Tuesday, October 3, 2023

For Want of a Draw the Title Was Lost

 
     The Toronto City Championship of 1935 was won by John H. Belson (February 23, 1906 - March 13, 1947, 41 years old); in fact, he won the city title seven times.
     I could find little information on Belson other than he was born in Belsonko, Finland and moved to Canada to with his parents as a child. He joined the Toronto Chess Club in 1926. He won the Canadian championship in 1934 and 1946. He passed away in Toronto in 1947. 

     The following game marked the third consecutive city championship reign for Belson as he swept through the tournament without the loss of a game. 
     At the time it was played Belson was described as youthful and ambitious yet exceptional modest and gentlemanly, well0liked and having a host of friends. 
   
 
 

  The game was critical because his opponent only needed a draw to take the title. The ending was inaccurately played by both sides, but it was a truly fascinating one! 

A game that I liked (Fritz 17)

[Event "Toronto City Championship"] [Site "?"] [Date "1934.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "John H. Belson"] [Black "R.B. Martin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A39"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "1934.??.??"] {English} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. g3 c5 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. O-O O-O 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Qb6 9. Nb3 d6 10. Bg5 Be6 11. Nd5 Bxd5 12. cxd5 Ne5 {After a slippery opening that could probably be called a couple of different names things have clarified a bit and white enjoys a slight advantage...he has more space and it's hard to suggest a really constructive plan for black. That said, black still has a solid position with ho weaknesses.} 13. Be3 {Nice! White gains time to bring his B to an active position on d4.} Qa6 14. Bd4 Ned7 (14... Rac8 {was also a good try.} 15. f4 Nc4 16. e4 Nh5 17. Rf2 Bxd4 18. Qxd4 Nb6 { with equality. Kapengut,A (2450)-Lein,A (2510) Leningrad 1971}) 15. Qd2 Nh5 { This does not work out well.} (15... Rac8 {was more logical.} 16. Bf3 b6 17. Qe3 Rfe8 18. Rfc1 Nc5 {equals. Aparisi Arnandis,B (2050)-Camarasa Escutia,J Cullera 2007}) 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. Nd4 Rac8 18. a4 (18. g4 {was also good. Clearly, with play on both sides of the board white is better.} Nhf6 19. g5 Nh5 20. Bh3 Rcd8 21. Rfc1 {with an active position.}) 18... Nhf6 $16 19. b4 Rc4 20. a5 {The threat is b5 trapping the Q.} b5 21. Nc6 Re8 22. Rac1 Rxc1 23. Rxc1 Qb7 24. f4 {Prevents Ne5.} a6 25. e4 Qc7 26. Nd4 Qb7 27. Qc2 {White's control of the only open file is a huge positinal advantage.} Kg8 28. Nc6 {From here until move 36 white was pressed for time.} Nb8 29. Nxb8 Qxb8 30. Qc7 Kf8 31. Qxb8 Rxb8 {[%mdl 4096]} 32. Rc6 Ra8 {White has a decisive advantage.} 33. h3 ( 33. e5 {was much stronger.} Ne8 34. Bh3 {and black has no constructive moves.}) 33... Ke8 34. Kf2 {34.e5 was still the best move.} Kd8 35. Ke2 Nd7 36. Bf1 { In time pressure white has made a couple of harmless moves and in doing so he has allowed black to equalize.