Al Bisno

    The year 1951 was the first year Nielsen television ratings came out and the most watched series was Texaco Star Theater, comedy and variety show, broadcast on radio from 1938 to 1949 and telecast from 1948 to 1956. Milton Berle, a silly, not so funny comedian and Lady: Lucille Ball of whom the same could be said were the two most popular personalities on television. 

    People were going to the movies to see The African Queen, Scrooge (A Christmas Carol), The Day The Earth Stood Still, Kon Tiki, A Streetcar Named Desire and Show Boat. 

    The there was a conspiracy theory going around that J.D. Salinger did not write Catcher in the Rye, a coming of age novel narrated by the disillusioned 16-year-old boy who, after being expelled from prep school, explores New York City and grappling with the "phoniness" of the adult world and his own feelings of alienation and loss. It was controversial because of its profanity and sexual content. 

    If Salinger wasn’t the author, who was? According to the theory it was a CIA brainwashing program using neurolinguistic passages. The fact that Salinger, who was rafted into the Army in 1942, served as a counterintelligence agent probably feuled the theory/ Neurolinguistics is a field of study that explores the connection between the brain and language, examining how the brain processes and represents language. Neuro-linguistic programming is a pseudo-science claiming to improve communication and achieve desired outcomes. There are also theories that assassination codes are buried deep in Salinger’s book. 

     Alexander (Al) Bisno was bon in Chicago on January15, 1897 and died at the age of 90 in Los Angeles on July 13,1987. A real estate investor, in the chess world he was a patron and benefactor who also played a significant role in other areas of the game such as serving as President of the Manhattan Chess Club (1951) and the non-playing captain of the US team for the USA-USSR team match (1954). He was a negotiator in the 1952 match between Reshevsky and Kashdan. He also served as an official of both the USCF and the American Chess Foundation. Curious fact: Bisno's son was named Paul Morphy Bisno. 

    Almost none of his games are available, but I ran across the below miniature in which he defeated a National Master. The game was superficially annotated by Al Horowitz in the January 1952 issue of Chess Review so it was probably played in 1951, perhaps at the Manhattan Chess Club. Horowitz had the annoying habit of not giving the date or the event in which games were played. 

 

ChessBase

Harold M. Phillips–Al Bisno0–1C41New York1951Stockfish 17

[%evp 11,34,48,52,48,63,51,62,12,20,9,-11,-1,16,14,21,-152,-135,-140,-211, -237,-210,-316,-379,-476,-12800] C41: Philidor Defense 1.e4 e5 2.f3 d6 Considered a second rate defense today, this defense is still playable except at the GM level. 3.d4 This is about the only move you will ever see played here because black is compelled to exchage ...exd4 which gives white a dominating center position. d7 The beginning of the defensive setup known as the Hanham Variation, the idea of which is that black wantsto make the P on e4 a strongpoint. One disadvantahe is that the N interferes with the B's development, but that's not really important because there is no way for white to take advantage of ot. Dpending on how the game goes, black will find a good fquare for the N later. 4.c4 Aiming at the weak f7 and hoping at some point to take advantage of it. c6 Only 4 moves in and the position requires precise play on black's part! Aside from avoiding the disaster given in the note, 4...c3 opens a diagonal for the Q. 4...gf6 What could be more natural looking than this? 5.dxe5 xe5 5...dxe5 6.g5 and black is lost. 6.xe5 dxe5 7.xf7+ e7 8.xd8+ xd8 9.f3 with the advantage. 5.c3 This move, the idea of which is to maintain a strong P center in the event of . ..exd4, is not witout merit, but white usually plays 5.O-O and if ...exd4 white can retake with his Q leaving him with a dominating center. e7 This gets slapped with a couple of question marks. The idea of the move is to avoid any danger from Ng5, but it allows something even worse. 6.0-0 White miises his opportunity and he doesn't get a second chance! 6.b3 Adding pressure to f7. Black doesn't have a really good way to defend it. d5 7.exd5 b5 8.d3 cxd5 9.xb5 gf6 This looks reasonable, but after 10.dxe5 g4 11.h3 Black's best try is xf2 12.xf2 b8 13.xd5 and whiye should win. 6...gf6 7.e1 c7 Black usually castles here, but he did not, as Horowitz claimed, fail to capitalize on white's last move with 7...Nxe4 7...xe4 8.xe4 d5 9.xe5 A surprise move that Horowitz missed. xe5 9...dxe4 10.xf7 is obviously good for white. 10.xd5 cxd5 11.xe5 White is a P to the good plus black has an isolated d-Pawn. Blackls two Bs are not enough compensation. In Shootouts white scored +4 -0 =1 8.bd2 0-0 9.f1 The idea is to reposition the N to the K-side, but the problem is that now ...Nxe4 is a good move. Guarding the e-Pawn with 9.Be3 was better. xe4 10.dxe5 10.xe4 is also layable, but it does not have the same force as in the similar situation nebtioned in the note to move 7. d5 11.xe5 dxe4 12.xf7 Black could offer the draw with 12..Nb6 13.Nh6+ Kh8 14.Nf7+ or 12...Nf6 13.Ng5+ etc. xf7 would be losing after 13.h5 Taking the strongly favors black. f6 14.xf7+ h8 15.f4 xf4 16.xe7 f5 17.e3 White has good expectations of eventually winning which he did in 5 Shootouts. 10...d5 11.d3 f5 A good move solidifying control over e4. Horowitz comments that white's K is insufficiently guarded, but that comment was apparently based on the game's outcome. Engines )Stockfish, Dragone by Komodo, Berserk and Lc0 all assess the position as sompletely equal. 12.exf6 Necessary. Otherwise white's e-Pawn falls. dxf6 Black has somewhat better development, more active poeces and the f-file on which to operate, but white's position has no exploitable weaknesses, so the position is equal. 13.g5 But, not after this! This aggressive looking move is a losing mistake. 13.xe4 xe4 14.g3 White wants to eliminate the aggressive, and dangerous Ns. f5 14...xf2 is completely wrong now. AFter 15.xf2 g4 16.d4 xf3 17.gxf3 f6 18.g4 Black has lost material and there has no attack to show for it. 15.xe4 xe4 16.g5 Now this is OK. f5 17.e6 xe6 18.xe6 with a completely equal position. 13...xf2 Alertly playec. Black now has a decisive advantage. 14.xf2 There is nothimg any better. 14.c2 xd3 15.xd3 d6 16.h3 h6 17.f3 f7 Threatening ...Bxh3; white is lost. 14...g4+ Best/ 14...c5+ isn't quite so good. 15.e2 e5+ wins a piece. 15.g1 c5+ 16.e3 xe3+ 17.xe3 Has white survived? No. It's black to play and win. xf1+! White resigned 17...xf1+ 18.xf1 18.xf1 xh2# 18...xe3+ wins the Q 0–1

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Attacking Fun with Wilhelm Orbach

    Assuming you are the attacker or spectator, an attack on the castled King is always enjoyable and that’s what this game offers. It was played in the 1929 Deutscher Schachbund (DSB) Kongress that was held in Duisberg, a city in western Germany, at the junction of the Rhine and Ruhr rivers. It's known for its large harbor. 

    The winner was the German Master Wilhelm Orbach (1894-1944). You won’t find much information on him, but Chessmetrics estimates hus best rating to have been 2548 back on 1921, placing him at #41 in the world. By comparison, a couple of better known players with similar ratings were Fritz Saemisch and Sir George Thomas. He was murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp. 

    His opponent was Walther Holzhausen (1876-1935) who was known as a problem composer who published a couple of books on problems, as well as a player. 

