An Unusual Position

 

     The first air conditioners appeared in 1902 by an inventor named Willis Carrier, but it was not for homes. Carrier's air conditioner was designed to keep paper from wrinkling in the heat and humidity at the Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Publishing Company in Brooklyn, New York. 

     It wasn't long after that industrial buildings and hospitals began adopting the technology, but the first person to air condition his home was Charles Gates, son of an industrialist and gambler named John Gates when he air conditioned his house in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1914. 

     By the 1920s, air conditioners were smaller and safer; the old versions used a toxic coolant. During the Depression, few places could afford to install the expensive systems, but movie theaters were an exception because they could be sure to see a return on their investment as people flocked to them. 

     However, it wasn't until after WWII that air conditioning started showing up in American homes, especially in the South. And, the fact that the venue of the 1956 U.S. Open in Oklahoma City, the Civic Room of the Oklahoma Biltmore, was air conditioned would have been w a welcome draw; in fact, it was even mentioned in the tournament announcement. The entry fee was $12 ($132.72 in today's dollars). 

     The Open was won by the U.S. Champion Arthur Bisguier. He suffered a surprising third round defeat by Donald Fischheimer of Chicago and as a result had to come from behind in an exciting finish to win the Championship with a 9.5-2.5 score. He was actually tied with James Sherwin, but won on tiebreaks. Robert Steinmeyer, who led the field for a time, placed third with 9-3. Tied at 8.5-3.5 for fourth to eight place were 13-tear old Bobby Fischer, Anthony Saidy, Edmar Mednis, Stephan Popel and Anthony DiCamillo. 

     The Women's Open Champion was Sonya Graf-Stevenson of Los Angeles, the defending champion, with 6.5-5.5 score. She was followed by the unheralded Mary Selensky a point behind. 

     Arthur Bisguier (1929-2017) needs no introduction, but his opponent, Dr. Orest Popovych is less known. Popovych was born January 18, 1933, in the Ukraine; he passed away at the age of 90 on March 14, 2023 at his home in Howell, New Jersey. 

     He immigrated to the U.S. in 1949 and settled in Newark, New Jersey. After finishing high school in 1951, he enrolled at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey where he majored in chemistry. In the fall of 1955, he entered the PH.D. Program in Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, first as a teaching assistant and then as an Allied Chemical and Dye Fellow. In January 1959, he was awarded his PhD in analytical chemistry. 

     After graduation he then embarked on a corporate career and in 1963 he began teaching in Brooklyn College of the City University of New York where he became a full professor in the Department of Chemistry. 

     Popovych was a USCF Senior Master and an FIDE FM. He won the New Jersey championship in 1959, 1961, 1985 and in 2001. In 2001 he authored a chess book featuring games by former champions of the Ukrainian Sports Federation of the USA and Canada. He was inducted into the Ukrainian Sports Federation Hall of Fame in 2016. 

     In the following game, the position of Bisguier's Bs on e7 and e8 at move 15 is quite unusual. He held the advantage for most of the game, but made a slip at move 30. Popovych failed to take advantage of it, but he still managed to create a mate threat. However, in doing so he allowed Bisguier a nice finish. Not that it mattered because black was lost anyway. 

