Elmer E. Southard

    Elmer E. Southard (July 28,1876 0 February 7, 1920, 43 years old) was a neuropsychiatrist, neuropathologist, professor, author and chess player. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and lived there most of his life. 

    Southard’s professional accomplishments were legion, but nor a lot is known of his chess. He was a member of two local chess clubs and was described in his New York Times obituary as "one of the foremost amateur chess players in America. He was able to play up to six blindfold games simultaneously. It was Southard who introduced what he called the Danvers Openign, but to day ot;s known by a few other names: 1.e4 e5 2.Qg5. The Danvers State Hospital was formerly a psychiatric hospital in Danvers, Massachusetts, 

    At the age of 43, Southard died of pneumonia in 1920 during a trip to New York City to deliver lectures to two medical societies. 

    After his death a study was done on his brain anf, a;sp, the brains of his parents. Ithe study was conducted to determine hereditary links in brain structure. His brain had a prominent frontal lobe, which was believed to be associated with his planning ability. 

    It was also noted that he had small olfactory tracts and that’s why he had difficulty detecting certain smells. It was a;so noted that the arteries at the base of his brain were small, but the significance of them was unclear. None of these features were apparent in his parents. 

    The report mentioned that during the last years of his life Southard experienced considerable mental discomfort and he sensed his impending death. As a result he felt pressure to complete his research tasks. 

    His opponent in the following game was Dr. Robert P. Elmer (1877-1951, 73 years old). He was bon in Bridgeport, New Jersey and passed away in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. The game was played in the fourth annual intercollegiate tournament which was held at Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts. Southard went on to win the tournament the following two years. 

 

    The winner of the tournament was Arthur Ryder (1877-1938), a professor of Sanskrit at the University of California, Berkeley who became known best known for translating a number of Sanskrit works into English. He finished second to Southard in the event the following year.

 

[Event "4th Intercollegiate Cup, New York 1895/9"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1895.12.31"] [Round "?"] [White "Elmer E. Southard"] [Black "Robert P. Elmer"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C25"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "1895.12.26"] [Source "The Sun. New Yor"] [WhiteTeam "Harvard"] [BlackTeam "Princeton"] {C30: King's Gambit Declined} 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Bc5 3. f4 d6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bc4 Nc6 6. d3 Be6 7. Nd5 Nb4 {Dubious.} (7... Bxd5 8. exd5 Na5 9. fxe5 dxe5 10. c3 (10. Bb3 $2 O-O 11. Bg5 Re8 {Because white'sK os cought in the center black has an excellent game.}) 10... Nxc4 11. dxc4 {with equal chances.}) 8. Nxf6+ { As distasteful as it is black must play 6...gxf6 adter whicj white has the better position. Instead, both playerts overlook a tactic.} Qxf6 {[%mdl 8192]} 9. Bb3 $2 (9. f5 {loses a piece otherwise white plays Bg5 trapping the Q.} Bxf5 10. Bg5 Qg6 11. exf5 Qxf5 12. c3 {Black has two Ps for the B, but that is not suffucuent compensation.}) 9... exf4 {White's next move looks logical, but, again, both players overlook a tactics. White shoyld play 19,c3 to support the advance of his d-Pawn.} 10. d4 Bb6 (10... Bxb3 11. axb3 Bxd4 12. c3 Bxc3+ 13. bxc3 Qxc3+ 14. Bd2 Nc2+ 15. Ke2 Qxa1 16. Qxa1 Nxa1 17. Rxa1 {The material imbalance is unusual, but black's R+4Ps are superior to the B ans N.}) 11. c3 Na6 {The N is misplaced here. Better would have been 11...Bxb3 and 12...Nc6} 12. Ba4+ (12. a4 {gaining space was a better option.} c6 13. a5 Bc7 14. d5 cxd5 15. exd5 Bg4 16. O-O {with a good game.}) 12... c6 13. Qe2 O-O 14. O-O { Black has emerged from the opening with a small advantage and he could develop a K0side attack with 14...g5, Instead he switches over to passive play.} Qd8 15. Bxf4 h6 {All this does is weaken his K-side. Getting the N back into play with 15...Nc7 was worth a try.} 16. Bc2 Qd7 17. e5 d5 {Getting rid of light squared Bs with 17...Bf5 was his best option. After the text his position is beyond salvaging.} 18. Be3 Bf5 {This comes to late to be of any help.} 19. Bxf5 Qxf5 20. Nh4 Qe6 21. Nf5 {Black's K-side is dangerously denuded of pieces.} Nb8 22. Rf3 {Adding the R to the attack.} h5 23. Raf1 g6 24. Rg3 Kh7 25. Nh4 Nd7 26. Nf3 {The obvious threat is a N fork ong5.} Bd8 27. Bg5 {Threatening Bxd8. when tje fork is back on.} Kh8 28. Rh3 {Missing a golden opportunity andm at the same time, easing black''s defense.} (28. Bxd8 $18 {and White stays clearly on top.} Raxd8 29. Qe3 {Threatening Qh6+ and Ng5.} Kg7 30. Nh4 { Black has no meaningful moves.} Rh8 31. Nf5+ Kg8 32. Nh6+ {with a decisive attack. For example, if} Kf8 (32... Rxh6 33. Qxh6 Rf8 34. Qxh5 {White is winning.}) 33. Rxf7+ Ke8 34. Rg7) 28... f6 29. Bd2 {This retreat is a bit too far, Stopping at f4 was abetter. At this point black hasm thanks to some imprecise play by white, managed to equalize.} Be7 (29... fxe5 {was the correct defense because it leads to exchanges.} 30. Nxe5 Rxf1+ 31. Qxf1 Nxe5 32. dxe5 {Taking the ehe e-Pawn would be fatal.} Bb6+ (32... Qxe5 33. Qf8+ Kh7 34. Qh6+ Kg8 35. Qxg6+ Kf8 36. Rxh5 {wins.}) 33. Be3 Qxe5 34. Bxb6 axb6 { and the position is completely equal.}) 30. Qe3 Qg8 31. e6 {This neat little move prevents ...Rf7} Nb6 {This poor N has neve found a useful square.} 32. Nh4 Nc4 {After this white has a mate. Black could have avoided the mate with 32... Qh7, but he would still have been lost.} 33. Qh6+ Qh7 34. Nxg6+ Kg8 35. Nxe7+ Kh8 36. Qxh7+ Kxh7 37. Rxh5+ Kg7 38. Bh6+ {Black resigned.} 1-0

Razzle-Dazzled by the Irish Gambit

    There is a Chess Hotel in Paris that is located in one of the most prestigious areas of the city, close to the Opera and La Bourse – the Paris stock exchange. If you want to hang out there it will cost you somewhere around $300 a night. If you want to hang out at the other Chess Hotel, the one online, and play chess it’s free.

    When boredom sets in I sign in as a guest at Chess Hotel and play a few 10 minute games. I am not sure, but I think the Chess Hotel website is controlled from Stockholm, Sweden. 

    It’s a good site for a few casual games and you can expect to meet all kinds of opponents ranging from engine users to strong players to beginners. 

    There is a fair share of poor sports...players who get losing positions and then just leave the site, or worse yet, those who just let their time expire without moving. Occasionally you get an opponent who like to swear at you, or as happened to me a while back, a near beginner who quickly got a lost position and then began slinging accusations of engine use. Believe me, it didn't take an engine to beat him! It reminded me of the time at the chess club at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina when I beat some young kid and he said, "Where I come from I hardly ever lose." My reply, "Where I come from I hardly ever win."

    Then there was a recent opponent who asked if I spoke English and after finding out I did, asked where I was from. When he found out he said he was from the Ukraine and proceeded to tell me how much he hates Americans. All I can say is some people are amusing. 

    When playing these games my openings are all the dubious ones I can think of because they are fun to play and the results don’t mean anything. Upon seeing things like 1.h4, 1.g4 or with black 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 c6 3.dxc6 e5 (sort of a Danish Gambit Reversed) it’s surprising how careless some players get. The following game featuring the Irish Gambit (aka the Razzle-Dazzle or Chicago Gambit) is a case in point. 

