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CCLA Portraits
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The following column was originally published in the September-October 1997 issue of The Chess Correspondent, Vol. 70, No. 5. One additional game has been added here. |
Dr. Eugene S. MartinovskyDr. Martinovsky is one of the CCLA's strongest and seasoned members. He has been active in both the CC and otb arenas for many years, internationally and domestically. He is currently representing the USA in the NATT IV tournament, holding down board 3, and participating in yet another NAICCC, the 8th, which started in December 1996. He has previously played in the 3rd, 4th, 5th & 7th NAICCC. The following is Eugene's story. "I was born in 1931 in Skopje, Yugoslavia, now Macedonia. My father taught mathematics, physics, and astronomy. My mother taught biology. I learned chess from my father at the age of 6 or so, but I didn't play much until I was 12. I remember watching my father analyze the games at night on a board foldable in four pieces. He also looked at some old German books and I was curious as to why he was playing chess by himself. My early chess encounters with my father ended poorly for me. My father was a strong player, perhaps masters' strength, winning the Championship of Belgrade in 1924. He loved to sacrifice a pawn and attack. Alekhine was his hero. So I had to defend. His attacks were devastating in the beginning, but as time went by I was more and more successful at defending myself. I also got some books and learned some good defenses and started to improve to the point of being my father's equal. By 1950 or so I was even slightly better. As a result of these experiences I became much better as a defender than an attacker. "I played quite successfully at school tournaments, but my parents insisted that I first apply myself to my school studies and obtain top grades in school, which I did. "My highest rating in Yugoslavia was the title of a Candidate Master, equivalent to the USA Master's title (2200-2250). I was twice Champion of Macedonia, and twice Champion of Skopje, the Capital of Macedonia. I also played correspondence chess during this time in Yugoslavia. "I graduated from Medical school in 1957 and started my medical career. In 1960 I left Yugoslavia for England and in 1962 I entered the United States. From 1958 to 1965 I did not play much, especially after I came the United States. I concentrated all my efforts on mastering the English Language and Anglo-American medicine, and establishing myself as a doctor and psychiatrist here in America. This required lots of work and study; passing numerous exams was not easy. After I had established myself in the field of psychiatry and getting married and starting a family, I returned to chess again. "Early in 1965, I found myself without any chess books and I didn't even know who the World Champion was at the time. I found a chess club in Chicago through the phone book, and soon became reacquainted with the world of chess (some might call it readdicted). However, I never considered myself a chess professional. My profession was medicine-psychiatry and chess was and still only a very absorbing hobby. "Since returning to chess in 1965 I have won a number of local tournaments in the midwest. I was twice champion of Illinois and twice Champion of Michigan (I lived in the Detroit area between 1968 and 1972). I won the US Seniors Championship twice. In correspondence chess I won the 2nd CCLA Championship (1976-1978) and tied for first in the 8th CCLA Championship (1990-1993). I played in 4 World Correspondence Chess Championship Semi-finals, XII (1979-1983), XV (1984-1987), XVI (1985-1991), scoring about 50%. I am currently participating in the WCC XX Semi-finals, which started in 1993. I have one more game to play in this event and if I win, I will earn the ICCF IM title. My chances are good. I received my first 1/2 IM norm for my performance in the 12th CC Olympiad Preliminaries (1992-1997) on Board 4, scoring +5, the highest on the USA team. I also played on Board 1 in the 9th CC Olympiad Preliminaries (1977-1980). I played in NATT 3 on board 4. I played in the USA-Sweden Match (1989-1992) and now I am playing in the USA-Latvia match which started in 1996. "My overall chess idol is perhaps Botvinnik, the Champion of Scientific Chess, self discipline, 100% concentration and perfection. I admire all the other World Champions as well, and I learned a lot from all of them, especially Petrosian, Fischer, Karpov and Kasparov. I wish, though, I knew where to put my pieces as Karpov does it and how to calculate fast, flawlessly and inventively as Alekhine, Fischer and Kasparov. "I have many other interests or hobbies, but none takes up more of my time than chess does; just to name a few: classical music, Reading, bicycling, medicine, psychiatry, mathematics & science, traveling, and I may eventually attempt writing. "Here is some advice for those who are newcomers to the CC arena. Every time you are about to consider a move, play the game from the very beginning until you arrive at the current position. This will accomplish two things: 1) You will not make a mistake placing a pawn or a piece on the wrong square, which is often fatal, and 2)By going over the whole game each time you will learn and memorize this opening quite well, including tactical and strategic considerations. Also, avoid sending too many "if" moves. "Chess is a fascinating game, the depths of which will never be exhausted. It attracts so many of us deeper and deeper in search of the absolute truth. "I retired from private practice in 1994. I still work here and there for a few months per year, but now I have more time to study and play chess, health permitting." |
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White: GM Helgi Olafsson
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.g3 0-0 6.Bg2 Nbd7 7.Qd3 c6 8.0-0 b6 9.e4 Ba6 10.b3 b5N Not a new idea, but a new move here. ECO gives here under E07, page 57: 10...dxc4 11.bxc4 e5 12.Rd1 Bb4 13Bb2 exd4 14.Nxd4 Ne5 15.Qc2 Qc7 unclear, Minev. Y. Neishtadt in Play the Catalan, page 69 gives the same line, but says White is better. He also gives move 10...Rc8 and says that after 11.Rd1! White is better. 11.cxd5 cxd5 12.e5 Ne8 13.Re1 Nc7 14.Ne2 b4 15.Qd2 Nb5 16.h4 Rc8 17.Bb2 Qb6 18.h5 Rc6 19.h6 g6 White's attack on the Kingside is not totally innocuous, but I did not see any fast breakthrough for White. On the other hand Black's advantage on the Queenside is tangible. Grandmaster Olafsson offered me a draw here which boosted my confidence tremendously. If a grandmaster offers you a draw in a double edged position, that means he thinks his position is bad! 20.Rac1 Rfc8 21.Ng5 Nc3 22.Bxc3 bxc3 23.Nxc3 Bxg5! 24.Qxg5 Rxc3 25.Rxc3 Rxc3 I made a good decision to accept his piece sacrifice and defend. 26.Qe7 Qc7! The only way to play for the win. If 26...Bb5 then 27.Qe8+ Nf8 28.Qe7 and Black must play 28...Nd7 and be satisfied with a draw. 26...Qc6? would be fatal after 27.Qd8+! Nf8 28.Qf6 + -. 27.Bxd5!? (Diagram) Olafsson is not joking. He wants to annihilate me! Perhaps, though, he could have delayed this sac by moving his King to h1 or h2 first.) |
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27...exd5 28.e6 Rg3+! I saw this defense before Olafsson's sac 27.Bxd5, but I did not anticipate the possibility of his next move. 29.Kh2! This move surprised me and here I spent a lot of time figuring out my response. The public flocked to the table figuring out too. The public usually wants to see the grandmaster's blood, so they were on my side. Fortunately I found the way. If 29...Rg5?, White plays 30.Re5!; if 29...Re3+ then 30.Kg2! and Black will have a difficult time to defend against Qxf7+ or exf6+ and if f-pawn moves Qg7##. |
After: 27. Bxd5!? |
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29...Rf3+! The Key defense for Black is to defend the f-pawn! 30.Re5 Qc2! 0-1 I submitted this game for inclusion in Informant. The game, however, was turned down by the reviewer; unjustifiably so, in my opinion.
