Recently I bought some old state chess magazines, all from 1970 to 1975. They were all purchased from ebay and I found some wonderful gems in this collection.
Almost all the games had to be translated from Descriptive Notation (DN) into Algebraic Notation (AN) as DN was the most popular method of recording and analyzing games.
Here are three games I found to be enjoyable, and even instructive.
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Proll (1998)-Babinski (2157)
US Open
New York, 1974
[Escalante]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Nc3 Nxe4 8.O-O Bxc3 9.d5 (The Moller Gambit.) 9…Bf6 10.Re1 Ne7 11.Rxe4 d6 12.Bg5 Bxg5 13.Nxg5 h6 14.Qh5!? (Usual is 14.Qe2, followed by 15.Re1 and putting pressure on the “e” file.) 14…g6? (This move just weakens Black’s kingside pawn structure at a time when he needs it the most. White is practically winning here. Black can sidestep many of his troubles with 14…O-O.) 15.Qh4 [Another winning try is 15.Qf3 hxg5 16.Rae1 Rh4 17.Qf6 Rxe4 18.Rxe4 Bf5 19.Bb5+ c6 20.dxc6 Bxe4 21.c7+ Nc6 22.cxd8=Q+ Rxd8 23.Qd4 d5 24.Qxa7 Rd7 25.Bxc6 bxc6 26.Qa8+ Ke7 27.Qxc6 Rd6 28.Qc5 1-0 (Treybel-Engler, Prague, Nov. 28 1908)] 15…Bf5 16.Re3 Kf8 17.Qd4 Kg8
18.Qxh8+! 1-0
Steve Ellis-Dwight Weaver
Nashville vs. Memphis Match
Tennessee, 1974
[“Nashville – Memphis Match 1974”, Tennessee Chess News, Nov. 1974]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Bc4 Be7 7.Be3 O-O 8.Qe2 Nxe4 9.Nxe4 d5 10.O-O-O dxc4 11.Nxe6 Qa5 12.Nxf8 Bxf8 13.Nc5 Qxa2 14.Qf3 Qa1+ 15.Kd2 Qxb2 16.Ke2 Qxc2+ 17.Rd2 Qg6 18.h3 Bf5 19.Qxb7 Na6 20.Qxa8 Nxc5 21.Bxc5 Bd3+ 22.Ke1 Qe6+ 23.Be3 Be4 24.Qxa7 c3 25.Rd8 Qb3 26.Rxf8+! Kxf8 27.Qc5+ Ke8 28.Qe5+ Kd7 29.Qxe4 c2 30.Kd2 Qb2 31.Qd4+ 1-0
Ted Bielbaum (2029)-Stuart Samuel (2016)
Danvers C.C. Ch.
Massachusetts, Aug. 31 1973
[Notes based “Tournament Games”, Chess Horizons, Jan.-Feb. 1975]
1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.Nf3 dxe5 4.e4?! (Transposing into a sort of King’s Gambit Declined, but with the addition of the moves “fxe5” and “dxe5” helps Black.) 4…Bc5!? [It appears From’s Gambit, or at least this variation, was a popular opening in the 1970s. Here is another game from the same time period. 4…f5!? 5.d4 fxe4 6.Nxe5 Be6 7.Be2 Nd7 8.Bf4 Nxe5 9.Bxe5 Bd6 10.O-O Nf6 11.Bh5+ Kd7 12.Bxf6 gxf6 13.d5 Bc5+ 14.Kh1 Bg8 15.Qg4+ Kd6 16.Qf4+ Kd7 17.Bg4+ Ke8 18.Qxe4+ Be7 19.Nc3 h5 20.Rxf6 hxg4 21.Qg6+ Kd7 22.Qxg4+ Ke8 23.Re1 Qd7 24.Rf8+ 1-0 (Thompson-Taylor, South Carolina, 1970)] 5.c3 Nc6! (Normal lines are 5…Nf6 6.Nxe5 Qe7 7.d4 Bd6 8.Nf3 and 5…Bb6 6.d4 exd4 7.cxd4 Nf6=. Too risky would be 5…Qe7 6.d4 exd4 7.cxd4 Qxe4+? 8.Kf2! Be7 9.Nc3.) 6.Bb5 Nf6!? (6…Bd7! prevents 7.d4 exd4 8.cxd4? Nxd4! 9.Nxd4) 7.Nxe5 O-O (7…Nxe4? 8.Qf3! O-O 9.Qxe4 +-) 8.Nxc6? (Too dangerous. White should play 8.Bxc6! bxc6 9.d4 Nxe4 10.O-O Qd5 11.Bf4=) 8…bxc6 9.Bxc6 Nxe4!? [Leading to unclear complications. If 9…Qd3!? 10.Qf3 (10.Bxa8? Bg4) Qc2 11.Qd1! Qd3 12.Qe2 (12.Qf3=) 12…Ba6 13.Qxd3 Bxd3 14.Bxa8 Rxa8 15.b4 Bb6 16.Bb2 Nxe4 17.c4 Nf2 18.c5 Nxh1 19.Bd4 Re8+ wins!] 10.d4 (Both 10.Bxa8?? Bf2+ and 10.Bxe4 Qh4+ get mated. 10.Qf3? Nf2! 11.d4 Nxh1 12.dxc5 Qh4+ 13.g3 Qxh2 14.Bxa8 Re8+ 15.Be3 Bg4! -+) 10…Qh4+ 11.g3 Nxg3 12.hxg3 Qxg3+ 13.Kd2 Be7? [A blunder. After 13…Qf4+ 14.Kc2? (14.Kd3? loses to 14…Ba6+ 15.Kc2 Qf5+ 16.Kb3 Rab8+) 14…Bf5+ 15.Kb3 Rab8+ 16.Kc4 Qd6, Black wins. White must permit the draw by 14.Ke1! Qg3+ 15.Kd2 Qf4+.] 14.Qf3 Qg6 15.Be4 f5 16.Bxa8 1-0 (The editor must have had fun annotating this game!)
The Gambit Chess Player 