 

[Event "Chess Hotel"] [Site "?"] [Date "2025.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Tartajubow"] [Black "Guest"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2025.??.??"] {Irish Gambit} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nxe5 {Millions of games in my database and there is not a single example of this.} Nxe5 4. d4 Ng6 {An equally good alternative is 4...Nc6} (4... Nc6 5. d5 Nb8 6. Bd3 d6 7. O-O Nd7 8. c4 Be7 9. Nc3 Ne5 10. Be2 f5 11. f4 Nf7 12. Bd3 {was played in D. T. Phillips-Harry Nelson Pillsbury. Chicago, 1899. Black has a winning advantage, but Pillsbury got careless and eventually lost.}) 5. Bc4 {As good as anything else.} (5. c4 { This, building up a broad P-center is the main engine selection.} Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Bxd2+ 7. Qxd2 b5 8. cxb5 d5 9. e5 Nh6 10. Nc3 O-O 11. h4 f6 12. f3 a6 13. O-O-O {White is still a piece down with noting to show for it.}) (5. c4 Bb4+ 6. Nc3 c5 7. a3 cxd4 8. axb4 dxc3 9. h4 h5 10. bxc3 Nf6 11. Bg5 O-O 12. Be2 Qe7 13. O-O {This is PlentyChess' line which is a bit more human looking. White still has no compensation for the piece.}) (5. h4 {Is an interesting offer of another P. Engines recommend either 5...d5 or 5...h5, but most hu,ams would probably take the P.} Nxh4 6. c4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 {White is still a piece down with no compensation.} d6) 5... d5 {Not a bad idea...black returns a P to open up line for development.} 6. exd5 (6. Bxd5 {is strongly met by} Nf6 7. Bb3 Nxe4 8. Qe2 Qe7 9. O-O Nd6) (6. Bxd5 Nf6 7. Nc3 Nxd5 8. Nxd5 f5 { Undermining the N.} 9. Qe2 Be7 {Nlack has the far superior position.}) 6... Bd6 7. Kf1 {This was not a mouse slip and the reason I played it and not 7.O-O escapes me.} N8e7 {Of course 7...Nf6 was better.} 8. h4 {Black should now play 8...h5, but je underestimated the consequences of my next move.} Bd7 $2 9. h5 { Up to this point black had been moving fairly quickly, but this move caused him to pause.} Nf8 (9... Nf4 {is probably what he originally intended, but now realized that after} 10. Qf3 {the N has no retreat.}) 10. h6 {This weakens his K-side and as a result of 8...Bd7 white jas improved his position considerably. } Nf5 (10... gxh6 {was perfectly satisfactory/} 11. Bxh6 Nf5 12. Bxf8 Kxf8 { Black is still much better.}) 11. hxg7 Nxg7 {Material-wise black has a B vs. two Ps and his engine evaluation has dropped from 4Ps to 2Ps. Appearance-wise his position looks "confused."} 12. Nc3 Qf6 {This seems to make sense as black wants to play O-O-O. but he never geys the chance and white now equalizes. Correct was 12...Ng6} (12... Ng6 13. Bh6 O-O {and black ia safe.}) 13. Ne4 { Suddenly black's K has found itself exposed in the center and white has more than enough compensation for the N.} Qg6 {This is just bad.} (13... Qe7 14. Bd3 O-O-O 15. Bg5 f6 16. Bxf6 Qf7 17. Bxd8 Kxd8 {Technically white's R+3Ps outweigh blacks B+N, but practically...?}) 14. Qe2 $16 {Black is on the road to losing evan though he accomplishes his gioal of castling Q-side.} O-O-O ( 14... Be7 {is met by} 15. Rh6 Qf5 16. d6 {Would I have seen this? Probably not. } (16. Ng3 Qg4 17. Qxg4 Bxg4 {and black is better.}) 16... O-O-O (16... cxd6 17. Nxd6+ {wins}) 17. dxe7 {White is winning.}) 15. Rh6 {[%mdl 96] This is my best move of the game...it attacks d6 and sets up a N forl on the K and Q.} Qf5 {The only safe square, but...} 16. Rxd6 Ng6 {It's disappointing that he wouldn; t take the R! Now what?!} (16... cxd6 17. Nxd6+ Kb8 18. Nxf5 Bxf5 (18... Nxf5 19. Qe5+) 19. Qe5+) 17. Rf6 Qg4 18. Qxg4 {I really did not want to trade Qs, but after some thought realized that if I didn't black might actually get some counterplay. Engine analysis of the position after avoiding the exchange with18.Qd3 turns up some real complications!} (18. Qd3 Nh4 19. Ng3 Rde8 20. Bf4 (20. Bh6 Nh5 {The heretofore badly place N finally finds something to do.} 21. Rxf7 Rhg8 22. Re1 {Watch this!} Nxg2 23. Rxe8+ (23. Kxg2 Qh3+ 24. Kg1 Rxe1+ 25. Qf1 Nxg3 {Black mates.}) 23... Rxe8 24. Ne2 Nh4 25. Bb5 Bxb5 26. Qxb5 Rd8 27. Qb3 {With carefukl plat white's two P advantage should prove enough.}) 20... Nh5 {White still has the advantage, but must watch his step.}) 18... Bxg4 19. Rxf7 {The complications are over and white has a winning two P advantage.} Nh5 {The wrechedly placed N finally gets into the game, but with no effect.} 20. Bg5 Rdf8 21. Rxf8+ Rxf8 22. f3 Bf5 23. Bd3 Bxe4 24. Bxe4 Ng3+ 25. Kg1 Ne2+ 26. Kf2 Nxd4 27. Rh1 h6 28. Rxh6 Ne5 29. Bf6 {Black resigned.} 1-0

Morphy At His Worst

    Yesterday dawned gray (in American English) or grey (in British English), but either way it was a dreary day as a huge winter storm brought cold and snow, or rain and chill, depending on your location. 

    After digging out, it was time to settle in and look at some chess games. The following caught my interest. In 1858, before Morphy left Paris he finally met an opponent who, while not his equal, was at least able to put up a fight. 

    The fact that Morphy got off to a bad start though wasn’t due to his opponents great play. According to Morphy’s secretary it was lack of sleep and fatique due to his having been enjoying Paris’ night life. 

     Daniel Harrwitz (1821-1884) was one of the stringest players of the day. He had a minus score against Morphy, but was one of a few who could occasionally beat him.  

    Harrwitz lived in England from 1849 and founded the British Chess Review. In 1856, he moved to Paris. In hos match against Mor[hy he won the first two games, but then Morphy got his act together and after the score was 5.5-2.5 in Morphy’s favor Harrwitz withdrew vlaomomg health problems. After that he retired to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. 

 

