Chess Room Newsletter #732

Torre–Tal (right) with Steve Brandwein manning the wall board (Photo: Richard Shorman)

The game is

Queen’s Gambit Declined D30
Torre–Tal
San Francisco 1991

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 d5 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. Nc3 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Rc1 O-O 9. a3 Bxc3 10. Rxc3 c6 11. e3 a5 12. Ne5 Nd7 13. Nxd7 Bxd7 14. Bd3 Qg5 15. O-O Rfe8 Draw

Torre is pondering the position after Tal’s 13 ... Bxd7.

The tributes for the late Steve continue to appear. Two of the best we have seen are by his good friend International Master Jeremy Silman http://fr.chess.com/article/view/a-legendary-chess-zen-master-has-died?page=2, and by Joe Rivano Barros, which first appered in the Mission Local and was later picked up by ChessBase http://en.chessbase.com/post/us-master-steve-brandwein-passes-away-at-73.

Tournament games and results of Steve are hard to find as he didn’t keep any records, but more details on his performance in the 1964 U.S. Open have surfaced. Here are Steve’s round-by-round results that lead to his winning prizes for top Expert and highest-finishing Massachusetts player. This event raised Steve’s USCF rating close to 2300.

1. J. Tabler (Steve won)
2. Denis Strenzwilk (Steve won)
3. IM James Sherwin (Draw)
4. NM Neil McKelvie (Steve won)
5. NM Ivan Theodorovich (Draw)
6. NM Paul Brandts Draw)
7. NM John Hudson Draw)
8. NM David Levy (Draw)
9. NM George Krauss (Steve won)
10. NM John Collins (Draw)
11. NM George Shainswit (Draw)
12. NM Peter Lapiken (Steve won)

A memorial will be held for Steve at the Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club on January 24 from 1 to 5 pm, and all are welcome. Those who are unable to attend are encouraged to send their remembrances to [email protected], to be shared during the event.

3) A Chess Poem by Dennis Fritzinger

the whales will eat tonight

i announced
at the beginning
of the tournament
i was playing
for the whales.
after i
had won it,
steve brandwein quipped
“the whales
will eat tonight.”

4) The Ultimate Gamesman—Walter Browne (Part Five), by David A. Fryxell

Later Walter Browne (Photo: Richard Shorman)

Continued from Newsletter #731

March nights in Lone Pine are brisk, but Browne lopes along as though it were July, wearing just a thin sportcoat over his sweater. He announces he’s withdrawing from the tournament. “I can’t play serious chess here. I haven’t lost a game with White since October, and now I come here and lose twice. It’s just not a serious tournament – 45 moves in 2 ½ hours! In Europe they play 40 moves in 2 ½ hours. And here they pair opponents Swiss style – winners play winners, losers play losers – instead of a round-robin, where everybody plays everybody. It’s all to help these children, these patzers.

“Maybe one chance in five I could come back and win, but it’s just not worth it to me. I don’t care about the $50,000. I’m at a point in my life where I don’t have to play for money.”

He makes his case again to one of the tournament organizers, stopping outside the Dow Villa motel. The man nods and nods, then points out that Browne could still win, at least $600. “You know what I say?” Browne replies, his face lit by the thin red neon, his voice without venom. “I say you can take that $600 and buy flowers for Kashdan’s grave.” Walking away, he admits, “I know this sounds terrible. It’s just, you know … A bitter smile.

Over dinner at the Merry-Go-Round Restaurant, Browne tries to steer the conversation to pleasanter topics, but the incident with Kashdan keeps coming up.

“I told him not to play in this tournament,” his wife points out for the third time this evening. “I told him he should rest.”

Browne rolls his eyes. “Yeah. Yeah.”

He slices off a chunk of sirloin. “You know, I was just noticing. The size of this steak keeps getting smaller every time I order it. First time they give you a huge steak, really big. I’ve been here three times, and each time the steak has been smaller.”

Chess in the United States is a very small piece of the total sports and games action. “American’s don’t like to think. “ Browne says. By contrast, he tells of the reception he got in Iceland and Holland: “I know this is going to sound egotistical, but it’s true. I’m a popular figure over there. There were 40 stories in the Icelandic papers about my trip. On the flight back from Reykjavik, four people asked for my autograph, and one guy wanted to buy my pocket chess set. Per capita, Iceland has the most chess players in the world. In Russia, Yugoslavia, chess is second only to soccer.

(to be continued)

5) Here and There

National Master Roger Poehlmann won the Berkeley Chess Club Championship held October 30–December 18 with 6½/7. Finishing second through fourth were International Master Elliott Winslow (5½) and National Masters Josiah Stearman (5) and Uyanga Byambaa (4½). The 41-player event was directed by Kerry Lawless.

