PILLSBURY THE

EXTRAORDINARY

ANDREW SOLTIS KEN SMITH

CHESS DIGEST

Copyright0 1990 A n drew Soltis & Ken Smith

All rights rese rved unde r Pan American and I n te r­nationa l Copyright con ven t ions.

ISBN: 0-87568-187·5

No part o f this publ i cat ion m a y be rep rod u ced , s tored in a retri eva l sys tem, or t ransmit ted in a n y form, o r by any means: e lectron ic, e lect rostat ic , m agnet i c tapes, me ­chan i ca l photocop y ing, record ing, or oth e r wise , without prior and cu rrent permission from the publishe r.

Authors: A n d re w Sol tis & K e n S mith Editor: John Hal l Computer Typesetting: Ela ine Smith Photo Provided: C. Gab riele Win k l e r Cover: Elaine Smith P roo freader: Hugh Myers Diagram Paste-up: Laurin Cu rtis Final Preparation & Diagrams: David Sewell

Publisher: Chess Digest, I n c.• , 1 1836 J u d d Cou rt, #338-E, D al l as, Texas 75234-4402

Send the publisher $2.00 for the New Chess Guide that catalogs every chess book for general sale in the United States. You are given publishers, page counts, notation, and critical reviews. Also included is a free Chess Improvement Course for Beginners up through Master level players.

Manh attan Chess Club New York 1893

4 Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Photo: Pillsbury at the Manhattan Chess Club, New York 1893

PART ONE: BIOGRAPHY by Andrew Soltis

CHAPTER ONE The Young Years

CHAPTER TWO Hero o f Hastings

CHAPTER THREE Pillsbu ry Versus Laske r

CHAPTER FOUR Othe r S truggles

CHAPTER FIVE Li fe o f a P ro fessional

CHAPTER SIX Portrait o f the B l ind fold Artist

CHAPTER SEVEN Final Steps

PART TWO • GAMES by Ken Smith

GAME ONE Pillsbu ry vs Tarrasch Hastings 1895

GAME TWO Mieses v s Pi l lsbury Hast ings 1895

GAME THREE Pi l lsbu ry vs Mason Hastings 1 895

GAME FOUR Pi llsbury vs Laske r N u remberg 1896

Page

3

8

16

2 6

2 8

3 1

42

48

53

59

6 1

65

Table o f Contents

GAME FIVE Pi l lsbury vs Wi nawer Bu dapest 1896

GAME SIX Showal ter vs P i l l sbury New York 1 897

GAME SEVEN Pi l lsbu ry vs T a rrasch Vienna 1898

GAME EIGHT Showal ter vs P i l l sbury Vienna 1898

GAME NINE Walbrodt v s Pil l sbury V ienna 1 898

GAME TEN Pil l sbury vs T renchard Vienna 1 898

GAME ELEVEN Pi l l sb u ry vs Blackburne Vienna 1 898

GAME TWELVE Lee vs P i l lsbury Lon don 1899

GAME THIRTEEN Stein i tz vs P i l l sbury London 1899

GAME FOURTEEN Bird vs Pi l l sbu ry London 1899

GAME FIFTEEN Pillsbu ry v s Steinitz London 1899

GAME SIXTEEN Pillsbury vs Amate u r Toronto 1899

GAME SEVENTEEN Pill sbury vs Marco Paris 1900

70

73

75

79

82

85

87

90

93

96

99

102

104

6 T able o f Contents

GAME EIGH TEEN 107 Pi l lsbu ry vs Barde leben Munich 1900

GAME N I NETEEN P i l lsbury vs Marsh a l l Bu f falo 1901

GAME TWENTY Atkins vs P i l lsbury Hanover 1902

GAME TWENTY ONE P i llsbury v s Lev in Hanover 1902

GAME TWENTY TWO Pil lsbury vs Swide rsk i Hanover 1902

GAME TWEN TY THREE P i l lsbury vs Tar rasch Monte Car lo 1902

GAME TWENTY FOUR Pil lsbury vs Gunsbe rg Monte Carlo 1902

GAME TWENTY FI VE Von Scheve v s P i l lsbury Monte Carlo 1902

GAME TWENTY S I X Pi l lsb u r y vs Wol f Mon te Ca rlo 1902

GAME TWE N TY SEVEN P i l l sbury vs Mieses Monte Car lo 1903

GAME TWENTY EIGH T P i l l sbury v s Sch lech ter Mon te Carlo 1903

GAME TWENTY N I N E Pi l lsbu ry vs Wol f Monte C arlo 1903

GAME THIRTY Gunsberg vs Pil l sb u r y V ienna 1903

1 1 0

1 13

1 16

1 19

121

124

128

130

133

135

137

140

Pi l lsbury T h e Ex traordinary 7

Part One by Andre w S o ltis

BIOGRAPHY

8 Pil lsbury T h e Ex traordinary

CHAPTER ON E

TH E YOU NG YEARS

The word "tragic" i s o ften overworked and usu ally melodramat ic when appl ied to the careers o f great men . But i n the case of Harry P i l lsbury , noth ing e lse q u i te su f­f i ces.

P i l lsbury started out in chess unusua l ly late in l i fe, yet h e became one of the st rongest p layers in Amer i ca with in two years o f lea rning the moves. A series o f i ndi f­ferent results in his ear ly twen t ies were ab rupt ly ended when he won the f i rst internat ional tou rnament i n which he competed , H ast ings 1895. That event was, at the t ime , t he strongest tou rnament ever he ld . And a l though he won m a n y top pr i zes in the years that fol lowed, h is H ast ings t r iumph was never repeated. I t a lso led h i m, i n d i rec t ly, to the fatal disease that rav aged h i s ta lent and ultim ate ly kil led h im. P i l lsbury 's seri ous chess caree r lasted bare ly e leven years. He was only t h i r ty- th ree when he d ied , h av­ing spent his fina l depressing days in a Pennsy l v a n i a hos­p i ta l .

P i l lsbury was an American or ig ina l , a t yp i ca l outgo­ing 19th cen tury Yan kee who j ust happened to be blessed w i th a talent for the game that aston ished h i s contem po­raries . He was the most serious th reat to World C h ampion Em anuel Lasker , as we l l as the most enjoyable ente rta i ne r fo r average fans. P i l lsb u r y also s e t records for b l i n d fold p lay that lasted for decades -- and set st anda rds for those d i splays that may neve r be matched . His men tal p rowess, whether at mu l t ip ly ing f ive -d ig i t numbers in his head or reca l l ing long l i sts of memori zed words, w as stun n i ng. Yet i n between winn ing pr i zes at the most e legant Europe an even ts , he would earn a l i ving at a New York s ideshow p lay ing am ateu rs, w h i le concealed and contorted in the mach inery of a bogus "chessp lay ing autom aton".

C h apter One: The Young Ye ars 9

When Har ry Ne lson P i l l sbury w as born m Somervil le , Massachusetts on December 5, 1872 , organi zed chess was bare ly two de cades old. Fewer than forty ser i ous tou rnaments h ad been he ld s ince the fi rst one a t London's Great Ex pos i t ion of 1851 . Moreover, i n Ame ri ca, chess was liv ing o f f the jolt o f pub l i c enthus iasm prov i d ed b y Pau l Morph y's imper ia l tou r of Eu rope du r ing 1858 . In the th i r ty years s ince Morph y's ret i rement , the U n i ted States h ad p roduced on ly the most m i nor of m asters and the t ime was r ipe for a new champion .

P i llsbury grew up i n a middle c l ass f ami l y in a Boston subu rb. I t w as there on T h a n k sgi v i n g D a y 1888 , a few weeks short o f h i s s i x teenth b i rthday , t ha t h e lea rned the moves. Among the great p layers o f h i story , on ly M i k h ail Tch igor in became fami l i a r w i th the game at a late r age. Although there were few t rue p rodigies i n the 19 th century , most of the future masters of the day had started p lay ing casu a l ly b y the i r twe l f th yea r.

Wh atever h a n d i cap th i s m a y have posed seemed mi ­nor a s Pi l lsbu ry began demonstrat ing a rem arkab ly mature grasp o f the game at a v ar ie ty o f Boston c lubs. The c i ty had a r ich chess her i tage, and at th i s t ime the best of the loca l experts cal led themse lves the "Mandar i n s of the Yel­low But ton", a re ference to the e l i te members o f the Ch i­nese ci v i l se rv i ce , who wore ye llow p in s. P i l l sbury ' s f i rst se rious resu l t appears to be a ser ies of Evans Gambits played agains t one of the Manda rins, He n r y Nathan Stone , tha t ended 5-2 i n P i l l sbury ' s favor in 1890 .

A more formal m atch came two years la ter against John F inan Barry , another Mand ar in and p robab l y the leading Ne w Engl and p layer o f the day . (Bar ry once an­noun ced a m ate i n 1 3 against P i l lsbury .) The 1 7-yea r-old may have suf fered from the s ins o f i nexper i ence agai nst Barry s ince he lost his f i rst fou r games. But in a rem a rk­able turnaround, P i l lsbu ry won the n e x t f i v e games and the match .

10 Pi l lsbury T h e Ex traordin ary

Also i n 1882 P i l l sbury got h i s f i rst chance to meet a world champion . Wi lhe lm Ste initz had been pub lishing his own magazine in New York for the p revious si x years, and had e xe rted a p ro found e f fect on Amer ican ches s i n gen­e ral -- and on Har ry P illsbury i n part i cular . S te i n i tz 's e lu­sive posi t ional s ty le , s t r ipped o f i ts i d iosy nc rasies , proved to be a model for the young Amer ican . As Las k e r' s b iogra­pher, He in r ich Fraenkel, pu t i t , "Pillsbu r y p layed Morp h y­games w i th S te in i tz 's l u c id i t y: i n h i m the somber o ld man's p ro foun dness was tempered b y the cheer fu lness o f youth." Many o f the champion's open ing ideas, such as de fending the Ruy Lopez with 3 . . . g6!?, rem ained w i t h Pil l sb u r y for years .

Not surp r is ingly , a you ng man who had learned the moves bare ly t h ree yea rs be fore cou l d not e xpec t to p lay on even te rms wi th the world's No. 1 player . Bu t P i l lsbury acqu i tted h imse l f wel l wi th a handicap: He beat Ste initz in a 20-board s imul taneous exh ibition given by the cham pion and i n a se r ies of casual games, re ce i v ing odds of Pawn and Move, he scored 2- 1 . He re's the w i n from the si mu l:

STEINITZ- P ILLS B URY B oston 1892

1 e4 e5 2 f4 B c5 3 N f3 d6

C h apter One: T h e Y oung Years

4 B c4 N c6

5 c3 N f6 6 d3 Qe7

7 Qe2 Be6 8 Bb5 B d7 9 B a4?! 0 · 0

10 B c2 Rad8 11 fS d5! 12 Bg5 dxe4

1 1

12 Pi l lsbury T h e Extraordinary

13 dxe4 NbS! 1 4 Nbdl b5! 15 Nb3 Bb6

16 0 - 0 - 0 aS! 17 Rdl a4 18 N a 1 a3

19 b3 QcS

C h apter One: T h e Young Ye ars

20 R d3 2 1 B e3

22 B x b 6 23 R h d 1 24 B x d3

25 Kc2 2 6 Kb 1 2 7 B el

Bc6 Qe7

cxb6 Rx d3 QcS

N a6 Rd8 R x d 1 c h

13

1 4 P i llsbury T h e Extraordinary

28 Q x d l 2 9 Qcl 3 0 Q x a3

Q x c3 Nb4 Q x alch!

White Resigns.

Up un t i l then P i l lsbu ry was a young m a n asp i r ing to a career in l aw or business, who a l so had m ade a m i nor name for hi mse l f i n Boston chess. But in 1893 he m ade the b reak that es tab l i shed h i s ca ree r: P i l l sbury left fo r New York , wh i ch had emerged i n the p rev ious decade as the center of U.S. chess. He a lso began tou r ing o ther c i t i es , g i v ing small exhib i t ions - - often fewer than h a lf a dozen boards - - of b l i nd fold play . P i l l sbu ry on ce sa i d his v is i t to Philadelphi a's famed Fran k lin Chess Club that year w as the s tar t o f h i s chess ca reer. Later i n Montrea l one of h i s si m u l opponents was 16 -year-old Fran k Marsh a l l . Mar­sh al l ' s w in tha t day , h e once sa id , was the s tar t of HIS ca­reer .

Later in 1893 Pil lsb ury played in h i s fi rst ser ious tou rnament . It was he ld as par t of the Columbian World Congress and, accord ing to som e accou nts, was i n tended as a w ay of in t rod u c ing a 25-year-old German Master n amed Emanue l Lasker to America . Lasker had c rossed the At­l an t i c i n the hopes of d rawing Ste in i t z i n to a t i t le match. When he even tua l l y won the t i t le from him a yea r l a te r i n 1894, e n d i n g Ste in i tz's uno ffi c ia l reign of some twenty ­e ight years, the news w as rece ived b y many as a minor bombshe l l .

Bu t in th i s tou rnament , New Yo rk 1893, Laske r showed how far ahead h e w as o f the Amer icans. Las k e r' s unb lemished score , 13-0 , was an ach ievement r i v a l ed on ly b y Bobby Fischer's 1 1 -0 resu l t i n the U . S . C h ampionsh i p, also in New York , se ven ty years la ter. As for P i l l sbu ry , he f in i shed in the m i d d le o f the f ie ld . Aga i nst h im Lasker p layed one o f h i s favorite weapons, the Exch ange Vari a­t ion o f the Lopez, and exploi ted a la te m i d d legame

C h apter One: T h e Young Years 15

blunde r to w in in 55 moves. Pillsbury then took part in a ser ies o f m inor New York tou rnaments in 1894 and showed some improvement -- an even score in one won b y Stein i tz, a clear fi rst place ahead o f the best Americans in another . (And according to one account, he also beat Barry in an­other match , by 6 -5 .)

1 6 Pi l lsbury T h e Ex traordinary

CHAPTER TWO

H ERO OF HASTINGS

The stage w as now se t for Pil lsbury ' s b reak th rough and it came at Hastings, England in August and Septembe r o f 1895. The tou rnament was o rganized to at t ract the best p layer from each of the wor ld ' s leading n ations - - Mikh ail Tchigorin of R ussia, Car l Sch lechter of Aus t ria, Joseph Blackburne o f Englan d , Siegbe rt Tar rasch of G e r m a n y - ­even I t a l y ' s obscure Benj amin Vergani. Pil l sb ury w as in­vited as the American representative , even though h e was not the o f ficial n ationa l champion. And, aside f rom a 2 1/2-1/2 score in e x hib i tion games against the visiting Berline r Car l Walbrodt in Ne w York two yea rs be fore , Pil l sbury had no accom plishments to spea k of against es­tablished p laye rs.

What the Eu ropeans foun d i n Pil lsbury w as a l an k y six- footer with innocent d a r k eyes, given to long b lack ciga rs and sti f f-col lared shirts and whose rea l passion in li fe seemed to be p laying w hist. Un like many contempo­ra ries he was c lean-sh aven - - and unlike so m a n y U.S . Champions past and p resen t (Reshevsk y , Morp h y , Fischer) , he was e x cept ion a l ly f riend ly and approachable , i f a bit n aive . Laske r la te r described him as being '"gi f ted with pleasant and loveable t raits" - - quite a change f rom so m a n y top p layers o f the day who were bare ly on speaking terms with one another .

But most of a l l t h e re was Pil lsbury ' s chess. He DID seem to p lay a bit di f fe ren t ly from his European riv a ls , pa rticu lar ly i n the mid d legame where he disp layed a de­ceptive ly s im ple but ambi tious style . A genera tion la ter, Rich ard Reti said he rep resented "Amer icanism" in chess -­in fusing Old Wor ld positiona l theory with e nergy and p ragm atism.

C h apter Two: H ero O f H astings 17

Pi llsbury chose s imple open ing schemes d irected not so m u ch towards a qu i ck knockout as towards se t t ing up a sol i d m i d dlegame pos i t ion . Wi th the Whi t e p i eces, this meant the R u y Lopez and Queen's Gambi t, and as Black, the Petro f f D e fense and Orthodox Queen's Gambi t De­c l ined . In Lasker' s words, i t was Pi l lsbury w h o demol i shed the Be r l in De fense , then the pr imary Lopez var ia t ion, an d it was Pi l lsbury who resurrected the Petro f f. A hal f cen­tury later, Reuben Fine w rote: " Both the Queen's Gambi t and the R u y Lopez, the two major d e fens i v e w eapons of the mode rn master, f i rst became popular ch i e f ly because o f the treatment w h i c h Pi l l sbury gave them".

The Pi l lsbury Attack, as it is known, was the method by w h i ch the Queen ' s Gambi t Decl in e d e ntered the 20th cen tury. Be fore Hast ings, the bes t method of han d l ing the White p i ece s a fter 1 d4:

1... dS 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Nf6

was in d i spute . Man y o f the strongest players o f the era, i n clud ing How ard Staun ton, I s idor Gunsberg and Johan nes Zukertort, favored the deployment of Whi te ' s queen b i shop on the queensi de, e i t he r at d2 or b2, for both o f fens ive and de fens ive reasons.

But at Hast ings, P i l lsbury put the b i shop whe re i t belonged -- o n gS. I f Black developed rou t inely:

18 P illsbury T h e E x traordinary

4 B gS Be7 5 e3 0 - 0 6 N f3 b6

The Amer ican set up an attack ing form at ion w ith 7 cx dS e x dS 8 B d3 Bb7 9 N e5!

and la ter f2- f4 and Qf3 .

Black m ight ach ieve a queensi de m aj o r i t y with ••• c5- c4, and he might neut ralize the most d ange rous minor p i e ces w ith • • • Ne4. But he never seemed to com pletely solve the open ing problems the Amer ican h ad b rough t to Eu rope. U nli ke so many oth e r p roducts of open ing fash ion , the P i llsbu r y Q.G.D. armed Whi te for the m iddlegame, yet a lso gave h im ex cel lent chan ces in the endgame . More often than not , h is v i ctor ies ended long be fore the e n d game , in what were known as "Pi l lsbur i als " .

Because of an open i n g roun d loss to Tch igor in , P i l l sbu ry 's name d i d not appear among the lea d e rs at H ast­i n gs un t i l the se venth roun d , when his Queen's Gambit against Stei n itz produced a m arve l o f posit ional techn i que . I nstead of Pillsbury vs . Ste in itz , i t looked l ike Ste i n i t z vs. Am ateur, and it was P illsb u r y's f i fth win in a s t reak of n ine st ra ight. He racked up points w i th bold m i d d legame p lans - - a P i l lsbury Attack against Tarrasch , a spa rk l ing coun terattack against Jacques Mieses, a b rilliancy-p r ize cand idate agai nst Burn .

C h apter T w o: H ero O f H astings 1 9

He and Tch igor in shared the lead at the m i d way point and despi te a ca relessly pla yed late m i ddlegame against Lasker and an over-reach aga i nst Schlechte r, he w as st ill i n con tent ion with two rounds to go. Then Tch ig­or in horr ibly mi shand led the Wh ite p i eces ( 1 e4, e5 2 Nc3, N f6 3 d3?!, d5 4 e x d 5? , Nxd5 5 Qe2?) i n a 16-move d i s aste r against Dav id Janowsk i , l e av ing P illsbury i n cle a r f i rst .

On the tou rnament' s f ina l d a y the A m e ri can had Wh i te and appeared con tent to t rade wood w i th I s idor Gunsbe rg, a Hungar ian who had narrow ly los t a wor ld ch ampionsh i p a few years be fore. But P i llsbu ry ' s rema in ­i ng bishop was always be t t e r than B lack ' s a n d the fina l s t age, a k n ight- and-pawn endgame featu r ing pawn sac ri­fi ces, ended surpr i s ing ly qui c k l y (The k e y pos ition was later in scr ibed on a menu for a banquet gi ven i n Piiis­bury' s honor on h i s return to New York) .

The f inal score was P iiisbu ry 1 6 1/2 po ints (ou t o f 2 1) , Tchigor in 16, World Champion Lasker , 15 1/2. Wi nn ing me ant more to h i s reputat ion than to h i s pocke t book: The fi rst pr ize was on ly 150 pounds . But Tch igor in used the f inal banquet to i n v i te the fou r oth e r top f in i shers to a grand tou rnament bei ng p lanned for the e n d o f the year at the St . Pete rsbu rg Chess Club. Tar rasch , a pro fess ional ph ys ic ian , dec l ined because of h i s med i ca l pract ice , but the others read i l y accepted . I n a mat ter o f wee ks , P i l l sbury had gone from an obscu re New Englander to a member o f a ve ry smal l In ternat ion al e l i te.

I f Hast ings was the st rongest tou rnament he ld up to tha t t ime , St . Pete rsb u rg e x ceeded i t consid e rab ly. Wi th an ave rage est im ated rat ing o f 2617, i t not on l y supplanted H ast ings, but rema ined the h ighest rated tou rnament un til the Netherlands' A V RO event of 1938 , some 42 years la te r. P iiisbu ry began by e x a cting re venge against Lask e r, beat­ing h im on the Black s ide o f a Pet ro f f Defense in 33 moves on the f i rs t day . He a l so h ad Black i n the se cond

2 0 Pillsbury T h e Ex traordinary

round and he won even more qu i ck ly wi th w h at was re­garded as an or ig i na l kn igh t maneuver in the open i ng:

T C HIG O RIN • PILL S B U RY St. Petersburg 1895 · 6

1 e4 2 N f3 3 N c3

4 Bb5 5 0-0 6 d3

7 Bg5 8 b x c3 9 B x f6

e5 N f6 N c6

Bb4 0 - 0 d 6

B x c3 Ne7!? gx f6

C h apter T wo: H ero O f H astings

1 0 Qd2 Ng6 1 1 Kb 1 Kh8 12 d4 Rg8

13 B d3 Qe7 1 4 Rab 1 b6 15 N g 1 B e 6

1 6 dS? B d7 1 7 g3 Rg7

2 1

22 Pillsbury T h e E x traordinary

18 Rbe l R agS

22 Q x f4 N h 7 23 N f3 Bg4 24 N d4? h4!

C h apter Two: Hero O f H astings

25 Re3 26 gx h4?

Qe5! B f3 c h

Whi te Resigns

23

The fou r men were pa i red with one anoth e r si x t imes over a two-month per iod. In e f fect the tou rnament turned out to be th ree m i n i - m atches for P i l l sbu ry . He de feated Lasker 3 1/2 - 2 1/2 ( inc lud ing t h ree d rawn) and Tchigor in b y the same score (one draw). B u t h e lost bad l y to S te in i tz , m a n aging only two d raws i n s i x games, w h i le Lasker crushed the former champion b y 4 - 2 .

Wi th the o lder m a n i n cluded, i t was a Lasker ru naway: 11 1/2 - 6 1/2 compared to 9 1/2 po in ts for sec­ond place Ste i n i tz , and an even score 8 - 8 for the A m e ri ­can . P i l lsbu r y had , i n fact , been lead ing the f i e ld at the tournament ' s h al f w a y poin t, but then su f fered fou r s tra ight de feats a n d f in i shed w i th on ly 1 1/2 points i n h i s f i n al n ine games .

Al though the results showed that P i l lsbury ' s H ast­ings resu l t w as n ot a f luke , i t also rea f f i rm e d Lasker ' s c la im to be the "Man to Beat". He won h i s f i rst tou rnament as wor ld champion and a l so p layed the f inest game of the e vent , a Queen ' s Gambi t Dec l ined in the lOth rou n d tha t fe atu red a spectacu l a r sacr i f i ce o f a B lack rook . Lasker la ter conside red i t t h e bes t game he e v e r p layed . A n d i t was one P i l lsbu r y would remember to the very end of h i s ca reer .

