Gens Una Sumus!
Newsletter #993
November 6, 2021
Table of Contents
- Chess in Bernal Heights, San Francisco
- TNM Report
- Commemorative Set
- Tony's Teasers
- Events/Class Schedule
- Scholastic Chess Bulletin
- FM Paul Whitehead's Column
- GM Nick de Firmian's Column
- Solutions
- Submit your piece or feedback
Chess Clubs From Around the Country: Bernal Heights San Francisco
by Abel Talamantez
The Mechanics' Institute women's chess class has been going on for several years. Originally taught by Lina Krubnik, it has since been taken over by FIDE Developmental Instructor Sophie Adams. Sophie gets a loyal following every Sunday, and her dynamic and passionate approach to teaching keeps the class engaging and fun. The class, until March 2020, met live at MI on Sunday mornings. We were fortunate that during the pandemic we were able to transition the class online, and we received support from the US Chess Women's Program to fund the class through 2020-2021 year. We are very excited to announce that we received a donation to fund the class for yet another year from Alexandra and Roddy Lindsay, with the aim of supporting more diversity in the chess community through an increased participation of women and girls in chess.
The impact of such support, to give an example, can be seen by the efforts of Juliana Gallin. She has participated in the women's class, and has since participated in some of our other offerings like the Monday Chess Cafe https://www.milibrary.org/chess/chess-cafe. More importantly, she has organized a chess group that meets every Saturday afternoons at 3pm in Bernal Heights in San Francisco. Here is a brief description of the club from Juliana along with pictures.
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Calendar and mailing list at www.bernalchess.com.
TNM Round 1 Report
by Abel Talamantez
The last Tuesday Night Marathon of 2021 began last Tuesday with the largest first round attendance since we reopened in June. Over 70 players have begun this event, with 8-rounds of FIDE rated action to close out the year. There were some surprising results in the top section, but still plenty of time for players to bounce back. On board 2 Lucas Lesniewski grinded out a knight and pawn endgame against 2nd seed Christophe Bambou to come away with a big win. Adam Stafford used a blistering attack to defeat Nicholas Weng. Under 1800 TNM winner Daniel Wang showed he's ready for the top section with an upset win against Steven Sveboda. David Askin returned to the Mechanics' TNM with a win, as did top seed IM Elliott Winslow.
In the under 1800 section, there will certainly be a struggle to pull away, as there is solid parity in strength across most of the section, but certainly the favorite has to be Adam Mercado, he got a 1st round win against Cloe Chai. Mercado is coming of the heels of winning the Mechanics' Online Triathlon, as looks in solid form.
Former Mechanics' Chess Director IM John Donaldson gave a lecture before the start of round 1. It was a great treat for the participants and a nice way to kick off the tourney. We will have a special guest next week for the lecture, as GM Evgeny Schtembuliak will be in town visiting and had agreed to give the lecture and join the broadcast for a bit.
Here are some games from the 1st round, annotated by GM Nick de Firmian.
(1) Gimelfarb,Ilia (1760) - Estolas,Brandon (2003) [B22]
MI Nov-Dec TNM 1800+ San Francisco (1.4), 02.11.2021
1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 The most straightforward response to the 2. c3 Sicilian. 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 e6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Be2 cxd4 7.cxd4 Bb4+ 8.Nc3 0-0 9.0-0 Bxc3 Black may do a bit better moving the queen instead of bringing a defended to White's isolated pawn. 10.bxc3 Nc6 11.Bf4 Qa5 12.Qd3 Nd5 13.Bd2 Qc7
(2) Chai,Cloe - Mercado,Adam [B33]
Nov-Dec TNM, 02.11.2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 The aggressive Sveshnikov Variation (played also by Magnus Carlsen) puts pressure on the white side player from the start. 6.Nb3 [6.Ndb5 is the usual (and best) response for White] 6...Bb4!
