For Your Eyes Only: Games from the Albert Kapengut Files

Unearthed: Kapengut versus Dzindzihashvili

Recently I noticed that chess veteran Albert Kapengut has been playing for New Jersey (!)  in the US Chess League.  He has had a pretty good record to date. Albert was kind of enough to send me all of his encounters with Roman Dzindzihashvili from their junior years and beyond.  Enjoy!   In case you were wondering, he sent me the games after I commented on the USCL game Kapengut-Pasalic, supplying notes to my own game in a Sicilian offbeat variation (Ginsburg-Zaltsman, Lone Pine 1980).

Roman, of course, is a very strong Grandmaster who lives in the USA.  He was born in 1944. His Wikipedia entry reveals many interesting items: “Born in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR in the family of Georgian Jews, he earned the International Master title in 1970. He left the U.S.S.R. in 1976 for Israel, and earned the GM title in 1977. In 1979, Dzindzichashvili settled in the United States, and he won the Lone Pine tournament the next year. He led the U.S. Olympiad team in 1984.”  However it doesn’t discuss his affinities to backgammon and other games of chance!  Roman is one of many all-around gamesplayers in the world.  Karpov is another, enjoying the card game ‘bridge’ and other such diversions.

Roman, probably from the 1980’s

In the games that follow, Kapengut himself annotated lightly and sometimes I make a brief comment in italics.

The first game sees the two gladiators battling in the 1959 USSR Junior in Riga, Latvia!  Depending on the month, Roman was either 14 or 15 years old!

[Event “Riga USSR-jcht”]
[Date “1959.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Kapengut, Albert”]
[Black “Dzindzichashvili, R.”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B76”]
[PlyCount “69”]
[EventDate “1959.??.??”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 g6 7. f3 Bg7 8. Qd2
O-O 9. O-O-O

Wanting no part of any 9. Bc4 discussions.

d5

The most principled.  9…Nxd4 10. Bxd4 Be6 is a more passive reaction.

10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Bd4 e5 13. Bc5 Be6 14. Ne4 Re8

A topical Dragon still being debated in the 21st century!  In many lines, black leaves the rook on f8 (a standard exchange sacrifice) but white usually does not take it.

15. Ba6 Rb8 (15… Qc7 16. g4 (16. Kb1 Rab8 17. c4 Nf6 18. Qd6 Qa5 19. Nxf6+
Bxf6 20. Qxc6 e4 21. Bd4 Bxd4 22. Rxd4 exf3 23. Bb5 Bf5+ 24. Ka1 Re1+ 25. Rd1
Rxh1 26. Rxh1 f2 27. Qf3 Qe1+ 28. Qd1 Qxd1+ 29. Rxd1 Bd3 30. a4 f1=Q 31. Rxf1
Bxf1 32. g3 Rd8 {0-1 Ballarani,P-Barbieri,G/ITA corr ;CR97-88 1988}) 16… Red8
17. Qe1 Nf6 18. Rxd8+ Rxd8 19. g5 Nxe4 20. fxe4 Bf8 21. Bxf8 Kxf8 {
1/2-1/2 Keres,Paul-Averbakh,Yuri/Tbilisi ch-SU (??) 1959}) 16. g4 Rb6 (16…
Nf4 17. Qxd8 Rbxd8 18. Rxd8 Rxd8 19. Rd1 Bd5 20. Bf1 f5 21. gxf5 gxf5 22. Ng3
Ne6 23. c4 Nxc5 24. cxd5 cxd5 25. Nxf5 Bf6 26. Kb1 e4 27. Rxd5 Rxd5 28. Bc4
exf3 29. Bxd5+ Kf8 30. Bxf3 Na4 31. b4 Nc3+ 32. Kb2 Nb5+ 33. Kb3 Nd4+ {
1/2-1/2 Fiensch,G-Beckel,F/DDR Tch5 ;Horror 1981}) 17. Bc4 Rb8 18. h4 Nf4 19.
Qxd8 Rexd8 20. Bxe6 Nxe6 21. Bxa7 Ra8 22. Rxd8+ Rxd8 23. Rd1 Rxd1+ 24. Kxd1 Bf8
25. b3 f5 26. gxf5 gxf5 27. Ng3 Ng7 28. Bb8 f4 29. Ne4 Nf5 30. Bxe5 Nxh4 31.
Nf6+ Kg7 32. Nd7+ Kf7 33. Nxf8 Nxf3 34. Bd6 h5 35. Nd7 {…???} 1-0

Now we move to another Junior event, Moscow 1960!  Not sure why Event Type in the PGN says “Simul.”

[Event “USSR-jch”]
[Site “Moscow”]
[Date “1960.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Dzindzichashvili, R.”]
[Black “Kapengut, Albert”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B01”]
[PlyCount “110”]
[EventDate “1960.??.??”]
[EventType “simul”]
[EventRounds “7”]
[EventCountry “RUS”]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 e5 5. Qe2 Nc6 6. dxe5 Bb4 7. Bd2 Bf5 8.
Qb5 O-O-O 9. Nf3 Bg4 10. Qxa5 Bxa5 11. O-O-O Bxf3 12. gxf3 Nxe5 13. Bh3+ Kb8
14. Bf4 Nc6 15. Rxd8+ Nxd8 16. Nd5 Nf6 17. Nxf6 gxf6 18. Rg1 Ne6 19. Bxe6 fxe6
20. Rg7 Kc8 21. b4 Bb6 22. c4 e5 23. Be3 Bxe3+ 24. fxe3 Rd8 25. Kc2 Rd7 26.
Rg8+ Rd8 27. Rg3 Rd7 28. c5 Kd8 29. h4 Ke7 30. h5 Ke6 31. h6 c6 32. Kc3 f5 33.
Kc4 f4 34. exf4 Rd4+ 35. Kb3 Rxf4 36. Kc3 Rf6 37. Kd3 Rxh6 38. Rg7 Rf6 39. Rxb7
Rxf3+ 40. Kc4 Rf4+ 41. Kb3 Rf7 42. Rb8 e4 43. Kc3 Rd7 44. Rg8 Kf7 45. Rg1 e3
46. a4 a6 47. Re1 Re7 48. b5 cxb5 49. axb5 axb5 50. Kb4 e2 51. Kxb5 Re4 52. c6
Ke6 53. c7 Kd7 54. Kb6 h5 55. Rc1 Kc8 0-1

The next game takes place in what appears to be a Byelorussia versus Georgia republic team match (Gruzia is Russian for Georgia).  Roman, of course, plays for Georgia.

