Black Wins the 1917 Brooklyn CC Championship

    The year 1917 wasn’t all that great. What came to be known as the Great War, now known as World War I, had began on June 28, 1914 and it wasn’t to end until November 11, 1918. Today in the U.S. it is celebrated as Veterans Day, but I remember when it was referred to it as Armistice Day. The name change came in 1954. 

    Life expectancy in the U.S. was a scant 48.4 years for males and 54.4 years for demales. But, things were soon to get even worse! The 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic in 1918 killed over 650,000 people and caused the average life expectancy for males to drop to 36.6 years and to 42.2 ears for females! 

    On a lighter note, 1917 was the year journalist H.L. Mencken published a hoax news article stating bathtubs were popularized in the U.S. after President (from 1850 to 1853) Millard Fillmore after he had one installed in the White House. Thirty years later, even after he admitted it was false, it was still being reprinted as fact. 

    Well known players who died that year were Walter Gledhill (1854-1917) after whom the Gledhill Attack in the French Defense (1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Qg4) was died in Dublin, Ireland at the age of 70. Arturo Reggio (1863-1917) died in Milan, Italy; he was an Italian champion in 1900, 1901, 1905, 1913 and 1916. And, the Englishman William Cook (1850-1917) died in Bristol, England. He had authored Synopsis of the Chess Openings in the 1880s.

    In the U.S. Oscar Chajes won the New York State Championship that was held in Rochester. The Western Chess Association (later to become the U.S. Open) was held in Lexington, Kentucky. Edward Lasker won it. 

    In other happenings in 1917, Schmulke Rzeszewski, later known as Sammy Reshevsky (1911-1992), learned how to play chess from his father. In January, Capablanca returned to Cuba where he gave lectures, exhibitions and studied openings. In Russia, after the Bolshevik Revolution, chess was officially discouraged because it was considered to be as a decadent bourgeois pastime. As a result, almost all chess activity and clubs ceased to exist. The ban didn't last long because in July of 1919, Nikolai Grigoriev defeated Alexander Ilyin-Genevsky in a match held in Moscow. 

    In the following game former New York state champion, many time Brooklyn CC Champion and at one time president of the Cornell Chess Club defeats J.H. Taft, Jr. in a game played in the last round of the 1917 Brooklyn CC Championship.

    Not much is known of J.H. Taft, Jr., except he is mentioned in the August 9, 1917 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagkl as having been drafted into the Army when World War I was first declared and was serving in a regiment in Montclair, New Jersey and while om furlough he was able to visit the Brooklyn CC for the first time in a long while. 

    Going into the last round Black had 6 points while his nearest rials, the Perkins brothers, had 5.5. The brothers were paired against each other and drew their game and so finished a point back tied for second. 

    It was a lucky escape for Black who was at a serious disadvantage for much of the game, but Taft’s imprecise play allowed black to turn the tables. Roy T. Black (1888-1962) was born in the borough of Brooklyn and won the Brooklyn championship in 1909, 1910, 1911, 1914, 1915, 1917 and 1918. He won the 1914 N. Y. State Championship, and participated in the last two cable matches against Great Britain, winning both of his games. He placed just below the prize winners in 1911 in the New York Masters and was the only player to beat Capablanca. 

ChessBase

Roy T. Black–J.H. Taft, Jr.1–0C77Brooklyn CC Championship1917Stockfish 16

C77: Ruy Lopez 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 a6 4.a4 f6 5.d3 The Anderssen Variation in which white delays playing d4 and avoids a lot of theory. White often maneuvers Nbc2-f1-e3 and them plays Re1. His immediate threat bow that the e-Pawn is protected is Bxc6 and Nex5 d6 One of several ways to defend the e-Pawn. 5...c5 is a trap. The e-pawn cannot be taken. 6.xc6 dxc6 7.xe5 d4 wims the N on e5 because of the mate threat on f2 6.c3 g6 This is black's most successful continuation. 7.bd2 g7 8.f1 0-0 9.g5 b5 10.c2 h6 11.h4 b7 11...d5 This is more aggressive, but certainly mot better than the solid text. 12.exd5 xd5 13.e3 d6 14.a4 b8 15.axb5 axb5 equals. Vishnu,P (2437)-Navalgund,N (2246) Nashik IND 2022 12.e3 e7 12...d7 13.xf6 xf6 14.g4 g7 15.h4 e7 16.h5 g5 17.f5 xf5 18.gxf5 d5 Black is a little better. Vydeslaver,A (2404)-Liss,E (2512) Israel 1999 13.e2 c5 14.0-0 h5 15.ad1 f4 Black has manages to get an active position against white's rather passive setup. 16.d2 c7 16...f5 was also a good alternative. 17.a4 b8 18.axb5 axb5 19.h1 c6 20.g1 Intending f3 b4 21.b3+ h8 Black is somewhat better. 17.g3 d5 18.g4 This dies not lead to anything so 18.exf5 keeping things equal would have been better. g5 19.h4 This only serves to weaken his K's position so 19.Rfe1 would have been safer. dxe4 20.dxe4 ad8 21.e3 h5 Nicely played. 22.gh2 22.fxe5 xe5 23.h6+ h7 24.xd8 xd8 25.d1 c7 26.hxg5 eg6 White only has twi Os vs a B which is not enough compensation. 22...g4 23.d2 eg6 24.f3 h6 25.h1 h7 Defending the B and threatening ...Nxg2 26.f2 c8 27.b3 All this does is waste time. 27.Rfe1 was better. c4 28.c1 e6 29.fxg4 hxg4 30.e2 d3 This looks good, but black does not follow it up correctly. Keeping up the pressure with 30...Nh5 was a good alternative. 31.xd3 cxd3 Black has over estimated the strength of this P bing on d3. 32.d4 b6 32...f4 was a little better. After 33.xe6 fxe6 34.xf4 xf4 35.xg4 e7 36.g3 g7 37.f3 37.gxf4 lose quickly/. xf4 38.g3 xg4 39.h3 g6 40.fe1 g3 41.f1 g8 and white bites the dust. 37...g6 the chances are equal. 33.xe6 xe6 34.f5 xf5 Black has lost the thread of the game! Black is in trouble...he has two Ps under attack. 34...f4 35.xf4 xf5 36.exf5 xf4 37.xg4 h5 38.fe1 e4 39.h2 39.e3 d2 40.g1 d3 wins 39...fe8 40.e3 f6 with equal chances. 40...d2 doesn't wotk here... 41.e2 d3 42.dxd2 35.xf5 g7 36.xg4 f6 37.f3 f5 38.exf5 e4 39.fxg6+ xg6 40.e3 f5 41.f2 fe8 42.h2 b4 43.g4+ Black resigned. 1–0

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Humphrey Bogart, A Near Master

Bogart

    Humphrey Bogart was born in New York City on January 23, 1899, but Warner Brothers publicity changed it to December 25, 189. He was the son of a noted Manhattan surgeon and his mother was an illustrator. If anyone is interested, there is a rather lengthy biography of Bogart a New York Times book page HERE.

    Bogart probably learned chess in 1912 when he was taught by his father during their stay at their summer home in Canandaigua Lake, New York. He was known to have visited the chess clubs in New York City the following year. 

    His strength is generally placed at high Expert (2000-2199) or low Master (2200-2399) and he was also a USCF tournament director and an active member of the California State Chess Association. He was friends with several of the top US players of the day. 

     In his biography Bogart and Bacall, Joe Hyams wrote, “After the (stock market) Crash of 1929, Bogart was reduced to making eating money playing chess at the numerous ‘sportlands’ on Sixth Avenue. For a bet of fifty cents a game he played all comers. Bogart was both a good chess player and hungry, and he won more than he lost. He soon landed a job at an arcade, where he sat in the window playing chess for a dollar a game. Most often he had only a doughnut and coffee for lunch.” He was known to have played chess in Times Square in 1933. 

    As an act of support for US soldiers stationed overseas during WWII he played postal games, but in 1943 he was visited by the FBI who prevented him from playing any more correspondence chess. The FBI was reading his mail and thought the chess notation was some kind of secret code. One wonders why were they reading Bogart’s mail and it seem that FBI agents would have been able to understand the simple explanation, but apparently that was noit the case. 