P I L L S U RY ·LA SKER, S T . P E T E R S B U R G 1895-96 1 d4, d5 2 c4, e6 3 N c3 , N f6 4 N f3, c5 5 Bg5, cx d4 6 Qxd4 , N c6 7 Qh4, Be7 8 0 - 0 - 0, Qa5 9 e3 , B d7 1 0 Kb 1 , h 6! 11 cx d5, e x d5 12 N d4, 0 - 0 13 B x f6 ( the sacr i f i ce 13 Bxh6 fa i l s a fter 13 . . . Ne4!) 13 ••• B x f6 14 Q hS , N x d4 15 ex d4, Be6 1 6 f4 (No t ime for t h is . Bette r 16 Bc4 or 16 Bd3) 16 •.. R a c l 17 f5, R x c3! 18 fxe6 (On 18 b x c3 , Q x c3 19 fxe6 [19 Q f3 j us t o f fe rs more res is tance] 19 . . . Rc8 and B lack w i n s) 18 .•• Ra6 ! 1 9 ex f7c h , Rx f7 2 0 b x a3 , Qb6c h 2 1 BbS , QxbS c h 22 K a 1 ,

2 4 Pi l lsbury T h e Ex traordin ary

Rc7 23 Rd2, Rc4 24 R h d l , Rc6 25 Q fS (Be tte r 25 Qe2 or 25 R e 1) 2S • • • Q c4 26 Kb2 (Bette r 26 Qb 1) 26 • • • R x a6! 27 Qe6ch, Kh7 28 Kx a3 and B lack announ ces m ate in fi v e a s follows: 2 8 ••• Qc3ch 2 9 Ka4, bSch ! 3 0 KxbS, Qc4ch 3 1 KaS, B d8 m ate .

One f inal poi n t about St . Pete rsburg must be m ade . S i x teen years a fte r h i s death , a collection of P i llsbury ' s games was publi shed , w ri t ten b y the Engl i shm e n P . W. Se rgeant and W. H . Watts . I n i t the re appeared t h i s c ryp t i c lin e about P illsbu ry ' s t r ip to R u ss ia: "He w as, howeve r, ve ry un fortun ate i n con t rac t ing an i l l ness there w h i c h se­riously impa i re d his health , and u l t imate ly proved fatal to h i m".

The re is no e l aborat ion in the book and for m a n y years t h e e x act n atu re o f P illsbu ry ' s d i sease r ema ined an open but un publ i shed secret. I t w as syph i l i s.

The ve ry name o f the then fata l d i sease was for­b idden i n poli te con v e rsat ion in those day s. (Ibsen's "Ghosts", which shocked so m a n y people i n 1881 b y dea l ing w i th the subject, neve r ac tually used the word " syph il i s " .) P i l l sbury' s fami ly a lways den i ed the natu re o f h i s subse­quen t d eath -- but the death cert i f icate con f i rmed i t was d u e to "general pares is " , t ha t i s , s yph i l i s . No documentat ion h as been p roduced to ve ri fy the St . Petersburg p a rt o f the s tory , but accord ing to the en dgame compose r J . Edm u n d Peckover, Albert B . Hodges told h i m t h a t Pi l lsbury h i m se l f h a d con fi rmed tha t to h im .

P i llsbu ry ' s health h ard ly seemed to a f fec t h im when he re turned to Eu rope tha t summer fo r tou rnament s i n Ge rmany and Hungary . The fi rst , a t N u re mbe rg, w as a b i t the stronge r o f the t w o . Pi l l sbury s tarted s low ly , a bye in the f i rst roun d be ing followed by a qu ie t d r a w w i th Sch lechter . In the th i rd rou n d , P i l l sbury e s caped when J anowsk i sacr i f i ced a pawn in the open i n g, t hen the Ex­change , and had a won game b y move 20. T a r rasch re­m arked tha t i f Whi te h ad found the cor rect, con c l u d i n g

C h apter Two: H ero O f H astings 25

piece sacrifi ce at move 21, he would have assu red h i msel f of the Fi rst Br i l l i ancy Pr ize awarded by B a ron Albert de Rothsch i ld . But he on ly d rew . P i l lsbu ry then won a f ine 70-move game against Adol f Albin -- ye t los t d i scou rag­ing ly to B lackburne and Geza Maroczy . Wi t h on ly two poin ts, the " h e ro of Hast ings" fou n d h i m se lf t i ed for 11th p lace.

Bu t there was a free day follow ing the s i x th round , and Pi l lsbury spen t i t w inn ing a t andem game wi th Black­borne. This seemed to re-establ i sh P i l lsbu ry ' s equan imi ty . He crushed Georg Marco the nex t day , then won a k ing­and-pawn end ing ove r T arrasch that the German i ns i s ted was a dead d raw . There fol lowed wins from Lasker and Tch igor in , the forme r be ing a spec tacu lar F re n ch D e fense in which P i llsbury sac rif iced a pawn on pos i t iona l grounds , then the Exch ange, and f ina l ly a p i ece to create a w inn ing at tack tha t the world champion could not res ist , even after g iv ing up his queen .

He cou ldn't m ain ta in tha t l eve l for the res t o f Nu rembe rg. Wi th t w o rou n d s t o go, P i l lsbu ry w a s t i ed wi th Tarrasch for secon d p lace beh i n d Lasker . B u t a m i serable loss with Wh ite to Walbrodt se ve re ly h u rt his chances and he h ad to al low Ma roczy to sl ip past h i m. In the end , P i lls­b u ry and Tar rasch tied for t h i rd, ea rn i n g 1250 mark s each. I t was some consolat ion (and worth an ex t r a 300 m a rks) when h i s game w i th Lasker w as awarded a br i l l i ancy pr i ze , the Amer i can's f i rst . He would la te r be awarded pr i zes at V ienna 1898 , Monte C a rlo 1903 , and Vienna 1903.

26 Pillsbury T h e Ex traordinary

CHAPTER TH REE

PILLSBURY VERSUS LASKER

I t' s worth poin t ing out a t th i s poi n t that P i l l sb u r y' s l i fe t ime record wi th Lasker w as f ive w ins, f i v e l osses and fou r d raws. To apprec iate how good th i s w as, you have to recal l how the world champion fared against h i s o ther contemporaries:

Lasker was 8-1, 4 d raws against Tch igor in , a n d 11-2 wi th 4 d raws against B lackbu rne, the f inest B rit i sh p layer of the generat ion . Other men who were consid e red wort h y match opponents f o r Laske r h a d d i smal scores: Sch lechter w as 2-5, with 12 d raws aga ins t h im. Marsh al l won on ly two games against 12 losses. Tarrasch had fou r v i ctories t o console h imse lf fo r h i s 1 8 (!) de feats . Ye t Sch lechter, Marsha l l and Tarrasch h a d the i r chan ces to cha l l enge Lasker i n a matches.

Akiba Rubi nstei n had perh aps the best score o f th i s group: one w in , two losses and four d raws wi th Lasker. And i n more then 40 o ther games, Lasker n e v e r lost to such worth y opponents as Amos B u rn , James Mason, I s idor Gunsbe rg, R ichard Te ichmann , Geza Maroczy , O ld rich D u ras, Rudo l f Sp ie lmann , Sav ie l l y Tartakower , Mi l an V i d­m ar, R i ch ard Ret i and Max Eu we.

Anothe r way of look ing at P i l l sb u ry ' s accompl i sh­ment against Lask e r i s th i s: On ly a hand fu l o f Ame r icans -- and not that many non-Amer icans -- have de feated i n ­c u m b e n t world champions. Sammy Reshevsky , Ar th u r Dake and Reuben F ine each de feated A lexande r Ale k h i n e i n the 1930s. Yasse r Se i rawan beat two champions i n the 1980s, An atoly K arpov once and Gary K asparov once. P i l l sbu ry's f i ve t imes is e x t raord ina ry.

Chapter Three: Pi l lsbury Versus Las ker 27

The fourteen Lasker-Pi l lsbu r y games were m a rvelous s truggles. They ave raged nearly 46 moves -- well above the grand m aster norm. Lasker' s endgame sk i l l , such as i n h i s elegant 75-move w in over P i l l sbury a t London 1899 and h i s 85-mover at Par i s a year later , m ade u p for the crushing m i d d legame de feats , such as the Br i l l i ancy P rize loss at Nu rembe rg 1896 .

Here we wi l l look at a game n ot publ ished often due to fou r s l ight mi s takes by Laske r:

When i t came down to the endgame a f te r move 31, each s ide hav ing f ive pawns, p lus a kn igh t for P i llsb u r y vs a bishop for Laske r, the play h a d to be e xact .

P I LLSBURY-LASKER, ST. P E T E R S B U R G 1895/96

1 e4, eS 2 N f3 , N c6 3 BbS, N f6 4 0-0, N x e 4 S d4, Be7 6 Qe2, N d6 7 B x c6, b x c6 8 dx eS, Nb7 9 b3, 0-0 10 Bb2, dS 11 e x d6, cxd6 12 Nbd2, B f6 13 B x f6, Qx f6 1 4 R fe 1 , N cS 15 Ne4, N x e4 1 6 Qxe4 , B d7? (Bet ter 16 . . . d 5 to f ight for the center) 1 7 c4, R fe8 1 8 Qd4, R x e l ch 19 Rx e 1 , Q x d4 2 0 N x d4, K f8 2 1 Kfl , aS? (th i s pawn wi l l become weak on a5) 22 a4, ReS 23 Rxe8ch , Kxe8 24 Ke2 , Kd8 25 Kdl, Kc7 2 6 Kc3, Kb6 2 7 f4, bS? 2 8 h3, KcS 2 9 fS, g 6 30 f6, d S 3 1 cxdS, KxdS 32 N f3! , Ke6 33 N dl , Kx f6? (Black shou ld have t r i ed 33 . . . c5 followed by 34 ... Bc6) 3 4 N c4, h4 3 5 N x x a5 , Ke5 36 N c4ch , Kf4 3 7 Nb6, B f5 38 Kd4, Be4 3 9 aS, cSc h 40 Kx cS, B x gl 41 a6, gS 42 N d 5 ch, Ke5 43 Ne3, B f3 44 b4, Ke6 45 bS, Bel 46 N dS 1 - 0 .

28 Pillsbury The E xtraordinary

CHAPTER FOUR OTH ER STRUGGLES

Also memorable were P i l l sbu ry's annua l st ruggles with Blackbu rne on the f i rst board of the Anglo-Amer ican cab le matches . Because of t he i r l ength , they w e re usua l ly among the las t to be f in i shed and the fa te of t he m atch w as a lready decided . S t i ll, they fought on and Blackburne h a d the upper hand wi th w ins in 1896 and 1 899, losin g on ly in 190 1 .

Tou rnament chess was s t i l l re la t i ve ly young a t th is t ime and th i s may exp la in the apparent b i tte rness of these length y s t ruggles . Grandm aster d raws did not come i n to p ro fessiona l fash ion un t i l about 1910 . Moreov e r, t h e re was re lat i ve ly l i t t l e opening and endgame theory .

You d idn ' t t rust your opponent , for e x amp le , to ho ld a "book d raw" even i f h e w as a world c lass p l aye r. At V ienna 1898, P i l l sbury was a pawn down i n a rook e n d i ng again st Amos Burn . But a l l t he pawns were on t h e k ingsi de and soon the fam i l i a r "Ph i l idor D rawing Pos i t ion" w as reached . Whi te's k i n g and sole rema in ing pawn reached the f i f th ran k , but could n ot sa fe l y ad v an ce because P i l l sbury h a d p laced h i s rook on the s i x th ran k. Today such a posi t ion would rare ly be reached i n gran d m aster chess . ( I t would h ave been drawn long be fore.) But at V i e n n a, Burn i ns isted on playing on for another 29 moves, u n t i l , wi th only a k ing and pawn aga inst a k ing, h e s ta lemated the American .

Moreover, chess was a gent lemen 's game then . "All an alys i s and consu l tat ion of adj ou rned games i s forb id ­den " , s a id the rules o f Par i s 1900 -- "w i th the th reat of ex­pu ls ion f rom the tou rnament". A n d also th i s ru le: "All po­l i t i ca l or religious d i scuss ions are forbi dden u n de r t h re at o f immed iate expu lsion " . The compet i tors i n a tou rnament

C h apter Four: Other Struggles 29

were expected to act l i k e honorable members of a smal l men's c lub . At the end of the day , ra ther than ana lyz ing one another's open ings for their next meet in g, they o ften com pared ideas by p lay ing tandem or consu l ta t ion games . P i l lsbu ry , for example , cou ld be foun d p l a y i n g at B lack ­borne's si de to beat Tch igor in and Sch i f fe rs at H astings 1 895 or Stei n i tz and Sch i f fers at Nuremberg 1 896.

Be fore end ing h i s secon d European tour, Pil lsbury en te red a 12 -man in te rn at iona l at Budapest. T h i s was the s cene o f the fi rst g rea t result by the H u n gar i an R u do l f Charouse k , who sh a red f i rst w i th Tch igori n , a po in t ahead o f P i l l sb u ry . P i l l sbury a l so p l ayed a short m atch against Berthold Engl isch , a ta lented Austr ian then a t h i s peak . On ly one o f the f i v e games, a l l d rawn , su r vives. Cu r ious ly , Charouse k , Engl isch and P i l lsb u r y would a l l d i e be fore the i r t i me . Engl isch was 46 when he fell fa ta l ly i l l a year later, and Charousek was on ly 26 when he died i n 1900.

Back home, P i l lsb u r y spent a l l of 1 897 in Amer i ca. The fi rst order o f bus iness was a match w it h the o f fi c i a l Amer i can C h ampion , Jackson Whi pps Show alte r. H i s H ast­i ngs su ccess h a d made it c lea r Pil lsb u r y was the best Amer ican p layer as of 1895. He had , i n fact , p l ayed fi rst board on the U.S. team in the f i rst Newnes T rophy Cable Match wi th Great Bri ta in i n 1 896.

But the issue of the o f fi c i a l Amer i can t i tle never a rose un t i l two years late r when Showal ter fe l t com pel led to chal lenge P i llsbu ry in a t i t le m atch . They agreed to p lay for a s take o f $ 1000.00 i n New York ear ly i n 1 897 and the g rou nd rules were typica l for the day - - d raws n ot count­ing, the w inner would be the fi rst to de feat his opponent seven times. If the score re ached 6 - 6 , the w i n n i n g score was advanced to ten w i n s. Bu t i f i t re ached 9 - 9, the m atch would be dec la red d rawn .

"I was not see k ing the m atch ," P i l l sb u r y sa id on i t s e ve . "An d e ven i f I shou ld w in , I sha l l l eave Showal ter i n possess ion o f h i s cham pionsh i p tit le . I am n ot i n search o f

ao Plll1bury The Extraordinary

lftY tltlo hut one," he ad ded , and no one needed h i n ts i n rlaurlng out which one he had i n mind .

Bu t Showa lter was one o f t hose un fortunate oppo­nents who a lways seemed to p lay h i s best against P i llsbury . The m atch was a back and forth batt le , w i th on ly three draws out of 21 games. Few of the games h ave been men t ioned . Two of them t u rned up in I m re K oenig ' s c lass ic stu d y of open ing e vo lu t ion , Chess From Morplly to Botvinnik -- and both are v i ctor ies b y Showal ter on the B lack s ide o f a Queen's Gambi t Dec l ined .

The score d id , i n fact , reach the 6-6 dead lock - - an d h a d been 6 - 5 i n Showalte r' s favor at one po in t . They p layed on u n t i l , w i th the score 9 -8 - - and Showal ter need ­i n g one w in to draw the match -- P i l lsbury broke through . ( f i v e m atches for the U . S . C hampionsh ip h a ve been held s i n ce then and on ly the Marshal l -Ed ward Lasker struggle of 1923 w as as close.) Wi th White , P i l lsbury won the 21st and final game in 40 m oves, thanks to a m i d d legame b lun­der tha t cost Showalter a p i ece .

Whether he acknowledged i t o r not , P il l sb u r y was ch ampion of the Amer icans. He he ld the t i t l e unt i l h i s d eath, reign ing n ine years - - a period e x ceeded o n l y by Pau l Morphy , Frank Marsha l l and Sammy Reshe v sky .

C hapter Five: Li fe o f a Pro fessio nal 3 1

CHAPTER FIVE LIFE OF A PROFESSIONAL

Tod ay a t yp i cal grandm aste r p lays be tween se venty and one h u n d red games a year, most o f them i n i n tern a­t iona l tou rnamen ts. He can p lay in any of a n umber of lo­ca l , wee kend open tourn aments i f he wi shes. Bu t in P i l ls­bury's day , the re w e re ve ry few even ts. In 1897 P i l l sbu r y m a y on ly h ave p l a y e d 29 ser ious games, i n cl u d i n g a smal l team event i n ups ta te Ne w York . How d i d such a pro fes­s ion al make a l i v i n g?

One answer w as to g ive e xh ib i t i ons, a n d P i l lsbury w as one of the f inest exh ib i tors of his age. H e took on op­ponents at chess and checkers, p lay ing some games b l ind ­fo lded - - and somet imes t ak ing part i n a hand o f w h ist . (His ski l l as a card p layer i s not known, but he was re­garded as one of twenty best checker p layers in Ameri ca .)

P i l l sbu ry was, in fact, a great en tert a i n e r. And also a t i reless one. Du r ing 1901 he trave led for s even months, cover ing the U.S. w i th more than 150 exh ib i t i ons and log­g ing more than 40,000 m i les .

But U. S. e x h ib i t ion tou rs, be fore Jose Capablanca m astered the ar t a decade la ter, were re la t i v e l y fe w and d isorgan ized . I n tru th, a pr imary source of P i l lsbu ry ' s i n­come, even a t the he igh t o f h i s powe rs, was to h i d e h i m ­sel f w i th in the i m i tat ion c lockwork mach ine ry tha t passed for the chess automaton, Ajeeb.

Aj eeb w as one o f the 19th cen tury wonders, part Barnum and part carpentry , tha t pu rported to be a me­chan i ca l chessp layer. At fairs, e x h ib i t ions and s ideshows, Aj eeb would take on a l l comers at chess or checkers . The m ach ine appeared to be a l i fe-s ized d u m m y of an Ind i an poten tate, s i t t i ng u pon a m ass o f p i s tons and w heels t ha t

Pillsbury T h e E x traordinary

were brie f l y re vealed to the aud ience. The m ach ine nod­ded when g iv ing check . I t annou n ced m ate w i th th ree nods. And i t d i d tha t o ften s i n ce Aj eeb was strong. Actu ­a l l y , a Maste r w as h i dden i n the cab ine t, concea led i n w h at m u s t have b e e n an e x t reme ly u ncomfortable postu re.

Far f rom bei n g a freak show, Aj eeb h a d some re­spect i n the chess com m u n i ty . It had been contro l led in the 1880s and 1890s by a v a ri e ty of minor m aste rs , in clu d i n g C h a rles Mah le, t h e n one o f the best U. S . p l aye rs , b y Al­ber t Hodges, Show alter ' s predecessor as U . S. C h ampion , a n d b y C. F. Bur i l l e , anothe r of P i l l sbu ry's Mandar in f r i ends from Boston . The pay wasn' t bad - - Hodges re­cei ved $50.00 to $70.00 a week when he operated Aj eeb at the Eden Musee, on West 23rd St reet in Manh at tan .

Even when he w as one of the wor ld's t w o best play­e rs, Pillsbu ry was a l so Aj eeb. Th ere are d i ffe r ing accounts of e xact ly when h i s tenu re as the m ach ine ' s operator ran . I t was e i ther 1 898 to 1904, 1 890 to 1900 (accord ing to Peckover) or 1893 to 1900 , accord i n g to K e n n eth Wh yld. Among its opponents a t the time were 0. H e n r y and Sarah Bern h ard t at chess and , perh aps late r, Ch r i s ty Mathe wson at checke rs.

Hodges once to ld the story of v i s i t ing the Eden Musee somet ime a fter l eaving chess for bus in ess and f ind ­i ng the mach ine inope rat i v e. An amate u r opponen t h a d left his queen h anging - - bu t Aj eeb wou ldn ' t move . A b i t of discreet i nvest igat ion r evea l ed that P i l l sbu ry h a d drunk a large amount of beer and passed ou t . Awakened , the ma ­ch ine g rabbed the queen and h i s opponent res igned wi th ­ou t knowing w h at had gone on .

Be fore he re tu rned to Eu rope, P illsb u r y gran ted Showal ter's request for a re turn match in Feb ruary 1 898. The rules were iden t i ca l to those in the fi rst - - e x cept t his t ime the U. S. t itle was specifi cal ly at s ta ke . P illsb u r y p l ayed a bit more caut ious ly a n d , w i t h t h e l e i sure ly pace ,

C h apter Five: Li fe o f a Pro fessional 33

it took near ly si x weeks for h i m to preva i l . The f ina l score was seven wins to th ree, with two d raws.

Showal ter w as a lways a h ard game for h im , even w i th Wh ite in a Queen's Gambi t , as t he i r games from Vi ­enna 1898 , Pa ris 1900 a n d the two m atches show . Su f fice i t to s a y t h a t Showal ter's best resu l t i n h i s l o n g c hess career was h i s n a rrow loss to Pi l l sbury i n 1897 , ju s t as the f inest accompl i shment of John Barry had been h i s n a rrow loss to P i llsbury five years be fore .

The champion's nex t serious even t began i n May 1898 wi th the mam moth tou rnament i n V i e n n a, one of the longest and most grue l l ing events ever organ i zed . P i l lsbury began the double-round e ven t i m press i v e l y , knock ing o f f m i nor m asters Horat io C aro, P. L ipke , A . Sch warz (in 19 moves) and A. H alpr in ( a br i l l i ancy p ri ze) i n t he f i rst fou r rou nds. But the nex t stage began h a rd -- the usua l d i f f i cu lt d raw wi th Show al ter, a d i sappoin t ing loss to Maroczy , a queen-and-pawn e n d i n g w i n again st Sch lechter tha t would e ventua l ly make the endgame anthologies , a n d a h orr ib le tu rnaround in a near ly-won pos i t ion again st T c h igor in . But another streak of wins followed and he was t ied with Tar­rasch, whom he had de feated , a fter the end of the f i rst h al f of the near ly th ree-month tou rnament .

JAN OWS K I vs P ILLS BURY V I EN NA 1898

He might have won the e vent easi l y i f i t were not for a fe w mish aps i n the tou rnament' s la te st ages. One came in the 21st rou nd aga inst J anowsk i i n a game that began w i th :

1 e4 eS 2 f4 dS 3 e x dS e4

J4 Plll1bury The Extraordin ary

4 d3 N f6

5 d x e 4 N x e 4 6 Qe2 Q x d5

7 N d2 f5 8 N h3!? N c6 9 c3 Be6

10 Nxe4 fx e4

Chapter Five: L ife o f a Profess ional

11 N f2 0 - 0 - 0 12 g3 BcS 13 B g2

13 .. . e3!

35

O f fer ing a powe r ful queen sacr i f i ce (14 B x d5 , e x f2ch 15 K fl, B xd5) . J anowski rejecte d it w i th:

1 4 Ne4

At th i s moment the Ameri can could h a v e fol lowed with 14 ••• Rhe8!, again o f fe r ing the queen in va riations such as 15 N f6, Q x g2 1 6 Q x g2 , gx f6 1 7 Qe2 , B f5 1 8 Qh5, B c2.

