From Rags to Stars

Professor Mauro Berni (Genoa, Italy) shared some pages from an article by Valdo Eynard, “Božo Filipović”, published in Informazione Scacchi, Year VII, No. 2, March/April 1997, pp. 73–76. Among the many illustrious victims of Filipović was International Master Alberto Mario Giustolisi who, as Berni notes, “did very badly at the 7th Italian Team Chess Championship in Monticelli Terme (2 out of 7), but a few months later he won the 27th Italian Chess Championship in Rovigo”.
Here is the game, with my light notes.

Alberto Mario Giustolisi – Božidar Filipović
7th Italian Team Chess Championship; Monticelli Terme, April 1966
King’s Indian Defence E97

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 0-0 6. Nf3 e5 7. 0-0 Nc6 8. Be3 Ng4 9. Bg5 f6 10. Bc1 Nh6 11. dxe5 dxe5 12. Be3 Qxd1 13. Raxd1. If 13. Rfxd1 then 13. ... Be6 14. Nd5 Rf7 15. h3 Bf8 16. g4 g5 17. Rac1 Kg7 18. c5 Nd8 19. Nh2 c6 20. Nc3 Ng8 21. Nf1 Rd7 22. Ng3 Rxd1+ 23. Rxd1 Kf7 24. Nf5 Ke8 25. b3 Nf7 26. Na4 Rd8 27. Rxd8+ Kxd8 28. Nb2 Be7 29. Bc4 ½–½ Wl. Schmidt – Pokojowczyk, 35th Polish Chess Championship, Kraków 1978.
13. ... Be6 14. Nd5 Rac8?! Proper seems 14. ... Rf7 15. b4 Nd8 followed by ... c7-c6.
15. b4! Bxd5 16. cxd5 Nxb4

17. Bc5?! White misses here a consequential opportunity to make his opponent’s defence much more difficult with 17. Rd2! threatening both Be3-c5 and a2-a3.
17. ... Nxa2 18. Rd3. After 18. Bxf8 Nc3 19. Bxg7 Nxe2+ 20. Kh1 Kxg7 Black, with two Pawns for the Exchange and two passed Pawns on the Queenside, should manage to hold his own.
18. ... b6 19. Bxf8 Bxf8 20. Ra1 Nb4 21. Rc3 a5 22. Bb5 Bd6 23. Bd7 Rd8 24. Be6+ Kf8 25. Nd2 Na6 26. Nc4 Bb4 27. Rf3 Kg7 28. g4 Nc5 29. g5 fxg5 30. Nxe5 Nxe6 31. dxe6 Re8 32. Rc1 Bd6

33. Nd3? A sloppy mistake by an out of form Giustolisi, which throws away the game. The critical line was 33. Nd7! Rxe6 34. e5! Rxe5! 35. Nxe5 Bxe5∞ when Black has two Echanges down but four Pawns up.
33. ... Ng4 34. Rf7+ Kg8 35. e5 Nxe5 36. Nxe5 Bxe5 37. Rc6 Bd6 38. Rd7 Rxe6 39. Rdxc7 Re1+ 40. Kg2 Bxc7 41. Rxc7 Re4 0–1.

Stuck in the Sixties

Alberto Mario Giustolisi – Giorgio Porreca
25th Italian Chess Championship; Naples, August 1964
Sicilian Defence B30

Notes by International Master Francesco Scafarelli, Ajedrez Español, No. 1, January 1965, pp. 36-37.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. 0-0 d5? A move that has the disadvantage of weakening the c-Pawn.

