ADDICTS’ CORNER

Mike Fox and Richard James reach King against King

Goulash

Nosing round the North West Chess bookstall at the most recent Richmond Rapidplay we came across a book called 100 Hires Ember 100 Sakkjatszmaja, by Mario Papp. It's in Hungarian, in case you were wondering. No, we don't know any Hungarian, but if you do, and you'd like to offer to translate some of it for us, we'd love to hear from you. No financial reward, we're afraid, but we can offer you a truly wonderful FARCE Grandmaster Certificate in exchange.
Anyway, the book comes in 100 sections, each featuring a chess-playing celebrity or a chess player who excelled in another field (from Philidor to Hübner). As you might expect, it's full of obscure Hungarians and not-so-obscure Russians (with Taimanov a notable absentee).
Research is poor to non-existent: all the usual suspects are there, hoax Napoleonic games and Papal problems, the spoof Stalin game and the misattributed Einstein game.
But we did find quite a few games we hadn't come across before, as well as the full score of a couple of games we only had in part in T(EM)CCA.
We'd previously only seen the conclusion of the game Maczuski-Turgenev (TEMCCA p44). Here, in full, is how the man with the largest brain ever recorded beat a master. Remarkably, the game transposed into the Sämisch variation of the Nimzo-Indian, 35 years before the birth of Sämisch and 25 years before the birth of Nimzowitsch.

Ladislav Maczuski - Ivan Turgenev
Paris 1861
Nimzo-Indian Defence Sämisch Variation (by transposition)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Qa5 7.Bd2 Nf6 8.Qc2 Bd7 9.e4 dxe4 10.fxe4 cxd4 11.cxd4 Qh5 12.Nf3 Qg6 13.Bd3 Qxg2 14.Rf1 Nc6 15.0-0-0 Ng4 16.Rde1 h6 17.d5 Nce5 18.Nxe5 Nxe5 19.Rg1 Qf3 20.Re3 Qf6 21.Bc3 Nxd3+ 22.Qxd3 Qe7 23.Bxg7 Rg8 24.Reg3 0-0-0 25.Qe3 b6 26.Qxh6 Qc5 27.Bd4 Qxc4+ 28.Rc3 Rxg1+ 29.Kd2 Qxc3+ 30.Kxc3 Rg4 31.Qh5 Rf4 32.Qe5 Rf3+ 33.Kb2 Rg8 34.Bc3 Ba4 35.Qd4 Rg2+ 36.Bd2 Bd7 37.h4 Rff2 38.Kc3 Rxd2 39.Qh8+ Kb7 40.h5 exd5 41.exd5 Bf5 42.h6 Rxd5 43.Qf6 Rc2+ 44.Kb4 a5+ 45.Ka4 Rc7 46.Kb3 Rb5+ 47.Ka4 Bd7 0-1

Mathematicians will be familiar with the name Andrey Andreyevich Markov (1856-1922), who gave his name to the Markov Process and the Markov Chain. If you're not a mathematician, the following definitions from the OED will make everything clear.
Markov Process: any stochastic process for which the probabilities of the different future states depend only on the existing state and not on how that state was arrived at.
Markov Chain: A Markov process in which there are a denumerable number of possible states or in which transitions between states occur at discrete time intervals (freq. with constant transition probabilities).
Quite.
It seems that Markov was quite a chess player. Here he is defeating Chigorin.

Andrey Markov - Mikhail Chigorin
Moscow 10.08.1890
Two Knights Defence
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Be2 h6 9.Nh3 g5 10.c3 Qd5 11.Bf3 e4 12.Be2 Bd6 13.b4 Nc4 14.Qb3 Ne5 15.c4 Qe6 16.c5 Bc7 17.Qxe6+ Bxe6 18.Nc3 Nd3+ 19.Bxd3 exd3 20.Bb2 0-0 21.f3 Bxh3 22.gxh3 Rfe8+ 23.Kd1 Re6 24.a4 Rae8 25.Ra3 Bxh2 26.Na2 Nd5 27.Rxd3 Bg3 28.Bc3 Bf2 29.Kc2 a6 30.Rf1 Bg3

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+r+k+(
7+-+-+p+-'
6p+p+r+-zp&
5+-zPn+-zp-%
4PzP-+-+-+$
3+-vLR+PvlP#
2N+KzP-+-+"
1+-+-+R+-!
xabcdefghy
31.Rxd5 cxd5 32.b5 axb5 33.axb5 Rd8 34.Bd4 Kh7 35.Nb4 Kg6 36.b6 Kh5 37.Kd3 Rc8 38.Nxd5 Kh4 39.f4 f6 40.f5 Rec6 41.Ne7 Rxc5 42.Nxc8 Rxc8 43.Bxf6 Bd6 44.Ke4 1-0

In our next game Markov offers two bishop sacrifices on consecutive moves.

