Long Forgotten, Little Remembered

     Speaking of chess players, their games and the tournaments they played in, the vast majority of them fall into the category of being long forgotten and little remembered. The following game, the players, the tournament and even the book I found it in is in that category. 

     One of the books I like to dip into occasionally is the 1913 edition Memorable Chess Games, Brilliants and miniatures with Notes, Quires and Answers by the British player and author William Moffatt. 

     The reason I like the book is because, as the author pointed out in the forward, is that, "In some of the games in this collection there are moves which are weak and lead to disaster. Such games in the opinion of some players are not worth attention. Nevertheless, if the reader will himself take the trouble to discover these faults and to indicate better lines of play, he will benefit considerably. He will strengthen his play by learning to avoid danger and to take advantage of error. Hence, questions on interesting points are set down, to which the student is expected to provide answers and to compare with those given at the end of the work." I think he has a point. 

      Not all of the games were played by unknowns in forgotten tournaments; it's just that some of the players were not members of the chess world's aristocratic class and the games were not unblemished. I

     The following game won the brilliancy prize at "the Scarborough meeting of the British Chess Federation," but no date was given. It was most likely played in the First Amateur B event in Scarborough 1909 which was part of the British Championship. 

     Georg Shories (1874-1934) was born in Berlin which is also where he died. He took up chess seriously in 1895. He lived in England for a number of years and his first notable success in English chess was winning first prize in the 1903 Open Tournament at the Kent County Congress at Canterbury. 

     In 1905 he competed at the Barmen Congress of the German Chess Association, and won first prize in the B tournament. In 1908 he won first prize at Ostend in the Amateur event and, also, first prize in an amateur section of the tournament of the British Chess Federation. In 1909, he tied with Wahltuch in the Blackpool tournament for the championship of the North of England. 

     During the First World War, he suffered internment, and then returned home to Germany. His last tournament was at the Bad Pyrmont (German Championship of 1933) in which he was the oldest participating master. 

      Nothing is known about Joshua W. Dixon except that he lived in Hanley. Located in central England, it was one of six towns that in 1910 amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent. 

[Event "First Class Amateur, BCF Scarborough"] [Site "?"] [Date "1909.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Georg Schories"] [Black "Joshua Dixon"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "53"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.11.04"] {Ruy Lopez: Modern Steinitz Defense} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O d6 {This is an improvement on the solid but passive and cramped Old Steinitz (3.d6). It's more flexible because black has the possibility of breaking the pin with a timely ...b5 giving him more latitude than in the Old Steinitz.} 6. d4 Bd7 7. c3 exd4 {This is almost never played, but, oddly enough, it's preferred by Stockfish.} (7... Be7 {is usual.} 8. Re1 O-O 9. Nbd2 {Black can play either 9...Re8 or 9...exd4}) (7... Nxe4 {makes black's position too difficult after} 8. Re1 Nf6 {Much too risky is 8...f5?!} 9. Bxc6 Bxc6 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Qxd8+ Rxd8 12. Nxe5 {White stands well.}) 8. cxd4 Be7 { After this black finds himself in difficulties.} (8... Nxe4 {Black has no reason to fear the pin.} 9. Re1 d5 10. Nbd2 Bb4 {leads to some tricky play requiring black to play carefully.} 11. Nxe4 Bxe1 12. Bg5 f6 (12... Bxf2+ 13. Nxf2 f6 14. Bf4 {White has the advantage.}) 13. Nxf6+ gxf6 14. Qxe1+ Kf8 (14... Kf7 15. Bxc6 Bxc6 16. Ne5+ Kg8 17. Ng4 fxg5 18. Qe6+ Kf8 19. Qh6+ Kg8 20. Re1 { White is winning.}) 15. Bh6+ Kf7 {Black is in a precarious position and can't afford to make any mistakes.} (15... Kg8 {loses} 16. Qe4 Ne7 (16... dxe4 17. Bb3+ Be6 18. Bxe6#) 17. Re1 Qf8 (17... Bxa4 18. Qe6#) 18. Qxe7 Qxe7 19. Rxe7 Bxa4 20. Nh4 Bc2 21. Rg7+ Kf8 22. Rxc7+ {and white should win.})) 9. Nc3 O-O ( 9... b5 10. Bc2 Bg4 11. Be3 O-O {White has the better chances. Niehaus,F (2206) -Vollmar,T Berlin 2008}) 10. h3 h6 11. Be3 Nh7 {This serves little purpose. 11. ..Re8 was a better try.} 12. g4 {Not bad, but 12.Bc2 was also worth considering. There's no immediate threat, but it improves the potential of the B since it's aimed at the K-side.} h5 {Black appears to have misjudged the position and apparently thinks he can attack on the K-side. Ultimately though this move only weakens his own K's position.} (12... Na5 {was his best plan.} 13. Bxd7 (13. Bc2 {To preserve the B.} Nc4 14. Bc1 Re8 15. Nd5 Bf8 16. Re1 { White is better.}) 13... Qxd7 14. Qd3 {White's position is more active.}) 13. Nh2 g5 {This was awarded a ! in the book, but Stockfish slapped a ? on it and suggested instead that black can keep on fighting with 13...b5} (13... b5 14. Bc2 Nb4 15. Bb1 c5 16. f4 {White has the initiative, but black may be able to survive.}) 14. Rc1 Kg7 15. Nd5 {Black is lost.} f6 16. Bc2 h4 {Hoping to gum up the K-side and thereby stem the white attack.} 17. Bb1 Rc8 {Black has to make a move and it doesn't much matter what it is.} 18. f4 Qe8 19. Nf3 Rf7 20. Qd3 Qf8 21. Nxf6 {[%mdl 512] Equally convincing, but less flashy, was 21.e5} Rxf6 (21... Bxf6 22. e5 Kg8 (22... Be7 23. Qxh7#) 23. exf6 Nxf6 24. fxg5 Nd5 25. Nxh4 Nxe3 26. Qg6+ Rg7 27. Rxf8+ Rxf8 28. Qd3 Nd5 29. Qb3 Nce7 30. Ng6 Rff7 31. Nxe7+ Rxe7 32. Qxd5+ {etc.}) 22. e5 {Threatening mate on h7} Rh6 23. fxg5 Bxg5 24. Nxg5 Nxg5 {This allows a mate in 12, but the best move, 24...Bb4, would hardly have saved the game.} 25. Bxg5 Qh8 26. Rf6 dxe5 27. Bxh6+ { Black resigned. The book asks the reader why.} (27. Bxh6+ Kxf6 28. Qg6+ Ke7 29. Bg5+ Kf8 30. Rf1+ Bf5 31. Qxf5+ Qf6 32. Qxf6+ Kg8 33. Qg6+ Kh8 34. Bf6#) 1-0

Dilworth Variation, it's not for the faint of heart

     Unless they're a peddler of opening books, most titled players advise amateurs not to spend a lot of time studying openings because time is better spent on tactics, middlegames, endgames, strategic concepts etc., etc. 

     Take a look at game below the master level and you'll see they don't go much beyond 6-8 book moves. And, I remember the time my young opponent blitzed out 20 or so opening moves against my Sicilian. Finally, when he sank into deep thought I knew he was at the end of his book knowledge. A few moves later he blundered and lost. In the post mortem I got a lecture about my move (the one that made him stop and think) being a bad one. The reason...it wasn't what Fischer played. My question was, if the move was so bad why didn't he refute it? I got a blank stare. 

     For us chess putterers, a general overview of openings should be sufficient. And, as for making your opponent think on his own and playing tactical tricks on him because chess is supposed to be 99% tactics...well, we are non-masters because we don't think very well on our own and our tactical vision is third string...unless, perhaps, we are doing tactical exercises and are told there's a mate in three or some such. There's nobody to tell us that during a game. That's why our chess is so dreadful. 

     The Dilworth Variation of the Ruy Lopez is one of the few opening variations named after an amateur player. Vernon Dilworth (September 16, 1916 - October 9, 2004, 88 years old) was a railway clerk who experimented with the line in the years of 1939-1941 in correspondence games, and then published some of his analysis in Chess magazine. 

     His variation got recognition when, even though it was unsuccessful, Botvinnik played the variation against Vasily Smyslov in the 1943-44 Moscow Championship. In more modern times, although today it's not often seen, players like Larsen, Ivanchuk, Short, Leko and Yusupov have played it. 

     The Dilworth is one of the most interesting variations of the Ruy Lopez. Black gives up a B and a N for R and P, or maybe two, in the hopes of launching an attack on white's K. If White is successful in fending off the attack the result is usually a very complicated ending which theory considers to be about equal. 

     Just for fun I let Stockfish 15 work on the Dilworth (the position after 11...Nxf2) for 45 minutes and its evaluation was slightly less than half a P in white's favor, i.e. equal. It should be noted that being equal does not mean drawn. 

     The following game is an early example of Dilworth's experimentation and it shows the complexities of his variation. It's certainly not for the faint of heart. 

