Fischer’s Worst Blunder Ever

    The tournament that was designated as the 1966 U.S. Championship actually ended on December 30, 1965; it was Bobby Fischer’s seventh title. In contrast to his perfect 11-0 score in the 1963/64, this year’s event saw him stumble and lose to Robert Byrne and Samuel Reshevsky plus get nicked for a draw by William Addison.

    After drawing with Addison in the first round, he looked to be back on track, winning the next six in a row which gained him a big lead. But then Fischer made what was probably the worst blunder of his career when he list to Robert Byrne in round 8. But wait! There’s nore! In round 9 he went down to defeat against Samuel Reshevsky. At that point it looked like it might be possible that Fischer would not repeat as champion. Fischer kept his cool though and defeated Nicolas Rossolimo and Dr. Karl Burger in the final two rounds to end up a full point ahead of his rivals.

 

    Two young players made their debut. Duncan Suttles who went on to become a Canadian citizen and Bernard Zuckerman. Suttles, with his highly original style, was not afraid of anybody and Zuckerman, a walking opening encyclopedia, was about a half an hour late for every game. Arthur Bisguier had an exceptionally bad tournament due to the fact that he was plagued by an illness in his family. 

 

[Event "US Championship, New York"] [Site ""] [Date "1965.12.23"] [Round "8"] [White "Bobby Fischer"] [Black "Robert Byrne"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C03"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "1965.??.??"] {C04: French Tarrasch: 3...Nc6} 1. e4 e6 {This was probably the best defense to play against Fischer.} 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 {Fischer avoids the Winawer (3.Nc3 Bb4), a defense against which he always had difficulty and which Edmar Mednis famouslt used to defeat him in the 1962 US Championship.} Nc6 4. c3 e5 5. exd5 Qxd5 6. Ngf3 exd4 7. Bc4 Qh5 8. O-O {Certainly Fischer did not expect Byrne to play 8...cxc3 after which black would have a difficult position to defend.} Nf6 {The usual plan is 8...Be6 followed by castling Q-side, but Byrne's straightforward development is also satisfactory.} (8... dxc3 {White now obtains a strong attack against black's K which is caught in the center.} 9. Re1+ Be7 10. bxc3 Nh6 11. Rxe7+ Nxe7 12. Ba3 Nhf5 13. Qb3 O-O 14. Re1 {White has sufficient compensation for his sacrificed material.}) 9. Qe1+ {The R would have been a better piece to place on this square.} Be7 10. Nxd4 O-O { Certainly Fischer saw that 11.Nxc6 does not win a piece.} 11. Be2 (11. Nxc6 Bd6 (11... bxc6 12. Qxe7 {wins a piece.}) 12. f4 bxc6 {and black stands well..}) 11... Bg4 12. Nxc6 {[%mdl 8192] Brain flatulence! Fischer could have resigned after this, but he played on hopiong for a miracle.} (12. h3 {Equally good is 12.Bxg4} Bxe2 13. Qxe2 Qxe2 14. Nxe2 Ne5 15. Nd4 c5 16. Nf5 Rfe8 17. Nb3 Bf8 18. Rd1 {Draw agreed. Goncalves,J-Van den Broeck,H Munich 1958}) 12... Bd6 13. h3 Bxe2 14. Nd4 Bxf1 15. Qxf1 {White is the exchange down with no compensation and the win is a matter of technique which Byrne certainly had.} Rfe8 16. N2f3 a6 17. Bg5 Qg6 18. Rd1 Re4 19. Be3 Nd5 20. Bc1 Rae8 21. Nd2 R4e7 22. Nc4 Bf4 23. Nf3 c6 24. Nb6 Bxc1 {Black is clearly winning.} 25. Nxd5 cxd5 26. Rxc1 Re2 27. Rb1 Qc2 28. Rc1 Qxb2 29. Rb1 Qxc3 30. Rxb7 Rxa2 31. Kh2 h6 32. Qb1 Rxf2 33. Qf5 Qxf3 34. Qxf3 Rxf3 35. gxf3 Rd8 36. Rb6 d4 {White resigned.} (36... d4 37. Rxa6 d3 38. Ra1 d2 39. Rd1 Kh7 40. Kg2 Kg6 41. Kf2 Kf5 42. Ke3 {Now all black has to do is run white out of moves.} Rd6 43. f4 Rd8 44. Kf3 g6 45. Ke3 h5 46. h4 f6 47. Kf3 Rd3+ 48. Ke2 Ke4 49. f5 gxf5 50. Kf2 f4 51. Ke2 f3+ 52. Kf2 Rd4 53. Kg1 Ke3 {etc.}) 0-1

Reshevsky Wins At Margate

    In 1935, Britains were enjoying Alfred Hitchcock's mystery thriller movie, The 39 Steps. While on vacation in London, a Canadian, became embroiled in an international spy ring related to the mysterious "39 steps." The title refers to steps leading to a secret meeting place in the book by John Buchan, and a clandestine spy organization in Alfred Hitchcock's film adaptation. 

    Henry Hall and his BBC Dance Orchestra and Lew Stone and His Band were prominent. You can enjoy a Harry Hall tune HERE and Lew Stone HERE 

    The year 1935 ushered in the first time beer came in a can. Men were wearing loose fitting boxer shorts, but in 1935 briefs were becoming popular. They were a more fitted, snug alternative that gained popularity in part due to the invention of the elastic waistband and marketing. 

     It wasn’t all good news though. Tensions and war between Italy and Ethiopia divided the League of Nations. In Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler began bringing in new laws to marginalise and oppress Jews. 

    In 1935, Margate, a popular seaside resort, saw the opening of the Art Deco Dreamland Super Cinema (it closed in 2007). The town was also the recipient of a new road, George V Avenue, created to commemorate King George V's Silver Jubilee. It also hosted an international chess tournament. 

 

    The tournament was significant because it was the first time that Reshevskym the former boy wonder, had the opportunity to test his mettle against formidable foreign opposition. 

    Samuel Reshevsky (1911-1992) was one of my favorite players and the highlight of my "career" was drawing a game against him in 1979. His opponent in today’s game was English International Master William Fairhurst (1903-1982). In 1931 he lived in Scotland and won the Scottish Championship 11 times. He also won the British Championship in 1937 and was unofficial Commonwealth Champion in 1950. In 1970 he was invited to play in the New Zealand Championship as a guest and after it was over he decided to retire there. He passed away in Auckland in 1982.n It’s instructive to watch how easily Reshevsky could hanle a “mere” IM in those days.

