In 1975, Gerald Ford was the President and the 1973–1975 economic stagnation was coming to an end, but we didn't know that. This period was different from many previous recessions because high unemployment and high inflation existed simultaneously.
Technically the recession ended in March of 1975. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that 2.3 million jobs were lost during the recession; at the time which was a post-war record.
In those days I had been working as a timekeeper in a foundry and until the recession business had been booming. I remember working 10-12 hours a day with one Saturday a month off. Then, during the recession we went down to 3 days a week and eventually the place folded. All that remains today is the old office building, a garage, a parking lot overgrown with weeds and three vacant lots where the foundry buildings used to be.
1975 was the year of the “Thrilla in Manila," the heavyweight boxing championship match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in the Philippines.
At the movies the box office hit Jaws set records and McDonalds was driving everybody nuts with the slogan, “Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.” Their burgers did not taste any better then than they do today.
Clayton Moore, who played the Lone Ranger on TV for 169 episodes and two feature films in the 1950s, was sued by the Wrather Corporation. Wrather owned the Lone Ranger character by copyright and Moore was making appearances as The Lone Ranger without their approval. The company won the suit and Moore had to make appearances wearing wrap-around sunglasses instead of the Lone Ranger's iconic mask. Boos to the Wrather Corporation.
It was also the year that Union Teamster Jimmy Hoffa disappeared. He disappeared on July 30, 1975 and is generally believed to have been murdered by the Mafia. He wasn't declared legally dead until 1982.
Under the Freedom of Information Act you can access the FBI's Record Vault and view their documents on Hoffa HERE.
In late 2021, the FBI searched land next to a former landfill under the Pulaski Skyway in Jersey City, New Jersey, for Hoffa's remains, but found nothing. But...were they really looking? Read a story about the "search" HERE.
It was also the year of mood rings, Six Million Dollar Man action figures and Pet Rocks. Mood rings are still around, but when they were introduced it was claimed that when the stone changed color it indicated the wearer's mood. For example, if it turned black they were upset. Of course, all it really registered was the temperature of the wearer's finger.
Really, really stupid was the fad involving pet rocks. They were small rocks that came in custom cardboard boxes lined with straw and breathing holes for the rock.
The rock also came with a 32-page training manual (The Care and Training of Your Pet Rock) that had instructions on how to properly raise and care for the rock. The manual contained gags, puns and jokes and listed several commands that could be taught to the rock.
Stupid as it was, the developer sold over a million of them at $4.00 each...that's about $22 each in today's dollars.
There were two big tournaments I got to witness that year: the international tournament in Cleveland, Ohio (won by Istvan Csom of Hungary) and the US Championship in Oberlin, Ohio (won by Walter Browne).
The following game is one of my few OTB game scores that have survived and I am surprised at how well both of us 97 pound chess weaklings played!
[Event "Cleveland, Ohio"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1976.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Tartajubow"]
[Black "Opponent"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C19"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 15.1"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "1976.??.??"]
{French Defense, Winawer} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 (2. c4 {This is my other favorite
reply to the French because after the usual} d5 {Black could also play 2...c5
with a Maroczy Bind.} 3. exd5 exd5 4. d4 {the game has transposed into a
position where white is likely to end up with an isolated d-Pawn which I don't
mind playing with.}) 2... d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 {As a Botvinnik fan I was quite
familiar with the Winawer. Apparently, so was my opponent because we followed
the book for quite a few moves.} 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 {This is by
far the most frequently played move.} 7. a4 {This anti-thematic move has
brought little success. White almost always plays 7.Qg4 after which black has
three options: 1) sacrifice a couple of Ps with 7...Qc7 8.Qxg7 Rg8 9.Qxh7 and
then play ...cxd4 destroying white's center. 2) play 7...O-O which places his
K in a potentially dangerous location because the K-side is where white is
planning to attack. 3) He can play 7...Kf8 which is actually better than it
looks because of the locked P-center and if white's K-side attack begins
looking dangerous the K can flee.} Qa5 8. Qd2 {The plan is to develop the B on
a3 where it will be more active than on d2.} Nbc6 9. Nf3 c4 {A poor move
because it severely limits black's counterplay on both the center and the
Q-side. The simple 9.Bd2 was best.} 10. Be2 Bd7 11. O-O {[%mdl 32]} O-O-O {
No matter which side he castles on black will face some difficulties.} (11...
