Great chess quotes

[Wayne Komer]

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Great Chess Quotes

April 4, 2017

Viktor Korchnoi’s record in the Olympiad, while participating for the USSR is as Dan said:

Year Games Won Drew Lost

1974 15 8 7 0
1972 15 8 6 1
1970 15 8 6 1
1968 13 9 4 0
1966 13 9 3 1
1960 13 8 5 0

Total 84 50 31 3

He did not take part in 1962 or 1964.

He played in 11 Olympiads for Switzerland from 1978 to 2008. All the statistics can be found at:

www.olimpbase.org/players/c6ak4qqi.html
________

While at the olimpbase site, I looked in on Bobby Fischer’s stats. This was because in a tournament last year, a couple of guys in the online chat-room, questioned if Fischer had ever played at an Olympiad!

He had four appearances, 1960, 1962, 1966 and 1970 for 65 games, 40 wins, 18 draws and 7 losses.

www.olimpbase.org/players/q8aycaol.html

[Dan Scoones]

Re: Great Chess Quotes

An interesting post by Wayne Komer that set me wondering about Viktor Korchnoi's Olympiad record. If one looks only at his participation on Soviet teams, his result is comparable to Botvinnik's or Kasparov's: +50 -3 =31 from 84 games. Of course his record declines if one includes his later years. He played his final Olympiad when he was 77 years old.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Great Chess Quotes

Great Chess Quotes

April 5, 2017

The fight over resignation

"I resign, I resign, I resign."

During a Presidential Board Meeting of FIDE in Athens on March 26, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, thrice said he would resign.

Nigel Freeman, George Makropoulos and the rest of the Board took Kirsan at his word and accepted his resignation.

Recanting what he said, Kirsan feels he was stabbed in the back by his formerly loyal sub-lieutenants.
_______

Enough history. Two tweets from Nigel Short:

According to FIDE Exec. Director, Nigel Freeman, Kirsan thrice repeated "I divorce you!" which we all know constitutes legal fact.

The 2 most despised men (ever?) in chess politics, Kirsan & Makro, are involved in a fight to the death. It is so beautiful to watch :)

[Mathieu Cloutier]

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"I resign, I resign, I resign."

Said no chess player ever. :p

[Thomas Bean]

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"I resign, I resign, I resign."

Alleged chess quote.

[Wayne Komer]

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Great Chess Quotes

April 3, 2017

Best Team Player Ever

From the ECForum and Nick Burrows:

http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic....197768#p197768

I would be very surprised if anyone can beat the record of Tigran Petrosian:

6 individual Olympiad gold medals (9 team golds) with a record of 78 wins, 50 draws, 1 loss!

Any other candidates?
__________

Christopher Kreuzer on the same forum, discussed the team records last year after Baku:

http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic....rt=735#p188048

Cripes, some of these Soviet Olympiad records are incredibly impressive.

(The largest number of [Open] Olympiad games without losing by anyone is 19.)

Petrosian played 129 games and only lost one.
Bronstein played 49 games and lost one.
Spassky played 135 games and lost two.
Smyslov played 113 games and lost two.
Tal played 101 games and lost two.
Karpov played 68 games and lost two.
Botvinnik played 73 games and lost three.
Kasparov played 82 games and lost three.
Kramnik (before the 2016 Olympiad) had played 73 and lost three.
Kramnik (after the 2016 Olympiad) has played 81 and lost three.*
Polugaevsky played 76 games and lost four.

Petrosian's one loss was to Huebner at Skopje in 1972 when he lost on time at move 37 in a Rook and pawn ending that he might well have held.
________________

* Kramnik played 8 games at the Baku Olympiad 2016 and lost none. Among his opponents were Eljanov, Nakamura, Radjabov and Adhiban.

http://www.chess-results.com/tnr2328...=1&art=9&snr=4

[Wayne Komer]

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Great Chess Quotes

March 31, 2017

There are some grandmasters that ordinary players venerate. Three of these are Tal, Jobava and Ivanchuk:

http://forum.chesstalk.com/showthrea...t=players+love

A fourth must surely be David Bronstein.

I remember laughing at the following written by Gligoric in his book on World Championships. David gets the goat of the patriarch Botvinnik in 1951.

