Jesse Stapp In a Controversy

    USCF Master Emeritus Jesse W. Stapp (1900-1974) of Dallas, Texas was primarily active in the Southwest during the mid-1900s. He was a two-time champion of the Southwest Open, winning the title in 1937 and 1943. The Master Emeritus title was awarded to players who had maintained a high level of play over many years prior to the rating system being established. 

    In the 1940 U.S. Open in Dallas, Stapp was involved in an amusing incident concerning what happens if you announce mate, but your flag falls.  The incident occurred in the Preliminary Section III from which today's game iss taken. In the Chess Review article the players’ names were not mention, but in a New York Times article they were identified as Stapp and Harold Burdge. 

    Stapp, following an archaic practice, announced mate in 3, but didn’t punch his clock and his flag fell whereupon Burdge claimed the game on time. However, in what appears to have been a show of sportsmanship, they agreed to a draw. But, then the tournament director intervened and ruled that Burdge was the winner. His reasoning was that the game affected who qualified for the finals. 

 

    When the TD changed the result Burdge qualified while Stapp tied for third with Rev. Howard Ohman. They were to play a one game play-off for a spot in the finals. It appears that an upset Stapp withdrew from the tournament because his name does not appear in the crosstable for either the Consolation or Class A tournaments that were held for the non-qualifiers. Ohman and Burdge? Ohman (2.5-6.5) tied with Prof. Arpad Elo for places 7-8. Burdge finished last with 2 points. 

    The TD was correct in ruling that the time forfeit took precedence over whatever the situation was on the board. But...did he have the right to override the player’s decision to agree to a draw? Or, can their agreement be considered as having “fixed” the result? 

    Stapp’s opponent in this games was Dr. Bella Rosa (1905-1977), a Hungarian born concert pianist, composer and professor of music theory at several southwestern United States universities, bit primarily at the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma. He didn’t learn how to play chess until he was 34 years old, but he won the North Texas Championship in 1940 and in 1942 and 1048 he tied for first in the Southwestern Open. He was a 12-time Oklahoma State Champion, and in 1952 won the Tenth Grand National Correspondence tournament. 

 

[Event "US Open. Prelim 3, Dallas"] [Site "Dallas, TX USA"] [Date "1940.08.21"] [Round "5"] [White "Bela Rozsa"] [Black "Jesse W. Stapp"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B44"] [Annotator "Stockfish 18"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "1940.??.??"] {B44: Sicilian: Taimanov} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e6 {One of the ideas of this, the Taimanov Variation is to develop the B to b4 or c5. Tje most popular line is for white can prevent this by 5.Nb5} 5. Bb5 {Highly unusual, but not bad.} (5. Nb5 d6 {Otherwise white plays Nd6+. White can now choose the Maroczy Bind with 6.c4 oy play 6.Bf4}) 5... Qb6 (5... a6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 Nf6 8. O-O d5 9. e5 Nd7 10. Re1 {with equal chances.}) 6. Bxc6 dxc6 {Recapturing with the other P is equally good.} 7. O-O e5 8. Nf3 Qc7 9. Bd2 f6 {Normally such a move would be frowned upon, but here it strengthens the center and white has no way of taking advantage of the weakened K-side.} 10. Bc3 Be6 {Now a good plan for whiye is 11.Qe2 and 12.Rd1} 11. b3 Bd6 12. Qe2 Ne7 13. Nbd2 Ng6 14. Rfe1 {This serves no purpose. 14.Nc4 hoping to gain the teo Bs was a better idea. Black would simply retreat woth 14...Be7 with appoximate equality.} Qf7 15. Kh1 Bc7 16. a4 Nf4 17. Qf1 {While white has been dawdling Stapp has been getting refy to launch a K-side attack.} g5 18. Ng1 {This prevents ...Bh3} (18. g3 {This attempt to drive out the pesky N is met by} Bh3 19. Qc4 (19. Qg1 {is much, much worse.} Bg2+) 19... Qxc4 20. bxc4 Ne6 {Black is better.}) 18... h5 19. g3 Ng6 20. h3 O-O-O 21. a5 {This is as far as white's Q-side play gets!} f5 {The situation on the K-side is critical for white.} 22. exf5 Qxf5 23. Re3 g4 24. h4 Bd5+ {Rather than grab a P with ... Qxc2 Stapp keeps hammering at the K.} 25. Kh2 Rhf8 26. f3 Qd7 {This is an OK move.} (26... Nxh4 {is a knockout punch.} 27. Bb4 (27. gxh4 Qf4+ 28. Kh1 Qxe3) 27... Qg5 28. Rae1 Nf5 {Keep attacking!} 29. Bxf8 h4 30. Bc5 hxg3+ 31. Kg2 Nh4+ 32. Kh1 Rh8 33. R1e2 Nxf3+ {etc.}) 27. Qe2 gxf3 28. Ndxf3 e4 29. Ng5 Nxh4 30. Nxe4 Nf5 31. Nf6 Rxf6 32. Bxf6 Nxe3 33. Qxe3 {Somehow white seems to have survived the attack and the material is equal, but his position is dead lost because, as Stapp demonstrates, the attack isn't really over!} Re8 34. Qd3 Qg4 35. Ra4 Qe6 36. Bh4 Qe1 {Now it's clear that white's K 1s cornered.} 37. Qf5+ Kb8 {Nate is looming and white has no defense.} 38. Rd4 Re2+ $1 {[%mdl 512]} 39. Nxe2 Qxe2+ 40. Kh3 Qg2# {A mignificent game by Stapp.} 0-1

Impressive Win By Aleksanders Liepnieks

    Here is a game by Aleksanders Liepnieks who was mentioned in a previous post on Tal. He defeats USCF Life Master Walter Cunningham (1943-2010, 66 years old) who was the youngest Master in the country in the late 1950s. He was a psychology Ph.D. and professor at the University of Florida for 30 years. 

 

 

 

 

[Event "US Open, Lincoln, Nebraska"] [Site ""] [Date "1969.08.19"] [Round "?"] [White "Aleksandrs Liepnieks"] [Black "Walter Cunningham"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A46"] [WhiteElo "2051"] [BlackElo "2187"] [Annotator "Stockfish 18"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "1969.08.10"] {E67: King's Indian: Fianchetto Variation} 1. Nf3 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 g6 4. g3 { his is a different animal from the usual K-Ondian. Ny fiachettoing the B white prioritizes K safety and exerts long term pressure on the Q-side and, at the same time neutralizing Black's typical K-side P-storm.} Bg7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nc3 c6 8. d5 cxd5 9. cxd5 Nc5 10. Nd4 Bd7 {Two more common moves are 10...a5 and 10....Qb6} 11. h3 a5 12. a4 Qc8 {The Q is not especially well placed here.} (12... Qb6 13. e3 Ne8 14. Ra3 Nc7 15. Re1 N7a6 16. Bf1 Nb4 { Black is slightly better. Habibi,A (2190)-Mah,K (2170) Budapest HUN 1995}) 13. Kh2 h5 {This results in a loosening of black's K-side that he will soon regret. Better would have been 13...Nh5} 14. Bg5 Re8 15. e4 Nh7 {The N is not very well placed here. A better plan was to attack white's center with 15...e6} 16. Be3 Qd8 17. Rb1 Rb8 18. f4 h4 {This K-side demonstration has no prospects of success, but it's hard to suggest a constructive plan for black as his counterplay on the Q-side has been stifled. 18...e6 is still his best chance.} 19. g4 {This is not bad, but calling black's bluff and opening up lines on the K-side with 19.gxh4 was even better.} Na6 {Much too passive. Again, his best chance is to look for play in the center with either 19...e6 or even 19...e5} 20. Qd2 e5 {A consistant followup to his last move would have been 20...Nc5. Now the N remains stuck out of play on a6.} 21. dxe6 $1 fxe6 22. Ndb5 Bxb5 23. Nxb5 {None of black's pieces are actively placed and his Ps are weak...white gas a decisive advantage. Liepnieks has no trouble demonstarting the win.} e5 24. f5 Re7 (24... gxf5 {is also hopeless.} 25. exf5 Bf6 26. Nxd6 e4 27. Qd5+ Kg7 28. Nxe8+ Qxe8 29. g5 Nxg5 30. Bxg5 Bxg5 31. f6+ Kh6 32. f7 Qf8 33. Qe6+) 25. fxg6 Nf6 26. Qxd6 {Excanging Qs in no way offers relief from the onslaught. } Rd7 (26... Qxd6 27. Nxd6 Ne8 28. Nf5 Rc7 29. Bb6 Rc2 30. Rfc1 Re2 31. Kh1 { Besides being two (s down black is running out of reasonable moves.}) 27. Qe6+ Kh8 28. Bg5 Nc5 29. Qf5 Nxa4 30. Bxf6 Bxf6 {Black has regained a P, but Liepnieks come up with a powerful move.} 31. Rbd1 {[%mdl 512]} Nc5 (31... Rxd1 {allows a mate in 3.} 32. Qh5+ Kg8 33. Qh7+ Kf8 34. Qf7#) 32. Rxd7 Qxd7 33. Qxf6+ {And so white has won a piece. The game is over.} Kg8 34. Qf7+ Qxf7 35. Rxf7 Nd3 36. b3 Nf4 37. Bf1 Nxg6 38. Bc4 Kh8 39. Bd5 Rc8 40. Rc7 Ra8 41. Bxb7 Rf8 42. Rc8 {Black resigned. An extremely well played game by Liepnieks.} 1-0