O-O 12. Ba3 f6 13. Rab1 Qc7 (13... Qxa4 {is really bad. After} 14. Ra1 {
black is in grave danger.} f5 (14... fxe5 15. Nxe5 Nxe5 16. Bxe7) 15. Bd6 Qb5
16. Rfb1 {wins the Q}) 14. Bd6 {with the better game.}) 12. Ba3 f6 (12... h6
13. Rfb1 Rde8 14. Bc5 b6 15. Ba3 {and white's position is to be preferred.
Grund,H (2415)-Wadsworth,M (2135) Daventry ENG 2014}) 13. Rfb1 h5 (13... Nf5
14. g4 Nfe7 15. Bd6 Ng6 {Now after 16.Rb5 white would be better. Perez Ponsa,
F-Iermito,S Esperanza 2003}) 14. Bd6 Rdg8 15. Rb5 Qa6 16. Rab1 {This induces
the obvious 16...b6 which is a mistake!} b6 (16... Nf5 {was called for, but
black rejected it because of the obvious} 17. Rxb7 {but after} Nxd6 {Black has
eliminated the well placed B and then after} 18. exd6 Qxb7 {This surprising
move is the only way! Other moves would lose.} (18... Qxa4 19. Rc7+ Kd8 20. Ne5
Bc8 (20... fxe5 21. Rb8+ {mates in 3}) 21. Nxc6+) 19. Rxb7 Kxb7 {and black has
nearly enough compensation for the Q and he can make a real fight of it. Of
course, neither of us saw all this.}) 17. Qc1 {Over preparation!} (17. a5 {
would have pretty much wrapped it up according to the engines. White gets a
B+N vs R+P and a winning advantage. However, after} Nxa5 18. Rxa5 {This is the
move I missed.} Qxa5 19. Bxe7 {I'm still not seeing it so I ran some Shootouts
and white scored 5-0. Here's the result at 17 plies. I should add that neither
of the two players would have played at the same level of Stockfish though so
the Shootouts are no indication of what the actual results might have been.} f5
20. h4 Kb7 21. Qc1 Ka8 22. Ra1 Qb5 23. Ng5 Qc6 24. Qa3 a5 25. Nf7 Ka7 26. Nxh8
Rxh8 27. Qc1 g6 28. Qg5 Be8 29. Kf1 Ka6 30. Ba3 Rh7 31. Ke1 Qc8 32. Kd2 Qc7 33.
Qf6 Qd7 34. Rg1 Qc8 35. f3 Kb5 36. g4 fxg4 37. fxg4 Rf7 38. Qg5 hxg4 39. Qxg4
Qd7 40. Qxg6 Rf1 41. Qg8 Rxg1 42. Qxg1 Qh7 43. Qg5 Bg6 44. Bd1 Be4 45. Bf8 Ka6
46. h5 Kb5 47. Qf6 Qg8 48. Qg7 Qxg7 49. Bxg7 Kc6 50. Bf8 Kd7 51. h6 Ke8 52. Bd6
Kf7 53. Bh5+ Kg8 54. Bg4 Kh7 55. Bxe6 Kxh6 56. Bd7 b5 57. e6 {etc. Anybody
could win from here.}) 17... Qxa4 {This is too dangerous.} (17... Nf5 {would
have at least equalized.} 18. Ba3 Qxa4 19. Bc5 Kd8 20. Qb2 Qa6 21. Bxb6+ axb6
22. Rxb6 Qa8 {Both Stockfish and Komodo think black is slightly better, so it
must be true.}) 18. Qb2 Qa6 19. Ra1 Qb7 20. Qa3 {[%mdl 8192] In the
auto-annotation Fritz slapped a question mark on this move and reassigned the
one P advantage to black!} (20. Bc5 {[%mdl 512] We saw this in the note to the
last move.} Nd8 21. Rb3 (21. Rxb6 axb6 22. Bxe7 {favors white.}) 21... cxb3 22.
