TV Chess

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Citation preview

By George Koltanowski

Produced by

kged

Copyright

© 1968

by Bay Area Educational Television Assn.

Dedicated to my devoted wife Leah

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GAME OF THE YEAR All experts agree that the win by Mikhael Botvinnik of the USSR against Laj os Portisch of Hungary, played at the Monaco International was the most beautiful game of the year. Mikhae l Botvinnik was champion of the world from 1 946 to 1 96 0lost and regained the title twice , and in 1 963 lost the title to Tigram Petrosian, of the USSR. Since a few years now , Botvinnik is back in action, namely in tournaments, and at the age of 57 is sti l l conside red one of the stronge st competitors , and in fact, in single games can be conside red the stronge st of them all ! HERE IS THE GAME IN QUESTION: White : Botvinnik

Black: Portisch

ENGLISH OPENING 1. P-QB4 P-K4 2. N-QB3 N-KB3 3. P-KN3 The Rus sians have brought this style of play into fashion in many of the openings nowadays . The usual line used to be: 3. N-B3, N- B3 ; 4 . P-Q4, PxP; 5 . NxP, B-N5 . Korchnoi and Smys lov, two outstand­ ing USSR Grandmaste rs , even lean towards the double-fianchettoing of the Bis hops on KN2 and QN2. (As long as they are succe s sful , one must conside r the idea good. ) 3. P-Q4 4. PxP NxP B-K3 5 . B-N2 6. N- B3 N- B3 6. P-KB3 has been tried here , without too much succe s s 7 . 0-0 N-N3 Played with the idea of holding P.:-Q4 back for White . 8. P-Q3 B-K2 9. P-QR3 P-QR4 5 •

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So far so good. This is all "book" stuff. With his last move , Black stops White from playing P- QN4, at the e xpense of weakening his Q' side. Both players are known for their knowledge of the English Opening, thus what follows should be of great intere st to the theori­ ticians . 10. B-K3 0- 0 11. N-QR4 11. BxN, or 11. P- Q4 or even 1 1 . R- Bl , have been tried before . Botvinnik' s new idea is to occupy the QB square with his K' s Rook. (In the game Clarke - Penrose , British Championship, 1 956 , there followed : 11. R- Bl , Q-Q2 ; 12 . N- QR4 , NxN; 13 . QxN, KR-Ql ; with an equal position. ) NxN 11. 1 2. QxN B- Q4 Strives for P- K5, eventually, but never achieves it. 13 . KR-Bl R- Kl Portisch maintains that this move is the bad one , and helps him lose the game. But if you take a good look at the position you will see that Black has serious problems . If for example 1 3 P- B4 ; 1 4 . Q- N5, threatens NxKP. .

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B- Bl 14. R- B2 1 5. Rl-QBl N- Nl Black hope s for 16 . RxP, as B-B3 would gain the exchange . If White doe s not take the BP, than P-QB3 consolidate s the Q ' s side . But somehow one has the feeling that he should have played 15 P-K5 anyway. If 16 . PxP, RxP; 17. Q-N5, threatens 18. R-Q2 ; or 16 BxP ; 17. R-Q2 , and White has a definite pull. Now Portisch, who had wandered away from his board, fee ling confident that he was out of his miserable position, upon returning to hi s table received a shock, when he saw his opponent play: 16. RxP •

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Position after Black' s 15th move:

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Botvinnik must have calculated further than his opponent. He must have seen that Black can and will play.B- B3. Now instead of forgetting about the taking of the QBP, White asked him self, what happens once I DO have the Rook on QB7. Can it achieve anything if I sacrifice the exchange (RBlxB) ? I get at least a Bishop and pawn for the Rook, plus attack. Now if I could get an­ other pawn, it might work out all right; also, I must see that the rook on QB7 can­ not be trapped. " AND BY LOOKING DEEPER IN THE POSITION, ideas are born, plans are made , and combinations can be brought 6

about. BUT NOTHING C AN BE LE FT TO C HANC E. And this game proves that there is such a thing as s eeing deeper in the position. Portisch, like m any others, never dreamed that his wily opponent would find a weak link in his strong bastion. B- B3 16. 1 7. R1xB Expected PxR 1 7. . 18. RxKBP UNEXPECTED and the key to White' s plan and time consuming com­ bination. One can easily s ee that the Rook cannot be taken : 18 KxR; 19. Q- B4ch, R-K3; 20. N- N5ch; etc ; or 1 9 K-N3 ; 20. N-N5; (threatens Q- B7ch) Q- B3; 21. B- K4ch, K- R4, K- R4; 22. B- B3ch, K- N3 ; 23, · B- R5ch, KxB; 24. Q- R4ch, K-N3; 25. QxP mate. The line chosen by Portis ch leave s White with two pawns and a Bishop for his Rook, with a strong position. ·18 . P- R3 19. �-N7 Q- B1 K- R1 20. Q- B4ch 21. N- R4 With this quiet m ove Botvinnik leaves his Rook " en-prise". Mate can be executed with the Queen and minor pieces, too. 21. . . .. QxR Black has a hopeles s position anyway. So he takes and looks on. K- R2 22. N- N6ch 23. B-K4 Threatens 24 . N-K7ch, and Q- N8 mate. 23. . . . . B- Q3 P- N3 24 . NxPch If now 24 . ... K- R1; 25. N-B7ch. 25. BxPch K- N2 26 . BxPch Further evidence of genius at work. No beating about the bush with Botvinnik. If 26 KxB; 27. Q- R4ch, K-N2; 28 . Q- R7ch, e tc . ; or 26 K- B3 ; 27. Q- B4ch, K- K3 ; 28. B- B7ch, K-K2; 29. Q-N5 mate; and finally, 26 K- R1; 27. N- B7ch, K- Nl; 28. NxBch, etc. Portisch re signed here. Don' t you agree with the masters as to the beauty of this game? •

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CH ESS PROMOTION AT ITS BEST

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FRED LAZARD I was in my 'teens when I met the well-dres sed, stocky French­ m an. He looked like a wine merchant to me and I felt flattered when he challenged me to a match of five gam es . He had entertained a number of us at the Antwerp Ches s Club with som e of his beautiful ches s prob lems and especially end-gam e c om­ positions . Then the challenge occurred. I felt sure I would be beaten badly. I pulled the white pieces and after the opening,' which was poorly handled by Fred Lazard, went ahead to win �ith ease. I won the match 3-1 and 1 draw. Here is the third game: White: G. K.

Black: Fred Lazard

1. P- K4 , P-K4; 2. N- KB3 , P-Q3; 3. P-Q4, N- Q2; 4. B- QB4, B-K2; 5. PxP, PxP ? (NxP ! ); 6 . Q-Q5, Black resigns. But my esteem and respect for Monsieur Lazard grew over the years . His compositions were always a pleasure to s olve and a num­ ber of these gave us s ome really rough times solving them . Fred was born in Marseilles on Feb. 20, 1889, and died in Ves­ inet on Nov. 1 8 , 1948, after a long and painful illnes s . There was no question i n anyone' s mind that h e had the makings of a great player, but he never really worked that bard over a game, using all his talent in composing his wonderful endings . He never came out first in the French C hampionship matches but had a lot of fun playing in them . He composed around 6 00 problem s and studies and i n 1929 he published a book "Mes Problemes et Etudes d'Echec s " with an intro­ duction by Dr. Alexander Alekhine. He won many prizes in compos ing tourneys and was a much sought-after judge for international competitions . Here are just a few of Master Lazard's compositions. I hope you enj oy them . I know I did. 10

No. 1

No . 2

White to play and win .

White to play and win.

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3

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4

White to play and win .

White to play and win.

No . 6

No . 5

White to play and draw .

White to play and draw . Has a Reti ide a behind it .

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No. 7

No. 8

White t o play and draw .

White to play and draw . No. 9

No. 10

White to play and draw .

White to play and win.

Solutions on Pa ge 9 3 .

Lugano, Sw itzerland, 196 8

Photo by Alex Crisovon, Zurich Left to R i ght: Geor ge Koltanow s ki and Ed Edm ondson 12

THE GREAT DANE I remember meeting Aron Nim zow itch during a tournament in E ngland. His gray hair was all in d isor de r , and he peere d at me mildly through small steel-rimmed glas s e s . He looke d like a timi d che s splaye r -but s o much for appearances ! For Nimzowitch was the Gran dm aster who , after losing a tournament gam e , jum ped on the table and shouted to all in the room : "Why must I lose to such an idio t ! ! ? " It was he who prote ste d bitterly to a tour nament director about the smoki ng of his opponent. " But he isn't," proteste d the director. " True , " replie d the furious Nimz o . " But he m i ght ! " There wo uld not be any such stories about this Dane , had he not been a truly great che s s p layer. His book, " My Sys tem , " i s hard to under s tand but the chapter on " Overprotection" alone is w orth the pr ice of the volum e . Nimzowitch was c r itic ize d for the pecul iar way he treate d the opening play for both Whi te and B lack, but he left his mark in m o de rn che s s . We have another Dane who is i n the forefront of international che s s an d who has set him se l f the alm ost impos s ible task of becom ing Champion of the World . Bent Larsen was bor n in Tisten, Denmark, in 1 935 and has been a Grandmaster for the last ten ye ars . In 1 95 8 , at the Inte rzonals i n Portoro z, Yugoslav ia, h e announce d that he woul d win the world's title . Almos t ten years later, he con­ fided to me that he was much closer to that title than ever before . In 1967 he receiv ed the " Player of the Year" awar d from the Spanish Che s s Fe deration, and he is the first player in the world to win five major international che ss tournaments in a row. His style is or iginal . Rather than study all the latest noveltie s b y the Rus sians , he has wor ke d on i deas of his own and w ith great succ e s s . H e has beaten s om e of the bes t, as i n the second Piatigorsky T ou rnament at Santa Monica in 1966 . Yet he cons is tently fails to s c ore sweeping victor ies because he hate s to accept draws. He fre ­ quently tires him self out trying to win pos itions that cannot be won. Bent tells me that nothing has dimmed his Ehrge iz (r oughly, "will to win" ). The shade of the combative Nim zow itch seem s to be w ith him . 13

Larsen has written a bookle t for club-players on how the Ruy Lope z should be played for Black. It has become a be s t seller in Germany and Denmark. Let' s hope there will be an English transla­ tion of it soon. He plays jus t as hard to win with the Black piece s as he doe s with the White , and claims that it is utter nonsense for a Grand­ master to play for a safe draw when he has the Black piece s . All-well, almost all-ches s players are superstitious. If, at the s tart of a tournament, a player wins a game, he is unlikely to put on anothe r tie until he loses a game. Few Grandmasters would walk under a ladder deliberately. Should you see an unshaven Bent Larsen in a tournament, do not be lieve him when he says , as he doe s , that his razor is out of orde r. Those whiskers mean that Bent is on a winning spree-and he is not taking.chance s by shaving them off! If, some other year, Larsen doe s win the world title, we will have the first undisputed bearded Champion of the World. Here are some of Larsen's openings from the Interzonal in Sous se : Portisch - Larsen: 1. N- KB3, P-Q3; 2. P-Q4 , B-N5 ; 3. P- B4 , P- KN3 ; 4 . Q-N3 , Q- Bl ; 5 . P- KR3 , BxN; 6 . QxB, B-N2. Larsen-Geller : 1 . P-K4, P- QB4; 2. N- KB3 , P-Q3 ; 3. B- N5ch, B-Q2; 4. P-QB4, N- KB3; 5. P- K5 , PxP ; 6. NxP. Larsen-Mecking: 1. P- KN3 , P- KN3 ; 2. B- N2, B- N2; 3. P-QB4, N- KB3; 4 . N- QB3 , 0- 0; 5. P- Q4, P-Q3; 6 . N- B3 , P-B4; 7. PxP, PxP; 8. 0-0, N- B3; 9. B- B4 . Larsen- Suttles : 1 . P-K4 , P- KN3; 2. P- KB4 , B- N2; 3. N- KB3, P- QB4; 4. P-Q3; 5 . B- K2. Larsen-Ivkov: 1. P- KN3, P- K4; 2. B- N2, P-Q3; 3. P- K4 , N-QB3; 4 . N- K2, P- B4; 5. P-Q3 , P- KN3 ; 6 . P-QB4, B- N2; 7 . Nl- B3. I feel that he leans heavily on the English Opening (1 . P-QB4) idea when he has the White pieces . But with Black, he relie s mostly on the Nim zo- Indian Defense against the Queen' s Gambit (1. P-Q4, N- KB3; 2. P-QB4, P- K3; 3. N-QB3 , B-N5) , and the Alekhine De­ fense against the King's Pawn Opening (1 . P- K4 , N-KB3) .

Be nt Larsen

Larsen vs. Larry Kaufman, U. S. Open, Snowman, Colo., 1 9 6 8 . 14

THE OPTIMISTIC DANE Denmark' s Bent Lar sen has pl ayed che s s s i nce he was s ev en year s old, and r ec eived his Grandmas ter ti tle after maki ng the b es t re su lt on Board One at the 1956 Moscow Olympic s. Of him s elf and hi s c ar eer he has thi s to say , in the spring of 196 8 : "Ch es s is m y profes s ion. I am m y own b os s ; I am free . I lik e liter atur e and music , clas sic al e spec ially. I am in fac t qui te n ormal. I h ave a Bohem i an pr ofession without being myself a Bohemian. I am neither a c onform is t nor a gr eat r evolution ary. " Wi th vic tories in thr ee of 1 967 ' s and two in 1 96 8 's bigge st tournamen ts, Lars en has onc e agai n es tabli shed him self in the for e­ fr ont of the gr oup of c ontend ers f or the ti tl e of W or ld Champio n. Q. Who, in your judgment, ar e the principal c ontender s for the World Championship? A. I beli ev e I hav e a go od chanc e. Among th e others , I would name Korchnoi and Fi sch er. Q. Haven't y ou forgotten Ewfim Geller? A. No, I have forgotten nobody, Geller l eas t of all . Certainly h e i s a fighter and highly e xperienc ed. Yet he i s a littl e too old and I h av e beaten hi m several tim es. Mikhail Tal has troubl e wi th hi s he al th. When he r ec ov ers, he will again be among the s tr ongest in th e w orld. As for Bori s Spa ssky, he is at a tur ning p oi nt. He seem s to be pl ayi ng c on trary to hi s in stincts. Q. How do you vi ew your 1967 re sul ts ? A. At the start of the year I was ou t of f orm : Four th at b oth Bev erwijk and Monac o. However, I c ame o n to wi n the impor tant tour nam ent at H ava na and to ti e Darga in Winnipeg. Q. At Mo nac o, you h ad promis ed novel tie s for the Interzonal. A. Yes, I w as well-prepared ! As to theor etical novelti es , i t i s not difficult t o unc over them c onstantly. Th e game o f ches s i s v ery rich in p ossibili ties . A l arge p art of "th eory" is really no such thing, but r ath er a c oll ec ti on of di spar ate elem en ts which prac tice has brought to light. I h av e no p ar ticular pr eferenc e for on e ope ni ng or ano theT. I pl ay s ev eral, and so take my opponents by surpris e ! Q. What do you think of Fi sche r ' s l ates t pr onounc em en t, that Botvi nnik and Petrosian are weak? 15

A. I love people who have conv ic tions and the courage to expre ss them . Bes ide s , it is a long time no w s ince Pe tros ian has playe d we ll. He is no t much of a Wor ld Champi on. Ye t I do greatly adm ire Botvinn ik for remaining am ong the bes t in the wor ld desp ite his being to o old to lo ok forwar d to further succe sses . Q. Was there at one time a pe tros ian "m yth" ? A. Ye s . But the W orld Champ ion's so lidi ty, which was the foundation of this myth, has now become his weakne s s . Q. Bent Larsen has become kn own a s the "scourge of the Rus ­ s ians , " has he no t? A. There is nobody e lse but m e . There is Fischer -but F ischer has los t many games aga ins t E wfim Gelle r. Many p layers fear the Rus s ians . I don't quite un derstand why. Q . Ye t the " Sov ie t School" has made its mark A. The " Sov ie t Sch ool" does not exis t! There are S ov ie t players ­ Tal, Spassky, Pe tros ian, Ste in , Botv innik, and so on -but these dif­ fer from one an other in the ir s tyle of play. It is jus t a go od book title , nothing m ore . One might as we ll say there is a Danish scho ol as a Sov ie t sch ool. An d indee d s ome spec ialis ts like to see a c onnec tion be tween Nim zov ich an d Larsen. Q. What doe s che s s represent for you? A. F or me, che ss is at the same time a game , a sp or t, a s c ience and an ar t. And perhaps even more than that. There is s ome thing har d to exp lain to those who do no t know the game we ll. One mus t firs t learn to play it correc tly in order later to savor i ts richnes s . .

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PLAYED A T THE 1 96 7 HAVANA TOURNAMENT WHITE : Bent Larsen 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 1 0. 11. 12. 13. 14 . 15 .

