By Lev Khariton
When
we talk about chess traps, we always remember the incomparable art of Frank
Marshall (1877-1944). Even the world's best chess players were afraid of the
brilliant tactical blows of the American grandmaster.
Unfortunately, there is a wide-spread opinion that Marshall was a one-sided
player who was always ready to make positional concessions to achieve his tactical
goals. Certainly, this is far from the truth, since one can find a great number
of games conducted by Marshall strictly in accordance with the rules of positional
play. Nevertheless, Marshall went down into chess history primarily as a brilliant
master of tactical play, and his unforgettable traps have become part and parcel
of numerous chess anthologies.
In 1899 the Brooklyn Chess Club sent its young champion to an international
chess tournament in London. It was Marshall's first trip to Europe. However,
the organizers did not allow the young chess player to participate in the main
tournament, considering that the title of the Brooklyn Champion was not sufficient
to play against such giants as Harry Neslon Pillsbury, Emanuel Lasker, Mikhail
Chigorin and Karl Schlechter. Playing the amateurs' tournament, however, Marshall
demonstrated his outstanding tactical skill.
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Jackson – Marshall (London, 1899)
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Black is two pawns down, but White's King is in danger. 28...Kg7! 29.Bf4
Kxg6 30.Bg5 Rf4+!! White resigned.
It would be wrong to think that Marshall could set only one-move traps. Quite
often his tactical ideas were based on the far-reaching calculation of variations.
Marshall – Marco (Monte-Carlo, 1904)
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Obviously, at this moment G. Marco had no doubts about his victory. But White
suddenly played 45.c6! This move deserves an exclamation mark although
White could have lost anyway after 45…bxc6 46.Rxc7+ Kb8 47.Rb7+ Kxb7 48.Nc5+
Ka7 49.Nxa4 Bd4 50.Kf3 Ka6 51.Ke4 Ka5 52.Kxd4 Kxa4.
Underestimating Marshall's resourcefulness, Marco played 45...Be5, and
the subsequent course of the game resembles an endgame study.
46.cxb7+ Kb8 47.Nc5 Ra2+ 48.Kh3 b2 49.Re7 Ka7 50.Re8 c6 51.Ra8+ Kb6 52.Rxa2
b1Q 53.b8Q+ Bxb8 54.Rb2+ Qxb2 55.Na4+ Kb5 56.Nxb2. Taken aback by Marshall's
profound calculation, Marco even lost the game.
Here is another example from the Monte-Carlo tournament.
Marshall – Scheve (Monte-Carlo, 1904)
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After 30...Re4 31.Bh6!! Black resigned at once.
The World Championship match against Emanuel Lasker in 1907 was a fiasco for
Marshall. Even in his autobiography Marshall does not mention this match except
for a short sentence. "Tedious play aimed at wearing down my opponent is
averse to my nature". Look at the remarkable trap that Marshall set for
the Worlds Champion in the 3rd game of the match.
Marshall – Lasker (USA, 1907)
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After 28...cxd4 29.exd4 Lasker, obviously, wanted to take the pawn on
c3, but at the last moment he realized which precipice he would have fallen
into: 29…Rxc3 30.Qxc8+! Rxc8 31.Rxc8+ Kh7 32.Rh8+! Kxh8 33.Nxf7+.
Akiba Rubinstein was not only a great positional player, but he was also a
brilliant tactician. Very few chess players could boast of outwitting him tactically.
Marshall – Rubinstein (Moscow, 1925)
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23.b3! Qxb3. Falling for the "poisoned" pawn, but no better
was, of course, 23...Qa6 24.Rxe8 Rxe8 25.Ne5 Bd5 26.Nd6 Rd8 27.Nf5 threatening
Qg3.
24.Nfd2! Qa2 25.Nc3! Black resigned.
O. Duras was also known for his cunning traps; therefore it is interesting
to see how Marshall deceived the vigilant grandmaster.
Marshall – Duras (Scheveningen 1905)
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30.Kh2! This move seems so harmless that Duras trusted his opponent
to such an extent that he imitated him by playing 30…Kf7. However,
after 31.Rxg7+! Black resigned at once. The apparently more dangerous
30.Qh4 could be met by 30… Rh6! 31.Qxh6 Qd1+ 32.Kf2 Qd2+ 33.Kg1 Qe1+ 34.Kh2
Qf2+ 35.Rg2 Qxg2+ 36.Kxg2 gxh6.
Marshall – Bernstein (Petersburg, 1914)
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Bernstein played here 15...Ne4 which seems very aggressive. But again
Marshall shows the marvels of profound calculation.
16.Bxe4 dxe4 17.Ne5! f6 18.Rb4 Rxc3 19.Qd2!! This move was, evidently,
overlooked by Bernstein.
19…Rxc1+ 20.Qxc1 0-0 21.Rxa4 Bxa4 22.Qc7 h6 23.Bf4 fxe5 24.Bxe5 Rf7
25.Qb8+ Rf8 26.Qxa7 Rf7 27.Qb8+ Rf8 28.Qc7 Rf7 29.Qc8+ Rf8 30.Qxe6+ Black resigned.
The St Petersburg 1914 tournament participants
Marshall was often on the look-out for traps after the first opening moves.
Alekhine – Marshall (New York, 1927)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Ne4 4.Nfd2 Bb4
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"Typically Marshall's trap," wrote Alekhine. "If 5.a3, 5…Qf6!
winning immediately!"
In conclusion, the most famous example.
Levitsky – Marshall (Breslau, 1912)
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After 23…Qg3!! White resigned at once. "The most famous move
in my life", Marshall wrote many years later. "The spectators were
so excited by it that they began throwing me gold coins!"
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