January 29, 1956 The Press Democrat Chess Chats by George Koltanowski

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Chess Chats 29 Jan 1956, Sun The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, California) Newspapers.com

Chess Chats by George Koltanowski Sunday, January 29, 1956, The Press Democrat Santa Rosa, California Problem No. 8 by...

Posted by Bobby Fischer's True History on Saturday, February 1, 2020

Problem No. 8 by J. Zaldo, Spain. White to play and mate in two moves.
FEN KB6/3P4/p1p5/r3N3/1ppkbRQq/1PN1p3/1P2p2n/8 w - - 0 1
Solution: 1. Qxe2 Qxf4 2. Qxc4#

HINTS: Don't Overdo Rapid Chess

I am sometimes asked whether rapid chess is a help. I think not. Playing a great deal of rapid chess will make you good at rapid chess, but that's all.
Correspondence chess is far removed from cross-board chess, and cross-board chess at 16 moves an hour—the European time limit—is far removed from the cross-board chess at 30 moves an hour. At 16 moves an hour you will do very badly if you try to play as deeply as in correspondence chess, and at 30 moves an hour you will do very badly if you try to play as deeply as at 16 moves an hour. You must play more by principles and less by calculation.
Now, coming down to rapid chess, we get a game further removed from chess at 30 moves per hour than correspondence chess is removed from chess at 16 moves per hour. In rapid chess you must be superficial, or you lose. And superficial play is not good practice for straight chess.
Strong players vary greatly in their skill at rapid chess. This is enough to show it requires a special technique.
Rapid chess in moderation is probably harmless to good players. But Botvinnik takes no risks. He avoids rapid chess altogether.

Game played in Polo, 1944

Center Game

Fr. P. Aguinaldo (white) J. Carlos (black)

Descriptive 1. P-K4 P-K4 2. P-Q4 PxP 3. N-KB3 B-N5ch 4. P-QB3 PxP 5. PxP B-B4 6. B-QB4 N-K2 7. N-K5 O-O 8. NxBP RxN 9. BxRch KxB 10. B-R3 K-N1 11. BxB Resigns

Algebraic 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. c3 dxc3 5. bxc3 Bc5 6. Bc4 Ne7 7. Ne5 0-0 8. Nxf7 Rxf7 9. Bxf7+ Kxf7 10. Ba3 Kg8 11. Bxc5 1-0

(a) Simple and neat!

Game played in the Swiss Championship

Martin vs Pompei
Rapperswil, Switzerland (1955), Rapperswil SUI
Scotch Game: Haxo Gambit (C45) 1-0

Descriptive 1. P-K4 P-K4 2. N-KB3 N-QB3 3. P-Q4 PxP 4. B-QB4 B-B4 5. O-O P-Q3 6. P-B3 PxP 7. NxP B-K3 8. N-Q5 Q-Q2 9. P-QR3 N-K4 10. NxN PxN 11. Q-N3 P-QB3 12. R-Q1 B-Q5 13. B-K3 O-O-O 14. QR-B1 K-N1 15. RxB PxR 16. B-B4ch K-B1 17. Q-R4 BxN 18. PxB Q-N5 19. P-KN3 N-K2 20. PxP NxP 21. B-QR6 Resigns

Algebraic 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Bc5 5. 0-0 d6 6. c3 dxc3 7. Nxc3 Be6 8. Nd5 Qd7 9. a3 Ne5 10. Nxe5 dxe5 11. Qb3 c6 12. Rd1 Bd4 13. Be3 0-0-0 14. Rc1 Kb8 15. Rxd4 exd4 16. Bf4+ Kc8 17. Qa4 Bxd5 18. exd5 Qg4 19. g3 Ne7 20. dxc6 Nxc6 21. Ba6 1-0

(a) With 5. … N-B3, black could invite the Max Lange.
(b) 7. Q-N3 leads to a drawing variation.
(c) If 8. BxB, PxB; 9. Q-N3, Q-Q2; 10. QxNP, R-N1; 11. Q-R6, R-N3, etc.
(d) Better was 11. … BxN and if 12. BxB, then P-QB3.
(e) If 12. … BxN; 13. PxP, O-O-O; 14. B-KN5, N-B3; 15. PxP, etc.
(f) 15. … PxN; doesn't help either.
(g) If 16. … K-R1; 17. N-N6ch, PxN; 18. Q-R4 mate.
(h) Threatens N-N8ch and Q-R8 mate.