The Doeberl Cup: Fifty Years of Australian Chess History

By Bill Egan

Dynamic Chess Down Under! The Doeberl Cup has been Australia’s premier weekend chess tournament since its inception in 1963. It has attracted more international masters and grandmasters than any other Australian tournament. The Doeberl Cup – Fifty Years of Australian Chess History tells the stories behind the first 49 Doeberl Cups without neglecting the many tense and spectacular games which decided the top placings. In addition to over 200 annotated games and game fragments, the author presents player biographies of not only Australia’s best players and visiting stars, but also many wonderful – and weird – characters who helped create the character of the Doeberl Cup. Dozens of photographs nicely complement the showcasing of Australia’s best talent over more than a generation. The result is a splendid account of Australian chess history since the early 1960s. From the legendary Cecil Purdy through Australia’s brightest star Ian Rogers, join author Bill Egan as he takes you through the thrills and spills of dynamic chess down under. “Personally I had a great time reading this book (a true labor of love from author Bill Egan), and I’ll make sure it has an honorable home on my bookshelf, ready to be grabbed and enjoyed many more times in the future.” – Jeremy Silman, jeremysilman.com “The Doeberl Cup: Fifty Years of Australian Chess History is a first-rate account of this event which has come to mean so much for Australian chess.” – John Donaldson, Chess Today

• Language: English
• Publisher: Russell Enterprises, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781941270615

Book preview

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Preface

Few local chess tournaments have been honoured with a book dedicated to their history; I am aware only of the recently published history of the Paignton Chess Congress in England, and in Australia, Cathy Chua’s survey of the Australian Championship, Australian Chess at the Top. Why the Doeberl Cup should be different requires explanation. There are chess tournaments with a longer history – Hastings in England being an obvious example – but I know of no tournament that was continuously sponsored by the same private individual for more than thirty years (until his untimely death in 1994). Nevertheless, it might be questioned whether a local Canberra tournament, however long-lived, can have more than parochial interest for local players, and whether the games would have sufficient intrinsic interest to warrant collection and publication.

The answer is that the Doeberl Cup is very much more than a local Canberra tournament. For most of its life the Doeberl Cup has been the premier Australian weekender, attracting leading players from all over the country. It has been the largest, not only in number of participants but also the quality of the field. The story of the Doeberl Cup is a virtual microcosm of Australian chess through the latter half of the Twentieth century and up to the present time.

There is a sense in which the Doeberl excels even the Australian Championships. This is because of the extent to which it has attracted high calibre international participation, while the Championships are mainly seen as battles between local aspirants. This international participation is due in large degree to the ambassadorship of GM Ian Rogers, as a result of whose influence the Cup has seen a steady flow of overseas players at GM and IM levels.

While such an array of talent offers a rich lode in which to mine for publishable games, the objective has also been to present a full history of the event as the mass-participation activity it is. For the average woodpusher an event like the Doeberl offers an unparalleled opportunity to rub elbows with the mighty, to watch them, occasionally to play them, and sometimes even to win (or at least draw) – upsets are always part of the spice of great tournaments.

The selection of games reflects some coverage of all levels of play but with emphasis on demonstrating Australia’s best chess talent over more than a generation. The emphasis is also on presenting entertaining games, with sufficient annotation to highlight the key moments. I am not qualified to provide serious analysis at the highest level, nor is that necessary, as the book is the life story of a tournament, not a learned dissertation on chess theory. In many instances commentary by the leading players themselves is provided. In addition to presenting games and results I have also sought to convey the atmosphere of the tournament and its rich world of incidents and personalities. Hopefully this will be an entertaining grab-bag to dip into, as well as a useful historic record.

Introduction

The main structure of this book is a chapter for every year of the Doeberl Cup. Chapter titles consist of the year, and the name of the official winner (or winners), for that year. Many chapters have profiles of winners or other notable figures. The general rationale for these is that they cover those whose names are engraved on the Cup as official winners (often after tie-breaker countback), plus some who lost on countback but were considered significant figures in the Doeberl, and a few historic or internationally notable figures who played without being winners. Each chapter starts with a quotation about chess chosen from a variety of different literary sources, avoiding the usual well-known aphorisms. This is followed by a world news headline from the Canberra Times’ pages of the actual tournament weekend, followed by significant items or incidents from the world of chess during that year of the tournament.

The need to cover forty-nine years of competition, with nearly 2,000 players and over 6,000 available games, has inevitably required compromises on what could be included. Some omissions may cause disappointment and I have to accept responsibility for this. To maximise the number of games and players included I have frequently used lines starting from a diagrammed position rather than a full game. In such cases the full game can be found on the CD-ROM database that accompanies the book; commentary in the book may vary from that on the data-base.