But i n stead , he p layed the com para t i ve ly more force ful (and seeming ly less r i sky) knigh t sac ri fice:

i ng:

1 4... Nb4?

Wh ich allowed Whi te to consolid ate and win follow-

15 cxb4 1 6 N c3 1 7 B x e3 1 8 b x c3

B x b 4 ch QcS B x c3 c h Qx c3 c h

3fi Pillsbury T h e Extraordinary

White wins .

19 K f2 Rhe8 2 0 R h c l Qa3 21 R ab1 b 6

22 B c6 B d7 23 R c3!

Neve rthe less P i l lsbu r y w as i n fi rst p lace , a ha l f poi n t ahead o f Tarrasch , w i th th ree rounds to go when he botched a m i d dlegame against Burn and los t . Tar rasch caught up wi th him, forc ing a fou r-game p layo f f to dec ide the 6,000-crown fi rst p r i ze . I n the key th i rd p lay o f f game, Tarrasch avoided P i l lsbu ry's Ber l in De fense and won with the Whi te s ide of a Fou r K n ights Game.

C h apter Five: L i fe o f a Pro fessional 3 7

Even though Tarrasch met 1 d 4 , dS 2 c 4 , e 6 3 N c3 with 3 ..• b6?! i n the fourth and f inal game, P illsbury got no advan tage and i n fact would have ce r ta inly lo s t i t i f the German had needed a full poin t to take fi rst p r i ze .

Th i s w as one of fou r great resu lts ach i eved dur ing 1898- 1900, the o thers com ing at Lon don , Par i s a n d Munich . Only Lasker w as able to f in i sh ahead of h im at these tourn amen ts, wh ich d re w the fi nest p layers in the world . And i t re in forced the v iew that P i l lsbu ry should be f i rst in line to ch allen ge for the world ch am pionsh ip .

L asker h a d been v i rtually out of chess be tween h i s return match wi th Ste in i t z i n 1896-7 and London 1899, and he showed l i t tle i n t e rest i n r i sk ing h i s t i t l e against a younger man , e v e n one l i k e P illsbury , j us t four years younge r. There was no wor ld chess fede rat ion i n those day s and a ch ampion could reject all ch allen ges for a d ecade. Lasker d i d j ust that . H e d idn ' t d e fen d h i s t i t le again unt il 1907, when P illsbu r y was long dead .

And what would have h appened i f P i l l sbu ry and Lasker had met d u ring th i s per iod? Laske r' s tou rnament results we re super ior, bu t h i s games with P i l l sbu r y alone were uncon v inc ing. A compari son of t h e i r relat ive s t rengths and weaknesses revea l s sharp d i f feren ces. P i l ls­bury was no theoret ici an , but greate r depth i n his fe w openi ngs o f p re ference i n d i cates the Ame rican would be on fi rmer ground in the ear ly stages of games. I n the i r fourteen games w i t h one another, Pil lsbury usual l y ob­ta ined a s l ight e dge w i th Whi te and usual ly equ al ized e f­fortlessly wi th B lack . (Th at Queen 's Gambi t D ecli ned loss at St. Pete rsbu rg was the outs tanding e xcept ion .)

At the o ther e x treme i s the endgame . Lasker' s sk ill, part icularly in i n fe r ior e n d i ngs, was superb. P illsbury's abi l i ty in the endgame h as bee n clou ded by the passage o f t i me. H e was i n fact a n e x cellent tech n ician . A t y pica l game , ve rsus Mieses at Par i s 1 900, shows how read i l y h e t raded queens.

Plllabury The Extraordinary

A ftcr Micses' customary Vien n a Game:

1 e4 eS

2 N c3 N f6

3 B c 4

Pil lsbury p layed the posi t ion like a re ve rsed Ruy Lopez .

3 ... Bb4!?

4 d3 N c6

S N ge2 dS 6 e x dS N x d5

7 0 - 0 B e 6 8 f4? N x c3

C h apter Five: Life o f a Professional

9 Nxc3

10 dxc4 1 1 bxc3

Bxc4

Bxc3! Qxd l!

And soon h e had a w i n n i n g posi t ion .

39

The greatest d i f ference between Las k e r an d P i l l s ­bury lies , i nev i t abl y, i n the m i d dlegame. One m an ' s long su i t was the othe r' s shor t one . Lasker w as a m aneuve rer , a psychologist and a tempor ize r. He was o ften accused o f wai t ing for his oppon e n t t o blunder, w h e n i n fact he was wa i t ing for the r ight moment to take act ion h i mse l f. P ills­bu ry , on the othe r h a n d , w as a bold planne r, a m i d d legame man o f act ion who hated to w aste t ime and sh i ft wood . Impat ience w as h i s greatest p roblem.

But he o ften made up for th i s w i th i m agin at ion . "An inc red ible combina t ive gi ft was h i s great s trength , " sa id Fine . Sometimes he fou n d i deas so s tu n n i n g that i t overwhelmed a more p ract i cal approach .

Hi s w in over Wol f a t Monte Car lo 1903 w as one i n­s tance . Employ ing the by-now-notorious P illsbu ry Attack , h e obta ined an overwhelming attack by the 25 th move . On the nex t turn he sacr i f i ced a bishop, but i t couldn ' t be taken . Wol f, ins tead , a t tacked Wh ite ' s Queen . The Ameri­can came back wi th a queen sacr i f ice tha t f in i shed the

40 Pil lsbury The Extraordinary

game off in six moves . P i l lsbu ry was d u l y a w arded the Brilliancy P rize.

But then a short t ime la ter , an amate u r p l a y e r f rom Pittsbu rgh demonstrated that P i l l sbu ry ' s sacr i f i ce , g iven as 26 Qxb6! at the t ime , was rea l l y 26 Qxb6?!, s i n ce h e had two othe r moves wh i ch wou ld h a v e dec ided the game even faster .

Lasker , not know for fantasy va r i at ions , w as i n ­s tead a h ardheaded pragmatist who d i d n ot d e ve lop such tact ica l v i s ion . But he w as a greate r d e fende r, par t i cu la r ly in passi ve positions . Another factor in a m atch i s mental d i sc ip l ine . Cou ld P i l l sbu ry have ove rcome h i s i n stin ct ive opti m ism? "He neve r p layed for the score ," sa id Fran k Marshal l , add ing that th i s a t t i tude w as n ot par t o f a p ro­fess ional ' s p ragm atism. Pillsbury regu la r l y re fused d raw o f fers he should h ave accepted . But another con temporary , Wi l l iam Nap ie r, compared Pil l sbury to a member of the next gene rat ion, Ale xande r Ale k h i ne , i n h i s t a k i n g of risk s to a v o i d d rawish positions .

In any event , a m atch bet ween the two men would su rely have been close r th an the Lasker-Marsh a l l shutou t o f 1907 and the 8-3 trounc ing o f Tar rasch in 1908 .

The Canad ian h i stor ian N athan D i v i n s k y suggests that had P i l lsbury p layed and won a match from L aske r, he would have r isen above h i s contem porar ies, as Laske r d i d a fter 1 900 or Ale k h ine i n the ea r l y 1930s. (An d , we migh t add tod ay , a s An atoly Karpov d i d i n the late 1970s) . "There is a great deal o f chess p lay ing powe r," Di v in sk y wr i tes , " in the mere wear ing o f the crown o f ch ess ."

But, because he d i dn ' t be at Laske r i n the contest that m attered , D i v i n s k y suggests, P i l l sbu ry was "su ppressed " by the world champion , the way Capablanca went in to dec l ine a fter losi ng to Alekhine . And P i l l sbu ry ' s results -- whether a f fected by heal th , psychology o r im-

C h apter Five: Li fe o f a Professional 41

prov ing r iv als - - began to d ip s l ight ly a fter the turn of the cen tury .

One o f those r iv als w as Marshal l , f i v e y e a rs h i s ju ­n io r . They had met duri ng the Montreal e x h ibi t ion tou r of 1893, but i n i t i a l l y faced one another i n a se r ious game a t the Par i s tou rnament o f 1900. P i l lsbury rem i n d e d the ris­ing young Amer ican of the i r ear l i e r game and Marsha l l to ld h im to get h i s re venge . But Marsha l l won in 26 moves. (Pi l l sbury lost again to M a rsha l l i n a K i n g's G a mbit a t V i ­e n n a 1903 on ly because , when h e was a rook up , he re­fused for severa l moves to return mater ia l in the face o f Marshall's ferocious at tack .)

Par i s was another Laske r t r iumph , a n d for P i lls­bu ry, a d i sp i r i t ing 85-move loss to the world champion . He f in i shed in second p lace - - but a substan t i a l 2 1/2 points behind the Germ an . A month later P i l l sbury was i n Mu­n i ch and Lasker w asn't . This tournament shaped up as a batt le between the Ameri can , Sch lechter o f Aus t r ia and the Hungar i an Maroczy . A l l th ree t i ed for first p lace w i th 12-3 scores. P i llsbury then beat Maroczy with Black i n 25 moves in the i r f i rst pla y o f f game and h i s opponent then d ropped out o f the even t . P i l lsbu r y hadn ' t lost to anyone unt i l h i s fi rst playo f f game wi th Sch lechter, and a fter w inn ing the second and d raw ing two more, h e ended the even t sharing the top prize with the "D rawing M aster . "

4Z Pil lsbury T h e Extraordinary

CHAPTER SIX

PORTRAIT OF TH E BLI NDFOLD ARTIST

Pi l lsbury d idn ' t re turn to Europe for m ore than a y e a r, spend ing 1901 i n minor U.S. even ts, e x hibition tours and fami l y l i fe - - be w as m arr ied on Jan uary 1 7, 1 901 . He won the New York State Championship with a c rushing score o f n ine wins and one d ra w -- beat ing Marsh a l l tw ice.

February 190 1 saw h i m at Monte Car lo for another of the famous casino-based tourn aments. H e ove rcame a f i rst-roun d d i saster -- losing w i th Whi te i n 33 moves to Maroczy -- and a la ter upset by an obscure am ateur n amed Ei senbe rg to manage a second p lace f in i sh. Later tha t sum mer he aga in took second p rize, th i s t ime at Hanover fo r the 13th Congress o f the German Chess Fede ration. But the m ost rem arkable even t dur ing th i s tou rnament took p l ace on P i l l sbu ry ' s day o f f.

Following a 139-move d raw wi th Hugo Sucht ing i n t h e s i x th roun d , P i l lsbury h a d a free day t o spe n d be fore the seventh round . He dec ided to spen d the d a y breaking the world bli n d fold record.

Actu ally , P i l lsbury broke the world bli n d fold record th ree t imes over the years. He had bui l t up slowly, g i ving s ix -board e xhibitions i n 1893 , and eigh t- and ten ­board d i sp lays in 1 894. D ur ing one ten-board e x hibi t ion Pillsbu ry announced m ate in eight m oves - - a rem a r k able achievement si nce he h a d on ly p layed e leven m oves when h e m ade the announcement.

The record was six teen boards, set by Joh annes Zuke rtort i n the 1870s. P i l lsbury d i d not j ust bre a k i t - - he smashed i t , p lay ing twenty in 1897 . A year l a te r at the Mercant i le Chess Club i n P hilade lph i a, Pil l sbury repeated his feat . And in h i s fin a l achievement , i n Moscow d ur ing

C h apter Six : Portrait o f the Bl indfo ld Artist 43

1 902, he pushed the record to twenty - two. It lasted for an­othe r se venteen years , unt i l broken by Ret i . The Moscow e x h ibit ion took ten hours and 875 moves, or rough l y one move every forty seconds and i m p ressed , among other Muscov i tes, young Alexander Alekh ine , who even tua l l y broke Re t i ' s record m a n y yea rs la ter.

P i l lsbu ry ' s records were remarkable because o f the con d i t ions un der w h i ch they were set . T h e re have never been standard i zed rules and rest r ic t ions for such d i sp lays and th i s h as t h rown doubt on the accompl i shment s o f some bl i n d fold art i sts . Some c ri t i cs question Janos Flesch 's 52-board d isplay i n 1 960 because o f al leged i m p ropri et ies . Others say that the two t imes that Miguel N aj do r f set the bl in d fold record a fter World War II are ques t ionable be­cause of the p lay ing strength o f h i s oppone n ts . Others have doubts about prev ious record-setters because t h e y in s isted on hav ing their opponents move i n prec i se orde r -- Board 1 , then Board 2, then Board 3 so that the e x h ib i t i on-gi ver could reta in the v a rious posi t ions in p rope r sequence . Sus ­p i cions have been raised about the e x t reme length o f some e x h ibit ions - - and whether the m aster outp layed or out-sat his oppon en ts. And no one seems to know how o ften the great exh ib i tors of the past have been a l lowed to make mi sta kes .

But P i l lsbu ry ' s e x h ibi t ions had no g i m m i c k s to help him. P layers calle d out the i r moves wheneve r they were re ady . The Phila delphia Inq11irer of February 1 , 1903 gives an accoun t o f P i l lsbu ry i n act ion -- "Marve lous Mental Feats of Ph i lade lph i a' s Wei r d C hess P layer." P i l l sbury si ts, eve r-present c igar in hand , in an alcove wh i l e moves are relayed to h im .

" 'Table 18 moves K in g to Bishop's Square, ' would come from a d i s tant board and P i l l sbury , scarce ly w a i t ing to consi der what move he should m a k e to checkm ate an opponent who had j ust spent f i ve m i n utes, would replay with per fect t ranqui l i t y: ' K n i gh t takes Pawn, Mate. ' "

44 P i l lsbury The Extraordinary

Or take the 12-board d i splay P illsbu r y gave at the end o f the Par i s tou rnament of 1900. Some of the boards were han dled by teams of two opponents - - and e v e ryone had the r ight to consult spectators for ad v i ce (!) . T h e y d idn ' t n e e d much help because among the oppone n ts w e re Eugene Chatard , co-author o f a gambit l ine i n the French D e fense, and longt ime French star Freder ic Lazard .

P i l lsbu ry ' s rep l i e s came c ri sp ly and al l twe lve games were over i n 5 1/2 hou rs, f rom 8:30 i n the e v e n i n g to 2:00 i n the morning. He won e ight , los t one and d re w th ree. Even the loss was memorable:

P I L L S B U RY - P A P E

1 e 4 2 N c3 3 £4

4 fxeS 5 Q £3 6 N ce2!?

eS N £6 dS

Nxe4 rs Nc6

C h apter S ix: Portrait o f t h e Bl indfold Artist 45

7 d4 Be7 8 N h3? Nb4! 9 Qb3 cS!

10 dxcS NxcS! 1 1 Qc3 d4 12 Q d2 Ne4!

P l l labury T h e Ex traordi n ary

13 Q d l d3!

Wh i te Resigns.

That brings us back to H anover 1 902 . On the f ree day , P i l l sbu ry wanted to p lay 21 opponents. But they were not j ust any opponents: h e wanted the strongest ava i l able. He eventua l ly faced a field composed ma in ly of m inor m aste rs. They were o f fered p r i zes i f they cou ld w in or d raw. P layers who have g iven blind fold s imu l s o ften say the ha rdest p a rt i s not keep ing al l the pos i t ions in the i r head -- but find ing good moves. The qua l i ty of the opposi ­t ion has a great impact on th i s. P i l lsbu ry ' s opponents tha t Ju l y day incl uded Ossi p Bernste in, Er ich Cohn and Jorgen Mol ler -- each among the st ronge r young m asters o f the e ra. The Amer ican' s f ina l score , regi stered in 11 1/2 hou rs, was not overly impressi ve - - 3 wins, 1 1 d raws and 7 losses. But the l eve l of his opposi t ion h as ne ver been app roached in a la rge bl ind fold s imul .

The Inquirer adds tha t "P i l lsbu ry cannot e xp l ain the reason for h i s marvelous powe rs, but say tha t when the move of a p layer i s announced he immed iate ly recei ves a v i v i d photograph o f i t , w i th a recurring i m p ression o f h i s own prev ious move." Nor could he read i l y explain h i s gi ft for non-chess d i sp lays o f mental powe rs, su ch as mu l t ip ly ­ing, add ing and d i v i d ing la rge sums wi th in seconds a fte r the figu res were g iven to h im . People w h o assu med h i s sk i l l s were ent i re l y re lated to m athemati cs were su rpri sed by his v e rbal memory . At one e x h ibi t ion , in London d u r­ing 1899 , he was g iven a long l ist o f uncommon words, p roper names and ph rases:

Ant iphologist ine, per iosteum, tak ad iastase , p l asmon, ambrosi a, Th re lke ld , s treptococcus, stap h y lococcus , m i cro­coccus , p l asmod ium , Mississipp i , F re inhe i t , P h i l ade lph ia, C incinnati , a th le t ics, no w a r, Etchenberg, Amer i can, Rus­s ian, ph i losophy , P ie t Potge l ter' s R ost , Sa lamagundi ,

C h apter S ix: Portrait o f t h e Bl indfo ld A rtist 47

Oomisi l le cootsi , Bangm a m v ate , Sch leete r' s N e k , Manz in ­yama, theosophy , ca tech i sm , Madj esoom alops.

P i l lsbury took a long look at the l ist , p l ayed his s i ­mu ltaneous e x h ibi t ion , and a fterwards rec i ted the en t i re l i s t - - forward and bac k w ards. The fol lo w i n g d a y he re­peated the l i st .

48 Pi l lsbury T h e Extraordinary

CHAPTER SEVEN

FINAL STEPS

Pi l l sbu ry ' s last t r ip to Eu rope revea led f ew h i n ts o f h i s decl in ing powe rs. I n February 1 903 h e won h i s f i rs t fou r games at Monte Ca rlo, i n clud ing a 23-move win w i th Black over Schlechter . L ate r losses t o Ta rrasch , M a rsha l l a n d Mieses depr i ved h im of a h igher pr ize bu t h e m a n aged a highly c red i table third p lace , beh i n d Tar rasch and Maroczy .

Two months late r he w as i n V i enna for one of the remarkable "Gambi t Tournaments" that w e re h eld be fore World War I . The p layers were rest r ic ted to a smal l number o f l ines, such as the Bishop 's and Allgaie r Gambi ts . Th i s w as a b i t a fa r f rom P i l l sbu ry ' s pre ferred sol i d open ings, a n d ha l f o f h i s si x w in s came wi th the B lack p i e ces . S t i l l , h i s fou rth p lace beh i n d such career gambi teers as T ch ig­or in and Marsh al l w as no d i sgrace . A m atch w i th Tch ig­or in had been p lanned for 1903 , bu t i t fe l l t h rough and P i l l sb u r y had to re turn h ome.

H i s V ienna resu l t w as the f i rst t ime si n ce 1893 tha t P i l l sbu ry h ad fa i l ed to f in i sh as h igh as th i rd . I n e i gh teen tou rnaments, he had p laced f i rs t or secon d i n t en . Bu t in h i s f ina l event , Cambridge Spr i ngs 1904 , h e was u n recog­n i zable . Th i s tou rnament in Western Pennsy l v a n i a was the st rongest Amer ican event i n a decade and i t shou ld h a v e b e e n a show case f o r a health y P i l l sbury . Yet i n the secon d rou n d he m ade a s t range choice o f open ing: he p layed what would la te r be ca l led the Black s ide of t h e P i rc De­fense, Austr ian Attack , against Marsh all . P i l l sbu ry was qu i te u n fami l i a r w i th the l i ne ' s subt le t ies and h e w as lost by the s i x teenth move . He was mated on the twen ty - th i rd .

For the res t of the tou rnament he revea led only touches of h i s past sup rem acy . He los t to Mi eses, usua l ly

C h apter Seven: Final Steps 49

one of his favori t e punch ing bags, i n t h i rt y - f i v e moves o f a T h ree K n ights' Game, and t o the l i t t le - known T . F . L a w rence i n a th i rty -one-move Closed S i ci l i an . Losses to Showal ter and Janowski fol lowed . He had , i n fac t , on l y o n e great game and i t c a m e against h i s favor i t e oppon ent: Lasker.

One o f the great m yths o f chess lore concerns th i s game , a brill iant Queen's Gambi t Dec l ined . I t w as the same Q.G.D. l ine as Lasker had used to de feat h im a t St . Pete rs­bu rg 1895-6 . Short ly a ft e r the game, P illsbu r y fou n d a c lear i mprovement for White , 7 B x f6! . Accord i n g to h i s longtime f r i end , Wi l l i am Nap ie r, he and P i l l sbury ana lyzed th i s e x tens ive ly - - Nap i e r p lay ing the B lack p i eces a s a p roxy for Lasker. "We played the pos i t ion wheneve r we met , wh ich was o ften , " Nap ie r la t e r recal led . " Years we played i t , he re and abroad. I t became a bore. "

Nap ie r wondered whether Lasker would be careless enough to gi ve Pi l l sbu r y a second chance -- w h e n the pos­sibili t y o f an i m p rovement w as so obv ious . B u t he got h i s chan ce at Cambri dge Spr ings. L a s k e r went i n to the Queen ' s Gambi t Dec l ined l ine , but chose, as P i l l sbu r y to ld N apier, " the on ly damn scheme you never t ried . "

A fter the world champion resigned , a t move 30 i n the face o f m ate , i t became the ta lk o f t he tournament. One o f the o ther com pet i tors w as Georg Marco, the great annotator for the Wiene r Schachzeitu ng. Marco noted the simi la r i ty bet ween the St . Pete rsburg and Cambri dge Spr ings br i l l i anc ies and wrote: "S ince that t ime , for e ight years, Pillsbu ry w ai ted for an opportun i t y of revenge. Now the moment h ad come, and Lasker runs bl i n d l y in to d i sas­te r."

The story was repeated many t imes a fterwards, w i th wr i te rs i m ag in ing how anguished P i l l sbu ry m ust have been to keep h i s open i n g re futat ion a s ec re t - - not to be used for an yone , even i f it meant an easy po in t, e x cept Lasker.

50 Pil lsbury T h e Ex traordinary

Alas, the re a re m ajo r holes in the s tory . P i l lsbu ry had othe r opportun i t ies to u se i t against Laske r be fore 1 904. In fact , the U. S . Ch ampion had Whi te th ree t imes against Laske r between St . Petersbu rg and Cambri dge Spr ings. But in each case P i l lsbury p layed 1 e4!?.

When Cambr idge Sp ri n gs ended , P i l l sb u r y h a d scored o n l y fou r v i ctories , against f i v e de feats, a n d he set­tled for a t ie for e ighth place in the 16 -man f i e ld . It w as h i s last real even t. Elev e n day s a fte r Cambri dge Spr ings, P i l lsbury beat Marsh a l l in a m atch between t h e Frank l i n a n d Marshal l c lubs. Ano the r game , suppose d l y f rom the 1905 ve rsion o f the ma tch w h i ch ended i n a v i ctory over an am ateu r named H y m es, h as apparen t l y been lost .

P i l lsbury p robabl y knew he was abou t to die . A v a­r ie ty o f doctors cou ld not he lp the head aches , i n som n i a , a t tacks o f de lusions and b lackouts that h e h a d begun to su f fe r in creasing ly in 1903. Even Tarrasch h a d t r i ed to he lp - - by h y pnoti z ing h i m - - but w i thout apparent he lp . I n Apr i l 1 905 he entered P h i l ade lph ia' s P resb y te r i an Hosp i ta l for an ope rat ion but , accord ing to h i s f r i end Wal te r Penn Sh i p ley , su f fered a de lusion and t r i ed to " force h i s way out o f the hosp i ta l . " Sh iple y den ied ne wspape r accounts tha t he had actu a l ly t r i ed to th row h imse l f ou t of a hosp i ­ta l w in dow.

