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Chess 01 Mar 1942, Sun The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) Newspapers.com
OCR Text
CHESS BY HERMAN STEINER International Chess Master Addrets all mail to Chess Editor March 01, 1942 L A. TIMES PROBLEM NO. 1273 for Composed for the Los Angeles Times by R. C Mankowski. Los Angeles. the Immediate threat Is Q-R5ch. winning two pawns, as P-N3 would be answered I with the knight sacrifice on N6 after O-O 2I Monica-Hughes 27-23 , which the bishop falls. . . . . in. O-R.l As usual, the absence of the protecting king a knight makes the rook s pawn the target of an attack. Checkmate Is threatened through NxB followed by QxP. With four pieces on his neck, Blac has no easy time In finding a satisfactory defense Obviously he cannot exchange my queen'a knicht as in recapturing I would b attacking his rook and at the same time threaten again mate on KR7.
Neither can he play P-N3. as I would give up the knight for two pawns, thus denuding the king and playing him open to all sorts of violent attacks. If Black Interposes his bishop on KN2. a simple wav for White to attack would be with P-KR4. for example, threatening R-R3 and R-N3 or possibly the further advance of the rook g pawn. As we played rather rapidly we had not used more than about 10 mlnutea each up to nowmy opponent could net devote very much time to the analysis. I was not at all sure whether I could krep my attack alive if he Played BxKN. hi.,,. .... m. m . '' iuuju inn, Riirr IW( l-n; Whlta mates In two. tWh. 9; BL 4.) nd 12 N-B6ch would then fall on ac-
L A. TIMES PROBLEM NO. 1274 Composed for the Los Angeles Times! which Black could mt with P-KR3. or arter u. N-n4h. RxN. 12. QxPch. K-B. Then I could not. recapture the bishop on account of R-R3. winning Q. and If ! 13 Q-Rflch. K-K2: 14. QxPch. R-B2; 15. !QkB my attack Is completely evaporated and I have only two pawns for the piece 'sacrificed.
I would have played 11. PxB, IR-B4: 12 Q-N4 or Q-K2 and then castled ion the queen's side but the outcome waa ! certainly most doubtful Black relieved ! me of all further worry In this respect or playing a move I had not expected at Ma M. Mankowski. Los Angeles. Whit mates in three. 4; Bl. 4 ) . SOLUTION TO PROBLEM 129: N-R5. SOLUTION TO PROBLEM 1270: BnP. We received solutions from the following.' J. Powers. 0. P. Ford. C. B. Collins. H. Bruhn. Herat. H E Robinson (welcome to our ladder.) O. A. Hall. J. P Walsh, M. Rudholm, E. H Bchadee. O. Kibber. F. aarcta, F. Armstrong (welcome to our ladder.) W. C. Nolting Mrs A. Tovar. W. L. Koethen. J. C. Drake, Rev. p. Prlchard. A. S. Wells. H. P. Ma-!- Jtoalan. J. Davidson. A. D. Reynolds Br , E O. Orsham. B. BushucR. W. Harmon. D A. Innes. J. O. Dodge. J. Maughmer. J. E. Tyler, A. L. Buckman. R. Roslln, O Francis. T. W. Hay (welcome to our ladder,) L. A. Salgado. "PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS' The following gam waa not a tournament gam but a so-called "flve-minuie" game. I.e.. a game played with clocks aa last or aa slowly as the players like but with - the condition that neither player must exceed the total time of the other by more than five minutes at any srag. This manner of timing was very popular In the City of London Chess Club wher this gam waa played In 1911. I have some sort of a sentimental attachment to It. not only because it la the most beautiful game I ever succeeded in winning, but because It waa the first gam I played In England, on th day I arrived there, seasick from an awful Channel crossing, and without knowing a word or Enet ah. Aa always when I And myself In a for eign country, my first visit was to the leading chess club, wher a chess player la sure to find friendly advice.
I was Introduced to many members whose names I did not understand, and on of them Invited me to play a gam with him. At that lime I waa Quite unaware that he was Sir Oeorgr Thomas, the champion of the club and later British 'champion. I was explained the rules of these flve-mlnute games by a German speaking member and we began: Edward Lasker .Sir Oeorg Thomas White mack 1. P-04 F-KBt The Dutch Defense. The move aims at control of White s K4 and possibly at an ooen file for the k ns a rook after cast ing In case wnu should exchange nis king s pawn on K4.
