Friday, October 27, 2023

Harold Morton

     Harold Morton (January 10, 1906 - February 17, 1940, 34 years old) was a strong from Providence, Rhode Island. 
     Even though he was a strong payer, Morton had dismal performances in the two US Championships in which he participated. In the first modern 1936 championship which marked Frank Marshall’s retirement Morton finished last with a +1 -10 =4 score. His result in the 1938 championship was a bit better; he scored +3 -9 =4 and finished next to last. 
     I. A. Horowitz and Morton frequently traveled together giving tandem simultaneous exhibitions in which they would alternate making moves. On February 17, 1940 while enroute to Minneapolis, Minnesota after touring in the south and west, they were involved in a car accident on highway 30 about seven miles west of Carroll, Iowa when the car apparently skidded on a curve and collided with a van driven by Frank S. Robbins of Denver, Colorado. 
 
 
     Robbins was uninjured. Morton, who was driving, was thrown from the car and killed outright. He had the dubious distinction of being the county’s first traffic fatality of the year. 
     Horowitz was taken to St. Anthony's Hospital in Carroll where he was able to give his name. He had, among other injuries, a skull fracture and he was initially not expected to recover.. He was hospitalized for some time and during his stay in the hospital his brother, Irving, went to Iowa to be with him. The US Championship was held in April in 1940, but Horowitz still had not recovered sufficiently to play in it. 
     Morton’s opponent in the following game was Augustus N, Towsen (1905-1991, 85 years old). He was champion of Central Pennsylvania in 1930. He was a medical technician in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. During the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), almost forty thousand men and women from fifty-two countries, including 2,800 Americans, volunteered to travel to Spain and join the International Brigades to help fight fascism. The US volunteers served in various units and came to be known collectively as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. 
     Towsen was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and attended Albright College and possibly Millerville University in the summer of 1927. He received passport on May 17, 1937 which listed his address as 264 North Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. On May 19, 1937 he sailed aboard the Normandie and arrived in Spain on May 29, 1937 and began serving with Medical Services. He returned to the US on August 14, 1938. 
     After WWII he served as an urban renewal activist. Urban renewal was a nationwide program in which the Federal government cities in the 1950s and '60s. The federal government gave cities billions of dollars to tear down blighted areas and replace them with affordable housing. At least, that's what was supposed to happen. Towsen died in Spalding, Georgia. 

  A game that I liked (Fritz 17)

Augustus TowsenHarold Morton0–1D95ACF Congress. Prelim A, MilwaukeeMilwaukee, WI USA1935Stockfish 16
Gruenfeld Defense 1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.c3 d5 4.e3 g7 5.f3 0-0 6.b3 c6 7.d3 b6 Both 7...e6 and 7...dxc4 can be considered the main lines. 8.cxd5 8.0-0 e6 9.d2 h6 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.fc1 White stands well. Cvek,R (2517) -Walek,M (2350) Czechia 2010 8...cxd5 9.d2 b7 10.c1 e4 11.c2 Castling was to be preferred. Oddly enough white never doubles Rs on the c-file. And, eventually this R on c2 will be a problem for white. e6 11...e5 Grabs the initiative. After 12.xe5 xe5 This is perfectly safe because white's K-side attacking prospects are zero. 13.xe4 13.dxe5 c5 Black wins heavy plastic. 13...dxe4 14.dxe5 d7 15.0-0 xe5 Black can claim a slight advantage. 12.e2 This strange move leaves his K vulnerable even though it is not yet apparent exactly how. 12.0-0 c6 13.fc1 with a perfectly even position. 12...c6 13.a3 e5 14.xe4 dxe4 15.xe4 a5 16.d3 xe4 17.xe4 f5 18.h4 e4 19.g5 This loses the N! 19.xd8 is the only way for white to try and stay in the game. exf3+ 20.xf3 axd8 21.xa5 bxa5 22.hc1 f4 Black is clearly better. 19...h6 20.f4 hxg5 21.fxg5 c8 22.c3 22.hc1 would have hels out longer, but he would still be lost. xc2 23.xc2 d7 24.xa5 bxa5 25.f4 c8 26.xc8+ xc8 27.d2 a6 28.b8+ f8 29.b3+ g7 30.d5 a4 31.c3+ h7 32.d4 g7 33.c5 d3+ 22...d5 Notice how vulnerable the R on c2 is. 23.f2 23.f4 prevents black's next move, but after a2 24.d2 24.hc1 b3 25.d1 xc3 wins easily. 24...b3 25.hd1 xd2 with an easy win. 23...f4 24.exf4 xd4 24...b3 was also good... 25.d1 e3 26.f3 f5 25.g3 25.xd4 xd4 26.xd4 xc2+ That vulnerable R again. 25...b5+ White resigned. 25...b5+ 26.d2 xc3+ 27.bxc3 b3+ 28.e1 c5 29.e3 29.d2 e3 30.d1 d3+ 29...d3+ 30.d2 xf4 and black's pieces are swarming all over white. 0–1

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