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Wilhelm Steinitz vs Mikhail Chigorin
"Good Wil Hunting" (game of the day Apr-06-2018)
Steinitz - Chigorin World Championship Rematch (1892), Havana CUB, rd 4, Jan-07
Spanish Game: Berlin Defense (C65)  ·  1-0

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
a
1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move.
ANALYSIS [x]
1-0

rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1
FEN COPIED

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Given 137 times; par: 43 [what's this?]

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 6 OF 7 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Jul-24-12  JoergWalter: <LMAJ: 19.0-0-0!,
I can count the (good) games of chess - in the Ruy Lopez - where White got away with castling Queen-side ... ... ... on the fingers of just one hand! >

can you give the games?

Jul-24-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: Games with long castling can often be found in the line after 3....a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.Bxc6+ bxc6 6.d4 f6 7.Be3 and Nc3; how good they are is another story, however!
Jul-24-12  SimonWebbsTiger: the reason white rarely castles q-side in the Lopez is easy enough to explain: he normally castles k-side early (trivial) and that the central formation usually involves c2-c3 and d2-d4, so the king would be in too much danger.

After 6. Nbd2
<Perhaps this move shows masters have lost as well as gained in the last 60 years. We can recall few master games since 1945 in which white has castled QR in the Ruy Lopez. The one outstanding example is in the Steinitz defence Deferred: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. Bxc6 bxc6 6. d4 f6 7. Be3 Ne7 8. Nc3 Ng6 9. Qd2 Be7 10. o-o-o> "A Guide to Chess Openings" by Leonard Barden (Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1957.)

Long castles in the Lopez is thus very variation specific. Another example is in the Schliemann (3...f5 where the 4. Nc3 fxe4 5. Nxe4 d5 line often sees both colours castle q-side).

Barden noted that a modern master might play 6.0-0 without thinking. Here Steinitz remains flexible. The idea is castling should be done when needed not because you can!

Jul-25-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  LIFE Master AJ: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gh-...

My web page - the link is in my last post - is several years old. However, I just made a video on this game, the link can be found above.

Mar-05-13  shepi13: For all those saying that 26. Bh6+!! is the most accurate, it is not necesarily. While it is the simplest to calculate, 26. Qh6+!! Kf6 27. Qh4+ Kg7 28. Bh6+ Kh7 29. Bxf8# mates just as quickly
Mar-05-13  shepi13: SimonWebbsTiger - the plan to delay castling is too elaborate, without the rook on e1 black can counter in the center with d5 and equalize. Thus, modern grandmasters have learned to prevent counterplay, and to seize the chance for it rather than move their knights 5-6 times like chigorin did.
Mar-22-13  DubbleX: nice sac attack
Nov-24-13  pericles of athens: Wow, what a lovely ending!
Aug-12-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: A tribute to the late Robin Williams.
Aug-12-14  bahduggi: Nice game. Nice pun. Nice tribute.
Aug-12-14  Once: No jokes today. Sad news indeed.
Aug-12-14  pedro99: I can remember a 'Reader's Showcase' in the American magazine 'Chess Review' in which some dude tried to pass this game off as his own. Spotted by alert readers. Got past the editors though..
Aug-12-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  TheAlchemist: Good choice, cg.com, a great game as a tribute to a great artist.
Aug-12-14  Castleinthesky: Two great artists who died as a result of tragic circumstances-Steinitz in abject poverty, and Williams in severe depression. Rest in peace.
Aug-12-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  playground player: Morphy vs. Steinitz: more than one way to skin a cat.
Aug-12-14  Petrosianic: I never saw the parallel between Steinitz and Robin Williams before. I'm not sure I do now. But I feel pretty sure that someone as chirpy and hyper-active as Williams would have bugged the heck out of someone as curmudgeonly as Steinitz. They might have made a good Odd Couple.
Aug-12-14  kevin86: Queen and bishop dominate this one.

Good-Bye Robin Williams: Oh, Captain my Captain.

Aug-12-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: <Petrosianic> I'm sure no actual resemblance between Steinitz and Williams is meant. The pun is based simply on the similarity between Steinitz's name and the title of the film for which Williams received an Oscar.

Were Williams granted grandmaster strength and admitted to the Chess Pantheon, the only player I can imagine enjoying a game with him would be La Bourddnnais. Possibly Tal, but I don't get the same sort of vibes from him, and imagine he would quickly want to return to the pleasures of playing Korchnoi.

Aug-12-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  tamar: Only a few players have had Robin Williams' manic mode. La Bourdonnais, as mentioned, and Harrwitz, who used to kibitz with the spectators between moves.

I'd like to see Williams as Harrwitz in a rare win over Staunton, when Staunton started muttering unhappily about losing a pawn, and Harrwitz gleefully called his servant over, and asked him to check under the table because "Mr Staunton has lost a pawn".

Aug-12-14  thegoodanarchist: The black king makes a sorry sight, sitting on e5 with enemy bishops and queen swarming about. Nice game by Wil!
Aug-12-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  Check It Out: I like the pun. Bye, Mork. See you on the flip side.
Oct-21-14  Ke2: <LTJ> Not 29. g4#? Tasteless.
Jan-02-15  Ulhumbrus: If the pawn attack 11 h4 commits White to castling on the queen side this suggests the queen side pawn counter-attack 11...b5 to be followed by ...b4
Jan-03-15  Ulhumbrus: Perhaps what can be said of the move 7 h4 in the game Capablanca vs C H Alexander, 1936 can be said as well of the move 11 h4 in the present game: If the move h4 commits White to castling on the queen side this suggests a pawn counter-attack on the queen side by ...b5 and ...b4.
Jan-20-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Gypsy: <tamar: Only a few players have had Robin Williams' manic mode. La Bourdonnais, as mentioned, and Harrwitz, who used to kibitz with the spectators between moves.

I'd like to see Williams as Harrwitz in a rare win over Staunton, when Staunton started muttering unhappily about losing a pawn, and Harrwitz gleefully called his servant over, and asked him to check under the table because "Mr Staunton has lost a pawn".>

Legends have it that Steinitz, too, could turn manic alright: Once, during tournament play, a spectator stopped Wilhelm during stroll and asked for an explanation of the last move with pawn. He, the spectator, that is, did not understand the move at all! To this, Steinitz replied: <Have you ever observed a monkey exploring a pocket watch?>

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