Beating a Dead Elephant

 

    The first time the Elephant Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5) appeared in print was in the late 1600s. It’s considered unsound because black is unable to get any compensation for the sacrificed Pawn. It might be OK for Blitz games and amateurs, but at the GM level it’s probably best not to play it. The following game is proof. Lilienthal went really wrong on move 3 (!) and never had a chance. 

    The loser was the strong Soviet GM Andor Lilientha (1911-2010m 99 years old). He was born in Moscow to Hungarian parents and was taken to Hungary at the age of two, but emigrated to the Soviet Union in 1935. He retired in 1976, returned to Hungary and remained well liked and respected. 

    The winner was another strong GM, Isaac Boleslavsky (1919-1099, 57 years old). He learned to play chess at the age of nine, but it was not until after World War II that he really made a name for himself and become one of the top Soviet players. He died in Minsk after a fall on an icy sidewalk. He suffering a broken hip that got infected during his hospitalization. 

    The game was played in the 1941 Soviet championship which took place in Leningrad and Moscow. The winner was going to be the challenger for Alekhine's world title, but WWII put the kibosh on that plan. 

 

     Boleslavsky’s play was not only brilliant, it was perfect! The game was analyzed with the Fritz program and Stockfish at 30 seconds per move and Boleslavsky’s play was assigned an accuracy rating of 100% meaning that the engine could not improve on a single one of his moves. After analyzing hundreds of games I have never seen this happen. 

[Event "Soviet Absolute Championship"] [Site "Leningrad/Moscow"] [Date "1941.??.??"] [Round "2"] [White "Isaak Boleslavsky"] [Black "Andor Lilienthal"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C40"] [Annotator "James Massie"] [PlyCount "33"] [EventDate "1941.03.23"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "20"] [EventCountry "URS"] [SourceTitle "HCL"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceVersion "2"] [SourceQuality "1"] {C40: Elephant Gambits} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nxe5 {The main alternative 3. dxe5 is only slightly better. With the text white pressures f6.} Qe7 {A very poor move that gives white a significant advantage.} ({Best Line:} 3... dxe4 4. Bc4 Nh6 5. d4 Nd7 6. O-O Nxe5 7. dxe5 Qxd1 8. Rxd1 Ng4 9. Nc3 Nxe5 10. Nb5 Bd6 11. Nxd6+ cxd6 12. Bd5 {White is slightly better.}) ({Line 2:} 3... Bd6 { Line 2:} 4. d4 dxe4 5. Bc4 Bxe5 6. Qh5 Qe7 7. Qxe5 Qxe5 8. dxe5 Nc6 9. Nc3 Bf5 10. Bf4 {White is slightly better.}) 4. d4 f6 {This reply coming from such a strong GM as Lilienthal ,ight be shocking...it looks like a beginner's move, but it's actually the best in the position which is an indicator that black's opening is a bust.} (4... dxe4 {dared no better in Gharibyan,M (2486)-Hirneise, J (2273) chess.com INT 2023} 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 g5 8. Bg3 Bg7 9. Bc4 { and black was inable to overcome his weakened K-side and lag in development/}) 5. Nd3 dxe4 {White now faces an important decision...where to place the N.} 6. Nf4 {This is the correct decision...the N will find a purpose on the K-side. If instead 6.Nc5 it won't accomplish much on the Q-side.He had two better, but that's not to say good, alternatives: 6...f5 pr 6...Bf5} Qf7 {This leaves him totally lost, but it is understandable. Sitting on e7 the Q gums up the development of his K-side pieces. Unfortunately, like so many advertisements you see for medicines on television, the side effects are worse than the dosease.} 7. Nd2 $146 (7. Be2 {is not bad, just less effective.} Bd6 8. Nc3 f5 9. Nb5 Ne7 10. Be3 {White is better. Ljubisic,Z-Sestovic,B (2111) Belgrade 2003 }) 7... Bf5 {A casual glance at the position may not reveal the fact that black is completely lose, but it's true.} 8. g4 Bg6 (8... Bd7 {might look better because it keeps white's N off e6, but it turns out to be even worse.} 9. Bc4 Qe7 10. Nd5 Qd8 11. Nxe4 {White is going to play Qe2 and black does not have a single reasonable move.}) 9. Bc4 Qd7 10. Qe2 Qxd4 {Black suffers a total debacle after this, but the better 10///Nc6 would only manage to hold out longer.} 11. Ne6 Qb6 {It might be that 11...Qe5 defending thee-Pawn would be better, but white plays qw.Bb3 clearing the way for his other B to come into play.} 12. Nxe4 Nd7 13. Bf4 Ne5 14. O-O-O Bf7 {Black appears to have consolidated a bit and this move aoms to get rid of the annoying N on e6, but Boleslavsky has a stunning reply.} 15. N4g5 {[%mdl 512] Brilliant.} fxg5 (15... Bxe6 16. Nxe6 Bd6 17. Nxg7+ Ke7 18. Bxe5 fxe5 19. Nf5+ Ke8 {White's attack has not stalled.} 20. f4 Ne7 21. fxe5 Nxf5 22. gxf5 Bc5 23. Qh5+ {Black can only delay, but not avoid, mate.}) 16. Bxe5 Bxe6 {Now comes a problem-like finish.} 17. Bxc7 {[%mdl 512] Black resigned. Fritz' tactical analyis assigns Boleslavsy an accuracy rating of 100%...perfect play!} 1-0

Deep Position Analysis with Fritz

    Sometimes you want a really deep analysis of a particular position and there are several ways of doing it. Years ago the program Aquarium introduce IDeA (Interactive Deep Analysis), a feature that was all the rage. 

    There was nothing wrong with the program and their customer support was outstanding, but I didn’t like the feature because the learning curve was too steep and I didn’t have the patience! 

    Fritz has something similar, but the disadvantage is that once you stop the analysis the program does not remember it and the next time you access the saved analysis you have to start over. IDeA picks up the project where it left off. 

    In a fit of boredom, I wanted to see see how Fritz' Deep Position Analysis, which I never use, compares to Infinite Analysis, so I did a DPA on a critical position from an old correspondence game of mine and gave the program 30 minutes, but the process took only about 15 minutes. 

    According to the manual the DPA function is very good for getting deep and detailed analysis of a critical position and it is especially useful for correspondence players and, I suppose, opening research. 

    You can determine how deep and broad the tree should be. Using DPA allows you to set time to analyze or the depth to which it should go. You set the number of Branches. i.e. how many alternative moves are given. You set the length of analyzed variations. And, you determines when a variation will be discarded. e.g. the value of 100 (one Pawn) means that moves that are a Pawn worse than the best move will not be investigated. 

    At the end of the DPA all the variations that have been generated are sorted and the strongest move becomes the main line. Here were the results.   

    .

[Event "Correspondence, CCLA"] [Site "?"] [Date "1960.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Tartajubow"] [Black "Opponent"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "3r1rk1/p3bpp1/1pqp1n1B/4p3/3QPPPP/2N5/PPPR4/2K4R w - - 0 17"] [PlyCount "8"] [EventDate "2005.??.??"] 17. Qe3 {In the game black played 17...Nxg4?} d5 (17... gxh6 18. g5 (18. f5 d5 19. Qxh6 dxe4 20. Rg2 e3 $11 {[%eval 0,33]}) 18... exf4 (18... Nh5 19. Nd5 Rde8 20. f5 Nf4 $16 {[%eval 142,25]}) (18... Nxe4 19. Nd5 (19. Nxe4 d5 20. Nf6+ Kh8 $18 {[%eval 180,23]}) 19... Qa4 20. Nxe7+ Kh7 $18 {[%eval 188,23]}) 19. Qxf4 ( 19. Qf3 Nh7 20. Nd5 Rde8 $15 {[%eval -33,20]}) (19. Qg1 Kh8 20. gxf6 Bxf6 $15 { [%eval -42,18]}) 19... Nh7 20. Nd5 Rde8 $16 {[%eval 71,29]}) 18. fxe5 (18. exd5 Nxg4 (18... Nxd5 19. Qxe5 Nf6 20. Rhd1 Rxd2 $11 {[%eval 29,25]}) 19. dxc6 (19. Qxe5 Nxe5 20. dxc6 Rxd2 $15 {[%eval -31,19]}) (19. Bg5 Nxe3 20. dxc6 f6 $17 { [%eval -115,17]}) (19. Rg2 Qxh6 20. Rxg4 f5 $15 {[%eval -68,17]}) 19... Nxe3 20. Rg1 Rxd2 $11 {[%eval 12,27]}) 18... Nxg4 19. Nxd5 Rxd5 20. exd5 Qxh6 $11 { [%eval 19,21]} 1-0

Now, compare that to 30 minutes using Infinite Analysis (set to show the top three lines). Notice there is a major diffeance at move 18.  

