|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Chessville
Advertise to Single insert:
|
v5i23-v5i48 The Mad Aussie's Chess Trivia From the Mad Aussie, Graham Clayton Reprinted from past issues of The Chessville Weekly, "The Mad Aussie's Chess Trivia", brought to you by the Mad Aussie himself, Graham Clayton. Graham earned his nickname from fellow ChessChatters because of his penchant for playing unusual openings in his correspondence games. Says Graham, "I am a librarian by profession, 37 years old, single, and live on the north-western outskirts of Sydney, Australia. I was taught the moves when I was about 10 or 11, and learnt to play by reading books from the local public library. My only significant OTB play was 4 years of high school chess between 1979 and 1982. I have been a member of the Correspondence Chess League of Australia since 1980, and play both within Australia and overseas." "With my overseas games, I enjoy the social side of meeting new people and making friendships as much as the actual games. Chess is much more than the actual moves on the board. I have always been fascinated by the history of the game - the great players, tournaments, controversies and incidents, as well as the unusual things. Chess for me is fun!" Clayton uses, among other sources, the "Oxford Companion to Chess" by Ken Whyld and David Hooper. See today's additions below, or check out the archives! Truth...: Here are five chess myths taken from Andy Soltis' book "The Book of Chess Lists" (McFarland Publishing, 2002):
... and Consequences: While competing in the 21st USSR championship final in Kiev in 1954, Georgi Lisitsyn was given a formal warning by the tournament arbiter for his constant adjusting of his pieces during his games, which affected his opponent's concentration. A Champion of Yore: Between 1873 and 1882 Wilhelm Steinitz did not compete in any international tournaments. His only "serious" chess during this period was a one-sided victory in an 1876 match against Joseph Blackburne (+7, =0, -0). During this time Steinitz was the author of chess columns in the English periodicals "Figaro" (1876-1882) and "Field" (1873-1882). A Champion of Yesterday: Garry Kasparov was involved in the setting up of four "rival" chess organizations to FIDE during the course of his long and controversial chess career. The four organizations were:
Who Am I? I was one of the top two or three players in my country for a 25 year period from the mid 1970's. I won my country's national championship three times, and played in 12 consecutive Olympiads. I was awarded the title of International Grandmaster and International Arbiter. I was the first player from my country to qualify for a Candidates tournament, but my results in two Candidates Tournaments were disappointing. I have won several tournaments, including the Steinitz Memorial Tournament that was held in my home country. I am a fully trained lawyer, as well as being one of the tallest international players of all time. Who am I? Drag your cursor across the space between the asterisks to reveal the answer: *** Vladimir Bagirov (USSR/Latvia; 1936-2000) *** Who Am I? I was born the mid 1930's, and won my country's national junior championship. I won my national championship two times, and competed in 10 Olympiads. My best tournament results were in the 1960's, where I won tournaments at Madrid and Palma de Mallorca, as well as finishing =1st ahead of Spassky and Keres. I was the second reserve for the "Rest of the World" team in their match against the USSR in 1970. Due to my job as a computer programmer, I retired from competitive OTB play in the early 1970's, and became a trainer. I was the official trainer for my national team from the late 1980's up to the late 1990's. Who Am I? Drag your cursor across the space between the asterisks to reveal the answer: *** Aivars Gipslis (USSR/Latvia; 1937-2000) *** Who Were They? Who was Emanuel Lasker talking about when he made the following quote? "The one who was the greater thinker won the day from the one who had the greater talent." Drag your cursor across the space between the asterisks to reveal the answer: *** Steinitz was the thinker and Zukertort was the greater talent. Lasker made the comment after Steinitz defended his world title against Zukertort in 1886. *** Olympic Dismissals: There have been at least two examples where players have been kicked out of a Chess Olympiad due to a dispute with their team captain. In 1974, Henrique Mecking of Brazil was sent home after playing a couple of short draws in the early rounds, and then refusing to play outright despite being ordered to do so by his captain. In 2004, Suan Evans-Quek of Wales was sent home after 11 rounds