[Event "Correspondence"] [Site ""] [Date "1941.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Estelles"] [Black "Vernon Dilworth"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C82"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "48"] [EventDate "1941.??.??"] {Open Ruy Lopez: Dilworth Variation} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 {The Open Variation. Bent Larsen suggested that it was the only correct way for black to play against the Ruy Lopez.} 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 {White now has a variety of options, including 9.c3, 9.Be3, 9.Qe2 and 9.Nbd2.} 9. c3 {This is the classical line.} Bc5 {The main line is 9...Be7, but this is the most aggressive.} 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Bc2 {This is the best. Now black must meet the attack on e4. He has two main possibilities: 11...f5 and 11...Bf5, both of which aim to maintain the strong point on e4.} (11. Nxe4 dxe4 12. Ng5 {He could also exchange Qs first.} Bxb3 {Now the position is equal after 13.axb3, but} 13. Qxb3 {This logical at first glance move as played in Tindall,B (2190)-Korneev,O (2565) Jakarta 1997 is a serious mistake.} e3 14. Ne4 exf2+ 15. Nxf2 Nxe5 {and black is winning.}) 11... Nxf2 {The Dilworth Variation.} (11... Nxd2 12. Bxd2 Bg4 13. Bf4 Re8 14. Qd3 g6 15. Rfe1 Bf5 16. Qd2 Bxc2 17. Qxc2 {White;s better, but in Mackenzie,G-Weiss,M Frankfurt 1887, black salvaged a draw.}) (11... Bxf2+ {would result in about equal chances after} 12. Rxf2 Nxf2 13. Kxf2 f6) 12. Qe2 {Of course, the only correct move is 12.Rxf2} (12. Rxf2 Bxf2+ 13. Kxf2 f6 14. Nf1 fxe5 15. Kg1 Bg4 16. Ne3 Be6 17. b3 d4 18. cxd4 Nxd4 19. Nxd4 Qxd4 20. Rb1 Rad8 21. Qe2 Bf5 22. Bb2 Qc5 23. Bxf5 Rxf5 24. h3 {This position is evaluated as being equal.}) 12... f6 {[%mdl 8192] Very weak.} (12... Ng4+ {This move is hard to meet as after} 13. Kh1 (13. Nd4 { is not at all good.} Qh4 14. N2f3 Bxd4+ 15. cxd4 Nxd4 16. Qd2 Nxf3+ 17. gxf3 Nxe5 {and black should win.}) 13... Ne3 {forking the B and R assure black os the advantage.}) 13. exf6 (13. Rxf2 {is less good.} fxe5 14. Nb3 Bxf2+ 15. Qxf2 e4 16. Qe1 Qd6 17. Nfd4 {with equal chances.}) 13... Qxf6 {Bad move! White now stands better.} (13... Ng4+ {was his best move.} 14. Kh1 Qd7 (14... Ne3 { does not work in this line.} 15. Nb3 Qxf6 (15... Nxf1 16. Qxe6+ Rf7 17. Bxh7+ { wins}) 16. Bxe3 Bxe3 17. Qxe3 {White is winning.}) 15. Nb3 Bd6 16. fxg7 Kxg7 17. Bg5 {and white is slightly better.}) 14. Rxf2 {This is not really a blunder that loses the game, but now black is back on the attack. White needed to play 14.Nb3} (14. Nb3 {It's understandable that white missed this because now play becomes fast and furious!} Nh3+ 15. Kh1 Bd6 16. gxh3 Bxh3 17. Qd3 Bxf1 18. Qxh7+ Kf7 19. Qh5+ g6 20. Qh7+ Ke8 21. Bxg6+ Rf7 22. Bf4 {A hard move to find.} (22. Bxf7+ Qxf7 23. Qxf7+ Kxf7 {is unclear.}) 22... Be2 23. Ng5 Ne5 24. Nxf7 Nxg6 25. Nxd6+ cxd6 26. Nd4 {Another hard move to find!} Nxf4 27. Rg1 Ne6 28. Nxe2 Qf3+ 29. Rg2 {White is slightly better.}) 14... Rae8 15. Qd3 g6 { Better was 15...Bxf2+ first.} 16. Qf1 {The only move.} Bg4 17. Nd4 {[%mdl 8192] This move looks quite natural, but it loses quickly. Either 17.Bb3 or 17.h3 would have kept the chances equal.} (17. h3 h5 18. Bb3 (18. hxg4 hxg4 19. Nd4 { loses. Better is 19.Bb3 when black's advantage is minimal.} Qh4 20. Rxf8+ Rxf8 21. Qe2 Nxd4 22. cxd4 Bxd4+ {wins easily}) 18... Qd6 19. Kh1 {with an unclear situation.}) 17... Nxd4 {[%mdl 512] A tactical fly in the ointment.} 18. Rxf6 ( 18. cxd4 {is no better.} Qxd4 19. Nf3 Rxf3 20. gxf3 Bxf3 {thid id no answer to black's mate in 7.} 21. Be3 Qxe3 22. h4 Qf4 23. Qh3 Bxf2+ 24. Kxf2 Re2+ 25. Kf1 Bg4+ 26. Qf3 Qxf3+ 27. Kg1 Qg2#) 18... Rxf6 19. cxd4 Bxd4+ 20. Kh1 Rxf1+ 21. Nxf1 Re1 22. Bd3 Bf5 23. Be2 Rxe2 24. Bh6 Be4 {White resigned.} 0-1

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

     Margaret Wolfe Hungerford is credited with coining the phrase in her novel Molly Bawn, published in 1878. The saying means that different people have different opinions as to what should be deemed attractive. It means that beauty is subjective, but whether or not that is true has been debated since ancient Greece.

     Shakespeare wrote of beauty in Love’s Labor Lost, saying, “Beauty is bought by judgment of the eye…” Benjamin Franklin wrote in Poor Richard’s Almanack, “Beauty, like supreme dominion/Is but supported by opinion.” 

     According to one article I read you should never say that because "it’s a phrase with the power to silence. Once it’s been uttered, trying to keep up a dialogue about the merits or drawbacks of certain visual things can come across as shrill, anti-social or just plain rude." 

     Aron Nimzovich struggled with the beauty problem in his day. He wrote about it in one of the seldom looked at books in my library, Chess Praxis. The book is his companion to My System and is what he described as, "A textbook of practical chess, illustrated with 109 games from my struggles." In other words, it's a collection of his games. 

     The late chess book publisher Bob Long didn't think much of the book. He thought it has discouraged more chess players than any other book. But, if you read the reviews, some people loved it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as the saying goes. 

     Topics covered include centralization, restriction and blockading, over-protection and prophylaxis, isolated Pawns, hanging Pawns and the two Bishops One of the chapters that caught my attention was "A victory parade of bizarre and ugly moves" ...those two games have to be worth looking at! 

     Nimzovich wrote that it was words like "bizarre and ugly that masters of the "pseudo-classical school" used to describe his moves. But then he asked, since his ideas had "been totally victorious, can anybody claim to understand how such a natural, beautiful and profound line such as, for example, the Hanham Variation (of Philidor's Defense) was ever considered ugly?!" He then explained that "...the formalistic pseudo-classical way of looking at things is dead and you can't flog a dead horse." 

     He also addresses the Advance Variation of the French Defense (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5). Once upon a time the move was considered unmotivated and ugly because it didn't attack anything, but he insisted for 20 long years that it was neither a mistake nor ugly, but a good and sensible move. 

     His claim was that often the judgment of the pseudo-classical school often saw neither the dynamism nor the intrinsic beauty in many of his recommended moves. He summed things up by saying, "...in chess aesthetics must be firmly anchored in concrete thought. If you only judge by external appearances, you can easily consider some moves ugly which are not so. Beauty in chess, in the final judgment, exists only in thought." 

     One game he examined under this heading is Nimzovich vs. Gilg from Kecskemet 1927. You can play over that games with notes by Raymond Keene HERE. The other was his game against Alekhine played in the famous New York 1924 event; Nimzovich called it, "A battle of giants(!)" Take a gander...

