Stepping Back in Time

    In the early 800s a lot of chess stars, few of whom are familiar to modern players, arrived on the scene. Players in England like J. K. Sarratt, William Lewis and John Cochrane are not well known today. The one exception is probably Captain W. D. Evans who discovered his gambit in 1824, the same year in which the London vs. Edinburgh postal match was played, giving us the name Scotch Game.  Alexander MacDonnell and the great Howard Staun came to prominence a bit later.. 

    In France, the leading players were Alexander Deschapelles; Pierre de Saint-Amant (who captained the victorious French team in the 1831 postal match with London that gave us the French Defense) and Louis De La Bourdonnais. 

    Many other notable players also arose in Europe including Johann Allgaier, Paul Von Bilguer whose famous Handbuch was published in 1843, Ludwig Bledow who started the magazine Schachzeitung, Bernard Horwitz, Tassilo von der Lasa and Carl Mayet.Other noted masters of the period were Alexander Petrov, Lionel Kieseritzky, Carl Hamppe, Jozsef Szen and Johamm Lowenthal. 

    In 1843 Staunton established himself as the brst player in Europe by defeating Saint-Amant in a match. Staunton's Chessplayers Handbook, published in 1847, became the leading English book on the game. This book, along with the German Handbuch, established the names we now use for most openings. 

    The year 1851 stands out as the beginning of a new age because it was in the year that the first international tournament was held in London. Sixteen players took part in the main tournament, a knockut event. Adolph Anderssen of Berlin took first prize.

    The following is an early example that was played in Paris in 1821. Louis De Labourdonnais (1795-1840)was born on the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean. He learned chess in 1814 and began to take the game seriously in 1818, regularly playing at the Cafe de la Regence in Paris. He was forced to earn his living as a professional chess player after squandering his fortune on ill-advised land deals. 

    John Cochrane (1798 -1878) was a Scottish lawyer. After a long Royal Navy tour of duty in India, he returned to the Cochran began studying law and became a very strong player and published a book on the game.While studying law, he became a very strong player and beat everyone except Howard Staunton, 

 

[Event "Paris"] [Site ""] [Date "1821.??.??"] [Round ""] [White "Louis De Labourdonnais"] [Black "John Cochrane"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C37"] [Annotator "HP"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "1821.??.??"] [EventType "game"] [EventRounds "1"] [EventCountry "FRA"] {C37: King's Gambit Accepted} 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 {[%mdl 32] This is now known as the Classical Variation. Black threatens ...g4, or else to consolidate with ...Bg7 and ...h6.} 4. Bc4 {Today the main continuation is 4.h4.} g4 {Now white usually plays the sharp Muzio Gambit by playing 5.O-O} 5. Ne5 {This, the Salvio Gambit, is considered better for black due to the insecurity of white's King.} Qh4+ {Besides this black has other choices. He cam play safely with 6...Nh6 (Silberschmidt Variation), or counter-sacrifice with 6...f3 (Cochrane Gambit) or 6...Nc6 (Viennese Variation).} 6. Kf1 f3 {The best move is 6...Nc6 although 6...Nf3 is the most popular. However, black's choice is hardly bad.} 7. g3 {This move already gives black a decisive advantage!} (7. Bxf7+ {would at least give white a fighting chance./} Ke7 8. Bb3 Nc6 9. d4 Nxe5 10. dxe5 {Black is beyter, but white is still in the game.}) 7... Qh3+ 8. Kf2 {This leads to a complete debacle.} (8. Ke1 Nc6 9. Bxf7+ Kd8 10. Nxc6+ bxc6 11. d3 {leaves him with a lost position, but it's still better that what he gets in the game.}) 8... Qg2+ 9. Ke3 Bh6+ 10. Kd3 d5 {Simpler was 10...Nc6} 11. Bxd5 Na6 (11... Nf6 {was much better.} 12. Bxf7+ Ke7 13. Bc4 Rd8+ 14. Kc3 Qf2 {and white is doomed.,,there is no answer to the threatened ...Qd4_}) 12. c3 c6 {Rather pointless. Developing another piece with 12...Nf6 was better.} 13. Bxf7+ Ke7 {This is the best place for the K.} 14. Bb3 Nc5+ 15. Kc2 Nxe4 16. Qf1 Bf5 17. Qxg2 {The game is over. The trade of Qs brings white no relief. Black's pieces swarm all over white's K/} Nf2+ $2 {This hiccup puts white back in the game} (17... fxg2 {leaves black very much better after} 18. Re1 Kf6 19. d3 Nf2 20. Na3 Rd8) 18. d3 fxg2 {[%mdl 128]} 19. Rg1 Rd8 {White now follows the logical course...he exchanges pieces and eliminates the g-Pawn, but the best defense was defending the d-Pawn,} 20. Bxh6 $2 (20. Bc4 $3 Kf6 21. Rxg2 Kxe5 22. Rxf2 b5 23. Na3 $3 bxc4 24. Nxc4+ Ke6 25. Bxh6 Nxh6 26. Re1+ {White has stopped the attack and gotten his pieces into play. Black is left with a small material advantahe of a B for two Ps/}) 20... Nxh6 21. Rxg2 Nxd3 22. Nxd3 Bxd3+ 23. Kc1 Rhf8 24. Nd2 {Prevents ...Rf1+.} Nf5 25. Bd1 Ne3 26. Rg1 Bf1 27. b3 (27. Rxf1 Rxf1 28. Nxf1 Rxd1#) 27... Rf2 28. Rxf1 Nxf1 29. Nxf1 Rxd1+ 30. Kxd1 Rxf1+ {White resigned.} 0-1

Other Engines Close, But Stockfish Still #1

    The Chess Engines Diary site has a recent interesting post giving the results of a 28-engine tournament. As expected, Stockfish was the winner, but only because of its results against the lower scoring engines; the higher standing engines held it to draws. 

    The CCLR rating results show that while several engines are close, none of them have proven superior to Stockfish. 

    It’s unfortunate the Swordfish engine was not included in the tournament. Swordfish is a Stockfish derivative that the developer says can be useful for analyzing sharp positions where Stockfish can overlook some tactics. As I reported back in May, in order to test Swordfish, I participated in a quad correspondence tournament that included one ICCF Master. 

    Where possible I played gambit openings to test its ability to find hidden tactics that Stockfish may have missed. Of course, the assumption was that my opponents were using Stockfish. Swordfish did not find any hidden resources and, in fact, in many cases its moves matched those of Stockfish. 

    A couple of years ago I also tested the highly rated Berserk engine in correspondence play because of its tactical ability and the possibility that it might find some hidden resources in gambit openings. It didn’t and by move 20 my opponent was starting to register a slight advantage of 1/4 to 1/3 of a Pawn and my feeling was that Berserk was starting to lose control, so it was time to switch to Stockfish. The game was drawn in 27 moves. 

    Even though the claim is made that some engines are better than Stockfish in some areas I have not found that to bet he case. That said, let me hasten to add that I am only a casual user and have not done extensive testing. My procedure has been to let the engine run 15 minutes to maybe 3 hours on 10 core. If the evaluation of more than one move was close then they were all examined. 

    The conclusion is that for correspondence play where engine use is permitted, Stockfish is still the absolute strongest.

A World Championship Match...Are You Kidding?!

    Aside from Bobby Fischer himself, nobody took his 1992 match with Boris Spassky seriously and it certainly was not for the World Championship, its billing notwithstanding. 

    One of the world’s top players at the time, Yasser Seirawan, was of the opinion that Fischer's playing strength was "somewhere in the top ten in the world.  Gary Kasparov stated that Fischer’s play was “OK” and probably in the 2600-2650 range and a match between him and Fischer wouldn’t be close. Spassky’s rating at the time was only 2560 which tied for 96th–102nd on the FIDE rating list. 

    The match was played from September to November, 1992 in Sveti Stefan and Belgrade, Yugoslavia and Fischer won 10–5 with 15 draws 

    After defeating Spassky for the World Championship in1972, Fischer was supposed to defend his title in 1975 against the winner of the 1974 Candidates Tournament, Anatoly Karpov. However, Fischer didn’t like the format and ended up forfeiting his title. 

    Personally, I thought he was afraid to play Karpov. The late National Master James R. Schroeder wrote, “Because he (Fischer) had achieved his one goal in life, he could not play any more serious chess because he might lose. It’s amazing that a person who was irrational to the point of being insane could be one of the best players of all time.“ I would not agree with the bombastic Schroeder when he also wrote, “Because of severe life-time mental illness it would have been best if Fischer had died after becoming world champion, as he had no other reason to live.”  Fischer died on January 17, 2008, at the age of 64.

