Newell's Old Boys' Athletic Club Tournament, 1943

     Rosario, Argentina'd third largest city, is located on the west bank of the Parana Rivern186 miles northwest of Buenos Aires. With an estimated population of 1,700,000 its main attractions include Neo-classical, Art Nouveau and Art Deco architecture that has been retained over the centuries in hundreds of residences, houses and public buildings. 

     Because Rosario is strategically located for trafficking drugs from Bolivia and Paraguay, unfortunately in recent years the city has become a gang war zone with a crime rate that far exceeds that of other Argentine cities...the frequency of murders is nearly triple the national average. 

     Back in 1939 a tournament took place at the Club Espanol in Rosario immediately after the Olympiad in Buenos Aires (which was held from August 21 to September 19). Vladimirs Petrov finished first. Second was Erich Eliskases and Vladas Mikenas was third. The remaining five players were locals. 

     After the tournament Eliskases remained in Argentina the rest of his like while Mikenas returned to Estonia and Petrov to the Soviet Union which turned out to have been a mistake. 

     In 1940 the Soviet Union annexed Latvia and when Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, Petrov was unable to return to his wife and daughter at home in Latvia. He remained in Russia and was arrested on August 31, 1942 for criticizing the decreased living standards in Latvia after the Soviet annexation. He was sentenced to ten years in a corrective labor camp.

     In 1947 his death was announced, but in 1989 it became known that he had died at Kotlas in 1943 from pneumonia. I heard Edmar Mednis, who was originally from Latvia, when asked what happened to Petrov angrily reply, "The Russians shot him." 

     Rosario was the scene of two other events that are now long forgotten. On Saturday, October 9, 1943 Miguel Najdorf, a Polish GM who had been stranded in Argentina at the outbreak of WWII, began what would be one of the biggest events in the history of chess in Rosario when he conducted a blindfold simultaneous against 40 players. The meeting began at 3:40pm and ended at 9:15am on Sunday...seventeen hours and thirty-five minutes. Najdorf scored +36 -1 =3. Most of the players were reported to be in the 1200-1600 range. It's interesting and somewhat unusual to note that he actually faced two opponents who were playing in consultation at each board. 

     Before that exhibition, in July of 1943, Najdorf won a long forgotten tournament held under the auspices of the Newell's Old Boys' Athletic Club in Rosario. The occasion was the opening of the Jose Raul Capablanca room for chess at the club. Moshe Czerniak of Palestine was second. 

     Games from the event are hard to find, but I managed to uncover the following entertaining win by the wily Najdorf in which he gave up his Q for three pieces.

Miguel Najdorf - Oscar Garcia Vega

Result: 1-0

Site: Rosario, Argentina

Date: 1943

QP Opening

[...] 1.d4 ♘f6 2.♘f3 b6 3.e3 g6 4.♗d3 ♗b7 5.c4 ♗g7 6.♘c3 O-O 7.O-O

7.e4 This seems more difficult for black to meet. 7...d6 8.O-O ♘bd7 9.♖e1 c5 10.d5 e6 11.♗f4 is very good for white. Moskalenko,A (2488)-Predke,A (2573)/Moscow 2017

7...d5 8.cxd5 ♘xd5 9.♕b3

9.♕e2 c5 10.♘xd5 ♕xd5 11.e4 ♕c6 12.♗g5 ♕c7 13.d5 White is slightly better. Cori,J (2686)-Domingo Nunez,R (2345)/Linares 2019

9...c5 10.♗e4 e6 11.♖d1 Black's next move is a mistake based on a miscalculation and as a result he gets an inferior, lost actually, position. He could have kept things even with 11...cxd4 11...♘c6 12.♗xd5 ♘a5 Black clearly expected white to retreat the Q, but even then white would have gotten a good game.

12...exd5 was better though white stands well after 13.dxc5 ♖e8 14.cxb6 axb6

13.♗xb7 This must have come as a surprise to Garcia Vega, but Najdorf gets more than enough compensation for his Q.