 

[Event "Correspondence, CCLA"] [Site "?"] [Date "1960.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Tartajubow"] [Black "Opponent"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "3r1rk1/p3bpp1/1pqp1n1B/4p3/3QPPPP/2N5/PPPR4/2K4R w - - 0 17"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2005.??.??"] 17. Qe3 {In the game black played 17...Nxg4?} {} d5 ({ Variation 1:} 17... gxh6 18. g5 exf4 19. Qxf4 Nh7 20. Nd5 Rde8 21. gxh6 Kh8 22. Rg2 Qd7 23. Rhg1 Qe6 24. Nc7 Qf6 25. Qe3 Qxh4 26. Nxe8 Rxe8 27. Qf3 Qf6 28. Qg3 Qg6 29. Qxg6 fxg6 30. Rxg6 Bf6 31. Rf1 Be5 32. Rf7 a5 33. c3 a4 34. Ra7 b5 35. Kc2 Rc8 36. Kd1 Nf6 37. Rgg7 Rb8 38. Ke2 Nxe4 39. Rh7+ Kg8 40. Rhb7 Rxb7 41. Rxb7 Nc5 42. Ra7 Bf4 43. h7+ Kh8 44. Kf3 Be5 45. Kg4 Bg7 46. Ra5 Kxh7 47. Kf5 Kh6 48. Rxb5 a3 49. b4 Bxc3 50. bxc5 dxc5 51. Rb6+ Kh7 {[%eval 55,45]}) ({ Variation 2:} 17... exf4 18. Bxf4 d5 19. exd5 Nxd5 20. Qf3 Nb4 21. Qxc6 Nxc6 22. Nd5 Bc5 23. Rhd1 Rde8 24. c3 Re4 25. g5 a5 26. Rf1 Nd8 27. Bg3 b5 28. Kc2 Ne6 29. Nf4 a4 30. Rd7 Nxf4 31. Bxf4 Re2+ 32. Bd2 g6 33. Re1 Rg2 34. Rd5 Rc8 35. Re4 a3 36. bxa3 Bxa3 37. Rxb5 {[%eval 159,44]}) 18. exd5 Nxg4 19. dxc6 Nxe3 20. c7 Rxd2 21. Kxd2 Nf5 22. fxe5 gxh6 23. Rg1+ Ng7 24. Rg4 Rc8 25. Nd5 Bf8 26. h5 Kh8 27. Ra4 a5 28. Rf4 Kg8 29. Rc4 Ne6 30. a4 Kh7 31. Rc6 Bg7 32. Nxb6 Rxc7 33. Rxc7 Nxc7 34. Nd7 Ne6 35. Kd3 Nf8 36. Nxf8+ Bxf8 37. c3 Kg8 38. Kd4 Be7 39. Kc4 Kf8 40. Kb5 Bd8 41. b4 Ke7 42. Kc6 Ke6 43. b5 Kxe5 44. b6 Bxb6 45. Kxb6 f5 46. c4 f4 47. c5 f3 48. c6 f2 49. c7 f1=Q 50. c8=Q Qb1+ 51. Kxa5 Qe1+ 52. Ka6 Qe2+ 53. Kb7 Kf4 54. Qc5 Qe4+ 55. Kc7 {[%eval 15,45]} 1-0

    The bottom line (I think) is that there is little reason to bother with the Deep Position Analysis feature and simply use Infinite Analysis.

Capablanca Dodges a Bullet

    The 1931 New York Invitational was sponsored by the Manhattan Chess Club. Capablanca won with little difficulty although he did have a lost ending (surprise!) against Arthur Dake. Unfortunately for Dake, he started rushing his moves and refused to adjourn and eventually lost. 

    Capablanca also dodged a bullet in his game against Frank Marshall. The game appears in Harry Golombek’s book Capablanca’s Hundred Best Games of Chess that was published in 1946. I consider Golombek to have been a good writer, but he missed the mark in this game when he praised Capablanca's tactic at move 22 when, in fact, it should have lost. You can hardly blame Golombek for missing the refutation though! After all, both Marshall and Capablanca missed it, too! 

[Event "New York"] [Site ""] [Date "1931.04.29"] [Round "9"] [White "Frank Marshall"] [Black "Jose Capablanca"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E16"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "1931.04.18"] {E16: Queen's Indian} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 e6 3. c4 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Bxd2+ 7. Nbxd2 {This is not as good as 7.Qxd2 because the N belongs on c3 so white can answer the coming ...c5 with d5.} O-O 8. O-O c5 {The freeing move. It's instructive to see how Capablanca manages to utilize his advantage on the Q-side.} 9. dxc5 bxc5 10. Rc1 {While not bad, this is a routine move that serves no real purpose. Normal is 10.Qc2} Qc7 11. Nb3 {This is a rather poor move that leaves the N out of play. It would have been betder to admit his 7th move was not so good and reposition it with 11.Nb1 and 12.Nc3. Capablanca already has a slight advantage, but that's all he needs.} d6 12. Qd2 Nc6 13. Rfd1 Rfd8 {Black is slightly better.} 14. Nh4 {In this game at least, Marshall's handling of his Ns leaves a lit to be desired! Here there is no possibility of a K-side attack. Even engines are having a hard time suggesting anything positive. Who would want to play Stockfish’s suggestions of 14.Qe3 or in that is probably the best idea, repairing the Ns poor position with 14. Na1 and 15.Nc2?} a5 15. a4 {Another poor move; it weakens the Q-side and gives black's N a strong outpost on b4. White's best idea was still repositioning the N as mentioned witi Na1-c2} Rab8 16. Rc3 Ba8 17. h3 {This part of a K-side attack that never comes to fruition. At this poimt white is already strategically lost.} Nb4 18. Bxa8 Rxa8 19. Qf4 {Part of his hoped for attack on f7, but there was nothing more promising.} Qc6 20. Rf3 {The next part of his plam is to drive the N away wiht g4 and g5} Rd7 {This defends f7, but there is also a hidden point...it's part of a tactical trick that is not quite correct.} 21. g4 Qxa4 {Capablanca plays a nifty little tactical trick, but it dissipates his advantage. In his book of Capablanca’s best games Harry Golombek praises Capablanca's idea, but these days any patzer with an engine can show it’s not the best line. So, what should he have played?} (21... Ne8 22. g5 {Beating the air.} Rb7 {White has no useful continuation and he going to lose the a-Pawn.}) 22. Rxd6 Nbd5 {[%mdl 8192] Golombek called this "a neat little combination, winning a P by force." It's actually what should have been a losing move that's worthy of a couple of question markd.} (22... Rxd6 { results in equality after} 23. Qxd6 Qd7) 23. Qe5 {[%mdl 8192] It's Marshall's turn to play a move worthy of two question marks.} (23. Ra6 {An amazing move.} Rdd8 (23... Rxa6 {23...Rda7 3.29} 24. Qb8+ Rd8 25. Qxd8+ Qe8 26. Qxe8+ Nxe8 27. cxd5 {and white has won a piece.}) 24. Rxa8 Rxa8 25. cxd5 {White is up a piece, }) 23... Rxd6 $19 24. Qxd6 {Now things are back on track and Capablanca has managed to come out with what is still a winning position.} Ne4 25. Qe5 Qxc4 { Capablanca is a P up and his Q-side attack is still going strong. He finishes up neatly.} 26. Rd3 a4 27. f3 Nef6 28. Nd2 Qc1+ 29. Kf2 h6 30. f4 c4 {Black is clearly winning.} 31. Rd4 c3 {Creating a passed a-Pawn.} 32. bxc3 a3 {[%mdl 32] } 33. g5 a2 34. Nb3 Qxc3 35. gxf6 Qxb3 36. Rd1 Qxd1 {White resigned.} 0-1

FIDE’s First World Amateur Championship Match

Bogoljubow

    Founded in 1924, FIDE soon started trying to organize the World Championship, but two years earlier Capablanca, the World Champion from 1921 to 1927, had set the conditions under which he was willing to play for the Championship. Those conditions were far beyond the resources of the fledgling FIDE. 

 Consequently, Alexander Rueb, FIDE’s president, then had the idea of creating a separate championship to be named the FIDE Championship. And so, in a letter sent to Max Euwe and Ewfin Bogoljubow he proposed that the winner of their match would become FIDE Champion of FIDE. 

    Their decision was based mainly on the fact that the 1928 World Amateur Championship that was held in Amsterdam had been won by Euwe. Also, at that time Bogoljubow was one of the top 3 or 4 best players in the world. 

    The match generated a lot if enthusiasm in Holland and Bogoljubow scored a narrow victory, scoring +3 -2 -5. Them after the match a wealthy sponsor finance a second short revenge match that was also won by Bogoljubow +2 -1 =7. 

