Stephan Popel

     Canada is experiencing its most destructive wildfire season on record and hundreds of them are burning from coast to coast and they are continuing to send tremendous plumes of smoke into the atmosphere. 

     The result is air pollution traveling into the United States producing hazy skies and triggering air quality alerts across parts of the country. In fact, the smoke has even traveled across the Atlantic Ocean and is hovering over western Europe.

     About 9:00am this morning I was out running errands and the haze was so thick that some street lights had come on and most cars had their headlights automatically turn on. Oddly, you could not smell smoke though. 

     Going back to 1951, life expectancy for males was a scant 65.6 while women fared much better...71.4 years. On television “funny” people were Milton Berle and Lucille Ball. I never cared for either one of them. Even as kid I thought their “humor” was silly and not at all funny. 

     The novel The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger came out. For those unfamiliar with the book, it tells of a weekend in the life of 16-year-old Holden Caulfield after he was expelled from prep school. Confused and disillusioned, he wandered around alone in New York City and questions adult morality, identity and meaning. 

     Conspiracy theorists claim Salinger didn’t write the book, the Central Intelligence Agency did as part of a plot to brainwash people. The reason for the theory is that celebrity killers Mark Chapman (murdered John Lennon), John Hinckley (shot President Ronald Reagan who survived), Robert Bardo (Rebecca Schaeffer, an actress and model who was murdered by a fan) and Lee Harvey Oswald (killed President John Kennedy) all supposedly had recently read or had the book with them while committing their murders. 

     In baseball Joe DiMaggio had a 56 game hitting streak. And, Eddie Gaedel at 3 feet, 7 inched tall became the shortest person in Major League history. His story is quite interesting and you can read it on Wikipedia HERE. 

     Like Eddie Gaedel, US Master Stephen Popel (August 15, 1909- December 27, 1987) is pretty much forgotten. He was born in what used be be known as Austria-Hungary but is now the Ukraine and died in Fargo, North Dakota. 

     He was many times the champion of Lvov, Paris and what was billed as the Ukrainian Championship of in North America. 

     Popel was the nephew of a player whose name was frequently seen in old chess books: Ignatz Popiel (1863-1941). Popel learned chess as a child and played in his first tournament at age 12. He eventually was regarded as one of the important masters of pre-World War II Europe. 

     In 1931, Popel earned a masters degree in French and Latin languages and literature from the University at Lvov. During WW2 he was the personal secretary to the Archbishop of the Ukranian Catholic Church. 

     In 1944 he somehow managed to avoid deportation to Siberia during the Soviet occupation and possibly a worse fate because the Russians shot a lot of people. He fled westward and wound up in Krakow, Poland. 

    After the war he escaped to France. In 1956, Popel migrated to the US where three times he won the Michigan state championships: 1957, 1958, and 1959.

     Around 1960 Popel became a professor of French language and literature at North Dakota State University in Fargo. He was champion of North Dakota 11 times between 1965 to 1980. 

     Chess metrics estimates his highest rating to have been 2532 in 1952 ranking him 123rd in the world. 

     His opponent in the following game played in Hastings 1951/52 was Harry Golombek (1911-1995). He was an IM and was awarded and an Emeritus GM title in 1985. 

     During World War II, Golombek worked at Bletchley Park, alongside other British masters, deciphering the German Enigma codes. 

     He was also a well known chess author. In writing Golombek’s obituary British player William Hartston described Golombek;s pay this way: (He) was a true professional among amateurs. His style was correct rather than imaginative, strong in defence and he had a technique good enough to take merciless advantage of the positional errors of less chess-educated opponents.

ChessBase

Harry Golombek–Stephan A Popel0–1A15Hastings 1951/5204.01.1952Stockfish/Komodo

English Opening vs King's Indian 1.f3 f6 2.c4 g6 3.c3 g7 4.g3 d6 5.g2 0-0 6.0-0 e5 7.d3 c6 8.d2 Golombek's opening play as never very exciting. h6 9.a3 e6 10.c1 10.e1 d5 11.cxd5 xd5 12.xd5 xd5 13.c3 Equals. Ireneusz,L-Tukmakov,V (2585) Geneve 1995 10.b4 d7 11.b5 Also playable is 11.Rc1 d4 12.xd4 exd4 13.d5 xd5 14.cxd5 h3 15.xh3 xh3 16.c1 Equals. Greenfeld,A (2560)-Tseitlin,M (2545) Beersheba 1996 10...h7 11.b4 d7 12.b5 e7 13.e1 This move is hard to explain. The R sits here doing nothing for another 17 moves. 13.Rb1 makes more sense. h5 14.b1 One gets the feeling that Golombek is just making moves whereas Popel actually has plans on the K-side. f5 15.h3 g5 16.d5 g6 16...xd5 17.cxd5 f7 18.e4 f6 18...f4 19.g4 Black is stymied on the K-side and now it's white who has the better prospects. 19.b4 fc8 20.b2 White is slightly better. 16...xd5 17.cxd5 f4 18.g4 f6 19.c4 Black's L-side action has been slowed and white is ready to begin Q-side operations. 17.h2 Much too passive. 17.xg5 needed to be played. c6 17...hxg5 18.xg5+ g8 19.xe6 xe6 20.g5 hf4 21.xf4 xf4 22.gxf4 With a winning position. 18.c3 e4 White has the option of capturing on e4 or c6...eithe way the chances would remain about equal. 17...c6 With no immediate progress possible on the K-side black drives the N back. 18.c3 f6 19.c2 ac8 20.a4 f4 20...e4 was more precise. 21.dxe4 f4 22.g4 e5 with active play. 21.g4 With this move white has gummed up black's K-side operations and is now hope to get the initiative to begin action on the Q-side. h4 22.bxc6 White will regret not preserving his B by retreating it to h1. 22.h1 f7 22...h5 23.xa7 and white is better. 23.xa7 d5 24.bxc6 bxc6 25.xd7 xd7 26.cxd5 cxd5 27.a4 favors white. 22...bxc6 23.e4 23.h1 can now be met by h5 and suddenly black's attack i rolling again 23...xg2 24.xf6+ xf6 25.xg2 h5 26.f3 With the K-side blocked white appears safe, but Popel has a plan to open it up. g7 27.a6 f7 28.b4 Perhaps it was white's intention to double Rs on the b-file then try to invade the 7th rank, but he doesn't get the time. d5 29.cxd5 29.eb1 e4 30.b7 c7 31.xc7 xc7 32.cxd5 exf3+ 33.exf3 xd5 With a promising position. 29...cxd5 30.c1 xc1 31.xc1 e4 32.dxe4 dxe4 The position has been very delicate for the last few moves and white has managed to keep things balanced, but bot he makes a serious error. 33.fxe4 The losing move. Black's f-Pawn will soon decide the game! 33.xe4 and White has nothing to worry. d5 34.b4 xf3+ 35.exf3 d1 36.f1 c2+ 37.h1 c7 38.xf4 gxf4 39.gxh5 c1 40.xc1 xc1+ 41.g2 c2+ 42.g1 c1+ 43.f1 e7 draws 33...hxg4 Finally black is able to conduct his K-side attack to a favorable conclusion. 34.hxg4 xg4 35.d3 Against Bh3+ f3+ 36.f2 36.xf3 xf3+ 37.xf3 d4+ 38.g3 e5+ 39.f4 39.g2 g4+ mates in 2 39...xf4+ wins. 36...fxe2 Black is clearly winning. 37.xd7 d4+ 38.g2 xd7 39.d2 e5 Popel finishes the game with great precision. 40.e1 xh2 41.xh2 d1 42.c3+ g6 43.e5 f5 White resigned. 43...f5 44.b7 e1 45.xe1 xe1 46.xa7 g4 47.a4 g5 48.a5 f4 49.g2 49.a6 g3+ mate in 2 49...g3 50.f7 e2+ 51.g1 g4 52.g7+ f3 and wins 0–1

Download PGN

Nimble Knights

     There used to be an annual tournament known as the Tri-State Championship in which the top two players from Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia were invited. 

      The intention was that the players would be the state champion and the second place finisher. If any of the eligible players was unable to attend, the next player in line in the state championship would get the call. 

     The second Tri-state Chess Championship tournament was held in Cleveland, Ohio in 1947 and the players were H. Landis Marks and Dr. Siegfried Werthammer both from Huntington, West Virginia. Pennsylvania sent Attilio DiCamillo, a Philadelphia player who had won his second consecutive state title and Mike Yatron of Reading, who had an undisputed second behind DiCamillo. It appear that Yatron was replace by William Byland of Pittsburgh. The Ohio contestants were Thomas Ellison of Cleveland and Lawrence Jackson, Jr. of Toledo. 

