The only real problem with the city seems to be its winters which generally last from early November to mid-March. Temperatures usually remain below freezing at all times, even during the daytime. January and February are the coldest months with low temperatures often dropping below -22°F and high temperatures not rising above 14°F.
The city is well over 1,800 miles from Toronto and it's nearly 2,200 miles from Montreal. Nevertheless, in June of 1945, Saskatoon was the location for the 1945 Canadian Championship which was a tie between Abe Yanofsy and Frank Yerhoff.
Today's game is a miniature between John H. Belson and Leonard Hall. Miniature games are not just entertainment...they can teach you a lot about chess and help you improve your own play. 
Games between two equally strong players can belong, subtle and...boring. Just ask any of us who suffered through the first Karpov-Kasparov match! On February 15, 1985, the President of FIDE Florencio Campomanes terminated the match after 48 games. Here is a little secret...to this day I have never played over a single game of that match.
Miniatures, games lasting about 25 moves usually come to an end with a spectacular tactical shot or an admirable idea and that makes them profitable to study. Or, if you're not interested in studying they are just plain entertaining. Take the following game, for instance. It didn't take Belson long to reach an overwhelming position and then deliver mate to his hapless opponent.
John Harold Belson (February 23, 1906 - March 13, 1947, 41 years old), known as Harry Belson, was born in Finland (his Finnish last name was Belczinsky) and after moving to Canada circa 1926 he lived in Toronto. He was Canadian champion in 1934 and 1946 and he won the Toronto city championship 7 times. By profession he was an automotive finance expert. I was unable to locate any information on Leonard Hall other that he appears to have been a local player from Saskatoon.
[Event "Canadian Championship, Saskatoon"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1945.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "John H Belson"]
[Black "Leonard Hall"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C13"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 15.1"]
[PlyCount "41"]
[EventDate "1945.06.05"]
{French: Classical System} 1. e4 {[%mdl 32]} e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7
5. e5 Nfd7 6. h4 {White almost always plays the boring 6.Bxe7, but here Belosn
plays the bold Alekhine–Chatard Attack offering to sacrifice a P to keep
black's K in the center. As will soon be seen, things can get complicated
after 6.h4} c5 {This move illustrates another point of white's 6.h4} (6... Bxg5
7. hxg5 Qxg5 {Experience has shown this is not a good way to test the
soundness of white's 6th move.} 8. Nh3 Qe7 {Here white often plays 9.Nf4, but
it does not appear to be the best.} 9. Qg4 g6 10. Ng5 {and whether black plays
10...h6 or 10...h5 white has a nice initiative.}) 7. Nb5 {However, with this
move which white may have thought was just a transposition, fails to
demonstrate the mentioned point!} (7. Bxe7 {and black is forced to displace
his K with 7...Kxe7} Qxe7 {is not so good because of} 8. Nb5 {and the threat
of Nxc7+ leaves black in a pickle.}) 7... f6 {This upsets the applecart.} 8.
Bd3 (8. exf6 Nxf6 9. dxc5 O-O 10. Bd3 Nc6 {Black will follow up with ...e5
with an excellent position.}) 8... O-O {[%mdl 8192] This is castling into
trouble!} (8... fxg5 {and the best white has seems to be a draw.} 9. Qh5+ Kf8 (
9... g6 10. Bxg6+ hxg6 11. Qxh8+ Nf8 {is too dangerous for black to risk.}) 10.
hxg5 cxd4 11. Qf3+ Ke8 12. Qh5+ {draws. Note that 12...g6 loses.} g6 13. Bxg6+
Kf8 (13... hxg6 14. Qxg6+ Kf8 15. Rxh8#) 14. Qh6+ Kg8 15. Bxh7+ Rxh7 16. Qxh7+
Kf8 17. Qh8+ Kf7 18. g6+ Kxg6 19. Qh7+ Kg5 20. Qh5+ Kf4 21. Ne2+ Ke4 22. Qf3+
Kxe5 23. Qf4#) (8... cxd4 {was played in Guimard,C-Stahlberg,G Mar del Plata
1942 and after} 9. Qh5+ Kf8 10. exf6 Nxf6 11. Qe2 Bb4+ 12. Kf1 Nc6 {White is
slightly better, but in the game he could only draw.}) (8... Nc6 9. Qh5+ Kf8 {
The game is equal after 10.exf6, but there followed a comedy of errors.} 10.
Rh3 Nb4 (10... cxd4 {leaves him with a great position after} 11. exf6 Nxf6) 11.
Bd2 Nxd3+ 12. cxd3 Qb6 {Chances are equal after 12...a6} 13. Rg3 Rg8 14. Qxh7
fxe5 15. Rf3+ Bf6 16. dxe5 {1Black resigned. Abreu Jean,C (2246)-Infante,M
(2275) Santo Domingo 2015}) (8... a6 {This unlikely looking move (it seems to
ignore white's threats) leaves black clearly better after...} 9. Qh5+ Kf8 {
And, incredibly, white has no way of successfully continuing the attack. After
10 minutes the best line Stockfish came up with was} 10. Nd6 Bxd6 11. exd6 Nc6
12. Bd2 cxd4 13. f4 e5 14. Be2 Qe8 15. fxe5 Ndxe5 16. O-O-O Qxh5 17. Bxh5 {
and black has a considerable advantage.}) 9. Qh5 f5 (9... fxg5 10. Qxh7+ Kf7
11. Bg6#) (9... h6 10. Bxh6 cxd4 11. Bxg7 Nxe5 12. Rh3 {and the end is not far
off.}) 10. Nc7 {This turns out to be a rather lame continuation.} (10. Bxe7
Qxe7 11. Qg5 Qxg5 12. hxg5 Na6 {White stands well. Winning is another matter
though.} 13. f4) 10... Qxc7 (10... Nxe5 {giving up the R but getting some play
is a plausible try.} 11. Nxa8 cxd4 12. Qe2 Nec6 {After either 13.O-O-O or 13.
f4 white's position is better.}) 11. Bxe7 Rf7 12. Bd6 {[%mdl 128] Black is in
trouble.} Qd8 13. Nf3 {Strongly threatening Ng5.} g6 14. Qh6 Nf8 15. h5 {
Black's K-side is about to be ripped apart.} Rg7 16. Ng5 Nc6 (16... gxh5 17.
Bxf8 Qxf8 18. Rxh5 Qe7 19. O-O-O {and time is running out for black.}) 17. Bxf8
(17. hxg6 {is not nearly as good.} Rxg6 18. Qxf8+ Qxf8 19. Bxf8 Rxg5 20. Bxc5
Rxg2 21. c3 {Positionally white is better in spite of black's passed h-P; his
pieces are much more active than black's.}) 17... Kxf8 18. Nxh7+ Kf7 19. Ng5+
Kg8 20. hxg6 Nxd4 (20... Kf8 21. Nh7+ Ke8 (21... Kg8 22. Nf6+ Kf8 23. Qh8+ Ke7
24. Qxg7#) 22. Nf6+ {and wins...black must surrender his Q to avoid a mate in
3.}) 21. Qh8# {Great play by Belson.} 1-0
No comments:
Post a Comment