They took their name from one of the city’s most notorious scandals, but for one brief, shining moment, the Washington Plumbers made this city proud.
Exactly 50 years ago this year, the District’s underdog entry took the title in the inaugural season of the short-lived but fondly remembered National Chess League. The Plumbers, cheekily paying homage to the dirty tricks unit of the Nixon White House, went 6-0-2 in the nine-city, chess-by-telephone team matches, edging out the heavily favored New York Threats.
Although not the league’s top-rated squad, the Plumbers developed an unusual esprit de corps under captain Bill Hook. GM Lubosh Kavalek (the longtime Washington Post chess columnist) held down Board 1, backed by a cast of strong DMV stalwarts that included Bob Eberlein, John Meyer, Mark Ginsburg, Larry Gilder and future world junior champ Mark Diesen.
A key contributor to the team’s success was master Charlie Powell, a seven-time Virginia state champion and former U.S. Armed Services champion who left us far too soon in 1991 at the age of 46. He helped the Plumbers to a decisive win over the Cleveland King Hunters that memorable 1976 season with an incisive mating attack against the strong FM Tibor Weinberger.
The two sides castle on opposite wings in this Bronstein-Larsen Variation of the Caro-Kann, and Powell as White immediately signals his aggressive intentions with 10. g4!? Be4 11. Qe3 f5?! 12. gxf5, securing the half-open file to the Black king he covets.
Weinberger tries to hold back the flood, but White is not to be denied: 16. f4!? (staying aggressive, but the prudent 16. Kb1 c5 17. f4 e6 18. Bd3 may have been a little better here) e6? (see diagram; needed now was the diversionary 16…Qxa2! 17. Bd3 Qa1+ 18. Kd2 Qxb2, and Black appears to have just enough counterplay to hold the position; e.g. 19. Qh3 Qb4+ 20. Ke2 Nd5 21. Nxg6 fxg6 22. Rxg6 hxg6 23. Qe6+ Rf7 24. Bxg6 Raf8 25. Rg1 Nf6, and White’s best now is to bail out with the draw after 26. Bxf7+ Rxf7 27. Qc8+ Rf8 28. Qe6+ Kh7 29. Qh3+) 17. f5!.
As so often happens, the decisive move is the one your opponent thought he had prevented. Despite all the pieces around his king, Black can’t survive the sacrificial assault to come.
Thus: 17…Qxa2 (a move too late, although also bad were 17…exf5 18. Nxf5 Bxf5 [Rae8 19. Nxg7 Kxg7 20. Qg5 Re6 21. Bd3 Qd8 22. h4!] 19. Rxg7+! Kxg7 20. Qg5+ Bg6 21. Qxf6+ Kh6 22.. Qh4+ Bh5 23. Qf4+ Kg6 24. Qf6 mate, and 17…Bxf5 18. Rxg7+! Kxg7 19. Nxf5+ exf5 20. Qg5+ Kh8 21. Bxf6 mate) 18. fxg6 fxg6 19. Bh3 Rae8 20. Nxg6!, and the second sacrifice proves fatal.
Powell and the Plumbers nail down a critical match point as the hits just keep coming on 20…Nd5 (the overburdened Black defensive line also collapses on 20…hxg6 21. Rxg6 Re7 22. Qh6 Ne8 23. Rdg1 Rff7 24. Bxe6!) 21. Ne7+! Rxe7 22. Rxg7+! Rxg7 23. Bxe6+ Rff7 (Kh8 24. Bxg7+ Kxg7 25. Rg1+ Kf6 26. Qe5+ Ke7 27. Rg7+ Ke8 28. Qb8 mate) 24. Bxf7+ Kxf7 25. Qf3+, and Black resigns just ahead of 25…Kg8 (other king moves just lose a rook) 26. Bxg7 Kxg7 27. Rg1+ Kh6 28. Qh3 mate.
—-
Call it a rite of passage or a badge of honor, but two of the game’s most promising young stars of the game just had the privilege of playing against — and losing to — the greatest player of our time.
Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen, still the highest rated player on the planet despite voluntarily relinquishing the classical world title in 2023, took home another trophy this month by winning the strong TePe Sigeman Chess Tournament in Malmo, Sweden, in a playoff over Indian GM Argun Erigaisi. Carlsen was aided by consecutive wins over surging American GM Andy Woodward, who turned 16 during the tournament, and 14-year-old Turkish phenom GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, who just set the record for the youngest player ever to surpass the 2700-rating mark.
Veteran savvy was on full display in Carlsen’s final-round victory over Erdogmus from the White side of a Queen’s Gambit Accepted. The Norwegian may be the greatest player ever at getting something out of next to nothing, and the young Turkish star was just the latest victim of the inexorable Carlsen squeeze.
Despite needing a win to keep pace with Erigaisi, Carlsen agrees to a queen trade just five moves into the game and allows Black to trade down multiple pieces in the ensuing play, with a draw looking ever more likely with each exchange.