(3) Leniewski,Lucas - Bambou,Christophe [D15]
Nov-Dec TNM, 02.11.2021
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 a6 5.c5 Bf5 6.Bf4 Nbd7 7.e3 Nh5 8.h3 Nxf4 9.exf4 e6 10.Bd3 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 Be7 12.0-0 0-0
(4) Winslow,Elliott (2252) - Mahooti,James (1867) [B55]
MI Nov-Dec TNM 1800+ San Francisco (1.1), 02.11.2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.f3
(5) Parsons,Stephen (1611) - Chambers,Don (1219) [A28]
MI Nov-Dec TNM u1800 San Francisco (1.14), 02.11.2021
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e4 Not as common as the older moves but the top players have been trying it out, including World Championship Challenger (starts in 3 weeks!) Ian Nepomniachtchi. [4.g3; 4.e3; or the even older than older 4.d4] 4...d6 Why not bring out the bishop first? Those moves account for 80% of the games in this position. [4...Bc5; 4...Bb4] 5.d3 Both sides are cautious in the center. [5.d4 is most common (by a lot), and the computers support it; 5...Bg4 6.d5 Nd4 7.Be2!? (7.Be3) 7...Nxe2!? leads to King's Indian sorts of positions after 8.Qxe2 g6; 5.h3!? and *then* d4 has done pretty well in practice.] 5...h6 No master has been *this* cautious. 6.Be2 Be7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Rb1 a6 9.h3 Nd4 10.b4 Nxe2+ 11.Qxe2 Be6 12.Be3 Qd7 13.Nd5
(6) Anderson,Benjamin (1172) - Casares Jr,Nick (1600) [C36]
MI Nov-Dec TNM u1800 San Francisco (1.15), 02.11.2021
1.e4 e5 2.f4 The fearless King's Gambit. An opening only for the bold. 2...exf4 3.Nf3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 [4...Nf6!] 5.Nc3 Qd8 6.Bc4 The position is tricky for Black. He needs to develop but not with.. 6...Bg4?
(7) Gu,Thomas (997) - Allen,Ronald (1501) [B90]
MI Nov-Dec TNM u1800 San Francisco (1.21), 02.11.2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f3 The English Attack against the Najdorf. Young Thomas is learning his opening theory. 6...e5 7.Nb3 Be7 [7...Be6 8.Be3 h5] 8.Be3 Be6 9.Qd2 h5 A sensible move to slow White down on the kingside. It can be slightly weakening but the pluses balance the minuses. 10.0-0-0 [10.Nd5] 10...Nbd7 11.h3 Rc8 12.g4? Too quick with this! It just loses a pawn now. 12...hxg4 13.fxg4 Bxg4 14.Be2 [14.hxg4 Rxh1] 14...Be6 15.Rdg1 g6 16.Kb1
[28...Ke6] 29.Bg5+ Kxg5 30.Rxh8 Nc5 31.Rg8+ Kf4 32.Bc4 e4 33.Rg2 e3 34.Re2 Kf3 35.Kc1? d5! 36.Kd1 dxc4 37.bxc4 Rd7+ 38.Ke1 Rh7 39.Kd1 Rh1+ 40.Re1 e2+ 41.Kd2 Ne4+ 42.Kd3 Rxe1 43.c3 Rd1+ What an epic! Thomas played way over his rating, and so did Ronald! It was so close, the adrenaline may have clouded Thomas's calculations! 0-1
SwissSys Standings. Nov-Dec 2021 Tuesday Night Marathon: 1800+
# | Name | ID | Rating | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Rd 6 | Rd 7 | Rd 8 | Total |
1 | Elliott Winslow | 10363365 | 2252 | W19 | 1.0 | |||||||
2 | David Askin | 13776967 | 2023 | W20 | 1.0 | |||||||
