Yaron - Samushi, Israeli Women's Championship 1956

A frequent correspondent points out attention to Moshe Czerniak's Ha'arertz column of February 17th, 1956 (p. 5). Czerniak gives two games - both won by Ora Yaron against Esther Samushi (ph. spellings) in the playoff of the Israeli women's chess championship, 1956. Yaron was clearly the stronger player. Here is the first game. Interestingly, in both cases, Yaron won by winning the opponent's queen. 

Yaron, Ora - Samushi, Esther

Three Knights' Game (C46)

Israeli Women's Championship (playoff), Ein Harod, 1956

Source: Ha'aretz, 17.2.1956, p. 5

Annotations: Czerniak

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Bc5? This is known as a weak move. Now White gets a better position. 4.Nxe5! Bxf2+ The loss of the castling right is unimportant, compared to the control White gains in the central squares.5.Kxf2 Nxe5 6.d4 Qh4+ 7.g3 Qf6+ Such moves only help the opponent's development. 8.Bf4 Ng6 9.Nd5 Qc6 10.Bb5! 

A nice move, winning the queen. White won (1-0).

When not to Ask for Leave

  Source here

The following is from an interview of a chess player who shall, here, remain anonymous. As a new recruit in basic training in the IDF's armored corps, the talented young player he made the mistake of asking his sergeant for special leave. He wanted, he told the sergeant, to play in the Israeli chess championship, for which he was eligible.

The sergeant made the entire platoon stand in attention in the form of the array, with beds, packages, and other heavy equipment brought to take the place of the rooks and other pieces. The sergeant then explained to the platoon and to the player specifically they can expect similar treatment every time someone does the mistake of asking for leave for a stupid reason. 

Simul Results

The Medal of the 1964 Olympiad. Credit: Wikipedia.

We have already mentioned the simultaneous displays the USSR team gave in Israel in 1964 here, here, and here. We is some more information about simuls games, from the same source (Herut, 4.12.1964, p. 7) mentioned in the last post, with date when available. The last link, noting Smyslov's exhibition in Rishon Le'Tziyon, reports slightly different results (+37 =5 -2) than the one's reported in Herut. Presumably the latter, higher figure which represents more complete results. 

Szabo (Hungary):

Tel Aviv University, 30.11, +28 =3 -2. 

Lehavot Ha'Bashan, +20 =1.

Kfar Masarik, +23 =3 -1.

Petrosian:

Bat Yam, 28.11, +7 =2 -1 ("against top players.")

Smyslov: 

Bar Ilan University, 27.11, +29 =8 -3

Rishon Le'Tziyon, 28.11, +32 =6 -2 

Botvinnik: 

Holon, 27.11, +21 =4 ("an excellent result.")

Petrosian - Israeli Players, 0.5:1.5

Edward Winter noted the following in his review of Alexander Alekhine’s Chess Games, 1902-1946 (Leonard M. Skinner and Robert G.P. Verhoeven, Jefferson (NC): McFarland, 1998):

[A] major attraction will be the hundreds of simultaneous games, which may be regarded as the chess artist’s pencil sketches... Not unexpectedly, Alekhine’s losses are over-represented in the book, because of the tendency of parochial columnists to publish the club hero’s isolated or fluke defeat of the maestro. Over the years, how many chess masterpieces have been lost through journalistic provincialism?

This is indeed true, as can be seen by the two simultaneous games played by Petrosian, played after the close of the 1964 of the Tel Aviv Olympiad, published by Mordechai Rosenfeld in his chess column  (Herut, 4.12.64, p. 7). 

But nevertheless, it depends how the master's "isolated or fluke defeat" - or draw - occurred. Was it good play from his opponent? Here are two games, one a draw (against Rosenfeld himself), and the other a defeat by the "talented Ramat-Gan player", Avraham Kaldor, who also "drew against Smyslov" the day before. The draw is unremarkable, but Kaldor's win is interesting - in particular, giving back an exchange to simplify into a winning ending. 

