Same Story, Different Setting

    The international tournament that was held in Venice in 1948 ended up in forgotten event category. Chess Life of the day didn’t mention it and Chess Review had a blurb on it, but had some unflattering remarks about Najdorf and Euwe. 

    The magazine noted that after his tie for sixth place at the tough Saltsjobaden Interzonal Najdorf must have found winning the Venice tournament a breeze, adding that he celebrated the absence of Soviet opposition and that’s what resulted in a “handsome lead” over the opposition. The 20 player Saltsjobaden tournament was won by David Bronstein, who along with seven other players advanced to the 1950 Candidates Tournament. 

     The short article added that former World Champion Max Euwe was unable to shake off a poor start. His two losses (against Canal and Castaldi) combined with difficulty in defeating the tailenders resulted in him being “just another chessplayer.” 

    Venice consisted of twelve players, six Italians, two South Americans and four from Europe, including former World Champion Euwe. Not only did Venice have competition form the goings on at Saltsjobaden, but it was just one of many tournaments that year that fell under the shadow of the 1948 World Championship tournament held to determine the new Champion following the death of Alekhine in 1946. This tournament (won by Botvinnik ahead of Smyslov, Jeresm Reshevsky and Euwe) marked a significant shift in the international chess scene as the FIDE took control of the world championship title and the cycle of tournaments leading up to it. 

    The winner of this game, Giuseppe Primavera (1917-1998) was Italian Chess Champion in1948, 1953, 1954 and1970. He was one of the founders of the organization Association of Chess Masters of Italy and in 1973-1974, he published the chess magazine Tutto Schacchi. IM Henri Grob (1904-1974) was Swiss champion in 1939 and 1951 who is best known for popularizing the Grob Attack (1.g4). 

 

 

    Their brief encounter at Venice has the same plot as the game between Koenig and Weinberger in the previous post. In this game Primavera erred in the opening and Castaldi got an overwhelming attack, b

[Event "Venice"] [Site "Venice ITA"] [Date "1948.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Giuseppe Primavera"] [Black "Henri Grob"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D45"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "1948.10.03"] {D46: Semi-Slav Defense} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 c6 {Black is threatening to capture on c4 and hold it with ...b7–b5. White can avoid this in a number of different way, but at the dame time doing so is not really necessary. Either way some very sharp positions can arise/} 4. Nc3 e6 (4... dxc4 {is the thematic move, but it's super sharp.} 5. e4 b5 6. e5 Nd5 7. a4 e6 8. axb5 Nxc3 9. bxc3 cxb5 10. Ng5 Bb7 11. Qh5 g6 12. Qg4 Be7 {favors black.}) 5. e3 Bb4 6. Bd2 O-O 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. O-O Qe7 9. Re1 dxc4 10. Bxc4 e5 11. e4 exd4 12. Nxd4 { Up to here the moves have all been seen many times. White can try the text or 12.Ne2, but the aggressive 12.e5 is no doubt best. The text is faulty, but both players missed its refutation.} Ne5 {While not as good as 12...Qc5 after this black still has an advantage.} (12... Qc5 {attacking two pieces results in a sizable advantage for black after} 13. e5 Nxe5 14. Nb3 Qxc4 15. Rxe5 Rd8) 13. Bb3 {Primavera's faulty opening play has left his opponent with a clearly better position. Grob's next move plunging his N into the guts of white's position is by no means bad, but there was an even better one.} (13. Nf5 { is a btter alternative. After} Bxf5 14. exf5 Bc5 15. Be2 {To stop ...N6g4} Rfd8 {Black has an active position.}) 13... Nd3 (13... Bc5 {is a tough move to meet. After 15 minutes this is Stockfish's top line...} 14. Nf5 Bxf5 15. exf5 Nfg4 16. Rxe5 Nxe5 17. f6 gxf6 18. Ne4 Rad8 19. Qh5 Nd3 20. Qg4+ Kh8 21. Nxc5 Qxc5 22. Qf3 Qxf2+ 23. Qxf2 Nxf2 {with a clear advantage.}) 14. Re3 {Primavera has underestimated the strength of the attack on his g2 or else he would have reinforced it with 14.Re1} Nxf2 {[%mdl 512]} 15. Kxf2 Ng4+ 16. Kf1 Rd8 { A major slip that should have cost most of his advantage.} ({is also a path to nowhere.} 16... Qh4 17. Qe1 Nxe3+ 18. Bxe3 Qxh2 19. Nf3 {and white has equalized.}) (16... Bc5 {leaves white in dore straits.} 17. Nce2 Qh4 {Now this is really good.} 18. Rg3 Nxh2+ 19. Kg1 Bxd4+ 20. Nxd4 {and black is winning.} Qxg3) 17. Rf3 {[%mdl 8192]} (17. h3 {keeps white in the game after} Nxe3+ 18. Bxe3 Bc5 19. Nce2 Bxd4 20. Nxd4 c5 21. Qc1 cxd4 22. Bg5 Qd7 23. Bxd8 Qxd8 { Black is better, but that's not to say white is going to lose.}) 17... Nxh2+ 18. Kg1 {Black now plays what was the winning move in previous variations, but now it's not...it's a gross blunder that loses!} Bc5 {[%mdl 8192] Grob has overlooked his opponent's reply.} (18... Nxf3+ {wins...} 19. Nxf3 Bc5+ 20. Kf1 Bg4 21. Qe1 Bxf3 22. gxf3 Qd7 23. Be3 Bxe3 24. Qxe3 Qh3+ 25. Kf2 Qh2+ 26. Kf1 Rd2 27. Nd1 Qh1+ 28. Qg1 Qxf3+ 29. Nf2 Qe2+ 30. Kg2 Qxe4+ 31. Kh3 Qf3+ 32. Qg3 Rxf2) 19. Rxf7 {Stunning! Amazing! Startling! Shocking!} Bxd4+ (19... Qxf7 20. Bxf7+ Kxf7 21. Qh5+ Kg8 22. Qxc5) 20. Kh1 (20. Kxh2 Qh4#) 20... Qe5 {A casual glance may give the impression that black still has an attack, but all he can do is play on a bit on inertia.} (20... Qxf7 21. Bxf7+ Kxf7 22. Kxh2 Be6 23. Qh5+ {White is winning.}) 21. Rf5+ Kh8 22. Rxe5 Bxe5 23. Qh5 Ng4 24. Bg5 Nf2+ 25. Kg1 Bg4 26. Qh4 {Black resigned} (26. Qh4 Rf8 27. Be3 {Black loses more material.} Rf6 28. Bxf2 h5 29. Bd1 Rh6 30. Bxg4 hxg4 31. Qxg4 Rf8 32. Rd1 Bf6 33. Bc5 Rg8 {White wins at will.}) 1-0

ut misplayed it and lost.