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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