    The following is game 4 of the first match is replete with imaginative and forceful play on Bogoljubow’s part. Queens were exchanged in the opening, but that didn’t cut down on the aggression shown by Bogoljubow. The tension mounted until ay the critical moment and Euwe went down the wrong path and was never able to recover 

 

[Event "Match: First FIDE Championsh"] [Site ""] [Date "1928.04.12"] [Round "4"] [White "Max Euwe"] [Black "Efim Bogoljubov"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D06"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "90"] [EventDate "1928.04.04"] {D06: Queen's Gambit Declined, Marshall Defense} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d5 {This, the Marshall Defense. While venturesome it has been out of favor for decades as black does not fare very well with it.} 3. cxd5 {The move challenging reply.} Qxd5 (3... Nxd5 {is the usual move, but after} 4. e4 {white has gained time plus space in the center.}) 4. Nc3 Qa5 5. Nf3 Nc6 {Although this move is often played it blocks the c-Pawn which can hardly be recommended. 5...c seems a better try.} 6. e3 {Not the best! 5.Bd2 was preferable as it leaves white with a substantial advantage.} (6. Bd2 Qf5 {Thanks to his 5th move the Q has no good retreta.} (6... e5 {is simply horrible because after} 7. e4 Bb4 8. d5 { white;s advantage is decisive, For example...} Ne7 9. a3 Bxc3 10. Bxc3 Qb6 11. Nxe5) 7. g4 {This surprising move is very powerful!} Qd7 (7... Nxg4 8. e4 Qg6 9. h3 {with what should amoint to a decisive advantage.}) 8. e4 Nxg4 9. h3 Nf6 10. d5 Nb8 11. Qb3 {with a strong position well worth a P.}) 6... e5 {Well played as black must continue aggressively,} 7. d5 Nb4 8. Bb5+ (8. Bd2 { defends the d-Pawn and would best be answered by 8...Bf5 when white is slightly better. But not...} Nfxd5 9. Nxd5 {winning a piece.}) 8... c6 { In this critical position Euwe goes astray. No doubt that Euwe reasoned as did one annotator that it would be bad to play 9.dxc4 because after black recaptures he could then devekop his B, as he does later, with ...Ba6. That is not correct. Capturing the P was exactly the move he should have played. He would have had an equal game in that case.} 9. Qa4 {After the exchange of Qs black will have the bettwer of it.} (9. dxc6 bxc6 10. Qa4 {Now is the time for this.} Qc7 (10... Qxa4 11. Bxa4 Ba6 {is obviously bad on account of} 12. Nxe5) 11. Be2 e4 12. Nd2 Nd3+ 13. Kf1 Nc5 14. Qc2 {with complete equality.}) 9... Qxa4 10. Bxa4 b5 {[%mdl 2048] Bogoljugow now begins playing very aggressively and he never lets up.} 11. Bb3 Nd3+ 12. Ke2 e4 13. Ng5 b4 14. Ncxe4 Ba6 { Now this move is very strong given the white's K is threatened.} 15. Kf3 (15. Bc2 {was a better defense,} Nxe4 16. Nxe4 Ne5+ 17. Ke1 {but here, too, black has a strong attack.} cxd5) 15... cxd5 {Bogoljubow is playing for an attack against Euwe's poorly placed K, but he missed an even stronger continuation.} ( 15... Nxe4 16. Nxe4 cxd5 17. Ng5 Be7 18. Nh3 {Now the N is out of play and there is an annoying potential K and N fork similar to what happens in the fame.} g5 19. Bxd5 Rd8 20. e4 Rg8 21. g4 h5 22. Bxg5 (22. Kg2 hxg4 23. Ng1 Ne1+ 24. Kg3 Bd6+ {with a winning attack.}) 22... hxg4+ 23. Kxg4 Bc8+ 24. Kf3 Bxh3 { Black has a decisive advantage.}) 16. Ba4+ {[%mdl 8192] Euwe fails to take advantage of his last chance to get out of a losing position.} (16. Nxf6+ { It's hard to see, but this move will allow him to utilize his B on b3. Watch!} gxf6 17. Nxf7 Rg8 (17... Kxf7 18. Bxd5+ Ke8 19. Bxa8 {and it's white who has the decisive advantage.}) 18. Bxd5 Rb8 19. Nd6+ Bxd6 20. Bxg8 Ne5+ 21. Kg3 { and white equalized.}) 16... Ke7 17. Nd2 h6 18. Nh3 g5 19. g4 h5 20. Nxg5 hxg4+ 21. Kg2 Bh6 22. f4 gxf3+ 23. Ndxf3 Bxg5 24. Nxg5 Ne4 25. Nxe4 dxe4 26. Rf1 Rag8+ 27. Kh1 {Blacj can ow pretty much win ant way he chooses and while here and there stronger move might have been available, it;s a moot point.} Rh3 28. Bd2 Rgh8 29. Rad1 Rxh2+ 30. Kg1 R2h7 31. Rf2 Rh1+ 32. Kg2 R1h2+ 33. Kg1 Rxf2 { Euwe could resign here, but plays on. The only reasonable explanation is that Bogoljubow was in time trouble.} 34. Bxb4+ {[%mdl 512]} Nxb4 35. Rd7+ Kf6 36. Kxf2 Nd3+ 37. Kg1 Rg8+ 38. Kh2 Bc8 39. Rxa7 Ne5 40. Bd1 Nf3+ 41. Bxf3 exf3 42. Ra4 Rg2+ 43. Kh1 Rxb2 (43... Bb7 {and it's mate in 10} 44. e4 Rg4 45. Rc4 f2 46. Rc1 Bxe4+ 47. Kh2 Rg2+ 48. Kh3 Rg1 49. Rf1 Rxf1 50. Kg3 Kg5 51. b4 f5 52. Kh3 f4 53. Kh2 Rh1#) 44. Rf4+ Ke7 45. Kg1 Rg2+ {White resigned} (45... Rg2+ 46. Kf1 Ba6+ 47. Ke1 Re2+ 48. Kf1 Rxa2+ 49. Kg1 f2+ 50. Rxf2 Rxf2 51. Kxf2 Kd6 52. Kf3 Ke5 53. e4 Bd3 54. Ke3 Bxe4) 0-1

Bledow’s Queen Sacrifice at move 8

    Happy Birthday Dr. Ludwig Erdmann Bledow (July 27, 1795 - August 6, 1846).  He was a German master and organizer who was the co-founder of the Berlin Pleiades, a group of several German masters and in 1846, he founded the first German chess magazine, Schachzeitung der Berliner Schachgesellschaft. Later it wa renamed Deutsche Schachzeitung. 

    In those days some of the game’s moves and competition rules had not been universally agreed upon, For example, Bledow believed that a player should be allowed to have multiple Queens when promoting Pawns. He also argued in favour of the touch-move rule. 

 In 1848, about two years after Bledow’s death, a letter he had wtitten to Tassilo von der Lasa proposing that an international tournament should be organized was published. His idea was that the winner would be recognized as the world champion. In 1851, the surviving members of the Berlin Pleiades nominated Adolf Anderssen to represent Germany at the London 1851 tournament. As winner of the tournament Anderssen was widely recognized as the world's strongest player. 

    It’s difficult to say exactly how strong Bledow was, but in the mid-1800s he defeated some of the best players around in match play, including the 27-year old Adolf Anderssen by either 5-0 or 4.5-0.5, depending on the source. According to Chessnetrics there is no rating for Bledow and Anderssen’d estimated rating in 1848, three years after the match) was only in the mif-2400s, considerably below his 2600+ rating in the early 1850s. 

Dr. Ludwig Blewow

    As for his playing style, Bledow was described as preferring closed positions and not a "heroic" player. His surviving games support that claim, but the following game featuring a Queen sacrifice on move 8 is a pleasing exception. 

    His opponent was Paul Rudolph von Bilgur (1815-1840, 24 years old) a German master and theoretician. von Bilguer, who was a lieutenant in the Prussian army, resigned his commission and devoted his time to chess. 

    He was considered to be the most brilliant of the 'Pleiades' players. He is best known today as the co-author of the Handbuch des Schachspiels. He died at age 24, probably of tuberculosis, before finishing the Handbuch, but the work was completed by his friend Tassilo und der Lasa, who gave primary credit to Bilguer. The book was a reference book, particularly om openings. 

    While this game is far from perfectly played, Bledow;s Queen sacrifice will leave you gasping. 

 

