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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[Event "Lone Pine"] [Site "Lone Pine, CA USA"] [Date "1976.03.12"] [Round "6"] [White "Curt Brasket"] [Black "Dr. Anthony Saidy"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E80"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "1976.??.??"] {E80: King's Indian: Saemisch} 1. c4 g6 2. e4 Bg7 3. d4 d6 4. Nc3 Nf6 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. Be3 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} Nbd7 (7... b5 {is playable.} 8. cxb6 Qxb6 9. Qd2 O-O {and Hauchard,A (2500)-Gurevich,M (2610) Belfort 1998 resukted in a long, boring draw.}) 8. Nh3 {It's somewhat surprising that this move is Stockfish's second choice (8.cxd6 is first)/} (8. Bd3 e5 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Be2 d5 11. Bd4 {is about even. Dlugy,M (2550) -Browne,W (2515) National op blitz 1993}) (8. Rc1 O-O 9. Nh3 dxc5 10. dxc5 Qc7 11. Nf2 Ne5 12. Be2 {with equal chances. Spassov,L (2419)-Dimov,K (2167) Plovdiv BUL 2010}) 8... b5 9. cxb6 Nxb6 10. Nf2 Be6 11. Be2 O-O 12. O-O Qb8 13. b3 {Preventing ...Nc4} {Black's Q-side play is underway while white has yet to start anything on the K-side.} a5 14. Rb1 Rc8 {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.} Bd7 17. Qd2 Qc7 18. f4 (18. Bh6 {might have been played by a lot of players in which case many players would avoid the exchange of Bs and play} Bh8 {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 Ne8 20. Ng4 axb3 21. axb3 Bxg4 22. Bxg4 Rcb8 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.} Nd7 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. Be6+ Kh8 26. h4 Be5 27. Rf7 Ng7 28. Rxe7 {White's position looks overwhelming, but black can save himself with...} Qa5 29. Bxd7 Bxc3 30. Qe2 Rf8 {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. Rf7 {This does not work here!} Ne5 {forking the R and B.} 26. Be6 Nxf7 27. Rf1 Be5 28. Bxf7+ Kh8 29. Qg2 Rxb3 30. Qh3 Rxc3 31. Bxg6 Nf6 32. gxf6 exf6 { Black is winnign.}) 25. Rxf7 Kxf7 (25... Ne5 26. Be6 Nxf7 27. Rf1 Be5 28. Qg2 Rxb3 29. Bxf7+ Kg7 30. Qh3 {ends the gane.}) 26. Be6+ Kf8 27. Rf1+ (27. Qg2 { was even more potent.} Ne5 28. Qh3 Ra3 29. Qh7 Nf7 30. Rf1 {wins.}) 27... Bf6 { There is no longer any defense.} 28. Qg2 Ng7 29. gxf6 Ne5 30. fxg7+ Kxg7 31. Qg5 Rh8 {Brasket finishes the game with a very pretty move.} 32. Qxe5+ { [%mdl 512] Black resigned} (32. Qxe5+ dxe5 33. Rf7+ Kg8 34. Rxe7+ Kf8 35. Rxc7 {There is a matein 9/} Ra1+ 36. Kg2 Ra5 37. d6 Ra6 38. Nd5 Ra2+ 39. Kg3 Rf2 40. d7 Rh3+ 41. Kxh3 Rf3+ 42. Kg2 Kg7 43. d8=Q+ Rf7 44. Rxf7#) 1-0