The Fabulous 50s: Fischer takes on Petrosian in Blitz, 1958

Young Bobby

At the Moscow Central Chess Club, 1958, the following photograph was taken.

15-year-old Bobby Fischer was taking on future-WC Tigran Petrosian in blitz.   Click on the photo to enlarge. The interesting question is, who are the onlookers?

Fischer-Petrosian

I posed this question on the social networking website “Facebook”.  It’s amazing what we found out.

The easiest identification is third from the left, standing.  That’s many-times Candidate GM Yefim Geller.

That leaves us with the puzzle of the others….first of all, GM Fedorowicz informed that the young fellow standing on the left is American Larry Evans!  (probably not a GM yet).

Then, Tom Bartell informed me that the person seated next to the board is Anatoly Volovich!  I played Volovich fully 30 years later at Hunter College, NYC, in 1988, in the fantastically named “Gnomes of Zurich” Swiss-system tournament (result=draw).  How did Tom know that?  Anatoly told Tom :).   The 1988-vintage Anatoly had a beard; it would have a stretch for me to have named him.

So now we are “hunting” for more names to put on the faces!

Postscript April 5, 2010

This just in from Dan Scoones:

Mark,
Here is another photo taken during the same blitz session.  From this angle it’s pretty obvious that the guy in the upper left is Yakov Estrin.  And it’s also a good bet that the guy sitting to Petrosian’s right is Evgeny Vasyukov, who is also known to have played Fischer on this occasion.  The downside is that there are a lot more guys in the background who we will probably never identify!
Regards,
Dan Scoones

Estrin! Vasiukov!

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The Fabulous 90s: The Manhattan CC 1990 International

The Big 1990 Show at Carnegie Hall

The July, 1990 round-robin international at the Manhattan Chess Club (Carnegie Hall, 57th St and 7th Ave., NY NY) was very strong.  We had:

• IM Alex Fishbein (Samford Award winner, who made a GM norm in this event)
• GM Gregory Kaidanov
• Future GM and well-known USSR Trainer Avigdor Bykhovsky.  Bykhovsky stayed with Joel and I and brought with him plenty of food supplies:  dozens of tins of USSR preserved meat that resembled deviled ham (I think).  All he needed to borrow was a can-opener and he was all set.
• ex-WC Candidate GM Yefim Geller now in the twilight of his career (he passed away shortly after the event)
• GM Bozidar Abramovich
• IM (future-GM of course) Alex Sherzer, my guest for the event.  Alex stayed over at a gigantic 3-bedroom apartment real estate barons Joel Benjamin and me controlled on the Upper West Side.
• IM Michael Brooks
• IM Mark Ginsburg
• GM Alex Wojtkiewicz
• GM Alex Ivanov

It all started well for me in the first round.  Although I was working at a programming job for SIAC (yuck!!) in “Metrotech” (some called this place “MetroDreck”) Brooklyn, I seemed fresh enough here:

Mark Ginsburg – Alexander Fishbein (2470) MCC Int’l 1990 Round 1.

Dutch Defense, 4. Bf4 gambit line

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 d5 3. e4!? dxe4 4. Bf4 Just another weird anti-Dutch gambit, not allowing 4. f3? e5!.   For more gambits, see this post.

Position after 4. Bf4.  By transposition, the  Pöhlmann Defense of the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit.

White plans to simply play f2-f3 and leave black with a sick pawn formation.

4…Nf6 5. Bc4 Very logical is 5. f3!? exf3 (5… e6 6. fxe4 fxe4 7. Bc4 Bd6 8. Nge2 O-O 9. O-O Nc6! 10. a3! and white has some compensation) 6. Nxf3 e6 7. Bc4 Bd6 8. Bg5 c6 9. Qd3 b5 10. Bb3 Na6 and now we follow a chaotic old James Tarjan game. (10… b4 11. Ne2 Qc7 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. O-O-O with compensation) 11. a3 Nc7 12. O-O h6 13. Bh4 g5 14. Rae1? Unsound. 14. Bf2 is fine. 14… gxh4 15. Qxf5 Qe7 (15… Rg8 16. Nxh4 Be7 17. Qf2 Rg7) 16. Qg6+ Kd8 17. Ne5 Bxe5 18. dxe5 Nfd5 (18… Nd7 19. Ne4 (19.Rf7 Qg5 20. Qe4 Nd5) 19… Nd5 20. Bxd5 cxd5 21. Nd6 Rf8 22. Rxf8+ Nxf8 23. Qxh6 Kc7 24. Nxb5+ Kb8 and white is a bit better) 19. Rf7? (19. Ne4! with a huge edge) 19… Qg5 20. Qd3 Rg8 21. Qf3 h3 (21… Nxc3 22. bxc3 (22. Qxc6 N3d5 23. Bxd5 Nxd5 24. Rf2 Nb6 25. Rd1+ Ke7 26. Qd6+ Ke8 27. Qc6+ Bd7 28. Rxd7 Nxd7 29. Qxa8+ Ke7) 22… Nd5 and black wins) 22. g3 Qd2 23. Re2 Qc1+ Now black should win. 24. Kf2 Qg5? (24… Bd7 wins) 25. Ne4! Qxe5 26. c3 Ne7? (26… Rg6 is fine for black) 27. Qd3+? (27. Nf6 is much better for white ) 27… Ncd5 28. Nf6 Qd6 29. Nxg8 Nxg8 30. Qh7 Nge7 31. Qxh6 Bd7?? A losing blunder. 31… Kc7 32. Qxh3 Kb8 33. Qh5 Nf5 34. Qh8 is equal. 32. Bxd5 Nxd5 33. Rf8+ Be8 34. Rxe8+ and it turns out white had the last laugh – 1-0 Tarjan,J-Gutierrez,J/Bogota 1979

