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Miguel Najdorf

MIGUEL NAJDORF (born Apr-15-1910, died Jul-04-1997, 87 years old) Poland (federation/nationality Argentina) [what is this?] Moishe Mendel (Mieczysław) Najdorf (NIGH-dorf) was born in Warsaw. He was a pupil of Savielly Tartakower. At the age of 20, he had become a Polish National Master. He played for Poland in the Chess Olympiads of 1935, 1937, and 1939. Najdorf was playing at the Buenos Aires Olympiad in 1939 when World War II broke out, and decided not to attempt to return home, taking Argentine citizenship (1944) and adopting the first name Miguel. His family members died in German concentration camps. In 1950, he was one of the 27 players to whom FIDE first awarded the official International Grandmaster title. In 1943, he set the record for simultaneous games played. He played 202 players, scoring +182 -8 =12. In 1947, he played 45 games simultaneously blindfolded, then a record, scoring +39 -2 =4. In the late 1930s and 1940s he established himself as one of the world's best players. He won Budapest (1936) (tied with Lajos Steiner), Buenos Aires (1939) (tied with Paul Keres), Buenos Aires Circulo (1941) (tied with Gideon Stahlberg), Mar del Plata (1942), Mar del Plata (1943), Mar del Plata (1944) (tied with Herman Pilnik), Mar del Plata (1946) (three points ahead of Stahlberg), Prague (1946), Rio de Janeiro (1946), Mar del Plata (1947), and Venice (1948). In 1949, he drew matches against both Reuben Fine (each scoring +2 =4 -2) and Petar Trifunovic (each scoring +1 =10 -1). Najdorf was a strong contender to be included in the FIDE World Championship Tournament (1948), particularly since he had won Prague (1946), which had been conceived of as a qualifying tournament for the world championship, but he was not invited. Chessmetrics ranks him the No. 2 player in the world in March 1948, behind only Botvinnik and ahead of the other four participants: Paul Keres (#4), Max Euwe (#6), Vasily Smyslov (#7), and Samuel Reshevsky (#12). In the 1950s Najdorf competed in several major international events, including two Candidates tournaments. He won the Argentinian championship eight times (1949, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1960, 1964, 1967, 1975) and he continued to promote chess in his adopted country until his death in 1997. Shortly before his 60th birthday, he was still strong enough to play ninth board for the World team in the USSR vs. Rest of the World (1970) match. He tied former world champion Tal, each scoring +1 =2 -1. A profound theorist, he contributed many opening ideas, notably one of the most popular chess openings of all time, the Sicilian Najdorf (1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6), which is played in about 3% of all games. Wikipedia article: Miguel Najdorf Chessmetrics March 1948 rating list: http://www.chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/... Last updated: 2023-04-21 08:34:28

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page 1 of 71; games 1-25 of 1,768  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Najdorf vs M Frenkel 1-0 20 1928 Lodz B70 Sicilian, Dragon Variation 2. A Szpiro vs Najdorf 0-1 22 1928 Lodz Ch D60 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense 3. Najdorf vs T Regedzinski   1-0 37 1928 Lodz-ch B84 Sicilian, Scheveningen 4. Najdorf vs Margolin   1-0 25 1929 Warsaw Association Tt C13 French 5. D Daniuszewski vs Najdorf 0-1 28 1929 Lodz A47 Queen's Indian 6. Najdorf vs Gliksberg 1-0 21 1929 Lodz C10 French 7. M Czerniak vs Najdorf 0-1 48 1929 Match game 3 E60 King's Indian Defense 8. Glucksberg vs Najdorf 0-1 22 1930 Warsaw A85 Dutch, with c4 & Nc3 9. Najdorf vs P Frydman   1-0 41 1931 Warsaw D05 Queen's Pawn Game 10. L Kremer vs Najdorf   0-1 35 1931 Warsaw E11 Bogo-Indian Defense 11. L Kremer vs Najdorf   0-1 38 1933 Warszawi Klub Szachistow ClubFoundation D92 Grunfeld, 5.Bf4 12. Najdorf vs L Kremer   1-0 35 1933 Warszawi Klub Szachistow ClubFoundation E17 Queen's Indian 13. Najdorf vs P Frydman   1-0 36 1933 Warszawi Klub Szachistow ClubFoundation A47 Queen's Indian 14. Najdorf