White: V. V. Palciauskas
I seldom play the Sicilian Defense, nowadays, but back in the seventies I played it regularly. Believe it or not there is a novelty in this game 12...Qe7, but not my novelty; I saw it in an article of those days and it worked okay, then. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 (5...e5 would introduce the Pelikan/Svesnikov Variation, RPM.) 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 (7...Be7, RPM) 8.0-0-0 Bd7 9.f4 b5 (9...h6; 9...Be7, RPM) 10.Bxf6 gxf6 (On 10...Qxf6? 11.e5 dxe5 12.Ndxb5 +/ - ECO, RPM) 11.Nxc6 (Nunn & Gallagher in their book Beating the Sicilian 3 recommend 11.Kb1!? first, before the exchange on c6 RPM.) 11. ... Bxc6 12.Qe3 (12.Qe1) 12...Qe7! (And according to Kinlay the game is equal, RPM.) 13.Bd3 Qa7 14.Qh3 (ECO gives: 14.Qe1! 0-0-0 15.Kb1 Qc5! 16.Rf1 Kb7 17.Rc1! and after 17...Bg7?! White obtained a clear advantage according to Gipslis with 18.Nd1 and White went on to win in 40, Zaid- Lanka, USSR 1977 Inf 24/415. Gipslis suggested instead: 17...Rg8!? 18.Qe2 +/=. RPM.) 14...b4 15.Ne2 Qc5 16.Kb1 (16.f5 e5 17.Ng3 a5 18.Nh5 Bh6 19.Kb1 Bg5 20.Qg4 Ke7 21.h4 Bh6 22.Qe2 Qe3 23.Rhe1 Qxe2 24.Rxe2 Rhg8 25.g3 Rg4!= ,but Black went on to win in 58, Torre-Kinlay, London 1977, Inf 24/414, RPM). 16...a5 17.f5 e5 18.g4 a4 19.Rhg1 h6 20.Qf3 Be7 21.c3 b3!? 22.a3 Bd8 23.Ng3 Bb6 24.Nh5 Ke7 25.Rge1 Rad8 (Black prepares to break through in the center, provoking White's next move in response, RPM). 26.c4 Bb7 27.Qh3 Rdg8 28.Qh4 Rg5 29.Re2 Ba6 30.Rc1 Qd4! (Diagram) |
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31.Rd2 Bb7 32.Ng3 Qe3 33.Rcd1 Qf4 0-1 White resigned perhaps a bit early, but still very much justifiably so in view of the following variation: 34.Be2 Bc5 35.Qh3 Bxe4+ 36.Nxe4 Qxe4+ 37. Qd3 Qxd3 38.Rxd3 h5 - +. Strong players, especially World Champions, tend to resign early. Some World Champions even unjustifiably early! V. Palciauskas did get overinvolved on the Kingside and then was unable to untangle his pieces and maneuver them back into the center, and the center eventually fell apart. I was lucky to win this tournament, the 2nd USCCC, but then fall into relative obscurity, while Palciauskas soared all the way up to become World CC Champion. |
After: 30. ... Qd4! |
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White: Eugene Martinovsky
1.d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Nf3 a6 This move was recommended by several theoreticians in 1990. The idea is to avoid the line: 4...Bg4 5.Be3 Nc6 6.Bb5!, which leads to some advantage for White. Nunn, in his book, The Complete Pirc, published in 1989, cites the game, Tal-Hort, Moscow 1975 which continued as follows: 6...a6 7.Bxc6+ bxc6 8.h3 Bxf3 9.Qxf3 Qd7 10.e5! Nh6 110-0-0 0-0 12.Rhe1 Kh8 13.Bf4 Rab8 14.g4 Rb4 15.Kb1 a5 16.Bg5 Ng8 17.a3 and White has a permanent advantage. The text 4...a6 is useful in preparing an eventual b5 and even later on, b4. The Knight on c3 is vulnerable to such b-pawn advances. I chose my next move to stop any b-pawn advance. 5.a4 5.Be2 or 5.Bc4 right away or 5.Be3 were good alternatives, but the literature that I saw did not give me much encouragement for any advantage. 5...Nf6 5...Bg4 was a good alternative. Now White cannot play 6.Be3 Nc6 because he has no 7.Bb5. Mednis-Soltis NYC ,1997 went: 6.Be2 Nc6 7.d5 Bxf3 8.Bxf3 Ne5 (8...Nd4 =) 9.Be2 c6 10.0-0 a5! 11.Be3 Nf6 12.Ra3 Ned7 13.f4 0-0 14.Kh1 Qc7 15.Qe1 Rfe8 with equality. 6.Bc4?! Nunn mentions only 6.Be2 with a complicated, roughly equal play. My move transposes into lines with Bc4, except that in our game a6 and a4 are included. This inclusion does not seem to make any difference. 6...0-0 It is too early for Black to play 6...Nxe4 because of 7.Bxf7+ and Black's King has to walk. My opponent does it on his next move when he could take on f7 with his Rook. 7.h3 I decided to allow 7...Nxe4 rather than play 7.Qe2. On 7.0-0 Black still plays 7...Nxe4 and gets approximate equality. I thought that 7.h3 is more useful to me then 7.0-0 and it seems I was right. Still Black had approximate equality. 