for failing to apologize to his team captain after a dispute over colour allocations in the Wales versus Thailand match. Youngest Author? New Zealand (now based in England) player GM Murray Chandler wrote a chess book at the age of 15. Born in 1960, Chandler's book was called "A White Pawn in Europe", and gave the game scores that he played during the World Junior Championship in Yugoslavia and other tournaments he played in England during the second half of 1975. First Aussie? A while ago I mentioned that Mrs. CJ Mayfield was the first Australian player to compete in an English or European tournament, after taking part in the 1905 British Ladies' Championship at Southport in 1905. I have since discovered that the first Australian to compete in an English or European tournament was John Robey (1826-1885), who competed in the 1862 London tournament. He finished last in the 14-player field with a score of +2, =0, -11, but he did have the satisfaction of beating Joseph Blackburne in their individual game. Information from Australian Chess to 1914, by Anthony Wright, self-published, Melbourne 1995. Two Kings: While competing in the tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria during May 2005, Indian GM Viswanathan Anand had the unusual experience of having three games drawn due to only the two kings being left on the board. Two Would-Be Kings: Some of you would be familiar with the chess career of Klaus Junge (1924-1945), the brilliant German player who died in the final stages of World War Two (WW2) at the young age of 21. The USSR also had the similar experience of a promising young player dying in WW2 as well. The player concerned was Mark Stolberg (1922-1943). Stolberg was from Rostov, and obtained the master title in 1939. Stolberg competed in the 12th USSR Championship at Moscow in 1940, finishing 13th=16th with a score of 8/19. Stolberg was competing in one of the four semi-final groups of the 13th USSR championship in 1941 when the tournaments were cancelled due to the German invasion of the USSR on the 22nd of June. Stolberg joined his combat unit, and died on the Eastern Front near Novorossiysk in 1943. David Bronstein was quoted as saying of Stolberg: "Our generation has its own Tal." Circulating Correspondence Games: Back in the late 19th century "circulating" correspondence chess games were very popular. It was a game in which one player made White's first move, and then posted that move to another player, who would then make Black's first move. That player would then post the moves to another player, who would make White's second move and so on until the game was finished. While these games were mainly for the benefit of amateur players, Wilhelm Steinitz did make a move in at least one of these games. Short Correspondence Game: I thought that I would share with you my shortest ever CC loss. The game was played on the ICCF webserver as part of an Australia v England friendly match.
Championship Consultation Games: When the 1889 World Championship match in Havana Cuba between Wilhelm Steinitz and Mikhail Tchigorin ended after 17 games (Steinitz 10.5, Tchigorin 6.5), the remaining 3 games of the 20-game match were played as exhibition consultation games. Tchigorin played with Judge Alberto Ponce, while Steinitz played with Dr Gaviler. The "mini-match" was drawn 1.5-1.5. Who Am I? I was the first player from my country to become a GM. I won the first of my 10 national championship titles at the age of 16. I won half a dozen tournaments in the late 1960's through to the mid 1970's. I competed in several Interzonal tournaments, and narrowly missed out in qualifying for the Candidates matches in the early 1980's. I also finished 1st or =1st in the US Open in 3 consecutive years. My results began to tail off after this time, and I began to acquire the reputation as a player who would "agree" to a draw before the game was actually played. Away from chess, I am a university lecturer, and am fluent in several languages. Who Am I? Drag your cursor across the space between the asterisks to reveal the answer: *** Florin Gheorghiu (1944- ) Romania *** Who Am I? I was one of the leading players in my country from the mid 1930's up to my premature death in the early 1950's. I won my national championship twice, and competed on Board 2 for my country in 2 Chess Olympiads, scoring 63% & 65% respectively. I finished 3rd in two tournaments, behind Alekhine & Flohr and Alekhine & Junge respectively. After World War 2 I won tournaments at Venice and Karlovy Vary. I qualified for an Interzonal tournament, but died of leukemia before I could take part. I had a very clear and aesthetic style. Who Am I? Drag your cursor across the space between the