vs L Kremer   ½-½ 57 1934 Warsaw 6Players D02 Queen's Pawn Game 15. O Karlin vs Najdorf   0-1 34 1934 Match A04 Reti Opening 16. Najdorf vs Spielmann ½-½ 42 1934 Warsaw E23 Nimzo-Indian, Spielmann 17. Najdorf vs Pilz 1-0 29 1934 Warsaw E38 Nimzo-Indian, Classical, 4...c5 18. Najdorf vs H Scheier   1-0 32 1934 POL Team-ch02 D05 Queen's Pawn Game 19. Najdorf vs T Regedzinski   1-0 34 1934 POL Team-ch02 A47 Queen's Indian 20. Najdorf vs Shlomo Tirsztejn 1-0 20 1934 2nd Polish Team Championship E60 King's Indian Defense 21. J Jagielski vs Najdorf 0-1 36 1934 Warsaw Club Ch E12 Queen's Indian 22. Najdorf vs I Aloni   1-0 35 1935 Polish Championship E19 Queen's Indian, Old Main line, 9.Qxc3 23. J Kolski vs Najdorf   0-1 16 1935 POL-ch03 A47 Queen's Indian 24. Najdorf vs S Kohn   1-0 41 1935 POL-ch03 A46 Queen's Pawn Game 25. Najdorf vs F Sulik 1-0 32 1935 Polish Championship D46 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav  page 1 of 71; games 1-25 of 1,768

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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 7 OF 10 ·  Later Kibitzing> Aug-13-07    vonKrolock: <Fusilli> Sadly, Arnold Denker passed away later too... As I stated above, my indirect source's memories arrived until the late seventies, and Perez Garcia's accounts arrive to middle nineties, right!? - As it would also be very sad to imagine that both argentinian chess heroes would not settle their differences ,it's really very pleasant to know about their belated reconciliation Aug-13-07    Fusilli: <vonKrolock> I suspect Najdorf and Guimard must have quarreled a number of times, but it seems that they worked it out. BTW, Carlos Enrique Guimard doesn't have a date of death on his page, but he did pass away. So, good ol' Vasily Smyslov is the only survivor from Groningen 1956. Sep-03-07    brankat: You mean ...1946. Dec-14-07    capatal: "Look at me, I'm laughing, I'm making pleasantries, and I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight," proclaimed Argentinean grandmaster Miguel Najdorf (1910-1997)... after losing a game. - The World of Chess Anthony Saidy and Norman Lessing Dec-26-07    D4n: The Sicillian Najdorf (1. e4 c5 2. f3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. xd4 f6 5. c3 a6) is a strong opening... Feb-03-08    cunaki: Another ex hero of mine down the drain. If true that Fischer was willing to play a GM draw when thats exactly what he was accusing the Russians of doing puts a rather different coloration on things doesnt it? So these chessplayers were all cheaters crooks shysters liars bums who exactly fit the mold of casino rats not great sportsmen or intellects. Just clever pawn pushers? So Fischer knew that international chess was fixed as he was in on the game himself. But is the story true about him throwing a game??? Hard to believe. So back to the original Olympic ideal where competitors may not be paid for their efforts except for a laurel wreath. I knew a hustler in university who would play chess ping pong tennis cards whatnot for money only. We all held him in contempt and never played him. Mar-12-08    Ruy Lopez: Did anyone else know that Bobby Fischer died recently? Mar-12-08    MaxxLange: we heard Mar-12-08    drnooo: Talk about neglect: hard to fathom how a player of the fantastic quality of this guy has only garnered seven pages. 65 per cent wins, that's mighty fine stuff. Maybe the most underrated player at this site by definition. Mar-24-08    brankat: <drnooo> <Talk about neglect: hard to fathom how a player of the fantastic quality of this guy has only garnered seven pages..