An Early Tal Game

    Mikail Tal (1936-1992) was World Champion from 1960 to 1961 and in 1961 I purchased a slim book of his games, The Chess Psychologist World Champion Tal. The book’s author was Alexander Liepnieks (1908–1973) a prominent Latvian-American chess author, editor, and organizer known for his contributions to chess literature and his personal connection to World Champion Tal. 

    He is most famous for authoring the aforementioned book on Tal. Liepnieks (pronounced leep-nyecks) was originally from Riga where he served as the editor of a Latvian chess magazine which gave him unique access to Tal's personal game notes. 

    After leaving Latvia, he eventually settled in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he remained a lifelong promoter of the game and active member of the chess community until his death in 1973. 

    Liepnieks was a strong player who participated in major international tournaments, including Carlsbad in 1923 and 1929. He was many times the champion of Lincoln and the state champion in 1954, 1956 and 1961.

    His book on Tal was important because, as he wrote in the introduction, it was the first definitive collection of Tal's best games published in either English or German and at the time he was unaware of any book on Tal in Russian. He noted that he was able to follow Tal's own analyses and comments in Russian and Latvian in his annotations. 

    This game is a bit unusual because it doesn’t have any of Tal’s flashy tactics. Instead, we see him playing solid chess that simply overcame his opponent who appears to have mode no major errors. 

 

[Event "World Student Team Chp, Uppsala"] [Site ""] [Date "1956.04.10"] [Round "?"] [White "Mikhail Tal (USSR)"] [Black "Borislav Ivkov (Yugoslavia)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C97"] [Annotator "Stockfoah 18"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "1956.04.05"] {C97: Closed Ruy Lopez: Chigorin Defense} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 {This is the Strong Point variation. Its main idea is to hold the P at e5 as a strong point. White now has two important continuations: 6. Re1 and 6.Qe2. In practice both are equally good. There is a third continuation that's playablem but a bit risky: 6.Bxc6} 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d6 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. Nbd2 Bd7 13. Nf1 Rfe8 14. Ne3 g6 { So far this has all been theory. Tal's next move has been rarely played. White usually plays 15.dxe5 or 15.Bd2} 15. b4 cxb4 16. cxb4 Nc4 (16... Nc6 {would be wrong because after} 17. Bb2 Rac8 18. Bb3 {white has good development.}) 17. Nxc4 bxc4 {This position has been reached before and white usually playes 18. Bd2, but Tal wants to place his B on c3 and the text is designed to prevent black fron playing ...c3} 18. Re3 Bf8 (18... c3 19. Rb1 Rac8 20. Rb3 {and white is slightly better.}) 19. Bb2 Bh6 (19... Bg7 {is more solid.} 20. d5 a5 21. bxa5 Qxa5 {with approximate equality. Bogdanovic,R-Janosevic,D Sombor 1957} ) 20. Ra3 {Threatening 21.dxe5 dxe5 22.Ra5} Qb7 (20... Kh8 {A pass to show the threat.} 21. dxe5 dxe5 22. Ra5 {Threatening Rc5} Bf8 23. Nxe5 c3 24. Bc1 Rxe5 25. Bf4 Bd6 26. Qd4 Re6 27. e5 {with the advantage.}) 21. dxe5 Qxb4 22. Qd4 { Ivkov likely expected 22.Rb1 which is equally good.} (22. Rb1 dxe5 23. g4 { with the initiative.}) 22... Nh5 {After this black;s game collapses.} (22... Rab8 {keeps him in the game.} 23. Rb1 dxe5 24. Nxe5 c3 25. Qxb4 Rxb4 26. Nxd7 Nxd7 27. Bxc3 Rxb1+ 28. Bxb1 Rc8 29. Bb2 {with equal chances.}) 23. exd6 { A note in the book says the temptation to play 23,e6 would lead to an even game, but the analysis that was given was totally wrong.} (23. e6 {This is whoye's strongest move.} Bg7 24. exf7+ Kxf7 25. Ng5+ {Even 25.Qd5+ as in the note would win.} (25. Qd5+ Ke7 26. Bxg7 Nxg7 {Material is equal, but the far reaching eye of Stockfish gives white a nearly 3 P advantage.}) 25... Kg8 26. Qd5+ Be6 27. Nxe6 Bxb2 28. Nc7+ Kh8 29. Nxe8 Rxe8 30. Ra4 Qb5 31. Rb1 Qxd5 32. exd5 {White is up the exchange.}) 23... Bg7 24. e5 Bc6 {A bit better would have been 24...Nf4} 25. Re3 Bxf3 26. Bc3 {White is clearly winning.} (26. Rxf3 Bxe5 {and it's black who has the advantage, White's best practical chance is to give up the Q.} 27. Rb3 (27. Qxe5 Rxe5 28. Bxe5 Qd2 {The material imbalance R+2Bs vs, Q+N makes for a difficult game for both sides though black must be considered a bit better.}) 27... Qxb3 $17) (26. gxf3 {is playable.} Nf4 27. Bc3 Ne6 28. Qh4 {White is only a P up, but has a winning attack.}) 26... Qb5 27. gxf3 Rad8 28. f4 Re6 29. Rb1 Qc6 {and the idea ...Rexd6 leaves Black hopeful.} 30. Rb6 Qc8 31. Bd1 Bh6 32. Bxh5 gxh5 33. f5 {Black resigned, Playing on would be a waste of time.} (33. f5 h4 34. Rf3 Bg5 35. fxe6 fxe6 36. Qe4 Rd7 37. Qc6 Qxc6 38. Rxc6 Bd8 39. Rxc4 {etc.}) 1-0

Free Fred Reinfeld Books

  

    The Hathi Trust digital library has thousands of book you can download and quite a large number of old chess books, but searchig through them can be a chore. 

    HERE is a list of books authored or edited ans revised by Reinfeld; seven are chess books. Of course they are all in Descriptive Notation. Reinfeld had a reputation for cranking out potboilers, but that was only after he found out they made him more money than writing good books. Actually, some of his earlier books were quite good.

Has Stockfish Solved Chess?

I am not much into playing over engine vs. engine games, but this video from GothamChess is entertaining.

 

Romanas Arlauskas

    Romanas Arlauskas (1917-2009) was a Lithuanian-born Australian Master, best known for his accomplishments in correspondence chess where he earned the ICCF Grandmaster title in 1965 after finishing third in the 4th World Correspondence Championship (1962-1965). 

