FM Ales Dunne

 

    The Unites States lost several players last year: veteran Master George Kramer (1929-2023), popular author IM Jeremy Silman (1954-2023), veteran FM Dr. Orest Popovych (1933-2023), hero of a hundred tournaments in New England FM John Curdo (1931-2023) and Chess Life columnist FM Ales Dunne (1942-2023).

    FIDE Master (FM) Alex E. Dunne (January 3, 1942 - January 16, 2023, age 81) passed away at his home in Sayre, Pennsylvania on Monday, January 16, 2023, following an extended illness. 

    Born in Sayre, he graduated from Mansfield University and taught English in the local school district for 30 years. In his personal life Dunne loved Monty Python comedies, The Simpsons, trivia games, puns, Dr. Pepper soda, Friday evening Chinese dinners and taking walks around the Sayre Pond with his dog.

    Tragedy struck Dunne’s life in February, 2003, when his first wife and grandson died in a fire in Sayre while he was away playing in a tournament. A 4 am fire ripped through the Dunne home on a Sunday, claiming the lives of his 62-year-old wife and a 2-year-old grandson. 

    Dunne fell in love with chess at an early age and for many years he wrote a long-running column for Chess Life on correspondence chess. He also authored How to Become a Candidate Master (i.e. a USCF Expert, 2000-2199 Elo), a book that uses illustrative games between Experts and Class A (1800-1999 Elo) players. 

    Dunne was the US Chess Correspondence Director from 2005 until retiring in 2020. His Check is in the Mail column (the printed magazine edition and later online)ran from December 1981 through February, 2021. 

    In the following game Dunne takes out William J. Adam (1962-1982, 19 years old) in a brilliant finish.

    Adam had achieved a rating of over 2400 when he died after a brief illness. He competed in the US Junior Invitational on three occasions with his best result being a tie for second in 1981. He was also a strong correspondence player.

    Adam was from Syracuse, New York had a huge natural talent. He was a student at State University New York in Stony Brook, New York during which time he appears to gave mostly abandoned competitive chess. 

 

ChessBase

William Adam–Alex Dunne0–1B90Rochesterm NY1978Stockfish 16

B87: Sicilian Defense 1.e4 c5 2.f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 f6 5.c3 a6 6.c4 e6 7.e2 e7 8.e3 b5 9.b3 0-0 10.0-0-0 b4 11.a4 xe4 So far this is all book. The usually move here is 11...Qa5 12.f3 After this black gets the better of it. More exact was 12.Nb6! 12.b6 xb6 12...a7 13.xc8 xc8 14.xe6 fxe6 15.xa7 wins 13.xe6 c5 14.xc5 dxc5 15.xf8 xf8 16.xf7+ xf7 17.f3+ g8 18.xa8 with the advantage. Aldokhin,I (2413) -Gadimbayli,A (2507) chess.com INT 2023 12.xe6 fails to xe6 13.b6 e8 14.xe4 xb3 15.xa8 xa4 16.he1 16.d5 c8 17.b3 c6 18.d2 f5 19.f3 d7 with a decisive advantage. Varga,Z (2400)-Pedzich,D (2405) Santiago wch-jr 1990 16...d7 17.e4 c6 Black's advantage proved decisive in Ozolin,M (2510)-Dvoirys,S (2585) Omsk/Perm 1998 12.f4 was tried in Cozianu,C (2420)-Suba,M (2535) Timisu de Sus 1998 which continued d5 13.f5 Black is better, but after mistakes by both sides the game was soon drawn. 12...f6 The threat is 13...e5 trapping the N on the open board. 13.g4 So that is 13...e5 14.Nf5, If black captures the N then white has the semi-open g-file. d7 14.hg1 c6 15.g5 h5 16.f4 g6 A pass to demonstrate the threat. 17.f3 17.b1 xd4 18.xd4 18.xd4 xf4 19.e3 xa4 20.xa4 20.xf4 xb3 21.axb3 e5 20...xg5 21.b3 Black is better. 18...a5 Wgite must lose a piece. 17...a5-+ 18.b1 xb3 19.axb3 b5 20.f2 c7 21.b6 ab8 22.f5 exf5 22...d8 has better winning chances. 23.c4 xc4 24.bxc4 and now both 24...Qc4 and 24...exf5 leave black with a modest advantage. 23.d5 b7 24.xe7+ A natural move, but not the best. It's surprising how quickly white's game now collapses. 24.h4 and White has nothing to worry. c6 25.xf5 Equally playable wasd 25.Nf6+, but this is flashier! gxf5 26.h4 xd5 27.xh5 White has sufficient compensation. The best line is g2 28.d4 fe8 29.h6 f8 30.f6 e5 31.xe5 dxe5 32.xg2 xg2 33.d7 with about equal chance. 24...xe7 25.ge1 [Black must now prevent 26.Bf4 c7 25...a5 26.f4 b7 27.xd6 26.d4 Somewhat better would have been 26.Nd4 c6 27.h4 This move leads nowhere, but white's position is already critical. e4 28.d4 fc8 29.e2 g7 30.h3 a5 31.f4 e6 32.h4 f8 32...xd4 lands black in trouble after 33.xh7+ f8 34.h8+ e7 35.xd4 with the more promising position. 33.d2 a4 Threatening 34...axb3 34.bxa4 b3 The attack on c2 has been sudden and it's decisive. 35.c1 bxc2 36.e2 This allows a brilliant mate in 8, but he was lost in any case. 36.xc2 xc2 37.c3 b7 38.dxc2 xc3 39.bxc3 h1+ 40.d2 b1 41.xd6 g2+ 42.d3 d1+ 43.e3 xc2 36...xb2 Black mates. 37.xb2 37.xd6 b1+ 38.d2 c1+ 39.xc1 xc1+ 40.e2 f1+ 41.e3 b3+ 42.d4 a1+ 43.c3 xc3# 37...c1+ 38.xc1 xc1+ 39.a2 b1+ 40.a1 c2+ A move quicker was 40...Bd3+ 41.a2 b8 41...Qb1+ was one move quicker. 42.xh7+ xh7 43.e5 b1+ 44.a3 b3+ White resigned...it's mate next move. 0–1

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The Craigside Tournament of 1900/01

    The following game is proof that even bad play can have redeeming qualities. It was played in the Craigside Cup Section of the 1900/01 Craigside Llandudno tournament. One newspaper report of the day commented that they felt obliged to label the play “cheap”, but noted that the finish was “attractive”. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. 

    Of the event one contemporary newspaper reported “one of the most enjoyable meetings in the year is that held annually in the first week of January at the Craigside Hydro, Llandudno”. That’s a hotel in a coastal town in northern Wales.

    One reason for this event being enjoyable was that the weather conditions at the seaside resort at that time of the year offered a nice change from the gloom weather that prevailed in most parts of the country. 

    Previous tournaments had been divided into two classes, but for this event a new format consisting of three classes was used. The Cup tournament was for previous winners of the Craigside Cup or of an open event. The First Class event was for for recognized first-class amateurs and the Second Class event was for players ineligible for the first two classes. 

 

    

    The First Class event was won by Anthony Dod ahead of 2) Charles Sherrard. Newman Clissild, Henry Cran, Arthur Mackenzie and Bernard Wilmot all tied for places 3-6. 

    This section used a rather curious scoring system known as the Lasker System. Drawn games were scored as ¼ point for each player and a second game had to be played. The winner got ½ point and if the second game was drawn bothe players got another ¼ point. Fortunately, or oddly, there were no drawn games in this section! 

    The Second Class section was won by Thomas Billington (7-1) ahead of Mrs. Lousia Fagan (6-2). There was also a Handicap event and Burn, Atkins and Gunston taking the three prizes. 

