Edgard ColleC A I S S A ’ S W O U N D E D W A R R I O R

TAYLOR K INGSTONF O R E W O R D B Y A N D Y S O L T I S

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The Fighting Chess of

Edgard ColleCaissa’s Wounded Warrior

2021Russell Enterprises, Inc.

Milford, CT USA

Taylor Kingston

Foreword byAndy Soltis

An exploration and celebration of the artistry ofthe Belgian chess champion and prolific

international tournament playerEdgard Colle (1897-1932)

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Edgard Colle: Caissa’s Wounded Warrior

ISBN: 978-1-949859-27-0 (print)ISBN: 949859-28-7 (eBook)

© Copyright 2021Taylor Kingston

All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be used, reproduced, stored in a retrieval systemor transmitted in any manner or form whatsoever or by any means,electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, photocopying, recording orotherwise, without the express written permission from the publisherexcept in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles orreviews.

Published by:Russell Enterprises, Inc.

P.O. Box 3131Milford, CT 06460 USA

http://www.russell-enterprises.cominfo@russell-enterprises.com

Cover by Fierce Ponies

Printed in the United States of America

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Table of ContentsAuthor’s Preface 5

Foreword by Andy Soltis 7

Annotation Symbols and Frequently Used Abbreviations 10

Part I: Biographical Basics, Historical Background,Colleagues’ Reminiscences, and Memorial Tributes 12

Gedenkboek Colle by Max Euwe 15

Hans Kmoch in the Wiener Schachzeitung 25

Bataviaasch Nieuwsblad 26

Fred Reinfeld in Colle’s Chess Masterpieces 28

Part II: Annotated Games 29

Marvelous Miniatures 32

An Abundance of Brilliancies 51

Colle Lucks Out 61

Follies, Failures, and Might-Have-Beens 91

Colle and the Endgame 103

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Colle and Positional Play 121

Colle’s Fighting Games 141

Salvaging the Draw 201

Colle and Yates 212

Colle’s Gem 223

Swan Song 228

Epilogue 234

Appendix A: Unannotated Games 235

Appendix B: Colle’s Tournament and Match Record 238

Appendix C: Tournament Crosstables 242

Bibliography 268

Index of Players 270

Index of Openings 272

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Author’s Preface

The spiritual precursor to this book is one of Fred Reinfeld’s lesser-knownworks, Colle’s Chess Masterpieces, first published in 1936. It was intendedby that prolific American writer as a belated memorial tribute to EdgardColle, who had died in 1932, and to make American readers more awareof the fine chess of the Belgian master, who had never played outsideEurope. The publisher’s original idea was simply to reprint Reinfeld’s bookwith algebraic instead of descriptive notation, with this writer perhapssupplying a few gentle computer-assisted analytical corrections when itturned out Reinfeld had erred.

It soon became clear this approach would not do. Over the last several yearsI have done intensive computer-assisted analytical critiques of more thana dozen classic works from pre-computer days, by such greats as Lasker,Capablanca, Alekhine, Euwe, Tal, Tartakower, Najdorf, Bronstein, Fineand others. These show that top-rank grandmasters, even world champions,can be quite fallible as annotators. Reinfeld was never in that class as aplayer, and in the 1930s, by his own admission, he was annotating about500 games per year for various publications.* So when the unblinking stareof the lidless silicon eye was turned on his notes, mistakes were revealedlike dental cavities by x-rays, of a number and degree unacceptable in a21st-century chess book. Also, many of the games Reinfeld presented as“masterpieces” proved to be nothing of the sort; in some he was unawarethat Colle made outright blunders and had lost positions. A few gentlecorrections just would not be enough.

And of course in the 1930s Reinfeld did not have databases and web-siteswith fingertip access to millions of games. Relatively few of Colle’s gamesappeared even in European publications outside the Low Countries, and evenfewer in American magazines. In retrospect it’s remarkable that Reinfeldcame up with the 51 games he had. Today the choice is much wider.

* Book of the Warsaw 1935 International Chess Team Tournament by Reinfeldand Phillips (New York, 1936), page v.]

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Edgard Colle

Therefore it was decided to write a completely new book. Some of thegames Reinfeld chose are still included, and his notes are cited here andthere, but for the most part the annotations are derived from careful analysisby the computer engines Stockfish 11 and Komodo 11.2.2. The finalchoices were made after many hours of combing through hundreds ofColle’s games – great, good, bad, and indifferent – trying to find the bestand/or most interesting. While this was a time-consuming, eye-strainingprocess, it was also edifying, for Colle played some exciting and beautifulchess, full of life, vigor, imagination and creativity. I came to have newrespect and admiration for this small, frail man who could overcome thelimitations his body imposed, and use his mind to grapple with and topplegiants at the board. As his friend Hans Kmoch wrote, he was “this chessmaster with the body of a doomed man and the spirit of an immortal hero.”

