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!

 

ChessBase

Thomas Loyd (Blindfold)–Isaac S Loyd1–0C44New YorkNew York, NY USA1856Stockfish 17

C44: Ponziani Opening 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.c3 The ancient Ponziani was known as far back as 1297 and was advocated by Howard Staunton, the strongest player of the day. c5 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 b4+ 6.c3 is advantageous for white. 4...b6 5.b5 a5 6.xe5 White appears to have won a P, but he cannot not hold on to it. e7 6...f6 is correct. 7.d4 7.d3 Blacj equalizes after d5 8.exd5 0-0 9.d4 xd5 10.d3 c5 Now white should castle because if 11.dxc5 c7 12.f4 h4+ 13.g3 e7 14.0-0 d8 and black is better owing to the looseness of white;s position. 7...d6 8.f3 xe4 with complete equality. 7.d4 d6 8.a3 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.d3 f6 11.0-0 0-0 and after 12.Nf3 and Re1 white stands quite well. 8...h4 is the best way to regain the P, but after 9.f3 xe4+ 10.e2 f6 11.0-0 0-0 12.c4 white has a much freer position. 9.f3 xe4+ 10.e2 c4 11.0-0 xa3 The disappearance of this B is not important because it has served it purpose. 12.e1 f4 12...c4 13.xc4 is very bad for black. 13.xa3 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.c4+ . e7 15.xd5 d6 16.b3 f8 17.e3 d8 18.f7 c6 19.bxc6 bxc6 20.ae1 The mop up follows and there are no major improvements for either side. f5 21.c4 d7 22.xb6 axb6 23.xb6+ c7 24.e8+ xe8 25.xe8+ d7 26.e6+ d6 26...xe8 27.xc7 27.c5# 1–0

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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. 

ChessBase

Louis Tolins, (Cornell)–Harold L Bauder, (Pennsylvania)1–0C50Triangular College League, New YorkNew York, NY USA30.12.1909Stockfish 17

C56: Two Knights Defense 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.c4 c5 4.0-0 f6 5.c3 d6 6.d4 exd4 7.cxd4 b6 8.h3 0-0 9.c3 h6 While this is often played it is far from being the best. Correct is 9...Nxe4 which keeps the chances equal. 9...xe4! 10.xe4 d5 11.xd5 xd5 12.c3 d6 equals 10.e1 e8 11.a3 a5 11...a6 12.f4 a5 13.a2 c6 14.c4 a5 White greed to a draw even though he stands considerably better. Tishin,P (2400)-Zaitsev,A (2375) Donskoj 2010 12.a2 c6 13.d3 e7 14.b4 c6 15.d5 cxd5 16.xd5 Better was 16. Ba2; Black niw seizes the initiative. fxd5 17.exd5 f5 18.d2 c8 Threatening ...Rc2 19.b3 g6 20.b2 e4 Hoping for ...Bxf3. 21.d4 This is faulty tactically. 21.a4 e7 22.d1 with equality. 21...h4 This completely turns the game around. Black has a tremendous attack after 21...Qh4, but after this white is winning. 21...h4 22.e3 f4 Black's pieces are swarming on the K-side. 23.g3 xg2 24.xg2 xd4 25.xd4 e2+ 26.f1 xd4 27.d1 e4 Threatening ...Nf3+; black is winning/ 22.e6 xg2 This may have looked good over the board, but black simply does not get a serious attack. 22...fxe6 is too dangerous. 23.dxe6 e7 24.xe4 White has a very strong position. 23.xd8 xe1+ 24.xe1 f3+ 25.xg2 xe1+ 26.xe1 xd8 The flurry of exchanges is over and black is a piece down. 27.e7 f8 28.xb7 e8 29.f3 e1 Black has the extremely faint hope of continuing with ...Rb1 30.b8+ e7 31.xg7 f1 32.a4 xf2+ 33.g3 a2 34.e8# 1–0

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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. 

 

ChessBase

Max Blau–Theo Daniel van Scheltinga0–1C64Hilversum Zonal7Hilversum NED22.07.1947Stockfish 17

C65: Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 f6 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. 4.0-0 Slightly less often seen is 4. d3 which leads to similar results. c5 5.c3 0-0 6.d4 b6 7.e1 d6 8.h3 e7 9.g5 9.a3 d7 10.g5 h6 11.xf6 xf6 12.c4 is about equal. Polgar,J (2677) -Svidler,P (2713) Frankfurt 1999 9...h6 9...b8 10.bd2 c6 11.a4 White's position is more active. Heino,J (2124)-Lehto,V (2203) Finland 2005 10.xf6 Retreating to either e3 or h4 were both acceptable. xf6 11.a3 e7 12.c4 g6 13.xb6 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.f1 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. f4 15.h2 g5 16.g1 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 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 h4+ 18.h3 xg4 is not a position white would want to defend. 17...xh3 18.xh3 gxh3 19.d2 g6 20.f4 g4 21.f5 h5 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 h7 23.e2 g8 24.xg4 xg4 25.e3 ag8 26.f2 g5 27.g1 h5 White is undert tremendous oressure and his position is now beyond saving. 28.e2 h6 29.e3 8g5 30.ee1 h4 Black is clearly winning. 31.gxh4 xg1 32.hxg5 xg5 White has managed to avoid getting mated, but the ending is lost. van Scheltinga finishes him off with precision. 33.f3 g2+ 34.h1 h4 35.g1 xg1+ 36.xg1 h6 37.h1 g5 38.e3+ f4 39.e2 g3 40.c4 f4 41.d2+ xe4 42.e2+ f4 White resigned. Forceful play by van Scheltinga. 0–1

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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. 

