Jewish Chess History

It was Bound to Happen

2012-01-14T15:00:00.000-08:00

It has been recorded that players have fallen asleep during a tournament game. In Rishon Le'Tziyon's chess club's web site (link in Hebrew) it is noted that in the 1954 "Ha'poel" championship (where Shmuel "Dugo" Friedman was one of the participants), both players fell asleep during the game due to the heat.

I wonder what the rules are in such a case: is the tournament director allowed to intervene, or does the game end abruptly when the player who fell asleep as it was his turn to move oversteps the time limit? Would that mean the other player won the game while sleeping?

In theory, it is not legal to "disturb" a player, and waking one up is surely disturbing him. On the other hand if the player snores he is disturbing others, in which case it is theoretically legal for the tournament director to wake him up. So apparently if one does fall asleep during a game, one should hope one snores, since otherwise one would lose on time.

R. I. P. Shmuel "Dugo" Friedman

2012-01-14T14:38:00.000-08:00

Photo credit: Rishon Le'Tziyon Chess Club

I have mentioned on this blog Rishon Le`Tziyon's chess activist and player, Shmuel "Dugo" Friedman. He had passed away on 12.1.2012, aged 93. He was active in Rishon Le`Tziyon's chess club ever since arriving in Palestine in 1940 -- more than 70 years -- and organized, as well as played, in hundreds of events and tournaments.

For Hebrew-speaking readers, a good and accessible idea of his importance to Rishon Le`Tziyon's chess can be seen at the club's web site. For the non-Hebrew speakers it can be noted that Friedman appears -- either as a player or as an organizer -- in almost all the pictures in the historical section of the web site, from the first (1945) where he is the middle of the front row, to the last (2001) where he is third from left (next fo Boris Gelfand).

The picture above shows "Dugo" standing on the extreme right. The occassion is the first championship of the club, in 1946. The web site notes that he came in fourth, and that the young man in the front row, Abraham Feldklein, was killed a year later by Arab terrorists during the "troubles" of the end of the British Mandate of Palestine leading up to the 1948 war.

Koblenz in "Doar Hayom"

2012-01-13T15:06:00.000-08:00

Source: Doar Hayom (see below)

Moshe Roytman informs me that he had found -- under the sub-title "a letter from Amsterdam" -- a report in Doar Hayom (Jerusalem), on 19.12.1935, concerning the 25th game of the Euwe - Alekhine. In this very famous game, Euwe, who had been trailing for most of the match up to that point, finally took the lead -- defeating Alekhine with the black pieces -- and never gave it up.

The match was (of course) reported extensively in the chess press in Mandatory Palestine at time, and this was by no means the only report on it. The interesting point, however, is that this report is a letter from no other than Alexander Koblenz -- the Latvian Jewish player who was later Mikhail Tal's trainer, among many other achievements.

Some interesting issues about this article are that Koblentz was only 19 when he wrote it, and that -- based on the title -- it was possibly written specifically for the Jewish press (although whether this is in fact the case needs needs further research).

Apart from this, his report is particularly relevant to the famous accusations of Alekhine being drunk during the match. He reports (my translation):

The reporters were greatly intrigued by rumors about a conflict that erupted in Armilla during the 21st game ... when the organizing committee that it will not pay his salary if he continued to drink vodka [יין שרוף] before every game.

It cannot be denied that Alekhine is a 100% genuine fonya [Russian -- A. P.], and likes to have a drink of vodka before every important game, and would play, perhaps, even better than usual afterwards. After the 21st game Euwe explicitly said that he values that game more highly than all the previous ones of the match.

Why, then, you may ask, was Alekhine condemned to give up the drink he so loves?

The answer is: the members of the club where the two masters played the 21st game are supporters of prohibition, and they pressured the members of the match's committee to come out, in a high-handed way, against Alekhine's glass of vodka.

Koblenz believes, then, that the fight had nothing to do with Alekhine losing the game, or being late for it (as he was), but with "political" pressure.

Death at the Board, Part II

2012-01-07T12:52:00.000-08:00

Photo Credit: www.chessvibes.com

Yochanan Afek alerts me to the fact that Vitaly Tsehkovsky, the Russian GM, had also died at the board just a few weeks ago as chessvibes reports. . He had beaten, inter alia, the young Kasparov, Geller, Bronstein, Tal, Smyslov, etc. The obituary in the link has quite a few exciting games.

New Year Resolutions + New Year Presents

2011-12-30T00:59:00.000-08:00

Image credit: Crazymaria's weblog

What is it about the new year that makes people make allthese resolutions – which they never keep anyway? Or give presents to eachother? Whatever it is, let us make a couple of them:

1). On the “resolution” side, I resolve to finally finish myplanned work on the history of chess in Israel and Palestine, of which thisblog is only part. Oh, and to make some improvements to my OTB play…

2). On the “presents” side, I can say that there is reasonto believe that this blog will become significantly more popular, especiallyamong certain populations who should be interested in the history of chess inIsrael or Palestine, but, until now, have probably been unaware of itsexistence.

I am not at liberty to disclose any more details right now,but all will be made clear, I hope, within a few weeks.

Blass - Czerniak, 1935 Maccabiah

2011-12-27T08:34:00.000-08:00

Moshe Blass was the first unofficial champion of Palestine, winning the 1935 Maccabiah tournament, as we have seen elsewhere in this blog. (The first official champion was Czerniak, in 1936).

This time -- a game where he defeated Czerniak in a nice kingside attack from that tournament (April, 1935). While the game is not up to modern standards, it's nice to see how Blass exploits Czerniak's mistakes. It was, by the way, Czerniak's one "off" tournament in Palestine in the 1930s, between winning the 1934 Jerusalem championship and the 1936 Palestine championship. (Source: Haaretz's chess column, ed. Moshe Marmorosh, April 12th, 1935.)

Again: the whole purpose of this blog is to tell people things they are not likely to otherwise know. Blass had already been a player in the Olympiad (representing Poland) in 1928. But his 1928 games are easier to find, as opposed to the obscure Maccabiah seven years later.

Blass, Moshe – Czerniak,Moshe [D30]

2^nd Maccabiah, TelAviv, April 1935, 27.12.2011

[Analysis: Deep Fritz 8(30s)]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bd3 Be7 6.0–0 Nbd77.b3 0–0 8.Nbd2 Re8 9.Bb2 Bd6 10.Ne5 c5 11.f4 b6 12.Rf3 Bb7 13.Rg3 Nf8 14.cxd5exd5 15.Ndf3 [Fritz prefers 15.Ng4 immediately] h6!? 16.dxc5 Bxc5 17.Nd4Bxd4 18.Bxd4 Ne6 19.Bb2

19… d4 [19...Kf8!?] 20.Ng4 [Now White iswinning -- Fritz] Ne4 [‘??’ – Fritz.] 21.Nxh6+ Kf8 22.Bxe4 Bxe4 23.Ba3+ Nc5 24.exd4 gxh6 25.dxc5Qe7 26.Qd4 1–0

Black's 19th and 20th move are typical "Czerniak moves": possibly objectively bad, even losing, but Czerniak as usual does everything to gain counterplay and activity. Didn't work this time.

Death at the Board

2011-12-25T21:57:00.001-08:00

Image credit: Bergman's The Seventh Seal

There are many stories of chess players dying at the board, but not too many confirmed instances. Raphael (who asked his last name be withheld) had emailed me that his grandfather, the Jewish player Benno Puder, had died playing chess. From his email (my translation):

My grandfather, Benno Puder, was a chess enthusiast and player. My mother believes he was the senior champion of Switzerland, but I have found no formal proof. Here is a link to a tournament in his memory [a junior blitz tournament -- A. P.] in Basel.

In Passover 1995 family and friends, as usual, rented an hotel in the French Alps for the holiday. That year it was in Aix Le Bains. One day my grandfather played with a grandchild -- not actually a grandchild, but the grandson of a couple he saved during the [second world] war and smuggled from France to Switzerland, and since then the family histories are intertwined. After he hasn't moved for a while, Samuel said, "grandpa -- your turn!", and then noticed his head is slumped on the board..."

I emailed the Swiss Chess Federation to see if they know anything about Puder's senior championship, and will also check Jeremy Gaige's indispensable sources when I get home. But if any reader knows anything I would be grateful. I add that the in passim note in Raphael's email about how Puder saved people from near-certain death, risking his own life, during WWII tells us more about the man than his chess career does!

Karff, Marmorosh, and the two Menchiks

2011-12-14T01:46:00.001-08:00

Menchik - Graf, Stockholm 1937. Source: Davar 5.9.1937

Moshe Roytman notifies me that I was wrong to say the Palestinian chess establishment ignored Karff's participation in Stockholm 1937. On 20.8.1937 Marmorosh, in his Davar chess column, reports she had won two games (one over the Austrian women's champion, Salome Reischer); and on 27.8.1937 that she finished the tournament in fifth place (sic -- actually joint 6-7th; Marmorosh forgot Milda Lauberte of Latvia who was joint 3rd).

In the the next column, on 5.9.1937, Marmorosh once again returns to the tournament -- this time presenting a brilliancy by Vera Menchik in her victory over Sonja Graf. Menchik sacrificed a rook and a queen to win instantly, in a game that is, for some reason, not found in the "standard" online or computer databases. Yet more reason to look at, as Edward Winter says, the "treasures found in old magazines". Can you find the win?

The tournament is notable for two other (at least) points: first, Vera Menchik's clean score (+14 =0 -0) which, despite the relatively weak opposition, is quite an achievement in a serious tournament. Second, Menchik's sister Olga Menchik also took part, doing quite respectfully -- 6.5 / 14.

Solution to Menchik's combination (Marmorosh's punctuation and annotations; highlight to view):

1). Rd7! Qxd7 (1. Qxh5? Qxh2+! followed by Bxg5)
2). Qxh5!! gxh5
3). Bh7# (1-0)

The first Israeli(?) World Chess Championship Candidate

2011-12-07T13:20:00.001-08:00

Photo from: edochess.

...no, not Boris Gelfand. Rather, Mona Ray Karff, known as the queen of American chess in the 1940s and 50s (winning the US women's chess championship seven times, inter alia), and, perhaps even more, as Edward Lasker's long-time partner. What is the relationship to chess in Israel and Palestine? Born in Basserabia, she and her family fled to Palestine after the revolution. In 1937, she took a very respectable joint 6th place in the women's world championship which took place in Stockholm, representing Palestine. From there she moved, apparently, directly to the USA. The next time a Palestinian, or Israeli, player of either sex took part in the world chess championship, it was in the 21st century.

It is surprising that she was, to the best of my knowledge, not mentioned in either contemporary or in later accounts about Israeli or Palestinian chess history -- despite the fact that at the time any sort of achievement in the international scene of someone representing Palestine was usually shouted from the rooftops (such as, for instance, the participation of the Palestinian team in the 1935 Olympics). Perhaps she had no connections with the Israeli/Palestinian chess "scene", seeing Palestine as a mere stop on the road to the USA.

Happy 100th Birthday, Ms. Piatigorsky!

2011-12-03T06:21:00.001-08:00

Photo credit: www.chess.com

Ms. Jacqueline Piatigorsky, of the Rothschild family, had turned 100 on Nov. 6th this year. She is best known to most chess players as the co-sponsor of the Piatigorsky cup tournaments and the Fischer - Reshevsky aborted match. It is easy to think she and her husband, Gregor Piatigorsky, the famous cellist (both Jews, of course), were just "dabblers" -- rich patrons who threw money at strong players for their own amusement.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Ms. Piatigorsky is not only a life-long chess enthusiast, but she was one of the strongest women players in the USA (highest-rated female player in California and 2nd-highest in the USA in the 1960s, according to Wikipedia) and represented the USA in the 1957 Women's Chess Olympiad, scoring a very respectable 7.5/11 and winning a bronze medal on the 2nd board.

Here, from www.chess.com, is a cute game she won (with quite a lot of help from her opponent, Willa Owens, women chess champion of Ohio), in the 1951 USA women's chess championship in New York (annotations by Owens, who explains how "the roof caved in":)

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 Nc6 5.exd5 Nxd4?? 6.Nxd4 cxd4 7.Bb5+! Bd7 8.dxe6 Bxb5?? 9.Qh5! Qf610.Qxb5+ ("Boing!" -- Owens) 1-0

Chess in the Warsaw Ghetto

2011-12-03T05:01:00.001-08:00

Mark Szapiro, pre-WWII. Photo credit: Yakov Zusmanovich.

My Chess Life by Szapiro [Polish]. Photo credit: Yakov Zusmanovich.

O thou whose cynic sneers express,
The censure of our favorite chess,
Know that its skill is Science' self,
Its play distraction from distress...

-- Abdullah ibn al-Mu'tazz, 861-908, trans. Daniel W. Fiske (Morhpy's friend and a chess player in his own right).

If there was ever a place where chess was needed to "distract from distress", it surely was the Warsaw ghetto. The Polish-Swedish player Marek Szapiro (1917-2002) was one of those who survived the ghetto. Yakov Zusmanovich, who specializes in collecting chess biographies, kindly informs me of Szapiro's book, My Chess Life (Penelopa publishing, Poland, 2005, ed.: Tomasz Lissowski). The book contains, among other things, over 100 games -- including some played in the ghetto.

Here is one such game -- from p. 59 of the book, with the author's punctuations and diagrams but without the rather deep annotations that are found in the book.

Szapiro,J. - Szapiro,Marek

Warsaw Ghetto, 10.1942

[Annotations: Marek Szapiro]

Source: M. Szapiro’s My Chess Life

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.exf5? Nc6 4.Bc4!? d5 5.Bb5 Bxf5 6.Nxe5 Qf6 7.d4 0–0–0!? 8.Nxc6bxc6 9.Ba6+ Kd7 10.Be3 Qg6 11.Bd3 Bb4+ 12.Nc3 Ne7 13.0–0 Rhf8 14.Ne2 Bd6 15.Ng3Rde8 16.Nxf5 Nxf5 17.Bxf5+ Rxf5 18.Qd3

18... Re4! 19.g3 Rf3 20.Kg2 Rg4! 21.Rae1h5! 22.Qe2 h4! 23.h3 Rgxg3+!

...and White resigned (0–1).

The Lewis Chessmen

2011-11-30T01:29:00.001-08:00

Photo: A. P.

On a recent trip to London, I have visited the London museum -- and the Lewis chessmen. It is an extremely impressive set -- as it would be, being made for a king -- and well worth visiting, as is, of course, the London museum itself for many other reasons.

Antisemitism in Chess, Part II

2011-11-29T23:16:00.001-08:00

An addition to the story of the Maghami - Shahar game in Corsica, which the Iranian GM (Maghami forfeited rather than play an Israeli, is found in the following chessvibe analysis, which I encourage all to read. It turns out that Maghami played all other Jewish players and even openly declared he had nothing personal against Israeli players (an act of courage on his part), but that he had no choice but not to play. Often, such excuses -- "I have nothing personal against Jews, but..." -- are just antisemitism in a flimsy disguise (much like "I have nothing against blacks, but...", etc.). In Maghami's case, however, knowing the character of the Iranian regime, it is clear he really did have no choice but not to play and really has no personal animus against Jews or even Israelis. This is not an uncommon situation: as Geurt Gijssen notes (quoted in the chessvibe article), usually such restrictions on playing come from the governments involved, not from the players.

Again, there is antisemitism here, but it is (as noted in the chessvibe column) it is usually by the governments, not by the players. It is a no-win situation, both for the players and for FIDE. If FIDE keeps the pairing and forces players to forfeit, they are punished through no fault of their own. If FIDE changes the pairings, one is encouraging such behavior (by the governments, not the players) and undermines FIDE's motto of Gens Una Sumus. My own view is that FIDE should never allow such re-pairings. If a country wishes to boycott another country, it should know it is violating FIDE's motto and that there should be consequences to this action. (Then again, perhaps it actually enhances FIDE's motto, which means in Latin "we are one family". Everybody knows of families where siblings hate each other's guts and won't talk to each other...)

It is true, of course, that not all political boycotts are morally equal. It is one thing for two countries in war to refuse to play each other, as sometimes happens. It is quite another thing to boycott Israel because one refuses to recognize its existence and as part of a plan to wipe it off the face of the Earth, as Iran's government does. However, it should not be FIDE's role to be a moral arbiter and declare which country is good and which country is bad. Quite apart from the very real risk of such "moral" declarations by FIDE bureaucrats becoming just another political tool, the simple fact is that FIDE exists, as Edward Winter pointed out in C. N. 1712, 'to organize chess, not court-martials against those with objectionable opinions'. Certainly boycotting, say, Nazi Germany in 1939 was justifiable; but it would be petty and unmanly for those who did it to demand that, since their boycott is morally right, they should not suffer the forfeit of a chess game as a consequence.

Milu Milescu's 100th Anniversary

2011-11-29T22:57:00.001-08:00

Photo credit: IUPUI

Yochanan Afek had kindly informed me of a special composing tourney he is arranging to commemorate Milu Milescu's 100th anniversary. His announcement follows:

"EG" announces a special composing tourney for human studies to commemorate the 100 anniversary of Milu Milescu (11.11.1911- 6.11.1981) a Rumanian originated Israeli promoter of the art of the endgame study and International judge for chess composition. In

Rumania

he was for many years the editor-in –chief of the Revista Română de Șah and later he ran in leading magazines (such as Europe Echecs , Deutsche Scachzeitung and the Israeli monthly Shahmat) popular and highly instructive columns regarding the linkage between chess composition and the realm of over the board chess. In 1962 he published the book Sigmund Herland: Problèmes Choisis and with Dr. Hans-Hilmar Staudte he wrote the best seller Das 1x1 des Endspiels.

