1937 Manhattan CC Championship

    In 1937, in aviation new Amelia Mary Earhart mysteriously disappeared over the Pacific Ocean and the German airship Hindenburg burst into flames while attempting to moor at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Howard Hughes breaks his own transcontinental flight speed record when he flies from Los Angeles to Newark. 

    In other news the Memorial Day Massacre took place when union steel workers threw a tree branch at police who open fire on the crowd and use clubs to break up the protest. As a result police bullets kill ten people and injure 30 plus another 28 suffer serious head injuries from police clubbing. As we would expect even today, a Coroner's Jury declared the killings to be justifiable homicide and no police were ever convicted. 

    In US chess news George Koltanowski (1903-2000) played 34 simultaneous blindfold games and scored +24 -0 =10. Adele Rivero won the first US Women’s Championship. The US team (Reshevsky, Fine, Kashdan, Marshall,\ and Horowitz) took first place in the Chess Olympiad was held in Stockholm. The Western Chess Association (US Open) in Chicago was won by David Polland. 

    In New York Isaac Kashdan and Albert Simonson tied for first in the Manhattan Chess Club Championship with a convincing 2.5 point lead ahead of Robert Willman, a former club champion, who had been in the lead in the early rounds, but then suffered losses to both Kashdan and Simonson. As a result of the first place tie for the third successive year, a playoff for the title was necessary. Kashdan scored a win and two draws to take the title.

 

 

    The deciding point occurring in the first game where Simonson had a draw in hand when he made an incredible blunder in a fairly simple endgame position.

    Almost nothing is known of Samuel S. Cohen except that in in the 1930s he was an editor for Chess Review magazine and he participated in the 1938 US Championship (won by Reshevsky) where he finished +4 5 =7 and tied for places 12-14 (out of 17) with Milton Hanauer and Fred Reinfeld. He drew with Reshevsky and defeated Kashdan. His opponent, Albert Simonson (1914-1965), was one of the country’s strongest players in the 1930s. 

 

ChessBase

S.S. Cohen–Abraham Kupchik1–0B40Manhattan CC Champ. New YorkNew York1937Stockfish 15

A34: Symmetrical English 1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 3.c4 The opening has become a Symmetrical English with Sicilian overtones.. Either player may make an early break in the centre with the d-Pawn. d5 4.exd5 exd5 5.d4 f6 6.c3 6.cxd5 xd5 7.b5+ c6 8.0-0 e7 9.dxc5 0-0 10.c4 is equal. Kozak,A (2532) -Aggelis,N (2281) chess.com INT 2022 6...cxd4 6...c6 7.e3 cxd4 8.xd4 b4 9.e2 equals. Rausis,I (2470)-Kirov,N (2445) Cannes 1990 7.xd4 a6 Both 7...Bc5 and 7...Be7 have been played here. Kupchik's move prevents a piece from going to b5 and/or preparing ...b5, but it is not really necessary. 8.g5 dxc4 This is inaccurate; he had to play 8...Be7 with an equal position. 9.xc4 White's huge lead in development assures him of the advantage. e7 White is better. 10.a4+ 10.b3 is interesting, bit it's unsound. After xd4 11.xf7+ f8 12.xf6 gxf6 13.0-0 b4 14.d5 Blacks' K is quite safe and there is no way for white to continue the attack. 10...bd7 10...d7 11.b3 attacks both f7 and b7 11.f5 Clearly trouble is brewing for black. 0-0 He has a threat ...Nb6. 12.d1 c5 12...e8 was his best chance, but white remains quite well. Even so, play can get very tricky. 13.0-0 b6 14.xe7+ xe7 15.b3 xc4 And noe 156.Qxc4 only results in eqwal chances, but white has... 16.d5 e5 17.xf6 gxf6 18.fe1 Now it's black's turn to get clever with d2 19.d3 19.xd2 xe1# 19...g5 20.xd2 e6 21.c7 ad8 White onbly has one satisfactory move and that is 22.xd8 xd8 23.xd8+ g7 24.xe6+ fxe6 25.d6 e5 Theoretically white is better, but practically thing might turn out differently. 13.0-0 c7 14.d3 A very fine move. Nxg7! is in the atmosphere. b5 At first glance it may not look like it, but white has a decisive advantage. 15.h4 b7 16.xg7 A stellar finish! c6 17.d5 This moce is also pretty nifty! Oc course 17...Qxd5 is met by 18.Bh7+ and if 17...Nxd5 18.Qxh7# xd5 This loses instantly. 17...xg7 is a much stouter defense. 18.f5 18.xf6+ xf6 19.g5+ h8 20.xf6+ xf6 21.xf6 d4 with equal chances. 18...g8 Technically white is winning, but there are still some problems to overcome. 19.d3 Adding the R to the attack is by far the best way to continue the attack. h8 20.g3 xg5 21.xg5 g8 22.xd7 xg5 23.xc6 xg3 24.hxg3 xd5 25.xb7 with a won ending. 18.xh7+ xh7 19.xd5 xd5 20.d1 xg7 Resigning was a good alternative. 21.xd5 fe8 With the forlorn hope that white will overlook the mate threat on e1. 22.h3 a7 23.d2 e6 24.h5 hf8 25.c3+ f6 26.g5+ g6 27.g4 e1+ 28.h2 d6+ 29.g3 df8 29...e7 30.xg6+ f7 31.h6 c7 32.h7+ e8 33.h5+ d8 34.h8+ finishes it. 30.xe1 fxg5 31.d4+ Black finally resigned. 1–0

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Favorite chess books

    My favorite chess books have always been game collections. My all time favorites are Botvinnik, One Hundred Selected Games, Reshevsky On Chess (reprinted as Reshevsky’s Best Games), Tartakower’s Best Games (2 volumes), My Fifty Years of Chess (by Frank Marshall),Tarrasch’s Best Games and more recently The Art of Bisguier (2 volumes). Even today any one of these books will provide hours of entertainment. 

    If my memory is correct Frank Marshall’s book, My Fifty Years of Chess, was the first one I had. It was published in 1942, which, of course, was before I was born and it was, I think, republished in paperback by Dover. 

    Frank Marshall (1877-1944) was US Champion for 27 years and his games are still a delight to play over. Best known for his great tactical skill, he was famous for the "Marshall swindle" where a tactical trick would turn a lost game around. It’s not remembered today, but in his day Marshall was also known for his endgame skill. 

    There is no question that the 1904 Cambridge Springs International Chess Congress, the first major international tournament in the United States, was Marshall’s greatest success; he finished first by two full points. 

    Other American players, Jackson W. Showalter, Albert Fox, John Barry, Albert B. Hodges, Eugene Delamr, Max Judd and even the legendary Harry N. Pillsbury were no longer able to compete at Marshall’s level. 

    Marshall’s success at Cambridge Springs even resulted in him being considered as a world championship challenger. Unfortunately, he was never able to repeat the great success of Cambridge Springs, nor was he successful in a run at the world championship. In fact, after Cambridge Springs Marshall’s play was inconsistent and his results were not especially impressive. That may have been due more to his personal nature and style of play more than his ability. 

    The July 2, 1896 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported on the Continuous tournament, one in which the players played 37to 260 (!) games and the final standing were based on the percentage of wins, draws not counting. 

     “F. J. Marshall, the young player who has been making such rapid strides to the front in local chess circles of late, has again captured first prize in the Brooklyn club's continuous tournament with the high percentage of 80 (percent).”

 

 

    Marshall’s overall score was +40 -10. Close on Marshall's heels was G. W. Jones, a former first prize winner, with a score of 77.8 percent (+35 -10). R. P. Dow secured the highest number of wins with 260 and he also had the highest number of losses, 184. 

    Here is Marshall’s win against the runner up., about whom nothing is known. The only other time his name came up (that I found) was in 1897 when the Brooklyn CC defeated the Chicago CC in a correspondence match 6.5-5.5. 

    In that match Jones, playing on board defeated his opponent. William Napier was on first board for Brooklyn followed by Herman Helms and Frank Marshall. 

    In the game Jones was facing some pressure in the form of a K-side attack, but he was holding his own until move 20 when he took the precaution of playing a defensive move. It turned out to be a fatal mistake after which Marshall unleashed a vicious attack against which there was no defense. As far as I know this game does not appear in any books on Marshall. 

