Thursday, May 11, 2023

Wolf Beats Himself

     When Austria-Hungary was dissolved after World War I its generally German-speaking population found themselves in newly established Czechoslovakia. 
     The Central Chess Union of Czechoslovakia was open to all players, but in 1921, the German players established a separate, the German Chess Federation of Czechoslovakia. The German federation held congresses every year and in October 1922, at its first congress in Teplitz-Schonau fourteen players participated. 
     Despite the absence of world champion Capablanca, Alekhine, Vidmar, former world champion Laker and other top players such as Bogoljubov (who registered, but withdrew and was replaced by Samisch), Euwe and Nimzovich, all the players were world class. 
     The time control was 2 hours for the first 30 moves then 1 hour every 15 moves. As an experiment draws before move 45 could only be made in agreement with the tournament leaders. 
 
 
     Before the last round, Reti, Spielmann, Tartakower, Gruenfeld and Rubinstein had a shot at first place. But Tartakower lost toTeichmann and Rubinstein lost to Kostic and the other three drew. 
     In the following game we see Wolf unsuccessfully defending against an attack on his King. He banked on a Q-side counterattack and right when victory was in his grasp he blundered and lost in a pleasing fashion. 
     Karel Treybal (February 2, 1885 - October 2, 1941) was a prominent Czech chess player of the early twentieth century. He was born in Kotopeky, a village southwest of Prague in central Bohemia. He trained as a lawyer and became chairman of the district court in Velvary, a small town near Prague. He was always an amateur, but played in several major international tournaments. He was a younger brother of Frantisek Treybal (1882-1947) who was also a prominent Czech player. 
     Frantisek survived the war. Karel did not; he died during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. 
     On May 30, 1941 he was arrested, imprisoned and later charged with concealing weapons for use by resistance forces and the illegal possession of a pistol. It is not known whether these charges had any foundation. He was condemned to death and executed on October 2, 1941. 
     In 1945, the Czech chess magazine Sach stated that Treybal had been executed without trial and had never been involved in politics. 
     Treybal’s opponent, an Austrian journalist, Heinrich Wolf (October 20, 1875 - Decemberm 1943) suffered a similar fate. 
     In August 1940, the Soviet Union annexed Latvia and Riga became the capital. German forces occupied Riga in early July 1941 after the invasion of the Soviet Union and the city became the capital of the Reich Commissariat Ostland. 
     German Einsatzgruppen, together with Latvian auxiliaries, shot several thousand Jews shortly after German forces entered the city. Then the Nazis imprisoned some 30,000 Jews in Riga and in late November and early December of 1941, announced that they were going to settle the majority of the ghetto inhabitants further east. 
     On November 30 and December 8-9, at least 25,000 Jews from the Riga ghetto were told to undress, put their shoes in one pile and their clothing in another pile. 
     They were then driven to the edges of mass graves and machine-gunned. It went on all night and the next day. Wolf was one of those murdered. 
     A fragment of this Treybal-Wolf game appeared in The Art of Attack in Chess by Vladimir Vukovic which was published before engines and while the book is an excellent one in which the author expounds on all forms of attack on the King, much if his analysis will prove faulty simply because he did not have a strong engine available to check his analysis. The game is exceptionally complicated so it’s hard to fault Vukovic in any way for his faulty analysis. 

A game that I liked (Fritz 17)

