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.

 

[Event "North American Championship, Boston"] [Site "Boston, MA USA"] [Date "1938.07.12"] [Round "?"] [White "Stanley Epstein"] [Black "John W Collins"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A18"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15.1"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "1938.??.??"] {English} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 d5 4. exd5 exd5 5. d4 Be7 6. Bg5 c6 7. Nf3 O-O 8. Bd3 (8. Be2 dxc4 9. O-O Be6 10. Ne5 Nbd7 11. Nxc4 Nb6 12. Ne5 {Harff,M (2299)-Hecht,C (2118) Schwaebisch Gmuend GER 2015}) 8... Nbd7 9. O-O Re8 10. Rc1 dxc4 11. Bxc4 Nb6 12. Be2 Be6 13. Qc2 Nbd5 14. Nxd5 Nxd5 15. Bxe7 Qxe7 16. a3 Rad8 (16... Bg4 {would leave black better after} 17. Bd1 (17. Rfe1 Bxf3 18. gxf3 (18. Bxf3 Qxe1+ 19. Rxe1 Rxe1#)) 17... Nf4 18. Ne5 Bxd1 19. Rcxd1 f6 20. Nc4 Qe2) 17. Bd3 h6 18. Rfe1 Qf6 19. Re5 Nf4 20. Bf5 {A slip that should have profited black.} (20. Rce1 Nxd3 21. Qxd3 {is completely equal.}) 20... Bd5 ( 20... Bxf5 $17 {was correct. The after} 21. Rxf5 Qd6 22. Re5 Rxe5 23. dxe5 Qd3 {and black stands quite well.}) 21. Rce1 Rxe5 22. dxe5 Qe7 23. Be4 Bxe4 { [%mdl 128] White needs to defend precisely.} 24. Rxe4 Ne6 25. g3 c5 26. Kg2 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. Kf1 Qb7 30. b3 Qd5 {Collins has slowly improved his position to the point that he has a theoretically winning position.} 31. Ke2 Ra8 {The beginning of a plan of invading along the a-file and ultimately the first rank. } 32. Re3 Ra1 {Strongly threatening ...Qa8.} 33. Qd3 (33. Rc3 {offered a better defense...black must be precise.} Qa8 34. Qd3 Rh1 35. Rc2 Qa1 36. Rd2 { Taking the P is immediately fatal.} (36. Qxb5 Qf1+ {wins the Q}) 36... c4 37. bxc4 bxc4 38. Qd7 Qb1 39. Qc8+ Kh7 40. Qc6 Rc1 41. Qd5 c3 (41... g6 42. Rd1 c3 43. Ne1 Rxd1 44. Qxd1 Qe4+ 45. Kf1 Nd4 46. Kg1 c2 47. Nxc2 Ne2+ 48. Kf1 Nc3 49. f3 (49. Qc1 Qh1#) 49... Qc4+ 50. Ke1 Nxd1) 42. Qd3+ {draws}) 33... Qa8 34. Qxb5 Qa2+ 35. Kd3 Qb1+ {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. Ke2 Qf1+ 37. Kd2 Qxb5 {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... Ra2+ 38. Kc3 Qc1+ 39. Kd3 Qc2#) 0-1