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Simultaneous Displays
May 8, 2021
One doesn’t read very often online of the experiences of players and masters in simultaneous displays.
It just so happens that now in the English Chess Forum, there is just such a thread.
https://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11684
I quote from it liberally because it is a reminder of those long ago pre-covid times.
ChessTalkers are welcome to add their experiences.
Andrew Smith (Apr. 28) - In putting together my games collection, I thought about how many times I have participated in a Simultaneous Display, and who I have played. I think I have only played 9 in my lifetime, but quite an interesting collection of players. The one's I can recall are 1. Bent Larsen 2. Evgeni Vasiukov 3. David Bronstein (Twice) 4. Tony Miles 5 Sergey Karjakin 6. Viktor Korchnoi 7. Viktorija Cmilyte 8. Nigel Short (who did a clock Simul, which, for me, wasn't so enjoyable to play in). Lennard Barden used to arrange Simultaneous Displays for juniors and invited me to play against Bronstein once, Vasiukov and Miles. I played Larsen at Charlton Chess Club in the early/mid 1970's, and I have retained an impression of him being by far the most courteous of the 'performers'. In accepting my resignation, he paused for a chat about the game, and as a young teenager, I was a trifle over-awed. Out of the 9 I played, only 2 of them took alternate colours ( Larsen and Bronstein when I played him a 2nd time in later life at Lewisham Chess club) I think it’s quite impressive for them to expose themselves to greater risk of defeat by taking the black pieces in 50% of the games. I missed a win against Korchnoi in the early middlegame, still thought I was better in the endgame only to allow him to turn the tables with a clever trick. His wife was there and told him to return to my board to shake hands ! ( Picture of me and Korchnoi at Simul in my book taken by John Saunders). For me, one of the most memorable articles in BCM was done about Mikhail Tal, when he visited the UK for a simul tour of the North of England. I think it was John Ripley who wrote the article, with spectacular snapshots of Tal's games. A great article and great games, I think from the 1970's. Has anyone on this forum ever played Tal or Kasparov in a simul ? What was it like ? I seem to recall that Karpov visited and amongst others, Nigel Short as a junior, beat him.
Paul Habershon (Apr. 28) - I Agree about Larsen. Close to midnight he sat down to finish off the last surviving player, then spent some time analysing with him.
Impressed also by Petrosian. I thought he would be slow and stodgy but he whipped round the room against the cream of Herts. and Beds. (don't laugh). +23 =2 -0 in two and a half hours.
Nick Ivell (Apr. 28) - I never enjoyed simuls; I found it impossible to take them seriously. As a junior I played against Karpov, Petrosian, Smyslov, Korchnoi, Hort, Vaganian, Adorjan and Szabo. My only decent result was a draw against Karpov. No wins. I also gave a simul to inaugurate the first Blackpool congress. Never again; I found it exhausting.
Justin Horton (Apr. 28) replying to Nick Ivell - The only time I did, I could barely walk for two days
Simon Brown (Apr. 28) - I played in that simul at Charlton and agree Larsen was a true gentleman. After I resigned he even showed me a decent line in the game, I was White (alternating) with a 3.. Nge7 Lopez which aged about 14 I had never seen. I was lucky enough to play in several of Leonard's and there was always one each year at Cent YMCA, so I played quite a few, with reasonable results.
Kevin Thurlow (April 28) - When I played Larsen, he actually gave choice of colour and opening. I gave him white after 1.e4 c5, 2.Nf3 e6, 3.d4 cxd4, 4.Nxd4 Bc5. He was great, doing a commentary and making cheerful comments throughout. My reward for getting a draw (apart from a "bravo" when I avoided a repetition) was a prize of Tal's best games. "Now he wants to play like Tal!", said Larsen.
I've also played Botwinnik, Karjakin, Adams, Short, Miles, Keene, Nunn, Speelman, Barden, Golombek, Paul Littlewood, Hooper, and Hooper + Cafferty. Also, I was part of a small group giving Tiger Hillarp-Persson a few moves' practice for a blindfold simul. (Apologies if I've omitted anyone.) The tandem simul was entertaining, as David put his rook in an aggressive position to sacrifice it against me, then Bernard came round and retreated it. David was not amused...
