Chessbase Products

 

    The other day I was searching for something and stumbled across some excellent Youtube videos on Chessbase products which I consider the gold standard of chess software. 

    If you are thinking about purchasing one of them the videos listed below will be a big help in deciding which one you should purchase. Or, if you already have one of them the instructional videos show how to use most of the features. 

    I have a number of chess programs on my laptop: the ancient Master Chess 8000, SCID vs PC, Chess OK Aquarium, Aquarium 2020, Chess Assistant 18, Fritz 12, Ftitz 17 and Chessbase 16. 

    Back in the old days when I was a serious correspondence player and was seriously trying to top the 2200 barrier, had these programs been available Chessbase would have been my choice. But, those days are just a dim memory and so Fritz 17 fits my needs perfectly. 

    Should you buy Chessbase? Here is an honest analysis of the program. I do not use my Chessbase 16 simply because it has a lot more features than I am interested in. HERE 

    If pricing is an issue then a good alternative is Fritz. Although Fritz 19 is the current version, this video discusses Fritz 17 (the program I use), but it is still a good overview of the program HERE.

 

Sidebar... 

 

    While I am at it, you might be interested in downloading a free database of 5.5 million games at Caissabase. The game dates ranger from 1610 to 2024. Note: the download is fairly large, so give it some time. 

    There is one snag...the database can only be opened using SCID vs. PC format, so if you are not a SCID vs. PC user you will need to download that program which you can so HERE. These two downloads are an excellent choice if you are looking for free. 

 

NOTE: 

    Apparently there is a glitch in e-mailing me. I recently received an e-mail from a reader of this post who had a question, but it did not show up on the post itself.

    Basically the reader wanted to know about how modern correspondence players attempt to outsmart opponents who rely strictly on an engine. Unfortunately, I am not qualified to address that issue because I am not very knowledgeable about how engines work. Also, when I was active in correspondence play before engines my rating hovered around 2100...hardly championship level! 

    I was not implying that I would like to have used an engine in correspondence play, only that in those days programs like ChessBase and Fritz would have been great for organizing games and studying all phases of the game.

Pillsbury Hit by a Marble

    Murray Marble (February17, 1885 – February 17, 1919, 34 years old) of Worcester, Massachusetts is virtually unknown and when he passed away the American Chess Bulletin stated that they were greatly disturbed and noted that they had not received any news about him in recent years. 

    The writer of the article stated that he had once spent an enjoyable day at a beach resort in company with Marble, he knew very little of Marble’s family or private life beyond that he was obviously of “gentle” family and possessed a quiet and refined both in tastes and demeanor. And, he added that Marble spoke or wrote little concerning himself. 

     Marble was the youngest of four brothers, all of whom predeceased him in death. According to the writer the family occupied a rather palatial if old fashioned family homestead in Worcester. Marble possessed an exquisite chess den at his home. 

    The writer first heard of Marble in 1900, when the chess editor of the Literary Digest chess column, wrote of a two-mover contributed to the periodical by the 15 year old Marble who had just entered the world of problem composing. In 1906, and for a period thereafter Marble was a regular contributor to the American Chess Bulletin. By the early part of 1909, Marble was really making a name for him self. Sample problem

    Only two of his games seem to have survived; one offhand game against an unknown player and the following nice win over Pillsbury in a simultaneous that was held in Worcester.

 

Rzeschewski at the 1922 New York Toy Show

    In the early 1900s all the chess sets sold in the United States were manufactured in Europe. When World War I broke out in 1914, the supply of chess sets to the U.S. ceased. That’s where William F. Drueke comes in.

    Established in 1914, Drueke’s Grand Rapids, Michigan company was known as a high quality game manufacturer in the United States because they used nothing but the finest walnut, maple and aspen for their products. 

    Besides chess pieces Drueke also made wooden chess boards, chess tables, cribbage boards, poker chip racks, backgammon sets, dominoes, checkers, card boxes, and other wooden accessories. Around 1949 they began manufacturing plastic pieces. In my day their Player’s Choice set was very popular. Drueke's name and product lines were assumed by The Carrom Company of Ludington, Michigan in 1991. 

     In 1922, there was an annul toy fair at the Hotel Breslin in New York City and Sammy Rzeschewski, the child prodigy, gave a simultaneous exhibition that was sponsored bu Drueke. 

     Rzeschewski scored 18 wins. Play stopped at 11:30pm after having been in progress for nearly two and a half hours. There were three games unfinished. US Champion Frank Marshall had bee present, but he had left so two of the remaining games were declared drawn by the acting referee, Samuel Katz, secretary of the Manhattan Chess Club. Rzeschewski was awarded the win in the other game after which he was lustily cheered by the large audience. 

    In the following game, after only 20 minutes of play, M. A. Goldsmith of Cleveland. Ohio resigned after only 23 moves. Goldsmith, a leading Ohio expert, was considered to be one of the best players Rzeschewski would be facing in the exhibition. After their game was finished Goldsmith showed everyone a published score of a game, also a Goring Gambit, that he had won from Frank Marshall in an exhibition on Cleveland the previous year.

 

ChessBase

Sammy Rzeschewski–M. A. Goldsmith1–0C44Simul, New York1922Stockfish 17

C44: Goring Gambut 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 Named after German player Carl Goring, in this gambit white offers to sacrifice a P. ot sometimes two, in order to open up lines for his pieces and to accelerate his development. dxc3 4.c4 c6 This is not the best reply. If black does not want to risk taking another P with 4...cxb2 then he should play 4...Nf6 4...f6 Better is 5. Nxc3 equals. 5.e5 c2 6.xc2 d5 and after either 7.Bb5+, 7.Bb3 or 7.exd6 black stands well. 7.exf6 This obvious move is white's least desirable continuation/ dxc4 8.fxg7 xg7 9.xc4 e6 10.c2 e7 Black has a comfortable lead in development. 5.f3 f6 5...cxb2 is still a reasonable try. 6.xb2 b4+ 7.c3 f6 5...e7 turned out badly in the following game. 6.0-0 h6 7.xc3 d6 8.d5 g4 9.f4 ce5 10.xe5 xe5 11.h5 b8 12.xe5 c5 13.xc7 d4 14.e5+ Black resigned. Zhang Pengxiang (2583)-Chen Xueshen Wuxi 2005 6.xc3 b4 7.d2 7.0-0 xc3 8.bxc3 d6 9.b3 ge7 10.g5 with equal chances. Angarov,D-Ginzburg,A (2021) Irkutsk 2009 was eventually drawn. 7...xc3 8.xc3 g6 9.0-0 ge7 10.e5 10.h4 is not as good as it might look at first glance. After xe4 11.xf7+ xf7 12.h5+ g6 13.h6 g8 There is no really effective way of continuimg the attack. 14.ae1 d5 Note that 15.xh7+ is not dangerous to black because afer e8 16.f3 f7 In Shootouts from this position white scored +0 -2 =3 10...0-0 11.d3 h5 12.c2 Here the game deviates from the sinul game Marshall-Goldsmith that was played the previous year in Cleveland. 12.e1 d5 13.exd6 cxd6 14.e4 g4 15.e2 d5 16.f4 g6 17.a4 ge5 18.xe5 xe5 19.xe5 xe2 20.xd5 ad8 21.e4 fe8 22.e1 xe5 23.xb7 d1 24.xd1 xd1 25.h3 xa4 26.g3 e1+ 27.g2 e4+ 28.xe4 xe4 29.h4 e2 30.b3 c6+ 31.h3 xf2 0-1 Fran Marshall-M A Goldsmith Simul, Cleveland, Ohio, 1921 12...d5 13.exd6 cxd6 14.fe1 f5 15.ad1 xd3 16.xd3 ad8 17.e4 f5 This give white a minuscule advantage. Instead, 17...d5 keeps things even. 18.h4 g6 19.h3 Black must now prevent Rg3. e5 Goldsnith has played an excellent game up to this point, but this move is a onumental tactical blunder. 19...f4 and Black has nothing to worry about. For example... 20.xg6 xg6 21.g5 f5 22.e6 22.xh7 ce5 Black is better because white's N and R are out play. 22...d7 23.hd3 f8 24.xd6 xd6 25.xd6 xe6 26.xe6 The position is completely equal. 20.xe5 Probably spotted instantly by the prodigy! dxe5 21.xd8 xd8 22.xd8+ f7 22...e8 23.xe8+ f7 24.xe7+ xe7 23.xe5+ Black resigned 1–0

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A Great Game by Paul Michel

    One of the books in my collection is 107 Great Chess Battles, 1939-1945 by Alekhine. The games, almost all of them played by others, were selected and annotated by him. Because Alekhine selected the games you know they have to be good. 