[Event "New York"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1927.02.26"] [Round "?"] [White "Aron Nimzovich"] [Black "Alexander Alekhine"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A04"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "113"] [EventDate "1927.02.19"] {Reti Opening} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. b3 d6 3. g3 e5 {[%mdl 32]} 4. c4 {Nimzovich called this move bizarre and noted that he was not afraid of ...e4. He also mate the statement that anyone else would have played 4.d3.} (4. d3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O c5 7. c4 Nc6 8. Nc3 {is quite equal. Vucenovic,L (2118)-Cobic,V (2378) Belgrade 2003}) (4. Bg2 e4 {Also reasonable is 4...Nc6} 5. Ng5 d5 6. d3 h6 7. Nh3 {Black is slightly better. Vaglio Munoz,J (2235)-Orlov,G (2512) Vancouver 2000}) 4... e4 {Nimzovich was critical of this move claiming it weakens the dark squares and it is at the bottom of all the difficulties which will crop up for black. An exaggeration to say the least. The position is, in fact, equal.} 5. Nh4 {Interesting. Nimzovich said that the g2-square was not intended for the B at all. Instead, he intends to place his N in a bizarre position...g2. Most players would prefer 5...Nd4} d5 {This move, which would have been strong if 5...Nd4 had been played, but here it leads to black's Q being drawn out where it is attacked and so loses time, He claimed that there was hardly anything better. He is probably correct, but even so, the move is not as bad as he seems to indicate.} (5... c6 {would yield black a minimal edge after, say...} 6. d4 d5 7. a3 Bd6) 6. cxd5 Qxd5 {With the obvious threat of ...e3} 7. Nc3 Qc6 {Nimzovich gave this a !, but without explanation. 7... Qe6 is plausible though.} 8. e3 {Giving up for all time the possibility of a fianchetto, but 8.Bg2 was not a good idea anyway.} (8. Bg2 g5 9. Bb2 gxh4 10. Nxe4 Nxe4 11. Bxh8 h3 12. Bf3 Qg6 {Black is marginally better.}) (8. Bb2 { is a good alternative.} Be7 (8... g5 9. Ng2 Bg7 10. Ne3 {is good for white.}) 9. Bg2 Qe6 10. Qc2 g5 11. Nf5 Qxf5 12. Nxe4 {is equal after 12...Qe6}) 8... a6 {According to Nimzovich this move makes the defense harder, without it being hopeless.} (8... Bg4 {was his recommendation, but white gets no more than equality after} 9. Qxg4 Nxg4 10. Bb5) 9. Bb2 Bg4 {Here 8...Bg4 was definitely better.} 10. Be2 (10. Qb1 {was better. After} Nbd7 11. Bg2 {white stands quite well. For example...} Ne5 12. Nxe4 Qb5 13. Nxf6+ gxf6 {White is a P up with a solid position, but compared to black, he has little play so the chances are about equal.}) 10... Bxe2 {An interesting possibility was 10...h5. Now white seizes the initiative.} 11. Nxe2 Nbd7 {[%mdl 32]} 12. Rc1 {This attack on the Q is what Nimzovich was referring to back on move 5.} Qb6 13. O-O {Nimzovich pointed out that 13.Qc2 would have maintained the pressure, but even the weaker text should not allow black to shake off the pressure. He then made the rather obscure comment: Once the opportunity for white-squared counterplay was missed, it will not return. And for that reason he was extremely dubious about Alekhine's attempted white-squared coup d'état in the following moves. His not to move 15 makes it clear what he was talking about.} Bd6 {Oddly, this move is a rathe rpoor one!} (13... O-O-O {Is best. Rather too risky now would be 13...g5} 14. f3 Kb8 15. Qc2 exf3 16. Nxf3 Bd6 {White still has the better prospects for attack.}) (13... g5 14. Nf5 O-O-O 15. Qc2 Re8 16. Bd4 {and white is calling the shots.}) 14. f3 {Equally good, maybe even a bit better was 14.d3 } Be5 {Extremely interesting! Alekhine wants to occupy the white squares (d3) at any cost. But what is the logic of the game? Well, he takes a rather skeptical attitude to it. Why and how should the white squares suddenly be able to put the black squares in the shade!? After black's slip on move 8 his black squares had become chronically weak; white had not made any mistakes (because 13.0-0 was not one), so his opponent's violent, though ingenious, attempt must somehow be wrong. - Nimzovich. After the text engines put white's advantage at a little over a Pawn. That said, after 14...exf3 white woulkd be only slightly better.} 15. Bxe5 Nxe5 16. fxe4 Nd3 {Mission accomplished, but white still has the advantage.} 17. Rc3 O-O-O 18. Qb1 Nxe4 {According to Nimzovich you cannot have a coup d'état (the sudden, violent overthrow of an existing government by a small group) without some sort of sacrifice!} (18... Nc5 {would have been better.} 19. d3 {and white is better, but only slightly.}) 19. Rxd3 Nxd2 20. Rxd8+ Rxd8 {Black's demonstration has achieved nothing and now white is clearly superior. However, it must be noted (as will be seen in upcoming notes) that white must be careful not to let his advantage slip.} 21. Qf5+ (21. Qxh7 Nxf1 22. Kxf1 Qxe3 23. Qf5+ (23. Qxg7 Rd1+ {wins}) 23... Kb8 24. Qf3 Rd1+ 25. Kg2 Qe5 26. Kf2 Qc5+ 27. Kg2 Rd2 {followed by 28... g5 is good for black.}) 21... Kb8 22. Re1 (22. Qxh7 {is still bad.} Qxe3+ 23. Rf2 Ne4 { and black is winning.}) (22. Qxf7 {lets his advantage slip.} Qxe3+ 23. Rf2 Ne4 24. Qf3 Rd1+ 25. Kg2 Qxf2+ 26. Qxf2 Nxf2 27. Kxf2 Rd2 {This position is advantageous to black. 5 Shootouts ended in black wins.}) 22... Qxe3+ 23. Qf2 Qd3 $16 24. Nf4 (24. Qxf7 {is wrong because black gets the advantage after} g5 25. Qe7 gxh4) 24... Qc3 {This got a ? from Nimzovich claiming that 24...Qc2 would have left black good chances of a draw. But how would things turn out, asked? Would the coup d'état be correct? Or would the black or the white squares be able to achieve dominance at wilk No, neither. Firstly, the draw (after 24...Qc2) would not be certain and secondly it has not yet been proved that white did not have a stronger line somewhere along the way (for example on move 22), and thirdly, there are unfortunately many positions in which a clearly demonstrable advantage is not enough for a win (victory by attrition should be included!). - Nimzovich. Stockfish puts white's advantage at just a bit over one Pawn and the difference between 24...Qc3 and 24...Qc2 is inconsequential.} 25. Re3 Qc1+ {There follows a bitter struggle; White wins, but only after hours of hard effort. - Nimzovich} 26. Kg2 Qc6+ (26... g5 { is met by} 27. Nd3 Qc6+ 28. Nf3) 27. Nf3 g5 28. Nd3 Nxf3 29. Qxf3 Qc2+ 30. Nf2 f5 31. Re2 Qc5 32. Nd3 {[%mdl 32]} Qd4 33. Ne5 f4 34. Nc4 {According to Spielmann, 34.g4 was a sate move because white had to set up a middlegame attack. But when it finally gets to an endgame the protected passed Pawn not ecome unpleasant.} fxg3 35. Rd2 Qh8 36. Rxd8+ Qxd8 37. hxg3 Qd4 38. Qf8+ Ka7 39. Qf2 Qxf2+ 40. Kxf2 {[%mdl 4096] An instructive and difficult endgame has been reached. Stockfish puts white's advantage at at 6.5 Ps; Komodo puts it at a little over 1.5 Ps. Let's go with Stockfish.} h5 {The win is still hanging by a thread, namely a study-like turn of events, see the note to black's 41 move.- Nimzovich} 41. Ke3 {The sealed move.} c5 {Nimzovich considered 41...b5 to be the main line, nut, in fact, black has a wide choice of moves, none of which can be considered absolutely the best.} 42. a4 b5 43. axb5 $1 axb5 44. Nd2 Kb6 45. Ne4 h4 46. g4 $1 h3 47. Kf3 b4 {Nimzovich attached a ! to this move, commenting, "A final ingenious flurry before it is all over."} 48. Nxg5 c4 49. Ne4 cxb3 50. g5 {White mates.} b2 51. Nd2 Kc5 52. g6 h2 53. Kg2 Kd4 54. g7 Kd3 55. g8=Q {It took Stockfish seconds to calculate a mate in 21 moves.} Kxd2 56. Qa2 Kc2 57. Qc4+ {Black resigned. Mate follows.} (57. Qc4+ Kd2 { Same fate, same number of moves if 57...Kd1} 58. Qxb4+ Kc2 59. Qc4+ Kd1 60. Qb3+ Kc1 61. Qc3+ Kb1 62. Kxh2 Ka2 63. Qc4+ Ka1 64. Qa4+ Kb1 65. Kg2 Kc1 66. Qc4+ Kd1 67. Qb3+ Kc1 68. Qc3+ Kb1 69. Kf3 Ka2 70. Qc4+ Ka3 71. Qb5 b1=Q 72. Qxb1 Ka4 73. Ke4 Ka5 74. Kd5 Ka4 75. Kc4 Ka3 76. Qa1#) 1-0

Petrosian Played Like Tal

     The 1968 Moscow City Championship was a very strong tournament which included World Champion Tigran Petrosioan. He was, as is well known, a solid positional player and this was his second tournament in a row (the other was an international event in Bamberg, Germany) in which he did not lose a single game.

     He was sometimes criticized for his strictly positional play, but that was simply a matter of preference; you do not get to be World Champion with out being very good at all phases of the game, including tactics. 

     Petrosian's opponent, Yakov Estrin (1923-1987) was an IM, theoretician, writer and World Correspondence Champion who held the Correspondence Grandmaster title. Estrin was an authority on the Two Knights Defense. His game with Hans Berliner in which Berliner played the Two Knights and won is one of the most famous and important games in correspondence chess.
 

     In OTB play, Chessmetrics estimates Estrin's highest ever rating to have been 2595 in 1974 and that placed him at number 90 in the world. At the time this game was played Chessmetrics estimates his rating to have been 2456 which was no where close to even the top 100. 

     As an opening theoretician, Estrin's poor play in the opening is quite surprising and Petrosian took advantage of it and crushed him. 

[Event "Moscow Championship"] [Site "Moscow URS"] [Date "1968.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Tigran Petrosian"] [Black "Yakov Estrin"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "1968.??.??"] {English Opening} 1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Bg2 d6 4. Nc3 Be6 {Already a poor move as this move has never worked well for black. Best is 4...g6} 5. d3 g6 6. b4 { [%mdl 32]} Qd7 (6... Nxb4 {loses to} 7. Qb3 a5 8. a3 Nc6 9. Qxb7 Nd4 10. Rb1 { Black has no good continuation. For example...} Rc8 11. e3 Nf5 12. Nb5 { and there is no satisfactory way to meet Na7}) 7. b5 Nd8 8. Nf3 {Black's poor opening play has resulted in reaching a position where he has no really satisfactory reply.} Bg7 (8... f6 9. a4 Ne7 10. O-O Bg7 11. Ba3 O-O {White is better. Perkins,A (2305)-Tarjan,J (2405) Graz 1972}) (8... Bh3 9. Bxh3 Qxh3 10. d4 Bg7 11. dxe5 Ne6 (11... dxe5 12. Ba3 Qg4 13. O-O {Black's position is very poor. Li,C (2680)-Makka,I (2154) Guben GER 2014}) 12. Nd5 {with the advantage. Li,C (2680)-Makka,I (2154) Guben GER 2014}) (8... h6 {This probably black's best reply.} 9. O-O Bg7 {Here white should play...} 10. Bb2 c5 11. bxc6 Nxc6 12. Nd2 {with the better game.}) 9. Ng5 e4 {Not good. Because white is better developed the opening of the position is unfavorable for black. A developing move like 9...Nf6 or 9....Bf5 was better.} 10. Bb2 {Naturally, Petrosian is not going to fall for taking the e-Pawn.} (10. Ngxe4 f5 {wins the N.}) 10... exd3 11. Qxd3 a6 {This is a serious tactical error.} (11... Qe7 {keeps fighting.} 12. Nxe6 fxe6 {and white is clearly better, but at least black has some hope of defending himself.}) 12. h4 {Petrosian had a number reasonable positional continuations available, but here, especially against Estrin's weak opposition, he prefers to go for the throat. Black has a number of difficulties: his K will not be safe on either wing and trouble is brewing on the a1-h7 diagonal which he carelessly opened on mpve 9.} axb5 13. cxb5 Ne7 14. Qd2 O-O {Castling into trouble, but there weren't any really good options.} ( 14... d5 15. Nce4 d4 (15... dxe4 16. Qxd7+ {wins material.}) 16. a4 Bd5 17. Nc5 Qd6 18. Nge4 Bxe4 19. Nxe4 Qb6 20. a5 Qxb5 21. Bxd4 O-O (21... Bxd4 22. Qxd4 { White is winning.}) 22. Bxg7 Kxg7 23. Qc3+ {with a clear advantage.}) 15. h5 gxh5 {[%mdl 8192] Estrin appears to have a death wish.} (15... h6 {was considerably better.} 16. Nxe6 fxe6 17. a4 {White has a clear positional advantage.}) 16. Rxh5 (16. Nxh7 {is unsound because after} Kxh7 17. Rxh5+ Kg8 18. Ne4 f6 {White's attack is at a standstill and the advantage has shifted to black.}) 16... Bf5 17. Be4 {White is clearly winning.} Bg6 {At first glance it appears that black has managed to shore up his K-side, but white's next move destroys the Ks defenses.} 18. Rxh7 Bxh7 19. Bxh7+ Kh8 20. O-O-O {Bringing the R into play.} Ng8 21. Rh1 Nh6 22. Nd5 {Bring his remaining pieces into play.} f6 (22... Bxb2+ 23. Qxb2+ f6 24. Rxh6 Qg7 25. Rg6 {Black's position is hopeless.}) 23. Ne4 Rxa2 (23... Ndf7 24. Nexf6 Qxb5 25. Ne7 Qc5+ 26. Bc2 { mate is unavoidable.} Qg5 27. Qxg5 Nxg5 (27... Ne5 28. Rxh6+ Bxh6 29. Qxh6#) 28. Ng6#) 24. Rxh6 Bxh6 25. Qxh6 Qg7 26. Qh4 {Black resigned.} (26. Qh4 Qxh7 27. Bxf6+ Rxf6 28. Qxf6+ Qg7 29. Qxd8+ Qg8 30. Qxg8+ Kxg8 31. Nec3 {White wins the ending.}) 1-0

An Impressive Win By Santasiere

     In the last post it was described how President Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving from the last week in November to the 4th week in November. In this post we're still in 1939. 