3 | Brandon Estolas | 12869947 | 2003 | W21 | 1.0 | |||||||
4 | Ako Heidari | 15206848 | 1955 | W22 | 1.0 | |||||||
5 | Kristian Clemens | 13901075 | 1954 | W23 | H--- | 1.0 | ||||||
6 | Lucas Lesniewski | 17039584 | 1855 | W16 | 1.0 | |||||||
7 | Adam Stafford | 14257838 | 1745 | W17 | 1.0 | |||||||
8 | Daniel Wang | 15361305 | 1700 | W18 | H--- | H--- | 1.0 | |||||
9 | Daniel Massop | 30328281 | 1600 | B--- | 1.0 | |||||||
10 | Krish Matai | 16444206 | 1937 | D14 | 0.5 | |||||||
11 | Kayven Riese | 12572270 | 1900 | D15 | 0.5 | |||||||
12 | Samuel Brownlow | 12747074 | 1832 | H--- | 0.5 | |||||||
13 | Anthony Acosta | 12633251 | 1787 | H--- | H--- | H--- | 0.5 | |||||
14 | Marty Cortinas | 12590374 | 1706 | D10 | 0.5 | |||||||
15 | Joel Carron | 16600505 | 1670 | D11 | H--- | 0.5 | ||||||
16 | Christophe Bambou | 12734479 | 2097 | L6 | 0.0 | |||||||
17 | Nicholas Weng | 15499404 | 2001 | L7 | H--- | 0.0 | ||||||
18 | Steven Svoboda | 10451671 | 1914 | L8 | H--- | 0.0 | ||||||
19 | James Mahooti | 12621393 | 1867 | L1 | 0.0 | |||||||
20 | Tony Lama | 12328450 | 1800 | L2 | 0.0 | |||||||
21 | Ilia Gimelfarb | 17158733 | 1760 | L3 | 0.0 | |||||||
22 | Kevin Sun | 16898540 | 1744 | L4 | H--- | H--- | 0.0 | |||||
23 | Glenn Kaplan | 12680193 | 1735 | L5 | 0.0 |
SwissSys Standings. Nov-Dec 2021 Tuesday Night Marathon: Under1800
# | Name | ID | Rating | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Rd 6 | Rd 7 | Rd 8 | Total |
1 | Adam Mercado | 16571026 | 1746 | W28 | 1.0 | |||||||
2 | Romeo Barreyro | 17018168 | 1649 | W29 | 1.0 | |||||||
3 | Stephen Parsons | 16566932 | 1611 | W30 | 1.0 | |||||||
4 | Dean Guo | 30257083 | 1549 | W31 | H--- | H--- | 1.0 | |||||
5 | Nursultan Uzakbaev | 17137317 | 1542 | W32 | 1.0 | |||||||
6 | Adam Ginzberg | 30268083 | 1540 | W33 | H--- | 1.0 | ||||||
7 | Georgios Tsolias | 17266862 | 1511 | W34 | 1.0 | |||||||
8 | Ronald Allen | 30086796 | 1501 | W35 | 1.0 | |||||||
9 | Albert Starr | 12844781 | 1500 | W36 | 1.0 | |||||||
10 | Richard Hack | 12796129 | 1500 | W37 | 1.0 | |||||||
11 | Aaron Craig | 12872385 | 1491 | W38 | 1.0 | |||||||
12 | Sebastian Suarez | 16875347 | 1474 | W39 | H--- | 1.0 | ||||||
13 | Samuel Agdamag | 14874734 | 1448 | W40 | 1.0 | |||||||
14 | Michael Hilliard | 12279170 | 1447 | W41 | 1.0 | |||||||
15 | Ashwin Vaidyanathan | 30205719 | 1444 | W42 | H--- | H--- | 1.0 | |||||
16 | David Olson | 13913131 | 1400 | W43 | 1.0 | |||||||
17 | Deandre Stallworth | 30255378 | 1399 | W44 | H--- | H--- | 1.0 | |||||
18 | Jp Fairchild | 30150098 | 1229 | W25 | H--- | 1.0 | ||||||
19 | Benjamin Anderson | 30235937 | 1172 | W26 | H--- | H--- | 1.0 | |||||
20 | Eli Chanoff | 12898987 | 839 | W27 | 1.0 | |||||||
21 | Jim Ratliff | 11163831 | 1632 | H--- | 0.5 | |||||||
22 | Yuvraj Sawhney | 17095004 | 1593 | D24 | 0.5 | |||||||
