Queen Sacrifice by van Steenis

    This is a game from the tournament mentioned in the previous post of October 28th about de Groot. It features a marvelios Queen sacrifice by van Steenis in his game against Koomen. 

    Hendrik van Steenis (1908-1976, 56 yrats old) was a Dutch politician and administrator. From 1951 to 1965 he was a member of the central committee of FIDE. Willem Kppmen (1909-1989, 60 years old) was married to the Dutch lady champions Fenny Heemskerk.

 

 

 

 

ChessBase

Hendrik van Steenis–Willem Koomen1–0Hoogovens, BeverwijkBeverwijk NED1946Stockfish 17

C58: Two Knights Defense 1.e4 e5 2.c4 f6 3.f3 c6 4.g5 d5 5.exd5 a5 This remains the most common move in the Two Knights. 5...b5 was played in the famous Yakov Estrin-Hans Berliner ICCF 1965 6.f1 d4 7.c3 xd5 8.e4 h4 9.g3 g4 10.f3 e4 11.cxd4 d6 White is better, but black went on to win. 6.b5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.f3 c7 9.d3 e7 10.b3 Excellent! In the game Rossolimo,N-Bogoljubow,E Dortmund 1951 white played 10.Nc3 which is OK, but the text move is the engine's forst choice, but of course in 1946 there was no such thing. 0-0 11.a3 This is hardly bad, but 11.Bb2 seems more logical. xa3 12.xa3 White's N os out of play here. h6 13.h4 Aggressive play by van Steenis. Black could take the N, but if he does both sides must walk a tightrope! e8 13...hxg5 14.hxg5 d5 runs into 15.h8+ xh8 16.h5+ g8 17.h7# Black should try 13...d5 White must now prevent ...f5. 14.h7+ h8 13...hxg5 14.hxg5 g4 15.h7+ h8 16.f5+ g8 17.xg4 xf5 18.xf5 White has a winning position. 13...hxg5 14.hxg5 e4 This is the correct defense. White's best continuations is... 15.gxf6 exf3 16.h7+ h8 17.g6+ with a draw. 14.e4 xe4 Keeping the Ns on and plauing 14...Nd5 was a bit better. 15.xe4 15.xe4 was positionally better, but white is playing for the attack. f5 16.b4 e6 17.0-0 ad8 18.fe1 e4 19.f1 White is supposed to be better, probably owing to his better P-formtion. 15...e6 This gives white's attack more impetus. 15...f5 This active move keeps the chances about equal after 16.xf5 e4 17.xe4 e5 Now white should castle on either side (it makes little difference) and after black take the B the chances would be about even. 16.b4 b7 17.b5 a5 18.g4 After having diverted black's attention to the Q-side white switches back to the K-side/ On his next move black would have done better with 18...Bd5, offering an exchange of Bs to eliminate an attacker. ab8 19.g5 hxg5 19...cxb5 was safer/ 20.gxh6 f5 This counter equalizes. 21.xf5 xf5 22.xf5 b4 and black can defend his K plus he is in a position to counter white's Q-side advances. 20.hxg5 f8 This move, preparing to flee, gives white just enough time to build up his attack. He needed to keep white busy by countering on the Q-side. In any case, black is in a difficult position. 20...cxb5 was called for. 21.0-0-0 Getting his other R into play. ed8 22.h7 d6 23.b1 f8 24.g6 c4 24...f6 25.dh1 g8 26.h3 xh7 27.gxh7 with a likely win. e7 25.gxf7 b4 26.b3 xb3 27.axb3 d6 28.g6 White is clearly better. 21.e2 Connecting his Rs/ cxb5 White to play and win...there's only one move that does it! 22.f6 If the Q is taken then white's P on f6 cuts off the Ks escape route. 22.h7 Doubling Rs on the h-file looks like a sure-fire way to win, but black can save himslef. ed8 23.ah1 d7 Attacking the d-Pawn and threatening ...Bg4 24.e3 d4 25.xd4 exd4 The attack is broken. 22...g4+ There was nothing any better. 23.f3 gxf6 24.gxf6 g8 The K is trapped. 25.ag1 d7 This position is not as clear as the engine evaluation of 3.5 Ps in white's favor would lead you to believe. 26.h7+ White has strong attack, but there is no knockout blow. 26.xg4+ This demonstrates the correctness of white's Q sacrifice. xg4 Forced to avoid mate. 27.fxg4 c4 28.xc4 bxc4 White is down the exchange, but he has sufficient compensation in the form of play on the K-side that he should be able to force the win. 29.h7 ed8 30.g7+ f8 31.g5 b1 32.h7 e8 33.g8 d4 34.xf7+ d8 35.g8+ d7 36.xc4 and now it's clear that white is winning. 26...f8 27.xg4 Black is forced to return the Q to avoid mate. xg4 28.fxg4 b6 29.g5 a6 30.e4 g8 31.h7 b4 32.g7+ f8 33.h7 Black resigned. It's mate in 2. 1–0

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Happy Belated Birthday to Adrianus de Groot

    Adriaan de Groot (October 26, 1914 – August i4, 2006, 91 years old) was a psychology professro and a strong amateur player. He represented the Netherlands in three Olympiads (1936, 1937 and 1939). 

    He is most famous for his book Thought and Choice in Chess. The book, published in 1965, was a translation of his 1946 dissertation Het denken van de schaker (The thinking of the chess player), which examined how chessplayers think. 

    He conducted experiments in the 1940s and later in the 1960s which involve players from amateurs to Grandmasters. He investigate the cognitive requirements and the thought processes involved in selecting a move. The participants were asked to select a move and voice their thoughts as they decided on their move. 

    What de Groot found was that much of what is important in choosing a move occurs during the first few seconds after seeing the position.

 

Four stages in the task of choosing the next move were noted. 

    1) The orientation phase in which the subject assessed the situation and determined a very general idea of what to do. 

    2) The exploration phase where the subject looked at some branches of the game tree. 

    3) The investigation phase' where the subject chose a probable best move. 

    4) The proof phase where the subject confirmed to himself that the results were valid. 

 

    He agreed with Alfred Binet that visual memory and visual perception are important attributes and that problem-solving ability is of paramount importance. Memory is particularly important in that there are no new’ moves in chess, so those from personal experience (or from the experience of others) can be committed to memory. 

    Does playing over games and solving tactical problems in order to gain pattern recognition an important part of improving? The question is discussed in THIS Chessable article. 

    After Max Euwe became World Champion, the steelworkers at Hoogovens started a chess club which held their first event in 1938. After the War, activity was resumed in 1945, and this attempt had some minor problems when English players P.S. Milner-Barry declined for professional reasons and William Winter could not get a visa. And, Swiss master m and Henri Grob ran into travel difficulties. 

    As a result organizers were left with Gosta Stoltz from Sweden, whose plane arrived only hours before play began, and Belgian champion Albrec O'Kelly as the only foreign players. 

 

 

    De Groots opponent in this game was Albrec O’Kelly de Galway (1911-1980). He spoke French, Dutch, German, English, Spanish, and Russian fluently, and some Italian. As an author, O’Kelly wrote many books and article, in various languages. 

    \ As a youth, he took lessons from the legendary Akiba Rubinstein, who was institutionalized in Belgium. O'Kelly won the Belgian championships thirteen times between 1937 and 1959. 

