Smyslov Pulls Kottnauer's Strings

    The tournament held at Groningen, Netherlands from August 13 to September 7, 1946, was a watershed in chess history. Not only was it the first major international tournament after World War II, it marked the first time the Soviet Union sent a team of players to a foreign event. Their results confirmed the growing recognition of the great strength of Soviet players. Of the Soviets, only Alexander Kotov had a middling result, but he defeated both of the top finishers.

    Mikhail Botvinnik and Max Euwe were in a close race to the end. Botvinnik had a lead much of the way, but successive losses to Kotov and Yanofsky in rounds 14 and 15 let Euwe go ahead by a point. However, Euwe then drew three in a row while Botvinnik won three in a row to pull ahead by a half point going into the last round. 

    In the last round Botvinnik’s nerves tool over and he was outplayed by Najdorf, but Euwe blundered and lost a drawn position against Kotov and as a result Botvinnik and Euwe tied for first. 

     For Botvinnik, it was his first outright victory outside the Soviet Union and for Euwe, it was his last great international success. 

 

 

    As for the American representative, US Champion Arnold Denker, he had been playing non-stop since the previous year and his even score was respectable, but deeply disappointing for him personally. 

    Denker’s collapse started in round 11 when he e\suffered the worst mental blackout of his career against Euwe. Denker was tied for third with Smyslov at 7-3 he had already drawn (Botvinnik, Smyslov and Najdorf) or defeated (Szabo) then leaders. 

    Then against Euwe he reached a winning position, but at move 47 he was told that there was a Transatlantic phone call from his wife which he took because he had plenty of time on his clock. Mrs. Denker informed him that while he was out of the country that Reuben Fine and Samuel Reshevsky had conspired against him and convinced Maurice Wertheim, captain of the US team in the upcoming match against the Soviet Union to play on the top boards even though Denker was US Champion. 

    When an angry Denker return to his game against Euwe, he blundered on move 47 and then on move 48 and had to resign on move 52. He proceeded to score only 2.5-5.5 in the rest of the tournament. 

    By the way, the US team (Reshevsky, Fine, Denker, Horowitz, Kashdan, Steiner, Pinkus, Kevitz, Dake and Ulvestad) got crushed by the Soviets (Botvinnik, Keres, Smyslov, Boleslavsky, Kotov, Flohr, Ragozin, Bondarevky, Lilienthal and Bronstein) by a score of 7.5-12.5. Only Kashdan, Kevitz and Ulvestad managed to score a win for the US and Denker lost both of his games to Smyslov. 

    In the following game we see Kottnauer reach a position where everything looks safe, but in reality Smyslov was pulling the strings when he exploited a seemingly innocuous pin.

    For Denker in his game against Euwe, this game would have been a good example of why attention is required right up until the opponent resigns. Only three moves before the end Smyslov still could have allowed his opponent to get right back into the game.

ChessBase

Vasily Smyslov–Cenek Kottnauer1–0B84Groningen14Groningen NED30.08.1946Stoxkfish 16

B84: Sicilian Scheveningen 1.e4 c5 2.f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 f6 5.c3 a6 6.e2 e6 7.0-0 b5 8.f3 a7 An excellent move! The R is removed from the diagonal and at the same time prepares to make its way to the c- or d-file at the right time. 8...b7 is met by 9.e5 which wins. For example... xf3 10.xf3 d5 10...dxe5 11.xe6 fxe6 12.xa8 11.xd5 exd5 12.exd6 xd6 13.e1+ e7 14.g5 f6 15.e6 d7 16.xg7+ d8 17.xe7 xe7 18.xf6 9.e2 Brilliant! Many strong players would probably try to take advantage of the position of the R on a7, but black has a strong answer to that idea. 9.e3 c7 10.b3 d7 10...b4 11.e2 bd7 with equal chances. 11.a4 b4 12.e2 b7 13.c3 with complete equality. 9...c7 Alas! This is not the right time! Smyslov will soon take advantage of the Rs position. The right way was 9...Be7 developing and preparing to castle. 10.d1 10.a4 was a little stronger. bxa4 11.xa4 bd7 The wrong N moves to d7. The other N would have maintained equality. 12.d2 e5 13.f5 White is considerably better. Riff,J (2474)-Guliyev,N (2570) Nancy 2008 10...bd7 11.a4 White needs to open up the game, and in this the position of the black R is going ti be to white's advantage.. . bxa4 11...b4 12.a2 b7 12...a5 13.b5 is very good for white. 13.xb4 with the more active position. 12.xa4 It's somewhat surprising to find that these same moves were plsyed 50 yearsd later! b7 12...e5 13.f4 fd7 14.g3 b7 15.h5 g6 16.f4 c4 17.b3 gxh5 18.xe6 fxe6 19.xh5+ e7 20.h4+ Black resigned. Anagnostopoulos,D (2495)-Banikas, H (2470) Kavala 1997 f6 21.xf6+ xf6 22.g5+ wins the Q. 13.e5 A typical move in this type of position. White must not allow black to complete his development because then the strength of black's center (two Os in the center and pressure on e4) would make itself felt. The move played opens more lines for the white pieces. As a result black will soon be faced by insoluble problems. xe5 14.xb7+- xb7 15.xa6 Black's position is now lost and it happened very quickly. b8 16.c6 xc6 17.xc6+ d7 A casual glance at the position may give the impression that black is not threatened by anything. However, Smyslov exploits the pin on the N in a most instructive way. His attack is based on two tactical motifs. 1) opening of lines for the R and B and the 2) diverting black's Q. 18.c5 Much stroinger than the immediate 18.Bf4 which should also win. dxc5 19.f4 The crusher. This game is a good example of why attention is required right up until the opponent resigns. 19.xd7 One wonders if this was what Kottnauer was expecting. If so, he salvages the game! xd7 20.a8 xa8 21.xa8+ e7 And black is right back in the gaem. In Shootouts from tjid podition all 5 games were drawn. 19...d6 19...xf4 20.a8+ e7 21.xb7 and the N is lost. 20.xd6 b6 21.xd7+ Black resigned 21.xd7+ xd7 22.xb8+ c6 23.e5 is an easy win. 1–0

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Elliot Stearns, Ohio Champion

    The 1916 United States presidential election was won by the incumbent Woodrow Wilson and Charlie Chaplin signed on with Mutual Studios and earns an unprecedented $10,000 a week. In buying power in today’s dollars that’s over $280,000 per week, or $14 million a year. That’s not a lot; in 2022 an actor/filmmaker/producer names Tyler Perry raked in $175 million. 

    Chess players didn’t fare as well financially as Chaplin. In 1916, Siegbert Tarrasch defeated Jacques Mieses by a score of 9-4 in a match played in in Berlin. With Germany in the middle of World War I things were tough and for his victory Tarrach won a half pound of butter. 

     In Ohio, in 1916, the biggest news of the year was probably what turned out to be the last of the water works tunnel disasters that took place in Cleveland; the first one occurred in 1898 and all told, in these disasters 58 men were killed.

    These tunnels were water intakes under Lake Erie that extended beyond the polluted shoreline. The disasters included gas explosions, a fire and on July 24, 1916, when workmen digging in a 10 foot wide tunnel, they hit a pocket of natural gas. A spark triggered an explosion, killing 11 men and later 10 would-be rescuers who were overcome by gas died when they entered the pressurized tunnel. Twelve man were rescued. 

    Almost nothing is known of the Ohio Chess Championship prior to 1948. What is known is that prior to 1945 the state championship was determined by match play,

    Elliott Edmund Stearns, Sr. (October 7, 1891 – June 23, 1969, 77 years old) was the Ohio Champion in 1916 and 1917. Stearns was the Ohio Champion once again in 1948, scoring 5.5 in a 6-round Swiss event in Columbus that had 32 players. He claimed the longest span of years between titles, a record that he held until it was broken by the acerbic James R. Schroeder (1927-2017) who won the title in 1950 and 35 years later in 1985. 

    Stearns, a corporate attorney from the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights, played Capablanca three times in exhibitions in the early 1920s; he lost two of the games, but in 1922, he managed to score a win. 

