Thursday, March 25, 2021

Frank Marshall, World Champion

     Few people are aware that Frank Marshall once held the world championship, but it's true, he did. 
     Frank James Marshall (August 10, 1877 – November 9, 1944) was one of five sons. His father was born in England and his mother was of Scotish-Irish descent. They lived in what used to be called Hell's Kitchen. The building was later torn down and the site became the home of the second Madison Square Garden. 
     In 1885 his father moved the family to Montreal, Canada for business reasons and at the age of ten Marshall learned the game of chess from his father who was a fairly strong amateur. They remained in Canada until 1896. 
     During his time in Canada Marshall hung out at the Hope Coffee House and within a few months he was beating the coffee-house players. At the age of 15 he won the Montreal Chess Club Championship. 
     It's a little known fact that Marshall also had an interest in chess problems and postal chess although after leaving Canada he didn't play by mail again for fifty years, but that's another story that belongs to the history of correspondence chess in the United States. 
     Marshall liked all games: chess, checkers, bingo, casino gambling and a game called salta, a two-player abstract strategy board game. It resembles Chinese checkers and is played using 30 numbered checkers on a 10 x 10 board. Players attempt to jump over pieces without capturing them and be first to advance their pieces to the other player's side. 
     Salta (it means "jump" in Italian or Latin) was invented by Konrad Heinrich Buttgenbach (1870-1939) in 1899 in Germany. The game attained its highest popularity in the early 1900s before World War I especially in France and Germany. 
     Nobody knew what made a good salta player (salta-ist as they were called), so to promote the game a series of international tournaments were held, beginning with one in June 1900 at Paris. In addition to a few recognized expert salta-ists the organizers invited the world's best chess players including Harry Pillsbury, Mikhail Chigorin and David Janowsky as well as champion checker players.
     Marshall, who evidently learned the game only after he arrived in Paris a few weeks before, finished in a tie for third prize with the world's best checker player, Isidore Weiss. 
     At Monte Carlo in 1901 Marshall won the Salta World Championship and 3,000 francs which was more than he would win at any of the chess tournaments at Monte Carlo. The popularity of salta died out shortly after that and Frank Marshall was its only world champion. Besides Marshall, other famous salta players included Emanuel Lasker and the French actress Sarah Bernhardt. You can watch a video explaining how to play and, also, play salta online HERE 
     While living in Montreal, the 16-year old Marshall played Wilhelm Steinitz in one of Steinitz' last simultaneous exhibitions as world champion. The game made an impression on Steinitz who said he "had never met an amateur of his age who had given him so much trouble." Steinitz also predicted a brilliant future for Marshall if he continued to play chess.

Wilhelm Steinitz - Frank Marshall

Result: 1-0

Site: Simultaneous, Montreal

Date: 1893

French Defense

[...] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.♘d2 ♘e7 Marshall considered this bad, but actually it's perfectly playable. 4.♗d3 ♘bc6 This move, also criticized by Marshall, is bad.
4...♘d7 5.♘e2 c5 6.c3 cxd4 7.cxd4 dxe4 8.♘xe4 ♘c6 9.O-O ♗e7 10.♘2c3 ♘f6 11.♗e3 O-O is even. Mamedov,R (2660)-Haimovich,T (2427)/Pardubice 2010
5.c3
5.♘gf3 g6 6.c3 ♗g7 7.O-O O-O 8.♖e1 e5 9.dxe5 ♗g4 10.♕b3 ♖b8 11.exd5 ♘xd5 12.♗e4 favors white. Paroski,S (2219) -Asik,J (2352)/Sombor 2009
5...♘g6 6.♘b3 e5 This is perhaps a bit too risky. 6...Be7 is safer. 7.♕e2 ♗e6
7...♗e7 8.exd5 ♕xd5 9.♘f3 exd4 10.♗e4 ♕d6 11.♘bxd4 ♘xd4 12.♘xd4 O-O 13.O-O id equal.
8.♘f3 ♗d6 Marshall wrote that he made this move with the deliberate intention of sacrificing a piece, but admitted that he overlooked that the sacrifice is refuted by white's eleventh 11th move.
8...♕d7 This move, preparing Q-side castling, was his best chance. After 9.O-O O-O-O white gains a slight advantage after 10.♖d1 exd4 11.♘fxd4 ♘xd4 12.♘xd4 dxe4 13.♕xe4 ♗d5 14.♕e2 ♔b8 15.c4 And here black has an interesting sacrifice... 15...♗xg2 16.♗f5 (16.♔xg2 ♕xd4 17.♗e3 ♘f4+ is good for black.) 16...♕e7 17.♕g4 ♗c6 18.♘xc6+ bxc6 19.♗g5 But here, too, white is much better.
9.exd5 ♗xd5 10.dxe5 O-O This drew a smile from Steinitz.
10...♗e7 keeps the damage to a minimum. 11.♘bd4 ♘xd4 12.♘xd4 ♗xg2 and at least black is still in the game.
11.♗xg6
11.exd6 This is what Marshall expected. 11...♖e8 12.♗e3 ♘f4 and his analysis ends here as if to indicate that he has compensation. He does not. A likely continuation is 13.♗xf4 ♗xf3 14.gxf3 ♖xe2+ 15.♗xe2 cxd6 And white is winning here also, so there was nothing wrong with taking in d6.
11...♖e8 12.♗c2
12.♗g5 is an interesting possibility. 12...♘xe5 (12...♕d7 13.♗xh7+ ♔xh7 14.♕d3+ ♔g8 15.♕xd5 wins) 13.♗xd8 ♘xf3+ 14.gxf3 ♖xe2+ 15.♔xe2 hxg6 16.♗g5 and white is up a whole R.
12...♘xe5 13.♘xe5 ♖xe5 14.♗e3 ♕h4 15.O-O-O Steinitz doesn't fall for castling K-side. After Steinitz' move black has no compensation for the sacrificed piece. (15.O-O ♖xe3 and wins... 16.g3 ♖xe2 17.gxh4 ♖xc2) 15...♕a4 Taking the g-Pawn and opening up the g-file is just too dangerous. 16.♔b1 ♖d8 17.f4 ♗c4 18.♕f3 ♖a5 As good as anything... hoping for some kind of attack. 19.♘xa5 ♕xa2+ 20.♔c1 ♕a1+ 21.♗b1 ♕xa5 Marshall is a whole R down, but it's a simul, so Steinitz may yet overlook something. 22.♕e4 ♗a2 23.♕xh7+ ♔f8 24.♖d4 c6 25.♖hd1 ♕c7 26.♕h8+ Marshall resigned.
26.♕h8+ ♔e7 27.♕h4+ ♔f8 28.♗xa2 c5 29.♖xd6 ♖xd6 30.♖xd6 ♕xd6 31.♗xc5 ♔e8 32.♗xd6 g5 33.♕e1+ ♔d7 34.♕e7+ ♔c6 35.♗c4 g4 36.♕c7#
26.♗xa2 leads to a quicker mate... 26...♔e7 27.♕xg7 ♔d7 28.♗e6+ ♔xe6 29.♖e4+ ♔f5 30.♖dd4 ♗e5 31.♕g5+ ♔e6 32.f5#
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