[Event "Match, Paris"] [Site ""] [Date "1858.09.07"] [Round "1"] [White "Daniel Harrwitz"] [Black "Paul Morphy"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D35"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "109"] [EventDate "1858.09.??"] [Source "Illustrated Lond"] {D35: Queen's Gambit Declined} 1. d4 {Harrwitz almost always played 1.d4} e6 2. c4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bf4 {At the time it was believed that this move was the most forcful. In fact, Morphy thought it was so good that he avoided it for the rest of the match. Today it's rarely seen even though its success rate is on a par with the more popular 4.Bg5 and 4.cxd4.} a6 5. e3 c5 (5... dxc4 { is more common.} 6. Bxc4 b5 7. Bb3 Bb7 8. Nf3 Bd6 {with full equality. Meyer,H (2305)-Paulsen,D (2360) Germany 1984}) 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. a3 cxd4 8. exd4 {This opening is so modern that it would not be surprising to see this position today.} dxc4 {Often black will delay this capture until white has developed his B, but here he does not want white to play c5.} 9. Bxc4 b5 10. Bd3 { Often in these types of positions white will play Ba2, Rc1, Bb1 and Qd3 setting up a battery aimed at h7, but black can usually engineer a satisfactory defense.} Bb7 11. O-O Be7 12. Be5 O-O (12... Nxe5 13. dxe5 Nd7 14. Be4 Bxe4 15. Nxe4 O-O {is fully equal.}) 13. Qe2 Nd5 14. Bg3 {Black can now keep the position completely equal with, say, 14...Rc8 or 14...Nf6} Kh8 { Morphy played this with the intention of advancing his f-Pawn and so avoids a Q check on e6. After the game Morphy considered that it lost the game and recommended 14...Bf6. Although 14...Kh8 does absolutely nothing, it hardly loses the game. The position is so even that engines evaluate it at almost 0. 00.} 15. Rfe1 Bf6 {Morphy originally intended 15...f5 and only now realized it was a mistake, but so is 15...Bf6} (15... f5 {gets refuted after} 16. Qxe6 Nxc3 17. bxc3 Rf6 18. Qe3 {White is a solid P ip, has the two Bs and is in control of the e-file which should be enpugh to win.}) (15... Nf6 {is completely equal. } 16. Rad1 (16. Qe3 Qb6 17. Rad1 Rad8 18. Bc2 Na5 19. Ne5 Nc4 20. Nxc4 bxc4 { equal}) 16... Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Qxd4 18. Bxb5 Qb6 19. Bc4 Rac8 20. Bd3 {with equal chances.}) 16. Qe4 g6 17. Nxd5 {How should black recapture! There isn't much difference between taking with the P or the Q, but the offer to trade Qs is an indication that Morphy realized his position was not especially good so he goes on the defensive.} Qxd5 18. Qxd5 {A good alternative was keeping the Qs on then continuing to build up his position with Bf4 and Rad1} exd5 19. Ne5 Rad8 20. Nxc6 Bxc6 21. Rac1 {[%mdl 2048] White is a bit more active, but the position is completely equal.} Rc8 22. Bd6 Rg8 (22... Rfe8 {is a tactical blunder.} 23. Rxe8+ Rxe8 24. Rxc6 Re1+ 25. Bf1 Bxd4 26. Rc2 {Bkacj has lost a piece.}) 23. Be5 Kg7 {When this game was first published it was annotated by Johann Lowenthal claimed that "at this point (Morphy) selects a move which actually gives the victory to his opponent. The Bishop should have now been captured, and the game thereby would have been rendered an even one." No and yes. After 23...Kg7 white has the advantage, but it hardly loses the game. But, yes, 23...Bxe5 followed by 24...Bd7 results in complete equality.} 24. f4 Bd7 25. Kf2 h6 {It's starting here that Morphy [lays a few weak moves and allows Harrwitz to establish a very strong ending. The actove 25...b4 would have greatly eased his defense.} (25... b4 26. Bxa6 Bxe5 27. dxe5 Rxc1 28. Rxc1 bxa3 29. bxa3 Ra8 30. Bb7 Rxa3 31. Bxd5 {with a draw.}) 26. Ke3 Rxc1 27. Rxc1 $18 Rc8 28. Rc5 Bxe5 29. fxe5 {[%mdl 4096] This ending is a technical win for white. His R is well plaed and black has weak Ps.} Be6 (29... Rxc5 {Lowenthal was correct when he pointed out that is black plays this with the view of breaking up his adversary's centre Ps, the white K is posted at d4 and victory secured.} 30. dxc5 f5 31. exf6+ Kxf6 32. Kd4 {Hiow does white secure the point? The technique is illustrated in the following line...} Bc6 33. Be2 Kf5 34. Bf3 Ke6 35. Bg4+ Kf7 36. g3 Kf6 37. Bc8 a5 38. b4 a4 39. Bh3 Ke7 40. Bg4 Kf6 41. Be2 Ke6 42. Bf1 g5 43. Bh3+ Ke7 44. Ke5 {and the penetration of whiye's K ends the game.}) 30. a4 {A weak move that throws away his advantage.} (30. Rxc8 {is the winning move. After} Bxc8 31. Kd2 {Heading for the Q-side so as to attack the Ps.} Bd7 32. a4 (32. Kc3 {is not so good because after} a5 { the K cannot incahe on the Q-side.}) 32... bxa4 33. Bxa6 Be6 34. Bb7 Bd7 35. Kc3 h5 36. Kb4 f6 37. exf6+ Kxf6 38. Kc5 {wins the d-Pawn.}) 30... bxa4 31. Bxa6 Rb8 {With the Rs on black has enough play that the position is equal.} 32. Rb5 Rd8 33. Rb6 Ra8 34. Kd2 Bc8 35. Bxc8 Rxc8 {This R+P ending should be a draw.} 36. Rb5 Ra8 {[%mdl 8192] This is a serious error.} (36... Kf8 {and Black is OK.} 37. Rxd5 Rb8 38. Kc3 Rb3+ 39. Kc2 Rb4 {and white;s R in front of the P instead of behind it allows black to hold the game.}) 37. Rxd5 a3 38. bxa3 Rxa3 {Surely Morphy ensiaged this position when he played 36...Ra8 and if so, he totslly misjudhed it. White has a won ending. However, Harrwitz' play is not exactly accurate.} 39. Rc5 Kf8 40. Ke2 Ke7 41. d5 Kd7 {White should now play 42.Rb5! threatening to place his R on the 7th rank.} 42. Rc6 h5 43. Rf6 Ke7 {[%mdl 8192] This is the final game losing mistake. The correct way to defend the P was with 43...Ke8!!} (43... Ke8 44. Rf1 (44. d6 Ra5 {draws.}) 44... Ra2+ {and white cannot make any progress.}) 44. d6+ {Harrwitz concludes brilliantly.} Ke8 45. e6 {White threatens d7+ and mate.} fxe6 46. Rxe6+ Kf7 47. d7 Ra8 48. Rd6 Ke7 49. Rxg6 Kxd7 50. Rg5 Rh8 51. Kf3 Ke6 52. Kg3 h4+ 53. Kg4 h3 {A last hope. The R ending with an h-Pawn would be draw.} 54. g3 Kf6 55. Rh5 { Bkack resigned.} 1-0

An Old Masterpiece

    I recently came across an old book edited by Fred Wilson titled Lesser Known Chess Masterpieces 1906-1915 which contains 165 games that appeared in the old Year Book of Chess. The book was published by Dover Publications in 1978. 

    Fred Wilson is still around and owns Fred Wilson Chess Books in New York City. He has authored a number of chess books and appears to have set some sort of record when, in 2017, at age 71, he finally elevated his rating over 2200 to claim the National Master title. Unless you’re in that age bracket it’s hard to appreciate the accomplishment! 

    The games are all exciting and some of the opening are out of date, but that’s part of their charm. Most of the games, as well as those who played them, have been long forgotten. 

    Today we will take a look at the first game in the book. It was won by Simon Alapin (1856-1923). He was born in Vilnius, Lithuania and later settled in St. Petersburg before finally moving on to Heidelberg, Germany. He has a number of opening variations named after him, most notably the Alapin Variation of the Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.c3), which has become quite popular in recent times. Chess metrics estimates him to have been one of the world;s top 10 players in 1898. 

 His opponent was the Russian Pyotr Romanovsky (1892-1964) who won the Soviet Championship in 1923 and, jointly, 1927. According to Chessmetrics he was the 12th best player in the world six different time between 1925 and 1935. 

    During the Siege of Leningrad in winter of 1941–42, a rescue party reached Romanovsky’s home where they found him half conscious from starvation and the cold. The rest of his family had frozen to death. All their furniture had been used for firewood. 

    During the winter of the siege temperatures in Leningrad dropped to 40 degrees below zero (F). That winter was considered the coldest of the 20th century in Europe. People ate meager rations of bread and when food ran out, they resorted to eating things like wallpaper paste, leather and in some cases the bodies of the dead. 

    I remember the Andes flight disaster in 1972, where a plane carrying a Uruguayan amateur rugby team crashed in the remote Andes mountains. Only 16 of the 45 on board ultimately survived their 72-day ordeal. They survived by resorting to anthropophagy (eating human flesh). Of that practice, in a documentary one of the survivors stated, “If you had been there you would have done the same thing.” 

 

    After his recovery Romanovsky started a new family and continued to work to promote chess and train players. He was awarded the IM title in 1950 and the International Arbiter title in 1951. In 1954 he Soviets partitioned FIDE to award him the GM title, but lated withdrew it for political reasons that had nothing to do with Romanovsky. 

 

[Event "St. Petersburg"] [Site "?"] [Date "1905.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Simon Alapin"] [Black "Pyotr Romanovsky"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C32"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "1905.??.??"] {C32: Falkbeer Counter Gambit} 1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 {In this, the Falkbeer Counter Gambit, black sacrifices a P in exchange for quick development. In the early days it was considered good for black, but eventually white found ways to combat it.} 3. exd5 (3. fxe5 {loses outright.} Qh4+ 4. g3 Qxe4+) (3. Nf3 { This is a reasonable alternative.} exf4 4. exd5 Nf6 5. c4 c6 {With an interesting game/}) 3... e4 4. d3 Nf6 5. dxe4 Nxe4 {At the time this game was played this move had not been well analyzed, but now it's known to be best.} 6. Nf3 Bc5 7. Qe2 {Black has a wide choice of inferior moves here! In addition to the move he played, 7...f5, 7...o-o, ...Qe7 an d...Qxd5 are all questionable.} Bf2+ {This looks strong...it drives the K onto the same file as black's Q, but there is no way black can take advantage of it.} (7... Bf5 {pretty much equalizes.} 8. Nc3 Qe7 9. Be3 Nxc3 10. Bxc5 Qxe2+ 11. Bxe2 Nd7) 8. Kd1 f5 (8... Qxd5+ {Looks very strong, but watch what happens!} 9. Nfd2 Bg4 10. Qxg4 O-O 11. Bd3 Rd8 12. Nxe4 Qxe4 13. Nd2 Qd4 14. Nf3 Qb6 15. Qh3 Rxd3+ 16. cxd3 Nc6 17. Ne5 Nb4 18. Bd2 Bd4 19. Qd7 Bxe5 20. fxe5 Nxa2 21. Qa4 {1-0 Neuman,P (2428) -Trmal,J (2272) Klatovy 2004}) 9. Nfd2 {The pin on his N is very troublesome for black.} Bh4 $146 (9... Qxd5 {still doesn't work.} 10. Nc3 Qd6 11. Ncxe4 fxe4 12. Qxf2 {winning a piecd.}) 10. Nxe4 fxe4 11. Qxe4+ Kf7 {Only marginally better was 1...Be7} 12. Bd2 Bf6 13. Nc3 g6 14. Bd3 Na6 15. Qf3 Nb4 16. a3 Nxd3 17. cxd3 (17. Qxd3 {is not nearly as good.} Bf5 18. Qc4 Re8 {an black has eased his defensive burden considerab;y.}) 17... Re8 18. Kc2 Bd7 19. Rae1 Rxe1 20. Rxe1 b5 21. Ne4 a5 {White has several ways to win.} 22. g4 (22. Nxf6 Qxf6 23. d6 {Attacking the R.} Re8 24. Rxe8 Kxe8 25. Qa8+ Kf7 26. dxc7 Qf5 27. Qxa5 {with an easy win.}) 22... c5 23. f5 {breaking up the position around black's K.} b4 24. fxg6+ Kxg6 25. Rf1 Ra6 26. g5 Ba4+ 27. Kb1 bxa3 28. Nxf6 {Black resigned. Not a brilliancy so much as it was a crushing attack by Alapin against Romanovsky who made no glaring errors.} 1-0