    The games are organized by openings, open, semi-open and closed. In my opinion the book is something of a potboiler with not very deep annotations and they are lacking instructional content, but then it’s games themselves that are interesting. 

    The winner, Paul Michel (1905-1977) of Germany, was awarded the IM title in 1956. He was 2nd= in the German Championships of 1935 and 1938 and was a member of the German Olympiad team of 1939. He remained in Argentina after the Second World War. 

    His opponent was Swedish player Erik Lundin (1904-1088). One of the country;s top players, he was warded the International Master title in 1950, and the Honorary Grandmaster title in 1983. He continued to participate in chess tournaments in his 80's and over the course of his career he defeated many of the world;s best players. Chess metrics estimates his highest ever rating to have been w771 and his best world ranking to have been #18 on December 1946 and January 1947. 

 

ChessBase

Erik Lundin (Sweden)–Paul Michel (Germany)0–1C48Buenos Aires Olympiad fin-A14Buenos Aires ARG16.09.1939Stockfish 16/Alekhine

C48: Four Knights Game, Rubinstein Mariation 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.c3 f6 4.b5 d4 The solid Rubinstein Variation. At the time this game was played the German team would have been satisfied with a draw. 5.xe5 Lundin wants to avoid the drawish 5.Nxf4 and so Iplayed this rather dubious line. He would have done better playing the standard 5.Ba4. Note that the text does not win a P. e7 6.f4 xb5 7.xb5 d6 8.f3 xe4+ 9.f2 The position of white's K has been disturbed in this line and this move is better that 9.Qe2 Qxe2+ 10. Kxe2 because now at least white threatens 10.Re1 g4+ 9...xf4 would be a horrible mistake. 10.d3 f5 11.xc7+ 10.g3 Alekhinme wrote that this K excursion is artificial and appears erroneous and he added that one could not understand what it was that lead white to play such a risky move. Possibly Lundin wanted to avois shutting his R in with 10.Kg1 although that move would have been preferrable. g6 Threatening 11...Ne3+. 11.h4 h5 11...f6 is also good. 12.h3 g5 13.e2+ e5 14.d4 gxf4+ 15.h2 xh4 16.dxe5 g3+ 17.g1 Popov,I (2613)-Svidler,P (2730) Aix-les-Bains FRA 2011. Now after 17.. .Kd8 black would have had the advantage. 12.h3 Best; this was known at the time. 12.xc7+ leaves black with the advantage after d8 13.h3 13.xa8 g5 14.fxg5 xg5 15.f3 g7 The threat of ...Ne3+ cannot be met in any satisfactory way. 16.e2 e3+ 17.f2 xg2+ 18.xe3 h6+ 19.d3 f5+ 20.c3 xe2 13...f6 14.xa8 xh4+ 15.xh4 e4 16.h5 e7+ 17.g5 xg5+ 12...xb5 It was Alekhine's opinion that this simple move forces a series of moves which are dangerous for White's position. 12...f6 This move was known at the time the game was played and it was the move recompensed by theory. It still is. 13.xc7+ Trading Qs would have kept black's advantage at a minimum. d8 14.xa8 Kadric,D (2561)-Gelbenegger,P (2260) Austria AUT 2022. Black is better, but only if he finds the correct continuation which is.. . xh4+ 15.xh4 e4 16.g4 e7+ 17.g5 xg5+ 18.fxg5 h6 19.g6 fxg6 20.f1 Black is clearly better, but white has a fighting chance. 13.hxg4 This is no good because it exposes his K. 13.a4 and white has equalized but the position has a lot of complications! d5 14.hxg4 g6 15.e2+ e6 16.f5 gxf5 17.gxf5 g8+ 18.h3 e7 19.fxe6 xh4 20.exf7+ xf7 with a slight advantage. 13.a4 e3 This also leads to complications. 14.dxe3 c6 15.e4 e7 16.e1 0-0 17.f3 f6 13...g5 After this white's game begins to deteriorate. 14.fxg5 e5+ 15.f2 d4+ 16.g3 e5+ 17.h3 Michel refutes this swiftly and in masterly fashion. 17.f2 would have made black's task much more difficult. xg5 18.d3 xg4 19.e1+ e7 20.xg4 xg4 21.g5 e6 22.xe7 xe7 with on;y sa modest advantage. 17...xg5 Threatens to win with ...Rg8. 18.d4 h5 This fine move emphasizes the disadvantageous position of the K. 19.g3 19.g3 is met by g8 20.g5 xd1 21.xd1 h6 22.f3 e7 23.e1 hxg5 24.c4 24.xg5 f6 24...f5 and black can expect to squeeze out the win. 19...g8 20.h2 xg4 After achieving a material advantage the win is a matter of technique, but, as Alekhine pointed out, the speed of the method used produces a very favorable impression. 21.e1+ e7 22.d2 d7 23.h6 d5 Black avoids tthe exchange of Qs inorder to exploit the frail position of white's K. 24.e3 ae8 25.f2 g5 Giving back the extra P to force the opening of the h-file with the plan of a diret attack on the K - Alekhhine 26.xh7 h8 27.d3 eg8 28.c4 f3 Now simplification assists black's victory since the Q is the only piece protecting white's position. 29.xf3 xf3 30.g1 Forced owing th the threat of ...Bxh4 f5 31.a4 h7 32.a3 e4 33.aa1 f4 34.h3 fxg3 White resigned. Very precise play by Michel according to Stockfish. 0–1

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Music to Play Chess By

A Finish Too Gruesome to Contemplate

    In the 1958-59 US Championship Bobby Fischer was not only a Grandmaster, but also an international star and the talk of world chess. He had won the previous championship with an undefeated 8 wins and 5 draws, finishing a full 2 points ahead of Reshevsky. 

    Nobody had repeated as as champion in the previous six tournaments and in this tournament virtually all of top scorers of the previous year were back plus Robert and Donald Byrne and Pal Benko were in the line up. 

    Born in France to Hungarian parents, Benko had become one of the leading European juniors during the mid-50s and was making a name for himself. Benko had been involved in the 1956 Hungarian revolt, but was later permitted to play first board on Hungary's team in the 1957 Student Olympiad in Iceland where he promptly defected. He originally landed in Cleveland Ohio, but not for long. He got into a snit because Cleveland players would not support him financially, so he moved on to greener pastures. 

 

 

   Most invitees were chosen because of their rating or because they held the Grandmaster title, but in the 1958-59 tournament the USCF also invited the U.S. Junior Champion 17-year-old Raymond Weinstein, Bisguier's couson. 

    In the end, Fischer was again successful, taking an undefeated first with +6 -0 =5 while Reshevsky again had to settle for second and his loss to Fischer was a real debacle! Fischer played a new, but untested, line on the white side of the Sicilian that he had used earlier in the year to defeat Bent Larsen at the interzonal at Portoroz. In the same tournament against Oscar Panno, it hadn't been so successful, but Fischer had done his homework; Reshevsky hadn't. 