    Unlike many so called celebrities of today, in 1918 Bogart enlisted in the US Naval Reserve and was called to active service when World War I was nearly over. After his discharge from the Navy in 1919 he returned to New York City and continued to play chess and eventually got a job as an office clerk at a theater and the rest is history. 

    In 1942, he starred in Casablanca which had several chess playing scenes. All the chess scenes were Bogart's idea because he wanted a character that was a chess player that drank too much. 

    Bogart divorced his wife in May of 1942 and married another chess player…20 year old Lauren Bacall. Bogart and Bacall, appeared on the cover of the June-July, 1945 issue of Chess Review magazine. Bogart was playing another actor, Charles Boyer and Lauren Bacall was looking on. Bogart helped sponsor the 1945 Pan American Chess Congress in Los Angeles and was selected as the Master of Ceremonies. 

    When interviewed by Silver Screen magazine in June of 1945, when asked what things mattered most to him, he replied that chess was one of those things that mattered most to him. He said he played every day between takes when he made movies.

Reshevsky

 

    In 1946, Bogart lost a match for $100 (about $1,200 today) to restaurateur Mike Romanoff and later that evening went home then phoned Romanoff to play one more game over the phone for another $100. Romanoff agreed and lost in 20 moves. Former US Champion Herman Steiner just happened to be at Bogart’s home and it was Steiner that Romanoff was actually playing. 

     Romanoff's restaurant on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills was Bogart's hangout. Bogart owned the second booth from the left corner as you entered the restaurant. No one else could sit there. If Mike Romanoff was there, he and Bogart would always play chess at that table. Bogart claimed to be the strongest player among the Hollywood stars. The restaurant closed in 1962. 

    The following game was played in a 70 board simultaneous Reshevksy gave in Los Angeles and, needless to say, he and Bogart were the center of attraction and shared top billing. Their game was not flawless, but it was quite interesting.

 

ChessBase

Samuel Reshevsky–Humphrey Bogart½–½C5770 Board Simul, Los AngelesLos Angeles, CA USA1956Stockfish 16

C57: Two Knights Defense 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.c4 f6 4.g5 d5 5.exd5 This is white's only option. xd5 Usual is 5...Na5. The text is extremely risky. Albert Pinkus tried to strengthen this move with analysis published in Chess Review in 1943 and 1944. but white gets a strong attack with the safe Lolli Attack (6.d4) which Bobby Fischer recommended. Or, he can play the Fried Liver (or Fegatello) Attack with 6.Nxf7. In either case black's defense will prove difficult. 6.d4 6.xf7 xf7 7.f3+ e6 8.c3 cb4 9.0-0 White has a slightly better position and while black is in no immediate danger he must exercise caution! 6...f6 There is scant theory on this position. What little there is shows black trying a number of moves, but this looks anything but sound. Still, in this game black manages to come out of the opening with a decent position! Best appears to be 6...Nxd4 7.dxe5 fxg5 It's perhaps a bit surprising, but this capture appears to be best. 7...b4+ 8.c3 fxg5 9.xd5 xe5 Horrible. Black had to place either the B or N on e7. 10.cxb4 e7 11.0-0 d7 12.h5+ f7 13.xg5 xg5 14.xf7+ d8 15.xg5+ c8 16.c3 1-0 Bet,J (2131)-Hantke,V Curacao 2002 8.xd5 Capturing with the B seems to give white more activity. xd5 9.xd5 e7 9...b4 10.e4 e7 11.c3 c6 12.e3 e6 13.0-0 White is better. Chappe,P-Battin,R (2095) Jakarta 1997 10.0-0 Somewhat better would have been 10.Be3 10.xc6+ This looks better because it leaves black's Ps wrecked, but Reshevsky realized (and Stockfish agrees() that in return he would enjoy the possession of two active Bs on the open board. bxc6 11.d2 a5 12.0-0 g4 13.e1 0-0 14.e4 b8 15.b3 f5 with full equality. 10...f5 11.c3 Moves the P out of danger and prevents ...Nd4 xe5 This is not really bad, but safer would have been 11...O-O 12.xb7 As bad as black's 6th move may have looked, he has emerged with a reasonably decent position. Here white picks up a little material for the price of neglected development. 12.d2 A developing move, but it gives black the upper hand. 0-0-0 13.b3 f6 14.c4 d3 and white is under some pressure. 12...d8 12...b8 is more appropriate. 13.d5 c6 14.b3 d3 15.e3 a5 with an active position. 13.e1 13.f4 c5+ 14.h1 0-0 and black is better anfter, say, 15.Nd2 Mg4, but it's a disaster if he plays... 15.fxe5 e4 16.xf8+ xf8 17.d2 xb7 18.h3 f2 and black is winning. 13...0-0 14.d2 f6 15.e4 White has strong initiative. xe4 15...d3 is also a reasonable try. 16.d1 xc1 17.xf6+ gxf6 18.axc1 16.xe4 h6 Here is where Bogart really goes astray. This move is a grave loss of time! 16...d3 would set more problems for white, considering the state of his development. 17.xd3 xd3 18.e3 a5 19.a4 b8 20.e2 Of course white is better, but black at least has some play. 17.e3 a5 18.c5 fe8 19.ad1 h8 20.xd8 xd8 21.f1 A slip that should have let black back into the game. 21.d4 c4 22.b3 xd4 23.cxd4 b6 24.g6 Of course the P on d4 is immune because of the mate threat. g8 25.e6 and black is badly tied up. 21...g4 This is where Bogart finally loses the game. 21...c4 is his best chance. White;s best line appears to be... 22.c2 xb2 23.d4 c4 24.e6 xd4 25.cxd4 g8 26.c6 a3 27.b3+ f8 28.xc7 xd4 29.f7+ e8 30.xg7 with a clear advantage, but the win is a long way off. 22.h3 e5 23.e2 It was reported that during the game several onlookers criticized this move, but one Master claimed that it's one of the strongest continuations because it saves his two Bs and gets ready for actlon on the Q-side.The engine's top choice is 23.Bc2 which pretty much does the same thing. c4 24.d1 True, this was an exhibition against 70 opponents and Reshevsky only had a few seconds per move so perfection can hardly be expected. With this move Reshevsky throws away all his advantage. 24.b3 White achieves the win in this position by because he has shifted play to the Q-side and this move save the extra P. d6 25.d3 e8+ 26.e3 xc3 27.c1 b4 28.xc7 with a technically won ending. Here's the engine's mai n line... Stockfish dev-20240803-ae9e55cf: e4 29.xe4 xe4 30.d3 e8 31.d7 h7 32.g4 c8 33.d4 g8 34.b7 g6 35.c7 a3 36.c4 b4 37.d7 h5 38.d5 c8+ 39.d3 f8 40.e3 e7 41.xa5 etc. 24...xd1 25.xd1 xb2+ 26.c2 a4 27.d4 xd4 A mistake that Reshevsky does not take advantage of. After this white has a considerable advantage with a B vs N and the better K position. 27...c5 would hold the draw. 28.b3 cxd4 29.xa4 dxc3 30.xa5 and black can hold the draw...with accurate play, of course. 28.cxd4 Here a generous, or probably tired (!), Reshevsky offered the draw which was accepted. In Shootouts from this position white scored +4 -0 =1,but the wins took some time. Here is the continuation at 19 plies. 28.cxd4 g8 29.d3 b6 30.d5 f8 31.d4 e7 32.c5 a4+ 33.c6 c3 34.d3 d8 35.a3 d1 36.f3 c3 37.d6 cxd6 38.xd6 d1 39.c6 e7 40.b5 d6 41.xa5 c5 42.a6 c3 43.g4 d5 44.b7 c3 45.c8 d5 46.d7 g6 47.e8 e3 48.f7 and wins. ½–½

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Denker Mauls Fine, Wins US Championship

    When it was time for the 1944 US Championship several of the top players were either in the military or working jobs that left little time for chess. Also, the young players before the war were now approaching middle age and many were no longer eager to devote the time and energy to compete in the championship tournament. 

    As a result, this was one of the weakest championship tournaments to be held in many years. Only one or two players of Grandmaster strength had even competed in several years and many of the tailenders were much weaker than those of the 1930’s. 

