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CCLA Portraits
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The following column was originally published in the November-December 1999 issue of The Chess Correspondent, Vol. 72, No. 6. |
David PincusLong time member and CCLA expert, David Pincus of Boston, MA has recently completed his program of being a Lifetime Knight of the CCLA. This is the CCLA's highest contributing category which demonstrates David's generous support for the CCLA. David submitted the following interesting auto-bio. and some annotated games. "I am a 57 year old mathemmatician. I grew up in suburban Philadelphia, the son of an academic physician and a woman who, prior to raising a family, had shown considerable ability in mathematics. I took a BA from Reed College and a PhD from Harvard University in mathematics. In all I spent 11 years in mathematics teaching and research. The Axiom of Choice by Thomas Jech, North Holland, 1973 remains, after a quater of a century, an excellent introduction to my research subject. At 35 I returned to Harvard, this time as a medical student. (After graduating) I stayed on as a faculty member and as associate Chief of Anesthesia at the Cambridge Healthcare Alliance. I still dabble in mathematics research. "I am frequently asked why I changed careers. My flip answer is that I showed such talent putting people to sleep while teaching mathematics that I decided to make a career of it. There is a germ of truth to this. Without question my patients, medical students and residents are a lot more interested in what I have to say than my mathematics students ever were. Yes, the pay is better too. I have a son and daughter, both bright and personable young adults. Neither has shown much interest in mathematics, medicine or chess. "My interest in chess surfaced in the 8th grade. The previous Summer, I had served as the chess equivalent of a punching bag for a slightly older neighbor boy. That Fall I discovered books on chess at the public library. By the (following) Spring I was Junior High School Champion and my neighbor refused to play me. In High School I played second board behind Serge Goregliad, now an otb master. I soon discovered that I didn't enjoy otb tournament play, so except for school teams, I have limited myself to informal otb play. "I was introduced to the CCLA by George Teplick, an academic and friend of my father. Much later his son Richard, a charismatic anesthesiologist at Harvard was to introduce me to that specialty. I entered the 1957 US Junior CC Championship and surprised myself by making the Finals." |
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The following is one of David's games from the 1957 US Junior CC Championship Finals.
White: David Pincus 1.d4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 e6 5.f3 exf3 6.Nxf3 Be7 7.Bc4 d6 8.Qe2 c6 9.0-0-0 I have no interest in simplifying to regain the pawn. 9...d5 10.Bd3 Na6 11.a3 Nc7 12.Ne5 Bd7 Amazingly passive play. He was probably waiting for the blunder that my low rating dictated. 13.Bxf6 Bxf6 14.Qh5+ Ke7 If 14...g6 15.Bxg6+ gxh6 16.Qxg6+ Ke7 17.Qf7+ Kd6 18.Nc4+ dxc4 19.Ne4+ Kd5 20.Nxf6+ Kd6 21.Ne4+ Kd5 22.Qf4 soon mates. 15.Qf7+ Kd6 16.Nc4+! (D)
 16...dxc4 17.Ne4+ Kd5 18.Bxc4+ Having taken one piece he gets to choose between two others. He must take the Bishop, since after: 18...Kxe4 19.Rhe1+ and either:
a) 19...Kf5 20.Re5+ or 18...Kxc4 19.Qh5 Three mates are threatened and a 4th arise after: 19...Nd5 20.Qe2#. If he tries 19...e5 20.Nd6+ Kd5 21.dxe5+ Ke6 {if 21...Kc5 22.exf6+ Kb6 23.Nc4+ Ka6 24.Qa5#} 22.Qg4+ forces mated. 19...Bg5+ 20.Nxg5 Qf6!? Setting the trap eg: 21.Ne4? Qh6+. 21.Qe2+ Kd5 22.c4+ Kd6 23.Ne4+ Ke7 24.Nxf6 gxf6 25.Rhf1 Rag8 26.d5 cxd5 27.cxd5 Kf7 28.dxe6+ Bxe6 29.Qe4 Ne8 30.Rd6 Bf5 31.Rxf5 Kg7 Here I saw a long forced mate, but missed the best 32.R6xf6. 32.Qe7+ Kh6 33.Qf7 Rg5 34.Rd3 Rxf5 35.Rh3+ Kg5 36.Qh5+ Kf4 37.Rf3+ Ke5 38.Qxf5+ 1-0. I claimed the forced mate. "At Harvard graduate school there were of course many strong players. Of most significance to me was fellow student and CCLA'er Leslie Roberts. He returned to Canada to pursue his mathematics career and we carried on a series of closely contested challenge matches for over a dozen years. They stopped only because my medical schedule became too exhausting."
