Jacob G. Ascher

    Canadian player Jacob G. Ascher seems to have slipped through the cracks of chess history. Chessmetrics has no record of him and I found only two of his games...both losses. 

    He was born in Plymouth, England on February 18, 1841 and passed away in New York City on October 12, 1912. He was the Canadian Champion in 1878/79, and he tied for first in 1882/83. 

    At Montreal in 1879, he defeated George H. Mackenzie, the dominate American player of the day, in a 14 board simultaneous exhibition. 

    Ascher was a chess columnist at New Dominion Monthly published in Montreal and he was editor of the Montreal Star and was president of the Young Men's Hebrew Association of Montreal, the first Jewish charitable organization in Canada. 

    How and when he ended up in Canada and later New York City is unknown, but in November of 1907 he played for the Manhattan Chess Club in a match against the Brooklyn Chess Club. 

    It had been many years, but in 1907 the two clubs met again in the rooms of the Manhattan club then located in the Carnegie Hall Building at Seventh Avenue and Fifty-sixth Street on Manhattan. Carnegie Hall is still there, but not the Manhattan chess club. It was founded in 1877 and the club moved to several locations over the years before it closed in 2002.
 

    The building itself is remarkable for its architectural design and its incredible legacy both of which have made Carnegie Hall a national historic landmark and major cultural center. Though victorious in the encounter held thirteen years previously Brooklyn, who had issued the challenge, lost rather badly. Manhattan won 11 games to Brooklyn's 6. 

 

 

    Here is the game Ascher lost in the match, but it could easily have gone the other way! 