P- QB4 N-KB3 N- B3 P-K4 P- Q4 B-K3 P-KR3 P-Q5 N-Q2 P-KR4 P-R5 PxNP B xN Q-K2 0-0-0

BLACK: Silvino Garc ia

N- KB3 P-KN3 B-N2 P-Q3 0 -0 QN-Q2 (a) P-K4 N-B4 (b) N- K1 P-B4 N-B3 (c ) PxNP PxB P-R3 Q-Q3

16. 1 7. 18. 1 9. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24 . 25. 26. 2 7. 28. 2 9. 30. 16

P-KN3 B-R3 QR-K1 KPxP KBPxP RxB QR-R1 P-B3 Q-R2 RxN QNxP N-B4 PxR P-B5 K-B2

B-Q2 P- QN4 P-B3 BPxP BxB NPxP P-K5 PxP N-R4 QxP (3 ) QR- K1 RxN R-K7 BxPch res i gns

(a) Also an immediate 6 P-K4 is quite playable . (b) And now 8 N-K1 could have been played immediate ly. Black' s routine maneuver with the Queen ' s Knight serve s no purpose in this position. (c) The decisive mistake according to Larsen. The Queen' s Knight should have retreated to R3 o r Q2. .

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WHITE : Bent Larsen

BLACK:

Bednarski

J.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15 . 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21 .

P- K4 P-QB4 22. N-N6 NxN 23. PxN N-KB3 P-Q3 Q-Q2 24 . QxP P-B4 B-N5ch B-Q2 PxR 25. B- B3 (g) N- KB3 P-QR4 (a) B- B1 26 . Q- K5 P-K3 (b) P-Q3 K- B2 27. Q- R8 ch 0- 0 B- K2 Q- B4 (h) 28 . R- B1ch P-K5 PxP PxR 29. RxQch NxP P-QR3 (c) K- N1 3 0. Q- B6 ch BxBch QNxB K- B2 3 1 . Q- N5ch NxN QxN K- N1 N-Q2 3 2. QxPch 0- 0 N- B4 33. Q-N5 ch K- B2 N- Q4 P- R5 (d) 34. Q- B6ch KR- K1 K- N1 3 5. Q-R8 ch KR- K1 B-B1 K- B2 B-Q2 K-K3 36. QxPch QR-Q1 R-K4 K-Q3 Q- B2 3 7. QxPch Q- B3 R-Q2 P- K4 (e ) 38. QxP Q- K2 K- K3 P- B3 39. QxP P- B4 4 0. P- N7ch B- Q3 B- K2 QR- K1 (f) 4 1 . Q- B4ch resigns P- KN3 Q- B3 PxP (a) The idea of this se ldom-played move is to take advantage of Black' s weakened Queen- side if he force s the exchange of Bi shops by P-QR3. (b) A more active line of play is 5 N- B3 fol lowed by 6 P- KN3. (c) This is doubtful for the reason indicated above . 7 0- 0 lookes better. (d) Drawing a bead on Black ' s weakened QN3. (e ) This leads only to a further weakening. (f) Not 20. PxP be cause of 20 P- B4. (g) This surprising Rook sacrifice wins qui ckly, though Black is slow to res ign. (h) The only way to avoid mate . .

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FROM THE TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR'S POINT OF VIEW A fe w years ago a popular book was " Brinkmanship in games and sports " which gave you hints on how to win without actually "play­ ing". At least you could try ! Che ss was included in the treatise. But the youth of today has ideas of its own and the whole psycho logical structure of che ss tournaments has changed. Even an old hand like I am in directing large and important tournaments has to keep his eye s and ears open and alert at all times to avert great tragedies happening during play. For the readers info rmation, here are some of the important rules of tournament play: When you touch a pie ce you have to move it. " Piece touche piece jou�. '' as the French say. The players have to make a certain number of move s in a special spe cified time. In the U. S. Open it is usually 5 0 move s in 2 1/2 hours of play. Thus, if you wish, you can take two hours fo r one move , but you must see to it that you have m ade the othe r 49 move s in the remaining half hour or you lose your game . A che s s clock comprises two timers. After you make your move , you pre s s down a button on your s ide of the timer which s tops your clock and starts your opponent' s clock. No player is allowed to s top the clock during play. Only the tourna­ ment director has that right. Playe rs are not allowed to "kibitz"* at any time. Neither are spectators allowed to say anything. Players are supposed to write down the game, so that a control is the re re­ garding the number of move s made . A copy of the game is handed in to the T. D. when the game is over. That shows who has won, los t, or if the game was drawn. What are some of the odd things that happened in the good old days ? There ' s the time at Oklahoma City in 1956 when Bobby Fischer would go into a corner and cry his heart out when he los t a game in the Open. In Manhe im , Germany, in 1 922 Carl Carls of Germany, a great exponent of the English Opening (1. P-QB4 ) found that when he wanted to make his first pawn move he could not do so. The pawn had been glued to the board ! It made him furious and it cos t him the game that day ! *Kibitz -to act as a meddle some spe ctator. 18

Michael Botvinnik was very thorough in his training for world che s s . Smoking is not permitted in Rus s ian Che s s tournaments , but it is everywhere else. Botvinnik had seconds blow cigarette smoke in his face during training. But le t me tell you of some incidents of a different nature that have happened at U. S. Opens . A player came complaining to m e that h e had just been mated by a rook, and that he prote s ted the outcome. " ? ? ? , " he had me flabbergas ted. His 20-year-old opponent had a long wild beard and he had, so c laimed my informant, "covered his rook with his beard" and then, when it was his turn to move , had lifted his beard and mated with the "hidden" rook ! Could I have ordered all to shave off their beards if they wore one ? A mas ter player found that he had a los t game. So he tried something old. He put his Queen, completely unguarded, onto a square where it could be taken by his opponent' s queen. That was his last hope. If his opponent would not realize the futility of the move , he (the master) would grab the opposing Queen. No harm trying. His opponent took his Queen without hesitating. The maste r then got up and told his opponent, "Well played" and walked away. Elated, his opponent stopped the clock. Whereupon the master player came to me and claimed the game ! His opponent had stopped the clock when it was his turn to move . I'd neve r heard of such a claim before , when one is three pieces down and is of master s trength ! When turned down, the "mas ter" resigned. A new trick that came to light here was when a player had a lost game, he would walk out of the room without re signing. (That is nothing new , and has been done by many masters of the past. Not true sportsmanship, but what can one do about it? ) The new trick of a couple of youngsters was that if his opponent, realizing that he had to wai t for the time to run out before he could claim the game, went looking at other boards , the youngs ter would slip back into the room and make his move , and have his opponents clock runni ng, then once again disappear from the room . The hope ? That the so­ called winner would not realize that HIS clock was running and thus lose the won game if he did not check his board and clock in time ! This was tried twice , but after it was exposed to all the participants this practice was stopped. One young lad tried to imitate a famous master. When he los t his game, he swiped all the pieces off the board. One warning, and he neve r tried that again ! Many are the complaints of players claiming that the opponent has touched a piece, but did not move it. If there are no witnesses it is hard to impose any rule . For a numbe r of years I had one participant in the se tournaments who would claim in almost 19

every game he played that his opponent did NOT move the pie ce he touched. Why ? He did it only to irritate his opponent. It might help beat him ! In connection with the above, in the final round a playe r picked his bishop and held it ove r hi s opponents rook for a few minute s . This bishop, i f it took the rook, could be recaptured b y a knight. The bishop could also check his opponents King. He did neither. He just hovered over the opponents rook for a long time, and then set his bishop on the side of his board. His opponent thereupon took hi s own rook off the board and placed his knight on that square . That i s when the squabble s tarted. The bishop m an claimed the game , as he had NOT m ade his move yet and had not punched the clock. On checking to find out if the bishop had, touched the rook, I saw that the bishop was not placed ON the board, but stood on the side . " How come ? " I asked. " I can do what I please, " answered the cocky bishop player, "as long as my clock is running, I can even put the bishop in my pocket. " "NOT SO, '' was my ruling. "We play on the 64 squares, and NOT outside it. " " In that case , he has to interpose the knight when I check him with my bishop, " was the young m an's argu­ ment. (This so he could take the rook for nothing afterwards . ) NOT SO. The International Che s s Federation (F. I. D. E. ) rules say: " If an impossible move has been made , there i s no penalty of ANY KIND. " And white cannot take his own men ! A prote s t (such as the following) is a tough nut to crack for any T . D. Black sacrifice s on hi s 13th move by playing BxPch. He gets up and walks away. His opponent plays 14. K- Rl , PUNC HES THE C LOC K, and then proceeds to play KxB. Three reliable witne sses see this hap­ pen. Black re turns to the board and makes his next move , and when he gets up, one of the players tells him what his opponent has done : K- Rl followed by KxB. All aghast, he comes running to the T. D. who asks his opponent what he has done , and he claims he has moved KxR and not K- Rl . Also, he says, his opponent has made his next move already, so all complaints are out of order, and beside s that, aren' t the se three witnesses friends o f Black ? Having evidence, affidavits signed by the three witnesses, my ruling was that White had to con­ tinue the game with 14 . K- Rl. I also added that if the committee saw it otherwise, then they would have to continue the game next morning with 1 4 . KxB. White lost fast. The committee concurred with my ruling. I had based myself on the idea that even after a game was finished and it was dis covered that an illegal move had been made it is the duty of the T. D. to have the players start again from the posi­ tion where the illegality occurred. AND THE WIT NESSES PROVED THAT WHITE HAD MADE TWO MOVES ( K- Rl followed by KxB. ) •

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C ASE OF THE SLEEPING PLAYER In a recent tournament in Lublin, Poland, a game between A. Adamski and J. Grabezewski went on and on and on until the 143rd move , when the game ended in a draw-some thing they could have agreed on in the early stages of the game . But Grabezewski insisted on continuing the game . That was his right. The room was stuffy and Adamski , bored, dozed off a number of time s during the proceed­ ings. The tournament director wakened him . After the game Grab­ ezewski, who had insisted on c ontinuing a drawn position for hours, protested to the tournament director because the T. D. had wakened his opponent, thus helping White to avoid losing the game on time. Who was right ? Let us look at the question more close ly: ( A) The tournament director is a mighty man, whether you like it or not. His work is described in Artic le 1 9 of the Revised Inter­ national Laws of Chess of the FIDE. He must abide by that artic le. (B) FIDE has a commission in permanent session to make amend­ ments to rules as incidents occur. These new rules are added each year, and the T, D. must abide by them , (C) The T . D. can do anything he wants to that i s not spelled out for him in the given rules, as long as what he does is within reason. (D) You may be in accord or mad as heck at a T. D. for running the tournament to his own liking-but on the battlefield it is the T, D. who is in command. In the case above, there was no guideline -and the T, D. could have let Adamski sleep-but under the circumstance s, I think he did right by wakening him . * *

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The most curious incident occurred when two players adjourned their game at midnight and were scheduled to finish it the next morn­ ing at 1 0 : 00 a. m . On e turned up and waited a full hour , winning the game b y de­ fault. Soon after the deadline passed the second player came storming in and cried "foul play". It seems the two shared the same hote l room . The first had put the alarm c lock under his pillow but did not wake his companion in the morning. The score could not be altered, but they did not share the same room any more . I don't often want to strangle participants. But in every tourna­ ment the re is always someone who , having an adjourned game that he is supposed to continue the next morning, analyzes his game until all hours of the morning and, finding he has a lost gam e , doe s not hesitate a moment to phone me at 3 or 4 in the morning to te ll me that he resigns the game in question. When I have the audacity to ask 21

him why call at that unearthly hour, he innocently replies, "Well, I don't want to get up in the morning. " ! ! ! ! ! ! ! All chess players are egotists. At a banquet the speaker intro­ duced the champion of the world, and three grandmasters stood up .at the same time ! You may think chess is a gentleman's game; it is not. The first world champion, Ruy Lopez, a Monk, recommended that "you seat your opponent in such a way that the sun shines in his eyes when playing chess. " Tournament players become a little bit abnormal. We are all a little bit crazy, but it is a wonderful craze. * *

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"AND THEN THERE WERE NONE" Have you ever read Agatha Christie's mystery novel "Ten Little Indians"? Recently I saw a position of a game between Dr. Siegfried Tarrasch and Ernst Maister, played in the Nurenburg 1890 tourna­ ment, that reminded me of that book. White to move played 1. RxB Minus four 1. NxR minus three 2. BxP, RlxB; minus two (If 2. . R3xB; 3. Q-N8ch.) 3. QxNch ...minus one... 3. ... KxQ; 4. P-B8-Qch; Now Black gets murdered: 4 K-N3; 5. Q-B7ch, K-N4; 6 . Q-B5ch, K-R5; 7. P-N3 mate. .

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THE TWELVE POSITIONS ON THE T.V. SHOWS No. 2

No. 1

White to play and mate in two moves.

White to play and mate in four moves. No. 4

No. 3

White to play and mate in four moves.

Put the Black King on the board so that it is: (a) Stalemated (b) Mated (c) So that White can play and mate in one move. No. 6

No. 5

White to play and draw.

Black has just played 1. . . Q- Bl. How does White force the win now? •

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No . 8

No . 7

White to play and mate in 10 move s .

No . lO

No . 9

White to play and win.

White to play and mate in two move s

No . ll

No.12

White to play and win

White to play and m ate in two m ove s .

Soluti ons on Page 94. 24

WHEN CAISSA FAILED TO NOD In 1933 Salo Flohr played a match with Henry Grob, only Swiss pro. Salo, the former Czechoslovakian chess marvel, won the match five to one. In the game he lost, the following position occurred: BLACK: Grob

WHITE: Flohr Black to move played 1.

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Q-N4 and White resigned.

In 1953, 20 years later, Salo Flohr returned to Switzerland, now a full-fledged Russian and as a second to one of the Soviet players competing in the Candidates Tournament in Zurich. On meeting Grob, Salo did not say "How are you? " Oh, no ! The first words he uttered were, "You know, the game I lost to you 20 years ago was a win for me!" Grob was flabbergasted. He couldn't even remember the position! It seems that a few years after that particular game, giving an exhibition somewhere in Russia, Flohr encountered a schoolboy, who asked him why he had resigned his game against Grob. "Why , " said Flohr, "because I was lost. " "Did Q-Kt4; 2. K-Rl?" was the quiet answer. y ou consider after 1 Flohr has been smarting since! Grob's "swindle" which succeeded made the rounds of the chess world. I expect this refutation will too. .

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25

WH E N CAISSA NODDED •

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In the International Tournament of Antw e rp, 1931, I met Akiba Rubinstein in the fifth round.

He re was one of the greatest.

Akiba had been one of the world contende r s a de c ade e arlie r, and it was with gre at expectations that

I sat down to do battle,

hoping against hope not to lose the game. I played a King's Indian It was a tough fight to

Defense against the Queen's Pawn opening. keep on equal te rm s , and in the long

run

I had to give my opponent

c omplete c ontrol of the cente r , when we re ached the following posi­ tion with Black on the m ove: BLACK: G. Koltanows ki How to continue?

I was tempted to

play 23. . . . N -R4 , but did not c are for m y position after 24 . P-K5, P-N3; 25,

N5-K4 followed eventually by N-B6 ch,

e tc. And then I s aw the li ght! My heart flutte red-was Godde ss C ais s a really nodding my way? Why not 23. N-N5 ch; 24 . 26 •

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PxN

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forced, and then

BxQ P. It attacks the Queen

and Knight on

B4

at the sam e time !

But wait a minute . Surely the old fox WHITE: A. Rubinste in

did not ove rlook this possibility. What has he up his sle eve after my 24th

m ove? He m i ght have 25 . N-N5 in m ind •

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Wish my heart would stop

be able to work this out right it is my "great m oment" and everything has to be c alculated out r ight. , . Now I am

flutte rin g. I want to

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more my old self-and can think clearly again . The variations seem to work out well • 23 .

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so here goes:

N-N5ch; 24. PxN, BxQ P; 25 . N-N5

Rubinstein made this m ove instantaneously-thus it was part of his plan . 25 . ... BxQ; 26. NxQ , BxR; 27. B-B6, R1:... Q2; Not 27 .

. . . RxN; 28. BxR, and the Blac k rook is trapped. Now

White has problems with his Knight on QB7. 28.

NxR , RxN; 29 . N-K 8 , B-R4; 30.

P-K 5 ,

If 3 0 . B-N2 , B-Ql . 30 . .. . R-Q7; 31. N-Q6, BxP; 3 2 . NxN P; After 32. NxB P, B-K3; 33 . N-Q6, B-Q4; 34, R-KN1, B-N3 and its all ove r . 32 •

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B-B2; 3 3 . K-R1, Bx P, 34 . Bx P, B-R6; White re signs,

as afte r 35 . R-B3, B-N7ch. Glory, Halle lujah-we thank you humbly, Godde ss C ai s s a! ! 26

THE O N E AND ONLY

R ob ert Fischer Photo by 'Art Zeller, Santa Monica 27

BOBBY'S FIRST Bobby Fischer's first great tournament win was at the 195 7 Open in Cleveland1 whe re he finished first on tie-breaking points ahead of Arthur Bi s guier. For those of our readers who may be in­ te re sted in seeing how the perennial U.S. Champion played as a child prodigy, we pre sent s ome little-known games :from that event. WHITE : R. Fischer 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14 . 15 .

