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.

 

[Event "New York City Speed Championship"] [Site "?"] [Date "1943.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Weaver W. Adams"] [Black "I. A. Horowitz"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C28"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "54"] [EventDate "1943.??.??"] {C28: Vienna Game} 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 {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.} Nc6 4. d3 {[%mdl 32]} Na5 5. Qf3 {Adams goes his own way . 5.Nge2 is the main line.} Nxc4 6. dxc4 c6 7. Nge2 d6 8. h3 Be6 9. b3 d5 {Perhaps this is a bit premature. Black has several safer moves, 9...O-O, for example.} 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Bg5 ( 11. exd5 Nxd5 12. O-O Nxc3 13. Nxc3 {with a slightly better gane.}) 11... dxe4 {More exact was 11...d4} 12. Nxe4 Be7 13. Bxf6 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. N4g3 (14. N2g3 { stays on course.} Qa5+ 15. c3 O-O-O 16. O-O {with about equal chances.}) 14... Qa5+ 15. c3 O-O-O 16. O-O {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.} Rhg8 (16... Qd5 { leads to a strong position after} 17. Qe3 f5) 17. Nf5 Bf8 18. c4 {[%mdl 8192] This blooper should lose. Oddly, the next tine this P moves it will lose for real.} (18. Neg3 {keeps things equal. For instance...} Qd5 19. Ne4 Qd3 20. Ne3 Bd5 21. Qf5+ Be6 22. Qf3 {etc.}) 18... Bc5 (18... e4 {wins the N on f4!} 19. Qxe4 Bxf5) 19. Nfg3 Bd4 {Now the advantage swings over to white.} (19... h5 { keeps the balance.} 20. Ne4 f5 21. Nxc5 Qxc5) 20. Nxd4 Rxd4 21. Qxf6 Qc5 { Horowitz is preparing a sacrificial attack with this move, but actually allows white to gain a decisive advantage.} (21... Rg6 22. Qf3 Rd8 23. Rae1 f5 { and black is holding on.}) 22. Rae1 Rxg3 {The point behind his last move, but the whole idea is flawed.} 23. Rxe5 (23. fxg3 {is not playable...} Rf4+ 24. Kh2 Rxf6 25. Rxf6 {and in the long run white'. two Rs will be no match against the Q and B.}) 23... Qb6 {Maintaing the on on the f-Pawn...or so it seems.} 24. c5 {[%mdl 8192] This closes the diagonal and makes fxg3 possible, but it loses the game.} (24. fxg3 {Things are not always what they seem!} Rf4+ {is met by} 25. c5 Rxf1+ (25... Rxf6 26. cxb6 Rxf1+ 27. Kxf1 {White has a won ending.}) 26. Qxf1 Qc6 27. Qe2 {and white has a winning position.}) 24... Rxg2+ {[%mdl 512] Thanks to white's last move black's idea proves successful...bnut only with this sacrifice.} 25. Kh1 (25. Kxg2 {is even worse.} Bxh3+ 26. Kxh3 Qxf6) 25... Qc6 26. f3 Rdd2 27. Qh8+ Kc7 {White resigned. There is a mate in 11.} (27... Kc7 28. Rg5 Rxg5 29. Qf6 Rxc5 30. Qf4+ Qd6 31. Qxd6+ Kxd6 32. Rd1 Rxd1+ 33. Kg2 Rc2+ 34. Kg3 Rg1+ 35. Kf4 Rc3 36. Ke4 Bd5+ 37. Kd4 Rxf3 38. b4 Rd1#) 0-1