     I was unable to locate any other information on the 1947 event other than the winner was H. Lanais Marks. 

     Older players from the tri-state area will no doubt remember most, if not all, of the participants of the 1947 event. I do with two exception. In the late 1960s I attended college in Toledo and never heard of Lawrence Jackson, Jr. He appeared on the USCF’s 1958 rating list with a rating of 1881. That’s all I could find on him.

     Nor have I ever heard of Mike Yatron. Doing a search for him, I discovered that Dr. Michael Yatron of West Reading, Pennsylvania passed away, June 30, 2008 at the age of 86. 

     He was born in Reading on July 20, 1921, and was awarded a full scholarship to study Economics at Harvard University, but left after one semester to enroll in the Army where he served during World War II. After obtaing a couple of degrees he taught college English and earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in English in 1957. Subsequently he taught English and Literature at the college level. His scholarly book, America's Literacy Revolt, published in 1959, is still referred to. 

     A strong amateur player, he dominated local tournaments for many years. He won the Pennsylvania State Class "A" championship in 1943. 

     The following game from the 1947 tri-state tournament that I discovered has an amusing position...after move 19 black has his Knights posted on g3 and g4 and they end up on h1 and h2! 

     The post that I did on H. Landis Marks can be read HERE, but the game has disappeared because the site on which it was posted has ceased working. William M. Byland (1917-1997) of Pittsburgh founded the state chess federation in 1939 and was state champion in 1949.

 

ChessBase

William H. Byland–H. Landis Marks0–1A00Tri-State Champ, Cleveland, Ohio1947Stockfish/Komodo

Falkbeer Counter Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 As commentator Kevin Butler put it, the Falkbeer "destroys all the lines that a K-Gambit player may have planned on using. There are also lots of traps that white will have to look out for as his King is very exposed…" He also noted that King safety is extremely important and many games do not last more than 30 moves as the game is decided by whoever can get to their opponent’s King first. 3.exd5 3.fxe5 loses to h4+ 4.g3 4.e2 xe4+ 5.f2 c5+ 6.d4 xd4+ 7.g3 g6+ 8.h4 f2+ 9.g3 e4+ 10.h5 g6+ 11.g5 h6# 4...xe4+ 3...e4 This is the main line. 4.d3 xd5 This is not recomended. Better is 4...Nf6 4...exd3 5.xd3 xd5 White can play either 6.Bc3 or 6.Nf3 or even 6.Qe2+ with equality. 5.c3 b4 6.d2 xc3 7.xc3 f6 8.dxe4 xe4+ 9.e2 f5 9...0-0 10.xf6 xe2+ 11.xe2 gxf6 12.0-0-0 e8 White is better. Tica,S (2439)-Svane,F (2577) chess.com INT 2023 10.0-0-0 Capturing 10.Bxf6 first was better. bd7 11.d2 11.h3 0-0 12.f2 Either 12.Qxe4 or 12.Rd4 are better. a4 13.b1 e4 14.d4 xc3+ Black is better. Kovshoj,S-Bonnelykke, O (2087) Esbjerg 2007 15.xc3 0-1 (64) 11...0-0-0 12.d3 d5 13.b3 After this black quickly gets the better game. 13.xf5 xf5 14.h3 e4 15.e3 xc3 16.xc3 he8 17.he1 is drawish. 13...c5 White has no good reply to this move. 14.xf5+ 14.xf6 This is best. After xd3+ 15.cxd3 gxf6 16.f3 c6+ 17.c2 d6 18.b2 he8 19.he1 xe1 20.xe1 xd3 Black stands well. 14.f3 xd3 15.cxd3 xd3+ White has lost not only a P, but the game because after 16.b1 e4 17.c2 f5 18.h4 xc3+ 19.xc3 xf4 20.xd3 xd3 21.xd3 xh4 The ending is lost. 14...xf5 15.e3 It's hard to believe, but white is dead lost! Watch what happens. xd1+ Black is clearly winning. 16.xd1 g4 17.f3 e8 The threat is ...Re3 trapping the Q. 18.d2 18.d4 d8 19.e2 e6 and white has no good reply. 20.c3 b1+ 21.d2 21.c1 xd4 22.xg4+ f5+ 23.e2 c2+ 24.f1 24.f3 xc3+ 25.f2 e3+ 26.f1 xc1+ 24...xc1+ 21...xa2+ 22.c1 22.d3 c5+ 23.c4 xb3+ 24.xc5 b6+ 25.c6 d6# 22...a1+ 18...e4 19.e1 Defending f2, but watch the nimble Ns. g3 Again, the threat of ...Re3 winning the Q rears its ugly head. 20.d2 xh1 21.h3 xh2 White resigned. Very precise play by Marks. 0–1

Download PGN

A Chimp Named Ham plus a Nice Win by Robatsch

Ham

     Strange weather yesterday (Monday). Sunday was hot and humid with a cold front forecast to move through in the evening...all the ingredients for severe weather including tornadoes. Fortunately when the front came through (as evidenced by several minutes of strong wind) there were only some light sprinkles. 

     Monday saw some widely scattered pockets of rain with a few rumbles of thunder. At about 2:00pm it got pretty dark and I thought I heard rain and looked out the front window and saw nothing. Still thinking I heard rain, I looked out the back window and there was a drenching downpour and the patio and picnic table had rain bouncing off of them. I guess the rain has to stop somewhere and at that time it was right over our house. 

     Who remembers 1961? A chimpanzee named Ham was launched on a test flight into space in on January 31, 1961. Born in Cameroon in approximately 1957; he was captured and brought to a facility in Florida. In July 1959, he was transferred to Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, New Mexico, to be trained for space flight as part of Project Mercury. His name was the acronym for Holloman Aero Medical.

     Ham, along with his partners, including another chimp named Enos (who would become the first and only chimpanzee to orbit the Earth), were trained by spending long periods of time confined in a chair and being trained to operate levers in response to light cues. 

     After 18 months of training, Ham was selected as the chimp whose life would be risked to test the safety of space flight on his body. 

     On January 31, 1961, at Cape Canaveral, Florida, Ham was blasted into space, strapped into a container called a couch. During a flight of about 16.5 minutes when he traveled at a speed of about 580 miles per hour to an altitude of 157 miles above the earth, he experienced about 6.5 minutes of weightlessness. Despite the g-forces and weightlessness, Ham performed his tasks correctly. 

     After he splashed down 130 miles off target his capsule began taking on water. It took several hours for a recovery ship to reach him and miraculously he was alive and appeared relatively calm. However, chimp experts interpreted his facial expression as being one of extreme fear and anxiety. Later when photographers wanted a picture of him in his “couch” he refused to get back into it and even several men could not force him to do so. 

     After his ordeal he was transferred to The National Zoo in 1963, where he was forced to lived alone for 17 years before being transferred to the North Carolina Zoo where he was allowed to live with other chimps. He died 22 years after his historic flight on January 18, 1983, at the estimated age of 26. On to the chess stuff... 

     Chess players who were lost in 1961 were Soviet GM Grigory Levenfish (1889-1961) who died in Moscow at the age of 71. Akiba Rubinstein (1880-1961) died in Antwerp, Belgium at the age of 80 and the 1923-24 champion of Scotland, Christopher Heath (1877-1961) who died in London at the age of 83. 

     Mikhail Botvinnk defeated Mikhail Tal to regain the world championship. Bobby Fischer won the US Championship for the 4th time. Boris Spassky won the Soviet Championship. 

     In December, 1961, US lady champ, Lisa Lane generated a lot of excitement when she was playing in the Hastings Reserve tournament. After she played four games in which she scored one draw, two losses and had one adjourned game, she withdrew claiming she was homesick and in love. 

     Like most of the people and events mentioned here, Austrian Grandmaster and noted botanist Karl Robatsch (October 14, 1929 - September 19, 2000) have been forgotten. 

    At the age of 17 he moved to Graz to become a student and while there he often frequented the local chess club where he quickly advanced to Master. He was awarded the IM title in 1957 and the GM title in 1961. 

     Robatsch played competitively for over fifty years with his greatest successes coming in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In his early years Robatsch was noted for his highly tactical play, but later he adopted a more positional approach. His opening play was often experimental and a system of opening moves commencing 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 was named after him. 

     Robatsch had a notable career in botany in which he was an highly esteemed orchidologist in which he performed outstanding research work in the classification of different species and sub-species of orchids. 

     He died in 2000, following a long fight with throat and stomach cancer. 

