Sad news out of California to start off this week: IM Jeremy Silman, one of the best-selling chess authors this country has ever produced, died Sept. 21 from a form of progressive dementia at the age of 69.
A strong player whose rating topped off at an impressive 2593 in 1990, Silman achieved even greater fame with a string of superb instructional books written particularly for players in the 1200-to-2000 rating range looking to get better. “How to Reassess Your Chess” (1985) and “The Amateur’s Mind” (1995) belong on the bookshelf of any serious chess player looking for better results and more satisfaction at the board.
Silman’s playing career tapered off as his writing career blossomed, but he scored a number of notable results, including a tie for first in the 1989 U.S. Open. Here’s a sample of the quality of his attacking play from an earlier U.S. Open, the 1981 edition played in Palo Alto, California.
In a very positional QGD, Silman as White gets a very nice position just by making good moves (10. c5 Nh5?! is an odd response to the closing of the queenside) and Black then proceeds to make a series of weakening pawn moves in front of his king in the misguided quest to launch a kingside attack.
White works methodically toward a queenside break, but switches nimbly to the other flank when his opponent overreaches: 19. a4 g5?! (Black has to do something to answer White’s building counterplay, but only opens himself up to an attack) 20. Bxf4 gxf4 21. Nh2! (clearing the queen’s path to the kingside) Ng6 22. Qh5 Bf8?! (already feeling the pressure; tougher was 22…Qf8 23. Ng4 Bg7) 23. exd5 cxd5 24. Bd3 f5?!, attempting to nullify the bishop’s pressure but creating a permanent weakness down the e-file.
White wastes no time exploiting his advantage on 26. Rce2 Bf6 (loses brutally, but not much better was 26…Nh4 27. Nxh4 Bxh4 28. Bxf5! exf5 29. Re8 Qg5 [Qc7 30. Rxg8+ Kxg8 31. Qxh4; or 29…Qf6 30. Nxd5] 30. Rxg8+ Kxg8 31. Qe8+ Kg7 32. Nxd5 and wins) 27. Rxe6! Bxe6 28. Rxe6 Be7 29. Bxf5, and Silman already has two pawns for the exchange and his attack that is by no means spent.
Black’s cluttered defensive pieces allow for a picturesque climax: 29…Nf8 (Qe8 30. Ne5 Nf8 31. Nf7+ Kg7 32. Nxd5) 30. Ne5! Qe8 (or 30…Nxe6 31. Qxh7 mate) 31. Nf7+ Kg7 (allowing a nice crisscross mate) 32. Nxd5! Nxe6 33. Qh6+! Kxf7 34. Bxe6 mate — Black’s own queen blocks the critical escape square.
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Congratulations to the 2023 class of inductees to the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame: women’s chess pioneer Lisa Lane, former U.S. champion GM Yury Shulman and — in a long-overdue recognition — problemist William Shinkman (1847-1933). Shinkman, the “Wizard of Grand Rapids,” composed an astonishing 3,500 chess problems over a long career and introduced some themes and ideas used by composers to this day.
Shinkman has been somewhat overshadowed by fellow problemist Sam Loyd, his more colorful — but less productive — contemporary.
But his best problems are marked by wit, surprising ideas and an economy of pieces that showcase the cleverness of the creator. Many consider the mate in three from today’s diagram to be one of Shinkman’s best — and most difficult — creations, finding in the simplest of positions a key that relies on three different pawn promotions.
It’s White to move and mate in three, and since I personally would take days to come close to solving this, we won’t even bother with hiding the solution at the end of the column. (True masochists can cover the next paragraph and have at it. Good luck.)
The key: Remarkably, White wins with 1. fxe7! (dxe7? Kxf6 2. e8=R [e8=Q?? is a stalemate] Kg6 3. Re6+ Kxh7) Kd7 (Kf6 2. e8=B!! Ke6 3. Rh6 mate!; or 1…Kxd6 2. e8=R!! Kc6 3. Re6 mate) 2. e8=Q+ Kxd6 3. Qg6 mate.