    Born in Lithuania, Arlauskas grew up during Lithuania's interwar independence period (1918-1940). A self-taught player, he honed his skills during the 1920s and 1930s by studying Master games. At age 19, he represented Lithuania on sixth board in the 1936 unofficial Olympiad in Munich. He tied for first place in the 1943 Lithuanian Championship, before fleeing to the West in 1944 to escape Soviet occupation. 

    As World War II drew to a close in 1944, Arlauskas joined a group of fellow Baltic players in fleeing to western Europe to evade the advancing Soviet forces. Following his escape, Arlauskas found himself in displaced persons camps in Germany. 

    Among his companions were Latvian players Leonids Dreibergs, Lucius Endzelins, and Miervaldis Jursevskis, as well as others including Edmar Mednis, Karlis Ozols, Ortvin Sarapu, Povilas Tautvaisas, Povilas Vaitonis and Elmars Zemgalis. 

    They found refuge in Allied-occupied zones of Germany. Most of then ended up in either Australia or the United States. Arlauskas emigrated to Australia in early 1948 as part of the postwar influx of Baltic refugees. He was drawn to Australia for its opportunities for skilled migrants. 

 

    His opponent in the following game was Paul Troeger (1913-1992) of West Germany. He was a sport journalist and the 1957 West German champion.  

 

Engine Downloads

 

    Over the weekend I spent some time checking out the interesting engine Reckless. At the tine I checked it was tied with Alexandria for place 5-6 on the CCLR 40/15 rating list. Places 1-4 are Stockfish 18, PlentyChess, Torch and Obsidian. 

    Reckless is an open-source engine written in the Rust programming language. It is designed to be highly aggressive and has gained attention for its strong performance in major computer tournaments. In the beginning its estimated rating was fairly low, but newer builds have shown a dramatic increase in strength. 

    While searching for a download I discovered the interesting RWBC (Regensburg WinBoard Circuit) site which is a specialized computer chess website hosted by Gunther Simon that is dedicated to testing and rating engines that run on Windows.

    To quote the site, “You'll find here information about most ever released chess programs running under the above protocols...There are also archived results and games from various old RWBC tournaments...Moreover I have collected all kinds of interesting/useful computer chess links in the link section.” He also offers downloads of opening books. The site is definitely worth a visit. 

    As a test I conducted a tournament with the top engines I have on my laptop. The time limit was 5 minutes plus 2 seconds per move. The results are perhaps a bit surprising because the top rated Stockfish didn’t sweep the tournament. But then again perhaps not. On the CCLR rating list the other top engines have managed to hold their own against Stockfish. 

    Also, I have used a combination of Berserk and Stockfish to play four draws in correspondence games against ICCF International Masters. Because all of these top engines are so close in strength it really matters little which one you use for doing your analysis.

 

 

    In the following game Alexandria comes out of the opening with a slightly inferior position and Reckless keeps up the pressure until Alexandria’s position finally collapses. Reckless’ Rook offer at move 33 is especially nice. 

    Alexandria is another engine that has rapidly climbed the ranks to become one of the strongest open-source engines in the world. It is sometimes described as having a playing style that is less aggressive and more positional compared to engines, like Berserk for example, specifically tuned for tactical aggression.

[Event "Blitz 5 min + 2 sec per move"] [Site "?"] [Date "2026.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Reckless"] [Black "Alexandria"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D17"] [Annotator "Stockfish 18"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2026.02.07"] [EventType "tourn"] [SourceTitle "Fritz Engine Tournament"] [Source "Doe"] {D17: Slav Defense} 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Qc7 7. g3 Nbd7 8. Nxc4 e5 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Bf4 Nfd7 11. Bg2 g5 12. Ne3 gxf4 13. Nxf5 O-O-O 14. Qc2 Ng6 {So far all the opening moves have been main line moves that gave been played by humans. who generally castled K-side, or on occasion Q-side. Stockfish's top choice is 15.O-O which it favors ever so slightly over 15.e3} 15. e3 fxe3 {This is better than taking the g-Pawn because is draws the N back for its aggressive position.} 16. Nxe3 {Black's next move was apparently played with the idea of exchanging the B for the N which does not appear to be a good ideat. A better plan is ...a5, ...Kb8 and ...Bb4 with equal chances.} Bc5 17. O-O $1 Bxe3 18. fxe3 {White's advantage is now at about 3/4 of a P.} Nde5 19. Ne4 h5 {Initiating a K-side with this move is black's best course of action} 20. b4 {Countering on the Q-side.} h4 21. b5 hxg3 22. bxc6 Nxc6 23. hxg3 Rh5 24. Rab1 {Without having made any major errors black's a drifted into an inferior position, but the next move is a mistake that allows white to place the Q aggressively with a gain of time. A better idea for black would be 24...Qe7 preventing white's next nove. Black could the play ...Rd7 countering the doubling of white's Rs on the b-file/} f5 {A tactical mistake that loses a P.} 25. Qe2 {How is it possible that Alexandria missed this?!} Rh6 (25... Rdh8 {Allows a winning attack...at least for an engine.} 26. Rfd1 fxe4 27. Qg4+ Kb8 28. Rd7 Qc8 29. Rbxb7+ Qxb7 30. Rxb7+ Kxb7 31. Qxg6 Kb6 32. Bxe4 R8h6 33. a5+ Kxa5 34. Qg7 Ne5 35. g4 Nxg4 36. Qxg4 { This position is evaluated at about 4.5 Ps in white's favor.}) 26. Rxf5 { Black has no compensation for the P.} Nge5 27. Qf1 Qg7 28. Qf4 Rg6 29. Ng5 { Hoping for Bh3.} Nd3 30. Qg4 {An interesting development. White's pieces are clustered on the K-side and not only is his K defended, but they are poised for an attack on the Q-side.} Rd7 (30... Qd7 {might work better.} 31. Rbb5 Nde5 32. Qe4 Qd1+ 33. Rf1 Rxg5 34. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 35. Kf2 a6 {It's an odd material imbalance. It could present a problem for humans to navigate the complexities of the position, but white has nearly a 4 Pawn advantage and so it's a clear win for an engine.}) 31. Bxc6 {Destroying the K's position.} bxc6 32. Qc4 (32. Rf7 {losing a R.} Qxf7 33. Nxf7 Rxg4) 32... Kd8 {White fininhes up with a few heavy blows/} 33. Rf8+ {[%mdl 512]} Kc7 (33... Qxf8 34. Rb8+ Ke7 35. Qf4 (35. Qe4+ Kd6 36. Qxg6+ {etc.})) 34. Ra8 Rxg5 35. Rxa7+ Kd6 36. Rxd7+ Qxd7 37. Qxd3+ Rd5 38. Qe4 Kc7 39. g4 Qd6 {intending ...Qg3+.} 40. Qh7+ Qd7 41. Qxd7+ { Black resigned. Accuracy: White = 91%, Black = 61%.} 1-0

Serafino Dubois

    Serafino Dubois (1817-899) was an Italian player and chess writer. Dubois was among the strongest players in the world during the 1850s. He was known for his chess writings and his promotion of chess in Italy. 

    Dubois was born in Rome. His early career coincided with a time when the Italian rules of chess differed from those elsewhere in Europe. Italian chess rules in the 1800s differed significantly from the international rules that eventually became standard. The most notable differences involved castling rules and the absence of the en passant Pawn capture. Italian rules allowed the King and Rook to be placed on various combinations of squares, provided the King did not pass through check and no pieces were between them. 

    During the early to mid-1800s there were few tournaments and many players were limited to playing matches which were either staked by themselves or by their patrons. During that time Dubois took part in many matches against the top players of Europe, and it was rare for him to lose, even when he gave odds of Pawn and move. 

    In 1846 he played a number of games against Marmaduke Wyvill, and reports claim that Dubois won 55–26 in no odds games, but lost 39–30 when he gave odds of Pawn and move. 

