Isaac Kashdan

Isaac Kashdan (19 November 1905,– 20 February 1985)

Kashdan vs. Horowitz

was one of the world's best players in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He was twice US Open Champion (1938, 1947) and played five times for the United States in chess Olympiads, winning a total of nine medals, and his Olympiad record is the all-time best among American players. Kashdan was often called 'der Kleine Capablanca' (The little Capablanca) in Europe because of his ability to extract victories from seemingly even positions.  Alekhine named Kashdan as one of the most likely players to succeed him as World Champion. Unfortunately Kashdan could not pursue a chess career for financial reasons because his peak chess years coincided with the Great Depression. During that time he was earning a living as an insurance agent.  Some of his small ads can be found in Chess Review magazine of the period.  In the 1940’s one of his children had serious health problems which resulted in a move to California because of its better climate and this put him even further away from the center of chess activity which was mostly in New York City.

Career highlights:

1930

Frankfurt: second place behind  Nimzovich
Stockholm: First
Gyor: First

Defeated Lajos Steiner in a match (+5 -3 =2)

Lost a match against Gosta Stoltz (+2 -3 =1).
New York City: defeated Charles Jaffe by 3-0

1931

New York: finished second behind Capablanca

Bled: tied for 4-7th places.

Hastings 1931/32: 2^nd behind Salo Flohr.

1932

Mexico City: =1^st  Alekhine

Pasadena: second place behind Alekhine

London 1932: 3rd-4th places

1934

Syracuse: finished 2nd behind Reshevsky

U.S. Open Chess Championship / Western Open, Chicago: tie for 5-6th places, with Reshevsky and Reuben Fine sharing the title.

1935

U.S. Open Chess Championship, Milwaukee placed 3rd

1938

U.S. Open Championship: =1^st with Horowitz

Kashdan tied for 2nd-4th places in the 1947 U.S. Open and finished 2^nd in 1948 a half a point behind Weaver Adams.

Kashdan never won the U.S. (Closed) Championship.  Arnold Denker and stated that "from 1928 onwards, Kashdan was clearly the best player in the United States, but the aging Frank Marshall was attached to his title. Kashdan "bargained and haggled with Frank for years until Marshall voluntarily relinquished the crown. The result: the first modern U.S. Championship tournament in 1936. But by this time, Reuben Fine and Samuel Reshevsky had surpassed Kashdan.”

U.S. Championships:

5th in 1936 (Reshevsky winning)

3rd in 1938 (Reshevsky winning)

3rd in 1940 (Reshevsky winning his third straight title)

tied for 1st-2nd with Reshevsky in 1942.  Kashdan  lost the play-off match (+2 −6 =3)

2nd in 1946 behind Reshevsky

tied 1st-2nd in 1948 with Herman Steiner but lost the playoff match.

Kashdan would have been U.S. champion in 1942, but lost out to Reshevsky when the Tournament Director, L. Walter Stephens, incorrectly forfeited Denker after Reshevsky exceeded the time limit.  In this infamous incident Stephens picked up the clock and turned it around so that the clocks were facing opposite sides and then declared Denker forfeited. Despite howls of protest from Denker and a group of spectators, Stephens refused to change his decision.  When asked, Reshevsky replied, “It’s not my decision.”

Kashdan drew 5-5 in a match against Horowitz in 1938. and won at Havana 1940.  He tied 2nd-4th in the New York State Championship in 1941.  In the famous Radio Match of 1945 against the Soviet Union,  Kashdan lost both of his games against Alexander Kotov. In Hollywood 1945, Kashdan placed 5^th.  In 1946  the American team traveled to Moscow for a rematch against the Soviet team, and Kashdan again played Kotov and won 1.5-0.5.

In a Master event organized by the Manhattan Chess Club in 1948, Kashdan finished 2nd behind George Kramer but the 1948 New York International, Kashdan only scored 4-5 and tied for 7-8th place.

In the U.S. Open Chess Championship, Kashdan tied for first with Larry Evans in 1951 and in 1952 in Hollywood he only managed a 4-5 score and finished 7^th.

