Simon Webb

    On March 14, 2005, British IM and Correspondence GM Simon Webb (born June 10, 1949) was stabbed to death in Sweden by his son after Webb had returned home after spending the day in Malmo playing in the finals of the Swedish chess league. He was 55 years old. 

    Born in London, he was joint British Under-18 Champion in 1966, and fourth in the European Junior Championship in 1969. 

    For a brief period of time in the late 1970s he was a professional player. At one tournament he was assigned a lady translator whom he ended up marrying. 

    Webb was famous for his humorous instructional book Chess for Tigers (1978) and his ability to sometimes save seemingly hopeless games. 

    In the 1980s, he moved to Sweden and all but gave up OTB play after he took up correspondence chess. He was awarded the Correspondence GM title in 1983. 

     His 25-year-old son, Dennis was described by friends as having an explosive temper and he had a long history of arrests for drug related offenses. At the time of the murder he had just finished serving a  four year prison sentence. After murdering his father Dennis tried to commit suicide by driving the family car into a bus shelter at 80-85 mph (about 130kph). He had to be cut from the wreckage by the fire department, but survived with only a broken nose. 

    The Swedish police reported that Webb had suffered more than 20 knife wounds to his stomach after being overcome by his son in the early morning hours. 

    Police had no idea what the motive was, but according to one report Mrs. Webb heard her husband screaming and came out into the hall to see he had been stabbed repeatedly. She told police that her son had admitted the killing to her before taking the keys to the family car and driving off. Another report stated that she had actually witnessed the attack. Webb’s wife, Anna, suffered from mental trauma and had to be treated in a Stockholm hospital. 

    Webb wrote about the following game against Reshevsky in his book Chess for Tigers and said that throughout the game he was being subjected to Reshevsky's cigarette smoke and his annoying behavior and knew he was losing.      

    In the mid-1960s I met the infamous Norman Whitaker at a tournament in North Carolina and when Reshevsky’s name cane up in a group conversation Whitaker said, “Reshevsky wouldn’t help anybody.” 

    I saw Reshevsky at play many tines and can attest to the fact that his behavior at the board was not always gentlemanly! Still, the $50 I paid him to play me in an “instructional” correspondence game which I drew was the highlight of my career. Or, maybe it was getting Max Euwe’s autograph, probably in 1957. 

 

    In this game Webb wrote that at move 30 he spotted a tactic that could only work if Reshevsky played his Queen to d7. He thought that if he quickly played his move, Reshevsky would become suspicious and find the trap, so Webb took a few minutes thinking and shaking his head, sighing and trying to give the impression that his game was hopeless. 

    Then when Webb hesitantly played his move Reshevsky looked at him and with a smug smile, fell for the trick and then Webb replied quickly for psychological effect. Reshevsky sat upright, looked at the position and realized what had just happened, played his move and then offered a draw which Webb quickly refused.

 