Petrosian, Tigran - Rosenfeld, Mordechai

Sicilian Rossolimo (B30)

Simultaneous display, Ramat Gan, 29.11.64

Source: Herut,  4.12.1964, p. 7

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e5 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O Bd6 6. Na3 Be6 7. d3 h6 8. Nc4 Qc7 9. Nxd6+ Qxd6 10. a4 a5 11. b3 Ne7 12. h3 O-O-O 13. Be3 g5 14. Nd2 Rhg8 15. Nc4 Bxc4 16. dxc4 b6 17. Qxd6 Rxd6 18. Rfd1 Rgd8 19. Rxd6 Rxd6 20. Kh2 f5 21. exf5 Nxf5 22. Re1 Nd4 23. Bxd4 exd4 24. Kg3 

24...Rf6 25. f3 Kd7 26. Kg4 b5 27. Kh5 b4 28. Re4 Rd6 29. Re2 d3 30. cxd3 Rxd3 31. Rb2 Rd6 32. h4 gxh4 33. Kxh4 Ke6 34. f4 Kf5 35. Rf2 Rd3 36. g4+ Kg6 37. Re2 Rxb3 38. Re6+ Kg7 39. Rxc6 Rb1 40. Rb6 b3 41. Kg3 b2 42. Kg2 Rc1 43. Rxb2 Rxc4 44. Rb7+ Kf6 45. Rb6+ Drawn (0.5-0.5)

Petrosian, Tigran - Kaldor, Avraham

Symmetrical English (A34)

Simultaneous display, Bat Yam, 27.11.64

Annotations: Rosenfeld

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. g3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nc7 6. Nc3 Nc6 7. O-O e5 8. b3 Be6 9. Ne1 Nd5 10. Bb2 Be7 11. Na4 b6 12. f4 exf4 13. gxf4 f6 14. Rc1 Rc8 15. a3 Nd4 16. e3 Nc6 17. e4 Nc7 18. Nf3 Na5 19. Rc3 Nb5 20. Re3 Nd4 21. Bxd4 cxd4 22. Rd3 b5 23. Rxd4 Qc7 24. Nc3 Bc5 25. b4 Bxd4+ 26. Nxd4 Qb6 27. Qh5+ Ke7 28. bxa5 Qxd4+ 

29. Rf2 Rc5 30. Qh4 h6 31. h3 Kf7 32. Kh2 Rf8 33. Bf3 g5 34. fxg5 Qe5+ 35. Kg2 Qxg5+ 36. Qxg5 hxg5 37. Bg4 Rd8 38. Bxe6+ Kxe6 39. Nd5

39... Rdxd5!! 40. exd5+ Rxd5 41. Re2+ Kf7 42. Kf3 f5 43. Rg2 Rd3+ 44. Ke2 Rxh3 45. Rxg5 Kf6 46. Rg8 Rxa3 47. Rb8 Rxa5 48. Ke3 Ke5 49. d4+ Kd5 50. Rd8+ Kc6 51. Rc8+ Kd7 52. Rf8 b4 53. Rb8 Ra3+ 54. Kf4 a5 55. Kxf5 b3 56. Ke5 a4 57. Kd5 Ra2 58. Rb7+ Kc8 59. Rb4 b2 60. Kd6 a3 61. Rc4+ Kb7 62. Rb4+ Ka6 63. Kc6 Ka5 White resigns (0-1) 

Kagan - Bernstein, 1963/64 Israeli Championship

The following game was brought to our attention by a frequent correspondent. It is from the 1963/64 Israel championship. At the time, the early 1960s, the "old guard" of Czerniak, Aloni, Porat and others was being replaced at the top with young talented playes, like Shimon Kagan, who won this game and annotated it in Mordechai Rosenfeld's chess column in Herut.   

Kagan,Shimon - Bernstein,Ya'acov 

English Opening (A23)

Israeli Championship, 1963/64

Source: Herut, 17.1.64, p. 7

Annotator: Shimon Kagan

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.d4 Theory prefers 6.d3 or 6.Qb3, which seems to win a pawn but might make White uncomfortable, for example: 6...Nc6! 7.Nxd5 Nd4 8.Nxf6+ Qxf6 9.Qd1 Bf5 and Black has a decisive advantage. 6...e4 7.Bg5 Nc6 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.a3 Be6 10.e3 h5 11.h4 Leaves Black with a rickety pawn structure on the KS.11...Qd7 12.Nge2 Bd6 13.b4 Rc8 14.Qb3 Ne7 15.Rc1 Kf8 16.Kd2 The Rh1 is crucial for the c file and the king must let it pass. 16...Kg7 17.Rc2 Rc4 18.Rhc1 Rhc8 19.Bf1 Nf5 If the Ne2 moves, Black has a promising rook sacrifice on d4. 20.Na4 b5? b6 is better, but Bernstein counter on his sacrifice. 21.Nc5 Bxc5 22.bxc5 R8xc5! 