    Today's game is one that Stearns played in a 1916 match for the State Championship. He was successful in his defense of his title in the match which was concluded on November 22, 1916 when he won the eighth and last game (this one) against Arthur D. Harmon, also of Cleveland. 

    The match ended up in a 4-4 tie, so Stearns retained the title, but only by the skin of his teeth because after 6 games Harmon was leading 4-2.

ChessBase

Elliott E Stearns–Arthur D Harmon1–0A83Ohio State Champ Match, Cleveland1916Stockfish 16

A83: Dutch Defense: Staunton Gambit 1.d4 f5 The Dutch has never bee popular, but Alekhine and Botvinnik frequently play it...a good recommendation! 2.e4 The rare Staunton Gambit. Once upon a time it was a feared weapon, but it's rarely played even in 1916, because theory has shown how to neutralize it. fxe4 There is really no good reason to not take the P. 3.c3 f6 4.g5 c6 A note in the January 1917 American Chess Bulletin says this is was played "to prevent Nd5 at all costs". The main (and probably better) alternative is 4...g6 5.f3 exf3 There is no good way to avoid this capture and white has enough compensation for his P. 6.xf3 d6 7.d3 7.c4 g4 8.0-0 bd7 9.d2 b6 Black is doing well. Garcia Guerrero,I (2300)-Shimanov,A (2625) Katowice POL 2014 7...g4 8.0-0 Probably best. 8.h3 This, too, is playable. h5 9.g4 f7 10.e2 bd7 11.f4 White is a little better. Gilea,L (2272)-Cirjan,D (2000) Baile Olanesti ROU 2010 8.d2 bd7 9.0-0-0 a5 10.de1 0-0-0 11.f4 Black stands well. Huang Qian (2416) -Mendoza,B (2132) Manila 2007 8...b6 9.h1 bd7 Om this occasion the b-Pawn is immune. 9...xb2 loses to 10.e1 a6 10...b6 11.e4 xf3 12.xd6+ d8 13.f7+ 11.b1 a3 12.h3 xf3 13.xf3 0-0-0 14.b5 a4 14...cxb5 15.f5+ 15.f5+ b8 16.a3 c4 17.a5 c8 18.xa7 and wins. 10.d2 0-0-0 11.e3 c7 While this move gets the Q off the Bs line of fire, it's too slow and now white is able to whip up a strong attack. 11...xf3 12.gxf3 12.d5 is not as dangerous as it looks. After a5 13.xf3 xd5 14.xd5 xd2 15.xd2 cxd5 it's black who can claim the advantage. 12...d5 Eliminating all danger from the push d5 13.ab1 c7 offers a solid defense. 12.g5 The attack begins. e8 13.h3 h5 14.e6 a5 15.a3 The threat is to win black's Q. b5 15...f7 wasn't much better. 16.f5 d5 17.b4 b6 And noww...drum roll... 18.xd5 and the black Q is trapped. 15...g8 A pass to demonstrate the threat to black's Q. 16.b4 b6 17.d5 16.b4 b6 17.d5 c5 18.bxc5 xc5 19.xb5 fe4 20.xe4 xe4 21.d3 21.b4 Not that it matters, but this is a forced mate...in 8 moves. c5 22.xc5 dxc5 23.a4 d8 24.ab1 d6 25.d7+ b8 26.c6 xc6 27.xc6 c4 28.c7+ a8 29.c8+ b8 30.xb8# 21...g3+ There is no way blakl can avoid getting mated. 22.g1 g6 23.c4+ b7 24.xb6 c8 25.a6+ xb6 26.b5# A very nice concluding attack by Stearns. Time used: Stearns: 1 hour, 14 minutesd. Harmon: 1hour, 3 minutes. 1–0

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Horne Gores Olafsson

    At the time the 1953/54 Hastings tournament was one of the most exciting and interesting of all the Hastings events. 

    Not only was the quality of the play considered higher than in many of the previous Hastings events, it had, for that time, the unusual, but most welcome, participation of Russian Grandmasters and it was a success for the British as C. H. O’D. Alexander tied for first with the redoubtable David Bronstein. Alexander was the only British player ever to have won the first prize outright in a Hastings which he dis in 1946-47. 

    An unusual situation in this tournament was the custom of having five British players and five foreigners, which had previously been the norm, was abandoned.The reason was that only a few of the leading British masters were available to participate. 

 

 

    The two other British players were Robert Wade, winner of the British Championship in 1952, and Dennis Horne, who had done very well at the 1952 International Team Tournament at Helsinki where playing on first reserve board he had won a silver medal with a 5.5-3.5 score. Hector Rossetto of Argentina took the gold on that board with an 8-2 score. 

    The last place finish of, by now forgotten, Dennis Horne (October 19, 1920 0 May 3, 2015, 94 years old) was disappointing. 

    In his college days he was a strong player at Oxford University which he entered immediately after World War II in which he served in the Army. Prior to Helsinki and Hastings Horne tied for second behind Golombek in the 1949 British championship.

    I could not locate a photo of him, but he was described as having a “military style mustache”, smoked a pipe and enjoyed solving the Times crossword puzzles. The King's Regulations state that, "If a mustache is worn, it is to be trimmed and not below the line of the lower lip." In my military days were were once told that we could grow beards and mustaches, but they had to be kept shaved as close to the skin as possible. 

    Outside of chess Horne was a prep school master and due due a growing interest in bridge he devoted less time to chess and this Hastings tournament was his last top flight event. The last event I was able to locate that he played in was the 1987 Guernsey Open, but a crosstable was not available. Chess metrics estimates Horne’s best ever rating to have been 2494 in 1952. 

    In the following game from Hastings, Horne managed to break his run of defeats when he scored against a young 18 year old Fridrik Olafsson. The game was equal until Horne erred on his 27th move, but Olafsson failed to take advantage of it and instead made a blunder that lost the game.

 

ChessBase

Dennis M. Horne–Fridrik Olafsson1–0C35Hastings 1953/544Hastings ENG02.01.1954Stockfish 16

C35: King's Gambit Accepted 1.e4 e5 2.f4 A favorite of Horne. exf4 3.f3 e7 Does black intend to play ...Bh4+? 4.c4 This is by far the most common move here. f6 4...h4+ is usual and it leads to some interesting play after 5.f1 5.g3 is not quite so good because after fxg3 6.0-0 gxh2+ 7.h1 7.xh2 d5 8.xd5 f6 is best met by 9.xf7+ xf7 10.h5+ with a wild position. 7...d5 black has a promising position. 5...d5 6.xd5 f6 7.b3 This is a relatively unexplored position. Black has tried 7...Bg4 and 7...Ng4, but 7...Nh5 looks interesting. g4 5.e5 g4 6.d4 d5 Black could still play 6...Bh4+ if he wanted to. 7.exd6 Best xd6 Threatening ...Qb4+. 8.c3 Not at all bad, but white usually plays 8.O-O e6 9.d3 e3 10.e2 c6 11.e4 d7 12.xe3 fxe3 13.c3 0-0-0 14.xe3 f5 15.f2 It would have been more precise to transfer the N to the Q-side with 15.Ned2 intending to go to b3. f6 16.0-0 h6 17.fe1 he8 18.e5 This results in white getting a slightly inferior position. Better was 18.Bc2 which clears the square d3 for the NB on f2. xe5 19.dxe5 d5 20.f4 f8 21.ad1 g5 22.a4 White is hoping to play e6 at teh appropriate time. e7 23.b5 c5 24.b4 Black gets a distinct advantahe after this. 24.c4 is correct. e4 25.e6 xd1 26.xd1 26.xd1 a6 27.xc6 xc6 Black is better thanks to the weak e-Pawn. 26...d8 27.c1 e8 28.b4 d4 29.xc6 xc6 30.d1 b6 with slightly the better game. 24...xc3 25.xc6 xc6 25...xc6 secures a significant advantage... 26.xa7 xd1 27.xd1 b6 28.a6+ b8 29.e2 xb4 and white;s weak Ps addure black of decisive advantage. 26.xa7 b6 27.e6 This is not advisable at this point. 27.c1 keeps things even after b7 28.a4 xg2 29.e6 fe8 30.c2 e7 31.a4 f4 32.a5 d5 33.e5 bxa5 34.bxa5 a7 35.a6 g4 36.c5 xc5 37.xc5 The complications are great, but the chances are equal. Five Shootouts d\from this position ended in draws. 27...xe6 A logical looking move, but it's a game losing blunder. 27...fe8 ua a winner. 28.a4 xe6 29.a6+ b8 30.xe6 xe6 31.a5 e8 32.axb6 e1+ 33.f1 xf1+ 34.xf1 cxb6 with a won ending. 28.c1 ...and wins! d6 This loses outright but trhere was nothing that comes close to saving the game. 29.xe6 A nifty conclusion. f4 The q has to guard c7 30.ec6 f7 31.a8+ d7 32.d1+ Black resigned 1–0

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Swiderski At Coburg, 1904

Rudolf Awiderski

    Coburg is a town in SE Germany with a population of about 41, 500. Because it was little damaged in World War II, Coburg retains many historic buildings making it a popular tourist destination. In 1904, it hosted the 14th tournament of the German Chess Association. 