 

     His opponent was Vasja Pirc (December 19, 1907 – June 2, 1980), a Slovenian player best known as a strong exponent of the hypermodern defense now generally known as the Pirc Defence. Pirc was Yugoslav champion five times: 1935, 1936, 1937, 1951, and 1953. He was awarded the IM title in 1950 and the GM title in 1953. He was also an International Arbiter. He died in Ljubljana in 1980.

ChessBase

Karl Robatsch–Vasja Pirc1–0A53Madrid International1105.1961Stockfish/Komodo

A53: Old Indian Defense 1.d4 f6 2.c4 d6 In the Old Indian black develops his B on e7 indtead of g7. Soviet player Mikhail Chigorin pioneered it in the late 1800s and while it's considered sound, it's never been very popular. 3.c3 bd7 4.e4 e5 5.e3 e7 6.h3 6.ge2 g4 7.d2 c6 8.h3 exd4 9.xd4 b6 10.hxg4 xd4 11.c2 White is better. Kuligowski,A (2495)-Vogt,L (2500) Warsaw 1979 6.e2 0-0 7.f3 c6 8.h3 a6 9.a4 a5 10.f2 is equal. Castrogiovanni,C (2073)-Welling,G (2378) Lodi 2008 6...0-0 7.g3 Highly unusual. 7.Nf3 is the book move. e8 7...exd4 is an interesting idea that leads to a Benko Gambit like position. 8.xd4 c5 9.d1 b5 10.cxb5 b7 11.g2 a6 12.bxa6 xa6 8.g2 c6 9.ge2 f8 Quite passive. 9...d5 This leads to some complicated play. White's best line appears to be 10.exd5 cxd5 11.xd5 xd5 12.cxd5 b4+ 13.c3 exd4 14.xd4 c5 with about equal chances. 10.d5 a5 11.0-0 b6 12.b3± fd7 13.f4 a4 14.f5 White already has the makings of a dangerous K-side attack...notice the absence of black defenders in that neck of the woods! c5 15.b1 axb3 16.axb3 e7 Proof that his 9th move was a waste of time. 17.d2 a3 18.c1 d7 19.g4 f6 20.f3 f8 Again?! It doesn't matter much though because black's situation is already difficult. 20...c7 21.h4 ea8 22.f1 cxd5 23.exd5 xb3 24.xb3 xc4 25.e2 xe3 26.xe3 b5 27.e4 a7 28.xa7 8xa7 Black probably will not get enough compensation for the piece, but at least in this line he has some play. 21.g3 h8 22.g5 This overly anxious move should have allowed black to equalize. 22.b2 a8 23.h4 cxd5 24.cxd5 g6 25.g5 breaks up black's K-side and with most of the black pieces on the other side of the board putting up a successful defense is not likely 22.b2 a8 This allows black to keep the Q available on the K-side. 23.h4 cxd5 24.exd5 c8 25.1e2 c7 26.b4 With no immediate breakthrough on the K-side available white can shift his attention to the other side. a6 27.c1 White has a dominating position on all three sector-s: Q-side, center and K-side. 22...cxd5 23.cxd5 e7 Again?! This time the consequences are much more serious! 23...fxg5 24.xg5 e7 This time it's OK! 25.h4 f8 Black has managed to get his pieces to the defense of the K-side and as a result his position is now stable. 24.g6 f8 As has been seen several times in this game! AT least here it serves a defensive function. 24...h6 is obvioulsy bad on account of 25.xh6 gxh6 Other moves avoid mate but are quiet hopeless. 26.xh6+ g8 27.h7+ f8 28.f7# 25.g4 h6 26.3e2 Headed to where the action is. a8 27.g3 a1 28.xa1 xa1 A superficial glance at the position might suggest that black is doing OK: material is equal and he has a lot of activity on the Q-side. However, engine analysis makes it clear that white's advantage (2 - 4.5 Pawns) is a winning one. The reason is that white's brewing K-side attack is going to prevail. 29.h2 Freeing up the N which as it turns out does not have any need to join in on the attack. e7 What's the point? Black has defended everything on the K-side. 30.h5 Oddly, black can't take any action against white's b-Pawn because the N on c5 is pinned. Black is pretty much helpless. g8 31.xh6 Removing the f-Pawn's defender and destroying the K's house. d4 The N cannot be taken. 31...gxh6 32.xf6+ g7 33.h5+ g8 34.g7 xg7 34...xg7 35.xh6 mates in 4 f8 36.xg7 xg7 37.xg7+ e8 38.g8+ e7 39.f6# 35.xg7 f7 36.xh6 b2 37.h5+ e7 38.h4+ f7 39.h7 xb3 40.e6+ e8 41.g6+ e7 42.f6# 32.e1 There's nothing forcing to be done regarding the attack, so this nifty little move prepares to add the Q to the assault with Qh4 32.e1 b2 32...gxh6 33.xf6+ h8 33...g7 34.e2 b2 35.h5+ h8 36.h4 xe2 37.g7+ wins 34.h4 d2 35.e2 xe2 36.g7+ xg7 37.xh6+ xh6 38.g8# 33.xf6+ gxf6 34.xf8 xf8 35.h4 wraps it up. 1–0

Download PGN

Edward Hymes Sr.

 

     There is a Wikipedia article that informs us that Edward Hymes Jr. (December 4, 1908 – October 17, 1962) was an American bridge and chess player. He was an attorney in New York City. At age 26, he joined the ACBL Laws Commission, which stipulates the rules of the card game of bridge. His main partner was Oswald Jacoby. And, like his father before him, he was also a chess player. 

     But, what about Edward Hymes Sr.? He was born in Florence, South Carolina on September 13, 1871 and passed away in New York at the age of 66 on May 14, 1938.  He was also was a New York attorney whose practice left him little time for competitive chess. His one major tournament saw him finish =3rd-4th with Jackson W. Showalter at 2nd City Chess Club Tournament, held at New York City in 1894, behind Wilhelm Steinitz and Adolf Albin but ahead of Harry Nelson Pillsbury. 

     Hymes, Senior also played in all eight Anglo-American Cable Matches from 1896-1903, scoring +1 -1 =6. F In 1891, he graduated at the head of his class from Columbia College, the oldest undergraduate college of Columbia University, a private Ivy League research university in New York City. In 1892 he graduated from the School of Mines at Columbia. While there he was a prize fellow in mathematics. Then in 1895, he graduated from Columbia Law School and began practicing law and soon became manager of one of the largest law offices in New York City. 

     When he was 13 years old he beat the champion checker player of New Jersey in a match match and two years later took up chess. He was the chess champion of Columbia College and of the Newark, New Jersey chess club. 

     The following game is from the 2nd Cuty Tournament that was held in New York City from October 20th through November 15th in 1894. It was held under the auspices of the City Chess Club. Pillsbury had won the previous 1st tournament in 189, but only managed an even score in this one. Especially noteworthy was that this was the first tournament since 1883 that had former World Champion Wilhelm Steinitz as a participant.

 

 

      In the following games Hatmes smashes James M. Hanham (1840-1923, 83 years old) in a game un which Hanham used his own variation of the Philidor Defense 

ChessBase

Edward Hymes, Sr.–James M. Hanham1–0C412nd City Tournament, New York City223.10.1894Stockfish/Komodo