Unlike most single-player game collections, this book is not organizedchronologically, and is not intended as a biography or an account of Colle’scareer. Rather, it is an exploration of his chess artistry and style, his strengthsas a player, and also some frank looks at his weaknesses. Each of the firsteight chapters in the games section focuses on an aspect of chess skill or acertain type of game: miniatures, brilliancies, lucky escapes, failures andnear-misses, the endgame, positional play, rough-and-tumble fighting chess,and salvaging a late draw from a lost position. Within those chapters thegames and/or fragments are in roughly increasing order of complexity anddifficulty, regardless of when they were played. Chronology mattered onlyin the last chapter, which features Colle’s final game.

I could not have written his book without help. I want to acknowledge, firstand foremost, Nikolaas Verhulst of Antwerp, whose websitebelgianchesshistory.be is a wonderful labor of love stocked with a hugeamount of valuable information. Dr. Verhulst was always willing to answerquestions, and was most gracious in providing several rare game scores, andparts of Max Euwe’s Gedenkboek Colle, the great Dutch champion’smemorial tribute to his friend, a book now very hard to find. Thanks to Janvan de Mortel for translating part of Euwe’s book. I also had assistance fromhistorian Hans Renette, GM Hans Ree, and various colleagues from theFacebook group Chess Book Collectors: Martin van der Hidde, Dan Scoones,Stefan Be, et al. And my long-time friend Bo Simons, who is not a seriouschess player, offered some helpful suggestions to make the book moreinteresting and accessible to the casual enthusiast. My thanks to all of them.

Taylor KingstonSan DiegoNovember 2020

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Foreword

Mention “Colle” and a typical tournament player may respond: “I playedit as a kid but I outgrew it. It’s not much of an opening.”

Mention the name to someone more knowledgeable and you could hear:“He was a master, maybe a century ago. Won some pretty games. But hewas pretty much a one-opening wonder.”

Ask a third player and he could add: “I remember some games of his. Niceones, like his losses to Alekhine. Yeah, and when Capablanca refuted hisopening.”

That may be what many people recall. But it is hardly fair to someone whowas once ranked number 14 in the world (which is about where playerssuch as Hikaru Nakamura and Sergey Karjakin have been recently). So,let’s put Edgard Colle in the perspective he deserved.

He was born in 1897 and, like others of his generation, his prime yearswere delayed until after the Great War, when he was in his late 20s. Thiswas a generation that grew up studying Paul Rudolf Bilguer’s Handbuchdes Schachspiels. That book was the go-to database for roughly a century.After many revised editions, it had ballooned to about 1,000 pages.

By the 1920s, its analysis of the Queen’s Gambit Declined, the dominantopening of the day, often lasted to move 20. Aspiring students were toldto memorize it. The ponderous variations indicated there was no room forimprovement for either side after 1.d4! was met by 1...d5!. Chess was dyingand the QGD was burying it.

Three players helped overthrow this notion. One was Aron Nimzovich,who advocated starting a game with 1.Nf3. Johannes Zukertort had donethat in the 1880s but Nimzovich continued with the revolutionary 2.b3.

One of the many ironies of the Hypermoderns is that they were creditedwith freeing players from the rote-play of the QGD. White had to thinkabout his opening moves. But Nimzovich created a system opening in

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Edgard Colle

which White could play his next moves with little or no thought. He couldcontinue with 3.Bb2 and 4.e3. Then he could look at the Black side of theboard and decide whether to play Bb5 or Be2, followed by castling.

The second player who challenged orthodoxy was Richard Réti. He hadhis own no-think opening. It began with 1.Nf3 and 2.c4 and often continuedwith 3.g3, 4.Bg2 and 5.0-0. Réti’s basic theme was to challenge Black onthe light-colored squares, principally d5. Nimzovich’s idea, in contrast,was to exploit ...d5 by occupying the dark center squares, principally e5.

Nimzovich and Réti didn’t want to add to the sum total of openingknowledge but to overthrow it. A member of the older generation, the greatannotator Georg Marco, predicted that so much 1.d4 d5 analysis had beenrendered obsolete by the Hypermoderns that the next edition of “Bilguer”would be only eight pages long.

What is forgotten today is that there was a third innovator who wasadvocating his own opening of semi-automatic moves to replace the QGD.This was Colle and the Colle System.