Ship ley promised that P i l l sbury would soon be h is o ld sel f, but he must have known the t ru th . So m u st h i s o ther fr ien ds who, over the years, cu l t ivated the myth tha t P i l lsbu ry ' s dec l ine w as due to the stress o f h i s b l i n d fold play. Lasker blamed his d e ath on "overexer t ion of the memory cel ls" and Marsha l l w rote: " U n fort u n ate ly , he took l i t t le care o f his health and constant b l ind fold play le ft i t s m ark on h i m."

In January 1906, the U. S. Champ ion went to Bermuda for a long rest , but su f fered a s t ro k e that le ft h i m par t ia l ly para lyzed . He re tu rned to Ph i l ade lph ia for

C h apter Seven: Final Steps 5 1

fur ther t reatment , bu t h i s con d i t ion worsened and by June he was dead .

Wh at would h a ve happened i f fortune h ad granted P i l lsbury the opportun i t y to l ive to chess m a t u ri ty? L i ke most such specu lat ion , the answer can on ly be a w ist fu l b i t o f guesswork:

Most modern p layers reach the peak of t he i r p lay ­i n g abi l i t y be tween age t h i rty and t h i rt y - f i ve , and in P i l l sbury ' s day th i s m igh t be e x tended to age forty - f ive . P i l l sbury should have j u st entered h i s pr ime p lay ing years a round 1902 and l i k e l y woul d have rem a ined near the top of his game, l i k e Lasker , Marshal l , T a r rasch and Sch lechter , un t i l World Wa r I . H i s be s t f i v e - yea r ave rage, accord ing to Elo, w as 2630, m a k i n g h i m one of the t h i rt y greatest p layers o f a l l t ime . ( t h i s may be a b i t conse rva­t i ve , s ince so m a n y o f h i s contemporar ies seem under­rated .) Certa in l y i f P i l l sbury had rema ined a t tha t l eve l , Lasker would have had to accept h i s m atch ch a l lenge, as he did with the oth e r r i v als d u ring 1907- 10 .

When P i l l sbury died , on June 17 , 1906 , the world of chess was ch angi ng. Jose Capablanca w as j ust about to en­t e r Colu mbia U n i v e rs i ty and become the dom i n ant f igure i n American chess. I n Po land A k iba Rubins te in was j ust establ ish ing his status as a master w i th world-class p romise . Aron N i m zov i ch and R i chard Reti were m a k i n g the steps towards the m aste rs' l e v e l t h a t w o u l d eventua l l y enable them to set i n motion the H ypermodern Re volut ion . The game was about to make i ts greatest l eap forw a rds in terms of theory , s k i ll leve l and p l ay ing con d i t ions. And we can on l y feel cheated that Har ry P i l lsbu ry w asn ' t the re to take pa rt.

5 2 P art Two: Pi llsbury T h e Extraordinary

Part Two

B y Ken S mith

GAM ES

G ame One: H astings 1 8 9 5 53

Illustrated Games

Pi l l sbu ry 's e n t i re caree r spanned less than f i f teen years, but d u ri n g the best of thein - - 1 896- 1902 - - he Inay h a v e been the best p layer in the wor ld , supe­r ior even to World C h ain­p ion Einanue l Lasker.

Now, i n the fol lo w i n g gaines, enjoy a s ty le t h a t combines t h a t o f Morp h y and Ste i n i tz.

GAM E ONE

H A S T I N G S 1895 Wh ite: Pi llsbury Black: T arrasch

1 d4 dS 2 c4 e6

3 N c3 N f6

4 BgS At the t iine this gaine

w as played, this Inove was regarded as an eccen t r i c i t y

b y In ost In aste rs. One even went so far as to op ine that Bg5 weakened Whi te 's Queens id e (!) . O f cou rse, nowadays it i s k nown tha t 4 BgS i s Whi te ' s Inos t ag­gressi v e l i ne . Bu t th i s w as l a rge ly due to the e f forts o f P i l lsbu ry , w h o p layed In a n y b ri l l i an t gaines w i t h i t .

4. . . Be7 5 N f3

Also qu i t e possible i s 5 e3 w h i ch i n Inodern t iines a l lows the opt ion o f deve l ­op ing the K N o n e2 (a fte r B d 3) .

5 ... Nbd7 Black i n tends to f i -

an chetto the QB and so he avo id s p laci n g the K n ight on c6 w h i ch would block the a8- h 1 d i agon al .

6 Rc l Envis ion i n g possibi l i t ies

of play on the c· f i le ; in par t i cu lar White w ishes to d i scou rage the freeing Inove c7- c5.

6 . . . 0 - 0 7 e3 b6

Poor i s 7 • • • c5 8 de, d e 9 c6!, N b 6 1 0 Ne5 wi th a c lear a d v an tage for White .

8 cd! A good Inove w h ich f ixes

a pawn on dS and in tu rn b locks the a8 - h 1 diagon al for B lack ' s QB.

8.. . ed

5 4 Pi l lsbury T h e E x traordin ary

9 B d3 The Bishop assumes the

" cl assi c" a t tack d i agon a l b l · h 7 from w h i ch i t p ressu res B lack ' s K ingsi de .

9. .. Bb7

10 0 ·0 cS Black ' s basic plan i s to

establ ish a Queensi de pawn m aj or i ty wi th c 5 - c 4 fol­lowed b y b6-b5-b4 . The gain of space , and poten t ia l passed c-pawn thus ac­q u i red , assu re Black coun­terp lay .

11 Ret

An i n accu racy w h i ch loses t ime . The Rook should rema in on f1 so tha t a fte r the la ter NeS and f2 - f4, the re w i l l be a good a t tack ­i ng maneuver v i a R f3 - h3.

1 1 ... c4

Black resolute ly fol lows his p lan .

12 Bb 1 a6

To allow b6-b5 . 13 NeS

Whi te can ' t j u st s i t back and watch Black's Queen­s ide p lay grow. Wi th 13 NeS he occu pies a f ine centra l outpost i n p repara t ion for a K i ngsi de demonstra t ion .

13. . . bS 14 f4

Rein forci ng the steed on eS . Now i f N x e S , then fx eS gives Whi te opportun i t ies on the f- f i le .

14 ... 15 Q f3

16 Ne2

ReS N f8

G ame O ne: H astings 1895 55

The K n i gh t i s sh i fted toward the Black K i ngs ide .

16. . . N e 4 Block ing the dange rous

b 1 -b7 d i agonal . 17 B x e7 R x e 7 18 B xe4!

A fine i d ea--s in ce the N e 4 blocks the on l y good l ine for the B b 1 , i t i s logi­ca l to t rade i t for the K n ight .

18. . . d x e 4

1 9 Qg3 f6 Weaken ing, bu t o therwise

the pawn m arch f5 - f6 would be a constan t th reat .

20 Ng4 Th reaten ing 2 1 N x f6 c h

winn ing the f-pawn . 2 0.. . Kh8 2 1 r5

Cramping Black ' s K i ng­s ide and a l lowing Whi te 's K n ights and Rook an av­enue th rough f4.

2 1 .. . Qd7

22 R f l Poss ib ly

22 ••• Rae8. 23 R f4 2 4 Q h 4

R d 8 bet ter

Q d 6 R d e 8

w as

� ���� . �����· . • f ���- ,.� �� if.� �� ·t'�r�� �tEtO�� � ��- 'E ,� ,

:. ������� � - n �� �, . . ,

� � � ' 2 5 N c3

Pressu r ing the e -pawn to tie down Black ' s p i e ces .

2 5. . . B d 5 Necessary to d e fend the

e -pawn . 26 N f2 Qc6 2 7 Rfl

Method i ca l l y m assi ng h i s forces aga ins t B lack ' s K i ng­side .

2 7 .. . b4

5 6 Pil lsbury T h e Ex traordinary

In v i ew o f Whi te 's obv i ­ous attack ing in ten t ions, B lack must sti r up cou n te r ­p lay w h e re he s t ands bet te r.

28 Ne2 Q a 4 Raid ing White ' s " aban ­

doned" Queensi de pawns. 2 9 Ng4

I n d i rec t ly de fen d i ng the a -pawn s ince now 2 9 . . . Q x a2? al lows the w inn ing sacri f ice 3 0 N x f6!, gx f6 3 1 Q x f6ch , R g 7 (31 . . . Kg8 32 R g4ch) 3 2 Rg4.

2 9 ... N d 7 30 R 4 f2 !

A f ine resou rce , aga in p reven t ing 3 0 . . . Q x a2 si n ce then the re wou ld fol low 3 1 N f4, B f7 3 2 Ng6ch, B x g6 33 fxg6 , h 6 (Or 33 . . . N f8 34 N x f6! , gx f6 35 R x f6, N d 7 36 R f7 win s) 3 4 Rx f6!, N x f6 35 Rx f6, gx f6 36 Q x h6ch, Kg8 37 N x f6 m ate.

30. . . Kg8

3 1 N e t Secur ing the Queens ide

( fo r t he moment) . 3 1. . . c3

Consisten t ly using h i s Queenside p a w n m aj o ri t y t o obta in an a d v anced passed c -pawn.

32 b3 Q c6 33 h3 aS

In orde r to open the a­f i le for i n vas ion a fte r a4 and axb3.

34 N h2

G ame One: H astings 1895 5 7

Clear ing the w a y for the a d vance of the g-pawn .

34... a4 35 g4

Both sides' a t tacks a re ga ther ing momentum.

35 ... ab 3 6 ab Ra8

3 7 gS

Whi te in tends to u se the g- f i le for at tack . A lso, in some cases g5-g6 i s st rong.

3 7... Ra3 Black proceeds to d i s ­

man tle Wh ite 's Queens ide . 3 8 Ng4 B x b3

Perh aps a bette r de fense w as 38 • • • Rxb3 sacr i f i c ing the Exch ange, but retain ing the s trong QB.

39 Rg2! Now Whi te uses the g­

f i le to open up a br i l l i an t at tack .

39... Kh8

40 gf g f 4 1 N x b3 Rxb3 42 N h6

Threa t: 43 Rg8 m ate. Note B lack ' s Rb3 i s out o f p lay for d e fens i v e pu rposes.

42 ... Rg7

Not 42 • • . Re8 43 N f7 m ate .

43 Rxg7 Kxg7 44 Qg3ch !

A spectacu la r wh ich B lack m ust ove rlooked .

44 • . . Kxh6

stroke have

A fter p icks up Qg8ch.

44 . • . K f8 White the Rb3 with 45

5 8 Pi l lsbury T h e Ex traordin ary

45 K h l ! Th re aten ing 46 R g l and

Q h 4 m ate. The tempt ing 4 5 R f4 (Th reaten ing 46 Rh4 m ate) a l lows B lack to per­petual ly check wi th 4 5 • . .

Rb l c h and Rb2 ch. 45... Qd5

The only try . 46 Rgl Q x f5 47 Qh4ch Q b 5 48 Q f4ch

Forcing Black to g ive up h i s Queen .

48... Qg5

49 Rxg5 fxg5

With Rook, K n i gh t and two advan ced pas sed paw ns , Black seems to h a v e a f ight­ing chance bu t Wh ite ' s nex t i s con clus i ve .

5 0 Qd6ch K h 5 5 1 Q x d 7 c2

A blunder in a lost posi ­t ion .

52 Qx h7 mate.

G ame One: H astings 1895 5 9

GAM E TWO

H A S T I N G S 1895 Wh ite: Mieses

B l ack: Pi l lsbury 1 e4 eS 2 N c3

The Vienna game, a fa­vor i te debut of Mieses.

2 ... N f6 3 B c4

I n v i t ing Black to enter m i n d-bend ing com pl i cat ions a fte r 3 • • • N x e4 4 Q h S , N d6 5 Bb3, N c6 6 NbS, g6 7 Q f3 , f S 8 Q d S , Q e 7 9 N x c7ch, Kd8 1 0 N x a8. However, P i l lsbu ry has o ther i d eas.

3 ... Bb4

I t i s amus ing to note that B lack i s p lay ing a " R u y Lopez" a tempo down .

4 f4 The most aggress ive

cou rse. White hopes to use the f- f i le for a t tack i ng.

4.. . d6

Giv ing w i th 4 . • . e f b lunder.

5 N f3 6 N dS?

up the center i s a s t rategical

0· 0

A se r ious l oss o f t ime w h i ch a l lows Black to se ize the i n i t i at i ve .

6... N x dS

7 B x dS N c6

S im ple d e v e lopment t s the rec ipe .

8 c3?

Another w e a k move which on l y forces Blac k ' s KB to a be t t e r post . Neces­sary w as 8 0 - 0 .

8. . . B c5 9 fS

Try ing to rest r i c t the de ­ve lopment of B lack's QB. Bu t now Black st r ikes i n the cen ter w i th great e f fect .

60 Pil lsbury The Ex traordin ary

9 • • • Ne7

10 Bb3 d5! 11 d4

Wh ite also s t r ikes in the center. Howe ver h i s e x posed u n castled K ing wil l soon create p roblems.

1 1 .. . ed 12 f6

Wh ite struggles m ight i ly to a t tack Black " fi rs t " , but h i s posi t ion i s si mp ly not good enough to support th i s aggressi ve pol i cy .

12. .. g f

13 N x d4

On 13 cd, Bb4ch t s good for Black .

13. . . de 1 4 B h 6

This looks t h re aten i n g, but P i l l sbury ' s retort shows who i s i n con trol .

14. . . N g6! A fter the in s ip id

14 • • • R e 8 , 1 5 Q h 5 , N g6 1 6 0-0 -0 , White rea l l y would h a ve chan ces for a t tack .

1 5 B x f8 He might as we l l , bu t

now Black ' s two p a w n s and minor p i ece fo r the Rook p rov ide superior c h a n ces.

1 5.. . Q x f8

16 R f l A fte r 1 6 0 - 0 Black would

cont inue strongl y w i th 16 . . . f5 , fol lowed by Qh6 and a ve ry s t rong a t t ack .

16 .. . Q h 6!

Moving i n to ac t ion . Now 1 7 Rx f6 loses to 1 7 . . • Q h 4 c h 18 R f2 , e 3 .

1 7 Qe2 B x d4

G ame Two: H astings 1895 61

Removing the we l l -posted N d4 i n o rder to fol­low up w i th f5 .

1 8 cxd4 f5

19 g4?

The f ina l e rror. Wh ite s t i l l s t r ives for a t tack . Nec­essary was 19 g3 con tro l l ing f4.

1 9.. . N f4 A smash ing blow.

2 0 Qc4 N d3 c h 2 1 Ke2

O f course, on 2 1 Kd 1 th.e re fol lows 2 1 . • • N x b2 c h winn ing t h e Queen .

2 1 . •• Q x h 2 c h

22 Ke3 f4ch!

The crusher . Now m ate follows a fter 2 3 Kxe4, Qe2 ch 2 4 Kd5, B e 6 m ate .

Wh ite Res igns.

GAM E T H REE

H A S T I N G S 1895 Wh ite: P i l lsbury

B l ack: Mason 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e 6 3 N c3 N f6

4 Bg5

Pi l l sbury w as the f i rst wor ld c lass p l a y e r to re cog­n i ze the s t rength of th is p inn ing move .

4. . . B e 7 5 N f3 b 6 6 e3 Bb7

62 Pi l lsbury T h e Ex traordinary

7 R c l A favori te move o f

P i l lsbu ry . F rom he re the Rook eyes act ion on the c­f i le .

7... de

A f ine post for the Queen . Now B a6 i s possible wh ich would weaken Black ' s e6 . White h opes to s tamp the c-p a w n as a weakness.

10 .. . N d S Black hopes to ease the

p ressure b y e x ch anging a few pieces.

1 1 B x e 7 Q x e 7 The idea o f fu r the r t rad ­

ing by way of l l ... N x e3 loses to 12 B x d8, N x e2 e h 13 B x e2 , R fx d8 1 4 R x e7.

12 N x dS Clear ing the c- f i le for

ope rat ions again st the c-Black c lears the cen t ral pawn .

d i agon al for h i s QB. 12 ... e x dS 8 B x e4 Nbd7

Not 8 • • • Ne6 which would block the QB and, even more i m portant , would stop the c-pawn f rom re ach ing eS .

9 0 - 0 0 - 0

10 Qe2

13 Bb5! Prevent ing 1 3 . • • e5 sm ce

then 14 B x d7 , Q x d7 15 de wins a pawn .

13 ... Q d 6 1 4 Re2

S imple and strong . 1 4... e6 15 B d3 N f6

G ame T h ree: H astings 1895 63

A poor move w h i ch al­lows White ' s K n ight to e f­fect i ve ly occup y eS .

1 6 R f c l Rac8 1 7 B a6!

Exce l le n t s trategy , re­moving the pr ime de fender of B lack ' s c -pawn .

1 7 . . . B x a6 I f 1 7 • • • Qc7, then 1 8 b4

reta ins a powe r fu l gr ip .

1 8 Qx a6 Rc7

19 NeS

Pi l ing on the p ressure against the c -pawn.

19. . . cS

This loses a pawn , but the other cho ice 1 9 • • • R fc8 al lows the c le v e r shot 20 N x c6!, R x c6 2 1 Q x c8ch! , R x c8 22 R x c8ch, Q f8 23 R x f8 ch, Kx f8 2 4 Rc7 and Wh ite wins easi l y .

2 0 Rx cS! 2 1 R x cS

R x cS N d7

A decen t t ry , hop ing to reach a Rook and Q ueen end ing w h i c h cou l d be techn ica l l y d i f fi cu l t to win .

2 2 R c6! White keeps up the p res-

su re. 22. . . NbS

Forced sin ce 2 2 . . . Qe7 a l ­lows 23 Rc7, R d 8 24 QbS and White w i n s the Knight .

23 Rx d6 N x a6 24 N c6!

Excel lent te c h n i que! The obv ious captu re 24 R x dS l ea ves Whi te two pawns up , but a fter 2 4 • • • Rc8! se iz ing the open f i le , B lack would obta in some cou n terp la y .

64 Pi llsbury The Ex traordinary

2 4 ... g6

I f 24 ... RaS then s imp ly 2 5 R x d5 s ince 2 5 . .. RcS loses to 2 6 Ne7ch.

2 5 N x a7 RaS 2 6 N c6 Kg7 27 a3

Restrain ing the scope o f the " cornered " N a6.

2 7 ... ReS

2S g4 Prov id ing p rotect ion

against back ran k m ates . 2 S.. . N c7 2 9 Ne7 RbS

Black cou ld resign but he p re fers to f ight to the end .

3 0 R d7! Whi te could w i n the

Rook and pawn e n d i n g a f­ter 3 0 N x d5 , N x d 5 3 1 Rx dS, but keeping the K n ights on the board m a kes t h ings eas-i e r.

30... Ne6

Not 3 0 . . . Rb7 31 N x dS. 31 N x dS R eS

32 Nxb6 Also possible w as the

sol id 32 N c3 to b lock the Rook, but the th i rd pawn i s ha rd to resi st .

32 ... Rc2 33 b4 NgS

3 4 a4

G ame T h ree: H astings 1895 65

The pawns m arch on. I n ­te resting ly , B l a ck could d ra w a fter 3 4 f4 (?) by 3 4 • • • N f3ch 35 K f l (Not 35 K h 1 , Rxh2 m ate) 3S • • • R dl! 3 6 N c4, N x hlch 3 7 Kg 1 , N f3 c h 3 8 Kfl (Again not 38 K h 1 , Rh2 m ate) 3 8 • • . N h l c h 3 9 Ke l , N f3 c h , etc. , wi th perpetual check .

3 4... Ne4 3 5 aS

White ignores B lack ' s i n ­v asion s ince he sees i t i s h a rm less.

3 5 ... N x fl 3 6 a6

Queen ing i s now assu red so . . .

B lack Resigns

GAM E FOU R

N U REM B E R G 1 896 Wh ite: Pi l l sbury

Black: Las ker 1 e4 e6

Black chooses the French De fense wh ich i s noted for i t s stu rd iness.

2 d4 dS 3 N c3

Also good i s Tarrasch 's 3 N dl .

3 . .. N f6

Nowadays p inn ing 3 • • • B b 4 usual .

Winawer' s i s more

4 eS 5 f4

N fd7

White 's basic strategy is to use his c ramp ing pawn wedge (d4-e5) as a p recon­d i t ion for an a t tack .

5 ... cS Mean w h i le B l ack t r ies to

un dermine the d -pawn w h i ch i s an i m portant sup­port for eS.

6 de N c6

7 a3

66 Pil lsbury The Ex traordinary

In tend ing to ga in space on the Queenside too, v i a bl -b4.

7 ... N x c5 Better was 7 • . . B x c5 .

8 b4 9 B d3

N d 7 a S

This doesn ' t tu rn out we l l s ince Wh ite ga ins both t ime and space .

1 0 b5 1 1 N f3 12 B e3

N ebS N c5

Note tha t White ' s m inor p iece deve lopment is com­plete , whi le Black ' s p ieces are sti l l inac t ive .

12 ... Nbd7

13 0 -0

Wh ite 's main obj ec t ive now i s to break open l ines for a t tack . The i n d i cated b reak i s f4 - f5.

13 ... g6

To rest ra in f4- f5 , but now the K i ngsi d e pawns are weakened .

1 4 Nel 1 5 Qe1

B e 7

The Queen wi l l be used to p robe B lack ' s K i n gs ide .

1 5 ... N b 6

1 6 N fd4

Clearing the f- f i le in p reparat ion for a l a te r f4· rs .

16 ... B d 7 1 7 Q f2

With the t h rea t o f 1 8 N x e6, N x e6 19 B x b6.

1 7... N b a4 1 8 Rab 1 h 5

G ame Four: Nuremberg 1896 67

The attempt to rest ra in g4 (wh ich supports f4- f5) on ly weakens the K i n gsi de more.

1 9 b6! A fine aggressi v e c ramp­

ing move wh ich gi ves White access to bS.

19 ... N x d3

Black sees he can w in the a -pawn, bu t doesn ' t sense the impen d ing combi­na t i ve breakth rough.

2 0 c x d3 B x a3 2 1 f5!!

The at tack begi n s.

2 1 ... g f

I f 2 1. . . e f, then 2 2 N f4 wi th the th re a t o f 23 e6 i s too st rong.

22 N f4 Th reate n i n g 23 Qg3-g7.

22 ... h 4 23 R a 1 B e 7 2 4 Rx a4!!

A '' decoy" sacri fi ce to remove the guard of e6.

2 4... B x a4

2 5 N d x e6! White in t ends to open

the f- f i le at any cost . 25 ... fxe6 2 6 N x e 6 B d7

I f 26 ... Qc8, then Wh ite w ins with 2 7 Q x fS, Rg 8 (Or 27 . . . Qc6 28 Bg5, Q xb6ch 29 d4, Qb4 30 Q f7ch , K d7 3 1 Bxe7 , Q xe7 32 N c5ch , K d 8 33 N xb7ch , K d7 34 N c5ch, Kd8 35 Q x d 5 c h , K c7 36 Qb7 ch and m ate in th ree) 2 8 N c7ch , Kd8 29 e6 , B c6 3 0 Q f7, Re8 (30 . . . R f8 al lows m ate a fter 31 Q x f8ch!) 3 1 Qg7 and the th reat o f 32 R f7 i s too much to hand le .

68 Pi llsbury The Ex traordinary

1.1 N x d8 3 1 QgSch K f7 31. R c l

Now Wh ite 's m ate r ia l a d v antage wi l l w in e ventu ­a l ly though Lasker f ights unt i l the end .

