- Interzonals 1973: Petropolis
The Petropolis Interzonal of 1973 was an eighteen-player round robin with the top three qualifying for the Candidates matches. The winner was Mecking with 12.5/17 (+7 =10 -0),and there was a three-way tie for second place with 11.5 -Polugaevsky,Portisch and Geller, with Smyslov just behind with 11. There was a play-off later in the year to decide qualification and Polugaevsky and Portisch joined Mecking in the Candidates matches.
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152 games, 1973 - Ivanchuk 100 selected games-Kalinichenko's book
Originally compiled by user Gottschalk
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111 games, 1985-2013 - José Capablanca's Rook Endings
39 games, 1909-1938 - Jose Raul Capablanca's Best Games
The best games of Capablanca's career.
As one by one I mowed them down, my superiority soon became apparent. – Jose Raul Capablanca Why should I give her publicity? – Jose Raul Capablanca (on being asked to pose for a photo with a famous actress) I always play carefully and try to avoid unnecessary risks. I consider my method to be right as any superfluous ‘daring’ runs counter to the essential character of chess, which is not a gamble but a purely intellectual combat conducted in accordance with the exact rules of logic. – Jose Raul Capablanca When you sti down to play a game you should think only about the psotion, but not about the opponent. Whether chess is regarded as a science, or an art, or a sport, all the same psychology bears no relation to it and only stands in the way of real chess. Jose Raul Capablanca I always use only the openings that bring fruitful results in practice, regardless of the positions arising in the middle-game. – Jose Raul Capablanca I thought for a little while before playing this, knowing that I would be subjected thereafter to a terrific attack, all the lines of which would be of necessity familiar to my adversary. The lust of battle, however, had been aroused within me. I felt that my judgment and skill were being challenged. I decided that I was honor bound, so to speak, to take the pawn and accept the challenge, as my judgment told me that my position should then be defensible. – Jose Raul Capablanca (on being confronted by Marshall's new Marshall Attack) When a match is over I forget it. You can only remember so many things, so it is better to forget useless things that you can’t use and remember useful things that you can use. For instance, I remember and will always remember that in 1927 Babe Ruth hit sixty home runs. – Jose Raul Capablanca I had to keep walking from table to table. I must have walked ten miles. In chess, as in baseball, the legs go first. Chess is not an old man’s game. – Jose Raul Capablanca (on giving a simul) Sir, if you could beat me, I would know you. – Jose Raul Capablanca (to an unknown player who had rejected Capablanca's offer of queen odds, on the grounds that Capablanca didn't know him, and might lose) Young man, you play remarkable chess! You never make a mistake! – Emanuel Lasker (after losing most of the games in a 10 game rapid transit match against a very young Capablanca) He was of medium height, lean, but no padding needed for his shoulders. And such pride in the posture of his head! You would know no one could dingle-dangle that man. I can visualize him so clearly, with his dark hair and large gray-green eyes. Believe me, when he took a stroll, in his black derby hat and carrying a cane, no handsomer young gentleman ever graced Fifth Avenue. – Bernard Epstein (Capa's college roommate) Capablanca's planning of the game is so full of that freshness of his genius for position play, that every hypermodern player can only envy him. – Alexander Alekhine It is astonishing how carefully Capablanca's combinations are calculated. Turn and twist as you will, search the variations in every way possible, you come to the inevitable conclusion that the moves all fit in with the utmost precision. – Max Euwe There is nothing more to fear from the Capablanca technique. – Efim Bogoljubow (shortly after which, Capablanca proceeded to crush him) Capablanca didn’t make separate moves - he was creating a chess picture. Nobody could compare with him in this. – Mikhail Botvinnik Whether this advantage is theoretically sufficient to win or not does not worry Capablanca. He simply wins the ending. That is why he is Capablanca! – Max Euwe (on a Capablanca game) Chess was Capablanca's mother tongue. – Richard Reti Learn carefully to work out strategic plans like Capablanca, and you will laugh at the plans told to you in ridiculous stories. – Emanuel Lasker Poor Capablanca! Thou wert a brilliant technician, but no philosopher. Thou wert not capable of believing that in chess, another style could be victorious than the absolutely correct one. – Max Euwe It’s entirely possible that Capa could not imagine that there could be a better move than one he thought was good and he was usually right. – Mike Franett I was surprised to see that Capablanca did not initiate any active maneuvers and instead adopted a waiting game. In the end, his opponent made an imprecise move, the Cuban won a second pawn and soon the game. 'Why didn't you try to convert your material advantage straight away?' I ventured to ask the great chess virtuoso. He smiled indulgently: 'It was more practical to wait'. – Mikhail Botvinnik Once in a lobby of the Hall of Columns of the Trade Union Center in Moscow a group of masters were analyzing an ending. They could not find the right way to go about things and there was a lot of arguing about it. Suddenly Capablanca came into the room. He was always find of walking about when it was his opponent's turn to move. Learning the reason for the dispute the Cuban bent down to the position, said 'Si, si,' and suddenly redistributed the pieces all over the board to show what the correct formation was for the side trying to win. I haven't exaggerated. Don Jose literally pushed the pieces around the board without making moves. He just put them in fresh positions where he thought they were needed. Suddenly everything became clear. The correct scheme