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Thursday, July 2, 2020

Greyhound Racing Pays Better Than Chess

     The year 1927 saw the passing of David Janowski (1868-1927) at the age of 58 of tuberculosis in Hyeres, France and Max Weis (1857-1927) who died in Vienna at the age of 69. 
     In January, Efim Bogoljubov (1889-1952) was banned and excommunicated from Russia because he exhibited the bourgeois vice of putting his pocket book above has principles. He was champion Russia but it didn't matter. The chess section of the All-Union Soviet of Physical Culture declared he wasn’t and in addition, he was also no longer a member of the Soviet chess organization. 
     That’s what he got after expressing his desire to give up his Soviet citizenship in order to be able to attend a tournament in Merano, Italy when Italian authorities refused to recognize his Soviet passport. 
     In March the famous New York International ended and Jose Capablanca pocketed $2,000 first prize (that’s over $29,000) today. Alexander Alekhine took second. They, along with the Argentine organizers, also reached an agreement about their upcoming world championship match. The winner would be the first to score six wins, draws not counting. 
     The match began on September 16, 1927 in Buenos Aires. The winner got $4,800 (almost $71,000 today) and the loser’s share was $3,200 ($47,000 today). Capa also received a $2,000 ($29,500 today) appearance fee. 
     On November 29, 1927, Alekhine defeated Capablanca by a score of +6 -3 =25. As a portent of Bobby Fischer decades later, all the games in the match took place behind closed doors with no spectators or photographers. 
     In July, 1927, the first chess Olympiad was held in London and was won by Hungary. In August the first women's world championship was held London and was won by 21-year-old Vera Menchik. 
     If you were living in London in 1927 you could have enjoyed the All England Championships badminton tournament held at the Royal Horticultural Halls from March 2nd to March 6th. 
     In the Mixed Doubles Finals the winners were Frank Devlin and Eveline Peterson. The runners-up were chess master Sir George Thomas and Hazel Hogarth. 
     Then on April 2nd the 79th Boat Race between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge took place on the Thames. Cambridge won by three lengths in a time of 20 minutes 14 seconds. It was the first race in the history of the event to be broadcast live on BBC Radio. No chess players are known to have been on the crews. 
     Lost in all the hub-bub was the international chess tournament that was held in London from October 10th to the 24th. Right in the middle of the tournament, on the 15th of October, the finals of the Greyhound Racing Association’s big event took place. First prize was a gold cup and £1,000. That’s equal to over £63,000 today which converts to almost $79,000 in today’s currency. Greyhound racing paid better than chess. 
     To return to the chess tournament . The participants were among the strongest assembled at the time. Frank Marshall was a former contender for the world championship, Nimzovich, Reti and Tartakower represented the hypermodernists while Vidmar and Bogoljubov who were two of the best masters living in Europe. 
     There was also the young Belgian master Edgar Colle who had scored firsts in 1926 at Amsterdam ahead of Tartakower and Max Euwe and, also first in a strong field at Meran.  
     A few months before London he also took first at Scarborough. Colle's career was plagued by ill health. He survived three operations for a gastric ulcer, but died at the age of 34 on April 19, 1932 after a fourth. 
     During the 1920s ulcers were treated with the use of milk through a tube inserted through the nose, into the stomach in an effort to neutralize the acid. A bland diet with frequent, small meals was also suggested. Then beginning in the 1930s through the 1960s surgery was often performed, often removing large portions of the stomach. This was considered a standard treatment for those for whom antacids were ineffective. 
     The British contingent was also pretty strong: William Winter, Sir George Thomas, Victor Berger, F.D. Yates and William Fairhurst. 

     The tournament turned out to be a two man race. Tartakower took the early lead, but Nimzovich managed to catch him. The surprise was Marshall who was undefeated, but had an uncharacteristic seven draws. The following game won Thomas the First brilliancy prize.

