David Polland

    David Polland of Brooklyn, New York appeared on the first USCF rating list on November 20, 1950 with a rating of 2521 making him one of the top dozen players in the country. While the ratings on that first list are not exactly comparable to the ratings of today it put him on a par with players like Dake, Denker, Kashdan, Horowitz and Reinfeld. 

    Polland’s name appears frequently in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle chess columns of the 1930s as having been particularly successful in speed tournaments in New York City. His major success was probably his first place in the US Open in Chicago in 1937.     

    Beyond that little is known. Two birth dates are given. Wikipedia says he was born in 1915 while on chessgamesdotcom his birthday is listed as being June 24, 1908. I believe the 1908 date is likely correct because there was an article in the January 25, 1926 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle stating he was attending City College of New York, so the 1908 birth date would have made him 18 years old at the time. He was also a member of the I.L. Rice Progressive Chess Club of Manhattan. 

    An interesting post appeared in the Actuarial Outpost forums in 2008 by someone who told of playing an "elderly gentleman" (whom the poster said was, by 2008, long deceased) back in the 1960s who was taking on all comers in the park outside his parents apartment building. 

    The poster stated that over the next two years he played about 20 games against the old gentleman and only beat him once. The man was David Polland. The poster went on to say that Polland demonstrated a King-Bishop-Knight mate blindfolded without knowledge of opponents exact King move (just whether it was a check or not). Also, according to the poster, Polland was once the 3rd ranked checker player in the world, but I was unable to verify this. 

    Polland's favorite opening was the English and as mentioned, he shined in rapid play; in one first place finish in a Marshall Chess Club rapid tournament he even defeated Reshevsky, himself a powerful blitz player. On another occasion he held Reshevsky to a draw in a simultaneous. 

 

 

    In following game from the 1940 US Championship Pollard's handling of the opening was weird, but it worked and he was awarded a brilliancy prize for his efforts. Hanauer found his pieces on the Q-side undeveloped and when his pieces in the center were driven off it allowed Polland to begin a sacrificial K-side attack. The attack should not have been decisive, but it was when Hanauer accepted the piece. 

[Event "US Championship, New York"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1940.05.06"] [Round "?"] [White "Milton Hanauer"] [Black "David Polland"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C78"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "1940.??.??"] {C78: Ruy Lopez: Archangelsk} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 {The Archangel Defense. It was invented by Soviet theoreticians in the city of Arkhangelsk and often leads to sharp positions in which black wagers that the fianchettoed Bs influence on the center and K-side will offset his delay in castling.} 6. Bb3 d6 {Black has several options here. In order of popularity they are: 6...Be7, 6...Bc5 and 6...Bb7. Polland’s move is rare, but by no means inferior.} (6... Bb7 {This move Is quite interesting. Black defines the position of this B early in order to exert pressure against the opponent's center, in particular the e4 square. White must decide whether he protects the P with 7.d3 or goes for the unfathomable complications after 7.c3 Nxe4.} 7. c3 Nxe4 8. d4 exd4 9. Re1 d5 10. Ng5 {with equal chances.}) 7. Ng5 { White’s other options are to attempt to build an ideal P-center with c3 and d4 or to defend the e-Pawn with Re1. The defense chosen by Polland is tactically justified by the ability to meet this move with 7... d5 and white will be unable to demonstrate any advantage.} d5 (7... Bg4 {Thus move is disaterous to black.} 8. Bxf7+ Ke7 9. f3 Bd7 10. Bb3 {with a huge advantage.}) 8. exd5 Nd4 9. Re1 Bc5 (9... Bd6 10. d3 Bg4 11. f3 Bh5 12. c4 O-O 13. Be3 Nd7 14. Ne4 {White is slightly better. Shankovsky,A (2327)-Durnev,V (2077) Lvov UKR 2010}) 10. Rxe5+ Kf8 {Even though he cannot castle and his R is hemmed in black's position is preferable because of the activity of his pieces.} 11. h3 { White wants to guard g4, but this move allows his opponent to gain a significant advantage.} (11. c3 {is probably his best chance. After} Nxb3 12. Qxb3 Bxf2+ 13. Kh1 (13. Kxf2 Ng4+ {with a decisive advabtage.}) 13... Ng4 { both sides have their chances in the complications.}) 11... Nd7 12. Ne4 (12. Nxf7 {turns out to be no better.} Qf6 13. Re3 Qxf7 14. c3 Nxb3 15. Rf3 Nf6 16. axb3 Qxd5 {Black is nuch better. Deshmukh,A (2335)-Peng Xiaomin (2624) Calcutta 2000}) 12... Nxb3 {Polland has made a serious miscalculation. He is attacki g two Rs, but white gets away unscathed.} (12... Nxe5 {wins!} 13. d3 Be7 14. Be3 Nxb3 15. axb3 f5 {Black is a R up.}) 13. axb3 Nxe5 14. Nxc5 { his is the move Polland missed; white has suffucuent compensation for the R.} Qxd5 {White must now prevent ...Bxh3.} 15. d4 Bxh3 {Best, but only for the purpose of keeping the chances equal!} 16. gxh3 {[%mdl 8192] Hanauer falls head first into a lost position.} (16. f3 {leaves black without any way of gaining an advantage,} Bf5 17. Nc3 Qc6 18. b4 Ng6) 16... Nf3+ 17. Kf1 Nxd4 { Threatening ...Qh1#} 18. f3 Qxc5 19. Be3 Qf5 (19... Rd8 {would have decided the game at once. For example...} 20. Rxa6 Qxc2 21. Qxc2 Nxc2 {and white is lost.}) 20. Bxd4 Qxh3+ 21. Kg1 (21. Kf2 {loses} Qh2+ 22. Kf1 (22. Ke3 Re8+ 23. Kd3 Rd8 24. Ke3 Qh6+ 25. Ke2 Qd6 26. c3 c5) 22... Qh1+ 23. Bg1 h5) 21... Qg3+ 22. Kf1 Qh3+ 23. Kg1 h5 24. Be3 {[%mdl 8192] A gross blunder which his opponent fails to take advantage of.} (24. Qf1 {The Q comes to the K's defense and makes it much more difficult for black to make progress.} Qg3+ 25. Qg2 Qe1+ 26. Qf1 Re8 27. Nc3 Qg3+ 28. Qg2 Re1+ 29. Rxe1 Qxe1+ 30. Qf1 Qxf1+ 31. Kxf1 { and even though black is better the win is not a sure thing.}) 24... Kg8 25. Nd2 Re8 26. Bf4 Re6 {Adding the R to the attack looks good, but as often happens, when we have an idea in mind we fail to notice anything else. In this case Hanauer’s last move gave black the chance to win a piece.} (26... Qh4 { Attacking the B.} 27. Bh2 Rh6 {Finally getting the R into play} 28. Nf1 Rg6+ 29. Kh1 Qh3 {Threatening ...Rg2} 30. Ng3 Rxg3 31. Qf1 Rxf3) 27. Ne4 {Suddenly white has gotten sufficient defensive resources and black;s advantage has all but disappeared} Rg6+ 28. Kf2 $1 Rg2+ 29. Ke3 Qe6 {[%mdl 2048] Threatening ... f5, but white's K is safe enough.} 30. Qd8+ {well, it would have been had white played 20.Qh1! which appears to be a rather odd place for the Q, so it's easy to see how Hanauer missed it!} (30. Qh1 Rxc2 31. Rd1 {Black has to guard his h-Pawn.} g6 (31... Rxb2 32. Rd8+ Kh7 33. Qxh5+ Qh6 34. Ng5#) 32. Rd5 f5 33. Qh4 Kf7 {uddenly it's black who is fending off threats.} (33... fxe4 34. Qd8+ Kf7 35. Rd7+ {and white wins.}) 34. Be5 {Black only has one move that avoids loss...} fxe4 35. Rd7+ Qxd7 (35... Kf8 36. Qd8+ {mates}) 36. Qf6+ Ke8 37. Qxh8+ Ke7 38. Qf6+ {draws}) 30... Kh7 31. Qxc7 f5 {White doesn;t get any more chances as Polland finishes him off in an efficient fashion.} 32. Rh1 Re8 33. Rxh5+ Kg6 34. Rh2 Rxh2 35. Bxh2 fxe4 {[%mdl 4096] Black now has a prosaic win.} 36. Qg3+ Kh5 37. Qxg7 exf3+ 38. Kf4 Qe3+ {Black mates in 4} 39. Kg3 f2+ 40. Kg2 Qf3+ $1 {[%mdl 512]} 41. Kxf3 f1=Q+ 42. Kg3 Re3# {An imaginative game by Polland.} 0-1

Looking back to 1968

    The year 1968 was a turning point for the United States. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by James Earl Ray (1928-1998) in Memphis during the garbage workers strike. Also, Robert Kennedy was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan (born 1944) in Los Angeles during his presidential campaign. 

    In another shocking event, we saw a photograph taken by photographer Eddie Adams of Nguyen Ngoc Loan, a South Vietnamese general and chief of the South Vietnamese National Police executing Viet Cong officer Nguyen Van Lem with a pistol shot to the head. 