[Event "Margate"] [Site ""] [Date "1935.04.29"] [Round "?"] [White "William Fairhurst"] [Black "Samuel Reshevsky"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D47"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "1935.04.24"] {D47: Semi-Slav: Meran System} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bb3 {Hor whatever reason Fairhurts prefers to avoids the Meran Varian which arises after 8.Bd3.} Be7 9. O-O Bb7 10. e4 { Here’s a conundrum! This move has been criticized as being premature and in practice it has yielded poor result. However, it is the first choice of Stockfish, Dragon by Kmodo likes the equally popular 10.Qe2 and Lc) gives the nod to 10.a3. All three moves are of nearly qual status though. As for 10.e4, if white can successfully carry out the advance e5 black's position will be very cramped.} b4 {Seemingly forcing the next reply, but not really.} 11. e5 ( 11. Na4 {Placing the N on the edge of the board and sacrificing the e-Pawn looks bad, but it is playable!} Nxe4 12. Re1 Nef6 13. Qe2 Nd5 (13... O-O { runs into complications favoring white.} 14. Bxe6 {Now after 14...Bd6 15.Bb3 chances are about even, but not...} fxe6 15. Qxe6+ Kh8 16. Qxe7 {and white is clearly better.}) 14. Ne5 Nxe5 15. Qxe5 O-O 16. Nc5 {and white has sufficient play for the P, but this position is unlikely to appeal to humans.}) 11... bxc3 12. exf6 Nxf6 13. bxc3 O-O 14. Rb1 c5 {An excellent move.} 15. Bb2 {This pointless move is difficult to understand because the B, blocked by its own Ps, has no future on b2. Simply 15.Bc2 would have been satisfactory.} (15. Bxe6 { is no threat.} Bxf3 {wins a piece.} (15... fxe6 16. Rxb7 {White is better.}) 16. Bxf7+ Rxf7 17. Qxf3) 15... Be4 16. Rc1 {A better alternative was 16.Bc2 even though the exchange of Bs would leave white with his inferior B on b2. The move played has the disadvantage of placing the R on a square from which it is completely ineffective.} Qb6 {Another good move. His Rs are now connected and ready to be effectively placed.} 17. dxc5 {Another poor move.} ( 17. Nd2 Bb7 18. Ba3 {at least gets a bit of scope fot the buried B}) 17... Bxc5 18. Qe2 Rad8 19. Rcd1 Bb7 {Retreating back to a8 would have been slightly more accurate. Reshevsky's basic ide is to create mating threats and also to make e4 available for the N.} 20. Ne5 Ba8 {An admission that his last move stopped short. Was it a finger slip?} 21. c4 {This opens the diagonal for one B, but hampers the other one. It's still his best mvoe though.} Qb7 {The aforementioned mate threat.} 22. Nf3 Ne4 {Occupying the aforementioned N outpost. White now has to guard f2.} 23. Ba1 {Apparently Fairhusrt did now want to play 23.Rxd8 Rxd8 when black has control of the d-file.} (23. Rxd8 { This is still his best bet.} Rxd8 24. Bc1 h6 25. Be3 {and, at least, the pressure on his f-Pawn is relieved.}) 23... Rxd1 24. Bxd1 Rd8 {Black still has gained control of the d-file and white's position is now, theoretically at least, lost.} 25. Bc2 Qc6 {A wily move, provoking white's plausible, but losing. reply!} 26. Ne5 {The decisive error. The N is the wrong piece to put on e5. At least after 26.Be5 the N couldn't go to g3.} Ng3 {[%mdl 512] There is no answer to this. If the B was on e5 it could simply take the N.} 27. Nxc6 (27. hxg3 Qxg2#) (27. Qf3 Qxf3 28. Nxf3 Nxf1 29. Kxf1 Bxf3 30. gxf3 {Black is the exchange ahead with a routine win.}) 27... Nxe2+ 28. Kh1 Bxc6 {White resigned. He has lost a N.} 0-1

Arturo Quiroga's Missed Brilliancy

    Exorbitant food prices and cool weather (frost to low 60s) put a bit of a damper on the last few days spent in Niagra Falls, New York. Previously, we rode the Maid of the Mist in hot weather and it was awesome, but this time it was a bit too chilly to get drenched. 

    I doubt anybody has ever heard of Arturo Quiroga, but according to an article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle back in 1922, when a team of masters from the Manhattan Chess Club contested the first Pan-American cable match against a team from the Argentine Chess Club in Buenos Aires on April 23rd, Quiroga was on fifth board. 

    The Manhattan Chess Club's home was in the Hotel Sherman Square where a cable operator sat near the players and a teller would relay the moves which were then sent to the main office from where they were cabled to far away (8,600 miles) Buenos Aires. 

    The match was terminated at two o'clock in the morning after fourteen and a half hours play and the time didn't include a break of an hour and a half for supper! Club officials in New York finally stepped in and proposed that the match be called to a halt even though only two games of the six board match had been completed. Those two games had been drawn. The four remaining game were all adjourned in complicated positions and they were to be sent to Capablanca who was the official adjudicator, but at the time he was in Paris. However, it was generally agreed that the New York team would be victorious by a final score of 4-2.

 

    The first game on the match to actually reached a conclusion happened when Albert Marder agreed to a draw against Rolando Illa, ex-champion of Buenoes Aires after 26 moves. 

    The game between Oscar Chajes, former Manhattan club champion against Julio Lynch, was agreed drawn in 38 moves. Roy T. Black, former New York state champion who had traveled all the way from Syracuse, New York for the match, opened with the Ruy Lopez and succeeded in breaking up his opponent's K-side Pawns and at move 28 won one of them which gave him a decisive advantage. 

    Rosenthal, another former state champion, was playing Arnoldo Ellerman, a famous problem composer and one of the best players in Buenos Aires. For a long time they maneuvered cautiously behind their own lines and the outcome looked drawish. But, Rosenthal had two Bs against two Ns and thought that adjudication should result in his being awarded the point. At midnight Ellerman cabled that he had to stop play and Rosenthal agreed. The game was adjudicated as a draw. 

    Harold Phillips, president of the Intercollegiate Chess League, met Belgrano Rawson's Caro-Kann with aggressive play and by advancing his h-Pawn had managed to break up Rawson's K-side. Their game was one of the two that continued all the way to two o'clock I n the morning. Phillips had not yet managed to score the point, but it was believed he was very close to doing so; the game was adjudicated as a win for Phillips. 

    After play had stopped Robert Raubitschek, chairman of the Manhattan's tournament committee that was in charge of the match, made an effort to come to an understanding with the captain of the Buenos Aires team to reach an agreement on the results of the unfinished games without sending them to Capablanca, but the Buenos Aires team was unwilling to accept the conclusions of the Manhattan team. It was expected that Capablanca's reply would take 4-5 weeks, but the Manhattan team was confident that they would win 4-2. 

    Eventually a post card was received from Capablanca and he had awarded wins to Black and Phillips for Manhattan and Quiroga for Buenos Aires. Capa singled out Phillips' game for his interesting and well-played game. As for Capablnca’s awarding the win to Quiroga, that decision might be questionable, but perhaps he did deserve the win. After all, he did play well for most of the game! 

 

[Event "Match Manhattan CC vs, Buenis Aires CC"] [Site "?"] [Date "1922.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Arturo Quiroga"] [Black "Alfred Schroeder"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A48"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "71"] {A48: QP Opening} 1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 g6 4. b3 Bg7 5. Bb2 Nbd7 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. c4 Re8 8. Qc2 e5 {Both sides have played very flexible moves that could result in a wide variey of formations.} 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Nxe5 dxe5 11. Be2 c6 { Although this move is not really bad (it gives black's Q some mobility) it has the disadvantage of creating a weakness on d6 which cause black some problems later on. He might have been better off playing ...Qe7 and...Bd7} 12. O-O { Castling Q-side was suggested by Schroeder as being more aggressive. Stockfish does not like the idea though because white's Pawn setup on the Q-side leaved his K exposed.} Bf5 {This is not really bad, but black played it along with his next move under a misapprehension. Better would have been 13... Be6.} 13. e4 Bh6 {Retreating to e6 was better.} 14. Rad1 (14. exf5 {is met by} Qxd2 { with complete equality.}) 14... Bd7 {Black has wasted time as he now realized his intended 14...Bxd2 loses a piece.} (14... Bxd2 15. exf5 {leaves the B on d2 pinned and lost.}) 15. c5 {Zeroing in on the weak spot in black's position, the d6 square.} b5 16. Nf3 Qc7 17. Rd6 {Not only does white have a dominating position, but black is going to lose his e-Pawn.} Bf8 {This loses a piece, but even the better 17...Re6 was not that much better!} (17... Re6 18. Bxe5 Rxd6 19. cxd6 Qd8 20. Bb2 {White's position is overwhelming.}) 18. Rxf6 Kg7 19. Rf5 {White still has a considerable advantage after this, but he missed a brilliancy.} (19. Nxe5 {[%mdl 512]} Rxe5 (19... Kxf6 20. Ng4+ Kg5 21. Bf6+ Kh5 22. Ne5+ Bg4 23. Bxg4+ Kh6 24. Qd2+ g5 25. Qxg5#) 20. f4 Rae8 21. Bxe5 Rxe5 22. fxe5 Be6 23. Rxe6 fxe6 {with a hige material advantage.}) 19... f6 {Missing his best defense.} (19... gxf5 {is a better defense.} 20. exf5 f6 21. g4 { Black is up the exchangem bit his K is dangerously exposed. Play might run} Kh8 22. Nd2 Rad8 23. Ne4 Bg7 24. Rd1 Bc8 25. Nd6 Rf8 26. h4 {with a promising attack.}) 20. Rxf6 {This excellent move forces the exposure of black's K.} Kxf6 21. Nxe5 Ke7 22. Rd1 Red8 23. Qc1 (23. Qc3 $142 {Threatening mate with Nxg6+! was even stronger.} Ke8 24. Nxg6 hxg6 25. Qf6 Bf5 26. exf5 Rxd1+ 27. Bxd1 Qd7 28. Bf3 Rc8 29. fxg6 Qe7 30. Bxc6+ Rxc6 31. Qxc6+ Qd7 32. Qxd7+ Kxd7 33. g7) 23... Be6 24. Qg5+ {White still has the advantage after this, but he missed a really strong move in 24.Rd6!! Not surprising since it requires seeing even more brilliant followup moves.} (24. Rd6 Rxd6 25. cxd6+ Kxd6 26. Bxb5 Qb6 ( 26... cxb5 27. Ba3+) 27. Bc4 Rd8 28. Bxe6 Kxe6 29. Nxc6 Rd7 30. Qc4+ Rd5 31. Qxd5#) 24... Ke8 25. Bd4 Bg7 26. f4 Bxe5 27. Qxe5 Qxe5 28. Bxe5 Rxd1+ 29. Bxd1 {[%mdl 4096]} a5 30. a3 $1 a4 31. b4 Bb3 32. Be2 Kf7 33. Kf2 Rd8 34. Bd6 $1 Re8 35. Ke3 Be6 36. Kd4 {Unlike the engines, I have not nitpicked over the last several moves by both sides. Bith players missed slightly better moves on a number of occasions. However, this final move of the game is not the best becaue almost all of white's advantage disappears. Capablanca adjudicated the game as a win for white, but that conclusion is debatable. Stickfish evaluates the final position as about one Pawn in white’s favor. In Shootouts using Stockfish white scored +1 -0 =4. That saidm White deserved the win...he played much better!} (36. g4 {is the winning move. Blacj is reduced to markinh time while white penetrates with his K. A sample line...} Bd7 37. Kd4 Rh8 38. Bf3 Rc8 39. h4 h6 40. f5 h5 41. g5 Re8 42. Be5 Rc8 43. Bf6 Rc7 44. Ke5 Bc8 45. Kd6 Rd7+ 46. Kxc6 Rd3 47. fxg6+ Kxg6 48. Be2 Rxa3 49. Bxb5 Ra2 50. Kd6 a3 51. Be8+ Kh7 52. g6+ Kh6 53. g7) 1-0

