Just three days after his 99th birthday the world's oldest grandmaster has passed away. Andor Lilienthal was born in Moscow but spent most of his life in Hungary. In his long career he recorded wins against Emanuel Lasker, José Raúl Capablanca, Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik and Vasily Smyslov.
Lilienthal was the last living member of the Capablanca Club. Truly the end of an era.
Showing posts with label Great Players. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Great Players. Show all posts
Saturday, May 08, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Eight Greatest Players Of All Time
According to ChessMetrics historical rankings over 1-15 year periods...
(It's only fitting that something historic like this be the subject of my 500th post in this blog.)
Player 1 yr 2 yr 3 yr 4 yr 5 yr 10 yr 15 yr
Garry Kasparov 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
Emanuel Lasker 5 3 4 2 2 2 3
José Capablanca 4 5 3 3 3 4 4
Bobby Fischer 1 2 2 4 5 5 7
Mikhail Botvinnik 3 4 5 5 4 6 6
Anatoly Karpov 7 7 7 7 6 3 2
Alexander Alekhine 6 6 6 6 7 8 5
Viswanathan Anand 8 8 8 8 8 7 8(It's only fitting that something historic like this be the subject of my 500th post in this blog.)
Thursday, May 08, 2008
2007 Chess Oscar
World Champion Anand was selected by 130 experts. In second place was Vladimir Kramnik, and third was Gata Kamsky. This is Anand's fifth Chess Oscar – more than any other non-Russian player.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Thursday, December 07, 2006
David Bronstein, RIP
Bronstein tied a match against Botvinnik for the world championship 12-12 in 1951.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3525
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3525
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Mikhail Botvinnik
Botvinnik was undoubtedly a very strong and talented player and probably the first truly modern grandmaster. However, he made a lousy champion, not once winning a match as champion and often losing by wide margins. Let's examine the record...
1951 - drew a match with Bronstein
1954 - drew a match with Smyslov
1957 - lost to Smyslov by 3 points (only to win the title back through the patently unfair rematch clause - where was champion Smyslov's rematch?)
1960 - lost to Tal by 4 points (again relying on the rematch clause to win the title back)
1963 - lost to Petrosian by 3 points
1951 - drew a match with Bronstein
1954 - drew a match with Smyslov
1957 - lost to Smyslov by 3 points (only to win the title back through the patently unfair rematch clause - where was champion Smyslov's rematch?)
1960 - lost to Tal by 4 points (again relying on the rematch clause to win the title back)
1963 - lost to Petrosian by 3 points
Paul Keres
Paul Keres is one of the two strongest players never to become world champion (Korchnoi being the other). On the ChessMetrics 20-year peak rating list Keres is #7 (with a peak period from 1944 to 1963), ahead of world champions Petrosian, Botvinnik, Spassky and Tal.
1938 - He won (on tiebreak over Fine) the AVRO tournament to determine the challenger to Alekhine's crown. However, World War II interrupted, and a title match never took place.
1948 - He won 3rd prize (tied with Reshevsky) in the World Championship match tournament held in The Hague and Moscow, 1/2 point behind 2nd place Smyslov and 3.5 points behind winner Botvinnik, and ahead of Euwe.
1950 - He placed 4th in the Budapest candidates tournament behind joint winners Bronstein (who won the play-off and went on to draw a match with Botvinnik) and Boleslavsky and 3rd placed Smyslov, his weakest showing ever in a candidates event, which should say it all.
1953 - He placed 2nd (tied with Reshevsky and Bronstein) in the Zurich Candidates tournament, behind Smyslov (who went on to draw a match with Botvinnik), and ahead of Petrosian and Euwe.
1956 - He placed 2nd in the Amsterdam Candidates tournament, behind Smyslov (who went on to take the title from Botvinnik only to lose it back a year later), and ahead of Petrosian and Spassky.
1959 - He placed 2nd in the Candidates tournament in Yugoslavia, behind Tal (who repeated Smyslov's story by taking the title from Botvinnik and losing it back a year later), and ahead of Petrosian, Smyslov and Fischer.
1962 - He placed 2nd (tied with Geller) in the Curacao Candidates tournament, just 1/2 point behind winner Petrosian (who went on to wrestle the title from Botvinnik), and ahead of Tal and Fischer.