[Event “Byelorussia-Gruzja”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “1962.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Kapengut, Albert”]
[Black “Dzindzichashvili, R.”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B56”]
[PlyCount “102”]
[EventDate “1962.??.??”]
[EventType “team”]
[Source “Millennium 2000”]
[SourceDate “1999.01.01”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 Ng4 7. Bb5 Nxe3 8.
fxe3 Bd7 9. O-O e6 10. Bxc6 bxc6

This is a very sharp variation.  I had a crazy game vs Vitaly Zaltsman at Lone Pine 1980 in this line.

11. Qf3 Qf6 12. Qe2 Qd8 13. Qf3 Qf6 14. Qe2 Qd8 15. e5 Be7 16. exd6 Bxd6 17. Rad1 O-O 18. Ne4 Bxh2+ 19. Kxh2 Qh4+ 20. Kg1 Qxe4 21. Rf4 Qe5 22. Nf3 Qc7 23. Qd3 Bc8 24. Rh4 h6 25. Kf2 Rb8 26. b3 Rb7 27. Rdh1 f6 28. Qg6 Qf7 29. Qg3 Kh7 30. Qf4 Qg6 31. Qc4 Rd8 32. g4 Rbd7 33. Rh5 Rd2+ 34. Nxd2 Rxd2+ 35. Kf3 Rxc2 36. Qb4 e5 37. R5h2 f5 38. Rxc2 fxg4+ 39. Kg3 Qxc2 40. Qd6 Qe4 41. Rxh6+ gxh6 42. Qe7+ Kg6 43. Qe8+ Kg5 44. Qd8+ Kh5 45. Qe8+ Qg6 46. Qxc8 Kg5 47. Qb8 Kf5 48. Qxa7 h5 49. Qd7+ Kg5 50. a4 h4+ 51. Kh2 Qc2+
0-1
Now we have yet another junior encounter,Moscow 1962.

[Event “USSR-jch”]
[Site “Moscow”]
[Date “1962.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Dzindzichashvili, R.”]
[Black “Kapengut, Albert”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B39”]
[PlyCount “89”]
[EventDate “1962.??.??”]
[EventType “simul”]
[EventRounds “2”]
[EventCountry “RUS”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. c4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Nc3 Ng4 (?!) 8. Qxg4 Nxd4 9. Qd1 Ne6

Former World Champ Petrosian liked this simplification but Portisch dealt with it convincingly in 1974 versus a lesser opponent and also Petrosian lost a stunning brilliancy to Bent Larsen in Santa Monica 1966, so we don’t see this much anymore.

10. Be2

Larsen played the accurate 10. Qd2! here.

Bxc3+ 11. bxc3 Qa5

The classical battle of the latent power of the bishop pair versus a deformed pawn structure has shaped up.

12. O-O d6 13. Qd5 Qxc3 14. Qb5+ Kf8 15. Rac1 Qg7 16. Rfd1 h5 17. c5 dxc5 18. Bxc5 Qf6 19. Ba3 Qg5 20. Rd5 Qh4 21. Bb2 f6 22. e5 a6 23. Qb6 Nf4 24. Rd8+ Kf7 25. Bc4+ Be6 26. Bxe6+ Nxe6 27. Rxa8 Rxa8 28. Qxb7 Re8 29. exf6 Qa4 30. fxe7 Rxe7 31. Qf3+ Qf4 32. Qb3 Qe4 33. h3 g5 34. Qc3 Qg6 35. Qf3+ Kg8 36. Qd5 Kh7 37. Re1 Qf7 38. Qe5 Kg6 39. Re3 Re8 40. Qd6 a5 41. Rf3 Rd8 42. Qb6 Qe7 43. Rf6+ Qxf6 44. Bxf6 Kxf6 45. Qxa5 1-0

Now we appear to be in an adult championship, Moscow 1963.

[Event “URS-chT”]
[Site “Moscow”]
[Date “1963.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Dzindzichashvili, R.”]
[Black “Kapengut, Albert”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “A37”]
[PlyCount “67”]
[EventDate “1963.??.??”]
[EventType “team”]
[EventCountry “RUS”]
[Source “Inforchess”]
[SourceDate “2002.12.13”]

1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 (?!) 4. g3

4. e3! with the idea of d2-d4 is very effective versus black’s somewhat inaccurate first moves.

Bg7 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Bd7 7. e3 Nh6 8. d4 O-O 9. b3 Bg4 10. h3 cxd4 11. exd4 Bxf3 12. Bxf3 Nf5 13. Bxc6 bxc6 14. Ne2 d5 15. c5 e5 16. dxe5 Bxe5 17. Rb1 Qe7 18. Qc2 a5 19. Bf4 Bxf4 20. Nxf4 Nd4 21. Qd3 Qxc5 22. Rbc1 Qb6 23. Rfd1 Ne6 24. Qd2 a4 25. b4 a3 26. Re1 Ng5 27. Qe3 Qxb4 28. h4 Ne4 29. Rxc6 Rfd8 30. h5 Qd2 31. Nxd5 Qxd5 32. Qxe4 Qxe4 33. Rxe4
Rd2 34. h6 1/2-1/2

Going back to Riga for 1964 Junior action (light Chessbase notes by Kapengut):