    The chart giving the Accuracy and Blunder Categories as determined by Fritz 19’s Tactical Analysis gives some interesting insight as to how the game went. Clearly, it was not especially well played, but white’s final attack is entertaining. Unfortunately I have not been able to discover what determines how a move is categorized. Anybody have any thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ChessBase

Wilhelm Orbach–Walther von Holzhausen1–0D15DSB Kongress, Duisberg1929James Massie

D15: Slav Defense 1.d4 d5 2.f3 f6 3.c4 c6 4.c3 dxc4 5.e4 b5 6.c2 e6 7.e3 This B is normally developed to f4 or g5, but the text is hardly bad. Another popular move is 7.a4 to challenge black on the Q-side. b4 8.e2 Black almost always waits until white plays a2 before making this exchange. xc3+ 9.bxc3 bd7 10.f4 Moving the B again is a waste of toime. Simply 10. O-O was better. b7 11.0-0 c5 This gives black excellent play. 12.e5 This move is suspect; white needs tp keep things flexible in the center. 12.b2 Attacking the b-Pawn. Black emerges with a slight advantage after xe4 13.xc4 bxc4 14.xb7 xc3 15.fe1 0-0 Note that neother R can threaten the N. 16.d6 c8 17.b2 d5 18.xf8 c3 19.b5 a6 20.c4 xf8 Black has plenty of play for the exchange. 12...d5 13.g3 0-0 14.h4 f6 This creates an almost imperceptible weakness in the K's position. The active 14... Qb6 was in order. 15.ab1 This is another small inaccuracy. 15.exf6 7xf6 15...gxf6 16.fb1 c6 17.a4 and white has equalized. 16.g3 Prevents . ..Nf4 c8 17.a4 b4 18.xc4 bxc3 19.fd1 e7 with the more active position, but white's position remains quite solid. 15...c6 He could take advantage of white's omission last move with 15.g4 because white is in no position to take advantage of the weakness that ...g4 creates. 15...g5 16.g3 f5 leaves whiyr at a loss for a really good continuation. 16.dxc5 xc5 17.exf6 gxf6 18.d4 e8 The threat is ...Bg6. 19.d2 e4 A piece with a promising future, but things will go wrong. 20.h6 This move is not as aggressive as it looks, but practically speaking it's better than the defensive 20.Qe1 because it baits a trap which black falls for. 20.e1 exc3 20...dxc3 21.xe6 equalizes 21.xe6 equals 20...exc3 This is the wrong N because it allows white's next move. 21.g4 White has a promising counterattack. c7 This is a game losing blunder! 21...xb1 allows a mate in 22.xe6+ f7 23.f5 h8 24.xf7 xf7 25.g7# 21...g6 is correct as it avoids the mate. 22.be1 b6 23.xe6+ h8 24.e2 xe2+ 25.xe2 In Shootouts from this position white scored +1 -0 =4 22.xe6 e7 23.xc7 Much stronger than taking the R. 23.xf8 xf8 24.f4 24.xf8+ xf8 with equal chances. 25.bc1 24...xb1 25.xc7 Even here though white should win. 23...g6 23...xc7 24.e6+ f7 25.xf6 xe6 26.g5+ f7 27.g7+ e8 28.xc7 xf6 29.c6+ and wins 24.xa8 xb1 25.c7 xc7 26.e6+ f7 26...f7 just delays the mate. 27.xf6 xe6 28.g5+ f7 29.g7+ e8 30.xc7 d7 31.e1+ f7 32.xd7+ xf6 33.e6+ g5 34.g7+ f4 35.g3+ f5 36.e5# 27.xf6 Black resigned. It's mate in 2 1–0

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Theophil Demetriescu

    Theophil Demetriescu (April 12,1891 - August 6, 1958) was a Romanian pianist who, beginning in his childhood, showed a talent for music and studied piano in Germany with Ferrucio Busoni, an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer and teacher. Demetriescu made his debut im early1912 in a concert with the Berlin Philharmonic. 

    In the last years of his life Demetriescu suffered great financial difficulties. In 1949 he was employed as a piano teacher at the Art Institute in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, but his salary was insufficient to allow him to even rent a place to live, so he slept in one of the teaching halls of the institute, while his family was living a life of misery in Bucharest. 

    Demetriescu was also a good chess player who participated in a few international tournaments, he preferred correspondence play because it did mot interfer with his music interests. 

    He played board 5 on the Romanian team at the 3rd Unofficial Chess Olympiad (which was not organized by FIDE), which took place in Munich from August 17 to September 1, 1936. The Romanian team finished 14th out of 21. 

     Demetriescu was better in correspondence play. In the 1930s he participated in the national correspondence championships, finisjing 10th in 1934-1935 and 9th in 1936-1937 and14th in 1937-1938. 

     In the following game which has a nice finishing touch he defeats the Dutch master Lodewijk Prins (1913-199) who at the time was a promising junior. The game was played in a small tournament at Ebensee, today a market town in Austria. Dutch GM J.H. Donner, who had no great love for Prims, once described him as a Grandmaster who couldn’t tell a Bishop from a Knight, but Prins was the Dutch champion in 1965. 

    Several years after the tournament the town became known for its concentration camp established on 1943 by the SS in order to build tunnels for armaments storage near the town. Between 8,500 and 11,000 prisoners died in the camp, most from hunger or malnutrition. Political prisoners were most common and prisoners came from many different countries. Conditions were poor, and along with the lack of food, exposure to cold weather and forced hard labor made survival difficult. US Army troops liberated the camp on May 6, 1945. Today residential homes exist on the site and a memorial cemetery is nearby. There is also a memorial tunnel and a museum nearby. 

ChessBase

Lodewijk Prins–Theophil Demetriescu0–1B44Ebensee1933Stockfish 17

B44: Sicilian, Taimanov Variation 1.e4 e6 2.c4 c5 3.f3 c6 4.d4 cxd4 5.xd4 f6 6.c3 b4 7.db5 White plays an ultra-sharp line that is favorable to black. Safer ware 7.Nxc3 or even 7.Qd2?! xe4 8.g4 xc3 As his mext move shows, this is not the most accurate. 8...f6 is better and it is too risky fpr white to take the g-Pawn. 9.xg7 g8 10.h6 g6 The Q has no good square to which it can retreat and so black has an active position. 9.bxc3 Now black cannot afford to sacrifice the g-Pawn and this retreat is an indication that his last move was wrong. f8 9...c5 10.xg7 f8 11.f4 Threatening 12.Nc7+ 11.xh7 a6 12.a3 xa3 13.xa3 a5 14.b1 is only equal. 11...e5 12.e3 xe3 13.fxe3 White;s Ps are shattered, but the threat on Ne6+ is too hard for b;ack to meet. e7 14.c5 g8 15.h6 g6 16.xh7 f8 17.d6 White is winning. 10.c5 This position has been reached a few times in recent years and white has played 10.Ba3, but it has been shown that 10.Qg3 keeps a slight advantage,\. a6 Well played. Oddly, at this point black has nothing to fear from Nd6+ 11.d6+ xd6 12.cxd6 At first glance black's position may appear badly compromised because of the white P on d6, but he has a nove that gives him the advantage. f6 This defends the g-Pawn and white has to take time to defend agains ...Qxc3+ 13.b2 The B is not well placed here so 13.Qg3 defending both Ps and intending to develop the B to a more active square was better. 0-0 Note that white has no way of satisfactorily meeting the threat of ...Qe5+ followed by ...Qxd6 14.0-0-0 Thus turns out to be a very poor choice because it leaves his K exposed. 14.d1 b5 15.e2 b7 16.0-0 e5 The P is saved, but at the cost of giving black an active position. Best mow appears to be 17.g3 g6 18.xg6 xg6 19.f4 h4 20.g4 f5 21.g5 d5 22.a3 fc8 Black's position should prove decisive according to Stockfish, Dragon by Komodo and Fritz 19. 14...b5 15.d3 h6+ This is even stronger than grabbong the insignificant f-Pawn. 16.c2 f5 17.e2 b7 18.g4 Hoping to open up files leading to b;ack's K, but the attempt will prove ineffective. ac8 Hoping for ...Nd4+. 19.b1 a5 20.hg1 fxg4 Threatens to win with ...Bf3. Again, black does not waste time grabbing a P with ...Qxh2 21.c1 f6 aiming for ...Bf3. 22.xg4 f3 This tome grabbing a P with 22...Rxc3 woulf allow white to equalize. 22...xc3 23.b2 c4 24.h5 h6 25.xc4 f3 This complcated position is about equal after the best move 26.xe6+ dxe6 27.g6 xg6+ 28.xg6 e4+ 29.a1 xg6 30.xc3 23.h3 g6 Effectvely ending all white's hopes on the K-side. 24.de1 24.xg6+ is not quite sufficient, but in view of the vertigo inducing complications that result it would have been an excellent choice. hxg6 25.g1 xc3 26.xg6 How does black get out of thid jam? There is only one way, but it wons. 26.xg6+ xg6 27.xg6 e4+ 28.xe4 xh3 26...xc1+ 27.xc1 f4+ 28.b1 g7 Brilliant! Discovered checks don;t save white. 29.e4+ f6 30.xf3 xf3 31.xf3 e5 Black is winning, but how?! 32.d1 xf2 33.h1 c4 34.h4 e3 35.h5 xd1 36.xd1 h2 with a winning R+P ending. 24...c4 25.g3 xc3 White's next move allows mate, but there was really no way of saving the game. 26.d1 d2+ 27.xd2 xd3+ White resigned. 27...xd3+ 28.a1 d4+ 29.b1 e4+ 30.d3 xd3+ 31.xd3 xd3+ 32.a1 c2 33.c1 d4+ 34.c3 xc1+ 35.b2 xc3# 0–1

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Play the Urusov Gambit!