My initial approach to commentary was influenced by discovering that a patzer like myself, armed with the latest version of Fritz, could pick holes in published analysis by experts and original players (often published to tight deadlines). When I mentioned this to Ian Rogers he cautioned that lending too much credence to Fritz’s view could lose the flow of the game. Ian was right, a chess game is a clash of ideas, the all-out attack of a Doug Hamilton against a solid Terrey Shaw; the risk-taking of an Ian Rogers against the solidity of a Lloyd Fell. It doesn’t matter that in pursuing their plan the players may not have realized it perfectly. I reduced reliance on Fritzian analysis and in many cases allowed the original commentators or players to tell their own tale.

There is an Appendix covering complete known results for each year, including names of every player known to have played in the Cup. For those who want to search these results, this Appendix is included on the CD-ROM as a searchable text file. I did not consider a general index would be useful as it would be mainly just a list of competitors names. Instead I have provided an Index of Games and Players to assist in finding game and positions to play through from the CD-ROM.

As well as journal titles already noted, the following abbreviations are used: DoP (Director of Play), OTB (over the board), FIDE (the world governing body for chess), SIO (Sydney International Open), ACF (Australian Chess Federation) and the usual abbreviations for Australian states, their chess associations (e.g NSWCA for New South Wales Chess Association), as well as the familiar abbreviations for FIDE titles, such as GM for Grandmaster, WGM for Woman Grandmaster etc).

Profile: Erich Franz Doeberl (1931 – 1994) and the origin of the event

Erich Franz Doeberl, popularly known as Erich, was born in Austria on 23 August 1931. He arrived in Australia in 1955 with his wife Luzia on their honeymoon trip, on the ship Skaubryn, under the Australian Assisted Passage Scheme. Erich had been an explosives expert in the Austrian coal mines so, settling his family in Canberra, he worked initially in that capacity on the Snowy Mountains engineering scheme, coming home every ten days for four days off. Later, like many post-war European migrants, he gravitated to the building industry in Canberra, working as a carpenter. Developing his skills, he soon graduated to building houses. Eventually he was building about 200 houses a year through his business Perfection Homes, and more recently Fairlane Canberra Pty Ltd.

Erich’s connection with chess, which was to make him one of the best-known names in the Australian field, was initially incidental. A self-confessed weak social player, he maintained a lifelong interest in the game, though more as a spectator, golf and skiing being his preferred recreations. The story of how an Austrian friend and workmate, house painter Toni Wiedenhofer, approached him to ask if he would sponsor a new local tournament is told below in The Origin of the Event.

Although he was a tough hard-headed business entrepreneur, Erich was in private a friendly retiring man who made only infrequent low-key appearances as a spectator at the tournament he helped create. Those involved with the organisation of the event have warm memories of dinners hosted by him at the Austrian Club in Mawson. Though his continued sponsorship was never seriously doubted, Erich’s shrewd business sense meant that he was not prepared to be taken for granted, so each year a little ritual was played out in which an emissary (generally Helmut Ackermann in my time) would attend to sound Erich out, usually being advised of an increase in funding. Helmut recalls that Erich usually asked how much was needed and would generously suggest extra but one year, when his name was mis-spelled on the tournament brochure, there was no increase.

In 1991 Erich made a rare appearance at the Doeberl Cup to be awarded the Australian Chess Federation’s Special Appreciation Award to honour his great contribution to chess. Outside the world of chess Erich was widely admired as one of Canberra’s most successful builders. The magnificent Fairlane Estate in Queanbeyan, is named after his company and one of its streets is now named Doeberl Place. On 28 August 1994 Erich suffered a massive heart attack while skiing in the Snowy Mountains. He was survived by his wife Luzia (since deceased), his son Eric Junior and his daughter Rosemarie. He was farewelled by a large contingent of friends from his many activities, at Saint Christopher’s Cathedral, Manuka, on September 1st 1994. His business Fairlane Constructions continues under the management of daughter Rosemarie. In 2001 Queanbeyan City Council honoured Erich by naming a reserve adjoining Fairlane Estate the Erich Doeberl Reserve.

By the time of his death, Erich held the record for the second longest ever sponsorship of a chess tournament, the only longer one being the famous Hoogovens Steel Group sponsoring the Wijk-Aan Zee tournament in Holland. Although his family did not share Erich’s enthusiasm for chess they generously continued his sponsorship for another year, by which time the tournament was sufficiently established to survive on its own and reach new heights of international participation. Nevertheless, his grateful chess friends have continued to name the tournament in his memory, including the current sponsors O2C, and his daughter Rosemarie has renewed the family link for the fiftieth anniversary event. Erich has an undying place in the history of Australian chess.

Erich Doeberl

The origin of the event

In 1963, Toni Wiedenhofer, a house painter with a passion for chess, was waiting for service in what was then McEwan’s hardware store in the Canberra suburb of Kingston. Toni had come to Australia from his native Austria in 1956 and quickly plunged into the local chess scene. Also waiting in the hardware store was Canberra building contractor Erich Doeberl. Erich was also an Austrian and had arrived in Australia about the same time as Toni. The two men knew each other through business contact and also socially through the Harmonie German club, which was the base for one of Canberra’s two active chess clubs. Erich wasn’t a competitive chess player but Toni knew he had a liking for the game. He decided this was the right moment to approach him about a plan he had been forming for some time.

