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Chess 15 Jan 1959, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Chess
The Guardian, Chess, Thursday, January 15, 1959, Greater London, England Problem No. 508 By C.R.B. Sumner...
Posted by Bobby Fischer's True History on Monday, May 2, 2022
Problem No. 508
By C.R.B. Sumner (Sevenoaks)
Black (10)
White (8)
White mates in two moves.
FEN 4Qbnn/rp1Rpp2/4k3/1R6/rPK5/1BBP4/8/1b6 w - - 0 1
Solution: 1. Rd8 Ba2 2. Qd7#
The Hastings Tournament
The untroubled way in which Uhlmann and Portisch raced away from their opponents deprived this year's Hastings of its customary close finish; but it demonstrated the class of two of Europe's best young masters. Uhlmann seemed at home in all types of positions, and his king's side attack against Darga, his defensive play against Gereben; and his win of a drawn position against Clarke were all models of their kind.
The British players disappointed. Wade had a fine win from Darga, but he was generally too anti-positional in his games with the leading foreigners. Clarke in contrast, was too strategical in his approach. Barden had a result he will want to forget; his inability to form satisfactory plans in the middle game-cost him many points.
Wolfgang Uhlmann vs Klaus Darga
Hastings (1958/59), Hastings ENG, rd 7, Jan-05
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation. Gligoric System Exchange at c4 (E54) 1-0
1. This is currently one of the most fashionable variations of this much-analysed defence.
2. In a game Palmason-Berthold; Reykjavik, 1957. Black managed to lose in another five moves by 9. … PxP; 10. PxP B-N2; 11. B-KN5 B-K2; 12. QR-Q1 N-Q4; 13. BxN Resigns. A piece is lost after 13. … QBxB; 14. BxB QxB; 15. NxB.
3. An alternative plan is Tal's idea of 10. PxP BxP; 11. P-K4 (see Tal-Portisch, “Manchester Guardian,” August 7).
4. A move almost always doubtful in the Nimzo-Indian, since Black presents White with a tempo which he would otherwise use for P-QR3. A sound plan is 11. … QN-Q2; 12. B-Q3 R-B1; 13. B-Q2 B-Q3 (de Greiff-Berthold, Munich. 1958).
5. If 12. … N-Q4; 13. N-N5 (Larsen-Neikirch, Munich, 1958) favours White, since 13. … NxP; 14. Q-Q3 loses a piece.
6. A promising pawn sacrifice: the alternative 13. B-Q2 N-Q4; 14. N-N5 N-B5 is quite good for Black.
7. From now on the game furnishes an excellent illustration of how difficult it is for even masters to defend accurately; a series of slight errors bring Black to defeat. Here the natural 14. … Q-B2 is a counter line. Uhlmann intended to reply 15. QR-B1 Q-Q3; 16. N-K5 QN-Q2; 17 P-B4, but in view of Black's good bishop White's compensation for the pawn is nebulous. Darga himself feared 15. P-Q5, since if 15. NxP; 16 N-N5 is very strong, while if 15. … PxP; 16. BxN PxB; 17. Q-K3 (else 17. … Q-KB5), BxN; 18. Q-R6 P-B4; 19. Q-N5ch with perpetual check.
8. Not 15. … R-Q1; 16. B-R3 followed by B-K7 and BxN with the ruin of Black's king's position.
9. A second mistake, after which Black's position becomes very difficult. Correct is 18. … B-R3; when after 19. QxB NxN Black's knights are well placed to defend his king's side. If instead 19. Q-B3 Q-Q4; or 19. Q-K1 R-Q1. In all cases Black retains his vital KN for the defence.
10. Probably the decisive error: 19. … N-Q4 gives some chances.
11. Now if 20. … N-K4; White has a forced win by 21. BxPch KxB; 22. Q-R5ch K-N1; 23. R-R3 N-N3; 24. B-R3.
12. The final attack begins, in which, Black's weakened king's position is helpless against the ranging bishops on adjacent diagonals.
13. If 27. … PxP; 28. RxP RxR; 29. RxR RxR; 30. BxR QxB; 31. Q-K8 mate.
14. A splendid finish. If 30. … QxR; 31. R-K7 dis. ch. while 30. … BxQ;
31. RxN B-R3; 32. R-B7 QxR; 33. P-K7dis.ch. B-B5; 34. P-K8(Q) mate.
Fischer wins
Bobby Fischer, aged 15, has retained the United States championship in New York with 8½ out of 11; he did not lose a game. Reshevsky was second with 7½, losing only to Fischer.