 

    The Bishop’s Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Bc4) is rarely played these days and if it is the opening often transposes into the Giuoco Piano, King’s Gambit or the Vienna Gane, but there is another possibility that most opponents won’t be prepared for...the old Urusiv Gambit (3.d4!). It’s named after Russian Prince Sergey Semyonovich Urusov (1827–1897). 

    What’s more, it’s easy for black to go wrong if he is not familiar with it! You can watch a Youtube video on it HERE. 

    White’s play in the following miniature is a perfect example of the dangers black faces. White is the forner Soviet, now Israeli, GM Boris Avrukh (born 1978). He was the World Under-12 champion in 1990. Black is the Moldovan-French WGM Almira Skripchenko (born1976), She won the European Women's Individual Championship in 2001 and is a seven-time French Women's Champion. 

 

ChessBase

Boris Avrukh2625–Almira Skripchenko24401–0C24Linares Anibal OpenLinares11.01.2001Stockdish 17

C24: Urusov Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.c4 f6 3.d4 exd4 The usual response. 3...xe4 is not recommended. 4.dxe5 Black has played a number of different moves here, but most often seen is g5 5.f4 e6 6.f3 and white is better. 3...xe4 4.dxe5 xf2 This is completely unsound, but it has been tried. 5.d5 5.xf2 h4+ with what should be a winning advantage. 5...e7 6.xf2 c5+ 7.e3 xd5 8.xd5 White gas a winning position. Chulis,A (2172) -Kanzlirsch,A Vienna 2003 4.f3 xe4 5.xd4 f6 Technically this position is evaluated as equal as black has no weaknesses, but white's huge lead in development must account for something. 6.c3 6.g5 is not as good as it looks., After c6 7.e3+ e7 8.xf6 gxf6 9.c3 xe3+ 10.fxe3 b4 Black is slightl better. 6.g5 e7 This looks logical and is the move most often played. After 7.c3 Black has 7...Nc6, 7...c6 and 7...O-O, all reasonable moves. 6...c6 7.g5 d5 8.0-0-0 e7 9.h4 bd7 10.he1 Black has made no errors and her position of free from weaknesses, but white is ready to undertake action against black's K. Black's best move is probably 10...O-O dxc4 10...f8 This odd move was played in Kreiman,B (2400) -Shirazi,K (2435) New York and it's not likely to be repeated. 11.xd5 cxd5 12.xe7 xe7 13.xd5 e4 14.f4 h6 15.d6+ and white went on to win. 11.xf6 This leaves lack's K-side is in shambles. gxf6 12.e4 0-0 13.g3 h8 This loses quickly. Her position was difficult, but gar from hopeless after 13...Re8 13...e8 14.e4 f5 15.xf5 c3 16.h5 f8 17.e5 g5+ 18.xg5+ xg5+ 19.xg5 cxb2+ 20.xb2 xe1 21.xe1 e6 Black has survived the attack and white is better, but his advantage is not a winning one, 14.f5 c5 15.h5 15.e4 at once was also good. g8 16.h6 g7 17.e5 f8 18.xd7 xd7 19.xd7 and white is winning. 15...c3 16.e4 b6 17.b3 White wants to mate with Rh4. g8 17...xf2 18.h6+- g8 19.xd7 xd7 20.xf6+ g7 21.xg7# 17...a5 18.a4 a3+ 19.b1 c7 20.h4 nates 18.xf7 a5 After this white has a mate, but her position was hopelessly lost no matter what she played. 19.xd7 a3+ 20.b1 xf5 White is clearly winning, but he has a mate in 5 with the following problem-like move. 21.e8 Black resigned. 21.e8 f8 22.xf8 g6 23.xg8+ xg8 24.xf6+ g7 25.xg7# 1–0

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Alberto Giustolisi

 

    Few players today know the name Alberto Giustolisi (March 17, 1928 - February 27, 1990); it’s a name that was not well known outside of Italy and today has fallen into oblivion even among Italian players. 

    His heyday came in the years 1950 to about 1966, and in his time he was well known and highly respected wherever chess was played in Italy. His pleasant manners, polite elegance, respect for others, reserve, absence of ambition and the lack of a sense of superiority spilled over into his chess and harmed his competitive spirit and bordered on what almost appeared to be an insecurity. In spite of that, he was a good strategist as well as an elegant tactician and a formidable opponent to all but the elite. 

    Born in Rome, he passed away in a nursing home where he had been hospitalized for some time supposedly for a serious form of nervous breakdown.

    He was Italian champion in 1952, 1961, 1964 and 1966. He was awarded the IM title in 1962 after winning the New Year's Tournament in Reggio Emilia. 

 

    His opponent in this game was the Swiss player Otto Marthaler who won the Reggio Emilia 1958/59 event. 

    Giustolisi emerges from the ipening with an advantage and then follows up with nearly flawless play to score the point. The most interesting thing about the game is the role played by white’s Knight on g1.

 

ChessBase

Alberto Giustolisi–Otto Marthaler1–0E94Reggio Emilia, 1961/62Stockfish 17

E94: King's Indian: Classical 1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.c3 g7 4.e4 d6 5.e2 0-0 6.f3 A piece with a remarkable future! e5 7.0-0 bd7 8.e3 e8 9.d5 c5 10.d2 This N will not move again until move 26 and then makes the final move of the game. ts purpose here is to defend the e-Pawn and allow white to play f3. a5 11.a3 In view of what happens next this position can be considered critical and black must choose his next move wisely. h8 Black has a wide choice here...the opening book I ise shows 8 different moves, all reasonable, but the best is probably 11...a4. The text looks rather pointless. 12.b4 Immediately seizing the initiative. axb4 13.axb4 xa1 14.xa1 a6 15.b1 White already has a significant advantage thanks to black's passive 11th move. d7 16.a3 f5 17.f3 f4 18.f2 g8 So! The point of his 11th move is revealed, but an attack on the g-file is going to prove impotent. 19.c5 dxc5 20.bxc5 Black is positionally quite lost. f8 21.xa6 bxa6 22.a5 g5 Black gets a K-side attack going, but it is nothing nure than a gesture given Giustolisi's precise defense. 23.d6 A powerful blow! g4 24.fxg4 g5 With heavy pieces doubled on the g-file and the threat of ...f3 it looks like black has something going, but Giusto;isi has everything under control. 25.h3 cxd6 26.f3 The versatile N return to where it was a long time ago in order to block the further advance of black’s f-Pawn. g7 27.c7 e7 28.cxd6 h5 He could have saved the B with 28...Bf6, but pressing on with his attack is his best practical chance. 29.dxe7 hxg4 30.hxg4 xg4 31.h4 This time the N defends the g-Pawn and realizing there is no attack, Marthaler resigned, It;s interesting to observe the future this N could have had. 31.h4 f3 32.d6 h7 32...fxg2 33.h6# 33.d1 f6 33...fxg2 34.xg4 xg4 35.e8 34.xf3 xf3 35.xf3 h3 36.e1 Again the N shows its versatility by defending g2! d7 37.b7 e8 38.f3 Back again this time headed for more verdant pastures. g4 39.d5 g7 40.g3 f7 41.xe5 c6 42.c7 a4 43.d4 b8 44.b6 b3 45.g5+ Its defensive days are over and the N become an attacker. g6 45...e8 46.e6 xd5 47.g7+ f7 48.e8+ f6 49.h5 e6 50.d4+ e5 51.xe5# 46.c6+ xg5 The N has sacrificed itself for a mate in 11. 47.d8 xd5 48.e8+ f4 49.f8+ xe4 50.f3+ e5 51.c7+ d4 52.xg4+ e4 53.xb8 e3 54.a7+ d2 55.xe4 a5 56.d4+ e2 57.e6# 1–0

