Jul-13-11
 | | Phony Benoni: 
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<29.?>
When Whitaker uncorked <29.Nf5>, it looked like there might be a brilliancy prize in this game's future. After 29...gxf5 comes 30.Rg3+ Ng4 31.hxg4, threatening 32.gxf5+ and 32.Bxd5, among other things. Not having much choice, Widmeyer went ahead and gave up his queen with 29...exf5. And then, lo and behold, he got some counterplay and Whitaker may have gotten careless and before you know it: 
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<38.?>
Yow! If now 38.Kh4, Black has the beautiful shot 38...Rxh3+!! Mate is waiting for 39.Kg5 h6# or 39.Kxh3 Rh1#, and after 39.gxh3 Rg1!! the threat of 40...g5# will compel White to give up queen and bishop just to delay mate for a few moves. Whitaker chose to give the queen back with 38.Qxf4 Nxf4, but being no Widmeyer he couldn't find any counterplay and resigned immediately. |
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Jul-14-11
 | | FSR: <Phony Benoni> 38.Kh4 h6 forcing 39.Qxf4 is also rather good. btw, Whitaker being a notorious con man, it is fitting that he lived in Shady Side, Maryland. No, I am not making this up. |
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Jul-14-11
 | | perfidious: <FSR: ...btw, Whitaker being a notorious con man, it is fitting that he lived in Shady Side, Maryland.> This is great! |
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Jul-14-11
| | Phony Benoni: Shady Side came later; before the Lindbergh fiasco, he lived in Washington, DC. Good training, I suppose. Whitaker has received a just reward for his criminality in that nobody ever talks about his chess. He could hold his own against the best US players, but had a distressing tendency to lose against outsiders. This defeat left him second in the tournament, 1/2-point behind Showalter; another example of getting destroyed by a far weaker player was G Gessner vs N Whitaker, 1916. Even before Lindbergh, I have a feeling he wasn't trusted. Here's a group shot from Chicago 1918, where Jackson W. Showalter seems to be watching him closely for any funny business: http://books.google.com/books?id=Cq... As I recall, Whitaker essentially got the IM title by badgering the USCF for a decade to apply for it. His credentials are not strong; these collections contain crosstables from what may be his three major triumphs: Game Collection: US Open 1923, San Francisco = 24th Western Champ Game Collection: US Open 1927 Kalamazoo = 28th Western Champ. Game Collection: US Open 1930, Chicago = 31st Western Champ. His best performance might have been his sole international experience, a creditable =3rd-5th at the World Amateur Championship (Hague, 1928). Generally, Whitaker would be in the top half of the field at the Western, usually just a bit behind Edward Lasker. I'd place him a bit below Lasker, who also has the IM title, and both below Abraham Kupchik, a smaller-than-life figure lacking Lasker's charm and Whitaker's zest for self-promotion. |
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Jul-14-11
| | FSR: <Abraham Kupchik, a smaller-than-life figure lacking Lasker's charm and Whitaker's zest for self-promotion> Indeed. From CG's bio of Kupchik:
<He was 1st= with Frank James Marshall at Lake Hopatcong in 1923 and scored (+6, =8, -0) on third board for the US Olympiad team at Warsaw 1935. In 1925 he drew a match with Carlos Torre-Repetto (+1, =4, -1). He also finished 2nd behind Jose Raul Capablanca at Lake Hopatcong in 1926.> Pretty damned impressive for a guy most players have never heard of. |
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Mar-01-16
| | Phony Benoni: And now for the real irony of this game.
It was played in the last round. Whitaker was leading the field with 8.5/9, half-a-point ahead of Showalter (whom Whitaker had beaten). In round 10, played earlier that day, Widmeyer had opposed William Joseph Platten, in last place with a record of 0-8 -- and gave up a draw! Then he goes and slaughters first-place Whitaker. If Widmeyer was just being Mr. Nice guy, he got an immediate reward. |
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Kibitzing
sac: 29...exf5