Weinstein

    As usual, Reshevsky wasn't up on theory and relied on his instinct. Also, the line had been analyzed in depth in a recent Russian magazine which, of course, Fischer was familiar with. Reshevsky wasn't and ended up losing miserably.

    Benko, who everybody thought might be a serious contender, failed badly finishing in 8th place with a +1 -4 =6 score. Weinstein shared last place with Edmar Mednis, scoring +0 -5 =6. Here is an interesting game from the tournament.

 

ChessBase

Raymond Weinstein–Samueal Reshevsky0–1E641958/59 US Champ, New YorkNew York1958Stockfish 17

E64: King's Indian: Fianchetto Variation 1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 g7 4.g2 0-0 5.f3 c5 A Reshevsky favorite. Most common by far is 5...d6 6.d5 d6 7.c3 a6 Again, a Reshevsky favorite. He liked to put the N on c7 then play ... Rb8 and prepare the advance ...b5. 8.0-0 c7 9.f4 The B is in a rather vulnerable place on f4. Thos move was popular at the time, but has since been pretty much abandoned in favor of 9.a4 to prevent black's Q-side expansion. a6 10.a4 b8 11.a5 b5 12.axb6 xb6 13.b3 h5 This move gains time, opens the diagonal for his B and makes room for the advance of his f-Pawn.. 13...d7 14.c2 b8 15.a3 b7 16.d2 b8 17.a4 xa4 18.xa4 c8 equals. Panno, O-Ramirez,A Santa Fe 1957 14.d2 e6 15.dxe6 xe6 16.g5 This move does not accomplish much and so continuing his Q-side play with 16.Ra2 and 17.Baw wpuld have been better. d7 17.a4 b8 17...xa1 18.xb6 e5 19.a5 and white is well off. 18.a3 h6 Reshevsky begins an attack by driving back the N with a gain of time. 19.e4 Perhaps 19.Nf3 would have been better. As played white loses time with the N. f5 20.ec3 e6 21.e4 f4 Reshevsky is going after him. Theoretically with accurate play white should be OK, but as is usually the case, one slip on the part of the defender can be costly. 22.g4 As Reshevsky put it, "Closing his eyes to the lurking danger. " This move loses quickly. 22.d5 fxg3 23.hxg3 xd5 and now capturing with either Pawn keeps things fairly equal. 24.cxd5 This at least does not give the B a good square on f5. d7 25.c3 xc3 26.xc3 The chances are equal. 22.e5 This sharp counterattack is probably his best option. xe5 23.e4 Here black has no really powerful attacking moves. Komodo Human suggests the following line... e7 24.c3 xc3 25.axc3 bd8 26.e1 g7 27.c1 h7 28.gxf4 f5 29.g3 d4 30.d5 f7 31.xc7 xc7 and neither side can claim an advantage. 22...f3 23.xf3 23.h1 h4 leaves white helpless... 24.xf3 24.d5 xg4+ 25.g2 xg2# 24...e5 25.f4 xf4 26.e1 xh2+ 27.f1 h3+ 28.e2 xf3+ 29.d2 f4+ 30.c2 xg4 31.d2 xd2+ 32.xd2 xf2+ 33.e2 f4+ 34.e1 xe2+ 35.xe2 xe2 36.xe2 23...h4 24.g2 f4+ 25.xf4 xf4 26.e2 e5 27.h3 bf8 0-1 White resigned. The sequel is too gruesome to contemplate. 27...bf8 28.f3 xf3 29.xf3 xf3 30.xf3 xh3+ 31.e2 xg4+ 32.d2 xf1 0–1

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Philip Physick Randolph

    While on the subject of forgotten Philadelphia players, today’s post features another one from long ago, Philip Physick Randolph (October 26, 1824 – May 5, 1869) who at the time of his unexpected death was considered one of the country’s most distinguished players. 

    It was in 1846 that the 22-year old Randolph, after having just finished his collegiate studies, became known. At that time he played against Charles Vezin, the subject of the previous post.

    Randolph was known for his positional play characterized by patient and thorough analysis. 

    In 1847, along with another Philadelphia player of renown, Benjamin Tilghman, he organized the correspondence match against Boston in which the previous post’s game was played. 

    In 1856 he participated in a correspondence match against New York which was won by Philadelphia. Then in the fall of 1858 he took an active part in a telegraph match against New York. After this match Randolph stopped playing competitive chess, probably for health reasons, but continued to follow the game.

    At the time of his death the London Times claimed that Randolph was one of the three greatest players in the world. How and why they made that statement is unknown. There is little information available on Randolph and I could locate only two of his games. 

    Randolph was not only a recognized master player, but a well regarded member of Philadelphia society who was known for his intelligence, gentle manner and modest character. 

    He was the grandson of the “father of American surgery” Dr. Philip S. Physick, and son of Dr. Physick’s daughter Sally and her husband Dr. Jacob Randolph. 

    Dr. Philip S. Physick purchased Laurel Hill Mansion in Pgiladelphia in 1828 to use as a summer retreat and later bequeathed the house to his daughter Sally Randolph in 1837, when it became known as the Randolph Mansion. 

    The chessplayer Philip Randolph, who died in the mansion, was its last resident. He never married and was buried at Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia. The newspaper death notice stated that relatives and male friends were invited to attend the funeral at his mother’s residence. 

    After he died his widowed mother, Sally, sold the mansion to the city of Philadelphia. In 1870, the city demolished its barn, outbuildings, and farmhouse, yet the mansion now known as Laurel Hill Mansion still stands. 

 

ChessBase

Philip Randolph–Charles Vezin1–0C39PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia, PA USA1847Stockfish 16

C39: King's Gambit Accepted 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.f3 This is the most popular, the main alternative being 3.Bc4. Black had two main approaches:1) attempt to hold the P with ...g5 and 2) return the P in order to facilitate his development. g5 The Classical Variation arises after 3.Nf3 g5. White's main choices are 4.h4 and 4.Bc4 3...f6 4.c4 d5 5.exd5 d6 6.d4 h5 7.0-0 h4 8.e1+ xe1 9.xe1+ 4.h4 4.c4 g4 An alternative is 4...Bg7 5.0-0 gxf3 6.xf3 f6 Here white usually plays 7... e5 although 7.d3 is super-solid. 4...g4 5.e5 5.Ng5 (the Allgaier Gambit) intending 5...h6 6.Nxf7 id very rsky amd is considered risky and unsound. The text is the Kieseritzky Gambit which is considered the main line; it was popularized by Lionel Kieseritzky in the 1840s and used by Wilhelm Steinitz and much later Spassky used it to beat Fischer. h5 The main alternative is 5. ..Nf6, but the text is satisfactory. 6.c4 h6 Black can satisfactorily defend the P with 6...Rh7, but the text move is also good. 7.d4 d6 White should now simply retreat with 8.Nd3 which results in equal chances. Instead, he embarks on a risky and unsoumd sacrifice, but one which also has some potential. 8.xf7 xf7 9.xf7+ 9.xf4 is about as good. e7 White has two playable moves: 10.Bxf7+ followed bu O-O and 10.Nc3 followed by Nd5. In either case black holds the advantage. 9...xf7 10.xf4 h6 11.0-0 Black's K is exposed, but white does not have anu way of getting at it, so black has the better position. g7 He could also have exchanged the Bs first. 12.c3 Perhaps defending the h-Pawn with 12.Qe1 would have been just a bit safer. e6 12...xh4 There was no reason to have avoided this. After 13.g3 d8 black has simply picked up a free P. 13.d5 f7 13...xf4 allows white to equalize after 14.xf4 f7 15.d4+ g8 16.e5 dxe5 He must play this. 17.xe5 d7 18.f5 with equal chances that could lead to a draw if the players are willing... e7 19.e4 d8 20.f4 e7 with a repitition. 14.d4+ g8 15.e5 This position contains a trap if black is careless. dxe5 15...xh4 16.xh6 xh6 17.f4 h7 18.e6 If the B moves white mates on f8 e7 19.e4 19.exf7+ is less effective. xf7 20.h6 h7 21.e6+ xe6 22.dxe6 c6 23.d5 White is clearly better, but 19.Ne4 is even stronger. 19...g6 20.f6+ h8 21.g5 g7 22.ae1 and white is winning. 16.xe5 h7 17.e4 This threatens to win with Nf6+. g7 This is a blunder that should have lost at once. 17...d7 is the correct defense after which black holds on to his advantage. For example... 18.ae1 g6 White has no effective continuation. 18.g5 After this white has equalized, but he has missed a golden opportunity. 18.xg7 xg7 19.f6+ h8 20.f4 g6 21.e5 f8 22.f5 Black has no option but to play xf6 23.xf6+ g7 24.xf7 xf7 25.xf7 and white is winning. 18...xe5 ...and loses. 18...xd5 is a completely different story; the position is completely equal. 19.f2 Better than trading Qs xe5 Threatening ...Bd4 20.ad1 Black is now compelled to surrender his Q, but after c6 20...xa2 21.f5 f8 22.xh7 g7 23.xh5 mates in 4 e8 24.fe1+ e5 25.xe5+ f8 26.h8+ g8 27.h6# 21.xd5 xd5 22.xh7 d4 23.f6+ g7 24.xd5 xf2+ 25.xf2 e8 26.xc7 e7 27.d5 g3 28.f5 e1+ 29.f1 e4 a draw would be a reasonable conclusion. 19.e4 g7 20.xf7 xf7 21.xf7 xf7 White is down two pieces, but black's extra material is useless. 22.h7+ Taking the B would also win. e8 The K has no hiding place and all his pieces are just bystanders. 23.g8+ e7 24.e6+ f8 25.f1+ g7 26.f7+ Black resigned. It's mate in 2 1–0