Robert Byrne At His Best

    In 1972, the U.S. saw bell bottom pants and platform shoes, and popular toys included the the Easy Bake Oven. In more recent times the oven was considered to be one of the most dangerous toys ever because children could get burned using it. It makes you wonder how children managed to survive playing with such horribly dangerous toys!? 

    A major film was The Godfather and on cable televidion HBO was launched becoming the first subscription cable service in the U.S.. The Volkswagen Beetle became the world's best-selling car by the end of the year. The year was dominated by the Match of the Century when Bobby Fischer defeated Boris Spassky to become the World Champio thus ending 24 years of Soviet dominance. It also generate an unprecedented worldwide interest in chess, particularly in the United States. 

 In San Antonio, Texas the Church's Chicken International was the strongest tournament held in the US since 1924. It ended in a three-way tie between Tigran Petrosian, Lajos Portisch and the rising star Anatoly Karpov. Mikhail Tal dominated the Soviet Championship, winning with a score of 15-6. 

    The 1972 United States Championship and Zonal Tournament, played in New York City, was a cliffhanger. The U.S. Championship was an exciting one. Going into the last round six players were still in the running, but Robert Byrne, Lubomir Kavalek and Samuel Reshevsky ended up sharing the title. Byrne qualified for the 1972 Interzonal in Leningras where he had the greatest success of his career, finishing in third place a half point behind Korchnoi and Karpov. He lost his first-round Candidates match to former world champion Boris Spassky by 1.5-4.5 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1974.

 

 

    GM Robert Byrne (1928-2013), before becoming a professional player, was a university professor from Indianapolis, Indiana. I had the pleasure of meeting Byrne once and found him to be a perfect gentleman with a sense of humor. Reshevsky? Well, I once heard the infamous Norman T. Whitaker declare, “Reshevsky wouldn’t help anybody!” 

 

[Event "United States Championship"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1972.05.07"] [Round "?"] [White "Robert Byrne"] [Black "Samuel Reshevsky"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2560"] [BlackElo "2565"] [Annotator "Byrne/Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "1972.04.23"] {C42: Petrov Defense} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 Nxe4 4. Nxe5 {Instead of the usual 4.Bd3. Byrne called this a "strange" move that he played because he couldn;t maje up his mind what to play against the drawish Petrov.} d6 5. Nf3 d5 6. Bd3 Be7 7. O-O Nc6 8. Re1 Nd6 {Reshevsky was not known for his opening theory and here 8...Bg4 is better.} (8... O-O 9. c3 Bf5 10. Qc2 Re8 11. Nbd2 Nxd2 12. Bxd2 {½-½ Kovacevic,A (2517)-Savic,M (2503) Vrbas SRB 2015}) 9. Bf4 {Preventing 9...Bf5 which now lose a piece to 10.Bxd6} O-O 10. c3 Be6 (10... g6 {As played in Anand,V (2755)-Karpov,A (2688) Bastia 2002 is just a bit better.} 11. Na3 a6 12. Nc2 Bf6 13. Ne3 Ne7 14. Qb3 c6 {White is better/}) 11. Nbd2 Qd7 12. Nf1 f5 {Although this results in a weakening of his K-side it's his most promising move.} 13. Qe2 {Better that winning the two Bs with 13.Ng5} (13. Ng5 Bxg5 14. Bxg5 f4 {with full equality.}) 13... Ne4 14. Ne5 Nxe5 $14 15. Bxe5 Bf6 16. Bxf6 Rxf6 17. f3 Nd6 18. Qc2 {This move has a twodold purpose; it makes room to double Rs on the e-file and it prevents ...f4.} Re8 19. Re5 g6 20. Rae1 Bf7 {Byrne recommended 20...f4 keeping white's N out of the game. However, even Reshevsky's movr is satosfactory, bit white has a clear initiative.} 21. Ne3 c6 22. Qf2 Kg7 {This is a serious error. Much better was 22///Be3 preventing wjite's next move plus he could follow with ....Ref8 amnd the idea of ...f4 is still in play.} (22... Rfe6 23. Qg3 {White can now maneuver his N to g5 by Nd1-f2-h3-g5 with a pronising position.}) (22... Be6 {This is his most active defense; the immediate threat is to trap the R with 23...Nf7. Also the idea of advancing his f-Pawn is still a possibility.} 23. Nd1 (23. g4 Nf7) 23... Ref8 {and white has only a slight advantage.}) 23. g4 {Very strong as it opens lines for attack.} Ne4 {[%mdl 8192] The N looks good on this outpost, but 23...Be6 was a stouter defense/} (23... Be6 24. gxf5 gxf5 25. Kh1 Kf8 26. Qh4 Qg7 {and black is hanging on.}) 24. Qg2 f4 {Unfortunately for Reshevsky this idea comes far too late to be of any value because at this point white has a winning positon.} 25. Nf5+ {This sacrifice destroys black;s position.} gxf5 26. gxf5+ Kh8 27. Rxe8+ Qxe8 28. fxe4 Rxf5 29. Qg4 Bg6 30. Kf2 {Taking the R would be a blunder.} (30. exf5 Qxe1+ 31. Kg2 Qd2+ 32. Be2 Bxf5 {draws.} 33. Qxf5 Qxe2+ {etc.}) 30... Rf7 31. exd5 Re7 {This blunder, losing instantly, is the result of having a lost position plus being in time pressure.} 32. Bxg6 {A forceful game by Byrbe.} 1-0

Impressive Win by a Young Larry Evans

    First, to US readers, enjoy your Thanksgiving tomorrow. I hope your weather is better than ours...winds that are half of hurricane force, freezing temperatures and snow. 

    Today’s post features a game by the loser in the last post, Larry Evans, that shows him in a better light. In the 1954/55 Rosenwald tournament held at the Marshall and Manhattan Chess Clubs there were mo surprises. 

    Reshevsky, who had 25 year’s experience and was the country’s top rated player at 2766 finished first as expected. Larry Evans (2620 amd Arthur Bisguier (2587) took the bext two spots. Donald Byrne (2587), James Sherwin (2404) and George Kramer (also rated 2404) were also rans. 

    At the time it was thought that Evans and Bisguier might, in the not too distant future, be, like Reshevsky and Fine had been, the top US players; they developed into very strong GMs, but mot that strong! 

 

 

 

    Evans had an even score in the first half, but them scored three wins and two draws in the second half. He barely edged out Bisguier who started s;ow;y, but then in the second half scored four wins (one over Reshevsky) and a draw (with Evans).

    Kramer’s horrible score could be attributed to his long absence from play against strong opposition. Larry Evans (1932-2010, 78 yearsd old_ was born in Manhattan, New York am achieved the GM title in 1957. After WWII George Kramer (1929-2024, 94 years old) was one of the most promising new players in the country. A chemist by profession, he remained an amateur, but a very strong one. 