    Curt Von Bardeleben of Berlin, Carl Schlechter of Vienna and Rudolf Swiderski of Leipsic shared first place. Georg Marco of Vienna and Ossi[ S. Bernstein of Berlin, finished a half point behind. 

    This tournament marked the return to form of the veteran Bardeleben and so for him it was a pleasant result. Swiderski, who first appeared on the German chess scene in 1899 and was still improving, fulfilled expectations. Carl Schlechter performed as expected. 

    Georg Marco was invincible, drawing ten games and winning two. Earlier at the strong Cambridge Springs tournament the good natured Marco had a similar feat, scoring +5 -2 =8/

    The young (21 years old) Bernstein had an enviable result, his only loss being to Caro. Schlechter's single defeat occurred in the sixth round, when he lost to Swiderski. 

    An unusual feature (for that day) of the tournament was the high percentage of draws with 40 of the 78 games (51.3 percent) ending peacefully. 

    The winner of today’s game was the strange Rudolf Swiderski (July 28, 1878 – August 2, 1909, 31 years old. 

 

 

    Writing in My Fifty Years of Chess, Frank Marshall said, "Of all the chess masters I ever met, Swiderski was the most weird…Swiderski, en passant, was a peculiar fellow. He made very few friends, had a gentle but melancholy disposition, was a fine violinist, ate raw meat, committed suicide…” 

    Re eating raw meat...a 2022 article in the Daily Mirror claimed that an American vlogger who had spent the last 166 days only eating raw chicken, fish and beef could have been losing his mind according to some of his concerned Instagram followers. They began growing concerned when he started sharing increasingly bizarre posts and some thought it was due to the raw meat. There are a number of problems associated with eating raw meat, but doing so will not cause insanity. 

    Some people eat raw meat, believing it to be healthier than cooked meat. And, some people just enjoy the flavor and texture. Humans are omnivores and have the digestive juices needed to deal with meat, cooked or not. 

    The dangers of eating raw meat are not related to indigestion, but to infections. Cooking kills germs. In the United States it;s estimated that 48 million people get sick because of food borne diseases and 3,000 die every year. 

    On the plus side, eating raw meat is not entirely without merit because cooking destroys vitamins and other nutrients. Also, raw meat contains animal enzymes that are beneficial for health and it can be easier to digest. 

    I have digressed a bit so back to Swiderski who master who made his mark in 1900 when he won first place at the Munich Hauptturnier. After that he played in eight major tournaments from 1902 to 1908. 

    His death appears to be surrounded by some confusion, but the Trenton, New Jersey Evening Times of August 11, 1909, reported, "The body of M. Swiderski, the noted chess player, who committed suicide on August 2 was found today in the room where he had poisoned himself and then fired a bullet into this head. The body was badly decomposed. The date of the suicide was determined by a note left by Swiderski. Swiderski was recently convicted of perjury in a trial that involved him in a disgraceful scandal." Exactly what the disgraceful scandal was is not known. 

    At Coburg Swiderski was in clear first place in rounds ten and eleven and then he lost g to the tailender Walter John in the penultimate round and allowing both Schlechter and Bardeleben to catch him. 

 

ChessBase

Carl Schlechter–Rudolf Swiderski0–1D60Coburg (Meisterturnier)6Coburg GER23.07.1904Stockfish 16

Queen's Gambit Declined 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.c3 f6 4.g5 bd7 5.e3 e7 6.f3 0-0 7.d3 b6 8.0-0 b7 9.c1 c5 10.e2 c8 11.fd1 11.cxd5 xd5 12.xe7 xe7 13.a6 7f6 14.xd5 exd5 15.dxc5 bxc5 16.b5 Neither side can boast of any advantage an the game Kotanjian,T (2529)-Hovhannisyan,K (2107) Jermuk ARM 2013 was eventually drawn. 11...cxd4 12.exd4 Of all the captures available to white this is the least effective. 12.xd4 e5 13.cxd5 xd3 14.xd3 a6 15.db5 losing. Correct was 15.dxe6 equals xb5 16.e4 xd3 17.xd3 xd5 18.xe7 xe7 White is lost. Masood,S-Azahari,M (2140) Elista 1998 12...dxc4 13.xc4 xf3 14.gxf3 h5 15.xe7 White has managed to drift into an inferior position, but keeping the Bs on with 15.Be3 was better. xe7 16.e4 h4 It's hard to believe, but in the next few move Swiderski is going to whip up a formidable attack 17.h1 f4 18.e3 h8 19.a6 cd8 20.f1 f5 This move is the key to black's success' it enables a winning Rook lift. 21.d6 f6 22.c7 At first glance it may look like white has a good position because the R on the 7th rank looks impressive. In fact, white has managed to set a little trap here, byt Swiderski is alert to it. g8 White's position is lost so he resigned. There is no way to meet the coming ...Rh6 which is not possible immediately. 22...h6 loses to 23.f7+ g8 24.xh6+ xh6 25.d5 and white is winning. 22...g8 23.dc1 h6 24.h3 xh3 25.xh6 25.xh3 xh3+ 26.g1 h1# 25...xf2+ 26.g1 g3+ 27.g2 gxh6 28.b7 h3+ 29.h1 29.f1 f2# 29...f4 30.1c2 e2 31.xe2 xc7 etc. 0–1

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Prague 1946, It Could Have Been a Great Event

Ivan Rohacek

    Needless to say, beginning with the 1939 Olympiad in Buenos Aires, World War II put a damper on international chess. The after the war when Alekhine died in March of 1946 things were even more clouded. 

    Fortunately, in the summer of 1946, FIDE met the challenge and reestablished itself and managed to fix the World Championship situation. 

    The 1946 Prague international was a memorial to Karel Treybal and Vera Menchik. Treybal (1885-1941) was a Czech lawyer and chess player who was born in a village southwest of Prague. 

    On May 30,1941, he was arrested, imprisoned and charged with concealing weapons for use by resistance forces and the illegal possession of a pistol. Wjether the charges were true or not he was condemned to death and executed by the Nazis on October 2, 1941. 

    Women’s World Champion Vera Menchik was the dominant female player before the war. World War II in Europe ended on May 8, 1945, but on June 26, 1944, Menchik, her sister and mother died when their house in London took a direct hit by a V-1 flying bomb. 

    The Prague International Tournament could have been one of the greatest of the post-war tournaments...but it wasn’t. In fact, both American chess magazines, Chess Review and Chess Life barely mentioned it. The tournament started on October 2nd with a much weaker entry than had been anticipated mostly due to the withdrawal of the Russians. 

    The organizers had hopes that the winner would be able to advance to a world championship tournament. To that end they had invited Mikhakl Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Paul Keres, Salo Flohr and David Bronstein, plus Max Euwe. Once source sats Samuel Reshevsky and Reuben Fine were the American invitees, but the October 5, 1946 issue of Chess Life says the American invitee was Herman Steiner. 