     That was the year that the New York Times predicted television would fail because the average American family would not have enough time to sit around watching it. Today, on average, 79% of people over the age of 15 spend about 3 hours a day watching television. For those over 65 years old, the average is about an hour more. In 1939, a lot of the over 65 crowd would not have been available to watch television because life expectancy for men was 62.1 years and 65.4 years for women. 

     In 1939 General Motors introduced the first mass-produced, fully automatic transmission as an option for the 1940 model year Oldsmobile. And, Ernest Vincent wrote the book Gadsby which has over 50,000 words in it without containing the letter e, the most common letter in English. The plot revolves around a dying fictional which is revitalized as a result of the efforts of John Gadsby and a youth organizer. 

     In other happenings, Batman made his first appearance in Detective Comics, Amelia Earhart was officially declared dead after her 1937 disappearance. The first Thin Mint cookies were sold by the Girl Scouts and the first Little League Baseball game was played in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Also in baseball, the Hall of Fame was dedicated in Cooperstown, New York. 

     One of the popular songs of the day was God Bless America sung by Kate Smith (May 1, 1907 – June 17, 1986). She was known as The First Lady of Radio and besides the song God Bless America, When The Moon Comes Over The Mountain. She became known as The Songbird of the South because of her tremendous popularity during World War II. 

     I remember Kate Smith from my youth when she appeared on TV shows like The Ed Sullivan Show where she sand her iconic songs. I thought they were awful. 

     For over a year following her death, her remains were stored in a vault at St. Agnes Cemetery in Lake Placid, New York where she regularly attended Sunday Mass and could be heard singing the hymns, while church officials and Smith's executors engaged in a dispute over her request to be buried in a mausoleum on the cemetery's grounds. Her private burial service wasn't held until November 14, 1987. If you can tolerate it, you can listen to her sing HERE.

     The following game was played in the 40th ACF Congress in New York City which ran July 18-29, 1939. This tournament was an important one...at the closing dinner an announcement was made concerning the merger between the American Chess Federation and National Chess Federation. The new organization would be known as the United States Chess Federation.

 

Finals section

     This tournament had a new rule, too. Players had to make 40 moves with two hours and special time clocks were used. 

     Anthony Santasiere's victory in the following game is impressive. His opponent, Boris Blumin (1908-1998), was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, later settled in Canada and in the late 30s was Canadian Champion in two successive years. Later in life, he moved to New Jersey where he won the Hamilton Chess Club Championship at the age of 78. 

[Event "US Open, New York"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1939.07.18"] [Round "?"] [White "Anthony Santasiere"] [Black "Boris Blumin"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "1939.??.??"] {Colle System} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 b6 4. Bd3 Bb7 5. Nbd2 d6 6. b3 { The Colle-Zukertort System where white aims for a K-side attack; it can be very dangerous.} Nbd7 7. Bb2 Be7 (7... g6 {I think this is the safest way to meet the Colle because it blunts the force of white's B on d3.} 8. c4 Bg7 9. Qc2 O-O 10. O-O Re8 11. Ng5 Ng4 12. Ndf3 f5 {with equality. Adly,A (2480) -Dgebuadze,A (2535) Arnhem 2006}) 8. O-O O-O 9. c4 (9. Qe2 c5 10. Rad1 d5 11. Ne5 Qc7 12. f4 {equals. Krueger,P-Moritz,B Frankfurt 1923}) 9... d5 10. Qe2 $14 h6 11. e4 dxe4 12. Nxe4 Nxe4 13. Bxe4 Bxe4 14. Qxe4 Nf6 15. Qe2 {What a boring position. What could go wrong?} Nd7 {A bit passive. A more active move was 15.. .c5} 16. Rad1 {[%mdl 32]} Re8 17. Rd3 {Very instructive. Santasiere will use this R as an important part of his K-side attack.} c6 {this passive approach is going to cause black problems. 17...Bd6 was better.} 18. Ne5 Qc7 19. Rg3 Nxe5 20. dxe5 {Don't worry about the P on e5 blocking white's B; it will get into play very soon.} Rad8 (20... g6 21. Qe4 Kh8 (21... Rad8 22. Rxg6+ fxg6 23. Qxg6+ Kh8 24. Qxh6+ Kg8 25. Qxe6+ {wins for white.}) 22. h4 {White has good attacking chances, but with careful play black may be able to ward it off.} ( 22. Rxg6 {is no good here because after} fxg6 23. Qxg6 Bf8 {white's attack is stymied and it's black who is winning.})) 21. Bc1 {As mentioned previously, the B gets into play.} Kh7 22. Qh5 Bf8 23. Bxh6 {[%mdl 512] This vigorous move is by far the best. Even though there is no forced win, black is walking a very fine line.} g6 (23... gxh6 {gets him mated.} 24. Qg4 h5 25. Qg8+ Kh6 26. Qh8#) 24. Qg5 {[%mdl 128]} Qe7 {[%mdl 8192] This meets a clever refutation.} ( 24... Bxh6 {was his best chance. Then after} 25. Rh3 Kg8 26. Rxh6 (26. Qxh6 Qxe5 {leaves white with nothing.}) 26... Qe7 27. Qg4 Kg7 28. Rh3 Rh8 {And all white can brag about is having an extra P. Foir white, the win, if there is one, is a long way off.}) 25. Rh3 Kg8 26. Qf4 Qc5 27. Bg5 Rd4 {This allows a mate in 5, but there was no way to save the game.} (27... f5 28. exf6 Qf5 29. Qc7 Be7 30. fxe7 {is hopeless for black.}) 28. Bf6 {[%mdl 512]} Bg7 {What's the quickess finish?} 29. Qh6 {[%mdl 512] Nice! Black cannot avoid mate.} (29. Qh6 Bxh6 30. Rxh6 Rh4 31. Rxh4 Qxf2+ 32. Rxf2 {mate next move.}) 1-0

Eliskases vs. Bogoljubow Match

     Even though World War II had broken out on September 1, 1939, the big brouhaha in the United States was when Thanksgiving should be held. 

     On November 23, 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt carved the turkey at the Thanksgiving Dinner on his estate in Warm Springs, Georgia and wished all Americans a happy Thanksgiving. All Americans weren't happy though. 

     Many were not observing Thanksgiving on that day...they were waiting to celebrate the holiday the following Thursday because in many states November 30th was the official Thanksgiving Day. 

     In those days, legally, Thanksgiving was not a fixed holiday; it was up to the President to announce what date it would fall on. By tradition, since 1863, it was always the last Thursday in November because that's when President Lincoln declared it a national holiday. 

     Statistics showed that most people began their Christmas shopping after Thanksgiving and since 1939 had five Thursdays, merchants feared they would lose money because there were only 24 shopping days until Christmas...so they asked Roosevelt to make Thanksgiving a week earlier. Thus, Thanksgiving in 1939 would be held, the President proclaimed, on the 23rd and not the 30th. 

     Changing the date proved to be a contentious move. Thousands of letters poured into the White House opposing the change. Some retailers were pleased to get the extra week of Christmas shopping which would increase profits, but smaller businesses grumbled that they would lose business to larger stores. How is not clear. 

     Calendar makers were enraged because they had already printed calendars for 1940. Most schools had already scheduled vacations and annual Thanksgiving Day football games and the change disrupted everything. 

     And, many were angry because they claimed Roosevelt was trying to alter not only a long-standing tradition, but, also, American values just to help businesses make more money. Some states defied Roosevelt and declared November 30th as Thanksgiving anyway. 

     It wasn't until Congress to passed a law on December 26, 1941, declaring Thanksgiving to be on the fourth Thursday of November every year that the mess was straightened out. 

     In the rest of the world more important issues were at stake because they were at war. In the chess world, the Olympiad in Buenos Aires had been disrupted by the outbreak of the war which happened just after the completion of the preliminaries. 

     The English team returned home immediately and Stuart Milner-Barry, Harry Golombek and C.H.O'D. Alexander went to work at the top-secret code-breaking station at Bletchley Park. 

     Remarkably, the final went ahead, but the French, Polish and Palestinian teams refused to play against Germany. Organizers decided that unplayed matches would be scored as 2-2 draws. Germany won ahead of Poland and Estonia. 

     Many European players remained in Argentina after the Olympiad and eventually settled in South America, rather than return to war torn Europe. 

     After the Nazis annexed Austria in 1938, Austrian players were incorporated into the Greater German Chess Federation. After the annexation the only two players of equal stature were the aging Efim Bogoljubow who was almost almost fifty years old and twenty-five year old Erich Eliskases. 

     On the Chessmetrics January 1939 rating list Eliskases is ranked 9th and Bogoljubow 11th. They played a 20-game match between the 4th of January and the 12th of February 1939 that took place in eleven towns and cities in Germany.

     It was a clash of styles. Bogoljubow, while a player of strong positional skills, was primarily known as a strong tactician. Eliskases was a predominantly positional player and technically proficient in the ending. 

     Halfway through the match Eliskases had lost only the first game and had a huge 3 game lead. But, in the second half Bogoljubow fought back and won two games, but also lost two. 

 

 

How to pronounce Erich Eliskases  

How ow to pronounce Efim Bogoljubov

 

