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  • Great Chess Quotes

    September 8, 2019

    International Rating List

    In the early 1960s, Arpad Elo was working on his rating system for the United States Chess Federation.

    It could also be used to rate present and past masters. I can remember reading this in the August 1962 issue of Chess Life and the mention of three standard tournaments remained forever in my memory:

    It might be of some interest to describe the procedure that was used to obtain the present ratings. Actually this rating study began with three tournaments, namely, Wiesbaden 1880; Berlin 1881 and Vienna 1882. These three tournaments were selected since the over-all strength of the competition was just about the same in all three; (L. Paulsen for example scored 7.5-7.5; 8-8 and 16.5-15.5 in the respective events) and 15 of the leading players of the day participated in at least two of the tournaments. The samples on these 15 players, who might be designated now as the primary standards, comprised anywhere from 31 to 63 games. As it turns out a 31 game sample of the play of an individual is sufficient to determine the class of the player with what is termed in statistics as “reasonable certainty,” i.e. with a 95% probability. Essentially the methods described in the June 1961 CHESS LIFE article by the writer were used to establish the ratings of the 15 individuals with respect to the norm of the group and this norm in turn was arbitrarily designated as zero rating. The members of the initial group then served as standards of comparison in other events and so eventually as subsequent tournaments were rated more and more players were brought into the rating list. This procedure was carried through an eighty year period right down to 1963 and during the process there were rated: (a) every large international tournament (b) many smaller tournaments of international scope and (c) a great number of tournaments of national scope which, however, include international masters.

    Actually it is not essential to rate every tournament in which a player participated to obtain a trustworthy rating for him. It is more important to have samples of his performances which are statistically adequate and which are of recent origin.

    Throughout the 80 year period the calculations of the ratings were made with respect to the arbitrary norm mentioned above and only at the end was the conversion made to the USCF scale.

    This conversion presented no particular problem wince the many US masters who competed in international events also competed in strictly domestic events with other US players whose ratings were well established on the USCF scale.

    Thus essentially only a splicing of the two scales were required since the meaning of the class interval or of any given difference in rating is identical on the two scales. It might be noted, however, that the ratings of some of the US senior masters have been revised as a consequence of their performances in recent international tournaments.

    Arpad Elo, International Rating List in Chess Life , August 1962, p. 165

    _________

    It is of interest to look at that first international rating list. These from that:

    Botvinnik 2736
    Euwe 2553
    Fischer 2713
    Geller 2655
    Korchnoi 2667
    Petrosian 2674
    Reshevsky 2597
    Smyslov 2601
    Spassky 2663
    Tal 2706
    Yanofsky 2460

    Comment


    • Very informative. In essence the rating system was first worked out with calculations from three tournaments in 1880, 1881, and 1882 and continued through to 1963 where the first ratings were published to the public. Is that correct? - or am I misunderstanding. (I had long thought the first published list was in 1970 - but that might have been the first list in Informant)

      Comment


      • Great Chess Quotes

        September 16, 2019

        Chess and Rugby

        From Ian Rogers’ Twitter Page:

        Just came across a remarkable book, Homo Erudiens by Renato Tribuiani; a training manual for those wishing to master both chess and rugby, with diagrams showing similar combinations in both. Realising how rarely I hear chess commentators say: "It's a game of rugby out there."

        https://twitter.com/GMIanRogers

        ____________

        Amazon.it has the book for the low price of 8 euros (postage extra). But, could I get through 104 pages of rugby and chess in Italian?

        Comment


        • Great Chess Quotes

          September 25, 2019

          B.H. Wood and Gijon

          The Gijon International Chess Tournaments 1944-1965 by the Castedos has recently been published by McFarland. Most players, I think, would say that there could not be enough for them in the 244 pages to warrant buying the book.

          But there are many interesting aspects to the book – games from Alekhine’s victory in the first tournament in 1944, Rossolimo’s from 1949 and Larsen’s from 1956. The authors were able to interview Bent Larsen by telephone from Buenos Aires, shortly before his death, about his participation in and memories of that tournament.

          Duncan Suttles played at Gijon in 1965.

          Among the delightful surprises, is a long (6-page) biography of B.H. Wood. Barry Wood was the legendary founder and editor of CHESS magazine from Sutton Coldfield. Information was supplied by Wood’s four children and much of it I have not seen before.

          Wood played in Gijon in 1947, 1948 and 1951. He wrote of the last tournament there:

          “As ever, the tournament was marked above all by friendliness and hospitality which touched heights which only those who have experienced it can imagine.”

          And now for the relevant quote about all this, from Stewart Reuben writing in the ECForum:

          After the Second World War, the Soviet Union sought to have Spain barred from FIDE. Barry Wood was the BCF Delegate at the time. He got up and made a speech about Gens una Sumus. That was the last heard of the Soviet proposal. Thus Barry was always held in high esteem in Spain.

