Matchless — why one-on-one chess combat is largely a thing of the past

Well, stand your butt up then.”

“You stand your butt up, big guy.”

That actual exchange from an actual recent Senate hearing may have been less than edifying, but it did get us thinking about the stark decline in that ultimate in mano a mano chess, the challenge match between two consenting chessplayers.

There are still classic multigame matches to decide world championship titles, but tournament and team play now constitute the vast bulk of a modern player’s playing schedule.

It wasn’t always thus: The great American champ Paul Morphy made his name in a string of challenge matches during his electric tour of European capitals in the years just before the Civil War. Top masters in the late 19th and early 20th century routinely challenged rivals to stakes matches, for money, for training or just for bragging rights. One of the great what-ifs of American chess was the 1961 16-game stakes match between Sammy Reshevsky, 49, and 18-year-old Bobby Fischer for national supremacy, abandoned over a nasty scheduling dispute with the score tied as 5½-5½.

The great Mikhail Chigorin, considered the father of Russian chess, was a frequent match participant, beyond his two famous world title bouts (both close losses) with Austrian rival Wilhelm Steinitz. Chigorin’s epic drawn match with German great Siegbert Tarrasch in 1893 is considered by many the defining clash of 19th century Romantic chess with the emerging “scientific” approach of the early 20th century.

One of Chigorin’s most memorable matches came at the tail end of his career. Young Polish star Georg Salwe has just won the 1906 All-Russian Masters’ Tournament, the de facto national championship, and a match was arranged to see if the old lion could keep up with the young buck.

Chigorin won by a score of 7-3, with four draws.

One of his best wins helped clinch the match in its last stages. In a Classical French, Salwe as Black gets caught with his king in the center — not a happy place against one of the great attackers of the age. After 10. c3 Qb6?! (White’s next move protects the bishop, guards the b-pawn and develops a piece, so it’s not clear why Salwe wanted to provoke it) 11. Qe2 cxd4 12. Nxd4 Bd7 13. 0-0 Rd8 (Nxd4? 14. Bxd7+ Kxd7 15. cxd4 Qxd4 16. Rad1), it’s already clear Black doesn’t know where to stash his king, as castling short would put the king on a half-open file with the rest of his army on the other side of the board.

Black’s bishop pair makes for a sorry sight as Chigorin’s army deploys with maximal efficiency. After one small hiccup, the White positional dominance carries the day: 16. Rad1 f4 (a5 17. Ngxf5! exf5 18. Nb3!, and the Black queen has no retreat that still guards the e7-square) 17. Ne4!? (good, but a near put away volley here is 17. Nfg5! a5 [exf5 18. Nb3 and wins] 18. Nxe7 Qxe7 19. Nf5! Qf6 20. Nd6+ Ke7 21. Nb7 Rb8 22. Nc5 Rhd8 23. Qa6, and Black’s queenside collapses) Qe5 18. Qf3 Qc7? (it was finally time for 18…0-0, and Black has some hopes of saving the game after 19. Nb3 Bc8 20. Nd6 Qg5 21. Nxc8 Rxc8 22. Rd7) 19. Qh5! and the White attack is very much back on track, already threatening 20. Nf5! exf5 21. Nf6+ Kf8 22. Qh6 mate.

White can even jettison a piece as his queen and the rook do a number on the exposed Black king: 21. Qg5 h5 22. Nf5! Rd5 23. c4! (forcing Black to sip from the poisoned chalice) Rxd1 24. Rxd1 exf5 25. Qg7, and Salwe has no good defense.

The finale: 26. Re1+ Be6 27. Rxe6+! (exploiting the sideways pin) Kd7 28. Rh6 Qa5 29. Qd4+ (not falling for 29. Qxf8?? Qe1 mate) Ke8 30. h3, and White cleans up on 30…f6 31. Qxf4 Kd7 32. Rxh5 Qxa2 33. Rh7+, and Black resigned not needing to be shown 33…Ke6 (Kc8 34. Qc7 mate; 33…Kd8 34. Qb8 mate) 34. Qe3+ Kd6 35. Qe7 mate.

