Synchronicity in Belfast

On Thursday 16th February 2017 English GM Mark Hebden, en route to the super-weekender at Bunratty in County Clare, provided the opposition for 31 Ulster players at the now well-established annual grandmaster simultaneous exhibition at Belfast Inst in College Square East.

One of Hebden's three losses was to Mikhail Pavlov and Brendan Jamison was on hand to capture the precise moment that the GM realised he was in trouble. If you enlarge the picture you can see the mixture of surprise and consternation as Hebden sees his Bishop attacked by a pawn and with nowhere safe to go.

The circumstances that the modern GM simul-giver found himself in reminded me of a game played nearly a hundred years earlier in another simultaneous exhibition. Less than a year and a half before he became World Champion, Cuban superstar José Raúl Capablanca was in Belfast, facing 39 amateur players in simultaneous play at the Clarence Place Hall, May Street.

ChessBase

Capablanca, Jose Raul–Allen, William John1–0A53simul x 39Belfast10.12.1919

1.d4 f6 2.c4 d6 3.c3 bd7 4.e3 e5 5.d3 g6 6.f4 g7 7.ge2 0-0 8.0-0 e7 9.c2 9.f5 is the usual move, which Black now prevents by threatening to advance the e-pawn. 9...e8 10.fxe5 dxe5 11.d5 White evidently did not want to allow exd4, and overlooked for the moment the Bishop's danger. e4 12.d4 exd3 13.xd3 e5 14.e2 g4 15.f3 ad8 16.e4 Giving up an other pawn for the sake of getting the Queen's Bishop into play. c5+ 17.e3 xc4 18.f2 a6 A weak move, which loses the exchange. Black was considering 18...xe4 but had not satisfied himself about its soundness when Capablanca returned to his board.It would probably have turned out well, for if then 19.xe5 xe5 20.xf7+ h8 with the possibility of Rf8 to follow. 18...d3 was also available. 19.xe5 xe5 20.d4 de8 21.h3 d7 22.xe5 xe5 23.f4 d6 24.ac1 e7 25.b3 c6 26.h1 e8 27.f2 a6 28.b6 c8 29.f2 xh3 The sacrifice is hardly good enough. Black should have played to win one of the centre pawns instead. 30.gxh3 xh3+ 31.h2 xh2+ 32.xh2 h5+ 33.g2 cxd5 34.exd5 xd5 35.xd5 xd5 36.c7 d2+ 37.h1 h2+ 37...f5 followed by Rxa2 would have lost very quickly. 38.xh2 e5+ 39.g2 xc7 40.d1 e5 41.d7 b6 42.f3 g7 42...a5 seems best here. 43.e4 h2 And this is fatal. 43...g3 was necessary if Black was to hold his Queen side pawns. 44.b4 g3 45.a7 f2 46.xa6 f5+ 47.f3 d4 48.a4 g5 49.a5 bxa5 50.bxa5 h5 51.d6 The Bishop is now forced to leave the diagonal, and White ultimately Queens his pawn. e5 52.d5 g4+ 53.g2 f6 54.xe5 and White won. 1–0

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The game and annotations were sourced from the Belfast News-Letter chess column for 18th December 1919. W.J. Allen was the editor of the column, so it is highly likely that these are his own notes to the game.

A full report on Capablanca's visit to Belfast can be found in our 1919 page.