A Spielmann Classic

 

`In his book The Art of Sacrifice in Chgess, Rudolf Spielmann wrote that sacrifices made for material gain can leaves the opponent still able to show fight or at least put up some resistance while the object of the mating sacrifice is to terminate the game immediately. 

    He also noted that in the case of mating sacrifices the attacker must have a vastly superior position either in position or development or often in both. The cases are rare in which the mate can actually be delivered if those factors are not present.     

    More often than not the defender can ward off mate by incurring heavy material losses. Faced with the mate or heavy loss no sensible player will continue the game. This is a pet peeve of mine when playing on line. It seems many weak players never heard of resigning and many will just abandon the game rather than simply resign and move on.  Even worse are those disgusting people who refuse to move and let their time run out. Don’t be one of those doltish, rude players! 

    The following game was played in Vienna in 1929 and its notable feature is Spielmann’sa spectacular mate from a sacrifice. The game began with the Caro-Kann, but soon transitioned into a sharp, aggressive attacking game and ends with a vacating sacrifice to allow a ,ating sacrifice involving the Queen. 

    Rudolf Spielmann (188301942) was born in Vienna and was known as a friendly, pleasant and sensitive man, but as a player he was famous for his love of complicated positions with lots of tactical opportunites and sacrifices. 

 Being Jewish, Spielmann fled Nazi Germany, first for the Netherlands in 1934, then to Prague in 1938 and in 1939 he escaped to Sweden where according to relatives he locked himself in his room and was later found starved to death. Another version is that he suffered from a Parkinson's disease-like illness, which rapidly got worse and he died in a hospital. His opponent, Baldur Hoenlinger (1905-1990) was an Austrian master who participated in tournaments from the 1920s to the 1950s. 

 

[Event "Vienna Masters"] [Site ""] [Date "1929.02.01"] [Round "?"] [White "Rudolf Spielmann"] [Black "Baldur Hoenlinger"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B15"] [Annotator "Spielmann/Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "1929.??.??"] {B15: Caro-Kann} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Ng3 {The usual 5. Nxf6+ offers white better chances of success, bit Spielmann prefers tp keep Ns on in hopes of increasing his attacking chances.} e6 6. Nf3 c5 7. Bd3 Nc6 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. a3 {A truly excellent move that is also Stockfish's top choice. Many players would simply castle here, but Spielmann plays 9.a3 to preserve his Bishop on its attacking diagonal by preventing ...Nb4.} O-O 10. O-O b6 11. b4 {[%mdl 32]} Be7 12. Bb2 Qc7 {Somewat better was 12...Bb7, bit white already has a position with attacking potential.} 13. b5 Na5 14. Ne5 Bb7 15. Ng4 { White would do better to continue inproving his position with 15.Qe2 followed by 16,Rae1m but Spielmann prefers to generate an attack by playing this with the intention of breaking up black's K-side,} Qd8 16. Ne3 {Now exchanging on f6 would not accomplish anything.} Nd5 {This logical looking move is a mistake! In this position Spielmann explains why. White has by far the better development. While it’s true that only the minor pieces are mobilized, but they are trained at black’s K. Additionlly, black’s pieces are ineffectually or even badly placed, particularly to the N on a5. Positional speaking, black is very well placed, as white's c-Pawn is backward. However, black's last move is a premature attempt to emphasize his positional superioroty. He would have excellent chances if he could find time for ...Bf6. Quick and energetic action by 16...Qc7 eyeing the c-(awn was required on black’s part. 16...Nd5 gives white his opportunity.} 17. Qh5 g6 18. Ng4 { This offer of the Q for a mate was the point of 17.Qg5. Spielmann notes that the Q offer is passive in the sense that it can be declined, but it leads to putting considerable strain on the defender.} Bf6 {The only defense against the threat of 19.Nh6#} (18... gxh5 19. Nh6#) (18... f6 19. Bxg6 hxg6 20. Qxg6+ Kh8 21. Rae1 Qc7 22. Rxe6 {White is winning.}) 19. Nxf6+ {[%mdl 128] White is clearly better, but there is no clear win if black defends correctly.} Nxf6 { Which he does not!} (19... Qxf6 20. Bxf6 gxh5 21. Nxh5 Nxf6 22. Nxf6+ Kg7 { and black can at least play on.}) 20. Qh6 {Black's K is now in hospice because he is fatally weak on the dark sdquares.} Rc8 21. Rad1 Qe7 22. Rfe1 {Preparing Nf5} Ne8 23. Nf5 {[%mdl 512] The long dormant N now plays a decisive role.} Qc5 24. Re5 Bd5 25. Ne7+ {[%mdl 512] This is a vacating sacrifice that make it possible for the R to reach h5} (25. Ne7+ Qxe7 26. Qxh7+ Kxh7 27. Rh5+ Kg8 28. Rh8#) 1-0

GM Edmar Mednis on Openings

    I have Edmar Mednis' old book How to Play Good Opening Moves on my bookshelf, but I have never really read it. I have read some of Mednis' books in the past and found them very good because he had a knack for explaining things in plain language. I should mention that I met Mednis back in the 1970s and found him extremely pleasant and one of those people everybody just likes! 

    The book generally received good reviews, but it is badly marred by typos. I think it’s not one of Mednis’ better books, but then I have never been a big fan of opening books anyway. 

    How important is a good opening? It depends! Mednis said there is a German expression to the effect that a good opening means the game is half won. That's really true in high level play, but for most of us it’s probably not. I sometimes play 10 minute games online and in those games you can get away with openings that wouldn't stand a chance in serious play.  

    In OTB play how important are openings for those of us who are rating-challenged? Obviously, coming out of the opening with a good position is better than coming out of it with a bad one, plus it does give us a psychological boost to know we stand better. More important though is having a good grasp of strategy and tactics and...endings. 

    Capablanca considered the main opening principle to be rapid and efficient development. That sounds simple enough, but he also added that the pieces have to be put in the right places. That last little point, put in the right places, probably means that most of us are going to play the opening like we play the rest of the game. 

    The great Hungarian GM Lajos Portisch probably gave the best advice for non-masters when he said the only task in the opening is to reach a playable middlegame. 

    Mednis was of the opinion that non-masters don't have to play the latest theoretical lines and advised playing whatever opening one likes and understands. He also gave good advice when he said it's foolhardy to voluntarily choose a line where, if your opponent plays correctly, you hand over the advantage. That would eliminate a lot of openings and gambits known to be unsound. 

 

    There are three areas of significance in opening play: 

    1) King safety 

    2) piece development 

    3) control of the center. 