[Event "US Open, Oklahoma City"] [Site "Oklahoma City, OK USA"] [Date "1956.07.24"] [Round "?"] [White "Arthur Bisguier"] [Black "Orest Popovych"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E70"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15.1"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "1956.??.??"] {King's Indian} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Bg5 c5 6. d5 O-O 7. Qd2 Qa5 {this is somewhat risky because the Q may end being misplaced. Either 7...e6 or 7...a6 are better.} 8. Bd3 Re8 (8... a6 9. Rc1 b5 10. b3 e6 11. Nge2 exd5 12. exd5 Nbd7 {equals. Milov,V (2668)-Kempinski,R (2624) Geneve 2005}) 9. Nge2 Na6 (9... a6 10. O-O Nbd7 11. f4 b5 12. cxb5 {Much better was 12.b3} axb5 13. Ng3 c4 {Black is much better. Amerkeshev,M (2228)-Omori,M (2191) chess.com INT 2013}) (9... e6 10. O-O a6 11. a4 exd5 12. cxd5 Nbd7 13. f4 c4 {is equal. Blosze,E-Djurhuus,R (2405) Gausdal 1992}) 10. O-O Nc7 {Risky in that it cuts off the Q's retreat. Better would have been 10...Nb4} 11. a3 {The threat is 12. b4} Na6 (11... Kh8 {A pass to demonstrate the threat.} 12. b4 cxb4 13. axb4 Qxb4 14. Rfb1 Qc5 15. Be3 {The Q is trapped.}) 12. f4 Ng4 13. Bc2 f5 {After this black's position is all but lost.} (13... e6 {This counterattack in the center does not work out well because after} 14. Ba4 Rf8 15. Be7 {he has a very poor position.}) (13... Qd8 {This was Bisguier's recommendation because it protects the e-Pawn and removes the Q from danger, but after} 14. Ba4 Bd7 15. Bxd7 Qxd7 16. h3 f6 17. Bh4 Nh6 {white's position is quite promising.}) 14. Ba4 Rf8 15. Bxe7 Rf7 16. Bxd6 {Already white has a decisive advantage.} fxe4 17. Be8 Rf6 18. Be7 {A unusual position!} e3 19. Qc1 Bf5 20. Bxf6 Bxf6 21. Bb5 Bd4 22. b4 Qd8 {Interesting...the Q is transferring to the the R file with the hope of creating threats against white's K. Nevertheless, white remains in com plete control.} 23. Rf3 Qh4 24. h3 Nf2 25. bxc5 Bxc5 26. Qe1 {Safe and solid.} (26. Na4 {leads to some tricky tactical play.} Bg4 27. Nxc5 Bxf3 28. Qxe3 Nxc5 29. Qxf3 {and white is clearly better.}) (26. Bxa6 {is best met by} Bg4 27. Rg3 bxa6 28. Rxg4 Nxg4 29. Ne4 {White has a significant advantage.}) 26... Bg4 27. Rg3 Bh5 (27... Bxe2 {was not any better.} 28. Nxe2 Nc7 29. Ba4 Rf8 30. Rf3 { white remains with the superior position.}) 28. Kh2 Kh8 {[%mdl 8192]} 29. Bd7 Rf8 30. Na4 {[%mdl 32] This slip should have allowed Popovych to nearly equalize.} (30. Rg5 Bxe2 31. Nxe2 Rxf4 32. Qc3+ Rd4 33. Qxe3 Bd6+ 34. g3 Rd3 35. Qc1 Nd1 36. Rg4 Qe7 37. Be6 {Here black can continue to put up a manly defense.}) 30... Ne4 {[%mdl 8192] Played against Qc3+, but after this black is clearly lost.} (30... Bxe2 {is tougher.} 31. Qxe2 Bd4 32. Rf3 (32. Rb1 Qxf4 { and it's black who is winning!}) 32... Bxa1 33. Qxe3 Nd3 34. Qxd3 Rxf4 { and black has equalized.}) 31. Nxc5 {Simplifying} Nxg3 32. Ne6 (32. Nxg3 { would be a serious mistake.} Nxc5 33. Nxh5 Qxe1 34. Rxe1 gxh5 35. Be6 Rxf4 36. Rxe3 Rxc4 {and black is right back in the game.}) (32. Qxg3 {is also not quite so good because after} Qxg3+ 33. Kxg3 Nxc5 34. Bg4 Bxg4 35. hxg4 Re8 {black is still fighting.}) 32... Bxe2 33. Nxf8 Nf1+ 34. Kg1 Qxf4 {Of course this threatens mate, but at the same time it allows a nice finish. Of course any other move would have lost, too.} (34... Qxe1 35. Rxe1 Bxc4 36. d6 e2 37. Be6 Bb5 38. Rxe2 Kg7 39. Rb2 {wins} Kxf8 40. Rxb5 Ng3 41. Bg4 Nf5 42. Bxf5 gxf5 43. Rxb7 {wins.}) 35. Qc3+ Kg8 36. Qg7+ {[%mdl 512]} Kxg7 37. Ne6+ {Black resigned. To continue on would have been pointless because the ending is won for white.} (37. Ne6+ Kf6 38. Nxf4 Bxc4 39. Rxf1 Bxf1 40. Kxf1 Ke5 41. Ne6 Kxd5 42. Ke2 Nb8 43. Bc8 b5 44. Nc7+ Kc4 45. Kxe3 a5 46. Be6+ Kc5 47. Ba2 b4 48. a4 Nc6 49. Ne6+ Kd6 50. Ke4 {The Ps on the Q-side are stopped and white's extra piece must prevail.}) 1-0