23 | Andrew Imbens | 30102682 | 1400 | H--- | H--- | H--- | 0.5 | |||||
24 | Ian Atroshchenko | 30214657 | 1135 | D22 | 0.5 | |||||||
25 | Charles Faulkner | 12559529 | 1720 | L18 | 0.0 | |||||||
26 | Nick Casares Jr | 10424364 | 1600 | L19 | 0.0 | |||||||
27 | Matt Long | 13377410 | 1478 | L20 | 0.0 | |||||||
28 | Cloe Chai | 16315197 | 1254 | L1 | 0.0 | |||||||
29 | Noah Chambers | 16694473 | 1219 | L2 | 0.0 | |||||||
30 | Don Chambers | 16694467 | 1219 | L3 | 0.0 | |||||||
31 | Natan Gimelfarb | 16757673 | 1125 | L4 | 0.0 | |||||||
32 | Richard Ahrens | 16953298 | 1091 | L5 | 0.0 | |||||||
33 | Maria Obrien | 15300977 | 1036 | L6 | H--- | 0.0 | ||||||
34 | William Thibault | 16716976 | 1014 | L7 | 0.0 | |||||||
35 | Thomas Gu | 17005685 | 997 | L8 | 0.0 | |||||||
36 | Pratyush Hule | 16317000 | 970 | L9 | 0.0 | |||||||
37 | Prasanna Chandramouli | 30279272 | 921 | L10 | 0.0 | |||||||
38 | Andrejs Gulbis | 16741331 | 845 | L11 | 0.0 | |||||||
39 | Cathal Dayton | 12930548 | 784 | L12 | 0.0 | |||||||
40 | Christian Brickhouse | 30261226 | 452 | L13 | H--- | H--- | 0.0 | |||||
41 | Marcus Casaes | 30290420 | unr. | L14 | H--- | 0.0 | ||||||
42 | Vittorio Banfi | 30308530 | unr. | L15 | 0.0 | |||||||
43 | Christopher Hallacy | 30310731 | unr. | L16 | H--- | 0.0 | ||||||
44 | Juan Elias | 30325735 | unr. | L17 | 0.0 |
SwissSys Standings. Nov-Dec 2021 Tuesday Night Marathon: Extra Games
# | Name | ID | Rating | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Rd 6 | Rd 7 | Rd 8 | Total |
1 | Edward Lewis | 12601629 | 2017 | W6 | 1.0 | |||||||
2 | John Chan | 12561007 | 1500 | W7 | 1.0 | |||||||
3 | Gaziz Makhanov | 16828914 | 1917 | D4 | 0.5 | |||||||
4 | Andre Persidsky | 12545869 | 1814 | D3 | 0.5 | |||||||
5 | Teodoro Porlares | 12773115 | 1746 | U--- | 0.0 | |||||||
6 | Daniel Massop | 30328281 | 1600 | L1 | 0.0 | |||||||
7 | Maxcwell Fleming | 30329285 | unr. | L2 | 0.0 |
The Perfect Gift: Mechanics' Institute Commemorative Chess Set from House of Staunton
Jose Raul Capablanca visited the Mechanics' Institute in 1916, and a famous picture of him playing inside the chess room against AJ Fink shows the pieces that were a symbol of the Mechanics' Institute. The House of Staunton has made a high quality commemorarive edition of their chess set, which is availbale for sale. There is no better gift for a chess enthusiast these holidays, particulalry if you want to support the Mechanics' Institute as 10% of all proceeds from the purchase of this set goes back to the Mechanics' Institute!
To purchase your own set or to get one as a special gift, please follow this link HERE
Thank you for all your support!
Tony's Teasers
Tony is switching it up this week, asking readers to find the variation that saves the game. White to move and draw!
Mechanics' Institute Events Schedule
Don't Miss our Exciting Upcoming Events!!
