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Dark Knight / Le Chevalier Noir
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On his trip to Central America Kolty couldnt miss Cuba and as he explains: "The chess players of Latin America and of Cuba in particular, enjoy a fighting spirit which the rest of us may well envy. A Cuban inter-club match is as hotly contested as the national championship, and the players are as warmly supported by large audiences as any fictional or real bullfighter. This fighting style makes every opponent dangerous, and many a game played on the island derives its special interest from the manner in which one player or the other rescues an apparently lost position by his sheer refusal to admit defeat." Koltanowski - Abreu, Havana Cuba, 1939, 1 of 8, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.0-0 Nf6 5.d4 Bxd4 6.Nxd4 Nxd4 7.f4 d6 8.c3 Bg4 9.Qd2 Nxe4 10.Qe3 Nc2 11.Qxe4 Nxa1 12.fxe5 Be6 13.Bxe6 fxe6 14.Qxb7 h6 15.exd6 Rc8 16.Qb5+ 1-0 Black resigned after Kolty announced the following variations 16...c6 17.Qh5+ Kd7 18.Qf7+ Kxd6 19.Rd1+ with White having king or queen for choice or 16...Qd7 17.Qh5+ Kd8 18.Bg5+ hxg5 19.Qxh8+ Qe8 20.Rf8.
Koltanowski - Enrique Garcia, Havana 1939, 1of 8, 1.e4 c5 2.b4 e6 3.bxc5 Bxc5 4.d4 Bb4+ 5.c3 Be7 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.Ne2 Nc6 8.0-0 0-0 9.f4 d6 10.h3 Re8 11.Nd2 Bf8 12.Nf3 d5 13.e5 Ne4 14.Qc2 f5 15.exf6 gxf6 16.Bxe4 dxe4 17.Qxe4 f5 18.Qb1 Re7 19.Ba3 Rg7 20.Bxf8 Kxf8 21.Qb3 Na5 22.Qb4+ Kg8 23.Nc1 Qd5 24.Nd3 b6 25.Rf2 Bb7 26.Re1 h6 27.Nde5 Kh7 28.Qb1 Kh8 29.Kh2 Nc4 30.Nxc4 Qxc4 31.Qb3 Bd5 32.Qxc4 Bxc4 33.Ne5 Bd5 34.g4 Rag8 35.c4 Be4 36.Re3 Rd8 37.Rd2 Rdg8 38.d5 exd5 39.cxd5 Rc7 40.d6 1-0
Black should have played 15...Nxf6 but then 16.Ng5 weakens the white squares around the king. Kolty suggests 26...Qxf3 27.Rxf3 Bxf3 but after 28.g4 fxg4 29.h4 Whites pieces will become active. Kolty played cautiously in the game but he had so many strategic pluses that the finish is also very nice.
Kolty liked Cuba so much he went back the following winter. According to Kolty: "A good crowd is always a strong incentive for a good show, and the presence of 150 spectators and players at my 8-board demonstration in Santiago de Cuba on February 24, 1940 was just what I needed for a sharp attack on the board on which two of the city's finest players were consulting."
Koltanowski - Silveira + Jolliet, Cuba 1940, 1 of 8, 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 e6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Bd3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 Be7 9.0-0 0-0 10.Re1 a6 11.a3 b5 12.Bd3 Re8 13.Bg5 Bb7 14.Rc1 Rc8 15.Bb1 Na5 16.Ne5 Nc4 17.Bxf6 Bxf6 18.Bxh7+ Kf8 19.Qh5 Bxe5 20.dxe5 Qd2 21.Be4 Bxe4 22.Nxe4 Qxb2 23.Rxc4 bxc4 24.Nd6 Kg8 25.Qxf7+ Kh7 26.Nxe8 Rxe8 27.Qh5+ Kg8 28.Qxe8+ 1-0 All Kolty needed was the opportunity of Bxh7+. The black team thought they'd stopped him by removing his knight from e5. Kolty found a nice way to move his other knight to d6 with the same effect. Crisp attacking play!
