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In this day in history...
Mar. 12th, 2003 04:08 amI woke up at around 1 am and tossed about until 2, then got up and fired up the eSlate.
A few days ago, for some unknown reason, I opened the suitcase in which I keep historical "family" stuff (letters, yearbooks, and whatnot) and unearthed a small memo book that belonged to my grandfather. He was a memo book kinda guy, it seems, for I have several of them, of different sizes and varying degrees of sophistication (ranging from the wire-bound book in my hand to a small, 6-ring notebook).
This particular book contains a number of my grandfather's chess games and fragments of games. I first ran across the book as a young tad, and it may have been a factor in my eventual interest in the game, a way of creating some kind of tenuous bond to a man I don't remember, if I remembered him at all (he died when I was about 18 months old).
The early part of the book consists of a series of games played on Wednesday nights in 1946. My grandparents lived in Manhattan at the time, and my grandfather worked, if memory serves, with the Port Authority. I don't know what kind of event he was playing in, but I suspect it may have been organized by one of the industrial chess leagues that were fairly common in that era, flourishing as a result of massive wartime (and post-war) immigration from Europe.
In going over one of the games a little while ago, it suddenly struck me that it was played on March 12, 1946. Exactly 57 years ago, to the day!
Talk about your weird coincidences.
In going over my grandfather's games, it's pretty apparent to me that he was not a very strong player. I'm certainly no expert (either in chess or in assessing chess strength) but on the basis of several games that I've looked at, I'd venture to say he'd probably be rated around 1350-1450 using today's rating system.
Thus, the following game has little value past being an expression of a moment's shadow of my grandfather's existence. It's different from reading over old letters or tracking down the physical location of an old photograph and standing in the same spot where, decades ago, some part of your past stood, smiling into a lens. I have no such letters, and none of the photos that survive show any such identifiable location. Thus, his games (and some random scribblings in the other books) is all I really have to remember him by.
A few days ago, for some unknown reason, I opened the suitcase in which I keep historical "family" stuff (letters, yearbooks, and whatnot) and unearthed a small memo book that belonged to my grandfather. He was a memo book kinda guy, it seems, for I have several of them, of different sizes and varying degrees of sophistication (ranging from the wire-bound book in my hand to a small, 6-ring notebook).
This particular book contains a number of my grandfather's chess games and fragments of games. I first ran across the book as a young tad, and it may have been a factor in my eventual interest in the game, a way of creating some kind of tenuous bond to a man I don't remember, if I remembered him at all (he died when I was about 18 months old).
The early part of the book consists of a series of games played on Wednesday nights in 1946. My grandparents lived in Manhattan at the time, and my grandfather worked, if memory serves, with the Port Authority. I don't know what kind of event he was playing in, but I suspect it may have been organized by one of the industrial chess leagues that were fairly common in that era, flourishing as a result of massive wartime (and post-war) immigration from Europe.
In going over one of the games a little while ago, it suddenly struck me that it was played on March 12, 1946. Exactly 57 years ago, to the day!
Talk about your weird coincidences.
In going over my grandfather's games, it's pretty apparent to me that he was not a very strong player. I'm certainly no expert (either in chess or in assessing chess strength) but on the basis of several games that I've looked at, I'd venture to say he'd probably be rated around 1350-1450 using today's rating system.
Thus, the following game has little value past being an expression of a moment's shadow of my grandfather's existence. It's different from reading over old letters or tracking down the physical location of an old photograph and standing in the same spot where, decades ago, some part of your past stood, smiling into a lens. I have no such letters, and none of the photos that survive show any such identifiable location. Thus, his games (and some random scribblings in the other books) is all I really have to remember him by.
[Event "Wednesday night tournament"]Cheers...
[Date "1946.03.12"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Raetig"]
[Black "V.V."]
[Result "1-0"]
1. e3 c5
{ My grandfather - whom I shall designate with the initials V.V. - was apparently partial to the Sicilian Defense when playing Black. However, without 1.e4, this is no longer a Sicilian. }
2. c3 Nf6 3. Be2 e6 4. b3 Nc6 5. d3 b6 6. Ba3 Bb7 7. h4 Be7 8. h5 d5
{ White is playing abominably, like a rank beginner. Black, on the other hand, seems not to want to rock the boat. }
9. h6 g6 10. d4 Rc8 11. Nd2 Bf8 12. Bf3 Ng8
{ Amazingly, Black's bishop and knight have found their way *back* onto their home squares, looking to snag the venturesome h-pawn. }
13. dxc5 bxc5 14. b4 cxb4 15. cxb4 Bxh6 16. Bb2 e5 17. Qe2 Bg7
{ The pawn on b4 is safe. If 17...Nxb4, 18.Qb5 forks the knight and bishop.}
18. a3 Nge7 19. Rd1 O-O
{ White now suddenly activates his knight to take advantages of numerous holes in Black's position. }
20. Ne4! f5?
{ This just helps White by creating yet another hole, on e6. It's hard to come up with a good move for Black, though. }
21. Ng5!
{ Threatening both a fork on e6 as well as an incursion by the rook on h7. }
21...e4 22. Bxg7 exf3 23. N1xf3 h5 24. Bxf8 Kxf8??
{ A blunder, which pretty much loses immediately. 24...Qxf8 avoids the upcoming fork. }
25. Ne6+ Kg8 26. Nxd8 Rxd8 27. Nd4 Ne5 28. Nb5 N7c6 29. Nc3
(1-0)
