LCCC met again at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Brighton, MI. It was another nice round of over the board chess and great conversation, with 8 players in attendance.
We were graced with the presence of a past member of
our club that has moved to the east side of the state and cannot make the commute
anymore. He is none other than Jason Morris, an Expert and writer for the
Michigan Chess Magazine.
Jason played some games with us and reviewed some
grandmaster games with our members. Thanks Jason!
Erich Eliskases (picture on left) is another great chess player you
never heard of. He is the only man to represent 3 different countries in the
Chess Olympiads (thru no fault of his own – more on that later). He also had
tournament victories over the likes of Max Euwe, Jose Capablanca and …..drumroll…Bobby
Fischer! His record against all three was (3-3), (2-2) and (1-1) respectively.
Impressive.
Born in Innsbruck, Austria in 1913 Erich learned to
play chess completely by chance at the age of twelve. And at the age of nineteen,
he won a ten-game match against World Championship contender Rudolf Speilmann
5.5 to 4.5, losing the final meaningless game. Eliskases had already won the
match winning games 2, 7 and 9 (odd numbered games with Black).
There were discussions of the young Erich to play
Alexander Alekhine for the World Chess Championship, but political issues soon
got in the way. Go figure. Eliskases did represent Austria in the Chess
Olympiads during the early 1930’s.
Young Erich Eliskases saw what was happening in Europe
and left for South America in 1939. He did play for Germany in the 1939 Buenos
Aires Chess Olympiad. When World War II broke out, Erich decided to stay put.
Erich moved back and forth between Brazil and Argentina,
finally becoming a naturalized Argentine citizen and representing his new
country in the Chess Olympiads of 1952, 1958, 1960 and 1964. He made his living
as a chess instructor.
Eliskases was a strong correspondence player and an
endgame wizard. His defeat of Capablanca was in an endgame – and Capablanca is
regarded as the best endgame player of all the greats!
Erich Eliskases died in Cordoba, Argentina in 1997 at
the age of 83.
Here is game #7 of his match with Rudolf Speilmann,
Litz, Austria, January, 1932.
White: Speilmann – Black: Eliskases, Queen’s Gambit
Declined; Semi-Slav without Nf6 (D31)
1. d4 d5
2. Nf3 e6
3. c4 c6
4. Nc3 dxc4
5. e4 b5
6. e5 Bb7
7. Be2 Ne7
8. Ne4 Nd5
9. O-O Nd7
10. Nfg5 Be7
11. f4? g6?!
White’s 11th move is the last “book” move
but both Igor3000 (-1) and Stockfish12 (-1.9) say this move is a real stinker.
Correct was 11. b3, putting pressure on Black’s queen-side pawns. Black’s reply
shows why f4 was playable in those days. Black weakens his king-side (and we
assume his castling side) for no reason. Castling was best here (-.6). But as
we will see, Black never needs to.
Noted chess author and annotator Fred Reinfeld said, “Spielmann
is playing the opening in an aggressive fashion attempting to get an attack at
all costs. The manner in which his young opponent defends himself is highly
instructive.”
12,
f5 ?! ………
As was Speilmann’s lifelong chess weakness…..this is too aggressive
too soon. Remember pawn advances cannot be retreated if incorrect. 12. Rf3 was
best. (-.9).
12. ……. exf5
13. e6 fxe6
14. Nxe6 Qb6
15. a4? ........
Fred Reinfeld said of White's #15 move; “This desperate move is the beginning of an extremely ingenious combination……which is defeated by a still finer counter-combination.”
The chess engines see all and have White lost at
(-2.6) and suggests instead for White 15. Rxf5, c5 16. Ng7+, Kd8 17. Rf2, cxd4 18. Qxd4 and still
losing (-1) but still playable. Eliskases
sees that a4 is wrong also.
15. ...... fxe4
16. a5 Qa6
17. Qc2
? N7f6 ? (!)
Another blunder by White (-3.75). 17. Ng7+ was needed. But Black ‘blunders’ back - sort of.
It is interesting here – in this position - to note
that this is the type if situation where chess cheats get caught.
Fred Reinfeld was considered one of the very best chess annotators back in the days before chess engines. He gave 17… N7f7 an exclamation point! He states, “The alternative 17. …..c5 would lead to all sorts of complications, whereas the text move forces White’s hand.”
The only
problem is Fred, is that c5 is the real best and crushing move. The computers can wander thru the analysis maze faster and with no emotional strain or drain.
In other words, Eliskases made the ‘human’ move to
victory by not muddying the waters (- 1.7) Computers have no such fear at a
million moves per second analysis.
18. Rxf6? Bxf6
19. Qxe4
Kf7
!
Reinfeld exclaims, “A remarkable position! Black must
lose the Queen, and yet has a won game!” (-3.4) Your humble scribe agrees. The type of position only GMs are not afraid to play.
20. Nc5 Rae8
21. Qf3 Rxe2!
22. Nxa6 Re1+
23. Kf2 Rhe8!
(-4.5) Reinfeld: “This turns out to be even more powerful
than 23. …..Rxc1 24. Rxc1, Bxa6.” (-1.3)
24. Nc5 Bc8
25. b4 Kg8
Reinfeld: “This makes the hostile c-pawn very strong,
but how else is White able to free his bishop?” (-7.4)
26. Bb2 R1e3
27. Qd1 c3
28. Bc1 c2
29. Qxc2 Re2+
30. Qxe2 Bxd4+
31. Be3 Rxe3
32. Qf1 Ra3+
White resigns
No comments:
Post a Comment