of things had been set up and now the win was easy. We were delighted by Capablanca's mastery. – Alexander Kotov During the last twenty years, Capablanca has contested in successive tournaments, and his games form a series of classics, noted chiefly for their grace and simplicity. This simplicity is, of course, the result of that art which conceals art. – B. Winkleman He makes the game look easy. Art lies in the concealment of art. – Philip W. Sergeant (on Capablanca) Capablanca had that art which hides art to an overwhelming degree. – Harry Golombek I have known many chess players, but only one chess genius, Capablanca. – Emanuel Lasker I think Capablanca had the greatest natural talent. – Mikhail Botvinnik Capablanca was possibly the greatest player in the entire history of chess. – Bobby Fischer. Beautiful, cold, remorseless chess, almost creepy in its silent implacability. – Raymond Chandler (on a Capablanca game) What others could not see in a month's study, he saw at a glance. – Reuben Fine (on Capablanca) I see only one move ahead, but it is always the correct one. – Jose R. Capablanca Capablanca invariably chose the right option, no matter how intricate the position. – Garry Kasparov. Capablanca’s games generally take the following course: he begins with a series of extremely fine prophylactic maneuvers, which neutralize his opponent’s attempts to complicate the game; he then proceeds, slowly but surely, to set up an attacking position. This attacking position, after a series of simplifications, is transformed into a favorable endgame, which he conducts with matchless technique. – Aaron Nimzowitsch He had the totally undeserved reputation of being the greatest living endgame player. His trick was to keep his openings simple and then play with such brilliance that it was decided in the middle game before reaching the ending - even though his opponent didn't always know it. His almost complete lack of book knowledge forced him to push harder to squeeze the utmost out of every position. – Bobby Fischer (on Capablanca) I honestly feel very humble when I study Capablanca's games. – Max Euwe You cannot play chess unless you have studied his games. – Mikhail Botvinnik (on Capablanca) Capablanca's play produced and still produces an irresistible artistic effect. In his games a tendency towards simplicity predominated, and in this simplicity there was a unique beauty of genuine depth. - Mikhail Botvinnik Without technique it is impossible to reach the top in chess, and therefore we all try to borrow from Capablanca his wonderful, subtle technique. - Mikhail Tal I was brought up on the games of Capablanca and Nimzowitsch, and they became part of my chess flesh and blood. - Tigran Petrosian Capablanca was among the greatest of chess players, but not because of his endgame. His trick was to keep his openings simple, and then play with such brilliance in the middlegame that the game was decided - even though his opponent didn't always know it - before they arrived at the ending. - Robert Fischer Capablanca never really devoted himself to chess, seldom made match preperations. His simplicity is a myth. His almost complete lack of book knowledge forced him to push harder to squeeze the utmost out of every position. Every move he made had to be super-sharp so as to make something out of nothing. His play was forced. He had to try harder than anybody else because he had so little to begin with. - Robert Fischer The ideal in chess can only be a collective image, but in my opinion it is Capablanca who most closely approaches this... His book was the first chess book that I studied from cover to cover. Of course, his ideas influenced me. - Anatoly Karpov I did not believe I was superior to him. Perhaps the chief reason for his defeat was the overestimation of his own powers arising out of his overwhelming victory in New York, 1927, and his underestimation of mine. – Alexander Alekhine (on Capablanca) With his death, we have lost a very great chess genius whose like we shall never see again. – Alexander Alekhine (on Capablanca) Alekhine was the rock-thrower, Capablanca the man who made it all seem easy. – Hans Ree It was impossible to win against Capablanca; against Alekhine it was impossible to play. – Paul Keres Against Alekhine you never knew what to expect. Against Capablanca, you knew what to expect, but you couldn't prevent it! – George Thomas Capa's games looked as though they were turned out by a lathe, while Alekhine's resembled something produced with a mallet and chisel. – Charles Yaffe I have known many chess players, but among them there has been only one genius - Capablanca! His ideal was to win by manoeuvering. Capablanca's genius reveals itself in his probing of the opponent's weak points. The slightest weakness cannot escape from his keene eye. - Emanuel Lasker Whereas Anderssen and Chigorin looked for accidental positions, Capablanca is guided by the logicality of strong positions. He values only that which is well-founded: solidity of position, pressure on a weak point, he does not trust the accidental, even if it be a problem-like mate, at the required moment he discovers and carries out subtle and far-sighted combinations... - Emanuel Lasker Capablanca possessed an amazing ability to quickly see into a position and intuitively grasp its main features. His style, one of the purest, most crystal-clear in the entire history of chess, astonishes one with it's logic. - Garry Kasparov Capablanca was a genius. He was an exception that did not obey any rule. - Vladimir Kramnik We can compare Capablanca with Mozart, whose charming music appeared to have been a smooth flow. I get the impression that Capablanca did not even know why he preferred this or that move, he just moved the pieces with his hand. If he had worked a lot on chess, he might have played worse because he would have started to try to comprehend things. But Capablanca did not have to comprehend anything, he just had to move the pieces! - Vladimir Kramnik
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127 games, 1901-1939 - Jose Raul Capablanca's Best Games
The best games of Capablanca's career.