ChessBase

Adrian de Groot–Alberic O'Kelly1–0Hoogovens, Beverwijk1946Stockfish 17

Ruy Lopez 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 f6 4.0-0 c5 The B is much more active on c5 than on e7, however, white can gain time by playing c3 and d4 focing black to lose time by moving the B again to a less active position. Statistically the move does not do well. 5.xe5 Although not played very often this is probably white's best reply. 5.c3 and 5.d3 are more frequently seen. xe5 6.d4 c6 7.dxe5 xe4 8.d3 d5 This is black's best move. 9.f3 h4 The threat if …Bg4 is unpleasant. 10.g3 Better was 10.Bxe4 and whichever way black recaptures the position would be equal. g5 10...g4 was better. AFter 11.f4 g5 12.gxh4 gxf4 13.xf4 g8 black has a good position. 11.d1 h3+ O'Kelly has overestimated the strength of his attack. Or, perhaos it was a case of a stronger player takig liberties against a weaker one. 11...xf2+ 12.xf2 12.xf2 xh2+ 13.e1 xg3+ and black is winning. 12...h3+ 13.g2 xf2 14.gxh4 xd1 15.e2 xb2 16.xb2 is unclear. 11...h6 Best. 12.h4 h3+ 13.g2 g5 and white must play carefully. 12.g2 Already white has a substantial advantage. e7 13.f4 Going for the kill. h5 14.c3 A lapse...white does not have time for this and must press on with his attack/ 14.f5 g5 15.c3 Now this is OK because black can't develop his B to g4 nor can he try ...g5 14...g5 Just a bit better would have been 14...Bg4 15.f5 15.fxg5 xg5 16.xg5 xg5 17.xd5 Black has to try 17...h4 when white is only slightly better, but he must not play cxd5 18.b5+ f8 19.xd5 with a decisive attack. e7 20.xf7+ xf7 21.f1 xf1+ 22.xf1 e7 23.c4 e8 23...h7 24.d3 Threatening Bg6+ h6 25.g8+ d7 26.b5+ c7 27.g7 e6 28.c4 15...g4 de Groot's slight lapse last move has allowed O'Kelly to get decent play anf now de Groot has to be careful as his K is exposed. 16.e2 d7 It's logical to develop the B, but it allows his opponent to go back on the attack. 16...f6 opening the position keeps the attack and defense balanced. For example... 17.f4 b5 18.ae1 xf4+ 19.xf4 and things are unclear after either 19... Kd8 or 19...fxe5 17.a4 Nice! After black's last move white's B finds a purpose on c3...with things at a standstill on the K-side de Groot turns his attention to the other side. 17.e6 fxe6 18.f6 f7 19.e5 b6 White's position lacks any real punch. 17...b6 18.b4 Setting a trap. 18.e6 is a different story from last move. fxe6 19.xb6 axb6 20.e5 and the Q-side Ps have become targets. 18...0-0-0 Avoiding the trap. 18...xb4 19.xb6 xb6 20.e6 White is winning. fxe6 21.fxe6 c8 22.e5 g8 23.g6+ 18...c5! 19.xc5 xc5 20.bxc5 c6 19.xb6+ de Groot now conducts an attack on black's K. axb6 20.a4 20.e6 would have been much harder to meet. fxe6 21.e5 de8 21...hf8 22.f6 Switching the action back to the K-side. This demonstrates the great strength of white's position. xb4 23.h6 f7 24.xh5 The R is a goner. 22.f6 xb4 23.b1 a5 23...xb1 This gets the Q trapped. 24.b2 xa2 25.a1 24.f7 ef8 25.d6 c5 26.a3 xd6 27.xd6 g5 28.e5 wins a R. 20...he8 21.a5 bxa5 22.b2 Another imprecise move. 22.xa5 xe5 23.xe5 xe5 24.b2 ee8 25.f6 picks up the exchange. 22...d4 To copy and paste the note from white's last move...Another imprecise move. The move has a point however! 22...xb4 and things get wild after 23.fb1 c5 24.e6 d4 25.c1 c6+ 26.f1 f3 with head whirling complications. 23.xa5 After this things are back on track. 23.xd4 Falls for the trap black's last move set. c5 24.e4 24.xc5 c6+ 25.e4 xe5 26.fe1 xf5 and white gets mated. 27.f2 d2 28.xc6 xf2+ 29.h1 xe1+ 30.xe1 f1+ 31.xf1 xf1+ 32.g1 xg1# 24...g5 25.d5 xf5 26.xc5 xe5 27.xe5 xe5 28.c4 axb4 29.xb4 dxd5 30.cxd5 e4+ 31.f2 h3+ 32.e1 g2+ 33.d2 xf1 34.xf1 xd5+ Black is better. 23...xb4 There was really no better defense. 24.a8+ The rest is a mop up. c7 25.a3 c5 26.xb4 xa8 27.e6 c6+ 28.e4 cxb4 29.xc6 bxc6 30.e5+ Black resigned. An incredibly complicated game that was for the most part well played by de Groot. 30.e5+ b7 31.b1 a4 31...ab8 32.xb4+ a6 33.a4+ b7 34.xd4 bd8 35.b4+ c8 36.a8+ c7 37.a7+ c8 38.b7# 32.xd4 and Qd7+ will be a killer. 1–0

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A Queen Sacrifice… a Brilliancy or Just Routine?

    Wilhelm Steinitz (May 14, 1836 – August 12, 1900) was a Bohemian-Austrian,and later American player whose theoretical teachings revolutionized chess and were the foundations modern chess. 

    From 1886 to 1894, he was the first World Champion as well as a highly influential writer and theoretician. Some regarded him as the man who destroyed brilliancy tactical chess. 

    Steinitz himself played some really brilliant games. Early in his career he was a disciple of attacking chess with its careless, flashy, but frequently unsound attacks. 

    Eventually he came to the conclusion that patient defense with the idea of refuting unsound attacks. He demonstrated that you could not just toss away Pawns, or even pieces for a helter-skelter attack. 

    The time of the following game was played at the beginning of the Age of Steinitz. Engines may not think black’s attack was especially brilliant and at move 19 they glibly proclaim 19...dxe3 is the best move, but in the days of old it was considered a brilliancy. It’s not clear in what event this game was played, only that it was in Dresden in 1880. 

    White was Carl Friedrich Schmid (1840-1897). Born in Mitau, Russian Empire which is today Jelgava, Latvia. William Wayte (1829-1898) is better known, but not well remembered. 

    Wayte was born in Calne, England and passed away in London. He was a Church of England cleric and a British master. He was one of a group of ministers who played a prominent role in English chess in the late 1800s. 

    Chessmetrics estimates his highest ever rating to have been 2573 om 18078, and his best ever world rank to have been #9. It’s a little surprising, but Janes Mason was #1 at 2703. 

`In 1850, he became a Craven Scholar. John Craven, 1st Baron Craven of Ryton (1610-1648) was noted for benevolence and his will contained numerous charitable bequests. The most significant was the bequest of his manor of Cancerne, Sussex, for the endowment of four poor scholars, two at Oxford and two at Cambridge. The Craven scholarships still exist. In 1862, he rook the position of Select Preacher at the University of Cambridge. In 1876, Wayte became a professor of Greek at University College on London and while there he edited several Greek works. 

    As mentioned, Wayte was one of a group of ministers who played a prominent role in early Victorian Era English chess. Others included George MacDonnell, John Owen, Charles Ranken, Edmund Thorold and Arthur Skipworth. 

    Wayte played with success in a number of tournaments in Britain between 1861 and 1893. He also wrote for the British Chess Magazine.

 

Going Way, Way Back…to 1834

    If you lived in England in 1834, William IV was the King. The Tolpuddle Martyrs, six farm laborers, were sentenced to be transported to a penal colony for forming a trade union. HMS Tartarus, the Royal Navy's first steam-powered man-of-war, a paddle gun vessel, was launched. 

    In July of that year the Hanging-in-Chains Abolition Act went into effect’ it did just that...it abolished the practice of hanging in chains upon a gibbet after execution. 

    Hanging in chains, also known as gibbeting, was a common law punishment in England where the body of an executed criminal was displayed in chains after death. The practice was intended to deter others from committing similar crimes, and was often used for murderers, robbers, traitors, highwaymen, and pirates.

    The Murder Act of 1752 made gibbeting a legal punishment for murderers. The gibbets were often placed near public highways or waterways, such as crossroads and the body could remain on display for days, weeks, months, years, or even decades! Needless to say, some found the sight and smell disgusting. 

    In August slavery was abolished in most of the British Empire and the Poor Law Amendment Act states the able-bodied could not receive assistance unless they enter a workhouse/ It also declared that poor-law authorities should no longer attempt to identify the fathers of illegitimate children to recover support from them. 

    In the chess world the first match of any importance pitting La Bourdonnais against McDonnell was played. Bourdonnais won +16 -5 =4. In all he won a series of 6 matches against McDonnell. 

    The Frenchman Louis Charles Mahe de la Bourdonnais (1797-1840), considered the world’s strongest player, and the Irishman Alexander McDonnell (1798-1835), considered Great Britain’s strongest player,played their matches in London. There was no time limit, no seconds and very little stakes. With no time limit McDonnell sometimes took over an hour and a half to make a move. 

    Alexander McDonnell held the post of Secretary of the West India Committee of Merchants. In the 1830s he was the best player in England. He died September 14, 1835 of Bright's disease in London at the age of 37. 

     Bright's disease is described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine and was frequently accompanied by high blood pressure and heart disease. 

    There's no proven way to prevent it, but adopting a healthy lifestyle can help. Also, treating the underlying cause, such as infection, eating less protein and salt, cortisone and diuretic use, reducing blood pressure and kidney dialysis can help. Finally, if possible, a kidney transplant. 