    By the time of the first Karpov-Kasparov match in 1984, chess seemed to have advanced beyond Fischer. He insisted that the games were prearranged and fixed by the Soviets and that computers were used. Clearly he did not understand computers either because at that time chess computers were playing at the 2100-2200 level at best. 

    In the 1992 match there was no one game that everybody agreed was “best”, but the first game comes close.

[Event "Match"] [Site "Sveti Stefan / Belgrade"] [Date "1992.09.02"] [Round "1"] [White "Robert Fischer"] [Black "Boris Spassky"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C95"] [Annotator "Stockfish 18"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "1992.09.02"] {C95: Ruy Lopez: Breyer Variation} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 {What will Fischer play? He revived the Exchanges Variation 4.Bxc6 in 1966 and played it once against Spassky in their 1972 match.} 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 {Will Spassky play the Marshall Attack (8...d5)? It's good for a draw at best which is what he got the one time he played it against Fischer in a previous game.} d6 9. h3 {White could play 9.d4 at once. but prefers not to allow black to undermine white's center with ...Bg4} Nb8 {The Breyer Defense. It looks strange to undevelop a piece, but black wants to free his c-Pawn and deploy the N om d7 to defend the strong point at e5.} 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8 13. Nf1 Bf8 14. Ng3 g6 15. Bg5 {This is just a gesture. His real prospects are on the Q-side and so usual is 15.a4} h6 16. Bd2 Bg7 17. a4 c5 18. d5 c4 19. b4 Nh7 {This is a major mistake because after this black is doomed to passivity. Correct was 19.... cxb3!} (19... cxb3 20. Bxb3 Nc5 21. c4 Qd7 {Ponomariov,R (2700)-Gyimesi,Z (2602) Moscow Aeroflot Open 2005. The players soon agreed to a draw.}) 20. Be3 h5 21. Qd2 Rf8 {Intending to play ...f5 at some point.} 22. Ra3 Ndf6 23. Rea1 Qd7 {An interesting position. Black has played passively, but doesn't have any real weaknesses, but this move which aims at contesting the a-file is a poor one. The B on b7 would be better repositioned on d7 at some point.} 24. R1a2 {This makes room for the Q on a1.} Rfc8 25. Qc1 Bf8 26. Qa1 Qe8 27. Nf1 Be7 28. N1d2 Kg7 29. Nb1 Nxe4 {Tired of waiting, Spassky makes an attenpt at breaking free in what is probably his best practical choice.} 30. Bxe4 f5 {The long awaited P break...remember 21...Rf8} 31. Bc2 Bxd5 32. axb5 axb5 33. Ra7 {Fischer's control of the 7th rank pretty much assures him of victory.} Kf6 {It's hard o visualize now, but this leaves his K exposed to a devastating attack.} (33... Rcb8 {All black can really do here is shift pieces and wait.} 34. Nbd2 Rxa7 35. Rxa7 Rb7 {White has a N vs. 2Ps, but at least black has challenged his contro; of the 7th rank. Even so, hos position is lost.}) 34. Nbd2 $18 Rxa7 35. Rxa7 Ra8 {Fischer concludes the game in brillaint fashion.} 36. g4 $3 {Ripping apart the K's position.} hxg4 37. hxg4 Rxa7 38. Qxa7 f4 {Hoping to blockade the K-side. It doesn't work, but them neither would anything else.} 39. Bxf4 (39. Bb6 {is the Stockfish way.} Qa8 40. g5+ Ke6 41. Qxa8 Bxa8 42. Bxg6 Nxg5 43. Nxg5+ Bxg5 44. Be8 {with a won ending, but that would be no fun.}) 39... exf4 (39... Bxf3 {is no better.} 40. Nxf3 exf4 41. Qd4+ Kf7 42. Qxf4+ Kg8 43. Qh6 Bf8 44. Bxg6 Qe1+ 45. Nxe1 Bxh6 46. Be8 d5 47. Bxb5 {White wins the ending in spite of Bs of opposite color.}) 40. Nh4 {[%mdl 32] To quote Larry Evans, "A wonderful follow-up to an inspired sacrifice."} Bf7 41. Qd4+ $1 Ke6 (41... Kg5 42. Qg7 Bf8 43. Nhf3+ Kxg4 44. Qxh7 {mates in 4 at most.} Qe1+ 45. Kg2 Qg1+ 46. Kxg1 Bh6 47. Qxh6 g5 48. Nh2#) 42. Nf5 {Again, to quote Larry Evans, "A flash of the old genius."} Bf8 43. Qxf4 Kd7 44. Nd4 $1 {[%mdl 2048] The brilliant moves keep coming.} Qe1+ 45. Kg2 $1 Bd5+ 46. Be4 {White is clearly winning.} Bxe4+ {Spassky's play has had a touch of cunning...if Fischer does not play the only correct move Spassky will have equalized!} 47. Nxe4 {Found it!} (47. Qxe4 Qxe4+ 48. Nxe4 Bg7 {Black has fully equalized.}) 47... Be7 48. Nxb5 Nf8 49. Nbxd6 $3 {To quote Fritz, " Excellent horsemanship."} Ne6 (49... Bxd6 50. Qxd6+ Ke8 51. Qe5+ Kd8 52. Qd6+ Ke8 53. Qb8+ Kd7 54. Nf6+ Kc6 55. b5+ Kc5 56. Qxf8+ {etc.}) 50. Qe5 {Black resigned.} (50. Qe5 Nf4+ 51. Qxf4 Qe2 52. Nc5+ Kc6 53. Nde4 Bxc5 54. Nxc5 {White has a huge material advantage.}) 1-0

An Amazing Finish by Blackburne

 

    To some early players Wilhelm Steinitz was known as the man who destroyed brilliancy in chess. But, that’s not true because his influence on the game did not destroy tactical chess, it just eliminated the idea that sacrifices should be made simply for the reason of making sacrifices. They should, at least, be sound. 

    In fact, Steinitz himself was a brilliant player. At first Steinitz was a disciple of the attacking school, but he became obsessed with stamping out dashing, but careless play. 

    One of Steinitz’ rivals was Joseph Blackburne (1841-19234). According to Chessmetrics his highest ever rating was 2748 in 1886, ranking him #2 in the world behind Sreinitz (2809). Blackburne’s play was aggressive and tactical and filled with sacrifices and fierce King hunts. 

    He became known as the Black Death after his brilliant performance at the 1873 Vienna tournament. His style and dominance was evidenced in the following game which culminates in a Queen sacrifice, played in Berlin in 1881. 

 

 

