Wednesday, January 10, 2024

A Stunning Attack by R.C. Griffith

    
We should probably be glad we didn’t live in 1922. Life expectancy was only 58.4 years for men and 61.0 years for women! 
    In those days (in fact, in my early days) Walgreens Drug Store had lunch counters and in 1922 they introduced the malted milkshake. Christian K. Nelson patented the Eskimo Pie ice cream treat and over in England, Gummy Bears were invented. A case of 24, 8 ounce bottles of Dr. Swift’s Root Beer was $2.25. 
    Dr. Swett's Root Beer was a brand of root beer that was created in 1845 by Dr. George W. Swett. Dr. Swett was born in 1834 in New Brunswick, Canada, though he was sometimes listed as being from Massachusetts. 
    His root beer was being sold by 1885 as a type of medicine and beverage. The drink was originally sold in 5 gallon packages at the price of $1.00 and was available only in Boston and New York. 
    By 1890, it was being sold at drugstores, soda fountains, sporting events around the US and began being sold in earthenware bottles by 1893. 
    I am not a drinker, but I can't imagine root beer that had alcohol in it, but this stuff did, so it was affected by the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act, which had intended to stop companies from selling fake medicines and required companies to list their ingredients. 
    In 1922, the Bureau of Public Roads commissioned General John J. Pershing to make a map for construction purposes and to highlight which roads in the US were the most important in the event of war. The “Pershing Map” was the first official topographic road map of the United States.
    Speaking of war, Mussolini and the Fascist Party came to power in Italy and the world would feel the effects of it in a couple of decades. Also, America’s first aircraft carrier, The USS Langley, was commissioned. 
    In 1922, Emanuel Lasker wrote Mein Wettkampf mit Capablanca (My Match with Capablanca). In it, he believed that chess would exhaust itself in short order and that draws would kill chess. He was wrong.
    In August 1922, the London victory tournament was won by Capablanca. In December, Alekhine won the Hastings International Tournament with the score of 7.5-2.5. 
    That year Szmul Rzeszewski (later known as Samuel Reshevsky) was making headlines. In April, he visited Washington, D.C. where played chess with several congressmen and met President Warren G. Harding. The 10-year-old Reshevsky played in the New York Master tournament and finished +1 -2 =2.

    Reshevsky was not attending regular school and in October a late-night simultaneous exhibition when it got raided by the New York police! Child welfare officials were behind the raid because they were concerned about his apparent lack of education and probably that he was being exploited. His parents were charged with improper guardianship. In the end, it was shown that the boy was receiving religious education in a rabbinical school in New York and the case was dismissed. 
    Over in England there was a long forgotten match played in London between Middlesex and Essen in the Southern Union championship. 
    Playing on board 1 for Middlesex was Richard C. Griffith (1872-1955), a metallurgist for an assaying company by profession, he was a player, author and editor. 
    In 1912, he was the original co-author along with John H. White of the famous Modern Chess Openings, aka “The Chessplayers’ Bible.” Before computers MCO was THE opening book. Griffith serve as the editor of the British Chess Magazine, 1920–1937 and again for some months in 1940. He won the British Chess Championship in 1912 in his only appearance in the event. 
    His opponent was Henry H. Cole (1873-1953). In late December 1898, Cole's was committed to London's Bethlem Hospital due to a bout with mental health problems. They were possibly the result of his brother sudden death, followed soon after by his mother’s death, his best friend’s suicide and then the his father died the following year. Eventually he managed to get things back on track and by 1901 he was living with an aunt and her family and working as a clerk. In 1910, he got married and began raising a family.