Thejudge is Amatzia Avni. Book prizes, honourable mentions andcommendations will be awarded. No set theme.

Originalhuman studies (not more than three per composer) should be sent (preferably bye-mail) on diagrams with full solutions and postal address before March 31^st2012 to the tourney director:

René Olthof

Achter't Schaapshoofd 7

5211 MC's- Hertogenbosch

The Netherlands

E-mail:

raja@newinchess.com

More about the 1935 Maccabiah -- so much for the "Mystery"...

2011-11-15T10:15:00.001-08:00

Credit: www.visualphotos.com

In a previous post concerning the 1935 Maccabiah, I mentioned that it seems the two players from Luxemburg mentioned there were brothers and that it seems their only point was in the game between themselves. Czerniak's Israel Be'Olympiadot Ha'Sachmat [Israel in the Chess Olympiads] (Tel Aviv: Rotem Press, 1979) notes (p. 7) that, indeed, the two players named Wilberzeitz [ph. spelling] were indeed brothers and did indeed gain their only point in the "family meeting".

But Czerniak mentions nothing about them either staying in Palestine or escaping from the Nazis. This, compared to his noting of similar material about the personal history of other players in his book: he notes, for example, on the same page, that the winner ,of the tournament, Moshe Blass, was not on the Palestinian team for the 1935 Olympiad because he was considered an illegal immigrant by the British authorities in Palestine.)

Either he knew nothing of their fate (Czerniak, like many stronger players, sometimes seems to have had a bit of a "blind spot" toward the fate, or even existence, of that subhuman species, "weak/non-players") or else they simply did not illegally remain in Palestine at all.

So much for my research of the original papers from the period discovering an "unknown scoop"! Ah well, at least, if not new, this story is "old enough to be new" (to quote Napier) -- even "old timers" I have asked in the Israeli chess "scene" had never heard of it. But still, the mystery remains: who were these brothers and what was their fate?

It should be noted that, while two brother being notable chess players is not common, it is not unknown, e.g., the Steiners (Endre and Lajos), or the Laskers (Emmanuel and Berthold). (As usual, Edward Winter has the goods -- see e.g. Chess Notes 4808 or 4515). So, it's certainly possible that the brothers, if not strong players, were indeed the two strongest Jewish players in Luxemburg, there being only about 1000 Jews in the country at the time (according to Wikipedia).

Merely being from a country that is very small, or weak in the chess field, is hardly a sign of fraud or ulterior motives of the players who come to play representing that country; many countries whose chess level is, objectively, terribly low, legitimately take place in the Chess Olympiad and play the world's best players -- even if they are crushed. After all, as Wittgenstein noted in a different context, the weak chess player plays chess no less than the strong one does.

11.11.11 and Jewish Chess

2011-11-12T12:25:00.001-08:00

Photo credit: Shachmat, vol. 20 no. 11-12 (Nov.-Dec. 1981), p. 201.

Yesterday was a once-in-a-century date: 11.11.11. This point is of no particular importance (after all, calendars are arbitrary) but it has a curious Jewish chess connection. As it happens there was an Israeli chess personality born on 11.11.11 -- that is, of course, 11.11.1911. He was Milu Milescu (link in German), the Romanian-Israeli composer.

He was, inter alia, as this post on the www.chess-il.com forum notes (in Hebrew), an international judge of chess compositions, edited a Romanian and a German chess magazine, and after coming to Israel in the 1960s wrote extensively for Shachmat. The post has other links about his chess exploits, in various languages.

His obituary in Shachmat (from which this picture is taken) notes that, among many other contributions to the magazine, he edited the section "Play and Compositions" (הקרב והקומפוזיציה) from the early 60s until his untimely death in 1981. The section dealt in similar ideas found both in actual games and in composed studies.

Ironically, the difference in time between his sending of his last column to Shachmat and its actual publication made it possible for his obituary to appear in the "Play and Composition" section which he wrote. So we have a section by Milu Milescu noting that Milu Milescu had died. Talk about ghost writing.

P.S.

I suppose that explains how Moses, who allegedly received the entire Torah (first five books of the OT) on Mt. Sinai and wrote them all down, also wrote (Deut. 34:5) "And Moses died...": publishing backlog, that's how.

Antisemitism in Chess

2011-11-01T15:00:00.000-07:00

www.chessbase.com is reporting that an Iranian player, GM Ehsan Gahem Maghami, refused to play the Israeli FM Ehud Shachar, in the 2011 Corsican Circuit tournament. The organizers forfeited him, adding that this is against the spirit of FIDE's motto, gens una sumus, and they would not allow this sort of segregation. I fully support the organizer's decision, and the claim by many who reponded that this is a case of antisemitism. But I am hesitant to say, as many did, that the player in this case is antisemitic. It is easy to imagine what would happen to him, or, worse, his family, if he agreed to play an Israeli player. So his refusal might well have been forced, not due to any hatred towards the Israeli player.

Still, the organizers did the correct thing. They have not accused the Iranian player of antisemitism -- only of unsportmanlike behavior (which, however forced, it was). What's more, the organizers are done the correct thing in not being complicit with the Iranians' desire to not play Israelis. Yes, as Steve Giddins says on his blog, the organizers could have avoided the pairing in advance. But where does this end? Suppose some country refuses to have its players meet Black chess players? Or women? Must they be accommodated, too?

It is true that if possible warring countries are not paired during olympiads. As Moshe Czerniak notes in Israel Be'Olympiadot Ha'Sachmat [Israel in the Chess Olympiads] (Rotem Press: Tel Aviv, 1979, pp. 14-15), after Sept. 1st, 1939, the teams from the now-warring countries were forbidden by their governments to play each other (their matches were formally declared drawn). But in war there is symmetry: neither warring country's team has any willingness to play the other. Here, we have only one side -- the Iranians -- refusing to play.

Ironically, adds Czerniak, the team representing Nazi Germany demanded to play with the Jewish Palestinian team, instead of agreeing to a formal draw, claiming Germany isn't at war with Palestine! The real reason was that Germany and Argentina were competing for first place, and if Argentina were to score a high victory, it might pass Germany. (In the event it was agreed that Palestine's matches with both Germany and Argentina would be declared a formal draw.) Also, he notes, just because a player represents an antisemitic government doesn't mean they themselves support it: all five German players, the winning team in the 1939 Olympiad, asked for asylum in Argentina!

Jerusalem Chess -- Some Things don't Change?

2011-10-21T15:28:00.000-07:00

Logo Credit: Jeruchess

The first chess club in Palestine was established in Jerusalem in 1918 by Col. Reginald Storrs, the British military governor of Jerusalem. It was called the "International Chess Club". This was not false advertisement, but an expression of the hope that it would be a chess club that would unite the different nations -- local Arabs and Jews, and European Christians of various nations who were then stationed in the city -- and help promote peace and understanding. Unfortunately the club closed within a year of its founding, due to the increasing tensions between the Arabs and Jews.

But hope springs eternal, and today Jerusalem's most active chess club -- Jeruchess (link partially in Hebrew and partially in English) -- has, as its motto, its Hebrew name (ירו-שחמט, Yeru-Sachmat) with the word שחמט (chess) incorporating the Muslim crescent, Jewish star of David, and Christian cross into the typography. What's more, the club is located in the Tarbut Ha-Amim center -- literally, the "international civilizations" center -- whose goal is (according to their English language web page and the Hebrew wikipedia page about them) to serve as a center for the meeting of the different cultures in Jerusalem and to promote pluralism.

Will it work this time? Who knows?

Source for information about the 1918 chess club: The editors, “Ha’moadon Ha’sachmati Be’yerushaliaim ‘Emanuel Lasker’”[The Emanuel Lasker Chess Club in Jerusalem], Ha’shachmat, vol. 1 no. 1-2, Tishey-Heshvan 5684 (Sept.-Oct. 1923),pp. 20-22; Moshe Czerniak, Toldot Ha’sachmat Me’reshito Ve’adYameynu [History of Chess from its Beginnings to Today], p. 155 (Tel Aviv: “Mofet”Press, 1963.)

Reuben Fine Playing the Violin

2011-10-21T14:29:00.000-07:00

Credit: www.listal.com

OK, OK, I'm cheating -- that's actually a picture of Yehudi Menuhin. But am I the only one who sees a resemblance?

By the way -- this shows up when one searches for "Reuben Fine" in google images. Not that I'm complaining, but -- seriously -- it makes one think about how accurate learning about the world through google really is.

Two "Firsts" and Some Musings

2011-10-06T00:43:00.000-07:00

In July 1922, Doar Ha'yom ("Daily Mail"), a local Jerusalem paper, started to published a weekly chess column edited by Aryeh Leob Mohilever, of the newly-established Lasker Chess Club in the city (Source: 'The Jerusalem Chess Club is 35' [Ha'Moadon Ha'Yerushalmi ben 35], 64 Mishbatzot, no. 5-6 [May-June 1957], pp. 233-235.)

This column was the first chess column published in a daily newspaper (as opposed to the previous column in the weekly The Palestine News which started in 1918, as seen elsewhere in this blog). On 13.8.22, it featured the first locally-played game ever to be published (to my knowledge) in Palestine or Israel, between Mohilever himself (black) and Dr. A. Tauber. (0-1). Above is the column as it appeared in the paper (click for a larger version); below is the game, with annotations by Mohilever and my colleague and strong player Shahar Gindi (in Italics).

A few comments, if I may...

1). Bizzarely, while the date -- 13.8.1922 -- was a Sunday (a regular working day for a Herbew-language newspaper in Palestine or Israel), the column was actually published the previous Friday, 11.8.1922, in the enlarged (six pages!) weekend edition. It was only dated 13.8. Yes, Doar Ha'yom was a daily newspaper which was "pre-dated" one issue: that is, one bought on Monday a paper with Tuesday's date, and on Friday a paper with the following Sunday's date (no paper was published on Saturday). Ever heard the contemptous expression, 'this newspaper can't even get the date right'? In Doar Ha'yom's case, it was literally true.

2). Naturally Gindi's analysis (as checked by a computer) is much more accurate, but as he told me, it was certainly a publishable game even with the oversights in the game itself or in the analysis.

3). I must add that to me, as a weak player, Mohilever's analysis made more sense: it looked like a case of "crime and punishment", with White being punished for losing tempos with his queen for no good reason. Gindi (as well as the computer) saw deeper, and disabused me of this notion. Once more we see that actual variations and moves are far more important than general strategic considerations in most situation: in particular, white could have won by playing e6 at the right moment, despite all his "lost tempos".

As Tartakower allegedly said, 'strategy, schamttegy -- checkmate ends the game'; or, as Tarrasch actually did say (to Napier -- as usual, Edward Winter has the goods, see quote #72 in the link), '[I]t is never enough to be a connoisseur of chess; one must also play well'. All this is not said to tell amateurs not to study strategy, but to not think it is more important on their level than it actually is.

What knowing chess strategy does help the amateur a lot with is in organising his thoughts: trying to have some idea of what a "plan" is, an idea of "what should I do?" in a position instead of just checking random moves, etc. This is necessary if the amateur is ever to improve. But the improvement itself has a lot more to do with knowing tactics, basic endings and openings, etc., well, not with knowing strategy more deeply. Strategy can guide tactical thought, not replace it. This is what is meant by the old saying (not actually Capablanca's, as C.N. 4209 in this link to Winter's Chess Notes notes) that chess books should be used to "assist" and not "confer" sight.

4). We see the influence of the European, as opposed to the British, influence when translating chess terms into Hebrew. The queen is called a gvira [גבירה] -- "dame" (as in French or German); and White's resignation is translated as Lavan mevater [לבן מותר] -- "White gives up", literally from the German term from resignation, gibt auf. Today in Hebrew the terms used are from the English: malka [מלכה] -- queen, and Lavan nichna [לבן נכנע] -- "White resigns" (lit. "surrenders"). There is, by the way, a web page with chess terms in 73 languages -- although I cannot vouch for its accuracy, it is at least correct in the languages I know...

(13) Tauber,A - Mohilever,Aryeh[C55]

Lasker Club, 29.07.1922

Annotations: Mohilever and ShaharGindi (Italics).

Source: Doar Hayom, 13.8.1922

C55:Two Knights and Max Lange Attack

1.e4e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.d3 d5 5.exd5 5...Na5?

Better and simpler was Nxd5.

6.Bb3

Losing a tempo. There is no need to fear NxB since dxN will strengthen thed5 pawn.

6...Bd6 7.Bg5 Bg4 8.0–0

Fortifying the d5 pawn with Nc3 wasbetter.

8...h6 9.Bh4?

White can maintain the materialadvantage by playing Bxf6 or Ba4+.

9...Nxb3 10.axb3 g5 11.Bg3 Nxd5 12.h3 Bh513.Nbd2 Nf4 14.Bxf4 gxf4

Opening the g-file for the rook.

15.Qe1!

Nice maneuver to bring the queen to the center.

15...f6 16.Qe4

Good centralizing move.

16...Qc8

NowWhite gets the edge again [Gindi].
Protects b7 and prepares and attack on h3 [Mohilever].

17.d4f5 18.Qd5 Bf7 19.Qb5+ c6 20.Qa4 e4 21.Rfe1 Rg8 22.Ne5?

Inappropriatein this situation. A defensive move was called for, like Kh2; only after blackmoves the king should white have moved the knight.

22...Bxe5 23.dxe5 f3

A very natural move, but there is a better one: 23...Qd8! 24.Nc4 Qg5 and there isno good way to defend g2.

24.g3 f4 25.g4?

25. e6! and thetables are turned.

25...Rxg4+!

A trivial sacrifice.

26.Kh1 Rg1+!

If 26. ...Rg2 27. e6!Followed by Rxe4.

27.Kxg1 Qxh3 28.Nxf3 exf3 0–1

47 Books

2011-10-01T14:02:00.000-07:00

Source: Doar Ha'Yom, May 14th, 1922, p. 2.

To those who want to get an idea just how small the chess world was in the early history of chess in Israel or Palestine, the following notice from a 1922 newspaper will give an idea.

It notes with satisfaction under the headline 'Chess Library in the Jewish National Library [Beit Ha'Spharim Ha'Leumi]' that the chess publishing house [Schachverlang] in Berlin headed by H. B. Cohen had donated a 'complete library' of 47 volumes' about chess to it.

"A Difficult Position for Both Sides", Part II

2011-09-30T01:02:00.000-07:00

Image credit: www.librarything.com

A quick note about the "difficult position for both sides" quip discussed on this blog before. It turns out that C. H. O'D. Alexander, in his book about the Fischer - Spassky match, used a similar phrase (p. 93 of the paperback edition in the photo).

Annotating game 4 of the match, after 26. Qxh4 g5, Alexander writes this is "[a] very difficult position for both sides". Apparently this expression is used more often than one would think, meaning a complex position where both sides have significant problems to solve.

Morphy Mania

2011-09-17T11:35:00.000-07:00

Photo credit: A.P.

Occasionally, as readers of this blog know, I comment on chess matters unrelted to Jews. By sheer chance, I found -- thrown away from a public library -- a copy of The Chess Players by Frances Parkinson Keyes, a prolific American author. It is an historical novel with the main male character being Paul Morphy as a Confederate spy in Europe. Keyes actually purchased Morphy's old house in the 1950s (see link above).

Apparently some authors relied on this novel for factual information about Morphy, e.g., relaying as fact the novel's claim that he was rejected as a suitor because he was "a mere chess player". Keyes is hardly to be faulted for this -- her book is openly historical fiction, not fact. This is the equivalent of relying on Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code when writing the history of the Catholic Church. (H'm -- on second thought, some people do that, too...)

Another more recent novel which deals with the same theme is Paul Morphy: Confederate Spy by Stan Vaughan, whose home page makes some rather odd claims, presuming he is serious and not pulling our collective leg.

What is it about Morphy that attracts such oddness?

Chess and Politics, Continued

2011-09-17T10:53:00.000-07:00

Photo credit: A.P.

To add to the "politics and chess" file: the front cover of Shachmat Vol. 37 No. 6 (Dec. 1997) shows Garry Kasparov in a conversation with then-president of Israel, Ezer Weizman.

King-on-Wrong-Square Mafia

2011-09-13T02:16:00.000-07:00

Perhaps you've heard of an obscure corporation named "google". Well, here is how its "crystal chess board" theme looks.

Chess Statue, Part II

2011-09-10T11:43:00.000-07:00

In a previous post, I have noted there is a chess statue of an overturned chess king in Haifa which is probably the largest statue of its type in the Middle East. I took some more photos of it recently. It turns out the statue -- titled "Mate", of course -- is by Guy Zagursky, a contemporary Israeli artist. The statue is one of many statues -- all related to games in some way -- which are part of a "statue park" along a major thoroughfare in Haifa.

I checked, but apparently Mr. Zagurksy isn't a chess player -- at any rate, he doesn't have an Israeli Chess Federation rating. That isn't quite the same thing, of course, but if he does play, he doesn't do so in tournaments.