    His best tournament performance came in London in 1862 where he placed fifth. After the tournament Steinitz challenged Dubois to a match. The future World Champion won 5.5-3.5. 

    Dubois moved to the Netherlands in 1863, and reputedly stayed for about two years. However, he couldn't get used to the climate and returned to Rome. 

    In 1964, in several issues of Chess Life, Bobby Fischer annotated all the games of the Steinitz-Dubois match. Fischer’s emphasis seemed to be more on the play of Steinitz than his opponent’s and the following Dubois win was only lightly annotated. While Fischer’s notes were insightful, Stockfish’s were more precise.

 

Fritz 20's evaluation

  

 

[Event "Match, London"] [Site ""] [Date "1862.07.??"] [Round "5"] [White "Serafino Dubois"] [Black "Wilhelm Steinitz"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C54"] [Annotator "Stockfish 18/Fischer"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "1862.??.??"] {] C54: Giuoco Piano} 1. e4 {Bobby Fischer noted that the players of this era knew something that modern players did not...that 1.d4 does not lead to anything.} e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Bc5 5. c3 {This is neither better nor worse than the more popular 5.Ng5 which has had its theoretical ups and downs since before this game was played!} Nf6 {Steinitz returns the P and in doing so avoids the Scotch Gambit.} (5... dxc3 {and white gets the advantage after} 6. Bxf7+ Kxf7 7. Qd5+ Kf8 8. Qxc5+) 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Bxd2+ 8. Nbxd2 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. O-O (10. Qb3 {This is the usual move because it forces black to ake the pressure off the isolated d-Pawn.} Nce7 (10... Na5 {is equally good. After} 11. Qa4+ Nc6 12. Bb5 {with equal chances.}) 11. O-O O-O 12. Rfe1 c6 13. a4 { with complete equality/}) 10... O-O 11. Re1 Nf4 {My opening book shows black playing 10 different moves here, but this is mot one of them. Steinitz' move adds some pizzaz to the game. Normally black would try to pile up pressure on the d-Pawn, but Steinitz prefers to complicate things.} 12. Ne4 {When annotating this game Bobby Fischer called this move a "lemon" and recommended 12.Re4. After letting Stockfish run om this position for about 30 minutes its top choice was 12.Ne4 while Fischer's 12.Re4 was seconf and evaluated only slightly lower.} Bg4 13. Qd2 {Fischer wrote that this move "looks weak" because it allows black to shatter white's K-side P formation. Nevertheless he claimed that it was white's "only chance to break out of the bind and secure active counterplay." The move gets a ? from Stickfish which now gives black about a P plus advantage, The emgine wants to sit tight with 13.Rc1 or the equally acceptable 13.h3. Two more human-like engines (Lc0 and PlentyChess agree. However, from a practical, human view Fischer is probably correct.} Nh3+ {This looks pretty obvious/} 14. gxh3 Bxf3 15. d5 {This is white's most aggressive contimuation and it appears that Steinitz was not expecting such aggression.} Ne5 16. Qf4 {Another fine move...white wants to get rid of the B which is attacking his light square. Black's best course of action is to first eliminate the well placed N with 16...Bxe4 then the B with 17...Nxc4 after which he would have had a slight advantage.} f6 {Hoping to keep botjh both of his minor pieces where they are.} 17. Bb3 Kh8 18. Re3 {[%mdl 2048] White is more active.} g5 {Steinitz prefers active play, but simply 18...Bxe4 would have been safer.} 19. Qf5 {This is hardly badm but there was a sharper and slightly better move available.} (19. Nxg5 {and black must play accurately to stay equal.} Rg8 20. Rxe5 fxe5 21. Qxe5+ Rg7 22. Qxg7+ Kxg7 23. Ne6+ Kf6 24. Nxd8 Rxd8 25. Rc1 Re8 {So that of 26.Rxc7 Re1#} 26. Kf1 Be2+ 27. Ke1 (27. Kg2 Rg8+ 28. Kh1 Bf3#) 27... Bc4+ 28. Kd2 Bxb3 29. axb3 Re5 {and a draw would be a reasonable outcome.}) 19... Bh5 {Again, missing the best continuation which is, again, ...Bxe4} 20. Nxf6 {Dubois is on the attack, but at least as good, if not a bit better, was 20.Nxg5.} Qxf6 21. Qxe5 Kg7 {Although Steinitz' position is inferior after this catastrophic error it is lost.} (21... a5 22. Rae1 (22. Qxc7 Qxf2+ 23. Kh1 Qxe3) 22... a4 23. Qxf6+ Rxf6 24. Bc2 Ra5 25. Re7 Rf7 { and he is still in the game.}) 22. Qxc7+ Rf7 23. Qe5 Raf8 24. Rf1 Rd7 25. Qxf6+ {Dubois is two Ps up and his endgame technique is sufficient to score the point.} Rxf6 26. Rfe1 Bg6 27. Re7+ Rxe7 28. Rxe7+ Rf7 29. Rxf7+ Kxf7 {[%mdl 4096]} 30. Kg2 Kf6 31. Kg3 Ke5 32. h4 gxh4+ 33. Kxh4 b5 34. Kg3 a5 35. f4+ Kd4 36. d6 Bf5 37. Bd1 {Black resigned. The threat of Bg4 is decisive.} 1-0

Just An Hors d'Oeuvre

    The 1932 Pasadena, California tournament took place in August and the main attraction was World Champion Alexander Alekhine who had traveled 6,000 miles from Europe to participate. 

    It was hoped that Capablanca would play, but Alekhine demanded an extra $2,000 (about $47,000 today)… a demand the organizers couldn’t (or wouldn’t) meet, so Capablanca was out. 

    In the following game, a non-game really, Reuben Fine made a slight slip in the opening when he transposed moves and his Knights got all tangled up. His opponent was the strong California Master Harry Borochow (1898-1993, 95 years old). 

    The opening was an Alekhine’s Defense.  One long time practitioner of the defense is IM and experienced coach Igor Khmelnitsky. He wrote that it’s OK to play the Alekhine if you like the positions you get, but he warned that you must make sure you are well prepared. Fine wasn’t. 

 

[Event "Pasadena"] [Site ""] [Date "1932.08.25"] [Round "?"] [White "Harry Borochow"] [Black "Reuben Fine"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B02"] [Annotator "Stockfish 18"] [PlyCount "21"] [EventDate "1932.08.15"] {B02: Alekhine's Defense: Chase Variation} 1. e4 Nf6 {Play at your own risk!} 2. e5 {Buy far the most popular.} Nd5 3. c4 Nb6 4. d4 {Now after the only good move 4...d6 we can we can expect to see either the Four Pawns Attack (5.f4) or the eqially good 5.exd6} Nc6 {Amazing! By omitting 4...d6 black already has a losing position. There are 18 games in my database in which this move was played and white won 12, blundered away the winning advantage and lost 3 while black escaped with a draw in 3 games.} 5. d5 {This is, by far, the best move. It looks obvious, but in my database only half the players made it.} Nxe5 (5... Nb8 6. c5 {picks up the N.}) (5... Nb4 {At first glance this appeas to work.} 6. c5 N6xd5 7. a3 {and black still loses a N.}) 6. c5 Nbc4 7. f4 {[%mdl 1024]} (7. Qd4 {Even better!} d6 8. Bxc4 Nxc4 9. Qxc4 {Diaz,J-Powalla,K Germany 1995. Black struggled on for a while before giving up.}) 7... e6 {Under the circumstances this is the best he has.} 8. Qd4 Qh4+ {A spite check.} (8... d6 9. fxe5 Nxe5 {and black has two Ps for the N and just to make things look better he could play on. Here's a possible line that was played by Stockfish after a minute or so.} 10. Nc3 exd5 11. Nxd5 c6 12. Ne3 Be6 13. Bd2 Qc7 14. Bc3 O-O-O 15. O-O-O {White is clearly better, but there is no forced win.}) 9. g3 Qh6 {The Q is horriblt misplaced here!} (9... Qh5 10. Be2 Qf5 11. fxe5 Nxe5 { Black is still lost, but has managed to preserve a small measure of dignity.}) 10. Nc3 {Neither N can nove without losing the other one, so white develops a piece.} exd5 11. fxe5 {Black resigned. He could have played on, but why bother? } (11. fxe5 Qc6 12. Qxd5 b5 13. cxb6 Nxb6 14. Qxc6 dxc6 {Black only has a P for his N and his position is hopeless.}) 1-0

The Inscrutable R.N. Coles

    Richard Nevil Coles (1907-1982) was a British amateur player, an outstanding chess historian and author. And yet I could locate no photographs of him and only a few of his games. Also, I could not locate much on his personal life. Coles died on April 2, 1982, at the age of 74 in what was only reported as being the result of a “domestic accident.” 