P-K4 N- KB3 B- N5 B- R4 0- 0 R-K1 B- N3 P- B3 P- KR3 B-B2 P- Q4 QN-Q2 N- B1 N- K3 B-Q2 (a) Better 16 P- B5.

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BLAC K:

J,

Rinaldo

P- K4 16 . R-QB1 B- N2 (a) 17. P-QN4 N-QB3 N- B3 18. N-Q5 P-QR3 NxN N- B3 19. PxN N- K2 B- K2 20. QPxBP NxP P-QN4 21. B- N3 N- B3 P-Q3 22. PxP QxQP 23. N-N5 0- 0 R-KB1 N-QR4 24. B- K3 QxQ P- B4 P- R3 25 . KRxQ Q- B2 26 . N-K4 NxN 27. RxB B-Q2 QR- B1 KR-K1 28. P-Q B4 N- N4 P- N3 PxB 29. BxN B- KB1 3 0. P- B5 Re s igns . . . N- B3 , so as to answer White ' s P-QN4 with

Here is Bobby' s win against William Addison, San Francisco WHITE: R. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

P-K4 N-QB3 N- B3 NxP NxNch B- B4 Q- K2ch

J,

Fi scher

BLAC K: William Addison 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13 . 14 .

P- QB3 P-Q4 PxP N- B3 KPxN B-Q3 Q- K2 28

QxQch P-Q4 B- N3 (a) B-K3 (b) 0- 0- 0 P- B4 B- B2

KxQ B- KB4 R- K1 K-B1 N-Q2 QR-Q1 BxB

26. N-K5ch BxN 27. RxB N- B3 28. RxR NxR 29. BK5 K-R4 N-K5 3 0. K-Q3 (c) P-N5 P- B3 31. P-N4 P-QR3 N-N4 3 2. P-QR4 PxP B- B3 K- R5 33. PxP RxR RxR PxP 34. P- N5 P- B5 B-N1 P-Q5 K-R6 3 5. P- R5 PxP 36. P-B6 RxP Re signs P-B4 (a) Mark of the master. He rej ects pawn moves (10. P- B3) which are both passive and weakening. (b) Another strong move . The King will find a congenial home on the Q- s ide . (c) The Knight is stalemated, and White has an easy win.

15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.

KxB KR-K1 B-Q2

P-KB4 P-B5 N- B3 P- KN4 N- R4 K- N2 K- N3

The following game at the U. S. Open in Cleveland ten years ago illustrate s Fischer's famous attacking line against the Sicilian Defense . BLAC K: V. Witte WHITE : R. J. Fischer 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11 . 1 2. 13.

14. N-Q5 P- K4 P-QB4 15. N- KB3 P-Q3 N-KB3 16. B- N6 PxP P-Q4 17. NxBch N-KB3 NxP 1 8. QxP N-QB3 P-QR3 19. B- B5 P- K3 B-QB4 20. P-B6 (a) B-Q2 0-0 21. PxPch B- K2 B- N3 22. Q- B6ch 0- 0 B- K3 23. BxR Q- B2 P- B4 24. QR-Q1 K- R1 P- KN4 25. Q-Q6 N- N1 P- N5 26 . QxQch (b) P-K4 P- B5 (a) This seem s ove r- re fined. Simply 20. B-R3 wins (b) And White won eventually.

Q-Q1 B-QB3 Q- B1 NxN Q-K1 P-QN3 N- N3 KxP K- N1 QxB B- K1 N-Q2 a piece .

Played in the seventh round of the 1 95 7 U. S. Open BLAC K: R.

WHITE: I. Garais P- K4 2. N- KB3 3. P-Q4 4 . NxP 1.

P-QB4 P-Q3 PxP N- KB3

5. 6. 7. 8. 29

N-QB3 P-KN3 KN-K2 B-N2

J.

Fischer

P-QR3 P-K4 B-K2 0-0

9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15 .

0-0 16 . RxP B- N4 QN- Q2 P- KR3 17. R-K4 BxBch P- QN4 B- K3 18. RxB B- N2 QR- Kl Q- B2 P- B4 19. RxR RxR P- N5 P- KN4 (a) 20. Q-Q2 Q-B4ch NxN N-Q5 Q- B7 21. K- Rl PxP PxN 22. Re signs (b) (a) ·:setter is 13 . PxP. (b) White can de fend by 22. R-Kl, but he is then permanently pinned and Black can win in various ways, quicke st o f whic h is 22 R- K6 , threatening 23 BxP. •

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Finally, here is the last-round draw which won Fischer the title of U. S. Open C hampion and a half- share of the $15 00 first prize . WHIT E :

R.

BLAC K: W. Shipm an

J. Fischer

PxP P-K4 P- K4 10. P-Q4 NxN N-QB3 N- KB3 11. NxP B- N2 12. PxN P-QR3 B- N5 13 . N- B3 N- B3 P- N5 B- R4 0- 0 B- K2 14. N-Q5 NxN R- Kl P-QN4 15. BxN BxB B-N3 0- 0 16 . PxB B- N4 P-B3 P-Q3 17. Q-N4 B- B3 P- KR3 P- QR4 (a) 18. B- K3 Drawn (a) A line of play introduced in the late 1940' s and favored at one time by Grandmaster Paul Kere s .

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

THE GHOST O F BOBBY FISCHER In many a great che s s player' s career there . is a spec ific event which may be said to have determ ined his future . So it was with David Bronste in when he lost to Luis Cardoso of the Philippine s in the 195 8 Interzonal in Portoroz. So it was with Paul Kere s when he was beaten by Pal Benko in the Candidate s ' Tournament at Curacao in 1962. In the case of Grandmaster Leonid Stein of the USSR, it may we ll prove to be the Tunisian Interzonal-and the � an who did it, Bobby Fischer. The evening be fore the e leventh round, Fischer declared that he was leaving the tournament. He had just beaten Stein. He le ft Sous se next morning for Tunis , taking his luggage . 30

Unexpectedly, Stein's star brightened. His loss against Fischer was eradicated. (When a player leaves a tournament before he has played half of his games, all results are cancelled. If he has played more than fifty percent of the games, scores stand, and all who have to play the dropout get a full point.) Next day he fully expected to win his adjourned game against Czech Grandmaster Andre Hart and then to beat the inexperienced Tunisian, Bouariz. This could earn him a place in the finals. Allah was kind! But when the next day dawned, Fate struck at Stein with two wicked blows. First, in a won position against Hort, Stein blundered twice, blew the game and left the room in self-disgust. Second, he met Bouariz. Among the spectators was Sammy Reshevsky of the U.S. , who was supposed to play Fischer-who had quit. BUT six minutes before Fischer's game would have been officially lost-Bobby ap­ peared and sat down to play. This killed two players at one time Reshevsky (whom Fischer promptly beat) and Stein. Stein, upon seeing Fischer appear, turned pale and offered his opponent, the weakest player in the whole event, a draw. It was accepted. Stein almost staggered from the playing field. For him the day, perhaps his chance of ever becoming World Champion, was over. Instead of three points out of two games (his loss against Fischer would be a gift) he now had only a half point out of two. After Stein's wonderful successes of the last few years, his star seems on the point of setting. .

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Played at Sousse, Tunis, 1967 BLACK: Leonid Stein, USSR WHITE: Robert Fischer, USA RUY LOPE Z 1. P-K4 2. N-KB3 3. B-N5 4. B-R4 5. 0-0 6. R-K1 7. B-N3 8. P-B3 9. P-KR;;. 10. P-Q4 11. B-B2 12. P-QN3 13. �N-Q2 14. P-QN4 15. PxP 16. PxP 17. P-K5

18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34.

P-K4 N-QB3 P-QR3 N-B3 B-K2 P-QN4 P-Q3 0-0 B-N2 N-QR4 N-B5 N-N3 QN-Q2 PxP P-QR4 P-B4 QPxP 31

PxKP N-K4 B-N1 Q-K2 N3-N5 QxB Q-R4 Q-N3 N-B3 Q-B4 P-K6 BxP B-K4 BxQ QR-Q1 R-Q7 N-N5

N-Q4 N-N5 RxP N-N3 BxNK5 P-Ni.l P-R4 N-B5 K-N2 R-KR1 P-B4 Q-KB1 QxQ R-K1 R-R3 RxKP R-KB3

RxB

4 6 . RxN5

3 6 . N-K6ch

K-B3

47.

37 . NxR

N-K4

4 8 . K-K2

P-N4 R-QR1

3 5 . B-B3

P-QR4

K-B3 B-B2

B-Q3

49. P-N3

39 . K-B1

N-B7

5 0 . R-N2

R-KB1

40. R-K4

N-Q5

5 1.

Px P

3 8 . R- N7

P-B4

41. R-N6

R-Q1

5 2. Px P

N-B2

4 2. N-Q5ch

K-B4

53. R-K6ch

N-Q3 R-QR1

43. N-K3ch

K-K3

54.

4 4 . B-K2

K-Q 2

5 5 . R-Q2

Rx P

4 5 . BxPch

NxB

5 6. P-B6

Resigns

P-B5

�\ .... (_{�·

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MASTER STROKE N O. 1 He re is a gam e in which a fam ous Grandmaster bites the dust against a young Israelite. It was played in the 1964 C hess Olympics in Tel Aviv. White was none other than Svetozar Gligoric of Yugo­ slavia and B l ack was Joseph Porath.

Gligoric has rarely be en beaten

so quickly or so de cisive ly. WHAT IS BLACK'S WINNING MOVE?

HINT:

After Black's m ove, White eith e r gets m ated or loses a rook.

He doesn't prefe r eith e r and resigns afte r the m ove you are supposed to find. With all these hints it should take the chess fan no m ore than five minutes to find the bril liant m ove . See page 95 . 32

COLLECTOR'S ITEM

And here are all of Fischer's nine gam es from the U. S. Junior, played in San Franc i s co, 1957. Bobby Fischer

BLACK: Jam e s Bennett

WH ITE: Bobby Fische r 1. P-K4

P-QB4

15. Kt-Q5

2. Kt-KB3

Kt-QB3

16. Kt-K3

Q-B4

3. P-Q4

PxP

17. P-Q B3

QR-Q1

4. KtxP

Kt- B3

18. Q-B3

R- Q2

5. Kt-QB3

P- Q3

19. QR-Q1

R-Q3

6 . B-KKt5

P-KKt3

20. RxR

QxR

7. BxKt

PxB

21. R-Q1

Q-B4 P-QKt4

Kt-B3

8, B-B4

B-Kt2

22. P-KR3

9. 0-0

0-0

23. R-Q5

Q-Kt3

P-B4

24. R-Q6

Kt-K4

10. KKt-Kt5 11. PxP

BxP

25. Q-Q5

Q-B 2

1 2. KtxQP

Kt-K4

2 6 . P-KB4

Kt-B5

13. B-Kt3

Q-Q2

27. KtxKt

PxKt

QxKt

2 8 . Bx P

K-R1

14 . KtxB

33

29. 30. 31. 3 2. 33. 34.

B-Kt3 P- Kt3 Q- B6 R-Q7 K- B2 Q-B3

35. 36. 3 7. 38. 3 9. 40.

P-KB4 R- K1 Q- Ktl R- K8ch Q- K1 R- QKt8

1. 2.

3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 1 0. 11. 1 2. 13. 1 4. 15 . 16 . 17.

18. 1 9. 20. 21. 22. 23 . 24 . 25 . 26 . 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32.

Kt- KB3 P-KKt3 B-Kt2 o-o

Kt- K1 P-Q3 PxP B-Kt5 P-QB4 PxP Kt-QB3 RxQ RxRch BxKt KtxP BxB Kt-Q3

WHITE : Ronnie Thacker 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 1 0. 11. 1 2. 13. 14. 1 5. 16. 17.

P- K4 Kt- KB3 P-QB3 B-Q3 B- B2 P- Q4 P- KR3 PxP Kt-QB3 P- Q5 KtxKt Kt-K2 P-KB3 B-Q3 Q-R4 o-o

Q-Q1

RxPch Q-QB1 BxP QxR Q-B3

BLAC K: Bobby Fi sche r

WHITE: Andy Schoene P-Q4 P-QB4 Kt-QB3 P- K4 P-K5 P-KB4 Kt-KB3 BPxP B-K2 B-B4 QxP QxQ R-Q1 KtxR BxB BxKt BxKtP

R-Q1 K-Ktl P-KR4 R-Q8ch QxBch QxQ mate B-R6 P- B5 P-B6 B-Kt7 P.:-QKt3 PxKt P-KKt3 K-K2 K-Q3 R- K1 P-QR4 K-Q2 K- B2 R- K2 K-Q3 Re s igns

R- Ktl Kt-K5 R-Kt3 Kt-Q3 KtxB RxP (7) B-Q5 R-B2 P-K4 R- B8 P-B4 R-Kt8 R-R8 R-R7ch P-K5ch

BLACK: Bobby Fi scher 18. 1 9. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25 . 26 . 27. 28. 29. 3 0. 31. 32.

P-QB4 P-Q3 Kt- KB3 P-KKt3 B-Kt2 0-0

PxP Kt-QB3 P- K4 Kt-Q5 PxKt R-K1 Q- Kt3 Kt-Q2 R- B1 Kt-B4 B-Q2 34

K-R1 Kt-Kt3 QxKt Q-Q1 QxB Kt- K2 Q-Q1 R- Ktl Q-Kt3 BxP QxP QxP QxB+ R- K1 K-R2 White resigns

P-KB4 KtxB B-Kt4 BxR P-B5 P-KKt4 QR- B1 Q-R3 QxKt PxB P-Q6 P-Q7 KxB PxR+Q

B LACK: Bill Haine s

WHITE: Bobby Fisc her 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13; 14. 15. 16 . 17. 18. 19.

P -K4 Kt-KB3 B-Kt5 B-R4 0-0

R-K1 B-Kt3 P -B3 P -KR3 B-B 2 P -Q4 QKt-Q2 Kt-B1 Kt-K3 P xP KtxKt B -Q2 B -B3 Q-Q2

20. 21. 22, 23 . 24. 25. 26 . 27. 28. 29. 3 0. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38.

P -K4 Kt-QB 3 P -QR3 Kt-KB3 B -K2 P -QKt4 P -Q3 0-0

Kt-QR4 P -B4 Q-B 2 B -Q2 KR-K1 BPxP Kt-B5 P xKt QR-Q1 B -KB1 P -KKt3

7.

8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13 .

Kt-KB 3 P-KKt3 B-Kt2

Kt-KB3 P -KKt3 B-Kt2

0-0

0-0

P -B4 Kt-B3 P -Q4 P -KR3 Q-B 2 KtxP P -Kt3 KKt-Kt5 Kt-R3

P -Q3 P -K4 QKt-Q2 R-K1 P xP Kt-Kt3 P -B4 P -QR3 B-B4

14. 15. 16 , 17, 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23 . 24. 25.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6': 7.

Kt-KB 3 P -K4 P -Q4 Kt-QB 3 B -QB4

P-KKt3 B-Kt2 P -Q3 Kt-KB3

0-0

P -QB3 QKt-Q2 Kt-Q4 P xB P xP Q-R4 Kt-KB3

Q-K2 8. P-K5 9. BxKt 10. P xP 11. KtxP 12. P -QB4

QxB

P xKtP Q-Kt3 Q-Q1 KtxP B-B4 B xR P -K5 Q-R5 B-R3 R-B1 Q-Kt4 QxKt B xQ P-KR3 K-Kt2 R-B1 Re signs

Q-Q2 P -KKt4 PxB B-R3 K-Kt2 Q-Kt5 B xQ BxKt Kt-Q5 PxKt P xP RxB Drawn.

P -Q4 BxP KKtxP Q-R5 P-Q5 QxQ P -B4 P xB KtxKt P -Q6 BxR R-K4

BLACK: Stephen Sholomson

WHITE: Bobby Fisc he r 1.

Q-Ktl

BLACK: Bobby Fische r

WHITE: Gil Ramirez 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

B-R5 BxR P -QKt3 B xP QR-Kt1 B-B4 RxKt KR-K 1 RxB Kt-R2 R-Kt7 Q-K2 Kt-Kt4 Q-K3 P xQ P xB R-Q7 RxP B -Kt3

0-0

35

13 . 14. 15. 16 . 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22, 23 . 24.

