Chernev is well known, or at least he was at one time, for his books and Persinger was a well known violinist and amateur chessplayer, but Gladstone? A Google search won’t turn up much…a couple of his games, but little else.
His name appears in the Log Cabin Independent Open in West Orange, New Jersey in 1957. Saul Wanetick won on tiebreaks and second to fifth in the 61-player Swiss, were Matthew Green, Arthur Feuerstein, Geza Fuster and Anthony Santasiere.
Sixth to thirteenth were Bobby Fischer, George E. O'Rourke, Jr., Attillio DiCamillo, Eliot Hearst, Norman T. Whitaker, William J. Lombardy, Homer W. Jones, Jr., and Claude Hillinger.
Fourteenth to twenty-sixth with 3.5 – 2.5 each were Joseph Tamargo, John Falato, Herbert M. Avram, Alexis Gilliland, David Gladstone, Sidmund Hauck, Charles C. Heinin, E.S. Jackson, Jr., George Krauss, Jr., George J. Mauer, Jr., and Eugene Steinberger.
Chessgames.com has six of his games, all losses. I did locate an article in Boy’s Life, September, 1923, about a couple of young men attending New York University and Gladstone was one of them.
As further proof that innate ability, not environment and advantages, was the chief factor, there is the story of another boy, also at New York University. This boy-who, by the way, sticks to his short pants-finished the public schools of Newark, New Jersey, far ahead of his years. His name is David Gladstone. While he has had the interest of his family in his progress, he has not has active assistance. One might almost say he has helped them. His vacations he has spent at home, keeping house for his father while the rest of the family were away at summer resorts.
Because of a different environment, probably, David has not taken part in outdoor sports and games. And, perhaps as a consequence, he is not as well developed physically as young Talbot. But for recreation he has a hobby-and that hobby is chess. For two and a half years he has been devoted to chess, playing not only direct opponents but exchanging moves by mail with members of the Correspondence League. And, so expert is he, he was chosen a member of the University Chess Team soon after entering.
Gladstone doubts if his chess playing has been of any direct value in his school work-and yest he does admit that he led a class of seventy-five freshmen in trigonometry :because chess is something like trig.” In addition to freshmen studies and his “passion for chess” he has been chosen a member of the University Debating Squad; a group of nine students picked to represent the University. From this it may be judged that he has a quick, keen mind-a well ordered, analytical mind that can plan campaigns on the chess board, grasp and digest information of the classroom or book, and organize and present facts in the heat of debate.
Talbot and Gladstone are positive individuals. They use their heads sixty minutes out of every hour awake-and probably their subconscious minds are clicking along overtime as the sleep. It is only necessary to talk with them a while to know that they have fairly good ideas of the world about them, and that they pretty much know their own minds.
Both Talbot and Gladstone have been interested and active in dramatics. It is their opinion that this training helps in standing up before their fellows of the classroom and in facing the world outside. And that world outside the classroom, their future: it is evident they are working toward definite goals. For each there is a job ahead for which he is fitting himself.
Gladstone is divided in his mind between law and journalism, but he has an idea that he will study law and then go into journalism, thus combining his two ambitions.
Another article describing him as “precocious” informs us that the 15-year old Gladstone was a graduate of Barringer High School in Newark, New Jersey and was probably the youngest player who ever represented a college in the U.S. when he played for New York University in the Inter-collegiate Chess League.
The article added that he started out well by drawing a much older opponent and “In doing so the little fellow kept a level head throughout and displayed excellent generalship. He disclaimed any relationship to the great British statesman, but gave every evidence of a precocious ability to handle complicated situations.”
The January 8, 1923 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle carried a headline article reading A New Chess Prodigy. It says the 15-year old Gladstone learned to play chess from his father only 2-1/2 years previously and he was soon able to give give his father considerable odds thanks to his experience in high school and college play. It added that “the little fellow will, in time, develop into an expert player."
In 1930 and he was president of the Queens Chess Club and he also played for the Manhattan Chess Club as well. He played in the 1944-45 U.S. Championship (won by Arnold Denker), but finished 17th out of 18 with a +2 -14 =1 score.
On June 15, 1964, at the age of 57, Gladstone suffered a fatal heart attack near his home.
According to his N.Y. Times obituary Gladstone was among the youngest persons ever to be enrolled at New York University. He entered at 15 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After his graduation he went to Harvard for his law studies. For many years he maintained an office in Brooklyn until around 1949 when he went to work for the State Rent Commission and later when it became the City Rent Commission.
Here is an early Gladstone game from his inter-collegiate days that does not appear in the Chessgames.com database.
A game that I liked (Fritz 17)
[Event "Inter-Collegiate Match"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1923.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Casciato (U. of Pennsylvania"]
[Black "Gladstone (NYU)"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "E12"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 17"]
[PlyCount "86"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.10.04"]
{E12: Queen's Gambit Declined} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3
Nbd7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. Bd3 dxc4 8. Bxc4 b6 {Unusual. If black wants to play this
he would do better playing the Tartakower variation where black plays 6...h6
and 7...b6. In the Tartakower black avoids ...dxc4.} 9. O-O Bb7 10. Bd3 (10.