Toni’s idea was to organise a weekend tournament in Canberra, which would be open to strong players from interstate, thereby giving local players the chance to meet the big names of Australian chess. Canberra players had a number of events throughout the year at which they could test their muscle against each other but for the stronger players like Wiedenhofer it was too easy to be a big fish in a little pond. The real challenge was to meet, and beat, the big names. In order to attract strong players from the interstate centres it was necessary to put up a substantial prize fund. That was where Erich came in, an entrepreneur who was used to dealing in larger sums than the average chessplayer. It might be possible to persuade him to put up the necessary funding to ensure an attractive prize fund. Toni put the question to him as they waited in the store and to his delight Erich agreed to donate £100, specifying somewhat diffidently that it should be just for local players. Having found his sponsor Toni wasn’t going to rock the boat by getting into discussion over the details of the participants, so he kept his views on the matter to himself and went ahead with the organisation, publicizing it through Cecil Purdy’s national magazine Chess World.

In 1963 £100 was a large enough sum to attract a number of leading players to a weekender within reasonable reach of Sydney or Melbourne. Chess had never been a big money game in Australia and even the strongest players could hope at best only to maintain a semi-professional status given the infrequent availability of competitive opportunities. The Canberra weekender would be one more stage in the limited circuit then available in Australia. Elated though Toni was at getting the chance to stage the event he had no reason to believe in 1963 that the Doeberl Cup would become the country’s largest and most prestigious weekend tournament, hosting international grandmasters as well as the cream of Australian talent. Nor would either man have suspected that Doeberl would continue sponsoring it for as long as he would live.

The Griffin Centre in its heyday in 1981 (Courtesy Denis Jessop)

Doeberl Group 1987 (courtesy Javier Gil)

Chapter 1: 1963 – Winner John Purdy

"O thou whose cynic sneers express

The censure of our favorite chess,

Know that its skill is Science’ self,

Its play distraction from distress.

It soothes the anxious lover’s care,

It weans the drunkard from excess" (Abdullah Ibn al-Mu’tazz)

The World (tournament weekend headlines)

Police arrest Doctor in Profumo enquiry:Police yesterday arrested Dr. Stephen Ward and charged him with living on the earnings of prostitution

The Chess Year

Tigran Petrosian becomes world champion, beating reigning champion Mikhail Botvinnik, by 12.5 – 9.5, in a match that ran from March 22 till May 20.

Max Fuller wins the Australian Junior Championship.

Venue: Haydon-Allen Building (ANU) DoP: G. Treimanis Entry: 29 Prize fund: £100

The inaugural Doeberl Cup took place at the Haydon-Allen building on the Australian National University (ANU) campus over the Queen’s Birthday Holiday long weekend in June (not yet Easter, as was to become traditional later). In addition to Toni Wiedenhofer, the organising team, from the Harmonie German Club’s chess club, included Helmut Ackermann and George Treimanis, a local player of Latvian origin, who was Director of Play. The entry for the inaugural event was twenty-nine, quite satisfactory for the organisers, as it included a strong contingent of top interstate players. The most notable names were: C. J. S. (Cecil) Purdy, the very first World Correspondence chess champion, twice OTB Australian champion and noted chess journalist; his son John, also a former Australian Champion (and soon to be again); Frank Crowl, a former Victorian champion and a venerable veteran of Australian chess; Bill Geus, also a former Victorian champion and future Doeberl Cup winner; as well as Frank Hutchings, a strong NSW player (son-in-law of Cecil Purdy) and Lloyd Fell, a strong Sydney player. Lloyd was the only person to have played in every Doeberl Cup from 1963 till 2008, forty-six times, until old age and ill health claimed him in 2010. Keen local aspirants hoping to match the big names included Toni Wiedenhofer, Alex Salasch, John Alps and Dr Donald Leslie. An international flavour was added by the presence of P Chen, a diplomat from the Nationalist Chinese Legation (Australia didn’t yet recognize Red China). The tournament was run in two sections, the Open and the Reserves. Twenty-one players contested the Open on the Swiss system. The remaining eight played in the Reserves, which enabled them to have a round-robin competition.

Rounds 1 – 3

The expected first round clean sweep by the top-half didn’t materialise, as Alex Salasch managed to hold Cecil Purdy to a draw. John Purdy got off to a flying start and after three rounds only he and veteran Frank Crowl were on the full three points. Donald Leslie’s Round 2 draw with Fell was a fillip for the local players, leaving Cecil Purdy, Fell and Leslie just behind the leaders on 2.5. Despite losing to Crowl in Round 3, Wiedenhofer staked his claim to authority with a convincing win over Geus in Round 2.