[Event "Berlin"] [Site ""] [Date "1881.09.16"] [Round "?"] [White "Joseph H, Blackburne"] [Black "Jacques Schwarz"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C01"] [Annotator "Stockfish 18"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "1881.08.29"] { C01: French: Exchange Variation} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 {It's a bit surprising that Blackburne would choose the unassuming Exchange Varoation bercause the position becomes simpler and often a bit drawish, bit not in thisd game.} exd5 4. Nc3 {[%mdl 32]} Nf6 5. Nf3 Bd6 6. Bd3 c6 7. O-O O-O 8. Ne2 Bg4 (8... Re8 9. Bf4 Bg4 10. Ne5 Bh5 11. f3 Bg6 {is equal. Subhayan,K (2349)-Ghosh,D (2568) DINI International 2024 Colombo SRI}) 9. Ng3 Qc7 (9... Nbd7 10. h3 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 Re8 {White is slightly better.} 12. Nf5) 10. Be3 (10. h3 Be6 11. Ng5 Re8 12. Nh5 Nbd7 13. Re1 {White stands well.}) 10... Nbd7 11. Qd2 Rfe8 12. Rae1 {Blackburne has played the opening passively and as a result black has actually gotten the possibility of a promising attack on white's K.} Ne4 13. Qc1 (13. Bxe4 dxe4 {does not look very promising for white either.} 14. Nh4) 13... Bxf3 14. gxf3 Nxg3 15. hxg3 Bxg3 16. Kg2 (16. fxg3 Qxg3+ 17. Kh1 Qh3+ 18. Kg1 Ne5 19. Bf4 (19. Be2 Qg3+ 20. Kh1 Ng4 21. fxg4 Rxe3 {and black wins.}) 19... Nxf3+ {is unappetizing for white.}) 16... Bd6 17. Rh1 {Appearances to the contrary, white's attack can be successfully dealt with leaving black with the advantage.} Nf8 18. Rh3 g6 19. Reh1 Rad8 20. Bg5 Rd7 {Black has succeeded in picking up a P and defending himself against a white K-side attacj and so has every right to be satisfied with his position.} 21. c4 dxc4 (21... f6 {looks like only a move an engine would play. After 22.Bd2 Rf7 black stands better. But not...} 22. Bxf6 Ne6 23. Bxg6 hxg6 24. Rh8+ Kf7 25. Qh6 Rxh8 26. Qxh8 Bf8 {The key defensive move; black's K ,akes its getaway.} 27. Be5 (27. Rh7+ Ke8) 27... Qd8 28. Rh7+ Ke8 {White has no followup and black is winning.}) 22. Bxc4 h5 {[%mdl 8192] This fatally weakens the K-side. Correct was 23,,,b5 followed by ...c5 with the idea od shutting white's B out of the game.} 23. Rh4 {Missing his chance. Both sides are making some serious mistake here, but the complications are enormous and for a human unfathomable!} (23. Bf6 Nh7 24. Qh6 Nxf6 25. Qxg6+ {and white is winning. For example...} Kf8 26. Qxf6 Be5 27. dxe5 Qxe5 28. Qxe5 Rxe5 29. Rxh5 Rxh5 30. Rxh5 {White is a piece up.}) 23... b5 {[%mdl 8192]} (23... Nh7 24. Rxh5 gxh5 25. Rxh5 Be5 $3 26. dxe5 Qxe5 27. Qe3 Qxe3 28. Bxe3 Nf6 {White has 2Bs vs a R; a very, very difficult position to assess, but engines give black a significant advantage.}) 24. Bb3 (24. Rxh5 $3 {wins.} gxh5 25. Bf6 Nh7 26. Rxh5 {Black is lost. The best line is} Re6 27. Qg5+ Kf8 28. Qg7+ Ke8 29. Rxh7 Rde7 30. Bxe6 fxe6 31. Bxe7 Qxe7 32. Qg6+ {and wins.}) 24... Ne6 {Incredibly even though it might look like white is winning the position is now equal!} 25. Bf6 {White threatens Qh6 and mate.} (25. Rxh5 {doesn’t work.} gxh5 26. Rxh5 Bf8 27. Bf6 Bg7 {gums up the works for white and black is left with a won position.}) 25... Nf4+ {[%mdl 8192] The final error. He had to eliminate the B on f6. Blackburne now finished with an incredible problem-like move.} (25... Be7 26. Bxe7 Rexe7 27. Qh6 Qb8 28. Bxe6 Rxe6 29. Rg4 Rd5 30. Rxh5 Rxh5 31. Qxh5 Qd8 {and a draw outcome would not be surprising.}) 26. Qxf4 $3 {[%mdl 512]} Bxf4 {Do tou see the mate in 5?} 27. Rxh5 $3 {[%mdl 576] There is a back rank mate.} gxh5 28. Rxh5 {Black resigned.} (28. Rxh5 Bh6 29. Rxh6 Qg3+ 30. Kxg3 {mate next move.}) 1-0

Coburg 1904

    In 1904 the bi-annual Congresses of the German Chess Federation was held in Coburg, a city located on the Itz river in central Germany and this one was an exciting event with a shocking finish. 

    Rudolf Swiderski, known as a highly eccentric and Hypermodern pioneer, had the greatest success of his career. He was leading in the later rounds, but suffered a breakdown and lost to a tailender in the penultimate round, allowing Schlechter and von Bardeleben to catch him. Rudolph Swiderski (1878-1909, 31years old) was an odd person. Writing in My Fifty Years of Chess, Frank Marshall said, "Of all the chess masters I ever met, 

    Swiderski was the most weird…(he) was a peculiar fellow. He made very few friends, had a gentle but melancholy disposition, was a fine violinist, ate raw meat, committed suicide…” 

    Swiderski took his own life in August 1909. The German chess magazine Deutsche Schachzeitung reported that he had suffered from an illness for which surgery seemed to have been possible; however, instead, he committed suicide shortly after his 31st birthday. Other reports suggested that his suicide was linked to possible legal proceedings involving an allegation of perjury. 

 

    Walter John (1879-1844, 65 years old) was an amateur player of Master strength who only played sporadically. In 1908, John moved from Barmen to Aschersleben, to work as a pharmacist. John was associated with the Nazi 'Kraft durch Freude' (Strength Through Joy) state leisure organization. The organization was created to control workers' free time, boost productivity and build public support. 

 

[Event "Coburg (Meisterturnier)"] [Site ""] [Date "1904.07.30"] [Round "12"] [White "Walter John"] [Black "Rudolf Swiderski"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D02"] [Annotator "Stockfish 18"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "1904.07.18"] {Dutch Defense} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 Nd7 4. Bd3 f5 5. b3 Qf6 6. Bb2 Bd6 7. Ba3 {To be expected was 7.c4, but white has chosen the strategy of exchanging off his bad B for black's bad one.} Bxa3 8. Nxa3 {Enfines inform us that white is slightly better here, but his N is offside and he appears to have few attacking chances.} c6 {Against Nb5} 9. O-O Nh6 {An odd place to put the N, but it was played 90 years later by a GM. 8...e5 was a good choice.} (9... e5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Qxe5 12. c4 {with equal chances.}) 10. c4 O-O (10... b6 11. cxd5 exd5 12. b4 Bb7 13. Qe2 a5 14. b5 c5 {with equal chances. Schulz,K (2420)-Knaak,R (2530) Germany 1994}) 11. Qc2 Ng4 (11... g5 {was a better way to commence an attack.} 12. Rac1 Kh8 13. Nb1 {The N is useless on a3 and needs to find a better position.} g4 14. Ne1 f4 {if white can manage to defens carefully he has a solid position.}) 12. h3 Nh6 {Has 11...Ng4 induced white to weaken his K's position? Not reallt; black has just a few pieces available with which to conduct an attack.} 13. Qc3 g5 {Sharp play! The chances remain equal, but obviously white must use caution.} 14. Ne5 {[%mdl 2048] White is up to the task!} g4 15. f4 Kh8 {Evidently preparing to open the g-file and place a R on it, but it's a move too slow and it is with this move that Swiderski's downhill slide begins.} (15... gxh3 {is the right way.} 16. gxh3 Nxe5 17. dxe5 Qh4 18. Rf3 {and now} Kh8 19. cxd5 Rg8+ 20. Kf1 Ng4 {A double-edged position with equal chances.}) 16. hxg4 $1 fxg4 17. g3 $1 {Putting an end to black's hopes of an attack and now it's white's turn to commence an attack on the h-file.} Nf5 18. Kf2 ({Stronger than} 18. Nxg4 Qg7 19. Bxf5 exf5 {and black still has an attack on the g-file.}) 18... Nxe5 19. dxe5 Qe7 20. Nc2 {At long last this N is going to find employment. It says something for white's position that he has time to reposition this N with impunity.} Bd7 21. Rh1 Kg8 22. Rh2 Rad8 23. Rah1 Rf7 {Black can't do much except shift his pieces around.} 24. Bxf5 exf5 25. c5 b6 26. b4 {[%mdl 32]} Rc8 27. Nd4 {Joining the attack' white has a decisive advantage.} bxc5 28. bxc5 Be8 29. Rh6 Qf8 30. Nxf5 $1 {[%mdl 512] Crushing. Black could take the N, but it would not help.} Rb8 (30... Rxf5 31. Rxh7 Bg6 32. Rh8+) 31. e6 $1 {[%cal Oh6g6] Rg6+! would kill now.} Rfb7 32. e4 {Even more potent wpuld have been 32.Rf6 when black loses his Q and gets mated.} d4 33. Qxd4 Rd8 34. e7 Rxe7 35. Qxd8 Rd7 36. Qg5+ Kh8 37. Qf6+ {Black resigned. An impressive display of very precise play by the amateur John!} (37. Qf6+ Qxf6 38. Rxf6 Kg8 39. Nd6 Bg6 40. f5 {and mate is looming.}) 1-0

Vladimir Simagin’s Last Tournament

    Kislovodsk is a spa city in the North Caucasus region of Russia which is located between the Black and Caspian Seas. The tournament that was held there in 1968 was marred by the premature death at the age of 49 of Sovier GM Vladimir Simagin (1919-1968) when he had to withdraw due to illness and died of a heart attack.

    GM Lubomir Kavalek told the story of how on the night of August 21, 1968 his wife met Simagin pacing back and forth in the lobby of a hotel in Polanica Zdroj, repeating, ”Stupid people, stupid people, stupid people.” Simagin explained to her that Soviet tanks had invaded Czechoslovakia over night. 

