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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 59 OF 59 ·
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| Nov-25-09 |
| M.D. Wilson: Capablanca said something along the lines of "The better players tend to be luckier". |
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| Nov-25-09 |
| Petrosianic: Yeah, luck in chess is a subject that many words have been written about. But I'm not sure if this is luck exactly, but a weakness in nerves. It's not luck that Korchnoi went for the jugular in Game 32, it's just the way he's always played. <Tigran Petrosian, His Life and Games> attributes Geller's loss of a winning position to Fischer in the last lap of Curacao as due to a tendency for his nerves to weaken in the tensest situations. And Keres had a long history of uncertain and fumbling play in the last round of a Candidates tournament. And none of these three became World Champion. I do think all three were capable of it, but maybe it's not just bad luck that they didn't. |
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| Nov-27-09 |
| M.D. Wilson: Nerves of steel is a vital ingredient to WC success. Look at someone like Polugaevsky. He was a brilliant player, but he never really looked like becoming WC at any stage. Stein? Well, if he had lived, he may have had a chance, although he didn't play Karpov well. I think it's fair to say that Korchnoi is the best player never to become WC in terms of achievements, followed closely by Keres, the so-called Crown Prince of Chess. Rubinstein was a genius also, but, again, strong nerves were never on his side, and the Great War affected him deeply. I have a penchant for Geller, and if it wasn't for Spassky, who was a better player, he may have had a chance, especially against someone like Petrosian. The sporting element in chess should not be underestimated, and it makes the game of chess truly facinating. |
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| Nov-27-09 |
| kurtrichards: <And Keres had a long history of uncertain and fumbling play in the last round...> Peter Leko too. |
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| Nov-27-09 |
| spotkicker: He is the oldest alive grand master I've ever known. He have played at all of his life and he will. You can call him "old wolf". I don't know if this idiom is used in English with the same meaning. We use this idioms Turkish translation in our language. That idiom used for old but skillful players. He is old, skillful, like war(of course at the chess), he is perfect despite his age. |
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Nov-27-09
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| Benzol: <spotkicker> <He is the oldest alive grand master I've ever know.> May I introduce you to Andre Lilienthal :) |
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Dec-01-09
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| waustad: He may finally be slipping. He has only 1 draw in the first 4 rounds of the Snowdrops vs Old Hands tournament in the Czech republic. (Czech Coal)
http://www.praguechess.cz/en/porada... |
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Dec-01-09
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| whatthefat: It's hard to ever count Korchnoi out, but he does seem to finally be on the decline. He even looks older to me. As an aside, isn't 'Snowdrops' a bit demeaning? Maybe there's something lost in translation... |
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| Dec-01-09 |
| JonathanJ: come on, wasn't he slipping before hastings? |
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Dec-01-09
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| waustad: Yeah, I kind of wondered about "Snowdrops" too, but that is what they call the teams. Maybe it sounds better in Czech. It is true that Korchnoi has lost quite a bit of rating recently. One of his losses was in a position that seemed even, so maybe he ran out of time. |
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Dec-02-09
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| waustad: He actually did space out on the clock and the arbiter came over and told him he had lost on time. There was a video of it linked from Susan Polgar's blog. Today he won a nice attack as black against Jana Jackova. [Event "Snzenky a Machi"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.12.02"]
[Round "5.2"]
[White "Jackova Jana"]
[Black "Korchnoi Viktor"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "2009.??.??"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. f4 Nb6 8.
Nf3 Bd7 9. Bd3 a6 10. O-O c5 11. Qe1 Nc6 12. Qf2 c4 13. Be2 Rc8 14. Nd1 f6 15.
exf6 gxf6 16. c3 f5 17. Qg3 Kd8 18. b3 cxb3 19. axb3 Kc7 20. Nb2 Rcg8 21. Qe1
Nc8 22. Rf2 Nd6 23. Bf1 Ne4 24. Rc2 Rg7 25. Nd3 Rhg8 26. c4 Kb8 27. c5 Kc7 28.
Nde5 Rc8 29. b4 Kd8 30. b5 axb5 31. Bxb5 Nxe5 32. Nxe5 Bxb5 33. Qa5+ Ke8 34.
