Politicians panicked and unsuccessfully started to turn to protectionism in order to try to prevent further loss of American jobs and commerce from competition abroad. Adding to the miseries was the worst ever drought that caused enormous hardship in farming community and lead to dust bowl years. These "black blizzards" carried away the soil and made it all but impossible to plant crops.
Under President Herbert Hoover the United States embarked on a public works program that included the building of the Boulder Dam (Hoover Dam).
Most people had radios and listening to it was free. The most popular broadcasts were those that distracted listeners from their everyday struggles: comedy programs like Amos and Andy, soap operas and sporting events. Swing music was popular and band leaders like Benny Goodman and Fletcher Henderson drew crowds of young people to ballrooms and dance halls around the country. Even though money was tight, people kept on going to the movies. Musicals, comedies and gangster pictures offered audiences an escape from the grim realities of life.
In the US, chess aficionados were treated to a match between the 24-year old sensation Isaac Kashdan and the tough Lajos Steiner of Hungary. Kashdan was the 1929 Manhattan Chess Club champion and the rising star of American chess. He had been the first board of the American team at 1928 Olympiad where he scored an impressive +12 -1 =2.
Unfortunately, Kashdan could not support his family on his chess earnings and had to resort to taking a full-time job in the insurance business. Later, because of his son’s health, Kashdan moved his family to Southern California. 
The match was played in the Manhattan Chess Club from April 19th to May 4eh, 1930 and was for the best of 12 games, with the winner the first to score five wins. Draws didn’t count!
The 26-year-old Lajos Steiner had come to the United States to participate in the Bradley Beach 1929 tournament, where he had finished a close second to world champion Alekhine.
IM Lajos Steiner (1903-1975), an engineer by profession, was born in Nagyvarad (or as it is also known Oradea) in northwest Romania. He was educated in Budapest and got his degree in mechanical engineering in 1926 in Germany.
Both he and his elder brother, Endre, started playing in master chess events in Budapest while they were schoolboys and Lajos was was awarded the Master title at the age of 19.
In the late 1920s Steiner spent two years working as an engineer in the US and when he returned to Europe he turned professional and made a precarious living from tournaments.
In 1936, he toured Australia and played in the 1936-37 Australian championship in Perth where he won all of his games, but as a foreigner, not the title. He returned to Western Australia in March of 1939, en route to settle in Sydney. His father and brother died in Nazi concentration camps.
Steiner played in six Australian championships, winning four of them: 1945, 1946-47, 1952-53 and 1958-59. He also won nine of his ten attempts at the New South Wales title (1940-41, 1943, 1944, 1945-46, 1953, 1955, 1958).
In 1948 he made his only return to Europe where he played in three tournaments: Karlsbad (4th place out of 20), Budapest (11th out of 16) and Saltsjobaden (19th out of 20).
Steiner was a good amateur wrestler, swimmer, tennis player and sculler. He stopped competing in major tournaments in the early 1960s, but continued to play for his chess club where he helped young players. In his prime, Steiner was likely of GM strength, but was never awarded the title.
Kashdan had white in the odd-numbered games.
Game 1) Kashdan got nothing in the opening, but had the technique to hold an unfavorable R and P ending.
Game 2) Kashdan sacrificed a P for a Q-side attack that got him nothing and Steiner, with the exchange to the good simplified and won easily.
Game 3) Steiner equalized then miscalculated and allowed Kashdan to push his d-Pawn through, costing Steiner first the exchange and then the game.
Game 4) Kashdan left his K in the center and played aggressively on the Q-side. Then he made a mistake by exchanging his Q for two Rs and Steiner’s Q penetrated Kashdan’s position and delivered mate. After four games Steiner leading by 2-1, but then a miracle happened and Kashdan won the next three games.
Game 5) This one was filled with fireworks. It was a see saw battle in which Steiner played the opening inaccurately, but Kashdan let him off the hook. In the end, Kashdan won in the endgame.
Game 6) This was a very sharp game. There was a lot of positional maneuvering until Kashdan broke through with a nice B-sac. See below.
Game 7) Steiner, playing black, decided to play aggressively, got nothing and eventually lost.
Game 8) Kashdan equalized out of the opening with the result being a solid, if boring, draw. The score was now 5-3 in favor of Kashdan who had white in the next game.
Game 9) Kashdan got some advantage out of the opening, but disdained playing for a draw. Instead, he attacked, but overpressed his luck by sacrificing a N for a K-side P-storm. Steiner counter-sacrificed a B and turned the tables. He was now only one point behind and he had white in the next game.
Game 10) Steiner made little progress with his K-side attack and Kashdan’s Q-side counterattack broke through and secured the win and the match by two points.
Lajos Steiner - Isaac Kashdan
Result: 0-1
Site: New York, NY USA
Date: 1930.04.27
Closed Ruy Lopez: Chigorin Defense
[...] 1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗b5 Should amateurs play the Ruy Lopez? It is one of the most complex and strategically deep openings there is and it's a must for masters to know it, but for amateurs it's another questions. They need to learn elementary tactical motifs, basic endgames and im the opening it's enough to be able to reach a playable middlegame. To that end, the Ruy Lopez is probably as good a debut as any other opening. 3...a6 This is so common it's easy to forgrt that it has a name...the Morphy Defense. The main point of 3...a6 is that after 4.Ba4, black will have the possibility of breaking a pin on his N with ...b5. 4.♗a4 The only plausible alternative is 4.Bcc6. Now black has a choice of 7 reasonable replies: 4...b5, 4...Bc5, 4...Nge7, 4...g6, 4...f5, 4...d6 and 4...Nf6. 4...♘f6 In turn, white can reasonably play 5.Nc3, 5.Qe2, 5.d4, 5.d3 and 5.0-0. As mentioned, the Ruy Lopez is a complex opening. 5.O-O ♗e7 6.♖e1 b5 7.♗b3 d6 8.c3 ♘a5 9.♗c2 c5 10.d4 ♕c7 All of this has been seen countless times. The real question now is does white really need to to prevent ...Bg4? 11.h3
11.♘bd2 ♗g4 White is in what appears to be an uncomfortable pin, but there is no way for black to utilize the pin and white actually stands slightly better. 12.h3 ♗h5 13.d5 O-O 14.♘f1 ♘b7 15.g4 ♗g6 16.♘g3 and white has promising K-side attacking chances.
