In the Tartakower versus Maroczy game played in the New York 1924 tournament the players had visited the Bronx Zoo the previous day and Tartakower noted that the climbing movement of the Pawn to b5 reminded him of the orangutan. Alekhine said that the problem is that 1.b4 reveals white's intentions before he knows what black's intentions are. Anthony Santasiere (1904 - 1977) modified the Orangutan by playing 1.Nf3 first and he, himself, named it Santasiere’s Folly.
Santasiere was an original thinker, but he was often dogmatic and exaggerated the value of novelties and sometimes insisted that it took bizarre moves in the opening in order to play “Romantic” chess. At one point, in the 1970s I believe it was, Santasiere got into a written feud with Larry Evans after Evans showed disdain for Santasiere's hypocrisy for “talking like a tiger and playing like a Tigran (Petrosian).” But, Evans did admit Santasiere had the heart of a Romantic even if he didn't have the games to back it up.
Writing in his Game of the Month column in the January 1942 issue of Chess Review, Reuben Fine presented the game Santasiere vs. Levy as a complete refutation of Santasiere’s Folly and at the same time poked fun at the opening. It’s quite possible it was sour grapes on Fine’s part owing to the fact that in the 1938 US Championship Samuel Reshevsky finished first with an undefeated 13.0 while Fine was second with 12.5 (their individual game was drawn). Fine lost one game to, guess who? That’s right...Santasiere, who fininshed tied with George Treysman for tenth (out of 17) with a score of 7.0.
The Santasiere vs. Levy game was played in the 1941 Marshall Chess Club Championship. Louis Levy (February 10, 1921 - March 28, 2011, 90 years old) was a FIDE Master in chess and a Life Master in bridge. He is the only person known to have played Frank Marshall, Bobby Fischer and Gata Kamsky.
Note regarding Levy’s 2...f6. In his notes in Chess Review, Fine attached two !! to this move. Later in Chess Marches On he upped it to three! Fine wrote that it's a "a natural reply which nobody seems to have thought of before.” Earlier in the tournament Harry Fajans had played 2...f6 with the same result. Even earlier Santasiere had lost a game in the NY State Championship against the move.
Anthony Santasiere - Louis Levy
Result: 0-1
Site: Marshall Chess Club Championship
Date: 1941
Santasiere's Folly
[...] 1.♘f3 d5 2.b4 Reuben Fine admitted that while Santasiere had a lot of success with this opening, it was, nevertheless, a wasste of time. Fine wrote that while this move is useful in certain variations of the Reti Opening in most cases it amounts to nothing more than a loss of time, adding that at any rate, sometimes it does lead to unusual positions. Fine snidely commented Santasiere had appleid for a copyright on the move. In his book on the opening Santasiere called it the Futuristic Chess Opening. 2...f6 Ordinarily the early advance of the f-Pawn is bad because it deprives the N of its best square, but here it is very much to the point because black can build a strong Pawn phalanx in the center. (Fine) Today 2... f6 is long forgotten and very rarely played. 3.d4
3.e3 ♘h6 Not a very good idea and white had the upper hand after... 4.c4 e6 5.♕b3 a5 6.b5 Zurek,M (2405)-Sikora-Lerch,J (2380)/CSR 1991
3...e5
3...a5 While not exactly bad, this move does not challenge white's setup. 4.b5 c6 5.e3 ♗d7 6.a4 e6 7.♗a3 with equal chances. Elkin,A (2195)-Samborskiy,V (2052)/Ulyanovsk RUS 2013
4.a3 According to FIne this is a routine reply, after which black secures an overwhelming position. Black is better, but overwhelming is a bit of an exaggeration.
4.dxe5 keeps things about equal. 4...fxe5 5.♘xe5 ♗xb4 6.c3 ♗e7 An odd position. Does the weakness of black's K offset his basically sounder P formation?