By this time it was apparent that he was no longer a top competitor and his final event was the 1955 match in Moscow against the USSR where he scored only 1-1/2 out of 4 games against Mark Taimanov.

Kashdan was awarded the GM title in 1954, and the International Arbiter title in 1960.

In 1933, Kashdan, in partnership with Horowitz, founded Chess Review magazine and several years later sold his interest to Horowitz.  Kashdan was the leditor of the Los Angeles Times chess column from 1955 until 1982, when he suffered a disabling stroke.

As an arbiter he directed many chess tournaments, including the two Piatigorsky Cup tournaments of 1963 (at Los Angeles) and 1966 (at Santa Monica). Kashdan also helped to organize the series of Lone Pine tournaments in the 1970s, which were sponsored by Louis Statham.

Although ratings were not introduced formally until 1970 by FIDE the site chessmetrics.com calculates Kashdan's peak rating at 2742 in 1932. Kashdan was #2 in the world from November 1932 until June 1934, behind only world champion Alekhine. Kashdan was in the top five players for more than four years, from December 1930 until February 1935, the period of his greatest top-class activity. However, the chessmetrics database is missing several of Kashdan's important results from this period.

After this time, the rise of Reshevsky and Fine somewhat eclipsed Kashdan among the top American players. Kashdan was a powerful tactician, but that his real strength was in the endgame, and that he was very strong with the two bishops. However, Denker also pointed out that "the slightest touch of rigidity" occasionally crept into Kashdan's play, as he sometimes resorted to artificial maneuvers to obtain the two bishops.  Lack of top-class practice after the mid-1930s, due to economic imperatives, led to Kashdan's gradual slide from the elite.

Some tactical puzzles from of Kashdan’s games can be found HERE

The First Chess Review Magazine

     During the Great Depression, Al Horowitz (1907-1973) was trader on Wall Street, but in 1932 it had gotten to the point that he couldn't make a living at it. That's when he abandoned trading and began hustling chess with the belief that he could always win a quarter and that was enough to buy a meal. 

     Then right in the heart of the Depression he got the idea of publishing a chess magazine, borrowed money from his friend Fritz Brieger and Chess Review was born. Brieger was a devotee of the game and an apartment house owner who also served as a patron and tournament director. 

     In the initial issue of January 1933, Chess Review proclaimed that for the past three years new clubs had been springing up like mushrooms, chess books were being bought, they were being added to library shelves and newspapers were giving more space to the game and correspondence leagues were thriving. 

     Also, during the last three years names like Salo Flohr, Sultan Khan, Gosta Stoltz and Erich Eliskases, all well under thirty years old, were beginning to make names for themselves. 

     In the United States Isaac Kashdan, Arthur Dake, Al Horowitz and Herman Steiner were becoming well known. Plus there was Samuel Reshevsky, the Polish boy wonder and 18-year old Reuben Fine who making an impression. 

     Thus for the new era Horowitz was offering a new magazine with the aim of providing both entertainment and instruction. The magazine would offer games of the masters authoritatively annotated, innovations in the openings would be discussed and interesting endings would be features. Additionally, the problem lover would find a rich selection. The articles aimed to be both serious and witty. It would also present the latest news of chess events and personalities everywhere. Horowitz also tried an innovation for a chess magazine in that there was a section devoted to bridge because contract bridge had reached a point where it almost equaled the fascination, if not the depth, of chess. 

     The magazine was published monthly from its offices in Woodside, New York which was located in Brooklyn. A yearly subscription in the US and Canada was $2.50. That was actually a pretty hefty price... $50.00 in today's money. Single issues were $0.25, or about $5.00 today. 

     The Editor in Chief was Isaac Kashdan, I.A. Horowitz was Associate Editor, Otto Wirzburg was Problem Editor, Fritz Brieger was the Business Manager and George Reith the Bridge Editor. Contributing Editors were Fred Reinfeld, Arthur Dake, Reuben Fine, Donald MacMurray, Barnie Winkleman and Lester Brand. 

     The games Depatment featured Alekhine-Winter and Flohr-Thomas (London 1932), Flohr-Naegeli, Alekhine-Sultan Kahn and Alekhine-Flohr from Berne 1932, Bogoljubow-Vidmar (Sliac 1932), Bogoljubow-Spielman (Semmering 1932) and Euwe-Flohr and Spielman-Euwe from Amsterdam 1932. 

