August 05, 1956 The King's Men by Merrill Dowden, Courier Journal, Louisville, Kentucky

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The King's Men 05 Aug 1956, Sun The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky) Newspapers.com

Botvinnik Slips?
By Merrill Dowden
Is the reigning chess champion of the world, Mikhail Botvinnik of the U.S.S.R., overrated? Or is he really invincible, as many suppose?
Former World Champion Dr. Max Euwe of Holland, in a provocative article written for Chess Review, thinks that Botvinnik's long absence from tournament play may work against him when he lays his title on the line against his fellow countryman, Vassily Smyslov, winner of the Challengers.
The main question, Euwe says, will be whether Botvinnik has kept abreast of the steady advances in chess.
“In the third period of his championship tenure,” Euwe writes, “Botvinnik has engaged in no more play than in the first or second. So he shall have to surmount this deficiency by study. That he is capable of doing so we have learned from his two previous matches. Consequently, one does well not to underrate Botvinnik now.”

Posted by Bobby Fischer's True History on Thursday, February 8, 2024

White mates in two.
Composed by Scheel.
R-KR5
FEN 8/B6r/k5p1/1R6/8/8/KQ6/8 w - - 0 1

Many authorities believe that America's Paul Morphy, who was at the peak of his career a hundred years ago, was the greatest chess player of all time. This game, played for the U.S. championship in 1857, shows Morphy's knack for snatching the attack from unwary opponents.

Note: The game as given, August 05, 1956, in the The King's Men by Merrill Dowden, Courier Journal, Louisville, Kentucky differs slightly from the chessgames web site data.

Theodore Lichtenhein vs Paul Morphy
1st American Chess Congress, New York (1857), New York, NY USA, rd 3, Oct-22
Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit. Advance Variation (C45) 0-1

Descriptive 1. P-K4 P-K4 2. N-KB3 N-QB3 3. P-Q4 PxP 4. B-QB4 N-B3 5. P-K5 P-Q4! 6. B-QN5 N-K5 7. NxP B-Q2 8. NxN PxN 9. B-Q3 B-QB4 10. BxN Q-R5! 11. Q-K2 PxB 12. B-K3? B-KN5 13. Q-B4 BxB! 14. P-KN3 Q-Q! 15. PxB Q-Q8ch 16. K-B2 Q-B6ch 17. K-N B-R6 18. QxQBPch K-B 19. QxRch K-K2 0-1

Algebraic 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 vs. 3. Bc4 exd4 4. Bc4 Nf6 vs. 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 d5! 6. Bb5 Ne4 7. Nxd4 Bd7 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. Bd3 Bc5 10. Bxe4 Qh4! 11. Qe2 dxe4 12. Be3? Bg4 13. Qc4 Bxe3! 14. g3 Qd8! 15. fxe3 Qd1+ 16. Kf2 Qf3+ 17. Kg1 Bh3 18. Qxc6+ Kf8 and resigns.... vs. continues as 19. Qxa8+ Ke7 0-1

*If now 14. QxQBPch, B-J2; 15. QxRch K-K2; 16. P-KN3, BxPch; 17. KxB P-K6ch; 18. K-K1 Q-Nch; 19. P-B3 QxP; 20. QxR B-N5, and Black wins!