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. 

[Event "Brooklyn CC Championship"] [Site "?"] [Date "1917.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Roy T. Black"] [Black "J.H. Taft, Jr."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C77"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "1917.??.??"] {C77: Ruy Lopez} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 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... Bc5 {is a trap. The e-pawn cannot be taken.} 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. Nxe5 Qd4 {wims the N on e5 because of the mate threat on f2}) 6. c3 g6 { This is black's most successful continuation.} 7. Nbd2 Bg7 8. Nf1 O-O 9. Bg5 b5 10. Bc2 h6 11. Bh4 Bb7 (11... d5 {This is more aggressive, but certainly mot better than the solid text.} 12. exd5 Qxd5 13. Ne3 Qd6 14. a4 Rb8 15. axb5 axb5 {equals. Vishnu,P (2437)-Navalgund,N (2246) Nashik IND 2022}) 12. Ne3 Ne7 ( 12... Qd7 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. g4 Bg7 15. h4 Ne7 16. h5 g5 17. Nf5 Nxf5 18. gxf5 d5 {Black is a little better. Vydeslaver,A (2404)-Liss,E (2512) Israel 1999}) 13. Qe2 c5 14. O-O Nh5 15. Rad1 Nf4 {Black has manages to get an active position against white's rather passive setup.} 16. Qd2 Qc7 (16... f5 {was also a good alternative.} 17. a4 Rb8 18. axb5 axb5 19. Kh1 Bc6 20. Ng1 { Intending f3} b4 21. Bb3+ Kh8 {Black is somewhat better.}) 17. Bg3 d5 18. Ng4 { This dies not lead to anything so 18.exf5 keeping things equal would have been better.} g5 {[%mdl 32]} 19. h4 {This only serves to weaken his K's position so 19.Rfe1 would have been safer.} dxe4 20. dxe4 Rad8 21. Qe3 h5 {Nicely played.} 22. Ngh2 (22. Nfxe5 Bxe5 23. Nh6+ Kh7 24. Rxd8 Qxd8 25. Rd1 Qc7 26. hxg5 Neg6 { White only has twi Os vs a B which is not enough compensation.}) 22... g4 23. Nd2 Neg6 24. f3 Bh6 25. Kh1 Kh7 {Defending the B and threatening ...Nxg2} 26. Qf2 Bc8 27. Nb3 {All this does is waste time. 27.Rfe1 was better.} c4 28. Nc1 Be6 29. fxg4 hxg4 30. Ne2 Nd3 {This looks good, but black does not follow it up correctly. Keeping up the pressure with 30...Nh5 was a good alternative.} 31. Bxd3 cxd3 {Black has over estimated the strength of this P bing on d3.} 32. Nd4 Qb6 (32... Nf4 {was a little better. After} 33. Nxe6 fxe6 34. Bxf4 Bxf4 35. Nxg4 Qe7 36. g3 Qg7 37. Qf3 (37. gxf4 {lose quickly/.} Rxf4 38. Qg3 Rxg4 39. Qh3 Qg6 40. Rfe1 Rg3 41. Qf1 Rg8 {and white bites the dust.}) 37... Qg6 { the chances are equal.}) 33. Nxe6 Qxe6 34. Qf5 Qxf5 {Black has lost the thread of the game!} (34... Bf4 35. Bxf4 Qxf5 36. exf5 Nxf4 37. Nxg4 Nh5 38. Rfe1 e4 39. Kh2 (39. Ne3 d2 40. Rg1 Rd3 {wins}) 39... Rfe8 40. Ne3 Nf6 {with equal chances.} (40... d2 {doesn't wotk here...} 41. Re2 Rd3 42. Rdxd2)) {Black is in trouble...he has two Ps under attack.} 35. Rxf5 Bg7 36. Nxg4 f6 37. Rf3 f5 38. exf5 e4 39. fxg6+ Kxg6 40. Re3 Kf5 41. Nf2 Rfe8 42. Bh2 b4 43. g4+ { Black resigned.} 1-0