Back in 1975 the US Championship was played in the sleepy college town of Oberlin, Ohio and I met Lombardy. He wasn't the crotchety, bitter old man he seemed to have become when he passed away in 2017. In those days he was friendly and outgoing and always willing to sign an autograph or pose for a picture with his arm wrapped around the subject's shoulder. But, later life seems have dealt Lombardy some cruel blows.
His games are best described as dull, humdrum, monotonous, uninteresting and, well, you get the idea. His game against Evans was symmetrical after 14 moves. After Evans (white) broke the symmetry on move 15 they did some maneuvering, swapped pieces down to where both sides had a R, B and three Ps and agreed to a draw at move 43. Amazingly, in his notes to the game Lombardy called it "interesting." It most definitely was not.
The 1956 Manhattan-Marshall match was the closest it had been in many years with the Marshall being turned back by a score of 5-3. Absentees for Manhattan were Samuel Reshevsky, Arnold Denker, Robert and Donald Byrne. Missing from Marshall's lineup were
Reuben Fine, Nicolas Rossolimo and James Sherwin.
Even though the teams were quite evenly matched, play started out looking like Marshall was going to get routed after Manhattan jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the match slowly developed into a close contest.
Things started out with the Manhattan club's champion, Max Pavey, securing the better opening and taking advantage of Herbert Seidman's small slips in the middlegame which allowed Pavey to get a crushing K-side attack.
On board 3, the US Champion Arthur Bisguier won when Carl Pilnick's unsound premature attack cost him a P. He then sacrificed a piece to freshen the attack, but it didn't succeed.
Down on board 4, Al Horowitz soundly whipped Anthony Santasiere after the latter played an unsound P sacrifice in the opening and then lost several pieces trying not to lose another P. It was 3-0 in favor of Manhattan.
Then the aforementioned Evans-Lombardy encounter fizzled out to a draw on board 2.
On Board 5, Eliot Hearst managed to win two Ps from Arthur Feuerstein, but there was no clear win and due to the lateness of the hour team captains made a package deal and the game was declared drawn.
On board 6, Dr. Harold Sussman succeeded in reaching a promising middlegame, but as the battle reached the time pressure stage, he made several slips and allowed Edmar Mednis to equalize. Then in his own time pressure, Mednis slipped up and allowed Sussman to reach a winning Rook and Pawn ending. But, the game was drawn as part of the package deal later in the evening.
On board 7, Anthony Saidy had no trouble handling Albert Pinkus and on board 8, the John W. Collins vs. Walter Shipman game was part of the package deal and it, too, was declared drawn.
Probably the most interesting game of the match was on board 1 where Pavey scored the point with admirable simplicity.
Max Pavey, Manhattan CC - Herbert Seidman, Marshall CC
Result: 1-0
Site: Manhattan vs. Marshall Match
Date: 1956
Sicilian Dragon
[...] 1.e4 c5 2.♘f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.♘xd4 ♘f6 5.♘c3 g6 6.♗e2 ♗g7 7.O-O ♘c6 8.♗e3 O-O 9.♘b3 ♗e6 At the time this was, and it still is, the standard move, but considerable experimentation was being done with 9...a5 10.f4 ♕c8 This is seen frequently even today. Prior to this 10...Na5 was common. Another good choice is 10...Rc8 11.♕e1 Nowadays 11.Kh1 is generally played, but at the time thi move was considered a promising continuation. The idea is to place the Q on h4 and get a K-side attack going. 11...d5 Bold and typical of Seidman who had a very aggressive style. However, the move is premature. Better was either 11...Ng4 or 11...Rd8 12.e5 ♘e4 (12...♘g4 is a mistake. 13.♗xg4 ♗xg4 14.♘xd5 White is better.)
12...♘d7 is not so good either. 13.♖d1 and white gets a strong attack.
13.♘xe4 dxe4 14.♘c5 g5 Again, typical Seidman. He might as well play this as a satisfactory move is hard to find.
14...♗f5 15.♖d1 b6 16.♘b3 ♕c7 17.♗b5 ♗g4 18.♖d2 ♖ad8 19.♖xd8 ♖xd8 20.♕c3 ♗d7 21.♖d1 and black is under heavy pressure.
15.♘xe4 This is the wrong way to proceed as it allows black to equalize. Analysis with Stockfish reveals that 15.Nxe6 would have allowed white to keep up relentless pressure on back's position.
