Charles Blake

    Charles Blaje (June 12, 1880 0 May 18, 1961, 80 years old) was born in London and emigrated to Winnipeg, Canada in 1903 before serving as a Major in French territory during the First World War. He moved to Ontario in 1925 and later to White Rock, British Columbia. 

    Blake was twice runner-up in the Canadian championship (1909 amd 1913). In 1911, he won the Western Chess Association championship (the precursor to the U.S. Open) that was held in Excelsior, Minnesota. He finished with an impressive 12-1 score, losing only to Edward Elliot, whom Blake defeat in this game which was played in the same event in 1905, finished third. 

    At the outset of World War I, Blake joined the Manitoba Rangers and was with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in France from August 1914, where he was a lieutenant, later promoted to captain in 1915 amd to major in 1916. 

    His opponent in this game was Edward Elliot (1873-1959, 86 years old) who was born in Greenville, Michigan. He retired in Los Angeles where he had been a real estate broker for 50 years. He was also a former president of the Los Angeles Chess Club and was known as the Grand Old Man of California Chess. 

 

 

    This game was difficult to annotate because the engines kept finding obscure variations for both sides that were better than those actually played. For example, see the note to white’s 26th move. Also, in the fantasy variation 16.Bg8 after 20.exd6 I let Stockfish examine the position for about 15 minutes and it was showing a 0.00 evaluation, but a Shootout gave a completely different result. I also did a Shootout using the Stockfish rival engine Berserk and black scored 4 wins and a draw. 

 

[Event "Western Champ, Excelsior, MN"] [Site ""] [Date "1905.08.23"] [Round "?"] [White "Charles Blake"] [Black "Edward Elliott"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C61"] [Annotator "Stockfish 18"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "1905.??.??"] {C61: Ruy Lopez: Bird's Defence} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 {This, the Bird Defense, is rarely seen in modern play except as a surprise because white can get the advantage. It was published in 1843 in von Bilguer's Handbuch and in the late 1800s it was explored by the Englush master Henry Bird.} 4. Bc4 { The main line is 4.Nxd4, but statistically the results are almost identical.} Nxf3+ 5. Qxf3 Nf6 6. Qb3 Qe7 7. Nc3 (7. d3 g6 8. Nc3 Bg7 9. Bg5 c6 10. a4 O-O 11. h3 {with equal chances. Milojevic,B-Boskovic,M (1872) Belgrade 2008}) 7... b6 8. Nb5 Kd8 {This way of defending the c-Pawn is questionable. Simply 8...d6 was better. Both sides misplay the next couple of moves.} 9. d3 {This is a tactical error that is missed by both sides. Whit ehad to retreat the N to c3.} (9. Bxf7 {This P is immune because of} c6 10. Nc3 d5 {trapping the B.}) 9... Ng4 {[%mdl 8192] Aside from the fact that he overlooked the fact that he can trap a piece this is a rather pointless move.} (9... c6 10. Nc3 b5 11. Bxf7 b4 12. Ne2 d5) 10. Be3 {Apparently Blake overestimated the strength os the center P mass he thought he was getting after this move.} (10. h3 Nf6 11. Nc3 d6 12. Be3 {and white's position is the more active.}) (10. Bxf7 {Is playable, but black gets equal chances after} c6 11. Nc3 Qf6 (11... d5 {no longer works...} 12. Bh5 {with the advantage.}) 12. O-O Bc5 13. Nd1 Rf8 14. Bh5 Nxf2 15. Nxf2 Bxf2+ 16. Kh1) 10... Nxe3 11. fxe3 Qg5 {Did Blake overlook this?} 12. O-O-O Qxe3+ 13. Kb1 f6 14. Rhe1 Qf2 {This move is bad because there is a deeply hidden tactical threat missed by both players. Black had to play 14...Qg4 to defend his g-Pawn.} 15. d4 {[%mdl 1024] White threatens Bg8} ({is not effective because black’s Q is available to defend the B.} 15. Bg8 c6 16. Qf7 Qc5 17. Nc3 Kc7 {and black is better.}) 15... a6 16. Re2 {White could have played it safe with 16.Nc3 or tried the adventurous 16.Bg8} (16. Bg8 axb5 17. Qf7 Rxg8 (17... Be7 18. Qxg7 {wins.}) 18. Qxg8 Ke8 19. dxe5 Qc5 (19... fxe5 20. Rf1 {wins}) 20. exf6 {This position is quite interesting. Stockfish and its rival Reckless evaluate it as equal, but in five Shootouts black won all the games.}) 16... Qh4 17. g3 Qh5 18. Nc3 Bd6 19. dxe5 Bxe5 20. Bf7 Qf3 21. Red2 Bxc3 {After this black finds himself facing difficulties. 21...d6 was safer.} 22. bxc3 {[%mdl 128]} Ra7 23. Bd5 d6 {Now this is bad; had the B biin on e5 it would have blocked the advance of white’s e-Pawn, In any case, it’s hard to suggest a really satisfactory move for black.} 24. e5 {[%mdl 512] After this decisive breakthrough black is helpless.} Qe3 25. exd6 Qc5 {Black could have put up stouter resistance with 25...cxd6, but it would not have changed the outcome.} 26. dxc7+ {Stockfish gave this a ? because it found a stronger continuation in 26.d7, but that is beyond human capability.} (26. d7 {Here is what Stockfish saw...} Qb5 27. dxc8=Q+ Kxc8 28. Bf3 c6 29. Rd6 Qxb3+ 30. axb3 Rc7 31. Bxc6 Rxc6 32. Rxc6+ Kb7 33. Re6 Rc8 34. c4 Rc6 35. Rd7+ Rc7 36. Rdd6 Kc8 37. Kb2 a5 38. Rxb6 {Try calculating this sequence over the board!}) 26... Kxc7 27. Bc4 {Black’s best hope is now to play 27...Kb8 clearing wat for the Q to withdraw to c7.} Bg4 28. Be2 {Well played as it clears the way for the Q to get into play.} Bxe2 29. Qf7+ Kc6 (29... Kb8 30. Rd8+ Rxd8 31. Rxd8+ Qc8 32. Rxc8+ Kxc8 33. Qxa7) 30. Qxa7 Qb5+ 31. Kc1 Qg5 32. Qd7+ Kc5 33. Qd6+ Kb5 34. a4+ {Black resigned} (34. a4+ Kxa4 35. Qb4#) 1-0