 

ChessBase

William Gunston–George Bellingham1–0C14Craigside Cup Tourney2Llandudno01.01.1901Stockfish 16

C14: French Defense 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.c3 f6 4.g5 e7 5.e5 fd7 6.xe7 xe7 7.b5 d8 8.c3 a6 9.a3 c5 10.f3 c6 10...cxd4 11.cxd4 c6 12.e2 a5+ 13.d2 xd2+ 14.xd2 b6 15.hc1 b7 Draw agreed. Petrov,S (2129)-Dimitrovski,J (2208) Struga MKD 2014 11.c2 c4 So far the opening had bee known book moves, but this move is not especially good because it's too slow. Black should counter in the cente. 11...0-0= 12.d3 f6 13.exf6 xf6 14.0-0 b6 15.d2 b7 16.g5 ae8 equals. Molina,J-Gershman,J Argentina 1938 0-1 11...b6 12.b3 cxd4 13.cxd4 f6 14.exf6 xf6 Equals. Wielecki,Z (2350)-Raszka,J (2215) Bielsko Biala 1991 11...cxd4 12.cxd4 f6 13.exf6 xf6 14.d3 0-0 Equals. Pilnik,H-Gershman,J Argentina 1938 12.g3 0-0 13.h3 e7 14.h4 Somewhat better was 14.O-O as the B is out of place here because it no lonfer defends e5. Black's next move takes immediate advantage of that fact. f6 Completely equalizing. 15.f4 A tactical mistake...his B on h3 is undefended. 15.exf6 xf6 16.g2 e5 17.0-0 keeps the chances equal. 15...fxe5 16.dxe5 Black could now have obtained a decisive advantage. dxe5 Good, but 16...Rxf4 was much better. 16...xf4 17.f3 17.gxf4 xh4+ 18.e2 xh3 17...e4+ 18.f1 c5 Black has a winning advantage. 17.fxe5 xe5 18.f1 d3+ 19.e2 Even though he is a piece down black is clearly better here, but his next move lets white offf the hook because it's not aggressive enough. d7 19...e5 is harder for white to meet. After 20.f5 c7 21.d2 h8 22.g5 g6 23.ce3 e6 Black is slightly better. 23...gxf5 is also acceptable. 24.xf5 xf5 25.xf5 g7 26.xg7+ xg7 27.b3 But here white has equalized. 20.d2 e5 21.xd7 The undefended B has disappeared...a plus for white. xd7 22.e3 This prevents ...Qg4+, but the cure is worse than the disease! 22.g5 keeps black's advantage to a minimum after d4 23.cxd4 exd4 24.f5 22...h3 Black now has what should be a decisive advantage, but he is going to let it slip. 23.hf5 ad8 Well played! 23...xh2+ looks inviting, but after 24.d1 xb2+ 25.c2 xd2+ 26.xd2 f7 27.c2 d3 28.xd5 af8 29.g4 with complications that, theoretically at least should favor white. 24.d1 d4 To quote one commentator of the day...White is being smashed off the board and deservedly so. But he now gets lucky. 25.g2 Now black tries to win in a flasjy fashion by making what he thought was a temporary Q sacrifice. dxe3 A gross blunder. 25...xg2 leads to a mundane win. 26.xg2 g6 27.e7+ g7 28.d2 fe8 29.f5+ gxf5 30.xf5 f8 with a decisive advantage. 26.e7+ The refutation of black's last move. 26.xh3 This is probably what black expected, but even so, his advantage would be minimal after f4+ 27.e1 xh3 28.xe3 xf1+ 29.xf1 Prevents ... Rd2. Black is only slightly better here. 26...h8 27.g6+ Very nice! g8 27...hxg6 28.xh3+ 28.d5+ This is even nicer than his last move and black resigned. To quote a contemporary commentator... White's triple whammy is very attractive, but I feel we have to label it a cheapo because of the poor play that preceded it. 28.d5+ e6 28...xd5 29.xf8# 29.xe6+ f7 30.xf7# 1–0

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Gustavus Reichhelm and Hardman Mongomery

Reichelm

    The American Civil War, which took place from April 12, 1861 to April 9, 1865, naturally resulted in a cultural life in both the North and the South that was greatly distinct from life in the antebellum years. 

    Newspapers often featured reports directly from the battlefield and photography, a relatively new development, brought the horrific imagery of the war into people’s homes. 

    One development in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during that time were “sanitary fairs”. These fairs were patriotic, voluntary affairs and they climaxed with the Great Central Fair of 1864 in Logan Square in the city. It provided a creative and communal way for ordinary citizens to promote the welfare of Union soldiers.

    Sanitary fairs were civilian organized bazaars and expositions dedicated to raising funds and supplies for the United States Sanitary Commission and other charitable relief organizations. 

    The Sanitary Commission was the only civilian run organization recognized by the federal government. It offered assistance to the military. Civilian volunteers advised on the physical and mental health of the military, assisted in organizing military hospitals and camps and aided in the transportation of the wounded. They also distributed medical supplies, food and clothing where needed. 

    Naturally, in 1864 there was not a lot of chess activity, but in January the Philadelphia Chess Club defeated the Paulsen Chess Club in New York in a one game telegraph match. 

    In June 1864, former Union Captain George H. Mackenzie (1837-1891), who was born in Scotland and moved to the US in 1863, became a Captain in the 10th United States Colored Troops Regiment. Then in June of 1864, he was declared a deserter, was arrested and forfeited all pay and allowances. He was released from prison in May, 1865, and moved to New York and started playing chess. By 1867, he was US champion. 

    A prominent Philadelphia player of the era was Gustav Reichelm (1839-1905). Besides being a strong player, he was a journalist and composer who also stood out as an analyst. Chess metrics estimates his highest ever rating to have been 2363 in 1869 and his best ever world rank to have been number 5 (behind Berthold Suhlem Wilhelm Steinitz, Hans von Minckwitz and Philipp Hirschfeld), but needles to say information upon which to estimate ratings was scant in those days. 

    He was a specialist also in Pawn endings and he published a famous study with Emanuel Lasker with whom he was very friendly and with whom he used to play and analyze. He was editor of Brentano Chess Monthly and for the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. 

    Reichelm was born in Prussia. He and his brother Frederic began their studies at the Gymnasium (a preparatory school) previous to their father' s death in 1816. Gustavus remained at the Gymnasium until he was qualified to pursue his studies at the University of Halle where he studied law. 

    He came to the United States in about 1831 and made the acquaintance of a couple of homeopathic doctors in Allentown. Pennsylvania at what was the first homeopathic college in the country. He studied there and from that time until his death he was an ardent disciple of Homeopathy. 

    He commenced practicing in Hamburg, Pennsylvania, but on the advice of his mentor he moved to Pittsburgh in 1837 where he enjoyed great success. In 1853, much to the regret of his friends in Pittsburgh, he moved to Philadelphia. 

    His opponent in the following amusing game was Hardman Montgomery (1834-1870), the youngest son of John C. Montgomery, formerly Postmaster of Philadelphia. 

Montgomery

    After entering the University of Pennsylvania as a Sophomore in 1851, Montgomery's talent for chess and mathematics was soon spotted by one of his professors. 

    From 1852 onward, Montgomery quickly rose among the ranks of local players and was a member of the successful Philadelphia team beating New York in two correspondence games in 1855-1856. 

    Montgomery was the sole Philadelphia representative in the 1st American Chess Congress held in New York in 1857. It was a knockout tournament and Montgomery defeated his first round opponent, William S Allison, but lost the next round to Louis Paulsen. 

    Because of the popularity of Paul Morphy the Philadelphia Chess Club was founded and Montgomery became its first President. 

    In 1861, after losing a match against New York's Theodore Lichtenhein (+2 -7 =1), Montgomery practically retired from serious chess. However, he did later defeat James A. Leonard (+8 -4 =2) in 1861 and lost a match Reichhelm (+4 -8 =0 in 1864. 

    Montgomery resided in Philadelphia and New York and practiced law for a time in Pennsylvania. Eventually he moved to California. On Christmas day in 1869 he was struck with paralysis and then on January 22, 1870, at the age of 34, he suffered a fatal stroke. He died in Marysville, California. 

    The game given here was not very well played. In fact, Reichhelm was losing, but Montgomery let him get away. 