C41: Philidor Defense 1.e4 e5 2.f3 d6 This defense is named after Francois-Andre Danican Philidor who advocated it as an alternative to 2...Nc6. His original idea was to challenge white's center by ...f7-f5. Today the defense is considered as a solid, but passive. 3.d4 d7 Originally this was known as the Lord Variation. The idea was to maintain a strong center. Today it’s known as the Hanham Variation. 4.c3 The move 4.Bc4 is almost universally played. c6 4...gf6 5.c4 e7 6.0-0 0-0 7.e1 c6 8.a4 is the main line and black can now play either 8...a5 or 8...b6 5.d3 Unusual. More aggressive is 5.Bc4 e7 6.e2 This is cumbersome and time consuming,m but not bad. 6.0-0 gf6 7.e1 0-0 8.e2 e8 9.g3 f8 10.c3 is equal. Baramidze,D (2543)-Ponkratov,P (2413) Heraklio GRE 2004 6...gf6 7.0-0 0-0 8.b3 e8 8...d5 This is more aggressive, but not necessarily better than the move played. 9.g3 dxe4 10.xe4 10.xe4 is not quite so good. xe4 11.xe4 f5 12.d3 e4 13.c4+ h8 14.e5 xe5 15.dxe5 a5 16.f4 b5 17.e2 e6 with a good position. 10...xe4 11.xe4 f5 9.b2 c7 10.g3 f8 11.c4 b6 12.d2 b7 13.fe1 It's hard to tell at this time, but there is trouble brewing for black on the K-side and a better alternative would have beem 13...g6 ad8 13...g6 White cannot now play Nf5 14.ad1 g7 Black is confined to a passive defense, but his position is quite solid. 14.f5 h6 Guarding against Qg5, but it weakens his K-side. 14...exd4 15.3xd4 c5 Fundamentally white has the better position, but black has sufficient play. 15.h3 h7 16.g4 This is aggressive, but a bit premature. 16.Rad1 keeps the pressure on black. e6 16...exd4 is the right move because after 17.3xd4 e5 18.f4 xd3 19.xd3 d5 Black has successfully launched an equalizing counterasttack. 17.h1 Played in preparation of the opening of the g-file. f6 17...d5 is still the right move., 18.xe5 xe5 19.f4 g5 20.dxe5 xh3 21.g3 g5 22.f4 xe4 23.xe4 dxe4 and it's black who now stands better. 18.g1 h8 Both sides are fixated on the opening of the g-file by white! Black still needed to play 18...exd4 18...exd4 19.xd4 e5 and it's hard to believe but white has no effective way of strengthening his attack. The best line is... 20.g3 b5 21.xe5 dxe5 22.e2 g6 23.h4 c5 23...gxf5 24.gxf5+ h8 25.ag1 d6 26.f1 e7 27.g2 f8 28.c5 xc5 29.xe5 with a very strong bind. 24.g5 gxf5 25.gxf6+ h8 26.ag1 xf6 with equal chances. 19.g5 As dagerous as white's attack looks with correct defense black can weather the storm...easier said than done! hxg5 This is not good. 19...xf5 is the magic move that leaves black with nothing to worry about. 20.exf5 exd4 That move again! It doesn't look right because it opens the diagonal fr the B. 21.c5 Keeping black's B out of the game. 21.xd4 loses c5 21...xc5 22.gxh6 xd3 23.xd3 c5 24.g3 e8 25.ag1 e7 Black has quite enough compensation for the exchange. 20.xg5 g6 This loses quickly, but there was really nohing better. 20...exd4 Of course! This is still the only real alternative, but not it's lost its effectiveness. 21.f4 21.xd4 xf5 22.exf5 c5+ Black is slightly better. 21...xg5 22.xg5 e5 23.xd4 xf5 24.xf5 g8 25.g3 e7 21.xh7 xh7 22.g5 c5 You would think that white should now open up the position by exchanging Ps, but he has instead the surprising 23.d5! 23.d5 Immobilizing black's pieces. 23.dxc5 xf5 and black wins! 24.g3 xc5 23.dxe5 xf5 24.h4+ h5 25.g3 dxe5 Here, too, black is winning. 23...g7 23...xf5 no longer helps. 24.exf5 g7 25.g4 f6 26.fxg6 d7 26...xg4 27.gxf7+ mates 27.c1 fxg6 28.xg6+ h8 29.xf6+ g7 30.g6 Black gets mated. 24.g4 f8 25.h4+ g8 26.xg7 xf2 27.f5 e6 28.dxe6 xf5 29.h6 Facing mate in 4, black resigned. 1–0

Download PGN

Dr. Clurman Got Swindled

     On November 27, 1919, Sammy Rzeschewski gave a simultaneous in New York. He lost a game to Alex Simchow of the Brownscville Chess Club and due to the late hour his game against Dr. Morris J. Clurman of Brooklyn was adjudicated a draw by Frank Marshall who served as referee. 

     Dr. Clurman disagreed with the decision. He said, “I believe my game against the young master should have been credited to me as I threatened very serious things with my last move.” 

     “White's King is not in an enviable position and I threatened (...Ng3). If the Bishop retreats, I am a Pawn ahead and have the superior position. I feel certain that I could have won the game if time would have permitted. The game la a complicated one and shows that the young master has a wotderful power of chess vision.” 

     “To my own satisfaction, I am convinced that Rzeschewski will rank eventually as one of the world's greatest chess masters in a few years. That depends, however, in my opinion, upon the manner in which he will be handled.” 

     Dr. Morris Joseph Clurman was born in 1884 in Russia and died of heart failure at his home in Brooklyn at the age of 76 or 77 on October 11, 1961. 

     He emigrated with his family from Russia in 1888 and became a naturalized US Citizen in 1909. He was the eldest son of 4 children. His brother Harold would become one of the most influential theater directors and critics in the United States. 

    Dr. Clurman was married in Manhattan in June of 1914 and the couple had two children: Irma who was born in 1915 and Stanley who was born in 1919. He graduated from college in 1905 and received his medical degree from Cornell University in 1908. 

     He was one of the first physicians to write about the hazards in football. He published a tract in February, 1911 detailing the physical and health related problems that can come from playing football. 

     Here is his game against Rzeschewski and as you can see, he was right on both counts: he should have been awarded the win and Rzeschewski did go on to become one of the world’s greatest masters.

 

ChessBase

Sammy Rzeschewski–Dr. Morris J. Clurman0–1B17Sinul, Bew York City27.11.1919Stockfish/Komodo

B17: Caro-Kann 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.c3 dxe4 4.xe4 f6 More often seen are 4...Bf5 and 5...Nd7 5.g3 The usuak move here is 5,Nxf6 gxf6,the Bronstein–Larsen Variation. Black can also play the Korchnoi Variation 5... exf6 e6 6.f3 d6 7.d3 bd7 8.c3 This is a rather slow continuation that does not challenge white in the center. 6...c5 is more direct. b6 9.e4 Better is 9.e2 0-0 9...b7 10.f5 spells difficulties for black. 10.e5 xe5 11.dxe5 xe5 12.xh7+ xh7 13.xe5 9.e2 0-0 10.e4 is a better alternative. e7 11.f4 c5 White is very slightly better. 9...xe4 10.xe4 b7 11.0-0 c7 12.h3 f6 12...0-0 13.g5 f5 14.c2 c5 is equal. Exner,G-Przepiorka,D Gyor 1924 13.d3 0-0-0 This is risky. Castling K-side was considerably safer. 14.e2 b8 15.e3 Passive play. Going after black's K with 15.a4 challenges black's decision to castle Q-side. 15.a4 a5 16.b4 axb4 17.cxb4 xb4 18.g5 c5 18...h6 19.h4 Threatening to pin the Q and K; black is in a difficult situation. 19.dxc5 bxc5 20.fc1 White has a dangerous initiative. 15...h6 16.ad1 The best move is still 16.a4! g5 A terrific move that launches a very dangerous attack. 17.c1 Rezeschewski is blithely unaware of the impending danger. 17.a6 results in equal chances after xa6 18.xa6 g4 19.hxg4 xg4 20.c4 h2+ 21.h1 hg8 22.a4 xe3 23.fxe3 g3 24.a5 17...g4 18.e5 18.hxg4 was somewhat better. For example... xg4 19.fe1 dg8 with the initiative. 18...gxh3 From this point on white is fighting a lost cause. 19.g3 dg8 Another good option was 19...c5 opening up the Bs diagonal. 20.f4? 20.f3 was a better alternative. xe5 21.dxe5 h2+ 22.xh2 g4+ 23.g1 xe5 Black is better, but there is no forced win. 20...h5 White is pretty much helpless against what is coming. 21.c4 21.xf7 fails to xf4 22.xh8 xh8 23.e4 g7 White's position is hopeless. Just a single example... 24.f3 h4 25.g4 c7 26.h1 h7 27.e4 g5 28.f3 xe4 29.fxe4 c5 and there is no way to stop black's ons;aught. 21.h2 21...c5 Adding the B to the K-side action. Black is clearly winning. 22.f3 h4 23.g4 h5 Here, due to the lateness of the hour, the game was stopped and Frank Marrshall unfairly adjudicated it as a draw. 23...h5 24.d7+ There is nothing better than giving up a piece with this move. 24.dxc5 xf4 25.c2 xc5+ 26.h1 xe5 iseasily winning for black. 24.c6+ xc6 25.xd6+ xd6 26.e5 xe5 27.dxe5 g3 24.h2 xf4 25.xf4 cxd4 26.de1 f5 27.h2 e4 There is noi satisfactory answer to ...Bxe5 24...xd7 25.xd6+ xd6 26.e5 xe5 27.dxe5 g3 28.f2 g5 29.e1 d8 30.f1 xf1 31.exf1 xe5 and wins. 0–1

Download PGN

Camerena Lands a Sockdolager

 

     Not many people are aware of Mexico’s role in WW2, but the Mexicans were on of two Latin American nations to send combat troops to serve in the Second World War; the other was Brazil. 

