Tudev Ujtumen At His Best

    America's Golden Boy, Bobby Fischer's decisive win in the Interzonal at Palma de Mallorca Interzonal in 1970 wasn't a big surprise, but the way he won it was incredible; he won by a 3.5 point margin ahead of Robert Huebner, Bent Larsen and Yefim Geller. 

    At the end of round 16 with seven rounds to go, Fischer's score stood at 11.5. Trailing him were Geller and Uhlmann (10.5), Taimanov (10.0), Huebner, Larsen, Gligoric and Portisch (9.5). In the remaining rounds Geller could make no progress while Huebner and Larsen surged to tie him for second place. Fischer? He won seven games in a row. 

    One of the more famous incidents was when Argentina's Oscar Panno refused to play Fischer in the last round, in the last round. With the top six qualifying for the Candidates and a seventh spot available for a reserve. Any of the players with 12.5 had a theoretical chance of qualifying for the reserve spot. That was important because you could never be sure if Fischer was going to participant in the next event. 

    Panno was scheduled to play black against Fischer in the last round. The organizers had scheduled the last round to begin on Saturday at 4:0 PM. But Reshevsky and Fischer couldn't play due to their Sabbath observances so their games were scheduled to start after sundown at 7:00 PM. (Reshevsky was an Orthodox Jew and Fischer was at the time a member of the Worldwide Church of God,)

    Panno protested that all games should start at the same time so nobody would have an unfair advantage. Reshevsky's opponent, Duncan Suttles, had no problem with the arrangement and the two played a 23-move draw. Fischer showed up at 7:00 PM. But Panno was nowhere to be found. Fischer played 1.c4 and not wanting to accept a forfeit, went to Panno's hotel room and tried to talk him into playing, but Panno refused. 

    According to Larry Evans, Panno arrived after the hour was up and he had been forfeited, wrote “Resigns” on his score sheet and left. I am not sure it this is actually what happened; Evans was known to be a little “loose” with his stories. Why would Panno bother to show up after he had been forfeited? Why write “Resigns” on his score sheet? He did not resign, he lost on forfeit. Panno's chance at qualifying were theoretical; he would have had o beat Fischer with the black pieces and the other games would all have to work out in his favor, but who knows what would have happen if he had played? 

    As it was, there was a playoff match between Portisch and Smyslov for the reserve spot was played in Portoroz in 1971. The match was drawn, and Portisch was awarded the spot due to better tiebreaks from the tournament. After this tournament Fischer went on to win the World Championship. 

 

 

    Ujtumen began Palma 1970 with three straight wins and was all alone in first place. Of course that wasn't going to last, but he DID draw Fischer. He ultimately tied for 20th place with a score of 8.5. 

    Tudev Ujtumen was born in Altaj, Mongolia August 27, 1939 and died at the age of 53 in 1993. He became Mongolia's first IM in 1965. In 1969, he won the West Asian zonal tournament in Singapore. In other international tournaments, he took 15th at Sochi 1964, 15th at Sochi 1965, 9th at Havana 1967, tied for 11-13th at Tbilisi 1971 and 9th at Dubna 1973. 

    Ujtumen was a three-time winner of the Mongolian Chess Championship, in 1972, 1978 and 1986. He played six times for Mongolia in Chess Olympiads (1964–1974). He won the individual gold medal on second board (+11 −1 =5) at Tel Aviv 1964 and silver on second board (+12 −3 =3) at Siegen 1970. 

     According to Chessmetrics. Ujtumen's highest rating was achieved in January 1971 at 2565 which placed him 117th in the world. His normal rating was in the low to mid 2400s. Here is his nice third round win over IM Renato Natanja (born 1940) who was Philippine Champi on in 1965. He also played on the Philippine Olympiad teams of 1960, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1970 and 1974. 

 

[Event "Palma de Mallorca Interzonal"] [Site ""] [Date "1970.11.11"] [Round "?"] [White "Tudev Ujtumen"] [Black "Renato Naranja"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B06"] [Annotator "Stockfish 18"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "1970.11.09"] {B06: Modern Defense} 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. c3 d6 4. Be3 b6 {Black usually plays 4.Nf6 after which both sides have a plethora op options.} 5. f3 {This off looking, but not bad, move is often played against 4...Nf6.} c5 6. Bc4 (6. dxc5 {is better/ Black has no really satisfactory reply.} dxc5 (6... bxc5 7. Qd5) 7. Bb5+ Nd7 8. Qd5 Rb8 9. Bf4 {winning the exchange.}) 6... e6 {Eliminating the possibility of Qd5} 7. Ne2 Ne7 8. Na3 a6 9. Qd2 O-O 10. Bd3 (10. Bh6 {athis routine move eliminating the dark squared B does not accomplish much. After} d5 11. Bb3 dxe4 12. fxe4 Bb7 13. Bxg7 Kxg7 14. h4 h6 {Black's defense of his K is adequate, so white must turn his attention to the center with} 15. d5 Nd7 (15... exd5 16. exd5 Nf5 17. O-O-O Re8 18. Rdf1 {White is more active, but black's defense should prove adequate.}) 16. Nc4 Nf6 {A dynamic position that offers equal chances.}) 10... Nbc6 11. Rd1 cxd4 12. cxd4 b5 13. Nc2 Bb7 14. O-O Qd7 15. Bh6 Rac8 16. h4 {Over the past few moves white has managed to reach a position that has some real attacking potential.} Nd8 {Black has no time for such slow maneuvering...he must undertake strong countermeasures.} (16... Bxh6 17. Qxh6 Kh8 18. h5 Ng8 19. Qd2 Nf6 20. hxg6 fxg6 21. Ne3 e5) 17. h5 f6 18. hxg6 hxg6 $16 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. Ne3 Rh8 {Black has managed to reduce white's advantage to a minimum, but with all of black's pieces sitting on the back two ranks it's clear that danger is lurking.} 21. Ng4 e5 22. Bc2 Qc7 23. Bb3 Qb6 24. Rf2 Rc6 $2 {This runs into serious difficulties. His best option was to try a conter against the center.} (24... Ndc6 {]} 25. Qe3 f5 26. dxe5 Qxe3 27. Nxe3 dxe5 28. exf5 Rcd8 (28... gxf5 29. Rd7 {wins}) 29. fxg6 Rxd1+ 30. Bxd1 Nxg6 31. Ng3 Rd8 {with a fighting chance at survival.}) 25. f4 {[%mdl 32] Black's K is about to get gutted.} exd4 26. Nxd4 Rc5 27. e5 dxe5 28. fxe5 Nec6 29. exf6+ Kf8 30. Ne6+ {Black resigned. stockfish's evaluation of Ujtumen's play...very precise. Actually, Naranja's play was not horrible...(0.60).} (30. Ne6+ Nxe6 31. Qd6+ {is mate in 2}) 1-0

Fifty Years Back

    For many readers half a century back may be more than a lifetime, for others it will seem like it was not so long ago. 