Kolty's adventures of trying to arrange an exhibition in Mexico occupy many pages of his book "In the Dark". He really is a great story teller and his stories are often more interesting than any chess encounters. For example: "On one occasion, during a blindfold exhibition in Havana, I made the acquaintance of an honored guest, the Mexican Ambassador to Cuba. He was a charming man and, although he lost, expressed himself as most favorably impressed by my performance. A few days later, I received a beautiful chess set of ivory and rare woods, carved by some Mexican craftsman. With it came an invitation to visit the sender, and I did so the same day.
No, the gift was nothing. The Maestro need not thank him. Perhaps the Maestro would permit the Ambassador to do his own country a service. I must visit Mexico. I must tour the country. My expenses would be paid. My hotel accommodations would be those of a visiting dignitary. The Mexican government would give me a fee which was indeed interesting. To say no would be an insult. Had I not accepted his little gift?
This was wonderful! I accepted, indicating that I would be available as soon as my visit to Central America had been completed. That was fine. I would hear from the Mexican Minister of Sports, Major Trujillo, as soon as I arrived in Guatemala. This was in February, 1939."
What follows in the book are 5 pages of the trials and tribulations of trying to further arrange this visit with Mexico. 3 months later....
3 months later - after endless communications but no visa - Kolty continues: "With no visa in sight, I packed to leave the next morning. The sun was blazing when I arrived at the Mexican side of the border.
This was one of the hottest days I had ever known, and this sweating, steaming jungle village did nothing to ease the resentment which had piled up within me.
The officer in charge had little to offer. He simply didn't know what to do with me. I would have to return, for no visa meant no entry. So sorry.
I blew up in fine style.
I was a guest of the government. He would spend a year in jail if he dared to impede my progress! What was his name? He gave it to me with an air of surprise, and after a careful examination of my papers, promised to contact Mexico City at once. Could I wait until confirmation was obtained. It would only take three or four days. No! I would return at once, and his head would certainly roll when I had notified the consul in Guatemala City!
But the barge (a rotting rowboat which had shipped water continually when I crossed the river) was being repaired. I couldn't return.
If the Maestro would spend the night in the hotel, they would let him know their decision before train time the next morning. And, please, the Maestro would have to understand that they were only following official procedure.
The hotel was an experience in itself.
The broken-down wooden building, its doors on loose hinges, its food an over-cooked mess of greens, was blessed with the largest roaches I had ever seen. They were nightmare size, and ready to eat anything.
I spent the night standing on my bed, batting at oversize mosquitoes and keeping an eye open for invading roaches.
The heat became more oppressive each minute; only the plentiful supply of cold beer (at only 5 centavos a bottle) saved me from complete prostration.
My only compensation was one of my favorite Flemish proverbs: "In time of need the devil eats flies."
No one called for me that evening.
Since the train was due at 6 a.m., I left early for the office of the customs guard to obtain my clearance. No one was there. I searched the station for some evidence of official Mexico, but to no avail. I carried my luggage to the platform and, when the train arrived, I used my reservation ticket to obtain a good seat.
The train was scheduled to leave at 6:45. Shortly before that time, the customs guard walked thru the train to check papers. When he arrived at the door of my car, however, he smiled sheepishly and stepped off the train. What a relief! Who was it said that its just as good to make your opponent think that you're attacking him as it is to really attack?"
Koltanowski - Bondani, Mexico City, June 1939, 1 of 10. 1.e4 g6 2.d4 d6 3.f4 Bg7 4.Nf3 e6 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.c3 Nge7 7.0-0 f6 8.b4 a6 9.a4 Bd7 10.Be3 Na7 11.Nbd2 f5 12.Qe2 b5 13.a5 c5 14.dxc5 dxc5 15.Bxc5 Bxc3 16.Rac1 Bf6 17.exf5 exf5 18.Ne5 0-0 19.Nxd7 Qxd7 20.Nf3 Rfe8 21.Rcd1 Qc7 22.Ng5 Qc6 23.Qa2+ Qd5 24.Qxd5+ Nxd5 25.Bxf5 Nxf4 26.Bd7 Re2 27.Nxh7 Rxg2+ 28.Kh1 Be5 29.Nf6+ Bxf6 30.Rxf4 Be5 31.Be6+ 1-0 Black plays a bizarre opening, a favorite trick to try to get the master to lose track of moves. But no chance of that with Kolty. Black finally levers pawns to open the position but has more misplaced pieces and White places pieces on good squares. A series of captures and Black tries to go one up in threats but Kolty has the final say.