ChessBase

G W Jones–Frank Marshall0–1C50Brooklyn CC Continuous TournamentBrooklyn, NY USA1896Stockfish 16

C54: Giuoco Piano 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.c4 c5 4.0-0 d6 5.c3 g4 6.d3 f6 7.e3 b6 8.bd2 e7 The alternative is 8...O-O 9.b4 d8 10.a4 d5 11.exd5 xd5 11...xe3 12.dxc6 xd2 13.xd2 xf3 14.gxf3 bxc6 is a slightly more accurate continuation. 12.xb6 12.xd5 would give white the advanyage after xd5 13.c4 xd3 14.c5 e4 15.cxb6 exf3 16.c2 xb4 17.c4 e6 18.bxc7 0-0 19.c5 xc7 20.xb4 12...axb6 13.b3 f4 14.ae1 0-0 15.h3 15.d4 was more accurate, but it would allow black to draw. xf3 16.xf3 d7 17.xe5 xe5 18.xe5 g4 19.g3 h3+ 20.g2 and black can draw by repeating moves. 15...h5 15...xh3 16.gxh3 d6 17.e4 xh3+ 18.h1 Best 18.g2 f4+ 19.xf4 otherwise black has a mating attack.. g6+ 20.h2 exf4 21.g1 xg1 22.xg1 g5 and black has reason to be optimistic. 18...h6 19.h2 Here, too, black has a good position, In Shootouts white scored +1 -3 =1 16.d4 d6 This is a slight inaccuracy. It would have been better to get the Q off the line of the R with 15...Qf6 17.h2 This defensive move was unnecessary. 17.dxe5 gives black the initiative after g6 18.g3 xh3+ 19.h1 h6 20.g2 but white's defensive resources should prove adequate. 17.d5 b8 18.xe5 with slightly the better of it. 17...d7 18.xe5 xe5 19.xe5 White has won a P, but black has good attacking prospects and that's all Marshall needs. h6 White must now prevent ...Bg6. 20.e3 This looks like a good defensive move, but there is absolutely no time for such precautions! 20.fe1 had to be played. Then after g4 21.g1 xh3 22.g3 White is completely safe...there is simply no way black can dig out white's K. 22.xf7+ is a fancy defense. xf7 23.xf7+ xf7 24.e8+ 24.gxh3 xh3+ 25.g2 xf2+ 24...f8 25.xf8+ xf8 26.gxh3 xh3+ 27.g2 and, theoretically at least, white should be able to draw. 20...g4 The attack on h3 is overpowering. 21.h1 xh3 22.gxh3 22.g1 allows white to put up a manly defense. c6 23.e4 xg2 24.xh6 xh6 25.g3 Clearly black is better, but how does he win?! According to Stockfish the best line is g6 26.b1 h4 27.e1 c6 28.f3 xa4 29.e4 h3 30.f1 f5 31.c4 c2 32.f2 xe4 33.fxe4 g5+ and black has a decisive advantage because of his passed Ps on the K-side. 22...xh3+ Black now has a mate in 8. 23.g1 g4+ 24.g3 xg3+ 25.f1 xc3 Pretty, but not the most efficient! White resigned 25...e8 26.fxg3 xg3 27.xf7+ f8 28.e6 xe6 29.xe6 g2+ 30.e1 e2# 25...xc3 26.b1 g2+ 27.e1 e8+ 28.d1 xh1+ 29.f1 e2 30.f3 xf3 31.c2 xd2+ 32.xd2 h2+ 33.e1 xf1+ 34.xf1 e2+ 35.g1 g2# 0–1

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A Clever Finish by Euwe

    The following game is a bit boring, but it's redeeming point is the clever finish by the former World Champion. The game was played in an international tournament in Gijon, a large coastal city in northern Spain. 

    From between 1944 and 1951, then between 1954 and 1956, and, finally, in 1965, small tournaments with 8 to 12 players were held there. The original purpose was to focus on the recovery of chess in Spain and Europe after World War II. 

    The strength of the tournaments which featured local players and prominent ones varied. They featured the rapid decline of World Champion Alekhine, the rise of Spanish child prodigy Arturo Pomar and such greats as Euwe, Rossolimo, Prins, Medina, Darga, Donner, O’Kelly. And, a young Larsen played in 1956. 

    Today’s game was played in 1951. In the U.S> that was the year I Love Lucy debuted on television and Pabst Blue Ribbon was the first ever television beer commercial. It was also the year the first baseball game was televised in color. It' was between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves. 

    In other happenings, Tupperware was invented, the first direct-dial coast to coast telephone call was made, the first commercial computer, UNIVAC, was put into use at the U.S. Census Bureau. It was also the year the U.S. government began nuclear bomb testing at a test site in Nevada. Also, it was the year that birth control pills were developed. 

    In the chess world problem composer Alain C. White, Alain (1880-1951) died in April in Sumerville, South Carolina. In Budapest Geza Maroczy (1870-1951) died on May 29th. 

    Mary Bain won the US women's championship. Samuel Reshevsky won the Wertheim Memorial in New York, Larry Evans won the US Championship, also held in New York and Larry Evans won the US Open, held in Fort Worth, Texas. 

    A 7-year old kid named Bobby Fischer played one of the boards against in a simultaneous exhibition given by Max Pacey at the Grand Army Plaza Library in Brooklyn. Within 15 minutes Fischer lost his Queen and burst into tears. 14-year old Edmar Mednis also played in the exhibition and he held Pavey to a draw. 

    The big international news was the World Championship match in Moscow. Mikhail Botvinnik retain the title when he drew with David Bronstein. Was Bronstein warned not to win? 

    The World Junior Championship held in Birmingham, England was won Borislav Ivkov, age 17, of Yugoslavia. With the exception of Bent Larsen and Fridrik Olafsson, most of the players seem to have vanished. For example, who was the second place finisher Malcolm Barker? 

    With everything going on in the world in 1951, it’s no surprise that nobody remembers the tournament at Gijon or Euwe’s nice victory over Rossolimo. 

ChessBase

Nicolas Rossolimo–Max Euwe0–1C53GijonGijon ESP19.07.1951Stockfish 16

C53: Giuoco Piano 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.c4 Rossolimo was one of the rare proponents of this anciet opening. c5 4.c3 e7 5.d4 b6 6.0-0 d6 7.h3 f6 8.e1 0-0 This N is headed for e3 where it will have more influence than on c3. 9.a3 h8 The purpose of this odd looking move will soon become clear... Euwe intends ...f6; The expected move here is 9...h6 10.c2 d8 11.b3 You might think he is making room for jhis B on b2, but if he was, it never gets there. In fact, the B is not going to move for a long, long time. e6 11...g8 This undeveloping move leads to an inferior game. 12.a4 12.e3 f6 13.a4 is also possible. 12...a6 12...c6 13.a3 c5 14.b4 and white is clearly better. 13.e3 f6 13...f5 14.d5 e8 15.exf5 xf5 15...c6 16.a3 and white is much better. 16.a5 14.a3 with the better game. Sperber,G (2200)-Eslon,J (2200) Skelleftea 1972 12.d3 g8 The fact that black has to play this move anyway is evidence that his position is not so great. It's surprising that Euwe, a great theortician, has gotten himself into this situation. 12...c6 13.a3 Threatening dxe5, so... c5 14.e3 and black has a passive position with little prospects of doing anything but defening. 13.e3 f6 Clearly black has few prospects of attacking and there is not much else he can do. 14.d5 f7 It's at this point that a couple of less than optimal moves lets Euwe off the hook and it is he who gains the initiative. 15.c4 15.c2 forces black to be careful. e7 16.a4 c6 17.xe7 xe7 18.a5 c7 19.b4 White, who must now switch his attention to the Q-side is better, but not by much. 15...xd4 16.xd4 exd4 17.c2 c6 18.f4 18.d3 g6 18...cxd5 19.exd5 g6 20.dxe6 xe6 21.b2 is ghood for white/ 19.f4 d7 19...cxd5 20.cxd5 d7 21.xd6 e8 22.c5 c8 23.xd4 with the better game. 20.xd4 cxd5 21.cxd5 g5 22.d2 xh3 23.gxh3 xh3 24.e3 A sharp position with chances for both sides/ 18...c5 19.d3 g5 All of a sudden it's black who is calling the shots. 20.d5 c6 21.g3 e5 22.h4 gxh4 23.xh4 g6 24.h1 xd5 25.cxd5 e7 At long last the N is going to join in on the attack. 26.f4 g8 27.h3 g4 28.g1 xd5 29.d3 29.exd5 xc2 30.f3 g7 and doubling the Rs on the g-file spells the end of the game. 29...de3 30.d2 This allows an elegant finish, but eliminating one of the Ns would not have helped. 30.xe3 xe3 31.e2 g4 32.xg4 xg4 33.ae1 33.b1 ag8 34.bb2 xf4 35.f2 xf2 36.xf2 g7 and black has a won ending. 33...ag8 30...f2 A finish worthy of Rossolimo himself! 31.xf2 xg2+ 32.xg2 xg2+ 33.f3 ag8 34.e5 8g3+ White resigned; it's mate next move. 0–1

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A Successful Stonewall and a King Hunt

    The post of Mat 23rd (and a few past posts) was critical of the Stonewall Attack, but here is one that succeeded! It goes way back to the 1800s. 

    In those days it was a rare thing tp find Americana playing in Europe, but Preston Ware participated in Vienna in 1882 (see CROSSTABLE). It was one of the strongest tournaments ever with 18 of the best players of the day meeting in a double round event. 

    It was a bad tournament for the American representative Preston Ware, but he did score a win against the World Champion Wilhem Steinitz and he won the following King Hunt game against Max Weiss of Hungary. 

    Preston Ware Jr. (1821 – 1890, 68 years old) was a leading Boston player . He served as e President of the Boston Chess Club from 1868 to 1873. Ware and as President of the American Chess Foundation in 1872. 