1965 - He lost a quarter-final candidates match against Spassky (who went on to win the candidates cycle) 4-6.
During his long career, he played every world champion from Capablanca to Karpov, beating all but Karpov at least once. He was the only player who had a plus record against Capablanca over more than one game. He also had plus records against Euwe and Tal, and equal records against Smyslov, Petrosian and Karpov.
1938 - He won (on tiebreak over Fine) the AVRO tournament to determine the challenger to Alekhine's crown. However, World War II interrupted, and a title match never took place.
1948 - He won 3rd prize (tied with Reshevsky) in the World Championship match tournament held in The Hague and Moscow, 1/2 point behind 2nd place Smyslov and 3.5 points behind winner Botvinnik, and ahead of Euwe.
1950 - He placed 4th in the Budapest candidates tournament behind joint winners Bronstein (who won the play-off and went on to draw a match with Botvinnik) and Boleslavsky and 3rd placed Smyslov, his weakest showing ever in a candidates event, which should say it all.
1953 - He placed 2nd (tied with Reshevsky and Bronstein) in the Zurich Candidates tournament, behind Smyslov (who went on to draw a match with Botvinnik), and ahead of Petrosian and Euwe.
1956 - He placed 2nd in the Amsterdam Candidates tournament, behind Smyslov (who went on to take the title from Botvinnik only to lose it back a year later), and ahead of Petrosian and Spassky.
1959 - He placed 2nd in the Candidates tournament in Yugoslavia, behind Tal (who repeated Smyslov's story by taking the title from Botvinnik and losing it back a year later), and ahead of Petrosian, Smyslov and Fischer.
1962 - He placed 2nd (tied with Geller) in the Curacao Candidates tournament, just 1/2 point behind winner Petrosian (who went on to wrestle the title from Botvinnik), and ahead of Tal and Fischer.
1965 - He lost a quarter-final candidates match against Spassky (who went on to win the candidates cycle) 4-6.
During his long career, he played every world champion from Capablanca to Karpov, beating all but Karpov at least once. He was the only player who had a plus record against Capablanca over more than one game. He also had plus records against Euwe and Tal, and equal records against Smyslov, Petrosian and Karpov.
Monday, May 01, 2006
Sunday, March 05, 2006
A bit of Reshevsky & Fine trivia
Samuel Reshevsky played every world champion from Lasker through Karpov, a combined total of 112 games. Against Lasker and Euwe, he had plus results of +1 and +6 -2 =6, respectively. Against Capablanca and Karpov, he had even results of +1 -1 =4 and =1, respectively. Against the other champions he was less successful.
Reuben Fine of course had a much shorter career, but it was overwhelmingly successful on the international arena. He never played Smyslov, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky or Karpov. However, in the 27 games he played against world champions, he achieved plus scores against Lasker (+1), Alekhine (+3 =4 -2) and Botvinnik (+1 =2 -0), and an even score against Capablanca (=5) and Euwe (+2 =3 -2). Only against Fischer did he have a minus score (they never met in official games, but Fischer beat Fine twice in Manhattan Chess Club games in 1963).
Reuben Fine of course had a much shorter career, but it was overwhelmingly successful on the international arena. He never played Smyslov, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky or Karpov. However, in the 27 games he played against world champions, he achieved plus scores against Lasker (+1), Alekhine (+3 =4 -2) and Botvinnik (+1 =2 -0), and an even score against Capablanca (=5) and Euwe (+2 =3 -2). Only against Fischer did he have a minus score (they never met in official games, but Fischer beat Fine twice in Manhattan Chess Club games in 1963).
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Ludek Pachman
GM Ludek Pachman, who passed away in March 2003, is in my opinion THE best chess writer ever ... hands down, bar none! Unfortunately, many of his books either were never published in English or are long out of print. Among my favorite Pachman books are ...
Modern Chess Strategy
A one-volume condensed version of the earlier (and long out-of-print) three-volume Complete Chess Strategy.
Tactica Moderna en Ajedrez (Modern Chess Tactics)
A two-volume follow-up to Modern Chess Strategy covering tactics. Lots and lots of examples, followed by lots of exercises and several illustrative full games, on each topic.