[Event "Teplitz-Schonau"] [Site ""] [Date "1922.10.10"] [Round "?"] [White "Karel Treybal"] [Black "Heinrich Wolf"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C77"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15.1"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "1922.10.02"] {Ruy Lopez} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 {Instead of 5.O-O. This rather slow system avoids a lot of theory.} d6 {Now with the e-Pawn firmly defended black threatens to trade off white's light squared B with ... b5 and ...Na5.} {Making a retreat for the B.} 6. c3 Be7 {The modern way is 6... g6 which gives black slightly better results.} 7. Nbd2 O-O 8. Nf1 Be6 (8... d5 {has all but disappeared today, but it is totally satisfactory.} 9. Qe2 Bd6 10. Bg5 Be6 11. exd5 Bxd5 12. Ne3 Be6 13. Bxc6 bxc6 {White gas only a smidgen of an advantage. Mason,J-Weiss,M Hamburg 1885}) (8... Re8 9. Ng3 Bf8 10. O-O b5 11. Bc2 Ne7 {is about even. Dubinin, P-Lisitsin,G Moscow 1940}) 9. Ng3 h6 10. d4 exd4 11. Bxc6 (11. cxd4 {is slightly better. After} Bc4 12. a3 d5 13. Bxc6 bxc6 14. Ne5 {white stands well.}) 11... bxc6 12. Nxd4 Qd7 13. O-O Rfe8 14. Qd3 Bf8 15. f3 Reb8 16. b3 Qe8 17. f4 {[%mdl 32]} c5 18. Nxe6 Qxe6 19. c4 {A good move limiting black's play in the center.} Re8 {This attack on the e-Pawn turns out to be unfruitful. It would have been better to firtst drive the N on g3 away with 19...h5!} (19... h5 20. Bb2 h4 21. e5 dxe5 22. fxe5 hxg3 23. exf6 gxh2+ {and white's advantage is minimal.}) 20. Bb2 {The P is immune.} Nd7 { This exposes him to a vicious attack!} (20... Nxe4 {is met by} 21. f5 Qe7 22. Rae1 {and white is winning.}) (20... a5 21. a4 {followed by Rae1 and black's position is very passive.} (21. f5 Qe7 22. a4 {and white's advantage is minimal.})) 21. f5 Qe7 22. f6 {This highlights the flaw in black's 20th move... of course, if the N was still on f6 this would not be playable.} Qe6 (22... Nxf6 {is met by} 23. Rxf6 gxf6 24. Nh5 Bg7 25. Qg3 Qf8 26. Bxf6 Re6 27. Bxg7 Rg6 28. Qh4 Qe8 (28... Rxg7 29. Nf6+ Kh8 30. Qxh6+ Rh7 31. Qxh7#) 29. Bc3 { followed by Rf1 with a winning attack.}) 23. Nf5 {This move is faulty...it allows black to equalize.} (23. fxg7 Bxg7 24. Bxg7 Kxg7 25. Rf5 {Crushing.} Qg6 26. Raf1 Ne5 27. Qd2 Re7 {Black has no constructive moves.} 28. Nh5+ Kf8 29. Nf4 Qg7 30. Nd5 Ree8 (30... Rae8 31. Nxe7 {etc.}) 31. Nxc7) 23... g6 24. Ng3 Ne5 25. Qd2 {In his analysis of this position Vukovic pointed out that black has the task of organizing a defense against an attack on his K's position and a glance is enough to show that he has no move to make in the way of direct defense. Therefore, indirect defence must be used to hinder white's plan to gain control of h6. With that aim, only an action on the Q-side can be considered because black cannot achieve anything in the center.} a5 26. Rf4 { This is wrong! Black now gets the upper hand with his Q-side counterplay.} (26. Ne2 {Repositioning the N.} Qc8 27. Nc3 a4 28. Nd5 (28. Nxa4 {is tactically faulty.} Nxc4 29. Qf2 Nxb2 30. Nxb2 Rxe4 {with a huge advantage.}) 28... h5 { and now it's black who stands slightly better.}) 26... a4 27. Raf1 axb3 28. axb3 Ra2 {Black's counterattack has succeeded and he now enjoysd the advantage. } 29. Rh4 {Still thinkig of attacking, but defense was called fort and to that end retreating with 29.R4f2 was better.