Tuesday, November 9, 2021

A Nice Win by Gunsberg and Steinitz' Institutionalization

     The City Club Masters/Amateurs tournament was held in London from April 5th to May 5th, 1900. 
     The day before the tournament began, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle carried a story about ex-World Champion William Steinitz (few are aware that Sreinitz changed his name from Wilhelm to William after moving to the United States) would 1) soon regain his liberty from the sanitarium in which he was confined, 2) he was "only technically insane" and 3) Steinitz had declared his incarceration was unjust and he was anxious to be released so he could rejoin his wife and children.
     Early in February Steinitz had been committed to the State Insane Asylum, on Ward's Island and at the time was living in the River Crest Sanitarium, to which he had been recently transferred at the request of some of his friends. He was sent there tor a probationary period, during which time it was thought a proper examination into his condition could be made. Technically he was insane, being diagnosed with paranoia, albeit a mild form. 
     An Eagle reporter visited the facility to interview Steinitz and found him living in a cottage and found his general health and appearance to have been greatly improved over his condition during the week prior to his commitment. In fact, the reported felt that Steinitz was entitled to his liberty and not be confined. 
     Dr. Oscar P Honegger, a prominent figure in New York City's chess circles concurred and stated that in his opinion that Steinitz could safely be entrusted to the care of his family. Oddly, it was Dr. Honegger along with Dr. L. Cohn, vice president of the Manhattan Chess Club, who were instrumental, with his wife's consent, in securing Steinitz' commitment. 
     Steinitz had always been averse to all medicines ascribed some of his trouble and erratic actions to have been the result of am injection when be was taken to Bellevue Hospital. 
     Steinitz also claimed when in the late 1860s he had suffered from a sunstroke and that accounted for a good proportion of his indisposition. As a result, one time in Moscow Steinitz told the reporter, "...they shut me up, then reported me dead. but soon released me. I am now naturally considered a fit candidate for an asylum, whenever the circumstances happen to be favorable." 
     He was also worried that retention by the state might invalidate the copyrights of a pamphlet he has published on capital, labor and charity. 
     The doctor explained that the symptoms of Steinitz' paranoia were intense egotism, a desire for marked attention or deference, full of complaints, morbid suspicion as well as fear of persecution. 
     A doctor in the sanitarium told the reporter that Steinitz would not be detained against the wishes of his friends and that his discharge could be secured by a certificate signed by a physician, with his wife and another friend assuming responsibility for his safe keeping. 
     The winner of the following game, once gave a good account of himself in a World Championship match against Steinitz in 1890, losing by a score of 8.5 to 10.5. 
 
     Isidor Gunsberg (November 2, 1854 - May 2, 1930, 75 years old) was born in Budapest and began his chess career as the hidden operator of the automaton Mephisto. In 1876 he moved to Britain, and was later granted citizenship.
     Gunsberg's success in match play leaves no doubt that he was one of the strongest competitors of his era: he defeated Bird, Blackburne and drew with Chigorin. And, as mentioned, in 1890, he lost a hotly contested match to Steinitz. Gunsberg's career reached its zenith at the end of the 1880s. 
     According to Chessmetrics, he was 2nd-5th in the world 1886-90. Gunsberg's style was tactical and romantic. His featured gambit openings, were full of brilliant tactics and swashbuckling sacrifices, but his play was erratic. 
     Louis van Vliet (1854- 1932, 77 years old) was originally from The Netherlands, but moved to England in the 1880s where he became a naturalized citizen. In 1889 he finished fourth at the First International Chess Congress in Amsterdam and was the runner-up at London 1891. He was the chess editor of the Sunday Times and the Hereford Times.