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Stockfish 17 is out

    On September 6th Stockfish 17 was released. You can download it HERE in the GUI of your choice. I am not sure what improvements have been made, but you can check out its rating on CCLR’s Complete Rating List HERE. 

    As of this writing it has only played 224 games and against a developmental version of Stockfish (the one I have been using for analysis) version 17 has a score of +0 – 0 =10.

Charles Vezin

    Charles Vezin (1781 – April 18,1853, 71 years old) was born in Osnabruech, a city in northern Germany, but is remembered as the founder and father of chess in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

    In 1802, at the age of 21, he went to live in Bordeaux in the SW of France where he he worked as a clerk for ten years and by frugal living saved up fifteen hundred francs and resolved to come to the United States. 

    On June 18th, The War of 1812 began between the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom and its allies. Even though the Atlantic was swarmed with British warships, Vezin booked passage on an American vessel and subsequently found himself a prisoner at sea and suffered three weeks' confinement in an English ship's brig. He was then exchanged and finally landed in Baltimore, Maryland penniless. 

    From there he went to Philadelphia to make a new start in life, and gradually accumulated enough money to enable him to engage in the importation of German, Belgian and French goods. He continued in this import business until his death im 1853. 

    Vezin's arrival in Philadelphia would eventually lead to the popularization of chess in the city. He found players there of about his own strength. He played a lot, but didn’t improve much. In 1835, an exhibition in Boston under the showman Johann Nepomuk Maelzel included the Juvenile Artist automaton, a chessplayine machine. The Juvenile Artist automaton also traveled to Philadelphia in an exhibition at the American Museum. The announcement for the event mentioned the success of Maelzel's exhibition in Boston and its arrival generated a large interest in chess. As a result of the visit Verzin played a lot of games with a Mr. Schlumberger, the director of the automaton and because of those games that he soon improved to become the best player in Philadelphia. 

    He was described as a player of great native talent, combined with cool, steady nerve and judgment. His play was equally excellent in all phases of the game and though a cautious player, he could, when occasion required, launch brilliant sacrificial attacks. 

    In the following game Vezin wipes Charles Stanley (1819-1901) off the board with a fierce attack. Stavley was born in Middlesex, England. In 1841, he played Howard Staunton, receiving odds of Pawn and two moves.on by a score of +3 -2 =1. Stanley emigrated to New York in 1842 and eventually worked at the British Consulate. 

    He was regarded as the best player in New York from 1842 to 1857. In 1845, he started America's first chess column in the New York Spirit of the Times; the column contained the first chess problem published in the country. The chess column ran until October, 1848. An an alcoholic he spent his last 20 years in institutions in New York on Ward's Island and in the Bronx. 

ChessBase

Charles Vezin (Philadelphhia)–Charles H. Stanley (New York)1–0C34Correspondence MatchPhiladelphia, PA / New York, N03.1845Stockfish 16

C39: King's Gambit Accepted 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.f3 g5 4.h4 g4 5.e5 e7 A poor move that allows white a successful attack in f7 5...f6 6.c4 d5 This is not possible after 5...Be7 7.exd5 d6 with a good game. 6.c4 6.xg4 favors black after d6 7.g7 xh4+ 8.d1 dxe5 9.xh8 g4+ 10.e2 g5 6.xg4 is also unsatisfactory. xh4+ 7.f2 g3 8.d4 c6 with the slightly better position. 6...h6 7.d4 Wisely ignoring the P on g4. 7.xg4 xg4 8.xg4 d5 with a decisive advantage. 7...d6 8.d3 xh4+ 9.f1 Even though this game was played 180 years ago, this position has been reached in recent years. f5 But the move played was bo better! 9...0-0 10.g3 fxg3 11.xh6 f6+ 12.f4 xd4 13.xh4 xc4 14.h6 g2+ 15.xg2 xe4+ 16.g3 e8 17.c3 g6 18.f4 f5 19.h5 d7 20.cd5 e6 21.g5+ h8 22.d4+ Black resigned because it's mate in 4. Manescu, T-Tronenkovs,V St Lorenzo 1995 9...c6 is black's best. After 10.c3 a5 11.b5+ c6 12.xf4 white still stands better, but at ;east black's position us not lost. 10.e5 This blow is already decisive as it opens up lines to black's K. dxe5 11.xe5 g5 12.e1 This looks scary, but developing with 12.Nc3 was even stronger. f8 12...xd4 loses quickly. 13.f3+ e4 14.xg5 xe1+ 15.xe1 13.c3 This is not necessary and should have allowed black to equalize. 13.c3 brings another piece into play and keeps the upper hand. Black shpu;d npw develop with 13...Nc5, but he must not play xd4 14.b5 e4 15.xe4 fxe4 16.h5 f6 17.xf4 f7 18.xf7 and wins. 13...f6 13...b5 Black's move is not bad, but this clever move is aimed at deflecting the B frpm attacking f7/ 14.b3 14.xb5 f7 is equal. 14...a5 15.a3 a4 16.a2 d7 The idea of this is to fprce the N away from the attack on f7. White is better, but there is no forced win. 14.h5 d7 A much better defense was 14...Nd7 forcing the N to abandon its outpost on e5 15.xd7+ Voluntarily eliminating his N and bring out black's N to help defend his K is the wrpng choice. As a result black has an equal position. 15.g3 keeps up the pressure. g8 16.g1 16.f7 is not as good as it looks! h6 17.xh8 e8 18.xg5 18.h1 c6 18...hxg5 and white's advantage has disappeared. 16...h6 17.f7 c6 18.xh6 e8 19.f2 xh6 20.xf4 White is better, but here, too, there is no forced win and black has chances of defending himself. 15...xd7+- 16.e6 This position is tricky...black has only one good move! g6 And this is not it. 16...xe6 Surprisingly, trading Qs should not help. That said, the resulting positions feature positions with unbalanced material that theoretically favor white. Practice might ne another matter. 17.xe6 f6 18.xg5 e4 19.xf4 19.h5 g3+ wins for black. 19...xg5 20.xg5 f7 21.f6 g8 22.xf5 Engines say white isd winning, but can he do it OTB?! 16...b5 A brilliant resource. 17.xd7 bxc4 18.xc7 g6 19.xg5 Best. 19.h1 f7 20.xf4 e8 21.e5 xe5 22.dxe5 f4 Suddenly it's black ho is on the attack. 19...xg5 20.xf4 h4 with equal chances. 17.xg5 The only way to keep his attacl going. xg5 18.xd7 h5 19.xf4 h1+ 20.f2 g3+ A crafty trap which Vezin avoids. 21.f3 21.xg3 e1+ 22.h3 h1+ draws 21.xg3 e8 Threatening ...Qe1 and ...Qe3#, so 22.d2 g4+ 23.f3 e3+ 24.f4 h6+ 25.xf5 g6+ 26.f4 h6+ draws. 21...h5+ 22.e3 e8+ 23.d2 f7 24.xf7+ xf7 25.xf7 xf7 26.xc7 The tactics are over and white is left with a theoretical win, but can he pull it off? e7 27.e5 xe5 One assumes that Stanley realized he was lost and so decided to placve his hopes on his K-side Ps, but his chances were probably better if he had simply moved the R on h8. 28.dxe5 Endgame KRN-KR e6 29.e2 h5 30.d2 xe5 31.f3+ f4 32.h1 Now it's clear that with the Ps held up white will have no problems scoring the point. e8+ 33.f1 h8 34.h4+ e3 35.d4 White threatens Ne1 and Nc2 and mate. e8 35...f4 36.e1 h4 37.c2# 36.e1 e4 37.c2+ f4 38.d7 h4 39.xb7 g5 40.d4 h3 41.gxh3 Black resigned 41.gxh3 A continuation might be... f4 The Ps are not a threat at all. 42.xa7 e3 43.a5+ g6 44.f5 etc. 1–0