} Rb8 {The threat is ...Nxc4. Note that white is still a long way from having any serious threats on the K-side. Nevertheless, 29...Rb8 is an error that gives white a chance to equalize.} ( 29... Rea8 {leaves white tied up.} 30. Qc3 Nd3 31. Bc1 Nxc1 32. Rxc1 Qe5 { Trading Qs is the way to go here as after} 33. Qxe5 dxe5 34. Rd1 R8a6 35. Rg4 Rxf6 36. Nf5 Re2 37. Rb1 h5 38. Rg3 Rxe4 {black has a winning ending.}) 30. Qc3 {[%mdl 8192] Black's last move persuaded white to move his Q , but it shouldn't have!} (30. Nf5 {and white has nothing to worry about because no matter hoiw black takes the N the chances are equal.} Qxf6 (30... Nxc4 { is out of the question.} 31. Nxh6+ Kh8 32. Nxf7+ Kg8 33. Nh6+ Bxh6 34. Qxh6 Kf7 35. Qg7+ Ke8 36. Rh8+ Qg8 37. Rxg8#) (30... gxf5 31. Rxh6 f4 32. Qxf4 Bxh6 33. Qxh6 Qg4 34. Rf5 {Black can draw with 34...Qd1+, 34...Nf3+ or 34...Rxb3} Qd1+ 35. Rf1 Qg4 {etc.}) 31. Nxh6+ Bxh6 32. Qxh6 Qg7 {with equal chances.}) 30... Nxc4 {[%mdl 512] Vukovic was critical of this because now white plays Bc1 with gain of tempo and at the same time placing the B on the c1-h6 diagonal where it is better placed. Actually, black still has a decisive advantage and 30... Nxc4 was really his best move.} (30... g5 31. Rh3 Nxc4 {anway!} 32. Nf5 Rxb2 33. Qxc4 Qxc4 34. bxc4 Kh7 {and black is better here, too.}) 31. Bc1 Ne5 { This is, as Vukovic pointed out, a sharp position and he recomended 31...g5, a good move, but the move Wolf played is still the best.} 32. Bxh6 Bxh6 {Vukovic labeled this a tactical mistake, but it is not at all an error.} (32... Rxb3 { also packs a wallop.} 33. Qc1 Ng4 34. Bxf8 Rxg3 35. hxg3 Qxe4 36. Rf3 Qd4+ 37. Kh1 Ra1) 33. Rxh6 Qxb3 {[%mdl 8192] This is a gross blunder that loses immediately.} (33... Rxb3 {makes white's task much more difficult, but it would also lose after} 34. Qc1 Ng4 35. Qg5 Rbb2 36. Rxg6+ fxg6 37. Qxg6+ Kf8 38. Qg7+ Ke8 39. f7+ Kd7 40. f8=Q+ Kc6 {Now white must return a Q with} 41. Qxb2 Rxb2 {but he still has a single winning line...} 42. Qa8+ Kd7 43. Qa4+ c6 44. Qa7+ Ke8 45. Nf5 Kd8 46. Ng7 Qe7 47. Rf8+ Qxf8 48. Ne6+ Ke8 49. Qa8+ Kd7 50. Nxf8+ Ke7 51. Ng6+) (33... Ng4 {This move is an entirely different story. Black has a decisive advantage. This was missed by both Vukovic in the original book and in the algebraic reprint.} 34. Rxg6+ Kf8 (34... fxg6 35. f7+ Kh7 {with a likely draw after} 36. f8=Q Rxf8 37. Rxf8 Qe5 38. Rf7+ Kg8 39. Qxe5 Nxe5 40. Rxc7) 35. Rxg4 Qxg4 {Black has a decisive advantage.}) 34. Qc1 { Threatening mate with Rh8+! White is clearly winning.} Ng4 {A move too late.} 35. Nf5 {[%mdl 512] No other move would secure the win!} Re8 (35... gxf5 36. Qg5+ Kf8 37. Rh8#) 36. Rh4 {[%mdl 32] White wants to mate with Nh6+.} Rxe4 ( 36... Nxf6 37. Rh8+ Kxh8 38. Qh6+ {mate next move.}) (36... Qb2 37. Ne7+ Rxe7 38. Qxb2 Rxb2 39. fxe7 Rb8 40. Rxg4 Re8 41. e5 Rxe7 42. exd6 {with a technical win.} cxd6) 37. Ne7+ Rxe7 38. fxe7 Re2 39. Rxg4 Qe3+ (39... Rxe7 40. Rg3 Qb4 41. Rh3 Qd4+ 42. Kh1 Kf8 43. Qb1 Qd5 44. Qb8+ Re8 45. Rh8+ {wins}) 40. Qxe3 Rxe3 41. Rxg6+ {[%mdl 512] A really nice tactical finish in the ending.} Kh7 ( 41... fxg6 42. Rf8+) 42. Rgf6 {Black resigned the 3 Ps are going to be no match for the R.} 1-0

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