December 23, 1956 The Press Democrat Chess Chats by George Koltanowski

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Chess Chats 23 Dec 1956, Sun The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, California) Newspapers.com

Chess Chats Sun, Dec 23, 1956 The Press Democrat Santa Rosa, California Problem No. 55 by A. Cheron, France. White to...

Posted by Bobby Fischer's True History on Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Problem No. 55 by A. Cheron, France. White to play and mate in three moves.
FEN 5B1R/8/7N/8/8/2b5/p1K5/k7 w - - 0 1
Solution: 1. Nf5 Bxh8 2. Ng7 Bxg7 3. Bxg7#

Tournament Play

From the recent Arizona Open.

R. H. Alexander (white) Marjorie McKenna (black)
King's Gambit Accepted: Salvio Gambit

Descriptive 1. P-K4 P-K4 2. P-KB4 PxP 3. N-KB3 P-KN4 4. B-B4 P-N5 5. N-K5 N-KR3 6. O-O Q-N4 7. P-Q4 P-Q3 8. BxP Q-R4 9. BxN QxB 10. NxBP Q-K6ch 11. K-R1 R-N1 12. NxPch PxN 13. BxR Q-R3 14. P-K5 P-N6 15. P-KR3 BxRP 16. R-B6 Q-R5 17. B-B7ch 1-0

Algebraic 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 g4 5. Ne5 Nh6 6. 0-0 Qg5 7. d4 d6 8. Bxf4 Qh5 9. Bxh6 Qxh6 10. Nxf7 Qe3+ 11. Kh1 Rg8 12. Nxd6+ cxd6 13. Bxg8 Qh6 14. e5 g3 15. h3 Bxh3 16. Rf6 Qh4 17. Bf7+ 1-0

(a) Better is 5. … P-Q4 first.
(b) Surprise. If now 16. PxB, Black mates in two.
(c) Shame. Black could have won here with 16. … BxP d.ch; 17. KxB, Q-R7ch; 18. K-B3, Q-R4ch, etc. or if 18. K-B1, P-N7ch, etc.
(d) And White won as 18. Q-R5 followed.

Since 1941 the Swiss play yearly for a cup based on the Davis Cup formula in tennis. Anyone can enter and every round is a knockout one. The Coupe Suisse started with 64 players. This year they had 167 entries. Here is the final game of 1956.

Sicilian Defense

Hermann Emden (white) Han Johner (black)
Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation

Descriptive 1. P-K4 P-QB4 2. N-KB3 P-Q3 3. P-Q4 PxP 4. NxP N-KB3 5. N-QB3 P-KN3 6. B-K2 B-N2 7. B-K3 P-QR3 8. P-B4 Q-B2 9. O-O O-O 10. B-B3 N-B3 11. K-R1 B-Q2 12. P-KN4 BxP 13. R-KN1 BxBch 14. NxB QR-Q1 15. Q-K1 Q-R4 16. R-N5 Q-N5 17. B-Q2 QxNP 18. R-QN1 QxBP 19. RxQNP Q-Q6 20. K-N2 R-N1 21. R-B7 N-Q5 22. NxN QxNQ5 23. RxKP R-N7 Resigns

Algebraic 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be2 Bg7 7. Be3 a6 8. f4 Qc7 9. 0-0 0-0 10. Bf3 Nc6 11. Kh1 Bd7 12. g4 Bxg4 13. Rg1 Bxf3+ 14. Nxf3 Rd8 15. Qe1 Qa5 16. Rg5 Qb4 17. Bd2 Qxb2 18. Rb1 Qxc2 19. Rxb7 Qd3 20. Kg2 Rb8 21. Rc7 Nd4 22. Nxd4 Qxc3 23. Rxe7 Rb2 0-1

(a) Could consider here 8. … O-O and 9. … N-B3.
(b) Prepares for a King's side attack.
(c) N-QR4 and N-B5 is to be considered here.
(d) Gains a second pawn and with it the game.
(e) If 24. N-N1, either RxN or KR-N1 decide.

Chess Quote of the Day

A combination composed of a sacrifice has a more immediate effect upon the person playing over the game in which it occurs than another combination, because the apparent senselessness of the sacrifice is a convincing proof of the design of the player offering it.
Now we see wherein lies the pleasure to be derived from a chess combination. It lies in the feeling that a human mind is behind the game dominating the inanimate pieces with which the game is carried on, and giving them the breath of life. We may regard it as intellectual delight, equal to that afforded us by the knowledge that behind so many apparently disconnected and seemingly chance happenings in the physical world lies the one great ruling spirit—the law of nature.—Richard Reti, Modern Ideas in Chess.