The Najdorf Interview, part II

2011-08-24T06:47:00.000-07:00

The inerview with Najdorf mentioned two posts ago was, as said, published in Shachmat, Nov. 1996. It was conducted by the well-known Israeli player and problemist Yochanan Afek and published on pp. 24-30. Here are some interesting bits (the context makes clear whether Najdorf or Afek are speaking):

His cousin, Ester Salzman, the last scion of his Polish family, joins us. 'His mother never agreed with his occupation. Like every Jewish mother she wanted him to be a physician and would often throw his chess set out the window'.

Clearly he would prefer the interview to be conducted in Spanish or, preferably, Polish. He would also accept Yiddish. But his overflowing stories show contempt to linguistic limitations.
Miczyslaw [...] is his polish name, as a Jew he is Moshe Mendel and as an Argentinian Miguel. His cousin calls him Munik. All in 'M'.

Q: Try to remember the most piquant event in your career.
A: Maybe my meeting with the pope. In my [chess] column in Clarin I published the chess problems of Karol Wojtyla (John Paul II's original Polish name, but some strongly claim that he never composed the problems, which were published under his name as a joke - Afek). I send the publication to the Vatican, and got as a reply an invitation to meet the pope when I am in Rome. Imagine, I, the Jew Moshe Mendel Najdorf spoke to Karol Wojtyla for an hour and a half only about chess... and in Polish!

I may be the only person in the world who played all the world champions except for Steinitz and Lasker. On second thought, I played with Lasker in Warsaw in 1935... Bridge!

During the [1972 world championship] match, a Jewish reporter from United Press asked me to summarize in two minutes the difference between Spassky and Fischer. Spassky, I answered in Yiddish, is a living person who sometimes plays chess. Fischer is a chess player who sometimes lives.

If we must choose, Capablanca was [the greatest chess player ever], because he came from a chess 'nowhere' and reached the top.

Finally, two games were given (Ibid, p. 30). A quick search found them both in online datacases -- in the www.chessgames.com web site. The first is known as the "rights of minors" game (for reasons obvious in the game score) and was even that web site's "game of the day" in the past. The second is also well worth looking at.

Andor Lilienthal had, perhaps, a better claim for playing the most world champions than Najdorf, but only by a short margin (he played Lasker; both also played the world's women chmapion, Vera Menchik).

Also, it is considered established today that John Paul II's "chess problems" were, indeed, a hoax, as Tomasz Lissowski conclusively proved. This does not mean Najdorf was concsciously lying: as Lissowski noted, many players, from amateurs to GMs, accepted the problems as genuine for a long time, and Najdorf might well have been one of them.

What seems more doubtful is whether Najdorf actually spoke "only about chess" with the pope for an hour and a half...

Only in Israel

2011-08-20T01:13:00.000-07:00

Ad for the Novag chess computer. Shachmat, Nov. 1996 (inside front cover)

For the "only in Israel" file: Traveling chess sets and, later, computers existed (and were advertised) for decades, if not centuries, all over the world. But probably only in Israel does the advertisement say proudly (inside the grey-colored banner above the computer's image): "portable computers for travel and reserve army duty".

Najdorf Interview, "Shachmat" 1996

2011-08-20T01:06:00.000-07:00

Najdorf and Lakser, Lasker chess club, 1996. Source: Shachmat, Nov. 1996.

After the Groningen memorial tournament in 1996, Najdorf, who participated in it, visited Israel. The Nov. 1996 Shachmat (the Israeli chess assoc. magazine) put him, naturally, on the cover -- and has an interesting interview with him inside. The photographs above and below were taken during his visit to the Lasker chess club in Tel Aviv. Details will follow in a coming post, but in the meantime note the garish wallpaper under Lasker's bust -- a sign of the decline of a once-proud chess club...

Najdorf In the Lasker chess club, playing blitz. Source: ibid.

Alekhine and Antisemitism -- and its Unexpected Results

2011-08-01T14:03:00.000-07:00

The controversy about Alekhine's anti-semitic articles is well-known. In short, did he jump or was he pushed -- was he truly a Nazi sympathizer, or did he write his infamous antisemitic articles under pressure? Alekhine claimed after the war he never wrote the articles, and that his name was signed to them without him being able to protest. There is good evidence the articles themselves were written by him, but to what degree he believed what he wrote is still an open question; as per usual, Edward Winter has a very good article on the matter here, and also in his book Kings, Commoners, and Knaves.

Today, Edward Winter's invaluable Chess Notes web site has a photo from AVRO 1938 (scroll down to note # 7191) where Alekhine is seen chatting with Flohr during the tournament. Flohr, of course, was Jewish, and we see here that as late as 1938, at least, Alekhine not only had no problem playing with Jews, but obviously was friendly with them.

Another unexpected story of how Alekhine's antisemitic articles in fact helped at least one person survive during the holocaust has been given in Forward magazine in the article "Encounter with Alekhine" by Michael Feuer. The author's father, Otto Feuer, had found an article by Alekhine discarded in the camp's latrine:

One day, in the Buchenwald latrine, Otto came upon what he thought was a miracle of sorts: There on the ground was a page from a recent German chess magazine, undoubtedly discarded by an SS guard, with an article by, of all people, Alekhine. Otto’s mood soared — until he began reading. Then he discovered that Alekhine had become a rabid anti-Semite and Nazi sympathizer. The article was all about the evils of “Jewish chess.” Otto sank into an especially low depression. But then there was another uplift, because it occurred to him that if he was still capable of experiencing both joy and sorrow, it must mean that not even the Nazis could destroy his humanity. And this awareness, that he was still human, gave him hope and the will to continue.

The article is worth reading also for the excellent photo of Alekhine later in his career.

Does the AVRO photograph prove Alekhine was not an antisemite "in his heart" (whether or not he wrote the infamous antisemitic articles)? Not necessarily. Foward also has another article about the other great antisemite in chess, Bobby Fischer. They argue the solution to the mystery of Fischer's rabid antisemitism coexisting with his friendship with many individual Jews is that for him "Jew" was just a name for "enemy". Being paranoid, anybody he suspected of having slighted him in the most trivial way instantly became an "enemy", and thus a "Jew", and thus part of the worldwide "Jewish conspiracy" against him.

Fischer's case is extreme, but we all know bigots who say 'some of my best friends are Jews' despite the fact that they despise Jews. They are not lying about their friendships; their mistake is to think this proves they are not bigots. It is possible that Alekhine's friendship with, and public praise of, Jewish players he knew were genuine, and that his belief that "Jewish chess" is a menace was equally honest. Jeremy Spinard's Anti-Semitism in Chess gives the example of Emil Diemer, of Blackmar-Diemer gambit fame, who was a Nazi party member and an antisemite, yet was a close friend of the Latvian Jew Nimzowitch.

So Alekhine's defenders cannot use this "contradiction" as proof that he didn't mean what he say in his antisemitic articles. Does this condemn Alekhine? In my view, no.

1). First, if his friendship with Jewish players is no proof his antisemitic articles did not reflect his actual view, it of course does not prove his articles did reflect his views. That he might have believed what he wrote is no proof that he did.

2). Second, suppose it is conclusively proven -- say, by the discovery of a personal letter to a friend where Alekhine declares he hates "Jewish chess" -- that Alekhine meant what he said in those articles. If this were a contradiction with his friendhip with, and published praise of, Jewish players, we would be forced to conclude he was an enormous hypocrite, praising and being on friendly terms with many people he actually despised! This would be a worse condemnation of Alekhine's character than any belief, however foolish or mean-spirited, he held about the evils of "Jewish chess". But, I argue, it is quite possible that his friendship with Jewish players is genuine even if he was an antisemite about Jews "in general".

How many can you Identify?

2011-07-25T12:31:00.000-07:00

Here are more candid photos by Itzhak Bar-Ziv of the 1964 olympiad. For non-Hebrew speaking readers: how many of the players can you identify ? For the answer highlight the area below.

Top left photo, 1st to 4th board, left team (FRG): Unziker, Darga, Schmid, Pfleger. 1st to 4th board, right team (NED): Kuijpers, Bouwmeester, Langeweg, Zuidema. Top right photo, left team (NED), 1st to 4th board: Kuijpers, Langeweg, Prins, vs. (HUN) Portisch, Szabo, Bilek. Bottom photo, left team (YUG), 1st to 4th board: Gligoric, Ivkov, Matanovic, Parma vs. (HUN) Portisch.

Candid Camera

2011-07-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

Itzhak Bar-Ziv was a young chess player in 1964, and he was one of the staff in the chess Olympiad held in Israel that year. He shot quite a few candid photographs of the players. Above is one such photo, showing (l. to r.): Keres, Eshel (Israeli Chess Assoc.), Botvinnik, Smyslov (back to camera), Ben Gurion (Israel's prime until 1963, holding a scroll and the cup), Darga, Petrosian.

(Thanks to the reader J. K. for correcting two mistakes in the original post.)

Czerniak Ending

2011-07-09T03:17:00.000-07:00

According to Ha'aretz (18.3.38, chess column editor Moshe Marmorosh), Moshe Czerniak won the Jerusalem championship of 37/38 (Jewish year 5698) -- for the fourth time -- with a clean score (10/10). On 11.3.38 Marmorosh, in the same newspaper, gives an interesting pawn-and-knight ending which Czerniak won against Zilberman (ph. spelling):

This position is, objectively, better for Black: not only is he a pawn up but the White king is not in the best position to stop his pawns. On the other hand White's most advanced pawn is already on the sixth rank. 1. Ke2 [Fritz] is best, leaving Black better. But Czerniak always preferred to play actively, and probably didn't cherish his chances of holding the ending with defensive attempts of this sort. So he set a practical trap with...

1. Kd4! [Marmorosh's annotation] h5?? [Fritz].

Very natural -- and losing! Now White is winning despite the three advanced outside connected passed pawns.

2. b5 h4 3. c5 h3 4. b6 cxb6 5. cxb6 h2 6. a7+ Kb7 7. Nc7 h1=Q

Black even queens first, but...

8. a8=Q+ Kxb6 9. Nd5 Kb5 10. Qb7+ 1-0

It is mate next move.

Incorrect Array Mafia Strikes Again

2011-07-08T03:55:00.000-07:00

My photo of a board found in a store's display window. How many mistakes can you spot? (Click on the image for a larger view).

Chess Dreams

2011-06-28T11:40:00.000-07:00

The position at the start of the most famous chess dream, Thought the Looking Glass.

Chess players often dream about chess positions or tournaments, but sometimes they take a weird turn.

A friend of mine, who shall remain nameless, is a strong player. He told me the other day he is thinking of taking a break from chess for a while. He had a dream where he went on a bicycle trip with Vassily Ivanchuk. They were solving geography puzzles.

Even Freud wouldn't have been able to make to make heads or tails of that one.

P.S.

The diagram above got me thinking. For some reason this has not been mentioned anywhere (to my knowledge), but Alice being the d-pawn -- that is, on the same column as the queen -- as well on (eventually) queening on d8, is significant.

It seems to be an emphasis by Lewis Carroll of her fate of being "born to the purple". In certain times and places, a pawn could only promote to the piece found in the array (the starting position) on the file on which it started, or else on the file on which it was promoted.

Math and Chess -- and Euwe Mystery

2011-06-23T12:36:00.000-07:00

Occasionally, I used this blog for something that is not, strictly speaking, related to Jewish chess history. This time we make a foray into mathematics and chess, in the person of Dr. Euwe, who was, as is well known, not Jewish -- but a mathematician as well as the world champion 1935-1937. He was also a good friend of Israel and of Jews, as this blog (among many other places) shows.

In Martin Gardner's The Magical Numbers of Dr. Matrix (New York: Dorset, 1985), a collection of essays on recreational mathematical subjects, the following appears (p. 242-3, bracketed comments mine):

Max Euwe, a former world chess champion, was among the first to recognize that the Thue sequence [a sequence of 0s and 1s discovered by the mathematician Thue in 1912] provides a method of playing an infinitely long game of chess. The so-called German rule for preventing such games declares a game drawn if a player plays any finite sequence of moves three times in succession in the same position. Two players need only create a position in which each can move either of two pieces back and forth, regardless of how the other player moves his two pieces. If each now plays his two pieces in a Thue sequence, neither will ever repeat a pattern of moves three times consecutively.

On the internet I found the following:

In 1929 [Euwe] published a mathematics paper in which he constructed [sic] an infinite sequence of 0's and 1's with no three identical consecutive sub-sequences of any length. He then used this to show that, under the rules of chess that then were in force, an infinite game of chess was possible. It had always been the intention of the rules that this should not be possible, but the rule that a game is a draw if the same sequence of moves occurs three times in succession was not, as Euwe showed, sufficient. (http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Euwe.html)

This implies that the so-called 'three-fold repetition' rule was in 1929 written in the 'same sequence of moves occurs three times in succession' language, and that the 50-move rule is ignored. The reason is that if the threefold repetition (as today) no longer has to be in succession, but merely having to occur, or else the 50-move rule applies, both trivially make chess a finite game, the first because there is a limited number of captures and/or pawn moves, the second because there is a limited number of legal (or for that matter illegal) chess positions that can be repeated.

But don't the 50-move rule and the "modern" (i.e., not in succession) threefold repetition rule go back, at least, to the beginning of the 20th century? Surely Euwe of all people would not make a mistake about the rules of the game in a published work! Can any reader resolve the inconsistency? Perhaps the original paper would clarify matters.

P.S.

Sorry about the crazy character breaks.

The Benoni Defense + Opening Names

2011-06-16T13:10:00.000-07:00

Image credit: hairulovchessmaniac [sic]

Just a quick note -- a few years ago Edward Winter kindly published an email from me in Chess Notes 4435 about the origin of the name 'Benoni' in Hebrew chess literature.

To add a bit to the issue of opening names in Hebrew, it should be noted that -- not surpirsingly, considering so many of the "original" Palestinian players came from eastern Europe -- the names of openings in Hebrew usually use the "eastern" convention of naming the openings after locations, unlike the "western" one of naming them after people. So in Hebew we have:

The Spanish opening instead of the Ruy Lopez
The Italian opening instead of the Giucco Piano
The Volga gambit instead of the Benko gambit
The Yugoslav opening instead of the Pirc opening
The Latvian gambit for the Greco counter gambit
The Russian opening (sometimes) instead of the Petrov defense

Of course some openings have no equivalent geographical name, and remain named after people (Alekhine's defense, Bird's opening) in Hebrew as well.

Chess in the 1935 Maccabiah -- two "Mystery Players"?

2011-06-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

Credit: wikipedia

The 1935 Maccabiah's chess tournament was, in fact, finished, giving the winner -- Moshe Blass -- the first prize. Davar reported on the tournament on 4/4 and 12/4/35. Perhaps surprisingly, no other paper from Palestine seems have noticed the Maccabiah's chess contest, despite many papers (e.g., the Palestine Post) devoting a lot of space to detailed examination of all other events in the Maccabiah. This report combines both sources.

Blass got 7.5 points (out of 10, since there were 11 participants altogehter). After him came David Enoch and Yosef Porat (then Foerder) with 7 pts., Yosef Dobkin and Esra Glass (Jeremy Gaige's spelling from Chess Personalia: a Biobibliography) 6.5, Victor Winz, Moshe Czerniak, and Sigmund Beutum (Gaige's spelling) with 5, and Weil (no first name given) with 4.5.

From the 4/4 and 12/4 reports all that can be concluded about the crosstable is that in the first round (colors not given; first player might have been Black) were:

Beutum - A. Wilberseitz 1-0

Blass - Enoch 1-0

Glass - Czerniak 1-0

Dobkin - Weil 1-0

Porat - Winz 1-0

Also, we are told on 12/4 that in the last round Blass defeated Glass, 'his most dangerous opponent': both had 6.5 points after nine rounds, in that case, and the game decided the winner. We are also told Czerniak 'lost many games where he had the advantage' and that Winz was the only player to defeat Blass.

The Jewish writer, Akim Lewit, from the Weiner Schach-Zeitung, came to cover the tournament; perhaps more information about it can be found in that periodical.

It is interesting that there were two players, presumably brothers -- Aryeh and Yaakov Wilberseitz (ph. spelling) from Luxemburg. Their participation is noted on 4/4, but their scores are not given on 12/4. If the scores of the other participants are correct, it is easy to show that they lost all their games to all the other players: In a round robin tournament of 10 rounds (11 players), there are 55 points (11*10 / 2) to be divided among all the players. All the other players together gained 54 points. Which leaves the brothers a single, solitary point between them -- which is the absolute minimum they could have gotten, since they had to play one game between themselves!

As there is no mention of them as chess players anywhere else to my knowledge, perhaps these "players" -- a modern version of were in fact amateurs who, fearing Hitler's growing power, used the Maccabiah as a "cover" to gain entry to Palestine. With their scores, it is not surprising Davar and others kept silent about them, and their defeat could only be detected "between the lines"; but perhaps Davar was trying to save them from a fate far worse than mere embarrassment, as Hitler's plans towards the Jews and towards Europe in general, though nobody could have yet imagined the nadir they will eventually reach, were already very ominous.

The Maccabiah and the first Palestinian Chess Championship: 1932?

2011-06-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

A ticket for the Levant Fair, 1932. Photo credit: Alma7's blog on www.tapuz.co.il

Okay, I am cheating. There was no chess in the first (1932) Maccabiah held in Tel Aviv. There was, however, a whole lot of chess activity in the concurrently-held Levant Fair [Yarid ha'Mizrach] , also held in Tel Aviv at the same time, and opened by the same personality -- Tel Aviv's mayor, Meir Dizengoff.