1.1 ... Rx d8

1. 8 B cS

Every t rade Whi te .

1. 8 • • • ReS

1. 9 B x e7 Kxe7 3 0 Qe3

To i n vade v ia the squares.

30 • • • Rc6

favors

da rk

Again , Whi te .

t rades

3 1. ... R x c l c h

favor

Not 3l • • • Rxb6 because o f the powe r f u l i n v as ion 33 R c7.

33 Q x c l Rc8

3 4 Q e l The g rea t range o f the

Queen i s too much for the scatte red B lack forces .

34... h3 Try ing to p lay w i th the

other r im pawn is a l so in ­su f f ic ient: 3 4 • . • a4 3 5 Qx h4, a3 3 6 Qh7ch, Ke8 (Or i f 36 .. . Ke6 then 3 7 Qg7) 3 7 Qg6ch, K d 8 3 8 Q f6 c h , Ke8 39 e6 and Wh ite w ins .

3 5 gh Rg8ch The poi n t of 3 4 . . . h3 .

36 K fl But not 3 6 K h l because

of 3 6 . . . d4! ( th reaten ing 37 . . . Bc6ch) a n d B lack w ins .

3 6... a4

Game Four: Nuremberg 1896 69

3 7 Qb4 Rg6 Wh ite th reatened 3 8 Qd6.

38 K f3 a3 A despai r ing t rade o f the

a for b pawns, but there i s no good de fense .

39 Q x a3 Rxb6

40 Qc5 The Rook and Bishop a re

no m atch for the n i mble Queen .

40.. . Re6 On 40 ... Rb5 41 Q d6 is

w i n n ing, e.g. , 41 .. . B c8 42 Qc7ch.

41 Qc7 Not 41 Qx d5??, B c6.

4 1 .. . Ke7

42 K f4

Tighte n i n g the gr ip .

42.. . b6

43 h4 44 Qb8

Rc6 Be8

Bloc k i ng the Queen from access to the K i n gs ide .

45 Kx f5 Now i t ' s c l ea r ly over .

45... R h 6

4 6 Qc7ch K f8

On 46 ... B d7 4 7 Kg5 i s good.

47 Qd8 b5 48 e6 R h 7

70 Pi l lsbury T h e Ex traordinary

49 KeS b4 SO Qd6cb

Black Resigns.

GAM E FIVE

8 U D A PEST 1896 Wh ite: Pi l lsbury Black: Winawer

1 d4 dS 2 c4 e6 3 N c3 c6

An ear ly what we now Sa lv De fense.

4 e3

e x amp le o f ca l l t h e Semi -

Also possib le i s the more d i rect 4 e4, though Black ' s resou rces a re theoret i ca l ly adequ ate. The te x t i n tends to com plete de ve lopment be fore p lay ing e4 .

4.. . N f6 An in te res t ing possib i l i t y

i s 4 . • . r s with t ransposi t ion in to a Dutch Stonewal l .

5 N f3 6 B d3

Nbd7 B d6

Thi s move was advocated by the great R ussi an p l aye r Mikha i l Tchigor i n . Also p layable i s 6 • • • Be7 .

7 0 - 0

Also poss ible i s an im­medi ate 7 e 4 .

7. . . 0 - 0 8 e4

Wh ite m a kes a bid to es­t abl ish more centra l con t rol .

8. . . de

G ame Five: Budapest 1896 7 1

A better i dea i s 8 . • • d c 9 B x c4, e5 wi th on ly a s l ight p lus for White .

9 N x e4 N x e 4

S impli fy ing to t ry to re­d u ce Whi te ' s p ressu re.

1 0 B x e 4 N f6

A poor move w h i ch leaves Wh i te i n con t rol o f e5 .

11 B c2

Better than 1 1 B d3 ; Wh i te wants to p lay Q d3 wi th t h reats against h7.

1 1 ... h 6

To prevent the annoy ing p inn ing move 12 B g5 which wou ld augment the p ressu re on h7 (a f ter Wh i te ' s comi n g Qd3) .

12 Be3 ReS

Rather passi ve , but B lack i n tends to re i n force h i s K i n gs ide w i th B f8.

13 Qd3 Qc7 Thi s l eads to t rouble . A

better t r y w as 13 . . • B c7. 14 c5!

A fine i d e a, a l low i n g Wh i te's K n igh t to occupy e 5 .

14 .. . B f8 1 5 Ne5 !

At f i rst s ight a b lunder, but P i l l sbu ry h as ca lculated eve ry th ing .

15 ... B x c5?

Fal l ing for i t . Rela­t i v e l y best w as 1 5 • • • g6 .

72 Pi llsbury T h e Ex traordinary

16 B x h6! K f8 22 fx e 5 d.ch., Ke7 23 The cu te poin t. Now i f

1 6 • • • gx h6, then 1 7 Qg3 ch! , K f8 (h8) 1 8 Ng6ch wins Black ' s Queen .

1 6... B x d4 Now i f 1 7 Qg3, t hen

1 7 • • • N h5 . 1 7 Q x d4 g x h 6

Black i s a pawn u p for the moment .

1 8 Q f4! Now i f 1 8 . • • Kg7, then 19

Qg3 c h i s a w inner (19 .. . K f8 o r h8 al lows 20 N g6ch w i n ­n ing the Queen) .

18... Nd5

1 9 Qx b6! Anothe r tact i cal po in t

ar i ses: now 1 9 • • • Q x e 5 al lows m ate i n th ree with 20 B h 7ch, Kh8 2 1 B g6 d.ch., Kg8 22 Qh7ch, K f8 23 Q x f7 m ate .

1 9... f6 20 f4!

Now i f U n re lent ing. 20 • • • fxe5 then 21 Qg6ch ,

R f7ch wi ns. 2 0... Re7

I f 2 0 • • • Qg7, t hen 21 Qh4 with the ove rwhe lming follow up R f3 - g3.

21 N g6 Now on 2 1 • • • R h 7 2 2 Q f8

mate, or i f 2 1 . •• Rg7 then 22 Qh8ch, K f7 23 N e 5 ch! , fxe5 24 fe d.ch fol lowed b y 2 5 Q x g7, e t c.

B lack Resigns .

G ame Six : N e w York 1897 73

GAM E SIX

N EW YORK 1897 Wh ite: Show alter B lack: Pi l lsbury

1 e4 e5 2 N f3 Nc6 3 Bb5 N f6

4 0 - 0 N x e4

A main l ine o f the Ber l in De fense . 4 . . . d6 would t ranspose into the Ste i n i t z De fense .

s d4

Considered the m ost ac­t ive .

5 • . • N d 6 6 B a4?!

6 ... e 4

7 R e 1 B e 7 8 Ne5 0 -0 9 N c3 B f6

Accord i n g to Mason, 9 • • • rs i s best , but the text is sa t i s factory . Poor i s 9 . • . N fS as P i l l sbury p layed i n an­other game aga i n st Showal ­t e r.

10 B f4 N f5 1 1 R x e 4 N fx d4!

Now i f 12 R x d4, then 12 • • • N x d4 13 Q x d4, d6 wins

A dubious gambit . Usual for Black . i s 6 B x c6, d x c6 7 de, N fS 8 Q x d8ch, Kx d8 with a s l ight 12 N g4 N e 6 pu l l f o r White ,

74 Pi l lsbury T h e Ex traordin ary

13 N x f6ch Qx f6 14 NdS

White must con t inue to p lay as ac t ive ly as poss ib le to compensate for the pawn .

14 ... Qd8 15 Q hS d6

1 6 B d2 Clear ing the path for

Rh4. 16 ... NeS

Coming to the rescue by way o f the center.

17 R h 4 h 6 18 f4?!

Missi ng 18 B x h6!, g6 1 9 N e7ch! (Probably the move Showal ter m issed) 1 9 • • • Q x e 7 (Not 19 . . . Kh7 20 B x f8 d . ch. ,

gxh5 21 R x h 5 m ate) 2 0 B x f8, gx h5 2 1 B x e 7 , N g6 22 B f6, N x h 4 23 B x h 4 with a l i k e ly d raw.

1 8... Ng6

19 Rg4 N d4 Now White ' s a t tack col ­

lapses. 2 0 fS

To open more l i ne s. 2 0... N x f5 2 1 R f l c6

22 Nc3 Qb6ch 23 Kh 1 Qc5

Wi th the t h rea t o f 24 • • • N g3 c h w i n n i n g Wh ite ' s Queen .

G ame Six : N e w York 1897 75

2 4 Qh3 N fe7

25 Ne4 B x g4 2 6 Q x g4 f5 2 7 Bb3ch Kh8

Expect ing 28 . . . N x g6 2 9 N x c5, d x c5 though even here Whi te i s lost. But P i l ls­bury h as a m u ch more con­v i n cing reply .

28.. . fxe4!

Wh i te Resigns

GAM E SEVEN

V I E N N A 1898 Wh ite: P i l lsbury Black: T arrasch

1 e4 e5 2 N f3 N c6

3 Bb5 N f6

The Ber l in De fense-a very popu la r d e fense i n the l at ter h al f of t he 19 th cen­tury .

4 0 -0 N x e4 5 d4

Exper ience h as proven tha t th i s move i s bet ter than 5 Rel .

5.. . B e 7

The m ost sol i d l ine . Also p layable i s 5 . . . N d6 though Wh ite re ta ins the bet ter ending a fter 6 B x c6, dx c6 7 de, N f5 8 Qx d8ch , Kx d8.

6 Qe2 N d6

76 Pi l lsbury The Ex traordinary

A fter 6 • . . f5 7 de, 0 - 0 8 N c3 , N x c3 9 Qc4ch, Kh8 1 0 Qxc3 White i s better .

7 B x c6 Whi te exch anges to

weaken Black ' s pawn s t ruc­tu re.

7... b x c6 8 de Nb7

The poor pos i t ion of th i s K n ight i s the ma in p roblem i n the Berl in De fense .

9 N c3 0 - 0

1 0 R e t Mode rn theory recom­

mends 10 N d4 (Preven t ing the d -pawn f rom mov ing a n d al lowing N f5) .

10... N cS

1 1 N d4 12 Be3

N e 6 N x d4

S impl i fy ing he lps the s ide c ramped pos i t ion .

13 B x d4 dS

normal ly wi th a

Th i s l eads to posi t ional d i f f icu l t ies because of the weakness o f c S . Bes t was 13 • • . c5 1 4 B e 3 , dS 1 5 e d e.p. , B x d6 1 6 Ne4 wi th a lmost even chances.

1 4 N a4 Zeroi ng i n on cS.

14 ... B b 4 15 c3 B aS

Head ing for b6 to f ight for con trol of cS .

G ame Seven: Vienna 1898 77

16 QhS

Commenc ing p ressure on the sparse ly de fended K ing­s ide .

16 ... Bb6 1 7 Re3 Be6 18 Rg3

Th reaten ing Q h 6 , forc ing a se r ious weaken ing o f B lack ' s K i n gs ide pawns.

18 .. . Kh8

19 R a d l Qe7 20 b4

Prevent ing 2 0 ••• c5.

2 0... B x d4 2 1 R x d4

Now White 's O R can sh i ft to the K ingsi de . Also Wh ite ' s K n ight i s much more e f fect i ve than the ob­s tru cted B lack B ishop .

2 1 ... f6

22 N cS fe

23 Q x e S Q f6 Black see k s sa fe ty b y e x ­

changing Queens, b u t u n ­for tunate ly f o r B lack t h e end ing i s qu i t e bad due t o h i s i n fer ior B i shop and weakened Queens ide pawns.

2 4 Q x f6 R x f6

2 5 Re3 B g 8 2 6 f3

Giv ing the K ing ai r .

26 ••• g6 2 7 Re7

some

O ften the a r r i v al of a Rook on the se ven th rank s ignals the begi n ni n g o f the

7 8 P i l lsbury T h e Ex traordinary

end for the de fender. T h i s case i s no except ion .

2 7. . . R f7

28 Re6 aS A bid for some counter­

p l a y on the a- f i l e . 2 9 a4 Kg7

30 R x c6 Now i t' s j ust a mat ter o f

te chn i que . 3 0.. . Re7

31 Kf2 ab 32 cb B f7 33 bS

Wh i te's s trategy i s s im­p le: push the Queens ide pawns toward the Queen ing squ ares.

33 • . .

34 N a6 35 Nb4 3 6 Ra6

Rb8

Rb7 Ra7 R x a6

3 7 N x a6 K f6 The K i n g t r ie s to rush to

the Queens ide , but it i s f a r too late .

38 Rd2 T h reate n i n g 3 9 R c2 w i n ­

n ing the c -pawn . 3 8... c6

Despe rat ion , but 38 • • • Ke6 fa i l s to 3 9 Re2 ch , Kd7 40 R x e 7 c h , Kxe7 41 N x c7.

3 9 b6 B e 6

G ame Seven: Vienna 1898 79

40 N cS 4 1 aS

B c8

White Resigns.

GAM E EIG HT

V I EN N A 1898 White : Show alter B lack: P i l lsbury

1 e4 eS 2 N f3 N c6 3 BbS N f6

4 d4 A sharp l ine against the

Ber l in De fense to the R u y

Lopez. Howe v e r B lack has ful ly adequ ate resou rces .

4. . . N x e4

This seems to be best . Also p layab le i s 4 . . . ed, though Whi te seems to re­tain some i n i t i a t i v e in th i s case.

5 de 6 0 -0

dS

To be consi dered i s 6 N d4.

6. . . B cS

7 Nbdl To unde rmine the

s trongly poste d N e 4 . 7. . . 0 - 0 8 Qel N x dl 9 Q x dl

A fte r 9 B x dl, Black cou ld p lay 9 . . . N d4 with con ven ien t p lay .

9 .. . N e 7

80 Pil lsbury T h e Ex traordinary

Trans fe rr ing the K n ight to the K ingsi de , w h i le a voi d ing the possib i l i t y o f B x c6 weaken ing B lack ' s Queens ide .

10 Q c3 Bb6 11 BgS

This pin tu rns out to be i ne f fect i ve, though B lack's pos i t ion i s s l ight ly bet ter an y w ay .

1 1 ... c6 12 B d3 h 6

13 B h 4 Q c 7 Unpinn ing and prepar ing

to obta in the Bishop pa i r . 14 a4 aS

White t h reatened to w i n a p iece w i t h 1 5 aS.

1 5 R fe 1 N fS

"Wi nn ing" the two B i sh ­ops.

16 B x fS A fter 1 6 Bg3, N x g3 1 7

h x g3 , Bg4 1 8 N d4, Qd7 Black ' s pos i t ion i s pre fer­able .

1 6... B x fS 17 B g3 Qe7

The Queen sh i fts toward the K i ngside i n p re parat ion for an at tack the re .

1 8 Qd2 Be4!

This Bishop's ac t i ve post p lays a key role in the com­ing at tack .

1 9 c3 rs

G ame Eight: Vienna 1898 8 1

Forcing open l i nes , s i nce o therwise g5 and f4 wi l l bury the Bg3.

2 0 e f e .p . Q x f6 .21 Ne5 Rad8

22 Kh1 Trying to d u c k o u t o f

trouble , bu t now tac t i cs t ake over.

22 ••• B x f2 ! 23 Ng4

The obvious 23 Rfl t s met b y 23 . • • B e3! .

23. . . . B x g2 c h 2 4 Kxg2 Q f3 c h

25 Kh3

The only t r y sin ce l S Kfl loses to 2 5 ••• B x g3 d.ch. (among othe rs) .

2 5... R f5! Th reaten i n g m ate wi th

2 6 • • • R h 5 . 2 6 R e S R x e5 2 7 N x e S Q h 5ch

Black s impl i f i e s in to an easi l y won h e a v y p iece end -i n g .

2 8 Kg2 29 h x g3 3 0 Re 1

B x g3 Q x e S Q fS

Whi te Res igns

82 Pil lsbury T h e Ex traordinary

GAM E N I N E

V I E N N A 1898 Wh ite: Walbrodt Black: P i l lsbury

1 e4 eS l N f3 N c6 3 BbS N f6

Again the Berl i n De­fense , though i n th i s i n ­s tan ce Whi te avo id s the main l ines.

4 d3

Very sol id , bu t i n su f fi ­c i ent ly act i v e f o r any ad­v a ntage.

4... D eS S N c3 d6 6 B gS

This leads to n oth i n g. Bette r w as 6 Na4 to e x ­ch ange Black ' s s trong B c5 .

6... h 6!

Now i f 6 B h 4, then a la ter g5 t h reatens to great ly l imi t the scope of Whi te 's QB.

7 Be3 B b 6 8 a 4

Hoping to force B lack to trade Bi sh ops on e3 w h i ch opens the f- f i l e for Whi te . However, the loss of t ime i n volved i n th is p lan a l lows B lack a f ine game .

8.. . 0 - 0 9 B x c6

To con trol aS. 9 . . . b x c6

C h apter N ine: Vienna 1898 83

10 aS B x e3 1 1 fxe3 Rb8

Making use of the n e w l y opened b- f i le to p robe Wh i te 's Queens ide .

12 b3 N g4! Prepar ing to open host i l ­

i t ies on the K ingside wi th fS .

13 Qe2 fS 14 e f B x fS

I ron ica l ly , B lack w i l l be the one who wi l l use the f ­f i l e to good e f fec t.

15 e4 Be6

1 6 h3 C h as ing the K n igh t, bu t

creat ing more weaknesses on the dark squares .

16 .. . N f6 17 Qe3 cS!

De fen d i n g against 18 Q x a7 but, more i m portant , prevent ing Wh i te from open ing the center with d3-d4.

18 0-0 N b S

Tak ing a d v a n t age o f the weakened dark squares .

1 9 Ne2 g5! Nai l ing down control o f

t h e ou tpost on f4. 20 Kh2 Qd7

Marsha l l ing h i s h e a v y p i eces tow ard the cr i t i cal sector .

21 N fg 1 T r y i n g to de fuse t h e i m ­

pend ing a t tack b y e x ch ang­ing Rooks .

2 1 ... N f4

But B lack a vo ids Rook t rades and establ ishes a power fu l base on f4.

22 N x f4 g x f4

84 Pi l lsbury The E xtraordinary

Now the g- f i le wi l l be i nstrumental i n the at tack .

23 Q f3 Kh7 2 4 g3?

This on ly h astens de feat by opening l ines which on ly B lack can use.

2 4.. . fg ch

2 5 Qxg3 Rg8 26 Qe3 Qg7

With a th reat . 2 7 R f2

On 2 7 Q f3 Black h as 2 7 • • • Rbf8 .

2 7.. . Rbf8

A cle ver way to t r i p le on the g- f i le s i n ce 2 9 R x f6 al­lows m ate in one .

2 9 Ne2 Rg6 30 Q f3 RgS

In tend ing to sh i f t to h5 a fter 3 1 . . . Qg6.

31 Qe3 Qg6 32 Kh l

White cannot de fend agains t the th reat o f B x h3 . I f 32 R f6 , then 3 2 ... Rg2 ch 33 Khl, R h 2 c h! 34 Kx h2 , Qg2 m ate.

3 2 ... B x h3

Wh ite Res igns.

G ame Ten: Vienna 1898 85

GAM E TEN

V I E N N A 1 8 9 8 Wh ite: P i l lsbury

B lack: Trenchard 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 N c3 N f6

4 Bg5 Agai n P i l lsbu ry ' s fa-

vorite move and the corne r­stone o f the modern Queen ' s Gambi t .

4... Be7 5 e3 Nbd7

Sl ight ly more f l ex ib le i s 5 . . . 0 - 0 s ince i n some cases the ON might be placed on c6.

6 N f3 0 - 0

7 B d3

Also poss ib le are 7 R e t or 7 cd ( the Exch ange Var i ­at i on) .

7. . . de To c lear the long d i ago­

na l for the QB and make the Whi te K B lose t ime by moving aga in .

8 B x c4 c6 9 0·0 b 5

Better i s Capablanca' s maneuve r 9 • • • N d5 eas ing Black ' s game b y t rad ing o f f some p ieces.

1 0 B d3 a6 P rotec t ing the b pawn to

be able to p lay a la ter c6· c5, ch al lengi n g Wh ite ' s cen­te r and ope n i n g the long d i agon al for B lack ' s QB.

11 Q c2 K h 8 A m yster ious move .

12 R a d 1 Mean whi l e Wh i te con t in­

ues to develop and cent ral­i ze h i s forces .

86 Pi l lsbury The E x traordinary

1 2 .. . Bb7

13 Ne5 Stepping u p the p ressu re

by establ ish ing a strong ou tpost on e5.

13 ... N x e 5 A b i t impat ient .

14 dxe5 Now the d- f i le and d6 in

part icu lar become powe r fu l assets.

14... N d5 1 5 B x e 7

Trad ing the dark squared Bishops i n order to i n v ade on the b lack squares.

1 5 .. . Qxe7

16 Ne4!

Now Whi te h as a crush­ing bind . Note that Black cannot f ree h i s QB by c6 -c5 n ow.

1 6 ... f5 17 Nd6

F rom h e re the K n ight dom i n ates the pos i t ion .

17 ... Rad8 1 8 Qc5 BaS

To rule out Qa7. 19 f4 Qc7 2 0 B x f5!

A n i ce shot . 2 0.. . e x f5

A better t r y ( though qu i te hopeless i n the long ru n) w as 2 0 • • • N x e3 .

2 1 R x d5 Rd7?

Obvious ly ne rvous a fte r 2 0 B x f5! Black wa lk s i n to anothe r s imple tac t i c.

22 Nxb5 Qc8

G ame Ten: Vienna 1898 87

2 3 Rx d7 cxb5 24 Q x c8 Rx c8

25 R f d 1 T h re aten i ng m ate .

25 ... R f8 26 e6

Black Res igns .

GAM E ELEV EN

VIENNA 1 8 9 8 Wb ite: Pi l l sbury

Black: B lackburne 1 e4 e5 2 N f3 d6

Ph i l idor 's D e fense , a somewhat passi ve , bu t du rable l ine o f p lay .

3 d 4 N f6

A fter 3 . . • ed (S trategi cal ly dub ious si n ce i t gi ves up the cen t e r) e i ther 4 Q x d4 (Morphy ' s f avori te) or 4 N x d4 I s f a vorable for Whi te .

4 N c3 N b d7 5 Bc4

De f i n i te ly the best post for the Bishop sin ce Black ' s f7 i s o ften e xpose d to tact i ­ca l shots.

5... b 6 Feari n g 6 N gS Black

loses t ime and weakens h i s K i ngs ide .

6 Be3 c6

Control l ing dS and i n some cases a l low ing a use fu l gain of space wi th b7 -b5 .

7 Qe2 Q c7 P robably be t te r i s si mp ly

7 • . . B e 7 , fo l lowed b y cast l ing .

8 a4 Restra in i n g a possible

b7 -b5.

88 P i llsbury T h e E x traordinary

8 • . • ed Thi s surrende r o f the

cente r i s ve ry ant i -posi­t ion al . Again 8 • • • B e7 w as in ­d icated .

9 N x d4 NeS

1 0 Bb3 B g4 A poor idea wh ich on l y

he lps Wh ite 's a ims o f at­tack .

1 1 f3 B h S 12 g4!

White corre ct ly se i zes the opportun i t y to use h is K ings ide pawns to ga in more space .

12 • • • Bg6

13 N f5 B x fS

The K night could n ot be a l lowed to rem a in on f5, but now the g- f i l e w i l l be use ful .

14 gx f5 gS

Otherwise the g7 p a w n comes under p ressu re .

1 5 fg e.p. N x g6

But now Black ' s K i ng­side pawns a re all i so la ted .

