As the country prepares to celebrate its 249th birthday later this week, it is worth noting that immigrants have enlivened and enriched American chess virtually from the time the colonies first gained their independence from Britain.
European settlers brought the game to the new country, and Ireland-born James Mason and Scottish native George Henry Mackenzie dominated the domestic scene in late 19th century after Paul Morphy’s meteoric rise and fall. Sammy Reshevsky, born Szmul Rzeszewski in a small Polish town before emigrating to the U.S. in 1920, was one of the world’s top grandmasters in the mid-20th century before the rise of Bobby Fischer.
A slew of refugee Russian and East European-born players also played for the Stars and Stripes both during the Cold War and in the decades that followed. Even today, four of the country’s five-highest rated grandmasters came to these shores from somewhere else: Hikaru Nakamura (Japan), Wesley So (Philippines), Levon Aronian (Armenia) and Leinier Dominguez Perez (Cuba).
An oft-overlooked figure in that distinguished roster was Samuel Lipschutz, born in what is now western Ukraine and who moved to New York in 1880 at the age of 17 — beating the Statue of Liberty by just six years. The slight, often ailing printer’s apprentice was acclaimed U.S. national champion in 1892 after defeating the far better-known Jackson Showalter in a match, only to cede the title to Showalter in a rematch three years later. (Lipschutz even had the patriotic foresight to be born on the Fourth of July in 1863, a day after the conclusion of the Battle of Gettysburg in his soon-to-be adopted country.)
He never achieved the kind of international breakthrough that launched the fame of younger rivals such as Harry Nelson Pillsbury and Frank Marshall, but Lipschutz in his prime more than held his own against the top players of the day, including a pair of draws in the two games he contested with German world champion Emanuel Lasker. We offer here three victories against some of the era’s top competition, starting with a nice win from a match with Mackenzie in 1886.
Lipschutz had a deep fondness for the Vienna Game (2. Nc3), as well as for the risky gambits that were all the rage in the Romantic Era. Here the White king winds up on f3 eight moves into the game, but Black allows his opponent time to consolidate on 11. Qd3?! (the saner 11. g3 Qg4+ 12. Kg2 Qxd1 13. Raxd1 Re8 14. Rhe1 offers White a small edge in development and pawn structure) Qh5+? (and now Black wrongly passes on 11…Qg4+! 12. Ke3 Qxg2 13. Qa6+ Kb8 14. Qe2 Qxe2+ 15. Kxe2 Re8 16. Kd3 c5, with an extra pawn) 12. Kf2 Be7 (Ng4+ 13. Kg1 Qa5 14. a4 a6 15. h3 is fine for White) 13. Rhf1 Qa5 14. Kg1 — White has safely castled “by hand” and now can focus entirely on his queenside play.
White is on the offense for the rest of the game, winning a pawn on 20 Ra4 Nd7 21. Rxc4, as 21…Qxa5? 22. Na4 Qb5 23. Rxc7+ Kxc7 24. Qxb5 wins at once. Mackenzie’s desperate efforts to plug his defensive holes are neatly overcome in the final phase: 26. Rb1 Nb8 27. Nb5! Kd7 (White just rolls on 27…axb5 28. a6! Nxa6 29. Qxb5 Nb8 30. Ra7 Bd4+ 31. Kh1, and the Black queen is lost) 28. Nc7 Kc8 (Ke7 29. Bg5+ f6 30. Be3 Rc8 31. Ne6 Rg8 32. Qh5 h6 33. Qg6 Nd7 34. Nxg7 and wins) 29. Rf1! (Black’s bottled-up army can put up no resistance as Lipschutz shifts the play to the other side of the board) h6 30. Ra3! Rd7 31. Bc3! (removing his opponent’s one effective defender) Bxc3 32. Rxc3 Re7 33. Qg4+ Nd7 34. Qxg7 Rxe4 (Kb8 35. Rf6) 35. Rxf7 Rd8 36. Rxd7!, forcing resignation as Black’s rook is picked off after 36…Rxd7 37. Qf8+ Rd8 38. Qf5+.
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Russian chess pioneer Mikhail Chigorin lost two hard-fought world title matches with Wilhelm Steinitz and was one of the great attacking players of his day. He shared first prize in the great 6th American Chess Congress tournament in 1889, but split his two games with Lipschutz, the highest-finishing American in the epic event with his sixth-place finish.
It’s another Vienna Game, and here Black errs with 14. Qd2 Be6?!, allowing Lipschutz to preserve his powerful bishop pair. White proves better in the complex, open position that results: 17. Rae1 h6 (Chigorin hopes to exploit White’s vulnerable e3-square, but his own set-up has its problems) 18. Bh4 Rae8 19. Bg3!? (more to the point would have been 19. Rf3!, activating the rook and adding more support to e3) Nge3? (right idea, wrong knight; on 19…Nde3! 20. b4 Nxf1 21. Rxf1 Qh5 22. Nxe6 fxe6 23. Re1, White has compensation for the exchange but no clear edge) 20. b4!, a shot that Black either missed or underestimated.
The defense crumbles rapidly after 20…Nxc4 (Nxf1 21. Kxf1 Qe7 22. Bxd5 Qf6+ 23. Bf3, with two powerful minor pieces for the rook; on 20…Qe7 21. Rf3 Nxc4 22. dxc4 Nf6 23. Bh4, White threatens 24. Bxf6 gxf6 25. Qxh6) 21. Qc1+! (dxc4?! Qxc4 would throw away White’s advantage) Qe7 22. dxc4 Nf6 23. Nf5 Qd8 — every White piece is operating at maximum efficiency against Black’s huddled defenders, and Lipschutz finishes in style.