    Sadly, we lost a number of players that year. In April, IM Lajos Steiner (1903-1975), twice Hungarian champion and 4-time Australian champion died in Sydney. 

    In May, the nefarious auto thief, insurance fraudster, swindler, confidence man, drug smuggler and child molester, IM Norman T. Whitaker (1890-1975) died in Phoenix City, Alabama. 

    I met Whitaker once in the 60s in North Carolina and it was easy to see how he accomplished some of his dirty deeds because he came across as quite a likable fellow. He had a box of chess books, 365 Selected Endgames, that he co-authored and was selling with the solemn promise that if you learned everything in it you would be a master. Of course, I bought one, but didn’t learn everything in it so I don’t know if he was telling the truth or if I got conned. 

    In June the legendary Estonian GM Paul Keres (1916-1975) died of a heart attack in Helsinki at the age of 59. Also in June GM Nicolas Rossolimo (1910-1975) fell down two flights of stairs in Greenwich Village, New York late one night at his chess studio downstairs. In the mid-1960s I was one liberty from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and visited the Rpsslimo Chess Studio and lost an offhand game to him. 

    In August, GM Friedrich Saemisch (1896-1975) died in Berlin; he was Austrian champion in 1921. In November IM Karel Opocensky (1892-1975) died in Czechoslovakia. And, in December former Swiss champion IM Hans Johner (1889-1975) died in Switzerland. 

    Walter Browne was the reigning US champion, Pan-American champion and German Open champion. I got to attend every round of the US Championship (also an Interzonal qualifier) that year. I also got to attend every round of an international tournament that was won by Hungarian GM Istvan Csom that was held in Cleveland. Pretty thrilling stuff! 

    The big news in 1975 was that in January the Philippines offered to put up $5 million (that is the equivalent of over $30 million today) to for Bobby Fischer to play Anatoly Karpov in the Philippines. The winner would have received $3.5 million ($21 million) , and the loser $1.5 million ($9 million). 

    At the time Fischer was living in an apartment in Pasadena, California that was owned by the Worldwide Church of God, a church founded in 1933 by Herbert W. Armstrong, a newspaper advertising designer who believed he was a modern day prophet. 

    The church was involved in several scandals including sexual misconduct allegations against the founder's son who became involved in a power struggle over church leadership that ended up with him becoming excommunicated. In 1979. Fischer public ally denounced the church. In 1979 some members defected over a doctrinal issues. In 2009, the changed its name to Grace Communion Internationa 

     In April, 1975, Fischer shocked everybody when he forfeited his World Champion title because he disagreed with the match conditions. When his demands were not met he refused to play and Anatoly Karpov was declared Champion.

    These days few people appreciate Walter Browne who tragically passed away in his sleep at the age of 66 on June 24, 2015. At the time he was staying in Las Vegas and had spent the week playing poler and chess. 

`Browne was born in Sydney to an American father and an Australian mother and had dual citizenship until he was 21. His family moved to the New York area when he was 3 years old and he moved to California in 1973. 

    He won the 1969 Australian Championship and was a six-time US Champion. On the December 1975 USCF rating list Browne was the top ranked player followed by Robert Byrne, Lubomor Kavalek, Larry Evans, William Lombardy, Samuel Rershevsky, Kenneth Rogoff James Tarjan, Pal Benko anf Milan Vukcevich.

 

 

    Browne’s opponent in the following game was Kenneth Frey (born in 1950). He received his IM title in 1975 and was Mexican champion in 1981, 1983, 1984 and 1986. In later years he was active in correspondence chess and was awarded the Correspondence Grandmaster title in 2004. Browne;s sharp play was nearly perfect. 

[Event "Pan American, Winnipeg"] [Site "Winnipeg CAN"] [Date "1974.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Kenneth Frey"] [Black "Walter Browne"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D94"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "1974.??.??"] {D94: Gruenfeld} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. d4 Bg7 {Browne plays the unusual, for him, Gruenfeld.because he had noticed that in the first round Frey had played poorly against it.} 5. e3 O-O 6. Be2 dxc4 7. Bxc4 c5 8. O-O cxd4 9. Nxd4 a6 10. Qe2 b5 11. Bb3 e5 {As usual, Browne was not content with just equality so he trys to grab the initiative with this bold move.} (11... Bb7 12. Rd1 Qb6 13. Bd2 Nc6 14. Nxc6 Qxc6 15. f3 {equals. Limp,E (2415) -Matsuura,E (2405) Campeonato Paulista 1998}) 12. Nc2 {Black has an edge.} e4 13. Rd1 {Browne thought this was too passive, but in relity there is nothing wrong with it.} (13. Nb4 {This move, activating the N was Browne;s suggestion. After} Nbd7 {Simpler would be 13...Bg4} 14. Rd1 Qe7 {Things get a bit tactical. } (14... Qe8) 15. Ncd5 (15. Bd5 Nxd5 16. Nbxd5 Qe5 17. b4 {with complete equality.}) 15... Nxd5 16. Bxd5 Ne5 17. Bxa8 Bg4 18. f3 Nxf3+ 19. gxf3 Bxf3 20. Qe1 Bxd1 21. Qxd1 Qxb4 22. Bc6 {equals}) 13... Qe7 14. h3 {Somewhat better was 14.Nd5} Bb7 15. Bd2 {Frey's play, while not really bad, has resulted in a passive position... not a good situation to be in against a very aggressive opponent like Browne.} Nbd7 {[%mdl 32]} 16. Nd4 {White is resigned to waiting, but it won't be for long.} Ne5 17. Bc2 Rac8 {[%mdl 32] Watch where this R ends up!} 18. Be1 Rc5 19. b4 {A very poor move. As bad as white's position looks, 19.Nxe4 give him a fighting chance.} (19. Nxe4 {was his best try.} Nxe4 20. Bxe4 Bxe4 21. Bb4 Rfc8 22. Rac1 Nd3 23. Bxc5 Rxc5 24. Rxc5 Nxc5 {While the material is about even black has a winning position. Although Stootout games were rather long (70-80 move) black scored 5-0.}) 19... Nf3+ {[%mdl 512] A nice tactical shot. It doesn’t matter how white recaptures, he is hopelessly lost.} 20. gxf3 Rg5+ 21. Kh2 exf3 22. Nxf3 Qc7+ {This nifty maneuver wraps it up.} 23. Kh1 Qc8 24. Kh2 {Browne has one more little tactical shot up his sleeve.} Ng4+ {[%mdl 512]} 25. Kg1 (25. hxg4 Qxg4 {mates in 3} 26. Qf1 Rh5+ 27. Nh4 Rxh4+ 28. Qh3 Rxh3#) 25... Bxf3 {Make that two little tactical shots!} 26. Qxf3 Ne5+ {White resigned.} (26... Ne5+ 27. Qg3 Nf3+ 28. Kg2 Rxg3+ 29. fxg3 Nxe1+ 30. Rxe1 Bxc3) 0-1