Andrey Markov - Lebegyev
Moscow
French Defence Rubinstein Variation
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Bd3 Nxe4 7.Bxe4 c5 8.0–0 Qb6 9.c3 Nf6 10.Bd3 Bd7 11.Qe2 Bc6 12.dxc5 Bxc5 13.Ne5 Nd7 14.Nxc6 Qxc6 15.Bb5 Qc7 16.Bg5 0–0 17.Rad1 Nb6 18.Bd3 e5

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-trk+(
7zppwq-+pzpp'
6-sn-+-+-+&
5+-vl-zp-vL-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-zPL+-+-#
2PzP-+QzPPzP"
1+-+R+RmK-!
xabcdefghy

19.Bf6 Rfe8 [19...gxf6 20.Qg4+ Kh8 21.Qf5] 20.Bxh7+ Kf8 [20...Kxh7 21.Qh5+ Kg8 22.Rd3 gxf6 23.Qh6 e4 24.Rh3] 21.Bg5 Be7 22.Bc1 Rad8 23.Be4 Nd7 24.Qh5 Bf6 25.b4 g6 26.Qf3 Kg7 27.Bxb7 e4 28.Bxe4 Be5 29.g3 Nf6 30.Bc6 Rh8 31.Rxd8 Qxd8 32.Bg5 Qc8 33.Bxf6+ Bxf6 34.g4 Be5 35.h3 Bb8 36.Rd1 Rd8 37.Rxd8 Qxd8 38.Bd5 f6 39.Bb3 Qd6 40.Kf1 g5 41.Qb7+ Bc7 42.Qd5 Qxd5 43.Bxd5 Be5 44.c4 Bc3 45.b5 Bd4 46.Ke2 f5 47.Kd3 Bxf2 48.gxf5 Kf6 49.Ke4 1-0

Finally, here he is beating another entrant in the book, political scientist Paul Vinogradov, in a match between Oxford and Moscow (played by telephone?).

Andrey Markov - Paul Vinogradov
Oxford v Moscow 1916-17
French Defence Burn Variation
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Nbd7 6.Nf3 Be7 7.Nxf6+ Nxf6 8.c3 0-0 9.Bd3 b6 10.Qc2 h6 11.h4 Bb7 12.0-0-0 Nd5 13.Bh7+ Kh8 14.Be4 f5 15.Bxe7 Qxe7 16.Ne5 Kh7 17.Bf3 c5 18.dxc5 bxc5 19.Rhe1 Rad8 20.g3 Nf6 21.Bxb7 Qxb7 22.f3 Qc7 23.Rxd8 Rxd8 24.g4 Rd5 25.f4 Ne4 26.gxf5 Rxe5 27.fxe5 exf5 28.Rxe4 fxe4 29.Qxe4+ Kg8 30.Qd5+ Kf8 31.h5 Ke7 32.Kd2 Qb6 33.b3 a5 34.Qd6+ Qxd6+ 35.exd6+ Kxd6 36.Kd3 g5 37.hxg6 1-0

The great Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov also played, but, it seems, was not so strong. In this game he plays a poor opening and offers little resistance to his opponent's King-side attack.

