Former Beatles member John Lennon was shot and killed by an obsessed fan outside of Lennon’s apartment in Manhattan.
It was also the year Mount St. Helens in Washington state erupted, killing 57. One of my all time favorite items, Post-It notes, were officially introduced to US stores during April of 1980. The Rubik’s Cube debuted in January at a toy fair in London and by 1981 it was a worldwide craze.
The average income was $19,000 a year and the average cost of new house $68,700. A new car cost $7,200.00 and to put gas in it cost $1.19 a gallon.
If you played chess, USCF membership was $20 a year, chess books cost $8-12, a nice 3.75 inch heavily weighted rosewood and boxwood set was available for $49, the great Drueke Player's Choice plastic set was $20 and the Cavalier Deluxe also cost $20. Somewhere stored away in a bookcase I have the latter set which was purchased when I returned home from a tournament and discovered a couple of pieces from my Player's Choice set were missing!
As advertised in the June 1980 issue of Chess Life, the Sargon 2.5 Modular Game System was said to be able to solve a given mate in 3 in 3.5 minutes which was 20 times faster than any competitor. The cost? You had to mail in a clip out coupon and they would sent you a FREE price list, brochure and a detailed report comparing Sargon to other home chess computers. Later, in December, Boris/Sargon 2.5 was on sale for $295 (that amounts to about $905 today).
Sometimes you come across a game that is just fun to play over and the following game by USCF Expert James L. Harkins (1929-2017, 88 years old) in which he was defeated by USCF Master Tom Ward (born 1961) is such a game.
He tied for 1st in the 1954 Ohio Championship, but lost on tiebreaks and won the title in 1964, 1968 and 1973. I remember seeing Harkins at tournaments; he was a man of quiet demeanor, sported a crew cut and a bow tie. His obituary can be read on the USCF site HERE.
[Event "Ohio Champ Qualifier"]
[Site "Cleveland, OH USA"]
[Date "1980.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "James L Harkins"]
[Black "Tom Ward"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C44"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 15"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "1980.??.??"]
{Scotch Gambit} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. c3 {This gambit is an
off-shoot from the Scotch Game in which white sacrifices a P, sometimes two,
to open up lines and to accelerate his development.} dxc3 {Black needs to
think carefully whether or not to accept the sacrifice; safer is 4...d5} 5. Bc4
{The alternative 5.Nxc3 has proven to be less effective.} cxb2 {By accepting
the second P black must exercise care that he doesn't allow white dangerous
attacking chances.} 6. Bxb2 d6 {A viable alternative is 6...Bb4+ and 5...Nf6}
7. Nc3 (7. O-O Be6 8. Bxe6 fxe6 9. Qb3 Qd7 {Mastrovasilis,D (2562)-Michos,T
(2264) Athens 2006 is equal after 10.Nbd2. In the game white speculated with
10.Ng5?!}) 7... Be6 8. Bxe6 (8. Nd5 {remains equal.} Nge7 9. Ng5 Ng6 {Now the
correct move is 10.Nxe6. Stukalov,A (2164)-Kutepov,A (2083) Vladimir RUS 2004})
8... fxe6 9. Qb3 {Black is better.} Qd7 {This sets a little trap, but only a
beginner would fall for it. In any case, white has no real compensation for
the two sacrificed Ps.} 10. O-O-O {This move, which leaves his K wide open, is
nearly fatal.} (10. Qxb7 Rb8 {and the B is lost.}) (10. Ng5 {is insufficient.}
Nd4 11. Qxb7 Rd8 12. O-O c5 {Here, too, white has nothing to show for the two
Ps.}) (10. O-O {is safest, but black still has the advantage.} Na5 {and after
the Q retreats black simply continues his development.}) 10... O-O-O {White
must now prevent ...Nf6.} 11. Ng5 Re8 12. f4 h6 13. Nf3 Nge7 {[%mdl 32]} 14.
Na4 {Now with 14...Na5 and 15...Nec6 black has a very promising game.} Nd8 {
[%mdl 8192] Give this move two question marks because it should have lost.} 15.
Kb1 {[%mdl 8192] Give this move two question marks because it misses the win.}
(15. Ne5 {wins the Q!} dxe5 16. Rxd7 Kxd7 17. Rd1+ Kc8 18. Qd3 {and white is
winning.}) 15... Nec6 16. Rd2 Na5 17. Qb4 Ndc6 18. Qb5 a6 19. Qe2 Na7 20. Nc3
Kb8 {Black still had to be careful!} (20... Be7 {continuing his development is
met by} 21. Ne5 Qd8 22. Nf7 Qd7 {and white can draw by repeating moves with 23.
Ne5. If} 23. Nxh8 Rxh8 24. Rc1 {the position is unclear as both sides have
chances.}) 21. Rc1 (21. Ne5 Qc8 22. Nf7 Rh7 {and white hasn't really
accomplished anything.}) 21... Be7 {Opening up the position with 21...g5 was
more aggressive, but the text is quite solid.} 22. h4 Rc8 23. g4 b5 24. Nd1
Rhg8 25. Ne3 g5 {Black should have tried opening up lines against white' K
with 25...c5 even though white would then get some play. The text allows white
to nearly equalize.} (25... c5 26. f5 Qb7 27. fxe6 Qxe4+ 28. Rcc2 Qxe6 29. Nf5
Qxe2 30. Rxe2 Bf8 31. Re6) 26. hxg5 hxg5 27. f5 exf5 28. gxf5 {Wrong recapture!
} (28. exf5 N7c6 29. Qd3 {and for all practical purposes white is equal.})
28... g4 {The passed P causes white grief.} 29. Nxg4 {This may look like
desperation in a time of panic, but it sets a trap.} (29. Nd4 Bg5 30. Rdd1 g3 {
and black is clearly better.}) (29. Ne5 {This is the move!} Qe8 30. N5xg4 Bg5
31. Qf3 N7c6 32. f6 {Black will have to defend carefully in order to keep his
advantage.}) 29... Nc4 {Excellent!} (29... Rxg4 30. Ne5 Qd8 31. Nxg4 Bg5 {
and suddenly the chances are back to equal.}) 30. Rdc2 (30. Rxc4 {was better.
After} bxc4 31. Ne3 Bg5 32. Nxg5 Rxg5 33. Qxc4 Qc6 {Black is up the exchange,
but white has some practical chances owing to his active pieces and the P on
f5.}) 30... Nxb2 31. Rxb2 Rxg4 {White resigned. At first glance it might look
a bit premature, but black has the win in hand.} (31... Rxg4 32. Ne5 dxe5 33.
Qxg4 Ba3 34. Qd1 Qe7 35. Qb3 Bxb2 36. Kxb2 {and black is a piece and P up...
it's not worth playing on against a Master under such circumstances.}) 0-1
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