    Kavalek described Simagin as a philosopher who believed that violence has no place in our lives and it is best to leave it on the chessboard as was evidenced bu his bold and imaginative style and his tactical ability. In this game he defeats the Yugoslav player Milorad Knezzevic (1936-2005, 68 years old) who was awarded ther GM title in 1976. In this In this game jis passive play lead a winning attack by Simagin. 

 

 

[Event "Kislovodsk"] [Site ""] [Date "1968.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Milorad Knezevic"] [Black "Vladimir Simagin"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A03"] [Annotator "Stockfish 18"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "1968.??.??"] {A03: Bird's Opening} 1. g3 d5 2. f4 {Transposing into the ancient Bird, but a variation that resembles the Dutch Defense reversed where black plays 2...d6. In practical play there are few draws.} g6 (2... h5 {Is an adventurous try.} 3. Bg2 (3. Nf3 h4 4. Bg2 (4. Nxh4 {leaves white lost after} e5 5. fxe5 (5. Nf3) 5... Rxh4 6. gxh4 Qxh4#) 4... Nc6 {Black is better.}) 3... h4 {White has a number of reasonable moves.}) 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. d3 Nc6 5. Bg2 {Now you would expect either 5...Nf6 or 5...e5, not Simagin's pecular repley.} Nh6 {Not really bad, but the N is destined to remain here for a long time.} 6. c3 {/} O-O 7. O-O Qd6 8. Kh1 {The reason for this passive mive us not clear.} (8. e4 dxe4 9. dxe4 Qc5+ 10. Kh1 Rd8 11. Qe2 Be6 12. Na3 a6 13. Be3 Qh5 14. e5 {with equal chances. Szymczak,R (2102)-Alvarado,C (2203) Warsaw 2011}) 8... Bg4 9. Na3 {The N does not have much of a future here. A strike in the center with eother 8,d4 or 9.e4 would have been better.} Qd7 10. e4 Rad8 11. exd5 Qxd5 12. d4 {[%mdl 32]} Qh5 $1 {[%cal Og7d4]} 13. Qb3 Na5 14. Qb5 Rd5 15. Qe2 c5 $1 {[%mdl 2048] Black has the initiative.} 16. dxc5 Nc6 17. Qf2 Rfd8 {White should now try to bring his offside N into play with 18.Nc2. Instead...} 18. Nh4 $2 {Simagin is not interested in regaining his P with 18...Rxc5. Instead, he begins an ivasion of white's position.} Rd3 (18... Bf6 {was even stronger. White's best option would be tp allow the weakening of his K-side with ...Bxh4 and get the N on a3 into play with 19.Nc2, but he must avoid taking the R...or should he?! The resulting position os something only ann engine could fathom!} 19. Bxd5 Rxd5 20. Ng2 {which allowa black a crushing attack.} Bf5 {Giving the N access to g4.} 21. Nc4 Ng4 22. Qg1 Rd3 23. Nce3 Nd4 {Black's pieces are swarming!} 24. cxd4 Bxd4 {White has no useful moves.} 25. a4 Be4 26. Ra3 {Exchanges offer no relief.} Rxa3 27. bxa3 Qh3 28. Re1 Bf3 29. Rf1 Bc6 {White is a whole r up, but is dead lost. The main engine line runs} 30. Re1 a5 31. Re2 Kf8 32. Rc2 h6 33. Re2 f6 34. Ra2 f5 35. Rb2 Nxe3 36. Bxe3 Bxb2 37. Qf2 Bxa3 38. Kg1 Qg4 39. Qf1 Bb2 40. Ne1 Qd1 41. Nd3 Qb3 42. Qe2 Bf6 43. Ne5 Bxe5 44. fxe5 g5 45. e6 Qxe6 46. Qd3 Bxa4 {Black is winning.}) 19. Be3 $2 {[%mdl 8192] Again, his best try was getting the N into play with 19,Nc2} Bf6 20. Nf3 Bh3 21. Bxh3 Qxh3 22. Bd4 $2 {This loses quickly. Again 22,Nc2 was his best defense.} Bxd4 23. cxd4 Nxd4 24. Ne5 Ng4 25. Nxg4 Qxg4 26. Nc4 {Ne5 is the strong threat.} f6 27. Ne3 Qe6 28. Rfe1 Qc6+ 29. Qg2 Qxg2+ 30. Kxg2 {The exchange of Qs has not lessened the attack.} Rd2+ 31. Kh3 Nf3 32. Nf1 Ng1+ 33. Kh4 R2d5 34. Nd2 Rh5+ {White resigned. It's mate next move} 0-1

A Fischer vs Geller Encounter

    Yefim Geller (1925-1998) was born in Odessa, Ukraine and died in Moscow. From the end of the Second World War until the early 1970s Geller was among the elite group who missed out on the world championship despite the fact that he was undoubtedly among the world's top ten players for over 20 years. 

    Take a look at his record against the world's leading players: Mikhail Botvinnik (+4 -1 =7), David Bronstein (+5 -4 =12), Tigran Petrosian, (+5 -3 =32), Vasily Smyslov (+11 -8 =37). 

    Against Mikhail Tal his record was +6 -6 =23.The only players against whom he did not fare well were Viktor Korchnoi (minus 5), Boris Spassky (minus 4) and Lajos Portisch (minus 2). Among his most interesting encounters were those against Bobby Fischer. Geller scored 5 wins, three losses and only two were drawn. 

    At Skopje, 1967, Fischer lost his third game in a row to Geller prompting Yugoslav GM Bojan Kurajica to write that Fischer just couldn't play against Geller. Yugoslav, GM and journalist Dr. Petar Trifunovic opined that Geller was in no way inferior to Fischer when it came to opening preparation and Fischer chose to play sharp opening variations because he was always playing to win. 

    In this game Fischer succeeded in outplaying Geller in the opening, but his play was tactically flawed and Geller, who was a superb tactician, was quick to take advantage of it. 

    Fischer had just recently come out of hiding and Skopje was an important warm-up for his participation in the Sousse Interzonal later in the year. As it turned out, Sousse was to become famous because of the Fischer Affair. 

    The tournament schedule was modified to fit Fischer and Reshevsky's religious obligations. After a dispute with the organizers over scheduling Fischer walked out while he was leading. 

    After nine rounds at Skopje he was tied for first with Russia’s Ratmir Kholmov. It was at that point Fischer once again revealed himself to be the loathsome snot face he really was. He announced he would withdraw from the tournament unless the chess sets were vhanges and the spectators were removed from further rounds. 

    The organizers could not meet the second demand so Fischer forfeited his tenth round game against Yugoslav master Milorad Knezevic who then showed he was quite a sportsman when he didn't want to accept a free point and allowed the game to be re-scheduled. After that, Fischer found his form and went on to finish first by a half point ahead of Geller and Milan Matulovic. 

 

A Brilliant Attack by Smyslov

    Over the years I have published quite a few of Smyslov’s games, but unfortunately many of them are no longer viewable because they were published on now defunct web sites. 

    Smyslov’s games are very instructive and there is much to be learned from them. Studying Smyslov’s games is valuable because they teach piece harmony, positional precision and endgame mastery. By playing over his games you will learn how to improve piece coordination and convert minor advantages. 

    Smyslov played, as it has been said, “like a dance, prioritizing active piece coordination.” Along with his positional play and endgame artistry we also see flashed of tactical genius. 

    The following game against Kotov may not be perfect, but it was still brilliant. Brilliancies don’t just happen; they come about as a result of methodical planning andcareful preparation. In the following game Smyslov plays a great game. One that is impressive from beginning to end. It starts in the opening with an innovation thay gave him a slight advantage which he then parlayed into a powerful attacking position. Je then finished up with a pleasing sacrifice.

