The Bird Defense (C61) of 40 Years Ago

I have been reading 40 Years of Friendship, 100 Games of Chess by Wayne Conover, Steve Pozarek, and Eugene Salomon (Smashwords eBook 2014), which I picked up mostly out of nostalgia for New Jersey chess: I knew all three players when I was a young member of the Westfield Chess Club from 1979-1984.  I also correctly predicted the book would contain some of former New Jersey champion Pozarek's games with the Bird Defense from the 1970s, which I have used to analyze the classic Bird line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nd4 4.Nxd4 exd4 5.O-O c6 6.Bc4 Nf6 -- last popular about 40 years ago, but perhaps due for a revival.  It was Pozarek who introduced me to the Bird Defense in a series of articles on this specific variation.  That series began in the Westfield Chess Club Newsletter of March 1980 (edited by UNIX inventor Ken Thompson), in the same number that featured Wayne Conover's annotated victory over an IM and the crosstable of a 5-minute tournament where Gene Salomon finished second behind future IM Mike Valvo -- and a 14-year-old unrated kid named Mike Goeller finished in the middle of the strong field.  

In retrospect, I think it was also Pozarek who introduced me to the idea that amateurs can make useful contributions to chess theory.  I am a collector of amateur chess memoirs and game collections like this one, and I find that I have often discussed in this blog the important contributions they offer to theory: Sidney Bernstein's Combat: My 50 years at the Chessboard shows ways of playing a New York approach to 1...Nc6 and ...h5 in the Dragon (among numerous other interesting ideas); Dr. Philip Corbin's Calypso Chess features games with the Smith-Morra Gambit and the Elephant Gambit; Asa Hoffmann's Chess Gladiator offers a game with Janowski's Brother Indian (among many other original opening ideas); Ariel Mengarini's Predicament in Two Dimensions: The Thinking of a Chessplayer illustrates the Albin Counter Gambit with Nge7; and Billy Colias's posthumous Midwest Master offers insight into the Grand Prix Attack for Black and White.  The spirit of chess amateurism is alive and well, and the present volume does not hesitate to offer up some opening novelties and insights of its own.

In the middle section of the book, Conover, Pozarek, and Salomon offer contributions to theory in the Leningrad Dutch, the Caro Kann Defense, the Averbakh Variation of the King's Indian, and the Alekhine Defense.  Though there should be fewer games and a little more theory in this part, it is still more than most readers would expect to find.  This part of the book is made up mostly of games from Conover and Salomon, who studied together and played many of the same openings, but Pozarek tries his best with the Alekhine (using mostly his co-authors' games).  Too bad he didn't think to write about the Bird.  I would have liked to see more off-beat openings like that one.  After all, amateurs tend to experiment more than the pros.

Steve Goldberg's "Stories from Grandpa" at ChessCafe offers two useful critiques of the book.  I especially agree with his complaint about the number of diagrams, considering that, as an e-book, it would not have cost anything to add more.  I also agree with the implicit criticism in Goldberg's title, because the memoir part of the book seems less written for a general reader than, as Pozarek explicitly tell us, "first and foremost" for "families and friends."  However, there are definitely some very good games in these pages against a lot of quality opposition, including a whos-who of Northeast chess history: Pal Benko, Joel Benjamin, John Fedorowicz, Arnold Denker, William Lombardy, Steve Stoyko, Leroy Dubeck, Scott Massey, Mike Valvo, Orest Popovych, and Edgar McCormick. It even has some simultaneous games against such one-name luminaries as Korchnoi, Petrosian and Alekhine(!)  And practically none of these games will be found in the databases.  In fact, if it were not for this book, all of these games would vanish and remain unknown, like so many great master games.  

As with all amateur volumes, written as a "labor of love," it has something to offer those willing to take the time to look.  The following diagrams highlight some of the better moments enjoyed by these three players:

(1) Conover - Rozier
White to play and win.

(2) Zweibel - Pozarek (see game)
Black to play and win.

(3) Salomon - Watson
White to play and win.

