How Complicated Was Flamberg-Duras, Abbazia 1912?

     I don't usually post on weekends, but today is an exception. After another inch of lake effect snow fell last night and the 5 a.m. snowplow drive by which left the driveway plowed shut, for the fourth time in two days the snowblower had to be fired up. Also, the wife and her sister are on an out of state trip leaving me home alone with nothing to do. Thus, a rare Saturday post. 

     At first I was going to title this post A Long Forgotten Tournament - Abbazia Gambit Tournament, 1912. But, then I discovered that wasn't quite the case because there have been at least two books on the tournament published. One by Anthony Gilliam and the other by chess book publisher Bob Long who was murdered in a home invasion back in October of 2019.  

     Abbazia in the Austria-Hungary empire was a seaside resort on the Kvarner Gulf known for its Mediterranean climate and its historic buildings reminiscent of the Austrian Riviera. I say "was" because although the town is still there, it is now known as as Opatija and it's in what is now Croatia.

    The Abbazia Gambit tournament of 1912 was a theme tournament in which playing the King's Gambit Accepted was mandatory. It was organized by Georg Marco and the venue was the Casino des Etrangers. 

 

     Of the 12 players, who met each other twice, only Spielmann, Duras, Cohn and Leonhardt were regarded as masters at the time. Aurbach forfeited his Round 7 game against Flamberg, upset after he lost his Round 6 game against Rosselli on time in a winning position, and withdrew from the second cycle for "medical reasons."

     Naturally, there were a lot of spectacular games played in the tournament, but Today's game features a miniature that Fred Reinfled called, "perhaps the most complicated contest of its length that has ever been played." I am not sure if Reinfeld was correct. All I can say is Stockfish didn't find the complications all that difficult!

     Alexander Flamberg (1880 - January 24, 1926) was a Polish master who spent his early years in England, where he learned to play chess. After returning to Warsaw he became one of the strongest Polish players. 

     Oldrich Duras (October 30, 1882 - January 5, 1957, Prague) was a leading Czech chess master of the early 20th century. He was also a noted problem composer.

[Event "Abbazia Gambit Tournament"] [Site "Abbazia Gambit Tournament"] [Date "1912.02.09"] [Round "?"] [White "Alexander Flamberg"] [Black "Oldrich Duras"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C33"] [Annotator "Stockfish 14.1"] [PlyCount "34"] [EventDate "1912.01.15"] {King's Gambit Accepted} 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Bc4 Nc6 4. d4 Nf6 5. e5 { A very sharp position. In my database this move results in 88 percent of the games being decisive with the results evenly split between white and black!} d5 6. Be2 {Another good alternative is 6.Bb3} (6. Bb5 Ne4 7. Bxf4 Qh4+ 8. g3 Nxg3 9. Bxg3 Qe4+ 10. Kf2 Qxh1 11. Nd2 {and black is very much better. Koch,J (2484) -Kosten,A (2493)/Belfort 2012}) 6... Ne4 7. Bxf4 f6 {This immediate challenge to white's center is black's best move.} (7... Bf5 {is good, but not quite as effective.} 8. c3 f6 9. exf6 Qxf6 {Black has an excellent position. Laakso,H (2186)-Franssila,T (2225)/Helsinki 2014}) 8. Nf3 fxe5 9. Nxe5 Nxe5 10. Bxe5 Bb4+ 11. c3 {At first glace you might think black just wasted time because now he has to retreat the B.} O-O {But, he does not because now f2 is under attack.} 12. Bf3 (12. cxb4 Nf2 13. Qb3 Nxh1 14. Nd2 Nf2 15. Qg3 Rf7 { and black is the exchange up.}) 12... Qg5 {Slightly better was 12. ..Qh4+ although the consequences are difficult to calculate OTB.} (12... Qh4+ 13. g3 Qh3 14. cxb4 Bg4 15. Bxg4 Qg2 16. Qe2 (16. Be6+ {doesn't work.} Kh8 17. Bxg7+ Kxg7 18. Qg4+ Kh8 19. Bxd5 Qxh1+ 20. Ke2 Qf1+ 21. Ke3 Nf2 {wins}) 16... Qxh1+ { mates next move.}) 13. Nd2 {Now was the time to take the B!. This move throws away the game.} (13. cxb4 Qe3+ 14. Qe2 {Black has to either take the draw by repetition with 14...Qc1+ or else play 14...Rxf3 15.gxf3 first. Anything else loses.}) 13... Rxf3 {Crushing. None of the possible recaptures are any good.} 14. gxf3 (14. Nxf3 Qxg2 15. Rf1 Nxc3 16. Qd2 Nxa2 {is hopeless.}) (14. Qxf3 Qxd2+ 15. Kf1 Bg4 {wins easily.}) 14... Qh4+ 15. Ke2 Qf2+ 16. Kd3 Nxd2 { Oh, no! After this white could have transitioned from dead lost to likely winning!} (16... Nc5+ {nails it down} 17. dxc5 Bf5+ 18. Ne4 Bxc5 19. Bd4 Bxd4 20. cxd4 c5 {and wins.}) 17. cxb4 {White overlooks a mate in two...for black.} (17. Qe2 {leaves him with the superior position after} Ne4 18. Rhf1 Bf5 19. Qxf2 Nxf2+ 20. Kd2 Nd3 21. cxb4 Nxb2 {White is better. In Shootouts white scored 5 wins.}) 17... Nc4 {Black, in turn, also overlooks the mate in two. Not that it really matters because white has a mate in 7 therefore black resigned.} (17... Nc4 18. Re1 Bf5+ 19. Re4 Rf8 20. Bf4 Bxe4+ 21. fxe4 Rxf4 22. Qe2 Rf3+ 23. Kc2 Qxe2+ 24. Kb1 Qxb2#) 0-1