    He was born in Kingston-on-Thames, a town in southwest London. He was educated at Trinity College Cambridge, where he obtained a B.A. in Classics. After graduating he was employed by Sun Life of Canada as an actuary, and played for the company’s chess club. 

    In 1940, he enlisted in Army and was later commissioned. He served until the end of the war and then returned to the insurance company. In 1944, he started a column in the British Chess Magazine titled One Hundred Years Ago which ran for thirty-seven years. During that period he also authored a number of outstamding chess books. 

 

Stockfish 18 Has Been Released

    It was released on January 31st. According to the site, version 18 is 46 Elo points stronger than the previous version and it’s “stronger than any human even when running on older or low-end hardware.” That’s mine! My old laptop is held together with duct tape and clamps and I use a detached keyboard because the one on the laptop malfunctioned years ago. If you have a high-end laptop then Stockfish will calculate millions of positions per second. Download it from the site HERE

A Steinitz Brilliancy

    In the summer of 1862, the U.S. Congress abolished slavery in the District of Columbia and the federal territories authorized the confiscation of slaves owned by Confederates, formally freed all slaves who escaped to the United States Army, prohibited the Army from returning fugitive slaves, authorized the enlistment of black soldiers. 

    At the same tine in England they were primarily focused on hosting the International Exhibition of 1862 in South Kensington, a major World's Fair showcasing industry. Simultaneously, the nation was heavily impacted by the American Civil War, experiencing a "cotton famine" due to the blockade, while debating potential diplomatic intervention and supplying arms to the Confederacy.

    There was also a major chess tournament held in London. It was the first international round robin. Unlike previous knockout-style events every player faced every other participant. It was also the first major tournament to use time controls in the form sand glasses to limit thinking time (24 moves per 2 hours). Drawn games did not count and had to be replayed until a winner emerged. 

 

 

    Future World Champion, a young Wilhelm Steinitz, made his international debut in this event. He finished 6th and won the brilliancy prize for his victory over Augustus Mongredien. Steinitz is best remembered for forming rules of positional play, but in his youth he was known to be a great attacking player. 

    <6 .bd3=""><6 .ne5=""><8 .be3=""><6 .ne4="">Here is Steinitz’ win over Augustus Mongredien (1807-1888), a noted English amateur. He was President of both the London and Liverpool Chess Clubs and did a lot to promote chess in both cities.

[Event "B.C.A. Grand Tournament, London"] [Site ""] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Wilhelm Steinitz"] [Black "Augustus Mongredien"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B01"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "1862.??.??"] {B01: Scandinavian Defence} 1. e4 d5 {Once upon a time, when I started playing chess, this was known as the Center Counter Defense.} 2. exd5 Qxd5 {The Mieses–Kotrs Variation: Lesser often seen is 2...Nf6} 3. Nc3 Qd8 {This move is sometimes referred to a "the banker.” Black loses a tempo, but in return hopes that the exchange of center Ps has prevented white from building a strong center. Its success rate is about the same as the main alternative 3... Qa5 and 3...Qd6. mome of whicj are very good. In his book, The Scandinavian, John Emms wrote, "3. ... Qd8 looks a little passive, but it does have some positive ideas, including a King side fianchetto and the development of the King's Knight to f5 via h6.} 4. d4 e6 {Black gemerally plays 4...Nf6, or on occasion 4...g6 (Stockfish's top choice). My opening book indicates that 4... e6 is seldom played and gives it a question mark. In practice, ot does not see, to matter much because black scores poorly in all variations.} (4... g6 5. Bf4 Bg7 6. Nf3 Nf6 7. Qd2 {White, who has the more active position, is slightly better.}) 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Bd3 Be7 7. O-O {A good alternative is 7.Bg5} O-O 8. Be3 (8. Qe2 b6 9. Bf4 a6 10. Rad1 Bb7 11. Rfe1 Re8 12. Ne5 {Wgite stands well. Orekhov,V (2263)-Atangulov,R (2146) Kazan 2008}) 8... b6 9. Ne5 (9. Qd2 Bb7 10. Be2 Nbd7 11. a3 Qc8 12. Rad1 {is equal. Dissertori,M-Nizhegorodova,M (2085) Berlin 1995}) 9... Bb7 10. f4 {At this point there is really nothing wrong with this move, but if it is not fp;;pwed u[ correctly white woll find his K's position weakened. 19.Qe2 was solid.} Nbd7 11. Qe2 Nd5 12. Nxd5 exd5 {This blocks the B, so the correct move was 12...Bxd5. After the text white has a distinct advantage/} 13. Rf3 {This R lift as a means of getting the R in position to take part in an attack on black's K is a good maneuver to keep in mind.} f5 14. Rh3 {Hoping for Qh5.} g6 {Preventing Qg5.} (14... c5 {Ti show what happens if white is allowed to get the Q to h5.} 15. Qh5 h6 16. Rg3 { Black has no satisfactory defense.} Bh4 17. Nxd7 Bxg3 18. Nxf8 Qxf8 19. hxg3 { White has win a piece.}) 15. g4 {[%mdl 128] Steinitz is going for the K with an all out attack..} fxg4 {[%mdl 8192] This results in a fatal opening up of his K's position. Eliminating the dagerous N would have goven him a fighting chance.} (15... Nxe5 16. fxe5 f4 17. Bd2 c5 {and black has fended off the worst of the attack and has allowed white no forced win.}) 16. Rxh7 {[%mdl 512] White could have won by capturing the P on g4 with either his Q or N, but this is by far the most elegant way.} Nxe5 (16... Kxh7 17. Qxg4 Nxe5 18. fxe5 Qe8 19. Qh5+ Kg7 20. Qh6+ Kg8 21. Bxg6 Rf7 22. Kh1 Bf8 23. Qh3 {ad white is clearly winning.}) 17. fxe5 Kxh7 {Eliminating the N on e5 has not helped at all.} 18. Qxg4 Rg8 19. Qh5+ Kg7 20. Qh6+ {Now the K hunt begins and there is no place it can hide.} Kf7 21. Qh7+ Ke6 22. Qh3+ Kf7 23. Rf1+ Ke8 24. Qe6 Rg7 25. Bg5 Qd7 {Allows a mate in 4, but he was quite lost anyway.} 26. Bxg6+ Rxg6 27. Qxg6+ Kd8 28. Rf8+ Qe8 29. Qxe8# 1-0

Dr. Erwin Nievergelt

    Erwin Nievergelt (April 29, 1929 - August 4, 2018) was a Swiss IM, mathematician and economist. Born in Zurich, he was one of Switzerland's biggest chess hopes in the 1950s, but his chess career was hindered as a result of his increasingly focusing on his professional career in the fledgling fields of Operations Research and Computer Science. 

    Nievergelt graduated from University of Zurich and in 1956 he defended his thesis Die Rangkorrelation (Rank Correlation) for a Doctor of Philosophy. He worked in the area of business informatics ( a discipline combining information technology, informatics and management concepts) where he developed a system of electronic processing of economic information. 

