One contestant was 26-year-old Lajos Steiner who had come to the United States to participate in the 1929 Bradley Beach (located in New Jersey) tournament. There Steiner had finished second to world champion Alexander Alekhine.
His opponent was 24-year old Isaac Kashdan, a the 1929 Manhattan Chess Club champion and a rising star. He had been the first board of the American team at the 1928 Chess Olympiad where he scored an impressive +12 -1 =2.
Lajos Steiner (1903-1975) was born in Hungary. One of four children, his elder brother Endre Steiner was also a master.
Lajos was educated at the Technical High School in Budapest and graduated in 1926 with a diploma in mechanical engineering from the Technikum Mittweida in Germany.
He emigrated to Australia in 1939, and won the Australian Championship in 1945, 1946/47, 1952/53, and 1958/59. He also won nine of his ten attempts at the New South Wales title (1940–41, 1943, 1944, 1945–46, 1953, 1955, 1958).
Isaac Kashdan (1905-1985) was twice U.S. Open champion (1938 and 1947), but even though he was once considered world championship material he never won the US Championship. On the November 1932, Chess metrics estimated his rating to have been 2738 placing him at number 2 on the list behind Alekhine (estimated rating 2826).
He was called der Kleine Capablanca (German for The little Capablanca) in Europe because of his ability to extract victories from seemingly even positions. Watch him conjure up a winning attack from almost nothing in the following game and you’ll see what they meant. Alekhine named him one of the most likely players to succeed him as World Champion.
Kashdan’s peak year coincided with the Great Depression and so for financial reasons he was unable to make chess a career. Then later he moved to California because the climate was better for his son’s health.
Besides the Steiner-Kashdan match, in 1930, an international tournament was held in San Remo; it was won by Alexander Alekhine.
On May 2, 1930, former German champion Isidor Gunsberg (1854-1930) died in London. On August 17, 1930, former Hungarian champion Leo Forgacs died in Hungary at the age of 48.
The 3rd Tournament of Nations (aka the Chess Olympiad) was held in Hamburg, Germany. It was won by Poland (Rubinstein, Tartakower, Przepiorka, Frydman). Jungary was second and Dermany third. The US team (Isaac Kashdan, Frank Marshall, Harold Phillips, Herman Steiner and James Anderson) finished 6th (out of 18 teams).
The 2nd Women’s World Championship took place during the Olympiad and Vera Menchik successfully defended her title.
The Western Chess Association (forerunner of the US Open) was held in Chicago. Norman Whitaker and Samuel Factor tied for 1st.
On December 29, 1930, Alekhine almost killed himself when he fell asleep with a lit cigarette in his mouth in a hotel bed in Esseg, Yugoslavia. The cigarette fell out of his mouth onto the bed which caught fire.
Alekhine awoke and tried to get out of the room, but passed out on the floor. A hotel clerk responding to the fire managed to get Alekhine out of the room and extinguish the fire.
Kashdan considered this game, the third game in his match with Steiner, to be one of his best.
[Event "Match, New York"]
[Site "New York, NY USA"]
[Date "1930.04.22"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Isaac Kashdan"]
[Black "Lajos Steiner"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D52"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 16"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "1930.04.19"]
{D52: Queen's Gambit Declined: Cambridge Springs Variation} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6
3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5 {This is te Cambridge Springs
Defense and even today is the most popular reply in the QGD.} 7. Qb3 {The
usual reply is 7.Nbd2 is the usual reply with 7.cxd4 a close second. The text
avoids the more complicated attacks, but it allows black to obtain easy
development.} Ne4 8. cxd5 (8. Bh4 Bb4 9. Rc1 Nb6 10. Bd3 dxc4 11. Bxc4 Nxc4 12.
Qxc4 Nd6 {equals. Werle,J (2481)-Gurevich,M (2641) Zwolle 2002}) 8... exd5 9.
Bd3 Bb4 {Kashdan was of the opinion that this B belongs on e7.} (9... Nxg5 10.
Nxg5 Be7 11. Nf3 O-O 12. O-O {with complete equality. Djukanovic,S (2294)
-Blagojevic,D (2532) Tivat MNE 2011} Re8 {½-½ (38)}) 10. Rc1 Nxg5 $11 11.
