Let's Take a Look by Nigel Davies: All That Glitters
Ask the
Tiger!
Reykjavik Rapid Chess Tournament Tigran Petrosian Memorial 2004 How good is the King's Gambit Declined ch Defense against 1.Nf3 and 1.c4? 300 Most Important Positions and Ideas Different styles of play Human vs. Comp Best book for learning French defence Alburt's Chess Rules of Thumb? Question for experienced blitz players Novice Nook Quiz on Tactics Posted New articles on Thought Process
GAMES Grischuk,A (2719) - Sokolov,I (2706) [C96] 1.e4 e5 Carlsen,M (2484) - Kasparov,G (2831) [D52] 1.d4 d5 Molchanova Tatjana (RUS) - Sirotkina Nina (RUS) [B40] 1.e4 c5 Macieja,B (2653) - Petrosian,T (2477) [B78] 1.e4 c5 Nevednichy,V (2548) - Gyimesi,Z (2553) [C54] 1.e4 e5 Karpov,A (2682) - Stefansson,H (2572) [A22] 1.c4 Nf6
The
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Volume 3 Issue 12
March 21st, 2004 In This Issue Free **
Four $25
Coupons from
Chess
Discounters **
Free A coach is someone who tells you what
you don't want to hear, who has you see what you don't want to see, so you
can be who you have always known you could be.
from the editor...Chessville is honored to welcome to the neighborhood
one of the real living legends of chess - Grandmaster Mark Taimanov.
In today's Lessons Learned, he
takes a fresh look back
at what both he and Fischer recognized as the turning point of their famous
1971 match,
a defeat Taimanov called "the most bitter game of my life...Some failures
are not so painful and hence quickly forgotten; others remain in the memory
for a long time..." Check it out in our
feature story below, and enjoy! [FEN "6k1/p3b1pp/4p3/4Pp2/Pp1r1P1P/1P4P1/2p2R2/5RK1 b - - 0 34"] Black to move and win - Find the Solution from the editor... I received this interesting tidbit from V.D.Pandit, of Mumbai, India, regarding last week's Position of the Week: "Irving Chernev has given this beautiful game in his book
1000 Best Short Games of Chess (Game No. 602) as "Charousek - Wollner,
Kassa, 1893" with the following interesting preamble: Professor
Svendsen's short story "LAST ROUND" describes the Old Master's effort after
fifty years of tournament play to create a work of art, the perfect game. It
is in the crucial last round when he is paired with the mighty Rolavsky that
he makes his dream come true. No one, we hope, ever disillusioned the
Old Master by telling him that Charousek anticipated his "perfect game" many
years before, in an off-hand encounter." Regards, V D Pandit,
Mumbai (India), 18 March 2004 Chess Discounters is the Official Sponsor of The Chessville Weekly. In addition to great deals on the chess products you want and need, Chess Discounters is awarding, each and every week, two $25 coupons for any merchandise at their store! Winners will be chosen at random from among The Chessville Weekly's subscribers. What's the catch? There isn't one! Just contact us within ten days of the date we announce the winning email addresses, and the $25 coupon is yours, free! If you are one of these subscribers:
You Are A Winner!
Write to us from the email address listed above before (3/21) Chessprint for 2004.03.21 "for the sheer joy of chess" (3/21) Problem of the Week: Tactical training with our weekly puzzle
(3/21) A Defeat Which Could Not Be Forgotten: Taimanov-Fischer. The 1971 World Championship Quarterfinal Candidate's Match was just a stepping stone on Bobby Fischer's path to the chess summit, part of his unparalleled 20-0 streak en route to his showdown with Boris Spassky. In today's Lesson Learned legendary Russian GM Mark Taimanov takes a fresh look back at what both he and Fischer recognized as the turning point of the match, a defeat Taimanov called "the most bitter game of my life...Some failures are not so painful and hence quickly forgotten; others remain in the memory for a long time..."
(3/20) Garry Kasparov On My Great Predecessors Part II by Garry Kasparov, reviewed by David Surratt. "I've had a really hard time writing this review. The book is, after all, a sequel of sorts - the second in a series of five books planned by Kasparov. If you have read my review of Part 1, then you probably already know everything you need to know about Part II (destined to be a classic, buy this book - now!) Still, my Editor is a slave driver, and he insists that I write something, so...I decided to mostly let the book tell it's own story. Read excerpts from this fascinating book in the shaded boxes below..."
