B.H. Wood Clubs Winter

    The 1948 British Chess Championship was held in London ot turned out to be the last time the championship was contested as a round robin tournament. It was won by Reginald J. Broadbent. The Ladies' Championship was won by Edith Price at the age of 76, making her the oldest player ever to win a national championship. 

     Reginald Broadbent 1906-1988, 82 years old) was born in Durban, South Africa. He won scored many local successes in the 30’ and 40s. 

    The winner of today’s game, Baruch H. Wood (1909-1980, 79 years old) was born in Sheffield, England. He founded CHESS magazine in 1935 and was its editor until 1988, when it was sold to Pergamon Press. Wood served an an Arbiter for FIDE, a correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, and wrote a weekly column for Illustrated London News from 1949 to 1979. He co-founded the Sutton Coldfield Chess Club. His best playing years were in the 40’s and 50’s. His son and daughter are both strong players.

 

  

    The colorful William Winter (1897-1955, 58 years old), a man with a fondness for drink, was born in Medstead, England. FIDE awarded him the IM title at its inception in 1950. He was the nephew of Sir James M. Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan. 

    Winter won the British Open in 1934 and the British Championship in 1935 and 1936. A chess journalist by profession Wint authored a few chess books. At the outbreak of World War One he left college to serve in the Army. After the war he returned to his studies at Cambridge. The rumor goes that while there he came under the influence of an older woman and left the university and hisjob so he could air his Socialistic views. As a result, in 1921, Winter, an active member of the Communist Party, was sentenced to six months in prison for his seditious speeches.  

 

[Event "British Championship, London"] [Site ""] [Date "1948.08.30"] [Round "1"] [White "Baruch H. Wood"] [Black "William Winter"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B58"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "47"] [EventDate "1948.08.30"] {B72: Sicilian, Dragon Variation} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 g6 7. Be3 Bg7 8. Qd2 O-O 9. O-O-O Bd7 10. f3 a6 11. g4 b5 { Black moves quickly to get his counterplay on the Q-side underway.} (11... Rc8 {is a bit too slow. After} 12. h4 Ne5 13. h5 b5 14. Kb1 e6 15. Rdg1 b4 16. Nd1 a5 17. Bh6 {White has the initiative, but later managed to lose. Czarnota,D (2238)-Worek,J (2267) Leba POL 2004}) 12. h4 Nxd4 13. Bxd4 b4 {This is a typical counterattacking move, but here it's not so goo. Much better was 13... e5 because it would allow black to keep his vutal B.} (13... e5 14. Be3 b4 { Now this is the correct move.} 15. Nb1 Qa5 16. h5 Rfc8 17. hxg6 {with the initiative.}) 14. Nd5 Nxd5 {After his last move black has an inferior position, but this move is questionable because it allows the exchange of the B which seriously weakens his K's position.} (14... Be6 {gives up a P, but black probably has a better chance of suvivng a P down than he does facing aa K-side attack.} 15. Nxb4 Qa5 16. Nd5 Qxd2+ 17. Rxd2 Bxd5 18. exd5 Rfc8 19. g5 Nh5 20. Bxg7 Nxg7 {Black's B has been replaced by the N and white clearly has the better position, but at least there is no immediate forced win for white owing ti the reduced material.}) 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. exd5 Bb5 17. h5 Bxe2 {Wood concludes the game with great verve.} 18. hxg6 {Very nice!} fxg6 (18... Bxd1 { gets him mated.} 19. Rxh7+ Kg8 20. Qh6 {mates next move.}) 19. Qh6+ Kf6 { He can run, but he can't hide. Just as boxer Joe Louis' powerful punches found therir mark against his opponent Billy Conn, Woods find their mark against Winter.} 20. g5+ Kf7 21. Qxh7+ Ke8 22. Qxg6+ Kd7 23. Qe6+ Ke8 (23... Kc7 24. Qxe2 Kb8 {Otherwise 25.Qc4+} 25. Rd4 Qb6 26. Qxe7 {Black has avoided mate, but is still completely lost.}) 24. Qxe2 {Black resigned. He never had a chance against Wood's 94% Accuracy Rating.} 1-0