Louis Levy

    The following brilliant game was played in the 1941 Marshall Chess Club Championship. The winner was Louis Levy (1921-2011, 90 years old). He was a FIDE Master in chess and a Life Master in bridge. He is the only person known to have played Frank Marshall, Bobby Fischer and Gata Kamsky. Originally from New Jersey, he passed away in Los Angeles. 

    Anthony Santasiere (1904-1977) is better known. He was a Master and chess writer, who also wrote extensively on non-chess topics. Santasiere was a middle school math teacher by profession. He won the 1945 US Open Championship, four New York State championships and six Marshall Chess Club championships. 

    The Orangutan (1.b4) has never been popular at the top level, though a number of prominent players have employed it on occasion. In 1963, Alexey Sokolsky (1908–1969) wrote a monograph on it and so it’s sometimes called the Solkolsy Opening. 

    In the Tartakower vs. Maroczy game played in the New York 1924 tournament the players had visited the Bronx Zoo the previous day and Tartakower noted that the climbing movement of the Pawn to b5 reminded him of the orangutan. Alekhine said that the problem is that 1.b4 reveals white's intentions before he knows what black's intentions are. Santasiere modified the Orangutan by playing 1.Nf3 first and he, himself, named it Santasiere’s Folly. 

    Santasiere was an original thinker, but he was often dogmatic and exaggerated the value of novelties and sometimes insisted that it took bizarre moves in the opening in order to play “Romantic” chess. At one point, in the 1970s I believe it was, Santasiere got into a written feud with Larry Evans after Evans showed disdain for Santasiere's hypocrisy for “talking like a tiger and playing like a Tigran (Petrosian).” But, Evans did admit Santasiere had the heart of a Romantic even if he didn't have the games to back it up. 

    Writing in his Game of the Month column in the January 1942 issue of Chess Review, Reuben Fine presented the below game as a complete refutation of Santasiere’s Folly and, at the same time, poked fun at the opening. It’s quite possible it was sour grapes on Fine’s part owing to the fact that in the 1938 US Championship Samuel Reshevsky finished first with an undefeated 13.0 while Fine was second with 12.5 (their individual game was drawn). Fine lost one game to, guess who? That’s right...Santasiere, who finished tied with George Treysman for tenth (out of 17) with a score of 7.0. 

     Note regarding Levy’s 2...f6. In his notes in Chess Review, Fine attached two !! to the move. Later in Chess Marches On he upped it to three! Fine wrote that it's a "a natural reply which nobody seems to have thought of before.” Earlier in the tournament Harry Fajans had played 2...f6 with the same result. Even earlier Santasiere had lost a game in the NY State Championship against the move.

    Playing over this game using a board and pieces instead of just clicking through the moves on the computer screen gives a whole different perspective to the game. Seeing the game unfold as the players did gives a better appreciation for the complexities that Levy had to thread his way through!

 

