Boris Baczynskyj

    Boris Baczynskyj (October 14, 1945 – January 16, 2008, 62 years old) was an FIDE Master, popular local chess instructor and journalist who was also once the editor of Chess Life magazine who died suddenly on Wednesday, January 16, 2008. 

    Baczynskyj was born in Vienna, Austria and was a long time resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In his youth, Baczynskyj was a member of the Ukrainian Scouting Organization, Plast, and was a member of its Burlaky fraternity. He was active in Ukrainian-American chess life, belonging to the USCAK Chess Club and participated in Ukrainian-American tournaments, winning championships several times. 

    After graduating from high school he earn a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University. After graduation from Yale he served with the Peace Corps in Thailand and later remained in Cambodia where he worked as a freelance journalist for UPI, Far Eastern Economic Review and other publications. 

    After Cambodia was overrun by the Khmer Rouge in April of 1975, Baczynskyj returned to the US and became a chess professional and popular instructor. 

    At one time he was the third ranked chess player in the US. He also served as an advisor for Fidelity International. the world's largest manufacturer of computer chess products. He co-authored Computer Chess II, a book describing advances in computer chess programming techniques with over one 150 games. He also wrote theoretical and instructional articles on chess and computer chess. 

    As a chess instructor, he taught especially young children in private and public schools. He also gave many simultaneous chess exhibitions in schools, shopping malls and public fairs. 

    During the early years of Ukrainian independence (starting in 1991) Baczynskyj worked as a journalist for a few years in Kyiv, Ukraine and his articles were published there. 

    After returning to to Philadelphia he continued teaching, writing, lecturing and promoting chess and was a member of the Franklin Mercantile Chess Club.

    Baczynskyj had a life-long desire to promote civil rights. During his college days, he participated in several protests supporting racial integration and was once even caught up in a mass arrest during a protest march in St. Petersburg, Florida. 

    He promoted the concept of equal rights for all by translating the song We Shall Overcome into Ukrainian and it became the theme song at the Scout's East Chatham Plast camp that summer. 

    His anti-Vietnam war convictions led him to organize a march on the American Embassy in Thailand to protest President Richard Nixon's secret bombing of Cambodia. 

    In the following game he scored a powerful win over Weinberger in the 1976 Lone Pine tournament. Tibor Weinberger was born in Hungary in 1932 and in the mid-1950s he played in five Hungarian championships. He came to the US in 1957 and eventually settled in California; he is a USCF Senior Mater. 

    The 7 round Swiss 1976 Lone Pine event (the 6th) had 57 players and was won by Tigran Petrosian with 5.5 points. There was a massive tie foe second a half point behind: Larry Christiansen, Vasily Smyslov, Oscar Panno, Miguel Najdorf, Miguel Quinteros, Anthony Miles, Kenneth Rogoff, Walter Browne and Gyozo Forintos. 

    Baczynskyj tied for places 42-47 with a +2 -4 =1 score. Weinberger finished tied for places 52-54 with +0 -4 =2. Neither player had a good result due to the fact that the rating requirements for this tournament had been lowered to a USCF rating of 2300 and so both players were among the lower rated.

 

[Event "Lone Pine"] [Site "Lone Pine, CA USA"] [Date "1976.03.10"] [Round "?"] [White "Tibor Weinberger"] [Black "Boris Baczynskyj"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B30"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "1976.??.??"] {B30: Sicilian} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {This is the Rossolimo Variation which can also be played against 2...d6. Here white looks to take the N and double black's c-Pawns and then solidify his P-chain with d3 and then continue his development. It's a good alternative to the usual 3.d4} Nf6 4. Nc3 (4. Bxc6 {is the thematic move. After} dxc6 5. d3 (5. e5 Nd5) (5. d4 Nxe4) 5... Bg4 6. Nbd2 {with equal chances, but the pin is annoying.}) {White has tried both 5. d3 and 5.e5, but mostly the game is now in uncharted waters.} 4... Nd4 { This is rarely seen. Usual is either 4.Qc7 or 4...g6} 5. Bc4 (5. Nxd4 {favors black after} cxd4 6. Ne2 a6 7. Bc4 Nxe4 8. Nxd4 d5) 5... e6 6. e5 {A more solid move was 6.d3. After the text black gets an active position.} d5 7. exd6 Bxd6 8. d3 a6 9. a4 Bd7 10. Bg5 {This is a reasonable looking move, but it turns out poorly} (10. Nxd4 {eliminates the well placed N and it is quite satisfactory.} cxd4 11. Ne4 Nxe4 12. dxe4 Bb4+ 13. Bd2 Qa5 {is eual and the game Padurariu,I (2188)-Levushkina,E (2327) Dresden 2007 was eventually drawn.} ) 10... Bc6 11. Ne4 Be7 12. Bxf6 (12. Nxd4 {is a better defense.} Qxd4 13. c3 Qd7 14. Nxf6+ gxf6 15. Be3 {and black is only very slightly better}) 12... gxf6 {[%mdl 32] Well played! He avoids the simplification that takes place after 13. ..Bxf6} 13. Nxd4 Qxd4 14. c3 Qe5 15. O-O {There was really nothing better. White's position is very passive and now Baczynskyj launces a strong attack. Weinberger defends stoutly, but his position is probablt already strategically lost.} f5 16. Qh5 Qg7 17. Ng3 f4 18. Ne4 Rg8 {[%mdl 128] The attack is building up and there is not much white can do except wait and hope his defense will hold.} 19. g3 O-O-O {[%mdl 32]} 20. Rfe1 Kb8 21. b4 {It's understandable that white wants to try and counterattack, but this feeble attempt falls way short. Instead a defensive move like 12.Kf1 preparing to f; lee would have offered better chances of survival.} cxb4 22. Rab1 f5 23. Bxe6 fxe4 24. Bxg8 {Winning the exchange is meaningless because black's pieces are so well coordinated, but there was nothing better.} Rxg8 25. cxb4 e3 {Tearing the K's position apart.} 26. fxe3 fxg3 27. h3 Qc3 28. b5 axb5 29. axb5 Rg5 30. Qxh7 {This allows a mate in 9} (30. Qf7 Qc2 $1 31. Qf4+ Kc8 32. bxc6 Qh2+ 33. Kf1 g2+ 34. Ke2 g1=Q+ 35. Qxh2 Qxh2+ {wins}) (30. Qe2 $19 {is his best defense. } Bxb5 31. Red1 Qe5 32. Kg2 Qe6 33. e4 Bd7 34. Rh1 Rf5 35. Rbf1 Ra5 {White is strategically lost. Black scored 5 -0 in Shootouts. Here is an example of the play...} 36. Rc1 Bd6 37. Rc2 Ra3 38. Qe3 h6 39. h4 Be5 40. Rf1 Rc3 41. Rb2 Qh3+ 42. Kg1 Bd6 43. Rfb1 Bc6 44. Qd2 g2 45. Qxg2 Bc5+ 46. Rf2 Qxd3 47. Re1 Rc2 48. Ref1 Qxe4 49. Qxe4 Bxe4 50. Kh2 Bxf2 {with an easy win.}) 30... Qc2 $1 31. Qh8+ Kc7 32. Rb2 {32.b6 would have held out a couple of moves longer.} Qh2+ { [%mdl 512] White resigned} (32... Qh2+ 33. Rxh2 gxh2+ 34. Kf1 (34. Kxh2 Bd6+ 35. Qe5 Bxe5#) 34... h1=Q+ 35. Ke2 Rg2+ 36. Kd1 Bf3+ 37. Kc1 Qxe1#) 0-1