 

[Event "Moscow Championship 1943/44"] [Site ""] [Date "1943.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Vasily Smyslov"] [Black "Alexander Kotov"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B25"] [Annotator "Stockfish 18/Reuben Fine"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "1943.12.??"] [Source ""] [SourceVersion ""] [SourceVersionDate ""] [SourceQuality "1"] {B25: Closed Sicilian: 3 g3, lines without early Be3} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 {The Closed Sicilian has never been especially popular, but it was a favorite of Smyslov and in this game he had what at the time were considered improvements in mind.} Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 {This is the standard reply, but Reuben Fine recommended 5...e6 which would likelt just transpose.} 6. Nf3 {At the time the customary plan for white was to prepare a K-side attack with 6.Nge2 then h3 and g4 while black counterattacked on the Q-side. Smyslov's 6.Nf3 was a novelty; his plan is still a K-side attack, but first he conducts operations in the center. Nowadays white usually plays 6.Be3} e6 {The main point to white's last move was that 6....Nd4 is not good.} (6... Nd4 7. Nxd4 cxd4 8. Ne2 Bg4 9. O-O Nf6 10. c3 dxc3 11. bxc3 {wiyh a slight advantage/}) (6... e5 {While this blocks the B it has the advantage of shutting down white's operations in the center.} 7. Nd2 Nf6 8. O-O O-O {with equal chances.}) 7. Bg5 (7. O-O Rb8 8. Bg5 Qc7 9. Qd2 b5 10. a4 b4 {Black's position is more active. Gauche,C (2229)-Zini,J (2082) Florianopolis BRA 2015}) 7... Nge7 8. Qd2 h6 {Castling at once would be too risky because of Bh6 and the advance of the h-Pawn.} (8... Nd4 9. h4 h6 10. Be3 e5 11. Nh2 Be6 12. f4 h5 {with equal chances. Norwood,D (2515)-Hulak,K (2560) Marseille 1990}) 9. Be3 {Threatening 10.d4} e5 {Preventing d4} (9... Nd4 {ps the main alternative. After} 10. O-O Rb8 11. Ne1 b5 12. Nd1 b4 13. c3 bxc3 14. bxc3 Ndc6 {the chances are equal. Krasnov,S (2295)-Baikov,V (2470) Moscow 1996}) 10. O-O Be6 11. Ne1 Qd7 {...Nd4 was still a viable alternative.} 12. a3 {The main alternative was 12.Nd5. Reuben Fine called 12.a3 ingenious. He e explained that although it is not actually put to use for 25 moves, the main purpose is a potential Q-side attack. The threat never actually materializes, but threat forces black to change his plans. e.g. castling Q-side is out.} Bh3 {Fine did not like this move claiming that it nerely clears the way for white to cinduct his attack and an attempted break in the centeer would have served him better. Bas advice! After the text the position is equal.} (12... d5 {is, however, quite unsatisfactory.} 13. Bxc5 dxe4 14. Bxe7 Kxe7 15. Nxe4 {and black does not have sufficient compensation for the P.}) (12... Nd4 $1 {This is still his best move, After} 13. Rb1 b5 14. Ne2 Nxe2+ 15. Qxe2 O-O {with full equality.}) 13. f4 $6 {Engines don't like this move, but practically speaking it is a good try because in order to take advantahe of it black will have to play like one! Engines want to commence play on the Q-side with 13.Rb1} Nd4 {This is no longer effective.} (13... exf4 14. gxf4 O-O-O {Black's K is safe and he may even claim a slight advantage.}) 14. Rb1 {Fine explains that the purpose of this move is todefend the b-Pawn after potential exchanges that open the long diagonal, plus there is a potential for the advance of the b-Pawn. Equally good were either 14,Bxh3 or 14,fxe5} exf4 15. Bxf4 Bxg2 16. Qxg2 {Fine made the observation that white must capture with the Q because the prevention of ...d5 is more important than anything else. Here is the problem with pre-engine analysis. The annotations were often cursory and every move of the winner was praised and every move of the loser criticized. In fact, after 16.Qxg2 black gas the opportunity to gain the advantage.} (16. Nxg2 {and now after 16...o-o-o the chances would be equal, but not} d5 17. exd5 Nxd5 18. Rbe1+ Ne6 19. Nxd5 Qxd5 20. Ne3 Qd7 21. Nc4 {White is better because black's K is in a precarious position.}) 16... O-O 17. g4 {A safer move would have been 17.Nf3, but Smyslov's idea is to restrict black's K-side Ps.} Rad8 18. Kh1 Ne6 {Even better would have been the more active 18...b5.} 19. Bd2 d5 20. Nf3 d4 {This opens the door for white to begin a K-side attack. The blopckadong 20...g5! was much sager.} 21. Ne2 {[%mdl 32] Joining the attack.} Nc6 {Engines claim that after 21...f6 black is equal, but the analysis is so obscure that it is doubtful humans would ever play it.} 22. Qh3 $1 {Watchj white's attack develop!} Kh7 23. Ng3 $1 f6 {A better defense was 23...Rh8. After the text Smyslov now opens up lines foe attack.} (23... Rh8 24. Nf5 Kg8 25. Nxh6+ {White is better after} Bxh6 26. Bxh6 c4 27. Qh4 Qd6 28. g5 {but black can hope to defend himself.}) 24. Nf5 $1 gxf5 {This loses quickly.} (24... g5 {makes it harder for white to break through.} 25. Rf2 Rh8 26. Re1 b6 {White is better, but there is no clear path to victory.}) 25. gxf5 Nc7 26. Rg1 {[%mdl 32]} Ne8 {Black's position has completely collapsed.} 27. Rg6 (27. Rg4 {was even better.} Rh8 28. Bxh6 {This leads to an amazing finish.} Bxh6 {Black could avoid what's coming with 28...Kg8, but he would still lose.} 29. Qxh6+ Kxh6 30. Rbg1 Ng7 31. Rh4+ Nh5 32. Rg6+ Kh7 33. Rxh5#) 27... Rf7 (27... Rh8 {was a bit better, but after} 28. Bxh6 Kg8 29. Qg4 {black's position isd still hopeless.}) 28. Rbg1 Kg8 29. Rxh6 Kf8 30. Rh7 Ke7 {It may appear that black's K has found safty as it is surrounfed by all his pwn pieces.} 31. Qh5 {The threat is Bh6} Kd6 32. Bf4+ Ne5 33. Bxe5+ fxe5 {A problem-like finish.} 34. f6 Nxf6 35. Qxe5+ Kc6 36. Rhxg7 {[%mdl 512]} Kb5 37. Nxd4+ $1 {[%mdl 512]} Kb6 {He can't capture the N because the Q has to guars the R.} 38. b4 {[%mdl 32]} Rc8 39. Rxf7 Qxf7 40. Qd6+ Rc6 41. Nxc6 Nxe4 $3 {Proving the point that the game is not over until it's over!} 42. bxc5+ {Black resigned.} ({Not} 42. dxe4 $4 Qf3+ {draws.}) 1-0

Interesting Fritz 17 Crash

    After finally purchasing a new laptop last month it took some time to get used to Windows 11. After a lot of tinkering, things like color schemes and especially font sizes were finally made to look “normal.” 

    Then there was the problem of which chess programs to keep and which ones were no longer needed. The decision was made not to keep Fritz 20, not because there were any problems writh it, but because it’s so bloated when it comes to storage space because of all the features it offers, most of which I never use. 

    Fritz 19 is excellent, but it has a couple of annoying features when it comes to publishing games on the Blog. It’s an easy fix when pasting the games into the HTML page on Blogger, but it’s still a bit annoying. Also, Fritz 19 has a lot of training and playing features I don’t use. 

    Fritz 17 takes up a bit less storage space and it doesn’t have the copy and paste issue that Fritz 19 has, so simply because of that reason the decision was made to go with Fritz 17.  However, there turned out to be a problem with the Tactical Analysis that I had never encountered before. 

    On the old laptop I had 4 cores and did Infinite Analysis and Tactical Analysis using 2 cores and there was never a problem, With the new laptop IA works fine on 10 cores, but when doing a Tactical Analysis it crashes. 

    I discovered that users of Fritz 17 reported similar crashes. The program can freeze or close on its own after running for a few minutes. This happens on high core processors because of technical reasons which I don’t really understand, but using 10 cores for Tactical Analysis just doesn’t work! The solution is simple, just do the Tactical Analysis using fewer cores. The truth is, the output between using 4 cores and 10 cores is of little practical value.

An Easy Win for Fischer

    A 15-year-old Bobby Fischer dominated the 1958/59 US Championship that was held in New York City and in the process played some remarkable games including a win over Samuel Reshevsky. 

    In US Championships Fischer had already pulled off his “Game of the Century” against Donald Byrne and in this event his game with Reshevsky was the attention grabber. 

    This game was different though because it was less Fischer’s brilliant play and more Reshevsky’s blunderfest in the opening. Openings were never Reshevsky’s strong suit. I remember Pal Benko writing about the time he was working with Reshevsky and in the mornings they worked on Reshevsky's openings. After a lunch break they returned to their studies and Reshevsjy had already forgotten what they had covered that morning. 

    Fischer was up on all the latest opening analysis in this game.. Later Reshevsly claimed he had seen it, but forgot about it. Maybe he had seen it, but his statement just confirmed what Benko was to observe 20 years later! 