B Geus

T Wiedenhofer

D16: Slav Defence

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 e6 6.e3 Bb4 7.Bxc4 0-0 8.0-0 Nbd7 White has a minuscule advantage in space and development. 9.Qc2 Qc7 10.Ne4 Nxe4 11.Qxe4 Nf6 12.Qh4 c5 [12…Bd7 a developing move, is probably better] 13.Ne5 b6 14.Bd3 h6 15.g4 A weakening move, creating opportunities for Black on the long diagonal. 15…Bb7 16.g5 hxg5 17.Qxg5

17…Qd6 18.h4 Pressing a questionable attack, ignoring looming threats along the diagonals and the centre. 18…cxd4 19.exd4 Qxd4 20.Be3 Qd5 21.Kh2 Bd6 22.Rg1?? [22.f4 defending the N was essential though White is still in trouble after Bxe5 23.fxe5 Qxe5+ 24.Qxe5 Ng4+] 22…Qxe5+ 23.Qxe5 Bxe5+ 24.f4 Bxb2 25.Rab1 Rfd8 26.Be2 Bd4 0-1

Rounds 4 – 6

John Purdy drew further ahead to a clear lead, beating Crowl in Round 4 and father Cecil in Round 5. Cecil beat Leslie, and Fell beat Van Voorst to put them next in line with 3.5 points. Geus won both his games, to leave him and Crowl next with 4 each, followed by Cecil Purdy, Fell, Hutchings and Wiedenhofer on 3.5.

The clash of the top seeds came with John Purdy playing Geus in Round 6. Geus had to win to stay in touch but Purdy maintained his picket-fence score. Crowl dropped off the pace with a loss to Hutchings, C. Purdy beat Fell and Wiedenhofer beat F Reinecker. This left John Purdy in an unassailable position, with Cecil, brother-in-law Hutchings and Wiedenhofer next, 1.5 points behind.

Round 7

As John Purdy had already beaten his family members, it fell to ACT standard-bearer Wiedenhofer to try to stop his unbeaten run. How close he came is illustrated by the following conclusion to their game, in which the wrong knight check on move 18 saw him mated in three instead of taking a winning advantage:

J Purdy

T Wiedenhofer

J Purdy – T Wiedenhofer: after move 18

The diagrammed position is as given in E. Basta’s column in Neue Welt in 1963. Oddly enough, the curiously placed black pawn on b2 makes no significant difference to the outcome if replaced by a white pawn.

1.Qh5 [1.Bxe7 Nf2+ 2.Kh2 Nxd1 3.Rg3+ Kh7 leads to complex variations that all favour Black; the immediate Kh2 maintains equality] 1…Nf2+?? [Instead 1…Ng3+ wins after 2.Kh2 (2.Rxg3 Qxe1+ Mate to follow) 2…Nxh5 3.Bxe7 Nxe7 4.Rxe7 Bc6–+] 2.Kh2 Qxe1 3.Qg6+ Kh8 4.Bf6# 1-0

Thus John Purdy kept his clean score of seven wins, a feat only once achieved since then, by Ian Rogers in 1980. Cecil Purdy defeated son-in-law Hutchings, to clinch outright second place on 5.5, an impressive family double. Geus beat Crowl to ensure himself of clear third with 5 points, and Fell beat Treasure to join Hutchings and Wiedenhofer on 4.5 points in equal 4-6th places. Interestingly the first three placings exactly match the first three winners of the Cup.

Reserves

In the Reserves the late Rix Hetherington, a stalwart of Canberra chess and a tireless worker for the Doeberl Cup over many years, made a clean sweep, conceding only two draws. Equal 2nd were B Rapsa and J Schumack.

Profile: John Spencer Purdy

Born 25 September 1935 in Sydney, into a family of chess champions, it was inevitable that John Spencer Purdy would be exposed to chess from the beginning. His early years, during and after the war, exposed him to the comings and goings of notable chess personalities, Garry Koshnitsky, Lajos Steiner, and many others. This was against the background of dad Cecil’s prodigious but sometimes chaotic, journalistic activities. However, it gave no guarantee of the native ability or the discipline and commitment required to excel at the top level. John had what it takes, maintaining the family tradition of winning the Australian championship at least twice. His maternal grandfather, Spencer Crakanthorp, won it in 1926 and 1929, his father, Cecil Purdy, won in 1935, 1937, 1949 and 1951, and John himself won it in 1955 and 1963. Prior to that, in 1951, he had won the Australian Junior Championship.

John with mother Anne (Mrs C J S) Purdy & wife Felicity

Although best known as a lawyer and later a Family Court judge, John’s first career was in accountancy. While studying accountancy, he liked the legal subjects best, so on the advice of his lawyer and chessplaying friend Malcolm Broun, he switched to law. He married Miss Felicity Stapleton in 1958 and they had two sons, one of whom, Colin, (C. J. S. Purdy II), was a promising chess junior but followed other paths later on. John was the inaugural winner of the Doeberl Cup in 1963, and tied for first place in 1966. He played in twelve Doeberl Cups altogether, six from 1963 to 1968 (including two firsts, a second, a third and a fourth), and six more from 1982 to 1987. The latter period included only a third placing, but with the emergence of the Rogers-Johansen-Hjorth cohort, was against a larger, stronger field. John’s illustrious legal career kept him out of serious chess for many years but he played in club events in Sydney, including a respectable performance in the 2006 Cecil Purdy Centenary Tournament. He died of a massive heart attack on 27 August 2011.