    Ware made few few tournament appearances and they were mot especially successful, due in part to an offbeat opening repertoire. For example, in New York 1880 he played 1...a5 in all nine games with black and 1.a4 in two of his games with white. However, in his one international tournament (Vienna 1882), he defeated Steinitz. In that game Ware, as white, played the same opening as in the game below; it went 113 moves, Ware having a R+B+P vs. Steinitz’ R+P. 

    His opponent in the following game was Max Weiss (1857 – 1927, 69 years old), of Austria who had a short, but brillaint career. Chess metrics estimates his highest ever rating to have been 2727 in 1889 which place him at #4 in the world behind Steinitz, Gunsverg and Chigorin. 

    At New York in 1889 which was held to determine a challenger to Steinitz for the World Championship, Weiss tied for 1st with Mikhail Chigorin. Weiss drew the subsequent play-off match (+0 -0 =4), but then he quit chess for a banking career. In 1895, he did play a match against Georg Marco and won decisively (+5 -1 =1) , =1, -1). Also in 1895, he tied for first with Carl Schlechter in a tournament. 

ChessBase

Preston Ware–Max Weiss1–0D00ViennaVienna AUH10.05.1882Stockfish 16

D00: Stonewall Attack 1.d4 d5 2.f4 Thos is a rather inusual way of reaching the Stonewall and Ware used it to win a marathon game against Steinitz in the same tournament. e6 3.f3 f6 4.e3 d6 5.d3 c5 6.c3 c6 7.0-0 a6 7...c7 8.e5 b6 9.d2 b7 10.e2 0-0 11.g4 Black has sufficient defensive resources against white's attack. The chances are equal. Schwan,W-Przepiorka,D Barmen 1905 ½-½ (41) 7...e4 8.e5 cxd4 9.exd4 0-0 10.d2 f5 11.g4 Black has a very slight advantage. Harriott,T (1892)-Al Tarbosh,W (2283) chess.com INT 2023 8.d2 It's strange that with white having 6 Ps on black squares that this bad B which seems to have no prospects actully finds a useful position outside the P-chain. Also, very often in the Stnewall white plays Bbd2 to prevent black from playing ...Ne4, but Ware has an interesting idea in mind. 0-0 9.a3 b6 10.h3 b7 11.e1 e4 12.bd2 xd2 13.xd2 a5 This is a wasste of time...the threat of ...Nb3 is an empty one. 13...e7 keeps the N handy for defense and is much more useful. According to Komodo 14 (Human) play might continue... 14.g4 c4 15.c2 e8 16.g3 f6 17.fe1 c6 18.a4 d7 19.g2 g6 20.f2 b5 21.axb5 axb5 22.g5 f5 with a completely equal position. 13...e7 and Stockfish 16 continues 14.d1 a5 15.g4 d7 16.c2 h8 17.e2 f6 18.f2 c6 19.g2 a4 20.c1 c4 21.b1 b5 22.h4 f5 and white is slightly better. 14.d1 c4 15.e2 a5 16.h4 Finally white has solved the problem of his Dark squared B and he is now prepared to launch a powerful K-side attack. However, Preston and at least one pre-engine annotator mussed an even better move. 16.xh7+ leaves black in dire straits. However, working out the complications OTB would be extremely difficult. xh7 16...h8 17.dxc5 bxc5 18.g5 f6 19.b4 c4 20.d3 and white is winning. 17.g5+ g6 The K is surprising safe here, but white still has a very strong attack. 18.e4 f5 19.xe6 f6 20.exf5+ 20.xf8+ xf8 21.e5 e6 with good defensive possibilities. 20...h7 21.g4 f7 22.g5+ g8 23.h5 xf5 24.g4 g6 25.h4 f6 26.xf7 xf7 27.f5 with a strong attack. 16...c7 16...e8 offers stiffer resistance. 17.g5 17.xh7+ xh7 18.g5+ h6 White has no effective way to continue the attack and so it is black who stands better. 17...f5 17...h6 18.h7 18.g4 and black;s defense should hold. 17.g5 He could still sacrifice on h7, but the text is superior. h6 18.h5 c4 For all the moves this N has made it has accomplished nothing. Somewhat better would have been 18...Bc8 to defend e6. 19.xe6 fxe6 20.g6 f5 21.xe6+ f7 22.g6! Now the threat is 23 Q-R7ch, K-Bl; 24 Q-R8 mate. f8 23.h7 e8 Fleeing for his life in an attempt to avoid mate. 24.g6 f8 This protects the g-Pawn, but now the white f-Pawn threat­ens to complete the destruction of black's position by moving to the 6th rank. Since the R cannot be saved, black's K continues its flight. 25.f5 d7 26.xf7 xe3 27.e6+ c6 28.g6 d6 Weiss is desperately trying to improvise a shelter for his homeless K. 29.fe1 xd1 The desired effect of his 18th move has finally been achieved, but to no avail. 30.xd1 c4 Black is only a P down and he has fended off mate and so now he attempts to close up the Q-side. 31.xd5+ Ware continues his relentless King hunt. xd5 31...b5 32.xb7 xb7 33.xd6 a5 34.e6 a4 35.d5 and it's clear that white is winning. 32.e6+ White mates in 16!. c6 33.xc4+ d7 34.e6+ c6 35.d5+ b5 36.e2+ a4 37.c2+ b5 38.a4+ Black resigned 38.a4+ a5 39.b4+ xb4 40.cxb4+ xb4 41.b1+ a5 42.e1+ c3 43.xc3# It's paradoxical that the once bad looking B delivers the mate! 1–0

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The Penguin is Mightier Than the Swordfish

    Who first said, 'The pen is mightier than the sword”? The words were first written by novelist and playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839, in his historical play Cardinal Richelieu. 

    Who first said, “The penguin is mightier than the swordfish”? I always thought it was a silly pun by the player/author/publisher Al Horowitz, but he wasn't the first. 

    There are a number of children's books with the title, but it apparently is from a children’s poem by Oliver Herford. 

 

 

 

A Penguin Poem 

The Penguin sits up-on the shore 

And loves the little fish to bore; 

He has one enervating joke 

That would a very Saint provoke: 

"The Penguin's mightier than the swordfish";

He tells this daily to the bored fish, 

Until they are so weak, they float 

With-out resistance down his throat. 

 

    Oliver Herford (1860 - 1935) was an Anglo-American writer, artist, and illustrator known for his witty remarks and skewed sense of humor. He was born in Sheffield, England and his family moved to Chicago in 1876 and to Boston in 1882. His sister Beatrice Herford was also a humorist, delivering comic monologues on stage. 

    In any case, I just happened to think about the pun when I came across a game played by Boris Spassky that appeared in Czech GM Ludek Pachman’s classic book Modern Chess Tactics. 

    Pachman devoted a lot of space discussing Restricting the Effectiveness and Co-ordination of the Pieces. He wrote, “Striving to make the effectiveness of one's own pieces as great as possible naturally always involves restricting the effectiveness of the opponent's pieces.” To demonstrate the point he used a lot of examples showing tactical means which can serve to achieve the goal. 

    The following smartly played game by Spassky is an object lesson on pins. Boris Spassky (born 1937) was the tenth World Champion, holding the title from 1969 to 1972. His opponent was a Candidate Master named Sergey Avtonomov. About all that I known of him is that he was born in 1931 and he was educated as a lawyer. In his school years he was part of the youth team of Leningrad. 

 

ChessBase

Boris Spassky–Sergey Avtonomov1–0D28Soviet Junior QualifierLeningrad URS1949Stockfish 16