B-Q2 Kt-K7ch KtxB P -QKt3 Q-Q3 KR-K1 P -Q5 QR-Q1 Kt-Q4 Kt-B5 B xKt KtxQP

Q-Q1 K-R1 RxKt Q-Q2 P -KR3 P -KKt4 Kt-R4 KR-Ktl Q-Kt5 Kt-B5 P xB B-B 3

25 . KtxPch 26. Kt-K5 27. R xB

WHITE:

l. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15 .

1.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

o-o

BxKt R -K1 K t-Q2

0-0

R PxKt P -Q4 Kt-KR4

Kt -QB3

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

P - QB4 P -Q3 P xP Kt-KB3 P -QR3 P-K4

16 . 1 7. 18. 1 9. 20 . 21 . 22. 23 . 24 . 25 . 26. 27. 28 . 29.

B-K2

QKt-Q2 P -KR3 Kt -Kt3 B-K 3 Kt-B5 BxB o-o

B-K 3

K t-KB3 p,..Q4 K txP K t -QB3 B-K 2 Kt-Kt3

a. o-o

9. B-K 3 1 0 . P -B3 1 1 . Q-Q2

P -B4 BxP K -R 1 Kt -Q5 PxB Kt-B4 KtxP Kt -B5 B-K5 Q-Kt4 R xB QR-K1 Q-K4 QxP White Res igns

PxP Q-Kt3 ch QxKtP B xKt

KtxP Q-Kt4 Q-B3 B-B3 QR-Q1 BxB Q-B3 Kt-B2 Kt-K3 QxR

BLACK : Bob Walker

P -K4 Kt-QB3 P -QR3 P -QKt4 Kt-R4 KtxB P Q3 P -KB3 Kt-K2 B-K3

11. 1 2. 13 . 14 . 15 . 16 . 1 7. 18 . 1 9. 20 .

-

Len lUll

1 . P-K 4

PxP QR -B 1 Res i gns .

BLACK: Bobby Fischer

Bo bby Fischer

P-K4 Kt -KB3 B-K t5 B-R 4 B-Kt3

WHITE:

28 . P-Kt3 29. RPxP 3 0 . R -K 7

Mike Br edoff

P -K4 Kt -KB3 P-Q4 KtxP Kt-QB3 B-K 2 Kt-KB3 B-Kt5 Kt-KR 4 B-K 3 Kt -B3

WHITE:

K -Kt2 BxKt K -R 1

B-K3 Q-B3 PxP Kt-B5 PxB KR-Q1 B-B5 BxR Kt-Q5 P-KKt4

P-KKt4 B-Kt2 QPxP BxKt o-o

Q-B1 K txP BxB K -Kt2 :Res igns

BLACK: Bob by F isc her P -QB4 P-Q3

12 . 13. 14. 15 . 16 . 1 7. 18. 1 9. 20 . 21 .

PxP Kt-KB3 P-QR3 P-K 4 B-K 2 o-o

B-K3 QKt-Q2 Kt-Kt3

36

KR-Q1 Q-K1 P xP KtxKt B-B2 Q-Q2 QR-B1 RxQ R xR R-Q1 White Re s igns

Q-B2 , P-Q4 KKtxP KtxKt QxP QR-B 1 Qx:Q B.,-K t4 R xR R -B7

MUST A BRILLIANCY BE SOUND? I wonder. From time to time s ome of my more diligent readers rem ind me of this or that flaw in s ome celebrated c ombinations and deplore the fact that even Anderssen ' s " Imm ortal" isn't quite flaw­ less. But is it really so deplorable ? It was , after all , a game, not a study or problem. What if a post m ortem discovers yet another variati on to refute the entire combination ? Should we let it spoil the pleasure we used to derive from the game ? Indeed not ! I think it shou ld enhance rather than spoil it. Take another game of Anders sen' s , " The Eve rgreen" (against Dufre sne , 185 2) . 1 . P- K4 , P- K4 2. N-KB3 , N- QB3 3 . B- B4 , B- B4 4 . P-QN4 , BxNP 5 . P- B3, B- R4 6 . P-Q4 , PxP 7 . 0- 0, P-Q6 8 . Q-N3, Q- B3 9 . P- K5 , Q-N3 10. R- K1 , KN-K2 1 1 . B- R3 , P- N4 1 2. QxP , R-QN1 13. Q- R4 , B- N3 14 . QN-Q2, B- N2 15. N-K4 , Q- B4 16. BxQP, Q- R4 1 7. N- B6ch, PxP 18. PxP, R- N1 1 9 . QR-Q1, QxN 20. RxNch, NxR 21 . QxPch, KxQ 22. B- B5 d. c h, K- K1 23 . B- Q7ch, K- B1 24. BxN mate . It took 46 years for the first flaw to be discovered, for in 1898 Lipke found out that by 19 . . . . R- N5 Black could have secured at least a draw. Since then a Ham lin player (and no mean pied piper, e ither) dis c overed that by 19. . . . RxPch; followed by N-K4 ; Black c ould actually force a win. Look it over, and see what you find. In the meantime here is another brilliancy played 1 00 years ago and refuted a m e re 50 to 60 years later. Here , then, is Bird- Morphy, . London, 1958. 1 . P- K4 , P- K4 2. N- KB3 , P-Q3 3 . P-Q4 , P- KB4 4. N- B3 , BPxP 5 . QNxP, P-Q4 6 . N- N3 ? (NxP ! ) , P- K5 7. N-K5 , N- KB3 8. B- KN5 , B-Q3 9. N-R5 , 0- 0 1 0. Q-Q2, Q- K1 1 1 . P-KN4 ? (NxNc h ! ) , NxP 1 2. NxN, QxN 1 3 . N-K5 , N- B3 14. B- K2, Q- R6 15. NxN, PxN 16. B- K3 , R- N1 17. 0- 0- 0, RxBP 18. BxR, Q-QR6 ! ! 1"! . P- B3 , (best) QxRP 20. P- N4 , Q- R8ch 21 . K- B2, Q-R5ch 22 . K- N2? (and here Maroc zy has proved that with K- B1 Bird could have forced Morphy to be content with perpetual check. ) 22. BxP 23 . PxB, RxPch 24. QxR, QxQch 25 . K- B2, P- K6 26. BxP, B- B4ch 27. R-Q3 (be st) , Q- B5ch 28. K-Q2, Q- R7c h 29. K- Q1 , Q- N8ch, and s oon won. •

37

• •

And now we can show you the late st brilliancy, played at the Southwe stern Open at Houston, recently. You may find flaws in Black' s play, and even after White ' s �ombination you might find a way out for Black, but we were highly pleased with White ' s e fforts and we did not he sitate a moment to hand him the book prize . WHITE: Robert Brieger 1 . P-K4

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

N- KB3 N- N5 B- B4 N-QB3 BPxP 0-0 B- N5 P-Q4 B- Q3 PxP

BLAC K: I. Bahgat 1 2. 13. 14. 15 . 16. 17. 18. 1 9. 20. 21.

P-Q4 PxP N- KB3 P- K3 P- K6 P-QB4 N- B3 B-Q2 P- QR3 PxP R- B1

QN-K4

B- K2

RxN! !

PxR

NxBP ! ! Q-R5ch B- R6 QxP ! ! QxN Q- N3ch N-Q6ch B- N5ch

KxN K- N1 P- B4 N- K4 B- B1 K- B2 K- K2 mate

MASTER STROKE NO. 2 Mikhael Tal of Tallinn, Estonia, USSR, i s considered by the Russians as a second Paul Morphy (only U. S. player ever to be con­ sidered champion of the world, in 1880) . Tal held the world title for a couple of year s . Here he finishe s matters quickly against Erne st Szmit, Riga, in a game played in 1965 .

Solution on page 95 . HINT: Expert-A: 7 minutes . B: 1 2 m inute s , and Average player: 25 minute s . It i s the whole line that should be considered. 38

THE N EW U .S. WOMAN'S O P E N C HAM PION Marilyn Koput of Wauwatosa, Wi sconsin, i s a be autiful brunette , stands five feet, e i ght inche s and weighs around 110 pounds . Quietly dre s sed and a bit on the shy side and doe s not impre s s one at first as being a "hard-he arted Hannah" when it c om e s to playing che s s ! She le arned the gam e three ye ar s ago and he r tutor the last ye ar has be en W. E. Martz of Hartland, Wi s c onsin, who i s a U. S. Master. She s c ored 7 points out of 12 at Snowm as s , C olorado; but c ould have obtained more as she gave he r opponent a draw in the final round when she had the win in he r hand. Bl ack: M. Koput: King on KN1 ; Queen on QR2; Rook on QN1; Knight on

Q4 ;

Pawns on Q B3 , K B2; KN3 and KR2 (8 pie c e s ) . White : Mitchell Saltzberg, New York : King on KR2 ; Queen on Q3; Rook on Q1; Bi shop on K 2 ; Pawns on QR6 , QR3 , K B4 , KN3 and KR4 (9 piec e s ) . played :

35 •

•

•

.

Blac k t o m ove

Q- B7ch; 36. K-R 3 ,

N-K6 ; 37. B-B1 , and here Black ac cepted White's offe r of a draw , she had the title

Black to m ove .

in the bag ! With 37 .

. . . R-N7 ; White

c ould resign. After 38. Q-Q 8 ch, K-N2; 39. Q-Q4ch, K-R3; and its all over. He re are a c ouple of good examples of the 19-ye ar-old champion: WHIT E : M. Koput

B LACK : Joseph Fu s c o , Wichita, Kansas

1. P- Q4

P-Q 3

2. P-K4

N-K B3

10. QR-Q1

P-QR3

3.

P-KN3

11. B- N3

Q-K2

4 . B-Q B4

B-N2

12. P-KN4

N-KN1

5. N1-K2

N1-Q2

13. N-Q5

Q-Q1

6 . 0- 0

0- 0

14. N- N3

P-QB3

7. P-K B3

P-K4

15. N- B3

Q- B2

P- KR3

16.

P-Q4 !

8.

�-QB3

B-K 3

9. Q-Q2

39

P-KR4?

K-R2

17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22.

PxQP B- KB4 NPxP P-Q6 K-N2 QxB

23. 24. 25. 2 6. 27 .

KPxP PxN B-K4 Q- N3ch BxB P- B3

KR- K1 P-R5 Q-K4ch Q-N6 ! BxN

B LACK: M. Koput

WHITE : William Bragg, Santa Monica l. 2. 3. 4. 5.

6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11 . 12. 13. 14. 15.

P-QN4 B- N2 P-N5 P-K3 N-KB3 P-QR4 P- B4 P-Q4 PxP N1-Q2 Q- B2 BxP N-N5 BxQP QR-N1

Q-Q1 P- KN4 K-R1 P- KB4 Re signs

16. 17 . 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24 . 25. 26. 27 . 28.

RxB N2- K4 RxN K-K2 QxN RxQ R-QB1 K- K3 R-QN1 N-K4 BxP RxB R- N7 White re signs .

N- KB3 P- K3 P-Q4 B-Q3 N1-Q2 0- 0

P- B3 QPxP PxP B-R3 P- B4 B- N2 PxP B- K4 BxB

B-N3 NxN B-R4ch N- B6ch BxQ KRxR

R-Q7 ch B- N7 R-QB1 R7-Q1 PxB R- B5 R- B1ch

Marilyn has that s omething that makes for good che s s . Maybe we will give Nona Gaprindas chvili , U. s. S. R. , th� present woman' s world c!tampion, a run for her money yet ! !

* *

*

THE KING BY ANY OTHER NAME

•

•

•

The King is called REY in Spanish, RAJA in Bengale se, RE I in Catalan, REGO in E speranto , ROI in French, RE in Italian, REX in Latin, REJE in Romanian, KOENIG in German, KORAL in C zech, KONGE in Danish, KONING in Flemish and Dutch, KIRALY in Hungarian , KROL in Polish and KOROL in Rus sian. Oh yes , it is OH in Japane s e ! All this may not improve your play, but now you probably know how to say " King" in more language s than anyone else you know !

40

MY KI N G D OM FOR A HORSE Wil liam Shakespeare

Near Santiago de Cuba 41

I expect you !mow all the r e is to know about your knight move s . . . Just the s am e , let us start you off with some l i ght fare fir st. Get a good grip on the following, it will he lp you win many a gam e . THE KN IGHT F ORK The Knight fork i s a double attac k by a Knight.

BASIC PA T T E RNS No . B

No . A

Here the White King must

Fork by the Knight to the

m ove and the Que en is lo st.

King, Que en, and Rook­ all at the same tim e .

(A

fam ily fork ! )

No . 2

No . 1

White to m ove . A Knight

White to move . C an White

fork will win m ate rial .

force Black to make a

S e e if you c an find it.

m ove so that a fork wins a Rook for Kni ght ? 42

No . 4

No . 3

White to m ove .

White t o move . White c an

Once again

a Knight fork will win

c apture a piece because he

m ate rial . C an you find it ?

has the thre at of a Knight fork to follow . No . 6

No . 5

Blac k to m ove .

White to m ove . Win at

Force the

White Que en or King onto

least a pawn. You see

a fatal s quare for a crush­

how ?

ing Knight Fork. No . 8

No. 7

White t o m ove . A thre at

White to m ove . The Knight fork will win the game ,

of mate give s White the

afte r the s plendid fi rst

chance fo r a winning

m ove .

43

Knight fo rk.

THE PHILIDOR LEGACY Or , as the Spanis h call it, the " Ahogado" mate. (Ahogado-Drown ing. In this case the king is blocked by his own piece s. BASIC PATTERN No. C

No. 9

No. lO

White to play and mate in four move s

White to play. Lead it to the Philador Le gacy mate .

.

Solutions on Page 95.

44

HOOK, LI N E AND SIN KER During the Olympic s at He lsinki , the che s s players were taken for a sightseeing bus trip. All the Rus sian team were there , as well as many playe rs from all countrie s participating at the Helsinki che ss tournament. The U. S. was represented by Hans Berliner and myse lf, the othe r Ame ricans were taking it easy or studying up for their next round game . It didn ' t take long for all on the bus to become real friendly, and before we knew it, everyone was pres enting riddles or te l ling stories . Not to be outdone , I put up the following position on my pocket chess set : After showing it around, I asked : "Which side would you p refer, if you had the White piece s , White or Black ? " Almost everyone raised their eyebrows and Gligoric asked Kere s , " How can Kolty ask such a stupid question ? " I didn't let on to anything. At last Berliner said, "Why, that is an easy win for White , no matte r what ! " "Wanna bet ? " I asked. " Sure" , said Hans . " Two bits . " " 0. K. ; you' re on, " I answe red. " Black plays first. " " That ' s all right" , smiled Hans . "Well, then I play 1 . . N- Q6 . " Hans looked for a few moments , realizing something was wrong, and played BPxN. " You can ' t do that" , I pointed out slowly, "White i s moving down) And n o matter what you do , Black mates next move . " We all roared after that, inc luding Hans . By the way, I never collected that 25 cents . .

•

Nona Gaprindaschvili , USSR, Women ' s Champion of the World

45

CH ESS GREAT'S

Dan i c a n

P H I L I DO R

D r E m a n u e l LAS K E R

Max

Vera

EUWE

MENCH I K

L

LA

l ose-R.

H oward STAUNTON

B O U R DON N A I S

CAPAB LAN CA

M i chael

E l i sabeth

A l ex a n d re

Vass i l y

BOTV I N N I K,

BY KOVA

46

N.

ALEKH I N E

SMYS LOV

GAP R I N DACHV I L I

M ichael

TC H I GO R I NE

D r Si g b e rt TA R RAS C H

J acques M I ESES

MAROCZY

T i g ra n

PETROSS I AN

M ichel

TAL

W i l h e l m STE I N I TZ

ZNOSKO-BOROVSKY

47

Aron

N I EMZOV I TC H

Dr. Sav. TARTACOV E R

R i chard

E rl a a r

R ET I

COLLE

V i etches lcv RAGO Z I N E

Svetozor

Pete r T R I F U N O V I C

David

Miguel

NAJ DO R F

Geteon B A R C Z A

Eoh i m

G L I CO R I C

B R O N ST E I N

GELLER

M a rk TAJ M A N O V

48

V i ctor

Boris

L.

KORTCHNOY

SP ASSKY

PORT I SC H

B obby

F I SC H E R

Aron

Dr

Sav.

