Walker Walks All Over Fox

 

     Though never one of the country’s greatest chess centers, the Washington D.C. area has nevertheless been home to many notable chess events and players dating back to 1850, when Charles Stanley and John Turner met in a match to unofficially decide who was the best player in the country. 

     Charles Stanley (1819-1901, 82 years old) was born in Middlesex, England. In 1841, he played Howard Staunton, receiving odds of Pawn and two moves. Of the known games Stanley scored +3 -2 =1. 

     Stanley emigrated to New York in 1842 and eventually worked at the British Consulate. He was regarded as the best player in New York from 1842 to 1857, defeating several of the country’s top players in matches. I the 1850 match in Washington, DC. he defeated John Turner of Louisville, Kentucky by a score of 11-5. In 1860 he returned to England. By 1868, he was back in the US and being an alcoholic he spent his last 20 years institutionalized on Ward's Island and in the Bronx. 

     Prominent Washington, DC area players include Theophilus Thompson (1855-1940?), the first African-American tournament player and a noted chess problemist who spent his life near the greater Washington area in Frederick, Maryland. 

    Another Washington player, Oscar Shapiro (1909-2002, 92 years old), was the oldest American to earn the Master for the first time at the age of 74. He was the 1939 champion of Massachusetts the Washington, DC Champion in 1946, 1948 and 1994. 

     Veteran Washington D.C. player Frank B. Walker (1857-1935) tipped his King to the Grim Reaper on Saturday evening, November 30. 1935. 

     Born in New York in 1857 he moved with his parents to Cleveland, Ohio, at an early age. In Cleveland he learned the the trade of printing. 

     It was in Cleveland that he won his early chess spurs when at the age of 14 he defeated Scottish-born U.S. Champion George H. Mackenzie in a simultaneous exhibition. About ten years later, in about1882, he moved to Washington, D. C., entering the employ of the U. S. Government and soon established himself as one of the city’s premier players. 

     Walker won the District of Columbia Championship from 1896 to 1900 and repeated a quarter of a century later for a similar stretch of years from 1927 to 1931. He was prominent in the affairs of the Capital City Chess Club of which he was President in 1921 and 1922, edited the column “In Chess Circles” for the Washington Star. He invariably played on the top boards in team matches against Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and other cities.     

     Active to the last, he competed in the International Cable Matches in 1928 and 1930 and had just finished competing in the 1935 Capital City C. C. Championship. 

     The post of July 12eth featured a stunning win by Albert Fox...today’s game feature a stunning defeat at the hands of Walker. 

[Event "Casual game"] [Site "Washington, D.C. USA"] [Date "1901.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Frank Walker"] [Black "Albert W. Fox"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B35"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "1901.??.??"] [Source "Brooklyn Daily E"] {B35: Sicilian: Accelerated Dragon} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 { The Accelerated Dragon features an early ...g6. There is an important difference between this and the Dragon proper in that in the accelerated version black avoids playing ...d7–d6 so that, if possible, ...d7–d5 can be played later in one move. The Acclerated version is also avoids the Yugoslav Attack, but white can, if he wishes, play the Maroczy Bind (5.c4). Although it's not the case in this game, the Accelerated Dragon generally features a more positional type of game than in many other lines of the Sicilian.} 5. Be3 Bg7 6. Bc4 Nf6 7. Nc3 d6 8. O-O O-O 9. f4 Bd7 10. h3 Rc8 11. Bb3 Qa5 12. Qf3 Ne8 {Unusual, but not bad. Black has also tried 12...Qh5, 12... Rfd8, 12...e6 and 12...Nxd4} 13. Rad1 $14 a6 (13... Nc7 {did not work out so well for black in Sosiuk,E-Chtcherbine,A (2198) Villa Ballester 2004} 14. Nxc6 bxc6 15. f5 {with a strong attack.}) {Intending a P-storm, but 14.Nd5 poses more problems for black.} 14. g4 (14. Nd5 {The threat is 15.Nxc6 and 16.Nxe7+ forking tje K and R.} Qd8 15. f5 {and white is better/}) 14... e6 {A safer course would have been a double exchange on d4 starting with 14...Bxd4 thereby reducing the nymber of white attacking units.} 15. Qg3 {The immediate 15.f5 was stronger.} Kh8 {A pointless and time wasting move after which black gets into trouble.} (15... Nxd4 {and Black has nothing to worry.} 16. Bxd4 Bxd4+ 17. Rxd4 {and black is equal after either 17...Qc5 or 17...Bc6}) 16. Nf3 {[%cal Oe4e5] A very fine move! The N will eventually find a much better use than occupying d4.} Qd8 (16... Bxc3 {woud be unwise.} 17. bxc3 Qxc3 18. Qf2 Qg7 19. Qh4 f6 {If 19..f5 20. Ng5} 20. e5 d5 21. c4 d4 {Black does not want to open up the position.} 22. Bc1 Kg8 23. Ba3 Rf7 24. exf6 Qxf6 25. Ng5 {with a strong attack.}) 17. f5 gxf5 {Opening up the position is the wrong approach. 17...Ne5 was his best option.} 18. exf5 Na5 {The desire to eliminate white's well placed B is understandable, but after this move white gets a crushing attack. Even after the slightly better 18...Ne5 white would still have a winnign attack.} 19. fxe6 {Destroying blavk's K-side.} fxe6 20. Ng5 {The gama is all but over and Walker finishes it up with precision.} Qe7 21. Rxf8+ Bxf8 22. Rf1 {[%mdl 32]} Nf6 23. Qh4 h6 {White now has a flashy finish.} 24. Nf7+ {[%mdl 512] Pretty!} Qxf7 25. Rxf6 Qh7 26. Bxe6 Bxe6 27. Rxe6 Nc4 28. Bxh6 Ne5 { Hoping for ...Nf3+} 29. Qf6+ Kg8 30. Nd5 {[%mdl 32]} Qxh6 {One last hope... that white trades Qs} 31. Ne7+ {Far and away the best move.} (31. Qxh6 Bxh6 32. Rxe5 (32. Rxh6 Rxc2 {and black has equalized.}) 32... Rxc2 (32... dxe5 33. Ne7+ {is winning for white}) 33. Re8+ Bf8 34. Nf4 Rxb2 35. g5 Kf7 36. Rc8 Rxa2 37. Rc7+ Be7 38. g6+ Kf6 39. g7 Kxg7 40. Rxe7+ Kh6 41. Rxb7 Kg5 42. Ng2 Kf5 43. h4 {Stockfish says white has a decisive advantage, but could Walker play like Stockfish in this position?}) 31... Kh7 32. Qxh6+ Bxh6 33. Nxc8 {Black resigned. Walker inflicted a crushing defeat on his opponent.} 1-0