[Event "Berlin"] [Site ""] [Date "1838.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Ludwig Bledow"] [Black "Paul von Bilguer"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C23"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "1838.??.??"] {[%evp 9,65,84,243,183,149,85,375,404,410,354,354,352,396,378,359,374,373,379, 407,380,360,164,146,159,341,178,172,140,139,138,132,-1,55,16,0,-4,31,31,59,29, 36,27,31,31,132,0,0,0,3,0,7,7,573,564,29995,29996,29996,29997] C23: Bishop's Opening} 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 {This is one of the oldest openings to be analyzed and it was popularized by Philidor in the mid-170s, but it fell out of favor after improvements for black were introduced in the mid-1800s. In his book White to Play and Win Weaver Adams claimed thr the Bishop's Opening was a win for white by force. Of course he cpuldn,t prove it. In the 1960s Bent Larsen and a few others usded it with success.} f5 {The ancient Calabrese Countergambit, the idea of whicj is to gain control of the center. White had a numner f reasonable responses: 3.Nf3 (most popular, but it leads to wild play), 3.exf4 (requires some preparation to find the optimal moves) and 3.d3 (solid).} 3. d3 (3. Nf3 fxe4 4. Nxe5 d5 5. Qh5+ g6 6. Nxg6 hxg6 7. Qxh8 Kf7 {In this crazy position the chances are equal.}) (3. exf5 Nf6 4. Nc3 d5 5. Nxd5 Nc6 ( 5... Bxf5 {runs into trouble after} 6. Qf3 Bxc2 7. Nxf6+ gxf6 8. Qxb7) 6. Ne3 { with a solid position.}) 3... Nf6 4. Nf3 fxe4 {My database has 21 games that reached this position and black played 4...Nc6 in 17 of them and 4...c6 on 4, but von Bilgoer’s is is the best choice!} 5. dxe4 Nxe4 $2 {This logical looking move quickly lands black i trouble as white immediately launches an attack on f7.} (5... Bb4+ 6. c3 Bc5 7. O-O d6 {and white is only very slightly betted.}) 6. Qd5 {Black is forced into an awkward defense of f7.} Nd6 (6... Qf6 {is even worse.} 7. Qxe5+ Qxe5 8. Nxe5 Nc6 9. Nf7 Rg8 10. Ng5 Nxg5 11. Bxg8) 7. Nxe5 c6 {[%mdl 8192] ...and loses! He needed to defense f7 by 7...Qf6. but who could have foreseen white's next incredible move?} 8. Qf7+ {An amazing riposte! } Nxf7 9. Bxf7+ Ke7 {Watcj white's pieces swarm around black;s K.} 10. Bg5+ Kd6 11. Bxd8 {White has regained the Q, but there is more to it than that.} Kxe5 12. f4+ Kf5 (12... Kxf4 13. O-O+ {addings a R to the attack.} Ke5 {Attempting toi flee to safety.} 14. Nd2 Kd6 15. Rf5 c5 16. Bd5 c4 17. Ne4#) 13. Bg5 Bb4+ 14. c3 Rf8 15. Bb3 {This inexact move offer black some survival chances.} (15. Bh5 {is more exact.} g6 16. Bg4+ {crushing.} Kxg4 17. cxb4 d5 18. Nd2 c5 19. Kf2 Nc6 20. h3+ Kh5 21. Rhg1 {Black;s K is trapped.}) 15... h6 16. Bc2+ Kg4 { Moving into the hornet's nest. 16...Ke6 offered some hope of suviving.} (16... Ke6 $16 {is a better defense.} 17. f5+ Kf7 18. cxb4 hxg5 {Black has sutvived the attack, but now faces an uphill struggle in the ending.}) 17. Bd1+ (17. h3+ {forcing the K further into white's position was more precise.} Kg3 18. Nd2 hxg5 19. cxb4 Rxf4 20. Ne4+ Rxe4+ 21. Bxe4 Kf4 22. Bc2 d5 23. O-O+ {White is winning.}) 17... Kf5 18. g4+ Kg6 19. Bc2+ Kf7 20. Bh4 {White wants to preserve his B, but 20.cxb4 was stronger because after 20...hxg5 and 21.fxg5 the open f-file file favors white. Amazingly, black has manages to extricate himself from the web of white's pieces, but he still lags behind i n development and white's pieces have plenty of scope.} Be7 {The game has now entered a whole new phase where black has survuved and the position now offers equa chances.} 21. Bg3 d5 22. f5 Nd7 23. Nd2 Bf6 24. Nf3 Re8+ 25. Kf2 Nc5 26. Rhe1 {[%mdl 2048]} Bd7 (26... Ne4+ 27. Bxe4 Rxe4 28. Rxe4 dxe4 29. Ne5+ Bxe5 30. Bxe5 { is equal.}) 27. b4 {More exact would have been 27.Ne5+} Ne4+ 28. Rxe4 $1 { [%mdl 512] This is a bit surprising. It does not win, but it renews the attack. } dxe4 29. Bb3+ Kf8 30. Bd6+ Be7 {[%mdl 8192] This loses by force. Black needed to return the exchange.} (30... Re7 31. Nd4 Rae8 32. Ne6+ Bxe6 33. fxe6 Bxc3 34. Rf1 Bf6 35. Ke3 {There is no way for white to utilize the pin on the R and as a result the position offers equal chances.}) 31. Ne5 {Very powerful. Black simply cannot meey the threat of Nxd7#} g5 32. f6 e3+ {A spite check.} ( 32... Bxd6 33. Nxd7#) 33. Kg1 {Black resigned. It,s mate in 3.} (33. Kg1 Be6 34. Bxe6 Rec8 (34... Rad8 35. Ng6#) 35. Bxe7+ Ke8 36. Bf7#) 1-0

Seidman Sets a Snare

    The Intercollegiate Chess League has a long history dating back to leagues like the Quadrangular Intercollegiate league (Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Princeton) in 1892. In 899, thr Triangular Intercollegiate League (Cornell, Brown, and the University of Pennsylvania) established their own triangular league. These laid the foundation and the Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship, established in 1946, became a major annual event. 

    Today’s game was played in 1938, in a collegiate league in New York City made up of two teams from the Central College of New York, Brooklyn College, two teams from New York University and Yeshiva College. 

    In 1938, the title and custody of the Harold M. Phillips trophy was won on a 4-0 forfeit by a team from C.C.N.Y when the team from Yeshiva College failed to appear at the Manhattan Chess Club for the last match. This was on a Sunday after Saturday’s match had been rescheduled to accommodate the Yeshiva players who could not play o the Sabbath. 

    The Tournament Director, Harold Sussman, who was also the newly elected president of the league, gave the Yeshiva team until noon to appear and when the didn’t they were forfeited. The winning C.C.N.Y. tam consisted of Jack Soudakoff, Sava Jacobson, Milton Finkelstein and Samuel Rubin. 

 

 

    The game's winner, Herbert Seidman (1920-1995) was a Senior Master (rated over 2400) who was born in New York City. At his peak, he was ranked among the top ten players in the country. Seidman played in eight U.S. Championships between 1940 and 1968. 

 His obituary informs us that Jack Soudakoff was born in Russian and on Novmber 19, 2005, at the age of 87, he peacefully passed away surrounded by his beloved wife Bea, sons David and Alan and a future daughter-in-law Diane. Soudakoff was a edicated family man, WWII vet, longtime New York Subway systems analyst. 

    In the early middlegame Seidman had a modest advantage when, at move 20 instead of playing the obvious move, he laid a snare and Soudakoff got caught. 

 

[Event "Intercollegiate Chess League, New York"] [Site "?"] [Date "1938.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Herbert Seidman (Brooklyn)"] [Black "Jack Soudakoff (CCNY)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C83"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "1938.??.??"] {C83: Open Ruy Lopez} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 { In this, the Open Variation, black tries to make use of the time white will take to regain the P to gain a control of the center.} 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Be7 10. Be3 Na5 11. Nd4 (11. Bc2 {is satisfactorily met nb} Nc4 {White can defend the b-Pawn with 12.Bc1 or play 12.Nd4 when black can gain the two Bs with 12.Nxe3 or win a P with 12...Nxb2.Im any case, black has full equaluty/}) 11... O-O 12. Nd2 Nxd2 13. Qxd2 {There is a tremendous amount of theory on the Ruy Lopez and so far this has all been played before. Now black's optimal moveis 13...Bc8 preserving his B, but it has never been played. Instead black usually plays 13...Nc4, but the move he plays in the game lshould have allowed white to gain the advantage.} c5 14. Nxe6 fxe6 15. f4 (15. Bc2 {allows white to obtain an excellent game after} Nc4 16. Qd3 g6 17. Bh6 Rf7 {Dominguez Perez,L (2756)-Mamedyarov,S (2776) Berlin 2022 continued with 18. Qh3, but black manges to equalize. A better continuation would have been : ½-½ (36)} 18. b3 Na3 19. Bd1 a5 20. h4 {with the inititive. Note that black shoulf nw play 20...c4, but he must avoid} Bxh4 21. Bg4 {Black cannit defend the e-Pawn because 22.Qh3 would do him in.}) 15... Nxb3 16. axb3 Ra7 {The idea of placing his R on d7 doesm't work out too well. 16...a5 to prevent white's next would have been better.} 17. b4 d4 18. cxd4 Rd7 {This move looks dangerous to white, but it's actually a serious mistake as Seidman demonstrates in a most clever fashion.} (18... cxd4 {was called for.} 19. Qxd4 Rd7 {Now is the time for this.} 20. Qe4 Qa8 21. Qxa8 Rxa8 {and black can still put up a stubborn fight.}) 19. bxc5 Bxc5 {Now things get interesting!} 20. Rfd1 {The obvious move was 20.Rxa6, but this move sets a snare and Soudajoff steps in it.} (20. Rxa6 Bxd4 21. Rxe6 Bxe3+ 22. Qxe3 {White is two Ps up, but with all the heavy pieces on the board the win will be tedious.}) 20... Rxf4 { No doubt Soudakoff was counting on 21.Bxf4, but Seidman has a surprise for him. } (20... a5 21. Rac1 (21. Rxa5 Rxf4 22. Qc1 Bxd4 $17) (21. Qxa5 Bxd4 22. Bxd4 Rxd4 $14) 21... Ba7) 21. dxc5 {This clever move wins.} (21. Bxf4 {is slightly in black's favor after} Rxd4 22. Kh1 (22. Qxd4 Bxd4+ 23. Kh1 Qb6 {Black is netter. White has no chances of winningm but black has some.}) 22... Rxd2 23. Bxd2 Qd4 24. Rxa6 (24. Bc3) 24... Qxb2 25. Ra8+ Kf7 {Black has all the winning chances.}) 21... Rxd2 22. Rxd2 Qf8 23. Bxf4 Qxf4 {He could have prolonged the game with 23... Qxc5+} (23... Qxc5+ 24. Rf2 Qc6 25. Bd2 Qb6 26. b4 {Engines inform us that white is clearly winning, but how?! He does it by coordinating his pieces in an attack on black's K. Here is a line from a Shootout in which white won 5-0.} Qc6 27. Ra3 h5 28. h3 Kh7 29. Kh2 Qe4 30. Rg3 Qd4 31. Be3 Qxe5 32. Bf4 Qd4 33. Rff3 g6 34. Bb8 Kh6 35. Rf4 Qh8 36. Bd6 g5 37. Re4 Qd8 38. Rxe6+ Kh7 39. Rge3 a5 40. Re7+ Kg6 41. R3e6+ Kf5 42. Rh6 Qxe7 43. Bxe7 {etc.}) 24. Rd8+ Kf7 25. Rf1 {Black resigned} 1-0

Gelfand’s Anti-Masterpiece

    The 2012 World Championship natch between the defending champion Viswanathan Anand and challenger Boris Gelfand was held in Moscow. The prize fund was approximately 2.5 million dollars. It was foe 12 games. In case of a tie, first rapid games, then blitz games, and finally an Armageddon game if needed, would br played. 