13.♕c2 exd5 14.dxc5 ♖c8 15.cxb6 ♕xb6 Black is a P down with a bad P-formation, but at least he has some activity for his pieces.

13...♘xb3 14.axb3 ♖b8 15.dxc5 ♕e7 16.c6 As crafty as Najdorf's play has been and in spite of the engines giving white an advantage of 2.0-3.5 Ps, there is no clear path to victory and on practical play black could put up stiff resistance with 16...Rfd8 16...♖xb7 Black decides to give back a little material immediately to eliminate the dangerous c-Pawn.

16...♖fd8 This is black's best hope. The position he gets would have made white's task more difficult than in the game. 17.♖xd8+ ♕xd8 18.♘d4

18.♖xa7 allows black to keep the advantage after 18...♗xc3 19.g3 ♗a5 20.♔g2 b5

18...♖xb7 Black has to play this anyway, but now the b-Pawn in a thorn in his flesh. 19.cxb7 ♕b8 20.♘cb5 a5 21.♘c3 ♕xb7 And while white is considerably better the win is not absolutely certain because in a Shootout white scored +2 -0 =3. The games were protracted and here is the conclusion at 17 plies. 22.♗d2 ♕a6 23.♖d1 g5 24.h3 h5 25.♗e1 g4 26.hxg4 hxg4 27.f3 gxf3 28.gxf3 ♕c8 29.♔g2 ♕c7 30.♗g3 ♗e5 31.♗e1 ♗f6 32.♖d2 ♗e5 33.♔f1 ♗f6 34.♘e4 ♗g7 35.♔e2 ♕h2+ 36.♗f2 ♕h1 37.♖d1 ♕h5 38.♖d3 ♕h2 39.♖c3 ♕h5 40.♖c8+ ♔h7 41.♖c4 ♗e5 42.♗e1 ♕h2+ 43.♘f2 ♗g3 44.♖c6 ♗xf2 45.♗xf2 ♕h1 46.♖xb6 ♕c1 47.♖b5 ♕xb2+ 48.♔f1 ♕b1+ 49.♔g2 ♕g6+ 50.♗g3 ♕d3 51.♖e5 ♔g8 52.♗h4 ♔f8 53.f4 ♕d2+ 54.♗f2 ♕a2 55.f5 exf5 56.♖xf5 ♔g8 57.♔f3 ♕a1 58.♖g5+ ♔f8 59.♖c5 ♔g8 60.♔e2 a4 61.bxa4 ♕xa4 62.♗g3 ♕a6+ 63.♔f2 ♕f6+ 64.♖f5 ♕h6 65.♖b5 ♕a6 66.♗f4 ♔f8 67.♖c5 ♔e8 68.♖c6 ♕a2+ 69.♘e2 ♕b1 70.♖d6 ♔f8 71.♘g3 ♔e7 72.♖d2 ♕c1 73.♖d5 ♕b1 74.♗g5+ f6 75.♖e5+ ♔f7 76.♖f5 ♕c2+ 77.♔f3 ♕xf5+ 78.♘xf5 fxg5 79.♔g4 ♔g6 80.♘g3 ♔f6 81.♘e4+ and wins.

17.cxb7 ♕xb7 Black's Q is going to be no match for white's pieces. 18.e4 h6 19.♗e3 e5 20.♖d5 ♕e7 21.h3 ♔h7 22.♖ad1 ♔g8 23.♖d6 ♕e8 24.♖d7 ♕a8 25.♘d5 ♕b8 26.♖c1 Black resigned because once white doubles Rs on the 7th rank black will be helpless.

26.♖c1 ♕e8 (26...♖d8 27.♖xd8+ ♕xd8 28.♖c8 ♕xc8 29.♘e7+) 27.♖cc7 ♕e6 28.♖xa7 g5 29.♗xb6 etc.

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