AAC KA DA AL OROW TZ (Ma ha a C C Cham io shi 928I . K4 K4 2. KB3 Q3 3. Q4 -KB3 4. -B3 QN-Q2 . B-QB4 BK2 6. 0-0 -B3 7. -QR4 0-0 8 Q-K2 Q B2 9 R3 KR3 I 0. B-R2 x INx R-K 2. Q-B3 -K4 3 Q 3 -R4 1 4. Q-R2 -Q4 . B K3 B1 6. B4 N3 7. K NxK 1 8. N/3-N x 1 9 Nx Q-K2 20 xQ2 2 N B Q-K 22. QR K Qx 23 -KN4 Q-N3 24 -B Q-QB3
xN B3 26. Q N2 K R2 27. B 3 -Q 3 28 K-R2 B- 2 29 Q-B3 x30. Qx Q 3 I . Q N4 xB 32. B6 - 3 33 R-B4 QR-Q I 34. Bx RQ7 h 3 . R-K2 RxR h 36. QxR Q R8 h White resig s O e of orowitz'sear est r lia ies.
A OROW Z R UB FIN ( ew York 934 Mat h Game No. 7 K4 -K4 2. -KB3 -QB3 3. B QR3 4. B R4 Q3 . Bx h xB
-Q4 x 7. x B-Q2 8. 0-0 N B3 9. Q B3 B4 I 0. N-B BxN xB R2 1 2 B- B-K2 1 3 N B3 0 0 1 4. QR-K I R-K I I . R K2 -R3 1 6. B-R 1 7 Q-Q3 B-Q I 8. KR K I RxR 9. RxR Q-N2 20. -Q 3 R R 2 1 . BxB 22. N-Q B-K4 23. -B6 -N3 24. -K7 h K R2 2 . Nx Bx (if 2. . .
x White lays 26 RxB 26. -K7dis. h. K 2 27. Q 3 h K R 28. Q-B- 2 29. QxB Q-N 30. N-B Q B6 3 1 . QxB h QxQ 32 NxQ Kx 33.R-K7 h K B3 34. Rx QR4 3 . K-B I -R 36. K-K2 x 37. R x R R8 R KR7 R QB8 39. Rx h K-K4 40. K-Q2 R-B8 4 1 . K K3 R K8 h 42. K-Q3 Q8 h 43. K-B3 B a k resig s orow tz s si gle ght s ot i a othe seda mat h that he lost + I - = . O the othe ha d, what a shi i g
e orma e i this game
AL OROWITZ AMU L R V KY (U. . Cham io sh 1 936 I QB3 2. Q4 -Q4 3. N-QB3 x 4. Nx N-B3 N- 3 -KR4 6. Q-Q3R 7. N K4 x 8. QxN -Q2 9 B KN Q 3 I 0. 0 0-0 Q R4 I -
Qx 1 2. B Q3 Q-R8 h 1 3. K-Q2 Q R4 h 4. B3 -R6 I . KR-K I N-B3 Q B4 Q4 1 7. Q N3 x 1 8. R4 N8=Q 1 9 QxQ N4 20. R R I Q
3 2 1 . K N 22. QR-B I x h 23. x -K3 24. Q 4 B Q3 2 . -RBxN 26. RxB R-Q I 27 B-R4 K-B 28 Q- 3 -B3 29. Rx -K4 30. xB-R3 3 1 . R-QN I Q-Q I 32 RxR QxR 33 R-QB Q- 7 h 34. B-B2, Bla kresig s
AR UR DAK A OROWI Z (U. . Cham io shi 1 938 I -Q4 Q4 2. -QB4 K3 3. QB3 QB4 4 B x K x . B3 -QB3 6 KN3 B3 7. B N2 B K2 8 0 0 0 0 9. x -Q I 0 -QR4 B B4 I I .
N-K 1 2. N-Q3 R K I 1 3. B-B4 B-B3 4. R B Q Q2 . K 4 B- 3 B3 -N4 1 7. B 3 -KR4 1 8. R4 N K3 1 9. B-Q I 20 B-R3 Q Q4 -N3 B-B4 22. B N2 B-B2 23. -B4 B K 24. B R3 -KN3 2 . /4-N2 - 2
26. B4 B4 27. K R2 xB 28 Kx R-K2 29 Q6 B/2x 30. xBQxQ 3 1 . K-R2 QR K I 32 R-KB2 B Q4 33. Q-Q2 R-K6 34. R-K I Q-K2
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35 B-B I Q K3 36. - 4 x 37. Qx R-K 38. Q-Q2 B-B3 39. B R3 QQ3 40. R-Q B- 4 4 . K3 Q 3 42 R-B3 x 43. Q K I -K7 44 R QQ-Q3 45. K- 3 Rx 46. RxR R K6ch 47. K 2 QxR 48. R B8ch K R2,White resigns
A OROWI Z AMA UR (Hollywood imultaneous xhi it on Califor
nia, 1 942) I -K4 -K4 2 -QB3 -KB3 3 B4 -Q4 4. -Q3 B QxK - 6 x xK 7 -B3 Qx 8 B-K2 Bx ch 9. xB Q B3 I 0 00 Q-B4ch I I . Q4 Qx 1 2. x x I 3. B ? (" he safe and saneway, Horow tz would later w ite, "is 3 R I threaten ng R 3 fol lowed yB R3 to revent Black from cast ng ) 1 3 -B 4 KxR 1 5 K 3 6. B-Q3ch KxB 7. -R4ch Kx 1 8. 3ch Kx 9. Q B2ch20 K- 2 QxR 2 1 Q- 3ch K R4 22. B-K2ch K-R3 23. Q-B4ch K- 3 24 BQ3ch K-R4 25 B K2ch d w ike Alekhine, AI orowitz never stinted hisimagination n s mul games.
A OROWI Z AMU L R V K (Manhat an C.C. L ghtn ng ou ament 1 944) . K4 QB4 2. -KB3 Q3 3 Q4 x 4. x -KB3
QB3 -K 3 6 B4 Q -Q2 7 B-K2 B- 2 8. B-K3 0-0 9. 0-0 -QR3 I 0B-B3 Q-B2 I I . K R I R I 1 2. QR4 3 3. K x 4 B6
x ch K R I 1 6. B Q4 B 2 7. BxB QxB 1 8 Rx QR K 9. /7Q x20. BxBch KxB 2 x R K4 22. B4 Q B3 23. Q Q4 Q B4 24. Q B3 R/K I 25. QR KB I B4 26. -K 4 -Q 4 27. xB xQB 28. -B6ch K-B229. -K7 - 3 30. Q-KR3 R-R4 3 1 . Q 2 R Q I 32. R K4 R 4? 33. Q-R3
R Q7 34. Qx ch K K I 35. B6d s.ch, Black resignsA OROW TZ DAVID G AD O (Manhat an C.C. vs. Queens C.C.Met o o tan eague Match, 945) I -K4 -K3 2. -Q4 -Q4 3. -QB3 KB3 4. B B K2 5 -K K -Q2 6. KR4 KR3 7 BxB QxB 8 Q- 4K 3? 9 R -K 4 0 -B4 x I -B3 R3 1 2 0 0-0 -QB4
-QB3 4 QxB xB 1 5. B-K2 B Q2 1 6 KR B I 0 0-0 1 7 R3 -Q 4 - 2 9. Q-K3 K- I 20. Bx xB 2 . x R QB I 22. Q
KR- I 23. /3 Q4 Q 4ch 24. K- I QxK 25. QR K Q 6 26 R K3 QR7 27 - 3 B-K I 28 RxB BxR 29 x ch 30 Q R7ch K-B I 3 . QR8ch K-Q2 32. Qx ch K-K I 33 . QxRch K-B I 34 Q-Q6ch K- 2 35 Q K chK R2 36. -Q6 Bx 37. QxK B- 3 38 B R-KB 39. Q-Q7ch R B2 40R-K7 Q-R4 4 1 . 4 B ack res gns
A OROW Z AR O D D K R (U. . Cham ionshi 1 946) I Q4KB3 2 -QB4 -K3 3 -KB3 Q 3 4. -K 3 B- 2 5. B- 2 B- ch 6
Q -Q2 -K 7 0 0 x 8. Bx BxB 9 QxB 0-0 I 0 Q B2 -B3 I I QRQ I -Q3 1 2 Q x 1 3 x - 4 Q B4 -QR4 1 5 QR3
Q 4 Q-Q2 1 7 R Q4 KR-K 1 8 K3 x 1 9 x Q 4 20. QB I 2 1 . R-B R I 22. R-KB4 Q-Q I 23. R4 R3 24. Q-B3 B-Q2 25. RQ-B I 26. K-R2 R 3 27 -Q4 - I 28 R-QB I Q-R3 (W ote Reu enFine a out this move, " t is not enough to have a ost game one must a solose it. 28 . . . -R3 was ca ed or. ) 29 - 4 B B I 30 Qx R 2 3 1 . Q
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-Q2 32. QxB RxQ 33 . RxR h B 34 -K6 - 3 3 . Rx h K-R2 3R/4x h RxR 37. RxR h K R 38 B-K4 Q-R8 39 Bx , Bla k resigns For nearly er e er orman e of aggressive ositional hess orowi z e eivedthe First Brillian y rize As in his famous and o u lished wins over a oFloh (U. .A. vs U. R Radio Mat h, 1 94 and A e Yanofsky (Dallas
orowitz em loys a grandiose imaginat on in rose u ing os tional aims
AL OROWITZ M R BOY R and ALLI O ( imultaneous xhi itionBu alo, ew York 9 I . K4 -K4 2. -KB3 -QB3 3. B- -QR3 4B-R4 Q3 . Bx h xB 6 Q4 -B3 7. -R4 B-K3 8 0 0 - 3 9. QBB 2 I 0. -B4 xB I I -Q B-B2 1 2. Bx -K2 1 3. B K3 0 0 4 Q
x I . x Q- I 1 6 QR-K I Q- 2 1 7. B-R6 QR K I 1 8. BxB KxB 9 Q 3 h 20 K-R I KxR 2 -K4 h K 2 22 Q-B3 h K R3 23. Q KR3 K24. Q B3 h K-R3 2 -K 4 Bx ? 26. h K R4 27 Q KR3 B a k
A OROW TZ AMU L R V KY ( ew York 1 9 II . -K4 -QB42. KB3 -Q3 3. -Q4 x 4. x -KB3 . -QB3 -K 3 6. B-K2 B- 27 0 0 B3 8 B K3 0-0 9 Q Q2 B Q2 I 0 B4 R-B I I . KR3 xBx B B3 3 Q K3 -Q2 1 4. -K x I . x K3 6 B B3 BxB 1R-B 1 8. R Q I Q-R4 1 9 -K4 Bx 20 BxB xB 2 1 B6 h K- 2 22. R h x 23. Q h K R I 24. Q-B6 h K- I , draw
A OROWITZ HA B RLI R (U O en 1 9 3 I -Q4 -Q4 2QB4 x 3 KB3 -QR3 4. K3 KB3 . Bx -K3 6 0-0 B4 7. Q
Q 4 8 B- 3 B 2 9 R-Q Q Q2I0. -B3 Q-N3 I . -K4 x 2.xQ B-B4 3. B-K3 x (Bla k underestimates the oming at a k and
ought to have tried 1 3. . . 0 0 4 x Bx I xK x 1 6 Rx (On 16 . KxR White gets a winning at a k a er 1 7 R Q I h 7. Rx Bx1 8 QxB QxQ h 1 9 KxQ 0 0-0 20 Bx h K I 2 1 . R-K I KR B h 22RxR h 23. BxR B-B3 (A mo e res stan move is 23. . R-Q7 h, thoughWhite still a ears to win a er 24. R-K2 RxR h 2 . KxR Bx 26 K-K3 24 BR ! B-Q4 2 QR3 R-B I h 26. B-B3 R-B2 27 R-K3 K-B2 28. K 4 Q29. -KR4 K 3 30. K- 3 BxB 3 1 RxB R-Q2 32 K-B4 33. R-B2 R34. R B4 R-Q6 h 3 K- 4 R 6 36. R B2 37 R4 R K6 38. R 39. R B3 R-K8 40. - 6 x 4 1 . x R 8 h 42 R- 3 R-K8 43. - 7 R-K 44. 3 h Bla k resigns
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he aderewski of ChessIf you a e eve do n A gentine Way and happen to meet a g oup ofexcited chess playe s c o ded a ound a small ba ding man the oddsa e that you have stumbled upon Moishe Migue Mieczysla oMendel Najdo f holding cou t on the second floo of the elegantBuenos A es Chess Club