    From 1967 to 1971 he worked as an outside lecturer at University of Basel. From 1971 to 1994 he was a Professor for information systems and computer science at the University of St. Gallen. He was also involved in computer science and engaged in predicting the exchange rate using artificial neural network and Artificial intelligence. After his retirement, Nievergelt established second and third homes in Italy and Spain where he was a gifted concert pianist. 

    In chess his first notable success was at the 1954 Clare Benedict Tournament in Zurich, when he finished a surprising second behind Lothar Schmid and ahead of Max Euwe. He defeated Schmid and drew with Euwe. All together he played in five Clare Benedict Cups (1957, 1959, 1965-1967). 

    He was co-Champion of Switzerland in 1957. He played for the Swiss national team on two Olympiads: at Amsterdam in 1954 he scored 8-4. Then at Munich, 1958 he scored 6.5-6.5. Nievergelt took part in several strong international chess tournaments. He won the Swiss team championship five times. He founded the Aron Nimzowitsch chess club in Zurich. 

    In 1964, Nievergelt married Marlies Ehrensperger. They had four daughters who were very successful in their own careers: Caroline (biologist), Christine (teacher), Sabine (teacher) and Susanne (business consultant). 

    At the age of 89, Erwin Nievergelt passed away in his adopted country of Spain. The following game was played in Spain in the Benidorm Open in 2002. The event drew almost 300 participants and finished with a "Stars Tournament" that saw 12 players in a round robin with a time limit of 15 minutes plus 10 seconds per move. Judith Polgar and Ruslan Ponomariov tied for first with Polgare winning the playoff.

 

[Event "Benidorm (Spain) Open"] [Site "Benidorm ESP"] [Date "2002.??.??"] [Round "5"] [White "Rafael Simon Sanchez"] [Black "Erwin Nievergelt"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A45"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2002.??.??"] {E12: Queen's Indian} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 b6 3. Nf3 Bb7 4. c4 e6 5. a3 {Petrosian first recommended 4.a3 as a way to defend against the Q-Indian, but it wasn't until Kasparov started playing the Q-Indian that the move became popular. The idea behind this nifty little move is that it prevents the B from coming to b4 which means white's N can go to c3 with impunity. In this game white ignores that and allows black to achieve easy equality.} Be7 6. e3 {Try not to go asleep during the next 20 moves as both sides engage in dull maneuvering.} O-O 7. Bd3 Ne4 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Nbd2 (9. Nc3 f5 10. Qc2 Nxc3 11. Qxc3 d6 12. Be2 Nd7 13. O-O {equals. Fichtner,K (2084)-Jahn,C (2128) Germany 2000}) 9... f5 10. Qc2 {[%cal Rd2e4]} Nxd2 11. Qxd2 d6 12. Be2 Nd7 13. b4 Nf6 14. Rc1 c5 15. Qb2 Rac8 16. O-O Rfe8 17. Rfd1 e5 18. d5 e4 {White's next move is a small t error. He maneuvers the N to f4, but he could have done so with the maneuver Ng5-e6-f4 without weakening his K-side with 20.g3.} 19. Nh4 g6 20. g3 Nd7 21. Ng2 Ne5 22. h4 Qf6 23. Rc2 Rc7 24. Nf4 Bc8 25. Kg2 h6 26. bxc5 Rxc5 27. Rh1 Qf7 {Thus far black can only lay claim to a slight advantage in the form of pressure on white's c-Pawn, but now white begins to drift and allows Nievergelt to utilize the pin on the c-Pawn. White needed to play 28.Rcc1 so that if the c-file gets opened he can challenge black on the file. But not 28.Rhc1 because white is in trouble on the K-side.} 28. Qc1 (28. Rhc1 Rf8 29. Qd4 g5 {Black has all the play.}) 28... Bd7 29. Rc3 {Another inexact move. He needed to get the Q off the c-file so 29.Qd2 was better.} Rec8 30. Rd1 {After this black switches his attention to the Q-side and thereby gains contro; of the whole board. White needed to try 30.a4} b5 {[%mdl 32] Demonstrating the error of white's ways for the past three moves.} 31. Rd4 g5 {This switching of the attack to the K-side isn't really necessary. Black is still better, but white gets an opportunity to defend himself. The straightforward 31...bxc4 would have left white in dire straits.} 32. hxg5 hxg5 {With his next move white misses his best defensive opportunity by not playing a P-sac.} 33. Nh3 (33. Ne6 Bxe6 34. dxe6 Qxe6 35. Qd2 R5c6 36. c5 dxc5 37. Rd5 {Even here white os teo (s down, but at ;east he has some compensation in the activity of his heavy pieces.}) 33... Qg7 34. Ng1 bxc4 {White is practically in Zugzwang.} 35. f3 Nd3 36. Qd2 Qe5 37. Nh3 { Nievergelt now finishes up forcefully.} exf3+ 38. Bxf3 g4 39. Ng5 gxf3+ 40. Nxf3 Qg7 41. Qe2 Bb5 42. Nh4 f4 {Planning his 44th move.} 43. exf4 Re8 44. Re4 {Black's next move is crushing.} Nxf4+ {[%mdl 512] White resigned. The Q is lost.} 0-1

Tartajubow vs. Morphy (Personality)

    Does Fritz 20 really play like the historic personalities? The fact that I lost two games against the Fischer personality wasn't surprising, but what about my win over the Morphy personality?!  

    The “book” on Fritz 20 is, “Yes, (it is) largely succeeds in playing like specific, configurable personalities by deliberately reducing tactical precision to mimic human decision-making, positional preferences, and weaknesses.” 

    During the following game I ignored the hints the program suggested and simply plated my own game. Honestly, I don’t know how Morphy-like the program played, but I never saw any tactics or traps from the program nor did I ever feel like I was in any danger of losing.  “Morphy” seemed to play a pretty passive game. Also, I cannot explain the horrible blunder on move 34. 