     Reinfeld presented analysis on a popular variation of the Caro-Kann and there were some positions given in Mistakes of the Masters. A humorous article on annoying your opponent by Donald MacMurray was included. There was also an article of instruction on a R+P vs. R ending and finally, a brief review of Kashdan's recent activities followed by several problems in the Problems Department. An article containing analysis of a position from Dake vs. Alekhine, Pasadena, 1932 was also presented. 

     The magazine stated that each month they desired to present one or two games more fully annotated than the rest with the view to giving the underlying motives of the moves. The idea was to point out how favorable middlegames depend on the opening and how the endgame structure must be kept in mind throughout the game. 

     To that end in the first issue Isaac Kashdan presented two of his own games. Let's take a look at the game between Kashdan and Euwe that was played at Hastings, 1931/32. That Hastings event marked the beginning of Flohr's streak of three Hastings victories in a row. 

     After reading Kashdan's brief notes to the two games it makes me wish he had published a book of his best games! As far as I know there is only one book of Kashdan's games and that's Isaac Kashdan, American Chess Grandmaster by Peter P. Lahde. The book contains 757 of his games. According to one reviewer "a fair number" are annotated by Kashdan and "one can learn much from his pragmatic and methodical approach to the game." 

     Flohr and Kashdan dominated the tournament. By round 2 they already were a full point clear of the field. They drew in round 3, then it was a race to the finish. Kashdan took the lead briefly in round 4, but Flohr won his last five games, but in the last round Kashdan could only manage a draw against Stoltz and so finish a half point behind Flohr.

Isaac Kashdan - Max Euwe

Result: 1-0

Site: Hastings

Date: 1932.01.02

Alekhine's Defense

[...] 1.e4 ♘f6 Alekhine's Defense was in vogue in the 1920s but by the time this game was played it was infrequently seen. 2.e5 ♘d5 3.c4 ♘b6 4.d4 d6 This is about the only good move here. At Pasadena in in 1932 Fine played 4...Nc6 against Borochow and lost a piece.

4...♘c6 5.d5 ♘xe5 6.c5 ♘bc4 7.f4 (7.♕d4 was actually better.) 7...e6 8.♕d4 ♕h4+ 9.g3 ♕h6 10.♘c3 exd5 11.fxe5 1-0 Harry Borochow-Reuben Fine/Pasadena 1932

5.exd6 This leads to a quieter game than the 4Ps Attack (5.f4), but according to Kashdan it does give white a tiny positional edge because of his greater freedom and control of the center. 5...exd6 6.♘f3 Kashdan believed 6.Nc3 was a shade better. Indeed, it is more popular and yields slightly better results. Kashdan pointed out that when there is a choice of developing moves the proper order to be followed depends on two considerations. First) move the piece which has only one good square. That is the reason for the well known maxim Ns before Bs because the Ns are generally best placed at c3/b6 and f3/f6 whereas the best post for the B will depend on the position. Second make the move which gives your opponent least choice. In this game black can immediately pin the N. This could have been delayed by Nc3 and even Be3. 6...♗g4 7.h3 ♗h5 8.♗e2 ♘c6 This is probably better than the more popular alternative of 8...Be7.

8...♗e7 9.O-O O-O 10.♘c3 ♖e8 11.b3 ♘8d7 12.♗f4 ♗f8 13.♖e1 ♘f6 Vorobiov, E (2590)-Dvalishvili,P (2428)/Moscow 2014. White is slightly better.

9.d5 This move isn't in the books. As Kashdan explained, it deliberately loses time to force black to play ...Bxf3. He added that experience has shown that the possession of the two B's is an advantage and this was typical of Kashdan who was known for his exaggerated love of the two Bs. However, he did add that losing moves in the opening is always dangerous and this game will show the type of difficulties that have to be met.