 

 

[Event "19558/59 USChampionship,, New York"] [Site ""] [Date "1958.12.??"] [Round "6"] [White "Bobby Fischer"] [Black "Samuel Reshevsky"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B35"] [WhiteElo "2636"] [BlackElo "2693"] [Annotator "Stockfish 18"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "1958.12.??"] [Source ""] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2016.04.26"] [SourceQuality "1"] { B35: Sicilian: Accelerated Dragon} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 {At the time Reshevsky was experimenting with the Dragom. As soon becomes clear, he was not totally familiar with it.} 5. Be3 Bg7 6. Nc3 {Fischer had no interest in playing the Maroczy Bind (5...c4).} Nf6 7. Bc4 {At the time this was Fischer's trademark move and today it is the most common.} O-O 8. Bb3 {At the time this move was being heavily analyzed. The Fischer-Pa nno gamr in the 1958 Interzonal went 8.f3 Qb6 and then Fischer took an hour and a half (!) before playing 9.Bb3.} Na5 $2 {In a sensational case of chess blindness Reshevsky thought for several minutes before making this losing move. With it he walks into a nifty, but for a GM of his caliber, simple trap. Analysis in several chess magazines has warned readers about the trap. Black should play either 8...d5 or 8...Re8} 9. e5 Ne8 {This is also a very poor move.move. It's possible that Reshevsky was not ye t aware that he had blundered because otherwise he woulf have tried 9...Nxb3 which is the lesser evil.} (9... Nxb3 {this at least prevents the sacrifice on f7, but after} 10. exf6 Nxa1 11. fxg7 Re8 (11... Kxg7 12. Qd2 Kg8 13. O-O {white is winning, but he still has some wotk to do.}) 12. f4 {Here, too, white has a decisive advantage, but the win is hardly forced.}) 10. Bxf7+ {[%mdl 512] White is clearly winning. Either way black captures the B leads to a lost position.} Kxf7 (10... Rxf7 11. Ne6 {Black still loses the Q.}) 11. Ne6 {[%mdl 512] Thiis trap (including this move) had been published in both Russian and British chess magazines and Fischer as well as several Master spectators were aware of it. Later, Reshevsky told a New York newpaper that he had seen the nalysis, but forgot about it. Black could resign here as engines put him over 7 Pawns down, but apparently to resign after 11 moves was unthinkable, so he played on until adjournment.} dxe6 12. Qxd8 Nc6 13. Qd2 Bxe5 14. O-O {Fifty yeard later this same position was reached on a game between teo strong masters and white played 14.O-O-O and also won.} Nd6 {The trap Reshevsky fell for in this game is still catching people! In 2025 in a tournament in Spain black played 14...b6...and lost.} 15. Bf4 {Exchanges accentuat e white's matcrlal advantage.} Nc4 {Fischer has a Q vs. 2Bs, a technical win, but some technique is still required.} 16. Qe2 Bxf4 17. Qxc4 Kg7 18. Ne4 {[%mdl 32]} Bc7 19. Nc5 Rf6 20. c3 e5 21. Rad1 Nd8 22. Nd7 Rc6 23. Qh4 Re6 {[%mdl 32]} 24. Nc5 Rf6 25. Ne4 Rf4 26. Qxe7+ Rf7 27. Qa3 {Fischer now switches his attention to the -side where he gets his P majority underway.} Nc6 28. Nd6 Bxd6 29. Rxd6 Bf5 30. b4 {[%mdl 32]} Rff8 31. b5 Nd8 32. Rd5 Nf7 33. Rc5 a6 34. b6 Be4 35. Re1 Bc6 {In spite of his material infeiority Reshevsky has been putting up a manly defense.} 36. Rxc6 $1 {This sacrifice of the exchange is the most efficient way to win, White gets a passed P and an easy enging.} bxc6 37. b7 Rab8 38. Qxa6 {The rest is simple.} Nd8 39. Rb1 Rf7 40. h3 Rfxb7 41. Rxb7+ Rxb7 42. Qa8 {Black resigned.} 1-0

Entertaining Video On Reshevsky

Ion Gudju

    Ion Gudju (1897 – 1988) was a Romanian master. He was the son of Hercules Anton Gudju (1846-1920), one of the early promoters of Romanian chess. 

    Ion was a gifted player and promoter of chess in Romania, mainly between 1914 and 1932; in 1914 he founded and edited the first Romanian chess magazine. He represented Romania in the 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad in Paris, where he became one of 15 founders of FIDE. He served as Honorary Vice President of FIDE from 1982 to 1988. 

    He played in Chess Olympiads at The Hague 1928, Hamburg 1930, and Prague 1931. In 1971, he was elected honorary president of the Romanian Chess Federation and was awarded the title of Honored Master of Sports. According to Chessmetrics, Gudju's highest rating was only 2276, but that rating was obtained on a very small number of games. 

    In 1984 at the age of 87, Gudju was invited to the Chess Olympics by the then president, Florencio Campomanes, where he served on the appeals committee, but he did not play any games. 

    As an interesting aside, the book The Story of the Olympic Torch recounts how prior to the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, when the Olympic torch arrived in Romania and was handed off to Dumitru Pyrvulescu Roman, a fly-weight Greco0Roman wrestling gold medallist from 1960, that when it arrived at the Dynamo Stadium in Bucharest filled with 40,000 people inside and thousands more outside, Roman passed the torch off to the 83 year old Gudju who was serving as president of the Romanian Chess Federation who then passed it off to Leon Rotman, a double canoeing gold medalist from 1956. 

    In the real world Gudju held a PhD in Chemistry from the Sorbonne.As promised, here is a nice win of his from the 1924 Olympics. 

 

[Event "Paris Unofficial Olympiad"] [Site ""] [Date "1924.07.??"] [Round ""] [White "Ion Gudju"] [Black "Stanislaw Kohn"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B30"] [Annotator "Stockfish 18"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "1924.??.??"] {B73: Sicilian Dragon: Classical} 1. e4 c5 (1... c6 {This disaster is Gudju's best known game.} 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. Nf3 e6 7. h4 h6 8. Ne5 Bh7 9. Bc4 Nd7 10. Qe2 Ngf6 {Eliminatuing the N on e5 with 10...Nxe5 was an absolute must!} 11. Nxf7 Bb4+ 12. c3 Qa5 13. Qxe6+ Kf8 14. cxb4 Qxb4+ 15. Bd2 {1-0 I, A. Horowitz-Ion Gudju Prague 1931}) 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Be2 {Today 7.Bc4 is far more popular.} O-O 8. O-O d6 9. f4 {This move has mostly been replaced by 9.Nb3.} Ng4 {This move, which forces the trade of white’s B pair isso mewhat inferior to 9...Qb6} 10. Bxg4 Bxd4 {Black is going to feel the absence of his dark squared B.} 11. Bxd4 Bxg4 12. Qd2 Nxd4 {Naturally, with his own dark squared B missing, black wants to trade off white’s.} (12... e5 {is inderior.} 13. Be3 exf4 14. Rxf4 Be6 15. Rd1 {White is better. Zutobradic,T (1732)-Gvozden,N (1951) Belgrade 2025}) 13. Qxd4 Bd7 {Played with the intention of playing ...Bc6 pressuring white’s e-Pawn} 14. f5 ({exf5} 14. Rad1 {[%eval 57,21] [%wdl 72,928,0] [%emt 0:00:02]} Bc6 15. h4 Qb6 16. Qxb6 axb6 17. a3 {is equal. Mitkov,N (2481)-Smirnov,A (2567) chess.com INT 2019 (1)}) 14... f6 {Weakening the K-side in this manner is risky, but not fatal.} (14... Bc6 15. f6 Qb6 16. Qxb6 axb6 17. fxe7 {White has a promising position. Honfi,K-Kluger,G, Budapest 1950}) 15. Rf3 gxf5 {More consistant would have been 15...Bc6, but black gets sidetracked.} 16. exf5 Kh8 17. Re1 {[%mdl 32]} Rg8 {[%mdl 8192] This seems logical, placing the R on the semi-open file. But his e-Pawn is exposed to attack. Watch how Gudju does it; it’s very instructive. His best defense was 17...Rf7 guarding the e-Pawn.} 18. Nd5 Rg7 {Black is weak on the dark squares} 19. Rg3 Rf7 {Just a couple of moves too late} 20. Rxe7 $3 {[%mdl 512] A nasty surprise.} Qa5 (20... Rxe7 21. Qxf6+ Rg7 22. Qxg7#) 21. b4 (21. Rxf7 $4 Qe1#) 21... Qxa2 22. Rxf7 Qb1+ 23. Kf2 {[%mdl 32]} Qxc2+ 24. Ke1 Qb1+ 25. Kd2 Qa2+ 26. Ke3 {[%cal Rd4f6]} Qa3+ 27. Qc3 {Black resigned. White took control after the opening and played very precisely.} 1-0

Meaning of Engine Output Numbers

    Fourteen years ago Steve Lopez did a YouTube review for USCF sales in which he explained what all the numbers associated with the engine output window in Fritz 13 meant. In the process he used the position after 11.dxe6 as his example.  WATCH

    In those days the analysis wasn’t so clear, so I was curious to see what today’s engine analysis would reveal. I used Stockfish 18 running with 10 cores and gave it 30 minutes and got the following results. It seems that either of the moves that come under consideration for black are good and result in equality. 