    After the first six games the match was tied after six fairly short draws. Gelfand won game 7, but the next day Anand won game 8 when Gelfand managed to get his own Queen trapped in a miniature that is the shortest decisive game in World Championship history. It’s today’s featured game. 

    Then after four draws, the match headed into overtime. Anand was famous for his prowess in rapid and scored +1 -0 =3 in the rapid games to retain his title.play,

    The day before this game Gelfnd had produced a strategic masterpiece by Gelfand and it left some profits predicting that Anand’s days as World Champion were numbered, but they turned out to be false prophets when Gelfand produced this anti-masterpiece that lasted only 17 moves and 110 minutes. 

 

[Event "World Championship Match, Moscow"] [Site ""] [Date "2012.05.21"] [Round "8"] [White "Viswanathan Anand"] [Black "Boris Gelfand"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D70"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "33"] [EventDate "2012.05.10"] {E60: King's Indian} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 {.} 3. f3 {Apparently the point of this old move of Alekhine's is to discourage Gelfand from playing his favorite GFruenfeld (3...d7-d5).} c5 {In game 3 he played 3... d5.Here white should play on the Q-side and black on the K-side.} (3... d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nb6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. O-O-O {and the position slightly favors white. }) 4. d5 d6 5. e4 Bg7 6. Ne2 O-O 7. Nec3 {One would expect the other N to go here, but Anand has played what turns out to be Stockfish's preferred move. The idea is that the B can develop to d3.} Nh5 {At the time this game was played this was a novelty. According to Gelfandm white's last move was against principles, so Ihe had to exploit it. The idea is that because he has a lead in development he wants to play ...f7-f5 and open up the position. The problem is that ...Nh5 allows white to seize the initiative with ...g4! The conventional 7...e6 would have been better.} 8. Bg5 {He could well have played 8.g4! at once.} (8. g4 Nf6 9. Be2 e6 10. Be3 exd5 11. cxd5 {White is slight;ly better. Hammer,J (2633)-Stokke,K (2403) Norway 2013}) 8... Bf6 (8... f5 { was suggested by GM Peter Leko and it seems to completely equalize after} 9. exf5 Rxf5 10. Be3 {and black has rwo equally good moves: 10...e6 amd 10...Re5}) 9. Bxf6 $16 exf6 {A[[arently the idea now is to use the open e-file and advance the f-Pawn in an attempt to counter white's center. but white's psoition is more promising.} 10. Qd2 {Black's position is weak on the dark squares in the vacinity of his K...not a good sign.} f5 11. exf5 Bxf5 12. g4 { How does black meet this Pawn fork? He has two satisfactory replies" 12...Bxb1, or probably best is 12...Qh4+} Re8+ {A good looking move, but he is barking up the wrong tree.} (12... Qh4+ $14 13. Kd1 Bxb1 14. Rxb1 Ng7 {with equal chances. }) 13. Kd1 {Black's next move is forced or else he will lose a piece.} Bxb1 14. Rxb1 Qf6 {Played after 9 minutes thoughtm this is a major tactical error. He reasoned that if he had to play thr N back to g7 then his whole plan was wrong. } (14... Ng7 15. h4 h5 16. Bd3 {is promising for white, but at least black can play on with some hope.}) 15. gxh5 {Anand took only two minutes to make sure this was safe.} Qxf3+ 16. Kc2 Qxh1 {There was nothing better, Now Anand springs the trap.} 17. Qf2 {Black resigned. Gelfand realized his Q is trapped and the only way to save it leaves him with a vastly inferior position.} (17. Qf2 Nc6 18. dxc6 (18. Bg2 Nd4+ 19. Kd2 Qxh2 20. Rh1 Qe5 {Black is better.}) 18... Qxc6 19. Bd3 Re5 20. Rf1 Qd7 21. Nd5 Rxd5 {He simple cannot allow 22.Nf6+ } (21... Kg7 22. Qf6+ Kh6 (22... Kg8 23. h6) (22... Kf8 23. Qh8#) 23. Qf4+ Kg7 24. h6+ Kf8 25. Qf6 {wins.}) 22. cxd5 {and white is a piece up/}) 1-0

A Rook Offer Black Couldn’t Accept or Refuse

 

    In 1965, people were seeing were seeing changes in music, fashion and television. The British Invasion continued with groups like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones growing in popularity, Fashion saw the miniskirt and television offered a mix of wholesome family sitcoms and superhero like Batman. 

    The chess scene was highlighted by the Candidates Matches, a series of knockout matches to determine the challenger for the World Championship. The players were Spassky, Keres, Geller, Smyslov, Tal, Portisch, Larsen and Ivkov. Spassky won by defeating Keres, Geller and Tal. 

    Bobby Fischer didn’t participate because of his decision not to play in the 1964 Amsterdam Interzonal, the qualifying event. The disgruntled Fischer had previously accused Soviet players of collusion in the 1962 Candidates Tournament, an 8-player event where Fischer had finished 4eeth behind Petrosian (the winner) and Keres and Geller (tied). His accusations were well founded. 

    As a result, FIDE changed to the knockout matches, but, being the snot face he was, Fischer wasn’t satisfied. He still didn’t like the format and demanded specific playing conditions. 

 The Soviet Championship was won by Leonid Stein and veteran Soviet and renowned endgame composer Vitaly Chekhove passed away. 

    Fischer did play in the 1965 US Championship and won it even though he lost to Robert Byrne and Samuel Reshevsjy and was held to a draw by William Addison. He still finished a point ahead of Byrne and Reshevsky who were tied for second; Addison was 4th. 

 Up in Canada the veteran GM Dan Yanofsky of Winnipeg won the Canadian Championship over a strong 12-man field in Vancouver. There were several interesting games, including this one in which Duncan Suttles (born in 1945) defeated Joseph Kalteneck. 

 

    Suttles was born in San Francisco and his family bed to Canada when he was 8 years old. He was awarded the GM title in 1972 and retired from chess shortly thereafter to work on stock market analysis. Suttles was known for his unorthodox treatment of Hypermodern openings. In this game he conducts a vigorous attack straight out of the opening and finishes with a nifty Rook offer that could neither be accepted nor declined.

 

[Event "Canadian Champ, Vancouver"] [Site ""] [Date "1965.06.25"] [Round "?"] [White "Duncan Suttles"] [Black "Joseph Kaltenecker"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B25"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "39"] [EventDate "1965.06.21"] {B23: Closed Sicilian} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 {A non-committal move that allows white transpose omto the open variation whith d4 if he wishes, but usually by playing this move white intends to follow a different path.} Nc6 {The most common move, but not the only one. Black was, no doubt, expecting the usual 3. g3, but against Suttles the unexpected had to be expected.} 3. g4 {Highly unusual, risky; no surprise considerig it's Suttles manipulating the white pieces.} d6 4. Bg2 g6 5. d3 Bg7 {What;s he going to play?! Some wild moves that come to mins are 6.h4, g5 or the one actually played/} 6. f4 {The passive 6.h3 lacks gumption.} (6. Be3 Rb8 7. h3 b5 8. Qd2 Qa5 9. Nge2 h5 10. gxh5 Rxh5 11. f4 {Krausser,H (2166)-Reich,T (2394) Fuerth GER 1999. White has no prospects of a K-side attack and black holds the advantage on the other side, so it's no suprprise that he went on to win.}) 6... e5 {This counter in the center is the correct response yo white's aggression on the K-side.} 7. f5 { In addition to the text white could have also played 7.g5 or 7.h4} g5 {[%mdl 8192] It's hard to imagine how quickly disaster strikes after this move. Suttles will open the h-file and the game will pretty much be over! After 7... h5! white would have had no profitable reply.} (7... Qh4+ {is tempting, but it fails to accomplish anything after} 8. Kf1 {and the Q will have to retreat losing time after white plays Nf3}) (7... h5 {Now white;s best line is} 8. Be3 hxg4 9. fxg6 fxg6 10. Qd2 Qh4+ 11. Bf2 Qe7 12. O-O-O Be6 {White;s attack has fizzled out and so black stands well.}) 8. h4 {[%mdl 512] Suttles is going all out for the attack and is very close to winning.} h6 {This allows the opening of the h-file and app the exchanhe of Rs and apparently reduces the virility of white's attack, but that turns out not to be the case. Unfortunately, there wasn't really anything better.} 9. hxg5 hxg5 10. Rxh8 Bxh8 11. Nf3 f6 12. Kf2 Qd7 13. Nd5 Qh7 {Somewhat better would have been 13...Nce7 adding a piece to the defense of his K-side. 13...Qh7 looks plausible though because he doesn't want white's Q to occupy the h-file unopposed.} (13... Nd4 {doesn't work out too well after} 14. Qh1 Bg7 15. c3 Nxf3 16. Bxf3 {Black's pieces on the K-side are tied up in a fashion similar to what happens in the game.}) 14. c3 Rb8 15. Be3 Bg7 16. Qb3 {So, the R is going to h1. Note black's P on f6; it's well gyarded...for the moment.} Bf8 17. Rh1 {[%mdl 32]} Qg7 (17... Qd7 {is even a worse place for the Q.} 18. Rh8 Nce7 19. Nxe7 Nxe7 20. Nxg5 fxg5 21. Bxg5 Nc6 ( 21... Qc6 22. Bh6 {wins}) 22. Bh6 {wins}) 18. Rh5 {Strongly threatening Nxg5!} Nh6 (18... a6 {A pass to show the threat.} 19. Nxg5 fxg5 20. Rxg5 Qh8 21. Rxg8 Qxg8 22. Nf6+ {The previously mentioned weak f6 square.}) 19. Kg3 {A high class waiting move.} Nf7 20. Rh7 {[%mdl 512] White resigned. Both 20...Qxh7 and 20...Qg8 are met bt 21.Nxf6+ winning the Q. An impressive crush by Suttles! } 1-0

A Nice Finish by Carlos Guimard

    In 1938, tensions in Europe were escalating and growing Nazi aggression dominated world events. In the U.S. things were heavily influenced by the Great Depression and the looming threat of war. 

