Bradley Beach 1929 International Chess Tournament, Part 2 of 3

A tournament book for the 21st century

Admittedly, I have many tournament books collecting dust on my bookshelf, including New York 1924 and New York 1927. For busy players, most tournament books are too long, contain tedious variations, and are not interactive. With this in mind, Part 2 analyzes all forty-five games from Bradley Beach 1929 with the assistance of Stockfish. Each game includes a synopsis and a puzzle of the most critical position. Imagine you are in the solarium of Hotel La Reine, and try to find the game continuation or improve on the master's play. Sam Shankland does not believe in passive learning, so neither should we. For those who just want to enjoy the show, the solution with additional commentary is revealed by clicking the '?' button. The reader may play through the full games by clicking on the links provided.

Schedule: The tournament was nine rounds and play began at 2 o'clock in the afternoon on June 3, 1929 and concluded on June 11, 1929.

Time control: It appears players had to make their first 30 moves in 2 hours, then 15 moves per hour thereafter. Adjournments were permitted, so these games were completed before or after subsequent rounds as time allowed. As one can imagine, adjourned games took a very long time!

Tie break: In the event of a tie break, there would be no blitz playoff, Armageddon game, or calculation of Sonneborn-Berger scores.  The players would walk around the corner, choose their favorite colored ball, and play a round at Shipwreck Island Mini Golf.

Alekhine v. Turover (1-0) - This was Alekhine's first tournament game since defeating Capablanca for the world championship. The rust showed and by move 21, Alekhine found himself in some trouble. Turover could not find a difficult continuation and instead traded queens. After the simplifications, Alekhine outplayed his opponent in a knight and pawn endgame. Turover resigned when Alekhine trapped his knight on the edge of the board.

Bigelow v. Marshall (0-1) - In a reversed Sicilian, the reigning United States champion missed a key opportunity to play a thematic ...f5 pawn break which would have unleashed his fianchettoed bishop. Still, he found himself on the better end of a same color bishop ending and won without much discussion.

Fox v. Cintron (1-0) - Cintron blundered the exchange and a pawn to a petite combinaison. He tried to push his 2 v. 1 queenside majority, but Fox's control of the dark squares and open c-file proved fatal.

H. Steiner v. Kevitz (1/2-1/2) - Kevitz navigated his way through a sharp Open Sicilian, and achieved a completely winning rook and pawn endgame. Unfortunately, he failed to find the most active move in the critical position, and Steiner salvaged the half point.

L. Steiner v. Kupchik (1-0) - Steiner outlasted Kupchik in what proved to be the longest game of the tournament - 108 moves over 11 hours and 57 minutes! In fact, this game was finished just before the start of Round 8 on Monday, June 10. Kupchik could have avoided this marathon with a knock-out blow on move 36.  If you have a key positional idea and your opponent is preventing it, the first question you should always ask yourself is "what happens if I just do it anyway?"

Alekhine [1.0] v. Fox [1.0] (1-0) - Once again, Alekhine found himself in trouble early in the game; however, Fox could not find an elegant knight tour. Alekhine went on to win the exchange and outclassed his weaker opponent in a technical endgame.

Cintron [0.0] v. Marshall [1.0] (0-1) - After Marshall made a temporary piece sacrifice, Cintron got greedy with his extra material and could not keep the balance. Marshall was a clean pawn to the good and steam-rolled Cintron in the ensuing endgame.

Kevitz [0.5] v. L. Steiner [1.0] (0-1) - Steiner built a nice space advantage against his opponent's hyper modern opening. In a cramped position, Kevitz trapped his own light square bishop in the center of the board.

Kupchik [0.0] v. H. Steiner [0.5] (0-1) - Kupchik did not play the most testing variation against Steiner's Open Spanish. Steiner won a kingside pawn with a simple tactic and rode it to victory. A very poor start to the tournament for Kupchik.

Turover [0.0] v. Bigelow [0.0] (1-0) - Bigelow was on the better side of an equal position when he blundered the strong pawn he established on e4. The rest was a matter of technique and Turover was up to the task.

Bigelow [0.0] v. Alekhine [2.0] (0-1) - Alekhine uncorked an opening novelty in the English Four Knights, which would become known as the Bradley Beach Variation. Alekhine grabbed the initiative with a nice zwischenzug, which left Bigelow's king in a perilous position. Bigelow avoided checkmate, but had to accept doubled, isolated pawns. Alekhine won a pawn and the endgame.

Fox [1.0] v. L. Steiner [2.0] (0-1) - In an equal rook ending, Steiner infiltrated Fox's position with his king and his superior activity proved to be decisive.

Kupchik [0.0] v. Marshall [2.0] (1/2-1/2) - In a QGD exchange variation, the game became very sharp because both players had difficulty finding shelter for their king. Marshall missed a winning move that would have ensnared Kupchik's king in a mating net.  The game fizzled out to a draw, so Marshall was unable to keep pace with Alekhine's perfect start.