ChessBase

Hardman Montgomery–Gustavus Reichhelm0–1C44PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia1864Stockfish 16

C44: Scotch Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.d4 This opening was analyzed as far back as 1750 and received the name Scotch Game fromm a correspondence match in 1824 between Edinburgh and London. It remained popular in the 1800s, but by 1900 it was considered to give b;ack easy equality. In modern times Garry Kasparov and Jan Timman used it occasionally as a surprise exd4 4.d3 Very passive. 4.Nxd4 or 4.Bc4 are usually played. c5 5.c3 Offering a P after playing the passive 4.Bd3 may not seem logical, but in doing so white frees up his game. 5.bd2 e7 6.b3 b6 7.a3 d6 8.d2 g4 9.0-0 Black is better. Scherbakova,G-Kozhukina,E Odessa 2008 5...dxc3 6.0-0 Equally good was 6.Nxc3, but he offer of another P is also quite playable. ge7 6...cxb2 7.xb2 f6 8.e5 allows white plenty of play and black's attacked N has no really good square to retreat to. 7.e5 This is less effective with black's N on e7 because now the Ps advance does not gain a tempo. Better was 7.Nxc3 0-0 Castling at this point is risky because defend ing against the coming attack will require precision. 7...cxb2 While this might look risky it would leave black with the advantage. 8.xb2 d5 8...0-0 9.xh7+ xh7 Better is 9...Kh8, but white has a very promising position. 10.g5+ wins 9.exd6 xd6 White does not have quite enough compensation for the two Ps. 7...d5 This is simply a transposition. 8.exd6 cxb2 9.xb2 xd6 with the same position as after 7...cxb2 8.xh7+ Of course! Black can survive this, but accurate defense is a must. xh7 Forced. 8...h8 9.g5 g6 9...g8 10.xg8 xg8 11.h5 wins 10.f3 f5 11.xg6 wins. Just one line... g7 12.xf5 xe5 13.g3 g6 14.xg6 fxg6 15.xc3+ g8 16.xc5 9.g5+ g6 This is the right square for the K. White has no forced win IF black accurately defends. 9...g8 would lose. 10.h5 e8 11.h7+ f8 12.h8+ g8 13.h7+ e7 14.g5+ f6 15.exf6+ e6 15...xf6 16.xg7+ d6 17.xc3 d4 18.xf6 e6 19.g3+ c6 20.b4 b6 21.xd8 xd8 22.bxc5 wins 16.f7 xf7 17.xd8+- 10.d3+ f5 10...f5 was a better defense. 11.exf6+ f5 12.fxg7 xg7 13.h3 e7 14.xc3 g8 15.d5 g7 In Shootouts from this position white scored +1 -0 =4, so black has reasonable drawing chances. 11.g4 d6 The correct move here and the one that results in equality is 11...d5. As will be seen, the reason is that 11...d5 makes e4 inaccessible to white's N. 11...d5 12.gxf5+ xf5 13.g3 h5 14.xc3 f6 15.exf6 gxf6 16.h3 g8 12.gxf5+ xf5 13.g3 Threatening Ne6+ h5 The safest square for the K, but white is clearly better. 14.xc3 f6 14...xe5 15.d5 d3 16.h3 xc1 17.xg7 g6 18.f6+ h4 19.h6+ h5 20.xh5# 14...dxe5 15.h1 f6 16.ge4 xe4+ 17.xe4 g5 18.f3+ g6 19.xc5 is decisive. 15.ce4 Wrong N!! This is a losing blunder. 15.ge4 Had black's P been on d5 (see move 11) this would not have been. possible. White is now winning. xe4 16.xe4 e7 17.h1 xe5 18.f3+ g6 19.f4 e6 20.g1+ f7 21.xc5 15...fxg5 16.xg5 e8 After this black's advantage is not so great, but the better Q sacrifice would not be so clear over the board! 16...d4 is another story. 17.fe1 xe4 18.xd8 f3+ 19.f1 d3+ 20.e2 axd8 21.d1 xe2+ 22.xe2 g5 Black's advantage should prove decisive. 17.xc5 After this white loses quickly. 17.ae1 puts up stouter resistance. d4 18.f4 g6 Black is better. 17...dxc5 18.h1 xe5 Black is clearly winning. 19.f4 e4+ 20.g1 d4+ 21.f2 e5 The N joins the attack. 22.h3+ g6 The strong threat is ... Nf3_ 23.e6+ f6 24.xf6 f3+ 25.f1 White wants to mate with Rg2+. d3+ Correct! 25...gxf6 is a self mate. 26.g2+ h5 27.h3+ h4 28.g4+ h6 29.xh4# 26.g2 g5+ 27.g1 h3+ White resigned. 27...h3+ 28.xh3 xh3 Stockfish informs us that there is a mate in 21 moves! 29.d4 g4+ 30.f1 cxd4 31.e1 d3+ 32.ee2 xe2+ 33.xe2 f3+ 34.e1 xf4 35.d1 d3 36.e1 f3+ 37.d2 f2+ 38.c3 c2+ 39.d4 d8+ 40.e3 c5+ 41.f3 f8+ 42.e4 e8+ 43.xd3 d8+ 44.e2 e5+ 45.f1 f8+ 46.g2 xe1 47.h4 e2+ 48.g3 f3+ 49.g4 g2# 0–1

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A Lucky Escape For Fischer

    The following game against Benko in round 22 of the 1962 Candidates tournament in Willemstad, Curacao was a lucky escape for Fischer. 

    Dutch GM Jan Timman was an excellent analyst and his book Curacao 1962 - The Battle of Minds That Shook the Chess World is a great work, but many of the games were lightly annotated, as was this one, and in some cases he did not give any analysis to support his statements. Benko also went over this game in front of an audience ans some of his analysis was also faulty. 

    The days are long gone when simply having a title was sufficient to intimidate us non-GMs into believing that a move was good or bad just because they said so! That does not to take anything away from their accomplishments though because they are miles ahead of the rest of us in their chess skill! These days though a good engine can see more in a few seconds than they ever could. 

    In the tournament Benko was involved in a couple of controversies. This was the tournament where he slapped Fischer in an argument over the use of the one second, Arthur Bisguier, that was available to both of the US players. Benko was also involved in a brouhaha involving Paul Keres.

 

    Benko played a decisive role in destroying Keres' chances of winning the tournament. Keres had beaten Benko 4-0 in the 1959 candidates and in Curacao he was on his way to repeating the performance. Then came the 20th round (out of 28). 

    Keres slipped up and came within a hair of losing, but managed to escape with a win in a mutual time scramble. Benko, right when he had a perpetual check, knocked over a couple of pieces and exceeded the time limit while putting them back. That was the bare bones story, but it wasn't so simple. 

    Keres had been the hunt for first place for the whole tournament and his slide began with the Benko game. In horrible time pressure Benko incorrectly sacrificed a piece which left him with nothing better than the perpetual check. With only seconds left on his clock, Benko made the move that forced the perpetual, but his piece was sitting slightly off the square. After he made the move and punched his clock, Keres immediately punched it back and told Benko, ”Adjust your pieces!” Surprised, Benko let his clock run a second or two before desperately trying to adjust his pieces, but it was too late; his flag fell and he was forfeited. 

    Although angry, Benko didn't complain and wrote that he thought to himself that he was going to extract revenge by beating Keres when they met again. Then came their final game. It was one of the most important in Keres' career because he was still in the hunt for first. A draw would allow him to conduct a playoff against Petrosian to see who played Botvinnik for the World Championship; a win would make him the outright challenger. 

    In that final game between the two, the game was adjourned with Benko a bit better. Benko wrote in Pal Benko: My Life, Games, and Compositions that Petrosian and Geller secretly came to him with an offer to help him win the adjourned game against Keres. Benko claimed that he was disgusted by their actions and told them the game would be a draw with best play and demanded that they leave. However, when play resumed Keres made a mistake and lost. That was Benko's story. 

    In his book Timman told it a little differently. Timman reported that it was Korchnoi and Averbach (one of the Soviet contingent) who had paid Benko the visit and given him some analysis. Benko didn't really need their analysis because he was already one of the world's foremost endgame experts. 

    Then came the last round and Petrosian was white against Filip who was mired in last place while Keres was playing Fischer. Everything was in Petrosian's favor and it was generally conceded that he would be the winner, but he could only draw with Filip and Keres yielded a draw to Fischer. 

    There was one game left, Geller vs. Benko, and if Geller won he would tie with Keres for second place. In trying to win, Geller overreached and adjourned in a lost position. Play resumed the next day and Benko, again in time pressure, had to make three moves before the end of the time control and ended up losing on time. 

    As a result, Keres had to play a match (which he won) with Geller to determine second place. Later, Keres claimed that Benko had deliberately lost, in Keres's words, "just to screw me.” Benko claimed that he would never had done such a thing. 