Ho do I kno ?
Well, I kno Mendel as he s called by his f iends And I alsokno the allu e that he exe ts Th s v tuoso of the chess boa d,ho moves pieces to the co ect squa es as f uently as Pade e skiplayed the piano, d a s people to him like a magnet att acts i onf lings He is beloved th oughout the chess o ld as being amongthe most gene ous and gifted of g eat maste s
In sp te of unbel evable adve sity Mendel has neve given up onlife by su ende ing to bitte ness, though Lo d kno s he had easonto do so Suf ice it to say Mendel became A gentina s g eatest
g andmaste by staying on in the count y follo ing the BuenosAi es Olympiad of 1939 Th s young Je , bo n in 1910 and a nativeof Po and, had no i usions about a futu e in h s Nazi-occupiedhomeland
Mendel the Maste
As a chess maste , Mendel s eno ned fo the b eadth of his endeavo s Not content ith tou nament and match competitions, he tookup b indfold chess playing 45 games s multaneously back in 194 7By the eckoning of some folks, he is the sans o o ldchampion, though many autho ities a gue the case fo eithe Geo geKoltano ski o Alexande ekhine
Najdo f also made a n at the o ld title fo egula chess backin the late 1940s and ea ly 1950s competing in t o candidatestou naments He came fifth at Budapest in 950 and sixth at thefamous Zu ch 1953 fixtu e In addition, he missed becoming
Champion of the Weste n Wo ld" hen he lost t o highly publi
cized matches to Sammy Reshevsky in 1952 (+4 8 =6) and 195311
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( +4 5 =9) n the 1970 Match of the Century between the lateU S S R and the Wor d he scored +1 1 =2 against Mikhail Tal
That in brief is the story of Mendel s serious chess t is alsothe least interesting part of his story as a chess master since it wasobvious to everyone that he would never become world champion
without studying opening theory something that he had no intention of doing because of professional workaday obligations Unlikesay Frank Marsha l and Reshevsky he could not work full time onchess Indeed Mendel worked scarcely at all on chess He and hisfriend GM Carlos Guimard labored instead at building an insurancebusiness that eventually grew to over 100 employees and madeboth of them rich
The most interesting thing about Mendel as a grandmaster is hisstyle and how that style contributed to his winning numerousmixed tournaments ahead of men who excelled him in highcategory candidates' events Besides winning at least a dozen international tournaments in Mar del Plata he took first prizes at suchstellar events as msterdam 1950 (ahead of Reshevsky) and Havana1962 (ahead of Boris Spassky Vassily Smyslov Lev Polugaevsky etalia) Typically he tallied lopsided results of 80 percent and higherin these and other tournaments
Mendel had a knack for mowing down the bottom half of mixed
tournaments and this facility earned him a reputation as a risktaking tactician rather than a positional player Which is f atlywrong Yet the source for this disinformation is none other thanMendel himself! Just read his charming Salad Days article in theJu y 1964 Che Review in which this crafty and witty man annotated three of his best games: an early tournament contest a simutaneous effort and a quickie at Queen Rook odds Forget aboutdeep positional victories over Mikhail Botvinnik Boris Spassky andmany others Mendel gave us instead what he values in chess and
we then careless y concluded that blinding brilliancy defined theNajdorf style In an issue ofLa Naci n (1944) Mendel described thefollowing miniature as his best game while in the Salad Daysarticle he called it one of the most brilliant of [my] youth :
M gu Na do -Fr nk or apiroWa aw, 927 or Lodz, 9 9
Fr n h D f nI . -K4 -K3 2. -Q4 Q4 3. N QB3 x 4. x Q2
Where and when was this game p ayed? Mendel gives his opponent as one Frenke and the where when as Warsaw 927 but RaulCastelli in his Najd rf! lists the opponent as one Sapiro and thewhere-when as odz 1929 Such confusion reigns because while my
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f iend has a flawless memo y fo chess moves he seldom pays attention to niggling details such as chess opponents and venues
5. -KB3 K -B3 6. B Q3 B-K2 7. 0-0 -QN3
A bette move is 7
8 -K B- 2 9. Nx h xOn 9 BxN, White intended 10 P KB4 with a solid initiative
1 0. x
Refe ing to himself in the thi d pe son Mendel w ites He wasfascinated by the magic of combinations and sought pa ticula ly fothat continuous sac ifice of pieces which, aimed fo attack on theenemy King, eckons without ega d fo mate ial since in the endthe goal will have been eached He was not content with a simpleoutine victo y but p obed fo the hidden and the spectacula "
I 0 . . . N I I . Q-R h K I
Black cannot play 11 K-B1 because of 12 B-R6ch, followedby 13 Q-N4ch
12. R KI BI
3. Rx
A sac ifice designed to open lines
I 3 . xR 4 B-QB4 Q-Q3 1 5 B-KR6
The th eat is 16 Q N4ch and 17 Q N7ch
. . B KB I 1 6. R K I B B I 1 7. Q K8
White penet ates to the eighth ank and th eatens 18 1 7 B-Q2
Nothing wo ks at this point If 17 Q K2 White finishes
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1 8. Rx RxQ 1 9. RxR h B-K3 20. BxB h QxB 2 . RxB, ma e
The above game, along with the famous Gl cksberg NajdorfPolish Immortal, represents Na dor s style for many people And
Mendel certa nly plays along with the myth that he is merely atactica child of nature In truth, he achieved his famed shutoutsagainst the lower half of tournament tables with a style that washalf-Capablanca and half asker He took positional rather than Talike tactical risks
Miguel Najdo -Carlos B eli kiMar del Pla a 1 9 5
Ret Ope gI . KB3 -KB3 2 B4 -K3 3. K 3 B-K2 4. B 2 0-0 5. 0-0 -Q4 6
3 -Q 3 7 B 2 B 2 8. K3 Q -Q2 9. -B3 -B4I0 Q-B2 -QR3I I KR Q I R B I 1 2 -Q3 R-B2 1 3. Q K2 Q-R I 4 QR-B I KR-BI 5. I
-K I I 6 x Bx 1 7 -K4 B 2 I 8. Q Q2 -Q 4 9. B-B3 -QR4 20QR4 x 2 . x - 3 22. -K5
Many of Mendel s games, like those of Jose Capablanca, are difficult to play but easy to p ay over The cur ent game s simplicityitself: Mendel gambits the Queen Rook pawn, and the moment hewins it back, the game is over That s all
22 . . . x 23. /5 B4 xB 24. Rx R-QI 25 R R3 R 26 6 Q-R327. /2 B4 B-QB3 28. K5 B Q 4 29. R/ 1 RI R-R2 30 Q B2 Bx 3 1 . xBQ 4 32. Rx RxR 33. RxR Q Q2 34. B-K4 3 35. Q-R2 K-B I 36. R-R7Q 4 37 R- 7 B a k resigns
Fini the Black lady s trapped
Occasionally, Mende lets the cat out of the bag and eveals howhard he strives for the kind of easy s mplicity that only results fromskilled application of positiona princ ples Here is a victo y a victory highly praised by Bobby Fischer over Paul Keres, along withsome of Mendel's notes n quotation marks:
M g el Najdo -Pa l KeresLos A geles 1 9 3
D t Defe seI . Q4 -K3 2. -QB4 B 5 h 3 -B3 -KB4