9.♘bd2 ♗e7 10.O-O O-O 11.d5 ♗xf3 12.♘xf3 ♘e5 13.♘xe5 dxe5 14.♗e3 is equal. Baeta,A-Matozis,P/Brasilia 2005

9...♗xf3 (9...♘e5 at once loses a P. 10.♘xe5 ♗xe2 11.♕xe2 dxe5 12.♕xe5+) 10.♗xf3 ♘e5 11.♗e2

11.b3 would be a mistake according to Kashdan because after 11...♕f6 the threat is ...Nxf3 and ...Qxa1. This note reveals Kahdan's disire to keep the two Bs. 12.♘c3 ♘xf3+ 13.♕xf3 ♕xf3 14.gxf3 when both Stockfish and Komodo evaluate the position as dead equal. Actually, to a human though white's position is not appealing.

11...♕h4 White's c-Pawn is now o attacked three times, and only defended once. (11...♘exc4 12.♗xc4 ♘xc4 13.♕a4+ wins material.) 12.O-O When he played 9.d5 Kashdan had to see that black still could not take the c-Pawn. 12...g5 After his last move Euwe is pretty much committed to this rash attempt at a K-side even though his pieces are not coordinated and white has ample defensive resources. Even so, white still faces a dangerous attack which comes very near to succeeding. One consideration which prompted Euwe to play this is that otherwise white plays f4 driving back black's only well placed piece. (12...♘exc4 is still a blunder. 13.g3 ♕f6 14.♗xc4 ♘xc4 15.♕a4+) 13.♕c2 ♖g8 14.♘d2 g4 15.hxg4 ♘xg4 16.♕e4+ According to Kashdan this move was a mistake. The idea was that after ...Be7 white maintains the pin and thus delays black's playing ...O-O, but, things didn't wotk out that way. He recommended 16.Nc3. Actually Kashdan was being a bit harsh on himself because even after 16.Qe4+ he has the advantage.

16.♘f3 was actually a shade better that either 16.Qe4+ or Kashdan's recommendation of 16.Nc3. After 16...♕h5 17.♖e1 O-O-O and white is slightly better.

16...♗e7 17.♘f3 ♕h5 18.♗f4 f5 19.♕c2 White had trusted that he could play Qe6 attacking the R but overlooked that he would lose his Q. He referred to 19.Qc2 as a abject retreat, but again that's too harsh a judgment as white still has the better position. (19.♕e6 ♖g6 and the Q is trapped.) 19...O-O-O Kashdan stated that now that black has been allowed to place his B on e7 and his P on f5 without any penalty the game is in black's favor. Once again, the engines don't agree' even the conservative Komodo give white the edge at slightly less than P. 20.♖fe1 This threatens to attack black's B.

20.♘d4 This promising looking move can be met by 20...♖df8 21.♘e6 ♖f6 22.♗xg4 ♖xg4 23.g3 with unclear complications.

20...♘d7 An interesting position. Komodo evaluates the position as 0.00 but Kashdan gave it a ! explaining that it's the last piece to enter the fray. 21.♘h2

21.♘d4 ♗h4 22.g3 ♗xg3 23.♗xg3 f4 24.♕f5 ♕xf5 25.♘xf5 fxg3 26.♘e7+ ♔b8 27.f4 ♖g7 28.♘f5 with an unclear position.

21...♕f7 22.♗d3 ♘xh2 So far Euwe has played quite well, but according to Kashdan here he goes astray and this proves the turning-point of the game. He had to play ...Rdf8 not so much to protect the , as to prevent the entry of the white B at f5. White is well satisfied with the exchange of Ns, which relieves the pressure considerably. Here again the engines find no fault with Euwe's actual move. 23.♗xh2 f4 24.♗f5 ♖g5 A wee bit of a slip that hands white a slight advantage.

24...f3 with a sharp position that keeps the chances balanced. 25.♗g3 ♖g7 26.♗e6 ♕h5 27.♖e3 ♖f8 and, again, both sides have chances in this sharp position.

25.♗h3 f3 26.♕e4 ♕g7 Of this move Kashdan wrote...This is a miscalculation, which loses more quickly. He is right, but instead of "more quickly" he should have written "at once."