As one by one I mowed them down, my superiority soon became apparent. – Jose Raul Capablanca Why should I give her publicity? – Jose Raul Capablanca (on being asked to pose for a photo with a famous actress) I always play carefully and try to avoid unnecessary risks. I consider my method to be right as any superfluous ‘daring’ runs counter to the essential character of chess, which is not a gamble but a purely intellectual combat conducted in accordance with the exact rules of logic. – Jose Raul Capablanca When you sti down to play a game you should think only about the psotion, but not about the opponent. Whether chess is regarded as a science, or an art, or a sport, all the same psychology bears no relation to it and only stands in the way of real chess. Jose Raul Capablanca I always use only the openings that bring fruitful results in practice, regardless of the positions arising in the middle-game. – Jose Raul Capablanca I thought for a little while before playing this, knowing that I would be subjected thereafter to a terrific attack, all the lines of which would be of necessity familiar to my adversary. The lust of battle, however, had been aroused within me. I felt that my judgment and skill were being challenged. I decided that I was honor bound, so to speak, to take the pawn and accept the challenge, as my judgment told me that my position should then be defensible. – Jose Raul Capablanca (on being confronted by Marshall's new Marshall Attack) When a match is over I forget it. You can only remember so many things, so it is better to forget useless things that you can’t use and remember useful things that you can use. For instance, I remember and will always remember that in 1927 Babe Ruth hit sixty home runs. – Jose Raul Capablanca I had to keep walking from table to table. I must have walked ten miles. In chess, as in baseball, the legs go first. Chess is not an old man’s game. – Jose Raul Capablanca (on giving a simul) Sir, if you could beat me, I would know you. – Jose Raul Capablanca (to an unknown player who had rejected Capablanca's offer of queen odds, on the grounds that Capablanca didn't know him, and might lose) Young man, you play remarkable chess! You never make a mistake! – Emanuel Lasker (after losing most of the games in a 10 game rapid transit match against a very young Capablanca) He was of medium height, lean, but no padding needed for his shoulders. And such pride in the posture of his head! You would know no one could dingle-dangle that man. I can visualize him so clearly, with his dark hair and large gray-green eyes. Believe me, when he took a stroll, in his black derby hat and carrying a cane, no handsomer young gentleman ever graced Fifth Avenue. – Bernard Epstein (Capa's college roommate) Capablanca's planning of the game is so full of that freshness of his genius for position play, that every hypermodern player can only envy him. – Alexander Alekhine It is astonishing how carefully Capablanca's combinations are calculated. Turn and twist as you will, search the variations in every way possible, you come to the inevitable conclusion that the moves all fit in with the utmost precision. – Max Euwe There is nothing more to fear from the Capablanca technique. – Efim Bogoljubow (shortly after which, Capablanca proceeded to crush him) Capablanca didn’t make separate moves - he was creating a chess picture. Nobody could compare with him in this. – Mikhail Botvinnik Whether this advantage is theoretically sufficient to win or not does not worry Capablanca. He simply wins the ending. That is why he is Capablanca! – Max Euwe (on a Capablanca game) Chess was Capablanca's mother tongue. – Richard Reti Learn carefully to work out strategic plans like Capablanca, and you will laugh at the plans told to you in ridiculous stories. – Emanuel Lasker Poor Capablanca! Thou wert a brilliant technician, but no philosopher. Thou wert not capable of believing that in chess, another style could be victorious than the absolutely correct one. – Max Euwe It’s entirely possible that Capa could not imagine that there could be a better move than one he thought was good and he was usually right. – Mike Franett I was surprised to see that Capablanca did not initiate any active maneuvers and instead adopted a waiting game. In the end, his opponent made an imprecise move, the Cuban won a second pawn and soon the game. 'Why didn't you try to convert your material advantage straight away?' I ventured to ask the great chess virtuoso. He smiled indulgently: 'It was more practical to wait'. – Mikhail Botvinnik Once in a lobby of the Hall of Columns of the Trade Union Center in Moscow a group of masters were analyzing an ending. They could not find the right way to go about things and there was a lot of arguing about it. Suddenly Capablanca came into the room. He was always find of walking about when it was his opponent's turn to move. Learning the reason for the dispute the Cuban bent down to the position, said 'Si, si,' and suddenly redistributed the pieces all over the board to show what the correct formation was for the side trying to win. I haven't exaggerated. Don Jose literally pushed the pieces around the board without making moves. He just put them in fresh positions where he thought they were needed. Suddenly everything became clear. The correct scheme of things had been set up and now the win was easy. We were delighted by Capablanca's mastery. – Alexander Kotov During the last twenty years, Capablanca has contested in successive tournaments, and his games form a series of classics, noted chiefly for their grace and simplicity. This simplicity is, of course, the result of that art which conceals art. – B. Winkleman He makes the game look easy. Art lies in the concealment of art. – Philip W. Sergeant (on Capablanca) Capablanca had that art which hides art to an overwhelming degree. – Harry Golombek I have known many chess players, but only one chess genius, Capablanca. – Emanuel Lasker I think Capablanca had the greatest natural talent. – Mikhail Botvinnik Capablanca was possibly the greatest player in the entire history of chess. – Bobby Fischer. Beautiful, cold, remorseless chess, almost creepy in its silent implacability. – Raymond Chandler (on a Capablanca game) What others could not see in a month's study, he saw at a glance. – Reuben Fine (on Capablanca) I see only one move ahead, but it is always the correct one. – Jose R. Capablanca Capablanca invariably chose the right option, no matter how intricate the position. – Garry Kasparov. Capablanca’s games generally take the following course: he begins with a series of extremely fine prophylactic maneuvers, which neutralize his opponent’s attempts to complicate the game; he then proceeds, slowly but surely, to set up an attacking position. This attacking position, after a series of simplifications, is transformed into a favorable endgame, which he conducts with matchless technique. – Aaron Nimzowitsch He had the totally undeserved reputation of being the greatest living endgame player. His trick was to keep his openings simple and then play with such brilliance that it was decided in the middle game before reaching the ending - even though his opponent didn't always know it. His almost complete lack of book knowledge forced him to push harder to squeeze the utmost out of every position. – Bobby Fischer (on Capablanca) I honestly feel very humble when I study