ChessBase

Emanuel Lasker–Gyula Breyer0–1C2130 bd Simultaneous, Budapest26.01.1911Stockfish 17

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. xd5 Normally black would not want to make this capture because Nc3 gains a tempo, but here that is not possible. 5.cxd4 f6 6.f3 6.c3 is met by b4 7.f3 a5 Again, black has equalized with no difficulty. 6...b4+ 7.c3 0-0 8.e2 e4 8...c5 9.0-0 xc3 10.bxc3 cxd4 11.xd4 f5 White is better. Toledano Llinares,J (2340)-Campora,D (2530) Burguillos 2007 9.d2 xc3 10.bxc3 c6 There is nothing wrong with this, but black usually plays 10...Nxd2 11.0-0 a5 12.c2 f5 13.d3 fe8 More precise was 13...Nxd2 14.e1 Lasker preserves his B for no good reason. Putting pressure on black's b-Pawn with 14.Rab1 was a more active option. d5 15.c4 Playing 15.Rb1 was still a good alternative. d6 16.d5 e5 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.xe4 This deserves two question marks! xf3+ This is pretty obvious, but Lasker was moving quickly. Still, it;s surprising that he missed it. 17...xe4 This may have been what Lasker was expecting,,, 18.xe4 g6 19.c2 and white is a piece ahead. 18.gxf3 g6+ 19.h1 xe4 20.c3 This is an instructuve position because it illustrates the point that won games do not win themselves. Black has only one winning move. h4 This, and only this, is the winner. 20...e2 This routine move runs into 21.g1 h6 22.d4 ae8 23.c3 g6 with only an equal position. 21.g1 Black finishes up neatly. xh2+ Again, this move which leads to a forced mate, is the only way that guarantees the win. 22.xh2 h5+ 23.g3 g5+ 24.h2 h4+ 25.g2 h3# A nice finish. 0–1

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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. 

ChessBase

Martin From–Emil Schallopp1–0C21CopenhagenCopenhagen1867Stockfish 17

C21: Danish Gambit 1.e4 e5 1...d5 2.exd5 c6 3.dxc6 e5 4.cxb7 xb7 5.c3 Probably best, but white often plays 5.Bb5+ which is not especially dangerous to black. c5 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.c4 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.xb2 c6 5...d5 6.xd5 6.exd5 f6 7.e2 b4+ 8.bc3 0-0 9.0-0 c6 10.b3 a5 11.dxc6 xc6 12.ad1 b6 13.c2 b4 14.f5 xf5 0-1 Ledesma,J-Subramanian,A ICC INT 2009 6...c6 5...h6 6.f3 b4+ 7.f1 f8 8.bd2 d6 9.b3 d7 is equal. Lucchetti,P (2221)-Collas,D (2354) Besancon FRA 1999 6.d2 This is a but too passive. 6.N3 keeps the position about even. f6 7.e5 This results in a sharp tactical position that is somewhat in black's favor. Safer was 7.Ngf3. g4 A surprising move...the N cannot be taken. 8.xf7+ 8.xg4 d5 9.g3 dxc4 Black has a two P advantage and white is facing threats like ...Qd3 and ...Nb4 and so black is winning. 8...xf7 9.xg4 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.f4+ e8 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.gf3 c5 How can this developing move be wrong? But it is! He need to jeep pressure on white's e-Pawn. 11...e7 12.a3 12.0-0 b4 puts white in a difficult position. 12...d8 13.0-0 e6 14.e3 c5 Black is better because white has run out of attacking moves. 12.0-0 White has compensation. fir his slight material deficit because of the precarious position of black's K. f8 13.g3 g6 14.ad1 e6 15.e4 A horrible tactical mistake that should have lost! There is no firced win, but this move keeos the initiative. 15.g5 e7 16.b3 b6 17.a3 xa3 18.xe6 wuth the slightly better chances. 15...dxe4 No doubt From was not expecting this. 16.xd8+ xd8 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.g5 Black now misplays the attack on f2 captururing with the wrong piece. xf2 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...xf2+ 18.xf2 d1+ 19.f1 dxf1# 17...xf2+ 18.h1 xg3 17...xf2+ 18.xf2 xf2 19.xf2 c4 20.c1 d2+ 21.e3 e2+ 22.f4 h6 23.h7 g5+ 24.g3 e6 Black is winning. 18.xe6 b6 He would still lost, but 18...Rf3+ is a stouter defense. 19.g7+ f7 20.xf2+ xg7 20...xf2+ 21.xf2+ xg7 22.e6+ mates in 6 d4 23.f7+ h6 24.c1+ d2 25.xd2+ e3 26.xe3+ g5 27.f6+ h5 28.xg5# 21.e6+ g8 The threat is ...Rd1# but white has an easy way to meet it. 22.b3 Thus also threatens e7+ e7 23.f1 The game is over. e3 24.f7 d2 25.xe7 f2+ 26.e1 a5+ 27.c3 Black resigned...white has a forced mate. 27.c3 f8 28.xh7 e8 29.b5+ c6 30.h8+ f8 31.xb7 xc3+ 32.e2 xh8 33.f7+ d8 34.d7# 1–0

