Asri-unix.219

Asri-unix.219
net.chess
utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!menlo70!sri-unix!mclure
Tue Dec 15 10:13:04 1981
Krejcik the Great
Several have asked "Who is Krejcik?" after my message from a
few days ago indicating that he, Diemer, and the early Tal are my
favorites. Here is Krejcik the Great.

Krejcik the Great
reprinted from Richard Shorman's chess column
in the Hayward Daily Review

Reti, Spielman, Tartakover, Grunfeld, Schlechter and Vidmar
were all world renowned products of the famed "Vienna school of
chess." But who remembers their fearless and gifted nemesis, Dr:
Prof. Josef Krejcik?

Born in 1885, the great Krejcik frequented the Wiener
Schachklub and the Cafe Central in Vienna for 50 years playing
hundreds of games with Vidmar, Tartakover, Konig, Kmoch, Spiel-
man, Albin, Wolf and many others.

Though he seldom left his beloved Vienna due to a heart ail-
ment, Krejcik nonetheless earned the respect of his more illus-
trious peers. He won brilliancy prize games against Grunfeld and
Wolf, beat Vidmar in fine style, held Reti and Tartakover to
desperate draws and even had Lasker dead to rights before suc-
cumbing to a mirage.

A "Monster-Blitz" tournament of over 100 players held in Vien-
na, 1922 finished with Krejcik and Alekhine among those tied for
fifth through eighth. Between 1920 and 1930, he never lost a
game as a Vienna team member in regular inter-city matches versus
Munich and Budapest.

For sheer beauty and depth of play, Krejcik's "Game of a Life-
time" deserves to go down in history on a par with Anderssen's
"Evergreen Partie."
-----
(Notes by Austrian master Josef Krejcik, translated from his book
"Mein Abschied vom Schach", Berlin, 1955, pp 35-36)

White Josef Krejcik Black: Konrad Krobot
Cafe Viktoria, Vienna, Feb 24, 1908
Center Game
1. P-K4 P-K4 2 P-Q4 PXP 3 QXP N-QB3 4 Q-K3 P-KN3 5 B-Q2 B-N2 6 N-QB3 KN-K2
7 O-O-O O-O 8 P-B4 P-QR3 9 N-B3 P-B4 10 B-B4ch 11 K-R1 11 N-KN5 Q-K1
12 PXP RXP
On 12. ... PXP Black's bishop would never command the diagonal leading
to White's KR3 and after 12. ... NXP Black loses the exchange following
the trade of queens.
13 P-KN4 R-B1 14 Q-R3 P-R3
Now comes the finest move of the game, the full meaning of which will
become clear later.
15 KR-N1!! P-N4 16 NXP! PXN 17 B-B3 P-R4
After 17. ... N-KN1 White wins some very pretty variations: I. 18
QR-K1! QN-K2 19 BXBch KXB 20 BXN KXB (20 ... RXB 21 Q-B3ch) 21 QXP R-B2
22 R-N3! Q-B1 23 NXR! QXN (23 ... KXN 24 Q-R7ch and either 24 ... K-B3
25 RXN! OR 24 ... K-K1 25 KR-K3) 24 R-KR3 Q-N2 25 QXQch, etc.; II.
18 QR-K1! QXRch 19 RXQ PXB 20 BXBch KXB 21 Q-B3ch N-B3 22 N-K4 P-Q4
(22 ... RXP 23 NXN! R-R8ch 24 K-Q2 RXR 25 N-R5ch K-B2 26 Q-B6ch and
mates, or 22 ... P-N4 23 PXP PXP 24 NXN RXN 25 R-B1 and wins) 23 NXN
P-Q5 24 QXBP RXN 25 R-K8, etc. The "Suddeutschen Schachblatter"
commented, "This game contains a particularly demonic combination!"
18 R-Q6!! PXR
The penalty for refusing the rook is a queen sacrifice at R5 and mate by
the rook at R6, whereas accepting the rook offer bottles up the power of
Black's defensive bishop at QB1. If 18 ... N-KN1 or 18 ... PXB, then White
wins with 19 PXP. The strength of 15 KR-N1!! will now be revealed...
19 PXP PXP
Here White announced mate in eight moves. Later, however, the veteran
master Johanes Berger demonstrated a mate two moves sooner, beginning
with 23 Q-N3ch.
20 BXBch KXB 21 N-B7ch N-N3 22 RXNch! KXR 23 P-B5ch K-B3 24 Q-R4ch KXP
25 Q-N5ch K-K5 26 NXPch K-Q5 27 P-B3 mate
A problem-like mate! On 26 ... K-B6 would have followed 27 Q-N3 mate.