    In pop culture radio programs like the comedy Amos 'n' Andy, soap operas and sporting events were popular. Hollywood movies, including musicals and gangster pictures, provided entertainment Also, comic book, like Superman, were beginning to appear. 

    It was the year Orson Welles' War of the Worlds was broadcast and it caused widespread panic as some listeners believed the alien invasion was real. 

    In South America there was a a complex web of political, economic, and social shifts, largely influenced by events in Europe and the looming threat of World War II. 

    In Uruguay the situation was no different. General elections were held, resulting in the subsequent presidency of Alfredo Baldomir, a soldier and architect who served as President of Uruguay from 1938 to 1943. 

    Montevideo was the scene for the eighth South American Championship (Torneo Sudamericano) that took place in March. Alekhine was undefeated and finished 1.5 points ahead of Carlos Guimard. The other players were mostly known only in South America. The event was actually held in an elegant seaside resort Carrasco, one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Montevideo. 

    The featured game today has a nice finish. The winner was Carlos Guimard (1913-1998, 85 years old) of Argentina. He was awarded the GM title in 1960 and was he was Argentine champion in 1937, 1938 and 1941.

 

    His opponent was an Argentine National Master. Bensadon played aggressively, jis N on d5 cancelled out Guimard’s two Bs as both sides attacked their opponent’s King. The, right when things were looking drawish, Bensadon struck a snag when he miscalculated the strength of his passed e-Pawn and sacrificed his B in order to Queen it, but Guimard blocked the P and was left a piece up.

 

[Event "S. American Chp, Montevideo"] [Site ""] [Date "1938.03.12"] [Round "?"] [White "Rafael Bensadon"] [Black "Carlos Guimard"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A47"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "1938.03.07"] {A47: London and System} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6 3. g3 Bb7 4. Bg2 c5 5. c3 { White's amorphous opening will transpose into the London Systen when he plays 7. Bf4} e6 6. O-O Be7 7. Bf4 {This move is characteristic of the London System, an opening that is solid, easy to learn, and versatile against various black setups. The system's main idea is to create a stable P-structure in the center with Ps on e3 and c3. The opening usually results in a closed game, and often involves a plan to put a N on e5.} O-O 8. Re1 d5 9. Ne5 Nbd7 {The position is equal.} (9... Nc6 10. Nxc6 Bxc6 11. Nd2 Qc8 12. Nf3 Rd8 13. Ne5 {is equal. Buyukasik,D (2074)-Yaran,S (2179) Kocaeli TUR 2015}) 10. Nd2 {[%mdl 32] It's hard to believe this N will end up on c6.} Nh5 11. e3 Nxf4 12. gxf4 {This is the wrong capture because it weakens his K's position even if ever so slightly. } cxd4 13. exd4 {It's rather surprisubg that thius move which keaves him with a weakl K-side and teo isolated Ps is not a really bat mistake in judgment, but does,'t seem to be any way for black to take advantage of it given the fact that his pieces are not aggressively placed, being all confined to the last two ranks.} Nxe5 (13... Nf6 {doesn't lead to anything really significant.} 14. Re3 {An instructive R lift.} g6 15. Rh3 Qe8 16. Kh1 Kh8 {Both Ks are safely off the g--file.} 17. Qf3 Rg8 18. Rg1 {Neither side can claim any advantage. Five Shootouts lead to long, tedious draws.}) 14. fxe5 Bg5 15. Nc4 f6 {Stockfish does not care for this move, preferring the innocuous 15...Ba3. Practically speaking though it seems that the only way black can hope to make any progress is to chip away at white’s center with this move which even by engine standards is not bad.} ({doesn't accomplish anything.} 15... dxc4 16. Bxb7 Rb8 17. Bg2 b5) 16. Nd6 {You would think the N occupying an outpost this deep in enemy territory would confer a huge advantagem but that's not the case here; the position is too closed for either side to hope to accomplish much.} Ba6 17. c4 fxe5 18. dxe5 {White threatens to win with 19.Qg4 attacking the B and e-Pawn.} Bh4 19. Qg4 {[%mdl 2048] Has white blundered?} Bxf2+ 20. Kh1 { No,he has not blundered!} Qe7 (20... Bxe1 21. Qxe6+ Kh8 22. cxd5 {loses outright.} Qh4 23. Nf5 (23. Nf7+ Rxf7 24. Qxf7 Bg3 25. h3 Bxe5 {Black is winning.}) 23... Rxf5 24. Qxf5 Bg3 25. Qh3 Qxh3 26. Bxh3 Bxe5 {wins}) 21. Bh3 Kh8 (21... Bxe1 22. Qxe6+ Qxe6 23. Bxe6+ Kh8 24. Rxe1 Bxc4 {is unclear, but a draw would not be an unreasonable outcome.}) 22. Qxe6 Qh4 23. Red1 Bxc4 { Now ...Be2 is threatened.} 24. Nf7+ Rxf7 {[%mdl 512]} (24... Kg8 {is disastrous.} 25. Nh6+ Kh8 26. Qg8+ Rxg8 27. Nf7#) 25. Qxf7 Be3 26. Rf1 Bxf1 ( 26... Qxh3 27. Qf8+ Rxf8 28. Rxf8#) 27. Rxf1 {White wants to mate, but black has a defense.} h6 28. Qxd5 Rd8 (28... Qxh3 {The B still cannot be takem.} 29. Qxa8+ Kh7 30. Qe4+ Kg8 31. Qd5+ Kh7 32. Rf8 h5 33. Qe4+ Kh6 34. e6 {wins}) 29. Qf3 Bd4 30. e6 Bxb2 31. Qf2 {[%mdl 8192] White is overconfident in the strength of his e-Pawn. The problem is that now the B can be taken!} (31. Qg4 { This is the easiest way to assure the draw.} Qxg4 32. Bxg4 Ba3 {The Bs of opposite color pretty much assure the fraw.}) 31... Qxh3 32. e7 Re8 33. Qf8+ Kh7 {Now it's clear that white has completely miscalculated!} 34. Re1 (34. Qxe8 {is, of course, out of the question...} Qxf1#) 34... Bf6 {[%mdl 512] White resigned.} (34... Bf6 35. Qxe8 Qf3+ 36. Kg1 Bd4+ 37. Re3 Bxe3#) 0-1

Reshevsky Owned the e-file

    The 1972 Chess Olympiad was held in Nice, France and saw the Soviet Union (Karpov, Korchnoi, Spassly, Petrosian, Tal and Kuzmin) took forst, finishing ahead of Yugoslavia (Gligoric, Ljubojevic, Ivkov, Planinc, Velimirovic and Parma.) The United States (Kavakek, Robert Byrne, Browne, Reshevsjy, Lombardu and Tarjan) finished third. 

    In the following game from the US vs. Sweden match in the Final A group the dominant factor was Reshevsky’s control of the e-file. Playing black, Reshevsky opened with the Benoni Defense which morphed into a King's Indian. 

    Udderfeldt failed to get anything out of the opening and Reshevsky hit on an idea on move 14 that he said seemed to surprise Udderfeldt who then made what Reshevsky called a “peculiar reply.” 

    Reshevsky gained control of the e-file and the game was practically over as the activity of his pieces kept increasing until his opponent was reduced to complete passivity. 

    It was a fine demonstration of putting the squeeze on an opponent, but a careful examination shows that it wasn’t the positional rout Reshevsky’s notes suggested. Udderfeldt missed some better defenses, but the game demonstrates the difficulty of defending a position with no real hope of counterplay. All that said, I consider the game was still a positional masterpiece by Reshevsky.

    Dan Uddenfeldt (born in 1951),is a Swedish master who was one of the leading players in Sweden in the 1970s when he participated in several international junior championships. 