6. Qe2! e6. If 6. ... Bg4 7. h3 Bh5 8. g4.
7. d3 Bd6 8. b3 Ne7 9. e5. Better than 9. Bb2 right away, which would be answered by 9. ... f6!.
9. ... Bb8 10. Ba3 Qa5. Against 10. ... Ba7 there would simply follow 11. Nc3 and 12. Nc3-a4.
11. Qe1 Qxe1 12. Rxe1 c4 13. dxc4 dxc4 14. bxc4. The alternative 14. Bxe7 Kxe7 15. Nbd2 was interesting, since the Black Bishops would be blocked.
14. ... f6 15. Nc3 Ng6

16. Bd6 Nxe5. 16. ... Bxd6 17. exd6 e5 offers greater resistance, although after 18. c5 White’s advantage is evident.
17. Bxe5 fxe5 18. Nxe5 Bxe5 19. Rxe5 0-0 20. Rb1 Ra7 21. Ne4 Rc7 22. c5 Kf7 23. Nd6+ Ke7 24. Rb4 Bd7 25. h4 Be8 26. Re3 Bg6 27. Rg4 Rg8 28. c4 Rd7 29. Ra3 Ra7 30. Rgg3 Kd7 31. Rgb3 Kc7 32. Rb6 Bc2 33. Re3 Kd7 34. Rf3 Bg6 35. Rfb3 Ke7 36. Rxc6 1–0. Excellent positional play by the new Champion in this game.

Rome–Naples Direttissima

Professor Mauro Berni (Genoa, Italy) sent me today from his historical paper archive a not-yet-known (at least in Italy) game by International Master Alberto Mario Giustolisi from the 25th Italian Chess Championship (Naples, August 20-30, 1964), which was originally published in Ajedrez Español, No. 1, January 1965, p. 37.
Here it is, with my light annotations.

Alberto Mario Giustolisi – Giuseppe Primavera
25th Italian Chess Championship; Naples, August 1964
Pirc Defence B07

1. d4 Nf6 2. g3 d6 3. Bg2 g6 4. e4 Bg7 5. Ne2 0-0 6. h3. Or 6. 0-0 e5 7. Nbc3 exd4 8. Nxd4 Nbd7 9. h3⩲ with a slight edge for White, Giustolisi – Palmiotto, 27th Italian Chess Championship, Rovigo 1966.
6. ... e5 7. Nbc3 Nc6 8. Be3 Re8 9. 0-0 Bd7. This is strategically critical, as it hands White a clear space advantage. 9. ... exd4 10. Nxd4 Bd7 seems to be preferable.
10. d5! Ne7 11. Qd2 Qc8 12. Kh2

12. ... Nh5? A useless move that serves no purpose but to leave White free hand in the carrying on of his Kingside crescendo. 12. ... b5!? 13. b4 c6!? was at least worth a try.
13. g4! Nf6 14. Ng3 Kh8 15. f4! exf4 16. Rxf4 Rf8 17. Raf1 Neg8 18. Bd4 Qd8 19. g5 Nh5 20. Nxh5 gxh5 21. Rxf7 Rxf7 22. Rxf7 Be5+ 23. Bxe5+ dxe5 24. Qf2 Be8 25. Rf5 Bg6

26. Qg3! Qd6. If 26. ... Bxf5 then 27. Qxe5+ Nf6 28. gxf6 Qd6 29. Qxd6 cxd6 30. exf5 with an easy win.
27. Nb5 Qe7 28. Rxe5 Qg7 29. h4 h6 30. Nd4 1–0.

Four Leaves of Autumn

The following fragment of a game between International Masters Georg Danner and Alberto Mario Giustolisi was cited and lightly annotated by Danner himself in his column in Burgenländischen Freiheit on Wednesday, June 9, 1982 (p. 69). The background is the International Open in Venice (October 31–November 7, 1971), from which Giustolisi, already adrift in his sea of desperation, withdrew after 4 rounds.

Georg Danner – Alberto Mario Giustolisi
International Open; Venice, November 1971
Nimzo-Indian Defence E58

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 0-0 7. 0-0 Nc6 8. a3 Bxc3 9. bxc3 Qc7 10. cxd5(a) exd5 11. Nh4 Re8 12. Ra2 Ng4 13. g3 Bd7 14. Re1 Rad8 [...](b) ½–½.

NOTES
(a) 10. Qc2 Na5 11. cxd5 c4 12. Be2 exd5 13. Nd2 Re8 with advantage for Black, Danner – Parma, Interliga 1970.
(b) With a draw soon.

Hurry Up and Slow Down

Professor Mauro Berni (Genoa, Italy) sent me a game from the 25th Italian Chess Championship (Naples, August 20-30, 1964), which was originally published in Fiorentino Palmiotto’s book “Alberto Giustolisi”, Bologna, 1995, p. 53.

