Glass and Salinger

 

Mr. Halsegger also adds that the Wiener Schach-Zeitung of 1938 also reports (No. 3, 22 January, p. 1) that Glass has played in the 20th Leopold Trebitsch tournament, and that (1938, p. 50) Dr. A. Salinger of Jerusalem, Palestine, is playing in the WSZ's correspondence tournament. It is interesting that Glass did not fear to return to a trip to Austria in 1938! 

International Notice

Herbert Halsegger (Graz, Austria) who is researching the history of Hakoah (the German spelling) Jewish sports organization in Austria, points out to us that the Wiener Schachzeitung took notice of the championship of Palestine in 1936 (p. 314). In particular, it notes that some "very well known" players from Europe participated. These include Czerniak, Blass, Porat (Foerder), Blass, and Macht. 

In a previous note, the same journal (1936, pp. 217-218) reports on the Tel Aviv championship (won by Weil) notes that Porat and Enoch from Germany, Beutum from Austria, and  Macht from Lithuania will participate in the Palestinian championship "later this year." In the event, Enoch and Beutum did not participate. 

"The Victory of Energetic Accuracy."

 A frequent correspondent notes that Blass and Aloni has met in the Histadrut championship of 1960 and Blass had won. The game, with Czerniak's annotations, from which the title of the post is taken.

Moshe Blass - Itzchak Aloni

French Defense, Winaver Variation [C18]

Histadrut Championship, January 1960 

Source: Ha'aretz, January 29th, 1960

Annotations: Czerniak

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 cxd4? Rauzer showed in the 1930s that, for the pawn, White gets a strong initiative on both sides of the board. 5... Bxc3+ or 5... Ba5 are the modern choices. (If 5... Ba5 6. b4 cxd4!; not 6... cxb4? 7. Nb5! bxa3+ 8. c3 and White is better.) 6. axb4 dxc3 7. Qg4 Rauzer's move, which Bogoljubow used successfully in many games. Also possible is 7. bxc3 Qc7 8. Nf3!because after Qxc3+? 9. Bd2 Black's position is suspect. 

7... cxb2? 8. Bxb2 Qe7 9. b5 Right now 9. Qxg7? Qxb4+, but placing the black queen on this diagonal isn't recommended, as the game's continuation shows. 9... f5 10. Qd4 b6 11. Ba3 Qd8 12. h4 Ne7 13. Nh3 O-O 14. Nf4 Rf7

Black castled and freed his pinned knight, but is far behind in development. 15. h5 Bd7 16. Bd3 Qe8 17. c4! dxc4 18. Bxc4 Bxb5 

It is hard to criticize this move, which sacrifices the exchange to get some breathing room. 19. Bxe6 Nbc6 20. Qb2 a6 21. Bxf7+ Qxf7 22. e6! White won material, and keeps the initiative. Qf8 23. h6! Rd8 23... gxh6? 24. Nh5 loses immediately.23... g6? 24. Nxg6! wins the queen. 

24. hxg7 Qxg7 25. Qxg7+ Kxg7 26. Bb2+ Kg8 27. Rd1 To prevent the counterattack starting with Nb4 and threatening Nc2#. Now the game moves to an easily won ending for White. Rxd1+ 28. Kxd1 Bc4 29. Rh3 Nd5 30. Rg3+ Kf8 31. Nxd5 Bxd5 32. Ba3+ Ne7 33. Rc3 The final blow. Black loses a piece and resigns (1-0).

A Tactical Battle

 A frequent correspondents brings out attention to the following game, played in 1959, a really sharp tactical battle. The diagrams show positions not often reached in master games. 

Giora Pilshchik - Ya'akov Mashian

Four Knights' Defense [B00]

Histadrut Championship singles, Rd. 9, 18.3.1959.

Source: Davar, 27.3.1959, p. 8.

Annotator: A. A. Mendelbaum

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 Bb4 5. Nxe5 

5. d5 Ne7 6. Nxe5 d6?! (6...O-O 7. Qd4 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 Re8 9. Bg5 Persitz - Alexander, 1955) 7. Bb5+ c6?! 8. dxc6 O-O 9. Nd7 Persitz - Silverberg, 1955. 

5... Nxe4?! A sharp continuation. 

5... Qe7 6. Qd3 Nxe5 7. dxe5 Qxe5 8. Bd2 O-O 9. O-O-O d6! with equality. 

6. Qg4 Nxc3 7. Qxg7 Rf8 8. a3 Nxd4!?

 8... Qf6? 9. Qxf6 Ne4+ 10. axb4 Nxf6 11. Nxc6 And White remains a pawn to the good. Relatively best is 8... Ba5 9. Nxc6 dxc6 10. Qe5+ Qe7 11. Qxe7+ Kxe7 12. Bd2 Bf5 13. Bxc3 Bxc3+ 14. bxc3 Bxc2 with a slight advantage for White. 

9. axb4!! Nxc2+ 10. Kd2 Nxa1 11. Kxc3 

The first stage of the face-to-face combat, starting before development ended, has reached a time out. Black is a pawn and exchange to the good, but due to threats like Bg5 or Bh6 and action on the open e-file, Black must immediatelly take counter-measures. 

11... a5! With the idea of exploiting the exposed position of the white king and also protecting the a1 knight. 

11... d6? with the idea of finishing development with Be6, Qd7, and 0-0-0 fails to 12. Bb5+! with a quick mate. 

11... c5? 12. Bc4 and the white king will find safety on d3.

12. bxa5! 

12. Bg5 f6 13. Be2 Qe7 14. Bh5+ Kd8 15. Nf7+ 

15... Rxf7 16. Bxf7 axb4+ 17. Kd3 Qd6+ 18. Ke2 fxg5 19.Qg8+ Ke7 20. Rd1 (20. Re1 Nc2!) 20... b6 21. Qe8+ Kf6 22. Rxd6+ cxd6 23. Qh8+ Kxf7 24. Qxh7+ and Black has three pieces for the queen and counter chances. 

12... Qe7 

12... Rxa5 13. Bg5! f6 14. Bh6 Qe7 15. Qxe7+ Kxe7 16. Bxf8+ Kxf8 17. Nc4! with a better ending for White.

13. Bc4 d5 14. Bxd5? More in the spirit of aggression and the position is 14. Bh6!, keeping the initiative and good winning chances. 

14... Qc5+ 15. Bc4? The crucial mistake. 15. Nc4 is necessary. If 15... Qxd5 16. Bh6 

15... Be6 16. Rd1 Qxa5+ 17. b4 Qa4 18. Rd2 Bxc4 19. Nxf7 Qb3+ 20. Kd4 Bxf7 21. Re2+ Kd7 22. Rd2 Rae8 23. Kc5+ Kc8 24. Qd4 Qe6 

24... Re5+ 25. Qxe5 Qc4# would have been quicker, but this oversight doesn't change the result. White resigns (0-1).

Ignatz Hermann Korner

 

This book was written by Ignaz Hermann Korner (link in German), the longtime president of Hakoah in Vienna, Austria. Herbert Halsegger, who is researching and is interested in the Jewish players and chess club of Hakoah in Graz, Austria, notes in an email to us, Korner organized the international tournament in Vienna in 1928, where many strong Jewish players played, as reported in the Wiener Schach-Zeitung (No. 5, 1928, pp. 69ff):  

This is especially interesting for chess in Palestine and Israel since, as Halsegger notes, the players included Wolf, Beutum, and Glass, who later emigrated to Palestine, as did Korner himself, in 1938.