Later on, he spends fifty minutes to make his first move against Boleslavsky in their Match of 1950:


Bronstein was a very correct player, as was also Botvinnik. But he also had his weaknesses; he loved to argue. Botvinnik, a very suspicious man (did the times in which his career began make him such?) proposed an innovation before their match started; namely that whenever the game was adjourned the secret move should be sealed in two separate envelopes, instead of one as was the custom. The second envelope should be handed to the assistant referee in order to prevent any dishonesty should the referee be a partisan of either one of the rivals (what an idea!) and should open the envelope, thus making it possible for the player to alter his move should he find by analysis that he had not sealed the best one.

Botvinnik considered that his request was a simple and happy solution in view of the importance of the match; and Bronstein was pleased that he had found a subject for argument. Botvinnik did not know Bronstein’s weakness and it irritated him that the matter was discussed for a whole month during the negotiations before the match. Bronstein painstakingly analyzed every possible consequence and rejoiced if he found defects in Botvinnik’s proposal. Every day brought a fresh comment from Bronstein and Botvinnik became more and more irritated. What if the move written in in the two envelopes was not identical? Botvinnik replied angrily and curtly: “Then the person concerned loses the game by default!” Finally Bronstein agreed to Botvinnik’s demands. But after what protracted negotiations!
_________

There are men who make a religion of their profession. Their devotion to their calling resembles the service of a deity, which they have themselves created. Chess is not everywhere recognized as a vocation but if this noble game has its priests, then Bronstein was a priest of the spirit of chess.

Bronstein’s approach to a game was like entering into a trance. He often did not make the first move for a long time and the spectators were forced to go on looking at the demonstration board still in the initial position. Perhaps the game had not yet begun? But Bronstein’s clock had been ticking away, spilling out time, which could later prove precious to him. There must have been some singular beauty, some kind of enchantment, which the dance of the pieces evoked in the bowed head of this bald young man. In truth, he never repeated his record of watching the two motionless rows of pieces for fifty minutes, as in one match-game against Boleslavsky. Had he lost his sense of reality and practicality? Finally, he ‘remembered’ where he was and began to play.

From pages 4 and 5
The World Chess Championship
Part One
S. Gligoric, R. G. Wade
B. T. Batsford, London
1972

[Peter McKillop]

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Another 'roastee' of the Crown was Archbishop Thomas Cranmer who was burnt at the stake in 1556. This doesn't have anything to do with chess but Cranmer supervised and partially wrote the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer with the first edition published in 1549. I've always liked the first few words of Cranmer's preface to the B of CP because they so simply summarize humankind's place in the big picture:

"THERE was never any thing by the wit of man so well devised, or so surely established, which (in continuance of time) hath not been corrupted..."

[Wayne Komer]

Great Chess Quotes

Great Chess Quotes

March 23, 2017

The Ridley Offer

There is quite a charming article on a chess term in the Muskogee Phoenix (Oklahoma) by Eric Morrow.

http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/news/...603b5545f.html

It combines Church History and chess. I cannot tell whether the term "Ridley Offer" is newly coined or whether it has been around for a long time.



2K5/bP6/8/1k6/5B2/8/8/8 w - - 0 1


Bishop Nicholas Ridley was burned at the stake for supporting the Church of England against the Roman Catholic Church in 1555. For his sacrifice, he is known as one of the Oxford Martyrs. Ridley Hall in Cambridge, England, was founded in 1881 in his memory for the training of Anglican priests; Ridley College in Canada and Ridley Melbourne, which is a theological college, were founded in his honor in 1889 and 1910, respectfully. And thus this week’s move is named in his honor: The Ridley Offer.

White’s pawn on b7 seeks to promote on b8, which is a dark-square. Black’s dark-square bishop simply seeks to sacrifice itself for the pawn when it promotes.

This would leave white with a king and bishop, only. Since this is not enough to mate, the game is drawn.

White wins by moving its bishop to e3.

This is the Ridley Offer. White’s bishop lures black’s bishop away from the a7-square and its eye on b8.
_________

Ridley College is in St. Catharines, Ontario - once a private boarding school for boys, now co-ed.

A quote from The Works of Nicholas Ridley (1841):

He using all kinds of ways to mortify himself, was given to much prayer and contemplation: for duly every morning, so soon as his apparel was done upon him, he went forthwith to his bedchamber, and there upon his knees prayed the space of half an hour, which being done, immediately went to his study, (if there came no other business to interrupt him,) where he continued till ten of the clock, and then came to common prayer, daily used in his house. The prayers being done he went to dinner where he used little talk, except otherwise occasion by some had been ministered and then was it sober, discreet, and wise, and sometimes merry as cause required.

The dinner done, which was not very long, he used to sit an hour or thereabouts talking or playing at the chess: that done, he returned to his study.

