Jonkoping 1958/59

     The year 1958 started off with Raymond Weinstein winning the US Junior championship in Homestead, Florida and 14-year old Bobby Fischer winning the US Championship which was also a Zonal. 

     In early May, Mikhail Botvinnik defeated Vasily Smyslov, 12.5 to 10.5 to regain the world championship. 

     Two players were lost that year. On January 19, 1958, Edmund Adam (1894-1958) died in Frankfurt, Germany at the age of 63 on January 19eth. He was a correspondence Master and served as as president of the German Correspondence Chess Association from 1946 to 1956. 

     On September 11, 1958, IM Carl Carls (1880-1958) died at the age of 77 in Bremen, Germany. He was German champion in 1934. In October the 13th Olympiad began in Munich, Germany. 

     Of course, the Soviet team (Botvinnik, Smyslov, Keres, Bronstein, Tal, Petrosian) won again. The US team (Reshevsky, Lombardy, Bisguier, Evans and Rossolimo) finished fourth behind Yugoslavia and Argentina. 

     A long-forgotten tournament in Jonkoping, Sweden began on December 27, 1958 nd ended January 4, 1959. Jonkoping is in southern Sweden and today it’s home to 112,766 inhabitants. It’s situated on the southern shore of Sweden's second largest lake, Vattern. Only three titled players participated: Kotov and Rgozin were GMs and Barda was an IM.

 

     The winner of the below game was Olaf Barda (August 17, 1909 – 2 May 2, 1971). He was the first Norwegian awarded the International Master title which he received in 1952. Barda won the Norwegian Championship six times, 1930 (only then under the bame of Olsen), 1947, 1948, 1952, 1953 and 1957. He also wrote a chess column. His eldest son Yngvar Barda (1935–1999) also was chess master.

     Barda was a strong correspondence player, winning the Norwegian correspondence championship in 1946 and 1949/1950. He received the title of Correspondence GN title in 1953 and finished fourth in the First World Correspondence Championship. His opponent was Hans Ek (1928-2014) who won the Swedish Correspondence Championship in 1967. 

     Most of the game is pretty boring, but the finish is pleasing.

 

[Event "Jonkoping"] [Site "Jonkoping"] [Date "1958.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Olaf Barda"] [Black "Hans Ek"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A10"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "1958.??.??"] {A26: English Opening vs King's Indian} 1. c4 d6 2. g3 g6 3. f4 Bg7 4. Nf3 e5 5. d3 Ne7 6. Nc3 Nbc6 7. Bg2 O-O 8. O-O Bd7 (8... exf4 9. gxf4 d5 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Nxd5 Qxd5 {Neither side has much to brag about.}) 9. e3 (9. Bd2 a6 10. a3 Qc8 11. Rf2 Kh8 12. Rc1 Bg4 13. e3 {is equal. Nei,I (2365)-Aurlund,K Berlin 1998}) 9... Qc8 10. Nd5 Nxd5 11. cxd5 Ne7 12. fxe5 dxe5 13. e4 Qd8 14. Qb3 b6 { Striking at the center with 14...c6 was a better option.} 15. Bd2 $14 c5 16. Rac1 Nc8 17. Bc3 Qe7 18. Nd2 Bh6 {This is good enoughto keep the position evenly balanced.} (18... b5 {This (apparently) too tactical for black who prefgers to play quietly (passively(.} 19. Ba5 Nd6 {This tactical route requires precise play on black's part.} 20. Rxc5 Nb7 21. Rxb5 Nc5 (21... Bxb5 22. Qxb5 Nxa5 23. Qxa5 {and white is better.}) 22. Qc4 Bxb5 23. Qxb5 Rab8 24. Qc4 Nxd3 25. Qxd3 Qc5+ 26. Kh1 Qxa5 {with an unclear position that would be challenging to both sides. In Shootouts black won 2 games and three were drawn. }) 19. Rce1 {Be prepared to be bored for the next few moves.} Nd6 20. Nc4 $14 f6 21. Nxd6 Qxd6 22. Qa3 a5 23. d4 {With this move white gets aggressive, but with care black should be able to hold his own.} exd4 24. Bxd4 Bd2 25. e5 { A good followup to his 23rd move.} Qb8 (25... fxe5 {was also playable, but the complications are head whirling.} 26. Bxe5 Rxf1+ 27. Bxf1 Qf8 28. d6 Qf7 (28... Bxe1 {loses} 29. Bc4+ Qf7 30. Bxf7+) 29. Re4 Bc6 30. Qd3 (30. Re2 Rf8 (30... Rd8 31. Rxd2 Bd5 32. Qd3 Bc6 33. Rf2 Qe6 34. Qc4 Qd5 35. Qxd5+ Bxd5 {is winning for white.}) 31. Bh3 Bb4 32. Qd3 c4 33. Qd1 Bf3 {Blavk wins.}) 30... Bg5 31. Re2 c4 32. Qd4 Qf3 33. Bg2 Qxe2 34. Bd5+ Bxd5 35. Qxd5+ Kf8 36. Qxa8+ { with a likely draw.}) 26. Bc3 Bxe1 27. Rxe1 fxe5 28. Bxe5 Qc8 29. Qe3 Rf7 { [%mdl 8192] This should lose.} (29... Bb5 30. d6 Bc6 31. Bc3 Re8 {with an unclear position where blacj should be OK. A sample continuation...} 32. Qf2 Bxg2 33. Rxe8+ Qxe8 34. Qf6 Qe3+ 35. Kxg2 Qe2+ 36. Kg1 Qd1+ {draws}) 30. d6 { Missing the win, but the winning move is a difficult to find retreat.} (30. Bc3 Qe8 31. Qg5 Qf8 32. Qe5 Rg7 33. Qxg7+ Qxg7 34. Bxg7 Kxg7 35. Re7+) 30... Bc6 { [%mdl 8192] Black has again missed white's winning retreat} (30... Qf8 { Agter this white can only claim a modest advantage.} 31. Qb3 Re8 32. Bd5 a4 33. Qxb6 Be6 34. Qxc5 h5 {and 5 Shootouts were drawn.}) 31. Bc3 {This time Barda does not miss the winning move and black is not given another chance.} Raa7 32. Qe5 Rg7 33. Bd5+ Bxd5 (33... Kh8 34. d7 Qxd7 (34... Raxd7 35. Qe8+ Qxe8 36. Rxe8#) 35. Qb8+ Qd8 36. Qxd8+ Be8 37. Qxe8#) 34. Qxd5+ Rgf7 35. Re7 Raxe7 36. dxe7 Qe8 37. Bf6 {Preparing a nice finish.} b5 38. Qd8 Rxe7 39. Qxe7 {Black resigned...the ending is lost.} (39. Qxe7 Qxe7 40. Bxe7 c4 41. Bd8 a4 42. Ba5 { With the black Ps held up all white has to do is bring up his K.} Kf7 43. Kf2 Ke6 44. Ke3 Kd5 45. Bc3 Kd6 (45... h6 46. a3 h5 47. h4 {Black's K must mow yield.} Kd6 48. Ke4 Ke6 49. Kf4 Kd5 50. Kg5) 46. Kd4 Kc6 47. Bb4 Kb6 48. Kd5 Kc7 49. Kc5 {etc.}) 1-0