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.
[Event "Correspondence"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1945.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "G.L. Morrison"]
[Black "Bert Brice-Nash"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A52"]
[Annotator "Various engines"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "1945.??.??"]
{A52: Budapest Gambit} 1. d4 Nf6 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.} Ng4 {
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.} Nxe5 5. f4 Nec6 6. Nf3 Bc5 7. Nc3 O-O 8. a3 (8. f5 d6 9. Bg5 f6 10.
Bf4 Re8 11. Qd5+ Kh8 12. O-O-O {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. Bd3 {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. Qe2 Bg4 {An interesting position! The tactical analysis
with Fritz using Stockfish 17 says this threatens ...Nd4.} 11. Be3 {The same
analysis makes the comment that this prevents ,,,Nd4.} Nd4 {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. Qf2 (12. Bxd4 {is not quite satisfactory. After}
Bxd4 13. Nb5 Bxf3 14. Qxf3 Bxb2 15. Rb1 Bf6 {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 Be7 18. Rd1 Qc8 19. O-O c6 20. Nc3 Qe6 21. Qe2 {Preparing a
R-lift R-f3 and white has reached an excellent position.}) 17. e5 Be7 {Black
is slightly better.}) 12... Nb3 {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... Bxf3 13. Bxd4 Bxd4 14. Qxd4 Nc6 15. Qf2
Bh5 {White has a solid position and eventually scored the point.
Yates-Spielmann Carlsbad 1923}) 13. Rd1 Nc6 14. Bc2 {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.} Bxf3 15. gxf3 (15. Qxf3 Ncd4 16. Bxd4
Nxd4 17. Qd3 c6 {Black is slightly better. Note that} 18. e5 {is not a threat
at all because after} Qh4+ 19. g3 Qh5 {White is in serious trouble.} 20. Kd2 (
20. exd6 Nf3+ 21. Ke2 Ne5+) 20... dxe5 {Black has a decisive advantage.}) 15...
Bxe3 16. Qxe3 Qh4+ $1 17. Ke2 Nc5 18. Rdg1 {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. Nd5 Rab8 {An interesting idea.} 19. Nxc7 Ne6 20.
Nd5 (20. Nxe6 fxe6 {attacking the f-Pawn with equal chances.}) 20... b5 21. f5
bxc4 22. fxe6 fxe6 23. Nc3 Rxb2 24. Rd2 Ne5 {Attacking f3} 25. Rf1 Qxh2+ 26.
Kd1 Qh3 27. Rdf2 {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... Ne6 19. f5 Ned4+ (19... Nf4+ {
leads to some iteresting complications.} 20. Kd1 Ne5 21. Nd5 Nh3 22. Rg3 c6 23.
f4 Ng4 24. Nf6+ gxf6 25. Ke2 (25. Rxh3 Nxe3+) 25... Kh8 26. Rxh3 Nxe3 27. Rxh4
Nxc4 {with equal chances.}) 20. Kd1 Nxc2 21. Kxc2 Ne5 {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!} Ng4 (22... Nxc4 {is met by} 23. Qd4 {
and the N is lost.}) 23. Qe2 Nf6 24. Qf3 {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 Nxc4 24. Qd4 Ne5 {and black retains a slight
advantage.}) 23. Rg3 (23. f4 {is stronger.} Ng4 24. Qg3 (24. Qd4 Qf2+ 25. Kd3
Qxd4+ 26. Kxd4 Nf2) 24... Qxg3 25. Rxg3 Nf6 26. e5 {White is slightly better.})
23... a4 {[%mdl 32] Back on track. White is seeking his fortune on the K-side,
black on the Q-side.} 24. Rhg1 {This looks quite reasonable, but it's the
losing move. Black now breaks through on the Q-side.} (24. Nxa4 Nxc4 25. Qd4 g6
26. Qxc4 b5 27. Qd4 bxa4 28. b4 c5 29. Qd5 {jeeos things equal.} (29. Qxd6 {
is a bad mistake.} Rfd8 30. Qc7 Qf6 {Switching the Q to the other side is
decisive.} 31. b5 Qd4 {White cannot save the game.})) 24... axb3+ (24... Qxh2+
{might be tempting, but it throws away the advantage.} 25. R3g2 axb3+ 26. Kxb3
{White gas a simultaneous attack on the Q abd g7, but there is a way out for
black!} Rxa3+ 27. Kc2 (27. Kxa3 Qxg2 28. Rxg2 Nxc4+ {would be winning for
black.}) 27... Qh5 28. Rxg7+ Kh8 {and neither side has a way of gaining any
advantage.}) 25. Kb1 {He cannot take the P} (25. Kxb3 Rxa3+ 26. Kb2 b5 27.
Rxg7+ Kh8 {White's best shot is} 28. Rg8+ Rxg8 29. Rxg8+ Kxg8 30. Qg1+ Kf8 31.
Kxa3 Nxc4+ {but the ending is lost.}) 25... g6 26. Qd4 Rxa3 27. Qxd6 Nxc4 28.
Qd4 Qxh2 29. R3g2 Rfa8 {[%mdl 512]} 30. Qxc4 (30. Rxh2 Ra1#) 30... Ra1+ {
[%mdl 128]} 31. Kb2 R8a2+ (31... R1a2+ {[%mdl 512]} 32. Nxa2 Rxa2+ 33. Kxb3 {
also wins.} Rxg2) 32. Nxa2 Rxa2+ 33. Kxb3 Rxg2 {[%mdl 4096] The ending is a
routine win for black.} 34. Rd1 Qe5 35. Rd8+ Kg7 36. Rd4 (36. Rd7 {attacking
f7 loses quickly.} Qb2+ 37. Ka4 b5+) 36... c5 37. Rd7 Qb2+ 38. Ka4 b5+ 39. Qxb5
Qa2# {A fascinating game.} 0-1
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