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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. 

ChessBase

Larry Evans–Bent Larsen0–1D32DallasDallas, TX USA03.12.1957Stockfish 17

D32: QGD, Tarrasch Defense 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.c3 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. f6 5.f3 c6 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.b5 The other equally popular option is the non-committal 7.Be2. The strange looking text is equally good though. a6 8.xc6+ bxc6 9.0-0 d6 10.dxc5 xc5 11.e4 Energetic play. 11.b3 g4 12.b2 0-0 13.e2 d6 14.e5 xe5 15.xe5 and Paszewski,M (2286)-Szustakowski,A (2267) Krakow POL 2022 was soon agreed drawn. 11...0-0 12.g5 e7 13.d4 d6 13...d7 14.exd5 xd5 15.xe7 xe7 16.xd5 cxd5 is equal. Bukhman,E (2371) -Bach,M (2354) Kiel 2003 14.e5 xe5 15.xc6 xg5 16.xe7+ h8 17.xc8 axc8 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.d3 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.e2 fe8 19.d4 with a dead equal position and it is not likely either side can make progress. 18...fd8 19.xa6 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.e2 It's a bit too late for this to be really effective. c2 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.c3 b8 22.ab1 d2 23.fd1 e8 with an unclear position. In Shootouts white scored +0 -1 =4 21.ad1 e5 22.g3 h5 23.fe1 d5 White has two good defensive choices. 24.e2 This terrible only fuels the lust of the d-Pawn and results in the loss of the gaem. 24.d3 xb2 25.f5 c5 26.xd4 with a likely draw. 24.b6 d6 25.b8+ h7 26.h3 with a murky position. 24...d3 25.e3 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.xc2 dxc2 26.f1 h4 27.e2 h3 28.f4 e4 29.xh3 d1 30.g5 xf1+ 31.xf1 d5 wins 25...xf2 The first offer of this R. It's beautiful and devastating...if it's followed up corretly. 26.e4 26.xf2 g4+ 27.g1 xe3 28.d2 c5 wins 26...xe4 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...g4 wins. 27.dxd3 27.xd3 xe3 28.xd5 xd5 29.xf2 xd1 27...xb2 28.d2 xe3 29.xd5 xd5 30.a8+ h7 31.f1 xg2+ 32.h1 d1 33.xg2 xg2 34.xg2 a1 win a won ending. 27.exd3 Did Evans think he was winning here? It may look like it, but watch this... 27.dxd3 avoids th threat of a discovered check and holds the position. g5 28.xd8+ xd8 29.xe4 xb2 with a likely draw. 27...f1+ Another offer of the R...this time it has to be taken. 28.xf1 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.xf1 loses in a clever way. f5+ 29.f3 xd1+ 30.e2 c3+ 31.xc3 f1+ 28...c5+ White resigned because black has a forced mate. 28...xd3 29.xd3 xd3 30.xf7 and black will win this ending, but it will tale some time. 28...c5+ After this surprise move black mates as follows... 29.e3 xe3+ 30.h1 f2+ 31.xf2 xf2 32.h3 d1+ 33.f1 xf1+ 34.h2 f4+ 35.g3 f2# 0–1

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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.

 