 

ChessBase

Robert Fischer–Pal Benko1–0C11Curacao Candidates22Willemstad CUW14.06.1962Stockfish 16

C11: French Defense 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.c3 f6 4.e5 Fischer always had trouble against the French defense. In fact, he suffered his first loss in a US Championship when Edmar Mednis created a sensation by defeating Fischer and he used the French to do it. Earlier in this tournament Fischer had played the classical 4. Bg5 against Petrosian and Benko, but didn’t get any advantage, so here he tries something different. fd7 5.f4 Steinitz introduced this move with the idea of supporting the e5 Pawn. c5 6.dxc5 Nobody plays this any more. The preferred move is 6.Nf3 xc5 7.g4 This move used to be played by Tarrasch and Janowski back in their day. The fact that it is still considered best shows that they understood something about chess. 7.f3 Looks good, but it does mot worl out well after c6 8.d3 a6 and it’s hard to suggest a good plan for white. 7...0-0 8.d3 f5 8...e7 9.f3 f6 10.h4 g6 11.exf6 xf6 White stands slightly better. Gulamali,K (2307)-Kaufman,L (2360) Internet Chess Club INT 2012 9.h3 xg1 What’s with this rather surprising move?! You have to back to Monte Carlo, 1901 where Alapin played it against Janowski. Black’s move seemingly makes no sense because he trades a developed piece for an undeveloped one. The idea is that black will get very active piece play. 9...c6 10.f3 e7 11.e3 c5 12.d4 xd3+ 13.cxd3 is equal. Ovetchkin,R (2485)-Baranyai,S (2270) Rotterdam 1998 10.xg1 c5 11.d2 One annotator claimed that Fischer was likely familiar with the Janowski - Alapin game and since white didn’t get anything special with 11.g4 Fischer had prepared this as an improvement. Fischer had a lot of knowledge of old games, but it might be a stretch to say he was familiar with that game. A more logical explanation might be that Fischer simply understood the position and realized that a sudden unsupported attack won’t lead to anything, so he stuck with the basics...develop your pieces. 11.g4 Aggressive and quite playable. xd3+ 12.cxd3 c6 13.gxf5 xf5 14.d2 a6 15.0-0-0 with equal chances. Janowski,D-Alapin,S Monte Carlo 1901 11...c6 There is nothing wrong with 11...Nxd3+ White could choose either 12. Qxd3 or 12.cxd3 and again, neither side has much to work with. Also, because the idea of black’s 9th move is active piece play he does not want to exchange his only developed piece. 12.b5 This move was soundly criticized for being too optimistic and 12.O-O-O with equality was recommended instead. Is that a correct assessment? Stockfish does, indeed, recommend 12. O-O-O and evaluates the position as ever so slightly in white’s favor and after 12. Nb5 the evaluation drops a couple of hundredths, so you would think there just can’t be that much difference in the two moves. Besides, Fischer gets his N on the excellent square d6. Sometimes GMs take into account nuances that engines don’t! b6 13.0-0-0 d7 Threatens 14...Nxe5 14.d6 One commentator observed that this looks like an ideal square for the N, but it’s not because on d6 it has no effect on the game whereas if it was back on c3 it could be used to defend against black’s attack that is now probably near decisive. Engines think the position is almostr deafd equal. 14.b1 A pass to demonstrate the threat. xe5 15.fxe5 xb5 14...a4 It was suggested that the point to this is that white can’t play the natural defense 15.b3...or so it was thought before engines. GM Jan Timman called it "vicious." While it is the best move, it’s hardly vicious. 15.b5 15.b3 is a perfectly satisfactory defense. For example... d4 As per the great Dutch GM Timman who claimed white gets annihilated after this, but he didn’t give any followup. 16.c3 xc3 17.xc3 xc3+ 18.b1 b4 ...and here is why there is nothing wrong with 15.b3... 19.xf5 xh3 20.xh3 xf4 21.xb7 Black's attack is at and end and the position offers equal chances. 15...d4 This is interesting. Forty years later at an Open tournament in Curacao, no less, Benko was showing this game to an audience and claimed he could have gotten a huge advantage with 15.. .Nxb2, but in the game he decided to launch an even sharper attack. The fact is, had he played 15...Nxb2 he might very well have lost! 15...xb2 16.xb2 a6 16...xe5 This loses after 17.fxe5 xb5 18.b3 a6 19.e3 17.g4 White must counterattack as quickly as possible. axb5 18.gxf5 c5 19.a3 exf5 20.c3 Black has no attacvk and white has the better position. 16.e3 e2+ The point of his previous move...the attack on b2 is intensified. 17.xe2 Is this forced? It's not and it's bad enough to merit teo question marks! 17.b1 No. This is the crucial defense. Black is now at a crossroads. Take the exchange or complicate the issue with 17...d4. d4 The right choice. 18.xa4 xa4 19.f2 ac8 with a strong attack. 17...xb2+ To quote Fritz 17's commentary, Black is clearly winning. To quote the legendary New York Yankee catcher Yogi Berra, It ain't over til it's over. 18.d2 b4+ 19.c1 Benko could have taken a draw here, but of course, here he has a winning advantage; over four Ps according to Stockfish. The problem is, time pressure is looming. c3 Attacking the q-Pawn, R and B. 20.de1 xa2+ 21.d1 c3+ 22.c1 d4 One annotator mistakenly gave this move a question mark and recommended the somewhat weaker 22...a5. Actually, black has several ways to win. Black has to play this move at some point anyway. 23.f2 23.xd4 was a stronger defense. a2+ 24.d1 xd4+ 25.d3 xf4 26.f3 but even here black has a decisive advantage. 23...fc8 A fine concept. The purpose is not to put pressure on the c-Pawn, but to transfer the R to the a-file. 24.d3 24.xc8 a3+ 25.d2 e4+ 26.d1 a1# 24...a2+ 25.d1 c3+ 26.c1 c5 More controversy between annotators! One gave this move a questions mark claiming it wasn’t his best option. Timman gave it a ! saying Benko breathes new life into his attack. What does Stockfish say? Benko’s move is perfectly good. 27.h4 Timman wrote that despite his awkward situation Fischer defends as stubbornly as possible. This move provides extra cover for his B on f2 and allows his K to escape via d2 without running the risk of being mated at once. That said, Benko is clearly winning, 27.g4 was the only other plausible try, but after a5 28.xd4 a1+ 29.d2 e4+ 30.e2 d2+ 31.f3 xe1 the game is over. 27...a5 28.d2 Oddly, black has no effective discovered check because doing so would allow the K to slip away to safety. h6 With this terrible move, probably as a result of time pressure, Benko turns the tables on himself! His plan was to play 29... Ne4 and 30...g5, but this is way too slow. There’s no direct mate here, so the positional move 28...Bc6! keeps Fischer’s K in the center of the board where it remains in grave danger. 28...e4+ 29.e2 a3 30.f1 and white is suddenly in a position to start a counterattack on the K-side. xd6 results in head whirling complications that should eventually favor white. but that evaluation is theoretical. 31.exd6 xd6 32.g4 28...a2 Black has no forced win, but by keeping up the pressure he can continue to make white's life very difficult. 29.g4 c6 30.xd4 b5+ 30...xd4 would lose. 31.gxf5 e4+ 32.xe4 xe4 33.xg7+ xg7 34.e7+ h8 35.f6+ g8 36.xe6+ f8 37.f6+ e8 38.h8+ e7 39.xh7+ e8 40.h8+ e7 41.h4+ d7 42.xe4 d5 43.h7+ c6 44.g6+ White wins. 31.e2 xd4+ 32.f1 f3 wins for black. 29.g4 This sudden counterattack leaves black busted. fxg4 29...e4+ comes up short, The complications are enorrnous and in the end white is left with a theoretically won position, but practically speaking it's probably black's best chance. 30.e2 d2+ 31.f1 xf4 32.gxf5 d2+ 33.e2 xe5+ 34.d1 xe1+ 35.xe1 xd6 36.xd2 30.xg4 30.xg4 is a self mate. e4+ 31.e2 d2+ 32.f3 xf2+ 33.xe4 c6# 30...h8 30...f8 31.xg7 b1+ 31...xg7 32.g1+ mate next move. 32.e2 d2+ 33.f3 Black can delay, but not prevent mater. xd3+ 34.cxd3 c6+ 35.g4 xg7 36.e7+ h8 37.h5 xe5+ 38.xe5 e8+ 39.xh6 f7 40.xf7 mate next move. 31.xh6+ Black resigned. 31.xh6+ gxh6 32.f7# 1–0

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A Queen Sacrifice Wins for Richter

    The chess news of the year 1937 started off with Alekhine winning the Hasting tournament in January. The biggest news of the year probably occurred on December 16th when Alekhine defeated Euwe to regain the World Championship.

    In August the 7th Chess Olympiad was held in Stockholm. The USA team (Samuel Reshevsky, Reuben Fine, Isaac Kashdan, Frank Marshall and I.A, Horowitz) took first place. The US team had also won in 1931, 1933 and 1935. Hungary. Poland was second and Poland was third. 