The Mechanics' Institute will continue to hold regular and online events. Here is our upcoming schedule for players:
Mechanics' Institute November/December TNM: FIDE Rated. Nov 2- Dec 21, 6:30PM PT. G/120;d5: https://www.milibrary.org/chess-tournaments/tuesday-night-marathon-2021-nov-dec-person
20th Carroll Capps Memorial Championship: USCF Rated. November 6, 10AM PT. 4SS G/45;d5: https://www.milibrary.org/chess-tournaments/49th-carroll-capps-memorial-championship-g45-person
Mechanics' Institute November Quads: November 13, 3PM PT. 3 Games G/30;d5: https://www.milibrary.org/chess-tournaments/mechanics-championship-quads
Mechanics' Institute Thanksgiving Gobbler Open: FIDE Rated. November 26-28. 6SS G/90+30: https://mechanics-institute.jumbula.com/Tournaments2021/MechanicsThanksgivingGobblerOpenInPersonFIDE
Mechanics' Institute Class Schedule
Click HERE to see our full slate of specialty chess classes, we offer something for everyone!
Scholastic Chess Bulletin
The scholastic news is covered in a dedicated publication:
Mechanics' Institute Scholastic Chess Bulletin
Fresh New
Scholastic Chess Bulletin #6 is out!
In this issue:
- Monthly Scholastic In-Person Tournament - 2021 October Report with Player Highlight: Justyn Klot
- Chess Enrichment Highlight: Alta Vista School
- Chess Camps on October 11 - Report
- ChessKid Style by Andrew Ballantyne
- Special Event: Halloween Tournament @ Mechanics' Institute on Oct 30
- Understanding Tournaments - Tiebreaks
- Upcoming Tournament Schedule
- Tournament Results & Featured Games analyzed by GM Nick de Firmian
Please click the following LINK to read our latest edition.
Interested in reading the past issues? Click here to see the list of all issues.
All of us at Mechanics' Institute would like to thank you for your support of our scholastic chess programming.
Alireza Firouzja and the ghost of Mikhail Tal
FM Paul Whitehead
The FIDE Grand Prix is underway in Riga and the phenomenal 18 year old Alireza Firouzja leads with 6.5 – 1.5 with three rounds to go. He seems assured of a spot in the next Candidates Tournament in 2022. There’s a large group tied a full point behind, a group that includes Americans Fabiano Caruana and Samuel Sevian. The second place finisher also gets a spot in the Candidates, so there’s a lot at stake.
This tournament was originally the fabled Isle of Man tournament – cancelled because of Britain’s strict Covid quarantine. Ironic then that Latvia also went into a strict lockdown, yet decided to hold the event anyway. Some top Grandmasters bowed out due to concerns about Covid, including Hikaru Nakamura and Alexander Grischuk.
With Firouzja on a tear in Mikhail Tal’s hometown of Riga, it’s only fitting that the fearless play of this rising star resembles, in no small manner, the artful power of the 1960 World Champion.
The transplanted Frenchman (Firouzja is originally from Iran) made an early statement in round one:
Firouzja – Abasov, Riga Grand Prix. Round 1.
Despite an early exchange of queens white has piled on enormous pressure. He broke through with 24.e6! eyeing the rook at b8 and the f7 square. Black tried 24…Rab7 but 24…fxe6 25.Rxc5! Bxc5 26.Nxe6! would have been no better. 25.exf7+ Kf8 26.Be5! Calmly defends b2. Black is 2 pawns down and desperate: 26…Nd7 27.Rxd7! Bxd7 28.Rh1! 1-0.
In round two the American Darius Swiercz was overwhelmed in a freewheeling tactical slugfest that came down to this:
Swiercz – Firouzja, Riga Grand Prix. Round 2.
With 57…Re4! Black finally got through to the white king. 58.Qc7 (58.Qxe4 Qxh2#) Nxh2! 59.Kg1 (59.Qxh2 Ng3+ 60.Kg1 Ne2+ 61.Kh1 Qxh2+ 62. Kxh2 Rh4# - Anastasia’s Mate) Nxf1 60.Rxf1 Rxc4 61.Qe5+ Qf6 0-1.