[Event “USSR-jch Shakhmaty Riga /19-19]”]
[Site “Riga”]
[Date “1964.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Kapengut, Albert”]
[Black “Dzindzichashvili, R.”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B44”]
[PlyCount “61”]
[EventDate “1964.??.??”]
[EventType “game”]
[EventCountry “LAT”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e6 5. Nb5 d6 6. c4 a6?! (6…Nf6) 7. N5c3 Be7 8. Be2 Nf6 9. O-O O-O 10. Be3 b6 11. f3 Bb7 12. Na4 Nd7 13. Nbc3 Rc8 14. b3 Bg5!?  15. f4!  (15. Bxg5 Qxg5 16. Qxd6 Qe3+ 17. Rf2 Rfd8 with compensation)
15… Be7 16. Qe1 Nb4 17. Rc1 Nc5 18. Qd2 Qc7 19. Rfd1 Rfd8 20. Qe1 Nc6 21. Qf2 Ba8 22. a3 Nxb3!?  23. Bxb6 Nxc1 (23… Qd7 $2 24. Rb1 Nc5 25. Bxc5) 24. Bxc7 Nxe2+ 25. Qxe2 Rxc7 26. c5? (26. Qe3 Rb8 27. e5 with white edge) 26… Bb7 27. cxd6 Rxd6 28. e5!? (28. Rxd6 Bxd6 29. Qe3 Bxa3 30. Qb6 Rd7 31. Nc5 Bxc5+ 32. Qxc5 and white has a slight advantage)
28… Rxd1+? (28… Rd4!  29. Rxd4 Nxd4 30. Qb2 Nb5 31. Nxb5 axb5 32. Qxb5
Bxa3 with equal chances) 29. Qxd1 Na5 (29… Bxa3 30. Ne4!) 30. Qd4! Nc4 31. Qa7 (31… Rd7 32. Qb8+ Bf8 33. Nc5 and wins)

1-0

Now we move into the heavyweight division – USSR Championship, Krasnodar!  Roman would be 22 or 21 years old depending on the month.

[Event “USSR-ch”]
[Site “Krasnodar”]
[Date “1966.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Kapengut, Albert”]
[Black “Dzindzichashvili, R.”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “E93”]
[PlyCount “65”]
[EventDate “1966.??.??”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “6”]
[EventCountry “RUS”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. d5 Nbd7 8. Bg5
h6 9. Bh4 g5 10. Bg3 Nh5

A very sharp variation in the Petrosian System of the King’s Indian Defense appears.

11. Nd2 Nf4

It is quite possible to take on g3 in these structures.

12. O-O f5 13. exf5 Nf6 14. Bxf4 exf4 15. g4 c5

Now Albert supplies a long theory interlude; with some of his own games mixed in.

(15… fxg3 16. fxg3 Qe7 (16… c5 17. Bd3 g4 18. Qe2 Bd7 19. Rae1 Qb6
20. Nde4 Nxe4 21. Qxe4 Rae8 22. Qxg4 Rxe1 23. Rxe1 Qxb2 24. Nb5 Bxb5 25. cxb5
Qd4+ 26. Qxd4 Bxd4+ 27. Kg2 Be5 28. Kh3 Kg7 29. Kh4 Kf6 30. Re4 Kf7 31. Ra4 Ra8
32. b6 a6 33. Rg4 Re8 34. Kh5 Bf6 35. Rg6 Re3 36. Bxa6 bxa6 37. b7 Re8 38. Rxh6
Rb8 39. g4 Rxb7 40. Rh7+ Bg7 41. g5 Rb8 {
0-1 Weise,D-Hottes,D/Bad Prymont 1961/EXT 2000 (41)}) (16… c6 17. Nb3 (17.
Qc2 Nd7 18. Nde4 Ne5 19. g4 h5 20. h3 hxg4 21. hxg4 Qb6+ 22. Kg2 Qd4 23. Rad1
Nxc4 24. Bxc4 Qxc4 25. b3 Qb4 26. a3 Qb6 27. f6 Bxg4 28. Nxg5 {
1-0 Kapengut,A-Zelkind,E/Minsk BSSR-ch 1978 (28)}) 17… Qb6+ 18. Kg2 Bd7 19.
g4 cxd5 20. Nxd5 Nxd5 21. Qxd5+ Kh8 22. Bf3 Rae8 23. Rae1 Bc6 24. Qd2 Bxf3+ 25.
Kxf3 Qa6 26. Rxe8 Rxe8 27. Re1 Qc6+ 28. Kf2 Rxe1 29. Qxe1 Be5 30. Nd2 Qb6+ 31.
Kf1 Qd4 32. Qe2 h5 33. gxh5 Qxb2 34. Ne4 Qc1+ 35. Kg2 Kh7 36. f6 Qf4 37. Qf3
Qxh2+ 38. Kf1 Bf4 39. f7 Kg7 40. Nxg5 Qxa2 41. Qxf4 {
1-0 Hort-Nemet,I/Vinkovci 1976 (41)}) (16… Re8 17. Qc2 Re5 18. Bd3 Ng4 19.
Nd1 c6 20. h3 Nf6 21. Nf3 Re7 22. g4 cxd5 23. cxd5 b6 24. Nc3 Bb7 25. Rae1 Rc8
26. Rxe7 Qxe7 27. Re1 Qc7 28. Qa4 Qc5+ 29. Kg2 Nxd5 30. Re8+ Rxe8 31. Qxe8+ Bf8
32. Qe6+ Kh8 33. Nxd5 Qxd5 34. Qf6+ Bg7 35. Qd8+ Kh7 36. Be2 Qe4 37. Kf1 Qe3
38. Qxd6 Bxf3 39. Bd3 Bf6 40. Qd7+ Kh8 41. Qc8+ Kg7 42. Qd7+ Qe7 43. Qc8 Bb7
44. Qc4 Qc5 45. Qb3 Qc1+ {
0-1 Byrne,S-Canfell,G/AUS-ch Melbourne 1991/EXT 91ch (45)})

17. Qc2 Bd7 18.
Rae1 Rae8 19. Qd3 g4 20. Nb3 Qe3+ 21. Qxe3 Rxe3 22. Nd1 Ree8 23. Bd3 Nh7 24.
Rxe8 Rxe8 25. Kg2 h5 26. Nd2 Re5 27. h3 c6 28. hxg4 hxg4 29. Rf4 cxd5 30. cxd5
Nf6 31. Nc3 Bh6 32. Nde4 Bxf4 33. Nxf6+ Kf7 34. Nxg4 Rxf5 35. Bxf5 Bxf5 36.
gxf4 Bxg4 37. Nb5 Ke7 38. Nxa7 Be2 39. Nc8+ Kd7 40. Nb6+ Kc7 41. Na4 Bc4 42.
Nc3 b5 43. b4 {1-0 Bazan,O-Behrensen,J/ARG-ch Buenos Aires 1960/MCD-ch (43).})
(15… h5 16. h3 Nd7 17. Nf3 Bxc3 18. bxc3 Qf6 19. Qd4 Qh6 20. Kg2 Rf7 21. Rae1
Nf6 22. Nd2 b6 23. Bf3 Bd7 24. Rh1 Raf8 25. Qd3 Bc8 26. Bd1 Qg7 27. Qd4 Re7 28.
Rxe7 Qxe7 29. Nf3 Qg7 30. Nd2 Re8 31. Bf3 Qe7 32. Rg1 h4 33. Bd1 Bd7 34. Nf3
Qg7 35. Re1 Rxe1 36. Nxe1 {1-0 Maedler,J-Starck,B/DDR-ch Magdeburg 1964 (36)})

