On television people were watching Bonanza (a sappy western), Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. (an idiotic show that did not remotely resemble the real Marine Corps in which I was serving) and The Lucy Show (silly slapstick).
In 1965, Apple Jacks cereal, Bar One candy bars, Bounty paper towels, Gatorade drink, Honeycomb cereal, ladies’ hair care product Nice ‘n Easy and SpaghettiOs all appeared in the marketplace for the first time.
The economy was good. It continued into its fifth consecutive year in what was the longest boom since the end of World War II.
A crass, vulgar man named Lyndon B. Johnson was president and he signed the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965. The bill required cigarette makers to print health warnings on cigarette packages about the harmful effects of smoking. Those of us who smoked in those days ignored the warnings.
The first U.S. combat troops, two battalions of 3,500 Marines, arrived in South Vietnam to defend the American airbase at Da Nang from Viet Cong attacks. By the end of the year, U.S. troop levels in Vietnam reached 184,300.
Thanks in a large part to a bungling President Johnson it turned out to be a quagmire that cost
us more that 58,000 casualties, over 150,000 wounded and almost 2,000 missing.
To his credit, in what was probably the high point of his time in office, President Johnson did sign the Voting Rights Act into law which guaranteed African Americans the right to vote.
On February 13, 1965, Samuel Reshevsky won the first National Open in Las Vegas which boasted of a then record-breaking prize fund of $4500 (over $43,000 in today’s dollars).
Both Reshevsky and Robert Byrne yielded two draws each and were tied for with 7-1 each. They split the prize money and each got $700 (over $6.700 today), but the title was awarded to Reshevsky on tiebreaks.
Nobody knows if if Pal Benko won or lost at the gambling tables, but at the chess tables his luck was definitely bad when he made horrendous blunders in two consecutive games. Against Dr. Ariel Mengarini he overlooked a mate in a winning position and then against Paul Quillen he declined several draws by repetition and guess what? He stumbled into a mate. Rumor had that his problem was lack of sleep as the result of having spent long hours gambling.
In the following game Rershevsky dismantles a Class A (1800-1999) rated David C. Korts who finished with an even 4-4 score.
[Event "National Open, Las Vegas"]
[Site "Las Vegas, NV USA"]
[Date "1965.02.08"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Samuel Reshevsky"]
[Black "David Korts"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C74"]
[Annotator "ShashChess 32"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "1965.??.??"]
{Ruy Lopez: Deferred Steinitz} 1. e4 {Reshevsky rarely played 1.e4 except when
he was anticipating a quick kill. Against an 1800 player that was a reasonable
expectation.} e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. c3 f5 {What should this
opening be called? A Deferred Steinitz or a Deferred Schliemann? I am not
really sure, but this move is very sharp. Statistically, in my database it
gives black better results than the musch more usual 5...Bd7} 6. exf5 Bxf5 7.
d4 e4 {Black is booked up...this is his best move.} (7... b5 {allows white to
get the advantage after} 8. Bc2 Bxc2 (8... e4 9. Ng5 d5 10. f3 Be7 11. fxe4
Bxg5 12. Qh5+ Bg6 13. Qxg5 {White is better.}) 9. Qxc2 Nf6 10. a4 {White is
slightly better.}) 8. Ng5 d5 (8... Be7 {is another possibility.} 9. d5 b5 10.
Bc2 Bxg5 11. Qh5+ Bg6 12. Qxg5 Nce7 {Mista,A (2561)-Krasenkow,M (2608) Germany
2011 Black has a position similar to the one in the note to move 7.}) 9. f3 (9.
c4 dxc4 10. Bxc6+ bxc6 11. Qa4 Qd7 12. Nc3 {Chances are equal. Shamkovich,
L-Shianovsky,V Baku 1961}) (9. Nh3 Nf6 10. Nf4 Bg4 11. Qc2 Qd6 12. Be3 {
Black stands well. Koepke,E (2271)-Osmanodja,F (2348) Germany GER 2018}) (9.
