A little more on Durao

Yesterday's post didn't present IM Joaquin Durao in the best light. Any international master who is still going strong at the age of 79 probably has a few good games to his credit, and today I've enjoyed playing through some of Durao's games. Here's the conclusion of one that I found attractive.

J. Durao - H. Ben Rehouma, Lugano Olympiad, 1968

 

 After 23...Rac8? 

24. g5! Qxg5 

Black might try to run away with 24... Qe6, but White persists with 25. Qh5 h6 26. Bb3 Nc4 (26... Nbd5 27. Nxe7+ Qxe7 28. Rxc8 Rxc8 29. Bxd5 Kh8 30.Bxf7) 27. dxc4 bxc4 (27... Nxf5 28. cxb5 Qd7 29. exf5 Qxf5 30.Rxc8) 28. Bxc4 Rxc4 29. Nxe7+ Qxe7 30. Rxc4)

25. Qh5 Qxh5 26. Nxe7+ Kh8 27. Rxh5 Rc7

(27... g6 or h6 28. Nxc8 Rxc8 29. Rxe5)

28. Rxh7+ 1-0. (28...Kxh7 29. Rh1#)

Here's the complete game:

[Event "Lugano ol (Men)"]
[Site "Lugano"]
[Date "1968.??.??"]
[White "Durao, Joaquim"]
[Black "Ben Rehouma, H."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C92"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Nd7 10. d3 Nb6 11. Nbd2 Na5 12. Bc2 c5 13. Nf1 Bf6 14. N3h2 Nc6 15. Ng4 Bxg4 16. hxg4 Bg5 17. Ne3 Qf6 18. g3 Ne7 19. Kg2 d5 20. Rh1 d4 21. cxd4 cxd4 22. Nf5 Bxc1 23. Rxc1 Rac8 24. g5 Qxg5 25. Qh5 Qxh5 26. Nxe7+ Kh8 27. Rxh5 Rc7 28. Rxh7+ 1-0

Diemer - Durao, Hoogovens-B 1956

Susan Polgar has an item on her blog, 79 and still going strong, taken from a Spanish language post, about IM Joaquin Durao. Born on 25 October 1930 in Lisbon, Portugal, Durao actually won't be 79 for a few more months, but the point is that he's still active at an advanced age. According to Jeremy Gaige's Chess Personalia, he was awarded the international master title in 1975. Although his rating has gradually fallen to the low 2100s, in the mid 1970s, when Durao was in his forties, it stood around 2350. In 1956 Durao played in the Hoogovens-B tournament in Beverwijk. This was the lower master group of what is now the very strong Corus tournament, the latest interation just concluded a couple of weeks ago. Today the tournament is strong indeed, with a C group added. The players in all three groups, except for several IMs in C, I believe, were grandmasters. In 1956 things were much different--but again, grandmasters did not litter the chess landscape then as they do today. Nor did players have computer assistants in those days. In 1956 Diemer also played in Group B in Beverwijk. In fact he won it, with a score of 6.5 out of 9, a half point ahead of his nearest rival. Here's his short little game with Durao from the sixth round:

E. J. Diemer - J. Durao Hoogovens-B, Beverwijk, 1956 Hübsch Gambit

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. e4 Nxe4 4. Nxe4 dxe4 5. Bf4

Preparing to play f3 (what else?), but first he needed to hold back e5. 5...Nd7 6. f3 exf3 7. Nxf3 Nf6 8. Bc4 e6 9. O-O Be7 10. Qe1 O-O 11. Bd3 Nd5 12. Be5 Bf6 13. c4 Bxe5

14. dxe5 Nf4 15. Bc2 Qe7 16. Qe3 Ng6 17. Ng5 h6?

17... f5 was needed. 18. Nxf7 Rxf7 19. Bxg6 Rxf1+ 20. Rxf1 Bd7 21. Rf7 Qd8 22. Qf3 1-0.  

Black resigned, as there was no way to meet 23.Rxg7+ Kxg7 24.Qf7+ Kh8 25.Qh7#; if 22...Qe8 23. Qxb7 Rc8 24. Rxg7+ Kxg7 25. Bxe8 Rxe8 26. Qxc7 wins.