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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

ChessBase

Giuseppe Primavera–Henri Grob1–0D45VeniceVenice ITA1948Stockfish 17

D46: Semi-Slav Defense 1.d4 f6 2.f3 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.c3 e6 4...dxc4 is the thematic move, but it's super sharp. 5.e4 b5 6.e5 d5 7.a4 e6 8.axb5 xc3 9.bxc3 cxb5 10.g5 b7 11.h5 g6 12.g4 e7 favors black. 5.e3 b4 6.d2 0-0 7.d3 bd7 8.0-0 e7 9.e1 dxc4 10.xc4 e5 11.e4 exd4 12.xd4 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. e5 While not as good as 12...Qc5 after this black still has an advantage. 12...c5 attacking two pieces results in a sizable advantage for black after 13.e5 xe5 14.b3 xc4 15.xe5 d8 13.b3 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.f5 is a btter alternative. After xf5 14.exf5 c5 15.e2 To stop ...N6g4 fd8 Black has an active position. 13...d3 13...c5 is a tough move to meet. After 15 minutes this is Stockfish's top line... 14.f5 xf5 15.exf5 fg4 16.xe5 xe5 17.f6 gxf6 18.e4 ad8 19.h5 d3 20.g4+ h8 21.xc5 xc5 22.f3 xf2+ 23.xf2 xf2 with a clear advantage. 14.e3 Primavera has underestimated the strength of the attack on his g2 or else he would have reinforced it with 14.Re1 xf2 15.xf2 g4+ 16.f1 d8 A major slip that should have cost most of his advantage. is also a path to nowhere. 16...h4 17.e1 xe3+ 18.xe3 xh2 19.f3 and white has equalized. 16...c5 leaves white in dore straits. 17.ce2 h4 Now this is really good. 18.g3 xh2+ 19.g1 xd4+ 20.xd4 and black is winning. xg3 17.f3 17.h3 keeps white in the game after xe3+ 18.xe3 c5 19.ce2 xd4 20.xd4 c5 21.c1 cxd4 22.g5 d7 23.xd8 xd8 Black is better, but that's not to say white is going to lose. 17...xh2+ 18.g1 Black now plays what was the winning move in previous variations, but now it's not...it's a gross blunder that loses! c5 Grob has overlooked his opponent's reply. 18...xf3+ wins... 19.xf3 c5+ 20.f1 g4 21.e1 xf3 22.gxf3 d7 23.e3 xe3 24.xe3 h3+ 25.f2 h2+ 26.f1 d2 27.d1 h1+ 28.g1 xf3+ 29.f2 e2+ 30.g2 xe4+ 31.h3 f3+ 32.g3 xf2 19.xf7 Stunning! Amazing! Startling! Shocking! xd4+ 19...xf7 20.xf7+ xf7 21.h5+ g8 22.xc5 20.h1 20.xh2 h4# 20...e5 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...xf7 21.xf7+ xf7 22.xh2 e6 23.h5+ White is winning. 21.f5+ h8 22.xe5 xe5 23.h5 g4 24.g5 f2+ 25.g1 g4 26.h4 Black resigned 26.h4 f8 27.e3 Black loses more material. f6 28.xf2 h5 29.d1 h6 30.xg4 hxg4 31.xg4 f8 32.d1 f6 33.c5 g8 White wins at will. 1–0

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ut misplayed it and lost.

 

 

Imre Koemig

    IM Imre Koenig (February 9, 1901 - September 9, 1992) was born in Kula, Hungary when it belonged to pre-World War I Austria. After the war he became a Yugoslav by nationality; Kula is now in Serbia. 

    Koenig spent much of his life in Vienna, but in 1938 he emigrated to England and became a British citizen in 1949. The English climate adeversely affected his health, so in 1953 he moived to California. 

    He became a promising player at an early age and in 1920, while in college, he met Spielmann, Tartakover and Reti, who sparked his interest in the Hypermodern style. 

    Koenig’s results were handicapped by a poor temperament for tournament chess which prevented him from achieving greater success in the international events. He played for Yugoslavia in the chess Olympiads of 1931 and 1935 and finished 2nd in the 1922 Yugoslav championship. In international tournaments his best result was at Hastings 1948/49 where he finished 2nd behind Rossolimo. 

    The following game is one of his later efforts that was played in Fresno in the 1962 annual Northern California vs. Southern California match. This was a massive 43 board event which was won by the northern team by a score of 28.5-14.5.

    His opponent was FM Tibor Weinberger (born 1932), a Hungarian master who played in five Hungarian championships from 1952 through 1956. He settled in the United States in 1957.

 

 

 

    This game is far from perfect and hardly shows either player at their best, but the quick reversal of fortunes illustrate the point, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” See more Yogisms 

 

ChessBase

Imre Koenig–Tibor Weinberger1–0A07North-South Match, Fresno1962Stockfish 17

B24: Closed Sicilian 1.e4 c5 2.c3 The Closed Sicilian tends to be more positional in nature. White will usually go for a K-side attack. Black will either play in the center or expand on the Q-side. c6 This is black's most common reply; it is not yet known if white will play for d4 or 3.g3 3.g3 This is the thematic move in the Closed Sicilian. White intends to control the light squares in the center and make it difficult for black to play ...d5 g6 This is the most common move for black. 4.g2 g7 5.d3 e6 At this point white almost always plays the routine 6.Be3 and 9.Qd2. 6.h3 A rare sideline, while not as common as 6. Be3 or 6. f4, aims to play a delayed f4 and launch a K-side attack usinf the f-file. Black has a wide variety of good responses. ge7 7.0-0 0-0 8.g5 8.e3 b6 9.d2 d5 10.h6 b7 11.xg7 xg7 12.exd5 xd5 13.xd5 exd5 14.ae1 is completely equalm but in Suttles, D (2470)-Westerinen,H (2450) Havana 1966 they played on and black somehow eventually manages to win. 8...h6 9.e3 d6 9...b6 10.f4 b7 11.h4 d4 Black is slightly better. Krnic,I (2166)-Tomazini,Z (2370) Legnica POL 2013 10.d2 h7 11.ab1 Highly unusual. Realizing he has no real prospects on the K-side, Kownig turns his attention to the other side. 11.f4 f5 This blunts white's prospects on the K-side sp he gas to cast about for play elsewhere. 11...b8 12.e2 e5 13.f3 b6 14.b4 d7 15.f2 f5 15...cxb4 16.xb4 d5 17.f4 5c6 18.a3 18.d2 d4 18...d4 leaves black with a solid position. 16.f4 Of course, white wants open lines for his as of yet only potential K-side attack that black's last move has made possible. 5c6 17.bxc5 dxc5 18.e5 The immediate 18.d4 leads to equalizing exchanges. c8 19.c3 d5 20.xd5! exd5 21.d4 c4 White has a protected passed e-Pawn, but it doesn;t confer any advantage because black is solidly in control of e6. 22.e1 f7 23.d1 f8 24.c1 b5 25.e3 e6 26.d2 a6 All of this maneuvering has not really lead anywhere. Black threatens the a-Pawn whicj Koenig now mistakenly defends...it would have been better to let black have it. 27.c1 This allows black to gain some counterplay. 27.d1 keeps the balance. xa2 28.a1 b2 29.c2 a5 30.b1 a2 31.a1 draws. 27...b4 This threatens to win with ...bxc3. 28.cxb4 This is a serious error. 28.h1 A pass to show the threat. bxc3 29.xb8 cxd2 30.xd2 xb8 Black has won a piece. 28...xd4 29.c3 c6 Threatening ...d4 30.c2 c5+ 31.g2 d4 32.f2 d5+ Weinberger now has a winning position. 33.h3 e4 Also very strong was 33...g5 34.bxc5 xb1 35.xd4 g5 36.fxg5 hxg5 37.e6 White's K is clearly in a very dangerous position and all black has to do in play 37...g4+ forcing it to h5. Instead, Weinberger plays his K to g6 so that it will allow him to deliver mate with 38...Rh7. g6 One wonders if Weinberger was expecting his opponemt to resign. 38.xg5 xg5 As Yogi Berra once said, "You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you are going, because you might not get there." After this move the treat of 38...Rh7 cannot be met...or can ot?! 38...xc1 It's astonishing, but this is the only winning move black has! 39.xf7 39.xc1 xg5 wins. For example 40.d2+ f4 41.gxf4+ f5 42.g1 h7+ 43.g3 xe5 44.xe5 h6 The Bs of opposite color are meningless because there isd a mate in 7. 45.f6 45.f2 xh2+ 46.f1 xd2 47.g5+ e6 48.g6+ xg6 49.f5+ xf5 50.d4 h1+ 51.g1 d3# 45...c3 46.h4 cxd2 47.f2 xf4+ 48.e2 f3+ 49.xd2 d7+ 50.c1 a3+ 51.b2 e3# 39...xc3 40.h8+ g7 41.f4 b7 42.h4 e7 with an easy win. 39.d2+ This completely turns the tables! g6 The threat is still ...Rh7+ 40.d6+ h7 The K is forced to cut the R off fron h7. 41.f4 Now black;s KJ is in a mating net. g8 42.h4 c8 43.g6+ g7 44.e6 Coldblooded efficiency. bb7 44...xg6 45.h8# 45.xg7 xg7 46.h6 A bitter disappointnebt for Weinberger! A lucky escape for Koenig! 46.h6 f8 47.h8+ g8 48.f6+ e8 49.f7+ d8 50.xg8+ 1–0