16. Qc2 Nd7 17. h3 Ne5 18. Nf3 Bd7 19. Ne4 Qe7 20. Rfe1 a6 21. Rab1 b5 22. b4 cxb4 23. c5 dxc5 24. d6 Qf7 25. f6 Nxf3+ 26. Bxf3 Bh8 27. Nxc5 Bxf6 28. Bxa8 Rxa8 29. Nxd7 Qxd7 30. Qg6+ Qg7 31. Re8+ Rxe8 32. Qxe8+ Qf8 33. d7 1-0

Student Championships!

[Event “ch students”]
[Site “Odessa”]
[Date “1968.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Dzindzichashvili, R.”]
[Black “Kapengut, Albert”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “E91”]
[PlyCount “40”]
[EventDate “1968.??.??”]
[EventType “simul”]
[EventRounds “13”]
[EventCountry “UKR”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 O-O 5. Be2 c5 6. Nf3 d6 7. O-O Na6

A rather dubious placement but apparently the opponents were not combative on this day.

8. d5 Nc7 9. Bf4 Bg4 10. h3 Bxf3 11. Bxf3 Rb8 12. a4 Nfe8 13. Qc2 e5 14. Bd2 b6 15.
Nb5 Rb7 16. b4 cxb4 17. Bxb4 a5 18. Bd2 Na6 19. Rab1 Bf6 20. Rb2 Bg5 1/2-1/2

Here, the Event name is a mystery, because if the date is right, Roman is 25 or 26 years old.  He has achieved a 2605 rating already, which was very high in those days.  Albert is doing well too at 2530.  Both players have shown steady improvement since their junior days.

[Event “URS-ch U18”]
[Site “Dubna”]
[Date “1970.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Kapengut, Albert”]
[Black “Dzindzichashvili, R.”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C62”]
[WhiteElo “2605”]
[BlackElo “2530”]
[PlyCount “125”]
[EventDate “1970.??.??”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “15”]
[EventCountry “URS”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2000.11.22”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. O-O Bd7 5. d4 exd4 6. Nxd4 g6 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. Ba4 Bg7 9. Nd2 Ne7 10. Nc4 O-O 11. Bg5 h6 12. Be3 f5 13. Na5 fxe4 14. Nxc6 Bxc6 15. Bxc6 Nxc6 16. Qd5+ Rf7 17. Qxc6 Qe8 18. Qxe8+ Rxe8 19. Rab1 c6 20. Rfd1 d5
21. b4 Rd7 22. Bd4 Kf7 23. Rb3 Bxd4 24. Rxd4 Ke6 25. Re3 a5 26. a3 axb4 27. axb4 Kd6 28. f3 c5 29. bxc5+ Kxc5 30. c3 Rde7 31. fxe4 dxe4 32. Kf2 Re5 33. Rh3 Ra8 34. Ke3 Ra3 35. Kf4 Rg5 36. Rd2 Rf5+ 37. Kxe4 h5 38. Rhd3 Rf6 39. Rd5+ Kc6 40. c4 Re6+ 41. Re5 Rf6 42. Re8 Ra1 43. Rc8+ Kb7 44. Rc5 Re1+ 45. Kd4 Rf4+ 46. Kd3 Kb6 47. Rg5 Rf6 48. Rb2+ Kc6 49. c5 Rf5 50. Rb6+ Kxc5 51. Rbxg6 Rfe5 52. Rxe5+ Rxe5 53. Ra6 Kb5 54. Kd4 Rg5 55. Ra2 Kc6 56. Ke4 Kd6 57. Kf4 Rg4+ 58. Kf3 Rg5 59. Re2 Rg8 60. g3 Kd5 61. Kf4 Kd6 62. Kf5 Kd7 63. Re4 1-0

I would guess the next game is Russian Championship, 39th Edition?  A very long, drawn-on tournament if this is round 15!  The players ratings are quite a bit lower here.  Perhaps input error on this game or the prior game?

[Event “URS-ch39”]
[Site “Leningrad”]
[Date “1971.10.06”]
[Round “15”]
[White “Kapengut, Albert”]
[Black “Dzindzichashvili, R.”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B42”]
[WhiteElo “2450”]
[BlackElo “2480”]
[PlyCount “119”]
[EventDate “1971.09.15”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Nf6 6. O-O d6 7. b3 Be7 8. Bb2 O-O 9. c4 Bd7

A little slow and deliberate but not bad.

10. Qe2 Nc6 11. Nd2

These days, white usually captures on c6 himself in such situations.

Nxd4 12. Bxd4 Bc6 13. Rad1 (13. f4 d5 14. cxd5 exd5 15. e5 Ne4 16. f5 Re8 17. f6 Bf8 18. fxg7 Bxg7 19. Qh5 Rf8 20. Rf6 Bxf6 21. exf6 Kh8 22. Nf3 Bb5 23. Bxb5 axb5 24. Ne5 Nd6 25. Ng6+! Kg8 (25…fxg6 26. f7+ Qf6 27. Bxf6#) 26. Ne7+ Kh8 27. Qh6 {1-0 Fuller,M (2380)-Steedman,J (2200)/Chester 1979/MCD/[#0930]} (27. Qh6 Rg8 28. Qg7+! Rxg7 29. fxg7 mate))