    Reshevsky was studying for his examinations to become a certified public accountant and passed up the tournament. Isaac Kashdan, after making plans to play, he had to withdraw on doctor's orders. 

    Of course, in the absence of Reshevsky, Reuben Fine was expected to win. Herman Steiner, Al Horowitz, Albert Pinkus and Denker were given only a remote chance of upsetting him. The remaining players were barely of master strength.

    The finals consisted of those who qualified from the preliminaries. Only 18 players entered the preliminaries which was far fewer than in pre-war years. As a result, Louis Persinger, a violin teacher with many famous students and who was a member of the Juilliard School of Music faculty qualified. Persinger was nowhere near a master and scored only one draw in 17 games in the finals.

 

    Not surprisingly, the top five players were Fine, Steiner, Pinkus, Horowitz and Denker. They all began with a string of victories and were soon far ahead of the field. Only George Shainswit managed to stay fairly close, but even he finished three points behind the leaders. 

    The initial pace was set by Denker and Horowitz with 3-0 scores while Fine got intotrouble in the very first round against Albert Pinkus and barely managed to save a lost game. 

    The seventh round meeting of the two was such that Denker could afford a draw but Fine could not and their encounter is the featured game. After Fine’s loss to Denker there were still ten rounds to go and several moderately strong players for Denker to face. 

    In the next round he faced Weaver Adams and got a very bad position and offered a draw several times. Adams was unable to find a win and ended up blundering away the game. 

    After that close call Denker reeled off nine straight wins before drawing with George Shainswit. Denker did have a close call in the 12th round against an amateur named Aaron Rothman. Rothman had been massacred in an earlier game by Fine in 15 moves. It was so bad Rothman said the game reminded him of a recent gangland assassination of a mob boss that had taken place in the same hotel. Rothman got a great game against Denker, but had one of those positions with so many good moves he ended up playing none of them and lost. 

    Denker scored an amazing 14.5 points in 15 rounds and so coasted to victory by accepting early draws in his last two games. This was the tournament of his life for the 30-year old Arnold Denker had been slowly improving from his 12th place finish in 1936 to equal sixth in 1940 and then a tie for third behind Kashdan and Reshevsky in 1942. 

 

ChessBase

Arnold Denker–Reuben Fine1–0E43US Champ, New York7New York, NY USA22.04.1944Stockfish 16

E43: Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein: 4...b6 1.d4 f6 2.c4 e6 3.c3 b4 Denker was probably surprised by this defense because Fine had never played the Nimzo-Indian against him, so Denker was likely expecting a QGD. 4.e3 Denker considered playing the sharp Saemisch (4.a3), but deveoded against it, thinking tht Fine knew it better than he did. b6 5.d3 b7 6.f3 This is the main line, but Denker spent 15 minutes considering other moves! e4 7.0-0 At the time the standard move was 7.Qc2 defending the N and at the same time threatening black's N, but Denler didn't think it was a good ides to determine the position of the Q so early. xc3 Usual is 7...f5. White gets adequate compensation for the sacrificed P. 8.bxc3 xc3 9.b1 a5 According to Bobby Fischer 9... Nc6 leaves White with no compensation for his P. Engines do not agree with Fischer; they prefer the text move and regard the N move as inferior. 10.a3 This hinders black's castling and forces him to play the rather passive 10...d6 d6 Fine hopes to keep the position closed, but Denker quickly blasts it open with his next move. 11.c5 0-0 12.cxd6 cxd6 13.e4 13.c2 h6 14.h7+ h8 15.e4 d7 16.e5 dxe5 17.xb7 xb7 18.xf8 exd4 19.b4 is equal. Zilberstein,D (2386)-Panchanathan,M (2537) Berkeley 2011 13...e8 14.e5 dxe5 15.xe5 After this move Denker walked over to the TD and informed him, "Right now Fine is busted higher than a kite." I am not real sure the metaphor Denker used was exactly correct, but the meaning was clear. He went on to add, "But that doesn’t mean to say I’ll win it. You know me!" His his immediate threat is 16. Bxh7. Actually, Fine is NOT lost! After 11...gf6 white is only slightly better. g5 Not good. Now white does have a real advantage. 15...a6 A pass to demonstrate the threat. 16.xh7+ xh7 17.h5+ g8 18.xf7+ h8 19.b3 and all black can do is delay the mate. 15...g6 After the game a controversy occurred in print between Fine and Denker over the merits of this move which was Fine’s suggested defense. Suffice it to say that Stickfish agrees with Fine. 16.g4 d7 17.b5 xe5 18.dxe5 h5 19.g3 d5 20.xe8 20.fd1 e4 with equal chances. 20...xe8 21.bd1 e4 22.d7 It appears that white is better here, but engine evaluate the position as equal A sample continuation... b5 23.c5 d5 24.xa7 c3 25.d6 d4 26.a3 c8 It seems white can find no way to take advantage of his excgange to the good as black';s two Bs and his R and Q are just too active. 27.h4 b6 28.e7 c2 29.f3 e2 30.f4 c4 31.a1 d5 32.f6 c5 33.f1 with equal chances! 33.g5 xf2+ 34.h2 e3 mates in 8 16.g3 g6 17.a4 d8 After the game the TD Kenneth Harkness wrote, "It was obvious from the way in which Fine was squirming and twisting in his chair that he did not like his position. As time went by his face became redder and redder as he tried to find some way of extricating himself." Fine called this, "Almost the worst move on the board." and the old engine Houdini agreed, but not Stockfish; 19...Qd8 is its first choice. It really does not matter because at this point white has a winning advantage. 18.fc1 b5 This try for counterplay clears b6 for black’s B so that it will no longer be vulnerable on a5 and will gain time by attacking the d-Pawn. To make matters worse for Fine, Denker has cleverly shifted from a K-side attack to play on the other side and Fine’s time was now down to 23 minutes for 22 moves/ 19.xb5 d5 20.f3 b6 21.c5! xc5 22.xc5 f8 23.c4 c6 24.xd5 xa4 25.xa8 With his flag hanging and 16 moves to go, Fine resigned thus ending all but his last try for the championship. Fine was the strongest US player who never won it. 1–0

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Elmer Gruer

    Elmer Walker Gruer is virtually unknown today. The only information that I could find was that he was born in Napa, California on November 8, 1890 and passed away at the age of 40 in Oakland, California on Thursday, July 16, 1931. 

    In 1915, he won the Mechanics' Institute chess championship. In 1921-22, he won the first California State Championship with a perfect 10-0 score. He also won the California Championship in 1922, 1926, and 1927. That’s all I could find.

    For winning the 1920-21 which was held at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Frncisco from December 27, 1920 to January 8, 1921, Gruer received $100 (about $1,655 today), a gold medal and a rotating trophy. 

ChessBase

Elmer W. Gruer–S Swanson1–0D111921-22 California Chp, San FranciscoSan Francisco, CA USA05.01.1922Stockfish 16

D11: Slav Defense 1.d4 d5 2.f3 c6 3.c4 dxc4 4.e3 b5 5.a4 b7 6.c3 Almost always seen here is 5.a3, but there is nothing wrong with the text. a6 7.e5 This is premature and results in black getting a slightly better game. White's best play was to challenge on the Q-side with 7.b3 or 7.axb5 with full equality in either case. d7 8.xd7 xd7 9.b3 cxb3 9...e5 is more aggressive, but also more complicated! 10.axb5 10.dxe5 xd1+ 11.xd1 cxb3 is good for black. 10...b4 11.b2 cxb5 12.bxc4 exd4 13.xd4 xd4 14.exd4 f6 15.cxb5 e4 15...axb5 16.xb5+ e7 17.0-0 White's extra P will not amount to much. 16.bxa6 d5 17.b5+ d8 Other K moves lose! 17...e7 18.a3 xa3 19.xd5+ d6 20.f3 b2 21.b1 c3 22.xc3 xc3+ 23.e2 and white should win. 18.c1 18.0-0 xc3 19.xc3 xc3 Black is clearly better. 18...c8 19.e2 xc3 20.a3 b8 Black is a piece up. 10.xb3 e6 11.axb5 axb5 12.xa8+ xa8 13.e2 d6 14.e4 e7 15.0-0 0-0 16.b2 b7 17.f3 b8 18.c5 c7 19.g3 a8 20.a1 a7 21.a3 So far the game has been pretty boring what with all the shifting of pieces. Even black's Bs huddled in the corner do not confer any advantage on white. However, black is facing a hidden danger which he could have eliminated by playing 21...Bxc5 which results in equality. e8 The losing move. 22.xe6 fxe6 This only cooperates with white and speeds up the winning process. 22...b7 23.c5 xc5 24.xc5 c7 25.a3 It might be hard to see, but white has a decisive advantage!. For the record, Stockfish finally delivered mate on move 93, so clearly this is the line black should have chosen! 23.xe6+ f8 24.d6 b7 25.h5 g6 26.g4 White wants to mate with Qf6+. g7 Prevents Qf6+, but white still has a mate. 27.e5+ h6 28.f4+ 28.f6 mates at once i.e. 29.Qh4# 28...g7 29.e5+ f7 30.e6+ f8 31.h6# A very nice finish! 1–0

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Never Assume Anything...Check It Out

    Sometimes you come across a name of someone and wonder who they were and if they were a good chess player, why weren't they better known? 