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Simon Rubinstein

    Among the millions who perished in the Nazi concentration camps were a number if chessplayers, some well known, some not. One of the latter that few have ever heard of was Simon Rubinstein (c. 1910–1942), an Austrian master who participated several times in the Leopold Trebitsch Memorial tournaments that were held in Vienna. 

    These tournaments were a chess competition organized by the family of Austrian silk manufacturer Leopold Trebitsch. Twenty tournaments were played in Vienna between 1907 and 1938. Leopold Trebitsch (1842–1906) loved chess and je and his family contributed greatly to the Vienna Chess Club (Wiener Schachklub) to organize the series of tournaments. Because Trebitsch died one month before the first tournament the competitions were named in his memory. Six of the first nine events (1907–18) were won by Carl Schlechter, but his death in December 1918, along with the loss of the Club's Trebitsch fund in the aftermath of World War I, put a temporary halt to the tournament. In 1926, Trebitsch's son made more funds available, enabling eleven additional tournaments to be held until 1938, when Germany's annexation of Austria ended the event.

 

 

    Here is one of only a handful of known Simon Rubinstein's games. Chessnetrics estimates his highest rating to have been 2540 in 1937, ranking him in 67th place. On that list the leaders were: Euwe was first (2753) followed by Botvinnik (2752), Capablanca (2751), Alekhine (2750) and Reshevsky (2745). 

     

ChessBase

Simon Rubinstein–Karl Kopetzky1–0D44Trebitsch Memorial, Vienna27.11.1933Stockfish 17

D26: Queen's Gambit Accepted 1.d4 d5 2.f3 f6 3.c4 dxc4 The QGA is not a true gambit because white regains the P because it is unprofitable for black to keep it. White will try to use his center space to lainch an attack. Black will try to hold white;s center at bay and gain an advantage in the endgame by giving white an isolated d-Pawn. The resulting oisitons can lead to a sharp fight. 4.c3 e6 5.e3 c5 6.xc4 c6 7.0-0 cxd4 8.exd4 e7 9.f4 a6 10.e1 0-0 11.c1 11.d2 b5 12.b3 b7 13.a3 b6 This position is nearly equal. Walta,P-Seto Wai Ling Dubai 1986 11.a3 This is satisfactory if followed up correctly. b5 12.d5 exd5 12...bxc4 This captur is wrong. Shevchenko,D-Tarnovetsky,R Evpatoria 2005 continued 13.dxc6 b6 14.d4 xb2 15.a4 Whute won quickly. 13.xd5 b7 with equal chances. 11...b4 12.a3 bd5 13.e5 He could also have pkaced a N on e5, but the text also works out well. 13.g3 xc3 14.xc3 b5 15.a2 b7 16.e5 13...b5 14.a2 In these types of positions white wull set up a battery attacking h7 with Bb1 and Qd3 b7 15.xd5 xd5 16.b1 d7 17.d3 While the position is theoretically equal white seems to be the one with all the chances and to keep thing equal black will be forced to defend accurately which is never an easy task. g6 18.d2 The Q never leaves here, but apparently white was thinking about the possibility of Qh6. The immediate advance 18,h4 was equally giid. fc8 19.h4 f6 20.g5 White's pieces have a lot of pent up energy, but sp far black has defended in a satisfactory manner and the position is equal. However, black now slips up. h5 Black is barking up the wrong tree. Instead of trying to bust up whiye's K-side attack he needs to hunker down on the defensive. 20...xc1 21.xc1 d8 22.f4 d5 with a solid position. 21.xf7 This speculative sacrifice pays off handsomely, but with correct defensem always a difficult job, black can equalize. The sharo\p 21.g4 secures a clear plus though. 21.g4 xc1 22.xc1 c8 23.e3 f6 24.gxh5 fxe5 25.hxg6 h6 25...hxg6 26.xg6 is winning for white. 26.e4 xe4 27.xe4 xd4 28.xd4 exd4 29.xe6 Black is in serious trouble. 21...xh4 Fatal! This P is meaningless. Taking the N keeps the chances eqiual...white can't whip up any serious threats. 21...xf7 22.h6 f6 23.xf6 xf6 24.xh7+ g7 25.xg6+ f8 An interesting position that is theoretically equal: white has 3 Ps vs. a B. In Shootouts using Stockfish white scored +1 -0 =5. Using the older, weaker Fritz 5.32 white scored +1 -2 =02. So, in actual play the outcome would be unclear. 22.h6+ f8 23.g4 xc1 24.xc1 d5 Played with the forlorn hope that white will overlook the mate. 25.f3 f6 26.e4 Black resigned. 26.e4 d8 26...d7 27.c7 wins 27.xf6 27.xb7 xe5 28.gxh5 also wins 27...xf6 28.xb7 d8 29.gxh5 xd4 30.c8+ e7 31.g8+ etc. 1–0

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Jacques Mieses, the Rodney Dangerfield of Chess

    Jack Roy (1921-2004, age 82), better known by his stage name Rodney Dangerfield, was a stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer who was known for his self-deprecating humor and his catchphrase "I don't get no respect!" and his monologues on that theme. 

    Jacques Mieses (1865-1954) might have said the same thing because these days he seems to be remembered (if at all) for losing games. Writing the October, 1944 issue of the British Chess Magazine, Miese himself wrote, “...I have always been an erratic player, even when I was at my best. At that time, when Marshall and myself entered a tournament, the general opinion was that we could as well finish at the top as at the tail of it.” 

    In his prime from the early1900s to the early 1920s Chess metrics has him generally just outside the top ten best players in the world. His highest estimated rating of 2660 was in 1907 which placed him at #11 on the list. The top 10 were: Lasker, Maroczy, Tarrasch, Schlechter, Rubinstein, Marshall, Duram Teichmann, Janowsky and Forgacs. In 1921 Mieses was ranked #9 at 2625/ Cearly he was a better player than most of us give him credit for and he did play a lot of great games. He had a very aggressive style that won him many brilliancy prizes, but he also suffered some catastrophic losses. 

    Mieses was born on February 27, 1865, in Leipzig as a scion of a merchant family. He studied natural sciences (biology, chemistry, physics, and earth sciences, aiming to understand fundamental principles and processes governing the universe, living organisms, and Earth's systems.) In 1882 at the age of 17, he won the Berlin Championship. 

    In 1937, he was nearly killed in a serious car accident and spent almost a year in the hospital. He was affected by World War II and was persecuted by the Nazis, but he managed to escape their clutches and make it to England. When he arrived there in 1938 he had the equivalent of what amounted to about $150 in buying power, but he somehow managed to survive and eventually became a British citizen. 

