"The Life and Games of Carlos Torre" by Gabriel Velasco In 1993, "Vida y Partidas" de Carlos Torre by Mexican master Gabriel Velasco was published. This book, the only major work on the great Mexican grandmaster Carlos Torre, has been translated into English by someone who is certainly familiar to Chess Cafe readers, Taylor Kingston. Kingston, working in conjunction with the author, expanded the original Spanish edition. The English- language edition contains over 100 games from 1923 to 1926 with detailed text and analysis. There are also fifteen pages of biographical text, and a five-page interview with Torre by the author. The Life and Games of Carlos Torre is available at a special price at The Chess Cafe Online Store. We are pleased to present this excerpt... A few days after the inconclusive match with Kupchik, Carlos Torre played on Board 1 for the Marshall Chess Club in the New York Metropolitan League, the city's inter-club team championship. Torre obtained the highest percentage of all first- board players, however this was not enough to give his team the championship. The Stuyvesant Chess Club (captained by Kupchik) and the Columbia University team (led by M. A. Schapiro) occupied the top two spots, leaving the Marshall CC a half-point behind, though still well ahead of the Brooklyn CC, the International CC, the Hungarian CC, the Staten Island CC, and New York University, which lost all seven of its matches. The strongest of New York's clubs, the Manhattan CC, did not field a team, but their members participated on other teams. Particularly exciting was the last-round contest between Kupchik and Torre, played March 21st, i.e. one week after the suspension of their match. Though Torre's team lost the match 3«-4«, Torre defeated his counterpart Kupchik, a victory many took as the unofficial conclusion to their indecisive match. Game 32 Metropolitan Chess League of New York New York, March 21, 1925 Grnfeld Defense A. Kupchik-C. Torre 1 c4 Nf6 2 d4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 g3 d5 5 cxd5 Nxd5 6 Bg2 Nxc3 7 bxc3 c5 8 Nf3 ... This move gives White a less solid center than the plan of 8 e3 and 9 Ne2, recommended by current theory. In recent years, GM Victor Korchnoy has employed this system with success, for example: A) 8 e3 0-0 9 Ne2 Nc6 10 0-0 Qa5 11 a4 cxd4 12 cxd4 Qh5 13 Rb1 Bh3 14 Bxh3 Qxh3 15 Rxb7 Rfd8 16 Ba3 h6 17 Qc2 Rac8 18 Qe4 +=, Korchnoy-Gligoric, Belgrade 1965. B) 8 e3 Nc6 9 Ne2 Bd7 10 0-0 Rc8 11 dxc5! Na5 12 Ba3 Nc4 13 Qb3 (if 13 Qc1 Qc7) 13...Nd2 14 Qxb7 Rc7 15 Qa6 Nxf1 16 Rxf1+=, Korchnoi-Geller, Moscow 1961. 8 ... Nc6 9 Bb2 Qb6! (See Diagram) Hitting strongly at the d4-pawn with all available forces, and aiming for a transition to a favorable endgame. 10 Qb3 Be6 11 Qxb6 axb6 12 a3 0-0 (-+) 13 0-0 Bd5 14 Rfd1 Rfd8 15 e3 Na5 Here, Torre commented "The threat of playing this Knight to c4, which would be unpleasant for White, forces the exchange of light- squared Bishops, and also allows Black to take control of the d- file." 16 Nd2 Bxg2 17 Kxg2 ... (See Diagram) 17 ... e5! Continuing to strike at the d4-pawn, a major theme of the Grnfeld Defense. Torre conducts this game in a thoroughly modern style. 18 dxc5 bxc5 19 Rab1 ... "Otherwise White would have to watch out for the possibility of 19...Rxd2! followed by either 20...Nb3 or 20...Nc4." Torre. 19 ... f5 20 c4 ... "In order to free his Bishop, White must now confine his Knight." Torre. 20 ... Rd3 21 Kf1 Rad8 22 Ke2 e4! The exchange of White's only active piece will reduce him to passivity. Torre has dominated his opponent in such a clear, logical fashion that one gets the impression chess is a very easy game. 23 Bxg7 Kxg7 (See Diagram) 24 Ra1 ... Kupchik spent nearly 45 minutes on this move, almost certainly examining the pawn endgame resulting from 24 a4 Ra3 25 Ra1 Rxa1 26 Rxa1 Rxd2+ 27 Kxd2 Nb3+ 28 Kc3 Nxa1 29 Kb2 Kf6 30 Kxa1, which might then proceed 30...Kg5 31 h3 h5 32 Kb2 h4 33 Kc2 Kh6! 