asterisks to reveal the answer: *** JAN FOLTYS (CZECHOSLOVAKIA: 1908-1952) *** Who Am I? I was one of the best players in my country from the late 1940's up to the late 1950's. I scored over 70% when competing at 3 Olympiads. I was a fighting, attacking player with a style similar to Tal. My best tournament result was =3rd with Pachman adnd Szabo, behind Keres and Smyslov. I defeated David Bronstein 3-1 as part of a 1957 teams match. I have a doctorate in chemistry,and it was my career that caused me to retire from play in the early 1960's. Many observers believed that I had the talent to take me all the way to the World Championship. I made a return to competitive play by playing club chess in Antwerp, where I was living. Who am I? Drag your cursor across the space between the asterisks to reveal the answer: *** Andrij Fuderer (Yugoslavia, 1931-) *** Championship Matches: After Grigory Levenfish won the 10th USSR Championship tournament at Tbilisi in 1937, he was challenged for the title in a match by Mikhail Botvinnik. The match was drawn 6.5-6.5, and was the last occasion that a match was held outside of the championship tournament to decide the USSR championship. Matches were only used after then if two or more players finished equal first in a tournament. Cruising Matches: In June 1902, passengers on board the ships "Campania" and "Philadelphia" that were sailing in the Atlantic Ocean played a series of games using radio to transmit the moves. Championship Reversal: Arnold Denker was the victim of an extraordinary incident during his 6th round game against Sammy Reshevsky during the 1942 US Chess Championship tournament. Reshevsky's flag fell when he was under time pressure in the latter half of the game. The tournament director picked up the clock, turned it around so that Reshevsky's dial was on Denker's side of the board, and forfeited Denker! Simultaneous Exhibitions: Amateur and club players in Holland in 1937 were fortunate to be able to play some of the world's best players in a huge series of simultaneous exhibitions that were held in that time. Here are the overall results of the players who conducted the simultaneous exhibitions:
Crown Prince: Aron Nimzovich had business/calling cards which described himself as the "Crown Prince of Chess". Crown Princes: Arthur Bisguier, Arnold Denker, Hermann Helms and George Koltanowski are the only four US chess players/personalities to have been awarded the title of "Dean of American Chess" by the United States Chess Federation. Jr. Tournament: One of, if not the smallest round robin tournaments ever held was the inaugural USSR junior championship final, held at Moscow in 1934. The tournament was a 4 player round robin, with each player playing the other 3 players only once,eg a total of only 3 rounds. The final results were:
Jr.'s Tournament: While competing at the Karlovy Vary/Marianske Lazne tournament in Czechoslovakia in 1948, Milan Vidmat Jr was hospitalized half-way through the tournament due to a nasty facial inflammation. Vidmar was leading the tournament at the half-way stage, but the illness and hospitalization meant that he finished out the placings when the tournament ended. Who am I? I was born in the early 1920's. I twice won the Leningrad city championship, and finished 3rd in my debut appearance in the USSR championship final. My best tournament results were 1st ahead of Taimanov and Hort, 3rd behind Karpov and Tukmakov and 3rd after Karpov and Timman. I was a well-known writer and theoretician, and was considered one of the best 1.d4 players of my generation. I was also Anatoly Karpov's trainer. Who am I? Drag your cursor across the space between the asterisks to reveal the answer: *** Semyon Furman (USSR: 1920-78) *** Who am I? I was born in the middle of the 20th century, and gained the GM title in the mid 1970's. Over a 20-year period I played 15 times in my country's national championship. My best result was 2nd, finishing ahead of 3 ex-World champions. I was one of the top-20 players in the world during this period. My tournament record included first places at Vilnius, Halle, Lvov, Wijk an Zee, Karlovac, Minsk and Berlin. I have a very solid positional style of play. I was Boris Spassky's "second" for his 1992 rematch against Bobby Fischer. Who Am I? Drag your cursor across the space between the asterisks to reveal the answer: *** GM Yuri Balashov (USSR;. 