 

    The first two areas are self-evident, but the value and importance of the center is not sufficiently appreciated. The importance of center control has been known to average players since the days of Steinitz. The Hypermoderns deepened our understanding of center control when they showed that it can be done without occupying it.

 

     What are the best moves according to Mednis? White has five: 1.e4, 1.d4, 1.c4, 1.Nf3 and 1.g3. 

     What if you don't want to play any of them? Mednis recommends playing any of the three "mediocre" moves. These are moves that have positive features, but also have inherent deficiencies. These are:  

    1) 1.b4 with the plan of 2.Bb2 aiming at d4 and e5. 

    2) Nc3 which influences the center, but precludes utilizing the c-Pawn. 

    3) 1.f4 which does nothing for development and slightly weakens the K-side, but it does control e4. Don't play anything else! 

 

    As black, good moves against 1.e4 are: 1...e5, 1...c5, 1...c6, 1...d6, 1...Nf6, 1...g6 and 1...e6. Against 1.d4 you can play: 1...d5, 1...c5, 1...c6, 1...d6, 1...d5, 1...Nf6 and 1...g6. 

 

     If you want to take your opponent out of the book, and probably yourself along with him, you can play mediocre moves: Against 1.e4 you can play: 1...Nc6 and 1...d5. Against 1.d4 you can play 1...Nc6 and 1...f5. 

 

    Mednis believed that if you play according to opening principles you should be fine, but as play develops the position gets more complicated and move selection requires concrete thinking.  Just remember most opening moves that are unmindful of opening principles are probably inferior. 

    The following is an interesting game between Karpov and Korchnoi that was played in their 1974 match involving the Yugoslav Attack was instructive. 

    It was well known that Karpov had excellent results against the Dragon, so why did Korchnoi play it? Possibly because the previous year Korchnoi had defeated Karpov in a Dragon and believed he might not be up on latest theory. That wasn't the case though and after the game Korchnoi didn't want to talk about it, saying it wasn't a real game, but a result of home preparation. Sour grapes! Korchnoi had as much opportunity to do his homework as Karpov. I am giving the game with an abridged version of Mednis' explanatory notes plus a few observations by Stockfish. Karpove had an amazing 100% accuracy rating when his moves were compared to Stockfish at 15 seconds per move!  

 

[Event "Candidates Final Match, Moscow"] [Site "Moscow URS"] [Date "1974.09.18"] [Round "2"] [White "Anatoly Karpov"] [Black "Viktor Korchnoi"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B77"] [Annotator "Edmar Mednis/Stockfish"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "1974.09.16"] {B78: Sicilian Dragon: Yugoslav Attack} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 {The center P-formation is in white’s favor because his P on e4 controls more space. It’s generally true in the Sicilian that if black can play ...d5 without any disadvantage he will have equalized. The move 5... g6 has slightly, but fundamentally, weakened the K-side since the g-Pawn can now be attacked by h4-h5 and the opening of the h-file. White has the option of castling on either side and doing so on the Q-side is reasonably safe. The main idea is to open the h-file and trade off black’s B.} 6. Be3 Bg7 (6... Ng4 {No reasonably strong player would ever fall into this trap of attacking the B with this move.} 7. Bb5+ Nc6 (7... Bd7 8. Qxg4) 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. Bxc6+) 7. f3 {The Yugoslav Attack. White plans on Qd2 and O-O-O. With the move 7.f3 black’s annoying ...Ng4 is prevented, the e-Pawn is protected and Pg4 is prepared. There is nothing wrong with the old 7.Be2.} Nc6 {Black develops this N to its best square) 8. Qd2 (Preparing to castle Q-side.} 8. Qd2 O-O {Even though white is preparing a K-side attack this is the safest place for the K plus it brings his R into play and increases his chances of playing ...d5. Castling Q-side is not a viable option because the K would not be safe because the c-Pawn is missing. Also on the Q-side, the K would interfere with his counterplay.} 9. Bc4 {This is most common. On c4 the B is aggressively placed to attack f7 and black’s freeing move ...d5 is inhibited. The disadvantage is that because the B is unprotected here black can gain a move or two for his own development.} Bd7 {Logical. Black develops his last minor piece and is ready to start play along the c-file with...Rc8. Still, it took master play a long time to figure this out because at one time the fear of white’s B on c4 was so great that it was believed black had to take immediate steps to neutralize it.} 10. h4 {White’s strategy here is to castle Q-side and open the h-file, so it probably does not matter is he castles first or plays this. The reasoning behind playing this first is that it is sharper as it entails no disadvantage and immediately subjects black to attack. Note that even though the B on c4 is undefended there is no reason to voluntarily lose a tempo by retreating it to b3.} Rc8 {Jere black has two basic options. 1) Start an immediate counterattack as Korchnoi does here, or 2) try and combining attack and defense with 10...h5.} (10... h5 {Beginning in the 1980s black began playing this in an attempt to slow down white’s attack. This move does that but at the cost of fundamentally weakening black’s K-side, plus he will be a move behind with his counterplay.} 11. O-O-O Rc8 12. Bb3 Ne5 {with equal chances.}) 11. Bb3 {Black threatened to win the B with 11...Nxd4} Ne5 {Aiming for immediate counterplay along the c-file.} 12. O-O-O Nc4 13. Bxc4 {The fact that white has made two moves with this B and is now forced to make this capture on a square that it controlled just as well from either f1 or e2 demonstrates the strategic disadvantage of 9.Bc4} Rxc4 14. h5 {This is a well known line in the Dragon, which was a favorite defense of Korchnoi. Here white sacrifices a P for an attack. Korchnoi almost always accepted Ps because he had great confidence in his defensive ability. White does not waste any time with a move like 14.Kb1 nor does he bother preparing this advance with 14.g4, which is not bad. It’s just that 15.h5 is more forceful.} Nxh5 15. g4 Nf6 16. Nde2 {This is a nice multipurpose move: 1) it overprotects the N on c3 from a potential exchange sacrifice, 2) the N can go to g3 or f4 from where it can join the attack and 3) it threatens 16.Bh6.} Qa5 {Black continues with his counterattack.} 17. Bh6 {Eliminating the dark squared B is a part of white’s overall strategy. Note that black’s B is valuable for both offensive and defensive purposes.} Bxh6 {Engines prefer 17...Bh8, but even then black's position is theoretically lost.} 18. Qxh6 Rfc8 19. Rd3 {Safety first. Karpov wants to make sure his opponent has no chance to play a thematic sacrifice of the exchange on c3.} (19. Rd5 {This is a more direct approach and it's also quite good.} Qd8 20. e5 dxe5 21. Rd2 Qe8 {Losing. Correct was 21...Qf8 when white is better, but not winning.} 22. Nd5 {White gas a decisive advantage. Prandstetter,E (2365)-Spiridonov,N (2490) Agard 1976}) 19... R4c5 {[%mdl 8192] Black's position is already very poor, but this move results in the loss of the game.} (19... Be6 {is his best chance,} 20. g5 Nh5 21. Nf4 Qe5 22. Nxh5 gxh5 23. Qxh5 Qg7 {White has a modest advantage but in Brikov,I (2401)-Kurilin, A (2294) Tula RUS 2014 the defense proved to be too much for black.}) 20. g5 { [%mdl 512] ...and wins} Rxg5 {This meets with a surorising refutation, but there was nothing better.} (20... Nh5 21. Rxh5 {This attempt to get fancy throws away the win.} gxh5 22. Nf4 Rxc3 23. bxc3 Rc5 24. g6 hxg6 25. Nxg6 fxg6 26. Qxg6+ Kf8 27. Qh6+ {Draws. Note that black's K can;t flee the checks...} Ke8 28. Qh8+ Kf7 29. Qh7+) 21. Rd5 {[%mdl 512] Very pretty.} Rxd5 (21... Nxd5 22. Qxh7+ Kf8 23. Qh8#) 22. Nxd5 Re8 23. Nef4 (23. Nxf6+ {would be a horrible mistake ruining all white's previous play.} exf6 24. Qxh7+ Kf8 {White's attack is gone and black is a P up.}) 23... Bc6 24. e5 {[%mdl 512] Another sledgehammer blow.} Bxd5 (24... dxe5 25. Nxf6+ exf6 26. Nh5 {Black cannot avoid mate.}) 25. exf6 exf6 26. Qxh7+ Kf8 27. Qh8+ {Black resigned. A perfect game by Karpov! His moves matched Stockfish's 100%.} 1-0

Play the Wing Gambit

    The Wing Gambit against the Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.b4) may not be theoretically correct and Grandmasters consider it weak, but it can lead to complicated positions. 