ChessBase

Max Euwe–Arthur Bisguier1–0D30New York 1948/491948Stockfish 17

D43: Semi-Slav 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.f3 e6 4.c3 f6 5.g5 h6 6.xf6 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. xf6 7.b3 d7 8.e4 dxe4 9.xe4 f4 10.d3 f6 11.xf6+ 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. 12.0-0 g8 White is better. 13.e2 b6 The N is aimed at the K-side. but this is questionable. 13...d6 came to nothing in Kharlov,A (2614)-Malakhov,V (2664) Moscow 2005 which continued. 14.g3 h5 15.h1 g4 16.e3 d7 17.d5 and white is better. 13...g4 is black's best chance and white woulf be only slightly better after 14.g3 h5 15.ad1 h4 and with careful play white should be able to withstand black's ttack. Here's a sample continuation... 16.d5 hxg3 17.fxg3 c5+ 18.h1 h8 19.dxe6 xg3 20.exf7+ xf7 21.d3 With a double edged position where both sides have chances. 14.fe1 b7 15.c5 c7 16.c4 Black's K is in real danger and Bxe6 is threatened. e7 16...a6 A "pass" to demonstrate the threat. 17.xe6 fxe6 18.xe6+ e7 18...e7 also meets with disaster... 19.xg8+ d7 20.xe7+ xe7 21.e1+ d7 22.e6+ d8 23.e8# 19.xg8 0-0-0 20.xe7 xe7 21.e6+ 17.cxb6 Euwe misses the best line and lets Bisguier back into the game o an equal footing. 17.xe6 doesn't accomplish anything now. fxe6 18.xe6 f8 19.e5 fxe5 20.xh6+ g7 21.xe5 with an unclear position. 17.e3 0-0-0 18.b4 h5 19.a4 In this line white maintains a promising position. In Shootouts white scored +3 -1 =1 17...axb6 18.ac1 Intending 19.d5 which black's next move prevents. d8 18...c8 Th demonstrate the threat of 19.d5 19.d5 exd5 20.xd5 g7 21.h4 f8 22.f5 and white is winning. 19.e3 h8 20.xe6 Enterprising, but blacl is not without resources. fxe6= 21.xe6 f8 He has to do something about the menace of Nh4-f5 22.h4 The threat is Ng6+ g8 23.f5 Oddly, this is no longer dangerous to black and so white needed to find a better continuation. 23.f5 This sees to be his most promising continuation. a5 24.g6+ xg6 24...e8 25.xf6 wins 25.xg6 g5 26.xh6+ g8 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...b4 24.xh6 g7 25.e3 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. d2 This natural move is not the best and black loses musch of his advantage. 25...xd4 would lose after 26.f5 xg2+ 27.xg2 d5+ 28.xd5 cxd5 29.h3 25...c8 26.xc6 d7 27.d5 a5 28.b3 d2 Now is the time to play this. 29.cc3 xe3 30.xe3 ag5 and black is winning. 26.f3 A fine counterattacking move. g5 27.f5 Now Rh3 is a strong threat. xc1 This is just an OK move, but there is a much simpler defense in 27...Rh7! 27...h7 28.d6 e7 29.e1 c8 30.xc8 xe6 31.xe6 xc8 Another unclear position where the result is not predictable! 28.h3 Black has to be careful...mate is a real possibility. xg2+ 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...g8 gets him mated. 29.h7 xg2+ 30.h1 xh2+ 31.xh2 d6+ 32.xd6+ g8 33.e6+ xh7 34.f7+ h8 35.g7# 28...c8 29.h8+ g8 30.xg8# 29.xg2 29.f1 g8 30.c3 a6+ 31.c4 31.e1 g1# 31...xc4+ 32.xc4 d5 with a winning advantage. 29.h1 c5 30.d6 e7 31.d5 xe6 32.dxe6 g3+ 33.xb7 xh3 wins 29...d5+ 30.xd5 cxd5 31.h7 One annotator claimed black is now forced to return the extra piece, but that's not the case. xa2 After this white is clearly better. 31...c8 32.h8+ f7 33.xc8 xc8 34.d6+ e6 35.xc8 xb2 with a likely draw. 32.xb7 xb2 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. d2 34.f1 b1+ 35.e2 c3 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. g8 and the idea .. .Kh8 leaves Black hopeful. 38.e7+ h7 39.xd5+ xh6 40.xc3 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

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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. 

 

ChessBase

Tartajubow–Guest1–0A00Chess Hotel2025Stockfish 17

A00: Desprez Opening 1.h4 e6 I have never seen this befor as black customarily plays 1...e5 or 1...d5 2.h3 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.f3 xh4 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.xf7 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+ xf7 5.f3 e7 6.d4 h6 Overreacting. 6...f6 7.g5+ e8 8.c3 c6 9.e4 h6 Now this gains time by forcing the N to retreat. 10.f3 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.c4 b5 9.d3 I chose this over 9,Bb3 because there is a glimmer of hope of utilizing the weakness of g6 b7 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.xe5+ e8 13.h5+ d8 14.f7+ and white has not only equlized, he is actually a bit better. 12.bd2 a5 13.c3 a6 14.c4 I need to keepo the B because g6 is still a square of interest. c6 14...dxc4 15.e4 a7 16.xc4 Baiting a trap! xc4 17.d2 a6 17...g6 is a must. Now after 18.xc4 I am still a R down. 18.h5+ g6 19.xg6# 15.g1 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+ e8 Heading for safety. 16.g6+ This is a little better than Qh5+ because it prevents a possible black expansion on the K-side by advancing his g-Pawn. d7 17.f3 dxc4 18.e2 c7 19.f4 d7 20.e4 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.d2 b7 22.d6 A good square for the N! h4 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.xe6+ b6 24.xc4+ a7 25.xa5 h1+ It's too late to save the game, but apparently black still didn't suspect anything because he played this instantly. 26.e2 xa1 27.xc6+ b6 28.xb3+ a6 29.d3# 1–0

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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. 