    According to Chessmetrics, in 1909, Frank Marshall was ranked number 10 in the world with an estimated rating of 2597. It was also in that year that he played a match with a young Cuban player named Capablanca and to most people's surprise, lost eight games, drew fourteen and won only one. 

    Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that Marshall was in top form in 1909 and in November he defeated Jackson W. Showalter in a match to became the US Champion. 

    Earlier in 1909, Marshall lost an informal three game match by a score of 2-1 against Edward P. Elliott (1893 – 1955) who was from Minnesota. 

    Elliott had won the Western Chess Association (forerunner of the US Open) championship in 1908 and was to win it again in 1912. So, who was this relatively obscure Edward P. Elliott that was good enough to vanquish the legendary Frank Marshall? 

    There is not a lot known about Elliott besides his winning the Western Open a couple of times. A long time prominent figure in Midwest chess, one source says he was a resident of St. Paul and another says Minneapolis. 

    After his defeat of Marshall, Chess Weekly, a magazine edited by William E. Napier, Magnus Smith and Charles Nugent, said that his play, which was described a “clever”, indicated that he “would be a valuable addition the American Cable Team.” 

    Presumably by American Cable Team they were referring to the yearly Anglo-American cable match series between teams from Great Britain and the United States that were conducted over transatlantic cable from 1896 to 1911, except for the three-year gap of 1904 to 1906 when no matches were held. The series ended when Great Britain won their third consecutive match, thereby earning permanent custody of the silver cup provided by Sir George Newnes. 

    Prominent British players included Joseph Blackburne, Amos Burn, Henry Bird, Henry Atkins, Horatio Caro, James Mason, Frederick Yates, Sir George Thomas, and Thomas Lawrence. 

    For the US: Harry Pillsbury, Jackson Showalter, Frank Marshall, Albert Hodges, Eugene Delmar and John Barry. 

    The 1909 cable match against Great Britain was played in March and Elliott wasn't on the team which consisted of Frank Marshall, John Barry, Albert Hodges, Hermann Voigt, James Howell, Herman Helms, George J. Schwietzer, Samuel L. Stadelman, Stash Mlotkowski ans William A. Ruth. Great Britain won 6-4. 

    I discovered a clipping from the Santa Ana (California) Daily Register dated December 5, 1932 in which Elliott's name appeared. According to the article local players would be interested in an upcoming evening of chess at the YMCA in which arrangements had been made to have Edward P. Elliott, Orange County Chess Champion, give a simultaneous exhibition. Apparently by that time he was living in California. 

     In the following game from the match, at move 14 Elliott plays a risky attacking move offering up a B which Marshall unwisely accepted. Then, on his next move it was Marshall's turn to take a risk. Instead of trading down into a murky, but favorable ending, he blundered by trying to keep pieces on the board.

    One can't know what Marshall was thinking, but the continuation indicates that at move 17 he made what Andrew Soltis has called an assumption error. It's quite possible he assumed white would make the recapture 17.Bxe4. Instead he played 14.Bc4+ and Marshall had no choice but to give up his Q for two Bs, but had no compensation and resignation a couple of moves later was in order. 

    Assumptions errors are quite common. As Soltis observed, it's impossible to calculate without making assumptions, but we have to make sure that must-make moves really are a must and not a most likely. 

    False assumptions are most likely to happen with recaptures. As Eduard Gufeld once explained, he forgot chess is not checkers and recaptures are not obligatory.

    Checks are another common source of false assumptions. It's common to assume a check is the most forceful move in the position, but it may be that some other move is stronger. 

    There's also the psychological side. Once we realize we have assumed something to be true then realize it's not, it's easy to start second guessing yourself. 

    Dr. Martha Sirota, writing about assumptions we all make in life wrote, “It’s also no big deal for us to decide, arbitrarily, why an event has taken place. We don’t base this decision on observable evidence or factual knowledge; we just make the decision and believe it, as if it were fact.” 

    “The problem with making these types of assumptions, and we all do it, myself included, is that more often than not, we’re wrong. We assume that a person has a specific motivation for their actions or that an event took place for a specific reason. Then we start to see these incorrect assumptions as the truth. A lot of damage can be done by confusing our assumptions with the truth.” 

    Dr. Sirota wasn't speaking about chess players, but she could have.

 

 

ChessBase

Edward P. Elliott–Frank Marshall1–0C65Exhibition match, MinneapolisMinneapolis, MN USA1909Stockfish 16

C65: Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 f6 The Berlin Defense has long had a reputation for being solid, but drawish. US Champion Arthur Bisguier played it for decades, but always chose the variation 4.0-0 Nxe4. In 2000, Kramnik used it as a drawing weapon against Kasparov in thier World Championship match and since then it has been taken up by the likes of Shirov, Topalov, Kasparov and Anand.) 4. d4 (Almost always seen are either 4. Nc3 or 4.O-O. While not bad, the text offers white less than the other two moves.) Nxd4 (4... exd4 (is the main line against which white can play either 5.O-O or 5.e5 4.d4 xd4 In practice black gets much better results with either 4...exd4 or 4...Nxe4 5.xd4 exd4 6.e5 e4 6...c6 is preferred. 7.xd4 cxb5 8.exf6 xf6 9.xf6 gxf6 with full equality. 7.xd4 7.0-0 h4 8.g3 h3 9.e2 d5 10.exd6 xd6 11.xd4 equals. Bird,H-Anderssen,A London 1851 7...f5 8.exf6 xf6 9.0-0 e7 10.c3 Black should now play 10...c6 followed by d5 0-0 11.g5 11.d5 was a bit better. c6 11...xd5 12.xd5+ h8 13.d3 g6 14.h6 with a decisive advantage. 12.xe7+ xe7 13.d3 d5 14.d2 with better development. 11...c6 12.d3 d5 13.h4 White’s position has some potential. h6 14.f4 But not after this! He doesn’t get enough compensation. He should have simply played 14. Be3 with an equal position. hxg5 Although black should be able to survive the coming attack this is playing into white’s hands. 14...b6+ 15.h1 xb2 Sometimes it's risky to take the b-Pawn, but here it's perfectly safe thanks to the unguarded N. 16.xh6 16.e1 b4 17.xf6 xf6 18.b1 xc3 wins 16...xc3 17.g5 f7 18.ae1 e8 followed by ...Kd8 and black has survived and has a decisive advantage. 15.fxg5 e4 Of course Marshall is concened about the attack on his N and this move also blocks white's B, but after this black loses quickly. 15...b6+ Practically forcing the exchange of Qs and with it, white’s attack disappears. White cannot afford not to make the trade. 16.h1 b4 17.f4 Trading Qs and then gxf6 is equal, but this might look tempting, Black only has ine good move, the surprising... xf4 18.xf4 e4 19.h4 xg5 20.e1 f2+ 21.g1 g4 22.h3 ae8 White has to return the Q after which black enjoys the advamntage. 23.b1 This attempt at keeping the Q runs into e3 24.h2 e5 25.e2 f4+ 26.g3 xg3+ 27.xg3 xe2 28.xe2 xe2 29.g1 e4+ 30.g4 ef2 31.h4 8f4+ 32.h5 f5+ 33.g4 2f3 mates. The immediate threat is 34...Nf6# 16.xe4 dxe4 17.c4+ 17.xe4 This is probably what Marshall was hoping for because now it's white who is lost/ d4+ 18.h1 xf1+ 19.xf1 f5 20.e1 xe4 21.xe4 xe4 22.xe4 xg5 17.xe4 This would also win for white. The best continuation being f5 18.xf5 xg5 19.af1 xf5 20.xf5 f6 21.h7+ f7 22.xf6+ 17...d5 Of course this is hopeless, but there is no saving the game. 17...f7 18.xf7+ f8 19.h8# 18.xd5+ cxd5 19.xf8+ xf8 20.h8+ Black resigned. 20.h8+ f7 21.f1+ e6 22.g8+ d6 23.d1 e6 24.xa8 1–0

