Great chess quotes

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Great Chess Quotes

Great Chess Quotes

May 31, 2018

I have written before about GM Nicolas Rossolimo and the projected book of his brilliancy prizes:

https://forum.chesstalk.com/showthread.php/8354-Rossolimo’s-Brilliancy-Prizes?highlight=rossolimo

Today, Vlastimil Hort shared his memories of Rossolimo at chessbase:

https://en.chessbase.com/post/vlasti...olas-rossolimo

An excerpt:

He was a French-American-Greek-Russian Grandmaster. But did he really have four passports he could use? His father Spiridon Rossolimo was Greek, his mother Xenia Nikolajewna was Russian. He was born February 28, 1910 in Kiev (Ukraine), and died July 24, 1975, after a tragic accident in New York.

He won a lot of "Brilliancy Prizes", and should FIDE ever publish a world book of fine miniatures, his name should be in it.

It is possible that he just prepared his chess memoirs for a book when I visited his studio. Unfortunately, this project was never finished. He copied all reports about his games in chess magazines, and then added light notes of his own, but the unfinished manuscript soon gathered dust in a box and was later lost.

But the fate of a combined biography of him and his wife Vera Budakovich was even worse. His wife had written it in Russian, and the manuscript was finished, perfect, and ready for printing. A visitor of Rossolimo's "Chess Studio" offered to translate the manuscript into English and took the Russian original with him. However, the unknown "translator" was never seen again. Unfortunately, Rossolimo's wife Vera did not want to give this project another try. A pity! And there is little hope that the script will one day surface at a chess auction. Too bad, I would really have known more about the highs and lows of a chess relationship. Who, after all, was this mysterious X.Y.?

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Great Chess Quotes

Great Chess Quotes

May 24, 2018

Nigel’s Behavior

GM Nigel Short and FIDE Treasurer Prof. Dr. Adrian M. Siegel have been trading emails back and forth on the handling of FIDE’s money.

Siegel is exasperated, but how to describe Nigel’s behavior in one sentence?

This from Siegel’s FIDE letter of May 24, 2018

“This notorious search for a putative mistake has the smack of a querulent behavior.”

There it is, in a nutshell!

http://fide.com/component/content/ar...rs-letter.html

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Great Chess Quotes

Great Chess Quotes

May 22, 2018

Ohne Krawatte

Just two words in this quote. It means “without a tie” in German. I always thought it was a description of being casual but it appears that it means much more.

Bent Larsen had a monthly column in Kaissiber and in a little box in each column was this:

_______

“Ohne Krawatte”
Unter diesem Motto gibt es raum für alle möglichen Ideen und Fragen. Die Leser von Kaissiber sind eingeladen, Bent Larsen direct zu schreiben

Bent Larsen
Dorrego 180
RA-1640 Martinez
Prov. de Buenos Aires
Argentinien/Argentina

Sie können den Brief in Deutsch abfassen

_______

The use of the two words has recently been explained in Edward Winter’s column in Chess Notes Nos. 10828 and 10835

http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/i...in_New_Orleans

10828 - “Bent Larsen, the former world no. 3 in chess, has revealed that he would never wear a tie while playing because ‘less blood would get to his brain’.”


10835 - Part of a contribution by Bent Larsen, entitled ‘Thoughts about chess in Buenos Aires, Winter 1990’, to his old grammar school’s jubilee book:

‘“You should not stop while the game is good. It is far too good for that.” Quoted from memory from a book by Knud Lundberg. Lundberg is the closest I have come to having an idol. After a national match there was a dinner with mandatory tie, so he ate elsewhere. Generally, I am not very dependent on other people’s ideas, but at an impressionable age I had the experience of Lundberg strengthening me in my own opinion of these scraps of cloth, whose apparent purpose is to restrict the flow of blood to an important part of the body. But as I have little confidence in violent revolutions, I have yielded at times. A hotel in Reykjavik on a Saturday night. The Munich Opera, a tournament opening in Puerto Rico. Searching my memory thoroughly, I think of an Interzonal in Mallorca during which I was installed in a hotel where I could have no supper without putting on a tie. I put up with that because during a tournament you should not let yourself become excited by such matters, as it would ruin your concentration. I also wear a tie for certain concerts at the Teatro Colón. Perhaps I should take it off during the interval.’

Source: Aalborg Katedralskole 450 år (Aalborg, 1990), pages 146-147.

[Wayne Komer]

Great Chess Quotes

Great Chess Quotes

May 21, 2018

Danger in Chess – Bears!

"WARNING: to female members of the European Championship in Slovakia, please be careful when going out for a walk in the evening - we saw a bear next to the hotel and it is not a joke ...."