1 6 0 -0 -0 0 - 0 - 0

Obvious ly K i ngsi de cast l i ng i s out of t he ques­t ion , bu t th i s d rops the a­pawn .

1 7 B x a7

Natu ral ly .

17 .. . dS

G ame Eleven: Vienna 1898 89

The at tempt to t rap the Ba7 with 1 7 • • • b6 fa i l s to 18 Qa6ch.

18 ed N f4

Try ing to " m u d d y the water " .

1 9 Q f2 With the i d ea o f Bb6.

19 ... N6x d5 20 N x d 5 c x d S 2 1 B b 6 QeS

Black should gi ve i t up , bu t be ing a superb tact i ­c ian , B lackburne i s look ing for every possible s w i nd le .

22 R h e 1 QgS 23 Kb 1

There are seve ra l ways to w in and P i l lsbu r y de­c ides to p lay sol i d moves, s in ce Black ' s pos i t ion i s doomed.

23 ... B d 6 Movi n g the Rd8 al lows

ReSch w i n n i n g i ns tant ly . 2 4 B x d8 R x d8

A pawn a n d the Ex­change down, B lack should lose. White mus t be care fu l though .

2 5 aS Bb4

2 6 a6! Now on 26 • . • B x e 1 27

R x e 1 , ba 28 QcSch , Kb8 2 9 Re7 i s decis i ve .

2 6... b a 2 7 c3 B aS

�·· � � ,����,� . • ��r� �- , d����

• . � . � �f+I� R � � � .. � � � � 2 8 Q a7

Zeroin g i n gue red K i ng.

28 • • •

2 9 Re7 Now the

qu ick ly . 3 0 B a4!

on the belea-

Q f6 Q c 6 e n d comes

90 Pi llsbury T h e Ex traordin ary

Now 30 . • . Q x a4 al lows 3 1 Qa8 (or b7) m ate, w h i le 3 0 .. . Qb6 fa i ls to 3 1 Qa8ch, Qb8 32 Q x a6ch , Qb7 33 Qxb7 m ate.

B lack Resigns .

GA M E TWELVE

L O N D O N 1899 Wh ite: Lee

B lack: Pil lsbury 1 e4 e5 2 N c3

The V ienna Game, a rel ­a t i ve o f the K i n g's Gambi t s ince Whi te normal ly s t r i ves for an ear ly f4.

2.. . N f6

3 g3 A n u nusual va r i ant ,

though ful ly p lay able . Whi te hopes h i s KB wi l l have good scope on the long d i agon al .

3 ... dS

The sharpest response .

4 ed N x d5 5 B g2

Another possib i l i t y i s 5 N ge2 and then Bg2.

S... N x c3 We aken ing Wh ite 's

Queenside though the b- f i le g ives Wh ite decent p lay the re i n conj u n ct ion w i th the p ressu re down the h 1 - a8 d i agonal .

6 b x c3 N c6

7 Ne2

The best squ a re . 7 N f3 blocks the KB ' s d i agon al .

7. . . B c5 8 0 -0 0 - 0 9 b 3

This i s weaken i ng . To be consi dered i s 9 R b l .

G a me Twelve: London 1899 91

9 • • • Be6

10 Kh2 A l i t t le better was 10 d3 .

10... B dS! Trading off White ' s

va luable KB or forci ng Whi te to weaken h i s pawn s tructure wi th f3.

1 1 f3 Bb6 12 d3 Qe7

13 a4 Try ing to f ind some p lay

on the Queens ide , but Black ' s more ha rmonious deve lopment and centra l in ­f luence g ive h i m a c lear adv antage.

13 ... Rad8

P reven t ing 1 4 c4 ( 14 ... B xc4) .

14 B a3 D eS 1s Q c t rs

Stepp ing u p the p ressu re against Whi te 's comp ro-m i sed K i ngs ide .

16 R e 1 Perhaps bette r w as 1 6

B x cS , Q x cS 1 7 Q a3 . 16.. . R fe8 17 c4

This on ly w e a k ens d4. 17 ... B f7 18 N c3

Again weak e n i n g con trol over d4.

18 ... B x a3

92 Pi l lsbury T h e Ex traordin ary

19 R x a3

I f 19 Q x a3 then 1 9 .. . Qg5 with the strong fol low u p f5- f4.

19. . . Q f6 20 Rb3 b6

Now the Queen side i s se­cu red and Black can t u rn h i s fu l l at tent ion to the K i ngside .

21 Ne2 f4!

To open i n roads on the dark squares.

22 g4 Wh ite must try to keep

l ines closed.

2 2 ... hS

23 R f l N d4! 24 N x d4

Forced because o f the double at tack on e2 and b3 . Now Black wi l l i n v ade down the e- f i le .

24 ... e x d4

������-� %L/�� /� ��� /� �·· · /� ��Y, v�: <!). � <!). � � <!). � .!.!. � .!.!. � � .!.!. � �!!�ft� ft�ft � ft� �A� � �. ����Y, r;

2 5 RbS Threaten ing 26 R fS , but

th i s i s pa r r i ed e f fort lessl y . 2 5 ... cS 26 aS Re2

The " fi rst wave" l an ds. 27 Kg 1

Black th rea tened 2 7 . . . h x gS 28 h x gS (Or 28 fxg5 , f3 ) 2 8 . . . Qh4ch 2 9 Kg1 , Qg3 winn ing.

27... Rde8

28 ab 2 9 h4

ab

G ame Twelve: London 1899 93

Black t h reatened 2 9 • • •

R8e6 fol lowed by 30 • • • Q h 4 a n d 3 1 . • • Qg3 .

2 9... Q x h 4 3 0 Q x f4

Now Black f in ishes qu ick ly .

3 0... Rxg2ch!

31 Kxg2 Re2 ch 32 Kg1 Q h 3

There ' s no de fense - 33 R f2 , Re l c h and m ate n e x t.

White Resigns.

GAM E THIRTEEN LON D O N 1899 White: Steinitz

B l a c k: P i llsbury 1 e4 eS

2 N c3 N f6 3 f4 dS

Considered the most e f­fec t ive l ine agains t the Vi ­e n n a Game .

4 d 3 An i n vent ion of S te in i tz

w h i ch ha s los t favor .

4... d4

An i n te re st i n g space gai n i n g move, but most i n ­c i s i v e i s 4 . . . e f! and a fter 5 B x f4, Bb4 6 e d , N x dS 7 B d2 , B x c3 8 b x c3 , 0 -0 9 N f3, ReSch wi th advan tage for Black .

5 N ce2 N c 6 6 N f3 B d6

94 Pi llsbury T he Ex traordinary

7 c3 Whi te is t r y ing to un ­

dermine Black ' s cen t e r pawns . A be t t e r idea i s 7 fe, B x eS 8 N x eS , N x eS 9 Ng3 with p lay on the f- f i le .

7.. . B g4!? A pawn sacr i f i ce de­

s igned to seize the i n i t i a­t i ve .

8 fe BxeS 9 N x eS N x e S

10 Qa4ch Gett ing out of the pin in

order to p lay 1 1 N x d4. 10 ... c6 1 1 N x d 4 N bS

Th reaten i n g 1 2 • • • Qh4ch w i th a s t rong a t tack ing po­s i t ion .

12 Qc2 To meet 12 ... Q h 4 c h wi th

13 Q fl . 12 .. . cS

13 N fS B x fS 14 e x fS 0 - 0

Now Whi te mus t flee t h e open e- f i le .

1 5 K f2 Q d 7

Th reaten ing fS and d3 (a f ter Rad8) and thus re­cover ing his pawn w h i le re­t a in ing a f ine a t tac k i n g po­s i t ion .

1 6 Kg 1 Qx fS

G ame T b irte en: London 1899

17 Be3 c4

9S

Now d3 wi l l fa l l 1 8 Q f2 Q x fi c h

�� � ••• --� � �rr�

1!!,1� -�t'� ���- �fil l

rt!��� ., rlrt!�:P ·�w •, �� • J?d· 1!!1111

�!;l�- � 1!!1111 �� ..... • �

1!!1111, lhl ... ""'- Wf'p � iii • t • !@I ffii

... lli!l1 , A IIIIi � ... lli!l1 '1ii@ f!!llli, . f!!llli

/;I-Ji1111 • • "'"' "•

1 181 ra � lit! i 11

tl1 � ·mAil � � a ·m" '

KdZ R f ' Z 6

N • gZ c h

1 9

2 5 K x e 1

T h reat . e8.

KdZ

. emng 2 0

wmning the B e 3 • • •• Ng4 c h The White K "

20 B d4

t i ve , b u t th mg is ac­

pawns a re t e two e xtra

Z1 B x d3 bu rden .

00 much o f a

Black has w bu t the techn ica�

n a pawn ,

ea sy . task i s no t

22 Rae 1 Otherwise 2 " R M ••• e 2 c h .

2 2 •·• N f4 23 R x e 8 c b R 2 4 R 1

x e 8 e R x e 1

2 6 ••• 27 c4

28 Kx d3 2 9 B c3 30 Ke4

a6 N b 4

N f3 f6 N x h2

9 6 P i l lsbury T h e E x traordinary

Now wi th th ree con-nected passed pawns, B lack ' s task i s e asy .

3 1 b4 Whi te's only chance i s to

obta in a passed pawn on the Queens ide .

3 1 ... K f7 To he lp guard the

Queens ide pawns. 32 a4 Ke6 3 3 bS N g4

The K n ight retu rns to the center .

3 4 aS Kd7 3 5 B d4 h S

There is no remed y for Black ' s th ree passed pawns.

3 6 K fS NeS!

Now 3 7 B x e S , fxeS 38 K x e S leaves B lack w i t h an easy win .

3 7 b a b a 3 8 B fl

A tact ica l e r ror i n a lost posi t ion .

3 8... g 6 c h 3 9 Kx f6

A fter 39 Ke4 s imply 3 9 ... N x c4.

3 9 ... N g 4 c h Wh ite Res igns.

GAM E FOURTEEN

LON D O N 1 8 9 9 Wh ite: B ird

B l ack: P i l lsbury 1 e4 e S 2 f4

The u l t im ate aggressi ve openi ng, the K in g' s Gambi t was a frequen t choice o f m an y 1 9 t h cen tu ry p l a y e rs .

2 .. . dS

Game Fourteen: London 1 8 9 9 9 7

P i l l sbury adopts the Falkbeer Counter Gambi t , one o f B lack ' s mos t act i ve responses to the K i n g' s Gambit .

3 ed Also p l ayable i s 3 N f3 ,

though i n th i s case B lack equa l i zes easi l y w i th 3 • • • d e 4 N x e 5 , B d 6 .

3 .. . e4

4 B b 5 e h This check leads to noth­

ing. Better was 4 d4 or 4 N e 3 .

4.. . c6 5 d e b e

Also good i s 5 • • • N x e6 . 6 B e4 N f6

7 Qe2 Bette r i s 7 d 4 . Now Black

i s ab le to restra in the ad­vance o f Wh i te ' s d -pawn , w h i ch i n tu rn hampers Whi te's deve lopment .

7... B e5 8 N e3 0 - 0 9 Q f l

This a w k w ard maneuver i s a c lear i n d i c at ion of Whi te 's d i f fi cu l t ies .

9... Q e 7

1 0 N d 1 Stein i tz i an

u n fortu n ate ly t ion lacks

regrou p ing; Whi te ' s posi­fundamenta l

soundness. 1 0... aS 1 1 N e 3 N a6

This K n ight i s f o r a f i n e centra l d 5 .

1 2 a3

head ing post on

To preven t 12 ... Nb4 th reaten i n g 1 3 • . . B x e3 and 1 4 • • • N x e2 e h.

1 2 ... N e7

98 Pi l lsbury The E x traordi n ary

13 g3 N cdS 1 4 h4

" C reat ive " , bu t also weaken ing.

1 4 .. . N x e3 C reat ing a ta rget on e3.

1 5 d x e3 Qa7!

Immed i ate ly fasten i n g o n t o the weak e -pawn .

1 6 Qe2 Rd8 Th reaten i ng 1 7 . • • B g4

fo l lowed b y R d 1 c h . 1 7 B d2

Now Black can break th rough tact i ca l ly , bu t t he re was no good way to de fen d .

1 7... B g4 1 8 Q f2 R x d2!

1 9 Q x d2 On 1 9 Kx d2 Black p lays

1 9 . . • R d 8 c h . 1 9.. . B x e3 2 0 Qg2

To guard the N g l . 2 0... Q d 4 2 1 B e l B d2 c h

22 K f l N dS The K night i n v ades the

weakness at e3 with the th reat of w i n n i n g Whi te 's Queen .

2 3 B x g4 He might as we l l t ake i n

o r d e r to g e t some m ate r ia l for the Queen .

2 3 ... N e 3 c h

Game Fourteen: London 1899 99

2 4 K f2 N x g2 d.ch.

2 5 Kfl Perhaps a sense of hu ­

mor? In any e ve n t, Whi te i s complete ly lost.

2 5 ... N e 3 c h 2 6 K f2 N x g4 d . c h . 2 7 Ke2 Qe3 c h

Whi te Res igns .

GAM E FI FTEEN

LON D O N 1899 Wh ite: P i l lsbury

B l a c k Steinitz 1 e4 eS 2 N f3 N c6 3 BbS d6

This l ine of de fen se to the R u y was worked out by S te in i tz and r ight ly i s n amed a fte r h i m . I t ' s m ain asset i s i t s sol i d i t y , bu t i t i s also rathe r passi ve .

4 N c3 B d 7 s d 4

T h reaten ing to w i n the e -pawn wi th 6 B x c6 , B x c6 7 de, de 8 Q x d8 c h , R a d 8 9 N x eS.

S .. . e d The a l te rna t ive

S • • • N f6, cou nte r ing th reat b y pu t t ing p ressure on Wh i te' s e4.

6 N x d4 g6

was the

more

An innova t i ve approach. The usual move i s 6 • • • N f6 fol lowed b y Be7 .

7 N x c6 Saddl ing B lack wi th

weakened Queens ide paw ns . 7 ... b x c6 8 B c 4 B g7 9 Qe2 N e 7

100 Pi llsbury T h e Extraordinary

Not 9 • • • N f6 because o f t h e strong rep ly 1 0 eS!

1 0 h4!? Very sharp . White se rves

not ice tha t he i n te n ds to a t ­tack as soon as Black cast les K in gs ide .

10 .. . h6 P robably an e rror.

11 hS gS Try ing to keep l ines

closed , but Whi te 's n ex t move opens u p p lay .

1 2 f4! g f

A fter 12 . . • g 4 (Try ing to keep l ines closed) White p lays fS! , winning the g ­pawn soon.

13 B x f4 Be6

In order to trade o f f the d angerous B c4.

1 4 B x e 6 f x e 6 15 e 5 !

Block ing the B lack Bishop's d iagon al and put t ing p ressure on Black ' s center pawns.

15 ... 0 - 0

16 0 - 0 d S White th reatened 1 7 ed.

17 R a d 1 Pinn ing the d-paw n and

t h reaten ing Ne4 fol lowed b y N f 6 c h or N cS.

17. . . Qe8 1 8 N a4!

To occupy the weak c 5 . 18 ... Rb8

G ame Fi fteen: London 1899 1 0 1

A better de fense w as 1 8 ... K h 8 fol lowed b y N g8.

1 9 N c5 N f5 2 0 g4!

Tak ing advan tage of the weakened K i ngsi de . Now 2 0 . . . Ne7 al lows 2 1 N x e6 .

2 0... Qe7 21 gx f5! R x f5

A fter 2 1 • • • Q x c5 c h , Whi te w ins wi th 22 B e3 fol lowed b y 23 f6.

22 N d3 Now wi th a p iece for a

pawn , Wh ite has a w i n n i ng m ater ia l advan tage. Yet caut ion i s requ i red sin ce Whi te's K ing i s i n a d ra fty pos i t ion .

22 ... Q h 4 23 R f2

To meet 23 • • • R x h 5 w i t h 2 4 R h 2 .

2 3 ... c5 T h reatening 24 . . . c4.

2 4 R h 2 Q e 7

2 5 Rg2 Now t h rea ten ing

B x h6. 25 . . . Kh7

Q f7

2 6

2 6 Qg4 Othe rwise

d e v astating. 2 7 Qg6cb I S

2 7 N x c5! B x e5

. � � � � � ���­�. �� · · · · · �� r�

�-

� � �--�ft �� ' · · �· · ��� � � � � ft �� ft � ��� � � R � � · � � t=l � � On 2 7 .. . R x f4 White p lays

2 8 Q x g7 c h ! , Q x g7 29 Rx g 7ch, Kx g7 3 0 N x e6 c h and 3 1 N x f4.

2 8 Q g6 c h Q x g6 O r 2 8 .. . K h 8 2 9 Qx h 6 c h ,

Q h 7 3 0 B x e 5 c h , R x e S 3 1 Q f6 c h a n d m ate n e x t.

2 9 h x g6 c h Kg8 30 B x e5 R x e S

1 02 P i l lsbury T h e E x t raordinary

3 1 N d 7 Black Res igns.

GAM E SI XTEEN

T O R O N T O 1899 B L I N D FO L D

S I M U LT A N EO U S Wh ite: P i llsbury B l a c k: A mateur

1 d4 This game was one o f

twe lve chess and fou r checkers games p layed by P i l l sbury b l ind folded . For good measure he also p layed a game of wh i s t on the s ide!

1. . . d5 2 N f3 e 6 3 e3

I t i s i n terest ing to n ote P i l lsbu ry ' s adoption of the Col le system a number of years be fore Edgar Col le (and late r George Kol tanowski) proved its v i ­ta l i ty .

3 ... N f6

4 B d3 Also good

fi rst . 4 • • •

5 0-0 6 N b d 2

I S 4

N b d 7 b 6 B d6

N b d2

The natura l 6 • • • B b 7 , re­s tra in i ng 7 e 4 , i s c l ear ly bette r.

7 e4 de Pract ica l ly forced s ince 8

e5 was th reatened . 8 N x e 4 B b 7 9 N x d6 c h

Obtain i n g the two Bish­ops.

G ame S i x teen: Toronto 1S99 103

9... c x d 6

1 0 B f4 Developing wi th a ga in

of t ime . 10. . . B x f3?

A poor idea . There w as n o need to t rade the wel l ­posted Bb7. 1 0 . • • Qc7 was in ­d i cated .

11 Q x f3 dS Black is a lready in a

c ri t i ca l con di t ion . 12 B d6

Occupying the a3 - fS d i ­agon al to p in B lack ' s K i ng i n the center .

12 ... ReS

13 R fe 1

D rawing a bead o n the stranded Black K i ng.

13. . . R c 6 1 4 B a3 aS

Black h as no good m o ves .

1 5 c4!

Tak ing a d v a n tage of the p inned d -pawn t o open up more l ines o f a t tack .

15 • • • N e 4

I f the N d7 moves (to p rotect dS bet ter) then s im­p ly 16 cd, Q x d 5 17 Qx dS, N x d5 1S Bb5 wins .

16 c d N g S

Pure despe rat ion .

1 7 Qg3 ReS 1S de

Prepar ing a spark l ing f in i sh .

1 S. . . N x e6

104 P i llsbury T h e Ex traordinary

On 18 • • • fe 19 R x e 6 c h ! , N x e6 20 Qg6 c h ! m ates.

1 9 R x e 6 c h ! With an e legant f i n i sh in

m i n d. 19 ... fx e6 2 0 Qg6ch! h x g6

Forced . 2 1 B x g6 m ate.

GAM E SEVEN TEEN

P A R I S 1900 White: Pi l lsbury

B l a c k: Marco 1 d4 dS 2 c4 e6 3 N c3 N f6

4 B gS! The move tha t P i l l sbury

m ade famous. 4. . . Be7 S e3 0 - 0 6 N f3

Anoth e r l i n e o f p lay , w h i ch became popu la r about 20 years a ft e r th i s game , i s the E xch ange V ari at ion -- 6 cd, ed -- to be fol lowed up la ter w i t h the m i nor i ty a t tack (b2-b4-b5 and b x c6) . H o w e v e r, the text i s more l i k e l y to l ead to a complex m i d d legame w h i ch su i ts Pi l l sbu ry ' s s ty le .

6.. . b6

7 B d3 Also poss ible i s 7 cd, e d

i n order t o b lock the B lack QB though modern theory i n d i cates 7 • • • N x dS 8 B x e 7 , Q x e 7 9 N x d S , ex dS i s O.K. for Black , due l a rge l y to the consi de rable s im pl i ­f i cat ion in volved .

7... B b 7

Game Seventeen: P aris 1900 1 0 5

8 cd Whi te wants to c lari fy

the pawn pos i t ion i n the center as a pre lude to a K ingsi de bu i ldup w i th N e 5 a n d f 4 -- a pat tern P i l l s ­bury in vented and used with great success.

8... e d The a l t e rnate cho ice w as

8 • • • N x d5 hoping to red u ce the p ressu re b y t rad ing p ieces.

9 Ne5 N b d 7

1 0 f 4 Consol ida t ing the N e 5 .

10. . . c5 A bette r de fense is

1 0 • • • N e 8 11 B x e7 , Qe7 1 2 0 · 0 , N x e 5 13 f x e 5 , f 6 . B y a l ­lowing the N e 5 to rema in , B lack soon faces a strong attack .

1 1 0 - 0 c 4 Black thus creates a

Queens ide pawn m aj or i ty , bu t in the p rocess rele ases the p ressu re on d4. Thi s a l ­lows Wh ite more chances

for at tack , si n ce his center i s under less p ressure .

1 l B el a6

P repar ing to mobi l i ze the Queens i de pawns wi th b 5 .

13 Q f3 Cont ro l l i ng e 4 and

sh i f t ing the Queen toward the K i n gs ide for attack ing purposes.

13.. . b5 1 4 Q h3!

Excel len t l y p layed . Now White th reatens 15 N x d7: e.g., 1 5 • • • Q x d 7 16 B x h 7 c h , K h 8 1 7 B f5 d . c h . winning the Queen .

1 4 ... g6 The a l tern a t ive , 1 4 .. . h6 ,

al lows the w i n n i n g sacri f ice 1 5 B x h 6 , g x h 6 1 6 Q x h6, N e 4 1 7 R f3! (Th reaten ing 18 Rg3ch, N xg3 19 Qh7 m ate) 1 7 ... N d f6 1 8 Rh3.

1 5 f5! The attack swings i n to

h igh gear . 1 5 ... b4

1 0 6 P i l l sbury T h e E x traord in ary

So tha t a fter the ex ­pec t ed 16 N e 2 then 1 6 • • • N e 4 he lps obstruct the d anger­ous B c 2 .

1 6 fg! C rash ing t h rough the

barr i cades at the cost of a p iece .

16 ... hg White wins a fter

1 6 . • • b x c3 1 7 B x f6, N x f6 1 8 R x f6, f g ( 18 . . . B x f6 1 9 Qxh7 m ate) 1 9 B x g6!, h x g6 2 0 R x g6 mate. Also, on 1 6 • • . fg 1 7 Q e 6 c h , K h 8 18 N x d 7 , N x d7 (18 . . . Qxd7 19 B x f6ch wins the Queen) 19 R x f8 c h , N x f8 1 8 Q e S c h , Kg8 1 9 B x e7 Whi te wi ns.

1 7 Q h 4! Calmly leav ing the N c3

u n d e r at tack . 1 7 . . . b x c3

On 1 7 • • • N x e S 1 8 d x e S , b x c3 1 9 e x f6 i s cu r ta ins.