    It cost postal chess players 5 cents for a post card. A new Chevrolet Impala sport coupe cost about $3,500. The comedy basketball team, The Harlem Globetrotters, which was founded in 1926 in were from Chicago performed in Harlem, New York for the first time in 1968. Everybody thought Woody Allen, Bill Cosby and Carol Burnett were funny….except for me. 

    We lost some players that year. On September 25, Soviet GM Vladimir Simagin (1919-1968) died a few hours before he was scheduled to play in a tournament. October 2nd Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), the famous painter and chessplayer died in France. Stefan Erdelyi (1905-1968) died in Romania on October 26th; he was Romanian champion in 1931, 1934 and 1949. Finally, IM Carl Ahues (1883-1968) died in Hamburg on December 31st; he was German champion in 1929. 

     IM David Levy famously made a $3,000 bet that no chess computer would beat him in 10 years. He won the bet. Larry Evans won the US championship. Julio Kaplan of Puerto Rico won the world junior championship. Pal Benko won the National Open. Bent Larsen won the US Open. Hans Berliner won the World Correspondence Championship. Bobby Fischer win the Nathanya, Israel. 

    The following game was played in a Chess Review Class postal tournament and there was a nice problem-like mate after black’s 24th move. Before looking at the game see if you can find it.

 

White to move. Mate in 7

 

[Event "Chess Review Class B Postal Toutnament"] [Site "CORRESPONDENCE"] [Date "1968.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Tartajubow"] [Black "RLS"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B98"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "1968.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "England"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "ENG"] {B98: Sicilian Najdorf} 1. e4 c5 {This game was finished in July1968, and my opponent, who was from Kankakee, Illinois passed away at the age of 71 on May 31, 1969.} 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 {The Najdorf Variation is black's most popular system. Najdorf's intention with 5...a6 was to prepare ...e5 on the next move to gain space in the center.} (5... e5 {Playing thisd immediately is questionable.} 6. Bb5+ {Now black's best reply is} Nbd7 { In the event of 6...Bd7 white exchanges light-squared Bs after which the d5-square becomes very weak.} 7. Nf5 {This is similar to what happens in the game; white stands well/}) 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Be7 {The main alternative is 7... Qb6 which leads to complications.} 8. Qd3 {Much more popular here is 8.Qf3. We were most likely using Modern Chess Openings, the gold standard of opening books in those days.The 10th edition was published in 1965 and was referred to as The Chessplayers' Bible.} Nbd7 {Thos move does not appear in my Fritz opening book, but it has been played a few times in the past. It's Stockfish's 2nd choice behind 7...h6. Personally I do not care for the move 8...Nbd7 because it seems too passive. Black has too many other plausible moves: The alternatives are: 8...Qc7, 8...Nc6 and 8...b5 which is the most active.} 9. O-O-O {Besides this both 9.O-O and 9.Be2 are acceptable alternatives.} e5 { This advance is pemature. He should hace completed his development and gotten castled.} 10. Nf5 {This makes evident the flaw in black's last move. The N occupies a dominating position and Stockfish already gives white a decisive advantage.} O-O {There was nothing better.} (10... h6 11. Bh4 {and black's e-Pawn is a goner/} exf4 12. Nxd6+ Bxd6 13. Qxd6 {with by far the superior position.}) 11. Bh6 {Not bad as white still has a significant advantage, but 11.Nxe7+ was much stronger.} (11. Nxe7+ Qxe7 12. Nd5 Qd8 13. Nxf6+ Nxf6 14. fxe5 {White has a winning position.}) 11... Nh5 (11... gxh6 {is out of the question.} 12. Qg3+ Ng4 13. Qxg4+ Bg5 14. h4 h5 15. Qxg5+ Qxg5 16. hxg5 { White is a piece up and black's position has multiple weaknesses.}) 12. Be2 ( 12. Qf3 {was a knockout punch.} Ndf6 13. fxe5 Bxf5 14. Qxf5 gxh6 15. exd6 Ng7 16. Qf3 h5 17. dxe7 Qxe7 18. Nd5 Nxd5 19. Rxd5 {and white is winning.}) 12... Bf6 {A mistake that leaves black totally lost.]} (12... Nc5 {would have given him a fighting chance.} 13. Nxe7+ Qxe7 14. Qxd6 Qxd6 15. Rxd6 Nxf4 16. Bxf4 exf4 {Material is equal, but white enjoys a considerable positional advantage. Shootouts were time consumingm but white scored 5-0. Given the fact that we both were Class B (1699-1799) at the time a white win is not a foregone conclusion!}) 13. Bxh5 gxh6 14. Nd5 {Both Ns are beautifully posted, black's K-side is wrecked and his pieces are in each other's way.} Nc5 15. Qg3+ Kh8 16. Nxf6 Bxf5 (16... Qxf6 {is met by} 17. Nxd6 exf4 18. Qf3 Be6 19. g3 Bxa2 20. Qxf4 (20. b3 {would allow black to equalize.} Rac8 21. Nxc8 Rxc8 22. Bxf7 Qxf7 23. Kb2 Qg7+ {with equal chances.}) 20... Qxf4+ 21. gxf4 {Material is equal, but white has a huge positional advantage.}) 17. fxe5 Nxe4 18. Qf4 (18. Nxe4 { was even vetter.} Bxe4 19. Rhe1 Bc6 20. exd6 {with a winning position.}) 18... Nxf6 19. exf6 Qc8 20. Rd2 Be6 21. Re1 {White could capture either the h- or d-Pawn, but decided to bring the other R into play first.} d5 22. Bf3 {[%mdl 128]} Qc6 23. Re5 Rad8 24. Qxh6 Rg8 {White to play and mate.} 25. Rh5 (25. Be4 {A real problem-like move!} Qxc2+ (25... dxe4 26. Rxd8 {Black can only delay mate for a couple of moves by tossing some material.}) 26. Bxc2 Bf5 27. Bxf5 Rc8+ 28. Bxc8 Rxc8+ 29. Kb1 Rg8 30. Rh5 {mate next move.}) 25... Bf5 {Nlack is hopelessly lost.} 26. Rxf5 Rg6 27. Qh4 Qe6 28. Be4 {Firceful, but a move too late to force mate.} Rd6 (28... dxe4 29. Rxd8+ Qe8 30. Rxe8+ Rg8 31. Qg3 { mate next nove.}) 29. Rh5 Qxf6 30. Rxh7+ {Black resigned.} (30. Rxh7+ Kg8 31. Bxg6 Qxg6 32. Rh8+ Kg7 33. Re8 Qh6 34. Qxh6+ Kxh6 {Blac is a R down.}) 1-0

Loyd vs. Loyd

    Everybody is familiar with problemist Samuel Loyd (1841-1911), but few are familiar with his brothers. The least known is Isaac Loyd (1839-1905), also a problemist of some skill. He was known to have competed in the New Jersey Chess Association tournaments of 1888, 1889, 1894 and 1895 and was a member of the governing committee for 1900. That's about all that is known of him. 

    The other brother was Thomas Loyd (1830-1914), the oldest of the brothers, is better known. He was born Camden, New Jersey. 

    The Loyd brothers were first introduced to the game on the Delaware River steamboats while going from their home in Bordentown, a city in New Jersey, to Philadelphia. They often made these trips in connection with their father’s business. 

    On one of his trips to Philadelphia Thomas purchased a copy of Games at Chess (games played by Philidor) that had been published in London in 1835. He paid 10 cents for the book which is about the equivalent of $3.60 today. This was the first chess book that the brothers owned and after they had devoured the the games in it, they used the book to record games they played between themselves, many of which were blindfold games. 

    Thomas remembered in the early 1840's attending a Chinese Museum where Kempel's Automaton was exhibited. It had been invented in Vienna in 1769 and was destroyed by fire in Philadelphia, July 5, 1854. Their cousin Loyd Smith played the automation successfully for several years.

    Thomas died March 7, 1914, at his home in Plainfield, New Jersey where he had lived for many years. He was the player of the family and started chess meetings at the rooms of the New York Society Library with Frederick Perrin and Miron Perrin and Hazeltine. 

    The following game between Thomas and Isaac, Thomas was blindfold and his play is very impressive. The tactical analysis with Stockfish 17 gives him an accuracy percentage of an incredible 96%, meaning his move selection matched the engine almost perfectly which is a nearly impossible feat even with sight of the board!