Alberto Mario Giustolisi – Fiorentino Palmiotto
25th Italian Chess Championship; Naples, 1964
Queen’s Gambit Declined D46

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 d5 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. 0-0 0-0 8. e4 dxe4 9. Nxe4 Nxe4 10. Bxe4 f5? It’s not a happy choice. Best was 10. ... h6 11. Bc2 e5. 11. Bc2 e5. 11. ... h6 transposes into a classic of chess history: 12. Re1 Nf6 13. Bd2 Bd7 14. Bc3 Qc7 15. Ne5 Be8 16. Qd3 g5 17. Qh3 Qg7 18. Rad1 g4 19. Qe3 Bh5 20. Nxc6 Bxh2+ 21. Kxh2 g3+ 22. Qxg3 Qxg3+ 23. fxg3 Bxd1 24. Bxd1 bxc6 25. Rxe6 Ne4 26. Rxc6 Nxc3 27. bxc3 Kg7 28. Ra6 Rf7 29. c5 Rd8 30. Kg1 Re7 31. Kf2 Rb8 32. Bb3 Rbe8 33. Bc4 Rb8 34. Bd3 h5 35. Kf3 Rb2 36. Bxf5 Rf7 37. Ke4 Re2+ 38. Kd3 Rxg2 39. Rg6+ Kf8 40. Be4 Rg1 41. d5 Rg7 42. Rxg7 Kxg7 43. c6 Kf6 44. c7 Rxg3+ 45. Kd4 Rg8 46. d6 1–0 Steinitz – Em. Lasker, Montreal 1894, World Chess Championship match game 14. 12. Bg5! Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov’s move. Colourless is 12. dxe5 Nxe5 13. Nxe5 Bxe5 14. Qxd8 Rxd8 15. Bg5 Rf8= Kostić – Fox, New York 1916. 12. ... Be7. If 12. ... Qe8 then 13. dxe5 Bc7 14. Re1± Kotov – Tsvetkov, Moscow 1947. 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. Nxe5! Nxe5 15. Re1 Rd8. If 15. ... Qb4 16. Rxe5 Qxb2 then 17. c5! Kh8 18. Re3 Qb4 19. Qd3 b6 20. a3! Qa5 21. Re7 bxc5 22. Qg3+− Kortschnoi – 诸宸 (Zhū Chén), Bad Homburg 1998. 16. Rxe5 Qh4. From bad to worse, but after 16. ... Qxe5 17. dxe5 Rxd1+ 18. Rxd1 Be6 19. b3 White’s extra Pawn and the open file will soon become decisive. 17. g3 Qf6 (17. ... Qxd4?? 18. Re8+!+−) 18. Qe2 Rxd4 19. Re8+ Kf7 20. Re1 Kg6. The only way not to resign right now. 21. Rh8 b6

22. Bd1. Threatening Qe2-h5#. 22. ... Rg4 23. Qe8+ Kh6 24. Bxg4 fxg4 25. Rf8 Qxb2 26. Qxc6+ 1 : 0.

Alberto Mario Giustolisi

The Irish Chess Union published, in memoriam of Serbian Grandmaster Svetozar Gligorić (Belgrade, February 2, 1923 – Belgrade, August 14, 2012), a set of pictures from the 1957 Dublin Zonal Tournament, in which took part — not as a background player — Italian International Master Alberto Mario Giustolisi (Rome, March 17, 1928 – Genzano, February 27, 1990):

Giustolisi (left) vs. Jaimie Llado (right).

Rest day. Seated from left to right: Pál Charles Benkő, Maureen Forde, Svetozar Gligorić, Ake Stenborg, Muriel Murphy. Standing from right: Denise Catozzi, Giustolisi, Arthur Dunkelblum, Jaimie Llado, and Henry Catozzi.

All photos by Joe Keenan/Irish Chess Union.

Giustolisi, the sad-eyed Italian, who had three fiancées in Rome and wanted one in Ireland. Mlle. Pour-quoi Pas (Beth Cassidy)