13… e5 14. Bc3 Nd7 15. Bc2 b5 16. f4 b4 17. Bb2 a5 18. Nf3 Qc7 19. a4 exf4 20. Qd2 Ne5 21. Qxf4 Bf6 22. Kh1 Nxf3 23. Bxf6 Ne5 24. Qg3 Ng6 25. Bb2 Rad8 26. h4 Ne5 27. h5 f6 28. Rf4 h6 29. Rdf1 Qe7 30. Bd4 Be8 31. Bd1 Kh8 32. Rf5 Bf7 33. Qe3 Rc8 34. Qd2 Be6 35. R5f2 Nc6 36. Bb6 Ra8 37. Be2 Ne5 38. Rd1 Nf7 39. Qf4 Rfb8 40. Bd4 Ne5 41. Bf3 Nf7 42. Qg3 Re8 43. e5 dxe5 44. Bxa8 Rxa8 45. Bb6 f5 46. Rfd2 f4 47. Qg6 Rg8 48. Bxa5 Qh4+ 49. Kg1 Ng5 50. Bd8 Bg4 51. Bxg5 hxg5 52. h6 Qxh6 53. Qxh6+ gxh6 54. Ra1 e4 55. a5 e3 56.Rd6 Kg7 57. a6 f3 58. gxf3 Bxf3 59. Rd3 Re8 60. Re1 1-0

Now we go to Baku, the hometown of Garry Kasparov, 1972!  Roman is now 28 years old with a rating of 2500.  Kapengut is not far behind at 2485 and manages to draw the game.

[Event “URS-ch40”]
[Site “Baku”]
[Date “1972.11.19”]
[Round “3”]
[White “Dzindzichashvili, R.”]
[Black “Kapengut, Albert”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “D02”]
[WhiteElo “2500”]
[BlackElo “2485”]
[PlyCount “45”]
[EventDate “1972.??.??”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “21”]
[EventCountry “AZE”]
[EventCategory “11”]
[Source “Inforchess”]
[SourceDate “2002.12.13”]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c5 4. O-O Nc6 5. d4 Bg4 6. Ne5 cxd4 7. Nxg4 Nxg4 8. e3 Nf6 9. exd4 e6 10. c3 Bd6 11. Qe2 O-O 12. Nd2 Qc7 13. Nb3 Rae8 14. Bg5 Nd7 15. Be3 Na5 16. Nd2 b5 17. b4 Nc4 18. Nxc4 Qxc4 19. Qxc4 bxc4 20. a4 a5 21.
Rfb1 Ra8 22. Bf3 Rfb8 23. Bd2 1/2-1/2

Good stuff!

The Fabulous 00s: USCL Week 5 OOTW

USCL Week 5 Opening of the Week

The Foxy Rauser Deviation, as practiced by IM Albert Kapengut many times and also me at Lone Pine 1980.  Albert used it most recently on the NJKO USCL team to defeat IM M. Pasalic of the Chicago Blaze in USCL Week 5 action.  Let’s see the “historical game” first to gain perspective.  Interestingly, I was playing a typically well-prepared representative of the former Soviet Union and against this type of player, “eccentric” early deviations are not a surprise!

Mark Ginsburg – IM Vitaly Zaltsman Lone Pine 1980.  Sicilian Rauser, Foxy Deviation

In this tournament, held shortly before my 21st birthday, I was mired in disappointment and blunders with only a nice win over John Grefe to my credit in a “Lenderman-special” Neanderthal Ruy Lopez Cordel defense with an early Qd8-f6.  When I say “Lenderman-special” I mean that it has been tried by Lenderman and also it’s very bad. 🙂

It’s very funny to think that my “eccentric” Sicilian gambit in the Zaltsman game would resurface in a USCL game featuring veteran IM Albert Kapengut in his win over Chicago IM M. Pasalic. No wonder Zaltsman blitzed off his first 15 moves – it must be in Soviet academies!

1. Nf3 c5 2. e4 Nc6 3. Nc3 d6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. Be3

Foxy/Naive

White is being foxy (inviting black’s game response) and a little naive because this move is absolutely nothing theoretically.

6…Ng4 Tasty!  White gets what he wants!  This move aims for adventure and risk. Kapengut passes by this point in his brief annotations without comment.  But a serious argument must be made for the simple 6… e5!? aiming for Be6 and d5 liquidation.  7. Nb3 (7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. Bc4 Be7 9. O-O O-O 10. Qd3 Be6 11. Rad1 Ng4 12. Bd2 Qb6 13. Bb3 Nf6 and white has zero) 7… Be6 8. Qd2 (8. Be2 d5! 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 Qxd5 11. Qxd5 Bxd5
12. O-O O-O-O is totally level) 8… d5 9. exd5 Nxd5  and once again I do not see any edge.  In fact, I think Joel Benjamin played this way versus me in some tournament, once. 🙂 For example, 10. Nxd5 (10. O-O-O?  Bb4! 11. Bd3 Bxc3 12. bxc3 Qc7 13. Bc5 O-O-O! is just structurally horrible for white) 10… Qxd5 11. Qxd5 Bxd5 12. O-O-O O-O-O 13. c4 Be6 14. Rxd8+ Kxd8 15. Nc5 Bxc5 16. Bxc5 and white had zero in
Nakamura,H (2452)-Zilka,S (2182)/Oropesa del Mar 2001 although as you might guess Hikaru tricked his lower rated opponent in the ending .

Conclusion:  I don’t see anything wrong with 6. Be3 e5!? which takes the fun out of white’s schemes.

7. Bb5

See the comment suggestion for another playable move, 7. Bg5 — a minature Nakamura win over Fernandez in Bermuda 2002 that John Fernandez masochistically supplied.

7…Nxe3 8. fxe3 Bd7 9. Bxc6?! This is my choice in the Zaltsman game.

Due to black’s improvement on move 10 in my game, I think my move offers very little.

Kapengut chose the more foxy 9. O-O.  I will return to Kapengut’s choice after the Zaltsman game.

9… bxc6 10. O-O e6 (10… e5 {This logical move looks good!} 11. Qf3 f6 12. Nf5 g6 13. Ng3 Be7 and black was a little better and went on to win; Meszaros,A (2310)-Groszpeter,A (2495)/Hungary 1992/EXT 2000})

11. e5 If 11. Qf3 Qf6 12. Qe2 Qg5! makes sense and black stands well.

11… Be7 12. exd6 Bxd6 13. Ne4? A blunder but by this point white has very little.  13. Nf3 Qc7 14. Qd4 e5 15. Qh4 O-O 16. Ne4 f6 is not promising.

