Also, due to shortages America saw it's first rationing. An article in the August 5, 1943 edition of the the Brooklyn Daily Eagle stated that while there was plenty of meat around, local butches were complaining that they weren't getting any of it. It seems meat packers were selling their meat locally and all the meat being shipped into New York City was going to Federal government sources. Hotels in the city were also experiencing shortages of beer and liquor and they were afraid that meat shortages would be a "death blow" to the hotel business.
Concerning Soviet chess, beginning in the 1920s all areas of Soviet culture began coming under control of the government, including chess.
In 1932, not only artists and writers were brought under government control, but chess also.
For chess, it started with Alexander Ilyin-Zhenevsky in 1920 and Nikolai Krylenko in 1924. Under Stalin chess continued to be a major part of the cultural struggle and in 1930 a resolution by the All-Union Chess Section of the Supreme Council for Physical Culture proclaimed that there was a necessity for “the saturation of all chess activity with political content.” What that meant was that chess for just the fun of it was not allowed.
Problemists were advised that bourgeois themes should be avoided in favor of revolutionary themes. In other words, compositions were required to have a close relationship to practical play and they were not to be fanciful.
Consequently, one-, two- and three-move problems were out because they tended to be fanciful. Problems like helpmates, self-mates and fairy chess were also officially disgraced. Their construction was classified as formalism. Instead, long, complicated problems that required multiple variations were in favor.
In 1936 Shakhmaty v SSSR ran an article co-authored by Botvinnik in which it was argued that compositions weren't all that important and were useful only if they helped to develop practical play. That is, chess problems of a fanciful nature were useless and so their existence could not be justified.
We might snicker at such decrees today, but defying them cost Mikhail Barulin (1897-1943) his life! He was the editor of the problem section of the Soviet magazine "64" from 1935 to 1941 and of "Shakhmatny v SSSR" from 1938 to 1941. He is considered as one of the creators of the modern two mover.
In 1943, Mikhail Barulin died in a Russian prison. In November, 1941, Barulin was arrested when he refused to sign a confession or denounce other chess problemists. He had written that compositions should be an art in themselves and not dependent upon practical play.
Botvinnik adhered to the official government line. He wrote, "If comrade Barulin thinks that his problem activity is absolutely autonomous and self-sufficing that's bad not for the mass chess movement and not for composition which will develop jointly with actual play; so much the worse for comrade Barulin and for similar composers, who are good for nothing. Theory of art for art's sake is resolutely condemned in the USSR, and our composers are well aware of it."
Now, on to the subject at hand. In 1943, Reuben Fine wrote, "There is no doubt that we will hear a lot more from Bastrikov in the future."
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| Bastrikov |
He was referring to Georgy V. Bastrikov (1914-1979) who is, as it turned out, pretty much an unknown figure these days.
Bastrikov was known for his good humor, witty conversation and happy disposition. He was a good organizer and for many years served as coach for Russian junior players and was recognized as one of the best trainers in the country. He was recognized for his wide range of creative and original ideas in the opening and at the board he was an uncompromising fighter.
The following game is a good illustration of Bastrikov's original opening play and vigorous attacking style. His attack seems to start slowly, but he quickly overwhelms his opponent.
[Event "Sverdlovsk National Tournament"]
[Site "Sverdlovsk URS"]
[Date "1942.03.22"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Georgy Bastrikov"]
[Black "Isakas Vistaneckis"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B17"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 15"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "1942.03.22"]
[Source "365Chess; Voland"]
{Caro-Kann} 1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 {Black selects a rather
passive line, but the alternatives 4...Bf5 and 4...Nf5 do not produce any
better results.} 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Ng3 e6 7. Bc4 {An unusual square for the B;
usual is 7.Bd3 because white's natural plan is an attack against black's K and
on d3 the B aims at h7. However, as the game proceeds Bastrikov's plan becomes
clear.} Be7 8. Qe2 (8. O-O Qc7 9. Qe2 c5 10. d5 Nf8 11. Bb5+ Bd7 12. dxe6 Nxe6
13. Nf5 {White has some advantage. Khachian,M (2462)-Moussa,A (2236) Burbank
2005)}) 8... c5 (8... b5 {is a more solid reply.} 9. Bb3 Bb7 10. O-O O-O 11.
Ne5 Qc7) 9. O-O O-O 10. dxc5 (10. Ne5 Nb6 11. dxc5 Bxc5 12. Bd3 Qc7 13. Nh5
Nbd5 14. c4 Nxh5 15. Qxh5 Nf6 16. Qe2 Bd6 17. Bf4 b6 18. Bg3 Bb7 19. Rad1 {
and a draw was agreed. Gabrilavicius,A-Alekberovas,A (2076) Panevezys 2007})
10... Nxc5 11. Bf4 {This is why white played 7.Bc4. Had he placed the B on d3
he would now have to lose a tempo to avoid black from exchanging it with ...
Nxd3. At this point white has two main options. He can head for the endgame
where he has the advantage of the Q-side P-majority or he can avoid exchanges
and build up a K-side attack. Bastrikov prefers the latter.} Qb6 12. c3 (12.
