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Showing posts sorted by date for query fuderer. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Wednesday, August 12, 2026

Two Who Gave Up Chess

    The following game was played by two great, but relatively unknown, players from a bygone era, both of who, gave up chess. The game was played in the 1955 Gothenburg Interzonal.The top nine players qualifying for the Amsterdam Candidates that was held the following year, 
    From 1955 until 1962 Dr. Miroslav Filip (1928-2009) qualified for the candidate tournaments twice. Filip's play was characterized as serious, solid and deep. Outside of chess he had no problem with the Soviet invasion of his country in 1968 and remained loyal to the authorities and managed to do very well. 
    Filip did not have a fanatical enthusiasm for chess and in 2002 he was invited to attend festivities for the 40th anniversary of the 1962 Candidates Tournament (im which Filip had finished last) that was held in Curacao, but he declined, saying he had pretty much lost interest in chess. 
    After a promising beginning his opponent in this game, Andrija Fuderer (1931-2011), ended up abandoning the game for his real passion, chemical engineering. His swansong was the 1959 Soviet Union vs. Yugoslavia team match where, at the age of 28 he showed what might have been by beating Bronstein, the victor at Gothenburg, by a score of 3-1. 
 

    In the late 1960s Fuderer left Yugoslavia for good, living in Spain and working as a chemical engineer in Antwerp. He only played in tournaments outside Yugoslavia in order to acquire consumer goods that he could sell when he returned home and use the profit to finance his university studies. 

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Monday, May 13, 2024

A First for Malic at Krynica

    In 1955, Dwight D. Eisenhower was President and the year ended with Rosa Parks getting arrested in Montgomery, Alabama on a disorderly conduct charge for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man. She lost her case and was fined $14.00 (about $163 today), including court costs. Her attorney Fred Gray appealed, but lost on a technicality. Dr. Martin Luther organized a bus boycott by Black people. The year also ended with General Motors being the first American corporation to make over US$1 billion in a year. 
    The year 1956 started out with the Federal court stopping former Little League Commissioner Carl Stotz from forming a rival group. The FBI arrested 6 members of the Great Brink's Robbery gang 6 days before statute of limitations rans out, And, in January, RCA records releases Elvis Presley's single "Heartbreak Hotel", his first million seller. 
    In January of 1956, an international chess tournament ended in Krynica, a small town in southeastern Poland near the Slovak border. Although today it is inhabited by only slightly over eleven thousand people, it is the biggest spa town in Poland and is often called the Pearl of Polish Spas. It’s a popular tourist and winter sports destination. 
    The tournament was won by Borislav Milic (October 20, 1925 – May 28, 1986, 60 years old) , who was a Yugoslav IM (awarded in 1952). He was made an Honorary GM title in 1977. He once served as General Secretary of the Yugoslav Chess Federation and was a prominent chess writer, organizer, promoter, and administrator. 
     Born in Belgrade, Milic was part of the group of strong Yugoslav players, along with Gligorić, Trifunovic, Pirc, Rabar, Fuderer, Karaklajic and Ivkov, who attained prominence immediately after the end of World War II. 
    Milic was active in tournament play from 1945 to 1967. Although he played in 14 Yugoslav Championships between 1945 and 1962, he was never able to win one. Haowever, it should be noted that during that time period the Yugoslav Championship tournaments were he second strongest in the world, behind only the Soviet Union. He retired from top level play in 1957. 
    Milic was one of the group of pioneering originators of the Chess Informant which systematized opening classifications, game information, and analysis. They produced high class volumes of annotated games from major events using symbols that we are all familiar with today. 
 
 
    His opponent in this game was Jozef Gromek (1931-1985, 53 years old)m an FM who was Polish Champion in 1955. He tied for first in 1959, but lost the playoff. He died from a heart attack while playing a game of blitz chess. 