    It’s idea is simple: white wants to divert black's c-Pawn so he can play d4 and build up a strong center. After 2...cxb4 white does not have to play 3.d4 immediately though; he can play 3.3.a3, the Marshall Variation or 3.Bb2, the Abrahams Variation, or 3.c4, the Santasiere Variation. 

    Today’s game features the Santasiere Variation which is the worst of the three possibilities, but it’s intriguing! It’s sharp and tactical and requires both players to be well-prepared and alert because it can leads to dynamic and complicated positions. This game is an example! 

    The 2002 Nassau Championship was won by IM Jay Bonin (7-2) ahead of GM Igor Novikov (6-3). Chipkin scored 3.5-5.5 (tied for 12th) and Kreitner scored 3-6 (tied for 15th). There were 21 players.

 

[Event "Nassau Champ, Mineola"] [Site "?"] [Date "2002.10.01"] [Round "?"] [White "Leonard Chipkin"] [Black "Ilan Kreitner"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B20"] [WhiteElo "2023"] [BlackElo "2200"] [Annotator "Stockfish `7.1"] [PlyCount "81"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.10.01"] {B20: Sicilian Wing Gambit, Santasiere Variation} 1. e4 c5 2. b4 cxb4 3. c4 e5 {This is the correct way to meet the Sanatsiere Variation. Capturring the P only facilitates white's development and give him compensation for the P.} ( 3... bxc3 4. Nxc3 e5 {This gives white too many good options.} 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Bc4 Be7 7. O-O Nf6 8. d4 {with equal chances.}) (3... bxc3 4. Nxc3 e5 5. Bc4 Nc6 6. Nf3 Be7 7. O-O {equals.}) (3... bxc3 4. Nxc3 e5 5. f4 exf4 6. Bc4 (6. d4 Bb4 {Black is much better.}) 6... Nf6 (6... Bb4 7. Nd5 {favors white.}) 7. Nf3 Nc6 8. O-O Bb4 9. e5 d5 {with equal chances.}) 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bb2 (5. a3 { is not worth considering.} Nf6 6. d3 bxa3 7. Bxa3 Bxa3 8. Nxa3 d6 {Black is a solid P up.}) 5... Qc7 {Engines prefer 5...Bc5, but after 6.Nxe5 the complications are head whirling.} 6. d4 d6 {It is a mistake to close the position as white is now equal. For black to have any advantage he must accept the complications that result from keeping the position open. Therefore 6,,, exd4 is correct.} (6... exd4 7. Be2 (7. Nxd4 Qe5 {and white is in a difficult situation.}) 7... Nf6 8. O-O Bc5 9. a3 O-O {Best.} 10. e5 Ne4 {Black is better. }) 7. d5 {It is a mistake to close the position as white is now equal. For white to have any advantage he must accept the complications that result from keeping the position open.} Nce7 8. Qa4+ Bd7 9. Qxb4 {White has regained his P and black's pieces are all tangled up maling his development difficult. However, white's weak c-Pawn is a target.} Ng6 10. Nc3 Nf6 11. g3 Be7 12. Ba3 O-O 13. Rb1 b6 14. Bd3 Ne8 {Now white should castle.} 15. Qb3 Bh3 16. Bf1 { Eliminating hos hab B.} Bxf1 17. Kxf1 Rc8 18. Nd2 Qd7 (18... Bg5 {Attacking the N picks up the c-Pawn. Even so, the complications are enormous.} 19. Nf3 Bh6 20. Kg2 {Connecting his Rs.} Qxc4 21. Qxc4 Rxc4 22. Nb5 Rxe4 23. Nxa7 Re2 { and black has an active position.} 24. Rhe1 (24. Rxb6 {This should lose, but the refutation is hard to calculate! The best line for both sides is} { Stockfish 17.1:} Be3 25. Rb2 Rxb2 26. Bxb2 Bxa7 {Black has won a picei, but the game is far from over.}) 24... Rxa2 25. Nb5 {Theoretically at least black gas a small adcantage, but for practical purposes the position can be considered equal despite black's two P plus!}) 19. Kg2 {Better was 19.h4 preventing black's next move.} Bg5 {With this move black acquires a small advantage, but it's not clear that he can get more than a draw.} 20. Nf3 Bh6 ( 20... Nf4+ {gives black a strong attack as the N cannot be taken.} 21. Kg1 (21. gxf4 Qg4+ 22. Kf1 Qxf3 23. Rg1 Bxf4 {with clearly the better position.}) 21... Qh3 (21... Nh3+ {yields a draw.} 22. Kg2 Nf4+ 23. Kg1 Nh3+ 24. Kg2 Nf4+ {draw}) 22. Ne1 Ng6 23. Nd1 Bd2 24. Nf3 Bh6 25. Ne1 {White has successfully defended his K. Here, again, black can draw by repesting moves or he can try to squeeze something out of his position with 25...Qd7 followed by ...f5}) 21. Bc1 { Black's best line is to take on c1 then play ,,,f5} Nf4+ 22. Bxf4 {Now neither a B or a P in f4 is near as troublesome to white as a N would have been.} exf4 23. e5 Qf5 {More energetic would have been 23...g5} 24. Nd4 {[%mdl 2048] White's strong center and space advantage now begin to make themselves felt.} f3+ 25. Nxf3 dxe5 26. Rbe1 {Black should niw defend his e-Pawn with 26...f6. Instead he tries an attack that looks dangerous, but is doomed to failure.} Bf4 27. Ne4 {Black's best chance is to retreat the B to h6 and then play ...g6.} g5 28. Nexg5 Nd6 29. gxf4 e4 30. Nh4 Qxf4 31. Qg3 {Black likely overlooked this move which saves his Ns and now black is just a piece down.} Qxg3+ 32. hxg3 Rxc4 33. Nxh7 Rfc8 (33... Kxh7 34. Nf5+ {regains the piece.}) 34. Ng5 f5 { Now instead of the prosaic 35.Ng6 white gets fancy. Either way he is winning.} 35. Nxf5 Nxf5 36. Nxe4 Rc2 37. d6 Rd8 38. d7 Kg7 39. Rh5 Nh6 40. Rg5+ Kh8 41. Nf6 {Black resigned.} (41. Nf6 Rf8 42. Re8 {mates}) 1-0

Church and Chess

    Texas Chicken, formerly known as Church's Fried Chicken, is a fast-food chain specializing in Southern style fried chicken with headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The name was changed for international marketing reasons in the 1980s to appeal to customers in countries where the "Church's" name carried a religious connotation. 

 George William “Bill” Church, Jr., who guided the growth of Church's Fried Chicken beyond San Antonio, Texas and transformed it into one of the largest chicken fast food chains in the country, died February 7, 2014 at age 81 in Austin, Texas from a lingering illness after breaking his hip the previous year. 

    His father opened his first restaurant in San Antonio, Texas in 1952. After he passed away in 1956, family members took over and in 1962, when the chain ran eight San Antonio restaurants, son Bill Church Jr. became the top executive, eventually building the company into a national Fortune 500 company. 

     In 1980, he resigned and was replaced by a childhood friend. Starting in 1989, there was a lot of corporate wheeling and dealing, bankruptcies, etc. which are not important to our story. 

    After leaving the company, Bill Church Jr., who enjoyed the study of physics, invested in alternative energy research and pursued his hobbies. He was an accomplished and passionate golfer and a self-taught chess player with a Class A (Elo 1800-1999) rating. 

    In 1972, Church sponsored an international tournament in San Antonio that included European and Soviet grandmasters pitted against grandmasters and masters from the Americas. To view the tournament crosstable see Wikipedia HERE. 

    While Fischer did not play, he did visit it. Also present was an Expert (Elo 2000-2199) named William Scott, a well-known Atlanta, Georgia publisher and important figure in Atlanta chess. 

 When Fischer was signing autographs Scott handed him a program and asked him to sign it. As Fischer was signing, Scott told him that they had both played in the US Open in 1956 where Scott had finished ahead of him. Fischer handed the signed program back then got snarky and said, “Oh yeah. Well, what’s your rating now?” Scott mumbled something about being only an Expert and Fischer replied, “Um huh”, turned and walk away. 