 

ChessBase

Max Ujtelky–Nico Cortlever0–1A12Hoogovens-BWijk aan Zee NED01.02.1969James Massie

A12: English Opening 1.c4 c6 2.f3 f6 3.b3 g6 4.b2 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. g7 6.g4 While hardly losing, this move is far too risky! h6 7.g2 0-0 8.0-0 Theoretically the position is equal, but most GMs would probaby frown on white's setup. bd7 9.c2 e8 10.d4 h5 The assault on white's weakened K-side begins. 11.g5 e4 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.h4 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...xg5 This is probably what Ujtelky expected, but the position is still very strongly in black's favor after 13.f4 e4 14.f3 df6 The threat is ...Nf6 and white is at a loss for a good continuation. 13.cxd5 cxd5 14.d2 xg5 This keeps the advantage, but the Q opposite the K is not as dangerous as it looks. 14...xg5 Almost as good was 14...exd4 15.xg6 This may have been along the line Ujtelky was imagining, but it's still insufficient. fxg6 16.xg6 f8 17.xh5 e6 White has 2Ps for the N, but no attack and so black's position is a winning one. 15.hf3 f5 16.dxe5 xe5 17.d4 g5 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 g3 19.xe4 This comes too late to stop black;s rampaging pieces. dxe4 20.xe4? xh3 21.fxe5 xe5 22.f5 Pointless. Black could take thw N and still have an easy win. h2+ 23.f2 xg2 White resigned. A complete debacle. 0–1

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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. 

ChessBase

Kenneth Frey–Walter Browne0–1D94Pan American, WinnipegWinnipeg CAN1974Stockfish 17

D94: Gruenfeld 1.f3 f6 2.c4 g6 3.c3 d5 4.d4 g7 Browne plays the unusual, for him, Gruenfeld.because he had noticed that in the first round Frey had played poorly against it. 5.e3 0-0 6.e2 dxc4 7.xc4 c5 8.0-0 cxd4 9.xd4 a6 10.e2 b5 11.b3 e5 As usual, Browne was not content with just equality so he trys to grab the initiative with this bold move. 11...b7 12.d1 b6 13.d2 c6 14.xc6 xc6 15.f3 equals. Limp,E (2415) -Matsuura,E (2405) Campeonato Paulista 1998 12.c2 Black has an edge. e4 13.d1 Browne thought this was too passive, but in relity there is nothing wrong with it. 13.b4 This move, activating the N was Browne;s suggestion. After bd7 Simpler would be 13...Bg4 14.d1 e7 Things get a bit tactical. 14...e8 15.cd5 15.d5 xd5 16.bxd5 e5 17.b4 with complete equality. 15...xd5 16.xd5 e5 17.xa8 g4 18.f3 xf3+ 19.gxf3 xf3 20.e1 xd1 21.xd1 xb4 22.c6 equals 13...e7 14.h3 Somewhat better was 14.Nd5 b7 15.d2 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. bd7 16.d4 White is resigned to waiting, but it won't be for long. e5 17.c2 ac8 Watch where this R ends up! 18.e1 c5 19.b4 A very poor move. As bad as white's position looks, 19.Nxe4 give him a fighting chance. 19.xe4 was his best try. xe4 20.xe4 xe4 21.b4 fc8 22.ac1 d3 23.xc5 xc5 24.xc5 xc5 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...f3+ A nice tactical shot. It doesn’t matter how white recaptures, he is hopelessly lost. 20.gxf3 g5+ 21.h2 exf3 22.xf3 c7+ This nifty maneuver wraps it up. 23.h1 c8 24.h2 Browne has one more little tactical shot up his sleeve. g4+ 25.g1 25.hxg4 xg4 mates in 3 26.f1 h5+ 27.h4 xh4+ 28.h3 xh3# 25...xf3 Make that two little tactical shots! 26.xf3 e5+ White resigned. 26...e5+ 27.g3 f3+ 28.g2 xg3+ 29.fxg3 xe1+ 30.xe1 xc3 0–1

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A Sparkling Play by Weaver Adams

    It was Tarrasch who said, "It is not enough to be a good chess player; one must also play well." Akin to that statement is one by Reuben Fine that we amateurs might well remember, “...it is not enough to get a good opening; one must also continue well.” 

    The following game from the 1942 Manhattan Chess Club Championship illustrates the point. White emerged from the opening with a decent position, but he didn't play well and lost. 

    The winner, Weaver Adams (1901-1963), is most famous for his controversial claim that 1.e4 confers a winning advantage upon White. He advocated this in books and magazine articles amd in his games. Of course, he was never successful, but at least in 1999 World Correspondence Champion (1965-68) Hans Berliner (1929-2017) published a book titled The System in which he expressed his admiration for Adams and claimed that 1,d4 gives white a large, and possibly decisive, advantage. Like Adams, he didn’t proved it. 