This message appeared on Facebook of one of the participants of the tournament, Lela Javakhishvili.

This information was confirmed by some other chess players.

[The European Women’s Individual Chess Championship was held in Vysoke Tatry, Slovakia, April 7 – April 20, 2018. It is situated in the High Tatras Mountains that are along the border of northern Slovakia and southern Poland. Predators there include the Eurasian brown bear, the Eurasian lynx, marten and wolf!]

http://www.chess-news.ru/node/24528

[Nigel Hanrahan]

Persians happen to know a thing or two about chess

After US President Donald Trump sabotaged the last, really significant positive thing that his predecessor, Barak Obama, did in foreign policy, by withdrawing from the multi-lateral "Iran nuclear agreement", Asia Times correspondent Pepe Escobar went back to a famous chess-themed book for a quote of what is next:

Predictably, we are back to the late Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski’s book, The Grand Chessboard.

“…Potentially the most dangerous scenario would be an ‘anti-hegemonic’ coalition united not by ideology but by complementary grievances … a grand coalition of China, Russia, perhaps Iran … reminiscent in scale and scope of the challenge posed by the Sino-Soviet bloc, though this time, China would likely be the leader and Russia the follower,” he wrote. “Averting this contingency … will require US geostrategic skill on the western, eastern, and southern perimeters of Eurasia simultaneously.”

But he saved the best for last.

So, Trump has reshuffled the Grand Chessboard. Persians, though, happen to know a thing or two about chess.

Brilliant. And what arch-conservative, cold warrior extreme, Zbig Brzezinski foresaw looks to be coming to fruition. He must be turning in his grave.

A million barrels a day of Iranian oil could disappear from global markets, while China, India and even [US poodles] South Korea and Japan will pick up the slack.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Great chess quotes

Great Chess Quotes

May 7, 2018

From “Vera Menchik A Biography of the First Women’s World Chess Champion, with 350 Games” by Robert B. Tanner, McFarland, 2016.

“As a chess instructor myself, I have been astounded at how little knowledge the majority of modern players have of the history of our sport. It is not unusual to find players with Elo ratings over 2000 who cannot name all of the World Champions or even their own national champion. Ask a 1500 player who Frank Marshall, George Thomas or Salo Flohr were and you are met with a blank stare. Vera Menchik, as well as those above, played a huge role and should be recognized. Chess is not just a game, but a culture with a myriad of aspects in which to dabble.”

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Great chess quotes

Great Chess Quotes

May 5, 2018

Paco Vallejo’s Tax Troubles

This on March 24, 2018 from Peter Doggers at chess.com

https://www.chess.com/news/view/hunt...n-championship

‘Francisco Vallejo Pons left the European Individual Championship, currently underway in Batumi, Georgia, after the fifth round. On Facebook he revealed having troubles in his personal life, most notably being chased by the Spanish tax authority, which is trying to seize more than half a million euros.

"We go back to the year 2011. I play some online poker, for fun, I'm not a gambler by any means. I lost everything, a few thousand and I stopped playing. Then I stopped.

In 2016 I received a letter from the [Spanish tax authority] requesting more than 6 figures! More than half a million euros because I played poker and I lost. It seems a macabre joke, but it is not, from that moment begins a snowball that crushes you."

As it turns out, Vallejo has become the victim of an old Spanish law (which ceased to exist in 2012, a year after he stopped playing poker online) under which any online "gambling" earnings are subject to 47 percent taxes, while any losses cannot be deducted. The Spanish tax authority started to investigate Vallejo in 2016, and looked back for five years, just enough to decide his earnings still fell under the old law.

"As of 2016, lawyers begin, meetings begin with the [Spanish tax authority], I start canceling tournaments, skin infections begin due to nerves, I have to cancel my participation with the national team because I honestly cannot stand the pressure, in more than one game I practically have tears in the eyes.

To finish off all this, it coincides with my mother [losing money due to an investment loss by Santander bank] and with a very serious health infection abroad that nearly ends her life, and which I could not support because the [Spanish tax authority] has already taken everything I had and still claims more...

I thought I could with everything, I thought that bad luck would end one day, that I would continue to fight as if nothing had happened, and I have tried every day, for almost two years. It was a mistake to come to the European Championship, I was not prepared for that, although I would have loved it, the reality is stubborn, but anyway, this "only" is chess."’


That is the setup and this is the notable quote:

Paco Vallejo (tweet on April 15, 2018) - Yesterday night I got a call sharing with me good resolution of the TSCM (Spanish Court). Very good news to stop this craziness about #poker and #taxes. Very happy to share it with all of you!