White: David Pinus 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 h6 10.d4 Re8 11.Nbd2 Bf8 12.Nf1 Bd7 13.Ng3 Na5 14.Bc2 c5 Theory prefers 14...Nc4 15.b3 Nc6 16.d5 Ne7 17.Nh4 g6 18.Be3 Kh8 19.f4 Neg8 Leslie prefers closed in Lopez maneuvering. He wants no part of: 19...exf4 20.Bxf4 g5. After which I believe the main variation to be: 21.e5! Nexd5! 22.Bxg5 hxg5 23.exf6 Rxe1+ 24.Qxe1 gxh4 25.Nh5. With a truly wild position and roughly equal chances. (I think, however, 25.Ne4! is stronger and maybe winning! Here are just two sample lines: a) 25...Bh6 26.Qxh4 Qf8 27.g4 +/-; or b) 25...Bf5 26.Qxh4+ Kg8 {26...Bh7 27.Ng5 + -} 27.Qg5+ +/- , RPM) 20.fxe5 dxe5 21.Rf1 Ng4? However, I can't believe that this kind of loose position is what he wanted. 22.Nxg6+ fxg6 23.hxg4 Qh4 24.Nh1 Bxg4 25.Qd2 Kg7 26.d6! (D)
 Committing myself to the following exchange sacrifice. 26...Rad8 27.Bxc5 Re6 28.Rxf8 Kxf8 29.c4 Nf6 30.Bf2 Qg5 This gives up a second pawn for the exchange, but 30...Qh5 dosen't avoid it after c5 and an eventual Ng3. 31.Qxg5 hxg5 32.c5 Rc8 33.Bd3 Ree8 34.Be3 Bd7 35.Bxg5 Kg7 36.Rc1 Bc6 37.Nf2 Rh8 38.Be2 Rh7 (D)
 There are multiple tactics to prevent a capture of White's e4 pawn. They usually involved pushing the d and c pawns. The long term plans are for White to get the Knight to d5 and for Black to infiltrate his Rooks. 39.Bf3 a5 40.a3 Kf7 41.Bd2 Ra8 42.Ng4 Nd7 43.Kf2 a4 44.b4 Rah8 45.Ne3 Rh1 46.Rc2 Ra1 47.Bc1 Rh1 48.Bb2 Rab1 49.Nd5 Each side has carried out his plan, but White has been able to cover his weaknesses. 49...Rbe1 50.Rd2 Bb7 51.Be2 Bc6 52.Ne7 1-0. "I also played in ICCF World Cup #1, winning my first round section 7 1/2-1/2. In round 2 I didn't do as well, scoring 8-6 (6th of 15th), but I beat Wilhelm Rupp, the section winner. Another competitor was H.J. Hecht, an otb GM. I lost, but has some chances. The following game vs Fuchs has appeared in Fernschach."
White: David Pincus 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bg5 c5 4.Nc3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 a6 6.Ne4 Be7 7.Bxf6 Bxf6 8.Nd6+ Kf8 9.c3 Qc7 10.Ne4 Bxd4 11.Qxd4 d5 12.0-0-0 Nc6 13.Qc5+ Kg8 14.Ng3 f5 15.e3 Kf7 16.Be2 Rd8 17.Kb1 Bd7 18.c4 b6 19.Qa3 dxc4 20.Bxc4 Na5 21.Nxf5 Nxc4 21...Qxc4?? 22.Nd6+. He can avoid immediate loss with 21...Bc6 22.Qc3 g6 23.Ng3, but White still has a big avantage. 22.Qe7+ Kg6 23.Qxg7+ 1-0. After 23...Kxf5, the quickest forced mate begins with 24.e4+ "I had little time for chess since entering medicine. However, over the last 4 years I have played some games with my friend Aki Kanamori, a mathematician and otb master."
White: David Pincus 1.f4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.0-0 e6 6.d3 Nge7 7.e4 0-0 8.Nc3 d6 9.a3 Rb8 10.Bd2 b5 11.Rb1 a5 12.Ne2 Nd4!? A creative way to further his queenside initiative. For the doubled pawn he obtains the c-file and fixes the c2-pawn. 13.Nexd4 cxd4 14.Qe1 Nc6 15.e5 b4 16.Ng5 d5 Continuing his plan even though the d4 pawn is now isolated. 17.axb4 Nxb4 18.Rc1 Bd7 19.Nf3 Qb6 20.Qf2 Nc6 21.b3 Rfc8 22.Ra1 Bf8 23.Rfc1 Rb7 24.Kh1 Ra7 I expected him to double on the c-file, but the position he gets is stronger. If he does double he still must find a solution to Nxd4 before playing Nb4. Also the d4 pawn is pinned against the Queen and c3 is sometimes playable for White. 25.g4 Be7 White shows a few signs of life. The threat of 26.Qh4 and 27.Ng5 keeps the Bishop from participating on the queenside. 26.Bf1 Allows c3 to answer Nb4 without fear of Nxd3. 26...Rb8 27.g5 White must do something on the kingside because Black will break through on the queenside. 27...Ra6 28.h4 Qa7 29.Nh2 a4 30.Rxa4 Rxa4 31.bxa4 Qxa4 32.Ng4 Rb2 33.Be1 Kf8 He sees that White does have something on the kingside. He decides to build a new castle for his King in the center. 34.h5 Ke8 35.Nf6+ Bxf6 36.exf6 Kd8 37.hxg6 hxg6 38.Qh2 Be8 39.Bg3 Nb4 He has been building toward this move from his 12th. However, White is ready. 40.f5! (D)
 40...gxf5 He has 2 pawns to take, each in 2 different ways. Here are some typical variations:
a) 40...Nxc2 41.fxg6 fxg6 42.Bc7+ Kc8 43.Bb6 Rxb6 44.Rxc2+ Rc6 45.Ra2 Qd1 46.Ra8+ Kd7 47.Qh7+ Kd6 48.Rd8+ Ke5 49.Qh2+ Kf5 50.Qf2+ Kxg5 51.Rxe8. 41.g6! fxg6 42.Qh4 Kc8 43.Qxd4 Ra2 If 43...Rxc2 44.Rxc2+ Nxc2 45.Qxa4 Bxa4 46.f7 44.Rb1 Na6 45.Qa7 1-0. One threat is 46.Rb8+ and 47.Qc7 mate. Also 45...Qc6 46.Rb6. |