  

[Event "Rosenwald 1954/55, New York"] [Site ""] [Date "1954.12.21"] [Round "?"] [White "George Kramer"] [Black "Larry Evans"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E70"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "1954.12.19"] {[] E70: King's Indian Defense} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nge2 O-O 6. Ng3 {An unusual move that Kramer abandoned for the rest of the tournament after this game even though he had some excellent successes with it in the past. The idea is to play Be2, h4 and Bg5. If black should try to stop the advance of white's h-Pawn with ...h5 then white can sacrifice his B with Bxh5.} e5 {In this variation black has to play a quick ... f5} 7. d5 Ne8 8. Be2 {White has to continue aggressively because positional play with 8.Bd3 is too slow.} a5 9. h4 {Pressing on with his strategy is best option. Less aggressive options are 9.O-O amd 9. Be3} f5 (9... h5 { Theoretically this is playable. After} 10. Bg5 Qd7 11. Bxh5 (11. Qc2 $16) 11... gxh5 12. Nf5 $1 {[%cal Rf5e7]} f6 13. Be3 $1 {and the chances are about equal, but this is not the type of position that Evans preferred.}) 10. exf5 gxf5 11. f4 {Evans was highly critical of this move claiming that it creates a "glaring weakness" on the g-file which black now quickly tries to make use of. In fact, the position remains quite equal. That said, white could have dione a bit better with 11.Nh5 and, if possible, g4 continuing his attack.} Qe7 12. Qc2 Na6 {[%mdl 32]} 13. Be3 Kh8 {Preparing ...Rg8} 14. O-O-O Bd7 15. a3 {A most interesting position! When annotating this game in his book on the tournament, Trophy Chess, Evans gave this move a "?" and wrote that it often takes many move to lose a game which is true. (He had incorrectly considered other moves by Kramer questionable.) He claimed this move is bad because it leaves a glaring and fatal weakness on b3. He recommended 15.Kb1. Several engines (PlentyChess, Dragon by Komodo, Stockfish 17 and even an old version of Rybka) evaluate the position as perfectly equal. Evans recommended 15.Kb1 which is just OK/ Other OK moves are 15.Rhe1 and 15.Bf3. in other words, white does not have much activity in this position, but even after the text move he is certainly not lost.} Bh6 16. Qd2 {After this move which removes the guarf from b3 black get the advantage and it just keeps growing.} (16. Nh5 Ng7 17. Rde1 Nc5 {and the chances are perfectly equal.}) 16... Nc5 17. Kc2 a4 18. Nh5 Nb3 { [%mdl 2048] It now becomes evident that it was a mistake to allow the N to become entrenched on b3. Black has strong initiative.} 19. Qd3 Ng7 20. fxe5 Bxe3 21. Qxe3 Nxh5 22. Bxh5 {After this the game is practically over. He had better chances by offering to trade Qs with 22.Qg5 although even in that case black would still have had a substantial advantafe.} f4 23. Qd3 Bf5 24. Ne4 Qxe5 25. Bf3 Nc5 26. Qd4 Nxe4 27. Bxe4 {White resigned} (27. Bxe4 Bxe4+ 28. Kc3 Qxd4+ 29. Rxd4 Bxg2) 0-1

A Rare Bird

    By the time of the 1958/59 US Championship Bobby Fischer had become a Grandmastyer and an international star. In this tournament it was thought he might face a sweious challenge from the former Hungarian Pal Benko who had been doing very well in European events. But, Benko had a mediocre performance and Fischer went undefeated to take his second title in a row. 

    The following game is from that event and it’s an interesting one that contains a mix of strategy and tactics. It’s a rare bird in that, at least in modern times, not many games between Grandmasters end in mate. 

    The players came out of the opening with equality, but on move 13, in an attempt to play aggressively, Reshevsky made a slightly inferior move that gave Evans good chances. Things were going well for Evans until move 23 when he made a tactical error that, according to Reshevsky, could only be attributed to a lack of positional judgment. He was quick to add that he wasn;t implying that Evans lacked positional judgment, but his troubles resulted from misjudging the position and sacrificing a Pawn on move 27. After that his, position deteriorated rapidly. In spite of his manly defense his position soon collapsed. 

 

 

[Event "US Championship 1958/59"] [Site ""] [Date "1958.12.28"] [Round "?"] [White "Samuel Reshevsky"] [Black "Larry Melvyn Evans"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E46"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "1958.12.??"] {E46: Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein Variation} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nge2 d5 6. a3 Be7 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Nf4 {A Reshevsky favorite. The purpose of this move is to prevent black from playing the freeing ...c6-c5. Sometimes white plays 8.b4 which accomplishes the same thing, but it has the disadvantage of weakening the c4 square.} a5 9. Bd3 Re8 10. O-O c6 11. f3 { In this position white must play aggressively if he hopes to get any advantage and this move prepares for either e4 or g4.} Na6 12. Qc2 $18 (12. Kh1 Nc7 13. Bd2 c5 14. dxc5 Bxc5 {equals. Faizrakhmanov,R (2364)-Studer,N (2403) Batumi GEO 2014} 15. e4 {0-1 (41)}) 12... g6 13. g4 {Routine would be moves like 14. Bd2 or 14.Bb5 or even 14.Kh1. Instead.Reshevsky decided against 13. QN-K2 (in order to plat aggressively.} Nc7 14. Qg2 b5 15. Bd2 Ne6 16. Nfe2 {A very small slip, but it givves black the initiative. A better plan was to play 16.Nxe6 and then replace the N by N-e2-f4} Ba6 {This threatens to win material.} 17. Nd1 {This retreat proves that white's 16th move was incorrect..} (17. Kh1 { A pass to demonstrate the threat.} b4 18. Bxa6 bxc3 19. bxc3 Rxa6 {and black has won a piece.}) 17... c5 {This excellent move threatens to strengthen his position considerably with 18...c4 followed by ...b4.} 18. dxc5 (18. b4 { is an ingenious defense that minimizes black's advantage.} axb4 19. axb4 cxb4 20. g5 Nxg5 21. Nf4 (21. Qxg5 Ne4) 21... Ne6 22. Nxe6 fxe6 23. Rb1 {regains one of the Ps and white at least has some play.}) 18... Bxc5 19. b4 $15 Bb6 20. Kh1 axb4 21. axb4 {This is a critical position. Reshevsky threatens to win a P with 22.Rxb6 and 23.Bxb4 forking the s. Black's best defense is 21...Bb7} Nc7 { Black has considerable pressure on the e-Pawn. Slightly better, but beyond human ability to calculate, was 21...Bb7 leading to to enormous complications.} (21... Bb7 22. Rxa8 Qxa8 23. Bxb5 Rd8 24. Ng3 Nxg4 25. fxg4 Bxe3 26. Bd3 Ng5 27. Nxe3 d4 28. Qxb7 Qxb7+ {Black is only very slightly better.}) 22. Nd4 Nd7 { His intention is to play ...Ne5-c4} 23. f4 {This prevents the N maneuver, but at the expense of weakening the e4my square.} ({was a promising alternative, After} 23. Nc6 Qh4 24. g5 Bb7 25. Rxa8 Bxa8 26. Nd4 {the chances are equal.}) 23... Bxd4 {Not a good choice because it gives up one of his best pleces. Correct was 23...Ne6. The text allows white's pieces too much mobility and he is now able to launch a strong attack against black's weakened K-side now that the dark squared B is gone.} 24. exd4 {White's dark squared B us now ready to enter the action.} Qf6 {Defending the dark squares, but it would have been more beneficial to place the N on f6.} 25. Qf2 h6 {This prevents 26.g5, but at the cost of weakening the K-side even further. Reshevsky now executes a nice tactical shot. What should have balck played? There really wan't anything that could be considered a whole lot better.} 26. g5 {White is winning so Evans decides to throw caution to the wind.} hxg5 27. f5 {This may or may not have come as a surprise to Evans.} ({Not} 27. fxg5 {looks logical, but white maintains the upper hand after} Qxf2 28. Nxf2 {Bringing the N in to play.} Kg7 29. Ng4 {Black has better chances of defense than after 27.f5, ultimately white's positional advantage would prove decisive.}) 27... Nf8 (27... gxf5 { is not at all playable...} 28. Bxg5 Qg6 (28... Qxg5 29. Rg1) 29. Bxf5) 28. Qg3 {Attacking the N and threatening to play fxg6. There is no defense.} Qxd4 29. fxg6 {[%mdl 512]} fxg6 {Taking with the N was only a bit better, but it really would not have made much difference.} 30. Qxc7 {aiming for Qf7+.} Qxd3 31. Qf7+ Kh8 32. Rf3 {There is no defense to Rf3#. It's quite possible that Reshevsky was in his usual tome pressure now and that would explain why Evansd continues playing.} Qxf3+ 33. Qxf3 d4 {Losing another piece, but it doesn't matter.} 34. Qf6+ Kh7 35. Rxa6 Rxa6 36. Qxa6 Re2 37. Qa7+ Kh6 38. Qxd4 Ne6 39. Qh8# 1-0

Vintage Kashdan

     In 1927, in the United States it was the dawn of the "talkies" which was what my mother called the movies. That’s what they called them as opposed to the old silent films of her childhood. 

    The dance craze was the Lindy Hop. Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees baseball team hit a record breaking 60 home runs, a record that stood until 1961. Or did it? Roger Maris, also of the Yankees, tied the record in 1961 when he hit his 60th home run in the 158th game. He hit his 61st in the final 162nd game of that season. It took Babe Ruth151 games in a 164 game season to hit 60. Also in sports the famous basketball Harlem Globetrotters began. 

