It was virtually unnoticed when history was made when a milestone occurred in U.S. chess in Santa Monica, California. In October the first international tournament organized in the space of two weeks was played.
An American Master using the nom de plume of Antonio Fortuna had the idea that whenever an international tournament was held in the hemisphere the GM participants should be invited to go on tour and play in tournaments around the country. The idea was to give U.S. Masters the opportunity to gain experience and titles.
As a result, several organizers put together a tournament in Santa Monica, but it fulfilled neither that dream or FIDE requirement to be rated and gain title norms. It did produce some interesting games though.
The following game has a fantastic finish. Most American players will be familiar with Dr. Anthony Saidy, but not his opponent. Laszlo Binet twice participated in the Hungarian Championship (1954 and 1955). He fled Hungary after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, and finally became a Venezuelan citizen. He won the Venezuelan Championship six times (1964, 1966, 1971, 1983, 1990 and 1995). At the end of the 1990s, he moved to the United States where he played in the New York State championships a couple of times. In this game he was winning until he suddenly suffered a total collapse.
[Event "Santa Monica"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1967.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Anthony Saidy"]
[Black "Laszlo Binet"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D08"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 18"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[EventDate "1967.??.??"]
[Source "Chess Life, Janu"]
{D08: Albin Counter Gambit} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 {Black sacrifices a P to disrupt
white’s development and establish a restrictive Pawn wedge on d4. It is
considered theoretically risky.} 3. dxe5 d4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 Nge7 {Today
this is considered best and is the most popular move, but when this game was
played it was believed to be a new move because it did not appear in Modern
Chess Openingd, the major source of opening theory in the day.} 6. Nb3 Nf5 7.
a3 Be6 8. Qd3 Be7 (8... a5 {Presents white with more pronlems.} 9. Bf4 (9. a4
Nb4 {followed by ...Bxc4}) 9... a4 {and white's advantage is minimal.}) 9. g3
a5 (9... h5 {is premature.} 10. h4 Qd7 11. Bf4 a5 12. O-O-O O-O-O 13. Bg2 a4
14. Na1 Na5 15. e4 {White is better. Benkirane,A-Poulain,A (1854) La Fere 2007}
) 10. Bg2 a4 11. g4 {Aggressive play. 11.Nbd7 leads to a cramped and passive
position.} g6 {Excellent!} 12. Nbd2 (12. gxf5 Bxf5 13. e4 dxe3 14. Qxe3 axb3
15. Qxb3 Qd3 16. Qxd3 Bxd3 17. Bg5 (17. b3 Bb4+ 18. Bd2 Bxa3 {Black has a very
good position.}) 17... Bxc4 {and white has manages to equalize.}) 12... Ng7 13.
h3 h5 14. Qe4 {A bit passive. 14.b4 was better.} Qd7 {[%mdl 1024]} 15. g5 {
He could still have tried 15.b4} Ra5 $17 16. Qf4 Bf5 17. h4 O-O 18. O-O Ne6 19.
Qg3 Nc5 {Here Saidy made the observation that white's position is unenviable
necause "most of his pieces a re still in the corral" and his extra P will
soon disappear. Consequently, "it is time for desperado tactics."} 20. Ne1 Nxe5
{[%mdl 512]} 21. b4 (21. Qxe5 {is met by} Nb3) 21... axb3 22. Qxe5 Bd6 23. Qf6
Ra6 24. Nef3 Bh2+ 25. Kxh2 Rxf6 26. gxf6 {Now after 26...Re8 the game would be
close to being over and black would score the point. Instead, Binet's next
move allows his opponent to weasel out of hos predicament.} d3 $2 (26... Re8
27. Re1 Bc2 28. a4 Ne4 29. Nxe4 Rxe4 {White can't undertake anything
constructive.}) 27. e3 Qd6+ 28. Kg1 Qxf6 {White's R+B+N are enough
compensation for his Q that the chances can be considered equal.} 29. Rb1 Ra8
30. Nd4 (30. Nxb3 {was a bit better.} Ne4 (30... Nxb3 31. Rxb3 {with equal
chances.}) 31. Bb2 Qe6 32. Nfd4 {equals.}) 30... Bg4 31. N2xb3 Na4 32. Bd2 Qxh4
33. Nf3 Qf6 34. Nh2 Be2 35. Rfc1 h4 36. Nd4 Qg5 37. Kh1 Rd8 $17 38. Rb5 Nc5 {
[%mdl 128]} 39. Nb3 b6 {[%cal Bb7b6,Bb6c5][%mdl 32]} 40. Nxc5 bxc5 {The gane
was adjourned here and white sealed his next move. The battle that has been
going on since move 28 has been back and forth, but here black threatens to
win bt advancinf his K-side Ps.} 41. Rcb1 Kh7 {Unnecessary, Better was 41...
Qf5 threatening ...h3} 42. a4 Qf5 43. f4 h3 44. Bb7 Rd6 45. e4 {[%mdl 8192]
This is a bad tactical blunder.} (45. Nf3 {was the crucial defense.} f6 46. Kh2
Qh5 47. Ng1 c6 48. R5b2 {Black has what should be a decisive advantage, but at
least white is hanging on.}) 45... Qd7 46. e5 (46. Rxc5 {is much weaker.} Rb6
47. Rxb6 cxb6 48. Bc6 Qd6 49. Rb5 Qxc6 50. Kg1 Qxe4 {Black us winning/}) 46...
Rb6 {Black has completely lost the thread of the game. After 46.Rcv5 this was
good, but not here. After the text the chances are back to equal.} (46... c6
47. exd6 {Here it's easy to see why black missed the last move.} Qe8 {This
difficult to spot backward Q move threatens to win with ...Qe4+} (47... cxb5
48. Rxb5 Qxd6 49. Bd5 {with fully equal chances.}) 48. Kg1 Qe4 49. Kf2 Qg2+ 50.
Ke1 Bf1 51. Kd1 Qxh2 {is decisive.}) 47. Bd5 {Now after 47...Rxb5 the chances
would be equal, but black makes another serious mistale that turns the tables.}
c6 48. e6 {This zwischenzug is an important part of white's plan.} Rxb5 {
(Hoping thar Saidy grabs the Q.} (48... Qe7 49. Rxb6 cxd5) 49. axb5 (49. exd7
Rxb1+ 50. Nf1 Rb8 51. Bxf7 Bxf1 52. Kh2 Kg7 53. Be8 {and neither side can make
any progtrss.}) (49. exd7 Rxb1+ 50. Nf1 cxd5 51. d8=Q Rxf1+ 52. Kh2 Rf2+ {
This line also leads to a draw because white's K can't evade the checks.})
49... fxe6 50. bxc6 Qc8 51. Rb7+ Kh6 52. f5+ $1 g5 53. fxe6 {Threatening mate
with Be4.} Qa8 54. Rb1 {No Q checks for black!} Qa2 55. Rg1 Qxd2 56. c7 {
Black resigned.} (56. c7 Qe3 57. c8=Q d2 58. Qf8+ Kg6 59. Qf7+ Kh6 60. Qf6+ Kh7
61. e7 Qxg1+ 62. Kxg1 d1=Q+ 63. Kf2 Qd4+ 64. Qxd4 cxd4 65. e8=Q g4 66. Qg8+ Kh6
67. Kxe2 g3 68. Bf7 d3+ 69. Kxd3 gxh2 70. Qg6#) 1-0
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