Mike Valvo

    IM Michael Valvo (April 19, 1942 in Albany, New York – September 18, 2004 in Chanhassen, Minnesota) was, by 1962, one of the top blitz players in the United States. He won the 1963 U.S. Intercollegiate Championship. 

    Valvo was a graduate of Columbia University. He spent much of his life working with computers and is best known for his job as commentator for the Kasparov versus Deep Blue Matches in 1996 and 1997, but he accomplished many things in a chess career going back to the late 1950s. 

    Valvo learned the game from his father Frank, who was also a USCF Master. Michael made quick progress and in 1964 was a member of the U.S. team that competed in the 11th Student Olympiad in Cracow, Poland, in 1964 along with Bill Lombardy, Raymond Weinstein, Charles Kalme, Bernard Zuckerman and Mitchell Sweig. The Americans finished in fourth place behind the USSR, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. 

    He quit playing chess in 1969, but came back and earned a FIDE rating of 2530 in the late 1970s after an excellent performance in a NY Futurity. FIDE awarded him the IM title in 1980. By 1976, Valvo had essentially dropped out of tournament chess and his rating was no longer published in the USCF rating lists, until Bill Goichberg and Jose Cuchi invited him to a futurity tournament. Valvo did well and his rating rose to 2440. However, Professor Arpad Elo refused to award Valvo the rating because Elo had never heard of Valvo and suspected that the tournament had been rigged. 

    This matter was debated at the 1978 FIDE Congress in Buenos Aires and FIDE voted to give Valvo his 2440 rating. Valvo quickly proved that he really was a 2440 strength player and earned the International Master title. Valvo never played in the U.S. Chess Championship, but made his mark in computer chess, which became his primary focus. 

    At every World Computer Chess Championship from the early 1980s until his death, Valvo was the organizer, moderator, commentator or acted in some official capacity. He also played a two game play by email match against Deep Thought, winning both games. 

    A respected opening theoretician Valvo played 1.e4 for much of his career before adding the English to his repertoire. He was a life-long fan of the Dragon and a early pioneer (1963) of a Benko-gambit. He tested many of his lines in correspondence chess throughout his career. Valvo was a co-author of a book on the 1990 Kasparov-Karpov match and was the technical editor of Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess along with Raymond Weinstein. He did the game annotations for the 1966/67 US Championship bulletin. Valvo died of a heart attack. 

    Valvo’s opponent in the following game was Roberto Kaimo (1943-2016, 72 years old) from the Philippines. The gane was played in a large round-robin, the largest international event held in the US in 88 years. 

 

 

    GM Anatoly Lein of New York, formerly of the USSR took first place. IM Edmar Mednis failed in his quest for the GM (which he earned later) title, but he had a great tournament. 

 

Philipp Hirschfeld

    The better known first class players of the City of London Chess Club in the 1880s were George MacDonnell, Bernard Horwitz, James Mason, William Potter and Joseph H. Blackburne. Today we are going to meet a much lesser known but at the time a prominent club member, Philipp Hirschfeld. 

    Philipp Hirschfeld (October 2, 1840 0 October 4, 1896) was a German player and theoretician. In 1873 he took up permanent residence in London which explains his membership in the city’s chess club. At the club he was a frequent analysis partner of Johannes Zukertort. While residing in London he regularly lived a few months of the year in Berlin which is where he died. 

    He was, apparently, a far better player than we know! Chess metrics assigns him a highest ever rating of 2600 in 1865 and between 1862 and 1866, he was ranked #4 in the world 8 times, though it must be added that those lists contained very few players, 20 or less. 

    Hirschfeld was born in Konigsberg, Prussia, and came from an affluent background. He learned the game of chess as a child in Konigsberg and by the time he went to Berlin in 1859 to study, he was already a very strong player and theoretician. He was on the editorial department of the Deutschen Schachzeitung, where he published analysis of opening theory. 

    In 1863 Hirschfeld finished his studies and joined his father's business. In London, he founded the Konigsberg Tea Company, with branches in Konigsberg, Moscow and China. 

    Hirschfeld's profession left him no time for international tournaments, but on his business trips he met up with the best players of his time and occasionally contested matches with them. 

    In 1865 he drew a match with Ignaz von Kolisch and in 1865 he lost a match in Moscow against Sergey Urusov. Hirschfeld also played individual games against Steinitz, Lowenthal, Horwitz and De Vere. 

    According to the Chessmetrics website his best historical Elo rating was 2600, which he attained in October 1864. Between 1862 and 1866 he was ranked 4th in the world. 

    His opponent in the following game was Ignatz von Koliscj (1837-1889,52 years old). He was born in Pressburg (now Bratislava in what is modern-day Slovakia). 

    During the period 1859-1868, he was one of the top five or six players in the World. Chessmetrics ranks him the #1 player in the world several times between 1867-68. Kolisch is nit appreicated today, but he defeated Danieal Horwitz and Thomas Barnes and drew with Adolf Anderssen in matches in 1860. The following year he played Anderssen again, narrowly lost and drew Louis Paulsen in a match. In 1863, he challenged a retired Paul Morphy who declined to play. 

    Kolisch opened a bank in Vienna in 1871 and within ten years became a very wealthy man. He continued to support chess by financing the great tournaments.

 

A Classic Capablanca Win

    The year 1918 was a rough one because it was heavily influenced by World War I plus the Spanish Flu epidemic which resulted in life expectancy at birth in the US dropping by almost 12 years to a scant 26,6 years for men and 42.2 years for women.

    Opha Mae Johnson (1878-1955) was born in Kokomo, Indiana and graduated as salutatorian of her class from the shorthand and typewriting department of Wood's Commercial College in Washington, DC in 1895. 

    As far as is known, she didn’t play chess, but on August 13, 1918, at the age of 39, she joined the Marine Corps Reserve making her the first women to enlist in the Marine Corps Reserve during World War I. 

    Her first duties were as a clerk at Headquarters Marine Corps, managing the records of other female reservists who joined after she did. She was soon promoted to sergeant and was the highest ranking woman in the Corps during her time in service. 

    At the end of World War I the Corps, like all services, women were slowly released from duty and she became a clerk in the War Department and worked for the Marine Corps as a civil servant until retiring in 1943. Semper Fi, Sergeant Johnson! 

    New York 1918 was originally planned as an 8-player double round tournament, but the nefarious Norman T. Whitaker began a game a day before round 1, became ill and withdrew. 

    Round 1 saw the most famous game of the tournament when Frank Marshall sprung his prepared variation of what has come to be known as the Marshall Gambit against Jose Capablanca who managed to win anyway. 

    In Round 2, Marshall lost againt, this time to Oscar Chajes and as a result Marshall was unable to overcome his bad start. 

 

     

    The loser of today’s game, which features some interesting tactical play, was John S. Morrison (1889-1975) from Toronto. He was Canadian champion in 1910, 1913, 1922, 1924, 1926 and shared first place in 1931 with Maurice Fox won the playoff. In 2000, he was inducted posthumously into the Canadian Chess Hall of Fame. 

    The fact is, both players deserve credit for a well played game. The tactical analysis with Fritz assigns Morrison a credible Weighted Error Value of 0.39 while Capablanca performed at a very precise 0.39. 

 

Sacrificing the Exchange

    As Rudolf Spielmann explained it the chess pieces, like stocks, have two prices: the par value and the quoted rate. The par value is the value assigned by the company that issues it. The quoted price is the current market price meaning it’s the actual price you can buy or sell it for. 

    Chess pieces are the same. For example, the par value of a Rook is 5 Pawns while the par value of Bishops and Knights is 3 Pawns. However, it’s the market, or relative value, that is the decisive factor. In some positions a Bishop or Knight might be worth more than a Rook. It all depends on specific positional and tactical factors. 

    How do you know when the sacrifice of the exchange is feasible? In The Art if Sacrifice in Chess Spielmann gives a number of guidelines and their exceptions and ends up saying you shouldn’t worry about them because, “With a little practice, (the student)will soon be able to grasp all these circumstances instinctively when they arise…” as well as a sound positional judgment. 

    Here’s an example of what Spielmann was talking about. The game was played in an event which, like the winner Hans Fahrni (1874-1939) has been long forgotten. 