It was another no-think opening. White could play 1.d4, 2.Nf3, 3.e3followed in some order by Bd3, Nbd2, c2-c3 and 0-0. He looked for theright moment to advance e3-e4 and seek a kingside attack.

This looks naive but the Colle System slowly won adherents among themaster class. They were as diverse as the speculative Savielly Tartakowerand orthodox Géza Maróczy. But what about that game with Capablanca?Did the Cuban really refute the Colle System?

Well, at Karlsbad 1929 he showed that it mattered a lot what Black did inthe first moves. Colle was the one playing for equality after 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3b6 3.e3 Bb7 4.Nbd2 e6 5.Bd3 c5 6.0-0 Nc6 7.c3 Be7 and now 8.e4 cxd49.Nxd4 0-0 10.Qe2 Ne5!.

But this was not a refutation. It just showed that the Colle System movescouldn’t be played automatically against any Black move order. This factwas important, but it did not discourage Colle’s companions in internationalchess. There were many more masters adopting the system after theCapablanca game, including Alexander Alekhine, Salo Flohr, Paul Keresand Sultan Khan.

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Several major openings were popularized during the 1920s, the greatestera of innovation. Some, like the Alekhine’s Defense and Grünfeld Defenseand Tartakower’s Catalan Opening, are standard today.

But 1.Nf3 and 2.c4 has become more of a transpositional device than a realopening. Réti’s connection to it is often forgotten. (1.Nf3 is sometimeslisted as “Zukertort’s Opening” in databases. Maybe “Kramnik’s Opening”is more appropriate.) Nimzovich's 1.Nf3 and 2.b3 is so rare at the masterlevel that even Magnus Carlsen shuns it. And he plays everything.

But the Colle System remains a remarkably vibrant dinosaur. It is playedby Levon Aronian, Karjakin, Wesley So, Vladimir Kramnik, Anish Giri –and, of course, the world champion.

As a player, Colle was ranked in the world’s top 20 by 1924. He fell back,but then enjoyed his peak period in the 1930s. When he died, he wasnumber 20, according to retroactive analysis by Chessmetrics.com.

He scored victories over Max Euwe (several times), Akiba Rubinstein,Yefim Bogoljubow, Ernst Grünfeld, Rudolf Spielmann and Frank Marshall.He played in many of the strongest tournaments of his era, such as BadenBaden 1925, Karlsbad 1929, San Remo 1930, and Bled 1931.

Why then is Colle forgotten as a player today? The main reason, of course,is that he died at age 34. We can’t know how much he could have achievedif he had been healthy and survived into the golden age that was 1930s chess.

But we can make some more comparisons. If Richard Réti had also died at34, he could be remembered for 1.Nf3 and little else. We might never haveread Modern Ideas in Chess, for example, or seen his great 1.Nf3 victoriesat New York 1924. If Aron Nimzovich had died at 34, we would never haveseen My System or appreciated how the Nimzo-Indian and Queen’s Indiancame about. They also died young but not nearly as young as Colle.

Fate has cheated chess out of much of the greatness of many players, fromHarry Pillsbury to Leonid Stein and Vugar Gashimov. We should bethankful that we get to remember Edgard Colle.

Andy SoltisNew YorkNovember 2020

Foreword

56

Edgard Colle

(33) Colle-KoltanowskiBelgian Championship (m/3)Antwerp 1925

George Koltanowski

cuuuuuuuuC{rDwDw4kD}{0bhn1w0p}{w0wDpDwD}{Dw)wDpDw}{wDwDNDwD}{DwDB)NDw}{P)wDQ)P)}{Dw$wDRIw}vllllllllV

Black had just played 15...f7-f5,apparently expecting Colle to retreathis knight. Instead came 16.c6!fxe4 17.cxb7 exd3 17...exf318.gxf3 is no better. 18.Qxd3 Nc519.Rxc5 Somewhat better was19.bxa8Q! Nxd3 20.Qxa7 Nxc121.Rxc1 Nd5 22.Qxe7 Nxe7,winning two pawns, but the text isadequate. 19...Qxc5 20.bxa8QRxa8 White has gained animportant pawn and eventually wonthe game. 1-0 (41)

(34) Maas-ColleNice 1930cuuuuuuuuC{wDr1w4kD}{0bDpgw0p}{w0nDpDwD}{DwDnDwDw}{wDw)wDPD}{DQ)BDNDw}{P)wHw)wG}{DwIRDw$w}vllllllllV

White has just played 16.0-0-0,expecting to launch an assault againstBlack’s king on the g- and h-files. Hewas quickly brought back to earth by16...Ndb4! 17.Be2 If 17.cxb4??,17...Nxd4+. 17...Na5 18.Qa4Bc6 Even stronger was first 18...a6and then 19...Bc6, since the whitequeen is helplessly stuck on a4. If19.Qa3??, 19...Nd3+. 19.Bb5Bxf3 20.Nxf3 a6 21.Bxd7 b522.Bxc8 bxa4 and 0-1 (33).

