No Decoder Needed - LCCC Meets Monday August 22 at BWW in Brighton, MI

 

4pm until 9pm or so. Stop on by for some casual chess and great restaurant server service from the lovely, talented and friendly Sydney.

Our club numbers are growing as we approach chess season (fall /winter). We had 18 players last meeting, so it will not be hard for you to find an opponent, no matter what your skill level.

Hope to see you this Monday at the Brighton BWW in the Green Oak Shopping Center.

Now, meet another great chess player and human being most people have never heard of:

Conel Hugh O’Donel Alexander, 1909 to 1974, was one of Britain’s greatest cryptanalysts ever and certainly one the most brilliant chess players of his generation.  A Cambridge educated mathematician, he soon found himself recruited by the government when the second world war broke out. Alexander worked on the German Enigma machine at Bletchley Park during World War II and was later the head of the cryptanalysis division at GCHQ for over 20 years. He was so well known was he in his field, that when he retired Alexander was sought out by the NSA to work for them, but he declined. 

 

Chess was Alexander’s passion, and he was twice British Champion, the last time being in 1956. He was awarded the International Master title.  Alexander’s style of play was very sharp and his real strength was revealed in complicated and messy positions. 

 

He played many of the best players of his day, including Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Smyslov, Botvinnik, Bronstein, Keres and Fine. He defeated Botvinnik and Bronstein once each.  

 

Alexander represented England at 6 Olympiads (it would have been more, but he was prohibited to play behind the iron curtain lest he be kidnapped and was non-playing captain of the English team after he stopped competing from 1964 until the early 1972.  Alexander was also a well-respected chess author.

Alexander represented Cambridge University n the Varsity chess matches of 1929, 1930, 1931 and 1932.  He was twice a winner of the British Chess Championship, in 1938 and 1956. Alexander represented England in the Chess Olympiad six times, in 1933, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1954 and 1958. At the 1939 Olympiad, Alexander had to leave part-way through the event, along with the rest of the English team, because of the declaration of WWII, since he was required at home for codebreaking duties.

He was also the non-playing captain of England from 1964 to 1970. Alexander was awarded the International Master title in 1950 and the International Master for Correspondence Chess title in 1970. He won at Hastings 1946/47 with the score 7½/9, a point ahead of Tartakower.

 Alexander's best tournament result may have been first equal (with David Bronstein) at Hastings 1953/54, where he went undefeated and beat Soviet grandmasters Bronstein and Tolush in individual games.

Alexander's opportunities to appear abroad were limited as he was not allowed to play chess in the Soviet bloc because of his secret work in cryptography.^[4] 

He was also the chess columnist of The Sunday Times in the 1960s and 1970s.

Many knowledgeable chess people believe that Alexander had Grandmaster potential, had he been able to develop his chess abilities further.^[5] Many top players peak in their late twenties and early thirties, but for Alexander this stretch coincided with World War II, when high-level competitive opportunities were unavailable.

After this, his professional responsibilities as a senior cryptanalyst limited his top-class appearances. He defeated Mikhail Botvinnik in one game of a team radio match against the USSR in 1946, at a time when Botvinnik was probably the world's top player. Alexander made important theoretical contributions to the Dutch Defense and Petroff Defense.  

LCCC Meeting Monday August 8th - And That's a Fact!

 

We will be meeting again this coming Monday night at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Brighton. Stop on by for some friendly chess games and conversation. 

We start at 4pm and go until 9pm usually.

It is the height of summer and chess is more of a winter indoor activity. Or is it? If you have never tried playing chess outside, give it a try. Fine a shady spot in the summer and set them up. I think you will like it. 

Speaking of summer, your scribe has been busy doing summer things like playing golf and getting the shed and the outside of the house ready for winter. Oh, and researching these little nuggets of useless information.

Some curious chess facts;

Two of Paul Morphy's strongest critics (although they were not interested in playing against Morphy) were Howard Staunton and Willian Steinitz. Both Staunton and Steinitz died on Paul's birthday.

In the 11th game of the World Championship match between Capablanca and Alekhine, FOUR Queens appeared on the board.

Harry Pillsbury played a 'blindfolded' exhibition where he played ten chess games and ten checker games simultaneously while participating in a whist card game.

Geza Maroczy played many simultaneous chess exhibitions in Europe from June of 1927 thru March of 1928 and compiled an unbelievable score in 943 games of 825 wins, 113 draws and only 5 losses!

Dr. (Phd in Electrical Engineering) and GM Milan Vidmar played in chess tournaments across Europe for 28 years before ever finishing first in one, for the one and only time in his life. Even that one, he shared the title with Salomon Flohr. 

LCCC Next Meeting Monday July 25, 2022 - and Meet Sir George A. Thomas

 No, not meet him at our next meeting! Your scribe meant meet him here by reading about him.

And speaking of meetings, LCCC met on July 11 at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Brighton, MI. It was at our usual time from 4pm until 9pm. And the same time will be for July 25. 

