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Perez - Anon, Madrid, Spain 1951, (from a 12 game blindfold simul) 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Bxf6 Bxf6 6.e5 Be7 7.Qg4 0-0 8.Bd3 c5 9.dxc5 Nc6 10.f4 Bxc5 11.0-0-0 f6 12.Qh3 f5 13.g4 Ne7 14.gxf5 exf5 15.Kb1 Ng6 16.Nce2 Qb6 17.Nf3 Ba3 18.b3 Qa5 19.Rhg1 Nxf4 20.Nxf4 Qc3 21.Rxg7+ Kxg7 22.Rg1+ Kh8 23.Ng6+ Kg7 24.Nxf8+ Kxf8 25.Qh6+ Ke8 26.Rg8+ Kd7 27.Rg7+ Ke8 28.Bb5+ with at most checkmate in two moves, if Bd7 29.Qe6+ 1-0 Black attacks the king first. He removes the defender (19...Nxf4) and threatens checkmate in one. In doing so he removes the defender from his own king and it perishes. Anticipation or desperation by White? - It doesnt matter - the finish is clear.
Back to Koltanowski. Koltanowski did many blindfold tours (series of blindfold simul exhibitions) of Europe during the 1930's. One of his favorite countries to visit was Switzerland. In 1936 and 1937 he did extensive tours of Switzerland that were arranged by Henry Grob (the Swiss champ and international). In the fall of 1937 (just after his then world record setting simul of 34 boards) he claimed a further world record of 26 blindfold exhibitions, each of 10 boards, in 26 different cities on 26 consecutive days. No one will ever better that mark. Koltanowski's overall score was an amazing 94% - - and of course there were some interesting games. Koltanowski - Rey (from der Bund, one of Berne's leading newspapers) 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.0-0 Bc5 5.d4 Bxd4 6.Nxd4 Nxd4 7.f4 d6 8.c3 Be6 9.Bd3 Nc6 10.f5 Bd7 11.Bg5 Qe7 12.b4 a6 13.a4 Nb8 14.Qe2 0-0 15.Nd2 Re8 16.Bc4 Bc8 17.Rad1 Nbd7 18.Bb3 b5 19.axb5 axb5 20.Rf3 Rb8 21.Nf1 Qf8 22.Rg3 Kh8 23.Rh3 Bb7 24.Ng3 h6 25.Qe3 Ng8 26.Rf1 Ndf6 27.Bc2 d5 28.Nh5 Nxh5 29.Rxh5 f6 30.Bh4 Rbd8 31.exd5 Bxd5 32.Be1 Rd7 33.g4 Qe7 34.Rh3 Rc8 35.Bh4 c5 36.g5 fxg5 37.Bxg5 Qd6 38.f6 gxf6 39.Bxf6+ Nxf6 40.Qxh6+ Kg8 41.Qh8+ Kf7 42.Rh7+ Ke6 43.Bf5# 1-0 Koltanowski plays inventively in the opening (10.f5!, 12.b4!) and builds pressure throughout the game. With everything locked on the kingside he resorts to Alekhine's patented g4 pawn lever in front of the king (33.g4!) and further with 36.g5 and 38.f6. An amazing game.
Another game from Switzerland 1937: Koltanowski - NN, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Be7 4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.h3 h6 7.d3 0-0 8.Be3 a6 9.Qe2 Bd7 10.Nh2 Nh7 11.f4 Be6 12.Nd5 Na5 13.Nxe7+ Qxe7 14.Bxe6 Qxe6 15.f5 Qe7 16.Qh5 Nf6 17.Qh4 Nc6 18.Ng4 Nxg4 19.Qxg4 Qf6 20.c3 Rad8 21.h4 Kh8 22.Rf3 Kh7 23.Bg5 hxg5 24.hxg5 Qe7 25.Rh3+ Kg8 26.Qh5 f6 27.g6 1-0 Kolty gains space on the kingside with 15.f5 but the attack doesnt breakthru until 23.Bg5. In the final position the best part of the picture is the pawn chain d3-e4-f5-g6 pointing to the heart of the black king's position.
