Arthur Wang

    Arthur Wang (born in 1943) passed away on Monday, December 12, 2011 after an 11 month long battle with esophageal cancer. He was a long time Master dating back to the days when Masters were rare. His style was positional and he leaned towards playing endings; he was a mini-Smyslov. 

    Besides chess, his hobbies were golf, pool, archery, knife and ax throwing, and shooting. He was also known for his willingness to bet on sporting events and just about anything else, including which elevator would arrive first. 

    Wang was born in Chung-king, China and came to the United States in 1946 with his mother and older brother. His father stayed behind as head of security for Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975), a politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China and the Generalissimo of the National Revolutionary Army. 

    In October of 1949, after a string of military victories, Mao proclaimed the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China and Chiang Kai-shek and his forces fled to Taiwan. 

    Shortly after sending his family to the United States in 1946, Wang; father perished. Wang's mother had lost everything except a small inheritance and the family finally ended up in Berkeley, California. 

    Wanf learned to to play chess thanks to George Koltanowski's chess program in California. He regularly played at the Berkeley YMCA, and later at the famous Mechanics' Institute in San Francisco. 

    Wang played in the 1957 US Junior Championship (won by Bobby Fischer). Wang shared places 5-10 with a score of 5.5-3.5. In 1960, he won the California Junior Championship and that same year he tied for first with William Addison in a Mechanics' tournament. 

    The year 1962 was a busy one: Wang enlisted in the Army, got married and started a family with his first wife and mother of his three children. He then disappeared from the chess scene until the late 1960s. 

    In 1975, Wang went to Vietnam to evacuate 19 family members just one day prior to the unmitigated disaster known as the Fall of Saigon. I remember watching with horror as the events of that day unfolded. 

    After his time in the Army Wang had worked at the Radiation Lab in Berkeley. He and his wife also started an import business from Vietnam which explains why he was in Vietnam. 

    He took up residence in Palo Alto, California in 1978 where he was a financial executive with a stock brokerage firm. He met his second wife in Singapore and they were married in February of 1979 and enjoyed traveling throughout Asia, Europe, Argentina and the U.S. He also lived in various countries including the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

 

     The following game was played in the 1959 US Open in Omaha, Nebraska. Wang scored 7-5 and tied for places 27-43. His opponent scored 7.5-4.5 and finished tied fir places 18-26. Richard Kause (September 5, 1934 – September 7, 1996, 62 years old) was an Expert (2000-2199 Elo) from Cleveland, Ohio, who was a fixture at local and state tournaments for many years. I remember playing on a board next to Kause probably sometime in the early 1970s. He was overweight and although he did not seem bothered by it, during the entire time he was wheezing with every breath as if he were having difficulty breathing. 

[Event "US Open, Omaha, Nebraska"] [Site "Omaha, NE USA"] [Date "1959.07.26"] [Round "?"] [White "Arthur Wang"] [Black "Richard Kause"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E87"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "1959.??.??"] {E87: King's Indian: Saemisch} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. e4 d6 4. d4 Bg7 5. f3 { The Saemisch often leads to very sharp play with castling on opposite wings taking place. Black has a variety of pawn breaks at his disposal ( ...e5, ... c5 and ...b5 after being prepared by ...c6 and/or ...a6).} O-O 6. Be3 e5 7. d5 Nh5 8. Qd2 f5 9. exf5 gxf5 10. O-O-O f4 {This move foes not turn out well for white because is ends up giving white's N some very strong squares on the K-sdie. Both 10...a6 or 10...Nd7 are better.} 11. Bf2 Bf5 (11... Nf6 12. Kb1 Bf5+ 13. Bd3 Bxd3+ 14. Qxd3 Nbd7 {as in Frost,P-Yu,S Mount Buller 2004. White is better.}) 12. Bd3 (12. g4 {This sharp move causes black more headaches.} fxg3 13. hxg3 Bg6 14. Be2 Nf6 15. Nh3 Qe7 16. Ng5 {White has good attacking chances.}) 12... Bxd3 13. Qxd3 Nd7 14. g4 Nhf6 15. h4 (15. Qc2 Nb6 (15... e4 16. Bd4 Qe7 17. g5 Ne8 18. Nxe4 Bxd4 19. Rxd4 {and white has a very strong attack.}) 16. b3 a5 17. Nh3 a4 18. Ng5 {White's attack is more virile.}) 15... Nc5 {This looks quite logical, but it ignores the brewinbg storm on the K-side and as a result it can be cinsidered the devisive mistake.} (15... Qe8 16. Ne4 Nxe4 17. fxe4 Nf6 18. g5 Ng4 19. Nh3 f3 {and black can survive because white's K-side attack is stalled and he must now try his luck elsewhere and play 20.c5} ) 16. Qc2 {Wand wants to play for the attack. A bit surprising since hius style would normally be to go for the ending thta arises after 16.Bxc5} (16. Bxc5 dxc5 17. Nh3 Qe7 18. Ng5 e4 19. Ncxe4 Nxe4 20. Qxe4 Qxe4 21. Nxe4 Bd4 22. Kc2) 16... a5 17. Nh3 {[%mdl 32] Heading for the outpost e6} Qe7 (17... h6 { to keep the N from going to g5 rins into} 18. Bxc5 dxc5 19. g5 Nh7 20. gxh6 Bxh6 21. Ng5 {Anyway! The N is immune.} Nxg5 22. hxg5 Qxg5 (22... Bxg5 23. Qh7# ) 23. Rdg1) 18. Ng5 Kh8 19. Bxc5 $18 dxc5 20. Nce4 Rfd8 21. Nxf6 Bxf6 22. Ne6 Rg8 23. g5 Bg7 24. h5 {[%mdl 32]} Ra6 {Meaningless, but there is no real defense, but 24...h6 would force white to play accurately.} (24... h6 25. Qf5 hxg5 26. d6 cxd6 27. Nxg5 Bf6 28. Ne4 Raf8 29. Rxd6 Bg5 30. Qh3 Qh7 31. Rg6 Rxg6 32. hxg6 Qxh3 33. Rxh3+ Kg7 34. Nxg5) 25. h6 Bf8 26. Qf5 Rxe6 (26... Rg6 27. Qxf8+ Qxf8 28. Nxf8 Rxg5 29. Ne6 Rg6 30. Nxc7 {with a easy win.}) 27. dxe6 Rxg5 28. Qf7 {Black resigned.} (28. Qf7 Rg6 29. Rd7 Qxf7 30. exf7 {leaves black hopelessly lost.}) 1-0