Nf5 {12.a4 0.68 This might look alluring, but after} exf5 13. Qxe7 Be6 {
is quite equal.}) 12... Bd7 13. Rad1 Rfd8 14. Nd4 {A good square for the N.}
Rac8 15. Rfe1 a5 {This secures the position of the N by guarding against b4.
Reuben Fine suggested 15. ..a6 hoping to build up Q-side counterplay, but he
gave no analysis and that move seems inadequate.} (15... a6 {[%eval 5,0] 15...
Be8} 16. Bg5 {[%cal Od4f5]} Nd5 17. Nf3 {[%cal Og3f5]} Bxg5 18. Nxg5 h6 (18...
Nf6 19. Nxf7 {The square e6 is comes under heavy attack.} Kxf7 20. b4 Bb5 21.
Rxd8 Rxd8 22. bxc5 Bxc4 23. Qxc4 Rc8 24. Qb4 (24. cxb6 {[%eval 60,0] 24.Qb4}
Rxc4 {Black is slightly better due to his more active pieces.}) 24... Qxb4 25.
cxb4 {white has a smidgen of an advantage.}) 19. Nxf7 Kxf7 20. b4 Bb5 21. Qf3+
Kg8 22. Bxd5 Rxd5 23. Rxd5 exd5 {White is slightly better. Threatening a nasty
fork on e7.} 24. Nf5 (24. bxc5 {Black equalizes after} Qxc5 25. h3 (25. Re3 d4
{wins}) 25... Qxc3 26. Qxd5+) 24... Rc7 25. Qxd5+ Kh7 26. Ne7 {Threatening
mate, so...} Rxe7 27. Rxe7 (27. Qf5+ Qg6 28. Qxg6+ Kxg6 29. Rxe7) 27... Qg6 {
Also threatening mate.} 28. Qd2 Bc6 {[%csl Gc6][%cal Rg6g2] Threatening mate.}
29. f3 Ne6 {With a difficult position, but one that offers equal chances.}) 16.
h4 {White's attack begins.} Be8 17. Bg5 {[%cal Og3f5]} Qc7 {White is better,
but the position is a maze of complications!} 18. Ngf5 {[%mdl 512]} Bf8 {
This is the best defense.} (18... Nce4 {[%mdl 8192]} 19. Bxe6 fxe6 20. Nxe6 {
and black is lost even after his best continuation.} Bh5 21. Qf1 Rxd1 22. Nxc7
Rxe1 23. Nxe7+ Kh8 24. Qxe1 Rxc7 25. Nf5 h6 26. Bxf6 Nxf6 27. Nd4) (18... exf5
{leaves white better after} 19. Qxe7 Qxe7 20. Rxe7 Nfe4) 19. Nh6+ {[%mdl 512]}
Kh8 (19... gxh6 {[%mdl 8192] 19...Kh8 0.68 is obviously bad.} 20. Bxf6 {
and there is no good defense against Qg4+}) 20. Qf3 {An intriguing position
assuming black finds the correct move. Against Nce4} Ncd7 {[%mdl 8192] Which
he does not.} (20... Nce4 {is best.} 21. Bd3 Nxg5 22. hxg5 Ng8 $1 23. Ng4 {
[%cal Od3h7] Black must now prevent Bxh7} g6 {Obviously white has the
advantage here, but black seems to have sufficient defensive resources. In
Shootouts from this position white only scored one win and four games were
drawn.}) 21. Bxe6 {[%mdl 512]} fxe6 22. Nxe6 Ne5 (22... Qc6 {Trading Qs would
not have helped. After} 23. Qxc6 bxc6 24. Bxf6 gxf6 25. Nxd8 Rxd8 26. Rxd7 Rxd7
(26... Bxd7 {[%eval 481,0] 26...Rxd7} 27. Nf7+ Kg8 28. Nxd8) 27. Rxe8 Kg7 28.
Nf5+ {white is winning.}) 23. Qf4 Rxd1 24. Rxd1 Qe7 25. Qxe5 {Best.} (25. Nxf8
{[%eval 671,0] 25.Qxe5} Bh5 26. Bxf6 Qxf6 27. Qxf6 gxf6 28. g4 {[%cal Rg4h5]}
Nxg4 {and black has a lot of play and so has equalized.}) 25... Bd7 26. Nxf8 {
[%mdl 512]} Qxf8 27. Rd6 {Black exceeded the time limit, but his position was
lost anyway.} (27. Rd6 Re8 {This results in a forced mate.} 28. Rxf6 (28. Qxf6
{This is pretty, but not nearly as good.} gxf6 29. Bxf6+ Qxf6 30. Rxf6 {
with a won ending.}) 28... Qxf6 29. Qxf6 Be6 30. Qd4 a4 31. Bf6 Rg8 32. h5 a3
33. Bxg7+ Rxg7 34. Nf5 Bxf5 35. h6 axb2 36. Qxg7#) (27. Rd6 Rc6 {This is his
best defense, but the ending is still lost. The best line of play is...} 28.
Rxc6 Bxc6 29. Bxf6 gxf6 30. Qf4 Be4 31. Ng4 {White has a won ending.}) 1-0
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