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.
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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