    Bourdonnais was born on the French Island La Reunion in 1797 and died on December 13, 1840 in London. He learned chess in 1814 and took lessons from Deschapelles. 

    He came from a noble family and heir to an old estate, but lost his fortune in a building speculation and turned to chess to earn his living. 

    In November, 1840, he was diagnosed with dropsy which refers to swelling under the skin and is generally known today as edema. It’s a condition in which the area under the skin fills with fluid. The swelling varies in severity, but it is uncomfortable and can be extremely painful. 

    It is a symptom of a number of diseases. It is likely that some of those whose cause of death was recorded as dropsy were actually killed by the condition that caused the swelling, rather than the swelling itself. Today it’s treated with a diuretic, blood thinners and reducing salt intake. 

    The poor fellow also had a scrotal hernia, a bulge or lump that can appear in the groin or scrotum. They are caused by a weakness in the abdominal wall that allows part of the intestine or fat to protrude into the scrotum. Large or painful ones can be repaired surgically. He died at the age of 43 and was buried next to McDonnell.

 

ChessBase

Alexander McDonnell–Louis De La Bourdonnais0–1C204th Casual Matcj, LondonLondon ENG1834Dragon by Komodo

C23: Bishop's Opening 1.e4 e5 2.c4 There is very little theory on this ancient opening. c5 3.c3 e7 3...h4 Rather pointless. 4.e2 f6 5.d3 d6 6.f3 h5 and Pavlicek,P (2036)-Matejovsky,O (2085) Ricany 2009 agreed to a draw in a few more moves. 4.f3 4.b4 b6 5.a4 a5 6.a3 f6 7.d3 d6 8.f3 equals. Nehlert,P-Jendryssek,J Kehl 1989 4...d6 5.0-0 b6 6.d4 f6 7.a3 g4 8.c2 bd7 9.d3 d5 This P sacrifice is of doubtful soundness, but it leads to interesting play. Both 9...exd4 or 9...O-O were solid replies. 10.exd5 There is little reason to allow his B to be exchanges by capturing 10. Bxd5 e4 11.d2 Now black should probably play 11...O-O. Instead... exf3 12.e1 White has a decisive advantage. However, as is sometimes the case, that does not mean he is going to win! e4 13.f4 f5 14.gxf3 g5 Forceful play typical of Bourdonnais, but white still has a decisive advantage, theoretically at least. 15.e3 Not bad, but both players have missed a clever, winning tactic at white's disposal. That's theoretically speaking. Practically white's move is reasonable. 15.xg4 fxg4 16.xe4 xe4 17.fxe4 White has a B+2Ps vs a R, but his positional superiority that engines consider decisive. White scored 5-0 in Shootous, but given the length (40-50 additional moves) and complexity of the game white's win is not a foregone conclusion. 15...e5 16.b5+ 16.fxg4 has better winning chances. xc4 17.e2 f7 18.xc4 with the better gane. 16...c6 17.fxg4 All of white's advantage has evaporated. 17.e2 cxd5 18.fxg4 f4 19.h3 0-0-0 20.f3 with only a slight advantage. 17...xg4 17...cxb5 would have been a howler... 18.gxf5 d6 19.h3 0-0-0 20.dxe5 c4 21.f6+ d7 22.xd7+ xd7 23.b3 a5 24.e6 xd5 25.e7 e8 26.f7 18.e2 It's quite natural to move the attacked Q. 18.dxc6 is a clever try though. xe3 19.cxb7+ f7 20.bxa8 xa8 21.xe3 with an interesting material imbalance. Shootouts resulted in 5 draws. 18...cxb5 19.f3 gf6 20.fxe4 xe4 21.xb5+ d7 22.xd7+ xd7 23.c4 The exchange of Qs has increased the tension because the play with the passed Ps promises plenty of excitement. Technically black is a smidgen better; his pieces are actively placed. ae8 24.c5 d8 25.d6 f4 26.b4 hf8 27.f1 h5 27...f3 was even stronger. 28.e3 g4 29.c4 f6 30.e3 c3 31.h1 e4 32.fe1 fe8 33.f2 xd4 Black is winning. 28.a3 Heading for e5, but keeping the N where it is and playing more directly with 28.b5 was a better plan. f6 29.b2 g4 With his Ps rilling black now has a decisive advantage for real. But, the blunders aren't over! 30.c4 f3 31.e5+ This only worsens white's position because it allows the removal of black's B which facilitates the advance of black's Ps/. More logical, but still insufficient, would have been b5 with a bit of counterplay. xe5 32.dxe5 h4 33.ad1 f2+ 34.h1 h3 35.d3 g8 This loses almost all of the advantage and puts the win in doubt. 35...f4 Potentially threatening the b-Pawn. White is completely ties up and black will slowly penetrate his defenses. 36.c1 f7 37.b2 f5 38.a3 ef8 White has a bad B and he has no constructive moves. 39.e6+ 39.dd1 f3 40.d4 40.c1 d2 40...g3 41.hxg3 xg3+ wins 39...xe6 40.e3 d5 41.g7 8f7 42.d3+ c6 43.d4 d5 Black is clearly winning. 36.b5 Obviously McDonnell is hoping to use his Ps to create some play, in doing so he missed a chance to nearly equalize. 36.e3 g3 36...g5 37.e2 gf8 38.exf2 xf2 39.xf2 f3 Black has his work cut out in order to score the point. 37.hxg3 xg3+ The reason for jis 36th move. 38.xg3 xg3 39.xf2 eg8 40.f7+ c6 41.f1 and white has a fighting chance. 36...g3 37.hxg3 Unlike the position after 36.Re3 in the previous note it makes a huge difference that the N is not attacked. xg3 38.d4 38.c6+ falls short... bxc6 39.bxc6+ xc6 40.d7 d8 41.c1+ b7 42.dd1 g2 43.d3 g3+ 44.xg3 xg3 45.f1 xd7 46.c1 g1+ 47.xg1 fxg1+ 48.xg1 d1+ 38...eg8 This is a major blunder throwing away the game, or should have! 38...h2 wraps it up. 39.e6+ delays the inevitable. 39.xe4 g1+ mates in 2 39.e6+ The winning move. d8 Where the K retreats doesn't matter; black loses. 40.dd1 White has totally mis judged this position. 40.xe4 was the only winning move. g1+ 41.h2 xf1 42.f6+ c8 43.d7+ c7 44.f4 d1 45.xf2 e1 46.d2 xe6 47.d8+ xd8 48.xd8+ with a won ending. 40...h2 To quate a famous Englishman, "The rest is silence." 41.e7+ d7 42.c6+ bxc6 43.bxc6+ xc6 44.e8+ xe8 45.xh2 e6 46.c1+ b5 47.a4+ b4 48.c3+ xc3 49.xc3 xc3 50.d7 d6 51.g2 xd7 52.c1+ d3 53.f1 e3 White resigned. It's mate in 7. A far from perfent game, yet an exciting one. 53...e3 54.a1 d2+ 55.g2 f1+ 56.xf1 xf1 57.a5 g7+ 58.h3 f4 59.a6 g1 60.h4 h1# 0–1

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Browsing An Old Reinfeld Potboiler - Again

    A couple of years ago I did a post about browsing an old Reinfeld potboiler and today’s game is another one taken from the book that you will enjoy. The finish makes a good tactical puzzle; it features a Q sacrifice, an underpromotion and a back rank mate. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ChessBase