    Charles Lindbergh became a national hero after completing the first solo, non-stop transatlantic flight and Philo T. Farnsworth transmitted the first electronic television image. 

    To add to the excitement of 1927, finishing with a score of 7-3, Albert S. Pinkus of the Manhattan Chess Club captured first in the last round of the Junior Masters tournament played at the Manhattan Chess Club on. 

    The winner of the following game, Isaac Kashdan (1905-1985) was, according to Chess metrics, the world’s second ranked player 20 different months between the November 1932 rating list and the June 1934 rating list. Alekhine named him one of the most likely players to succeed him as World Champion. Kashdan could not make a career out of chess and for financial reasons did not play seriously. His mover to California for his son’s health also distanced him from the country;s center of chess activity in New York. Albert Pinkus (1903-184) was a fascinating man. Read my post on him HERE. 

 

    Nowadays when we think of young masters we think of players in their teens, sometimes 13 or 14 yer olds. In this tournament in 1927, Pinkus was 24, Kashdan 22, Santasiere 23, Tholfsen 23, at age 37 Smirka was hardly young and Bornholz 25. Perhaps the “Junior Master” was used instead of the term “Minor Master.” 

[Event "Junior Masters Tmt., New York"] [Site ""] [Date "1927.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Erling Tholfsen"] [Black "Isaac Kashdan"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D48"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "1927.??.??"] [Source "Brooklyn Daily E"] {D48: Semi-Slav: Meran System} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 a6 9. Qe2 c5 10. O-O Bb7 11. Rd1 Qb6 12. a4 {[%cal Ra4b5]} c4 13. Bb1 b4 14. Na2 {This is a poor place for the N. White has to play `14.a5} (14. a5 $18 Qc6 15. Na4 Rc8 16. e4 Nxe4 17. d5 exd5 18. Nd4 {equals. Paszek,A (2275)-Hoffmann,J Germany 1995}) 14... Rc8 15. e4 Be7 16. Bg5 O-O 17. d5 exd5 (17... Bc5 {was much better.} 18. a5 (18. e5 Nxd5 {leaves whote poised for a decisive attack.}) 18... Qxa5 19. d6 Ng4 20. Bh4 {White must defend f2} (20. e5 Bxf3 21. gxf3 Nxf2) 20... b3 21. e5 bxa2 {Black has won a N.}) 18. e5 Qe6 {On principle 18...Rfe6 placing the R opposite the Q was better.} 19. Bf4 {[%mdl 8192] This is a tactical mistake, Simplt improving the position of his N with 19.Nc1 keeps things equal.} Nh5 20. Bg5 (20. Bg3 { This looks reasonable, but after} Nxg3 21. hxg3 g6 22. Re1 Bc5 23. Qd2 f6 24. exf6 Qxf6 {white is strategically lost. Even capturing the b-Pawn doesn't help. ..} 25. Nxb4 Qd6 26. Nxd5 Qxd5 27. Qxd5+ Bxd5 28. Be4 {Hoping to simplify jis defemse by exchanges.} Bxe4 29. Rxe4 Nf6 30. Re2 Ng4 31. Rf1 Rb8 {Black is winning.}) 20... Bc5 21. Nd4 Bxd4 22. Bxh7+ {At first glance it appears that white has a stong atytack, but black can defend himself and he still has a decisive advantage,} Kxh7 23. Qxh5+ Kg8 24. Rxd4 f6 25. exf6 Nxf6 26. Qg6 Rce8 {...a mate threat with ...Qe1+} 27. f3 a5 28. Rad1 {Material is equal and white is attacking the d-Pawn plus black has a bad B. All black appears to have is control of the e-file, so how can he be winning. Kashdan will demonstrate how.} Nd7 29. Qh5 Qf7 30. Qh4 Re2 {Here is the key...control of the 2nd rank. Note white's attack on the d-Pawn is pointless and there is no K-side attack.} 31. Nc1 Rxb2 32. Rg4 {This is just aa gesture, but there is nothing better.} Ne5 {A solid move that keeps the win in hamd, but he has missed a nice tactical shot.} (32... Rxg2+ 33. Rxg2 Ne5 {Threatening a fork on the Q and K.} 34. Qf4 Nxf3+ 35. Kf1 Qe6 36. Qg3 Nxh2+ 37. Kg1 Nf3+ 38. Kf1 Nxg5+ {and black is winning.}) 33. Rg3 {Just a bit better would have been 33. Rf4} d4 {[%mdl 512] A solid winning mov, but the old ...Rxg2+ trick was more spectacular.} (33... Rxg2+ 34. Kxg2 Nxf3 35. Qg4 d4 {White has no defense... everything he can try loses.} 36. Rf1 Ne5+) 34. Qxd4 {Kashdan finishes up smartly.} Rxg2+ $1 {[%mdl 512]} 35. Kxg2 Nxf3 36. Qe3 Ne1+ {White resigned. This solid performance by Kashdan shows why he was called der Kleine Capablanca.} 0-1

Unfinished Business

    The 1934 Marshall Chess Club Championship had an interesting game that wasn't finished and didn't count. Samuel Reshevsky’s first round game against Roman Smirka was adjourned and wasn’t resumed because Reshevsky withdrew from the tournament for reasons that weren’t specified. Reshevsky claimed the final position was a draw, but it wasn’t. Smirka had a winning advantage. 

    Roman Smirka (1887-1947, 60 years old) was born in Vienna, Austria and not much else is known about him. He won the New York State championship in 1923 and 1927. He was one of the strongest members of the Marshall Chess Club, winning its championship in 1929-1930 after a play-off with Sidney Bernstein. 

 

 

    Even without Reshevsky, the tournament was a thriller. David Polland started off on a hot streak, but soon faded and was overtaken by Milton Hanauer, the former state champion. Hanauer established what appeared to be a commanding two point lead ahead of another former state champion, Fred Reinfeld. 

    At the halfway point Reinfeld started to gradually catch up with Hanauer. And, after the semi-final round they were tied. The final round was really exciting. Hanauer had outplayed Erling Tholfsen, but overlooked a mate in three and lost! Reinfeld ended a very difficult game with Santasiere by securing a perpetual check and so finished first by a half point. 

 