     Fahrni was born in the Austrian-Hungarian empire city of Prague which today is in the Czech Republic. It's not certain when he went to Switzerland, but from there he eventually emigrated to Germany. 

[Event "Munich"] [Site "Munich GER"] [Date "1909.06.22"] [Round "?"] [White "Rudolf Spielmann"] [Black "Savielly Tartakower"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B15"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "43"] [EventDate "1909.??.??"] {B15: Caro-Kann} 1. e4 c6 {Although not very dynamic, the Caro-Kann is rock solid and often leads to good endgames for black. That's the theoretical assessment, but as this game shows, if a world class player like Tartakower can mishandle the opening like he does here, theory doesn't mean much...at least for us amateurs.} 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Ng3 {At the time this move was new and it was subsequently adopted by Alekhine. It has since been supplanted by 5.Nxf6} e5 6. Nf3 {With the move in the text, White obtains a noticeable lead in development} exd4 7. Nxd4 Bc5 8. Be3 {As Spielmann was to realize much later this is not the right con tinuation anf 8.Qe2+ is better.} (8. Qe2+ Be7 9. Be3 c5 10. Ndf5 O-O 11. Qc4 Re8 12. Bd3 b6 13. O-O-O {White stands very well. Alekhine,A-Tartakower,S Kecskemet 1927}) 8... Qb6 9. Qe2 {By indirectly guarding both b2 and d4 this move makes Q-side castling possible.} O-O (9... Qxb2 10. Bc1+) (9... Bxd4 10. Bxd4+) 10. O-O-O Nd5 {According to Spielmann this is a serious infraction of the rules of developmentm but there is nothing wrong with it and the position remains completely equal. Hiwever, 10...Re8 was also good.} 11. Qh5 Nf6 {This is black's real error. Because of the strong position of the white Q, which black's last move permitted, black must find the best defensive move which this move is not. He has two plausible defenses. 11...Nxe3eliminating the potentially strong B and giving white an isolated P or developing with11...Nd7 and 12...N7f6. In either case the position remains equal.} 12. Qh4 Bg4 {A well played move.} 13. Bd3 {White is better developed and his pieces are much more active, so he offers the exchange. Theoretically the evaluation is that the chances are completely equal. Practically though it's a different story as any slip by black is likely to have grave consequences.} (13. Be2 {allows black to equalize after} Bxe2 14. Ngxe2 Nbd7 15. Nf5 Rae8 16. Bh6 Re4 17. Nf4 Re5 {with a very sharp position, but b;ack has sufficient defensive resources.}) (13. f3 {This is white's best reply. After} Be6 14. Bg5 Nbd7 15. Nxe6 fxe6 16. Bc4 {white is clearly better.}) 13... Bxd1 {The acceptance of the exchange sacrifice was virtually com pulsory.} (13... Nbd7 14. Bxh7+ Nxh7 15. Qxg4 {with a significant advantage.}) 14. Rxd1 {By sacrificing the exchange Spielmann's idea is to utilize his lead in development and activity of his pieces. White has no material compensation, though he does have the two Bs and almost all his forces point menacingly at black's K.} Nbd7 15. Ngf5 {[%mdl 160] Hoping for Nxg7! White mounts an attack.} Ne5 {[%mdl 8192] Tartakower has completely missed the point of white's last move. The text leads to his immediate down fall.} (15... Rfe8 {leaves him safe, but hr must walk a tightrope! For example...} 16. g4 Ne5 17. Nxg7 Bxd4 18. Bxd4 Nxd3+ 19. Rxd3 Re1+ 20. Kd2 Qb4+ 21. Bc3 Qe4 22. Bxf6 Qe2+ 23. Kc3 Rc1 24. Rd2 Qf3+ 25. Rd3 {White must accept a draw by repeating move for if} Qe2 26. Nf5 Rxc2+ 27. Kb3 Qxd3+ 28. Bc3 Rxc3+ 29. bxc3 {And it's black's choice whether ot not he wnts to fraw ot play for the win. In Shootouts black won 5 out of 5 games.}) 16. Nxg7 {[%mdl 512] This sacrifice which cannot be accepted and it ultimayely leads to black getting mated.} Qd8 (16... Kxg7 17. Nf5+ Kg8 18. Qxf6 Nxd3+ 19. Rxd3 {and black cannot avoid mate.}) 17. Ngf5 {Material is not the key factor. What counts here is black's missing g-Pawn.} Ng6 18. Qh6 Ne8 {Black coners g7, but white's attack cannot be twarted.} 19. Nf3 Bxe3+ 20. fxe3 Qf6 21. Ng5 Qh8 {At first glance it appeards that black has everything covered, but ir;s white to play and win.} 22. Ne7+ {[%mdl 512] It's mate in 3, so black resigned.} (22. Ne7+ Nxe7 23. Bxh7+ Qxh7 24. Qxh7#) (22. Nxh7 {This would also win, but there is no immediate mate after} Qxh7 23. Ne7+ Kh8 24. Nxg6+ fxg6 25. Qxg6 Qxg6 26. Bxg6) 1-0

A Small, Unimportant Tournament in 1937

    Following Hitler’s appointment as chancellor in 1933, the Nazis transformed Germany into a one-party dictatorship that implemented racial, political and social policies. German Jews felt the effects of legislation that transformed them into outcasts and enemies of the state. 

    When 1937 rolled around the Aryanization of the economy started when Jewish business owners were forced to sell their businesses, in most cases at proces considerably below their valus. Additionally, Jews were prohibited from working in any office in Germany. 

    Buchenwald concentration camp opened and yhe first 300 prisoners arrived on July 16. By the end of the month, there were 1,000 inmates and the number climed to 80,000 in March 1945. 

    While that was happening in Germany, in the U.S. the Neutrality Act of 1935 expire, but it’s replacement did include a concession to President Roosevelt that permits Allied nations to pay cash for American goods and then transport the goods in their own ships. 

    Roosevelt tried to warn the world of the growing threat to international security that was being jeopardized, but he was accused or trying to circumvent the neutrality laws of America. In late 1937, Germany and Japan signed a military pact. Anf the Japanese Army launched the massacre of Nanking and ot’s estimated that over 300,00 people were brutally murdered. 

    Against that backdrop a long forgotten small and unimportant double round tournament was played in the three cities of Bad Nauheim, Stuttgart and Garmisch.   

    The four players were the world champion Max Euwe, former world champion Alexander Alekhine, former world champion challenger Efim Bogoljubow and German champion Friedrich Saemisch. Shortly after this event, Alekhine won a rematch against Euwe for the world championship.

 

[Event "Bad Nauheim-Stuttgart-Garmisch"] [Site ""] [Date "1937.07.26"] [Round "5"] [White "Max Euwe"] [Black "Efim Bogoljubov"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E36"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "1937.07.18"] {E36: Nimzo-Indian Defense} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 {This game was played in the early days of the Nimzo and at the time this was the most popular move; today it's considered the Classical (or Capablanca) Variation which has largely been replaced by the Rubinstein Variation *4.e3. In this Classical line white plans to acquire the two Bs without getting doubled c-Pawns. Even though white ains the two Bs black should open the game quickly to exploit their lead in development.} d5 {Black immediately plays in the center.} 5. a3 Be7 {A rare sideline that statistically has not worked well for black, so 5...Bxc3 us better.} 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 {Oddly, in my ChessBase opening database this is the main line, but Stockfish's first coice is 7.Bxf6} Nbd7 8. e3 O-O 9. Nf3 c6 {Black would get more play with 9...c5} 10. Rd1 Ne8 (10... b6 11. Be2 Bb7 12. O-O dxc4 13. Bxc4 c5 14. dxc5 Qc8 {is about even. Gurevich,D (2540)-Kasimdzhanov,R (2565) Dordrecht 1998}) 11. Bg3 {[%mdl 32]} Nd6 12. c5 Nf5 13. Bf4 b6 14. b4 bxc5 15. bxc5 Qa5 16. Bd3 Nh4 17. Nxh4 Bxh4 18. Bd6 {It's rather unusual to see a B rather than a N on such an advanced outpost.} Re8 19. O-O e5 {Rather than this advance black should have challenges the B on d6 with 19...Be7 with equal chance. Now after all the jockying for position of the last several moves white now gets a nore active position.} 20. Bh7+ Kh8 21. Bf5 exd4 22. exd4 Nf8 {[%mdl 32]} 23. Bxc8 Raxc8 24. Rd3 Bf6 25. Rfd1 Ne6 {Threatening the d-Pawn.} 26. Ne2 {[%mdl 8192] This is a serious tactical blunder. Now it's Black To Play And Win.} (26. h3 {and white has nothing to worry about; black can only mark time with moves like 26...h5 or 26...Kh8, but he should avoid} Nxd4 27. Rxd4 Bxd4 28. Rxd4 {when altgough the winning process was long and arduous white scored 5-0 in Shootouts.} Qxa3) 26... Nxd4 {[%mdl 512] Taking advantage of white's weak back rank.} 27. Rxd4 (27. Qd2 Nxe2+ 28. Kf1 Nc3 {Black has won a piece.} 29. Rxc3 Qxc3 30. Qxc3 Bxc3) 27... Bxd4 28. Rxd4 {White is lost, but this gross oversight allows a rare occurrence in play at this level...a checkmate} Qe1# {Of all the World Chapions Euwe pribably had more games containing gross blunders like in this game than any of them. Even so, Chessmetrics estimated him to have been the world's #1 ranked player for 14 different months in 1936 and 1937.} 0-1