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Old Chess Books

    My chess book collection consists mostly of old books. i.e. they are in descriptive notation and, of course, are pre-engine. The question is, can they be trusted? 

    The answer is, I suppose, it depends. In the case of opening books, the ideas may not have changed, but engines will sometimes alter the evaluation of individual moves. In practice though I don’t think it matters much. Below the Master level (or perhaps even the VERY strong Master level) the players don’t follow published analysis very far anyway...sometimes only 5-6 moves.

    Also, for non-Masters even a huge opening plus can be frittered away. Also, some popular openings of today were unknown way back when and many once popular openings are now obsolete. Consequently, in the old books comments on the openings must generally be looked at with a jaundiced eye. 

    Many books on middlegame strategy hold up better and are still useful. Tactics are another matter because they can be iffy. Often those old books were cranked out out without a lot of analytic effort and they didn’t have the benefit of an all-seeing engine. Also, in may cases the games were annotated based on the result. Everything the winner did was praised and everything the loser did was criticized.

Spielmann

    However, for non-Masters and those of us for whom the improvement ship has sailed, the games in those old books are a source of enjoyment. The following game is one such. 

    It was played in 1934 in a tournament in Sopron, a city in Hungary on the Austrian border. The tournament itself has been long forgotten and few games survive. The event was won by Rudolf Spielmann and Erno Gereben finished second. The other players were Pal Rethy, I. Csath, Antonio Sacconi, Arpad Vajda, Laszlo Szabo, Immo Fuss, Kornel Havasi and Ernst Gruenfeld, but I was unable to locate the final standings. 

    The game appears in Spielmann’s book, The Art of Sacrifice in Chess. Rudolf Spielmann (1883-1942, 59 years old) was born in Vienna, Austria. His chess persona was the exact opposite of his personality away from the board. He loved complex positions and tactics. 

    Being Jewish, he fled Nazi Germany and in 1939 went to Sweden. His death is something of a mystery. According to his close relatives he locked himself in his room and was later found starved to death. 

Gereben

    Another version says that he suffered from am illness similar to Parkinson's disease which rapidly became worse at the end of his life. Parkinson’s disease is a disorder of the central nervous system that affects movement. It often starts with a tremor in one hand. Other symptoms are slow movement, stiffness, and loss of balance. There are, however, several other conditions that can mimic Parkinson’s.

    Another source stated that he was admitted to the hospital and he died there. The source adds that the official cause of death was high blood pressure and a condition in which the heart muscle becomes fibrous. 

    His opponent was Erno Gereben (1908-1988), a Hungarian-Swiss Master whose career extended from the mid-1920s to the late 1970s. He was born in Sopron, where this tournament was played. Due to the Hungarian revolution in 1956, Gereben emigrated to Switzerland. He was awarded the IM title in 1950. 

    As for the game itself, like the game in the preceding post, it represents the evils of having not castled in an open position. Spielmann’s sacrifice lead to an attack against the exposed King whose defending pieces were largely undeveloped and somewhat scattered left him with excellent attacking chances. As is often the case, the defender was not up to the task of defending which is often harder than attacking. As for Spielmann’s notes in the book, let’s just say he didn’t have Stockfish and leave it at that. 

    Shootouts are mentioned in the analysis. As a reminder, this is a feature in the Fritz program in which an engine play out the rest of the game. It’s useful to test different engines by letting them play out a tactical, strategic or endgame position at different depths, but it’s also useful for analysis purposes to see what the potential outcome might be. 