 The loser of this game was Kenneth Smith, the man who advocated 1.e4 c5 2.d4 for amateur players when facing the Sicilian. When it comes to amateurs the truth is that one opening is probably as good as another, but that’s not the point. On the 1972 USCF rating list Ken Smith had a hefty 2398 rating which placed him at #28 in the country, yet Larry Evans, an International Grand master (2520, #7 in the country) handled him with ease. It’s hard to imagine how incredibly strong Grandmasters really are! 

    By the way, today’s ratings are greatly inflated compared to 1972. The #2 ranked Samuel Reshevsky was rated 2566. Bobby Fischer? He was #1 with an astronomical rating of 2824...he truly was that much better than everybody else! 

 

[Event "Church's Fried Chicken, San Antonio"] [Site ""] [Date "1972.11.30"] [Round "?"] [White "Kenneth Smith"] [Black "Larry Evans"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B21"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "1972.11.19"] {B21: Sicilian: 2 f4 and Morra Gambit} 1. e4 c5 2. d4 {Smith advocated that amateurs play gambits and this was the one he espoused against the Sicilian.} cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 {Good for Evans! He wrote that the only way to refute a gambit is to accept it and here he follows his own advice.} 4. Nxc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 d6 { Evans plays the most popular move.} 6. Bc4 a6 {Black develops as if playing a Najdorf. 6...e6 is usually seen.} 7. O-O Nf6 8. Bg5 {This natural move is not so good because black gains a lot of time by harassing the B. Either 8.Bf4 or, possibly, 8.h3 seems better. But...would you believe Bobby Fischer actually reached this position once? Yes, Fischer once played the Smith-Mora and it was against no less a figure than Viktor Korchnoi in what was, for readons not associated with chess, Fischer's worst tournamet result ever.} e6 9. Qe2 h6 ( 9... Be7 10. Rfd1 Qc7 11. Rac1 O-O 12. Bb3 h6 13. Bf4 e5 14. Be3 Qd8 15. Nd5 Nxd5 16. Bxd5 Bd7 {The position is equal and was soon drawn. Bobby Fischer, R-Viktor Kortschnoj Buenos Aires 1960}) 10. Bh4 {After this white's game starts a downhill slide that there is no stopping. Black would have have only a slight advantage after 10.Bf4} g5 {This may seem like a bad move becase it loosens the K-side and black has not yet castle and his K remains in the center. It also looks like black's d-Pawn could become a target. However, black's next move highlights the true situation.} 11. Bg3 Nh5 {By eliminating white’s dark squared B Evans has eliminated Smith’s attacking chances. Even though white has a nice looking setup it's hollow.} 12. Rfd1 (12. Rad1 Nxg3 13. hxg3 Qf6 14. Nh2 Be7 15. f4 gxf4 16. gxf4 Qg7 {was played in Lendwai, R (2410) -Lutz,C (2550) Graz 1993. White lost that game, too.}) 12... Nxg3 13. hxg3 g4 14. Ne1 {After this it's evident that white doesn’t have any real prospects.} (14. Nd4 {Even after this white only lasted a handful of moves.} Ne5 15. Rac1 Bd7 16. Bb3 Rc8 17. Nc2 Qg5 18. Ne3 h5 19. Na4 Rxc1 20. Rxc1 Bc6 21. Rd1 h4 22. Nb6 h3 {0-1 (22) Sanchez Maya,S (2203)-Arenas,D (2266) Medellin 2009}) 14... Ne5 15. Bb3 h5 {Note how smoothly Evans has acquired an attack and a decisive advantage!} 16. Nd3 Bg7 17. Nf4 h4 {Destroying the residence of white's K.} 18. Qd2 hxg3 19. fxg3 {It's imstructive to see how Evans brings his Q into the attack.} Qb6+ 20. Kf1 Bd7 {Evans calmly completes his development and passes up the inviting, but weaker, check on h1.} 21. Rac1 Rd8 22. Ke2 {Smith hopes to ease the pressure by trading R’s on the h-file.} Nf3 {[%mdl 512] Alert play...watch this N which can't be raken because of ...Rh2+} 23. Qd3 Nd4+ 24. Kd2 Nxb3+ 25. axb3 Qf2+ {Now that the N has done its job, the Q invades.} 26. Nce2 Bb5 27. Qe3 Qxe3+ 28. Kxe3 e5 29. Nd5 Bh6+ {The Q did its job and now the B takes over.} 30. Kf2 Bxc1 31. Rxc1 Bc6 32. Nec3 Kd7 {Even the K is going to enter the action.} 33. Nf6+ Ke6 34. Nxg4 f5 35. exf5+ Kxf5 36. Ne3+ Ke6 37. g4 d5 38. Ne2 d4 39. Nc4 Rdg8 40. Kg3 Rg5 {With the time control having been reached, Smith resigned.} 0-1

Averbakh’s 1950 Brilliancy

 

    When Soviet Grand master Yuri Averbakhpassed away in Moscow on May 7, 2022 at the age of 100 the chess world lost a rare, if underappreciated gem. Chess metrics estimates his highest ever rating to have been 2715 in 1952, placing him at #8 in the world (Smyslov was #1 at 2783). Douglas Griffin has written an excellent biography on Averbakh HERE. 

    The year 1950 saw a lot of brilliant games played. For example, the inaugural Candidates Tournament that was played in Budapest was made up up of a group (Bronstein, Boleslavsjy, Smyslov, Keres, Najdorf, Kotov, Stahlberg, Szabo, Flohr and Lilientahl) of the best players in the world, so you know they played some brilliant games. 

    Today’s game was played in the 1950 USSR Championship and you just know that group must also have played some great games and Yuri Averbakh's victory over Alexey Suetin was one of them. The game is notable for its brilliant concluding sequence where Averbakh’s pieces overwhelm his opponent. 

Averbakh was born in Kaluga, a city in western Russia. He was awarded the GM title in 1952. and played in the Zurich Candidates (1953). Averbakh won the USSR Championship in 1954 and tied for first first in the 1956 championship, but lost in the playoff. He published more than 100 endgame studies and was known as an opening and endgame theorist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he co-edited a five-volume anthology on the endgame, Shakhmatnye okonchaniya. In addition to authoring numerous chess books he also edited a couple of major Soviet chess magazines.

 

    Alexey Suetin (1926-2001, 74 years old) was awarded the GM the in 1965 and became World Senior Champion in 1996. His best tournament results were in the mid-1960's. He was also an author of note. 

 

[Event "USSR Championship, Moscow"] [Site ""] [Date "1950.11.13"] [Round "?"] [White "Yuri Averbakh"] [Black "Alexey Suetin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B62"] [Annotator "Stockffish 17.1"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "1950.??.??"] {B66: Sicilian: Richter-Rauzer: 7...a6 8 0-0-0 h6} 1. e4 c5 2. Ne2 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O h6 9. Bf4 Bd7 10. Bg3 Be7 11. Be2 b5 {So far all of these moves have been played many times and it's possible that Averbalh's move may have been a novelty at the time.} 12. Bxd6 { Excellent! White wins the d-Pawn and establishes control of the file.} (12. Nxc6 Bxc6 13. Bf3 b4 14. Ne2 Bxe4 15. Bxd6 Bxf3 16. gxf3 Bxd6 17. Qxd6 Qxd6 18. Rxd6 {Gioscio,M-Dimuro,M (2248) Mar del Plata 2009. Black is slightly better/}) 12... b4 {A well played counter.} (12... Bxd6 13. Nxc6 Bxc6 14. Qxd6 Qxd6 15. Rxd6 Rc8 16. f3 {and white has the advantage.}) 13. Nxc6 Bxc6 14. Bxe7 Qxe7 15. Qd6 Qb7 {It's advantageous to black to keep the Qs on otherwise his position would be too passive.} 16. Nd5 {[%mdl 128] This move sets a clever trap.} exd5 17. exd5 Bd7 {Suetin avoids the trap.} (17... Nxd5 {This loses outright.} 18. Rhe1 Ne7 19. Bxa6 {The B cannot be captured because of mate on either d8 or e7. } O-O 20. Bxb7 {and wins}) 18. Rhe1 {The Bxa6 idea is still a threat.} Kd8 { nother well played defensive move that gets the K off the e-file. Amazingly black's K is safe in the center.} 19. Bf3 {Threatens to win with Qe7+.} Re8 { ...meeting the threat of Qe7+} (19... a5 {A pass to demonstrate white's threat/ } 20. Qe7+ Kc8 21. d6 Qa6 22. Qxf7 Ra7 23. Qxg7 Re8 24. Qxf6 {White is four Ps up.}) 20. Qg3 g5 {[%mdl 8192] This saves the P, but loses the game...an unfortunate happening after such a fine defensive effort.} (20... Rxe1 { keeps black in the game after} 21. Rxe1 b3 22. Qxg7 {Black looks to be in serious trouble, but he has a surprising defense.} Ne8 23. Qxf7 Qb4 {and the tables have turned and it's white who who is on the defensive and must choose his moves carefully,} 24. Rxe8+ Bxe8 25. Qf6+ Kc7 26. Qg7+ Bd7 27. d6+ Qxd6 28. Bxa8 bxa2 29. b4 Qf4+ 30. Kb2 a1=Q+ 31. Kxa1 Qc1+ 32. Ka2 Qxc2+ 33. Ka3 Qd3+ 34. Kb2 Qd2+ {draw.}) 21. Qd6 {It's surprising that the Q's immediate return to where it just came from is even stroinger than taling the R.} (21. Rxe8+ Nxe8 22. d6 Bc6 23. Qe5 Bxf3 24. d7 Qxd7 25. Rxd7+ Kxd7 26. Qf5+ Kd6 27. Qxf3) 21... Ng8 {Averbakh wraps thingds up in a forceful manner.} 22. Rxe8+ Kxe8 23. Re1+ Kd8 24. Qf8+ Kc7 25. d6+ Kb6 26. Qxa8 Qxa8 27. Bxa8 {[%mdl 4096] The ending is a routine win for white.} Kc5 28. Bb7 a5 29. Re5+ Kb6 30. Bd5 Nf6 31. Bxf7 Ng4 32. Re7 Kc6 33. Be6 {Black resigned. Both players deserve credit for theor resourceful play. Black lost only because of his mistake at move 20.} 1-0