    Back in the 1930s alternatives to over the board play were postal chess, radio, telegraph matches and telephone matches. 

    Rotary dial phones were introduced to Americans in 1919, but they did not become widely used until the mid-1950's. Prior to the rotary phone a caller simply lifted the receiver off the hook and an operator answered with the phrase, “Number, please.” You then told her the number you wanted. In my home town our phone number was simply 2271. Older phones had magnetos; callers signaled the operator by turning a crank. 

    In April 10, of 1937, Berlin and Hamburg played a telephone match about which almost nothing is known, However, I did discover the results of the match on the wonderful Edo Historical Chess Ratings site HERE. 

 

 

    The winner of the following game who played on board 2 of that natch was Kurt Richter (1900-1969), a very a sharp attacking player and theoretician. After World War II he largely gave up playing for writing. He was co-editor of Deutsche Schachblatter and Deutsche Schachzeitung. He was also the author of several chess books. 

    His opponent was Heinrich Reinhardt (1902-1990) who later became known as Enrique Reinhardt. When World War II broke out, Reinhardt, along with other German players Erich Eliskases, Paul Michel, Ludwig Engels, Albert Becker and many other participants at the 1939 Olympiad, decided to permanently remain in Argentina. He died on June 14, 1990 in Ciudad Jardín Lomas del Palomar, Argentina. 

    What’s pleasing about this game is that even though it’s tactically faulty, on move 34 Richter makes a delightful Queen sacrifice that leads to a mate in 7. 

 

ChessBase

Kurt Richter (Berlin)–Heinrich Reinhardt (Hamburg)1–0A45Telephone Match Berlin-HamburgTelephone match Berlin-Hamburg10.04.1937Stockfish 16

D01: Richter-Veresov Attack 1.d4 f6 2.c3 d5 3.g5 This opening is named after Richter and Soviet master Gavriil Veresov, who played it frequently for over a quarter of a century. In modern times Spassky, Tal, Smyslov, Larsen and Bronstein experimented with it. Black has a wide choice of replies while white's plan plans typically include rapid Q-side castling and an early f3 and e4. f5 4.e3 e6 5.d3 g6 6.f3 e7 6...c5 7.e5 c6 8.xc6 bxc6 9.0-0 cxd4 10.exd4 b6 11.b1 e7 12.e2 Draw agreed. Mestrovic, Z (2410)-Komljenovic,D (2435) Sibenik 1986 6...bd7 7.0-0 e7 8.xf6 gxf6 9.e4 c6 is equal. Guerreiro,N (2086)-Stopa,J (2524) Figueira da Foz POR 2014 7.e5 xd3 8.cxd3 The position is equal. 8.xd3 0-0 9.f4 c5 10.0-0-0 c4 11.e2 b5 12.xb5 a5 13.c3 b4 14.xf6 gxf6 15.g4+ h8 16.h4 fxe5 17.f6+ g8 18.g5+ Draw agreed. Lenhardt,M (2148)-Zilverberg,J (2015) Maastricht 2009 8...0-0 9.0-0 fd7 10.f4 xe5 11.dxe5 c5 12.e4 d4 12...dxe4 is wilder. 13.g4 h8 14.xe4 c6 with fully equal chances. 13.e2 c6 14.g3 e8 15.f4 f8 Instead of this rather passive move the immediate 15...b5 was good. 16.e1 b5 17.h4 e7 As will soon be seen the exchange of dark squared Ns results in a weakness on the dark squares around the K. Better was 17...Qc7 18.xe7 xe7 19.g3 g6 This is not really bad because the position can still be evaluated as equal, but something like 19...Nb4 would have been better. 20.h1 The N begins a journey to g4 from where it eyes f6 and h6. c4 And now ...Nb4 would win. 21.f2 b4 22.g4 xd3 22...c2 23.f6+ xf6 24.exf6 xe1 25.fxe1 is also equal. 23.g3 White has sufficient compensation for the P. ec8 24.f5 exf5 24...xb2 There is no time for this. 25.h6+ f8 26.fxg6 e8 27.xf7 25.exf5 h8 26.f6 With this move Richter has made a slip that should have allowed black to gain the advantage! Correct was 26.fxe6. In all likelihood black would have managed to survive the attack. f8 26...e6 leaves white with no satisfactory way of continuing the attack. 27.h3 c5 and it's white who is on the defensive. 27.f3 Another tactical mistake, this time of a more serious nature. 27.e6 keeps up the pressure and would have required precise defense from black. fxe6 28.a4 Excellent! White can make no immediate progress on the K-side and so switches to the Q-side and center. b4 29.b3 e5 30.bxc4 e4 31.ad1 With careful play black can successfully defend his position. 27...c5 27...xb2 would be a blunder, After 28.e6 fxe6 29.e5 and after Raf1 white's superiority should prove decisive. 28.h4 e6 29.h3 h5 30.f1 At this point black is oblivious to white's threat of 31.Rf5! While he can't prevent it he can render it innocuous. d3 Wrong Pawn advance! This one loses. 30...c3 Right Pawn advance. This one wins. 31.f2 31.f5 f4 32.xf4 c2 33.f1 c1 34.xc1 xc1+ and black is winning. 31...c2 with a decisive advantage. 32.d3 h6 33.e1 c4 34.c1 xc1 35.xc1 31.f5 This renders black defenseless. c5+ 32.f1 f4 33.xf4 33.xh5+ mates in 7 xh5 34.g5 g8 35.xh5 f8 36.h6+ h7 37.xf7+ gxh5 38.xh5+ g8 39.g6+ g7 40.xg7# 33...d2 This allows mate in 7, but avoiding the forced mate with 33...Kg8 still loses. 34.xh5+ White mates. gxh5 35.xh5+ g8 36.e3 Black resigned. 36.e3 d1+ 37.xd1 d4 37...c3 38.g4+ f8 39.h8# 38.xd4 c3 39.g4+ f8 40.h8# 1–0

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Marshall’s Worst Tournament?

    It came as no surprise when Jose R. Capablanca in win the international tournament at the Hotel Alamac located at 71st and Broadway in New York City. From the beginning Capa was a strong favorite and in the opinion of many it was merely a question as to how far ahead of the field he would finish. He fulfilled predictions by scoring +9 -0 =2. 

    The score doesn’t tell the whole story though because three players could have nicked him for a point! 

    Alexander Kevitz was up a Pawn, but managed to lose. Like a lot of champions Capa was really dangerous when he found himself in a tight place. Dake found this out when he outplayed him, but by a miracle Capa managed to escape. Then in the semi-final round I.S. Turover had a book draw in a R and P ending, but Turover missed the drawing and lost in 75 moves. 

    Isaac Kashdan fulfilled expectations and acquitted himself well by winning six games and drawing five, including one with Capablanca in the last round.

    Although he lost three games, Alexander Kevitz had every reason to be pleased with his score and third place. 

 

    As for the legendary Frank Marshall, he was lo longer the Frank Marshall of old. The Chessmetrics April 1931 rating list estimates his rating to have been 2596 ranking him number 23 in the world. Capa, at 2775, was number 2 behind Alekhine (2857). Marshall’s highest ever rating is estimated to have been 2762 in 1917 placing him at number 3 behind Lasker and Caoablance. 

    In the following snappy little game Marshal showed his old form when Dake blundered at move 18 and it was all over.