There was a chess building in the exhibition. Moshe Marmorosh, the editor of Davar's chess column, promised on 31/3/32 that, after the opening on April 9th, we shall see the following:

The fair's exhibition's management began to build a building for chess in the exhibition. Every mail brings with it letters from masters in other countries asking about details and wishing to take part. The Champions Hans Kmoch from Vienna and Louis Steiner from Budapest wish to take part, giving blind simuls against 15 opponents, and do not ask for payment, but only expenses.

There will be a special competition under the sponsorship of mayor Meir Dizengoff for the Palestinian championship. Ten of the best players in the country will participate. For this tournament special chess clocks were installed, with a special buzzer that informs the player when he must move (not moving on time allows the opponent to demand a draw).

There are arrangements made for blitz games (without time for thought) and simultaneous exhibitions.

The tournament did in fact take place -- sort of. On April 10th, Davar reported:

The Palestinian Champion

Is the title to be contested in the first national championship, which opened yesterday in the chess building in the Levant Fair. The tournament was opened by Meir Dizengoff ... the players are: from Tel Aviv: Marmorosh, Sambeski [ph. spelling], Dobkin, Weisbohr [ph.], Nevtigel [ph.], Levonski Abraham; from Haifa - Kniazer; from Jerusalem -- Fussni [ph.], Pappo. The tenth contestant has not yet been chosen.

After this, however, Davar, and Marmorosh, had been silent, saying nothing more about chess in the fair, or the championship, or about Kmoch or Steiner, so far as I can tell. No games from the tournament had -- to my knowledge -- ever appeared in any publication (does any reader know otherwise?) What's more, the first recognized "Palestinian Champion" is Moshe Czerniak, in 1936.

Presumably, the tournament fell through and was not finished; the fact that four of the players -- those spelled phonetically -- are unknown (at least to me) even in the small world of Palestinian chess publications of the time, and that a tenth player is "yet to be chosen", makes one suspect as much.

Congratulations to Boris Gelfand

2011-05-28T14:01:00.000-07:00

Okay -- this counts as "history" only in the technical sense of having occurred in the past (h'm -- as opposed to what other time, exactly?) but it is an historic achievement. An Israeli chess player, Boris Gelfand, had become the challenger in the coming world championship match with Viswanathan Anand. Needless to say this is the first time ever an Israeli chess player had achieved this. Naturally this was front-page news in Israel.

Chess and Backgammon -- on TV

2011-05-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

Photo credit: Online Backgammon

The Israeli player, Shimon Kagan, who won the Israeli championship in 1967 and 1969, had just won the European championship in... Backgammon. (Hat tip: a personal friend who doesn't want his name mentioned.) It is interesting since this was actually noted on Israeli TV's most popular current events program -- London and Kirshenbaum -- on May 11th (link in Hebrew).

For shame! The awful things some chess players will do to get recognition...

Jewish Chess Players Get all the Hot Girls

2011-05-26T13:59:00.000-07:00

Edward Winter gives, in Chess Notes 7076 and 7081, some excellent photographs of chess in Hollywood.

Of particular interest for Jewish chess history are the excellent quality photos of Fine, Reshevsky, Kashdan, Horowitz and others from Chess Review and Life magazine (given as links at the bottom of his post) with beautiful stars and starlets from Hollywood, taken during the 1945 Pan-American congress (see Winter's post for complete details about all the photos).

Above is one such photo, from Life, of Reuben Fine and Jane Nigh.

Mistakes in Books

2011-05-26T13:44:00.000-07:00

From Shaul Hon, reviewing the book Amanut ha'Sachmat ba'Krav uba'Kompositzia [Chess Art in Games and Compositions] by Mordechai Rosenfeld (Sorce: Maariv, 26/1/66, p. 20):

We find many mistakes in M. Rosenfeld's book... we shall not note all of them but here is one of the major ones:

On p. 86 the book says that "in the same year [1922] Alekhine met with the chess player 'Consultants' (קונסולטנטס) and defeated him [sic - A.P.] in a short and beautiful game". Who is this mysterious chess player "Consultants"? You shall look in vain in the history books -- he doesn't exist! The word means "consluting players" in English, when a master plays three of four players who consult among each other. Mr. Rosenfeld transcribed the word into Hebrew believing it's some player's name...

On the same page it says the game took place in the city of "Balle" (באל). Here, too, Mr. Rosenfeld transcribed from the foreign script without realizing that "Balle" is the French name of the city known [in English and Hebrew] of Basel (בזל).

Najdorf's Love Affair with Chess...

2011-05-16T12:45:00.000-07:00

Historia de Amor [a love story] by Jose Criado

The above cartoon, by Jose Angel Diaz Criado, was sent to me by Herbert Perez Garcia (used by permission). Criado is a fried of Garcia, and they presented this cartoon to Najdorf on his birthday in 1987. Garcia notes that Najdorf loved it...

There are many cartoons of chess players -- see here, for example -- but cartoons presented personally as a birthday present to players are much rarer.

But Daaaaaaaaad....!

2011-05-16T01:42:00.000-07:00

From Ha'sachmat. ca. 1970 [unfortunately I do not have a good copy of the journal's cover!], by Zvi bar- Shira:

What counts as force majeure in chess? The head of the league committee, Yoel Aloni, was puzzled when he received the following question from the western Galilee: Natan Bronstein won [on time] in a league game because his opponent, the boy Shaul Har-El, was forcibly taken from the tournament hall by his father to prepare his homework.

Aloni, report bar-Shira, decided that, after all, dad doesn't count as force majeure.

Czerniak the Honest

2011-05-14T12:08:00.000-07:00

The following game appeared in the letter section of the Israeli chess magazine, Shachmat, in 1983. The author of the letter, Uriel Zak, notes how he defeated the Moshe Czerniak in 12 moves, adding before the game itself that he hopes this letter will help the student of opening traps by showing that even a "seasoned international master" might fall into such a trap.

The game is notable for a few things:

1). Zak is quite respectful of Czerniak, mentioning his glorious past (a draw with Botvinnik) in the same variation.
2). The game does not appear in the "standard" databases.
3). It is not every day that an IM loses in 12 moves.
4). The editor of the game section of Shachmat at the time -- less than a year before his death? The man who who published this game? The same Moshe Czerniak.

Czerniak,Moshe - Zak,Uriel [A04]

Be'er Sheva, 1979

[Annotations: Uriel Zak]

Source: Shachmat, 1983, 11-12 [Nov. - Dec.]. Letters to the editor section.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.g3

Closed Sicilian. By the way, with this opening Czerniak drew with the great Botvinnik.

3...g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.0–0 e6

Botvinnik played 5...e5

6.d3 Nge7 7.c3 0–0

Who would believe the game would end in six moves?

8.Be3 b6! 9.Qc1 Ba6 10.Rd1 d5 11.Bh6

Sets a trap, since after 11...Bxh6 12.Qxh6 dxe4 13.Ng5 mates

11. ... dxe4 12.dxe4??

A natural move that loses immediately. 12.Bxg7! Kxg7 13.dxe4 Qc7=

12...Bxh6! 0–1

A Draw with Death

2011-04-14T15:09:00.000-07:00

A Draw with Death, by Isaac Mares. Tarmil: Tel Aviv, 1983.

In this book, the holocaust survivor Isaac Mares tells us of a diabolical deal made by a young ghetto inmate with a sadistic SS officer. If he wins a chess game with him, all the ghetto will be spared -- except him. If he loses, the entire ghetto will be killed -- except him. Only if he draws, will both survive.

This, more or less, happened in reality. Efraim Kishon had his life saved in a camp by becoming the camp's commandant's chess coach. As he said in an interview many years later, he had to play well enough to remain coach, but on the other hand not too well so that the commandant won't "fire", and probably simply liquidate, him at a moment of anger. (Can anybody refer me to the source for this interview?)

For those who think they know what playing under severe mental pressure is.

P.S.

Even here, the illustrator had been a victim of the evil "black square on lower right corner" mafia (see Item #30 in the link). Tim Krabbe says, 'people think it looks better that way'. I believe the reason is that when the h1 corner is shown in illustrations (as it usually is, since it's closest to the white king, the piece non-chessplayers think all the game constantly revolved around), the illustrator -- or the person who sets up the board -- thinks it's wrong to leave this "important" square blank; so naturally he colors it black, for emphasis.

50 Years to Eichmann's Trial -- and Chess

2011-04-14T14:49:00.000-07:00

Fifty years have now passed since the opening of the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Israel. It had been mention before in this blog. Only in Israel, however, is it possible to see in the blog of the Tel Aviv Chess club [in Hebrew] that one of the upcoming events will be 'a meeting on holocaust memorial day with ex-minister Rafi Eitan, one of the squad which abducted Eichmann'.

Smyslov Singing and Najdorf Speaking

2011-04-14T14:31:00.000-07:00

Hebert Pérez García, from the Netherlands, had put online another excellent video of the 1996 reunification tournament, held 50 years after the 1946 Groningen tournament, with all surviving contestants. This video has Najdorf giving a moving speech, in particular giving a tribute to Euwe; and Smyslov doing what he did best (after chess) -- operatic singing.

The Oxford Companion to Chess by Hooper and Whyld (2nd Ed., 1992) notes in their entry for Smyslov that he 'narrowly missed' a place in the Bolshoi Opera in 1950. This would not be the first time Smyslov sang at a chess event: the same source notes he 'sang operatric extracts on Swiss radio' in the 1953 Neuhausen-Zurich tournament, and sang to the audience in the interval during a game of living chess with Botvinnik.

In Memorium

2011-03-30T13:35:00.000-07:00

Photo: A.P.

In the Rishon Le'Tziyon chess club, [link in Hebrew] there is an old an battered chess set. The set is not expensive or special. It is a rather ordinary wooden set. It was donated in 2005 by the Israeli chess player, coach, and overall Rishon Le'Tziyon club "character", Shmuel "Dugo" Friedman. One can find many photos of him in the 'history' section of Rishon Le'Tziyon's chess club's web site [link in Hebrew]. It is dedicated to the memory of his parents and family.

Why would he donate an old chess set to the memory of his parents and family? Because, the signs in the photo explain (the bottom sign is illegible in this picture) this is the very set they played on until they were shipped to Auschwitz, where they were murdered in 1944.

P.S.

"Dugo" (b. 1919) should not be confused with the other Israeli player named Shmuel Friedman (b. 1951).

Jeremy Gaige, 1927 - 2011

2011-03-15T10:42:00.000-07:00

The recent death of Jeremy Gaige, the world's best chess archivist, is deeply felt by the chess historians' world community. Edward Winter notes, in his usual meticulous style, that Gaige had (inter alia) a 'thoroughly international' style in his collection of data, by no means limiting himself to English-language sources.

This is indeed so. Very often I relied on Gaige for information about many Israeli (or Palestinian, or Jewish) chess players, including ones that are extremely obscure and unknown by most Israeli players today. May he rest in peace.

Najdorf's Last Serious Game -- Analyzed by Najdorf

2011-02-24T11:48:00.000-08:00

Yochanan Afek had sent me material he had received from Herbert Perez-Garcia, who interviewed the participants of the 1996 Groningen tournament -- the 50th anniversary tournament of the 1946 Groningen event, which was the first postwar international tournament. The contestants in 1996 included all the survivors: Guimand, Smyslov, Najdorf, Denker, Szabo, Christoffel, and Yanofsky. Of these, four (Najdorf, Denker, Szabo and Yanofsky) were Jews. All players involved had died in the meantime.

The videos are quite interesting, showing how, even in extreme old age, these men found great enjoyment in chess, and also in post-mortem analysis. All the videos are available here (mostly in Spanish, but some in English). The most interesting one where Najdorf analyzes the last serious game he played -- appropriately, a victory, over Denker:

A Whole new Meaning to the term "Chess in the Schools".

2011-02-21T10:34:00.000-08:00

In Israeli schools, grades are not known by number but by letter; e.g., 'grade a' = 1st grade, 'grade b' = 2nd grade, etc. Most schools have more than one class in each grade, and the classes are known by number: class d1 means the 1st fourth-grade class in the school. (The numbering is arbitrary: class d2 isn't necessarily worse or better than class d1.) Typically, children retain their number throughout their school career: e.g., the children in class c4 become class d4 the next year.

I had the following conversation (in Hebrew) with a strong chess player I know.

Me: By the way, what grade is your daughter in school?
Him: She's in the English opening.
Me: Next year the Queen's gambit, I suppose?
Him: Yes. The year after that, the Ruy Lopez.
Me: And then Bird's opening?
Him: Well, that's a rather doubtful opening, isn't it?
Me: That's what they're all like when they're 12, I've heard.

And they say chess players live in a world of their own.

Kraidman's First (?) Published Game

2011-02-19T12:36:00.000-08:00

In the following game, Yair Kraidman, then 25, defeated the reigning Israeli champion, Moshe Czerniak -- no mean feat for a 25-year-old playing against an IM, at the time when there were only about 100 IMs in the entire world.

Kraidman,Yair - Czerniak,Moshe [E73]

Israel Championship (2), 10.1957

[Annotations: Eliyahu Shahaf]

Source: Davar, 11.10.1957

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.d4 Bg7 4.e4 0–0 5.Be3 d6 6.Be2 e5 7.d5 Ne8 8.g4 f5 9.gxf5 gxf5 10.exf5 Bxf5 11.Nf3 Na6 12.Rg1 Kh8 13.Qd2 c6 14.Bh6 Bxh6 15.Qxh6 Qf6 16.Qxf6+ Nxf6 17.dxc6 bxc6 18.0–0–0 Rad8 19.Nh4 Ne4 20.Nxe4 Bxe4 21.f3 Bf5

22.Rg5!

A very nice tactic that wins two pawns, after which the country's champion [Czerniak - A.P.] fought on in a lost position.

22...Be6 23.Rh5 Rg8 24.Bd3 Rg7 25.Ng6+ Kg8 26.Nxe5 Rf8 27.Nxc6 Nc5 28.Be2 Rg2 29.Rxd6 Rxe2 30.Rxc5 Bf7 31.Rf6 Rxh2 32.Rcf5 Re8 33.Re5 Kg7 34.Rxe8 Bxe8 35.Rd6 h5 36.Nd4 Bg6 37.c5 h4 38.c6 h3 39.c7 Rh1+ 40.Kd2 h2 41.c8Q Rd1+ 42.Ke3 Re1+ 43.Kf4 h1Q 44.Qc7+ Kh8 45.Qd8+ Be8 46.Qf6+ Kh7 47.Nf5 Qh2+ 48.Ng3 a5 49.b3 Kg8 50.Qg5+ Kf8 51.Qh6+ Qxh6+ 52.Rxh6 Ra1 53.Rh2 a4 54.Nf5 axb3 55.axb3 Bg6 56.Nd4 Kf7 57.Ke5 Ke7 58.b4 Rb1 59.Kd5 Kf6 60.b5 Bd3 61.Kc5 Ke5 62.Rh5+ Kf4 63.b6 Rc1+ 64.Kd6 Ba6 65.Ra5 Bc8 66.Ne2+ 1–0

Another Game from the 1957 IDF Championship

2011-02-19T11:30:00.000-08:00

Without further ado... (and, no, it is not that Tal, of course).

Shefi - Tal [C96]

IDF Championship, 04.1957

[Annotations: Eliyahu Shahaf]

Source: Davar, 19.4.1957

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 b5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.Re1 d6 8.c3 0–0 9.h3 Be6 10.d4 exd4 11.Bxe6 fxe6 12.cxd4 d5 13.Nbd2 Bb4 14.e5 Ne4 15.a3 Bxd2 16.Bxd2 Rf7 17.Rc1 Qd7 18.Qc2 Rxf3! 19.Rxe4 dxe4 20.gxf3 Nxd4 21.Qxe4 Rf8 22.Bb4

22. ... Rf4! 23.Qa8+ Kf7 0–1

From the IDF Chess Championship, 1957

2011-02-19T02:18:00.000-08:00

The IDF's championship was started in Israel in 1951 (link in Hebrew). By the late 1950s it became a tradition. In 1957 Davar published an interesting game from the championship, between Maor (White) and Bonin (Black), which shows quite well the dangers of a premature attack -- the old rule, 'the reply to an attack in the wings is a counterattack in the center' still applies. Indeed, practically no top player plays this variation as White.

Maor - Bonin [C78]

IDF Championship , March/April 1957

Source: Davar, 12.4.1957

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 b5 6.Bb3 d6 7.Ng5?! d5!

8.exd5 Nd4 9.d6 Nxb3 10.dxc7 Qxc7 11.axb3 h6 12.Nf3 Bd6 13.d3 0–0 14.h3 e4 15.Nd4 Bc5 16.Nxb5 Qb8 17.N5c3 Bxh3 18.Nxe4 Ng4 19.g3 Bb6 20.Bf4 Qb7 21.Qf3 Kh8 22.Nbd2 f5 23.Nd6 Qxf3 24.Nxf3 Bxf1 25.Rxf1 Rad8 26.Nh4 Rf6 27.Nc4 Ba7 28.Ne5 Kh7 29.Nxg4 fxg4 30.Ng2 Re6 31.Ne3 g5 32.Bc7 Rc8 33.Ba5 Bxe3 34.fxe3 Rxe3 35.Bc3 Rxg3+ 36.Kh2 Rh3+ 37.Kg2 Re8 38.Rf7+ Kg6 0–1

More Retrograde Analysis

2011-02-18T13:16:00.000-08:00

We have already encountered the work of Yehuda Weisberg, who was killed in the Israeli war of independence in 1948. On 17.5.1957, Davar dedicated its chess column to his memory, noting he had 'made a name for himself in retrograde analysis'. Indeed he had.