Capablanca's games. – Max Euwe You cannot play chess unless you have studied his games. – Mikhail Botvinnik (on Capablanca) Capablanca's play produced and still produces an irresistible artistic effect. In his games a tendency towards simplicity predominated, and in this simplicity there was a unique beauty of genuine depth. - Mikhail Botvinnik Without technique it is impossible to reach the top in chess, and therefore we all try to borrow from Capablanca his wonderful, subtle technique. - Mikhail Tal I was brought up on the games of Capablanca and Nimzowitsch, and they became part of my chess flesh and blood. - Tigran Petrosian Capablanca was among the greatest of chess players, but not because of his endgame. His trick was to keep his openings simple, and then play with such brilliance in the middlegame that the game was decided - even though his opponent didn't always know it - before they arrived at the ending. - Robert Fischer Capablanca never really devoted himself to chess, seldom made match preperations. His simplicity is a myth. His almost complete lack of book knowledge forced him to push harder to squeeze the utmost out of every position. Every move he made had to be super-sharp so as to make something out of nothing. His play was forced. He had to try harder than anybody else because he had so little to begin with. - Robert Fischer The ideal in chess can only be a collective image, but in my opinion it is Capablanca who most closely approaches this... His book was the first chess book that I studied from cover to cover. Of course, his ideas influenced me. - Anatoly Karpov I did not believe I was superior to him. Perhaps the chief reason for his defeat was the overestimation of his own powers arising out of his overwhelming victory in New York, 1927, and his underestimation of mine. – Alexander Alekhine (on Capablanca) With his death, we have lost a very great chess genius whose like we shall never see again. – Alexander Alekhine (on Capablanca) Alekhine was the rock-thrower, Capablanca the man who made it all seem easy. – Hans Ree It was impossible to win against Capablanca; against Alekhine it was impossible to play. – Paul Keres Against Alekhine you never knew what to expect. Against Capablanca, you knew what to expect, but you couldn't prevent it! – George Thomas Capa's games looked as though they were turned out by a lathe, while Alekhine's resembled something produced with a mallet and chisel. – Charles Yaffe I have known many chess players, but among them there has been only one genius - Capablanca! His ideal was to win by manoeuvering. Capablanca's genius reveals itself in his probing of the opponent's weak points. The slightest weakness cannot escape from his keene eye. - Emanuel Lasker Whereas Anderssen and Chigorin looked for accidental positions, Capablanca is guided by the logicality of strong positions. He values only that which is well-founded: solidity of position, pressure on a weak point, he does not trust the accidental, even if it be a problem-like mate, at the required moment he discovers and carries out subtle and far-sighted combinations... - Emanuel Lasker Capablanca possessed an amazing ability to quickly see into a position and intuitively grasp its main features. His style, one of the purest, most crystal-clear in the entire history of chess, astonishes one with it's logic. - Garry Kasparov Capablanca was a genius. He was an exception that did not obey any rule. - Vladimir Kramnik We can compare Capablanca with Mozart, whose charming music appeared to have been a smooth flow. I get the impression that Capablanca did not even know why he preferred this or that move, he just moved the pieces with his hand. If he had worked a lot on chess, he might have played worse because he would have started to try to comprehend things. But Capablanca did not have to comprehend anything, he just had to move the pieces! - Vladimir Kramnik To add:
Capablanca vs Ed Lasker, 1915
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127 games, 1901-1939 - Karpov vs. the World Champions Decisive Games
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The Romance of the Chess World Championship Match and the World Champions that won them: There can only be Two.
The Champion to hold the Title he beat all the masters for. The Challenger on quest for same Title of yore.
Anatoly Karpov Anatoli Karpov, one of the greatest of World Champions in chess history, has played all the post WW2 World Champions at least a dozen times each in serious classical games except for Fischer and Botvinnik. Karpov holds the unique distinction of having played the most games against the most World Champions. He has negative scores against Kasparov and Anand; tied scores with Petrosian and Kramnik; positive scores against Smyslov, Tal, and was massively dominating against Spassky, who once complained that he could not fathom Karpov's style. During his heyday from 1974 to 1984, Karpov so totally dominated the chessworld that tournaments that he joined essentially became fights for second place, as it was almost a foregone conclusion that he would win first even before the start. No one in the horizon played chess close to Karpov's level then (after Fischer's retirement and before Kasparov's ascension). His puzzlingly peaceful but profoundly unbeatable brand of chess made it look like he was going to reign forever. Karpov was unlucky in the sense that the latter part of his era coincided with Kasparov's career. If Kasparov were never born, it's possible that Karpov may have been world champion until 2000, a 25 year reign. He would have been right at Lasker's ballpark. Karpov claims that the first player that he seriously studied was Capablanca, yet many fans see in his prophylactic style a kind of more active and aggressive Petrosian. Karpov's stylistic attitude in a game seems to be to control every square of the board that he he could, while calculating every possible variations in an approximately 5 move range. This gives the impression of a prophylactic boa constricting the opponents' pieces onto their last breathe, while allowing no serious counter play. Karpov won the Title by default from a Fischer who would not play him in 1975, and lost it to Kasparov in their second match in 1985. In their fourth match in 1987, Karpov nearly won the Title back, but lost in the very last game. Had Karpov drew or won that last game, Kasparov's superiority over him would not have been that clearly demonstrated. In the tradition of Lasker, Alekhine, Botvinnik, Smyslov, and the Almost World Champion Korchnoi, Karpov played world class chess until he was 50, and until 1999, he arguably might still have had reasonable chances of beating anybody in a World Championship Match except Kasparov. Karpov beat Smyslov 3 to 1, with 10 draws
Karpov beat Tal 1 to 0, with 19 draws
Karpov tied Petrosian 1 to 1, with 12 draws
Karpov beat Spassky 13 to 1, with 23 draws
Kasparov beat Karpov 28 to 21, with 129 draws
Karpov tied Kramnik 2 to 2, with 9 draws
Anand beat Karpov 8 to 5, with 18 draws
Bonus: Karpov's breathtakingly beautiful positional Immortal game against Gulko
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88 games, 1971-2003 - Kasparov vs World Champions Decisive Games
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The Romance of the Chess World Championship Match and the World Champions that won them: There can only be Two.