ChessBase

Frank Marshall–Arthur Dake1–0D43New York Masters TournamentNew York, NY USA28.04.1931Stockfish 16

D36: Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation 1.d4 f6 2.f3 d5 3.c4 c6 4.c3 e6 5.g5 bd7 6.cxd5 The Exchange Variation strategy is: white has a P-majority in the center and black on the Q-side. Therefore, white can either advance his center Ps by means of Nge2, f2–f3, followed by e2–e4, or play for a minority attack by playing Rb1, followed by b2–b4–b5, then bxc6. This latter plan has the goal of creating wesk Q-side Ps in black's camp. For Black, exchanging at d5 has released his light-squared B and opened the e-file, giving him the use of e4 as a springboard for central and K--side play. Black can use his piece activity to launch a piece attack against white's K. exd5 7.e3 e7 8.c2 0-0 9.d3 e8 10.0-0 h6 11.f4 f8 12.ae1 12.fe1 h5 13.e5 e6 14.h3 c8 15.ad1 equals. Arutunian,D (2446)-Lagowski,P (2395) Olomouc 2005 12.a3 a5 13.ab1 d6 14.xd6 xd6 15.a4 8d7 16.bc1 e4 17.xe4 dxe4 18.d2 g6 19.f3 f6 20.b6 d5 21.dc4 xb6 22.xb6 A draw was soon agreed. Foisor,S (2235)-Katz,A (2429) Dulles USA 2019 12...h5 Other reasonable moves are 12...a6, 12...Be6 or 12...Ne6 13.g3 xg3= 14.hxg3 The position is equal and, truth be told, pretty boring. f6 15.a3 e6 16.e2 g5 This is not really a bad move, but the N serves little purpose here. 16...g6 should be considered. 17.f4 d6 And now white's best idea is to revert to the minority attack with either 18.b4 or 18.Rb1 18.xg6 as in the game is certainly a possibility, but it's less effective because black's N is not misplaced on g5/ fxg6 19.xg6+ g7 20.xh6 17.d2 d6 18.f4 Another option is 18.f5 and the N would have a good post on e5. g6 This us nw a fatal error because his N in in a bad position, Both 18...a5 or 18...Bd7 are solid replies. 19.xg6 fxg6 20.xg6+ The difference between this position and the one after 10.Qxg6+ in the note to black's 16th move is that here the N cannot go to g7 which makes all the difference. f8 21.xh6+ e7 22.e4 Exposing black's K. h8 22...dxe4 was no better. 23.xe4 xe4 24.xe4+ d8 25.xe8+ xe8 26.e1+ d8 27.d5 This further exposes the K and there is nothing black can do but await the end. e5 28.g5+ f6 29.g6 e5 30.f7 f6 30...xf4 31.e8# 31.e6+ xe6 32.dxe6 xf7 33.exf7 e7 34.xe5+ White has an easy win. xf7 23.g6+ Dake resigned. 23.g6+ d8 24.xh8 e7 25.e5 xh8 26.xh8+ c7 27.f4 e6 28.f3 Black's position is hopeless. 1–0

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Speaking of Quads, Delft 1940

    In 1940, chessplayers were dropping like flies. David Przepió\orka,Achilles Frydman, Stanisław Kohn and Moishe Lowtzky, Moshe Hirschbein, Max Walter and Arthur Kaufmann (his date of beath is uncertain, possibkly 1938) all died at the hands of the Nazis. Sammi Fajarowicz died of tuberculosis in a Jewish Hospital in Leipzig. 

    Peter Fyfe died in Glasgow, Frantisek Schubert died in Bohemia, Kalikst Morawski, a Polish master, died probably in Siberia. Willi Schlage, Wilhelm Hilse and Walter John died in Germany. 

    Despite the growing war tensions and the German invasion of the Netherlands in 1940 chess continued to become popular in Holland and there was a steady round of interesting master events that took place. 

    Quite a few of the leading papers published long accounts of all the games of the 1939/40 Keres-Euwe match with each game appearing with detailed notes the day after it was played; Keres won 7.6-6.5. 

    There was a quadrangular tournament held in Delft. The participants were: 

 

Hans Kmoch (1894-1973), an Austria, Dutch, Aerican IM. After the war was over Kmoch and his wife moved to the United States, settling in New York City. Kmoch served as the Secretary and manager of the Manhattan Chess Club and was a popular columnist for Chess Review magazine. In 1956, he wrote his most famous book, Pawn Power in Chess which, I think, is still worth reading. 

 

Max Euwe (1901-1981) was world champion from 1935-1937. I am not sure of the year, but sometime in the late 1950s Dr. Euwe visited Cleveland, Ohio and I was pleased to get his autograph; he was a very gracious gentleman. 

 

Johannes van der Bosch (1906-1994) was a Dutch nobleman, lawyer, banker and chess master. He thrice represented The Netherlands in the Olympiads in the 1930s. He was born in Austria-Hungary and for many years was Holland’s number two players behind Euwe. 

 

Salo Landau’s story is sickening. Born in Austria-Hungary in 1903, for many tears he was Holland’s leading player behind Euwe. In September 1942, Landau tried to escape the clutches of Nazis by by fleeing to Switzerland with his family, but they were caught on September 28th in Breda, The Netherlands near the border with Belgium and sent to Westerbork transit camp. From there Landau was sent to a concentration camp in Graditz. He died there sometime between December 1943 and 31 March 1944. His wife and young daughter, whose hiding place was betrayed, were sent to Auschwitz in September 1944, where they were gassed on October 12, 1944.

 

ChessBase

Max Euwe–Salo Landau1–0B74Delft1940Stockfish 16

B74: Sicilian Dragon 1.e4 c5 2.f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 f6 5.c3 g6 6.e2 g7 7.0-0 0-0 8.e3 c6 9.f4 d7 10.h1 c8 11.b3 a6 12.f3 c7 12...b5 as in Anuprita,P (2081)-Foudzi,S (2162) Bikaner 2004 leads to equality after 13.a3 e6 14.d4 xd4 15.xd4 c7 16.f2 fd8 17.d2 d7 18.xg7 xg7 13.d5 xd5 14.exd5 a5 14...b8 Intending toi reposition the N. 15.c3 a5 16.a4 a6 17.e2 c5 with equal chances. Parma,B (2540) -Velimirovic,D (2520) Belgrade 1978 15.xa5 xa5 16.c3 c4 17.d2 b5 18.fe1 fc8 So far all the moves have been routine. At the time this move was questioned because it was believed that Landau had overlooked the following reply which wins material. Perhaps that is true, but the position remains equal after this move. The real mistake comes later. That said, therr was a better move. 18...b4 This gives black a more active position than he gets after the text. 19.cxb4 xb4 20.ac1 xd2 21.xd2 a4 22.xe7 b5 23.c3 xa2 19.f2 Threatening Bb6. d8 Here is the mistake that lands black in trouble...his position becomes too passive. 19...b4 20.b6 b5 21.e2 bxc3 22.b3 8c5 This hidden resource saves the day! 23.xc4 23.xc5 is innacurate... xc5 24.xc5 xc5 and black is better. 23...xb6 24.xe7 c2 25.c1 d8 26.e2 f5 Black has a solid position and here is no way for white to force an advantage even though he is the exchange uo. 20.e2 a4 21.d1 White has all the play. e4 The plan is to sacrifice the exchange which eliminates his poorly placed R and white's well positioned B. 21...ac4 is adequately met by 22.b3 4c7 23.b6 22.c2 xe3 22...ec4 does not work out well... 23.b6 f8 24.b3 23.xe3 This small slip allows black to equalize. 23.xe3 b4 24.xe7 bxc3 25.b4 b5 26.xd8+ xd8 27.e7 with a promising position. 23...b4 Grabbing his share of counterplay and leading to an exciting finish. 24.f5 White counters on the K-side. 24.cxb4 d4 25.e1 xe3 26.xe3 xc2 and wins. 24...bxc3 25.fxg6 How should black recapture? It's a case of make the wrong decision and lose or make the right decision and make it a dog fight. cxb2 This is the wrong decision! The P on b2 turns out to be no real threat. 25...hxg6 could have resulted in a whole other outher outcome after 26.f1 e8 27.e1 cxb2 28.xe7 d8 29.fxf7 Double Rs on the 7th rank... what could be better than that for white? Black has at least two continuations; both result in head whirling complications. xe7 29...f8 30.xd7 e8 31.f1 xc2 32.c7 e2 33.b7 with equal chances. 30.xe7 xc2 31.xg7+ xg7 31...h8 32.h7+ xh7 33.e7+ 32.e7+ with a draw. 26.gxf7+ ...and wins. f8 27.ae1 f6 28.xh7 c1 29.g3 g7 30.b1 xe1+ 31.xe1 a5 32.f1 c3 33.g6 Black resigned. 33.g6 b5 34.h7 e6 35.g8+ e7 36.f8+ xf8 37.xf8+ d7 38.f7# 1–0

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The (Forgotten) Tampa Quad of 1917

    Once upon a time, in February of 1917, a quadrangular tournament of, to use the American Chess Bulletin’s description, “of usual interest” was held in Tampa, Florida. The reason for the unusual interest was that Jackson W. Showalter, of Georgetown, Kentucky, who was the former United States champion was one of the competitors. 

    In spite of the term “unusual interest” being used by the American Chess Bulletin the magazine’s coverage was scant with only the standings and one game given. The games were contested on the cool and commodious roof garden of the Tampa Chess Club. 

