Coffeehouse Champion

    George N. Treysman (1881-1959) was an exceptionally strong coffeehouse player from New York City who is little known today. Chessmetrics estimates his highest ever rating to have been 2650 in 1936. When the first official chess rating list published in 1950 Treystman had a 2521 rating. He died of throat cancer in Florida in February of 1959. 

    Not much is known of his life and because he was primarily a coffeehouse hustler and most of his games have not survived. 

    For the 1936 championship there were a series of preliminary qualifying events and the top scores were seeded into the finals. Treysman nearly tied Reshevsky for first, but he had a catastrophic last round loss to Albert Simonson. Instead he finished tied with Rueben Fine for third place. 

 

 

    Treysman earned his living as a hustler in the seedier chess clubs of New York City. He was willing to gamble on anything…chess, horses, cards…anything. Norman Lessing and Dr. Anthony Saidy in their book, The World of Chess, wrote that Treysman, “never opened a chess book or, I suspect, many books of whatever description.” 

    Arnold Denker called Treysman the best odds-giver at chess in the United States. Among his victims were such stalwarts as Kashdan, Dake, Kevitz, Steiner and Denker himself. 

     Treysman qualified for the finals at the 1937 US Open in Chicago, where he tied 3rd-4th with a 6-4 score and in 1938 he again played in the US Championship and scored 7-9 and tied for places10-11th place. 

    Here is a sample game in which he defeated Weaver W. Adams. The game can best be described as “messy.” That refers to the position, not the play, as both players threaded their way through the complications quite well. 

    It was played in the 1936 US Championship which was the first USCF tournament for the US championship after Frank James Marshall retired. It marked the transition from match play to tournament play. 

 

[Event "US Championship, New York"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1936.04.25"] [Round "1"] [White "George Treysman"] [Black "Weaver Adams"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D09"] [Annotator "Stocjfish 16"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "1936.04.25"] {D09: Albin Counter Gambit} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 {Adams was an advocate of this uncommon response. In exchange for the sacrificed P black gets a central P wedge at d4 and some attacking chances. White usually returns the P in order to gain a positional advantage.} 3. dxe5 d4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. g3 {The main line is 5. Nbd2. Treysman's response is super solid.} Be6 6. Nbd2 Bb4 7. Qc2 Nge7 8. a3 (8. Bg2 Ng6 9. O-O Qd7 10. Nb3 Bf5 11. Qd1 d3 12. e3 {White slightly better. Ulibin,M (2515)-Pettersson,A (2258) Norrkoping SWE 2004}) 8... Bxd2+ (8... Bf5 {is equally good.} 9. Qa4 Bxd2+ 10. Bxd2 O-O {equals. Kazhgaleyev,M (2596) -Sagalchik,G (2487) playchess.com INT 2004}) 9. Bxd2 Ng6 10. Bf4 (10. Bg2 O-O { Correct was 10...Ncxe5} 11. Ng5 d3 12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. Qxd3 Qxd3 14. exd3 Ngxe5 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Ke2 {with an excellent ending. Wojtaszek,R (2219)-Jeremejev, A Artek 2000}) 10... Qe7 (10... f6 {This odd looking move is one that only an engine would favor!} 11. exf6 Qxf6 12. Bg2 Nxf4 13. gxf4 Qxf4 {Black is slightly better.}) 11. Bg2 Qc5 {11...O-O-O was worth considering} 12. Rc1 a5 { Prevents b4.} 13. O-O O-O 14. Ng5 Rad8 15. Be4 (15. Nxe6 {seems preferable.} fxe6 16. Bg5 Rd7 17. Qb3 Ncxe5 18. Bd2 {He cannot leave the B hanging.} c6 19. Bh3 d3 20. Bxe6+ Kh8 {Now after 21.Be3 white would stand well, but he must not play...} 21. Bxd7 dxe2 22. Be3 (22. Rfe1 Qxf2+ 23. Kh1 Nf3 {ans wins}) 22... Nf3+ 23. Kg2 Qe7 24. Bg4 Qe4 {and black is winning. For example...} 25. Bxf3 Qxf3+ 26. Kg1 Nf4 27. gxf4 Rxf4 28. Bxf4 exf1=Q+ 29. Rxf1 Qxb3) 15... Rfe8 16. h4 Ncxe5 17. b4 axb4 18. axb4 Qxb4 19. Bd2 Qc5 {This sets a little trap.} 20. h5 (20. Bxb7 {This leads to all kinds of crazy pooibilities, none of which are good for white.} Bg4 21. e3 d3 22. Qa4 h6 23. Ne4 Nf3+ 24. Kg2 Qf5 25. Rh1 Rxe4 26. Bxe4 Ngxh4+ 27. Rxh4 Nxh4+ 28. gxh4 Qxe4+ 29. Kh2 Bf3 {leads to mate.}) 20... Nf8 21. Bxh7+ Kh8 22. Bf4 {This messy situation is actually slightly better for black.} Ng4 {Adams prefers attacking rather than capturing the c-Pawn with 22...Nxc4. Either move is satisfactory.} 23. Be4 f6 24. Nf3 Bg8 25. Bg6 Bh7 26. Kg2 {[%mdl 8192] This is a serious miscalculation that should have turned the game over to white. The obvious idea is that after black captures on g6 white can attack on the h-file, but Adams must play the right movr...but, it's not easy to figure is all out OTB with the clock ticking.} Re7 (26... Bxg6 27. hxg6 d3 28. Rh1+ Kg8 29. exd3 Qc6 30. Rh4 f5 31. Rh5 Nxg6 32. Rxf5 { with equal chances.}) (26... Nxg6 {This is the right move.} 27. hxg6 d3 28. exd3 Bxg6 29. Rh1+ Kg8 30. Rcd1 (30. Rh4 Bxd3 31. Qb2 Re2 {wins}) 30... Qc6 { and white is in serious trouble.}) 27. Qd3 (27. Bxh7 Nxh7 28. Rcd1 Qc6 29. Qg6 Ne5 30. Bxe5 Nf8 {White can retreat his Q to g4 with about equal chances or he can get fancy and play} 31. Bxc7 Nxg6 32. Bxd8 Re8 33. hxg6 Rxd8 34. Rh1+ { and white is actually better...but ptoving it is difficult even for an engine!} ) 27... Ne5 {A tactical error that proves fatal.} (27... Qc6 {keeps the balance.} 28. Rh1 Ne5 29. Bxe5 fxe5 30. e4 {ad it;s anybody's game.}) 28. Nxe5 fxe5 29. Bg5 {[%mdl 32]} e4 30. Bxe7 exd3 (30... Qxe7 {was worth a try.} 31. Qb3 Nxg6 32. hxg6 Bxg6 33. Rh1+ Kg8 34. Rh4 {but here, too, white has the advantage.}) 31. Bxc5 dxe2 32. Rfe1 d3 33. Be7 Ra8 34. Bxd3 Bxd3 35. Bxf8 Rxf8 {[%mdl 4096] The last few moves have clarified the situation and white is left with a won ending.} 36. Rc3 Rd8 37. Kf3 b5 38. cxb5 Bxb5 39. Rxc7 Rd3+ 40. Kf4 Rd1 41. Rc1 Ba4 42. Rc8+ Kh7 43. Rxe2 {0-1 Black resigned, All in all nit a badly played game given the messy piece position!} 1-0