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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 41 OF 41 ·
Later Kibitzing > |
| Aug-17-09 |
| AnalyzeThis: He would be 98 years old, if alive today. |
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| Aug-17-09 |
| MaxxLange: check out this game, from the most-collected list:
Botvinnik vs Boleslavsky, 1941
BOOM! When Botvinnik sacs material on you, you are done for |
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Aug-18-09
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| SetNoEscapeOn: <M.D. Wilson: Excellence, beauty, creativity, logic, all great reasons to play chess. Like any endeavour, though, it should be fun, first and foremost. The others things may then follow> Excuse me, but assuming that you are still in medical school, do you want to become a doctor for fun, first and foremost? If your nation is attacked, should you have to consider combat fun before you are willing to join its armed forces? Perhaps you meant "like any sporting endeavor", but I still must disagree. I think Botvinnik viewed chess as his profession, first and foremost- even though it wasn't his only profession. |
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| Aug-20-09 |
| M.D. Wilson: I don't know about you, but why do a job if you hate it? Yes, medicine should be rewarding like anything else in life. The point is to find meaning and reward in anything you put your mind to. I think you are too serious, SetNoEscapeOn. Chess is a game after all. Lives don't exactly depend on it. Fun, which usually follows if something is rewarding, and serious endeavour, does not have to be mutually exclusive. |
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| Aug-20-09 |
| theagenbiteofinwit: <Another favorite aged Botvinnik-ism is "Rapid chess will be the death of our game!"> I know the key to this statement. Botvinnik actually recommend masters to play rapid games to cure their time troubles (In 100 selected games). But he saw rapid games as a tool, just a fraction of the overall game of chess. He believed that making rapid chess an event in itself was discarding the majority of what he appreciated about the game. It's sort of like how you'll see that on CT and CTS that FM's rate higher than GM's and IM's, but those ranks disregard so many other vital aspects of the game. |
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| Aug-20-09 |
| sfeuler: "I never played chess for pleasure."
Did anyone consider that maybe Botvinnik was joking!? |
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Aug-20-09
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| parisattack: <sfeuler: "I never played chess for pleasure." Did anyone consider that maybe Botvinnik was joking!?> He was certainly not known for his sense of humor - but on this one, I suspect you are correct. |
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| Aug-20-09 |
| sfeuler: <parisattack> I had a 50-50 chance and took a stab at it! But you are right, Botvinnik was not known for his ability to laugh! Interesting article - Garry Kasparov talks about Mikhail Tal and Soviet chess history: http://www.chess.com/news/garry-kas... |
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Aug-20-09
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| euripides: Botvinnik said, late in his life, something to the effect that he preferred Shostakovitch to (?) Prokofiev because Shostakovich's msic was more 'mischievous'. I don't think his public image should be taken at face value. |
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| Sep-01-09 |
| theagenbiteofinwit: Botvinnik once made Bobby Fischer cry by drawing what Fischer thought was a sure win. |
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| Sep-01-09 |
| TheChessGuy: <euripides> I didn't know about Botvinnik's tastes in music, thank you for mentioning them. As it happens, Dmitri Shostakovich is also one of my favorite composers. Most musicologists also would support the view of his music being more 'mischievious' than S Prokofiev's. Take his Ninth Symphony in E-flat as an example. It's almost laugh-out-loud funny. |
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| Oct-20-09 |
| Everett: Umm... Shostakovich's music is pretty much all over the map; from playful folk/peasant fiddles to dirge-like pieces that seem to emanate from Hell itself. His later string quartets (by the Emerson Quartet, a must for those who like such things on CD) are collectively some of the darkest music I've ever encountered in the classical realm. "Mischievous?" Well, this is yet another place I must beg to differ with Miky. That said, it's some of my favorite stuff. |
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Oct-20-09
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| Marmot PFL: In the 15th DS is very playful, even throwing in theme from the William Tell overture. |
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Oct-21-09
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| HeMateMe: Is "Achieveing the Aim" worth buying? |
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Oct-21-09
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| SetNoEscapeOn: <M.D. Wilson: I don't know about you, but why do a job if you hate it? Yes, medicine should be rewarding like anything else in life. The point is to find meaning and reward in anything you put your mind to.> Sure, but that has little to do with what your original statement. Where did the idea of "hate" come from? "Not playing for fun (first and foremost)" and "hating playing" are, to put it mildly, two separate concepts. Do you really feel that anything "meaningful and rewarding" must, by definition, also be "fun?" |
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| Oct-23-09 |
| Everett: Well, I hope doctors find more fun giving nutritional and lifestyle guidance rather than pushing pills, dubious vaccines and often unnecessary surgeries. |
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| Oct-23-09 |
| TheFocus: <Everett> <Well, I hope doctors find more fun giving nutritional and lifestyle guidance rather than pushing pills, dubious vaccines and often unnecessary surgeries.>
I was diagnosed with high blood pressure, high cholesterol and gout and prescribed medicines for them. I asked my doctor, "If I lost forty pounds, wouldn't those things go away? Won't gout disappear if I give up meat and animal products?" He hemmed and hawed and finally said yes. "Well," I asked, "why should I take the medicines instead of just losing weight and giving up meat?" He said for me to do what I wanted. So I lost 40 pounds, began working out and eating healthy, and viola, all things are normal now. Another thing, most of peoples ills and pains are caused by the foods they eat. Eat healthy, exercise daily and we will put the doctors out of business. And don't take vitamins and supplements. They don't work. Too many unhealthy people use them as a crutch. When someone says you should take a vitamin C pill, I ask, why not just eat another orange? And think of the money you will save. |
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| Oct-23-09 |
| Everett: Hear hear! Well said, and congratulations for your well-earned health! |
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Oct-26-09
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| Pyke: I am not sure whether any of Botvinniks chess studies (there are only six of them) have been posted here already. In any case, I'll post them, just for the fun of it. Study NO.1 1925 (Botvinnik: "One Hundred Selected Games", p. 260) 
click for larger viewWhite to play and win ...
Enjoy! |
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Oct-26-09
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| Pyke: <Study No2. - 1939>
click for larger viewWhite to play and win! |
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Oct-26-09
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| Ron: Concerning Study No2 - 1939 would the winning line for White start 1. Kg4? |
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Oct-26-09
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| parisattack: <Pyke: >
Thanks for these; I haven't looked at them in eons. |
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Oct-27-09
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| Pyke: Hi <Ron>,
unfortunatley the position is far more complicated than it seems at first glance. I don't think 1. g4 works, since taking the QP alone won't be enough. And Black can defend. I do not even try to explain it myself; but I posted an introduction and explanation by Botvinnik in my forum. It's not the solution, but it will help with solving. |
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Oct-27-09
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| Pyke: You're welcome <Parisattack>! I will post the other four studies in the next few days here on this page. They can also be found at the end of my profile. As for the solutions, I will post them bit by bit in my forum, as not to spoil it here. |
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Oct-28-09
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| Pyke: <Study No.3 - 1941>
click for larger viewBlack to play and win. |
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Later Kibitzing > |