Now the game changes to the Dutch Defense I believe, after NQB3, that the Dutch is not best because B ack s KB is normal y hisbest piece and shou d be preserved at or Q3 It was my first timeto play this system, and I bel eve that next I should not play thenormal P-KN3, but rather P-K3 and castle quickly
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White could lay P-QR3, ob igating the exchange of Blacki ho Howeve why lo e a tem o fo thi when Black' i nott ong he e You mu t neve have fea of oo ly laced iece Don to ce you o onent to make a good move!"
7. . . 4 8 -Q 3
o b ing the QB, my la t undevelo ed iece, into lay on theong diagonal "
8 . N- 3 9. - 2 K4
A t ategic e o Why? Becau e Ke e ha o ened the game tooa ly White ha bette f eedom of movement Don't o en theo ition when you a e le develo ed than you o onent Blackhould have ayed fo a clo ed o ition he ight move wa 9
B-R4 o Q- , to im ove the and e a e fo P K4 late "
0 xK x I -QS
Now it i clea that W ite i bette Black at N look like abig awn and White iece a e mo e actively laced "
I I . K3 2 - 3
Wheneve the o onent ha two o th ee awn advancingogethe , you mu t event thei advance Now Black mu t makethe ad move P-KN3 and weaken hi King' o ition by inc ea ingthe co e of White QB Becau e afte 12 N 13 PxN QxP
4 B Q 4 win Black QB If 13 BxP 14 BxBP give a wino ition "
1 2. . K 3 1 3. 4
A good move and ve y ea y becau e eve y time you want toutilize a bette o ition you mu t o en the o ition even if youhave to ac ifice "
I 3 . . . . xN 4. x x I S. x -K3 I 6 -K2
he Knight ha accom i hed it u o e at N3 and i nowlooking fo a bette t ategic qua e W ite lay i ve y clea Hemu t emove the QB and weaken the defen e of Black KingBlack i u ele "
I 6 . . Q K2 1 7. - 4No ecial move by White a e nece a y only the logical
one "
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Black c ea ly wants to p ay P- 4 and inactivate White's "
20. B B4!
It is the moment to dispose of Black s best p ece Without this, B ack's game collapses "
20. . . BxB 2 1 . xB -B2 22 -K6 N-N4 23. Q Q5
23. . . . R QB3
The diffe ence in action of the two Bishops must now be compa ed If 23 Q- 2; 24 P-K7ch, R-B2; 25 Q Q8ch, winning If23 N-K5; 24 Q-K5, N B3; 25 N Q5 o R Q7 wins "
24. Q-K5 x 25. Q-R8 h K-B2 26 Qx h K-KI 27 QxQ h
Ve y simple The exchange and two pawns is enough to win "
27 . . KxQ 28 x h K-K I 29. xR xN 30 x -N4 3 1 . x x 32KR4 R-QR3 33. R3 Bx 34. BxB RxB 35. Rx Bla k resigns
And so, one sees that Mendel also wins games against the g eatestmaste s and makes the victo ies look easy I believe that his notes
to the above game, which employ ph ases such as ve y easy," ve yclea " and ve y simp e," constitute a tiny testament of his styleAdd to this simplicity a willingness on his pa t to take positionalgambles against lesse lights, and you exp ain his celeb ated esultsin mixed tou naments
Mende the Man
The yea was 1946, the place was G oningen, Holland, whe e 20 of
the st ongest maste s in the wo ld met to play in the fi st impo tantchess tou nament following Wo ld Wa II Mendel Najdo f was onhand ep esenting A gentina, and we st uck up a f iendship that haslasted to this day Although I played ea lie that yea at Hastingsand London, G oningen was my fi st majo inte national test Men
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e howed me the ope impa ting ome g eat in ide advice fohich I am till g ateful
One day while we we e lunching togethe at the Hotel F igge,omething happened that will fo eve emain f e h in my memo yuddenly, out of nowhe e a habbily d e ed woman huffled ove
to ou table and a ked if he could it downThe woman aid that he had new fo Mendel Now new " of a
e tain gen e i the det itu of wa ; and ettling into a chai heto d Mendel that he witne ed hi wife and othe family membe�oing to the Nazi oven She howed him ome family mementoeThe two began to ob, and he ba ed a fo ea m to how he campnumbe Whe eupon, the obbing tu ned to uncont olled weepingThe two got up togethe and left
To an innocent Ame ican thi the adde t cene that I had evewitne ed wa almo t unbelievable Oh ye I knew that a madman had t uck ac o Eu ope and de t oyed ten of million ofpeople But my knowledge wa gleaned f om new pape and new
eel No mal men, a F ench philo ophe David Rou et ha obe ved do not know that eve ything i po ible; and lacked what
p ychologi t call felt knowledge" unti that awful afte noon nea lya half centu y pa t
Finally, Mendel hea d the new fo which he had waited incethat day in late Septembe 1939 following the conclu ion of theBueno e Olympiad when he e ected to emain in A gentinaSt anded in a fo eign land with no money and a language ba ie to
u mount thi young Poli h Jew c eated a new and p o pe ou lifefo him elf, all the whi e d eaming about being eunited with hifamily The d eam wa now hatte ed
Mende eventua ly ema ied fathe ed two daughte who bothbecame medical docto and ettled into the weetne of life ecov
e ed Until, that i , hi new wife developed cance and quicklypa ed away He vi ited u in New Yo k and although I knew howha d he wa hit by thi econd t agedy he neve utte ed a wo d ofcomplaint Mendel' con ide ate behavio ea ned him the love and
e pect of al hi f iend
Mende and Me
It i alway a t emendou plea u e to meet up with Mendel, and
when I wa invited to pa ticipate in the 1948 Ma del Plata Intenational I wa de pe ate to play To pend evening talking andpu hing wood with Mendel and to acquaint my elf with BuenoAi e , the pea l of South Ame ica well, few delight to pa aph a e
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the poet Swinbu ne, cou d mo e su ely consume a chess maste sdesi e
The p oblem was that the invitation a ived just as I was planning to give up chess My wife Nina and I we e iving in a smallapa tment in Fo est Hil s with two g owing boys, and she de
manded that Ma del P ata be my fina chess fling As I ag eed to heconditions I cou dn t help ecalling Geo ge Be na d Shaw s obse vation about desi e fulfilled: The e a e two t agedies in life One is tolose you hea t s desi e The othe is to gain it
Stil I set out fo Ma del P ata dete mined to conque the chesswo d But I p ayed despicably Afte sta ting well with two winsand six d aws, I ee ed off seven st aight losses befo e ecove ingwith d aws in the final two ounds My tota was 6 11, which wasgood enough to tie fo 16th 17th in an 18-playe fie d at hit mewas the gamb ing bug, and my ups and downs in the tou namentwe e like a g aph of my luck at the oulette and ca d tab es
Afte a iving in Buenos Ai es, I hooked up with G andmasteGideon Stahlbe g, a ha d-d inking Swede who, ike Najdo f, was amembe of the Class of ' 9 that decided to sit out the wa inA gentina He p omptly int oduced me to his foolp oof system ofwinning at oulette, which fit in nicely with daily poke games andsessions of trente et un In about a week I was b oke and had to