 

[Event "New York"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1856.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Thomas Loyd (Blindfold)"] [Black "Isaac S Loyd"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C44"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "1856.??.??"] [Source "Hazeltine Scrapb"] {C44: Ponziani Opening} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 {The ancient Ponziani was known as far back as 1297 and was advocated by Howard Staunton, the strongest player of the day.} Bc5 {Usual is either 3,,,Nf6 or 3,,,d5. The text, which seldom played, is is less gooe because black loses a tempo.} 4. b4 (4. d4 exd4 5. cxd4 Bb4+ 6. Nc3 {is advantageous for white.}) 4... Bb6 5. b5 Na5 6. Nxe5 { White appears to have won a P, but he cannot not hold on to it.} Qe7 (6... Nf6 {is correct.} 7. d4 (7. d3 {Blacj equalizes after} d5 8. exd5 O-O 9. d4 Nxd5 10. Bd3 c5 {Now white should castle because if} 11. dxc5 Bc7 12. f4 Qh4+ 13. g3 Qe7 14. O-O Rd8 {and black is better owing to the looseness of white;s position.}) 7... d6 8. Nf3 Nxe4 {with complete equality.}) 7. d4 d6 8. Ba3 f6 { Black insists on forcing the N to move so he can regain his P. but this move only weakens hos position and his K in the center is going to prove a problem.} (8... c5 {was played in in Hebel,J-Esswein,P Hamburg 1993, but white failed to find the right continuation e\which is : 1-0 (55)} 9. bxc6 bxc6 10. Bd3 Nf6 11. O-O O-O {and after 12.Nf3 and Re1 white stands quite well.}) (8... Qh4 { is the best way to regain the P, but after} 9. Nf3 Qxe4+ 10. Be2 Nf6 11. O-O O-O 12. c4 {white has a much freer position.}) 9. Nf3 Qxe4+ 10. Be2 Nc4 11. O-O Nxa3 {The disappearance of this B is not important because it has served it purpose.} 12. Re1 Qf4 (12... Nc4 13. Bxc4 {is very bad for black.}) 13. Nxa3 { Black does not appreciate the lurking danger to his K. His best try was 13... Ne7, but even then he would remai in grave danger.} d5 {Black gets gutted after this} 14. Bc4+ {.} Ne7 15. Bxd5 Qd6 16. Qb3 Rf8 17. Re3 Kd8 18. Bf7 c6 19. bxc6 bxc6 20. Rae1 {The mop up follows and there are no major improvements for either side.} Nf5 21. Nc4 Qd7 22. Nxb6 axb6 23. Qxb6+ Qc7 24. Re8+ Rxe8 25. Rxe8+ Kd7 26. Be6+ Kd6 (26... Kxe8 27. Qxc7) 27. Qc5# 1-0

Triangular College League Tournament...and Other Stories from 1919

    What was probably the most devastating epidemic in history, the Influenza Pandemic took place in 1918 and 1919; it killed an estimated more than 50 million people. It was most deadly for people aged 20-40, and many died within hours of contracting the virus. 

    On July 21, 1919, a Goodyear blimp caught fire and crashed into the Illinois Trust and Savings Building in Chicago, killing 13 people. You can read the gruesome details HERE.

    Even more deadly was the Great Molasses Flood that took place in Boston when a tank containing over 2-million gallons of the stuff burst creating a 35 miles-per-hour flood of molasses that killed 21 people and injured 150. Read more HERE. 

    A Japanese chemist named Akira Ogata developed a drug called methamphetamine that is used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It’s a central nervous system stimulants and is known on the street as Crystal Meth.

    The greatest pizza topping ever, pepperoni, a variety of salami, was created in the US and the word was first used to describe the sausage in 1919. Also in 1919, in January, the Eighteenth Amendment authorizing Prohibition, was ratified. 

    The Black Sox Scandal, in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of intentionally losing the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for money from gangsters happened. 

    Speaking of baseball, Cleveland Indians pitcher Ray Caldwell was struck by lightning on the mound and subsequently won the game against the Philadelphia Athletics on August 24, 1919. Read the amazing story HERE. 

    Today’s game was played in the 1909 Triangular College League Tournament that was held at the end of December at the Rice Chess Club in New York City. The University of Pennsylvania and Cornell engaged in the duel for first place. Brown University (located in Providence, Rhode Island) took part was a non-factor because they failed to score a single point. Pennsylvania was successful mostly because of the play the a youthful Philadelphia expert, Norman T. Whitaker.

 

     Not much is known of the participants in the following game exce[t that they were actove during their college years.. Louis Tolins (1886-1975, 89 years old) is buried in Sharon Gardens Cemetery in Valhalla, New York which us about 40 miles north of New York City/ When Harold Leo Bauder was born in Philadelphia in 1888. He lived near Philadelphia in Upper Darby. He died in 1963 at the age of 75. 

[Event "Triangular College League, New York"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1909.12.30"] [Round "?"] [White "Louis Tolins, (Cornell)"] [Black "Harold L Bauder, (Pennsylvania)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "1909.??.??"] [Source "American Chess B"] {C56: Two Knights Defense} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. c3 d6 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 Bb6 8. h3 O-O 9. Nc3 h6 {While this is often played it is far from being the best. Correct is 9...Nxe4 which keeps the chances equal.} ( 9... Nxe4 $1 10. Nxe4 d5 11. Bxd5 Qxd5 12. Nc3 Qd6 {equals}) 10. Re1 Re8 11. a3 Na5 (11... a6 12. Bf4 Na5 13. Ba2 Nc6 14. Bc4 Na5 {White greed to a draw even though he stands considerably better. Tishin,P (2400)-Zaitsev,A (2375) Donskoj 2010}) 12. Ba2 Nc6 13. Qd3 Ne7 14. b4 c6 15. d5 cxd5 16. Nxd5 {Better was 16. Ba2; Black niw seizes the initiative.} Nfxd5 17. exd5 Bf5 18. Qd2 Rc8 { Threatening ...Rc2} 19. Bb3 Ng6 20. Bb2 Be4 {Hoping for ...Bxf3.} 21. Nd4 { This is faulty tactically.} (21. Ba4 Re7 22. Bd1 {with equality.}) 21... Nh4 { [%mdl 8192] This completely turns the game around. Black has a tremendous attack after 21...Qh4, but after this white is winning.} (21... Qh4 22. Re3 Nf4 {Black's pieces are swarming on the K-side.} 23. Rg3 Bxg2 24. Rxg2 Bxd4 25. Bxd4 Ne2+ 26. Kf1 Nxd4 27. Bd1 Qe4 {Threatening ...Nf3+; black is winning/}) 22. Ne6 {[%mdl 512]} Bxg2 {This may have looked good over the board, but black simply does not get a serious attack.} (22... fxe6 {is too dangerous.} 23. dxe6 Qe7 24. Rxe4 {White has a very strong position.}) 23. Nxd8 Rxe1+ 24. Qxe1 Nf3+ 25. Kxg2 Nxe1+ 26. Rxe1 Rxd8 {The flurry of exchanges is over and black is a piece down.} 27. Re7 Kf8 28. Rxb7 Re8 29. Kf3 Re1 {Black has the extremely faint hope of continuing with ...Rb1} 30. Rb8+ Ke7 31. Bxg7 Rf1 32. Ba4 { [%csl Ga4][%cal Rb8e8]} Rxf2+ 33. Kg3 Ra2 34. Re8# 1-0

The King’s House Collapsed

    This game illustrates how it is possible to take advantage of even a very small weakness in the castled King’s position. The game was played in the 1947 Zonal held in Hilversum. 

    The West-European zonal tournament was held in Hotel Santbergen and Hans Kmoch was the arbiter. Originally, Savielly Tartakower was supposed to represent France, but he could not come. The Belgian GM Albrec O’Kelly qualified when Czech GM Ludek Pachman lost to the Bulgarian IM Alexander Tsvetkov in the last round, while O'Kelly defeated Jan Donner who was to be awarded the GM title in 1959.

 

 

    White was played by the Swiss IM Max Blau (1918-1984) who was the Swiss Champion in 1953, 1955, 1956 and 1967. The winner was Tjeerd Daniel (generally known as Theo) van Scheltinga (1914-1994) a Dutch IM who was one of the leading Dutch players from 1936 to the late 1950s. 

 

[Event "Hilversum Zonal"] [Site "Hilversum NED"] [Date "1947.07.22"] [Round "7"] [White "Max Blau"] [Black "Theo Daniel van Scheltinga"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C64"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "1947.??.??"] {C65: Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 {This, the ancient Berlin Defense, has long had a reputation for being solid and drawish. About the only player of note who played it in recent times was GM Arthur Bisguier who was never noted to be the type who played for a deaw. However, in the 2000 World Championship match Kramnik used it toget a draw against Kasparov it enjoyed a revival and was played by aggressive players like Shirov, Topalov, Nakamura, Carlsen and Anand.} 4. O-O {Slightly less often seen is 4. d3 which leads to similar results.} Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. d4 Bb6 7. Re1 d6 8. h3 Qe7 9. Bg5 (9. Na3 Bd7 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. Nc4 {is about equal. Polgar,J (2677) -Svidler,P (2713) Frankfurt 1999}) 9... h6 (9... Nb8 10. Nbd2 c6 11. Ba4 {White's position is more active. Heino,J (2124)-Lehto,V (2203) Finland 2005}) 10. Bxf6 {Retreating to either e3 or h4 were both acceptable.} Qxf6 11. Na3 Ne7 12. Nc4 Ng6 13. Nxb6 axb6 {The position is equal, but it's instructive to see how van Scheltinga manages to exploit the fact that white's 8.h3 has ever so slightly weakened the K-side. Black's 9...h6 has also weakened his own K-side, but the difference is that white is unable to exploit it.} 14. Bf1 {Played withe the intention of playing g3 guarding the weak square f5, but before he can play g3 he wants to gusrd he. Apparently Blau has already realized that he is on the defensive.} Nf4 15. Kh2 g5 16. Ng1 {This was apparently played in the hope of lessening the effect of the further advance of black's g-Pawn. Precenting its advance with 16.g4 would not have been a good idea.} g4 { [%mdl 512] The start of what turns out to be a very dangerous attack.} 17. g3 { Sacrificing a P with the hope of slowing down black's attack.} (17. hxg4 Qh4+ 18. Nh3 Bxg4 {is not a position white would want to defend.}) 17... Nxh3 18. Nxh3 gxh3 19. Qd2 Qg6 20. f4 Bg4 21. f5 Qh5 {Black has been able to hang onto his extra P and the advance of his g-Pawn has opened up lines of attack. With exact play white may be able to survive, but the task will not be easy. In Shootouts white scored +0 -2 =3} 22. d5 Kh7 23. Be2 Rg8 24. Bxg4 Rxg4 25. Re3 Rag8 26. Qf2 Qg5 27. Rg1 h5 {White is undert tremendous oressure and his position is now beyond saving.} 28. Re2 Qh6 29. Qe3 R8g5 30. Ree1 h4 {Black is clearly winning.} 31. gxh4 Rxg1 32. hxg5 Rxg5 {[%mdl 4096] White has managed to avoid getting mated, but the ending is lost. van Scheltinga finishes him off with precision.} 33. Qf3 Rg2+ 34. Kh1 Qh4 35. Rg1 Rxg1+ 36. Kxg1 Kh6 37. Kh1 Kg5 38. Qe3+ Qf4 39. Qe2 Qg3 40. c4 Kf4 41. Qd2+ Kxe4 42. Qe2+ Kf4 { White resigned. Forceful play by van Scheltinga.} 0-1