Your scribe missed a post due to some health issues (noting serious, but a broken fingertip does make it more difficult to type. HINT: When setting brick pavers with a big rubber sledgehammer, remember to look before striking and move fingers out of the way before striking the paver. 

Good thing to know.

Out July 11 meeting was successful and fun. We had 12 players for the evening for casual chess. Hope to see you all on July 25.

Now for the story of a fine gentleman and an excellent chess player. But chess was just one of his talents for which he excelled! I will let him introduce himself!

"I am Sir George A. Thomas. I was born on June 14, 1881, in Constantinople. I starred at chess as a young boy but had very limited opportunities for practice or play. We lived in a small provincial town with no strong players. So I concentrated more on tennis, badminton and hockey in my youth.

I never played in a serious chess tournament until 1905. But I won the City of London Chess Club Championship 12 times, the first time being in 1907. I also won the British Championship in 1923.

Chess was my 'what might have been' career, but owing my fondness of other games probably stood in my way. I have captained English teams for three different games; chess, badminton and lawn tennis. Badminton was my best game as I have won over 300 first prizes in open tournaments."

What he did not mention is that he won the British Championship again in 1934 and represented England in the Chess Olympiads of 1927, 1930, 1931, 1935, 1937 and 1939, and scored an impressive 80% in the matches!

In international tournaments his greatest successes were 1st at Spa (ahead of Tartakower) and =1st at Hastings 1934/5 (tied with Euwe and Flohr, ahead of Capablanca and Botvinnik).

During his career he has beaten Capablanca, Botvinnik (in consecutive rounds at Hastings 1934-35), Flohr and and drawn with Nimzowitsch, Rubinstein and Capablanca. He been noted for his sportsmanship and for his interest in and encouragement of young players.

He was the author of the book, The Art of Badminton, in 1923.

He died on the 23rd of July in 1972 in a London nursing home.

LCCC Meeting This Monday, June 20, 2022, 4pm until 9pm. See You There!

 Your humble scribe apologizes for the lack of an article here. Summer brings on other things to do.

A family golf tournament, outside landscaping home improvements, and then a hand injury setting patio bricks into leveling media with a BIG rubber mallet. 

Tips of fingers don't like being mashed into bricks apparently. And the doctor also educated your scribe that continuing to use a fractured fingertip for 6 more hours, instead of immediately icing it, does increase pain and swelling. Who knew?

Typing is a little difficult right now, but something will be posted for next time. 

See you Monday night at BWW! 

LCCC Meets Again June 6, 2022 - And Rubinstein - Part II

 LCCC Meets Again June 6, 2022, at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Brighton, Michigan, located in the Green Oaks Shopping Plaza. We start at 4pm and go until 9 or 10pm. It is just casual chess so feel free to stop by for a game or two....or three.

Now for Part II on the special but tragic life of Akiba Rubinstein:

Among the millions who fell victim to the Great War (World War I) was Akiba Rubinstein's (left) chess genius. The post-war Grandmaster was not the same chess hero of 1914, and who was to contest Lasker for the World Chess Championship soon. 

Rubinstein lost that supreme confidence in himself that is the necessary ingredient in all champions of any endeavor. He suffered now from an inferiority complex, deeming himself of being non-essential to the world. He no longer felt deserving of being a participant in the great chess tournaments after WW1. He even stated he felt unwelcome. He had always been modest, shy, retiring and self-degrading of his own talents, but now it was to the point of being a mental abnormality. More on that later.

There is little doubt that Rubinstein has added more to chess theory and technique than any Grandmaster at this time in history since Steinitz. The standard defense he developed to the Ruy Lopez opening is still in use today, banishing several variations for White to the sidelines for grandmaster play.

In the Queen's Gambit Declined, it was Rubinstein who perfected the fianchetto for the King's bishop against the Tarrasch Defense that gave him resounding victories over Lasker (1909) and Capablanca (1911).

He made improvements to opening theory for both sides of the board in many Queen Pawn openings, the Blumenfeld Counter-Attack, and the Sicilian Defense. 

In the opinion of many of the great chess players of this time, only Capablanca was playing at a greater level of perfection when Rubinstein was at his peak. But where Capablanca improved the theory of others to new levels of excellence, Rubinstein was creating new theory. Current GM's site that most modern openings today started with Rubinstein.

And Rubinstein's genius did not stop at the opening or the middle game. World Champion Emanuel Lasker said that Rubinstein played every move looking at the endgame. And it was debated then, as it still is today by chess snobs, as to who was the greatest endgame player at that time - Rubinstein or Capablanca? 

Dr. Jacques Hannak, who wrote books on both Lasker and Rubinstein stated in the 1920's that after WWI, "Rubinstein's character is too noble for the rough and tumble life. So concerned about his opponent being distracted, that as a matter of principle, Rubinstein would leave the board while his opponent thought. He would only return after his opponent moved. Naturally, with all that time lost for his own study of the game, caused Rubinstein a stunning number of upset losses."