5… e6 6. Nge2 Bd6 6… Nd5!? is interesting here. 7. O-O Be7 8. f3 Nxf4 9. Nxf4 is about equal.

7. O-O O-O Black can try to delay castling: 7… Nc6 8. Bxd6 cxd6 9. d5 Ne5 10. Bb3 exd5 11. Nxd5 Be6 12. Nef4 Bxd5 13. Nxd5 and white has some compensation.

8. f3 exf3 Playable is 8… Nc6 9. fxe4 Nxe4 10. Nxe4 fxe4 11. Qd2 Na5 12. Bb5 Bxf4 13.Rxf4! Rxf4 14. Qxf4 with good compensation.

9. Rxf3 Kh8 10. Qd2 Nc6 11. Rd1 Re8 12. Bg5 Be7 Although it looks dangerous, 12…e5 was quite playable here.

13. Rh3 e5 14. Qe1!? At the time, I thought I was doing quite well with this ‘attacking retreat’. However, black does have a good move here, which Fishbein failed to find.

Position after 14. Qe1!? – not as great for me as I had thought.

14…Ng4?

This was the key moment. 14… Nxd4?? is very weak due to 15. Nxd4 Bc5 (15… exd4 16. Qh4 h6 17. Bxh6 Ng4 18. Bxg7+ Kxg7 19. Qh7+ wins) 16. Qh4 Bxd4+ 17. Kh1 Qd7 18. Nd5 and wins. The right move was 14… Ne4! 15. Nxe4 (15. Qh4? Nxg5 ) 15..fxe4 16. Bxe7 (16. Rxh7+ Kxh7 17. Qh4+ Kg6 does not work) Qxe7 and black stands better, having gotten out of the potentially annoying d-file attack by the white rook.

15. Qh4! White is much better now. Maybe black missed this simple move.

15…h6 16. dxe5 Bxg5? This is hopeless. 16… Bd7 17. Bxe7 Qxe7 18. Qxe7 Rxe7 19. Nf4 is terrible for black but still better than the text.

17. Rxd8 Bxd8 18. Qh5 Rf8 19. e6 Nce5 20. Nf4 From now on, there are numerous wins. White chose the primitive path of eating the most dangerous black pieces.

20…Kh7 21. Be2 Most effective is 21. Bd3! g5 22. Ncd5 Kg7 23. e7 Bxe7 24. Nxe7 gxf4 25. Nxf5+ Rxf5 26. Bxf5 Bxf5 27. Qxf5 Rf8 28. Qe4 and wins.

21… Be7 22. Ncd5 g6 23. Nxg6 Rather crude, but it works Black’s protection of h6 gets overloaded.

22… Bc5+ 24. Ne3 Bxe6 24… Nxg6 25. Bxg4 Bxe3+ 26. Rxe3 fxg4 27. Qxg4 wins.

25. Nxe5 Rf6 No better is 25…Bxe3+ 26. Rxe3 Nxe3 27. Qg6+ Kh8 28. Qxh6+ Kg8 29. Qxe6+ Kh7 30. Qg6+ Kh8 31. Qh6+ Kg8 32. Qxe3 and wins.

26. N5xg4 fxg4 27. Qxc5 Raf8 28. Bd3+

Black resigned. He is down hopeless amounts of material. 1-0 To Fishbein’s credit, he did more than rebound from this first round defeat – he went on to get a GM norm!

In the middle rounds, I had “trouble” losing vastly superior games to Geller and Kaidanov and Avigdor Bykhovsky which I will come back to.  When in doubt, blame the payroll job.   The “Man” costs energy.

In the last round (round 9) this barn-burner occurred:

IM M. Ginsburg – GM A. Wojtkiewicz 2550 FIDE   MCC Int’l 1990, Round 9.  Saemisch Benoni

My first personal encounter with the humorous Alex who unfortunately passed away last year.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 d6 4.Nc3 g6 5.e4 Bg7 6.f3 O-O 7.Bg5 e6 8.Qd2 exd5 9.cxd5 Re8 Igor Ivanov used to harshly criticize this move, saying the rook is much better placed on f8.

10.Nge2 Na6 11.Ng3 Nc7 12.Be2 a6 13.a4 Rb8 14.a5 Bd7 15.O-O Bb5 16.Na4 Bxe2 17.Nxe2 Nb5 18.Rac1

So far, both sides seem to be doing logical things. Now the game goes crazy.

Position after 18. Rac1.  Things get weird.

18…h6!!?