Mark Yevgenyevich Taimanov, born February 7th,1926. Both a top-flight grandmaster and two-time World Champion Candidate, and a world-class concert pianist, Taimanov was one of Bobby Fischer's 'victims' (6-0, 1971) during his surge to the world title. Today's Lessons Learned column by this living legend finds GM Taimanov looking back at what both he and Fischer recognized as the turning point of the match, a defeat Taimanov called "the most bitter game of my life...Some failures are not so painful and hence quickly forgotten; others remain in the memory for a long time..." Taimanov brings us fresh analysis of the critical positions. Taimanov,M (2620) - Fischer,R (2740) [E97] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 I had no doubts that this position will appear in our match, and probably my opponent had similar expectations. Both of us belonged to a category of polemists of principle, ready to assert our belief in the King’s Indian ‘tableau’, which was always a favorite weapon for me with White and for Fischer with Black. But who would have the first opportunity to present a prepared surprise?
9.Bd2 Fischer might have expected here 9.Ne1, 9.Nd2, or 9.b4, which had repeatedly featured in my games. I worked out with my second especially for this match this calm developing move with the Bishop, which has the goal of prompt mobilization of forces of the queenside. 9...Ne8 Fischer was always most versed in opening subtleties of his favorite systems. He certainly knew that a conventional maneuver 9...Nh5 here is inexpedient in view of 10.g3 f5 11.exf5 Bxf5 12.Ng5 Nf6 13.g4 Bd7 14.Nge4 Nxe4 15.Nxe4. See the rest of GM Taimanov's analysis, including his extensive look at the critical position after 19...Kh8, in the latest Lesson Learned!
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My Great Predecessors, Part 2 I've had a really hard time writing this review. The book is, after all, a sequel of sorts - the second in a series of five books planned by Kasparov. If you have read my review of Part 1, then you probably already know everything you need to know about Part II (destined to be a classic, buy this book - now!) Still, my Editor is a slave driver, and he insists that I write something, so...I decided to mostly let the book tell it's own story. Read excerpts from this fascinating book in the shaded boxes below.
This
volume focuses on the era represented by the fifth, sixth, seventh, and
eighth World Champions - Euwe, Botvinnik,
Smyslov, and Tal. As did Part I, the current volume covers the era
represented by the World Champions, not just the champions themselves.
"By looking not just at the Champion, but at his contemporaries and challengers, Kasparov grounds each Champion in his natural historical context. He then tries to demonstrate the development of chess thought as represented by the games of all these great players." This is one of the great charms of these books - their readability as historical novel. I am not a student of chess history, and I know others who dispute some of the assertions and accounts contained in this book. If a conclusive history you seek, do your research carefully. If an entertaining read is what you're after, this book excels... Read the
entire review, and enjoy the numerous excerpts.
Essential Chess Sacrifices So, you’ve plowed through every book on your opening that you can get your hands on. It began with Starting Out: The (Your Opening Here), which lead to The (Your Opening Here) and then Winning with the (Your Opening Here). Heck even Mastering the (Your Opening Here) wasn’t so bad. But soon you found yourself engrossed in New Ideas in the (Your Opening Here) and even Beating the (Your Opening Here) as you try to make sure you have an answer to every possibility. Feeling a bit one-dimensional? Searching for something a little different to round out your game but you just can’t bring yourself to dive into that endgame tome yet? Well, David LeMoir has written a book that I believe fits the bill quite nicely. This is a good choice for those looking for a book on middle-game play but one that is a bit livelier than the usual tactics book. Essential Chess Sacrifices is a work with an interesting premise and I believe it makes its case rather convincingly. From the back cover, the book states that “Sacrifices are an essential part of chess. Those who never consider sacrificing will miss countless opportunities and find that promising positions repeatedly slip away. Players who do not appreciate their opponent’s sacrificial possibilities will be unable to see danger signs, and find themselves on the wrong end of too many king-hunts.” LeMoir sets out to examine the most important standard piece sacrifices in many different openings and give the reader an understanding of the elements of the particular sacrifice, why it works, and what defenses there are against it... Read the
entire review!