Favourite chess players: Australian – Garry Koshnitsky; at his peak around 1935 – 1937 played some of the best games ever played in Australian events, second only to Lajos Steiner. Of Steiner, John said, No one could say that there was ever a player in Australia as good as Lajos until Ian [Rogers] came to his peak; Foreign – Emmanuel Lasker, a pragmatic player who could do beauty when needed.

On his own style: An opportunist and a tactician, not a strategist like his father.

Proudest achievement: Winning his second Australian Championship in Perth, 1963, (and also coming equal fourth in a much stronger one in 1967).

Profile: Frank Arthur Crowl

Frank Crowl was born in Kentish Town, St Pancras London on August 24, 1902. He arrived in Australia in 1927, initially living in Brisbane, but in 1928 he moved to Melbourne where he remained for most of his life. He was a major figure on the Australian chess scene till his death in Sydney Hospital from cancer in July 1965, aged 62. His fame was due in equal parts to his brilliant, if unorthodox, chess style, and his irascible eccentric personality. He only played in two Doeberl Cups, with respectable (8/14) results, towards the end of his life and long past his chess prime (no Doeberl games have survived). He is included because he is a significant link to earlier Australian chess history. Apart from having played contemporaries like Purdy, Koshnitsky and Steiner, he crossed swords with historic 19th century figures like Crakanthorp, Gundersen, C G M Watson and W S Viner.

Frank Crowl (Courtesy Bob Long & Thinkers’ Press)

Though Purdy said his results never matched his artistry, Crowl’s record is impressive. He was five times Victorian Champion, ten times Melbourne Chess Club Champion, and at the end of his career tied twice for first in the New South Wales championship, each time losing a play-off. He played in every Australian championship from 1930-31 to 1964-65, except Perth 1954-55. He came second in 1932-33, equal with W S Viner, and third in Melbourne 1948-49, behind Purdy and Hanks, ahead of Koshnitsky. His upset win against Lajos Steiner in the 1945 championship caused the latter to describe Crowl’s winning combination as the deepest and most subtle ever conceived against him. Purdy nicknamed him the Australian Nimzowitsch both for his playing style and his devotion to Nimzowitsch, whose disorganized personal life resembled his own.

While Crowl’s record as a player is enough to earn him a place in Australian chess history, it’s for his eccentric personality that he is remembered today. Although he could be difficult, egocentric and a nuisance, he is fondly remembered by all who still talk about him. An aggressive smoker, invariably with a long cigarette holder, he commandeered a permanent spot in the Melbourne Chess Club, which he referred to as The Kraulisch Den, ejecting any who trespassed on it. He believed passionately that having the black pieces was an advantage, and that perfect play would result in a win for Black. Tony Wiedenhofer, who billeted Crowl on Doeberl visits, recalls that he had two alarm clocks, in case one stopped. Despite the alarm clocks, on one occasion he slept in and failed to get to the Catholic Church for mass, so phoned the church to apologize and ask them to pray for him. When Wiedenhofer urged him to ditch a hat that was the wrong size, saying Give it to X, Crowl replied I can’t give it to him. He’s my enemy.

Bill Geus recalled his visit with Crowl to the 1964 Australian Championship in Perth. After the event Geus was given an envelope with the delayed news that his father had died in Holland. On the train going back, Crowl, always keen to play blitz for money, entered his carriage and suggested a game. Geus explained that he was too emotionally upset to contemplate chess. Crowl left, only to re-appear a short while later, asking Are you OK now, can we play? When I recounted this tale to John Purdy he said, That’s not really what Frank was like, expressing a fondness for Crowl.

In 1942 Crowl married a young New Zealander, Patricia Hannagan, and they had a son Michael. After some years, Crowl’s improvidence (he considered friends with jobs to be slaves in the salt mine) made it necessary for his wife and son to join her family in New Zealand. On his death she sent money to Cecil Purdy for his funeral expenses. His son maintains a fond remembrance of him on a Hannagan family blog site. Cecil Purdy credited Crowl with inventing the term picket fence score and considered him a walking encyclopaedia on matters of fact. He summarized: Frank Crowl certainly did more for Australian chess than he took from it. He became a legend in his lifetime and will remain one perhaps long after some more successful players are forgotten.

Favourite chess book: My System by Aron Nimzowitsch. He soaked him up like a sponge C J S Purdy.

Chapter 2: 1964 – Winner C J S Purdy

"My little love, do you remember,

Ere we were grown so sadly wise,

Those evenings in the bleak December,

Curtained warm from the snowy weather,

When you and I played chess together,

Checkmated by each other’s eyes?"