A Quick Win by Gyula Breyer

    I admit to knowing almost nothing about Gyula Breyer (1893-1921) who was Hungarian Champion in 1912. In Berlin in 1920 he finished first (+6−2=1) ahead of Bogoljubow, Tartakower, Reti. Maroczy and Tarrasch! 

    According to Chessmetrics, during his brief career (from 1912 to 1921) his highest rating is estimated to have been 2630 in 1917, placing him at #9 in the world.

    In 1921, Breyer set a new blindfold record playing 25 games simultaneously. He also edited Szellemi Sport, a magazine devoted to chess puzzles, and he composed at least one brilliant retrograde analysis study. 

    He died of heart disease in 1921 at the age of 28 in Bratislava which today is the capital of Slovakia/ According to Wikipedia his body was exhumation in 1987, and he was reburied in Budapest. I was unable to discover the reason. 

    Breyer was a leading pioneer of the Hypermodern School which favored controlling the center using the fianchetto which was in direct opposition to the old 'dogmas espoused by players like Tarrasch. 

    The following game was a win over Emanuel Lasker in a simul, but it’s an enjoyable one. Breyer equalized easily against Lasker’s archaic opening, played a solid middlegame and when Lasker, possibly thinking he was winning a piece, miscalculated and Breyer jumped all over him. 

[Event "30 bd Simultaneous, Budapest"] [Site ""] [Date "1911.01.26"] [Round "?"] [White "Emanuel Lasker"] [Black "Gyula Breyer"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C21"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "50"] [EventDate "1911.??.??"] {C44: Ponziani Opening} 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 {This relic dates back to 1497. White prepares to build a strong center with d4, but black equalizes easily. In 1904, Frank Marshall wrote, "There is no point in white's third move unless black plays badly...white practically surrenders the privilege of the first move."} d5 {Breyer selects an aggressive response, striking back in the center.} 4. exd5 {The capture 4.Qxd4 allows black easy equality.} Qxd5 {Normally black would not want to make this capture because Nc3 gains a tempo, but here that is not possible.} 5. cxd4 Nf6 6. Nf3 (6. Nc3 {is met by} Bb4 7. Nf3 Qa5 {Again, black has equalized with no difficulty.}) 6... Bb4+ 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Be2 Ne4 (8... c5 9. O-O Bxc3 10. bxc3 cxd4 11. Nxd4 Bf5 {White is better. Toledano Llinares,J (2340)-Campora,D (2530) Burguillos 2007}) 9. Bd2 Bxc3 10. bxc3 Nc6 {There is nothing wrong with this, but black usually plays 10...Nxd2} 11. O-O Qa5 12. Qc2 Bf5 13. Bd3 Rfe8 {More precise was 13...Nxd2} 14. Be1 {Lasker preserves his B for no good reason. Putting pressure on black's b-Pawn with 14.Rab1 was a more active option.} Qd5 15. c4 {Playing 15.Rb1 was still a good alternative.} Qd6 16. d5 Ne5 {Excellent! So far the position is dead equal and would remain so if white captures 17.Nxe5. Instead, Lasker makes a fatal error. It is possible that 16...Ne5 caught Lasker by surprise and he thought it lost a piece.} 17. Bxe4 {[%mdl 8192] This deserves two question marks!} Nxf3+ {This is pretty obvious, but Lasker was moving quickly. Still, it;s surprising that he missed it.} (17... Bxe4 {This may have been what Lasker was expecting,,,} 18. Qxe4 Ng6 19. Qc2 {and white is a piece ahead.}) 18. gxf3 Qg6+ 19. Kh1 Rxe4 20. Qc3 {This is an instructuve position because it illustrates the point that won games do not win themselves. Black has only one winning move.} Rh4 {This, and only this, is the winner.} (20... Re2 {This routine move runs into} 21. Rg1 Qh6 22. Qd4 Rae8 23. Bc3 Bg6 {with only an equal position.}) 21. Rg1 {Black finishes up neatly.} Rxh2+ {[%mdl 512] Again, this move which leads to a forced mate, is the only way that guarantees the win.} 22. Kxh2 Qh5+ 23. Kg3 Qg5+ 24. Kh2 Qh4+ 25. Kg2 Qh3# {A nice finish.} 0-1

Play the Danish Gambit!?

    In the Danish Gambit (1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3) white sacrifices a Pawn or two for the sake of rapid development and (hopefully) an attack, However, with care, black can accept one or both Pawns safely, but unless black is careless white has a poor chance of winning. 

    The Swedish player Hans Lindehn played 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 on a regular basis from 1857 and even defeated future World Champion Wilhelm Steinitz with it in London im 1864. 

    The gambit was popularized by the Danish player Martin S. From when he played it in the 1867 Paris tournament. I have experimented with the Danish Gambit Reversed (1. e4 d5 2. exd5 c6 3. dxc6 e5 4. cxb7 Bxb7) in online Blitz games, but I don’t recommend it! 

    At one time the Danish was popular with attacking players like Marshall, Blackburne, Mieses and even Alekhine, but as good defensive lines were discovered, by the 1920s it had disappeared. Nobody plays it today. 

    The idea of the gambit traces back to the correspondence game between London and Edinburgh in 1824 which opened 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.c3 Qe7 6.0-0 dxc3 7.Nxc3. 

    Here is an early example of the Danish by Martin Severin Janus From (1828-1895) who is best known for creating the sharp From's Gambit against the Bird (1.f4 e5). 

    From was born in Nakskov, a small market town on the island of Lolland in south Denmark. He his schooling he entered the army as a volunteer during the Prussian–Danish War (February to October in 1864) and took part in the Battle of Fredericia on July 6,1849 which was win by the Dames. 

    After the war From settled in Copenhagen and was employed by the Statistical Bureau where he met Magnus Mollerstrom, then the strongest player in Copenhagen. After that he worked in the central office for prison management, and in 1890 he became an inspector of the penitentiary of Christianshavn, an area if small islands. In 1891 he received the order Ridder af Dannebrog, the second highest of Danish orders. 

    From won a chess tournament in Copenhagen 1862. In 1865 he was elected President of the Copenhagen Chess Association and held that position for many years. 