A game that I liked (Fritz 17)

[Event "Krynica, Poland"] [Site "Krynica POL"] [Date "1956.01.??"] [Round "3"] [White "Borislav Milic"] [Black "Jozef Gromek"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B60"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "1955.12.30"] {B60: Sicilian: Richter-Rauzer Attack} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 {[%mdl 32]} Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 g6 {This rare move has not worked out well for black in practice. Therefpre, the usual 6...e6 is better.} 7. Bxf6 exf6 8. Bc4 Bg7 $1 $14 9. Ndb5 O-O 10. Qxd6 f5 11. O-O-O Qxd6 {Simplification is the wrong approach in this position.} (11... Qa5 12. Qc7 fxe4 13. Qxa5 Nxa5 14. Bd5 Bg4 15. Rde1 Rad8 16. Rxe4 Bf5 17. Ra4 b6 18. Rd1 a6 19. Nd4 Bd7 20. Rb4 b5 { Black has nearly equalized owing to the awkward position of white's R, but that's not quite enough compensation for being a P down. Volokitin,A (2662) -Carlsen,M (2675) Biel 2006}) (11... Qb6 12. Nd5 Qxf2 13. Nf6+ Kh8 14. Nc7 Rb8 {Surprisingly, this position is evaluated as equal and the game Aroshidze,L (2568)-Vishnu,P (2435) Figueres ESP 2012 was drawn.}) (11... Qg5+ {This is black's least afvorable reply.} 12. f4 Qxg2 13. e5 Bh6 14. Rhf1 Qxh2 {White is better, but soon errer and lost. Solodovnichenko,Y (2521)-Edouard,R (2548) Cap d'Agde FRA 2022}) 12. Nxd6 $18 Bxc3 13. bxc3 fxe4 14. Nxe4 Rb8 {This is not as pointless as it might appear because he has to defend the b-Pawn anyway. Thanks to exchanging Qs, black hgas landed in a very difficult position.} ( 14... Na5 15. Bd5 {and he has to play ...Rb8 anyway.}) (14... Nd8 {A miserable move to have tom play, but it's the ebst he has.} 15. Rhe1 Kg7 (15... Bf5 16. Nd6) 16. Nd6 Bg4 17. Rd2 Be6 18. Bxe6 Nxe6 {and white is clearly better.}) 15. Rhe1 Na5 16. Bb3 b6 17. f3 Kg7 18. Nd6 Kf6 19. h4 {A little tactical finesse that threatening Ne8+.} Bb7 (19... a6 {This is a pass to show what happens if white is allowed to play Ne8+} 20. Ne8+ Kf5 {Black could avoid mate by surrentering his R with ...Rxe8, but he would still lose.} 21. Rd5+ Kf4 22. Rg5 Bf5 23. Bd5 Rbxe8 24. g3#) (19... Nxb3+ 20. axb3 Be6 {is a much better defense. White has what amounts to a decisive advantage, but he still has some work to do in prder to cash in.}) 20. Rd4 Bc6 21. Rf4+ Kg7 {The K looks fairly safe, but it's not.} 22. Re7 {The pressur eon f7 is simply too great; there is nothing black can do.} (22. Rxf7+ {is totally wrong because of} Rxf7 23. Bxf7 Rd8 24. Rd1 Rxd6 25. Rxd6 Kxf7 {This is a situation, while theoretically equal, is one that Arthur Bisguier once claimed he could win from either side... assuming he was the stronger player.}) 22... Nxb3+ 23. cxb3 Rbd8 24. Rfxf7+ { White is clearly winning.} Rxf7 25. Nxf7 Rd7 26. Rxd7 Bxd7 27. Ne5 Be6 28. Kd2 Kf6 29. Nc6 {Black resigned. Players like Minic make chess look easy.} (29. Nc6 a6 30. Ke3 Bc8 31. Nb4 Bb7 32. a4 a5 33. Nd3 Bd5 34. c4 Bb7 35. Nf4 {Black is helpless against white's P-majority on both wings. Here is just a sample of what could happen...} Ke5 36. Nd5 Bxd5 37. cxd5 Kxd5 38. g4 Kc5 39. f4 Kd5 ( 39... Kb4 40. f5 gxf5 41. gxf5 {etc.}) 40. Kd3 {Taking the opposition and balck's K must give way.} h6 41. Ke3 h5 42. gxh5 gxh5 43. Kd3 Kd6 44. Ke4 Ke6 45. f5+ Kd6 46. Kd4 {The opposition again. White has an elementary win.}) 1-0