Davar published a previously-unknown retrograde analysis problem by him, which is -- I believe -- seen here in English for the first time. (The usual caveats about originally being hard to prove apply.)

Source: Davar, 17.5.1957

What was Black's last move?

(It's harder -- much harder -- than it looks!)

The Ruth Opening

2011-02-05T12:20:00.000-08:00

It is probably not known today that the American junior chess champion in the 1950s, Saul Philip Wachs, (thanks for the middle name, Mr. Gaige!) visited Israel in 1955. The details of the trip were given by him in an interview to Davar, published Jan. 20th, 1956.

Saul Wachs. Photo Credit: Davar, Jan. 20th, 1956.

Wachs, the interview tells us, visited Israel as part of an intensive four-month learning tour as part of his training as a teacher. He is quite positive about Israel in general and chess in Israel in particular. He notes that he played in one serious tournament (the Jerusalem club's Hannukah tournament), three blitz tournaments, and... gave ten simultaneous exhibitions. In particular he notes -- correctly -- that Israel was developing a new generation of younger players who are challenging the "old guard" of players who were born and raised in Europe. He is especially impressed by the large number of female players, noting that in the USA one hardly ever 'sees a skirt in a chess club.' He adds, no doubt to his interviewer's delight, that the chess columns in the Israeli press are 'on a high level' and that if only 'the Israeli ministry of education and culture would pay attention to chess', Israel will have great chess success.

These niceties concluded (Wachs doesn't forget to mention some of his co-students are thinking of making aliya and emigrating to Israel, a statement that at the time was more or less expected as a formality from any Jewish visitor to the country) the interview concludes with a game between Wachs and Rosenberg in the Jerusalem tournament. Unsurprisingly, the game isn't found in "standard" databases. It is interesting that what later became known as the Trompowsky opening is named by Wachs as an opening system 'associated with William Ruth'.

Wachs,Saul - Rosenberg [D01]
Hannukah Tournament, Dec. 1955
(Annotations: Saul Wachs)

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 this opening system is associated with William Ruth, a veteran master in the USA. Ne4 3.Bf4 d5 4.f3 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bf5 6.Bg5 Nc6 Prevents White's e4, but White can exploit the knight's awkward place and gain the advantage. 7.Bxf6 exf6 8.e3 Bb4 9.Bd3 Bg6 10.Nge2 Qe7 11.Qd2 0–0–0 12.a3 Ba5 13.b4 Bb6 14.Kf2 Bxd3 15.cxd3 g5 16.Rhb1 Nb8 17.a4 c6 18.a5 Bc7 19.b5 h5 20.a6 b6 21.bxc6 Nxc6 22.Nb5 Bb8 23.Rc1 Kd7 24.Nec3 Qe6 25.Re1 Bxh2 26.e4 Ne7 27.exd5 Qf5 28.Qa2 Threatens 29. d6 or 29. Qa4.

It's not often one sees an isolated triple pawn...

28...g4 Better was 28. ... Ke8. 29.d6 Bxd6 30.Nxd6 Kxd6 31.Qa3+ Kc7 32.Rxe7+ Rd7 33.Rc1 gxf3 34.gxf3 Due to time pressure White missed 34.Nb5+ Kb8 (34...Kd8 35.Nd6! winning instantly) 35.Qd6+! Rxd6 36.Rb7+ Ka8 37.Nc7# 34...Kd8 35.Rxd7+ Qxd7 36.Nb5! Re8 37.Qd6 1–0

Persitz Defeats Penrose and Alexander

2011-01-22T03:29:00.000-08:00

Raphael Persitz, Davar, 16.4.1954

In Davar, April 16th, 1954, we read:

Shortly after the end of the international tournament in Hastings... the winner, C. H. O'D. Alexander, fell pray to the young Israeli master Raphael Persitz. Two weeks later Persitz defeated one of the top English masters, Jonathan Penrose, in the following game...

the interesting thing here is that neither of these games are mentioned in the "standard" databases (e.g., Chessbase 9, or the Interent database http://www.chessgames.com/). (Edited to add: the Persitz-Penrose game is found Chessbase's 11 Mega Database, see comments). This, of course, is no proof of these games being "unknown": all it means is that the games were played in smaller (non-international) events.

In Davar a week later (23.4.54) we read:

Persitz's victory over Alexander had, as expected, created a stir in the English press. Alexander's victory over Botvinnik in the 1946 radio match gave him a reputation of a great player, but his victory in Hastings, and especially his sensational defeat of Bronstein, were the apex of his career and got him worldwide press. No doubt Persitz chose the right moment. At the request of many of our readers we are publishing the game.

It is, indeed, an intersting game -- a nice example of mutual "pawn storms".

Persitz, Raphael - Penrose, Jonathan [C29]
(Event?)
Source: Davar, 16.4.1954

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 d5 4.fxe5 Nxe4 5.d3 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Be7 7.Nf3 0–0 8.d4 Bf5? The source of Black's future troubles. 9.Bd3! Bxd3 10.Qxd3 c5 11.0–0 Nc6 12.Rb1! The purpose of this move will be made clear in five more moves. 12...b6 13.Be3 cxd4 Looking for counterplay on the c-file 14.cxd4 Rc8 15.Qf5! Kh8 The "logical" 15...f6? is impossible because of 16.Qe6+ Kh8 17.Rb5 16.Rbd1 Nb4 17.Ng5! Every move counts here; no point protecting the "cannon fodder" pawns. 17...Bxg5 18.Bxg5 Qe8 19.Rf3! Rc6! 19...Qe6? 20.Qxe6 fxe6 21.Rxf8+ Rxf8 22.Be7 wins a piece. 20.c3 Na6 forced. 21.Rdf1! again preventing Qe6.

22.Bf6! The final blow. 22...Qc8 23.Qh5 gxf6 desperation in a desperate position. 24.Rh3 Qxh3 25.Qxh3 fxe5 26.dxe5 Re6 27.Rf5 h6 28.Rf6! Rxf6 Forced. 29.exf6 Kh7 30.Qf5+ Kh8 31.Qf4 1–0

Alexander, C. H. O'D - Persitz, Raphael
Glochestershire - Oxfordshire match (Scotch game)
Swindon, 27.3.54
Source: Davar 23.4.1954

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 Bb4 5.d5 Ne7 6.Nxe5 0–0 7.Qd4! Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 Re8 9.Bg5 Nf5! 10.exf5 d6 11.f4 dxe5 12.fxe5 Qxd5 13.0–0–0! Qxd4 14.cxd4 Ne4 15.Bh4 Nc3 16.Rd3 Nxa2+ 17.Kb2 Nb4 18.Rf3 a5 19.c3 Nd5 20.Bc4 c6 21.g4 b5 22.Bd3 Bd7 23.g5 c5

24.Rhf1 a4 25.Be4 Bc6 26.g6 a3+

27.Ka1 cxd4 28.gxf7+ Kxf7 29.e6+ Kg8 30.cxd4 Ra4 31.Rg1 Rxd4 32.f6 Rxe4 33.f7+ Kf8 34.fxe8Q+ Kxe8 35.Bf2 b4 36.Bc5 Rxe6 37.Rf8+ Kd7 38.Rxg7+ Ne7 39.Bxb4 Bd5 40.Rff7 1–0

A Persitz Interview and a Bronstein Quip

2011-01-22T02:23:00.000-08:00

David Bronstein (left) vs. C. H. O'D Alexander, Hastings 1954, as it appeared in Davar 29.1.1954. For a better quality photo see here.

In 1953/1954, Raphael "Raaphy" Persitz was in Hastings. Persitz himself played in Hastings' traditional Christmas / New Year festival two years later. He sent an article about the tournament to to Davar -- 'The Kings' Moves in the City of Tzrichim' (a pun in Hebrew: Tzrichim means both 'turrnets' or 'spires', as in church spires, and 'rooks') -- from which this photo is taken.

In the article, he interviewed David Bronstein, who showed his usual sense of humor. Example of Bronstein's quips from that interview:

- [On Horne]: I fear a man who opens with the king's gambit.
- Why do I spend ten minutes to 30 minutes on the first move? I must decide what opening to play.
- Can't I do it at home? No, the opening position is too complicated.

Kasparov - Sharansky, 0-1 (Simultaneous Exhibition)

2011-01-17T12:07:00.000-08:00

The Streatham & Brixton Chess Blog, which is well-worth visiting in general, had just published a post, 'The Interesting French Exchange XIV' about that opening's theory (1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5).
Surprisingly, perhaps, one of the games has an Israeli connection. It is a game where Kasparov, giving a simultaneous exhibition in Jerusalem in 1996, was defeated by Natan Sharansky, a well-known political activist in Israel and (previously) the USSR. The game is also found elsewhere, of course (e.g., http://www.chessgames.com/) but it's nice to have some attention drawn to it...

The result is not (that) surprising: Sharansky is quite a strong player, having taken up the game seriously when imprisoned for political activism in the USSR. Surely Sharansky is a serious candidate (if we exclude Kasparov himself) for 'strongest chess-playing politician', although admittedly the competition isn't much.

The game is worth looking at from the purely "chessic" point of view, too. Sharansky's sacrificial attack beginning with 15. Nxf2 is very nice.

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bd3 Be7 6.h3 Nc6 7.a3 Ne4 8.c4 Bf5 9.O-O dxc4 10.Bxc4 O-O 11.d5 Na5 12.Ba2 c5 13.Re1 c4 14.Nbd2

14. ... Nxf2! 15.Kxf2 Bc5+ 16.Re3 Bxe3+ 17.Kxe3 Re8+ 18.Kf2 Qxd5 19.Kg1 Rad8 20.Kh1 b5 21.Qf1 Bd3 22.Qg1 Nc6 23.Nb1 Nd4 24.Nxd4 Qxd4 25.Nc3 Qxg1+ 26.Kxg1 Re1+ 27.Kf2 Rde8 28.Nxb5 and White resigned without waiting for the opponent's move (0-1).

The final position:

Family Connections: Garry Kasparov Interviewed by Yosef Lapid's son, Yair

2011-01-16T08:51:00.000-08:00

Kasparov gets top billing: a major interview in Israel's most popular news program, by the interviewer Yair Lapid, the son of the late Yosef "Tommy" Lapid, who was mentioned in this blog quite often. The elder Lapid was a good friend of Kasparov, as well as the head of the Israel Chess Federation (site in Hebrew).

To non-Hebrew speakers, Lapid's pre-interview introduction says, in part: 'The ability to play chess is often considered the most refined intellectual ability there is. If so, we have just interviewed the world's most intelligent man -- Garry Kasparov'. One wonders how much of this is Lapid fils' view and how much is Lapid pere's; in any case a very reliable source (who wishes to remain anonymous) told me that Yair Lapid was, as a young man at least, quite a talented amateur.

The interview itself is in English.

Akiba Rubinstein and Polish Chess (Hat Tip: Yochanan Afek)

2011-01-16T08:39:00.000-08:00

The well-known Israeli / Dutch player, Yochanan Afek, had noted that YouTube has an excellent video about Akiba Rubinstein and, more generally, the history of Polish (and Jewish) chess. Here they are, in order:

Jeremy Gaige and Jewish History

2011-01-15T04:44:00.000-08:00

Jeremy Gaige's indispensible Chess Personalia: A Biobibliography is a wonderful research tool for chess historians, but one would not think it contains shocking data. But a careful reading shows that it does -- to those who know where to look and who can recognize what the birth and death dates and places really mean.

Below is how the entries of Abraham Ibn Ezra (who wrote the famous poem about chess), Salo Landau (who perished in Auschwitz) and David Przepiorka (who died -- probably -- in the Lodz ghetto) appear. Many death dates and locations in Gaige's Chess Personalia are, in reality, silent witnesses to the victims of the holocaust.

Problemists in Israel, the 1950s

2011-01-14T05:58:00.000-08:00

As often noted on this blog before, in the 1950s the Israeli problemists were coming into their own. Here is one typical month's worth of work by such problemists -- all mates in two -- published in one of the smaller newspapers in the country at the time, Ha'Tzophe [The Observer], during one month.

While none of these problems are outstanding classics, they are all competently executed and quite good. This is the level achieved by composers in one small country, in one field (direct mate in two) of composing, during one month, in one newspaper. Some of the questions have many tries, changed mates, and other pleasing features; on the other hand we see once again the problemists' eternal nemesis, misprints, crop up again: the third problem is missing a black bishop on f2, as the paper made clear in a correction published three weeks later.

At the time Israeli newspapers were divided along political lines. Al Ha'Mishmar, for example, belonged to the left-wing "Mapam" party; Ha'Tzophe to the right-wing "Mizrachi" party. But when it came to chess, the left and the right both agreed.

Here is how the problem appeared in the paper. English spelling of names, as per usual, following Jeremy Gaige's Chess Personalia: a Biobibliography, except when indicated.

Yechezkel Hillel, 2X, 5/9/1958, Grimshaw theme.

Ze'ev Landau, 2X. 14/9/1958. Self-block theme.

Y. Isikovich (ph. spelling), 2X. 19/9/1958.

Aryeh Gruenblatt (ph. spelling), 2X. 26/9/1958. Zagoruiko theme.

Solutions (highlight to view):

Hillel: 1). Qh2
Landau: 1). Qe8
Isikovich [add black bishop on f2]: 1). Qa5
Gruenblatt: 1). Sc3

New Year's Resolutions, Chess Version

2011-01-08T09:35:00.000-08:00

Credit: Bill Watterson's Calvin & Hobbes

My resolutions for this new year, chess-wise, are two. First, to ~~reach 'Expert' strength through constant improvement~~ establish connection with an advanced civilization from another planet (I need to remain realistic, after all). Second, and more important, is to finish my long-overdue book about chess in Mandatory Palestine and Israel. This blog, after all, started as an attempt to help with that project.

Politicians and Lookalikes

2010-12-17T12:57:00.000-08:00

Above are the front and back of a photograph from the late Moshe Czerniak's collection, shown to me by Yochanan Afek. It was taken in Brasil in 1949, as the back makes clear. The man playing White (or, at least, sitting at the board) is, apparently, Eurico Gaspar Dutra (1883-1974), 16th president of Brasil. Is it just me, or does he bear a striking resemblance to Bogoljubow?

Also, the signature of Czerniak's friend reads, so far as I can make out, "Alberto Camara". If I am reading the name correctly, presumably he is a relation of Ronald Carama and/or Helder Camara, both of whom were (separately) chess champions of Brasil in the 1960s. Or perhaps it is the nickname or second name of one of them. Gaige's Chess Personalia has no entry for "Alberto Camara".

The Ultimate Chess Sacrifice

2010-12-11T00:55:00.000-08:00

Isidor Gunsberg. Image credit: http://www.wikipedia.com/

This time, something from the distant past -- Steinitz's and Gunsberg's wit. (Source for this post is Kasparov's My Great Predecessors, vol. 1, pp. 80-85 of the Hebrew Edition). Both, of course, were Jews.

In his first match with Chigorin (Havanah 1889), Steinitz noted that his young opponent of the old (romantic, sacrificial) school sacrificed pawns and pieces, but he, the old player of the new (positional) school, went further: he sacrificed entire games, to "illustrate what I understood to be sound positional principles."

In their short cable match (which Chigorin won 2-0), 1890/1, Steinitz, as Black, also "sacrificed" the first game, when he played 6. ... Qf6?! and then 7. ... Nh6!? in the Evans gambit, as he recommended in his book The Modern Chess Instructor:

Steinitz eventually lost that game.

Later, in his match with Gunsberg (see above picture), in the 12th game, Gunsberg as white played the Evans gambit for the first time. Before playing 6. ... Qf6?!, Steinitz asked Gunsberg, surprised: 'Do you think I am morally required to play against you just like I played against Chigorin?' Gunsberg replied, 'Not exactly required, but the public demands you defend your principles!'

Steinitz eventually lost that game, too.

I wonder if it's possible to "sacrifice" more than one game. In recent times, Topalov's public declaration (through his manager) before their world championship to neither offer nor accept draws from Anand during the games in their world might qualify (hat tip: A. Weiler). Topalov's "sacrifice" is not in the decision itself, but in binding himself publicly to it in advance. He thus put himself at a disadvantage for the entire match. Indeed, he stuck to it: only one (the 10th) game was drawn by agreement, in a dead-draw position where it was pointless to play on.

Sacrificing the world championship by playing according to one's principles when safe draw would assure one the championship is surely the greatest possible chess sacrifice. If so, the last game of the Lasker-Schlechter match (possibly! -- see below) qualifies. Schlechter, after losing none of the previous games and leading 5-4, lost the last game by playing for a win at all costs (which, Tal notably remarked, is 'practically equivalent to playing for a loss'...). Perhaps this was because of a clause requiring a two-game lead to gain the title (though current evidence is that such a clause probably did not exist), but more likely because he did not want to win the match on the strength of his "fluke" victory in the 5th game.