[Event "Copenhagen"] [Site "Copenhagen"] [Date "1867.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Martin From"] [Black "Emil Schallopp"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C21"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "1867.??.??"] {C21: Danish Gambit} 1. e4 e5 (1... d5 2. exd5 c6 3. dxc6 e5 4. cxb7 Bxb7 5. Nc3 {Probably best, but white often plays 5.Bb5+ which is not especially dangerous to black.} Bc5 {I have played this sort of reversed Danish many times in online Blitz games with mixed results, but it;s not to be recommended in serious games!}) 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 {Black can decline the gambit with 3...d5 or the seldom played 3...Qe7 which is not only the engine's first choice, but ot also gives the best results statistically.} dxc3 {White's main choices are now 4.Nxc3 and 4.Bc4.} 4. Bc4 {Alekhine preferred 4.Nxc3 which often transposes into the Goring Gambit of the Scotch Game. The text move offers another P which black can decline transposing into the Goring Gambit.} cxb2 { Thus capture allows white's two Bs to aim at vlack's K. White often follow up with Qb3 if possible, applying pressure on b7- and f7 and, also, on the long diagonal which can make it difficult for black to develop his Bs.} 5. Bxb2 Nc6 (5... d5 6. Bxd5 (6. exd5 Nf6 7. Ne2 Bb4+ 8. Nbc3 O-O 9. O-O c6 10. Qb3 Ba5 11. dxc6 Nxc6 12. Rad1 Qb6 13. Qc2 Nb4 14. Qf5 Bxf5 {0-1 Ledesma,J-Subramanian,A ICC INT 2009}) 6... Nc6) (5... Nh6 6. Nf3 Bb4+ 7. Kf1 Bf8 8. Nbd2 d6 9. Qb3 Nd7 {is equal. Lucchetti,P (2221)-Collas,D (2354) Besancon FRA 1999}) 6. Nd2 { This is a but too passive. 6.N3 keeps the position about even.} Nf6 7. e5 { This results in a sharp tactical position that is somewhat in black's favor. Safer was 7.Ngf3.} Ng4 {A surprising move...the N cannot be taken.} 8. Bxf7+ ( 8. Qxg4 d5 9. Qg3 dxc4 {Black has a two P advantage and white is facing threats like ...Qd3 and ...Nb4 and so black is winning.}) 8... Kxf7 9. Qxg4 d5 {Black has an extra P, but his K is dangerously exposed, so the chances can be considered about equal, but as is often the case, the defender's task (in this case black's) is the more difficult.} 10. Qf4+ Ke8 {It's quite naural that he does not want to hem his R in with 10...Kg8, but it would be safer there than it is in the center.} 11. Ngf3 Bc5 {How can this developing move be wrong? But it is! He need to jeep pressure on white's e-Pawn.} (11... Qe7 12. a3 (12. O-O Qb4 {puts white in a difficult position.}) 12... Nd8 13. O-O Ne6 14. Qe3 c5 { Black is better because white has run out of attacking moves.}) 12. O-O { [%mdl 1024] White has compensation. fir his slight material deficit because of the precarious position of black's K.} Rf8 13. Qg3 g6 14. Rad1 Be6 15. Ne4 { [%mdl 8192] A horrible tactical mistake that should have lost!} ({There is no firced win, but this move keeos the initiative.} 15. Ng5 Qe7 16. Nb3 Bb6 17. Ba3 Qxa3 18. Nxe6 {wuth the slightly better chances.}) 15... dxe4 {No doubt From was not expecting this.} 16. Rxd8+ Rxd8 {White has a Q vs R+B+P which in this case is more than enough compensation owing to his active position. Although it tool some time (50 moves or so) black scored 5 -0 in Shootouts.} 17. Ng5 {Black now misplays the attack on f2 captururing with the wrong piece.} Rxf2 {[%mdl 8192] The threat of a discivered check looks devastatingm but white can now launch a seriers of checks that culminate in a win! 17...Bxf2+ leaves white without a decent reply.} (17... Bxf2+ 18. Rxf2 Rd1+ 19. Rf1 Rdxf1# ) (17... Bxf2+ 18. Kh1 Bxg3) (17... Bxf2+ 18. Qxf2 Rxf2 19. Kxf2 Bc4 20. Rc1 Rd2+ 21. Ke3 Re2+ 22. Kf4 h6 23. Nh7 g5+ 24. Kg3 Be6 {Black is winning.}) 18. Nxe6 Bb6 {He would still lost, but 18...Rf3+ is a stouter defense.} 19. Ng7+ Kf7 20. Rxf2+ Kxg7 (20... Bxf2+ 21. Qxf2+ Kxg7 22. e6+ {mates in 6} Rd4 23. Qf7+ Kh6 24. Bc1+ Rd2 25. Bxd2+ e3 26. Bxe3+ g5 27. Qf6+ Kh5 28. Qxg5#) 21. e6+ Kg8 {The threat is ...Rd1# but white has an easy way to meet it.} 22. Qb3 { Thus also threatens e7+} Ne7 23. Kf1 {The game is over.} e3 24. Rf7 Rd2 25. Rxe7 Rf2+ 26. Ke1 Ba5+ 27. Bc3 {Black resigned...white has a forced mate.} (27. Bc3 Kf8 28. Rxh7 Ke8 29. Qb5+ c6 30. Rh8+ Rf8 31. Qxb7 Bxc3+ 32. Ke2 Rxh8 33. Qf7+ Kd8 34. Qd7#) 1-0

Larsen Offers the Same Rook Twice

    Last week when Dallas, Texas had 2 inches (4 centimeters) of snow and it disrupted everything in the city folks in this area snickered because here that much would be nothing more than a mild annoyance. Today the shoe is on the other foot. 

    Last night saw a coating of snow (a half an inch, or 1.25 centimeters)...just enough to cover road surfaces...and the temperature plummet to 0 degrees F. (-18 degrees C.) which is causing a disruption to everything here. No doubt we are now the object of people’s snickering by those living in places like, say, International Falls, Minnesota, where the temperature is -28 degrees F. (33 below C.). 

    It’s a funny thing, but in January of 2019, I posted how we were suffering from a Polar Vortex for a couple of days that brought unusually cold weather with temperatures below 0 degrees F. 

    It was at that time that my hard drive crashed and had to be replaced with a solid state drive. There were other problems...Fritz 12 wouldn’t work. Fortunately, after a few days of tinkering, it was up and running. But, for some reason the website on which I had been posting games was no longer available and the games posted disappeared! 

    Today’s game is taken from Dallas, 1957; it was played from November to December. David Bronstein from the Soviet Union was invited but unfortunately he was unable to obtain a visa. It probably had something to to with the US and Russia’s political situation. In October of 1957. Then in November (the same time the tournament in Dallas started) the Soviets sent up another satellite, this time carrying a dog. 

    A match between Pal Benko and the strong Texas Master, Ken Smith was played as a side event. Benko won 5.5-1.5. This event resulted in Yanofsky’s first GM norm.

 

 

    In the following game Larry Evans cleverly recovered from mediocre opening play, but then rashly captured a Pawn and not only did Larsen get a dangerous passed Pawn, but he also got a Rook on the 2nd rank which resulted in a brilliant sacrifice not once, but twice. For the curious, on the day this game was played it was 58 degrees (14 C.) in Dallas. Here it was close to freezing with light snow. 

[Event "Dallas"] [Site "Dallas, TX USA"] [Date "1957.12.03"] [Round "?"] [White "Larry Evans"] [Black "Bent Larsen"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D32"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "1957.11.30"] {D32: QGD, Tarrasch Defense} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 {At the time this game was played the QGD, Exchnge Variation (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.cxd4) was popular, but ifhe wanted to play it he had to play 3.cxd4 otherwise black can evade it.} c5 {The Tarrasch Defense, an aggressive bid for central space, had a poor reputation at the time. Today it's considered sound.} 4. e3 {The main line is the Rubinstein Variation (4.cxd5 followed by the fianchetto of the f1B). Instead Evans chooses this quiet variation, perhaps to avoid a sharp confrontation against the erver dangerous Larsen.} Nf6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. cxd5 { Tarrasch thought 6.Bd3 was best here because it leads to the Queen's Gambit Accepted only with an extra tempo for black after 6...dxc4} exd5 {Larsen has no fear of getting an isolated d-Pawn because it offers attacking possibilities.} 7. Bb5 {The other equally popular option is the non-committal 7.Be2. The strange looking text is equally good though.} a6 8. Bxc6+ bxc6 9. O-O Bd6 10. dxc5 Bxc5 11. e4 {[%mdl 512] Energetic play.} (11. b3 Bg4 12. Bb2 O-O 13. Ne2 Bd6 14. Ne5 Bxe5 15. Bxe5 {and Paszewski,M (2286)-Szustakowski,A (2267) Krakow POL 2022 was soon agreed drawn.}) 11... O-O 12. Bg5 Be7 13. Nd4 Qd6 (13... Bd7 14. exd5 Nxd5 15. Bxe7 Qxe7 16. Nxd5 cxd5 {is equal. Bukhman,E (2371) -Bach,M (2354) Kiel 2003}) 14. e5 Qxe5 15. Nxc6 Qxg5 16. Nxe7+ Kh8 17. Nxc8 Raxc8 {White has succeeded in eliminating black's two Bs and isolated his d-Pawn, but as will be seen the P is hardly a weakness.} 18. Qd3 {Evans now takes steps to stopped the passed d-Pawn which must be held up as quickly as possible, but doing so is as job for which a N is usually better suited. The text move is not bad though.} (18. Ne2 Rfe8 19. Nd4 {with a dead equal position and it is not likely either side can make progress.}) 18... Rfd8 19. Qxa6 {Even though this gives white two connected passed Ps it leads to a double-edged position that is harder for white to defend than ot is for b;ack to attack. Evans excelled in good positional judgment and here it seems he gets reckless. Both 19.Rac1 and 19.Ne2 were solid continuations.} d4 {As Nimzovich said, passed Ps have a lust to expand.} 20. Ne2 {It's a bit too late for this to be really effective.} Rc2 {Now black appears to have a great advantage on account of his advanced P and his R on the 2nd rank. Nevertheless, appearances can be deceptive because white is not completely without chances. Shootout results were interesting: white scored +1 -2 =2} (20... d3 {The P could have kept lusting.} 21. Nc3 Rb8 22. Rab1 d2 23. Rfd1 Re8 {with an unclear position. In Shootouts white scored +0 -1 =4}) 21. Rad1 Qe5 22. Ng3 h5 23. Rfe1 Qd5 {[%mdl 128] White has two good defensive choices.} 24. Re2 { [%mdl 8192] This terrible only fuels the lust of the d-Pawn and results in the loss of the gaem.} (24. Qd3 Rxb2 25. Nf5 Qc5 26. Nxd4 {with a likely draw.}) ( 24. Qb6 Rd6 25. Qb8+ Kh7 26. h3 {with a murky position.}) 24... d3 25. Re3 { No doubt Evans was hoping that the d-Pawn has been stopped and has finally will become weak, but now Larsen strikes from a different direction.} (25. Rxc2 dxc2 26. Rf1 h4 27. Ne2 h3 28. Nf4 Qe4 29. Nxh3 Rd1 30. Ng5 Rxf1+ 31. Qxf1 Qd5 {wins}) 25... Rxf2 {[%mdl 512] The first offer of this R. It's beautiful and devastating...if it's followed up corretly.} 26. Ne4 (26. Kxf2 Ng4+ 27. Kg1 Nxe3 28. Rd2 Qc5 {wins}) 26... Nxe4 {This is exactly why you cannot believe everything you see in pre-engine analysis! In the notes I saw the annotator missed the fact, as did the players, that this throws away all of black's advantage and should have allowed white to equalize.} (26... Ng4 {wins.} 27. Rdxd3 (27. Qxd3 Nxe3 28. Qxd5 Rxd5 29. Nxf2 Nxd1) 27... Rxb2 28. Nd2 Nxe3 29. Rxd5 Rxd5 30. Qa8+ Kh7 31. Nf1 Rxg2+ 32. Kh1 Rd1 33. Qxg2 Nxg2 34. Kxg2 Ra1 { win a won ending.}) 27. Rexd3 {[%mdl 8192] Did Evans think he was winning here? It may look like it, but watch this...} (27. Rdxd3 {avoids th threat of a discovered check and holds the position.} Qg5 28. Rxd8+ Qxd8 29. Rxe4 Rxb2 { with a likely draw.}) 27... Rf1+ {[%mdl 512] Another offer of the R...this time it has to be taken.} 28. Rxf1 {It looks like white has escaped with the loss of a piece, but he will have some play in the form of two connected passed Ps on the Q-side plus a R on the 7th vs a R+N.} (28. Kxf1 {loses in a clever way.} Qf5+ 29. Rf3 Rxd1+ 30. Ke2 Nc3+ 31. Rxc3 Qf1+) 28... Qc5+ { White resigned because black has a forced mate.} (28... Qxd3 29. Qxd3 Rxd3 30. Rxf7 {and black will win this ending, but it will tale some time.}) (28... Qc5+ {After this surprise move black mates as follows...} 29. Re3 Qxe3+ 30. Kh1 Nf2+ 31. Rxf2 Qxf2 32. h3 Rd1+ 33. Qf1 Rxf1+ 34. Kh2 Qf4+ 35. g3 Qf2#) 0-1