 

[Event "Nice Olympiad Final-A"] [Site ""] [Date "1974.06.19"] [Round "?"] [White "Dan Uddenfeldt"] [Black "Samuel Reshevsky"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A57"] [Annotator "Reshevsky/Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "96"] [EventDate "1974.06.16"] {King's Indian Defense} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 {A flexible move that can lead to numerous transpositional possibilities.} 3. d5 (3. g4 {is an ineresting possibility that has been untested. Probably for good reason though because black gets the better game after} cxd4 4. g5 Ne4 5. Qxd4 Qa5+ 6. Bd2 Nxd2 7. Qxd2 Qxd2+ 8. Kxd2 {Black is better. Djordjevic,V (2382)-Postnikov,D (2360) chess.com INT 2022}) 3... d6 4. Nc3 g6 5. e4 {White hopes to use his space advantage to attack on the K-side while black will try to undermine white's center and/or counterattack on the Q-side.} Bg7 6. h3 {More frequently seen are 6.Nf3 or 6.Bd3, but the rather passive text move is not bad.} O-O 7. Bg5 e6 8. Bd3 exd5 9. exd5 {White can capture with either P depending on what type of game he wants to play. 9.exd5 leads to a positional type of game. Capturing 9. dxe5 leads to a complicated and tactical game.} Re8+ 10. Nge2 h6 11. Be3 Nbd7 12. Bc2 {The purpose of this somewhat odd move is to avois having to surrender the B for a N if black plays ...Ne5, but t could have been delayed a move. 12. Ng3 Ne5 and now 13.Be2} a6 {This prevents Nb5 and prepares expansion on the Q-side with ...b5} 13. a4 Ne5 14. b3 {Engines now suggest black play something benign lile 14...Nh5, but Reshevsky hits on a suprising idea that works out much better than it should have!} Bf5 {The idea is to activate the B. White can saddle black with weak doubled Ps, but Reshevsky didn't mind because he could them post his N one4 where it would put "tell ing pressure in the center and on the K-side." Interesting insight into the mind of a GN!} 15. Ra2 { Apparently the young player does not want to challenge the wily Reshevsky, but this move is hard to explain because it just leaves the R out of play. .} (15. Bxf5 {This, of course, is logical and the test of Reshevsky's reasoning.} gxf5 16. Qc2 Ne4 17. Nxe4 fxe4 {The N has disappeared and its place taked by a P that will support a N on d3. For example...} 18. O-O Nd3 19. Rad1 Qh4 {with about equal chances.}) 15... Bxc2 16. Qxc2 Nh5 17. O-O f5 {This move is a major part of Reshevsky.'s strategy to contro; e4 so he can occupy it with a N. } 18. Qd2 Kh7 19. Nd1 {White has a position that holds no promise of achieving anything positive, but that's not to say that he is lost. While his position is difficult and black does have the better prospects, this backward waiting move is of little promise.} (19. Nf4 {aimimg at e6 and so forcing the exchange of Ns would jeep things fairly even.} Nxf4 20. Bxf4 Qf6 {and black can claim no advantage.} (20... g5 21. Bxe5 {and there is no lonfer any way for black to conjure up an attack so the position is quite equal.})) 19... Qe7 20. a5 Rf8 { This surprising move is instructive. It's part of his plan to double Rs on the e-file! It makes it possible to get the other R on the e-file. How he doubles his Rs is instructive to watch.} 21. f4 {The idea of this move is to stop any possible advance of black's f-Pawn. Reshevsky was critical of it, but it's actually not a bad move at all even if the weakness it creates on g3 will play a part in the future.} Nd7 {Repositioning the N.} 22. Qd3 Ndf6 23. Nf2 Rae8 24. Bc1 Ne4 {As previously mentioned, he has gotten a N on e4. At this point Reshevsky was positive that he was winning, Technically that's not true, but practically he has good winning chances if for no other reason than white's position is very passive and it won't take much to tip the scales completely in blac;s favor.} 25. Bb2 {Another less than optimal decision. Udderfeldt wants to exchange as many pieces as possible in order to ease the pressure, but this allows Reshevsky to maintain the N on e4 and, as a result his advantage becomes very real. After 25.Nxe4 white would have real hopes of neutralozong the pressure on the e-file.} Nhf6 26. Nd1 {Part of his plan to engage in multiple exchanges.} (26. Nxe4 {This is his best try as it keeps black's advantage at a size white may be able to deal with.} Qxe4 27. Qxe4 Rxe4 (27... Nxe4 28. Bxg7 Kxg7 29. Rf3 {is equal because white can cover all his weaknesses.}) 28. Bxf6 Bxf6 29. g3 Rfe8 30. Kf2 {leaves black with a dominating position.} (30. Re1 Re3 {wins})) 26... Rf7 27. Ba1 Qd8 28. Nec3 Rfe7 {Now he has control of the e-file and a N on e4, but now he must figure out a way to use his advantage. ..} 29. Rf3 (29. Nxe4 Rxe4 {It is essential to keep control of the e-file.} (29... Nxe4 30. Bxg7 Kxg7 31. Nc3 Nxc3 32. Qxc3+ { is equal}) 30. Qd2 Qe7 31. Nf2 Re3 {with a dominating posirion. In Shootouts white scored )= -3 =2.}) 29... h5 {This move is part of his new plan...to continue with ...h4 giving him contril of g3 so he can place his N there.} 30. Rf1 {At this point white is helpless to do much at all except shift his pieces around.} (30. Ne2 {covering h3.} h4 31. Bxf6 Bxf6 32. Kh2 Bd4) 30... h4 31. Nxe4 Rxe4 32. Bxf6 {He can't allow the N to get to g3 so it has to go.} Qxf6 33. Kh2 Qd4 {The gane is all but over. Black controls the e-file and white's pieves are immobile.} 34. Qxd4 Bxd4 35. Rf3 Re1 36. Nf2 {After this all hope is gome.} Rf1 37. g3 (37. Ne4 {was worth a try hoping black would fall for} Rxf3 (37... Rd1 {is correct.} 38. Ng5+ Kh6 (38... Kg7 {blunders away all his advantage.} 39. Ne6+ Kf6 40. g3 {and the N on e5 prevents black from making any progress.}) 39. g3 hxg3+ 40. Rxg3 Ree1 {Blacj is winning.}) 38. Ng5+ Kg7 39. Nxf3 {and white has a fighting chance.}) 37... hxg3+ 38. Kxg3 Rg1+ 39. Kh2 Rb1 40. h4 Re3 {Rhe mop up begins.} 41. Rxe3 Bxe3 42. Nh3 Kh6 43. Ra3 Bc1 44. Ra2 Rxb3 45. Re2 Rb2 46. Rxb2 Bxb2 47. Ng5 Kg7 48. Ne6+ Kf6 (48... Kf6 { The N on e6 can;t help white. A possible continuation might be} 49. Nd8 (49. Kg3 Bc3) 49... Ke7 50. Nxb7 Bc3 51. Kg3 Be1+ 52. Kh3 Kd7 {White is out of moves and he is going to lose a lot of plastic.}) 0-1

Engine Analysis Then and Now

    When browsing some of my old server games I came across the following very difficult game that was played on a site where engine use was allowed. When it was played in 2011, Rybka was the strongest engine, but it was later disqualified from the World Computer Chess Championship and stripped of all titles for plagiarism. 

    That meant Houdini was next in line as the top engine, but Rybka’s disqualification opened up opportunities for other engines like Stockfish to rise in prominence. Fritz was also a well-known engine in 2011, but it was generally considered weaker than Rybka and Houdini. Overall, by this time engines had become significantly stronger than human players with the best engines exceeding 3000 Elo. 

 In those days I only used the free engines and there were several strong free and open-source engines available. Stockfish was one of the most widely used. Houdini 1.5a was another extremely strong engine as was Rybka 2.3.2a. Critter, Gull, Protector and Crafty were also very strong free engines. 

    Many of these engines could be used with free graphical user interfaces such as Arena and Scid, but I was using Fritz 12. It was released in November of 2009. I don't remember the cost, but I found the program in a long defunct office supply store whose name I have forgotten, but not the price. I bought the CD for $20 which was a fraction of the price from the USCF. It was my go-to program until I replaced it with Fritz 17 in 2021. It's still on my laptop and I actually use it to conduct Shootout analysis because it works better for that than the newer Fritz programs. 

    When playing the following game I used several different free engines and on occasion felt they were suggesting less than optimal moves. In my old post-mortem analysis it was very difficult for me to determine what the best moves were, but my feeling was that black missed several chances to draw.

    Black’s trouble seemed to stem from the decision at move 52 to trade his two R’s for my Q and a P. Despite the engine evaluations giving white a nearly 3 Pawn advantage, my gut feeling was that by keeping the R’s on he would have made it much more difficult for me to squeeze out a win. 

    All that is moot because today it’s clear that he was already dead lost at move 52 and he had a bad position for many moves before that. It was interesting to analyze the game using today’s Stockfish and comparing it to the old free Rybka engine. 