1 8 N x d7 Par ing

de fende rs. 1 8 • • •

away the

Q x d7

1 9 R x f6! Much stronger than 1 9

B x f6 . 19. . . aS

Hoping to bolster the K i ngs ide w i th R a6 .

2 0 R a f t Th reaten ing 2 1 B x g6 ,

f x g 6 2 2 R x g6 m ate . 2 0... R a 6 2 1 B x g6! f x g 6

There cou ld fo l low 2 2 R x f8 c h , B x f8 2 3 R x f 8 c h , Kx f8 2 4 Q h 8 c h , K f7 2 S Q h 7 c h , K f8 (O r 25 . . . K e8 26 Qg8 mate or 25 . . . Ke6 26 Qxg6 mate) 26 Q x d 7 w i n n i ng hand i ly . I n v i e w of t h i s Black Resigns .

G ame Seventeen: P aris 1900 107

GAM E EIGHTEEN

M U N I C H 1900 Wh ite: Pi l lsbury

B lack: v. B ardeleben 1 e4 e5 2 N f3 Nc6 3 B b 5 N f6

The Ber l in De fense , though Black qu i ck l y t rans­poses i n to the Ste i n i tz De­fense by avoi d ing 4 • • • N x e4 .

4 0-0 B e 7 5 N c3

Also good i s 5 R e t . 5... d6

Whi te th reatened 6 B x c6 fol lowed by 7 N x e5 .

6 d4 Again with a th reat to

e 5 .

6 ... B d7

7 B x c6 Black " t h reatened"

wholesale e x c h a nges start ­ing with 7 • • • N x d4 , so Whi te t rades on c6 to stop th i s .

7... B x c6 Forced si n ce 7 • • • b x c6

d rops the e -pawn . 8 Qd3

Protecting the e-pa wn and thereby aga in th reaten i n g to t ake t w i ce on e 5 .

8.. . e d Black doesn' t wan t t o

gi ve up the cente r pawn , b u t the re was n o sat is fac­tory de fense for e 5 (8 . . . N d 7 9 B e 3 th reaten s to w in a p i e ce wi th 10 d 5 - - 9 d5 immed i ate ly a l lows 9 . . . N c5) .

9 N x d4 B d 7 To re ta in the B ishop pa i r

and watch ove r f5. 1 0 b3 0 - 0 1 1 Bbl R e S

Hopi n g to use the e - f i le to put some p ressure on Whi te 's e4. H o w e v e r White ' s

108 Pil lsbury T h e Ex traordinary

more m e n t space edge.

aggressi ve deve lop­and advan tage in

gi ve him a de f in i te

12 Rae l B f8

13 f4 Qe7 1 4 h3

Prevent ing Ng4 in response to e5 and g i v ing the K i n g some a i r, j us t i n case .

14 ... cS

Thi s weakens dS and d6, b u t Black feels he must do someth ing act i ve to cou nter Whi te 's form i d able array .

15 N f3

O f cou rse not 1 5 N fS , B x fS 1 6 ex fS , Q x e l 17 Rxe1 , R x e 1 ch with much i m p roved chances for Black .

15 ... B c6

16 N dS B x dS 1 7 e x dS Qd7

A fter 1 7 . . • Qd8 White cont in ues 1 8 N gS (Th reat­en ing 19 B x f6 and 20 Q x h 7 m ate) 1 8 • . • g 6 1 9 f S , R x e 1 2 0 R x e 1 , N b S (Or 20 . . . Bg7 2 1 fg, hg 22 R f l ! fo l lowed b y Q f3 w i th w i ther ing p ressu re down the f- f i le) 2 1 fg, hg 22 N x f7!, Kx f7 23 R f l c h , K g 8 24 Q x g6ch , Ng7 2 5 R f7 and Wh i te wins .

18 B x f6 R u i n i ng B lack ' s p a w n

structu re and lea v i n g B l a c k wi th a weak Bishop against an act ive K n ight.

18 ... gx f6

G ame Eigh teen: Munich 1900 109

1 9 Nh4 Head i n g for the new

weakness on fS. 1 9... bS 2 0 Q fS!

Gladly goi ng i n to a complete ly won en d i ng.

20 .. . Q x fS 2 1 N x fS

Note the d i f ference i n t h e act i v i t y o f the N fS vs. the locked in B f8.

2 1 ... Reb8

2 2 h4 aS Black does wha t he can

to get some counte rplay . 23 hS h 6 2 4 R f3 a4

2 5 Kh2 ab 2 6 ab R a2

Fina l ly a th rea t, bu t i t cannot rep a i r t h e damage a l ready done on the K ing­s ide .

2 7 Re2 c4

2 8 be b e 2 9 Rc3

Stamping the c -pawn as a new ta rget .

2 9... Rb4 A b lunder , t hough the

posi t ion w as lost i n any case.

30 Re8 T h reate n i n g s imp ly 3 1

Rg3 c h and 3 2 R x f8 . 30. . . Rbb2

1 10 Pi l lsbury T h e Ex traordin ary

3 1 Rg3 c h Black Resigns .

GA M E N I N ETEEN 8 U FF A LO 190 1 Wh ite: Pi l lsbury · B lack: Marshal l

1 d4 d5 2 N f3 c5

An aggressi ve and l i t t l e known con t inu at ion , thus we l l su i ted to Marsha l l' s s ty le .

3 e3 c4?

A strategi ca l mis take w h i ch rel inqu i shes the p res­su re on Whi te 's d4.

4 N c3 f5 To p revent e3-e4 .

5 Ne5 Threaten ing 6 Qh5ch, g6

7 N x g6, etc . 5 . . . N f6 6 b3!

Underm i n i n g p rem ature ly spearhead on c4.

6. . . cb

Black ' s estab l i shed

7 ab e6 8 Bb5ch B d7 9 0 · 0 a6

Hoping Wh i te w i l l exchange on d7 - - w h i ch would e ase B lack ' s game. The a l terna t ive , 9 • • • Bxb5 10 Nxb5, a6 11 c4 ensu res White ' s Queensi de i n i t i a t ive .

1 0 B d3 N c6 1 1 N e2!

A f ine posi t ional maneuver. P i l l sb u r y saw tha t a fter a t rade on e5 , he

G ame N ineteen: B u ffalo 190 1 1 1 1

can re take w i th the d -pawn , thus open ing u p the d4 squ a re for the K n ight.

1 1 ... N x e S 12 dxeS Ng4

13 f4 D eS 14 N d4

The e x ce l lent post ing o f t h i s K n ight, p l u s the c ramping pawn on eS , gi ve White a c l ea r posi t iona l ad ­van tage.

14... Q h 4 1 5 h3 hS

Played with the ve rve for w h i ch Marshal l w as famous. Howe ve r, h e re Whi te 's posi t iona l ad v an tage

brands i t as a despe rate ges­tu re.

1 6 Qe 1! "End ing" a l l i l lu sions .

Wi th the Queen ' s o f f there is no at tack a n d Wh i te's a d v antages rem a i n .

16... Q x e l 1 7 Rxe l N h 6 18 B a3 !

Again fi ne pos 1 t 1on p lay , s i n ce now 1 8 • • . B x a3 1 9 R x a3 l eaves B lack ' s o the r Bi shop "bad " .

18 ... B x d4

But now the B a3 wi l l r ad iate power on the da rk squares.

19 e x d4 B e6 2 0 D eS!

In f i l t ra t ing on the weak d a r k squ ares.

20. . . N f7 A l i t t le bette r was 2 0 • . . h4

(Stopp ing Wh ite ' s next move) and on l y then N f7, p repar ing g7 -g5 .

1 12 Pi l lsbury T h e Ex traordinary

l l h4 R h 6

22 Kfl N h S 23 b4 b5

To p re vent 2 4 b5 , but now the a-pawn w i l l be very weak .

2 4 Ra5 Bb7

2 5 Real Threaten ing 2 6 B x b 5 c h

winn ing mater ia l . 25 ... ReS

Now Wh ite overruns the Queens ide wi th a " l i t t le " sacr i f ice .

2 6 R x a6! B x a6

2 7 Rx a6 R c 7

On 2 7 • • • R b S then s imply 2 S Bb6 followed b y 2 9 B x b 5 .

2 S B x b 5 c h K f7 2 9 RaS

Th reaten ing to m ate w i th 3 0 BeSch , KgS 3 1 Bg6 d .ch .

2 9... Kg6 3 0 BeSch K h 7

S a fe at l ast , bu t now the b -pawn f in ishes res i s tance qu i ck ly .

3 1 b5 32 b6 33 g3

N g6 Rb7

Black Resigns .

G ame T w e nty: H anover 1902 1 13

GAM E TWENTY

H A N OVER 1 902 Wh ite: A t kins

B l a ck: P i l lsbury 1 e4 eS 2 N f3 N c6 3 BbS N f6

Again the Ber l in De­fense .

4 d3

Playable , bu t ra ther passi ve. Bes t i s the usua l 4 0-0 .

4... R eS 5 Nc3

To be consi dered i s S c3 , hoping to form a pawn center la ter.

s ... 6 BgS

d6 Bb4!?

P re ven t ing 7 N dS , though at a loss of a t empo.

7 0 - 0 B x c3 To stop 8 N dS .

8 b x c3 h 6 9 Be3

I f 9 Bb4 , then 9 • • • Rg8 fol lowed by gS gi ves B lack e x ce l l ent at tac k i n g chances. The actual game t ransposes i n to this t ype of pat tern .

9... B d 7

10 N d2 Hoping to get i n f4.

1 0... gS! Prevent ing f4 w h i le

set t ing up an a t tack . 1 1 Rb l a6

1 14 P i llsbury T h e Ex traordinary

12 B x e6 B x e6

13 f3 Try ing to consol i date .

13 ... N bS Regroup ing i n

bu i ld an a t tack K ings ide .

14 d4 Thi s belated

order to on the

cen t ra l ac t ion carr ies no force .

14 ... b6 1 5 g3 Rg8

Now 16 f4 i s we l l answered by 16 • • • N x f4! 17 gx f4 , gx f4 d.eh.

16 Kh 1 Qe7 1 7 Qe2 Rg6 18 B f2 Ng7

Whi te was t h rea te n i n g 1 9 f4.

19 R fe 1 K f8 Sh i f t ing the K in g to

allow the OR to come to the K ingside i n a few moves.

20 N f l fS! 2 1 dS

A fter 2 1 e f Black h as 2 1 . • • g4! wi th power fu l th reats.

2 1 ... B b S

22 e4 B d7

23 g4 Otherw ise 23 • • • g4 is ve ry

tough to meet . 23 . . . f4

G ame Twenty: H anover 1 902 1 15

Cramping Whi te ' s p i e ces and prepar ing to open the h - f i le w i th h5 .

2 4 Kg2 h 5

2 5 h 3 Kf7 Clear ing the back rank ,

so the QR can jo in the a t tack .

2 6 Nd2 2 7 R h 1

R h 6 Ne8

Maneuver ing to a more act i ve post on f6.

28 Rh2 White 's on ly hope i s to

t ry to neutra l i ze the h - f i le .

2 8... N f6

2 9 B g 1 Allowing

access to h 7 .

Kg6 the

3 0 N f l Q h 7

Queen

31 K f2 3 2 h g 33 N x h 2

h g R x h 2 c h Q h 4 c h

3 4 K f l Q g3 3 5 Q f2 R h 8

B l a c k i s s tea d i l y m a k i n g i n roads.

36 Rb3 B a4

1 1 6 Pi l lsbury T h e Extraordinary

37 Rd3? A bad b lunder i n a poor

posi t ion . 3 7... Q x f2 c h

Winn ing the c -pa wn . 3 8 Kx fl B x c2 39 R a3 aS

The rest i s easy, par t l y because Whi te ' s Queens ide pawns a re s t i l l w e a k .

40 Ke2 Rh3 ! T h reaten ing 4 1 • • • B x e4.

41 Kd2 There i s no d e fen se .

4 1 ... B x e 4 42 Rb3 Rg3

Whi te Res igns .

GA M E

TWENTY O N E

H A N O VE R 1902 Wh ite: P i l lsbury

B lack: Levin 1 d4 rs

The Dutch D e fense , a lways a favor i te of aggres­sive p layers .

2 e4 The famous S taunton

G ambi t. Psychologi ca l l y it i s the per fect response to the D u tch , s i n ce B lack m ust de fen d care fu l l y - - h a r d l y the pre feren ce o f m ost ag­gressi ve ly m i n d e d p l aye rs.

2 ... fe 3 N c3 N f6

Poor i s 3 • • • d5 because o f 4 Q h 5 c h , g6 5 Q x dS.

4 BgS c6 Reasonable a l tern a t i ve s

a re 4 • • • g6, 4 • • • N c6 a n d 4 • • • b6. 5 f3

G ame T wenty One: H anover 1902 1 17

O f fer ing a pawn for a lead i n de velopment -- the essen ce o f gambi t p lay .

5... e f 6 N x f3 dS

To be cons idered i s 6 • • • e6.

7 B d3 Bg4 To restra in White f rom

p lay ing NeS. 8 h3 B x f3 9 Qx f3

Now White has the B i shop pa i r, a l ead in de ­ve lopment, and weaknesses a t eS, e6 and e7 to assai l .

9.. . Nhd7

10 0 ·0 ·0 Q a S 1 1 R h e l

A s ingle g lance shows every Whi te p i e ce tn e x ce l lent p lay , an i l l omen for B lack ' s chan ces .

1 1 ... 0 - 0 - 0 1l Re6!

A f ine concept ion , b loc­k ad ing the e -pawn and smother ing B lack' s u n de vel ­oped K i ngsi de .

1 2 • • • N e 4

B l a c k sacr i f i ces a pawn to t ry to ga in some freedom.

13 B x e 4 d x e 4 14 Qg4

Not 14 N x e 4 because o f 1 4 . • • Qxa2.

14... h S 1 5 Q f4 N f6

1 18 Pi llsbury T h e Ex traordinary

16 ReS Qc7 17 N x e4 RdS 1 8 NcS

Head ing for e6.

18 . . . Nd7

19 Ne6 Qd6 2 0 RxdS

Wh ite s impl i f ies i n to an e asi l y won en dgame.

20 • • . Q x f4ch

A fter 2 0 . . . cxdS 21 Q x d6,

e x d6 22 Rfl Black' s posi t ion i s equa l ly hope less.

2 1 N x f4 c x d 5

22 Ng6!

St ronger than 2 2 N x dS . 22 ... Rg8

Forced sin ce 2 2 . . . Rh7 loses to 23 R f l .

23 B x e 7 Th reaten ing 2 4 B x f8,

N x f8 2 5 Ne7cb . 23 ... Kc7 24 B x f8 N x f8

2 5 Ne7

Wi n n i ng another pawn .

B lack Res igns.

G ame Twenty Two: H anover 1902 1 1 9

GAM E

TWENTY TWO

H AN O V E R 1 902 White: Pi l lsbury Blac k: Swiderski

1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 N c3 b6?!

A dubious exper iment as P i l l sbury shows.

4 N f3 Bb7 5 cd ed 6 e4!

A f ine move .

6 .. .

gambi t

de

style

A fte r 6 • • • N f6 , 7 e5 1s qu i te st rong.

7 N e 5 With the t h rea t 8 B c4.

7. . . B d 6 Very bad i s 7 • • • f 6 8

Q h 5 c h . 8 Qg4!

P ress ing on the j ust weakened g7.

8. . . Kf8 A sorry move , bu t 8 • • • g6

i s very bad too.

9 B c4 B xe 5

To d e fe n d f7 , bu t now Whi te 's d a rk squ a red B i shop w i ll be powe r fu l .

1 0 d x e 5 Qd4 At f i rst th i s seems good,

bu t now comes a su rp r i se. 1 1 B dS! c6

A fter 11 • • • B x d5 12 Qc8ch, Ke7 13 BgSch , f6 1 4 R d 1 Wh i te w i n s.

12 B x e4 Q x e5

1 2 0 P i llsbury T h e Ex traordinary

T rue, B lack has an ex t ra pawn , bu t White 's d y n a m i c l e a d i n de velopment p lus Black ' s e xposed un cast led K i n g prov ide overwhe lming compensat ion .

13 B f4 N f6 14 Q b 4 Q e 7 1 5 0 -0 -0!

Cute. Now 1 5 .. . N x e 4 loses to 1 6 Rd8ch.

1 5 .. . Ne8

1 6 Qg3 N a6 1 7 R b e 1 Rd8

Black could resign, bu t p re fe rs to "hang on" a f ew more m oves.

18 Bd5 Q c5

19 Rxe8ch ! Blast ing h i s way th rough

Black's de fenses. 19. . . Kxe8

Of cou rse not 19 • • • Rxe8 2 0 B d6cb .

2 0 Qxg7 cx d5 On 2 0 • . . Q f8 Wh i te w in s

w i th 2 1 B x f7 c b , Q x f7 22 Q x h8cb , Q f8 (22 . . . K e7 23 Q xd8ch) 23 R x d 8 c b .

2 1 Qx b8cb Kd7

22 Q x b 7 The rest i s easy .

22 ... Kc8 23 Qx f7 d4

G ame T wenty Two: H anover 1 902 12 1

Thi s looks l i k e a re­source but . . .

2 4 Qe6c h Rd7

2 5 Qg8ch Commencing an e legant

maneu ver. 25 ... Rd8 26 Qg4ch Rd7 2 7 Be3!

The point . Now far from w i n n i ng the N c3 , the B lack d -pawn i s lost .

27 . . . B x g2

2 8 Rxd4 Black Resigns .

GA M E

TWENTY T H REE

MONTE C A R L O 1 902 Wh ite: P i l lsbury Black: T arrasch

1 e4 e5 2 N f3 N c6 3 Bb5 a6

The Morp h y p r e ference . 4 Ba4 N f6

5 0 - 0 B e 7 So l id . More ac t ive and

m ore r i sk y i s 5 • • • N x e4. 6 N c3

An olde r ( though per fect ly sou n d) choi ce . The modern p l aye rs p re fe r 6 R e l .

6... b 5

lll Pi l lsbury The Ex traordinary

7 Bb3 d6

Now, s ince the e -pawn i s p rotected , B lack can go a fter the Wh ite KB wi th N a5.

8 d3 N a5 9 h3

P revent ing 9 ... Bg4.

9 • • • 0 - 0

1 0 Nel

Head ing for g3 , from where it can su rvey the im­portant outpost at rs.

1 0.. . c6 A strange decis ion si n ce

he p lays c6-c5 two moves la ter.

1 1 Ng3 Q c7 12 Qel

Restra in ing Black f rom p lay ing d6-d5 b y i n d i rec t ly put t ing pressu re on e5.

12 . . .

13 B dl N c6? Black had to j us t i fy the

t ime i n vested in N a5 by con t inu ing w i th 13 ... N x b3 (Un lucky 13 th?) .

1 4 c3 Be6

A l i t t le bet ter was 1 4 . .. Bd7 because now Wh i te ga ins t ime by h is nex t .

15 N g 5 B x b3

16 axb3 h6 1 7 N f3 R fe8

Black i s passi ve l y p laced and can on ly t ry to fort i fy h i s pos i t ion .

18 N f5 This f ine outpost p laces

Black u n d e r great p ressure .

G ame T wenty T h ree: Monte C arlo 1902 123

18 . . . B f8

19 g4 P repar ing to sm ash open

more l ines by g4-g5. 19 ... N h 7 2 0 Kh2

Clear ing the g- f i le h is Rooks .

20 ... Q d 8 2 1 Rg1 N g5

for

A feeble de fensi ve try , bu t there was no de fense to Wh i te's rap id ly growing i n i t ia t ive a n y w a y.

22 b 4 Elementary , b u t power­

fu l . 22 ... N x f3 c h

24 Q x f3 g 5

The poi n t o f B lack ' s de fense . But as P i l l sbury soon demonstrates, i t i s qu i te f l imsy .

25 Kg2 Cleari ng the w a y for h i s

Rooks on the h - f i le . 25 ... Re6 26 R h 1 B g7

The on l y w a y to resist for awhi l e w as 26 . . . Rg6. Now comes a br i sk f in i sh .

2 7 N x g7 K x g7

2 8 b x g h x g 2 9 R h 7 ch!

1 2 4 Pi llsbury T h e Ex traordinary

Ob v ious ly over looked b y Tarrasch .

2 9.. . Kx h 7 3 0 Q x f7ch

Mate follows on the h ­f i l e .

B lack Resigns .

GAM E TWENTY FO U R

MONTE C A R L O 1 902 White: P il lsbury B l a c k: Gunsberg

1 d4 d5 2 c4 de

The Queen 's Gambit Ac­cepted , w h i ch g ives u p the center temporar i ly , hop ing to restore the ba lance w i th c7- c5 .

3 N f3 cS

4 e3 cd Hoping to sadd le Wh i te

w i t h an i solated d -pawn , s i n ce the r ep ly 5 Q x d4 i s

ve ry d rawish and 5 N x d4 al lows 5 • • • e 5 .

5 B x c4 A l i t t le tac t i c: S • • • de?? 6

B x f7 c h wins the Queen . 5. . . e6 6 e d N f6

7 0 -0 Be7 Reach ing an absolu t e l y

modern pos i t ion character ­i s t i c of the Queen ' s Gambit Accepted ; Whi te 's i so lated pawn con fers at tac k i n g chances t h rough i ts con t rol of e5 , but Black 's posi t ion i s sol i d .

8 Qe2 Nbd7 More f lex ib le was stm ­

p l y 8 • • • 0-0 . 9 N c3 N b 6

Game T w enty Four: Monte C arlo 1902 125

Black correct ly fol lows the formu la of control l ing the square i n f ront o f the i so lated d -pawn .

10 Bb3 N b d5 1 1 Bg5

Also poss ible was 1 1 Be3 , but the te x t i s s t i l l consi d e red more act i ve .

1 1 ... 0 -0 12 Ne5

The establ i sh ment o f the K n igh t on the i m portant e5 square portends m aj o r op­e rat ions against the K i ng­s ide .

12 ... N x c3

Giv ing Wh ite hang ing pawns, bu t a l so gi v ing up the st rongpoin t on d5, s ince now c3 - c4 is ava i lable .

13 b x c3 N d5 See k ing secu r i ty i n e x ­

changes, n o t a bad i dea. 14 B d2 !

Which Whi te p rompt ly dec l ines .

14... B f6

15 f4

Now i f 15 . . . B x e5 , then 16 fx e 5 ope n i n g the f- f i le i s very s trong .

15 ... g6

Try ing to stop a l i ne open ing v i a f4 - f5 x e6.

16 R f3 White ca lmly s w i ngs h i s

h e a v y pieces i n to the b att le zone.

16 ... B g7 17 R a f l f6

This weakens e6 a n d g6. 18 N d3 b 6

19 fS! A f ine l i n e openi n g

comb inat ion a fte r w h i c h

1 2 6 Pi l lsbury T h e Ex traordinary

White 's at tack begin s to ga in momentum.

19 ... gf Natu ral ly not 1 9 • • • e f

si n ce 20 N f4 w i n s a p iece . 2 0 R h3

Anothe r poin t o f 19 fS! appears - - hS h as been le ft u n p rotected by 19 • • • g f.

20 ... R f7 2 1 Q h S B f8

22 Rx fS! A deep Rook sacr i f ice ,

w h i ch leads to a w i n n i n g endgame e leven moves la ter.

22 ... ex fS 23 N f4 Bb7 24 Rg3 ch Bg7

On 24 • • • Kh8 Whi te w ins qu i ck ly wi th .2 5 N g 6 c h , K g 8 2 6 Ne7 d.dbl . c h ., Kh8 .2 7 Rg8 m ate.

