Chess: April 2009

Wednesday 29 April 2009

Boris Spassky

Spassky was considered an all-rounder on the chess board, and his adaptable "universal style" was a distinct advantage in beating many top Grandmasters. In the 1965 cycle, he beat Paul Keres at Riga 1965 with careful strategy, triumphing in the last game to win 6-4 (+4 =4 -2). Also at Riga, he defeated Efim Geller with mating attacks, winning by 5½-2½ (+3 =5 -0). Then, in his Candidates' Final match (the match which determines who will challenge the reigning world champion for the title) against Mikhail Tal the legendary tactician (Tbilisi 1965), Spassky often managed to steer play into quieter positions, either avoiding former champion Tal's tactical strength, or extracting too high a price for complications. He won by 7-4 (+4 =6 -1). This led to his first World Championship match against Tigran Petrosian in 1966.
Spassky won two tournaments in the run-up to the final. He shared first at the Chigorin Memorial in Sochi in 1965 with Wolfgang Unzicker on 10½/15. Then he tied for first at Hastings 1965-66 with Wolfgang Uhlmann on 7½/9.
Spassky lost the final match in Moscow narrowly, with three wins against Petrosian's four wins, with the two sharing 17 draws. However, a few months after the match, Spassky finished ahead of Petrosian and a super-class field at Santa Monica 1966 (the Piatigorsky Cup), with 11½/18, half a point ahead of Bobby Fischer. Spassky also won at Beverwijk 1967 with 11/15 ahead of Anatoly Lutikov, and shared 1st-5th places at Sochi 1967 on 10/15 with Krogius, Alexander Zaitsev, Leonid Shamkovich, and Vladimir Simagin.
As losing finalist in 1966, Spassky was seeded into the next Candidates' cycle. In 1968, he faced Geller again, this time at Sukhumi, and won by the same margin as in 1965 (5½-2½, +3 =5 -0). He next met Bent Larsen at Malmö, and won by 5½-2½. The final was against his Leningrad rival Viktor Korchnoi at Kiev, and Spassky triumphed with 6½-3½.
This earned him another challenge against Petrosian, at Moscow 1969. Spassky's flexibility of style was the key to his eventual victory over Petrosian by two points in the 1969 World Championship. Spassky won by 12½-10½.
During Spassky's three-year reign as World Champion, he won several more tournaments. He placed first at San Juan 1969 with 11½/15. He won a very strong tournament at Leiden 1970 with 7/12. Spassky shared 1st-2nd at Amsterdam 1970 with Lev Polugaevsky on 11½/15. He was third at Goteborg 1971 with 8/11, behind winners Vlastimil Hort and Ulf Andersson. He shared 1st-2nd with Hans Ree at the 1971 Canadian Open Chess Championship in Vancouver.
Spassky's reign as a world champion only lasted for three years, as he lost to Bobby Fischer of the United States in 1972 in the "Match of the Century". The contest took place in Reykjavík, Iceland, at the height of the Cold War, and consequently was seen as symbolic of the political confrontation between the two superpowers. Going into the match, Fischer had never won a game from Spassky in five attempts, while losing three times. In addition, Spassky had secured Geller as his coach, and Geller also had a plus score against Fischer. However, Fischer was in excellent form, and won the title match convincingly, by 12½-8½. Although Spassky did lose the title match, he performed much better than had the three other Candidates (Mark Taimanov, Bent Larsen, and Tigran Petrosian) whom Fischer had defeated convincingly on his approach to the finals.

Alexander Alekhine

Top-level grandmaster (1914–1927)
In April–May 1914, another major St. Petersburg 1914 chess tournament was held in the capital of the Russian Empire, in which Alekhine took third place behind Emanuel Lasker and Jose Raul Capablanca. By some accounts, Tsar Nicholas II conferred the title of "Grandmaster of Chess" on each of the five finalists (Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Tarrasch, and Marshall). Chess historian Edward Winter has questioned this, stating that the earliest known sources that support this story are an article by Robert Lewis Taylor in the June 15, 1940 issue of The New Yorker and Marshall's autobiography My 50 Years of Chess (1942).[14][15][16] Alekhine's surprising success made him a serious contender for the World Chess Championship.[10] Whether or not the title was formally awarded to him, "Thanks to this performance, Alekhine became a grandmaster in his own right and in the eyes of the audience."[17] In July 1914, Alekhine tied for first with Marshall in Paris.[18]

Emmanual Lasker

Emmanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker (December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years. In his prime Lasker was one of the most dominant champions, and he is still generally regarded as one of the strongest players ever.It is often said that Lasker used a "psychological" approach to the game, and even that he sometimes deliberately played inferior moves to confuse opponents. However recent analysis indicates that he was ahead of his time and used a more flexible approach than his contemporaries, which mystified many of them. While it is often said that Lasker spent little time studying the openings, he actually knew the openings well but disagreed with many contemporary analyses. Although Lasker also published chess magazines and two chess books, later players and commentators found it difficult to draw lessons from his methods.He demanded high fees for playing matches and tournaments, which aroused criticism at the time but contributed to the development of chess as a professional career. The conditions which Lasker demanded for world championship matches in the last 10 years of his reign were controversial, and prompted attempts, particularly by his successor José Raúl Capablanca, to define agreed rules for championship matches.Lasker was also a talented mathematician, and his Ph.D. thesis is regarded as one of the foundations of modern algebra. He was a first-class contract bridge player and wrote about this and other games, including Go and his own invention, Lasca.