H. Steiner [1.5] v. Turover [1.0] (0-1) - In a homage to the world champion, Turover constructed a battery on the d-file colloquially known as Alekhine's Gun. After Steiner locked the pawn structure, Turover made a great positional piece exchange to open another front on the kingside. The principle of two weaknesses on full display.

Cintron [0.0] v. Kevitz [0.5] (0-1) - Kevitz found a nice tactical sequence to create a favorable material imbalance - a rook and two passed pawns vs. bishop and knight. Cintron had some counterplay, but was unable to contain the passed pawns.

On this date in chess history, Richard Reti died at the age of 40 in Prague of scarlet fever. I am sure this news reverberated throughout Hotel La Reine and had a profound impact on the players (especially Alekhine and Marshall, with whom he played many tournament games). Reti's mind-bending endgame study is still one of the greatest ever composed. Perhaps Alekhine and Marshall held a toast in his honor at dinner.

Alekhine (third from right) and Reti (second from right) standing next to each other with Marshall (first from left) at New York 1924. Reti famously defeated Capablanca in this tournament; it was the Cuban's first loss since the Jurassic Period.

Kevitz [1.5] v. Alekhine [3.0] (0-1) - By move 25, Kevitz was already much better thanks in no small part to his control over the c5 square and pressure against Alekhine's weakened queenside pawns. Kevitz must have lost concentration when he let Alekhine, a brilliant tactician, turn the game on its head with a skewer. Alekhine won the exchange, and used the extra material to infiltrate the first rank with decisive effect.

Turover [2.0] v. L. Steiner [3.0] (1/2-1/2) - Turover was up two pawns against his opponent's solid Slav Defense, but Steiner had Benko-like compensation in the form of a menacing dark square bishop and active rooks on the queenside. After Steiner was able to recoup one of the queenside pawns, Turover's extra kingside pawn did not account for much because it was a crippled 4 v. 3 majority. The game was drawn by repetition, which meant Alekhine took over sole possession of first place.

Marshall [2.5] v. H. Steiner [1.5] (1-0) - Steiner sacrificed the exchange for the knight on e2 in order to bring his queen to the menacing f4 square; however, Marshall easily refuted his opponent's play with a simple move that Steiner must have overlooked.

Kupchik [0.5] v. Fox [1.0] (1-0) - In what might be the first mouse slip in human history, Fox inexplicably played 50...Re5?? in this position which loses the h4 pawn. Fox had a completely winning position and could have consolidated with a couple natural moves. Fox could not recover from this blunder and lost the game.

Cintron [0.0] v. Bigelow [0.0] (1-0) - In the Battle of the Bottom Feeders, Bigelow obtained a position evaluated by the engine as -9.01! True to form, he managed to blow it with consecutive blunders that allowed Cintron to equalize and then win the game.

Alekhine [4.0] v. Cintron [1.0] (1-0) - In the tournament's only chess miniature (19 moves), Cintron voluntarily opened the h-file for Alekhine by accepting a fishing pole trap and then this happened...

L. Steiner [3.5] v. Marshall [3.5] (1/2-1/2) - In a pivotal match for the tournament standings, Steiner outplayed Marshall in the early middle game of a Spanish and got a completely winning position. Steiner allowed Marshall to extract his queen from the first rank, which gave him just enough counterplay to eventually draw the game by perpetual check in a queen ending.  As a result, Alekhine's lead in the tournament grew to a full point.

Turover [2.5] v. Kupchik [1.5] (1/2-1/2) - On move 10, Kupchik threw away a half point when he missed a very easy win. Kupchik was up the exchange during the endgame, but he apparently believed that Turover constructed a fortress and agreed to a draw. Magnus Carlsen does not believe in fortresses, and he would certainly think that Kupchik gave up way too soon.

Fox [1.0] v. H. Steiner [1.5] (1-0) - This game featured a sideline of the Marshall Attack that would become known as the Steiner variation. This was only fitting as both namesakes were in attendance. It appears Fox came prepared with the novelty 10. Ng5!?, and Steiner faltered over the board. Fox won two bishops and two pawns for a rook and cruised to victory.

Bigelow [0.0] v. Kevitz [1.5] (1/2-1/2) - The players agreed to a draw in a rook and pawn ending after an incredibly balanced game where neither player ever held an advantage. Still, it was a rather disappointing result for Kevitz against the tournament's punching bag.

Marshall [4.0] v. Alekhine [5.0] (0-1) - This was the heavyweight bout the spectators were waiting to see. In the game between the legendary players and tournament leaders, Marshall chose the prosaic Colle System in an attempt to avoid Alekhine's vast opening preparation. Alekhine exchanged pieces and equalized easily. By move 39, a queen and pawn ending was on the board that was dead equal (the engine evaluation is literally 0.00). From a human's perspective, however, this ending was a mine field because both players had an exposed king and a passed pawn. At every move, the players had to stay alert for checks that would force a liquidation into a king and pawn ending, which required intense concentration and physical fitness. Alekhine had the advantage in this regard because Marshall was past his prime. Perhaps this was Alekhine's strategy for the game all along. In the critical position, Marshall had 2 moves that would draw and 1 that would lose. He did not choose wisely and lost by a single tempo.

