Friday, December 27, 2024

Bisguier Suffers Shingles – Slaughtered by Szabo

    
The 1955 Buenos Aires tournament, held at the Argentina Chess Club, was another in a string of successes for the twenty-two year old Borislav Ivkov. All he needed was a draw in the last round to clinch first which he duly obtained. 
    Fellow Yugoslav Svetozar Gligoric came a close second while third place finisher Herman Pilnik of Argentina was in remarkably good form. He started by defeating U.S. Champion Arthur Bisguier in the first round and stayed near or at the top all the way. 
    A youthful Oscar Panno, age 20, must have been disappointed, though he did make a plus score. Panno had won the World Junior Championship in 1953, finishing ahead of such future strong GMs as Borislav Ivkov, Bent Larsen and Fridrik Olafsson. He also won the championship of Argentina in 1953. 
 
 
    Bisguier’s showing was disappointing, but he had come down with a case of shingles. The rash itched horribly and made it impossible for him to sleep at night. His first round loss was indicative of what was to come. In the first half of the tournament he didn't win a single game, but he did pull up from a three point deficit to finish with a respectable score by defeating Gligorich in round 8, Sanguinetti in round 11, Reinhardt in round 13 and Donner in round 14. 
    Szabo's defeat of Bisguier was an instructive game. Bisguier repeated the passive defense that he had played earlier against Trifunovic. In that game, true to his style, Trifunovic also played passively resukting in a quick draw. Bisguier repeated the same line against Szabo who was not as peaceably inclined as Trifunovic had been. The result was a quick, smashing attack that sent Bisguier down in just a few more moves. 

A game that I liked (Fritz 17)

Laszlo SzaboArthur Bisguier1–0D46Buenos Aires03.05.1955Stockfish 17
D46: Semi-Slav 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.f3 f6 4.c3 e6 When black plays this without developing his B it’s the Semi-Slav. Black is threatening to capture the white pawn on c4, and hold it with b7-b5, but white can avoid this in many ways. 5.e3 bd7 Both 5...Bd6 and 5...Be7 are seldom seen, as masters realized early on that at e7, the B was passively placed and does nothing to further one of black’s aims, the freeing move ...e5. 6.d3 d6 The main variation of the Semi-Slav is the Meran Variation, 6... dxc4. 7.e4 Seldom seen, this aggressive move has given white good results in practice. dxe4 8.xe4 xe4 9.xe4 Here, as on the previous moves, both sides have had many alternatives.) f6 10.c2 b4+ 11.d2 xd2+ 12.xd2 This position has been reached many times and the outcomes have not been very favorable for black; his position is simply too passive. 0-0 At first glance it may not look like it, but this position is very much in white’s favor because he is superior in the center and his B has excellent prospects. On the other had, black’s B has almost no immediate prospects. 13.e5 Szabo will castle Q-side and launch a K-side P-storm. 13.0-0 was played in Petar Trifunovic-Arthur Bisguier Buenos Aires, 1955 c7 14.e3 b6 15.e5 b8 16.g5 a6 17.b3 c5 with a quick draw. 13...c7± 14.0-0-0 c5 15.e3 b6 This is too passive. Black must play vigorously wuth 15...b5 although white would still habe the better prospects. 16.dxc5 bxc5 Now that the situation in the enter has been clarifies Szabo launches what quickly becomes an irresistible attack on Bisguier's K. 17.g4 Practically ending the game. b8 18.hg1 b6 19.b3 b7 19...g6 prevents white's next move, but white maintains a winning position. 20.h4 c7 21.g5 h5 22.d2 e8 23.gd1 White will play f4 and black is at a loss for any reasonable continuation. 20.g5 e8 21.xh7+ Bisguier, an excellent tactician, must have been ill because otherwise there is no way he could have missed this conclusion! xh7 22.h3+ g8 23.g4 Mate is looming so black resigned. 23.g4 a5 24.h4 a3+ 25.b1 xb3+ 26.axb3 xb3+ 27.xb3 b7 28.h3 e4+ 29.c1 h7 30.xh7 g6 31.h8+ g7 32.h6# 1–0

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