Qc2 c5 11. Rad1 Bxf3 12. gxf3 cxd4 13. Rxd4 Qc8 14. Be2 {equals. Bellaiche,A
(2443)-Dumitrache,D (2467) Marseille 2010}) 10... Rc8 11. Rc1 c5 12. dxc5 (12.
Qe2 h6 13. Bh4 cxd4 14. exd4 Nh5 15. Bxe7 Qxe7 {equals. Solomin,M (2022)
-Galiev,A (2269) Ulyanovsk RUS 2010}) 12... Nxc5 13. Be2 Nd5 14. Bxe7 Qxe7 15.
Nd4 Rfd8 {This position looks harmless enough and after 16.Nxd5 it would be.}
16. Bf3 {[%mdl 8192] This move rates two question marks. Gladstone starts out
on the right track to refute it, but then misses the best continuation. Do you
see the refutation? Hint: it involves a pin on the g-Pawn and a discovered
attack on white's Q.} (16. Nxd5 Bxd5 17. Bf3 {Black has no effective way of
continuing jis K-side attack.} Ne4 (17... Qg5 18. Bxd5 Qxd5 19. b4 Ne4 20. Nc6
Qxd1 21. Rfxd1 Rxd1+ 22. Rxd1 Kf8 23. Nxa7 Rc2 {with equal chances.}) 18. Qd3
Qb7 19. Rxc8 Rxc8 20. Rd1 {The position is equal.}) 16... Nxc3 17. Rxc3 e5 18.
Nf5 {Now black could wrap it up with 18...Qg5.} Qe6 {After this black's
advantage is only minimal} (18... Qg5 19. Nd6 Rxd6 20. Qxd6 Bxf3 21. g3 Qg4 22.
Rd1 h6 23. b4 Qh3) 19. Qc2 $15 Bxf3 20. gxf3 e4 21. fxe4 g6 {Using good
judgment in not playing the enticing 21...Qxe4 which loses a R to 22.Rxc8.} (
21... Qxe4 $2 22. Qxe4 Nxe4 23. Rxc8 Rxc8 24. Ne7+ Kf8 25. Nxc8 $18) 22. Ng3
Qxa2 23. Ra3 Qe6 $15 24. Rxa7 Re8 {The aggressive 24...h5 was worth a try.} 25.
Rd1 Qg4 26. Kg2 (26. Rd4 {remains equal.} h5 27. Qd1 Qxd1+ 28. Rxd1 Nxe4 29.
Nxe4 Rxe4 30. Rdd7 Rf8) 26... Nxe4 {White's next move looks reasonable as it
attacks the b-Pawn, but in reality it should have lost. White's best defense
was 27.Qe2, but after exchanging Qs and playing his R to c2 black would have
had an advantage.} 27. Qb3 {[%mdl 8192] Another critical position and here,
too, black misses his chance.} (27. Qe2 Qxe2 28. Nxe2 Rc2 29. Rdd7 Rxe2 30.
Rxf7 Ng5 31. Rg7+ Kh8 32. h4 Ne6 33. Rxh7+ Kg8 34. Kg3 Rxb2) 27... Qe6 {
Black could have gotten a strong attack with 27...Ng5! Instead this allows
white to reach a drawn ending.} (27... Ng5 28. Kf1 Qh3+ 29. Ke1 Qg2 30. Rad7 (
30. Rdd7 Rc1+ 31. Kd2 Qg1 {White cam only delay mate.}) 30... Nf3+ 31. Ke2 Ne5
32. R7d4 Qf3+ 33. Ke1 Ng4 34. R1d2 (34. R4d2 Nxe3 35. fxe3 Rxe3+ 36. Qxe3 Qxe3+
37. Kf1 h5) 34... Rc1+) 28. Qxe6 Rxe6 29. Rdd7 {[%mdl 2048] Suddenly it's b;
acl who is on the defensive, but his accurate play holds the draw.} Nd6 30. Ra6
Nc4 31. b3 Na5 32. Raa7 Rf8 33. Rd3 Re5 34. Rc7 Rc5 35. Rxc5 bxc5 {[%mdl 4128]}
36. Ne4 Rc8 37. Rc3 c4 38. b4 Nb3 39. Nd6 Rc6 {It's likely the time control wa
approaching and this move sets a trap.} 40. Ne4 (40. Nxc4 Nd2 $1 41. Nxd2 Rxc3
42. Kf3 Rc2 43. Ne4 Rb2 {Black has spme work to do, but this poosition is a
win.}) 40... Kf8 41. b5 Rb6 42. Rxc4 {aiming for Rc8+.} Rxb5 43. Rc7 Rf5 {Draw}
*
No comments:
Post a Comment