Anonymous–Anonymous1–0B85UnknownFred Reinfeld,Stockfish

B85: Sicilian Scheveningen 1.e4 c5 2.f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 Reinfeld comments that white has a well-centralized N and black cannot imitate it. Note also that white controls the important center square d5.On these two grounds it seems likely that white will dominate the center and will therefore enjoy superior mobility, he says. f6 5.c3 c6 6.e2 e6 Black has set up the Scheveningen Variation in which he [laces his e-Pawn on e6 where it guards d5 rather than play the space-gaining ...e5. The e-Pawn also prepares ...Be7 followed by ...O-O. White can often launch an attack by advancing his K-side Ps.6.Rg1. 7.e3 e7 8.0-0 0-0 Reinfeld asks, "How has the situation developed as regards mobility?" He explains: both qhite Bs have free diagonals while both of black' are hemmed in. His claim that "The outlook for black's game is very unpromising." does not ring true. Statistically black wins his share of games. White's job is to figure out how utilize his mobility. Advancing his K-side Ps is the usual answer. 9.f4 c7 This move is frequently played, but it does not give good results. A-side counterplay beginning with 9...a5 produces better results. 9///Bd7 is also a possibility/ 10.g4 This rare move is rather rash, but not at all bad. 10.h1 a6 11.a4 e8 12.f3 is the Main Line which has been played countless times with about equal chances. 10...a6 After white's last move this is a bit too slow...more aggressive play is called for. 10...xd4 11.xd4 e5 This is also playable if white takes with the Q, 12.e3 exf4 13.xf4 c5+ with equal chances. 11.g5 It's pretty clear that black i going to be on the defensive and that he is going to have to be careful. e8 Much too passive! In Castrillon Gomez,M (2169)-Culma,R (2036) Ortega COL, 2014, black tried 11...Nxd4 but both players misplayed the subsequent moves. A better idea is 11...Nd7 and ...e5 12.f5 d8 Black has played 12...Bd7 and 12...Ne5 here. The idea of the text is to put pressure on white's advancing Ps. Whatever he does he is facing a strong attack. 13.h4 xd4 14.xd4 Black's passive opening play has resulted in white getting a very promising position. e5 A very poor move. True, it drives away the Q, but at the cost of permanently losing d5. As Reinfeld observes, this vital center square now becomes a hole completely in white's control and black weak on the light squares. 14...b8 striving for play on the Q-side is the best chance. 15.f2 b5 16.d1 b7 17.d3 c7 18.fxe6 fxe6 19.df1 xf2 20.xf2 b7 White is better, but black is far from lost. 15.d2 c7 16.b6 Nd5 would now be deadly. d7 17.f2 d8 18.af1 White menaces a decisive breakthrough with 19..f6 g6 20. h5 f6 Black stops the threatened advance of white's f-Pawn, but his just further weakens his K-side and white breaks through in a different way. Unfortunately for black there wasn't anything that was really better because at this point white is winning. 19.c4+ h8 20.g6 h6 21.f7 c6 22.xc7 White could also win with 22.Be3, but it's a bit more complicated and the text is good enough. xc7 23.g2 White threatens Qxh6+! and mate. d5 After this it's white to nate in 4 23...xf7 24.gxf7 d7 25.g6 b6+ 26.h1 it's a mate in 6. xf5 27.xf5 h7 28.g2 c7 29.xg7+ h8 30.g8+ xg8 31.fxg8# 24.xh6+ Black resigned. A puzzle-like finish! Here's Fritz 19s breakdown: Mistakes: White=0 Black=7 Inaccurate: White=3 Black=0 OK moves: White=4 Black=3 Best moves: White=0 Black=1 Brilliant: White=1 Black=0 24.xh6+ gxh6 25.g7+ h7 26.gxf8+ h8 27.g8# 1–0

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Bert Brice-Nash, Early Kansas Champion

    Bertram Brice-Nash, Sr. was born on January 15,1893, in New Braunfels, a small city near San Antonio, Texas. He got married around 1919. He moved around, living in various cities in Kansas. He died at the age of 68 on March 19, 1961, in Joplin, Missouri and was buried in Hutchinson, Kansas. 

    In 1945 he was living in Medora, Kansas, a very small town just north of Topeka and he had an unbroken string of victories in Chess Review’s postal tournaments, including their Golden Knight event. 

    Back in the 1960s and 1970s I played in many of those great Golden Knight tournaments. It was billed as the U.S. Postal Championship. I qualified for the third and final round several times and completes my schedule which earned me the emblem of the Golden Knight, a sterling silver, gold-plated and enameled lapel button. More importantly, I got to play a number of well-known players including one (over the board) US Championship competitor. 

    Brice-Nash learned to play chess when he was still a small boy, from his father. He turned to it seriously later, in the 1930s, played in several Kansas tournaments. He was the Kansas State Champion in 1949, 1953, 1955 and 1958. He was a businessman engaged in the grocery and oil business. 

    The following game by Brice-Nash was selected as Chess Review’s Game of the Month in the September, 1945, issue and features the plucky Budapest Gambit. It requires imaginative and aggressive play and Brice-Nash demonstrated both. What made this game interesting to analyze was the problem addressed in the previous post, Engine Evaluations. Using several different engines resulted different results. So...what’s the real verdict? The answer is beyond this old Duffer's skill level.

ChessBase

G.L. Morrison–Bert Brice-Nash0–1A52Correspondence1945Various engines

A52: Budapest Gambit 1.d4 f6 2.c4 e5 The Budapest Gambit made its debut in 1896, but it received little attention until 1918 when Milan Vidmar used it to defeat Akiba Rubinstein. In the 1920s the gambit was popular, but today it's rarely played and with good reason. Statistically white scores more than twice as many wins as black. I once gave it a try and my results confirmed those stats! French IM Nicolas Giffard is of the opinion that black gets a good P-structure and possibilities of attack on the K-side. His problems generally come from white's pressure on the d-file and black's lack of space. Israeli GM oris Avrukh called it almost respectable and doubts there is a refutation. 3.dxe5 There is no good reason not to accept the P. g4 The Fajarowicz Variation (3...Ne5) is rightfully considered dubious. It's best met by 4.a3! which avoids the annoying ...Bb4+ and prepares Qc2 to undermine black's N. 4.e4 White can also defend the P with 4.Nf3 or 4.Bf4. The text is the Alekhine Variation which gives white a spatial advantage and a strong P-center. xe5 5.f4 ec6 6.f3 c5 7.c3 0-0 8.a3 8.f5 d6 9.g5 f6 10.f4 e8 11.d5+ h8 12.0-0-0 Bacrot,E (2594)-Shirov,A (2751) Sarajevo 2000. White has a space advantage and black is somewhat cramped. In the game white was unable to overcome the rating difference and eventuallu lost. 8...a5 Guards against b4 9.d3 White has also tried 9.Be3, 9.h3 and 9.Qd3 here. d6 The position is about equal according to the engines, but is it? Komodo 10 Human, Stockfish 17, lc0 v0.220, Fritz 19 and Fritz 14 evaluate this position as about equal. Komodo Dragon gives white a slight advantage while Deep Fritz 14 prefer black by half a P!! I would give white the edge because he has 1) a lead in development, 2) more space and 3) black has no pieces defending his K. 10.e2 g4 An interesting position! The tactical analysis with Fritz using Stockfish 17 says this threatens ...Nd4. 11.e3 The same analysis makes the comment that this prevents ,,,Nd4. d4 But this is the engine recommended move. So much for Fritz' comments! In any case, Spielmann played this move against Yates at Carlsbad in 1923 which was the game the players were following. 12.f2 12.xd4 is not quite satisfactory. After xd4 13.b5 xf3 14.xf3 xb2 15.b1 f6 White does not have enough for the P. His best move is 16.c5 d5 16...dxc5 is not a good idea because after 17.e5 e7 18.d1 c8 19.0-0 c6 20.c3 e6 21.e2 Preparing a R-lift R-f3 and white has reached an excellent position. 17.e5 e7 Black is slightly better. 12...b3 Brice-Nash thought he had found an improvement over what Spielmann played. This move gains time by the attack on the R. Which move is better? Mostly it depends on the engine you are using and how long you allow it to give it to analyze. 12...xf3 13.xd4 xd4 14.xd4 c6 15.f2 h5 White has a solid position and eventually scored the point. Yates-Spielmann Carlsbad 1923 13.d1 c6 14.c2 White would have dome better by playing 14.O-O first because he is going to get into trouble as a result of leaving his K in the center. xf3 15.gxf3 15.xf3 cd4 16.xd4 xd4 17.d3 c6 Black is slightly better. Note that 18.e5 is not a threat at all because after h4+ 19.g3 h5 White is in serious trouble. 20.d2 20.exd6 f3+ 21.e2 e5+ 20...dxe5 Black has a decisive advantage. 15...xe3 16.xe3 h4+! 17.e2 c5 18.dg1 White's plan is directed at the K-side. After 18.Nd5 what should black play? 18...Rac8 (Stockfish) or 18... Rab8 (Komodo Dragon)? 18.d5 ab8 An interesting idea. 19.xc7 e6 20.d5 20.xe6 fxe6 attacking the f-Pawn with equal chances. 20...b5 21.f5 bxc4 22.fxe6 fxe6 23.c3 xb2 24.d2 e5 Attacking f3 25.f1 xh2+ 26.d1 h3 27.df2 An interesting position with unbalances material. White has a B vs. 3 Ps, but black's position is preferable. Shootouts were not really conclusive. White scored +0 -1 =4 18...e6 19.f5 ed4+ 19...f4+ leads to some iteresting complications. 20.d1 e5 21.d5 h3 22.g3 c6 23.f4 g4 24.f6+ gxf6 25.e2 25.xh3 xe3+ 25...h8 26.xh3 xe3 27.xh4 xc4 with equal chances. 20.d1 xc2 21.xc2 e5 So far white's play has been commendable, but his next move defending the c-Pawn is too passive. 22.b3 22.f4 What a really swell move! g4 22...xc4 is met by 23.d4 and the N is lost. 23.e2 f6 24.f3 followed by Rf3 and white has a clear advantage because black's K is in danger on the g- and h-files/ 22...c6 This keeps the N out of d5, but he has missed a good counterattacking move. At the moment there is nothing to ve don on the K-side so he can look for opportunities elsewhere. 22...a4 Taking advantage of white's last move and undermining the c-Pawn. 23.b4 xc4 24.d4 e5 and black retains a slight advantage. 23.g3 23.f4 is stronger. g4 24.g3 24.d4 f2+ 25.d3 xd4+ 26.xd4 f2 24...xg3 25.xg3 f6 26.e5 White is slightly better. 23...a4 Back on track. White is seeking his fortune on the K-side, black on the Q-side. 24.hg1 This looks quite reasonable, but it's the losing move. Black now breaks through on the Q-side. 24.xa4 xc4 25.d4 g6 26.xc4 b5 27.d4 bxa4 28.b4 c5 29.d5 jeeos things equal. 29.xd6 is a bad mistake. fd8 30.c7 f6 Switching the Q to the other side is decisive. 31.b5 d4 White cannot save the game. 24...axb3+ 24...xh2+ might be tempting, but it throws away the advantage. 25.3g2 axb3+ 26.xb3 White gas a simultaneous attack on the Q abd g7, but there is a way out for black! xa3+ 27.c2 27.xa3 xg2 28.xg2 xc4+ would be winning for black. 27...h5 28.xg7+ h8 and neither side has a way of gaining any advantage. 25.b1 He cannot take the P 25.xb3 xa3+ 26.b2 b5 27.xg7+ h8 White's best shot is 28.g8+ xg8 29.xg8+ xg8 30.g1+ f8 31.xa3 xc4+ but the ending is lost. 25...g6 26.d4 xa3 27.xd6 xc4 28.d4 xh2 29.3g2 fa8 30.xc4 30.xh2 a1# 30...a1+ 31.b2 8a2+ 31...1a2+ 32.xa2 xa2+ 33.xb3 also wins. xg2 32.xa2 xa2+ 33.xb3 xg2 The ending is a routine win for black. 34.d1 e5 35.d8+ g7 36.d4 36.d7 attacking f7 loses quickly. b2+ 37.a4 b5+ 36...c5 37.d7 b2+ 38.a4 b5+ 39.xb5 a2# A fascinating game. 0–1

