Introduction

This match took place in the costal resort of Viareggio in northern Tuscany, Italy.

The date of this match has been given either as 1921 (Di Felice, "Chess Results, 1921-1930" , page 24 ) or 1924 (Feenstra Kuiper, "Jahre Schachzweikämpfe. Die bedeutendsten Schachzweikämpfe 1851 - 1950" , page 50.) They agree that the match took place from 25th March to the 28th March.(1)

Esteban Canal was a Peruvian who as a student came to Europe. In 1916, he won the championship of Leipzig.

It is stated in his Wikipedia biography that he took permanent residency in Italy in 1923, but much of his apparently colourful life is obscure. It is known that he settled in Turin and then Venice where he established a reputation as a strong player. Canal's first international tournament was Trieste 1923 where he came second and he played in several of the most important tournaments of the 1920's and 1930's. His best achievements were in the 1930's when he played in Hungary, but then came a hiatus during which he returned to Peru. He did not compete again until the late 1940's.

Stefano Rosselli del Turco was twice Italian Champion, in 1923 and 1931. He played in several important tournaments of the 1920's and 1930's, his best results being in Baden-Baden (1925) and Nice 1931. In these years he could occasionally defeat top flight masters, Siegbert Tarrasch had a particularly unfortunate score against him.

He was a leading figure in Italian chess, founding the magazine "Italia Schaccistica" and contributed to it for the whole of his active life. .

Progress of the match

Rosselli del Turco had White in the odd numbered games. All of the games in this short match were hard fought with no short draws. Rosselli del Turco had significant advantages in Games 3 and 4 but missed tactical opportunities.

Round              1 2 3 4 Total
Canal              1 0 ½ ½
Rosselli del Turco 0 1 ½ ½

Progressive scores

Round              1 2 3  4 
Canal              1 1 1½ 2
Rosselli del Turco 0 1 1½ 2

The Games

Game 1.

Rosselli del Turco had White and the opening became a Colle versus a Dutch structure. Canal played energetically and outcombined his opponent to win the exchange. In a sharp game, both players made mistakes but Canal dealt better with the tactics and took the point.

Game 2.

Canal had his first White already one point ahead in the match. Rosselli del Turco defended the Ruy Lopez with the Berlin Defence, Rio de Janiero variation. The game was sharp but balanced until Canal in playing too ambitiously blundered on the ending with <42. Kd6?>

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and soon lost after <42...e4>.

The score in the match was now level, with both players having lost with White.

Game 3.

After two combative games, Rosselli del Turco attempted to slow the pace down by playing the Exchange version of the French. Canal sharpened the play by castling Queenside, but soon was in an inferior position. Rosselli missed several opportunities and Canal was lucky to secure a draw.

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45.Bxd5 would have won immediately, instead Rosselli del Turco played 45.c6.

Game 4.

Canal opened with the second Ruy Lopez of the match. Rosselli del Turco defended with the solid Berlin Defence. Once again Roselli del Turco had the superior position in the middle game, but he was unable to translate this advantage into a win in a long endgame. .

Note

(1). Santo Daniele Spina (compiler), "I giocatori di scacchi in Sicilia 1500-1978" (Raleigh 2013), p. 111, says Viareggio 25-28 May 1921.Found by User: Tabanus.

User: Chessical - original text and compilation.