4.dxe5 ♗xb4 5.c3 ♗c5 6.♗f4 ♘c6 7.e3 Better was 7. ..exf6 7...g5 8.♗g3 g4 9.♘d4 ♘xe5 10.♗e2 Santasiere-Fajans, Marshall CCC 1941
4...e4 5.♘fd2 ♗d6
5...f5 was played in Chandler,P (2265)-Krenz,V (2287)/ Bad Vilbel GER 2010 which continued 6.c4 ♘f6 7.c5 f4 8.♘b3 e3 9.fxe3 fxe3 10.♗xe3 with approximate equality.
6.e3 f5 We now have, with colors reversed, a variation of the French Defense which is highly favorable to the attacker (here black) and which is particularly strong because white has made two wholly useless moves on the Q-side (b4 and a3). No more complete refutation of white's faulty opening strategy could be thought of. (Fine) Again. Fine exaggerates. Three different engines evaluate this position as equal. 7.c4 c6 8.♘c3 ♘f6 9.♕b3 According to Fine this move illustrates white's dilemma as castling K-side is too dangerous. Perhaps a bit of an exaggeration!White could also play 9.Be2 or 9.b5 with a satisfactory position. 9...♗e6 10.cxd5 According to Fine this move, clarifying the situation in the center, only helps black, but white has no constructive plan. In that he is correct. 10.Be2 and 11.b5 would ahve kept things about even. 10...cxd5 11.♗e2 ♘bd7 Black has so strong an initiative that normal development creates a positional threat: the occupation of c5 by a N White manages to prevent this, but at a terrific cost. (Fine) 12.a4 ♖c8 13.a5 White's position is cramped, but it looks safe enough. A bomb explodes his serenity. Of course, while Black retains the better of it with the simple ...Qe7 and ...f4, the line chosen is far more forceful. 13...♗xh2 This gets a ! from Fine with the comment, that it's obvious and strong. The continuation is less obvious, but still stronger. Again, he exaggerates.The position is no more than equal. 14.g3 Black retains the advantage after this.
14.♖xh2 ♕c7 15.♖h1 ♕xc3 16.♕xc3 ♖xc3 and black's control of the c-file gives him the advantage.
14.a6 is an interesting moves that seems to result in equal chances after 14...b6 15.♖xh2 ♕c7 16.♘b5 This is the only move that offers white any chances. 16...♕xh2 17.♘xa7 ♖a8 18.♘f1 ♕xg2 19.♘b5 with complications. Black is slightly better though.
14...♗xg3 This is the real point to black's play: he gets three pawns for the piece and a strong attack. 15.fxg3 ♕c7 16.♘d1 Too passive, One of the first principles of defense is that one must be as active as possible, else the pieces become meaningless. Fine recommended 16.Bb2
16.a6 This idea is still white's best chance. 16...b6 17.♘b5 ♕xg3 18.♔d1 ♘g4 19.♘f1 ♕b8 20.♖g1 Here, too, black stands well, but white has defensive possibilities.
16...♕xg3 17.♘f2 ♘g4 18.♗xg4 fxg4 19.♘dxe4 Justifiable suicide. (Fine) 19...♕g2 After this the thrust, g3, is a killer no matter what white does. (Fine) 20.♘d6 ♔d8 21.e4 g3 22.♗g5
22.♖f1 ♖f8 23.♗g5 ♔c7 24.♘xc8 ♖xf2 25.♕c3 ♔b8 26.♗f4 ♔a8 27.O-O-O ♖xf1 28.♕xg3 ♖xd1
22...♘f6 23.♗xf6 gxf6 24.♖f1 gxf2 25.♖xf2 ♕h1 In view of the exposed white K the rest is simple. Levy repeats moves at several points, doubtless to gain time on his clock. 26.♖f1 ♕h4 27.♖f2 ♕h1 28.♖f1 ♕h4 29.♖f2 ♖g8 30.♔e2 ♗g4 31.♔e1 ♗e6 32.♔e2
32.♕f3 wasn't much better. After 32...♖g1 33.♔d2 ♕g5 34.♕f4 ♖xa1 white is still lost.
32...♖g3 33.♕a4 ♗g4 34.♔d2 ♕h6 Santasiere resigned. (34...♕h6 35.♖f4 ♕xf4 36.♔e1 ♖g1#)
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