[Nigel Hanrahan]

Little moves and big differences

It's the little moves that often make a big difference.

from Understanding Chess Middlegames, p.47, 2014.

[Wayne Komer]

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Great Chess Quotes

March 14, 2017

Hou Yifan’s Protest

In the last round of the Gibraltar tournament this year, WGM and World Champion Hou Yifan lost her game in just five moves.

Apparently she was upset that in the first nine rounds of the tournament, she had to play seven female players and suspected something was fishy with the pairings.

This is the way she protested – by obviously throwing the game.

Tests conducted after the tournament was over confirmed that the pairing was absolutely correct.

She has been praised for her brave stand and also condemned for unsportsmanlike conduct and had it suggested that she should not be allowed to play in FIDE tournaments for six months.

People have stated that they know statistics and there is something fishy about getting seven female opponents in a row. Others have said that they know statistics too and the pairings were correct.

Columnist Gregory Serper for chess.com has given a history of such protests in an article:

https://www.chess.com/article/view/w...layers-protest

citing Heubner-Rogoff (1972) and Miles-Heubner (1985) among others.

His ringing phrase for such happenings:

Losing a game in a protest is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Great Chess Quotes

Great Chess Quotes

March 13, 2017

The American Chess Magazine that debuted before the World Championship Match in New York (Nov. 2016) has yet to send out its second issue.

In the meantime it is touting a package of video lessons called The Shankland Method.

The advertising copy appears to be written by someone with a great deal of enthusiasm but little knowledge of premium chess.

These three claims:

- Discover the simple strategy Kramnik followed to leave Nigel Short busted and embarrassed in under 20 moves as white (hint: Kramnik didn’t use or need any tactics in this game!)

- Learn the powerful opening preparation method that helped Anand predict the first 24 moves of an important game and win virtually without playing (you’ll soon begin to do this regularly in your own tournament games!)

- Why in a critical game, Kasparov sacrificed his entire queen for a rook, then went on to dominate an opponent who most normal GMs are terrified of! (The formula for such deep sacrifices is revealed inside!)

_________

I should like to play over that Kasparov game. Did he have the option to sacrificing part of his queen at any time or just the entire queen?

[Hans Jung]

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and dont forget the Lions Defence of the anti - Philidor, Lions Paw Lions Cave gambit.

[Wayne Komer]

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Great Chess Quotes

March 12, 2017

Back in April of 2015 John Coleman asked on this forum:

For a lecture I'm giving to beginners, does anyone know approximately how many books are available on the Sicilian? Just approximately.

http://forum.chesstalk.com/showthrea...lian#post93825

A consensus was that there were then 300 to 350 such books.

I made the point that there were any number of Harlequin romances with “Sicilian” (a romantic figure) in the title.

Chess players as a rule are probably not aware how bizarre some of the opening book titles may appear to the general public. For example, Accelerated Dragons by Silman, The Complete Polar Bear System by Danielsen, The Diamond Dutch by Moskalenko and The Fighting Fajarowicz by Harding.

Last month, a friend asked what type of chess books I collected and I sent her a print-out of one page of my acquisitions in excel. I chose Sicilian openings specifically.

Her reply:

A lot of people would be surprised that many of these titles are about chess.

Consider – she knows that The Sicilian is a book by Mario Puzo, which continues The Godfather saga. What must she think when she sees The Most Flexible Sicilian by Delchev and Semkov or Attacking the Flexible Sicilian by Semkov and Kotronias? It boggles the mind!

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Great Chess Quotes

Great Chess Quotes

February 28, 2017

The Sharjah GP tournament finished recently. It has been criticized as being hastily thrown together with little initial advertising. There was no “no-draw before move 30” law and the Swiss format seemed unsuitable.

74% of the games were drawn and, of those 60 draws, 18 ended in 23 moves or less, often with almost all the pieces still on the board.

http://en.chessbase.com/post/grischu...ide-grand-prix

And what did the participants have to say? This from the Facebook of Pavel Eljanov:

Was in very bad form in Sharjah but finished with two wins and reasonably acceptable 50% overall. It was well-organised - local people and World Chess (Agon?) were very friendly and tried hard to show a sincere hospitality!

Concerning chess content, it was one of the most boring tournaments I ever played with so many quick draws every round.

It's a complex topic but it seems that for the sake of attractiveness there should be invented some kind of no draw offer rule in every tournament.

As usual I'm very much grateful for all support I had before and during tournament! I'll try to play better in the next stages.

https://www.facebook.com/eljanov/pos...10926774836848