Play the Clemenz Opening!?

    The Clemenz Opening (1.h3) is named after Hermann Clemenz (1846–1908) an Estonian player who played it in a tournament in St. Petersburg in 1873. He was born in Dorpat which today is Tartu, Estonia. He began his chess career in his native town, then lived in St. Petersburg, where he participated in several tournaments. 

    The opening achieves nothing in terms of development or control of the center and it makes no attempt to exploit white’s first move advantage. By playing in the center and gaining a slight lead in development black can try to exploit the fact that white has wasted time with 1.h2, bit there is no refutation. The Clemenz is probably best described as indifferent. 

    Nevertheless, IM Michael Basman has experimented with it and sometimes follows it up with 2.g4 as in the Grob Attaxk (1.g4) or 2.a3 followed by a quick c2–c4, a line that has been dubbed the Creepy Crawly or the Global Opening. The 1990 Great Britain Championship was held in Eastbourne anf was won by James Plaskeyy with a 9-1 score. 

    The participants in this game were: Michael Basman (2370) who finished wit a 6-4 score which left him tied for places 22-32 (out of 74) and Niall Carton (2220) who scored 5-5 and tied for places 46-51.

 

 

[Event "British Chamo, Eastbourne"] [Site "Eastbourne ch-GB"] [Date "1990.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Michael Basman"] [Black "Niall Carton"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A00"] [Annotator "Stocjfish 17"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "1990.??.??"] {A00: Clemenz/Anderssen Opening} 1. h3 {The Clemenz Opening.} e5 {Here are the top four Stockfish replies. All result in complete equality, so there appears to be no refutation to white's strange beginning.} (1... e5 2. e4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Ba5 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 Re8 7. b4 Bb6 8. O-O d5 9. d3 c6 10. Bg5 d4) (1... d5 2. d4 c5 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nf3 g6 5. Bb5+ Bd7 6. Be2 Bg7 7. O-O O-O 8. c3 Bf5 9. Nbd2 Qc7 10. a4 Rc8) (1... Nf6 2. d4 d5 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Qb6 5. Nc3 Qxb2 6. Nb5 Na6 7. Rb1 Qxa2 8. Ra1 Qb2 9. Rb1 Qa2 {White can repeat moves with 10.Ra1 or play 10.dxc5. Either way the evaluation is 0.00}) (1... c5 2. e4 g6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. Bc4 Bg7 5. c3 e6 6. d4 d5 7. exd5 exd5 8. Bb3 cxd4 9. cxd4 Nge7 10. O-O Be6) 2. a3 {The Clemenz Opening is combined with the Anderssen Opening (1.a3).} (2. c3 d5 3. d4 f6 4. dxe5 fxe5 5. e4 Nf6 6. Be3 {Black is slightly better. Prohaszka,P (2331)-Pilgaard,K (2415) Budapest FS09 GM 2005}) 2... g6 {A novelty, but any reasonable move is playable.} (2... a5 {Weird. It makes no sense, but the position remains equal.} 3. c4 Nc6 4. Nc3 g6 5. g4 h5 6. gxh5 Rxh5 {Black is a wee but better. Basman,M (2365)-Quinn,M BCF-ch 79th Plymouth 1992 (2)}) (2... f5 3. g4 d5 4. gxf5 Bxf5 5. d3 Nf6 6. Bg2 Bc5 {B;ack is better. Kaplan,A (2146)-Djokic,M (2192) Titled Tue, chess.com INT 2023}) 3. d4 Bg7 4. dxe5 Nc6 5. Nc3 Nxe5 6. e4 {Even with offbeat opening general pronciples are still valids. With this move whte stakes a claim in the center} d6 7. Nf3 Nxf3+ 8. Qxf3 {In spite of his bizarre opening play white ha incurred no disadvantage.} Be6 9. Be2 h6 10. Be3 Ne7 11. Rd1 a6 12. O-O Nc6 13. Qg3 h5 {Black is taking the wrong approach and ends up leaving his K in the center too long...a violation of general principles.} (13... Bxc3 $14 {is superior.} 14. bxc3 Qe7 15. Rb1 O-O-O {with about equal chances.}) 14. f4 {White is more active.} h4 {Black could still have played in the note to the last move. After this his troubles multiply.} 15. Qf2 {His best tey was still 15...Bxc3} Bd7 16. Nd5 {The N is destined to do some damage.} Be6 17. c4 {White has two good plans. This advance on the Q-side and the advance of the f-Pawn.} Qd7 (17... Bxd5 18. cxd5 Ne7 19. Bd4 Bxd4 20. Qxd4 {followed by f5 when white's attack will prove decisive.}) 18. b4 {Can black castle out of trouble? Let's see.} f5 (18... O-O 19. f5 {...ripping the guts out of black's position.} Bxd5 (19... gxf5 20. exf5 Bxf5 21. Qxf5 Qxf5 22. Rxf5 {Black has lost a piece.}) 20. exd5 Nb8 (20... Ne7 21. f6) 21. f6 Bh8 22. Rd4 {and white is winning.}) (18... O-O-O 19. Rb1 Ne7 20. b5 a5 21. Rfd1 Bxd5 22. cxd5 {and if black tried to stop the advance of white's b-Pawn with...} b6 {wite wins with...} 23. Bxb6 cxb6 24. Qxb6 Qb7 25. Qxa5 {The K has to flee.} Kd7 26. b6 Ke8 27. a4) 19. exf5 Bxf5 20. Bf3 {Also good was the immediate 20.c5} Kf8 21. c5 Re8 (21... dxc5 22. Bxc5+ Kf7 23. Nb6) 22. cxd6 cxd6 23. Nb6 Qc7 24. Nc4 Qe7 {Losing a piece, but his position was hopeless anyway.} 25. Rfe1 Nd4 26. Bxd4 {Black resigned.} 1-0

Viktor Goglidze

    Yesterday saw a swath of cold drizzle 250 miles wide and 800 miles long that hung around all day. It was a good day to browse some old chess books. The one I selected was The Soviet School of Chess by Kotov and Yudovich. 

    It was first translated from the Russian and published by the Foreign Languages Publishing House (Moscow) in 1958. If you can find it, this original edition is the one to get. 

    It’s full of propaganda, but it contains bios of many of the older Russian players. Unfortunately many of them have been deleted from the new editions, for example, Bondarevsky, Levenfish, Korchnoi, etc. In my first edition, there is an entire chapter on Alekhine, who the authors claimed was Russia’s greatest player; it’s missing from later editions. 

    One of the old Russian Masters in my book is Viktor Goglidze (November 27, 1905 – September 15,1964, 58 years old) who was awarded the IM title in 1950.

    In 1925, at the age of 20, he won the championship of Tbiliai in where he displayed a good understanding of positional play and he demonstrated the ability to put up a tenacious defense. 

    After a number of major successes in local tournaments he fought a stubborn and thrilling match against Nikolai Grigoriev which he lost by a score of +4 -5 =1. Taking into account the lessons he learned from that match which disclosed shortcomings in his play, in 1930, after making a good showing in tournaments in the Ukraine, Uzbek and other local events, Goglidze beat Vladimir Nenarokov 7.5-4.5 in a classification match and so gained his Soviet Master title. 