Teoria Moderna en Ajedrez (Modern Chess Theory)
A 4-volume opening treatise (Open Games, Semi-Open Games, Queen's Pawn Games, Closed Games). It doesn't cover quite the same amount of ground as ECO in terms of raw number of lines, but it still manages to cover an impressively immense amount of material while also including lots of textual discussion of the theory and strategy behind each opening and its major lines.
Decisive Games in Chess History
Pachman analysis 65 pivotal games from 1870 to 1972, looking not just at the actual chess moves on the board but also the competitive and psychological aspects of the situation.
Modern Chess Strategy
A one-volume condensed version of the earlier (and long out-of-print) three-volume Complete Chess Strategy.
Tactica Moderna en Ajedrez (Modern Chess Tactics)
A two-volume follow-up to Modern Chess Strategy covering tactics. Lots and lots of examples, followed by lots of exercises and several illustrative full games, on each topic.
Teoria Moderna en Ajedrez (Modern Chess Theory)
A 4-volume opening treatise (Open Games, Semi-Open Games, Queen's Pawn Games, Closed Games). It doesn't cover quite the same amount of ground as ECO in terms of raw number of lines, but it still manages to cover an impressively immense amount of material while also including lots of textual discussion of the theory and strategy behind each opening and its major lines.
Decisive Games in Chess History
Pachman analysis 65 pivotal games from 1870 to 1972, looking not just at the actual chess moves on the board but also the competitive and psychological aspects of the situation.
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Chess Oscars 1967-2003
1967 - Larsen
1968 and 1969 - Spassky
1970, 1971 and 1972 - Fischer
1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977 - Karpov
1978 - Korchnoi
1979, 1980 and 1981 - Karpov
1982 and 1983 - Kasparov
1984 - Karpov
1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988 - Kasparov
(From 1989 through 1994 the Oscar was not awarded)
1995 and 1996 - Kasparov
1997 and 1998 - Anand
1999 - Kasparov
2000 - Kramnik
2001 and 2002 - Kasparov
2003 - Anand
1968 and 1969 - Spassky
1970, 1971 and 1972 - Fischer
1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977 - Karpov
1978 - Korchnoi
1979, 1980 and 1981 - Karpov
1982 and 1983 - Kasparov
1984 - Karpov
1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988 - Kasparov
(From 1989 through 1994 the Oscar was not awarded)
1995 and 1996 - Kasparov
1997 and 1998 - Anand
1999 - Kasparov
2000 - Kramnik
2001 and 2002 - Kasparov
2003 - Anand
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Kasparov Retires!
September 24, 2004
Q: There has been some speculation that you may be thinking about retiring. What can you say about that?
Kasparov: Absolutely not! (laughter) That statement has absolutely no substance. I am eager to hear from BrainGames about the next plans and I’m still very much in business. I will prove that it (the match) was a very unfortunate slip in my career. I’ll be starting from the Wijk aan Zee tournament in January next year.
March 10, 2005
The world's strongest chessplayer, Garry Kasparov, has just announced his retirement from professional chess. His games in Linares are the last in his professional career, that has spanned thirty years, with twenty on the top of the ratings list. "I would like to make a short statement before the press conference. It could come as a surprise to many of you. But before this tournament I made a concious decision that Linares 2005 will be my last professional tournament, and today I played my last professional game. I hoped I could do better in my last game, but unfortunately the last two games were very difficult for me, to play under such pressure, because I knew it was the end of a career which I could be proud of."
Q: There has been some speculation that you may be thinking about retiring. What can you say about that?
Kasparov: Absolutely not! (laughter) That statement has absolutely no substance. I am eager to hear from BrainGames about the next plans and I’m still very much in business. I will prove that it (the match) was a very unfortunate slip in my career. I’ll be starting from the Wijk aan Zee tournament in January next year.
March 10, 2005
The world's strongest chessplayer, Garry Kasparov, has just announced his retirement from professional chess. His games in Linares are the last in his professional career, that has spanned thirty years, with twenty on the top of the ratings list. "I would like to make a short statement before the press conference. It could come as a surprise to many of you. But before this tournament I made a concious decision that Linares 2005 will be my last professional tournament, and today I played my last professional game. I hoped I could do better in my last game, but unfortunately the last two games were very difficult for me, to play under such pressure, because I knew it was the end of a career which I could be proud of."