N I EMZOV I T C H

TA RTACOVE R

R i c h a rd

RETI

M• C H A U D E de S I LA N S

I stvan

Gyozo

B I LE K

FO R I NTOS

J oaquim

O ' K ELLY D E

DU RAO

GA LWAY

49

Al e x a n d re

K laus

Paul

Laslo

KOTOV

DA RGA

K E R ES

SZABO

CARO-KAN N DEFENSE LESSON ONE Two conside rations should guide the average player in his choice of a defense . First, whatever opening he chooses should be simple . That i s , it should have few variations , making it easy to learn and play. Second, it should have a set of clearly defined obj ectives . In general , each move should be m eaningful to you as part of some overall plan of action. With the se points in mind I recommend the Caro- Kann, which is 1. P-K4 , P-QB3 , fo r your study. As was the case with the Colle , it is not the most forceful opening you might choose , but because of its very simplicity the Caro- Kann has be come popular with many mas­ ters and is a first- rate weapon for any player. Remembe r that you don't want your game to be complicated as much as you want to know exactly what you are doing. Let us as sume that there are bette r defenses available for Black. Many claim such honor for the Sicilian (1 . P-K4 , P-QB4) or the French (1. P- K4 , P-K3) . Even should this be s o , and I conside r the Caro-Kann equal to eithe r of them , one important fact must be clear to you: you cannot play any defense whose objective s you do not understand. In unde rstanding the Caro-Kann , you will come to under­ s tand how to deal with othe r defense s . 1 . P -K4 P-QB3 Black' s first move is made with a very simple obj ective in mind. He wants to play 2 P-Q4 , e stablishing a strong point in the cen­ te r. Black doe s not intend an early attack. He aims only at develop­ ing his pieces and retaining his grip in the center. The Caro-Kann Defense is characte ri zed by slow movements , with the squares Q4 and K5 as the cente r of ope rations. One important aspect of the Caro-Kann is the manner in which it places the onus of making decis ions on White . The move 2 P-Q4 will force White to decide the future of his King Pawn at once . White ' s re strictive hold on the Black Q4 square , which occurs in most King Pawn openings , does not exist in the Caro-Kann. White ' s first objective in most King Pawn openings is P-Q4 . In this case the move can be played at once , since there is no Black 50 •

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

pawn at K4 allowing Black to simplify. 2. P-Q4 completely opens the White position and give s the Bi shops a magnificent radius of ac­ tion. On the other hand, free development is not sufficient in itself. White must also try to control the center , or else hi s pos sibilitie s for development will yield him nothing. Both obj ective s must be realized, and Black' s second move constitute s a serious challenge to the White center. Try to answer thi s question before turning to the next le sson : after 1 . P- K4 , P-Q B3 ; 2. P-Q4 , P- Q4 , White has a number of pos­ s ible continuations. What are they ?

LE SSON TWO 1 , P- K4 P- QB3 2. P-Q4 P-Q4 Black' s second move attacks the White pawn at his K5 . White may counter the treat of 3. PxP in four ways . He may exchange the pawn, advance it, defend it, or sacrifice it. In all openings White ' s aim is the control of the cente r. Yet "the center" consists of a group of eight square s : the QB, Q, K, and KB square s on the fourth and fifth ranks . It i s indeed rare for either player to be in control of all of these square s . In any opening you must decide , at an early stage , just which one s you will attempt to dominate . You must ask yourself: Which squares must I control in order to carry out my strategic plan in thi s opening ? The key squares in the Colle System are Q4 and K4 . In KP openings control of the center usually hinge s upon the square s Q4 and Q5 . A general rule may be emphasized at this point. Control of the square s in front of your opponent' s pawns means the control of his position ! Should such square s be on your 5 th or 6th rank, then your opponent will have no way to free his game. Should such control be e xercised by rooks and minor piece s , with the rooks on open file s , then your opponent will be forced to as sume the defensive . Black' s potential weak point in the pre sent position is his K4 . He will not be able to control this square by P- KB3 , for that would make his King Pawn a target. White ' s control of his K5 may be the springboard for either a K-side or a Q-side attack. White should therefore plan to make K5 his strong point, and it is this ide a which should motivate his next move . Only 3 . PxP and 3 . N-QB3 meet the needs of the White plan. You may well ask why the move 3 . P-K5 doe s not control K5 . It doe s not. You do not control a square by occupying it, for the pawn which occu­ pies it must in turn be defended. Control means the power to occupy with a piece , not the self-blocking involved in occupation by a pawn. •

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In .

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fact, 3. P- K5 will allow Black to attempt a Q-side attack by P-K3 and P-QB4.

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Let us set aside our deeper positional plan for the moment and try to solve the immediate problem s set by Black' s second move . The White KP can be defended in many ways , of which only one , 3. N-QB3, is good. Thus 3. N-Q2 impede s the development of the White QB and Q, fails to control the central square s , and in no way threatens the Black position. 3. Q-B 3 or 3 . Q-Q3 are , of course , contrary to the normal rules of development. The defense s of a pawn in the opening by a major piece can only be a gift of develop­ ment for your opponent. Black would play 3 . PxP ; 4. QxP , N-KB3 , gaining a tempo by the attack on the Queen. It is well to remember that in the opening only the move s of pawns and minor pieces are normally to be considered . Early mov­ ing of major pieces is only likely to benefit your opponent' s de­ velopment. •

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PxP . White 3. P- KB3 is a good move only if Black plays 3 will then gain control of the center and will also have the open KB file for his rooks . However, Black can simply play 3 P-K3 , after which White's pawn on KB3 acts as a barrier to the proper de­ velopment of his piece s . KB3 is the natural square for the KN and this is no longer available . In addition, White has weakened his King position by opening the diagonals Kl-R4 and Nl-QR7. 3. B-Q3 is not really bad, but will either lose time or allow the exchange of thi s bishop for the Black kni ght . Thus: 3 PxP ; 4. BxP, N-KB3 , and the bishop must move o r be exchan ged. The move 3. N-QB3 would also have defended the KP, and would have been su­ perior for a very important reason: if a given objective in the opening can be achieved by either a knight or a bishop , then the knight move should be made . This is because the knight very often has only one good developing square (in this case QB3) , while the Bishop usually has a choice of several . It is best to re serve the decision regarding the "best" square for a bishop until the po sition has taken a fairly .

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definite shape. This rule is most applicable to openings like the Caro­ Kann and the Sicilian.

Further thoughts on White 3rd-move alternatives: 3. N-KB3-- 3

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PxP; 4. N-N5, N-KB3; 5. B-QB4, P-K3;

6. N-QB3, B-N5, with a good game. 3. N-K2--

3

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PxP;

4. N-N3, P-K4;

5. PxP, Q-R4ch and

QxKP. 3. Q-Q3 or 3. Q-B3-- Black gains time by attacking the Queen: 3

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PxP; 4. QxP, N-B3.

3. B-K3--

a gambit line allied to the Blackmar. After 3. .

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PxP; 4. N-Q2, N-KB3, Black's position looks very solid. 3. B-Q3-- 3

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PxP;

4. BxP, N-B3, and Black gains a

tempo by forching the bishop to retreat. 3. P-KB3--

This mild-looking move can lead to ferocious sacri­

ficial attacks, which is why it has been called

the "Fantasy Variation."

It is only effective, however, if Black exchanges on K4. Instead, he

can simply play 3

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P-K3, rendering White's 3rd move useless. GAME NO. 1

Played in Monterey, Mexico, 1934 WHITE: Carlos Torre 1. P-K4 2.

P-Q4

BLACK: Reuben Fine

P-QB3

16. R-B1

P-B5

P-Q4

17. P-KN4

P-B3 PxP

3. P-KB3

P-K3

18. R-KB2

4. N-QB3

N-KB3

1 9. BPxP

B-N2

5. B-K3

B-K2

20. Q-B2

B-QB3 N-B4

6. P-K5

KN-Q2

21. N-B3

7. P-B4

P-QB4

22. R(1)-Bl

N-Q6

8. N-B3

N-QB3

23. R-N2

NxKP

9. B-N5

Q-N3

24. PxN

P-Q5

0-0

25. N-K4

PxB

10. 0-0 11. K-R1

P-QR3

26. K-N1

Q-Q4

12. BxN

PxB

27. N-B3

Q-Q6

13. N-QR4

Q-R4

28. QxQ

PxQ

14. P-B3

PxP

29. R-N3

P-K7

15. PxP

P-QB4

30. White resigns

LESSON THREE 1. P-K4

P-QB3

2. P-Q4

P-Q4

3. P-K5 This move is somewhat weak. It does not increase White's hold on the center; it does not develop any of his pieces; it makes it im53

possible for White to pivot an attack about the control of his K5 square. There is, in addition, an important general rule which should be kept in mind in all such " half-open" positions as this: Pawns should not be moved to the fifth rank in the opening unnecessarily because they may then become weak. A pawn on the fourth rank (for example, the King Pawn) performs the important function of controlling two central squares in the enemy position. Thus Black, after 1. P-K4, cannot place a piece at either KM or Q4. The advance of the White KP to K5 allows the occupation of Black's KM by either a bishop or a knight. There are a number of exceptions to our rule, most of The occupation of the fifth rank

which are covered by the corollary:

by a pawn in the opening is feasible when it gains a tempo. For ex­ ample, 3. P-K5 would be a good move if the Black knight were at KB3. In our present example the pawn at K5 attacks nothing and per­ mits Black an easy development by

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B-M.

P-QB3

1. P-K4 2. P-Q4

P-Q4

3. P-K5

B-M

4. B-Q3

BxB

This is best, because of the general rule that exchanges benefit the defender, and also because the White bishop thus exchanged is a much stronger piece than the Black bishop, whose mobility is ham­ pered by its own pawns on white squares. If Black plays instead 4

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B-N3, then 5. P-K6, PxP (5

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BxB; 6. PxPch); 6. BxBch, PxB; 7. Q-N4, K-B2; 8. N-KB3, N-B3; 9. N-K5ch, K-Nl; 10. QxPch, K-R2; 11. N-B7 with an easy win for White. Or if 4

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P-K3; 5. BxB, PxB; 6. Q-K2 (preventing P-KB3)

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P-QB4 then we advise 7. PxP. Or 6

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B-K2;

7. N-KR3, P-B3; 8. N-M, PxP; 9. Q-R5ch, P-N3; 10. NxNP, N-B3; 11. Q-R3, R-N1; 12. NxP etc. Or 4

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P-KN3; 5. BxB, PxB; 6. P-K6, PxP; 7. N-KB3,

N-B3; 8. Q-K2, Q-Q3; 9. N-N5 etc. Or 6. B-N5 (see Game #2). Or 4

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Q-B1; 5. N-K2 and Black has wasted a move, as he

will evenutally be forced to exchange or retreat the bishop After 1. P-K4, P-QB3; 2. P-Q4, P-Q4; 3. P-K5, B-M; 4. B-Q3, BxB; 5. QxB*, Black's best is 5 * As

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P-K3. This move pre-

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stated previously, Black's idea is to play P-K3 and P-QB4 after

exchanging bishops. Years ago I introduced in a Belgian tournament a different approach for White, designed to counter the Black plan. This idea was 5. PxP!

?

The point is that when Black plays P-QM

White will answer with PxP and follow up with P-Q4, establishing a solid center with good play on the open QB file. Thus Black's best line of play against this unusual move is 5, 6,

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Q-N3. 54

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P-K3 followed by

pares P-QB4 and also prevents P-K6 by White. (5

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P-QB4 is

not recommended because of 6. Q-N5ch. ) There follows: 6. N-K2 (leaving the possibility of P-KB4 open), Q-N3; 7. 0-0, Q-R3. Black now has a good game because he will effectively. 7

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be

able to play P-QB4

Q-R3 nips White's attacking chances in the bud,

since in order to avoid the exchange of queens he must either block his bishop with 8. Q-Q2 or 8. Q-K3, lose time with 8. Q-Q1 or block his KB pawn with 8. Q-KB3. 8. N-B4 might be tried, but 8

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P-QB4 is a good answer, and so is 8

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QxQ, followed by

P-QN3 and P-QB4. If 8. QxQ, NxQ, and White cannot play the natural 9. N-QB3 because of 9

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N-N5. Or if 9. P-KB4 (trying

for a K-side attack anyway), P-KN3; 10. P-KN4, P-KR4; 11. P-KR3, PxP; 12. PxP, R-R5; 13. P-N5, N-K2 when White's pawn advances have seriously weakened his K-side. GAME NO. 2 Played in Vienna, 1928 BLACK: Szekely

WHITE: Leibowitz

QxPch

P-QB3

13. PxN

2. P-Q4

P-Q4

14. K-K2

QxR

3. P-K5

B-B4

15. Q-B8ch

KxP

4. B-Q3

P-KN3

16. QxR

P-B4

5. BxB

PxB

17. N-B3

QxR

6. B-N5

B-R3

18. N-N5ch

K-N3

7. P-K6

BxB

19. Q-N8ch

K-B4

8. Q-R5

Q-R4ch

20. P-N4ch

KxP

9. N-B3

N-B3

21. N-K4ch

K-B5 KxN

1.

P-K4

10. PxPch

K-B1

22. Q-N5ch

11. QxB

N-K5

23. Q-N4 mate

12. QxBP

NxN

To learn an opening well it is imperative that you know how to play it from either side. If you can put yourself in your opponent's shoes you are less apt to be unpleasantly surprised. The above is just intended to whet your appetite.

55

TWO MOVERS White to play and mate in two moves in each problem.

No.

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No. 9

No. 10

No. 11

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No. 15

No. 17

No. 18

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Solutions on page

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96.

BLINDFOLD CHESS Many game s played in a simultaneous exhibition are marred by bad blunders, and are very seldom worth while publishing. It is also possible that the opponent was a weak player and then all tactics are good, but the game prove s nothing. For many, many years I have toured the world giving exhibitions, mostly bl indfolded, and in my book "Adventure s of a Chess Master" you will find many outstanding games played in the se blindfold exh ibitions . If you haven't read the book, take my advice and get it, for it tell s you everything on blind­ fold che ss and has had raves from one and all . One opening I adopt in the se exhibitions is the Max Lange-if per­ mitted to do so-and many are the opponents who come prepared with all line s of new ideas to combat G. K. But we love the battle of wits , the sensation of meetin g up with these new line s , and usually overcome the wily opponent through combinational or, as it turns out to be the case so often, through positional tactic s . I do not believe th at the Max Lange is the be st attacking line for White , but it sure is a dangerous one , and needs special handling by both players. If you do not kn ow the full ramification of the open­ ing , YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO PLAY I T! The following and most recent Max Lange Gambit, played in blindfold, de serves publication, if for no othe r reason than the final position, which you have to admit is quite unique! Played at San Carlos , California. White: G. K. Black: N. N. P- K4 1. P- K4 N- Q B3 2. N-KB3 3. B- B4 N- B3 4. 0-0 B- B4 He might have done better to follow Pachman ' s line: 4 . . . . Nx P. This was adopted on another board, but in the ending White outplayed his opponent. 5. P- Q4 Bx P This means he intends to keep the pawn, come heck or high water. Paul Kere s recommends 5 . . . . Px P as best. The line adopted i s not too well written up . 6. Nx B Nx N 7. P- B4 P-Q3 60

Thi s is by far the best continuation. If 7 N- B3; 8 . Bx Pch, Kx B; Px P, NxP; 10. Q-Q5ch, with advantage, or 7 Q-K2; 8 . Px P, Qx P; 9. B-.B4, Q-Q.B4 (best); 10 . BxPch, Kx B; 10 . B- K3, with a better game . 8 . P- B3 The "book" gives 8. Px P; PxP; 9. B- KN5, etc . , and the most White can get i s a draw N- B3 8. . . Black has two othe r line s at his di sposal: (a) 8 B- N5; 9. Q-Q2 , Nx P; 10. Q-K3 , N-QB7; 1 1 . Qx N; NxR ; 12. Bx Pch, KxB; 13 . Px Pch, wins, or , (b) 8 N- K3 ; 9. P- B5, N-.B4; 10 . N-Q 2 , P- B3; with the better game. After 8 N-K3; White can continue with 9. Px P; or even 9. Bx N, Bx B; 10. P- B5 , B- B5; 11. R- K1 , P- KR3; 12 . P-Q N3, B-R3; 1 3 . P-.B4, followed by N- B3 . Outc ome? Black should have no problem s . B-Q2 9. P- B5 9. P-KR3 i s be st here . The pin of the Bishop i s unpleasant. Q - K2 1 0 . B- KN5 P- KR3 1 1 . K-Rl 0- 0-0 12 . B-R4 1 3 . Q - B3 N-QR4 P-QN4 14. B-Q3 Give s White chance s . If 14 P-Q4; 15. Px P, P- K5; 16 . Bx N, etc. , P-Q N3 looks safer . 15. P-Q N4 N- N2 16. P-QR4 PxP Be st. If 16 P-R3 ; 17 . PxP, Px P; 18. R-R8 mate; or 17 BxP; 1 8 . P-B4, etc . 17 . N-Q2 QR-B1 1 8 . N- B4 I P-.B4 19. N- K3 Q - K1 Tired of standing in a "pin" . Of course if 1 9 B- B3; 2 0 . P- N5 and 2 1 . N-Q5 . Px B 2 0 . BxN Q-Ql 2 1 . N-Q5 2 2 . P-N5 Q-R4 23. P-.B4 Though two pawns down , White ha s a wonderfully placed Knight and some really menacing open Rook l ines coming up. P-R3 23. 24 . Rx P Shock No. 1. He cannot take the rook as N- N6 ch lo se s the Queen . Q-Q7 24. 2 5 . Rx P Not only has White regained his two pawns but threaten s m ate in one. •

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B- K1 25. 26. R-R8 ch K-Q2 K- K2 ?.7. NxPch 2 8 . N-Q5ch K-Q2 29. P- B6 Shock No. 2 . White th reatens Q-B5 mate . Have you ever seen such a hopeless position of the Black Bishop and rooks? Q - N4 29. 30. Q-B5ch QxQ 3 1 . PxQ Black re signs . There ' s nothing he can do against KR-R1 and R1-R7.