Gheorghiu Demolishes de Castro

     It’s been quite an ordeal recovering from the recent flooding. Cleanup, replacing lost items and dealing with the insurance company has not left much free time, but a few spare moments here and there have been spent looking around in the 1970s chess world. 

     The year 1973 was filled with events: it saw the birth of the first mobile phone, abortion being declared a constitutional right, and the Battle of the Sexes, the most-watched tennis match of all times, It was a match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, the two greatest tennis players of the day. King won easily.

     Vasily Panov (1906-1973) died in the USSR at the age of 66. He was champion of Moscow in 1929. Al Horowitz (1907-1973), a leading US players in the 1930’s and publisher of the great Chess Review magazine, died at the age of 65 in New York. Hans Kmoch (1894-1973) also passed away in New York at the age of 78.

     Aleksander Lipenieks (1908-1973) died in Lincoln, Nebraska at the age of 64. He was the city champion 15 times and also published a number of chess books. FIDE President Folk Rogard (1899-1973) died in Stockholm, Sweden at the age of 73. 

     Three-time USSR Champion Leonid Stein (1934-1973) died of a heart attack at the age of 38 in Moscow. And, two-time Yugoslav champion Braslav Rabar (1919-1973) died in Zagreb, Yugoslavia at the age of 54. 

     At the beginning of the year the world’s top rated players were: 1) Bobby Fischer (2780), 2) Mikhail Tal (2660), 3) Anatoly Karpov (2660), 4) Boris Spassky (2655), 5) Viktor Korchnoi (2650), 6) Lajos Portisch (2650), 7) Tigran Petrrosian (2640), 8) Mikhail Botvinnik (2630), 9) Lev Polugaevsky (2625), and 10) Bent Larsen (2620). 

     Walter Browne won the National Open in Las Vegas on tiebreaks over Laszlo Szabo and James Tarjan. He also won the World Open in New York City. Arthur Bisguier won the big Lone Pine tournament in California. Norman Weinstein, age 22, won the US Open, held in Chicago. 

     Bobby Fischer was making news. He was offered a million dollars to play a match in Las Vegas. According to his lawyer, Paul Marshall, Fischer had over $10 million in offers to or advertise, but he turned them all down...it was beneath his dignity to advertise any product. 

     He moved to Los Angles to continue his religious studies with the Worldwide Church of God. 

     In August, he announced his upcoming plans at a press conference in Beverly Hills, California with the chief lawyer for the Worldwide Church of God standing by his side. 

     In November, 1973, Fischer was the guest of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos against whom he played an exhibition game that was broadcast on television. It lasted 5 minutes and a draw agreed after 8 moves. 

     Fischer also played Florencio Campomanes, President of the Philippines Chess Federation, a blitz game on television. Fischer won on time. 

     Ourense is a city in northwestern Spain known for its hot springs; they held an international tournament there in January of 1973. 

     From the beginning it looked like Romanian GM Florin Gheorghiu was going to win, which he did. The one point margin of victory was mainly due to defeat of Pal Benko in the very first round. 

 

 

     The tournament produce a number of interesting games, especially miniatures. Here is one of the more entertaining games in which Gheorghiu totally destroys De Castro. 

      Florin Gheorghiu was born in Bucharest on April 6, 1944. He won the World Junior Championship in 1953 and was awarded the IM title. In 1965 he became a Grandmaster. He won the Romanian Championship in 1960 (age 16), 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1973, 1977 and 1984. At his peak in November 1980, he was rated No. 10 in the world. 

     Edgar De Castro was a Filipino player and International Arbiter and from the begin of 1960s to the mid-1970s was one of the leading Filipino players. Other than that nothing is known about him. 

[Event "Orense, Spain"] [Site ""] [Date "1973.01.14"] [Round "?"] [White "Florin Gheorghiu"] [Black "Edgar de Castro"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B87"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "43"] [EventDate "1973.01.08"] {Sicilian Defense} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bc4 e6 7. Bb3 b5 8. O-O Bb7 {Risky. Black delays castling and quickly experiences difficulties on the e-File. Much better was 6...Be7} (8... Be7 9. Qf3 Qc7 10. Qg3 O-O 11. Bh6 Ne8 {Black's defenses are adequate.}) 9. Re1 Nbd7 10. Bg5 Nc5 { This is a tactical error that allows white ti immediatley gain the advantage. Forcing white to make a decision with his B with 10...h6 was a reasonable try.} 11. Bd5 {Black is already in trouble.} b4 {[%mdl 8192]} (11... exd5 12. exd5+ Kd7 13. b4 Na4 14. Nxa4 bxa4 15. c4 {and white is winning.}) (11... Be7 { keeps the damage to a minimum.} 12. Bxb7 Nxb7 13. Nc6 Qc7 14. Nxe7 Kxe7 { White is better, but there is no forced win.}) 12. Bxb7 {Already white's position can be declared as won.} Nxb7 {There was no better alternative.} ( 12... bxc3 13. Nc6 Qc7 14. Bxa8 cxb2 15. Rb1 {is equally hopeless for black.}) 13. Nd5 {[%mdl 512]} exd5 (13... Rc8 14. Qf3 Be7 15. Nxe7 Qxe7 16. Nf5 exf5 17. exf5 {and wins.}) 14. exd5+ Kd7 15. c3 {White needs to open more lines.} b3 ( 15... bxc3 16. Qa4+ Kc8 17. Qc6+ Kb8 18. Bxf6 gxf6 19. Re8) 16. Qxb3 Nc5 17. Qc4 Rc8 {It's kind of hard to believe but up to here these moves were all played the previous year!} (17... Qc8 18. Nc6 h6 19. Bxf6 gxf6 20. Re3 Kc7 21. b4 Rg8 {Black resigned Tal,M (2625)-Mukhin,M (2420) Baku 1972}) 18. b4 Nce4 19. Qxa6 Nxc3 20. Rac1 Rc7 21. Qd3 {It's a moot point but there was a mate in 16 with 21.Rxc3} (21. Rxc3 Rxc3 22. Qa4+ Kc8 23. Nc6 Qb6 24. Qa8+ Kc7 25. Qd8+ Kb7 26. Qb8+ Ka6 27. b5+ Kxb5 28. Rb1+ Kc4 29. Qxb6 Kxd5 30. Qb5+ Rc5 31. Rd1+ Ke6 32. Nd4+ Ke7 33. Re1+ Kd8 34. Re8+ Kc7 35. Qb8+ Kd7 36. Qd8#) 21... Qc8 22. Nb5 {Black resigned} (22. Nb5 Ne2+ 23. Qxe2 Rxc1 24. Rxc1 Qxc1+ 25. Bxc1 {etc.}) 1-0