Friday, January 28, 2005
Roberto Grau
Roberto Grau (1900-1944), the Argentine master whom I've already mentioned in this blog as the author of the Tratado General de Ajedrez, never reached grandmaster status. However, he was six-time champion of Argentina (1926, 1927, 1928, 1934, 1935, 1938) and managed a few memorable results against some of the leading players of his day:
- win against Max Euwe at Paris 1924
- win against Richard Reti at Buenos Aires 1924
- win against E. Colle at San Remo 1930
- win against Reuben Fine at the Warsaw Olympiad 1935
- draw against Alexander Alekhine at the Warsaw Olympiad 1935
- draws against Paul Keres and Jose Capablanca at the Buenos Aires Olympiad 1939
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Kasparov calls it quits
... from the world championship cycle.
As for unification, I cannot see an avenue to contribute further. For those who saw me as an obstacle, I will be one no longer. I am not giving up on chess. I will compete as well and as long as I am able to play my brand of chess. I will continue to serve chess and those who love our game. I have now held the #1 ranking for 20 years and I will defend my position against any opponent. My only retreat is from the battlefield of chess championship politics.
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Mikhail Tal
I've been reading some games from The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal. Great book. I read somewhere that Tal is the best writer ever to be world chess champion, and after looking through this book I believe it.
My favorite Tal quote, during one of the Kasparov-Karpov matches (1987?), they asked him if he had any advice for the players. He replied, "I would tell them to play better."
Tal had a fascinating four decade run as one of the world's top grandmasters. Here's his record in the world championship cycles between his arrival on the chess scene in 1951 and his death in 1992.
1955-1957 Cycle: Played in the Baltic Zonal tournament but did not advance
1958-1960 Cycle: Went all the way! Won the title from Botvinnik 12½ – 8½!
1961-1963 Cycle: Made it to the Candidates tournament, which was won by Petrosian
1964-1966 Cycle: Made it to the Candidates Final Match, lost to Spassky
1967-1969 Cycle: Played in the Candidates Semi-Final matches (lost to Korchnoi)
1970-1972 Cycle: Did not participate
1973-1975 Cycle: Played in the Leningrad Interzonal but did not advance
1976-1978 Cycle: Played in Biel Interzonal, tied for 2nd but lost the tiebreak
1979-1981 Cycle: Played in the Candidates Quarter-Final matches (lost to Polugayevski)
1982-1984 Cycle: Played in the Moscow Interzonal but did not advance
1985-1987 Cycle: Played in the Candidates tournament, tied for 4th but lost the tiebreak
1988-1990 Cycle: Played in the Subotica Interzonal but did not advance
1991-1993 Cycle: Played in the Interzonal but did not advance
My favorite Tal quote, during one of the Kasparov-Karpov matches (1987?), they asked him if he had any advice for the players. He replied, "I would tell them to play better."
Tal had a fascinating four decade run as one of the world's top grandmasters. Here's his record in the world championship cycles between his arrival on the chess scene in 1951 and his death in 1992.
1955-1957 Cycle: Played in the Baltic Zonal tournament but did not advance
1958-1960 Cycle: Went all the way! Won the title from Botvinnik 12½ – 8½!
1961-1963 Cycle: Made it to the Candidates tournament, which was won by Petrosian
1964-1966 Cycle: Made it to the Candidates Final Match, lost to Spassky
1967-1969 Cycle: Played in the Candidates Semi-Final matches (lost to Korchnoi)
1970-1972 Cycle: Did not participate
1973-1975 Cycle: Played in the Leningrad Interzonal but did not advance
1976-1978 Cycle: Played in Biel Interzonal, tied for 2nd but lost the tiebreak
1979-1981 Cycle: Played in the Candidates Quarter-Final matches (lost to Polugayevski)
1982-1984 Cycle: Played in the Moscow Interzonal but did not advance
1985-1987 Cycle: Played in the Candidates tournament, tied for 4th but lost the tiebreak
1988-1990 Cycle: Played in the Subotica Interzonal but did not advance
1991-1993 Cycle: Played in the Interzonal but did not advance
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