[Event "Marshall CC Chp, New York"] [Site "?"] [Date "1934.??.??"] [Round "1"] [White "Roman Smirka"] [Black "Samuel Reshevsky"] [Result "*"] [ECO "A48"] [Annotator "Atockfish 17.1 et al"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "1934.??.??"] {A48: Colle Systems} 1. d4 {This game was played in the first round.} Nf6 2. Nf3 c6 {Intending to play the Slav Defense if white plays 3.c4, but Smirka is uncooperative.} 3. e3 g6 4. Be2 Bg7 5. b3 O-O 6. Bb2 d6 7. Nbd2 Qc7 8. c4 Nbd7 9. Qc2 b6 {Fred Reinfeld gave this a ?, calling it a positional blunder that is not easy to forgive when made by a master strength player. He called the move pointless because the B couldn't be considered developed on b7 and it only helps to create a weakness later. He recommended 9...e5 followed by ... Re8. A couple of points to nore are that while Reinfeld was a very strong player, he was known to hold grudges against his fellow masters. Besides that, PlentyChess likes 9...b6 and considers the position equal.} (9... e5 10. O-O Re8 {This position has been reached many times in this opening and white can play several reasonable moves. The position is equal.}) 10. O-O e5 (10... Bb7 11. Rfd1 Rac8 12. e4 e5 13. dxe5 {½-½ Ptaschinski,D (2182)-Blasco,D (2111) Arco ITA 1999}) 11. Rfe1 Re8 12. b4 exd4 13. exd4 Nf8 14. Bd3 Bg4 {Equally good were both 14...Bb7 and 14...Ba6. The fact that black can play just about anything with impunity shows how innocuous white's opening play has been.} 15. h3 {[%mdl 2048]} Bxf3 16. Nxf3 {To quote Reinfeld: The exchange has improved white's game appreciably, but Black was probably glad to get rid of a piece which had so unpromising a future. To quote engines, the position is nearly equal.} Ne6 17. Bf1 Re7 18. g3 Qb7 19. Bg2 {The B's effectiveness is of course greatly heightened by black's 9th move, wrote Reinfeld.} b5 {The idea is to stop the advance of white's b-Pawn, but it's this move that is the cause of black's problem on the Q-side. Better would have been 19...Qc7 getting the Q off the B's diagonal and then ...Nf8 exchanging Rs.} 20. c5 (20. d5 {This sharp move would have given white a substantial advantage.} cxd5 21. cxd5 Nf8 22. Rxe7 Qxe7 23. Nd4 {followed by Nc6}) 20... Nd5 {It is understandable that black wants to obtain a good central square for his pieces; but the text allows a frontal attack on the weak c-Pawn and 20...d5 was therefore preferable. (Reinfeld) He was correct.} 21. cxd6 Rd7 22. Ne5 Rxd6 23. a3 Ne7 24. Rac1 Rc8 (24... Nxd4 {is a blunder.} 25. Bxd4 Rxd4 26. Nxc6 Nxc6 27. Bxc6 { and white is winning.}) 25. Qe4 Qb6 26. Red1 Qd8 27. Qf3 f6 {This weakens the K-side and should have allowed white to seize the advantage with 28.Nd3!} 28. Ng4 (28. Nd3 Nxd4 29. Bxd4 Rxd4 30. Nc5 Rxd1+ 31. Rxd1 Nd5 32. Qb3 Kh8 33. Bxd5 cxd5 34. Rxd5 {White's pieces are all well placed assuring him of a considerable positional advantage.}) 28... Kh8 29. d5 (29. Nxf6 {would be very bad.} Ng5 {and the N is hanging.}) 29... Ng5 30. Qb3 cxd5 31. Bd4 h5 {It's a good possibility that Reshevsky was in time trouble hereabouts.} 32. Ne3 Rxc1 33. Rxc1 {Starting with 28.Ng4 white's position has slipped to equality.} Ne4 ( 33... f5 {keeps the balance.} 34. Bxa7 d4 {and in the complications the chamces would be equal.}) 34. Bxa7 (34. Bc5 {is more difficult to meet.} Rd7 35. Bxe7 Qxe7 36. Nxd5 {White has a decisive positional advantage, For exanple. ..} Qe5 37. Qc2 Nxg3 (37... Ng5 38. Qc8+) 38. Rd1 (38. fxg3 Qxg3 39. Qc8+) 38... Ne2+ 39. Kf1 Nf4 40. Qc8+) 34... f5 35. Bxe4 fxe4 36. Bc5 Rc6 {This causes problems because it allows wite's Q to invade with a strong effect.. 36. ..Rd7 leaves black safe.} (36... Rd7 37. Rd1 d4 38. Qe6 Qc7 39. Ng2 {Black's center Ps assure him of at least equality.}) 37. Rd1 d4 {The game was adjourned here and Smirka sealed his bext move.} 38. Qf7 {This game was not completed because Reshevsky withdrew from the tournamment for unknown reasons. He claimed the position is drawm but although white still has some work to do, that is not the case. In Shootouts white scored 5-0. Accuracy: White = 42%, Black = 31%.} (38. Qf7 {A continuation might be...} Ng8 39. Qb7 Re6 40. Nd5 d3 41. Nf4 Re8 42. Be3 g5 43. Nxh5 Bd4 44. Rc1 Bb2 45. Qxb5 Re5 46. Qb7 Re7 47. Rc8) *

A Top Corrspondence Player Reveals His Secrets

    Engine use in online games is always a concern, but nowadays it’s the norm for correspondence players. In these days of super-strong engines watching my engine play my opponent’s engine was no fun and so after decades of postal/e-mail play I gave it up. 

    Like most correspondence sites, the International Correspondence Chess Federation allows engine use. Players at the top of the correspondence heap don’t just play whatever their engine’s top choice happens to be. Their play is a combination of engines guided by humans. 

    How do you get to the top in a world full of engine users? American Correspondence GM Jon Edwards, who won the 2020-2022 World Correspondence title, said he did it by emulating former over the board World Champion Tigran Petrosian who was known for his super-boring defensive play. In his games, Edwards tries to create a small advantage then keep milking it and, hopefully, making it grow. 

    You can read the story about how he won the title and play over one of his annitated games in the Chess Life article HERE. 

    Still, the majority of correspondence games end in a draw because it is nearly impossible to beat an engine. Within the last year I wanted to test an engine and even I was able to draw two games against a player who is an IM in both OTB and correspondence play. Out of the 136 games played in the 32nd World Correspondence Championship, 119 were draws (87.5%). Even then a few of the decisive games were due to human, not engine, errors. In spite of all the draws, Edwards doesn’t think correspondence chess is dead. Some players still enjoy the challenge of trying to outwit an engine I guess. 

    ChessBase had a 2022 interview with Edwards in which he revealed his secrets of how he won the World Championship. Here is a brief synopsis of how he did it.

    Hardware makes a difference...the better the hardware, the better the engine output. Edwards said you can run analysis on chess.com or lichess, or your own specialized equipment if you’re computer savvy enough. 

 One thing he made clear was not to use the engine’s default parameters. The number of threads and the hash table size need to be as large as your computer can handle. The same goes for endgame tablebases...use the largest your computer can handle. Endgame tablebases are important because sometimes they will help the engine make a better middlegame evaluation. 

    Edwards advised that you spend more time on games where engine evaluations are in your favor. In those games search for dozens (yes, dozens!) of lines to see if the evaluation improves. And, don’t waste any time looking at positions that are 0.00. 

    Of course, there is more. For example having a large database of top level correspondence games and conducting a search for opening novelties is an important factor. 

 It’s clear that if you wish to excel in correspondence chess these days you need not only good hardware and software, but a lot of patience and you need to put in a lot of time. 

    My laptop is pretty old and it’s held together with a couple of large clamps and duct tape, but at least it has a SSD. I ran a 4-minute tournament and invited my top 8 engines to play and was shocked by the result! Berserk won.

 

 

    Here is one of the more interesting games. The first thing I noticed was that a full tactical analysis with PlentyChess returned an Accuracy Rating of 100% for white and 70% for black. Analysis with Berserk was a different story. White still scored 100%, but black’s dropped to 53%! Apparently Berserk found more improvements for black than PlentyChess did. 

 

[Event "Blitz G/4 min"] [Site ""] [Date "2025.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Dragon by Komodo"] [Black "Deep Fritz 14"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [Annotator "Multiple engines"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2025.11.17"] [EventType "tourn"] [SourceTitle "Fritz Engine Tournament"] [Source "Doe"] {C65: Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense (3...Nf6), unusual lines} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 {The Berlin Defense has long had a reputation for being solid and drawish. It was played in the late 1800s and early 1900s by Emanuel Lasker and others. In modern times it was a favorite of Arthur Bisguier and it has been used by Vladimir Kramnik, Alexei Shirov, Veselin Topalov, Hikaru Nakamura, Gary Kasparov, Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand...all players with agressive styles.} 4. O-O {This and 4.d3 are the two main choices.} Bd6 { Usual are 4...Nxe4 and 4...Bc5. The text is highly unusual and is inferior as it greatly hinders black's development. To be fair I let Deep Fritz cogitate on the position after 4.O-O and it actually liked 4...Bd6 fir a bit, but then settled on the better 4...Be7 or 4...Bc5} 5. d4 Qe7 6. Re1 O-O 7. c3 (7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 a6 9. Ba4 b5 10. Bb3 Na5 11. Bg3 Nc6 12. Bd5 {White stands very well. Zilka,S (2602)-Taran,S (1932) Braila ROU 2022}) 7... Re8 8. Bg5 a6 9. Bd3 h6 10. Bh4 Rb8 11. Nbd2 {[%mdl 32]} b5 12. Nf1 Qd8 13. Ne3 {Strategically white has a won position thanks to black's atrocious 4th move, but black's next move is a serious blunder, especially coming from an engine. Retreating the B to e7 was the best try. However, again to be fair, Deep Fritz was allowed to examine this position for a few minutes, but still lked 13...g5 giving white only about a half P advantage. Stockfish knows better. White's advantage is almost 2.5 Ps.} g5 14. Nxg5 {[%mdl 512] Deep Fritz still refuses to change its evaluation of the position. Stockfish thinks white's advantage is 3-plus Ps.} hxg5 15. Bxg5 Be7 {After this Deep Fritz finally realizes that white os better. ..by a P and a half.} 16. Nf5 Nh7 17. Bh6 exd4 18. Qg4+ Bg5 19. f4 dxc3 20. bxc3 d6 21. Qg3 Kh8 22. Bxg5 Nxg5 23. fxg5 Ne5 (23... Re6 24. e5 Nxe5 25. Qh4+ Kg8 26. Re3 {This R lift brings about a quick decision.} Rg6 27. Nh6+ Kf8 28. Nxf7 Kxf7 29. Qh7+ Ke6 30. Qxg6+ Kd7 31. Rxe5 dxe5 32. Bf5+ Ke7 33. Qf6+ Ke8 34. Bg6+ Kd7 35. Rd1#) 24. Qh4+ Kg8 25. Re3 Ng6 26. Qh6 Bxf5 27. exf5 {Black resigned.} (27. exf5 Rxe3 28. fxg6 Qe8 29. Qh7+ Kf8 30. Rf1 {is hopeless for black.}) 1-0

Vladimir Nenarokov

    Vladimir Nenarokov (1880 – 1953) is hardly remembered these days. Although he was 70 years old, in recognition of his past performances he was on the first list of players to be awarded the IM title in 1950. Chessmetrics assigns him a high rating of 2546 in 1901, placing him at number 38 in the world. Topping the list were Lasker and Pillsbury. He authored many chess books, mostly on openings as well as a few books for beginners. He was a positional player with superb defensive skill and conducted the endgame with precision. 

