Oldrich Duras. Some Chess and Pictures. Part Two.

Back with Part Two - Some really nice stuff here, so even if chess history isn't your thing, it's worth taking a look, as there is something for everyone to enjoy. ( Unlike many of my articles!)

let's crack on.

As last time, I will start with an endgame study. This is quite an important 'must know' study. One for any chess coaches out there who have good players under their wing and are teaching them endgames.

Again - please try to solve it from the diagram as if it was a game position, and let me know how you get on! Any titled players out there who don't solve it on sight just found an area of their game that they can work on!

Another game from Hamburg in 1910 - see the Alekhine game from last time - has a couple of stories surrounding it.
Firstly it is said that early in the game Duras said to Schlechter that his position was so good that he was sure to win! Schlechter disagreed! ( I would probably have disagreed too, and ended up being wrong as well!  )

The other story is that Schlechter was very upset afterwards, saying that now he could no longer win the tournament, and he really needed the prize money to pay the bills. Perhaps Duras felt sorry for him! In the next couple of rounds he played badly, and Schlechter overtook him to win the first prize after all.

Whatever the truth of the stories, it's a wonderful game! I am trying to persuade those who think that only games with sacrifices are worth looking at, that endgames can be works of art too, and this is today's contributor to the cause.

Take a pause at move 20. You have Black. You are playing the great Schlechter. Would you expect to survive, let alone win?

Later in the year Duras played a short match with this rather extraordinary man.

Yes, you are reading that right - Esser was a plastic surgeon, and a very important one as I understand it.

One of the games of the match is an extraordinary forgotten delight for true chess lovers. You get the impression that Duras was in the mood to create something that day. It is full of unusual chess, and then Duras the composer takes over and produces something beautiful! Wow!

This next game is one of the first games of Duras that I really studied. Back in the day I used to get 'Schakmattny Byulletin', edited by Yury Averbach. He was, among other things, a lover of chess history, so every edition had a historical article. There was  one on Duras, and it included one of the great 'swindles' of chess history. Both players

went all out to win. The final combination is reminiscent of a game Tartakower - Euwe that I posted recently, so when you get to move 43, see if you can find it for yourself.

The next game won a first brilliancy prize - the finish is really beautiful.  It is also interesting in the light of more modern opening theory. However, the game contains a strange double oversight that was not pointed out at the time.

O.K.  the fun stuff that I like to include in these brief looks at players.

Firstly a game from Duras' first attempt at winning the master title. It's not a great game, but the finish is a beautiful little puzzle.

It was against this man.

And finally, a truly weird game found by Jan Kalendovky. I don't know the circumstances of the game, or anything about his opponent.

Enjoy!

The header picture is from this - from the archives of Jan Kalendovsky who wrote a nice book on Duras, among his many outstanding works.