Botwinnik happily signed my scorebook beforehand. It was at Ilford in 1967 and players were arranged theoretically in order of strength, and he completely upset the apple cart by starting at board 25 and going clockwise. Organizers were a bit confused at first, but I would have thought you normally go clockwise? He was very professional and just got on with it. He wasn't engaging people in conversation as he went round, but he didn't berate anyone for resigning too late. It was a valuable lesson for me, as I was the same age Botwinnik was when he beat Capablanca in a simul, so I soon guessed I was not going to be world champion.
I did one simul where I thought I was having a heart attack, then realized that as the tables were low, that I rested at each board with my left hand on the table as I bent down to analyze and move, so the pins and needles were caused by that...
From The Times, Monday, August 15, 1977:
Mr Karpov stoops to check his juniors
By Robin Young
A Russian visitor to London was attacked in a crowded hotel room yesterday by 10 English boys, 20 bishops, and a handful of queens. Anatoly Karpov, the world chess champion, was pitting his skills in a simultaneous clock game against 10 of England’s best under-17 players.
He has proved virtually invincible since he took the world title in 1975, when Bobby Fischer defaulted. In 11 tournaments since, he has won nine, an unprecedented run of victories for a reigning champion.
His opponents were drawn from the most brilliant generation of juniors Britain has produced. Four had qualified for the British men’s championships and were playing Karpov on their rest day from the finals at Brighton.
Mr Brian Walden, the former Labour MP for Birmingham Ladywood, and erstwhile West Midlands junior champion, opened the match, in a stuffy room at the Londoner Hotel, and assured Karpov he would not have an easy time.
The English boys had been briefed by Mr Leonard Barden, London Evening Standard chess correspondent, on Karpov’s games, particularly the dreaded Karpov variation to the Sicilian defence, and had discussed strategy with Mr Robert Wade, the chief national coach.
“I was very worried”, Mr Wade said, “when Daniel King [aged 13] asked me what Karpov would do in reply to a Pelikan variation. That is something that has been particularly strongly analysed in the area of the Soviet Union where Karpov originally comes from, the Urals. I would not like to have tried it.
As the games got under way, Karpov, wearing a blue suit with draped jacket and wide flared trousers, seemed the only cool person in the room. He finished several rounds of moves so swiftly that he was able to sit down and take a rest while all his opponents were pondering what to do next.
Nigel Short, the world’s best 12-year-old, playing board number one, opted for the Morra gambit with which he defeated Jonathan Penrose at Brighton last week. Perhaps as added gamesmanship, he also pointedly studied a chess article in a copy of Soviet Weekly from time to time.
He survived 59 moves before giving up hope of a draw and had the distinction of making the world champion pause long enough to draw up a chair and study the situation.
Meanwhile, Tony Williams, aged 16, of Clark’s Grammar School, Guildford, found himself offered a draw by the world champion on move 24. Williams, who had chosen the English opening, felt he had a slight advantage but probably not the knowledge and experience to hold it. Wisely, in the experts’ view, he took the draw, and with it the Lloyds Bank Junior Trophy for the best game of the day.
Martin Benjamin (May 8) - David Bronstein deserves a mention for sportsmanship. He played a ten board clock simul back in the late 1970s against my school with the school fielding Julian Hodgson, William Watson, Peter Sowray, Simon Knott, both my brothers, Richard Holmes (all 210 ECF or more at the time) and even the rest of us were 190 ECF or higher. William got into his habitual horrendous time trouble with his flag hanging almost horizontally with the old style clocks. He had something like 10-15 moves to make in less than a minute. Without a word, Bronstein picked up the clock, gave Will 15 more minutes and resumed playing. He explained afterwards that the position was so interesting, he didn't want William to lose because of time shortage. I don't even remember the result of the game, but that example made a great impression on me. It contrasted starkly with another GM whose graceless and unsporting attitude at another school clock simul made me lose any respect I had for him.
I feel a bit of sympathy for some of the GMs who have to face opposition which is probably too strong for simuls (e.g. as in the above and at the London Junior prizegiving simuls), particularly if they have not been told in advance about or fully appreciated the calibre of the opposition, but they should show some class and dignity even in such circumstances. There's a clip on YouTube of Kasparov mouthing off at one simul organiser because someone too strong is playing on one of the boards. I would say "So what? It's just one board in a 30 board simul and who cares?", but I suppose that degree of ultra-competitiveness is one element in their success.