Alexey Suvorin - Anton Chekhov
Melikovo 1893
Colle System (by transposition)
1.e3 d5 2.d4 e6 3.Nf3 Bd6 4.Bd3 Nf6 5.0-0 0-0 6.Ne5 c5 7.c3 c4 8.Bc2 b5 9.f4 Bd7 10.Nd2 a5 11.g4 Nc6 12.g5 Ne8 13.Qh5 g6 14.Qh6 Qe7 15.Rf3 b4 16.Rh3 f6

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+ntrk+(
7+-+lwq-+p'
6-+nvlpzppwQ&
5zp-+psN-zP-%
4-zppzP-zP-+$
3+-zP-zP-+R#
2PzPLsN-+-zP"
1tR-vL-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
17.Nxg6 hxg6 18.Qh8+ Kf7 19.Qh7+ 1-0

Someone else who beat Chigorin was the legendary Russian pianist and teacher Alexander Goldenweiser. (only now, with the excavation of the Soviet archives, are we beginning to realise the importance of the Russian school of piano playing and teaching, from Goldenweiser through to Taimanov.)

Mikhail Chigorin - Alexander Goldenweiser
Moscow 1900
King's Gambit Declined
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.f4 Bc5 4.Nf3 d6 5.Nc3 Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 Nd4 8.Qg3 Nxc2+ 9.Kd1 Nxa1 10.Qxg7 Qf6 11.Bxf7+ Qxf7 12.Qxh8 Bd4 13.Nb5 0-0-0 14.Nxd4 Nf6 15.Qxd8+ Kxd8 16.fxe5 Nxe4 17.e6 Qh5+ 18.g4 Qe5 19.Nf5 Nf2#

Lenin's minister Nikolai Krilenko was the man behind the Soviet chess boom in the 20s and 30s. This game is attributed to him. Puzzlingly, Papp gives Krilenko's year of death as 1940. According to Gaige it was 1938.

Rasadniev - Nikolay Krilenko
Moscow 1927
Grünfeld Defence
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.d4 Bg7 4.g3 d5 5.Nc3 0-0 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.e4 Nxc3 8.bxc3 Bg4 9.h3 Bxf3 10.Qxf3 c5 11.d5 f5 12.Bd2 fxe4 13.Qxe4 Rf5 14.f4 Kf8 15.Bg2 Nd7 16.d6 exd6 17.Qxb7 Qe8+ 18.Kf2 Rb8 19.Qe4 Rb2 20.Qxe8+ Kxe8 21.Rhe1+ Kd8 22.Re2 Ne5 23.Be4 Rf7 24.Rd1 Kc7 25.Bd5 Rf8 26.Ke3 Nd7 27.Kd3 Bf6 28.Be1 Rxe2 29.Kxe2 Nb6 30.Bb3 c4 31.Bc2 Kc6 32.Be4+ d5 33.Bh1 Re8+ 34.Kf2 Kc5 35.Bd2 Rd8 36.Ke2 Na4 37.Rc1 d4 38.cxd4+ Bxd4 39.Be4 c3 40.Be1 Re8 41.Kf3 Kc4 42.Bc6 Re3+ 43.Kg2 Re2+ 44.Kf3 Rxa2 45.Be4 Nc5 46.Bb1 Rb2 47.Bc2 a5 48.f5 a4 49.fxg6 hxg6 50.Bxg6 a3 51.h4 Nb3 Line

Boris Pasternak won a Nobel Prize for his novel Dr Zhivago. This, if we believe Papp, is how he played chess.

Alexander Bek - Boris Pasternak
Moscow 27.10.1947
Alekhine Defence
1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.exd5 Nxd5 4.Nxd5 Qxd5 5.d3 e5 6.c4 Qa5+ 7.Bd2 Bb4 8.Bxb4 Qxb4+ 9.Qd2 Nc6 10.Qxb4 Nxb4 11.Kd2 Bf5 12.a3

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+k+-tr(
7zppzp-+pzpp'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-zpl+-%
4-snP+-+-+$
3zP-+P+-+-#
2-zP-mK-zPPzP"
1tR-+-+LsNR!
xabcdefghy
12...Nxd3 13.Bxd3 0-0-0 14.Nf3 Rxd3+ 15.Ke2 Rb3 16.Rhd1 Rxb2+ 17.Kf1 f6 18.Rac1 Rd8 19.Rxd8+ Kxd8 20.Rc3 Rc2 21.Rb3 b6 22.Rb4 Rxc4 23.Rxc4 Bd3+ 0-1

On page 31 of TEMCCA we gave the conclusion of a game between Sergey Prokofiev and David Oistrakh. Here's the complete score (which, by the way, we also found on one of our databases).