A disadvantage which m eht outweigh these two advantageous features Is the fact that Black will have to make at least three pawn moves to get his pieces developed, since hla oueen's bishop will find no employment exeept on QN2 as ion a th kin s bishop's pawn blocks nis way. . t. N-KBII r-RI 8. N-QBH This cannot 1 a eood mov at this stag, because Black could now play P-Q4.
thoroughly securing his control of my K4. I should first have played P-OH4. If then P-Q4. I can exert pressure against that pawn with N-B3 and possibly with my king' bishop from N'i. . . . . N-rna Black does not take advantage of my mistake. Evidently he likes the normal line-up of pawns and plecea In this opening in which tn o.uen a pawn la usually held- back to keep the long diagonal open for the queen a bishop.
4. n-s Planning the advene of th king's pawn. 4. , . . B-M Now I must first exchange en KB8 to force th squar K4. n. hxn nsn 8. F-K4 PaP Black has nothing better than exchang ing thla pawn becaus If he tried P-QN4, then P-Qft.
In any case, the exchange is In th spirit of th opening. t. war r-N 8. B-OI B-Nl 8. N-K8 Tn view of th fact (hat T wr.a two moves ahead In th development t felt I could make a second mov with thla knight rather than continue In a stereotyped manner with O-O.
The ktyiht. moreover, occupies , center squar and all. He continued with after niaek'a la. Q-Kt Intending to recapture with !e knight pawn If I should Play NxBch. after which th mat would he defended by his queen. The -double attack on KR7, veiled only by my knlaht on K4. suggests, of course, various ways of sacrificing that knight In order to open the line of th bishop. I had flv minutes within which to mak ' up my mind. I waa sure that this was th decisive moment ef the game, becausa I cannot bring up more lighting forces in lesa than three moves and Black threatens t drlv me back by N-B3 or P-KN3 or PQ3 and then to start operations In tha open bishops file. Baertfirina me kniilit on N8.
alter Black a knlaht a pawn ha ' advanced, would no longer b effective, as bishop or quern can intaoose on knight 7. For all (has reasons 1 must eel immediately and drastically. Th knight moves which suggest them selves are N- and N-NS. Both I dia. missed after a minute a thnuahl. becaus after 11. N-N. P-N3; 13 BxP. PxB; 13. NiP. Q-N2: 14. NxR. KxN. no attack la left and while the two pawna and a rook are usually a sufficient equivalent for two minor pieces in an ending, they rarely era In the mlddle-iaine, wher due to th superior fighting power of two pieces aeainst one. the pawna tr often regained before Ion.
For thla reason Black would avoid ex. chancing querns. In thla position. After 13. N-R7ch, K.-K2.
la. NxB. QxN; 17. Q-R7eh. for esample. Black would not In terpoa th quern. That would allow th exchang and produce an ending in which the-two connected passed pawna of White would develop into quit a pnw threat. He would, Instead, answer 17. K-Q3, with the Intention of playing N-Rl and R-KR, whereupon th kin could return to th second rank lor safety. The other excursion of the king s knight which had to be considered in the post' tlnn Diagram 80 after U-K2, II.
N-Q8, prove not playable at all. since afier . P-N3. 13 NxP, PxN: 13. QxPch.
Q-N3; 14. NxB, Black will exchange queen, play-P-OR4 and then win Ui knight wittt After realising' (hat th preparation by a knlfht'a mov was too slow to make my attack succeed, It occurred tn me that X could possibly gacrlflre the queen, forolna ' the kin into th Una of m bishop ami then discover a check with disastrous ei feet. I aaw right away, not without a flush of excitement, that Black would Indeed h checkmated If after 11. NiR double rh th kin went bark tn R anuar 13. N-Ne) would do th trick.
But what If hat moved out to R3 Well, a cheek with my kin' knight on N4 would leave him only th square N4 and then my rook and knleht'a pawns could continue th attack. My Dawns would control all th black squares and my bishop th whit square to have to approach me camp al my B3. Then I could drlv him to my hi with th bishop and my rook would J iv. him th mortal blow. A he would advancing on rank with each move, i coma loresee witnaui any particular difficulty that ha must be mat in tight moves, Thus I proceeded: II. tlx Pch Hud .11. NoBdbleh K-Rlt 18. KN-N4eh K-Nt . It. P-Rtrh K-BA 18. F-Nltrh K-B8 18. B-Klfh K-M 17. R-R'lrh K-N8 18. K-U'lmate Th matin position It resile extraordinary.