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Great chess quotes

Great Chess Quotes

May 5, 2018

Clement Freud, the grandson of Sigmund Freud, British intellectual, covered the Fischer-Spassky Match for The Financial Times. I have a scrapbook of the match and some of his columns on the salmon-pink paper with which the FT was printed.

His description of the match appeared in the Financial Times of 8 July 1972 and is reproduced in “A Feast of Freud”, Bantam Press, 2009, a collection of his wittiest writings.

Some excerpts:

A week of waiting for P-Q4

“To attempt to be rational about an event as sensationally irrational as the world chess championship of 1972 is no easy matter. The fact is that for five long days officials, players, observers and prospective cash customers have been so bemused by the human tantrums and quirks of fate surrounding the match – or, to be strictly accurate, non-match-that the basic truth escapes them. A brace of players are about to compete for a prestigious title and a lot of money.

When Fischer failed to show up at the solemn opening ceremony – and for a teetotaller to shun a bunfight at which champagne is the order of the day seems rational to me – the Russians shrugged their shoulders and said, “That Fischer” (which probably sounds better in Russian).

When he was still absent at the time appointed for the commencement of the first game last Sunday, the Soviet delegation had two alternatives: to claim the match by default and leave, or to grin and wait for the challenger to turn up.

They sat tight, and in doing so had the prize money doubled by Mr. James Slater. To put it another way, their forebearance was rewarded by an extra £18,000 if their man lost, £30,000 if he won. They showed no gratitude, and on reflection – by the very nature of things – Mr. Jim Slater is unlikely ever to be voted Soviet Man of the Year…but when Fischer turned up they threatened to walk out.

The reasons, or rather the timing of the intended walkout were obscure and irrational, having about them the insane logic of a man waiting for a delayed train to come into the station before complaining to the railways board that it is too late, “Why did you not complain earlier?”, we asked the Russians over and over again. ”How can we complain that he is late when we don’t know when he will come?”, they replied.”

Two and a half more pages of the madness that had us sitting on the edge of our seats in 1972!

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Great chess quotes

Great Chess Quotes

May 4, 2018

Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, the Indian grandmaster, is the subject of this quote, which is contained in a letter to New in Chess 2018#3:

Socrates or Plato

According to Saravanan (NIC 2018#2), Vidit says he found it difficult to read Homer (“Tough!”), Aristotle and Socrates (“Too Tough”). Reading Socrates isn’t just tough – it’s impossible. He wrote nothing. Our knowledge of Socrates comes mainly from Plato, but we have no idea how accurate Plato’s version is.

Chris Holmes
St. Maur des Fossés, France

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Great chess quotes

Great Chess Quotes

May 1, 2018

We never use a quote from the same incident twice but here we relax that rule because of the colourful write-up of the Bangkok Open by Peter Frost:

http://bangkokchess.com/peter-frosts...pen/#more-6122

"Round 4 saw the most talked about incident of the tournament. Short appeared to be on the verge of overcoming the determined resistance of Gukesh, having reached an ending with two extra pawns. Although the presence of bishops of opposite colours presented some technical difficulties, the Englishman seemed to be closing in on the full point. With a full five minutes remaining on his clock, Nigel made his move, and wrote it down on his scoresheet. He completely forgot to press his clock. The clock began to run down. Nigel, engrossed in the position, and assuming that his opponent's clock was running, never again looked at the clock. Gukesh, keeping very still, watched the seconds counting down from the corner of his eye with mounting anticipation.

Pandemonium broke out when 0.00 finally appeared on Nigel's clock. Eleven-year old Gukesh, unable to contain himself, jumped up and down in excitement next to the table ("in glee", the vanquished GM later said). Short, in a state of shock at his oversight and anger at his opponent's conduct, marched out of the room, leaving the scoresheets unsigned. It is understood that no-one stopped him to ask for a photo on this occasion.

It was also interesting to observe the two marquee players in action. Nigel Short wears a near permanent frown when playing, and looks constantly worried and fidgety. He seems rather like a schoolboy who is grappling with a maths problem that is far too hard for him.

Jan Gustafsson's fine positional sense enables him to know exactly where to place each piece, but he is at a total loss as to where to put his exceptionally long legs. One moment they are wrapped around his chair in the manner of a python strangling its prey, and the next they are flung off to the side and hoisted against the wall. He would benefit greatly from a false floor in which to deposit his bottom quarter."

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Great chess quotes

Great Chess Quotes

April 22, 2018

Arthur Koestler (1905-1983) was a Hungarian-British author and journalist. At the start of WWII he was imprisoned as an enemy alien and spent six weeks in London's Pentonville Prison before being released in December 1940.