-----

White: Johannes Berger Black: Josef Krejcik
Wiener Schachklub, Vienna, 1907
Albin Counter Gambit
1 P-Q4 P-Q4 2 P-QB4 P-K4 3 PXKP P-Q5 4 P-K4
And not 4 P-K3? B-N5ch 5 B-Q2 PXP! 6 BXB PXPch 7 K-K2 PXN(N)ch!, etc.
4 ... B-QB4 5 P-B4 P-KB3 6 PXP NXP 7 B-Q3 N-B3 8 P-QR3 P-QR4 9 N-KB3 O-O
10 O-O R-K1 11 P-K5 N-KN5 12 R-K1 B-B4!
A beautiful sacrifice, the acceptance of which leads to a wonderfully
swift concolusion. Schlechter cites this game as a source in "Bilguer's
Handbuch".
13 BXB P-Q6ch 14 K-B1 Q-R5!! 15 Q-Q2 QXP 16 BXQP Q-R8ch 17 K-K2 QXPch
18 K-Q1 QXNch 19 B-K2
The alternatives are 19 Q-K2 N-B7ch 20 K-Q2 QXPch 21 K-B3 Q-Q5CH
22 K-B2 RXP, etc. or 19 K-B2 N-Q5ch 20 K-B3 N-KB7! 21 P-N3 B-N5ch
22 PXB PXPch 23 KXN NXB! 24 RXR P-B4 mate
19 ... Q-N6ch 20 Q-B2 N-B7ch 21 K-Q2 B-K6 mate

-----

White: Josef Krejcik Black: Franz Klar
Olmutz 1907
Vienna Game
1 P-K4 P-K4 2 N-QB3 N-KB3 3 P-B4 P-Q4 4 PXKP NXP 5 N-B3 B-KN5 6 B-K2
Speilmann used to play 6 Q-K2 here
6 ... BXN 7 BXB Q-R5ch 8 P-N3 NXNP 9 PXN QXPch 10 K-B1 B-B4
Dr. Perlis versus Kopsa (Barmen, 1905) continued 11 Q-K2. White finds a
stronger move
11 P-Q4! BXP 12 Q-K2 P-QB3 13 B-K3 BXP
Or 13 ... BXN 14 PXB QXP 15 R-R5 Q-K2 16 Q-R2! N-Q2 17 R-K1, with a crushing
attack. If, in this line, Black plays 15 ... P-KB4, then White wins after
16 Q-Q3 P-KN3 (16 ... O-O 17 B-Q4 AND 18 R-K1) 17 B-Q4 Q-N6 18 R-K1ch K-Q1
19 B-B6ch K-B1 20 BXR PXR 21 QXPch
14 B-B2 Q-B5 15 R-K1 N-Q2 16 R-R4 Q-B3 17 B-N4! K-Q1 18 BXN BXN
Now begins a brilliancy prize winning combination. Grandmaster Spielmann,
the best Vienna Game expert in the world, regarded this game as one of the
finest Vienna Games he had ever seen.
19 R-KB4!! Q-Q3
If 19 ... QXR, THEN 20 Q-K7ch K-B2 21 B-K8ch wins. Or 19 ... BXR 20 RXQ PXR
21 B-R3! AND 22 Q-N4, with the same result.
20 RXP BXR
And not 20 ... B-B3 because of 21 Q-K8ch, etc.
21 QXB P-KR3
The threat was 22 B-R4ch followed by 23 B-N3!
22 Q-R5ch Q-B2 23 B-R4ch P-N4 23 Q-B3, resigns

-----

White: Helmer. Black: Krejcik.
Vienna, 1917
Budapest Gambit
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e5 3 de Ng4 4 f4 Bc5 5 Nh3 Nh2! 6 Rh2 Qh4 7 Kd2 d5! 8 Qb3 Bh3
9 Qh3 Qf4 10 Kc2 Qf1!! 11 Qc8 Ke7 12 Qh8 Qe2 13 Bd2 Nc6! 14 Qa8 Nb4 15 Kb3 Qc4
16 Ka4 b5 17 Ka5 Bb6 mate

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