The Elusive Mr. Ellenby

     Milton Q. Ellenby was born on October 18, 1923 and passed away at the age of 86 in Slokie, Illinois on Thursday, September 16, 2010. His obituary appeared in the September 19, 2010 issue of the Chicago Tribune: 

 

Milton Q. Ellenby, age 86; loving husband and best friend for over 53 years of Helaine, nee Miller; devoted father of Alan (Susan), Martin (Barbara Rosinsky) and Miles (Robyn Tenenbaum); proud grandfather of Marissa, Jennifer, Jacob, Hannah, Benjamin, Samuel and Aliza; dear brother of Herman (Joclyn), Jay (Carol Turner), and the late Julius (the late Anita); cherished brother in law of Joel (Jill) Miller; loving uncle, cousin and friend of many. Funeral service Sunday, 11a.m. at Lincolnwood Jewish Congregation A.G. Beth Israel, 7117 Crawford, Lincolnwood, IL 60712. Interment Westlawn. In lieu of flowers, memorials to Lincolnwood Jewish Congregation A.G. Beth Israel would be appreciated. Arrangements by Chicago Jewish Funerals 

 

     An actuary by profession, he was what is considered an “expert witness” as well as an author on the profession. An expert witness is a person who is permitted to testify at a trial because of special knowledge or proficiency in a particular field that is relevant to the case. 

     Besides playing chess, Ellenby was an accomplished contract bridge player. The December 6, 1955 issue of the New York Times reported that Ellenby of Chicago and Private Emanuel Hochfeld of Fort Dix, New Jersey captured the Blue Ribbon Open Pairs Championship in the twenty-ninth annual winter National Contract Bridge tournament. 

     It appears that Ellenby may have given up chess in favor of bridge. That's what another very strong master and former Ohio State Champion, Robert H. Burns, Jr., did in the late 1980s. Burns was rated over 2300 for most of his career and he won Chess Review's 1969 Golden Knights Correspondence Championship.

     Burns was born in Morgantown, West Virginia on May 19. 1948. He ended up in Mentor, Ohio and graduated from high school there. He moved to Euclid, Ohio (both suburbs of Cleveland) in the early 1970s. A self-employed computer programmer, he passed away at the age of 57.

     I am not a bridge player, but I understand that besides being a fun and exciting card game, it is also educational, reinforcing both mathematical concepts and spatial reasoning and it fosters critical thinking and problem solving at the highest level. And that is probably why some chess players find it appealing. According to an article I read in a New Zealand paper, a recent study revealed that playing bridge keeps people smarter, happier and more social into old age.

     Ellenby was originally from Chicago. In the mid- to late-1940s he is known to have played postal chess with Al Horowitz' Chess Review. Over the board he was the 1944 Illinois Junior Champion. The following year found him living in Dayton, Ohio and he won the first Ohio Chess Association title with a score of 6-1. 

     Ellenby was a frequent participant in Ohio and West Virginia tournaments during the war years and he won the first Tri-State (West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania) Championship in 1945. 

     A search for Ellenby's game only turned up a few, but while looking through some old West Virginia Chess Bulletins I discovered a couple of interesting articles. 

     In March of 1945, a prominent West Virginia player named Eddie Foy, then a Navy Storekeeper First Class, reported that another well known West Virginia player, Reid Holt of Charleston, had been missing in action since December 16, 1944. An Army infantryman, Holt had been at the Battle of the Bulge. 

     At the same time Foy reported that his brother, Anthony, had been struck in the chest by a piece of shrapnel while training in Louisiana, also in December, but he was recovering nicely. 

     In the April, 1945, West Virginia Chess Bulletin it was reported that Holt's wife had received a post card dated January 9, 1945, that he was not wounded and was being treated fairly well in a German prison camp near the Czech border in Muhlberg, Germany. 

     That previously mention first Tri-State Championship that Ellenby won was held at the Downtown YMCA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on November 10-11, 1945.

