Dangers of a Premature Attack

    On February 19, 1951, Jean Lee who was, among other things, a prostitute, went down in Australian history. She was born Marjorie Jean Maude Wright on December 10, 1919. In 1949, together with her lover and their accomplice they tortured and murdered a bookmaker from the Melbourne suburb of Carlton. The victim was bound to a chair and tortured in an attempt to get him to reveal where his money was hid. He was then strangled to death. All three were caught and convicted and on February 19, 1951 at the age of 31, Lee earned the distinction of being the last woman to be executed by hanging in Australia. 

    In other news, the High Court of Australia rules that a bill to ban the Communist Party of Australia, was unconstitutional. Draft notices were issued under the 1941 National Service Act that required 18-year-old males to undergo compulsory military training. Karlis Ozols won the Victoria Championship held in Melbourne by a point and a half ahead of the runner ip. It would have been more except for a single loss he suffered against an also ran. 

    The winner of the following game from that tournament was Stefan Lazare (1909-1991, 82 years old) who was born in Poland. He moved to France in 1927 where he studied mathematics at the university in  Besancon which is located in eastern France. He won he 1934 Paris City reserve championship. He was born Lazar Suchowolski, but changed his name to Stefan Lazare when he arrived in Melbourne in June 1939. 

    The loser was Charles Gilbert Marriott Watson (1878-1961) who started playing chess at the age of 10. He later joined the Melbourne Chess Club, and won the club championship eight times between 1898 and 1936. He was Australian champion in 1922 and 1931. 

 

 

    Watson competed in the 1922 London international tournament, where almost all of the world top players were participating. He tied for places 14-15 (out of 16) wuth a 4.5-10.5 score. He did defeat Tartakower though.

    In this game Watson’s downhill slide started with a rash advance on the K-side that was premature. His King was stick in the center and it was all over in a handful of moves. 

 It’s hard to say exactly how good some of the Australian and New Zealand players of that day were because they were so fatr from the world’s major chess centers, but Chess metrics estimates Watson’s rating to have been at its peak in the 1920s when it was in the mid-2400s. In these days of rating inflation that doesn’t seem so high, but in those days he was in the world’s top 50 or so players. 

    If a player of Watson’s ability can make such an error as launching an attack without sufficient preparation then all of us should to take heed.

 

[Event "Victoria Chp, Melbourne"] [Site "?"] [Date "1951.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Stefan Lazare"] [Black "Charles Watson"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B72"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "43"] [EventDate "1951.??.??"] {B72: Sicilian Dragon} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Be2 g6 7. Be3 Bg7 8. f4 h5 {The standard move here is 8...O-O. The move ...h5 is a valid only in special cases, for example where while plays the Yugoslav Attack.(f3 followed by the advance of the g- and h-Pawns). Here it is premature.} 9. h3 Bd7 (9... h4 {This continuation of the "attack" is unsatisfactory because after} 10. O-O Bd7 (10... Nh5 11. Bxh5 Rxh5 {is no better. Black has weakened his K-side and his R is misplaced.}) 11. f5 { Wecking black's K-side and leaving his K with no safe haven. White is better.}) 10. Qd2 Rc8 11. Nb3 Be6 12. O-O Qd7 13. Rf2 {It's not clear is this was intended as a safety precaution against a possible sacrifice on h3 or played in preparation of doubling Rs on the f-file. It;s a moot point thougjh because things aren't going to get that far.} (13. Rad1 {Let's see if a sacrifice on f3 would present white with any dangers.} Bxh3 14. gxh3 Qxh3 15. Rf3 Qg4+ 16. Kh1 h4 17. Rg1 Qd7 {There us no attack and black's two Ps are not enough compensation for the B.}) 13... h4 {Black's safest course would have been to castle and then play the standard strategy of seeking Q-side counterplay with . ..Rc8, ...a6 and ...g5. This demonstration on the K-side is a gesture that quickly lands him in difficulties from which there is no escape.} 14. Nd4 Nh5 { Black is practically lost after this. Eliminating white's weel placed N with 14...Nxd4 was his best chance to try holding on.} 15. f5 {This powerful move shreds black's position.} gxf5 16. exf5 Nxd4 {Black has some hope here...the position is quite complicated and maybe white will play the wrong recapture.} 17. Bxd4 {...but he doesn't.} (17. fxe6 {lets black off the hook. After} Nxe2+ 18. Qxe2 Qxe6 19. Qb5+ Qd7 20. Qd3 Bxc3 21. bxc3 {the chances would be equal.}) 17... Bc4 (17... Bxf5 {was no better, but practically speaking it offered better chances. White has a bewildering number of possibilities and most all of then are good.} 18. Raf1 {is simpler and so may be better.} (18. Bxh5 { This is technically best, but it must be followed up accurately.} Bxd4 { Here again white must choose the right move or black escapes.} 19. Bxf7+ (19. Qxd4 {allows black to equalize after} Rxh5 20. Nd5 Qb5 21. Raf1 Be6) 19... Kxf7 20. Qxd4 e6 21. Ne4 d5 22. Raf1 {White will continue with Nc5 with what should be a winning position.}) 18... e6 19. Bxg7 Nxg7 20. Bb5 Rc6 21. Qd4 Kf8 22. Bxc6 bxc6 23. Ne4 {White is winning. A practical continuation might be} d5 24. Qc5+ Qe7 25. Nd6 {and black has no reasonable move.}) 18. Bxg7 Nxg7 19. Qd4 Rg8 20. Bxc4 {Black could safely resign here.} Rxc4 21. Qxc4 Nxf5 22. Qb5 {[%mdl 32768] Simple. After the Qs conme off white is a R up. A very well played game by Lazare.} 1-0