    Mieses was an international referee and worked as a journalist writing columns and reporting on tournament reports for newspapers across Europe. He also gave a lot of blindfold and simultaneous exhibitions. Although long past his prome, in 1950, FIDE awarded him the GM title and he remained a strong player in his old age. At the age of 88 he took part in the London Blitz Championship.His daily exercise routine included calisthenics, pushups and swimming and remained interested in world events. He died shortly before his 89th birthday on February 23, 1954, in London. 

 

    Today’s game was played in the Congress of the German Chess Association pf 1902 that was played in Hanover. The game is typical of both players…a messy tactical affair. After playing an old fashioned gambit which, by the way, Marshall himself used frequently early in his career, Mieses’ attack isn’t quite strong enough to finish Marshall off. But, when, in a winning position, Marshall played 30…Qc5 he overlooked Mieses’ stunning finish. 

 

ChessBase

Jacques Mieses–Fank Marshall1–0C2113th DSB Kongress (Hanover)21.07.1902Stockfish 17

C21: Danish Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 Black gets slightly better results with 3... d5 4.c4 cxb2 5.xb2 d6 Black has a wide choice of moves here, but this move along with 5...d5 are most often seen. 6.b3 d7 7.c3 c6 8.d5! The position is equal. a5 9.g3 f6 While this shields g7 it would have been safer to eliminate the B. However, the ensuing complications probably could not be calculated OTB. 9...xc4= 10.xg7 xg7 11.xg7 g4 12.xh8 xg2 13.f6+ f8 14.c1 e6 15.xg8+ xg8 16.xg8 xg8 with equak chances. 10.e2 A few years later Mieses found an improvement. 10.b5 c6 11.c3 e7 12.xa5 xd5 13.exd5 cxb5 14.e2 White is better and eventually won. Mieses,J-Berger,J Vienna 1908 10...c6 11.f4 h6 12.c3 b6 13.f3 e7 14.d4 0-0 15.de6 e8 This looks good, but the position is very complicated. Instead of the text which leaves black with a poor, if not lost, position, he should have guarded g7 with 15...Rf7 15...f7 16.d1 f8 17.f3 e7 with equal chances. 16.h5 This is tactically faulty and leaves white with a lost position! 16.xg7 is a winner. xg7 17.h5+ f8 18.xf6 xf6 19.xf6+ f7 20.xh6+ g8 21.f3 and white has won a piece. 16...f8 17.xe8 xe8 18.xf8 xe4+ 19.e2 a6 Stepping up the pressure. 19...Kxf8 was playable, bit not as effective. 20.0-0-0 xe2 21.d4 xg2 22.e1 xf8 23.xe2 d5 24.e3 c4 25.e6+ f7 Voluntarily accepting a pin on the N causes his advantage to disappear. 25...h8 leaves white with no effective continuation. 26.d1 f3 27.de1 c5 Black;s N+4Ps shpuld prove superior to white's R. 26.g4 Black must be careful! f1+ 26...xh2 results in disaster. 27.xg7+! h8 28.xf6 f4+ 29.xf4 xb2 30.f6 d3+ 31.d2 h6 32.xf7+ g8 33.g7# 27.e1 xf2 28.e2 After this black is back in charge. 28.xf6 Of course the B cannot be taken because of the pin on the g-Pawn. It's surprising that two excellent tacticians missed this move. d2+ 29.b1 a3+ 30.a1 and black can draw with 30...Nc2+ or he can try to win with 30...g6 28...f1+ 29.e1 f2 29...f3 Now ...h5 is a strong threat. 30.xf6 g6 31.b2 xb2 32.xb2 g7 Black's Ps should prove to be enough compensation for the exchange. 30.e2 30.xf6 was the only way to keep the balance. d2+ 31.b1 a3+ 32.a1 c2+ 33.b1 a3+ 34.a1 c2+ 35.b1 a3+ 30...c5 Threatening a dangerous looking discovered check, but Mieses is alert to the mate in 4 this move permits! 31.xg7+ h8 31...xg7 32.xf6+ g8 33.g7# 32.g8+ Black resigned. It;s mate in 2 1–0

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Classic Capablanca

    Moscow 1935 was conceived by Nikolai Krylenko, the head of Soviet Chess, to test the Soviet players against the Western players. Eight foreign masters, including two former World Champions, were invited. The joint winners were Botvinnik and Flohr, but in what was hailed as a "biological miracle" the 66-year-old Emanuel Lasker was undefeated and finished just half a point behind them. The biological niriacle was because in Germany in 1935 life expectancy for men was around 60.68 years. This was to be his last great tournament performance. In the following game from that event Capablanca executes a brilliant attack on both sides of the board. 

 

ChessBase

Jose Capablanca–Vyacheslav Ragozin1–0E24Moscow22.02.1935Stockfish 17

E32: Nimzo-Indian 1.d4 f6 2.c4 e6 3.c3 b4 4.a3 This is unusual for Capanlanca who usually preferred 4.Qc2. xc3+ 5.bxc3 d6 Ar this point black has a wide array of choices. Capablanca himself played 5...b6 against Lilienthal at Hastings, 1934 and ended up with an inferior game. 6.c2 White usually plays 6.f3. but the text is equally good. 0-0 7.e4 e5 8.d3 c5 Black hioes that white will play 9.d5 after which qhite's c-Pawns will be suject to attack. 9.e2 c6 10.d5 10.0-0 b6 11.f4 exd4 12.cxd4 cxd4 13.h3 e8 14.b2 equals. Miljkovic,M (2266)-Mitrovic,D (2371) Nis 2009 10...e7 This passive defensive move is often played even today, but a better plan might be eyeung white's weak Ps with 10...Na5 followed by ...b6 and ...Ba6 11.f3 d7 Black is getting himself into a cramped position and here the idea of playing ...f5 is not going to work. 12.h4 This launches a strong K-side attack and so Ragozin devises a startling plan...he is going flee with his K to the Q-side! The problem is that the time consumed with this plan gives white way too much control of the board and he ends up with a commanding position. b6 13.g4 f6 There is nothing at all wrong with this move in itsself, buy it is black's idea to move his K all the way over to the other side of the boatd that is faulty. He is successful in doing so, but in the process he hets a very passive game and allows Caoablanca to improve his position unhendered. Black's chances lie on the Q-side and by placing his K there any P advance will leave it exposed to attack 14.g3 f7 14...d7 is a better plan. Play might continue... 15.0-0 b8 16.h5 a4 17.f4 b5 Even here though white's chances must be considered better. 15.g5 g8 16.f4 e8 17.f5 e7 18.g2 d8 19.h5 This N is headed for e6 via g7. On e6 it will be a great hindrance to black. c7 20.gxf6 gxf6 20...xf6 was somewhat better. 21.xg7 If black trades Qs the N still reaches e6, so... f7 22.h6 xh5 23.xh5 d7 24.g5 White has a dominationg position. He can bring the R on a1 into play with Ra2-g2 etc. 21.g7 d7 22.h5 ac8 23.h6 b8 Success. The only problem is that strategically his position is lost. 24.g1 f7 25.b1 f8 26.e2 a8 A good indication that black is bereft of ideas. 27.h5 e7 28.a2 d8 Ragozin hopes that with his K is tucked away pm a8 it will be safe, but white starts an attack on it there, too. 29.d2 a4 30.b3 b6 30...b8 31.e6 xe6 32.dxe6 b6 33.f7 with a dominating position. 31.a4 Beginning another onslaught on black's K. This innediate threat is to win the N with 32.a5 b8 32.a5 c8 33.a2 f8 34.e3 b6 35.a6 Black's position is simply horrible. With the exception of his Q none of his pieces can move and all he can do is await white's coup de grâce. d8 36.d2 f8 37.b2 d8 38.b1 b5 A desperate attempt to gain breathing room. 39.cxb5 b6 40.a2 Preventing ...Nc4 c4 Creating another weakness om d6 and Capablanca wastes no time in taking advantage of it. But passive play pm b;ack's part is also doomed to failure. 41.a3 c7 42.c1 He has not forgotten about the K-side! f8 43.bg2 b8 44.b4 d8 45.g3 f8 46.e6 xe6 47.dxe6 c7 48.xd6 e7 49.d1 Black resigned. He could play on, but loss is inevitable, so why waste time simply shifting his pieces around? 1–0

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The All Around Hobby Player

    The past week was spent spectating in person and watching on television college basketball (the Akron Zips and the West Virginia Mountaineers), but now that the Mountaineers’ season is over and the Zips don’t play again until Friday it’s time to resume chess activities. 