    Adams’ results suffered because he published his analysis for all to see and then stuck to it in his play. Consequently, his opponents were well prepared because the new what he was going to play. 

    In this game he essayed the Albin Counter Gambit against his opponent’s 1.d4. Boris Blumin (1908-1998) who was in born in St. Petersburg, Russia. At one point he lived in in Canada and won the Canadian Championship twice before moving to the United States. 

 

    Adans would, of course, dispute that his opening was inferior, but Fine, like Berliner, said, “..we should all be thankful to Mr. Adams for his sponsorship of so many out-of-the-way opening lines which invariably lead to sparkling and interesting play.” Take a gander at this game.

 

ChessBase

Boris Blumin–Weaver Adams0–1D09Mamhattan CC Champ, New York1942Stockfosh 17

D09: Albin Counter Gambit 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 This gambit is based on the idea of sacrificing a P in order to secure a strong P wedge on d4 along with free and easy development. It is true that black usually develops well, but he has to damage his position to regain the P. 3.dxe5 The only move that offers white any chance of obtaining an advantage. d4 4.f3 c6 5.a3 The main alternative to this move is 5.g3, but I remember seeing a game in which Reshecvsky played 5.a3 and he gave it an explanation mark. Fine was of the opion that the value of this then fashionable move may be questioned. He explained that white's strategie objectives are to keep the black d-Pawn under guard and to secure play against blacj's Q-side and neither of these objectives are furthered by 5.a3. In my database the only significant difference is that the percentage of draws goes up when white plays 5.a3, so Fine may very well be correct. a5 According to FIne this move is forced, but it gives black an excellent P position on the Q-side. That is not the case though because ay least at this point the move is hardly forced and the position is actually slightly in white's favor. That said, as will be noticed a bit later black will need to play ...a5 anyway. So, should he do it now or wait? It seems waiting is the beter alternative. 5...ge7 This is the move that gives black the best winning chances. 6.b4 g6 7.b2 and now... a5 An interesting position. Stockfish evaluates the positionas slightly in white's favor, bot humans don't play like engines and my database has only 11 games with this position and black scored +5 -2 =4. 6.bd2 g4 6...a4 is a plausible alternative. 7.b4 axb3 8.xb3 e6 9.bxd4 xd4 10.xd4 xd4 11.xd4 xc4 White is better. Dyachkov,S (2549)-Kanep,M (2476) Moscow RUS 2005 7.g3 This is hardly bad, but the more direct 7.h3 was worth considering. 7.h3 e6 Better than 7...Bh5 8.g3 d7 9.g2 Pachman,L-Plachetka,J Luhacovice 1968. White stands well. 7.b3 This is also a reasonable move. e7 8.bxd4 0-0-0 9.e3 White has the advantage. Jankovic,A (2446)-Zaja,I (2466) Omis 2005 7...c5 8.g2 ge7 9.0-0 0-0 Black is still a long way from regaining his P and white is well developed. Fine wrote that the simplest plan for white is now to concentrate on the exposed P on d4, but the line he plays is not bad at all. Fine did not give any indication as to how white could play against the d-Pawn and there really seems to be no clear way of how to do it. 10.b3 Here and on the next nove he could also play h3 g6 11.b2 e7 White;s advantage is very small. 12.h3 xf3 Not the best, Black should keep his B and retreat to f5. 13.xf3 What could be more logical than this recapture? However, after 13.Nxf3 his position is no more that equal. To gain the advantahe he must play 13.exf3! 13.exf3 aiming for f4 solidly guarding the e-Pawn. gxe5 14.e1 d7 15.e4 e7 16.f4 g6 17.h4 with a ptomising position. 