[Event "Match Game 3, Germany"] [Site ""] [Date "1939.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Erich Eliskases"] [Black "Efim Bogoljubow"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A70"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "109"] [EventDate "1939.01.04"] {Modern Benoni} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 {In the previous game, as white, Bogoljubow had played the solid but antiquated Giuoco Pianissimo and Eliskases played energetically and drew the R&P ending. In this game Bogoljubow defends with a Hyper-modern defense. Frank Marshall invented the Modern Benoni in 1927, but his experiments with the opening went largely ignored. Then in the 1950s players in the Soviet Union, especially Mikhail Tal, began using it. It suffered a theoretical crisis in the 1980s and 1990s, but it made a recovery when Vladimir Kramnik used it in the 2004 World Championship.} 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 a6 7. a4 g6 8. e4 Bg7 9. Bd3 O-O 10. O-O {This is the basic P-structure of the Modern Benoni. White has a central P-majority, black a Q-side P-majority. Black aims to counterattack rather than equalize and frequently must resort to tactical play and material sacrifices in order not to be forced into passivity. White's central majority gives him a space advantage on the K-side. However, to make things more complicated, black can place a R on the e-file which restrains white's play. White can play a4 and Nf3-d2-c4 to hinder black's Q-side play. As GM Lev Psakhis once wrote, the Modern Benoni is definitely not an opening for cowards.} Bg4 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Qxf3 Nbd7 13. Qe2 Ne5 (13... Qc7 14. f4 Rfe8 15. Qf3 c4 16. Bc2 Qc5+ 17. Kh1 b5 18. Be3 Qb4 {White is better. Pfleger,H (2545)-Filipowicz,A (2405) Tel Aviv 1964}) 14. Bc2 (14. f4 {is interesting.} Nxd3 15. Qxd3 Nd7 16. e5 dxe5 17. f5 Nf6 {Black should have tried a P-sac here with ...c5 and ...Rc8 followed by ... Nc5 with equal chances.} 18. Bg5 h6 {This loses quickly. Again, ...c4 was better.} 19. Bxf6 Qxf6 20. fxg6 {Inviting, but this loses all his advantage and allows black back in the game. Winning was 20.Ne4} Qxg6 21. Ne4 {Now this is wrong; he should have exchanged Qs.} f5 {Even better was 21...c4} 22. Nxc5 e4 23. Qc4 {A good looking move, but it's also a losing move! 23.Qe3 was correct.} Qd6 24. Qb4 {Losing outright. The N belongs on e6 when the chances would be equal.} (24. Nxb7 Qb6+ 25. Nc5 Rac8 26. b4 Bxa1 {Black is better.}) 24... a5 25. Qb5 Bd4+ {White resigned. Rausch,S (2346)-Granabetter,J Vienna 2003. This game illustrates some of the complications involved in the Modern Benoni!}) 14... Nh5 15. g4 Nf6 16. f4 Ned7 17. Be3 Re8 {To hinder the advance e5.} 18. Qg2 b5 {This is a sound move but results in no more than equality. Bogoljubow misses the correct followup though.} 19. axb5 axb5 20. Rxa8 Qxa8 21. g5 {[%mdl 2048] White is more active.} (21. Nxb5 {favors black after} Nxd5 22. Bc1 (22. exd5 Rxe3 {is very much worse for white.}) 22... Qb8 23. e5 Nxf4 24. Rxf4 Bxe5 {in this unbalanced position the chances are about even.}) 21... Nh5 22. Nxb5 {This is playable now that the possibility of ...Nxd5 has been eliminated.} Qb8 {Inhibits Nc7.} 23. Bd3 {b3 is the strong threat.} f5 { This is questionable. 23...Nb6 threatening Nxd5 as well as c4 wins back the P.} 24. gxf6 Ndxf6 25. Nc3 (25. Nxd6 {was playable, but not better.} Qxd6 26. e5 Qb8 27. d6 (27. exf6 {loses to} Rxe3 28. Rf3 (28. fxg7 Rg3) 28... Rxf3 29. Qxf3 Bxf6 {wins}) 27... Nd7 28. Qc6 Nf8 29. Bc4+ Kh8 30. Rd1 {It's doubtful that black can save the game.}) 25... Qb3 {Better was 25...Bh6} 26. Bc1 (26. e5 { is not so clear.} dxe5 27. Bb5 Rb8 28. Ba4 Qxb2 29. Qxb2 Rxb2 30. fxe5 Nxd5 31. Nxd5 Bxe5) 26... Nd7 27. Qc2 Qb4 {This is bad.} (27... Bd4+ 28. Kg2 Rb8 29. Qxb3 Rxb3 {is about equal.}) 28. Nb5 {This is a real gut punch.} Ng3 29. Bd2 Bd4+ {Black's position is not good, but this is probably the worst mover available.} (29... Qxb2 30. Qxb2 Bxb2 31. Re1 {and black's d-Pawn goes and with it the game.}) 30. Kg2 {Even better was 30.Rf2} (30. Rf2 {Black's Q is trapped.} Bxf2+ 31. Kg2 {with an easy win.}) 30... Nxf1 31. Kxf1 Qxb2 32. Qxb2 Bxb2 33. Nxd6 Ra8 34. Nc4 {Inhibits Nb6.} Bc1 35. Bxc1 Ra1 36. e5 Rxc1+ { [%mdl 4096]} 37. Ke2 {The ending is won for white but he needs to exhibit good technique.} Rh1 38. e6 Nf6 39. d6 Rh2+ 40. Ke1 Rxh3 41. Ne5 Rh1+ 42. Kd2 { Threatens to win with d7.} Ra1 43. d7 Ra8 44. Nc6 Kg7 45. d8=Q Rxd8 46. Nxd8 { Stockfish says white is clearly winning, but great care is still required! But, I was curious. A Shootout using an old engine (Fritz 5.32) was stopped because while it evaluated the position as won for white, it was running was too slowly and was making little progress in just the first game, so I stopped it! The ending is actually not so easy!} h5 47. e7 h4 48. Bb5 h3 49. e8=Q Nxe8 50. Bxe8 Kf6 51. Nb7 h2 52. Bc6 c4 53. Nd6 g5 54. fxg5+ Kxg5 55. Nxc4 {Confident in his opponent's ability to mate with a N and B, Bogoljubow resigned. How would white mate? Watch.} (55. Nxc4 h1=Q 56. Bxh1 {The Nalimov Endgame Tablebases show black loses in 27 moves no matter what he plays.} Kf5 57. Bd5 Kg5 58. Ke3 Kf5 59. Kd4 Kg5 60. Ke5 Kg6 61. Nd6 Kg7 62. Be4 Kg8 63. Kf6 Kf8 64. Bd3 Kg8 65. Nf7 Kf8 66. Bh7 Ke8 67. Ne5 Kd8 68. Ke6 Kc7 69. Nd7 Kb7 70. Bd3 Kc6 71. Be2 Kc7 72. Bb5 Kd8 73. Nb6 Kc7 74. Na4 Kd8 75. Kd6 Kc8 76. Nc5 Kd8 77. Ba4 Kc8 78. Bd7+ Kb8 79. Kc6 Ka7 80. Kc7 Ka8 81. Kb6 Kb8 82. Na6+ Ka8 83. Bc6#) 1-0

A Short, Sharp Win by Kimball Nedved

     On Tuesday, January 14, 2020, Kimball Nedved passed away at the age of 91. At the time he was living in Cumberland, Maryland.

     He graduated from Illinois Institute of Technology with a degree in psychology, a B.S. in 1952 and an M.S. in 1953. 

     In 1953, he was drafted into the Army and at Fort Benning, Georgia he made the rifle team which was the precursor to the elite Marksmanship Unit. Today this unit is made up of fewer than 100 soldiers who are at the top of the marksmanship game. They are the best of the best, not just in the military, but also in the competitive shooting world. These expert marksmen support readiness and recruiting, and train and compete year-round, including for the Olympics. 

     Also, while at Fort Benning Nedved did psychological testing of thousands of paratroopers training at the Airborne School's "Free Towers" which are 250 foot high towers from which students are dropped as part of their training. 

     After his service, Nedved worked in advertising for one of the world's largest ad agencies. His market research lead to employment with Johnson Wax where he helped develop Glade air freshener. Next, he worked for Campbell Soup and then Heinz Ketchup. 

     Eventually, he and a partner founded a company that provided market research for 30 years to most supermarket chains and large retailers in North America. 

     Besides chess, Nedved also loved history, especially studying the strategies used in the US Civil War and he greatly enjoyed visiting historical sites and national parks. 

     Nedved won the 1951 Illinois State Championship and the 1969 US Amateur Championship. His team won the 1986 US Amateur Team Championship. In 1987, his rating was 2321 and in 1988, when Carnegie-Mellon University was developing Deep Thought, they tested it by having Nedved play against it. 

     When Nedved won the 1969 US Amateur Championship held in Philadelphia, he was rated a USCF Expert (2000-2199) and living in New Jersey. He topped an entry 1ist of over 250, including the championship and reserve sections, with a perfect 6-0 score. His win from George Miller, who tied at 5-1 with four others for third place, is the featured game today...and it's a beauty. 

[Event "US Amateur, Philadelphia"] [Site "?"] [Date "1969.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Kimball Nedved"] [Black "George Miller"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "57"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.10.21"] {Ruy Lopez: Schliemann} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 {The rarely seen Schliemann Defense is sharp and the idea is to develop a quick counterattack on the f-file, but at the same time it weakens the K-side, especially the white squares. In this game black's general strategy backfires and it's white who develops a quick K-side attack.} 4. d3 {Rather tame. 4.Nc3 is usual.} fxe4 {Black has enjoyed greater success using 4...Nf6 and not capturing on e4} 5. dxe4 Nf6 6. Nc3 {A poor move that allows the N to be pinned. Correct was 6.O-O} Bb4 7. O-O {He could have ruled out doubled Ps with 7.Qd3} (7. Qd3 d6 8. O-O Bxc3 9. Qxc3 O-O 10. Re1 Bg4 {is completely equal.}) 7... Bxc3 8. bxc3 d6 9. Bg5 O-O 10. Qd3 (10. Nd2 {was played in Byambaa,Z (2279)-Lavrov,M (2397) Moscow 2012 which continued} Be6 11. Bc4 Qe8 12. Qe2 Kh8 13. f3 {with equality. }) 10... Qe8 11. Nd2 a6 12. Ba4 Be6 13. f4 {Launching what turns out to be a dangerous K-side attack, but the move should have allowed black to gain the initiative.} (13. Bb3 Nh5 14. Rfb1 Rb8 15. Be3 Nf4 {While the position is equal, white's position has little promise.}) 13... Qh5 {With this move black fails to take advantage of the opportunity white's last move offered him. In subsequent play the Q turns out to be subject to great harassment which gains white time to build up his attack.} (13... exf4 14. Rxf4 Nd7 15. Rxf8+ Nxf8 16. Rf1 Nd7 17. Bxc6 bxc6 18. c4 Ne5 {Black is slightly better.}) 14. Bxf6 Rxf6 { Black may very well have been thinking of a K-side demonstration and in that case this recapture makes sense. However, it's white who is now able to launch a dangerous Kside attack and so the correct move was 14.gxf6 which would have left white with only a minimal advantage.} 15. f5 {This P is destined to exert a great influence on the coming play.} Bf7 16. Rf3 Rh6 17. Rh3 Qg5 18. Rg3 { [%mdl 2048] Keeping black busy.} Qf6 (18... Qh5 {would be very bad.} 19. Nf3 b5 20. Rg5 {snags the Q}) 19. Rb1 {Hoping black will take the a-Pawn and then white gets his R on the 7th.} Na5 (19... Bxa2 20. Rxb7 {with the c-Pawn and the N both attacked black's game is lost.}) 20. Nf3 {With black's b-Pawn defended there is now no reason to allow black to capture the a-Pawn which would leave the position about equal. Therefore, white should have played 21. Bb3} Kh8 {There was no reason to avoid 20...Bxa2 after which even Stockfish and Komodo are left casting about for a viable plan. After the text black has thing under control when it comes to defending his K-side so white must revert to Q-side operations.} 21. Ng5 (21. Bb3 Nxb3 22. cxb3 Rh5 23. c4 {Black has no K-side attacking possibilities and white has a slight positional plus.}) 21... Bg8 {This move is just awful...as will be seen.} (21... Bxa2 22. Ra1 Bc4 { and it's black who can lay claim to the better position.}) 22. Bd7 {White intends to exploit the e6 square. From here on Nedved plays with great precision.} Rh5 {It's hard to find a really good move for black, but this isn't it.} (22... Bxa2 {is no longer even a consideration.} 23. Be6 Bxe6 (23... Bxb1 {is fatal} 24. Nf7+ Kg8 25. Nxh6+ Kf8 26. Ng4) 24. Nxe6 Rg8 25. Nxc7 { and black is lost.}) (22... Qe7 {This seems about the best.} 23. Be6 Rh5 24. Bxg8 Rxg5 25. Rxg5 Qxg5 26. Bd5 {Here white's advantage is not so great and black would have good defensive chances.}) 23. Ne6 b5 (23... Bxe6 24. fxe6 Rg5 25. Rf3 Qe7 (25... Qg6 26. Qf1 h6 27. e7 {wins}) 26. Rf7 {is crushing.}) 24. Nxg7 Rg5 {The saving move...or is it?} 25. Ne8 {Stunning! This is an unusual situation. Often a R on the last rank is a killer; here it's a N!} Rxg3 26. Qxg3 (26. Nxf6 {also works.} Rxd3 27. cxd3 Kg7 28. Nxg8 Rxg8 29. Be6 {with a won ending.}) 26... Qe7 {[%mdl 8192] After this comes the crusher by the f-Pawn as previously noted. Applause to black for allowing white to finish with a bang!} (26... Qh6 {was a stouter defense, but still losing.} 27. Nxc7 Bxa2 28. Ra1 Ra7 29. Be6 Bxe6 30. Nxe6 Nc4 {White will win the ending.}) 27. f6 {[%mdl 32]} Qxd7 28. Qg7+ Qxg7 29. fxg7# {Again, remember the note about this P on move 15!} 1-0