    Soviet authorities the Soviets threw a monkey wrench into the Prague event when they waited until two days before the start of the tournament to announce that they would not be sending anybody. Their excuse was that the event conflict with the semifinals of their national championship. The announcement necessitated a delayed start to the tournament. Additionally, Savielly Tartakower had accepted his invitation, but was delayed due to travel difficulties and he never arrived. Karel Opocensky replaced him. 

    The result was that the lineup that was badly weakened and with it the prospect of the winner getting a shot at the World Championship tournament. Even so, it was an interesting race for first. 

    Jan Foltys had a fast start winning his first four games, but his pace slowed with two draws followed by two losses. Three draws in the final five rounds were only good enough for a 4th place tie. 

    Svetozar Gligoric also started quite well, scoring five wins and a draw in the first six round, bit that pace was too good to keep up and his hopes faded when he only won one more game and lost two. 

    Yugoslavia’s Petar Trifunovic started poorly with three losses in the first two rounds. He lost no further games, scoring seven wins and four draws which enabled his to tie for second place with Sweden’s Gosta Stoltz. Stoltz also began slowly, scoring +2 -2 =3, but he had a strong finish, winning five and drawing one. 

    The winner, Miguel Najdorf, started well, losing only one game while winning six in the first seven rounds. In the penultimate round he drew with Stoltz and that clinched first place. 

 

 

    The loser of the following game was Carlos Guimard (1913-1998) of Argentina. Chessetrics estimated his highest ever rating to hve been 2647 in April of 1939 making him the 15th ranked player in the world. He was warded the IM title in 1950 and the GM title in 1960. He won the Argentine championship in 1937, 1938 and 1941. 

    The winner was the virtually unknown Ivan Rohacek (1909-1977) of Czechoclavakia. Chess metrics estimates his higest rating to have been 2520 in 1944 placing him at number 62 in the world. He won Czech championships in 1930, 1936 and 1939. In July 1992, Slovakia, which is where Rohacek was from) declared itself a sovereign state and began negotiations with the Czech Republic to disband the country that had been Czechoslovakia. On January 1, 1993, Slovakia and the Czech Republic became two separate autonomous countries. 

ChessBase

Ivan Rohacek–Carlos Guimard1–0C13Prague7Prague CSR11.10.1946Stocjfiah 16

C14: French: Alekhine-Albin-Chatard Attack 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.c3 f6 4.g5 e7 5.e5 fd7 6.h4 This gambit was devised by Adolf Albin and played by the French player Eugene Chatard, but it was not taken seriously until the game Alekhine–Fahrni, Mannheim 1914. Today it is known as the Alekhine-Albin–Chatard Attack. White offers to sacrificed a P to keep the black K in the center, as castling on either side appears unsafe f6 Black may decline the gambit in several ways, but this is not one of them. 6...c5 is good. 6...xg5 Accepting the gambit. In practice it's a bit risky for black to do so. 7.hxg5 xg5 8.h3 The reason for this move rather than 8. Nf3 is to play Qg4 e7 9.g4 White has the initiative. 7.d3 It's already apparent that black is going to be facing some pressure on the K-side. c5 7...fxg5 is just too risky. 8.h5+ g6 9.xg6+ hxg6 10.xh8+ and nobody would want to try and defend black's position. 7...c6 is worth a try, but after 8.exf6 xf6 9.f3 white wil play Qd2 and O-O-O with good attacking chances. 8.exf6 8.h5+ is better. f8 9.e3 Correct is 8. exf6 with a slight plus. fxe5 10.dxe5 d4 11.h3 dxe3 12.f3+ f6 13.exf6 exf2+ 14.xf2 d4+ 15.e2 xf6 Black has successfully defended himself and went on to win in Neatby,L-Haley,P Canada 1945 8...xf6 9.dxc5 bd7 Castling was better. 9...0-0 10.h5 h6 and black has no problems. 10.b5 10.h5 0-0 11.h6 g6 Black's position is difficult, but certainly defendable. 10...0-0 Black has survived the opening and is even a bit better because white has no real attacking chances. 11.f3 11.h5 h6 12.h4 xc5 and black is clearly better. 11...xc5 12.e2 a6 13.d3 xd3+ 14.xd3 b5 15.xf6 gxf6 16.0-0-0 f7 17.b1 As wiil be seen 17.a3 was more accurate. d7 Here Guimard's play gets just a bit passive and that's all Rohacek needs to renew his attack. 17...b4 18.e2 a5 19.h5 a4 20.ed4 b6 and it's white's turn to tend to his King. 18.g4 b4 19.e2 c7 This is just a bit too passive. 19...e5 a promising P sacrifice for active play. 20.xd5 b5 with equal chances. 20.g5 g7 20...fxg5 21.hxg5 b5 22.e3 xe2 23.xe2 f4 is no defense. White gains a decisive advantage with... 24.g6 hxg6 25.e5 g7 26.d3 A winning r-lift. f6 27.g4 e7 28.xf6+ xf6 29.f3 g7 30.fh3 Black cannot hold this position. 21.fd4 a5 Black presses on with his Q-side plans, nut he needed to turn his attemtion to the defense of his K. 21...fxg5 22.hxg5 e5 This counter in the center is much more effective thn playing on the Q-side. 23.f5 xf5 24.xf5 f8 and white can only clim a minimal advantage. 22.f5 Surprise! Black has overlooked a Q fork on his R and a8R. White wins! c8 22...exf5 23.xd5+ h8 24.xa8+ c8 25.xa5 with a won position. 23.xg7 xg7 24.gxf6+ xf6 The remainder of the game is a matter of technique. 25.g3+ xg3 26.fxg3 f7 27.g4 c7 28.g5 e5 29.c1 g6 30.d3 d6 31.df1 c8 32.f6+ g7 33.hf1 e8 Prevents Rf7+. 34.f4 xf4 35.6xf4 The ending is going to require some thought on white' prt, but Rohacek is up to the task of sqeezing out the win. b8? This hastens the end. 35...g6 was worth a try. 36.1f2 f5 And now white;s best course it to transpose into a won R+P ending. 37.xf5 exf5 38.xf5 c5 39.b3 holding up black's Ps. g6 40.f6+ g7 41.b2 Black is out of meaningful moves. c3 42.f5 h3 43.xd5 xh4 44.xa5 36.c1 e5 37.f6 h5 38.a6 e4 39.xa5 e3 40.xd5 g6 41.d7+ g8 42.c7 Black resigned. 42.c7 e2 43.e1 e8 44.c4 h5 Baiting a trap...white still wins, but taking the c0Pawn here would only make thing more difficult. 45.d4 45.xb4 d8 46.xe2 xe2 45...h6 45...f8 46.d2 wins easily. 46.gxh6 h7 47.d2 xh6 48.xb4 with a clear win. 1–0

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Ventnor City 1940

    In 1940, in the United States the military draft went into effect. The first Social Security checks were mailed on January 30th. The Pennsylvania Turnpike, the first multi-lane in the country opened. The first McDonald's hamburger stand opened in Pasadena, California. 

CBS demonstrated color television in New York City and WNBT, the first regularly operating television station, debuts in the city with an testimated 10,000 viewers. Superman, the radio show debuted as did he first Bugs Bunny cartoon. In the world of science freeze drying was adapted for food preservation. Plasma was discovered to be a substitute for whole blood in transfusions. 

    On February 17, 1940, New England champion Harold Morton died in a car accident in Iowa and his passenger, I.A. Hprpwirz, was seriously injured. On April 9, 1940, the strong amateur player John F. Barry (1873-1940) died in West Roxbury, Massachusetts at the age of 66. 

    Adele Rivero won the US women's championship. Arnold Denker won the Manhattan Chess Club championship for the second year in a row. Samuel Reshevsky won his third US Championship. Reuben Fine took won the US Open in Dallas. 

    In the resort town of Ventnor City, New Jersey the second Ventnor tournament was held in early July. The players were especially pleased because the bonus money for non-prize- winners had been increased. 

    Shortly before the tournament was slated to start, it suffered two minor setbacks when Jacob Levin and Fred Reinfeld, who had originally accepted invitations, became unavailable at the last moment for business reasons. Fortunately two other players, the strong Jeremiah Donovan and the not so strong L. Walter Stephens, were available. Jeremiah Donovan’s performance was a pleasant surprise as he reinforced the good impression he had previously made in the Marshall CC Championship. 