  A game that I liked (Fritz 17)

[Event "Southern Union Chp, London"] [Site "?"] [Date "1922.12.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Richard Griffith (Middlesex)"] [Black "Henry H. Cole (Essex)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D00"] [Annotator "Stochfish 16"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "1922.??.??"] {D05: Colle System} 1. d4 d5 2. e3 e6 3. Bd3 Nf6 4. Nd2 c5 5. b3 {The development of white's B on b2 is generally refered to as the Zukertort Variatin; white tries to solve one of the problem of his hemmed in dark squared B.} (5. Ngf3 Nc6 6. O-O Bd7 7. b3 Rc8 8. a3 cxd4 9. exd4 Bd6 10. c4 O-O 11. c5 Bb8 {was played in Capablanca,J-Villegas,B Buenos Aires 1911. White stands slightly better.} 12. Bb2 {1-0 (42)}) 5... b6 6. Bb2 Nc6 7. Ngf3 Bd6 8. Ne5 Bb7 9. O-O {[%mdl 32]} O-O 10. a3 Qe7 11. f4 {My database has 7 games with this position and white scores +2 -3 =2.} Rad8 12. Rf3 {This R is destined to play an important role in the game.} (12. Qe2 Ne8 13. Ndf3 f5 14. c4 Bxe5 15. dxe5 Nc7 16. Rfd1 Rd7 17. cxd5 Nxd5 18. Bc2 {Martinovic,S (2415)-Abramovic,B (2480) Bor 1984 is equal.}) 12... Nb8 {This retrograde move is a poor choice. Black does not haw time to dawdle} (12... cxd4 13. Rh3 h6 14. exd4 Ne4 { is a dead end where it looks like neither side will be able to accomplish much. }) 13. Rh3 {White's position is very good and it's hard to suggest a decent move mor black.} Bxe5 {This eliminates white's well placed N, but at the same time his own pieces are pretty much helpless bystanders. Nevertheless, a better move is hardly available.} (13... g6 {wa essential.} 14. Ndf3 {Black's best practical option is probably to seek counterplay with} c4 15. bxc4 Ne4 ( 15... dxc4 16. Nxc4 Be4 17. Ng5 {White;s advantage should prove decisive.}) 16. cxd5 exd5 17. c4 dxc4 18. Bxc4 {Black's position is not very promising.}) 14. Bxh7+ {[%mdl 512]} Nxh7 15. Qh5 f5 {This creates a squre on which the K can flee. Additionally, it makes capturing the N with check look impossible because the Q can get trapped.} 16. Qxh7+ {Brillaint!} (16. fxe5 {throws away the advantage.} g5 17. dxc5 bxc5 {White's attack is over and black has the advantage.}) (16. dxe5 {After this wgite's advantage is minimal.} g6 17. Qxg6+ Qg7 18. Qxe6+ Kh8 19. Nf3 Bc8 20. Qh6 Qxh6 21. Rxh6 Kg7 {The materially unbalanced position slightly favors white's P's, but there is a lot of play left.}) 16... Kf7 {Now ...Rh8 looks to be a strong threat.} 17. dxe5 {[%mdl 128]} (17. Qh5+ g6 18. Qh7+ Bg7 {and black is better.}) (17. Qh4 {actually loses.} Qxh4 18. Rxh4 Bf6 {and black is a piece up.}) 17... Rh8 {Winning the Q, but watch what happens.} 18. Qxh8 Rxh8 19. Rxh8 Qc7 (19... Nc6 20. Nf3 { Here, too, black is helpless.} Qc7 21. Ng5+ Ke7 22. Rg8 Kd7 23. Nh7 Ne7 24. Nf8+ Kc6 25. Nxe6 Qd7 26. Rd8 Qxe6 27. Rd6+ Qxd6 28. exd6 Kxd6 29. Bxg7 { and white wins.}) 20. Nf3 {It's simply amazing how active white's R and N are.} Nd7 21. Ng5+ Ke7 22. Rg8 Qc6 23. Rxg7+ Kd8 24. Rg8+ Ke7 {Of course white jas no intentions of repeating moves.} 25. Rg6 Nf8 {Defending the e-Pawn, so now what does white do?} 26. Rg7+ Ke8 27. Nf7 {The N on d6 will be even stronger.} Nd7 28. Nd6+ Kf8 29. Rg6 c4 (29... d4 {creating the possibility of a mate on g2 is met by} 30. Rf1 Qd5 31. exd4 cxd4 32. Rf3 Bc6 33. Rfg3 {and thge game is over.}) 30. Bd4 {White is clearly winning.} Nc5 31. b4 Ne4 32. Rxe6 c3 33. Re8+ Qxe8 34. Nxe8 Kxe8 35. g4 {Black resigned. A stunning attack by Griffith.} 1-0

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