From: The Chess-Board (Edward Robert Bulwer-Lytton)

The World (tournament weekend headlines)

The U.S Secretary of Defence, Mr McNamara, said yesterday the United States Totally rejects withdrawal from South Vietnam."

Mounted troopers charged crowds of screaming teenagers, 40 deep, blocking Exhibition Street to all traffic when the English singing troupe, the Beatles, were reunited in Melbourne today.

The Chess Year

Twenty-one year old Bobby Fischer won the USA championship, 11-0

Australia participated in its first chess Olympiad, in Tel Aviv

Venue: Canberra High School DoP: G. Treimanis Entry: 40 Prize fund: £100

The second Doeberl Cup was held at Easter 1964, though the Easter tradition was not yet firmly established. The venue was the Canberra High School (nowadays the National University’s School of Art). Erich Doeberl had committed again to providing the £100 prize fund. The signs of the remarkable growth that was to characterise the event were already evident in the increase over the previous year’s entry, from twenty-nine to forty. In fact, advance publicity had announced that the entry was limited to forty, with preference given to players from distant places. Writing in the NSW Chess Association Chess Bulletin after the event, editor Bernie Johnson described it as undoubtedly the biggest weekend tournament ever held in Australia, and went on prophetically to say, no doubt it will eventually attain the status in the field of chess that the Melbourne Cup has attained in the field of racing.

Frank Crowl, Toni Wiedenhofer and Fred Flatow (a spectator!)

The entry of forty was not only a numeric increase but also strong on quality. The previous year’s strong players, except Hutchings, were back again. In addition there were: Max Fuller, then Australian Junior Champion and later to be Australian Champion and FIDE master; Phil Viner, son of W. S. Viner, the 1906-1913 and 1924 Australian Champion; John Kellner, a major force, and eventually tragic figure, in Australian chess; fourteen year-old Terrey Shaw, soon to be one of Australia’s first home-grown International Masters; and Doug Hamilton, soon to be Australian Champion. Other strong players were Yaroslav Shewchyk, originally from Ukraine and a research scientist in coal technology with CSIRO, who was runner-up in the Ukraine Championship in 1934 and NSW champion in 1959 (and later 1966); V. Lapin, many times Queensland champion; Bob Krstic from Victoria and Ken Hill from NSW. The first lady to play was Narelle Kellner, wife of John, and later to be Australian Women’s champion in 1972 and 1974.

The breakdown of the entry also shows wider geographic participation. There were eleven ACT players, seventeen from NSW, nine from VIC, two from QLD and one from SA. The tournament was run as a single Swiss event. Once again the DoP was G. Treimanis, with efficient administrative assistance from Miss Geraldine Spencer.

Round 1 – 4

The scene was set for a reverse Oedipal struggle between the two Purdys, as epitomised in this reported exchange:

Cecil Purdy: Going to Canberra?

John Purdy: Yes, I have to take back the Doeberl Cup. You going?

Cecil Purdy: Yes, I have to bring it away again.

And so it turned out, though after a shaky start for both Purdys, John drawing with Victorian W. Cornish in Round 1 and Terrey Shaw in Round 2, and Cecil with Kurt Flatow, father of Fred, in Round 2. The major upset of Round 1 was a sparkling Evans Gambit win by Michael Spivakovsky over later Doeberl winner, Ken Hill.

M Spivakovsky

K Hill

C52: Evans Gambit Accepted

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 The most popular form of the Gambit Accepted, an opening wildly popular in the Nineteenth Century and still seen occasionally in modern times from the likes of Kasparov and Short. 6.d4 exd4 7.0-0 dxc3 8.Qb3 Qe7 9.Nxc3 Bxc3 10.Qxc3 f6 11.Ba3 exploiting the open lines created by the gambit and seizing a powerful initiative. 11…d6 12.e5 fxe5

13.Nxe5! A positional sacrifice to exploit powerful diagonal pressure from the Queen and bishops. 13…Nxe5? A crucial error. 13…Qf6 gives enough counterplay to offer prospects of equality. 14.Rae1 Qh4? [14…Bf5 offers some active chances] 15.Rxe5+ dxe5 16.Qxe5+ Ne7 17.Re1 Qf6 18.Qxc7 Be6 [Bd7 just prolongs the agony.] 19.Bxe7 Qd4? Allows a forced mate but 19…Rc8 20.Qxc8+ Bxc8 21.Bxf6+ Kd7 22.Bxg7 isn’t much better. 20.Bc5 Resigns. 1-0

Rounds 5 – 7

After four rounds the joint leaders were Cecil Purdy, Fuller and Kellner on 3.5, followed by J Purdy, Lapin, Viner, Schewchyk, Krstic and T Shaw on 3 each. Cecil Purdy powered through the last three rounds to be a convincing winner, beating Kellner, son John, (the defending champion), and Phil Viner. So, Cecil Purdy became the second person, and second member of his family, to win the Doeberl Cup.