Another game from Switzerland 1937: Koltanowski - NN, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Be7 4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.h3 h6 7.d3 0-0 8.Be3 a6 9.Qe2 Bd7 10.Nh2 Nh7 11.f4 Be6 12.Nd5 Na5 13.Nxe7+ Qxe7 14.Bxe6 Qxe6 15.f5 Qe7 16.Qh5 Nf6 17.Qh4 Nc6 18.Ng4 Nxg4 19.Qxg4 Qf6 20.c3 Rad8 21.h4 Kh8 22.Rf3 Kh7 23.Bg5 hxg5 24.hxg5 Qe7 25.Rh3+ Kg8 26.Qh5 f6 27.g6 1-0 Kolty gains space on the kingside with 15.f5 but the attack doesnt breakthru until 23.Bg5. In the final position the best part of the picture is the pawn chain d3-e4-f5-g6 pointing to the heart of the black king's position.
Bg5 should be played one move early - 22.Bg5+-. After Rf3, Black could try to avoid a variation with Bg5 (just to prolong existence, and not get a mate as in the game)
From Kolty's book "In the Dark" - a dedication to Edgar Colle "one of the most gifted players of my generation" (and the Colle System 1.d4 2.Nf3 3.e3 4.Bd3 5.c3 is named after him). Apparently Colle died just before Kolty's Swiss blindfold tours and Kolty writes: "After his early death, I vowed that I would do what I could to perpetuate his memory by popularizing his favourite opening. Since then I have played the Colle Opening at least once in every exhibition, every tournament, every demonstration of over-the-board or blindfold ability." Here is the Colle from one of his exhibitions in Switzerland. Koltanowski - NN, 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.Bd3 c5 5.c3 c4 6.Bc2 Nc6 7.Nbd2 Bd6 8.e4 dxe4 9.Nxe4 b5 10.0-0 Nxe4 11.Bxe4 Bb7 12.Qe2 g6 13.a4 a6 14.b3 cxb3 15.axb5 axb5 16.Rxa8 Qxa8 17.Qxb5 0-0 18.Qxb3 Na5 19.Bxb7 Nxb3 20.Bxa8 Nxc1 21.Rxc1 Rxa8 22.c4 f6 23.Kf1 e5 24.c5 Rc8 25.Ke2 exd4 26.cxd6 Rxc1 27.d7 d3+ 28.Kd2 1-0 Kolty does not avoid exchanges and transposes almost effortlessly into a winning endgame. Also note the trick 26.cxd6 that Black falls for. According to Kolty the Colle often transposes from the middlegame to a natural endgame advantage.
Koltanowski - NN, St. Gallen, Switzerland, 1937, 1 of 10, 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.e3 c6 6.a3 Be7 7.Qc2 0-0 8.Rd1 Re8 9.Nf3 c5 10.dxc5 Nxc5 11.cxd5 Nxd5 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Nxd5 exd5 14.Rxd5 b6 15.Bb5 Rd8 16.Rxd8+ Qxd8 17.b4 Ne6 18.Bc6 Rb8 19.0-0 Qf6 20.Rd1 Ng5 21.Qc3 Nxf3+ 22.gxf3 Qe7 23.Qe5 1-0 According to Kolty he had the opportunity at the end to place the queen on an unprotected square in the center where it must not be captured. An interesting remove-the-defender tactic.