    The tournament was won by Wilbur L. Moorman (January 9, 1859 – September 7, 19294, 75 years old) of Lynchburg, Virginia. He was a former Virginia state chess and checkers champion. 

    Moorman was a Lynchburg, Virginia tobacconist and one of the largest owners of real estate in that area. He came from a prominent family that was part of the Quaker community that originally settled in Lynchburg. He died while going over chess puzzles. 

  The favorite, Jackson W. Showalter (February 5, 1859 – February 5, 1935, 76 years old) held the US Championship on several occasions from the 1890s to 1909. 

    He was a regular participant in major international events from 1893 to 1904, scoring wins over World Champions Wilhelm Steinitz and Emanuel Lasker among other notables. However, in this tournament he was in poor form. 

 Judge Stephen Fitz-James Trub (June 28, 1857 – February 28, 1928m 70 years old) was for several years an attorney in Louisville, Kentucky. He died in a hospital in Fort Myers, Florida. 

     Trabue was born in Kentucky and attended the University of Virginia. For the last 20 years he lived in Florida, where he served as a judge in Charlotte county (located on Florida’s west coast between Sarasota and Fort Meyers). He started off well in this tournament, but fell off after the first lap.

    Nothing is known of Nestor Hernandez except that he was a a Cuban living in Tampa, Florida. 

ChessBase

Wilbur L. Moorman–Jackson W. Showalter1–0D09Quadrangular, Tampa, Florida1917Stockfish 16

D09: Albin Counter Gambit 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 A rare response to the Queen's Gambit. In exchange for the sacrificed P black has a central wedge at d4 and gets some chances for an attack. Often white will try to return the P at an opportune moment to gain a positional advantage. 3.dxe5 The only other repkly worth considering is 3.e3 3.e3 dxc4 4.xc4 exd4 5.exd4 f6 6.f3 etc/ 3...d4 4.f3 c6 5.g3 e6 6.bd2 d7 7.g2 b4 7...f6 8.exf6 xf6 9.0-0 h3 10.b3 0-0-0 White is slightly better. Gligoric,S (2575) -Ljubojevic,L (2615) Ljubljana 1975 8.0-0 h6 Rather pointless as Ng5 is not a threat. The problem is that black's position is already difficult and it's hard to suggest a really good plan. 8...ge7 9.e4 g6 10.c2 f5 11.d1 gxe5 12.xe5 xe5 13.c5 0-0-0 White is winning. Dworakowska,J (2316) -Grigoryan,M (2037) Heraklion GRE 2007 8...xd2 seems best, but after 9.xd2 xc4 10.g5 d5 11.h3 e7 12.c1 White is better. Note that the r-Pawn is immune... xe5 12...xe5 13.f4 f6 14.e4 e6 15.xe6 fxe6 16.b3 White is winning. 13.e4 dxe3 14.xe3 c6 15.e1 h6 16.d4 is decisive. 9.b3 b8 Black intends Q-side play with ...b5, but the plan turns out to be a very bad idea. More to the point was 9...Nge7 with the intention of ...O-O. Black's K in the center is going to be the main source of his problems. 10.d1 b5 11.xd4 Logical, but wrong. 11.e4 maintains a significant advantage after bxc4 12.c2 e7 12...ge7 13.a3 a5 14.c5 d5 15.xe6 fxe6 16.h4 White's advantage should prove decisive. 13.a3 b5 14.c3 b8 15.e3 c5 16.a4 d3 17.exd3 xe3 18.fxe3 ge7 19.c5 with what should amount to a winning position. 11...xd4 12.xb4 xe2+? 12...c2 looks inviting, but after 13.c5 e7 13...xa1 14.c6 14.b1 bxc4 15.b3 cxb3 16.axb3 d4 17.b2 xe2+ 18.h1 0-0 19.f1 e8 20.d2 The stranded N is lost. 12...e7 and Black has nothing to worry. 13.e4 xe2+ 14.h1 xc4 with equal chances. 13.h1 e7 14.b3 a5 An attempt to deflect the Q. 14...0-0 15.a3 c6 16.c5 White's advantage should prove decisive. 15.xa5 0-0 15...c6 Black's attempts to snag the wayward Q fall short. 16.a6 b4 17.a7 0-0 17...c6 18.c5 18.a3 c6 19.e3 The W has gotten away and the N is doomed. 16.b2 c6 17.a3 Aiming for Qc5. b4 18.a4 cd4 19.xd7 xd7 20.xd4 xd4 21.e4 Black resigned. Material loss cannot be avoided. 21.e4 c2 21...c5 22.xc5 22.ac1 g4 23.f3 1–0

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Eugene E. Colman

    The name Eugene E. Colman (October 11, 1878 – July 20, 1964) is probably unfamiliar to most readers, but he was a Master level British amateur. 

    He graduated from Cambridge University with a law degree and entered service in the Malay States. When he retired, he stayed on in Malaysia and set up youth clubs throughout the country. 

    He tied for 9th-10th (out of 15) in Hamburg 1910, in the 17th DSB Congress, Hauptturnier A event. The tournament was won by Gersz Rotlewi. Carl Carls was second. Carl Ahues and Karel Hromadka tied for third. Edward Lasker was fifth.

    Colman’s name is attached to the Colman Variation of the Two Knights Defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Qf3 Rb8). 

 

 

    During World War II Colman was interned in Changi CivilianInternees Camp in Singapore from 1942 until 1945. It was during his interment that he analyzed the variation. He did so despite the hardships endured during the Japanese occupation; about 850 POWs died in the camp. 

    After the war Colman returned to England and lived in Wimbledon where he was an active member of the Wimbledon Chess Club. He passed away in Roehampton in 1964 and was buried in Gap Road Cemetery not far from Henry Bird.

 

   In the following game from Tunbridge Wells 1911, he defeats Herbert Jacobs (1863-1950) who at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century was among the strongest players of England. A natural player, his lack of book knowledge prevented him from reaching the highest levels. He was a barrister ny profession. 

ChessBase

Eugene E. Colman–Herbert L. Jacobs1–0D02Tunbridge Wells1911Stockfish 16

D06: Queen's Gambit: Symmetrical Defense 1.d4 d5 2.f3 f6 3.c4 c5 This uncommon variation has not stood the test of time. 4.cxd5 xd5 5.e4 f6 6.d5 6.dxc5 equalizes at best. xd1+ 7.xd1 xe4 8.e3 c6 9.b5 d7 10.bd2 f6 11.e2 g6 12.c4 g7 13.hd1 0-0 6.c3 cxd4 7.xd4 xd4 8.xd4 is favorable fr white. For example... e5 9.db5 a6 10.f3 b4 11.e3 and white is better. 6...e6 7.b5+ 7.c3 exd5 8.exd5 d6 9.b5+ d7 10.0-0 Reiss,T (2347)-Mufic,G (2382) Budapest 2002 is equal. 7...d7 8.dxe6 This can hardly be considered bad, but white does not get anything more than adequate compensation for the B. 8.xd7+ is a good alternative. Todorov,O (2339)-Stankovic,S (2047) St Chely d'Aubrac 2003 continued xd7 9.c3 exd5 10.exd5 d6 11.0-0 with about equal chances. 8...xb5 9.exf7+ e7 10.xd8+ After this black gains the advantage. Keeping the Qs on with 10. Qb3 would have kept things even. xd8 11.c3 c6 11...c4 regaining the P was also possible. but black reasons that it is not going anywhere. 12.f4 xf7 13.0-0-0+ c8 14.e5 h5 15.g5 12.g5 12.e5 works out poorly. d5 13.g5+ d7 14.0-0-0 e6 15.e4 Oddly, black's K is safe and well placed on e6 and white is at a loss for an active continuation. 12...h6 13.0-0-0+ 13.h4 was called for. It invites g5 14.g3 e7 15.e5 h7 15...g7 This costs the exchange, but is technically the best; black still has the upper hand after 16.g6+ xf7 17.xh8+ xh8 White has a R+P vs B+N. Not too many players would find this position one they would want to play regardless of the engine evaluation. 16.0-0-0 bd7 17.xc6+ bxc6 18.d6 c8 19.e5 Black is better, but white has active play. 13...c8 It's understandable that black avoids a pin that he is in after 13...Nbd7. Nevertheless, 13...Nbd7 was exactly what he should have played. 13...bd7 14.e3 e7 15.e5 e4 16.xe4 xe4 17.he1 e6 With careful play black's advantage should prove decisive. 14.h4 g5 14...xe4 15.xe4 e7 16.e5 The threat is to play e5 and there is no good way to meet it. 14...a6 a pass to demonstrate the threat. 15.e5 h7 16.d8+ c7 17.e6 g5 18.e7 and it's clear that white is winning. 15.e5 But now that black is attacking the B and white has not yet advanced his Ps as in the previous note this move is faulty. Correct was 15.Bg3 15.g3 keeps the balance. h5 16.he1 h7 17.e5 xg3 18.hxg3 15...gxh4 16.exf6 What a mesy situation! Shootouts from this position resulted in black scoring 3 wins and two games were drawn, so practically speaking white is not without some chances of salvaging the game. xf3 This gives white quadrupled Ps, so haw could it possibly be a losing move, but that's exactly what it is! Either 16... Nd7 or 16...Rh7 keep a small advantage. 17.gxf3 Unfortunately for black now there is no way to meet the looming threat of Re8 h7 18.he1 xf7 19.e8+ The remainder of the game is butchery. c7 20.dd8 d7 21.c8+ d6 22.e4+ d5 23.xf8 b6 24.f7 e6 25.ce8+ e7 26.f4 d7 27.f6+ e6 28.g8 Black resigned. 1–0