D28: Queen's Gambit Accepted 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 Seldom seen, the QGA's success rate is statisticallt is about the same as declining it with either 2.. .e6 or 2...c6. The Queen's Gambit is not a true gambit, because the Pawn is either regained or can only be held in a way that is not favorable to black. By accepting the P black surrenders the center and white will try to seize space and use it to launch an attack. Forid part, black will try to weaken white's center with the hope of gaining an advantage in the ending. This usually involves moves like ..c5 and ...cxd4. White either ends up with an isolated d-Pawn or his will disappear and the position will be one of little promis. 3.f3 f6 4.e3 c5 5.xc4 e6 6.0-0 a6 7.e2 c6 8.c3 b5 9.b3 The standard move. 9.e5 is wrong because after xe5 10.dxe5 d7 11.d3 xe5 black has recocered his P and he has the more active position. 9.d3 c4 10.b1 If (when) black plays ...O-O white can set up a Q+B battery with Qc2 attacking h7. But, even more to the point is white aims for e4. e7 11.d1 b7 12.e4 9...cxd4 Apparently black hopes to get play against the isolated d-Pawm...almost always a questionablecdecision. 9...b7 10.d1 c7 11.d5 Here black almost always takes 11...exd5, but that's not the correct move. b4 12.dxe6 c4 13.a3 13.c2 fxe6 is equal. 13...fxe6 14.e4 cxb3 15.axb4 c4 16.e3 xb4 17.b6 c8 18.xb5 is equal. Gowever, it should be noted that there are very few example of this line starting at move 9 and 11...Nb4 would very difficult to spot OTB! 10.d1 This first pin has us a tactical element that will have a decisive bearing on the further course of play. b7 10...a5 This is black's best try. 11.xd4 c7 12.e4 b7 13.g5 xb3 14.axb3 d6 15.xf6 gxf6 with equal chances. Yakovich,Y (2570) -Savchenko,S (2595) Maikop 1998 10...e5 It should be notes that lack cannot defend the d-Pawn with this. 11.exd4 e7 12.dxe5 g4 13.h3 gxe5 14.d5 and white has a decisive advantahe. 11.exd4 b4 From the positional standpoint this move is correct, but at this point it comes too late to blockade the d-Pawn. 11...a5 is the best that black has, but white will still have a clear advantahe after 12.d5 xb3 13.dxe6 c8 14.exf7+ xf7 15.axb3 12.d5 Well plyed by the future Wotrld Champion!. White pins the black pieces in three ways and obtains an irresistible attack. His advantage is alresy decisive/ 12.e5 This was played in Kaluga,S (2227)-Dolsonov,A (2095) Novokuznetsk 2008 and while it yields white a slear adbanatge it is not nearly as good as Spassky's move. d5 13.xd5 bxd5 14.a4 b4 15.g5 e7 16.c6 with yje better game. 12...bxd5 13.g5 Pins....1)Black's e-Pawn is pinned by the Q, 2) his N on d5 by the R and 3) his N on f6 by the B. Black's problem is that he cannot get rid of these pins without gravely weakening his Ps. e7 14.xf6 Forcing a P weakness. gxf6 14...xf6 loses a piece. 15.xd5 xd5 16.xd5 15.xd5 Forcing an additional weakness. xd5 15...exd5 This is actually a better choice because at least he can use the B to defend the d-Pawn. But after 16.d4 d7 17.ac1 there is nothing about black's position that would cause one to want to play it. 16.xd5 exd5 17.d4 Besides weak Ps, black is now unable to complete his development.. f8 Black needs to get out of the pin on the B. but it's too late to repair the damage. 17...0-0 is out of the question. 18.c6 d7 19.xe7+ 18.f5 h5 There is no longer an adequate defence for black. 18...c5 19.ac1 c8 20.b4 xb4 20...b6 21.xc8 xc8 22.e7+ g8 23.h6+ g7 24.xf7+ xh6 25.xf6+ h5 26.xd5+ mates 21.g4 g8 22.xb4+ mates in 3 19.xd5‼ xd5 19...e8 20.d2 d8 21.e1 Yet another pin on the B. xd5 22.xd5 and the B is lost. 19...g8 20.xe7+ g8 21.xf6 Facing mate or the loss of his Q black resigned. 21.xf6 h7 22.e7+ 1–0

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An Average Player vs. a Grandmaster

    The 1992 US Open was held in Dearborn, Michigann, a suburb of Detroit. The tournament was won by GM Gregory Kaidanov ahead of John Fedorowicz, Benjamin Finegold, Ray Stone and David J Strauss who were tied for second. 

    The following entertaining game was played in that event and it features a mismatch where a 1775 rated player confidently launched an attack against his 2325 rated opponent, the 78-year old GM Arnold Denker. 

    The opening was the Stonewall Attack, one of those “systems” that was first advocated by Al Horowitz and Fred Reinfeld back in 1971 in their book How to Think Ahead in Chess: The Methods and Techniques of Planning Your Entire Game. The book deals with one opening for white, the Stonewall Attack, and for black the Sicilian Dragon against 1.e4 and Lasker's Defense against the Queen's Gambit. The Dragon has a whole lot more theory than ever presented in the book, but Lasker's Defense is a solid and fairly easy way to meet 1.d4. 

    The Stonewall Attack seems simple enough, but for some reason when you play it black never seems to roll over and died like the examples in the book. 

    Later on, in 1993, Andrew Soltis published The Stonewall Attack in which he proclaimed it to be, “one of the simplest to play and yet it is one of the rarest to be found in tournaments...at least on the master level.” 

    The problem is that in real life your opponents do not obligingly fall in with your plans. You cannot play the Stonewall by simply posting your pawns on c3, d4, e3, and f4 and then deploying your pieces in typical Stonewall fashion with Bd3, Nf3-e5, Nbd2, Qe2 or Qf3, O-O, etc. Even in the Stonewall you have to pay attention to your opponent's plans and act accordingly. 

    in the following game the average player got a reasonably good position, but then like we average players do, he managed to lose. At any level though a 550 point rating difference is just too much to overcome.

 

ChessBase

Azziem Mohammed1775–Arnold Denker23250–1D00US Open, Dearborn02.08.1992Stockfish 16

Stonewall Attack 1.d4 f6 2.e3 d5 3.d3 e6 3...c6 4.f4 4.c3 to prevent ...Nb5 would allow 4...e5! g4 4...b4 5.f3 English Master F.J. Lee and Jackson W. Showalter preferred 5.Bd2 with the idea of clearing the c-file for the R at c1 and prepare b2-b4 which restricts black's main break ... c5. xd3+ 6.cxd3 is an entirely different gane that what white expects when he plays the Stonewall. 5.f3 b4 is dead level. There is little merit to having the B on g4 because after Nbd2 and h3 white has a good position. 6.bd2 e6 7.0-0 a5 Komodo 8 64-bit: 1) 8.a3 xd3 9.cxd3 Tartajubow-opponent, Correspondence, 2015. The game was eventually drawn. 4.d2 A precaution against the possibility of ...Ne4 4.f4 e4 5.xe4 5.f3 c5 6.c3 c6 7.bd2 f5 and this is not what white is looking for when he plays the Stonewall. 5...dxe4 and white's plans have been rendered impossible. 4...bd7 5.f4 c5 6.c3 b6 6...d6 7.e2 b6 8.gf3 b7 9.e5 e4 10.xe4 dxe4 11.b5 xe5 12.dxe5 is equal. Sharbaf,M (2362) -Lavasani,J (2032) Dubai UAE 2006, Note that white did not get the K-side attack as is generally expected when the Stoewall is played. 6...a6 7.gf3 e7 8.0-0 b5 9.e5 b7 10.df3 h6 11.f5 exf5 12.xf5 0-0 13.d2 Neither side can claim any advanrage. Campagnolo,F (1714) -Guara Neto,A (2060) Florianopolis BRA 2022 7.f3 7.gf3 b7 8.0-0 c4 9.c2 e7 10.e5 0-0 This is the typical setup that white expects to reach when playing the Stonewall. 11.f3 e8 This should have lost at once! 12.h3 12.xh7+ Unlike in the game, this scores the point. h8 12...xh7 13.h3+ g8 14.h5 h4 15.xh4 xh4 16.xh4 and white is winning. 13.h3 ef6 14.c2 g6 15.xg6+ g8 16.g3 wins for white. 12...f5 13.df3 b5 14.xd7 xd7 15.e5 White has only slightly better chances. Sushko,V-Kuznetsov,V Kiev 2004 7...b7 8.e2 In spite of all the glowing promises of those advocating the Stownwall Attack, white has no real prospects of overwhelming blac's solid defensive setyp. 8.g4 looks good, but it doesn't lead toi anything. g6 9.g5 h5 8.h3 h6 9.g4 d6 10.g5 hxg5 11.xg5 e7 followed by ...O-O-O is slightly in black's favor. 8...e7 9.c2 Harmless and rather pointless. 9.g4 was worth a try, but after h6 10.h4 h5 11.g5 g4 12.g3 g6 This closed position is completely equal. 9...c8 10.0-0 c7 11.g4 a8 A pecular move. The point seems to be to make ...Ne4 possible in the event of 12.g5 12.g3 Now ...Ne4 loses a P. 12.g5 e4 13.xe4 dxe4 14.h3 0-0 15.g3 favors black after f5 16.gxf6 xf6 17.g2 g6 The e-Pawn is safe and black is better. 12...0-0 13.g5 e8 In this position white has equality, but no more. On his next move he confidently sacrifices a B, but unfortunately it's unsound. There is no really promising continuation for white, so he has to just keep amneuverubg and wait. A switch to the Komodo Human engine did not reveal anything special...only maneuvering... 14.xh7+ Unsound...it's only good if black does not accept it. xh7-+ 14...h8 15.d3 Now the threat of Qh5+ and mate on h7 is very real, so... 15.h5 This looks lkogical, but it's nit quite good enough to force the win. df6 16.gxf6 xf6 17.e5 e8 18.f3 xh7 19.h5+ g8 20.g5 xg5 21.fxg5 d8 22.f4 g6 23.h6 f6 The defense has succeeded and the chances are equal. 15...g6 16.h4 d6 17.h5 with a cery dangerous attack. 15.h5+ g8 16.f3 g6 17.h6 g7 18.e5 xe5 19.fxe5 Now id white can get in Rf4 he will have a winning attack. d8 19...a6 A pass to show white's threat. 20.f4 xg5 20...f5 21.xf5 gxf5 22.h4 mate next move. 21.xg5 d8 22.h6 with a decisicve advantage. 20.f6 e8 21.d2 f8 22.h3 a6 This prevents white from getting his other R into play... not that Raf1 would actually have caused black any serious problems. 22...a6 23.af1 c6 24.1f4 f5 25.xf5 exf5 26.h4 g7 27.h7 e6 28.h4 f8 White is a piece down anf there is no way to continue his attack. 23.a4 d3 24.e4 xe4 25.f4 f5 White is now quite lsot. 26.xe4 26.xf5 xf5 anf there is no way white can get the R to the h-file. 26...xg3 26...dxe4 wins, but it could get a bit tricky. 27.xe4 g7 28.f6+ xf6 29.gxf6 cxd4 This P has a great future! 30.f1 dxc3 31.xf5 31.xc3 xc3 32.bxc3 d2 Prevents the Q from reaching h6. 31...cxd2 32.h6 d1+ 33.g2 g4+ 34.f2 c2+ mates 27.hxg3 27.h4 was his only chance. h5 28.xh5 gxh5 29.xh5 vut even here there is no attack and so after cxd4 30.f1 dxc3 31.bxc3 c5+ 32.h1 d4 33.g6 fxg6 34.xg6+ g7 the game is over. 27...dxe4 28.e3 cxd4 29.cxd4 c4 30.d1 30.f1 xd4 31.xd4 xd4+ 32.h1 xe5 is hopeless for white. 30...g7 31.g2 c2+ 32.f2 Black resigned. 32...e3 is next. 0–1