A bold rook sacrifice. Accepting it will require very accurate defense from White and leave Black with some counter-chances.23.Nf4! White's dominating Nf5 wins despite Black's temporary pawn advantage. 23...Rxc2+ 24.Rxc2 Rxc2+ 25.Kxc2 a6 26.Nxh5+ Kg6 27.Nf4+ Kh6 28.Qb4 Qc6+ 29.Qc3 Qb6

30.Be2 It is not recommended to play 30.Qc5 due to 30...Qxc5+ 31.dxc5 d4. 30...Ne7 31.Qc5 Qxc5+ 32.dxc5 Nc6 33.Kc3 Kg7 34.Bd1 f5 35.Bb3 d4+ a desperate attempt to free himself. 36.exd4 Bxb3 37.Kxb3 Nxd4+ 38.Kc3 Nc6 39.Ne2 Kf6 40.Nd4 Ne5 41.c6 Black resigns. (1-0). 

Despite the equal material, Black can do nothing about White's passed c and h pawns, and cannot create his own passed pawn for counterplay.

Newsreel

In Israel, television only became popular in the late 1960s, so it was one of the last places in the western world where movie newsreels were popular. The above reel, found here, was brought to our attention by a frequent correspondent. It has a report about Israel's 1968 chess championship, starting at 0:58, showing Kagan, Czerniak, and others. In particular, it reports about the two women players, the sisters Rabinovich (no relationship to Rabinovich-Barav) which had 'recently emigrated from the USSR'. 

"Many Very Interesting Cliches"

Colnoa. will appear tomorrow [28.9.1932]! Source here.

In Fasher's Ha'problemai Ha'Israeli [The Israeli Problemist] (Tel Aviv: Israeli Problemists' association, 1964), p. 35, we read that 'later [after the mid-20s] chess columns started to appear in the weeklies Colnoa [כלנוע] (sic), Ha'shavua [השבוע] and in the newspapers Davar and Ha'aretz'. Of the columns (originally by Marmorosh) in the daily newspapers I am aware. But does anybody have any information about the columns in these weeklies? 

I have found ads for Colnoa, the 'illustrated bi-weekly', from the early 30s. (It is a portmanteau word joining col, 'all', and noa, 'movement' - i.e., 'everything that moves', and recalling 'kolnoa', movie theatre). It was a general interest magazine, including items on movies, original stories, articles about current events, sports, women's health, knitting, and so on. The ad above says the coming issue will have a section with 'many very interesting cliches'. But it seems an unlikely venue to a chess column, especially since chess is not explicitly mentioned in the contents. 

Ha'shavua is harder to find, since it is a very generic name, meaning simply 'the week', and many periodicals had this or similar names. One possibility is Tel Aviv's local metropolitan weekly from that period -- again, an unlikely venue for a chess column.

But "unlikely" doesn't mean "surely didn't exist". Does anybody have a copy of these periodicals and know if they had a chess column?

P. S. 

I apologize for the formatting, which is inconsistent with previous posts - for some reason I cannot change it. 

Domnitz - A. Labounsky, 1954

One of the relatively lesser-known chess columns was that of Zmanim ("The Times"), a smaller newspaper in Israel than the major papers like Davar, Al Ha'mishmar, and others. The editor of the chess column was A. A. Mandelbaum. This column was brought to our attention from a frequent correspondent. From Zmanim we offer the followin game of the young Zadok Domnitz, when he played in the IDF's team in the Isreali premier league against the older Avraham Labounsky. 

Domnitz, Zadok - Labounsky, Avraham

Pirc Defense (B07)

Israeli Premier (Aleph) League, 1954

Source: Zmanim, 13.8.54, p 8S

Annotator: A. A. Mandelbaum

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be2 Sharper and more promising is 4. f4. 4... Bg7 5. Be3 O-O? 

Routine. Since White didn't apply the usual h3, Nf3, etc. attack and left himself more flexibility in pursuing the attack, Black should have used delaying tactics and defer the castling to a more  appropriate time. 6. h4 e5 Needed is 6... c5 7. dxc5 Qa5 8. cxd6 Nxe4 9. dxe7 Re8 10. Bd2 Nxc3 with compensation for the pawn 7. d5 b5! 8. Bxb5 (8. Nxb5 Nxe4) 8... Nxe4 9. Nxe4 Qa5+ 10. Nc3 Bxc3+ 11. bxc3  xb5 and with the threat of Ba6 Black has nothing to fear. 7. d5 c6 8. g4 Qa5? Correct was 8... cxd5 9. exd5 Qa5. 9. Bd2 Qb6? 9... Qc7 immediately is better. 10. g5 Ne8 11. h5 f5? 