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A Lucky Win for Horowitz

    When the US joined World War II the demand for just about everything skyrocketed. Among these were the metal needed for tin cans as well as the things that went into them. Meat, chocolate, coffee, coffee, cooking oils, sugar and other foods, even Girl Scout cookies, were limited or disappeared altogether. 

    To buy rationed foods, shoppers had to produce the right ration stamps or coupons. To control spending and discourage hoarding coupons and stamps were only good for certain periods of time. Just because shoppers had coupons there was no guarantee the items would be on the shelves at the grocery store. 

    In 1943, the average life expectancy for men was 62.4 and 64.4 for women. The average movie theater ticket cost 30 cents. A gallon of gas cost 21 cents. A dozen eggs cost 57 cents. 

    A mystery involved a Navy ship, the USS Eldridge, in the Philadelphia Navy Shipyard happened...it involved invisibility and teleportation. Was it a hoax? The Philadelphia Experiment 

    In the chess world in 1943, the US Amateur championship was won by Ariel Mengarini and Herman Steiner won the California Open State Championship with the score of 17-0. Israel A. Horowitz won the 44th US Open, held in Syracuse, New York. 

    The FBI prevented Humphrey Bogart from playing postal chess because they believed chess notation miht be a secret code. One wonders if they were not just harassing him. Director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, was a weird man, so who knows? 

     On March 3, 1943, Bobby Fischer (1943-2008) was born in Chicago. On April 24, Walter Frere (born in1874) died in New York at the age of 69. He was one of the top amateur chess players in New York City. His father had helped organize the First American Chess Congress of 1857 that was won by Paul Morphy. Another American player lost that year was Stasch Mlotkowski (1881-1943 who) died in Gloucester City, New Jersey at the age of 62. 

     Due to the war a gaggle if foreign masters were lost: Henryk Pogoriely (1908-1943) was murdered by the Nazis in Pawiak prison in Warsaw. Abram Rabinovich (1878-1943) starved to death in Moscow. Alexander Romanovsky (1880-1943) died in Russia. Romanian master Emmanuel Sapira (1900-1943) died in Belgium. 

    Mirko Broeder (1911-1943) was murdered by the Nazis. Vasily O. Smyslov (1881-1953), the future World Champion’s father, died in Russia. Polish master Abram Szprio (1912-1943) died at Auschwitz as did Belgian-French master Leon Monosson (1892-1943). 

    Gunnar Gundersen (1882-1943) died in Melbourne. Karlis Betins (1867-1943) died in Riga, Latvia. Mexican-British master Adrian Garcia Conde (1886-1943) died in London. Latvian master Vladimir Petrov (1907-1943) died in a Russian gulag. 

    Karl Berndtsson (1892-1943) died on Gothenburg, Sweden. Jan Kotrc (1862-1943) died in Czechoslovakia. Heinrich Wolf (1875-1943) died in Austria.r. Polish master Edward Gerstenfeld was shot by the Nazis in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. 

    Mikhail Barulin (1897-1943) died in a Russian prison. He had been arrested. Because he refused to sign a confession or denounce other chess problemists. Botvinnik supported Barulin’s arrest. 

    The US Champion Samuel Reshevsky annexed the Metropolitan (New York City) Speed Championship which was played at the home of L. Walter Stephens, a major organizer who financed many national tournaments. 

    Stephens is best remembered as the tournament director who wrongly forfeited Arnold Denker after Reshevsky 's flag had fallen during their game in the 1942 US Championship. 

    Stephens picked up the clock from behind and turned it around to look at it. When he did so, the fallen flag was on Denker’s side of the board, so Sthephens forfeited Denker. Howls of protest from everybody (except Reshevsky) did not sway Stephens who flat out refused to change his decision. 

 

    The New York City speed tournament was a double round robin with the games played at a ten seconds a move. Reshevsky’s play was ruthless and only Weaver Adams, Isaac Kashdan and Al Horowitz managed to nick him for a draw. For his efforts Reshevsky was rewarded with first prize of $40.00 which had the buyinmh power of about $709 today! What kind of chess did they play at 10 seconds a move? Check out Horowitz’ lucky win in this game.

 

ChessBase

Weaver W. Adams–I. A. Horowitz0–1C28New York City Speed Championship1943Stockfish 16

C28: Vienna Game 1.e4 e5 2.c3 f6 3.c4 The original idea of the Vienna Game was to play a delayed King's Gambit, but in modern play ehite often plays more quietly by fianchettoing his King's bishop. Adams famously claimed that the Vienna Game led to a forced win for white. c6 4.d3 a5 5.f3 Adams goes his own way . 5.Nge2 is the main line. xc4 6.dxc4 c6 7.ge2 d6 8.h3 e6 9.b3 d5 Perhaps this is a bit premature. Black has several safer moves, 9...O-O, for example. 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.g5 11.exd5 xd5 12.0-0 xc3 13.xc3 with a slightly better gane. 11...dxe4 More exact was 11...d4 12.xe4 e7 13.xf6 gxf6 Evidently Horowitz was hoping that his two Bs and the semi-open g-file would give him attacking chances, but things should not have worked out that way. 14.4g3 14.2g3 stays on course. a5+ 15.c3 0-0-0 16.0-0 with about equal chances. 14...a5+ 15.c3 0-0-0 16.0-0 The small difference between this position and the one after 14.N2g3 is that white has a well placed N on d4 and here he does not. It's enough of a difference that here black is better. hg8 16...d5 leads to a strong position after 17.e3 f5 17.f5 f8 18.c4 This blooper should lose. Oddly, the next tine this P moves it will lose for real. 18.eg3 keeps things equal. For instance... d5 19.e4 d3 20.e3 d5 21.f5+ e6 22.f3 etc. 18...c5 18...e4 wins the N on f4! 19.xe4 xf5 19.fg3 d4 Now the advantage swings over to white. 19...h5 keeps the balance. 20.e4 f5 21.xc5 xc5 20.xd4 xd4 21.xf6 c5 Horowitz is preparing a sacrificial attack with this move, but actually allows white to gain a decisive advantage. 21...g6 22.f3 d8 23.ae1 f5 and black is holding on. 22.ae1 xg3 The point behind his last move, but the whole idea is flawed. 23.xe5 23.fxg3 is not playable... f4+ 24.h2 xf6 25.xf6 and in the long run white'. two Rs will be no match against the Q and B. 23...b6 Maintaing the on on the f-Pawn...or so it seems. 24.c5 This closes the diagonal and makes fxg3 possible, but it loses the game. 24.fxg3 Things are not always what they seem! f4+ is met by 25.c5 xf1+ 25...xf6 26.cxb6 xf1+ 27.xf1 White has a won ending. 26.xf1 c6 27.e2 and white has a winning position. 24...xg2+ Thanks to white's last move black's idea proves successful...bnut only with this sacrifice. 25.h1 25.xg2 is even worse. xh3+ 26.xh3 xf6 25...c6 26.f3 dd2 27.h8+ c7 White resigned. There is a mate in 11. 27...c7 28.g5 xg5 29.f6 xc5 30.f4+ d6 31.xd6+ xd6 32.d1 xd1+ 33.g2 c2+ 34.g3 g1+ 35.f4 c3 36.e4 d5+ 37.d4 xf3 38.b4 d1# 0–1

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