.25 Rh3 B h 8 2 6 Qx fS

Now any move o f the NdS al lows 2 7 Q x h 7 c h and .2 8 Qx f7 m ate .

.2 6 . . . Q d 7 .2 7 N x dS

A cute tw i st - - 2 7 . • •

Q x fS i s answered by .2 8 N e 7 c h and 29 N x fS •

.2 7... B x dS

Now play s imp l i f ies i n to a won end i ng, a pawn up .

2 9 ... R f8 3 0 B h 6 B g7

G ame Twenty Four: Monte C arlo 1 9 02 127

32 ... Kh8 33 B x f7 Rx f7

34 Kf2

The K i n g moves i n to ac­t ion to ass ist h i s a d v anced p assed d -pawn .

34... Rc7 35 Ke2 Rc4

Hoping to ra i d the Wh ite a-p awn .

3 6 Kd3 bS

3 7 Re3 Ra4 38 dS !

Now th i s pawn m a rches to v i cto ry .

3 8... R x a2

39 d6 Ra6

The on ly move . 40 Re6 Kg7 41 d7!

Forcing a n e w Queen . 4 1... Rxe6 42 d8 = Q

Black Res igns.

1 2 8 Pi l lsbury T h e Ex traordin ary

GA M E

TWEN TY F I V E

MONTE C A R LO 1902 Wh ite: Von S cheve

B l a c k: Pi l lsbury 1 d4 d5 2 N f3 c5

Sharper than the more usual 2 • • • N f6 or 2 • • • e6 .

3 de Whi te p lays the Queen ' s

Gambi t Accepted a tempo up . Cer ta in ly not a bad idea, but h i s i n tent ion o f ho ld ing o n to th i s pawn ge t s h i m in to d i f f icu l t i es .

3 ... N f6

4 N c3 N c6 5 a3?

Try ing to reta in pawn is w rong, would be 5 Bg5 .

5 • • • d4! Se iz ing more

space . 6 Na4 e5

the c5 bette r

centra l

Now e4 i s th reatened ; a l so 7 • • • B x c5 8 N x c5 , Qa5ch recover ing the c5 pawn .

7 b 4 e 4 8 N g 1

On 8 b 5 Black h as 8 • • • Qa5ch! .

8... b5 ! Another sharp shot set ­

t ing o f f Black's a d v antage . 9 Nb2

A fter 9 cxb e .p ., ab 10 Nb2 (On 10 c4 s imp ly l O . . . d c e .p . i s good) 1 0 • • • Bxb4ch is s trong .

9.. . N d5!

Head ing for the terr ib le weakness on c3 .

1 0 e3 N c3

Game Twenty Five: Monte C arlo 1 902 129

11 Qd2 aS 12 ba B x c5

Black ' s c rush ing ad v an ­tage in developmen t a n d cent ral con trol i s s t r i k ing.

13 Ne2 N x e2 14 B x e 2 R x aS 1 5 e d N x d4

16 0 -0 0 - 0 1 7 Rd 1?

A poor move wh i ch on ly leaves f 2 unde fended .

1 7 . . •

18 B f l Qb6 Bg4

Black con t i n ues wi th power fu l moves .

19 R e t R d 8 T h re aten ing 2 0 ... N f3 c h

winn ing Wh i te ' s Queen . 2 0 Q c3 N f3 ch!

Anyw ay! 2 1 gx f3 B x f3

With the th reat o f m ate by 22 . . • Qg6 c h .

22 B h3 Qg6ch 23 Kfl Q h S

Wi n n i ng d i rec t ly s ince 2 4 Bg2, Q x h 2 2 5 B x f3 al ­lows 25 • • • Qx f2 m ate .

Whi te Res igns.

1 3 0 Pi l lsbury T h e E x traordinary

GAM E TWENTY SIX

MONTE C A R LO 1902 Wh ite: Pi l l sbury

B lack: Wo l f 1 d 4 N f6 2 c4 3 N c3

e6 b6

Allowing Whi te to bu i l d a m assi ve pawn center. B lack had to control e4 b y 3 • • • B b 4 (N imzov i t ch) o r 3 .. . d5.

4 e4 Bb7

Of cou rse!

5 B d3

Quick development " a l a Morphy " .

5. . . d5 6 cd ed

7 e5 Gain ing more cen t ra l

space. 7.. . N e 4 8 N f3 B e 7

T he tempt ing move 8 . . . Bb4 loses a p i e ce a fte r 9 Qa4ch! , N c6 1 0 Bb5, B x c3 c h 11 b x c3 , Q d7 12 e6, fe 13 Ne5 , N x c3 1 4 Qc2.

9 0 -0 0 -0

1 0 Q c2 Putt ing the quest ion to

B lac k's outpost on e4 . 10 .. . N x c3

A fter 10 .. . f5 1 1 e x f e.p. , N x f6 12 Ng5 th reatens h7 and e6 to w h i ch there i s no good de fense .

Game Twenty S ix : Monte C arlo 1902 13 1

1 1 B x h7ch White foresees

coming at tack . 1 1 .. . Kh8 12 b x c3 g6

13 B x g6! N atu ral ly .

13 ... fxg6 14 Q x g6

the

Now wi th th ree pawns and the a t tack on B lack ' s e x posed K ing, Wh i te i s in control .

14... Qe8 15 Qh6ch Kg8

16 NgS B x gS 1 7 Q x gS c h Kf7

Also a fte r 1 7 • • • Kh7 the reply 1 8 f4 fol lowed by R f3 i s too st rong.

18 f4 Ke6

Try ing to escape to rela­t i ve sa fety on the Queen­s ide .

1 9 fSc h Kd7 2 0 Qg7 c h Kc8 21 e6

Wh i te 's f a r a d v anced p asse d pawns a re i r re­s is t ible .

2 1 . • •

22 Q h 7 23 Qg6

Rg8

R h 8 B a6

132 Pi l lsbury T h e Ex traordinary

A fter 23 ... Qxg6 24 fxg6, Rg8 25 g7 there i s no de­fense to R f8.

2 4 Qxe8ch Going i n to an eas i l y

won end i ng. 2 4 ... R x e 8

2 5 R e l N c6 2 6 Bg5 Nd8 2 7 B x d8

The s implest . 2 7... Kx d8

28 f6 The pawns roll on .

2 8... R h 8 2 9 ReS c6 3 0 R ae l R eS

3 1 Rg5 T h reaten ing Rg7 fol­

lowed by e7 and f7. 3 1 ... B d3

To meet 32 Rg7 w i th 3 2 • • • Rh7.

32 Ree5 R h 6 33 Rg8ch Kc7

3 4 R x c8 c h Kx c8 35 e7

Black Res igns.

G ame T wenty Seve n: Monte C arlo 133

GA M E

TWENTY SEVEN MONTE C A R L O 1903

White: Pi l lsbury Black: Mieses

1 d4 dS 2 c4 eS

The sharp Alb in Counter Gambi t , a fre­quent choice o f v i rtuoso tac t ic ians l i ke Mieses.

3 de de?!

De fin i te ly in fer ior to the usual 3 • • • d4, sacr i f i c ing a pawn i n re turn for some in i t ia t i ve .

4 Q x d8ch Kxd8 S N c3 Nc6 6 BgSch

Whi te 's ad van tage rests p r imari l y i n his lead in deve lopment and Black ' s a w k ward ly posted K ing.

6 . . . Be7

7 0 -0-0ch B d7 A fter 7 • • • Ke8 8 B x e7,

Ngxe7 Whi te h as 9 NbS! . 8 B f4

Wh ite avo ids e x changes to keep B lack cramped .

8.. . a6 To support the c4 pawn

wi th b 7 - b S and to p reven t a l a t e r NbS w h i ch , i n con­j u nct ion w i t h the B f4 would pose tac t i ca l th reats agains t c7.

9 N d S Th reaten i n g c 7 1 0

N x c7, Kxc7 1 1 e6 d .ch. 9. . . ReS

10 N f3 bS

134 Pi l lsbury T h e Ex traordinary

1 1 e3 Nb4? A serious tact ica l m i s­

take though Black ' s posi­t ion is bad anyway.

1 2 N x b 4 B x b4

13 e6! Clear ing eS for the

K n ight. 13 ... fe 14 NeS B d6 1 5 N f7ch Ke7

16 N x h 8 N o w , o f cou rse, White

h as a won game. I t i s in ­s truct ive to see how he f in ­i shes the te chn i cal task .

16 . . . B x f4 17 e x f4 N f6

1 8 Bel B c6

A fter 1 8 • • • R x h 8 Wh i te 's Bishop se i zes the h 1 · a8 d i ­agon al w i th 1 9 B f3 .

1 9 R h e 1 R x h 8 N o t 1 9 • • • B x g2 because o f

2 0 R g 1 a n d 2 1 R x g7. 2 0 rs es

Black must t r y to keep l i nes c lose d.

2 1 B f3 e 4

A fter 2 1 • • • B x f3 2 2 R x e S c h wins e asi l y .

22 g4 K f7 23 gS!

The most aggressi ve . 23 ... e x f3 24 gx f6 g x f6

Game T wenty Seven: Monte C arlo 135

Not 24 • • • Kx f6 2 5 Re6ch pick ing up the B c6.

2 5 Re6 Be8 2 6 R de 1

Now a decis i ve i n v asion at e 7 cannot be prevented .

Black Resigns .

GA M E

TWENTY E I G H T

MO N T E C A R L O 1903 Wh ite: P i l lsbury

Black: S c h le c h ter 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c5

A rare ly t r i ed symmet-r i ca l de fense to the Queen ' s Gambi t .

3 de Also good is 3 cd.

Wh i te 's e x t ra tempo al lows him to ma in ta in an i n i t ia ­t i ve .

3 ... d4

The ma1n fault w i th B lack ' s ope n i n g s trategy i s t hat i t i s too aggress ive .

4 a3 aS Othe rwise Whi te reta ins

the ex t ra pawn wi th 5 b4. 5 N f3 N c6 6 e3 e5

136 Pi l lsbury T h e Ex traordinary

7 e d e4 Consisten t ly aggress ive ,

but s t i l l unsound .

8 NgS 9 Qc2

1 0 Be3

Q x d 4 N f6

De veloping w i t h a gain of t ime whi le p rotect ing h i s ex t ra pawn on cS.

10 .. . QeS 11 N c3 Ng4

Black, rea l izi ng the cr i t · i ca l na ture o f h i s posi t ion , s tr i ves for compl i cat ions in p re fe rence to ll .. . B f5 .

12 Qxe4 N x e3

13 fx e3 14 N dS

B x cS

T h reaten ing to N c7.

14 ... B d 6 1 5 0 - 0 - 0

p lay

As usua l P i l l sbury p ro­ceeds wi th m a x i m u m v igor .

15. . . B f5

Black struggles to ac t i ­v ate h i s rem a in ing forces.

1 6 QxeScb N x e5 1 7 N f3

Wh i te i s h appy to s i m ­pl i fy , be ing a p a w n up i n the end ing.

1 7... 0 - 0 - 0

G ame Twenty Eight: Monte C arlo 1 903 137

A bad b lunder in a bad posi t ion .

18 Nxe5 Winn ing a p iece s ince

18 .. . B x e5 al lows 1 9 Ne7ch and 2 0 N x f5 .

Black Res igns.

GAM E

TWENTY N I N E

MONTE C A R L O 1903 Wh ite: Pi llsbury

B lack: Wol f 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 N c3 N f6

Also possib le i s C h a rouse k's f inesse 3 . • . B e 7 wi th the i dea o f reduc ing Whi te 's opt ions regard ing the p lacement o f h i s K N o r Q B . F o r e xample , n o w Wh ite ' s p re fe rred B g 5 i s not possible , wh i l e e3 would on ly lock in the QB.

In v i ew o f t h is , Whi te's o ther reasonable d e velop­ment opt ions a re v i rt u al ly l im i ted to N f3 (4 g3 would t ranspose in to a Cata lan , b u t th i s wou ld be runn ing f rom the in tended Queen ' s Gambi t) . Bu t t he immed i ­a t e 4 N f3 g ive s u p the op­tion of ( a fte r e3) N ge2 and N f4 or Ng3.

4 B g5 Nbd7 5 N f3

One o f the o ldest t raps in the book i s 5 cd, e d 6 N x d5? s ince B lack w ins w i t h 6 • • • N x d5! 7 B x d8, Bb4ch.

5. . . B e 7 6 e 3 0 - 0

7 R c l b 6 8 c d

Open ing t h e c- fi le a n d b lock ing t h e a8- h 1 d i ago­n a l (since now B lack can­not open i t wi th a t ime ly d e) .

8... e d 9 Ne5

138 Pi l lsbury T h e Ex traordinary

Occupy ing the a d v an ced outpost as a pre lude to a K i n gs ide e f fort w i th f4, B d3 , 0·0, Q (or R) f3 .

9 • • • Bb7

Better w as 9 . • • N x e 5 10 dxe5 , N g4.

10 f4 a6 11 B d3 c5

Black w ants to create a Queens ide m aj or i ty wi th c4 fol lowed by b6-b5-b4 .

12 0 - 0 Wh ite wi l l fol low h i s

usua l p lan he re o f m assi ng against the B lack K i ngsi de .

12 ... c4

13 B f5 More aggress ive than t h e

usua l 1 3 B el or 13 B b l .

1 3 • • •

14 R f3 b5 ReS

Hoping for some centra l coun terp lay and rese rv ing an opt ion o f N f8 , fort i fy ­ing the K i ng 's posi t ion .

15 Rh3

Already s torm c louds are gather ing.

1 5 . . • g6

Wh ite th reatened 1 6 B x d7, N x d7 1 7 Q h 5 at tack­i ng both f7 and b7.

1 6 B b 1 N x e5 A fte r 1 6 • • • N f8 Whi te 's

at tack cou l d con t inue w i t h 1 7 f5.

1 7 fx e5 N d7 18 B x e 7 R x e 7

Game T wenty N ine: Monte C arlo 1903 139

- � . �-� �.�.�·- � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � �� � � � � � �� � ff�� �?fJJt� � � ft � � � ft � � t'\ t��� � �.:L� W � � P robably bet ter was

1 8 . . . Qxe7. 19 Q f3

Attack ing d5 an d br ing­i n g the Queen in to act ion .

1 9... N f8 2 0 R f l

Whi te 's heavy p ieces al l bear down on Black ' s weakened K i n gs ide .

2 0 .. . Qd7 21 Q f6

I n vad ing the " hole" on f6.

2 1 . . . b4?

We ak. This only dr i ves Wh ite 's K n ight to a f ine pos t on c5.

2 2 N a4 Qc7

The K n igh t cannot be taken: 22 . . . Q x a4 23 Q x e7.

23 N c5 B c8 24 R h 6 a S

2 5 R f4

Whi te 's p i eces close in on the ta rget .

2 5 .. . Rb8 But now the storm be­

g ins.

26 B x g6! Rb6

A fte r 2 6 .. . N x g6 White b reaks th rough with 2 7 R x g6ch! , h x g6 (27 . . . fxg6 28 Q f8 m a te) 2 8 R h 4 and m ate at h 8 can n ot be pre ­ven ted.

2 7 Qxb6

A great surpr i se . Now i f 27 .. . Qxb6 then 28 B x h7ch and 29 Rxb6 w i ns .

2 7.. . N x g6

140 Pi llsbury T h e Extraordinary

2 8 Q f6 ReS Tak ing the Rook a lso i s

hopeless: 2 8 . • • N x f4 2 9 ex f4 fol lowed by R h S • gS, etc .

2 9 Rfl Be6 3 0 QgS

The rest i s easy. 30 ... Kh8

3 1 Q h S N f8 32 N x e6 R x e6 33 R x e 6

Black Resigns.

GAM E TH I RTY

V I E N N A 1 903 White: Gunsberg Black: Pi l lsbury

1 e4 eS 2 f4 e f

The K in g's Gambi t Ac-cepted , a ful ly v i able means of de fense .

3 N f3 dS

S t ri k i n g back m t h e center.

4 eS Thi s i s weak . Norma l is

4 e d with rough ly even chan ces.

4.. . gS

Now Black w i l l be able to a d v an tageous ly hold on to his ex t ra pawn .

S h 3 N h6! Well p layed . The K n ight

heads for the ho le on g3 .

G ame T h irty: Vienna 1 903 1 4 1

6 d4 N f5

7 B d3 Ng3 8 R h2

Now the Rook i s locked out o f p lay .

8.. . h6 9 Nbd2 c5

P ressu r ing the d -pawn . 1 0 de

Otherwise 1 0 . . . N c6 and Q b 6 i s ve ry good for B lack .

1 0... B x c5 1 1 Nb3

Expect ing the Bishop to retreat .

1 1 . . . N c6!

Fine ly p l ayed . Now 12 N x c5 i s well an swered b y 12 . . . Qa5ch .

12 c3 Now 13 N x c5 is a th reat .

12 ... Qb6

T h reaten i n g 1 3 . . . B g 1 ! w i n n i ng mate ri a l .

13 N x c5 Q x c5 1 4 Qc2

Whi te scrambles to cas­t le Queens ide .

14 .. . B d7 15 B d2

Allow ing a s imp le tac t i c. 1 5 ... N x e5!

142 Pi llsbury T h e Ex traordinary

S ince 16 N x eS, Q g l c h and m ate n ext .

16 0 - 0 - 0 N x d3 c h 17 Q x d3 0 - 0 - 0

With two ex t ra pawns and the a t tack , B lack wins in a wa lk .

18 N d 4 Rhe8

1 9 h4 Try ing to get some scope

for the i n carcerated R ook . 19 .. . Re4!

T h reaten i n g 20 • • • R x d4 2 1 Q x d4, Ne2ch .

2 0 Kb l Bg4 21 R e t Kb8

22 hg hg 23 B e l?

Now Black w i n s more m ater i al.

23. . . Re3 2 4 Qd2 N f l

White Res igns.

H e w as a chess " meteor" b r i ll i an t ly s t re a k i n g ac ross the sky . H a r r y Ne lson P i l lsbury came and wen t qu i ck ly , bu t h i s l i fe and games were e xt raord in ary .

P i l l sbury the E xtraord i ­n a ry!

Gre at B o o ks Fro m C hess Digest 143

O R D E R T H E F O L LOWI N G F R OM C H E S S D I G E S T , I N C.

C- 953 COLLE SYS TEM-GM George Kol tanowsk i 12 th Edi tion (1990) . This book h as enjoyed such popu lar i ty because i t i s rare that a book can teach how to u n d e rs tand and p lay an opening. 88 pages, algeb rai c, p aperback . $ 6. 1 5 .

L-463B THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 1 972 FIS CHER VS. SPA SSKY-Evans & Smi th . The in s ide s tory w i th e v e r y move e x p la ined . A great i n st ruct ion al book as wel l the best match book ever publ i shed . Paperback . $ 7.95

E- 99 CHESS INS TR UCTIONS: Move By Move -Chess D igest ( K e n Smith) . The greatest games p layed i n the 1 970 's w i th ev ­e r y Wh ite & B lack move e xp la ined . P aperback . $ 8.95

J-81 EXER CISES IN THE ENDGAME: D i agrammed Move B y Move-Chess D i gest ( K en Smith) . No board and men needed as the re i s a d i agram a ft e r each move. Let 1379 d i agrams teach you the best moves for each s ide . Paperback . $ 7 .95

J-65 MAKING CHESS ENDINGS EASY TO S TUDY Vol 1 -K e n Smi th . ( 1) A ch allenge (2) Enough d i agrams s o a board and men a re not n ecessary (3) Lets you test yourse l f i f you so desi re . Paperback . $ 6.95

J-82 MAKING CHESS ENDINGS EA SY TO S TUD Y Vol 2-Ken S m ith . Same format as Vol 1 . Teaches i deas and v i sual ­i zat ion . The author m akes i t enjoyable w h i le l earn ing the most i mportant part of the game of chess . Paperback . $ 8.95

J- 64 UNUS UAL ENDINGS - Chess D igest (Ken S m i th) . C re­a t i ve i m aginat ion is the order of the day . Pape rback . $ 4.95

J-80 CHALLENGES IN THE ENDGAME - B ri eger . These cha l leng ing pos i t ions are des igned to help teach you some o f the tac t i cs o f the endgame. T h e p ract ica l va lue i s there for eve ry p layer- -no matter his s trength . Paperback . $ 7 .95

L-583 THE 1 986 WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP: KAS­PAROV- KARPOV- Bri t i sh Chess Magazine . The story , the color and a l l the games annotated . Paperback . $ 4.50.

J-54 QUEEN AND PAWN ENDINGS-Averb a k h . The book i s d i v i de d i n to many parts cove r ing every conce i v able aspect of the common Queen end ings. H e re a re 268 d i agramed ex amples with e x ce l lent notes and an a lys i s that are unsurpassed . Cloth­bou n d . L i st $2 1 .00, ou rs $ 1 0.00

1 44 Great B o o ks From C hess Digest

A COMPLETE C H ES S CO U R S E: "The fol lowing books , i f t aken together , make a complete cou rse tha t e v e r y p layer should h ave stud ied . I am ta lk ing about ra t ing j u m ps of 100 to 200 poin ts i n the pup i l s I h ave worked w i th . They cover ideas, bas i cs, the C to A p layers, and m ater ia l for the Expert a im ing fo r Maste rsh ip " .- K e n Smi th (FIDE 2363).

B- 1 1 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHESS-H artston-Wason . Thought p rocess, w inn ing & losing, ta lent & m ot i v at ion . Clothbou nd . $ 9.95

E-46 THE BA TTLE OF CHESS IDEAS-Sai dy . E volut ion o f chess thought . I deas and t h e best games o f the greatest p l aye rs that e v e r l i ved . Clothbound . $ 1 6.95

E-41 THINK LIKE A GRANDMA S TER - K otov . I n clu des: Ana lysis o f Var iat ions , Posi t iona l Judgement , P lann i ng , The Ending, P layer' s K now ledge . Paperback . $ 2 1 .3 5

E- 76 PLAY LIKE A GRANDMAS TER- K otov . A v i rtua l te x t­book on the h igher pr inc i ples o f p lay . Inc ludes: Combin at ional V is ion , Calcu lat ion and P ract ica l P lay . Paperback . $ 2 1 .3 5

E-145 LESSONS WITH THE MAS TER S-GM Evans & FM Smi th ( 1989) . Wi l l m a k e you th ink , learn and hope fu l ly enjoy chess. Paperback . $ 1 4.20.

D-20 A CONTEMPORARY APPROA CH TO THE MID­DLEGAME-Suet in . Fou n d at ions o f s trategy , Ch ess T act i cs, L i n k i n g Strategy & Tact i cs, S ty le, D y namic S tandpoi n t , Re late the Midd legame to the Opening. Clothbound $ 18.75

F-5 7 MODERN AR T OF A TTA CK- K e n Smith & John Ha l l ( 1988) . The era o f Ta l , F i s cher and K asparov . Paperback , $ 13 .25 .

J- 1 05 ESSENTIAL CHESS ENDINGS EXPLAINED MOVE BY MOVE-Jeremy S i lman ( 1988) . Our ne west I n te rn at iona l Maste r g ives a commentary on every move . Paperback . $ 12.30 . O RDER FROM: C H E S S D I GEST, I N C.

P.O. B O X 74 1088 D A LLA S, TEXAS 753 7 4 - 1088

Add Hand l ing & Postage Fees: $0 to $9 .99 add $2 .05 ; $ 10 to $24.99 add $2.85; $25 to $49.99 and $3.55; $50 to $74.99 add $3 .95 .