ChessBase

Erno Gereben–Rudolf Spielmann0–1D94SopronSopron HUN09.1934Stockfish 16

D95: Gruenfeld Defense 1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.c3 d5 Although played as far back as 1855, this defense only became popular after Ernst Gruenfeld began playing it in 1922. 4.e3 White has the possibility of 4.cxd5 which gives him an imposing Pawn center which black will try to attack. The move played is usually a quiet backwater variation. g7 5.f3 0-0 6.d2 c6 7.b3 b6 At the time this game was played black usually played 7...dxc4, but Spielmann thought this move was probably better, Today black usually plays 7...e6. There is not much difference between any of the moves. 8.cxd5 cxd5 9.c1 Simpler 9 B-K2 and 10 0-0 b7 10.e5 fd7 11.xd7 Spielmann was critical of this move because it gives away two tempi and his recommendation was 11.f4. He wrote that because black has gained two tempi, it is not far fetched for him to think of sacrificing his d-Pawn in order to gain still more tempi. He reminded reader that in open positions, three tempi are approximately worth a Pawn. What does Stockfish say? The text results in equality, but 11.f4 gives white a slight advantage. 11.f4 xe5 12.fxe5 f6 13.exf6 xf6 14.b5 c6 15.xd5+ xd5 16.xd5 with a slight advantage. 11...xd7 Playable was 11...Qxd7. Instead, black offers a P for development, Spielmann wrote that either acceptance of the sacrifice, or its refusal by an indifferent move, was too dangerous for White. And this was the basis of the subsequent sacrifice which was already under consideration when he played 11...Nxd7 12.f4 A defensive Pawn move, when his development is backward-. According to Spielmann this means the loss of another tempo, so black has already gained three tempi. This advantage, it is true, cannot be utilized in what is at present a close position. The following preventive sacrifice, however, opens up all lines at one stroke. Stockfish's suggested move is 12.f4 and its evaluation is 0.00. e5 This gets a ? from Stockfish which recommends either 12...Nf6 or 12...Rc8 with equality. After the text black is technically just a P down. 13.fxe5 xe5 This violent P breakthrough is the idea behind the P sacrifice! Since black is already at a disadvantage this sacrifice is probably the best practical choice. 14.dxe5 d4 With this move black creates oopen lines for his attack. Spielmann wrote the following: "The sacrifice of the N cannot be vindicated by analysis and it would possibly hav3 been refuted in a correspondence game. But in a contest over the board and with a time limit of eighteen moves an hour, it would nearly always win through." In that he is quite correct because a mistake by a defender is often more serious than a mistake by the attacker. Technically white's advantage is about two Ps. Black could play 14...Bxe5, but he must play ...d4 anyway now is the best time to play it. 15.d1 After this most of white's advantage disappears. 15.exd4 keeps a clear advantage. xd4 16.e2 xe5 17.c3 Materially white has a N vs.a P and there is no way for black to take advantage of the position of white's K in the center. 15...xe5 16.e4 In order to close at least one of the center files. But this costs a P, so that black will already have two Ps for his piece and his attack remains just as strong. As correctly stated by Spielmann. xe4 17.f2 d5 18.h3 According to Spielmann white guards his g-Pawn in order to be able to develop his B. Unfortunately it further lessens white's advantage. 18.c4 develops a piece and keeps a slight advantage. Practically though calculating the best line and evaluationg the position OTB seems nearly impossible. xg2 19.g1 b7 20.d1 f6 21.g4 f3+ 22.e2 xg4 23.xg4 xh2 24.h3 e5 25.d3 e6 26.c4 f5 27.h4 xh3 28.xh3 According to Fritz and Stockfish white is clearly better...clearly?! 18...e7 Naturally much stronger than capturing the a-Pawn. 18...xa2 19.d3 c8 20.0-0 xc1 21.xc1 White is better. 19.e2 Spielmann called this the decisive mistake, but it actually results in equalit, He was correct in that the best defense is 19.Kd1 and white maintains only a slight advantage. d3 A sacrifice that gains space and after black's next move white is prevented from castling. 20.xd3 fe8 21.f1 White is in a difficult position, but after this his position can be considered lost. 21.0-0 d4+ 22.h1 xe2 is obviously bad. 21.e3 looks ;ike a dangerous place to put the Q, but it's the best defense. h4+ 22.g3 xg3+ 23.xg3 xg3+ 24.hxg3 xh1 25.f2 with unclear complications. In Shootouts from this position white scored +1 -0 =4 21...xb2 This is the best by far. 21...ad8 22.e3 b7 23.xe5 xg2+ 24.g1 xh1 25.f3 xf3 26.xf3 xf3 27.xf3 Again, the position us unclear, vut in Shootouts white scored +0 -3 =2 22.e1 f6+ 23.f2 There is hardly anything else. d4 24.g3 e4 This is a mistake that went unnoticed in Spielmann's book. Against the correct defense black's advantage would be minimal/ 24...xe2 There is no need to get fancy. 25.xe2 xf2 26.f4 xf4 27.xf4 xe1 28.xe1 24...e5 keeps a winning position. After 25.c3 25.c1 xf2 wins 26.xf2 f5 25...xc3 26.xc3 ae8 27.c2 b5 28.h4 c4 29.g4 xe2 30.xe2 xe2 and wins 25.h4 25.c1 was the crucial defense. ae8 26.f3 4e7 27.h4 e3 28.xe3 xe3 29.g4 b2 30.xe3 xc1+ 31.d1 xf3 32.xf3 d8 33.f2 and in practical play white might be able to draw. In Shootouts white scored +0 -3 =2 25...ae8 26.b5 xe1+ 27.xe1 e3 Best. He could also have won with 27...Rxe1+, but this winds up the game, too. 27...xe1+ 28.xe1 xf2+ 29.xf2 a1+ 30.d2 xh1 with a long ending in view. 28.g5 xe1+! 29.xe1 xf2+ 30.d1 xg2 31.e1 f3+ 32.e2 c3 33.xf3 xf3+ 34.c2 xe1 35.d8+ g7 White resigned 0–1

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A Pleasing Miniature by Gromer

    Aristide Gromer (April 11, 1908 i0 July 6, 1964) was a rather obscure Master who won the Frencj Championship in 1933, 1937 and 1938. When WWII broke out in September of 1939, along with many other participants of the Chess Olympiad, he decided to stay permanently in Argentina. Most of what is known about Gromer is due to the efforts of chess historian Edward Winter and you can read his excellent post on Gromer HERE.

    The following entertaining miniature win was played against Franciszek Sulik (1908-1977) who was born in Gliniany, Austria-Hungary, later Lwow, Poland and now Ukraine. He played as a reserve on the Polish team at the the 8th Chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires in 1939. The team (Tartakower, Najdorf, Frydman, Regedzinski and Sulik) won the silver medal. 

    In September 1939, when WWII broke out, he also decided to stay in Argentina. In 1940 he moved to Australia where he won the South Australian Championship in 1954, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977 and 1978. 

 

ChessBase

Aristide Gromer–Franciszek Sulik1–0C48Buenos AiresBuenos Aires1940Stockfish 16

C48: Four Knights Game 1.e4 e5 2.f3 f6 3.c3 Even when this game was played in 1940 the Four Knights Game was a throwback to they days before World War One when it was popular. Though there are some sharp variations, it usually leads to quiet positional play. Not in this game though. c6 4.b5 4.xe5 This is the dubious Halloween Gambit in which white tries to seize the center with his Ps and drive the Ns back to their home squares. xe5 5.d4 g6 5...c6 6.d5 b4 7.dxc6 xe4 8.d4 e7 According to GM Larry Kaufman this reutes the gambit, but black's advantage is only minimal. 6.e5 g8 7.c4 d5 8.xd5 8e7 9.g5 c6 10.b3 h6 11.e3 f5 is the engine refutation. 4...c5 5.xe5 White usually castkesm, but here this move is, inlike last move, quite playable because of black's B on c5. xf2+ But this move, which has been unsuccessfully played several times, is unsoubd as black doies not have enough pieces in play to take advantage of the position od white's displaced K. 5...xe5 6.d4 Unlike in the previous variation this attacks two pieces so that after a6 7.e2 d6 8.dxe5 xe5 the position is equal. 6.xf2 xe5 7.d4 eg4+ Safer would have been 7...Ng6 8.g1 One can see the appeal of black's strategy: white's R is hemmed in by his K and with his next move black drives back the B. The situation is only temporary as white already has a decisive advantahe. How? Gromer will demonstrate. c6 9.e2 d6 10.h3 h6 Now black's N is awkwardly placed. 11.h2 Brilliant! This is even better than capturing the N. 11.xh6 gxh6 12.d2 e7 13.f4 d5 14.exd5 xd5 15.xd5 cxd5 16.h2 Here, too, white's advantage proved decisive. Barbosa,E (2446)-Ayala Pena,E (2190) Katowice POL 2014 11...hg8 11...e7 proved no better in Reichardt,H-Mayer,F Dresden 2001 which continued 12.d3 e6 13.e1 0-0-0 14.b4 fg4+ 15.g1 and white soon won. 12.f1 So, the R is in play and white's K is safe after all. h5 A futile attempt to get the N safely back in play, but there was really nothing that is much better. 12...d5 13.e5 e4 14.xe4 dxe4 15.c4 and with his J in the center the attack on f7 is too much for black to handle. 13.h1 The reason for this is umclear, but his position is so good that it does no harm. h6 14.g5 a5 15.d2 hg8 Clearly the idea behind 12... h5 didn't work! 15...e6 does not work out well after 16.xf6 gxf6 17.xh6 0-0-0 18.f4 hg8 19.d5 cxd5 20.xd5 xd2 21.xd2 xd5 22.exd5 and white's two Bs for the R coupled with black's weak Ps are sufficient to secure the win. 16.b4 A nice sacrifice of a P to clear the way for the advance of his e-Pawn. xb4 17.e5 Ripping the guts out of black's position. h7 17...dxe5 18.dxe5 d7 19.ab1 a3 20.c4 f6 21.exf6 gxf6 22.be1+ d8 23.xf6+ gxf6 24.xf6 White has a winning attack. A sanmple line... c5 25.f7 f8 26.e4 e7 27.h6 xf7 28.d6 xe1+ 29.xe1 f8 30.h7 c7 31.e8+ xe8 32.xe8 18.e4 xd2 This allows mate in 4, not that it matters. 18...xg5 19.xg5 e6 20.xg7 0-0-0 21.xd6+ b8 22.ab1 a3 23.xf7 xf7 24.xf7 wins 19.xd6+ d7 20.xf7+ Black resigned. 20.xf7+ e7 21.xe7+ d8 22.f7# 1–0

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King in the Center

    Irving Chernev once warned his readers that if you delay castling and your King remains in the center, you can be sure that files will open up against it, Bishops will slash at it, eventually Rooks will dominate the seventh rank and Pawns will turn into Queens. 

