December 03 1950
Evening star, Washington, District of Columbia, Sunday, December 03, 1950
Chess Notes by Donald H. Mugridge
After three rounds of the Washington Divan's championship tourney, Nathan Robins leads with three straight wins. In round 2 he won the exchange from Hugh C. Underwood after 15 moves of a Queen's Indian Defense, and won the end game some 30 moves later. Against John R. Rice, who played a Cambridge Spring Defense, Robins castled on the queen's side and attacked sharply on the king's. He sacrificed a knight on move 26 and forced Rice's resignation three moves later.
Ernest M. Knapp stands in second place with 2½ points. His second-round game with Russell Chauvenet had become extremely critical, with Chauvenet attacking on the king's side and Knapp seeking counterplay in the center, when Chauvenet missed the purport of a knight move and resigned after his queen was trapped. In round 3, Knapp won the exchange from Martin C. Stark, but agreed to a draw in a position in which he could well have continued to play for a win.
Hans Berliner won his second-round game from Rice after the latter, in time pressure, has transposed from a favorable position into a hopelessly lost rook end-game. He has a theoretical chance of catching up with the leaders, but stands unfavorably in his adjourned game with Thomas, where he has given up a piece for small compensation. Three players have scores of 2-1; Florence M. Campomanes, Chauvenet, and Eugene Sadowski. Campomanes won his adjourned first-round ending from Thomas, and defeated Comdr. Charles D. Mott, also after an adjournment, in the second. In the third he won a pawn from Chauvenet, but failed to achieve a coherent development, and the White pieces ganged up on his pathetically isolated king. In round 2, Sadowski won from Thomas, who had left his king in the center, by a neat combination involving the pin of several white pieces. In round 3, Sadowski accepted Nash's offer of two pawns in the opening, and put up a solid defense against which the White pieces beat in vain. Nash eventually tried a bishop sacrifice, but resigned soon after.
Nash and Stark drew a hard game in round 2, and each have one point composed of two draws. Comdr. Mott's point was earned in the third round, when his heavy blows demolished Underwood's close position. Rice has half a point, and Thomas and Underwood have yet to score.
Russell Chauvenet's games are regularly very interesting, since he combines a modern knowledge of the openings with an aggressive style and great tactical ingenuity. Of the two that follow, the first was played in round 1 of the Divan Championship, and the other in the Navcom-Divan match.