Actually, this was the start of the end for Akiba Rubinstein, the chess player. In 1932, he withdrew from tournament play siting severe anthropophobia. That is a fear of social gatherings. In 1930 and 1931 it was said that Rubinstein would make a move and hide in a corner or behind curtains awaiting his opponent's next move.

Rubinstein stayed in Poland during WWI. There is no solid history as to where or how Akiba Rubinstein (a Jew) survived during WWII during the 1940's. Most believe he spent it in a sanatorium in Belgium. It is alleged that when the Nazis arrived there, they asked Rubinstein if he would like to work for the Nazis and help them with their war effort. The story is, Rubinstein rose from his bed, stood at attention and said, "I would be delighted to." The officer in charge stated, "He must really be crazy," and they left him there.

It is believed that schizophrenia took over Rubinstein's mind because of or during WW1, making Akiba Rubinstein one of the greatest chess players never becoming the World Chess Champion. He spent the last 29 years of his life either at the homes of family members or in sanatoriums.

LCCC Meeting Monday, May 16 from 4 to 9pm. BWW in Brighton, MI - and GM Rubinstein

Buffalo Wild Wings (BWW)for those of you not in the know of our acronym world. See you there.

We are averaging 12 players an evening, so come on by for some casual chess or lessons if you prefer.

Now this is a second article your humble scribe has posted about Grandmaster Akiba Rubinstein (left). He had an eventful and tragic life. There is an excellent search bar on this site in the upper left corner if you wish to read that article and look at a game or two of his. 

Now on with GM Rubinstein's story:

Born December 12, 1882 in Stawiski - a ghetto in Russian-Poland. For generations, his ancestors had been rabbis and scholars of the Hebrew classics, but not ones to chase wealth or even middle class.

A few weeks before his birth, his father died, leaving behind a wife and TWELVE children! Akiba was moved to live with his grandparents, and they raised him and started his education to become a teacher of the Talmud and a full student of Hebrew, as his father and his father before him. And that is all Akiba wanted to do.

But at age sixteen, by chance he saw two children playing chess and was fascinated immediately. He found the only chess book in Hebrew at the time and devoured it. His grandparents mourned Akiba's new love.

At 19 Rubinstein learned that in the nearby town of Lodz, George Salwe lived. A chess champion who had crossed swords with the great Tschigorin. He left immediately for Lodz to see how he would fare. But even given rook odds, he was no match for Salwe. He was told by that local chess club that being a chess professional was out of his reach. No one had any faith in Rubinstein's chess ability, but Rubinstein.

Akiba returned to Lotz six months later and asked to play George Salwe again. Salwe said fine and Rubenstein won! The leaders of the chess club huddled together, and a 10-game match was agreed to take place between Salwe and Rubenstein.

The first match ended 5 to 5. A second match of 8 games was quickly agreed to, and Rubinstein won it with a 5 to 3 score! A new champion was crowned!

A year later in 1905, Rubinstien went to Kiev, Russia to play with the grandmasters of the day and he finished 5th. He had arrived as a chess player. He went then to Germany to play in that Championship and finished 3rd. In four years, he went from losing with rook odds to a grandmaster, to becoming one!

Next at Ostend, Belgium he finished 3rd over 36 entrants behind only Schlechter and Maroczy ahead, and Bernstein, Teichman, Marshall and Janowsky behind him!

The next year at Ostend he tied for 1st with Bernstein and at Karlsbad he won his first clear 1st! He now was mentioned in the same breath with Capablanca, Niemzowitch, Spielmann, Tarkakower and Vidmar. In St. Petersburg in 1909 he tied for first with the world champion Lasker while actually going 1-0-1 in their games in the round robin tournament.

Then in 1912, Rubinstein won five tournaments, all untied. A feat no grandmaster has done before or since. 

Inexplicably, in 1914 Rubinstein had a horrible tournament in St. Petersburgh. But none the less, a world championship match between Lasker and Rubinstein was scheduled.

Then, World War I broke out.

More next time. 

PS: The next meeting for LCCC at BWW will be on June 6th, as we skip the Memorial Day weekend.

LCCC Meeting Monday May 2, 2022 from 4 pm until 9pm

 

The CLUB will be meeting this Monday at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Brighton, Michigan located in the Green Oak Shopping Mall. It is off of Lee Rd and US-23.

The time will be from 4pm until 9pm. It is free and players of all ages, strengths and experience are welcome. So are people who would love to learn the game. Lessons are also free. Stop on by.

Our more life seasoned members of the LCCC participated in the Michigan Senior Open.

Charlie S. (Top photo) finished 2nd in the Under 1400 division, with Jeff Solski and Paul Mills (bottom photo) finishing tied for 4th.

In the vaulted Open division, Don Mason and James Karkos finished tied for 11th.

Well done all of you and please send your humble scribe your best games for posting.

Hope to see you all at the BWW tomorrow!