1949-) *** Who am I? Although born in Romania, I moved to Vienna in the last decade of the 19th century, and won several tournaments that were held in the city. My international success was limited by my cautious playing style. It was said that I played "keeping the draw in hand". My best placings were =4th at Dresden and Cambridge Springs. I achieved fame away from the board through my writings. I edited the "Wiener Schachzeitung" from 1898 to 1914. I also edited the tournament books for Vienna 1903, Ostend 1906, Carlsbad 1907, Vienna 1908 and Baden 1914. My annotations featured humourous and witty notes. Who Am I? Drag your cursor across the space between the asterisks to reveal the answer: *** Georg Marco (1863-1923) *** Who am I? I am the best player to have come out of my country. Although not in the same class as Morphy, Reshevsky & Fischer, I was a child prodigy, winning my country's national championship at the age of 13, and again at the age of 15. At the same age I qualified to play in an interzonal tournament, and I was a regular qualifier for the next decade. I played in Candidates matches, but never progressed beyond the quarter final stage. I was a very nervous player, and found it difficult to cope with the stress of top level international play. My chess career ended suddenly when I withdrew in the middle of an interzonal tournament. I believed that my retirement was due to divine intervention, and I undertook training to become a priest. After a break of over 10 years I played in a couple of small matches, which lead to a return to international play. I played on Board 1 for my country in the 2002 Bled Olympiad. Who Am I? Drag your cursor across the space between the asterisks to reveal the answer: *** Henrique Mecking *** The Drawing Master: Peter Leko drew all 12 games that he played in the Linares tournament in February/March 2005.
Super-Tournaments: I recently came across a piece that I had saved from a back issue of the English "Chess" magazine. It was a piece that ranked international tournaments from 1851 to 1986 based on the number of Top 10 players who took part. According to
this method, the following 2 tournaments featured 9 of the Top 10 ranked
players in the world at that time: The Marshall Myth: The "Marshall Attack" of the Ruy Lopez can be traced back 25 years before Marshall played it against Capablanca at the 1918 New York tournament. The earliest game with the moves is a consultation game played in Havana, Cuba in February 1893 between Walbrodt and a team consisting of Conill, Ostolaza, Lopez and Herrara (William Winter, Chess Notes#1996.) According to Soltis' "Chess Lists", Marshall had been playing the Marshall Attack in some skittles and semi-serious club games. There is a game Frere-Marshall, New York 1917, which features the Marshall Attack, with Marshall winning in 17 moves. However, no one has been able to find this game printed in a contemporary source, so maybe it was analysis of Marshall's which he tried to pass off as a game. Chess Lists also mentions another interesting feature: if Marshall was lying in wait to play the Marshall Attack as Black as Capablanca, why did he play the Petroff Defence (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6) as Black against Capablanca at the 1915 New York tournament? Who am I? In the late 1940's and early 1950's I was considered one of the two best players in my country. I commenced my international career in the mid to late 1930's. I won my national championship eight times and competed in seven Olympiads. I also competed in two Interzonal tournaments, but finished at the tail of the field on both occasions. I never won an international tournament, with my best performance being 2nd and 3rd places at Venice, Moscow, Sambor and Leningrad. I worked on a 3-volume history of chess in my country. Two volumes appeared in the 1970's, with the third volume appearing in the late 1980's just after my death. I have an opening system named after me. I possessed a dry, almost arid style. I was once heard to remark when looking at a dead drawn position, "My King is better than his". Who am I? Drag your cursor across the space between the asterisks to reveal the answer: *** Hungarian GM Gideon Barcza (1911-1986) *** Who am I? I was born in the middle of the 20th century, and gained the GM title in the mid 1970's. Over a 20 year period I played 15 times in my country's national championship. My best result was 2nd, finishing ahead of 3 ex-World champions. I was one of the top 20 players in the world during this period. My tournament record included first places at Vilnius, Halle, Lvov, Wijk an Zee, Karlovac, Minsk and Berlin. I have a very solid positional style of play. I was Boris Spassky's "second" for his 1992 rematch against Bobby Fischer. Who Am I? Drag your cursor across the space between the asterisks to reveal the answer: *** GM Yuri Balashov, b. 1949 *** Most Fighting Spirit: At the 2005 US Chess Championship held in San Diego, a special prize of $5,000 was offered to the player with