An Olympic Games debut for chess in Paris — 100 years ago

Chess won’t be winning any medals at the Paris Olympic Games that open later this week, but it was a very different story at the Paris Games 100 years ago. The 1924 Paris Games played a little-known role in kicking off one of the great international traditions in the game, a tradition that is still going strong.

Despite the frantic (and at times pathetic) efforts of certain chess organizing bodies, chess was not then and is not now an official Olympic “sport.” But the 1924 Games organizers also staged an amateur national chess team event on the sidelines of the athletic doings, a competition considered the first unofficial Olympiad. The biennial team chess event is now a biennial fixture on the chess calendar and one of the most inclusive (non-Olympic) sporting competitions in the world.

The storied chess pros of the day — Capablanca, Lasker, Alekhine — were not allowed to play, but the tournament did attract teams from across Europe. Although the U.S. did not field a team, Canada and Argentina did compete, and some soon-to-be-famous names — Belgium’s team included both Edgar Colle and George Koltanowksi — first attracted wider notice at the Paris event.

There was even a future world champion in the mix: Dutch champion Max Euwe, then just 23, finished fifth in the individual competition in Paris, 11 years before wresting the world title from Alekhine. Two Latvians, masters Hermanis Matisons and Fricis Apsenieks, captured the honorary gold and silver medals, with Apsenieks dealing a critical blow to Euwe’s hopes in their exciting individual encounter.

An early battle for the center breaks out in the Four Knights Defense, but Black’s 14. Bd2 Ng8? (simply 14…Nf5 15. Nxf5 Bxf5 16. dxe5 fxe5 17. Qxe5 Nb6 leads to a very playable position) is a very un-Euwe-like positional misplacement of a key piece. Black’s apparent concept — an exchange sac after 15. dxe5 fxe5 16. Nf3 Rxf3?! — never quite pans out, forcing Euwe to take even more risks to justify the bad investment.

Aspenieks reacts well at first: 17. gxf3 Qf6 (Bh3?!, winning back the material right away, looks fine for White after 18. Qxe5 Bxf1 19. Rxf1 Nge7 20. Bd3) 18. Bd3 Nge7 (Qxf3?! 19. Qe4! Qxe4 20. Bxe4 Nf6 21. Rfe1, and White retains a material edge) 19. c4 Ng6!? (Black is in a hole and refuses to stop digging, but no more pleasant was 19…Nf4 20. Bxf4 exf4 [Qxf4 21. Qe4 Qg5+ 22. Kh1 Ng6 23. Rab1, with a clear edge] 21. Kh1, and White is still up the exchange and now has the g-file to play on) 20. cxd5 Nh4, but offers Black a ray of hope with 21. Qe4?! (Qe3! was much better; e.g. 21…Nxf3+ 22. Kh1 Nxd2 23. Rg1! [and not 23. Qxd2?? Qf3+ 24. Kg1 Qg4+, with a perpetual check] Nf3 24. Rg3 Nd4 25. Re1, and if 25…cxd5, White wins with 26. Qxd4! exd4 27. Re8+) Bf5! 22. Qxh4 Qxh4 23. Bxf5.

White nominally has far more than enough for the queen, but his king position remains a little iffy, and Black’s queen threatens to make a real nuisance of herself.

But Euwe falters once again, handing White a winning idea on 23…Rf8? (see diagram; 23…cxd5 24. Rae1 Re8 25. c3 Qh4 makes White still work for the point) 24. dxc6! Rxf5 (bxc6 25. Be4 locks down everything neatly for White, giving him all the time he needs to mobilize his superior army) 25. cxb7 Rf8 26. Rab1 Rb8, and the Black rook is doomed to permanent guard duty trying to hold back the White b-pawn.

It’s over on 28. Be3 e4 (Qa5 29. Rfb1 Qxa2 30. h3 h6 31. f4, and the win is only a matter of time) 29. Bf4 Qf8 30. Rxe4, and Euwe stopped the clocks. White gets the gold in lines like 30…Rxb7 31. Rfe1 Rf7 32. Bg3 Qa3 33. Re8+ Rf8 34. Rxf8+ Qxf8 35. Rb1!, and the threat of 36. Rb8, pinning and winning the queen, can’t be stopped.

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Three big crowns are still very much up for grabs as the U.S. Senior, Junior and Junior Girls Championships are all just passing the midway point at the  St. Louis Chess Club.

As this is being written, GM Vladimir Akopian is setting the pace in the senior event, top-seeded GM Christopher Yoo leads IM Justin Wang by a half-point in the junior tournament, and Connecticut NM Jasmin Su is the surprise leader in the junior girls’ event.

