Alexander Kevitz

Alexander "Alex" Kevitz (born September 1, 1902 in Brooklyn , † October 24, 1981 in Manhattan ) was an American chess player .

Life

Kevitz studied at Cornell University , where he was treasurer of the local chess club in 1921, and at Brooklyn College . He earned degrees in pharmacy and law. In 1924 he played in New York in simultaneous performances against Alexander Alekhine and José Raúl Capablanca . While losing to Alekhine, he defeated Capablanca in just 13 moves in an orangutan opening . Kevitz was a spectator at the international tournament in New York in 1924 and, according to his own statement, was strongly influenced in his chess development by Richard Réti's opening ideas. He joined the Manhattan Chess Club , whose club championship he won in 1927, 1928-29 and 1935-36, and played for Manhattan in the Metropolitan Chess League . In 1928, he won a simultaneous performance against Emanuel Lasker .

In 1929 he took part in a championship tournament in Bradley Beach and finished there with four points from nine games in 7th place. With his victory in the game against the reigning national champion Frank Marshall he achieved a respectable success. In 1931 he took part in a championship tournament in New York and came in third place with 7 points from 11 games. In the game against the tournament winner Capablanca he was better after the good treatment of the Réti opening , but ultimately lost the game. In March 1935 he succeeded again in the Metropolitan League, a victory against Marshall. For the USA championship in New York in 1936 Kevitz received a free place due to his success and therefore did not have to participate in the qualifications. With 7.5 points from 15 games he finished 8th in the tournament, which took place from April 25th to May 16th. He saw this result as a failure, retired from tournament chess for almost ten years and worked in his Profession as a pharmacist .

In September 1946 he made a comeback in the USA - USSR match in Moscow by defeating Igor Bondarewski with 1.5-0.5. In June 1951 he tried again to qualify for the national championship of the USA, but failed at the elimination tournament in New York, in which 24 players took part. In 1953 he came at the US Open in Milwaukee on the shared 13th place. In further comparative matches against the USSR he lost one game against Paul Keres in 1954 and two games against Alexander Kotow in 1955 . He participated several times in the championships of the Manhattan Chess Club and promoted emerging talents such as Arthur Bisguier , who referred to him as his mentor. He also played correspondence chess to try out opening variations. He used the pseudonym Palmer Phar , derived from his place of work Palmer Pharmacy. He retired in 1966 and rarely appeared: in 1971 he played a blitz game against Bobby Fischer in the Manhattan Chess Club , which he lost in 27 moves, in 1972 he took part in the US Open, but was unable to place in the front field.

He died at the age of 79 at Cabrini Medical Center in Manhattan. He left behind his wife Helen, with whom he had two children, a son and a daughter.

skill level

His best historical rating was 2578 in September 1931, which put him in 30th place in the world rankings. In the first of the United States Chess Federation published Elo ranking of 31 July 1950 was Kevitz with a rating of 2610 at No. 3 behind Reuben Fine and Samuel Reshevsky . In later lists, however, it was no longer performed because it was not active at the time.

Fred Reinfeld characterized him in 1936 in the magazine Chess as an excellent strategist who has a sophisticated opening repertoire and plays very well, especially with white.

Game example

Capablanca – Kevitz

	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H
8th									8th
7th									7th
6th									6th
5									5
4th									4th
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H

End position after 13.… Nxf1

Here the above-mentioned victorious simultaneous game with the black pieces against the Cuban world chess champion Capablanca.

Capablanca – Kevitz 0: 1

New York, March 7, 1924

Sokolski opening , A00

1. b4 d5 2. Bb2 Bf5 3. e3 e6 4. f4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bxb4 6. Nc3 Nbd7 7. Ne2 Ng4 8. c3 Be7 9. h3 Nc5 10. Ng3 Bh4 11. Nxh4 Qxh4 12. Qf3 Nxe3 13. Qf2 Nxf1 0: 1

Contributions to chess theory

Kevitz was considered a good analyst . One of his preferred systems was the English opening , in which the variant 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 Nc6 was named after him. In the English symmetry variant he also dealt with the gambit 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d5.

In the 1940s, he recommended the variant against the Marshall attack 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0–0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 0–0 8. c3 d5 9 .exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6 12. Bxd5 cxd5 13. d4 Bd6 14. Re3. The idea is that 14… Qh4 can be followed by 15. h3 and the rook on the third row is a useful defense piece.

With Black, Kevitz preferred the move 1.… Nc6 against both 1. e4 and 1. d4. In the Nimzowitsch defense he played the variant 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5, including against Keres in 1954. After 1. d4 Nc6 or 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 Nc6 there is an independent opening, originally Kevitz in the USA -Traikovich Defense was called. Since the Mexican grandmaster Carlos Torre Repetto also dealt with this system, it is mainly referred to as the Mexican defense in the German-speaking area .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cornell Alumni News April 24, 1921, p. 3. (PDF)
2. ^ 1. b4 - A Short History of an Unusual Opening at Bill Wall
3. ^ Edward Winter : Kevitz v Capablanca. In: Chess Notes No. 2805, also reprinted in Chess facts and fables , Jefferson 2006, pp. 24-25.
4. ^ Fritz C. Görschen: Capablancas losing games. 2nd Edition. Hamburg 1976, pp. 114-115.
5. ^ John S. Hilbert and Peter P. Lahde: New York 1936, the first modern United States Chess Championship . New York 2000, pp. 51-52, 63.
6. ^ Gene H. McCormick and Andy Soltis: The US Chess Championship, 1845–1985 . Jefferson 1986, p. 104.
7. ^ Gene H. McCormick and Andy Soltis: The US Chess Championship, 1845–1985 . Jefferson 1986, p. 127.
8. ↑ Sam Sloan: Dake's complete chess career ( Memento from May 7, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
9. ^ Arthur Bisguier: The art of Bisguier . Hazel Crest 2003, p. 74.
10. ↑ Tim McGrew: Kevitz's legacy ( Memento from July 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 146 kB)
11. ^ Obituary in The New York Times, November 3, 1981.
12. ↑ Sam Sloan: The first chess rating lists ( Memento from August 14, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
13. ^ John S. Hilbert and Peter P. Lahde: New York 1936, the first modern United States Chess Championship . New York 2000, p. 90.
14. ^ Arthur Bisguier: The art of Bisguier. Hazel Crest 2003, p. 125.
15. ↑ Jeremy Silman: Marshall attack ( Memento of February 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
16. ↑ Georg Deppe: The Fischer-Nimzowitsch defense . Heidelberg 1979, pp. 53-70.
17. ^ John W. Collins: How the chess openings got their names. In: Chess life. July 1965, quoted from The best of Chess life and review , Volume 2, New York 1988, p. 154.

Web links

• Replayable chess games by Alexander Kevitz on chessgames.com (English)