Clear second place went to Queenslander Vassily Lapin on 5.5 points, followed by Lloyd Fell, Max Fuller, Phil Viner and Olgerts Bergmanis on 5. Fuller was the only one, apart from the winner, to go through the tournament unbeaten and might have been the winner but for a tendency to concede draws from superior positions. Victorian Bergmanis, seeded about half-way down the order, made a strong showing to finish in equal third place, his only loss being to Viner. Here is his win against higher seeded Kurt Flatow:

O Bergmanis

K Flatow

C83 Open Ruy Lopez

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Nxe4 7.Re1 [7.d4 more usual here] d4 8.d4 Be6 9.dxe5 Be7 10.c3 0-0 11.Nbd2 Nxd2 12.Qxd2 [Stojanovic-Marin (Olympiad 2006) continued Bxd2, eventually drawn] 12…Qd7 13.Bc2 Rfd8 14.Ng5 g6

15.Nxh7!? Bf5 [15…Kxh7 16.Qh6+ Kg8 17.Bxg6 fxg6 18.Qxg6+ Kh8 19.Qh5+ Kg8 20.Re3 Nxe5 21.Qxe5+– loses more spectacularly] 16.Qh6 Qe6 [16…Bxc2 17.Nf6+ Bxf6 18.exf6+–] 17.Bg5 Nxe5 18.Bxf5 Bxg5 19.Nxg5 Qxf5 20.Qh7+ Kf8 21.Rxe5 Qf6 22.Rae1 Re8? Lost anyway, other options just delay the inevitable. 23.Qh6+ 1-0

Profile: Cecil John Seddon Purdy

For many years, from the 1920s until his death in 1979, Cecil John Seddon Purdy was a towering figure of the Australian – and New Zealand – chess scene. Though born in Port Said, Egypt, on 27 March 1906, some of his early years were spent in New Zealand and he never abandoned his links to it. Later his family moved to Australia, Tasmania and eventually Sydney (a fellow pupil in Hobart was the movie star Errol Flynn). He played his first Australian championship in 1926 and his last in 1974. He won the title four times and came second or third numerous times. His tournament career included thirty-seven First prizes, and numerous Second and Third prizes, in 136 tournaments.

Cecil ponders his move against Phil Viner

Although he was Australia’s first home-grown International Master, gaining the title in 1951, he was more noted for his remarkable achievements away from over-the-board chess, in correspondence play, journalism and administration. Probably his most famous was winning the first ever World Correspondence Championship in 1953. This remarkable feat was documented in the book How Purdy Won, started by Cecil and finished after his death by his son-in-law Frank Hutchings and former NSW champion Kevin Harrison.

However, it is in the field of journalism that Purdy’s most lasting achievements were made. He was a born teacher, whose love of instruction enabled him to write about chess in a way that was at once both lucid and deep. I can vouch for his international fame from my own experience. As a keen young chessplayer in Ireland in the mid-fifties I was acquainted with the former Irish champion and international player Barney O’Sullivan. When I pestered Barney to give me some coaching, he gave me a large pile of Australian chess magazines and told me they contained all I needed to know. They were copies of Chess World and Australian Chess Review and he was, of course, referring to Purdy’s marvellous analytical and instructive reports and commentaries. That these writings are still fresh and alive today is attested to by fact that they are in print in a variety of sources. C. J. S. Purdy His Life, His Games, His Writings by J. Hammond and R. Jamieson was published in 1982; Penguin recently re-issued the excellent little Chess Made Easy co-authored with Garry Koshnitsky, and the American Thinkers Press has recently issued a new book based on Purdy’s instructional material titled The Search for Chess Perfection.

Apart from the journal articles Purdy also wrote several books, including How Euwe Won (1936). His The Return of Alekhine, documenting Alekhine’s recovery of the title in 1937, was in John Purdy’s words dealt with very favourably by the subject himself, as was How Fischer Won (1972) by its subject also, comparing it favourably with the many other books on the Fischer – Spassky match.

Everything that Cecil Purdy did was motivated by a passion not just for the game of chess, but the lore of it in every shape and form, and it was symbolic that his fatal heart attack occurred during a tournament game. The Doeberl Cup came late in Cecil Purdy’s career and it is fitting that he should have been an early winner of it. To many like me, who knew him only in his later life, he will always be the little man with the characteristic green eye-shade, nervously rolling a piece between his hands as he scrutinised the board. His legacy endures.