The Black king la completely aur rounded y White pieces in wnite-g camp, omethlng mcn to m gnnwieng naanevei isorensrt In any other game on record Black a faithful troops look on ImpsleaUl from lar away..
Neither can he play P-N3. as I would give up the knight for two pawns, thus denuding the king and playing him open to all sorts of violent attacks. If Black Interposes his bishop on KN2. a simple wav for White to attack would be with P-KR4. for example, threatening R-R3 and R-N3 or possibly the further advance of the rook g pawn. As we played rather rapidly we had not used more than about 10 mlnutea each up to nowmy opponent could net devote very much time to the analysis. I was not at all sure whether I could krep my attack alive if he Played BxKN. hi.,,. .... m. m . '' iuuju inn, Riirr IW( l-n; Whlta mates In two. tWh. 9; BL 4.) nd 12 N-B6ch would then fall on ac-
L A. TIMES PROBLEM NO. 1274 Composed for the Los Angeles Times! which Black could mt with P-KR3. or arter u. N-n4h. RxN. 12. QxPch. K-B. Then I could not. recapture the bishop on account of R-R3. winning Q. and If ! 13 Q-Rflch. K-K2: 14. QxPch. R-B2; 15. !QkB my attack Is completely evaporated and I have only two pawns for the piece 'sacrificed.
I would have played 11. PxB, IR-B4: 12 Q-N4 or Q-K2 and then castled ion the queen's side but the outcome waa ! certainly most doubtful Black relieved ! me of all further worry In this respect or playing a move I had not expected at Ma M. Mankowski. Los Angeles. Whit mates in three. 4; Bl. 4 ) . SOLUTION TO PROBLEM 129: N-R5. SOLUTION TO PROBLEM 1270: BnP. We received solutions from the following.' J. Powers. 0. P. Ford. C. B. Collins. H. Bruhn. Herat. H E Robinson (welcome to our ladder.) O. A. Hall. J. P Walsh, M. Rudholm, E. H Bchadee. O. Kibber. F. aarcta, F. Armstrong (welcome to our ladder.) W. C. Nolting Mrs A. Tovar. W. L. Koethen. J. C. Drake, Rev. p. Prlchard. A. S. Wells. H. P. Ma-!- Jtoalan. J. Davidson. A. D. Reynolds Br , E O. Orsham. B. BushucR. W. Harmon. D A. Innes. J. O. Dodge. J. Maughmer. J. E. Tyler, A. L. Buckman. R. Roslln, O Francis. T. W. Hay (welcome to our ladder,) L. A. Salgado. "PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS' The following gam waa not a tournament gam but a so-called "flve-minuie" game. I.e.. a game played with clocks aa last or aa slowly as the players like but with - the condition that neither player must exceed the total time of the other by more than five minutes at any srag. This manner of timing was very popular In the City of London Chess Club wher this gam waa played In 1911. I have some sort of a sentimental attachment to It. not only because it la the most beautiful game I ever succeeded in winning, but because It waa the first gam I played In England, on th day I arrived there, seasick from an awful Channel crossing, and without knowing a word or Enet ah. Aa always when I And myself In a for eign country, my first visit was to the leading chess club, wher a chess player la sure to find friendly advice.
I was Introduced to many members whose names I did not understand, and on of them Invited me to play a gam with him. At that lime I waa Quite unaware that he was Sir Oeorgr Thomas, the champion of the club and later British 'champion. I was explained the rules of these flve-mlnute games by a German speaking member and we began: Edward Lasker .Sir Oeorg Thomas White mack 1. P-04 F-KBt The Dutch Defense. The move aims at control of White s K4 and possibly at an ooen file for the k ns a rook after cast ing In case wnu should exchange nis king s pawn on K4.