     Beginning in December of 1944 and running through February of 1945 the Mexican Championship was held in Mexico City. It attracted an entry list of 22 players. They were divided into two groups in the preliminaries with four from each group qualifying for the finals. The eight finalists then played a double round robin for the title. 

     After a tough battle Army Major Jose Joaquin Araiza emerged victorious. According to a Chess Review article he was born March 23, 1897, but Wikipedia gives his birth year as 1900. He passed away September 27, 1971. 

     Araiza's most dangerous contender was the second place finisher Joaquin Camarena who was one of the best local players. 

     At that time he had never competed outside of Mexico. He did, however, play in the 1945 Pan Am Championship that was played in Hollywood in 1945. He was not at all successful, finishing 13th (lat) with ten losses and only two draws (with Herman Steiner and Jose Broderman. Chess metrics estimates his highest ever rating to have been 2378 on the July 1947 rating list. His best performance was at the 1964 Olympiad in Tel Aviv where his performance rating was 2428.

Joaquin Camarena

     Camarena learned to play from his father as did all eight of his brothers and sisters. Since 1937, he had been finishing at or near the top of local events. Physically he was described as being built like a heavyweight wrestler, but having a “light and sensitive touch at the chessboard.” It was claimed that Camarena never read a chess book. Unfortunately, I could fimd no other information on Camerena. 

     In the following game Camarena’s Rook sacrifice at the end is the game’s redeeming quality. 

ChessBase

Joaquin Camarena–Enrico Kupfer1–0A071944/45 Mexican Chp, Mexico City1945Stockfish/Komodo

A07: Reti Opening 1.f3 d5 2.g3 f6 3.g2 c6 4.0-0 bd7 5.d3 e5 White's setup is an odd one. Here, with either 6.e4 or 6.Nbd2 the opening would be a K-Indian Attack, but his next move is a rare sideline. 6.c3 Black has a wide choice here. 6...d4, 6...Bb4, 6...h6 and 6...Be7 have all been played. d6 7.g5 7.e4 is more typical in these types of positions. d4 8.e2 c5 9.h4 0-0 10.f4 with a completely equal position. 7...h6 8.xf6 xf6 White did not have much choice in making the exchange because otherwise he would simply have lost time with the retreat 8.Bd2. Here black's position is slightly preferable. 9.d2 It would have been preferable to play 9.e4. e6 9...d4 10.ce4 xe4 11.xe4 e7 White's N looks oddly placed, but white can get some play in the center with Re1 and e3, or he can reposition the N by playing Nd2-c4. In either case black still has a slight advantage. 10.e4 b4 Black cannot afford this loss of time. Either 10...d4 or 10...O-O were preferable. 11.exd5 xd5 Better was 11...cxd5 with good control of the center. 12.xd5 cxd5 13.c3 d6 14.c4 As a result of his 11th move black has lost time and this thrust at his center has allowed white to equalize. e7 Another loss of time that black cannot afford. 14...d4 15.xb7 is obviously not good for black. 14...dxc4 was his best chance. After 15.xb7 b8 16.c6+ d7 17.xd7+ xd7 18.xc4 White is better. 15.cxd5 xd5 16.a4+ A nasty surprise for black who is now forced to move his K. f8 16...c6 17.xc6+ bxc6 18.xc6+ is even worse for black...he has lost a P. 17.f3 Attacking the B and b-Pawn with 17.Qb5 would have put more pressure on black. xf3 This is not bad by any means, but it allows white's B consideranle scope so opposing it with 17...Bc6 would have been slightly better. 18.xf3 b6 As a result of white's small slip on move 17 black has succeeded in getting sufficient counterplay. 19.ac1 Baiting a trap. g6 Which black avoids and with this move he makes a place for his K and also activate his R. 19...xb2 20.b1 c3 21.xb7 and white also picks up the a-Pawn. d8 21...xd3 would be fatal. 22.b3 attacks the Q and Q and so wins material. 22.xa7 White's control of the 7th rank spells the end for black. xd3 23.h5 23.xe7 xf3 is less strong for white. 23...f5 24.e2 e6 25.c1 Black is in serious trouble after white plays Rcc7 20.c3 xb2 Black has captured this P under more favorable circumstances, but he probably should have played 20...Rd8 with some counterplay. 20...g7 21.b3 e6 22.xb7 favors white. 21.fc1 White fails to take advantage of black's last move. 21.b3 c2 22.e4 xa2 leads to a loss after 23.xe5 h7 23...g8 24.d5 also leaves black in a losing situation. 24.xb7 21...d8 Somewhat better was 21...Kg7. Even here though white cannot claim any significant advantage. 22.1c2 b1+ 23.g2 b6 It's easy to understand black's wish to get the b-Pawn out of harm's way, but this move immediately results in a completely lost position. 23...h5 This surprising move which ignores white's threats was an absolute must. 24.c7 h4 Do you see black's threat? It's 25...h3#, so... 25.h3 hxg3 26.fxg3 b6 27.xb7 This looks crushing, but that's not at all the case! e6 Threatening ...Qxh3+ 28.g4 f5 29.f3 xd3 30.b8+ 30.xa7 turns out poorly after e4 31.e2 f4 32.xd3 xh3+ 33.f2 xg3+ 34.e2 h2+ mates in 3 30...g7 31.xh8 xh8 32.e8+ h7 33.c7 xa2+ 34.g1 b1+ 35.h2 d2+ 36.g2 and black draws with xg2+ 37.xg2 b2+ 24.c7 Effectively ending the game. d6 25.xa7 h7 26.h4 xc2 This allows a mate in 7, but his position was hopeless in any case. 26...e8 27.f6 xc2 28.xd6+ g8 29.d5 f8 30.xf7+ hxf7 31.xg6+ h8 32.xh6+ g8 33.g6+ h8 34.xf7 27.xd8+ g7 28.xf7+ Of course, 28,Qxd6 wins, but to borrow a phrase from I.A. Horowitz, withg this move Canarena "lands a sockdolager!" xf7 29.d5+ g7 30.g8+ f6 31.e6+ Black resigned; it's mate in 2 1–0

Download PGN

Gregory Koshnitsky

     Gregory Kashnitsky (October 6, 1907 – September 17, 1999, 91 years old) was a Russian-born Australian player. He was Australian champion in 932-33 and 1938-39 (with Lajos Steiner). He was awarded the International Correspondence Master title in 1972. He was President of the Correspondence Chess League of Australia from 1937 to 1953. 

     In 1934, Koshnitsky set a new Australian record for simultaneous play when he played 143 opponents, scoring +104 -6 =33. He was also an expert blindfold player and he played up to 10 games at a time. 

     Koshnitsky won three Queensland titles, seven New South Wales titles, and one South Australian title. He captained the Australian Olympic Chess teams in 1964, 1968, 1972 and 1980. In 1966, he won the South Australia championship and his wife, Evelyn, won the women's title. He was the author of the book Chess Made Easy (with Cecil Purdy). 

     His daughter-in-law was WIM Ngan Phan-Koshnitsky (born in Vietnam in 1974) who in the early 1990s was married to Koshnitsky’s son, Peter. She remarried in 2007 and is now Ngan Nadalin. 

     Koshnitsky was a very popular player who made friends wherever he went. He was born in the the Russian Empire in what is now Moldova. 

     In 1925, at the age of 18, he was champion of Shanghai. In simultaneous play he defeated the Hungarian master Borislav Kostic 4-0. 

     In 1926, he moved to Australia and settled in Brisbane. In 1929 he moved to Sydney and the following year became joint champion of New South Wales with M. E. Goldstein in an historic match that was a precursor to the 1984/85 Karpov-Kasparov match that was stopped after 48 games and 40 draws. The Koshnitsky-Goldstein match was much worse! It was terminated after the players drew 54 successive games. 

     Also, in 1929, he established a chess club in Sydney that became what was probably at that time the best chess club in the in the British Empire. As manager of the club Koshnitsky was such a success that the membership rapidly grew.

     During World War Two, Koshnitsky enlisted and served in the education section to teach chess to the troops. He also gave simuls and lectures nd was promoted to Lieutenant. 

     After the war his first marriage broke up and in 1947 he started a chess academy in Sydney which last until 1960. In 1950 he married Evelyn Esau, a chess player and organizer and together they formed a partnership in world chess which culminated in 1993 with them both being awarded Honorary Membership in FIDE. In 1961 they moved to Adelaide and Koshnitsky became involved with FIDE and served as President of South-East Asia and the Pacific. He and his wife also organized international tournaments in Adelaide. 