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Celso Golmayo

 

Golmayo

`Celso Golmayo y Zúpide (April 24,1820 - April 1, 1898) was a Spanish born Cu;am player and was the first Cuban player to participate in European tournaments. 

    He was the de facto Cuban champion since his 1862 match defeat of Felix Sicre (1817-1871) who became the first Cuban champion in 1860 and lost the title yo Golmayo in 1862. Sicre lost all games to Paul Morphy, during his two visits in Havana in October 1862 and February 1864. 

    Golmayo participated in the infamous Paris 1867 tournament where he tied for 7th-8th. In matches, he defeated Paul Morphy 3-2 in Havana 1864...Morphy was playing blindfolded gave odds of a Knight. 

    He lost matches to Gustav Neumann (0-3 in Paris in 1867), twice to Wilhelm Steinitz (2-9 in1883 and 0-5 in 1888). 

    In 1887 he defeated Andrés Clemente Vázquez 7-0 and again in 1890 by a score of 7-4. He lost three matches George Mackenzie (3-6 and 0.5-5.5, both in 1887 and 4.5-7.5 in 1888). 

    He lost to J.H. Blackburne (4-6 in 1891 and to Emanuel Lasker (0.5-2.5 in 1893). All these too place in Havana. 

    He is also known as Capablanca’s teacher and his two sons, Celso Golmayo y de la Torriente and Manuel Golmayo y de la Torriente were Spanish Masters.

    Golmayo’s opponent in the following game was Eugen Rousseau (1805-1877), who was born in Saint Denis, France and died in Paris. Rousseau came to the United States in 1841, settling in New Orleans. 

    He played a match against Charles H. Stanley at the Sazerac Coffee House in New Orleans for a stake of $1,000, winner-take-all. It was the first organized chess event in the United States and the first chess event held for the purpose of recognizing the best player in the Unites States. 

    The term US Champion did not exist at the time and the match was to be won by the first to win 15 games, draws not counting. There was no time. Rousseau lost the match (+8-15=8). Eight year old Paul Morphy attended the match and as a result he became interested in chess. 

    The tournament in Paris in 1867 was held during the World Fair. Thirteen participants played in a double round-robin tournament. Draws did not count and the time control was ten moves an hour. There were no rounds and players simply agreed to play each other when it was convenient, alternating colors. 

    Golmayo's opponent was Martin From (1828-1895) of Denmark. He is most famous for the From’s Gambit (1.f4 e5) which he first played in 1852. 

    From was an inspector of the penitentiary of Christianshavn, Denmark. He was born at Nakskov in SW Denmark and was saod to have been gifted with a rare intelligence and he made rapid progress in his studies. However, his strongly independent nature resulted in a dispute with his teachers,\ and he left school without passing his University exams. 

    Soon after, of the out break of a war with Germany for the possession of Schleswig, the northernmost state in Germany, he entered the army as a volunteer and saw action in combat. 

From

    At the end of the war he settled at Copenhagen, where he was employed in the Statistical Bureau and eventuall he was emplyed in prison management. From the year 1890 he was inspector of the penitentiary of Christianshavn. 

 While in the Statistical Office From made the acquaintance with the strongest chess player of Copenhagen who taught him the game. It was soon apparent that From possessed considerable talent. 

    Both players have estimated rating by Chess metrics. Golmayos’ highest rating is estimated to have been 2612 in 1894 ranking him #26 in the world. From’s highest ever rating 2427 un 1870 ranking him #18 in the world. 

ChessBase

Celso Golmayo–Martin From1–0C45Paris09.06.1867Stockfish 16

C45: Scotch Game 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.d4 This ancient opening dates back to the mid-1700s. By 1900 it had lost favour among top players because it was thought to release the central tension too early and allow Black to equalise without difficulty. exd4 4.xd4 h4 Normal are either 4...Bc5 or 4...Nf6. The eare text move has a surprising success rate! It was an idea of Steinitz. It wins a P but at the cost of allowing white a lead in development and attacking chances. 5.b5 xe4+ 6.e2 Trading Qs with 6.Qe2 would be in black's favor. White must play aggressively. Black is already facing a question...how to best continue in view of the threat Nxc7+ e5 This is also a poor move. 6...xg2 7.xc7+ d8 8.f3 h3 9.xa8 is obviously unsatisfactory. 6...d8 7.1c3 b4 8.0-0 xc3 9.xc3 d4 10.d3 f6 11.g5 White is better. Vyskocil,N (2318)-Paldus,P (2077) Liberec CZE 2005 6...b4+ keeps the damage to a minimum. 7.1c3 xc3+ 8.bxc3 White must accept the doubled Ps or accept equality after 8.Nxc3 Qxg2 which is now safe to play. 8.xc3 xg2 9.d5 9.f3 g6 9...xd5 10.xd5 d8 11.g1 g6 12.b3 h6 13.b2 h7 14.0-0-0 d6 15.c4 An interesting position. Black has a two P advantage, but he is badly cramped. The chances are about even. In Shootouts white scored +1 -0 =4 7.f4 e4 7...b4+± 8.c3 c5 9.xc7+ d8 10.xa8 b6 11.cxb4 xb4+ 12.d2 xb2 13.c3 Black resigned. Kaula,I-Van Steenwinckel,I Szeged 1994 8.xc7+ d8 9.xa8 Curously the N remains here for the rest of the game as black has no time to capture it. xg2 9...b6 10.c3 xg2 11.f3 g6 12.e3 b7 13.xb6 axb6 14.xb6+ Blacm is the exchange and a P down. 10.f3 g6 11.e3 e6 12.e2 f6 13.a3 d6 14.xc6 Completing his development with 14. Nc3 was also good. e8 14...bxc6 15.xa7 xe2+ 16.xe2 a6+ 17.d1 xf4 18.b6+ and black is a R down. 15.f3 xe3 16.xe3 xe3+ 17.f2 c5 17...xf4 was worth a try. 18.c3 e5 19.hd1 f5 20.d5 e5 21.g2 g5+ 22.h1 f5 23.xf6 xf6 24.d3 Black simply does not have enough compensation for his material deficit, but who knows? 18.g2 d5 19.h3 f5 20.c3 Getting his pieces into play is more important than the P. Golmayo finishe off his opponent in a very efficient mnner. xc2 21.ac1 e4 22.xe4 dxe4 23.hd1+ e7 24.xc5 Black resigned. Playing on is futile. 24.xc5 exf3+ 25.f2 e4+ 26.xe3 xc5 27.c7 Finally! White is a clear R ahead. 1–0

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John Cochrane

    Few readers have probably ever heard of George Walker (1803-1879), but in the days of long forgotten players like Alexander McDonnell, Labourdonnais, Pierre Charles St. Amant, Josef Szen, Captain Evans, Howard Staunton, Eugene Rousseau, Daniel Harrwitz, Lionel Kierseritsky, William Steinitz and dozens of other, Walker met and played them all. 

    One member of that illustrious group was John Cochrane of whom Walker proclaimed was the “most brilliant player he ever had the honor to look over or confront" and Howard Staunton eulogized Cochrane as “at once the most original and brilliant player of the day" and adding that "no collection of games would he complete without examples of (Cochrane’s) bold and subtle genius." 

    Of Cochrane the Marbh, 1878, American Chess Journal opined that posterity would confirm Walker’s opinion and that “Cochrane's games will remain to be admired (but not imitated)...” 

    John Cochrane (February 4, 1798 – March 2, 1878) was a a member of a distinguished Scottish family, noted chessplayer and lawyer of his day. 

    Cochrane was a midshipman in the Royal Navy and supposedly served aboard HMS Bellerophon when the ship transported Napoleon Bonaparte to Britain in 1815. The downsizing of the Navy after the end of the Napoleonic Wars ended his Naval career. 

