March 11, 1972 Larry Evans on Chess

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Reno Gazette-Journal Reno, Nevada Saturday, March 11, 1972 - Page 5

EVANS ON CHESS

N. Guttman, USA

Problem: (03/11/1972) White mates in two.
Stockfish Analysis.

7th American Open
Santa Monica, California, again played host to a record 306 players. 5 leaders emerged with 6 wins and 2 draws: Walter Browne, Larry Evans, Carl Pilnick, Ross Stoutenborough, David Strauss. $400 went to each but the trophy was awarded to Pilnick on the tie-break.
The field was headed by grandmasters Browne and Evans, who are also the U. S. Open co-champions, and the luck of the draw paired them in the last round. By drawing a hard-fought game, they knocked each other out of a clear lead and allowed 3 players to overtake them.
As usual, chance played its role since there were too many players to be mathematically eliminated in only 8 rounds. Had there been another round or two, most likely the pack would hare sorted itself out. These so-called Swiss tournaments, like some other Swiss products, are full of holes. But there is simply no other way to complete an event of this magnitude in 4 days.

Alekhine's Defense
White: BROWNE 1 P-K4 2 P-K5 3 P-Q4 4 N-KB3 5 B-QB4 6 B-N3 7 0-0(a) 8 PxP 9 P-QR4 10 P-B3(b) 11 QN-Q2 12 R-K1 13 N-B1 14 P-R4 15 N-N3 16 B-B2 17 N-K2 18 N-B4 19 Q-Q3(d) 20 P-KN3 21 P-N3 22 B-Q2 23 PxP 24 N-N5 25 Q-K2 26 P-R5 27 P-QN4 28 B-N3 29 K-R2 30 QR-B1 31 B-K3 32 PxN 33 R-131 34 N-R3(f) 35 NxB 36 R-B4 37 NxNch 38 R/1-KB1 39 Q-KB2 40 R-B6	Black: EVANS N-KB3 N-Q4 P-Q3 P-KN3 N-N3 B-N2 0-0 BPxP N-B3 P-Q4 P-K3(c) B-Q2 R-B1 P-KR4 P-B31 N-K2 Q-K1 Q-B2 N-B4 KR-K1 B-B3(e) P-K4 PxP P-K5 Q-B3 N-R1 N-B2 K-R1 R-K2 QR-K1 NxB B-R3 BxN Q-K4 K-N2 N-K3 QxN B-Q2 B-N4! Q-Q2! Draw (g)
(a) Sharper is 7 N-N5, P-Q4 8 P-KB4! (b) Not 10 P-Q5, N-R4 11 B-R2, NxRP 12 P-B3, P-QN4! winning a Pawn. (c) Safer is 11 … N-R4 12 B-B2, N/3-B5, swapping Knights. (d) 19 N-Q3! is better. (e) If 21 … P-K4 22 P-R5! holds. But not 22 PxP, PxP 23 N-N5, PxN! 24 NxQ, RxRch. (f) 34 NxQP? NxN! 35 RxQ, BxQ. (g) If 41 R-Q1, B-Q6 holds. Or 41 RxPch, KxR 42 Q-B6ch, K-R2 43 R-B5, B-K7!! and Black's safe. Or 41 R-B8, BxR! 42 Q-136ch, K-R3! 43 Q-R8ch, R-R2.

PROBLEM SOLUTION: 1 QxQBP!

February 12, 1972 Larry Evans on Chess

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Reno Gazette-Journal Reno, Nevada Saturday, February 12, 1972 - Page 5

EVANS ON CHESS

V. Chepizny, USSR

Problem: (02/12/1972) White mates in two.
Stockfish Analysis.

The 72nd U.S. Open
The 1971 U.S. Open chess championship in August at Ventura California, attracted a record 400 entries, including a strong field of 8 grand-masters. The new co-champions with scores of 10-2 are 22-year-old Walter Browne of Australia, the youngest grandmaster, and 39-year-old Larry Evans of Reno, 3-time USA champion. Close on their heels with 9½-2½ were international stars Lubomir Kavalek (who recently defected from Czechoslovakia), William Lombardy (a Catholic priest), Hans Ree the Dutch champion) and Samuel Reshevsky (once a child prodigy). Here's the crucial clash between the leaders from round 7. The first move in chess is equivalent to the serve, and White's opening initiative often extends well into the middle-game. Fighting an uphill battle, Black never succeeds in equalizing, and eventually he buckles under his defensive task.

Nimzo Indian Defense
White: EVANS 1 P-Q4 2 P-QB4 3 N-QB3 4 P-K3 5 B-Q3 6 N-B3 7 0-0 8 BxP 9 P-QR3 10 Q-Q3 11 PxP 12 R-Q1 13 P-R3 14 B-K3 15 Q-K2 16 QR-B1 17 PxN 18 K-R1 19 B-R2 20 P-Q5 21 PxP 22 RxR 23 Q-B4 24 N-K5 25 Q-K4 26 N-N6 27 N-B4 28 NxP 29 BxBch 30 QxQ 31 N-Q5 32 R-B2 33-R-B3 34 K-N1 35 R-B4 36 RxB 37 R-N5 38 N-N4 39 R-KB5 40 R-B1 41 R-B2 42 K-R2 43 R-B7 44 N-Q5 45 P-QN3 46 R-Q7 47 R-Q8ch 48 N-B6ch 49 RxR 50 R-Q5	Black: BROWNE N-KB3 P-K3 B-N5 0-0 P-B4 P-Q4 PxBP N-B3 B-R4 PxP(a) B-N3 P-KR3 Q-K2 R-Q1 N-Q4 NxB B-Q2 B-K1 QR-B1 N-N1(b) PxP RxR B-Q2 B-B1(c) N-B3 Q-B3 Q-K4(d) BxN K-R1 NxQ N-Q6 B-B4 N-B7ch N-K5 N-N4 NxB P-QN3 N-B2 R-QBch R-Q7 R-Q8ch R-K8 N-N4 R-K7 R-Q7(e) NxP K-R2 PxN N-N4 Resigns
(a) A dubious system which enables White to free his QB (Queen Bishop) while Black's counterpart on QR4 re-mains more or less stranded. More reliable is the older 10 … P-QR3; and if 11 PxP, QxQ 12 BxQ, BxN 13 PxP, N-QR4!=. (b) Or 20 … PxP 21 NxP, Q-K5 22 R-B4! with a good attack. (c) Not 24 … BxP 25 R-KB1. R-KB1 26 RxRch, QxR (…. KxR?? 27 N-Nbch) 27 NxB, NxN 28 QxPc.h, K-R1 29 QxB snares a piece. (d) If 27 … R-K1 28 N;4-Q5, Q-K4 29 NxB, PxN 30 QxQ, NxQ 31 N-K4 with strong threats. (e) Loses. But so does 45 … NxP 46 RxRP, N-B7 47 R-R2! White's extra Pawn is decisive in this ending.

PROBLEM SOLUTION: 1 N-Q7!