11...O-O 12.♘bd2 ♗d7 13.♘f1 ♖ac8 14.d5 ♘e8 15.g4
15.♘g3 is solid if of little promise. 15...g6 16.♗h6 ♘g7 17.b3 ♘b7 18.♘h2 f6 19.♕d2 ♘d8 20.♖f1 ♘f7 21.♗xg7 ♔xg7 22.f4 and a draw was agreed in Rogulj,B (2412)-Mrdja,M (2393)/Sibenik 2010.
15...g6 16.♘g3 ♘g7 17.♗h6 Before undertaking any action black has been tending to the defense of his K. 17...f6
17...c4 was tried in Skrzypnik,M (2138) -Kolesnik,E (2393)/Koszalin POL 1999, but it turned out black had to play ...f6 anyway. 18.♔h2 ♘b7 19.♘g1 ♗h4 20.♘1e2 f6
18.♘d2 ♖b8 19.b3 ♘b7 Steiner's next move is consistent but risky. Remembering Alekhine's statement that the opening of the a-file is always favorable for white in the Ruy Loez, he might have considered 20.a4 20.f4 (20.a4 ♖fc8 21.axb5 axb5 22.♕e2 etc.) 20...exf4 21.♗xf4 ♘d8 22.♕e2 ♘f7 23.♖f1 ♕c8 Something like ...Qa5 and ...Ne5 would have been a safe course, but on suspects Kashdan might be thinking of someday making a sacrifice on g4. The move also supports the advance of his c-Pawn.
23...h5 is interesting. If 24.♘f3 g5 white can play either 25.e5 or 25.Bxg5 with all kninds of complications. That wasn't the Kashdan way though.
24.♖f2 ♘e5 25.♖af1 c4 26.b4 a5 27.a3 axb4 28.axb4 ♖a8 Here Alekhine is proven wrong because white's previous play by white abandoned any idea of occupying the a-file. 29.♘f3 ♖a3 30.♗d2 ♖a2 Kashdan still could have played 30...h5, but chooses a more clear plan of play on the a-file. 31.♗b1 ♖a1 Is anybody tired of all this positional maneuvering? White should now have continued with either 32.Rg2 or better yet 32.Nxe5 fxe5 33.Rxf8+ with equality. His next move is a slip that Kashdan jumps on. 32.♗h6 ♗xg4 Oddly, after this the game is going to be decided in black's favor on the Q-side! 33.hxg4
33.♘f5 was interesting because it introduces complications. White's position would still be inferior, but in the complications anything could happen after 33...gxf5 34.hxg4 fxg4 35.♘d4
33...♕xg4 34.♘d4 This looks reasonable, but his best try was the defensive 34.Rg2
34.♖g2 ♘xf3 35.♕xf3 ♕xf3 36.♖xf3 ♖xb1 But even here black has a winning position thanks to his active Rs. In Shootouts black scored 4 wins and one loss.
34...♕xg3 35.♖g2 ♕xc3 36.♘f5 ♘xf5
36...gxf5 would be a serious mistake. 37.♖xg7 ♔h8 38.♕h5 and at best the game is a draw. 38...♕d4 39.♔g2 ♕b2 40.♔h1 ♖xb1 41.♖xh7 ♔xh7 42.♗c1 (42.♗xf8 loses. 42...♔g8 43.♕xf5 ♖xf1 44.♕xf1 ♔xf8) 42...♔g7 43.♖g1 (43.♗xb2 loses to 43...♖xf1 44.♔g2 ♖h8) 43...♘g4 44.♕h6 ♔g8 45.♕g6 draws.
37.exf5 g5 For a small material price Kashdan eliminates all potential threats to his K. 38.♗xf8 ♗xf8 39.♕h5 ♕xb4 Steiner is now lost and has to content himself with some rather meaningless checks. 40.♖xg5 fxg5 41.♕xg5 ♔f7 42.♕h5 ♔e7 43.♕xh7 ♔d8 44.f6 This P presents no real danger thanks to the B. 44...c3 The same cannot be said of this P though. 45.♕b7 Black has a won game, but he could still booger things up if he is not careful. 45...♕c5
45...♖xb1 would have been an awful mistake. 46.♕a8 ♔c7 47.♕a7 ♔d8 48.♕b8 ♔d7 49.♕b7 ♔e8 and white has a draw. The prettiest line being 50.f7 ♘xf7 51.♕xf7 ♔d8 52.♕xf8 ♔c7 53.♕e7 ♔b6 54.♕d8 etc.
46.♔g2 ♕c7 Now all danger fron white's Q is eliminated at the cost of a P. 47.♕xb5 c2 48.f7 Threatening Qe8+ 48...♘xf7 49.♖xf7 ♕xf7 50.♕b8 White gets in a few spite checks before he resigns. 50...♔e7 51.♕c7 ♔f6 52.♕c3 ♔g5 Steiner resigned (52...♔g5 53.♕xc2 ♕xd5 is beyond hope for white.) Powered by Aquarium
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