Chessville - The Smoking Giant and the Pyroclastic Ashtray

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Art, Fiction, History

by GM Raymond Keene

The Smoking Giant

and the

Pyroclastic Ashtray

I was playing former world champion Dr Max Euwe in the 1973 UK v Holland match on Board One, while on Board Two Donner, the giant Dutch Grandmaster, was playing against Penrose. The match was held in Manchester town hall, a fine imposing 19th-century edifice, with ancient, solid furniture and very big ashtrays.

Donner, apart from being a hugely tall man, was a chain smoker and he did not finish each cigarette completely. My second game with Dr Euwe was a quick draw and I was watching Penrose v Donner playing a complicated Pirc Defence. Donner smoked a cigarette about half way through - then he stubbed it out and started on a fresh one - this resulted in a mountain of simmering ash building up in the large ceramic ashtray on the table.

Of course this couldn't happen now since smoking is banned, and I am sure Penrose, a confirmed non-smoker, wished it couldn't have happened then as well!!

Of course I played many games with Donner and had become used to his volcanic tendencies...

Here is an earlier game I won against the Smoking Giant:

Keene – Donner
Anglo-Dutch match, Vlissingen 1968

Fianchetto Grünfeld [D79]

1 c4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 g3 Bg7 4 Bg2 c6 5 d4 0-0 6 0-0 d5

This is the clearest equalizing attempt. To remain in King’s Indian paths with 6...d6 7 Nc3 Qa5 leaves White with the advantage after 8 d5!

7 cxd5 cxd5 8 Ne5

If 8 Nc3, Ne4 9 Ne5 Nxc3 10 bxc3 Nc6 11 Nxc6 bxc6 12 Qa4 Qb6 13 Ba3 Qa6!= as in Keene-Pfleger, Hastings 1971/72.

8...Ng4

In our game from the 1968 British Championship, Hartston here played 8...e6 9 Nc3 Nfd7 and equalized without difficulty. The text is a perfectly valid alternative.

9 Nxg4 Bxg4 10 Nc3 Nc6 11 h3 Be6

12 Be3

Here I toyed with the idea of 12 e4 but finally decided that after 12...Nxd4 13 Nxd5 Bxd5 14 exd5 Qb6 Black even had the better chances.

12...Qd7 13 Kh2 Rfd8

Of course, with 13...h6 14 Qd2 Kh7 Black could prove that White’s opening play has achieved nothing positive.

The move played by Black can hardly be criticized, but it does mean that White’s queen’s bishop has slightly more scope than its black counterpart and can retain the possibility of Be3-h6, weakening the dark squares.

14 Qd2 f5!?

Very interesting – but over-sharp. I think that my opponent wanted to seal up the centre and king’s wing and then redeploy his bishops at e8 and f8, whence they can support an eventual advance of the queenside pawns.

The drawback to this, naturally, is the resultant weakening of the dark squares, in particular e5. White’s following knight manoeuvre is intended to exploit this weakening.

15 Rac1 Bf7 16 Na4 b6 17 b3 e6 18 Nb2 a5?

Black would do better with 18...Rac8, hoping for a general liquidation on the c-file. The text gives him another weakness to worry about.

19 Na4!

Tying down a major piece to the defence of b6, since the advance b6-b5 (ceding c5) is hardly to be contemplated.

19...Qb7 20 Bh6 Bxh6

20...Bxd4? loses at once to 21 Rxc6, but 20...Bh8, retaining a measure of control over the dark squares, deserved preference.

21 Qxh6 Rdc8

Not 21...Nxd4 22 Qe3.

22 Rfd1 Be8 23 Qe3 Bd7 24 Nb2 Nb4 25 Nc4 Qb8

Or 25...Nxa2 26 Nd6 Rxc1 27 Nxb7 Rxd1 28 Qe5, and Black’s scattered forces can put up no resistance to the penetration of White’s queen.

26 a3 Nc6 27 Ne5 Nxe5 28 dxe5 Qb7 29 h4

Here Donner offered a draw, which was refused.

White has several advantages which should amount to a win: good bishop, potential control of dark squares, exposed black king and Black’s weakness on b6. White, on the contrary, has no weaknesses at all, so Black can only defend.

29...Rxc1 30 Rxc1 Rc8 31 Rxc8+ Bxc8 32 Qg5 Qd7 33 h5 Qe8 34 Bf3 Bd7 35 Kg2 Kg7 36 Qf6+ Kg8 37 Qg5 Kg7 38 Qf6+ Kg8 39 hxg6 hxg6 40 g4 fxg4

Played to prevent White’s bishop coming into play via h5 after White has captured on f5. But now White has a simple winning plan at his disposal: a triple onslaught by king, queen and bishop against Black’s weakness on g6.

41 Bxg4 Kh7 42 e3 Bc8 43 Be2 Bb7 44 Kg3 Bc6 45 Bd3 Kh6 46 Kg4 Qg8

Here the game was adjourned and I sealed:

47 Qf4+

I then began to analyse the following line: 47...Kg7 48 Kg5 Be8 49 Qh4 Kf7 50 Qh6 Ke7 51 Bxg6, winning a pawn but still leaving White with some technical difficulties.

At this stage Black resigned (1-0), thus sparing me the immediate task of finding a more conclusive line.

The more conclusive line in question was later pointed out by Whiteley, to wit: 47...Kg7 (47...Kh7 48 Kg5 Be8 49 Qh4+ Kg7 50 Qh6+ Kf7 51 Qxg6+) 48 Qf6+ Kh6 (or 48...Kh7 49 Qe7+ Kh8 50 Kg5 Be8 51 Kh6) 49 Qg5+ Kh7 50 Qh5+ Kg7 51 Bxg6! Kf8 52 Qg5, and Black is helpless.

Of course, had I noticed at the time I could have forced this line at once with 47 Qg5+!

But to return to the game Penrose v Donner, Manchester 1973...

...the mountain of ash in this huge ashtray KEPT GETTING bigger and bigger and the half-smoked cigarettes from Donner kept adding to its size. Suddenly the whole mass of nicotine detritus burst into flames in the ashtray- which cracked - and this flaming mass spread onto the table.

Donner and Penrose just stared at it as if transfixed but with what I thought to be immense presence of mind I seized Donner's coffee cup, which was half coffee and half sugar, just according to his taste, and I hurled the contents over the flames. These were extinguished and replaced by a sticky oozing steaming pyroclastic lava flow, spreading gradually over the table - but at least the flames went out.

At this point the two players looked at each other with a wild surmise, agreed a draw and fled the scene of carnage for the janitor to sort out. This is my story about my career, brief but glorious- as a fireman. Three years earlier Penrose had fainted at the board during the Olympiad in Siegen and I had to administer first aid -that is my career as a doctor and is a story to be told later.