    Shortly before the outbreak of WWII he was awarded the title of Soviet Honored Master and in 1950 a publishing house in Tbilisi published a book of his best games.

 

 

    His opponent in the following game was Vsevolod Rauzer (1908-1941, 33 years old) who was the Ukrainian champion in 1927 and joint champion in 1933. After 1937, ill health brought Rauzer's playing career to an end. Confined to a mental hospital, he died during the siege of Leningrad in 1941. His contributions to opening theory influenced play long after his death. 

    The game starts out slowly, but what looks like a small slip by Rauzer quickly proves to be into a disaster. When black resigned he could have played on on hopes that white would botch the win.

 

[Event "Semi-Finals USSR Chp, Tbilisi"] [Site "Tbilisi"] [Date "1934.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Viktor Goglidze"] [Black "Vsevolod Rauzer"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D37"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "1934.??.??"] {E14: Queen's Indian: Classical Variation} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Be2 b6 7. O-O Bb7 8. b3 Nbd7 9. Bb2 c5 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Nxd5 Bxd5 12. Rc1 Rc8 13. Ba6 Rc7 14. Qe2 Qa8 15. Rfd1 Bb7 16. Bxb7 Qxb7 17. dxc5 Nxc5 18. Qc4 {Bored yet? The action will pick up shortly.} (18. Be5 Rcc8 19. Rc2 Nd7 20. Bb2 Bf6 21. Bxf6 Nxf6 22. Rdc1 {It's no surprise that Petran,P (2320)-Lipka,J (2419) Austria 2014 was eventually drawn.}) 18... Rcc8 19. Qg4 f6 {This weakens the K's position. After the better 19...g6 the B can cover the dark squares.} 20. Nd4 {[%mdl 128] Positionally white can claim to be better if for o otyher reasin that he has K-side attacking chances. Still, black's position is not horrible and so what could go wrong?} Qd7 {Plenty! Putting hs Q opposite white's R on an open file simply cannot be good. A A puzzle-like move to finish the game has escaped Rauzer's attention.} (20... h5 {Hoping to get the Q off line of his K was worth a try.} 21. Qxh5 (21. Qg6 Qd5 {Black is holding on.}) 21... Rfd8 {and with luck black maybe able to survive although it's unlikely; in Shootouts white scored +4 -0 =1}) 21. b4 {Driving the N to a useless location on the edge of the board.} h5 22. Qg6 {This is better now than in the note because black has to move the N and so doesn't have time to play ...Qd5} Na4 {White can afford to simply ignore the threat to his B.} (22... Rfd8 {offers no salvation.} 23. Qxh5 (23. Nf5 Qxd1+ 24. Rxd1 Rxd1#) 23... Na4 24. Nc6 {and it's all over for black.}) 23. Nf5 {Threatening both mate and the Q leaves black hopeless.} Qxd1+ (23... Bd6 {Shields the Q and guards g7, but white still wins after} 24. Rxc8 Rxc8 25. Rxd6 Qf7 26. Nh6+ Kh8 27. Nxf7+ Kg8 {White mates in 3} 28. Rd7) 24. Rxd1 exf5 25. Bd4 Bxb4 26. Qxf5 {Black resigned. He might have played on because even though white has a winning material advantage the winning process is somewhat tedious.} (26. Qxf5 {A likely continuation might be} Rfd8 27. Qxh5 Bc3 28. g3 Bxd4 29. Rxd4 Nc5 30. Rxd8+ Rxd8 31. h4 Ne6 32. g4 Nf8 33. Qf5 Rd6 34. Kg2 Kf7 35. Qf4 Re6 36. Qc7+ Re7 37. Qc4+ Re6 38. Kg3 a5 39. Qc7+ Kg8 40. Qd8 Kf7 41. h5 Kg8 42. Qc7 Nh7 43. Qc4 Nf8 44. f4 Kh7 45. Qd3+ Kg8 46. Kf3 Re7 47. Qb3+ Rf7 48. Qxb6 a4 49. a3 Re7 50. Qc6 Ne6 51. Qxa4 Kf7 52. Qb3 Ke8 53. a4 Kd7 54. Qb5+ Kd8 55. a5 Nc7 56. Qb8+ Kd7 57. a6 Re8 58. a7 Rd8 59. Qb3 Kc6 60. Qf7 Nd5 61. Qxg7 Re8 62. e4 Nc7 63. Qxf6+ {with an elementary win.}) 1-0

Levenfish Plays Like Stockfish

    In describing Levenfish’s play in The Soviet School of Chess, Kotov and Yudovich wrote, “Levenfish’s style in the middlegame is universal. He has an excellent command of the methods of positional maneuvering and a keen grasp of strategy...His chief strong point however is tactics. A resourceful tactician, he plans complex and disguised combinations, foresees combinational attacks long ahead of time, sets ingenious traps and conceives combinational blows which at first glance appear impossible.” 

    Other terms used to describe his play include terms such as smashing attack, a stunning blow, a sledge hammer blow, etc. Who wouldn’t want to play over his games? Unfortunately no collection of his games exist in English. 

    Awarded the Soviet GM title in 1950, Grigory Levenfish (1889-1961) was born in Poland. He was Leningrad champion in 1922, 1924 and 1925 (jointly). He won the USSR Championship in 1934/35) (jointly with Ilya Rabinovich) and 1937. 

    He drew a match with Mikhail Botvinnik (+5 -5 =3) in 1037, but that was to be the last major success of his chess career although before the war he won a match against Vladimir Alatortsev in 1940 (+5 -2 =7). 

    As mentioned, Levenfish's play was marked by elegant combinations, unexpected tactical blows and deep endgame analysis. Chessmetrics estimates his highest ever rating to have been 2677 which came in 1939 and his best world ranking to have been #9 in 1938.

    Unlike Alekhine, Bogoljubov, Nimzovich and Rubinstein, he was one of the few pre-revolutionary masters who didn't end up abroad. He successfully passed on his knowledge to the first generation of young Soviet players, authoring a book on openings and along with Smyslov, a book on Rook endings. 

    In the following game his opponent was Vyachesvlav Ragozin (1908-1962), another Soviet GM, both OTB and in correspondence play. Ragozin won the 2nd Correspondence World Championship (1956-1959. For many years he served as Botvinik’s sparring partner. He was also active in FIDE affairs, edited Shakhmaty v SSSR magazine and wrote an excellent book on first Botvinnik - Tal Match in 1960. Ragozin died in Moscow in 1962 while compiling a collection of his own games. His friends completed the book which was published in 1964. 

 

J.J, O'Hanlon

    John J. O'Hanlon was born in Portadown, a town in Northern Ireland and he passed away in Dublin on February 20, 1960. He was the Irish Chess Championship nine times, the first time in 1913 and the last in 1940. He also played in several British championships. 

    In international play O'Hanlon’s successes included sharing 1st with Max Euwe at Broadstairs in 1921 and tying for 1st–3rd with Marcel Duchamp and Vitaly Halberstadt at Hyeres in 1928. He also played for Ireland in unofficial and official Olympiads at Paris 1924, Warsaw 1935 and Buenos Aires 1939. 

    Poor health which had prevented his taking part in tournament play for a number of years, but at the time of his death he was overhauling his opening repertoire in preparation for the 1961 Irish championship. After his death a series of five tournaments in his memory were played at the Dublin Chess Club from 1960 to 1965 where he had been a member. 

    O'Hanlon was popular with Irish players and non-players alike as well as players in places like Hastings, Amsterdam, Moscow, Prague and Munich because of his gentlemanly manners. In his youth he was an oarsman who won trophies at regattas all over Ireland. In addition, he was a strong long distance swimmer. 

    The Irish Chess Union was founded in 1912 and O'Hanlon won the first two. He played in every championship, except in 1927, from 1913 to 1956 and on his last appearance he was eighty years old. 

    The First Irish Chess Union Championship was held in 1913 even though there had been a competition for the title during the period 1865 to 1893 when a number of different organizations had organized Irish Championships. 

