A Win by Carroll Capps

     The big news in 1951 was Mikhail Botvinnik's draw with David Bronstein in Moscow to retain his world championship. 

     On the US chess scene, Milton Hanauer won the Marshall Chess Club championship, Arnold Denker won the Manhattan Chess Club championship, Samuel Reshevsky won the Wertheim Memorial, Larry Evans won the US Championship and US Open. Mary Bain won the US Women's Championship. 

     The top 10 US players were Samuel Reshevsky, Arthur Dake, Arnold Denker, Larry Evans, Reuben Fine, I.A. Horowitz, Max Pavey, Arthur Bisguer, Donald Byrne and Robert Byrne. 

     California player Carroll Capps (November 27, 1917 – January 15, 1971) was a science fiction author who wrote under the pseudonym of C. C. MacApp. He was also a USCF Expert (Elo 2000-2199) and a long time benefactor of San Francisco chess. 

     Capps was raised in Oakland, California. He was 16 years old when he started playing chess while in high school. Before World War II chess in Northern California had no weekend tournaments, there were no ratings and very few opening books. 

     Most chess was played at local clubs where competition was friendly. There were inter-club round robins, league matches between clubs and an occasional simultaneous by a visiting master. 

     After graduating from high school Capps attended UC Berkeley and earned a degree in chemistry. While at Berkeley he joined Oakland's Castle Chess Club and began to play in the Northern California Chess League. His first mention in California chess was in 1933 when he played on board 18 for his college team in a club match. While there he once defeated Arthur Dake in a simul. 

     Among the hundreds of local events played around the country in 1951 was the 1st Pacific Invitational held in San Francisco. 

  

     

     The USCF was critical of organizer and director George Koltanowski because of the “incredibly poor publicity” he gave the event except aboard; the USCF found out about the event through the pages of the British Chess Magazine. 

     In the tournament, Capps tied for 4th-5th with Henry Gross, but he defeated Vladimir Pafnutieff, a strong California player known for his sharp attacking play and his good eye for a combination that gained him the scalps of a number of GM’s. He authored one book, How to Create Combinations, published in the 1990’s. His mother was said to be a concert pianist, but I could find nothing on her. Pafnutieff himself was supposedly a gifted singer. Unfortunately, there seems to be little information on him. 

     At the time of this tournament both players were rated as Experts, Capps at 2160) and Pafnutieff at 2079. 

[Event "Pacific Invitational, San Francisco"] [Site "?"] [Date "1951.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Carroll Capps"] [Black "Vladimir Pafnutieff"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C08"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "1951.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.08.01"] {C08: French Defense, Tarrasch Variation} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 {The Tarrasch Variation became popular during the 1970s and early 1980s when Anatoly Karpov used it. It's not as aggressive as 3.Nc3 but is is a safe alternative. The Tarrasch differs from 3.Nc3 in that it does not block the c-Pawn so at some point white can play c3 to support the d-Pawn. It also avoids the Winawer (...Bb4). On the other hand, 3.Nd2 develops the knight to a less active square which means that white will have to spend an extra tempo moving the N so he can develop the B.} c5 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. Bb5+ {A rare sideline. White usually plays 5.exd5 or 5.e5} Nc6 6. exd5 exd5 7. O-O Bd6 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. Nb3 Bb6 {More solid is 9.Be7} (9... Qb6 {was played in Alekhine,A-Cortlever,N Munich 1941m but it is not so good for black after} 10. Qe2+ Ne4 11. c4 Be6 12. cxd5 Bxd5 13. Bd3 f5 14. Ng5 {White stands well.}) 10. Re1+ Be6 11. Nfd4 (11. Bg5 O-O 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. Ne5 Qc7 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. Nf3 {is equal and Sek,K (2469)-Golubov,S (2478) St Petersburg RUS 2019 agreed to a draw in a few more moved.}) 11... O-O 12. Bg5 (12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Bxc6 {is disastrous for white.} Ng4 14. Bxa8 Qh4 {and black is winning. One example...} 15. Be3 Qxh2+ 16. Kf1 d4 17. Nxd4 Bc4+ {and white has to surrender the Q to put off being mated.}) 12... h6 13. Bh4 {[%mdl 32]} g5 {A typical attacking move by Pafnutieff.} 14. Bg3 Bg4 (14... Nxd4 {is an interesting try.} 15. Nxd4 Ne4 16. c3 Qf6 17. Qh5 Bxd4 18. cxd4 Rac8 {with equal chances.}) 15. f3 {A very strong defensive move. } Bh5 16. Bf2 Ne4 17. Be3 Nd6 {A mistake that quickly lands black in serious trouble.} (17... Nxd4 {This assures black of equality.} 18. Nxd4 Nd6 19. a4 Bg6 20. Bd3 Bxd3 21. Qxd3 Re8 {equals}) 18. Bxc6 bxc6 (18... Bxd4 19. Nxd4 bxc6 20. Nxc6 Qd7 21. Nb4 {followed by Nxd4 and white is winning.}) 19. Nxc6 {[%mdl 32] This N is going to do a lot of damage which is why it should have been taken on move 17.} Bxe3+ (19... Nf5 {was called for.} 20. Nxd8 Nxe3 21. Rxe3 Bxe3+ 22. Kf1 Raxd8) 20. Rxe3 Qb6 (20... Qf6 {was no salvation either.} 21. Ne7+ Kh7 22. Nxd5) 21. Ne7+ Kh7 22. Nxd5 {White has a won ending.} Qc6 23. Rc3 Qa6 24. Nc5 Qb5 25. Nf6+ {Black resigned. It's surprising how quickly his game collapsed after 17...Nd6} (25. Nf6+ Kh8 26. Qxd6 Qxb2 27. Nxh5 Qxa1+ 28. Kf2 Qxc3 29. Qxh6+ Kg8 30. Nf6+ Qxf6 31. Qxf6 Rfd8 32. Qxg5+ Kf8 33. Ne4 {Black's position is hopeless.}) 1-0