Isidor Gunsberg - Louis van Vliet

Result: 1-0

Site: London

Date: 1900

Stonewall Attack

[...] 1.d4 d5 2.e3 ♘f6 3.♗d3 White intends setting up the Colle, or perhaps the Stonewall, a unique opening that is simple to play , but rare, although it did enjoy a period of popularity between the late 1880s and about 1920. 3...♘c6 This move has produced excellent results for black. The idea is to eliminate white's light squared B by ...Nb4xd3.
3...g6 is always a good way (I think) to meet the Colle and the Stonewall because it makes white's intended K-side attacking plans impotent and forces him to choose a different strategy. 4.c4 c6 5.♘f3 ♗g7 6.♘c3 O-O 7.O-O
4.f4
4.c3 It would seem this keeps his options of playing the Colle or the Stonewall open except that now black can get the upper hand by 4...e5 which short circuits white's plans. 5.dxe5 ♘xe5 6.♗e2 ♗d6 and black has an excellent position.
4...♘b4 The disappearance of white's B is not all bad for him. By recapturing with a P he has control of e4, the advance of black's c-Pawn is rfendered less strong and white may have some prospects alonf the half open c-file.
4...♗g4 is a possibility for black. 5.♘f3 ♘b4
5...e6 6.O-O ♗e7 But here white retains his attacking chances on the K-side while black has blocked his c-Pawn.
6.O-O ♘xd3 7.cxd3 g6 8.♘c3 c6 with equal chances.
5.♘f3 ♘xd3+ 6.cxd3 e6 7.♗d2 ♗e7
7...c5 8.♗c3 ♕b6 9.O-O ♗d7 10.♘e5 cxd4 11.♗xd4 ♗c5 with equality. The game Kamp,C (2299)-Bischof,D (2262) Germany 2005 was soon drawn.
8.O-O O-O Besides Gunsber's move white has tried a couple of moves here. 9.♗c3
9.♘c3 c5 10.♘e2 b6 11.♘e5 ♘d7 12.♗c3 f6 13.♘c6 ♕e8 14.♘xe7+ ♕xe7 15.♘g3 Marshall,F-Vidmar,M Prague 1908 was eventually drawn.
9.♘e5 ♘d7 10.♘c3 f6 11.♘f3 c5 12.♖c1 cxd4 13.exd4 This position is also even as demonstrated in Marshall,F-Rubinstein,A Prague 1908. Black, the great endgame expert, was unable to take advantage of white double, isolated d-Pawns and the game was eventually drawn.
9...b6 10.♘e5 ♗b7 11.♘d2
11.♕a4 initiating play on the Q-side is a viable alternative. 11...♕d6 12.♖c1 c6 13.b4
11...♘e8 12.♕g4 Against correct defense this is little more than a gesture because his B on d3 is not on the board. 12...f5 This is a routine move with the B on d3, but here it's not really necessary.
12...♕c8 13.♕h3 f6 14.♘g4 ♘d6 Shuts down white's K-side attack. He should now probably switch to trying to advance the e-Pawn beginning with 15.Nf2
13.♕h3 ♖f6 Also good was 13...Nf6 14.g4 Gunsberg is going for an all out attack which black could have fended off with 14...Rh6. Instead he opens up the K-side. 14...fxg4 After this black is going to have to defend very carefully. 15.♕xg4 Better was 15.Nxg4 then Kh1 and Rg1 although there, too, black can hang on but his defense would have to be precise. 15...♘d6 16.♖f3 ♘f5 17.♖h3 ♕e8 18.♖e1 ♖d8 19.♘df3 ♗d6 20.♖e2 Black has two reasonable moves here. 20...Qe7 and ...Rh6 or 20...c5. 20...♗f8 This strengthens the defense of g7, but it's a passive defense that should have allowed white a chance to keep his attack alive. 21.♘g5
21.♖g2 was better as after 21...c5 22.♕g5 ♗e7 Black doesn't bite by playing 22...cxd4 (22...cxd4 23.♘xd4 ♘xd4 24.♗xd4 white is winning.) 23.♕g4 ♗f8 White now has to devise another plan. One idea is 24.♔f2 c4 25.dxc4 dxc4 26.♖g1 h6 27.♘d2 b5 28.a3 In Shootouts white scored +4 -0 =1. The wins were long and tedious with victory coming as a result of white switching operations to the Q-side.
21...h6 22.♖g2 ♗c8 Better was as in the previous note; play 22..c5 and he would probably be able to stay safe.
22...c5 White can now make little progress and black has finally managed to get some play. 23.♕e2
23.dxc5 d4 having the open diagonal for his B makes all the difference in the world.
23...cxd4 24.exd4 ♖c8 White's attack has fizzled out.
23.e4
23.♗e1 Would have been a game winning wallop. 23...♗d6 24.♘gf3 There is no satisfactory defense to the threat of Bh4.
23...♘d6 After this black is lost.
23...dxe4 24.♘xe4 (24.dxe4 ♗b7 25.exf5 exf5 26.♕g3 ♗xg2 is equal.) 24...♗e7 25.♕f3 ♕a4 26.b3 ♕a3 and black is right back in the game.
24.♖e3 Much better was 24.Be1 intending Bh4 24...♘b5 (24...hxg5 25.fxg5 ♖g6 26.♕h5 and wins )
24...♗b7 runs into a nice refutation. 25.♕h4 ♕e7 26.♘g4 ♖g6 27.♕h5 ♕e8 28.♘f7 ♕xf7 29.♘xh6+ ♖xh6 30.♕xh6 and black's best defense is 30...dxe4 31.♖h3 ♕f5 32.d5 Opens up the Bs diagonal. 32...♔f7 33.♗xg7 ♕xd5 34.♕f6+ ♔e8 35.♗xf8 and white is winning.
25.♘gf3 ♘xc3
25...dxe4 might work better. 26.dxe4 ♗b7 27.♕h3 c5 28.♘g4 ♖g6 29.♘fe5 wins the exchange leaving white with the better game.
26.bxc3 ♔h7 (26...dxe4 27.dxe4 c5 at least gives black some play.) 27.♕g3
27.♘g5+ ♔g8 (27...hxg5 28.fxg5 wins outright.) 28.♖h3 ♖d7 29.♕h4 c5 30.♘g4 leaves white with a winning position.
27...♗b7 28.♘g4 ♖f7 29.♘xh6 ♖f6 (29...gxh6 30.♕g8#) 30.♘g5+ ♔h8 31.♘hf7+ Black resigned as mate is inevitable. A great game! It's interesting that when a full analysis was done using Fritz 17 the accuracy rating for white was only 39% and 26% for black indicating that both players selected less than optimal moves when compared to Stockfish. By a random comparison, the 23rd game of the 1960 Botvinnik-Tal World Championship match, a 26 move draw, yielded the following results: Botvinnik 59%, Tal 67%.
31.♘hf7+ ♔g8 32.♕h4 ♖h6 33.♘xh6+ gxh6 34.♘xe6+ ♔h7 35.♕f6 ♖d7 36.♘xf8+ ♕xf8 37.♕xf8 h5 38.♖h3 ♖g7 39.♕xg7#
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