(Edited: a commentator on this post added that it is unclear whether the Lasker-Schlechter match was for the world championship. Edward Winter, careful as always, notes that the terms of the match are an 'unsolved and probably insoluble mystery'. Hooper and Whyld's The Oxford Companion to Chess also notes (under 'Schlechter') that 'it is not known whether the title is in the balance'. Whatever the exact conditions, certainly the match itself, if not the world championship, was in stake.)

Why I Created this Blog

2010-11-27T08:43:00.000-08:00

Image credite: Hangvirus.

Without comment, I am giving here the English-language version of two letters published in Ha'aretz on November 12th, 2010, in reply to Natan Sharansky's claim in the same paper on Oct. 29th that there was hardly any chess activity in Israel before the 1980s. This blog exists, partially, so that such mistakes will not be repeated...

With all due respect

Regarding "King for a day," Haaretz Magazine, October 29

In Eli Shvidler's article about Alik Gershon, Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky says, "When I came to Israel, they played backgammon here" and "Chess is part of the culture of sport that the mass aliyah from the Soviet Union brought with it." The mention of backgammon to insinuate that sport in Israel existed only at a "primitive" level does an injustice to the people who lived here.

With all due respect to the immigrants from the Soviet Union, chess matches were being held in Israel long before they arrived, even before the founding of the state, and in 1935 and 1938 Israel took part in the Chess Olympics. In 1945, my father, the late Shaul Hon, was a major chess organizer, and after the state was founded called for chess to be included in the education system. In 1958, on the state's 10th anniversary, the first international chess competition was held, and other international competitions have been held in Israel since then.

Aliyah from the Soviet Union did indeed bring many strong chess players, but this began with immigration in the 1970s from the Soviet Union; the infrastructure was in place long before that.

Orna Shkedi

Petah Tikva

Cultural snobbism

Natan Sharansky's cultural snobbism knows no bounds, and is especially galling coming from someone who bears the title of Chairman of the Jewish Agency. In one stroke, Sharansky erases the glorious history of chess in Israel, which dates all the way back to the British Mandate period.

Sharansky would do well to learn a little more about the history of Israeli chess. A brief overview: ninth place in the 1939 Chess Olympics, seventh place in the 1954 Chess Olympics (including a 2:2 tie against the team from the Soviet Union ), second place in the 1965 Chess Olympics for students. And here are a few names worth remembering: Yosef Porat, Moshe Czerniak, Zadok Domnitz, Raafi Persitz, Shimon Kagan, Dr. Menachem Oren, Yitzhak Aloni. To the best of my knowledge, all are acclaimed chess players and all are Jewish Israelis, even if they weren't born in the countries that were once part of the Soviet Union.

Michael Edelman

Petah Tikva

"Dosh" and Chess

2010-11-27T07:51:00.000-08:00

The King is Mated, Long Live the King -- The Students' Olympiads. Image credit: 'simaniya' [Hebrew]

The Ending in Chess. Image credit: 'simaniya' [Hebrew]

The Hebrew caricaturist Kariel Gardosh, known as "Dosh", was probably Israel's most famous caricaturist. Like his fellow Hungarian friends, Yosef "Tommy" Lapid and Efraim Kishon, he worked for many years in Ma'ariv, the Israeli daily, and were known as the "Hungarian Mafia".

"Dosh" illustrated many books -- and interstingly, some chess books as well. These included not only Shaul Hon's Pt'ichot Be'Sachmat [Chess Openings], as noted in a previous post, but also at least two other books: Ha'Melech Mat Yechi Ha'Melech, Olympiadot Ha'Studentim [The King is Mated, Long Live the King -- the Students' Olympiads] (1970, Tel Aviv: Emanuel Lasker Chess Club) and Ha'Siyum Be'Sachmat [The Ending in Chess] (Tel Aviv: Shach, 1961).

Playing Conditions, 1953

2010-11-26T14:05:00.000-08:00

Source: Davar, 15.12.1953

To give the reader an idea about the kind of conditions in Israel in the 1950s, there is this advertisement:

The Kibutizm Union / Culture Department

On Dec. 18-19 there will be a CONFERENCE OF CHESS PLAYERS in Genigar. Details were sent in the mail. The comrades should arrive in Genigar by 3 PM. Participants should bring a chess set and bed sheets.

Presumably, the sheets were to sit on due to lack of chairs and tables...

Hon's "Chess Openings"

2010-11-19T05:57:00.000-08:00

Image Credit: A.P.

Shaul Hon's book Ptichot be'Sachmat (1957) [Chess Openings] was a very popular book in Israel -- it reached a fourth edition in 1968, unprecedented for a Hebrew-language chess book. It is notable for a few things:

1). Its first section (pp. 3-40 in the 1968 edition) give a very interesting, if by today's standards somewhat inaccurate, history of chess in the world in general and among Jews (whether in Israel, Palestine, or elsewhere) in particular. Specifically, Hon actually asked and received a reply from Israel's chief rabbi in 1957, 'The honorable Rabbi Dr. Itzhak (Isaac) Ha'Levi Herzog', as Hon calls him, about chess in Judaism. The Rabbi's reply was that despite certain rabbis who forbade chess, most authorities in Judaism do not forbid (and often even encourage) chess playing, so long as it satisfies certain conditions -- e.g., not playing for money, not on the Shabbath, it does not become an obsession that stops one from studying the Torah, etc.

2). He has an interesting theory (pp. 49-55, ibid) about why the chess pieces are placed or move as they are -- e.g., that rooks are in the corners since that's where the heavy forces would be in the battle, etc. He thinks that pawns capture diagonally because archers would try to hit armored men from the side!

3). The cover for the 1968 edition was by the well-known Israeli caricaturist "Dosh" (Kariel Gardosh).

4). The book, like many books at the time printed in Israel, tried to "Judaise" chess a little bit -- emphasizing the importance of Jewish masters over that of non-Jewish ones, especially those like the anti-semitic Alekhine. E.g., about 1. e4 Nf6 Hon writes (my translation, p. 113 ibid):

This defense is mistakenly named after Alekhine... in reality it was already practiced in the 1880s, but achieved no success. Only after the Jewish Aron Nimzowitch published a series of articles before WWI calling for the development of pieces over pawns in the opening [i.e., the hypermodern school -- A.P.] -- only then did this defense's time arrive. Alekhine used it successfully in the international tournament in Budapest 1921 and it received his name, but in reality Alekhine mixed the tactical form of this defense with Nimzowitch's strategic ideas.

Whenever any Jewish player is mentioned, their Judaism is emphasized. E.g., when Tarrasch is mentioned, his Judaism is emphasized, but not, of course, his conversion to Christianity in 1909 (as when discussing 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2, p. 104); and Hon even divided chess history as a whole into the 'romantic stage', the 'strategic stage' -- 'starting with the appearance of the Jewish Steinitz' -- and the 'modern stage' -- developed 'mostly by Jews: Nimzowitch, Reti, Breyer, Dr. Tartakover -- joined later by non-Jews' (p. 24).

Jews contributed a lot to chess, true, but saying chess would, in effect, be still in the 19th-century romantic school if it weren't for them (as Hon is implying) is hardly established fact.

Problemists in the Jailhouse

2010-11-13T06:39:00.000-08:00

Yehuda Weisberg
Source: Eliyahu Fasher's Ha'Problemai Ha'Israeli: Yesodot Ha'Kompositziya Ha'Sachmetait [The Israeli Problemist: the Basics of Chess Composition], Tel Aviv: Israeli Problemist Association, 1964, p. 47.

In Eliyahu Fasher's book we find the following letter from Weisberg, one of the earliest Israeli (or Palestinian) problemists, to Yechezkel Hillel, another problemist. Weisberg was arrested in 1946 by the British, who then ruled what was then the British Mandate of Palestine, presumably for being involved in actions having to do with the Jewish para-military groups at the time, such as the Haganah. (Weisberg was later killed in action in the 1948 war of independence in the battle in Ahsdot-Ya'akov). After his release he wrote (Fasher's book above, p. 48, my translation):

[T]he material sent to me by Yosef Goldschmidt [another Israeli problemist -- A.P.] and your notebooks arrived only in the last week of my arrest. The rest of the material I didn't receive yet. Your notebooks had nice problems and it's a pity it stayed "there"... I usually didn't use the time for composing and only composed two problems, one of them on the first day of my arrest in the car to the jailhouse... on the way back after my release we went through Rishon Le'tziyon and naturally I stopped and visited "Goldschmidt & co." [a group of problemists, headed by Goldschmidt, who lived in that town at the time, including Grisha Rivlin, Ben-tzion Handel, Meir Shatil and others -- Fasher.]

I doubt many other people would start their trip to a military prison composing a problem and end it with a visit to a problemists' hang-out... But this is not all. In the same letter Weisberg writes (Fasher, Ibid., p. 48):

I got a reply from Dawson (presumably Thomas Dawson, the British problemist and editor) and he will publish my problems.

Was there ever in history a case where a man received a note from a British editor that the editor would be glad to publish his problems... while sitting in jail as an enemy of the British Empire?

Nimzowitch's Hebrew Signature

2010-10-30T13:26:00.000-07:00

Credit: Davar 3.5.1935

In a obituary to Aron Nimzowitch published in Davar, 3.5.1935 (editor: Moshe Marmorosh), there appears a photo of Nimzowitch with his name signed in Hebrew letters. Apparently this is supposed to be his own signature in Hebrew (or Yiddish). It is almost certain that Nimzowitch, a European Jew, spoke and wrote Yiddish (and perhaps Hebrew), but are there other examples of his signature in this language?

The First Israeli Telephone Match

2010-10-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

L. to R.: D. Carmeli, Y. Maroz and Y. Ish-Horowitz, the "Kol Israel" operators of the special phone line during the match. Source: Shaul Hon's Davar chess column, 4.1.1952.

On 14.12.1951, Shaul Hon's chess column in Davar declared there will be a "chess duel" between Tel Aviv and the rest of the country. The gimmick -- the match will be transmitted on a special phone line between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The match took place over Hannukah 5712 (last week of December 1951). According to the 4.1.1952 report in Hon's chess column, the result was (Tel Aviv's team on the left):

1). Aloni (W)- Czerniak (B) 1:0 (White won)
2). Mandelboim (ph. spelling) (B)- Porat (W) 0.5:0.5
3). Hon (B)- Glass (W) : "Game stopped where Hon has chances of a draw".
4). Keniazer (W) - Dyner (B) : "Game stopped with Keniazer a piece up and with winning chances".

So Tel Aviv showed its superiority over "the rest of the country". Hon gives the sharpest game -- Aloni - Czerniak -- in his 18.1.1952 column. As usual, a computer check finds some oversights but on the whole Hon's analysis is quite good.

Aloni, Itzchak - Czerniak, Moshe

Tel Aviv - "Rest of Country" Telephone Match, 12.1951

[Comments: Shaul Hon and (when noted) Rybka 2.3.2]

E71: King's Indian: 4 e4 d6 5 h3

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.h3

To prevent Ng4 after Be3.

5...0–0 6.Be3 e5 7.d5 Ne8

This defense's problems are seen in the cramping of the c8 Bishop and the entire Queen side.

8.g4 f5 9.gxf5 gxf5 10.Nf3

White has more space and attacking chances on the King's side.

10...f4?

Now the c8 Bishop is completely paralyzed.

11.Bd2 Rf6 12.Qc2 Rh6

A rook with no future.

13.0–0–0 a6

Better is 13...a5 with the idea of Nd7-c5 since there's no White Bishop on e3.

14.Kb1 c5 15.dxc6

(Rybka prefers 15.Qb3 immediately.)

15...Nxc6 16.c5!

Activating White's King's Bishop.

16...b5 17.cxb6 Be6?

Better is 17...Qxb6 18.Nd5 Qb7 19.Qxc6 Qxc6 20.Ne7+ Kf8 21.Nxc6 Bb7 22.Rc1 Rc8 And Black recovers the piece. (Rybka quite agrees...)

18.b7 The winning pawn. (Here Rybka prefers 18.Nd5.)

18...Rb8 19.Nd5 Ne7 20.Bxa6 Nxd5 21.exd5 Bf7?

Better is 21...Bxd5 22.Bxf4 Bxf3 23.Qb3+ Kh8 24.Bxh6 Bxd1 25.Bxg7+ and wins the Bishop on d1. (Rybka believes 21...Qb6 as the best chance).

22.Ka1 22...Bh5 23.Qb3

(Rybka prefers 23.Qc8 Bxf3 24.Ba5 Rxc8 25.bxc8Q Qxc8 26.Bxc8. But this move does set a trap...)

23...e4 ('??' -Rybka, since it allows the following combination.)

24.Rc1

A deliberate sacrifice to allow Rc8.

24...Bxf3 25.Rhg1 Rg6 26.Rxg6 hxg6 27.Rc8 Qg5

Desperation.

28.a4 e3 29.fxe3 Bxd5 30.Bc4 Bxc4 31.Qxc4+ d5

32.Rxb8

Generosity!

32...dxc4 33.Rxe8+ Kf7 34.b8=Q Qg1+ 35.Ka2 Qd1 36.Rd8 Qxa4+ 37.Kb1 And Czerniak resigned on the next move. (1–0).

A Nice Combination by Shaul Hon

2010-10-15T14:37:00.000-07:00

Shaul Hon - "R. M.". White plays and wins.

Shaul Hon, one of Israel's main chess organizers, authors, and all-around chess activists, was (as he would surely would have been the first to admit) by no means a weak player, but not a particularly strong one. He never, for example, played on Israel's national team in the Olympiad or won Tel Aviv's (or the national) championship.

But this does not mean he could not find good moves! Above is an ending (given in Davar's chess column, which he edited, on 27/10/1950 as "ending 78" from a game "played in September 1950") where White wins with a nice combination.

Solution (highlight to view):

1. Ne5+ Kh6 2. Ng4+ Kg6 3. Be4+ Qxe4 4. Qxh7+ Kxh7 5. Nf6+

Persitz's Earliest (?) Published Game and Photograph

2010-10-09T09:57:00.000-07:00

Tel Aviv Championship, March 1950. Sitting (L. to R.): Dr. N. Labunski, Y. Dobkin, H. Cahana, Dr. M. Oren (then Chwojnik), A. Weiler (phonetic spelling), A. Sokolovski (ph.). Standing (L. to R.): A. Labunski, D. Wolfinger (ph.), S. Smiltiner, Y. Harnick (ph.), W. Wollpart (ph.), R. Persitz (red dot), K. Friedman, M. Koynovski (ph.) Source: Davar's chess column, 3.3.1950. Some spellings from Jeremy Gaige's Chess Personalia: a Biobibliography.

Raphael Persitz (1934-2009) was one of Israel's greatest natural talents. His first published game -- to my knowledge -- is the following victory over Avraham Labunski, Tel Aviv's champion, in the second round of the Tel Aviv Championship of 1949-50 (Jewish year 5710). It was played in the 2nd round.

I doubt there was a change in the editors of the chess column from Shaul Hon to anyone else, but, for the record, for a few months previously (and in this column as well) the chess column was unsigned -- nor was Hon given any credit for it anywhere in the paper (so far as I could find). Hon had often mentioned elsewhere that he is "in the army" as an excuse for delays. Perhaps at the time the column was done by someone else due to Hon being on active duty?

The reason for me wondering is that the annotations are a bit odd. First, it is true that in this line, unlike in some others in the Nimzo-Indian, 8. Qxc3 is less popular than 8. bxc3, but it is still playable (the motivation is, naturally, to not double the pawns as well as to keep the two Bishops, although here this plan is probably not the best.) Second, the annotator's insistence that, in effect, all of White's trouble come from "moving the queen too much" seems to me to be rather dogmatic. Third, taking the annotations as a whole, one wonders why, if White made somewhere between four and six bad moves up to that point, and wasted a third of his moves on Queen wanderings, Black only has "the initiative" (as opposed to a completely winning position) by move 22. (A computer check also shows Black has only a slight, though real, advantage after 22. ... Qc8.) Perhaps Hon was in the army and the annotations done by someone else?

Labunski,Avraham - Persitz,Raaphi [E38]

Tel Aviv Championship 49/50 (2), 04.03.1950
[Annotations: Hon, Shaul(?); Source: Davar's Chess Column, 10.3.1950]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.e3 0–0 6.Nf3 c5 7.a3 Bxc3+ 8.Qxc3

It is better to take with the pawn.

8...Ne4 9.Qc2

The Queen made 3 out of 9 moves and this is a loss of time in the opening.

9...Qa5+ 10.Nd2

Wants to keep the two Bishops, but Persitz continues to pressure.

10...Nc6 11.Rb1

Better is 11.cxd5 and to simplify.

11...cxd4 12.b4 Qd8 13.Nxe4 dxe4 14.Qxe4 f5

A weak move, due to the weakening of the pawn formation and the closing in of the Queen's Bishop, but White did not take advantage of this tactical mistake.

15.Qd3

Better is 15.Qc2.

15...dxe3 16.Qxe3?

The Queen again? Better to take with the Bishop, and if the Queens are exchanged White will have a better ending due to the two Bishops and Black's shut out Queen's Bishop.

16...Nd4 17.Bd3 e5

Black takes advantage of White's error and releases the Queen's Bishop.

18.0–0 Re8

18...e4? 19.Bb2!

19.f3 f4 20.Qf2 Bf5 21.Rd1 Bxd3 22.Rxd3 Qc8

Black now has the initiative.

23.c5 Qf5 24.Qd2

Of 24 moves, White's Queen made 8!

24...Rad8

Threatens 25. ... Nxf3+!