Weakens the g8-a2 diagonal, and loses immediately. More consistent with the position is 11... Nc7.  12. dxc6 Be6 Bc4+ must be stopped at all costs.13. Be3 Qxc6 13... Qxb2 is forbidden due to 14. Na4 Qa3 (14... Qb4+ 15. c3 and wins) 15. cxb7 and wins. 14. Bb5 Qc7 Better is 14... Qc8. 15. hxg6 hxg6 16. exf5 gxf5 17. Qh5 Nc6 18. Qg6 Qc8 19. Rh6 f4? 

Up to now all of Black's moves were forced, but now 19... Nd4 would allow longer resistance. For example 20. Bd3 Bc4, Or 20. O-O-O Nxb5 21. Nxb5 f4 22. Nxd6 Bf5! 23. Nxc8 Bxg6 24. Ne7+ Kf7, etc. 20. Bd3! Threatens Rh8+ followed by Qh7#. 20... Rf5 21. Qxe6+ Enough to win, as we shall see. 21... Qxe6 22. Rxe6 Rxg5 The fight to regain the piece is hopeless. 23. Nf3 Rh5 24. Bd2 Rh1+ 25. Bf1 Rd8 26. O-O-O The Re6 is not in danger. 26... Nc7 27. Rxd6 Rh6

The Re6 rook was protected indirectly: 27... Rxd6 28. Bc4+ And wins the Rh1. 28. Rxd8+ Nxd8 29. Bxf4 A double attack on the Nd8 and Rh6. 29... exf4 30. Rxd8+ Bf8 31. Bc4+ Kh7 32. Rd7+ Black resigns (0-1).

Kniazer - Blass, 1952.

From the same sources as the previous post, Israel Kniazer's win agains Moshe Blass. An interesting point is that while the tournament was called a tacharut amanim (masters' tournament) by Fasher and most others, Kniazer always insisted that the tournament, in which he did quite badly (2.5/9), was actually a tacharum immunim (training tournament). The two are very similar in Hebrew. 

'Training tournament' is also the name under which the tournament it also appears in Kniazer and Persitz's collection of Kniazer's games. Was this merely an excuse for a bad result? Perhaps, but it cannot be denied that Kniazer deliberately used many risky opening ideas in this tournament. 

Curiously, Persitz himself calls the tournament a 'masters' tournament' in his own, earlier tournament book (Tacharut Amanim Be'shachmat [Masters' Chess Tournament], 1953, by Persitz and Mandelbaum). The latter book reveals (p. 23) that the game took place in the third round, and adds that 6. g4?! is Keres' idea. 

Kniazer, Israel Yosef - Blass, Moshe 

Sicilian Scheveningen  (B81)

Masters' (Training?) Tournament, 1952, rd. 3. 

Sources: La'merchav 6.6.58, Ha'derech Le'nitzachon Be'shachmat pp. 83-84.

Annotators: Fasher (also punctuation) and Persitz. 

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 The Schwenigen variation, which gives Black a solid but passive position (Fasher). 6. g4?! Typical of Kniazer's style (Fasher). 6... a6 7. Bg2 Be7 Better was 7... Qc7. White confused his opponents, who makes many inaccuracies (Fasher.) 8. g5 Ng8? An inexplicable withdrawal. The correct move is 8... Nfd7 (Fasher). 9. h4 Nd7 10. f4 Qc7  1. f5 Ne5 12. O-O Bd7 13. fxe6 fxe6 14. Bh3 Qc8? Correct is}  14... Qc4 (Fasher.) 15. Nce2 Bd8 The idea is to clear the e7 square for the g8 knight, but "invites" the following combination (Persitz, p. 84).

16. Nxe6 Bxe6 17. Qxd6 Ne7 18. Qxe6 Qc5+ 19. Kh1 Qxc2 This is Fasher's score as well as Persitz's in Tacharut Amanim Be'shachmat, p. 24. In Ha'dererch Le'nitzchon Be'shachmat, p. 84, Persitz has 18.Qxc2 immediately instead. 20. Qxe5 Qxe2 21. Qe6! and Black resigned (1-0)  since mate is unavoidable without sacrificing the queen (Fasher).