13… Bxh2+!  Ooopsie. Since I was young, I didn’t care about this blunder very much.  Sure enough, not too many moves later, Zaltsman was totally confused and white was winning! 🙂  I was completely amazed to see in the database a white win featuring this antique blunder of mine; Skjoldborg wound up winning vs. J. Christiansen, Copenhagen 2003, but of course it had nothing to do with this blunder. 🙂

14. Kh1 Qh4 15. Nf6+ gxf6 16. Nf3 Qg3 17. Nxh2 Rg8 18. Qe2 Rg6 19. Rf3 Qe5 20. Rd1 Rd8 The greedy 20… Rh6! 21. Rf4 Qxb2! 22. Rfd4 Rd8 23. Qd2 Qb7 and black should win.

21. Rh3 h6 22. e4 c5 Black is drifting!  Again 22… Qxb2.

23. Rhd3 Ke7 24. Nf3 Qc7 25. c4 Rgg8 26. e5! Ut-oh, white is asserting himself!

26…fxe5 27. Qxe5 Qxe5 28. Nxe5 Ba4 29. Rxd8 Rxd8 30. Rxd8 Kxd8 31. Nxf7+ Ke7 32. Nxh6 Bd1 33. Kh2 Kf6 34. Kg3 Ke5?

34… Be2 is a tougher try.  35. b3 Bd3 36. Kf4 Bb1 and the struggle continues. 

35. Nf7+ Kd4 36. Kf4 Kd3 37. g4 Kc2 38. b4 cxb4 39. c5 a5 40. c6 Be2 41. c7 Ba6 42. g5 a4 43. g6 b3 44. axb3 a3 45. g7 a2 46. g8=Q a1=Q 47. Qg6+ Kxb3 48. Qxe6+ Kc2 49. Nd6 Qf1+ 50. Ke5 Kc3 51. Ne4+ Kb4 52. Qb6+?

Here wa a nice win. 52. Qd6+! Ka5 53. Qa3+ Kb5 54. Qc5+ Ka4 55. Qb6; also winning was 52. Qe7+ Ka4 53. Nc5+ Kb5 54. Nxa6.

52… Qb5+ 53. Qxb5+ Kxb5 54. Kd6 Bc8 55. Nf6 Kb6 56. Nd5+ Kb7 57. Ke7 Bh3 58. Kd8 Kc6! I can’t break the blockade!  59. Nf4 Bg4 60. Ne2 Kd6 61. Nd4 Bh3 62. Nf3 Bg4 63. Ng5 Kc6 64. Nh7 Bh3 65. Nf6 Bf5 66. Ne8 Bh3 1/2-1/2

A titanic Lone Pine (in Death Valley, CA) Wild West blunderfest!

Now, back to the Kapengut game.

Recall 9. O-O was played in Kapengut-Pasalic.  The first interesting point: 9…g6 is less bad than prior evidence suggests.  It’s not good; just not losing. 🙂

9. O-O g6 10. Bxc6 bxc6 11. Qf3 f6 12. e5 dxe5 13. Nxc6 Qc8 14. Nxe5 fxe5 15. Qf7+ Kd8 16. Rad1 has been seen in practice, and in a prior game the losing 16…Kc7?? was played.    Far better is the clever 16… Bh6 and black has significant defensive resources.

The game went on 9. O-O e6 10. Bxc6 bxc6

Kritische

The absolutely critical moment.   Kapengut played a move that leads to equal chances.

11. Qf3 Qf6 12. Qe2 and here Pasalic played the passive 12…Qd8? and white got the upper hand with a trick that is thematic for this variation, the e4-e5 break.  Much stronger is 12…Qg5! with the simple point of stopping white’s e4-e5 trick that occurred after 12…Qd8?.  As you might guess, 12…Qg5! has been seen in lots of games with decent black results.  From Kapengut’s own experience, after 13. Rf3 Qc5!? the game was about level but black managed to win eventually in Kapengut-Giorgadze 1969.  Alternatively 13.  Rf3 Be7 is also level and eventually drawn in Kapengut-A. Ivanov Minsk 1985.

Going back to move 11, the immediate break 11. e5!? is interesting and has been tried many times.   Recall I tried it in the Zaltsman game. 11…dxe5? 12. Qh5! is a big edge to white and 11…d5 12. Qf3 Qe7 13. b4! looks familiar with a white plus.

The correct move which took Vitaly about 10 microseconds to find is 11…Be7! 12. exd6 Bxd6 and it’s about equal.

The problem with 11. Qf3 is that it gave black that pesky improvement on move 12.  But the problem with 11. e5 is black has this “well known Soviet” equalizing technique.

Overall conclusion:  black can survive the 6…Ng4 adventure but again, 6…e5 looks simpler.

I would be interested to know reader experiences in this tricky line.

 

The Fabulous 00s: Player Freakouts

Players and Their Freakouts

I laughed my butt off at Vinay Bhat’s World Open blog where he describes NM Chris Williams freaking out and the deleterious effect on Vinay’s opponent, FM Thomas Bartell.  Well, of course, it’s not so funny for Bartell who blew a winning game during the Williams freakout.  Apparently Williams was quite a distance away yet still managed to ratchet up the volume level to a full scream and, typical of freakouts, sustained the yelling for a good, long, while.

It reminded me of the time I was playing much closer (the next board over) in Las Vegas from a player destined (bad luck for me) to freak out in the round, Jerry Hanken.  In both Bhat’s case and my case, the offending party would-not-shut-up.

The Infamous Hanken Freakout

Perhaps even more infamous since he’s a perennial officer in the ‘Chess Journalists of America’ – but here he made it impossible for me to … play chess.  I would think “Chess Journalists” would want to allow chess to occur.

[Event “National Open”]
[Site “Las Vegas, NV”]
[Date “2005.06.17”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Steigman, A.J..”]
[Black “Ginsburg, Mark”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “B23”]

Closed Sicilian

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nge2 a6 4. a4 Nc6 5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 Be7 7. O-O d6 8. h3 O-O 9. d3 Qb6 Just for fun, I’m trying something unusual.

10. g4 Re8 11. Ng3 Bf8 12. Rb1 Nd7 13. g5 Qc7 14. f4 Nd4 15. Be3 b5 16. Nce2 Nxe2+ 17. Qxe2 bxa4 18. f5?! This is not good.  Correct is … not to do it!