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Sextuplet Knight Moves

 

   When this game was annotated in a magazine of the era the annotator based his notes more on the result than anything and was critical of black’s six moves with his Queen’s Knight and it finally landing on a3 where it was out of play. He also mentioned at one point that black was suffering from not having a Knight on f6. Annotations based on the result was not uncommon in those days; all the winner’s moves were praised and the loser’s condemned. In those days we amateurs rarely questioned even ordinary masters. Engines changes all that. Now any patzer with an engine can find fault with those old annotations! 

    There was absolutely nothing wrong with black’s opening play and white’s sacrificial attack was a good practical choice because, as is often the case, defending is not so easy because on small slip can be fatal. And, that’s what happened to black. Moving his Knight six times wasn’t the problem; it was 24...Kf7 which was a gross defensive blunder. Enjoy the game!

ChessBase

Robert Beckert–Marvin Palmer0–1C83Postal1951Stockfish 16

C83: Open Ruy Lopez 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 a6 4.a4 f6 5.0-0 xe4 This is the Open Defense; it lends itself more towards tactical play whereas the more common 5...a6, positional play. 6.d4 b5 7.b3 d5 8.dxe5 e6 9.c3 Generally white plays 9.Nbd2 here, or less commonly 9.Be3. At the time this game was played Keres and Smyslov preferred 9.Qe2 with the idea of following it up with 10.Rd1 and 11.c4 e7 This is the somewhat risky Dilworth Variation. 9...Bc5 is a bit sounder. 10.e3 0-0 11.bd2 xd2 12.xd2 a5 13.c2 The alternative was 13.Nd4 attacking the B and allowing the f-Pawn to advance. c4 14.d3 g6 15.h6 Going for the attack. 15.b3 and 16.Nd4 is the recommended alternative. xb2 16.e3 At the time this was a new move; the older move was 16.Qe2 followed by 17.Nd4. The text intends to transfer the Q to the K-side where, hopefully, it will exert strong pressure. 16.e2 e8 17.xg6 hxg6 18.xb2 g4 19.d4 is equal. Van Haastert,E (2429)-Vedder,R (2261) Netherlands NED 2015 16...c4 This is at least as good as 16... Re8 which was recommended by Reuben Fine. 16...e8 17.d4 d7 18.g3 c5 19.f3 c4 with full equality. 17.f4 e8 17...f6 favors white. 18.xf8 xf8 19.d4 f7 20.exf6 xf6 After 21, Qg3 white would be better. Psakhis,L (2545)-Zaitsev,I (2465) Yerevan 1982 18.fe1 b8 A slightly better alternative was 18...c5 19.h4 a3 20.d3 c5 21.h5 c4 22.xg6 A bold sacrifice where white stakes everything on a mating attack. It's a good decision because otherwise black has reasonable expectations that his Q-side P-majority will give him good winning chances. fxg6 23.hxg6 hxg6 24.g3 h7 This attack on the B is the losing move. 24...f5 keeps a slight edge after 25.d4 d3 26.c6 c8 27.xb8 c2 28.e6 xb8 29.f4 d8 25.g5+ xg5 25...xh6 26.h4+ g7 27.h7+ f8 28.xe6# 26.xg5 d7 27.f6 Threatening mate in 3. f8 28.ad1 Very nice! The attack needs reinforcing so he wants to bring up the R via d4. xf6 Black counters with a very nice move of his own. He cedes the exchange in an effort to break the attack. Unfortunately for him the P on f6 turns out to be a good substitute for the B! 29.exf6 e8 30.e4 f5 30...dxe4 31.xd7+ xd7 32.d6 g4 33.f7 h8 34.e7 wins 31.xd5 Both of white's Rs are en prise, but beither can be safely taken...quite a spectacle! f7 32.h4+ Black resigned. Perhaps he could have played on for a bit, but white has a mate in 10. 32.h4+ g8 33.xf5 e1+ 34.h2 b4 35.g5 xf6 36.xg6+ f7 37.xf6+ xf6 38.h6+ f7 39.g6+ f8 40.h7 h1+ 41.xh1 bxc3 42.f7# 0–1

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Gustave Littman/Drexel

    The enigmatic Dr. Gustave Drexel (July 9, 1916 – August 3, 2010, 94 years old) was a Miami Beach resident for 75 years before retiring to Bay Harbor Islands which lies just north of Miami Beach. 

    Not much is known of Drexel except that he started his education under the name of Gustave Littman at Central College of New York at the age of at 15. He graduated from the University of Miami with a bachelor's degree in education. He received his doctorate in chemistry in New Jersey. 

    Originally he was known as Gustave Littman. A May 18, 1938, edition of The Miami Bews stated that Littman had been very active in chess circles of late having been secretary of the Miami Chess Club for the past two years and had been conducting a chess class for children in a local park. At the time of the article it was announced that her would be giving a simultaneous exhibition at an open air chess club in a local park. 

    The article also stated that after the exhibition he would be heading for St. Petersburg to represent Miami in the state convention. After that, he would proceed to Atlanta to confer with officials of the Southeastern US Associatopn.

    Littman played in the 1940 US Championship where finished dead last in 17th place, scoring only four draws, although one of them was against Isaac Kashdan who finished in third place. At some point after that he changed his name to Gustave Drexel. 

    At one time (circa 1951) Drexel served as Vice President of the Vegetarian Society of Greater Miami. He was the Florida State Champion numerous times and finished first in the 1945 Southern Chess Association Tournament and second in the 1946 event. 

    His opponent in the following game was Adolpf J. Fink (1890-1956). He was born in San Francisco. Fink won the California State Championship in 1922, 1928 and 1929, and tied with Herman Steiner in 1945. He died in San Francisco. 

    The game was played in the 1946 US Championship and chesswise, things were a mess. It had been assumed that the newly formed USCF would be in control of the US Championship which was not attracting the strongest players.

 

 

    Because the championship had been new York centered the USCF tried to correct the problem by having all the invitees, even the Grandmasters, compete in regional elimination events held around the country. Of course, it didn’t work because, among other problems, some of the strongest players from major chess centers would not qualify while weaker players from weaker chess centers would.

    Another problem was that Edward Lasker announced the formation of a the Association of American Chess Masters. He was the President and Reuber Fine, Samuel Reshevsky and Albert Pinkus were Vice Presidents. Their intention was that they, not the USCF, would organize the US championship. They were not successful, but a compromise was reached and as a result, the 1946 championship had regional qualifiers, but there were also some seeded players. 

