Bruno Forsberg

 

     Not much is known about Bruno Forsberg (August 26, 1892-February 10, 1961) except that he was born in Sweden and eventually ended up in the United States where he was a frequent competitor in the New York City area. 

     His big year came in1921 when he won the Marshall Chess Club championship (score 7-0), the Staten Island Chess Club championship (score 7.5-2.5) and the Swedish Chess Club championship (score 7-1). 

     At the time of his death Forsberg, who was one of the charter members of the Marshall Club, was serving as the club's governor. He was also a top correspondence player in the US having a "First Class Postalite" rating with Chess Review. 

    When Forsberg passed away in 1961, Hans Berliner was Chess Review's only Postal Master. There were three Postal Master Candidates (Irwin Sigmond, Lionel Joyner and J.W. Harper). There were 12 Air Mail Postalites and 30 First Class Postalites. Forsberg was ranked 43rd in the overall rating list. 

     Here is Forsberg's last round win against Charles Jaffe in the 1921 Marshall Chess Club Championship. Going into the last round Jaffe was leading with 3.5 and he was followed by Forsberg and Frank Marshall with 3.0. Against Forsberg, Jaffe refrained from castling and suffered a rout. Marshall had a huge battle on his hands agains Albert Hodges, but he finally prevailed to tie Forsberg who was awarded the title on tiebreaks.

Bruno Forsberg - Charles Jaffe

Result: 1-0

Site: Marshall CC Championship, New York

Date: 1921

Latvian Gambit

[...] 1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 f5 At the time this was known as the Greco Counter Gambit. It has always been a rare bird in tournament play at the highest levels, but It is one of the oldest openings, having been analyzed in the 17th century by Gioachino Greco. While its reputation is dubious, it can lead to wild and tricky positions. Before engines arrived on the scene there were a number of correspondence players that were devoted to it. As for OTB masters' opinions, FM Dennis Monokroussos has described it as "possibly the worst opening in chess" Dutch GM Paul van der Sterren wrote, "What is required to play the Latvian Gambit with any degree of success is a sharp eye for tactics and a mental attitude of total contempt for whatever theory has to say about it." 3.♗c4 The Main Line is 3.Nxe5, but this move may lead to what is one of the most heavily analyzed lines in the Latvian. 3...♘c6 This move is frequently played, but it's results have left a lot to be desired.

3...fxe4 has brought black considerable success at the lower levels. 4.♘xe5 ♕g5 5.d4 ♕xg2 6.♕h5+ g6 and there's only one good move here and that is 7.♗f7+ with roughly even chances.

4.d4 fxe4

4...exd4 is also worth considering. The book moves are 5.Nxd4 and 5.e5, but Komodo suggests the untested 5.♘g5 which seems to give white good play. 5...♘e5 6.♗xg8 ♖xg8 7.exf5 ♕f6 8.♕xd4 with slightly the better game.

5.♘xe5 d5

5...♘f6 isn't so good for black. 6.♗f7+ ♔e7 7.♗b3 d5 Nadj Hedjesi,B (2397)-Pardic,O (2258)/Subotica 2014. Now with 8.Nc3 white could have obtained a nearly won position.

6.♗b5 ♕f6

6...♕h4 7.♘xc6 ♗d7 8.g3 ♕f6 9.♕h5+ g6 10.♕xd5 bxc6 11.♕xe4+ 1-0 Womacka, M (2405)-Forgacs,G (2325)/Wiesbaden 1990. Black's resignation was a bit premature to say the least as after 11...Qe7 he could have played on.

7.O-O ♘ge7

7...a6 8.♗xc6+ bxc6 9.f3 e3 10.♗xe3 ♗d6 11.f4 ♘e7 and white was better in Sakhatskyi,O (2009)-Shirazi,K (2405)/Muenchen GER 2012

8.f3 e3 Black simply can't afford to allow the e-file to become opened. 9.♘c3 ♗e6 10.♗xe3 g6 Better was 10...O-O-O. 11.♕d2 h6 12.♖ae1 ♗g7 13.♗f4 White has several good moves available!

13.♘g4 was more straightforward. 13...♕f5 14.♗xh6 and black has to really good move.

13.♘e4 is also good. If 13...dxe4 14.fxe4 ♕h4 15.♖f4 ♕h5 16.♗e2

13.♗xc6+ is also good. 13...♘xc6 14.♘b5 and here, too, black is in dire straits.

13...g5 This is suicide.

13...O-O was his last chance, but even then it's a slim one. 14.♗xh6 ♗xh6 15.♕xh6 ♘xd4 16.♕d2 ♘xb5 17.♘xb5 ♖ac8 18.♘xa7 ♖a8 19.♘b5 and white is winning.

14.♘xc6 bxc6

14...♕xf4 15.♘xe7+ ♔f7 (15...♔xe7 16.♘xd5+) 16.♕e2 ♕d6 17.♘cxd5 and wins.

14...gxf4 15.♘xe7+ ♔f7 16.♗d3 ♕xe7 17.♗f5 ♖he8 18.♗xe6+ ♔f8 19.♘xd5 and wins.

15.♗e5 ♕g6 16.♗xg7 ♕xg7 17.♖xe6 ♔f7 18.♖xe7+ A nice finish. 18...♔xe7 19.♗xc6 ♖ab8 20.♘xd5+ ♔d8 21.♖e1 ♕g6 22.♕c3 ♖f8 Here white has a mate in 10 beginning with 10.Re7, but his finish is more pleasing. 23.♘xc7 ♖f6

23...♔xc7 24.♖e7+ Mate attack 24...♔d8 25.♖d7+ ♔e8 26.♕e1+ mates next move.

24.♖e8+ ♔xc7 25.♗e4+

25.♕a5+ ♖b6 26.♕xa7+ ♔xc6 27.♖c8+ ♔d5 28.♕a5+ ♖b5 29.♕xb5+ ♔d6 30.♕c5+ ♔d7 31.♖c7+ ♔e8 32.♕e7#

25...♖c6 26.♕a5+ It's mate in 6 no matter what black plays. 26...♔b7 27.♗xg6 (27.♕b5+ ♔c7 28.♕xb8+ ♔d7 29.♕d8#) 27...♖xg6 28.♖e7+ Black resigned. One gets the feeling that Jaffe never had a chance. (28.♖e7+ ♔c8 29.♕c7#)

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