     Nenarokov was among the Masters who came to the fore in the days before the Russian Revolution. Others were Grigoriev, Duz-Chotimirsy, Ilyin-Zhenevsky, I, and A. Rabinowicz and Romanovsky. 

    He began playing at the age of 14, but even though he was born in Moscow he did not have the opportunity to face strong opposition and so he hooned his skill by analyzed the games of masters and studying theory. 

 He first appeared in the Moscow Chess Club in 1898. He wanted to enter a tournament for the club championship, but being an unknown, he asked the club managers if they would evaluate his strength. He ended up defeating Third (Elo 1750-1875), Second (Elo 1875-2000) and First (Elo 2000-2150) Category players. Then a well known local Master gave Nenarokov an f-Pawn handicap and Nenarokov won that game, too. 

    In September of 1899, he made his debut in a major event, the First All-Russian Tournament, held in Moscow. Chigorin won the event and Nenarokov tied for 6th-7th. He continued to make rapid progress and played in the Second All-Russian Tournament in 1900-1901 and did quite well. The top finishers were Chigorin, Shiffers, Janowsky, Goncharov and Nenarokov. 

    In 1908 the 16 year old Alekhine challenged Nenarokov, then city champion, to a match, but Alekhine was not ready to meet such a strong player and after losing three games in a row, he abandoned the match. Since 1959 there has been a spurious game, Alekhine-Nenarokov, floating around that first made print in a letter to the editor in Chess Review. Edward Winter's site has complete details on the hoax HERE. 

    Nenarokov played in many other big tournaments held in Russia before the Revolution and scored excellent results. He competed in USSR Championships in 1923, 1924 and 1927. 

    He played in the great tournament at St. Petersburg in 1909, or rather he started to play. There were actually 22 players at the start of the tournament, but a player named Goldfarb withdrew because of illness and another named Rozanov withdrew because urgent family matters forced him to return to his home in Moscow. For unknown reasons. Nenarokov withdrew without informing the tournament director. The games of all three were not counted. 

    The following game was played in the 1924 USSR Championship which was a great success for Bogoljubow. The tournament started out as a real horse race when Bogoljubow won his first eight games and Romanovsky, the defending champion, scored 7.5 in his first eight game. Romanovsky kept pace with Bogoljubow until round 13, but then he began to fade. 

    Nenarokov spent the last years of his life living in Ashkhabad, the capital city of the Soviet Republic of Turkmenistan on the Eastern coast of the Caspian Sea. During that time he was active with the local chess organization. 

 

     About the Stonewall: I have a book on the Stonewall by an author who shall remain nameless. One reviewer described this author's books as notoriously rife with factual errors, junk, filled with inane comments, dull and worthless, filled with useless trivia, wasted ink, atrocious, a very poor writer and ridiculous...and that describes just one of his books! That's a bit harsh; the poor guy's books aren't THAT bad. I have a couple and actually kind of enjoy them. 

    At the beginning of his book on the Stonewall he says it is one of the easiest openings to play and yet it's also one of the rarest at the Master level and while it was once popular, it doesn't enjoy a very good reputation these days. 

    There's a reason you don't see top level GMs playing the Stonewall. The author tries to prove the Stonewall is worth playing, but I noticed he put the best defense at the end of the book and didn't devote nearly as much time to them as he did the variations where black cooperates by allowing white his typical Stonewall setup.

    When black fianchettoes on the K-side and white proceeds with the standard setup he will get nothing because the standard attacking ideas are no longer feasible. Therefore, if black fianchettoes white is advised to abandon the Stonewall and choose another strategy. 

    Among amateurs the Stonewall is no better or no worse than, say, the Najdorf Sicilian, because we amateurs play crappy chess no matter what the opening is. The truth is we rating challenged masses can play the Stonewall, but don't expect it, or any opening, to automatically chalk up a lot of wins. To do that you have to play better than your opponent in more areas than just the opening. 

 

 

[Event "USSR Championship, Moscow"] [Site ""] [Date "1924.09.??"] [Round "8"] [White "Vladimir Nenarokov"] [Black "Andrey Smorodsky"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D00"] [Annotator "PlentyChess"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "1924.??.??"] {D00: 1 d4 d5: Unusual lines} 1. d4 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. Bd3 Nbd7 4. f4 c5 {Along with 4...e5 this is the most popular, but not the best line. 4...g6 is the counter-Stonewall!} 5. c3 e6 6. Nd2 {This prevents the black N from going to e4.} Bd6 7. Qf3 {A playable alternative is 7.Nh3 hoping to get in Ng5} (7. Ngf3 cxd4 8. cxd4 O-O 9. O-O b6 10. Ne5 Bb7 11. Qf3 {is equal. Bendana,G (2090) -Binks,M (2100) Elista 1998}) 7... Qc7 8. Nh3 {8.g4 looks more dangerous than it really is because black can adequately defend himself. This advance is more likely to succeed if black has already castled.} Nb6 (8... h6 9. g4 Nb6 10. g5 hxg5 11. Nxg5 {favors black; he will simply castle Q-side.}) 9. a4 Bd7 10. a5 Nc8 {Smorodsky is going to waste a lot of time with this N, but as proof that white does not have any real attacking prospects, the time consuming N maneuver does not hurt his position in the least.} 11. O-O Ne7 12. Kh1 h5 13. Ng5 Nc6 {Black has taken 5 moves to get this N where it could have been in one, but it is one N move too many. On e7 the N serves the dunction of defending the K-side. A better plan was ...a6, ...cxd4 and ...O-O.} 14. dxc5 {Here or on the next move white could have played e3-e4.} Bxc5 15. b4 Be7 16. e4 {In spite of all the fiddling around on black''s part, white’s position has not yet reached the place where it’s overwhelming. However, black has a problem finding a completely safe safe haven for his K.} e5 {This move, opening up the position with his K in the center is a serios mistake. The ...a6 idea was still his best option.} 17. f5 {While not bad, this keeps the position closed, but now was a good time to rip it open with 17.exd5} (17. exd5 Bg4 18. Qf2 Nxd5 19. Bc4 Bxg5 20. fxg5 Be6 21. Ne4 {Black's K is in daner no mater where it gores.}) 17... d4 18. b5 Nxa5 19. cxd4 Ng4 20. b6 (20. Nxf7 {was quite playable, but itt would be difficult to calculate the consequences.} Kxf7 21. Qg3 Rac8 22. Nf3 Nc4 23. h3 Kg8 (23... Nh6 24. Bxc4+ Qxc4 25. Nxe5+) 24. dxe5 Ncxe5 25. Bf4 Bf6 26. Rac1 Qd6 {with unclear complications.}) 20... Qxb6 $11 21. Nc4 Nxc4 22. Bxc4 Bxg5 23. Bxg5 {It’s surprising, but in this position black’s defenses are adequate and there is no forcing win for white if black now plays the seemingly weakening 23...f6.} Rc8 (23... f6 24. Bh4 exd4 { White has no attack and the chances are even.}) 24. Bd5 exd4 25. Rfb1 {As almost always this is the wrong R} (25. Rab1 Qc7 {Threatening mate on h2} 26. Bf4 Qc3 27. Rxb7 {and white is clearly better.}) 25... Bb5 {This loses.} (25... Qc7 26. Bf4 Qc3 {White cannot capture the b-Pawn because the R on a1 is undefended.} 27. Rxa7 Ne3 28. Bxe3 {The N is too well placed and must therefore be eliminated.} (28. Raxb7 Qc1+ 29. Qf1 Qxf1+ 30. Rxf1 Nxf1 {Black is a R up.}) 28... Qxe3 29. Qxe3 dxe3 30. Raxb7 {with complete equality.}) 26. Qb3 {[%mdl 128] White now has a won position and finisdhes up forcefully. actical blows.} a6 27. Bxf7+ Kf8 28. Bg6 Qc7 29. Bf4 {[%mdl 512]} Qc4 (29... Qe7 30. Bd6 Bc4 31. Bxe7+ Kxe7 32. Qxb7+) 30. Rc1 {[%mdl 512]} Qxb3 {[%mdl 8192] This allows a mate in three, but he was lost in any case.} 31. Bd6+ { Black resigned.} (31. Bd6+ Kg8 32. Rxc8+ Be8 33. Rxe8#) 1-0