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Thursday, July 8, 2021

A Brilliant Game By Fuderer

     I did a post on the brilliant Yugoslav master Andrija Fuderer (May 13, 1931 - October 2, 2011) back in 2012 HERE. His opponent in the following game, Tartakower, needs no introduction. I might add that if you want a collection of intriguing games then Tartakower's My Best Games of Chess 1905-1954 won't disappoint. 
     The game was one that Najdorf, who knew a brilliant game when he saw one, called one of the most brilliant games he had seen in years. What more can you say? 
     Regarding Fuderer, a Chess Review article on the tournament noted that it was O'Kelly's bad luck (he lost only to Fuderer) that he had to play "this inconspicuous youngster, hardly Reshevsky's size, in the second round before knowing his size is as misleading as Reshevsky's." 
     In his game against Fuderer, Tartakower, as he often did, conducted a reckless experiment, but even so, Fuderer deserved high praise for the ingenuity with which he took advantage of his opponent's play. As for the tournament, it was strong, but there were some issues. 
     Before the tournament there was speculation that some of the leading Yugoslav players, say Gligoric or Trifunovic, and maybe some stronger foreign players would be participating, but that wasn't to be. Then in a curious mix up, a few days before the event the organizers received a telephone call from Herman Steiner stating that he would not be playing, but it was reported as Gideon Stahlberg's acceptance of his invitation and he would be there! 
     As it ended up, the tournament had just the right mix of strong and not so strong players that favored Najdorf's style...holding his own against the top contenders and scoring well against the lesser lights. 
     Argentina's Herman Pilnik, in spite of claiming he was in poor form, played extremely well to take second place. After a bad start O'Kelly settled down and played with great steadiness. 
     Something of a surprise was the performance of the 19-year old chemistry student, piano player and chess master, Andrija Fuderer who at the time was still undecided as to which career he should pursue (he later chose chemistry). His main problem at Bled was that being from Subotica he had not had the opportunity to meet any really first class opponents such as he met in Bled. Additionally, he probably hurt his chances somewhat because of the speed at which he whisked through many of his games. 
     Tartakower's lack of success was blamed on old age...he was 63 years old. Tailender Borislav Rabar withdrew after only seven rounds due to illness and although he is shown in the crosstable, his score did not count. His illness was not specified, but it should be noted that he had poor eyesight and he only had half of his stomach. 
     On to the game. Of course engines have found a few improvements for white along the way, but it doesn't matter because Fuderer's attack is still brilliant.