bo ow money f om Mendel just to su vive I also began losing chessgames ike a childI gave up poke and jettisoned ou ette, but trente et un fasci
nated me Well d essed gentlemen with immaculate si ve manes andthe g aceful gaits of eti ed matado s sat at the tables behind mountainous stacks of chips They we e inva iab y accompanied by beautiful women and always played fo high stakes F om one of thec oupie s, I lea ned that these men, who acco ded with my idea ofhow a istoc ats ought to look, we e the famous cattle ba ons ofPatagonia
They we e also my financial savio s I easoned that these gentlemen must eventua y ose, and each day fo no longe than 20minutes, I bet against thei la gest bets Soon, I ecouped almost aof my losses and paid back Mendel Luck o insightful st ategy?
Whateve the answe to that question, the e has neve been anyluck in Mendel s esults against me in five minute chess Althoughou f iendship dates back ove 40 yea s, we always p ay chess,Edwa d Laske used to say, fo blood Back in 1981, du ing theKo chnoi Ka pov title match at Me ano, we p ayed speed chess vitually eve y day I would have lost a lot of li e except that I p aced
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ome large bets with h m on Kar ov and wound u nicely ahead,ven though my w fe threw some ex ensive cham agne arties
Mendel got his revenge n Moscow during the first Kas arovar ov match back in 1984 He would inv te me to the Nationalotel for dinner with him and his wife and afterwards we wou d
e air to his suite and lay ast midnight Showing no mercy heeat me like a baby There was one evening that I came out ahead ameas y three rubles; otherwise I lost miserably
Only once have I seen Mende at a com lete loss when ayingeed chess That was at Wijk aan Zee in 1971, when he challenged
his ersonal chess nemesis, Tigran Petrosian In tournaments,Petrosian ran u a huge lus score against Mende , who seemedhe less against the great Armenian, though he could ho d h s ownaga nst Tigran tamer, Boris S assky Well T gran whi ed Mendelgame after game, and the more the former won, the sadder thelatter looked The scene was athetic Najdorf could not win as ngle game H s customary witty banter deserted him, and he beganto ook u at me teous y I was dee ly saddened by the cruel
ectac e
Mendel in the Mood
Mendel s never better than in a chess ambience At tournaments,the moment he makes a move, he jum s u from his seat as thoughricked by a in and rushes nervous y out of the laying enclosureinto the ub ic gallery He will then wail that he has a lost game
translation he is about to win) or buttonhole assersby with thenvariable question Wie stehe ich?" or How do I stand?" On one
occasion, he distractedly asked this question of a bes ectacledyoung man wander ng outside the laying enc osure who re liedon y with a scornful smi e The bystanders roared as Mendeblushed, for he had addressed the question to his o onent!
One evening back in 1978 at the time of the Buenos A resO ym iad, Mende inv ted me to the world famous Buenos A resChess C ub As you enter what was once a large rivate home, youface an im osing wooden staircase To the left and right are s acious rooms for chess but the rea action takes lace on the secondf oor n the c ub room where Mendel holds court amid huge leatherarmchairs and sofas As eo e sit about si ing coffee or enjoying asnack, our hero talks grandly about chess When the sol loquy even
tually yields to assionate Latin disagreements, Mendel usuallychal enges the o onent to a s eed match at odds from 10 to 20 toone To refuse the challenge would be to concede error
Suddenly, it s Mende n the mood With a wide grin he beats out
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a friendly banter while winning game after game to the vast amusement of the gallery Finally he orders drinks for everyone, includingthe opponent These days, holding court is his great love He thriveson it
And f you look closely you can see h m grow arger as the
evening moves on
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joe Reinh ( en e ) , he efe ee of he Denke -S eine U.S. Ch mpM h s ou o m ke move He m n S eine ( igh ) n I espo"Who he e Ne l ! Pho og ph f om he Denke o e ion
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New Yo k mayor orello La uard a p aysI P Q4 n my game aga nstM kha l Bo nn k n he 1 945 U S A U.S S.R. Rad o Mat h MaWe he m looks on Photograph ou esy o
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Pe fo m ng chess abo s at my home in Fo t Lauder-da e, Flo da The book I'm ho d ng s an u dateded t on of my games co ect on:lYou Must PLayChess Photog a h by Hen y F chne
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n merican Origina lYou know that I know that but these silly people don't
know thatAlexander A ekhine (Manhattan Chess Club 1932)
What if I were to tell you that a young man did not lea themoves of chess until age 17, that he did not play in his firsttournament unti age 20, and that by age 21 he was a member ofthe world championship American team at the Prague Olympiad of1931?
Right but I m not nuts The young man was Arthur Dake a player who had in the words of chess immorta Reuben Fine whoknows of what he speaks a natural gift for the game which hasrarely been equalled "
Arthur arrived in New York in the late summer of 1929 with onlya sailor's duffel bag slung over his shoulder and a determination to
meet and beat the great masters of the greatest city on earthGrand Central Station " Arthur would later say, was so big andmy hometown, Portland so smal that it took me 30 minutes tofind my way out of the place "
Believe him Arthur never tells ies and is incapable of cynicalcalculation Not mind you, that these fine qualities are expressionsof freely made moral choices They are not They are simply part ofthe man a natural gentleman of childlike ea estness with anauthentically powerful mind that is without a reflective, intellectualcast When Larry Parr the co-author of this book went to interviewArthur at his home in 1984, he was greeted even before reaching theporch n the middle of the front yard Arthur s apped Larry on theback thrust a piece of devotional literature at him ( One Day at aTime"), and hustled him into the living room to the roar of Victoat Sea which is what Arthur calls inspirational music "
Larry thought that meeting the 7 4 year old Dake was a ot likerunning into a tornado of chitchat magine, then, what Arthur was
like back in 1929 ! Imagine what electricity this kinetic and frenetic1
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man gene ated on the New Yo k chess sceneFi st though, I want to ause fo a dee b eath and ask if you ve
hea d the sto y about. . .