Wednesday 22 April 2009

My Latest Purchases

Monday 20 April 2009

John Jaques

Saturday 11 April 2009

Broadbase Sheesham Staunton & Teak & Maple Board

Broadbase Pieces - Sheesham
Beautifully crafted broad based sets
Sheesham dark pieces, boxwood light pieces, 95mm (3.75"") king, felted and double weighted. Base diameter 45mm and king weight 96g.

Executive Club Set & Black Anegre & White Erable Board

Zagreb Chess Set

An adaptation of the most popular Chess set used at major international Chess tournaments throughout the 1950s and 1960s, most notably the World Championship Candidates Match that was held in Bied, Zagreb in 1959. The Chess set has been designed to withstand years of use (and abuse), as it lacks many of the ornate details commonly found on Chess Sets that can be susceptible to damage in the heat of battle. For example, the Chess set features reinforced Pawn collars, stylized Knights and minimal Queen crenellations for unmatched durability. The Zagreb '59 Series Chess set is ideal for those that are interested in both the historical importance of the game of Chess, as well as those looking for an attractive Chess set that is very durable.

American Staunton

Executive Luke Staunton

Executive Luke Staunton Chess SetKing Height 3.75 inch. Base Diameter 1.6 inch. Triple Weighted 79g. Balance 20% Not called 'Executive' without reason. These chess pieces combine workmanship and style with a heavy weighting that creates a result that almost demands a seat on the board! And if you don't believe that then take a look at the Knights. They are all talking at once! Traditional Staunton, carved from solid Boxwood wood with an attention to detail often only seen in our luxury sets, the chess pieces proclaim 'class'. The dark chess pieces have been blackened to achieve their ebony appearance. While all pieces have their individual charm, it is the open mouthed Knights that draw the eye. If only we could hear what they are saying! Buy? Sell? Merge? The King is 3.75 inches with a 1.6 inch base