Sergey Prokofiev - David Oistrakh
Moscow 1937
Sicilian Defence Dragon Variation
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.Be2 a6 8.Qd2 Ng4 9.Bxg4 Bxg4 10.f3 Bd7 11.Bh6 Rg8 12.Bxg7 Rxg7 13.Qh6 Kf8 14.0-0-0 Nc6 15.Nxc6 bxc6 16.Rhe1 Rb8 17.e5 d5 18.Qf4 Kg8 19.Rd4 e6 20.Red1 Qb6 21.b3 Be8 22.R4d2 Qc7 23.Qe3 Qe7 24.Re1 Kh8 25.Kb2 Rg8 26.Qf4 Bd7 27.Qf6+ Qxf6 28.exf6 Rb7 29.g4 g5 30.h4 gxh4 31.Rh2 Rg6 32.Rxh4 Rxf6 33.Reh1 Kg8 34.R1h3 Kf8 35.Rxh7 Rb4 36.Ne2 e5 37.Kc3 c5 38.R7h6 d4+ 39.Kd2 Rbb6 40.Rxf6 Rxf6 41.Rh5 e4 42.fxe4 Bxg4 43.Rg5 Bf3 44.Rxc5 Bxe4 45.Nxd4 Bg2 46.a4 Ke7 47.b4 Kd7 48.Ke3 Rd6 49.b5 Rd5 50.Rxd5+ Bxd5 51.bxa6 Kc7 52.Nb5+ Kb6 53.Kd4 Bg2 54.a7 Kb7 55.Kc5 Bf3 56.c3 f6 57.Kd6 Bd1 58.a5 Be2 59.Nd4 Bf1 60.Nc6 f5 61.Ke5 Bd3 62.Kd4 Be4 63.a6+ Ka8 64.Nb4 Kxa7 65.c4 Kb6 66.c5+ Ka7 67.Ke5 Kb8 68.Nd5 Bd3 69.Nb4 Be4 70.c6 Kc7 71.a7 Bxc6 72.Nxc6 Kb7 ½-½

Moving to the present day, here's GM Hübner beating former West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt in a simul.

Robert Hubner - Helmut Schmidt
Hamburg 1978
Ruy Lopez Bird Defence
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nd4 4.Nxd4 exd4 5.0-0 a6 6.Ba4 c6 7.c3 dxc3 8.Nxc3 h6 9.d4 b5 10.Bb3 Bb4 11.Qf3 Qe7 12.e5 d5 13.exd6 Qxd6 14.Qxf7+ Kd8 15.Qxg7 Qf6 16.Qxf6+ Nxf6 17.Bf4 Bxc3 18.bxc3 Bf5 19.Rfe1 Ne4 20.Re3 h5 21.Rae1 Re8 1-0

Perhaps the least expected entrant is Rudyard Kipling. It seems to go on about the Jungle Book, Kim and If (Ha!), and then gives an endgame study, calling the Black Rook an elephant. But we don't understand its relevance to Kipling. Did he enjoy remarkably good studies as well as bake remarkably good cakes? Or was that a different Kipling?

Much more on chess-playing celebs in a future column, but meanwhile, a question. A certain H Davidson played in a couple of minor German tournaments, Hamburg (Major B) 1910 and Cologne 1911. (We have four losses, two from each tournament, on our database, along with the information from Feenstra Kuiper that at Cologne he finished 15th out of 16 with 4½ points.) Was this our friend Harold D, the Padré who was Eaten by a Lion? Ken Whyld, in his 1982 BCM article on Davidson, makes no mention of this. He was already Rector of Stiffkey at the time. Can anyone help?

Grandmaster Norm

Who wrote this?

"There are profound historic relations between the relinquishment of the centre by Nimzovitch and Réti (with their subsequent inspiration upon the schools of Hypermodern and Dynamic Chess) and the boxing techniques of the American Heavyweight Muhammad Ali who has introduced to pugilism the modal transposition from Active to Pasive demanded by the techno-revolutionary geist of the last decades of the Twentieth Century so essential to the liberation of the woman, a reversal of polarity in established structures of power which becomes the technological and/or the mystical signature of the century."