TOUGH WI N Played in the 8- Board Simultaneous Blindfold Exhibition at the Atlas Che s s Club, Los Angele s . BLACK: Winston C . Doby

WHI T E: George Koltanowski 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29.

N-KB 3 P-Q4 B- B4 P- K3 P- B4 (b) P-QN3 (c) KPxP QN-Q2 (d) B-Q3 0-0 NxN Q-K2 B- K5 NxB QR- K1

P-Q4 N- KB3 P-K3 P- B4 (a) N- B3 Q-N3 PxQP B-N5ch NxP 0-0 (e) NxNch P- KR3 B-Q3 BxB N-Q2

Q-Q5 Q- B3 PxP P- KN3 N- N3 K-N2 N-Q4 P- N3 B- N2 Q-Q5ch KR- Bl N-N5 RxB Q- N7

N- B3 B- N1 Q - B2 (f) QxP Q - B1 N-K5 P-B4 R- B3 N-Q7 (g) K-R1 B- B2 R-Q1 Q-N1 (h) Re signs

(a) The best answer to Black' s last move . (b) 5 P- B3 i s more usual . (c) If 6 Q- N3 then White continues with 7. BPxP, QxQ ; KPxP; 8. NxQP, QxQ ; 8 . PxQ , KPxP; 9. N-QN5 , etc. If 7 9. NxNch and 10. PxQ , etc. (d) 8 B-Q2 ; 9. NxP, NxN; 10. QxN, etc . (e) Should have considered here 1 0 . PxP, BxBP ; 1 1 . B-Q2 , fol­ lowed by B- B3 or B- N4. Now White will have to work hard to get his Queen ' s side p iece s into action. •

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(f) Maybe the "blindfold" player won't see that Black threatens mate in one (Q-R7). (g) Still believes that White does not have complete control of the position and the exchange gained is better than nothing only Black gains nothing in fact, it goes downhill fast now. (h) If 28 RxQ; 29. RxQch leads to mate; and if 28, QxR; 29 . NxQ, RxQ; 30. NxR wins. •

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AGONY?

During Blindfold Exhibition in Vancouver, B. C., Canada 63

CH ESS RECORDS There are all kinds of chess records. Maybe you can set one yourself if you can surpass some of those already set. We all know that one can be mated in two moves-the Fool's Mate: 1. P-KN4 , P- K3 ; 2. P- KB4 , Q R 5 mate, and something like that happened at the U, S, Open at St. Louis, where Mayfield beat Trent with 1. P- K4 , P-KB3 ; 2 . P-Q4 , P- KN4 ; 3 . Q R5 mate. Re­ cently I witnessed the shortest short played in the California Open: 1 . P-Q N4 , P- K3 ; 2, B-N2 , Bx P?; 3, Bx P, and Black threw in the towel. The shortest game in a master tourney was between Gibaud and Lazard in Paris in 1 924: 1. P-Q4, N- KB3 ; 2. N-Q 2 , P- K4 ; 3 . PxP, N- N5 ; 4, P-KR3 , N-K6 . White resigns, for if 5. PxN, Q-R5ch forces mate� The longest game in master chess is the 1 9 1 move draw between Pilnik (Argentina) and Czerniak (Israel) in the Mar del Plata Tourna­ ment of 1950. The game lasted about 20 hours and, as the contestants had other games to play, the game ended about a week after the first session. The record for simultaneous chess is held by stahlberg, who is sa id to have played 400 games at once, in Buenos Aires, 1940, He took on 40 boards at one t ime; as soon as one player finished, another took his place. The exhibition lasted 36 hours (with 1 2 hours rest in between for stahlberg). I, too, have become fascinated with this record-setting business, both off-beat and recognized. I played 271 games under the same conditions as Stahlberg, in San Francisco in 195 1. It took 13 hours, straight through, and I won 2 5 1 , drew 17 and lost 3. My record in blindfold chess is 34 games played at Edinburgh, Scotland, in September 1 937 , w inning 24 and drawing 1 0 in 13 hours of continuous play. I have set another world record by playing 56 boards one at a time, continuously in 1 0 hours of play, at 1 0 seconds a move, I won 50 and drew 6, There are many other records in chess; for example, the shortest game in the different defenses and attacks, the trickiest two-mover in problems, the greatest number of moves to solve a problem, the quickest win in correspondence chess. One day we hope to come back and show and explain a number of these records more fully, but here is a record of a d ifferent kind: The record of most losses in a tourna­ ment goes to Colonel Moreau, who lost all 26 games at Monte Carlo in 1 903, Now there is a record we hope you never beat. -

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64

Setting the world' s b lindfold record, Edinburgh, Scotland, September 2 0, 19 37 . P layed 34 games simultaneously in 1 3 1/ 2 hours. Won 24, drew 1 0.

Setting a world' s record, 11 0 game s at once. Los Angeles, 19 6 2 . 66

Setting a blindfold record at the Fairmont Hotel,

67

San

Francisco, 1961

THE BLIND OLYMPIAD I had the honor of e scortin g the U. S. team to the Third Annual Che s s Olympiad for the Blind. It was held in Weymouth, En gland, and there were a score of team s entered. This was over twice as m any as last year, and, I hope , is an indicator of how this event m ay grow in the years to come. Among the U. S. playe rs , Albert Sandrin was in a clas s by him­ self, and more than held his own on Board #1. Of the other three U. S. contestants (Rod MacDonald of Arlington , Mas s . , Dr. James Slagle of Bethe sda, Maryland, and Grant Metcalf of San Franci sco) , one can only say they lacked experience-but they were a courageous trio and a p leasure to work with. In fact, courage was a fine human attribute that ran through the entire tournament. Players were constantly bumping into each other, or into the table s and chairs , yet I never heard so much as an ex­ pre s sion of annoyance on thi s account. In a way, the Blind Olympiad could be considered an unfair con­ te st. Our players were drawn from a total of 20 in a loosely knit U. s . federation of blind players. By contrast, a similar organization in Britain has 8 0-and the USSR, 150, 000! Of these, 15, 000 had com­ peted for place s on the team that went to Weymouth. De spite this , it looked for awhile as if the Russian s might go down in defeat to the really tough Yugoslavian team . However, that was not to be-and the Big Red Machine fin ally crushed the opposition , winning with 3 5 points-to Yugoslavia ' s 33. (Sandrin picked up most of the U. S. ' s 2 1 . ) The only really sour note at the tournament came at its end, when the men accompanying the Russian team demanded that, as the victors , they should be first on the speech-makin g list, which had been drawn up earlier. John Graham , the man who deserves all the credit for the succe s s of the Weymouth tournament, and who was in charge of that part of the program , flatly refused. The Rus sians stormed, threatened and blustered, s ayin g they would leave the tournament before the awards were made if they did not have their way. John stood firm-and the third-place Romanians spoke first. One thing that should be settled before the n ext Olympiad, which will be held in Yugoslavia in 1 97 2 , is the degree of blindness of the playe rs . Thi s varies a great deal from team to team , the C zechs and the East Germans at Weymouth bein g able to follow the games by sight, many of them being able to write down their move s in easily legible script. 68

BIG WI N AT WEYMOUTH To determine the best game played, a committee pored over the moves of 440 separate contests. What they came up with was a feather for the cap of Albert Sandrin, the powerhouse of an other­ wise courageous but ineffectual U. S. team . Sandrin' s opponent in this game was Sean Loftu s of Eire . The annotations in this game are the work of Sandrin who re­ cited the game for me and also the work of Harry Golombek who was on the Be st Game C ommittee . Thi s committee sifted through a large number of the 440 games played by double checking games which were noted by one or other of the members of the committee. WHI TE: A. Sandrin

BLACK: S. Loftus Queen's Gambit declined.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

P-Q4 P-QB4 N-QB3 B- N5 PxP P - K3 B-Q3 Q- B2 N- B3 P- KR4 (a)

N- KB3 P - K3 P-Q4 Q N-Q2 PxP P - B3 B- K2 Q-0

26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31 . 32. 3 3. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 4 9.

Q-R7 K- N1 P-K6ch RxB

Q-N4ch (f) K-B2 (g) KxP K- B2

RxR

KxR

Q-R3 Q-R8ch QxPch (h) Q- N4ch Q- B4ch Q- N4ch Q-K2 P-R3 K-R2 Q- K3 Q-QN3 Q- N3ch PxQ P- KN4 P- N5 P-R4 K-N3 K- B4 P-R5

Q-Q1 K-Q2 K- B1 K- B2 K- B1 K- B2 (i) Q-R5 Q-R8ch (j) QxP Q- N1ch Q-N7 QxQ K-Q3 K- K4 P- B4 P - N3 P -R3 K- K3 Re signs

P - KR3 R- Kl PxB (b) u. o-o-o 1 2. PxP N-K5 PxN 1 3 . NxN 14. P- N6 (c) N- B3 15. PxPch (d) KxP K- Nl 16. N-K5ch " ! 7 . BxP NxB B- B3 1 8 . Qx N 1 9 . Q-R7ch K- B1 B- K3 20. Q-N6 Q-B2 21 . P-K4 (e) BxN 22. R-R5 23. PxB QR-Q1 24. RxR QxR B- N1 25 . R-R8ch (a) An intere sting sacrifice . (b) Black accepts the challenge . It is really very difficult to see where White is going to get much for his sacrificed piece . (c) This is the key move in White' s offer of a piece for a King s ide attack. At this time Black can take neithe r the White Bishop nor the Knight. 69

(d) At this point White could win the Black Queen by 1 5 . N-K5, and if PxP ; 1 6. R-R8 check, followed by the Knight check at Pn, but Black's game would be much too strong. After all he would have three pieces for the Queen, and a good position. (e) This keeps the Black Queen from Q4. (f) After thi s Black loses the piece he had been given earlier. It was better to have played 26 K- B2 ; when the White Que en would check at B5. (g) What a difference a move later make s . (h) 33. QxQch wins faster, the zugzwan g o f the pawns that follow after the exchange of Queens make s this pretty game even more exciting. (i) White's repetitious Queen checks were intended only to gain time on the clock. (j) As can be seen, White lose s a pawn all due to that confounded clock. Most players can benefit by the knowledge of what to do with p awns and King in the end-game. Sandrin i s an Ame rican maste r an d his ending shows it. •

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U. S. TEAM AT WEYM OUTH Seated Left to Right: Albert Sandrin, Rod MacDonald, Dr. James Slagl e , Grant Metcalf. Standing: George Koltanowski and T. T. Perry. 70

PUERTO RICO U.S. OPEN PARTICIPANTS Special drawings of participants at the Rico, 1965, by Miss J. Reynolds.

Julio Kaplan

·Rev.

U.s.

Open

in

Puerto

Francisco Higuera

Ariel Mengarini

William Lombardy 71

Edward Formanek

72

Mi ro

Shainswit

Radojcic

73

Pal Benko

Duncan Suttles

Kenneth Smith

Edmars Mednis

74

BATTLE OF THE COMPUTERS or

AN ELECTRONIC GRANDMASTER

We have recently seen the first game of the four-game battle be­ tween the Stanford University and Moscow University computers. The American machine got beaten badly. Here is the game : BLAC K: Stanford Computer

WHIT E : Russian Computer

1 1 . Q-Q5 N-K3 P- K4 1. P- K4 N- N4 (b) N- KB3 1 2 . P-B5 N-QB3 P- KB3 1 3. P- KR4 (c) 3 . N- B3 B-B4 14 PxN PxNP (d) 4. NxP NxN R- B1 15. RxP (e) B-Q3 5 . P-Q4 P- B3 1 6 . RxP BxP 6. PxN RxP 1 7 . Q-Q6 7 . P- B4 BxNch R- B1 1 8 . R- N8ch N- B3 8. PxB 1 9 . QxR mate . N- K5 9. P-K5 1 0 . Q-Q3 N-B4 (a) (a) Much stron ger is P-Q4 here. (b) The Knight ha s been an unhappy one . (c) Good night Knight ! (d) These machine s have not been programmed to re sign-yet ! (e) Well played. If 15 . . . . RxR; 16 . Q - N8ch , K- K2 ; 17 . BxP mate. The above game proves that the machine is only as good as the material fed into it. The American c omputer simply was not as well "educated, " perhaps because Mikhael Botvinnik, ex- Champion of the World, is highly involved in computer work in Russia and may have had a hand in "teachin g" the Ru s sian computer. For the second time, the Mas sachusetts Institute of Technology entered its computer MAC HAC K 6 as a competitor in the Massachu­ setts Open in Bo ston . La st year it lost four game s , and drew one , under the same playing condition s as all the other competitors , re­ gardin g time limit, etc . This year it actually won a game in good style. The most amazin g thin g was the increase in its playin g strength. It rarely make s simple blunders now, so it must be outplayed. It has no specif ic openin g or endin g knowledge ; it plays certain openings badly from a positional viewpoint. It can get into time pres sure at its normal p ace , then its "thought cycle" can be shortened. Neverthel e s s , it lost one game on time ! 2.

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The computer is located at MI T, so the actual "player" is a typewriter-like console that act s as a teletype between the tourna­ ment room and the computer. " Gee, is that thing for real?" one contestant asked. Indeed it i s , and here is it s historic win from the Mas sachusett s Open. WHITE: Mac Hack 6

BLAC K: Ben Landey SI CI LIAN D E FENSE

B-Q2 P- K4 P-QB4 1 2. QxQP (a) B- N2 1 3. B-R4 PxP P-Q4 14. N-Q5 NxP N- QB3 QxP QxN 15. N- B7 ch N- B3 Q-Q3 N- B4 16. QxQ P-KN3 N-QB3 B- KB1 17. Q-Q6 P- Q3 N- B3 R- B1 1 8. Q-Q5 P- K4 B- B4 B- K3 19. NxP P- QR3 B- N3 RxQ P- QN4 20. QxNch 0-0-0 P-QR4 B-R3ch 2 1 . R-Q8 mate. K- N1 P - N5 (a) Very well played! It might be interesting to recall that the first "automatic" chess player appeared in public in 17 7 0 , when Baron Wolfgang von Kempelan unveiled "Ajeeb" in the Royal Palace in Vienna befo re the Empre ss Maria Theresa. As the audience watched with amused interest, the Baron's new instrument was wheeled into the room. The spectators saw a life­ size figure of a Turk seated behind a che st about 4 feet long, 2 feet wide and 3 feet high. A ches sboard was fixed to the top surface of the cabinet. The "Turk" was dres sed in oriental fashion and his left arm moved over the piece s . This was one of the greatest illusions of all time. During the following 7 0 years Ajeeb performed before thousands in Europe and the United States. The secret was that a small-sized player (usually a hunchback) was inside the cabinet , concealed by panels. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 1 1.