In round three he ground out a nice endgame:
Firouzja – Predke, Riga Grand Prix. Round 3.
53.Nc6! Counter-intuitive. 53…g3 The opposite colored bishop ending would also lose for black. 54.b5 Bc7 55.Kc5 Kg5 56.e5! Kf4 57.Bf3 Ke3. If 57…Bxc6 58.Kxc6 and the b-pawn will cost black his bishop. 58.b6 Bb8. Desperation. 59.Nxb8 Bxf3 60.Nc6! Very cute. 60…Bxg2 61.b7 Be4 62.b8=Q g2 63.Qb2! Not the only winning move, but good enough. If 63…g1=Q 64.Qd4+. 1-0.
Alireza drew his next 3 games: with black against Yu Yangyi, with white against Vachier-Lagrave, and with black against the ageless Alexi Shirov. Then another couple of wins, first a lucky break in a rook ending:
Firouzja – Najer, Riga Grand Prix. Round 7.
Black erred with 50…f1=Q? Black gives up the f-pawn for nothing, when instead the simple 50…Kg6! (heading for the h-pawn) would have drawn: 51.a8=Q Rxa8+ 52.Kxa8 Kg5 53.Rf1 Kh4 54.Rxf2 Kxh3 55.Kb7 h5b 56.Kc6 h4 57.Kd5 Kg3 =. Instead this happened: 51.Rxf1 Rb2+ 52.Ka8 Rb3. Perhaps black thought this was drawn, but… 53.Rc1! Kg6 54.Rc7 h5 55.Rb7 Rxh3 56.Rb6+! Kg5 57.Kb7 Ra3 58.Ra6! Rb3+ 59. Kc7 1-0. The Rook runs out of checks when the king reaches h7.
And today superior opening preparation seems to have made the difference in White’s crushing victory over co-leader Sasikaran:
Firouzja – Sasikaran, Riga Grand Prix. Round 8.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. O-O d5 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. Re1 Bg4 9. Nbd2 Nb6 10. h3 Bh5 11. Bb3 Kh8 12. Ne4 Nd7 13. Bd5 f5 14. Neg5 h6 15. Ne6 Qf6 16. Nxf8 Rxf8.
White has won the exchange, and soon sacrifices his queen for a decisive material advantage.
17. d4 e4 18. dxc5 Nde5 19. Nxe5! Bxd1 20. Nd7 Qd8 21. Bxc6 Re8 22. Rxd1 bxc6 23. Bf4 Qh4 24. Bxc7 e3 25. fxe3 Rxe3 26. Rd4 Qe7 27. Bf4 Re2 28. b4 Qe8 29. Rf1 Qe6 30. Rf2 Rxf2 31. Kxf2 Qxa2+ 32. Bd2 Qe6 33. c4 a6 34. Bf4 Qe7 35. b5 axb5 36. cxb5 Qe6 37. b6 Qb3 38. Kg1 g5 39. Bd2 g4 40. Rb4 Qd1+ 41. Kh2 g3+ 42. Kxg3 f4+ 43. Kh2 1-0.
There must be some old-timers in Riga right now wondering if this Alireza Firouzja is the reincarnation of somebody that they used to know…
Nick de Firmian’s Column
Najdorf
When we say this word in the chess world most players immediately think of the highly respected, fighting opening that has produced many brilliant games in the last 70 years (for both the White side and the Black side). Bobby Fischer was the quintessential Najdorf player – one who plays highly aggressive, daring chess that walks the edge of defeat in pursuit of the absolutely best continuation. Many love the opening for the extremes it compels one to undertake. Garry Kasparov was another Najdorf devotee, as were many others of the very best – Gelfand, Anand, Maxim Vachier-Lagrave and occasionally Magnus Carlsen. In our own Mechanics’ world we see wonderful Najdorf games from Mike Walder and Elliott Winslow.
