** Jack Spence **
** First Midwest Open Draws 24 Entrants **
by Ludwig & Spence
An unusually large and talented group met in North Platte, Nebraska
in the air-conditioned rooms of the Nortwest Public Services Building ??
as guests of the North Platte Chess Club in the first Midwest Open
Championship.A six round Swiss System played September 1-3 decided
the Open title as well as the 1952 Nebraska State Championship.
To pick the winner in advance was a very difficult task as many fine
players from Nebraska, Colorado, Iowa, South Dakota, Kansas and Indiana
including John Penquite, Iowa co-champion, M.F.Anderson, former South
Dakota ace, A.C.Ludwig, and David Ackerman, prominent Omaha players,
and Alexander Liepnieks, Lincoln city champion were present to seek the
titles....
{Source: The Nebraska Chess Bulletin, Sep-Oct 1951, pg38}
?? Where was the site of the 1st Midwest Open ??
==========================================
** VI.A Survey of State tournaments
by Jack Spence
The modern era in midwest chess began with the 1st Midwest Open.
Eventually we will cover all the tournaments to the present.
?? The Hotel Pawnee was the site of the Midwest Open and Nebr.
championship over Labor Day weekend, 1951.
Early favorites among the seven state entry list included Al Ludwig,
South Dakota champ M.F.Anderson, and Alex Liepnieks, who came to Lincoln
the year before.
All had mishaps along the way as Jack Spence emerged on top followed
by Dave Ackerman, John Penquite and Richard McLellan.
{Source: H.E.Ohman Memorial Chess Club Newsletter, Spring 1974, pg58}
1st Midwest Open 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tot
1 Spence Omaha W17 W4 W10 D2 W3 W6 5.5
2 Ackerman Omaha W21 W19 D3 D1 W8 D4 4.5
3 Penquite DesM W14 W9 D2 W11 L1 W10 4.5
4 McLellan DesM W22 L1 W17 W10 W16 D2 4.5
5 Liepnieks Lin D7 W16 W13 D8 L6 W12 4
6 Johnson, P Denvr W11 L10 W14 W23 W5 L1 4
7 Anderson SoDak D5 W20 L8 D9 W14 W16 4
8 Ludwig Omaha D16 W18 W7 D5 L2 D9 3.5
9 Ellis Lin W12 L3 D19 D7 W17 D8 3.5
10 Weare Neb W15 W6 L1 L4 W11 L3 3
11 Hyde(3), 12 Reese(3), 13 Gilliland(3)[Ind], 14 Wales(3)[Kan],
15 Craig(3), 16 Micheli(2.5), 17 Denu(2)[SoDak],
18 Wolcott(2)[NoPl], 19 Theis(2), 20 Ellsworth(2)[NoPl],
21 Rumery(2)[NoPl], 22 Hervert(2)[NoPl], 23 Smith(1.5)[Kan],
24 Swan(0)[NoPl]
[Event "1st Midwest Open"]
[Site "Northwest Public Serv.Bldg, North Platte, NE"] [Date "1951.09.01"]
[Round "2"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "McLellan, Richard"]
[Black "Spence, Jack"]
{ECO: A90 - Dutch}
1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.g3 e6 4.Bg2 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Qe7 6.Nf3 O-O 7.O-O d5
8.Qb3 c5 9.Bxb4 cxb4 10.cxd5 exd5 11.Ne5 Be6 12.Nd2 Nc6 13.Ndf3 Ne4
14.Qe3 Rac8 15.Rac1 Na5 16.Ne1 Rxc1 17.Qxc1 b3 18.a3 Rc8 19.Qe3 b5
20.f3 Nd6 21.N1d3 Rc2 22.Nc5 Rxb2 23.Ned3 Nac4 24.Qxe6+ Qxe6
25.Nxe6 Rxe2 26.Nef4 Ra2 27.Rb1 Rxa3 28.Nxd5 b2 29.Kf2 Ra1 {* time press}
30.Nc3 Rxb1 31.Nxb1 a5 32.Ke1 a4 33.Bf1 Kf7 34.Ne5+ Ke6
35.Nxc4 bxc4 36.Kd2 Kd5 37.Kc3 Nb5+ 38.Kxb2 Kxd4 39.Kc2 a3
40.Nd2 a2 41.Bxc4 Na3+ 42.0-1
{"* 29...Ra1 Black misses the 'loose' N in time-pressure; 50mvs/2hrs}
{Source: The Nebraska Chess Bulletin, Sep-Oct 1951, pg38}
[Event "1st Midwest Open"]
[Site "Northwest Public Serv.Bldg, North Platte, NE"] [Date "1951.09.02"]
[Round "4"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "Ackerman, Dave"]
[Black "Spence, Jack"]
{ECO: D05 - Queen Pawn}
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 d5 4.Bd3 Nbd7 5.O-O c5 6.c3 Be7 7.Nbd2 O-O
8.Re1 Qc7 9.e4 dxe4 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.Bxe4 Nf6 12.Bc2 Rd8 13.Qe2 b6