An Early Keres Game

Felfpost chess set

    In 1942, Nazi Germany was at the pinnacle of its territorial expansion but began to suffer significant setbacks, notably in the Eastern Front with the failed Operation Barbarossa and the disastrous outcome at Stalingrad. 

     In spite of those setbacks German chess was going string and tournaments were used fot propaganda tournaments like the "1942 European Individual Chess Championship that was held in Munich. Of course, it was no such thing because players from enemy countries and Jewish players were excluded. Another prominent tournament that year included Salzburg and German players competed in events in occupied countries. 

     Chess was also popular with the German military and so the Feldpost chess set was introduced to provide entertainment for soldiers. The German military postal service distributed these sets which featured folding boards and flat cardboard pieces. These cheap sets were often combined with checkers. 

    The 1942 European Individual Chess Championship was held in Munich. It was a propaganda effort organized by Ehrhardt Post (1881-1947), a key official in the Nazi German chess federation. 

 Keres’ opponent was Braslav Rabar (1919-1972, 54 years old) who was born in in Zagreb, Yugoslavia. Awarded the IM title in 1952, he played in 13 Yugoslav Championships and won the title in 1950 and shared it in 1954. He is best remembered for designing the opening classification system that was used in the Chess Informant. 

[Event "Munich"] [Site ""] [Date "1942.09.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Paul Keres"] [Black "Braslav Rabar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C90"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "1942.??.??"] {C88: Closed Ruy Lopez} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. a4 {Rather unusual. 9.d3 is more common. At the time it was an unexplored move and Keres no doubt played it for surprise vale against his less experienced opponent.9 . . .} Rb8 {Black has two better moves: 9...Bg4 and 9...b4. While the move played is not bad, Alekhine considered it a positional error that allows white to obtain a dominate position/} 10. axb5 axb5 11. d4 {This is the dominanting position Alekhine was referring to because now white threatens to win a piece and obliges blavk to exchange which opens up dangerous lines if attack.} exd4 {It's interesting to note that while Alekhine believed white has a dominating position engines evaluate the position as equal. However, in practice white wins the overwhelming majority (+25 -9 =6) in my database.} (11... Kh8 {This is a pass to show the threat Alekhine was referring to.} 12. d5 {and the N has nowhere to go.}) 12. cxd4 Bg4 {This is almost always played, but black would do better to challenge white's center directly with 12...d5} (12... d5 13. e5 Ne4 14. Nc3 Nxc3 15. bxc3 Bf5 { with equal paly.}) 13. Nc3 Qd7 (13... b4 {is nowhere as good as it might look!} 14. Nd5 Bxf3 15. gxf3 {and white is much better. Fiedorek,M (2303)-Kuderinov,K (2404) chess.com INT 2022}) 14. Be3 (14. d5 {is equally good, but Keres prefers an open position.} Bxf3 15. gxf3 Ne5 16. f4 Qh3 17. Re3 {White is slightly better. Volokitin,A (2634)-Votava,J (2529) Austria AUT 2019}) 14... Bd8 {If white plays d5 he wants to be able to play ...Ne7} 15. Qd3 {A real GM concept! He permots ...Bxf3 which gives white the two Bs and the semi-open g-file on which he can hope to conduct operations. The enginbe way is 15.d5} Bxf3 {It's [oor judgment to allow white the aforementioned advantages without receiving anything un return.} (15... Nb4 16. Qf1 Re8 17. Ng5 Bh5 18. f3 { Kindermann,S (2495)-Ljubarskij,J (2305) Hamburg 1993, Now with 18...d5! black would have equalized.}) 16. gxf3 Ne7 {This makes it possible to transfer the the N to the K0side for defensive purposes and it's good strategy.} 17. Kh1 Ng6 {This is consistent, but he could have better delayed it with the aggressive 17...Qh3} (17... Qh3 {forces white to defend the P in f3.} 18. Qe2 {Now black has time to get some play on the Q-side.} b4 19. Nb1 c5 {with equal chances.}) 18. Rg1 Nh5 {Alekhine observed that black is not playing for an attack here, but rather he is trying to defend against the "growing pressure in the cemter. " However, once agin, he missed the ebst defense with 18...Qh3} (18... Qh3 19. Rg3 Qc8 20. Rag1 c5 {White is beeter, but at least black has some play.}) 19. Qf1 Kh8 {Alekhine was crtical of this move whic he said only wastes time. Both Stockfish and Komodo like though.} 20. Ne2 c6 (20... f5 {This attempt to challenge white's center loses to} 21. Qh3 Nh4 22. Bg5 {wins a piece.}) 21. f4 {This start if a gane winning attack.} d5 22. f5 Nh4 23. f3 {The immediate 23. Qh3 was even stringer.} Qe8 24. Nf4 Nf6 25. Qh3 {The B has nowhere to go. Technically black is lost, but Rabar comes up with a clever sacrifice that while not sufficient to save the game was certainly worth trying.} Nxe4 26. fxe4 Qxe4+ 27. Ng2 Nxf5 {This gives black 3 Ps for a B, but in this position it's not enough compensation to save the game.} (27... Bf6 {would have enabled him to hold out a longer. For example} 28. Raf1 Rbe8 29. Rf4 Qd3 30. Bc2 Qxc2 31. Nxh4 Qe2 32. Bc1 Qh5 {White has a small materia; advantage, but there is no forced win and so he still has a lot of work to do.}) 28. Bf4 Rb7 29. Rae1 Qxd4 30. Qxf5 Qxb2 31. Be5 Qxb3 32. Re3 {Black resigned. The addition of the R to the attack spells the end.} (32. Re3 Qc4 33. Bxg7+ Kg8 34. Bf6 Bxf6 35. Nf4+ Bg7 36. Rxg7+ Kxg7 37. Rg3+ {mate next move.}) 1-0

Stefano Rosselli del Turco

 

    In the crosstable in the previous post you will norice that the last place finisher, del Turco scored only one point, scoring +0 -15 =2. His draws were with the third place finisher, Vidmar, and the eleventh place finisher, Treybal. Such a result may give the impression that del Turco was a poor player. But that does not seem to be the case. Chessmetrics estimates his highest rating to have been 2533 on the May 1912 rating list which put him at #44 in world...nit bad. 

    Stefano Rosselli del Turco (1877-1947) was an Italian player, writer and publisher. Born in Florence, He was a member of the famous Rosselli del Turco noble family. He received the title of National Master in 1900. 

