneve 2005 9.ge2 a6 9...a6 10.0-0 bd7 11.f4 b5 12.cxb5 Much better was 12.b3 axb5 13.g3 c4 Black is much better. Amerkeshev,M (2228)-Omori,M (2191) chess.com INT 2013 9...e6 10.0-0 a6 11.a4 exd5 12.cxd5 bd7 13.f4 c4 is equal. Blosze,E-Djurhuus,R (2405) Gausdal 1992 10.0-0 c7 Risky in that it cuts off the Q's retreat. Better would have been 10...Nb4 11.a3 The threat is 12. b4 a6 11...h8 A pass to demonstrate the threat. 12.b4 cxb4 13.axb4 xb4 14.fb1 c5 15.e3 The Q is trapped. 12.f4 g4 13.c2 f5 After this black's position is all but lost. 13...e6 This counterattack in the center does not work out well because after 14.a4 f8 15.e7 he has a very poor position. 13...d8 This was Bisguier's recommendation because it protects the e-Pawn and removes the Q from danger, but after 14.a4 d7 15.xd7 xd7 16.h3 f6 17.h4 h6 white's position is quite promising. 14.a4 f8 15.xe7 f7 16.xd6 Already white has a decisive advantage. fxe4 17.e8 f6 18.e7 A unusual position! e3 19.c1 f5 20.xf6 xf6 21.b5 d4 22.b4 d8 Interesting...the Q is transferring to the the R file with the hope of creating threats against white's K. Nevertheless, white remains in com plete control. 23.f3 h4 24.h3 f2 25.bxc5 xc5 26.e1 Safe and solid. 26.a4 leads to some tricky tactical play. g4 27.xc5 xf3 28.xe3 xc5 29.xf3 and white is clearly better. 26.xa6 is best met by g4 27.g3 bxa6 28.xg4 xg4 29.e4 White has a significant advantage. 26...g4 27.g3 h5 27...xe2 was not any better. 28.xe2 c7 29.a4 f8 30.f3 white remains with the superior position. 28.h2 h8 29.d7 f8 30.a4 This slip should have allowed Popovych to nearly equalize. 30.g5 xe2 31.xe2 xf4 32.c3+ d4 33.xe3 d6+ 34.g3 d3 35.c1 d1 36.g4 e7 37.e6 Here black can continue to put up a manly defense. 30...e4 Played against Qc3+, but after this black is clearly lost. 30...xe2 is tougher. 31.xe2 d4 32.f3 32.b1 xf4 and it's black who is winning! 32...xa1 33.xe3 d3 34.xd3 xf4 and black has equalized. 31.xc5 Simplifying xg3 32.e6 32.xg3 would be a serious mistake. xc5 33.xh5 xe1 34.xe1 gxh5 35.e6 xf4 36.xe3 xc4 and black is right back in the game. 32.xg3 is also not quite so good because after xg3+ 33.xg3 xc5 34.g4 xg4 35.hxg4 e8 black is still fighting. 32...xe2 33.xf8 f1+ 34.g1 xf4 Of course this threatens mate, but at the same time it allows a nice finish. Of course any other move would have lost, too. 34...xe1 35.xe1 xc4 36.d6 e2 37.e6 b5 38.xe2 g7 39.b2 wins xf8 40.xb5 g3 41.g4 f5 42.xf5 gxf5 43.xb7 wins. 35.c3+ g8 36.g7+ xg7 37.e6+ Black resigned. To continue on would have been pointless because the ending is won for white. 37.e6+ f6 38.xf4 xc4 39.xf1 xf1 40.xf1 e5 41.e6 xd5 42.e2 b8 43.c8 b5 44.c7+ c4 45.xe3 a5 46.e6+ c5 47.a2 b4 48.a4 c6 49.e6+ d6 50.e4 The Ps on the Q-side are stopped and white's extra piece must prevail. 1–0

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