          He would arrive at the border and 'our good friend, BH Wood’, would be ushered straight through.

          https://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic...e85f5e93e232b0

          Comment


          • Originally posted by Wayne Komer View Post
            Great Chess Quotes

            September 16, 2019

            Chess and Rugby

            From Ian Rogers’ Twitter Page:

            Just came across a remarkable book, Homo Erudiens by Renato Tribuiani; a training manual for those wishing to master both chess and rugby, with diagrams showing similar combinations in both. Realising how rarely I hear chess commentators say: "It's a game of rugby out there."

            https://twitter.com/GMIanRogers

            ____________

            Amazon.it has the book for the low price of 8 euros (postage extra). But, could I get through 104 pages of rugby and chess in Italian?
            Several chess problems from the book:

            https://translate.google.com/transla...y/&prev=search

            Comment


            • Originally posted by Wayne Komer View Post
              Great Chess Quotes

              September 8, 2019

              International Rating List

              In the early 1960s, Arpad Elo was working on his rating system for the United States Chess Federation.

              . . . . ..
              It is of interest to look at that first international rating list. These from that:

              Botvinnik 2736
              Euwe 2553
              Fischer 2713
              Geller 2655
              Korchnoi 2667
              Petrosian 2674
              Reshevsky 2597
              Smyslov 2601
              Spassky 2663
              Tal 2706
              Yanofsky 2460
              June 1967

              THE UNITED STATES CHESS FEDERATION INTERNATIONAL RATING LIST:

              1 Spassky, Boris V. URS 2670
              1= Fischer, Robert James USA 2670
              3 Petrosian, Tigran URS 2660
              4 Botvinnik, Mikhail URS 2650
              4= Tal, Mikhail N. URS 2650
              6 Stein, Leonid URS 2640
              7 Geller, Efim P. URS 2630
              8 Larsen, Bent DEN 2620
              8= Portisch, Lajos HUN 2620
              8= Korchnoi, Viktor URS 2620
              8= Polugaevsky, Lev URS 2620

              The list eventually became accepted by FIDE.

              https://www.olimpbase.org/Elo/Elo196706e.html

              And looking at historical EDO ratings:

              Vienna International 1882
              Name Edo Score / Games
              Steinitz, Wilhelm 2686 22 / 32
              Winawer, Szymon 2620 22 / 32
              Mason, James 2615 21 / 32
              Mackenzie, George 2593 20.5 / 32
              Zukertort, Johannes 2650 19.5 / 31
              Blackburne, Joseph 2601 19.5 / 32
              Englisch, Berthold 2557 18.5 / 33
              Paulsen, Louis 2523 16.5 / 32
              Wittek, Alexander 2494 15 / 31
              Weiss, Miksa 2493 13.5 / 31
              Hrubý, Vincenz 2529 14 / 32
              Schwarz, Adolf 2489 11 / 29
              Chigorin, Mikhail 2514 12 / 32
              Meitner, Philipp 2424 10 / 31
              Bird, Henry 2497 11 / 28
              Ware, Preston 2329 8 / 31
              Noa, Josef 2458 9 / 17
              Fleissig, Bernhard 2444 6 / 20

              http://www.edochess.ca/tournaments/t247.html

              Comment


              • Great Chess Quotes

                September 29, 2019

                Justification

                Recently, on the death of Pal Benko, as a personal tribute, I purchased two booklets with the games of Pal Benko vs Mikhail Tal and Bobby Fischer vs Pal Benko. Both were copyright 2019.

                The curious thing about them is that the games are given in English Descriptive Notation. Personally, I have nothing against that system – I am sure I have over a thousand chess books using it. But you would think, to be saleable world-wide in this era, that algebraic would be preferable.

                On the back of each booklet is the justification for the use:

                1. Literacy is knowledge, and knowledge is victory. I, (the author), have a sizeable library of old chess books in English Descriptive. It gives me great pleasure to travel through those old books, finding forgotten lines, giving them an update with some new analysis. It gives me even greater pleasure to surprise my opponents with these neglected gems, which they scorn in their algebraic-fueled ignorance. Ha!

                2. The soullessness of the machine. Algebraic notation has all the virtues of a machine: simple, ruthless, efficient. It has all the vices of a machine: simple, ruthless, efficient. Descriptive notation is quirky, variable, and stylish. Which do you prefer?

                3. Part of the Madding Crowd. Everyone uses algebraic! Is this you? Are you a member of the madding crowd? Or are you an individual, seeking to express yourself? You can give expression to your artistic nature with descriptive, but you can’t with algebraic.

                4. Be amused, be very amused. Grandmaster Raymond Keene noted that you can find little word games in descriptive, for example, repetition: 18.BxP BxP, 18.BxP BxP. You can’t find that in algebraic.

                5. It is natural not artificial. Emanuel Lasker, who came from Germany, favored descriptive over algebraic because, he said, descriptive follows the natural flow of the game. As each move is made it is written from the perspective of either White or Black, just as the game itself progresses. It is not all from White’s perspective, which is artificial.

