Marshall GCSAT: The Greatest Chess Swindler of All Time

The legendary Frank James Marshall (1877-1944), the U.S. Chess Champion from 1909 to 1936, was renowned for his tactical brilliance and ability to set cunning traps, often referred to as "Marshall swindles" (swindle n., an instance of the use of dishonest methods to acquire something of value, =scam, Merriam-Webster).

Below are three notable games where he executed brilliant trap ideas. These games highlight Marshall’s tactical genius and his power to lay traps that capitalized on opponents’ miscalculation in turbulent positions hard to deal with, earning him the nickname "Juggler of Combinations" (the commentary from My Fifty Years of Chess, New York, 1942).

"If you want a new idea, read an old book,"— Ivan Pavlov

.

Game 1

"This is one of the most memorable games of all my years of play. Seventy-six moves and never a dull moment!" 

.

Game 2

"I think the reader will agree that the manner in which I extricate myself from a difficult position makes this game well worthy of inclusion" [in the book].

.

Game 3

"This game begins as a positional battle, but it is soon enlivened by a clever combination on the part of my adversary. However, I go him one better, and he is left with a lost game."

.

Very illustrative examples from Marshall's play showing the real nature of traps. a combination of opponents’ material greed, psychological manipulation, and tactical complexity. 

.

Bonus

And now a trap Marshall's opponent, the Great Capa, didn't fall into (from Game 6 of their 1909 match).

.

This is the culminating point of Marshall's non-materialized swindle initiated by 18...Re6. A chess problem titled Mate in 2

Black mates in 2

.

In Game 7 of the match, Marshall, the great trapper, was himself lured into a trap set by Capa. Didn't stumble into it. It is interesting to see how he avoided it...

.

"Knowing where the trap is—that's the first step in evading it."— Frank Herbert 

.

Marshall by Leonardus Nardus (Dutch impressionist, 1912)

.

.