Phony Benoni: There is some question about the circumstances of this game.It seems to be established that it was played in Liege, Belgium on August 18, 1930, as part of the opening ceremonies for Liege (1930). However, ACB has no other details about the simul.
The <Cincinnati Enquire>, August 17, 1930, states:
<"The tournament will officially open at 9 a. m. August 18, when the matching of players will be arranged by drawing lots. In the afternoon of the same day world's champion Dr. Alexander Alkhine will give an exhibition of simultaneous play against approximately 35 boards.">
The 35-boards jibes with the information from Skinner & Verhoeven mentioned by <WMD> above. However, and Associated Press report, published in the <Boston Globe> on August 19, 1930, has some different information:
"
<"ALEKHINE WINS 21 OF 23 IN SIMULTANEOUS CHESS"LIEGE Belgium, Aug 18
"Dr. Alexander Alekhine of Paris, chess champion of the world, played against 23 volunteer players simultaneously today in the formal opening of the international chess congress. After three hours and a half, the champion wound up with 21 wins and two losses.
"The master's tournament will begin tomorrow afternoon and last until August 30.">
All this seems pretty clear, so why did we have the game sa s being played in Ljubljana? I suspect that someone, seeing Black's name, figured the game was probably played in Yugoslavia. And, in fact, Alekhine did play a 35-board simul (that number again!) in Ljubljana in 1930 (see, for instance, Alekhine vs M Vidmar Jr, 1930). However, that simul was on December 11, long after this game had been published.
Kibitzing
sac: 18.Bc2