18…Ne5 Black can also play simply 18…exf5 19. Nxf5 Ne5 with some edge.

19. Rf4?! White should clog things up with 19. f6! g6 20. h4 Bb7 21. h5 d5 22. Bf4 Bd6 23. Kh2 Rab8

19… exf5 20. exf5 Bb7 21. Rxa4 d5 22. Rh4 Nxd3 23. Rxh7?? This move is not even close to working. 23. Nf1 Nf4 24. Bxf4 Qxf4 25. Rxf4 Rxe2 26. Rf2 for better or worse white has to accept this sort of inferior ending.

Hankenized

23… g6?? Correct, of course, was 23… Qxg3.  This should have been very easy to find.  However, Jerry Hanken on the adjacent board had just resigned and was talking to himself loudly. I told him to be quiet and he would not.   He would NOT.  ARGHHHHH.   As my time ticked down, and Hanken kept up his monologue rant, I could not focus so I committed a blunder that could have turned the game around 360 degrees.  After the correct 23…Qxg3! 24. Qh5 Qxe3+ This position is an elementary forced mate. 25. Kh1 Nf2+ 26. Kg1 Nd1+ 27. Kh1 Qe1+ 28. Kh2 Bd6 mate. Oh my God. The simple fact that black’s bishop can go to d6 in all  lines, giving check, had escaped black’s attention during the Hanken nonsense.   A “Chess Journalist” should not make noises (talking to oneself, or snorting, or fake-coughing) to disrupt other players.  I don’t think it’s just me with this opinion.

24. fxg6 Qxg3 25. Rh8+?? White is also oblivious to the tactical possibilities, in all likelihood due to the Hanken noise machine next board, and mistakenly goes for the perpetual. If 25. gxf7!+ Kxh7 26. Qh5+ Kg7 27. fxe8=N+! Rxe8 28. Qh6+ Kf7 29. Qf6+ Kg8 30. Qg6+ and white wins.

25… Kg7 26. Rh7+ Kg8 1/2-1/2 Guess what.  NOW, Hanken was packing up his pieces and was preparing to leave the tournament hall docilely and silently. ARGHHHH.

A Happy Ending Freakout

At the 1981 Lone Pine tournament, Reshevsky offered a draw to Fedorowicz.  After letting his time tick down, Fedorowicz accepted.  Reshevsky then in a bald-faced absurd maneuver, denied he had made the offer. A massive multi-party (the players, witnesses, the TD) lengthy freakout ensued.  The TD, Kashdan, eliminated all the witnesses saying they were “friends of Reshevsky’s opponent” and upheld Reshevsky’s fabrication.   I am not too nostalgic for the “old days” when TDs engaged in rampant cheating and/or bogus pairings on behalf on their buddies.

The Lone Pine game continued and …. Sammy lost.  Frontier Justice meted out in Lone Pine, which happens to be in Death Valley!

Even more rare than player freakouts are lengthy, borderline hysterical, TD freakouts.  The only one I’ve witnessed belonged to excitable “colors don’t matter in my pairings” Weikel.

And Now It’s Your Turn

Readers, please send in your own freakout stories, particularly if they influenced your game or a game you were watching.

Poll Time!

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Enough Unpleasantness, Time for Some Chess

What’s the best way to get rid of the bad taste of player antics?  Some blitz chess!

Here I am playing a Ghost.

Information about F-Ghost(GM) (Last disconnected Tue Jul 28 2009 12:36):

rating [need] win  loss  draw total   best
Bullet          2405  [8]   195   169    21   385   2430 (19-Feb-2001)
Blitz           2923  [8]  1210  1095   272  2577   2981 (18-Nov-2000)
5-minute        2402        295   192    62   549   2515 (04-May-2008)

1: Born 1976 in USSR
2: Lost the way and perished in 2002 in BiH
3: —————————————
4: Kosovo je Srbija

[Event “ICC 5 Min Blitz”]
[Date “2009.07.28”]
[White “GM F-Ghost”]
[Black “Aries2”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B40”]
[EventDate “2008.09.18”]
[EventType “blitz”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c3 d5 4. e5 d4 5. Bb5+ Bd7 6. Qe2 Nc6 7. O-O Nge7 8. Na3 Ng6 9. Qe4 a6 10. Bd3 Qc7 11. Re1 b5 12. h4 c4 13. Bf1 d3 Well, this attempt cutting the board in two is very optimistic, and demands a careful white reaction.

14. b3?! A little slow.  Faster is 14. h5! Bxa3 15. hxg6 Bc5 16. b4 Be7 17. a4 Rb8 with white initiative.

Time to Go Loco

14… Ngxe5? Too frisky.  I was trying to emulate a classic brilliancy, Sax-Ljubojevic London 1980.  I recommend to the readers that they play over the Sax-Ljubojevic game; it is astounding. Better was the sane and very nice 14… Bc5! 15. bxc4 Qb6! (excellent tactics!) 16. Re3 Bxe3 17. dxe3 Qc5  and black is very happy.

15. Nxe5 f5 16. Qf3 Nxe5 17. Qxa8+ 17. Rxe5! puts an end to black’s fantasies.

17…Kf7 18. Rxe5 Qxe5 19. Qb7? Here although the path is getting a little harder, 19. Qf3 Bd6 20. g3 Rc8 21. bxc4 bxc4 22. Qf4! and white wins.  With the text, white presents black with an unexpected chance. Now, it’s quiz time. What do I do?

19…Ke8 WRONG.

The spectacular correct move is 19… Bd6!! 20. Qxd7+ Kf6  and black is assured of at least a draw!  Not so incredible, since white’s entire queenside force is ‘asleep’.  The line continues 21. g3 Bc5! and feast your eyes on the tableau:

Black's Tiny Army Fights Successfully

Position after 21…Bc5! (Analysis).  Black has at least a draw!

22. Qc6 Qxg3+ 23. Qg2 Bxf2+ 24. Kh1 Qxh4+ 25. Qh3 Qe4+ 26. Kh2 and now black can play aggressively with 26… g5  or force an immediate draw with 26… Ba7 27. bxc4 Bb8+ 28. Kg1 Ba7+.   It’s amazing how black’s well-coordinated, but TINY army, saves the day and even preserves winning chances!