    Back in December I reviewed the Fritz 19’s personalities that you can play against. The available opponents are: Beginner, Hobby Player, Club Player, Strong Club Player, Master Candidate and Grandmaster. 

    For another test game today I chose Hobby Player. For each opponent you can choose a style: All Around, Aggressive, Swindler, Positional, Timid and Endgame Specialists. I selected All Around. I am guessing the selection I chose plays at the 1400-1500 level. 

    My recent games against the machine seem to confirm the opinion that I reached back in December...the games could very well have been played by a couple of non-Masters. 

    The All Around Hobby Player caught me off guard with the ancient Philidor Defense and although the opening was not one of the main line variations, they were plausible until black’s 6...d5 which did not work out too well, but it’s pointless 7th move was already a losing one. The bot seems to like the Philidor Defense which is known as a solid but passive choice for Black and is probably as good as anything else in amateur play. 

     Once again I must conclude that the Fritz 19 program is a good choice for anyone who wants to play against a computer opponent, wants to play online at Playchess,com, study all phases of the game, annotate games or publish games. It packs a lot of gear for about $100. 

ChessBase

Tartajubow–All Around Hobby Player1–0C41Test Game2025Stockfish 17

C41: Philidor Defence 1.e4 d6 2.d4 e5 3.f3 f6 4.dxe5 xe4 5.c4 c6 6.bd2 d5 Feeble. 6...xd2 7.xd2 d5 8.d3 d7 White has played 9.b4, 9. e6 and 9.c3, all reasonable moves. 7.xe4 a5 Pointless. 7...dxc4 8.e2 e7 9.0-0 0-0 10.d1 c7 11.xc4 White is better developed and has more space, but black's position is tenable. 8.g5 b6 8...e7 9.d6+ f8 10.xe7+ xe7 11.xd5 cxd5 12.xd5 Stockfish gives white a large advantage and Fritz comments the he is clearing winning. In the case of the amateurs involed let's just sat white should win. 9.xd5 Because black is going to win back the piece, I decided on this simply because it picks up a P. Stockfiah says this is not bad, but much less strong than castling. 9.0-0 h6 10.h4 dxe4 11.e6 A nice little tactical shot. xe6 12.e5 Even better than the obvious 12.Bxe6 xc4 13.xc4 c7 Here, too, the engine says white is clear. y winning. 14.g4 9...cxd5 10.xd5 e6 10...xb2 11.d8# 11.d3 d7 11...xb2 12.d8# 12.0-0 Played without hesitation because it's too dangerous to take the P. Actually, the P might as well be captured because 12...h6 13.Be3 isn't a whole lot better. xb2 13.fb1 a3 Now what? White has a winning position, but to be honest at this point I was stumped and couldn't think of any clear way to concinut so just made what seemed to be a neutral move. 14.b5 14.d6+ I considered this, but black can exchange Qs and it didn't seem like a good idea to allow him to do so because his Q is in a bad location on a3 xd6 15.exd6 xd3 16.cxd3 h6 17.e7 b8 18.d4 e5 19.c1 xd3 20.c7 Still, white has a decisive advantage. 14...e7 I came within a whisker of grabbing the b-Pawn, but at the last second noticed the Q is trapped/ 15.c1 15.xb7 is not a disaster though... 0-0 16.d4 xg5 17.xe6 fxe6 18.xd7 e7 19.xe7 xe7 20.b7 and wgite should win the ending. 15...xf3 seems better. 15...b4 16.xb4 xb4 17.e3 0-0 White has a Q+P vs. R material advantage. 16.gxf3 0-0 17.xb7 Here white has a Q+P vs. B mterial advantage. ab8 18.a7 a8 19.e3 h3 Black has some piece activity, but is down too much material to claim any compensation. But...this move was seanky; I didn;t suspect anything. My problem now is to activate my pieces. 20.d2 a6 21.b7 Safer was 21.Kh1 h5 Pointless. It takes black a couple of move to play the R to g6/ 22.ab1 fa8 23.f4 g6+ 24.g5 24.h1 This hasty move would not be a tital disaster thanks to white's big material advantahe. g2+ 25.g1 xe4+ 26.f1 xc2 27.xd7 xb1 28.b3 f5 29.xe7 f8 30.xa5 24...f5 25.h1 a4 26.f3 26.e6 was even stronger. xe6 27.xe6 xe6 28.f3 26...g4 27.d5 f8 28.e6 28.xd7 was even stronger. xg5 29.fxg5 xd7 30.xd7 e6 31.b7 Black is out of useful moves. 28...f6 29.exf7+ Here I decided to retun the Q just to simplify matters. h8 30.xe7 30.d3 h6 31.xe7 h4 32.c3 h5 33.xf6 xg5 34.fxg5 h5 35.f5 xf7 36.xf7 e8 37.g6 e1+ 38.xe1 gxf6 39.h7# 30...xd5 31.e8 31.b8 mates in 11 f3+ 32.g1 xg5+ 33.fxg5 xb8 34.e8+ h7 34...xe8 35.fxe8+ h7 36.g6# 35.xb8 g6 36.f8 f6 37.gxf6 d5 38.fxg7 f7 39.b6+ f5 40.xf7+ e4 41.b4+ e5 42.f4# 31...xg5 32.xf8+ h7 Why not 33.fxg5 woulf be a good question and I can't answer it! 33.h4 Rh8+! would kill now. f3+ 34.h2 f5 35.bb8 g6 Now I realized the P won;t Q and so had to come up woth a different plan. 36.b5 xf7 37.f5+ xf5 38.xf5 xf5 39.c4 And here I did something we are unable to do in games agasinst live opponents...I resigned for black. 1–0

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Still One of the Best in the Country

    In 1969, Robert Fischer had a USCF rating of 2755 which placed him well over 100 points ahead of the 58-year-old Samuel Reshevsky who was followed by Pal Benko, Larry Evans, Lubomir Kavalek, William Lombardy, Robert Byrne, William Addison, Arthur Bisguier and Walter Browne. 

    In the absence of Fischer, Reshevsky’s undefeated victory in the 1969 US Championship, which was also a Zonal, showed that the old veteran was still one of the best players in the country. 

    If it was a Zonal, why wasn’t Fischer playing even though it meant he would not have a shot at the World Championship again until 1975? The short answer is that he was being a snot. 

    In a letter to Ed Edmondson, the Executive Director of the USCF, in which Fischer declined his invitation, he accused Edmondson of lying about the previous championship and, also, he (Fischer) believed the championship had to be 22 rounds just like the Soviet, Hungarian and other East European countries. They took chess seriously over there plus the small number of players in the US Championship made it too risky...one loss could cost you the title or you could miss qualifying. 

    It had been a long dry spell for Reshevsky who had last won the championship in 1946! Second place finisher William Addison and third-place finisher Pal Benko also qualified for the Interzonal. Nevertheless, thanks to Edmondson’s negotiations Benko stepped aside and Fischer was allowed to take his place and the rest was history.

 

    The following game is Reshevsky’s snappy first round win over Dr. Karl Burger. Owing to Addison’s surprising play, Reshevsky didn’t take the lead until round 9 and then held on to it. Going into the last round he was a half point ahead of Addison so to make sure he got a spot in the Zonal, he offered his opponent, Larry Evans a quick draw. Evans declined and ended up losing while Addison defeated William Lombardy to take second. 

     Reshevsky's first round opponent was Karl Burger (1933-2000, 67 years old), a physician and an IM who also had two GM norms (three were required for the title). This was his only US Championship appearance, but at one time he had been Bobby Fischer’s teacher at the Manhattan Chess Club. 

    The game feature an oft-played variation that poses problems for black starting at move 12! Burger lost because he failed to activate his Q-side pieces. In the last 12 moves of the game Burger had to make 6 Queen moves. 