[Event "Marshall CC Championship"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1941.12.14"] [Round "3"] [White "Anthony Santasiere"] [Black "Louis Levy"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A06"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "1941.11.30"] [Source "Chess Review, Ja"] {A00: Irregular Openings} 1. Nf3 d5 2. b4 {Reuben Fine admitted that while Santasiere had a lot of success with this opening, it was, nevertheless, a waste of time. Fine wrote that while this move is useful in certain variations of the Reti Opening in most cases it amounts to nothing more than a loss of time, adding that at any rate, sometimes it does lead to unusual positions. Fine snidely commented Santasiere had applied for a copyright on the move. In his book on the opening Santasiere called it the Futuristic Chess Opening} f6 { Ordinarily the early advance of the f-Pawn is bad because it deprives the N of its best square, but here it is very much to the point because black can build a strong Pawn phalanx in the center. (Fine) Today 2... f6 is long forgotten and it;s very rarely played.} 3. d4 (3. e3 Nh6 4. c4 e6 5. Qb3 a5 6. b5 Nd7 { White is better. Zurek,M (2405)-Sikora-Lerch,J (2380) CSR 1991}) 3... e5 (3... a5 {While not exactly bad, this move does not challenge white's setup.} 4. b5 c6 5. e3 Bd7 6. a4 e6 {White is better. Elkin,A (2195)-Samborskiy,V (2052) Ulyanovsk RUS 2013}) 4. a3 {According to FIne this is a routine reply, after which black secures an overwhelming position. Black is better, but overwhelming is a bit of an exaggeration.} (4. dxe5 {This keeps things even.} fxe5 5. Nxe5 Bxb4+ 6. c3 {After the B retreats to safety ob any reasonable square it's an odd position. Does the weakness of black's K offset his basically sounder P formation?}) 4... e4 5. Nfd2 Bd6 (5... f5 6. c4 Nf6 7. c5 f4 8. Nb3 e3 9. fxe3 fxe3 {with equal chances. Chandler,P (2265) -Krenz,V (2287) Bad Vilbel GER 2010}) 6. e3 f5 {We now have, with colors reversed, a variation of the French Defense which is highly favorable to the attacker (here black) and which is particularly strong because white has made two wholly useless moves on the Q-side (b4 and a3). No more complete refutation of white's faulty opening strategy could be thought of. (Fine) Again. Fine exaggerates. Three different engines evaluate this position as equal.} 7. c4 c6 8. Nc3 Nf6 9. Qb3 {According to Fine this move illustrates white's dilemma because castling K-side is too dangerous. Perhaps a bit of an exaggeration! White could also play 9.Be2 or 9.b5 with a satisfactory position.} Be6 10. cxd5 {Fine said this move, clarifying the situation in the center, only helps black, but white has no constructive plan. In that he is correct, but 10.b5 would have kept things about even. After the text black is slightly better.} cxd5 11. Be2 Nbd7 {Black has so strong an initiative that normal development creates a positional threat: the occupation of c5 by a N. White manages to prevent this, but at a terrific cost. (Fine)} 12. a4 Rc8 13. a5 {White's position is cramped, but it looks safe enough. A bomb explodes his serenity. Of course, while Black retains the better of it with the simple ...Qe7 and ...f4, the line chosen is far more forceful.} Bxh2 {This gets a ! from Fine with the comment, that it's obvious and strong. According to the engines castling was equally goo.} 14. g3 {This not quite as good as capturing the B, but neither continuation is quite satisfactory.} (14. Rxh2 Qc7 15. Rh1 Qxc3 16. Qxc3 Rxc3 {Black's control of the c-file gives him the advantage.}) 14... Bxg3 {Black gets three Ps for the B and a strong attack.} 15. fxg3 Qc7 16. Nd1 {Too passive, One of the first principles of defense is that one must be as active as possible, else the pieces become meaningless. Fine recommended 16.Bb2. Black's attack now keeps getting stronger.} (16. Bb2 {(Fine)} Qxg3+ 17. Kd1 O-O {Black has the advantage.} 18. a6 b5 {This sets a clever trap. White cannot afford to grab the P, but rather he must try and defend his K with} 19. Nf1 Qg2 20. Rh2 Qg1 21. Kd2 Ng4 22. Bxg4 fxg4 23. Ne2 Rf2 24. Rxf2 {and black's gob of Ps on the two files will prove decisive.} Qxf2 {In Shootouts white scored +0 -4 =1, but securing the point was a long and tedious process. Here is a sample continuation.} 25. Nfg3 Nb6 26. Rf1 Qg2 27. Rg1 Qf3 28. Bc1 Nc4+ 29. Kd1 Rf8 30. Qc3 Qf7 31. Qe1 Qe8 32. Rf1 Rf3 33. Ng1 Qc8 34. Nxf3 gxf3 35. Qf2 Bg4 36. Qh2 h5 37. Ke1 Ne5 38. dxe5 Qxc1+ 39. Kf2 Qd2+ 40. Kg1 Qxe3+ 41. Qf2 Qf4 42. Re1 Qxe5 43. Kh1 Kh7 44. Re3 Qe6 45. Re1 Qe7 46. Kg1 Qxb4 47. Nf1 Qe7 48. Ne3 Be6 49. Nc2 Qf6 50. Kh1 Bf7 51. Rb1 Qxa6 52. Ra1 Qf6 53. Rxa7 Be8 54. Ra2 Qf4 55. Qh2 Qc1+ 56. Qg1 Qd2 57. Qg3 b4 58. Ra7 Bg6 59. Ra6 Qc1+ 60. Ne1 Bf5 61. Ra7 Bg4 62. Rxg7+ Kxg7 63. Qe5+ Kf7 64. Qxd5+ Be6 65. Qxe4 f2 66. Qf3+ Ke8 67. Qxf2 b3 68. Qe2 Ke7 69. Qf2 b2 70. Qh4+ Kd7 71. Qd4+ Ke7 72. Qh4+ Kd7 73. Qd4+ Kc8 74. Qe4 b1=Q {and wins.}) 16... Qxg3+ 17. Nf2 Ng4 $1 18. Bxg4 fxg4 19. Ndxe4 {Justifiable suicide. (Fine) The truth is there was nothing better.} Qg2 {After this the thrust ...g3 is a killer no matter what white does. (Fine)} 20. Nd6+ Kd8 21. e4 {aiming for Bf4.} (21. Nxc8 {is met by} g3 22. Rf1 Rf8 23. Ra2 Bh3 24. Qd3 {Everything is defended, but after} Rxf2 25. Rfxf2 gxf2+ 26. Rxf2 Qg1+ 27. Ke2 Bg4+ {picks up the R} 28. Rf3 (28. Kd2 Qxf2+ 29. Kc3 Kxc8) 28... Kxc8 29. Qc2+ Kd8 30. b5 (30. Qxh7 Qg2+ 31. Kd1 Bxf3+) 30... Qg2+ 31. Kd3 Qxf3) (21. Nxb7+ {is met by} Kc7 22. Nc5 Nxc5 23. bxc5 g3 24. Ra2 Rhf8 25. Rf1 Bh3) 21... g3 22. Bg5+ $2 (22. Nxb7+ $2 Ke7 23. Rf1 (23. Bg5+ $2 Nf6 $19) 23... gxf2+ 24. Rxf2 Qh1+ 25. Kd2 Rhf8 $19) (22. Rf1 {was forced.} Rf8 23. Bg5+ Kc7 24. Nxc8 gxf2+ 25. Kd2 Qxg5+ 26. Qe3) 22... Nf6 23. Bxf6+ gxf6 24. Rf1 gxf2+ 25. Rxf2 Qh1+ {In view of the exposed white K the rest is simple. Levy repeats moves at several points, doubtless to gain time on his clock.} 26. Rf1 Qh4+ 27. Rf2 Qh1+ 28. Rf1 Qh4+ 29. Rf2 Rg8 30. Ke2 Bg4+ 31. Ke1 Be6 32. Ke2 Rg3 33. Qa4 Bg4+ 34. Kd2 Qh6+ {White resigned; it's mate in 2/} 0-1