Andrija Fuderer - Savielly Tartakower

Result: 1-0

Site: Bled

Date: 1950

Ruy Lopez

[...] 1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗b5 a6 4.♗a4 ♗b4 This rare move does not have much to recommend for it. 5.O-O ♘ge7 6.c3 Demonstrating the flaw in black's 4th move. 6...♗a5 7.d4 exd4 8.b4
8.cxd4 was better. 8...d5 9.exd5 ♕xd5 10.♗b3 ♕h5 11.d5 ♘e5 His best try was 11...Na7, but white would still enjoy a nice advantage. 12.♘xe5 ♕xe5 13.♘c3 O-O Prokes,L-Alapin,S/Prague 1908. White has the advantage.
8...♗b6 9.cxd4 O-O
9...d5 is correct because then after 10.exd5 ♕xd5 11.♘c3 can be sufficiently met by 11...♕c4
10.d5 ♘a7 This is inconsistent with 3...a3 the point of which is to create a retreat for the B at a7. Therefore, the best retreat is 10...Nb8 although it, too, would leave black with a miserable position.
10...♘b8 11.d6 cxd6 12.♘c3 and for his P white has good scope for his pieces while black is cramped and will have difficulty getting his pieces into play.
11.♘a3 Also good was the immediate 11.d6 11...c5
11...d6 is met by 12.♘c4 ♗g4 13.♘xb6 cxb6 14.♗b2 with the better game by far. Even so, this was better than allowing white to advance his d-Pawn.
12.d6 ♘g6 13.♘c4 cxb4 14.♗g5 f6 15.♘xb6 ♕xb6 16.♗e3 ♕d8 Clearly white has the better of it, but Fuderer's coming attack is a masterpiece. 17.e5 Equally forceful was the advance of his h-Pawn 17...♘xe5
17...fxe5 18.♗b3+ ♔h8 19.♘g5 h6 20.♕h5 ♕f6 21.♗c2 ♘f4 22.♗xf4 wins... for example 22...exf4 (22...♕xf4 23.♕g6 and mate follows) 23.♘h7 ♕f7 24.♗g6
18.♘xe5 fxe5 19.f4 e4
19...exf4 20.♕d5+ ♔h8 21.♗xf4 and black is hopelessly outnumbered on the K-side.
20.f5 ♘c6 21.♕d5+ ♔h8 22.f6 Ruthless. 22...gxf6
22...♖xf6 can be met by 23.♖xf6 gxf6 24.♕xe4 and even though black is two Ps up his position is hopelessly lost. For example... 24...b5 25.♗c2 ♕g8 26.♗h6 ♕g6 27.♕h4 f5
27...♕f7 28.♖f1 White has a sacrificial attack that mates in 7 28...b3 29.♗xb3 ♕g6 30.♖xf6 ♕xg2+ 31.♔xg2 ♗b7 32.♗g7+ ♔xg7 33.♕h6+ ♔h8 34.♖f8+ ♖xf8 35.♕xf8#
28.♖f1 ♕xd6 29.♖xf5 White mates in 11. 29...♗b7 30.♗e3 ♕e6 31.♖f8+ ♔g7 32.♖f3 h6 33.♗xh6+ ♕xh6 34.♖g3+ ♔f7 35.♕xh6 ♖f8 36.♖g7+ ♔e8 37.♕g5 d6 38.♕g6+ ♔d8 39.♕xd6+ ♔c8 40.♕c7#
23.♗b3 b5
23...♘a5 24.♗d4 ♘xb3 25.axb3 and black is facing a mate in 8... 25...h6 26.♖xf6 ♕xf6 27.♗xf6+ ♖xf6 28.♕d4 ♔h7 29.♕xf6 b5 30.♖f1 e3 31.♕f7+ ♔h8 32.♖f6 ♗b7 33.♖xh6#
24.♖f4 ♗b7 25.♖h4 Threatening mate. 25...f5
25...♘a5 A pass to demonstrate the mate. 26.♖xh7+ ♔xh7 27.♕h5+ ♔g7 28.♕h6#
26.♖h6 Now the threat is 27.Bd4+ 26...♔g7 27.♖f1 ♖f6 28.♖xf5 ♖xh6
28...♖e6 29.♖xe6 dxe6 30.♕xe6 ♕h4 31.♖g5+ ♕xg5 32.♗xg5 ♖f8 33.♕h6+ ♔h8 34.♕xf8#
29.♗xh6+ ♔h8 (29...♔xh6 30.♖h5+ ♔g7 31.♕f7+ ♔h8 32.♕xh7#) 30.♕f7 ♕b6+ 31.♔h1 ♕d4 32.♕f8+ Black resigned
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Monday, February 1, 2021