20. bxc4 Bd6 21. g3 The simple 21. Bxd3! winning demonstrates how bad black’s 19th was.

21…f4 22. Qf3 Rf8 23. g4! Effective enough.

23…Ke7 24. Bxd3 Bc6 25. Qxc6 f3 26. Qb7+ Kd8 27. Kf1 Qh2 28. Ke1 Bg3 29. fxg3 f2+ 30. Kd1 f1=Q+ 31. Bxf1 Rxf1+ 32. Kc2 Qxg3 33. Qb8+

HAHAHAHA.  Since black has seconds left and will lose on time in any event, white moves his queen en-prise.  A classical Naka taunt. 🙂

33…Ke7 34. Qxg3 1-0

And for More Humor: CNN Text Scroll Gaffes

For those who can’t get enough humor, I went to lunch today at PF Chang.  The TV overhead was tuned to CNN at a very low volume but it had a text scroll at the time (presumably for hard of hearing viewers).  Amusingly the text scroll made some mistakes that almost made sense in the context of the story, but not quite.

First, CNN was running a story on Pres. Obama addressing the AARP on health care reform.  According to the text scroll, Obama told the AARP audience, “I know hell care is not working for you.  I know I have to fix hell care.  I know we have big problems with hell care.”   That one drew some yucks.  The next story up:  quarterback Michael Vick was reinstated into the NFL after a long jail stint for dog fighting.  The text scroll kept saying “Victory Dogs…”  …. “Victory Dogs”…. the story was actually trying to say “Vick’s dogs.”

Playing The Oddball

The following poll starts to measure your oddball experiences.

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The Fabulous 70s: 3 Chess People and a Beautiful Woman … Plus, Petrosian Tidbits

4 Peeps Hangin’ Out in 1976

Upper left: Louis D. Statham, the famous patron of the Lone Pine super-Swisses. Upper right: ex-WC Tigran Petrosian, winner of Lone Pine 1976 (the 6th LP incarnation). Bottom left: OK it’s not a beautiful woman. That title was simply meant to trick you to this site. It’s British GM Tony Miles, co-winner of the 1976 National Open in Las Vegas. Bottom right: the other co-winner, future IM Ed Formanek. Carl Budd took both photographs.

Tigran Petrosian Tidbits

We learn some interesting tidbits from Petrosian’s interview in this issue (interview conducted by stalwart USCF official Ed Edmondson – he had a cool name).

1. Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian Factoid #1: He was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, but was 100% Armenian.
2. Tigran’s dad was a refugee from Turkey.
3. Tigran left Georgia when he was 17.
4. Tigran journeyed 160 miles to Yerevan, Armenia.
5. Before she got married to Tigran, Rona was an English teacher.
6. Tigran had two sons, Mikhail and Vartan.
7. Petrosian also enjoyed checkers, cards, and an Armenian backgammon variant called Nardy. He also played ping ping and billiards.
8. He liked to watch ice hockey and soccer.
9. He was a supporter of club “Spartak” and played first board for Spartak chess team.
10. His main hobby was philately (stamp collecting) MG Note: just as it is Anatoly Karpov’s! He liked to collect art stamps and chess stamps.
11. He used to attend the opera regularly.
12. He was awarded the honorary Master of Sport title [MG: relatively late?!] in 1960.
13. He was chief editor of “64” chess magazine when this interview was conducted in 1976.
14. If he won a prize abroad, he could keep some of it and give some of it back to the state (the USSR).
15. He was impressed by young Seirawan at Lone Pine 1976. Apparently young Yasser managed to beat Tigran in a friendly skittles game (one of several they played) although Tigran pointed out “I was not serious, I was having fun.” MG Note: You wouldn’t see Fischer very light-hearted after a skittles loss.
16. He reiterates his belief that “… in chess there is nothing accidental. I believe only in logical, correct play.”
17. On Fischer: “[he] tries to make the opponent play something other than the best move, than he – in turn – does make the best move.”
18. “Everything in chess is rather wooden – wooden pieces, wooden problems, wooden decisions.”
19. Petrosian in 1976 rated Ljubojevic’s chances of becoming a world championship contender as higher than Mecking’s, although both GMs were at that time young superstars. He also mentioned Ulf Andersson and he stated “I hope he will awaken one day.” (!)

Readers will enjoy this mind-blowing Petrosian victory over former World Champ Garry Kasparov.

I also learned from Wikipedia that Petrosian received a PhD in 1968 from Yerevan State University (is this something like Georgia State University?) on the topic of “Chess Logic.” Write what you know about!

So Many Tigran Petrosians

There’s a modern-day (young) GM Tigran Petrosian, apparently unrelated to the WC unless somebody knows differently?.  But did you know there’s a third Tigran Petrosian running around, quite literally – a professional soccer player!

More Lone Pine: Not for the Faint of Heart

On the principle you can’t get enough Lone Pine photos, here I am playing GM Lev Alburt at Lone Pine 1980 with Steve Odendahl (nice hair!) in the back. Lev, who had only recently defected to the USA, had cool Soviet-style slightly tinted dark glasses that he wore indoors.

Postscript: Princeton Graduation Drama in 1980

Since the above Lone Pine photo was from March 1980 I only had 2 more months ahead of me of the undergraduate life at Princeton. Woo-hoo! But there was drama. I overslept a required final in Genetics administered by the non-too-happy Professor Tom Cline (we called him Tom Clone). I was able to get a re-test supervised by a proctor in some administrative building a few days later. Guess what, I overslept again. I was 75 minutes late for a 2 1/2 hour exam. I wound up getting 43 points out of a maximum of 200. On one essay, the grader drew a red diagonal line through my babble and simply wrote “Sorry”, awarding me a 0 out of 50 on that question (involving an asteroid that crashed to Earth with some genetic samples; I had no idea what the question was talking about). After this debacle, Prof. Cline called me into the office. “This exam”, he exclaimed, waving it around, “is not just an F. It’s a K or an L. But I’m not going to fail you, I don’t want to see you on campus next term. So I’m giving you a D minus. Now get out.”

Amusing Post-Postscript

Ian Rogers has popped up on the blogosphere. But it’s not the Grandmaster. Instead, we apparently have a media baron who recently departed the ‘troubled’ Yahoo company.