From the Preface to the 1954 edition of his Scum of the Earth, as quoted in Chess Note No. 10803

http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/i...rthur_Koestler

"The second art that I acquired in Pentonville was so-called 'Marseilles chess.' It was invented by an elderly Frenchman, with a red scarf round his neck, who taught it to me during exercise hours. In this game, each player in turn makes two moves instead of one - the only restriction being that the first of the two moves should not be a check to the king. To the chess-addict this is a nerve-racking experience which shatters his outlook and upsets all his values. Hitler and the Gestapo have faded into the past, but the memory of Marseilles chess in Pentonville still makes me shudder."

London, 1954

[Frank Dixon]

Re: Great chess quotes

"Chess is the gymnasium of the mind."
[Blaise Pascal, 1623-1662, super-talented French polymath. He was a mathematician, physicist, engineer, writer, and Catholic theologian.]

[Frank Dixon]

Re: Great chess quotes

"Chess is the gymnasium of the mind."
[Blaise Pascal, ultra-talented French polymath, lived from 1623-1662. He was a mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and Catholic theologian.]

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Great chess quotes

Great Chess Quotes

April 16, 2018

Both Jan Gustafsson and Nigel Short are playing in the Bangkok/Thailand Open.

Today, in the fourth round Nigel was about to win his game and then...

Nigel Short (tweet) - "Lose with dignity they say. I will try better next time - although it is a bit hard when your opponent is fully aware that you have not pressed your clock (in a winning position) and jumps up and down with glee the moment your flag falls."

The game for historical purposes:

Bangkok Open 2018
Round 4, Apr. 16
Gukesh, D. - Short, Nigel
A04 Reti

1.Nf3 c5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 Na6 6.O-O O-O 7.a3 d5 8.b4 b6 9.Bf4 cxd4 10.cxd4 Nc7 11.Nc3 Bb7 12.Rc1 Rc8 13.b5 Ne4 14.Nxe4 dxe4 15.Bxc7 Rxc7 16.Ne5 Rxc1 17.Qxc1 Qxd4 18.Nc6 Bxc6 19.bxc6 Rc8 20.Qc2 f5 21.Qb3+ Kf8 22.Rd1 Qe5 23.Rd5 Qc3 24.Qxc3 Bxc3 25.g4 e6 26.Rd6 Ke7 27.Rd7+ Kf6 28.Rxa7 h6 29.c7 Be5 30.Rb7 Bxc7 31.e3 Bd8 32.h3 Ra8 33.Bf1 Rxa3 34.Rb8 Bc7 35.Rc8 Rc3 36.Kg2 g5 37.gxf5 exf5 38.Rf8+ Ke5 39.Ba6 Rc6 40.Bc8 Rf6 41.Re8+ Kd6 42.f3 exf3+ 43.Kxf3 b5 44.e4 fxe4+ 45.Kxe4 b4 46.Kd3 Kd5 47.Bg4 Bd6 48.Rd8 Ke5 49.Re8+ Kd5 50.Rd8 Rf4 51.Kc2 Rf2+ 52.Kb3 Rf8 53.Rd7 Ke5 54.Rh7 Rf6 55.Rh8 Bf8 56.Rh7 Ra6 57.Rh8 Ra3+ 58.Kc2 Ra2+ 1-0

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Great chess quotes

Great Chess Quotes

April 11, 2018

The first title match between Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov, in 1985, stretched to 46 games and nearly five months play.

From the obituary of Florencio Campomanes, former FIDE President, in the New York Times, May 2010:

"Both men were clearly worn. Mr. Karpov, a man of small stature to begin with, had lost more than 20 pounds from the pressure and strain of the match. He starting playing listlessly and making mistakes, losing the 47th and 48th games. The match had seemed to reach a turning point.

That was when Mr. Campomanes stepped in. At a raucous news conference in February 1985, he halted the match, saying that both men's health was deteriorating and that the match was unwinnable. Though Mr. Karpov protested, saying he wanted to continue, and Mr. Kasparov began shouting that he did, too, Mr. Campomanes would not change his mind."

https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/w...ampomanes.html
_______

From The Chess Mind, the blog of Dennis Monokroussos

TCEC SUPERFINAL, WAITING FOR CAMPOMANES

SUNDAY, APRIL 8, 2018

"The 100-game superfinal between Stockfish and Houdini has been a tale of three matches. In the first "match", Stockfish won three games and drew 17. In the next Stockfish steamrolled Houdini by an 11-4 margin, losing one game but winning eight. And then it slowed down: there were six draws, then two more Stockfish wins, and since then there have been 16 draws in a row. If this keeps up, Florencio Campomanes will be called in on a mission of mercy to stop the match, with a shorter match scheduled in about six months."

http://www.thechessmind.net/blog/201...ampomanes.html