Hodges-Marshall, Lake Hopatcong 1923

Position after 63...hxg5.

White to play and win.

Even those players who did poorly at Lake Hopatcong 1923 were no slouches. For example, Albert Beauregard Hodges (July 21, 1861-February 3, 1944), who finished 11th out of 14, was once U.S. champion and is said to have been one of the operators of “Ajeeb,” which succeeded Maezel’s Turk in the latter 19th Century as the most popular automaton. He won the U.S. championship in 1894 after defeating Jackson Showalter, but he immediately retired from championship play to pursue business. Hodges remained an active player, however, winning the Manhattan Chess Club Championship and the New York Championship and competing in a number of New York area events. He was the only American master to play against 5 world chess champions, including Zukertort, Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca, and Alekhine.

In his game against Marshall at Lake Hopatcong 1923, Hodges actually had a won ending (see diagram above) but was apparently content with a draw against the current U.S. titleholder. You can play through the moves of the game on your favorite PGN viewer or chess-playing software. If you are using Fritz, for example, simply copy the PGN below and use Edit>Paste>Paste Game to load it for viewing and analysis.

[Event "9th American Chess Congress"]
[Site "Lake Hopatcong, NJ USA"]
[Date "1923.08.??"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Hodges, Albert Beauregard"]
[Black "Marshall, Frank James"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C49"]
[Annotator "Goeller,Michael"]
[PlyCount "143"]
[EventDate "1923.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bb5 Bb4 (4... Nd4 $5) 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 d5 { A typical Marshall move.} 7. Nxd5 (7. Bxc6 $142 bxc6 8. Nxe5 Qe8 $5 (8... Bxc3 9. bxc3 dxe4 10. dxe4 Qxd1 11. Rxd1 Nxe4 12. Nxc6 Nxc3 $11) 9. f4 dxe4 $13) (7. exd5 $6 Nd4 $1 $11) 7... Nxd5 8. exd5 Qxd5 9. Bxc6 bxc6 {Black now has the two Bishops and control of the center to compensate for his doubled pawns. But the doubled pawns are a long-term liability.} (9... Qxc6 10. Nxe5 $14) 10. Qe2 Re8 (10... Bg4 $1) 11. a3 Bf8 12. Bd2 Bg4 13. h3 Bxf3 14. Qxf3 e4 $1 (14... Qxf3 15. gxf3 Rab8 16. b3 $11) 15. Qg3 Re6 ({ Black might be able to obtain an edge by} 15... Bd6 16. f4 Qd4+ 17. Kh1 Qxb2 18. dxe4 Qxc2 19. Bc3 Bf8 20. e5 {but Marshall did not like to surrender the initiative for a mere pawn, especially when that pawn was doubled on an open file.}) 16. Bc3 exd3 17. Qxd3 Qxd3 18. cxd3 Rd8 19. Rfd1 Red6 20. Kf1 (20. d4 $6 c5 $17) 20... Rxd3 21. Ke2 R3d5 {Black now has a pawn advantage, but the damage to his queenside pawns makes it nearly impossible to exploit.} 22. Rac1 f6 23. Bd2 Bc5 24. Be1 Re8+ 25. Kf1 Bb6 26. Rd2 Re6 27. Rdc2 c5 28. f3 Red6 29. Ke2 Rg5 30. Kf1 Rgd5 31. Ke2 Re6+ 32. Kf1 Rd3 $5 {It is difficult for Black to develop a plan for exploiting his extra pawn. Marshall's idea is to try to attack White's queenside pawns. But there is nothing there and Marshall eventually risks getting the worse of it in order to create some unlikely winning chances.} 33. Bf2 Rb3 34. Rb1 Re5 35. Be1 Rd3 $6 (35... Rd5 $1 $15) 36. Rbc1 Red5 37. Ke2 Rb3 38. Bc3 Kf7 39. Rd2 c6 40. Rcd1 Ke6 41. Re1 Bc7 (41... c4 ) 42. Kd1+ Kf7 43. Kc2 Rb7 44. Red1 Rxd2+ 45. Rxd2 Ke6 46. Re2+ Kd7 47. Kd3 Bh2 48. Kc4 Bg1 49. Re1 Bf2 50. Re2 Bg1 51. Re1 Bf2 52. Re2 Bg1 53. Re1 Bh2 54. Kxc5 Rb5+ 55. Kc4 Be5 {Now it is Black who must grovel for the draw.} 56. Re2 Rd5 57. a4 a6 58. b3 g5 59. Bxe5 fxe5 60. Kc3 c5 61. Re4 h6 62. h4 Ke6 63. hxg5 hxg5 {Now Black has four pawn islands to White's two, which should create some winning chances.} 64. b4 $2 {The former U.S. champion was obviously content with a draw against the current champ. Otherwise, he might have avoided any exchanges of Black's weaker pawns for his own and tried immediately to attack them with Rook and King. In fact,} ({White could actually win by} 64. Rg4 $1 Kf5 (64... Rd1 $5 65. Rxg5 $16) 65. Kc4 Rd4+ $5 (65... Rd7 66. Kxc5 $18) 66. Kxc5 $1 (66. Rxd4 $4 exd4 $19 { would actually lose due to the protected passed pawn for Black}) 66... Rxg4 67. fxg4+ Ke4 $5 (67... Kxg4 $2 68. b4 e4 69. Kd4 Kf4 70. b5 axb5 71. axb5 e3 72. Kd3 Ke5 73. Kxe3 $18) 68. b4 Kd3 69. b5 $1 axb5 70. axb5 e4 71. b6 e3 72. b7 e2 73. b8=Q e1=Q 74. Qb3+ Kd2 { There is no way to avoid the exchange of Queens and no good way to accept it.} (74... Qc3+ 75. Qxc3+ Kxc3 76. Kd5 $18) 75. Qb4+ Ke2 76. Qxe1+ Kxe1 77. Kd4 $18 ) 64... cxb4+ 65. Rxb4 Rc5+ 66. Rc4 Kd5 67. Rxc5+ Kxc5 68. g3 Kd5 69. Kd3 a5 70. g4 Kd6 71. Ke4 Ke6 72. Ke3 $11 1/2-1/2