    An innovation of the tournament was the exclusive use, for the first time in tournament history, of all-electric clocks which were designed and made by one of the tournament officials, Gerald Phillips. The clocks worked very well, but they never caught on.

 

    The finish was exciting because both Sidney Bernstein and Milton Hanauer had to win their last round games in order to to tie for first. 

 

ChessBase

Anthony Santasiere–Milton Hanauer0–1A29Ventnor City1940Stockfish 16

A29: English Opening: Four Knights Variation 1.c4 Although Santasiere was critical of players who played, dull, boring chess, he, himself, was guilty of playing a plodding style. In a dispute they had, Larry Evans asked where werre the games that qualified Santasiere as the spokesman fore Ropmaticisim? e5 2.c3 f6 3.f3 c6 4.d3 d5 5.cxd5 xd5 6.g3 e7 7.g2 e6 8.0-0 0-0 9.a3 f6 The openig is similar to a Dragon Sicilian Reversed. 10.c2 10.e4 b6 11.e3 d4 12.xd4 exd4 13.e2 c5 14.f4 with a slight advantage for white. Agrest,E (2605)-Chuchelov,V (2608) Mainz 2003 10...d7 11.e4 White wants ti invade on c5. b6 A bold decision...it opens up the diagonal and weakens the c-Pawn, but at the same time black himself figths for play on the c-file. 12.b4 Hanauer did not like this move because it neglects development and it's not so important that it cannot be delayed. He favored 12. Bd23 followed by Rc1. Giving the move a ? was a bit harsh though. 12.e3 ios the modern GM's move. a5 13.b3 ad8 14.b2 a7 15.d4 as in Filippov,A (2598)-Grishchenko,S (2464) Dagomys RUS 2010 where wgite's strong initiative lead to a win. 12...a5 12...d4 was a better way to take advantage of white's last move. 13.xd4 exd4 14.b2 f5 15.d2 c5 with an aggressive position. 13.b5 d4 14.xd4 exd4 15.a4 15.b2 keeps the balance. xb5 16.xd4 c5 17.c3 d7 18.xd5 xd5 19.xd5+ xd5 20.e3 15...ac8 Putting into action the plan mentioned in the note to move 11. 16.d2 c6 17.bxc6 xc6 18.b2 Moving the Q away from the R makes sense, but after this white lands in serious difficulties. 18.c4 fc8 19.d2 Black stands well, but there is no clear way for him to make progress. 18...c3 Not bad, but both players have overlooked the tactical shot 16...Bb4! 18...b4 There is no way to meet ...Bc3 19.b1 19.a2 c3 20.a1 20.xc6 xe2+ 21.h1 xc6+ 22.f3 h3 23.e1 xd2 mates in 5 24.f1 xf1 25.b3+ h8 26.d5 xd5 27.h3 xf3+ 28.h2 g2# 20...xe2+ 19.f3 c3 20.b1 xa1 21.xa1 c3 with a decisive advantage. 19...fc8 20.a2 c5 21.d2 c3 22.xc3 dxc3 23.xc3 xc3 and wins 19.e1 19.xc6 xe2+ 20.h1 xc6+ 21.f3 c3 Materially black only has a B+P agaonst a R, but his active play assures him of an advantage. Shootouts from this posion resulted in white scoring +0 -3 =2 19...b4 This is less effective than it would have been last move. 20.e3 this allows black to gain a decisive advantage. 20.xc6 Oddly enough, after black's last move this is now white's correct reply because after xc6 21.f3 h3 22.e4 dxe3 23.xe3 d5 24.e4 Black should probably take the draw by repeating moves. 20...dxe3 21.fxe3 21.xe3 d6 22.c2 c8 23.c4 xa4 is winning for black. 21...d6 Black is not interested in winning a mere P with 21...Nxa4 22.d4 c8 23.f1 e2+ Black is clearly winning. 24.f2 c3 25.b1 xc1 25...xa1 is also good. 26.xa1 c3 26.xc1 xd2 27.xc8+ xc8 Being a piece up the win is only a matter of technique for black. 28.d3 b4 29.d5 f5 30.e4 c5+ 31.e3 c2+ 32.e2 c5+ 33.f1 c3 34.d1 d7 35.d3 a1+ 36.d1 xa4 White resigned. 0–1

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1950/51 New Zealand Championship

David Lynch

    The New Zealand Congress officially opened at 10am on Tuesday, December 26, 1950 in Christchurch. The Championship was won by David Lynch (April 20, 1901 – September 26, 2002, 92 years old). 

    In addition to being an OTB champion, Lynch was also New Zealand Correspondence Champion on three occasions in the 1940's and 1950's. 

    In the early 1980's Eduard Gufeld and Murray Chandler both played simultaneous displays New Zealand and Lynch, then in his 70's, drew with both.

    One of the country’s greatest players, he passed away peacefully in the Hawke's Bay Regional Hospital in 2002. 

    Lynch was active in a great many organizations and charities and was also a local Bridge champion. In his younger years, he played hockey, tennis, golf and tramping. In In New Zealand, long distance walking or hiking for at least one overnight stay is known as tramping. He also cycled around Europe in the 1930's and was just manages to get out of Europe when World War II broke out and closed off the ports. He served in the New Zealand military during the war. 

    Lynch's chess career started in the 1930's with his first New Zealand Championship in 1937. 1949 saw him win the North Island Championship. Then in 1951 he won NZ title again. 

    Altogether Lynch played in 17 New Zealand Championships between 1937 and 1963. Besides his win in 1951, he finished second four times (and third once. 

    He was also a very strong correspondence player after starting to play in 1939. He won the country’s correspondence title on three occasions in the 1940s and 1950s. He served as the President of the NZ correspondence organization from 1979 to 1998. 

    After his days on the national chess scene Lynch continued to be active in Hawke's Bay, a region on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island, where he promote the game. In his mid-eighties he was still able to win the local club championship. 

 

    His opponent in this game was Robert O. Scott who won the New Zealand correspondence championship in 1933. Scott, who was deaf, was an experienced player from Wellington. 

ChessBase

David Lynch–Robert O. Scott1–0D44New Zealand Chp, Christchurch1950Stockfish 16

D44: Semi-Slav: Botvinnik System 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.c3 f6 4.f3 e6 5.g5 dxc4 6.e5 6.e4 is white's best continuation. b5 7.e5 h6 8.h4 g5 9.xg5 hxg5 10.xg5 bd7 11.exf6 This is all book. 6...b4 Another good alternative is 6...b5 7.e3 a5 8.xf6 Played to prevent 8...Ne4 which Lynch stated (without any supporting analysis) would win for black, but that was not a correct assumption. Black's advantage would be minimal at the most. That said, things get pretty complicated, so in the end Lynch's decision was a practical one. 8.xc4 e4 9.0-0 9.f4 xc3 10.bxc3 xc3+ 9...xg5 10.h5 xc3 10...0-0 11.f4 d7 12.xg5 xc3 13.bxc3 xc3 14.b3 xe3+ 15.h1 xe5 16.dxe5 h6 Black is only marginally better because white is still able to whip up some attacking chances after 17.h4 b6 18.f3 c5 19.g3 h7 20.d1 a5 The threat is 21...a4 winning the B. 21.d2 c1+ 22.d1 c5 23.d2 Black has to repeat moves because if a4 24.c2+ h8 25.g4 g6 26.h4 h5 27.f6+ h7 28.xg6+ fxg6 29.xg6+ h8 30.g7# 11.bxc3 0-0 11...xc3 12.xg5 0-0 White has a slight advantage after 13.e7 a5 14.fb1 Black is a P up but has a hard time developing his pieces. 12.d3 12.xg5 f6 12...g6 with equality. 8...gxf6 Lynch gave this move a ? and noted that it's the wrong way to exchange because 9...Bxc3+ would have weakened the white K. 8...xc3+ 9.bxc3 xc3+ 10.e2 gxf6 11.c1 b4 12.xc4 0-0 White lost 5 Shootout games from this position. 9.xc4 xc3+ 10.bxc3 xc3+ 11.d2 a5 12.d3 Black has development problems so white has enough compensation for his P. It's interesting to note how black's position gradually slides downhill even though he makes no obvious mistakes. c3 13.e2 a5 14.0-0 d7 15.c4 c7 16.e4 b5 16...b6 was a somewhat better defense. The best line runs... 17.e3 f5 18.e5 0-0 19.e1 e7 20.a4 d5 21.c4 b5 22.d6 White is better. 17.e3 b6 18.c1 Threatening 19.Bxb5 d6 19.g4 e5 Opening up the position results in a quick loss. 19...d7 was a bit better, but after 20.d5 exd5 21.exd5 xd5 22.c2 0-0 23.fd1 Black's position is unenviable. 20.dxe5 xd1 21.xf6+ e7 22.fxd1 c4 23.xc4 bxc4 24.xc4 Black is positionally lost and the rest is a matter of technique. e6 25.xc6 xa2 26.d5+ f8 27.f4 b3 28.d3 b8 29.f6 e6 30.f5 b1+ 31.f2 b2+ 32.f3 b3 White has a mate in 6. 33.d8+ e7 34.xh8 d1+ 35.e3 He mates a move sooner with 35.Kg3. Black resigned. 35.e3 e2+ 36.d3 c2+ 37.xe2 d3+ 38.xd3 a5 39.c7# 1–0

