Jack Spence

 

    Jack Spence (September 20,1926 - November 12, 1978, 52 years old) was was an Expert (2000-2199) player from Omaha, Nebraska and winner of the State Championship in 1951. He was the runner-up in 1958 and 1969. Also, in the 1940s and 1950s he was an active organizer in the Midwest. It’s not widely known, but Spence also a problemist that had a few published, like the one listed below.

    He was also famous for his Spence Limited Editions chess booklets. They were spiral bound game collections of individual players ad from dozens of tournaments around the world. He also edited and published two chess magazines, Midwest Chess News (from 1947 to 1959) and the Ohman Memorial Club Newsletter (from 1969 to 1978). All of his publications were an important source of games and crosstables that would have otherwise be lost. 

    Spence stopped organizing and didn't play in a lot of Omaha events because of a long standing disagreement with another Omaha player, Howard Ohman, over how the Omaha chess club was to run. After Ohman passed away at the age of 68 in 1968 Spence resumed his role as an organizer. 

 

   As a player, Spence was an attacker that loved gambits, especially the Vienna Gambit variation that was popularized by Weaver Adams. (1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Qh5). 

    Here’s a nice win Spence scored in the 1956 Mudwest Open whicj also doubled as the State Championship that was held in Lincoln, Nebraska. Alexander Liepnicks won the 6-round Swiss that was held at the Lincoln YMCA with a 5-1 score. He started slowly with two draws, then won four in a row. Claude Hillinger and Rudolph Petters, a recent arrival from Hamburg, Germany, shared second a half point back. 

 

[Event "Midwest Open, Lincoln"] [Site "Lincoln, NE USA"] [Date "1956.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Jack Spence"] [Black "Julian Sobolevskis"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C25"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "1956.??.??"] [Source "Chess Review, Fe"] {C25: Vienna Game} 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 {Weaver Adams once famously claimed that the Vienna led to a forced win for white, but, of course, he could never prove it; it leads to equality, but no more.} Bc5 {Black avoids the Main Line and in doing so Spence's favorite, the line advocated by Weaver Adams. Black's second move is an offbeat, but playable, alternative, that was once used by Capablanca.} (2... Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Qh5 Nd6 5. Qxe5+ Qe7 6. Qxe7+ Bxe7 7. Bb3 {This line does not offer nuch for white.}) 3. Bc4 d6 4. d3 c6 5. f4 Bxg1 6. Rxg1 Qh4+ 7. Kf1 {Also playable is 7.g3 Qxh2 8.Ne3. At this point black has played 7...Nf6 while the engines recommend 7...Bg4, nut the position remains pretty much equal in any case.} exf4 8. Qf3 {The position is equal.} g5 9. h3 { This leaves black with the better position. His nest move is probably 9.g3} (9. Bd2 {This also is favorable for black if he plays 9...Bf6} Bg4 10. Qf2 Qxf2+ 11. Kxf2 {with equal chances. Hansen,L (2212)-Naes,F (2259) Denmark DEN 2008}) (9. g3 Qxh2 10. Rh1 Bh3+ 11. Ke1 Qg2 {equals}) 9... Nd7 10. d4 Ngf6 11. Bd2 Qh5 12. g4 Qg6 {This natiral looking move allows white excellent attacking chances by the advance of his h-Pawn, so it would have been better for black to have kept his Q on the h-file with either 12...Qh4 or 12...Qg6} 13. Bd3 { Threatening e5!} Qg7 14. Re1 {The immediate 14.h4 was also good.} O-O {This is a case of castling into an attack, so even though the R opposite his K looks menacing, keeping his K in the center was his best option.} (14... Nb6 { Engines prefer the obscure looking 14...Ng8 whick leads to endless subtle maneuvering.} 15. e5 dxe5 16. dxe5 (16. Rxe5+ Be6 {leaves black better.}) 16... Nfd7 17. Ne4 Nxe5 18. Nd6+ Kf8 19. Qe4 f6 20. Bb4 {with a clear advantage.}) 15. h4 {White's attack is now in full force.} h6 16. hxg5 hxg5 17. Rh1 { This logical looking move should have resulted in an abrupt end to his attack.} (17. e5 {keeps the attack rolling.} Re8 (17... dxe5 18. dxe5 Ne8 19. Rh1 Nc7 20. Rh7 {wins}) 18. exf6 Rxe1+ 19. Kxe1 Nxf6 20. d5 {White's advantage shoulkd prove decisive.}) 17... Nh7 {[%mdl 8192] It was essential to oppose white on the e0file with 17...Re8. Now black faces disaster.} (17... Re8 {equalizes as it prevents the advance of the e-Pawn and white has no forceful followup.} 18. e5 dxe5 19. dxe5 Nxe5) 18. e5 f5 19. gxf5 dxe5 20. dxe5 Nxe5 21. Rxe5 {[%mdl 512]} Qxe5 22. Bc4+ Kg7 {White to move and mate in 12!} 23. Rxh7+ {[%mdl 512] White mates.} Kxh7 {He could hold out a few more moves with 23...Kf6, but the result would be the same.} (23... Kf6 24. Ne4+) 24. Qh5+ Kg7 25. Qg6+ Kh8 26. Qh6# {A nice finish by Spence.} 1-0