25.Kf1 Kf8

Renewing the threat. (25...Nxf3? 26.Qa2+ and wins the Knight.)

26.Qd1 Re7 27.Bb2

The Bishop finally moves.

27...Red7 28.Bxd4 Rxd4 29.Rxd4 Rxd4 30.Qe1 Qd3+ 31.Kg1 Rd5 32.a4 Qc2

The concentration of force on the second rank determines the battle.

33.h3

White is helpless.

33...Rd2 34.Qf1 Rxg2+ 35.Kh1

35.Qxg2 Qxb1+

35...Rf2 36.Qg1 Rxf3 0–1

Wolf's Later Chess Activities

2010-10-09T04:53:00.000-07:00

My previous note that Wolf apparently didn't participate in any chess activities in Palestine or Israel was wrong. As Davar chess column (Ed. Shaul Hon) noted on 6/1/1950:

On Dec. 19th 1949 the old master Siegfried Reginald Wolf celebrated his 82nd birthday. In world chess today there are only two survivors which encompass three generations: Mieses (now 84) and Wolf.Wolf attacked chess with youthful enthusiasm from his childhood, and soon conquered and got first prizes. He played with the best players in the world and had good results. Even four years ago (at the age of 78!) he participated in a six-person tournament in Haifa, and if his stamina could not keep up with that of the younger players, his thought and chess knowledge made him a hard nut to crack to the other contestants.

The S. R. Wolf Cup

2010-10-09T04:04:00.000-07:00

Tel Aviv and Rishon Le'Tziyon teams with the S. R. Wolf cup, 1950. Sitting (L. to R.): I. Dyner, L. Braun, J. Hajtun, Dr. A. Adler, L. Shatner. Standing (L. to R.): Y. Dobkin, A. Labunski, I. Aloni, Dr. M. Oren (then Chwojnik), Y. Schwartz (Rishon Le'Tziyon club secretary). Source: Davar, 27.1.1950. Spelling of some names helped by Jeremy Gaige's indispensable Chess Personalia: A Biobibliography.

Today, few people have herd of Siegfried Reginald Wolf. But, in his old age in Haifa, he was honored by the Israeli chess establishment (such as it was) at the time. One example is reported in Davar chess column (Ed. Shaul Hon) on 13, 20, and 27/1/1950.

Davar reports on these dates that the "Shemen" corporation had donated an "S. R. Wolf cup", and that various cities' teams played in the "Inter-city championship for the S. R. Wolf Cup" for it. On 14/1 and on 21/1, the Tel Aviv team won both its meetings with Rishon Le'Tziyon's team (3:2 at the Rishon Le'Tziyon club, 4.5:0.5 in the return match in Tel Aviv), winning(*) the championship (and the cup).

Davar mentions that in another match "three weeks ago" (20/1 column) Rishol Le'Tziyon's team defeated Jerusalem's team "9:3" -- from the score, although it is not explicitly stated, it seems likely this too was a double match, part of this inter-city championship.

(*) or retaining -- the 13/1 column claims Tel Aviv already "holds" the cup, the 20/1 column that the match between the two teams is "part of" the inter-city tournament for the cup. It is not clear from the reports if the cup was offered in previous years.

Siegfried Reginald Wolf, 1867-1951

2010-09-25T12:36:00.000-07:00

Image credit: Shaul Hon's chess column, Davar, 19.1.1951, p. 23

One of the forgotten players of the past was the strong player Siegfried Wolf (historical Elo rating 2330 according to Jeremy Gaige's indispensable Chess Personalia: a Biobibliography). He was an Austrian who represented his country in three Olympiads, getting decent results (see link for details). His best result is probably the (shared) championship of Austria, 1925. He emigrated to Palestine in the 1930s following Hitler's rise to power and later Anschluss of Austria, living the rest of his life in Haifa.

Despite never playing in any serious Israeli or Palestinian tournament, unsurprising considering the harrowing experience of escaping to Palestine by the skin of his teeth in his old age as the Nazis closed in, edited 9/10/2010: apparently he did participate in some tournaments after all -- see the 9/10/2010 post about Wolf. he was recognized as the "grand old man" of Palestinian (later Israeli) chess. For his "80th birthday", says Hon (actually Wolf was already in his 82nd year) a four-player tournament with Porat (then Foerder), Aloni, Glass and Feyer (phonetic spelling) was arranged by the Haifa club, with the result of... a four-way draw with 1.5 points each. (Source: Davar's chess column, ed. Shaul Hon, 17.6.49).

Below is a higher-quality image of Wolf, taken at the Leopold Trebitsch Memorial tournament of 1935. Standing: Immo Fuss, Erno Gereben, Lajos Steiner, Esra Glass, Albert Becker, Erich Eliskases, Max Gratzinger (committee). Sitting: Josef Kolnhofer, Hans Müller, Ernst Grünfeld, Rudolf Spielmann, Siegfried Wolf, Baldur Hönlinger (arbiter). The photo (and identification) is taken from a website dedicated to the tournament, and is there credited to the Schachklub Hietzing Wien.

Image credit: Jan van Reek's chess web site's Leopold Trebitsch Memorial section.

Tough Crowd

2010-09-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

Image Credit: www.chessgraphics.net

From Davar's chess column, Friday, 18.11.1949 (Ed. Shaul Hon), phonetic spelling of names:

Comrade [haver -- equivalent of "Mr." in then-socialist Israel, A.P.] Yosef Haytung (Haytenberg) from Rishon Le'tziyon gave a simultaneous exhibition Saturday night (12.11.1949) in the Hadera Chess Club against 27 opponents. The games were played quickly and took 2 hours and 35 minutes. The players showed very strong opposition and Haytung managed to win only 14, lost 11(!) and drew 2. Among the winners two youngsters of 15-16. The game aroused great interest in the town and drew a crowd of onlookers. Haytung's time record is worth mentioning, compared to Foerder (later Porat) and Aloni that took 5-6 hours.

I'll bet it drew a crowd. Then again, so did the Christians in the coliseum...

More on Czerniak and Endgame Studies

2010-09-18T12:45:00.000-07:00

A previous post about Moshe Czerniak's study prompted the following email from Yochanan Afek:

This is undoubtedly the only study Czerniak ever composed. He himself showed it to me once and noted it is his only composition. In Harold van der Hiejden's database of over 70,000 studies, there are both the original and the corrected versions. You gave the corrected version. Both appeared the same year [1932] in the same Polish magazine [Swiat Szachowy]. ... Czerniak composed only one study but was a enthusiastic fan of the art [an impression easily confirmed by others who were "Czerniak's boys" -- A.P.]. Not only would he would routinely include studies in his lectures in Bikurey Ha'itim chess club, but also publish them (mostly miniatures) every week in his chess column in Ha'aretz.

Afek adds an interesting observation:

Van der Heijden's database includes another item by Czerniak. It might be thought to be a study jointly composed by him and Mijo Udovcic [Afek adds in another email that Udovcic was the fist Croatian to win the GM title, in 1962 according to Jeremy Gaige's Chess Personalia: a Biobibliography - A.P.]. But in reality the position is exactly the same as the final position in the 1969 Zagreb international tournament and the 'study' is probably the result of the post-mortem analysis.

Actually the final position of the (drawn) game is subtly, but importantly, different than the study's initial position (Afek was using the term "exactly" slightly loosely...), but Afek is surely correct that it is a post-mortem analysis, considering "what would have been" had Black played differently and his king had been farther away from the g-file.

Czeriak, Moshe -- Udovcic, Mijo
Zagreb International Tournament, Zagreb, Yugoslavia , 9.18.1969 (Round 10), B70

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.g3 Bd7 7.Bg2 g6 8.b3 Bg7 9.Bb2 0–0 10.0–0 Nxd4 11.Qxd4 Qa5 12.Nd1 Rac8 13.Qd3 Qh5 14.f3 Rfd8 15.Ne3 Qc5 16.Bd4 Qa5 17.Rf2 b5 18.f4 Bc6 19.Nd5 Bxd5 20.exd5 Ng4 21.Re2 Qb4 22.Rd1 Bxd4+ 23.Qxd4 Qxd4+ 24.Rxd4 Rc3 25.Rxe7 Rxc2 26.h3 Kf8 27.Rde4 Nf6 28.Re2 Rxe2 29.Rxe2 Rc8 30.Kf2 Rc5 31.Rd2 Rc3 32.Bf3 Nd7 33.Ke2 Nc5 34.g4 a5 35.g5 Kg7 36.Bg4 h6 37.h4 f6 38.Bf3 b4 39.Rd4 Rc2+ 40.Rd2 Rc1 41.Kf2 fxg5 42.fxg5 hxg5 43.hxg5 Nd7 44.Ke3 Ne5 45.Be4 Nf7 46.Rg2 Rh1 47.Kf4 Rh3 48.Bf3 Ne5 49.Be4 Rh4+ 50.Ke3 Nf7 51.Bf3 Ne5 52.Be4 Rg4 53.Rxg4 Nxg4+ 54.Kd4 Ne5 55.Ke3 Kf7 56.Kf4 Ke7 Drawn.

The final position:

And now, the study's initial position:

Could White win with a piece sacrifice, trying to queen an advanced pawn against a lone knight, taking advantage of the Black king's "offside" position (in the study)? It turns out that Black has an amazing "knight-tour"-like defense.

Solution (highlight to view):

1.Bxg6 Nxg6+ 2.Kf5 Nh4+ 3.Kg4 Ng2 4.Kf3 Ne1+ 5.Ke2 Nc2 6.Kd3 Ne1+ 7.Ke2 Ng2 8.Kf3 Nh4+ 9.Kg4 Ng6 10.Kf5 ½–½

Doing their Bit

2010-09-11T13:15:00.000-07:00

Itzhak Aloni (with black hat) giving a simultaneous display to soldiers, 1948. To his left Shaul Hon. Source: Davar's chess column, Sept. 10th, 1948. Photo: P. Cheznik [phonetic spelling]

During the war of independence of 1948, Israeli chess players also did their bit. Itzhak Aloni and other players gave simultaneous exhibitions for soldiers (see picture above), and Shaul Hon arranged, reported, and even was supposed to give some displays himself (though his own display was canceled). Apparently, reports Hon (Sept.10th, 1948), this came as a request to the Emmanuel Lasker chess club in Tel Aviv from the Army's education department.

Some results were:

Yisrael Rabinovich gave the first army simul, in a military base 'somewhere in Tel Aviv'. +16 -1 (playing in 'two batches'). Date not given, but presumably ca. Aug. 1948.

Itzhack Aloni, 'Tevat Noah' [Noah's Ark] cafe in Tel Aviv, +35 -5 =1, 4/9/1948.

Jehuda Gruengard, Culture House, Tel Aviv, +15 -1, 27/11/1948.

Yoseph Herman, Culture House, Tel Aviv, +18 -4, 4/12/1948.

Dov Wulfinger, Culture House, Tel Aviv, +16 -4, 11/12/1948.

Yisrael Rabinovich, Lasker Club, Tel Aviv, +18 -1 =3, 18/12/1948. 'The entire game took only two hours and a few minutes'.

A. Mendelbaum, Culture House, Tel Aviv, +20 -2, 25/12/1948. 'An excellent time: two and a quarter hours'.

Sources: Shaul Hon's Davar's chess column, 10/9/48, 24/9/48, 2/12/48, 10/12/48, 31/12/48.

Paul Keres Photograph

2010-09-11T00:08:00.000-07:00

Photo Credit: Davar chess column (editor: Shaul Hon), p. 26, 16 4 1948.

The above picture of Paul Keres seems surprisingly little known. I stumbled upon it by chance, looking in the old Hebrew-language chess press. (Yes, I know Keres wasn't Jewish...)

Multi-Talented

2010-09-10T23:47:00.000-07:00

Looking at old newspapers for my chess research, I have discovered Shaul Hon had been, not only the editor of Davar's chess column (published in its weekly supplement, Ha'shavua, every Friday starting in the late 40s), but -- occassionally -- also one of the writers of its weekly crossword puzzle.

Given Hon's wide education and his being a student of the Hebrew language in particular, as can be seen in his biography, this is not surprising...

Chess, Art, and Peace

2010-09-04T09:39:00.000-07:00

Invitation to the "64" exhibition by the "Tramway" Group. See below for details. Image Credit: Dr. Fisher Corp.

There is a very interesting chess art exhibition in the zionists of America House (link in Hebrew) in Tel Aviv. It is part of the "art for peace collection" by Dr. Eli Fischer, the founder of the company that bears his name, and is shown in the gallery in the ZOA House named after his late wife, Deborah Fischer.

The exhibition is named "64", and the curator is Doron Polak. It is by artists of the Tramway Art Group: Lana Gerhstein, Sergey Sichenko, Igor Kaplunovich, Pavel Zehnbacht, and Nikolae Kavod. (Click on the links to get to their homepage and/or email them). Below are two examples of the art involved, used with Doron Polak's permission.

Photo: A.P.

A Study by Czerniak(?)

2010-09-03T12:40:00.000-07:00

To my surprise, a recent Chess Cafe's endgame studies column [opens as pdf file] happened to show an ending by "M. Czerniak" (Ending #709 they published, reproduced below with their information about the source). Note that the pdf file includes the long and interesting solution to the study, as well.

Presumably this is the same Moshe Czerniak who later became Israel's "Mr. Chess"; but nowhere have I heard of him ever composing studies or problems. Of course I may be wrong and it's a different Czerniak, but that seems unlikely.

Is anything else known about Czerniak as a composer?

M. Czerniak, Swiat Szachowy, 1932 (+)

The Joy of Books

2010-08-28T03:05:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, I post things on this blog that are of a general chess nature, not having anything in particular to do with Jews and/or Israel/Palestine, though they do have to do with chess, and usually, with chess history. This post is such a case.

Today, everybody just "knows" nobody needs chess books any more, and all that matters are databases -- especially so as to keep up-to-date with the latest opening novelties. But let us consider what Amos Burn had to offer us -- way back in 1901.

Burn was, in his peak (ca. 1890) almost as strong, based on his international tournament record, as Steinitz was at the time, while remaining an amateur. He was also British Amateur Champion, won many strong national tournaments, etc. He was also a longtime editor of chess columns. In the Liverpool Weekly Mercury, 17 Aug. 1901, he offered a correspondence game between the Liverpool Chess Club (where he was one of the consultants) and the Edinburgh Chess Club.

The game reached the following position:

Burn notes that, after the last move, 53. Bf4!, the Liverpool CC announced mate in 45. The Edinburgh CC, in reply, accepted their analysis and resigned the game!

Why? Burn explains in his long column (I am paraphrasing):

First, in general, White, due to his advanced passed pawn, should wins once he forces the exchange of bishops.
But things are not that simple. If Black's king were on f7, Black could accept the exchange of bishops since then he could keep the king on d8 or e8, ready to move to d7 the moment the White's king moved to e5 (e5 and d7 are corresponding squares), putting White in a drawing zugzwang. As it is, after the forced 53. ... Bxf4 54. Kxf4, if Black plays 54. ... Kd7? 55. Ke5! and it is Black who is in a losing zugzwang.
So 54. ... Kd6 is forced, and White then wins by moving his king to the queen side and queening a pawn there, as Black is too late to stop him after he takes the f-pawn.
But why is the win so long? Isn't an outside (and far-advanced) passed pawn usually quickly decisive? Because, Burn's analysis makes clear, nevertheless Black can take the f-pawn (which is relatively close to the d-file) and just manage to queen as White queens, leaving the two sides with an interesting an complicated queen's ending!

So we get:

55. Ke4 Ke6 56. Kd4 c5+ ('If 56. ... Kd6 57 c5+ wins' -- Burn.) 57. Kc3 Kd7 58. Kb3 Kd6 59. Ka4 Ke6 60. Kd7 61. f7 (at the right time) Ke7 62. Kc6 Kxf7 63. Kb7 b5 64. cxb5 c4 (nothing else reaches a queen's ending at all) 65. b6 c3 66. bxa7 c2 67. a8=Q c1=Q.

Analysis Diagram

Now, adds Burn, this queen's ending is (due to the extra advanced pawn) won for White. But it isn't simple! He notes: 'It would have been an almost endless task to... arrive at the solution by mere plodding analysis'. Instead he offers the following strategic analysis (I shortened it) of various winning plans.

Speaking generally, the a-pawn cannot be queened unless Black's king is on the second rank, otherwise the white king will be trapped in the corner.
If White's king first captures Black' pawn, he can then (both his pawns defended by the queen) take refuge in a8, advance the pawn to a7, and with his queen at b7 advance the g-pawn, threatening mate or exchange of queens. Then Black's queen must capture the g-pawn, and white checks at c8 or moves his king to b8, queening the a-pawn.
Alternatively, if the black king moves to h7 (the second rank) the a pawn can queen.
Or else, in many cases, the a-pawn can be abandoned, so long as the king is close enough to the g-pawn to queen it.
In all these cases White must avoid perpetual check, and to do this the black pawn must be made liable to capture by the White king.

So, we have, in one column:

A game where a bishop's ending turns from a drawn to a lost pawn's ending due to one tempo;
a pawn's ending that turns into a complex queen's ending;
a deep analysis of the ending's various winning plans and pitfalls;
all that leading to an announcement of mate in 45 from the original bishops' ending.

Oh, and not to mention, the complete game itself.