Thus: 24. Nxg7! (a very Chigorin-like sacrifice, tearing open the Black king’s defenses) Kxg7 25. Be5 Kg8 26. Bxf6 Qd3 27. Qxh6 Qg6 (ending things at once, but 27…Qh7 28. Qg5+ Qg6 29. Qh4! Qh7 30. Re4! Qxh4 31. Rxh4 also sets up an unstoppable mate) 28. Qh8 mate.
Marshall would go on to dominate American chess in the years after Lipshutz died of the effects of tuberculosis at the too-young age of just 42. But the young Marshall was a regular customer for Lipschutz on his rise to greatness, with Lipschutz scoring an eye-popping 8-0 in their encounters throughout the 1890s.
Lipschutz won all three games against his young rival at the New York Staats Zeitung Cup tournament of 1898, including a queenless attacking gem in which Marshall is completely outplayed positionally. It’s a Vienna Gambit this time, but a quieter position results after 12. Qe2 Qxe2+ 13. Bxe2 Rb8 — Black is still up a pawn, but Lipschutz has full compensation despite the absence of the queens in his strong bishop pair and the opened lines for his developed pieces.
Black may have effectively lost the game on 17. Bc4 Ng6? (either 17…a6 or 17…c6 just screams to be played, to keep the White rook from entering the game via b5) 18. Rb5 (of course!) Be7 19. Rbf5 Nh8, and the Black knight is relegated to the corner of the board just to prevent an implosion on the weak f7-square.
Dogged defense was never a Marshall specialty, and White’s rooks and bishops coordinate beautifully in the decisive sequence: 27. Rxa7! (a mini-combination that will win a decisive pawn) Rd8 (see diagram; White’s two bishops are under fire, but Lipschutz has an answer) 28. Rxf6! Kxf6 29. Be7+ Kg7 30. Bxd8 Rxd8 31. c4, and White is ahead in material while the miserable Black knight remains entombed on h8. The knight is pinned and lost just a few moves later, and Black finally packs it in after 48. Bg6+ Kg8 49. Kf6, as the end is nigh after 49…Rf4+ 50. Bf5 Kf8 52. c7 Rc4 52. Rd6 Rxc7 53. Rd8 mate.
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Lipschutz-Mackenzie, Match, Game 10, New York, November 1886
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 exf4 4. d4 Qh4+ 5. Ke2 d6 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. Bxf4 Bxf3+ 8. Kxf3 Nf6 9. Bb5 O-O-O 10. Bxc6 bxc6 11. Qd3 Qh5+ 12. Kf2 Be7 13. Rhf1 Qa5 14. Kg1 Rhf8 15. Bd2 Qb6 16. a4 c5 17. a5 Qc6 18. d5 c4 19. Qe2 Qa6 20. Ra4 Nd7 21. Rxc4 c5 22. b4 Bf6 23. b5 Qb7 24. b6 a6 25. Ra4 Be5 26. Rb1 Nb8 27. Nb5 Kd7 28. Nc7 Kc8 29. Rf1 h6 30. Ra3 Rd7 31. Bc3 Bxc3 32. Rxc3 Re7 33. Qg4+ Nd7 34. Qxg7 Rxe4 35. Rxf7 Rd8 36. Rxd7 Black resigns.
Lipschutz-Chigorin, 6th American Chess Congress, New York, May 1889
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. a3 d6 6. Na4 Bb6 7. Nxb6 axb6 8. c3 Ne7 9. f4 exf4 10. Bxf4 d5 11. exd5 Nexd5 12. Ne2 O-O 13. O-O Qe7 14. Qd2 Be6 15. Bg5 Qc5+ 16. Nd4 Ng4 17. Rae1 h6 18. Bh4 Rae8 19. Bg3 Nge3 20. b4 Nxc4 21. Qc1 Qe7 22. dxc4 Nf6 23. Nf5 Qd8 24. Nxg7 Kxg7 25. Be5 Kg8 26. Bxf6 Qd3 27. Qxh6 Qg6 28. Qh8 mate.
Lipschutz-Marshall, NYSCA Staats Zeitung Cup, Grove Springs, New York, August 1898
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be2 Nc6 7. d3 Nxc3 8. bxc3 d4 9. cxd4 Bxf3 10. Bxf3 Qxd4 11. Rb1 Qxe5+ 12. Qe2 Qxe2+ 13. Bxe2 Rb8 14. c3 Bd6 15. O-O O-O 16. d4 Ne7 17. Bc4 Ng6 18. Rb5 Be7 19. Rbf5 Nh8 20. Bf4 g6 21. Rd5 Bf6 22. Bxc7 Rbc8 23. Rd7 Kg7 24. Bd5 b6 25. a4 Rce8 26. Bd6 Rg8 27. Rxa7 Rd8 28. Rxf6 Kxf6 29. Be7+ Kg7 30. Bxd8 Rxd8 31. c4 Rd6 32. Kf2 Rf6+ 33. Ke3 g5 34. Rc7 Ng6 35. h3 h5 36. Ke4 g4 37. c5 bxc5 38. dxc5 h4 39. a5 Ra6 40. Bxf7 Rxa5 41. Be8+ Kh6 42. Rc6 gxh3 43. gxh3 Ra1 44. Rxg6+ Kh7 45. Re6 Re1+ 46. Kf5 Rc1 47. c6 Rc4 48. Bg6+ Kg8 49. Kf6 Black resigns.
• Got a game or a chess tidbit to share? David R. Sands can be reached at davidrsands18@gmail.com.
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