[Event "Club Match, New York"] [Site "?"] [Date "2024.06.12"] [Round "?"] [White "Dr. James R.Taber (Brooklyn)"] [Black "Jacob G. Ascher (Manhattan)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C30"] [Annotator "Komodo Dragon 3"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2024.06.12"] [SourceVersionDate "2024.06.12"] {C30: King's Gambit Declined} 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5 {This is the classical way to decline the gambit. The B prevents white from castling and often is such a nuisance that white often expends two tempi to eliminate it by means of Nc3–a4.} 3. Nf3 (3. fxe5 {would lose...} Qh4+ 4. g3 (4. Ke2 Qxe4#) 4... Qxe4+ {wins the R.}) 3... d6 4. Bc4 (4. b4 {is the interesting Rotlewi Gambit,. The idea is similar to that seen in the Evans Gambit in that white sacrifices a P to try to build a strong center.} Bxb4 5. c3 Bc5 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4) 4... Nf6 5. d3 O-O (5... a6 6. Qe2 Nc6 7. Be3 Bxe3 8. Qxe3 Ng4 {is equal. Blatny,P (2495)-Ziatdinov,R (2500) Biel SUI 1991}) 6. c3 (6. Qe2 Bg4 7. fxe5 dxe5 8. Be3 Nbd7 9. Nbd2 c6 10. Bb3 b5 11. O-O {is equal. Steinitz,W-Anderssen,A London 1866}) 6... Bg4 (6... exf4 {is better.} 7. Bb3 (7. Bxf4 {would land white in trouble.} d5 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. Bxd5 (9. Bg3 Ne3 10. Qb3 Nxg2+ {Black is winning.} ) 9... Qxd5 10. d4 Qe4+ {wins a piece.})) 7. a4 {[%mdl 8192]} (7. fxe5 { and White has nothing to worry about.} dxe5 8. a4 {and now this is safe to play.}) 7... a5 {With thi move Ascher missed a golden opportunity.} (7... d5 8. exd5 exf4 9. d4 Re8+ 10. Kf2 Ne4+ 11. Kf1 Bd6 {with the much better position.}) 8. h3 Bxf3 9. Qxf3 Nc6 10. Na3 {A better move would have been 10.f5} Ne7 (10... exf4 {This develops white's B which is probably why Ascher didn't play it, but it's a good move because it allows him to exchange some pieces.} 11. Bxf4 Ne5 12. Bxe5 dxe5 {and this position is completely equa;}) 11. fxe5 $16 dxe5 12. Bg5 Ng6 {Somewhat safer would have been 12...Nd7} 13. Rf1 (13. h4 {was a good alternative. It shows why black's 10th move was not the best.} Be7 14. h5 Nf4 15. Bxf4 exf4 16. e5 Nd7 17. d4 {White is clearly better.}) 13... Be7 {[%mdl 32]} 14. Nc2 {This was still a good time to advance the h-Pawn.} c6 $14 15. Ne3 h6 (15... b5 {This is the last chance black gets to launch a counterattack.} 16. axb5 cxb5 17. Bxb5 Rb8 18. Bc4 (18. c4 Nd7 (18... Qxd3 {is too fisky.} 19. Nd5 Qxf3 20. Nxe7+ Nxe7 21. gxf3 h6 22. Bxf6 gxf6 {White has a strategically won game.}) 19. Bxe7 Nxe7 20. Bxd7 Qxd7 {White's Ps on b2 and d3 are under attack and the position offers equal chances for both sides.}) 18... Rxb2 { and the chances would be equal.}) 16. Bxf6 Bxf6 17. Qg4 {The wrong piece lands on g4!} (17. Ng4 b5 {Counterattack!} (17... Be7 18. Bxf7+ Rxf7 19. Nxh6+ gxh6 20. Qxf7+ Kh8 21. Qxg6 {White has a decisive advantage.}) 18. Nxf6+ gxf6 19. Bb3 Kg7 {White has the advantage, but black is still in the game.}) 17... Nf4 { This N allows black to actively defend himself.} 18. O-O-O b5 {[%mdl 2048] Suddenly it's white who has to worry about how to best defend himself.} 19. axb5 {Not the best defense.} (19. Ba2 bxa4 20. g3 Ne6 21. Bxe6 Bg5 22. Kb1 Bxe3 23. Bc4 {with about equal chances.}) 19... cxb5 20. Bd5 (20. Bxb5 {would have lost after} Qb6 {attacking two pieces and winning one of them.}) 20... Nxd5 21. Nxd5 Bg5+ 22. Kc2 {The tables have turned and now it;s black that is on the offensive, but his next move is a mistake...he needed to keep pressing his attack and play 22...b4!} f5 {Evidently black hoped to lessen any danger on the K-side by exchanging Rs. However, this idea is wring...he should have pressed on with his Q0side counterplay with 22...b4!} (22... b4 23. cxb4 { His best defense is 23.Ra1 when black's advantage is minimal.} axb4 24. Nxb4 Qa5 {and wins.}) 23. Rxf5 b4 {This is not nearly as effective as it would have been if he had played it last move.} (23... Rxf5 24. Qxf5 Qd6 25. Rf1 b4 26. Qf7+ Kh7 27. c4 b3+ 28. Kb1 a4 29. Qc7 Qa6 30. Rf7 Rg8 31. Qb6 {Black's Q-side attack is halted, but white can claim no more than a slight advantage.}) 24. Rdf1 (24. h4 {was more precise.} Rxf5 25. Qxf5 Bxh4 26. Qxe5 bxc3 27. bxc3 { An interesting position. White dominates the center, but his K is exposed after } Qf8 {In Shootouts from this position white scored +1 -0 =4}) 24... Rxf5 25. Qxf5 (25. Rxf5 {is the wrong way to recapture.} bxc3 26. bxc3 (26. Rxe5 { loses to} cxb2 27. Kxb2 (27. Qe6+ Kh8 28. Nc3 b1=Q+ 29. Nxb1 Rc8+) 27... Qb8+) 26... Qe8 27. Kd1 Qa4+ 28. Ke1 Qc2 {and black has the better chances.}) 25... Qe8 26. Ra1 {Prevents ...Qa4+} Qb5 {[%mdl 8192] What a pity! This loses at once. However, it's quite possible that black simply missed white's zwischenzug.} (26... bxc3 {results in complete equality.} 27. bxc3 Bd8 { In orfer to reposition the B.} 28. h4 a4 29. g4 Rb8 30. Rb1 Rxb1 31. Kxb1 Qb5+ 32. Nb4 Qc5 33. Qd7 {Neither side is liekly to make progress.}) 27. Qe6+ { ...and wins. However, white must play this before he executes the N fork!} (27. Nc7 {It's quite possible this is what Ascher was expecting (or at least hoping for).} b3+ 28. Kd1 Qxd3+ 29. Ke1 Bh4+ 30. g3 Bxg3+ 31. Qf2 Rf8 {mate next move. }) 27... Kh8 28. Nc7 b3+ 29. Qxb3 {Black resigned} (29. Qxb3 Qxb3+ 30. Kxb3 Ra7 31. Ne6 Be7 32. Kc4 {with a routine win.}) 1-0