Will Clipson writes that a new chess club has formed in Pinole, which meets Wednesday evenings from 5:30 to 9:00 pm at the East Bay Coffee Company (2529 San Pablo Ave). Player strength is about 1200 to 2300, except when Craig Mar shows up, when it is stronger. Most days there are six to eight players.

A dozen U.S. players are rated over 2600 FIDE on the January 2016 list, including two Mechanics’ members.

1-2. Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura 2787
3. Wesley So 2773
4. Gata Kamsky 2665
5. Alex Onischuk 2664
6. Ray Robson 2659
7. Sam Shankand 2638
8. Daniel Naroditsky 2634
9. Varuzhan Akobian 2628
10. Alex Lenderman 2623
11. Yaroslav Zerebukh 2614
12. Timur Gareev 2605

The strongest tournament ever held in Oakland was won last weekend by Mongolian Grandmaster Batchuluun Tsegmed with the outstanding score 5½ from 6. Among his victims were FIDE 2600s Parimarjan Negi and Yaroslav Zerebukh. These two Grandmasters were joined in a big tie for second at 4½ with Grandmaster Oliver Barbosa and International Masters Richardo De Guzman and Istvan Sipos. 127 players competed in the Bay Area Chess event, directed by Tom Langland.

6) This is the end

In the following game position, we imagine White ready with a queen, eagerly awaiting his chance to promote the c-pawn. But to do so, he has to stop the annoying checks. Can he do so?

White to move, after 78 Ke6 Ra6+

Show solution

This position is from Efim Bogoljubow–Sir George Thomas, Hastings Six Masters, 1922. The game went

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 d6 5 Bxc6+ bxc6 6 d4 f6 7 Nc3 g6 8 Be3 Bg7 9 Qd2 Ne7 10 Bh6 0–0 11 0–0–0 Be6 12 h3 Qb8 13 g4 Qb4 14 Bxg7 Kxg7 15 a3 Qb6 16 Ne2 Rab8 17 Qc3 Rb7 18 Ne1 Qb5 19 Nd3 Qc4 20 f4 Qxc3 21 bxc3 exf4 22 Nexf4 Bg8 23 h4 Rb5 24 Kd2 a5 25 a4 Rbb8 26 h5 Nc8 27 hxg6 hxg6 28 Rh2 Re8 29 Nf2 d5 30 exd5 cxd5 31 g5 fxg5 32 N4d3 Nb6 33 Ne5 c5 34 Nfd3 cxd4 35 cxd4 Nc4+ 36 Nxc4 dxc4 37 Ne5 Rb4 38 Rg1 g4 39 Rhg2 Be6 40 Nxg4 c3+ 41 Kxc3 Rc8+ 42 Kd2 Rxd4+ 43 Kc1 Rxa4 44 Ne3 Ra1+ 45 Kb2 Rxg1 46 Rxg1 Rc5 47 Rg3 g5 48 c4 Kg6 49 Kc3 Rc8 50 Kd4 a4 51 Rg1 Rd8+ 52 Kc3 Rb8 53 Ra1 Ra8 54 Ra3 Kf6 55 Kd4 Ra5 56 Ke4 Kg6 57 Kd3 Bd7 58 Kc3 Kf6 59 Kd4 Bc6 60 c5 Ra8 61 Nd5+ Bxd5 62 Kxd5 Ra6 63 c6 Ke7 64 Kc5 Kd8 65 Kd6 g4 66 Rg3 a3 67 Rxg4



Black to move

Now followed

67 ... Ke8 68 Re4+ Kd8 69 Rh4 Ke8 70 Rh8+ Kf7 71 Rh7+ Ke8 72 Kc5 a2 73 c7



White to move

73 ... Ra5+ 74 Kb6 Ra6+ 75 Kc5 Ra5+ 76 Kc6 Ra6+ 77 Kd5 Ra5+ 78 Ke6 Ra6+

and the players agreed on a draw in the problem position.

However, White did not see the winning strategy:

79 Kd5☐



Black to move

White’s alternatives were 79 Ke5??, losing to 79 ... a1=Q+; or 79 Kf5? Rc6 drawing.

79 ... Ra5+ 80 Kc4 Ra4+ 81 Kb3 Ra3+



White to move

82 Kc2☐ Rc3+

82 ... a1=N+ also loses.

83 Kb2



Black to move

White wins, either by capturing the a-pawn, or, in case of 83 ... Rc2+, blockading it with 84 Ka1

Black to move (analysis, after 84 Ka1)

This ending and analysis comes from the classic How to Play Chess Endings, by Eugene Znosko-Borovsky.