} (36. h4 Nb8 37. Rc2 (37. Rb6 Nd7 38. Rc6 Nb8) 37... Nd7 38. Bh3 Rc8 39. Rxc8+ Kxc8 40. g4 {White should be able to squeeze out a win.}) 36... Nb8 37. Rc3 Nd7 38. Kd3 {The idea of playing 38.h4 and Bh3 was still a better plan.} Rc8 39. Rxc8+ Kxc8 {A few less than precise moves by white in time pressure have allowed black to equalize.} 40. e5 {[%mdl 8192] Havin g let the win slip away in time pressure white now makes a colossal losing blunder!} (40. Kd4 Nf6 41. g4 (41. e5 {leads nowhere after...} Ne8) 41... h6 {and white can't make any progress.}) 40... Nf8 {[%mdl 8192] ...and black counterblunders!!} (40... dxe5 41. fxe5 {with what should be an easy win. } Nxe5+) 41. h4 Kd7 42. e6+ {It turns out that the ending is extremely difficult and this is a good practical try. The best plan is probably beyond a human's ability to visualize and calculate!} (42. Bh3+ {was the best move.} Kc7 43. Kd4 h6 44. e6 f6 {Now the winning procedure according to Stockfish is...} 45. f5 Kb7 (45... g5 46. Ke4 Nh7 47. Bf1 Kb7 48. Kf3 h5 49. Be2 Kc8 50. Ke4 g4 51. Bxg4 hxg4 52. Kf4 Kd8 53. Kxg4 Ke8 54. Kh5 Kf8 55. Kg6 Kg8 56. g4 Nf8+ 57. Kh6 Nh7 58. g5 fxg5 59. hxg5 Nxg5 60. Kxg5 Kg7 61. f6+ Kf8 62. f7 Kg7 63. f8=Q+ ) 46. Ke4 Kc7 47. Kf4 Kc8 48. Kf3 Kd8 49. Kg4 Kc7 50. Bf1 gxf5+ 51. Kh5 Nxe6 52. dxe6 Kc6 53. Kxh6 Kd5 54. h5 Kxe6 55. Kg6 d5 56. h6 Ke5 57. Kf7 Kd6 58. h7 e5 59. Kxf6 f4 60. gxf4 e4 61. h8=Q d4 62. Qe8 d3 {[%eval 638,31]}) 42... fxe6 43. Bh3 h5 (43... Kc7 {is met by} 44. Ke4 exd5+ 45. Kxd5 h5 46. f5 gxf5 47. Bxf5 Kb7 48. Be4 Kc7 49. Bf3 e6+ 50. Ke4 Ng6 51. Bxh5 {Black's two center Ps are too far back and his J is too far away. White wins as follows...} Ne5 52. Kf4 Kd8 53. Kg5 Ke7 54. Kh6 Kf6 55. g4 d5 56. g5+ Kf5 57. g6 Nxg6 58. Bxg6+ Kf6 59. Bc2 e5 60. Bb3 d4 61. Bc2 Kf7 62. h5 Kf6 63. Be4 Kf7 64. Kg5 {wins easily.} ) 44. dxe6+ Kc7 45. f5 gxf5 46. Bxf5 Kc8 47. g4 hxg4 48. Bxg4 {Nothing could be more natural than this, but it should have tossed away the win. Amazing!} ( 48. h5 g3 49. Ke3 Kd8 50. h6 Ke8 51. h7 Nxh7 52. Bxh7 {wins easily.}) 48... Nh7 {[%mdl 8192] ...and loses!} (48... Ng6 {holds the draw.} 49. Bf3 (49. h5 Ne5+ 50. Ke4 Nxg4 {and black wins.} 51. Kf4 Nf6 52. Kg5 d5) 49... Nxh4 {etc.}) 49. h5 Nf6 50. h6 {Once again white throws away the win!} (50. Bf3 Ng8 51. Ke4 Kd8 52. Kf5 Nf6 53. h6 Ke8 54. Kg6 Kf8 55. h7 Nxh7 56. Kxh7 {wins}) 50... Kc7 { [%mdl 8192] The final blunder.} (50... Nxg4 51. h7 Ne5+ {Both sides missed this problem-like move which allows black to blockade the h-Pawn and at the same time prevent white's K from assisting the P's advance.} 52. Ke4 Ng6 53. Kf5 Nh8 54. Kg5 {This is the only move that avoids a loss for white!} Kc7 55. Kh6 {Now it's black's turn to fin d the only move to avoid losing!} Kd8 (55... d5 56. Kg7 d4 57. Kxh8 d3 58. Kg8 d2 59. h8=Q d1=Q 60. Qe5+ Kc8 61. Qc5+ Kd8 62. Qb6+ Kc8 63. Qxa6+ {White mates in 20 moves!}) 56. Kg7 Ke8 57. Kg8 (57. Kxh8 Kf8 {Stalemate}) 57... d5 58. Kg7 (58. Kxh8 Kf8 {Stalemate}) 58... d4 59. Kxh8 {Black has to play 59...Kf8 with a stalemate because if...} d3 60. Kg8 d2 61. h8=Q Kd8 (61... d1=Q 62. Kg7#) 62. Qd4+ {wins}) 51. Bf5 {Black resigned} 1-0

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