Thursday, August 5, 2021

Clarence W. Hewlett Jr., Chess Expert and Othello Master

     On December 7, 1941, Japan staged a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, decimating the US Pacific Fleet. When Germany and Italy declared war on the United States shortly thereafter, America found itself in a global war. 
     In New York City members of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps who were on leave had their leaves canceled and quietly returned to their duty stations where, unknown to most civilians, a plan for war that had already been devised was put into action. The next day Rear Admiral Adolphus Andrews, Commandant of the Third Naval District, was in his office overseeing the plan. 
     Fifty Naval reserve officers were called up in the district, censorship had been put in effect, guards were doubled at points where sabotage might be expected and aerial patrols were intensified. 
     While Admiral Andrews stated that an attack on New York harbor was not expected, everything was in place for the defense of the city. Even though no attack was expected the Coast Guard announced that mines and a submarine net had blocked off all but a 2,000 foot channel into the bay and other protective devices were going to be installed. 
     Additionally, extra police were patrolling vital areas and Mayor LaGuardia had activated civilian defense personnel. Fire department reserves were also called to duty. 
     The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that at least 118 Japanese aliens throughout the city were seized and interred at Ellis Island and the "roundup" was continuing. Among those seized were the president of the New York branch of the Japanese Bank who was arrested at his Park Avenue penthouse and taken by Federal agents to an undisclosed location. More on Japanese interments HERE
     It's interesting that with all of these activities going on the day after Pearl Harbor and the fact that contingency plans for such a day had been in place for long time, why were Admiral Husband E. Kimmel and General Walter Short blamed for incompetence and fired after Pearl Harbor? The answer is simple. 
     On May 25, 1999, the United States Senate passed a resolution exonerating Kimmel and Short. The resolution stated they had performed their duties competently and professionally and that the Japanese attacks were not a result of dereliction of duty. Senator William V. Roth, Jr. stated that they were denied vital intelligence that was available in Washington and they had been made scapegoats by the Pentagon. 
     Admiral Hart, another major figure at Pearl Harbor, didn't get any of the blame, but in March of 1942 he returned to the US from his command in Java, ostensibly for health reasons, but in reality he had  been undermined by his British and Dutch subordinates. Hart then retired after President Roosevelt praised his conduct and awarded him a medal. Hart returned to active duty a month later then retired again in February 1945 when he was appointed US Senator to take the seat of a Senator who had died.
     In 1972 the Navy's frigate USS Thomas C. Hart was commissioned. Twenty years later it was sold to Turkey and was ultimately used it for target practice. In 1946, Hart's daughter married the grandson of former President Woodrow Wilson.
     The other major figure at Pearl Harbor was General Douglas MacArthur. He served with glory during the war only to get fired by President Truman during the Korean War for insubordination. Truman said in an interview, "I fired him because he wouldn't respect the authority of the President. I didn't fire him because he was a dumb son of a bitch, although he was, but that's not against the law for generals. If it was, half to three-quarters of them would be in jail."
     Meanwhile, chess activity continued. The annual Christmas tournament between teams of four universities was held at the Marshall Chess Club on December 21st and 22nd. It was won by Harvard followed by Yale, Princeton and Dartmouth. The winning Harvard team was made up of Clarence W. Hewlett Jr., Roger P. Stokey, Alan G. Skelly and Henry Brandt.
     In the following game Hewlett defeats Raphael Eban of Dartmouth. I was unable to locate any information on Eban, but I believe he became a medical doctor and practiced in England. 
     According to his obituary, Clarence Wilson Hewlett Jr., 85, of Waynesboro, Virginia passed away Sunday afternoon, August 6, 2006, at his home. He was born in Iowa City, Iowa on June 20, 1921. 
     He attended Harvard University where he earned his bachelor of science degree in physics and served as team captain of the Harvard chess team. He also attended Columbia University, earning his master's degree in mathematics. 
     He worked as an instrumentation designer on World War II's Manhattan Project where he developed instrumentation used in measuring the separation of Uranium 235 and Uranium 238, and was recognized for his contribution to the building of the Uranium Diffusion Plant. 
     In 1947, he was named a Putnam Fellow for his placement in the annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, representing Harvard, whose team placed first that year.
     He spent his career working for General Electric as an electrical engineer and computer circuit designer. He held over 20 patents for mechanical and electric circuit designs. 
     He was the New Hampshire Chess Champion in 1966 and 1970. After retirement, he became an aficionado of the game of Othello, a variant of Reversi with a change to the board's initial setup. Othello was patented in 1971. 
     He was the editor of the Othello Quarterly for 14 years, which he considered his greatest contribution to the advancement of the game. He was also Othello's oldest champion, winning the Virginia State Othello Championship in 1986 and 1987 and the Midwest Othello Open in 1985. In 1990, he played in the World Othello Championship held in Stockholm, Sweden, becoming the oldest international competitor. 
     He also directed numerous local, regional and national tournaments, and was also the tournament director of the Othello World Championships held in Warsaw, Poland, in 1989 and again in New York, USA in 1991. He designed an Othello hardware endgame analysis computer that at the time was the world authority on Othello endgames. 
     Earlier in his retirement years, he did volunteer work at the Society For The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and opened his home to many cats.