14.Bg5 Bb7 15.Rad1 Rac8 16.dxc5 Qxc5 17.Be3 Qc6 18.Bd4 Bd6
19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.Qe3 Kg7 21.Rd4 Kf8 22.Qh6+ Ke7 23.Nh4 Be5
24.Be4 Qc7 25.Bxb7 Qxb7 26.Rxe5 fxe5 27.Qg5+ Ke8 28.Qg8+ Ke7
29.Qg5+ Ke8 30.Qg8+ Ke7 31.Qg5+ {Draw}
{Source: H.E.Ohman Memorial Chess Club Newsletter, Spring 1974, pg58}
[Event "1st Midwest Open"]
[Site "Northwest Public Serv.Bldg, North Platte, NE"] [Date "1951.09.03"]
[Round "5"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Penquite, John (DesMoines)"]
[Black "Spence, Jack"]
{ECO: C63 - Ruy Lopez Schlimann Def}
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Nc3 Bg4
7.h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 Nf6 9.O-O Bc5 10.d3 O-O 11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.Bg5 Qd7
13.Qe2 Qf5 14.Be3 d4 15.Na4 Bd6 16.Bd2 Rae8 17.b4 e4 18.Nc5 Qe5
19.f4 exf3 20.Qxe5 Rxe5 21.Rxf3 Re2 22.Rf2 Bh2+ 23.Kf1 Rxf2+
24.Kxf2 Ne4+ 25.0-1
{Source: H.E.Ohman Memorial Chess Club Newsletter, Spring 1974, pg59}
[Event "1st Midwest Open"]
[Site "Northwest Public Serv. Bldg, North Platte, NE"] [Date "1951.09.03"]
[Round "6"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Spence, Jack"]
[Black "Johnson, P."]
{ECO: C26 - Vienna Game}
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 h6 5.f4 d6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Bb5 Bd7
8.Bxc6 Bxc6 9.fxe5 dxe5 10.Qe2 Qe7 11.Bd2 O-O-O 12.Nd1 Bd7 13.Ne3 g6
14.a3 c6 15.b4 Bxe3 16.Bxe3 b6 17.c3 Kb7 18.a4 Ne8 19.Nxe5 Qxe5
20.Bd4 Qe7 21.Bxh8 f6 22.O-O Qf8 23.Bxf6 Nxf6 24.e5 Re8 25.Rxf6 1-0
{Source: The Nebraska Chess Bulletin, Sep-Oct 1951, pg39}
==========================================================================
Some other games:
[Event "Nebraska State Champ."]
[Site "Omaha, NE"] [Date "1947.12.29"]
[Round "5"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Saxton, Delmar"]
[Black "Spence, Jack"]
{ECO: B38 - Sicilian Maroczy Bind}
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 d6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Be2 Bg7
8.Be3 O-O 9.O-O h6 10.Rc1 Qc7 11.Nd5 Qd8 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.Nc3 Bb7
14.Bf3 Nd7 15.Qc2 Ne5 16.Be2 Qd7 17.h3 c5 18.Nd5 Qd8 19.Kh1 Rb8
20.b3 Nc6 21.Bd3 Nd4 22.Qd2 e6 23.Nf4 Qe7 24.Ne2 Nxe2 25.Qxe2 Kh8
26.Rcd1 f5 27.exf5 gxf5 28.f4 Rg8 29.Rf2 Bf6 30.Qf1 Rg3 31.Bc1 Rbg8
32.Rdd2 Rxh3+ 33.Kg1 Bd4 34.Bb2 Bxb2 35.Qb1 Bd4 36.Bxf5 Rxg2+
37.Kf1 Rh1+ 38.Ke2 exf5+ 39.0-1
{Source: H.E.Ohman Memorial Chess Club Newsletter, Winter 1970, pg25}
[Event "2nd Nebraska Open"]
[Site "Omaha YMCA"] [Date "1949.09.05"]
[Round "6"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "Spence, Jack"]
[Black "Ohman, Howard"]
{ECO: A90 - Dutch}
1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.g3 e6 4.Bg2 d5 5.Nc3 c6 6.b3 Bb4 7.Bb2 Ne4
8.Bxe4 fxe4 9.e3 O-O 10.a3 Bd6 11.f4 exf3 12.Nxf3 Nd7 13.Qe2 Nf6
14.e4 Bc7 15.Bc1 h6 16.e5 Nh7 17.Be3 Qe7 18.Ra2 Bd7 19.O-O Be8
20.Qg2 Bg6 21.Bc1 dxc4 22.bxc4 Bd3 23.Re1 Bxc4 24.Rf2 Ba5
25.Re3 Rad8 26.Ne4 Bb6 27.Nd6 Bd5 28.Rd3 c5 29.Qh3 Bxf3
30.Rdxf3 Rxf3 31.Rxf3 Rf8 32.Rxf8+ Nxf8 33.Nc8 Qc7 34.Nxb6 Qxb6
35.Qf1 cxd4 36.Qd3 Qc5 37.Bb2 Qxe5 38.Bxd4 Qe1+ 39.Kg2 Qa5
40.Qe3 Qd5+ 41.Kf2 a6 42.Qc3 Qg5 43.Be3 Qh5 44.Kg2 Qe2+ 45.Bf2 b5
46.Qc6 a5 47.Qc3 Qe4+ 48.Kg1 b4 49.axb4 axb4 50.Qb3 Nd7 51.Kf1 Nf6
52.h3 Nd5 53.Kg1 Nc3 54.Bc5 Qe1+ 55.Kg2 Qd2+ 56.Kg1 Nd5 57.Bf2 Qc3
58.Qa4 Kh7 59.Qd7 b3 60.Qxe6 b2 61.Qf5+ Kg8 62.Qxd5+ Kh8
63.Qa8+ Kh7 64.Qe4+ {Draw}
{Source: H.E.Ohman Memorial Chess Club Newsletter, Fall 1971, pg56}
[Event "Swenson Memorial"]
[Site "Omaha, NE"] [Date "1950.10.??"]