26...♖g7 and white can hardly be considered to be winning. 27.♖e3 fxg2 28.♖ae1 ♖f8 29.♗xd7+ ♔xd7 and the position is equal.

27.♕xe7 ♖xg2+ 28.♔h1 ♖g8 29.♕e8+ ♖xe8 30.♖xe8#

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Incidents at the 1978 US Championship

      Before the beginning of the 1978 US Championship reigning Champion Walter Browne pulled a Bobby Fischer. 

       Browne had always performed better in the US Championships than he had in international tournaments, or even other major US tournaments for that matter, and this tournament looked to be his biggest test up to that time because virtually all the top players of the previous three tournaments were there: Kavalek, Byrne, Shamkovich,Lein, Tarjan, Rogoff and Christiansen.
       The tournament was held at the Southern California campus of the Worldwide Church of God. You will remember this was the church that Bobby Fischer got duped by in the 1970s.   During the tournament several of the players were granted a brief audience with “King Bobby” who was living in seclusion a few miles from the tournament venue. Bobby refused to grace the tournament hall with his presence though.
       At the initial player’s meeting Browne trotted out his usual complaint about the lighting.  For some reason Browne held the opinion that inadequate lighting would cost him enough games that he would not win the tournament.  The other players were divided into two camps.  Either humor him or ignore him.
       The tournament director, GM Isaac Kashdan, had had run ins with Browne in the past but on this occasion Browne made his feelings about the lighting crystal clear and Kashdan was very obliging;  he had the college's lighting technician meet with Browne the following morning and arrange things to Browne’s satisfaction.
       Before the start of the first round Browne met Kashdan on the way out of the playing hall and advised Kashdan that the lighting now suited him provided he be permitted to sit at a particular board throughout the event.  Kashdan was a little reluctant to meet this request though because it meant special treatment for Browne.  Normally, seating was rotated for each round. Kashdan decided that since Browne was already being given special treatment in the form of an extra $850 appearance fee and a guest cottage instead of a dormitory room as supplied to the other players, he was willing to go along with the arrangement.
       After Browne left Kashdan was inspecting the tournament site and noticed one of the tables out of line, so he moved it back. A few hours later at the start of the first round Browne, like Fischer, made his grand entrance several minutes late, and realized his table had been put back in line with the others.  By putting it back in line with the other tables Kashdan had moved it out from under the special lighting that Browne so desperately needed.
       Thinking that Kashdan had moved it just for spite, Browne rushed over and asked Kashdan what had happened.  Kashdan didn’t know it was Browne who had moved the table out of line and explained that it was moved back to make a path for players to get through. Browne asked Kashdan, "Why do you hate me?” to which Kashdan replied that he didn't hate him.  So what did Browne do?  He stormed off the stage without even bothering to acknowledge his opponent, Larry Christiansen.
       Kashdan eventually ruled that Browne had lost on forfeit.  A few people tried to argue on Browne’s behalf, stating the withdrawal of the three-time champion could hurt ticket sales, tournament publicity and the cause of chess in the United States. As a result Kashdan called a meeting of the Appeals Committee.  At that meeting Browne made his point then, again like Bobby, threatened to leave the tournament if the forfeit stood.  The committee asked Christiansen if he wanted to make the final decision but Christiansen, though annoyed at Browne’s behavior, did not want the responsibility of deciding the issue.  Christian’s decision was influenced by the fact that if he refused to play and the forfeit stood, Browne would be denied a chance at playing in the next Interzonal since this was a qualifying tournament.
       The appeals committee  (William Lombardy, Kenneth Rogoff and Andrew Soltis) finally decided to uphold Kashdan's decision to forfeit Browne. Lombardy went to Browne's cottage to try and talk him out of leaving, but Browne left the next morning.  The result was that GM Lubosh Kavalek won the tournament ahead of Tarjan (second), Shamkovich and Mednis (tied for third and fourth).
       That was not the only incident in the tournament.  In Mednis vs. Shamkovich, Mednis became short of time in a slightly worse position and, in trying to save the game, essayed a small combination but there was a flaw in it.  Shamkovich reached the time control a piece ahead and Mednis resigned. But it wasn’t over.
       Ken Rogoff's fiancée, a spectator, noticed the total amount of time indicated on the clock being used by Shamkovich and Mednis totaled much more than for the other games.  She told another spectator who told an assistant tournament director.
       Mednis was informed of the problem after he resigned. Mednis drafted an appeal soon after the game, but his claim posed a question.  If he had forfeited on time before making his fatal blunder the game would have been resumed once the clock's faultiness was discovered. Now, however, he was claiming that he would not have blundered if he had had more time. The appeals committee sympathized with Mednis but couldn't accept his argument.
       The normally mild mannered Mednis got upset and threatened to sue everyone involved in the verdict, demanding that a statement be read at the beginning of each round warning that he might drop out of the tournament at any moment.  Mednis eventually cooled down and returned to his old, pleasant self.