Pl ying Pots with Alekhine
One evening about 60 yea s ago at the Manhattan Chess Club,A thu and I found ou selves ushing wood with AlexandeAlekhine at 25 cents a game. A la ge c owd collected a ound outable as the wo ld cham ion took the fi st th ee ots, whe eu on Iwon a cou le. A thu then mo ed u by winning six off the eel
As A thu 's st eak mounted Alekhine's face went f om ed tou e The humi iation of eaching into a little b ack coin u se to
fetch mo e qua te s, combined with su ende ing his seat at theboa d en aged the cham ion. He challenged A thu to a match,who be ed off. Eve yone he e knows that you would s aughteme in a match, so why lay one?" said A thu Mol ified fo themoment Alekhine levelled the challenge a second time afte A thuke t winning.
Look Docto ," A thu said tactfu y, I know you a e the bettelaye and a e me ely off fo m this evening "
Gestu ing at the s ectato s su ounding the boa d, Alekhine elied, o know that, I know that, but these silly pe ople don'tknow that!"
He e was the g eat Alexande Alexand ovich A ekhine whostood ast ide the chess wo ld with a ms akimbo like the Colossus ofRhodes, challenging a then vi tually unknown Ame ican mastef om Po tland O egon, to a match The scene would have been sadif it had not been so funny.
Alekhine's next disaste against A thu came a few months lateto be exact, on August 28 1932 At the Pasadena Inte nationalA thu became the fi st Ame ican to defeat the wo ld cham ion intou nament ay
A hu Dake-A exa der A ekhi ePa ade a 9 2
Ca Ka Defe eI K4 QB3 2. Q4 Q4 3. x x 4. -QB4 KB3 QB3 B3
B3 B K3
Much that is u e hokum has been w itten about this moveWalte Ko n says that Alekhine desi ed to lu e a ossibly bookishnovice into the unknown " whe eas Reuben Fine uncha acte istically co s out with, A eculia lace fo the Bisho , but Black
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Cla ification indeed A thu te ls the sto y this way Alekhineand I had spent the p evious day analyzing the Panov Attack againstthe Ca o Kann So as a psychological ploy, he played into ouanalysis all the while sea ching me with his famous pie cing sta e
But I looked him ight back in the eye and played 6 N B3 He thenvisibly weakened and t ied the infe io 6 B K3 " Boundless andoften ca eless confidence was A thu 's stock in t ade
7. BS K 3 8. B QNS B N2 9 KS Q BI I 0. Q R B Q2I I 0 0 0 01 2. B KB QR3 3. Bx xB 1 . KR KI N R I S. B Q2
The th eat is 16 Nx
I S. . . . R R2
The e exists a photog aph of Alekhine ponde ing this moveA thu is sitting back cockily in his chai chin esting on his lefthand while Alekhine is bent fo wa d a ms folded on the table
ntently studying the position
1 6 R-K2 B-KI 7. QR K I B ?
Black needs to play 17 P-KN4
1 8 N B3 N-B3 1 9. Rx RxR 20 RxR -BS 2 . Bx N KS 22 B-KS B-RNxN x 2 . -NS
This bolt f om the blue p oves decisive Of cou se, if 24 BxN,White wins easily afte 25 R N7ch K R1 26 R 7dis ch
2 . Q B 2S. Q 3ch B B2 2 xB Rx 27. RxR QxR 28 Q N8Q BI
29 -QS
Awa ded two exc amation points by Fine I wanted to t adeQueens against histo y's g eatest attacking playe ," adm ttedA thu but afte 29 Qch KxQ the Black King ma ches to Q4with a ha d win fo White " A thu 's f ank statement that he fea ed
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the world champion even when enjoying a clear y winning po itionpoint up the man utter inabi ity to di emb e He a way aywhat i on hi mind, a trait that i morally prai eworthy and ocially dangerou
29 . . . K6! 30. 4!
Thi move put th win in the bag, which mean that player farweaker than Dake could now defeat A ekhine
30 QxQ 3 . BxQ K- 2 32. x K K I 33. Q 4 N4 34 N3 xx K-Q I 36 -QR4 K B I 37. B Q6 B N2 38. K B I Black resig s
From Kec kemet in 1927 through Bad Nauheim in 1936,Alekhine o t four game in regu ar tournament A Fine wrote ofthi battle, To beat Alekhine wa alway a notable feat "
But Not G apes of W ath
When Arthur finally found hi way out of Grand Central Station, heheaded directly to the Seaman n titute on the Bowery, where hemet a world cla checker ma ter, Kenneth Grover The two men etup a che and checker tand on Coney I and, taking on al comerfor a quarter a game Thu began hi immer ion in the che ubcu ture of New York
Within a month after Arthur' arrival in New York City, the tockmarket cra hed Cu tomer quit coming to Coney I land; memberdropped out of the Manhattan and Mar hal che c ub ; tudentbecame carce Horowitz helped by giving Arthur ome of hi
tudent an act of extraordinary genero ity during the Great Depre ion But the future Grandma ter from Oregon," to quote thetitle of Ca ey Bu h' recent book about Arthur, had no fami y inNew York and, therefore, no afe harbor away from treet realityJu t procuring a place to leep and an occa ional meal of hot dogand bean became an epic truggle
Arthur, loo e-limbed and gangly to begin with, grew a thin a
the hiny eat of hi pant He wa uffering for what he would laterca l fame and g ory, art for art ake " Hi diet narrowed down towater, coffee and green grape Indeed, Ruby Fine explained onlyhalf-jokingly that Arthur eventual y gave up che becau e hecouldn t live on grape any onger "
Arthur tried everything to tay in che He and Grover ran pokergame in their midtown Manhattan dig ju t off Sixth Avenue and52nd Street But the two game men found that line of play toodoub e-edged Character like Damon Runyon Dave the Dude,Harry the Hor e and B ack Mike Marrio were all too common Said
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Arthur, We took cuts out of arge pots and were doing well. Until,one night, six thugs with heaters' appeared, and Ken and I decidedto get out of the poker business."
Looking back at how Arthur lived in those days, I am amazedthat this naive and friendly Westerner survived at all, let alone be
came a great master. For in addition to the fine qualities mentionedalready so inimical to survival in the street canyons of Manhattan my friend was generous to a fault. If he had only a quarter tohis name, he was willing to go halves with another in similar need.
But don t get me wrong. For all his generosity, Arthur was amensch not a milquetoast At age 16, he shipped out as an apprentice seaman aboard the S.S Bearport bound for Shanghai. I was aself-styled Jack London," said Arthur.
Shanghai in 1926! It was the most wide-open city in the historyof the world, and my friend learned all about life and a kind of lovein that fascinating cesspool of squalor and taxi girls. In 1929 Arthurpicked up some more pointers in a Sochi nightclub from a eggyRussian dancer, whose officer boyfriend kept patting his leatherpistol holster Another lesson came one afternoon aboard ship whenArthur fought a four round boxing match against a tough Filipino.
We hated each other s guts," Arthur grins, but after half killingourselves became close friends!"
That's the way Arthur was a two fisted guy in chess and ifewho, nonetheless, never had a mean thought He may have lived ongrapes, but I warrant that they never tasted bitter in his mouth.They were grapes of the vine, not of wrath.
A Speed Demon
That Arthur could squash A ekhine in speed chess ought to su riseonly youngsters under 75 For the young Oregonian was a speeddemon A typical victory was a 12 0 rout in September 1935, of afield that included Fine, Horowitz, Sammy Reshevsky, yours trulyand virtually every other top American master.
Arthur had a lot of Bobby Fischer in him There was the samemeteoric rise, and having analyzed with both of them, I can say thesame gift for summing up positions quickly based largely on intuition. Neither man had to plod through lengthy variations to findgood moves, and both men made chess look easy by the speed with
which they played Like the young Viswanathan Anand of the current day, Dake and Fischer played entire tournament games in a fewminutes That is the good news about Arthur s play.
The bad news is that this natural genius, like nature itself, had
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the attention span of a hummingbi d, a common failing in b i liantminds that a e untamed by fo mal intellectua t aining A thuneve studied chess in a disciplined fashion, neve slowed down longenough to eco d ana ysis fo futu e efe ence (the e was always agame going somewhe e and A thu had to be the e!) and neveadopted a sane tou nament egimen So often in his ca ee , A thusta ted tou naments with a st ing of wins and ended them with askein of losses f om t ying fo victo y in d awn positions On oneoccasion he had Jose Capab anca within a move of esignation butcockily played as quickly as the famous Cuban And lost What didnot come easily fo A thu , often came not at al
A thu s opening epe toi e was mode n even by today's standa ds He p ayed the English because of its positional natu e andthe Sicilian because it was stil elatively un ooked None of us
fea ed his opening play but we d eaded his handling of endgames,the classic p ese ve of the natu al playe His opponent in the following game desc ibed Dake's pe fo mance as wiza d y":
27. -RS
A tho y Sa asie e-A hu akeU S. Champ o ship / 38
The idea is to p ay N R4, th eatening the weakl ng on B428. Q-K2!