Now for a story about those exhibitions in Switzerland by Kolty. He had many,many stories and enjoyed storytelling. According to Kolty a large part of his Swiss tour of 1937 was through districts bordering Germany. The most noteworthy exhibition was in the village of Kreuzlingen. Less than a mile away was the German border and a little further was the German city of Friedrichshafen. Kolty's fee came in an unsigned letter which asked him to show up at the village restaurant on the evening of a late October day. When Kolty appeared at the restaurant a table had been reserved for him but no sign of any organizer. No one spoke to him and nobody seemed to notice him. No signage, nothing. People began showing up and by 8pm there was at least a hundred in the restaurant. A tall man told Kolty that he was a visitor from 50 miles away and would act as move messenger. In a few minutes tables were arranged, boards setup, and the exhibition started. By 9pm more than 200 people filled the playing area. Not a sound could be heard from any of them. According to Kolty: "It was as if only the move messenger and I were actors before some audience of deaf-mutes. I tried all the audience-participation tricks I knew, but to no avail. I offered to repeat the moves of all or any of the games and did so. No applause. I announced a pretty mate in six. No reaction at all. In spite of stubborn resistance I had won all the games by 11pm." As Kolty walked from the restaurant to his hotel he was passed by more than a 100 cyclists in the dark. As they passed they greeted him with words like wunderbar, congratulations, and hope to see you someday in Germany. The reason according to Kolty for all this clandestine activity - at one of the previous Hastings tournaments he had made his position on Hitler known to a group of visiting German players. (Kolty tells this story much better than I could - it is from the book "In The Dark") Now for the game - of course there is a game! Koltanowski - Herr X von Kreuzlingen 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bf4 e6 4.e3 Bd6 5.Bg3 Bxg3 6.hxg3 Nf6 7.c4 dxc4 8.Bxc4 0-0 9.a3 h6 10.Nc3 a6 11.e4 Re8 12.e5 Nd5 13.Ne4 Nce7 14.Qd3 b5 15.Ba2 Ng6 16.Nh4 Nxh4 17.Rxh4 Ne7 18.Rg4 Ng6 19.0-0-0 Qe7 and now an announced finish of 6 moves! 20.Nf6+ gxf6 21.Rxg6+ fxg6 22.Qxg6+ Kf8 23.exf6 Qf7 24.Qxh6+ Kg8 25.Rh1 1-0 Black plays the Chigorin's Defence poorly and according to Kolty actually helps him with the attack with moves like 5...Bxg3?, 9...h6?, 16...Nxh4?. Kolty makes the attack seem easy --- but only to a great master focused on 10 boards blindfold simultaneous - in the silence.
Another interesting game from Switzerland. Koltanowski - NN 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qa4+ Nc6 5.e3 Nf6 6.Nf3 Bd7 7.Qc2 Qe7 8.a3 Bxc3+ 9.Qxc3 Ne4 10.Qc2 f5 11.Bd3 0-0 12.0-0 b6 13.b4 Nd8 14.Ne5 c6 15.f3 Ng5 16.e4 fxe4 17.Bxg5 Qxg5 18.fxe4 Rxf1+ 19.Rxf1 Be8 20.exd5 g6 21.d6 Qh6 22.Qf2 Qg7 23.c5 Bf7 24.Bc4 Rb8 25.Nxf7 Nxf7 26.Bxe6 Rb7 27.d7 1-0 A nice positional game by Kolty ends up with an accurately played attack. The N sits on e5 from move 14 to 24 and leads the way and doesnt move until it breaks up Black's defenses. The murderous pawn on d6 restrains the black position and is the top of a pretty picture of connected white pawns (from move 23).
GM Ben Finegold gave a six board blindfold exhibition yesterday at the 2011 Canadian Open in Toronto. I went to spectate because I wanted to see how a grandmaster does a blindfold simul. Ben has done many of these, usually 6 boards, over the years, and he gave a relatively smooth and positionally dominating performance. He opened with d4 on 3 boards and e4 on 3 boards. Added spice was Ben's witty comments. He took 2 and a half hours for a total of about 200 moves - so about 45 seconds a move - pretty fast and was never in trouble. Here are two games: GM Finegold - Jose Campos, Bd 6 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 cxd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Nc3 a6 8.Bd3 Nge7 9.0-0 Bd7 10.Bd2 Ba5 11.Rc1 b5 12.Ne2 Bxd2 13.Qxd2 Qa5 14.Qf4 Qxa2 15.Ra1 Qb3 16.Rfd1 Nb4 17.Ne1 Qxb2 18.Qe3 Nxd3 19.Nxd3 Qb3 20.Rdb1 Qc2 21.Rc1 Qb3 22.Rc3 Nf5 23.Qd2 Qc4 24.Rxc4 dxc4 25.Nc5 Bc6 26.Rxa6 Rxa6 27.Nxa6 0-0 28.Nb4 Bb7 29.f3 Ra8 30.Kf2 Ra3 31.d5 exd5 32.Nd4 Nxd4 33.Qxd4 Rb3 34.Qc5 Rb2+ 35.Kg3 1-0 Black goes pawn grabbing and gets his queen trapped. Just when you think he might have some chances with the connected passed pawns, White blockades and controls. GM Finegold - James Law, Bd 1, 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.c4 Be7 6.Nc3 0-0 7.h3 b6 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.0-0 h6 11.Re1 Nd7 12.Ne4 N5f6 13.Ng3 c5 14.Nf5 Re8 15.Bxh6 gxh6 16.Nxh6+ Kg7 17.Ng5 Nf8 18.Nf5+ Kg8 19.Bc4 Nd5 20.Nh6+ Kg7 21.Nhxf7 Qd7 22.Qh5 Bxg5 23.Nxg5 Nf4 24.Qh4 Nxg2 25.Qg3 Nxe1 Agreed drawn. White plays creatively from the opening to avoid another "normal" French Defence. He transfers smoothly to a kingside attack but his opponent defends resourcefully. Just as it looks that White is breaking thru, Black attacks the king position to get in a last threat and offers a draw. In the final position White can play Ne6 discovered double check! but it doesnt checkmate!! However if White had looked a little further (admittedly blindfold!) he would have "seen" 26.Ne6++ Kh8 27.Qe5+ Kh7 28.Qh5+Kg8 29.Nxc5+ winning the queen. However there are alot of variations. Kudos to GM Finegold's young opponent for a well timed draw offer! GM Finegold's final score: 5 wins and one draw from 6 games.
