Looking for patterns
Two days ago I felt a little like this...
Just for fun... but check these two positions. They are from games played by different players, dissociated by decades. Can you see the pattern? Players did and chose the same move...
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| black to play | white to play |
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Yes in both Knight would be placed on an en prise square threatening to take Queen, but exposing their own Queen in front of a Bishop threat. 13... Nxd5 for the left, 17. Nfd4 for the right. Weakening the B pinning in the end... It's not such a common or often pattern I think. And the funny thing for me was that I've tracked both games with a few hours' difference during a random search.
I was looking for info and games of Antoni Wojciechowski, a significant Polish chess player of the 1930s, distinguishing the game on the left. A little tired of reading the history facts, I've started to browse the games of a name I had just bookmarked a week ago. Henrique Mecking's, a world class chess player from Brazil, with outstanding chess activity in the 1970s. And the first I've looked at was the game of the right diagram.
Just enjoy them... Wojciechowski's game is a brilliant one. Mecking's causes thoughts on positional play. Significant factor for the latter I think, the pawn structure.
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On Antoni Wojciechowski
Wojciechowski was an amateur chess player in Poland of the 1930s. Not so wealthy and of ill-health, died at the age of 32, due to pneumonia in Jan 1938 [an obituary can be found in Wiadomości Szachowe 1/1938]. He left behind him as a legacy really few games - I've tracked less than 30. However among them there're a draw against Akiba, wins against Przepiorka, Spielmann & Najdorf, and some others within Munich 1936. Noticeable percentage!
I've tracked him while searching the players of the Polish team that participated in the unofficial chess Olympiad of Munich 1936. He was playing on the 8th board. And browsing through his games, I recognized a position of one of his games. I have maybe seen it somewhere here in this site but didn't remember the story. It's a position of a game against Tylkowski in 1931, a brilliant endgame, but with much doubt concerning its authenticity. Played in 1931 but with first proved publication in Szachy 1952. While an almost identical position had occurred in a game Ortueta - Sanz, Madrid 1933, published at least since 1936 in El Ajedrez Español 2/1936 [noticeable that editor of the latter was José Sanz Aguado himself]. Conversations about a speculation possibility had followed. Just check the two positions. Almost identical with the same winning move...
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| Tylkowski - Wojciechowski, Poznan 1931 | Ortueta - Sanz, Madrid 1933 |
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Info and thoughts on their authenticity can be found in:
- https://timkr.home.xs4all.nl/chess/rxb2.htm
- http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/ortuetasanz.html
- https://www.ajedrez365.com/2012/11/partida-de-ajedrez-martin-de-ortueta-sanz-jose-sanz-aguado-madrid-1933.html
- http://www.musicayajedrezdediez.com/2015/09/ortueta-sanz/
- http://www.historiadelajedrezespanol.es/articulos/cordero/ortueta-sanz.htm
- http://www.arves.org/arves/images/PDF/EG_PDF/eg62.pdf
With these in mind, maybe it was expected for me to notice similarities in other games
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However, the position is really beautiful. A puzzle of it is following from the Wojciechowski game, as he was my topic.
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On Henrique Mecking
A world class player. Mecking [b. 1952] won the Brazilian chess championship of 1965 at the age of 13. Best individual results could be considered his wins of the Interzonals of Petropolis 1973 and of Manila 1976. But afterwards in both cases lost in the quarterfinal. He was unlucky as he had to stop his chess career since 1978 and for about 15 years due to severe health problem.
Besides the above beautiful game vs Korchnoi 1974, I've loved one against Taimanov within Palma de Mallorca Interzonal 1970. It has everything. Fascinating sacrifices, risky moves, hard struggle with difficult but beautiful endgame. A masterpiece I think. Enjoy it...
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Thanx for reading...