Now White th eatens Q K7 in the event that Black t ies N-R4
28 . . . Q 2 29 B 2 Q 30. Q-N2 -Q 3 3 1 Q S
About this move, the amazed lose w ote I conside ed mychances ve y good, since Black's Queenside pawns a e on the samecolo ed squa es as my Bishop But what Dake does with his Knightis shee magic, su e y one of the finest played endgames in the lite atu e of chess "
3 1. . . . QxQ 32. xQ R 33 B K3 BS 3 . B B I K R2 35. K 2?
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Demonst ating a deep unde standing of this ending The obvious40 NxP is met by 41 B with at least a d aw fo ite
1 B-B NxBP 2. BxP xRP 3. BxP B6 . B-Q8
The best t y, since P R6 fo Black only seems to d awSantasie e points out that afte 44 B-B NxP 45 K-B4 K-B3 46 PN4 P-R6 47 BxP NxB 48 P N ch K K3! 49 P-N6, Black wins with49 N B ! Dake now succeeds in winning by the na owest of
ma gins. . . NxP 5 B- S xP 6. B-Q2 P-R6 7. B-B I -B7 8. K-B K-B3 9
P N P-R7 50 B 2ch K-K3 5 I P S P-R8=Q 52. BxQ NxB 53 P 6 N-B5 . P- 7 K B2 55. K KS - S 56. P 8=Qch KxQ 57. K-Q K-B2 Whi e
esigns
White wins the Knight with 58 K-B but loses the game afte 58 K-K3
Afte A thu won the Ma shall Chess Club championship in 1931he climbed Ame ica s chess ladde at a dizzying pace Sho tly following the P ague Olympiad of that same yea he tied fo fi st withAkiba Rubinstein and F D Yates at Antwe p; finished thi d withFine at Sy acuse 1934 tallied 1 1 to tie with Fine and He manSteine fo fi st at Mexico City 1934 35; etc etc But he made his
eal ma k at the th ee Olympiads in which he ep esented theUnited States His ove all esult of 75 6 pe cent ( +27- =14) issecond among Ame ican playe s only to that of Issac Kashdan
At the Wa saw Olympiad of 935, A thu sco ed +13 0 =5 totu n in the best single esult of that event I was visiting the count y of my he itage," A thu once said, and touched all the ightpieces " As a special p ize, the Polish-Ame ican he o eceived a valuable painting of Polish u al life by the a tist Wasilewski But it wason the ship t ip back aboa d the S S Pilsudski, A thu often says,
that I won my most wonde ful chess p ize my wife, Helen "
The couple we e wed in Novembe 935, and a though A thu
and Helen c issc ossed the count y on a se ies of simultaneous tou s(with A thu achieving in Milwaukee a ca ee -best simul sco e of+ 71 0 1) the ene gy and the money began to dwindle A thutaught chess in the Milwaukee public schools in 1936 37 He waspa t of a p og am p omoted by A pad E o of late atings fame
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In Ap il 1937 A thu 's daughte Ma jo ie was bo n Sho tlythe eafte his chess ca ee died He would not play se iously againuntil the Lone Pine tou nament of 1973 following his eti ementa supe viso at O egon's Depa tment of Moto Vehicles He e wasthe kind of play that the chess wo ld lost fo 35 yea s
A be S mo so -Ar h r DakeU S Ope 1 935E g sh Ope g
. -KB3 -KB3 2. -KN3 Q 3 3 - 3 B 2 B-QN2 -N3 5 B 2 2 6. 0 0 0-0 7 B B 8. -R3?
Simp y 8 NB3 will do
8 . . . . N B3 9. B2 Q I 0. x Qx . N K3 Q-Q2 2. R B I KR Q 13.Q3 QR-B I 1 . B Q-B2 I S. Q B2 Q 1 6. Q N Q R I 1 7. B-KR
B2 8. QN KS N K !?
An ext ao dina ily p ovocative move
1 9. NxB
White launches what appea s to be a c ushing attack
1 9. . . . KxN 20. - Sch K B I 2 1 . -K6ch K B2 22 BxB NxB 23. NxR
And Black must esign ight?
23 . -QS!
W ong! Fo now on 24 NxQ, comes 24 NxP mate
2 . B N
But Black is su ely dead afte this move? Note that White losesthe Knight afte 24 -K1 Q-N
2 . . . . Q B !
Suddenly all becomes quite clea Black is winning
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25 K6 K x 26 K KR 27 B-QI Q-Q2 28 -B -R 29 Q N22 30 Q 2 KN B 3 1 Q KB2 2 32 Q-KN2 Q -B 33 R-KB3
QSch 3 K R I K6 35 Q K2 xB 36 Rx Bx White esigns
his little known defensive earl of American chess is ublishedhere for the f rst time in a book
R ghting the Wrong
Somehow in the awards shu fle of the early 1950s Arthur got dealtout of a grandmaster title Don t ask me why Here was a masterwho had an equal or lus score against every leading erican layer exce t Reshevsky Against Fine Arthur scored 7 w ns 7 lossesand 8 draws against Kashdan 1 win and 6 draws; against Steiner 5wins 2 losses 3 draws and so on he failure to recognize him as agrandmaster " wrote Walter Korn in Ame ca's Chess He tage reflected on the system not on the erson "
Arthur roved Korn's oint beyond argument when at Lone Pinein 1974 and 1976 he finished ahead of such strong young layers asLarry Christiansen John Fedorowicz and Yasser Seirawan Severalyoungsters who wondered if this unknown old geezer could take a
unch found themselves wondering what hit them Among hisvictims in the 1976 fixture was Ken Rogoff a young comer who had
inished second a year ear ier in the U S Cham ionshi
A thu Dake- e eth Rogoo e Pi e, 97 6
g ish Ope gI QB -KB3 2 N QB3 B 3 -KN3 -Q x x 5 B- 2 N6 -B3 -B3 7 -Q3 K 8 B K3 B-K2 9 R-QB I 0 0I0 Q2
White is laying a Sicilian Defense with an extra move
I 0 B Q2 I0-0 N K3 1 2 QS /K3-QS 1 3 -K QN3 1 / BR-B I I S B Q2 N S I 6 xBch Qx 1 7 -QR3 /Q S-B3 1 8 K3 1 9 B x 20 x B2 2 1 Q K2 K-R I 22 -K -B3 23 N- 3 2 KR-Q I -RS?