May 8, 2021
One doesn’t read very often online of the experiences of players and masters in simultaneous displays.
It just so happens that now in the English Chess Forum, there is just such a thread.
https://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11684
I quote from it liberally because it is a reminder of those long ago pre-covid times.
ChessTalkers are welcome to add their experiences.
Andrew Smith (Apr. 28) - In putting together my games collection, I thought about how many times I have participated in a Simultaneous Display, and who I have played. I think I have only played 9 in my lifetime, but quite an interesting collection of players. The one's I can recall are 1. Bent Larsen 2. Evgeni Vasiukov 3. David Bronstein (Twice) 4. Tony Miles 5 Sergey Karjakin 6. Viktor Korchnoi 7. Viktorija Cmilyte 8. Nigel Short (who did a clock Simul, which, for me, wasn't so enjoyable to play in). Lennard Barden used to arrange Simultaneous Displays for juniors and invited me to play against Bronstein once, Vasiukov and Miles. I played Larsen at Charlton Chess Club in the early/mid 1970's, and I have retained an impression of him being by far the most courteous of the 'performers'. In accepting my resignation, he paused for a chat about the game, and as a young teenager, I was a trifle over-awed. Out of the 9 I played, only 2 of them took alternate colours ( Larsen and Bronstein when I played him a 2nd time in later life at Lewisham Chess club) I think it’s quite impressive for them to expose themselves to greater risk of defeat by taking the black pieces in 50% of the games. I missed a win against Korchnoi in the early middlegame, still thought I was better in the endgame only to allow him to turn the tables with a clever trick. His wife was there and told him to return to my board to shake hands ! ( Picture of me and Korchnoi at Simul in my book taken by John Saunders). For me, one of the most memorable articles in BCM was done about Mikhail Tal, when he visited the UK for a simul tour of the North of England. I think it was John Ripley who wrote the article, with spectacular snapshots of Tal's games. A great article and great games, I think from the 1970's. Has anyone on this forum ever played Tal or Kasparov in a simul ? What was it like ? I seem to recall that Karpov visited and amongst others, Nigel Short as a junior, beat him.
Paul Habershon (Apr. 28) - I Agree about Larsen. Close to midnight he sat down to finish off the last surviving player, then spent some time analysing with him.
Impressed also by Petrosian. I thought he would be slow and stodgy but he whipped round the room against the cream of Herts. and Beds. (don't laugh). +23 =2 -0 in two and a half hours.
Nick Ivell (Apr. 28) - I never enjoyed simuls; I found it impossible to take them seriously. As a junior I played against Karpov, Petrosian, Smyslov, Korchnoi, Hort, Vaganian, Adorjan and Szabo. My only decent result was a draw against Karpov. No wins. I also gave a simul to inaugurate the first Blackpool congress. Never again; I found it exhausting.
Justin Horton (Apr. 28) replying to Nick Ivell - The only time I did, I could barely walk for two days
Simon Brown (Apr. 28) - I played in that simul at Charlton and agree Larsen was a true gentleman. After I resigned he even showed me a decent line in the game, I was White (alternating) with a 3.. Nge7 Lopez which aged about 14 I had never seen. I was lucky enough to play in several of Leonard's and there was always one each year at Cent YMCA, so I played quite a few, with reasonable results.
Kevin Thurlow (April 28) - When I played Larsen, he actually gave choice of colour and opening. I gave him white after 1.e4 c5, 2.Nf3 e6, 3.d4 cxd4, 4.Nxd4 Bc5. He was great, doing a commentary and making cheerful comments throughout. My reward for getting a draw (apart from a "bravo" when I avoided a repetition) was a prize of Tal's best games. "Now he wants to play like Tal!", said Larsen.
I've also played Botwinnik, Karjakin, Adams, Short, Miles, Keene, Nunn, Speelman, Barden, Golombek, Paul Littlewood, Hooper, and Hooper + Cafferty. Also, I was part of a small group giving Tiger Hillarp-Persson a few moves' practice for a blindfold simul. (Apologies if I've omitted anyone.) The tandem simul was entertaining, as David put his rook in an aggressive position to sacrifice it against me, then Bernard came round and retreated it. David was not amused...