 

Kashdan Stomps Lajos Steiner

     Things were looking grim in 1930. It was the first year of the Great Depression and 1,350 banks in the US failed and high unemployment caused problems in every area of life. 

     Politicians panicked and unsuccessfully started to turn to protectionism in order to try to prevent further loss of American jobs and commerce from competition abroad. Adding to the miseries was the worst ever drought that caused enormous hardship in farming community and lead to dust bowl years. These "black blizzards" carried away the soil and made it all but impossible to plant crops. 

     Under President Herbert Hoover the United States embarked on a public works program that included the building of the Boulder Dam (Hoover Dam). 

     Most people had radios and listening to it was free. The most popular broadcasts were those that distracted listeners from their everyday struggles: comedy programs like Amos and Andy, soap operas and sporting events. Swing music was popular and band leaders like Benny Goodman and Fletcher Henderson drew crowds of young people to ballrooms and dance halls around the country. Even though money was tight, people kept on going to the movies. Musicals, comedies and gangster pictures offered audiences an escape from the grim realities of life. 

     In the US, chess aficionados were treated to a match between the 24-year old sensation Isaac Kashdan and the tough Lajos Steiner of Hungary. Kashdan was the 1929 Manhattan Chess Club champion and the rising star of American chess. He had been the first board of the American team at 1928 Olympiad where he scored an impressive +12 -1 =2. 

     Unfortunately, Kashdan could not support his family on his chess earnings and had to resort to taking a full-time job in the insurance business. Later, because of his son’s health, Kashdan moved his family to Southern California. 

     The match was played in the Manhattan Chess Club from April 19th to May 4eh, 1930 and was for the best of 12 games, with the winner the first to score five wins. Draws didn’t count! 

     The 26-year-old Lajos Steiner had come to the United States to participate in the Bradley Beach 1929 tournament, where he had finished a close second to world champion Alekhine. 

     IM Lajos Steiner (1903-1975), an engineer by profession, was born in Nagyvarad (or as it is also known Oradea) in northwest Romania. He was educated in Budapest and got his degree in mechanical engineering in 1926 in Germany. Both he and his elder brother, Endre, started playing in master chess events in Budapest while they were schoolboys and Lajos was was awarded the Master title at the age of 19. 

     In the late 1920s Steiner spent two years working as an engineer in the US and when he returned to Europe he turned professional and made a precarious living from tournaments. In 1936, he toured Australia and played in the 1936-37 Australian championship in Perth where he won all of his games, but as a foreigner, not the title. He returned to Western Australia in March of 1939, en route to settle in Sydney. His father and brother died in Nazi concentration camps.  

     Steiner played in six Australian championships, winning four of them: 1945, 1946-47, 1952-53 and 1958-59. He also won nine of his ten attempts at the New South Wales title (1940-41, 1943, 1944, 1945-46, 1953, 1955, 1958). In 1948 he made his only return to Europe where he played in three tournaments: Karlsbad (4th place out of 20), Budapest (11th out of 16) and Saltsjobaden (19th out of 20). 

     Steiner was a good amateur wrestler, swimmer, tennis player and sculler. He stopped competing in major tournaments in the early 1960s, but continued to play for his chess club where he helped young players. In his prime, Steiner was likely of GM strength, but was never awarded the title. 

Kashdan had white in the odd-numbered games. 

Game 1) Kashdan got nothing in the opening, but had the technique to hold an unfavorable R and P ending. 