Fluorescent Lights, Walter Browne and Bobby Fischer

     Fluorescent lights are highly versatile and the type of lighting that you most likely to see in offices, schools and commercial buildings because it's known for its energy efficiency compared to other types of lighting. 

     There are several different types of fluorescent lighting, but what are known as linear fluorescent tubes, the kind that are commonly used in overhead fixtures, are probably most familiar to us. 

     Fluorescent lighting is the result of a chemical reaction inside of a glass tube. Fluorescent lights have a ballast. Its main purpose is to take the alternating current and turn it into a steady and direct stream of electricity. This stabilizes and maintains the chemical reaction that is occurring inside the bulb. 

     From the ballast electricity flows to the electrodes inside the glass tube, which is kept under low pressure. Inside of the tube are inert gasses and mercury which are excited by the electrical current. The mercury vaporizes and the gasses begin reacting with each other to produce an invisible UV light that we actually cannot see with our naked eye. 

     The tube is coated with phosphor powder coating that glows when it is excited by the invisible UV light producing a visible white light. Environmentalists emphasize that because of the mercury it is important to recycle fluorescent bulbs after they’ve burned out. 

     If you look at a large room that's lit mostly by fluorescent lights there's a good chance that you'll see all kinds of different colors coming from them. That's because of something called color shifting. 

     The longer the bulbs burn the more likely it is that the chemical properties change and cause an imbalanced reaction. As a result the lights are less white and not as bright. In order for the fluorescents to reach their full brightness it may take anywhere between 10-30 seconds for warm up. 

     Fluorescent lighting has been around over 100 years, but it doesn't work well everywhere and relying on solely on fluorescent lighting can produce negative ergonomic and health effects. 

     Aside from the EPA and environmental concerns about broken fluorescent bulbs and their disposal, frequent switching on and off results in early failure.

     Light that comes from them is omni-directional...it scatters light in every direction which is grossly inefficient because only about 60-70 percent of the light given off is being used and the rest is wasted. 

     Prior to 1978 magnetic ballasts were required to operate fluorescent lights and they could produce a humming or buzzing noise. The problem was eliminated with the introduction of high-frequency, electronic ballasts. 

     Ultraviolet light can also affect artwork like watercolors and textiles. Artwork must be protected by the use of additional glass or transparent acrylic sheets placed between the source of light and the painting. 

     More importantly, in a 1993 study researchers found that ultraviolet light exposure from sitting under fluorescent lights for eight hours is equivalent to one minute of sun exposure. 

     Health problems relating to light sensitivity may become aggravated in sensitive individuals. Researchers have suggested that the UV radiation emitted by this type of lighting had led to an increase in eye diseases, most notably cataracts. 

     Other medical professionals have theorized that retinal damage, myopia or astigmatism can also be attributed side effects of fluorescent light. And it's not easy on the eyes! If you have bloodshot or dry eyes it could be because fluorescent tubes n an office space can cause people to subconsciously squint due to the harsh light. The best designs in those spaces soften the light that reaches the ground. 

     players notorious for demanding the light in the tournament room meet their personal specifications were Walter Browne and Bobby Fischer. Browne even went so far as to withdraw from the 1978 U.S. Championship in a dispute over the lighting.

     The 1978 championship would have been Browne's biggest test in the U.S. Championship because virtually all the top players were participating and there was some doubt that he'd be able to win it. 

     The tournament was held on the Southern California campus of the Worldwide Church of God where Bobby Fischer was holed up and several of the players were granted brief audiences with him. 

     At the initial meeting of players Browne made what was by then his familiar complaint about the lighting, claiming it was inadequate and that it could seriously undermine his chances. Most of the players either humored him or ignored him.

     The tournament director was Isaac Kashdan who had run ins with Browne in the past and when Browne bellyached about the lighting Kashdan arranged to have the college's lighting technician meet with Browne to work things out to Browne's satisfaction. 

     A few hours before Round 1, Browne chanced to run into Kashdan and told him the lighting was good enough, but with the proviso that he be allowed to sit at a particular table for the entire event. The players' seating assignments was rotated, but Kashdan agreed. 

     Shortly after that and before the first round started Kashdan was inspecting the tournament room and noticed one of the tables out of line so moved it back. When Browne entered the playing area late and noticed "his" table had been moved from under the spot he thought offered ideal lighting conditions he approached Kashdan who was unaware that it had been Browne himself who had moved the table out of line. 

     After a brief conversation with Kashdan, a belligerent Browne, who accused Kashdan of hating him, stormed out which resulted in him being forfeited against Larry Christiansen. 

Isaac Kashdan

     Later, Kashdan called a meeting of the appeals committee (William Lombardy, Kenneth Rogoff and Andrew Soltis) and Browne presented his case, saying that he would walk out right then if forfeit stood. If the forfeit was erased, he agreed to play Christiansen on whatever day Christiansen and the appeals committee decided. The committee, not wanting to put Christiansen on the spot, upheld the forfeit. Lombardy then tried to convince Browne to continue in the tournament, but it was a waste of time. Browne left. 

     Isaac Kashdan was, unfortunately, involved in another dispute over lighting. This time with Bobby Fischer during the 1971 Candidates Semifinal match played in Denver, Colorado. 