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Engine Evaluations

    When analyzing games for this Blog it is not uncommon to run into engine evaluations that I simply do not understand. In many cases running a Shootout (the engine plays blitz games against itself) will help confirm the evaluation. However, and this is an important however, some of those games can last 80, 90 or 100 or more moves! For a game between humans this is meaningless. Stockfih, and a lot of other engines for that matter, are so good that most humans do not know why their evaluations are what they are. But, are they always correct? 

    One comment I read seems about right: “...stop worrying whether (an engine) likes a position or not (because) it is far more important to have a position you are comfortable with rather than one where you have no clue how (to play).” 

    This problem is addressed by Kostya Kavutskiy, an IM from the United States with a 2300+ rating, in the following informative video. Just for fun you might like to set up the position he shows at 4:20 in the video just to see how you equipment performs. On my laptop after 20 minutes Stockfish 17 running on three cores gives the best move as 1.Bxb5 with a 5.49 score. When I played 1.Bxh7+ (which was not in its top 3 choices) it evaluated the move at 5.33 almost immediately. 

Chess in 1865

    The year was 1865,a pivotal year in American history. With the end of the Civil War, Lincoln's assassination and the beginning of Reconstruction, politics were forever changed. 

    Chess was a fairly popular pastime in the 1860s. In April the Richmond (Virginia) chess club, which was once visited by Paul Morphy as well as several confederate Generals, burned down. 

    Speaking of Morphy, the Richmond Dispatch reported that he was living in Illinois and was busying himself collecting claims in the Federal and State courts.

    An article in the February 9, 1865, Brooklyn Eagle reported that. “Paul Morphu, when the rebellion broke out, joined the Confederate army at New Orleans, but subsequently retired and went to Paris, has lately changed his mind m and having taken the oath of allegiance, has commenced business in a town in Southern Illinois as Government Claim Agent. He has almost given up chess.” 

    Judge Alexander B. Meek (1814-1866, 51 years old), a noted plater and president of the1st American Chess Congress that was held in 1857, died on October 30th in Columbus, Mississippi. 

    Abraham Lincoln was a chess enthusiast who had a reputation as a defensive player unless aggressive play seemed justified. One of his chess sets is on display in the Smithsonian. 

    In spite of the tumult of the year people were still playing chess. The predominant playing style from the late 18th century to the 1880s was Romantic chess that emphasized quick, tactical maneuvers over long-term strategic planning. 

    One of the most interesting players in 1865 had to be Captain George Mackenzie (187-1891), a 1992 inductee into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame.

    Mackenzie was born in North Kessock, Scotland. In 1861, he resigned his army commission in the British King's Royal Rifle Corps to become a professional chessplayer. 

    In 1863, he emigrated to the United States and enlisted in the Union Army. After 15 weeks as a Private, he earned the rank of Captain and was placed in charge of a Black regiment. During the Civil War the Union Army had many regiments made up of Black soldiers known as the United States Colored Troops. Many of these soldiers served in the infantry and artillery, but racial practices often resulted in their being assigned to non-combat roles such cooking, laborers and teamsters. 

    Mackenzie later deserted and was separates from the Union Army. However, in 1864, he rejoined the Army and fought with distinction in three battles. Nevertheless, he was arrested on the previous desertion charges and imprisoned. He was released in May, 1865 and moved to New York where he resumed chess competition. 

    In 1865, a leading player from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania named Gustave Reichhelm (1839-1905) defeated Mackenzie, who at the time was the strongest player in the country by a score of +4 -1 =1 in informal games. In years to come though Reichhelm was decisively beaten by Mackenzie in two formal matches.

    Reichhelm, who in his early years was a piano tuner, was a chess editor, analyst, problem composer and player. He was chess editor of three Philadelphia newdpapers and was the Games Editor of Brentano's Chess Monthly (1881-1882). From 1895 to 1905, he was Secretary of the Franklin Chess Club in Philadelphia.

    For many years, he was chess champion of Philadelphia. In 1886, he took 2nd place in the world championship problem solving tournament.

 

ChessBase

Gustave Reichhelm–George H. Mackenzie1–0C51Philadelphia Chess Club, Casual gamePhiladelphia,PA USA16.09.1864Stockfish 17

