Saturday, August 24, 2024

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. 

A game that I liked (Fritz 17)

Elmer W. GruerS 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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