H. Steiner [1.5] v. L. Steiner [4.0] (0-1) - The Steiner Bowl was a back-and-forth affair where both players had winning chances. Lajos used a nice x-ray tactic to win a piece and the game after Herman made the final blunder. Lajos took sole possession of second place and remained only a point behind Alekhine.

Cintron [1.0] v. Turover [3.0] (0-1) - Cintron chose the Classical Variation against Turover's Sicilian Dragon. Nowadays, everyone knows the most testing variation is the Yugoslav Attack. This was 1929, though, and it would be many years until Bobby Fischer published his famous blueprint for slaying the dragon in My 60 Memorable Games: "pry open the h-file, sac, sac ... mate!" The game came to an abrupt conclusion when Cintron's dark squared bishop got stuck deep behind enemy lines.

Kupchik [2.0] v. Kevitz [2.0] (1-0) - This game featured a very instructive endgame. Kevitz was up the exchange, but Kupchik had complete domination of the light squares. Which imbalance would prevail? To evaluate this type of position, the first question every player should ask themself is "how good are the rooks?" Kupchik understood the rooks were not good because they were split and lacked open files on which to operate. Conversely, Kupchik's knight on e4 was the boss of the board.

Bigelow [0.5] v. Fox [2.0] (0-1) - Spoiler alert: Bigelow got crushed again, but Fox could have eased his opponent's suffering by finding a very easy tactic on move 16. Sometimes we just stoop to the level of our competition.

Kupchik [3.0] v. Alekhine [6.0] (1/2-1/2) - This draw proved to be Alekhine's only blemish of the tournament. Through a Reti move order, Kupchik boldly met Alekhine's Queen's Gambit Accepted with the Alekhine System. When one invents something, they typically know a thing or two about it. This case was no exception and Alekhine equalized easily. Kupchik was up a pawn in the final position, but Alekhine's superior minor piece and more active king gave him full compensation. The players agreed to a draw on move 45 after a very balanced game.

Cintron [1.0] v. L. Steiner [5.0] (0-1) - Steiner was having a marvelous tournament so far, and could pull to within a half point of Alekhine with a win. Steiner's pairing against the weaker Cintron offered him a golden opportunity. He capitalized by finding a very nice tactic and stayed hot on the world champion's heels.

Marshall [4.0] v. Fox [3.0] (1/2-1/2) - Fox won a pawn early in the game by exploiting Marshall's disconnected rooks and weak back rank. Marshall kept fighting hard, though, and found a nice forced sequence to draw by perpetual check.

Kevitz [2.0] v. Turover [4.0] (1-0) - In the opening, bad things tend to happen when you neglect your king's safety. Not only did Turover go pawn grabbing before completing his development, he opened a very dangerous diagonal towards his kingside. After a silent but deadly move by Kevitz, Turover's position completely collapsed. A model game by Turover demonstrating what not to do in the opening.

H. Steiner [1.5] v. Bigelow [0.5] (1-0) - An orthodox Queen's Gambit Declined morphed into an opposite sides castling position commonly seen in the Open Sicilian. After evacuating his king to the queenside, Steiner orchestrated the decisive breakthrough on the kingside. Bigelow bites the dust, again.

Alekhine [6.5] v. H. Steiner [2.5]  (1-0) - This was the only game Alekhine included from Bradley Beach 1929 in his memoir My Best Games of Chess 1908-1937. Alekhine's complete annotations from his book are provided in the game link. Alekhine built a significant advantage by advancing his 4 v. 3 kingside majority and bringing his pieces to formidable attacking positions. Meanwhile, Steiner's queen is in Siberia and he is lagging behind in development. Can you find the move that garnered Alekhine the brilliancy prize?

L. Steiner [6.0] v. Bigelow [0.5] (1-0) - Bigelow went all in and launched a caveman-style attack. His pride went the way of the dodo bird rounds ago; what else did he have to lose? Steiner found simple, safe moves to refute his opponent's belligerent play. Steiner's victory set the table for a decisive encounter with Alekhine in the final round! It would be many, many years until Bam Bam Bigelow, who hailed from nearby Asbury Park, restored honor to the Bigelow name in these parts by headlining Wrestlemania XI (attended by yours truly; thanks, Dad!).

L. Steiner [7.0] v. Alekhine [7.5] (0-1) - In a dramatic ninth and final round, the two tournament leaders played a quasi-Armageddon match to determine the champion of Bradley Beach 1929. Steiner was in a must-win situation with the white pieces, whereas Alekhine would bring home the bacon with either a win or a draw. Unfortunately, this meant mini golf was off the table, so the spectators had to content themselves with the action over the board. Alekhine recognized that he had the high ground in the battle, so he chose a super solid variation of the French Defense. Steiner capitulated by exchanging queens and a pair of rooks very early in the game. In a futile attempt to create winning chances in the endgame, Steiner captured a poisoned h-pawn with his bishop (shades of Fischer-Spassky, Game 1). Alekhine just needed to find one accurate move to seal tournament victory. World champions tend to be pretty good at things like this.