ChessBase

Adolf Fink–Gustave Drexel0–1C11US Championship, New YorkNew York, NY USA1946Stockfish 16

C11: French Defense 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.c3 f6 4.e5 fd7 5.ce2 c5 6.c3 c6 7.a3 b6 8.f4 8.b4! cxd4 9.cxd4 f6 10.exf6 xf6 11.f3 d6 12.f4 Mora Moron,J (2229)-Rodriguez Galanton,Y (2123) Porlamar VEN 2015. Black stands well. 8...a5 9.f3 a4 10.g3 a7 It was Nimzovich who coined the term "mysterious Rook move." He used the term to refer to the placing of a Rook on a closed file in anticipation that it would become open. This particular move does not fit the description, but it certainly is mysterious. Who knows Drexel’s reason for playing it? 10...Be7 looks reasonable. 11.h3 a5 11...Qb3 keeps things equal. 12.d2 Of course 12. Qxa4?? is bad because 12...Nb3 traps the Q. However, white does not really need to prevent ....Nb3 attacking the R; he cn play 12.f5 with the initiative. c6 13.f3 Was Fink offering a draw by repetition? db8 A mysterious N move! It's destined to stay on b8 for a long time. Either 13...Qb3 or 13...Be7 make more sense. 14.f1 It's white's turn to play a mysterious ove. Why not play 14.O-O? d7 15.g2 a5 Again! 16.f5 This is played at the right time. 16.Rfg1 would be over-preparing. exf5 17.f4 Of course white is thinking about playing e6. b3 Obviously white cannot play 18.e6 and he has to move his R. 18.dxc5 18.e6 Actualy white can play this immediately. fxe6 19.e1 e7 19...xa1 is worse. After 20.xe6 xe6 21.xf5 e7 22.xe6 d8 23.g5 black is in serious difficulty. 20.dxc5 xc5 21.d4 f6 22.xd5 xd4 and white stands much better, 23.xb6 18...xc5 This is the wrong way to recapture. Capturing with the B prepares castling to safety. 19.xd5 This should have lost. Apparently neither side was aware that white could play e6! with great effect. 19.e6 xe6 20.e1 a6 Defending e6, but after 21.xf5 xa1 22.xe6 e7 23.g4 0-0 24.e3 a5 25.xd5 d8 26.f4 White has what should amount to a decisive advantage. 19...e6 Black has the better position after this, si while it is hardly a bad move, he had an even better one. 19...a5 Odd,. This useless R suddenly increases the pressure on white's position. 20.e6 This is no longer effective, but it's worth a try. 20.f4 xa1 21.e1 c6 and black is winning. 20...fxe6 21.b4 xa1 22.f4 c4 23.xb8 xb4 24.cxb4 d5 The R is now a tower of strength! 25.e1 25.xa1 e2+ wins. 25...0-0 Black is winning. 20.e3 xd5 21.xa7 c6 Best. 21...xa1 22.xd5 xd5 23.xa1 c6 Black's advantage is minimal. 22.xd5 xd5 This is the critical position and white's choice will determine if he loses or if he can play on. 23.d4 This choice loses, but only if black makes thge riught choice, That R on a1 is still available! 23.ad1 xf3+ 24.xf3 xa7 25.xf5 A most difficult position, Material is unbalanced: R+P vs. 2Ns. but positionally black has a slight advantage. However, the outcome would be anything but clear. 23...cxd4 23...xa1 This results in equal chances after 24.xa1 g6 24.cxd4 xd4 24...xa1 Again, this would be a mistake as after 25.xa1 g6 chances are equal. 25.hf1 g5 Well played! Inferior is 25...xf3 26.xf3 xf3+ 27.xf3 g6 28.f1 with a likely draw. 26.ad1 Black is winning. xf3+ 27.xf3 xf3 28.xf3 g4+ 29.xg4 fxg4+ 30.xg4 g8+ A piece down white's position is hopeless, so he resigned. 0–1

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A Brilliancy Prize Also Ran

    The previous post featured a Brilliancy Prize game from the 1940 Metropolitan Chess League in New York. Today's game features the other game that was considered, but didn’t make it. Like the preceding game, this one is not really a brilliancy, but white’s attack is a very powerful one. 

ChessBase

S. Schwartz (Bronx CC)–S. Loewy (Astoria CC)1–0D05Met Leafue Match, New York City1940Stockfish 16

D05: Colle System 1.d4 d5 2.f3 f6 3.e3 e6 4.d3 bd7 5.bd2 e7 6.0-0 0-0 7.e1 c5 8.c3 Nowadays GM John Nunn and others regard the Colle as slow and innocuous, but solid. It's main advantage for amateurs is that is that it keeps the opening simple. c4 Black's plan is simplt...expand on the Q-side. Normal is 8...b6 9.c2 b5 10.e4 This is white's main strategy in the Colle and black has allowed him to carry it out unhindered. Even so, white cannot demonstrate any special advantage. b7 But this is wrong because it allow white to gain valuable soace and institute a dangerous K-side attack. 10...dxe4 and black has nothing to worry about. 11.xe4 b7 with a solid position. 11.e5 Already black is in serious trouble. e8 11...e4 is no better. 12.xe4 dxe4 13.d2 f5 14.exf6 xf6 15.xe4 with a clearly superior position. 12.f1 Repositioning the N so it cam participate in the attack. g6 Black wants to make room for his N to reach f5 and hopefully gum up white's J-side attack, but instead all this move does id weaken his K's position. His nest chance wa sto try and expand on the Q-side with 12...a5 13.h6 g7 14.e3 e8 15.g4 f8 16.d2 f5 17.f4 a5 This comes far too late to be of any help as black's weak dark squares on the K-side are already fatal. 18.h4 xh4 Opening up the h-file certainly does not help his cause, but there was really nothing that would save the game. 19.xh4 xh4 20.f6+ 20.e3 was even stronger. For example... d7 21.h3 e7 22.g7 h4 22...f5 23.exf6 xf6 24.xf6 xf6 25.xf6+ 23.xh4 xh4 24.f6+ xf6 25.xh4 20...xf6 21.exf6 d7 21...e5 was his best try. 22.dxe5 e6 23.g3 d4 24.cxd4 xd4 25.ab1 ad8 26.e3 d5 27.bd1 c6 28.f4 it's clear that white is better, but there is no forced win. In fact, in Shootouts white scored 5-0, but the win at 15 plies, for example, tool over 100 moves, so in practice black would have some chances of saving the game. 22.g7 c8 22...e5 loses to 23.dxe5 xe5 24.xe5 xe5 25.xe5 23.g4 b4 23...c6 24.e3 e5 25.dxe5 xe5 26.h3 The threat of Qh6 cannot be met. 24.e3 A winning Rook lift. c6 25.h3 There is no way to meet the coming Rxh7 e5 This wouldn't work before and it won't work now; white mates in 3 25...xf6 This holes out for 7 more moves. 26.xf6 h5 27.gxh5 c7 28.hxg6 fxg6 29.h8+ f7 30.h4+ g7 31.h6+ f7 32.xg6# 26.xh7 It;s mate in 2 xf6 27.h8+ Black resigned. It's mate next move, A pleasing attack by chwartz. 1–0

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Forgotten Players, Games and Events

    A few years back, in 1958, we (my parents and I) drove to Miami and my father purchased three airline tickets to fly to San Juan the next day. Things were a little different in those days. First, the plane was propeller drive and second, the cockpit door was left open so passengers could go up and stick their head in and look around and the cockpit crew would say hello. I

    My brother was in the Navy and stationed at the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station (aka Rosy Roads). In March 2004, the Department of the Navy closed the facility. Today it serves as Jose Aponte de la Torre Airport, a public use airport. 

    I celebrated my 13th birthday there and one of my birthday presents my brother purchased for me was I.A. Horowitz’ book, The Golden Treasury of Chess. The book was originally published in 1942 and it went through many editions. I no longer have the one I got in Puerto Rico, but have a later edition. 

    One reviewer complained that the book wasn’t very good because it was mostly an outdated compilation of games that were very lightly annotated. That’s ridiculous! He wrote that in 2015 about an edition that had been last published over 50 years earlier...I would expect that the games would be from yesteryear! The games have brief introductions, but it is true that the notes are sparse to non-existent. Of course, it’s also in descriptive notation. 

    My edition has 322 games up to 1976. The games are by players, known and unknown, from events, remembered and forgotten and many of them won’t be found any place else. 

    Today’s game is one that appeared in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle once; it was played in a long forgotten league match by players that are long forgotten. It won a Brilliancy Prize and was played in 1940 in one of the a New York City Metropolitan Chess League matches. 

    The winner was Dr. Joseph Platz (1905-1981) learned the game at thirteen in Cologne, Germany. Improving rapidly, by sixteen he was considered one of the strongest players in that city. After Hitler ascended to power in 1933, Platz emigrated to the United States, where he studied under Emanuel Lasker and remained active in local tournaments in New York and Connecticut for many years. He was a USCF Master Emeritus.      

    Nothing is known of his opponent except that he was a member of the Queens chess club. As for the games itself, it was a strong attacking one by Platz, but not a brilliancy. 