    As a result of his play in England he had contact with the German master (who was a resident in England for many years) George Shories and towards the end of 1912 they played a series of 19 friendly games while Shories was on a visit to Ireland. O’Hanlon won 7, drew 1 and lost 11. It was those games that sharpened O'Hanlon's play and prepared him for his attempt to win the Irish championship in 1913. 

    In the following game O'Hanlon's opponent gets mauled. They were to play is a 5 game match to determine the Irish champion, but after O’Hanlon won the first three the match was concluded. 

    Ronald George Doxpn Addey (1882-1956) was a civil engineer employed by the local government in the northwest of Ireland. He was a notable player and around the time of World War One his name regularly appeared in tournaments. 

    "Mr. Dixon Addey belongs to Castlebar and is undoubtedly the best chess player in the West of Ireland. He has competed four times in the British Chess Federation tournaments. The first time was in 1909, when he entered the first class, but, not being accustomed to tourney play, he did not make as good a score as his play deserved. In 1910 he competed in the first class at Oxford, making a better score. In 1912 he played in the first class at Richmond and tied for third prize. Last year he competed at Chester in the major open tournament, and tied for fourth place." (Belfast Newsletter, May 6, 1912) 

[Event "Match, Iroah Champ"] [Site "?"] [Date "1915.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "John J. O'Hamlon"] [Black "R.G.D. Addey"] [Result "*"] [ECO "D07"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "53"] [SourceVersionDate "2024.11.11"] {D07: Queen's Gambit: Chigorin Defense} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6 {This is the unorthodox Chigotin Defense that's better than its reputation becuuse it develops with a direct effect on the center.} 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. cxd5 Bxf3 5. gxf3 Qxd5 6. e3 Nf6 {This plausible developing move is not so good for reasons that soon become apparent.} (6... e6 7. Nc3 Qd7 8. f4 Nge7 9. Bd2 Nf5 10. Qa4 Be7 11. O-O-O {White has the more active position. Smyslov,V (2575)-Castro Rojas,O (2425) Sao Paulo 1978} O-O {1-0 (21)}) (6... O-O-O 7. Nc3 Qh5 8. f4 Qxd1+ 9. Kxd1 e6 10. Bd2 Nf6 {White's position is preferable. Koustav,C (2429)-Biolek,R (2446) Olomouc 2019}) 7. Nc3 Qd8 8. d5 Ne5 9. f4 Ned7 10. Qb3 {Now it’s pretty clear what was wrong with black’s 6th move: white has complete control of the center and black has lost a lot of time with his N’s. Also, he is facing difficulty castling. There is also the problem of how to defend his b-Pawn..which does not seem to have a solution.} Nc5 11. Qb5+ Nfd7 12. b4 c6 13. Qe2 (13. dxc6 {is also quite playable, but whute has more ambitious plans.} bxc6 14. Qxc6 Rc8 15. Qg2 Ne6 16. Bb2 {White has what should amount to a winning position.}) 13... Na6 {The N is out of play and the b-Pawn is its feeble defender.} 14. dxc6 Rc8 15. cxd7+ Qxd7 16. Qb2 Nxb4 {Retreating to c7 would not have helped his position.} 17. Qxb4 a6 18. Qb3 Qc6 19. Qa4 b5 { Of course black is reluctant to trade Q’s in this situation, but even this move meets a clever refutation!} 20. Nxb5 $1 {[%mdl 512]} Kd8 (20... axb5 21. Bxb5) 21. Bd2 axb5 {Black's position is most miserable!} 22. Ba5+ Rc7 23. Bxc7+ Kxc7 24. Qa7+ Kc8 25. Bh3+ e6 26. O-O Bc5 27. Rac1 {Black resigned...several moves too late.} *

Lhamsuren Myagmarsuren

    The Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia only lists about two dozen Mongolian players, but the first internationally known player was Lhamsuren Myagmarsuren (born February 17, 1938). 

    He was awarded the International Master title in 1966 and his peak rating was 2380 which he achieved in 971. He qualified for the the Interzonal tournament in Sousse, Tunisia 1967 where he finished with a 6.5-14.5 score and tied for 19th place (out of 22) with IM Miguel Cuellar of Columbia. 

     Myagmarsuren was the Mongolian champion in 1965, 1980, 1981 and 1982 and played for Mongolia in the Chess Olympiads from 1960 to1982 where at Leipzig in 1960 he won an individual gold medal at fourth board with a +14 –1 =5 score.  

    His opponent on the following game was Julio Garcia Spticco (1930-2020) of Bolivia. An educator of some reputation. If you read Spanish there is a nice tribute to him HERE. It’s interesting to compare the N’s. White’s N maneuvers accomplish something whereas black’s do not. 

 

[Event "Leipzig Olympiad Qualifier"] [Site "Leipzig GDR"] [Date "1960.10.23"] [Round "7"] [White "Lhamsuren Myagmarsuren"] [Black "Julio Garcia Soruco"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "1960.10.17"] [Source "Olimpbase"] {B80: Sicilian} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. f3 e6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Qd2 Bd7 9. Be2 (9. g4 {Tis aggressive move serves white better.} b5 10. O-O-O Nc6 11. g5 Nh5 12. Nce2 Qa5 13. Qxa5 Nxa5 14. Ng3 Nxg3 15. hxg3 { White is slightly better. Caprio,G (2299)-Shytaj,L (2475) Spoleto 2011}) 9... b5 {[%mdl 32]} 10. a4 b4 11. Na2 a5 12. Nb5 O-O 13. g4 Ne8 {Black begins losing a lot of time with his Ns, but tjere does not seem to be any effective plans available. On the other hand his position has no real weaknesses.} 14. O-O-O Na6 15. b3 {[%mdl 2048] Preferable was 15...Nc5} Bc6 16. Kb1 {This makes room to reposition his N.} Qd7 17. Nc1 Nac7 18. Nd4 Bb7 19. h4 {Black has not accomplished anything in the way of Q-side counterplay whereas whits no begins his K-sdie attack. It's hard to believe, but blacks position will collapse in just a handful of moves.} Ba6 20. g5 f5 21. Nd3 fxe4 22. fxe4 Bb7 23. Nf2 Na6 { A tactical error that loses quickly. His best try, 23...e5, would not be sufficient to equalize, but at least it would have avoided immediate disaster.} 24. Nxe6 {...and wins.} Rxf2 (24... Qxe6 25. Bc4 d5 26. exd5 Qd6 27. Ne4 { and white has a winning position.}) 25. Bxf2 Bxe4 26. Bc4 Kh8 27. Rhe1 Bf5 28. Bxa6 (28. Qf4 {was also very strong.} Bxe6 29. Bxe6 Qc7 30. Bd4 Qd8 31. Bd5 Rc8 32. Qf7 {and black cannot avoid mate.}) 28... Bxe6 29. Bb5 Qc8 30. Bxe8 { Bkacj resigned} (30. Bxe8 Qxe8 31. Rxe6 {and black is short a R.}) 1-0

An Intuitive and Spectacular Sacrifice by Bronstein

    Intuition is a form of knowledge that appears in consciousness without obvious deliberation. Hunches (feelings or guesses based on intuition rather than known facts) are generated by the unconscious mind after rapidly sifting through past experience and cumulative knowledge. “Gut feelings” tends to arise quickly, without awareness of all of the information. 

    David Bronstein (1924-2006) was not only a great player, but a great author. In 1951 he drew a world title match against Botviinik; he was probably warned by Soviet authorities that he had better not win. 

    In the following rather well known game Bronstein intuitively sacrificed a piece for two Pawns with the idea that his Pawn center would restrict his opponent’s pieces and that would compensate for his opponent's small material advantage. 

    His opponent, Ernst Rojahn (1909-1977), was born in Tonsberg, Norway and was Norwegian Champion in 1945 and 1958. He played in the Olympiads in 1939, 1952, 1966 and 1958. The game was played in the qualifying round of the 1956 Olympiad held in Moscow.