    After serving in the Royal Navy, Cochrane became a barrister. While studying law, he became a very strong player and published a chess book that included what is now known as theoretician King's Gambit Accepted: Salvio, Cochrane Gambit (1.e4 es 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5. Ne5 Qh4+ 6.Kf1 f3). 

    Around this time he played against the French players Louis-Charles Mahe de La Bourdonnais and Alexandre Deschapelles who were acknowledged to be Europe's strongest players at the time. 

    After a long tour of duty in India, he returned to the UK and beat everyone except Howard Staunton, whom he then helped to prepare for his victorious match against Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant which established Staunton as the world's leading player. 

    After that Cochrane returned to India where he became known as the "father of the Calcutta Bar” which was an association of barristers. While there he was also a leading member of the Calcutta Chess Club. 

    It was the club as well as Cochrane himself that made significant financial contributions to the first international chess tournament, London, 1851, which Staunton organized. It was a knockout tournament that was won by Adolf Anderssen who defeated Staunton in the semifinal rounf and Marmaduke Wyvill in the final round. 

    Cochrane continued to playing and to send games to the UK for publication. It was there that he introduced the Cochrane Gambit against the Petrov Defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nxf7).

    When he returned to the UK for good, Cochrane played only casual games, practice law part time and wrote articles and books about law. 

    Here is a casual game he played against Deschapelles that is not especially flashy, nut the opening is a bit tricky as was the double Rook ending. 

    Alexandre Deschapelles (1780-1857) was born in Ville d'Avraym, France. He served under Napolean in the French Republican army. At the age of 14 he was in battle when a swing of a Prussian soldier sword Deschapelles’ right hand. Then defenseless a second blow slashed his face from ear to chin. After he fell to the ground he was trampled by the enemy’s horse. Somehow he survived and recovered. Thesaber wound to his face caused the phrenology enthusiasts of his era to suggest his cranial saber wounds were responsible for his amazing chess skill. 

    By the way, if 14 seems a bit young to be fighting in a military battle, it’s not a record! The 3 feet 1 inch tall John Gates enlisted as a drummer boy in the US Army’s 2nd Infantry at the age of 5!! That was in 1808. He re-enlisted at the age 14 14 in 1813. He got discharged in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1815, perhaps after the Battle of New Orleans. 

    Throughout the American Civil War, approximately 250,000-420,000 males under the age of 18 were involved in both Union and Confederate forces. It is estimated that 100,000 Union soldiers were 15 years of age or younger.

    In more modern times, after Pearl Harbor in 1942, Calvin Graham lied about his age an enlisted in the US Navy at the age of 12. He was discharged after serving brig time for being AWOL not long after. Then after getting married, having a child and getting divorced, he joined the US Marine Corps at the age of 18. He received a medical discharge (back injury) 3 years later. In 1978, he was finall given an honorable discharge. 

    Back to Deschapelles. He was one of the strongest players of the world in the first half of the 19th century. In 1821, he overwhelmingly defeated Cochrane by a score of 6-1 in a match in which Cochrane received odds of a Pawn and two moves! 

ChessBase

John Cochrane–Alexandre Deschapelles1–0C44Casual game, ParisParis1821Stocjfish 16

C44: Scotch Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.d4 exd4 4.c4 With the Scotch Gambit, the scotch gambit white attempts to achieve an attacking game. c5 Black can transpose into the Two Knights Defense with 4.. .Nf6 5.g5 Other possible moves are 5.O-O and 5.c3 e5 Black does better to play 5...Nh6 because white's next move give his the advantafge. 6.xf7+ xf7 7.xf7 b4+ 7...xf7 would land black in serious trouble. 8.h5+ g6 9.xc5 with a clear advantage. 8.c3 The only correct move. 8.d2 and it's white who is in serious trouble! xd2+ 9.xd2 xf7 10.xd4 e7 Black is up a piece and hite has no attack. 8.d2 is also bad. xf7 9.0-0 xd2 10.xd2 h5 Here, too, black is up a piece and white has no compensation. 8...dxc3 9.bxc3 White is clearly better, but black can at least make a fight of it if he takes the N. xc3+ 9...xf7± 10.cxb4 f6 11.0-0 e8 12.c3 d6 13.g5 e6 White is perhaps a bit better.. Cochet,C (2071)-Martsynovskaya,M (2235) Val d'Isere 2004 10.xc3+- xf7 11.d5+ f8 12.a3+ d6 13.e5 Black has reason to be concerend. His K is exposed and white has three pieces developed. g5 The idea is not to discourage white from castling, but to ease the defense by trading Qs after 14.exd6 14.exd6 Even after allowing the trade of Qs white's position remains vastly superior. 14.0-0 is perfectly safe! h3 This does not work. 15.f3+ f5 16.exd6 and white wins. 14...xd5 15.dxc7+ f7 16.xd5 d7 17.0-0 c8 18.d6 e6 19.g3 c6 20.ad1 He could save the N with 20.Nb4, but the text allows an exchange which brings him closer to victory. xd5 21.fe1+ f6 22.xd5 h6 23.a5 f5 24.c5 xg3 25.hxg3 White has a won ending. f7 26.d1? 26.f5++- was better. g6 27.g4 hf8 28.xf8 xf8 29.e7 c8 30.f4 f6 31.d7 and wins 26...he8 Suddenly with his K cute off white has considerable technical difficulties to overcome especially in a double R ending. 27.d6 e7 This looks right since there is no way white can save ti P, but it results in the loss of the game. 27...e6 should draw! 28.d8 28.xe6 xe6 and the P falls. 28...e8 White simply cannot exchange Rs and win, so... 29.d2 e7 30.dc2 e6 31.g4 d6 32.f4 exc7 33.xc7 xc7 34.xc7 xc7 is a draw. For example... 35.g5 d6 36.g4 b5 37.f2 b4 38.e3 d5 39.f5 a5 40.d3 a4 41.c2 e5 42.d3 h5 43.gxh5 xf5 44.h6 g6 45.hxg7 xg7 46.c4 b3 47.axb3 axb3 48.xb3 28.f5+ Found it! e8 29.d8+! xd8 30.f8+! xf8 31.cxd8+ Black resigned. A simple, yet instructive game. 1–0

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The Powerful Queen

    The 1927 Kecskemet, Hungary tournament featured twenty players that were divided into two preliminary sections. Preliminary A was won by Alekhine followed by Aasztalos, Kmoch, Gilg, Takacs, Tartakover, Brinckmann, Yates, Mueller and Sarkozy. 

    Preliminary B was won by Lajos Steiner followed by Nimzovich, Ahues, Vajda, Colle, Gruenfeld, Vukovic, Kullberg, Przepiorka and Szekely. 

    The Final A Group winner was Alexander Alekhine followed by Aron Nimzovich and Lajos Steiner (tied). Final B was won by Savielly Tartakower and Ernst Gruenfeld (tied) followed by Sandor Takacs and F.D. Yates (tied). 

    When the Queen are off the board it completely alters the character of the position. Tactical elements are reduced (not eliminated!) and positional elements take on a greater significance..

    This game between Alekhine and Tartakower from the Preliminary A Group illustrates how the Queen’s way of moving, a combination of the Rook and Bishop, can give rise to similar tactical motifs observed in both of those pieces and it’s a good example of the Queen’s versatility in the conduct of mating operations. Alekhine’s strategy may not have been perfect, but it’s very instructive. 

ChessBase

Alexande Alekhine–Savielly Tartakower1–0B15Kecskemet (Prelim Group A)1927Stockfish 16