 

 

Anti-Dutch Defense: Ulvestad Variation

    Yesterday and today we are having an interesting day! Smoke from Canadian wildfires in Ontario, roughly 500 to 700 miles away, have made the days appear cloudy and there is a strong smell of smoke outside. Looking out my back window I can see a haze of smoke across a nearby church’s parking lot. The Environmental Protection Agency has issued an air quality advisory because of very unhealthy to hazardous particle pollution. 

    Recently I was debating whether or not to enter a Lechenicher SchachServer theme tournament in which 1.d4 f5 2.Qd3 was mandatory, but waited too long and the tournament filled up. 

    This line looks fascinating and I had an idea I wanted to try. My database turned up 197 games where white played 2.Qd3 and white’s scored +77 -72 =48, so it’s certainly not a drawing variation! 

    My idea while taking a quick look at it was to play 3.g4?!, but it’s been done before! In my database white has scored +23 -22 =14. In today’s game white used it to defeat the redoubtable Gata Kamsky. It makes me sorry I didn’t get to enter the tournament.

    The move 2.Qd3 is an unusual response often played to throw an opponent’s preparation off. The 365Chess Opening Explorer calls it the Manhattan or Ulvestad Variation.Aside from surprising an opponent the move does have a purpose. It’s immediate aim is to control e4 and discourage black from playing the ...e6 setup. On d3 the Queen also has some potential tactical possibilities because it prepares for a quick Pawn advance to e4, or maybe even a K-side Pawn rush. It delays development though and so allows black several ways to equalize by taking control of the center and developing naturally. 

 

[Event "Karlsruhe Grenke Open"] [Site ""] [Date "2016.03.25"] [Round "?"] [White "Bilel Bellahcene"] [Black "Gata Kamsky"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A80"] [WhiteElo "2461"] [BlackElo "2673"] [Annotator "Stockfish 18"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2016.03.24"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds ""] [EventCountry ""] [Source "] [SourceVersion ""] [SourceVersionDate "2016.04.26"] [SourceQuality ""] {Dutch Defense: Ulvestad Vaiation} 1. d4 f5 2. Qd3 {Black’s main replies are 2...d5, 2... Nf6 (A highly flexible developing move. It attacks the d4 pawn and prepares for castling while keeping options open regarding whether to play ...e6 or ...g6. And 2... e6 (Black cam, if he wishes, set up a Stonewall formation. It’s a solid choice as it restricts white's dark-squared Bishop.} d5 {This immediately contests the center and stops white from playing a quick e4.} 3. g4 {My idea! Unfortunately I was decades too late,} (3. Qg3 {This was another idea. It's never been played begore so perhaps it can be called the Tartajubow Variation. Stockfish analysis runs} c5 4. e3 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Bd2 Nc6 7. Nf3 a6 8. O-O-O {Black is slightly better.}) 3... g6 4. g5 {White has mistakenly played 4.gxf5 in several games. Opening up the position highly favors black.} (4. gxf5 Bxf5 {Black's light squared B is no longer bad and white loses time with his Q.}) 4... e6 5. h4 {White is clearly in an aggressive mood.} Bg7 6. h5 Nc6 {A surprising lapse by Kamsky. Striving for counterplay with 6...c5 was indicated.} 7. Nf3 Qd6 8. a3 {Preventing ...Nb4} Nge7 9. h6 $18 Bf8 10. Rh4 {So as to play Bf4} b6 11. Bf4 Qd7 12. b4 {With things at a standstill on the K-side white now begins operations on the Q-side. For his part, black is reduced to a defensive posture.} a6 13. Nbd2 Bb7 14. Qe3 Rg8 15. Rb1 Nc8 16. c4 dxc4 17. Nxc4 Be7 {A better plan was ...N8e7-d5} 18. Nce5 Nxe5 19. Nxe5 Qa4 20. Qc1 Bd5 21. Bg2 {A miscalculation that allows black to equalize.} (21. Qxc7 {keeps a einning position.} Nd6 22. Rc1 {and black is under tremendous pressure.} Rd8 {defending against Qd7#} 23. Bg2 {Now is the time for this.} Bxg2 24. f3 {The B is shut out making black's extra piece meaningless.} Rc8 25. Qxb6 Rxc1+ 26. Bxc1 Qc2 27. Qc5 Qxc5 28. bxc5 {White has teo Ps for the B and black's pieces are limited in mobility. White's advantage is decisive.}) 21... Bd6 {Missing his chance/} (21... Bxg2) 22. Nd3 $2 Na7 {[%mdl 8192]} (22... Bxg2 {and black equalizes.} 23. f3 Ne7 24. Bxd6 cxd6 25. Qe3 Qd7 26. Nf4 Kf7 27. Kf2 {White regains the piece, but black has consolidated his defense.}) 23. Rh3 {[%mdl 8192] This should have been a losing blunder. One wonders if both players were in time trouble.} (23. Bxd5 {was correct.} exd5 24. Bxd6 cxd6 25. Qc7 Qd7 26. Qxd7+ Kxd7 27. Nf4 Nb5 28. Nxd5 Kc6 29. Ne7+ {wins}) 23... Rb8 {[%mdl 8192] Missing his last opportunity.} (23... Bxg2 {This leaves black with a won position. There may have been a psychological factor at play here...a move that was previously questionable has suddenly become a winning one.} 24. Bxd6 cxd6 25. Re3 Bd5 26. Qc7 Qd7 27. Qxd7+ Kxd7 28. Nf4) 24. Bxd5 {Back on the winning track!} exd5 25. Ne5 Bxe5 26. Bxe5 Rb7 27. Rc3 c6 28. f3 Rf8 29. Qf4 b5 $2 30. Bd6 Rff7 31. Rbc1 Kd8 32. Rc5 {Black resigned.} (32. Rxc6 Nxc6 33. Rxc6 {White has a B+P for a R, but black cannot avpid mate.} Qc2 34. Rxc2 Rbc7 35. Bxc7+ Ke8 36. Bb6 Re7 37. Qd6 Rxe2+ 38. Rxe2+ Kf7 39. Qxd5+ Kf8 40. Bc5#) 1-0

No Captures fo 53 Plies

    Even during WWII chess was being played. The German military command included chess in its Truppenbetreuung (Pastimes for soldiers) program. Master made the rounds of field hospitals or anywhere there were soldiers playing exhibition tournaments and giving simultaneous displays. 

     It’s well known that Alekhine participated in a number of the Nazi sponsored tournaments, but he was not the only one. Among others, Paul Keres also participated in many of them. For his part, his participation was a matter of survival, not politics. His homeland of Estonia had bee repeatedly invaded and occupied, first by the Soviet Union in 1940, then Nazi Germany in 1941, and again by the USSR, so he had to play out of “geographical entrapment” and the need to survive and support his family. 

    Keres relied on chess as his primary source of income and during the German occupation, he published chess columns and played in tournaments in Salzburg, Munich, and Prague. Because of this and because he was Estonian Keres was viewed with deep suspicion by the Soviets after the war. As a result the Soviets restricted his travel and prevented him from playing for the World Championship. 

    The following game from Munich 1942 is unusual un that no captures were made until black played 27...exf4. Keres’ opponent was Ludwig Rerllstab (1904-1983) who was born in Berlin and was awarded the IM title at its inception in 1950 and the International Arbiter title in 1951. Hewas German Champion in 1942.

