The Marshall Chess Club is the second oldest chess club in the United States; the Mechanics Institute Chess Club in San Francisco, founded in 1854, is the oldest. The Marshall was founded in 1915 by Frank Marshall and was incorporated in 1922. Since 1931 it has been located at 23 West 10th Street in New York City.
The club has been the venue for some famous encounters. In 1956 it was where 13-year-old Bobby Fischer won his “Game of the Century” against Donald Byrne and in 1965 it was where Fischer played his games by teletype in the Capablanca Memorial Tournament that was held in Havana. Alekhine visited there and it’s where Capablanca gave his last exhibition.
Club membership has been a Who’s Who of U.S. players. Members have included Maurice Ashley, Sidney Bernstein, Fabiano Caruana, Arthur Dake, Roman Dzindzichashvili, Jaan Ehlvest, Larry Evans, John Federowicz, Bobby Fischer, Reuben Fine, Milton Hanauer, Gata Kamsky, Stanley Kubrick, Sal Matera, Hikaru Nakamura, Fred Reinfeld, Michael Rohde Herbert Seidman, Albert Simonson, Andrew Soltis, Howard Stern, Erling Tholfsen, Joshua Waitzkin and Raymond Weinstein, just to name a few.
The featured game is between Dr. Eliot Hearst who at the time was rated 2323 and Carl Pilnick, rated 2322 at the time.
The site Blindfold Chess has an excellent biography of Dr. Hearst HERE. I met Hearst once in the 1960s and can tell you that he was very friendly and seemed like a genuinely nice guy. The description of him give in the bio seems right on point.
His opponent was Carl Pilnick (December 24, 1923 - March 7, 2013) whose obituary can be read HERE.
Final Standings:
Hearst was undefeated and drew with Collins, Hill, Howard, Santasiere, Dunst, Mednis, and Sibbert.
1) Eliot Hearst 12.5-3.5
2) James T. Sherwin 11.0-5.5
3-4) John W. Collins and Jeremiah F. Donovan 10.5-5.5
5) Bernard Hill 10.0-6.0
6-7) Franklin S. Howard and Anthony E. Santasiere 6.5-6.5
8) Karl Burger 9.0-7.0
9) Carl Pilnick 8.5-7.5
10-13) Paul Brandts, Theodore Dunst, Philip LeCornu and Edmar Mednis 7.5-8.5
14) Harry Fajans 6.0-10.0
15) John T. Westbrock 5.5-10.5
16) Donald Sibbett 3.5-12.5
17) Murray Burn 0.0-16.0
There doesn’t seem to be any information available on the last place finisher, Murray Burn, except that his USCF rating on the December 1950 list was 1986. Likewise, on the December 1950 rating list Donald Sibbett was also a Class A player with a rating of 1973.
Sibbett (June 20, 1921 – January 24, 2007) was a well known name among correspondence players. Besides chess his hobbies included duplicate bridge and bowling.
He was a long time, nearly 50 years, player in the CCLA; his best showing was a third place finish in CCLA's 51st Grand National tournament.
I stumbled upon a brief bio of Sibbett on a site where those who had served on a particular U.S. Navy ship discussed some of their memories. He stated that in the fall of 1946, he entered Columbia grad school where he spent five years as a physical chemist; during that time he was also served in the U.S. Navy Reserves with the rank of Lieutenant (Junior Grade). There followed 5 years at Mobil Oil inbNew Jersey, two years at Mellon Institute in Pittsburgh, two years at W. R. Grace (Baltimore), 11 years at Aerojet and Space General in Southern California and 15 years running a lab for Geomet in California and Maryland.
He also added that he was suffering from a kidney disorder (focal segmental glomerulosclerosis) and incipient bladder cancer, but both were under control. Sibbett remained active until the very end when health issues compelled him to give up his correspondence chess activities.
[Event "Marshall Chess Club Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1951.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Carl Pilnick"]
[Black "Eliot Hearst"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]
%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
{A09: Réti Opening: 1 Nf3 d5 2 c4} 1. Nf3 {According to Wikipedia, in its
beginning (the 1920s) any game that opened 1.Nf3 and 2.c4 was considered to be
the Reti because he popularized these moves against all defenses. Wikipedia
adds that in modern times the Reti refers only to the configuration Nf3 and c4
by white when black plays ...d5 and white fianchettos at least one bishop and
does not play an early d4. That's not what happens here, but I think the
opening is still classified as the Reti...what else would you call it?} 1...
d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 Nc6 4. Bxc4 e5 5. Nc3 Be7 {Engines prefer 5...Bd6 here,
but Hearst has another idea which doesn't seem to work out as well. Oddly,
5...g7 could reach the same position except black's P would be on g6 instead
of g7. Now with 6.Qb3 white could have forced the N to he unsavory square
h6.} 6. d4 exd4 7. exd4 Bf6 {Black is losing time in the opening with this B.