Qxb5+ Kf8 35. Qb6 h6 36. Rac1 Kg8 37. c6 bxc6 38. Nxc6 Qa3 39. Re1 Kh7 40. Rce2
Qc3 41. Ne5 Rxg2+ 0-1 |
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| Dec-11-09 |
| theagenbiteofinwit: I'm just thankful that Korchnoi didn't angrily tell any of the Snowdrops how it was the first and last time in their lives that they would win a game against him. |
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Dec-11-09
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| whatthefat: <theagenbiteofinwit> Who says he didn't? :) |
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Dec-11-09
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| HeMateMe: Anybody here playing in the London simul with Viktor the K? |
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| Dec-14-09 |
| lentil: Surely Mr. K's number of games is the largest in the database. |
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| Dec-14-09 |
| Jim Bartle: 20% more than #2, Anatoly Karpov. |
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Dec-15-09
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| Caissanist: Donner, writing about Korchnoi's autobiography in 1977: <Thus we read on page 104: 'My psychologist suggested adopting the Fischer method and arriving five to seven minutes late for the start of the game. It worked: Karpov was furious. But it is not in his nature to take something like this lying down. He also started coming too late.' Next, we read on page 105, remarkably enough the opposite page so we don't have to leave back: 'I wrote a complaint about Karpov's provocative behaviour, constantly arriving too late for the start of games.'> |
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| Dec-24-09 |
| M.D. Wilson: Merry Christmas, Old Nuts. Keep battling on! |
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| Dec-26-09 |
| theagenbiteofinwit: Here's a good story from Spassky about Korchnoi.
<Petrosyan was an extremely intelligent man with a special sense of humour. He was a self-made man. Once he told me about the time he and Korchnoi visited Pavlov, the then president of the Soviet Sports Committee. Petrosyan sought Pavlov’s permission for Korchnoi to be his second in the match against Fischer. And Korchnoi with his characteristic straightforwardness blurted out: ‘Comrade Pavlov, when I see Petrosyan’s awful, disgusting moves, I don’t want to help him!’> |
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| Jan-09-10 |
| M.D. Wilson: Typical Korchnoi. When did he have the falling out with Petrosian, if one did in indeed occur? |
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| Jan-09-10 |
| TheChessGuy: 1974, when Petrosian made a statement in Izvestia against him. Their candidates semi-final in Odessa that year was rife with tension, including accusations of under-the-table violence. They would contest two more matches (Ciocco quarterfinals 1977, +2-1=9 and Velden quarterfinal 1980, +2-0=7) not on speaking terms. In the Korchnoi enemy book, Chapter 1 is Anatoly Karpov, and its sequel is Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian. |
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| Jan-09-10 |
| tud: Petrosian managed to stand against Korchnoi. The other candidates were wiped out of the table. In 1977 Petrosian missed the win and lost. |
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| Jan-09-10 |
| Petrosianic: <And Korchnoi with his characteristic straightforwardness blurted out: ‘Comrade Pavlov, when I see Petrosyan’s awful, disgusting moves, I don’t want to help him!’> That may be the way Spassky reported it. Korchnoi said it differently. Something like when I look at his moves I want to fall asleep. <Typical Korchnoi. When did he have the falling out with Petrosian, if one did in indeed occur?> The real falling out seems to have begun with their 1974 Candidates Match. At least I've never heard of anything serious before then. Here's the way Jude Acers tells the story of that match, and it's horrifically funny in a way: < Just after the fourth game Tigran Petrosian went to the match committee and requested in writing that Victor Korchnoi be asked not to move his leg up and down beneath the table so much! It was just a Korchnoi nervous habit and did not seem to disturb anything really. No noise or offence intended probably. But Petrosian mentioned that Korchnoi had actually kicked him beneath the table while reaching out to make a move. Surely it was an accident....Korchnoi knew absolutely nothing of Petrosian's complaint throughout the night, and it was only upon arriving for the fifth game that he was shocked by the formal request to quit moving his leg in a kicking motion beneath the table! Korchnoi was furious but did not say anything to his opponent, beginning to make moves against Petrosian in the fifth game. You're not going to believe what happened next and at the worst possible moment. Petrosian, while shifting in the chair to adjust his hearing aid, kicked Victor Korchnoi accidentally! As match officials looked on with complete horror and silence. Everybody knew the match could explode any second. Korchnoi, now thoroughly in flames, sat there for a second and found what has to be one of the truly great one-liner punch outs of all times... "Mister Petrosian, please look for your match chances above the chess table rather than below it." That's the real story, how a great match really ended -- never reported by the wire services.> http://www.chessdryad.com/articles/... |
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Jan-09-10
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| talisman: <Petrosianic> classic! |
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| Jan-10-10 |
| M.D. Wilson: The whole affair is funny more than anything! |
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