Baffled? It's America's Former Highest Paid Writer in the Universe, Norman Mailer, and is from his otherwise excellent book The Fight, a gripping account of the Ali -Foreman Rumble in the Jungle. The above paragraph concerns Ali's famous rope-a-dope technique (in which he spectacularly abandoned the centre). To be fair to Norm, he intended the above extract to be a parody of how he used to write in his youth.

Commandments

Several from Mabel; of the ones publishable in a family magazine, here are two:

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's position (nor his/her ass).

Thou shalt worship no other BCF but me (attributed to a most distinguished former tournament organiser).

The Russian School

Another for our collection of violence around a chess board. We note the sad demise of William Burnsen-Hicks, a victim of a drunken game of Russian roulette, in Wolverhampton last August. According to the prosecution, the finger on the trigger belonged to Stephen Cartwright who, minutes before, had been playing chess, but decided the proceedings needed enlivening. So out came a revolver, and William was the unlucky one. The trial continues as we write.

Stale

Question on the schools quiz show Junior Fifteen to One: 'The least number of pieces that can be on the board during a game of chess is two: the two lone kings. What is this situation called?' With sinking heart we waited for the inevitable wrong answer: 'Stalemate?' chirped young Robert. 'Correct!' replied misinformed quiz host William G Stewart.

And, if your life is so empty you watch early morning quiz shows, you may have caught (on Move On Up) the question 'One word, two meanings: a great fortress and a chess piece'. We don't have to tell you the anwer do we?
All this, of course, is typical.
Whenever we visit a school chess club for the first time, hold up one of the chunky guys that starts in the corner and ask the kids if they know what it's called they all chorus "Castle". And at that point we just know we're onto a loser. They've all been taught at home by their dads who've never read a chess book in their lives.
Time and again, kids come up to me and say "Sir, it's stalemate" and you see both players only have their kings left. Sorry, kids, and sorry, William G. A draw it is, but stalemate it isn't. A couple of days ago we came across two players (both above the half-way mark in their school club) playing on with King against King and counting up to 50 moves.
And that's another thing. Almost every school in the country teaches the 50-move rule incorrectly. ALL children seem to a) believe that it only applies when one player only has a king left and b) have no idea that you start counting again after a pawn move or capture and c) think that it's 25 moves each, not 50 moves each.
And as for the en passant rule... I've lost count of the number of times when, after 1. e4 e5, on about move 20 White tries to play e4xe5ep.
More than 30 years ago Bob Wade wrote (Soviet Chess): "If countries like U.S.A., Canada, or in the British Isles, Western Europe, Latin America or the outlying world want to beat or successfully vie with the Soviet Union they must not rely on the emergence of the occasional Capablanca or Fischer, useful as they are, but they must start soundly teaching the very young - about eight or nine years of age - in large numbers. For this a new approach to teaching would also be needed. They key to such a new approach should come from a continued examination of the problem of programming a computer to play good chess. Then regard the young as a line of new computers waiting to be programmed."
At present we encourage children to play chess in competitive environments from the age of seven, or, in many schools, younger without providing that new approach to teaching that Bob Wade thinks is necessary. And within the framework of an hour a week after school during term time there's not a lot you can do. Those players - only a small minority - who are receiving useful instruction and encouragement at home do very well. The rest get bored and frustrated within a year or two. Just this morning we received a letter from Stewart Reuben, telling us that his nephew's nine-year-old son Ben no longer plays chess at school. "They just mess around and don't play to the rules."
And for those of you out there who are wondering why your club membership is declining, and why there are no new young players in their 20s joining, there, at least, is part of your answer.
(Apropos of recent correspondence in CHESS, we were told the other day that several clubs in the West London area are now telling anyone graded under 90 that they don't want them in the club. If true, appalling!)

Webbed

The less technologically challenged (or nerdier) of the authors of this column has been amusing himself recently setting up a web site. The structure and layout still, as we write, need a lot of work but we think the content's pretty good. It includes details of the Richmond Rapidplays (including next season's dates), games, coaching materials and much else. The address is www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~rjcc. If you're on the Internet (and if not you should be) do please pay us a visit, and log us as one of your favourites. There will be many changes and improvements over the next few months. We trust our columnar neighbour Chris Rav is paying attention!