The Champion to hold the Title he beat all the masters for. The Challenger on quest for same Title of yore.
Garry Kasparov Kasparov beat Smyslov 6 to 1, with 11 draws.
Kasparov beat Tal 2 to 0, with 11 draws.
Kasparov tied Petrosian 2 to 2, with 1 draw.
Kasparov tied Spassky 2 to 2, with 4 draws.
Kasparov beat Karpov 28 to 21, with 129 draws.
Kramnik beat Kasparov 5 to 4, with 40 draws.
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75 games, 1975-2001 - Keres vs World & Almost Champions Decisive Games
The Almost World Champions.
Always the second but should have been first. They who in another time and place could have been Chess World Champions. Paul Keres, the Patriotic Estonian, Conqueror of 9 World Champions, for nearly 3 decades always on the brink of the Title. Given his over-all personal history, I rate Keres as the first among the Almost World Champions. Paul Keres Keres began his chess career by playing (surprise) correspondence chess. Then he began playing in tournaments, and winning them. Keres' star began to rise in the latter 1930s. He won several strong tournaments, including the proto-Candidates AVRO 1938. He ended a productive 1930s decade by playing a kind of Challenger's match or Candidates Finals match with Euwe in 1939. The match was held in order to make Alekhine's choice for a Challenger 'easier'. Keres was a leading contender after winning AVRO 1938 and other top class tournaments, and Euwe was the former world champion. Keres narrowly won the match. Had Euwe never played AAA in 1937, and this was the World Championship Match instead, Keres would now be known as the 6th Chess World Champion. During WW2, Keres proceeded to do something that looks impossible. Estonia got annexed by the Soviet Union; and Keres played in the 1940 Soviet championship and in the double round robin Botvinnik-arranged 1941 tournament. Then Estonia fell to Nazi Germany and Keres just continued playing chess, this time in German sponsored tournaments. He became the only master that played in both Soviet and German tournaments. He was like a link between two totally cut-off pools of top European chess masters. For a man in his hazardous situation, he played quite well. After the war Keres proceeded to win 3 Soviet Championships. Then we go to the original Candidates tournaments. These were significantly different from those of recent ones because of their number of players and their length. They were veritable marathons among the world's top players. Keres was the only one to qualify in all of them; and he placed 2nd in four out of five. For a chess player who must have been the focus of distrust and perhaps hostility after his cooperation (willing or not is another topic) with Nazis, in a post WW2 Soviet Union, Keres did quite well. If he were just a tad more lucky, winning a few more drawn games or drawing lost ones, he would have become a Challenger. During this time, I believe that Keres would have beaten in a match the same Botvinik that Smyslov, Tal, and Petrosian had beaten. Keres would now be known as the 7th, 8th, or 9th Chess World Champion. Keres is a smoking gun, bomb proof evidence of the fallacy of Watson's speculation that pre-WW2 masters would not be able to learn 'modern' chess, and Larsen's assertion that he would crush everyone in the 1930s. The glaring fact is that Keres is a 1930s pre-WW2 master whose career extended up to the 1970s, and he did learn (and contributed) to the newer opening variations (the most famous of which is the Keres attack which he invented in 1943). Tellingly enough Keres beat both Watson and Larsen. There are many who regard WW2 and the Soviet annexation of Estonia as a personal tragedy that affected his chess and dashed Keres' hopes for the Title. In particular, many chess pundits have opined that Keres was in a dangerous situation in the 1948 World Championship Tournament, suspected of having collaborated with Nazis in WW2. His performance likely would have been better if he were not based in the Soviet Union. All accounts indicate that he remained loyal to his people and country, amazingly abiding in Estonia throughout all these times; and Estonia eventually honored her faithful son as essentially a national hero. He is the only chess master whose picture appears in a modern banknote, the five kroons (5 krooni) Estonian bill (before Estonia adopted the Euro). As a testament to his strength, Keres fought most of the world champions more or less to a standstill, is one of the handful of chess masters who has a positive score against Capablanca, and was dominating against Euwe and Tal. He defeated 9 world champions in individual games and played 10, a record surpassed only by Korchnoi, who beat 9 world champions and played 11. Style-wise, I find Keres closest to Alekhine. Although Keres usually did not obtain the type of weird bizarre positions Alekhine seems to have liked and played for, their games were marked by a strong emphasis on the initiative and attack. Paul Keres beat Jose Raul Capablanca 1 to 0, with 5 draws Alexander Alekhine beat Paul Keres 5 to 1, with 8 draws Paul Keres beat Max Euwe 11 to 7, with 9 draws
Mikhail Botvinnik beat Paul Keres 8 to 3, with 9 draws Paul Keres tied Vasily Smyslov 9 to 9, with 22 draws Paul Keres beat Mikhail Tal 8 to 4, with 18 draws Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian tied Paul Keres 3 to 3, with 30 draws Boris Spassky beat Paul Keres 5 to 3, with 19 draws Robert James Fischer beat Paul Keres 4 to 3, with 3 draws Paul Keres tied Anatoly Karpov 0 to 0, with 2 draws Bonus:
Below are Keres vs Korchnoi decisive games. Korchnoi is another of history's all time greatest who in another time and place could have been Chess World Champion. Paul Keres beat Viktor Korchnoi 4 to 1, with 12 draws
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96 games, 1935-1975 - King's Indian Defense
King's Indian Defense great games from White and Black points of view.