ChessBase

Samuel Reshevsky–Dr. Karl Burger1–0E56US Champ/Zonal, New York, 1969Stockfish 17

E56: Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein 1.d4 f6 2.c4 e6 3.c3 b4 4.e3 0-0 5.d3 c5 6.f3 d5 7.0-0 c6 8.a3 dxc4 9.xc4 a5 10.d3 Reshecsjy often played 10.Qd3 e7 Here 10...cxd4 is better 10...h6 This is probably black's best move. 11.c2 cxd4 12.exd4 c7 13.d3 e5 equals. Almasi,Z (2689) -Quesada Perez,Y (2608) Havana CUB 2013 11.e4 xe4 11...cxd4 12.exd4 h6 13.e3 d8 14.xf6+ xf6 was soon drawn in Balashov,Y (2470)-Uddenfeldt,D (2339) Rhodes GRE 2019 12.xe4 b6 12...d8 13.a4 b6 14.dxc5 xc5 15.b4 c4 16.c2 xc2 17.xc2 f6 18.b2 e5 19.b3+ ½-½ Lukacs,P (2420) -Luczak,A (2440) Lodz 1979 12...cxd4 13.exd4 is OK, but black must keep an eye on the possibility of Bxh7+ d7 White is better after 14.b4 and 15.b5, but the time is not quite ripe for the B sacrifice although it is playable. 14.xh7+ xh7 15.g5+ and black has only one equalizing defense which has been pointed out in similar positions by Vladimir Vukovic in his excellent book Art of Attack in Chess. g6 15...g8 16.h5 xg5 17.xg5 16.d3+ f5 17.g3 with roughly equal chances. 13.dxc5 xc5 It would have been safer to play 13...Bxc5. Now black's Q is harassed. In either case though white has a strong iitiative. 14.b4 c4 The text loses time so 14...Qg5 was probably a better choice. 15.d2 c3 16.a2 This threatens to win with Bb2. d8 17.c2 White is really pushing. e5 18.b2 g5 19.e2 e7 Closing off the Bs diagpnal with 19...e5 was worth considering. 19...e5 20.f3 h5 and, at least, black has defensive possibilities. 20.f4 At this point white's position can be considered a winning one. h6 21.c4 f5 A desperate attempt to block the B, but now black loses by force. It males little difference because he is lost no matter when he plays. 22.xb6 axb6 23.c7 fxe4 24.xe7 d7 25.e8+ f7 26.h8 Black resigned. The main threat from this curious move is the infiltration into his position bt white's Rs. 26.h8 e7 27.c1 h4 28.cxc8 xc8 29.xc8 d7 30.d4 with an easy win. 1–0

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A Brilliant Giuoco Piano by Rossolimo

    GM Robert Byrne of Indianapolis, Indiana scored 6.5-0.5 on the first Puerto Rico Open held May 28-June 3 in Rio Piedras, acommercial and residential district in San Juan. Bernard Zuckerman finished second with 6-1. Sixteen-year-old Puerto Rican Champion Julio Kaplan and GM Nicholas Rossolimo headed a group with 5.5-1.5. 

    The sensation of the tournament was Nicolas Rossolimo’s brilliant Queen sacrifice in his game against Puerto Rican Master Paul Reissmann which was reminiscent of Marshall famous Queen sacrifice against Levitsky at Breslau, 1912. See the game HERE 

    In addition to being a brilliancy, the game is also an instructive example of opening play. Inexperienced players have all surely read that unnecessary Pawn moves in the opening delay the development of pieces and can have drastic consequences. Even so, they are still prone to waste time with moves like a3 (or ...a6) and h3 (or ...h6) in the belief that they are thereby securing their position against possible attacks by their opponent’s N or B. However, such moves are often mistakes unless there is a specific reason for them. 

    Pawn moves in the opening are a means of developing the pieces, but Pawns also play an important part in controlling the center. Watch how Rossoilimo does it using one of his favorite opening, the Giuoco Piano, one of the oldest recorded openings. Even so, Reissmann has the antidote that keeps the position equal, but he soon plays too passively and Rossolimo’s position just keeps getting stronger until it explodes with a Queen sacrifice. 

    Dating back to the 16th century, the Giuoco Piano was popular through the 19th century, but refinements for black pretty much put the kibosh on it at the top levels except as a surprise weapon. 

ChessBase

Nicolas Rossolimo–Paul Reissmann1–0C54Puerto Rican Open, San Juan, 1967Stockfiah 17

C54: Giuoco Piano 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.c4 It's interesting that in my database white's winning percentage remains about the same with this or the Ruy Lopez (a little over 30%), but black's winning percentage changes significantly. With the Ri Lopez it's 20%. With the Giuoco Piano it jumps to 28%. c5 4.c3 f6 White's last move did not aid his development so black takes the opportunity to get his pieces into play. This move, attacking the e-Pawn, is clearly his best. 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 b4+ Best. Black dare not play 6...Bb6 because wite would then gain time as well as space in the center with 7.d5 6...d5 Falls short after 7.exd5 b4+ 8.c3 xd5 9.0-0 Black has to capture on c3 and whether he does it with the B or the N white has the better game/ 7.d2 xd2+ Safer than 7...Nxe4 which gets tricky tactically, 7...xe4 8.xb4 xb4 Now 9.Qb3 d5 is solid, but white can get fancy with 9.xf7+ xf7 10.b3+ f8 11.xb4+ e7 12.xe7+ xe7 and things have fizzled out to equality. 8.bxd2 It would appear that white has now achieved the ideal and strong Pawn center he was aiming for, but black's next move is a strong counterattacking move that shatters the illusion that white has a dominating position. d5 This is the most precise way to counter in the center. He could also play the tricky 8...Nxe5 though. 9.exd5 xd5 10.b3 White has an isolated d-Pawn which could be a disadvantage in the ending, so he must post his pieces as actively as possible and hope to attack. ce7 11.0-0 c6 Black is playing to keep control of the vital square d5.. 12.fe1 0-0 13.a4 This position has been reached many times and white has tried a variety of moves, but the text dates back to the late 1800s when the imaginative Russian Mikhail Chigorin played it. b6 Black usually plays either 13...Qc7 or 13...Qb6, but neither is entirely satisfactory. Opening theoretician Czech GM Ludek Pachman asserted that 13... b6 (a new move at the time) contained the seeds of defeat, but a thourough engine analysis shows an evaluation of 0.00, meanign, not that the position is drawn, but that both side have chances. That said, from the practical point of view white's position looks more promising and it;s certainly easier to play 14.e5 White's pieces arc extremely active and he is entertaining 15.Nxc6 Nxc6 17.Bxd5 b7 Oddlym it is this, the logical followup to 13...b6,cwhere black's troubles begin. 14...e6 15.df3 15.e4 f6 16.f3 f7 17.g3 d7 18.ac1 fb8 19.d1 a5 equals. Pereyra,H (2072)-Mazziotti Irigoyen,G (2149) Los Polvorines 2003 15...h6 16.ac1 b8 17.a3 e8 equals. Pereyra,H (2072)-Mazziotti Irigoyen,G (2238) ARG 2003 15.a5 Threatening 16. a6 Bc8 17.Nxc6 c8 16.e4 White's pieces are all well positioned. Compare then to black's: His 14th move has left a pathe to f7 for his N and blacl,s K-side is befreft of defenders. c7 Another small mistake. The R should have moved here in order to make c8 available to the N. 17.a6 Forcing the B to the most remote corner where it can be of no use during the looming attack on the K. a8 18.h3 The centralized Ns are a major factor in white's attack on the K. There is a looming threat of 19.Ng5 h6 20.Nxf7 f4 A pass to illustrate the threat. 18...b8 19.g5 h6 20.exf7 xf7 21.xf7 xf7 22.e6+ f8 23.a3 The addition of this R to the attack spells the end. 19.g4 ed5 20.a3 The last undeveloped piece joins the action. e6 This mistake allows white to pull his beautiful finish. 20...c5 offers some hope of defending himself. 21.g3 g6 22.f6+ xf6 23.xf4 d5 24.xd5 xd5 25.h4 21.xd5 The start of the winning attack...it removes a defender of f6. cxd5 22.f6+ h8 23.g6 White has a number of ways to win, but this move is both brilliant and strong. There is no playable defense.. c2 23...gxf6 24.xf6+ g7 25.g3 g8 26.xf7+ xf7 27.xf7 c6 28.xa7 wins 23...g5 24.xg5 d6 25.eg4 c6 26.h3 gxf6 27.h6 mates 24.h3 There is no way of avoiding mate in 7 24.h3 g5 25.xg5 gxf6 26.xf6+ g8 27.g4 h5 28.xh5 h7 29.xh7 xh7 30.h6+ g8 31.f6# 1–0

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