Solutions: (1) 46.Nf5! (forcing mate in 9 moves or fewer); (2) 14....Bxf2+!; and (3) 61.Rc4!! (the only way to win)

Brief Review of Calypso Chess

I am a fan of amateur chess game collections.  Among my favorites have been Dr. Carl Hartlaub's Glanzpartien, Sidney Bernstein's Combat, and Billy Colias, Midwest Master.  As I suggested in "Chess Amateurism," the games of amateur players are often more fun to play over than the games of the very top players for amateurs, not only because they feature the types of openings (especially gambits) that the untitled masses enjoy, but also because they focus on attractive and comprehensible tactics rather than sometimes incomprehensibly deep strategy.  So I was naturally interested in Calypso Chess by Dr. Philip Corbin (FM) -- known as "the Caribbean Tal" -- and I was not disappointed by this wonderful book, which is an exemplary illustration of the chess amateur ideal. The title is meant to communicate an attitude toward chess that seeks "the eternal quest for ethereal beauty" and the book itself offers a reflection of how "chess should be played - not negatively, but for positive pleasure, so that works of art may be created which bring joy to others, calypso style!" (xi).  The games feature many of the openings that amateurs like myself enjoy, including the Stonewall Attack, Smith-Morra Gambit, Elephant Gambit (a Corbin specialty), Wing Gambit against the French, Budapest Gambit, Giuoco Piano, Max Lange Attack, and even the Urusov Gambit (though in this case I could find no examples of Corbin's opponents accepting it!)  But most importantly, the games -- including wins, losses, and draws -- are annotated by someone who clearly loves chess.

If time permits, I may annotate some of Corbin's more snappy wins in a future post, and his games have definitely gotten me interested in the Elephant Gambit or Queen's Pawn Counter-Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5!?) about which I am tempted to write some day.  For now, you can find several of Corbin's games annotated online at The Chess Drum (which has followed his exciting play for years):

• Short - Corbin, Barbados Simultaneous 2006 (Elephant Counter-gambit)
• Corbin - Asabri, Bled 2002 (Max Lange Attack)
• Corbin - Chubinsky, World Open 1985 (Alapin Sicilian)
• Corbin - Gebregziabher, Dresden 2008 (French Defense, Wing Gambit)

You can also find a large collection of his games at Corbin's "Packed Pearls" website.  On the chessboard displayed, choose a square or a pearl to select a set of games to view (including both casual and rated encounters):
http://packedpearls.com/partie.php

On his Facebook page, you can find a wide range of photos: Philip Corbin photos

Pick up Calypso Chess: The Entertaining Chess Games (1970-2010) of Dr. Philip Corbin, FIDE Master, Barbados.  You will not be disappointed.

Etymologist and Chess Player

Chess and other puzzle-solving activities seem to attract people of the same habits of mind: people who, when faced with a mystery, feel compelled to figure it out (no matter what else they should be doing).  I touched on this subject in "Why Chess Sticks," where I suggested that the game continually presents those who study it with "knowledge gaps." As each new gap is filled a new one opens up, so we are continually drawn into new mysteries to explore.  That abyss of ever expanding problems to solve represents both the attraction and the danger of the game. To outsiders, the danger is significant, since chess players out to solve a chess mystery seem to be tilting at windmills (as the "Knights Errant" well know).   

Thinking about these issues, I was naturally intrigued by Michael Brick's "Etymologist on a word quest, from 'Big Apple' to 'Dallas'" (The Dallas Morning News, March 28, 2010), which tells the story of amateur word sleuth and chess master Barry Popik, best known for tracing the origins of the term "Big Apple" to describe New York City.  The story of Popik's quest to solve the mystery of "The Big Apple" is well told -- beginning with his motives for taking it up:

[Popik thought:] "I'll answer the question about the Big Apple; it's the most asked question at the New York Public Library. People asked about it because there wasn't an answer – this was before the Internet – and I'll answer it and the mayor will give me a gold medal." 

After a considerable amount of squinting into microfilm, Popik tracked the term far beyond its use as a tourism slogan in the 1970s, all the way to 1920s horse racing writer John J. Fitz Gerald, who had likely appropriated it from New Orleans stable hands. 

He scoured reports from the winter racing season, a feat of diligence at which mainstream researchers would later marvel. His work, which would eventually become grist for an eight-part series on his Web site (one part is called "1970s-present: False Etymologies"), gained the attention of prominent lexicographers. 

"The Big Apple racing circuit had meant 'the big time,' the place where the big money was to be won," Popik wrote. "Horses love apples, and apples were widely regarded as the mythical king of fruit." 

Respectful citations followed, but no gold medal.

Popik's story may be every chess player's story.  Some of us just take on problems that other people care about enough to give out gold medals....