     The event in which the following game was played is uncertain, but I think it was played in the 1932 New South Wales Championship which was won by Koshnitsky with a score of +6 -0.

     Aubrey Shoebridge and C.J.S. Purdy tied for second. The remaining places were taken by Spencer Crakanthorp, Alex Bunyan, Ireland, George Hastings and Merkel. 

     Koshnitsky employs the Colle. The opening is somewhat old fashioned, but it’s more dangerous than it looks. Purdy defended well, but then suffered an hallucination...thinking he had a mate, he played a move that lost the advantage, if not the game. Although playing on would likely not have altered the outcome, his resignation does seem a bit premature. 

 

ChessBase

Gregory Koshnitsky–C.J.S. Purdy1–0D04New South Wales Chp, Sydney15.11.1932Stockfish 15.1

Colle System 1.d4 f6 2.f3 d5 3.e3 c5 4.c3 bd7 5.bd2 c7 6.d3 e5 A sharp move that leads to a complicated position. A more solid line is 6...e6 7.e4 White replies in kind, but he actually has a wide choice of playable moves. 7.dxe5 Tame xe5 8.xe5 xe5 9.f3 7.xe5 Another sharp continuation. xe5 8.dxe5 xe5 9.e4 dxe4 10.0-0 d6 11.f4 7...c4 7...dxe4 8.xe4 xe4 9.xe4 f6 10.c2 cxd4 11.0-0 dxc3 12.xe5 d6 13.a4+ f8 14.f4 g4 15.g6+ white is better and went on to win in Colle,E-Stoltz, G Bled 1931 7...cxd4 is the safest continuation. 8.cxd4 dxe4 9.xe4 xe4 10.xe4 f6 with complete equality. Jussupow,A (2570)-Gomez Esteban,J (2498) Leon 2008 8.c2 d6 Purdy correctly tends to getting his pieces developed. Any central exchange will favor white. 9.exd5 0-0 9...exd4 10.xd4 10.e2+ This is not as dangerous as it looks. d8 11.xc4 e8+ 12.f1 10...0-0 11.f1 e8+ 12.e3 f4 13.df5 e5 is nore annoying to white than anything. Overall he is still slightly better. 10.dxe5 xe5 11.h3 b5 11...xf3+ would have served black better because after 12.xf3 e8+ 13.e3 13.f1 The fact that white can't castle and his d-Pawn is weak gives black the advantage. 13...b5 14.0-0 b7 15.d4 a6 16.f5 h2+ 17.h1 xd5 Black is better. 11...xf3+ 12.gxf3 This move is surprising because it wrecks white's K-side, but it's best because it exchanges off black's pieces and so lessens his attacking chances. xd5 13.e4 e6 14.xd6 xd6 The psoition is equal. 15.d4 12.xe5 xe5 13.f3 b7 14.0-0 14.xe5 xe5+ 15.e3 xd5 16.d4 xd4 17.xd4 f4 is good for black. For example... 18.0-0 e2+ 19.h1 xd4 20.cxd4 ad8 with a favorable ending. 14...ad8 15.e2 15.xe5 xd5 16.d2 fd8 17.f3 c6 Black has a formidable looking position, but with accurate defense white should survive. 15...fe8 15...xd5 16.e1 c6 is about the same situation as in the previous note! 16.e3 This allows Purdy to get the advantage. 16.xe5 remains equal. xe5 17.f3 xd5 18.g3 16...xd5 17.ae1 It would have been better to eliminate the N with 17.Nxe5 xe3 18.fxe3 Clearly Koshnitsky's risky play has allowed Purdy to get the upper hand. g3 19.xh7+ This is his best practical chance...and it works. 19.d1 xd1 20.xd1 c5 is favorable to black. 19...xh7 20.g5+ Where should the K retreat to? g6 Not here! 20...h6 loses to 21.xf7+ h7 22.h5+ g8 23.h8# 20...g8 This is th correct retreat. 21.h5 and black saves himself with d5 guarding f7 and leaving white with no followup. 22.h7+ f8 and the "attack: is over. 21.g4 This move was probably overlooked by Purdy. 21.xf7 is playable, but it leads to a difficult ending. c8 21...xe1 22.g4+ h7 23.h5+ g8 24.h8# 22.xd8 xd8 23.d1 g5 24.f3 xe3 21...h2+ 22.h1 White wouldstill have a significant advantage after the correct 22...Bxg2, but Purdy now makes a gross blunder that loses at once. g3 After playing this hasty move black resigned. It threatens mate with 23...Bxg2#, but Purdy immediately realized there is no mate because white has a defense. However, his resignation was a bit premature because he could put up a stout defense with 22...Bxg2 22...g3 23.f5+ h6 24.h7+ xg5 25.f5# 22...xg2+ Offers some faint hope. 23.xg2 g3 24.g1 xg2+ 25.xg2 e5 26.e6+ f6 27.xd8 xd8 28.f2+ e6 In 5 games from this position Stockfish scored 4 wins and a draw, but in OTB play black might do better. 1–0

Download PGN

Dake Mops Up the Floor with Adams

 

     In 1936 a major heatwave struck North America and thousands of people died. The "Dust Bowl" years of 1930-36 brought some of the hottest summers on record to the United States, especially across the Plains, Upper Midwest and Great Lake States. 

     Nationally, around 5,000 deaths were associated with the heat wave. For example, in La Crosse, Wisconsin there were 14 consecutive days (July 5th-18th) where the high temperature was 90 degrees or greater, and 9 days that were at or above 100 degrees. In Decorah, Iowa the temperature hit 111 degrees on July 14, 1936. 

     Also that year the Baseball Hall of Fame was founded in Cooperstown, New York. Ty Cobb got more votes than Babe Ruth in the first inductees. Cobb was a great player, but during his career, he was a hated player who was involved in numerous fights on and off the field and profanity-laced shouting matches. In June 196. he was taken to a hospital after falling into a diabetic coma; he died there on July 17, 1961, at age 74. 

     The year 1936 was significant in US, chess history because the first modern championship was held that year. 

     Organizers planned for preliminary round-robins to select eight qualifiers for the 16-man finals. Seeded into the finals were: Reshevsky, Fine, Dake, Kashdan, Kupchik, Steiner, Horowitz and Kevitz. 

     However, there were so few advance entries for the preliminaries that the organizers had to drop the registration fee from $10 (about $221 today) to $5 and eventually 48 players entered. 

     It was interesting because of two unheralded New Yorkers (George N. Treysman and Albert C. Simonson) and a frequent visitor to the city were in the finals (Arthur Dake). 

     The 55-year old Treysman was well known He was a professional coffeehouse player who earned dimes playing speed chess, often at upto and including Queens (!) at the rundown East Side chess clubs that at the time were located all over Manhattan. 

     The youngest contestant was Albert C. (Buddy) Simonson and his result came as a huge surprise. Even though he had played on the US World Championship Team at Folkestone in 1933, his record was not all that great, but there had been a steady increase in his playing strength since then. He was also recognized as one of th city’s best bridge and backgammon players. 

     The other player to watch was a merchant seaman from Portland, Oregon which is 2,900 miles from New York. Arthur Dake already already had an international reputation as a result of his play in the Olympiad team tournament held the previous year in Warsaw. There he achieved a remarkable score of +13 -0 =5. 

     The tournament started with Kashdan going 4-0 followed by Treysman with 3.5. But then in the 5th round they both lost and Dake assumed the lead and by round 9 he had scored +5 -0 =5.

     For the favorite, Reshevky, the tournament was, to use his words, “something of a nightmare." He started out win and a draw, but the blundered badly against the Sidney Bernstein and was completely outplayed by Al Horowitz in Round 4.

     One of his main rivals was Isaac Kashdan and when they met in round 8 Reshevsky’s opening play lead to Kashdan getting a good advantage, but later he underestimated Reshevsky’s threats and played too passively. As a result, Reshevsky got compensation for the exchange he had lost earlier and ended up catching Kashdan in a cheapo. After that, Reshevsky became invigorated and won nine and drew only once in the next ten games. 

     Another favorite was Reuben Fine, but he was stuck in a quagmire of draws. As for Dake, he suddenly fell apart and only scored two points in his last six games which started with a loss to Reshevsky. 

 

     In all the excitement of major tournament one tends ot concentrate on the play of the leaders, but other players were participating aod they sometimes produced exciting games. One such game was the next to last round game between Dake and the eccentric and erratic Weaver dams. In this game Adams unsuccessfully played the aggressive Falkbeer Counter ambit. 