Congratulations to FM Marc Lang for setting the new World Record for simultaneous blindfold chess!!! He played 46 players and scored 25 wins, 19 draws, and 2 losses in just over 21 hours from Saturday morning, November 26th to Sunday morning, November 27th, 2011. He broke the 64 yr old record of GM Najdorf, may his record also last at least another 64 years! Marc is also the oldest player to successfully complete 30 boards or more. He celebrates his 42nd birthday on Christmas Eve. This completes over 3 years of intense preparation and successive record breaking attempts - first 15 boards, then the German record 23 boards, then 35 boards (breaking Koltanowski's record), and finally 46 boards for the new World Record! What an accomplishment!! - and by an FM no less! (no more!?)
Sometimes blindfold marathons are torturous, hard work and sometimes they go more smoothly. Marc was helped by his opponents lack of awareness of danger (in some games) and by his own tactical intuition and sharpness.
Dirk Reinhold - Marc Lang, Sontheim Germany, World Blindfold Record, Nov26, 2011, 1 of 46, 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nb3 Bb6 6.Be2 Ne7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Kh1 Nbc6 9.f4 d5 10.e5 f6 11.exf6 Rxf6 12.Nc3 Nf5 13.Bd3 Ng3+ 0-1 Its mate in two. According to Marc's notes he prepared the sharpest lines in a lot of openings - this is one of them, but of course White played without a sense of danger. Another example: Marc Lang - Kevin Walker, Sontheim Germany, Nov 26, 2011, World Blindfold Record, 1 of 46, 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 c5 6.dxc5 Qa5 7.e5 Ne4 8.cxd6 exd6 9.Qd5 Qxd5 10.Nxd5 Kd8 11.Be3 Be6 12.0-0-0 1-0 Marc plays one of the riskiest lines of the Austrian Attack in the Pirc. Not often do you get rewarded by 7...Ne4 and 8...exd6. At the end his opponent disliked the position so much he resigned! Hats off to Marc! for seizing the opportunities!
Gabriel Gritsch - Marc Lang Sontheim,Germany, Nov. 26, 2011, 1 of 46, 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.d4 0-0 5.e3 b6 6.Bd3 Bb7 7.0-0 d5 8.Bd2 dxc4 9.Bxc4 Nbd7 10.a3 Bxc3 11.Bxc3 Ne4 12.Rc1 c5 13.Qe2 cxd4 14. exd4 Ng5 15.Ne5 Nxe5 16.dxe5 Nf3+ 0-1 This was Marc's strongest opponent with a FIDE of 2130. He failed to analyse the tactics surrounding 14...Ng5 and played the positional "automatic" Ne5. (according to Marc's notes simply 15.Nd2 would have left the Ng5 looking silly). In the end position 17.gxf3 Qg5+ and Qh5 wins at least a piece or 17.Kh1 Qh4 allows pretty tactics.
A reader pointed out my analysis in the end position to the game above was wrong (White: Gabriel Gritsch) After 17.gxf3 Qg5+ 18.Kh1 Qh5 the resourceful 19.d5! exd5 20.Rg1 g6 21.Rg3 dxc4 Black is much better and White's position is a mess but Black doesnt win a piece. Another interesting point is that after 19.d5! exd5 20.Rg1 Black shouldnt play...d4 because of 21.Rxg7+!! Kxg7 22.Bxd4+ f6 23.Qe7+! Rf7 24.Rg1+ and Black must give the queen (or king). Interesting pawn play and spectacular tactics!
Another aggressive opening prepared by Marc was the Albin Counter Gambit. He played it for the first time in the following game: Sven Lutzei-Marc Lang, Sontheim, Germany, Nov. 26, 2011, 1 of 46, Blindfold World Record, 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.b3 Bg4 6.Nbd2 Bb4 7.Bb2 Qe7 8.Nxd4 Nxd4 9.Bxd4 Rd8 10.Be3 Qxe5 11.Rc1 Nf6 12.a3 Bxd2+ 13.Bxd2 Ne4 14.Rc2 Qf6 15.f3 Qh4+ 16.g3 Nxg3 0-1 I think its safe to say that it was his opponents first time facing it, as well.
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