The competitive spirit has been particularly fierce in the girls’ event, with the highest percentage of decisive games of any of the three nine-round tournaments. The games have been entertaining from the very first round, when clear pre-tourney favorite IM Alice Lee suffered a stunning upset at the hands of WIM Iris Mou, who overcame a nearly 300-rating point deficit to score a major upset.

For the up-and-coming Lee, this was one of those hugely annoying games where your lower-rated opponent refuses to roll over and concede. For Mou, it was one of those magical games where every positional decision and every sharp move she makes appears to be the first choice of the computer engines analyzing the game.

White gets herself into early trouble in this tricky Catalan line on 12. Ne5 Qc7 12. b3?! (Black is making her opponent work to recover the gambited pawns, but White still has time here for the simple 13. 0-0 0-0 14. Bf4) c5!, picking up a critical tempo as White’s rook on h1 is under fire after Lee trades off her fianchettoed bishop.

Black’s 15. 0-0 Qe4! is another alert move, offering White a queen trade that only improves Black’s position while pretty much ceding any winning chance for Lee.

Mou keeps firm control of the play after 16. Qa2 (Qxe4 Nxe4 17. Be1 Nxe5 18. dxe5 cxb3 19. axb5 c4, with a clear material and positional edge for Black) cxd4 17. Nxd7 Nxd7 18. Bb4? (another oversight; tougher was 18. bxc4 bxc4 19. Qxc4 0-0) a5! 19. axb5 cxb3 20. Qb1 Qd5!, eschewing a queen trade and offering further proof that Black is not intimidated by her higher-rated opponent.

After 22. Rc3 d3! (pushing forward, but also giving Black’s queen the d4-square to parry White’s threatened 23. Rc5) 23. Rc5 (f4 Qd4+ 24. Kg2 Ng4 25. Qxd3 Ne3+ 26. Kf3 Qxd3 27. exd3 Nc2) Qd4 24. Qb2 Qxb2 25. Bxb2 Nd7 26. Rc7 dxe2 27. f3 Nb3 28. Kf2, Black is now two pawns ahead and need only bring her last rook into the game to seal the victory.

Even on the verge of a major upset, Mou shows no signs of jitters: 30. Ra3 e1=Q+! (once again, the computer’s first choice) 31. Kxe1 Ne3 32. Rd4+ Ke7 33. Ke2 (Rxb3 Nc2+) Nc2 34. Rd3 a4! 35. Rc3, and now Black wins a pawn as well as the exchange with 35…Nd4+ 36. Kd3 Nxb5 37. Rc5 Nxa3.

It’s dead won for Black, but Mou offers up one last tactical flourish: 41. Kc3 b2!, and Lee resigned because it’s lights out after 42. Bxb2 Rb3+ 43. Kc2 Rc8+ 44. Kb1 a3, winning the pinned bishop.

(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)

Apsenieks-Euwe, Unofficial Olympiad, Paris, July 1924

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bb4 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 d6 7. Bg5 Ne7 8. Nh4 c6 9. Bc4 d5 10. exd5 Bxc3 11. bxc3 Nfxd5 12. Qe1 Kh8 13. d4 f6 14. Bd2 Ng8 15. dxe5 fxe5 16. Nf3 Rxf3 17. gxf3 Qf6 18. Bd3 Nge7 19. c4 Ng6 20. cxd5 Nh4 21. Qe4 Bf5 22. Qxh4 Qxh4 23. Bxf5 Rf8 24. dxc6 Rxf5 25. cxb7 Rf8 26. Rab1 Rb8 27. Rb4 Qd8 28. Be3 e4 29. Bf4 Qf8 30. Rxe4 Black resigns.

Lee-Mou, U.S. Girls Junior Championship, St. Louis, July 2024

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Nbd2 dxc4 6. a3 Bxd2+ 7. Bxd2 b5 8. a4 c6 9. Bg2 Bb7 10. Qc2 h6 11. h4 Nbd7 12. Ne5 Qc7 13. b3 c5 14. Bxb7 Qxb7 15. O-O Qe4 16. Qa2 cxd4 17. Nxd7 Nxd7 18. Bb4 a5 19. axb5 cxb3 20. Qb1 Qd5 21. Ba3 Ne5 22. Rc1 d3 23. Rc5 Qd4 24. Qb2 Qxb2 25. Bxb2 Nd7 26. Rc7 dxe2 27. f3 Nb6 28. Kf2 Nd5 29. Rc4 Kd7 30. Ra3 e1=Q+ 31. Kxe1 Ne3 32. Rd4+ Ke7 33. Ke2 Nc2 34. Rd3 a4 35. Rc3 Nd4+ 36. Kd3 Nxb5 37. Rc5 Nxa3 38. Bxa3 Kd7 39. Rc4 Rhb8 40.Rd4+ Ke8 41. Kc3 b2 White resigns.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.