World's Oldest Chess Club to Celebrate 200 Years

ChessBase today features "The World’s Oldest Chess Club: Part I (1809–1914)," by Dr. Richard Forster & Dr. Christian Rohrer, about the Schachgesellschaft Zürich. The club will be celebrating its 200th anniversary in August with some great tournaments and events to be attended by all of the legends of chess, including champions Kasparov, Anand, Karpov, Kramnik, Spassky, Ponomariov and Topalov. Besides presenting some fascinating history, the article says a lot about the important institutional role of chess clubs in supporting and promoting the game.

Sandi Hutama Wins US Amateur East

There is an article at the USCF website by Steve Ferrero about Sandi Hutama taking the 66th annual US Amateur Championship East title in Somerset, NJ. The crosstable is also up and shows how Hutama dominated the field with 5.5 out of 6. Jim West has posted a selection of Steve's excellent photos from the event (note to Jim: fix the blog template; scrolling is a pain.) Diamondback also has shots of the prize winners. A record 220 players participated in this Heritage Event.

US Amateur East

Max Sherer plays Anna Matlin in Round One

Yesterday I dropped by the US Amateur East tournament at the Somerset Ramada, mostly to visit with my chess friends and to see what Fred Wilson had on offer. I was pleased to see that the event has gotten some good coverage at the USCF site, with an article and photos by Atlantic Chess News editor Steve Ferrero. I tell myself every year that I should be playing in the Amateur, and I think I'll make the commitment to play next year. But I have been quite busy of late and so had promised the wife and kids to take off some days around the Memorial Day holiday.

I picked up a couple interesting books from Fred, including a surprising little pamphlet in the "Grandmaster Profiles" series offering 64 games of Joel Benjamin. It seemed like a bargain at $3, but it's a typically slap-dash Eric Schiller production, so Fred had priced it right. Fred's table will be set up for the entire event, so you have through Memorial Day to drop by.

Fred shows off his excellent book for kids.

As always, a great selection from Fred.

Near Upsets at USATE 2009

Higgins (2054) - DeFirmian (2584)
White to play.

I have posted three annotated games that were "Near Upsets at USATE 2009." The games feature confrontations between masters and amateurs where the amateurs could have won if only they had not missed the winning move or plan. I found these games while going through the file of 599 Games recently posted at the NJoyChess website (which I will probably return to in the near future to annotate other games of interest.)

Each year at the World Amateur Teams / US Amateur Team East they give out awards for the biggest ratings upset of each round. It's a shame that they can't give some consolation prize to the players of "Near Upsets" -- the ones that got away. The most interesting in that regard was Derrick Higgins vs. GM Nick DeFirmian, where the Expert player missed two chances to bring down a GM in a fascinating line of the Najdorf Sicilian (see diagram above for the first critical position). Based on the way he played, I predict that Dr. Higgins will have other chances in the future. But I'm sure he is still kicking himself over this one.

My intention is not to embarrass the amateurs who, like Rahul Swaminathan (see below) missed a chance to force mate against a strong master -- nor to embarrass the masters who almost got mated. My view is that upsets and near upsets serve to remind us of just how complex chess can be, so that even amateur players can have moments of near-brilliance where they almost see through the thicket to victory. Unfortunately, no one ever tells you during over-the-board play that it's "your turn to play and win" as they do in chess puzzle books -- or in the diagram below. Instead, in the midst of the thicket and with time ticking away on the clock we have to hope that we can sometimes see our way to the clearing ahead. And that may be why we continue to play, despite so many set-backs and failed attempts: we know that it is possible for even us amateurs to compose a masterpiece. The near-upset reminds us of what could have been, and convinces us that it is possible next time.

Braylovsky (2441) - Swaminathan (2053)
Black to play and mate in 4.
(Bonus: guess what Black did instead)

Howard Stern Plays Chess

NN - Howard Stern
Black to play.

Howard Stern's fascination with chess is the focus of today's New York Times chess column by Dylan Loeb McClain ("Long a Player, Howard Stern Gets Serious About His Game"). I like when McClain discusses amateur games and players (as he did a few weeks ago when he covered astronaut Greg Chamitoff's match with Mission Control) and I am sure his readership connects to them more than they do to the games of the ongoing World Chess Championship with their incomprehensible maneuverings. Stern's games are actually pretty good, especially his cute ICC blitz miniature featuring the Budapest Counter-Gambit (see diagram above).

Anyone know Stern's ICC handle?