15.♘xe6 Here nothig is forced, but play might proceed... 15...♕xe6 16.g3 ♕h6 17.♕f2 gxf4 18.gxf4 ♔h8 19.♖ad1 f5 20.♗c4 White is somewhat better.
15...gxf4 16.♗xf4 ♘xe5 17.c3
17.♗xe5 ♗xe5 18.♗d3 in an effort to generate a K-side attack was possible, but black's defense should be adequate. 18...f6 19.♘g5 ♕c5+ 20.♔h1 fxg5 21.♕e4 ♖f7 22.♖ae1 ♖d8 23.♖xf7 ♔xf7 24.♕xe5 ♕xe5 25.♖xe5 ♔f6 is likely a draw.
17...♗c4 Not really a mistake, but black might have done better to to lend support to his K-side. (17...♘g6 18.♗e3 ♗d5 19.♘g5 ♕c6 20.♕g3 with equal chances.) 18.♗xc4 ♕xc4 19.♗xe5 ♗xe5 20.♕h4 ♕e6 This move defends the e-Pawn and parries the threat of Nf6+ with a discovered attack on the Q, but it's not the most accurate defense.
20...♔h8 21.♕xe7 ♖ae8 22.♕c5 ♕xe4 23.♖ae1 ♗xh2+ 24.♔xh2 ♕h4+ 25.♔g1 b6 A draw would be a reasonable outcome.
21.♖ae1 h6 There is an old saying - think long, think wrong. And, that's exacty what happened to Seidman here! This is the decisive error.
21...f6 results in approximate equality after 22.♘g5 ♕b6+ (22...fxg5 23.♕xg5+ ♕g6 24.♖xf8+ ♖xf8 25.♕xe5 with a won ending.)
22.♘g3
22.♘c5 was even better 22...♕d6 23.♘d7 ♕xd7 24.♖xe5 f6 25.♖h5
22...♗f6
22...♗xg3 was suggested as better, but it's not as after 23.hxg3 ♕c6 24.♖xe7 ♖ad8 25.♕g4+ ♕g6 26.♕xg6+ fxg6 27.♖xf8+ ♔xf8 28.♖xb7 with a won ending.
23.♕h5 (23.♕xh6 ♗d4+ wins the Q and the game.)
23.♖xe6 allows black to equalize. 23...♗xh4 24.♖xh6 ♗xg3 25.hxg3
23...♕b6+ 24.♔h1 ♖ae8 25.♖e4 This R coming into play quickly decides the game.
25.♘f5 This obvious move is less accurate. 25...♗g5 26.h4 ♕g6 27.♕d1 (27.♕xg6+ fxg6 28.hxg5 gxf5 is equal.) 27...e6 (27...♗f6 28.♖e4 h5 29.♕e2 e6 30.♖f3 ♔h7 31.♘d6 White is winning.) 28.♘d6 ♖d8 29.hxg5 wins.
25...♔h7 26.♖g4 ♕e6 27.♘f5 ♗e5 28.♘xh6! A nice finish. 28...♕xh6 29.♕f5+ Black resigned. (29.♕f5+ ♔h8 30.♕xe5+ f6 31.♕e6 ♖g8 32.♖xg8+ ♖xg8 33.♕xe7 etc.) Powered by Aquarium
I wonder what was the venue for this match? Was the Manhattan Chess Club located at the Henry Hudson Hotel at thid time? Max Pavey on Board 1. I was a member of the Max Pavey CC when it was located in Mt. Kisco NY
ReplyDeleteThe match was covered in Chess Life, the October 26, 1956 issue, but no mention was made which club the match was held at. Oddly, my link to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle archives seems to be broken so I could not search the newspaper.
ReplyDeleteThank you for searching for the answer. You have a great website here with a lot of information I never knew.
DeleteIt just occurred to me that Max Pavey played on board 1 ahead of Lombardy and Bisguier. He must have been really strong.
ReplyDeleteOn the May 1956 USCF rating list the top players were Reshevsky, Bisguier, Donald Byrne, Robert Byrne, Dake, Denker, Evans, Horowitz, Kashdan, Kevitz, Kramer, Pavey, Rossolimo, Seidman and Sherwin. At that time Lombardy was rated 2300+. Pavey may have been club champion so got bd.1, I don’t know.
ReplyDeleteYour explanation certainly could be feasible.
ReplyDelete