A Complicated Charousek Game

     Rudolf (Rezso) Charousek (September 19, 1873 - April 18, 1900) was a Czech born Hungarian player who was one of the top ten players in the world during the 1890s. On the March 1900 rating list Chessmetrics estimated his rating to be 2734 placing him #6 in the world behind Lasker, Tarrasch, Pillsbury, Maroczy and Janowsky. 

     Charousek had a short career, dying at the age of 26 from tuberculosis. Reuben Fine wrote of him "Playing over his early games...you cannot help feeling a grievous, oppressive sense of loss, of promise unfulfilled". 

     Born near Prague, at the age of five weeks his family moved to Debrecen, Hungary, where he became a naturalized Hungarian citizen. He learned to play chess at the age of 16 while studying law and he is said to have copied out the voluminous Handbuch des Schachspiels by hand, unable to afford his own copy.

     Despite the lack of competition during that time he soon became a strong player and also qualified as a lawyer. In 1893, he entered a correspondence tournament in which he shared first place with another up and coming (and later great) Hungarian player, Geza Maroczy. He joined the Budapest chess club where he frequently played Maroczy and other prominent players of the day. 

     An almost unknown player, his style was between two schools of chess. Way back in 1946, Reinfeld and Horowitz published Chess Strategy and Tactics and in it they made the observation that like the masters of the Morphy-Anderssen period, he often played the King's Gambit. But, unlike them, he rarely won brilliantly with it. Instead, in gambit openings he introduced the concept of positional motifs and playing for the ending. They reached the conclusion that based on a careful examination of his games, he represented a contrast to the popular conception of him as a belated Romanticist. 

     The following game is an exception. Lamentably, the game was superficially annotated as I discovered when going over it with Stockfish and Komodo. The game turned out to be much more complicated than their notes indicated. I don't want to disparage Reinfeld and Horowitz because it's a complicated game and 1) they didn't have engines and 2) if one wanted to dig deeper into the game, it's possible that my notes might not bring to light all of the bountiful possibilities! 

     It should be noted that this was a casual game played during the 11th DSB Kongress held in Cologne in 1898. In that tournament, won by Amos Burn, Charousek tied for second with Chigorin and Cohn. Their individual game was drawn. 

[Event "Casual Game, Cologne"] [Site "Cologne GER"] [Date "1898.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Rudolf Charousek"] [Black "Amos Burn"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C39"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "1898.07.31"] {King's Gambit Accepted} 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. h4 g4 5. Ne5 Bg7 { In the primitive days of Morphy black played 5...h5. Most modern players, if that's the right term for it since the King's Gambit is so rare, is 5...Nf3} 6. d4 Nf6 7. Nxg4 {White has played 7.Bxf4, 7.Bc4 and 7.Nc3 here all of which are reasonable.} (7. h5 {is an interesting try.} d6 8. h6 Bxh6 9. Rxh6 dxe5 10. Nc3 exd4 {Here white has two plausible moves.} 11. Bxf4 (11. Nd5 Nxd5 12. Qxd4 O-O 13. Qxd5 Qxd5 14. exd5 Re8+ 15. Kf2) 11... dxc3 12. Qxd8+ Kxd8 13. Bg5) 7... Nxe4 {Not good. Correct was 7...Nxg4 with equal chances.} 8. Bxf4 Qe7 {Besides the discovered check he also threatens 9...Qb4+ But. these threats are easily met so he should have castled.} (8... O-O 9. Nc3 Re8 10. Ne3 d5 11. Ncxd5 Ng3 12. Bxg3 Qxd5 13. Bf4 c5 {with approximate equality.}) 9. Qe2 {Now if 9...Qb4+ 10.c3 and the b-Pawn is defended. In the book both Reinfeld and Horowitz missed the winning move...as did the players!} (9. Ne3 {and there is no good defense against the threatened Nd5} d6 (9... c6 10. Nf5 Qf6 11. Qg4 Bf8 (11... Rg8 12. Nd2 Nxd2 13. Kxd2 d5 14. Nxg7+ Rxg7 15. Qxc8+ Ke7 16. Re1+ {wins... it's a mate in 7}) 12. Be5 {and white is winning.}) 10. Nd5 Qd8 11. Bd3 Nf6 12. Nbc3 Nxd5 13. Nxd5 c6 14. Qe2+ Be6 15. Ne3 Bxd4 16. Nf5 Bxb2 17. Nxd6+ Kf8 18. Rb1 Bc3+ 19. Kd1 {White's position is far superior.}) 9... Bxd4 {An improvement.} (9... d6 10. Ne3 Be6 11. c3 O-O 12. Qf3 d5 13. Bd3 c5 14. Bxe4 dxe4 15. Qg3 cxd4 16. Bd6 Qd8 17. cxd4 Re8 18. d5 Bd7 19. Nc3 Na6 20. O-O Rc8 21. Rf2 f6 22. Raf1 Kh8 23. h5 Nc5 24. h6 {Black resigned. Walbrodt,C-Burn,A Vienna 1898}) 10. c3 Bg7 {This looks reasonable, but it's wrong.} (10... Nc6 { allows black to equalize after} 11. Ne3 {This has lost it's punch. Correct is 11.Nd2 with equality.} Ng3 12. Bxg3 Bxe3 13. Bxc7 Bc1 {Black is better.}) 11. Ne3 {[%mdl 1024] A strong move, especially in combination with the following maneuver. White has good compensation.} (11. Bxc7 d5 12. Bxb8 Bxg4 13. Qxg4 Nxc3+ 14. Be2 Qxe2+ 15. Qxe2+ Nxe2 16. Kxe2 Bxb2 {Black is winning.}) 11... Qe6 {Reinfeld and Horowitz claimed that black had no better way of guarding against the threatened invasion of the N, but that's not the case. Apparently they were referring to the "threat" of Nf5. Prevents Nd5.} (11... d6 {prevents Nf5 but loses to} 12. Nd5 Bg4 13. Qxg4 Nf6+ 14. Nxe7 Nxg4 15. Nf5 O-O 16. Be2 { White has won a piece.}) (11... Nf6 {This defense is his best chance.} 12. Nf5 Qxe2+ 13. Bxe2 O-O 14. Bxc7 Re8 15. Bd6 b6 16. Ne7+ Kh8 17. Bf3 Nc6 {Black's position is unattractive, but it's holding together just fine.}) (11... Nf6 12. Na3 {This is the preferable answer to black's last move.} d6 13. O-O-O Nc6 14. g4 Be6 {White has two plausible continuations to maintain the initiative: 15. Bg2 and 15.g5}) 12. g3 (12. Bxc7 {would be a poor choice. After} d5 13. Nd2 O-O 14. Nxe4 Qxe4 {White's pieces are uncoordinated.}) 12... O-O 13. Bh3 {Better was 13.Nd2 getting rid of black's one well placed piece.} f5 {Supporting the N makes sense, but Stockfish found a unique defense.} (13... Qa6 {A most unusual equalizing move!} 14. Nd5 (14. Qf3 d5 15. Bxc8 Rxc8 16. Nd2 Nc5 {with equal chances.}) 14... Qxe2+ 15. Kxe2 Na6 {with equality. Fascinating!}) 14. O-O d6 15. Nd2 {This eliminates the well placed N and at the same times connects his Rs. It also threatens 16.Nxf5 which would win.} Nxd2 (15... a6 {[%mdl 8192] A pass to illustrate the threat.} 16. Nxf5 {Threatens to win with Nh6+!} Nxc3 17. Qxe6+ Bxe6 18. Ne7+ Kh8 19. Bxe6 Ne2+ 20. Kh1 {White has a won position.}) 16. Qxd2 Nc6 17. Rae1 {In return for his Pawn white has obtained vastly superior development and a promising position which he utilizes in impeccable fashion.} Qf7 (17... Qxa2 {This gets complicated, but black can probably hold things together.} 18. Bg2 (18. Nd5 {is unclear. For example...} Bd4+ 19. cxd4 Qxd5 20. Bg2 Qxd4+ 21. Qxd4 Nxd4 22. Bd5+ Kg7 23. Re7+ Kf6 24. Bg5+ Kg6 25. Be3 Nc2 26. Bf4 Nb4 27. Bc4 d5 28. Be2 c5 {Watch this...} 29. h5+ Kf6 30. Rxh7 Re8 { White is slightly better.}) 18... Qf7 19. g4 {White has the initiative, but with careful play black may be able to survive.}) 18. Bg2 {This move was mistakenly praised by Reinfeld and Horowitz, but in reality black now equalizes.} (18. Bg5 {is much more promising.} Ne5 19. Nxf5 Bxf5 20. Bxf5 Qc4 21. h5) 18... Kh8 {It would probably have served black better to have played 18...Be6} 19. Nd5 {[%mdl 32] Preventing the development of the B on c8, but white had a far better alternative.} (19. g4 {was also a good try.} Ne5 20. gxf5 Bf6 21. Bxe5 dxe5 22. Ng4 Bxh4 23. Rxe5 Qg7 {Black can likely hold his position together.}) 19... Ne5 (19... Be6 {[%mdl 8192] fails} 20. Nxc7 Qxc7 21. Rxe6 Be5 22. Bxc6 bxc6 {White is winning and curiously there is no way for black to take advantage of the seemingly stranded R on e6.}) (19... Be5 { This looks quite promising ofr the defense.} 20. g4 Be6 21. gxf5 Bxd5 (21... Bxf5 22. Bxe5+ Nxe5 23. Qg5 Qg6 24. Nxc7 Rad8 25. Qxg6 Bxg6 26. Rxf8+ Rxf8 27. Nb5 Nd3 28. Re2 Rf5 29. Nxd6 Rh5 30. Bxb7 Rxh4 {White is better.}) 22. Bxd5 Qg7+ 23. Bg5 h6 24. Qg2 Bf6 25. Re6 hxg5 26. Rxf6 Qxf6 27. hxg5 {White is much better.}) 20. Bg5 (20. h5 {is much more promising.} h6 21. Bxh6 Be6 22. Bxg7+ Kxg7 23. g4 {with a strong attack.}) 20... c6 {Black should develop by Be6 and Rae8} 21. Nf4 d5 (21... h6 {was no better. After} 22. Be7 Nc4 23. Qd1 Rg8 24. Bxd6 Nxd6 25. Qxd6 {White is clearly better.}) 22. h5 {[%mdl 32]} Bd7 {[%mdl 8192]} (22... Nc4 {was a much better defense.} 23. Qd1 Bf6 24. Bxf6+ Qxf6 25. h6 Bd7 (25... Nxb2 26. Qc1 Nc4 27. Nh5 Qd8 28. Qf4 {favors white}) (25... Qxh6 26. Re7 {This cannot be allowed.}) 26. Nh5 Qg5 27. Qd4+ Kg8 28. b3 Nd6 29. c4 Rf7 (29... Qxh5 30. Qg7#) 30. cxd5 Qxh6 31. Nf4 {Black has equalized}) 23. h6 { Now follows a catastrophe on the long diagonal once the protecting B is removed.} Bf6 24. Bxf6+ Qxf6 25. Nh5 Qd6 26. Rxe5 {[%mdl 512] A crushing finish.} Qxe5 27. Re1 {The Q can no longer guard d4, so black resigns} (27. Re1 Qxe1+ 28. Qxe1 {Intending Qe5+ and mate.} Rfe8 {Black is a piece down and will lose in the long run. It's a long process so if you're interested, here is the finish using Stockfish in a Shootout.} 29. Qd2 Re7 30. c4 Be6 31. Qd4+ Kg8 32. Bf3 Kf8 33. Nf6 f4 34. Qxf4 dxc4 35. Nxh7+ Ke8 36. Qf8+ Kd7 37. Nf6+ Kd6 38. Ne4+ Kc7 39. Qxe7+ Kb6 40. Qb4+ Kc7 41. Qd6+ Kb6 42. Qd4+ Ka5 43. h7 b6 44. Qe5+ Bd5 45. Bg4 Ka6 46. Nd6 b5 47. Bc8+ Ka5 48. h8=Q a6 49. Qe3 b4 50. Nb7+ Ka4 51. Qb6 c3 52. Nc5#) 1-0