the "most fighting spirit". New Jersey Grandmaster Alex Fishbein won the $5000 Bent Larsen Prize for fighting chess at the 2005 US Championship. The announcement was made at the closing ceremony by the sponsor of the prize, Jim Roberts. Jim and his family contributed the prize to encourage hard-fought games and discourage short draws. More Fighting Spirit: The 80th International Chess Congress at Hastings in 2004/05 broke with tradition by becoming a knock-out tournament, instead of the usual "Premier" and "Challengers" tournaments. Every player started in the "Premier", and as they were eliminated they were transferred to compete in the "Challengers" tournament, which was also a knock-out. First Round-Robin: The London 1862 tournament was the first international tournament to be played as a round-robin event. First (and second) Amateur Champions: FIDE organised two world "amateur" chess championships in the 1920's. The first was held at Paris in 1924 to coincide with the Olympic Games, and was won by the Latvian player Herman Marrison. The second championship was held at the Hague in 1928, and was won by Max Euwe, the first of his two world championships! A Champion of Champions: In the course of his long and distinguished career US player Arthur Bisguier has won every major title in US chess:
Complete Concentration: In 2005 GM James Plaskett appeared on the English version of the TV game show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire", and won 250,000 pounds in prize money. Correspondence Concentration: Swedish correspondence player Harald Malmgren (1904-57) competed in the inaugural ICCF World Correspondence Chess Championship tournament held in 1950-53 in unusual circumstances. Following an accident during the tournament, Malmgren spent 13 months in plaster resting and convalescing, which enabled him to concentrate fully on his games. He finished =2nd with Mario Napolitano behind winner Cecil Purdy. Simultaneous Magic: I think that the simultaneous blindfold exhibition that Harry Pillsbury gave at Hanover in 1902 is the best in terms of the strength of the players he was up against as well as the conduct of the simul. Pillsbury was competing in the Grandmaster tournament, and on the rest day took on 21 opponents who were competing in the "Hauptturnier" (master) tournament at the same time. Pillsbury allowed all of his opponents to consult amongst themselves and move the pieces on the boards. After 12 hours of play, Pillsbury had finished with a score of +3, =11, -7. Four Hands - Better Than Two? In 1885 Captain George Verney founded a chess club in London purely devoted to the playing of four-handed chess. The club eventually included 80 members and survived until the beginning of World War Two. Famous Chessplayers: The first group of players inducted into the US Chess Hall of Fame were Paul Morphy, Bobby Fischer, Reuben Fine, Frank Marshall, Isaac Kashdan, George Koltanowski, Harry Pillsbury and Sammy Reshevsky. Famous Commanders: Back in 1999 FIDE awarded the title of "Grand Commander of the Legion of Grandmasters" to French President Jacques Chirac, Pope John Paul II and former Philippines President Fidel Ramos. Who am I? I was born in the middle of the 20th century, and gained the GM title in the mid 1970's. Over a 20 year period I played 15 times in my country's national championship. My best result was 2nd, finishing ahead of 3 ex-World champions. I was one of the top 20 players in the world during this period. My tournament record included first places at Vilnius, Halle, Lvov, Wijk an Zee, Karlovac, Minsk and Berlin. I have a very solid positional style of play. I was Boris Spassky's "second" for his 1992 rematch against Bobby Fischer. Who am I? Drag your cursor across the space between the asterisks to reveal the answer: *** Yuri Balashov (USSR; 1949-) *** Who am I? I was born just after the turn of the 20th century. I was awarded the IM title in 1950 as well as honorary GM title in 1987. I was a multiple champion of my republic, and competed in the national championship final 8 times in a 20 year period, with 4th and =4th being my best placings. My best tournaments results were 2nd and =2nd. I was known as a strong theoretician and analyst, especially in the Tartakower variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined. I also have a variation for White in the King's Indian Defence named after me. I acted as Vassily Smyslov's "second" during the 1957 WC match against Mikhail Botvinnik. I am a mathematics teacher by profession. Who Am I? Drag your cursor across the space between the asterisks to reveal the answer: *** Vladimir Makagonov (USSR; 1904-) ***
|
The
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