This move astounded me.  Black gambits king safety for initiative on a wing where there are no kings!

19.Bxh6 Bxh6 20.Qxh6 Qxa5 21.Nac3 Nxc3 22.Rxc3 Qb5 23.Ng3 Aren’t I checkmating this guy?

23…Nh7 24.f4 Qxb2

I really thought he had gone cuckoo for setting his king on fire in order to go after this b-pawn.  And maybe he had.  But I wasn’t up to the challenge (see note to white’s 27th).

25.Rfc1 Kh8 26.e5!

Obvious but nice. See prior comment.

26…Qd2!

Position after 26..Qd2!

Ingenious!  The lone queen to the rescue!  For some reason, I expected 26…dxe5 27. Ne4! Rg8 28. fxe5 and white wins easily.  Now I became disoriented.  To fight ingenious… one needs ingenious!

27.Nf5?

Wrongly forcing a draw.   The grotesque blunder 27. Ne4 Qd4+ 28. Kh1?? loses, as 28…Qxe4 29. Rh3 g5! defends h7.  But white can torture some more with 27. Ne4 Qd4+ 28. Nf2! Qd2 29. Ng4! Kg8 30. Ne3! with nasty ideas like 30…dxe5?? 31. Nf5! winning.  White keeps an edge.  This ingenious Ne4-f2-g4-e3 maneuver never occurred to me.  I didn’t have much time, but still this position is so “attractive” I should have worked harder to find something.

27…gxf5 28.Rh3 Qxc1+

With the grand fizzle – a perpetual check.

29.Kf2 Qd2+ 30.Kf1 Qd1+ 31.Kf2 Qd4+ 32.Kf1 Qc4+ 33.Kf2 Qc2+ 34.Kf1 Qd1+ 35.Kf2 Qd2+ 36.Kf1 1/2-1/2

It was a distinct relief to finally end this tournament.  Why?  When I fill in the report with the losses, you will understand. 🙂

And for Something Different

The Clock Punching Monkeys article in Chinese (translation requested by a curious Asian reader, I presume).  Click to enlarge.

Clock Punching Monkey Chinese Style

I just hope the Asian reader wasn’t trying to learn about monkeys and stumbled across this non sequitur.

The Classic 80s Part 1B: More Lone Pine 1980

Archival Photo

Let’s start with a nostalgia photo from Lone Pine 1980 that my sister recently discovered in my parents’ Bethesda, MD house – buried for many decades but now unearthed like an archaeological treasure.

What we have here is in the foreground, left, former Candidate GM Yefim Geller tussling with red-haired bearded ex-World Junior Champ IM Julio Kaplan (hailing originally from Puerto Rico). Seated in the back left is a very young IM Victor Frias. I cannot tell who he is playing – readers, have any ideas? I guess we could deduce this answer if somebody has the bulletins. Strolling in the back with the trademark cap is veteran U.S. world championship contender the one and only GM Sammy Reshevsky.

More Lone Pine Action

Continuing with my Lone Pine saga, here’s a tussle versus a former US Champion, John Grefe.

John A Grefe vs Mark Ginsburg
Lone Pine Open, 1980

Ruy Lopez, Cordel Variation, early Queen ‘Development’ Madness

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. O-O Qf6!?

Postscript 3/23/08: It’s heartwarming to see IM Lenderman try this rare but playable variation (and win!) in Foxwoods 2008 versus FM R. Negata!

5. b4!? 5. c3! is the best move here (or 4. c3!). John goes in a completely new direction. It’s a sort of perverted Evans Gambit!

5… Bb6 6. Bb2 Nge7 7. c4 Nd4 8. c5 White plays the most actively. Black must start capturing things and hope to stay afloat.

8…Nxb5 9. Bxe5 Qg6 10. a4

A really unique position has been reached after only 10 moves! Black might be a little bit worse here.

10… d6 11. axb5 dxc5 12. bxc5 Bxc5 13. d4 Bb6 14. Nc3 O-O 15. Na4 Bg4 16. Nxb6 Qxb6 17. Qc2 Bxf3 18. gxf3 Ng6 Now black is reasonably happy, having placed a knight somewhere near white’s weakened kingside pawns.

19. Qxc7 Qxb5 20. Bd6 Qg5+ 21. Kh1 Qf6 22. f4 Rfd8

The pawn count doesn’t matter here. Black is super-active.

23. e5 Qxf4 24. Qxb7 Qxd4 25. Rad1 Qa4 26. f4 Nh4 27. Rc1 Nf5 28. Rc7

28… Qa2 29. Rfc1 Qe6! An ideal centralization with a secret point. You’ll see it very soon.

30. Rd1 Rab8! Methodically, black activates every last unit and prepares for a hidden crushing blow.

31. Qxa7 Ng3+!! A very pleasing move to play. White has no defense against this bolt from the blue.

32. hxg3 32. Kg2 Qg4! mates similarly.

32…Qh3+ 33. Kg1 Qxg3+ 34. Kf1 Qf3+ 35. Ke1 Rb2 0-1

White is mated and hence gives up. Too bad I lost many games in the event, but still this one was a thrill.