[%evp 16,59,30,-9,-4,-57,-51,-87,14,-13,-13,-28,114,116,143,140,134,101,247, 260,250,269,490,338,320,329,320,287,273,264,291,123,132,116,100,112,485,492, 492,479,712,714,800,781,895,877] C51: Evans Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.c4 c5 4.b4 By playing the Evans Gambit is white offers a Pawn to divert the B on c5. At the time it was fairly new having first been played om the game Evans–McDonnell, London 1827 and analysis piblished in 1832. xb4 Accepting the gambit allows white to play c3 and d4 gaoining space in the center and, at the same tine, it opens the diagonals to play Ba3 or Qb3 putting pressure on f7 as wells as hoping to prevent black from castling. Statistically black gets slightly better results by decling the gambit with 4.. .Bb6 5.c3 c5 Nowadays 5...Na5 is much more common, byt there is little difference in the results. 6.0-0 d6 7.d4 exd4 8.cxd4 b6 9.b2 9.b3 is met by a5 when 10.xf7+ f8 forces white to play 11.xg8 xb3 12.xb3 and the two Ns are not enough compensation for the Q. 9...f6 Reichhelm believed that 9...Nge7 was better, but the text is actually preferable. 10.c2 According to Reichhelm this move is, "One of the best forms of attack in the Evans Gambit, bit the move has long disappeared in favor of 10.d5, 10.Nbd2 and some have tried the questionable 10.e5. As for the text, it appears to be satisfactory, but offers white no particular advantage. 0-0 11.e5 The othe roption was 11.d5. In either case black has at least equality. 11.d5 a5 12.d3 g4 13.bd2 11...e8 Instead of this timid retreat black would have done better with 10...Nh5 11...h5 12.exd6 cxd6 13.d5 a5 14.d3 Black's two Ns on the edge of the board look suspect, but white is unable to take advantage of it. After g4 15.xh7+ h8 16.f5 xf3 17.gxf3 g5+ 18.h1 c4 19.xc4 xf5 it's black who has the advantage. 12.bd2 d5 13.d3 h6 13...g6 was safer. 14.a3 Threatens to win with Bh7+. e7 14...a6 A pass to demonstrate white's threat. 15.h7+ h8 16.xf8 g6 17.xg6 fxg6 18.xg6 White is winning. 15.b3 An important move to keep up the pressure. c6 16.h4 c7 16...g5 17.h7+ h8 18.f5 xf5 19.xf5 g7 19...xf5 20.xf5 g8 21.xf7 20.d3 White stands well. 17.f4 The start of a winning attack. e6 18.f2 c7 After this black is left with a lost position. His best chance was 18...f6 although white still has a dangerous attack. 19.f5 This is not as dangerous as it looks and it actually gives black good chances of defnding himself. 19.d6 Plying this first makles a huge difference! d8 20.f5 The difference between this position and the game continuation is that black cannot capture ...Qxe5 g5 21.f6 and white is winning. 19...xd4 20.xd4 xe5 21.hf3 f6 22.ae1 e8 23.xe7 xe7± 24.xe7 xe7 25.e1 All of white's pieces are in play and actively placed, but even so, black can probably survive with careful defense. f6 ,,,but not after this blunder! Defending the back rank with 25...Qd8 was a must. 26.e8+ White is clearly winning after this. h7 27.c2 d8 Played to drive the R away by ... Bd7 28.e5 Closing in on the K. c7 29.g6 xf5 30.f8+ Black resigned. the R on a8 is lost. 1–0

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Alexei, the Other Alekhine

    Alexei Alexandrovich Alekhine (1888-1939) was Alexander’s older brother and a strong amateur player. He served as the Secretary of the Ukrainian Chess Federation and the editor of the first Soviet chess annual, published in 1927. 

    His father was a wealthy landowner, a Marshal of the Nobility and a member of the State Duma and his mother was an heiress to an industrial fortune. Both he brothers were taught chess by their mother. According to Alexander (the World Champion) for a long time the three played a lot of chess together on a regular basis. 

    Alexei was good enough that he was able to draw with Harry Nelson Pillsbury when the American gave a simultaneous blindfold display in Moscow in 1902.

    After the October Revolution, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, took place in Russia on October 24–25 in 1917, he had a number of successes in local tournaments. He was considered a First Category player which, I believe, is in the 2000-2199 Elo range. 

    In an article written by Hans Kmoch entitled “Alexander Alekhine” he stated that Alexei, whom he had met in Moscow during the 1925 tournament, was murdered shortly afterwards in connection with a love affair, according to newspaper reports outside Russia. That was wrong. He died in Kharkov in August of 1939. 

    In the following game he defeats Andreas Duhm (1883-1975, 92 yers old). He was born in Gottingen, Germany. He was Swiss champion in 1900, 1901 (jointly with his brother Hans Duhm) and 1913. He passed away in Heidelberg in 1975.

 

ChessBase

Alexei Alekhine–Andreas Duhm1–0D00CorrespondenceCorrespondence1909Stockfish 17

D00: Stonewall 1.d4 d5 2.e3 e6 3.d3 f6 4.d2 c5 5.c3 c6 6.f4 The Stonewall Attack was briefly popular. Between the 1880s and the 1920s it was used by players with an attacking style, but wjen black discovered equalizing lines the opening fell into disuse. At least it’s flexible and can be reached by several different move orders. cxd4 7.exd4 Capturing with the c-Pawn is equal while with his next move white is forced to defend the f-Pawn with either 8.g3 or 8.Nh3, beither of which offer gim a very promising game. d6 8.h3 8.g3 d7 9.e2 c7 10.gf3 with equal chances. Aleksandrova,A (1687)-Volodarsky,M (1400) Ashdod ISR 2022 8...0-0 8...g6 9.0-0 d7 10.e2 c7 11.f3 The chances are about equal. Zilahi,G (2059) -Ferenczi,J (2015) Budapest 2006 8...e7 rather passive, but not really bad. 9.e2 0-0 10.0-0 g6 11.f3 h6 12.e5 Black doesn't want to allow Nxg6 so he should retreat 13...Ne7 xe5 13.fxe5 h7 Better was 13...Ne4. After the text black loses quickly. 14.h5 e8 15.xh6 f5 16.exf6 xf6 17.f4 hf8 18.xg6 1-0 Tasic,Z (2236)-Radovanovic,Z (2074) Belgrade 2005 8...c7 This is OK. 9.0-0 0-0 10.e2 e8 11.f3 e7 12.d2 d6 13.ae1 a5 14.a4 b6 15.e5 b8 This loses. 15...f5 keeps the chances about evem. 16.g5 xg5 17.fxg5 g6 18.g4 d7 19.f4 c6 20.e5 c4 21.h6# 1-0 Appel,H-Schmithuesen,B Bern 1991 9.0-0 d7 10.e2 a6 11.f3 b5 12.e5 g6 This vreatres a weakness on the dark squares arounf his K. 12... Ne7 was better. 13.g5 e7 14.f3 e8 15.h3 This R-lift is a common tactic in these types of positions. White gradually builds up his attack and black's defensive task becomes more difficult with each move. g7 16.d2 d8 17.f1 h8 18.f5 exf5 Black's position looks solid enough, but.. . 19.xf5 gxf5 Black is much too obliging, but other moves would (theoretically) not really have helped. 19...h6 20.f2 a7 20...gxf5 21.xf5 xe5 22.dxe5 g8 23.g3 ends ir... hxg5 24.xg5 e6 25.h6+ xh6 26.g5+ h7 27.g7# 21.e1 even with two pieces under attack white has a decisive advantage. Neither piece can be taken. f8 21...hxg5 22.xh8 xh8 23.xg5 gxf5 24.h4+ g8 25.xf6 wins 21...gxf5 22.g3 g4 23.xf5 d7 24.e6+ xe6 25.xg4+ f8 26.g6+ e8 27.xe7 xf5 28.xf5+ d7 29.h4 h5 30.f4 f8 30...xf4 31.e7+ 31.e5 h7 32.g4 White will win the ending wothout much trouble. 22.gf3 c6 23.h4 g8 24.f1 e7 25.g3 Black's position lools solid, but Stockfish give white a decisive advantage. That's the theoretical evaluation and after giving Stockfish a long look reaching to move 48 it still dud not reach a position that was obviously decisive. So, from the human perspective things are not at all that clear. 20.g3 f8 21.xf5 h6 22.e3 A nifty finish! White threatens Nh7+ and mate. c7 23.xf6 23.h7+ and black likely survives. xh7 24.xf6 xe5 25.dxe5 and while white is better, there is no clear win in sight. 23...e7 There is nowhere to run. 24.f5 f6 25.g4+ Black resigned. A very well played game by Alekhine. 25.g4+ d7 26.xf6+ c8 27.xd5 c6 28.e4 d7 29.xd6+ xd6 30.g6 e6 30...xg6 31.e7+ 31.e4 xf5 32.xf5+ e6 33.xe6 f8 34.f6+ b8 35.f4 b7 36.h7+ f7 37.xf7+ c8 38.e8+ b7 39.f7+ c7 40.xc7# 1–0

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Paul Lipke, One of the World’s Best Players

    It’s surprising that German master Paul Lipke (June 30, 1870 - March 8,1955, 84 years old) isn’t better known, Chess metrics estimates his highest ecer rating tp have been 2725 in October of 1894, ranking him at #5 in the world behind Lasker, Tarrasch, Chigorin and Steinitz. Most likely this is due to his short career which the site shows only spans from 1893 to 1900. 

    Lamentably for the chess world, Lipke retired early from competitive chess, though he continued his involvement in the game at the club level. In 1898, alongside Johann Berger, he was editor of the Deutsche Schachzeitung where he was in charge of the games section. He was also involved in early editions of the Deutsche Schachblatter. 

    A lawyer who worked in several German cities, Lipke was describe as being a good looking man of pleasing, gentlemanly manners who stood about 6 feet, 4 inches tall. At the board he was described as being rather impulsive and in moments of excitement he impulsively moved “in a hasty and jerky manner; but that only on occasions of momentary forgetfulness.” 