13...ad8 Overprotecting the vital d-Pawn. 14.d2 b6 A precaution in that ot removes the P from any attack by the B at g2. Adams is now ready to capture the e-Pawn. 15.h2 Fine adds that this is quite beside the point except for the fact that it prepares a blunder! White's K is in no danger and the best course was to attack black's d-Pawn. The psychologist Fine observed that this move indicates a situation in which white "seems to have been overcome by one of those strange compulsions which lead a player to carry out a preconceived idea even though he realizes ot is bad." 15.c2 Fine's suggestion, but after gxe5 16.xe5 xe5 17.ad1 fe8 18.b4 18.d2 h5 19.fd1 h4 20.g4 d3 the chances are equal. 18...axb4 19.axb4 xb4 20.xd4 xd4 21.xd4 the position is equal. 15.e6 This surorising move keeps the iniative. f5 15...xe6 16.g5 d7 17.ad1 White is slightly better. 16.h4 h6 17.h5 ge5 18.xe5 xe5 19.f4 followed by Bd5 with a good position. 15...cxe5 16.xe5 xe5 17.f4 d7 18.fd1 Fine was wrongly super-critical of this stating that In spite of all his previous inaccuracies, white could still have secured a playable position by 18.Bxd4. First, Blumin's previous play was not riddled with inaccuracies and second, while 18.Bxd4 was better than the text because it results in an equal position, 18.Rfd1 is not a gross blunder by any means. Black now has no more than equality. f6 Here Fine praised Adams for playing consistently and intelligently and he now presses his advantage home with great vigor. The only arguable point is that black has no clear advantage and the position is evaluated as equal. Stockfish 0.15 and Berserk, an aggressive attacking engine, 0.15. 19.d3 fe8 20.f3 Fine did not commented on this move, but it is a critical mistake that gives black a considerable advantage. Counterattacking on the Q-side with 20.keeps the chances equal. 20.b4 axb4 21.axb4 xb4 22.xd4 e4 22...c5 23.xf6 23.e3 20.b4 axb4 21.axb4 xe2 22.xe2 xe2 23.bxc5 xb2 24.xd4 e8 25.cxb6 xb6 with equality. 20...e4 Threatening ...Nf2 21.g2 Against Nf2 f5 22.h5 A loss of time, but white is reduced to passivity owing to his 20th move. g6 23.f3 g5 Adams has completed all his preparations and now unleashes a violent attack. However, white does not yet need to give up hope! 24.g1 Probably played to discourage 24...gxf4 opening the g-file, but it doesn't work. 24.h5 Again, but it makes black work to prove he can win. f8 25.f3 f6 and white plays26.Bc1 adding the B to the defense and intending fxg4. In this case black would still be better, but he would also still have a lot of work to do. 24...gxf4 White's K will be exposed to great danger on the g-file...blavk's will not. 25.gxf4 h4 An excellent move. 26.af1 26.xe4 eliminates the well placed N, but runs into fxe4 27.f1+ f7 28.g3 xg3 29.xg3 and black's centralized Ts and Ps on d4 and e4 give him a huge advantage. 26...f7 Also very strong was 26...Qxf4 27.h2 d6 A nice surprise! The immediate threat is mate beginning with ...Qxh3+ 27...xf4+ 28.h1 f6 29.e3 g3+ 30.xg3 xg3 31.g4 28.g2 To demonstrate the mate threat. 28.b4 xh3+ 29.xh3 h6+ 30.g2 g8+ 31.g4 xg4+ 32.f3 h3+ 33.g3 hxg3# 28...g6 29.f3 d6 30.xd4 Desperation. 30.c1 was the only try. Stockfish goves black a winning advantage, but in practice things might not have been so simple! Here is a sample lien... d8 31.a4 c5 32.b2 e7 33.h1 b4 34.c5 xc5 35.b4 axb4 36.a5 bxa5 37.b5 f6 38.xa5 b6 39.a1 dg8 40.e1 e6 41.c1 f7 42.c2 c6 43.d3 f2+ 44.h2 xd3 45.exd3 d6 46.c1 c5 47.f2 b3 48.f1 g7 49.c6 xg1 50.xg1+ h8 51.f2 g6 52.f3 g7 53.d1 f8 54.a3 h6 55.b2 h7 56.f2 e3 57.xe3 dxe3 58.c1 Of course black is winning, but some technique is required. d6 59.b2 xf4+ 60.h1 e7 61.e2 e5 62.c1 g7 63.f3 b2 Obviously this line has many other possibilities, but it 1llustrates the point that white missed his nest chance when he missed 30.Bc1 30...xf4+ The position is a bit messy, but black is clearly winning. 31.h1 d8 32.xf4 The game is not yet quite over! Black could carelessly play a check which would be a colossal blunder. xf4 lack resigned. Great play bt Adams! 32...g3+ 33.h2 and black has his Q and a R under attack, so... f1+ 34.xf1 xd4 35.xh4 xh4 36.g2 and white's two Bs vs, the R cinfer the advantage on him. Like to analysis after 30.Bc1 the win is very long and very complicated the only difference being that the shoe is on the other foot. 32...xf4 33.xe4 33.xd8 f2# 33...fxe4 wins easily 34.f1 xf1+ 35.xf1 d1 etc. 0–1