     In a Sports Illustrated article that never got published Kashdan explained how the lights were a problem based on Fischer's demands. It seems Fischer had made a special study of the subject and his specifications called for twenty fluorescent fixtures, each with four daylight tubes, to be twenty feet above the playing surface. 

     The committee in charge of such things made sure his specifications were met, but when Fischer arrived he complained that the lights were...too bright! The electricians explained that fluorescent lights are brighter than rated when newly installed and so Fischer asked for changes which ended up having to be made on a daily basis! Add four blue lights, lower the fixtures three feet, try yellow lights, try soft white lights, etc. Somehow, in spite of Fischer's demands, the match reached a conclusion with Fischer winning 6-0.

     The World Chess Hall of Fame has a fascinating page on Fischer and you can listen to interviews in which Browne, Helgi Olafsson, Viktors Pupols, Larry Remlinger, Aben Ruby, Dr. Anthony Saidy, Yasser Seirawan, James T. Sherwin and Walter Shipman reminisce about Fischer. VISIT SITE

Browne Crushes Ljubojevic at Tilburg

     The year 1978 saw the Grim Reaper harvesting the souls of a number of players. On March 17th, 57-year-old Soviet GM and Karpov's chief trainer Semyon Furman died in St. Petersburg. On March 19th, Carlos Torre (1904-1978) died in Mexico at the age of 73. A few days later, on March 23rd, problem composer Eeltje Visserman died in The Netherlands at the age of 56. 

     On June 11th, Finnish Champion (1974 and 1976) IM Pertii Poutianen (1952-1978) died in Helsinki at the age of 25. Finally, on December 12th, IM Ilya Kan died in Russia at the age of 69. 

     The reclusive Bobby Fischer was having his woes in 1978. He filed a $3.2 million lawsuit against the publishers of an article that was critical of the Worldwide Church of God. He claimed the writers published his conversations with them without his consent. He then accused the church of reneging on their promise to finance his lawsuit. 

     After winning the World Championship in Iceland, Fischer, who had become interested in the church's radio evangelism programs in the early 1960's and became a financial contributor, moved into a church owned apartment in Pasadena. The 34‐year‐old Fischer seldom left his apartment and then mostly at night. 

     Fischer had become involved in the legal dispute the previous year when two former Ambassador College students (a husband and wife team) claimed that Fischer had telephoned them and said he had heard that they and other dissident church members were planning to publish a report critical of the church and the Armstrong's (Garner Ted and his father, Herbert W.). 

     The two students claimed that over the next two months they met with Fischer and he criticized what he described as high living by church officials and complained that the Armstrong's teaching had made church members lose control of their minds and become what he called zombies. 

     Subsequently, a student group published a 90‐page report on the church and college that contained not only a long, purported interview with Fischer and his criticism of the church, but several articles accusing Garner Ted of sexual misconduct with the college co-eds. The report was also critical of the life style of key church executives who lived in expensive homes and flew in private jets. Questions were also raised about how the church was spending the $60 million in annual contributions it received. That's about $257 million in today's dollars. 

     In any case, Fischer filed his lawsuit against the student group, claiming that his privacy was invaded because he had not consented to publication of what he said.

     Things got even murkier. The original interviewers said Fischer had, before the publication of the report, asked him not to publish his remarks, but at the time of the interview Fischer knew they were going to be published. Further, when Fischer made his request not to publish his comments the report was already being printed. 

     Then in another twist, after the report was published a woman who was present when some of Fischer's remarks were tape recorded claimed that he had come to her apartment, assaulted her and made her sign a statement that his remarks were not meant to be published. As a result, a warrant was issued for Fischer's arrest on assault charges, but they were dismissed in court after he agreed to make a cash payment to the woman. 

     Meanwhile, Fischer was going ahead with his lawsuit against the couple who had interviewed him. He also complained that the church, to which he said he had contributed $100,000 (over $400,000 today) had agreed to finance his lawsuit and then reneged. Fischer also had been going around distributing letters attacking various attorneys involved in the lawsuits. 

     Ambassador College was also having their problems. Besides Garner Ted's dalliances, the church had fallen on hard times financially due to a drop in membership and contributions. In fact, the May/June issue of their magazine, The Plain Truth, was not published because of the financial problems. 

     In June of 1978, the church sent out a letter to members stating that for all practical purposes Fischer's lawsuit was dead because he had refused to testify when he disobeyed a court order to appear for questioning 

     Moving on, back to January actually, Viktor Korchnoi defeated Boris Spassky in Belgrade to become world champion Anatoly Karpov's challenger. In October Karpov defeated Korchnoi in Baguio City, Philippines by a score of 16.5 - 15.5.

     That match was not without its amusing intrigue when Karpov had a parapsychologist in the audience and Korchnoi claimed the parapsychologist was distorting his brain waves. Korchnoi then hired his own psychics to counteract the negative vibrations. 

     Korchnoi also accused Karpov of cheating by receiving coded instructions, the nature of which are a mystery, in the form of different flavors of yogurt during the game. The arbiter catered to Karpov's accusations and set a fixed time as to when Karpov could get his yogurt.Additionally, the flavors had to be in writing to the arbiter. 

     In the midst of all this was the tournament at Tilburg in Holland. The event was established in 1977 and ran continuously through 1994 under the sponsorship of Interpolis, an insurance company. Fontys Hogescholen, a university of applied science, shortly revived the tournament from 1996 to 1998, when the last edition was played. 

     The 1978 tournament was the second tournament and it was an all grandmaster event. No Russian players participated as Karpov and Korchnoi were playing a match at that time and their proposed replacements were not accepted.

     Here is Walter Browne's game against Yugoslav star Ljubomir Ljubojevic in which Browne successfully introduced an opening novelty. Ljubojevic (born November 2, 1950) is a Serbian GM and former Yugoslav champion (tied in 1977 and 1982 outright). In 1983 he was ranked third on the world's rating, but he never succeeded in reaching the Candidates Tournament even though he defeated almost every top GM active during his career, including world champions Kasparov, Karpov and Anand.