    Lipke was born at Erfurt, Saxony (a state in eastern Germany). At a young age Lipke lost his father, a Professor of Philosophy at the Erfurt Gymnasium, his indulgent mother allowed free scope to his predilections for music, the theater, science, philosophy and the art of self-defense. 

   Together with one of his brothers, he learned to play chess in 1887, and soon became enthused, joined the local chess club and quickly improved mostly due to hus association with a well known problem composer by the name of Rudolf L'hermet. During that time he also played correspondence chess.

    In the following game Lipke takes out Janowski with ease at the great tournament at Vienna 1898. 

 

ChessBase

Paul Lipke–David Janowski1–0C67ViennaVienna AUH1898Komodo 14 Human

C67: Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 f6 While not nearly as popular as 3...a6 the Berlin Defense has long had a reputation for being solid and drawish. At the tie of this game the defense was popular because it was a favorite of Emanuel Lasker and others. 4.0-0 By far the most popular. A much slower alternative is 4.d3 xe4 The main alternative is 4...Bc5 5.e1 d6 6.xe5 e7 7.d3 0-0 8.c3 xe5 9.xe5 f5 This is risky because it weakens his K-side ever so slightly. 9...c6 10.f3 g6 11.b3 e8 12.b2 d5 is completely equal. Reinderman,D (2542)-Timman,J (2649) Wijk aan Zee 1999 10.d5 f6 11.e1 11.xf6+ is equally good. xf6 12.f4 e4 13.e1 Correct was 13.Bxe4 with equal chances. d6 14.a5 d7 15.a3 ae8 16.c4+ h8 17.e3 Foerster,S (2070)-Oberhofer,A (2293) Bad Wiessee GER 2012. In spite of all the time white has lost with the T the chances are wqual. 11...b6 12.e2N 12.c3 b7 13.b3 h8 14.f1 e4 15.d4 equals. Cordovil,J (2220)-Damaso,R (2430) Loures 1998 12...c6 The logical followup of 12...Bb7 was better. Janowski now embarks on a plan that only results in weakening the position of his K. 13.xf6+ xf6 14.d4 f4 15.d3 f7 Janowski evidently intended to transfer the N to a more active location, bnu it getys stuck here for a long time. There is no real chance of a successful K-side attack so the positional 15...a5 intending ... Ba3 os a credible alterbative. 16.e4 g5 17.h4 h6 18.hxg5 hxg5 It's obvious that black's K-side has suddenly been rather badly compromised, but how can white take advantage of it? 19.h5 Like this! d8 Black's best chance is to exchange Qs, but that was not Janowski's style. 19...h6 20.xh6 xh6 21.e5 f7 22.e7 As soon as white develops his B on c1 and doubles Rs on the e-file black will find himself with a very difficult position to defend. 20.xf4 A little tactical fireworks are in order. gxf4 Of course black didn't have to take the B and could have played, say, 20...d5, but that would npt have neen any better. Besides, in the days when this game was played sacrifices were rourinely accepted. 21.ae1 White wants to mate with Re8+. h6 Finally realizig that the exchange of Qs offers some hope, but now it's too late...white has better. 22.g4+ 22.e8+ would be way wrong! xe8 23.xe8+ g7 and black has equalized as there is no effective continuation at white's disposal. 22...g5 23.f3 Now once white captures the f0Pawn black has no defense. d5 24.xf4 h6 24...h3 is met tactically. However, even though the ending would be hopeless it was black's best chance to play on. 25.h7+ xh7 26.xf7+ g8 27.xh3 xf7 28.h7+ g7 28...f8 29.e5 c1+ 30.h2 f4+ 31.h3 e8 32.f5+ xf5+ 33.xf5+ Here, too, white two passed Ps will enable the Q to overpower the two Rs. 29.e7+ xe7 30.xg7+ e6 31.h6+ d7 32.h7+ d6 33.f4 c5 34.h6+ c7 35.dxc5 bxc5 36.f5 White is winning. 25.e5 g7 26.h5 f5 27.xf5 White threatens Be6+ and mate. f8 Resigning was a better alternative. 28.g4 A nice little tactical trick. xg4 29.e6+ f7 30.g5 f8 31.xg7 xg7 32.h8+ Facing a heavy material loss, black resigned. 1–0

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ChessOK Aquarium 2024

 

    In a recent post I mentioned that I have Aquarium 2020 on my laptop and received an e-mail from a reader asking about the Aquarium program. The newest version is Aquarium 2024 which sells for the very reasonable price of about $50.

    There is a brief review of Aquarium 2022 in Youtube HERE which gives a goo idea of the main features of the progrm. The reviewer mentions that there had not been any real improvement to the new program that he was reviewing. I suspect the same holds true for the 2024 edition! 

    Aquarium 2024 is an analysis program featuring their Interactive Deep Analysis (IdeA). There’s a good video on Youtube that explains what IdeA is HERE. It’s ten years old, but probably nothing has changed. 

    The one thing that I like about Aquarium is the graphics...I really like their board. In fact, with a little copying I was able to save the white and black squares and using the User Design option in Fritz 17 I was able to duplicate the Aquarium board. Unfortunately, that option is not available on Fritz 19. 

 

 

    The bottom line...in my opinion Aquarium is an excellent program and for $50 you can’t go wrong if you want an analysis (and publishing) program. My preference is for Fritz, but that’s because I am a long, long time user...since about 2009 when I found the CD at the long defunct Office Max for $20 which was half what it was selling for by mail order.

Curt Brasket, Legendary Minnesota Master

    Today it’s overcast, cold and dripping rain again; at least it’s sunny in Duluth, Minnesota. I have never been to Minnesota, but I am sure I would not want to live there. 

    For example, up in Duluth, a port city on western Lake Superior, the winters are long, snowy and very cold. They normally see temperatures remaining at or below freezing on 100 days which is the second-most of any city in the contiguous US behind International Falls in Minnesota. They have snow cover from late November to early April and winter storms can bring a foot or more of snow to the city; the average annual snowfall is about 7.5 feet. 

    Minneapolis in east central Minnesota isn’t any better. The city lies near the northern edge of Tornado Alley and the region experiences tornadoes almost annually. Then there are derechos which are not tornadoes, bu have winds as strong. Snow averages 9-10 feet a year and during the winter months temperatures average below freezing. 

    Minnesota was home to the legendary Curt Brasket (December 7, 1932 – January 24, 2014), a former US Junior Chess Champion and a sixteen-time (!) state champion. He held the title of FIDE Master. In 2013 he was awarded the Outstanding Career Achievement Award by the USCF. 

    Brasket was born in Tracy, Minnesota, the sixth of eight children. He became interested in chess at age 13 after finding a book on the game when he was looking for a book on checkers. He attended the University of Minnesota and Saint John's University, graduating with degrees in French and mathematics. 

    Upon graduation, Brasket enlisted in the Army and was sent to Japan for a two-year tour. After his discharge he started a career as computer programmer for Unisys. Brasket got married in 1963 and moved to Bloomington, Minnesota. He had three daughters. 

    In 1952. the 20-year old Brasket won the US Junior Championship held in Omaha, Nebraska. During the 1970s he competed in a number of the Lone Pine tournaments and scored wins over the likes of Walter Browne, Arnold Denker and Larry Evans. His peak FIDE rating was 2375 in January 1978 and in 1983 he was awarded the FIDE Master title. Between 1991 and his final tournament in 2011, Brasket competed in 583 tournaments. 