B15: Caro-Kann 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.c3 dxe4 4.xe4 f6 5.g3 e5 6.f3 exd4 7.xd4 c5 8.e2+ e7 8...e7 9.xe7+ xe7 10.df5 f8 11.g5 xf5 12.xf5 e4 White's pieces are more active, but there is little he can undertake. Lomineishvili,M (2345)-Purtseladze,M (2356) Tbilisi GEO 2012 8...d7 avoids the exchanhe of Qs, but loses the game. 9.e3 e8 10.0-0-0 c7 11.b5+ cxb5 12.xd8 xe3+ 13.fxe3 xd8 14.xb5 with a decisive advantage. Owezdurdiyeva,J (2061) -Rose,F (2091) chess.com INT 2023 9.e3 c5 Besides this black has also tried 9...Qa5+ and 9...Qd5. 10.df5 0-0 Pachman makes an interesting observation here. With 8.Q2e+ Alekhine blocked his B and now if he wants to castle K-side he is going to lose time which is favorable to black. However, now "by means of a few energetic moves, of admirable simplicity, Alekhine succeeds in making capital out of the mobility of his Q." 11.c4 Even non-Masters know that Q sorties undertaken before development has been completed are, as a rule, misguided. That's because without the cooperation of the other pieces the Q is subject to time winning attacks on it. With 11.Qc4 Alekhine's idea is that he is attacking the c-Pawn plus he has seen an, as of yet, potential attcak on f7...something even a great player likeTartakower failed to appreciate. 11.d3 When annotating this game Pachman did not mention the possibility of white's castling Q-side which is also quite reasonable. a5+ 12.d2 c7 13.0-0-0 and white stands well. 11...e8 Placing the R opposite white's K which at the same time indirectky defends his c-Pawn is quite reasonable, but Tartakower does not suspect the that danger is lurking. His best move was the illogical looking 11. ..Bxf5 11...xf5 12.xf5 c6 and the P is immune. 13.xe7+ 13.xc5 xc5 14.xc5 e4 Threatening mate with ...Qd2, so... 15.e3 e8 16.e2 16.c4 f6 win the Q 16...a5+ wins the N 13...xe7 14.xc5 c8 15.xa7 xc2 with equal chances. 11...b6 This defends the Pawnm bur black faces serious difficulties after 12.d1 bd7 13.h4 White has what should amount to a decisive attack. 12.d3 This move has, as far as I know, not been commented on by annotators, bit it should have resulted in no more than equality had Tartakower responded correctly. 12.xe7+ xe7 12...xe7 13.0-0-0 and white stands well. 13.d3 White correctly igmores the c-Pawn. 13.xc5 c6 14.d3 e5 This attack on the misplaced Q assures black of equality. 13...e6 14.h4 with the more promising position. 12...b6 This move, too, has escaped the attention of the annotators, but not Stockfish! It's after this that's Alekhine's strategy with his Q is vindicated. 12...f8 An illogical looking undeveloping move which is actually best as it completely equalizies! 13.0-0-0 and black has full equality after either 13...Be6 or 13.Qb6. 13.0-0-0 At this point Alekhine has a clearly better, if mot decisive, position. a6 This is quite logical as it develops a piece and at the same time attacks the Q. It's paradoxical that it is also even worse than his last move. White's position is now clearly decisive. 13...xf5 At least thi removes one of the attackers. 14.xf5 bd7 and now... 15.xg7 xg7 16.f5 c7 17.xd7 xd7 18.g4+ h8 19.xd7 e5 20.e1 f6 21.c3 g8 22.h3 White hs a decisive advantage...not seeing how? Here'she best line... 14.h6+ A beautiful combination, based on the motifs of decoying, diverting and discovered check. Its chief point lies in the eighteenth move, when it turns out that Black is compelled to give up the Q, not for three minor pieces, but two. (Pachman) gxh6 Forced. 14...h8 15.xf7+ g8 16.h6+ h8 17.g8+ xg8 18.f7# 15.xh7+ Another sactifice and it's the only move that wins. xh7 15...h8 16.xf7 Xxf7 16.g4+ h8 17.xd8 xd8 18.e4 This Q fork virtually ends the game because Alekhine now obtains a decisive material advantage. c6 19.xc6 f8 20.f5 c4 21.xh6 White has a Q+2Ps vs. R+B d5 22.c7 ac8 23.f4 c6 24.xf8 xf8 25.e5+ f6 26.d6 Black resigned. Curiously white's last move has left the B and N forked. 26.d6 xa2 27.xf6+ h7 28.e1 mates in 11... xd6 29.xd6 g8 30.b3 g6 31.f8 g7 32.e3 c4 33.e7 cxb3 34.h3+ g6 35.e4+ g5 36.g3+ f6 37.f3+ g5 38.f5+ h4 39.h3# 1–0

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William Eno at Skaneateles

    I know you are dying to know where Skaneateles is and who William Eno was. Skaneateles is in upstate New York not far from Lake Ontario. It’s a small town of a little over 7,000 people. It gets its name from the adjacent Skaneateles Lake.

    William Eno (1843 – 1922, 78 years old) was born in Manchester, England and passed away in South Nyack, New York, a hamlet about 30 miles north of New York City. In his day, Eno was a gentleman who required no introduction to players of the area because he had been so prominently identified, both as a player and as an official with the rise of chess clubs in Brooklyn starting in the 1880s. 

    In his early years Eno was a contemporary with Bernhard Horwitz and Josef Kling who authored an important book on endgames. At 16 he was a spectator at Blackburn's first blindfold performance. The 19-year-old Blackburn played twelve games without seeing the boards. 

    After Eno came to the United States (probably somewhere between 1868 and 1872) earning a living to support his family took precedence over chess and until his mid to late thirties he played very little. 

    When a new chess club (the Danites Chess Club in New York) opened he came out of “retirement” and when the club was absorbed by the Brooklyn Chess Club he became more active than ever in furthering chess interests in New York. Eno was champion of the Danites C. C. and was the Brooklyn C. C. Champion in 1887 and again in1890. 

    Eno's style of play was described as “moderately slow, every move thoroughly considered, and yet in simple positions as rapid as could be desired; very sound in combinations, and frequently brilliant in conceptions.” His Edo Historical Rating is a little over 2100, placing him in the modern day USCF Expert category. 

    His opponent in the following game was William Scripture (1843 – 1933, 89-years-old). 

ChessBase

William F. Eno–William E. Scripture1–0C44Skaneateles, New York21.07.1891Stockfidh 16

C66: Ruy Lopez: Steinitz Defence 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.c3 This game starts out as a Ponziani Opening, but soon tranposes into the Ruy Lopez. f6 This, the Jaenisch Variation, is considered black's safest course in the Ponziani. 4.d4 d6 4...xe4 The main alternative. 5.d5 b8 6.d3 c5 7.xe5 xd3+ 8.xd3 is equal. 5.b5 d7 6.0-0 e7 7.xc6 White has played several different moves here. This unprovoked exchange of a B for a N seems wrong on principle, but it is not actually a mistake. xc6= 8.dxe5 xe4 8...dxe5 9.xe5 9.xd8+ xd8 10.xe5 xe4 9...xe4 looks quite boring. 9.exd6 cxd6 Like white's 7th move, this is not really a mistake, but it just doesn't look right. Taking with either the Q or B seems more natural. 10.e3 0-0 11.d4 f5 It;s odd that while black has not made any moves that could be called a mistake and the position is evaluated at dead equal, somehoe black's position looks loose and unstable. 12.e1 h4 This attack in f2 is quite harmless. 12...e8 deserves consideration. After 13.b3+ d5 the position is completely equal. 13.bd2 13.xh4 looks logical, but even then the position is devoid of any tension after xh4 14.f3 g5 15.d2 and a good word to describe this position is "bland." 13...f6 14.e2 g5 15.xg5 xg5 16.b3+ h8 17.ae1 xd2 18.xd2 g5 A double attack on g2 and the R. 19.f4 The only move. g6 After this black finds himself with increasing trouble. 19...xf4 There was no reason to avoid this capture. 20.e7 It's white's turn to attack the g-Pawn. g8 21.f7 Black is forced to guard g7. xd2 21...g5 22.h4 g4 23.de2 f4 24.h5 af8 25.e6 xe6 26.2xe6 d8 The double R ending with Bs of opposite color make a draw a likely outcome. 22.xg7+ xg7 23.xg7# 20.e7 Now whit's attack looks to be gaining considerable force. g8 21.e6 But not after this. 21.f7 xf7 22.xf7 e4 23.e2 h5 23...h6 is much worse...watch... 24.e3 h7 25.g3 with a triple attack on g7/ 24.e3 h7 25.h3 25.g3 is less effective. h4 26.gxg7+ xg7 27.xg7+ h6 25...g6 26.c7 h4 27.xh4 with a promising position. 21...g4 22.c4 22.xd6 xf4 and black is OK 22...e4 Surrendering the d-Pawn is a mistake. 22...ge8= and Black has nothing to worry. 23.xd6 loses as follows... e1+ 24.f2 ae8 is fatal for white. 25.xg7+ 25.g3 f3# 25...xg7 26.d4+ f7 27.f6+ g8 28.g5+ xg5 29.fxg5 Blac has the superior ending. 23.xd6 ae8 Black has managed toi drift into a lost position. 23...xf4 is a self mate. 24.xg7+! xg7 25.d4+ e5 26.xe5+ f8 27.f6+ e8 28.e6# 23...ac8 was worth a try. 24.e6 ce8 25.f7 c6 26.e5 xe5 27.fxe5 e4 Neither side can maker any progress. 24.e5 24.xa7 throws away his advantage. xf4 25.d4 g4 Oddly, in spite of his extra P, Q-side P-majority and triple heavy pieces on the d-file plus black's tied down R on g8 white can make absolutely no progress. Opposite color Bs and black's attack on g2 are adequate compensation. 24...h4 25.e2 a6 26.c4 c8 27.g3 e7 It's hard to see, but the Q lands in difficulties on the 7th rank...so much so that this must be considered the losing movve. 27...h3 Offered much stout resistance. 28.d7 h5 29.2d4 g4 In Shootouts white scored +3 -0 =2 in long (100+ moves) and difficult endins. 28.b4 28.h5 Threatening mate with Rh6 was stronger. c6 29.b4 xd6 30.xd6 e8 31.xg7+ The finishing touch. xg7 32.h6+ h8 33.f6+ g7 34.d8 28...f7 28...gd8 offered a manly defense. 29.d1 xd6 30.xd6 c6 31.h5 g8 32.xf5 d8 33.c5 f8 and white is going to have to work hard for the win...white scored 5-0 in Shootouts. 29.d7 xc4 Scripture clearly hoped the exchange of Qs would ease his defense, but in this case it walks into a mate in 9! Either 29...Qe8 or 29...Qg6 would have held out longer. 30.xc4 xc4 31.xg7 c1+ 32.f2 e8 32...d5 prolongs things a bit. 33.xd5 c2+ 34.f3 h5 35.c7+ g7 36.d8+ h7 37.xg7+ h6 38.h8# 33.g5+ It's mate in 2 so black resigned. 33.g5+ xe5 34.d8+ e8 35.xe8# 1–0

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50 Years Ago, Mednis in Italy

    The year 1974 started off with a quarter-final qualifying match for the World Championship being played in San Juan, Puerto Rico between Boris Spassky and Robert Byrne; Spassly won, scoring +3 -0 =5. 