How to Use a Chess Engine

 

    YouTube has tons of chess information, but I recently discovered a site called ChessCoach by IM Andras Toth. Originally from Hungary he is now living in Australia. I watched his video on how to study a game using a chess engine and found it both entertaining and instructive. Check it out HERE!

A Spirited Euwe - Bisguier Tussle

 

    In the winter of 1948/49, the Manhattan Chess Club sponsored an international tournament featuring former World Champion Max Euwe, the leading American player Reuben Fine, the great Argentinian Grandmaster Miguel Najdorf and his compatriot Herman Pilnik. 

    The prize fund was a substantial $5,800 which is the equivalent of over $76,000 today. At that time a new car cost $1,650 and gas was 26 cents a gallon. A loaf of bread cost 14 cents and a gallon of milk 84 cent. Minimum wag was 40 cents an hour and the average salary was #3.600 a year. The average price of a new house was $14,500. So the prize fund was pretty substantial as was Fine’s first prize of $1,000 (over $13,000 in today’s dollars). 

    The tournament had a difficult schedule. It was played from December 23rd, 1948 to January 2nd, 1949, with only only two rest days, neither of which were holidaysm meaning they played on Christmas and New Years Day. I don’t know how many of the players were Jewish, but for them playing on Christmas would not have been a big deal. For those unfamiliar with Jewish customs on Christmas many Jews spend time with their family, eat Chinese food and go to the movies.

 

 

    Fine’s finish was no surprise, but the American debut of Najdorf was a fiasco! He scored 5.5 in the first six rounds, but then disaster struck; he lost to Fine and drew with Euwe and Horowitz 

    Both Euwe and Pilnk suffered their only defeats in the first round, but had too many draws to be contenders. Other than Fine, the American players, with perhaps the exception of 18-year old George Kramer were disappointing. 

    Veteran Isaac Kashdan suffered mainly because opening theory had left him in the dust. An out of practice Arnold Denker didn’t want to play in the event, but only agreed when Samuel Reshevsky was unavailable. Herman Steiner simply played well below par. 

    Arthur Bisguier, the most brilliant of the younger American masters, played an exciting game against Euwe in which both players played imaginative chess.

 

[Event "New York 1948/49"] [Site ""] [Date "1948.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Max Euwe"] [Black "Arthur Bisguier"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D30"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "1948.??.??"] {D43: Semi-Slav} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 e6 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 { The alternative, 6.Bh4, gives white slightly better winning chances. In surrendering the B pair, white hopes to get compensation in the form of more space. Black, on the other hand, hopes he will be able to break out of his cramped position and ise his two Bs.} Qxf6 7. Qb3 Nd7 8. e4 dxe4 9. Nxe4 Qf4 10. Bd3 Nf6 11. Nxf6+ gxf6 {This weakens his Ps andd leaves his K insecure, but an always optomistic Bisguier hopes to use the open g-file for attacking purposes.} 12. O-O Rg8 {White is better.} 13. Be2 b6 {The N is aimed at the K-side. but this is questionable.} (13... Bd6 {came to nothing in Kharlov,A (2614)-Malakhov,V (2664) Moscow 2005 which continued.} 14. g3 h5 15. Kh1 Qg4 16. Qe3 Bd7 17. d5 {and white is better.}) (13... Qg4 {is black's best chance and white woulf be only slightly better after} 14. g3 h5 15. Rad1 h4 {and with careful play white should be able to withstand black's ttack. Here's a sample continuation...} 16. d5 hxg3 17. fxg3 Bc5+ 18. Kh1 Rh8 19. dxe6 Qxg3 20. exf7+ Kxf7 21. Bd3 {With a double edged position where both sides have chances.}) 14. Rfe1 Bb7 15. c5 Qc7 16. Bc4 {Black's K is in real danger and Bxe6 is threatened.} Be7 (16... a6 {A "pass" to demonstrate the threat.} 17. Bxe6 fxe6 18. Qxe6+ Qe7 (18... Be7 {also meets with disaster...} 19. Qxg8+ Kd7 20. Rxe7+ Kxe7 21. Re1+ Kd7 22. Qe6+ Kd8 23. Qe8#) 19. Qxg8 O-O-O 20. Rxe7 Bxe7 21. Qe6+) 17. cxb6 {Euwe misses the best line and lets Bisguier back into the game o an equal footing.} (17. Bxe6 {doesn't accomplish anything now.} fxe6 18. Qxe6 Kf8 19. Ne5 fxe5 20. Qxh6+ Rg7 21. Rxe5 {with an unclear position.}) (17. Qe3 O-O-O 18. b4 h5 19. a4 {In this line white maintains a promising position. In Shootouts white scored +3 -1 =1}) 17... axb6 18. Rac1 {Intending 19.d5 which black's next move prevents.} Qd8 (18... Rc8 {Th demonstrate the threat of 19.d5 } 19. d5 exd5 20. Bxd5 Rg7 21. Nh4 Kf8 22. Nf5 {and white is winning.}) 19. Qe3 Rh8 20. Bxe6 {Enterprising, but blacl is not without resources.} fxe6 $11 21. Qxe6 Kf8 {He has to do something about the menace of Nh4-f5} 22. Nh4 {The threat is Ng6+} Rg8 23. Nf5 {Oddly, this is no longer dangerous to black and so white needed to find a better continuation.} (23. Qf5 {This sees to be his most promising continuation.} Ra5 24. Ng6+ Rxg6 (24... Ke8 25. Qxf6 {wins}) 25. Qxg6 Rg5 26. Qxh6+ Kg8 {A messy situation where white has a R+3Ps vs.2Bs. Five Shootouts with Stockfish were drawn while a couple of Shootouts using older, weaker engines showed white winning. It is likely that with humane white has the better chances.}) 23... Bb4 24. Nxh6 Rg7 25. Re3 {After having missed the best continuation at move 23 white's position is now considered lost by Stockfish. However, in practical play from this point the play is particularly tense.} Bd2 {This natural move is not the best and black loses musch of his advantage.} (25... Qxd4 {would lose after} 26. Nf5 Rxg2+ 27. Kxg2 Qd5+ 28. Qxd5 cxd5 29. Rh3) (25... Bc8 26. Qxc6 Bd7 27. Qd5 Ra5 28. Qb3 Bd2 {Now is the time to play this.} 29. Rcc3 Bxe3 30. Rxe3 Rag5 {and black is winning.}) 26. Rf3 { A fine counterattacking move.} Bg5 27. Nf5 {[%mdl 512] Now Rh3 is a strong threat.} Bxc1 {This is just an OK move, but there is a much simpler defense in 27...Rh7!} (27... Rh7 28. Nd6 Qe7 29. Re1 Bc8 30. Nxc8 Qxe6 31. Rxe6 Rxc8 { Another unclear position where the result is not predictable!}) 28. Rh3 { [%mdl 128] Black has to be careful...mate is a real possibility.} Rxg2+ { Well played. With a R and B ahead, black can afford, in fact, must play this sacrifice. Note that the R must be captured:} (28... Rg8 {gets him mated.} 29. Rh7 Rxg2+ 30. Kh1 Rxh2+ 31. Kxh2 Qd6+ 32. Qxd6+ Kg8 33. Qe6+ Kxh7 34. Qf7+ Kh8 35. Qg7#) (28... Rc8 29. Rh8+ Rg8 30. Rxg8#) 29. Kxg2 (29. Kf1 Rg8 30. Rc3 Ba6+ 31. Rc4 (31. Ke1 Rg1#) 31... Bxc4+ 32. Qxc4 Qd5 {with a winning advantage.}) ( 29. Kh1 c5 30. Nd6 Qe7 31. d5 Qxe6 32. dxe6 Rg3+ 33. Nxb7 Rxh3 {wins}) 29... Qd5+ 30. Qxd5 cxd5 31. Rh7 {One annotator claimed black is now forced to return the extra piece, but that's not the case.} Rxa2 {After this white is clearly better.} (31... Bc8 32. Rh8+ Kf7 33. Rxc8 Rxc8 34. Nd6+ Ke6 35. Nxc8 Bxb2 {with a likely draw.}) 32. Rxb7 Rxb2 {[%mdl 4096] How should this endgame be assessed?! Engines evaluate it as white is clearly better which was confirmed when white scored 5-0 in Shootouts.} 33. h4 {At this point the game is decided in white's favor.} Bd2 34. Kf1 Rb1+ 35. Ke2 Bc3 36. h5 b5 {This loses quickly, but there was nothing to be done against the advance of the h-Pawn.} 37. h6 {White is clearly winning.} Kg8 {and the idea .. .Kh8 leaves Black hopeful.} 38. Ne7+ Kh7 39. Nxd5+ Kxh6 40. Nxc3 {Black resigned. Spirited play by both players. Paradoxically, the tactical analysis with Ftockfish declares that Bisguier played better than Euwe! Perhaps, but Bisguier's play in the final stages was not up to par.} 1-0