    One thing is clear though. If you are interested in training and practicing against a fairly realistic environment then Fritz 20 (or even Fritz 19 which does not have the historic players) then it is an entertaining program that is well worth the price. (Note: I have no financial interest in ChessBase products.) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Event "Fritz 20 Personality"] [Site "?"] [Date "2026.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Tartajubow"] [Black "Paul Morphy (Personality)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C55"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "115"] [EventDate "2026.01.29"] {C55: Two Knights Defense} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 {I am not familiar with Morphy's play, but this lools like something he might have played.} 3. Bc4 Be7 4. O-O Nc6 5. c3 Nf6 6. Re1 {White usually plays 6.d3} O-O (6... Nxe4 {This looks more like a Morphy move than the text.} 7. Rxe4 d5 {This position is tactically tricky!} 8. Nxe5 (8. Re1 dxc4 9. Nxe5 Nxe5 10. Rxe5 O-O {White has some problems trying to get developed so black is better.}) 8... Nxe5 (8... dxe4 9. Nxf7 {wins}) 9. Bb5+ Bd7 {with a completely equal position.} 10. Rxe5 Bxb5) 7. d4 {[%mdl 32] Again, white almost always plays 7.d3} Bg4 {The threat is ...Bxf3 removing the guard from the d-Pawn, so white does not have much choice/} 8. d5 Nb8 {Here I was not happy with my position. It's closed and so tactics are at a minimum which is probably a good thing against the Morphy personality, but the bad B and lack of attacking prospects is a downer.} 9. h3 (9. Nbd2 c6 10. Nf1 Nbd7 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Qxf3 cxd5 13. exd5 Rc8 14. Ne3 g6 15. Bb3 {is about equal. Vykouk,J (2445)-Dolezal,R (2396) Liga Zapad Czech Republic 2015}) 9... Bh5 {Should I play 10.g4 risking that black will sacrifice a piece?} (9... Bc8 10. Bf1 h6 11. c4 Nbd7 12. Nc3 a5 {White is slightly better. Niephaus,W-Witkowski,S Heidelberg 1949}) 10. Bd3 {It would have been OK to play 10.g4 because any sacrifice would not have been quite correct...black has no followup to het to the white K.} h6 11. Nbd2 Nbd7 12. g4 {Played after coming to the conclusion that there is no other way of making progress.} Bg6 13. Nh4 a5 {Oddly, this is not a bad move, but it came as a total surprise.} (13... Bh7 {was what I expected.} 14. Nf5 {I would not expect black to play 14...Bxf5 which allows the opening of the g-file, but Stockfish finds ni fault with it. Evidently, black can defend any attack on the g-file. Equally good would be counterattacking in the center with 14...c6}) 14. Nxg6 { I was surprised to find that Stockfish disapproves of this move, It wants me to play 14.Nc5. It now considers black's position to be more promising.} fxg6 { There is no way to take advantage of the doubled Ps, so I decided to improve the position of my N.} 15. Nf1 {Now black should play ...Nh7 and ...Bg5 eliminating the dark squared Bs/ Instead, the next move is rather aimless as black's opportunities on the Q-side are limited.} a4 16. Ng3 Nh7 17. Be3 Ng5 18. Bxg5 Bxg5 19. Qc2 {The idea is to connect the Rs and hopefully open the h-file.} Qf6 20. Rf1 h5 {[%mdl 512] I thought this was a mistake, but the auto-analysis by Fritz gave it a ! and black is better by about 1.75 Ps.} 21. f3 Be3+ 22. Kg2 Bf4 23. Ne2 Qh4 {This is hardly bad, but keeping the B woth 23. ..Be3 was a bit better.} 24. Nxf4 {Happy to eliminated the B!} exf4 25. Qf2 Qxf2+ {Keeping Qs on with 25...Qe7 was a bit better.} 26. Kxf2 Ne5 27. Be2 { White is weak on the dark squares and the B is useless. If 27.Rac1 there would be no chance that blacl would make the mistake of exchanging his good N for it. It’s a miracle that the B actually makes a major contribution to winning the game.} hxg4 28. hxg4 g5 29. Rh1 Rfb8 30. Rh5 {At long last...counterplay against the weak g-Pawns!} Ra5 31. Rah1 (31. Rxg5 {is a bad mistake.} g6 { and the R is trapped.}) 31... Kf7 32. Rh8 Rxh8 33. Rxh8 {[%mdl 4096] Here I was confident that with the R behind enemy lines I would not lose the game and might even win. Actually, the position is equal.} b6 34. Rc8 {I cannot explain black's next move which loses outright. 34...Ra7 draws.} Ke7 {[%mdl 8192]} 35. Rxc7+ Kf8 36. Rb7 b5 37. Rxb5 Rxb5 {Keeping the Rs on would have held out longer.} 38. Bxb5 a3 39. bxa3 Ke7 40. a4 g6 41. a5 Kd8 42. a6 Kc8 43. Bc6 Kb8 44. Bb5 Kc7 45. a4 {[%mdl 32]} Kb6 46. a5+ Ka7 47. Be2 {To free the K to advance to the Q-side.} Nd7 48. Ke1 Ka8 49. Kd2 Ne5 50. Kc2 Kb8 51. Kb3 Kc7 52. Kb4 Kb8 53. c4 Nd7 {Wards off c5} 54. Kb5 Kc7 55. a7 {Sacrificing the P to allow the K to penetrate.} Kb7 56. a8=Q+ Kxa8 57. Kc6 Nf6 58. Kxd6 {Here I resigned for black. Unfirtunately you cannot resign for your opponent in a real game.} 1-0

Tartajubow vs. Bobby Fischer (Personality)

 

    The weather the past couple of weeks has seen temperatures in the single digits and low teens and today we woke up to a temperature of minus 10 (F) or minus 23 Celsius. No doubt many readers will get a chuckle out of our predicament because that’s normal for them, but not for us. 

    Even more annoying than the cold and off and on snow flurries is the shouting of the local weathermen (and women) who seem to be armed with a thesaurus as they try to find more forceful ways to sensationalize and tell us how cold it is. There is no need to shout. I know 10 below is cold, so forget the hype...just give me the forecast.

    Being holed up indoors means a chances to experiment with Fritz 20 a bit. As many readers know, Fritz 20 has AI-driven historic players that you can play against: Lasker, Capablanca, Tal, Fischer, Karpov and Morphy. 

    The program is designed to mimic their openings and style of play. I can’t really say how accurately the program accomplishes the task, but recently I played Bobby Fischer two games and, just like what would have happened in real life, I lost badly. 

 

 

 

[Event "Fritz 20 Personality"] [Site "?"] [Date "2026.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Tartajubow"] [Black "Bobby Fischer (Personality)"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B52"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2026.01.29"] {B52: Sicilian: Moscow Variation} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ {Like Tartakpwer and Rossolimo. I am addicted to playing this against the Sicilian. Against 2. d6 it is teh Moscow Variation; against 2.Nc6 it is the Rossolimo Variation. If 2.Bb5 has any value at all it is that it allows white to bypass the massive mountains of theory in the Open Sicilian lines} Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Nxd7 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Ngf6 7. Nc3 Rc8 (7... g6 8. O-O Bg7 9. Be3 O-O 10. f3 Rc8 {is frequently seen.}) 8. O-O g6 9. Bg5 {This is out of place here.} (9. f3 {was the other move I considered here and it's probably a bit better.} Bg7 10. Kh1 a6 11. Be3 O-O 12. Bg1 Qc7 13. a4 {with equal chances.}) 9... Bg7 10. Qd2 Rc4 {Clever... it prevents my intended 11.Bh6. There is also a hidden attack on the e-Pawn.} 11. Rad1 {Defending the N and so Bh6 is still on.} (11. Bh6 Bxh6 12. Qxh6 Rxd4) 11... Qb6 {Agai, Bh6 is prevented.} 12. Nb3 {Again, Bh6 is back on!} Qa6 { The only reason I cn see for this move is that it gets the Q out of range of a white N on d5 for whtever that is worth.} (12... O-O 13. Nd5 Nxd5 14. Qxd5 { A complicated position that offers equal chances.}) 13. Bh6 {Finally! The only problem is that it is quite harmless because black has plenty of counterplay and there does not seem to be any way of attacking his K in the center. Honestly, I was so intent on playing this that I did not realize it lost the e-Pawn otherwise I would have played 13.Rfe1} Bxh6 14. Qxh6 Nxe4 15. Nxe4 Rxe4 {So, black has won a P, but white actually has sufficient compensation; in fact, Stockfish's evaluation is only –0.19. I now spent some time trying to decide on whether or not to play 16.Qg7 which leads to huge complications.} 16. Rfe1 {At this point I was beginning to feel that I was on the path to defeatt, but black's advantage is only a modest =/+.} (16. Qg7 {This is the best move, but I rejected ot thinking my Q was too far out of play. After} Rf8 17. Qxh7 Ne5 18. Qh3 f5 19. Qh6 Rf6 20. Qh8+ {Black can repeat moves or try} Rf8 21. Qh6 f4 22. Nd4 Qxa2 23. b3 Qa6 24. Qh3 f3 25. Qc8+ Kf7 26. Qe6+ {and black must take the draw.}) 16... Qc4 {This was my last chance to plau Qg7 with any effect.} 17. Rxe4 (17. Qg7 Rf8 18. Rxe4 Qxe4 19. Qxh7 Qe2 {and black is slightly better.}) 17... Qxe4 {[%mdl 128]} 18. Qg7 {At this point this is a losing move. Hunkering down on the defensive with moves like h3 and withdrawing the Q to c1 offered the best chance.} Rf8 {This is a weak move that allows white back in the game!} (18... Qe5 {leaves white little choice...} 19. Qxe5 Nxe5 20. f4 Nc4 21. Nd4 Kd7 22. b3 Ne3 {and black has excellent winning chances.}) 19. Qc3 {It would have been a bit better to play 19.Qh7, but I thought getting ny Q back into play was more important than regaining the P.} Kd8 {Better was 19...Qc6 which maintains a small advantage.} 20. Qd3 { [%mdl 8192] Panic! I thought getting Qs off the board would help my defensive chances in the ending which is now lost for white. In reality, white missed the opportunity to strike back.} (20. Na5 {This attack on b7 at least equalizes.} {Stockfosh's analysis after 30 minutes runs} Nb6 21. Rd4 Qe6 22. Nxb7+ Ke8 23. Qa5 Rg8 24. Rd1 Qg4 25. Re1 Kf8 26. a3 Qc8 27. Qxa7 Qc7 28. Qa6 Kg7 29. Na5 Rc8 30. b3 d5 31. h3 e6 32. Re2 Qc5 33. b4 Qd4 34. Nb3 Qd1+ 35. Kh2 Ra8 36. Qb5 Nc4 37. Rxe6 Qxc2 38. Qxd5 fxe6 39. Qb7+ Kf6 40. Qxa8 Qxb3 41. Qh8+ Kf5 42. Qxh7 Nxa3 43. Qf7+ Ke5 44. Qxg6 {with a theoretical draw.}) 20... Qxd3 21. Rxd3 {[%mdl 4096] Black is a P up and has a theoretical win/} Ne5 22. Rc3 Kd7 23. Kf1 Ng4 24. h3 Nh6 25. Nd4 Rc8 26. Rxc8 Kxc8 {KN-KN} 27. Ke2 Kd7 28. Ke3 d5 29. Kd3 e5 30. Nb5 a6 31. Nc3 Kd6 32. g3 Nf5 33. Ne2 e4+ 34. Kd2 Ke5 35. Nc3 b5 {White resigned. Further play is pointless. Not only is he a P up, but his pieces occupy dominating positions.} 0-1