Walter Browne - Ljubomir Ljubojevic

Result: 1-0

Site: Tilburg

Date: 1978

Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein

[...] 1.d4 ♘f6 2.c4 e6 3.♘c3 ♗b4 4.e3 O-O 5.♗d3 c5 6.♘f3 d5 7.O-O cxd4 8.exd4 dxc4 9.♗xc4 b6 This move which was a favorite of world champion at the time, Karrpov, is difficult to make progress against and it has become the usual reply these days. 10.♗g5 ♗b7 11.♖e1 ♘bd7 12.♖c1 ♖c8 13.♕b3 This was an innovation by Browne. It was supposed to prevent black's routine 13...Bxc3, but it doesn't. 13...♕e7 Ljubojevic was hoping for complications after Browne played 14.Ne5

13...♗xc3 It's now known that this is a satisfactory way to meet 13.Qb3. Most of the games with this move have ended up drawn. 14.♖xc3 ♕c7 this loses. After the correct 14...h6 the chances are even. 15.♗xf6 ♘xf6 16.♗xe6! winning

13...♗e7 14.♗xf6 ♘xf6 15.♗xe6 fxe6 16.♕xe6+ ♔h8 17.♕xe7 ♗xf3 18.gxf3 ♕xd4 Kramnik,V (2770) -Kasparov,G (2849) London 2000. The position is equal here, but Kasparov soon blundered and lost in 25 moves!

14.♗d5 This move was overlooked by Ljubojevic.

14.♘e5 This is likely what Ljubojevic expected; it's not bad by any means, but it does not yield any advantage either. 14...♘xe5 15.dxe5 ♕c5 16.♗xe6 fxe6 17.♕xe6+ ♖f7 18.♗e3 ♕e7 19.♕xe7 ♗xe7 20.exf6 ♗xf6 with an even position.

14...♗a6 Some annotators thought the B's position on a3 may prove awkward, but this move is the best and it keeps the balance.

14...♗xd5 Risky and not quite correct. 15.♘xd5 ♘xd5 16.♗xe7 ♗xe1 17.♖xe1 ♘xe7 strongly favors white as black does not have enough compensation for the Q. In Shootouts white scored +3 -0 =2, so black may have some remote drawing chances.

15.♕a4 ♗xc3 16.bxc3 Capturing with the R was also good. 16...♘b8 17.♗b3 The threat is d5 17...b5 18.♕a5 Black still has to deal with the threatened d5 18...♕b7 This gets the Q out of the line of the R, but it allows white a decisive maneuver.

18...♔h8 A pass to demonstrate the threat. 19.d5 h6 20.♗f4 ♗b7 21.♕xa7 with a decisive advantage.

18...♕d8 Offering to trade Qs is offers tougher resistance. 19.♕a3 ♗b7 20.♘e5 ♘bd7 White stands well after performing a R lift beginning with 21.Re3 to be followed by Rg3. 21.♘xf7 is interesting, but not quite a strong as the R lift. 21...♖xf7 22.♗xe6 ♘f8 23.♗xf7+ ♔xf7 24.♕b3+ ♖c4 25.♖e5 (25.♕xb5 ♕d5 forcing the trade of Qs equalizes for black.) 25...a6 26.a4 ♘g6 27.♖c5 ♗d5 with equal chances.

19.♗xf6 gxf6 A somewhat better, but still inadequate, defense was offered by 19...Nc6 20.d5 exd5 21.♕b4 ♕d7 22.♕h4 ♔g7 23.♘d4 Ljubojevic's resignation here was not premature.

23.♘d4 ♖fe8 24.♗c2 There is no defense satisfactory against the threat to h2 24...♖e4 25.♗xe4 dxe4 26.♖xe4 ♖c5 27.♖g4+ ♔f8 28.♕h6+ ♔e7 29.♖g8 ♖c8 30.♖e1+ ♔d6 31.♕f4+ ♔c5 32.♖xc8+ ♕xc8 33.♕xf6 White has a mate in 10.

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Fischer, So and Short on Religion

     Back in 2013 the late James R. Schroeder, never one to mince words, called Nigel Short a “walking dung-heap” who “exceeded his reputation as being vulgar and crude by dropping his trousers.” 
     What got Schroeder’s dander up was a New In Chess article in which Nigel Short wrote about sexual activity among chess players and included the “f” word. Schroeder also added that “Short didn’t publish that putrid crap; the editor, Jan Timman did.” Schroeder also claimed Timman “(degenerated) into being depraved” and is “long known to be sleazy.” 
     I recently ran across and article in Christianity Today from a couple of years ago (2018) in which Short ridiculed Wesley So, at the time the US champion, who has made a habit of praying before every game. 
     After So had lost a game, Short mocked him saying, “So the Lord deserted Wesley So today. Apparently, he didn't pray fervently enough.” Short added, “It may well be a dearly held belief, but that does not mean it is either sensible or worthy of respect, does it?” and “The problem with praying to the Lord on Sunday is that it is his day off. Paradoxically this is the very day that he is inundated with requests. No wonder he couldn't be bothered with the scores in the Berlin Candidates.” 
     Prior to that, in an article an article also appearing in Christianity Today in 2017, So stated that he follows Jesus publicly, even though people warn that his career will suffer. 
     So stated that if anyone discovers that you’re one of those “superstitious,” “narrow-minded idiots,” you’re likely to see nasty comments accumulate on your Facebook fan page. He stated that on a regular basis he receives emails on his Facebook page lecturing him about the dangers of following Jesus. They wonder how one of the world’s best players can be so weak-minded. People have told him that spending time reading his Bible, praying, and going to church will inevitably weaken his performance. People plead with him to at least keep quiet about his beliefs because thanking God publicly makes him look ridiculous. 
     Atheist Nigel Short’s fulminating against Christianity reminded me of Bobby Fischer’s rants against Jews. In a live interview on Hungarian radio, before launching into a Holocaust-denying rant, Fischer stated, "As Adolf Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf, the Jews are not the victims, they are the victimisers!" It seemed to escape Fischer that he was born a Jew and if Hitler had had anything to do with it, Bobby would have been gassed, too. 
     It’s well known that after winning the World Championship in 1972 that Fischer belonged to and donated a large percentage of his winnings to the Worldwide Church of God. But by 1975 he had abandoned the sect, believing it to be part of "a satanical secret world government.” 
     He then turned his attention to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a fabricated anti-semitic text purporting to describe a Jewish plan for global domination. It was shown to be plagiarized from several earlier sources, some not antisemitic at all. It was first published in Russia in 1903 and translated into many languages. 
     According to the claims, the Protocols are the minutes of a late 19th-century meeting where Jewish leaders discussed their goal of global Jewish hegemony by subverting the morals of Gentiles, and by controlling the press and the world's economies. 
     Henry Ford funded the printing of a half million copies that were distributed throughout the United States in the 1920s. Ford did a lot of admirable things, but he became convinced that bankers and the Jews were responsible for a whole range of things he didn’t like ranging from the world war to short skirts to jazz music. 