No Respect for h-Pawns

    The late National Master James R. Schroeder (1927-2017) could be bombastic at times, but at heart he was a kind soul who was always willing to impart some chess wisdom to the rating challenged. By the way, calling him Mr. Sch-rO-der with a long O was a good way to upset him. It was Mr. Sch-rA-der with a long A. 

    Many lower rated players concentrate their study on openings, but Schroeder emphatically stated that that the best moves are not in the books and he advised against reading opening books or articles until you are at least an Expert (2000-2199). 

    In those pre-computer days he advised not to use books like Modern Chess Openings or Encyclopedia of Openings because they are compilations of selective data and contain thousands of mistakes in analysis and their positional evaluations are often wrong. I suppose the same thing could be said of modern databases and that engine analysis is critical to get at the truth. On the other hand, unless you are playing correspondence chess your opponent is human and playing what you are familiar with is a factor. 

    In any case, my observation is the below the Grandmaster level most players won't follow the “book” lines more that a very few moves which makes memorizing reams of analysis pointless. I remember one time when doing a post-mortem my young opponent was highly critical of one of my opening moves because it wasn’t what Bobby Fischer played. He could not answer my question why, if it was so bad, could he not refute it.

    According to Schroeder, only after you 1) become completely knowledgeable of:

    1) how to checkmate 

    2) thoroughly understand the endgame 

    3) know all the possible types of tactics (we used to call them “combinations”)

    4) have played through at least a thousand master games 

 are you are ready to study the openings. By that time you will be a Master. 

    Openings based on cheap traps are appealing, but you are wasting your time because if you cannot refute a bad move over the board you will never be a good player, said Schroeder

    The late Senior Master Kenneth Smith gave the same advice. He emphasized tactics, making the point that tactics will overcome a bad opening, a poor middlegame and lack of endgame knowledge. Smith's advice was similar to Schroeder's: only when you reach Expert can you stop devouring everything on tactics. 

    The following online game is proof of their advice. Sometime when encountering a lower rated opponent I will play 1.h4 just for fun. Generally known as the Desprez Opening named after the French player Marcel Desprez, I have also seen it called the Hawaiian Orangutan Attack and the Kadas Opening, after Gabor Kadas, a fairly strong Hungarian master who has picked up a few GM scalps using 1.h4. 

    The Desprez is a horrible opening for several reasons: 1) It does furthered the development of any pieces, 2) white has not claimed a share of the center, 3) white has handed over the initiative and 4) it weakened the King's castled position. 

 

[Event "Chess Hotel"] [Site "?"] [Date "2025.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Tartajubow"] [Black "Guest"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A00"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2025.??.??"] {A00: Desprez Opening} 1. h4 e6 {I have never seen this befor as black customarily plays 1...e5 or 1...d5} 2. Rh3 {Because my opponent was fairly low rated I playe this as a way of giving him odds...the plan is to sacrifice the R on f7.} d6 3. Rf3 Qxh4 {Black will end up losing time with this P grab, but there's nothing wrong with it. White's best continuation is now Nc3 and Nge2 etc. Obviously the R is horribly placed on the 3rd rank and castling is a long way off.} 4. Rxf7 {Giving R odds. I have played this sacrifice several times against low rated opponents and they often overreact to perceived threat like Ne5+ or Ng5+ or Bc4+ or Qh5+} Kxf7 5. Nf3 Qe7 6. d4 h6 {Overreacting.} (6... Nf6 7. Ng5+ Ke8 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. e4 h6 {Now this gains time by forcing the N to retreat.} 10. Nf3 {White is simply a R down.}) 7. e4 a6 {Way too cautious. 3... Nc6 is better. Even so, white is still a R down and black has a solid position. } 8. Bc4 b5 9. Bd3 {I chose this over 9,Bb3 because there is a glimmer of hope of utilizing the weakness of g6} Bb7 10. a4 b4 11. e5 {Hoping he will play ... dxe5 so I can get a N on e5.} d5 {Refusing to bite. Now that the position is closed I have little choice but to play "normally" and develop and hope black somehow blunders and throws away his advantage.} (11... dxe5 12. Nxe5+ Ke8 13. Qh5+ Kd8 14. Nf7+ {and white has not only equlized, he is actually a bit better.}) 12. Nbd2 a5 13. c3 Ba6 14. c4 {I need to keepo the B because g6 is still a square of interest.} c6 (14... dxc4 15. Be4 Ra7 16. Nxc4 {Baiting a trap!} Bxc4 17. Nd2 Ba6 (17... g6 {is a must. Now after} 18. Nxc4 {I am still a R down.}) 18. Qh5+ g6 19. Qxg6#) 15. Ng1 {A surprising move that came to my attention only at the last second. The threat, which is really no threat at all, is to play Qh5+} Ke8 {Heading for safety.} 16. Bg6+ {This is a little better than Qh5+ because it prevents a possible black expansion on the K-side by advancing his g-Pawn.} Kd7 17. Qf3 dxc4 18. Ne2 Kc7 19. Nf4 Nd7 20. Ne4 { My pieces are well placed, but there is no way to attack and I am still a R down and the well placed pieces are not enough compensation.} b3 {Finally! Black blunders and allws me to equalize. He still has to complete his development so 20...Ngf6 was called for.} 21. Bd2 Bb7 22. Nd6 {A good square for the N!} Qh4 {[%mdl 8192] This is an outright blunder that not only costs a P, but allows my pieces to swarm his K. 22...Ngf6 is about equal. Unfortunately for black he saw the threat of ...Qh1+ winning the R and went for it without further investigation.} 23. Nxe6+ Kb6 24. Nxc4+ {[%mdl 32]} Ka7 25. Nxa5 Qh1+ {It's too late to save the game, but apparently black still didn't suspect anything because he played this instantly.} 26. Ke2 Qxa1 27. Nxc6+ Kb6 28. Qxb3+ Ka6 29. Bd3# 1-0

A Neat Win by Nico Cortlever

    Dutch IM Nico Cortlever (1919-1995, 79 years old) first came to notice in 1938 when he finished 2nd behind Euwe in the Dutch Championship. A good endgame study composer, he was very actine in tournaments in Holland, both local and international, with varying results. By the 1970s he had given up active play, but served as the non-playing captain of the Dutch Olympiad teams. 

    His opponent in the following game was IM Dr. Max Ujtelky (1915-1979, 64 years old) a Slovak master and theoretician who was a direct descendant of famous Hungarian composer Franz Liszt, and Ujtelky tied with Jiri Fichtl in the Czechoslovak Championship at Ostrava in 1960, but lost a tiebreak match. He played for Czechoslovakia in the Olympiads in 954, 1960 and 1966.

    The game was actually horribly played by Ujtelky who launched a premature and badly planned "attack", but it's still entertaining to watch the way Cortlever refuted it. 

