Running against the wind

Bob Seger and his Silver Bullet Band. I've always liked that. Or Paul Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years--that's another one. Might have been before your time. Last month this old bod completed 76 revolutions around the sun. I tried for a BDG on my birthday, but I didn't have much time, and this first game was the best I could do. It's a trivial game, but it's the best I could do. Tonight I got in a reversed BDG, a Soller Gambit, as some of us old timers might say. It's the second game below.

Anyway, it's a post. I'm slowing down, so will not be posting that often here. I have other interests I want to concentrate my remaining years and energies on, but--always a but--I still have some of Diemer's papers and stuff that I want to put up here. So if you want to check back now and then, if you are a BDG fan, you might find something of interest.

Back to back

How do you explain it? A player has a great tournament one month, a dismal one a month or two later. Nakamura triumphs spectacularly at Wijk aan Zee and a few months later struggles to avoid last place at Dortmund. What is it? What’s the difference? Concentration? Confidence? Fate? Luck? It happens everywhere. Teams go on winning streaks (and losing streaks). Batters go on hitting streaks. Golfers, racing car drivers, best selling novelists, all succeed or fail in streaks.

Yes, simple woodpushers, too. By the time I took up chess I had a family and work that allowed little time for weekend tournaments. They were usually so few and far apart that I came to consider two games won in row a winning streak. Here’s an example from thirty years ago, when my work involved so much travel that I probably got in no more than a couple of tournaments a year. The games were played back to back, one with white, one with black. And each was blessed with a rook sac down the beloved f-file.

Peter Atzerpay, W.K.P.I., S.A.C.

These days it's rare to hear from my old friend Peter Atzerpay, the well-known private investigator and strong amateur chessplayer. Pete's pretty much retired from active investigations since his glory days on the trail in Little Rock, and from active tournament play as well.

The last I heard from him he was hustling five dollar games at knight odds in a little coffee shop in a dead-end alley off Jackson Square. I reminded him of that when he surprised me with a phone call the other day.

"Long time ago," he said. "B. K."

"B. K.?"

"Before Katrina," he said. "But it was getting harder to get a game even before that. Anyway, these days I just pick up a game now and then down at the shelter."

Before I could respond to that he said, "Get a board. I want to give you a new Blackmar-Diemer."

It goes easier when I don't argue with Pete. I got a board.

"Okay," he said. "Here we go. 1. d4, e5 ..."

"Wait a minute," I said. "I thought it was a BDG?"

"Reversed," Pete said. "I'm playing black. It's a BDG reversed."

"Okay," I said. "In other words, a Soller Gambit?"

"Whatever," Pete said. "Here's the game."

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H

Anonymous - Atzerpay, Peter

0-1 (unrated blitz match) 4/16/2010

[#] 1.d4 e5 2.dxe5 Nc6 3.Nf3 f6 4.exf6 Nxf6 5.Bg5 d5 6.e3 Bd6 7.Nc3 Be6 8.Be2 O-O 9.O-O Qe8 10.Bxf6 Rxf6 11.Nxd5 Rh6 12.c4 Rd8 13.a3 Qh5 14.g3 Bg4 15.h4 Rf8 16.Nd4 Bxe2 17.Qxe2 Qg6 18.Qc2?

[18.c5 Nxd4 19.exd4 c6 20.Ne3 Bc7± ]

18...Qg4

["Sure," Pete said, "I saw 18...Nxd4 19.Qxg6 Ne2+ but I was counting on mate in a few more moves. With the queens off the board it would take longer."]

19.Qe2 Qh3 20.Nf4??

[20.Nf3 Qg4 21.Nd4 looks about even, Pete.]

20...Bxf4 21.gxf4??

[21.Nf3 Bxg3 22.fxg3 Qxg3+ 23.Qg2 Rg6 24.Ng5 Rxf1+ 25.Rxf1 Qxg2+ 26.Kxg2 h6° ;

21.exf4 Nxd4 22.Qe4 Rxf4 23.Qd5+ Re6 24.Rae1 Nf3+ 25.Qxf3 Rxf3° ]

21...Rg6+ [0-1]

Generated by Aquarium

The Beginning of His Best Year (Part 2)

Continuing an account of Diemer's success at the 1956 Premier Reserve Master Tourney at the Beverwijk Open... In the first round Diemer drew the Black pieces against the Yugoslavian master Pavlovic. The opening presaged all his attempts at gambits in Beverwijk--he couldn't give a pawn away! Pavlovic,B - Diemer,EJ Beverwijk (1), 1956 Soller Gambit Declined (? A40 1.d4 e5 2.d5 Bc5 3.e4 Qh4 4.Qe2 Nf6 5.Nd2 Ng4 6.Nh3 d6 7.Nb3 Bb6 8.g3 Qe7 9.f3 Nf6 10.Nf2 h6 11.Be3 c5 12.Nd2 Bc7 13.Bg2 a6 14.a4 b6 15.0-0 Nbd7 16.f4 Rb8 17.f5 Nh7 18.g4 Ng5 19.h4 Nh7 20.Nf3 Nhf6 21.Nh2 Nh7 22.Nf3 Nhf6 23.Qd2 h5 24.g5 Ng4 25.Bh3 Nxe3 26.Qxe3 Nf8 27.Kh2 Qd8 28.Rg1 g6 29.f6 Bxh3 30.Nxh3 Nd7 31.Nf2 Qc8 32.Nd2 Ra8 33.Ra2 Kf8 34.Qe2 Kg8 35.Rga1 Kh7 36.Nf1 Nb8 37.Ng3 Ra7 38.Kg2 Kg8 39.Qc4 Rb7 40.c3 Kh7 41.b4 Bd8 42.Qe2 cxb4 43.cxb4 Rc7 44.Rb1 Nd7 45.Rbb2 a5 46.bxa5 bxa5 47.Rb5 Nc5 48.Rxa5 Nb3 49.Rb5 Nc1 50.Qb2 Nxa2 51.Qxa2 Rc2 52.Qb1 Qc3 53.Rb7 Bc7 54.Qd1 Ra8 55.Nxh5 Rxa4 56.Ng3 Raa2 57.Ngh1 Rc1 58.Qg4 Qe1 0-1 How was this a Soller Gambit Declined when the f-pawn was not offered? Presumably, Diemer would have offered it had White taken the e-pawn on move two; at any rate he labeled this game a Soller Gambit Declined. In round two, Diemer saw another of his custom gambits declined (or more accurately put, avoided). Diemer, EJ - Tilstra Beverwijk (2), 1956 Alapin-Diemer Gambit Declined [A40] 1.d4 e6 2.e4 c5 3.c3 d5 4.Be3 cxd4 5.cxd4 Nc6 6.Nc3 Qa5 7.a3 Nf6 8.b4 Nxb4 9.axb4 Qxb4 10.Bd2 Bd7

11.e5 On 11.Nxd5? Tilstra planned 11...Nxd5 12.Bxb4 Bxb4+ 13.Ke2 Nc3+ 11...Qxd4 12.Nf3 Qg4 13.exf6 gxf6 14.h3 Qg7 15.Nb5 Bc5 16.Nc7+ Ke7 17.Nxa8 Rxa8 18.Rc1 b6 19.Nh4 a5 20.Bd3 a4 21.Qe2 Kd8 22.0-0 a3 23.Bb5 Bxb5 24.Qxb5 Qf8 25.Bc3 d4 26.Rfd1 Qd6 27.Bxd4 Bxd4 28.Qc4 e5 29.Nf5 b5 30.Qxf7 1-0

(To be continued)