[Event "Moscow ol (Men) qual-A"] [Site "Moscow URS"] [Date "1956.09.05"] [Round "5"] [White "David Bronstein"] [Black "Ernst Rojahn"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C58"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "1956.??.??"] {C58: Two Knights Defense} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 {[%mdl 32]} 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. d3 {Far more popular than this questionable move is 6.Bb5+, but Bronstein has a spectacular dea up his sleeve;} h6 7. Nf3 e4 8. dxe4 {The book line is 6.Qe2, but Bronstein has an fantastic idea; he sacrifices the B to gain a preponderance in the center, Engines give black a Pawn and a half advantage} (8. Nd4 {is an interesting idea that doesn't quite work to white's advantahe.} Bc5 9. Be3 exd3 10. Bb5+ c6 11. dxc6 O-O 12. Qxd3 {with complications that worled out in black's favor in Trapl,J (2400)-Mikhalchishin, A (2520) Karvina 1987}) 8... Nxc4 {Black has to accept the sacrifice otherwise white gets the upper hand.} (8... Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Bxd2+ 10. Nbxd2 Nxc4 11. Nxc4 { with both a solid material and positional afvantage.}) 9. Qd4 Nb6 (9... Nd6 { is also playable.} 10. Nbd2 Bg4 11. Ne5 Bh5 12. O-O g6 13. Nd3 Bg7 14. c4 O-O 15. Qe3 Re8 16. f3 Nf5 17. Qe1 Nd4 18. Qd1 Nxe4 19. Nxe4 Rxe4 20. g4 Nxf3+ 21. Qxf3 Rxg4+ 22. Kh1 Rg1+ 23. Kxg1 Bxf3 24. Rxf3 Qe7 {0-1 Triana,J (2330)-Castro Rojas,O (2380) Cienfuegos 1976}) 10. c4 {Bronstein has sacrificed a piece for two Ps and a dominating center.} (10. O-O {favors black.} Be7 {Too slow. Either 10. ..g5 or 10...c5 are better.} 11. c4 O-O 12. Nc3 c6 13. e5 cxd5 14. c5 {with huge complications. Serikbayev,Y (2325)-Filippov,A (2558) Karaganda 2009}) 10... c5 {The engines prefer 10...Nbd7 and 11...Bf5} (10... Bb4+ 11. Nbd2 Qe7 12. O-O Bc5 13. Qd3 Nbd7 14. h3 O-O {Black is better. Manea,A (2301) -Sofronie, I (2399) Baile Tusnad 2001}) (10... c6 {has been recommended with the ideas of returning the piece and gaining the two Bs.} 11. O-O (11. c5 { this was the suggested move, bot is is completely wrong.} Nbd7 12. d6 b6 13. b4 bxc5 14. bxc5 Qa5+ 15. Nc3 Qxc5 {with a huge advantage.}) 11... cxd5 12. cxd5 g5 13. Be3 Bg7 14. Qb4 Nfd7 {Black is slightly better.}) 11. Qd3 Bg4 12. Nbd2 Be7 {At this point black's advantage has disappeared and white can claim sufficient compensation for his sacrifice.} 13. O-O O-O 14. Ne5 Bh5 15. b3 (15. f4 {liks aggressive, but with careful play black shoulf emerge with the advantage.} Nfd7 16. Nef3 Bg6 17. Qe3 Re8 18. e5 {but here, too, black should be OK if he is careful.}) 15... Nbd7 16. Bb2 Nxe5 17. Bxe5 Nd7 $1 18. Bc3 Bf6 { Eliminating a potentially threatening piece.} 19. Rae1 Bxc3 20. Qxc3 {Black now needs to prevent further advance in the center and so needs to play 20... f3. Instead he allows Bronstein to advance his P with a gain of time.} Qf6 { After tjis Bronstein's play has been completely justified as he now has the advantage.} (20... f6 21. f4 b5 {Counterattack!} 22. e5 (22. cxb5 a6 { Continuing the counterattaxk.} 23. a4 axb5 24. axb5 Bf7 {Stopping e5. His next move will be .. .Nc5 with plenty of play.}) 22... fxe5 23. fxe5 Rxf1+ 24. Rxf1 bxc4 25. bxc4 Qg5 26. e6 Nf6 {with enormous complications! In Shootouts white scored +1 -1 =3}) 21. e5 {[%mdl 1024]} Qf5 22. f4 Bg6 23. Ne4 {His last piece is brought in to action.} Rab8 24. Qf3 Bh7 {Black is pretty much reduced to just shifting piece.} 25. g4 {Watch white's Ps roll!} Qg6 26. f5 Qb6 27. Qg3 f6 28. e6 Ne5 29. h4 Kh8 30. g5 Rbc8 31. Kh1 Qd8 32. g6 Bxg6 (32... Bg8 {is no better.} 33. d6 b5 34. e7) 33. fxg6 {All hope of saving the game for black is gone.} b5 34. d6 Qb6 35. d7 Nxd7 36. exd7 Rcd8 37. Nxf6 {The finishing touch.} Qc6+ (37... Rxf6 38. Re8+ Rxe8 39. dxe8=Q+ Rf8 40. Qxf8#) 38. Qg2 {Black resigned, A spectacular game by Bronstein.} 1-0

An Early Compiter Tournament

    In 1980 we could buy chess computers. For example, there was the Voice Chess Challenger, The First Thinking Chess Game That Speaks To You. It played 40 openings consisting of 1,200 moves. On some settings it it displayed the best move and it could play itself. You could also set up problems. It had 10 levels of play. The response time for levels 1-9 ranged from 5 seconds to 11 minutes per move plus there was am Infinite level. The cost: $245.95 plus $3.00 for shipping and fondling...that’s the equivalent of almost $950 today. The average wage in 1980 was $12,513.46 a year, so the computer was not cheap.      

    One of the best machines was Belle. It was developed by Joe Condon (the hardware) and Ken Thompson (the software) at Bell Labs. In 1983, it was the first machine to achieve master-level play with a USCF rating of 2250.      

    Belle's final incarnation was the third generation that was completed in 1980. It consisted of further improvements to the speed of move generation and evaluation. Depending on the stage of the game, it examined 100,000 to 200,000 moves per second.      

    CHAOS (Chess Heuristics And Other Stuff) was one of the leading programs since it first appeared in 1973 until the mid-80s. It examines only about about 10,000 movrd per move. Its book contains about 10,000 lines. It was slow, but it evaluated positions accurately. Its weakness was that it missed deep tactics.     

    You will, no doubt, find the following site amusing: 7 Fun and Funky Vintage Chess Computers. I had one of the set listed...Boris which appeared in February 1978. 

    The computer came housed in a very nice wooden box measuring 10” x 7” x 3-1/2” and had a small folding board and a travel size set. The cost was $350, that’s nearly $1,700 in today’s dollars. It wasn’t very strong and I eventually threw away the guts and kept the box which today sits on a dresser and holds loose change, watches, keys, etc.      

    In 1978, in San Jose, California, the First Microcomputer Chess Tournament, held in March. To be eligible to the computer shad to be small enough to attend, that is, no phone hookups were allowd, they had to have less than 32K of memory, and be based on 8-bit microprocessor chips.  

  

    In the event of crashes and games which promised to go on and on without any result the TYD could adjudicate the game. Some of the programs running in the old, simple BASIC programming language could not meet the 50 moves in 2 hour time limit and they were paired in a separate matches. Boris, Chess Challenger and Compu-Chess were off-the-shelf consumer products. Commodore Chessmate was a prototype of a consumer product that was expected to be available later tin the year.