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175 games, 1946-2024 - Korchnoi - Mecking Candidates Quarterfinal 1974
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Korchnoi qualified for this match from the Leningrad Interzonal (1973), and Mecking qualified from the Petropolis Interzonal (1973). The other quarterfinal matches were Spassky - Byrne Candidates Quarterfinal (1974), Petrosian - Portisch Candidates Quarterfinal (1974) and Karpov - Polugaevsky Candidates Quarterfinal (1974). Each match was a maximum 16 games, and the first to three wins would be the winner. If 8-8, the winner would be picked by lottery.[1] The matches were held in order to select a challenger for Bobby Fischer, the World Champion. International Arbiter Bozidar Kazic wrote in the book on the matches that this was a battle between two players with different styles, different careers in chess, different generations, and whose only common point was their ardent desire to win.[2] Korchnoi (42) had previously taken part in three candidates' competitions, whilst Mecking (21) felt that youth was on his side.[2] The two had played each other four times since the Sousse Interzonal (1967). The selection of Augusta, Georgia, USA, for the match was a compromise between the Russian winter and the heat of Brazil, explained Ed Edmondson, the Executive Director of the USCF.[2] Augusta also had hospitable chess enthusiasts: Lee Hyder, William Henry Dodgen, Vera Hagler and others.[2] The playing venue was "Towers Quality Inn" at 444 Broad Street.[3] This also accommodated the players.[2] Kazic was the arbiter, with Martin Morrison as assistant.[2, 4] General playing time was set to 5-10 pm.[5] Korchnoi, Isabella (his wife), Viacheslav Osnos (second) and Mikhail Soloviev (head of delegation) arrived in Augusta 10 January.[2,6] Mecking and Herbert Abreu Carvalho (second) arrived two days later, and joined Ulf Andersson (principal second) who was already in town.[6] On Monday 14 January they were welcomed by Mayor Lewis A. Newman, who held a Key to the City ceremony in his office.[7] On 15 January there was an opening ceremony and a banquet.[8] Invited guests included the Governors of Georgia and South Carolina.[9] Attending guests included Edmondson, FIDE comptroller Gian Carlo Dal Verme[10] and Kamalakar Raut, the president of the Georgia Chess Association.[8] Kazic asked Pro-tem Mayor K. Johnson to choose between two envelopes which contained a black and a white pawn and the name of one of the contenders. Johnson picked the one with Mecking's name on it. Mecking was thereby given the opportunity to choose from either hand of Korchnoi who held a pawn in each palm. He chose Korchnoi's right hand and the pawn was black, thereby giving Korchnoi white in the opening game.[8] The players: http://www.clubedexadrez.com.br/por... In Game 1, Mecking proved worthy of the occasion.[2] The game was adjourned with Mecking a pawn up. Osnos said he spent two days with Korchnoi seeking a way to save the position, which Korchnoi regarded as lost. But Mecking played imprecisely in the endgame, and the game was drawn.[2] Game 2 was very quiet. In Game 3, Korchnoi was forced to sacrifice a pawn, but in the end, the point was divided. Game 4 was also a draw, once again with an extra pawn for Mecking.[2] Mecking had said he studied Korchnoi's style and that he liked it.[5] The players could now rest for two days. Korchnoi was in the USA for the first time, and went to the North Augusta Plaza Shopping Center, two hospitals, and Augusta College "to tour and talk with people".[11] Mecking spent the day in the hotel, studying for the next game.[11] On 22 January, Korchnoi went shopping to select a suit and accessories at no charge.[4] He was no expert on clothing, to judge from the repeated "[[Bella, Bella, come here]]".[4] He picked a smart-looking brown plaid suit. Osnos and Soloviev bought shirts, sweaters, beach robes and an umbrella. Mecking again spent most of the day in the hotel.[4] Game 5 was played on Mecking's birthday. Before the game, Korchnoi, Bella, Soloviev, Kazic and his wife Olga and a Soviet radio journalist "toured" Merry and Terrace Manor Elementary Schools, Glenn Hills High School, and Sego Junior High School, where they ate lunch with the students.[12] In order to avoid too much excitement, Mecking did not want flowers or other reminders of his birthday. In the game, Korchnoi was about to gift a point. But Mecking made a mistake before the time control, and later lost.[2] Now he complained of insomnia, and Game 6 (scheduled 24 January) was postponed for two days.[13] This game was a quiet draw.[2] In Game 7, Mecking was a pawn up at the adjournment. Korchnoi got compensation and offered the draw, but Mecking refused. Five moves later, Korchnoi was better and Mecking offered the draw. But now Korchnoi refused, and won the endgame.[2, 14] On the next day (29 January), Korchnoi, Osnos and Kazic visited the Capitol and met with Governor Jimmy Carter and Lt. Governor Lester Maddox.[15] With a 2-0 lead, Korchnoi now played cautiously.[2] Four draws followed. The excitement at the chess table gave way to provocative statements by the players to journalists, which made the situation all the more tense.[2] Game 12 was won by Mecking in a lovely style. After the match, Korchnoi said this was the most complete and best game.[2] Korchnoi adjourned the game in a lost position, waiting to resign in order to have four rest days, instead of two, before the next game.[2] He and Isabella left for the Clark Hill Reservoir for boating and fishing. Mecking stayed close to the hotel, while Andersson made a trip to Atlanta to visit the tourist attractions there.[16] Game 13 became the last of the match. Mecking surprised Korchnoi with a Benoni and had opportunities to tie the score. But short of time, he ruined the prospective position he had been building for hours.[2] <Towers Quality Inn, Augusta USA, 16 Jan. - 13 Feb. 1974> [17] table[
Elo* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 Pts USD#
1 GM Korchnoi 2650 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 7½ 3500