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Boris Blumin Wins the 1936 Canadian Championship

    The 1936 Canadian Championship, held in Toronto, was won by Boris Blumin (January 11, 1908 - February 16, 1998). He was a Canadian-American master who was born in Russia. 

    He immigrated to Canada in the early 1920s and played in several Canadian Championships, winning it twice (1936 and 1937).      

    At some point, probably in the late 1930s or early 1940s, he emigrated to the United States. Suffering from Alzheimers, he passed away in his home in Trenton, New Jersey. His wife passed away at the age of 99 in Trenton in 2008

 

 

 

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ChessBase

Boris Blumin–C. Cradock1–0D55Canadian Champ., TorontoToronto CAN1936Stockfish 16

D35: Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation 1.d4 d5 2.f3 f6 3.c4 e6 4.c3 e7 5.g5 0-0 6.e3 c6 7.d3 bd7 8.cxd5 exd5 White usually plays the Exchange Variation at move 4 with 4.cxd4. In the Exchange Variation strategy is determined based on the fact that white has a P-majority in the center nd black on the Q-side. White can either advance his Ps in the center by means of Nge2, f2-f3 and e2-e4. The move order jere has obviously eliminated that plan. The other white plan is to play for a Minority Attack by means of Rb1, followed by b2-b4-b5, then bxc6. From black;s point of view, the exchange has released his light-squared B and opened the e-file. This gives him the use of e4 as a springboard for central and K-side attack. 9.0-0 h6 10.h4 e4 11.xe7 xe7 12.c2 f5 13.fe1 Blumin has elected to go his own way and eschews the Minority Attack. 13.ab1 g5 14.b4 g4 15.d2 df6 16.e2 h5 17.b5 Tomilova,E (2207)-Badelka,O (2416) Sochi RUS 2022. White's position is more o\pronising. 13...g5 This idea, which sets a trap, does not work out very well. 13...g5 14.f1 g7 15.d2 xd2 16.xd2 f6 with full equality. Steppan,S (1584)-Samarian,C (1811) Berlin 2009 14.e5 14.xf5 falls headlong into the trap. xf3+ 15.gxf3 g5+ 16.h1 xf5 and black has won a piece. White should try 14.xg5± xg5 15.e2 14...xe5 15.dxe5 e6 15...f4 was an alternative. 16.exf4 xf4 17.e2 g4 18.g3 but black does not appear to have gained anything. 16.f4 e4 17.a4 ad8 18.ad1 c7 19.xe4 dxe4 20.b3 20.c5 d5 20...xa2 21.b3 traps the B 21.d2 h7 22.ed1 is only equal. 20...b6 21.c3 e7 22.a4 c5 23.c3 So far it's been a dull maneuvering game, but with his next move which is designed to prevent Nb5 black slides into inferiority simply because 23...Qe8 does not really prevent Nb5.. The best way to prevent Nb5 ui 23...a6 e8 24.xd8± xd8 25.d1 h4 26.b5 d8 26...a6 27.c7 f7 28.d2 with a positioal superiorty 27.xa7 d3 Hoping for ...Qd8. 28.b5 28.xd3 e1# 28...d8 Worth considering was 28...Kf8 29.d6 29.xd3 leads to some tricky play, but white would come out with the advantage. Such lines are virtually impossible to accurately calculated OTB though! exd3 30.d2 c4 31.d6 b5 32.xb5 d5 33.bxc4 xc4 34.d6 b6 35.xc4 b1+ 36.f2 c2 37.e1 xc4 29...xd1+ After this black is lost. 29...a8 makes a defense possible because if... 30.xd3 exd3 31.xd3 xa2 32.xf5 xf5 33.xf5 e2 Threatening mate. 34.h3 xe3+ 35.h2 h5 Intending ...h4 ...Qg3+ and ...Qe1+, etc. Now a draw seems likely. 30.xd1 a8 A move too late. 31.h5 Qg6 is the strong threat. d5 31...xa2 32.e8+ 32.xf5 allows black to equalize after xb3 33.h3 xf5 34.xf5 xe3+ 35.h2 h5 36.e6 36.xh5 actually loses... xf4+ 37.h1 e3 etc. 36...h4 37.f7+ h7 38.h5+ draws 32...h7 33.xe6 31...a5 threatening ...Qe1# was worth a try. 32.e2 c3 33.h3 c1+ 34.h2 c3 White is better, but finding a way to make progress is going to be difficult. In Shootouts white scored +4 -0 =1, but the gmes ran another 50 moves or so. 32.h3 Making an escape square for the K. h7 33.h2 c6 34.xf5 Now white is clearly winning. d7 35.d6 g6 36.h4 g7 37.xe4 f5 38.f6+ h8 39.e8 f8 40.f6+ Black resigned. 40.f6+ xf6 41.xf6 e6 42.g3 g7 43.e8+ f8 44.d6 with an easily won ending. 1–0

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The US-Canadian Border War of 1950

    On Sunday, June 25th of 1950, troops from Communist-dominated North Korea launched a series of attacks across the border into American-backed South Korea along the 38th parallel, which divides the Northern and Southern parts of Korea. The result was a war that lasted until July 27, 1953. 

    Just a week before that, on June 18, 1950, players from the United States and Canada met in in a series of matches in cities along the 3,000 mile long border from Washington state to Maine in a chess war that lasted only one day. In this war the United States won. 

 

 

    The following game was played on board 2 between the teams from New Yor, Ohio and Pennsylvania against a team from Ontario. On board one was Glen Hartleb, an Expert from Erie, Pennsylvania. He was a friend of the nefarious Norman T. Whitaker with whom he coauthored a book on endgame studies. In 1962, Hartleb was killed in a car accident in which Whitaker was seriously injured.

    Hartleb's opponent on board one was Frank Anderson (1928-1980), who became the first Canadian born player to receive the IM title (1954). 

    Conducting the white pieces in today's featured game was Povilas Vaitonis (1911-1983), a Lithuanian–Canadian Master. In 1948, he moved to Canada and settled in Hamilton, Ontario. He was a five-time Lithuanian (1934, 1937, 1938,1942 and 1944) champion and was Canadian champion twice (1951 and 1957). 

    His opponent was New York Master Roy T. Black (1888-1962), a judge by profession who had a +1 -3 =1 score against Capablanca. 

    The game itself is a delightful little game. It was amusing to read the original notes...the annotator did what was common in the days of yesteryear...his annotations were based on the result, praising every move of the winner and criticizing every move of the loser. 