ChessBase

Arthur Dake–Weaver Adams1–0C31US Championship, New York13.05.1936Stockfish 15.1

Falkbeer Counter Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 An aggressive defense in which black opens up the center in an attempt to exploit white's weakened K-side. In my database 8 our of 10 games are decisive with the results being almost equally distributed between white wins and black wis! 3.exd5 3.fxe5 is a gross blunder. h4+ 4.g3 4.e2 xe4+ 5.f2 c5+ 6.g3 g6+ 7.f4 7.f3 g4# 7...f5+ 8.g3 f2# 4...xe4+ 3...e4 This is the old main line. Nimzovich favored 3...c6 which fares quite well in my database with black winning 2/3s of the games. 3...exf4 is occasionally seen. 4.f3 f6 4...xd5 5.d4 g4 6.xf4 Now black should probably play 6...Nc6 xf3 7.xf3 xf3 8.gxf3 Unclear. 5.c4 c6 6.d4 the chances are equal. 4.d4 f5 4...f6 5.c4 b5 6.cxb5 bd7 7.c3 b6 8.b3 d6 Black is slightly better. Fernandez Rubio,U-Campora,D (2549) Seville 2005 4...xd5 5.c4 b4+ 6.d2 xd2+ 7.xd2 d6 8.c3 f6 9.0-0-0 0-0 equals. Van den Heever,D (2274)-Bhawoodien,S (2135) Cape Town RSA 2014 5.c4 f6 6.c3 a6 7.h3 b5 Aggressive play. If black does not play aggressively white will certainly get the better of it. 8.e3 The immediate 8.Ng5 was also good. bxc4 9.xc4 d6 Black probably should have played 9...h6 here to stop the N from improving its position. Better is 9...h6! 10.g5= e7 11.0-0 0-0 12.e6 A bone in black's throat! e8 12...xe6 13.dxe6 c6 14.d5 White naturally avoids closing the Bs diagonal with 11.d5 xd5 15.xd5 with a fine position. 13.h3 bd7 Adams does not sense the danger or he would have played 13...Kh8 Black should try 13...h8 14.xc7 b6 14...xc7 15.d6+ 15.xe8 xe8 Black plays on out of inertia. It's unlikely that Dake would somehow manage to lose from this position. 16.b3 f6 17.f2 b7 18.h4 f7 19.xf6 xf6 20.a4 a5 21.b5 b7 22.c1 Dake has baited a trap into which Adams falls...not that it matters because he is quite lost xd5 Of course...materially black now has a B vs a R+P 23.xd6 23.c7 really smashes black! xc7 24.xc7 b6 25.d7 c6 26.xd5 23...xd6 24.c5 h8 25.xd5 xd5 26.d2 Seeing no reason to play on, Adams resigned. 1–0

Download PGN

A Young John W. Collins

  

     The 39th ACF Congress, also known as the North American Championship, was held at the Hotel Touraine in Boston, Massachusetts, July 11-23, 1938. 

     A total of 42 players participated with the group being and divided in six seven-player preliminary sections from which the top two finishers qualified for the Championship final, 3rd-4th for the Consolation Masters and 5th-7th for the Class A Final. 

     Although it lacked the imposing entry list of the National Championship this event drew players from a wider geographical distribution plus it had some new talent and demonstrated that locations like New England also had some chess talent.

     In the preliminary phase, two rounds were played most days in the afternoon and evening with adjournments played off in the afternoon before round 5. 

      The qualifiers in order of finish in the finals were Isaac Kashdan and I.A. Horowitz (tied), Boris Blumin and David Polland (tied), nthony Santasiere, Harold Morton, George Shainswit, John W. Collins and Charles Jaffe (tied), Jack Moskowitz, Paul Rosenzweig , Burton Dahlstrom. 

     Today’s game is one by w player described at the time as a promising young player, Jack Collins, although at the age of 25 he could hardly be called a “young player.” 

     John W. Collins (September 23, 1912 – December 2, 2001) was born in Newburgh, New York. His father was a flutist and piccolo player who was frequently in John Philip Sousa's orchestra. Collins was confined to a wheelchair due to a birth injury. 

     Collins eventually formed the Hawthorne chess club in his home which served as an early hangout for Bobby Fischer, the Byrne brothers, Raymond Weinstein and William Lombard, among other young players who came later. Collins did not mentor Fischer and his contemporaries as it is sometimes reported; at the time Fischer and the others were much stronger than Collins.

 

ChessBase

Stanley Epstein–John W Collins0–1A18North American Championship, BostonBoston, MA USA12.07.1938Stockfish 15.1

English 1.c4 f6 2.c3 e6 3.e4 d5 4.exd5 exd5 5.d4 e7 6.g5 c6 7.f3 0-0 8.d3 8.e2 dxc4 9.0-0 e6 10.e5 bd7 11.xc4 b6 12.e5 Harff,M (2299)-Hecht,C (2118) Schwaebisch Gmuend GER 2015 8...bd7 9.0-0 e8 10.c1 dxc4 11.xc4 b6 12.e2 e6 13.c2 bd5 14.xd5 xd5 15.xe7 xe7 16.a3 ad8 16...g4 would leave black better after 17.d1 17.fe1 xf3 18.gxf3 18.xf3 xe1+ 19.xe1 xe1# 17...f4 18.e5 xd1 19.cxd1 f6 20.c4 e2 17.d3 h6 18.fe1 f6 19.e5 f4 20.f5 A slip that should have profited black. 20.ce1 xd3 21.xd3 is completely equal. 20...d5 20...xf5 was correct. The after 21.xf5 d6 22.e5 xe5 23.dxe5 d3 and black stands quite well. 21.ce1 xe5 22.dxe5 e7 23.e4 xe4 White needs to defend precisely. 24.xe4 e6 25.g3 c5 26.g2 b5 27.a4 In retrospect this move leads to the opening of the a-file and ultimately white's undoing. Thta said, if it wasn't the opening of the a-file that cost white the game he most likely would have lost in the ending. a6 28.axb5 axb5 29.f1 b7 30.b3 d5 Collins has slowly improved his position to the point that he has a theoretically winning position. 31.e2 a8 The beginning of a plan of invading along the a-file and ultimately the first rank. 32.e3 a1 Strongly threatening ...Qa8. 33.d3 33.c3 offered a better defense...black must be precise. a8 34.d3 h1 35.c2 a1 36.d2 Taking the P is immediately fatal. 36.xb5 f1+ wins the Q 36...c4 37.bxc4 bxc4 38.d7 b1 39.c8+ h7 40.c6 c1 41.d5 c3 41...g6 42.d1 c3 43.e1 xd1 44.xd1 e4+ 45.f1 d4 46.g1 c2 47.xc2 e2+ 48.f1 c3 49.f3 49.c1 h1# 49...c4+ 50.e1 xd1 42.d3+ draws 33...a8 34.xb5 a2+ 35.d3 b1+ White now overlooks a mate in 1, but even after 36.Kc3 or 36.Kc4 to slip out of the mating net his position would be lost. 36.e2 f1+ 37.d2 xb5 White resigned. Black had a mate in 3, but there was no practical reason to look for a mate when the Q was there for the taking and white's position is totally hopeless! A strong showing by Collins. 37...a2+ 38.c3 c1+ 39.d3 c2# 0–1

Download PGN

1923 Kansas State Championship

  

     Popular songs in 1923 included Yes! We Have No Bananas by many artists and I’ll Build A Stairway to Paradise by Paul Whiteman and the big movie was Cecil B. DeMille’s first version of The Ten Commandments. The most famous person in the United States was probably baseball great Babe Ruth and Yankee Stadium opened in April on The Bronx. Yankee Stadium, also known as The House That Ruth Built.

     The governor of Oklahoma signed a bill, the first anti-Darwinian legislation passed in the country, that outlawed teaching the theory of evolution in public schools. 

     On June 4th, 35 year old Irish horse trainer and jockey Frank Hayes suffered a fatal heart attack died while riding the horse Sweet Kiss to victory at Belmont Park in New York. His death was not discovered until the horse’s owner and race officials came to congratulate him shortly after the race. It was suggested that the fatal heart attack may have been brought on by hsi extreme efforts to meet the weight requirements. The horse never raced again. 

     In the United States life expectancy for males was a scant 56.1 years and for females it was 58.5. The famous landmark HOLLYWOOD sign (origianlly it was Hollywood Land) was constructed and it was designed to stand for only 18 months. 

     Also in 1923, Otto Schnering, founder of Curtiss Candy Company, had Baby Ruth candy bars dropped from airplanes in cities around the country, with tiny parachutes attached to each candy bar. 