Nxg5 h6 12. Nf3 O-O 13. O-O Re8 14. a3 Bxc3 {The main option was 14...Bd6 and
while there is nothing really wrong with the move played Kashdan thought it
gives white the advantage because of his better development and also because
of the mobility of his Q-side Ps, which threaten to advance and create
weaknesses in black's position. Hence Kashdan felt it was better to retreat.}
15. Qxc3 Qxc3 16. Rxc3 Nf6 17. b4 Be6 18. Rfc1 Ne4 19. Bxe4 {Several years
after this game Kashdan said that if he were "playing this position today (i.e.
in 1936) he would prefer 19.R(3)-b2 because his B would be useful to enforce
b4-b5 and black's N can always be gotten rid of anyway. Engines prefer 19.Bx35,
but only by a hair's breadth.} dxe4 20. Nd2 Bd5 21. Rc5 {Perhaps initiating a
Minority Attack with 21.a4 followed by b4-b5 was more accurate, but Kashdan
played the text in order to induce 21...b6 which he judged would be weak for
black.} b6 {A sounder idea was 21...f5 followed by ...f4} 22. R5c3 a5 23. Nc4 {
Kashdan judged that now black's Ps are seriously weakened and subject to
attack, whether his N is exchanged or not. According to Stockfish the position
id dead equal.} axb4 24. axb4 Ra6 {Played with the (correct) belief that he
can set up a sufficient defense.} (24... Bxc4 {is inferior. It's main
practical advantage is that the resulting double R ending would by difficult
to play for both sides.} 25. Rxc4 Ra4 26. h4 Kf8 27. Rxc6 Rxb4 28. Ra1 f5 29.
Ra6 Rb1+ (29... Rb8 30. Rc7 f4 31. Raa7 {White is winning.}) 30. Kh2 Rb2 31.
Kg3 b5 32. Rc5 {White is better.}) 25. Ne5 Re6 {Excellent defense by Steiner.
Defending the P, which cannot yet be taken because of the mating threat, and
intending ...b5 after which everything would be secure. If Kashdan wants to
win he cannot untake it quickly.} 26. b5 {Very interesting and innovative. The
P sacrifice had to be accurately calculated because if Kashdan's attack fails
the P will become a Q!} ({But not} 26. Nxc6 $2 Bxc6 27. f4 Bd7 $19) 26... cxb5
27. Rc8+ {Kashdan is attacking with opnly two Rs and a N...will it succeed?}
Kh7 28. Rd8 {[%mdl 1024] An excellent move! It gains an important tempo and
it's an essential patt of his idea.} (28. Nxf7 {does not accomplish anything
as after} b4 29. h4 (29. R8c7 b3 30. Rb1 b2 31. Rc2 Rc6 32. Rbxb2 Bxf7 {
and black wins}) 29... b3 30. Kh2 Ra8 31. Rxa8 Bxa8 32. Ne5 Bd5 33. Rb1 {
with a likely draw.}) 28... Bc4 {Seemingly the most natural square as it
blocks the open file, but the move allows white q slim advantage...something
Kashdan was famous for exploiting. In fact, Kashdan claimed the move loses
quickly!} (28... f6 {This is actually the best move as it does not allow white
to really accomplisj anything. For example...} 29. Rxd5 fxe5 30. dxe5 Rc6 31.
Rb1 Rc5 32. Rd2 Rxe5 {and neither side will be able to make any headway.} 33.
h3) 29. Nd7 {[%mdl 2048] Threatening to win the exchange, which strangely
enough cannmbe avoided despite the mobilty of black's R.} Kg6 (29... Rc6 30.
Nf8+ Kg8 31. Nd7+ Kh7 32. Nb8) (29... Rd6 {This is best. The ensuing ending is
extremely complicated!} 30. Nf8+ Kg8 31. Nd7+ (31. Rxd6 Kxf8 {and black has
compensation for the exchange.}) 31... Kh7 32. f3 exf3 33. Nf8+ Kg8 34. Rxd6
Kxf8 35. e4 fxg2 36. d5 Ke7 37. Rc6 f5 38. Rc7+ Kd8 39. Rxg7 fxe4 40. Kxg2 Ra2+
41. Kg3 e3 42. d6 e2 43. Kf2 e1=Q+ 44. Kxe1 Rxh2 45. Rh7 {Theoretically at
least, this position is drawn.}) 30. d5 {[%mdl 32] Gaining time, as the R
still cannot escape. Very instructive.} Re7 (30... Bxd5 31. Nf8+ Kf6 32. Rxd5 {
wins easily.}) 31. d6 Rxd7 32. Rxd7 {Kashdan has made something out of nothing.
} Bd3 {This loses at once.} (32... Ra3 {keeps fighting...} 33. Re7 Rd3 34. Rxe4
Rxd6 35. h4 Kf6 36. Ra1 Rd2 37. Ra7 Be6 {and the gane could go on forever.})
33. Rb7 Kf6 {White has more than one way to skin the cat!} 34. f3 {Black
resigned} (34. f3 Bc4 35. Rd1 Ra8 36. Rxb6 exf3 37. gxf3 Rd8 {and the enbding
is hopelss.}) (34. d7 {also wins.} Ke7 35. f3 Bc4 36. Rd1 Bd3 37. fxe4 Ra3 38.
e5 b4 39. Rxb6 Kxd7 40. Rd6+ Ke7 41. R6xd3 {etc.}) 1-0
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