Liege 1930

     Over the years Belgium has pretty much flown under the radar when it comes to chess. 
     The names of a few of their former champions, some of which at one time or another were just passing through Belgium on their way to other countries, will be recognizable to a few players: Jozef Boey, Arthur Dunkelblum, Andrija Fuderer, Mikhail Gurevich, Victor Soultanbeieff, George Koltanowski and Isador S. Turover. Belgium's greatest players were, no doubt, Edgar Colle and Alberic O'Kelly de Galway. 
     The year 1930 started off with Capablanca winning the Premier while Belgian George Koltanowski and England's T. H. Tylor tied for first in the Reserve section. 
     The really big event of the year was San Remo which was won by Alekhine who scored an incredible +13 -0 =2; he was followed by Nimzovich and Rubinstein (10.5), Bogoljubow (9.5) and Yates (9). 
     In the summer of 1930, the Olympiad (aka the Tournament of Nations) was held in Hamburg and the gold medal was won Poland (Rubinstein, Tartakower, Przepiorka, Frydman). The USA team (Isaac Kashdan, Frank Marshall, Harold Phillips, Herman Steiner and James A. Anderson) finished in 6th place. 
     The US players are well known except Harold Phillips and James Anderson. Harold M. Phillips (187 -1967), a lawyer by profession, was a player and organizer. In 1903, he won Manhattan Chess Club Championship and he was the organizer and director of the great New York tournament in 1924, President of the Manhattan Chess Club in the 1930s, President of the Marshall Chess Club, President of the Intercollegiate Chess League. 
     James A. Anderson (1906-2001) playing board four of the Olympiad team started with 6.5-5.5, but then lost his last five games. He was a three-time St. Louis Champion who defeated Alekhine in a simultaneous exhibition in 1929. He finished second in the 1929 Western Chess Association Championship (US Open) ahead of Herman Steiner, Norman Whitaker and Samuel Factor). The tournament was won by H.H. Hahlbohm. After winning the St. Louis championship in 1932 with 8.5 out of 9 he mysteriously disappeared from the chess world at the age of 26. He is known to have died in Antioch, California and is buried the city's Oak View Memorial Park. 
     Also that summer the 2nd Women’s World Championship took place during the Olympiad and Vera Menchik defended her title with a score of +6 -1 =1. 
     The chess world lost two players in 1930. On May 2, 1930, Isidor Gunsberg (born 1854) died in London. He was German champion in 1885. In 1890, he lost a match for the world championship to William Steinitz (+4 -6 =9). He was an early operator of Mephisto and later he was a tobacconist and professional chess player. He had a dealership arrangement with cigar makers and supplied cigars to chess clubs and chess rooms even though Gunsberg himself did not smoke. 
     On August 17, 1930, Leo Forgacs (aka Leo Fleishmann) died in Berettyoujfalu, Hungary at the age of 48. In 1907, he won the Hungarian championship. 
     One of the major tournaments that year was held in Liege, Belgium, but it has received scant attention over the years. Situated in eastern Belgium near the borders with the Netherlands and Germany, the city was the former industrial backbone of region but the city suffered a major decline after WW2. 
     One of the snappier games in Liege was played by Isaias Pleci (1900-1980), the Argentine champion in 1929 and 1930. He finished 2nd at the South America championship in 1935 and was champion of South America at Mar del Plata 1936.
     At the Warsaw Olympiad in 1935 Pleci was involved in a humorous incident in his game against Najdorf who was then playing for Poland. Pleci claimed the win on time, but Najdorf said he made his move just before time control, but his flaf fell before he could press the clock. Pleci picked up the clock and ran away with it saying he couldn't stop Najdorf from making his move and writing it down on his scoresheet. The arbiters were unable to reach a verdict on who was right, so Najdorf lost the game on time. 
     Victor Soultanbeieff (1895-1972) had moved to Belgium after the Russian revolution. He was Belgium champion in 1932 (tied with Israel Dyner), 1934, 1943, 1957 and 1961. 
     At Liege Frank Marshall claimed his poor showing was the result of a bad start due to a rough journey across the Mediterranean on his return from Tunis.