2 GM Mecking 2575 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 5½ 2100 ]table Korchnoi advanced to the Korchnoi - Petrosian Candidates Semifinal (1974). At the closing ceremony, Morrison presented Korchnoi with his first prize money. Carvalho accepted the second prize money on behalf of Mecking who was not there. Hyder and Dodgen were presented chess boards by Morrison from the USCF for their work prior to and during the match. Dan and Vera Hagler of Augusta were presented the clock that was used in the match. Korchnoi was asked how he would do in a match with Fischer? "[[I think I would lose 6 ½ to 4 ½. Fischer is unbeatable.]]"[18] The 3rd North Augusta Winter Chess Festival was held 22-24 February at the N. Augusta Recreation Center, with Francis Fielder Simpson winning in the highest rated section. Mecking was still in town, and made a brief appearance during which he signed autographs and talked with the participants.[19] *FIDE Rating List July 1973. #Prizes in US dollars according to Botvinnik's book (note 2). [Notes:] [1)] [Harry Golombek in The Times 15 Jan. 1974 p. 5 & Tidskrift för Schack Feb. 1974 p. 33. ] [2)] [Candidates' Matches 1974 by Mikhail Botvinnik, Aleksandar Matanovic, Bozidar Kazic and Mikhail Yudovich Sr (Belgrade 1974). ] [3)] [At which address "Regency Inn" had a major overhaul in 2013 and changed name to Holiday Inn Express (Augusta Chronicle 30 July 2013). ] [4)] [Augusta Chronicle 23 January 1977 p. 13. ] [5)] [Augusta Chronicle 13 January 1974 p. 14. ] [6)] [Augusta Chronicle 12 January 1974 p. 11. Botvinnik's book says 11 January. ] [7)] [Augusta Chronicle 15 January 1974 p. 10. ] [8)] [Augusta Chronicle 16 January 1974 p. 15. ] [9)] [Aiken Standard 15 January 1974 p. 7. ] [10)] [Composer of the FIDE anthem, http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gian_C.... ] [11)] [Augusta Chronicle 22 January 1974 p. 11. ] [12)] [Augusta Chronicle 24 January 1974 p. 8. ] [13)] [Augusta Chronicle 26 January 1974 p. 12. ] [14)] [Augusta Chronicle 29 January 1974 p. 14. ] [15)] [Augusta Chronicle 30 January 1974 p. 13. ] [16)] [Augusta Chronicle 13 February 1974 p. 42. ] [17)] [Game 9 was played in the civic room of the Georgia Railroad Bank Building because of a scheduling conflict (Augusta Chronicle 5 February 1974 p. 11). ] [18)] [Augusta Chronicle 15 February 1974 p. 1. ] [19)] [Augusta Chronicle 25 February 1974 p. 13. ] [Original collections: Game Collection: WCC Index (Korchnoi-Mecking 1974) by User: Hesam7 and Game Collection: Korchnoi - Mecking Candidates Quarterfinal 1974 by User: Tabanus. Game dates (Jan 16, 17, 19, 20, 23, 26, 27, 30, Feb 2, 6, 7, 9, 13) are from Augusta Chronicle. Thanks to User: OhioChessFan, User: Chessical and User: zanzibar for improving the English. ]
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13 games, 1974 - Kramnik - My Life and Games
321 games, 1984-2016 - Lasker vs the World Champions Decisive Games
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The Romance of the Chess World Championship Match and the World Champions that won them: There can only be Two.
The Champion to hold the Title he beat all the masters for. The Challenger on quest for same Title of yore.
Emanuel Lasker Emanuel Lasker was the second chessplayer to play at super GM level (the first being Morphy), and the first to do so for a long period of time. Lasker belonged to the first generation of masters who all throughout their careers played in competitive tournaments in the presence of the newly invented chess clock, which seems to have standardized what could have been rather messy and irregular past tournament conditions and so allowed the regular rise of the super GM caliber chessplayer. His middlegames were at least at par with present-day super GMs, and his endgames were better than most. Given that the human genome and the brain it blueprints, and chess rules, the chess clock, and time controls remain very similar, it would follow that the human brain limits the human ability to play classical chess. Increasing the number of human chess players, thus expanding the normal curve of players, simply creates a larger probability of players playing at the brain's limit, but will not create a mental superman who plays chess at computer levels; there would always be a sudden limit seen as a drop on the right side of the normal curve. Players who do play close to this limit, assuming they occur at a very low proportion of the chess-playing population, say one out of hundreds of millions, would tend to be rarities in each generation or not exist at all, and they would all play at a similar level close to this limit. Lasker was the first. This explains why human and computer analysis indicate that Lasker at his prime was playing on a qualitatively similar level as more recent dominant World Champions who during some periods of their career played close to this limit, or as well as a human being could. Lasker totally demolished the first official Titleholder Wilhelm Steinitz, who may have played significantly below super GM level. IMO Emanuel Lasker was the real founder of modern dynamics-oriented chess; and like modern super GMs knew exactly when it was advantageous to trade material and static advantages for dynamic play and piece activity. World Champion for a record 27 years, he definitively relinquished his Title in 1921 to Capablanca in what could be the most error-free and well-played World Championship match in all of chess history. Until he was in his mid fifties Lasker played World Championship caliber chess; until 1924 he was still regarded as the second best chessplayer in the world. Emanuel Lasker vs. Wilhelm Steinitz 26 - 8 (plus 12 draws) Emanuel Lasker vs. Jose Raul Capablanca 2 - 6 (plus 16 draws) Emanuel Lasker vs. Alexander Alekhine 3 - 1 (plus 4 draws) Emanuel Lasker vs. Max Euwe 3 - 0 (no draws)
Emanuel Lasker vs. Mikhail Botvinnik 0 - 1 (plus 3 draws)
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51 games, 1894-1936 - Learn from the great Rubinstein
"Careful analysis shows that modern chess begins with Akiba Rubinstein, he was one of the fathers of modern chess"
That's what Kasparov says.