Developing with 7...Nf6 looks much more logical. Now it looks like white can
play 8.Qb3 and win the f-Pawn, but he can't if black finds 8...Kf8! because
9.Bxf7 Qe7+ wins the B. But if instead 9.O-O Nge7 10.Bxf7 Na5 white has won
the f-Pawn and stands much better.} 8. d5 {This is OK but not as sharp as
8.Qb3.} 8... Ne5 9. Nxe5 Bxe5 10. Qe2 Qe7 11. Bb5+ Kf8 12. O-O a6 13. Bd3
{Obviously white has come out of the opening with slightly the better of it,
but it's hard to suggest an active plan that will prevent black from getting
his position untangled. This is the result of white's slightly imprecise play
starting with his 8th move.} 13... Bd7 14. Ne4 Bf5 {Better was 14...Nf6
(developing!)} 15. Be3 {More precise was 15.Bg5 which would have given black
something to think about. } 15... Bxe4 16. Bxe4 Nf6 17. Bf3 {White must be
better here if for no other reason than black can't get his R into play.
Rather than sit by and do nothing, Hearst comes up with an ingenious plan of
attack.} 17... h5 18. Rfe1 Ng4 {White should have nothing to fear as in
reality this is nothing more than a gesture, but as often happens, it creates
a situation where things can quickly go wrong. } 19. Bxg4 {Black's best line
was actually 19...hxg4 which would have been met by 20.Bf4! and in the end,
assuming best play, a double R ending would be reached that would be won for
white because he would have control of the d- and e-file and be able to
establish his Rs on the 7th rank.} 19... Bxh2+ {In reality this is only bluff,
but it works. My guess is that both sides saw that after 20.Kxh2 hxg4+ 21.Kg1
Qh4 puts white in a predicament. He can only escape with a draw if he finds
22.f4! and meets 22...g3 with 23.Kf1! Black would then have to take the
perpetual check. However, there is a win after black's move and it is
19...Bxh2+ 20.Kxh2 hxg4+ 21.Kg3!! White's K would be battered from pillar to
post on the 3rd and 4th ranks, but eventually it manages to escape the
clutches of black's Q and Rs and white would remain a P up. It takes an
engine to see all this though.} 20. Kf1 {This is good, too; white has a
winning position.} 20... hxg4 21. g3 Qd6 22. Qc4 {Preventing ...Bxg3 because
of the threat Bc5.} 22... Qg6 23. Qb4+ {Throwing away his advantage which he
could have maintained with 23.Rad1. The P he grabs costs too much.} 23...
Kg8 24. Qxb7 {It wasn't too late to play 24.Rad1 with a modest advantage.}
24... Re8 {Missing his chance to secure a nice advantage by playing 24...Qd3+
and 25...R38 which would have put white on the defensive.} 25. d6 {Well
played! Black still had to play 25...Qd3+ and then 26...Qh7 and the game
would still be up for grabs.} 25... cxd6 {With this move black loses his
initiative} 26. Rad1 Re6 27. Qc8+ Kh7 28. Qxa6 Rhe8 {White's Q-side Ps re a
potential danger, but in the meantime black has threats on the K-side.
Hereabouts time pressure was becoming a factor for both sides.} 29. Qd3 f5
{White should now try and trade one or both Rs by moving his B.} 30. a4 Qh5
{Black has manages to generate some threats on the K-side that have to be
taken seriously.} 31. Ke2 Bxg3 {Now if 32.fxg3 a very difficult Q vs two R
ending ensues.} 32. Rh1 Bh4 {Incorrect. 32...Bh2 and 33.. .g6 was better.}
33. Qd5 {This ruins his position. 33.Kd2 was a must after which the chances
would be about even.} 33... Re5 {Watch white's K get attacked. On d2 it would
have been safe.} 34. Qg2 g3+ {Using the P mass after 34...g5 35. Rd6 f4 was
even stronger.} 35. Qf3 f4 36. Rxh4 {Time pressure results in another serious
mistake. Black would win after 36...Rxe3+...assuming he could have gotten
through the ensuing complications.} 36... Qxh4 37. Rh1 Rxe3+ 38. fxe3 Rxe3+
39. Qxe3 Qxh1 {Now in serious time pressure white makes a final gross blunder
that loses outright. After 40.Qxf4 g2 41.Qe4+ a draw is likely.} 40. Qd3+
Kh8 {There's a mate in 26 beginning with 40...g6, but the text is OK.} 41.
Qxd6 {41.Qf3 was the only chance to get some counterplay} 41... Qe4+ 42. Kd2
g2 43. Qd8+ Kh7 44. Qh4+ Kg6 45. Qg4+ Kf6 46. Qh4+ Kf7 47. Qh5+ Kg8 48. Qg5
Qd4+ { Finally the P queens.} 0-1
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