CHESS REVIEWVolume 7, Number 3, March 1939
On Tour When one leaves for an extended trip of ten weeks, it is generally to be expected that much time and effort is spent in preparation. Not so with a chessplayer. I hastily packed my belongings, and madly rushed to bid farewell to some of my friends. Then still somewhat in a daze, I headed for the depot. As the pleasant chant "a-b-o-a-r-d" was heard, I relaxed. At long last, I arrived in Los Angeles. Los Angeles was a breathing spell for me, for I stayed a week and played only twice. And the weather was favorable. I believe Los Angeles has the largest chess club in point of membership, in the world. The roster, I am told, records the names of over 400. And at the opening gong at nine, forty to fifty men assemble for combat and sociability. It is no particular miracle that the club is successful. For E. P. Elliot, champion of the American Chess Federation in the early 1900s, has devoted his full time and effort to building the club. I played at the L. A. Club and also at the home of Gottfried Reinhardt. We topped off the evening at the latter's home with a brand of New York rapid transit. It was fun. My old teammate, Herman Steiner, did most of the honors at L. A. We visited Hollywood, and watched Fred Astaire rehearse, and saw them shoot a few scenes. We met actors and artists. Incidentally, Steiner is forming a new club to cater to these people. It was the particular delight of Mrs. Steiner to see that I regained the weight lost by the arduous labors of a tour. And I did. I must have gained six or seven pounds gorging at the Steiner household. Simultaneous performance at the home of Gottfried Reinhardt. January 26, 1939 SICILIAN DEFENSE I. A. Horowitz (White) - G. Reinhardt (Black) 1 P-K4 P-QB4 2 Kt-KB3 Kt-QB3 3 P-Q4 PxP 4 KtxP Kt-B3 5 Kt-QB3 P-K3 6 B-K2 B-K2 7 0-0 0-0 8 Kt-Kt3 P-QKt3 9 P-B4 PQ3 10 B-B3 B-Kt2 11 Q-K2 P-QR3 12 B-K3 Q-B2 13 Q-B2 Kt-Q2 14 QR-Q1 QR-B1 15 P-KKt4 P-B3 16 P-B5 Kt-Q1 17 R-Q2 Kt-K4 18 B-K2 Kt-B5 19 BxKt QxB 20 BxP Q-B3 21 B-K3 B-R1 22 Kt-Q4 Q-B5 23 PxP KtxP 24 Kt-B5 KR-K1 25 KtxBch RxKt 26 RxP BxP 27 P-KR3 B-Kt2 28 KR-Q1 Q-QKt5! 29 B-B1 R-B5 30 P-R3 RxPch! 31 PxR QxPch 32 K-R2 Q-R4ch 33 K-Kt3 Kt-Kt4! 34 BxKt QxBch 35 K-R2 Q-R3ch! 36 K-Kt3 R-K6ch 37 QxR QxQch 38 K-R2 Q-B7ch 39 K-R3 Q-B6ch Resigns Then I made the trek up the West Coast. From L. A. to Seattle, taking in Carmel, Frisco, Portland, I rode and played. Again I met many friends. There were Work and Whitman, and Clarke and Smith and Bagby and Boyette and Fink, and Chapman and Pelouse, and another of my old teammates, Arthur Dake. All made it a point to ease the tension of the grind. Then in Seattle there were Bourne Smith and Bart Bowen, and a host of others. Occasionally I'd find time to meander. And at Santa Cruz, with Reynolds and Miller as guides, I visited the "Big Trees". Gigantic Redwoods towering into the sky, and broad. Clock Game - San Francisco, Calif. January 31, 1939 RUY LOPEZ I. A. Horowitz (White) - A. J. Fink (Black) 1 P-K4 P-K4 2 Kt-KB3 Kt-QB3 3 B-Kt5 P-QR3 4 B-R4 Kt-B3 5 0-0 KtxP 6 P-Q4 P-QKt4 7 B-Kt3 P-Q4 8 PxP B-K3 9 P-B3 B-K2 10 QKt-Q2 0-0 11 B-B2 Kt-B4 12 Kt-Kt3 Kt-Q2 13 R-K1 R-K1 14 QKt-Q4 KtxKt 15 KtxKt Kt-B1 16 P-KB4 P-QB4 17 KtxB PxKt 18 R-K3 P-B5 19 R-R3 B-B4ch 20 B-K3 Q-Kt3 20…BxBch followed by …Q-Kt3 was better. 21 B-Q4 R-K2 22 K-R1 BxB 23 PxB R-B2 24 Q-Q2 P-Kt3 25 R-KB1 Kt-Q2 26 P-KKt4 QR-KB1 27 P-B5 K-R1 If instead 27…KPxP; 28 PxP, PxP; 29 R-R6 followed by 30 P-K6! 28 R-KKt1 KPxP 29 PxP RxP 30 Q-R6 Resigns Now I was headed eastward. The touch of nostalgia was eased by the thought that each exhibition brought me one step closer to home. |