He won the state championship 10 times (1908, 1913, 1915, 1916, 1921, 1924, 1925, 1930, 1932 and 1937). Thee merit of that achievement is enhanced by the fact that in those days it was a knockout affair in which the loss of a point-and-a-half meant elimination.
A steady player with a thorough knowledge of opening theory, his style was positional and he was content with minute advantages. But, when the time came he could engage in tactics with the best.
Sharp learned the game at the age of 15 from his father. In 1900,
chess in Philadelphia was flourishing and the Franklin Chess Club was the gathering place for all the notable enthusiasts who met almost daily. Sharp entered this scene in 1900 and some of his progress was attributed to playing against the club’s best players.
Sharp played a lot of visiting luminaries in simultaneous play and he scored victories against Lasker, Capablanca and Marshall.
In the following game a rising young star named Isaac Kashdan fell to Sharp in the 1926 Manhattan vs Philadelphia team match.
Isaac Kashdan–Sydney T. Sharp0–1C43Manhattan CC - Franklin CCNew York, NY USA22.02.1926Stockfish 16
C43: Petroff Defense 1.e4 e5 2.f3 f6 Black avoids several white openings and counterattacks the
centrer. This defense has has a drawish reputation, but there are a few sharp
lines. 3.d4 The Classical Variation is .Nxe5 while the text is the Steinitz
Variation although it was known long before him. Statistically there's not
much difference between the two. xe4 Black can capture either Pawn. 3...d6
transposes into the Philidor Defense. 4.dxe5 d5 5.exd6 Very benign and
typical of Kashdan's circumspect style. xd6 6.c4 0-0 7.0-0 c6
In this position it appears that nothing is happening and white's next move
occupying the open file and chasing the N away looks plausible, but it's a
slight mistake that allows black to get slightly the better of it. White
should play 8.Nbd2 8.e1 g4 This is annoying to white; the threat is ...
Ne5. It's somewhat surorising, but this position is very tricky for white. 9.h3 A tactical blooper! 9.bd2 Watch this... xd2 10.xd2 xf3 11.xf3 h4 12.b3 xh2+ 13.f1 h1+ 0-1 Gibbs,J-Cunningham,T Lincoln
1969 9.e3 is white's best defense, but black stands well after f6 10.d5 ae8 11.xe4 11.xc6 bxc6 12.d4 g6 13.bd2 f5 with a good game. 11...xe4 12.bd2 e7 13.c3 g6 Black stands well. 9...xf2
An unexpected gut punch. 9...xf3 This is probablt what Kashdan expected
with equality resulting after 10.xf3 f6 10.e2 10.xf2 is met by xf3 11.xf3 h4+ 12.f1 xc4+ 13.e2 h4 with a winning position. 10...xh3+ 11.gxh3 Sharp conducts the remainder of the game with great
precision. d4 What a great move! 12.hxg4 This is the best he
has, but he is still lost no matter what he plays. 12.e4 xf3+ 13.g2 xe1+ 14.xe1 xh3+ 15.xh3 d7+ 16.g2 g4+ 17.f1 h3+ 18.g1 h2+ 19.f2 g3+ 12...xe2+ 13.xe2 White has three pieces for the Q (not counting
black;s two extra Ps), but his K is exposed and three of his pieces are
undeveloped. Black is winning. d7 14.g2 c5+ 15.h2 d1 White is bound
hand and foot. 16.bd2 ad8 17.d3 fe8 18.e4 xf3 19.xc5 e1 The
threat is ...Rd4 20.b3 c5 21.g5 xa1 22.xa1 e8 23.b3 Kashdan has
finally managed to get all his pieces into play, but Dharp now demonstrates
that he has everything under control. d5 Threatening ...c4 24.f5 g6
The B has to retreat and we're back to black playing ...c4, right? 25.h6
No! White sets an trap...obvious, but it's still a trap. e1 25...gxf5 26.gxf5+ xg2+ The snag in white's trick. 26...h8 27.g7+ g8 28.h6+ h8 29.g7+ g8 30.h6+ Draw by 3-fold repitition. 27.xg2 e2+ 28.f3 xc2 29.a3 xb2 and black has an easy win. 26.c4 d8 27.g3 Prevents ...Qh4+.
27.c2 h4# 27...gxf5 28.gxf5 Kashdan has one more trick up his sleeve.
h8 Prudent! 28...f6 And the tables are turned. 29.f2+ f7 30.g7+ e8 31.g8+ e7 32.xd8 xd8 33.xe1 White wins. 29.d2 Prevents ...
Qd3+. f6 30.f4 h5 31.d5 g7+ Forcing mate so white resigneed. 31...g7+ 32.f2 g1+ 33.f3 g4+ 34.f2 e2+ 35.f1 g2# 0–1
No comments:
Post a Comment