     The Baby Ruth candy bar was NOT named after Babe Ruth. It was named after President Grover Cleveland’s daughter, Ruth Cleveland. The company claimed it was named after herto capitalize on the popularity of the president’s daughter. However, some people believe it WAS named after Babe Ruth. 

     In other news, the first known dance marathon winner was dance instructor Alma Cummings who danced for 27 hours without stopping. That was on March 31est. After she was finished he put her feet into a bowl of cold water. Then she held up her dancing shoes for the photographers and There were holes in both soles. 

     She accomplished he feat of dancing the waltz at a Manhattan ballroom, wearing out not just her shoes, but six male partners in the process. As it turned out, she was one of those responsible for a phenomenon that swept the United States over the next two decades...dance marathons. 

     On December 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30, 1923 the Kansas State Chess Association meeting and state championship tournament was held in Wichita 

     First on the program was a simultaneous display against fourteen opponents by W. W. Livingston of Fort Scott who had held the championship of the State for the past three years. The following morning George S. Barnes of Wichita was elected President and problems were then presented for the consideration of the members. 

     The championship tournament was won by George S. Barnes after close finish, with former champion Livingston a close second. Barnes was a 10-time winner of the Minnesota State Championship in the 1930s and 1940s. 

     He was born in Duluth, Minnesota on August 4, 1902. Although he would live most of his adult life in Minnesota, he grew up in Chicago and it was there he learned to play chess from an uncle. 

     Barnes attended one of the elite high schools in Chicago and his team won the city championship in 1920 and one of his games was published. 

     After graduating from high school in 1921, he enrolled in the University of Michigan and during his time there he was the college’s best player. In 1924 when Emanuel Lasker visited Ann Arbor, Barnes was his chauffeur during and in Detroit he defeated Lasker in a simul. 

     After college Barnes worked in advertising for General Mills in Minneapolis, and over the next few decades advanced to increasingly higher-level positions. 

     Barnes also become a major patron of Minnesota chess for over 40 years. At the same time he was the dominant Minnesota player from the early 1930s until the early 1950s, winning eleven state championships. His record stood until Curt Brasket (1932-2014) came along and won the title 16 titles. 

     In the 1930s Barnes had a up a +0 -1 =3 score against Reshevskly in the Western Chess Association Championships and in 1938 he held Kashdan to a draw in the American Federation Championship. He played a lot of games for his club and beginning in the 1930s in the Minneapolis matches against Canada’s Abe Yanofsky. Barnes retired to Arkansas and continued to play actively until his death in 1977. 

     Here is one of his games from that 1923 Kansas Championship. 

 

 

ChessBase

E.E. Felt–George S. Barnes0–1C58Kansas State Championship, Witchita12.1922Stockfish 15.1

Two Knights Defense 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.c4 f6 This is more aggressive than the 3...Bc5 (the Giuoco Piano). It allows an attack on f7 with 4.Ng5 after which the game becomes tactical. 4.g5 Tarrasch called this a duffer's move and Soviet opening theorist Vasily Panov called it primitive. Both were wrong. The theory of the Two Knights and this variation in particular, was explored extensively in the famous game between Yakov Estrin and Hans Berliner in the 1965 World Correspondence Championship. If white wants to play it safe he can choose the solid 4.d3 d5 This is the only feasible move. White has little option but to play 5.exd5, since both the B and e-pawn are attacked. 5.exd5 a5 this is almost always played, nut it's not the only option. 5...b5 This is the Ulvestad Variation names after American master Olav Ulvestad who introduced it back in 1941, It was played by Berliner in his famous game. 6.f1 d4 7.c3 xd5 8.e4 h4 9.g3 g4 Yakov Estrin-Hans Berliner ICCF 1965 5...xd5 has been known to be extremely risky Doing back to mid-1940s US Master Albert Pinkus unsuccessfully tried to revive the move. 6.xf7 It would be a bit safe to play 6.d4, but also less fun. xf7 7.f3+ e8 is natural, but it loses to 8.xd5 f6 9.xc6+ bxc6 10.h5+ with what should amount to a winning position. 5...d4 6.b5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.e2 d6 8...h6 is known to be better. 9.f3 e4 10.e5 c7 This is better than the other main option 10...Bd6. After 11. d4 the chances are eual. 9.d3 0-0 10.e4 Excellent. We know this is good because it's Stockfish's first choice! 10.c3 d5 11.ce4 e7 12.f3 f5 13.g3 f4 KrivokapicnM (2418)-Marinc,D (2041) Sunny Beach BUL 2011. Black did not have evough compensation for his compromised P-formation and out of play N on a5. 10...xe4 11.dxe4 b7 12.0-0 White has a very solid, if somewhat passive position. c5 13.f3 e7 14.c3 d8 15.c2 e6 16.b4 g5 Risky! A move like 16...a5 would have left black slightly better. 17.h3 White would do better to work on his development with 18.Nd2. Instead he has a plan to set up a hedgehog-like formation in front of his K, but it does not turn out welL! h8 18.g4 Note that white has also loaded up the white squares with Ps to the detriment of his B. f4 19.h2 e6 20.g1 Apparently white anticipated the opening up of the K-side and hoped to use his R on the g-file. h5 21.xf4 The N was just too well placed to leave there, bit eliminating it has cost white his good B, but it had little scope anyway. gxf4 22.d2 hxg4 23.fxg4 White should play 23.hxg4 g7 24.g2 and there is no hope for any action on the h-file by either side. Black would now have to seek his fortune on the Q-side with 24...a5 23...h6 24.f3 As Najdorf once put it, the B is nothing more than a tall Pawn! g7 25.c4 h8 It's clear that black has some serious threats on the K-side and all white can do is give thought to defense. 26.g2 c7 Opening the path for the R on the d-file. 27.h1 e6 28.e2 g5 The threat is ... Rxh3+ 29.g1 29.ad1 xh3+ 30.g1 30.xh3 h8 31.d3 xh3+ 32.xh3 Engines say that black has a decisive advantage, but would that be the case in a non-GM game?! In any case, white clearly did not care to find out. 30...g3 29...ad8 30.h2 xc4 31.xc4 b6+ 32.h1 e3 33.f3 d6 34.e1 hd8 This move is quite logical, but it gives white an opportunity to equalize. 34...b6 35.f1 h4 36.e2 dh6 37.g2 d6 keeps up the pressure. 35.xe3 Panic! 35.h4 keeps white in the game after g6 36.g5 d1 37.f1 and it;s not clear how or even if black can breakthrough. 35...fxe3 And not 35...d1+ 36.g2 fxe3 37.xf7+ h8 38.e2 with equal chances. 36.xf7+ h8 White must now prevent ...Rf6. 37.e2 Which he does not. d1+? 37...f6 is more efficient. 38.h5+ xh5 39.gxh5 d1+ 40.h2 d2 41.g3 xe2 42.xe2 f2 Black is better. 38.g2 f4 39.h5+ This loses quickly, but the ending after exchanging Qs is hopeless. 39.xf4 exf4 40.e5 g7 41.f3 f1+ 42.e4 d2 43.h4 xe2 44.xe2 f2 45.c4 e2 46.xe2 xe2+ 47.xf4 xa2 48.h5 c2 49.g5 xc3 the R will prevail. 39...g7 40.f5 8d2 White's K is in grave danger and the exchange of Qs is no help. 41.g5 41.xf4 exf4 42.e5 e1 43.f3 f1+ 44.e4 xe2 45.xe2 f2 etc. 41...g1+ Exchanging Qs wins, too, but it makes things a bit more difficult. 42.xg1 g3+ 43.h1 d1+ 44.e1 xe1+ 45.g2 d2+ 46.f3 f2+ 47.g4 xf5 47...d1+ 48.h4 xf5 49.exf5 e2 50.xe2 e1+ 51.g4 xe2+ 52.g3 e3+ 53.g2 e4 54.h4 f3+ 55.h2 xf5 56.g2 e3 57.h5 e2 58.h6+ g6 59.h7 e1 60.h8+ h5 61.h2 ff2+ 62.h3 xc3# 48.exf5 xc3 48...d1+ 49.h4 e2 50.xe2 e1+ 51.g4 xe2+ 52.g3 e4 53.f4 f3+ 54.e5 e3 55.f6+ g6 56.h4 d5+ 57.f4 e2 58.g4 f5+ 59.g3 e1+ 60.h2 ef2+ 61.h1 h3# 49.e6 e2 50.h4 e1 51.f6+ f8 52.g6 cg3+ White gets mated next move an so he resigned. Looking back, it seems as though Felt never had a chance! 0–1

Download PGN