Isaias Pleci - Victor Soultanbeief

Result: 1-0

Site: Liege

Date: 1930

Queen's Gambit Declined

[...] 1.d4 ♘f6 2.c4 e6 3.♘c3 d5 4.♗g5 ♘bd7 5.e3 ♗e7 6.♕c2 O-O 7.♖d1 c6 8.♘f3 h6 9.♗h4 ♖e8 10.a3 a6 11.♗d3 b5
11...dxc4 12.♗xc4 b5 13.♗a2 ♕b6 14.e4 b4 15.axb4 ♕xb4 is advantageous for white. Ibrayev,N (2390)-Lafuente,P (2587)/Bhubaneswar IND 2010
12.cxd5 cxd5 13.O-O ♗b7 14.♖fe1
14.♗g3 ♖c8 15.♕b1 ♘b6 16.♘e5 is about equal. Theulings,P (2175)-Siebrecht,S (2417)/Dieren NED 2010
14...♖c8 15.♕b1 ♘b6 16.♘e5 Now, after the obvious 16...Nc4 the position is even, but Soultanbeief miscalculates and plays a faulty tactical move. 16...♗xa3 This move loses. Now it's white to play and win. 17.bxa3
17.♗h7+ was much better. After 17...♔f8 (17...♔h8 18.♘xf7#) 18.bxa3 ♖xc3 19.♕b4+ ♖e7 20.♕xc3 and black has lost a whole R.
17...♖xc3 Black still has not noticed the winning Bh7+
17...g5 This was his only chance though after 18.♘xb5 Surprise! It looks like play was only on the K-side. 18...gxh4 (18...axb5 19.♗g3 ♗a6 20.f4 leads to a very strong attack by white.) 19.♘a7 ♖a8 20.♘ac6 ♗xc6 21.♘xc6 ♕c7 22.♖c1 ♖ec8 23.♘e5 and white is better, but there is no forced win.
18.♗h7+ Pleci doesn't miss it a second time. 18...♔f8 19.♕b4+ ♕e7 20.♕xc3 g5 Watch this... Pleci isn't through with the surprises. 21.♗g6 A very nice final touch. 21...gxh4 (21...fxg6 22.♘xg6+ is obviously not an option.) 22.♗xf7 ♘e4 23.♕d3 There is no reasonable defense to the threat of Ng6+
23.♕d3 ♔g7 24.f3 ♖f8 25.fxe4 dxe4 26.♕e2 ♗d5 27.♕g4+ ♕g5 28.♗xe6 and wins.
23.♕d3 ♘c5 runs into a mate: 24.♕h7 ♕g5 25.♘g6+ mates in 2.
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Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Time!

     I posted on the 1955 Interzonal at Gothenburg (see Boleslavsky’s Hole) earlier this year and mentioned the peculiar case of Yugoslav master Andrija Fuderer when, after a great start, he totally collapsed at the finish. Also, back in 2012 I did a post on Fuderer, but the featured game has, for some reason, disappeared. 
     The following game is one of Fuderer’s games from Gothenburg that was part of his unfortunate collapse, but it features a good tactical finish with a Rook sacrifice by Pachman and the game illustrates the importance of obtaining maximum cooperation of one’s pieces. 
     The character of some positions is determined by features that affect play for a long time (static features), but things like a lead in development, active pieces, the concentration of pieces in on sector of the board (dynamic features) will affect the game for only a short period of time. 
     There are four things that fall into the category of dynamic elements: Lead in development, gain of time at the cost of material, cooperation of pieces and Pawns and positional sacrifices. In those situations every move will determine whether the active side will succeed in taking advantage of his momentary superiority. It’s all about time...neither side can afford to lose any by playing a superfluous move. 
     A word about the Ponziani Opening: The opening was favored by Staunton who wrote in The Chess-Player’s Handbook (1847) that the opening is “so full of interest and variety that it’s omission in many of the leading works on the game is truly unaccountable...it deserves, and if we mistake not, will yet attain a higher place in the category of legitimate openings...” 
     In 1904, Marshall wrote that, "There is no point in White's third move unless Black plays badly. ... White practically surrenders the privilege of the first move." and Graham Burgess called it "a relic from a bygone age, popular neither at top level nor at club level". 
     In Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur, Max Euwe and Walter Meiden wrote, "What should one do with this opening? It is no opening for beginners, because tactics predominate in the play. There are no simple strategic principles to govern the general lines in this opening.” 
     Bruce Pandolfini has said, “Curiously, every great teacher of openings who investigated the Ponziani has concluded that it leads to interesting play and deserves to be played more often. Yet it has never captured the fancy of chess players in general, and it remains to be seen whether the Ponziani is an opening of the past or of the future.” 
    Back in 2013, Magnus Carlsen played it against Pentala Harikrishna at Wijk aan Zee, but GM Evgeny Najer, one of a few high-level GMs who plays the Ponziani, commented, “...it's a bit risky to play...against...Kramnik, but it's completely okay to play...against those made of common clay for you can get some interesting (positions)...” He also added, “...it seems to me we shouldn't be expecting the rise of popularity for Ponziani opening because Black actually has a lot of secure continuations in it." 
     This game is quite a complicated seesaw affair with some rather surprising tactical twists. Especially interesting is the following position in which it's black's move: 


At first glance it looks like black should win easily, but Stockfish evaluates the position at 0.00 and cannot find a win. If you want to look at the position with an engine, here's the FEN:
 r7/P1p2k2/5B2/3qPb2/5Q2/1p3PK1/3p4/R7 b - - 0 43 