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Fischer Borrows an Idea from Steinitz

    Robert J. Fischer (March 9, 1943 - January 17, 2008, age 64) was the World Champion from 1972 to 1975. These days his name is seldom mentioned, but there was a time when he was considered the ultimate authority. His play was brilliant, creative, daring, surprising, ingenious, eye-opening and revolutionary. 

    In the 1963 New York State Open held in Poughkeepsie over the Labor Day weekend Fischer, then the US Champion, scored a clean 7-0 sweep. It was the second time in recent months that Fischer had played in a weekend Swiss; the other was the Western Open in Bay City, Michigan which he also won.

    At Poughkeepsie, Arthur Bisguier, James Sherwin, Joseph Richman and Matthew Green tied for second in the 58-player field with scores of 5.5-1.5. 

    The opening of the Fischer vs. Bisguier game was a surprise; Fischer abandoned his usual Ruy Lopez and pulled out an old Wilhelm Steinitz ideas. Some of Steinitz' ideas on positional play were stigmatized as bizarre. In this game we see Fischer essay what was one of Steinitz’ most bizarre moves and it worked. 

    When this game first appeared the annotators made their comments based on the result and praised Fischer’s play as if it had been faultless. While his play was innovative and clever, it was not perfect and it could not be claimed that Bisguier was outplayed! He held his own, but unfortunately the final part of the game was spoiled when he blundered. Still. GM Blunders are, if not always instructive, entertaining. Also, Fischer dud deserve credit for resurrecting Steinitz’ old suggestion. 

ChessBase

Robert Fischer–Arthur Bisguier1–0C59New York State Open, PoughkeepsiePoughkeepsie, NY USA02.09.1963Stockfish 17

C59: Two Knights Defense 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.c4 Surprise! Uo until this game Fischer had always played the Ruy Lopez. f6 Bisguier loved sharp play, so this was what he usually played and Fischer was prepared for it. 4.g5 d5 5.exd5 a5 6.b5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.e2 h6 So far normal stuff; this could be considered the Main Line. 9.h3 Another surprise! This odd-looking move was recommended by Steinitz who introduced it in a telegraph match against Chigorin back in 1891. Steinitz lost ans as a result right up to thus game nobody thought it was any good except the Dutch player Salo Landau who was gassed by the Nazis at Auschwitz in 1944. Today Stockfish indicates that Steinitz was not wrong...the position is dead equal. c5 10.0-0 Steinitz-Chigorin continued 10.d3 which is just fine, but Chigorin obtained a strong attack which gradually became decisive. Steinitz still claimed that white opening strategy was OK and he can successfully retain his extra Pawn. Fischer doesn't care about the Pawn. Instead, he is playing for the advanatge of the two Bishops. 0-0 11.d3 xh3 The problem for black is how to get an attack going as compensation for the P. At the time 11...Nd5 was comsidered best, but it was assumed that Fischer had investigated yje position and found an improvement. Actually, black has tried several different moves here, including 11...Bxh3, and all seem to lead to a playable position,.Engine evaluation if 11...Bxh3 is that the game is dead even. 11...d5 12.c4 xh3 13.cxd5 f5 14.e3 xd5 15.c3 d6 with roughly equal chances. Socko,M (2462)-Batsiashvili,N (2417) Plovdiv BUL 2014 12.gxh3 d7 13.f3 Fischer's idea is to return the P in exchange for a position in which he has the two Bs and a sound Q-side majority. 13.g2 d5 14.c3 ad8 15.xd5 cxd5 16.f4 equals. Socko,B (2643)-Pavasovic,D (2590) Austria 2009 13...xh3 The position is equal. 14.d2 ad8 15.g2 f5 16.e1 This idea behind this odd looking move is that the Q is positioned to threaten to win a P after Nf3 and it can also go to the Q-side. A good alternative was 16.Qf3 16.b1 As far as I know this move, found by the engine, has been overlooked. White threatens a P fork on the B and N and gains the initiative. b6 17.b4 b7 18.f3 d6 19.c4 Threatening another P fork. White has gotten his Q-side Ps moving with a gain of time. c7 With the advantage. He has more space, the two Bs and black's c-Pawn is a target. 20.c5 16...fe8 17.e4 b6 18.xf6+ xf6 19.h1 To make way for the R on the g-file. c5 20.c3 \Somewhat better would have been 20.Qe4 keeping the Q centralized. c6 21.f4 d4 22.c4 g6 23.c3 f5 When this game was played annotators gave Fischer undue credit claiming his position is superior. However, that is not the case. Bisguier has defended well and the chances are equal after the text. In fact, Bisguier could even have gotten the advantage with 23///Nc2! 23...c2 This unexpected move, plunging the N into white's territory, would have actualy left black woth a slight advantage! 24.b1 exf4 25.e4 e6 26.xe6 xe6 27.xf4 c4 and black has the initiative. 24.fxe5 xe5 25.f4 e2 26.e4 This move was incorrectly praised because Fischer has set up a dangerous pin. That's true, but 26.Be4 gives black the opportunity to gain a significant advantage. me 26.f3 was in order. After xb2 27.ae1 27.e5 as in the game is met by e3 winning 27...f6 with equal chances. 26...xb2 What a shame! This capture is a gross blunder. At first glance it looks good though. With a R on the 2md rank and his Q and N menacing white's K-side black appears to have a dangerous position. Bu,t Fischer's two Bs aew poised to strike. 26...e8 keeps the upper hand. 27.f3 e3 28.xe3 8xe3 29.g1 29.xe2 xe2 30.xf7+ 30.g1 c6+ wins outright. 30...xf7 31.xf7 xf7 29...xh2+ 30.xh2 c7+ 31.h1 d6 32.g2 xf3 33.e4 f6 34.g1 f5 It's doubtful that black can win. Five Shootouts were drawn. 27.e5 This simply wins the N e8 28.xf5 xe5 29.xe5 Black resigned. 1–0

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