FM Charles Hertan                     FM Charles Hertan increases his exposure in Western MA!

peak ratings: USCF 2515, FIDE 2410
Titles: 2-time New England Champ, 2-time Eastern Class Champ, 1995 Massachussetts and Western MA. Champ; winner, 1979 Frank J. Marshall International Open (IM norm). Multiple winner of nearly every major annual New England event, e.g. Pillsbury Open, Harvard Open, Queen City Open, etc.
Age:37
Profession: Coin Dealer. Hertan holds a Masters Degree in Social Work from Smith College and worked professionally with children and the elderly for 12 years.


"What's a 2500 player doing in Becket?"

Actually, I'm staying with a friend and will be moving to the Northampton area soon.  I love the natural beauty of this area.  My ideal is to live near a college town with easy access to culture and nature. I'm an avid fisherman.  The lack of other Senior Masters out here is a bit of an inconvenience, but there are plenty of strong events within driving distance.  Plus, Western Mass. has it's own stars, such as distinguished IM Joseph Vatnikov, and strong Correspondence Master Lou Petithory.

"What motivates you to run tournaments out here?"

I believe that like music and other arts, the important thing is not how good you are but rather the human impulse to create and to strive for improvement.  I'd like to run quality events at all levels, to provide a good atmosphere for people to do just that.  I believe that a well-run tournament with a good ratio of entry fee to prizes provides a pleasant incentive for people to excersize their love of chess.  I also would like to attract more strong players to our local events, because I think it adds prestige and excitement.

Chess influences: My forte is positional play and endings, so I'm deeply impressed with Karpov's play.  Players like Bronstein, who stress the beauty of chess, have also influenced me.  In personal encounters, I've been very impressed with the depth of GM A. Ivanov's play (though I've managed 1 win, a few winning positions, and about 6 draws against him, he's starting to stack up points like cordwood against me, as he does against most IM strength players).  Also, GM's Michael Rohde (though I've scored well against him) and Roman Dzindzhihasvili, have dazzled me with their raw tactical talent, routinely seeing beautiful lines it would take me all day to find.

Hertan(2490)-Curdo(2490)

This game may be my favorite, because of the depth and beauty of the finishing combination (which was published in the Combinations section of Informant 43).  As I worked out the variations and everything began to click, including the quiet concluding pawn move while down a queen, I experienced an incredible artistic "rush" of awe at the creativity of chess.  But John just shrugged it off, like a bad day at the office.  Curdo and I have played more than 25 times (with an even score!) and have a great mutual respect. This one was played at UMass, Amherst 7/26/86.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5-Bb3 d6 6.c3 h6 7.h3 Be6 8.0-0 0-0 9.Bc2 Bb6 10.d4 exd4 11.Nxd4 Nxd4 12.cxd4 d5 l3.e5 Ne4 14.Nc3 f5 15.Ne2 Qe7 16.f3 Ng5 17.Nf4 Qd7 18.Be3 Nh7 19.Qd3 Rf7 20.Rael NfB 21.g4 g6 22.Kh2 Kh7 23.Rgl Re8 24.Rg2 c6 25.Regl Bd8

The position after 25...Bd8

26.Nxg6!! Nxg6 27.gd5 Bxf5

The position after 27...Bf5

28.Rxg6!  The first point; the "easy" part was seeing 28...Bd3 29.Rh6#, or 28...Bg6? 29.Qg6+ Kh8 30.Qh6+ winning.  The hard part was working out the consequences of black's next move.  28...Bg5! 29.Bxg5!! Bxd3 Forced, for if 29...hg5 30.R6g5! threatens mate and the bishop.  30.Bxd3 hxg5  White wins prettily after 30 ... Rf5 31.Rf6!, or 30 ... Kh8 31.Rh6+ Kg7 32-Rh7+ Kf8 33-Rh8 Kg7 34.Bf6#

The position after 30...hg5 3l.R6xg5+!  Here, I almost threw away my shot at immortality with 31.Rlg5??, but in checking things over one more time, spotted the fabulous defensive idea 31 ... Qh3+!! 32-Kh3 Rf3+ 33.Rg3 Rd3 with holding chances!  31 ... Kh6  Or 31 ... Kh8 32.Rh5+ Rh7 33.Rh7+ winning.  32.Rg6+ Kh5  If 32...Kh7 33.R6g4+! is decisive.

The position after 32...Kh5

33.f4!! An absolute dream move to be able to play! Down a queen for bishop, white quietly pushes his little f-pawn, with decisive effect. The "wonder move" actually achieves 3 things:

l. Protects g5, so 34.R1g5+ followed by Rh6 mate is threatened.
2. Opens up the Bishop's diagonal, threatening 34-Be2+ and 35-Rh6 mate.
3. As an added bonus, it prevents the desperation sac Qh3+.  Black is helpless.

33. Re6 Or 33. Rh8 34.Rlg5+ (or 34.Be2+) Kh4 35.Rg4+ Kh5 (Qg4 36.Rg4+ Kh5 37.Bg6+) 36.R6g5+ Kh6 37.Rh4 mate. 34.Be2+ Kh4 35.Rlg4+ Kh5 36.R4g5+ Black resigns in view of 36 Kh4 37.Rh5 mate.1-0