 

[Event "Munich"] [Site "Munich GER"] [Date "1942.09.19"] [Round "5"] [White "Paul Keres"] [Black "Ludwig Rellstab"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C41"] [Annotator "Stockfish 186.4"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "1942.??.??"] {C41: Philidor Defense} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 {While this defense is solid, it is considered passive, Black does not develop a piece plus the P on d6 hinders the active developing their dark square Bishop.} 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 Nbd7 5. Bc4 Be7 (5... g6 {loses to} 6. Ng5 Nb6 7. Bxf7+) 6. O-O O-O 7. a4 c6 8. Bb3 b6 9. Qe2 (9. Re1 a6 10. Ng5 Bb7 11. f4 exd4 12. Qxd4 d5 {0-1 Rendboe,J (2259)-Neuman,P (2428) Pardubice op-A 2005 (3) Black gas a good game.}) 9... a6 10. d5 (10. Rd1 {was preferable.} Qc7 11. Bg5 Bb7 12. dxe5 dxe5 13. Nh4 {Varnam,L (2050)-Curtis,J (2123) e2e4 Sunningdale Autumn Sunningdale ENG 2011 with equal chances.}) 10... c5 11. h3 {White is better.} Ne8 12. g4 g6 {This creates a slight weakening of black's position, The restraining 12...h6 would have been slightly better.} 13. Bh6 Ng7 14. Kh2 {White has more active pieces.} Nf6 {White must now prevent ...Bxg4!} 15. Rg1 (15. Rab1 {A pass to demonstrate black's threat.} Bxg4 16. hxg4 Nxg4+ 17. Kg2 Nxh6 18. Rh1 Nh5 {Black is up two Ps and has a winning attack.}) 15... Kh8 16. Rg3 Ng8 17. Qd2 Ra7 {It would have been wiser to play 17...Nxh6 eliminating the threat to his dark squares.} 18. Rh1 Bd7 19. Bc4 Be8 20. h4 {Rellstab can't do anything constructive here except try to maintain a solid defense. Keres, on the other hand, will try to build up an attack.} f6 {This further weakens his K-side. Either 20...Nxh6 or a neutral move like 20...Bd7 would have been more appropriate.} 21. Kg2 Bd7 {He should still have played 21...Nxh6} 22. b3 {It may look like Keres is over preparting and instead he could just as well launch K-side operations wothj the advance of the h-Pawn. Technically that may be correct, but if he does black would get counterplay against his g-Pawn, so he decides to wait.} ({Better is} 22. h5 {Hoping for hxg6.} g5 23. Bxg7+ Kxg7 24. Qe2 Qc8 25. Nh2 Nh6 26. Kh3 {Further progress by white will be difficult.}) 22... Rf7 23. Bd3 Bc8 {Again, black unwisely avoids capturing the B on h6.} 24. Ne2 Bf8 25. Be3 {[%mdl 128] Here Keres mounts an attack.} Be7 {Rellstab is unaware of the lurking danger.} (25... h5 {was a must play, Adtef} 26. gxh5 Nxh5 27. Rxg6 Ne7 {and black has managed to equalize.}) 26. Nfg1 {Once again both sides missed the importance of advancing their h-Pawns.} Ne8 27. f4 exf4 $2 {The first exchange in the game and it is a losing one.} (27... f5 {would at least enable him to keep fighting.} 28. exf5 gxf5 29. g5 Bf8 30. h5 h6 {White is clearly better, but black is still in the game.}) 28. Nxf4 $18 Ng7 29. Nf3 Ne8 {There is nothing constructive for black to do so all he can do is shift his pieces around.} 30. g5 fxg5 (30... Ng7 31. h5 Nxh5 32. Nxh5 gxh5 33. g6 Rg7 34. Rxh5 {is hopeless for black.}) 31. hxg5 Kg7 32. Ne6+ Bxe6 33. dxe6 Rxf3 (33... Rf8 34. Rgh3 h5 35. Qc3+ Bf6 36. gxf6+ {is an easy win.}) 34. Rxf3 {Black resigned.} 1-0

Reshevsky Plays Nearly Perfectly...and Loses

Historically 1935 was a year with some far-reaching consequences. In international headlines, the Nazis repudiated the Versailles Treaty and introduced compulsory military service. The Nazis also enacted the Nuremberg Laws against Jews to prevent what they called racial pollution and, at the same time, Heinrich Himmler started a breeding program to produce an Aryan super race. And, Mussolini invaded Ethiopia.

    In the U.S., President Roosevelt opened the second phase of his New Deal calling for Social Security, better housing, equitable taxation, and farm assistance. 

    In the chess world C.J.S. Purdy won the Australian Chess Championship, scoring an amazing 12-1. In the Hungarian championship 18-year old Laszlo Szabo won the first Championship with a score of +10 -1 =6. 

    On January 5, 1935, the Hastings Christmas Congress ended. The Premier section saw a three-way tie between Salo Flohr, Max Euwe, and Sir George Thomas.  Capablanca finished 4th with Botvinnik and Lilienthal tied for 5th-6th place. In the Soviet Union, the GM title was re-created for the benefit of Mikhail Botvinnik. 

    Jackson W. Showalter (born 1859) died on his 76th birthday at his home in Georgetown, Kentucky on February 5, 1935. On March 16, 1935, Aron Nimzovich (born 1886) died of pneumonia in Copenhagen. Soviet Master Ilya Rabinovich (1891-1942) was ordered to lose to Botvinnik (1911-1995), to ensure that Botvinnik would finish first in a tournament in Moscow, but Botvinnik got wind of it and refused to go along and so the plan was aborted. The game was drawn and Botvinnik shared first with Salo Flohr (1908-1983) of Czechoslovakia. Earlier, Flohr had proposed to Botvinnik that they both draw their final game and share first. Apparently Botvinnik had no objection to that arrangement. 

    In August 1935, Agnes Lawson-Stevenson, age 52, was on her way to Warsaw to play for England in the ladies’ world championship. She had arrived at the Posen, Poland airport from Berlin and after completing passport formalities she was rushing back to her plane and walked into the propeller which split her head open, killing her instantaneously. Her widower, Rufus Henry Streatfeild Stevenson, married Vera Menchik in October of 1937. 

    The 6th International Team Tournament was held in Warsaw and was won the USA team (Fine, Marshall, Kupchik, Dake, Horowitz) for the third consecutive time. Alekhine attended the FIDE Congress in Warsaw as part of a commission to make a list of challengers for the next world championship match. Capablanca was first choice, Botvinnik the second. 

    From October 3 to December 15, the world championship match was held in 13 cities in Holland and Euwe defeated Alekhine. After the international tournament at Margate (won by Reshevsky ahead of Capablanca and Thomas), Reshevsky stayed in England to participate in the Major Open which was held at Yarmouth in conjunction with the British Championship. 

    The two notable events of Yarmouth were Menchik's win against Reshevsky and it was the only t me Menchik played Sonja Graf in a mixed gender event. Menchik was not allowed to play in the British Championship because she did not obtain her British citizenship in 1937. In addition to the British Championship (won by William Winter) the British Women's Championship was held as well as a number of other sections which were open to foreign players.

 

Final Standings :

1) Samuel Reshevsky 10.0 

2) Jakob Seitz 8.5 

3) Vera Menchik 7.0 

4-5) Adrian Conde and Sammi Fajarowicz 6.5 

6) Ernst Klein 5.5 

7-8) Sonja Graf and Baruch H. Wood 5.0 

9-10) A.J.G. Butcher and Lodewijk Prins 4.0 

11) V. Ivanoff 2.5 

12) Francis Kitto 1.5 

 

     There was one amusing incident. In the adjourned game between Graf and Fajarowicz the position was incorrectly recorded in the sealed envelope. Neither player not iced the error when the game was resumed and it ended in a draw. 

    In the meantime some spectators had set up the correct position and after their game was finished even Graf and Fajarowicz joined the analysis and it was discovered that it was a dead win for Graf. Under FIDE Rules she could have demanded a replay from the correct position, but she elected to abide by the drawn result because to have replayed it would have been unfair to Fajarowitz who was a major contributor to finding the winning line for Graf. Miss Graf, who lost in the first three rounds and had not been defeated in the next six, did not display the best form against Reshevsky. The latter, adopting the King's Indian defense, succeeded in scoring the game after 31 moves. 

    In the following game Women’s World Champion Ver a Menchik handed Samuel Reshevsky his only defeat when Reshevsky overstepped the time limit. He habitually spent most of his time on the opening and middlegame and often found himself in a hair-raising time scramble, but his incredible skill as a blitz player enabled him to survive, but not this time. As the last seconds ticked off Reshevsky had not made his thirty-sixth move in two hours and his flag fell. Post game analysis showed his position was good enough that he probably could have won, but rnhinr analysis indicated that the position was about equal.