 

 

[Event "1st Microcomputer Tmt, San Jose"] [Site "?"] [Date "1978.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Process Technology"] [Black "Sargon"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B00"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "50"] [EventDate "1978.??.??"] {B00: Irregular Defense} 1. e4 e5 2. d4 Nc6 {Questionable. 2...exd4 is best.} 3. dxe5 {Humans have overwhelmingly played 3.Nf3 here although the text and 3. dxe5 are better.} Bb4+ {Best is the simple 3...Nxe5} (3... Qh4 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bd2 Nxe5 6. Nf3 Nxf3+ 7. Qxf3 d6 {White is considerably better and eventually won. Ulybin,M (2550)-Vlassov,N (2395) Berlin 1996}) 4. c3 Bc5 5. Nf3 Qe7 6. Bf4 Nh6 {Thus is one of those rare occasions where ...f6 is actually better.} (6... f6 7. exf6 Nxf6 (7... Qxe4+ 8. Be2 Nxf6 9. Bxc7 {favors white}) 8. Nbd2 (8. e5 d6 {Black is slightly better.}) 8... Nxe4 {is equal.}) 7. Bxh6 gxh6 {White has managed to come out of the opening whith a slight advantage assuming his next move is 8.Qd5 or 8.b4} 8. Bb5 Rg8 {Although 8...Nxe5 is perfectly acceptable the R has a great future here!} 9. Bxc6 dxc6 10. O-O {Castling into trouble. 10.g3 was correct.} Bh3 {It's somewhat surprising that the white program missed this move.} 11. Nbd2 {A major tactical error missing the fact that after this black has a mate in 5. The only chances was 11.g3 which turns out not to be as wretched as it looks!} (11. g3 h5 (11... Bxf1 12. Qxf1 {and white actually has sufficient compensation for the exchange!}) 12. Kh1 (12. Re1 h4 13. Nd4 O-O-O {White has kept the exchange and his f-Pawn is safe, bit at the cost of gicing black a very strong attack.}) 12... h4 13. Nbd2 O-O-O {and black has good prospects.}) 11... Rxg2+ {This wins, but Sargon has also missed the mate.} (11... Bxg2 12. Re1 Bxf3+ 13. Kf1 Rg1+ 14. Kxg1 Qg5+ 15. Kf1 Qg2#) 12. Kh1 Rg6 13. Re1 {White is lost, but this allows mate in 5 which could only be avoided by 13.Rg1} (13. Rg1 Bxf2 14. Rxg6 hxg6 {Black has what should amount to a winning advantage.}) 13... Bxf2 {Again missing the mate, not that it matters because the text still wins.} (13... Bg2+ 14. Kg1 Bxf3+ 15. Kf1 Rg1+ 16. Kxg1 Qg5+ 17. Kf1 Qg2# {just like before.}) 14. Rg1 Bxg1 15. Nc4 (15. Nxg1 Bg2#) 15... Rd8 (15... Bg2+ 16. Kxg1 Bxf3+ {picks up the Q}) 16. Nfd2 b5 { Again, Sargon misses a mate.} (16... Bg2+ 17. Kxg1 Qc5+ 18. Ne3 Qxe3#) 17. Na3 Qxe5 {Guess what? 17...Bg2 mates} (17... Bg2+ 18. Kxg1 Qc5#) 18. Qe2 Rg2 { [%csl Gg1,Gg2][%cal Re5h2] Thus forces mate, but it's not the shortest.} (18... Rxd2 19. Rxg1 Rxg1+ 20. Kxg1 Rxe2 {mate next move.}) (18... Bg2+ {Again!} 19. Kxg1 Qc5+ 20. Qf2 Bh3+ 21. Kh1 Qxf2 {mate next move.}) 19. Nf3 Qe6 {Missing a quicker mate.} (19... Rxe2 20. Rxg1 Rxh2+ 21. Nxh2 Qxe4+ 22. Nf3 Qxf3+ 23. Kh2 Rd2+ 24. Rg2 Qxg2#) 20. Qe1 Bc5 (20... Qg4 {is quicker} 21. Qf1 Rdd2 22. Qxg1 Rxg1+ 23. Rxg1 Qxf3+ 24. Rg2 Qxg2#) 21. b4 Rxa2 (21... Qg4 {is quicker.} 22. Qf1 Rf2 23. Qxf2 Bxf2 24. Nh4 Qxe4+ 25. Ng2 Bxg2#) 22. bxc5 Bg2+ (22... Rxa1 { is quicker.} 23. Qxa1 Qg4 24. Qf1 Rd1 25. Ng1 Qxe4+ 26. Nf3 Rxf1#) 23. Kg1 Bxf3 24. Rxa2 Qxa2 25. Qf2 Rd1+ {White resigned. Fritz' tactical analysis assigned the progams the following unimpressive ratings, but it was a start. Better programs werte to come. Accuracy: White = 7%, Black = 39%.} 0-1

 

Continuing Down Memory Lane

    Continuing the stroll down memory lane I came across my one surviving game from the 1967 Ohio Championship. That was a memorable year if only because I had survived my 4 years in the military and was discharged at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. 

    American readers have probably seen the television commercials from law firms wanting to take on cases of people sickened by the contaminated water on the base. 

    Water on the base was contaminated from 1953 to 1987. The water was contaminated only at a couple of dependent housing areas mostly due to the disposal practices of an off base dry cleaner. I received letters from the Marine Corps for about two years. When the letters stopped the television ads by civilian law firms flooded television. Over a half a million claims have been filed, but only a very few have been settled. Lawyers get 20%. 

    1967 was a year of a lot of cultural change, political questioning and personal “liberation”. There was psychedelic rock music, young people in San Francisco were showing an interest in Eastern religions and communal living. 

    Racial unrest resulted in the "Long Hot Summer" and saw racial unrest in cities such as Detroit, Newark and Cincinnati. And, of course, there were protests against the Vietnam War. On a lighter note, Elvis married Priscilla Beaulieu in Las Vegas. 

    A leading German platyer of the 1930s, Ludwid Engels (1905-1967) died in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Former Irosh Champion James Creevey (1873-1967) died in Dublin at the age of 93. The 1956 French Champion French master Pierre Rolland (1926-1967) died in a car accident. IM Stefan Fazekas (1898-1967) died at the age of 69 in England; he was the British champion in 1957 at the age of 59. Sweden’s vteran GM Gideon Stahlberg (1908-1967) died of a liver ailment in Leningrad while there for a tournament. German IN and author Alfred Brinckmann (1891-1967) died in Kiel. Former Hungarian champ (1928) Arpad Vajda (1896-1967) died in Budapest of a gas leak from his oven. 

    Bobby Fischer took 1st place in the US Championship and at Monaco. Anatoly Karpov won the European Junior Championship in Groningen, Netherlands. 

    The 1967 Ohio Championship was held in Cincinnati. There were 56 players and Cleveland Master Tom Wozney scored 6.5 out of 7. He was followed by Experts om Mazuchowski of Toledo and Richard Noel of Cleveland. I have no idea what my score was, but I won the following rip snorter from a local player.

