1951 Staunton Centenary

     If you lived in England in 1951 you would have seen the British Board of Film Censors introduce X rating for films that were suitable only for those aged 16 and over. 

     Ford introduced its hit car, the 4-cylinder Consul, which was manufactured from 1951 until 1962. A radio soap opera, The Archers, was launched on the BBC and it's still in production. 

     In May, the spies Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean left Britain and defected to the Soviet Union. Also, Kim Philby, a British intelligence officer and a double agent who had divulged British secrets to the Soviets during World War II was forced to quit his position. John Cairncross, a civil servant who became an intelligence officer and spy during the Second World War suffered the same fate. As a Soviet double agent, he passed to the Soviet Union the decryptions that influenced the Battle of Kursk. 

     British boxer Randy Turpin whipped American Sugar Ray Robinson in a fight in London to become world middleweight champion. 

     1951 was also the year of the great Staunton Centenary Tournament celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first international tournament. First prize went to a 27-year old Yugoslav GM named Svetozar Gligoric (1923-2012, 89 years old). For decades he was one of the world's leading non-Soviet players. Even back in 1946 it had been written that it was evident from his play that he was a great master in the making. 

 

     Second, third and fourth prizes were shared between Pirc (Yugoslavia), Stahlberg (Sweden) and Trifunovic (Yugoslavia). Trifunovic was unlucky not to finished higher. His one loss, to Bogoljubow, was in a game that for the major part of its course seemed quite won for him. Even when he was lost most of the spectators were quite sure he was winning. 

     It was about that time that Petar Trifunovic (1910-1980) had a distinct change in his style of play. Before the war he was a dashing attacking player, but then his play became very safe and solid and he began playing almost all draws; that remained his style up to the end of his career. 

     In this tournament another Yugoslav player, Vasja Pirc (1907-1980), an older player, was the opposite. From a positional master he had turned into an adventurous player who went for complications and took hair-raising risks. He had the fewest draws among the prizewinners. 

     Stahlberg finished well, but his play was not up to its usual high standard and his showing was somewhat disappointing. 

     Tied for the remaining prizes were Alexander, Matanovic, Rossolimo and Unzicker. Alexander’s showing was a pleasant surprise for the British. He was in the lead for the first five rounds, but couldn't keep up the pace. 

     As a professional player whose only income was from prize money, Rossolimo had to play in about ten tournaments a year and the strain was trying, but he managed to almost always finish among the prize winners. 

     Ernst Klein (1910-1990) was born in Vienna and arrived in England in 1935. He was second among the British players, but he had little international practice in the past eleven years, so his result was quite an achievement. 

     The two veterans, Bogoljubow (1889-1952) and Tartakower (1887-1956), were both badly disappointed with their results, but in such a strong tournament their age was a handicap.

[Event "Staunton Memorial , England"] [Site "?"] [Date "1951.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Aleksandar Matanovic"] [Black "Saviely Tartakower"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B09"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15.1"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "1951.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.04.07"] {Pirc Defense: Austrian Attack} 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Bd3 {At the time this defense was called the Yugoslav Defense and theory was still being formed. It was thought that black had good prospects if white did not take the opening seriously. The was enjoyim great popularity because at the time black had been obtaining excellent results and white's setup was in the experimental stage. Today white's move is the one that is most often seem.} c6 {Black eschews the then popular ...c5 thrust and tries a different P-formation. In this line, while it's tru that he does not suffer from the cramping effects of white's d5, black's prospects of achieving a forthright development are not bright. Nowadays black usually plays either 6... Na6 or 6...Nc6.} 7. O-O b5 {According to Euwe this move does not achieve anything of note, but black's position is already most difficult for him. If he tries 7...Nbd7 intending to play ...e5 then his B is blocked in for a long time. And if he tries 7...Bg4 then 8.h6 forces him to part with the two B. The question then arises why play a defense in which this positional drawback has to be incurred so quickly?} 8. a3 a6 (8... d5 9. e5 Ne8 10. h3 f5 11. exf6 exf6 12. f5 Bxf5 13. Bxf5 gxf5 {White is clearly better. Bagaturov,G (2474)-Cugini, W (2199) Bratto 2007}) 9. Kh1 {White has also played 9.Qe1 and 9.Qe2} Qc7 (9... c5 {striking at the center is a better defense.} 10. e5 Nfd7 11. Be4 {but even so white is still better.}) 10. e5 Nd5 11. Ng5 {White has a very fine attacking position and black can do little more than await the onslaught.} Nxc3 12. bxc3 h6 {Of course Tartakover knew that he will have to pay for this weakening of the K-side; but 12...Nd7 would be refuted rather easily.} (12... Nd7 13. e6 Nf6 14. f5 gxf5 15. Bxf5 Bxe6 16. Bxe6 fxe6 17. Nxe6) 13. Nf3 dxe5 { Black opens the f- file for white's R as well as the diagonal for his dark squared B, but, if black avoids this exchange, then white plays Qe1-g3 and threatens f5 with an explosive force.} 14. fxe5 {[%mdl 32]} Be6 15. Qe1 Bd5 16. Qh4 h5 17. Bg5 Ra7 18. Rae1 c5 {Black strives desperately for counter-play, but white now gets in a powerful thrust.} 19. e6 {The main point of this move is that after 19...Bxe6 20 Bxg6 or even 20,Rxe6 black's K-side is destroyed.} f5 (19... Bxe6 20. Rxe6 fxe6 21. Bxg6 Nd7 22. Qxh5 Nf6 23. Qh3 Qd6 24. Bd2 { and the threat of Ng5 is decisive.}) (19... Bxe6 20. Bxg6 Bc4 21. Bd3 Bxd3 22. cxd3 f6 23. Be3 Qd7 24. Qxh5 {White is winning.}) 20. Bf4 Qc6 21. Qg3 {By threat of Bxb8, white wins the g-Pawn and the collapse of black's position soon follows.} Rb7 22. Qxg6 Rf6 23. Qg3 Bxf3 24. gxf3 {White wants to mate with Rg1. The rest of the game is just mopping up.} h4 25. Qg2 h3 26. Qg3 Rxe6 27. Rxe6 Qxe6 28. Rg1 Qf7 29. Bxb8 e6 30. dxc5 {[%mdl 32]} Qh5 31. Be5 Qh6 32. c6 {Black resigned} (32. c6 Rf7 33. c7 Rxc7 34. Bxc7 {It's mate in 11 moves} { Stockfish 15.1:} Kf7 35. Bd6 Qf6 36. Bc5 Bf8 37. Qg8+ Ke8 38. Rg6 Qxg6 39. Qxg6+ Kd8 40. Qxe6 Bxc5 41. Bxf5 Kc7 42. Qd7+ Kb6 43. Qd8+ Kb7 44. Be4+ Ka7 45. Qc7#) 1-0