(35) Colle-WeeninkLiège 1930cuuuuuuuuC{wDwDrDkD}{0w4w1p0p}{wDwDwhnD}{gw)p0wDw}{wDwDwDwD}{)PDwDQHP}{wGwDw)PD}{DB$RDwIw}vllllllllV

Black had just played 24...e5?. Collepounced immediately: 23.b4 Rb7

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Black must have counted on this tosave his bishop, but he overlookeda fatal flaw. 24.Nf5! Qe625.Nd6 Rbb8 26.Nxe8 Qxe827.Bxg6 hxg6 28.bxa5 and wins(1-0, 33).

(36) Colle-PiccardtAmsterdam 1926cuuuuuuuuC{rDb4wDkD}{0pDwDw0w}{wDwDpgN0}{DqDwDpDw}{wDwDwDwD}{Dw)wDwDw}{P)B!w)P)}{DwDR$wIw}vllllllllV

21.Qxd8+! Bxd8 22.Rxd8+Because Black’s rook and bishopcannot get into the game, Whiteeffectively has a big materialadvantage. 22...Kf7 If 22...Kh7??,23.Nf8+ Kg8 24.Nxe6+ Kf7 25.Rf8+Kg6 26.Nf4+ Kg5 27.g3 h5 28.h4+Kg4 29.Bd1+ Qe2 30.Bxe2#.23.Ne5+ Ke7 24.Rg8 24...Qxb2?24...Kd6 or 24...g5 were less bad, butstill losing. 25.Rxg7+ Ke8cuuuuuuuuC{rDbDkDwD}{0pDwDw$w}{wDwDpDw0}{DwDwHpDw}{wDwDwDwD}{Dw)wDwDw}{P1BDw)P)}{DwDw$wIw}vllllllllV

26.Bxf5 26.Bd1 intending27.Bh5+ would have done as well,but Colle liked such flashy moves.His further play is remarkable for itsaccuracy and coordination.26...Qd2 If 26...exf5, 27.Ng6+Kd8 28.Rd1+, etc. 27.Bg6+ Kd828.Nf3 Qd6 29.Bc2 Ke830.Rd1 Qf4 31.Ne5! 1-0cuuuuuuuuC{rDbDkDwD}{0pDwDw$w}{wDwDpDw0}{DwDwHwDw}{wDwDw1wD}{Dw)wDwDw}{PDBDw)P)}{DwDRDwIw}vllllllllV

If 31...Qxe5, 32.Bg6+ Kf8 33.Rf7+Ke8 34.Rxb7+ Kf8 35.Rd8#.

(37) Colle–Znosko-BorovskyTunbridge Wells 1927

For some reason, Colle had adreadful record against EvgenyZnosko-Borovsky (1884-1954,historical Elo 2450), a Paris-basedRussian émigré who was perhaps abetter literary and drama critic thanchessplayer. Colle scored only +2-8 =1 against him, though after an0-6 skunking in a 1923 match, theirscore was even. But remembering1923, Colle must have relishedplaying this combination:

An Abundance of Brilliancies

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Edgard Colle

Evgeny Znosko-Borovsky

cuuuuuuuuC{wDrDwDwi}{0bDqgwDp}{w0wDpDwD}{DPDp)p0w}{wDwHw)wD}{)wDw)w)w}{w!wDwDB)}{DwDwDRIw}vllllllllV

26.Nxf5! Bc5 26...exf5?? 27.e6+Bf6 28.Qxf6+ Qg7 29.fxg5i.27.Nd4 gxf4 28.Rxf4 Qg729.Rf6! Not 29.Nxe6? Bxe3+.29...Qg5 30.Qf2cuuuuuuuuC{wDrDwDwi}{0bDwDwDp}{w0wDp$wD}{DPgp)w1w}{wDwHwDwD}{)wDw)w)w}{wDwDw!B)}{DwDwDwIw}vllllllllV

