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.
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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