Ba6 bxc5 23. Bxb7+ Nxb7 24. cxb3 {and white, like in the previous note, is
better.}) 20... Nf5 21. Bc5 {I finally saw it, but now it's too late to have
any effect.} (21. Rb2 {is the engine suggestion, but after} Nxd6 22. Qxd6 Qc7 {
white's advantage has evaporated.}) 21... Nxe5 {[%mdl 512] This merits an
exclamation mark!} 22. Rbb1 (22. dxe5 Bxb5 23. Bd4 {Black is better...much
better.}) 22... Nxf3+ {Retreating to c6 was also a good option.} 23. Bxf3 {
And just like that black is calling the shots because white's attack prospects
against the K have sputtered to a halt.} Qc7 {Getting the Q off the Rs line of
fire looks quite logical, but now Stockfish drops the evaluation from one P on
black's favor to 0.00 meaning it's anybody's game.} (23... Re8 {This obscure
looking move is the move.} 24. Bb4 Kb8 25. Bd6+ Nxd6 26. Qxd6+ Kc8 {and white
is at a loss for a good continuation.}) 24. Qa6+ (24. Qxa7 {Why not this?
There was no reason not to play it, but after the exchange of Qs white doesn't
have anything. For example...} Qxa7 25. Rxa7 bxc5 26. Rbb7 Bc6 (26... Be8 27.
Rc7+ Kb8 {draws.}) 27. Rb6 (27. Rc7+ Kb8 {White is apiece down.}) 27... cxd4
28. Rxc6+ Kb8 29. Rca6 {and white can draw.}) 24... Qb7 25. Qa3 {Still hoping
to win.} (25. Qxa7 Qxa7 26. Rxa7 bxc5 27. Rbb7 Bc6 28. Rb6 Bd7 29. Rbb7 {draws.
}) 25... Bc6 26. Bb4 {The best option was to take the draw with 26.Qxa7} Kc7 (
26... Kb8 {Defending the a-Pawn keeps more of the advantage, but black
probably disliked the idea of having his Q and K on the same file as the R.}
27. Bd6+ Nxd6 28. Qxd6+ Qc7 (28... Ka8 {loses to} 29. Rxa7+ Qxa7 30. Qxc6+ Qb7
31. Ra1+ Kb8 32. Qd6+ Qc7 33. Qxe6 Rd8 34. Bxd5 Rxd5 35. Qxd5 Qb7 36. Qxc4) 29.
Qxc7+ Kxc7 30. Rxa7+ Bb7) 27. Qxa7 {Finally admitting there is nothing better.}
Ra8 28. Qxb7+ Bxb7 29. g4 {This is an attempt to get the B into action or else
trade it for the N. Black makes a ill advised decision to cooperate.} (29. Rxa8
{is what white should have played.} Bxa8 30. Re1 {Black's advantage is minimal.
}) 29... hxg4 {Instead of this which allows white to get rid of his useless B
black shouldvhave tried 29...Nh4} (29... Nh4 30. Bd1 hxg4 31. Bxg4 f5 32. Bd1)
30. Bxg4 Rh4 31. Bxf5 exf5 32. Rxa8 Bxa8 {[%mdl 4096] The resulting endgame is
equal.} 33. f3 f4 34. Re1 Rh7 35. Re7+ Kd8 36. Ra7 Bc6 37. Be7+ {White's next
move is going to be Bxf6, but does it make a difference which way black moves
his K?} Ke8 {Yes. and this is the wrong way!} (37... Kc8 38. Bxf6 Bb7 {Cutting
off the line of action of white's R...that's why going to c8 made such a big
difference.} 39. Be5 (39. Bg5 g6 40. Bxf4 Rf7 41. Bg5 Rxf3) 39... Rh6 40. Bxf4
Rf6 41. Bg5 Rxf3 {is a draw.}) 38. Bxf6 {[%mdl 512]} Bd7 39. Be5 {This is the
wrong square! Immediately after making the move I realized 39...g5 defends the
P and there is nothing left, so I offered a draw which was accepted.} (39. Bg5
{keeps the winning chances alive.} Bh3 40. Bxf4 Kf8 41. Rb7 Rh5 42. Kf2 (42.
Rxb6 Rf5 {equals}) 42... g5 43. Bd6+ Kg8 44. Rxb6 {Even though white is 2 Ps
up, the opposite colored Bs and doubled Ps make the win extremely difficult.
In Shootouts white only scored +1 -0 =4.}) 1/2-1/2
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