But amateurs think that they will get more out of chess by checking their constantly-updated database for opening novelties they will never play and won't know how to exploit if they did play.

They must be joking.

(Source of Burn's column: Richard Forster's superb Amos Burn: A Chess Biography, pp. 498-499).

Tourist-Trap Chess

2010-08-27T00:59:00.000-07:00

Photo: A.P.

Here we have something slightly different. Jerusalem's old city is full of little bazaars where Arab shopkeepers sell various knickknacks to passing tourists. Apparently "authentic" oriental chess sets are very popular.

Needless to say the actual Arab version of chess -- shatranj -- would not have queens. Instead, it would have a vazir, literally "counselor", roughly equivalent to "prime minister", or the shah's chief adviser. It certainly won't have any bishops! What we really have here are simply Staunton-design cheap wooden sets.

From the "Chess for Yuppies" File

2010-08-27T00:48:00.000-07:00

What's wrong with this picture? (Photo: A. P.)

Chess is seen, sometimes, as not so much a game but a status symbol -- something that intelligent and/or successful and/or rich people engage in to show their superior mind. Many people own a chess set without knowing how to play -- simply as a mark of culture.

The above (found in one of those god-awful "gifts for men" store, with overpriced made-in-China "exclusive" junk) is the result. Oy.

Mieses in Palestine -- Part II

2010-08-14T08:01:00.000-07:00

In spring 1936, Jacques Mieses visited Palestine. He gave a few exhibitions. His results were:

Tel Aviv, May 2, 1936: +21 -4 =10. Among the winners was Shlomo Smiltiner (b. 1915) -- who, by the 1960s, was part of the Israeli chess world's "old guard", and who is still, as of this writing, alive and playing chess. There were about 50 spectators, and the game took 4.5 hours. It was arranged at the Clerks' Club.

Jerusalem, May 5, 1936: 2 Consultation games (=2). 1st board: Mohilever, M. Witz, Burnstein, and Not. 2nd board: Kelter, Y. Witz, and Lukowitz (all spellings except Mohilever's phonetic). At the Menorah Club.

Jerusalem, May 7, 1936: At the Menorah Club. Blindfold simul against five opponents (+3 =2). Drew against Torczyner (a famous linguistics professor, Shaul Hon's mentor) and Silberberg. 'His performance amazed all the spectators'.

Jerusalem, May 9, 1936: Simultaneous display against 24 (+17 -3 =4). Mohilever drew again. At the Menorah Club.

Haifa, May 14, 1936: At the Werner Cafe. Details missing.

Haifa, May 19, 1936: Planned "against 30 players" a the Teltsch House. Details missing.

Below is the second consultation game (vs. Kelter, Y. Witz, and Lukowitz). Mieses is Black. Annotations by Moshe Marmorosh.

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 e5?!

An unusual move in this opening and the White consultants manage to refute it.

4. cxd5 cxd5 5. dxe5 d4 6. Ne4 Qa5+ 7. Nd2! Qxe5

Better was 7. ... Nc6 8. f4 Nh6 with the idea of 9. ... Nf5.

8. Ngf3 Qd5 9. Nb3

Black now loses the isolated d-pawn.

9. ... Nf6 10. Nfxd4 Nc6 11. e3 Ne4

The threat is 12. .... Bb4+.

12. Nxc6 Qxd1+ 13. Kxd1 bxc6 14. Ke1 Bb4+ 15. Bd2 Nxd2 16. Nxd2 Bb7

17. a3 Be7 18. Bd3 0-0-0 19. Ke2 g6 20. b4 Rd7 21. Rhd1 Bf6 22. Rab1 Rhd8 23. Ne4 Be7 24. Bc4 f5 25. Be6

Apparently Black should lose due to 26. Rxd7 and 27. Rd1, but...

25. ... Ba6+ 26. Ke1 fxe4 27. Rxd7 Rxd7 28. Rd1 Bd3 29. f3!

Threatening to win the Bishop after 30. fxe4, but the old master finds a way out.

29. ... c5!

The only saving move!

30. bxc5

30. fxe4 c4!

30. ... Bb5 31. Bxd7+ Bxd7 32. Rd5 Kc7

Better was 32. ... fxe3

33. Re5 Bf8 Rxe4 Bxc5 35. Rc4 Kd6 36. Rc3 a5 37. Kd2 a4 38. Rd3+ Kc6 39. Kc2 Be6 40. g4 Bc4 41. Rc3 Kb5 42. f4 Bd5

Draw agreed (0.5-0.5).

Sources: Davar's chess column (ed. Moshe Marmorosh), 7.5.36 and 14.5.36. Apparently there were no reports of Mieses' results at Haifa, or the games were canceled.

An Amusing Position

2010-08-14T06:16:00.000-07:00

From the Tel Aviv championship of 1947. Source: Shaul Hon's chess column, Davar, Feb. 7th, 1947.

White: Jehuda Greungard Black: Yosef Dobkin.
(Annotations: Shaul Hon).
French Defense

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 dxe4 6. Qg4 Nf6 7. Qxg7 Rg8 8. Qh6 c5 9. Ne2 Nc6 10. dxc5

Very good! Destroys Black's pressure in the center.

10. ... Rg6 11. Qe3 Qa5 12. Bd2 e5

13. ... Ng4 immediately is better, then Qxc5.

13. Ng3 Ng4

Black cannot protect his pawns, but better is 13. ... h5 14. Nxe4 Ng4 with attacking chances.

14. Qxe4 Qxc5 15. Qe2 f5 16. f3 Nf6 17. Qg2 Qd5

Better is 17. ... Qe7 immediately.

18. Rd1 Qg8 19. Bd3 e4 20. fxe4 fxe4 21. Nxe4 Nxe4 22. Bxe4 Re6 23. Qf3

If 23. Qh3, 23. ... Qg4 wins a piece.

Ne5 24. Qe2 Qg4 25. Rf1 Qh4+ 26. g3 Qe7 27. Be3

A rare case: the entire e-file is occupied!

27. ... Bd7

If 27. ... Nf4?!, then 28. Qb5+ Bd7 29. Rxd7!! Qxd7 30. Rf8+ and wins.

28. Bf5 Rc6 29. Bxd7+

29. Qh5+! wins instantly.

29. ... Nxd7 30. Bg5 Qxe2+ 31. Kxe2

White successfully repulsed Black's attacks and remains two pawns to the good.

31. ... Rxc3 32. Kd2 Rc5 33. Re1+ Ne5 34. Rf5 Black resigns (1-0).

It isn't all Brilliancies, you Know

2010-08-13T12:53:00.000-07:00

In the 1976 Haifa Olympiad there were many very interesting games between strong players. But, as Shlomo Kandelshein (author) and Yedael Stepak (analyst) note in their very good book, The Haifa 1976 Chess Olympiad, the level of the "rabbits", the players from countries with no chess tradition, left much to be desired.

They give (p. 34) the following game, played in the second round between Brain G. Campbell (British Virgin Islands) and Maurice Kennefick (Ireland). Stepak's annotations are justifiably derisory.

Campell, B. G. -- Kennefick, M.
Haifa Olympiad, 2nd rd., 26/10/1976
Annotations: Yedael Stepak.

About the level of the countries which were ranked near the bottom in the Olympaid we can learn from the following amusing game. Does the first player deserve an Israeli 5th rank [American "D" level player- A.P.]?

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3

why not 3. ... Bg5 ?

3. ... g6 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. Nb5??

A tyro's move.

5. ... Na6 6. Qd2?? Ne4 7. Qe3 c6 8. Nc3 Qa5 9. 0-0-0 Nb4 10. a3?

Allows a piquant finish.

10. ... Nxc3 11. Bd6

Pretty good relative to White's level, but even this is too late.

11. ... Nba2+ 12. Kd2 Ne4+ 13. Qd3 Qb5+ 14. c4 Qxc4#

Today, due to computers and improved training, such games -- even among weak contestants and teams -- are rarely seen in the Olympiad.

The Lost Chess Art of David Friedmann

2010-08-10T09:56:00.000-07:00

David Friedmann (1893-1980) was a Jewish artist and Holocaust survivor. He was born in Maehrisch Ostrau in the Austria-Hungary Empire (The town is known today as Ostrava, in the Czech Republic.)

In 1911, he moved to Berlin to study art. During WWI, he served with distinction as a battle artist in the Austro-Hungarian Army. He returned to Berlin and resumed painting late impressionist landscapes, still lifes, and nudes, and exhibiting at the Berliner Secession and numerous galleries through Germany and Czechoslovakia.

In 1924, his acclaim as a portraitist led to an additional career as a freelance press artist for various Berlin newspapers and magazines. He sketched many luminaries from all walks of life, from scientists such as Albert Einstein to barn-storming pilots such as the WWI ace (and, ironically, later Luftwaffe high-ranking officer) Ernst Udet (1). He was most at home in the artistic world, sketching numerous portraits of opera singers, musicians, actors, and chess players (3). He also portrayed politicians, sports legends, and industrialists.

As his daughter, Miriam Friedman Morris, says:

He learned that an International Chess Master Tourney would take place from July 1-18, 1923, in his home town and place of birth. He met Dr. Emanuel Lasker, the former would chess champion. He explained about his specialty of producing lithographs and intrigued him with the idea of portraying the players in the tournament. (My father was a master in lithographs and copper etchings, having studied this technique with Hermann Struck in 1913 in Berlin). (1)

The result was 50 numbered portfolios composed of 14 lithograph portraits (one for each player): Das Schachmeister Turnier in Maehrisch Ostrau, Juli 1923. Remarkably, after having been lost a second time, portfolio no. 4 surfaced again in the Ostrava Museum. At some point the artist omitted Pokorny and Hromadka, and changed the title to Köpfe berühmter Schachmeister. This portfolio of 12 to 14 lithograph portraits is composed of most of the players of the 1923 tournament and now included Ossip Bernstein and/or Richard Teichmann (images from the portfolio linked to above, (c) 1999 Miriam Friedman Morris, hosted by the Koninklijke Bibliotheek - national library of the Netherlands). Emanuel Lasker himself owned portfolio no. 27; the Bibliotheek's portfolio is no. 28. (2)

After the Nazis' rise to power, his prewar career ended. In 1938, he fled with his young family to Prague, only to be deported in 1941 to the Lodz ghetto, and then in 1944 to Auschwitz and other camps. The Gestapo looted his oeuvre in 1941 in Berlin and again in Prague under the auspices of the Deutsches Reich. All through his incarceration, he continuing to draw and paint (scroll down on the web page linked to 1941ff.) (3)

It takes only a short glance at David Friedmann's art, as can be seen in the links provided as well as the illustration in the articles quoted, that he was a major artist, a great talent. To this day, Ms. Friedman Morris is looking for art by her father which was lost in the war. A detailed list is here. Another is here (in German and English).

Ms. Friedman Morris told me that while still in Berlin, her father gave or sold his art to Jewish friends or clients fleeing the Nazi regime to Eretz Israel. Due to his interest in chess, it is possible that some of his portraits of chess masters, and, who knows, perhaps other, unknown chess art, had been saved by chess players now in Israel. In fact, his art could be found anywhere in the world. If you, dear reader, know of such art, Ms. Friedman Morris and I would be very glad to hear about it.

Note in particular that David Friedmann varied his signature, signing sometimes Dav. Friedmann (as above), sometimes D. Friedmann, and sometimes just Friedmann (1). Scroll below in this link of his lost art for examples of his varied signature.

David Friedmann also lived and painted in Israel (1949-1954) and the United States, where he became an American citizen in 1960. He changed the spelling of his surname to Friedman.

References

(1) Friedman Morris, Miriam, “David Friedmann’s Artwork for Berlin’s Newspapers”, Chess Life, U.S. Chess Federation. Vol. 51, No. 9. September 1996. pp. 40-41.

(2) Friedman Morris, Miriam, “David Friedmann’s Portraits of Famous Chess Masters”, The CCI-USA News, Chess Collectors International, Vol. 4, No. 1. May 1997.

"A Dream Come True"

2010-07-23T06:32:00.000-07:00

Garry Kasparov in the fundraiser. Photo Credit: Shahr Tzafrir.

Shahar Tzafrir, an Israeli hi-tech entrepreneur, has helped launch the fundraiser for Anatoly Karpov's bid for the FIDE presidency, together with chess greats Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen. The story was featured on chessbase's web site, but -- by sheer chance -- Tzafrir is a friend of a friend.

So our mutual friend, who knows my interest in chess, sent me a link to Tzafrir's flickr photostream page -- which, naturally, features many unofficial (but interesting) pictures of the event.

Tzafrir describes it as "a dream come true".

Have a look!

You can now follow me on Facebook!

2010-07-20T10:41:00.000-07:00

Image credit: Lawrence Barnes Academy.

As you can see on my gadgets (right), I have registered with Networked Blogs on facebook. If you have a facebook account, you can follow my -- and many other -- blogs using it directly, without having to (yeeecch) have to visit each blog separately. You can even simply click on the "follow this blog" button in the "Networked Blogs" gadget itself.

Philosophy and Chess

2010-07-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

Image credit: Open Court Publishing Company.

As is well known, Jews, chess, and philosophy go together. The world champion Emanuel Lasker was a philosopher and mathematician by training.

Most famously chess is used as a setting for the greatest of all philosophical novels, Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass and what Alice Found there. In "folk" philosophy, chess is often used as a philosophical metaphor for life's absurd rule-following, or for the belief that we are just pawns in the hand of fate or the gods (or God), as in FitzGerald's translation of Omar Khayyam's poetry:

But helpless pieces in the game He plays
Upon this chequer-board of Nights and Days
He hither and thither moves, and checks ... and slays
Then one by one, back in the Closet lays

(It should be noted that chess isn't mentioned in the original Persian, but added by the translator.)

There is an actual book about chess' uses in philosophy: meaning, here, professional philosophers' use of it, not the folk-philosophy above. For philosophers, chess is not a matter of human's lack of free will, but usually an illustration of rule-following, of a logical self-contained world, or artificial intelligence. Wittgenstein, in particular, used chess as a metaphor quite often; Rousseau confesses to have met the great players of the day, Philidor included, 'without making the least improvement in the game' -- a confession as damning, to a chess player, as his better-known confessions on other matters.

Prof. Hale, the author, certainly written an interesting work for both chess players and philosophers.

Chess in the IDF

2010-07-10T12:22:00.000-07:00

Just finished a few days of Miluim (reserve duty): naturally, this post is about chess in the IDF.

In fact, as Zvi Bar-Shira told me and is easily checked, there had been surprisingly strong chess tournaments in the IDF -- starting in the 1951 IDF championship (Hebrew). For many more easily-accessible (Hebrew-language) links for information on IDF championships, based on Tel Aviv University's Jewish Press Archives, one can go here (Hebrew link) or search the archives oneself. Many strong players had their start there.

One of the sad effects of Israel's well-known security problems is that there are quite a few chess tournaments and clubs to commemorate chess players who fell in battle. Here is one example, the circular establishing a memorial tournament in the memory of 2nd Lt. Dov Porat (no relation to the Israeli IM Porat), from Bar-Shira's archives:

Of course, chess and war go together, so it's not surprising some people will have an IDF chess set -- in sterling silver, no less -- sold to, I presume, tourists (no Israeli would be caught dead playing on an IDF set; they have quite enough of the IDF in real life, thankyouverymuch):

This set is offered by a company called Israeli Military Products (which doesn't actually have any relation to the IDF) and claims it's a "surplus" store. That's funny, I don't remember such a chess set being available at the quartermaster's store whenever I'm on reserve duty...

Chess Statue

2010-06-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

(Photo: A. P.)

Chess-themed statues aren't particularly rare, but large chess pieces are rarer.

Above is my suggestion for the largest chess piece in the Middle East. It is a white king, about 6' or so, found as a lawn decoration next to the Israel Electric Corporation's building in Haifa (the building's photo is in the link).

First Chess Column in the Hebrew Press?

2010-06-19T09:24:00.000-07:00

What was the first chess problem in the Hebrew-language press, as opposed to the first chess problem in a newspaper printed in Palestine?

I make a start with Ha'Zfira (phonetic spelling of the Hebrew הצפירה), the Warsaw-based Hebrew-language newspaper which was published 1862-1931. On January 15, 1888, it published the following problem, by ".ל. מ" ("L. M.") which is a mate in three:

The solution appeared on 10.2.1888:

It is interesting that the notation used is the Hebrew equivalent of the "old" English notation, e.g., the key move is written as "The A5 knight to B7", or (in the third variation) "The F3 queen to H5 and calls, 'check!'", etc.

Partial translation (into English and modern notation, omitting the names of the correct solvers and an unclear variation in the first solution):

1. Nb7

1. ... Kxd4
2. Nb4 Ke5
3. Nc6#

1. ... exd5
2. Rd5+ Ke6
3. Nd8#

1. ... Rxd4
2. Qh5+ Ke4
3. Nc5+

Many solvers suggested 1. Nc6 as the key, followed by 2. Nb6, not noting that Black can reply 2. ... Rxd4!. If they will check they will find there is no other solution except the one given.

Much of this newspaper -- as well as many other Hebrew-language newspapers -- was digitized on two excellent web sites: Tel Aviv University's Historical Jewish Press database -- which contains more newspapers and, in particular, some 20th-century ones -- and the Hebrew University's Early Hebrew Newspapers database.

The material for this post were all found using Tel Aviv University's database (using the Hebrew-language interface, which shows Ha'Zfira in its search options).