But with 16. Rhc1 Rxc1 17. Rxc1 Nc6 18. e5!? Ke7 (Nxe5?! 19. Rc7 is much better for White) 19. f4 Rc8 20. a3 f6 21. exf6+ gxf6, Black makes the tiniest of positional concessions, breaking his pawn formation into three islands and leaving the isolated h-pawn a weakness that must be constantly watched.
Black is far from busted, but White can press his opponent indefinitely without ever risking a loss. After the game, Carlsen shrewdly remarked that Black’s burden is made even more difficult because “all over his choices look like they should probably lead to a draw, but it’s hard to choose one because they’re all a bit unpleasant. I’m always the one having all the fun there.”
The first real chink in Black’s defense comes just before time control with 38. Ne4 Bxe4?! (cleaner was 38…Nd3+ 39. Kg3 [Ke3 Ne5] Bxe4 40. Bxe4 Nc1 41. Bd5 Kd6 42. Bg8 Ke5, keeping things equal) 39. Bxe4 Nf7 40. Bd5 Nd6, and the longer-range White bishop will outrank the more limited Black knight in the ensuing endgame.
Black’s 44. Kd4 f5 (Nxd5?? 45. Kxd5 a5 46. bxa5 bxa5, and White’s king penetrates no matter what Black does) 45. g5 hxg5 46. hxg5 hands White a dangerous passed pawn and puts extra pressure on the defense to find the correct — and often only — move.
As so many before him have done, Erdogmus buckles under the remorseless Carlsen pressure — 50. g6 Ke7? (the last saving idea was 50…f4!, just holding in lines such as 51. Bb7 a5 52. bxa5 bxa5 53. Kb5 Ke7! 54. Kxa5 Nc5 55. Bf3 Nxa4 56. Kxa4 Kf6 57. Be4 f3 58. Bxf3 Kxg6, drawing) 51. Kb5!, and the White king invades while Carlsen’s bishop keeps the Black passed pawn firmly in check.
It’s all downhill for Black from here: 51…f4 52. Ka6 f3 53. Kxa7 b5 (f2 54. Ba6 Nc7 55. Bc4 Kf6 56. Kxb6 and wins) 54. g7 Nxg7 (also losing was 54…f2 55. g8=Q f1=Q 56. Qxe6+) 55. axb5 f2 56. Bh3 (Black’s passer is grounded while White’s is cleared for takeoff) Ne6 57. b6 Nd4 58. b7 Nc6+ 59. Ka8, and Erdogmus resigned.
The future is bright for both Woodward and Erdogmus, who will likely have many more attempts to challenge the champ. For what it’s worth, their own game at the TePe Sigeman event resulted in a 104-move draw.
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Powell-Weinberger, Washington vs. Cleveland, National Chess League, February 1976
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ gxf6 6. Nf3 Bf5 7. Bf4 Nd7 8. Qd2 Bg7 9. O-O-O O-O 10. g4 Be4 11. Qe3 f5 12. gxf5 Nf6 13. Rg1 Bxf5 14. Nh4 Bg6 15. Be5 Qd5 16. f4 e6 17. f5 Qxa2 18. fxg6 fxg6 19. Bh3 Rae8 20. Nxg6 Nd5 21. Ne7+ Rxe7 22. Rxg7+ Rxg7 23. Bxe6+ Rff7 24. Bxf7+ Kxf7 25. Qf3+ Black resigns.
Carlsen-Erdogmus, TePe Sigeman Chess Tournament, Malmo, Sweden, May 2026
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. c4 dxc4 4. e4 cxd4 5. Qxd4 Qxd4 6. Nxd4 Bd7 7. Bxc4 Nc6 8. Be3 Nxd4 9. Bxd4 e6 10. f3 Ne7 11. Kf2 Nc6 12. Be3 Rc8 13. Nd2 Ne5 14. Be2 Bc5 15. Bxc5 Rxc5 16. Rhc1 Rxc1 17. Rxc1 Nc6 18. e5 Ke7 19. f4 Rc8 20. a3 f6 21. exf6+ gxf6 22. Rc3 Nd4 23. Rxc8 Bxc8 24. Bd3 h6 25. Ke3 Nc6 26. Nf3 b6 27. g4 e5 28. h3 Kd6 29. Nd2 exf4+ 30. Kxf4 Ne5 31. Bf5 Bb7 32. Bc2 Bg2 33. Kg3 Bd5 34. Kf4 Bg2 35. h4 Ke7 36. b3 Bh3 37. Bf5 Bg2 38. Ne4 Bxe4 39. Bxe4 Nf7 40. Bd5 Nd6 41. a4 Kd7 42. b4 Nc8 43. Ke4 Ne7 44. Kd4 f5 45. g5 hxg5 46. hxg5 Kd6 47. Bb7 Ng6 48. Kc4 Nf8 49. Bc8 Ne6 50. g6 Ke7 51. Kb5 f4 52. Ka6 f3 53. Kxa7 b5 54. g7 Nxg7 55. axb5 f2 56. Bh3 Ne6 57. b6 Nd4 58. b7 Nc6+ 59. Ka8 Black resigns.
• Got a hot tip or a cool game to share? David R. Sands can be reached at davidrsands18@gmail.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.