     In the late 70's he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. After three years in a Veteran’s Administration facility Brasket died in his sleep at the age of 81. He was described by Sean Nagle, the incumbent Minnesota State Champion at the time of his death, as "a truly towering figure in Minnesota chess"

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ChessBase

Curt Brasket–Dr. Anthony Saidy1–0E80Lone Pine6Lone Pine, CA USA12.03.1976Stockfish 17

E80: King's Indian: Saemisch 1.c4 g6 2.e4 g7 3.d4 d6 4.c3 f6 5.f3 The Sämisch is has been played by almost all the greats of the past (Botvinnik,Tal, Petrosian, Spassky, Karpov and Kasparov.And, Bobby Fischer eventually came to avoid it. White intemds to use the P on f3 to support the advance of his K-side Ps in hopes of obtaining strong attack. c6 In practice this little played side line is neither better nor worse than the far more popular 5...O-O or the less often played 5...e5.... 6.e3 a6 This, the Byrne Variation, is a flexible approach that was developed by GM Robert Byrne. Black plays ...c6 and ...a6 in order to prepare . ..b5 while delaying a direct counterstrike in the center. 7.c5 An interesting idea aimed at countering .. .b5 bd7 7...b5 is playable. 8.cxb6 xb6 9.d2 0-0 and Hauchard,A (2500)-Gurevich,M (2610) Belfort 1998 resukted in a long, boring draw. 8.h3 It's somewhat surprising that this move is Stockfish's second choice (8.cxd6 is first)/ 8.d3 e5 9.dxe5 xe5 10.e2 d5 11.d4 is about even. Dlugy,M (2550) -Browne,W (2515) National op blitz 1993 8.c1 0-0 9.h3 dxc5 10.dxc5 c7 11.f2 e5 12.e2 with equal chances. Spassov,L (2419)-Dimov,K (2167) Plovdiv BUL 2010 8...b5 9.cxb6 xb6 10.f2 e6 11.e2 0-0 12.0-0 b8 13.b3 Preventing ...Nc4 Black's Q-side play is underway while white has yet to start anything on the K-side. a5 14.b1 c8 The more direct 14... a4 was preferable. The tinmy delay in conducting his Q-side play that 14...Rc8 and 15...c5 take gives white just enough time to launch his K-side attack. 15.g4 It wasn't too late to try ...a4 c5 16.d5 Brasket has seized the initiative and he bever lets up. d7 17.d2 c7 18.f4 18.h6 might have been played by a lot of players in which case many players would avoid the exchange of Bs and play h8 The problem here us that white has no really effective way of continuing his attack. 18...a4 Finally! The move is still sufficient to keep black in the game. 19.g5 e8 20.g4 axb3 21.axb3 xg4 22.xg4 cb8 23.f5 Technically the position is quite even, but a K-side attack is always more dangerous than a Q-side one, so there is lurking danger for black. d7 24.fxg6 hxg6 And here it is; this is the wrong recapture. Brasket meets this with a real surprise. 24...fxg6 looks too dangerous, but after 25.e6+ h8 26.h4 e5 27.f7 g7 28.xe7 White's position looks overwhelming, but black can save himself with... a5 29.xd7 xc3 30.e2 f8 White's extra P, R on the 7rh and two Bs aren't enough yo give hjime the advantage. That's theoretical based on the engine's evaluation, but in practice not many players would like to have black's position. 24...fxg6 25.f7 This does not work here! e5 forking the R and B. 26.e6 xf7 27.f1 e5 28.xf7+ h8 29.g2 xb3 30.h3 xc3 31.xg6 f6 32.gxf6 exf6 Black is winnign. 25.xf7 xf7 25...e5 26.e6 xf7 27.f1 e5 28.g2 xb3 29.xf7+ g7 30.h3 ends the gane. 26.e6+ f8 27.f1+ 27.g2 was even more potent. e5 28.h3 a3 29.h7 f7 30.f1 wins. 27...f6 There is no longer any defense. 28.g2 g7 29.gxf6 e5 30.fxg7+ xg7 31.g5 h8 Brasket finishes the game with a very pretty move. 32.xe5+ Black resigned 32.xe5+ dxe5 33.f7+ g8 34.xe7+ f8 35.xc7 There is a matein 9/ a1+ 36.g2 a5 37.d6 a6 38.d5 a2+ 39.g3 f2 40.d7 h3+ 41.xh3 f3+ 42.g2 g7 43.d8+ f7 44.xf7# 1–0

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Tal’s Killer Instinct

    Mikhail Tal was born in Riga, Latvia in 1936 and became the youngest world chess champion in 1960 at the age of 23 and died in Moscow in 1992 at the age of 55. 

    Known as the Magician from Riga he had a highly imaginative and explosive style that led to complicated positions in which even the best players of the day went astray. His attacks were often rife with sacrifices (sometimes unsound!) and often resulted in some amazing games. 

    His opponent in the following instructive game was Anatoli Bannik (1921-2013, 91 years old) who was born in Kiev. A five-time Ukrainian champion, he qualified for the Soviet Chess Championship final seven times. Tal won the event with a score of 12.5-5.5. In this game Tal's sacrifice was a bit unusual...it was perfectly sound!

ChessBase

Anatolij Bannik–Mikhail Tal0–1E65USSR Champ Semi-Finals, RigaRiga URS1955Stockfish 17

E65: King's Indian: Fianchetto 1.d4 f6 2.f3 Ar the time this game was played Tal already had a reputation as a fierce attacker, so it appears that Bannik is going to play the opening on a conservative manner. g6 3.c4 g7 4.c3 0-0 5.g3 While not often seen, this move is statistically on a par with 5.e4 d6 6.g2 One annotator was of the opinion that 6.e4 is better because it gives white a broad Pawn center. Although the text move has been very rarely played the statistics do not support the claim. With either move white's winning percentage renains almost identical, but after 6.e4 black's winning percentage more than doubles and he wins more games than white. c5 This move is not part of the main line theory (either 6...Nc6 or 6...Nbd7), but Purdy gave it a ! and it’s Stockfish’s top choice. The idea behind it is to open the a1-h8 diagonal by playing ...cxd4. Of course if white advances his d-Pawn the diagonal still becomes open. 7.0-0 Equally popular is 7.d5 c6 It’s interesting that this is by far the most popular move, but 7.d5 preventing the N from developing on c6 from where it has an effect on the center seems like a reasonale alternative. 8.h3 This is probably not a very good idea because it ever so slighly loosens the position of white’s K without good reason as neither ...Bg4 or ...Ng4 are immediate threats. Additionally, the P on h3 will come under attack. Either 8.dxc5 or 8.d5 were good alternatives. cxd4 A good move that opens the long diagonal and opens up the game. Black wants an open game because it will make it easier for him to take advantage of the small weakness white has created on the K-side. 9.xd4 xd4 10.xd4 e6 The c4-Pawn is a target. 11.h4 A good move as the Q was somewhat exposed on d4 and in any case there is no better square. 11. Bg5 was a reasonable alternative. c8 12.b3 He has to play this to defend the P because 12.Nd5 fails. 12.d5 b5 Undermining the N. 13.g5 13.xf6+ xf6 14.g5 xc4 us even better for black. 13...xc4 Black has the superior position 12...h5 Tal’s plan is to play ...Bf6, attacking the Q which isn’t particularly dangerous to white. On any case, the position is equal. 12...c5 13.f3 h5 14.d2 f6 15.e4 xh3 Black has picked up a P, but white has sufficient compensation. Karlsson,L (2495)-Hellers,F (2490) Malmo 1987 13.d2 d7 14.ac1 f6 15.g5 Purdy unnecessarily questioned tnns move and recommended 15.Qe4, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with Babbik’s move. 15.e4 xh3 16.xh3 xh3 17.xb7 d4 18.e3 b8 19.e4 is completely equal. Palmason,G-Book,E Munich 1958 15...xg5 16.xg5 xh3 17.xh3 xh3 18.xe7 The position remains dead equal after 18. Nd5, but this move results in a lost position because it leaves g3 weak. 18.d5 and white has nothing about which to worry. ce8 19.fd1 is completely equal. 18...xg3 ...and wins. The move might be a bit surprising because black has no minor pieces to join in the attack, so haw is he going to win with only a Q and two Rs? One R actually because one of them has to guard f7. 19.fxg3 xg3+ 20.h1 ce8 21.xb7 aiming for Qg2 which is more important than pickong up the P. e5 22.g2 h5+ 23.g1 e3+ 24.f2 h6 White has no way to meet the threat of ...Rh1+ 25.xa7 This allows a mate in 11...not that ot matters. 25.f6 g5+ 26.f2 f5+ 25.f3 h3 26.g4 f5 27.f4 h1+ 28.g2 xf4 29.xf4 xc1 wins 25...g5+ Missing the mate, but Tal still has everything under control. 25...h1+ 26.g2 h2+ 27.f3 e8 28.g1 h5+ 29.g4 h3+ 30.f2 xg4 31.g1 h2+ 32.f1 f4+ 33.e1 xc1+ 34.d1 hxe2+ 35.f1 xd1# 26.f2 h2+ 27.e1 xc1+ 28.d1 c2 29.e7 xa2 Threatens to win with ...Qa5+. 30.f2 a5+ ...anyway. 31.f1 h1+ White resigned. 31...h1+ 32.g2 h5 33.e3 h2+ 34.f3 h3+ 35.e4 e8+ 36.d5 xd1+ 37.d3 e6+ 38.c6 c8+ 39.b6 c5+ 40.b7 e7+ 41.b8 c7+ 42.a8 c8# 0–1

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