The Mad Aussie's Chess Trivia Alcoholic Chess: I had a look in David Pritchards' excellent book "Encyclopedia of Chess Variants" for information about alcoholic chess. In Budapest in 1890, there was a game played, with the following types of alcohol being used:
The players had to take a drink from the piece that they moved. The game ended in a draw by "mutual confusion". The "normal" rules are that a player must promptly drink the contents of any man he captures. Emanuel Lasker is said to have won a game by deliberately sacrificing his queen (quarter-litre of cognac) in the early stages. The opponent's play went downhill pretty quickly! Overcoming History: Alexander Alekhine had lost all 5 previous tournament games against Jose Capablanca prior to their 1927 World Championship match. Despite this, Alekhine managed to win the match and the World Champion title. A similar situation occurred with Bobby Fischer prior to his 1972 World Championship match against Boris Spassky, as Fischer had lost all 3 previous encounters. Like Alekhine, he turned it around and won the match and the World Champion title. Submit your trivia to the
Mad Aussie! Pablo's Chess News Chessville coverage of:
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Institute Chess Room - Newsletter
by IM John Donaldson: #183, 03/17/2004: 1) 4th Max Wilkerson Open
this Saturday; 2) Spring Tuesday Night Marathon Starts; 3) 2nd SF
International - 1986 Revisted NPR : 'Bobby Fischer Goes to War'
FIDE
Seattle Times Seagaard Chess Reviews - Proline 4Q competition ebonized Kantack Reviews: ChessGenius for the Palm
World
Chess Network The Gazette: 'Chess mate': engaging youths with strategy RusBase Part Three - New Material from 1962 Bennington Banner: Chessplosion: Student chess scene is blowing up Chess Review Online - March 17: Volume 1 - Issue 7
Jon Edwards' Chess
Blog Salt Lake Tribune: Checkmate with Shelby Lyman America's Foundation for Chess: 2004 US Championships Annotated Games Chess In Chicago - Joshua Stapleton vs. Kayin Barclay Lubomir Kavalek (Washington Post): Leko-Kramnik, Linares 2004
The Telegraph Chess Club
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Ian Rogers
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Newsletter@Chessville.com Position of the Week: Solution
34...Rc4 threatening to queen the pawn, along with ...Bc5 pinning the rook. 35.bxc4 [35.Rc1 Bc5 36.Kg2 Bxf2 37.Kxf2 also leads to a Black victory.] 35...Bc5 36.Kg2 Bxf2 37.Kxf2 b3 resigns 0-1. The passed pawns are unstoppable.
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Today's quotes come from the latest Lessons Learned column, by GM Mark Taimanov Certainly disappointments are not all the same. Some failures are not so painful and hence quickly forgotten; others remain in the memory for a long time. Both of us belonged to a category of polemists of principle, ready to assert our belief in the King’s Indian ‘tableau’, which was always a favorite weapon for me with White and for Fischer with Black. 16.c5! But I think this blow turned out to be an unexpected and distressing surprise for Fischer. The battery of white pieces has come into action! I remember that at that moment I felt a veritable ecstasy from the struggle - I estimated the position as rather advantageous. I trusted in success, pleased at my good luck employing my opening preparation, and in the idea of rapid development of the initiative -and the maneuver 20. Qh3, for example. Was it was possible to anticipate that all this would turn to ashes?! It was amazing! All my understanding of chess, all my experience and flair convinced me this position should be won, but concrete ways to victory did not appear. And here I was, I will admit, seized by a helpless state of despair - "What is this Fischer, like? Is he invulnerable or bewitched?" So what is the truth? Is it possible that the critical position is reliable for Black, and his backwardness in development can be defended? Certainty is not present! Chess is full of internal logic and when one side has an indisputable positional advantage, it should bear fruit. Maybe the position is fraught with other secrets, but I admit, after seemingly endless analyses, it causes in me this "idiosyncrasy" or particular way of thinking. And therefore I pass the analysis to the attention of the inquisitive reader... At the cost of a deterioration in the central pawn structure, Fischer opens the game and the bishops find their invincible power. It is one more example of his favorite method of transformation of one kind of advantage to another. Fischer is in his element. Intercepting the initiative, he develops offensive potential all over the board with irrepressible energy.
GAMES Zhang Zhong (2639) - Malakhov,V (2700) [B35] 1.e4 c5 Korbut Ekaterina (RUS) - Bystryakova Elena (RUS) [C42] 1.e4 e5 Asrian,K (2599) - Pelletier,Y (2587) [B85] 1.e4 c5 Firman,N (2526) - Balogh,C (2456) [B65] 1.e4 c5 Kasparov,G (2831) - Carlsen,M (2484) [E92] 1.c4 Nf6 Olafsson,H (2504) - Aronian,L (2648) [A29] 1.c4 e5
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