[Event "Server Tournament"] [Site "?"] [Date "2011.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Tartajubow"] [Black "Opponent"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E46"] [Annotator "Stockfish/Rybka"] [PlyCount "161"] [EventDate "2011.??.??"] [WhiteTeam ""] [BlackTeam ""] [WhiteTeamCountry ""] [BlackTeamCountry ""] {E46: Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein: 4 e3 0-0 5 Ne2 without early Bd3} 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 Bb4 3. d4 Nf6 4. e3 O-O 5. Nge2 {This move was a specialty of Samuel Reshevsky. White will first play a3 to kick the B away, before moving his N on e2 to a more active square.} Nc6 {Judging by statistics, this rarely played move isn’t the best. A note says that the database I was using at the time had 6 master games in it and that all were lost by black. I suspect that black played it because it was Rybka's top choice. 5...d5 is ny far the most popular move.} 6. a3 {Black almost always plays 6...Bxc3+, but preserving the B with this retreat is hardly bad.} Be7 (6... Bxc3+ 7. Nxc3 d5 8. b3 dxc4 9. bxc4 e5 10. d5 {Feuerstein,A-Denker,A New York 1957}) 7. d5 Ne5 8. Ng3 a6 {After this there are no more games in the database so we are "out of the book" and white, must come up with a plan. I considered several moves here before finally deciding on my next move which has the idea of gaining time by harrassing thr Ns.} (8... exd5 {is better.} 9. cxd5 d6 10. f4 Ng6 11. Be2 Re8 12. O-O Bf8 13. Bc4 Ng4 14. Qe1 {The position is about equal. Jelen,I (2340)-Krasevec,A Bled 1992}) 9. f4 Ng6 10. h4 {The most aggressive...the N gets driven back.} Re8 ( 10... Ne8 11. h5 Nh4 12. h6 g6 {is Rybka2.3.2a (multi-processor)'s preferred line which it says is equal, but black's position just doesn't look right. Stockfish agreesm giving white almost a 1.5 P advantage.}) 11. h5 Nf8 12. h6 { White has to press on. Simple development seems to allow black to undermine white’s P-center, bring his pieces out and get the initiative} (12. Bd3 h6 { Apparently eignes, even the old Rybka, recognize the value of h6 so take steps to prevent it.} 13. Qf3 d6 {and as cramed as black is, both Rybka and Stockfish 17.1 evaluate the position as equal.}) 12... g6 13. Be2 {Best according to Rybkam but Stockfish's 13.b4 is more logical. Black’s next move represent a huge difference betweebn engines then and now! Black plays Rybka;s top choice with an equal evaluation, Stocjfish agrees that the position is equal, but only of black plays 13...b5. It thinks Rybka’s choice stinks.} exd5 14. cxd5 Bc5 15. e4 d6 16. Qd3 c6 {An attempt to undermine white;s center. It doesn't show up as a top choice for eother engine, but it's not a bad move. Now Rybla suggests I play either 17.dxc6 or 17.b4 with equality. I played the most aggressive move I could come up with which turns out to be Stockfish's top choice.. Kudos to me!} 17. f5 Qb6 (17... gxf5 {is met ny} 18. Bg5 {and black is lost after} Re5 19. Qf3 cxd5 20. Nxd5 N8d7 21. Nxf6+ Nxf6 22. b4 Bd4 23. Rd1 Bb6 24. Nh5) 18. Rf1 {[%mdl 2048] White is in control.} (18. dxc6 { The move in th game is Stockfish's choice, Rybka likes this.} bxc6 19. Rf1 { White is slightly better, but Rubka thinks the position is equal.}) 18... Bd4 19. Bg5 gxf5 {This can't be good. Better (slightly) wpuld have been 19...N8d7} 20. O-O-O {Offering the e-Pawn in order to unclog the K[side, Black has little choice but to accept it.} Nxe4 21. Ngxe4 Rxe4 22. Bf3 Be3+ 23. Bxe3 {Black faces a tough decision. Should he simplify by trading Qs or will keeping them on give him better chances. It seems the choice is a matter of preferance according to Rybka which gives white only a minimal edge after either capture. Stockfish, on the ohter hand, thinks white is considerably betyter after 23... Qxe3, but practically winning after taking with the R.} Rxe3 24. Qd2 Bd7 25. Na4 Qa7 26. Qb4 {This move is far better than Rybka's recommendation of 26. dxc6. The threat of Nb6 entices black into making a series of exchanges that benefits white.} cxd5 27. Bxd5 Bxa4 28. Qxa4 Re5 29. Kb1 {[%mdl 1024] A safety precaution.} Qe3 30. Qh4 {Intending Qf6 and mate.} (30. Bxb7 {looks plausible, but it's deceiving.} Rb8 31. Qxa6 Qb3 32. Qxd6 Rb5 33. Qd2 {Threatening Qg5+ and mate, so...} R5xb7 (33... R8xb7 34. Qg5+ Ng6 35. Rd8#) 34. Qg5+ Ng6 35. Rd8+ Rxd8 36. Qxd8+ Nf8 {and white has to take the draw with} 37. Qg5+) 30... Ne6 31. Rf3 Qe2 32. Rfd3 {Black has defended against the mate threat soi now white goes after the d-Pawn.} Re3 33. Bf3 {This tactical shot was seen by Rybkam but it completely musevaluated the position thinking that white is only slightly better when, in fact, white is better to the tune of nearly two Ps.} Qxd3+ 34. Rxd3 Rxd3 35. Qh3 Rc8 36. Qxf5 Re3 37. Qd5 (37. Bxb7 {is a blunder... } Re1+ 38. Ka2 Rcc1 {with equal chance after 39.Qg4+, but not the double question mark worthy} 39. Bxa6 Ra1+ 40. Kb3 Nd4+) 37... Re1+ 38. Ka2 Rc6 39. Qd2 Rcc1 40. Qxd6 a5 41. Qb8+ (41. Bxb7 {has been rendered impossible thanks to nlack's last move.} a4 42. Qg3+ Kf8 43. Qd6+ Kg8 (43... Ke8 44. Bc6+ Rxc6 45. Qxc6+ Ke7 46. Qxa4 {White wins.}) 44. Qg3+ {and draws.}) 41... Nf8 42. Kb3 {It's still not safe to take the P.} Re6 43. Bd5 Rb6+ 44. Ka4 Rf1 45. Kxa5 { Finally...all that remains os to picj up the b-Pawn.} Ra6+ 46. Kb4 Rb6+ 47. Kc3 Rxh6 48. Qxb7 Rd6 {Rybka is still giving black a fighting chance in evaluating the position as only 1.5 Ps in white's favor. That's hard to belive considering the B is superior to the N and f7 is very weak and white has two connected passed Ps. White has a decisive advantage} 49. Bc4 Rc1+ 50. Kb3 Rd7 51. Qb6 Rb1 52. a4 {[%mdl 32]} Rd2 {Black is lost no matter what, but Stockfish gives this a question mark.} 53. Qf6 {Rybka has finally recognized that black is lost and actually recommended black's next move which is utterly hopeless. But then so was anything else.} Rdxb2+ 54. Qxb2 Rxb2+ 55. Kxb2 { [%mdl 4096] The remainder of the game requires no engine assistance!} Ng6 56. a5 Ne7 57. a6 Nc6 58. Bd5 Na7 59. Kc3 Kf8 60. Kb4 Ke7 61. Kc5 Kd7 62. Kb6 Nc8+ 63. Kb7 Nd6+ 64. Kb8 Nb5 65. Bxf7 Nd4 66. a7 Nc6+ 67. Kb7 Nxa7 68. Kxa7 Ke7 69. Bh5 Ke6 70. Bg4+ {Rybka give white a 5 Pawn advantagem but Stockfish is announcing mate in 33 moves.} Kf6 71. Bh3 Kg5 72. Kb6 Kf6 73. Kc6 Ke5 74. Kd7 Kf6 75. Kd6 h6 76. Kd5 Kg5 77. Ke5 h5 78. g3 Kg6 79. Kf4 Kf6 80. Bg2 Kg6 81. Bf3 {Black resoigned. The finish is instructive though.} (81. Bf3 h4 82. g4 ( 82. gxh4 {would be wrong! the B is the wrong color to force black out of the corner.} Kh6 83. Kf5 Kg7 84. Kg5 Kh7 85. Be4+ Kg7 86. Bd3 Kh8 87. Kh6 Kg8 88. Bf5 Kh8 {and you get the point. Advancing the P is no help.} 89. Kg6 Kg8 90. h5 Kh8 91. h6 Kg8 92. h7+ Kh8 93. Kg5 Kg7 {etc.}) 82... Kf6 83. g5+ Kg6 84. Be4+ Kf7 85. Kf5 Ke7 86. g6 h3 87. Ke5 h2 88. Bh1 Ke8 89. Ke6 Kf8 90. Kf6 Ke8 91. g7 Kd7 92. g8=Q Kc7 93. Qc4+ Kb6 94. Qb4+ Kc7 95. Ke7 Kc8 96. Qb7#) 1-0

Fritz 20

 

    First, let me say I have no financial interest in this product. As most readers are aware, I have been a fan of the Fritz program for years and not too long ago upgraded to Fritz 19 from Fritz 17. 

    There was not too much difference between the two for my purposes because I do not play against the program for fun and any idea about using it for improvement is out of the question. 

     According to reviews some users had some bug issues with Fritz 19, but I have not run into a single problem, at least not with the feature I use. 

    Now Fritz 20 is available (download from the USCF costs $77). The first thing I noticed is that the user interface has been redesigned. The new design is supposed to be “modern” and visually aesthetic. I don't like it, but that’s probably because it’s not what I am used to after all these years. They have also changed the 3D boards, but I never use them so for me it’s a moot point. 

    The major changes are in the area of playing for fun. They have added three modes for you to play against: Hypermodern, Robot and VIP.  In the Hypermodern mode the program uses flank openings. In the Configurable mode you can adjust various characteristics of the opponents. Most intriguing is the VIP mode that allows you to play against opponents like Fischer, Tal, Karpov, Capablanca and Lasker. These opponents play with the style of the player and use their opening repertoires. Watch this Youtube video

 

Conclusion:

    For Bloggers looking to publish games, average players looking to improve or just have fun, Fritz 20 is a fantastic program that is well worth $77. 

    If, like me, you are no longer looking to improve or you prefer meeting real live opponents online or you just want the basics like publishing games, analyzing, playing over games or using basic database functions then an earlier version, if you can fine one, will suit you just fine. If, on yhr other hand, you are looking for a program that is just plain fun to tinker with then you can;t beat Fritz 20.