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Dutch great Max Euwe has a reputation as perhaps the most genial player ever to be world chess champion, but he also had a pronounced taste for match combat, playing in numerous nontitle bouts with opponents ranging from Geza Maroczy in 1921 to a mini-tilt with 14-year-old Fischer in 1957 (Euwe won one and drew one against the future American superstar).

One of his lesser-known matches may have been among the most intriguing — a tight 6-5-3 loss to Estonian great Paul Keres in 1939-1940, when both players were among the world’s very best. Euwe jumped out to an early two-game lead, but Keres rallied for the win with a late surge fueled by a beautiful attacking win in Game 9.

Against Black’s Queen’s Indian, Euwe’s forces get overextended and Keres’s bishop pair help generate a nice counterattack. But Black does not play it safe — with a nice positional plus he risks a speculative queen sacrifice that pays off in spades.

Thus: 20. Rd1 (Ba3 Qe7 21. Ng2 Qxe6 22. Qxe6 Rxe6 23. Nf4 Re5 24. cxd5 Bxd5, winning a pawn) dxc5 21. Ng2 d4 22. f4 (see diagram; 22. Qg4 Be5 23. Bf5 Qf6, and, again, White is just a pawn down without compensation) d3! 23. Rxd3 Qxd3!! 24. Qxd3 Bd4+ 25. Rf2 (Kh1 Rxe6 26. h4 Rae8 27. Kh2 Re2, dominating) Rxe6 26. Rae8 — Black only has a rook and minor piece for the queen, but his rook pair and bishop pair lay down a murderous attacking crossfire.

Keres does not even bother to win the exchange on offer, and puts the game to bed with one last mini-tactic: 32. Kg2 Rxf4! (removing White’s only serviceable defender) 33. gxf4 Rg8+ 34. Kf3 Bg4+, and Euwe resigns, facing only bad options: 35. Ke4 (both 35. Kg3 and 35. Kg2 walk into 35…Bf5+) Re8+ 36. Kd5 (Kd3 Bf5 mate) Bf3+ 37. Qe4 Bxe4 mate.

(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)

Chigorin-Salwe, Match, Lodz, Russia, 1906

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Bxf6 gxf6 7. Nf3 f5 8. Ng3 c5 9. Bb5+ Nc6 10. c3 Qb6 11. Qe2 cxd4 12. Nxd4 Bd7 13. O-O Rd8 14. Bxc6 bxc6 15. Rfe1 Qc5 16. Rad1 f4 17. Ne4 Qe5 18. Qf3 Qc7 19. Qh5 Bc8 20. Ng5 Bxg5 21. Qxg5 h5 22. Nf5 Rd5 23. c4 Rxd1 24. Rxd1 exf5 25. Qg7 Rf8 26. Re1+ Be6 27. Rxe6+ Kd7 28. Rh6 Qa5 29. Qd4+ Ke8 30. h3 f6 31. Qxf4 Kd7 32. Rxh5 Qxa2 33. Rh7+ Black resigns.

Euwe-Keres, Match, Rotterdam, Netherlands, December 1939

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 Ne4 8. Qc2 Nxc3 9. Qxc3 d6 10. Qc2 f5 11. Ne1 Qc8 12. e4 Nd7 13. d5 fxe4 14. Qxe4 Nc5 15. Qe2 Bf6 16. Bh3 Re8 17. Be3 Qd8 18. Bxc5 exd5 19. Be6+ Kh8 20. Rd1 dxc5 21. Ng2 d4 22. f4 d3 23. Rxd3 Qxd3 24. Qxd3 Bd4+ 25. Rf2 Rxe6 26. Kf1 Rae8 27. f5 Re5 28. f6 gxf6 29. Rd2 Bc8 30. Nf4 Re3 31. Qb1 Rf3+ 32. Kg2 Rxf4 33. gxf4 Rg8+ 34. Kf3 Bg4+ White resigns.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.