76

CHESS IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING The last time I was in London I bought an elegant ivory French che s s set of the design sometime s known as "the little Dieppe" . The men we re white and brown, tall and slender, and the royals had a detail of delicate lacery. It cost a mode st 1 0 pounds and was cer­ tified to be "circa 1 7 8 0" . In the evening when the day' s work i s done, I bring out the set and weave dreams of it s history; of the players of a bygone age who used it ; of the settings wherein it rested, of the elegant hands that lifted and replaced the piece s ; the joys and sorrows which surrounded it, how it fared during the successive wars , and who could have ta­ ken it from France to England. All I was able to find out about such sets was that they were custom made fo r the mo re leisured clas se s of pre-Revo lutionary France by stud and button makers. For this reason, no two set s were exactly alike. Did the Dub arry and Louis XV while away the time with these pieces? Did Lafayette ever play with them? Undoubtedly the first users discussed the troubles England was having with her rebelliou s colonist s . Of one thing , however, we can be cert ain-that many of the che s s players who first handled these delicate carvings later lo st their heads on the guillotine in 1 7 8 9 . Robespierre was a chess player. Did he ever play with this set? Did Marat, the revolting Marat, play from hi s bath before receiving the final and deciding "pin" of Charlotte Corday? Or, instead, did the little set find its way to England in the bag gage of an aristocrat o r po ssibly in that of the "Scarlet Pimpernel" himself. Did Napoleon ever use the set? Dreams, dream s , dreams! Now the little pieces, still in perfect condition, are in California. Where will they be tomorrow? On the moon? * *

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WI LHELM STEINITZ was asked at the height of his fame how he assessed his chance s in a forthcoming tournament. He answered : " My advantage is that all my competitors have to play Steinits, but I needn't. " 77

GRAND MASTERS OF RENOWN

Boris Spassky, U S SR

Mikhael Tal, U S S R

WHAT IS CHESS? The following is an extract from an article by Mikhail Tal in the Latvian magazine "Zvaigzne ". "If, during the lunch hour, workers play a game of chess it is a pleasant and good recreation. *

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"If an experienced player sits down in the last round of a tourney with the intention of getting a quick draw to clinch third place, then we have a bit of sport and a bit of professionalism. *

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"When Grandmaster Averbakh analyzes countless variations in a queen and pawn ending to state when it is a draw and when a win, then chess is a science. *

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"But when tournament players sit on a great stage and their games are followed by thousands of spectators who fill the theatre­ hall and by millions of radio listeners with pencils in their hands, when each new plan draws a reaction from all those present, then it is an art, and although characteristic in its own way, it still re­ sembles drama, music and the fine arts. " 78

Svetozar Gligoric, Yugoslavia

Lajos Portis ch, Hungary

79

A FANTASTIC IDEA Neschmetdinov, a follower of the romantic school of Anders sen and Morphy, has lifted many a well-known Rus sian Grandmaster out of his seat with his brilliant play. He recently s acrificed his Queen for two light Officers, winning by the pressure that ensued. P layed in the Moscow Jnterclub Championship BLA CK: V. Tchernikov W HITE : R. Ne schmetd inov Sicilian Defense P- QB4 N- QB3 P xP P-K N3 B- N2 N- B3

1 . P-K 4 2. N- KB 3 3. P- Q4 4. NxP 5. N- QB3 6 . B -K3 7. B- QB4 8 . B- N3 9. QxN 1 0. Q-R 4 11 . 0-0 1 2. QxB (b) 1 3 . NxN 14. N- B 3 15. N- Q5 16. B- Q4 17. QR- Ql

0-0

N- KN5 NxN Q-R 4 B- B 3 (a) N-K7ch ( c) P xQ R- Kl (d) K- N2 R- K3 ( e) P- Q3 (f)

1 8. R- Q3 1 9 . R-K B3 2 0. B- B3 (g) 21. NxP 22. NxRP ch 2 3. R- R3 (j) 24. P- B4 25.Kx B 26 . B- Q4 27. N- N5 2 8. BxPch (k) 29 . R- R8 ch 3 0 . NxR ch 31 . Nx Q 32. N- B6 3 3.K- K2

B- Q2 B- N4 Q- Ql B- K7 (h) K- Nl ( i) R-K 4 BxR R- Bl P- QN4 R-B2 RxB KxR K- R2 RxP RxP ch R e signs (l)

(a) All according to the book , if now 12 . Q- N3 , QxN; or 12 . Q- R6 , B- N2 ; 13. Q- N5 , Qx Q, etc. The text move i s suppo sed to g ive Black an equal game , but White ha s an incredible idea! (b) C ertainly most original . White wi she s to control the long diagonal. (c) Gains some time . (d) Black is intent on saving his K BP . ( e ) If 1 6... .R- K4 ; 17 . NxP , Kx N ; 1 8 . P- KB4 . (f) Now 1 7... . P- QN4 ; 1 8 . R- Q3 , B- N2; 19 . NxP , RxN ; 2 0.R-KB 3 , leads to trouble . ( g) Cha se s the Queen to a weaker square. (h) Seeks to protect himself as will soon be seen. ( i) After 22 KxN ; 2 3.R-R 3ch, B-R 4 (Now the move make s sense). But after 22... .KxN, there follows 23.RxP ch , and Bx R , with strong pres sure. (j) Threatens N- N5 . (k) A brilliant finish to an unbelievable game! (1) We would have liked to put a question mark after White' s 12th move-but are not quite able to show how Bla ck could have saved himself.Y et.... .! 80 .

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AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR EVERYONE IS A GENIUS

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Dr. Siegfried Tarrasch was a great che s s champion. For ye ar s he was THE outstanding German Maste r , who had doctrines and ideas in chess that he defended over the board and in prolific writing s. In the Leip zig, Germany International in 1894 , Dr . Tarrasch played J. H. Blackburne of England, who was known fo r his fondne s s for strong liquor. Whenever Blackburne gave a s imultaneous exhibi­ tion in England, one of hi s main conditions was to have at each end of the playing room, a table with a bottle of whiskey (and glas s , I presume) on it. And each tim e he would reach one of the two tables, he would take a liberal swig of whiskey. (It somehow did not effect his re sults or brilliant play! He was born December 10 , 1 84 2 and died on September 1, 1924 and I saw him play simultaneous in London in July of 1922 ! ) All went well with Tarrasch (born March 5, 1862, died February 1 7 , 1 934) for a while and then BANG, on the 33rd move White sacrificed a ROOK on KR6. Blackburne won the game soon after. Tarrasch, though winning the tournament, kept on harping on the "weak" Englishman, but whenever he did he was reminded about the ROOK SACRIFIC E ON KR6o This sacrifice haunted Siggy. And, believe it or not, it stood him in good stead in the ve ry next tourna­ ment in which he met the goateed Blackburne ! That was on the 26th of August, 18 95, at the Hasting s International . Tarrasch had the White pieces thi s time, and sure enough on the 27th move the bitter memory was wiped out completely! Tarrasch SACRIFI C ED A ROOK ON KR6 ! You might almo st say thi s prove s that revenge is sweet ! Here are the two games in question:

Blackburne - Tarrasch (Leip zig, 1 894) 1. P-Q4 , P-Q4 ; 2. N-KB3, P-QB4 ; 3. PxP, P-K3 ; 4. P- K4 , BxP; 5 . B-N5ch, N- B3 ; 6 . PxP, PxP ; 7 . 0-0, N-K2 ; 8 . N- B3 , D-0; 9. B-K B4 , B-KN5; 1 0. B- K2 , P-QR3 ; 1 1 . P-KR3 , B-K3 ; 12. P-R3, N- N3 ; 1 3 . B-R2, B-R2 ; 14 . Q-Q2 , P-Q5 ; 15. N-K4 , P- N4 ; 16. QR-Q1, P-R3 ; 17 . B-Q3, K-R1 ; 1 8. KR- K1, Q-Q2 ; 1 9 . 81

N- N3, QR- Q 1 ; 20. N- K2 , Q- Bl (B- � look s strong here) ; 2 1. B- K4 , B-Q4 ; 2 2 . N-B4 , NxN ; 23. BxN, BxB, 24. Rx B, KR- K1 ; 25. R ( 1)- K1, RxR ; 26. RxR , Q- B4 ; 27. Q-Q3, Q -Q4 ; 28. N- K5 , N-K2 ; 29. B-Q2, P- B3; 3 0. N- B3 , N-B3 ; 31. R -R4, Q- B5 ; 32 . Q-N6 , N- K2 ; 33 . RxR Pch,

PxR, 34. Qx BPch, K-N1, 35. QxN, Q - B1 ; 36. N- K5, Resign s. Tarrasch- Blackburne (Hastings, 18 95) 1. P- K4, P- K3 ; 2. P-Q4, P- Q4 ; 3. N-Q B3, PxP; 4. NxP, N-Q 2 ; 5. N- KB3, N(1)- B3� 6. B-Q 3, P- B4 ; 7 . G-0, Px P; 8. NxNch, NxN; 9. NxP , B- B4 ; 10. N- B3 , Q- B2 ; 11. Q-K2, B-Q 2 ; 12. N-K5 , B-Q3 ; 13. P- KB4 , G-0; 14. B-Q2 , QR-Q 1 ; 15. K-R1, B- B1 ; 16. R- B3, P-KN3; 17 . P- B4, BxN; 18. Px B, N-Q2 ; 1 9, B- B3, N- B4 ; 20, B- B2, B-Q2 ; 21. P-Q N3, K- N2 ; 22. Q-K3 , R - KR1 ; 23. QR- KB1 , B- K1 ; 24 . B- K1 , Q- K2; 2 5 . R- B6 , P- KR3 ; 26. B-R4, P - KN4 ; 27. RxR P,

Px B (if 27 RxR; 2 8 . BxP or 27 KxR ; 28. R -B6ch, K- N2 ; 29. BxP) ; 28. RxR , Black resigns. •

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J. H. Blackburne 82

WHEN GODDESS CAISSA NODDED ! It i s rare that Caissa, the Goddes s of Chess, g ive s her cele stial nod of approval to a mortal player-but when she doe s , he recognizes it as life's g reate st moment. Jose Sanz Aguado of Madrid once was champion of Spain, a modest achievement in itself. But the ending he achieved in a tournament game in the El Gran Salon del Casino de Madrid in 1933 brought him world fame, and will continue to astound che s s fans for centurie s to come . I met Sanz in many a battle in Spain and had many an argument with him over che s s and politics . He was always a Bohemian and you can meet him today pl aying five-minute games with all and sundry at the C lub Maira in Madrid. He now hobbles around with a cane-a piece of shrapnel in the leg remains as a souvenir of the C ivil War days . Here is the game which won him Cais sa' s nod .

WHI TE: M. Ortueta

BLAC K: J. Sanz French Defense

1. . 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17 . 18.

P- K4 P-Q3 N-QB3 P-K5 P- B4 B-Q2 N- B3 P-Q4 N-QN5 QPxKP P- B3 B-K2 0-0

NxN B- KB4 B-Q3 Q- B2 B- K5

1 9. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27 . 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34 . 35.

P- K3 P-Q4 N- KB3 N3-Q2 B- N5 0-0

P- KB3 P-QB4 PxKP RxP R- K5ch B-R4 NxP RxN R- B4 R- B3 P- KR3 N-Q2 83

BxR RxN R- KB1 B-R7ch Q- N6 R- B7 QxQ RxB RxNP P- B4 N- B3 P-KR3 N-R4 NxR RxB (a) R- N4 (c) N-R4 White resigns

NxB QxR Q-K2 K-R1 B- Q2 Q-N4 PxQ Kx. B B- N3 PxP R-Q1 R-Q7 RxP! ! P- B6 P- B5 (b) P-R4!! (d) PxR (e)

(a)

(b) (c ) (d)

(e)

If

33. N-Q 3, P- B5ch; 34 . RxB (if 34 . K- Bl, PxN; 35. K- Kl , P- B7; 36. K-Q2, B-K6ch, etc . ) . The text move seems to put an end to Black ' s threats . If PxR, N-Q3, etc . Just beautiful ! Jf 34 . NxP, P- B7 . And if now 35. RxP, PxN; 36. R-Kl , P- B6 win s . Again everything seem s to work out fine fo r White . BUT Time fo r everything. This move took Sanz 45 minute to work out and, according to him , was the mo st difficult move of the whole "finale " . If the Rook goe s to N6, 7 or 8, then P- B7 decide s. If RxP, PxN finishes matters . You will see this ending published all over again and ag ain. Usually the Black pawn s on K3 and KN4 are not given and the White pawn i s on K R2 instead of where it belong s , KR3. All thi s does not change the brilliancy of this game . •

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Henri Rinck, the great Spanish end-game compo ser, was asked if he could improve on the theme . His answer was simple , " E s hecho . " (It' s made . ) Sanz may be a reserve on the Spani sh che s s team s today, but his "one great moment" will continue forever ! "

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MASTER STROKE NO. 3 One of the great oldtimers was the American master Walter Shipley, who held court at the Franklin Chess Club in Philadelphia in the early part of the century. He used to write a regular che s s column for the Philadelphia Bulletin, an d he was noted for his ag­ gres sive play. In the fo llowing position from a game of the club championship, he demoli she s his opponent with a single move ! No check-mate mind you, and Shipley has the Black piece s . HI NT: To win a game, one doe s not always have to play for the mate . Win­ ning a piece will make the mate-giving so much the easier. Thus you should not have to look for more than 10 min­ ute s if you are a C player ; 5 minute s if you are a B player and 3 minute s for the A player. What clas s are you in? See page No . 96. 84

CHESS AND ITS RULES A viewer takes me to task saying I have made up new rule s . According t o some rules that h e has, you cannot have two Queens, three Rooks, three Knight s or three Bishop s at the same time-thus a p awn reaching the eighth rank could not be queened un le s s your Queen was off the board. It might interest our ches s fan that only two NEW rules have been added to the g ame of Che s s in the last 5 0 0 years or so-castling and taking en-passant-but m aking a second or third Queen when a pawn reaches the eighth rank is not new. (You can have many queens­ if you can get your p awns into eighth rank. ) *

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Many years ago I met a playe r who claimed to be che s s champion of Tasmania, and when we s at down to a game, he started off with 1. P- K4 and 2 . P-Q4, without waiting for me to make my first move . I told him that he could NOT m ake more than one move at a time. " Oh, no, " he replied, "we in Tasmania play according to the rules of the g ame! " And even today I get inquiries about someone claiming that he can start the game by making two moves at once-yet that rule NEVER has exi sted. It is quite common to find players, afte r losing at the regular form of che ss, making up rule s of their own, hoping, some­ how, some way, to win the game . *

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Years ago I was supervising the 6-to-8-year-old tournament at Marquette Stadium in Milwaukee. I had about 300 boys and girls playing in my section. It was just too many to supervise at the same time , so I instructed them to play on after they s aid "mate " , capture the opponent' s king a move later and then call me. This worked fine . But on one board one of the young sters, hold­ ing up his opponent' s king, called out, " Miste r, Mister, I have cap­ tured his king ! " 85

I walked ove r and told his opponent to leave the field. He did, sobbing. On glancing down , I saw that the winner did not have his own king on the board, so I asked him , " Say, sonny, where' s your king? " " He took my king a long time ago , but he didn't know it was my kin g, " said the 7 -year-old, grinning from ear to ear . Now, about those new rules •

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MASTER ST ROKE NO. 4 Here' s a position that occurred in a game played at Hastings, 1962-63, in which White: Vas sily Smyslov of the U SSR beats C. 0. D. Alexander, England, in three move s . Smyslov became champion of the world i n 1 95 3 , beating the title­ holder Mikhael Botvinnik, USSR, in a 24 game-match, only to lose it back to Botvinnik the next year. Smyslov is a singer by profes sion (light tenor) . Alexander is in the diplomatic service of the British foreign office . His win over Botvinnik at Hastings a few years ago was an outstanding feat.

Vassily Smyslov

HINT: Thi s should not take you long . Expert A: 3 minutes ; B; 5 min­ utes, and Average: 10 minute s . Solutions on p age 96.

86

FRITZ SAEMISCH One of the olde st Grandmasters alive today i s still as vigorous in speech as in battle . Saemisch never won great t ournament s , but none of the participant s could take him too lightly. He was excellent as a blindfold player . Twelve boards was his specialty. Hi s line of play against the King's Indian Defense is known as the Saemisch Vari­ ation. Saemisch started in Berlin as a "coffee house" player, and used to give opponent s all kinds of odds , from a pawn to a queen, and beat most of them through hi s quick play and " swindle combinations". When he started in his first important tournament in Berlin, 1 9 2 0 , he took an hour for his first move , 25 minut e s for his second m ove , 15 minute s for hi s third move , 1 0 minutes for hi s fourth move , five minutes for his fifth move , and f rom then on, he would play the rest of the game in rapid-transit style , having only five minutes left for 35 move s . Most of his opponent s used to go be serk, waiting around for him to move . They wondered if he was up to something deep, or new, or was just balmy. But when Saemi sch started to play rapid-transit che s s, they would follow suit , because they felt Saemisch did not have much time on his clock. They were sure that if they played fa st , he would soon blunder. But Frit z didn't blunder. In fact , he was in his element and could out smart most of the opponents in rapid play. Outcome? He would end up winning with great ease, with his opponent having something like an hour and fifty minute s left on his clock and a red f ace! Soon after hi s debut , participants would turn up with a det ective book to calm their nerves while waiting for Saemisch to move and really slowed up when Saemisch started to rush matters! Recent ly, the septuagenarian participated in a tournament in Madrid and be at V. Pirc , the young (45-year-old) theoretician f rom Yugoslavia. WHITE: Saemisch 1. P-Q4 2. P-Q5 3. P-Q B4

BLA C K: Pirc Benoni Defense 4 . P-K4 P-QB4 5. N-QB3 P-Q3 6. B-Q3 P-KN3 87

N-KB3 B-N2 P- K3

7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17.

18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28.

N1- Q2

N1-K2 P-KR3 P- B4 KPxP B-Q2 Q- B2

0-0

0-0-0

P- KN4 (a) P- B5 (b) Bx P Qx B

PxP N- K1 P- B4 N2- B3 P- QR3 PxP PxBP BxB Q-Q2

Q-Q3 RPxP Q- B2 N- B4 QR- N1 P- N5 N-K6 R- Bl RxN PxN R-Kl

P- N4 PxP B-R1 (c) R- B2 R- N2 N-N5 N-B7 N- B2 (d) NxN Qx P Resigns

(a) Now it' s a matter of who get s there first with the attack. (b) It looks as if White get s his licks in fir st . (c) If 2 0 Qx P; 2 1 . QR- N1 , or i f 20 NxNP; 2 1 . QxRPch. (d) Sad necessity. If 25 R- B2 ; 2 6 . P- N6 , N-Q6ch ; 27 . QxN, PxQ; 2 8 . PxPch, RxP; 2 9 . R-B8 mate . •

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PROBL E M FINI SH A really be autiful conclusion by the veteran Frit z Saemisch. WHI TE: Saemisch 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.