Henry Ford

     He used his newspaper, the Dearborn Independent, to carry on an active anti-Semitic campaign. Between 1920 and 1922 a series of articles denounced all things Jewish. Ford Motor Company pressured their car dealers to buy multiple subscriptions and hand out copies to customers. The newspaper was popular and circulation reached 900,000 in 1926. 
     Nigel Short wrote that in time pressure a player’s heart rate can double and when that happens you should be physically moving, but chessplayers can’t. Short thought that resulted in players “getting some sort of mental injuries that are not necessarily detected” and “you can develop neurotic ideas in chess and they're just never treated." 
     Fischer didn't believe in doctors and certainly not psychiatrists. When Fischer was about 19-years old it was suggested to him by Robert Byrne that he see a psychiatrist, to which Fischer replied that "a psychiatrist ought to pay [me] for the privilege of working on [my] brain." And, Pal Benko commented, "I am not a psychiatrist, but it was obvious he was not normal.” Benko’s suggestion that Fischer get help also fell on deaf ears. 
     In his book, Searching for Bobby Fischer, author Fred Waitzkin interviewed National Master Ronald Gross, who told him Fischer had stated to Gross that he'd had a dentist take all the fillings out of his teeth and didn't have anything put in their place because he didn’t want anything artificial in his head. Fischer had read about a guy wounded in World War II who had a metal plate in his head and was always picking up vibrations, maybe even radio transmissions and the same thing could happen from metal in your teeth. In the early 1950s National Master Dr. Harold Sussman was Fischer’s dentist. Dr. Sussman said, “He had a great set of teeth.” Like many other things about Fischer, that changed. 
     To me, the attitude of Short towards Christians and Fischer towards Jews is appalling, but as Samuel Reshevsky once said of a discussion on religion he had with Fischer, “He has his views. I have mine.” Other that that, there’s no real point to this post. Thanks for reading!

Further reading: 
Mecking's Fight for Life - HERE  
Gutmayer and Diemer-Loathsome Men - HERE

Hastings 1977

     On January 21, 1977, President Jimmy Carter, in his first full day in office, fulfilled a campaign promise by granting unconditional pardons to hundreds of thousands of men who had evaded the draft during the Vietnam War by fleeing the country or by failing to register with their draft board. 
     At the time, the blanket amnesty generated a good deal of criticism from veterans’ groups and others who disapproved of the idea of letting unpatriotic lawbreakers get off free. On the other end of the political spectrum, the pardon came under fire from amnesty groups for not having addressed deserters, or soldiers who were dishonorably discharged or violent civilian anti-war demonstrators. 
    In all, about 100,000 Americans went abroad in the late 1960s and early '70s to avoid being drafted. Some 90 percent went to Canada where, after some initial controversy, they were accepted as legal immigrants. Before Carter issued his pardon, those who had fled to Canada faced prison sentences if they chose to return to the United States. 
    In the end, an estimated 50,000 draft dodgers chose to settle permanently in Canada. Thousands went into hiding at home, sometimes changing their identities. In addition, about 1,000 military deserters found their way to Canada. 
     At first Canadian authorities indicated they would be prosecuted or deported, but in practice they were left alone and Canadian border guards were told not to ask too many questions. 
     In other news, Star Wars opened in theaters, while on television the immensely popular mini-series Roots aired. Apple II computers went on sale, the precursor to the GPS system in use today was started by US Department of Defense and the first commercial flight of the Concord took place. On July 13th, New York City was hit with a blackout.
     The French film director, producer, writer, actor and sleazeball Roman Polanski was arrested in California for raping a 13-year-old girl. In January 1978, the day before sentencing, Polanski fled the country on a flight to London and the next day left for France where he has been protected from extradition. 
     The biggest news concerned Elvis Presley who died while sitting on the toilet and even today there’s something of a mystery surrounding the incident. Read more... 
     The year 1977 had no major chess activity. In one ill-fated experiment FIDE organized the first Telechess Olympiad with games played over amateur radio, telephone, or telex that was won by the USSR. FIDE also introduced the Woman Grandmaster title and the first World Cadet championship for under-17 was held. 

     In 1977, the International Computer Chess Association (ICCA) was formed and Chess Challenger 1 was the first chess computer on the market. In August the 2nd world computer championship was held in Toronto and was won by Chess 4.6. 
     The year got off to a depressing start when on January 13, 1977, Anthony Santasiere (born 1904) died at the age of 72 and then on February 15th Isaac Boleslavsky (born 1919) died in Minsk at age of 57 after a fall on an icy sidewalk resulted in a broken hip which became infected during during his hospitalization. Two days later, on February 17th, Newell Banks (born 1887), a famous chess and checkers player, died in Detroit at the age of 89. More players followed when on September 14th, the German-Argentine IM Paul Michel (born 1905) died in La Plata, Argentina. On October 1st, Czech IM Fantisek Zita (born 1909) died in Prague at the age of 68. On November 2nd, the Czech IM Ivan Rohacek (born 1909) died in Serbia at the age of 68. 
     In May, at the age of 11, Nigel Short became the youngest player to qualify for the finals of a national championship when he defeated Irish champion Alan Ludgate in a zonal playoff for a spot in the British championship. 
     Bobby Fischer played three games against the MIT Greenblatt computer program. He turned down $250,000 to play one chess game at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas and $3 million to play in a tournament in the Philippines. 
     At the end of 1977 he cut all ties with the Worldwide Church of God claiming that the church was taking orders from a satanical secret world government. For for details on his involvement with the church see one of my most popular posts ever, Bobby Fischer and the Worldwide Church of God.
     Earlier in the year, on February 20, 1977, Fischer’s mother was arrested in London while protesting a government deportation order against two American journalists. She was sentenced to one year’s probation for obstructing the sidewalk outside a British government office. 

