Seidman Sets a Snare

    The Intercollegiate Chess League has a long history dating back to leagues like the Quadrangular Intercollegiate league (Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Princeton) in 1892. In 899, thr Triangular Intercollegiate League (Cornell, Brown, and the University of Pennsylvania) established their own triangular league. These laid the foundation and the Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship, established in 1946, became a major annual event. 

    Today’s game was played in 1938, in a collegiate league in New York City made up of two teams from the Central College of New York, Brooklyn College, two teams from New York University and Yeshiva College. 

    In 1938, the title and custody of the Harold M. Phillips trophy was won on a 4-0 forfeit by a team from C.C.N.Y when the team from Yeshiva College failed to appear at the Manhattan Chess Club for the last match. This was on a Sunday after Saturday’s match had been rescheduled to accommodate the Yeshiva players who could not play o the Sabbath. 

    The Tournament Director, Harold Sussman, who was also the newly elected president of the league, gave the Yeshiva team until noon to appear and when the didn’t they were forfeited. The winning C.C.N.Y. tam consisted of Jack Soudakoff, Sava Jacobson, Milton Finkelstein and Samuel Rubin. 

 

 

    The game's winner, Herbert Seidman (1920-1995) was a Senior Master (rated over 2400) who was born in New York City. At his peak, he was ranked among the top ten players in the country. Seidman played in eight U.S. Championships between 1940 and 1968. 

 His obituary informs us that Jack Soudakoff was born in Russian and on Novmber 19, 2005, at the age of 87, he peacefully passed away surrounded by his beloved wife Bea, sons David and Alan and a future daughter-in-law Diane. Soudakoff was a edicated family man, WWII vet, longtime New York Subway systems analyst. 

    In the early middlegame Seidman had a modest advantage when, at move 20 instead of playing the obvious move, he laid a snare and Soudakoff got caught. 

 

[Event "Intercollegiate Chess League, New York"] [Site "?"] [Date "1938.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Herbert Seidman (Brooklyn)"] [Black "Jack Soudakoff (CCNY)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C83"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "1938.??.??"] {C83: Open Ruy Lopez} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 { In this, the Open Variation, black tries to make use of the time white will take to regain the P to gain a control of the center.} 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Be7 10. Be3 Na5 11. Nd4 (11. Bc2 {is satisfactorily met nb} Nc4 {White can defend the b-Pawn with 12.Bc1 or play 12.Nd4 when black can gain the two Bs with 12.Nxe3 or win a P with 12...Nxb2.Im any case, black has full equaluty/}) 11... O-O 12. Nd2 Nxd2 13. Qxd2 {There is a tremendous amount of theory on the Ruy Lopez and so far this has all been played before. Now black's optimal moveis 13...Bc8 preserving his B, but it has never been played. Instead black usually plays 13...Nc4, but the move he plays in the game lshould have allowed white to gain the advantage.} c5 14. Nxe6 fxe6 15. f4 (15. Bc2 {allows white to obtain an excellent game after} Nc4 16. Qd3 g6 17. Bh6 Rf7 {Dominguez Perez,L (2756)-Mamedyarov,S (2776) Berlin 2022 continued with 18. Qh3, but black manges to equalize. A better continuation would have been : ½-½ (36)} 18. b3 Na3 19. Bd1 a5 20. h4 {with the inititive. Note that black shoulf nw play 20...c4, but he must avoid} Bxh4 21. Bg4 {Black cannit defend the e-Pawn because 22.Qh3 would do him in.}) 15... Nxb3 16. axb3 Ra7 {The idea of placing his R on d7 doesm't work out too well. 16...a5 to prevent white's next would have been better.} 17. b4 d4 18. cxd4 Rd7 {This move looks dangerous to white, but it's actually a serious mistake as Seidman demonstrates in a most clever fashion.} (18... cxd4 {was called for.} 19. Qxd4 Rd7 {Now is the time for this.} 20. Qe4 Qa8 21. Qxa8 Rxa8 {and black can still put up a stubborn fight.}) 19. bxc5 Bxc5 {Now things get interesting!} 20. Rfd1 {The obvious move was 20.Rxa6, but this move sets a snare and Soudajoff steps in it.} (20. Rxa6 Bxd4 21. Rxe6 Bxe3+ 22. Qxe3 {White is two Ps up, but with all the heavy pieces on the board the win will be tedious.}) 20... Rxf4 { No doubt Soudakoff was counting on 21.Bxf4, but Seidman has a surprise for him. } (20... a5 21. Rac1 (21. Rxa5 Rxf4 22. Qc1 Bxd4 $17) (21. Qxa5 Bxd4 22. Bxd4 Rxd4 $14) 21... Ba7) 21. dxc5 {This clever move wins.} (21. Bxf4 {is slightly in black's favor after} Rxd4 22. Kh1 (22. Qxd4 Bxd4+ 23. Kh1 Qb6 {Black is netter. White has no chances of winningm but black has some.}) 22... Rxd2 23. Bxd2 Qd4 24. Rxa6 (24. Bc3) 24... Qxb2 25. Ra8+ Kf7 {Black has all the winning chances.}) 21... Rxd2 22. Rxd2 Qf8 23. Bxf4 Qxf4 {He could have prolonged the game with 23... Qxc5+} (23... Qxc5+ 24. Rf2 Qc6 25. Bd2 Qb6 26. b4 {Engines inform us that white is clearly winning, but how?! He does it by coordinating his pieces in an attack on black's K. Here is a line from a Shootout in which white won 5-0.} Qc6 27. Ra3 h5 28. h3 Kh7 29. Kh2 Qe4 30. Rg3 Qd4 31. Be3 Qxe5 32. Bf4 Qd4 33. Rff3 g6 34. Bb8 Kh6 35. Rf4 Qh8 36. Bd6 g5 37. Re4 Qd8 38. Rxe6+ Kh7 39. Rge3 a5 40. Re7+ Kg6 41. R3e6+ Kf5 42. Rh6 Qxe7 43. Bxe7 {etc.}) 24. Rd8+ Kf7 25. Rf1 {Black resigned} 1-0