P-Q4 P-K4 N-QB3 N- B3 B- Q 3 0-0

NxP Q-K2 Qx N Q-K2 P- B4 B-Q2 B- B3 N-K5 QR-Kl (c ) Q- B3 Q-R3 R-K3

BLAC K: F. Herzog French Defense P-K3 19. P-Q4 20. P-QB3 (a) 21. N-Q2 22. B-K2 23. PxP (b) 24. KN- B3 25. NxN 26. N- B3 27 . 0-0 28. 2 9. P-KR3 R- K1 30. P-Q N3 31. B- N2 32. B- KB1 33. Q- B2 34. 35. QR-Q1 R-K2 88

R-N3 P-Q5 (d) N-Q7 (e) QxPch BxNch RxB R-N4ch (g) P- B3 R- N7 ch PxR B-N1 P- K5 P- K6 K-R1 BxR R-Q7 B-Q8

K-R1 KPxP R1xN (f) PxQ B- N2 R- K5 K-R2 P- KR4 K-R3 PxBP P-N4 R-Q6 (h) Q- N3ch PxP (i) PxB P- B4 Resigns (j)

(a)

An unfavorable line of the Caro-Kann defense . Better is 3 P-QB4 or 3 N- KB3. Might just as well keep the po s ition closed and play 6 N-N3 and 7 N-B3 here. Threatens 16. NxKBP, KxN; 17 . QxPch, K-Bl; 18. B-N6 . White could also have played 15. QR-Q1 and 16. i}R-K1 . The start of the combination. A line-clearing sacrifice offering the Knight four ways to go. If 21 QxN; 2 2 . Qx Pch, Px Q; 23. BxNch, B- N2; 24 . BxBch, K-N1; 2 5 . B- B6ch, followed by B-R7 and R-N8 . Or 21 R2xN; 2 2 . Qx Pch, or finally, 2 1 . NxN; 2 2 . QxPch, and 23. QxP mate . After 25. P- B3 , Black can play Q- B5 . Must stop R-R7 mate . Not 32. . . Q- B7; 3 3 . BxR defends the Rook. Mate in three follows after the Queen moves; R- B6ch, R-N7 ch and R- B4 mate . •

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(b)

(d) (e) (f)

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(j)

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(h) (i)

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(g )

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(c)

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A splendid game!

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MASTER STROKE NO. 5 In the following position, played at Zagreb , Yugoslavia, 1965, Bent Larsen, the b rilliant Danish Master , pulls a "rahbit" out of the hat. His opponent, Alexande r Matanovic , of Yugoslavia, an Inter­ national Grandmaster, re signed after the second move of White .

HI NT: Take it easy. If it takes you 5 minutes or le s s you are surely then an Expert; 10 minute s: Club or State player; 15 minute s: Average player. See solution on page 96. 89

GOODWILL . . . AND ALL THAT Dec. 20, 1 954 "You ' ll remember me, " the voice over the phone told me. "Met you way back in Providence at my father' s house . You remember dad, Ezra Love , Belgian Consul and che s s champion of Rhode Island. Sure knew you would remember! "Well , I am stationed at the Sonoma Ho spital and ran acros s your name in the phone book and had an inspiration. Have you time to li sten? You have . . . good, here goes . . . During the years of my studies I have been transferred to many citie s , and I always manage somehow to struggle through one game of chess by mail with my dad. I am naturally no match for him , and he always criticize s my horrible play . . . Yet somehow relishes playing me, mo st likely as it kind of give s him news from my wife and myself, no matter where we are. "Ah, I see you' re getting the hang of my idea. Yes, I would like you to play him via myself. I will send him the move s, and forget to tell him who his opponent is, and when it is all over I shall tell him that he was beaten by the famous Koltanowski. Now don't be modest , you have t o be at him , otherwi se m y whole scheme will backfire! Well, thanks a lot for doing this for me. What is your first move . . . What? You really mean pawn to King Knight four? " That doesn't look good to me It isn't, then why play it? Oh, I see , you want to fool him into thinking it i s me playing him after all? Ho , Ho, Ho , that ' s g ood . . . but wait until Dad finds out! Ha, Ha, Ho , thanks again, will ring you as soon as he writes. " .

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Jan. 4 , 1955 " Hello, Dr. Love speaking . Just fine, and hope you are well, too. Well, dad has fallen for my bait, line, hook and sinker. He thinks it must be the California weather that made me decide on such a bad first move . . . and he will show me once again that I cann ot make moves like that against him . His answer is pawn to King four. Your an swe r is Bishop to Knight two . . . fine, good-night . " 90

March 3, 1955 " Dr. Love speaking . . . Father is getting jubilant , and says he has me over a barrel . . . You don't think so yet ? Hope you can hold the man. You have to hold him , as I have a private bet with my wife . "Yes, she is confident that we will lose , as she thinks I did my father wrong, in not te lling him who is really playing the game . . . glad to hear you don 't think it is such a bad joke after all, and should he win, the joke will be even greater . . . true , but it will be on us! " Sure , I'll come over one of these days and say hello. We like it here , and I would like to hang out my shingle in Santa Rosa, it ' s a wonderful place . . . but there are too many doctors here already. " .

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April 20 , 1955 " Dr. Love speaking . . . Dad plays 16. Knight to Queen six. . and warns me to look out do you really think we are in bad straits ? You really think we will get out of it ? You do! Hallelujah You want me to answer with Bishop takes pawn . . . so let it be . Let ' s see what he says now . . " .

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Sunny Acre s TB Sanatorium , Providenc e , R. I. July 24 , 1955 Dear Mr. Koltanowski. A bit of bad luck has just put me in the hospital here with tuber­ culosis-not bad. I had to break down and tell father that he was in reality playing a master. He remembers you well and was much amused. I guess it will be nece s sary to play via the mails with you to conclude this gam e. My addres s is as above . Black' s move No . 1 9 is N(K7 ) - B5. My be st to your wife . Sincerely, E zra Love , Jr. * *

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February 9 , 1 956 Dear Koltanowski , On your move 2 1. RxB! you are , after such a long wait , re .. ceiving two resignations . . . My son pas sed away . and I, too , .

91

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am lost . Thanks for a splendid game, and for giving my son his first victory over his dad. It made him happy. Sincerely, E zra Love , Sr. •

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Here ' s the game in case anyone is interested in seeing it.

WHITE : G. K. AND 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

P- KN4 B- N2 P-QB4 Q-R4ch QxBP Q- B3 P- N5 QxP 9. Q-N3 10; N-QR3 1 1. N.:_ B3

Dr.

BLAC K: E. L. , Sr .

E . L. , Jr . 12. 13. 14 . 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21.

P-K4 P-Q4 PxP P- B3 B-K3 N- B3 N- Q4 N-Q2 N- N5 N- N3 B-Q3

Q-R4 P-N3 B- N2 o- o

K-R1 BxP QxP PxP e. p. QR-K1 RxB

P-QB4 N3-Q4 N- B5 NxPch N-Q6 R-KN1 P- B4 N7-B5

K-Q2 Re signs

VARIATION ON A THEME At an international school, students were asked to write an e s s ay on che s s . The Frenchman entitled hi s e s say, " The Love-life o f Chessplayers . " The German, " Scientific Approach to Chess Theory" . The Englishman, " Ches s as a Pastim e " . The American, " Mas s Production o f Che s smen and Boards" . The Russian, " Che 813 as a Political Weapon" . But the local boy' s e s say proved the most succe s sful , " How to Survive for Twenty More Move s a Queen Down" . 92

SOLUTIONS SOLUTIONS TO LAZARD ' S E NDINGS No. 1

1. K- N7 , P-N5 ; 2. K- B6 , PxP ; 3. K- B5 , B-K5 ; 4. P- K7 , P-R7 ; 5 . P- KB=Q , P-RB=Q ; 6 . N- N7 ch, BxN; 7 . Q-QB mate .

No. 2

1. K-N5 , P-R4 ; 2. K- B6 , P-R5 ; 3. K- B7 , P-R6 ; 4. N-R4 , P- KB=Q; 5 . N- N6ch, PxN; 6. PxP, and wins. If 1. K-N5 , P-R4 ; 2. K- B6 , K- N1 ; 3. K-K5 , wins as the King with hold the QRPawn.

No. 3

1. P- K4ch, KxP; 2. PxP, NxKP ; 3. and wins.

No. 4

1. R- N8ch, K-R8 ; 2. B- N7 , K- N7 ; 3 . BxPch, K-R8 ; 4 . B-N5 , K-N7 ; 5 . B-R4ch, K-R8 ; 6 . B- N3 , K- N7 ; 7 . BxPch, KxB; 8. R- N5 , K-R8 ; 9. RxP, P-R7 ; 10. R-KR5 , K- N7 ; 1 1 . RxPch, wins .

No. 5

1. K- K3 , BxQ ; 2 . N-Q1ch, K- B7 ; 3. R- N2ch, KxN ; 4 . R-Q2ch, K- KB ; 5 . R- K2ch, drawn through perpetual check. If 5 NxR ; White i s stalemated.

KxN,

K- B5 ; 4. K- B6

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No. 6

No. 7

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1. P-R5 , P- N4 ; 2. PxP e . p. , BxP ; 3. K-N7 , P-R4 ; 4. KxB, P-R5 ; 5. K- B5 , P-R6 ; 6. K-Q6 ! , P-R7 ; 7. P- B7 , draws. 1 . N- B6ch, KxP; 2. N-Q4ch, K-Q2 ; 3. NxP, BxN; 4. RxP, 5 . K-R4 , Draw. If the Rook move s , it' s stalemate .

RxR ;

No. 8

1. K- K3 , P- B7 ; 2. B-R4 , B- B4ch ; 3. K- B3, K- BB ; 4. BxP, BxB ; stalemate .

No. 9

1. B- N4 , P-K3ch ; 2 . K-B4 ! , K- N7 ; 3 . K- K3 , P-R6 ; 4. K-Q2, P-R7 ; 5 . B- B3ch, K-N8 ; 6 . B-R1, KxB; 7 . K- B1 , P- K4 ; 8 . K- B2 , P- K5 ; 9. K- B1 , P-K6 ; 10. N- N3ch, BxN; Stalemate !

No. 10

1. R-Q5 , P- KB=Q ; 2. P-N4 , PxP; 3. K- B7 , Q- K4 ; 4. RxQ , 5. K- B6 , P-K5 ; 6 . P- N5ch, K-R4 ; 7 . P- N6 , PxP ; 8 . P- N7 , P- N7 ; 9. P- N8=Q, P- B8=Q ; 10. Q-N5 mate . PxR;

93

SOLUTIONS TO T. V. POSITIONS No. 1

1. R- N5 , PxR; 2. K- B5 , P-N5 ; 3. K- B4 , P- N6 , 4 . PxP mate , or, 1. R- N5 , P- B4 ; 2. RxPch, K-N5 ; 3. RxBP, K-R5 ; 4 . R- B4 mate .

No. 2

1. Q-Q5ch, KxQ ; 1. RxQ ; 1. BxQ ;

No. 3

1. B- K1 , P- B4 ; 2. P- B4 , PxP en-passant (forced) , 3. PxP, P- B5 ; 4 . P-N4 mate .

No. 4

The Black King should be placed on (a) KR8 (Stalemated) ; (b) K6 (Checkmated) ; (c) QR1 (mate in one : Q- B8 mate ) .

No. 5

1. R-QN4 , R-R5 ; 2 . P-KB4 , RxP; 3. P- K4 , RxP ; 4 . P-Q4ch , RxP ; 5 . P- B4 , RxP ; 6 . K-R3 , RxR; Stalemate .

No. 6

1. RxPch; KxR ; 2 . P-R6ch, K-N1 ; 3. P-R7 ch, K-N2 ; 4 . QxQch, wins.

No. 7

1. P-RS=Knight, 4 . P- BS=Knight, 7 . P- KS=Knight, 10. P-NS=Knight

No. 8

1 . R-Q2 , Q-R1 ; 2. K- B2ch, QxR; 3 . R-Q1ch, QxR; Stale­ mate . (By Henri Rinck, Spain)

No. 9

B-N3.

No. 1 0

1 . P- N5ch, K- B2 ; 2 . N-Q6 , KxN; 3. K- N7 , B- B2 ; 4 . K-B8 wins . (By L. Proke s , Czechoslovakia)

No. 11

1. K-R6 , K-R1 ; 2. N-R4 , K- N1 ; 3. N- B3, K-R1 ; 4. N-K5 , K- N1 ; 5 . N-Q7 , K-R1 ; 6 . N- BS , B- N1 ; 7 . N-N6 mate . (By L. K. L. Kubbel, USSR)

No. 12

1. N- N4. (By George Koltanowski , USA, Dedicated to all che s s fans ! ! )

2 . R- N5 mate 2 . N- K4 mate ; 2. NxP mate .

P-Q6 ; 2. N-N6 , PxN ; 3. P- B7 , P- N4 ; P-N5 ; 5 . N-Q6 , PxN ; 6 . P- K7 , P-Q4 ; P-Q5 ; 8 . N- B6 , PxN; 9 . P- N7 , P- B4 ; MATE . ( By Dodo van Dehn, Germany)

94

KNIGHT FORK SOLUTIONS No. 1

1. N- K7 ch Winning Black Queen.

No. 2

1 . B- B3ch, K-N1 ; 2. N- B6ch, wins the Rook in exchange for the Knight.

No. 3

1. N-N6ch wins the Queen, as the Black Rook is pinned.

No.

4.

1. QxB Wins a piece, as after QxQ ; 2. N- B7 ch recapture s the Que-=:n.

No.

5

1. . . . BxPch ! ; 2 . QxB, N-Q6ch or 2. KxB, NxPch.

No . 6

1.

No. 7

1 . Q-R8ch, KxQ ; 2 . NxBch, K- N1 ; 3 . NxQ.

No. 8

1. N- B6 , threatens 2. R-R7 mate . 1 . K- N3 ; 3. NxQ .

No.

1. N- B7ch, K- N1 ; (If 1. RxN ; 2. QxQch, R- B1 ; 3. QxR mate . ) 2. N-R6d. ch, K-R1 (On a double check the king must move . ) ; 3. Q- N8 ch, RxQ ; 4. N- B7 mate .

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BxPch, KxB; 2. N-K5ch, K-Kl ; 3 . NxB.

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No. 10

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KxR ;

2 . N-Q8ch,

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1. Q-N8ch, QxQ ; 2 . N-N6 m.ate . The same idea in green !

MASTER STROKE SOLUTIONS MASTER STROKE NO. 1 Black simply played 1 . Q-N7 and White re signed. The Queen cannot be taken because of mate (R-K8) and 2. R-Q1 , lose s a rook after 2 RxRch ; 3. KxR, Q- B8ch. •

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MASTER STROKE NO. 2. Tal continued with 1. NxP, BxB; 2. Q-R7 , B-R6 ; 3 . N-Q7ch (the key to the whole combination), 3 . BxN, 4. B-R6 and mate follows in two moves . 95

MAST ER STROKE NO. 3.

1. by

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2, QxP, QxKBP mate . (The White Bishop i s pinned

P-Q5 ;

the Rook on Kl. If 2 , PxP, B-N5 , and White lose s his Queen, as

afte r 3. QxB, QxBP mate s . MASTER STROKE NO. 4

1.

Here goe s :

be

P-Q6 , PxP ; 2. RxPch, NxR;

3, RxN mate . Couldn't

simplier .

MASTER STROKE NO. 5 . White continued with the Black Rook. ) afte r 2

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NxP ! (Threatens m ate and puts pre s sure on •

RxR;

2. N-R6ch, and Black res igned, as

3. QxP, etc . ;

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R-R1 ;

3,

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4, Q- N5ch, and its all ove r.

SOLUT IONS TO TWQ- MOVE PROBLEMS

1.

1 . Q- K4

K- B1

No . 1 3

No. 2

1 . P-Q4

No. 14

1. N-N5

No. 3

1.

No. 15

1 . Q-K8

No.

1

R- KR6

No. 4

1 . Q- N3

No . 16

1,

No. 5

1.

No. 17

1. Q- KB6

No, 6

1 . K- Q1

No. 18

No . 7

1 . P- B5

No. 19

No. 8

Q- QB5

B- N7

1 . Q-Q2

No. 20

1. 1. 1.

1 . R- KB5

No. 21

1. R- B6

N- B5 Q- N5 Q-R7

9 10 11

1 . B- B6

No . 2 2

1.

1 . P- B5

No. 23

1 . RxP

No. 1 2

1 , K-R6

No. 24

1.

No. No . No,

96

N-K5 N-K6