Penrose Pummels Barden

     Finally! After three days of a cold, dripping rain (with a few snow flurries in some locations), a 300 mile wide front stretching 1,300 miles from Ontario, Canada to southern Ohio, is finally clearing out and a warm up (maybe near 70 degrees!) is on the way. 

     The gloomy weather meant the last couple of days allowed for some time playing blitz on line, but my play was as wretched as the weather. Ergo, I spent some time looking through Ludek Pachman's old book, Modern Chess Tactics, which was first published in English in 1970. It was a companion to Modern Chess Strategy which I also have. Pachman, I should mention, was an excellent writer.

     One game that I came across was the following fantastic game by Jonathan Penrose (October 7, 1933 - November 30, 2021, 88 years old). He won the British championship a record 10 times, yet he always remained an amateur whose chess career was fitted into vacations at Middlesex University, where he lectured in psychology. 

     In 1960, at the Leipzig Olympiad Penrose defeated Mikhail Tal and Max Euwe then caught Bobby Fischer’s King in the middle of the board, forcing him to settle for an endgame a Pawn down. Short of time, Penrose offered a draw. Fischer replied “Sure!” then demonstrated a forced win for Penrose. 

     By the age of 17, Penrose was acknowledged as a top prospect. At Southsea in 1950, defeated both Efim Bogoljubov and Savielly Tartakower. Playing in Hastings for the first time in 1950/51, he beat the French champion Nicolas Rossolimo and in 1952/1953, he shared the first place at Hastings with Harry Golombek, Antonio Medina and Daniel Yanofsky. 

     Penrose earned the IM title in 1961 and was the leading British player for several years in the 1960s and early 1970s. He was widely considered to be of GM strength, but did not achieve the title during his active playing career. He also held the GM title in correspondence chess. Chessmetrics assigns him a high rating of 2610 on the February 1969 rating list placing him at number 57 in world. 

     One of the primary goals, starting right in the opening, is to invest the pieces with a greater degree of effectiveness. Even moves like 1.e4 and 1.d4 open lines for the pieces while a move like 1.Nf3 brings the N into play. Later, in the middlegame this goal can include such things as the opening of a diagonal for a B, transferring a N to an outpost, the opening of a file for a R, etc. 

     In the following game played at Hastings 1957/58, Penrose's tactical shot 15.Bf4 was played with the realization that at the end of the sequence at move 19 his Queen would be much stronger than the combined forces of his opponent's Rook and two Bishops. So said Pachman. 

     Unfortunately (?), today we live in an age where laptops coupled with chess engines enable any armchair Grandmaster to poke holes in the play of guy's like Nezhmedinov, Tal, Bronstein or any other great player you can name because engines find the defects no matter how small or deeply hidden. 

     That's what happened when analyzing this game...Penrose's 15.Bf4 was found wanting by the engines. It doesn't matter because we humans can still delight in such a move. The concept was brilliant and in practical play it was crowned with success. 

     His opponent, Leonard Barden, is an English master, writer, journalist, organizer and promoter. His weekly Guardian chess column began in September 1955 and continued for sixty-one years. Barden was born on August 20, 1929, and as far as I know he is still among the living and that would make him 93 years old. Chessmetrics estimates his highest rating to have been 2497 on the January 1958 rating list and his best tournament result to have been in this Hastings event. 

[Event "Hastings 1957/58"] [Site "Hastings ENG"] [Date "1958.01.03"] [Round "?"] [White "Jonathan Penrose"] [Black "Leonard W. Barden"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B56"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "1957.12.28"] {Sicilian Dragon} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. f4 { [%mdl 32]} g6 7. Bb5 Bd7 8. Bxc6 Bxc6 9. e5 {This is the goal of white's opening strategy, but he has not accomplished much as black has sufficient play.} (9. Qf3 {was the main alternative. In that case black equalizes easily with} Qb6 10. Nb3 Bg7 11. Be3 Qa6 12. Bd4 (12. Nd4 Nxe4 {Instead of this tricky line black could also play 13...O-O or 13...Rc8} 13. Nxe4 f5 14. Nxc6 fxe4 15. Qxe4 bxc6 16. Qe6 Bxb2 {The position is approximately equal.}) 12... O-O {Black is slightly better.}) 9... dxe5 {The correct reply.} (9... Bxg2 { is not so good because after} 10. Rg1 dxe5 11. fxe5 Nd7 {white gain the advantage with} 12. e6 fxe6 13. Rxg2 Qb6 14. Nb3 {Black is a piece down with only two very weak Ps to show for it.}) 10. fxe5 Ne4 {Taking the g-Pawn is still a bad idea.} 11. Nxe4 (11. Nxc6 {was more accurate, but it allows black easy equality.} Qxd1+ 12. Nxd1 bxc6 13. Nf2 Nxf2 14. Kxf2 Bg7 15. Re1) 11... Bxe4 12. O-O {In the book, Pachman wrote that white has come out of the opening with a considerable lead in development (which I am not seeing), but he has a weak pawn at e5 and in addition, black has the two Bishops. White's task, therefore, will consist in creating effective threats as quickly as possible and thereby preventing black from completing his development. Komodo 14 gives black a slight edge here of less than half a Pawn.} Bg7 13. Re1 Qd5 { Pachman was critical of this move because black falls in with his opponent's plan and difficult complications arise. Both Komodo 14 and Stockfish 15 prefer Barden's move and evaluated the position as slightly in black's favor.} (13... Bc6 {was tried in Kavalek,L-Jansa,V Jablonec 1962 and after} 14. Bg5 Qb6 15. c3 Rd8 16. Qe2 Rd5 17. Bf6 O-O 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 {the position is about equal.}) 14. c3 Qxe5 {This is the best here, since other continuations failed to give black a satisfactory game.} (14... Bxe5 {is a mistake because after} 15. Qa4+ Kf8 16. Rxe4 Bxh2+ (16... Qxe4 17. Ne6+ {wins the Q}) 17. Kxh2 Qxe4 18. Bd2 {White's B+N should prove superior to the R. This is one of those positions which theoretically favors white, but in practical play among amateurs, the stronger player is the more likely to win with either side.}) (14... Bxg2 15. c4 Qxc4 16. Kxg2 Rd8 17. Re4 Bxe5 18. Rxe5 Rxd4 {This materially unbalanced position (B vs 3Ps) favors white according to the engines. In practice things probably wouldn't be so clear. That said, in Shootouts Stockfish won 5-0.}) (14... O-O { is reasonable, but after} 15. Qe2 Bf5 16. Nxf5 gxf5 17. Qf2 Bxe5 18. Bf4 Bf6 19. Rad1 {White has equalized.}) 15. Bf4 {A very pretty move even if the engines don't like it! The unprotected position of the black Q and B give white very good practical chances. Black cannot well decline the sacrifice and. indeed, doing to would definitely favor white.} (15. Qe2 {This is hard to evaluate. Komodo thinks the position is ablut equal while Stockfish prefers black by about a P after} f5 16. Nf3 Qc7 17. Ng5 Bd5 18. Bf4 Qc5+ 19. Kh1 Bf6 { But even here things are not so clear after} 20. Ne6 Bxe6 21. Qxe6) 15... Qxf4 (15... Qd5 16. Qa4+ Kf8 17. Rad1 {and white has reason to be well satisfied with his position.}) 16. Qa4+ {And this is where Barden starts to go wrong. Without the help of engines the move that keeps the advantage is too hard to find...obviously, or pre-engine annotators would have found it!} Bc6 {After this what's going to happen is that black will get two Bs and a R for his Q, but his situation will be extremely bad owing to the lack of any real co-ordination among his pieces.} (16... Kf8 {was recommended by Pachman who thought the position favored white, but it does not. After} 17. Ne6+ fxe6 18. Rf1 Qxf1+ 19. Rxf1+ Bf5 20. g4 Bf6 21. gxf5 exf5 {Fritz 17, Stockfish, Komodo all have the same 0.00 evaluation...anything can happen!}) (16... b5 {What a move!} 17. Nxb5 {Best.} O-O 18. Qxe4 Qxe4 19. Rxe4 Rab8 20. Nxa7 Rxb2 {There are multitudinous possibilities, but the best line is} 21. Nc6 Bxc3 22. Rc4 Bd2 23. a4 e6 {and black is, theoretically at least, better, scoring +4 -0 =1 in Shootouts.}) 17. Rxe7+ {[%mdl 512] A beautiful move! After this white has equalized, but, and this is important, he has an active position and black must watch his step.} Kf8 {Taking the R would be bad.} (17... Kxe7 18. Nxc6+ bxc6 19. Qxf4) 18. Ne6+ {[%mdl 512] Another terrific move, in fact it's the only move.} fxe6 (18... Kxe7 19. Qxf4 fxe6 20. Qc7+ {favors white}) 19. Qxf4+ Kxe7 20. Qc7+ {This is the same position as in the note to move 18.} Bd7 21. Rd1 Rad8 {Black could not protect the B with the other R because then the R on a8 would be lost.} (21... Rhd8 22. Qxb7 Be5 23. Rxd7+ Rxd7 24. Qxa8) 22. Qxb7 Rhf8 23. Qxa7 {All of a sudden things are looking very gloomy for black.} Rf5 24. a4 {[%mdl 32] The Ps are destined to decide the game.} Be5 25. a5 Ke8 26. a6 Bc6 27. Rxd8+ Kxd8 {Now 28.Qxh7 puts the game away, right?} 28. Qe3 (28. Qxh7 {Wrong!! Things aren't so simple.} Bb5 {Threatening mate.} (28... Bc7 29. Qh4+ (29. Qxg6 Bb6+ 30. Kh1 Rf1#) 29... Kc8 30. Qh8+ Kd7 31. Qd4+ Rd5 32. Qg7+ Kd6 33. c4 Bb6+ 34. Kf1 Rf5+ 35. Ke1 Rf4 36. Qc3 Bf2+ 37. Ke2 Bxg2 {White should be able to squeeze out the win.}) 29. g4 Rf1+ 30. Kg2 Bxa6 31. Qxg6 Re1 32. Qg5+ (32. Qxe6 Bb7+ 33. Kf2 Bg3+ {wins}) 32... Ke8 {and white may or may not win even though he can claim to have the advantage.}) 28... Bc7 29. b4 { [%mdl 1024]} Re5 (29... Bb5 {is more resistant.} 30. g4 Re5 31. Qd4+ Kc8 32. a7 Re1+ 33. Kf2 Re2+ 34. Kf3 Ra2 35. c4 Bc6+ 36. Ke3 {and in a few more moves black can throw in the towel.}) 30. Qd4+ Kc8 31. c4 {The remaining mvoes require no comment.} Re4 32. Qh8+ Kd7 33. Qxh7+ Kd8 34. Qh8+ Kd7 35. Qg7+ Kc8 36. Qf8+ Bd8 37. Qc5 Kd7 38. b5 Ba8 39. Qa7+ {Stockfish, Komodo and Fritz notwithstanding, a brilliant performance by Penrose!} 1-0