ChessBase

Joseph Platz (Manhattan CC)–E.J. Korpanty (Queens CC)1–0D61Met League Match, New York City1940Stockfish 16

D61: Queen's Gambit Declined: Classical 1.d4 1.g3 1...f6 2.c4 e6 3.c3 d5 4.g5 bd7 5.e3 e7 6.f3 c6 7.c2 a6 8.d1 0-0 9.a3 h6 The usual move here is 9...Re8 10.h4 An interesting and original move. Black can take the B and survuve white's initiative. 10.f4 is the book move. dxc4 11.xc4 d5 12.g3 b5 13.a2 b7 14.b1 f5 15.0-0 Gudmundsson, J-Laterza,L Buenos Aires 1939. White is better. 10...g4 This does not seem to be a bad idea. Apparently black wants to simplify against his more accomplished opponent and if white avoids exchanging off his B black can close things up with ...f5/ . The engine way is 10...b6 and ...Bb7 10...hxg5 11.hxg5 g6 12.gxf6 xf6 13.d3 g7 14.g4 h8 and white's attack has all but fizzled out. 11.f4 f5 Black's B on c8 looks pretty useless and his N on g4 isn't accomplisjing much, but with the positon so blocked there doesn't seem to be much white can do. 12.d3 dxc4 But this move is completely out of place. Better was 12...b5! 12...b5 13.cxd5 cxd5 14.0-0 b7 and it's hard to see how either side can make any progress. 12...b5 13.c5 is white's other possibility, but after df6 14.0-0 e4 black has a solid position. 13.xc4 b6 14.a2 This is a common place fpr the B in the QGD.. .the B will go to b1 creating a B+Q battery on the b1-h7 diagonal. True, the diagonal is currently closed, but only for the moment. d5 15.g3 Of course he would like for black to play ...Nxf5 allowing white to open up thr g-file. h8 The K removes itself from the g-file as a safety precaution. 16.e5 xe5 17.xe5 d6 18.e2 xe5 19.dxe5 e7 20.b1 f7 21.d4 21.e4 was another possibility/ fxe4 22.xe4 f5 23.f4 xe4 24.xe4 d7 Black's position is going to be a tough nut to crack. 21...g6 22.g4 d7 23.f4 Black could have equalized after this. Just building up the pressure with moves like Qc5, Rg1 and Rd3 would have been a better plan. ad8 23...xf4 eliminates the N which is destined to play an important role in the coming attack. 24.exf4 c5 25.d6 c6 26.g1 e4 Finally the B is out of its prison, something that looked i,possible a while back. Black has pretty much equalized now. 23...xf4 24.xf4 is white's other option, but it leads nowhere after c5 25.g1 c6 intending ...Be4 and black is equal here, too. 24.g1 c8 He needed to play 24...Rg8. Both players missed a very strong continuation for white. 25.d1 25.gxf5 The threat is Nxg6+ so black has to play xf4 but now 26.xd8 xd8 27.fxg6 g7 28.exf4 d4 29.c1 with a won ending. 25...c5 A couple of moves ago this was good...now it quickly loses! 25...Rg8 opposing white on the g-file offers stout resistance. 26.gxf5 cxd4 26...gxf5 27.g6+ h7 28.xf8+ xf8 29.dg4 wraps it up. 27.xg6+ h7 28.xf8+ xf8 29.fxe6+ h8 30.d3 e7 31.g6 Black resigned. 1–0

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A Classic Bishop Sacrifice by Capablanca

 

    The Classic Bishop Sacrifice is the oldest and most analyzed of all the sacrifices involved an attack on the castled King. Additionally, the sacrifice illustrates the role of h7 and f7 as mating and secondary focal-points. 

    The earliest example of the sacrifice occurred in 1619 in Greco's handbook, but the first systematic examination of the sacrifice was by Voellmy in an article in a German chess magazine in 1911. Some the sacrifice is referred to as Greco's Sacrifice and it has erroneously referred to as Colle's Sacrifice although there are no known examples of him ever playing it. 

    Certain basic criteria must be present for the sacrifice to work. 

 

    White: 

    1) White must have a Q, light-squared B. 

    2) The B must be able to reach h7. 

    3) The N should be able to safely reach g5. 4) The Q should be able to reach the h-file. 

 

    Black: 

    1) There should be Ps on f7 and g7. 

    2) The h-pawn should be on h7. 

    3) Black's Q on d8 and a R on f8. 

 

     Even then the correctness of the sacrifice is not guaranteed. What is important is that black's N should not be able to reach f6 and neither his Q or B should be able to occupy the h7-bl diagonal. 

 

 

    In the following game Capablanca takes on an amateur in an exhibition game and played the Classic Bishop Sacrifice against him. In this game the sacrifice was neither good nor dad...it only resulted in a equal position. However, the role of the defender is often much more difficult than that of the attacker and black ended up making losing mistakes. Capa, himself, made a couple, too, but they were not fatal...they should have only allowed black to equalize.

 

ChessBase

Jose Capablanca–Lizardo Molina Carranza1–0D51Exhibition Game, Buenos Aires1911Srockfish 16

D53: Queen's Gambit Declined 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.c3 f6 4.g5 bd7 5.e3 c6 6.f3 e7 7.cxd5 xd5 Almost always seen here is 7...exd5, but black's move is hardly a bad one. 8.xe7 xe7 This, however, is hardly good. The N's retreat leaves him cramped. so taking with the Q was better. 9.d3 c5 10.0-0 0-0 11.dxc5 An interesting position. Vladimir Vukovic analyzed this game in his excellent book, The Art of Attack in Chess, and correctly observed that the point of this move is to draw the N away from f6, but the move only makes since if the sacrifice Bxh7+ is sound which he stated that it is not. Actually, there is nothing wrong with the sacrifice; it does not win, but it also incurs nbo disadvantage. xc5 12.xh7+ The quiet 12.Bc2 is not to Capablanca's liking, so he plays the sacrifice. Vukovic wrote that the sacrifice is "unsound'" which it is not. Stockfish evaluates the position at 0.00. Vulovic's observation that black soon spoils his position is spot on though... defending is always a tough assignment. xh7 The is no other choice. 12...h8 13.c2 g8 13...xd1 14.fxd1 b6 15.e5 b7 16.b4 a6 17.d7 and white is winning. 14.g5 xd1 15.fxd1 b6 16.b4 and white has a decisive advantage. 13.g5+ Black is faced with three squares to retreat to; which one is correct? g6 The only correct move, but now white's chances of conducting a winning attack are slim, but that's assuming black can cintinue to find the best defense. 13...g8 14.h5 e8 15.xf7+ h8 16.h5+ g8 17.b4 a6 17...d7 18.f7+ h8 19.xe6 is winning. 18.fd1 d5 18...c7 19.xe8# 19.h7+ f8 20.h8+ e7 21.xg7+ d6 22.f7+ 13...h8 14.h5+ g8 15.h7# 14.g4 White has compensation for the B, but not more. f5 Perfect! 14...e5 loses as was pointed out by Capablanca. 15.e6+ f6 The thing is that here white has only a clight advantage unless he finds the clever... 16.f4 c6 16...xe6 17.g5# 16...fxe6 17.fxe5+ xe5 18.g3+ 17.ad1 d3 18.h4+ xe6 19.f5+ d6 20.xd3+ and wins. A beautiful refutation of 14...e5 15.g3 As mentioned, defending is harder than attacking and black's next move illustrates the point. It's perfectly natural that he wants to get his K out of the line of fire, but his next move is also completely wrong. h6 It's interesting that prior to Vukovic's book, annotators did not comment on this move which leads to a lost position. He correctly condemns the move, but incorrectly claimed that 15...f4 would have shown that the Bishop sacrifice was unsound. He wrote that, "White can then still exert some pressure...but he has not got the time to strengthen his attack decisively, since black threatens to consolidate his position...White must therefore take the exchange with the result that his attack comes to a halt, leaving him without sufficient compensation for Black's material advantage." 15...f4 White has two main choices neither of which give him more than equality. 16.exf4 16.xe6+ leaves white two pieces down. fxg3 17.xd8 gxh2+ 18.xh2 xd8 16.g4 e5 17.e6+ f6 18.xg7+ xe6 19.ad1 d7 20.exf4 xf4 21.fe1 c7 with head whirling complications! In Shootouts white scored _0 -2 =3. 16...f5 17.g4 h6 This also is a highly complicated position, but one in which neither side can demonstrate an advantage, but in Shootouts white scored +1 -0 =4 16.h4+ g6 17.h7+ f6 17...xg5 is a self mate. 18.xg7+ h5 19.f4 g8 20.f3 h4 21.h3 e4 22.xe4 mate next move. 18.e4 g6 Again he gets mated if he takes the N. Now it's Capablanca's turn to err! 19.exf5 This throws away the advantage and makes it easier for black to defend himself. 19.f4 as recommended by Capablanca is better, but it's still not the best move. After xe4 20.cxe4+ fxe4 21.xe4+ f7 22.g5+ f6 White is better, but there is nothing decisive so black still has defensive chances. 19.ad1 As recommended by Vukovic and Stockfish keeps the win in hand. d3 20.xd3 xd3 21.d1 c2 22.exf5 xf5 23.ge4 h8 24.xg7 Facing mate black can only try xd1+ 24...xb2 25.f6+ g4 26.g5# 25.xd1 xe4 26.xg6+ d5 27.d3+ c6 28.c3+ and wins. 19...exf5 20.ad1 d3 Now white is threatened with ...Rh8 and has to withdraw his Q and it's clear that black has survived the attack! 21.h3 Black needs to defend precisely, but as mentioned, that's not so easy. In fact, there is only one line that avoids defeat. df4 And this isn't it! It's the right square, but the wrong N. After this he doesn't get another chance. 21...gf4 22.g3 e6 If white wants a draw he can get it by repeating moves with 23.Nh7+ Kf7 24.Nh7+ 23.fe1 e8 24.h4 d4 25.e3 22.g3 c7 23.fe1 If only the N on g6 was on d3! e2+ This loses a piece, but he was lost anyway. 23...d8 24.xd8 xd8 25.h4 c7 26.f3 e6 27.g5+ f7 28.h5 f8 29.e5+ g8 30.xf4 White only has an extra P, but his attack is decisive. h7 31.g5 d8 32.f3 f6 32...xg5 33.xg5+ wins a piece. 33.e3 d7 34.f4 e6 35.d6 f8 36.xf6 gxf6 37.e7+ 24.xe2 White is clearly winning. xg3 25.h7+ A zwischenzug (intermediate move), a tactic where instead of playing the expected move (here taking the Q), a player interposes another move posing an immediate threat that his opponent must answer. Black missed it when playing his 23rd move. f7 26.hxg3 h8 27.g5+ f6 28.f4 Black resigned. There is no way to meet the threat of Rd6# 1–0

