Duplications by Edward Winter

[Hanon W. Russell]

DUPLICATION
by Edward Winter

First, a quiz question: name the naturalized American who won
the following famous game. 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 Bg4 4 dxe5 Bxf3
5 Qxf3 dxe5 6 Bc4 Nf6 7 Qb3 Qe7 8 Nc3 c6 9 Bg5 b5 10 Nxb5 cxb5
11 Bxb5+ Nbd7 12 O-O-O Rd8 13 Rxd7 Rxd7 14 Rd1 Qe6 15 Bxd7+ Nxd7
16 Qb8+ Nxb8 17 Rd8 mate.

The answer is not Paul Morphy (who was a native American) but
Edward Lasker. The Morphy brilliancy against Count Isouard and
the Duke of Brunswick was once repeated move for move by Lasker,
as he reported on p. 26 of the 2nd edition of "Chess Strategy:"
"The logical sequence of the moves in this game, as pointed out
in the commentaries to it, is borne out by the curious
coincidence that I once had the opportunity of playing a game in
exactly the same sequence of moves, against a player to whom
Morphy's 'brilliancy' was unknown".

Identical chess games or themes do occur from time to time, and
the present article will show some of the less well-known cases
of repetition - and fabrication.

An apparent case of chicanery is to be found on p. 240 of the
December 1916 "American Chess Bulletin," which published "the
following brilliant Evans Gambit," as submitted by the winner:

White: E.B. de la Campa Black: S.R. Farinas Havana, 1916 Evans
Gambit Accepted

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 b4 Bxb4 5 c3 Ba5 6 d4 exd4 7 O-O
dxc3 8 Ba3 d6 9 Qb3 Nh6 10 Nxc3 Bxc3 11 Qxc3 O-O 12 Rad1 Ng4 13
h3 Nge5 14 Nxe5 Nxe5 15 Be2 f5 16 f4 Nc6 17 Bc4+ Kh8 18 Bb2 Qe7
19 Rde1 Rf6 20 exf5 Qf8 21 Re8 Qxe8 22 Qxf6 Qe7 23 Qxg7+ Qxg7 24
f6 Qxg2+ 25 Kxg2 Bxh3+ 26 Kxh3 h5 27 Rg1 Resigns. Times: White,
65 minutes; Black, 95 minutes.

The clock times add an air of authenticity, but the "American
Chess Bulletin" was promptly informed that this was a Morphy
game (see, for example, pp. 204-206 of Lowenthal's book on the
American, or p. 170 of Sergeant's monograph). The Bulletin
(February 1917, p. 39) commented drily that Mr de la Campa "was
duly apprised of the state of affairs and since then we have
received from him two letters, in neither of which he admits any
intention to perpetrate a fraud upon the chess public." Morphy's
victory was in a blindfold game against P.E. Bonford at New
Orleans in 1858 (see p. 350 of the biography of Morphy by David
Lawson).

Coincidentally, Cuba is the scene of another duplicated Evans
Gambit. P. 276 of Carlos Palacio's 1960 book Ajedrez en Cuba
printed the following:

White: T. Marrero Black: F. Melgarejo Placetas, 1932 Evans
Gambit Accepted

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 b4 Bxb4 5 c3 Ba5 6 O-O Nf6 7 d4
O-O 8 dxe5 Nxe4 9 Re1 Nxc3 10 Nxc3 Bxc3 11 Ng5 Nxe5 12 Qh5 h6 13
Rxe5 Bxe5 14 Nxf7 Rxf7 15 Qxf7+ Kh8 16 Bg5 Bf6 17 Re1 Resigns

This game was "originally" played by Steinitz against H. Devide
at the Manhattan Chess Club, New York in 1890 and was published
by Steinitz on pp. 246-247 of the August 1890 issue of "The
International Chess Magazine." The finish was 17 Bxf6 gxf6 18
Re1.