The (Not So Great) Vazquez vs. Sterling Matches

     Manuel Marquez Sterling y Loret de Mola (1872-1934) was born in Lima, Peru to Cuban parents and died in Washington, DC. He was a Cuban diplomat and interim President of Cuba for 6 hours on January 18, 1934. At the age of 16 he began a career in journalism writing for publications founded by his father.

     Suffering from asthma, part of his adolescence was spent in Mexico because his father believed the climate would help. While there he met Jose Marti, a Cuban poet, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero and an important figure in Latin American literature. 

     Sterling was credited with saving the life of Mexican President Francisco I. Madero, when the latter was hiding from the authorities at the beginning of the Mexican Revolution. Sterling served in the revolution then in 1901 went to Washington as member of the Cuban mission where he unsuccessfully protested against the Platt Amendment, legislation which outlined US policy for its meddling in Cuban affairs. 

     After a journalistic career, he served in diplomatic service for many years as ambassador to Mexico and the United States. 

     Sterling tied for last place in the Paris 1900 tournament (won by Emanuel Lasker) that was held during the world exhibition. As an author, Sterling wrote about 15 books on diverse topics such as politics, history and chess. 

     He played, and lost, two matches against Andres Clemente Vazquez (1844 - 1901), a Cuban-Mexican problem composer who was an attorney by profession. In 1869, he emigrated to Mexico, becoming a naturalized Mexican citizen the next year. 

     In Mexico he collaborated in different periodicals and was a member of various organizations publishing his works such as Mexican Orators, Political Rights and Duties, Minorities Representation in Popular Elections. 

     Vazquez became a distinguished Consul of Mexico in Havana, a position which he held until his death. In that position he was lauded for his outstanding performance in all his endeavors which included diplomacy, literature and in the courts. 

     He was also a first class player and wrote three chess books: Chess by Memory, Masterly Chess and Chess Game Analysis. He also served as the first chess club president of Mexico and composed many direct mates. 

     The first match was held in August of 1894 with Vasquez winning 4.5-0.5. It was supposed to be a ten game match, but Sterling resigned half way through not only because his bad play left him no hope of winning, but also because he wanted to take advantage of the few days of leave that he had been given to visit family in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. 

     They met again in January of 1900 in a match that was to go to the first to win five games, draws not counting. Vazquez was in the process of again trouncing his opponent with a +2 -0 =2 score when the match came to an abrupt end when Sterling was forced to resign the match when he had to leave for Washington. 

     The reason was that he had been appointed private secretary for Gonzalo de Quesada, a key architect (along with Jose Marti) of Cuba's Independence Movement. In that position Sterling was sent to the Universal Exposition of Paris as Cuba's representative. 

     The following was game 3 of their first match and it was a tactical humdinger...one worth playing over with a board and pieces if you want to sharpen your tactical vision and ability to see ahead. 

[Event "First Match"] [Site "Havana CUB"] [Date "1894.08.11"] [Round "3"] [White "Andres Clemente Vazquez"] [Black "Manuel Marquez Sterling"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C13"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "1894.08.09"] [Source "El Ajedrez Magis"] {French: Classical System} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Bxf6 Bxf6 6. Nf3 O-O 7. Bd3 h6 {Harmless. Both 7...c5 and the old fashioned 7...b3 are reasonable.} (7... dxe4 8. Nxe4 Bxd4 {This mild looking position can actually get incredibly complicated.} 9. Nfg5 {Wrong N!} (9. Neg5 g6 10. Nxh7 Kxh7 ( 10... Bxf2+ {is not quite sufficient.} 11. Kxf2 Kxh7 12. h4 Kg7 13. Qd2 { white has sufficient compensation for his P minus.}) 11. Nxd4 Kg7 (11... Qxd4 { loses} 12. Bxg6+) 12. Nf3 Qf6 {is completely equal.}) 9... f5 {Wrong P move!} ( 9... h6 {and black wins!} 10. Qh5 Bxb2 11. Rd1 Nd7 {White is at a standstill. Black simply must avoid taking the N.}) 10. Qh5 h6 11. Qg6 Re8 12. Nf7 Qd7 13. Nxh6+ Kf8 14. Ng5 gxh6 15. Nh7+ Ke7 16. O-O-O Qa4 17. Bxf5 Bxb2+ 18. Kxb2 Qb5+ 19. Kc1 Qxf5 20. Qg7+ Qf7 21. Qxh6 Nd7 22. Qg5+ {Black resigned. Naranjo Espinosa,S-Guerra,L Bogota 2004}) 8. Qe2 Nc6 {This mild move blocking the c-Pawn does no real harm, but it's quite passive.} 9. e5 Be7 10. a3 a6 11. g4 f6 12. O-O-O fxe5 13. dxe5 b5 14. h4 Qe8 15. g5 Qh5 16. Rh3 {Best.} (16. Rdg1 { doesn't work out.} Rxf3 17. gxh6 Qxh6+ 18. Kb1 Qf4) 16... Bxg5+ {This is the wrong way to capture the g-Pawn. Now white could have gained the advantage.} ( 16... hxg5 17. Rg1 gxh4 18. Nxh4 Qxe2 19. Bh7+ Kf7 (19... Kxh7 20. Nf5+ Bh4 21. Rxh4+ Qh5 22. Rxh5+ Kg8 23. Rxg7#) 20. Bg6+ Kg8 21. Bh7+ {draw}) 17. Kb1 { [%mdl 8192] Moving out of check seems reasonable, but in this case it loses.} ( 17. Nxg5 {was correct. Then after} Qxe2 18. Bh7+ Kh8 19. Nxe2 Rxf2 20. Nd4 { white has active play.} Nxe5 21. Re1 hxg5 22. hxg5 (22. Rxe5 {allows black to equalize.} g4 23. Rc3 Kxh7 24. Rxc7 Rf6) 22... Nf7 23. Rh5) 17... Bd8 {[%mdl 8192] This meeks retreat costs the game.} (17... Bf4 {Moving forward!} 18. Re1 b4 {Opening lines against white's K gives black excellent attacking chances.} 19. axb4 Rb8) 18. Rg1 {Once the Rs are doubled on the g-file the game will be over.} Ne7 (18... Nxe5 19. Nxe5 Qxe2 20. Nxe2 c5 21. Rhg3 Ra7 22. Nc6 Rb7 23. Nxd8 Rxd8 24. Bg6 {and white should prevail.}) 19. Rhg3 Rf7 20. Nxd5 {[%mdl 512] A nice finishing touch.} Nf5 (20... Nxd5 21. Bg6 {traps the Q}) 21. Bxf5 Qxf5 {The rest of the game is a mopping up exercise.} 22. Nd4 Qh7 23. Nf6+ Bxf6 24. exf6 Rxf6 25. Qe5 Rf7 26. Nxe6 Bxe6 27. Qxe6 Kf8 28. Rg6 Rxf2 29. Qc6 { Black resigned.} (29. Qc6 Rd8 30. Qxc7 Rfd2 31. Rxg7 {and it's over.}) 1-0