    He won the Italian championship five times and represented Italy in the Chess Olympiad seven times. del Turco participated in the 1928 World Amateur Championship at The Hague (won by Max Euwe) placing 9th-11th with a score of 6-9. In 1911–1916 and 1924–1943, he was the founder and an editor of the Italian chess journal L'Italia Scacchistica. Later in his career he took up correspondence play. He was a strong attacking player with a sharp style and it’s evidence in the following game in which he defeated Richard Reti. Things were even in a modern looking Ruy Lopez and when things got complicated around move 19 Reti got the upper habd, but then he underestimated the strength of del Turco’s counterattack. As a result he ended up falling victim to del Turco’s aggressive play which ended the game with a couple of sharp moves. 

 

[Event "San Remo"] [Site ""] [Date "1911.02.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Richard Reti"] [Black "Stefano del Turco"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C84"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "1911.??.??"] {C90: Closed Ruy Lopez} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 Na5 9. Bc2 c5 10. d4 Qc7 11. Nbd2 O-O 12. Nf1 Bb7 { In this highly analyzed variation the correct move is 12...cxd4. Black's move is not so good because the B is soon shut completely out of the game.} 13. Ng3 g6 {This prevents a possible Nf5, but 13...cxd4 was still his best option.} 14. Bg5 Nc6 15. h3 Ne8 {This was his last chance to play ...dxc4. Instead, de; Tirco's plan is to reposition his pieces for K-side play.} 16. d5 Nd8 17. Bh6 Ng7 18. Re3 (18. h4 {and white has the initiative with play on both sides of the board.} Bc8 19. h5 a5 20. Qe2 Rb8 21. a4 {with the better game.}) 18... f6 19. Nh4 Bc8 {This allows Reti to get a promising position with attacking chances. A better defense was 19...Nf7} (19... Nf7 20. Bxg7 Kxg7 21. Qg4 Ng5 22. Nhf5+ Kh8 (22... gxf5 23. Nxf5+ Kh8 24. h4 Rg8 25. hxg5 Rxg5 26. Qf3 { Whiye is better.}) 23. Nxe7 Qxe7 {with equal chances.}) 20. Bxg7 (20. Ngf5 { was better.} gxf5 21. Rg3 Rf7 22. exf5 {followed by Qh5 with a strong attack.}) 20... Kxg7 21. Ngf5+ Bxf5 (21... gxf5 {loses quickly.} 22. Rg3+ Kh8 23. exf5 Nf7 (23... Rg8 24. Ng6+ hxg6 25. fxg6 {wins}) 24. Ng6+ hxg6 25. fxg6 {White is winning.}) 22. exf5 g5 {Keeping the K-side closed.} 23. Nf3 Rh8 24. a4 { With the K0side closed Reti turns his attention to the other side.} Nf7 25. Qe2 Qb7 26. Bd3 c4 27. Bc2 Bd8 28. Nd2 h5 29. Qf3 {Reti has underestimated the strength of black's coming counterattack on the K-side ior he would have played 29.h4} (29. h4 g4 (29... gxh4 30. Rh3 Ng5 31. Rxh4 Qxd5 32. Be4 Nxe4 33. Nxe4 {with much the better of it.}) 30. Ne4 {with fully equal chances.}) 29... Bb6 30. Ree1 Rag8 31. Qe4 {White's inaccurate assessment of the situation has allowed del Turco to get a very dangerous counterattak. The change of events seems to have left Reti nonplussed.} g4 {[%mdl 2560] Keeping White busy.} 32. hxg4 {[%mdl 8192] This leads to a sudden and complete collapse of white's game. } (32. Qe2 {is his best try. After} Qxd5 33. axb5 axb5 34. Be4 Qc5 35. b4 cxb3 36. Nxb3 Qxc3 37. Ra6 Qxb3 38. Rxb6 {with approximate equality.}) 32... Ng5 33. Qe2 hxg4 34. Nf1 Kf8 35. Ng3 Qh7 36. Qxg4 {del Turco now finishes up with a couple of sharp tactical blows.} Nf3+ {[%mdl 512]} 37. Qxf3 Rxg3 {[%mdl 512] White resigned.} 0-1

Mistake in Judgment Results In Quick Loss

    In 1938, probably the most terrifying event in the Unites States happened on April 30th when 34-year old Elizabeth Coleman died. She was the first African-American woman and first Native American to hold a pilot’s license which she received in 1921. 

    She was in Jacksonville, Florida and had recently purchased a plane known as a Jenny in Dallas, Texas. Her mechanic and publicity agent, 24-year-old William Wills, flew the plane from Dallas in preparation for an airshow and had to make three forced landings along the way. 

    As a result, Coleman's friends and family implored her not to fly it, but she insisted. On a practice flight for a planned parachute jump the next day, Wills was piloting the plane and at 3,000 feet Coleman, who was unharnessed, was probably looking over the side to examine the terrain. 

    At that point the plane unexpectedly went into a spin and Coleman fell out and plunged to her death. Wills was unable to recover from the spin and was killed when the plane hit the ground. It was discovered that a wrench used to service the plane had been accidentally left behind and it had jammed the controls. I have had a private pilot’s license for many years and can tell you that the spin recovery training was the worst part of the training. Seeing nothing but ground in the windshield and violently spinning was terrifying...for me anyway. Also in 1926, Edgard Colle of Belgium died at the age of 34 after a surgery for a gastric ulcer.

 

 

    In this game Vidmar made an error in judgment when he removed his well placed N from the center, apparently with the idea of launching a K-side attack, and Spielmann quickly took advantage of it. The game was played in the tournament in the Semmering, Austria. It was organized by Ossip Bernstein and contained some of the best players of the day.

 

[Event "Semmering"] [Site ""] [Date "1926.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Rudolf Spielmann"] [Black "Milan Vidmar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C29"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "37"] [EventDate "1926.??.??"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "17"] [EventCountry "AUT"] [Source "ChessBase"] {C29: Vienna Game: 2...Nf6 3 f4} 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 {Popular in the 1800s, the Vienna fell into disuse until 1939 when American master Weaver Adams claimed that ot led to a forced win for white. It diesn't, of course.} Nf6 3. f4 d5 { This dynamic move isn't played very often, but it's black's best chance.} 4. fxe5 Nxe4 {This N is something of a problem for white. It's well placed and simply excahnging it is not very aggressive and so would be anathema to Spielmann. Instead he tries to gain time.} 5. Nf3 Bb4 6. Qe2 Bxc3 {Helping to preserve his N on e4.} 7. bxc3 {Capturing with the other P is also acceptable.} O-O 8. Qe3 Nc6 9. Bd3 f5 {This attempt to gain play on the K-side is where Vidmar starts to fo wrong.} (9... Re8 {picks up a P temporarily and the chances would be quite equal after} 10. O-O Nxe5 11. Nxe5 Rxe5 12. c4 d4 13. Qf4 Qe7 14. Ba3 c5 15. Bxe4 Rxe4 16. Bxc5) 10. O-O f4 11. Qe2 {[%mdl 2048]} Ng5 {This is not as bad as some annotators in the past have suggested. 11...Bf5 developing a piece and supporting the well placed N was suggested, but that move favors white. Based on the further course of the game it appears that Vidmar's intention was to conduct a K-side attack. If that was the case he has totally misjudged the position and all he succeeds in doing is weakening his own K's position..} (11... Bf5 12. Ba3 Re8 13. c4 {Undermining the N.} Nxe5 14. Nxe5 Rxe5 15. Rxf4 {White has good play}) 12. Ba3 Nxf3+ {[%mdl 8192] If this, followed by the advance of Ps on the K-side, was Vidmar's reason for playing 11...Ng5 it represents very poor judgment because after this his position is lost.} (12... Re8 {Once again this is the correct move after which the chances remain fairly even.} 13. h3 Be6 14. Rab1 Rb8) 13. Qxf3 Rf7 14. Rae1 {Before undertaking any action Spielmann gets all his pieces ready; especially note the position of his Bs drawing a bead on black's K.} g5 {Whether played with the intention of guarding the f-Pawn or intending to get some play with ...g4 this leads to a quick debacle, vut his position is beyond saving mo matter what he plays.} 15. e6 Rg7 16. Qh5 Ne7 {Preventing white from advancing the e-Pawn.} 17. Bc5 {And now Bd4 would win.} Nc6 {The N goes back with a loss of time, but he could hardly allow Bd4} 18. e7 {[%mdl 512]} Nxe7 19. Bxe7 { Black resigned. Mate by Qe8 cannot be prevented.} 1-0