Sometimes it is the earlier game which is untrustworthy. In
1959, "Chess Review" (p. 257 of the September issue) published a
letter to the editor from "Grigory Bogunovich" which claimed to
present an unknown Alekhine game (a win against Nenarokov):

1 d4 d5 2 c4 Nc6 3 cxd5 Qxd5 4 Nf3 Bg4 5 Nc3 Qa5 6 d5 O-O-O 7
Bd2 Bxf3 8 exf3 Nb4 9 a3 Nxd5 10 Na4 Resigns.

However, the same game (with a virtually identical piece of
analysis) had appeared in the "British Chess Magazine" shortly
beforehand (June 1959, pp. 169-170) as Tolush v Aronson, played
in Moscow in 1957. There is much circumstantial evidence that
the Bogunovich letter was a hoax (see "Chess Notes,"
January-February 1988, pp. 9-10).

An even more complicated affair is the following brevity, given
by the "American Chess Bulletin" on p. 131 of its June 1909
issue:

White: H. Menkes Black: L. Rosen Rice Club Championship, 1909
Two Knights' Defence/Giuoco Piano

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 d3 Bc5 5 O-O d6 6 Bg5 h6 7 Bh4 g5
8 Bg3 h5 9 Nxg5 h4 10 Nxf7 hxg3 11 Nxd8 Bg4 12 Qd2 Nd4 13 Nc3
Nf3+ 14 gxf3 Bxf3 15 White resigns.

The magazine observed: "The entire play is 'book,' which fact,
however, makes the game none the less interesting". Since then,
it has often been claimed (e.g. on p. 42 of "500 Italian
Miniatures" by Bill Wall) that the identical game (plus 15 hxg3
Rh1 mate) occurred between Dubois and Steinitz (London, 1862),
although that encounter had actually continued 9 h4 Bg4 10 c3
Qd7. Wall also stated that the same moves were played in
Knorre-Chigorin, 1900, and p. 15 of his book repeated the score
(up to resignation after move 14) under the heading "Grabill v
Mugridge, Los Angeles, 1932." So did Irving Chernev on p. 117 of
his anthology "The 1000 Best Short Games of Chess," with the
further information that the win is based on a brilliant piece
of analysis by Steinitz.

After all that, it is a relief to turn to a more straightforward
piece of duplication. P. 92 of Hugh Myers' remarkably detailed
1986 book on 1 e4 Nc6 points out that Saulson v Phillips,
Chicago, 1907 and Hartlaub v Meyer, Cologne, 1916 both went:

1 e4 Nc6 2 d4 e5 3 d5 Nce7 4 f4 d6 5 Nf3 Bg4 6 Nc3 Ng6 7 h3 Bxf3
8 Bb5+ c6 9 dxc6 Bxd1 10 cxb7+ Ke7 11 Nd5+ Ke6 12 f5 mate.

There follows an example of a duplicated odds game, which was
published on p. 197 of the May 1903 "British Chess Magazine,"
taken from an article by Chigorin in Novoe Vremya.

White: N.N. Black: I.A. Zybin St Petersburg Handicap Tournament
(Remove Black's f pawn)

1 e4 Nc6 2 d4 e5 3 dxe5 Nxe5 4 f4 Nf7 5 Bc4 Ngh6 6 Qd4 Be7 7
Qxg7 d5 8 Bxd5 Bf6 9 White resigns.

Thirteen years later the identical moves were played in a game
at the City of London Chess Club between H. Bernstein and W.
Winter, as reported on pp. 394-395 of the December 1917 "British
Chess Magazine."

Next, a specimen from correspondence chess:

White: P.L. Williams Black: H. Falconer Correspondence,
Australia, 1946 Scotch Gambit

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Bc4 Bc5 5 Ng5 Nh6 6 Nxf7 Nxf7 7
Bxf7+ Kxf7 8 Qh5+ g6 9 Qxc5 d6 10 Qc4+ Be6 11 Qb5 Ne5 12 f4 Bc4
13 Qb4 Qh4+ 14 White resigns.

A game between Greville and Harrwitz (Paris, 1845) had been
identical, except that White played 10 Qd5+. (Source: "Chess
World," 1 March 1947, p. 55.)