Black had to try 24 N K Now White breaks at Q4 andex odes a nice litt e booby tra three moves down the road
25 -Q N Q I 26 x x
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good thing I could point in reply to righting the wrong d n t oArthur Dake In 1986 I was able to convince F DE to awar thisgreat player the GM title for his many fine performances during he1930s
From time to time run into my friend at tournaments He is a
good deal older and slower than the young chess speedster of yeteryear who used to quip, I ll dake it off " during lightning gamesut he is otherwise unchanged still childlike in his friendlinesstill generous to a fault and still ambitious in chess n 1991 he was
inducted into the U S Chess Hall of Fame
Thus I give you Arthur William Dake, a decent and consideratespirit, and an American original if ever there was one I look forwardto meeting with him for many years to come
Helen Dake Arthur's wife of 58 years has just died In a movingmemorial in the July 1994 Chess L e my friend wrote about hisloss and about what he values in life:
At the 1935 Warsaw Olympiad, scored 15 2 to post thebest absolute result of that event; and can still rememberthinking during the trip back aboard the S S. Pilsudski thatthe greatest chess prize of my life was a famous painting ofPolish rural life that I had just received
That s when I met 26 year old Helen Gerwatowski during theintermission of a shipboard movie Helen who was returningto America after visiting her ancestral Poland, simply turnedaround and smiled at me That s all
Some six weeks later, after a whirlwind romance, we marriedon November 14, 1935 And this remarkable person who wast ly my most wonderful chess prize became my wife for 58years until her death on April 1 1994
Let me tell you about my Helen She was a lady who unfailingly prayed the rosary every morning who never failed tosay I love you" every evening; who supported me in my efforts to become a chess professional during the Depression
30s; who baked celebrated lemon meringue pies for the AltarSociety and Oregon blueberry muffins for a former Chess L eeditor and good friend [Larry Parr] ; who travelled to RomeParis, and Poland thanks to the generosity of our daughter
Marjorie and who passed away fittingly on Good Fridaywith a palm-leaf crucifix in her hand
fell in love with Helen at first sight but I never imaginedback then that like a flower in perpetual unfolding Helen
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would eveal ove the yea an eve mo e textu ed humanoul that omehow g ew in gene o ity and faith in Ou o d
Fo me Helen wa an eve evolving wonde ment of t engthand wi dom fo othe he p oved that by wo king in the
hipya d du ing Wo ld Wa and at Ha tfo d n u ance fo
the en uing 20 yea one could be a no mal, healthy pe onyet al o be ful y alive
My Helen who fo o many decade b avely played the oleof a che widow," ha now left me a che widowe g ievethe lo of my mate of a lifetime
Selected Games
Arthur Dake: The GM of atu l MovesART UR DAK R UB N (Young a te ou ament 1 930 I . P KP-QB -QB3 -QB3 3 P-KN3 P-K 3 . B- B- 2 S. K -K2 B3 6.P-Q3 0 0 7. 0 0 P Q3 8. P KR3 B Q2 9. B K3 R N 0. P-QR P-QR3 Q-Q R-K P-B P-R3 1 3 P K Q N3? 1 . P RS! Q-Q ( he w th 1 NxRP i S N QS, winn ng a ece I S. P KS! PxP 6. Px(On 1 6 NxKP Dake intended 7. B B and 1 8. Q-K3 with a advantage 1 7. BxRP BxKP 1 8. B B R-KB I 1 9. BxB NxB 0. Q K3 Q B2 N QS Q Q3 N 3 B B3 3. QR K P B3 2 . P-B Bx 2S. BxBch P(Dake tate that even a e t e bet e S . . . . K R I White til co e elativelea ily wit 6 -K 6. -K Q K2 7. NxPch! Rx 28. QxN RxRc 29RxR R-K I 30 B-K Q-N 3 1 . QxQ xQ 3 BxK P R Q I 33. P R K-N3 B RS N-R 3S R-B7ch Black e ign Long thoug t to be lo t thi gamt e fr meeting between the e two g eat laye . Ou t an go to JackO'Keefe, who found t e co e in theWa hi gto Po tof A il S 1 93 .
AR UR DAK A. . KU MA (Young a te Tou ament 930 I . PK P K 2. N KB3 N QB3 3. B-NS P QR3 . BxN QPxB S. N-B3 B-Q3 6. PQ PxP 7 QxP P B3 8. B K3 -K 9. 0-0-0 -N3 I 0. Q B Q K2 . N Q
-K 1 2. Q-K2 0-0 3. P KR3 Q B 1 K I R-K I S P-B3 P-QR B2 P RS 1 7. P-KN B-NS 1 8. N/3 K2 Q BS 1 9 N-B P-QB 0 N QS
1 . BS Bx 22. NPxB P B3 23. P-N3! PxP . BPxP Q-N S. NxPchPx 26. KR-N ch K-R 7. Q R R KB 28 B R6 R B2 29. B N7chblunde t at n an a acking ma te iece; t e im e 9 Q- 3 would fo ce
e ignation 29 . . . . RxB 30. QxP R KN3 1 RxR RxR d aw W te unfami iawit Da e will a ume t at h a e on move 9 wa a funct on of t me
e u e. he t uth i that Dake wa vi ually neve in time e u e andoubt e ly whi ed out the tex move wit out th n ing. m etuo ity andim atience we e a much a of Dake mentality a Ca ablanca l ke natu ag fo the game.
K.0 O - M T ART UR DAK ( a ha l C.C. Cham ion i P elim
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na ies 1 930 Q N-KB3 2. -QB -K 3 3 -QB3 -Q x5 K NxN 6. xN B-N2 7. B-QB 0-0 8. N K2 -B 9 0-0 x I 0 x NB3 I . B-K3 N-R 2. B-Q3 B-K3 3. R-B I BxR 1 . Q-Q2 B-K3 5 N B3 6. Qx Nx 7. KR Q NxNch 1 8. BxN Q N 1 9 QxK 20 R-N Q-B 2 QR-B I Q- I 22 R- I B-N6 23 R-Q7 RS 2 QR-Q I 25 RxRch QxR 26. B BS Q-Q7 27. B NS Q-B7 28 R-KB R-N 2R B I B-N7 30 RxQ BxQ 3 1 . R-B3 B-N7 32. B-Q6 BxR 33 BxR RWh te esigns
DAVID O LA D AR UR DAK (Ma shall C.C. Cham ionshi elimina ies, 1 930 . N KB3 N KB3 2. B B3 3. K 3 Q . - 3 BB KN2 K3 6 . 0-0 QN-Q2 7. -Q3 B K2 8. B- 2 0 0 9. N-B3 -KR3 I 0. RB I B-R2 I R-K I Q-R 1 2 -QR3 x 3. x KR Q 1 . N Q2 1 5 Q B2 Bx ? 6. xB x 1 7. R N I xR 1 8. Rx QR B I 1 9. N N3 20. Q K2 QxQ 2 . RxQ R Q6 22. N B R Q2 23. B B I QN 2 . N K
NxN 25. RxN R Q7 26. R K2 R/ 1 Q I 27. N 3 RxR 28 BxR x 29. BxBR Q8ch 30 K N2 B B3 3 . B QB B Q 32. K B3 B N3 33. K K2 RB Q2 K B 35. B N ch K K 36. B B3 K B I 37. B B N8 38 39 -QR R-N2 0. B-N ch K-KI . B-R3 B-Q 2. K-Q3 R-Q2ch 3. KB2 B-N3 . B-Q3 B-B7 5. -N B-K6 6. -BS x 7. Bx R- 2 8. N-RSR-N 9. Nx R-N2 50. N-RS R-B2ch 5 . K Q3 B B7 52 N-B B-B 53 . BRxB 5 . K Q R B3 55. K QS R-R3 56. RS K K2 57 B B8 R KB3 58. K Q I 59. B BS K B2 60 R N3 6 . B Q3 R BS 62. R6 R B7 63R-BS 6 . K-BS -B 65. Nx Rx 66. -RS R-N8 67. N-B R NS 68. N QSch
K-Q I 69. B-NS R KRS 70. K Q6 Rx 7 1 . N-K7 BS 72. B-Q7 R QB 73 B6ch RxNch 7 . BxR -R 75. B-B3 RS 76. K-KS K-B2 77. Kx K N I d w
ART UR DAK ANT ONY AN A R (Ma shall C C. Cham ionshiel mina ies, 1 930 I . K K 2 N KB3 N QB3 3. B NS Q3 .
Q2 5. N B3 x 6 x KN3 7. B K3 B 2 8. BxN xB 9. Q Q2 B3 B-R6 0 0 . BxB KxB 2. 0 0 R-QN I 3. QN3 B 1 . N/ K2 BN-N3 R-NS 6. KR-K KR 7. QR3 R-QN I 1 8. Q-NS R KR 1 9.N-Q2 20. N-BSch K-B 2 1 . QxQch RxQ 22 N-K3 N 3 23 QN N-Q2
2 . KR N I K N2 25. N/K3 QS BxN 26. NxB R-QB I 27. R N2 KR K I 28. B2 R K 29. QB KB3 30. R/ 1 QN K B2 3 1 . x Nx 32. R N8 R/33. RxR RxR 3 . K K3 B3 35. B R B2 36. R Q R Q2 37. N Q3 N38 RxN K K3 39. R- 3 N 0. R N8 -RS 1 . K Q -Q 2 K x ch
3 -BS R QB2 . R- 2 R-B3 5. R-K2ch K-Q2 6. Kx R-R3 7. -B6chRx 8. R K7ch KxR 9. KxR B 50. R NS 5 . B N6 52. x53 -RS K K3 5 . R6 K K2 55. K QS K Q2 56. K KS K B3 57. Kx 58 K-K6 Kx 59 -BS B ac esignsE ne echte Dake Pa eas the e manswould say.