A disadvantage which m eht outweigh these two advantageous features Is the fact that Black will have to make at least three pawn moves to get his pieces developed, since hla oueen's bishop will find no employment exeept on QN2 as ion a th kin s bishop's pawn blocks nis way. . t. N-KBII r-RI 8. N-QBH This cannot 1 a eood mov at this stag, because Black could now play P-Q4.
thoroughly securing his control of my K4. I should first have played P-OH4. If then P-Q4. I can exert pressure against that pawn with N-B3 and possibly with my king' bishop from N'i. . . . . N-rna Black does not take advantage of my mistake. Evidently he likes the normal line-up of pawns and plecea In this opening in which tn o.uen a pawn la usually held- back to keep the long diagonal open for the queen a bishop.
4. n-s Planning the advene of th king's pawn. 4. , . . B-M Now I must first exchange en KB8 to force th squar K4. n. hxn nsn 8. F-K4 PaP Black has nothing better than exchang ing thla pawn becaus If he tried P-QN4, then P-Qft.
In any case, the exchange is In th spirit of th opening. t. war r-N 8. B-OI B-Nl 8. N-K8 Tn view of th fact (hat T wr.a two moves ahead In th development t felt I could make a second mov with thla knight rather than continue In a stereotyped manner with O-O.
The ktyiht. moreover, occupies , center squar and all. He continued with after niaek'a la. Q-Kt Intending to recapture with !e knight pawn If I should Play NxBch. after which th mat would he defended by his queen. The -double attack on KR7, veiled only by my knlaht on K4. suggests, of course, various ways of sacrificing that knight In order to open the line of th bishop. I had flv minutes within which to mak ' up my mind. I waa sure that this was th decisive moment ef the game, becausa I cannot bring up more lighting forces in lesa than three moves and Black threatens t drlv me back by N-B3 or P-KN3 or PQ3 and then to start operations In tha open bishops file. Baertfirina me kniilit on N8.
alter Black a knlaht a pawn ha ' advanced, would no longer b effective, as bishop or quern can intaoose on knight 7. For all (has reasons 1 must eel immediately and drastically. Th knight moves which suggest them selves are N- and N-NS. Both I dia. missed after a minute a thnuahl. becaus after 11. N-N. P-N3; 13 BxP. PxB; 13. NiP. Q-N2: 14. NxR. KxN. no attack la left and while the two pawna and a rook are usually a sufficient equivalent for two minor pieces in an ending, they rarely era In the mlddle-iaine, wher due to th superior fighting power of two pieces aeainst one. the pawna tr often regained before Ion.
For thla reason Black would avoid ex. chancing querns. In thla position. After 13. N-R7ch, K.-K2.
la. NxB. QxN; 17. Q-R7eh. for esample. Black would not In terpoa th quern. That would allow th exchang and produce an ending in which the-two connected passed pawna of White would develop into quit a pnw threat. He would, Instead, answer 17. K-Q3, with the Intention of playing N-Rl and R-KR, whereupon th kin could return to th second rank lor safety. The other excursion of the king s knight which had to be considered in the post' tlnn Diagram 80 after U-K2, II.
N-Q8, prove not playable at all. since afier . P-N3. 13 NxP, PxN: 13. QxPch.
Q-N3; 14. NxB, Black will exchange queen, play-P-OR4 and then win Ui knight wittt After realising' (hat th preparation by a knlfht'a mov was too slow to make my attack succeed, It occurred tn me that X could possibly gacrlflre the queen, forolna ' the kin into th Una of m bishop ami then discover a check with disastrous ei feet. I aaw right away, not without a flush of excitement, that Black would Indeed h checkmated If after 11. NiR double rh th kin went bark tn R anuar 13. N-Ne) would do th trick.
But what If hat moved out to R3 Well, a cheek with my kin' knight on N4 would leave him only th square N4 and then my rook and knleht'a pawns could continue th attack. My Dawns would control all th black squares and my bishop th whit square to have to approach me camp al my B3. Then I could drlv him to my hi with th bishop and my rook would J iv. him th mortal blow. A he would advancing on rank with each move, i coma loresee witnaui any particular difficulty that ha must be mat in tight moves, Thus I proceeded: II. tlx Pch Hud .11. NoBdbleh K-Rlt 18. KN-N4eh K-Nt . It. P-Rtrh K-BA 18. F-Nltrh K-B8 18. B-Klfh K-M 17. R-R'lrh K-N8 18. K-U'lmate Th matin position It resile extraordinary.
The Black king la completely aur rounded y White pieces in wnite-g camp, omethlng mcn to m gnnwieng naanevei isorensrt In any other game on record Black a faithful troops look on ImpsleaUl from lar away..