Shortly after the spectacular miniature J. Polgar v Angelova had
been played at the 1988 Thessaloniki Olympiad, Richard Reich
(Madison, WI, USA) pointed out that the whole game had been
given on p. 44 of the 1984 book The Anti-Sicilian: 3 Bb5 (+) by
Y. Razuvayev and A. Matsukevitch, where mention is made of
"Levchenkov-Eganian, USSR, 1978".

Sometimes a master has the opportunity to play the identical
game twice:

White: J.H. Blackburne Black: Two unnamed players Hastings and
Eastbourne, 1894 French Defence

1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 Be7 5 Bxf6 Bxf6 6 Nf3 O-O 7 Bd3
Nc6 8 e5 Be7 9 h4 f6 10 Ng5 fxg5 11 Bxh7+ Kxh7 12 hxg5+ Kg8 13
Rh8+ Kxh8 14 Qh5+ Kg8 15 g6 Rf5 16 Qh7+ Kf8 17 Qh8 mate.

On p. 179 of "Mr. Blackburne's Games at Chess," J.H.B. wrote: "A
curious fact about this game is that move for move I played it
exactly in the same way twice in one week, once at Hastings and
once at Eastbourne, in the year 1894". The same game may even
occur between the same players in the same event. For instance,
the third and fifth games of the Portisch v Nunn match (played
in Budapest in 1987) were:

1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 d4 Bg7 4 g3 O-O 5 Bg2 c6 6 Nc3 d5 7 cxd5
cxd5 8 Ne5 e6 9 O-O Nfd7 10 Nxd7 Bxd7 11 e3 Nc6 12 b3 Qe7 13 Bb2
Rfc8 Drawn.

The individual phases of chess also give rise to bizarre
repetition, an example being the opening moves of two games
played on adjacent boards in the fifth round of the Hastings,
1922-23 tournament (30 December 1922):

1) Rubinstein v Conde: 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 e6 3 e3 Nf6 4 Bd3 Bd6 5 O-O
Nbd7 6 Nbd2 O-O 7 e4 dxe4 8 Nxe4 Nxe4 9 Bxe4 Nf6 10 Bd3 b6 11
Bg5 Bb7 12 Qe2 Be7 13 Rad1.

2) Yates v P.W. Sergeant: 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 dxe4 4 Nxe4 Nd7
5 Nf3 Ngf6 6 Bd3 Nxe4 7 Bxe4 Nf6 8 Bd3 Be7 9 O-O O-O 10 Qe2 b6
11 Bg5 Bb7 12 Rad1.

Two distinct openings have led to identical positions - one
after thirteen moves but the other after twelve.

Another pair of games from the early 1920s shows a further way
that a complete move can go missing. The same position is
reached in the same opening - but after nine and eight moves
respectively:

1) Seventh game of the 1921 world championship match in Havana
between Capablanca and Lasker: 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 e6 3 c4 Nf6 4 Bg5
Be7 5 e3 Nbd7 6 Nc3 O-O 7 Rc1 c6 8 Qc2 c5 9 Rd1 Qa5.

2) Capablanca v Yates, London, 1922: 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 c4 e6 4
Bg5 Be7 5 e3 O-O 6 Nc3 Nbd7 7 Qc2 c5 8 Rd1 Qa5.

Next, a case of duplication of an opening idea, with an apparent
anticipation of one of the most famous piece sacrifices in chess
literature. In the sixth game of the 1937 world championship
match against Euwe, Alekhine (White) played 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3
Nc3 dxc4 4 e4 e5 5 Bxc4 exd4 6 Nf3. The commentators appear
unanimous that this was Alekhine's innovation, yet the following
skirmish is given on p. 74 of 120 Partidas Cortas de Ajedrez by
Gumersindo Martinez (Havana, 1948) as having been played
thirteen years before the Alekhine v Euwe game:

White: J.F. Migoya Black: N.N. Havana, 1924 Queen's Gambit
Declined, Slav Defence

1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nc3 dxc4 4 e4 e5 5 Nf3 exd4 6 Bxc4 dxc3 7
Bxf7+ Ke7 8 Qb3 Nf6 9 O-O Na6 10 Bg5 h6 11 Bh4 g5 12 Nxg5 hxg5
13 Bxg5 Bg7 14 e5 Rf8 15 exf6+ Bxf6 16 Rfe1+ Kd6 17 Rad1+ Kc7 18
Bf4+ Resigns