> How is this for neglect? I've compiled a list of players going back more than 200 years. Each one of them a great master of the game in his own way. In terms of results, influence, contribution, style, etc. Players, innovators, teachers. Yet, each with 7, or (mostly), less pages of kibitzing here. I'm sure there is a number of others I have not thought of. I've listed them in a chronological order: F.A.Philidor..............7 pages A.L.H.L.Deschapelles......1 P.C.F. de Saint Amant.....1 L.C.M.de la Bourdonnais...2 A.Anderssen...............4 L.Paulsen.................3 E.H.Bird..................6 A.Burn...2 J.Blackburne..............5 J.Zukertort...............6 J.Mieses..................2 M.Chigorin................7 Dr.S.Tarrasch.............7 F.J.Marshall..............6 R.Spielmann ... ..........5 Dr.Ossip Bernstein........1 Dr.M.Vidmar...............2 R.Reti...6 S.Flohr...................4 A.Lilienthal..............4 I.Szabo...................2 R.Fine...7 G.Stahlberg...............3 A.Kotov...................3 I.Boleslavsky.............3 I.Bondarevsky.............1 Y.Averbakh................2 S.Gligoric................5 M.Taimanov................7 W.Uhlmann.................3 O.Panno...................3 L.Polugaevsky ............2 B.Ivkov...................1 Portisch..................3 V.Hort...2 Dr.R.Huebner..............4 L.Ljubojevic..............3 Z.Ribli...................1 R.Vaganian................3 J.Timman..................6 A.Beliavsky...............3 Of course, the most frequented pages are those of the current top masters, which is understandable. And of a few top-notch old timers, mostly those whose lives and/or careers have been marked either by some totally stunning accomplishment/characteristic, or marred by a controversy. Apr-15-08    brankat: "Miguel El Grande's" birthday! Apr-15-08    gus inn: Happy birthday Don Miguel ! FYI : when Najdorf sat the record in blindsimul , it was a signal to family and relatives in Poland and Europe - telling that he was still alive."Please contact me when /if some of you are still alive". After the blindsimul he was found sleeeping an exhausted in a public cinema.After the audience had left the building. Apr-15-08    Augalv: <it was a signal to family and relatives in Poland and Europe - telling that he was still alive."Please contact me when /if some of you are still alive".> Yes, he was sending signals to his family in back Poland but unfortunately most of them died in concentration camps. Apr-15-08    Augalv: Readers may be interested to know that I myself have attained some measure of success in blindfold play, having amassed a lifetime winning percentage of .641 in Pin the Tail on the Donkey." Miguel Najdorf. Jul-11-08    whiteshark: <I won't play with you anymore. You have insulted my friend.> -- Miguel Najdorf (to an opponent who had cursed himself for a blunder) QotD on gmchess.com Jul-26-08    kamalakanta: It is said about Najdorf that once, in a tournament where both he and Tal were playing, Tal sacrificed his Queen against someone else, and Najdorf became so excited and happy, he came over and gave Tal a kiss on the cheek! He was like a little child in that way! Sep-19-08    whiteshark: Quote of the Day " I do not believe the Soviet players are more talented than the others; they are just more inclined to consider chess work than play. " -- Najdorf Dec-22-08    zzzzzzzzzzzz: thanks for mentioning that <whiteshark> Dec-22-08    shintaro go: <Najdorf became so excited and happy, he came over and gave Tal a kiss on the cheek! He was like a little child in that way!> Or a little queer that way. Dec-22-08    AnalyzeThis: No, Najdorf was a ladies man if ever there was one.... like Capablanca. Feb-15-09    laskereshevsky: <AnalyzeThis:...Najdorf was a ladies man....like Capablanca.> At least, if not on the chess-board, I find something wich im good as Najdorf and Capa..... Mar-02-09    ewan14: CORRECTION - The Soviets were scared of Najdorf. He had beaten Botvinnik ( at Groningen in 1946 ) so the Soviets refused to let him replace R. Fine in the 1948 World Championship tournament Mar-02-09    slomarko: and here is the game: Najdorf vs Botvinnik, 1946 Apr-15-09    wordfunph: "I wanted to live as a rich man and end my life as a poor man. I don't want to be the richest dead person in the cemetery." GM Miguel Najdorf Happy Birthday Grandmaster Najdorf!!! Apr-15-09    sonsurvivor: Happy Birthday Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 10) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 7 OF 10 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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