7...Nxe4 8.Nxe4 d5 9.Bd3 9.Ned2 dxc4 10.Nxc4 was also possible. 9...dxe4 10.Bxe4 c5 Maybe 10..Nd7 was more precise. However, the text move also equalizes for Black. 11.dxc5! Qc7 12.0-0 Nd7 13.c6! This creates an isolated c-pawn for Black. Still this is not a big problem for Black. He will have the b-file and the c-pawn may become an active participant in the struggle on the Queenside and in the center. 13...bxc6 14.c3 Bb7 15.Qe2 Nf6 16.Bc2 c5 17.Re1 Rae8 Maybe a little too ambitious. Black wants to mobilize his central pawns and push them forward, but this is not a simple task, especially since White plans to plant his Knight on e5 and possibly keep it there. 17...e6 may have been better. However, it is easy to say this in retrospect. 18.Ne5 Nd5 19.a5 Both a useful and a waiting move. It underscores the b6 square weakness and allows possibly Ra4 or Ba4. I was waiting for my opponent's next move which he indeed made. 19...f6? Radical treatment for my Ne5, but also a fatal miscalculation. 20.Nxg6! (Diagram) It is much easier to play like Kasparov or like Alekhine in correspondence chess. One has plenty of time, days and weeks; and one can move pieces on the board, check and recheck. This move definitely wins and it was a great pleasure for me to calculate the lines over and over again. |
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20...hxg6 21.Bxg6 e6 White threatened 22.Qh5 , threatening mate on h7 and also to take the whole Rook on e8. If 21...Nf4 22.Qc4+ Nd5 23.Qh4 Rf7 24.Qh7+ Kf8 25.Bh6 Bxh6 26.Qh8 mate or 26.Qxf7 mate. If 21...f5 22.Qh5 Rf6 23.Bxe8 wins. If 21...Rb8 22.Qh5 Rfc8 23.Qqh7+ Kf8 24..Bh6 e5 25.Qh8+ and White wins his piece back and has a won game. If 21...e5 the lines would go the same way as in the game: 22.Qh5 Rf7 23.c4! Nb4 24.Qh7+ Kf8 25.Bh6 Bxh6 26.Qxh6+ Ke7 27.Bxf7 Kxf7 28.Qh7+, winning Black's Queen. |
After: 20. Nxg6! |
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22.Qh5 Rf7 23.c4! Nb4 24.Qh7+ Kf8 25.Bh6 Threatening 26.Bxg7+ Rxg7 27.Qh8+ Rg8 28.Qxf6+ and mate next move. Also threatening 26.Qh8+ Ke7 27..Rxe6+ Kxe6 28.Re1 Kd6 29.Qxe8 Re7 30.Bf4+ Re5 31.Rd1+, etc., but not 26.Bxf7 Qxf7 27.Qh8+ Ke7 28.Qxg7 Qxg7 29.Bxg7 Rg8 with counterplay for Black. 25...Bxh6 26.Qh6+ Kg8 26...Ke7 27.Bxf7 Kxf7 28...Qh7+ 27.Bxf7 Qxf7 28.Ra3! 1-0 I am not boasting when I say that I saw all this when I played 20.Nxg6!, I actually did. I would have never seen all of this is an otb game. My friend and one time opponent, Aachim Soltau from Hamburg, Germany, is a GM in correspondence chess and only a 2150 player in otb chess. He said, "the otb chess is a sport; a competition, the correspondence chess is the Art." |
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White: Eugene Martinovsky
This game was not all easy to play. From the beginning through to the very end it was not clear who stood better, even after 36.e6! whether or not White is winning. The finish was quite exciting and needed some exact calculations. Exact calculations are quite possible and indeed absolutely necessary in CC. If this game was otb, there would have been numerous mistakes on both sides and quite possibly the game would have ended in 'zeitnot'( by a flag) or a blunder. |
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1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 0-0 7.e3 b6 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Bxe7 Qxe7 10.Nxd5 exd5 11.Rc1 Be6 12.Bd3 c5 13.dxc5 bxc5 14.0-0 Nd7 15.e4 Nb6 16.Qe2 c4 17.Bb1 Bg4 18.h3 Bxf3 19.Qxf3 d4 20.Rcd1 Rfd8 21.b3 Rac8 22.bxc4 Nxc4 23.Qe2 Ne5 24.Rd2 Rc7 25.Rfd1 Rcd7 26.f4 Ng6 27.g3 Qc5 28.Kh2 Nf8 29.Bc2 Kh8 30.Bb3 Re7 31.Qf3 Ne6 32.h4 Nc7 33.e5 Red7 34.Qd3 Ne6 35.f5 Nc7 36.e6! fxe6 37.fxe6 Re7 38.Bc2 g5 39.Qg6 Nxe6 40.Qh6+ Kg8 41.Bb3! Qe5 42.Rf1 gxh4 43.Rg2 Rb8 44.Rfe1! 1-0 (Diagram) since if 44...Qxe1 45.gxh4+ Kf7 46.Qg6+ Kf8 47.Qg8 mate. |
After: 44.Rfe1! 1-0 |
