Swindle of the Century (part 1)

This is a position that occurred towards the end of a game in the 1964 US Championships. Black appears to have everything under control.  Sure, White’s pesky queen and rook are making a nuisance of themselves and Black’s knight and queen are both en prise but he has an apparent winning move in 1…Qxg3 threatening mate in one. However, as the title implies, Black did not win this game so this is your mission: Black to play: what is the result?  Tempting though it may be to Google the game – and it should not be difficult given the names of the two players and the tournament – try to resist the urge and work it out for yourself as the result will be far more satisfying! Answer next week.

White: Larry Evans                                 Black: Sammy Reshevsky

US Championships 1964

 

 

Mick Croft Cup v Woodnesborough (h)

Broadstairs   1½              Woodnesborough    3½

1 David Faldon (175) ½-½ Harry Sharples (156)
2 Bob Page (145) ½-½ Robin Bellion (135)
3 Paul Carfrae (131) ½-½ Kit Blundell (127)
4 Michael Doyle (89) 0-1 David Erwee (108)
5 Richard Bowles (52) 0-1 Brian Rodwell (98)

David Faldon writes:

The match got off to a bad start for us when Mike’s speculative sacrifice met resolute defence. He fought on a piece down, then two, but in vain. Richard (playing black) got in trouble in the opening too, but he recovered well. Just when things were looking up a tactical oversight torpedoed his recovery. 0-2 to Woodnesborough. We now needed 2½ points from the last three games as that would tie the match at 2½ points each and we’d win on tie-break (wins on higher boards). For an hour or so it looked like we’d achieve our goal as Bob got a dominating centre and Paul cleverly won a bishop + knight for a rook. Unfortunately both positions became blocked and two draws were agreed: 1-3. The top board promptly agreed a draw, too, as their result no longer mattered. Congratulations to Woodnesborough and good luck to them in the final against Bridge.

Game of the Week 3

Hot off the press is this game played today (Sunday) between Magnus Carlsen and Lev Aronian.  As I write it has only just finished so I can’t add any comments (not that they would be worth anything) except to say that the last fifteen moves or so prompted so many comments from those watching or following online that no-one seemed to be able to forecast the result. I suspect that the chap who wrote at about move 35 that if Carlsen were to win “I will cut off my head and mail it to you!” is mightily relieved although it’s a shame the logic of this desperate promise is slightly faulty. Have a look at the game and be honest – would you have backed Black at move 30? White had many takers although one suspects that had Carlsen been playing with the Black pieces there may have been fewer.

White: Magnus Carlsen (2850)            Black: Lev Aronian (2781)

European Team Championship

Millar Cup v Bridge B (h)

Broadstairs     2½                Bridge B     4½ 

1 David Faldon (175) ½-½         Richard Eales (202)
2 Bob Page (145) 0-1         Alan Atkinson (175)
3 Paul Carfrae (131) 0-1         Shani Rezvany (168)
4 John Couzens (118) ½-½         James Essinger (154)
5 Bob Cronin (112) 0-1         Patrick Burns (142)
6 Andy Flood (111) 1-0         Tim Spencer (123)
7 Reg Pidduck (106) ½-½         Joe Mooney (e120)

David Faldon writes:

A match full of opening experiments from the Broadstairs players, some good, some bad and some just pug ugly. For example, one of our guys played 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Bd6 and then lost his bishop for nothing on move six. Don’t do it again! Some of the other experiments weren’t much prettier but John’s unusual idea was interesting. I won’t provide details here because I might try it myself. Our Bd6-artist didn’t last long (0-1 to Bridge) and John soon joined him on the sidelines after a flurry of tactics. First John won a pawn with a nice trick, then another, then he turned down a draw offer … what could possibly go wrong? A neat counter-trick was the answer, resulting in a perpetual attack draw. Still, this was a very good result for John against a strong opponent. A few minutes later Andy levelled the match with a clever finish (1½-1½) and we were in with a chance. Not much of a chance, given that three of us were hanging on for a draw at best, but at least Bob P’s game on board 2 looked promising of more. Sadly for us, Bob wasn’t able to repel a determined counterattack and one of our draw hopes disappeared too, leaving us 2½-4½ down with none to play. A shame, but at least we put up a good fight against a team that outgraded us heavily all the way down. Something to build on. After this match the updated Millar Cup standings are: Bridge A 5/5, Bridge B 4/5, Herne Bay 1½/4, Broadstairs 1/5, Folkestone 1/3, Margate 1/2 and Ramsgate ½/4.

Walker Shield v Bridge (a)

Broadstairs  2½       Bridge  1½

1. Bob Cronin   (112) ½-½     Shahid Sahi (115)
2. Andy Flood   (111) 1-0      Stuart Honey (90)
3. Reg Pidduck  (106) 1-0      Ray Rennells (86)
4. Michael Doyle (89)  0-1      Ian Redmond  (78)

Reg Pidduck writes:

The fog had lifted and so were our spirits on the way home.

BOARD 3: KING SIDE ONSLAUGHT. Ray came out all guns blazing battering my king side preventing me from castling but in doing so lost a rook for nothing. It took me a further nine moves finally to castle safely queenside and begin to make my advantage tell and bit by bit wear him down.  1-0 to us

BOARD 2:  STEADY ANDY. When I finished my game I was just in time to see Andy take a knight which Stuart could not take back without being mated. With this advantage Andy played solid and swapped off queens and Stuart resigned. 2-0 to us

BOARD 1: GAME OF THE NIGHT. After two and a half hours eight major pieces were off the board but unusually no pawns. So the positions were locked and a draw agreed. This was a fine result for us as Shahid is a really top opponent at this level and Bob’s draw sealed the match for us. 2.5-1.5 to us

BOARD 4: NOT QUITE OUT OF TIME. As 11 o’ clock approached it was nip and tuck in Michael’s game. With Ian’s clock showing only four minutes to go, super sub Michael lost a piece for nothing and resigned.

A 2.5-1.5 win for Broadstairs.  We have now played two and won two in our defence of the Walker Shield. Well done team !