    This situation arises when a player simply neglects or de;ays castling or the King is either no longer able to castle or has been driven by the opponent away from the castling area. When that happens,im general, problem involved are identical. 

    Of course there are exceptions and a King has lost the right to castle does not always justify undertaking a mating attack. For a mating attack to be feasible, the loss of castling must also involve the exposure of a King that is vulnerable. 

    In the case of an uncastled King other problems can also arise, e.g. communication between the Rooks is more difficult. In that case the struggle for control of an open file is made more difficult.

 

 

    Who was Tartaower’s opponent? Robert Frentz was sometimes listed as Maurice Frentz which may have been his middle name. Beyond that there seems to be no information on him. He was French and appears in a group photo at the bottom of the page HERE. 

    The following game is included in Chernev’s book, The Most Instructive Games Ever Played, and a good choice it is...Tartakower packs a lot of instruction into the game. 

 

ChessBase

Savielly Tartakower–Robert Frentz1–0A18Paris1933Massie,Jasmes

A18: English Opening 1.c4 f6 2.c3 e6 3.e4 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.e5 d4 This line is relatively unexplored and black has an interesting option in 5... Ne4. 6.exf6 dxc3 7.fxg7 cxd2+ 8.xd2 xg7 9.c2 9.c4 This is a viable option. The position of black's K looks shaky, but his defensive resources are sufficient so it may be said the chances are equal. 0-0 10.e2 c6 11.0-0 e5 12.b3 Krysa,L (2538)-Zacarias,M (2182) Asuncion PAR 2023/ After 12... Bg4 the position would be equal. 9.b5+ is another good option. After c6 10.e2+ e6 11.c4 e7 12.xe6 xe6 13.xe6+ fxe6 14.0-0-0 Neither side can claim any advantage. Batsiashvili,N (2477)-Antolak,J (2387) Bydgoszcz POL 2022 9...c6 Other reasonable moves have been tried here: 9...Qe7+, 9... O-O and 9...B36. All of them are good for equality as is the text. 10.f3 g4 Black is neglecting the safety of his K. Chernev recommended 10...Bd7 intending to castle Q-side, but that does not seem to work out too well. 10...d7 11.0-0-0 e7 12.e1 e6 13.a6 with slightly the better of it. 10...e6 11.a6 bxa6 Best 12.xc6+ d7 13.c5 Here, too, white is better. 10...e7+ This is black's best as chances are fairly equal after 11.e2 0-0 11.0-0-0 xf3 Correct was 11...Qf6! after which there are numerous possibilities, but all seem to lead to equality. Here is a line suggested by Komodo Human... 11...f6 12.g5 h6 13.h4 xf3 14.gxf3 xg5+ 15.hxg5 xg5+ 16.b1 f8 17.h3 d8 with equal chances. 12.gxf3 White now has a distinct advantage. d4 Chernev claimed this attacking move is unjustified in view of the dangers facing his exposed K. However, it is the best black has. 13.e4+ e7 14.xe7+ xe7 Even after the exchange of Qs white remains with a strong initiative and black's K in the center is still in danger. 15.b4+ e8 This move is as good as any. 16.b5+ c6 17.he1+ Every one of white's pieces are involved in the attack! e6 17...d8 would have allowed black to keep fighting, but OTB the ramifications would be hard to calculate. 18.xc6 bxc6 19.c5 e8 20.xe8+ xe8 21.xd4 xd4 22.xd4 18.c4 d8 19.xe6 Very nice! Tartakower does not hold on to the two Bs. There is no mating attack, so he transposes into a won endgame. xd1+ 20.xd1 fxe6 21.xe6+ Endgame KRB-KRB d8 22.e7 White has a R on the 7thg rank, black's K in confined to the 8th rank and his R is pretty much useless. White's advantage is decisive. xb2 23.xb7 d4 An interesting position. Chernev sums up the situation very well when he pointed out that black's B protects the a-Pawn and the R protects the h-Pawn, so Tartakower solves the prblem with a problem-like move. 24.c5 A pretty move which wins the a-Pawn. It's obvious the B cannot be taken because of Rb8+ winning the R. c8 24...e5 25.xa7 Of course the h-Pawn is immune, so... b8 26.d4 g8 27.xh7 White wins. Note that black cannot move his R off the 8th rank... g2 28.h8+ c7 29.e5+ 25.xa7 25.xd4 is less effective, but it would still win. d8 26.b4 c5 27.c4 b7 28.xc5 xd4+ 29.e2 h4 30.e3 xh2 31.f4 h5 32.f5 h4 33.f6 h3 34.f7 25...b8 26.xd4 Black will win the B back, but in the meantime white picks up the h-Pawn. d8 27.xh7 xd4+ There can be little doubt that this is an easy win for white and so black could resign in good conscience. 28.e2 a4 29.h4 xa2+ 30.e3 c8 The K is headed for the K-side in a futle effort to hold up the white Ps. 30...c5 is an equally useless try. 31.h5 c4 32.h6 c3 32...a6 33.h8+ a7 34.h7 h6 35.d4 h4+ 36.c3 h3 37.xc4 xf3 38.g8 33.g7 c2 34.d2 31.h5 d8 32.h6 e8 33.c7 f8 34.h7 a3+ 35.f4 Black resigned 1–0

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Decisive Games

    Vacation is over and now it’s back to the routine. Roanoke, Virginia is a nice place, but the trip back home was marred by a truck throwing a stone into my windshield, cracking it and causing it to have to be replaced. 

    Chess is not only about finding the best moves, but is is also a war of nerves. At the uooer levels especially being a fighter is often more important that always finding the best moves. 

    Back in the old days Emanuel Lasker was familiar with this fact and it was his great fighting spirit that explains how he managed to hold the World Championship for a quarter of a century. 

    In the early rounds of the great St. Petersburg 1914 tournament it was Capablanca who had the lead as he toppled one player after another. As a result the mighty Capablanca soon had what seemed like an insurmountable lead. Lasker was playing well, but he was trailing Capablanca until near the end when the two finally met. 

    Capablanca was content with a draw while Lasker had to win, so the natural course would have been to seek complications and take risks. Instead Lasker's approach was a subtle psychological one. He played for the early exchange of Queens and no doubt Capablanca must have relieved. But, then Lasker started to offer his opponent difficult choices. At first Capablanca’s choices only seem bad, but eventually they are bad. 

    

 Concerning the following game Lasker wrote: “The spectators followed the final moves breathlessly….(when) Capablanca turned over his King...(from) the several hundred spectators, there came such applause as I have never experienced in all my lite as a chess player. It was like the wholly spontaneous applause which thunders forth in the theater, of which the individual is almost unconscious."