30...Be7? 30...Re8 was not as bad,but then after 31.Qf4 Qxf4 32.gxf4Black is still lost. Or if 30...Qxe531.Rf7 Rc7 (if 31...Ba8 32.Bh3, or31...Rb8 32.Bf1 $33.Bd3i)32.Rxc7 Qxc7 33.Nxe6i. 31.Rf7!Bxa3 If 31...Re8/Rc7 32.Nxe6.32.Rxb7 Rf8 33.Nxe6 1-0

(38) Colle-ThomasKarlsbad 1929cuuuuuuuuC{wDwDw4kD}{0w4w1p0p}{b0wHwDwD}{Dw)wDwDw}{wDwDp)wD}{DPDw)wDw}{PGwDwDP)}{Dw$QDwIw}vllllllllV

21.Bxg7! More than a mere pawngrab, this blows the game wideopen. If now:(a) 21...Kxg7 22.Nf5+;(b) 21...f6 22.Nf5! Qd7 23.Qg4forcing 23...Qxf5 24.Qxf5i;(c) 21...Qd7 22.Bxf8 Kxf8 23.Qd4!Rxc5 24.Rxc5 bxc5 25.Qxc5 with26.Nxe4+ to follow in most variations;(d) 21...Rd8 22.Qg4 Qxd6 23.Bf6+Kf8 24.Qg7+ Ke8 25.cxd6 Rxc1+26.Kf2 Rxd6 27.Qg8+ Kd728.Qxf7+, etc.; and finally(e) 21...Rfc8 22.Qg4 Be2 23.Qg3!Qd7 (else 24.Bf6+) 24.f5! (to play25.Bh6+ without 25...Qg4 beingpossible) 24...f6 25.Bxf6+ Kf826.Qf4! bxc5 27.Qh6+ Kg828.Qg5+ Kf8 29.Be5 etc.

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Actual play continued 21...f522.Bxf8 Qxf8 23.Qd5+ Kh824.Qe5+ Kg8 25.Nxf5 1-0

(39) Olland-ColleUtrecht 1928 (m/3)

From a match won by Colle 5-0.cuuuuuuuuC{wDr1w4kD}{0pDwDp0p}{wDwgwDwD}{DwDn0bDw}{wDwDNDwD}{DPDQDwDw}{PGP)w)P)}{$wDKHwDR}vllllllllV

15...Ba3!! 16.Bxa3 Bxe417.Qf1 If 17.Qxe4 Nc3+, or17.Qg3 Nc3+ 18.Kc1 Ne2+.17...Re8! 18.Kc1 Qa5 19.Bb2Nb4cuuuuuuuuC{wDrDrDkD}{0pDwDp0p}{wDwDwDwD}{1wDw0wDw}{whwDbDwD}{DPDwDwDw}{PGP)w)P)}{$wIwHQDR}vllllllllV

20.d3 In a way, it’s a shame thatOlland did not allow the mostbrilliant variation: 20.Bc3 Rxc3!!21.dxc3 Qa3+ 22.Kd2 (if 22.Kb1Rd8 and mate soon) 22...Rd8+

23.Ke3 Nd5+ 24.Kxe4 f5+ 25.Kf3e4+ 26.Kg3 Qd6+ 27.f4 exf3+28.Kf2 (if 28.Kxf3 Qf4+ 29.Ke2Nxc3#) 28...Qb6+ 29.Kg3 f4+ andmate in eight more moves.20...Red8! 21.Qe2 If 21.dxe4,Nxc2 22.Nxc2 Qd2+ 23.Kb1Qxc2#. 21...Nxd3+ 0-1

(40) Davidson-ColleScheveningen 1923cuuuuuuuuC{wDkDwDwD}{0w1wDpDw}{w0wDp!nD}{Dw0w)wDw}{wDPDwDND}{DPDw$PDr}{PDwDwIwD}{DwDwDwDw}vllllllllV

41....Qd7! This quiet-lookingmove begins a remarkablecombination, in which Stockfishsays every one of Colle’s moves isoptimal. There are any number ofthreats, chief of which are 42...Rh143.Re1 Qd2+ 44.Re2 Qd1 andmate soon, and 42...Qd2+ 43.Re2Qd4+ 44.Kg2 Nf4+, forcing45.Qxf4 Qxf4 46.Kxh3 Qxf3+.42.Kg2 Rh5! 43.Qg7 Or 43.Nf2Rf5 44.Qg7 Qd4 45.Re4 Rg5+46.Kf1 Qa1+ 47.Re1 Rg1+!48.Kxg1 Qxe1+ 49.Kg2 Nf4+50.Kh2 (50.Kg3 Nh5+)50...Qxf2+. 43...Nh4+ 44.Kf2Nf5 45.Qg8+ Kb7

An Abundance of Brilliancies