[Event "Guardian Royal Exchange, London"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "1973.12.14"] [Round "?"] [White "Simon Webb"] [Black "Samuel Reshevsky"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E69"] [WhiteElo "2445"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "153"] [EventDate "1973.??.??"] {E69: King's Indian: Fianchetto Variation} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. d4 Nbd7 7. O-O e5 8. e4 c6 9. h3 Qb6 10. d5 Nc5 11. Re1 cxd5 12. cxd5 Bd7 13. Rb1 a5 {So far this has been pretty much all book, but now the game has reached a point where book lines are pretty this. Here, in addition to the move played, white has tried 14.Be3} 14. Bf1 Rfc8 15. Be3 Qd8 16. Nd2 a4 (16... Ne8 17. Kh2 f5 18. f3 f4 19. gxf4 Qh4 {with equal chances. Exler,V (2189)-Stockova,Z (2383) Tromso NOR 2014}) (16... b5 17. Bxc5 Rxc5 18. Nb3 Rcc8 19. Nxb5 a4 {The position is equal. Kekki,J (2255) -Lanzendoerfer,J (2210) Stockholm 1988}) 17. b4 axb3 18. axb3 Ne8 19. b4 Nd3 20. Bxd3 Rxc3 21. Nc4 Bb5 22. Nb2 {This is where Webb goes wrong. Black gets the upper hand owing to his control of the Q-side.} (22. Nxe5 {At first glance this appears to win a P, but it loses a piece after} Ba4 23. Nxf7 Kxf7 24. Qd2) (22. Rc1 { eliminating the black R keeps things equal.} Rxc1 23. Bxc1 Bxc4 24. Bxc4 { with complete equality.}) 22... Bxd3 23. Nxd3 Qd7 (23... Nf6 {attacking the e-Pawn was even better.} 24. Bc1 Qc8 {Controls the c-file and attacks the h-Pawn.} 25. Kh2 h5 26. Bb2 Rc4 {and bliack is clearly better.}) 24. Kh2 Nf6 25. Bg5 Nxe4 {[%mdl 512]} 26. Rxe4 Qf5 27. Re3 ({But not} 27. Qd2 $2 Rxd3 $1 { [%mdl 512]} 28. Qe2 (28. Qxd3 $2 {perishes.} Qxf2+ 29. Kh1 Ra2 $19) 28... Rd4 29. Rxd4 exd4 $19) (27. Qg4 $142 Qxg4 28. hxg4 Rxd3 29. Rc4) 27... Qxg5 28. Ra1 Rac8 29. Ra7 {[%mdl 32]} Qf5 {Not really bad at all as black still has a winning position, but now Webb's theatrics began as he visably agonized over his next move.} (29... e4 {us actually nstringer plus it avoids Wenn's coming psychol;ogocal trap.} 30. Rxe4 (30. Nf4 Rc1 31. Qe2 R8c2 {with a easy win... the Q has nowhere to go.} 32. Qb5 Rxf2+ 33. Ng2 Qxe3) 30... Qf5) 30. Rf3 { In reality this move is actually white's best chance.} (30. Rxb7 {is easily met by} Rxd3 31. Rxd3 Qxf2+ 32. Kh1 Rc2 33. Rb8+ Bf8 34. Qxc2 Qxc2 35. Rf3 Qe4 36. Kg2 Qxd5 {and black will have no trouble scoring the point.}) 30... Qd7 { This saves the P, but yields the advantage.} (30... Qh5 {This maintains a winning position, but play gets a bit tricky.} 31. Rxb7 Bh6 (31... e4 {would be a serious mistake.} 32. Rfxf7 Bf8 33. Qxh5 gxh5 34. Nf4 {with a completely equal posirtion.}) 32. Rbxf7 e4 33. Qe1 Rxd3 34. Qxe4 Rxf3 35. Rxf3 Qe5 36. Qxe5 dxe5 37. b5 Rc2 38. d6 Rb2 39. d7 Bg5 40. Kg2 Rxb5 41. Rd3 Bd8 {Black has a won ending.