This game "follows" the line put forward in Alekhine's notes as
superior to Euwe's blunder 6...b5. It has not been possible to
find independent substantiation of Martinez's claim that the
Migoya game was played as early as 1924. Middlegame
combinations can also be the subject of duplication, but here
too one must be wary, since chess chroniclers often write
n'importe quoi. On p. 39 of the March 1992 "Europe Echecs,"
Sylvain Zinser asserted that the following position had occurred
in "Blackburne v Gifford, England 1874").

White: Kc1, Qc4, Bg2, Nf3, Pa4, b3, c2, g3, h2
Black: Kb7, Qc8, Bc6, Pa5, b6, c7, d6

The finish is given as 1 Qxc6+ Kxc6 2 Ne5+ Kc5 3 Nd3+ Kd4 4 Kd2,
and mate next move by 5 c3 is unavoidable. But this position
bears an uncanny resemblance to the following, widely published
in chess literature:

White: Kc1, Qh4, Rc3, Bg2, Nf3, Pa4, b3, c2, g3, h2
Black: Ka6, Qc8, Rh8, Bd5, Nc6, Pa5, b6, c7, d6, g6, h7

Kasparyan v Manvelyan, simultaneous display, USSR, 1936. White
won with 1 Rxc6 Bxc6 2 Qc4+ Kb7 3 Qxc6+ Kxc6 4 Ne5+ Kc5 5 Nd3+
Kd4 6 Kd2 Qe6 7 c3 mate.

It remains to be seen whether Mr. Zinser (whose game references
in "Europe Echecs" regularly contain glaring errors) can
substantiate his Blackburne claim by quoting contemporary
documentation.

Few combinations are unique, and there are often "variations on
a theme". A strange example is the so-called "Game of the
Century" won by the thirteen-year old Fischer against Donald
Byrne in the 1956 Rosenwald Trophy Tournament. It was a
Gruenfeld Defence, the climax to which came when Black ignored
the attack on his queen by the White queen's bishop and played
...Be6!, with overwhelming threats to the White king at f1. Yet
all that is exactly what also happened in the following game,
played the year before Fischer was born:

White: Russher Black: Walcicer Cracow/Warsaw 1942 Gruenfeld
Defence

1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 c4 Bg7 4 Nc3 d5 5 cxd5 Nxd5 6 e4 Nxc3 7 bxc3
c5 8 Bc4 ("The series of moves sanctioned by theory is 8 Be2 O-O
9 O-O cxd4 10 cxd4 Nc6 11 Be3 Bg4 12 d5 and after 12...Bxa1 13
Qxa1 and White recovers the exchange by means of Bh6. However
this game seems to prove that the method selected by White is
practicable" - Alekhine.) 8...O-O 9 h3 cxd4 10 cxd4 Nc6 11 Be3
Qa5+ 12 Bd2 Qa3 13 Rb1 Nxd4 14 Bb4 Nxf3+ 15 Kf1 Be6 16 Be2 Qxa2
17 Bxf3 Rfd8 18 Qe1 Rac8 19 g4 b6 20 Bxe7 Bc3 21 Qc1 Rd2 22 Bh4
Bd4 23 Qe1 Rcc2 24 Rh2 Bc4+ 25 Kg1 Rxf2 26 Rxf2 Rxf2 27 Bxf2
Bxf2+ 28 Qxf2 Qxb1+ 29 Kh2 Qa2 30 Qxa2 Bxa2 31 White resigns.
Tailpiece: after all these examples of duplication, it may be
mentioned that the book from which the above game is quoted
("107 Great Chess Battles 1939-1945" by A. Alekhine, edited and
translated by Edward Winter) has been reprinted in 1992 by Dover
Publications Inc., 31 East 2nd Street, Mineola, N.Y. 11501, USA.
It was originally published by the Oxford University Press in
1980.

Copyright 1992 Edward Winter
All Rights Reserved
Reprinted by permission