Reshevsky Wins At Margate

    In 1935, Britains were enjoying Alfred Hitchcock's mystery thriller movie, The 39 Steps. While on vacation in London, a Canadian, became embroiled in an international spy ring related to the mysterious "39 steps." The title refers to steps leading to a secret meeting place in the book by John Buchan, and a clandestine spy organization in Alfred Hitchcock's film adaptation. 

    Henry Hall and his BBC Dance Orchestra and Lew Stone and His Band were prominent. You can enjoy a Harry Hall tune HERE and Lew Stone HERE 

    The year 1935 ushered in the first time beer came in a can. Men were wearing loose fitting boxer shorts, but in 1935 briefs were becoming popular. They were a more fitted, snug alternative that gained popularity in part due to the invention of the elastic waistband and marketing. 

     It wasn’t all good news though. Tensions and war between Italy and Ethiopia divided the League of Nations. In Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler began bringing in new laws to marginalise and oppress Jews. 

    In 1935, Margate, a popular seaside resort, saw the opening of the Art Deco Dreamland Super Cinema (it closed in 2007). The town was also the recipient of a new road, George V Avenue, created to commemorate King George V's Silver Jubilee. It also hosted an international chess tournament. 

 

    The tournament was significant because it was the first time that Reshevskym the former boy wonder, had the opportunity to test his mettle against formidable foreign opposition. 

    Samuel Reshevsky (1911-1992) was one of my favorite players and the highlight of my "career" was drawing a game against him in 1979. His opponent in today’s game was English International Master William Fairhurst (1903-1982). In 1931 he lived in Scotland and won the Scottish Championship 11 times. He also won the British Championship in 1937 and was unofficial Commonwealth Champion in 1950. In 1970 he was invited to play in the New Zealand Championship as a guest and after it was over he decided to retire there. He passed away in Auckland in 1982.n It’s instructive to watch how easily Reshevsky could hanle a “mere” IM in those days.

[Event "Margate"] [Site ""] [Date "1935.04.29"] [Round "?"] [White "William Fairhurst"] [Black "Samuel Reshevsky"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D47"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "1935.04.24"] {D47: Semi-Slav: Meran System} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bb3 {Hor whatever reason Fairhurts prefers to avoids the Meran Varian which arises after 8.Bd3.} Be7 9. O-O Bb7 10. e4 { Here’s a conundrum! This move has been criticized as being premature and in practice it has yielded poor result. However, it is the first choice of Stockfish, Dragon by Kmodo likes the equally popular 10.Qe2 and Lc) gives the nod to 10.a3. All three moves are of nearly qual status though. As for 10.e4, if white can successfully carry out the advance e5 black's position will be very cramped.} b4 {Seemingly forcing the next reply, but not really.} 11. e5 ( 11. Na4 {Placing the N on the edge of the board and sacrificing the e-Pawn looks bad, but it is playable!} Nxe4 12. Re1 Nef6 13. Qe2 Nd5 (13... O-O { runs into complications favoring white.} 14. Bxe6 {Now after 14...Bd6 15.Bb3 chances are about even, but not...} fxe6 15. Qxe6+ Kh8 16. Qxe7 {and white is clearly better.}) 14. Ne5 Nxe5 15. Qxe5 O-O 16. Nc5 {and white has sufficient play for the P, but this position is unlikely to appeal to humans.}) 11... bxc3 12. exf6 Nxf6 13. bxc3 O-O 14. Rb1 c5 {An excellent move.} 15. Bb2 {This pointless move is difficult to understand because the B, blocked by its own Ps, has no future on b2. Simply 15.Bc2 would have been satisfactory.} (15. Bxe6 { is no threat.} Bxf3 {wins a piece.} (15... fxe6 16. Rxb7 {White is better.}) 16. Bxf7+ Rxf7 17. Qxf3) 15... Be4 16. Rc1 {A better alternative was 16.Bc2 even though the exchange of Bs would leave white with his inferior B on b2. The move played has the disadvantage of placing the R on a square from which it is completely ineffective.} Qb6 {Another good move. His Rs are now connected and ready to be effectively placed.} 17. dxc5 {Another poor move.} ( 17. Nd2 Bb7 18. Ba3 {at least gets a bit of scope fot the buried B}) 17... Bxc5 18. Qe2 Rad8 19. Rcd1 Bb7 {Retreating back to a8 would have been slightly more accurate. Reshevsky's basic ide is to create mating threats and also to make e4 available for the N.} 20. Ne5 Ba8 {An admission that his last move stopped short. Was it a finger slip?} 21. c4 {This opens the diagonal for one B, but hampers the other one. It's still his best mvoe though.} Qb7 {The aforementioned mate threat.} 22. Nf3 Ne4 {Occupying the aforementioned N outpost. White now has to guard f2.} 23. Ba1 {Apparently Fairhusrt did now want to play 23.Rxd8 Rxd8 when black has control of the d-file.} (23. Rxd8 { This is still his best bet.} Rxd8 24. Bc1 h6 25. Be3 {and, at least, the pressure on his f-Pawn is relieved.}) 23... Rxd1 24. Bxd1 Rd8 {Black still has gained control of the d-file and white's position is now, theoretically at least, lost.} 25. Bc2 Qc6 {A wily move, provoking white's plausible, but losing. reply!} 26. Ne5 {The decisive error. The N is the wrong piece to put on e5. At least after 26.Be5 the N couldn't go to g3.} Ng3 {[%mdl 512] There is no answer to this. If the B was on e5 it could simply take the N.} 27. Nxc6 (27. hxg3 Qxg2#) (27. Qf3 Qxf3 28. Nxf3 Nxf1 29. Kxf1 Bxf3 30. gxf3 {Black is the exchange ahead with a routine win.}) 27... Nxe2+ 28. Kh1 Bxc6 {White resigned. He has lost a N.} 0-1