Game 2) Kashdan sacrificed a P for a Q-side attack that got him nothing and Steiner, with the exchange to the good simplified and won easily. 

Game 3) Steiner equalized then miscalculated and allowed Kashdan to push his d-Pawn through, costing Steiner first the exchange and then the game.  

Game 4) Kashdan left his K in the center and played aggressively on the Q-side. Then he made a mistake by exchanging his Q for two Rs and Steiner’s Q penetrated Kashdan’s position and delivered mate. After four games Steiner leading by 2-1, but then a miracle happened and Kashdan won the next three games. 

Game 5) This one was filled with fireworks. It was a see saw battle in which Steiner played the opening inaccurately, but Kashdan let him off the hook. In the end, Kashdan won in the endgame. 

Game 6) This was a very sharp game. There was a lot of positional maneuvering until Kashdan broke through with a nice B-sac. See below. 

Game 7) Steiner, playing black, decided to play aggressively, got nothing and eventually lost. 

Game 8) Kashdan equalized out of the opening with the result being a solid, if boring, draw. The score was now 5-3 in favor of Kashdan who had white in the next game. 

Game 9) Kashdan got some advantage out of the opening, but disdained playing for a draw. Instead, he attacked, but overpressed his luck by sacrificing a N for a K-side P-storm. Steiner counter-sacrificed a B and turned the tables. He was now only one point behind and he had white in the next game. 

Game 10) Steiner made little progress with his K-side attack and Kashdan’s Q-side counterattack broke through and secured the win and the match by two points.

Lajos Steiner - Isaac Kashdan
Result: 0-1
Site: New York, NY USA
Date: 1930.04.27
Closed Ruy Lopez: Chigorin Defense

[...] 1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗b5 Should amateurs play the Ruy Lopez? It is one of the most complex and strategically deep openings there is and it's a must for masters to know it, but for amateurs it's another questions. They need to learn elementary tactical motifs, basic endgames and im the opening it's enough to be able to reach a playable middlegame. To that end, the Ruy Lopez is probably as good a debut as any other opening. 3...a6 This is so common it's easy to forgrt that it has a name...the Morphy Defense. The main point of 3...a6 is that after 4.Ba4, black will have the possibility of breaking a pin on his N with ...b5. 4.♗a4 The only plausible alternative is 4.Bcc6. Now black has a choice of 7 reasonable replies: 4...b5, 4...Bc5, 4...Nge7, 4...g6, 4...f5, 4...d6 and 4...Nf6. 4...♘f6 In turn, white can reasonably play 5.Nc3, 5.Qe2, 5.d4, 5.d3 and 5.0-0. As mentioned, the Ruy Lopez is a complex opening. 5.O-O ♗e7 6.♖e1 b5 7.♗b3 d6 8.c3 ♘a5 9.♗c2 c5 10.d4 ♕c7 All of this has been seen countless times. The real question now is does white really need to to prevent ...Bg4? 11.h3

11.♘bd2 ♗g4 White is in what appears to be an uncomfortable pin, but there is no way for black to utilize the pin and white actually stands slightly better. 12.h3 ♗h5 13.d5 O-O 14.♘f1 ♘b7 15.g4 ♗g6 16.♘g3 and white has promising K-side attacking chances.

11...O-O 12.♘bd2 ♗d7 13.♘f1 ♖ac8 14.d5 ♘e8 15.g4

15.♘g3 is solid if of little promise. 15...g6 16.♗h6 ♘g7 17.b3 ♘b7 18.♘h2 f6 19.♕d2 ♘d8 20.♖f1 ♘f7 21.♗xg7 ♔xg7 22.f4 and a draw was agreed in Rogulj,B (2412)-Mrdja,M (2393)/Sibenik 2010.

