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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