History of Chess

The laws of Chess and the movement of the traditional Chess pieces have been the same since the sixth century of the second millennium. The changes that took place have quickened up the rate of play, such as allowing the Pawns to move two cells on the first move option (FMO). The origins of Chess are obscure. Some evidence presented by David Li in “Genealogy of Chess” quite clearly shows it was developed in China in the 2nd century B.C. but it is not until the 7th century that there is a reference to the game in literature. The first mention of Chess is found in a Persian poem according to which the advent of the game took place in India. Chess migrated to Persia (Iran) during the reigns of King Chosroe-I Annshiravan (531-579) as described in a Persian book of this period. This book described Chess terminology and the names and function of the pieces in some detail. According to some sources (Forbes, History of Chess, 1860) the game was invented between four or five thousand years ago, by the wife of King Ravana of Ceylon, when the capital was besieged by Rama.
Chess is also mentioned in the poems of Firdousi, a Persian poet of the 10th century in which he describes gifts being introduced by a convoy from the Rajah of India at the court of the Persing King Chosroe-I. Amongst these gifts was a game depicting the battle of two armies. Records show that there were originally four types of piece used in Chess. Shatrang (Indian Sanskrit) means ‘four’ and anga means ‘detachment’. In the Sassanid dynasty (242-651 AD) a book was written in the Middle Persian Pahlavi language called ‘Chatrang namakwor’ (A Manual of Chess). Shatrang (Chess) represents the universe, according to ancient Indian mysticism. The four sides being the four elements (fire, air, earth and water), and the four ‘humors’ of man. Although the names of the pieces are different in various countries today, their movements are strikingly similar. In Persia the word ‘Shatranj’ was used for the name of Chess itself. In the 8th century the Moors invaded Spain and Chess spread to Europe. The game found its way to the western world after the Moslems conquered lands from India and Persia to the East, and Spain to the West. The first reference to Chess is found in the Catalonian Testament of 1010 AD. A Chess set was presented as a gift to Charlemagne from the famous Moslem ruler Haroon-al-Rashid. The Muslims also conquered Sicily, and the game reached Russia probably through the Caspian-Volga trade routes. The names of the Russian pieces clearly indicates the Persian and Arabic origin of the game.
In Russian folk poems Chess is mentioned as a popular game. The Vikings carried the game to north-western Europe via the Baltic. Chess arrived in Germany around the 11th century, with the earliest reference to Chess being made by a monk ‘Froumund von Tegermsee’. Chess spread to Italy from Germany and later on to England and Ireland. Chess also reached Scandanavia by the 11th century and Bohemia from Italy. The growing popularity of Chess is proven by the vast amount of literature that has been printed over the last few centuries. The oldest of these (Mansubat) were penned by the Arab author Al-Aldi in the 9th century who also mentioned the differences between the Hindu and Persian rules of the game. Blindfold play, qualifying contests, Chess problems (mansubat), the first Chess book and tournaments were known as early as the 7th century. Today, the game of traditional Chess is very similar to the original game that was played in India 1400+ years ago (i.e., the game-tree has not been altered significantly). Chesmayne allows any game-tree to be used for play. Today there are 149 Chess playing countries belonging to FIDE. In the last few centuries traditional Chess has truly become international in appeal. Chess is exciting, demanding skill, and the result is unpredictable. It is not a physical contest, and there is no element of luck as in card games. In oriental warfare, a battle could be decided by the death or capture of the King, which in Chess is known as Shah-mat (checkmate, ++CM). So two armies line up against each other. One can try head-on assault or patient outflanking manoeuvres. One can try bluff, or offer poisoned pawns, or make sacrifices in order to ambush the enemy and capture the commander-in-chief, the King. The Persians took up Indian Chess with enthusiasm. The caliphs, rulers of the Moslem world, kept Chess professionals at court through the 9th and 10th centuries. Chess was brought to Europe by the Moors in Spain before AD 1,000. There was great confusion throughout medieval Europe concerning the pieces names. The elephants became archers in Spain, Standard-Bearers in Italy, couriers in Germany, court jesters in France, and BSs in Portugal, England, Ireland and Iceland. The ‘rukh’ (war chariot) was another enigma. In 1527, an Italian poet, Vida, fancifully identified the Rook as an elephant with a tower on his back, as used by Hannibal seventeen centuries earlier. This caught on, but the elephant was costly to carve, and disappeared leaving only the tower.
Europe’s first big contribution to Chess came about AD 1,000 - a chequered board to assist the eye (before this time the board was unchequered). Please see Shogi for further details (Japanese Chess). A century later came the second - speeding the :&O (opening) by giving pawns the option of moving two cells on the first move (FMO). About 1580 an Italian suggested making the Queen the strongest piece instead of the weakest. Promotion of a pawn, hitherto a minor incident, became cataclysmic. The average game was halved in length. At the same time, the piece we call a Bishop, previously very restricted was de-limited. The new game was nicknamed ‘Scacchi all rabiosa’ (crazy Chess) by the Italians, and by the French, ‘Echecs de la dame enragee’ (Chess of the maddened Queen).But it swept Europe like a forest fire, except Russia, where the masses stuck to the old game for over two more centuries. Italy took over from Spain as the leading Chess country in the 17th century. In the 18th century, supremacy passed to France. About 1840, London became the main Chess center. The first international Chess tournament was held in London in 1851. It was won by Adolf Anderssen, a German professor of mathematics. The fantastic advance of Chess in the 20th century is best shown by figures. Before 1923 there were rarely more than four international tournaments in a year. Between 1923 and 1939, the average was six. After WW II this quadrupled. In 1974 it jumped to 60, in 1975 to 75, in 1976 to 100.By the end of 1990 the number had increased to well over 1,000 registered tournaments. In 1924 FIDE had a dozen member countries. In 1990 