We take this opportunity to write about the man whom the opening is named after – Miguel Najdorf , who was born Mojsze Najdorf before he immigrated from his native Poland to Argentina during World War II. He was playing in the 8th Chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires when World War II began. Najdorf was Jewish and most of his family was killed by the Nazis in Poland during the war. Najdorf became an Argentine citizen in 1944 and would win the Argentine championship 8 times as well as making a great mark internationally. He died in 1997 at age 87, having often said “I hope to die at a chess tournament.”
My own experience with Najdorf was extremely pleasant. He sponsored a tournament in Buenos Aires in 1995 that I played in (he sponsored many chess events since he had made millions in the insurance industry). At 85 years old he would battle the best young international masters of Argentina in blitz, to which I would be a very entertained spectator. Many evenings we would go out to dinner. I remember one time a very distinguished man came to our table, bowed, clicked his heels and presented to “Don Miguel” a fine bottle of Argentine wine. It was then I realized how highly respected he was in the Buenos Aires community. When the man left Najdorf said, “This is too much wine, should we send it back?” I felt useful when I told him, no Miguel, I don’t want to insult your friend so I will do my best to make use of it. Below we give two of “Don Miguel’s” best games.
(1) Glucksberg - Miguel Najdorf [A85]
Warsaw Warsaw POL, 1929
1.d4 f5 The Dutch Defense is an imbalanced, fighting opening. It can be risky but it will avoid any drawish lines. 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e6 4.Nf3 d5 The Stonewall Variation stakes out the center. It takes the light squares but can leave dark square weakenesses. 5.e3 Somewhat passive. 5. Bf4 is better. 5...c6 6.Bd3 Bd6 7.0-0 0-0 8.Ne2 Nbd7 9.Ng5?
(2) Miguel Najdorf - Robert James Fischer [A72]
Second Piatigorsky Cup Santa Monica, CA USA (7), 27.07.1966
Najdorf was never a world championship challenger, but could beat the best. Here he beats the second best player in the world (at the time, of course Fischer would go on the be arguably the greatest ever). This elite Piatigorsky Cup was a double round-robin of the world's best players. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Bg5 c5 7.d5 e6 8.Nf3 h6 9.Bh4 exd5 10.cxd5 This King's Indian Defense has transposed into a Benoni variation. With two such fighting players the game was bound to be a real slugfest. 10...g5 11.Bg3 b5!? 12.Nd2 [12.Bxb5 Nxe4 13.Nxe4 Qa5+ 14.Qd2 Qxb5 15.Nxd6 Qa6 would be very sharp.] 12...a6 13.0-0 Re8 14.Qc2 Qe7 15.Rae1 Nbd7 16.a4! hitting Black on the queenside gives some squares for the white pieces. Najdorf isn't afraid to sacrifice a pawn. 16...b4 17.Nd1 Ne5 [17...Nxe4?! 18.Bh5 Ndf6 19.Nxe4 Nxe4 20.f3 Bd4+ 21.Nf2!] 18.Ne3 Ng6 19.Nec4 Nf4 20.Bxf4 gxf4
21.e5! sacrificing a pawn to sieze the initiative 21...dxe5 22.Bf3 White has won the opening battle. Black is clearly on the defensive. 22...Qf8 23.Nxe5 Bb7 24.Ndc4 Rad8 25.Nc6 Rxe1?! [25...Rxd5 is relatively best] 26.Rxe1 Re8 27.Rd1! White controls the board. It is very difficult to do anything for Black, even for Bobby Fischer. 27...Rc8 28.h3 Ne8 29.N6a5 Rb8 30.Qf5 Nd6? A blunder, though Black was lost anyway. 31.Nxd6 Fischer resigned since 31...Qxd6 32. Nxb7 Rxb7 33. Qc8+ picks up the rook. 1-0
Solution to Tony's Teaser
1. e7+!! Kxe7 2. b7 Rf3 3. b8+Q Rf8+ 4. Qxf8 Kxf8 5. Ba2 h3 6. Bg8!! h2 7. Bh7! h1=B (since making a rook or queen is a stalemate). 8. Be4! Bxe4 stalemate
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