     Bobby Fischer was just a nasty person. In the book Endgame by Frank Brady he describes Fischer’s ride home in which he shared a car with some other players after he won the US Junior Championship in 1957. 
     The car kept breaking down and everyone chipped in for repairs.  There was no air conditioning in cars in those days and it was hot, tempers grew short and there were some petty arguments. 
     More serious was the fist fight that broke out between Fischer and Gilbert Ramirez who had finished second. Fischer got a black eye and he bit Ramirez on the arm leaving permanent scars which Ramirez displayed as a souvenir of the trip. Eventually, the car broke down entirely and had to be abandoned. 
     Fischer was the Hannibal Lecter of chess...years later during his arrest in Japan he bit one of the Japanese police officers. 
     But, we’re talking about 1977 and in October, Fischer was involved in another incident. After Fischer left the Worldwide Church of God he took part in a taped interview with a magazine published by church dissidents in which he charged that church founder Herbert W. Armstrong and his followers had taken not only his money but his mind. 
     Later he tried to get the tapes back and forced his way into the apartment of a woman named Holly Ruiz who was present at one of the interviews. She alleged that Fischer threatened to hurt her and told her, “I’m going to smash your face in.” At least she didn't get bitten. 
     Ruiz filed an assault charge and Fischer reached an out-of-court settlement with her then sued the magazine for $3.2 million which was never settled because he also was unable to get along with his lawyers. 
     In November Viktor Korchnoi and Raymond Keene were in a car accident when their taxi collided with a Swiss army truck. The car rolled over three times leaving Korchnoi with a broken right hand and other injuries. As a result, he asked for a postponement in his world championship semi-final match with Spassky. Keene was not seriously injured. 
     At the end of the year the 53rd Hastings Christmas Festival took place in int the Premier section the final standings were: 

1) Dzindzichashvili 10.5 
2-3) Petrosian and Sax 9.5 
4) Hort 9.0 
5) Mestel 8.5 
6) Tarjan 8.0 
7) Sveshnikov 7.5 
8) Speelman 7.0 
9-10) Nunn and Shamkovich 6.5 
11-12) Fedorowicz and Webb 5.5 
13) Tisdall 4.54 
14-15) Kagan and Botterill 3.5 

     Although the two players featured in the following game didn’t fare especially well in the tournament, they played an exciting game.
     FM George Botterill (born January 8, 1949) is a Welsh player, writer and philosopher. He learned chess at the age of seven and from 1969-1972 played for Oxford University, and became one of Britain's leading young players. He is best known as a chess writer, especially for his opening collaborations with Raymond Keene. 
     Botterill won the 1974 British Championship by winning the playoff over William Hartston after a seven-way tie for first. In 1977 Botterill won his second British Championship. He won the Welsh Championship in 1973 (jointly). 
     In 1974 he became a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Wales at Aberystwyth, and began to play for the Welsh international team. He moved to Sheffield in 1988. His professional research interests are in the philosophy of psychology and the philosophy of science. 
     GM John Fedorowicz was born September 17, 1958 in New York City. He learned to play chess in 1972, inspired by the Fischer–Spassky World Championship Match coverage on television. He made rapid progress to become co-winner of the 1977 U.S. Junior Championship and outright winner in 1978.
     "The Fed", as he is known, continued to pile up victories both in the U.S. and in Europe. He has also captained the U.S. Olympiad team on two occasions and has frequently acted as a second to World Championship candidate Gata Kamsky. 
     He has written or co-written a number of chess books and many articles for magazines and on-line publishers. Besides chess he enjoys reading, cooking, playing, and watching sports and a number of other board games, including Monopoly, Risk and Scrabble. He is also a popular teacher for children’s chess and lecturer at chess camps.

Play Online Chess

[Event "Hastings 1977-78"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1978.1.4"]
[Round "?"]
[White "George Botterill"]
[Black "John Fedorowicz"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
{Modern Benoni} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 {The Modern Benoni has had its ups
and downs. Frank Marshall invented it in 1927, but his experiments were
ignored until the 1950s when Soviet players, especially Tal began playing
it.} 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. Nf3 {Most popular although 7.f4 has
been tried.} 7... Bg7 8. Bg5 {Sharp! Other tries are 8.Be2, 8.h3 and 8..Nd2}
8... h6 9. Bh4 a6 10. Nd2 b5 11. a4 {This has not worked out at all well for
white. Better was 11.Be2.} 11... b4 12. Ncb1 Qe7 {In Vaganian-Hort, Niksic
1978 black played 12... g5?! and only managed a draw.} 13. Bd3 {13.f3 g5
14.Bf2 Nbd7 was played in Tomaszewski,R (2365)-Vilela,J (2410)/Polanica Zdroj
1980. and in Schmidt,W (2430)-Kuligowski,A (2495)/Warsaw 1979 black played
14.O-O and ...Nbd7. Both moves are better that Botterill's 13.Bd3 which is a
tactical mistake.} 13... g5 14. Bg3 Nxd5 {This is the problem with 13.Bd3.}
15. Nc4 Nf4 16. Bxf4 gxf4 {A P dowen with no compensation, rather than defend
his b-Pawn, Botterill tries to complicate matters.} 17. Nb6 Bb7 {There was
nothing wrong with 17...Bxb2 which likely transposes into the game.} 18. Nxa8
Bxa8 19. O-O Bxb2 20. Ra2 Bd4 21. Nd2 Rg8 {Black has plenty of compensation
for the exchange.} 22. Qf3 Qf6 23. Kh1 Kf8 24. Bc4 Bc6 25. a5 Bd7 {Much better
would have been 25...Nd7 and 25... Ne5 which would have left white helpless.
he loss of the a-Pawn is of no significance, but that is difficult to
determine over the board.} 26. Qe2 Qg5 { Maneuvering his N to e5 beginning
with 26...Nc6 was still a promising alternative.} 27. Rg1 Bc3 {Not good as the
B has not prospects here. Much better was 27.,..Bg4} 28. Nf3 {The a-Pawn isn't
going anywhere so bringing the N to the defense of the K is a good idea.}
28... Qg6 29. Bxa6 {Fedorowicz' next move turns the advantage over to
white...he should have eliminated the B with 29... Nxa6} 29... b3 30. Ra3 d5
{30...Nxb6 is still best.} 31. Bb7 {Better was 31.Rxb3} 31... b2 32. Nh4 Qf6
33. a6 {Even stronger was 33.Bxd5} 33... Be5 34. Nf3 Qg7 35. Rb3 {Now not
35.a7?? b1Q and wins. Now black's game is beyond saving.} 35... Nxa6 36. Bxa6
c4 37. Nxe5 cxb3 38. Nxd7+ Ke7 39. exd5+ Kxd7 40. Qb5+ Ke7 41. Qb4+ {White
mates in 12 moves. A nice game by Botterill.} 1-0