    Of course, Stockfish is a lot more objective. Fritz' analysis function assigns a Weighted Error Value to th game. In this game the values are: White=0.74 and Black=0.87, so the mistakes were not huge and the game was more closely contested than the original annotator gave credit for. I am not sure what Weighted Error Value is, but I do know that the lower the score the better. If you care to wade through the article, ChessBase has what I think is an explanation HERE.

ChessBase

Povilas Vaitonis (Ontario)–Roy T. Black (New York)1–0A16Border Match, Niagra Falls, Canada1950Stockfish 16

A16: English Opening 1.c4 f6 2.c3 c6 3.e4 d5 4.cxd5 More common is 3.exd5 followed by 4.d4 with a Queen's Gambit setup. cxd5 5.e5 g4 An innovation and not a very good one as he will end up losing time repositioning the N. His best move is 5...d4 5...e4 This has also been tried. 6.f3 6.xe4 dxe4 7.a4+ c6 8.xe4 is equal. Pogorelov,R (2326) -Bailet,P (2484) Sitges ESP 2014 6...c6 7.e2 g4 8.0-0 e6 9.d4 equals. Hjartarson,J (2590)-Chernin,A (2600) New York 1995 5...d4 6.exf6 dxc3 7.bxc3 exf6 This boring position offers equal chances. 6.d4 g6 Ordinarily this prepare to fianchetto the B, but here it's to keep black from getting his K-side destroyed after the N is forced back to h6 and white plays Bxh6. 7.d3 c6 8.f3 White is clearly better thanks to blak's awkwardly place N. h6 Already black has development problems. 9.b3 e6 Now there is a bad hole on f6 and white immediately takes advantage of it! 9...g7 was worth a try. 10.h4 f5 11.e3 xe3 12.fxe3 h6 13.f2 0-0 14.xd5 White is a P up and and has more space and so is clearly better, but at least black's K-side is intact. 10.g5 a5 11.0-0 f5 12.e2 g7 13.g4 Vaitonis is not wasting time and is going in for the kill. fe7 14.c3 Perhaps white was thinking about Nb5-d6, but it never somes to that. 14.f6 is more deadly. g8 An awful move to have to play,. but there is nothing better. 14...xf6 15.exf6 g8 16.g5 and black's position is too ugly to look at. 15.fc1 d7 16.c5 b6 17.b5 and black has no play anywhere on the boiard. 14...h5 Being able to use the h-file is a pretty forlorn hope. 15.h3 hxg4 Opening the h-file is only going to help white, but black has to try something. 16.hxg4 a6 17.f6 This is a slip that allows black to equalize. White should have played 17.Kg2 and then used the h-file to his advantage. 17.g2 b4 18.xb4 xb4 19.e2 d7 20.h1 xh1 21.xh1 g8 22.h7 f8 23.a3 c6 24.a4 b8 25.c5 with a very good position. 17...xf6 18.exf6 g8 This is a natural move, but it's the wrong followup. 18...c7 A very fine move that makes the once dreamed about K-side attack possible. Black threatens to plunge his Q into the very guts of white's position. 19.a4 a pass to demonstrate black's threat. f4 Black has too many threats to be met. 20.f5 This holds out the longest. xd4 21.g2 exf5 22.g1 xb3 23.axb3 d4 24.h4 xh4 25.f1 f3 26.c3 d3+ 27.e2 h2 28.e1 h3+ 29.g2 xg2# 19.g5 This totally quashes any hope black had of generating K-side play. d7 19...h3 causes only a temporary lill in the action as white can easily defend with 20.e2 h5 21.d1 d8 22.e1 xf6 This is his best hope, but after 23.gxf6 xf6 24.f1 f5 25.e3 d7 26.g2 White has fended off the attack and should be abler to grind out a win. 20.a3 It would have been better to snatch the b-Pawn, but the complications that result in white winning would be hard to calculate OTB, so it's hard to criticize this move. 20.xb7 a7 21.b3 h3 22.d1 b7 23.g2 e5 24.h1 xh1 25.xh1 e4 26.e5 xe5 26...exd3 27.h8 f8 28.g7+ e8 29.xg8# 27.h8 d8 28.xg8+ e8 29.h1 b6 30.h8 e6 31.xa6 with an easy win. 20...c7 Missing his chance to counterattack and breathe new life into his position. 20...h3 21.d1 xf6 22.gxf6 0-0-0 23.g2 dh8 with complete equality! In Shootouts from this position white scored +1 -0 =4 21.e2 Putting th kibosh on ...Qf4 d6 The original annotator was critical of this asking the question was black's only reason for this move a desire to get his Q off the open c-file? The truth is that there is nothing else that is even slightly better. 21...e5 is a bid for active play, but after 22.xd5 e6 23.c5 d8 24.c2 exd4 25.fe1 d6 26.ad1 White's advantage will prove decisive because black is, in effect, playing without the N and R. He is also faving a potential Bxg3. 22.b6 Hereabouts Stockfish is recommending different move because they are a few hundredths of a P better, but that is inconsequential, e5 ...and loses. 22...h3 is better, but it would not save the game. 23.e5 and black is out of useful moves and can only wait for the inevitable. 23.xe5 e6 This allows an abrupt end, but he was lost no matter what he played. 23...d8 24.f4 xf6 24.f4 d6 25.fe1 f8 26.c5 Black resigned. 26.c5 xc5 27.xd7# 1–0

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William M. de Visser

 

    William M, dr Visser (November 5, 1855 – Secember 4, 1923, 68 years old) was a charter member of the Manhattan Chess Club, player and organizer. He was the 1899 New York State Chess Championship 

    After ailing for six months, de Visser entered eternity at his country residence in Brentwood, Long Island and chess circles in the New York City area lost one of the outstanding figures who for nearly 30 years had been active both as a player and organizer of repute. 

    For the last few years he had been president of the Metropolitan Chess League for several terms. As an active member of the Brooklyn Chess Club he occasionally played on its teams until shortly before his death. He was also elected an honorary member of the Manhattan Chess Club with which he had been associated with in one way or another for nearly forty years. 

    As an organizer de Visser was instrumental in furthering the annual international matches between the Brooklyn Chess Club and the City of London Chess Club.

    In the following game de Visser uses the adventurous Wing Gambit to defeat the redoubtable Walter Penn Shipley (1869-1942), a Philadelphia lawyer, player and organizer in an enjoyable tactics filled game. 

ChessBase

William de Visser (Manhattan)–Walter Shipley (Franklin)1–0B20Manhattan CC - Franklin CC MatchNew York, NY30.05.1900Stockgiah 16