it had 127. Every two years, a world teams’ tourney is held, known as the Chess Olympiad. The number of entries in 1927 was 16. By 1990 it reached 108 teams. Women’s Olympiads started in 1957 with 21 teams, increasing to a record 65 in 1990. Russia (or the former Soviet Union) first competed in an Olympiad in 1952 and has won all but two since then. Only for three years since 1948 has there been a non-Russian (Soviet) champion. Bobby Fischer (USA) won crushingly in 1972 but did not defend in 1975 when the title went to Anatoly Karpov by default. In 1985 Karpov lost the title to 22-year old Garry Kasparov in a marathon struggle lasting 72 games, starting in September 1984.The challenger is found after three years of elimination tournaments, and matches start with Zonal tournaments, continuing with interzonals and culminating with Candidates’ matches. Women’s World Championships are played under similar procedures. The title of Chess Champion of the World dates strictly from 1886, but it has been conferred retrospectively from 1866 by general consent. Before that, there were players recognized as supreme in their time. The following list will not be disputed by most mature players:01 Andre Danican Philidor (France) 1747-1795 • 02 Louis Charles Mahe de la Bourdonnais (France) 1821-1840 • 03 Howard Staunton (England) 1843-1851 • 04 Adolf Anderssen (Germany) 1851-1858 • 05 Paul Morphy (U.S.A. Irish/Spanish/French) 1958-1959 • 06 William Steinitz (born Austrian) 1866-1894 • 07 Dr Emanuel Lasker (born German) 1894-1921 • 08 Jose Raul Capablanca (Cuba) 1921-1927 • 09 Dr Alexander Alekhine (born Russian) 1927-1935 • 10 Dr Max Euwe (Holland) 1935-1937 • 11 Dr Alexander Alekhine (died still Champion, FIDE took control) 1937-1946 • 12 Dr Mikhail Botvinnik (Russia) 1948-1957 • 13 Vassily Smyslov (Russia) 1957-1958 • 14 Dr Mikhail Botvinnik 1958-1960 • 15 Mikhail Tal (Russia) 1960-1961 • 16 Dr Mikhail Botvinnik 1961-1963 • 17 Tigran Petrosian (U.S.S.R.) 1963-1969 • 18 Boris Spassky (Russia) 1969-1972 • 19 Bobby Fischer (U.S.A.) 1972-1975 • 20 Anatoly Karpov (Russia) 1975-1985 • 21 Garry Kasparov (Russia) 1985-? Until the present century, traditional Chess (:L01 of Chesmayne) was regarded as a game for the wealthy and leisured classes in society. It is the national sport in Russia, where it is more popular than football. Indeed, Russian Chess players have dominated world Chess since the 1940s, although their superiority is fast being challenged by Britain, which is now established as a strong Chess playing nation. Compare it with draughts or the Japanese game of Go (nearly all strategy). Chess also has the advantage of its finely differentiated playing pieces. They are not merely rounded lumps of wood or stone but individuals, each with h/er own power and attributes.
It is easy to identify with one’s Chess pieces. Losing a game of draughts never results in the same sense of deep personal loss that one has when the KI is ++CM. It is a game that involves the mind completely. Chess combines elements of both art and science, what the Dutch call Denksport. Analyzing a Chess game is primarily an exercise in logic, yet arriving at a beautiful checkmating attack or a profound strategical position can bring a genuine sense of creative satisfaction. There is also the competitive aspect of the game. Chess is not a solitary exercise, like solving a crossword puzzle, but a battle between two individuals, a struggle of mind and will.
Above all, Chess provides a sense of continuity with the past - of belonging to a great Chess-playing family extending through thousands of years and embracing all nations from the time of the Egyptian Kings to the present day (and probably before as well). In the text you will find games played over a century ago (:L01) which still arouse admiration in those who play through them today. Perhaps one day, new players who are now taking up Chess (Chesmayne) will find some of their own efforts gracing the literature of this fascinating game. Traditional Chess is one of the world’s most played board games. It has an old and distinguished pedigree, developed for over five centuries. The wisdom of antiquity has bequeathed it to succeeding generations. Of the various occidental board games, Chess is the King. It is the one practiced most widely and has the most-documented and carefully written theory to back it up. Goethe called Chess ‘the touchstone of the intellect’. The story of Chess is amongst one of the most extraordinary inventions in our history, which draws extensively on legend, mythology and symbolism and must rank amongst the greatest stories ever told.
Its theme is the vast and bewildering complexity of the universe of thought - an inspiring symbol of the desire to explore and penetrate the uttermost reaches of the imagination. An eternal book - somehow impinging on infinity itself - a never-ending story - a mirror of the infinite possibilities of the human mind and one of the purest forms of communication with a unique and unusual set of symbols. This symbolic world of weightless thoughts is real, vital, and filled with significance. It seems we are mysteriously connected to the universe. We are mirrored in it, just as the entire evolution of the universe is mirrored in us. However, like frogs, sooner or later we have to step outside our limited sensorium.

FIDE World Championship - 1972

In 1972, American Robert J. Fischer challenged Soviet Boris Spassky for the World Championship which was held in Reykjavik, Iceland. The match was scheduled for twenty four games and was the most worldwide publicized Championship in Chess history since it took place during the height of the Cold War between the United States and the USSR. As a consequence, both players were under considerable pressure to win. When Bobby Fischer defeated Boris Spassky, he became the first American to win the World Championship and also ended thirty five years of Soviet domination of the world Chess title.

Fischer v Spassky Game 6 1972

Perhaps the best game of the 1972 match and certainly one of the most famous games in chess history. And to think this was the first time Fischer had played the white side of a Queen's Gambit as an adult.
Spassky chooses to defend with the Tartakower Variation of the Orthodox Defence, probably a good choice as he had previously never been beaten in this opening. But here he plays below his best and allows Fischer to establish a clear advantage from the opening. That alone would not be enough to make this game a classic - Fischer then goes on to play one of the most beautiful middlegames in the history of chess.
When Spassky resigned, he joined in the applause given to Fischer, I think I would have probably have thrown a punch.

Chess