[Event "Ohio Championship, Cincinnati"] [Site ""] [Date "1967.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Tartajubow"] [Black "Opponent"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A83"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "1967.??.??"] {A83: Staunton Gambit} 1. d4 f5 2. e4 {Beiong a fan of Botvinnik I was fairly familiar with the Dutch, but knew nothing about the Staunton Gambit. The idea is to get quick development with the hopes of launching an attack against black's King. Although it was once a feared weapon theory has shown how to neutralize it.} fxe4 {Black can decline the gambit with 2...d6, transposing to the Balogh Defense, but accepting P is considered stronger.} 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 g6 5. f3 exf3 (5... d5 6. fxe4 dxe4 7. Bc4 Nc6 8. Nge2 Na5 9. Bb3 Nxb3 10. axb3 Bg7 11. Qd2 O-O 12. O-O b6 13. Rad1 Ba6 14. Qe3 Qd7 {is equal. Straka,V (2341) -Krnan,T (2430) Tatranske Zruby 2016}) 6. Nxf3 d5 7. Bd3 {So far both players have fiollowed known lines, but black's logical looking next move turns out to be in white's favor because it results in the exchange of a B for a N amd white gets pressure on the f-fi;e.} Bg4 (7... Bg7 8. Qe2 Nc6 9. O-O-O O-O { is equal. Ramirez Alvarez,A (2547)-Stopa,J (2493) Dallas 2009}) (7... Nc6 8. O-O Bg7 9. Ne5 O-O {is also about equal. Teichmann,R-Tartakower,S Berlin 1921}) 8. h3 Bxf3 9. Qxf3 c6 {Defending the d-Pawn was not really necessary.} (9... Bg7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. Nxd5 {regains the P, but after} Bh4+ 12. Ke2 Qd6 13. Rhf1 Nc6 {White's d-Pawn is attacked, but after} 14. c3 O-O-O 15. Ne3 {tjr chancesd are equal.}) 10. O-O-O Bg7 11. Rde1 {[%mdl 1024]} Nbd7 12. Rhf1 O-O 13. Qe3 Re8 14. Bh6 {Exchanging off black's B looks logical, but it allows black to seize the initiative with his next move. For that that reason 14.Qe6+ was correct. Then the cances would have been equal.} e5 {Very good!} 15. Bxg6 {This spur of the moment decision is completely unsound.} (15. Bxg7 {was worth a try.} Kxg7 16. dxe5 Rxe5 17. Qf2 {But here black is a solid P up.}) 15... hxg6 16. Qg5 Bxh6 17. Qxh6 {Now all black has to do is defend the h-Pawn with 17...Nf8. Instead...} e4 18. Qxg6+ Kf8 {Avoidung the draw and allowing white to gain the upper hand.} (18... Kh8 {is a draw by repitition.} 19. Qh6+ Nh7 {loses to} 20. Rf7) 19. g4 Re6 (19... Ke7 20. g5 Ng8 21. Rf7#) 20. g5 Ke7 21. gxf6+ Nxf6 22. Qg7+ Kd6 23. Qxb7 Qh8 {Going after the h-Pawn is a poor decision; it never gets captured. The Q was needed to defend the Q-side and so 23...Qb8 was called for.} 24. Na4 Rb8 25. Qxa7 {White's advantage is decisive.} Rb5 26. Nc5 Re7 27. Qa3 Kc7 28. Na6+ Kd7 29. Nc5+ Kc7 30. Nxe4 {Unablr to find a winning conrinuation, I played this which on;y resilts allowing black back in the game. } (30. Qg3+ Kb6 31. Qd6 {Attacking both the R and N wraps it up.} Rf7 32. Rxf6 Rxf6 33. Qxf6 Qg8 (33... Qxf6 34. Nd7+) 34. Qe7 Qc8 35. a4 Rb4 36. Re3 {etc.}) 30... Rxe4 31. Rxe4 Nd7 {[%mdl 8192] Black dis not realize he had been bluffed. } (31... Nxe4 32. Rf7+ Kc8 33. Qa8+ Rb8 34. Qxc6+ Kd8 35. Qd7#) (31... dxe4 { is a different story; it's still a fight.} 32. Qa7+ Kd6 33. a4 Rh5 34. Qf7 Qh6+ 35. Kb1 Nd7 {and the outcome is uncertain.}) 32. Qg3+ Kd8 33. Qh4+ Qxh4 34. Rxh4 {[%mdl 4096]} Kc7 35. Rf7 Rb8 36. Rhh7 Rd8 37. h4 Kc8 38. Rxd7 Rxd7 39. Rxd7 Kxd7 40. a4 {Black resigned. Accuracy: White = 59%, Black = 40%.} 1-0

Postal Nostalgia

    The other day I was going through some of my old games and some played in 1972 caught my attention. For readers who don’t remember 1972, girls were wearing maxi dresses (they reached to the floor, boo!), mini skirts (they reached mid-thigh, hooray!). 

    PONG became the first commercially successful video game. Digital watch made their debut and they were just as clunky as PONG. 

    The popular TV program Star Trek spawned Trekkies and the first Star Trek fan convention took place in New York City. HBO came to television making it possible to watch violence, nudity and obscenity right in the comfort of your own living room. 

    Players lost that year were Victor Soultanbeiff (1895-1972) the former Belgium champion. IM Georgy Lisitsin (1909-1972) died in Leningrad. Sir George Thomas (1881-1972) died in London at the age of 91. Kenneth Harkness (1896-1972) an organizer and creator of the Harkness rating system died on a train in Yugoslavia, on his way to Skopje to be an arbiter at the Chess Olympiad.

    Mikhail Tal won the Soviet Championship. Walter Browne won the National Open (on tiebreaks over Louis Levy) and the National Congress Premier Championship held in Chicago. Browne also won the US Open in Atlantic City. Anatoly Karpov, Tigran Petrosian and Lajos Portisch tied for first in Church’s Fried Chicken International in San Antonio. Finally, on September 2, 1972, Bobby Fischer became the World Champion when he defeated Boris Spassky. 

    It was also the year I played a correspondence game in the Finals of the U.S. Open Postal Championship against USCF Senior Master Arthur Feuerstein, a former (otb) U.S. Championship competitor, with a USCF rating of 2427 which ranked him #14 in the country. Fischer topped the list at 2825 and second place went to Lubomir Kavalek at 2573. I had some pretty good results and my rating was up around 2100. 

    I was primarily a correspondence player though and my postal rating with the USCF (which had absorbed the old Chess Review) was 1280. Feuerstein’s was 1514. The top rated player was a New York player named Reuben Klugman at 1846. 

    Sadly, Feuerstein (born in 1935) passed away on February 2, 2022. 

Feuerstein and I had previously met in 1970 in the semi-finals and I had black. I had a won game (4.75 Pawns to the good) according to Stockfish, but miscalculated a tactical sequence and lost! We met again in the finals and I was determined to do better. The following calamity was the result. 

[Event "U.S.Open Postal Champ Finals"] [Site ""] [Date "1972.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Tartajubow"] [Black "Arthur Feuerstein"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B99"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "58"] [EventDate "1972.??.??"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "ENG"] {B99: Sicilian Najdorf} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Be7 8. Qf3 Qc7 9. O-O-O Nbd7 10. g4 b5 11. Bxf6 Nxf6 12. g5 Nd7 13. a3 Rb8 14. h4 b4 15. axb4 Rxb4 16. Bh3 Qc5 17. Nb3 Qb6 {There's not much to say about the opening. I was using The Sicilian Flank Game by Albrec O'Kelly that was published in 1969, sp the opening was pretty up to date. Remember there was no Internet in those days. That was 10 years in the future.} 18. f5 {Evidently we had reached the end of the book line. This move looked logical to me and it's certainly an aggressive one, but it actually favors black if only slightly.} (18. Na2 {This is the engine's top choice. I played it later, but it was too late to equalize!} Rc4 19. Nc3 O-O 20. Rhe1 {with a completely equal (0.00) position.}) (18. Rhf1 O-O 19. f5 {Just like in my game this slightly favors black. At least I am not alone in thinking it was a good idea. White should offer to trade Qs with 19.Qf2 with equality.} Ne5 20. Qg3 Rd8 {More accurate is 20...a5 at once.} 21. h5 a5 22. g6 {The chances are about even. Manik,M (2385)-Navara,D (2466) Czechia 2001}) (18. h5 {An interesting possibility.} Nc5 19. Nxc5 Qxc5 20. Rhg1 a5 21. g6 fxg6 22. hxg6 h6 {with approximate equality. Oleksienko,M (2492)-Grekh,A (2294) Alushta 2005}) 18... Ne5 {This centralizes the N and gains a tempo by attacking the Q. After the Q moves off the f-file there's no attack along it after fxe6. If it goes to f4 then white has problems.} 19. Qg3 (19. Qf4 a5 20. Rhf1 a4 21. Nd2 Bd7 22. fxe6 fxe6 {White's attack has run out iof gas and black has a distinct advantage.}) 19... Bd7 20. Rhe1 {At this point I realized I did not have an attack and things were not going well, so the point of this move is to exchange Qs.} (20. Rhf1 a5 {White has no attack on the f-file so offering to trade Q was in order.} 21. Qg1 Qxg1 (21... a4 22. Qxb6 Rxb6 {and white is a little better.} 23. Nd4) (21... Qa6 22. Nd4 {with full equality.}) 22. Rxg1 g6 23. fxe6 fxe6 {and white has hopes of surviving.}) 20... a5 21. Na2 Rc4 22. Qe3 Qxe3+ 23. Rxe3 {Unfortunately the exchange of Qs has mot helped mu y position even a ltlle bit.} exf5 {After this total collapse is imminent.} 24. Bf1 (24. exf5 Rxh4 25. Rg3 Rxh3 26. Rxh3 Bxf5 {Material is about equal (R vs. B+2Ps, but in the long run black has a decisive advantage. A sample line...} 27. Rg3 Bg4 28. Rd5 Bxg5+ 29. Kb1 h5 30. Nc3 f5 31. Rg1 Nf3 32. Rh1 a4 33. Nxa4 Bf4 { and white cannot compete with black's active play on the K-side.}) 24... Rxe4 25. Rxe4 fxe4 26. Nc3 a4 27. Nd2 e3 28. Nde4 h6 29. Be2 hxg5 {White resigned. Fritz assigned white a accuracy rating of 29%. Feuerstein's accuracy rating? It was 92%. You can't compete with that!} 0-1