Richard Reti and Lajos Asztalos won their respective ninth-round games at the Hungarian Championship tournament in Debrecen to remain tied for the lead with 6 points each. The two leaders are by chance scheduled to meet in the tenth and final round with Asztalos playing White, a circumstance promising a thrilling finish to the event.
Reti overcame Jeno Szekely, who adopted the Steinitz Defense 3...d6 against his opponent's Ruy Lopez. White at his 14th move essayed the temporary sacrifice of a pawn via 14.e5, gaining in return excellent prospects for all his pieces. With the blow 19.Nxc7 Reti recovered his pawn, and in the endgame that followed soon thereafter the tourney co-leader enjoyed a large advantage owing to his possession of the d-file and the strength of his Bishop, which proved far superior to the enemy Knight. Szekely, who resigned at the 32nd move with his position about to collapse, has now lost four games running and trails Barasz, his nearest competitor, by 2 1/2 points.
We are not in receipt of the moves of the Barasz-Asztalos game, won by the latter, and our inability to present this important contest causes us no small degree of regret. We assure our readers that we will make every possible effort to procure the game scores from the final round.
In the day's remaining contest Gyula Breyer, playing White in another Ruy Lopez, developed a most threatening attack against the King-side of Karoly Sterk, but somehow allowed his opponent to survive the danger. Black emerged with Bishop and Knight against the opposing Rook, a material advantage that he turned to account many moves later, inaugurating a winning attack of his own with the pretty 54...Bg3+. With this victory Sterk claimed his third game in succession and surpassed Breyer on the score chart, where he now stands alone in third place with 5 points.
Scores after 9 rounds: Reti, Asztalos 6; Sterk 5; Breyer 4 1/2; Barasz 4; Szekely 1 1/2
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