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34 games, 1903-1926 - Leonid Stein's Best Games
43 games, 1960-1973 - Life and Games (Tal)
'The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal' by Mikhail Tal.
Translated by Kenneth Neat.
Edited by John Nunn.
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100 games, 1949-1975 - Mammoth Book Greatest Games 2021 edition
The games added (126-145) in the latest edition, 2021, of "The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games". However, the game 132 Nguyen vs Sadorra - Ho Chi Minh City 2015, and the game 145 Studer vs Rapport - German Bundesliga 2019/2020, are missing, as at the moment they are not present in the archives of chessgames.com
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18 games, 2012-2019 - Mammoth Book-Greatest Games (Nunn/Burgess/Emms)
'The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games' by Graham Burgess, John Nunn and John Emms.
New expanded edition-now with 125 games.
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125 games, 1834-2010 - Manual of Chess (Lasker)
'Lasker's Manual of Chess' by Emanuel Lasker.
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124 games, 1783-1928 - Masters of the Chessboard (Reti)
'Masters of the Chessboard' by Richard Reti.
21st century edition.
Translated by J.A. Schwendemann.
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71 games, 1855-1928 - Match Capablanca!
Jose Capablanca's Match Record:
+4 -3(2) =6(5) vs. Corzo (Havana, 1901)*
+8 -1 =14 vs. Marshall (New .York, 1909)
+2 -0 =1 vs. Jaffe (New York State Finals, 1910)
+2 -0 =0 vs. Alekhine (St.Petersburg, 1913)
+2 -0 =0 vs. Aurbach (Paris, 1914)
+1 -0 =1 vs. Tartakower (Vienna, 1914)
St. Petersburg 'minimatches', 1914:
+0 -1 =2 vs. Lasker
+2 -0 =1 vs. Alekhine
+1 -1 =1 vs. Tarrasch
+2 -0 =1 vs. Marshall
+5 -0 =0 vs. Kostic (Havana, 1919)
+4 -0 =10 vs. Lasker (World Match, Havana, 1921) New York Tournament 'minimatches', 1927:
+1 -0 =3 vs. Alekhine
+2 -0 =2 vs. Nimzowitsch
+1 -0 =3 vs. Vidmar
+1 -0 =3 vs. Spielmann
+3 -0 =1 vs. Marshall
+3 -6 =25 vs. Alekhine (World Match, B.Aires, 1927)
+2 -0 =8 vs. Euwe (Amsterdam, 1931)
Later Games vs Alekhine:
+1 -1 =1 (Game Collection: Nottingham 1936 and Game Collection: AVRO 1938) <Overall: +47 -13* =83 (61.9%) // +7 -6 =35 (51.0%) in World Matches> Addendum: Capablancas 'apochryphal' matches:
+2 -0 =0 vs. Villegas (B.Aires, 1911)
+3 -0 =0 vs. Illa (B.Aires, 1911)
+2 -0 =0 vs. Anaya (Montevideo, 1911)
+1 -0 =1 vs. Berasain (Montevideo, 1911)
+1 -0 =1 vs. Aurbach (Paris, 1913)
+2 -0 =0 vs. Mieses (Berlin, 1913)
+2 -0 =0 vs. Teichmann (Berlin, 1913)
+1 -1 =0 vs. Znosko Borovsky (St.Petersburg, 1913)
+2 -0 =0 vs. Duz Khotimirsky (St.Petersburg, 1913)
+1 -0 =1 vs. Bernstein (Moscow, 1914)
Source: http://www.thechesslibrary.com/arti... - needs confirmation. Addendum 2: childhood challenges
Before his long match with Juan Corzo, Capablanca played 10 quick minimatches against players of Cuba. Clocks were used and Capablanca's average rate of play was 140 moves an hour (53 for his opponents), his score being +13 -3 =2. +2-0=0 vs Delmonte
+2-0=0 vs Paredes
+1-1=0 vs E.Corzo
+1-0=1 vs Fiol
+0-2=0 vs J.Corzo
+2-0=0 vs Gavilan
+1-0=0 vs Ettlinger
+1-0=0 vs Marceau
+1-0=1 vs Sterling
+2-0=0 vs Blanco
(*) Capablanca does not acknowledge Corzo's last two games in "My Chess Career" (*) it is also of note Capablanca's moving rate in this match: 88 moves an hour (Corzo: 52/hour). So, those were semi-rapid games by nowadays standards.
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143 games, 1901-1938
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Kibitzing
