Evening star., 1949-10-09
Chess
By Donold n. Mugridge


The annual championship tour
ney of the Washington Chess
Divan began on October with IL
entries. Last years champion
Comdr. Charles D. Mott, is being
transferred from the Patuxent
Naval Air Station to Fort Bliss
Tex, and so is most unfortunately
unable to defend his title.
At the last moment Harry E
Cimermanis, q newcomer from
Latvia, was substituted for Theo-
dore Bullockus, and the entry list
now reads:
Hans Berliner. Richard S. Can't
we'll, L. Russell Chauvenet. H. E
Cimermanis, Ernest M. Knapp, D
H. Mugridge, John r. Rice, Oscar
Shapiro, Martin c. Stark and
George S. Thomas.
In the first round Rice resigned
to Mugridge after .16 moves of an
English opening. BY an inferior
move on his fourth turn. Rice
first lost the initiative in the
center. and then overlooked two
successive tactical threats, each of
which cost him a piece.
Cantwell defeated Cimermanis
in a rather brief queens gambit
declined which was irregularly de-
Tended by the latter. Cimermanis
soon acquired a cramped and awk-
ward position, and Cantwell was
able to exploit his great superiority
in the center.
The contests between Stark and
Shapiro and between Knapp and
Berliner were both adjourned after
four hours of play. Shapiro
adopted the Meran variation, and
got rather rickety game. But
Stark failed to find his strongest
continuation, and the game was
adjourned in a fairly level ending
with rook, bishop and pawns on
each side. After two more hours
of play on October 4, a draw was
agreed upon.
Berliner got a decided advan-
tage against Knapp on the black
side of a Slav Defense, but he toe
missed a clearly winning line.
The game was adjourned in an
ending wherein each side has q
rook and four pawns. and no per-
ceptible advantage. Neither
Chauvenet nor Thomas was able
to appear for the first session of
play. and their game was post
poned.
The English magazine Chess, in
its triple issue for July-September
publishes a letter to the editor
from DR.. Fedor Bohatyrchuk
which forms an interesting COM
mentary upon Grekov's Soviet
Chess" reviewed last week.
DR.. Bohatyrchuk was a Soviet
physician and radiologist who be-
came a displaced person" in
Central Europe, and is now resi-
dent in Canada.
During the '30s he was one of
the leading Soviet masters, but he
had ceased to appear in Russian
tournaments even before the out
break of the war. He explains
that, as a prominent expert. he
was expected by the Communist
authorities to devote so large a
part of his time to chess competi-
tions as to interfere with his
scientific career in cancer research.
He could only pursue the latter If
he gave up chess altogether, and
this he did, in 1888.
He writes. "As soon as a chess
master is unfortunate enough to
become prominent one, there
are only two choices, either to be-
come a chess professional or to
give up serious chess altogether.
There Is no middle line"
Before the war a young chess
master could earn 1000 roubles a
month. as much as a university
professor. and prominent players
could double this or better by
writing and other activities.
He acknowledges Botvinnik's S
genius, but points out that Botvin-
mix "has had opportunities quite
denied to the ordinary master.
He was given a special trainer who
accompanied him in stays at first
class health resorts before each
serious tournament. Money mat
ters he could simply forget"