}) (30... Qe4 {This is black's best reply.} 31. Rxb7 Bh6 32. Rbxf7 (32. Rfxf7 Rxd3 33. Qg4 Qxg4 34. hxg4 Rf8 35. Rxh7 Rxf2+ 36. Kh3 Bf8 37. g5 ( 37. b5 Rdd2 38. g5 Rh2+ 39. Kg4 Rxh7) 37... e4 {secures the win.}) 32... Rxd3 33. Qxd3 Qxd3 34. Rxd3 Kxf7 {wins the ending.}) 31. Nc5 {Black is not lost after this, but now it's white who has a significant advantage.} R8xc5 32. bxc5 Rxc5 {White has won the exchange and has a winning advantage, but there is still a lot of work to do before he scores the point. Webb's endgame play is impeccable though.} 33. Qb1 Qb5 34. Rxb7 Qxb1 35. Rxb1 {[%mdl 4096]} Rc8 36. Rb7 f5 37. Ra3 e4 38. Kg2 (38. Raa7 Be5 39. Kg2 Bd4 40. Ra6 Be5 41. Rc6 { has transposed into the game.}) 38... Bd4 39. Ra6 Be5 40. Rc6 {Of course the R cannot be taken.} Rf8 41. Rcc7 g5 {Reshevsky gives up a P in hopes of getting some active play. After 41...h5 white has what is technically a won game and in Shootouts scored 5-0, but it wasn't so easy. Check out how Stpckfish played the game after 41...h5 at 19 plies.} (41... h5 42. h4 Re8 43. Rd7 Ra8 44. Re7 Kf8 45. Rf7+ Kg8 46. Rfe7 Kf8 47. Rh7 Rc8 48. Rhf7+ Kg8 49. Rfe7 Kf8 50. Re6 Rc2 51. Kf1 Rc1+ 52. Ke2 Rc2+ 53. Kf1 Rc1+ 54. Ke2 Rc2+ 55. Ke3 Rc3+ 56. Kd2 Rd3+ 57. Ke2 Rxd5 58. Rxg6 Ra5 59. Rg5 Ra2+ 60. Kf1 f4 61. Rf5+ Kg8 62. gxf4 Bd4 63. Rg5+ Kf8 64. Rb4 Bxf2 65. Rxh5 Kf7 66. Rxe4 Bc5 67. f5 Ra1+ 68. Kg2 Ra2+ 69. Kf3 Ra3+ 70. Kf4 d5 71. Re6 Ra4+ 72. Kf3 Ra3+ 73. Kg4 Ra4+ 74. Kf3 Ra3+ 75. Ke2 Ra2+ 76. Kd1 Ra1+ 77. Kc2 Ra2+ 78. Kb1 Ra4 79. Rh7+ Kf8 80. Rc7 Rb4+ 81. Kc2 Bd4 82. Rc8+ Kg7 83. Rc7+ Kf8 84. h5 Rb8 85. h6 Kg8 86. f6 Rf8 87. f7+ Kh7 88. Re8 Rxf7 89. Rxf7+ Kg6 90. Rf3 Ba1 91. Rg8+ Kh7 92. Rg2 d4 93. Rf7+ Kh8 94. Kd3 Bc3 95. h7 Ba1 96. Rg8#) 42. Rxh7 $18 f4 43. gxf4 gxf4 44. f3 e3 45. Kf1 Ra8 46. Ra7 Rb8 47. Rhb7 Rc8 48. Ra2 Kh8 49. Ke2 Kg8 50. Kd3 Kh8 51. Ke4 Re8 52. Re2 Rf8 53. Rd7 Kg8 54. h4 {[%mdl 32]} Kh8 55. h5 Kg8 56. Rg2+ Kh8 57. Re7 Ra8 58. Kf5 Rf8+ 59. Ke4 Rb8 60. Rf7 Re8 61. Re2 Kg8 62. Rc7 Rf8 63. Rec2 Rf6 64. Kd3 (64. Rc8+ {was a bit more precise. After} Kg7 65. R2c7+ Rf7 ( 65... Kh6 66. Rh8+ Kg5 67. Rg7+) 66. Rxf7+ Kxf7 {with a routin win.}) 64... Rf5 65. Ke4 Rf6 (65... Rxh5 {was not really any better.} 66. Rd7 Bg7 67. Rg2 Rh7 68. Kd3 {and black is out of moves.}) 66. Rc8+ Kh7 {Black could have put up a stouter defense with 66...Kg7, but he still loses.} (66... Kg7 67. R2c7+ Rf7 68. h6+ Kg6 69. Rxf7 Kxf7) 67. R2c7+ $1 Kh6 {The beginning of a long trek!} 68. Rh8+ Kg5 69. Rg8+ Kh6 70. Rh8+ Kg5 71. Rg7+ Kh4 72. Rg4+ Kh3 73. Rc8 Rf7 74. Rc1 Kh2 75. Rc2+ Kh1 76. Rgg2 Bc3 $2 77. Rge2 {Black resigned. A well deserved win for Webb! In the auto-annotation Stockfish evaluated Reshevsky's play as precise, but Webb's as very precise!} 1-0