Bxc6+ bxc6 10. f3 exf3 11. Qxf3 Nh6 12. Qe3+ {The chances are equal. Malofeev,
A (2233)-Silivanov,S (2325) St Petersburg 2009}) 9... Be7 ({Black should play}
9... h6 10. fxe4 hxg5 11. exf5 Bd6 {with about equal chances.}) (9... exf3 {
turns out badly after} 10. O-O Bg4 11. Nxf3 Nf6 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Qxf3 {and the
position of black's K is rather precarious.}) 10. fxe4 {White is better.} dxe4
{After this black;s position rapidly deteriorates.} (10... Bxg5 {is a better
defense.} 11. Qh5+ Bg6 12. Qxg5 dxe4 13. O-O {with a position similar to those
previously mentioned, but here white is clearly better.} Nf6 14. Qe5+ Qe7 15.
Qxe7+ Kxe7) 11. O-O {[%mdl 32] It's clear that black is facing some serious
difficulties. His K is stuck in the center and danger is lurking on the f- and
e-files.} Nh6 (11... Bxg5 12. Rxf5 Bxc1 13. Qxc1 b5 14. Bc2 {is also very
precarious for black.}) 12. d5 {A surprising lapse by Reshevsky!} (12. Qh5+ Bg6
13. Qh3 Qd6 14. Ne6 Nf5 15. d5 {and white has an overwhelming positional
advantage.}) 12... Bxg5 (12... b5 {This is much more tenacious.} 13. Qh5+ Bg6
14. Qh3 Bxg5 (14... bxa4 {leads to a slaughter.} 15. Ne6 Bc5+ 16. Kh1 Qd7 17.
dxc6 Qxc6 18. Nxg7+ Kd8 19. Bg5+ Be7 20. Rd1+) 15. Qe6+ Ne7 16. Bxg5 bxa4 17.
Bxe7 Qd7 (17... Qxe7 18. Qc6+ {wins}) 18. Bc5+ Qxe6 19. dxe6 Nf5 {and black
has nery nearly equalized.}) 13. dxc6 {Once again 13.Qh5+ was better, but even
after the text white has a significant advantage.} b5 {Threatens to win with ..
.Bxc1.} 14. Qxd8+ (14. Qh5+ {is still playable, but it is now less effective
than had it been played earlier. For example...} Bg6 15. Qxg5 Qxg5 16. Bxg5
bxa4 {and with the reduced material black can be considered to have equalized.}
) 14... Bxd8 15. Bxh6 gxh6 {Only lightly better would have been 15...Bg6} 16.
Rxf5 $18 bxa4 17. Nd2 {Reshevsky has avoided any serious calculating of
variations and has played for what amounts to an easily won ending.} e3 18.
Re5+ Be7 19. Nc4 {Maintaining the pin on the B and repositioning the N is the
easiest way to victory.} ({Much less strong is} 19. Rxe3 O-O-O $16 20. Rxe7 {
White is better, but double R endings can be difficult to play.} Rxd2) 19...
Rf8 20. Nxe3 Rf7 21. Nd5 Kd8 (21... Kf8 22. Nxc7 Bc5+ 23. Rxc5 Rxc7 24. Rf1+
Ke7 25. Re5+ Kd6 26. Ra5 Kxc6 27. Rxa4 {Black is down too many Ps to have any
hope of saving the game.}) 22. Rae1 Bc5+ {Black is out of the pin, but white's
position is just crushing.} 23. Kh1 Rf8 {This allows a mate in 4, but the
alternative only prolonged the mate.} (23... Re7 24. Nxe7 Ke8 25. Rxc5 Rd8 26.
Nd5+ Kf7 27. Nxc7 a3 28. bxa3 Rc8 29. Nd5 h5 30. c7 h4 31. Re7+ Kg8 32. Nf6+
Kf8 33. Rxh7 h3 34. Rg5 hxg2+ 35. Rxg2 a5 36. Rg8#) 24. Nf6 {[%mdl 512] Black
resigned. All in all, black put up a decent fight against his famous opponent.}
(24. Nf6 Be3 25. R5xe3 a5 26. Re8+ Rxe8 27. Rxe8#) 1-0
No comments:
Post a Comment