    From December 27, 1973 to January 6, 1974 there was a tournament in Reggio Emilia, Italy (Jurgen Dueball, Leubeb Popov and Gyula Sax tied for first) and from January 8-18, 1974, there was another tournament held in Madonna Di Campiglio, Italy (Sax won). 

    GM Edmar Mednis played in both. At Reggio Emilia he scored +5 -1 =4 and tied for 4th-5th. At Madonna Di Campiglio he scored +3 -1 =6 and tied for 4th-6th.

    The weather in Reggio Emilia was cold, wet and dark and there was a local oil shortage which meant that there was absolutely no heat in the playing hall and the players had to bundle up in overcoats and hats. 

    Madonna di Campiglio, a winter and summer resort in northern Italy that is close to Switzerland and Austria, was different. It was bright and sunny with temperatures hovering around freezing. Mednis was unhappy with the playing conditions though. The spectators were not separated from the players and they (the spectators) “felt free to make as much noise as possible.” 

    If you ever met Edmar Mednis (March 22, 1937 - February13, 2002, 64 years old) you would have found him to be a friendly, pleasant man that was just plain likable. 

    Grandmaster (1980) Mednis was born in Riga, Latvia. Although he was trained as a chemical engineer he worked as a stockbroker, but became best known as a chess player and an excellent author. 

    After moving to the United States Mednis represented his new country in the 1955 World Junior Championship that was held in Antwerp and won by Boris Spassky. Mednis finished second; their individual game was drawn. 

    Mefnis died of complications from pneumonia in 2002 at Woodside, Queens, New York. 

    His opponent in the following game was Guido Cappello (1922-1996) who was born in Pisa and was the 1960 was Italian Champion. 

 

 

    At the time the following game was played Mednis’ score was 4-2 and he was determined to win and so playing the Sicilian seemed to offer the best chance of winning. 

    He was also aware that in earlier rounds Cappello had obtained winning positions against the two Sicilians he had faced. Consequently, Medis, knowing that is opponent was also intent on winning, eschewed the Sicilian and decided upon the French Defense with the the hope that also in his desire to win, Cappello would overreach himself. Cappello’s play was quiet, but solid and he even had a bit of an advantage, but began drifting, got into time trouble and lost.

 

ChessBase

Renato Cappello2310–Edmar Mednis24550–1C04Reggio Emilia (Italy)Reggio Emilia (Italy)Stockfish 16

C04: French Defense 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.d2 c6 This is the Guimard Variation, named after GM Carlos Guimads pf Argentina who introduced it into practice in 1946-7. The idea is to put immediate piece pressure on white's center and so prevent a favorable P-formation for white' i.e. a P on f4. The downside is that black's c-Pawn is blocked. It was Mednis' belief that 3...Nc6 gives black more winning chances than other moves. Ny database does not support that belief as it shows white winning four times as many games as black in the Guimard. 4.gf3 f6 5.e5 d7 6.b5 Clearly Cappello is looking for a fight.This is much more forcing than the tamer 6.Nb3. a6 7.xc6 bxc6 8.b3 c5 9.g5 The disadvantage of White's order of moves is that an immediate 9 N-R5 leads to nothing after 9 in N-QR5, must exchange Bishops and it is generally true that all exchanges lighten the defensive task. is not as good as it looks. 9.a5 c6 and the N is serving no purpose on a5 because white cannot play 10.xc6 c7 and the N is trapped. 9...e7 Best/ 9...f6 10.exf6 gxf6 11.h4 c4 12.bd2 e7 13.0-0 Wgite is slightly better. The position of black's K is a bit drafty. 10.a5 Now this move is good; the threat is Nc6 trapping the Q. b8 This prevents Nc6, but now white gets a bit of an advantage. 10...xe5 This surprise is actually obvious when you see it! It's not surprising that Mednis missed it in his notes to the game! 11.xe5 xg5 12.dxc5 f6 The chances are equal, but in Bueno,A (2179) -Languidey,S (2416) Florianopolis BRA 2019 white soon erred and lost quickly. 11.xe7 xe7 12.dxc5 Even GMs think about such elementary things as the center. Mednis observed that, "Giving up the center is rarely worthwhile and also here black now achieves equality." He recommended 12.c3. Jowever, it must be noted that white's move is, in reality, not a mistake (Stockfish says so!) and the position is quite even. 12.c3 ...and white is a bit better after... d7 13.0-0 0-0 14.b3 c6 15.xc6 xc6 16.a3 Black has a bad B pluus his Ps are subjected to annoying pressure by the Q. 12.c4 0-0 13.0-0 d8 14.c1 dxc4 15.xc4 cxd4 16.xd4 White is better. Zimina,O (2334)-Hou,Y (2578) Plovdiv BUL 2010 12...xc5 13.d2 13.b3 is less effective. e7 14.d4 d7 15.g4 0-0 16.0-0 Black has the more active position. Kastelfranchi,A (2215)-Gusev,Y (2360) Moscow 1991 13...0-0 14.0-0 d7 Somewhat better would have been 14...Nc6 15.b4 Mednis was critical of this demonstration stating that it leads to nothing, but otherwise black soon gets in ...c5 with a good position. But, it's the very move Stockfish recommends and assigns white a very minimal advsantage. b6 The Q would have been safer on e7. 16.c4 dxc4 17.ac1 17.xc4 According to Mednis after b5 Black stands very well, so Cappello tries to keep the Q-side bind. However, Black has sufficient counterplay according to Mednis. A possible continuation si 18.ac1 b8 19.d4 xb4 20.xb4 xb4 21.c6 a4 22.e7+ h8 23.fd1 The chances are equal. 17...b5 18.fe1 18.xc4 is met by b8 19.a3 b7 20.d4 d5 21.f4 fd8 with equality. 18.xc4 is more difficult for black to meet. xe5 19.xe5 xe5 20.fc1 wins the cp(awn and leaves white with the advantage. 18...b8 Good defensive play! The idea is not so much to attack the b-Pawn as to allow the development of the Bishop. 19.xc4 b7 20.g5 This merited a ? fro Mednis who offered the instructive observation: A type of move which is so often dangerous in open Sicilian type positions, but is not so dangerous in the semi-closed French Defense. During the game I thought that white's best approach here was to sacrifice a P with 20.a4 20.a4 As it turns out Mednis was correct...this is the ebst move. xa4 21.xb7 xb7 22.d4 c5 23.bxc5 b5 with equal chances. 20...xe5 Actually, this position is quite equal if white follows up correctly with 21. Rc5 or 21.Qc2. Instead he starts going astray. Looming time pressure? 21.xc7 Mednis stated that there was nothing better, but after 21.Rc5 neither side can claim any advantage. 21.c5 d3 22.c1 g6 23.xb7 xb7 24.a3 b5 25.xc7 a5 with complete equality. 21...a8 Excellent! Black takes time out to retain his B which has now become quite valuable. 22.a3 There has suddenly been a complete turn around in the position. White lacks a decisive continuation so he protects the b-Pawn. AT this point black has a considerable advantage. d3 Another excellent move. Mednis called it the most difficult move in the game because black voluntarily allows a pin on the d-file, but is is the only way of taking immediate advantage of the misplaced white pieces. 22...bd8 This is obvious, but after 23.c2 g6 24.c5 d3 25.c6 white has sufficient play. 23.d1 bd8 24.c3 Time pressure was approaching for Cappello and he played the text move quickly and confidently. However, a fully satis- factory defense does not exis,t but the text move loses quickly. All Mednis must do is to sidestep a diabolical trap! f4 Which he does! 24...xf2 would allow white to fully equalize. 25.xd8 e2 25...xd1 26.c8 and white wins! 26.xd1 xg5 favors black 26.c6 xc6 27.d2 xd1+ 28.xd1 xd1 29.xc6 is equal. 25.xd8 e2+ 26.h1 xc3 27.d3 This is the position Mednis visualized when he played 24...Nf4 he felt sure that 27...Qe5 must win, but now, when this position arose, he started looking for something better. g6 After this prosaic move white resigned. 27...e5 28.f3 e2 29.g1 29.xc3 f1+ 30.g1 xg2# 29...xf2 30.g5 e2 31.xe2 xe2 32.h3 xd3 wins 27...d5 This completes the N's tour and is quite elegant. 28.xf8+ xf8 29.d1 c3 30.e1 xg5 and the game is over. 27...g6 28.d4 xg5 29.f3 c1+ 30.g1 Black can win any number of ways xa3 31.e1 c8 32.d4 e2 33.d2 c1 0–1

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