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.
[Event "US Championship, New York"]
[Site "New York, NY USA"]
[Date "1946.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Adolf Fink"]
[Black "Gustave Drexel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C11"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 16"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "1946.??.??"]
{C11: French Defense} 1. e4 {[%mdl 32]} e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5.
Nce2 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. a3 Qb6 8. f4 (8. b4 $1 $14 cxd4 9. cxd4 f6 10. exf6 Nxf6
11. Nf3 Bd6 12. Bf4 {Mora Moron,J (2229)-Rodriguez Galanton,Y (2123) Porlamar
VEN 2015. Black stands well.}) 8... a5 9. Nf3 a4 10. g3 Ra7 {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. Bh3 Na5 {11...Qb3 keeps things equal.} 12. Nd2 {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.}
Nc6 13. Nf3 {Was Fink offering a draw by repetition?} Ndb8 {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. Kf1 {It's white's turn to play a mysterious ove. Why not
play 14.O-O?} Bd7 15. Kg2 Na5 {Again!} 16. f5 {This is played at the right
time. 16.Rfg1 would be over-preparing.} exf5 17. Nf4 {Of course white is
thinking about playing e6.} Nb3 {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. Re1 Be7 (19... Nxa1 {is worse. After} 20. Nxe6 Bxe6 21. Bxf5 Be7 22.
Rxe6 Qd8 23. Bg5 {black is in serious difficulty.}) 20. dxc5 Nxc5 21. Qd4 Bf6
22. Nxd5 Bxd4 {and white stands much better,} 23. Nxb6) 18... Qxc5 {This is
the wrong way to recapture. Capturing with the B prepares castling to safety.}
19. Nxd5 {[%mdl 8192] This should have lost. Apparently neither side was aware
that white could play e6! with great effect.} (19. e6 Bxe6 20. Re1 Ra6 {
Defending e6, but after} 21. Bxf5 Nxa1 22. Bxe6 Be7 23. Bg4 O-O 24. Be3 Qa5 25.
Nxd5 Bd8 26. Bf4 {White has what should amount to a decisive advantage.}) 19...
Be6 {Black has the better position after this, si while it is hardly a bad
move, he had an even better one.} (19... Ra5 {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. Nf4 Nxa1 21. Re1 Qc6 {and black is
winning.}) 20... fxe6 21. Nb4 Nxa1 22. Bf4 Qc4 23. Bxb8 Bxb4 24. cxb4 Rd5 {
The R is now a tower of strength!} 25. Qe1 (25. Qxa1 Qe2+ {wins.}) 25... O-O {
Black is winning.}) 20. Be3 Qxd5 21. Bxa7 Nc6 {[%mdl 2048] Best.} (21... Nxa1
22. Qxd5 Bxd5 23. Rxa1 Nc6 {Black's advantage is minimal.}) 22. Qxd5 Bxd5 {
This is the critical position and white's choice will determine if he loses or
if he can play on.} 23. Bd4 {[%mdl 8192] This choice loses, but only if black
makes thge riught choice, That R on a1 is still available!} (23. Rad1 Bxf3+ 24.
Kxf3 Nxa7 25. Bxf5 {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... Ncxd4 (23... Nxa1 {This results in equal
chances after} 24. Rxa1 g6) 24. cxd4 Nxd4 (24... Nxa1 {Again, this would be a
mistake as after} 25. Rxa1 g6 {chances are equal.}) 25. Rhf1 g5 {Well played!}
({Inferior is} 25... Nxf3 26. Rxf3 Bxf3+ 27. Kxf3 g6 28. Bf1 {with a likely
draw.}) 26. Rad1 {Black is winning.} Bxf3+ 27. Rxf3 Nxf3 28. Kxf3 g4+ 29. Bxg4
fxg4+ 30. Kxg4 Rg8+ {A piece down white's position is hopeless, so he resigned.
} 0-1
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