ART UR DAK AL HOROW (Ma sha l C C vs Manhat a C C Met oolitan League Match 93 I .N-KB3 N-KB3 2. B -K3 3. B3 -Q -Q QN-Q2 5. B-NS -B3 6 -K3 Q-R 7. BxN NxB 8. B-Q3 B K2 9. 0-0
0 0 I 0. -QR3 x I I . Bx B 2. R-B x 3. x R-Q I . Q-K2
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1 5 KR-Q I Q-R 1 6. N-KS QxQ 1 7 BxQ N-Q 1 8 B-B3 B-K2 1 9 R-BB 20 P-KN3 x 2 1 RxN P B3 22. N-B R-N 23. N RS B-Q3 2 . KQB I K-K2 25. B-K P KN3 26. R-K I R Q2 27. B-QS R-B2 28. R/3-K3 P-K29. PxP PxP 30. -B R B 3 1 . R-Q B-NS 32. R-Q2 R-Q I 33 . P-N R-B23 . P B R/2-Q2 35. B- 2 B-B2 36 RxRch RxR 37 R K I B-K3 38 NxP Q7 39. BxP B-N3ch 0. K-R I K-B3 1 N-B3 R-R7 2 N-NS B-N I 3 RB-BS NxPch K B2 5 R-K I RxP 6 N Sch K-N2 7. B B6 R 6P NS R N7 9 R-Q I K B3 50. R-Q6ch K-K2 5 1 . R-Q7ch K B I 52. N-R7chN I 53. N B6ch K-B 5 . B-QS BxBch 55. B K-K2 56. N- K K3 57R NS K-Q3 58 P-R K-K3 59 RxPch K-B 60 R-NSch K-KS 6 1 P-RS K62. N-KSch K K7 63. K- 2 R 6 . -B3 Black resigns
REUBEN E ART UR DAKE (New York 1 93 1 Match I . P Q N KBP-QB P-K3 3. N QB3 B-NS . P-K3 P QN3 5. B Q3 B-N2 6. -K2 BxP 7.R-KN I B K 8. BxB? (A much bet er move is 8 Q B2 8 . . . xB 9
NxP I 0. Q-B2 Q RS I I . K-B I N S 1 2. N N3? Q B3ch 3 K N QN-NS N-QR3 5. Q-R P QB3 1 6. QxN PxN 7 Q-N7 R-Q Wh tresigns
ART UR DAKE DAV D PO A D (New York tate Cham ionshi 1 93 1:
I . P-K P-QB 2 N-QB3 P-Q3 3 P KN3 N QB3 B 2 N-QS 5. P Q3 KB3 6. P-KR3 P KN3 7 KN-K2 N-K3 8. B K3 B-N2 9 0-0 P-QR3 I 0 PQ B2 I I Q-Q2 B Q2 1 2 P-B B B3 I 3. N QS Q Q 1 P B N-B2 N6 R-Q I 1 6. P-RS -Q2 1 7. -QS P-K3 8. xN Qx 1 9. P-Q PxP 20.
NxP 0 0 2 1 . KR-Q N B 22. NxB N- 6 23. QxP QxQ 2 . RxQ PxN 25.R-R2 P-K 26 B-N6 PxP 27. R-Q PxP 28. R-R3 NxP 29 BxN RxP 30. RxPR-QB7 3 1 . B B I P-QB 32 R-N2 B-QSch 33. K-R I RxR 3 KxR P B 35Q3 PxP 36 BxP R B7ch 37. K-N3 R QR7 38 B-B7 P QR 39 R-KB I R-R
0. R B3 RxRch 1 . KxR P R 2. B-N K-B2 3. B-B B B6 K K5. B-R6 K-B3 6. K-QS Black resigns
ART UR DAKE A UEL RE EV KY (Western O en 1 933 I . P Q NKB3 2. P QB P K3 3 N QB3 B S Q 3 P-B 5. PxP N B3 6. N B3 7. B-NS P-KR3 8. B R 0 0 9. P-K3 B K2 I 0. B-K2 P Q 3 I I . 0 0 N KRBxB QxB 3. QR Q I B-N2 1 . R-Q2 KR-Q I 1 5. KR-Q I N B3 I 6. Q-RQR-B 1 7. R-Q6 N-K I 1 8. 6-Q3 P-Q3 9. Q-R3 P-R3 20. P-K Q-B2 2 1P QN3 K 22 R Q N N3 23. P 3 K 2 . Q N2 N QB3 25. R/ -Q2N R 26 R Q3 N-KB3 27 Q-Q2 BxP 28 xP N N2 29 RxRch xR 30 QK3 RxRch 3 I . BxR Bx 32 . BxB N-Q3 33. N-R N-Q2 3 NxP NxN 35. PBS N Q 36. PxN QxP 37. Q Q3 Q-R6 38. BxN PxB draw A carefully
ayed rarely seen and unremarkable game which a ea s here fo the time i either magazine o book form
ART UR DAKE ERNE T CLARKE and CAR BER MAN (Exhibition amean ra cisco June 27 1 937 I P Q N KB3 2. P-QB P-K3 3 -QB3 . Q-B2 P-Q 5 P QR3 BxNch 6 QxB -KS 7 Q B2 N-QB3 8 P-K3 -0
P-Q P-QR I 0. P-NS N K2 I I . N B3 P QB3 1 2. B Q3 P KB 1 3 0
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3 . P QR BPxP S BPxNP B Q2 1 6 B-R3 R-B 1 . Q N2 R-KQR B I -N 1 9. NxN QxN 20. B-Q6 P BS 2 1 . PxP xP 22. Bx QxB 23.QR K P-Q 3 2 R-KS R B2 25. P-N3 Q-B6 26. R-K3 Q B3 2 . KR-K I KQB 28. R-KS Q B6 29. B-K2 Q-B6 A bet er mo e is 29 Qintend ng . . Q- S) 30. QxQ RxQ 3 1 . B N R/6-BS A probable d aw is 3 1.. . R B8) 32 BxP h BxB 33. RxB RxRP 3 RxP RxP 35. R-K R KS 36. RR R I 3 RxP P-RS 38. R QR6 R-N 39. R-R P-R3 0. P R R-QNS R QS-Q R-NS 2. R QS R S 3 K-N2 R/ xP . R QS Q R- S 5 R3 R -NS 6 P RS R K P-B RxRP h 8 K 2 R-QB 9. RxK-R I 50. R Rh K- I 5 I . RxKRP R B6 52. R-Q6 R-B 53 . K-R3 R NS BS 5R Q6 QR6 R B6 55 R-R8 Bla k es gns any young masters who ha e beenur u ed onInfo man s mag ne that the opening is a l he older mastersused to spend a lot of t me s udy ng endings and ould ou inely reate n
shed p odu ions su h as his ne game
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Mo 'e 01er, alentino!The first time that I saw boyish, handsome Herman Steiner was inthe ear y 1930s at the Manhattan Chess Club, where he was playinga match against Reuben Fine He lost narrowly.
The impression that Herman made was striking a one timeboxer he was wel built in a wiry way But this impression was alsofleeting. did not really get to know him until years later when wewere both playing in the 1934 Syracuse Internationa . I had agreedto share a room with Sammy Reshevsky blithely unaware of hisspecial wakeup alarm system And the very first morning Sammyshattered my dreams with the loudest wailing and lamentations thatI had ever heard. He was praying
Stop complaining and go back to bed," said.Don't you realize we ve lost the Temple?" he mumbled.
That was more than could take, and later the same day, Imoved across the hall to Herman s room There the attack on mysleep was of a di ferent kind Thinking back across the decades Istill have not decided which would have been better for my chess:staying with Sammy and losing some sleep or hanging out withHerman and getting practically no sleep at all while learning allabout life and ladies.
You may ta k about the Valentinos and Navarros, but they hadnothing on the man whom we wou d later call Handsome Hermanof Hollywood. He was one charming devil with a disarming smile
and a twinkle in the eye that women could not resist The mostbeautiful women imaginable literally fought just to share him. I hadnever seen the like and did not complain because it permitted me toenjoy the overflow Herman, wherever you are want you to knowthat I will always be grateful.
Admitted y, however, I exhibited no such gratitude at the timein our individual game which is given here because it was our firsttournament battle and set the tone of future encounters.