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Bruno Siegheim

    Bruno Edgar Siegheim (May 24, 1875 – November 5, 1952) was born in Berlin and in 1895 he moved to Johannesburg, South Africa. At that time, though he knew something of chess, but he was totally unacquainted with its deeper mysteries. He joined the Johannesburg Chess Club in January, 1898, but in April of the same year he moved to to Quebec in Canada, where he lived for nine months. 

    While in Quebec he met Professor Isaac L. Rice (1850-1915), who inoculated him with the Rice Gambit gambit. Rice was a German-born American businessman, investor, musicologist, author and chess patron. Evidently during the previous year developed into a fairly strong player otherwise Rice would not have taken the trouble to introduce him to Rice’s pet gambit. 

    Siegheim's next experience, which was with the powerful Manhattan Chess Club in New York where he managed to finish third in the Rice Gambit Tournament of 1903. After that Siegheim finished second in the club championship. 

    In October of 1904, Seigheim returned to Johannesburg and rejoined the chess club. At that time Dr. Max Blieden was acknowledged to be the strongest player in the South Africa. 

    A match with Blieden was arranged and in a tough encounter, Seigheim scored +6 -2 =2, but then Blieden roared back and scored four straight wins to even the score. Siegheim then scored two wins andm as the first to reach 9 points, was the winner. 

    Siegheim won the South African Championship twice, in 1906 and 1912. In 1910 he lost to Blieden in a challenge match, but won challenge matches against two other South African players in 1911 ab 1912. 

    In the 1920s he seems to have been in England as he is listed as participating in a number of tournaments there, including Hastings in 1923 where he tied for 2nd with Reti behind Rubinstein. 

    In April of 1929, the great Indian player, Mir Sultan Khan, arrived in England and was introduced at the National Liberal Club, and played four friendly games with Siegheim who was the captain of the club’s team. Khan scored +2 -0 =4. At some point he returned to South Africa, passing away in Johannesburg on November 5, 1952.
 

    The following game played in the 1912 South African Championship in Johannesburg has a nice tactical finish. His opponent, Dr. Max Blieden (1879-1964, 93 years old) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1894 and then moved to South Africa as a surgeon and later head of the E.P. Bauman Children's Hospital in Johannesburg. He was South African champion in 1926 and 1928. 

ChessBase

Max Blieden–Bruno Siegheim0–1A84South African Champ, JohannesburgJohannesburg10.1912Stockfidh 16

A84: Dutch Defense 1.d4 e6 2.c4 f5 Although never very popular, the fighting Dutch has given blacvk good practical results and few games are drawn. It's neen used by Morpgy, Alekhine, Larsen, Najdorf, and Nakamura, but its most notable use was in 1951, when both Botvinnik and his Bronstein played it in their World Championship match. 3.c3 White most often plays 3.g3, nut the text is also good. b4 This seldom seen move does not enjoy an especially high success rate. Better was 3...Nf6 4.e3 4.g4 This speculative move looks interesting. f6 5.gxf5 0-0 6.f3 d5 7.g1 h8 8.d3 c5 9.a3 xc3+ 10.bxc3 exf5 11.dxc5 c6 12.cxd5 xd5 13.xd5 xd5 14.c4 Brunello,S (2591)-Bellini,F (2492) Turin ITA 2012. White stands slightly better. 4...e7 The usual alternative is 4...Nf6 5.f3 xc3+ 6.bxc3 d6 7.a3 c5 8.d3 f6 9.c2 b6 10.e4 This move is quite natural, but it turns out that all it does is open lines for black. White's best strategy would have been to keep the tension up by playing 10.O-O followed by Nd2 and then centralizing his Rs. fxe4 11.xe4 xe4 12.xe4 b7 13.g4 0-0 14.g5 In the end white doesn't get any attack and he loses time retreating so his best strategy would have been to play 14.Nd2 giving the Q a line of retreat. f6 15.c1 d7 16.0-0 f8 Engines like 16...Rg6, but then things get pretty murky (for a human)! 16...g6 17.h4 h6 18.f4 Black's best is 18...cxd4 and 19...Rc8, but if hxg5 19.fxg5 f6 20.e2 e4 21.h5 xg5 22.xg5 xg5 Black is supposedly better, but in reality things are unclear. 17.f3 g6 18.f4 e5 19.e1 ...and loses...or should have! He should hve retreated to e3 e8 Not bad, but not the best. 19...e6 snags the N. 20.f7+ xf7 21.xf7 xf7 20.e3 h6 21.h3 Better would have been 21.Ne4, but it would hardly save the game. f7 Again, black misses the best move. 21...e6 22.f2 exd4 23.xe6+ exe6 24.f4 xe1+ 25.xe1 dxc3 Black is winning; the immediate threat is ...Bxf3 22.d5 22.f4 is a better defense. f6 23.d5 xd5 24.cxd5 22...c8 23.f2 f5 24.a4 d7 25.a2 h7 26.h1 f6 27.e2 d8 28.d1 ef8 29.a5 bxa5 30.a4 6f7 31.xa5 h4 32.a4 g4 33.d1 Here is where the game gets interesting. Siegheim finishes the game with several sledgehammer blows. xf3! Black is clearly winning. 34.g3 34.gxf3 xf3+ 34...xg3 35.xg4 xg4 36.ee2 f6 37.g2 xg2 38.xg2 e4 39.e3 h3 40.e1 Has white succeeded in defending himself? f1+ A nice finish. 41.g1 41.xf1 is met by g3+ 42.xg3 xf1+ 41...xg2+ Even nicer! White resigned 0–1

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