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Monday, July 22, 2019

Szabo Gives A Lesson On Connected Passed Pawns

     Ever since I saw the following game that was played between Gligoric and Szabo in the 10th Olympiad at Helsinki in 1952, it has been a source of fascination. 
     Most players learn early on about the might of united passed Pawns.  Although they also can have their disadvantages, for the one possessing the united passed Pawns it is important to be sure that they cannot be blockaded, so as a rule, the Ps should advance together. i.e. before advancing one of them the advance of the second Pawn needs to be assured. 
     In the following game Gligoric came out of the opening with two connected passed Pawns and his position looked extremely promising, but they were blockaded and never advanced. 
     Pachman’s analysis in Modern Chess Strategy always lead me to believe that it was due to Szabo’s great positional understanding and that Gligoric was positionally lost coming out of the opening. But, as is often the case, when you let modern chess engines take a nice long look at the game, you get a different picture. 
     Stockfish’s analysis indicates that white was not strategically lost from the beginning as suggested by Pachman. In fact, in 1985 the Argentine-Italian GM Carlos Garcia Palermo (born December 2, 1953) repeated the whole line up to move 18 where he found an improvement and went on to win. A year later Polish IM Krzysztof Panczyk also played the same line and he, too, managed to win. 
     Does this mean Pachman’s analysis was worthless. Absolutely not! Pachman was illustrating ideas and that’s what’s important in a book on strategy. 
     See the brief discussion on two united passed Pawns on pages 106-108 in The Logical Approach to Chess by Euwe, Blaine and Rumble HERE. 
     Everybody knows about Gligoric, but Hungary’s Laszlo Szabo (March 19, 1917 – August 8, 1998), a banker by profession, is under-appreciated today. Noted for his aggressive style of play, he startled everyone when he won the 1935 Hungarian Championship at the age of 18, which at that time was considered a remarkable feat; he would go one to win it a total of 9 times. 
Szabo
     At the outbreak of WW2 he was attached to a Forced Labor Unit and later captured by Russian troops who held him as a Prisoner of War. After the war, he returned to chess and played in many major international events and in the post-WW2 era he was also one of the best players in the world. 
     In 1986 Pergamon published My Best Games of Chess by Szabo, but it’ a rare. Szabo himself thought his best agme was against Vasja Pirc at Hastings 1938-39. GM Matthew Sadler analyzed the game HERE.  
     Helsinki was organized by the FIDE as an open team tournament designed to promote chess and took place between August 9 and August 31, 1952. The Olympiad was especially notable for the debut of the Soviet team, who won their first gold medal and went on to completely dominate the Olympiads for the next four decades. In the finals they scored +5 -0 =3 as a team.
     After the tournament, it was generally agreed that the small preliminary and final groups of only 8–9 teams left too much open to chance, since a single blunder would have too big an impact on the final standings. Consequently, FIDE decided that in the future, no final should have less than 12 participants.
     Twenty-five teams entered and were divided into three preliminary groups of eight or nine teams. The top three from each group advanced to Final A. 

Finals: 
1) Soviet Union (Keres, Smyslov, Bronstein, Geller, Boleslavsky, Kotov) 21.0 
2) Argentina (Najdorf, Julio Bolbochán, Eliskases, Pilnik, Rossetto) 19.5 
3) Yugoslavia (Gligoric, Rabar, Trifunovic, Pirc, Fuderer, Milic) 19.0 
4) Czechoslovakia (Filip, Pachman, Šajtar, Kottnauer, Zíta, Pithart) 18.0 
5) United States (Reshevsky, Evans, Robert Byrne, Bisguier, Koltanowski, Berliner) 17.0
6) Hungary (Szabo, Barcza, Szily, Florian, Pogats, Molnar) 16.0 
7) Sweden Stahberg, Stoltz, Lundin, Skold, Johansson, Danielsson) 
8) West Germany (eschner, Schmid, Pfeiffer, Heinicke, Lange, Rellstab) 10.5 
9) Finland (Book, Ojanen, Kaila, Salo, Fred, Niemela) 10.0 

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