B20: Sicilian: Wing Gambit 1.e4 c5 2.b4 The deflection of the Pawn is an attempt to gain control; of the center. Although rarely played, in my database which contains 36 Wing Gambit games played by Masters white wins an astonishing 23 games while losing only 6! cxb4 Almost always played, but perhaps the safer 2...e6 is advisable. 3.a3 e5 4.f3 c6 5.axb4 xb4 6.c4 6.c3 e7 7.d4 exd4 8.cxd4 d5 9.e5 g4 Black is better. Tiarks,J (2231) -Jaskolka,T (2238) chess.com INT 2023 6...f6 7.e2 7.c3 e7 8.d4 8.b3 0-0 9.g5 e8 10.0-0 Whute dies nit have enough play to compensate for the P. Gorovykh,E (2447)-Yemelin,V (2571) St Petersburg RUS 2010 8...0-0 9.d5 a5 10.xa5 xa5 11.d6 Technically black is better, but in Nanu,C (2325) -Bernat,R (2140) Szeged 1998, white went on to win. 7...0-0 8.0-0 Thoreticall white can boast of no compensation for the P. Practice is another matter! d5 9.exd5 xd5 10.xe5 Now black should not take the N. d4 10...xe5 11.xe5 f6 12.a3 xa3 13.xa3 White appears to have sufficient play. 10...f4 immediately was his best reply. Then after 11.e4 h4 12.d3 h3+ 13.gxh3 xe4 14.dxe4 xe5 Black is clearly better. 11.d3 f4 12.e4 fe2+ This is a tactical error. 12...h4 is much less effective now. 13.h1 d6 14.xf7 e6 15.xe6 ae8 with head spinning complications. Practically speaking the chances are equal In Shootouts from this position white scored +1 -1 =3 12...e6 stymies the attack on f7 and after 13.xe6 fxe6 black has just a smidgen of an advantage. 13...fxe6 is also playable, but it invites unclear complications after 14.b2 14.c3 b3 15.xb4 15.d4 xc1 15...xa1 16.xf4 d5 17.e3 c2 18.c1 xd4 19.cxd4 xd4 Black is winning. 16.cxb4 fe2+ 17.h1 f4 18.e3 xd4 Black is winning. 15...d5 is decisive. 14...d5 15.xd5 exd5 16.xd4 e2+ 17.h1 xd4 with a slight advantage. 13.xe2 f5 14.e3 xc2 15.f4 xa1 The capture of the R has been a distraction that has cost black the game. 16.xf5 16.xb4 would be quite wrong because after c2 17.f4 d4 the chances have swung back ti even. 16...c7 17.b2 17.d3 g6 18.e4 fe8 19.xb4 c2 20.xc2 xc2 21.g4 also wins. 17...b3 18.d3 g6 19.g4 This does not lead to a forced mate as does 19.Qf6, but it's more spectacular! 19.f6 c3 20.xc3 xc3 21.xc3 xd2 22.g4 h5 23.d5 ae8 24.xg6 hxg4 25.f5 f3+ 26.gxf3 e6 27.e7+ xe7 28.g5+ h8 29.h6+ g8 30.h7# 19...c3 19...gxf5 20.h6# 20.f6 A temporary Q sacridice, but it's a spectacular one! xf6 21.xf6+ g7 21...h8 22.e8+ 22.e8+ g8 23.xc7 ad8 24.e4 Materially white has 2Bs + N vs a R+P which is more than enough compensation. xd2 25.xd2 xd2 26.c3 e2 27.d5 A nice little move. f5 27...xe4 28.f6+ g7 29.xe4+ 28.d3 a2 29.c4 a4 29...c8 avoids the mate, but still loses. 30.xa2 is hopeless for black 30.e7# An impressive win by de Visser! 1–0

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Water O. Cruz and Dr. Luiz Tavares, Brazilain Masters

Walter O. Cruz

    After many years of misery because of the depression and World War II the postwar prosperity was starting to get underway in 1949. Sales of consumer items like televisions and big cars were booming. 

    On the international scene China became a communist country and Russia had nuclear bombs and there was increased the tension between East and West, i.e the US and Russia in what was known as the Cold War. 

    In the US, one of the first long-running and successful sitcoms, The Goldbergs, first aired live on January 17, 1949. It was on the air until 1956. It was about the daily lives of a Jewish family in New York, tackling the everyday issues of an ordinary family. 

    President Harry S. Truman gave his fair deal speech in which he expressed his thoughts on how every American should expect a fair deal from the U.S. government. 

    In chess news, the year started off with Nicholas Rossolimo winning Hastings 1948/49. Larry Evans won the Marshall Club Ch. The strong local master James B, Cross tied with Arthur Bisguier and Larry Evans in the US Junior Championship, held in Fort Worth, Texas. Cross won the1950 US Junior Championship and was the 1957 California State Champion. In the late 50s or early 60s Cross gave up chess. 

    Claude Shannon presented a paper on programming a computer to play chess. Reuben Fine won the New York International. 

    Down in Brazil Walter Oswaldo Cruz (January 23, 1910 - January 3, 1967) won the country's championship dor the fifth time. He had been champion in 1938, 1940, 1942, 1948 and won the titl for the last time in 1953. He was runner up in 1928, 1929and 1939. 

    He played third board for the Brazilian team at the 1939 chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires where he scored +4 -7 =5. For many years he was a regular participant in South American tournaments. 

    His opponent in the following game was Luiz Tavares da Silva (April 13, 1916 – June 29, 1994). He was Brazilian Champion in 1957. He was also President of the Brazilian Chess Federation from 1968 to 1970 and again from 1986 to 1988. 

    In addition to his chess career, he was also an eminent thoracic surgeon and cardiologist, who lived and studied in London for part of his life and was a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. There is an excellent article (with photos) about Tavares HERE.  

    In the game when Tavares' Knight threatened to penetrate his position, Cruz failed to recognize that he had to exchange it and so lhe ended up losing[ it was his only loss in the tournament which he won. 

ChessBase

Luiz Tavares–Walter O. Cruz1–0E70Brazilian Chp, Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro BRA1949Stockfiah 16

E88: King's Indian: Saemisch 1.c4 f6 2.c3 g6 3.d4 g7 4.e4 0-0 5.e3 d6 6.f3 Friedrich Saemisch developed this system in the 1920s. It often leads to very sharp play with the players castling on opposite wings and attacking each other's King. c6 7.d2 e5 8.d5 It was thought that this move promises little and that white does better by maintaining the tension in the center, for the time being at least, with 8.Nge2. However, Tavares has an interesting idea planned. cxd5 9.cxd5 e8 White has tried several move herem but 10.h4 is a new, and now pretty much forgotten, one. 10.h4 At the time this was criticized as, well, let's quote the annotator of the day... Another inconsistent move. As will become obvious, the weakening of g3 only diminishes white's chances of opening lines on the King-side. 10 0-0-0 is better. That said. 10.h4 is Stockfish's preferred move. 10.0-0-0 f5 11.d3 Preferrable is 11.exf5 a6 12.ge2 c5 13.c2 a5 14.exf5 gxf5 15.h3 with equal chances. Gheorghiu,F (2525)-Kozul,Z (2450) Graz 1987 10...f5 11.0-0-0 Here white has tried 11.g3,m but it is too passive. 11.g5 f6 12.exf5 gxf5 13.0-0-0 f4 14.e4 with equal chances. Lorenzo de la Riva,L (2391) -Vidal Zamora,A (2112) Figueres ESP 2011 11.h5 This is an interestingm but untested, line. After f4 12.f2 g5 13.h6 f6 14.0-0-0 followed by 15. g3 seems to offer white good attacking chances. 11...f6 12.h3 12.exf5 is promising... gxf5 13.h5 f4 14.f2 h6 15.g4 with attacking chances. 12...bd7 Strangely enough, black ignores the dangerous threat of Ng5-e6. He must play 12...f4 12...f4 13.f2 h6 And white's advantage is minimal. 13.c4 Pointless. For the time being at least white ignores his own threat! 13.g5 b6 13...e8 Leads to white getting a decisive attack in which many roads all lead to victory. 14.e6 a5 15.h6 h8 16.h5 f4 16...xh5 17.xh5 gxh5 18.g5+ mates 17.hxg6 hxg6 18.g3 c5 19.gxf4 xe6 20.dxe6 xe6 21.f5 f7 22.fxg6 xg6 23.c4+ 14.e6 xe6 15.dxe6 is similar to the game continuation. 13...c7 Black still should play 13...f4 13...f4 14.f2 h6 and the chances are equal. Thius shows the drawback to white's 13. Bc4 14.b3 fxe4 After this black faces serious difficulties. He could still play 14...f4, but now there is time to try a counterattack with 14...Bc4 and after 15.Bc2 then 15...b5 14...c5 15.c2 b5 16.xb5 b6 17.c3 b8 etc. 15.g5 Finally. c5 16.xc5 xc5 17.e6 xe6 17...e3 is his best try. 18.e2 b6 19.g4 d7 20.h5 ac8 Of course white is clearly better, but at least black has some play. 18.dxe6 This interloper on e6 turns out to be a mighty passed Pawn. Add to that white's control of the d-file and he has a decisive advantage. d5 Black hopes for 19.Bxd5 19.fxe4 19.xd5 xd5 20.xd5 xd5 21.xd5 exf3 22.e7 fe8 23.gxf3 f7 and black has equalized. 19...xe4 20.xd5 h6+ 20...e3+ is no salvation. 21.b1 xc3+ 22.bxc3 h8 23.h5 with a decisive advantage. 21.b1 xd5 22.xd5 This is the correct way. Other recaptures are less effective. xc3+ 23.bxc3 fe8 24.d7 e3 25.f1 There is no way to prevent 26.Rff7 so black resigned. 1–0

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