Chapter 3: 1965 – Winner Bill Geus

There is nothing more irritating than to have the mistakes of the past brought up and explained, all their foolishness exposed. Higginbotham, with that curious memory which only chess-players possess, had insisted on going over each of the four games he had won and showing to the Major where the weakness of his moves lay. (Spanish Gold, George A. Birmingham)

The World (tournament weekend headlines)

Indonesia: Nasution claims coup smashed: struggle for power in Indonesia; Sukarno says he still leads. Major General Suharto is newly appointed Indonesian Army Chief-of-Staff

The Chess Year

Denied a visa by the USA government, Bobby Fischer played in the Havana Capablanca Memorial Tournament by telegraph from New York

Doug Hamilton won his first Australian Championship in Hobart

Frank Crowl died, aged 63

Venue: Haydon-Allen Building DoP: Dr. B Robson Entry: 31 Prize fund: £165

1965 was the last time the Doeberl Cup was held at a date other than Easter, being the Labour Day weekend, Saturday October 2 till Monday October 4. The venue was the Australian National University with Dr. Brian Robson as DoP. The prize fund had been increased to £165, of which Erich Doeberl provided £120. Prize distribution was: First £100, Second £30, Third £20, Fourth £10, and Fifth £5. The time control of 105 minutes for first 48 moves, followed by another 15 minutes to get to move 72, considered fast by championship rates, was intended to allow seven rounds over the three days instead of the four available at Easter. The entry of thirty-one, though lower than the previous year, was of comparable strength. Strong players missing from the previous year were Viner and Kellner but they were replaced by Paul Dozsa and Tim McCarthy. Dozsa was a recently arrived strong Hungarian chess master, whose record included a draw with Portisch. He would eventually achieve notoriety in Australia for matters only tangentially related to chess, of which more later. McCarthy was a strong NSW player who soon emerged as a dark horse in the tournament. J Anderson was described as a junior Danish master but his results give little credence to this. One of the more interesting Canberra competitors was Professor Bernard Neumann. A world-renowned scientist and mathematician, born in Germany in 1909, he came to Canberra from England in 1962 to take up an appointment as the Foundation Chair of the Department of Mathematics within the Australian National University. His wife Hanna (first woman to be appointed to a Chair at the University) was also a renowned mathematician. Dr Neumann would continue to be an occasional competitor in the Cup into his nineties.

Rounds 1 – 3

The only surprises of the first two rounds were Dozsa drawing with local player, J van Voorst, and Max Fuller’s defeat at the hands of local academic Thomas Mautner, in a game that was widely admired.

M Fuller

T Mautner

E81: King’s Indian, Sämisch

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 Characteristic move of the Samisch Variation, Death and damnation to Black if he plays inexactly C Purdy. 5…0-0 6.Be3 Nbd7 7.Qd2 c6 8.0-0-0 a6 9.g4 b5 Both sides bet on breaking through first against the enemy king. 10.h4 h5 11.Bh6 Qa5 12.Nge2 b4 13.Nb1 Qxa2 14.Ng3 c5 Threatening Nc5. 15.gxh5 cxd4 16.Bxg7 Kxg7

17.Qxb4? [17.hxg6 Nc5 18.Qg5 d3 threatening mate (18…Nb3+ 19.Kc2 Qa4 20.h5 with winning attack) 19.Rxd3 giving up the exchange for a crushing attack; analysis C. Purdy.] 17…Rb8 18.Qa3 Qxa3 19.Nxa3 Nc5 20.hxg6 fxg6 Despite doubled pawns Black’s pieces are better placed. White’s Bishop is bad and his KBP weak. 21.Be2 Bd7 22.Rdg1 d3 23.Bd1 d2+ 24.Kxd2 Rxb2+ 25.Kc3 Rfb8 26.h5 Ra2 27.Nc2 Rb3+ 28.Kd2 Rd3+ 29.Ke1 Ba4 30.Nf5+ Kf8 31.hxg6 Ke8 32.g7 Rxd1+ 33.Kxd1 Rxc2 34.g8Q+

34…Kd7! Described by T Wiedenhofer as problem-like, this move ultimately makes checkmate unavoidable for White. The queen capture would still leave Black a strong advantage but require a lot of accurate play, with possible chances for White. 35.Qg3 Nd3 36.Qxd6+ exd6 37.Rg7+ Kd8 38.Rh8+ Ne8 39.Rxe8+ Kxe8 40.Rg8+ Kf7 41.Nh6+ Ke6 42.Rg6+ Kd7 43.Rg7+ Kc6 0-1

There were the usual first round brevities:

K Madjaric

H Nicholls

B56: Classical Sicilian

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bc4 g6 8.e5 Baiting a rather simple trap

8…dxe5? Which succeeds! 9.Bxf7+! 1-0

After Round Three there were five leaders on 2.5 points, Geus, McCarthy, Fell, Purdy and Malitis.

Rounds 4 – 6

Over the next three rounds Geus forged ahead, beating Fell, Purdy and Malitis. McCarthy beat Dozsa and Neumann but dropped a half point to Malitis, leaving Geus clear leader on 5.5, a half point in front. John Purdy was close behind on 4.5 and a pack of Fuller, Cornish, Dozsa, Neumann, Malitis and Mautner followed on 4 points. This Round 5 win by Geus comprehensively demolished John Purdy’s Closed Sicilian, effectively ending the Purdy family challenge for three successive cup wins.

B Geus

J Purdy

B24: Closed Sicilian

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nge2 e6 6.d3 Nge7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Bg5 Re8 8…h6 [Larsen – Ljubojevic 0-1, Brussels 1987] 9.Qd2 Qa5 10.Rae1 a6?! Too slow, allowing White’s