 

ChessBase

Emanuel Lasker–Jose Capablanca1–0C68St. PetersburgSt. Petersburg RUE18.05.1914Stockfiah 16

[%evp 15,83,-12,-9,-43,-18,-43,-46,-77,-21,-24,-24,-24,11,14,16,18,76,75,66, 68,95,62,96,106,127,131,140,114,163,118,177,177,204,168,228,223,212,224,227, 193,242,223,252,227,231,254,457,436,500,492,527,517,516,510,609,603,678,669, 662,644,836,813,784,760,1549,1273,29980,29981,29979,29980] C68: Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 a6 4.xc6 In the Exchange Variation white's long term plan is to play d4. exchange all the pieces and win the pure Pawn ending. Lasker and Fischer used it with success. dxc6 Capturing with the c-Pawn gives white the advantage in the center. 5.d4 exd4 6.xd4 xd4 7.xd4 d6 8.c3 e7 9.0-0 The main alternative is 9.Be3 0-0 Despite the exchange of Qs, the is plenty oof tension. Black's Q-side P=majority is practically worthless because of the doubled Ps, but he ahgs the two Bs. As a result, Lasker has the psychological situation he wanted...a position full of tension. 10.f4 e8 11.b3 Prevents Bc5+. f6 In the old pre-engine days it was believed that this move created a weakness at e6 which later became disasterous. While it's true that later e6 is a weakness, at this time there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. 12.f5 Well played! True it leaves white with a backward e-Pawn, but more importantly, it leaves black with some developmental difficulties. Even so, the position is still quite equal. b6 13.f4 b7 14.xd6 cxd6 Old annotators considered that from this point the game may be considered lost for black because his Q-side Ps are weak and his pieces are in each other's way. In fact, the position is dead even. 15.d4 ad8 The first tiny slip. 15....Bc8 keeps the N out of e6 16.e6 d7 17.ad1 White has just a smidgen of an advantage. c8 18.f2 b5 The start of a bad plan. Best was 18...d5 19.fd2 de7 Lasker now has the advantage and it is very instructive to see how he builds up a won game. Black can undertake very little. 20.b4 A preparation for the ultimate opening of the a-file. f7 21.a3 a8 An indication that black is short of ideas! 22.f2 a7 23.g4+- h6 24.d3 a5 25.h4 axb4 26.axb4 ae7 Because black has no mobility, the open file is useless to him. 27.f3 g8 28.f4 g6 29.g3 g5+ 30.f3 b6 At this point black is theoretically lost, but this move sets a little trap which Lasker ignores. 31.hxg5 31.xd6 c4 32.d8 xd8 33.xd8+ g8 White is better, but at least black has a bit of play. 31...hxg5 32.h3 The decisive invasion of black's position. d7 33.g3 Preparing for his 35th move, when his King must be off the diagonal. e8 34.dh1 b7 He is helpless about what is coming invasion. 35.e5 After this the stored up energy of white's position explodes with terrific effect. dxe5 36.e4 d5 37.6c5 c8 A good alternative was 37...Resigns 38.xd7 xd7 39.h7 f8 40.a1 d8 41.a8+ c8 42.c5 Black resigned. Nearly flawless play by Lasker. 1–0

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Surprise Attack

    International Master, author and publisher Al Horowitz wrote that in chess a surprise is, “nothing but logic that packs a wallop." However, when it comes to playing over games for enjoyment as opposed to actually studying them, we chess enthusiasts are more interested in the wallop than the logic. 

    Some surprise moves come early, some late. But, whenever they emerge it’s when they do so in an unlikely scenario that makes them really entertaining. That’s what we see in this game where a dull Caro-Kann opening suddenly erupts into an attack involving a series of sparkling threats. 

    Reuben fine is well known, but his opponent, Mario Monticelli (1902-1995, 93 years old), is pretty much forgotten. He was born in Venice and passed away in Milan. He was awarded the International Master (IM) title in 1950 and the Honory Grandmaster title in 1985. 

    The featured game was played in the 1934 Syracuse, New York International. The tournament that was organized as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the New York State Chess Association and it was played in the Hotel Onondaga; the hotel was demolished in 1970 to make way for a new office building. 

    The time control was 36 moves in two hours, followed by 18 moves in one hour. The games were begun at 7:00 P.M. with adjournments scheduled to be played the next day. To fit 15 rounds into a 13 day schedule, extra afternoon rounds were added. Originally the tournament had 16 players, but Isador Turover withdrew after losing to Arthur Dake in the first round and the game was canceled. 

    Besides Monticelli, the foreign players invited were Captain J. J. Araiza of Mexico and Robert E. Martin of Canada. It had been hoped that Alekhine or Capablanca would play, but they were unavailable. 

    Robert E. Martin (1910-1978) is virtually unknown today. He won the Canadian championship in 1933 and was the Canadian Correspondence champion in 1946 and Jose Joaquin Araiza Munoz (1900-1971) was Mexico's leading player until the arrival of Carlos Torre. His best tournament was 3rd place at Mexico 1932 behind Alekhine and Kashdan. He was Mexican Champion in 1957.

 

 

    Early on Abraham Kupchik kept within a striking distance of Reshevsky, but after his only loss, to Horowitz, his play weakened and he only managed to take fifth prize. By winning the tournament, which followed closely on the heels of his triumph in the Western Chess Association Tournament in Chicago, Reshevsky pretty much asserted himself as the leading American player. 

ChessBase

Mario Montecelli–Reuben Fine0–1B18Syracuse09.1034Stockfish 16

B18: Caro-Kann 1.e4 c6 Watch how quickly a rather dull opening turns into a livelt attacking game. 2.d4 d5 3.c3 dxe4 4.xe4 f5 5.g3 g6 6.f3 e6 7.c4 Although frequently played, the B is not very useful here. 7.h4 h6 8.e5 h7 9.d3 xd3 10.xd3 is more avtive, but even here the position holds little promise for either side. 7...f6 8.e2 bd7 9.e5 9.b3 a5 10.a4 e7 11.0-0 0-0 12.h4 b6 13.xg6 hxg6 14.e3 is completely equal. Akopian,G (2235)-Ivanchuk,V (2705) Yerevan 2004 9.c3 e7 10.h4 d5 11.xg6 hxg6 12.e4 equals. Nezar,M (2417)-Feller,S (2478) Differdange 2007 9...xe5 10.dxe5 d7 10...d5 11.0-0 e7 12.b3 c7 13.c4 b4 14.d1 d8 lead to a quick draw in Yin Hao-Berescu,A Bratislava 1993 11.f4 c5 12.b3 This move appears quite natural, but it results in black gaining a slight advantage on the Q-side. White should have played 12.Bd2 with a completely equal position. a5 With this move, which is difficult to meet satisfactorily, black establishes a slight plus. 13.a4 It would have been sonewhat better to establish a way for the B to retreat to the b1-h7 diagonal with either 13. c3 or 13. Bc4. As it is the B has no future on its current diagonsl. b6 14.d2 0-0-0 15.f1 This move is harmless and shuts in the R. 15. O-O-O would have left black wih no more than the initiative. Instead, now black unleashes a powerful attack. b4 It may ne surprising, but after this black is winning! 16.0-0-0 16.xb4 xb4+ 17.d2 17.d2 c5 18.0-0-0 xf4 19.a2 xa4 17...b6 18.e3 c5 19.g3 b4+ 20.c3 xb3 21.xb4 axb4 22.cxb3 d3 Black has a winning position. 16...c5 17.f3 d3 Surprise! 18.cxd3 xb3+ 19.c2 19.b1 d8 20.xb4 xb4 21.g3 xd3 with a clear win. 19...c5 19...d4+ Of course, this was even better. 20.b1 xf3 21.gxf3 xd3+ 20.h3 d4+ 21.c1 b3 White resigned. . It's mate in 8. 21...b3 22.b1 xd1+ 23.c1 c2+ 24.a2 b3+ 25.a1 c2+ 26.b1 b4 27.xe6+ fxe6 28.d2 xd3+ 29.c1 c2# 0–1

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