Botwinnik happily signed my scorebook beforehand. It was at Ilford in 1967 and players were arranged theoretically in order of strength, and he completely upset the apple cart by starting at board 25 and going clockwise. Organizers were a bit confused at first, but I would have thought you normally go clockwise? He was very professional and just got on with it. He wasn't engaging people in conversation as he went round, but he didn't berate anyone for resigning too late. It was a valuable lesson for me, as I was the same age Botwinnik was when he beat Capablanca in a simul, so I soon guessed I was not going to be world champion.
I did one simul where I thought I was having a heart attack, then realized that as the tables were low, that I rested at each board with my left hand on the table as I bent down to analyze and move, so the pins and needles were caused by that...
From The Times, Monday, August 15, 1977:
Mr Karpov stoops to check his juniors
By Robin Young
A Russian visitor to London was attacked in a crowded hotel room yesterday by 10 English boys, 20 bishops, and a handful of queens. Anatoly Karpov, the world chess champion, was pitting his skills in a simultaneous clock game against 10 of England’s best under-17 players.
He has proved virtually invincible since he took the world title in 1975, when Bobby Fischer defaulted. In 11 tournaments since, he has won nine, an unprecedented run of victories for a reigning champion.
His opponents were drawn from the most brilliant generation of juniors Britain has produced. Four had qualified for the British men’s championships and were playing Karpov on their rest day from the finals at Brighton.
Mr Brian Walden, the former Labour MP for Birmingham Ladywood, and erstwhile West Midlands junior champion, opened the match, in a stuffy room at the Londoner Hotel, and assured Karpov he would not have an easy time.
The English boys had been briefed by Mr Leonard Barden, London Evening Standard chess correspondent, on Karpov’s games, particularly the dreaded Karpov variation to the Sicilian defence, and had discussed strategy with Mr Robert Wade, the chief national coach.
“I was very worried”, Mr Wade said, “when Daniel King [aged 13] asked me what Karpov would do in reply to a Pelikan variation. That is something that has been particularly strongly analysed in the area of the Soviet Union where Karpov originally comes from, the Urals. I would not like to have tried it.
As the games got under way, Karpov, wearing a blue suit with draped jacket and wide flared trousers, seemed the only cool person in the room. He finished several rounds of moves so swiftly that he was able to sit down and take a rest while all his opponents were pondering what to do next.
Nigel Short, the world’s best 12-year-old, playing board number one, opted for the Morra gambit with which he defeated Jonathan Penrose at Brighton last week. Perhaps as added gamesmanship, he also pointedly studied a chess article in a copy of Soviet Weekly from time to time.
He survived 59 moves before giving up hope of a draw and had the distinction of making the world champion pause long enough to draw up a chair and study the situation.
Meanwhile, Tony Williams, aged 16, of Clark’s Grammar School, Guildford, found himself offered a draw by the world champion on move 24. Williams, who had chosen the English opening, felt he had a slight advantage but probably not the knowledge and experience to hold it. Wisely, in the experts’ view, he took the draw, and with it the Lloyds Bank Junior Trophy for the best game of the day.
Martin Benjamin (May 8) - David Bronstein deserves a mention for sportsmanship. He played a ten board clock simul back in the late 1970s against my school with the school fielding Julian Hodgson, William Watson, Peter Sowray, Simon Knott, both my brothers, Richard Holmes (all 210 ECF or more at the time) and even the rest of us were 190 ECF or higher. William got into his habitual horrendous time trouble with his flag hanging almost horizontally with the old style clocks. He had something like 10-15 moves to make in less than a minute. Without a word, Bronstein picked up the clock, gave Will 15 more minutes and resumed playing. He explained afterwards that the position was so interesting, he didn't want William to lose because of time shortage. I don't even remember the result of the game, but that example made a great impression on me. It contrasted starkly with another GM whose graceless and unsporting attitude at another school clock simul made me lose any respect I had for him.
I feel a bit of sympathy for some of the GMs who have to face opposition which is probably too strong for simuls (e.g. as in the above and at the London Junior prizegiving simuls), particularly if they have not been told in advance about or fully appreciated the calibre of the opposition, but they should show some class and dignity even in such circumstances. There's a clip on YouTube of Kasparov mouthing off at one simul organiser because someone too strong is playing on one of the boards. I would say "So what? It's just one board in a 30 board simul and who cares?", but I suppose that degree of ultra-competitiveness is one element in their success.
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