                6. It frustrates the ignorant. There is great pleasure in letting someone attempt to read your scoresheet when he is unlettered in descriptive.

                Comment


                • Great Chess Quotes

                  October 6, 2019

                  World Chess again

                  World Chess has questionable marketing. In previous quote
                  #529, blockchains were discussed. The logo for the WCC 2018 is infamous.

                  Now, this description of the entry zone for a chess club. I find the allusion to Mercer Hotel lobby bar cryptic.

                  When designing an entry zone for a hip chess club, we were drawn to neon. WCCM, the first club we launched, is designed like part NYC Chinatown massage parlor, part Mercer Hotel lobby bar. #chess The first one is in Moscow. What city should be next?

                  https://twitter.com/theworldchess?re...ess-news.ru%2F

                  Recall the Spassky cocktail at the World Chess Club Moscow bar:

                  This is "Spassky", one of the most inventive cocktails.[it involves sprouts distillation, chilled purified tomato water, miniature onion as garnish]. Developed by World Chess Club Moscow in the very same building where Spassky lived! TimeOut called it best cocktail of the season.

                  If you are in Moscow:

                  https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Restauran...al_Russia.html

                  Comment


                  • from the French film "Fahim, the Little Chess Prince", the great French actor Gerard Depardieu plays French FM Xavier Parmentier (1963-2016) ...

                    "There are more adventures on the board than on all the high seas."

                    p.s. I just have the quote from the trailer for the film ... so there is no confirmation that the words are actually from FM Parmentier.
                    Dogs will bark, but the caravan of chess moves on.

                    Comment


                    • Great Chess Quotes

                      Oct. 20, 2019

                      The Oldest at the Strongest

                      From the EC Forum under the heading of FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2019 – Isle of Man, early this morning:

                      Keith Arkell – That terrifying moment when you realise that of the 152 players in action tomorrow, in the strongest tournament in the history of chess (not including Round-Robins), you are the OLDEST!

                      And this reply three hours later:

                      John Moore - Morning Keith. Vlastimil Jansa is 76 so you will have to settle for being second oldest!


                      https://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic...0262c3#p236125

                      Later: Leonard Barden chimes in and overturns everything by writing – Jansa has the bye in round 10

                      Just for the record, Arkell drew his game with Gonzales with a perpetual in 78 moves.
                      Last edited by Wayne Komer; Sunday, 20th October, 2019, 10:51 PM.

                      Comment


                      • The King is a fighting piece.Use it.-Steinitz

                        Comment


                        • Touchpiece Magic:In a split second you touch a piece you'll see more in the position than the last thirty minutes you spent studying it.--Donner

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                          • Great Chess Quotes

                            October 20, 2019

                            Harry Golombek was an editor of The British Chess Magazine in the 60s and 70s, an arbiter of the World Chess Championship matches between 1954 until 1972 and also one of the Bletchley Park codebreakers during WWII.

                            In the BCM for March 1956, he annotated an Alekhine game from 1918. In it, the opponent Evensson as Black played 6….KxB.

                            Golombek apparently forgot about the king move and twice on moves 8 and 13, he recommended castling for Black!

                            Well, the next month, in April, in BCM he had to write this:

                            A Note on Illegal Castling

                            I suppose I should apologize for my double endeavour at a posthumous swindle of Alekhine in the game where I recommend that Black should Castle after having moved his King, but readers have had such fun in reproving my lapse that regrets seem unnecessary.

                            An old chess opponent of mine, Dr. Aitken, writes: “I can see after this rather sinister revelation of your illegal proclivities I shall have to be extremely wide awake when I next meet you!” W. H. Cozens betrays his murky past by stating: “I have tried this device on several occasions but so far without success.” D. J. Youston merely sends a card giving the number of the game and the exclamation “Oh-Oh!”

                            Then there are some anonymous verses from Hampstead running as follows –

                            When Smyslov with Olympian might
                            In Moscow’s halls Botwinnik fought
                            Who reigned as judge amid the fight?
                            Whose frown upheld the code of sport?

                            Oh, tell us! Speak the great one’s name
                            Whose knowledge thus was deeply proved!
                            Hush! He who twice notes in one short game,
                            A King should Castle, having moved!

                            All in all, readers appear to have enjoyed themselves so much that perhaps I ought to add a deliberate mistake each month; but perhaps this might not be good policy since readers in their search for the one, might well stumble upon hundreds.

                            H.G.

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

                            Comment


                            • GM Susan Polgar: Who has the right to play Chess God and decide what achievements are good and what are meaningless?
                              Hooray for Susan Polgar and may she keep kicking chess bigots where the sun don't shine.

                              And make them cry for their mama!!
                              Dogs will bark, but the caravan of chess moves on.

                              Comment


                              • Colin Strother (Democratic strategist based in Texas) describes the battle over impeachment messaging this way:

                                "We have this thing in Texas about playing chess against a chicken. He'll just knock over all the pieces and crap on the board, then strut around like he won the game."

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