[Event "First Tri-State Champ, Pittsburgh"] [Site "?"] [Date "2022.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Milton Q. Ellenby"] [Black "Dr. Siegfried Werthammer"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D71"] [Annotator "Stockfish 14.1"] [PlyCount "95"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] {Gruenfeld Defense} 1. c4 {From the thimble full of Ellenby games I uncovered he appears to have preferred positional openings.} Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. cxd5 Nxd5 4. d4 g6 5. g3 Bg7 6. Bg2 Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. e3 O-O 9. Ne2 Nd7 10. O-O Qc7 (10... Rb8 11. e4 e5 {Also playable is 11...cxd4} 12. Be3 b6 13. d5 Ba6 14. Re1 { Korchnoi,V (2625)-Mikhalevski,V (2380) Beer Sheba ISR 1993}) 11. Ba3 {This looks plausible; it places the B outside the P-chain and it gets some activity that is annoying to black.} (11. a4 {Same idea.} Rb8 12. Ba3 b6 13. Nf4 Nf6 { Now white's best move is 14.e4 reaching a completely equal position. Reeh, O-Deutschmann,M Germany 1983}) 11... Rb8 12. Nf4 Re8 13. Nd3 {Black, having the more active pieces, can be considered to be slightly better here.} c4 { Not at all bad, but maintaining the tension with 13...b6 was somewhat better.} 14. Nf4 {The N springs into action.} b5 15. Nd5 {Ellenby has seized the initiative and his N and Bs control the action on the Q-side.} Qd8 16. Nb4 Qa5 17. Qc1 Bb7 18. Bc6 {A bit of a slip here though.} (18. Bxb7 Rxb7 19. Nc6 Qa6 20. Nxe7+ Kh8 21. Nd5 {and white has an active position, but it might be difficult to make progress.}) 18... Qc7 {Black misses a great opportunity, but it's hard to fault him because it involves the sacrifice of the exchange.} ( 18... Nb6 19. Bxe8 Rxe8 {For the price of the exchange black was able to generate sufficient counterplay with ...e5 to put white on the defensive and secure a draw in Shootouts.}) 19. Bxb5 Bf3 20. Ba4 (20. Na6 {This wins the exchange, but the price is too high...the game!} Qc8 21. Nxb8 Nxb8 {and there is no way to meet ...Qh3 except to give up the Q with 22.Qd1}) 20... Bb7 { This prevents Na6, but it the withdrawal of the B gives white the upper hand. A better way was 20...Rb6} 21. f3 {Too passive...he should have played 21.e4} e5 {[%cal Be7e5,Be5e4][%mdl 32]} 22. d5 {[%mdl 2048]} e4 23. Nc6 {Better were either 23.f4 or even 23.d6?!} Bxc6 $17 24. Bxc6 Re5 {[%mdl 8192]} (24... exf3 { stays on course. White must now prevent ...Bh6.} 25. Qd2 (25. Rxf3 Ne5) 25... Rbd8 {and now it's black who has the initiative.}) 25. f4 {Gumming up the K-side and leaving black with weak Ps.} Rh5 26. Rf2 {Too passive.} (26. Rb1 Nb6 (26... Rxb1 27. Qxb1 Nf6 28. Rd1 {and white has all the action and should win.} ) 27. Rd1 Rd8 28. Rb5 a6 29. Ra5 {and white has a commanding position.}) 26... Nf6 {The N heads in the wrong direction because it has no future on the K-side. Correct was 26.,..Nb6} 27. Rb1 Rxb1 {Much better would have been 27...Rd8 introducing complications in which either side could easily go wrong. Take a look at Stockfish's analysis!} (27... Rd8 28. Rb7 Qc8 29. Be7 (29. Rxa7 Nxd5 30. Ra8 Qc7 31. Rxd8+ Qxd8 32. Rd2 Qa5 33. g4 Nxf4 34. exf4 Rh3 35. Bb4 { White is winning.}) 29... Rhxd5 30. Bxd5 Nxd5 31. Bxd8 Qxb7 {White is better.}) 28. Qxb1 Nxd5 29. Bxd5 {This miscue allows black to equalize.} (29. Rd2 { This is the best move.} Bf8 30. Bxd5 Bxa3 31. Qxe4 Be7 {White should br in no hurry to grab the c-Pawn!} 32. g4 {This keeps the R out of play.} Rh4 33. g5 { and white is much better.}) 29... Rxd5 30. Qxe4 {Threatening Qe8+ and mate.} Rd1+ 31. Kg2 {The mate threat is still there.} Qc8 32. Bb4 Rd3 33. Rc2 { After this the action has fizzled out and a draw would not be out of place.} ( 33. f5 {might have been worth considering.} Bh6 34. Qe7 Rxe3 35. Qxa7 gxf5 36. Qc5 Qxc5 37. Bxc5 Rxc3 38. a4 Rd3 39. Ra2 c3 {Black is slightly better, but a draw still seems a reasonable conclusion.}) 33... f5 34. Qe7 Qc6+ 35. Kh3 h5 { So, black has finally gotten some long sought after play on the K-side, but is it enough?} 36. Qxa7 Qh1 37. Qc5 Qf1+ {[%mdl 1024] Black seems to have enough play that he will be able to save the game.} 38. Rg2 Rd2 39. Qc8+ Kh7 40. Qa8 h4 (40... Re2 {picks up a P, but it's probably not enough to win.} 41. Qb7 { Setting a trap.} Rxa2 (41... Rxe3 42. Bf8 {wins!}) 42. Qc6 {and neither side can make progress.}) 41. gxh4 Rf2 42. Kg3 {Prevents Rf3+. Now either 42...Qe2 or 42...Rxg2+ would pretty much secure the draw. Instead black shoots himself in the foot.} Qd1 {[%mdl 8192] Blundering a R and there is no perpetual check. One suspects black was in serious time pressure here.} 43. Kxf2 Qd2+ 44. Kg3 Qd1 45. Kh3 Bf6 46. Qb7+ Kg8 47. Rxg6+ Kh8 48. Rh6+ {Black resigned. A tough loss for Dr. Werthammer.} 1-0