Raphael Eban - Clarence Hewlett Jr

Result: 0-1

Site: College Team Tournament, New York

Date: 1941.12.21

English Opening

[...] 1.♘f3 f5 Hoping for a Dutch Defense after 2.d4 but white doesn't oblige. 2.c4 ♘f6 3.g3 ♘c6 4.♗g2
4.d4 d5 5.cxd5 ♘xd5 6.♗g2 e6 7.O-O Andersson,U (2565)-Fernandez,A (2300)/Las Palmas 1975
4...e5 5.d3 Prevents intrusion on e4
5.O-O g6 6.♘c3 ♗g7 7.d4 e4 8.♘e1 d5 9.cxd5 ♘xd5 10.♘c2 favors black. Orlov,O (2311)-Rusanov,M (2440)/St Petersburg 2013
5...♗c5 6.O-O d6 7.♘c3 O-O 8.a3 a5 9.♗d2 ♕e8 10.♘d5 ♘xd5 11.cxd5 ♘e7 Equally good was 11...Nd4 12.e4 (12.b4 was also good. 12...♗b6 13.bxa5 ♗xa5 14.♗xa5 ♖xa5 15.♖c1) 12...♗d7
12...fxe4 is more "Dutch-like" after 13.dxe4 ♕h5 and black stands slightly better.
13.b4 This does not turn out well. More solid was 13.Rc1 13...axb4 14.axb4 ♗b6 15.♘g5 Mistakenly heading for e6. After this his game falls apart.
15.♖xa8 ♕xa8 16.♘g5 ♕c8 17.♗e3 h6 18.♘e6 ♗xe6 19.dxe6 ♗xe3 20.fxe3 ♕xe6 21.exf5 ♖xf5 22.♖xf5 ♘xf5 23.♗xb7 With a likely draw as white's B vs N makes up for his weakened Ps.
15...h6
15...♖xa1 and Black is winning. 16.♕xa1 f4 17.♘e6 ♗xe6 18.dxe6 f3 19.♗h1 ♘c6 20.♕a2 ♘d4 21.e7+ ♖f7 White has little play.
16.♘e6 Both sides should, at their turn to move, exchange Rs drawing the opposing Q into a poor position. 16...♗xe6 17.dxe6 ♕b5 Suddenly black has pressure on white's Q-side, but he might have done better continuing with the idea of conducting a K-side attack. (17...♖xa1 18.♕xa1 f4 19.gxf4 exf4 with a promising position.) 18.♕h5 This proves to be a fatal mistake.
18.♖xa8 This results in about equal chances after 18...♖xa8 19.exf5 ♕xd3 20.g4 e4 with interesting complications. In Shootouts all five games were drawn.
18...♖xa1 Good, He does not want his R drawn away for the f-file. 19.♖xa1 fxe4
19...♕xd3 seems even better 20.♗xh6 ♗xf2+ This forces the win. (20...gxh6 21.♖a8 draws. 21...♖xa8 22.♕f7+ ♔h8 23.♕f6+ etc.) 21.♔xf2 fxe4+ 22.♔g1 (22.♔e1 ♕c3+) 22...♕d4+ leads to mate
20.♔h1 This throws away the game.
20.♗xe4 After this white is still very much in the game. 20...♕e8 21.♕xe8 ♖xe8 22.♗xb7 ♖b8 23.♗e4 White's two Bs and P on e6 (which is very hard for black to get to) assures him of at least equality. Some of the endings in Shootouts proved to be very interesting.
20...♕xd3 21.♗e1
21.♗xh6 just does not work! 21...gxh6 22.♕xh6 e3 23.♕g5+ ♕g6 24.♕xe7 exf2 25.♖f1 e4 and the advance of the d- and e-Pawns will secure the win.
21...e3 22.♕d1 ♕xd1 23.♖xd1 exf2 24.♗c3 e4! This seals white's fate. 25.♗f1 ♘f5 26.♔g2 ♘e3+ White resigned.
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