34 Kd2 g5 35 gxh4 (not 35 Ke2? g4) 35...Kh5 36 hxg5 Kxg5 37 Ke2 Kh4 38 Kf1 Kxh3 39 Ke2 b6! 40 f3 Kg3 41 fxe4 fxe4, and Black wins. Kupchik need not have gone as far in his calculations as we have in this sample line, as in any case it is clear that White's King is taken too far away from the kingside. 24 ... Kf6 Now we see the point of Kupchik's last move, as 24...Rxd2+ would be refuted by 25 Rxd2 Rxd2 26 Kxd2 Nb3+ 27 Kc3 Nxa1 28 Kb2 Kf6 29 Kxa1 Kg5 30 h3 h5 31 Kb2 h4 32 Kb3! followed by Ka4, which was not possible in the above analysis when the pawn stood on a4. 25 Ke1 Ke6 Waiting for the optimum moment to play ...Rxd2. Of course if 25...h5 26 h4, while if 25...Kg5 26 h3! is sufficient to forestall ...Rxd2. 26 Ke2 R8d7 27 Ke1 ... (See Diagram) The game seems to have stalled. Kupchik here expected 27...Rxd2 28 Rxd2 Rxd2 29 Kxd2 Nb3+ 30 Kc3 Nxa1 31 Kb2, and there is no way Black's King can invade White's position. 27 ... b5 (?) "Completely mistaken," comments Torre. "Black has played a good positional game to this point, his position is practically winning, and there was no need to resort to this tactic. Sufficient was 27...Rc3!." He continued "A reason, perhaps, that the greats of the chessboard: Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, lose so few games, is that, contrary to other masters, they never make a move against their better judgement." 28 cxb5 c4 29 Rac1 c3 30 Nf1 ... Naturally it would be a serious mistake to play 30 Nb1? Rxd1+ 31 Rxd1 c2o. 30 ... Nb3 31 Rxd3 Rxd3 32 Rc2 Kd5 (See Diagram) This is the position Torre must have foreseen in playing 27...b5. It appears White is without useful moves. Nevertheless, he has in fact a tactical resource that must have escaped Torre's calculations. 33 g4! ... This move, in combination with Ng3, puts Black's pawn chain under strong pressure. 33 ... Kc4 34 gxf5 gxf5 35 Ng3 ... The tempting 35 b6 is refuted by 35...Nc5 36 Ng3 Kb3 37 Rc1 Kb2 38 Ne2 c2 -+ (e.g. 39 a4 Rd8! threatening 40...Nd3+). As the further course of the game will show, despite Black's imprecise 27th move, his game his still won. In which case Torre's highly critical comments on that move are somewhat exaggerated; however they show his passionate desire for perfection in every move, a characteristic of the great champions. 35 ... Kxb5 36 Nxf5 Ka4 The black King now aims at b3, intending to contest the important blockading square c2. 37 Ng3 Nd2 (See Diagram) 38 Kd1!? ... "The position has been very difficult over the last ten moves and White now tries a surprise move, defying the discovered check." Torre. White realizes this is his only chance of crossing the cord¢n sanitaire and blockading the dangerous black passed pawn. However there is no satisfactory defense; for example 38 Ne2 Nf3+ 39 Kf1 Rd1+ 40 Kg2 Ne1+ winning, or 38 Ke2 Kb3 39 Rc1 (if 39 Kd1 Nb1+ 40 Kc1 Nxa3 41 Re2 c2) 39...Kb2 40 Nxe4 Kxc1 41 Kxd3 Nxe4 42 Kxe4 Kd2, etc. 38 ... Nf1+ Simplest. After 38...Nb1+ 39 Kc1 Kb3 40 Nxe4! White can put up resistance. 39 Kc1 Nxg3 40 hxg3 Kxa3 41 Re2 Kb3 White resigns (0-1). After 42 Rc2, there would follow 42...Rd6 43 Re2 Ra6 44 Kb1 Rh6 45 Re1 c2+ 46 Kc1 Ra6. Torre's final comments are interesting: "If there is anything to be learned from this game, it is to cultivate our appreciation of beauty in chess. We must try to restrain our impulse to effect seemingly brilliant combinations that are however without positional justification, for to give it free rein retards our development, if indeed not fully deforming it. Furthermore, by giving in to that impulse we trade real beauty for an artificial incongruity."