A Tragic Murder-Suicide

 

    Back in March of 1992, the Plantation, Florida Police Department reported two deaths. The deaths of an elderly couple from Tamarac, a part of the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach Metropolitan Area, were classified as a murder-suicide. According to the couple’s daughter the deaths were an act of love. 

    The man had met his future wife Angela in Cleveland, Ohio, her place of birth, where he worked for the Cuyahoga Valley Railway for 32 years. Angela worked as a long-distance telephone operator and later in a Chevrolet automobile plant in Cleveland. They were married 62 years and had moved to Tamarac in 1973. 

    The husband sneaked a handgun into his ailing wife's hospital room and shot her in the temple and then turned the gun on himself. They were found shortly after 4:15 p.m. when a nurse checked the room after hearing noises. The 80-year-old woman was found dead on her bed and her husband, 84, was found on the floor by the bed. He was barely alive and died in the emergency room 15 minutes later. 

    The couple's daughter said her father couldn't bear to be apart from his wife nor could he take the pain of watching her suffer. Her mother had been in the hospital nearly two months suffering from a circulation problem affecting her legs and she was expected to lose one leg and eventually the other. 

    She added that her mother's health had gotten really bad during the past few years. She had lost her left eye in a cataract operation and about three years earlier had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Then her left leg started ulcerating and the sores got very big. Through it all her husband was there to care for her. For 52 days he watched her suffer in pain and every day sat with her for 4 or 5 hours holding her hand and trying to feed her and give her her medicine. 

    She was scheduled to be admitted to a nursing home in a couple of days, but didn't want to go and didn't want to lose her legs. All she wanted to do was go home. Her husband couldn't bear to see her suffer and cried for his wife every day. A neighbor told how the old man often spoke of his wife's suffering and had said she didn't want to live, explaining that she was in a lot of pain and wanted to die.

    The old man had founded the local chess club about 10 years earlier and served as its president. During that time he carved his own chess set. He was a member of the National Woodcarvers Association and while reading their magazine he saw an ad for exotic hardwoods from the rain forests, ordered the wood and then shaped the pieces on his lathe. Putting his wife's needs first, he eventually stopped attending club functions because he hated to leave his wife at home alone when she was ill. 

    Soren “Sam” Korsgaard was born in Copenhagen, Denmark and arrived in the United States when he was 14. Korsgaard learned the basics of the game from an elderly lady who lived in his neighborhood in his native Copenhagen, but only began to play seriously after he moved to Ohio and joined the Parma Chess Club. In 1970, Korsgaard won the club's championship. After his death Tamarac club members named a tournament in his honor. 

    The following gem was the only one of Korsgaard’s games that I could find (January 1948 Chess Review). Black had a difficult position, but it was quite defendable until he played his 17th move and then Korsgaard jumped all over him.

 

[Event "Cleveland, Ohio"] [Site "?"] [Date "1947.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Soren Korsgaard"] [Black "William Granger"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "James Massie"] [PlyCount "45"] [SourceVersionDate "2026.01.27"] {B50: Sicilian Defense} 1. e4 c5 2. Bc4 {The Bowdler Attack. It seems popular with some amateurs, bit the statistics show that black performs very well against it (61% wins).} Nc6 3. Nf3 d6 4. O-O g6 {The fianchetto does not perform well here. Either 4...Nf6 or 4...e6 are better choices.} 5. c3 Nf6 6. d3 {This slow but solid move is often played. More dynamic is 6.d4} Bg7 7. Re1 O-O 8. a3 {Both sides have been going about their busibess of getting developed. It's possible white played this in order to meet ...Na5 with Ba2.} ( 8. Nbd2 Na5 9. Bb5 a6 10. Ba4 b5 11. Bc2 e5 12. d4 {Black stands well. Velicka, P (2472)-Dragun,K (2424) Krakow POL 2011}) (8. d4 cxd4 9. Nxd4 Bd7 10. b4 Ne8 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Be3 {Here, too, black hAas a comfortable position. Erenska,H (2293)-Dragasevic Georgieva,A (2134) Arvier 2006}) (8. Bg5 Na5 9. Nbd2 Bd7 10. Qe2 Nxc4 11. dxc4 {Black is a bit better. Erenska,H (2293)-Dragasevic Georgieva,A (2134) Arvier 2006}) 8... Na5 (8... d5 {looks like a good way to try and take advantage of white's last move, but the position remain equal after} 9. Bb3 dxe4 10. dxe4 Qxd1 11. Bxd1 Rd8) 9. Bb3 {In view of his last move one would have expected white to preserve his B with 9.Ba2} Nxb3 10. Qxb3 Qc7 11. Nbd2 {[%mdl 32] This N is going on a quick trip to f6 where it plays a major part in the win.} Be6 12. Qc2 b5 13. e5 {All of a sudden white gets aggressive!} Nd7 (13... dxe5 14. Nxe5 Rad8 15. Ndf3 {Black has the freer game and so can claim a small advantage.}) 14. exd6 exd6 15. Ne4 Nb6 {Not bad, but avoiding the pin white soom inflicts on him by playing 16...Qc6 would have been prudent.} (15... Qc6 16. Bf4 Ne5 17. Bxe5 dxe5 {equals.}) 16. Bf4 Rad8 17. Bg5 {Because black's N is on b6 the f6 square has become vulnerable.} f6 { A fatal tactical error.} (17... Rde8 {is an adequate defense,} 18. Nf6+ Bxf6 19. Bxf6 Qd7 20. Qd2 Nd5 {The dark squares around black's K are weak, but because black is well developed there is no way white can take advantage of it. }) 18. Nxf6+ {[%mdl 512] Ripping the guts out of black's position.} Bxf6 19. Rxe6 Bxg5 20. Nxg5 Kh8 21. Rae1 {White is clearly winning.} Nd5 22. c4 bxc4 23. dxc4 {Black resigned.} (23. dxc4 Nf6 24. Qc3 Qg7 (24... d5 25. Rxf6 d4 26. Qf3 Qg7 27. Rf7 Rxf7 28. Nxf7+ {wins}) 25. Re7 Qh6 26. Nf7+ {wins}) 1-0