Sir George Thomas - F.D. Yates
Result: 1-0
Site: London ENG
Date: 1927.10.24
King's Indian: Fianchetto

[...] 1.d4 ♘f6 2.♘f3 g6 3.g3 Today the Fianchetto Variation is one of the most popular lines at the GM level. This variation is based on completely different lines than other K-Indian variations because white's K-side is more solidly defended than in most variations. 3...♗g7 4.♗g2 O-O 5.O-O d6 6.c4 ♘bd7 The main alternative is 6...Nc6. 7.♘c3 c5 This formation does not work out well for black so better was 7...e4. In 1927 the K-Indian was just coming into vogue and up until the the mid-1930s it was generally regarded as highly suspect until it was analyzed and played by strong Soviet players. 8.d5 ♘g4 9.♕c2 ♘de5
9...♘ge5 10.b3 a6 11.a4 ♖b8 Doda,Z (2340)-Babula,M (2385)/Poznan 1984 is about equal.
10.♘d2 h5
10...f5 11.e3 ♗h6 12.♖e1 ♕e8 is equal. Birnboim,N (2356)-Pusch,H (2139)/Dresden 2013
10...a6 11.h3 ♘h6 12.f4 ♘f5 Better was 12...Nd7 with equal chances. 13.fxe5 ♘e3 White is better and went on to win. Figler,I (2316)-Johnson,K/ Parsipanny 2009
11.h3 ♘h6 12.f4 ♘d7 13.♘f3 The opening play has been quite modern. White refrains from playing his P to e4 and it's interesting to note that in a few move the square e4 is occupied by his pieces with good effect. 13...♘f5 14.♔h2 ♘b6 The N finds little to do on this square. After 14... a6 15.a4 Nd4 chances are equal. 15.♕d3 Here black should still play 15... Nd4 or even 15...Nd7 even though it's a loss of time. 15...e5 With this move the advantage swings to white. The passed e-Pawn he gets will play an important role later. 16.fxe5 dxe5 17.♘e4 ♘d6 Blockading the P and hoping to trade the well placed N on e4. 18.♗g5 ♕c7 19.♘f6 Well played as it forced black to part with his dark squared B leaving his K very weak. 19...♗xf6 Forced otherwise white gets a crushing attack.
19...♔h8 20.♘h4 ♘d7 21.♘xg6 fxg6 22.♕xg6 ♘xf6 23.♗xf6 ♗xf6 24.♖xf6 ♖xf6 25.♕xf6
20.♗xf6 e4 The choice between this and 20...Bf5 was a difficult one.
20...♗f5 21.♕e3 ♘e8 White could grab the e-Pawn, but he has even better. 22.♘h4 ♘xf6 23.♘xf5 and depending on what he plays black is facing too many threats from moves like Qh6, Qh5 and d5-d6 followed by Ne7+
21.♕e3 ♘f5 22.♕g5 ♘d7 23.♘e5 Quick quiz...should black take the N or B?
23.♘h4 was also worth considering. 23...♘xf6 24.♘xf5±24...♘h7 25.♕e7 ♕xe7 26.♘xe7 ♔h8 27.♖f4
23...♘xf6
23...♘xe5 As those old Solitaire games in chess magazines would have put it, "Deduct all your points for this move." That's because it loses. 24.♖xf5 ♘d7 25.♗e7 ♘b6 (25...♖e8 26.♖af1 ♖xe7 27.♖xf7 wins) 26.d6 and wins
24.♕xf6 Thus far Yates defensive play has been first rate and it's going to be very difficult for white to prove he has any real advantage, but with his next move he is left pretty much lost. Instead her should offer a trade of Qs with either 24...Qc6 or 24...Qd8 as in the previous note. 24...♖e8 25.d6 This is also a really swell move!
25.♖xf5 was also pretty. 25...♗xf5 26.d6 ♕d8 27.♕xf7 ♔h8 28.♘xg6 ♗xg6 29.♕xg6 with a won game.
25...♘xd6 26.♘xg6 fxg6 27.♕xg6 Black can't last too much longer. 27...♔h8 28.♖f6 ♗f5 (28...♕h7 loses the ending after 29.♕xh7 ♔xh7 30.♖xd6) 29.♕xh5 ♗h7 30.♖d1 ♕g7 31.♖dxd6 b6 32.♖h6 ♖e7 33.♖xh7 A nice finish that caused Yates' immediate resignation.
33.♖xh7 ♕xh7 34.♖h6 ♕xh6 35.♕xh6 ♔g8 36.♕g5 ♔f8 (36...♔f7 37.♕d5) 37.♕f6 picks off the R on a8
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