 

[Event "Hoogovens-B"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "1969.02.01"] [Round "?"] [White "Max Ujtelky"] [Black "Nico Cortlever"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A12"] [Annotator "James Massie"] [PlyCount "46"] [EventDate "1969.??.??"] {A12: English Opening} 1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. b3 g6 4. Bb2 d5 5. h3 {White usually plays 5.g3 or 5.e3. You might think the idea of the text is to limit the scope of black's B which seems rather pointless at this stage. Bit, that's not the case.} Bg7 6. g4 {While hardly losing, this move is far too risky!} h6 7. Bg2 O-O 8. O-O {Theoretically the position is equal, but most GMs would probaby frown on white's setup.} Nbd7 9. Qc2 Re8 10. d4 h5 {The assault on white's weakened K-side begins.} 11. g5 Ne4 {A critical position has been reached, White's next move, which he apparently played as part of a plan to step up the pressure on the K-side is a losing blunder because it allows black to strike a blow in the center and get a winning K-side attack himself.} 12. Nh4 {This loses the game. After the simple developing move 12.Nc3 black's advantage would be nominal because the blocked posutuin on the K-side would make it difficult for black to achieve a brealthrough.} e5 {Een better than tking the P.} (12... Nxg5 {This is probably what Ujtelky expected, but the position is still very strongly in black's favor after} 13. f4 Ne4 14. Nf3 Ndf6 {The threat is ...Nf6 and white is at a loss for a good continuation.}) 13. cxd5 cxd5 14. Nd2 Qxg5 {This keeps the advantage, but the Q opposite the K is not as dangerous as it looks.} (14... Nxg5 {Almost as good was 14...exd4} 15. Nxg6 {This may have been along the line Ujtelky was imagining, but it's still insufficient.} fxg6 16. Qxg6 Nf8 17. Qxh5 Re6 {White has 2Ps for the N, but no attack and so black's position is a winning one.}) 15. Nhf3 Qf5 16. dxe5 Nxe5 17. Nd4 Qg5 {White should now take the opportunity to simplify a bit and eliminate one of black's attackers with 18.Nxe4. Instead he continues with his non-existent attack and further weakens his position.} 18. f4 Qg3 19. Nxe4 { This comes too late to stop black;s rampaging pieces.} dxe4 20. Qxe4 $2 Bxh3 21. fxe5 Bxe5 22. Nf5 {Pointless. Black could take thw N and still have an easy win.} Qh2+ 23. Kf2 Bxg2 {White resigned. A complete debacle.} 0-1

Fifty Years Back

    For many readers half a century back may be more than a lifetime, for others it will seem like it was not so long ago. 

    Sadly, we lost a number of players that year. In April, IM Lajos Steiner (1903-1975), twice Hungarian champion and 4-time Australian champion died in Sydney. 

    In May, the nefarious auto thief, insurance fraudster, swindler, confidence man, drug smuggler and child molester, IM Norman T. Whitaker (1890-1975) died in Phoenix City, Alabama. 

    I met Whitaker once in the 60s in North Carolina and it was easy to see how he accomplished some of his dirty deeds because he came across as quite a likable fellow. He had a box of chess books, 365 Selected Endgames, that he co-authored and was selling with the solemn promise that if you learned everything in it you would be a master. Of course, I bought one, but didn’t learn everything in it so I don’t know if he was telling the truth or if I got conned. 

    In June the legendary Estonian GM Paul Keres (1916-1975) died of a heart attack in Helsinki at the age of 59. Also in June GM Nicolas Rossolimo (1910-1975) fell down two flights of stairs in Greenwich Village, New York late one night at his chess studio downstairs. In the mid-1960s I was one liberty from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and visited the Rpsslimo Chess Studio and lost an offhand game to him. 

    In August, GM Friedrich Saemisch (1896-1975) died in Berlin; he was Austrian champion in 1921. In November IM Karel Opocensky (1892-1975) died in Czechoslovakia. And, in December former Swiss champion IM Hans Johner (1889-1975) died in Switzerland. 

    Walter Browne was the reigning US champion, Pan-American champion and German Open champion. I got to attend every round of the US Championship (also an Interzonal qualifier) that year. I also got to attend every round of an international tournament that was won by Hungarian GM Istvan Csom that was held in Cleveland. Pretty thrilling stuff! 

    The big news in 1975 was that in January the Philippines offered to put up $5 million (that is the equivalent of over $30 million today) to for Bobby Fischer to play Anatoly Karpov in the Philippines. The winner would have received $3.5 million ($21 million) , and the loser $1.5 million ($9 million). 

    At the time Fischer was living in an apartment in Pasadena, California that was owned by the Worldwide Church of God, a church founded in 1933 by Herbert W. Armstrong, a newspaper advertising designer who believed he was a modern day prophet. 

    The church was involved in several scandals including sexual misconduct allegations against the founder's son who became involved in a power struggle over church leadership that ended up with him becoming excommunicated. In 1979. Fischer public ally denounced the church. In 1979 some members defected over a doctrinal issues. In 2009, the changed its name to Grace Communion Internationa 

     In April, 1975, Fischer shocked everybody when he forfeited his World Champion title because he disagreed with the match conditions. When his demands were not met he refused to play and Anatoly Karpov was declared Champion.

    These days few people appreciate Walter Browne who tragically passed away in his sleep at the age of 66 on June 24, 2015. At the time he was staying in Las Vegas and had spent the week playing poler and chess. 

`Browne was born in Sydney to an American father and an Australian mother and had dual citizenship until he was 21. His family moved to the New York area when he was 3 years old and he moved to California in 1973. 

    He won the 1969 Australian Championship and was a six-time US Champion. On the December 1975 USCF rating list Browne was the top ranked player followed by Robert Byrne, Lubomor Kavalek, Larry Evans, William Lombardy, Samuel Rershevsky, Kenneth Rogoff James Tarjan, Pal Benko anf Milan Vukcevich.

 

 

    Browne’s opponent in the following game was Kenneth Frey (born in 1950). He received his IM title in 1975 and was Mexican champion in 1981, 1983, 1984 and 1986. In later years he was active in correspondence chess and was awarded the Correspondence Grandmaster title in 2004. Browne;s sharp play was nearly perfect. 

[Event "Pan American, Winnipeg"] [Site "Winnipeg CAN"] [Date "1974.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Kenneth Frey"] [Black "Walter Browne"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D94"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "1974.??.??"] {D94: Gruenfeld} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. d4 Bg7 {Browne plays the unusual, for him, Gruenfeld.because he had noticed that in the first round Frey had played poorly against it.} 5. e3 O-O 6. Be2 dxc4 7. Bxc4 c5 8. O-O cxd4 9. Nxd4 a6 10. Qe2 b5 11. Bb3 e5 {As usual, Browne was not content with just equality so he trys to grab the initiative with this bold move.} (11... Bb7 12. Rd1 Qb6 13. Bd2 Nc6 14. Nxc6 Qxc6 15. f3 {equals. Limp,E (2415) -Matsuura,E (2405) Campeonato Paulista 1998}) 12. Nc2 {Black has an edge.} e4 13. Rd1 {Browne thought this was too passive, but in relity there is nothing wrong with it.} (13. Nb4 {This move, activating the N was Browne;s suggestion. After} Nbd7 {Simpler would be 13...Bg4} 14. Rd1 Qe7 {Things get a bit tactical. } (14... Qe8) 15. Ncd5 (15. Bd5 Nxd5 16. Nbxd5 Qe5 17. b4 {with complete equality.}) 15... Nxd5 16. Bxd5 Ne5 17. Bxa8 Bg4 18. f3 Nxf3+ 19. gxf3 Bxf3 20. Qe1 Bxd1 21. Qxd1 Qxb4 22. Bc6 {equals}) 13... Qe7 14. h3 {Somewhat better was 14.Nd5} Bb7 15. Bd2 {Frey's play, while not really bad, has resulted in a passive position... not a good situation to be in against a very aggressive opponent like Browne.} Nbd7 {[%mdl 32]} 16. Nd4 {White is resigned to waiting, but it won't be for long.} Ne5 17. Bc2 Rac8 {[%mdl 32] Watch where this R ends up!} 18. Be1 Rc5 19. b4 {A very poor move. As bad as white's position looks, 19.Nxe4 give him a fighting chance.} (19. Nxe4 {was his best try.} Nxe4 20. Bxe4 Bxe4 21. Bb4 Rfc8 22. Rac1 Nd3 23. Bxc5 Rxc5 24. Rxc5 Nxc5 {While the material is about even black has a winning position. Although Stootout games were rather long (70-80 move) black scored 5-0.}) 19... Nf3+ {[%mdl 512] A nice tactical shot. It doesn’t matter how white recaptures, he is hopelessly lost.} 20. gxf3 Rg5+ 21. Kh2 exf3 22. Nxf3 Qc7+ {This nifty maneuver wraps it up.} 23. Kh1 Qc8 24. Kh2 {Browne has one more little tactical shot up his sleeve.} Ng4+ {[%mdl 512]} 25. Kg1 (25. hxg4 Qxg4 {mates in 3} 26. Qf1 Rh5+ 27. Nh4 Rxh4+ 28. Qh3 Rxh3#) 25... Bxf3 {Make that two little tactical shots!} 26. Qxf3 Ne5+ {White resigned.} (26... Ne5+ 27. Qg3 Nf3+ 28. Kg2 Rxg3+ 29. fxg3 Nxe1+ 30. Rxe1 Bxc3) 0-1