[Round "?"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "Magee, Lee"]
[Black "Spence, Jack"]
{ECO: C18 - French Winawer}
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.Qg4 Ne7 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 Nf5
8.Bd3 h5 9.Qh3 c4 10.Bxf5 exf5 11.Qg3 g6 12.Bg5 Qa5 13.Kd2 Nc6
14.Nf3 Be6 15.Rhb1 Rb8 16.Bf6 Rg8 17.Qf4 a6 18.Ng5 Kd7 19.Nh7 b5
20.Bg5 Kc7 21.Nf6 Rgc8 22.h3 Rb6 23.g4 hxg4 24.hxg4 Rh8 25.gxf5 Rh3
26.f3 gxf5 27.Ne8+ Kd7 28.Nd6 Rb8 29.Nxf5 Rg8 30.Rg1 Kc7 31.Rg2 b4
32.a4 bxc3+ 33.Ke3 Qb6 34.Nd6 Qb2 35.Rag1 Nb4 36.Qf6 Nxc2+
37.Rxc2 Qxc2 38.Qe7+ Bd7 39.Nb5+ axb5 40.Qd6+ Kc8 41.Qa6+ Kb8 {Draw}
{Source: The Nebraska Chess Bulletin, Oct-Nov 1950, pg43}
####
** Books and Monographs by Jack Spence **
The Chess Career of Rudolf Spielmann 1903-1926; Jack Spence;
Alfred Kalnaj's Printing; 1961; 255 pgs.
The Chess Career of Rudolf Spielmann Vol II 1913-1928; Jack Spence;
The Chess Player; 1967?; 188 pgs.
The Chess Career of Rudolf Spielmann Vol III 1929-1941; Jack Spence;
The Chess Player; 1969?; 188? pgs (page numbers missing!?).
The Chess Career of Richard Teichmann 1892-1924; Jack Spence;
The Chess Player; 1970?; 152 pgs.
The Chess Career of E.D. Bogoljubow Vol I 1892-1924; Jack Spence;
The Chess Player; 1970?; 153 pgs.
The following list was provided by "Andy Ansel" (aansel@msn.com)
a collector of Jack Spence's writings:
American Tournament Series
1. Omaha 1949
2. Yankton 1946
3. South Fallsberg 1948
4. Los Angeles 1945
5. New York 1951
6. New York 1946
7. New York 1915
8. New York 1931
9. Milwaukee 1953
10. New Orleans 1954
11. New York 1951
12. Fort Worth 1951
13. New York 1954
14. Hollywood 1954
15. New York 1927
16. Baltimore 1948
17. Long Beach 1955
18. Tampa 1952
19. Oklahoma City 1956
20. MCC Ch 1955-56
21. MCC Ch 1956-57
22. New York 1957-58
23. Milwaukee 1957
24. New York 1955,1956
24. Rochester 1958
25. MCC Ch 1957-58
26. New York 1958-59
27. Milwaukee 1958
28. Omaha 1959
29. Cleveland 1957
30. Ventnor City 1945
31. Milwaukee 1959
32. New York 1959-60
33. St. Louis 1960
34. New York 1960-61
35. San Francisco 1961
36. San Antonio 1962
37. New York 1961-62
American Tournament Series (Supplements)
1. Omaha 1952
2. Lincoln 1955
3. San Diego 1955
4. New York 1933
5. Bradley Beach 1928
6. West Orange 1957
7. Detroit 1956
8. East Orange 1957
9. East Orange 1958
10. Omaha 1957
Foreign Tournament Series
1. Carlsbad 1923
2. Bad Kissingen 1928
3. San Remo 1930
4. Carlsbad 1929
5. Bled 1931
6. Moscow 1956
7. Zurich 1934
8. Szeczawno Zolroj 1950
9. Havana 1952
10. Moscow 1925
Foreign Tournament Series (supplements)
1. Bad Nauheim 1935
2. Bad Tatatovaros 1935