and now for the beginning of the Canadian chapter of Koltanowski's blindfold touring.... After Kolty's world record breaking blindfold exhibition in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1937 his long time friend Bernard Freedman (they both had grown up in Belgium and maintained a casual correspondence after Bernard Freedman left for Canada) arranged a tour of Canada and the United States. In Kolty's own words: "As my ship neared the shores of Canada on a misty September morning in 1938 - the horizon shines here! How true! I have toured the New World eight times since then, travelling from 5 to 10 thousand miles each season, visiting as many as 7 countries in a 90 day period, and everywhere I have found an interest in life and an optimism which an entire continent takes for granted and which has since become my own. I am an American citizen now, yet my many friends all over the Western Hemisphere have made me feel a citizen of their country, a native of their town, a welcome guest in city, chess club or home. Yes, the horizon shines here!, and I like to play with the romantic idea that it also shines for me because I wrote an occasional letter to the finest of friends, Bernard Freedman."
Koltanowski's first Canadian exhibition was played in Quebec City on September 16th, 1938 and two days later he did a 15 board blindfold in Montreal with 11 wins and 4 draws (a remarkable score! and based on the circumstances even more so). According to Koltanowski: " I started the exhibition full of confidence and after an hour or so was playing strongly on every board.Then I froze in what was the most difficult position of my chess career. The sweat broke out on my brow and i suddenly convinced myself that I would never again be able to play a game of blindfold chess. For the first time in my life I had forgotten every position! Instead of the old ability to concentrate and recall the moves on every board, I found myself thinking of ocean voyages, the troubles in Spain, my breakfast this morning - of everything but the exhibition. I saw my entire tour going up in smoke, and with this despair my mind became even blanker than it had been. Some ten minutes passed while I gritted my teeth and tried to remember. It was no use; I was as good as finished.My friends tell me that I'm a real showman, a man who responds to the audience in the grand tradition. They're right, and it was proven at that moment, for someone crept up to me and snapped a photograph of what he thought was a chess master concentrating on the best way to win a game. The sudden glare of the flashlight bulb brought me back to life, and light dawned on the chess boards. What an experience!"
A few days after the Montreal exhibition Koltanowski did a blindfold exhibition on 16 boards in Toronto. From that exhibition the game Koltanowski - Kearns 1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 d5 4.e5 Nc6 5.d4 e6 6.axb4 Bxb4+ 7.c3 Bf8 8.Bd3 Nge7 9.Ne2 g6 10.0-0 Bg7 11.f4 0-0 12.g4 f5 13.exf6 Rxf6 14.Nd2 Qc7 15.Nf3 Bd7 16.Qe1 Rf7 17.Be3 h6 18.Qh4 Raf8 19.Kg2 Bf6 20.Qh3 Na5 21.Ne5 Bxe5 22.fxe5 Rxf1 23.Rxf1 Rxf1 24.Kxf1 h5 25.gxh5 Nf5 26.Bxf5 exf5 27.hxg6 Bb5 28.Qxf5 Bxe2+ 29.Kxe2 Qc4+ 30.Kf2 Qc7 31.Bh6 1-0 A model kingside attack in the Wing Gambit of the Sicilian Defense. I believe Black was Keith Kerns from Toronto, a long time tournament player who I played in my first major tournament, the 1974 Canadian Open.
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