15...g6 16.♘g3 ♘g7 17.♗h6 Before undertaking any action black has been tending to the defense of his K. 17...f6

17...c4 was tried in Skrzypnik,M (2138) -Kolesnik,E (2393)/Koszalin POL 1999, but it turned out black had to play ...f6 anyway. 18.♔h2 ♘b7 19.♘g1 ♗h4 20.♘1e2 f6

18.♘d2 ♖b8 19.b3 ♘b7 Steiner's next move is consistent but risky. Remembering Alekhine's statement that the opening of the a-file is always favorable for white in the Ruy Loez, he might have considered 20.a4 20.f4 (20.a4 ♖fc8 21.axb5 axb5 22.♕e2 etc.) 20...exf4 21.♗xf4 ♘d8 22.♕e2 ♘f7 23.♖f1 ♕c8 Something like ...Qa5 and ...Ne5 would have been a safe course, but on suspects Kashdan might be thinking of someday making a sacrifice on g4. The move also supports the advance of his c-Pawn.

23...h5 is interesting. If 24.♘f3 g5 white can play either 25.e5 or 25.Bxg5 with all kninds of complications. That wasn't the Kashdan way though.

24.♖f2 ♘e5 25.♖af1 c4 26.b4 a5 27.a3 axb4 28.axb4 ♖a8 Here Alekhine is proven wrong because white's previous play by white abandoned any idea of occupying the a-file. 29.♘f3 ♖a3 30.♗d2 ♖a2 Kashdan still could have played 30...h5, but chooses a more clear plan of play on the a-file. 31.♗b1 ♖a1 Is anybody tired of all this positional maneuvering? White should now have continued with either 32.Rg2 or better yet 32.Nxe5 fxe5 33.Rxf8+ with equality. His next move is a slip that Kashdan jumps on. 32.♗h6 ♗xg4 Oddly, after this the game is going to be decided in black's favor on the Q-side! 33.hxg4

33.♘f5 was interesting because it introduces complications. White's position would still be inferior, but in the complications anything could happen after 33...gxf5 34.hxg4 fxg4 35.♘d4

33...♕xg4 34.♘d4 This looks reasonable, but his best try was the defensive 34.Rg2

34.♖g2 ♘xf3 35.♕xf3 ♕xf3 36.♖xf3 ♖xb1 But even here black has a winning position thanks to his active Rs. In Shootouts black scored 4 wins and one loss.

34...♕xg3 35.♖g2 ♕xc3 36.♘f5 ♘xf5

36...gxf5 would be a serious mistake. 37.♖xg7 ♔h8 38.♕h5 and at best the game is a draw. 38...♕d4 39.♔g2 ♕b2 40.♔h1 ♖xb1 41.♖xh7 ♔xh7 42.♗c1 (42.♗xf8 loses. 42...♔g8 43.♕xf5 ♖xf1 44.♕xf1 ♔xf8) 42...♔g7 43.♖g1 (43.♗xb2 loses to 43...♖xf1 44.♔g2 ♖h8) 43...♘g4 44.♕h6 ♔g8 45.♕g6 draws.

37.exf5 g5 For a small material price Kashdan eliminates all potential threats to his K. 38.♗xf8 ♗xf8 39.♕h5 ♕xb4 Steiner is now lost and has to content himself with some rather meaningless checks. 40.♖xg5 fxg5 41.♕xg5 ♔f7 42.♕h5 ♔e7 43.♕xh7 ♔d8 44.f6 This P presents no real danger thanks to the B. 44...c3 The same cannot be said of this P though. 45.♕b7 Black has a won game, but he could still booger things up if he is not careful. 45...♕c5

45...♖xb1 would have been an awful mistake. 46.♕a8 ♔c7 47.♕a7 ♔d8 48.♕b8 ♔d7 49.♕b7 ♔e8 and white has a draw. The prettiest line being 50.f7 ♘xf7 51.♕xf7 ♔d8 52.♕xf8 ♔c7 53.♕e7 ♔b6 54.♕d8 etc.

46.♔g2 ♕c7 Now all danger fron white's Q is eliminated at the cost of a P. 47.♕xb5 c2 48.f7 Threatening Qe8+ 48...♘xf7 49.♖xf7 ♕xf7 50.♕b8 White gets in a few spite checks before he resigns. 50...♔e7 51.♕c7 ♔f6 52.♕c3 ♔g5 Steiner resigned (52...♔g5 53.♕xc2 ♕xd5 is beyond hope for white.)

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