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Congratulations to new world under-20 junior champ, French GM Marc’Andria Maurizzi, and the new world junior girls champ, WGM Candela Francisco of Argentina, who topped the field at the FIDE title tournaments that ended Sunday in Mexico City. Top-seeded American IM Carissa Yip tied Francisco in the junior girls competition at 8½-2½, but had to settle for the silver medal because of lesser tiebreaks.
Francisco, who just turned 17, earned her crown the right way, scoring a dramatic last-round win over front-running Bulgarian FM Belaslova Krasteva on Sunday with the black pieces. The tense, well-played game comes down to one title-deciding sequence: 39. Rd3 Qxd3!? 40. Nxd3?? (taking the bait in time trouble and leaving the h3-square fatally weak; it’s still an equal battle after 40. Qxd3! Rxd3 41. Nxd3 Bxh3 42. Nxf4 exf4 43. Rc1) Bxh3 41. Bxh3 Rxh3+ 42. Kg2 Rdxd3! (White may have banked on 42…Rh2+? 43. Kf1 Rxe2 44. Kxe2, again with equality) — Black has only a rook and bishop for the queen, but White’s pieces find themselves in a suffocating box: 43. Qa2+ Kh8 44. Qb1 Rh2+ 45. Kf1 Rc3!, and there’s no good answer to the coming 46…Rc1+. Francisco winds up a piece ahead and White resigned a hopeless ending eight moves later.
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Silman-Barkan, 82nd U.S. Open, Palo Alto, Calif., August 1981
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. Bf4 c6 6. e3 Be7 7. h3 O-O 8. Rc1 a6 9. a3 Re8 10. c5 Nh5 11. Bh2 g6 12. Be2 f6 13. e4 Bf8 14. O-O Bh6 15. Rc2 Kh8 16. Re1 Nf4 17. Bf1 Rg8 18. b4 Nf8 19. a4 g5 20. Bxf4 gxf4 21. Nh2 Ng6 22. Qh5 Bf8 23. exd5 cxd5 24. Bd3 f5 25. Nf3 Be7 26. Rce2 Bf6 27. Rxe6 Bxe6 28. Rxe6 Be7 29. Bxf5 Nf8 30. Ne5 Qe8 31. Nf7+ Kg7 32. Nxd5 Nxe6 33. Qh6+ Kxf7 34. Bxe6 mate.
Krasteva-Francisco, FIDE World Junior Girls Championship, Mexico City, October 2023
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nf3 cxd4 4. Nxd4 b6 5. Nc3 Bb7 6. f3 e6 7. e4 d6 8. Be2 a6 9. Be3 Nbd7 10. O-O Be7 11. Rc1 O-O 12. a3 Qc7 13. b4 Rac8 14. Qb3 Rfe8 15. Rfd1 Qb8 16. Kh1 h5 17. Bf1 h4 18. Qa2 Ne5 19. Na4 Bd8 20. Bg5 h3 21. Bxf6 Bxf6 22. Nxb6 Rcd8 23. Na4 hxg2+ 24. Bxg2 Ng6 25. Qf2 Be5 26. h3 Qc7 27. Ne2 Nf4 28. Nxf4 Bxf4 29. Rc2 Rf8 30. Nb2 f5 31. Nd3 fxe4 32. fxe4 e5 33. Qe2 Bh6 34. Rg1 Bc8 35. c5 Rf6 36. cxd6 Qxd6 37. Nc5 Bf4 38. Rc3 Rh6 39. Rd3 Qxd3 40. Nxd3 Bxh3 41. Bxh3 Rxh3+ 42. Kg2 Rdxd3 43. Qa2+ Kh8 44. Qb1 Rh2+ 45. Kf1 Rc3 46. a4 Rc1+ 47. Qxc1 Bxc1 48. Rg6 Rb2 49. Rb6 Bd2 50. b5 axb5 51. axb5 Be3 52. Rb8+ Kh7 53. Ke1 g5 White resigns.
• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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